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Philadelphia school district starts 3-year solar training program
By SD News On Oct 29, 2021
The Philadelphia Energy authority marked a milestone in Pennsylvania's just transition to clean energy with the opening of the Solar Training Lab at Frankford High School.
"Philadelphia is committed to becoming carbon neutral by 2050, and that effort will create thousands of jobs," said Mayor Jim Kenney. "We need our young people to access those careers, and this lab will make sure they do. Congratulations to the school district, Frankford High School and the Philadelphia Energy Authority on this important milestone."
Bright Solar Futures (BSF), funded by the US Department of Energy's Solar Energy Technologies Office, PECO and other industry partners, provides access to solar careers for young Philadelphians. The first of its kind three-year career and technical education (CTE) vocational training program will launch young people for careers in clean energy.
"Supporting Bright Solar Futures and the opening of this new Solar Training Lab is at the intersection of two very important priorities for us at PECO: supporting clean energy sources to reduce the impact of climate change and promoting initiatives to empower the workforce. of tomorrow in clean energy," said Mike Innocenzo, PECO President and CEO. "We are proud to be involved in this program and look forward to the 'bright' future for these students."
Emily Schapira, CEO of Philadelphia Energy Authority, said: "We are so proud to be here in Frankford today with these partners and these students. Solar energy is the fastest growing job in Pennsylvania, and this lab will ensure equal access to this Bright Solar Futures students train in solar installation, sales and design, along with weatherproofing, construction basics, and site safety, so that Philadelphia has the best-trained clean energy workforce in the region."
News release from the Philadelphia Energy Authority
FCNews kicks off annual Fantasy Football for a Cause
Solar BOS Survey Report | {
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Fundamenta Informaticae - Volume 153, issue 1-2
ISSN 0169-2968 (P)
ISSN 1875-8681 (E)
Fundamenta Informaticae is an international journal publishing original research results in all areas of theoretical computer science. Papers are encouraged contributing:
- solutions by mathematical methods of problems emerging in computer science
- solutions of mathematical problems inspired by computer science.
Topics of interest include (but are not restricted to): theory of computing, complexity theory, algorithms and data structures, computational aspects of combinatorics and graph theory, programming language theory, theoretical aspects of programming languages, computer-aided verification, computer science logic, database theory, logic programming, automated deduction, formal languages and automata theory, concurrency and distributed computing, cryptography and security, theoretical issues in artificial intelligence, machine learning, pattern recognition, algorithmic game theory, bioinformatics and computational biology, quantum computing, probabilistic methods, & algebraic and categorical methods.
Recommend this journal Editorial board Submissions Subscribe
Methods for Distributed and Concurrent Systems: Special Issue on the occasion of the 60th Birthday of Professor Gabriel Ciobanu
Authors: Aman, Bogdan | Kleijn, Jetty | Koutny, Maciej | Lucanu, Dorel
Article Type: Other
DOI: 10.3233/FI-2017-1528
Citation: Fundamenta Informaticae, vol. 153, no. 1-2, pp. v-vi, 2017
Modelling and Analysing Qualitative Biological Models using Rewriting Logic
Authors: Alhumaidan, Abdullah | Steggles, Jason
Abstract: Qualitative logical modelling techniques play an important role in biology and are seen as crucial for developing scalable methods for modelling and synthesizing biological systems. While a range of interesting work has been done in this area there still exists challenging issues that need to be addressed for the practical application of these modelling techniques. In this paper we present an algebraic framework for exploring these issues by developing techniques for modelling and analysing qualitative biological models using Rewriting Logic (RL) . The aim here is to develop a universal formal framework which is able to integrate models expressed in …different formalisms (e.g. Boolean networks, Petri Nets and process algebra) and provide a basis for new work in this area (e.g. merging models based on different formalisms; compositional model construction and analysis; and tools for synthetic biology). We take as our starting point Multi-valued networks (MVNs) , a simple yet expressive qualitative state based modelling approach widely used in biology. We develop a semantic translation from MVNs to a corresponding RL model and formally show that this translation is correct. We consider both the asynchronous and synchronous update semantics, and investigate the use of rewriting strategies to enable synchronisation to be modelled. We illustrate the RL framework developed and the potential RL analysis possible by presenting two detailed case studies. Show more
Keywords: rewriting logic, qualitative modelling, genetic regulatory networks, multi-valued networks
Citation: Fundamenta Informaticae, vol. 153, no. 1-2, pp. 1-28, 2017
Contradiction-Tolerant Process Algebra with Propositional Signals
Authors: Bergstra, J.A. | Middelburg, C.A.
Abstract: In a previous paper, an ACP-style process algebra was proposed in which propositions are used as the visible part of the state of processes and as state conditions under which processes may proceed. This process algebra, called ACPps, is built on classical propositional logic. In this paper, we present a version of ACPps built on a paraconsistent propositional logic which is essentially the same as CLuNs. There are many systems that would have to deal with self-contradictory states if no special measures were taken. For a number of these systems, it is conceivable that accepting self-contradictory states and dealing with …them in a way based on a paraconsistent logic is an alternative to taking special measures. The presented version of ACPps can be suited for the description and analysis of systems that deal with self-contradictory states in a way based on the above-mentioned paraconsistent logic. Show more
Keywords: process algebra, propositional signal, propositional condition, paraconsistent logic
Citation: Fundamenta Informaticae, vol. 153, no. 1-2, pp. 29-55, 2017
Semantics for Specialising Attack Trees based on Linear Logic
Authors: Horne, Ross | Mauw, Sjouke | Tiu, Alwen
Abstract: Attack trees profile the sub-goals of the proponent of an attack. Attack trees have a variety of semantics depending on the kind of question posed about the attack, where questions are captured by an attribute domain. We observe that one of the most general semantics for attack trees, the multiset semantics, coincides with a semantics expressed using linear logic propositions. The semantics can be used to compare attack trees to determine whether one attack tree is a specialisation of another attack tree. Building on these observations, we propose two new semantics for an extension of attack trees named causal …attack trees . Such attack trees are extended with an operator capturing the causal order of sub-goals in an attack. These two semantics extend the multiset semantics to sets of series-parallel graphs closed under certain graph homomorphisms, where each semantics respects a class of attribute domains. We define a sound logical system with respect to each of these semantics, by using a recently introduced extension of linear logic, called MAV, featuring a non-commutative operator. The non-commutative operator models causal dependencies in causal attack trees. Similarly to linear logic for attack trees, implication defines a decidable preorder for specialising causal attack trees that soundly respects a class of attribute domains. Show more
Keywords: attack trees, semantics, causality, linear logic, calculus of structures
P Systems Simulating Bacterial Conjugation: Universality and Properties
Authors: Păun, Andrei | Rodríguez-Patón, Alfonso
Abstract: We refine the modeling in the P systems area of the way bacteria transmit genetic information in bacterial colonies, specifically the conjugation process. We study this new model from the computational power perspective using methods and ideas in the area; we are able to prove the universality of these systems. We show that systems working in a homogeneous manner and using only 75 species of objects in the regions and 13 species of "on-membrane" objects are enough for reaching universality. The system starts in a initial state with only few (nine) bacteria needed and the "bacteria" from this system are …homogeneous, all have the same rules. Show more
Keywords: P systems, Bacterial conjugation, universality, small universal machines
Citation: Fundamenta Informaticae, vol. 153, no. 1-2, pp. 87-103, 2017
Binary Analysis based on Symbolic Execution and Reversible x86 Instructions
Authors: Stoenescu, Teodor | Stefanescu, Alin | Predut, Sorina | Ipate, Florentin
Abstract: We present a binary analysis framework based on symbolic execution with the distinguishing capability to execute stepwise forward and also backward through the execution tree. It was developed internally at Bitdefender and code-named RIVER. The framework provides components such as a taint engine, a dynamic symbolic execution engine, and integration with Z3 for constraint solving. In this paper we will provide details on the framework and give an example of analysis on binary code.
Citation: Fundamenta Informaticae, vol. 153, no. 1-2, pp. 105-124, 2017
Concurrency Semantics in Continuation-Passing Style
Authors: Todoran, Eneia Nicolae | Papaspyrou, Nikolaos
Abstract: We present a denotational semantics designed in continuation-passing style (CPS) for an abstract language providing operators for nondeterministic choice, sequential and parallel composition, and a general mechanism of interaction between multisets of distributed actions. We show that the basic laws of concurrent systems are satisfied in this semantics. Next, by customizing the behavior of continuations we obtain denotational semantics for a couple of concurrent languages and a nature-inspired formalism. The languages discussed include Hoare's communicating sequential processes (CSP), and two formalisms based on multiparty interactions: a version of CSP extended with communication and synchronization on multiple channels, and a language …similar to a process algebra for DNA computing introduced by Cardelli. We accomplish the semantic investigation in the mathematical framework of complete metric spaces. Show more
Keywords: continuation-passing style, denotational semantics, metric spaces, concurrency semantics
Computational Efficiency of Minimal Cooperation and Distribution in Polarizationless P Systems with Active Membranes
Authors: Valencia-Cabrera, Luis | Orellana-Martín, David | Martínez-del-Amor, Miguel A. | Riscos-Núñez, Agustín | Pérez-Jiménez, Mario J.
Abstract: Polarizationless P systems with active membranes are non-cooperative systems, that is, the left-hand side of their rules have a single object. Usually, these systems make use of division rules as a mechanism to produce an exponential workspace in linear time. Division rules are inspired by cell division, a process of nuclear division that occurs when a parent cell divides to produce two identical daughter cells. On the other hand, separation rules are inspired by the membrane fission process, a mechanism by which a biological membrane is split into two new ones in such a manner that the contents of the …initial membrane is distributed between the new membranes. In this paper, separation rules are used instead of division rules. The computational efficiency of these models is studied and the role of the (minimal) cooperation in object evolution rules is explored from a computational complexity point of view. Show more
Keywords: Membrane Fission, Membrane Computing, Active membranes, Separation rules, Complexity classes, SAT problem
Issue 2,3,4 | {
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Home/Sports/Clifford takes Kingdom out of the corner with belated idleness when Mayo boss Horan refuses to speak in solidarity act
Clifford takes Kingdom out of the corner with belated idleness when Mayo boss Horan refuses to speak in solidarity act
Kerry remains in a high position to secure a third Allianz League title after ending both Mayo's unbeaten run this season and their 12-season unbeaten run on Kerry soil last night.
Notably, this was Kerry's first win over Mayo at home since 2009 when Jack O'Connor was in the first season of his second term as Kingdom boss.
A point from David Clifford in sixth minute of stoppage time substitute Stephen O'Brien earned two points for Jack O'Connor's side.
So far in this reign, his team has barely misplaced a single foot. They are currently on an eight-match unbeaten streak and have secured a spot in the tournament final with the most unlikely combination of the remaining penalty shootouts.
Mayo still has a chance to be the tournament decider by the first weekend of April although at this stage their focus is probably shifting to the Connacht title match against Galway on April 24. .
Mayo dominated territory early but converted only one of their three early scoring opportunities through Matthew Ruane as they struggled with Kerry's protective defence.
Kerry responded with a brace – a spectacular first attempt by Clifford after he missed marker Oisín Mullin.
Mayo nearly scored in the 11th minute when Fergal Boland was overturned and Dara Moynihan linked up with David Clifford, but Tony Brosnan chose to punch the ball over the bar rather than test goalkeeper Rob Hennelly.
When given the opportunity, Mayo cornered Kerry and gave Shane Murphy a headache. Ruane flipped one of his re-emergences and linked up with Fergal Boland, who turned it into a one-point (4-3) game after 16 minutes.
David Clifford was engaged for the only goal of the game as he started to move to link Adrian Spillane on the right and his pass was successfully completed by Tony Brosnan.
Mayo should have responded immediately after Aidan O'Shea put Aiden Orme past, but he shot far away – and Mayo's poor finish cost them in the half as they went up 5 points from 3 the home team's goal, although Kerry missed three. short photo.
Scores appreciated for the rest of the half and even though Clifford fouled Stephen Coen to kick Kerry's sixth point. All but two of those scores came directly from Mayo's first leg.
Mayo's growing dominance in the middle third becomes more apparent despite Ruane, Jordan Flynn and Aidan O'Shea making major changes. The away team should have scored in stoppage time. Once again, Ruane joined the rally, but 'keeper Murphy made a brilliant save from Diarmuid O'Connor's shot that went wide of the post '45, Rob Hennelly diverted it to give Kerry a 1-6 to 0 lead- 6 at break.
Brosnan and O'Donoghue (free) swapped points early in the second half. Then Kevin McLoughlin, who had only seconds on the field, overturned Kerry's possession. He teamed up with Aidan O'Shea, who linked up with Fergal Boland for a third.
David Clifford was awarded a visionary corner, but O'Donoghue from the corner helped the game two points after scoring a superb mark.
Paudie Clifford missed a 13-yard penalty where Kerry should have had a four-point advantage in the 56th minute and when O'Donoghue scored a harder goal on the other end shortly after, the game resumed. with 2 points again.
Dara Moynihan was penalized for being too close to Rob Hennelly's long-range shot and O'Donoghue took the free kick before Ruane leveled with seven minutes remaining.
Clifford free posting has restored Kerry's advantage; Paddy Durcan had two dangerous shots from long range in the sixth minute of stoppage time. Mullin won a questionable penalty that O'Donoghue nailed to level the score in the 73rd minute.
But Kerry got out and Aidan O'Shea fouled his replacement Stephen O'Brien whom Clifford converted and it proved the winning score. For the first time Kerry prevailed in a tight finish. They will have concerns about the effectiveness of their midfield pairing.
But on a night when the weather turns into a sport spoilt, they will be happy to finally win at home against Mayo.
Mayo coach James Horan did not speak to the media before and after the game. According to a spokesman for the County Board of Directors, he was acting in solidarity with the GPA, who are in dispute with the Croke Park administration over the players' expenses.
Scorer – Kerry: D Clifford 0-6 (2f); T Brosnan 1-2; J Savage 0-2 (2f); D Moynihan J Barry, 0-1 each. Mayo: R O'Donoghue 0-7 (6f, m); F Boland 0-3; M Ruane 0-2; R Hennelly ('45), A Orme 0-1 per team.
Kerry: S Murphy; D Casey, J Foley, T O'Sullivan; G O'Sullivan, T Morley, B O'Beaglaioch; D O'Connor, J Barry; D Moynihan, J Savage, A Spillane; P Clifford, D Clifford, T Brosnan. Subs: S O'Brien to A Spillane (46), K Spillane to Savage (48), G Crowley to Casey (56), M Burns to P Clifford (66), P Warren to G O'Sullivan (70 + 4 ) .
Mayo: R Hennelly; P O'Hora, L Keegan, M Plunkett; P Durcan, S Coen, O Mullin; J Flynn, M Ruane; D O'Connor, A O'Shea, J Carney; F Boland, A Orme, R O'Donoghue. Subs: E Hession to Coen (ht), K McLoughlin to Carney (43), F Irwin to Orme (56), C Loftus to Boland (67), F McDonagh to O'Connor (70 + 1).
Referee: B Cawley (Kildare).
https://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-games/gaelic-football/clifford-gets-kingdom-out-of-a-tight-corner-with-late-free-as-mayo-boss-horan-refuses-to-talk-in-solidarity-action-41440118.html Clifford takes Kingdom out of the corner with belated idleness when Mayo boss Horan refuses to speak in solidarity act
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Liverpool condemn Man City fans after 'disgusting' chants about stadium disaster | {
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Inspir' Talks
Tech 30 September 2018 <18 November 2018
GOOGLE UPGRADES ENGAGEMENT IN AFRICA WITH AN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) LABORATORY AND AN AI MASTER'S PROGRAMME
by Isabella Muma
Dr Moustapha Cisse (Courtesy of Sucess Story Africaines)
Exponential growth in technology has led many to believe, the world is witnessing the start of a fourth industrial revolution, characterised by a combination of technologies that seek to merge the physical, digital and biological worlds. Being part of a technology driven society, it was only a matter of time before Africa became actively and strategically involved in the new age revolution swiping across the globe. According to Nouha Abardazzou of Africa Business Insight, although many African countries are still dealing with issues related to the first, second and third industrial revolutions such as electricity, mechanisation of production and automation, the ongoing industrial revolution, if used well, will enable Africa to become a major player in the world economy.
Topping the charts in the realm of technological advancement is none other than the very popular Artificial Intelligence. An international analytics powerhouse known as SAS, describes Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a technology that makes it possible for machines to learn from experience, adjust to new inputs and perform human-like tasks. AI performs frequent, high-volume, computerized tasks reliably and without fatigue. AI analyses more and through deep neural networks, which was previously impossible, AI achieves incredible accuracy. AI adapts through progressive learning algorithms to let the data do the programming, also it gets the most out of data. When algorithms are self-learning, the data itself can become intellectual property. Most importantly, AI adds intelligence to existing products. Taking all these benefits into consideration, it is obvious that, if used responsibly, AI offers a wonderful opportunity to create a future of efficiency, reliability and satisfaction for our fast-paced world. Research from PricewaterhouseCoopers estimated artificial intelligence technologies could increase global GDP by $15.7 trillion, a full 14%, by 2030 of which $1.2 trillion would be added for Africa. In summary, AI is the future. No wonder IT moguls such as Google LLC has been very keen on scaling up its activities in this area.
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In 2016, the company reportedly invested $30 billion on AI and machine learning research. Two years later it drew attention to itself by announcing a major move in the very young and fragile AI sector of Africa. Google decides to take this major step in Africa when majority market share models are now much more possible with AI as indicated by Eric Schmidt, former executive chairman and current technical advisor at Google. "AI has great potential to positively impact the world. So, it makes sense to us the world should be well represented in the development of AI. Our new AI centre in Accra joins the list of other locations around the world where we focus on AI"– Google.
The Google AI research centre in Africa will be led by Senegalese born Dr. Moustapha Cisse, a former research scientist at Facebook. Mr. Cisse who recently joined the Google AI Research also doubles as an AIMS professor and founder of the organization Black in AI. This grand technological venture is expected to mobilize top notched machine learning researchers and engineers who will be committed to AI research, and its applications on the continent. Key areas of the project are research on medical diagnosis and treatment, fairness in machine learning, and interpretability and understanding of machine learning models, as disclosed by a Google spokesperson to VentureBeat. "We're excited to combine our research interests in AI and machine learning and our experience in Africa to push the boundaries of AI while solving challenges in areas such as healthcare, agriculture, and education."-Moustapha Cisse, leader of Google AI Africa and Jeff Dean, senior fellow Google AI.
Why Ghana?
Although Africa has witnessed noticeable changes and recognisable advancement in terms of the internet technology, Africa continues to deal with the underlying issues of poor infrastructure and insufficient connectivity which hinder a mile stone technological development on a large and significant scale within the continent. None the less a few African countries have distinguished themselves from the others by taking significant action towards addressing these issues and creating a much more convenient nest for highly advanced technological endeavours like the AI project. Ghana ranks itself high on the list. Jeff Dean narrows Google's reasons to the robust network of academic institutions such as local universities and research centres like the African Institute of Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) as well as infrastructure present in Ghana. The company is said to be a major investor in bolstering these institutions and the infrastructure around it.
The African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) recently started a one-year intensive African Master's in Machine Intelligence (AMMI) in partnership with Facebook and Google, at the AIMS-Rwanda campus in Kigali, Rwanda. The AMMI program will provide brilliant young Africans with state-of-the-art training in machine learning and its applications. Each course on AMMI will be lectured by leading experts from prestigious African and international institutions, providing the AMMI students the best possible foundation. As pioneers of a growing ecosystem of African machine intelligence specialists, these students will be able to bring in leading edge skills to Africa's economy, governance and society at large. "Our goal with AMMI is to train a generation of young scientists who will bring a fresh perspective to machine intelligence research and contribute to advancing its development across Africa, for the benefit of its society" said Dr. Mouhamadou Moustapha Cissé, Founder and Director of the AMMI program and Professor of Machine Learning at AIMS. Meanwhile Facebook seeks to drive positive social and economic impact across Africa, and this partnership is a major move towards driving innovation by supporting the continent's already exciting tech ecosystem and talent pool.
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Since Google entered the African technological sphere over ten years now, 10 million Africans are estimated to benefit from its overall digital skills training program with 2 million people having already completed the course. Google is supporting 100,000 developers and over 60 tech Start-ups through its Launchpad Accelerator Africa, while trying to adapt its products to make it easy for people to enjoy proper internet services, even on low-RAM smartphones or unstable network connections.
It may not seem as such, but Africa is in the process of transforming into a technological playground and a viable player on the global market. Artificial Intelligence can take Africa there! From the 13th through the 15th of November 2018, the world's number one AI event for business will take place in Cape town, South Africa under the theme, Human capacity truly reimagined. The launch of the AI Summit Cape Town as part of AfricaCom this year is expected to bring together leading global multinationals as well as regional powerhouses with the aim of uncovering the true opportunity AI presents for the most forward-thinking enterprises, tackling the challenges around people-change management, upskilling the workforce, creating deeper relationships with customers and partners as well as understanding the business case. Advanced technologies are therefore not a luxury. It is crucial to Africa, as stated by Getnet Assefa, founder of iCog, Ethiopia's first AI lab.
Artificial Intelligence, Ghana, Google, Mouhamadou Mustapha Cisse, Senegal
Isabella Muma
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WHAT COLOR WAS JESUS THE CHRIST
The most common answer, "He was not blond and blue-eyed like they show him in movies and paintings. He was darker than that, like the people who live in North Africa today." However, the average American today looks nothing like the average American 500 years ago when Columbus arrived. So why expect the North Africans of today to necessarily resemble those of more than 2,000 years ago?
Some point to phrases in the Bible that say, "His eyes are like blazing fire, his feet like burnished bronze, and his voice like the sound of many waters." which would indicate a very black man with a deep voice. And there are depictions of Christ like this in some Black churches, and some ancient statues and paintings show him this way. However, doesn't the second commandment explicitly forbid the making of "graven images?" So how come there are so many depictions of Christ, as Black or white?
Muslims have no depiction of Jesus Christ or any of the prophets, neither do Jews, or many Christian sects. However, Catholics and many Protestant sects do have icons, usually of a white Jesus. And note that it is Catholics and the Protestant sects with the white Jesus icon that sent out missionaries in the wake of the European conquerors and colonizers. Note that the literal meaning of "Catholic" is "universal." The Catholic Church purports to be universal, a faith for everyone. However, how can any faith that holds that certain of its members look like God, and others do not, be all-encompassing? Once the prophets, or God himself, as many Christians hold Jesus Christ to be, is pictured as any color, then all who are not of that color would have to have a lesser status.
However, there is an even deeper question. Did Jesus Christ really exist? Because this is a predominantly Christian country, the mass media acts as if Jesus Christ is an undisputed, real historical figure. As a result many, if not most, are not aware that there is a historical debate as to whether or not such a person really existed. Who or what one believes, or does not believe, is a purely personal matter. But it is a fact that there is great controversy over Christ's authenticity.
Here is a little test. Tell me, who am I referring to? He died in his 33rd year. He said the man married to his mother was not his father. He said he was fathered by a God. He was called, "King of Kings." And the name "Issus" was connected to him. Who was that? Jesus? Yes, but all these things are also true of Alexander the Great. It has been claimed that Christ is a re-configuring of the supreme Western conquerer, Alexander, as a supremely religious figure.
The Persians invaded and conquered Egypt in 666 BCE. The Greeks under Alexander came in 333 BCE. Alexander's general Ptolemy, after Alexander's death, inherited the throne of Egypt and was declared Pharaoh. The Ptolemaic line was the last Pharaonic dynasty; its last member was Cleopatra. After Cleopatra, the Romans seized Egypt. The Romans, at first, persecuted the Christians until, that is, the Emperor Constantine converted to the Christian faith.
However, Walter Williams in The Historical Origins of Christianity disputes that last claim. He offers evidence that Constantine did not convert to Christianity, but, instead, created it! Williams says that the Romans were not putting Christians to death, that they were persecuting the last stubborn remnants of the original, ancient Egyptian religion. Constantine, says Williams, ceased his attacks on them once they agreed to convert Egyptian religion into what is now known as Christianity. That is why the earliest statues of Christ and his mother are Black. They are based on the Egyptian holy figures Isis and her son, Osiris.
Notre Dame and many European cathedrals are, in fact, built on sites that were originally temples to Isis. Notice, how in Southern Europe the "Mother of God," is often given as much, if not more, attention and veneration than Christ. Williams, and others, say this is because Mary is really a refiguring of the goddess Isis, and Jesus is a recasting of her son, Osiris.
The Romans badly needed a central religious figure to hold together their ever expanding Empire. Observe that the Pope is called the "Pontiff." One of the titles of the Roman Emperor was "Pontifex Maximus." Also, look at the hat, called the "mitre," that the Pope and all the bishops of the Catholic Church wear. It is based on the double crown of the Egyptian pharaoh. The pharaoh was the intermediary between the people and the gods, the Roman Emperor and later the pope assumed that pivotal role. After the fall of Rome, the various kings that rose up across Europe claimed to rule by, "Divine Right."
So we see that starting with the simple question, "What color was Christ?" we can explore a host of historical issues and perspectives. But, bottom line, what is the truth? Only you can decide. However, unless you read and think for yourself, others will make up your mind for you and thereby decide your fate. Would that not be a waste?
by Dr. Arthur Lewin, author of Africa Is Not A Country: It's A Continent www.AfricaUnlimited.com www.ReadLikeYourLifeDependsOnIt.com
2018-05-13T07:05:27+00:00By Ramsees|Comments Off on WHAT COLOR WAS JESUS THE CHRIST | {
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Does the dark web aid and abet terrorist groups?
Juliana Kenny
Mar 31, 2016, 2:58 PM EDT
(Source: Image Catalog/flickr)
As the threat of ISIS spreads around the world, taking hold of countries including France, Belgium, and the U.S., governments are grasping to understand how the terrorist organization proliferates. One fact has become clear: ISIS has money, and governments are now looking at systems such as the "dark web", bitcoin, and other underground networks to see if they are partially to blame for helping terrorist groups find and secure funding.
The 2016 CIGI-Ipsos Global Survey on Internet Security and Trust, undertaken by the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) and conducted by global research company Ipsos interviewed 24,143 web users in 24 countries between November 20, 2015 and December 4, 2015. 71% of those respondents said that the "dark net" should be shut down. Three in 10 respondents said the dark net should remain in existence. This disparity highlights a few points, one of which is that most users probably don't know exactly what the dark net is and associate it with the underbelly of the internet and criminal activity.
Indeed, the dark net — networks primarily used for illegal file-sharing and what have become associated with systems such as the Silk Road and Pirate Bay — is the home for plenty of illegal activity. But in the wake of devastating terrorist attacks, the world is scrambling to understand how groups such as ISIS stay funded, and it sees the dark net as a threat in this regard, mainly because most people don't understand what it is or how it works.
That isn't the only unknown. Some governments are attempting to figure out if and how they should regulate systems like bitcoin to get a better hold on the underbelly of the internet. In January, Germany and France both called for stricter bitcoin regulation and regulation of payments systems on the web to insure against financing terrorism.
It's difficult to find evidence of bitcoin used for funding terrorist group activity, but because the jury is still out on whether or not the dark net allows such financing to fly under the radar, it's a popular culprit. Still, around one-third of respondents to the aforementioned survey believe the dark net should stay — something no amount of government policy or public opinion will actually determine. And Fen Hampson, director of CIGI's Global Security & Politics Program and co-director of the Global Commission on Internet Governance says that the anonymity aspect of the dark web is what complicates the issue for many people. He said:
"The opinions expressed by global citizens on the Dark Net, a faceless realm functioning purely on anonymity, demonstrate the complexity of this issue for policymakers and governments around the world. Simply put, anonymity and the privacy of users must be central determinants in guiding the future of creating systems and boundaries to govern the Internet."
As the global threat of ISIS continues to impact policy-making, the shadowy sections of the internet will undoubtedly remain in the mix.
France-Technology
U.S.-Technology
Germany-Technology
Australia-Technology
The net neutrality debate is in for the long haul
Social media grows as primary news source
France unveils plan for de-radicalization
Sinai insurgency reshaping region through chaos
Morocco foils ISIS chemical attack
U.S. agency looks to social data to fight ISIS
Netanyahu's trip aims to boost Israel-Africa ties
Dozens dead in suicide attack at Istanbul airport | {
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35th Infantry (Cacti) Regiment Association
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1LT James Oris Blankenship In memory of our fallen brother
"We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; for he to-day that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother"
2nd Battalion
"Not For Fame or Reward
Not For Place or For Rank
But In Simple Obedience To
Duty as They Understood It"
The 35th Infantry Regiment Association salutes our fallen brother, 1LT James Oris Blankenship, who died in the service of his country on January 8th, 1968 in Quang Tin Province, Vietnam. The cause of death was listed as Rocket/Mortar. At the time of his death James was 24 years of age. He was from Independence, Missouri. James is honored on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial at Panel 34E, Line 4.
The decorations earned by 1LT James Oris Blankenship include: the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Parachute Badge, the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal, the Vietnam Campaign Medal and the Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with Palm Unit Citation.
My husband, James Oris Blankenship, was killed in VN on Jan 8, 1968. We met just before he graduated from OCS at Ft Benning (Class #10-66). We dated while he was assigned to jump school at Ft Benning. It was truly Gods design to have us fall in love and have what little time we had together. We were married at Ft Sill, Oklahoma where we were blessed with a son before he left for VN (Douglas James, now 42). Our sons twin daughter (Julia Mae), died 7 days after birth. In those 2 months of fatherhood before going to VN, I saw a man torn between the desire to be with his family and raise his son and his loyalty to his country. We mourn his loss each day. And feel sad for those who never had the chance to spend time with this wonderful and beautiful person.
Jill Blankenship Riedel -- Peoria AZ USA -- 05/30/2010
Lt. Blankenship is buried at Fort Sill, OK
From the book Through the Valley, Vietnam, 1967-1968 by James F Humphries, at p. 134:
"More troops were on the way to reinforce 4-31. During the early evening hours of 8 January the Americal Division had directed the 2-35th Infantry, 3d Brigade, 4th Infantry Division into the Hiep Duc Valley. The 2-35th Infantry would share FSB West with 4-31 and operate between Hill 445 and the Chang River. The battalions Company D would go first, with the remainder of 2-35 closing sometime on the 10th.
And from page 138:
"By 0430 (9 January) the movement had ceased, and the NVA pulled back down the hill. Mellon reported the company at 50 percent alert. Company D, 2-35th Infantry, in positions on the south side of the perimeter, had two (Jackson and Quitmeyer) killed and three wounded during the NVA attack."
"At the end of February, the 3d Brigade, 4th Infantry Division ceded its operational area to the 196th LIB and, minus the 2-35th Infantry that followed later, moved south to rejoin the 4th Infantry Division. ... When the dust settled 4-31 was on LZ Colt; 1-6 had secured LZ Baldy; 2-35 had FSB Ryder; 2-1 was at LZ Ross; 3-21 remained on FSB Center; and 1-1st Cavalry Squadron continued to operate in the eastern sector of the Que Son Valley and the costal lowlands."
(His BSM Citation)
The Bronze Star Medal is presented to First Lieutenant James O Blankenship for meritorious service in connection with military operations against an armed hostile force in the Republic of Vietnam. First Lieutenant Blankenship distinguished himself while serving as a Platoon Leader with Company D, 2/35th Infantry during the period September 1967 to January 1968. Upon taking command of his platoon, First Lieutenant Blankenship demonstrated fine leadership ability and honed his men in infantry tactics as a small unit as well as an integral part of the company. Under the strain and hardships of combat, he remained calm and accomplished all missions in a highly professional manner. Through his cheerful attitude and deep concern for his men, he earned the respect and admiration of his men, fellow officers, and superiors. On 9 January 1968, First Lieutenant Blankenship was participating in a combat assault in Quang Tin Province when fragments from a nearby exploding mortar round mortally wounded him. His aggressiveness, professional integrity, and devotion to duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army. | {
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Heretic Outreach picks Sundance Competition title "Human Factors"
Heretic Outreach is proud to add to its slate the sophomore suspense drama HUMAN FACTORS (previously known as ZORRO) by Ronny Trocker, produced by Zischlermann filmproduktion, Bagarrefilm, Snowglobe and ZDF and set to world premiere in competition at Sundance. Told through narrative loops and shifting lenses, the film places in the center of the narrative a family only to unveil the fragility of truth in the hyper-mediatized world and the power of individual perspective.
The film follows Jan, Nina and their two kids, a cosmopolitan, middle-class family. Nina and Jan have a successful career as account executives at their advertising company, but when Jan accepts to work on the campaign of a political party, Nina's exclusion from the decision-making leads to doubting and mistrust. When they decide to spend a family weekend at their house in a coastal holiday resort, a mysterious home invasion sets everything off balance. While they try to put the incident into perspective, agitation triggers off a shake in the family core.
Ioanna Stais, Head of Sales & Acquisitions at Heretic Outreach, comments: "HUMAN FACTORS is a visually stunning and intense experience. When diving into the world of the film, you can't help falling for its narrative techniques and the intriguing characters. What we find remarkable about the film is that, weeks after first watching it, we are still peeling off different layers of the narrative and discovering new ways of approaching it".
Ronny Trocker was born in Bolzano, Italy, and grew up in a small village in the Northern Italian Alps. He lives and works mainly in Brussels. His work includes documentary, fictional and experimental short films as well as video installations, which have been shown at various festivals worldwide. In 2016, his first feature film THE EREMITES premiered in Venice Film Festival's Orizzonti section. The film was nominated for the FIPRESCI Prize at the European Film Awards 2017. | {
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HomePosts tagged 'church and state'
Pittsburgh Christian Academy Tries to Become a Charter School to Cash in on Taxpayer Funding
February 5, 2019 February 5, 2019 stevenmsinger Accountability, Betsy DeVos, Budget, capitalism, Charter Schools, church and state, Civil Rights, Corporate Education "Reform", Education, Local Control, Parents, Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Public Schools, Politics, privatization, School Choice, School Funding, school vouchers, Schools, Students, Teachers, Tom Wolf charter schools, church and state, education, First Amendment, Imani Christian Academy, Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Public Schools, public schools, separation of church and state, U.S. Constitution
The line between public and private school is getting awfully thin in Pittsburgh.
City public school directors received a request from Imani Christian Academy, a religious school in the East Hills, to be allowed to transform into Imani Academy Charter School for the Fall term of 2019.
Though parochial schools have metamorphosed into charter schools in Florida, Tennessee and Washington, D.C., this would be the first such transformation in Pennsylvania, according to Ana Meyers, executive director of the Pennsylvania Coalition of Public Charter Schools.
The change would require Imani to give up its religious curriculum in exchange for being fully funded by taxpayer dollars.
However, there are numerous red flags in the school's application that make one wonder if operators are being entirely honest about giving up a faith-based curriculum.
First, there is the proposal by the school, itself.
The application does not specify that religious values will be taught in the classroom. However, its personnel budget lists a comparative religion teacher on staff. The list of proposed teachers also includes a middle/high school religious studies teacher.
That's not exactly common practice at most public schools though teaching about religion in a secular context is allowed.
According to the Anti-defamation League's Website:
"Public schools may not teach religion, although teaching about religion in a secular context is permitted. The Bible may be taught in a school, but only for its historical, cultural or literary value and never in a devotional, celebratory or doctrinal manner, or in such a way that encourages acceptance of the Bible as a religious document."
Even so, it's awfully convenient that a school whose mission statement currently includes "We share Christ with our children daily and seek to help them grow into mature Christians" would somehow magically become secular overnight.
If Imani's charter is approved, it would be required to discontinue any religious component in its curriculum. The state school code requires even charter schools to be "nonsectarian in all operations." The proposed academy would not be permitted to display any religious objects or symbols on the premises.
Yet one wonders who will check to make sure this actually happens.
Charter schools are not required to be nearly as transparent as fully public schools. They are not required to have open meetings of school directors, release their documents for public inspection or any of a host of other safeguards that you'll find standard at the state's hundreds of fully public districts.
Pennsylvania charter schools have had operators embezzle millions of dollars from taxpayers to buy private jets, apartments and jewelry. It took investigators years to uncover such graft.
Will the few auditors tasked with keeping charter schools honest even be equipped to determine whether parochial schools suddenly turned charter actually refrain from ministering to students?
According to Public Source, a nonprofit digital newspaper covering the Pittsburgh area, one of the qualities Imani is looking for in an operator for its charter school is the ability to use the school building after-school hours for religious instruction and activities.
So during the day, there will be an entirely secular K-12 school at the site of the present day parochial school that just happens to teach comparative religious studies. Then at a certain time of day, it will transform into an optional religious school offering church functions!?
This is a violation of the Separation of Church and State waiting to happen.
But it's not only the establishment clause of the U.S. Constitution that is in danger of being trampled.
Imani's proposal is not fiscally responsible.
The charter application proposes its CEO/head of school be paid a salary of $145,000 a year for an institution that would enroll merely 230 students.
Pittsburgh Public School Superintendent Dr. Anthony Hamlet earns a salary of $210,000 a year and he oversees a district with 24,652 students!
The proposed academy would also employ a principal at $85,000 annual salary.
That's not exactly good reimbursement of services for the outlay of cash taxpayers are expected to pay.
Imani has struggled financially for several years.
In 2014, the school had more than $400,000 in additional expenses over its revenue, according to its form 990 filed with the IRS. The very next year, it had a budget surplus of almost the same amount. By 2016 – the most recent year on file – its expenses again were more than its revenue – this time by more than $500,000.
Imani CEO and Head of School Paulo Nzambi explained the up and down budgeting to state officials in 2017 this way. The parochial school relied on the state's defacto school voucher program – the Education Improvement Tax Credit. However, payments were delayed resulting in the use of a line of credit to pay bills.
It's just such financial uncertainties that are pushing Imani to become a charter school in the first place. Even with school vouchers, parochial schools rely heavily on tuition from parents. However, you always know where the money is coming from in a charter school. Like religious and private schools, these institutions are privately managed – but like public schools they're funded entirely by taxpayers.
Before setting up shop, any new charter school in Pennsylvania must get the approval of the school board from the district where it would be located. If the board does not approve the application, charter school administrators can appeal to the state Charter Appeals Board.
Pittsburgh school board held a public hearing on Imani's application in December and earlier this month. Next, the district's review team will offer its suggestions on the application. District solicitor Ira Weiss says the board is scheduled to vote on the matter at its Feb. 27 meeting.
If approved, the district would be required to pay for each student at the new charter school based on the district's per-student spending formula.
The Pittsburgh district already pays approximately $82.8 million – about 13 percent of its total budget – for charter school tuition.
Imani Christian Academy currently operates out of the former East Hills Elementary School building, which it purchased from the city school district for $1 million in 2008.
The objections brought up here are really just the tip of the iceberg.
The proposal leaves many questions unanswered. For instance, though the new academy would be located within the geographical boundaries of the Pittsburgh Public School District, where would it get its students from? Would current students at the religious school get preferential enrollment – and what if they don't already live in and pay taxes to Pittsburgh?
Let's hope Pittsburgh school directors do the right thing and deny this request.
Still can't get enough Gadfly? I've written a book, "Gadfly on the Wall: A Public School Teacher Speaks Out on Racism and Reform," now available from Garn Press. Ten percent of the proceeds go to the Badass Teachers Association. Check it out!
School Choice Week – Choosing Away Your Choice
January 24, 2018 stevenmsinger Accountability, Betsy DeVos, Budget, capitalism, Charter Schools, church and state, Civil Rights, Corporate Education "Reform", Education, Local Control, Parents, Politics, Prejudice, privatization, Propaganda, Racism, School Choice, school closings, School Funding, school segregation, school vouchers, Schools, segregation, small class size, Social Justice, Standardized Testing, Students, Teachers, Unions charter schools, church and state, Local Control, Privatize, propaganda, public schools, scam, scandal, School Choice, School Choice Week, school vouchers
School Choice Week is one of the greatest scams in American history.
It is a well-funded, thoroughly organized attempt to trick parents into signing away their right to make educational choices about their children.
It goes like this:
Salesman: Would you like a choice?
Parent: Sure!
Salesman: Then just agree to never have another choice again.
That's it in a nutshell.
Choose not to choose.
When you decide to send your child to a so-called choice school – a charter or voucher institution – you lose almost every other choice about what happens at your child's school.
Sound impossible?
Let me count the decisions you lose by signing on the dotted line.
When you send your child to a school paid for with public money but run by a private organization, you lose:
–AN ELECTED SCHOOL BOARD, so you have no say about what the school does.
–OPEN DOCUMENTS, so you have no right to see budgets, spending agreements, bids, contracts, etc.
–OPEN MEETINGS, so you have no public place to speak up to the people who run your school.
–RIGHT TO SELF-GOVERNMENT, so you have no right to run for a leadership position on the school board. Instead you're at the mercy of appointed flunkies.
–THE RIGHT OF ENROLLMENT, so school operators get to choose whether your child gets to attend, unlike public schools which have to accept your child no matter what – so long as you live in the district.
–QUALITY SERVICES, so school operators can cut services for your child and pocket the savings as profit or use it to advertise to get more paying butts in seats.
–QUALITY TEACHERS, because most charter and voucher schools aren't required to hire educators with 4-year degrees, and since they don't pay as well as public schools and often refuse to let their teachers unionize, they attract less experienced and distinguished educators.
–DIVERSE CLASSMATES, because charter and voucher schools increase segregation. Your children will be educated with more kids that look just like them. That's healthy!
And that's merely at MOST privatized schools. But that's not all. At some privatized schools you can lose even more! You may also lose:
–COMMON SENSE DISCIPLINE POLICIES, so your children will be held to a zero tolerance discipline policy where they may have to sit quietly, eyes forward, marching in line or else face aggressive public reprimands and harsh punishments.
–AN UNBIASED SECULAR EDUCATION, so your children will be taught religion and politics as if they were fact – all funded by public tax dollars! Hear that sound? That's our Founders crying.
–FREE TIME, so you'll be required to volunteer at the school regardless of your ability to do so. Gotta' work? Tough!
–MONEY, so you'll have to pay tuition, buy expensive uniforms, school supplies or other amenities.
And if your children are struggling academically, you may also lose:
–ENROLLMENT, so your child is given the boot back to the public school because he or she is having difficulty learning, and thus costs too much to educate.
You lose all that if you decide to enroll your child in a charter or voucher school!
But that's not all!
If you DON'T decide to send your child to a so-called choice school, you can still lose choice!
Why? Because of the rubes who were fooled into give up their choice. When they did that, they took some of your choices, too.
Because of them, you still lose:
-NECESSARY FUNDING, because your public school has to make up the money it lost to charter and voucher schools somewhere, and that means fewer resources and services for your child.
-LOWER CLASS SIZES, because your public school has to fire teachers and increase class size to make up for lost revenue.
-FAIR ASSESSMENTS, because the state and federal government require your child to take unfair high stakes tests to "prove" your public school is failing and thus justify replacing it with a charter or voucher school – as if those have ever been proven to be better, but whatever! CA-CHING! CA-CHING!
This is what you get from School Choice Week.
It's a uniquely American experience – selling the loss of choice — as choice.
And all the while they try to convince you that public schools are the ones that take away your alternatives.
Yet public schools are where you get all those things you lose at privatized schools.
You get elected school boards, open documents, open meetings, the right to self-government, the right of enrollment, quality services, quality teachers, diverse classmates, common sense discipline policies, an unbiased secular education, free time and money! That's right! You actually get all that and more money in your pocket!
I'm not saying public schools are perfect. There are many ways they need to improve, but it's difficult to do so when many of the people tasked with improving these schools are more concerned with sabotaging them to make room for privatized systems.
These are paid employees of the charter and voucher school movement who want to kill public schools – BUT THE KILLER IS ALREADY IN THE HOUSE!
Imagine if we dedicated ourselves to making our public school system better!
Imagine if we committed to giving parents and students more choices in the system and not trying to replace that system with one that gives all the benefits and choices away to corporate vultures!
So, yeah, School Choice Week is a scam.
But, hey, enjoy those yellow scarfs.
Stupid Ass School Voucher Bill Back for Pennsylvania Vote Tomorrow
October 23, 2017 stevenmsinger Accountability, church and state, Civil Rights, Corporate Education "Reform", Democrat, Education, Parents, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Philadelphia Schools, Pittsburgh Public Schools, Politics, Poverty, privatization, Propaganda, Republican, School Choice, School Funding, school vouchers, Schools, small class size, Students, Teachers church and state, John DiSanto, Pennsylvania, Politics, private schools, Privatize, School Choice, school vouchers, separation of church and state
Close your eyes and imagine a school like the one where I teach.
The public middle school is right next door to a Catholic middle school.
Some of the wealthiest families send their kids to the religious school. The rest send their kids to the public school.
Now imagine that the state passes a school voucher bill.
Those wealthy families can now use public tax dollars to help fund their kids' Catholic school tuition.
A truckload of taxpayer wealth would be redistributed away from the public school and into the religious one.
And this is for children who weren't attending public school in the first place.
Imagine what an impact that would have on the two schools. At the Catholic middle school, not much would change. At most a few more kids might enroll. And wealthy parents would get to pay less in tuition.
At the public middle school, however, the results would be disastrous. It would have to survive on much less funding than it was already receiving. Services for the majority of students in the district would be degraded. Class sizes would balloon. Educational quality would take a nose dive.
So why wouldn't more kids from the public school move to the Catholic one?
Well, first of all, few kids in the district are Catholic. Should they be forced to be indoctrinated in a faith in which they don't believe?
Second, tuition at the Catholic school costs more than the price of the voucher. Parents would have to pay above and beyond what they're paying now to make tuition at the Catholic school. And this is a mostly poor neighborhood. Parents simply can't afford it.
THIS is the situation the Pennsylvania Education Committee will vote on tomorrow.
The committee will decide whether State Sen. John DiSanto's school voucher bill should be voted on by the state Senate and House.
School vouchers are not popular at both the national and state level.
Around 70% of people across the country oppose school vouchers, according to the PDK-Gallup public opinion poll about U.S. education.
Moreover, Harrisburg wastepaper baskets are lined with school voucher bills that fail to pass despite being introduced every few years.
DiSanto's bill is called Education Savings Accounts for Students in Underperforming Schools or SB 2.
And guess what!?
It's almost exactly the same as a pile of similar bills offered by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).
The Special Needs Scholarship Program Act, The Foster Child Scholarship Program Act, "Opportunity Scholarships," The Smart Start Scholarship Program – all ALEC bills that do almost the same thing.
They designate some group of at risk students and say, "Hey, you know what they need? School vouchers!"
Well, my goodness. I'm sure glad DiSanto didn't stress himself out writing something new. I'm certain his constituents wanted him to plagiarize someone else's bill and pretend like it was his own.
And how exactly will spending public tax dollars on non-public schools help these kids succeed? That's never explained.
Fools like DiSanto just pretend that it will help as a matter of faith. And since the overwhelming majority of school vouchers go to religious school coffers, this makes sense.
It is a blatant violation of the separation of church and state. But privatization supporters don't give a crap about that. They don't care about the values on which this country where founded. Their only concern is doing what their rich donors demand.
SB 2 would target students living in districts with the most underfunded schools serving the most impoverished populations. You know – "failing schools."
If passed, kids living in these neighborhoods would have whatever the district sets aside for each student put in a savings account to be spent in almost any way parents see fit so long as they could somehow justify it as educational.
Send your kids to a private or parochial school?
Homeschool your child?
Go on a trip to the life-sized replica of Noah's Ark in Williamstown, Kentucky?
You betcha!
And the best part is there is hardly any accountability built in to the law, so we probably wouldn't even know how this money was spent.
Your tax dollars at work. Somehow. Somewhere. Out of sight.
I guess that's what Pennsylvania Republicans like DiSanto call fiscal conservatism.
If passed, the bill would affect 800 schools – the 15% lowest performing in the state – including mine.
Take a look at the list.
Every school serves mostly poor students. Every school is severely underfunded.
Pennsylvania ranks 45th out of 50 for school funding. There are only five states in the country where the state government pays less of the cost of educating students. The Commonwealth relies on local municipalities to make up the difference. That means local property taxes, so the richer an area you live in, the more money it can afford to pay to educate children. The poorer an area where you live, the less it can pay.
This is why Pennsylvania has the widest disparity between how much it spends on rich kids vs. poor ones. Wealthy children are cherished and coddled. Poor ones are left to fend for themselves.
This voucher bill would only exacerbate the situation.
It's a giveaway to those who don't need it at the expense of those who can least afford to pay.
If you live in the Commonwealth, please call and/or write your state Senator and Representative and ask them to oppose this bill.
Supreme Court Paves the Way to Taxing Churches
June 27, 2017 stevenmsinger Accountability, church and state, Civil Rights, Corporate Education "Reform", Donald Trump, Education, Judicial Reform, Politics, privatization, Republican, School Choice, School Funding, school vouchers, Schools church and state, Politics, religion, Republicans, School Choice, school vouchers, separation of church and state, Supreme Court, Taxation
Finally some good news!
A U.S. Supreme Court decision yesterday pokes a hole in the separation of church and state. But that hole goes both ways.
Justices ruled 7-2 that Missouri could not withhold tax dollars to resurface a playground at a church preschool simply on the grounds that it's a religious institution.
Therefore, one can expect any day now a ruling that the church can't be exempted from paying taxes for the same reason.
Here's the key issue.
Traditionally, the government doesn't pay for the church. But now our highest court in the land has ruled that's discriminatory!
Never mind that Missouri actually relented in this case and paid for the concrete anyway making the entire ruling moot and something that no other Supreme Court in history would have voted on because doing so would expose justices as being activists legislating from the bench.
No. Now that Republicans stole the seat of President Barack Obama's rightful nominee, Merrick Garland, with President Donald Trump's nominee, Neil Gorsuch (i.e. Scalia 2.0), the court is a decidedly fascist institution.
In other words, it's no longer a body of scholarly justices dedicated to interpreting the law. It's now a shell corporation of paid corporate lobbyists issuing justifications to support the mandates of the billionaire class.
The five wealthiest people in the country have as much money as 750 million people – each. And most of these mega-rich want to destroy our public school system so they can hoover up tax dollars into their private portfolios. (Once you've got that much money, it's just a game where you're playing against other multi-billionaires to see who can get all the money, flip over the board and proclaim themselves King.)
To do this, they need school vouchers to help destabilize the system. Chop it down, remove any pretense of accountability to taxpayers about how that money is being spent and then sweep up that sweet, sweet money.
It also has the added benefit of ensuring the next generation is dumb enough to – I don't know – continue voting for reality TV stars as President.
But that's just the most obvious implication.
Now that the state has been shown to be responsible to support the church, the reverse has also been proven: the church has responsibilities to support the state.
That's right. No more tax free status for houses of worship.
Get ready to dig deep into your pockets, parishioners. Uncle Sam needs a new pair of shoes.
Who's paying for all those needless wars of aggression? The Church Lady! That's who!
Where are we going to get the money to keep up the counterproductive war on drugs? The collection plate!
Yep. The assembled flock is about to get fleeced!
What conservatives seem to forget is that the wall of separation between church and state wasn't erected just to protect the state from influence by religion. It also was set up to protect religion from the state.
Once you have money flowing from one to the other, regulations are soon to follow.
Expect your cute little parochial school to put away the Bible and replace it with "The Origin of Species".
What? Your faith compels you to believe in the Creation of Man by God and not scientific evolution of organisms through heritable traits? I guess you'll just have to teach the controversy.
Some people in America still think that there's value in having both public and private schools. They seem to think that it's actually a benefit having school systems where people are taught differently. But this new ruling paves the way (pun intended) to breaking down the walls between each type of institution.
Yes, public schools will become more like religious schools. But religious schools will also become more like public schools.
The entire education system will become one big watered down whole. And – giggle – those pushing for it actually call the process "School Choice"!
Oh the plutocrats will do their best to cover it all up with culture war nonsense. You'll hear hours of cable news blather about poor conservative bakers fighting not to make cupcakes for gay people. But behind this high profile grist for the mill will be active efforts at homogenization, government overreach and oligarchy.
There's one way in which this is good news. Some people have always thought churches were getting off easy, that they were being allowed undue influence on politics without having to pay the entrance fee of taxation like the rest of us.
However, this was only ever true at some houses of worship. Others were dedicated to spirituality, community and charity while eschewing affairs of state altogether.
This new ruling rips away protections from those authentically beneficent congregations as it does those more politically inclined. It exposes the preacher and the partisan equally.
Moreover, anyone who doesn't want their tax dollars supporting someone else's religious beliefs can expect their cries to fall on deaf ears. Christians will fund Muslims and Jews will fund Christians and all will pay for the Church of Satan and whatever sect is formed to take advantage of this brave new source of tax revenue. Religion is now decidedly in the public domain and all that goes with it.
The results are bound to displease everyone – except the mega-rich.
In short, you can't tear down the rules that were set up to protect everyone without opening us all up to ruin.
America's religious people are about to find that out.
It's almost poetic justice.
Get ready to reap what you sow.
Betsy's Choice: School Privatization Over Kids' Civil Rights
June 7, 2017 June 8, 2017 stevenmsinger Accountability, Betsy DeVos, Budget, Campaign Donations, capitalism, Charter Schools, Civil Rights, Congress, Corporate Education "Reform", Democrat, Donald Trump, Education, Obama, Politics, Prejudice, President, privatization, Racism, Republican, School Choice, School Funding, school vouchers, Schools, Sexism, Teachers Betsy DeVos, charter schools, children, church and state, Civil Rights, Donald Trump, LGBT, Privatize, Republicans, School Choice, school vouchers
Betsy DeVos seems to be confused about her job.
As U.S. Secretary of Education, she is responsible for upholding the civil rights of all U.S. students.
She is NOT a paid lobbyist for the school privatization industry.
Yet when asked point blank by Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) whether her department would ensure that private schools receiving federal school vouchers don't discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) students, she refused to give a straight answer.
She said that the these schools would be required to follow all federal antidiscrimination laws but her department would not issue any clarifications or directives about exactly how they should be doing it.
"On areas where the law is unsettled, this department is not going to be issuing decrees. That is a matter for Congress and the courts to settle," DeVos said at a hearing before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education yesterday.
"I think you just said where it's unsettled, such discrimination will continue to be allowed under your program. If that's incorrect, please correct it for the record," Merkley replied.
DeVos did not correct him.
Instead she simply repeated, "Schools that receive federal funds will follow federal law, period."
Merkley said she was dodging the question.
"I think that's very important for the public to know, that today, the secretary of education, before this committee, refused to affirm that she would put forward a program that would ban discrimination based on LGBTQ status of students or would ban discrimination based on religion," he said.
"Discrimination in any form is wrong. I don't support discrimination in any form," DeVos replied.
But that doesn't mean she'll fight against it.
She held firm to her position that it is not her job as Secretary of Education to fight for students' civil rights. That is the responsibility of Congress and the courts.
But she's wrong.
The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is part of the Department of Education.
According to the department's own Website, the "OCR's mission is to ensure equal access to education and to promote educational excellence through vigorous enforcement of civil rights in our nation's schools."
There is nothing "unsettled" about that at all. What IS unsettled is how and if the U.S. Constitution allows federal funds to be spent on private schools in any manner whatsoever.
At very least, it has been argued that giving tax dollars to parochial schools violates the establishment clause of the First Amendment guaranteeing a separation of church and state. Moreover, the degree to which voucher schools that don't explicitly teach religion would have to abide by federal laws about what they can and should do is likewise "unsettled."
Yet DeVos has no problem advocating for the school privatization industry. In fact, it has been her lifelong calling. As a billionaire Republican mega-donor, that's exactly what she's done for years – shoving bundles of cash at candidates and lawmakers to support school vouchers and charter schools.
Someone needs to remind her that that is no longer her role. In her official capacity as Secretary of Education, her job is not to advocate for school choice. But it IS her job to protect students' civil rights – regardless of the type of school those students attend.
If a school is at all public, she is responsible for ensuring those students' rights. And receiving public funds makes a school public.
Specifically, she is responsible for ensuring no child is discriminated against on the basis of race, color and national origin, according to Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This includes protecting children who are being treated unfairly due to limited understanding of the English language or who are still learning to speak the language. This includes children experiencing bigotry as a result of their shared ancestry, ethnicity or religion such as Muslims, Sikhs or Jews.
It is also her job to protect children from sexual discrimination as per Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. No matter her own personal conservative views, she must protect pregnant teens or teen parents. And to speak toward Merkley's point, according to the Department's Website, this explicitly includes, "…sex stereotypes (such as treating persons differently because they do not conform to sex-role expectations or because they are attracted to or are in relationships with persons of the same sex); and gender identity or transgender status."
She is also required to be a champion of students with disabilities as per Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Moreover, Title II explicitly forbids public entities – whether or not they receive federal funds – from demonstrating any partiality against students with disabilities.
And that's just the tip of the iceberg. She has to protect against age discrimination per the Age Discrimination Act of 1975 and enforce the Boy Scouts of America Equal Access Act. She is responsible for investigating complaints about equal access to youth groups conducting meetings at public schools and/or that receive federal funding.
To quote the Website, one more time:
"These civil rights laws extend to all state education agencies, elementary and secondary school systems, colleges and universities, vocational schools, proprietary schools, state vocational rehabilitation agencies, libraries and museums that receive federal financial assistance from ED [the Education Department]."
I'm not so sure DeVos understand this – at all.
Nor do I expect her to get much help from the political ideologues she's using to staff the department.
Take her choice for Assistant Secretary in the Office for Civil Rights, Candice Jackson.
She's an ANTI-Civil Rights activist. She literally doesn't believe in the office she's running.
The 39-year-old attorney is anti-women's rights, anti-distributive justice and possibly even anti-compulsory education and anti-Civil Rights Act of 1964!
She once filed a complaint against her prestigious college, Stanford University, for discriminating against her rights as a rich, white person by refusing to allow her access to free minority tutoring.
For all its faults, the Barack Obama administration took civil rights seriously. So much so that conservatives often criticized the Democratic organization as being overzealous in the execution of its duties.
The Obama era Education Department issued so many clarifications of the law that it received a record number of civil rights complaints. This required hundreds of additional lawyers and investigators and increasing the civil rights division by 30 percent.
Complaints went from more than six thousand in 2009 to almost ten thousand in 2015. Of these, the largest increase was in complaints of sex discrimination.
However, President Donald Trump has recommended the Department be downsized in his budget proposal.
The Reality TV star would cut the Department's budget by 13 percent, or $9 billion, eliminating after-school and summer programming for kids and professional development for teachers. Instead, he would invest $250 million in a school voucher incentive program and an additional $168 million for charter schools.
Also, getting a boost is personal security for DeVos, herself. She is spending an additional $1 million a month for U.S. Marshalls to guard her against protesters.
It should come as no surprise that Trump and DeVos don't support the mission of the Department of Education. Both have expressed interest in disbanding the office altogether.
In a February magazine interview, DeVos said, "It would be fine with me to have myself worked out of a job. But I'm not sure that – I'm not sure that there will be a champion movement in Congress to do that."
Likewise, Trump wrote in his 2015 book "Great Again: How to Fix Our Crippled America" that "if we don't eliminate [the department] completely, we certainly need to cut its power and reach."
That is exactly what DeVos is doing.
Under Presidents George W. Bush and Obama, it could be argued the Department was guilty of overreach. But Trump and DeVos are going in the opposite extreme.
Someone has to look out for students' civil rights. That someone has traditionally been the Department of Education. With DeVos abdicating her responsibilities and continuing her role as a school privatization cheerleader, it is anyone's guess who – if anyone – will step into the void.
Charter Schools and Voucher Schools are Virtually Identical
May 18, 2017 stevenmsinger Accountability, Betsy DeVos, Budget, Campaign Donations, Charter Schools, Corporate Education "Reform", Cyber Charter Schools, Democrat, Donald Trump, Education, Obama, Politics, Prejudice, President, privatization, Propaganda, Republican, School Choice, School Funding, school vouchers, Schools, Standardized Testing, Teachers Betsy DeVos, charter schools, church and state, Democrats, Donald Trump, education, neofascist, neoliberal, Politics, Privatize, rebranding, Republicans, school vouchers
The stark orange monolith that was Donald Trump is starting to crumble.
And with it so are the dreams of corporate education reformers everywhere.
Where in previous administrations they could pass off their policies as Democratic or Republican depending on whichever way the wind blows, today their brand has been so damaged by Trump's advocacy, they fear it may never recover.
Under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, they could champion both charter schools and school vouchers with impunity. But now the privatizers and profiteers hiding in progressive clothing are trying desperately to rebrand.
Not only is Trump's voucher plan deeply unpopular, but the public has already begun to associate any kind of school privatization with a doomed President.
So like cockroaches, neoliberals have begun to skitter to one type of privatization over another. Fake Democrats hide beneath unfettered charter school expansion. Bought-and-sold Republicans cling to the idea that we should spend taxpayer dollars on private and parochial schools.
But is there a real substantial difference between each of these so-called "choice" schemes? Or are they both just scams when compared with traditional public schools?
Charter Schools and Private Schools are basically the same thing.
The biggest difference between the two is funding.
Charter schools are completely funded by tax dollars. Private schools – even when school vouchers are used – often need to be subsidized by parents. For instance, many private schools charge tuition of $30,000 – $40,000 a year. Vouchers rarely provide more than $6,000. So at best they bring the cost down but still make it impossible for most students to attend private schools.
Sure they may start as an effort to allow only impoverished children to use tax dollars towards private and parochial school tuition. But they soon grow to include middle class and wealthy children, thus partially subsidizing attendance at the most exclusive schools in the country for those families who can already afford it.
Parochial schools, meanwhile, are exactly the same except for one meaningful difference. They teach religion.
Their entire curriculum comes from a distinctly religious point of view. They indoctrinate youth into a way of seeing the world that is distinctly non-secular.
Progressives complain that using tax dollars to pay for student tuition at such schools – even only partial tuition – violates a foundational principal of our nation.
Using public money to pay for religious teaching has historically been interpreted as a violation of the establishment clause of the first Amendment to the Constitution – namely, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…" Thomas Jefferson called it "a wall of separation between Church and State."
This is further exacerbated in many parochial schools where religious teaching includes a blatant political bias toward conservatism. Children at many of these schools are taught that supply side economics, voter disenfranchisement and prejudice are normative bedrock truths.
These are the main distinctions between voucher and charter schools.
In short, they're not all exactly the same. And corporate reform apologist are trying to rebuild their brand on these split hairs.
But the similarities between these types of school are much more striking.
THE SIMILARITIES
The biggest commonality between these types of educational institutions is how they're run. Unlike traditional public schools – which are governed by duly-elected school boards – charter, private and parochial schools are overseen by private interests. They are administered by independent management firms. They rarely have elected school boards. Their operators rarely make decisions in public, and their budgets and other documents are not open to review by taxpayers. This is true despite the fact that they are funded to varying degrees by public tax dollars.
So in all three cases, these schools are run privately, but taxpayers pick up the tab.
It's ironic. Sending kids to charters, private and parochial schools with public money is called school choice. However, each of these types of schools gives taxpayers much less choice about how their money is being spent.
The community funds the school, but almost all decisions are made by people outside of the community – people appointed, in fact, by bureaucrats or business managers.
To be sure, parents can express their displeasure of administrative decisions by disenrolling their children in the school. But beyond this nuclear option, they are powerless. Even more troubling, taxpayers without children or with children who do not attend these schools have no say whatsoever about how their money is spent.
And to add insult to injury, it doesn't even really allow the parents to choose which schools their children attend. They can put in a request for their kids to attend a choice school, but enrollment decisions are made by these same private equity managers. In short, administrators make the ultimate choice – not parents.
If the religious school doesn't want to accept your child for whatever reason including operators' disapproval of your religious beliefs, they don't have to accept him. If the private school doesn't want to accept your child based on race, gender or nationality, they don't have to accept him. If the charter school doesn't want to accept your child because of bad grades or troublesome behaviors, they don't have to accept him.
The traditional public school, however, cannot refuse a child who lives in district borders for any of these reasons. In effect, school choice really isn't about parental choice. It's about increasing choice for the operators of privatized schools – letting them choose their students and how to spend your money without any meaningful input from you.
And it's true at all three types of school!
Those are pretty considerable similarities. Moreover, they highlight major differences between these so-called choice schools and traditional public schools.
This is important because we don't even have to get into the academic records of individual schools. The way each type of school is structured shows the clear inferiority of choice schools compared to traditional public schools.
By their very structure, public schools give parents and taxpayers much more agency in children's education and how taxpayer money is spent.
Second, the latitude for school administrators to perpetrate fraud on the public is maximized in so-called choice schools and minimized in public schools. This doesn't mean public schools are perfect, but it is much better to have a school under public scrutiny and local control than otherwise. This is demonstrated by the huge numbers of charter school scandals popping up in the news every day, where charters close suddenly, money is misspent on luxury items for operators that have nothing to do with education, and – especially in cyber charters – the quality of education students receive is literally lower than having no formal education at all.
Finally, if public schools struggle, it is almost always due to a lack of equitable funding and a surplus of impoverished students. It is no accident that poor students receive less resources and larger class sizes than middle class or wealthy ones. Nor is it an accident that we judge the effectiveness of schools primarily on standardized tests which are so good at highlighting the results of lack of resources rather than any academic deficiency.
If we spent our education dollars ensuring equitable resources instead of funneling tax dollars to charter, private and parochial schools, we would better increase the quality of children's education. But for the last few decades that has not been the goal of education policy. It has instead been to enrich these same privatized school managers and investors – the corporate education reform industry. Nor is it a coincidence that this industry and its subsidiaries counts itself as major donors to both political parties.
Before she was elevated to Education Secretary, Betsy DeVos was exactly that – a billionaire mega-donor pushing school privatization while getting richer off investments in the same. Now that she's driving school vouchers off a cliff in the Trump train, her co-conspirators are getting nervous.
Neoliberal Democrats may try to save the movement by claiming charter schools are completely different. But they aren't. They are fundamentally the same.
The public sees the clear similarities between these kinds of schools. And much of that is thanks to the incompetent boobery of Donald J. Trump. | {
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"You Suck, Dick! Love, Deep Throat": 'Dick' at 20, and the Bygone Age of Strong Political Satire
This month marks the 20th anniversary of Dick, a beautifully sharp satire of the Watergate scandal. The film arrived in August of 1999 (25 years after Nixon's resignation) and was full of in-jokes aimed at boomers who had lived through the Watergate scandal and knew its details backwards and forwards, mostly from Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein's books, the All The President's Men movie, and Oliver Stone's Nixon, which had arrived just four years earlier.
The genius of Dick's script, credited to director Andrew Fleming and his co-writer Sheryl Longin was that it filled what were then the mysteries of Watergate, from the identity of Deep Throat to the story behind the 18 1/2 minute gap.
The film arrived in August of 1999 (25 years after Nixon's resignation) and was full of in-jokes aimed at boomers who had lived through the Watergate scandal…
In the film, a pair of 15-year-old girls (played by Michelle Williams and Kirsten Dunst) live in the Watergate complex, and through a series of misunderstandings, are invited to become the official dog walkers for Checkers, the dog belonging to President Nixon (Dan Hedaya).
Their interactions with Nixon, Forrest Gump-like, help lead to a wide variety of world historical events between 1972 and 1974. They feed Nixon pot brownies, leading him to enter into peace talks to end the Vietnam War. They accidentally convince John Dean to resign and cooperate against Nixon. And then they become "Deep Throat," a fact that stayed a secret for decades because Woodward and Bernstein (Will Ferrell and Bruce McCulloch) were too embarrassed to tell anyone about it.
No X in Nixon
The movie is funny on its own merits, while also full of hilarious in-jokes for people who know every detail of Watergate. Dan Hedaya is one of the better movie Nixons, up there with Philip Baker Hall and Anthony Hopkins, and the cast is chockful of veterans of The Kids in the Hall in mid-'90s-era Saturday Night Live. And watch for a young Ryan Reynolds, as Haldeman's teenaged son.
It's hard to top the ending of All The President's Men, but Dick somehow matches it:
Today's Dick
As you may have noticed, there hasn't been the equivalent of a movie like Dick recently. It's not exactly a golden time for political satire, especially at the movies.
A lot of people believed that the Trump era would be a strong time for comedy, but it really hasn't worked out that way, as every once-formidable major comedy organ from Saturday Night Live to The Onion to The Daily Show has utterly failed to contend with the Trump era.
A lot of people believed that the Trump era would be a strong time for comedy, but it really hasn't worked out that way…
The major Trump-era comedy touchstones, it appears, are Alec Baldwin's weak-tea Trump impression and late-night hosts who have turned to "clapter" – liberal platitudes that may earn audience applause, but certainly not laughs.
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Adam McKay, the longtime writing partner of Will Ferrell (who played Bob Woodward in Dick), not only has pivoted from comedy to earnest political films, but made a movie last year not about the Trump Administration but rather Dick Cheney.
There's some funny stuff at the margins, like James Adomian's impression of Sebastian Gorka, and while the Showtime cartoon Our Cartoon President does occasional decent material, its Trump character is a dud at all times. Even Sacha Baron Cohen's Who is America? drew most of its brilliant humor out of its Israeli colonel character; the more Trump-adjacent parts of the show were much less successful.
Why has comedy struggled with Trump so much? I return to Patton Oswalt's analogy:
"Imagine there's a guy out on the sidewalk, and he's just taking a dump on the pavement, and he's yelling about Hitler, and he's hanging wallpaper. So you think of the funniest joke about a guy taking a dump on the sidewalk, and you turn to tell your friend. And as you turn to tell your friend, behind you, he has scooped up his poop and made a sombrero out of it."
A 21st Century Dick?
Will we get better satire about Trump at some point in the future? It's certainly possible. Dick, after all, came out a quarter century after Nixon's fall. In the meantime, I would love to see an In the Loop-style treatment of the Trump Administration, or one that finds a strange, side-entrance into mockery of the current White House.
But a Trump satire along the lines of Dick? It's just hard to imagine it working. America is so fragmented, with "shared memory" essentially a thing of the past, that it's hard to imagine lightning striking twice in such a way.
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How To Stop Procrastinating
"Tomorrow - A mystical land where 99% of all human productivity, motivation and achievement are stored"
Regardless of how many productivity books we've bought (and haven't read) or how many motivational videos we've watched (and never acted upon), we all struggle at some point during our lives with the productivity plague of the modern era - procrastination.
In fact, procrastination is not new. Ancient Greek philosophers developed a word for it – akrasia – meaning to act against our better judgement by doing one thing even though we know we should be doing something else. Since then, this innate affliction to act against our better judgement, delay necessary action and procrastinate over our personal tasks has evolved to such an extent that the humour of the opening quote really comes from the fact that it's so painfully true.
In this post, we'll discuss (1) Why we all procrastinate, (2)How we can stop procrastinating.
Why do we procrastinate?
Procrastination is a perfect example of present bias.
Present bias is the idea that even though we can set as many goals for our future self as we want, it's our present self that has to do the action to get there. Unfortunately, our brains aren't wired to appreciate long term benefits and our present self will always prefer short-term pleasures in the form of instant gratification which often comes at the expense of longer term outcomes.
Here's what a 2013 study called procrastination:
Procrastination is the primacy of short-term mood repair … over the longer-term pursuit of intended actions.
In other words, procrastination is about being more focused on the immediate urgency of managing negative moods and pushing the problem away than getting on with the task in the present moment.
When we put things off until some point in the future (eg: tomorrow, next week or worst of all, 'at some point'), the tension we feel disappears. The task is lifted off our shoulders. We feel happy that we've assigned a time to get the task done, even if that time is 'at some point in the future'.
The confusing thing about procrastination is that, in certain scenarios, we know we can't afford to procrastinate.
In my job as a doctor, I can't delay treating someone just because it involves doing something unpleasant, or if it means I have to stay overtime.
But when I have the space and freedom to manage my own time, suddenly that world of distraction and the ability to make excuses to myself means that I feel able to offload many tasks onto my future self.
And yet we know that procrastination isn't good for us.
Delaying tasks that we simply have to do is going to catch up with us at some point. Especially if those tasks have deadlines, or carry consequences for not doing them. Eventually we'll feel the effects of our delaying tactics.
So what can we do about procrastination?
Well, for me, understanding the truth behind two key factors - motivation and momentum - and using a couple of simple rules - the two minute rule and the ten minute rule - have all helped reduce the burden that procrastination brings to my life.
It's typical to hear people say "I just can't summon up the motivation", "I wish I had more motivation" or "I need some motivation to start".
Source: Screw Motivation What You Need is Discipline
The truth is, we've got motivation wrong.
Motivation is not the spark or the cause of action, it's the result of that action.
As Jeff Haden says in his book 'The Motivation Myth'
Motivation isn't something you have, motivation is something you get, automatically, from feeling good about achieving small successes.
If action is conditional on feelings, waiting for the right mood becomes a particularly insidious form of procrastination. Whether we like to admit it or not, motivation is basically a myth.
So, if not motivation, then what?
I've started to replace the idea of motivation with that of discipline. Discipline is like an engine that, once started, actually supplies energy to our system. It also creates habits which means that we don't have to rely on willpower alone to try to summon up some short term burst of energy.
In essence, discipline produces action which leads to a more sustainable form of motivation.
Source: Procrastination: A Scientific Guide on How to Stop Procrastinating
Overcoming or getting past the idea of 'finding' motivation can help you get started. Getting started is the key factor for the other critical idea - Momentum.
The resistance we have to a task is usually at its greatest before we begin. The simple thought of starting and overcoming that resistance is where procrastination thrives.
In fact, Steven Pressfield in his book, THE WAR OF ART, describes this feeling of 'the resistance' as a universal force that has one sole mission: to keep things as they are, preventing action, creativity and progress.
In other words, resistance provides the beating heart of procrastination.
BUT as soon as we start, as soon as we cross the action line, the pain begins to subside. The problem is not doing the work but just starting the work.
Momentum can't build up by putting something off. A ball can't start rolling down a hill until you push it over the edge but once you've pushed it over the edge, it builds momentum and is difficult to stop.
James Clear calls this the "physics of productivity" because of how it relates to Newton's First Law of Motion or the Law of Inertia which states that:
Every body remains in a state of constant velocity unless acted upon by an external unbalanced force.
When we're procrastinating we're in a state of rest - motivation doesn't start the ball rolling. Only action can act as the "external unbalanced force" to push us into a state of motion. Once moving, a feedback loop develops and it becomes harder to stop because the desire to complete tasks provides the drive necessary to continue moving forward.
As soon as I realised this, I began to be more mindful of developing this momentum. It reinforces the importance of starting, in whatever way possible, because any action will start the ball rolling, making subsequent actions easier and procrastination more difficult.
The Two Rules for Beating Procrastination
For many of us, procrastination usually revolves around tasks that are either:
Small and annoying OR
Large and daunting.
After learning to appreciate the importance of motivation and momentum, I've found two techniques that are particularly helpful in overcoming each of these types of task: the two-minute rule and the ten-minute rule.
The Two-Minute Rule
The two-minute rule is a concept put forward by productivity guru David Allen in his book Getting Things Done. The main idea is that, if we have a pending task that can be completed in less than two minutes then we should do it right away. No hesitation, no delay. If it'll take longer than two minutes we should write it down on a list to return to when we have more time.
It's as simple as that.
This strategy of time management eliminates unnecessary procrastination over small chores or tasks and reduces the clutter in our brain that distracts us from the bigger picture.
The 10-Minute Rule
Clearly there are some tasks that we can't just complete in two minutes. Planning, writing and filming a whole YouTube video can't be completed in two minute segments. Writing a thesis would be difficult to complete in 2 minute intervals. Creating a presentation at work is difficult to create in 2 minutes. You get the idea.
However, if we do find ourselves procrastinating over these larger, more daunting tasks, the other technique I use to get started is the 10-minute rule.
The 10-minute rule is simple. If I'm finding myself procrastinating from something I have to do, I tell myself that I'm just going to do it for 10 minutes. No more, no less. Just 10 minutes.
But the power behind this technique goes back to the idea of momentum.
Once I've got going, having done 10 minutes, I don't want to stop especially when I'm making progress. Suddenly momentum builds up, one task leads to another which leads to another. Obviously, you might be bored after 10 minutes but we don't like leaving tasks half-done and so 10 minutes quickly turns into 20, then 30 and suddenly you're making progress.
Some people call this the 30 minute rule, the 20 minute rule, the 5 minute rule - it doesn't really matter what it's called, the idea is the same: we're tricking our brain into getting started because we think we won't be doing it for long.
Fundamentally, overcoming procrastination is about maintaining discipline, generating momentum and ensuring that the tasks that you need to do on any given day are achievable and manageable.
Despite the advice that I've given in this article, I still struggle with moments of procrastination. We all do.
Procrastination is a character flaw that we all have. What matters is that we can recognise it, learn to manage it, develop strategies to overcome it and create a system that minimises the opportunity for it to emerge in the future - that's something we can all start developing today, or maybe leave it till tomorrow... | {
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'Not duty of government to bail ADCs from financial crunch': Meghalaya Deputy CM
Stating that the Government cannot provide any kind of financial assistance to help the ADCs in the payment of the salaries, he said that it is the job of the District councils to pay the salaries from its own resources.
Meghalaya Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong. (File Photo)
Meghalaya Deputy Minister, Prestone Tynsong has clarified that it is not the duty of the State Government to bail out the three Autonomous District Councils (ADCs) who are facing severe financial crunch.
"The ADCs are separate entities and it is not under the State Government. As per agreement, which was arrived long time back, the responsibility of the government was to release the outstanding dues of the share from royalties on the mineral sources to the three ADCs," Tynsong told reporters here today.
The Deputy CM also informed that the Government had recently released an amount of ₹ 45 crore from which was sanctioned by the 15th Finance Commission under the special plan assistance.
Tynsong stated that out of the ₹ 45 crore which was released, the total amount of funds which was allocated to the three ADCs include KHADC (₹ 20.47 crore), GHADC (₹ 18.20 crore) and JHADC (₹ 6.82 crore).
Earlier, the District Council Affairs Minister, Lahkmen Rymbui had stated that the funds which were released are meant for various developmental activities as per plans and estimates proposed by the three ADCs.
(Edited by Christopher Gatphoh)
TNT-The Northeast Today news
Northeast India
Autonomous District Councils
TNT-The Northeast Today | {
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University of Central Florida psychology doctoral student Julia Wright agrees, noting that we show others how we want to be treated in the way we conduct ourselves and the way we dress. As an older graduate student returning to school after a 25-year career as a product design engineer, Wright notes that dressing appropriately is more important than many students think.
"You should not look like you just rolled out of bed or that you're ready to go play volleyball at the beach," she says.
It's also about being engaged in the program. "The people I
hear complain about being treated fairly are those who, when
the professor is lecturing or they're part of a group discussion,
are sitting there surfing the web on their laptops or texting
people on their cellphones."
Gutierrez urges students to treat graduate school as their
first real entrance into the job market. "People who dress
appropriately, who interact with others appropriately, and who
carry themselves as professionals are going to get the respect
professionals ought to receive," he says.
Believe in yourself. Have confidence in your capacity because people can see that, Gutierrez says. But also understand that you don't have to know everything to feel and be competent.
"Asking someone with more experience for help is never a bad thing," he notes. "In fact, it demonstrates maturity."
Speak up. When someone implies that you're too young
or inexperienced, correct them. Point to all you've done to
get where you are in your career so far, the research you've
completed, the publications you've been involved with, even if
you weren't recognized as a co-author, and the experience you
do have with the field of psychology.
"I think if we all asserted ourselves more — in a respectful way, of course — we could really change people's views," Lima says. "Our silence endorses the status quo."
Recognize that it's not you. Kraha says it's important to keep in mind that the disrespect or unfair treatment you may experience is not really about you as a person or what you can and will accomplish. It often stems from a lack of understanding or awareness.
"It always helps me to remember that," she says. "What they're saying isn't a reflection on you, it's a reflection on who they are and where they are in their lives."
Become an advocate. Gutierrez says it's never too early to get involved in activism. As psychologists and psychology students, we know too much about human behavior not to get involved in advocating for political or social or institutional changes. It can also help you learn more about your institution — and can leave you feeling more empowered.
"I'm not saying that everyone has to go out and form a labor union, but if you don't want to feel taken advantage of as a student, get involved in the system and do something about it," he says. n
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Home Celebrities News 'Is this something that we have just realised?,' asks Sushmita Sen on...
'Is this something that we have just realised?,' asks Sushmita Sen on the existence of nepotism in Bollywood
The former Miss Universe made a career in Bollywood on her own in 2000s with movies such as Biwi No 1, Aankhen, Filhaal, Samay, Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya and Main Hoon Na but decided to take a break from acting to focus on her health and raising her daughters Renee and Alisah.
Her performance in Aankhen, Filhaal and Samay received critical praise but the films did not do well at the box office at the time of their release.
"I always believe I am a satellite hit because whatever work I did when it came on satellite, it became a hit and people started applauding the performance. But back then, when it was in the theatres, it didn't work," the actor told PTI in an interview.
Sushmita Sen, 44, believes what kept her strong during those years was a faith in her abilities.
"I define my success, I acknowledge my failures but I also acknowledge that I haven't failed, my attempts have. There is a big difference. When people don't know how to differentiate between the two, everybody piles on with the insecurity of being called a failure. That is a very big mistake that people allow others to make on their behalf".
The actor says she is "open to criticism" and one can review her "badly" with "some sugar and salt" but she will continue to focus on her work and try to give her best.
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Kristen Stewart's mom shooting a transgender prison drama
by Kim Grundy
Kim Grundy
http://twitter.com/KimGrundy
Kim's Most Recent Stories
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July 26, 2011 at 5:35pm PM EDT
Kristen Stewart isn't the only one in her family in the Hollywood biz. Her mother, Jules Stewart, is directing a transgender prison drama that Kristen was supposed to star in… that is, until she dropped out.
Related story Kristen Stewart's New Princess Diana Movie Is the One You've Been Waiting For
Kristen Stewart's mom, Jules Stewart, is gearing up to direct her first indie film called K-11, about a transsexual prisoner with autism. Kristen was actually going to play the lead role until the busy Twilight actress had to drop out due to sheduling conflicts. Her moms is still keeping the family involved, casting her brother Cameron (pictured below with Kristen in 2008) in small role in the film.
"It's just one of those things where you try and get a movie off the ground that's small," Kristen Stewart told MTV about the film. "I don't know [whether it will get made]. Like, right now it's harder [to get indie films made]. It just never got legs. I still really hope to do it."
Between the Twilight films and starring in Snow White and the Huntsman, Stewart apparently does not have time to make it.
In fact, Kristen is not the only Twilight star that recently backed out of the film. Nikki Reed dropped out of the film after telling MTV in November that she and Kristen have been involved with the movie since 2008. "It's about a little-known section of the men's county jail. I'm playing a man, and Kristen's playing a boy," Reed said.
Even though Kristen and Nikki are no longer involved in the film, it will be interesting to see Kristen's older brother, Cameron, making his film debut, even if his role is a small part. The film will star Goran Visnjic (ER), D.B. Sweeney (Hard Ball), Kate del Castillo and Portia Doubleday (Youth in Revolt), with supporting actors Jason Mewes and Tommy "Tiny" Lister. | {
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Ducey Lies to Expand Vouchers with Covid-Relief Funds
2021, Arizona Schools, Education Funding, Teacher / January 4, 2022 January 3, 2022 / 2021, Arizona, Arizona Schools, Education, Mandates, Resources, teacher
Governor Ducey has long prioritized expanding private school vouchers over funding public schools, so it comes as no surprise that he is misusing federal Covid relief dollars to create yet another form of voucher. Arizona public schools have already lost billions in education funding over the past decade as lawmakers have expanded private school vouchers again and again.
Ducey Lies to Push Anti-Mask Voucher Programs
Ducey's newest voucher program encourages parents "unhappy with their public school district's COVID-19 mitigation efforts" (as in, mask mandates) to apply for $7,000 in federal dollars to take to private schools even if they have mask mandates! Three months after Ducey's anti-mask voucher program was first announced, the Governor's office claimed they'd received more than 2000 applications which exceeded the $10 million in allocated funding. However, these claims about the popularity of the program don't hold up.
According to AZ Republic reporter Stacey Barchenger in "The Gaggle" podcast, public records requests revealed that only 1400 voucher applications were started, only 650 were completed and submitted, and only 93 were approved. In short, Gov. Ducey lied about the popularity of these programs. And if history tells us anything, he will double down on this lie in order to sell expansion of the program this upcoming legislative session.
The Governor's office claimed they'd received more than 2000 applications which exceeded the $10 million in allocated funding. However, these claims about the popularity of the program don't hold up… In short, Gov. Ducey lied about the popularity of these programs.
Unused Voucher Funds Could Help 1.1 Million Students
In the interview, Barchenger points out that less than $50,000 has been spent of the $10 million set aside by Ducey for this purpose. The remaining $9.9 million remains unused. As Save Our Schools Arizona Director Beth Lewis recently pointed out in the AZ Republic, "The governor's claims are absolutely misleading. The governor's office is holding $10 million dollars hostage saying they're receiving all these applications, and that money is not in the classroom helping kids right now." Federal dollars that could be used for aides, academic support, counselors, and PPE to keep students, teachers, and staff healthy and in the classroom are sitting in the state's coffers.
While touted by the governor to be vastly successful and popular, the program has proven to be the opposite. Barchenger reported that when confronted with the data, Ducey responded that "helping any number of families through what he called 'good policy' was worth it in his mind." For the governor, it's preferable that millions of dollars sit unused in order to justify expanding vouchers at all costs.
Voucher Fraud & Abuse
Like Arizona's ESA voucher program, the Governor's latest private school voucher plan is rife with misspending. The program was billed as a way to "get kids back into classrooms," yet a full third of approved vouchers are being used to send kids to online school. And despite an income cap meant to prioritize low-income kids, several awarded vouchers went to wealthy families.
Barchenger says that her research uncovered several inconsistencies with what the governor said the purpose of the voucher program was and the actual outcomes. "[Ducey] said the programs were to keep kids in classrooms, but a third of the people who have been approved for the vouchers were approved to send their kids to online school so they're not in classrooms at all," she noted.
"The language coming from [Ducey's] office was, 'We want to support districts and parents that are following the law," Barchenger reported, referring to the law prohibiting districts from imposing mask mandates that was recently ruled unconstitutional. "But that law doesn't exist anymore, so [Ducey's] shifted a little bit to the latest defense that anything we can do to keep kids in classrooms helps stem the digital divide that has emerged after COVID." And yet many families are using the funds to attend online school.
The US Treasury has said federal Covid relief dollars were intended to help with economic recovery and slow down the spread of the virus, and that Ducey's programs do the opposite. "These programs were unveiled just after the CDC recommended universal masking in schools, and they do the opposite of that. They put financial incentive to districts that don't follow those guidelines," said Barchenger.
"[Ducey] said the programs were to keep kids in classrooms, but a third of the people who have been approved for the vouchers were approved to send their kids to online school so they're not in classrooms at all."
Stacey Barchenger, AZ Republic Tweet
AZ Parents Choose Public Schools
The program's failures underscore the well-known fact that private school vouchers are not an effective or efficient way to help Arizona kids in need. Despite this, as well as the ongoing struggle between AZ and the federal government on whether voucher expansion is an appropriate use of federal dollars, Gov. Ducey insists that there will be a need to expand the program. Once again, his office is using lies and exaggerations to expand eligibility, which is extremely concerning when $9.9 million in Covid relief dollars sits unused.
Gov. Ducey continues to prioritize unpopular and inefficient voucher programs while Arizona public schools remain last in the nation in education funding. Arizona families overwhelmingly choose public schools, and voters rejected private school voucher expansion by a 2-1 margin in 2018.
AZ voters have spoken: Governor Ducey and the legislature must prioritize public education and support the 1.1 million students attending Arizona's public schools.
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Olinger, Papineau Join WVU Golf
November 12, 2015 by The Original Golf Blogger
Duo to Join WVU Golf
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (November 11, 2015) – West Virginia University golf coach Sean Covich announced Wednesday that Ty Olinger (Blacksburg, Va.,/North Cross HS) and Etienne Papineau (St-Jean sur Richelieu, Quebec/Champlain St-Lawrence) have committed to joining the Mountaineers starting in the fall of 2016.
"We are really excited to be adding these two young men to our program," said Covich, who is currently guiding the Mountaineers through their first varsity season in over 30 years. "This will be our third recruiting class and we are in a great spot. Luckily we have balance on our roster with each class and are able to bring in two strong players for next year trying to replace our seniors, Easton Renwick and Mason Short."
Olinger, who hails from Blacksburg, Virginia, currently competes for Richard Cook at North Cross School. He ranks as the No. 2 senior and the No. 4 player in the state of Virginia, ranking No. 155 nationally for the class of 2016. Olinger earned VISAA First Team All-State accolades from 2012-15 and was the Roanoke Metro Player of the Year in 2014. He has earned mention on the All-Metro Team on five occasions. Olinger finished as the runner-up at the VISAA State Tournament in 2013 and 2014 and was the VISAA State Tournament runner-up in 2015. He boasts a pair of titles at the Roanoke Valley Golf Hall of Fame Junior Championship and boasts top-20 finishes at the 2012 Scott Robertson Memorial (6th), 2013 Virginia Junior Stroke Play Championship (8th), 2015 AJGA Junior at Owensboro (9th), 2014 Virginia Junior Stroke Play Championship (10th), 2015 AJGA Philadelphia Junior (13th), 63rd Virginia Junior Stroke Play Championship (14th) and the 25th Virginia Junior Match Play Championship (20th).
"I look forward to getting Ty around our guys and having him compete," said Covich. "He's a talented player who's continued to improve the past few years. I'm excited about his potential."
The son of Danny and April Olinger, Olinger intends to major in business management. He chose West Virginia over Elon, Radford and Seton Hall.
Papineau, a native of St-Jean sur Richelieu, Quebec, Canada; plays for Champlain St-Lawrence. He played in three National Collegiate Championships, posting a scoring average of 70.5. Papineau won the title at the 2015 event, scoring 10 under par for the win and also earned medalist honors at the conference championship. He earned All-Canadian honors in 2015 and was named to the all-star team in 2014 and 2015. Papineau helped the Lions to the runner-up spot at the conference championship in 2013, 2014 and 2015 and was a member of the squad that set an all-time low round score of 284. In addition, Papineau was the winner of the 2014 Quebec Junior Provincial Match Play tournament an also won the 2014 Quebec Junior Boys Championship. He finished in the top 10 of the 2014 Graham Cooke Jr. Invitational, the 2014 Quebec Men's Provincial Championship and the 2014 Vertdure Junior Spring Open.
"Etienne brings with him a ton of international tournament experience," said Covich. "He's played on the Canadian National Team and competed in some of the top junior and amateur events around the world. The competitive mindset that he brings will greatly benefit our program."
The son of Luc and Francine Papineau, he will major in sports management at WVU after selecting West Virginia over Washington State and Charlotte.
WVU recently wrapped up its first fall season since 1982. The Mountaineers will hit the links once again February 15 when they travel to Houston for the President's Day Challenge.
Follow @WVUSports and @WVU_Golf on Twitter
Categories West Virginia University - WVU Tags West Virginia Unviersity, WVU Golf Post navigation
Holiday Gift Guide On Amazon
Cobra Baffler XL Hybrid Combo Set $460 Off | {
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Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis analysis of retinoic acid receptor-α and promyelocytic leukemia rearrangements: Detection of the t(15;17) translocation in the diagnosis of acute promyelocytic leukemia Academic Article
Chromosomes, Human, Pair 15
Gene Rearrangement
Leukemia, Promyelocytic, Acute
Receptors, Retinoic Acid
Translocation, Genetic
Acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) is characterized cytogenetically by a balanced reciprocal chromosomal translocation t(15;17) (q22;q21). This translocation involves the retinoic acid receptor-alpha (RAR-alpha) on chromosome 17 and the promyelocytic leukemia locus (PML) on chromosome 15 and results in the transcription of novel fusion messenger RNAs. In this study, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) was applied to the detection of the t(15;17) translocation in twenty-six clinical specimens cytologically diagnosed by French-American-British criteria as APL. This technique could readily be applied to both fresh and nonviably frozen tumor samples. In 24 of 26 samples, rearrangements of the PML and RAR-alpha, loci could be detected by Southern blotting after digestion with MluI and BssHII. Furthermore, co-migration of the rearranged fragments, detected by hybridization to probes for the PML and RAR-alpha genes, demonstrated that these loci were juxtaposed. The translocation was detected in specimens at the time of initial diagnosis, on differentiation therapy with retinoic acid and at the time of relapse. The diagnostic accuracy was compared to cytogenetics and the reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction for the novel PML-RAR-alpha fusion transcript. The samples from two patients were negative by all three diagnostic methods, and both of these patients failed to respond to all-trans retinoic acid. In the other 24 APL samples, cytogenetics was positive in only 76.9% of the cases, whereas both reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction and PFGE methods detected the translocation in 100% of the cases. Thus, PFGE can readily detect the t(15;17) translocation in both viable and nonviable clinical specimens and can improve the diagnostic accuracy of morphology and cytogenetics in APL. In contrast to conventional electrophoresis based on rearrangement of RAR-alpha, the ability to demonstrate directly co-migration of the PML and RAR-alpha loci enables this method to distinguish the t(15;17) translocation from variant translocations such as the t(11;15). Because PFGE can be performed on nonviable, frozen tumor samples, it could be diagnostically useful in APL when the RNA-based reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction cannot be performed.
Xiao, Yong Hong
Miller, Wilson H.
Warrell, Raymond P.
Dmitrovsky, Ethan
Zelenetz, Andrew
American Journal of Pathology Journal | {
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New to Anna M. Evans
Dreaming in Iambic Pentameter
Thoughts on the Primary and June Meeting
The Hainesport Happening Page
I didn't think anything could be more divisive for Hainesport than the General Election last year…until we went through the Republican Primary.
Sure, I had an anonymous smear campaign directed at me last fall, but the accusations were toothless. This June, an individual associated with the "Reform" Republican campaign (who doesn't even live in Hainesport) created an anonymous smear Facebook page called Hainesport Happening, which spent 3 weeks decimating the reputations of their opponents.
I'm not going to get into the details of whether or not the accusations leveled against Tony Porto and Mick Dickinson by the page were true (some were, others were twisted) or fair (are anonymous slurs ever truly 'fair'?). I'm more interested in two other questions: 1) should we hold candidates accountable for extremely negative campaigning? and 2) Is there any way to move Hainesport into a kinder, calmer mode of local election?
A Stock Photo from the Smear Page
The Darnold & Evans campaign issued a statement condemning the smear page on May 18th. The Costa & Schneider campaign issued a statement at some point disclaiming the page (which is not the same thing) and that statement has since been deleted. There is also evidence linking the smear page to the person who has been proven to be an Administrator of their actual Campaign page. I hope that, when Hainesport chooses its representatives in November, its residents will take into account the complicity of the Republican candidates in the smear page, and judge any claims those candidates make on ethical leadership and dignity accordingly.
At the June Township meeting last night, I observed during public comment that Moorestown and Mt Holly DO have a kinder, calmer mode of local election. They elect committee members as a block of 2 or 3, to serve for 4 year terms, which means they only have local elections every 2 years. Hainesport could use that breathing space for recovery! Plus, it would probably save money as personnel would be constant for two years. No need to change name plaques, stationery, business cards etc. every year.
Solicitor Gillespie responded by explaining that Hainesport operates under a different form of government, the traditional 'Township' mode, whereas the other two towns have adopted the modern 'Council-Manager' mode under the Faulkner Act, and that it would require complicated measures like a Referendum for a Charter Study Commission to change now.
So I did some research on this.
In addition to the benefits of an election-free year and cost-savings described above, I found that:
In each Faulkner Act municipality, individual citizens also have the right of initiative to propose and place ordinances on a ballot for citizens of that municipality to vote on, thus bypassing their elected representatives' legislative authority. This right is intended to "arous[e] public interest and plac[e] in the hands of the voters … direct means of controlling proposed … municipal legislation." [James M. McCreedy and Brian Rans, New Jersey Law Journal October 29, 2015]
In other words, residents in a township whose government operates under the Faulkner Act have MORE power (and officials have less) than those in a traditionally governed town. It seems to me that the idea of changing Hainesport's form of government might deserve at least an exploratory committee, and definitely more than Solicitor Gillespie's cursory dismissal.
Meanwhile, I hope that, with the incumbents dispatched in the Primary, we can anticipate a gentler, more policy-based campaign this fall. Hainesport does not need the divisiveness of fake smear pages run by outsiders.
Posted in: Local Politics
BurlCo GOP Behind Super PAC: Evidence Mounts
A couple of recent articles by Dave Levinsky of the Burlington County Times have added to the mounting evidence that the Burlington County Republican Committee were behind the Super PAC, "Preserving Our Community for Tomorrow." The group mailed "glossy campaign ads attacking Democratic candidates or supporting Republicans…to voters in Chesterfield, Eastampton, Hainesport, Moorestown, Mount Laurel, Palmyra and Westampton" in the run up to last November's election.
The Evidence
The PAC's Treasurer is Joseph Lisnak, of Riverton, who is employed as the Tax Administrator for Burlington County
The PAC's expenditure filing contains several connections with BurlCo GOP:
Political Consultant Douglas Donoris of Mount Laurel, who received $37,100, is friends with Bill Layton, BurlCo GOP Chair.
Harper Polling, who got $2,342, lists the Republican Committee of BurlCo as a client
Jim Logue, paid $5,500 for Research, is "a legislative staffer for 8th District Sen. Dawn Marie Addiego and Assembly members Maria Rodriguez-Gregg and Joe Howarth, [who] has performed research for the Burlington County Republican Committee and Republican candidates."
Business Entity reports filed at ELEC showed that at least two companies with Burlington County contracts gave money:
Acacia Financial Group of Evesham contributed $5,000
This group also filed evidence of contracts with Burlington County and Moorestown (one of the townships targeted.)
Carroll Engineering of Hillsborough gave $3,000
This group also filed evidence of contracts with Burlington County and Mansfield (where Hainesport GOP Committeeman Mike Fitzpatrick is Administrator.)
By filing as a bi-partisan, state-wide super PAC, the group is allowed not to disclose its contributors. As the group spent $108,000 in total, that leaves $100,000 unaccounted for. There are strict rules limiting contributions that can be made by individuals in direct support of candidates, but the same rules do not apply to PACs. Put simply, the PAC allowed interested individuals to spend as much money as they liked to try to prevent the targeted Democrats from winning GOP seats, which is a perversion of election law.
Similarly, the BurlCo GOP were able to "pretend" that their township candidates were running clean campaigns, safe in the knowledge that an anonymous super PAC would do the dirty work.
It matters to me, even more simply, because of the lies that were told about me. (You can read a rebuttal of all those lies here.)
Running for Hainesport Township Committee Again!
I'm delighted to announce that I'm running for Hainesport Township Committee again. This November, my running mate will be Edie Darnold, a 16-year Hainesport resident and youthful grandmother who has experience working in industry and municipa l government. It's going to be a great campaign, and you can read our bios here.
Thoughts on Running for Hainesport Again
When I reread my announcement from last April, I am actually thrilled at how much Natalie and I managed to accomplish, even though we didn't win the seats. We kept the Health Benefits issue ($30,000 packages taken by our part time elected officials) in the spotlight to the extent that the Committee had to give up this taxpayer-funded perk to be competitive in this year's election. We exposed their agenda, which was to force the resignation of Bill Boettcher, and to replace Township Administrator Leo Selb. Furthermore, Natalie came within 50 votes of beating Frank Masciocchi.
I also hope that I have demonstrated my commitment to the people of Hainesport. I never gave up. Not when I was the victim of a smear campaign conducted through a Burlington County Super PAC. Nor when Mayor Tony Porto filed baseless criminal charges against me in an attempt to stop me from running for Hainesport Committee again. I kept going to the meetings and reporting on them for YOU, so you could understand what was going on in our town.
Unlike the Republican candidates, Edie and I aren't beholden to some highly political Burlington County machine. Our campaign won't be paid for by corporate donors who think they can control committee votes. In contrast, we are only about Hainesport, and are accountable solely to the people of Hainesport.
I'm looking forward to getting out and meeting even more people than I did last year during the campaign season. Please let me try to earn your vote.
Posted in: Citizens at last!, Local Politics
How What West Chester Did to Kim Bridgford Got Me into Politics
Posted on February 3, 2017 29 Comments
The Poetry Center, West Chester University
Over the course of my campaign and its aftermath, particularly in the light of what my Republican opponents did (and continue to do) to me, many people have asked me why I decided to run for office. I typically answer that I am a crusader for truth, transparency, and justice, which begs the question of what turned me into that crusader. The answer to this question is, I became a crusader because of what West Chester did to Kim Bridgford.
After Kim became director of the West Chester Poetry Center and Conference in 2010, she asked me to take over the daily running of the Mezzo Cammin Women Poets Timeline Project. This put us into frequent correspondence, and we became friends. Hence I was among the first to learn when, on September 15th 2014, she was removed from her position, asked to collect her things and leave the Poetry Center (which she was thereafter barred from entering) and reassigned to full time teaching.
I became one of Kim's most vocal defenders as the West Chester administration and its advocates conspired to give the impression that her reassignment was her fault for being a poor fundraiser (she wasn't), or perhaps for moving the Poetry Conference too far from its original mission (She was employed to increase diversity and broaden the conference's appeal.)
During my defense of Kim, my arguments were dismissed as lies, and I was not only regularly told to be quiet, but also frequently belittled and insulted online, mostly by men. It was great practice for facing down the three male incumbent Republican members of Hainesport Township Committee!
The real reason for Kim's reassignment was that she had discovered financial irregularities under her predecessor as Director, Mike Peich, and when she brought those to the attention of the administrators, they chose to remove her and stage a cover up instead of investigating. Every time I suggested this, however, I was castigated for sullying the reputation of Mike Peich without being able to verify my claims. Unfortunately, Kim was at that time unable to speak publicly about the issues.
Kim and I went on (along with original Executive Board Members Natalie Gerber, Cherise Pollard, and Kat Gilbert) to create and run Poetry by the Sea: A Global Conference, now in its third successful year. The West Chester Poetry Conference came back under the Directorship of Sam Gwynn after taking a year's hiatus in 2015, and an uneasy truce has prevailed at West Chester.
But recently West Chester added insult to injury by engaging Baker Tilly, a firm of accountants, to conduct a financial assessment of the Poetry Center (which Kim's supporters had demanded), but only covering the years of Kim's tenure as Director. This financial review, while finding no fault, contains damaging and untrue allegations which Kim has now been forced to refute legally and publicly. The letter from Kim's lawyer states this:
For 16 years, Prof. Peich directed the center with no accountability, no reporting, and no institutional oversight whatsoever. During that time he drained the six-figure Ahmanson Fund, without notifying any authority, and without being called upon to report his activities.
It concludes:
Prof. Peich's 16-year wasting spree had been enabled by a passive university and foundation. Dr. Bridgford stepped into a situation not of her own making and did her best to rectify it….The report is unfair to her and protective of those who should be held accountable.
This letter has today been circulated among the faculty of the English department at West Chester University, and finally I am in a position to support what I have been saying all along about the events of September 2014. Truth, transparency and justice are served.
Meanwhile my fight against West Chester exposed many truths I had been ignoring for too long: that many men still attempt to dominate and belittle women, that power corrupts, that those in power will do anything to conceal inconvenient truths, and that it is always the little guy who is exploited. With my social conscience newly awoken, I looked around and I saw examples of this happening very close to home.
And that is why I ran for Hainesport Township Committee.
Posted in: Citizens at last!, Local Politics, Poetry
Hainesport Township Government 101
Posted on January 18, 2017 3 Comments
The Hainesport Township Website has this to say about our form of government:
Hainesport is governed by the Township Committee form of government. This is comprised of five officials elected by the residents to serve three year staggered terms. The elected members will select a chairperson who will be known as the "Mayor of the Township."
With no mention of Republican or Democrat anywhere on the website, Hainesport residents could be forgiven for believing, as Committeeman Fitzpatrick is fond of saying, that party politics is irrelevant at a local level. However, he is mistaken.
Current Hainesport Township Committee
The three-year staggered terms currently expire as follows:
Mayor Porto (R) & Committeeman Dickinson (R): 12/31/2017
Committeeman Fitzpatrick (R): 12/31/2018
Deputy Mayor Masciocchi (R) & Committeewoman Gilmore (R): 12/31/2019
There are no term limits (although the Democrats would like to introduce a three term limit). Dickinson & Fitzpatrick are currently serving their third terms. Porto is on his third full term having also served a partial term prior to that.
How Do the Committee Govern?
It's important to note that being an elected official on Hainesport Township Committee is a part time job. Indeed, Fitzpatrick and Porto both have full time jobs in local government elsewhere (Township Administrator, Mansfield, and Tax Administrator, Hunterdon County, respectively.)
Therefore, the day to day administration of Hainesport is carried out by a hardworking and well-respected paid staff (full and part-time), led by the Township Adminstrator. Until January 12th 2017 the Hainesport Township Administrator was Leo Selb. As of April, the role has been taken by Paula Kosko.
The most visible role of the Committee is at the monthly Township Meetings, during which the business of the Township is conducted by means of Resolutions and Ordinances on which the committee vote. The material for the meetings is prepared by the Municipal Clerk. Until December 14th 2016 the Hainesport Municipal Clerk was Leo Selb (He was a joint Administrator/Clerk), but at the township meeting on December 13th he was removed from that position and the role was given part-time to Amy Cosnoski, the full time Clerk in Pemberton. Once Paula Kosko has qualified as Clerk, the roles of Administrator and Clerk will be recombined.
As explained on USlegal.com, "a resolution deals with matters of a special or temporary character and an ordinance prescribes some permanent rule of conduct or government to continue in force until the ordinance is repealed." For example, at the January meeting, Mayor Tony Porto was appointed by resolution (effective for 1 year) whereas it took an Ordinance in December 2014, (Ordinance 2014-10-11) to increase the cost of a Dog License in Hainesport to $15 for the foreseeable future.
Perhaps the most influential role of the Committee is in the selection of the individuals who either work as paid staff for the township, or are appointed by resolution as the Township Professionals on an annual basis. And this is where Party Politics comes in.
The Hainesport Democrat & Republican Committees
When Hainesport voted in the last township election, they had a choice between 4 candidates: Schneider & Evans (D) and Gilmore & Masciocchi (R). (You could of course vote for 1 R and 1 D, but most people don't.) Schneider & Evans were supported by the Hainesport Democrat Committee, while Gilmore & Masciocchi were supported by the Hainesport Republican Committee.
Hainesport Democrat Committee
Current Chairwoman Pat Macken
Consists of a male and female representative from each of the 5 Hainesport Voting Districts 1-5
Note: I am not the D3 Rep. My current affiliation with the Committee is as a non-voting attendee
Loose ties to the Burlington County Democrats (The Burlco Dems have little money or manpower to provide support to township candidates, although this is changing somewhat with the Burlington County Young Democrats.)
Hainesport Republican Committee
Current Chairman Mayor Tony Porto
You may remember there was actually a contested election for the District 3 Rep back in the Primaries, when Bruce MacLachlan stood against Ted Costa, losing narrowly
Strong ties to the powerful and wealthy Burlington County Republicans
In my experience of the Democrat side of things, the chair of the Township party committee is expected to attend the County committee meetings, which would mean that Mayor Porto would be an active member of the Burlington County Republican Committee, whose Chairman is Bill Layton.
What Do the Burlington County Republicans Have to Do With Hainesport?
They funded the smear campaign against me, Anna Evans, which some experts have estimated cost ~$8000
They provided campaign literature supporting Gilmore & Masciocchi along with the Burlington County GOP candidates
They pushed the Hainesport Committee to get rid of Administrator/Clerk Leo Selb, who was seen as too friendly to Hainesport Democrats and not sufficiently supportive of the Republican agenda
How Else Do Party Politics Influence Hainesport Township Government?
Hainesport township professionals are typically Republican and/or campaign donors
Appointees to e.g. the Joint Use Planning Board are expected to support preferred Republican candidates
Recently the Chair of the JUPB was not reappointed without warning (despite 6 years exemplary service) due to his support of non-preferred candidates.
Democrats and their supporters are seen as 'troublemakers' and less deserving of participation in community activities
Mayor Porto recently 'purged' his Hainesport Community Page on Facebook of all members known to be associates of mine.
So, party politics is more important than you thought, isn't it? Please bear this in mind next November when you are deciding whether to vote Porto (R) & Dickinson (R) in for their FOURTH full terms, or whether to vote for the as of yet unannounced Democrat candidates.
July Hainesport Township Meeting
Posted on July 13, 2016 18 Comments
This summary of the July Hainesport Township Meeting will restrict itself to controversial topics, namely the Public Hearing and Final Adoption of Ordinance 2016-9-6, and Public Comment. Ordinary township business, including an excellent NJSP report by Trooper Storm Colleton, proceeded as normal.
Ordinance 2016-9-6
This ordinance was given its first reading and introduction at the June Township meeting. The townspeople widely objected to it in June's Public Comment. However it was nevertheless passed to the second stage 3-2.
The Ordinance is disguised as a cost saving measure and a "step in the right direction" towards the elimination of Health Benefits for the current Committee, as it eliminates "Healthcare Benefits for Members of the Governing Body Retiring or Ending Service." In practice, what it means is that Bill Boettcher, who has served Hainesport faithfully for over 25 years and is in his 80s, will be forced to retire before the end of his term (within the next 20 days) in order to keep his and his wife's healthcare benefits. It will not save Hainesport any money if he retires within the next 20 days. What it will do, is vacate his position on the committee so the Republican Committee Chairman (Deputy Mayor Porto) can appoint someone more likely to agree with the three incumbents.
As this was the Public Hearing, township residents were entitled to comment. Comments were plentiful and vigorously negative. Many wanted to understand the Committee's motivation for introducing this Ordinance, given the likely result of Boettcher's resignation/ no money saved. Others asked who had introduced the Ordinance. The Committee gave no answers. As usual, many residents questioned the Healthcare Benefits of all Committee Members and said they would be happy if everyone lost benefits at the same time. A Hainesport lawyer also questioned the legality of the Ordinance with respect to the State. It was observed that a super-majority of 4-1 is needed to fire township personnel.
Once the Public Hearing had ended, Committeeman Bruce MacLachlan also spoke for his permitted 10 minutes. He tried to introduce a motion to amend the agenda to present his own Ordinance (which removes Healthcare Benefits for all Committee Members) but was voted down 3-2. Ordinance 1016-9-6 was proposed, seconded, and passed 3-2.
Here is a link to a video of these two motions on YouTube.
If you agree with me, and the vast majority of township people present at the meeting, that this Ordinance is suspect, cruel to Bill Boettcher, and likely represents a hidden agenda on the part of the three incumbents, I encourage you to contact the township.
Showing the Kermit Meme to the Audience
During public comment many residents made additional observations relevant to Ordinance 2016-9-6, especially the lawyer who was not permitted by Ted Costa to fully explore her questioning of the legality of the Ordinance during its Public Hearing. The issue of the Employment Lawyer consulted privately by just two of the Committeemen at an unauthorized cost which has now reached $6000+ also came up again. Bill Boettcher was repeatedly praised for his service to Hainesport.
I then spoke about my Citizen's Complaint against Deputy Mayor Porto for the sexist & misogynistic Kermit the Frog meme that he posted briefly on Hainesport Happenings, and then deleted but posted instead on both his own and Committeeman Fitzpatrick's page. I read some key sections from the complaint. I should add that those present who wanted to were given poster-size copies of the meme to hold up in silent protest whenever Deputy Mayor Porto spoke. The NJSP were made aware of this protest and approved it. I was told that my complaint is still under review by the township's labor attorney.
After I spoke many people who came up to make other comments also expressed their disgust at the meme and dissatisfaction with Deputy Mayor Porto. When pressed by Mark Murdy (who confirmed that he, his wife Deanna, and their son had all seen the original post on Hainesport Happenings) Deputy Mayor Porto said that he regretted posting the meme, although he denied that it was directed at anyone personally or that he had put it on Hainesport Happenings. Murdy encouraged him to apologize to me after he, Murdy, was finished speaking. This did not happen.
The new turn arrow at the junction of Hainesport Mt. Laurel and 38 was praised, and Rebecca Porto commended her husband for taking 3 hours out of her birthday celebrations on July 4th to save a township dog.
Towards the end of Public Comment people who came up often shared their disappointment that both Committeeman Fitzpatrick and Deputy Mayor Porto had displayed arrogance and contempt in dealing with township people during the session. Porto was described as "smirking" more than once. Several residents said they were ashamed of Porto and/or Fitzpatrick.
Meeting Conclusion
Bruce MacLachlan chose to make a speech during Comments from the Committee. He explained that he had hated coming to the meetings for the last few years and had only continued because of the benefits. He criticized Mayor Dickinson, Deputy Mayor Porto and Committeeman Fitzpatrick for being self-serving. He added that now, not even the benefits made it worthwhile, and walked out. It was unclear whether this constitutes resignation.
Bill Boettcher thanked Hainesport for being allowed to serve the town and was given a standing ovation.
Mike Fitzpatrick chose to make a speech also. In a remarkable display of what my teenage daughters call "sub-tweeting," he implied without naming me that I was a rumor-monger and a hate-spreader, citing the admitted misconception I voiced yesterday that the Committee had been asked to move the meeting to a venue with a greater capacity, along with my theory that the 4-1 super-majority was required to fire township administrator Leo Selb, possibly replacing him with Fitzpatrick. He also reminded us all that everyone knew about his Healthcare Benefits when we voted him in last November. He did not mention that he told people I know that once he was re-elected, he would fix this.
So, there you have it. Feel free to comment here or on Facebook.
Hainesport Township Election Altercation Video
Posted on June 23, 2016 5 Comments
Tony Porto's Version
Scott Cooper's Version
After the Hainesport Township election altercation, I gave my version, Scott Cooper gave his (see bottom left), and Deputy Mayor Tony Porto gave his (see top left), calling me a complete liar.
I like being called a liar even less than I enjoy being smeared with vulgar, sexist Kermit the Frog memes.
But what our esteemed township committee had forgotten is that the township building lobby has security cameras. And that the footage is subject to the Open Public Records Act. So we were able to submit an OPRA request and get hold of the footage.
Which speaks for itself. So again, I won't editorialize much. I don't need to. Except perhaps to say that Tony Porto doesn't appear on the footage at all, does he?
This is the view from Camera 1.
And this is the view from Camera 2.
I rest my case.
My Mild Case of Covid 19
Under Dark Waters — the Self-Interview
Photo Gallery from Poetry by the Sea Conference 2017
Ian MacConachie on How What West Chester Did to Kim Bridgford Got Me into Politics
Anna_Evans on How What West Chester Did to Kim Bridgford Got Me into Politics
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Figure-lyricism–dream
COSTAS Joachim has an exhibition at the Alpha Gallery, Nicosia.
Joachim was born in 1936 in Bellapais, Kyrenia. He studied painting at the Bath Academy of Art at the Unversity of Bristol in England and the Athens School of Fine Arts.
His works can be found at the Cyprus Museum of Modern Art and at the National Gallery of Greece, in the collections of the Presidential Palace, the Ministry of Education and Culture and the Archbishopric in Cyprus, at the office of UNESCO in Paris, and in many private collections including that of Takis Ioannou.
He is one of the seven founding members of the Cyprus Chamber of Fine Arts (EKATE) in 1966.
In 2003, 2004 and 2006 his lifetime achievements and contributions to the culture of Cyprus were recognised with awards from the President of the Republic.
He says that in his latest work of paintings he is concerned with themes that he created before 1974. They developed into paintings from drawings and studies in colour.
They date from a period of intense creativity inspired at Bellapais Studio by the idyllic countryside of Bellapais.
Colourful compositions in-clude figures, which have been characterised as swirling flowing free studies of movement in forms and colours, giving wonderful poetic dreamlike statements.
Figure compositions in a more sensitive, lucid approach, blending associated colours, thus luring the spectator into the aesthetic interaction.
The combination of the experiences into a non-representational context with graphic symbols is a gift. Although the study of the artist may have been done on a different level he may select and digest the experience to his own terms and his personally created forms.
Costas says: "In my artistic explorations, I study the numerous analogies that refer to space within the picture, to the line and to the form, as they exist as we see them, as they themselves as shapes have an impact on us.
"And then, while they are translated and transferred to the canvas, they are transformed, condensed and abstracted towards the basic concepts. This is a continuous 'dialogue' with the white surface of the canvas."
Dance master class
A master class - 'ECHOES of SPIRIT DANCE ' - will be taught by Aziza, of the US and Arianna Economou, of Cyprus, with George Koulas and Moreno on the drums.
It will incorporate release, improvisation, storytelling, chanting, contemporary and African based movement
The workshop takes place on Friday , October 19, from 7pm– 10pm, at the old American Center, in Homer Street, Nicosia, next to the Cyprus Museum.
The event is addressed to all interested , choreographers, dancers, musicians, artists, theatre people, men and women, and all who love to dance.
Aziza is a native of Harlem, New York and long-time community activist, as well as a choreographer, performer and teacher, whose work focuses on the development of community-based art.
As a professional dancer she toured with Stevie Wonder, Dianne McIntyre's Sounds In Motions and David Rousseve and was assistant choreographer for the Broadway productions of Rent and Mule Bone.
Aziza is the Founder/Artistic Director of the Def Dance Jam Workshop, an inter-generational performing arts troupe and programme serving youth and adults who are deaf, hard of hearing, and physically or developmentally challenged.
Arianna Economou is an interactive artist/ performer, dance artist and dance- activist in the community.
A pioneer innovative artist giving dance a place for the last 25 years in the Cyprus contemporary arts scene and organiser and founding member and director of ECHO ARTS Living Arts Centre (www.echo-arts.info) for research and development of dance as a contemporary performance art.
A pioneer in organising bicommunal performance projects the last four years, also the initiator and founding member of the first professional registered dance groups association in Cyprus.
For further information call Arianna: 0357 22 777 046 or 00 357 99 685 662. | {
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Joyce Taylor
Joyce Jattu Taylor was born in Monrovia, Liberia. Due to civil war, Joyce was forced to leave her homeland at a young age for a refugee camp in neighbouring Guinean before leaving to find safety in Australia with her mother and brothers in June of 2002.
Joyce is now an Australian Citizen, a proud Queenslander, and a Broncos fan — Go Broncos!
For more than twelve years Joyce has been a Community Development Worker for MDA Ltd and has volunteered as the Liberian United Women chairperson for more than eleven years. Joyce is the mother of two sons both born in Australia of Aboriginal descent.
"My life and experiences have taught me or given me the opportunity to Love more and be Grateful — very grateful for the little things in life like freedom and choices." | {
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Online Dream Dictionary
What is the meaning and symbol of marrying an old man in the dream?
The meaning of marrying an old man's dream, marrying an old man's dream has realistic effects and reactions, as well as the subjective imagination of the dreamer. Please see the detailed explanation of the marrying old man's dream for you.
In real life, very few women are willing to marry an old man, because the age difference will cause various differences. But in dreams, if you want to know what such dreams indicate, you must analyze them according to the different conditions of the dreamer.
If a young unmarried woman dreams of marrying an old man, it indicates that there will be noble people everywhere in the life of the dreamer, and her life will be very smooth.
A married business woman dreams that she is married to an old man, which indicates that there will be many opportunities to make money in business in the future. Dreamers should be good at seizing the opportunity.
If a girl who has not completed his studies dreams of marrying an elderly person, it means that the dreamer has wasted too much time and energy on many indifferent things. The youth is slipping away quietly. It is best to wake up now and take good care of what is in front of you. I married an old man in my dream of studying.
A case study of an old man married in a dream
Dream description: In the dream, my dad booked me a kiss at home, and I knew that I wanted to wait a few days to tell my current boyfriend (we broke up in the middle of the year because his family opposed it) and then forgot to tell He waited until the day I got married. I didn't know that I had to go to work. After that, I still put on the wedding dress. I went to my sister's house to find out that he wanted me to marry an older person. I thought it was about 40 years old. Forget it, I should go to their house and say that I don't want to marry him, but when I walked halfway, I felt wronged and I should tell my boyfriend, so I called him and he came over and we were chatting. He was also reluctant to chat. When I came, I saw that the man I was going to marry was in his seventies, I turned around and ran away. My boyfriend woke up with me all the time. What does this mean?
Dream analysis: a girl marrying an old man in a dream indicates that a noble person will help, but unfortunately, in your dream, you will not be able to marry an old man in the end.
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Dreaming of Zhou Gong
We are conducting research and communication on dream judgment and dream fortune-telling, including Chinese fortune-telling (fortune-telling) and Zhou Gongyuan.
In Chinese legends, if an important thing is going to happen to someone, the Duke of Zhou will let the person know through dreams: hence the Chinese expression "Dreaming of Zhou Gong".
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»Bolton receives second round of funding from National Geographic Society
Submitted by Debra J. Bolton
Debra Bolton, National Geographic Society Explorer and director of intercultural learning and academic success in the Department of Diversity and Multicultural Student Affairs, has earned a second round of funding from the National Geographic Society in Washington, D.C.
Bolton focuses on promoting STEM subjects, targeting females of color, by teaching introductory classes to high school students living in Garden City. Initial funding enabled the four-week courses that she calls "Girl Power GIS." The 2017 funding also helped a school teacher create an after-school Geography Club at Bernadine Sitts Intermediate Center and the high school's physics teacher to present a course on wind power. All of these activities were in the Garden City School District.
The current award from National Geographic Society funded "Creating a Pathway to STEM for Females of Color." New funding paves the way for Bolton to "take her show on the road" by presenting her strategies, learning/teaching techniques, and long-term outcomes of the project at two national meetings later this calendar year. The current funding also helps Bolton continue a popular public radio program called, "Silver Rails: Music of the World in the Folk Tradition." During Geography Awareness Week in mid-November, the two-hour program features music that matches the annual theme for the week. Geography Awareness Week-related programming on High Plains Public Radio in western Kansas and the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles began eight years ago and features daily modules with geography tidbits, called, "Did You Know?"
Recently, an additional cohort of funding for "Girl Power GIS" came from a K-State Center for Engagement and Community Development Engagement Incentive Grant. The next Girl Power GIS class takes place in April 2019 in Garden City.
Bolton began her relationship with the iconic National Geographic Society, first, as a policy point person and Grosvenor Scholar of the Kansas Geographic Alliance, based at Kansas State University and Fort Hays State University. A policy point person advocates, legislatively, for raising classroom standards in geography that go beyond the simple "embedding" the subject in other courses.
Bolton worked for K-State Research and Extension as a specialist based at the Southwest Research Extension Center in Garden City for 13 years before becoming director of intercultural learning on campus.
Strengths workshops offered for faculty during Strengths Week 2019
Celebrate Union Station by JP's first anniversary today
Retirement reception for Gloria Holcombe today
The Library and Your Research: Discover-Use-Manage offered March 4
K-State Wind Ensemble and Wind Symphony to present concert March 4
Gregory Finnigan to present Anatomy and Physiology Seminar
Second NACADA webinar offered March 5
The Earl Project is partnering with Beach Museum of Art
Veterinary students chosen for American Veterinary Medical Foundation scholarships
Geology department head publishes article in Nature Geoscience
Wyatt Thompson to receive K-State Alumni Association's 2019 Flinchbaugh Family Wildcat Pride Award
Campus construction and maintenance
Service interruption: All campus steam
Newsletters, magazines and blogs
Human Capital Services March 2019 Connect e-newsletter now available
Campus deadline approaching for Marshall, Mitchell and Rhodes scholarships
Nominate an extraordinary student by March 8 | {
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form10_k.htm
FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDED JANUARY 3, 2009
FOR THE TRANSITION PERIOD FROM _______ TO _______
(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)
The Proscenium
1170 Peachtree Street NE, Suite 900
NAME OF EACH EXCHANGE ON
Carter's, Inc.'s common stock
WHICH REGISTERED:
par value $0.01 per share
SECURITIES REGISTERED PURSUANT TO SECTION 12(g) OF THE ACT:
Indicate by check mark if the Registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes x No o
Indicate by check mark if the Registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes o No x
Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes x No o
Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of the Registrant's knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form
10-K. o
Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See definitions of "large accelerated filer," "accelerated filer," and "smaller reporting company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):
Large Accelerated Filer x Accelerated Filer o Non-Accelerated Filer o Smaller Reporting Company o
Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes o No x
The approximate aggregate market value of the voting stock held by non-affiliates of the Registrant as of June 28, 2008 (the last business day of our most recently completed second quarter) was $776,016,341.
There were 56,352,111 shares of Carter's, Inc.'s common stock with a par value of $0.01 per share outstanding as of the close of business on February 27, 2009.
Portions of the definitive proxy statement to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to Regulation 14A relating to the Annual Meeting of Stockholders of Carter's, Inc., to be held on May 14, 2009, will be incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K. Carter's, Inc. intends to file such proxy statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission not later than 120 days after its fiscal year ended January 3, 2009.
INDEX TO ANNUAL REPORT ON FORM 10-K
Item 1:
Item 1A:
Item 1B:
Market for Registrant's Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters, and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
Item 10:
Directors and Executive Officers of the Registrant
Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters
Certain Relationships and Related Transactions
Our market share data is based on information provided by the NPD Group, Inc. Unless otherwise indicated, references to market share in this Annual Report on Form 10-K are expressed as a percentage of total retail sales of a market. NPD has restated historical data, therefore, the market data reported prior to 2008 is not directly comparable to the data reported in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. The baby and young children's apparel market includes apparel products from sizes newborn to seven.
Unless the context indicates otherwise, in this filing on Form 10-K, "Carter's," the "Company," "we," "us," "its," and "our" refers to Carter's, Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiaries.
We are the largest branded marketer in the United States of apparel exclusively for babies and young children. We own two of the most highly recognized and most trusted brand names in the children's apparel industry, Carter's and OshKosh. Established in 1865, our Carter's brand is recognized and trusted by consumers for high-quality apparel for children sizes newborn to seven. In fiscal 2005, we acquired OshKosh B'Gosh, Inc. Established in 1895, OshKosh is recognized as a well-known brand that is trusted by consumers for its line of apparel for children sizes newborn to 12. We have extensive experience in the young children's apparel market and focus on delivering products that satisfy our consumers' needs. We market high-quality, essential core products at prices that deliver an attractive value proposition for consumers.
We have developed a business model that we believe has multiple platforms for growth and is focused on high volume and productivity. Our Carter's, OshKosh, and related sub-brands are sold to national department stores, chain and specialty stores, discount retailers, and, as of January 3, 2009, through 253 Carter's and 165 OshKosh outlet and brand retail stores. We believe each of our brands has its own unique positioning in the marketplace. Our brands compete in the $24 billion children's apparel market, for children sizes newborn to seven, with our Carter's brand achieving the #1 branded position with a 10.9% market share. Our OshKosh brand has a 3.2% market share. We offer multiple product categories, including baby, sleepwear, playclothes, and other accessories. Our distribution strategy enables us to reach a broad range of consumers through channel, price point, and region.
Since fiscal 2004, including OshKosh, we have increased consolidated net sales at a compound annual growth rate of 16.0%. Since fiscal 2006, our first full year of sales from OshKosh, we have increased consolidated net sales at a compounded annual growth rate of 5.3%. Our pre-tax results have ranged from income of $82.5 million in fiscal 2004 to $117.4 million in fiscal 2008, with the exception of fiscal 2007 in which we had a pre-tax loss of $29.1 million. In fiscal 2007, our pre-tax results were impacted by OshKosh related intangible asset impairment charges of $154.9 million and distribution facility closure costs of $7.4 million related to further integrating OshKosh. In fiscal 2008, our pre-tax results were decreased by executive retirement charges of $5.3 million and a write-down of $2.6 million on our OshKosh distribution facility, which is held for sale.
The Company's principal executive offices are located at The Proscenium, 1170 Peachtree Street NE, Suite 900, Atlanta, Georgia 30309, and our telephone number is (404) 745-2700.
OUR BRANDS, PRODUCTS, AND DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS
CARTER'S BRANDS
Under our Carter's brand, we design, source, and market a broad array of products, primarily for sizes newborn to seven. Our Carter's brand is sold in department stores, national chains, specialty stores, off-price sales channels, and through our Carter's retail stores. Additionally, we sell our Just One Year and Child of Mine brands through the mass channel at Target and Wal-Mart, respectively. In fiscal 2008, we sold over 223 million units of Carter's, Child of Mine, and Just One Year products to our wholesale customers, mass channel customers, and through our Carter's retail stores, an increase of approximately 9% from fiscal 2007. Under our Carter's, Child of Mine, and Just One Year brands, sales growth has been driven by our focus on essential, high-volume, core apparel products for babies and young children. Such products include bodysuits, pajamas, blanket sleepers, gowns, bibs, towels, washcloths, and receiving blankets. Our top ten baby and sleepwear core products accounted for approximately 67% of our baby and sleepwear net sales in fiscal 2008, including the mass channel. We believe these core products are essential consumer staples, insulated from changes in fashion trends, and supported by a strong birth rate and other favorable demographic trends.
We have four cross-functional product teams focused on the development of our Carter's baby, sleepwear, playclothes, and mass channel products. These teams are skilled in identifying and developing high-volume, core products. Each team includes members from merchandising, design, sourcing, product development, forecasting, and supply chain logistics. These teams follow a disciplined approach to fabric usage, color rationalization, and productivity and are supported by a dedicated art department and state-of-the-art design systems. We also license our brand names to other companies to create a complete collection of lifestyle products, including bedding, hosiery, underwear, shoes, room décor, furniture, and toys. The licensing team directs the use of our designs, art, and selling strategies to all licensees.
We believe this disciplined approach to core product design reduces our susceptibility to fashion risk and supports efficient operations. We conduct consumer research as part of our product development process and engage in product testing in our own stores. We analyze quantitative measurements such as pre-season bookings, weekly over-the-counter selling results, and daily re-order rates in order to assess productivity.
CARTER'S BRAND POSITIONING
Our strategy is to drive our brand image as the leader in baby and young children's apparel and to consistently provide high-quality products at a great value to consumers. We employ a disciplined marketing strategy that identifies and focuses on core products. We believe that we have strengthened our brand image with the consumer by differentiating our core products through fabric improvements, new artistic applications, and new packaging and presentation strategies. We also attempt to differentiate our products through store-in-store shops and advertising with our wholesale and mass channel customers. We have invested in display units for our major wholesale customers that clearly present our core products on their floors to enhance brand and product presentation. We also strive to provide our wholesale and mass channel customers with a consistent, high-level of service, including delivering and replenishing products on time to fulfill customer needs.
CARTER'S PRODUCTS
Carter's brand baby products include bodysuits, undershirts, towels, washcloths, receiving blankets, layette gowns, bibs, caps, and booties. In fiscal 2008, excluding mass channel sales, we generated $362.7 million in net sales of these products, representing 24.3% of our consolidated net sales.
Our Carter's brand is the leading brand in the baby category. In fiscal 2008, in the department store, national chain, outlet, specialty store, and off-price sales channels, our aggregate Carter's brand market share was approximately 29.6% for baby, which represents greater than five times the market share of the next largest brand. We sell a complete range of baby products for newborns, primarily made of cotton. We attribute our leading market position to our brand strength, distinctive print designs, artistic applications, reputation for quality, and ability to manage our dedicated floor space for our retail customers. We tier our products through marketing programs targeted toward gift-givers, experienced mothers, and first-time mothers. Our Carter's Starters product line, the largest component of our baby business, provides mothers with essential core products and accessories, including value-focused multi-packs. Our Little Collections product line consists of coordinated baby programs designed for first-time mothers and gift-givers.
Playclothes
Carter's brand playclothes products include knit and woven cotton apparel for everyday use in size three months to size seven. In fiscal 2008, we generated $324.8 million in net sales of these products, excluding the mass channel, or 21.8%, of our consolidated net sales.
We have focused on building our Carter's brand in the playclothes market by developing a base of essential, high-volume, core products that utilize original print designs and innovative artistic applications. Our aggregate 2008 Carter's brand playclothes market share was 11.7% in the $10.0 billion department store, national chain, outlet, specialty store, and off-price sales channels.
Carter's brand sleepwear products include pajamas, cotton long underwear, and blanket sleepers in size 12 months to size seven. In fiscal 2008, we generated $164.6 million in net sales of these products, excluding the mass channel, or 11.0%, of our consolidated net sales.
Our Carter's brand is the leading brand of sleepwear for babies and young children within the department store, national chain, outlet, specialty store, and off-price sales channels in the United States. In fiscal 2008, in these channels, our Carter's brand market share was approximately 32.7%, which represents greater than two times the market share of the next largest brand. As in our baby product line, we differentiate our sleepwear products by offering high-volume, core products with creative artwork and soft fabrications.
Mass Channel Products
Our mass channel product team focuses on baby, sleepwear, and playclothes products produced specifically for the mass channel. Such products are differentiated through fabrications, artwork, and packaging. Our 2008 market share was 7.9% in the $9.8 billion mass channel children's apparel market. Our Child of Mine product line, which is sold in substantially all Wal-Mart stores nationwide, includes layette, sleepwear, and playclothes along with a range of licensed products, such as hosiery, bedding, toys, and gifts. We also sell our Just One Year brand to Target, which includes baby, sleepwear, and baby playclothes along with a range of licensed products, such as hosiery, bedding, toys, and gifts. In fiscal 2008, we generated $254.4 million in net sales of our Child of Mine and Just One Year products, or 17.1%, of our consolidated net sales.
Our other product offerings include bedding, outerwear, shoes, socks, diaper bags, gift sets, toys, room décor, and hair accessories. In fiscal 2008, we generated $60.1 million in net sales of these other products in our Carter's retail stores, or 4.0%, of our consolidated net sales.
Royalty Income
We currently extend our Carter's, Child of Mine, and Just One Year product offerings by licensing our brands to 17 domestic marketers in the United States. These licensing partners develop and sell products through our multiple sales channels while leveraging our brand strength, customer relationships, and designs. Licensed products provide our customers and consumers with a range of lifestyle products that complement and expand upon our core baby and young children's apparel offerings. Our license agreements require strict adherence to our quality and compliance standards and provide for a multi-step product approval process. We work in conjunction with our licensing partners in the development of their products and ensure that they fit within our brand vision of high-quality, core products at attractive values to the consumer. In addition, we work closely with our wholesale and mass channel customers and our licensees to gain dedicated floor space for licensed product categories. In fiscal 2008, our Carter's brand and mass channel licensees generated wholesale and mass channel net sales of $188.4 million on which we earned $16.8 million in royalty income.
In fiscal 2008, we extended the Carter's brand licensing arrangements internationally with two licensees who currently license the OshKosh brand. In connection with these arrangements, the Carter's brand generated international licensing sales of $3.2 million on which we earned $0.3 million in royalty income.
CARTER'S DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS
As described above, we sell our Carter's brand products to leading retailers throughout the United States in the wholesale and mass channels and through our own Carter's retail outlet and brand stores. In fiscal 2008, sales of our Carter's brand products through the wholesale channel, including off-price sales, accounted for 32.9% of our consolidated net sales (34.2% in fiscal 2007), sales through our retail stores accounted for 28.3% of our consolidated net sales (25.9% in fiscal 2007), and sales through the mass channel accounted for 17.1% of our consolidated net sales (17.2% in fiscal 2007).
Business segment financial information for our Carter's brand wholesale, Carter's brand retail, and Carter's brand mass channel segments is contained in ITEM 8 "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data," Note 14 -- "Segment Information" to the accompanying audited consolidated financial statements.
Our Carter's brand wholesale customers include major retailers, such as Kohl's, Toys "R" Us, Costco, JCPenney, Macy's, and Sears. Our mass channel customers are Wal-Mart and Target. Our sales professionals work with their department or specialty store accounts to establish annual plans for our baby products, which we refer to as core basics. Once we establish an annual plan with an account, we place the majority of our accounts on our automatic reorder plan for core basics. This allows us to plan our sourcing requirements and benefits both us and our wholesale and mass channel customers by maximizing our customers' in-stock positions, thereby improving sales and profitability. We intend to drive continued growth with our wholesale and mass channel customers through our focus on managing our key accounts' business through product mix, fixturing, brand presentation, and advertising. We believe that we maintain strong account relationships and drive brand growth through frequent meetings with the senior management of our major wholesale and mass channel customers.
As of January 3, 2009, we operated 253 Carter's retail stores, of which 170 were outlet stores and 83 were brand stores. These stores carry a complete assortment of first-quality baby and young children's apparel, accessories, and gift items. Our stores average approximately 4,700 square feet per location and are distinguished by an easy, consumer-friendly shopping environment. We believe our brand strength and our assortment of core products has made our stores a destination location within many outlet and strip centers. Our outlet stores are generally located within 20 to 30 minutes of densely-populated areas. Our brand stores are generally located in high-traffic, strip centers located in or near major cities.
We have established a real estate selection process whereby we fully assess all new locations based on demographic factors, retail adjacencies, and population density. We believe that we are located in many of the premier outlet centers in the United States and we continue to add new strip center locations to our real estate portfolio.
OSHKOSH BRANDS
Under our OshKosh brand, we design, source, and market a broad array of young children's apparel, primarily for children in sizes newborn to 12. Our OshKosh brand is currently sold in our OshKosh retail stores, department stores, national chains, specialty stores, and through off-price sales channels. In fiscal 2008, we sold over 45 million units of OshKosh products through our retail stores and to our wholesale customers, an increase of approximately 7% over fiscal 2007. We also have a licensing agreement with Target through which Target sells products under our Genuine Kids from OshKosh brand. Given its long history of durability, quality, and style, we believe our OshKosh brand continues to be a market leader in the children's branded apparel industry and represents a significant long-term growth opportunity for us, especially in the $17.0 billion young children's playclothes market. While we have made significant progress integrating the OshKosh business, our plans to grow the OshKosh brand in the wholesale and retail store channels have not met our expectations to date. We continue to focus on our core product development and marketing disciplines, improving the productivity of our OshKosh retail stores, leveraging our relationships with major wholesale accounts, and leveraging our infrastructure and supply chain.
OSHKOSH BRAND POSITIONING
We believe our OshKosh brand stands for high-quality, authentic playclothes products for children sizes newborn to 12. Our core OshKosh brand products include denim, overalls, t-shirts, fleece, and other playclothes for children. Our OshKosh brand is generally positioned towards an older segment (sizes two to seven) and at slightly higher average prices than our Carter's brand. We believe our OshKosh brand has significant brand name recognition, which consumers associate with rugged, durable, and active playclothes for young children.
OSHKOSH PRODUCTS
Our OshKosh brand is best known for its playclothes products. In fiscal 2008, we generated $228.4 million in net sales of OshKosh brand playclothes products, which accounted for approximately 15.3% of our consolidated net sales. OshKosh brand playclothes products include denim apparel products with multiple wash treatments and coordinating garments, overalls, woven bottoms, knit tops, and playclothes products for everyday use in sizes newborn to 12. We plan to grow this business by continuing to reduce product complexity, expanding our core product offerings, improving product value, and leveraging our strong customer relationships and global supply chain expertise.
We believe our OshKosh brand represents a significant opportunity for us to increase our share as the $17.0 billion young children's playclothes market, including the mass channel, is highly fragmented. In fiscal 2008, this market was more than five times the size of the baby and sleepwear markets combined.
Our OshKosh brand's playclothes market share in the department store, national chain, outlet, specialty store, and off-price sales channels in fiscal 2008, exclusive of the mass channel, was approximately 4.8% in the $10.0 billion market in these channels. We are continuing to develop a base of high-volume, core playclothes products for our OshKosh brand.
The remainder of our OshKosh brand product offering includes baby, sleepwear, outerwear, shoes, hosiery, and accessories. In fiscal 2008, we generated $95.0 million in net sales of these other products in our OshKosh retail stores, which accounted for 6.4% of our consolidated net sales.
We partner with a number of domestic and international licensees to extend the reach of our OshKosh brand. We currently have eight domestic licensees, as well as 23 international licensees selling apparel and accessories in approximately 36 countries. Our largest licensing agreement is with Target. All Genuine Kids from OshKosh products sold by Target are sold pursuant to this licensing agreement. Our licensed products provide our customers and consumers with a range of OshKosh products including outerwear, underwear, swimwear, socks, shoes, bedding, and accessories. In fiscal 2008, our domestic licensees generated wholesale and mass channel net sales of approximately $187.7 million on which we earned approximately $9.5 million in royalty income. In fiscal 2008, our international licensees generated retail sales of approximately $112.3 million on which we earned approximately $7.1 million in royalty income.
OSHKOSH DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS
In fiscal 2008, sales of our OshKosh brand products through our OshKosh retail stores accounted for 16.7% of our consolidated net sales (16.6% in fiscal 2007) and sales through the wholesale channel, including off-price sales, accounted for 5.0% of our consolidated net sales (6.1% in fiscal 2007).
Business segment financial information for our OshKosh brand wholesale and OshKosh brand retail segments is contained in ITEM 8 "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data," Note 14 -- "Segment Information" to the accompanying audited consolidated financial statements.
As of January 3, 2009, we operated 165 OshKosh retail stores, of which 156 were outlet stores and nine were brand stores. These stores carry a wide assortment of young children's apparel, accessories, and gift items and average approximately 4,800 square feet per location.
Our OshKosh brand wholesale customers include major retailers, such as Kohl's, Bon Ton, Costco, Fred Meyer, and JCPenney. We continue to work with our department and specialty store accounts to establish seasonal plans for playclothes products. The majority of our OshKosh brand playclothes products will be planned and ordered seasonally as we introduce new products.
We have significant experience in sourcing products from Asia, with expertise that includes the ability to evaluate vendors, familiarity with foreign supply sources, and experience with sourcing logistics particular to Asia. We also have relationships with both leading and certain specialized sourcing agents in Asia.
Our sourcing network consists of approximately 140 vendors located in approximately 13 countries. We believe that our sourcing arrangements are sufficient to meet our current operating requirements and provide capacity for growth.
The baby and young children's apparel market is highly competitive. Competition is generally based upon product quality, brand name recognition, price, selection, service, and convenience. Both branded and private label manufacturers compete in the baby and young children's apparel market. Our primary competitors in the wholesale and mass channels include Disney, Gerber, and private label product offerings. Our primary competitors in the retail store channel include Old Navy, The Gap, The Children's Place, Gymboree, and Disney. Most retailers, including our customers, have significant private label product offerings that compete with us. Because of the highly-fragmented nature of the industry, we also compete with many small manufacturers and retailers. We believe that the strength of our Carter's and OshKosh brand names combined with our breadth of product offerings and operational expertise position us well against these competitors.
We are subject to various federal, state, and local laws that govern activities or operations that may have adverse environmental effects. Noncompliance with these laws and regulations can result in significant liabilities, penalties, and costs. Generally, compliance with environmental laws has not had a material impact on our operations, but there can be no assurance that future compliance with such laws will not have a material adverse effect on our operations.
TRADEMARKS, COPYRIGHTS, AND LICENSES
We own many copyrights and trademarks, including Carter's®, Carter's® Classics, Celebrating Childhood™, Child of Mine®, Just One Year®, OshKosh®, OshKosh B'Gosh®, At Play Since 1895™, OshKosh Est. 1895®, Genuine Kids®, The Genuine Article®, and The Genuine Deal™ many of which are registered in the United States and in more than 120 foreign countries.
We license various Company trademarks, including Carter's, Just One Year, Child of Mine, OshKosh, OshKosh B'Gosh, OshKosh Est. 1895, and Genuine Kids to third parties to produce and distribute children's apparel and related products such as hosiery, outerwear, swimwear, underwear, shoes, boots, slippers, diaper bags, furniture, room décor, bedding, giftwrap, baby books, party goods, and toys.
Our Internet address is www.carters.com. We are not including the information contained on our website as part of, or incorporating it by reference into, this Annual Report on Form 10-K. There we make available, free of charge, our Annual Report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and any amendments to those reports, proxy statements, director and officer reports on Forms 3, 4, and 5, and amendments to these reports, as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). Our SEC reports can be accessed through the investor relations section of our website. The information found on our website is not part of this or any other report we file with or furnish to the SEC. We also make available on our website, the Carter's Code of Business Ethics and Professional Conduct, our Corporate Governance Principles, and the charters for the Compensation, Audit, and Nominating and Corporate Governance Committees of the Board of Directors. Our SEC filings are also available for reading and copying at the SEC's Public Reference Room at 100 F Street, NE, Washington, D.C. 20549. Information on the operation of the Public Reference Room may be obtained by calling the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330. In addition, the SEC maintains an Internet site, www.sec.gov, containing reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC.
As of January 3, 2009, we had 6,548 employees, 2,675 of whom were employed on a full-time basis and 3,873 of whom were employed on a part-time basis. We have no unionized employees. We have had no labor-related work stoppages and believe that our labor relations are good.
You should carefully consider each of the following risk factors as well as the other information contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission in evaluating our business. The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only we face. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently consider immaterial may also impact our business operations. If any of the following risks actually occur, our operating results may be affected.
The loss of one or more of our major customers could result in a material loss of revenues.
In fiscal 2008, we derived approximately 42% of our consolidated net sales from our top eight customers, including mass channel customers. Kohl's and Wal-Mart each accounted for approximately 10% of our consolidated net sales in fiscal 2008. We do not enter into long-term sales contracts with our major customers, relying instead on long-standing relationships and on our position in the marketplace. As a result, we face the risk that one or more of our major customers may significantly decrease its or their business with us or terminate its or their relationships with us. Any such decrease or termination of our major customers' business could result in a material decrease in our sales and operating results.
The acceptance of our products in the marketplace is affected by consumers' tastes and preferences, along with fashion trends.
We believe that continued success depends on our ability to provide a unique and compelling value proposition for our consumers in the Company's distribution channels. There can be no assurance that the demand for our products will not decline, or that we will be able to successfully evaluate and adapt our product to be aware of consumers' tastes and preferences and fashion trends. If consumers' tastes and preferences are not aligned with our product offerings, promotional pricing may be required to move seasonal merchandise. Increased use of promotional pricing would have a material adverse affect on our sales, gross margin, and results of operations.
The value of our brand, and our sales, could be diminished if we are associated with negative publicity.
Although our employees, agents, and third-party compliance auditors periodically visit and monitor the operations of our vendors, independent manufacturers, and licensees, we do not control these vendors, independent manufacturers, licensees, or their labor practices. A violation of our vendor policies, licensee agreements, labor laws, or other laws by these vendors, independent manufacturers, or licensees could interrupt or otherwise disrupt our supply chain or damage our brand image. As a result, negative publicity regarding our Company, brands, or products, including licensed products, could adversely affect our reputation and sales.
The security of the Company's databases that contain personal information of our retail customers could be breached, which could subject us to adverse publicity, litigation, and expenses. In addition, if we are unable to comply with security standards created by the credit card industry, our operations could be adversely affected.
Database privacy, network security, and identity theft are matters of growing public concern. In an attempt to prevent unauthorized access to our network and databases containing confidential, third-party information, we have installed privacy protection systems, devices, and activity monitoring on our network. Nevertheless, if unauthorized parties gain access to our networks or databases, they may be able to steal, publish, delete, or modify our private and sensitive third-party information. In such circumstances, we could be held liable to our customers or other parties or be subject to regulatory or other actions for breaching privacy rules. This could result in costly investigations and litigation, civil or criminal penalties, and adverse publicity that could adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations, and reputation. Further, if we are unable to comply with the security standards, established by banks and the credit card industry, we may be subject to fines, restrictions, and expulsion from card acceptance programs, which could adversely affect our retail operations.
The Company's royalty income is greatly impacted by the Company's brand reputation.
The Company's brand image, which is associated with providing a consumer product with outstanding quality and name recognition, makes it valuable as a royalty source. The Company is able to generate royalty income from the sale of licensed products that bear its Carter's, Child of Mine, Just One Year, OshKosh, Genuine Kids from OshKosh, and related trademarks. The Company also generates foreign royalty income as our OshKosh B'Gosh label carries an international reputation for quality and American style. While the Company takes significant steps to ensure the reputation of its brand is maintained through its license agreements, there can be no guarantee that the Company's brand image will not be negatively impacted through its association with products outside of the Company's core apparel products.
There are deflationary pressures on the selling price of apparel products.
In part due to the actions of discount retailers, and in part due to the worldwide supply of low cost garment sourcing, the average selling price of children's apparel continues to decrease. To the extent these deflationary pressures are not offset by reductions in manufacturing costs, there would be an affect on the Company's gross margin. Additionally, the inability to leverage certain fixed costs of the Company's design, sourcing, distribution, and support costs over its gross sales base could have an adverse impact on the Company's operating results.
Our business is sensitive to overall levels of consumer spending, particularly in the young children's apparel segment.
Consumers' demand for young children's apparel, specifically brand name apparel products, is impacted by the overall level of consumer spending. Discretionary consumer spending is impacted by employment levels, gasoline and utility costs, business conditions, availability of consumer credit, tax rates, interest rates, levels of consumer indebtedness, and overall levels of consumer confidence. Recent and further reductions in the level of discretionary spending may have a material adverse affect on the Company's sales and results of operations.
We face risks associated with the current global credit crisis and related economic downturn.
The continuing volatility in the financial markets and the related economic downturn in markets throughout the world could have a material adverse effect on our business. While we currently generate significant cash flows from our ongoing operations and have access to credit through amounts available under our revolving credit facility (the "Revolver"), credit markets have recently experienced significant disruptions and certain leading financial institutions have either declared bankruptcy or have shown significant deterioration in their financial stability. Further deterioration in the financial markets could make future financing difficult or more expensive. If any of the financial institutions that are parties to our Revolver were to declare bankruptcy or become insolvent, they may be unable to perform under their agreements with us. This could leave us with reduced borrowing capacity. In addition, tighter credit markets may lead to business disruptions for certain of our suppliers, contract manufacturers or trade customers and consequently, could disrupt our business.
We source substantially all of our products through foreign production arrangements. Our dependence on foreign supply sources could result in disruptions to our operations in the event of political instability, unfavorable economic conditions, international events, or new foreign regulations and such disruptions may increase our cost of goods sold and decrease gross profit.
We source substantially all of our products through a network of vendors primarily in Asia, coordinated by our Asia agents. The following could disrupt our foreign supply chain, increase our cost of goods sold, decrease our gross profit, or impact our ability to get products to our customers:
financial instability of one of our major vendors;
political instability or other international events resulting in the disruption of trade in foreign countries from which we source our products;
increases in transportation costs as a result of increased fuel prices;
the imposition of new regulations relating to imports, duties, taxes, and other charges on imports including the China safeguards;
the occurrence of a natural disaster, unusual weather conditions, or an epidemic, the spread of which may impact our ability to obtain products on a timely basis;
changes in the United States customs procedures concerning the importation of apparel products;
unforeseen delays in customs clearance of any goods;
disruption in the global transportation network such as a port strike, world trade restrictions, or war;
the application of foreign intellectual property laws;
the ability of our vendors to secure sufficient credit to finance the manufacturing process including the acquisition of raw materials; and
exchange rate fluctuations between the United States dollar and the local currencies of foreign contractors.
These and other events beyond our control could interrupt our supply chain and delay receipt of our products into the United States.
We source all of our products through a network of vendors. We have limited control over these vendors and we may experience delays, product recalls or loss of revenues if our products do not meet our quality standards or regulatory requirements.
Our vendors, independent manufacturers and licensees may not continue to provide products that are consistent with our standards. We have occasionally received, and may in the future continue to receive, shipments of product that fail to conform to our quality control standards. A failure in our quality control program may result in diminished product quality, which may result in increased order cancellations and returns, decreased consumer demand for our products, or product recalls, any of which may have a material adverse affect on our results of operations and financial condition. In addition, because we do not control our vendors, notwithstanding our strict quality control procedures, products that fail to meet our standards, or other unauthorized products, could end up in the marketplace without our knowledge, which could harm our brand and our reputation in the marketplace.
Our products are subject to regulation of and regulatory standards set by various governmental authorities with respect to quality and safety. Regulations and standards in this area are currently in place. These regulations and standards may change from time to time. Our inability to comply on a timely basis with regulatory requirements could result in significant fines or penalties, which could adversely affect our reputation and sales. Issues with the quality and safety of merchandise we sell in our stores, regardless of our culpability, or customer concerns about such issues, could result in damage to our reputation, lost sales, uninsured product liability claims or losses, merchandise recalls, and increased costs.
We operate in a highly competitive market and the size and resources of some of our competitors may allow them to compete more effectively than we can, resulting in a loss of market share and, as a result, a decrease in revenue and gross profit.
The baby and young children's apparel market is highly competitive. Both branded and private label manufacturers compete in the baby and young children's apparel market. Our primary competitors in our wholesale and mass channel businesses include Disney, Gerber, and private label product offerings. Our primary competitors in the retail store channel include Old Navy, The Gap, The Children's Place, Gymboree, and Disney. Because of the fragmented nature of the industry, we also compete with many other manufacturers and retailers. Some of our competitors have greater financial resources and larger customer bases than we have and are less financially leveraged than we are. As a result, these competitors may be able to:
adapt to changes in customer requirements more quickly;
take advantage of acquisition and other opportunities more readily;
devote greater resources to the marketing and sale of their products; and
adopt more aggressive pricing strategies than we can.
The Company's retail success and future growth is dependent upon identifying locations and negotiating appropriate lease terms for retail stores.
The Company's retail stores are located in leased retail locations across the country. Successful operation of a retail store depends, in part, on the overall ability of the retail location to attract a consumer base sufficient to make store sales volume profitable. If the Company is unable to identify new retail locations with consumer traffic sufficient to support a profitable sales level, retail growth may consequently be limited. Further, if existing outlet and strip centers do not maintain a sufficient customer base that provides a reasonable sales volume, there could be a material adverse impact on the Company's sales, gross margin, and results of operations.
Our leverage could adversely affect our financial condition.
On January 3, 2009, we had total debt of approximately $338.0 million.
Our indebtedness could have negative consequences. For example, it could:
increase our vulnerability to interest rate risk;
limit our ability to obtain additional financing to fund future working capital, capital expenditures, and other general corporate requirements, or to carry out other aspects of our business plan;
require us to dedicate a substantial portion of our cash flow from operations to pay principal of, and interest on, our indebtedness, thereby reducing the availability of that cash flow to fund working capital, capital expenditures, or other general corporate purposes, or to carry out other aspects of our business plan;
limit our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes in our business and the industry; and
place us at a competitive disadvantage compared to our competitors that have less debt.
In addition, our senior credit facility contains financial and other restrictive covenants that may limit our ability to engage in activities that may be in our long-term best interests such as selling assets, strategic acquisitions, paying dividends, and borrowing additional funds. Our failure to comply with those covenants could result in an event of default which, if not cured or waived, could result in the acceleration of all of our debt which could leave us unable to meet some or all of our obligations.
Profitability could be negatively impacted if we do not adequately forecast the demand for our products and, as a result, create significant levels of excess inventory or insufficient levels of inventory.
If the Company does not adequately forecast demand for its products and purchases inventory to support an inaccurate forecast, the Company could experience increased costs due to the need to dispose of excess inventory or lower profitability due to insufficient levels of inventory.
We may not achieve sales growth plans, cost savings, and other assumptions that support the carrying value of our intangible assets.
As of January 3, 2009, the Company had Carter's cost in excess of fair value of net assets acquired of $136.6 million, a $220.2 million Carter's brand tradename asset, and an $85.5 million OshKosh brand tradename asset on its consolidated balance sheet. The carrying value of these assets is subject to annual impairment reviews as of the last day of each fiscal year or more frequently, if deemed necessary, due to any significant events or changes in circumstances. During the second quarter of fiscal 2007, the Company performed an interim impairment review of the OshKosh intangible assets due to continued negative trends in sales and profitability of the Company's OshKosh wholesale and retail segments. As a result of this review, the Company wrote off our OshKosh cost in excess of fair value of net assets acquired asset of $142.9 million and wrote down the OshKosh tradename by $12.0 million.
Estimated future cash flows used in these impairment reviews could be negatively impacted if we do not achieve our sales plans, planned cost savings, and other assumptions that support the carrying value of these intangible assets, which could result in potential impairment of the remaining asset value.
The Company's success is dependent upon retaining key individuals within the organization to execute the Company's strategic plan.
The Company's ability to attract and retain qualified executive management, marketing, merchandising, design, sourcing, operations, and support function staffing is key to the Company's success. If the Company were unable to attract and retain qualified individuals in these areas, an adverse impact on the Company's growth and results of operations may result.
ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
Approximate floor space in square feet
Principal use
Distribution/warehousing
Hogansville, Georgia
Barnesville, Georgia
White House, Tennessee
Distribution/warehousing *
Finance/information technology/benefits administration/rework
Carter's customer service
Executive offices/Carter's design and merchandising
OshKosh's operating offices
Finance and retail store administration office
Sales office/showroom
OshKosh's design center
* As of January 3, 2009, this property is classified as an asset held for sale included in prepaid and other current assets on the accompanying audited consolidated balance sheets.
As of January 3, 2009, we operated 418 leased retail stores located primarily in outlet and strip centers across the United States, having an average size of approximately 4,800 square feet. Generally, the majority of our leases have an average term of approximately five years with additional five-year renewal options.
Aggregate lease commitments as of January 3, 2009 for the above leased properties are as follows: fiscal 2009—$51.8 million; fiscal 2010—$45.8 million; fiscal 2011—$35.4 million; fiscal 2012—$26.4 million; fiscal 2013—$21.2 million, and $51.7 million for the balance of these commitments beyond fiscal 2013.
A class action lawsuit was filed on September 16, 2008 in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia asserting claims under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the federal securities laws. The complaint alleges that between February 21, 2006 and July 21, 2007, the Company made misrepresentations regarding the successful integration of OshKosh into the Company's business, and that the share price of the Company's stock later fell when the market learned that the integration had not been as successful as represented. Plaintiff Plymouth County Retirement System filed an unopposed motion to be appointed lead counsel on November 18, 2008, and that motion was fully submitted as of December 8, 2008. Plaintiff is now waiting for a decision from the court. By stipulation of the parties, no motion to dismiss or other response to the complaint will be due until 60 days after an amended complaint is filed subsequent to lead plaintiff appointment. The Company intends to vigorously defend this claim. Following appointment of lead plaintiff and lead counsel, the Company intends to file a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim under the federal securities laws.
A class action lawsuit was filed on September 29, 2008 in United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois against the Company claiming breach of contract arising from certain advertising and pricing practices with respect to Carter's brand products purchased by consumers at Carter's retail stores nationally. The complaint seeks damages and injunctive relief. Plaintiff has since filed an amended complaint, alleging breach of contract on behalf of a nationwide class and Illinois Consumer Fraud Act claims on behalf of Illinois consumers. The Company has moved to dismiss the entire amended complaint. On February 3, 2009 the same plaintiff's attorney filed a second, nearly identical action against the Company in the same court but in the name of a different plaintiff. The parties filed an agreed upon motion to consolidate this second action with the first case and to stay the need for response in the second case until after the court has ruled upon the pending motion to dismiss. The Company intends to vigorously defend these claims.
The Company is subject to various other claims and pending or threatened lawsuits in the normal course of our business. We are not currently party to any other legal proceedings that we believe would have a material adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations or cash flows.
ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT'S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS, AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES
Our common stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol CRI. The last reported sale price per share of our common stock on February 13, 2009 was $15.70. On that date there were approximately 43,548 holders of record of our common stock.
The following table sets forth for the periods indicated the high and low sales prices per share of common stock as reported by the New York Stock Exchange:
PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES BY THE ISSUER AND AFFILIATED PURCHASERS
The following table provides information about purchases by the Company during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008 of equity securities that are registered by the Company pursuant to Section 12 of the Exchange Act:
Approximate dollar value of shares that may yet be purchased under the plans or programs
September 28, 2008 through October 25, 2008
228,178 $ 16.93 228,178 $ 8,895,948
October 26, 2008 through November 29, 2008
-- -- -- $ 8,895,948
November 30, 2008 through January 3, 2009
Represents repurchased shares which were retired.
On February 16, 2007, our Board of Directors approved a stock repurchase program, pursuant to which the Company is authorized to purchase up to $100 million of its outstanding common shares. Such repurchases may occur from time to time in the open market, in negotiated transactions, or otherwise. This program has no time limit. The timing and amount of any repurchases will be determined by the Company's management, based on its evaluation of market conditions, share price, and other factors. This program was announced in the Company's report on Form 8-K, which was filed on February 21, 2007. The total remaining authorization under the repurchase program was $8,895,948 as of January 3, 2009.
Provisions in our senior credit facility currently restrict the ability of our operating subsidiary, The William Carter Company ("TWCC"), from paying cash dividends to our parent company, Carter's, Inc., in excess of $15.0 million, which materially restricts Carter's, Inc. from paying cash dividends on our common stock. We do not anticipate paying cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future but intend to retain future earnings, if any, for reinvestment in the future operation and expansion of our business and related development activities. Any future decision to pay cash dividends will be at the discretion of our Board of Directors and will depend upon our financial condition, results of operations, terms of financing arrangements, capital requirements, and any other factors as our Board of Directors deems relevant.
RECENT SALES OF UNREGISTERED SECURITIES
The following table sets forth selected financial and other data as of and for the five fiscal years ended January 3, 2009 (fiscal 2008).
On July 14, 2005, Carter's, Inc., through TWCC, acquired all of the outstanding common stock of OshKosh for a purchase price of $312.1 million, which included payment for vested stock options (the "Acquisition"). As part of financing the Acquisition, the Company refinanced its existing debt (the "Refinancing"), comprised of its former senior credit facility and its outstanding 10.875% Senior Subordinated Notes due 2011 (the "Notes") (the Refinancing, together with the Acquisition, the "Transaction").
Financing for the Transaction was provided by a new $500 million Term Loan (the "Term Loan") and a $125 million revolving credit facility (including a sub-limit for letters of credit of $80 million, the "Revolver") entered into by TWCC with Bank of America, N.A., as administrative agent, and certain other financial institutions (the "Senior Credit Facility").
The proceeds from the Refinancing were used to purchase the outstanding common stock and vested stock options of OshKosh ($312.1 million), pay Transaction expenses ($6.2 million), refinance the Company's former senior credit facility ($36.2 million), repurchase the Company's Notes ($113.8 million), pay a redemption premium on the Company's Notes ($14.0 million), along with accrued and unpaid interest ($5.1 million), and pay debt issuance costs ($10.6 million). Other Transaction expenses paid prior and subsequent to the closing of the Transaction totaled $1.4 million, including $0.2 million in debt issuance costs.
On June 6, 2006, the Company effected a two-for-one stock split (the "stock split") through a stock dividend to stockholders of record as of May 23, 2006 of one share of our common stock for each share of common stock outstanding. Earnings per share for all prior periods presented have been adjusted to reflect the stock split.
The selected financial data for the five fiscal years ended January 3, 2009 were derived from our audited consolidated financial statements. Our fiscal year ends on the Saturday, in December or January, nearest the last day of December. Consistent with this policy, fiscal 2008 ended on January 3, 2009, fiscal 2007 ended on December 29, 2007, fiscal 2006 ended on December 30, 2006, fiscal 2005 ended on December 31, 2005, and fiscal 2004 ended on January 1, 2005. Fiscal 2008 contained 53 weeks of financial results. Fiscal 2007, fiscal 2006, fiscal 2005, and fiscal 2004 each contained 52 weeks of financial results.
The following table should be read in conjunction with ITEM 7 "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and ITEM 8 "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data."
(dollars in thousands, except per share data)
OPERATING DATA:
Wholesale sales – Carter's
Wholesale sales – OshKosh
74,270 86,555 96,351 59,707 --
Retail sales – Carter's
Retail sales – OshKosh
249,130 233,776 229,103 140,104 --
Mass Channel sales – Carter's
1,490,016 1,412,246 1,343,467 1,121,358 823,121
Selling, general, and administrative expenses
Intangible asset impairment (a)
-- 154,886 -- -- --
Executive retirement charges (b)
5,325 -- -- -- --
Facility write-down and closure costs (c)
2,609 5,285 91 6,828 620
(33,685 ) (30,738 ) (29,164 ) (20,426 ) (12,362 )
135,494 (6,009 ) 165,111 121,246 101,025
(1,491 ) (1,386 ) (1,914 ) (1,322 ) (335 )
Loss on extinguishment of debt (d)
-- -- -- 20,137 --
117,407 (29,088 ) 138,188 77,867 82,508
$ 75,058 $ (70,618 ) $ 87,220 $ 47,202 $ 49,658
PER COMMON SHARE DATA:
Basic net income (loss)
$ 1.33 $ (1.22 ) $ 1.50 $ 0.82 $ 0.88
Diluted net income (loss)
Basic weighted-average shares
56,309,454 57,871,235 57,996,241 57,280,504 56,251,168
Diluted weighted-average shares
BALANCE SHEET DATA (end of period):
Working capital (e)
1,051,057 974,668 1,123,191 1,116,727 672,965
Total debt, including current maturities
CASH FLOW DATA:
$ 183,623 $ 51,987 $ 88,224 $ 137,267 $ 42,676
(37,529 ) (21,819 ) (30,500 ) (308,403 ) (18,577 )
Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities
(32,757 ) (49,701 ) (73,455 ) 222,147 (26,895 )
34.5 % 34.2 % 36.4 % 35.3 % 36.2 %
See Notes to Selected Financial Data.
NOTES TO SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA
(a) Intangible asset impairment charges of $154.9 million in fiscal 2007 reflect the impairment of the OshKosh cost in excess of fair value of net assets acquired asset (OshKosh wholesale segment of $36.0 million and OshKosh retail segment of $106.9 million) and the impairment of the value ascribed to the OshKosh tradename of $12.0 million.
(b) Executive retirement charges of $5.3 million consist of $3.1 million related to the present value of severance and benefit obligations and $2.2 million of which related to the accelerated vesting of certain stock options.
(c) The $0.6 million in closure costs in fiscal 2004 relate to costs associated with the closure of our Costa Rican facilities and our distribution facility in Leola, Pennsylvania. The $6.8 million and $0.1 million in closure costs in fiscal 2005 and fiscal 2006 relate to the closure of our Mexican sewing facilities. The $5.3 million in closure costs in fiscal 2007 relate to the closure of our OshKosh distribution facility. The $2.6 million charge in fiscal 2008 relates to the write-down of the carrying value of our OshKosh distribution facility held for sale.
(d) Debt extinguishment charges in fiscal 2005 reflect the payment of a $14.0 million redemption premium on our Notes, the write-off of $4.5 million in unamortized debt issuance costs related to the former senior credit facility and Notes, and the write-off of $0.5 million of the related Note discount. Additionally, we expensed approximately $1.1 million of debt issuance costs associated with our Senior Credit Facility in accordance with Emerging Issues Task Force ("EITF") No. 96-19, "Debtor's Accounting for a Modification or Exchange of Debt Instruments."
(e) Represents total current assets less total current liabilities.
ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
The following is a discussion of our results of operations and current financial condition. You should read this discussion in conjunction with our consolidated historical financial statements and notes included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Our discussion of our results of operations and financial condition includes various forward-looking statements about our markets, the demand for our products and services, and our future results. We based these statements on assumptions that we consider reasonable. Actual results may differ materially from those suggested by our forward-looking statements for various reasons including those discussed in the "Risk Factors" in ITEM 1A of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Those risk factors expressly qualify all subsequent oral and written forward-looking statements attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf. Except for any ongoing obligations to disclose material information as required by the federal securities laws, we do not have any intention or obligation to update forward-looking statements after we file this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
For more than 140 years, Carter's has become one of the most highly recognized and most trusted brand names in the children's apparel industry and with the Acquisition of OshKosh on July 14, 2005, we now own the highly recognized and trusted OshKosh B'Gosh brand which also earned the position of a highly trusted and well-known brand for over 110 years.
We sell our products under our Carter's and OshKosh brands in the wholesale channel, which includes over 260 department store, national chain, and specialty store accounts. We also sell our products in the mass channel under our Child of Mine brand to over 3,500 Wal-Mart stores nationwide and under our Just One Year brand to over 1,600 Target stores. Additionally, as of January 3, 2009, we operated 253 Carter's and 165 OshKosh retail stores located primarily in outlet and strip centers throughout the United States. We also extend our brand reach by licensing our Carter's, Child of Mine, Just One Year, OshKosh, and related brand names through domestic licensing arrangements, including licensing of our Genuine Kids from OshKosh brand to Target stores nationwide. Our OshKosh B'Gosh brand name is also licensed through international licensing arrangements. During fiscal 2008, we earned approximately $33.7 million in royalty income from these arrangements, including $16.6 million from our OshKosh and Genuine Kids from OshKosh brands.
In connection with the Acquisition of OshKosh, we recorded cost in excess of fair value of net assets acquired of $142.9 million and an OshKosh brand tradename asset of $102.0 million. During the second quarter of fiscal 2007, as a result of the continued negative trends in sales and profitability of the Company's OshKosh B'Gosh wholesale and retail segments and re-forecasted projections for such segments for the balance of fiscal 2007, the Company conducted an interim impairment assessment on the value of the intangible assets that the Company recorded in connection with the Acquisition. Based on this assessment, charges of approximately $36.0 million for the OshKosh wholesale segment and $106.9 million for the OshKosh retail segment were recorded for the impairment of the cost in excess of fair value of net assets acquired asset. In addition, an impairment charge of $12.0 million was recorded to reflect the impairment of the value ascribed to the OshKosh tradename. The carrying value of the OshKosh tradename asset is subject to annual impairment reviews as of the last day of each fiscal year or more frequently if deemed necessary due to any significant events or changes in circumstances. Estimated future cash flows used in such impairment reviews could be negatively impacted if we do not achieve our sales plans and other assumptions that support the carrying value of these intangible assets, which could result in potential impairment of such assets.
We have also acquired certain definite-lived intangible assets in connection with the Acquisition of OshKosh comprised of licensing agreements and leasehold interests which resulted in annual amortization expense of $4.7 million in fiscal 2006; $4.5 million in fiscal 2007; and $4.1 million in fiscal 2008. Amortization expense related to these intangible assets will be $3.7 million in fiscal 2009 and $1.8 million in fiscal 2010.
During fiscal 2007, the Board of Directors approved a stock repurchase program, pursuant to which the Company is authorized to purchase up to $100 million of its outstanding common shares. Such repurchases may occur from time to time in the open market, in negotiated transactions, or otherwise. This program has no time limit. The timing and amount of any repurchases will be determined by management, based on its evaluation of market conditions, share price, and other factors. During fiscal 2008, the Company repurchased and retired 2,126,361 shares, or approximately $33.6 million, of its common stock at an average price of $15.82 per share. Since inception of the program and through fiscal 2008, the Company repurchased and retired 4,599,580 shares, or approximately $91.1 million, of its common stock at an average price of $19.81 per share.
Our fiscal year ends on the Saturday, in December or January, nearest the last day of December. Consistent with this policy, fiscal 2008 ended on January 3, 2009, fiscal 2007 ended on December 29, 2007, and fiscal 2006 ended on December 30, 2006. Fiscal 2008 contained 53 weeks of financial results while fiscal 2007 and 2006 each contained 52 weeks.
The following table sets forth, for the periods indicated (i) selected statement of operations data expressed as a percentage of net sales and (ii) the number of retail stores open at the end of each period:
Wholesale sales:
Total wholesale sales
Retail store sales:
Total retail store sales
Mass channel sales
Consolidated net sales
Intangible asset impairment
-- 11.0 --
Executive retirement charges
0.4 -- --
Facility write-down and closure costs
0.2 0.3 --
(2.3 ) (2.2 ) (2.1 )
9.1 (0.4 ) 12.3
5.0 % (5.0 )% 6.5 %
Number of retail stores at end of period:
FISCAL YEAR ENDED JANUARY 3, 2009 COMPARED WITH FISCAL YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 29, 2007
Consolidated net sales for fiscal 2008 were $1.5 billion, an increase of $77.8 million, or 5.5%, compared to $1.4 billion in fiscal 2007. This increase reflects growth in all three of our Carter's brand segments and our OshKosh brand retail store segment.
For the fiscal years ended
Wholesale-Carter's
$ 489,744 32.9 % $ 482,350 34.2 %
Wholesale-OshKosh
74,270 5.0 % 86,555 6.1 %
Retail-Carter's
422,436 28.3 % 366,296 25.9 %
Retail-OshKosh
Mass Channel-Carter's
$ 1,490,016 100.0 % $ 1,412,246 100.0 %
CARTER'S WHOLESALE SALES
Carter's brand wholesale sales increased $7.4 million, or 1.5%, in fiscal 2008, to $489.7 million. The increase in Carter's brand wholesale sales was driven by a 6% increase in units shipped, partially offset by a 4% decrease in average price per unit, as compared to fiscal 2007. The growth in units shipped was driven primarily by growth in all product categories due to increased demand and higher levels of off-price units shipped. The decrease in average price per unit was due to more competitive pricing in certain product categories, particularly to our off-price customers.
OSHKOSH WHOLESALE SALES
OshKosh brand wholesale sales decreased $12.3 million, or 14.2%, in fiscal 2008 to $74.3 million. The decrease in OshKosh brand wholesale sales reflects a 16% decline in average price per unit, partially offset by a 2% increase in units shipped, as compared to fiscal 2007. The decrease in average prices reflects a change in strategy to reposition the OshKosh brand to appeal to a broader consumer population. We believe our new product offerings and price repositioning drove the increase in units shipped.
CARTER'S RETAIL STORES
Carter's retail stores sales increased $56.1 million, or 15.3%, in fiscal 2008 to $422.4 million. The increase was driven by a comparable store sales increase of $38.5 million, or 9.0% (based on 225 locations), incremental sales of $18.5 million generated by new store openings, partially offset by the impact of store closures of $0.9 million. During fiscal 2008, on a comparable store basis, transactions increased 4.0%, units per transaction increased 3.5%, and average prices increased 1.3% as compared to fiscal 2007. The increases in transactions and units per transaction were driven by strong product performance in all product categories, improved in-store product presentation, and a focus on merchandising and marketing efforts. The increase in average prices was driven by our baby, sleepwear, and other product categories, partially offset by decreased playwear product category pricing.
The Company's comparable store sales calculations include sales for all stores that were open during the comparable fiscal period, including remodeled stores and certain relocated stores. If a store relocates within the same center with no business interruption or material change in square footage, the sales for such store will continue to be included in the comparable store calculation. If a store relocates to another center or there is a material change in square footage, such store is treated as a new store. Stores that are closed during the period are included in the comparable store sales calculation up to the date of closing.
There were a total of 253 Carter's retail stores open as of January 3, 2009. During fiscal 2008, we opened 25 stores. We plan to open approximately 20 and close five Carter's retail stores during fiscal 2009.
OSHKOSH RETAIL STORES
OshKosh retail store sales increased $15.4 million, or 6.6%, in fiscal 2008 to $249.1 million. The increase was due to incremental sales of $7.1 million generated by new store openings, and a comparable store sales increase of $10.3 million, or 3.2% (based on 160 locations), partially offset by the impact of store closings of $2.0 million. On a comparable store basis, transactions increased 2.0%, units per transaction increased 4.3%, and average prices decreased 3.0%. The increases in transactions and units per transaction and decrease in average prices were driven by heavy promotional pricing on excess products during the first half of fiscal 2008.
There were a total of 165 OshKosh retail stores open as of January 3, 2009. During fiscal 2008, we opened three stores and closed one store. We plan to close three OshKosh retail stores during fiscal 2009.
Mass channel sales increased $11.2 million, or 4.6%, in fiscal 2008 to $254.4 million. The increase was driven by sales of $14.9 million, or 15.5%, of our Just One Year brand to Target partially offset by a $3.7 million, or 2.5%, decrease in sales of our Child of Mine brand to Wal-Mart. The increase in Just One Year sales was driven primarily from new door growth and new floor space, particularly in playwear and baby. The decrease in Child of Mine sales was due to product performance in certain categories, particularly certain Spring 2008 products and certain fall hanging products. We anticipate our mass channel sales could decline approximately 15% in fiscal 2009 as compared to fiscal 2008.
Our gross profit increased $30.8 million, or 6.4%, to $514.0 million in fiscal 2008. Gross profit as a percentage of net sales was 34.5% in fiscal 2008 as compared to 34.2% in fiscal 2007.
The increase in gross profit as a percentage of net sales reflects a higher relative percentage of sales from our Carter's and OshKosh retail store segments, which generate higher gross profit margins than our other business segments. In fiscal 2008, our retail segments sales increased $71.5 million, or 11.9%.
Partially offsetting these increases were:
higher provisions for excess inventory of approximately $6.0 million in fiscal 2008 as compared to fiscal 2007 due to declining market conditions;
lower margins on 2008 Child of Mine products due to disappointing over-the-counter performance; and
a decline in Carter's and OshKosh brand wholesale margins due to price reductions.
The Company includes distribution costs in its selling, general, and administrative expenses. Accordingly, the Company's gross profit may not be comparable to other companies that include such distribution costs in their cost of goods sold.
Selling, general, and administrative expenses in fiscal 2008 increased $44.4 million, or 12.4%, to $404.3 million. As a percentage of net sales, selling, general, and administrative expenses in fiscal 2008 were 27.1% as compared to 25.5% in fiscal 2007.
The increase in selling, general, and administrative expenses as a percentage of net sales reflects:
increase in our consolidated retail expenses from 30.7% of retail store sales in fiscal 2007 to 31.6% in fiscal 2008, related primarily to new store openings and investments in our retail management team; and
a provision for incentive compensation of $6.3 million in fiscal 2008 as compared to no provision in fiscal 2007.
a decline in distribution costs as a percentage of sales from 4.1% in fiscal 2007 to 3.7% in fiscal 2008 resulting from supply chain efficiencies; and
accelerated depreciation of $2.1 million recorded in fiscal 2007 related to the closure of our OshKosh distribution facility.
The Company is currently in the process of evaluating its overall cost structure in order to identify areas where costs can be reduced and operations can be run more efficiently. While the timing of and charges associated with any restructuring have not yet been determined, it is likely that some level of restructuring charges will be incurred during the first quarter and balance of fiscal 2009.
During the second quarter of fiscal 2007, as a result of negative trends in sales and profitability of the OshKosh wholesale and retail segments and revised projections for such segments, the Company conducted an interim impairment assessment of the value of the intangible assets that the Company recorded in connection with the Acquisition of OshKosh. This assessment was performed in accordance with Statement of Financial Accounting Standards ("SFAS") No. 142, "Goodwill and Intangible Assets." Based on this assessment, charges of approximately $36.0 million and $106.9 million were recorded for the impairment of the cost in excess of fair value of net assets acquired for the wholesale and retail segments, respectively. In addition, an impairment charge of $12.0 million was recorded to reflect the impairment of the value ascribed to the OshKosh tradename.
On June 11, 2008, the Company announced the retirement of an executive officer. In connection with this retirement, the Company recorded charges of $5.3 million, $3.1 million of which related to the present value of severance and benefit obligations, and $2.2 million of which related to the accelerated vesting of stock options.
On February 15, 2007, the Board of Directors approved management's plan to close the Company's OshKosh distribution facility, which was utilized to distribute the Company's OshKosh brand products. In connection with this closure we recorded costs of $7.4 million, consisting of asset impairment charges of $2.4 million related to a write-down of the related land, building, and equipment, $2.0 million of severance charges, $2.1 million of accelerated depreciation (included in selling, general, and administrative expenses), and $0.9 million in other closure costs during fiscal 2007.
In the third quarter of fiscal 2008, the Company wrote down the carrying value of the OshKosh distribution facility by $2.6 million to reflect a reduction of the anticipated selling price of the property as a result of the deterioration in the commercial real estate market.
Our royalty income increased $2.9 million, or 9.6%, to $33.7 million in fiscal 2008.
We license the use of our Carter's, Just One Year, and Child of Mine brands. Royalty income from these brands was approximately $16.8 million, an increase of 9.1%, or $1.4 million, as compared to fiscal 2007 due to increased sales by our Carter's brand and Child of Mine brand licensees. In addition, in fiscal 2008, the Company began to license the Carter's brand internationally generating $0.3 million in royalty income.
We also license the use of our OshKosh B'Gosh, OshKosh, and Genuine Kids from OshKosh brand names. Royalty income from these brands increased approximately $1.3 million, or 8.2%, to $16.6 million in fiscal 2008 and includes $7.1 million of international royalties. This increase was driven by increased sales by our OshKosh brand domestic and international licensees.
Our operating income was $135.5 million in fiscal 2008 as compared to an operating loss of $6.0 million in fiscal 2007. This change in our operating results is due largely to the charges in fiscal 2007 related to the impairment of OshKosh's intangible assets and the closure of our OshKosh distribution facility in addition to the other factors described above.
Interest expense, net, in fiscal 2008 decreased $5.0 million, or 21.6%, to $18.1 million. This decrease is attributable to a lower effective interest rate on lower weighted-average borrowings. In fiscal 2008, weighted-average borrowings were $340.1 million at an effective interest rate of 5.76% as compared to weighted-average borrowings of $349.2 million at an effective interest rate of 7.01% in fiscal 2007. In fiscal 2008, we recorded $1.1 million in interest expense related to our interest rate swap agreement and $1.2 million in interest expense related to our interest rate collar agreement. In fiscal 2007, we recorded interest income of approximately $1.6 million related to our interest rate swap agreement, which effectively reduced our interest expense under the term loan.
Our effective tax rate was approximately 36.1% in fiscal 2008 as compared to approximately (142.8%) in fiscal 2007. This change is a result of the impairment of our OshKosh cost in excess of fair value of net assets acquired asset in fiscal 2007, which was not deductible for income tax purposes. See Note 8 to the accompanying audited consolidated financial statements for a reconciliation of the statutory rate to our effective tax rate.
As a result of the factors above, we recorded net income of $75.1 million in fiscal 2008 as compared to a net loss of $70.6 million in fiscal 2007.
FISCAL YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 29, 2007 COMPARED WITH FISCAL YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 30, 2006
Consolidated net sales for fiscal 2007 were $1.4 billion, an increase of $68.8 million, or 5.1%, compared to $1.3 billion in fiscal 2006. This increase reflects growth in all three of our Carter's brand distribution channels and our OshKosh brand retail store segment.
Carter's brand wholesale sales increased $17.7 million, or 3.8%, in fiscal 2007, to $482.4 million. The increase in Carter's brand wholesale sales was driven by a 4% increase in units shipped. Average price per unit was comparable to fiscal 2006.
The growth in units shipped was driven primarily by our baby and playwear product categories, which accounted for approximately 47% and 33% of total Carter's brand wholesale sales, respectively, partially offset by a decrease in sleepwear units shipped. The growth in baby and playwear units shipped was driven by increased demand.
OshKosh brand wholesale sales decreased $9.8 million, or 10.2%, in fiscal 2007 to $86.6 million. The decrease in OshKosh brand wholesale sales was impacted by a 19% decrease in average price per unit, partially offset by an 11% increase in units shipped as compared to fiscal 2006. The decrease in average prices reflects changes in product mix and higher levels of customer accommodations as compared to the prior year.
Carter's retail stores sales increased $33.2 million, or 10.0%, in fiscal 2007 to $366.3 million. The increase was driven by incremental sales of $22.8 million generated by new store openings and a comparable store sales increase of $13.3 million, or 4.1% (based on 206 locations), partially offset by the impact of store closures of $2.8 million. During fiscal 2007, units per transaction increased 5.3% and average prices decreased 3.0% as compared to fiscal 2006. Average prices decreased due to increased promotional pricing on spring sleepwear and fall playclothes products. We believe increased promotional pricing drove the increase in unit volume. Average inventory levels, on a comparable store basis, were up 10.9% as compared to fiscal 2006. We believe these higher average inventory levels helped drive our comparable store sales increases.
There were a total of 228 Carter's retail stores as of December 29, 2007. During fiscal 2007, we opened ten stores and closed one store.
OshKosh retail store sales increased $4.7 million, or 2.0%, in fiscal 2007 to $233.8 million. The increase was due to incremental sales of $15.2 million generated by new store openings, partially offset by a comparable store sales decrease of $9.8 million, or 4.3% (based on 146 locations), and the impact of store closings of $0.8 million. Average prices decreased 6.0% and units per transaction increased 4.4%. Average prices decreased due to increased promotional activity across all major product categories. Average inventory levels, on a comparable store basis, were up 22.5% as compared to fiscal 2006.
There were a total of 163 OshKosh retail stores as of December 29, 2007. During fiscal 2007, we opened nine stores and closed three stores.
Mass channel sales increased $22.9 million, or 10.4%, in fiscal 2007 to $243.3 million. The increase was driven by increased sales of $11.9 million, or 8.8%, of our Child of Mine brand to Wal-Mart and increased sales of $11.0 million, or 12.9%, of our Just One Year brand to Target. The growth in sales of our Child of Mine brand was driven by gaining additional floor space for fall sleepwear and fall playwear products. Growth in sales of our Just One Year brand was driven by new door growth and better product performance.
Our gross profit decreased $5.2 million, or 1.1%, to $483.3 million in fiscal 2007. Gross profit as a percentage of net sales was 34.2% in fiscal 2007 as compared to 36.4% in fiscal 2006.
The decrease in gross profit as a percentage of net sales reflects:
a decrease in gross profit in our consolidated retail segments, primarily OshKosh, due to increased promotional pricing (consolidated retail gross margin decreased from 51.1% in fiscal 2006 to 47.8% in fiscal 2007 despite an increase in consolidated retail net sales of 6.7% in fiscal 2007);
the impact of OshKosh brand wholesale product performance, which led to higher levels of customer accommodations in fiscal 2007; and
the impact of $4.9 million in higher losses associated with excess inventory.
Selling, general, and administrative expenses in fiscal 2007 increased $7.4 million, or 2.1%, to $359.8 million. As a percentage of net sales, selling, general, and administrative expenses in fiscal 2007 were 25.5% as compared to 26.2% in fiscal 2006.
The decrease in selling, general, and administrative expenses as a percentage of net sales reflects:
a reduction in incentive compensation expense of $10.2 million as compared to fiscal 2006;
controlling growth in spending to a rate lower than the growth in net sales for fiscal 2007; and
the reversal in fiscal 2007 of approximately $1.5 million of previously recorded stock-based compensation expense and the reduction in fiscal 2007 of $1.2 million of stock-based compensation expense on performance-based stock awards (see Note 6).
Partially offsetting these decreases were:
accelerated depreciation charges of $2.1 million in fiscal 2007 related to the closure of our OshKosh distribution facility; and
increased severance, recruiting, and relocation expenses of $1.9 million as compared to fiscal 2006. The increase was driven primarily by restructuring our retail store management team.
During the second quarter of fiscal 2007, as a result of negative trends in sales and profitability of the OshKosh wholesale and retail segments and revised projections for such segments, the Company conducted an interim impairment assessment on the value of the intangible assets that the Company recorded in connection with the Acquisition of OshKosh. This assessment was performed in accordance with Statement of Financial Accounting Standards ("SFAS") No. 142, "Goodwill and Intangible Assets." Based on this assessment, charges of approximately $36.0 million and $106.9 million were recorded for the impairment of the cost in excess of fair value of net assets acquired for the wholesale and retail segments, respectively. In addition, an impairment charge of $12.0 million was recorded to reflect the impairment of the value ascribed to the OshKosh tradename.
CLOSURE COSTS
In May 2005, we decided to exit two Carter's sewing facilities in Mexico. During fiscal 2006, in connection with these closures, we recorded costs of $91,000, including $74,000 of severance and $17,000 of other exit costs.
We license the use of our Carter's, Just One Year, and Child of Mine brands. Royalty income from these brands was approximately $15.3 million, an increase of 2.1%, or $0.3 million, as compared to fiscal 2006 due to increased sales by our Carter's brand and Child of Mine brand licensees.
We license the use of our OshKosh and Genuine Kids from OshKosh brand names. Royalty income from these brands increased approximately $1.3 million, or 8.9%, to $15.4 million in fiscal 2007 and includes $6.5 million of international royalty. This increase was driven primarily by increased sales by our OshKosh brand domestic licensees.
OPERATING (LOSS) INCOME
Our operating loss was $6.0 million in fiscal 2007 as compared to operating income of $165.1 million in fiscal 2006. The decrease in operating results was due to the factors described above including the charges incurred in fiscal 2007 related to the impairment of OshKosh's intangible assets and the closure of our OshKosh distribution facility, partially offset by the reversal of stock-based compensation expense associated with performance stock awards.
Interest expense in fiscal 2007 decreased $3.8 million, or 14.3%, to $23.1 million. This decrease is attributable to accelerated debt reduction in fiscal 2006 and a lower effective interest rate. In fiscal 2007, weighted-average borrowings were $349.2 million at an effective interest rate of 7.01% as compared to weighted-average borrowings of $397.9 million at an effective interest rate of 7.25% in fiscal 2006. In fiscal 2007 and 2006, our interest rate swap agreement reduced our interest expense under the Term Loan by approximately $1.6 million and $1.3 million, respectively.
Our effective tax rate was approximately (142.8%) in fiscal 2007 as compared to approximately 36.9% in fiscal 2006. This change in our effective tax rate is a result of the impairment of our OshKosh cost in excess of fair value of net assets acquired asset, which is not deductible for income tax purposes. See Note 8 to the accompanying audited consolidated financial statements for a reconciliation of the statutory rate to our effective tax rate.
As a result of the factors above, we recorded a net loss for fiscal 2007 of $70.6 million as compared to net income of $87.2 million in fiscal 2006.
Our primary cash needs are working capital and capital expenditures. Our primary source of liquidity will continue to be cash flow from operations and borrowings under our Revolver, and we expect that these sources will fund our ongoing requirements for working capital and capital expenditures. These sources of liquidity may be impacted by continued demand for our products and our ability to meet debt covenants under our Senior Credit Facility, described below.
Net accounts receivable at January 3, 2009 were $106.1 million compared to $119.7 million at December 29, 2007. This decrease reflects lower levels of wholesale revenue in the latter part of fiscal 2008 as compared to the latter part of fiscal 2007.
Net inventories at January 3, 2009 were $203.5 million compared to $225.5 million at December 29, 2007. This decrease was due primarily to improved inventory management across all business segments.
Net cash provided by operating activities for fiscal 2008 was $183.6 million compared to $52.0 million in fiscal 2007. This change is primarily attributable to improved working capital management. We expect operating cash flow in fiscal 2009 to return to levels more consistent with those achieved in the previous two years. Net cash provided by our operating activities in fiscal 2006 was approximately $88.2 million.
We invested $37.5 million in capital expenditures during fiscal 2008 compared to $21.9 million in fiscal 2007. Major investments included retail store openings and remodelings (including retail store fixtures), a new point of sale system for our retail stores, fixtures for our wholesale customers, and a new finance and retail store administration office in Shelton, Connecticut. We plan to invest approximately $40 million in capital expenditures in fiscal 2009 primarily for retail store openings and remodelings (including retail store fixtures), fixtures for our wholesale customers, and investments in information technology.
On February 16, 2007, the Board of Directors approved a stock repurchase program, pursuant to which the Company is authorized to purchase up to $100 million of its outstanding common shares. Such repurchases may occur from time to time in the open market, in negotiated transactions, or otherwise. This program has no time limit. The timing and amount of any repurchases will be determined by management, based on its evaluation of market conditions, share price, and other factors. During fiscal 2008, the Company repurchased and retired 2,126,361 shares, or approximately $33.6 million, of its common stock at an average price of $15.82 per share. Since inception of the program and through fiscal 2008, the Company repurchased and retired 4,599,580 shares, or approximately $91.1 million, of its common stock at an average price of $19.81 per share.
At January 3, 2009, we had approximately $338.0 million in Term Loan borrowings and no borrowings under our Revolver, exclusive of $8.6 million of outstanding letters of credit. At December 29, 2007, we had approximately $341.5 million in Term Loan borrowings and no borrowings under our Revolver, exclusive of approximately $16.3 million of outstanding letters of credit. Weighted-average borrowings for fiscal 2008 were $340.1 million at an effective rate of 5.76% as compared to weighted-average borrowings of $349.2 million at an effective rate of 7.01% in fiscal 2007.
The term of the Revolver expires July 14, 2011 and the term of the Term Loan expires July 14, 2012. Principal borrowings under the Term Loan are due and payable in quarterly installments of $0.9 million from March 31, 2009 through June 30, 2012 with the remaining balance of $325.8 million due on July 14, 2012. In fiscal 2008 and fiscal 2007, we made scheduled amortization payments of $3.5 million in each year. The Term Loan has an applicable rate of LIBOR + 1.50%, regardless of the Company's overall leverage level. Interest is payable at the end of interest rate reset periods, which vary in length, but in no case exceed 12 months for LIBOR rate loans and quarterly for prime rate loans. The effective interest rate on Term Loan borrowings as of January 3, 2009 and December 29, 2007 was 3.3% and 6.4%.
The Senior Credit Facility contains and defines financial covenants, including a minimum interest coverage ratio, maximum leverage ratio, and a fixed charge coverage ratio. As of January 3, 2009, the Company is in compliance with all debt covenants. The Senior Credit Facility also sets forth mandatory and optional prepayment conditions, including an annual excess cash flow requirement, as defined, that may result in our use of cash to reduce our debt obligations. There was no excess cash flow payment required for fiscal 2008 or 2007. Our obligations under the Senior Credit Facility are collateralized by a first priority lien on substantially all of our assets, including the assets of our domestic subsidiaries.
Our Senior Credit Facility requires us to hedge at least 25% of our variable rate debt under the term loan. On September 22, 2005, we entered into an interest rate swap agreement to receive floating interest and pay fixed interest. This interest rate swap agreement is designated as a cash flow hedge of the variable interest payments on a portion of our variable rate term loan debt. The interest rate swap agreement matures on July 30, 2010. As of January 3, 2009, approximately $55.3 million of our outstanding term loan debt was hedged under this agreement.
On May 25, 2006, we entered into an interest rate collar agreement with a floor of 4.3% and a ceiling of 5.5%. The interest rate collar agreement covers $100 million of our variable rate term loan debt and is designated as a cash flow hedge of the variable interest payments on such debt. The interest rate collar agreement matures on January 31, 2009.
On January 30, 2009, we entered into two interest rate swap agreements, each covering $50.0 million of our variable rate Term Loan debt, to receive floating rate interest and pay fixed interest. These swap agreements are designated as cash flow hedges of the variable interest payments on a portion of our variable rate Term Loan debt. These swap agreements mature in January 2010.
Our operating results are subject to risk from interest rate fluctuations on our Senior Credit Facility, which carries variable interest rates. As of January 3, 2009, our outstanding debt aggregated approximately $338.0 million, of which $182.7 million bore interest at a variable rate. An increase or decrease of 1% in the applicable rate would increase or decrease our annual interest cost by $1.8 million, exclusive of variable rate debt subject to our swap and collar agreements, and could have an adverse effect on our net income (loss) and cash flow.
The following table summarizes as of January 3, 2009, the maturity or expiration dates of mandatory contractual obligations and commitments for the following fiscal years:
$ 3,503 $ 3,503 $ 3,503 $ 327,517 $ -- $ -- $ 338,026
Interest on debt:
Variable rate (a)
11,007 11,007 11,007 5,503 -- -- 38,524
Operating leases (see Note 10 to the Consolidated Financial Statements)
52,888 46,278 35,502 26,407 21,240 51,692 234,007
Total financial obligations
67,398 60,788 50,012 359,427 21,240 51,692 610,557
8,571 -- -- -- -- -- 8,571
Purchase obligations (b)
210,648 -- -- -- -- -- 210,648
Total financial obligations and commitments
$ 286,617 $ 60,788 $ 50,012 $ 359,427 $ 21,240 $ 51,692 $ 829,776
Reflects estimated variable rate interest on obligations outstanding on our Term Loan as of January 3, 2009 using an interest rate of 3.3% (rate in effect at January 3, 2009).
Unconditional purchase obligations are defined as agreements to purchase goods or services that are enforceable and legally binding on us and that specify all significant terms, including fixed or minimum quantities to be purchased; fixed, minimum, or variable price provisions; and the approximate timing of the transaction. The purchase obligations category above relates to commitments for inventory purchases. Amounts reflected on the accompanying audited consolidated balance sheets in accounts payable or other current liabilities are excluded from the table above.
In addition to the total contractual obligations and commitments in the table above, we have post-retirement benefit obligations and reserves for uncertain tax positions, included in other current and other long-term liabilities as further described in Note 7 and Note 8, respectively, to the accompanying audited consolidated financial statements.
Based on our current level of operations, we believe that cash generated from operations and available cash, together with amounts available under our Revolver, will be adequate to meet our debt service requirements, capital expenditures, and working capital needs for the foreseeable future, although no assurance can be given in this regard. We may, however, need to refinance all or a portion of the principal amount of amounts outstanding under our Revolver on or before July 14, 2011 and amounts outstanding under our Term Loan on or before July 14, 2012.
The continuing volatility in the financial markets and the related economic downturn in markets throughout the world could have a material adverse effect on our business. While we currently generate significant cash flows from our ongoing operations and have access to credit through amounts available under our Revolver, credit markets have recently experienced significant disruptions and certain leading financial institutions have either declared bankruptcy or have shown significant deterioration in their financial stability. Further deterioration in the financial markets could make future financing difficult or more expensive. If any of the financial institutions that are parties to our Revolver were to declare bankruptcy or become insolvent, they may be unable to perform under their agreements with us. This could leave us with reduced borrowing capacity. In addition, tighter credit markets may lead to business disruptions for certain of our suppliers, contract manufacturers or trade customers and consequently, could disrupt our business.
EFFECTS OF INFLATION AND DEFLATION
We are affected by inflation and changing prices primarily through purchasing product from our global suppliers, increased operating costs and expenses, and fluctuations in interest rates. The effects of inflation on our net sales and operations have not been material in recent years. In recent years, there has been deflationary pressure on selling prices. If deflationary price trends outpace our ability to obtain price reductions from our global suppliers, our profitability may be affected.
We experience seasonal fluctuations in our sales and profitability, with generally lower sales and gross profit in the first and second quarters of our fiscal year. Over the past five fiscal years, excluding the impact of the OshKosh acquisition in fiscal 2005, approximately 57% of our consolidated net sales were generated in the second half of our fiscal year. Accordingly, our results of operations for the first and second quarters of any year are not indicative of the results we expect for the full year.
As a result of this seasonality, our inventory levels and other working capital requirements generally begin to increase during the second quarter and into the third quarter of each fiscal year. During these peak periods, we had historically borrowed under our Revolver. In fiscal 2008, we had no borrowings under our Revolver. In fiscal 2007, we had $41.6 million in peak borrowings under our Revolver.
Our discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations are based upon our consolidated financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. The preparation of these financial statements requires us to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues, expenses, and related disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities. We base our estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that we believe are reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions.
Our significant accounting policies are described in Note 2 to the accompanying audited consolidated financial statements. The following discussion addresses our critical accounting policies and estimates, which are those policies that require management's most difficult and subjective judgments, often as a result of the need to make estimates about the effect of matters that are inherently uncertain.
Revenue recognition: We recognize wholesale and mass channel revenue after shipment of products to customers, when title passes, when all risks and rewards of ownership have transferred, the sales price is fixed or determinable, and collectibility is reasonably assured. In certain cases, in which we retain the risk of loss during shipment, revenue recognition does not occur until the goods have reached the specified customer. In the normal course of business, we grant certain accommodations and allowances to our wholesale and mass channel customers in order to assist these customers with inventory clearance or promotions. Such amounts are reflected as a reduction of net sales and are recorded based upon historical trends and annual forecasts. Retail store revenues are recognized at the point of sale. We reduce revenue for customer returns and deductions. We also maintain an allowance for doubtful accounts for estimated losses resulting from the inability of our customers to make payments and other actual and estimated deductions. If the financial condition of our customers were to deteriorate, resulting in an impairment of their ability to make payments, an additional allowance could be required. Past due balances over 90 days are reviewed individually for collectibility. Our credit and collections department reviews all other balances regularly. Account balances are charged off against the allowance when we believe it is probable the receivable will not be recovered.
We contract with a third-party service to provide us with the fair value of cooperative advertising arrangements entered into with certain of our major wholesale and mass channel customers. Such fair value is determined based upon, among other factors, comparable market analysis for similar advertisements. In accordance with EITF Issue No. 01-09, "Accounting for Consideration Given by a Vendor to a Customer/Reseller," we have included the fair value of these arrangements of approximately $2.1 million in fiscal 2008, $2.5 million in fiscal 2007, and $3.3 million in fiscal 2006 as a component of selling, general, and administrative expenses on the accompanying audited consolidated statement of operations rather than as a reduction of revenue. Amounts determined to be in excess of the fair value of these arrangements are recorded as a reduction of net sales.
Inventory: We provide reserves for slow-moving inventory equal to the difference between the cost of inventory and the estimated market value based upon assumptions about future demand and market conditions. If actual market conditions are less favorable than those we project, additional write-downs may be required.
Cost in excess of fair value of net assets acquired and tradename: As of January 3, 2009, we had approximately $136.6 million in Carter's cost in excess of fair value of net assets acquired and $305.7 million of aggregate value related to the Carter's and OshKosh tradename assets. The fair value of the Carter's tradename was estimated at the acquisition of Carter's, Inc. by Berkshire Partners LLC which was consummated on August 15, 2001, using a discounted cash flow analysis, which examined the hypothetical cost savings that accrue as a result of our ownership of the tradename. The fair value of the OshKosh tradename was also estimated at its acquisition date using an identical discounted cash flow analysis. The tradenames were determined to have indefinite lives.
The carrying values of these assets are subject to annual impairment reviews in accordance with Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 142, "Goodwill and other Intangible Assets," as of the last day of each fiscal year. Factors affecting such impairment reviews include the continued market acceptance of our offered products and the development of new products. Impairment reviews may also be triggered by any significant events or changes in circumstances.
Accrued expenses: Accrued expenses for workers' compensation, incentive compensation, health insurance, and other outstanding obligations are assessed based on actual commitments, statistical trends, and estimates based on projections and current expectations, and these estimates are updated periodically as additional information becomes available.
Loss contingencies: We record accruals for various contingencies including legal exposures as they arise in the normal course of business. In accordance with SFAS No. 5, "Accounting for Contingencies," we determine whether to disclose and accrue for loss contingencies based on an assessment of whether the risk of loss is remote, reasonably possible or probable. Our assessment is developed in consultation with our internal and external counsel and other advisors and is based on an analysis of possible outcomes under various strategies. Loss contingency assumptions involve judgments that are inherently subjective and can involve matters that are in litigation, which, by its nature is unpredictable. We believe that our assessment of the probability of loss contingencies is reasonable, but because of the subjectivity involved and the unpredictable nature of the subject matter at issue, our assessment may prove ultimately to be incorrect, which could materially impact our consolidated financial statements.
Accounting for income taxes: As part of the process of preparing the accompanying audited consolidated financial statements, we are required to estimate our actual current tax exposure (state, federal, and foreign). We assess our income tax positions and record tax benefits for all years subject to examination based upon management's evaluation of the facts, circumstances, and information available at the reporting dates. For those uncertain tax positions where it is "more likely than not" that a tax benefit will be sustained, we have recorded the largest amount of tax benefit with a greater than 50% likelihood of being realized upon ultimate settlement with a taxing authority that has full knowledge of all relevant information. For those income tax positions where it is not "more likely than not" that a tax benefit will be sustained, no tax benefit has been recognized in the financial statements. Where applicable, associated interest is also recognized. We also assess permanent and temporary differences resulting from differing bases and treatment of items for tax and accounting purposes, such as the carrying value of intangibles, deductibility of expenses, depreciation of property, plant, and equipment, stock-based compensation expense, and valuation of inventories. Temporary differences result in deferred tax assets and liabilities, which are included within our consolidated balance sheets. We must then assess the likelihood that our deferred tax assets will be recovered from future taxable income. Actual results could differ from this assessment if sufficient taxable income is not generated in future periods. To the extent we determine the need to establish a valuation allowance or increase such allowance in a period, we must include an expense within the tax provision in the accompanying audited consolidated statement of operations.
Employee benefit plans: We sponsor a defined benefit pension, defined contribution and other post-retirement plans. Major assumptions used in the accounting for these employee benefit plans include the discount rate, expected return on the pension fund assets, and health care cost increase projections. See Note 7, "Employee Benefits Plans," to the accompanying audited consolidated financial statements for further details on rates and assumptions.
Stock-based compensation arrangements: The Company accounts for stock-based compensation in accordance with the fair value recognition provisions of SFAS No. 123 (revised 2004), "Share-Based Payment" ("SFAS 123R"). The Company adopted SFAS 123R using the modified prospective application method of transition. The Company uses the Black-Scholes option pricing model, which requires the use of subjective assumptions. These assumptions include the following:
Volatility – This is a measure of the amount by which a stock price has fluctuated or is expected to fluctuate. The Company uses actual monthly historical changes in the market value of our stock since the Company's initial public offering on October 29, 2003, supplemented by peer company data for periods prior to our initial public offering covering the expected life of stock options being valued. An increase in the expected volatility will increase compensation expense.
Risk-free interest rate – This is the U.S. Treasury rate as of the grant date having a term equal to the expected term of the stock option. An increase in the risk-free interest rate will increase compensation expense.
Expected term – This is the period of time over which the stock options granted are expected to remain outstanding and is based on historical experience and estimated future exercise behavior. Separate groups of employees that have similar historical exercise behavior are considered separately for valuation purposes. An increase in the expected term will increase compensation expense.
Dividend yield – The Company does not have plans to pay dividends in the foreseeable future. An increase in the dividend yield will decrease compensation expense.
Forfeitures – The Company estimates forfeitures of stock-based awards based on historical experience and expected future activity.
Changes in the subjective assumptions can materially affect the estimate of fair value of stock-based compensation and consequently, the related amount recognized in the accompanying audited consolidated statement of operations.
The Company accounts for its performance-based awards in accordance with SFAS 123R and records stock-based compensation expense over the vesting term of the awards that are expected to vest based on whether it is probable that the performance criteria will be achieved. The Company reassesses the probability of vesting at each reporting period for awards with performance criteria and adjusts stock-based compensation expense based on its probability assessment.
In December 2007, the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") issued SFAS No. 141 (revised 2007), "Business Combinations" ("SFAS 141(R)"), which replaces SFAS 141, "Business Combinations" ("SFAS 141"). SFAS 141(R) retains the underlying concepts of SFAS 141 in that all business combinations are still required to be accounted for at fair value under the acquisition method of accounting, but SFAS 141(R) changed the method of applying the acquisition method in a number of significant aspects. Acquisition costs will generally be expensed as incurred; noncontrolling interests will be valued at fair value at the acquisition date; in-process research and development will be recorded at fair value as an indefinite-lived intangible asset at the acquisition date; restructuring costs associated with a business combination will generally be expensed subsequent to the acquisition date; and changes in deferred tax asset valuation allowances and income tax uncertainties after the acquisition date generally will affect income tax expense. SFAS 141(R) is effective on a prospective basis for all business combinations for which the acquisition date is on or after the beginning of the first annual period subsequent to December 15, 2008. SFAS 141(R) amends SFAS No. 109, "Accounting for Income Taxes," such that adjustments made to valuation allowances on deferred taxes and acquired tax contingencies associated with acquisitions that closed prior to the effective date of SFAS 141(R) would also apply the provisions of SFAS 141(R). Early adoption is not permitted. We have evaluated the impact that SFAS 141(R) will have on our consolidated financial statements and have determined that it will not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.
In February 2008, the FASB issued FASB Staff Position ("FSP") No. FAS 157-2 ("FSP 157-2"), which delays the effective date of SFAS 157, "Fair Value Measurements," for nonfinancial assets and nonfinancial liabilities, except for items that are recognized or disclosed at fair value in the financial statements on a recurring basis (at least annually). Nonfinancial assets and nonfinancial liabilities would include all assets and liabilities other than those meeting the definition of a financial asset or financial liability as defined in paragraph 6 of SFAS No. 159, "The Fair Value Option for Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities." This FSP defers the effective date of Statement 157 to fiscal years beginning after November 15, 2008, and interim periods within those fiscal years for items within the scope of FSP 157-2. We have evaluated the impact that FSP 157-2 will have on our consolidated financial statements and have determined that it will not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.
In March 2008, the FASB issued SFAS No. 161, "Disclosures about Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities – an Amendment of FASB Statement No. 133," which requires enhanced disclosures on the effect of derivatives on a Company's financial statements. These disclosures will be required for the Company beginning with the first quarter of fiscal 2009 consolidated financial statements. We will include such required disclosures beginning with our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the three-month period ending April 4, 2009.
In April 2008, the FASB issued FSP No. 142-3, "Determination of the Useful Life of Intangible Assets" ("FSP 142-3"). The FSP amends the factors an entity should consider in developing renewal or extension assumptions used in determining the useful life of recognized intangible assets under SFAS No. 142, "Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets," and adds certain disclosures for an entity's accounting policy of the treatment of the costs, period of extension, and total costs incurred. The FSP must be applied prospectively to intangible assets acquired after January 1, 2009. We have evaluated the impact that FSP 142-3 will have on our consolidated financial statements and have determined that it will not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.
In December 2008, the FASB issued FSP No. FAS 132(R)-1, "Employers' Disclosures about Postretirement Benefit Plan Assets" ("FSP FAS 132(R)-1"), to provide guidance on an employers' disclosures about plan assets of a defined benefit pension or other postretirement plan. This FSP is effective for fiscal years ending after December 15, 2009. We are currently evaluating the impact that FSP FAS 132(R)-1 will have on our consolidated financial statements.
Statements contained herein that relate to our future performance, including, without limitation, statements with respect to our anticipated results of operations or level of business for fiscal 2009 or any other future period, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are based on current expectations only and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties, and assumptions. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those anticipated, estimated, or projected. These risks are described herein under the heading "Risk Factors" on page 7. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.
CURRENCY AND INTEREST RATE RISKS
In the operation of our business, we have market risk exposures including those related to foreign currency risk and interest rates. These risks and our strategies to manage our exposure to them are discussed below.
We contract for production with third parties primarily in Asia and South and Central America. While these contracts are stated in United States dollars, there can be no assurance that the cost for the future production of our products will not be affected by exchange rate fluctuations between the United States dollar and the local currencies of these contractors. Due to the number of currencies involved, we cannot quantify the potential impact of future currency fluctuations on net income (loss) in future years. In order to manage this risk, we source products from approximately 140 vendors worldwide, providing us with flexibility in our production should significant fluctuations occur between the United States dollar and various local currencies. To date, such exchange fluctuations have not had a material impact on our financial condition or results of operations. We do not hedge foreign currency exchange rate risk.
Our operating results are subject to risk from interest rate fluctuations on our Senior Credit Facility, which carries variable interest rates. As of January 3, 2009, our outstanding debt aggregated approximately $338.0 million, of which $182.7 million bore interest at a variable rate. An increase or decrease of 1% in the applicable rate would increase or decrease our annual interest cost by $1.8 million, exclusive of variable rate debt subject to our interest rate swap and collar agreements, and could have an adverse effect on our net income (loss) and cash flow.
We enter into various purchase order commitments with full-package suppliers. We can cancel these arrangements, although in some instances, we may be subject to a termination charge reflecting a percentage of work performed prior to cancellation. As we rely exclusively on our full-package global sourcing network, we could incur more of these termination charges, which could increase our cost of goods sold and have a material impact on our business.
Consolidated Balance Sheets at January 3, 2009 and December 29, 2007
Consolidated Statements of Operations for the fiscal years ended January 3, 2009, December 29, 2007, and December 30, 2006
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the fiscal years ended January 3, 2009, December 29, 2007, and December 30, 2006
Consolidated Statements of Changes in Stockholders' Equity for the fiscal years ended January 3, 2009, December 29, 2007, and December 30, 2006
To the Board of Directors and Stockholders of Carter's, Inc.:
In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements listed in the accompanying index present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of Carter's, Inc. and its subsidiaries at January 3, 2009 and December 29, 2007, and the results of their operations and their cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended January 3, 2009 in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. Also in our opinion, the Company maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of January 3, 2009, based on criteria established in Internal Control - Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). The Company's management is responsible for these financial statements, for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, included in Management's Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting appearing under Item 9A. Our responsibility is to express opinions on these financial statements and on the Company's internal control over financial reporting based on our integrated audits. We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audits to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement and whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects. Our audits of the financial statements included examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements, assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, and evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. Our audit of internal control over financial reporting included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, and testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk. Our audits also included performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinions.
A company's internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company's internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (i) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (ii) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (iii) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company's assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.
/s/ PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
(dollars in thousands, except for share data)
Accounts receivable, net of reserve for doubtful accounts of $5,167 in fiscal 2008 and $4,743 in fiscal 2007
Finished goods inventories, net
Property, plant, and equipment, net
Tradenames
Cost in excess of fair value of net assets acquired
Licensing agreements, net of accumulated amortization of $13,840 in fiscal 2008 and $10,185 in fiscal 2007
Deferred debt issuance costs, net
$ 1,051,057 $ 974,668
Current maturities of long-term debt
Preferred stock; par value $.01 per share; 100,000 shares authorized; none issued or outstanding at January 3, 2009 and December 29, 2007
Common stock, voting; par value $.01 per share; 150,000,000 shares authorized; 56,352,111 and 57,663,315 shares issued and outstanding at January 3, 2009 and December 29, 2007, respectively
(7,318 ) 2,671
The accompanying notes are an integral part of the consolidated financial statements
Intangible asset impairment (Note 2)
-- 154,886 --
Executive retirement charges (Note 16)
5,325 -- --
Facility write-down and closure costs (Note 15)
2,609 5,285 91
135,494 (6,009 ) 165,111
117,407 (29,088 ) 138,188
$ 75,058 $ (70,618 ) $ 87,220
Basic net income (loss) per common share
$ 1.33 $ (1.22 ) $ 1.50
Diluted net income (loss) per common share
Basic weighted-average number of shares outstanding
Diluted weighted-average number of shares outstanding
Adjustments to reconcile net income (loss) to net cash provided by operating activities:
Non-cash intangible asset impairment charges
Non-cash stock-based compensation expense
Non-cash facility write-down and closure costs
2,609 2,450 --
Loss on disposal/sale of property, plant, and equipment
Income tax benefit from exercised stock options
(1,979 ) (9,630 ) 502
Effect of changes in operating assets and liabilities:
13,647 (9,092 ) (14,471 )
22,008 (31,906 ) (5,134 )
Prepaid expenses and other assets
(2,043 ) (1,404 ) (886 )
22,422 (13,721 ) 7,181
15,154 3,882 (11,936 )
183,623 51,987 88,224
Proceeds from sale of property, plant, and equipment
-- 57 348
Payments on term loan
(3,503 ) (3,503 ) (85,000 )
Proceeds from revolving loan facility
-- 121,400 5,000
Payments on revolving loan facility
-- (121,400 ) (5,000 )
(33,637 ) (57,467 ) --
852 3,039 2,390
113,337 (19,533 ) (15,731 )
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY
paid-in
Accumulated other comprehensive
income (loss)
Total stockholders'
$ 289 $ 260,414 $ (2,749 ) $ 1,354 $ 127,336 $ 386,644
Exercise of stock options (994,250 shares)
9 2,381 2,390
Stock-based compensation expense
Issuance of common stock (17,172 shares)
Reversal of deferred compensation (Note 6) | {
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} |
Twitter merger and acquisition rumours rampant
10 Feb 201161 Views
Companies such as Facebook and Google are showing a growing interest in purchasing Twitter with an estimated valuation of $8bn to $10bn.
According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, Google Inc, Facebook Inc and other companies have held meetings with Twitter, discussing the possible acquisition of the company. The company had estimated revenue of $100m and $110m in 2011. Twitter only made revenue of $45m in 2010 due to expenditure on hiring and data centre.
Co-founder of Twitter, Evan Williams, and Dick Costolo, the chief executive, have both previously sold companies to Google.
A Twitter spokesman however, refused to discuss its finances or the valuations and interest by other companies. Google and Facebook also remained quiet on the subject.
Twitter, which was created in 2006, has 200m users and only introduced advertising last year. Promoted Trends, a new Twitter ad service, has been selling out its inventory every day.
Ethan Kurzweil of venture capital firm Bessemer Venture Partners stated, "Are these prices justifiable based on financial multiples? No."
He also added, "But these start-ups are building social services and have lots of data about their users" and "the market is valuing that mightily right now."
Public offering has become increasing popular, with the internet music service Pandora Media Inc planning a $100m public offering. These high valuations have sparked other start-ups to explore public offerings.
The recent offering of $315m by AOL to purchase The Huffington Post, along with the previous successes of online start-ups such as Facebook and Groupon Inc, have given hope to Twitter, with hopes of transforming into a $100bn company.
Debra Aho Williamson, an eMarketer analyst, commented on Twitter's success with advertising.
"The company is having great ad-sales momentum right now, but we still think they need to do something big to increase usage and get more people seeing and interacting with tweets.
"Most of their advertisers are just experimenting at this point; the challenge will be to get those advertisers to come back and buy more," she said.
Related: Twitter, advertising, Groupon, internet, Facebook, LinkedIn, Dick Costolo, M&As, social media
How on Earth did 540m Facebook users' details end up on public servers?
4 Apr 2019363 Views
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Facebook to prevent ad targeting based on race, sex and age
20 Mar 2019232 Views
Facebook reforms political ad rules ahead of EU elections
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Government-imposed internet blackouts are a power move to suppress dissent
28 Jun 2019155 Views
Digital 'cannibalisation' of budgets creates staffing crisis for Irish ad industry
24 May 2019242 Views
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg calls for new rules to govern the internet
Hero Labs raises £2.5m for leak prevention tech | {
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Daily coffee doesn't affect cancer risk, according to new research from QIMR
Home / Daily coffee doesn't affect cancer risk, according to new research from QIMR
Researchers from QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute have found that drinking coffee does not change a person's risk of being diagnosed with, or dying from, cancer, in a study published in the International Journal of Epidemiology.
The large Mendelian randomisation study looked at data from more than 300,000 people and showed that drinking coffee every day neither reduced nor increased a person's risk of developing any cancer.
Coffee contains a complex mixture of bioactive ingredients, including substances such as caffeine and kahweol, which have been shown to display antitumour effects in animal studies. However, its potential anticancer effect on humans has not been established, with studies to date producing conflicting findings for overall cancer risk and for individual cancers such as breast and prostate cancers.
The QIMR Berghofer study used cancer data drawn from the UK Biobank cohort for more than 46,000 people who had been diagnosed with most invasive cancer types, including about 7,000 people who died from the disease.
Senior author, QIMR's Associate Professor Stuart MacGregor said "Our two-pronged research looked at whether cancer rates differed among people with different levels of self-reported coffee consumption, and whether the same trend was seen when we replaced self-reported consumption with genetic predisposition towards coffee consumption. We found there was no real relationship between how many cups of coffee a person had a day and if they developed any particular cancers."
"The study also ruled out a link between coffee intake and dying from the disease," he said.
The genetic and preference information from the people with cancer was compared with data from more than 270,000 others who had never been diagnosed with cancer. QIMR Berghofer lead researcher, Jue-Sheng Ong, said the study also looked at some common individual cancers such as breast, ovarian, lung and prostate cancers and found drinking coffee did not increase or decrease their incidence.
"There was some inconclusive evidence about colorectal cancer, where those who reported drinking a lot of coffee had a slightly lower risk of developing cancer, but conversely examination of data from those people with a higher genetic predisposition to drink more coffee seemed to indicate a greater risk of developing the disease. The disparity in those findings would suggest more research is needed to clarify if there is any relationship between colorectal cancer and coffee" Mr Ong said.
Associate Professor MacGregor said the study had implications for public health messaging around the world.
"The health benefits of coffee have been argued for a long time, but this research shows simply changing your coffee consumption isn't an effective way of protecting yourself from cancer," he said | {
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Welcome to THE UNWAVERING
"The movement dedicated to educating & empowering the brave men & women who have or are still serving our great nation."
Join our team as we interview fellow service members, industry leaders and experts on topics such as tuition assistance, networking, VA home loans, filing for disability and much, much more. By sharing resources, benefits and opportunities with you and your families we hope to build a community that inspires one another to REACH THEIR FULL POTENTIAL.
Kevin Barba
Founder, The Unwavering. Kevin has served as a Quality Assurance Inspector at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory since July 2018, leading a cross-functional team of Hardware Quality Assurance representatives on various research and development projects. Prior to that, he served in the United States Marine Corps from August 2010 to August 2018 as an Avionics Technician, Communications Security Assistant and Quality Assurance Inspector. His tours of duty include Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 465 (HMH-465), Third Marine Aircraft Wing (3d MAW), & Marine Helicopter Squadron 1 (HMX-1).
Gerard Garcia
Co-Host, The Unwavering Podcast. Gerard served as a Quality Assurance Inspector & NASA Instructor from January 2017 to May 2019. Prior to that he served as a Quality Assurance Inspector with the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) from April 2016 to January 2017. As a 7-year veteran of the United States Air Force, Gerard has played an integral role in military aviation & manned flight missions on C-17 & C-5 aircraft from September 2008 to February 2016. His tours of duty include the 62nd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron (62nd AMXS), 8th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Squadron (8th EAMS) – Det 1, & 721st Aircraft Maintenance Squadron (721st AMXS).
When we first started this project in March of 2019, our mission was simple: Pay it forward and give service members as well as their families the tools necessary to be successful both in their personal and professional lives. Yes, our vision is ambitious, but we want to give you more than helpful links or inspirational stories.
We want to bridge the gap between the military and civilian community.
We can begin to reach our full potential by educating by those around us about the wisdom and experience we as military members bring to the job market or education system. Even though the gap between the military and civilian community may never be completely eliminated, we can begin to narrow the gap by learning from each other.
Each and every one of you has made incredible sacrifices during your time in the service that many outside of our ranks will never truly comprehend. It is time you have a community that supports you not just while you are on active duty, but well after you hang up your uniform.
Why is this so important to us?
Gerard and I would not be sitting here today speaking with you if it was not for our time in the service or the friends and family who supported us along the way. Although the two of us served in separate branches for different lengths of time and were assigned completely different roles in the military, we both had the unique opportunity to serve others.
Many of you who have joined this movement or are listening to us for the first time have contributed more than anyone outside of our community could ever imagine. You signed a contract, not to be a professional athlete, actor or musician, making millions of dollars a year, but to sacrifice so that others would not have too. | {
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Fact List USA
40 Interesting Facts About Arizona
Here are 40 Interesting Arizona facts.
1-5 Arizona Facts
Image credit: youtube.com
1. There is a law in Arizona called the "Stupid Motorist Law" that allows the state to fine drivers for their rescue if they drive around barricades or signs and get stuck in flooded roadways. – Source
2. Arizona lost its chance to host the 1990 Super Bowl after its voters refused to make MLK Jr. day a state holiday. – Source
3. Arizona started issuing licenses that were good until age 60. Starting at 65, drivers must renew every five years, with a vision test each time. – Source
4. There is a biker gang from Arizona who help keep child abuse victims safe while the child's abuser is prosecuted, including guarding their houses at night if a person is not yet in jail and attending court with the child, shielding them so they don't have to look at their abuser. – Source
5. A man from Arizona stole a diamond worth $160K and traded it for $20 of weed. – Source
6-10 Arizona Facts
Image credit: en.wikipedia.org
6. Best Buy removed the fighting video game "Primal Rage" from its shelves after an Arizona woman complained that her 11-year-old son had faithfully portrayed one of the game's gorilla-like character's "golden shower/urination" fatality move. – Source
7. In 2010, a man from Arizona sold an "air guitar" on eBay for $5.50 and claimed it was used once at a Bon Jovi concert. – Source
8. "Anthill garnets", small gemstones, are mined by ants in a few places in Arizona. Ants find the garnets while digging their anthills, drag them out, and discard them on the surface. – Source
9. A former Governor of Arizona, aged 96, was detained by the US Border Patrol because his pacemaker set off radiation detectors. – Source
10. The U.S. Post office delivers mail to the people of Supai, Arizona by the only way possible i.e. by mule. – Source
11-15 Arizona Facts
11. There is a nuclear power plant in Arizona on 4000 ac.², it employs 2055 workers, generates 35% of all the electric energy in Arizona, and it is the only nuclear power plant in the world that is not built next to a body of water. – Source
12. Arizona doesn't observe Daylight Savings time, except a large reservation in Arizona does, except another smaller reservation inside it doesn't. – Source
13. A guy in Arizona wrote his address on $1 bills pleading they be sent back to him & gets them back from all over the world, up to $94/month. – Source
14. The first McDonald drive-thru was opened near a military base in Arizona "to serve soldiers who weren't permitted to get out of their cars while wearing fatigues." – Source
15. There is a near-abandoned Flintstones-themed campground and amusement park in Arizona, about 30 minutes from the Grand Canyon, complete with year-round camping and a "Bedrock Theater" that plays Flintstones cartoons. – Source
16. The original London bridge is now located in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. – Source
17. Maricopa County, Arizona golf courses average more than 80 million gallons daily for irrigation, consuming more water than any other place in the country. – Source1
18. The town of Why, Arizona was originally to be named "Y" because two major highways, State Routes 85 and 86, originally intersected in a Y-intersection but the state requires at least 3 letters in its city names. – Source
19. In Arizona, it is legal for any citizen to carry a gun, but it is illegal to carry nunchucks. – Source
20. Phoenix, Arizona has a similar latitude to the Ancient city of Carthage, which was a Phoenician city-state. People from Phoenix today are known as Phoenicians. – Source
21. The Hualapai Tribe in Arizona agreed to allow the builder of the Grand Canyon Skywalk to operate it for 25 years to recoup his $30 million investment. In 2012, just 5 years after it opened, the tribe seized control of the Skywalk. They lost in court and now must pay the builder $28.5 million. – Source
22. Practicing shooting in the desert in Arizona, David M. Grundman, 27, shot a giant saguaro cactus. The 7 meters tall plant got chopped off, crushing him to death. – Source
23. There is a 3.4-acre indoor Biosphere in Oracle, Arizona that researchers lived in for 2 years and 20 months to see what living on Mars would be like. There are 5 biome areas; a rainforest, ocean, wetlands, savannah grassland, fog desert, and agricultural system. As well as a human habitat. – Source
24. Saudi Arabia purchased a large chunk of land in Arizona just to grow hay and ship it back to their dairy farms. – Source
25. The eternal flame at Bullhead City, Arizona, only lasted until city officials received a US$961 gas bill. It has been relighted after complaints by veterans groups. – Source
25 Crazy Headlines of the Month - Part 87
17 Interesting Facts About Oysters
8 Interesting Facts About Manatees
11 Interesting Facts About Flamingos
19 Interesting Facts About Tap Water
22 Interesting Facts About Namibia
15 Interesting Facts About Swaziland | {
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Rock Singer
FebruaryFeb 6, 1962
FebruaryFeb 6, 1962 (age 57)
Born on February 6#14
Rock Singer#29
57 Year Old#7
Born in Indiana#21
First Name Axl#1
Born in Lafayette, IN#1
Aquarius Singer#38
Known for his high-pitched vocals and overall vocal range, he became famous as the animated lead singer of Guns N' Roses. The band's best known songs include "Welcome to the Jungle," "Paradise City," and "Sweet Child o' Mine."
He grew up in a torn home and suffered from abuse by both his biological father and his step father, which stagnated his emotional growth.
He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Guns N' Roses in 2012.
His birth name is William Bruce Rose, Jr. He married Erin Everly on April 28, 1990 and got an annulment in January 1991.
The original Guns N' Roses lineup included guitarists Slash and Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKagan and drummer Steven Adler.
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Johnny Orlando | {
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Joining Forces to Close the Gender Gap in Education
dg-unwomened8x6.jpg
Director-General Irina Bokova and UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka today seized the occasion of Mobile Learning Week celebrations to present a new programme, "Empowering adolescent girls and young women through education", to UNESCO's Member States, on 24 February 2015.
The programme is a joint undertaking by UNESCO, UN Women, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and the World Bank, and will be officially launched at a meeting of the Commission on the Status of Women at UN Headquarters in New York on 10 March. It provides a coordinated and collaborative effort to close the persistent gender gap in education, focusing on two groups that are most at risk of discrimination and exclusion: adolescent girls (10-19 year olds) and young women (20-24 year olds).
After warmly welcoming Ms Mlambo-Ngcuka to UNESCO for her first visit, the Director-General told a meeting of Member States that the new programme was based on the shared conviction that "gender equality is the most powerful force we have to build more inclusive, more just, more sustainable societies" and education "a game changer for the empowerment of girls and women."
It will be rolled out gradually in 20 nations where the education gender gap is most critical, and will concentrate on four areas: improving quality and relevance of education; raising awareness at all levels to create a favourable environment for gender equality; strengthening links between the health and education sectors; and improving the data base of statistics on gender and education.
"By combining our strengths we will be able to act on several levels and accompany these countries to make education a lever for equality between men and women, which in turn will serve as a motor for development" said Irina Bokova. "Our ambition is to make a difference in a different manner, through a crosscutting approach, and putting our competences and efforts together."
Noting that gender parity and gender equality have not been achieved by a single country in the world, Ms Mlambo-Ngcuka emphasized that education was the single most effective strategy to empower women and address large gaps in political and economic participation. "By linking health, education and other relevant sectors and creating an enabling environment we want to create new or second chances for young women who have left school or are at risk of leaving school. We want to support the transition from education to the meaningful and fulfilling employment. Together we will apply our expertise and experience to this Programme with the aim to create an empowerment model for young women which can be scaled up and implemented in different national contexts."
Both leaders emphasized the strategic contribution of the programme to the post-2015 development agenda.
The new programme falls under the framework of the Global Partnership for Girls and Women's Education, launched by UNESCO in 2011.
Prior to the meeting with Member States, Ms Mlambo-Ngcuka addressed the official opening of Mobile Learning Week 2015, celebrated this week under the theme of Leveraging technology to empower women and girls. | {
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January 8, 2020 / 8:11 PM / 14 days ago
UPDATE 1-UK's Johnson urges Trump to de-escalate Iran situation
(Recasts with White House statement, adds comments on nuclear deal)
LONDON/WASHINGTON, Jan 8 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and U.S. President Donald Trump discussed Iranian missile attacks on Wednesday, even as the two leaders separately offered different approaches on how to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.
The two allied leaders spoke in a call before Trump, in a speech, backed away from any military response toward Tehran in retaliation for the strikes on military bases in Iraq housing U.S. troops, Johnson's spokesman and the White House said.
The Iranian strikes came after the United States killed a top Iranian commander in Baghdad last week. Trump said no U.S. troops were killed in Tehran's strikes.
Johnson, in the call, urged Trump to de-escalate the situation urgently to avoid further conflict, Johnson's spokesman said.
"The two leaders discussed the current situation in the Middle East and agreed to continue close coordination in support of shared national security interests," White House spokesman Judd Deere said in a statement. He gave no other details.
Still the leaders, whose countries are close allies, separately backed different approaches to Iran.
Johnson told the UK's parliament earlier on Wednesday the 2015 nuclear deal negotiated between Iran and six world powers, including the United States and the United Kingdom, remained the best option to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.
Trump pulled out of the deal in 2018 and adopted a "maximum pressure" campaign against Tehran, but Johnson told UK lawmakers the agreement "remains a shell into which we can put substance again."
In his remarks at the White House on Wednesday, Trump called the pact negotiated under his Democratic predecessor Barack Obama "very defective."
"The time has come for the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Russia, and China to recognize this reality," Trump said.
"They must now break away from the remnants of the Iran deal - or JCPOA - and we must all work together toward making a deal with Iran that makes the world a safer and more peaceful place." (Reporting Elizabeth Piper; Writing by Kylie MacLellan and Susan Heavey; Editing by David Milliken and Andrea Ricci) | {
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Edmund Hillary
Trailer: Eagle Vs Shark
Tag Archives: Nick Willis
Sport General | Athletics Weekly
How Middle-Distance Runner Nick Willis Trains
New Zealander Nick Willis, 39, "who has been at the sharp end of middle-distance running for over two decades", speaks to the UK's Athletics Weekly magazine about how he trains in an article by…
Sport General | GQ
Track Hero Nick Willis Tries Sub-4:00 Again in NY
Over the course of five Olympics, the New Zealand mid-distance runner Nick Willis has become a track and field legend. At 38, he recently embarked on an unprecedented quest. GQ went trackside to witness…
Sport General | Daily Mail
On Form Willis Sets New Zealand 3000m Best
Kiwi middle distance star Nick Willis continued his outstanding build-up to the Glasgow Commonwealth Games with his second personal best inside a week. Willis broke the New Zealand record for the 3000m, clocking 7:36.91 and…
Sport General | Washington Post
New Zealand Olympian Wins Fifth Avenue Mile
New Zealand's Nick Willis has won the Fifth Avenue Mile in New York, completing the run in 3 minutes and 52.1 seconds. It is the second time that Willis has won the title, having…
Golf | Runner's World
Willis Switches Speed Codes
Lower Hutt-born middle-distance Olympic medallist Nick Willis, 30, is venturing into the hybrid sport of speed golf and will participate in the Speedgolf World Championships on 26 October and 27 October at…
Sport General | Sacramento Bee (The)
Hopes for Gold at Olympic Stadium
Like many of the more than 40 Olympians with Michigan ties who'll compete during the next few weeks at the London Games, New Zealander Nick Willis — who represented the University of Michigan in…
Sport General | Detroit Free Press
Willis Readies for London
One of New Zealand's "most revered track and field athletes", Nick Willis, 29, will defend his Olympic silver medal in the men's 1500m run at the 2012 Games in London. The London Olympics will…
Sport General | Guardian (The)
Final Leap Beneath Blue
Teenager Alex Colvin features in the Guardian's regular gallery '24 Hours in Pictures', competing in the under-17 men's long jump final on day one of the 2012 New Zealand National Athletics Championships…
Sport General | Times of India (The)
Mile Win for Willis
Lower Hutt-born middle distance runner Nick Willis, 27, currently based in Michigan, has won the mile run at the 15th Boston Indoor Games. Willis crossed the finish line in a world leading time of…
Sport General | CNN News
Willis' Photo Finish
Olympic bronze medallist Lower Hutt athlete Nick Willis, 25, has won New York's Fifth Avenue Mile, a race which John Walker won in 1984. Michigan-based Willis finished in 3 minutes, 50.5 seconds to…
Sport General | Detroit News (The)
From Within the Soul
Lower Hutt runner Nick Willis surged forward in the final moments of the men's 1500m for third place, in a race Willis' University of Michigan coach Ron Warhurst said the 25-year-old "always had the…
Sport General | IFFA.org
More medals for Vili and Willis
NZ athletes won two medals at the IAAF World Cup of Athletics in Athens this month. Valerie Vili followed up her Commonwealth Games gold by winning the women's shotput event, with a throw of 19.87m. Fellow…
Sport General | Melbourne2006.com.au | NZ Rugby Sevens
Records Broken, Legends Born
New Zealand won 31 medals – 6 gold, 12 silver and 13 bronze – at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. 200m butterfly victor Moss Burmester became the first NZ man to win gold in the…
Sport General | USA Today
Stars in the Making
NZ athletes contributed to an international domination of America's National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Indoor Championships in mid-March. Kim Smith – running for Providence – lapped all but one of her competitors in the 5,000m, breaking a…
Sport General | Mlive.com
NZ athlete Nick Willis continues to run rings around his American college-mates. The University of Michigan student clocked the nation's fastest 3,000m time for the year to date at January's Red Simmons Invitational. Ironically, it was Willis'…
Lower Hutt born Nick Willis is the University of Michigan's latest star athlete. Still in his freshman year, he is already the No. 2 cross-country runner on campus. The best seems yet to come; according to…
Sport General | New York Times (The)
Nick Heir to Jack, Peter, John
Hutt Valley high school miler Nick Willis has become the fastest miler in New Zealand history, beating the times of Jack Lovelock, Peter Snell and John Walker at the famous Wanganui Cook Gardens. | {
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Lejeune HS
Lejeune HS: About Our School
Lejeune High School is located aboard Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base and is operated by the Department of Defense Education Activity. Founded in 1944, the originally named Camp Lejeune High School was led by a Principal and a Marine Officer, thus requiring certain military expectations to be followed such as grooming standards and locker inspections. The first campus was located on Brewster Boulevard in what is now the Russell Family Building. In 1961, it was relocated to Stone Street in what is now the John A. Lejeune Education Center. In 1968, Camp Lejeune High School was renamed to Lejeune High School. A new campus was built for the school in 1990.
A $40 million contract was award in March 2017 for a comprehensive renovation and the construction of a new two-story complex facing Brewster Boulevard. The project, involving 151,000 square feet, will move Lejeune High School forward to the new 21st century learning community design. Construction is ongoing in phases while school remains in session. The target date for completion is Sept 2020.
("old" Lejeune High School front, facing Stone Street, 2017)
The office front entrance is now located off of Brewster Boulevard. The "old" front entrance from Stone Street has been closed. Parents and visitors may visit our campus via Brewster Blvd and make a right at the fork. Our parking lot is just past the fenced Walsh Construction area on the left. Parents and visitors may follow the signs by the sidewalk to the front office entrance.
(design image of the new Lejeune High School front, facing Brewster Blvd.)
(design image of the new Lejeune High School two-story learning hub complex)
Our Namesake, Lt. Gen. John A. Lejeune
Our school is named after Lieutenant General John Archer Lejeune, 13th Commandant of the Marine Corps.
Lt. Gen. Lejeune was born in Pointe Coupee, Louisiana on January 10, 1867. He graduated from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge before being appointed as Midshipman at the U.S. Naval Academy. He graduated from the Naval Academy in 1888 and then was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Marine Corps on July 1, 1890. His service included commanding 2nd Division and an Army divisional command during World War I. He was then appointed Commanding General, Marine Barracks, Quantico, Virginia before being appointed as Major General Commandant of the Marine Corps in July 1920. He is also credited with being the founding member of the Marine Corps League. Being credited with over 40 years of Marine Corps service, he retired in November 1929, when he became the Superintendent of the Virginia Military Institute. Lt. Gen. Lejeune died on November 20, 1942 in Maryland and was interred in Arlington National Cemetery.
Read more about his life and accomplishments by visiting the Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune.
Grades: 9 - 12
Lejeune High School Purpose
To ensure the college and career readiness of all Devilpups, we are committed to academic achievement and productive citizenship in a competitive global society.
Educate, Engage, and Empower each student to succeed in a dynamic world.
School Vision
To be among the world's leaders in education, enriching the lives of military-connected students and the communities in which they live.
Our Mascot
The Lejeune High School mascot is the "Devilpup" after the proud Marine Corps "Devildog" history earned at the Battle of Belleau Wood in World War I. The Germans named the marines "Teufel Hunden" for their courage and fighting ability.
Mascot: Devilpups
Motto: Once a Devilpup, Always a Devilpup!
Available Mascot Downloads
Lejeune HS Colors
Primary Color: #990000
Secondary Color: #F89938
CSI at Lejeune High School
The Blueprint for Continuous Improvement is DoDEA's strategic plan for school years 2018/19 through 2023/24. The title reflects the philosophy that drives DoDEA's strategic direction. A blueprint is an actionable plan that communicates and guides the work of all involved in a project. It is flexible and can be updated as the project develops and needs change. This is also true of our Blueprint, which serves as the foundation for all planning within DoDEA and directs our collective energies and resources as we strive to realize our vision. Further, the Blueprint will be continuously updated to reflect progress and shifts in students' needs and the environment.
CORE VALUES ARE WHAT DRIVES US
Student-Centered: Students are at the heart of all we do.
Excellence: We strive to exceed expectations in all we do.
Continuous Improvement: Our organization, its systems, and processes will be continually reexamined and improved.
Lifelong Learning: Earning is an active process of discovery where we cultivate curiosity, perseverance, and the desire to learn.
Diversity: We honor the uniqueness of each individual and embrace diverse beliefs and backgrounds. We respect differences and create inclusive environments which contribute to a better society for all.
Individual Potential: Individuals develop within an environment that nurtures intellectual, social, emotional, physical, and creative growth.
Shared Responsibility: Partnerships among families, students, staff, and community members are characterized by mutual commitment and collaborative effort that enrich the lives of our students.
Trust: We value relationships based on integrity, mutual respect,and open two-way communication. We cultivate a safe and risk-free culture that encourages and inspires innovation.
The Blueprint gives us 5 specific GOALS:
School Excellence
Talent Excellence
Organizational Excellence
Outreach Excellence
At Lejeune High School, we have implemented the following objectives to reach these goals:
Objective 1
For the PSAT administered to 9-11 grade students in October of 2020, 40 % of students will meet or exceed the benchmark for College and Career Readiness which measures the readiness of a student's ability to perform at an entry college level course in the areas of mathematics and literacy.
For SY 2019-2020, 40% of graduating seniors will be enrolled in 4 consecutive years of CTE courses; and a new goal of 30% of graduating seniors will complete at least 1 CTE pathway.
SY 2019-2020, for students taking the DoDEA CAS assessments
a) 45% (3% increase) of students taking the DoDEA Algebra I Assessment will have met or exceeded expectations and 5% (3% decrease) of students taking the DoDEA Algebra I Assessment will not have met expectations as determined by DoDEA Assessment scores for 2020;
b) 40% (3% increase) of students taking the DoDEA Geometry Assessment will have met or exceeded expectations and 4% (3% decrease) of students taking the DoDEA Geometry Assessment will not have met expectations as determined by DoDEA Assessment scores for 2020; and
c) 27% (increase of 3%) of students taking the DoDEA Algebra II Assessment will have met or exceeded expectations and 13% (3% decrease) of students taking the DoDEA Algebra II Assessment will not have met expectations as determined by DoDEA Assessment scores for 2020.
d) 53% or more of students taking the DoDEA Language Arts 10 assessment will have met or exceeded expectations and 5% or less of students taking the DoDEA Language Arts 10 assessments will not have met expectations as determined by DoDEA assessment scores for 2019.
During the end of 3rd into 4th quarter of 2020 there were 612 student/parent contacts with the counselors concerning social/emotional situations. Also, it was noted that during the Cognia (Advanced Ed) review there was a deficiency in (Indicator A.4). Which indicates that there is apparent need for an intervention in the social and emotional areas of student development and interactions with other students and teachers. Using the "Can Do U" program, there will be a 15% decrease in the number of student/parent and or social/ emotional contacts with the counselors quarterly.
Lejeune HS SY 22-23 Red Gold Calendar CLCS Dress Code Pamphlet CLCS Dress Code Camp Lejeune SY 22-23 Brochure for MTSS Camp Lejeune Schools ICE
835 Stone Street
Camp Lejeune, NC 28547-2520
Ms. Dana Sutherland
Lejeune HS Principal
Ms. Lorien Gustafson
Lejeune HS Assistant Principal
Military One Source
Reporting Discrimination
DoDEA Ombudsman
Staff Positions - USAJOBS
Teaching Positions - EAS
Education Facility Specifications
Blueprint for Continuous Improvement
Records & Information Management (RIM)
DoDEA OIG Hotline
DoDEA Accessibility Statement
Annual AHERA Notification
The appearance of hyperlinks does not constitute endorsement by the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) of non-U.S. Government sites or the information, products, or services contained therein. Although DoDEA may or may not use these sites as additional distribution channels for Department of Defense information, it does not exercise editorial control over all of the information that you may find at these locations. Such links are provided consistent with the stated purpose of this website.
DoDEA is a Department of Defense Field Activity operating under the direction, authority, and control of the Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness.
Content last modified: 17 March 2021 | {
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Here are 10 things we've learned about the Samsung Gear S4
We should have a few busy months ahead of us. Google is working on a new Pixel watch, LG on two intelligent timepieces and with IFA approaching, we're sure there will be some goodies in store from Fitbit, Garmin, Fossil and others. And lets not forget the Apple Watch 4 which is expected to land in September.
Not to be left behind, Samsung is reportedly working on the Gear S4 smartwatch. This will be a successor to the Gear S3 launched in 2016 and Gear Sport released last October. The current range is in desperate need for an upgrade, but the wait for the Gear S4 should not be too long.
The folks over at SamMobile say Samsung has labelled the new watch with the model number SM-R800 and codename Galileo. Unfortunately, apart this information, they've revealed little else. But other sources have.
Here is everything we've learned so far:
The Gear S4 could arrive as soon as next month. It is rumoured for release alongside the Galaxy Note 9 at Samsung's Unpacked 2018 event in New York city on August 9th. The early release might give it an edge over products from other companies which are expected from September onwards. Reports say the Gear S4 has already been certified in Europe which points to an imminent release.
The watch is expected to have the same round faced design, but it should be thinner and lighter than the S3. This should not be a difficult feat considering the S3 is a pretty chunky animal.
Expect the usual upgrades to the processor and memory.
The watch looks set to have LTE connectivity. This allows you to leave your smartphone behind while still staying in the loop on messages and calls. So far, LTE watches have been few and far between.
The smartwatch is also expected to come with better health and fitness features. The S Health app will be getting more in-depth sleep tracking and possibly more.
Some reports even speak of blood pressure monitoring. The company has apparently figured out how to take readings from the wrist. Similar to the way a light sensor is used for measuring heart rate, the new sensor works by shining polarized light and then sensing the intensity of the scattered light. If the technology proves accurate, it means you'll be able to monitor your blood pressure around the clock directly from your smartwatch. A game changer as no one else has managed this so far.
We are expecting two variants of the new wearable with a Classic and more rugged, sporty version possibly being revealed.
The current Gear S3 includes a 380mAh battery but this will be bumped up to 470mAh. The bigger capacity along with a more efficient processor should extend the 3 days you get on the current generation watch.
Rumours are abound that Samsung might ditch its Tizen operating system and swap it with Google's Wear OS. This rumour is from Evan Glass, a tipster with a well known track record. He recently tweeted the following: "Seen on the wrists of Samsung employees: Gear watches running not Tizen, but Wear OS."
Some rumours speak of a new name. Instead of Gear S4 the timepiece could be called the Samsung Galaxy Watch. This would make it fit neatly into Samsung's existing range of Galaxy products.
Samsung Gear S3 | Image source: Samsung
No word yet on pricing but more leaks will surface as August approaches. We'll keep a close eye and let you know when we hear more.
Help! Why Does My Workout Cause Weight Gain?
Like sleeping on the job? This company will pay you to lie in bed with a smartwatch | {
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History of Center Academy
The History of Center Academy
The Beginning of Center Academy
Center Academy began in 1968 with the vision of its founder, Dr. Mack Hicks. Seeing the need for a specialized, full-day school for students who were falling through the cracks in traditional schools, Dr. Hicks established one of the first schools in the United States to focus on the needs of students with Attention Deficit Disorder and other neuropsychological processing difficulties.
With a team of professionals in the fields of neuropsychology, education, and individualized remediation, Center Academy opened its first classrooms in a small church and then expanded to the Science Center in St. Petersburg, Florida. The school focused on remediating learning disabilities and providing a small, focused, and positive learning environment for students who had experienced academic frustration, and for whom tutoring and other part-time programs were not successful.
London Center Academy Opened
Center Academy opened a campus in London, England in response to requests by parents and professionals. In the US, the St. Petersburg Center Academy moved to a larger site as the school expanded to meet the needs of more students. It moved to its permanent location in Pinellas Park, FL in 1974, finding a peaceful, 10-acre setting with horses and room to grow. In 1976, Center Academy established a campus in Tampa, FL.
Initially, Center Academy worked with elementary students who were struggling with large schools, ineffective teaching methods, or one-size-fits-all approaches to learning. Over the years, the scope of Center Academy expanded to include other students, and in 1984, Center Academy began its high school program.
Schools Celebration
The Pinellas Park and Tampa schools celebrated their first graduating class in 1987.
Center Academy was awarded a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) to develop and research the effectiveness of individualized remedial programs for students with a wide range of learning disabilities. While developing these programs, Center Academy provided free evaluations and remediation to over 200 students under the NIMH grant.
Newest School
As Center Academy has expanded to locations around Florida, it has stayed true to its mission and kept its focus on addressing the unique needs of each student. Center Academy now has 10 schools in Florida. Its newest school in Orlando, FL, opened in August of 2021. Two new campuses will open in the fall of 2023, one in Cape Coral, FL and one in Palm Springs, FL. | {
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Home→W.P.B.C. Online Privacy Statement
W.P.B.C. Online Privacy Statement
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All concerns or comments regarding the newsletter, our website or use of your personal details can be resolved by sending an e-mail to events@wpbc.com.au from the address with which it regards.
We take your privacy seriously and will endeavour to respond within 5 working days. However, as a not-for-profit association, with many functions completed by volunteers on a weekly basis, please be patient and understanding if some correspondence suffer from delays. | {
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Man charged with slashing throat of 10-year-old playing video game in Lewis County
LEWIS COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — A 29-year-old man accused of slashing the throat of a ten-year-old boy over the weekend in Lewis County has been charged with attempted criminal homicide.
The Lewis County Sheriff's Office said Sammy Sadler, Jr. used a knife to cut the child's throat while the boy was playing a video game Sunday evening at a residence on Howard Switch Road.
The child was transported to Vanderbilt University Medical Center and is expected to survive his injuries, deputies explained.
Court records show Sadler was booked into the Lewis County jail Monday afternoon on charges including attempted criminal homicide, aggravated assault, aggravated child abuse and resisting arrest.
No additional information was immediately released and the incident remains under investigation. | {
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Leaderboard Submission
BIZ – Northwest Louisiana
Gatti: While Louisiana sleeps
BIZ. Staff
A movement is growing across the nation to rebuild our aging roads and bridges. Serious conversations of over a trillion dollars in federal money over the next ten years. President Trump made this promise when he was a candidate and this program is gaining momentum across the nation. Anyone traveling Louisiana's roads and bridges doesn't need to be told our system is in a steep decline. Our system deficits in structure and function are obvious to out of town guests and longtime citizens. These long overdue repairs are necessary.
Trump's plan calls for heavy investments by state and local governments for most of the infrastructure spending. It seems to favor those states who have invested recently with streams of revenue dedicated to roads and bridges. States who want to leverage their infrastructure investments are developing streams of revenue to match the requirements of this upcoming program. States that can't or won't invest in this partnership will be left out on the front-end matching funds, but they will be responsible for paying off this new national debt. Being left out is an indefensible position. It's an issue all state legislatures must address, sooner rather than later.
This plan comes at a difficult time. Public trust in the legislature is at an all time low- but the legislature is the only body that can prepare Louisiana to participate in Trump's plan.
Public distrust was evident last year. The voters instructed the state government to spend transportation taxes on roads and bridges. This measure passed the legislature overwhelmingly and many saw it as a first step in regaining the public trust over wasting transportation dollars. In October 2017 a Constitutional Amendment was passed by voters concerning any new fuel taxes. The fund and its restrictions were set up before any revenue was allocated- this in an of itself of evidence of the distrust of government.
The measure required that money in the Construction Subfund be used by the state and local governments for constructing and maintaining transportation infrastructure projects. The new law prohibited money in the Subfund from being used to pay employee wages and retirement benefits. The public spoke loudly by passing this measure that they are fed up with transportation taxes not being used to fix or build new roads and bridges. Anyone surprised by this vote has been living under a rock. Raiding transportation funds for other programs must come to a stop. It was also a clear signal that a "trust but verify" relationship is emerging. Many legislators ran on fixing roads, but public trust must be restored first. This amendment wasn't the entire solution, but it was a clear first step to address the long-term problems of public distrust of government and government's limited role that includes road and bridge repairs.
While other states are addressing infrastructure needs, Louisiana has been in a "no holds barred" fight over fractions of pennies. My fear is we will be in the indefensible position of helping payoff the Trump infrastructure plan while not receiving one yard of concrete from the plan. Our ship for roads and bridges is finally coming in, but we will be at the airport fighting over fractions of pennies. We have no plan to make a meaningful leverage of funds for Trump's infrastructure plan. In fact, we have passed no meaningful roads and bridge measures in over 30 years.
While the political debate is heated and confusing, we only have five choices in the third special session. Most likely only two could receive the super majority needed for enough legislators to hold their nose and vote.
The first option is to renew the entire penny. This would fund the $648 million-dollar budget shortfall created by the lapse of the penny and create an approximately $352 million-dollar surplus. This would receive very few if any votes in either the House or the Senate. This option is dead.
The second option is to filibuster or pass nothing. This would result in the temporary one penny sales tax stopping on July 1, 2018. The result would be a projected $648 million-dollar short fall and cuts to non-protected budget items and some protected. Deep cuts across the board would be implemented and the usual scapegoats would be slaughtered- Higher Education, Healthcare, TOPS, Family and Children Services, Department of Corrections, Services for the Disabled, etc. This option doesn't need votes; it just needs one person to take the microphone and filibuster all other ideas.
This option is highly unlikely.
A third option was presented by Rep. Lance Harris who heads the Republican delegation in the State House in HB 27. This option requested the renewal of a 1/3 penny sales tax. The result on the consumer would be a thirty-three-cent increase in sales tax on a $100.00 purchase. This measure would raise $395 million in new taxes and would result in a $253 million dollar underfunding of the budget passed by the legislature. This underfunding if not addressed with revenue ahead of time, will become a mid-year cut after the budget starts on July 1. A quarter of a billion dollars in foreseeable midyear cuts is not a good message. Foreseeable midyear cuts should be a thing of the past. The fact that the head of the party in the House acknowledged a shortfall between the budget and projected revenue was a wakeup call to me personally. Most think this option would fall well short in the Senate of the 2/3 vote needed. Additionally, this option only received 38 votes in the House with 66 voting against it. The measure needed 70 house votes to pass.
The fourth option was outlined in Rep. Leger's bill from the second special session HB 17. This option requested the renewal of ½ penny sales tax. The result to the consumer would be 50 cents increase in new taxes on a $100.00 purchase. The measure would raise $510 million in new taxes and would result in a $138 million dollar underfunding of the budget passed by the legislature. This bill received 32 votes for and 6 votes against in the Senate. In the House, this measure received 63 votes for and 41 against. The measure failed in the house because it needed 70 votes.
A fifth option address the shortfall and our need to address roads and bridges. This measure would renew the 1 penny sales tax allocating ½ to the general fund and ½ to roads and bridges. The ½ to the general fund would still result in the $138 million-dollar shortfall addressed under option four above, but it clearly shows our state's willingness to participate in the Trump road and bridge program. This option would provide $510 million dollars a year for over 10 years to address road and bridge repair, preservation, and construction. The sub account would have the same restrictions as the constitutional amendment. The fund would be reviewed quarterly by the Joint Legislative Budget and would be the first account to transition to the Louisiana Checkbook recently passed into law.
This option, coupled with new transparency measures, would not only help us move forward in repairing the public trust and repairing our roads and bridges, but also provide a permanent stable solution to our budget problem, our general fund problem, and our infrastructure neglect.
Louisiana State Sen. Ryan Gatti represents Dist. 36
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Home » Is Turkey rattled by Russian-Kurdish deal?
Is Turkey rattled by Russian-Kurdish deal?
AUTHOR Fehim Taştekin TRANSLATOR Timur Göksel
Turkey's plans to expand its Operation Euphrates Shield in northern Syria and isolate Kurdish forces in the region appear to be backfiring.
Turkey may feel its already-tenuous footing in Syria slipping now that Russian troops have arrived in Afrin, after making a pact with the Kurds.
After Turkey liberated al-Bab from the Islamic State (IS), it turned toward Manbij, which is controlled by the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) and its Syrian allies, only to encounter US flags northwest of the town and Russian and Syrian national flags to the southwest. Now a similar scenario is being played out in Afrin.
On March 20, YPG spokesman Redur Halil announced Russia would deploy troops to the Cindires district of Afrin province. The statement was followed by photos of military vehicles flying the Russian flag.
"The presence of Russian troops at Cindires is the outcome of an agreement reached between our forces and the Russian army," Halil said. "This agreement foresees partnership in combating terror and training of our fighters by the Russian army. We have direct contacts with Russia."
YPG sources told Al-Monitor the two sides met at Khmeimim air base near Latakia to discuss developing a joint operation against Jabhat Fatah al-Sham (previously Jabhat al-Nusra), which has made Idlib its central base. The Kurds initially insisted that the partnership should also oppose organizations such as Ahrar al-Sham, which Turkey supports. In the end, the sources said, both parties decided not to debate which organizations they will confront and agreed that Russia will set up a base in Afrin. The Kurds said they rejected Russia's request to have Syrian regime troops at the base and to fly the Syrian flag there.
But the Russian Defense Ministry denied it plans to have a permanent military base there. The ministry said Russia has a site nearby that it uses to monitor cease-fire arrangements.
Preparing for a possible war
Zelal Ceger, an official with the Kurdish Movement for a Democratic Society in Afrin, said the Kurds sought an agreement with the Russians because of persistent attacks on Afrin by Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) and armed groups that Turkey supports. A Russian military convoy went first, as planned, to Cindires, immediately south of Afrin near the western border with Turkey. Russia then decided the convoy would be better positioned in Kefir Ceni, which is about an hour northeast toward the northern Turkish border and some 9 miles from Azaz.
"We have the Turkish state on one side and the gangs on the other," Ceger said. "We are resisting them by our own means. But they are setting up alliances against us. We have to do something about these. The Turkish state is threatening us every day and shelling Raco, Sharra and Shiigi. We are under pressure also from the direction of Tel Firat. Turkey is massing troops around Idlib and giving weapons to the gangs of Idlib."
He added, "This war can escalate — hence our call on Russia for an alliance. There has to be coordination between Turkey and us. Russia will provide that coordination to prevent Turkish attacks against Afrin."
Russian military experts have been coming to Afrin for the past two years. These visits started immediately after Turkey said it wouldn't allow the YPG to cross to the west of the Euphrates River, and the YPG started attacks from Afrin against Azaz. However, if the YPG sources are correct, this will be the first time the Russians have felt the need for a permanent base at Afrin. Why?
A senior YPG commander speaking to Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity said, "According to an agreement between Turkey and Russia, Turkey was to hand over al-Bab to the Syrian army after capturing it from IS. But Turkey did not leave al-Bab. To the contrary, it is now building a second base on a dominating hill outside al-Bab. It had already built a base at Aktarin. When the Turks didn't pull out of al-Bab, Russia wanted to send them a new message. Russia's rapprochement with the Kurds stems from the weakness of Turkish-Russian relations."
Will the rapprochement affect the partnership between the United States and the Kurds? The senior YPG commander replied, "No. We initiated contacts with Russia after openly speaking about it with the Americans. We told the Americans, 'If you are not willing to cooperate with us at al-Bab and Afrin, then we will have to look for other connections.' They did not react. The Russian and American positions on Raqqa have become closer. This makes it easy for us to set up relations with both of them."
Raqqa, the so-called IS capital in Syria, is another sore spot with Turkey, which has made it clear it plans on being part of the operation to take control of the city. That scenario is looking more unlikely each day.
After the United States and Russia reached an understanding on Manbij, the United States continued providing military assistance to the Syrian Democratic Forces, a YPG-dominated coalition. The United States has brought in armored vehicles, heavy weapons and helicopters for the Raqqa operation. The Kurds are now waiting for Apache assault helicopters. In the meantime, the Kurds firmly rejected a US proposal to include Syrian Kurdish peshmerga forces supported by Massoud Barzani, president of the Kurdistan Regional Government in northern Iraq. Barzani cooperates with Turkey. YPG Kurds said of the proposal, "We see this as a conspiracy. It will mean war between the Kurds. We categorically reject it."
All these developments indicate that either the United States is being flexible or it is not in a position to impose conditions on the Kurds, who are aware that the US-Russia understanding could be a short-term one.
Kurds can join Idlib operation
The critical question now is what will happen at Idlib. The Syrian army has been clearing out IS forces from their last Aleppo stronghold. Thanks to an agreement between Turkey and Russia, Turkish-supported armed groups — which oppose the Syrian regime but were also fighting IS in Aleppo — were allowed to leave there with their weapons and families. Most of them settled in Idlib and Azaz.
Now, Russia and Turkey disagree on what to do with these anti-Syrian (and therefore, anti-Russian) groups. Russia wants them disbanded. Turkey would like them to hold onto that area and join the pro-Turkish Free Syrian Army factions to fight the Kurds and keep them from establishing a continuous autonomous region near Turkey's border.
If Russia and the Syrian army open a front against Idlib, clashes with the Turkish-backed groups could spill over to Afrin.
Although the Kurds are focused on defending Afrin, they may be amenable to a joint operation with the Russians against threats from Idlib. This is what the YPG commander told Al-Monitor: "We could, of course, join operations against Idlib-based groups if we so wanted. Idlib is the key now. If Idlib is attacked, then Afrin will come under pressure. We are open to different alternatives."
According to this YPG commander, if Turkish-supported groups or the Turkish army directly move against Afrin, the Kurds have two options:
"The first option is cooperation with Russians. This is ongoing. Russian deployment at Afrin is an open message to Turkey. Our second option is to give the green light to the Syrian army. Afrin is a Syrian town. The Syrian army can come there as stipulated by its territorial integrity. If we have to, we will look into this option."
In summary, Russia has deployed troops to Afrin for three reasons. First, it is sending a message to Turkey, via the Kurds, that it is unhappy about Turkey not leaving al-Bab. Second, Russia will not allow a TSK move against Afrin. Third, a northern Kurdish front is developing against groups like Jabhat Fatah al-Sham at Idlib.
www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2017/03/turkey-syria-russian-troops-arrive-afrin.html
news_articles | by Dr. Radut | {
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Books, Printed Ephemera and Manuscripts
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[ Gariazzo; lithographs ] Tribal peoples of three continents: 1930s illustrations by Pier Antonio Gariazzo
Pier Antonio Gariazzo, artist and filmmaker
80 lithographic prints, mostly hand-coloured, of drawings of indigenous peoples and tribal groups, made on a voyage to South America, Africa and Asia in 1933 by the Italian painter and film director Pier Antonio Gariazzo. With accompanying French letterpress. This collection of accomplished and beautifully-finished prints is a puzzle, with no apparent reference to it or to the letterpress among Gariazzo's published works.Each print on one side of a separate piece of thick laid paper, 24.5 x 32.5 cm. Numbered 1 to 82, with 61 and 63 lacking.
Engravings of Hawaii, Tahiti, Tonga, New Guinea, Fiji, Pitcairn Islands, etc., from De Sainson, and map of Tonga, in Vol.2 [Tomo II] of the Spanish edition of Dumont D'Urville's 'Voyage Pittoresque' ('Viaje Pintoresco al Rededor del Mundo').
M. Dumont D'Urville, Capitan de Navio [Louis Auguste de Sainson (1801-1887), official artist on board Dumont D'Urville's L'Astrolabe, during its three months' tour of New Zealand in 1827]
Barcelona. Imprenta y Libreria de Juan Oliveres, Calle de Escudellers, Núm. 53. 1841.
The 90 plates (uncoloured steel engravings) are in 4to format, in good condition, with some having creasing to corners (not affecting the illustrations themselves), on lightly-aged paper, in the second volume of the work ([6] + 382pp., 4to), which is in a worn contemporary brown leather half-binding with marbled paper covers. These show views, fauna, inhabitants, atrefacts, and incidents on D'Urville's voyage. Also present is a fold-out map (Gravé par Ambroise Tardieu') titled 'Carte des Iles Tonga pour servir au Voyage pittoresque autour du Monde par M. D'Urville.
D'URVILLE
SAINSON
'Pain and Sin' in wartime Australia: The Diaries and Stories of Duncan Murray Gordon (1912-2012)
Duncan Murray Gordon, soldier and writer [Australian Author)
Duncan Murray Gordon was born in 1912, the son of a commercial traveller. In 1927 he won a scholarship to Stott's College, Melbourne, and in August 1940 he began a clerical job at the Victorian mining company Broken Hill South Ltd. He served in the Second World War between March 1941 to July 1946, in both the AMF (Australian Military Forces) and AIF (Australian Imperial Force) in Australia and New Guinea (where he finds, as the second volume of the diary reveals, the only way to survive is 'to find somebody to go mad with').
Military and Naval History
Tribal peoples of three continents: 1930s illustrations by Pier Antonio Gariazzo
Pamphlets and Books
Travel and Topography
Diplomatic and Consular Reports. Trade of the German Colonies [Togo, Cameroon, East Africa, German South-West Africa, Kiau-Chow, German New Guinea, Marschall Islands (1896). No. 474.
[Foreign Office. 1897. Annual Series] [GERMAN COLONIES]
Foreign Office, 1897
Pamphlet, stitched as issued, blue wraps, 44pp., 8vo, sl. marked, mainly good condition. Report for 1896.
KIAU-CHOW
Studio photograph inscribed to Hubert Smith, author [?] of "Tent Life with English Gipsies in Norway"
Octavius C. Stone [ HUBERT SMITH ]
No place, 4 May 1906.
Author of "A few months in New Guinea". Vignette photograph of Stone, circa 3.5 x 6", one nick on margin, bottom trimmed, taken at the Exposne inter.fotog. Milano 1894. INSCRIBED by Stone: To my dear & valued friend Hubert Smith with sincere affection & loving memories of 'auld lang syne" / Octavius C. Stone, FRGS. / 4 May 1906". Note from net: "'The Scholar Gypsy' by John Sampson has several pages on Esmeralda Lock, including two portraits. She was married to Hubert Smith, the town clerk of Bridgnorth, but ran away for some time with a lover.
Subscribe to our irregular newsletters of selected latest additions.
RICHARD M. FORD LTD (ABA)
(Dr Richard Ford)
Antiquarian Bookseller
70 Chaucer Road,
London, W3 6DP.
e-mail: richardford@manuscripts.me | {
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Imo: Why I chose my son-in-law as successor – Okorocha
September 3, 2018 1 Comment
Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, has revealed why he is throwing his weight behind his Chief of Staff, Uche Nwosu to succeed him as governor of the state in 2019.
The governor, who made this known through a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Sam Onwuemeodo, asserted that in a bid to avoid being missed by people of the state on some of his landmark achievements, especially his free and qualitative education programme, he has chosen Nwosu to consolidate on the projects.
Governor Okorocha maintained that the free education programme in the state, which some of his opponents had tried to discredit when it was introduced, has yielded obvious remarkable results.
He maintained that aside the school enrolment in the state snowballing from 381,000 in 2011 to more than One million in 2017, the state has continued to lead in JAMB applications for the seventh time .
Buttressing his choice of Nwosu, Okorocha disclosed that the state has also continued to do well in West African Examination Council (WAEC) exams, emphasising on the 2018 Senior School Certificate Exam (SSCE), which the state came fifth out of the thirty-six states in the country .
He also noted that his administration has more than 1,000 verifiable projects to its credit, while challenging his critics to disprove him.
"We have also been claiming and indeed, truthfully, that what Governor Okorocha's administration has achieved in less than eight years, have gone beyond all that those who had governed the state before him had achieved, when you put them together. Nobody has also challenged us or tried to fault our claims.
"We have equally gone the extra-mile to say that anybody who feels that he has a contrary claim to ours should indicate.
"And the best way to deal with such claim and counter-claim is for those concerned to itemise their claims, publish them for public consumption, while we also publish ours, for comparative analysis.
Meanwhile, a gubernatorial aspirant on the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Frank Nneji has dismissed rumours in the state that he is being sponsored by Governor Okorocha as not only an insult to him, but the governor does not have the moral capacity to do so.
This was just as he pointed out that Imo is today at the same stage that Anambra was in 2003 where everything had grounded to a halt.
The founder of ABC Transport, who stated this at the weekend during an interactive session with newsmen in the state, said "governor Okorocha does not have the moral capacity to sponsor my gubernatorial aspiration."
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your transport company is almost dead with its always breaking down buses and you dare to govern a state?
The Yobe State Governor, Mai Mala Buni, has approved the payment of N30,000 minimum wage ... | {
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GBNF
xXx EVENTS - Bros Only
POW/MIA FLAG
I am the flag of thousands that never came home!
I am the empty face of the comrade in arms that you have left behind.
My colors are Black and White; there is no gray area with me.
I am either behind a barbwire fence, with a watchtower over me, or lying in a shallow grave in a foreign land.
There was a time when I was flown throughout this country, but now you hardly ever see me.
I fly at Veterans Halls, Memorials, and the houses of those that still Remember me.
I am quickly fading from your memory.
I am the Forgotten One!
I was spawned out of WAR; I should NEVER have been born!
Is it because of that, most of you turn your head in shame when you see me?
Or is it because you are trying to forget me?
Is it that easy to forget a friend, a comrade, or a loved one?
Tell me what I did that was so wrong, that I might know why you have left me here all these years after my
Brothers have all gone home.
Why must I labor for my captures, Day after Day?
Why do I lie in a shallow grave in a foreign land, where No One comes to visit me?
Why has my country FORSAKEN ME, and the people I fought for FORGOTTEN ME?
What did I do to deserve this from MY COUNTRY?
TELL ME WHY!
I just want you to know!
I AM STILL HERE!
Bring me HOME to the land I was born in, and the Country I so PROUDLY Served!
Dear GOD, bring me HOME!
"BRING THEM HOME or SEND US BACK"
By Stubby
Viet Nam Vets / Legacy Vets MC
The POW/MIA Flag
The POW/MIA flag is an American flag designed as a symbol of citizen concern about United States military personnel taken as prisoners of war (POWs) or listed as missing in action (MIA). The POW/MIA flag was created by the National League of Families and officially recognized by the Congress in conjunction with the Vietnam War POW/MIA issue, "as the symbol of our Nation's concern and commitment to resolving as fully as possible the fates of Americans still prisoner, missing and unaccounted for in Southeast Asia, thus ending the uncertainty for their families and the Nation."
In 1971, while the Vietnam War was still being fought, Mary Hoff, the wife of a service member missing in action and member of the National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia, recognized the need for a symbol of U.S. POW/MIAs, some of whom had been held in captivity for as many as seven years. The flag is black, and bears in the center, in black and white, the emblem of the League. The emblem was designed by Newt Heisley, and features a white disk bearing in black silhouette the bust of a man (Jeffery Heisley), watch tower with a guard on patrol, and a strand of barbed wire; above the disk are the white letters POW and MIA framing a white 5-pointed star; below the disk is a black and white wreath above the white motto:
The flag has been altered many times; the colors have been switched from black with white – to red, white and blue – to white with black; the POW/MIA has at times been revised to MIA/POW.
On March 9, 1989, a league flag that had flown over the White House on the 1988 National POW/MIA Recognition Day was installed in the U.S. Capitol rotunda as a result of legislation passed by the 100th Congress. The league's POW-MIA flag is the only flag ever displayed in the rotunda, and the only one other than the Flag of the United States to have flown over the White House. The leadership of both Houses of Congress hosted the installation ceremony in a demonstration of bipartisan congressional support.
On August 10, 1990, the 101st Congress passed U.S. Public Law 101-355, recognizing the National League of Families POW/MIA Flag and designating it "as a symbol of our Nation's concern and commitment to resolving as fully as possible the fates of Americans still prisoner, missing and unaccounted for in Southeast Asia, thus ending the uncertainty for their families and the Nation." Beyond Southeast Asia, it has been a symbol for POW/MIAs from all U.S. wars.
Flag Use
With the passage of Section 1082 of the 1998 Defense Authorization Act during the first term of the 105th Congress, the POW/MIA Flag was specified to fly each year on:
Armed Forces Day Third Saturday in May
Memorial Day Last Monday in May
Flag Day June 14
Independence Day July 4
National POW/MIA Recognition Day Third Friday in September
Veterans Day November 11
The POW/MIA Flag will be flown on the grounds or the public lobbies of major military installations as designated by the U.S. Secretary of Defense, all Federal National Cemeteries, the Korean War Veterans Memorial, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the White House, the United States Post Offices and at official offices of the Secretaries of State, Defense and Veterans Affairs, and Director of the Selective Service System. Civilians are free to fly the POW/MIA Flag whenever they wish.
In the U.S. armed forces, the dining halls, mess halls and chow halls display a single table and chair in a corner draped with the POW-MIA flag as a symbol for the missing, thus reserving a chair in hopes of their return.
Other color patterns exist: the Orange and Black pattern was run by Outpost flags at the time of Harley Davidson's 100th anniversary, so that the bikers would help keep the issue alive and in the forefront of American politics. There are Red and White versions, which some say are to cover more recent military actions, but this is not official policy. There are Black and Red versions available as well. | {
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The Moguldom Nation
MogulWatch
Here Are The Biggest Cultural Trends To Watch In Q3 2018
Written by Lauren DeLisa Coleman
Alfre Woodard, Kerry Washington, and Brandy Rayana Norwood at Women's March Los Angeles, Jan. 21, 2017. Photo: Faye Sadou/MediaPunch/IPX
Cultural trend analysis will become even more important to everyone in the third quarter of 2018 because we are in the midst of major value and sentiment paradigm shifts.
Connecting will become even more important and to do so, understanding mindset, motivations, fears, and goals of society will be paramount.
Here are my picks for key areas and insights that I will be tracking this year and breaking down via periodic updates:
1. Celebrity
Celebrities are increasingly becoming involved in political and social issues. Trump's anti-immigration policy is only the latest, bringing out such notables as Laura Dern, Amy Schumer, Kerry Washington, Anne Hathaway, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and John Legend.
These celebrities bring awareness to help keep families together. However, the next level of the narrative will be holding such notables accountable for increased participation rather than one-offs. This is where unique business opportunities will intersect with public service.
Your play: Watch this. It's rare that celebs move solo. It's either all or none and usually a one-off attempt through their megaphones. As cause-related marketing ops heat up, compel them to deepen their participation by long-term strategies that your company can drive for the largest social good while still making the bottom line.
2. Race
The recent use of the n-word from a now former Netflix exec gives further demonstration to the CEO as quasi-public figure in this tension-filled era. Netflix was quick to jump on this. It's just one of the increasingly bold racial outbursts in which more and more companies are finding themselves entangled.
Your play: Photos such as the recreation of "A Great Day in Harlem" are nice, and they reinforce Netflix's commitment to creatives of color, but diversity is never equivalent to equity. Efforts should lead to more than images and hiring of creatives. Giving back to communities of color that Help drive Netflix's massive revenue should be next. Diversity should never be confused with equity. Spread the social word on this.
3. Millennial mashup
Fortune magazine recently did a piece about certain debit cards being the new hot status symbol among 18-34. Acorns, SoFi and Venmo allegedly rank very high.
Your play: Watch for articles like this because they may be jumping the gun a bit. Not all 80-plus million millennials follow the same trends. Make no mistake, the AMEX Black Card still reigns supreme in many sub demos. Others are all about crypto over any cards. Stay alert on the needs and moves of the variety of millennials and you'll stay ahead of the curve.
4. Tech
Blockchain in advertising is going to be h-u-g-e. It's just that simple. As blockchain and crypto intersect vital parts of the backbone of our capitalist society, rest assured that this space will grow exponentially for the rest of the year.
Your play: The most important space to watch is new ways to leverage brand messaging beyond simply using blockchain to carry out the standard ad buy with greater transparency. Those who do so will be the winners. Stay up on every conference you can attend in order to be with innovators in this important space.
John Legend performs at the "Families Belong Together: Freedom for Immigrants" March on Saturday, June 30, 2018, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP)
5. Politics
As I mentioned in my keynote speech during the NAB Conference in Las Vegas in April, watch for increasing trends around women of color and politics. As Moguldom reported, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Latina running in her first political campaign, defeated political veteran Joe Crowley in the Democratic Party's congressional primary in New York City. What is important to note is that she is half the age of the Caucasian male she defeated and is indicative of a major power trend that will change the country as we know it!
Your play: While Caucasian women in Hollywood have primarily co-opted part of the Feminism 2.0 narrative, watch for women of color to go for other levels of political and economic power to truly change the narrative of the growing majority in the U.S: people of color.
See additional ways in which you can leverage each of these trends. Don't miss "Conquer All," the included track by new artist Kelvin D. Frazier, Ph.D.
As our world changes, cultural intelligence is definitely the new oil.
Sign up for the Moguldom newsletter - business news you need to know about economic empowerment for the digital age.
July 12, 2018 July 12, 2018 by Lauren DeLisa Coleman
Category: Crypto, GN, Hollywood, Inequality, original, Politics, Tech.Tag: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, causes, cryptocurrency, cultural trends, marketing, Millennials, Netflix, people of color, social issues, women of color
© Copyright 2019 Moguldom®
Nubai Ventures, LLC | {
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Auditioning FAQs
Vocal Conservatory
Boys Choir
Musical Theatre Camp
For beginning and advanced singers, boys and girls, age 10–18
Develop performance skills as singer/actors alongside peers, both as soloists and members of ensembles. This two-week intensive camp will include:
Vocal coaching
Movement rehearsals and blocking
Acting and character development
Vocal Anatomy
Improvisation and theatre games
Accepting singers ages 10-18 per audition or submission.
Campers will take part in vocal coaching, acting instruction focusing on the challenges of the singer/actor, and staging/blocking sessions. Repertoire assignments are based on ability level and vocal range. Students will work in small groups and receive individual vocal coaching for their pieces. The final week is dedicated to dress rehearsals and staging. The camp ends with a final performance, allowing students to showcase their prepared scenes from the musical theatre repertory.
When: July 6–17, 2020
Where: 1336 Spring Garden Street, Philadelphia, PA 19123.
What time: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.
Michael Ashby earned his Masters of Operatic performance from New Jersey City University and his Bachelor of Science in Music Performance from Indiana State University. He has performed regionally in opera, operetta, musical theater, and theater productions. In addition to our vocal conservatory he maintains voice studios at Ursinus College in Collegeville, Pennsylvania, and Community Music School in Trappe, Pennsylvania. For the past year Michael has been working as the vocal technical teacher for the Philadelphia Boys Choir and Chorale as well as the Philadelphia Girls Choir. This summer will marks his seventh time directing the opera camp for the conservatory and his twelfth opera camp in total. His previous teen opera camps were directed at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and for Philadelphia International Music Festival in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. During his time at Rutgers he was a private vocal instructor with the Mason Gross Extension Division/Community Music Program for eleven years. This Summer Michael will also undertake direction of our choral camp.
Accompanist/Coach
Steve Weber graduated from both Cedarville University (B.A. in Music) and Boston University (M.A. in Music Education). He has been teaching high school music in southern New Jersey for over 15 years, where his students have been featured on Philadelphia radio and national television several times. Steve has worked with many regional music groups, including International Opera Theater of Philadelphia, Delaware Valley Opera Chorus, and the Ritz Theater of Oaklyn. In his spare time, he arranges music for not only his students but other high school and college ensembles as well.
The fee for the two week program is $600.00. All materials are included. Lunch is not provided.
A $50 non-refundable fee is due upon application (payments can be made by check or online). If accepted into the program, $550 is due by July 1.
Please use our online application, or email info@phillygirlschoir.org.
NOTE: Singers accepted per audition or submission. Please prepare up to two song selections, one of which may be from an opera, an operetta, or musical theater. Both selections can be in English. Should you choose to submit audition materials, CDs should be mailed to our office and .mp3 files can be emailed to mashby@phillygirlschoir.org. YouTube clips are also acceptable.
Personalized Summer Instruction
See our concert schedule and order tickets to our next event.
HIRE!
Invite the Philadelphia Girls Choir to your event.
Discover how to audition to become a member and wear the signature red gown. Please visit meetme.so/PGCAuditions to schedule an audition. If there are no appointment slots available, please email info@phillygirlschoir.org to request an audition time.
BECOME A FRIEND OF THE CHOIR!
Support the choir with a gift.
Join the mailing list.
©2019 Philadelphia Girls Choir | All rights reserved | Site Map | {
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Beyoncé's Ivy Park Responds to Factory Sweatshop Allegations
May 16, 2016 1:31 PM PST
Beyoncé's Ivy Park brand is fighting back against accusations their products are made in a Sri Lankan sweatshop under harsh working conditions.
via WWD:
On Monday, the brand said in a statement: "Ivy Park has a rigorous ethical trading program. We are proud of our sustained efforts in terms of factory inspections and audits, and our teams worldwide work very closely with our suppliers and their factories to ensure compliance."
The brand added that it expects its suppliers to meet its code of conduct "and we support them in achieving these requirements."
The statement came in response to a front-page story in The Sun on Sunday tabloid — never one to shun a sensational headline. The paper accused the brand of relying on "poverty-stricken seamstresses" at the MAS Holdings factory in Sri Lanka to make some of the Ivy Park clothes.
The story said the mostly female workers earn 4.30 pounds a day, or $6.17, and could never afford to buy a pair of Ivy Park leggings, which can cost 100 pounds, or $144.
But the minimum daily wage in Sri Lanka is 400 rupees, or $2.68. That means Ivy Park workers are earning more than twice the minimum wage for a day's work.
We're glad that's settled.
Tags:beyonceIvy Park | {
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This Week In: English Football – Cup Roundup and Premiership Preview
January 10, 2013 ~ John Lally
Alex Lawless scores the goal the secures a win for non-league Luton Town against Wolves
Although last weekend saw only two Premiership clubs knocked out of the FA Cup, the third round stage has already produced some upsets, with a round of replays providing the potential for more. The biggest shocks were at Macclesfield and Luton, where the two non-league home teams knocked out Cardiff and Wolves respectively, the latter of whom subsequently sacked their manager, Ståle Solbakken. However, there was no fairy tale for Mansfield – who lost 2-1 to Liverpool, albeit somewhat controversially, as Luis Suarez had clearly handled the ball before scoring the visitor's second goal – nor for Hastings United of the Isthmian Premier Division, who were beaten 3-1 by Middlesbrough.
The biggest top flight casualty was Newcastle, who produced a tepid display in their 2-0 defeat away to Brighton of the Championship, while the other Premiership side to have already exited – Southampton – were beaten by Chelsea, 5-1. All of the other three encounters between teams currently at the top of the English league pyramid ended in draws: Manchester United forced a replay against West Ham thanks to Robin Van Persie's stoppage time equaliser; Arsenal scored twice in two minutes to take the lead after they had been trailing in their game at Swansea, but the hosts forced the tie back to the Emirates with their own late strike; and Kieron Dyer found the net with virtually the last kick of the match to even things up for QPR against West Brom. Five Premiership clubs were forced into another fixture by lower league opposition: Blackpool earned a 1-1 draw at Fulham; Sunderland had to battle back from 2-0 down away at Bolton to take the tie back to the north-east; Crystal Palace and Stoke ended goalless; and Wigan came from behind to remain in the competition as their home match against Bournemouth finished 1-1. By contrast, Aston Villa, Tottenham, Everton, Reading, Manchester City or Norwich, had little trouble in all advanced to the fourth round – which will be contested over the final weekend of January.
There was also League Cup action in midweek and the first legs of the two semi-finals both produced unexpected outcomes. League Two's Bradford, who had knocked out Arsenal on penalties in the quarter-finals, are half-way to claiming another Premiership scalp as they defeated Aston Villa 3-1 at Valley Parade; while Swansea were dominated by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, but the Welsh side came away with a 2-0 win and now have one foot in the final. This weekend sees the return of Premiership action and on Saturday, Harry Redknapp will have the opportunity to beat the club that sacked him, as Queens Park Rangers host Tottenham – a fixture that has been moved from its original date of Monday, January 14th as QPR have their cup replay against West Brom next Tuesday. That same day, the two sides just above the relegation zone – Aston Villa and Southampton – meet at Villa Park; Swansea travel to Everton; Stoke will have their unbeaten home record tested by Chelsea; Sunderland host West Ham; Fulham, who have won just two of their last thirteen league matches, entertain third-bottom Wigan; and West Brom have an away trip to Reading.
The biggest fixtures of the weekend come on Sunday, as Arsenal host the champions, Manchester City, who have returned nearly a third of their ticket allocation, as many supporters were unwilling to pay the (ridiculous) sum of £62 to watch their team play at the Emirates, where they lost 1-0 last season; and old rivals Manchester United and Liverpool square off in the lunchtime kick off at Old Trafford. Brendan Rodgers will be hoping that his new team can continue their push up the Premiership, as they have won five of their last seven in the league, while the Red Devils will be looking to at least maintain their seven point advantage over City at the top of the table.
Last time, 8-12; Season, 90-107
QPR vs Tottenham – Home win
Aston Villa vs Southampton – Draw
Everton vs Swansea – Draw
Fulham vs Wigan – Home win
Norwich vs Newcastle – Home win
Reading vs West Brom – Away win
Stoke vs Chelsea – Draw
Sunderland vs West Ham – Home win
Manchester United vs Liverpool – Home win
Arsenal vs Manchester City – Draw
Posted in English Football, Sports
< Previous This Week in: The NFL – Wildcard Weekend
Next > This Week in: The NFL – Divisional Round
One thought on "This Week In: English Football – Cup Roundup and Premiership Preview"
Pingback: This Week in: English Football – Arsenal vs Chelsea and Spurs vs Man United « Political Footballs | {
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First team hold photo shoot
Team photo shoot done for the season
So here it is, your 2016/17 Fleetwood Town Squad.
Thursday was a busy day at the club's Poolfoot Farm training ground as the first team was assembled for the official team photograph.
A number of new signings also had headshots taken for the big screen at Highbury, and the club also launched the brand new Poolfoot 5's initiative, with the help of five of the first team players.
A film crew were also in attendance to capture some behind the scenes footage which will be available very soon. Keep an eye out across the Official Fleetwood Town social media channels.
Players enjoyed meals in Crossbar And Grill where more shots were taken for some brand new advertisements and youngsters from local schools were also treated to visits from some of the squad before their matches on the 3G pitches. | {
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Plan B? Green Party Candidate Jill Stein's Message to Bernie Sanders Supporters
Kurt Schrader D-OR voted to ban GMO labelling
Kurt Schrader (D-OR 5th CD) is one of the 275 Members of Congress who just voted for the DARK ACT (Deny Americans the Right to Know) which prevents all states from enacting their own GMO labelling laws ever, and overturns existing state laws which do require GMO labelling.
Named the Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act of 2015 by a bunch of politicians who know next to nothing about about the dangers of GMOs the legislation was recently passed in the House Committee.
If you are a member of the Pacific Green Party, live in Oregon Congressional District 5, and are OUTRAGED by the Congressman's vote, please considering running against him 2016! We'll help you do so.
Jill Stein invited to meet with Russian leaders
From Green Party Watch:
"Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein has been invited to Russia later this year. Stein said that after attending the UN Climate Change Conference 2015 in Paris, she is planning to visit Moscow on a mission for international peace and diplomacy." Click here to read the full article.
Transgender Day of Remembrance 20 Nov 2015
Greens celebrate the diversity of humankind. We believe everybody has a right to be who they are, free from constricting stereotypes, in peace. Our society must heal from all the useless violence by facing the awful truth of our social failures and embracing the radical changes necessary to build the better world we know in our hearts is possible. To find events in your area click here.
State-wide RANKED CHOICE VOTING to be on Ballot in Maine
by Alan F. Zundel
On November 18th the Maine Secretary of State determined that a state-wide ranked choice voting initiative has enough valid signatures to appear on the ballot in the November 2016 election. Maine voters will decide if ranked choice voting will be used for federal and state offices for the first time in U.S. history.
To read the rest of Alan's fine article please visit his blog at RCV Oregon.
Maine Initiative for Instant Runoff Voting Will Be On 2016 Ballot
Published in Ballot Access News on November 18, 2015, by Richard Winger.
On November 18, the Maine Secretary of State determined that the initiative for instant runoff voting (for all federal and state office except President) does have enough valid signatures. It will appear on the November 2016 ballot.
Darryl Cherney running for Green Party Presidential nomination
I am deciding now if I'll run for the Green Party Presidential nomination. Many deadlines are approaching. I am requesting that state parties provide me information on the requirements for earning delegates and/or qualifying for a primary. Please read my revised platform/manifesto and "like" my facebook page.
I need your signatures here to achieve recognition from the GPUS as a candidate. I seek your input now!
My platform is below the fold.
CHRIS HEDGES - CALLING ALL REBELS: THE MORAL IMPERATIVE TO REVOLT
Speech by noted author and activist Chris Hedges to our neighboring Green Party of Orange County on September 20, 2015.
America's Big Election Night
Photo and Article by Blair Bobier
Although a number of important—and under-reported—elections just took place in the U.S., the election that might ultimately matter most to Americans happened last month in Canada. There, the Liberal Party executed an '08 Obama-like ousting of the governing Conservative Party.
Three aspects of the Canadian election are particularly notable and inspiring—if not downright revolutionary. One is the Liberal Party's promise to change Canada's winner-take-all elections; two is the re-election to Parliament of Green Party leader Elizabeth May; and three, is the inclusive Cabinet appointed by the new Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau.
German Greens support protection for Snowden
The European Parliament narrowly adopted a nonbinding but nonetheless forceful resolution on 29 October 2015 urging the 28 nations of the European Union to recognize Edward J. Snowden as a "whistle-blower and international human rights defender" and shield him from prosecution. "It's the first time a Parliament votes to ask for this to be done — and it's the European Parliament," said Mr. Albrecht, a German lawmaker with the Greens political bloc. Click here to read the full article. | {
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Dominic Matteo gets all clear following brain tumour rehabilitation
(Image credit: Paul Barker)
Former Liverpool and Leeds defender Dominic Matteo has revealed he has fully recovered from his brain tumour.
The 45-year-old had surgery in November to remove the growth and has undergone six months of rehabilitation.
Matteo revealed the news on Twitter on Thursday and thanked the staff at Leeds General Infirmary and St James's Hospital.
Yesterday I got THE phone call, the one I've been praying for… my brain scan is clear. After 6 months of fear pain rehab surgery and treatment. I'm healthy! It feels unreal! The LGI &St James hospital saved my life. They were simply incredible. Thankyou will never be enough! pic.twitter.com/8nBY0NSHCt— Dominic Matteo (@Dominicmatteo21) April 23, 2020
"Yesterday I got THE phone call, the one I've been praying for… my brain scan is clear," the former Scotland international tweeted.
"After 6 months of fear pain rehab surgery and treatment. I'm healthy! It feels unreal!
"The LGI &St James hospital saved my life. They were simply incredible. Thankyou will never be enough!"
Matteo, who represented Scotland six times, retired in 2007 after also representing Blackburn and Stoke.
Dominic Matteo | {
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SoccerPunter > Player > Connor Riley-Lowe
Connor Riley-Lowe Profile and Player Statistics
Connor Riley-Lowe
First name: Connor
Last name: Riley-Lowe
Position: , Defender, LB, LM, Midfielder
We are going to show you the list of football clubs and seasons in which Connor Riley-Lowe has played. It includes the total number of appearance (caps), substitution details, goals, yellow and red cards stats.
FA Cup 2022/2023 Truro City 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Fa Trophy 2022/2023 Truro City 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Non League Premier: Southern South 2022/2023 Truro City 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Club Friendlies 3 2022 Truro City 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Fa Trophy 2021/2022 Truro City 180 2 0 0 0 0 0 0
Fa Trophy 2020/2021 Truro City 90 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Fa Trophy 2019/2020 Bath City 55 3 2 1 0 0 0 0
Vanarama National League South 2019/2020 Bath City 2216 29 4 3 0 0 0 0
Vanarama National League South 2018/2019 Truro City 3690 41 0 0 3 1 0 0
FA Cup 2017/2018 Truro City 180 2 0 0 0 0 0 0
Carabao Cup 2016/2017 Exeter City 77 2 1 1 0 0 0 0
EFL Trophy 2016/2017 Exeter City 111 2 1 0 0 0 0 0
League Two 2016/2017 Exeter City 397 6 2 1 0 0 1 0
Vanarama National League South 2016/2017 Truro City 406 5 0 1 0 0 0 0
EFL Trophy 2014/2015 Exeter City 90 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
FA Cup 2014/2015 Exeter City 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Connor Riley-Lowe has played in the following competitions and football tournaments.
Carabao Cup(3)
EFL Trophy(2)
FA Cup(1)
Fa Trophy(9)
League Two(6)
Non League Premier: Southern South(6)
Serie C: Girone C(2)
Vanarama National League South(129)
07/01/2023 Hendon
Truro City 1-1 H2H +
0 - 1 11' C. Riley-Lowe
J. White 29' 1 - 1
B. Adelsbury 54' 2 - 1
2 - 2 54' F. Keita
02/01/2023 Truro City
Tiverton Town 2-0 H2H +
C. Riley-Lowe 22' 1 - 0
T. Harvey 26' 2 - 0
2 - 1 49' T. Purrington
A. Porter 52' 3 - 1
3 - 2 90' L. Vowles
26/12/2022 Plymouth Parkway
0 - 1 14' A. Porter
B. Seymour 25' 1 - 1
1 - 2 45+2' C. Riley-Lowe
J. Crago 88' 3 - 2
3 - 3 90+4' W. Dean
12/02/2022 Tiverton Town
D. Hayfield 23' 1 - 0
A. Booth 70' 2 - 1
Dagenham & Redbridge 0-0 H2H +
0 - 1 76' J. Walker
A. Neal 88' 1 - 1
27/11/2021 Binfield
0 - 1 7' T. Harvey
0 - 2 26' A. Neal
J. Howell 53' 1 - 3
O. Harris 77' 2 - 3
19/12/2020 Concord Rangers
0 - 1 52' T. Harvey
0 - 2 63' A. Battle
S. Blackman 90' 1 - 2
Wimborne Town 4-0 H2H +
J. Richards 5' 1 - 0
J. Richards 45' 4 - 0
4 - 1 51' L. Beale
0 - 2 56' D. Rooney
19/07/2020 Bath City
Dorking Wanderers 0-2 H2H +
0 - 1 6' J. McShane
0 - 2 41' J. Prior
R. Brunt 80' 1 - 2
14/03/2020 Hungerford Town
Bath City 0-1 H2H +
0 - 1 45' A. Mann
Weymouth 0-0 H2H +
29/02/2020 Braintree Town
J. Chiedozie 60' 1 - 0
L. Smyth 90+2' 2 - 0
0 - 1 39' R. Stearn
St Albans City 0-2 H2H +
0 - 1 20' S. Nwabuokei
0 - 2 34' J. Iaciofano
0 - 3 70' Z. Banton
Concord Rangers 1-1 H2H +
0 - 1 15' B. Roast
1 - 2 88' J. Nouble
25/01/2020 Wealdstone
B. Clifford 14' 1 - 0
F. Artus 24' 2 - 0
C. Stevens 42' 3 - 0
D. Lewis 54' 4 - 0
D. Green 69' 6 - 0
M. Phillips 80' 7 - 0
Hemel Hempstead Town 0-0 H2H +
T. Smith 78' 1 - 0
R. Stearn 84' 2 - 0
A. Pollock 77' 1 - 0
1 - 1 79' T. Smith
Billericay Town 1-1 H2H +
0 - 1 24' D. Noel-Williams
R. Stearn 90+1' 2 - 1
01/01/2020 Chippenham Town
C. Zebroski 42' 1 - 0
1 - 1 45+1' R. Brunt
1 - 3 90' L. Britton
28/12/2019 Hampton & Richmond
21/12/2019 Eastbourne Borough
G. Luer 41' 1 - 0
1 - 2 90+3' A. Hartridge
Sholing 1-0 H2H +
A. Watkins 59' 2 - 0
16/11/2019 Havant & Waterlooville
A. Rutherford 57' 1 - 1
D. Kedwell 73' 2 - 1
02/11/2019 Dulwich Hamlet
0 - 1 30' N. Chilvers
A. Yussuff 48' 1 - 1
1 - 2 53' S. Pearson
1 - 3 90+1' T. Smith
A. Mann 54' 1 - 0
19/10/2019 St Albans City
Maidstone United 0-0 H2H +
0 - 1 76' R. Johnson
R. Brunt 90+5' 1 - 1
28/09/2019 Hemel Hempstead Town
0 - 1 32' R. Brunt
L. Nash 45' 1 - 1
L. Howell 80'
J. Midson 86' 2 - 1
Eastbourne Borough 1-0 H2H +
1 - 1 76' G. Luer
1 - 2 79' E. Romain
H. Hamblin 85' 2 - 2
07/09/2019 Billericay Town
S. Deering 32' 1 - 0
Hampton & Richmond 1-0 H2H +
31/08/2019 Chelmsford City
S. Jeffers 64' 1 - 0
Oxford City 1-0 H2H +
T. Richards 26' 1 - 0
1 - 1 50' T. Moore-Azille
1 - 3 75' S. Brown
24/08/2019 Slough Town
D. Roberts 13' 1 - 0
1 - 2 38' T. Richards
M. Williams 87' 2 - 2
W. Harris 90+4' 4 - 2
Tonbridge Angels 0-0 H2H +
Hungerford Town 1-0 H2H +
H. Smith 38' 1 - 0
3 - 1 90' K. Halliday
10/08/2019 Welling United
0 - 1 10' A. Hartridge
06/08/2019 Weymouth
A. Hartridge 5' 1 - 0 | {
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The breeding work
Genetics and selection
Basic Animal Breeding
by Admini
General biology is the subject of the basic laws of life phenomena. The importance of biology for medicine, agriculture and other sectors of the economy.
The basics of cytology
The main provisions of cellular theory. The cell is a structural and functional unit of the living. The structure and function of the nucleus, cytoplasm and its main organelles. Structural features of prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells.
The content of chemical elements in the cell. Water and other inorganic substances, their role in the life of the cell. Organic substances: lipids, ATP, biopolymers (carbohydrates, proteins, nucleic acids), their role in the cell. Enzymes, their role in life processes. DNA self-doubling.
Metabolism and energy conversion are the basis of cell activity. Energy metabolism in the cell and its essence. The value of ATP in energy metabolism.
Plastic exchange. Photosynthesis. Ways to increase the productivity of agricultural plants. Protein biosynthesis. Gene and its role in biosynthesis. DNA code. Matrix synthesis reactions. The relationship of the processes of plastic and energy metabolism.
Viruses, the features of their structure and activity.
Reproduction and individual development of organisms
Cell division, meiosis and fertilization are the basis of reproduction and individual development of organisms. Preparation of cells for division. Doubling of DNA molecules. Chromosomes, their haploid and diploid set, constancy of number and form.
Cell division and its meaning.
Sexual and asexual reproduction of organisms. Germ cells. Meiosis. The development of eggs and sperm. Fertilization.
Embryo development (on the example of animals). Postembryonic development. The harmful effects of alcohol and nicotine on the development of the human body.
the emergence of life on Earth.)
The basics of genetics
The main laws of heredity and variability of organisms and their cytological basis.
Subject, tasks and methods of genetics.
Mono- and dihybrid crosses. The laws of heredity established by G. Mendel. Dominant and recessive symptoms. Allelic genes. Phenotype and genotype. Homozygote and heterozygote. Uniformity of the first generation.
Animal Breeding for Disease Resistance
Plant Breeding Basics | {
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Summit Daily News names Ian Donovan as its new advertising director
Local | November 9, 2017
Ian Donovan
Hugh Carey / hcarey@summitdaily.com |
The Summit Daily News has restructured its advertising department and is pleased to announce Ian Donovan has been promoted to advertising director.
Donovan moved up Nov. 1 after starting with the Summit Daily as an account manager and most recently serving as its digital sales manager.
Leading a six-person staff as advertising director, he will be tasked with overseeing all advertising operations at the Summit Daily, including print, digital and niche publications.
"I'm ecstatic to be helping businesses in the Summit County community grow, both financially and as community partners," Donovan said of the promotion.
He lives in Summit County with his wife and loves the "endless possibility of fishing holes and ski lines" that can be found here.
Donovan has a bachelor's degree in resort and hospitality management from Green Mountain College in Killington, Vermont, and has worked for Swift Communications since September 2014.
Swift is the parent company of the Summit Daily News, in addition to more than two dozen other community newspapers and niche publications across the Western United States.
Donovan previously sold marketing solutions through the Colorado Activities Center before coming to the Summit Daily News.
At the same time Donovan is being promoted, advertising sales manager Emma Simmins has been named the general manager of the Sky-Hi News, a sister publication of the Summit Daily that covers Grand County.
In her new role, Simmins will oversee all operations in the Granby office, including editorial, circulation and advertising. She lives in Kremmling and is excited to be working closer to home.
Simmins will retain some responsibility at the Summit Daily News. She'll spend one day a week in Frisco, assisting with marketing efforts and niche-publication planning.
Simmins has been in newspaper advertising sales since October 2009, and she has a bachelor's degree in business management from the University of Northern Colorado.
She started with Swift in May 2015 and formerly served as the classified ad manager for the Steamboat Pilot & Today, another publication in the Swift family, before coming to the Summit Daily.
"Ian and Emma are proven leaders. Both promotions are well-deserved, and the Summit Daily and Sky-Hi News teams are better for their leadership," said Meg Boyer, publisher of both newspapers.
—Summit Daily staff report
Summit School District wins $155K grant from El Pomar Foundation
Mountain Dreamers petitions Summit School District for protections against searches by ICE
Drivers at Christy Sports in FRISCO
The Christy Sports Summit County Warehouse NOW HIRING Drivers Competitive Wage Free Ski Pass… | {
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You are here: Home / Industry Insider / Lavish Locations
Lavish Locations The early beginnings and luxury dispensaries of entrepreneur Susan Hwang
by R. Scott Rappold | July 4, 2019
You've heard the phrase "living hand to mouth."
That's how Susan Hwang was forced to run her first medical cannabis dispensary—taking the day's sales revenue to Phoenix, Arizona to buy more cannabis to sell the next day, spending eight hours a day driving around.
Even when the dispensary was making $1 million a month, she said and home was a one-bedroom apartment, not that it mattered. Who had time to be home sleeping? Such were the hazards of diving into the nascent cannabis business without a big chunk of cash or the backing of wealthy investors.
"I had to do what I had to do. I didn't want to sell ownership to a big investment group," she said. "I didn't want to be one of 20 board members. I had a vision, and I wanted to execute it."
Execute it she has. The 32-year-old now owns a chain of medical cannabis dispensaries and associated cultivation operations, as well as cannabis consulting firm SH Management Services—not bad for someone who immigrated to the U.S. at the age of 12 with nothing but a suitcase shared with her father and sister.
And she's just getting started. Hwang just might be changing how people shop for cannabis.
Hwang didn't speak a word of English in the late 1990s when her family fled South Korea's economic crisis that cost them everything.
The family moved to Los Angeles, California, then Tennessee, scraping by the best they could, sometimes living with friends, working multiple jobs. She spent nights after school working in the family's janitorial business.
After graduating high school she went to college at Arizona State University, graduating in 2009 with a biochemistry degree. Her parents hoped she'd be a surgeon someday. "They didn't want me to an entrepreneur, because of what they'd been through. They wanted me to take the safe route," she recalled.
She was studying for a master's degree when Arizona began implementing voter-approved medical cannabis. Despite her parents' worries, and despite the fact she'd never even tried cannabis, she had an "innate entrepreneurial spirit" that couldn't resist the possibilities of this new industry.
Arizona implemented a system with stricter limits on the number of dispensaries than states like California or Colorado, so when Hwang was approved for one of the precious few licenses, it was off to the races.
"I'm introducing some different concepts that the market has not seen. The words 'smoke shop' and 'luxury' don't always go together."
While many dispensaries were focusing on the population centers of Phoenix and Tucson, Hwang took a different approach. She opened a dispensary in Eloy, population 19,000, about halfway between those two cities. She opened a dispensary in remote Yuma, which is still that city's only one. Both are named Jamestown.
She chose off-the-beaten-path locations because she didn't want to compete with other dispensaries selling $5 grams. That's the same reason she hasn't considered expanding into crowded marketplaces such as Colorado or Washington. "If it's too easy to get licenses, I don't go for it," she said.
Since most of her initial money went to licensing and dispensary construction, the pace of growth was necessarily slow.
"Because I got into the industry with no money, I couldn't do what people with money were doing," Hwang said. "I needed to leverage existing business to continue to build."
Still, she was eventually able to move from her one-bedroom apartment to a house, and she was able to actually spend some time there. She obtained a third dispensary in California. Instead of driving around buying product, her chain was growing it.
She even tried cannabis, found she liked it and came out of the "cannabis closet" publicly.
Through it all, she resisted the urge to pull in major investors or become publicly traded, for fear of losing control.
"I'm not in it [to] get big, get a high valuation, sell out and retire," she says. Rather, she wants to use her science background to learn more about the plant and educate others.
That's a mission of her consulting firm, and it's something she hopes to further with a novel approach to selling cannabis.
Luxury Boutiques
Why, Hwang asks, does society glorify alcohol with expensive wine, fancy craft beer and upscale bars, yet cannabis is often sold out of boring, nondescript buildings, often in the seedier parts of town?
So, she wants to bring some luxury to cannabis with high-end cannabis boutiques with top-dollar smoking and vaping implements—think the Louis Vuitton or Neiman Marcus of cannabis.
"I'm introducing some different concepts that the market has not seen. The words 'smoke shop' and 'luxury' don't always go together," Hwang admitted. It's a way to challenge the stereotypes people have about cannabis consumers.
She is also eyeing places most sensible cannabis investors aren't even looking at. She says she is prepared to enter the medical cannabis markets of Georgia, Texas, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and even her native South Korea, which legalized medical cannabis nationwide in 2018.
Hwang takes a lot of pride in accomplishing so much out of humble beginnings. "I'm very honored and grateful and thankful," she said. "All the adversities and hardships and challenges I've been through as a child and am still going through today are what helped me and molded me and shaped me."
"When people ask me what it feels like to be successful, I don't know how to answer," she said. "My definition of being successful is inspiring others and elevating other peoples' lives and lifestyles. There are so many people I want to inspire. I want to continue to change their lives. I want them living like me but better than me."
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Satisfying Success Foria Founder and Co-CEO Mathew Gerson creates products that help couples experience healthy sex lives | {
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Eggstravaganza is 'about loving the community'
Thousands of plastic Easter eggs were scattered around Community Center Park in Camarillo, glistening in the grass under Saturday's bright spring sun.
Eggstravaganza is 'about loving the community' Thousands of plastic Easter eggs were scattered around Community Center Park in Camarillo, glistening in the grass under Saturday's bright spring sun. Check out this story on vcstar.com: http://www.vcstar.com/story/news/local/communities/camarillo/2017/04/15/eggstravaganza-s-loving-community/100418902/
Jeremy Childs, jeremy.childs@vcstar.com, 805-437-0208 Published 6:03 p.m. PT April 15, 2017 | Updated 7:03 p.m. PT April 15, 2017
Children rush to find eggs during the 2017 Easter Eggstravaganza and Craft Fair put on by the Pleasant Valley Recreation and Parks District in Camarillo. This year's event will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 31 at Camarillo Community Center Park.(Photo: JEREMY CHILDS/THE STAR)Buy Photo
Within a minute, they all would be snatched up by eager children during the Easter Eggstravaganza and Craft Fair, an annual event hosted by the Pleasant Valley Recreation and Parks District.
Amy Stewart, recreational services manager for the district, said the Easter fair has taken place in Camarillo for more than 20 years.
"It's a way for our community to come together over Easter weekend, for free, without leaving the city," Stewart said.
Stewart expected about 4,000 people at this year's event. Linda Boyett, a parent who was there, said this was the first year she had seen the parking lot fill up.
Gallery: Easter Eggstravaganza in Camarillo
Lindsey and Issac Ordonez of Moorpark feed a pony at the petting zoo during the 2017 Easter Eggstravaganza and Craft Fair in Camarillo. This year's event will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 31 at Camarillo Community Center Park. JEREMY CHILDS/THE STAR
Ismael Thenoz of Camarillo shows off the eggs he gathered during the 2017 Easter Eggstravaganza and Craft Fair in Camarillo. This year's event will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 31 at Camarillo Community Center Park. JEREMY CHILDS/THE STAR
Children rush to find eggs during the 2017 Easter Eggstravaganza and Craft Fair put on by the Pleasant Valley Recreation and Parks District in Camarillo. This year's event will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 31 at Camarillo Community Center Park. JEREMY CHILDS/THE STAR
The hunting grounds are covered in eggs during the 2017 Easter Eggstravaganza and Craft Fair in Camarillo. This year's event will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 31 at Camarillo Community Center Park. JEREMY CHILDS/THE STAR
The Easter Bunny delivers eggs before the 2017 Easter Eggstravaganza and Craft Fair, an annual event put on by the Pleasant Valley Recreation and Parks District. This year's event will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 31 at Camarillo Community Center Park. JEREMY CHILDS/THE STAR
Matthew Sanchez of Camarillo decorates a plastic pot with googly eyes during the 2017 Easter Eggstravaganza and Craft Fair in Camarillo. This year's event will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 31 at Camarillo Community Center Park. JEREMY CHILDS/THE STAR
The Camarillo Community Center's Tap Dance 2 class, led by instructor Haley-Nicole, entertains during the 2017 Easter Eggstravaganza and Craft Fair in Camarillo. This year's event will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 31 at Camarillo Community Center Park. JEREMY CHILDS/THE STAR
The main attractions were the six separate hunts which had more than 15,000 Easter eggs among them. Volunteers dispersed the eggs within a sectioned off area of the park, split into two parts — for children ages 5 and younger and those ages 6 and up. When given the green light, kids swarmed the field and tried to fill their baskets with as many eggs as possible.
It was highly competitive, with some children walking away with several eggs in their basket and others with none.
"I wanted to leave some so the little kids could get them," said Emily Ake, who gathered two eggs during a hunt for ages 6 and up.
The festival also had a crafting booth for children, offering them the chance to decorate the plastic pots of drought-resistant succulents. It also featured a petting zoo, two bounce houses, an Easter Bunny photo opportunity and booths with carnival games. A DJ played dance music next to a stage that featured gymnastics demonstrations from Cartwheel A Go Go and a tap dance performance from participants in the Camarillo Community Center's dance classes.
Journey: The Church, which congregates nearby at the Camarillo Community Center, sponsored the egg hunt for the sixth time this year. The church helped facilitate the event, provided eggs with prizes inside them and distributed bottles of water.
Jeremy Kays, a pastor, said he hoped the event would help bring people together in celebration of the occasion.
"It's about loving the community," he said.
Read or Share this story: http://www.vcstar.com/story/news/local/communities/camarillo/2017/04/15/eggstravaganza-s-loving-community/100418902/ | {
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National September 11 Memorial & Museum, New York (must see)
The National September 11 Memorial & Museum (known separately as the 9/11 Memorial and 9/11 Memorial Museum) are the principal memorial and museum, respectively, commemorating the September 11, 2001, attacks, which killed 2,977 people, and the World Trade Center bombing of 1993, which killed six. The memorial is located at the World Trade Center site, the former location of the Twin Towers, which were destroyed during the September 11 attacks. It is operated by a non-profit corporation whose mission is to raise funds for, program, own, and operate the memorial and museum at the World Trade Center site.
On September 11, 2011, a dedication ceremony commemorating the tenth anniversary of the attacks was held at the memorial. Three months after its opening, the memorial had been visited by over a million people. In 2012 Tuesday's Children, a non-profit family-service organization dedicated to the individuals directly impacted by 9/11 and those who have lost loved ones to terrorism worldwide, joined with the 9/11 Memorial to offer private tours to family members of 9/11 victims and first responders.
There has been a lot of thought gone into making this tribute to all those who lost their lives.
You can go down 70 feet underground to the original bedrock and pillars the buildings were built on, or walk the grounds outside and look at the fountains.
Many personal belongings of the victims and remnants of structural portions of the buildings and city emergency vehicles are present to view, also.
Try purchasing tickets online in advance, especially during the busier months (holidays or vacation periods).
Daily: 9am-8pm
Image by MartinThoma on Wikimedia under Creative Commons License.
This sight is featured in a self-guided walking tour of New York, New York within the mobile app "GPSmyCity: Walks in 1K+ Cities" which can be downloaded from iTunes App Store or Google Play. Please download the app to your mobile phone or tablet for travel directions for visiting this sight. The app turns your mobile device to a personal tour guide and it works offline, so no data plan is needed when traveling abroad.
National September 11 Memorial & Museum on Map
Create Your Own Self-Guided Walks in New York
Sight Name: National September 11 Memorial & Museum
Sight Location: New York, USA
Best of Lower Manhattan Walking Tour
Walking Tours in New York, New York
Create Your Own Walk in New York
Creating your own self-guided walk in New York is easy and fun. Choose the city attractions that you want to see and a walk route map will be created just for you. You can even set your hotel as the start point of the walk.
Manhattan Shopping Tour
New York City is considered to be a shopper's paradise. It features some of the best shopping centers in the world. Each of these places, like Manhattan Mall, Macy's or Rockefeller Center offers a unique style with one-of-a-kind shops. Take this self guided tour to explore some of the best and most famous shopping centers in Midtown Manhattan.
NYC Greenwich Village Walk
The tree-lined streets of Greenwich Village with its cafes, bars and restaurants, jazz clubs and Off-Broadway theaters amid the brownstones will enthuse you as a visitor. Writers and poets, artists and radicals, runaway socialites, and others seeking freedom from conventional lifestyles have long flocked to this spot, lit most famously by the counterculture figures of the 1950s and '60s: Jack... view more
Manhattan Architecture Walking Tour
Manhattan is often defined by the word skyscraper. But the city's architecture is not represented only by the huge number of tall buildings. It also features amazing and spectacular buildings constructed in significant architectural styles. These include Rockefeller Center, Chrysler Building, Grand Central Terminal and many more. Take this self-guided walk to visit some of the most famous... view more
Grand Central Station to Union Square
This self-guided walk, passing from Grand Central Station to Union Square, is bound to introduce you to some of New York's most iconic landmarks, such as Empire State Building, Macy's, Madison Square Garden and many others along the way. Not visiting any of these would be cheating on your own self.
Midtown Manhattan Walking Tour
Midtown Manhattan is the largest commercial, entertainment, and media center of the United States. The area is a home to some of NYC's most iconic landmarks, such as the Empire State Building and Chrysler Grand Central Station, as well as the world-famous Rockefeller Center and Times Square. Follow this self guided walk to explore Midtown Manhattan!
George Washington's New York
While not really a New York fan himself, George Washington held the city in high esteem, calling it "a post of infinite importance," and is even credited with coining the term "New Yorker". The scene of some of Washington's greatest military trials and political triumphs, NYC is a home to several important sites associated with his life and career, such as Fraunces Tavern, Bowling Green,... view more
View all walking tours in New York, New York
9 Best Drinking Places in Upper West Side, NY
With "Bar Tour of the Upper West Side" sample a cross section from NYC's great gamut of drinking establishments, including a Belgian Brasserie, a wine bar, Irish pubs, and one dive — just for fun! These spots offer something a little extra, like craft beers, inspirational artwork, a chance...
Bar Tour of Lower East Side, New York City
The Lower East Side has been described the most livable neighborhood in NYC. Unique and dynamic, LES has boutique shops, cafes and restaurants alongside great bars and museums.In this historic neighborhood, residents strive to preserve its roots. Here, you can find young professionals who challenge...
NY Villages Best Tea and Coffee
This is a guide to the best tea and coffee shops and houses in the East, West, Washington Square and Greenwich Villages of Manhattan. None of these are chains, so tourists looking to avoid Starbucks can find sanctuary in this app. All of these run the gamut between W and E 14th Streets, and down 1st...
NYC Beer Tour
There are many great places to drink in New York City. Still, discerning connoisseurs are likely to find themselves awash in a sea of mediocre beer without first gaining a proper lay of the beer land. For those whose curiosity and taste buds urge them to venture beyond ubiquitious draft staples like...
NYC Souvenir Guide: 15 Authentic New York City Products to Take Home
In keeping with the song, one might think that, if they can make it in New York City, they can make it anywhere. Well, not always... Some of the things made in New York City aren't made anywhere else, and you'll definitely want to try or keep at least some of them to prolong your NYC... | {
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The Lord of Castle Black (Viscount of Adrilankha, Book 2)
Synopsis of The Lord of Castle Black (Viscount of Adrilankha, Book 2)
Continuing the swashbuckling epic begun in The Paths of the Dead
Journeys! Intrigues! Sword fights! Young persons having adventures! Beloved older characters having adventures, too! Quests! Battles! Romance! Snappy dialogue! Extravagant food! And the missing heir to the Imperial Throne!In the swashbuckling, extravagant manner of The Phoenix Guards, Five Hundred Years After, and The Paths of the Dead, this is an old-fashioned adventure--moving at a twenty-first-century pace.
The Interregnum is over. To everyone's astonishment, Zerika, a very young Phoenix, has coolly emerged from the Paths of the Dead, carrying with her the Orb, which everyone had thought was lost in Adron's Disaster. The Orb is the heart of the Dragaeran Empire, the source of all its magic--and the infallible sign that Zerika is the new Empress.
But not everyone is happy to hear the news. It's been 250 years since Adron's Disaster, and power vacuums never stay that way for long. K...na, a Dragonlord, has been expanding his holdings. He now controls almost half the area that was once the Empire -- in effect, the Empire re-created, with himself on the throne.
Among those opposing him is a young Dragonlord named Morrolan - the same Morrolan familiar to every reader of the Vlad Taltos adventures. Until recently, Morrolan was an orphan raised among Easterners, unaware of his lineage, but it has belatedly come to his attention that he's a high-ranking Dragonlord, and now he means to act like one. And from Sethra Lavode he has received a gift of immense significance and power: Blackwand, a magical artifact in the form of a sword.
He'll find plenty to do with it.
Reviews of The Lord of Castle Black (Viscount of Adrilankha, Book 2)
In short, this reviewer believes there is no coin better spent than in the purchase of this new work by Paarfi (and of any of his Books). Should you seek his work, be sure to look also under the name of Brust, his translator. -- Edward Carmien, SFRevu
I have to admit that I didn't really enjoy Brust's latest offering that much. Oh, sure, it's better than 95% of the Books on my shelves, and I devoured it in a day, but still... -- Dave Kennedy, DKennedy.org
Employing his "Dumas homage" presentation, the reader is both entertained by the story itself and by the humorous narrative of Paarfi the historian. -- R.F. Briggs, Yet Another Book Review Site | {
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Home > Stockport House Prices > Somerford Road
Sold House Prices in Somerford Road
This page displays sold house prices for Somerford Road in Stockport.
Somerford Road in Stockport SK5 consists predominantly of terraced houses. Properties on Somerford Road typically have values around £100,000 - £150,000, ranging upwards of £150,000 for larger semi-detached houses.
1 Somerford Road, Stockport SK5 6QA
£143,000 Semi-detached house, Freehold 20th October 2006
6 Somerford Road, Stockport SK5 6QB
£95,000 Terraced house, Freehold 7th June 2013
£36,950 Terraced house, Freehold 31st March 2000
£78,950 Semi-detached house, Freehold 17th April 2003
£110,000 Semi-detached house, Freehold 30th November 2011
£40,000 Terraced house, Freehold 24th November 1999
10 Somerford Road, Stockport SK5 6QB
£117,000 Terraced house, Freehold 22nd March 2005
£121,100 Terraced house, Freehold 28th April 2008
11 Somerford Road, Stockport SK5 6QA
£60,000 Semi-detached house, Freehold 15th March 1999
£124,000 Terraced house, Freehold 23rd June 2006
£93,500 Terraced house, Freehold 6th April 2004
£42,500 Terraced house, Freehold 22nd March 1995
£37,000 Terraced house, Freehold 25th September 1998
£83,000 Semi-detached house, Freehold 22nd November 2010
£41,060 Terraced house, Freehold 20th April 2001
£41,000 Terraced house, Freehold 9th January 1998
£42,500 Terraced house, Freehold 7th September 2001
£97,950 Terraced house, Freehold 12th July 2004
£47,950 Terraced house, Freehold 15th December 2000
£108,000 Terraced house, Freehold 23rd December 2005
£29,250 Terraced house, Freehold 19th June 2000
£64,950 Semi-detached house, Freehold 19th July 2002
£90,000 Semi-detached house, Freehold 19th December 2008
£42,000 Semi-detached house, Freehold 1st November 1996
£62,000 Semi-detached house, Freehold 17th May 2002
£103,500 Semi-detached house, Freehold 17th March 2006
£115,000 Terraced house, Freehold 10th February 2015
£47,000 Semi-detached house, Freehold 12th October 2001
£29,000 Terraced house, Freehold 31st August 1995
£49,000 Terraced house, Freehold 21st February 2002
£113,000 Terraced house, Freehold 9th November 2007
£105,000 Terraced house, Freehold 11th October 2013
£46,000 Terraced house, Freehold 3rd September 2001
£124,950 Terraced house, Freehold 4th July 2007
£110,000 Terraced house, Freehold 11th August 2006
£110,000 Terraced house, Freehold 13th June 2007
£25,000 Terraced house, Freehold 4th December 1998
£113,000 Terraced house, Freehold 5th December 2012
£120,000 Terraced house, Freehold 20th December 2007
£52,630 Terraced house, Freehold 23rd November 2001
£110,000 Semi-detached house, Freehold 7th December 2011
£109,000 Semi-detached house, Freehold 18th February 2005
£85,000 Terraced house, Freehold 28th February 2006
£40,500 Terraced house, Freehold 8th July 1999
£30,000 Terraced house, Freehold 14th August 1997
£108,000 Terraced house, Freehold 5th April 2007
£110,000 Terraced house, Freehold 26th July 2013
£65,000 Terraced house, Freehold 7th October 2011
£90,100 Terraced house, Freehold 28th October 2011
76 Somerford Road, Stockport SK5 6QE
£64,700 Semi-detached house, Freehold 28th June 2002
£132,000 Semi-detached house, Freehold 2nd November 2007
£32,500 Terraced house, Freehold 10th March 1998
£90,000 Terraced house, Freehold 1st December 2004
87 Somerford Road, Stockport SK5 6QF
£27,500 Terraced house, Freehold 8th May 1998
£34,500 Terraced house, Freehold 31st May 1995
£110,000 Terraced house, Freehold 12th May 2005
£102,500 Terraced house, Freehold 6th May 2005
£106,500 Terraced house, Freehold 22nd June 2006
£47,950 Terraced house, Freehold 19th May 2000
£28,500 Semi-detached house, Freehold 7th February 1997
101 Somerford Road, Stockport SK5 6QF
102 Somerford Road, Stockport SK5 6QE
£65,500 Terraced house, Freehold 22nd December 2003
£98,000 Terraced house, Freehold 22nd May 2015
£45,800 Terraced house, Freehold 18th January 1995
£39,950 Semi-detached house, Leasehold 15th January 2001
£128,000 Semi-detached house, Leasehold 31st July 2007
£52,500 Semi-detached house, Leasehold 1st March 2002
£77,600 Terraced house, Leasehold 23rd May 2011
£64,000 Terraced house, Leasehold new build 2nd April 2007
£125,000 Terraced house, Freehold 29th March 2007
£125,000 Terraced house, Freehold 21st October 2013
£115,500 Terraced house, Leasehold 20th March 2015
£39,950 Semi-detached house, Leasehold 22nd February 1995
£44,000 Flat, Leasehold 19th July 2010
£24,000 Terraced house, Leasehold 19th October 1998
£37,500 Semi-detached house, Freehold 27th January 1995
£22,257 Semi-detached house, Freehold 19th August 1998
£25,000 Terraced house, Leasehold 16th January 2004
£74,500 Terraced house, Leasehold 19th December 2012
£62,950 Semi-detached house, Freehold 29th November 2002
Somerford Road
Map showing Somerford Road in Stockport. | {
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Bujumbura calling: preventing and responding to conflict in Burundi
12 months on from the beginning of a violent political crisis in Burundi, a group of local activists have expanded their project to monitor and respond to conflict. Kevin McCann reports on their work from a recent visit to Bujumbura.
Kevin McCann
The road to Bujumbura. Many areas of Burundi have seen serious violence during the deepening political crisis of the last 12 months. Image credit: Dave Proffer
Since protests began a year ago – and especially since an attempted coup nearly unseated President Pierre Nkurunziza in May 2015 – the situation in Burundi has steadily deteriorated.
More than a thousand people have been killed, with the worst violence so far taking place in December 2015. Armed attacks on military installations around the capital Bujumbura, and the fighting that followed, led to the deaths of over a hundred people. With the Burundian civil war still fresh in people's minds (it officially ended in 2005), events such as the December attacks have increased fears of a return to serious armed conflict. And this, in turn, has contributed to a regional refugee crisis. More than 250,000 people have so far fled to neighbouring Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
But as the international presence dwindles – the US and other governments have issued broad advice against travel – Burundians are redoubling their efforts to stop a return to war. Some of them work for Peace Direct's local partner organisation, a violence monitoring and response network. We went to visit them in March of this year.
Good morning, Burundi
I would be surprised if anything happened in Burundi without them knowing about it
At 8am on Monday morning, we are the last to arrive at the office on our first day in Burundi. Our host, Fabrice, shows us straight to the meeting room. In it are a table, some plastic chairs on a hard tiled floor, and the network's central staff. They run what could almost be described as a small news agency, with a network of volunteer 'Citizen Reporters' reporting from around the country on outbreaks of violence in their area. We are here to see first-hand how our support to their work has helped.
I'm impressed. The network has doubled in size in just three months, and their work now covers the entire country. As we listen to the team discussing their work, it occurs to me that I would be surprised if anything happened in Burundi without them knowing about it. Having driven past the burnt-out offices of the main national radio stations – the usual source of information in the country – the situation reports the network provide are a priceless source of information that only local people can access. Testament to the quality of the information are the continuing requests we receive from people who want to read the reports; probably half the UN is on our mailing list.
Local knows best: filling the information gap in Burundi
Fabrice and the team take us in detail through how the network operates. The Citizen Reporters have received training on how to assess and report information, which they send in from around the country using a specialist mobile text messaging system. Each of the messages is logged, assessed for its relevance to the developing situation, and then verified by the staff in Bujumbura. They cross-check incident reports with other Citizen Reporters, any publically available information, and the network's own contacts in the police, military and elsewhere. The reporting is risky, so they take lots of precautions.
Their operation is building a picture of violent hotspots in Burundi – an 'Early Warning' network in every province around the country. With international reporting capacity generally limited to the capital, it provides an almost unique source of countrywide intelligence, which is why the UN is so keen to receive it.
Indeed, the whole project is testament to how a local network can penetrate much deeper into society than outsiders. The Citizen Reporters all live in the areas they report on, and are respected in their communities for their neutrality. This is vitally important in a conflict which is as much about politics as anything else.
Responding to conflict: the role of the Citizen Reporters
The Citizen Reporters calm tensions when violence spikes, or prevent it happening in the first place
Later in the week, I meet with some of the Citizen Reporters. The value of their work becomes even clearer because as well as reporting on violence, they respond to it. Drawing on their background in human rights and peacebuilding, the Citizen Reporters calm tensions when violence spikes, or prevent it happening in the first place. They also support those who are arrested without charge, or are victims or other abuses. As one Citizen Reporter, Jean, told me:
"Sometimes when we ask [the police] for the charges against people, they ask us what authority we have."
"'So it's you who works with Human Rights Watch,' they say."
This is meant as a generic term for human rights groups, and it's clearly intended as a threat – one that prevents people from trying to find out what has happened to their friends and family. This is where the Citizen Reporters help.
"We try and support people to ask after their own," Jean says. "We go with them when they ask the police and the military for information, acting as witnesses in case anything happens."
"I spoke to the mother of a girl who had been kidnapped," says Jean. "She thought her daughter was going to be sexually abused, so she called the police. They arrested every young man in the neighbourhood and tortured them."
Others are presumed guilty by association, "I know a guy who was arrested three times in a week," says Claver. "If he was really involved in anything, why would they release him?"
The power of working together
The network is a powerful example of how bottom-up initiatives can help solve top-down problems
Between them, the network coordinates nearly 200 Citizen Reporters around the country – reporting on and responding to violence. They work as a team, to gather information and send it to us. We then distribute it to diplomats, journalists and other peacebuilders themselves, to try and prevent atrocities.
"When we hear of something, we communicate among ourselves. Have you heard about this? Are you able to go and find out? We have to plan, because sometimes you need to take a motorbike and there are roadblocks."
It's a reminder of the logistical difficulties that the network faces, trying to separate fact from fiction and piece together what's really happening in Burundi. Not for the first time, I'm impressed at how much a small group of dedicated people can accomplish.
And as Claver explains, help can come from unexpected sources. The situation is complex, so it is important not to generalise: "Some of the police are cooperative, and they help us. They tell us very discreetly where people are being held, and other information. We can work together."
It's an extremely worrying situation. But I leave convinced that this network is proof that bottom-up initiatives can help solve top-down political problems – building trust from the ground up. It gives me hope for Burundi.
Names and other information in this article have been changed in order to preserve anonymity.
Kevin McCann is Peace Direct's Research and Engagement Officer. His work includes helping to run Insight on Conflict, developing new publications, and supporting Peace Direct's conflict early warning projects. He has an MA in International Security.
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Introducing Peacewatch: Yemen | {
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GPUs are not just for images any more…
|In Machine Learning
|By Filament
As a machine learning professional specialising in computational linguistics (helping machines to extract meaning from human text), I have confused people on multiple occasions by suggesting that their document processing problem could be solved by neural networks trained using a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU). You'd be well within your rights to be confused. To the uninitiated what I just said was "Let's solve this problem involving reading lots of text by building a system that runs on specialised computer chips designed specifically to render images at high speed".
"In the age of the neural network, Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) is one of the biggest misnomers of our time."
Well it turns out that GPUs are good for more than playing Doom in high definition or rendering the latest Pixar movie. GPUs are great for doing maths. As it happens, they're great for the kind of maths needed for training neural networks and other kinds of machine learning models. So what I'm trying to say here is that in the age of the neural network, Graphics Processing Unit is one of the biggest misnomers of our time. Really they should be called "Tensor-based linear algebra acceleration unit" or something like that (this is probably why I'm a data scientist and not a marketer).
Where did GPUs come from?
One of the earliest known uses of the term GPU is from a 1986 book called "Advances in Computer Graphics". Originally, GPUs were designed to speed up the process of rendering computer games to the user's display. Traditional processor chips used for running your computer's operating system and applications process one instruction at a time in sequence. Digital images are made up of thousands or millions of pixels in a grid format. Traditional CPUs have to render images by running calculations on each pixel, one at a time: row by row, column by column. GPUs accelerate this process by building an image in parallel. The below video explains the key difference here quite well:
So I know what you're thinking… "If GPUs are so magical and can do all this cool stuff in parallel, why don't we just use them all the time instead of CPUS?" — am I right?
Well here's the thing… GPUs are specialised for really fast maths and CPUs are generalised for many tasks. That means that GPUS are actually pretty rubbish at a lot of things CPUs are good at — they've traded flexibility for speed. Let me try and explain with a metaphor.
The Patisserie Chef and the Cake Factory
Let's away from the computer for a second and take a few moments to think about a subject very close to my heart… food.
A patisserie chef is highly efficient at making yummy cakes and pastries to delight their customers. They can only really pay attention to one cake at a time but they can switch between tasks. For example, when their meringue is in the oven they can focus on icing a cake they left to cool earlier. Trained chefs are typically very flexible and talented and they can make many different recipes — switching between tasks when they get time.
At some point in history, Mr Kipling and those guys who make twinkies got so many orders that human bakers would never be able to keep up with demand. They had to add cake machines. A factory contains machines that spit out thousands of cakes in parallel. The key difference is that these machines are not flexible in the way that a human chef would be. What if we're churning out a batch of 10,000 french fancies when we get a call to stop production and make country slices instead? Imagine how long it would take to go around and stop all the machines, put the new ingredients in and then start the process again! A human chef could just throw out the contents of their oven and get started on the new order right away! The factory probably can't even handle doing lots of different jobs. I bet they have different machines for the different products or at the very least have to significantly alter the production line. In contrast, the patisserie chef can just change what they do with their hands! By the way, this post is not in any way sponsored by Hostess or Mr Kipling. I just like cake.
Did you spot the metaphor here? The slower but more flexible chef is a CPU — plodding along one order at a time, switching when he gets some availability. The cake factory is a GPU — designed to churn out thousands of similar things as quickly as possible at the cost of flexibility. This is why GPUs aren't a one size fits all solution for all of our computing needs.
Like I said earlier, GPUs are great at maths. They can be employed to draw really pretty pictures but they can also be used for all sorts of real world, mathematical operations where you need to run the same calculations on large batches of data. Training a neural network uses a lot of these streamlined mathematical operations regardless of whether they are trained to detect cats, play Go or detect nouns, verbs and adjectives in text. Using a trained neural network to make predictions is less computationally expensive but you might still benefit from running it on a GPU if you are trying to make a lot of predictions very quickly!
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Mets Morning News
Mets Morning News: It's a very sad Harvey Day
Your Saturday morning dose of New York Mets and Major League Baseball news, notes, and links.
By Steve Schreiber@sschreiber13 Oct 5, 2013, 11:58am EDT
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Meet the Mets
The biggest news in Metsland yesterday was that Matt Harvey will in fact undergo Tommy John surgery on his right elbow later this month. Both Sandy Alderson and David Wright gave their takes on the news and both said that Harvey made the right decision. It's sad news for the 2014 Mets but they still have a season to play, so what should they do? Mets fans won't accept a lost 2014 even without Harvey, says Mike Vaccaro. Luckily, Will Carroll says that it's likely that Harvey will return from the surgery as good as ever.
Even with Harvey out, the Mets still have a glut of young pitchers and that bodes well for their future. Mike Kerwick spoke to Jason Parks about the futures of Noah Syndergaard, Rafael Montero, and Steven Matz.
Sandy Alderson says that the Mets need to add more quality arms in the bullpen.
Mike Puma reports that Carlos Beltran said he wouldn't rule out returning to the Mets for 2014. Puma also says that the Mets would consider Beltran, though his declining range in the outfield may be an issue.
Toby Hyde continues to recap the Mets' Sterling Award Winners, looking at St. Lucie winner Dustin Lawley.
The Binghamton Mets long rumored move to Ottawa seems to be officially dead, as the city is looking to add an independent league team instead.
Johan Santana has begun throwing again, which is great news for him. Of course, it remains to be seen if he ever dons a Mets uniform again.
Yesterday At AA
Eric created BringBackBeltran.com, a website devoted to bringing back Carlos Beltran. Be sure to give Carlos a high-five, too!
Should the Mets tender or non-tender Omar Quintanilla this offseason?
Jeffrey Paternostro wrote about Brooklyn righty Miller Diaz.
Around the Playoffs
There were four playoff games yesterday:
In the second game of their series, the Pirates beat the Cardinals 7-1 and evened things up at a game apiece. Rookie pitcher Gerrit Cole was excellent for Pittsburgh.
The Red Sox stomped on the Rays 12-2 in the opener of their series. Game two of that series is tonight at 5:30, as John Lackey matches up with David Price.
The Braves took game two of their series with the Dodgers by a score of 4-3, as the teams are tied at one.
Finally, the Tigers beat the A's 3-2 in the opener of their set. Game two of that series takes place tonight at 9:00, when Justin Verlander takes on Sonny Gray.
Around the Majors
Alex Rodriguez filed two lawsuits yesterday – one against Major League Baseball for pursuing him in what was termed as a "witch hunt", and a medical malpractice lawsuit against the Yankees team doctor.
The Reds canned Dusty Baker yesterday, the first move the team made after getting eliminated from the playoffs. While Tony LaRussa is said to not be interested in the job, Jim Riggleman is considered a candidate for some reason.
Despite rumors that one of them would be fired, both Mike Scioscia and Jerry DiPoto are now expected to be back for the Angels in 2014.
Executive director of the MLB players union Michael Weiner is said to have just 2-6 months to live due to a cancerous brain tumor.
Albert Pujols has sued Jack Clark over the steroids claims he made on the radio in August.
If you read an article or find a link that you think would be a great addition to a future edition of Mets Morning News, please forward it to our tips email address tips@grission.com and we'll try to add it in. | {
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ENG-355 Multi-Cultural Literature Blog
Portfolio 2022
Themes of Powerlessness and Choice in Literature
The works for this week are all centered around themes of powerlessness and choice. Our first work is 'The Metamorphosis', by Kafka. In 'The Metamorphosis', the main character awakens and finds himself to be transformed into a massive insect, powerless to change his fate, left with the decision of how to cope with it. The second work was "The Guest", by Camus. In this story, a school teacher is given the order to turn an Arab man over to the authorities and must choose whether or not to do so, while the prisoner is powerless to influence the decision. The third work is "Requiem" by Akhmatova, a poem about the hopelessness of war, the powerlessness of being one person amidst so much evil, and making the choice to be a witness and documentor of the tragedy. Finally, the fourth is "Faust", by Goethe, a story about a man who feels powerless choosing to make a deal with the devil.
Theme: Powerlessness and Choice
One of the best examples from these works that showcases the central themes is Faust. At the beginning of the story, Faust, the main character, feels completely powerless. He sees no point in living, and is about to kill himself until angels intervene and stop him. Then, through a series of events, he is offered a deal from Mephistopheles, the devil. In exchange for his soul, he is offered worldly pleasure and knowledge. He decides to make a bet with Mephistopheles, believing the Devil is incapable of following through on the deal. If Mephistopheles can show him something that eases his suffering and satisfies him, Faust will be his servant forever, trading his soul for that satisfaction. From his powerlessness, he makes a powerful and risky choice.
Here is an example of an activity to teach these themes to students.
Ask the students to think of an example of powerlessness in other media, such as movies and popular shows.
See if they can look in those same media and find themes of choice. For example, suppose someone chose the movie "The Lion King" for their theme of powerlessness, since Simba was powerless to save his father. If they look, the theme of choice is also present in the narrative. Throughout the movie, Simba must choose whether to claim his place on the throne, or to continue to run from his past. Or, another example, the movie "Brave", in which Merida is set to be married off against her will, and chooses to try and use magic to avoid it. There are many examples in pop culture of a theme of powerlessness and choice, and inviting students to look outside of the assigned texts may raise their interest in learning to identify themes.
Once everyone has thought of an example, either have each student explain either out loud in discussion time why they chose that piece of media and how the themes show up in it, or have them turn it in as a written assignment.
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Firehouse Tales
Firehouse Tales is an animated television series, produced by Warner Bros. Animation, which premiered on Cartoon Network's Tickle-U preschool television programming block in the United States on March 4, 2005. It is about three anthropomorphic fire trucks.
Skådespelare: Jesse Moss, Richard Ian Cox
TV Status: Återkommande serie
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Two lost hikers rescued near Ruidoso after cold, wet night
Two lost hikers tracked and brought back safely by search and rescue volunteers
Two lost hikers rescued near Ruidoso after cold, wet night Two lost hikers tracked and brought back safely by search and rescue volunteers Check out this story on ruidosonews.com: https://www.ruidosonews.com/story/news/local/community/2018/10/29/two-lost-hikers-rescued-near-ruidoso-after-cold-wet-night/1808892002/
Tony Davis, WMSR base amp officer, Special to the Ruidoso News Published 11:37 a.m. MT Oct. 29, 2018
Terrain required communication relays
The White Mountain Wilderness covers 48,000 acres in the Sacramento Mountains of the Lincoln National Forest.(Photo: Courtesy/USDS-USFS)
Hikers located about 5:45 a.m.
Volunteers with White Mountain Search and Rescue successfully tracked and brought back to base camp two hikers in an operation last week.
At 6:38 p.m., Oct. 23, White Mountain Search and Rescue received a call to search for two hikers lost above Argentina Trailhead in the White Mountain Wilderness of the Lincoln National Forest near Ruidoso. Three members responded, along with teams from Alamogordo, Organ Mountain Technical Rescue, Mesilla Valley, Doña Ana SAR, and the Border Patrol. The teams assembled around 10:30 p.m. at the Little Bonito trailhead near the Argentina Trail. The Incident Commander was Rick Overmier from Chaves County.
Because the Argentina trailhead area is down in a valley, Overmier had the WMSAR communications van positioned high at the Crest trailhead near Monjeau Peak. Three ground teams were sent up Little Bonito Trail to search around midnight.
The two subjects left word at with a girlfriend before their cellphone battery ran out that they thought they were off the Crest Trail on Barber Ridge. She reported their situation to State Police at 6:30 p.m. They had no water, food or shelter and were soaking wet. With the rain, fog and dropping temperature, hypothermia was the chief concern, and finding them quickly was paramount.
Team One reached Crest Trail at Little Bonita first, but the team leader was feeling some distress from the altitude, so WMSAR's Mike Bilbo took over. Ocermier had them stay there, as at that point they had good communications with both Monjeau and to Incident base. This turned out to be a good move.
Teams Two and Three proceeded up the Crest Trail to the Barber Ridge turnoff, all the time pausing to call out for the subjects. At that point, suggested by Incident Base, Team Three split up, with some staying at the junction for radio communication and several joining Team Three to search along Barber Ridge.
At 4:45 a.m. Wednesday, the joint Team Two made contact with the subjects by voice and at 5:45 a.m. found them on a ridge just parallel to Barber Ridge. That information was transmitted by relay from Team Two to Team Three to Team One to the WMSAR communications van near Monjeau and finally to Incident Base. This complicated four-step relay was occasioned by the complicated terrain and poor transmission conditions.
Team Two provided dry clothes, food and water to the subjects and kept them sheltered from the rain until daybreak. They then all proceeded down the Crest Trail and Little Bonito, arriving back to the trailhead around 10:30 a.m.
In all, a successful and timely rescue under difficult conditions.
Read or Share this story: https://www.ruidosonews.com/story/news/local/community/2018/10/29/two-lost-hikers-rescued-near-ruidoso-after-cold-wet-night/1808892002/
Summer is here. Do you know how to prevent a fire? | {
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New South Africa Business Software Launches With Freebies & ...| MENAFN.COM
New South Africa Business Software Launches With Freebies & 55% Off Packages
(MENAFN- MarketersMEDIA)
Win big with Ubuntu SBS! Get a host of freebies & 55% off all packages until May 2023. Try our Cloud Based ERP for small biz now at
Pretoria, South Africa - January 25, 2023 /PressCable/ -
In a unique approach to launching its Small Business Management Software (Cloud Based ERP), Ubuntu SBS (Pty) Ltd, a Small Business Management Solution Provider in South Africa, has decided to give away a host of goodies to all new customers until May 2023, as well as a 55% discount on all packages. This promotion is expected to take place from now until 1 May 2023.
Instead of having a launch party like many businesses, Ubuntu SBS (Pty) Ltd has chosen to be more direct, giving consumers the benefit of the money that would have been spent on a fancy party for the launch of its Small Business Management Software (Cloud Based ERP).
Jaco Roets, Founder and CEO at Ubuntu SBS (Pty) Ltd, states: 'We wanted to be direct and give consumers the benefit of the money that would have been spent on a fancy party for the launch of our Small Business Management Software (Cloud Based ERP) because our customers are what we are about! Their success is our success, and every step we can take toward boosting their bottom line is a step in the right direction.'
It is expected that this promotion will be highly beneficial and the launch is expected to be successful, unless the internet is taken over by aliens. However, Ubuntu SBS (Pty) Ltd has backup plans in place for this scenario.
Ubuntu SBS (Pty) Ltd has always made a point of standing out when compared to other Small Business Management Solution Providers in the South Africa area. This launch celebration is just one of the many ways it does and integrations that are designed to increase efficiency and productivity. The software is accessible through a web browser and offers integration with popular communication tools like Zoom, Slack, and Telegram. This means that small businesses can easily track performance, make informed decisions, and collaborate with team members in real-time. The system is built on the same technology used by some of the world's largest companies, but it is specifically tailored for small businesses. It offers a wide range of functionalities, including employee management, HR management, project management, and financial management. Overall, the Small Business Management Software (Cloud Based ERP) from Ubuntu SBS (Pty) Ltd is an excellent choice for small businesses looking to streamline their operations, improve efficiency and grow exponentially. So, don't miss out on this amazing opportunity and visit to take advantage of the freebies and discounts before it's too late.
Name: Jaco Roets
Organization: Ubuntu SBS
Address: 410 Furrow Road Equestria, Pretoria, Gauteng 0184, South Africa
Release ID: 89089011 | {
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White House hosts a party in the midst of a pandemic
Original link: http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/edition_us/~3/Kb2FPqdmNaM/index.html
Since late March, the White House has been on virtual lockdown. This week, however, party preparation began anew. Tables popped up on the South Lawn, installed by staff who had been cut back from in-person work several weeks earlier out of an abundance of caution, but who have returned this week to set up the White House July Fourth party.
For White House social secretary Rickie Niceta and the White House team of chefs and butlers, housekeeping staff and ushers, the slow build back to normal begins with a party in the midst of a pandemic.
The chairs for the tables, however, are not the typical eight or 10, but instead just four -- only enough to accommodate a socially distant seating plan. There will be tablecloths and flowers, some food -- including grill stations for hot dogs and hamburgers (adorned with tiny American flags attached to toothpicks) and nonalcoholic drinks -- details overseen by Niceta, herself one of the staffers who had since late March been doing her job from home.
Waitstaff, who were typically bare-handed for previous outdoor White House events and white-gloved for more formal ones, will this July Fourth be wearing disposable rubber gloves and US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-advised face masks, which will be constantly swapped out for fresh ones, a White House official told CNN.
The guest list for the picnic will reflect the health trauma the country is still grappling with. "Guests will be made up of front-line workers and their families," deputy press secretary Judd Deere told CNN, "including law enforcement, doctors, nurses and others, as well as members of the military and their families."
Members of the Trump administration will also be in attendance, Deere said. Though Deere did not specify how many guests were expected, the White House says the invitation-only event, which culminates in watching flyovers of military aircraft and a large-scale fireworks show on the National Mall, will include social distancing.
"As President Trump has said, this year's Independence Day celebration will have a different look than 2019 to ensure the health and safety of those attending," Deere said.
Yet Friday evening, Trump, with first lady Melania Trump, attended a program and fireworks display at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, where several thousand were blatantly non-socially distanced, packed closely together in amphitheater-style bleacher seating. South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, a Republican, said earlier in the week during an interview that those who didn't want to maintain the CDC guidelines of staying at least 6 feet apart were welcome to attend.
"We told those folks that have concerns that they can stay home. But those who want to come and join us, we'll be giving out free face masks, if they choose to wear one. But we won't be social distancing," Noem said on Fox News.
Back at the White House on Thursday, boxes of face masks were being unpacked, thousands of them ready to be placed with hand wipes and sanitizer into personal pouches of protection for each guest. Passing out masks and enforcing personal space feels incongruous at the home of a President who, while publicly saying he is "fine" with the idea of face masks, has shunned wearing one of his own in front of press. In fact, Trump's anti-mask status has helped turn the decision to wear a mask or not into a political issue.
The Fourth of July wasn't always as politically charged as it is this year, with a country in the middle of a cultural and social reckoning, as well as a pandemic, and an election looming just four months away. Thomas Jefferson in 1801 was the first American President to hold a July Fourth celebration at the White House, complete with horse races on the North Lawn and the Marine Band (who will also play at Saturday evening's party) performing patriotic tunes in the entrance hall, according to the White House Historical Association's research.
In 1850, though at the still-under-construction Washington Monument and not the White House, President Zachary Taylor attended Fourth of July festivities and consumed ice water and cherries and other raw fruit. Taylor died at the White House five days later from a gastrointestinal illness that historians believe to be cholera.
Shortly thereafter, in the early 1900s, when the grounds of the White House were virtually open to anyone who wanted to stroll them, the Fourth of July made it a favorite picnic spot, kicking off the tradition of an evening on the sprawling lawn, admiring fireworks that were set off over the National Mall.
A favored photo op for many a president and first lady in more recent decades has been standing on the second-floor Truman Balcony of the White House, a spacious outdoor area commissioned by former President Harry Truman in 1947 that extends from the Executive Residence's Yellow Oval Room, looking into the distance at the fireworks.
Last year, Trump went all out for the Fourth of July, with an expansive and expensive display of patriotic firepower on the Mall. The first couple opted not to sit at the White House for the festivities, but instead watched from the Lincoln Memorial, overlooking a massive crowd who cheered in the rain as displays of military might flew overhead.
This year, with all that coronavirus continues to rob from Americans, the celebration will likely be under the weather in a different way.
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BIJAC > Articles by: admin
In Memory of: Sharon Nobue Harris
A Tribute to Sharon Harris Sharon Nobue Harris passed away December 30, 2022. She leaves behind her husband Dave, son Cory (Karen), daughter Shannon (Tal Goettling), granddaughter Hailey, sister Joyce Hamamura (Susan Davis), aunt May Terayama, many cousins, friends and her lap-warming kitty, Missy. She was born on September 30,
BIJAEMA Hails Passage of Japanese American Confinement Education Act
December 24, 2022 Bainbridge Island, WA – The Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial Association commends Congress for passing a 2023 spending bill that includes the Norman Y. Mineta Japanese American Confinement Education Act and the Japanese American World War II History Network Act. Named after the late Norman Mineta
'We Are Minidoka' matching challenge from the Masto Foundation!
Dear Bainbridge Island, We need your help. The Masto Foundation has generously offered to donate an additional $10,000 in addition to their already pledged $50,000 over 3 years – if we raise an additional $10,000 from all of you by December 31st. Photos left to right: Sparks and her mother
Project Names Every Japanese American Incarcerated During WWII
For as much as we casually quote the figure 120,000 Japanese Americans incarcerated during WWI, government rosters at the time were notoriously incomplete and riddled with errors. In order to ensure that there is a complete record and that those who were incarcerated are honored and remembered, Duncan Ryuken Williams,
Online Exhibition: Wakaji Matsumoto–An Artist in Two Worlds
Now featured on the Japanese American National Museum website, Wakaji Matsumoto, An Artist in Two Worlds: Los Angeles and Hiroshima, 1917-1944, is an online photographic exhibition providing a glimpse of life both in the artist's native Hiroshima and in Los Angeles, pre-WWII. Wakaji Matsumoto was born to Wakamatsu and Haru
Credit: Associated Press
San Diego Apologizes Rescinds Support for WWII
September 20, 2022 The San Diego City Council rescinded Tuesday a resolution it had passed 80 years ago in support of the incarceration of Japanese Americans in prison camps during World War II. "This isn't simply a matter of looking backwards, but also hopefully recognizing how quickly political ploys can
In Memoriam: Teruko "Terry" Marlatt
Teruko "Terry" Marlatt passed away peacefully on May 10, 2022, age 95, in Reno, NV. Terry was born on Bainbridge Island, Washington, on February 21, 1927 to parents Zenhichi and Shiki Harui. She was 15 years old when her family left Bainbridge Island for Moses Lake in advance of the
Satoru Sakuma: October 28, 1925 – May 17, 2022
March 30th, 2022 was a very special day. As a volunteer helping to organize the extensive media coverage at the Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial, the day was exciting and frenzied. How many would show up? Where could all the cameras fit? Would they block the view? Then, the
Watch the 80th Anniversary Video
View the Ceremony hosted at the Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial on March 30, 2022 Watch the 80th Anniversary presentation in its entirety, featuring Frances Ikegami, survivor of the forced removal, four student leaders from Woodward Middle School, the declaration from the City of Bainbridge Island, speakers from BIJAC,
"80 Years of Healing"
Hayashidas were joined by Sakumas, Nakatas, Nagatanis, Kitamotos, and so many of the names we recognize from the carvings in the Exclusion Memorial Wall. Bainbridge Island was honored with the presence of a large turnout of survivors and their families on March 30th, the Commemoration of the 80th Anniversary of
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Devils Games
Game 39: Devils @ Carolina
By John Fischer Jan 6, 2009, 9:00am EST
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Expect to see the same New Jersey Devils we saw over the last week or so: Gulitti reports that Colin White did not make the trip and Scott Clemmensen will start in net. How the Devils will play, well, that's not certain. The overtime win against Ottawa wasn't all that and a bag of chips; the win over Montreal was pretty good; and the two games prior didn't feature a lot of defense or smart hockey - especially after a decisive win over Our Hated Rivals. It's been an up-and-down 5 games for the Devils in terms of performance. Yet, they've come out winners for most of them and that's truly the important thing in a results-oriented league like the NHL.
Carolina, as you may not have expected, have been the same in terms of results. Check out their last 5 games.
Hurricanes' Last 5 Games
@ Tampa Bay Sat 01/03 W 3 - 2
St. Louis Fri 01/02 W 2 - 1
Atlanta Wed 12/31 W 3 - 1
Boston Sat 12/27 L 2 - 4
@ Atlanta Fri 12/26 W 5 - 4
OK, not exactly wins over the cream of the crop; but they are wins, they build confidence within a team, and they are worth 2 points regardless of it coming against Tampa Bay or coming against Boston. Believe it, or not, the Hurricanes only sit 4 points behind the Devils in the conference with a record of 20-15-5. And that they have this solid record so far is a testament to the fact that numbers don't always tell the whole story. Let me hit you with some numbers from NHL.com.
The Carolina Hurricanes have scored a total of 105 goals, the fourth lowest in the league and tied with the Islanders; while letting in 117 goals in total. That's an average of 2.60 goals per game and 2.82 goals against per game. Much worse than the Devils' 2.97 goals per game and 2.53 goals against per game.
The Hurricanes, believe it or not, are worse than the Devils in killing penalties (80.5% to 78.4%) and even on the power play (16.8% to 15.5%). Brutal.
Home record for the Hurricanes: 11-9-1. Yep, they just went over .500 at home recently.
Here's a fun stat: The Hurricanes win only 50% of the games they score first in - tied with Ottawa for the second worst winning percentage in the entire league in this case.
Have another fun one: The Hurricanes have the third worst winning percentage in the NHL when they are leading after the first period with only 53.3% The have the fifth worst winning percentage when leading after two periods: 76.5%.
Considering all this, is this really a team that's 20-15-5? They don't score a whole lot of goals, they let in a good amount, their special teams are bad, and it's definitely not a good that scoring first or leading after one doesn't necessarily lead to a good result for Carolina. This is a team that sits seventh in the conference?
It is. While they don't look so good statistically after scoring first; they win 50% of the games wherein they let up the first goal. Moreover, they shoot nearly as much as the Devils on average (31.1 to the Devils' 31.2 shots per game) while being almost as stingy in allowing shots from their opponents (Devils: 28.9, Canes: 29.3). And they are playing productive hockey recently. They are 7-3-0 in their last 10 games, and won their last 3. Eric Staal and the potentially ageless Ray Whitney are guys I would ignore on the ice were I looking to lose hockey games easily.
2008 - Ray Whitney 40 12 21 33 -9 8 2 0 1 1 120 10.0
2008 - Eric Staal 40 18 12 30 10 32 7 0 4 0 168 10.7
Basically, when you think you've figured out the 'Canes, you learn some other things about the team that make you scratch your head a second, third, or seventeenth time. All I can really conclude is that this is a game where the old cliche of playing all 60 minutes really comes into play. This is a team that isn't great with a lead, but they aren't hopeless without it; and it's a team that's won quite a few games as of late. Not to mention that Cam Ward has stepped up his game tremendously. Tremendously winning the NHL's third star of the last week. They have momentum. They have a purpose. Should they show up the Devils, it'll send a strong message to the rest of the league that the Southeast is definitely not a one-team division.
I feel that the only way you can really counter that without relying on your opponent to fail is to play smart hockey for 60 minutes. Not the first and third period, not for 10 minutes within each period, the whole game as best as possible. It doesn't have to be necessarily aggressive, up tempo, and/or playoff style hockey. It just needs to be smart. It means aiming shots instead of firing them right into the shins of the defense; blocking shots is something Dennis Seidenberg is looking forward to as he's sixth in the league with 92. The Devils would be wise to make sure those efforts hit Ward (and the net, of course) and not some other Hurricane. It means being calm on power plays and setting up the shot. Just like they did to win the game in overtime on Sunday. It requires being aware of who's sneaking in the back door when on defense. Something the Devils got caught on Sunday.
Could the Devils beat the Hurricanes. Sure, why not? But don't think the hurricanes are should be an easy two points for the Devils. They have every reason to do well Tuesday night as well. They are at home, they are playing well as of late, and they're better than what some stats currently say about them. | {
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Lee Hughes name receives mixed reactions while talking about football. His illustrious career continues to be followed closely by sky sports news who have been following his career from his days as a semi professional in England C National Football team to his latest position as a striker of Notts County. Lee Hughes began realizing his dream when he became an integral part of the West Bromwich Albion to get a record fee of 200,000, the highest ever paid to a non-league player. His career continued its upward stream until the car crash that he was involved in and held responsible in the 2003-2004 season.
asserted that it had been this crash that changed Hughes life. A passenger, Douglas Graham, inside the Renault that his Mercedes hit, died in the crash and the driver of the Renault was seriously injured. Since Hughes had been drinking that night, he fled from the accident scene to avoid the breath analyzer test. Though he turned himself to the police the following day and was charged with causing death by drunken driving, he was released on bail which allowed him to finish Albions First Division campaign and subsequently be a part of the Premier League. He proceeded to becoming the clubs leading goal scorer with 13 goals.
The verdict on the crash was delivered in August 2004 where Hughes was found responsible for the death of Douglas Graham caused by drunken driving and also for fleeing from the crime scene and was sentenced to 6 years of imprisonment and was also banned from driving for ten years.
It appeared like the start of his downslide when his contract with West Bromwich Albion was terminated and his appeal to get a reduced sentence refused. While in prison he found salvation in Islam, the faith which he converted to. Alongside, he also played for the Staffordshire County Senior League as part of the prison football team, Featherstone F.C.
Days before his release news surfaced of Hughes signing a contract with Oldham Athletic. He did sign a 2 year contract upon his release in August 2007 along with them at 1,800 per week, the total amount being one tenth of what he earned throughout his stint with Wes Bromwich Albion. However, by the time the season ended, Hughes has reclaimed his position as the highest goal scorer for the club, scoring 8 goals.
It has been for the upswing for Hughes since then. He joined the Championship Club Blackpool on loan and made his first goal against Charlton Athletic. He was then signed a two year agreement for League Two team for Notts County and scored a hat-trick in a victory over Bradford City with 5-0.
Though Hughes finds himself climbing up the ladder of success, he's still haunted by the demons in the past. He still seeks to redeem himself by doing community and charity work in the hope that his work in some way can help prevent another tragedy from happening.
Sky Sports news has got the detailed and updated records of all of Lee Hughes games, scores and transfer history
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Youth Speaks Rochdale District Heat at Falinge Park High School on 25.01.2018
March 3, 2018 · Rochdale Rotary Club in collaboration with Falinge Park HS organised a very successful public speaking competition for secondary school students from Falinge Park HS, Oldham Hulme Grammar, Beechwood...
March 3, 2018 · On Sunday 28th January, members of the Interact Club, Sandbach bag-packed in Tesco, Crewe, to raise money for a young boy called Blaize. It had been a fabulous day and with the kind support and...
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March 3, 2018 · On 10th February, the infants/junior class of the Stars Drama Academy performed a production of Alice in Wonderland at the Parish Hall, Cheadle Hulme. The play was directed by the Principal, Cathy...
Biddulph Rotary donates to Christies
March 3, 2018 · At a recent meeting of Rotary Biddulph a representative, Nichola Doran, from Christie's hospital, Manchester, was welcomed to the club, where a cheque for One Thousand Pounds was presented to...
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March 3, 2018 · The Rotary Club of Stockport Lamplighter recently held their annual Youth Speaks competition where six local schools took to the podium to speak about matters as various as "Graffiti—art or...
Runcorn football coach recognised with award for cerebral palsy charity football team
March 2, 2018 · Sean Bailey is being given a prestigious Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland's Community Champion award for his work in creating the Cerebral Palsy Football Club in the North West...
Manchester hero rewarded for life-saving surgery in Ethiopia
March 2, 2018 · Local hero Tony Clayson, an active member of Worsley Rotary, is being honoured with the prestigious Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland's Champions of Change award for his...
Rotary Helps the NHS
March 2, 2018 · An initiative by Rotary Clubs in the "Wigan 7" Group has been declared a roaring success! Many people have been astonished that they have not been able to return Hospital Equipment...
Wigan Rotary hold a successful collection Day for surplus NHS Equipment
March 2, 2018 · Members of Wigan Rotary Club were at Sunshine House collecting surplus medical equipment from local people who no longer had use for them. They will be returned to the NHS for refurbishment and...
Rotary Shoeboxes
February 26, 2018 · 92 Rotary Shoe Boxes were delivered to the International Aid Trust by The Rotary Club of Macclesfield Castle who wish to express thanks to the mums and children from Bollington Praise and Play Group...
Rotary Donation To Help Manx Citizen Advice Service Expand Into Castletown
February 26, 2018 · The Rotary Club of Rushen & Western Mann recently donated £250 to pay for publicity materials that will be used by the Manx Citizen Advice Service Southern Branch, when it extends its services...
Computers for Jamaica
February 26, 2018 · Bolton Daybreak Rotary joined with several Rotary clubs to supply five computers to a primary school in Montego Bay, Jamaica, at a total cost of £2,150.00 Five brand new desktop...
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February 26, 2018 · It is with great pleasure we can announce that Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal will be joining us at the 93rd annual conference in Torquay, on the afternoon of Saturday 7th...
Unsung hero of the year
February 26, 2018 · Astley Rotarian Mike Hack was fortunate enough to win both the Wigan and Gt. Manchester Unsung Hero in Sport awards recently. Click
Youth Speaks 2018
February 26, 2018 · Wigan President Gwyneth Millard made the following comments after the recent Youth Speaks heats, "The Wigan Heat of the District 1285 Youth Speaks Contest was held on Tuesday Feb 6th at St... | {
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AI War 2 is out now! Get it on Steam today!
Arcen Forums »
AI War II »
Fog of war... too foggy ?
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Author Topic: Fog of war... too foggy ? (Read 2135 times)
I-KP
Caveat Pactor
Re: Fog of war... too foggy ?
Putting Intelligence capabilities, i.e., Watching, on a Flagship, particularly a Flagship that needs a buff, risks relegating an essential capability to gimmick status. You can't rely on it being available but when you do get it the game difficulty suddenly drops significantly.
Having it on a cloakable turret, as mentioned in the post above, makes it awkward and somewhat similar to the old Scouting mechanic - only more annoying.
Capturable buildings sound good, on paper, but then it'll only be useful if said capturable just happens to be in a spot that you want to Watch. Once again, this risks relegating a very handy feature to two layers of RNG (spawn chance and spawn location).
Whatever, if ever, form this Intelligence mechanic takes the Logistics station seems to be the neatest fit.
In terms of what form the mechanic takes, being able to Watch one planet per Logistics station perhaps? Limit that to a range of not more than two hops from the station and you end up with something similar to the blanket effect of being able to Watch all neighbouring planets by default, except not as good and without it being as hands-off for the player as that. Generally, Logistics aren't front line stations, hence the ability to Watch a planet up to two hops away thus still allowing for Military stations on your front door. Maybe the hop distance could be a factor of Tech.
« Last Edit: October 06, 2019, 06:33:06 AM by I-KP »
Atmospheric & Lithospheric Reticulator,
Post-accretion Protoplanet Aesthetic Seeding Team,
Celestial Body Design & Procurement Division,
Magrathea Pan-Galactic Planets Corp.,
Magrathea.
kasnavada
Hero Member Mark II
Quote from: I-KP on October 06, 2019, 06:29:00 AM
In terms of what form the mechanic takes, being able to Watch one planet per Logistics station perhaps?
Umm... I see 1 as more annoying than 2.
Thing is:
- if I want to see a station 2 hops away, I can spend 10 hacking point on it. That causes me no issues. To be honest, I'm fine with "I SHOULD spend" because it's 2 hops away.
- Giving a "number" of watchable planets per station means you have to track stations, track target, and code stuff and mechanics. It's not a complex mechanic but it's something that distracts from what the game is, and would need to be really intuitive. You'd have to code something to make it visible on the UI, add buttons, add icons and so on.
- I'd have to redo the mapping when I capture some planets, eventually.
- I may have to retarget when rebuilding a station.
- Also, the "BEST" way to use this vision ability would be to NOT watch 1 planet with a station, but to switch, every 20-30 seconds or so, where you're looking so you can get the "highest" value of the station. That means a lot or micro, or some game mechanics to block players from switching targets every 20 seconds.
That's a lot of potential complexity for... next to no gain at all, IMO, in term of gameplay. If you created "10 scout hack points", usable only on scouting, that were given to you in addition of the current scouting points, and if you got a refund when you build a station where you watched before... you'd have nearly the same results, just, way simpler. But, in essence, going to a planet, click on "scout", is as annoying as going to a planet, and clicking on "build scout post". It's solution 2.
I like the "command station gives neighbour visibility idea" because it's very, very simple. And I think scouting should be as simple as that, no matter what mechanic is used.
I don't want to be faffing about popping in, dropping a cloaked turret, then popping out of a planet each time. If I was prepared to put up with that kind of nonsense I'd just detach a single cloaked ship and send that through and tell it to hide at the planet boundary each time instead - which is what AIW did.
The simplest solution is to grant vision on all neighbouring planets, but that feels too strong.
Maybe keep it the way it is now but scale the Hack cost based on distance from the nearest station, with the cost to Watch a neighbouring planet being nominal but not so insignificant to the point of making it a trivial, thus arguably automatic, task.
« Last Edit: October 06, 2019, 01:39:59 PM by I-KP »
The discussion is kind of confused right now because people don't distinguish between:
- Knowledge of current strength on planet (we used to have that for the whole galaxy)
- Watch i.e. see everything going on on that planet in real-time.
It would really help if you could precise which one you're referring to.
Quote from: I-KP on October 06, 2019, 01:25:06 PM
I think that's a very elegant solution, best proposed so far.
We could actually have two different hacks, let's say Survey to get knowledge of overall strength, and Watch to get full real-time vision. Survey would obviously be way cheaper, but both would scale with distance from the nearest station. Watch could additionally be discounted if you already paid for Survey for that system.
« Last Edit: October 06, 2019, 06:15:35 PM by Asteroid »
How about keeping the scaling Hack cost the same for both types but Survey doesn't provoke an AI response whereas Watch will.
I put the whole idea on Mantis. https://bugtracker.arcengames.com/view.php?id=21752
Quote from: Asteroid on October 06, 2019, 04:41:45 PM
Far from it.
It means that everytime you want vision around a planet, on your borders, which, is, ALWAYS, you have to manually click all planets to be able to see them. It's basically the EXACT same as putting a scout there like in AI war I. It's also the same as the proposal that's "unliked", placing a cloaked stuff (check my post above for the explanation).
I'm not even going into the deep implications of such a move. Let's say you want to see planet "currently 4 hops away". It's going to cost a lot. If you're placing a station near it, it's cheaper. How many players, seeing this, will not watch the "currently 4 hops away" planet because they feel like they waste hacking points ?
Is it even useful to introduce a mechanic that will create such train of thoughts in the first place ? I don't think so. That also means that you can't introduce a game mechanic to which the player answer's is supposed to be "watch a planet far away". Finally, those hacking points then compete with whatever hacking points could be useful for at the moment. And, let's be honest, scouting is quite low on the list. Do we want a player losing a game, not scouting "far" objectives, or near objectives, because he thinks hackables are worth more ? I don't want that.
The reason I don't want that is... what is the value of such a mechanic ? I can't find any behind "the player has to manually click to be see behind his door". I can't find any value behind "the player should spend precious hacking points" so he doesn't get jumped. It's not an interesting choice. It's not an interesting decision. It's micro for the sake of micro.
I proposed this thread because, I thought that people would try to find a simple & elegant solution to scouting that's simpler than what is currently in, and that helped alleviate the issue I'm whining about. Currently, none surpass "giving watch to neighbour for free", except "limiting it by type of stations that make sense".
Everything that has been proposed is basically a variation of the scouting mechanic with no upside over the scouting mechanic, and sometimes great downsides. AI WAR II has made the move to simplify scouting for a reason.
« Last Edit: October 07, 2019, 01:02:55 PM by kasnavada »
If you don't think that giving full vision to all neighbouring planets is too strong (which it is - much too strong) then fine, go with the Station thing. It's easy. It's simple. It requires no thought or action on the part of the player. ...All entirely aside from the issue of it being way too strong, of course.
If you want to finesse how vision works, without the solution being too powerful, then you're going to have to ask the player to interact and make a choice. That means clicking on something.
You keep saying that, but there is no argument at all about why it's "too strong", or why you call a choice. What I see in the "stations give vision" idea is a weak capacity which leaves room for AI ambushes (explained before in the thread), and how I see in most other idea is "creating chores".
About the "too strong part", if neighboring stations gave vision, the average number of planets seen in my games at late game stage seems to be about 35 to 40.
At the same point in time in AI War I, I'd have COMPLETE vision on the map. Or in any "node based" (like sins of a solar empire) or grand strategy games (endless series, all moo clones...), for that matter. In a lot of them, I'd have either complete or near complete vision on the map near mid-game, with little to no actions on my part, just by playing. The only strategy games where I typically don't have that level of coverage would be starcraft-clones or or warcraft-clones. In those, however, early to mid game, I know what is on chokepoints and bases. When I don't have vision, it's because the enemy is on this particular point and the game strategy IS about hiding what the enemy does and making the player do as many actions in a minute as possible. Resending stuff in this kind of game is ok, because the game lasts for 20 minutes or so. That ain't AI War's style, so I'm going to base the first types of games as standard.
In conclusion, what you call "too strong" (free vision on stations) would still requires 300 to 700 hacking point to reach what I see being the "standard". Complete or near complete vision on the map is strong. Less than half of that ? Nope. And, I'm ok with having bigger FoW in AI War. Just not to the point of gambling when moving to neighbour planets.
Another point is, you're competing with "going back to your fleets to send one ship on a neighbour planet" or "sending your transport back and forth, again and again", for vision. That is in the game, and ain't going to move. So, let's compare the propositions with what you call "with choices" with that.
Basically there is 2 main criterias in what is proposed. Either you can switch where you're looking or not, and they can have hacking point, or not.
If they enable switching, the BEST use of the system consist in going back to whatever causes the vision to be active every X amount of time (with X as small as possible) and switch it again, and again, and again. That's whether it has a hack cost or not. That's a chore when you have to do it for dozen of hours (typical length of a game)
If you don't enable the player to switch, first, it's going to piss some players of because of misclicks and specific situations like "but what if I conquer planets where I had vision, shouldn't I be refunded ?". Which ain't that awesome in the first place, but then you have to consider something else. Its costs.
If, for example, you make the hacking cost low enough, like 1 for neighbouring stations, that's giving the player a choice between wasting hacking points (the NOOB way) OR sending a ship from his fleet every 30 seconds to die for vision (the "PRO", but insanely repetitive, way). Or sending a transport back and forth. You're back to the chore part.
If you don't add an hacking cost, but limit the number of places you can look at, then, you're basically forcing the player to send ships from their fleets every X time for vision where you "chose" not to look. And back to the chore part.
In a game like AI War... There is absolutely no "finesse" in any of this. To me, those ain't choices, they're chores. Because it's brute-force and repetitive. Currently, my late games have all past 8-10 hours. Doing repetitive actions for that long is making me dislike the game. The worst thing is that proposed actions mechanics often LOSE to "sending ships from your troops to die" in term of how interesting they are. And this mechanic makes sense in a game that lasts for 20 minutes like starcraft. Not in long games.
Last point, the number of things that a player can keep track of is limited. Scouting for regular stuff is BORING. I've got nothing against adding new mechanics into the game, but, at least make them interesting ones. If you add this to the game, you reduce the "brain space" available for a new mechanic, for something more interesting.
The reason I like "neighboring vision on stations" is because it's "brain dead" level of complexity. And, as far as I know, most similar games to AI War have this built-in - it's like the standard FoW in all games with nodes, at least 1 node of vision, and usually 3-4 at end-game. I don't remember people calling it OP. What I do remember, however, are threads about people making the scout mechanic from AI War less grindy (and similar threads about similar mechanics in other games, like scouting in the dominions series...).
Quote from: kasnavada on October 07, 2019, 12:22:23 PM
C'mon, it's not the same at all. In AI War 1 you had to find your scouts first of all, either through the unweildly specialty ships selection bar at the lower-left, or using a filter on the galaxy map, or trying to remember where your new builds currently ended up, open planet, hunt in sidebar for tiny icon (or zoom/scroll), double-click scouts, hit key to split selection until you get the right amount, tab out to galaxy map, right-click target planet. Optionally, micro scouts around so they can dodge some decloaking stuff and survive longer.
What's proposed here is 1. Open Hack tab. 2. Click planet + click button, for each planet you wanna watch.
Are you sure it's the exact (in capital letters no less) same?
What Asteroid said.
...I kinda like the way FoW works in AIW2. It makes me feel squeezed into a tiny pocket of space at the sufferance of a cruel Landlord. The reason I say that giving vision on all neighbouring worlds is 'too strong' is because it completely removes that sense of constriction - for nothing. Granting vision like that is brain dead, you're right, and it would be a shame if that part, the most important part, of the FoW were to be lifted in such a blunt fashion.
When you say "And, as far as I know, most similar games to AI War have this built-in - it's like the standard FoW in all games with nodes, at least 1 node of vision, and usually 3-4 at end-game", you're likely thinking of Stellaris as one such example, yes? And you'd be right, the Stellaris map does do that. But here's the rub: there's no such thing as a surprise attack in Stellaris; you can _always_ see whatever's heading your way. To my mind, this isn't a characteristic that AIW2 should be seeking to emulate.
I like surprise attacks being a thing in AIW2. I like having monsters jump out from the darkness. I also like being able to shine a torch in a direction of my choice.
The only issue I do have with FoW in the game as it stands now is the cost to lift a portion of it is too high. Or at least, it's too high for a neighbouring world (which are the locations of greatest immediate importance).
Quote from: Asteroid on October 08, 2019, 02:11:09 AM
Yes... You'd know if you had read my post. Especially the section where I speak of what players would do if there was an hacking cost.
This is an issue IMO. I'm trying to have a constructive discussion here, not having you tell me your opinion over and over again while not reading what I write. While stellaris is another example of it, the games I spoke of were, I quote: "(like sins of a solar empire) or grand strategy games (endless series, all moo clones...),". So I got no clue why you think I'm thinking of Stellaris here. No clue why you look down on Stellaris though.
And, if you'd read my post, monsters can still that still works if you got vision of your neighbours. And I actually advocate FOR being able to shine light on directions of your choices. So no clue why you seem to think I don't want that. What exactly you think I'm telling, I have no clue, but it seems to be, correct me if I'm wrong, that you understand that I want to completely remove FoW. If so, please, read my posts. I don't advocate this at all. I measured the impact of the change. Have you ?
Even if I did, which I don't, cloaking, waves, CPA, and other mechanics are a thing. You can still be jumped on, surprised, and your fleets can't be everywhere at once.
Last, and again, if you had read my post, you've have seen that, with the current FoW, if you actually had done your "chores" properly as a player, you'd have vision where I propose "free vision". The way you can do so is just mind-bogglingly boring that it has, in my humble opinion, no place in a game. This is quite an important point - which I'd like to be adressed, not ignored, as is being able to go out of your doors without being wiped out. Especially in a game like AI WAR 2 where losing fleet can mean minutes of netflix time.
If you don't do an effort to actually read and answer what I'm writing, I'm out.
BadgerBadger
Arcen Volunteer
Hero Member Mark III
BadgerBadgerBadgerBadger
I've set Logistical Command Stations to Watch adjacent planets. Lets see what people think.
Logistics stations on the front line?
The ability applies to all Logistical Stations everywhere. If the station is next to planets that are all already Watched then it just won't do anything.
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DMEXCO motto for 2019 is "Trust in you"
Trust plays an important role for the digital economy. Both for the industry as well as for each individual. That's why DMEXCO's motto this year is "Trust in you". A completely new app with matchmaking functions will be launched in July. The two-day ticket for DMEXCO will be available by the end of June and will cost 129 euros.
"Trust in you" is the central motto of this year's DMEXCO. In 2019 EMEA's leading tech summit with focus on marketing and digital business will emphasize the importance of trust in the further development of the digital economy. Companies need the trust of users in order to offer successful products and services. Users must be able to trust that companies treat their data respectfully and responsibly. In addition the industry needs the confidence of society that digitisation will bring more advantages than disadvantages.
"Our motto this year, 'Trust in You', is intended to encourage each individual and the community as a whole. I believe the members of the DMEXCO community are aware of their responsibility to society, businesses and individuals. They are committed to equality and discover the benefits of new technologies and how to use them. DMEXCO in Cologne is among one of the places where people are able to do so", says Dr. Dominik Matyka, Chief Advisor of DMEXCO.
DMEXCO opens Ticketshop in June and launches App with new functionalities
This year the DMEXCO online ticket shop will open by the end of June. The two-day ticket with unlimited access to the trade fair and conference will cost 129 euros. Trade visitors who only book the second day of the fair will pay only 79 euros. The combined ticket for both days, including admission to the popular DMEXCO Party, will cost 209 euros. Young agency employees up to the age of 25 will pay 69 euros with the Young Leaders Ticket, students only 29 euros.
Anyone who wants to exchange ideas with the community, enjoy additional exciting events and discounts should definitely install the new DMEXCO app on their smartphone starting in July. It not only serves as a means of identification on site, but also offers users a range of interesting networking and matchmaking functions, not only during the trade fair. The app provides useful features throughout the year, such as pre-planning or scanning people and stands as integrated lead products during the trade fair visit. In addition, users regularly receive current content, exciting deals, people news and event content.
Who's who of the exhibitors
From AdAlliance and Adobe to Facebook, FreeWheel, Hybris, Microsoft, Outbrain, SevenOne Media, Spotify, Spryker, Taboola, Teads to Verizon Media and Xing, many prominent national and international exhibitors will again be represented at DMEXCO this year. Around 1,000 exhibitors are expected in total. "This year we are also looking forward to many new exhibitors who will be represented at DMEXCO for the first time or again. These includes companies such as Asana, AT&T, About You, Baidu, Intelligent Apps/MyTaxi and Slack," adds Christoph Menke, Director Sales & Operations at DMEXCO.
New format for corporate venture capital
Also new in 2019 is the CVC Side Conference: for the first time DMEXCO invites managers of corporate venture capital companies to a half-day conference. Limited, concentrated and with a clear focus on strategic investments, this new format should not only inform and inspire the participants. The focus will also be on networking with each other and actively connecting with the more than 150 national and international DMEXCO start-ups.
Matthias Wahl, President of the German Association for the Digital Economy (BVDW e.V.) adds: "Trust is the indispensable basis for the success of the digital industry, because we are breaking 'new territory' every day. Confidence in the implementation of promising ideas, confidence in the regulatory framework and the support of politicians, confidence in the success of one's own performance. With this year's motto 'Trust in You', this claim finds a home at DMEXCO. We will be presenting everything that can strengthen confidence in the digital future".
Impressions of DMEXCO are available online at https://go.dmexco.com/de/presse-downloads
About DMEXCO
DMEXCO is the meeting place and a community for key players in digital business, marketing, and innovation. We bring together industry leaders, marketing and media professionals, and tech pioneers to set the digital agenda. Both globally informed and locally focused, DMEXCO offers an ecosystem with seminars, debates, and expositions outlining the future of the digital economy and driving market value.
Bringing together 41,000 visitors, about 1,000 exhibitors, and more than 550 speakers from around the world for a one-of-a-kind event each year in Cologne, DMEXCO has set the standard as the place for business minds to learn and inspire, build connections, and for ideas to become actions. DMEXCO — where tomorrow's digital business happens today.
The German Association for the Digital Economy (BVDW e.V.) — with special participation from the Circle of Online Marketers (OVK) — is the ideational and professional partner of DMEXCO and the owner of the DMEXCO brand. DMEXCO is organized by Koelnmesse.
DMEXCO 2019 will be held in Cologne on September 11 & 12, 2019. You can find all the information about DMEXCO 2018, as well as photos, stories, events and the podcast, at https://dmexco.com, www.facebook.com/dmexco, http://twitter.com/dmexco, and www.youtube.com/dmexcovideo.
DMEXCO will be kicking off 2022 with its Digital Spring Summit on May 3 DMEXCO 2018: Digital economy puts people front and center Audi, Booking.com, Facebook, and Nestlé: the first set of top speakers for DMEXCO @home have been announced Take C.A.R.E.: DMEXCO 2018 launches debate on the future of the digital economy DMEXCO partners with Unilever Foundry to launch start-up innovation showcase DMEXCO trend survey indicates that German users are highly critical of advertising on streaming services
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E126 – Navigating The Complexities of People Ops During COVID-19 (Brad Touesnard, Delicious Brains)
In today's episode, Joe and Christie talk with Brad Touesnard, Founder and CEO of Delicious Brains Inc and SpinupWP. As founder of Delicious Brains Inc, Brad has worn many hats. He now spends most of his time managing the product teams and growing the business. Before starting this company, Brad was a freelance web developer, specializing in front-end development.
Joe, Christie, and Brad discuss the challenges of finding good people when competition for remote job posting is high, what it's like for entry level people in companies with limited resources, traditional and unconventional hiring process, and making dependable employees stay.
Tune in and learn about the best hiring practices in the open source environment.
What to Listen For:
00:35 Let's welcome Brad Touesnard of Delicious Brains Inc
02:24 Rebranding concepts for different company products
07:12 How's 2020 job hiring been for you?
10:12 Challenges competing with more remote companies in finding new hires
17:00 On people switching careers and learning new skill sets
22:55 Hiring entry level person with limited resources
25:16 Vetting candidates before going through a trial project
30:27 Finding the right people is super difficult
32:36 Keeping people for years
37:31 Promotion and position changes
40:22 Active recruitment won't go away
Episode Resources
Delicious Brains – "We make super awesome products for WordPress."
SpinupWP – Your Own Extremely Fast WordPress Server
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Joe Howard: All right. We are live this week on the pod. Christie, what's up? How's it going?
Christie Chirin…: Hey, nothing much is up. It is the last month of 2020. So we'll see what surprises it brings.
Joe Howard: Yeah, right. What's left in 2020 to bring? It's like, please no nothing else. Can we just get to 2021 already?
Christie Chirin…: Yeah. Murder hornets, revolution, who knows?
Joe Howard: I know. Some good things. There you go. Cool. And we've also got Brad on the podcast this week, as our guest. We get to have three people on the podcast this week, which is always a treat. Brad, tell people how to pronounce your last name, and then also some of the stuff you do with WordPress.
Brad Touesnard: Yeah, sure thing. Thanks for having me guys. So, yeah. My last name is to Touesnard, but a lot of people say Touesnard because it has a D at the end that's silent. So that usually trips people up pretty good. So my company is Delicious Brains Inc. And we do several WordPress plugins. WP Migrate DB Pro, WP Offload Media, WP Offload SES, Better Search Replace Pro, and we also have a SAS app called SpinupWP, which is our new shiny product that we are putting a lot of effort into at the moment.
Joe Howard: Yep. So folks these are pretty familiar, at least in the WordPress space with your company, Delicious Brains. And yeah. I'm also very familiar because I remember reading your blog posts about how you did your rebranding for all your plugins. And I was like, oh, that company looks pretty cool. And then here a couple years later, we've done our rebrand for WP Buffs and went with the same guys, and they did a great job for us as well. So.
Brad Touesnard: Yeah. Your site's looking great, man. So the branding that Tim and his partner at DOS Media did. They just did an amazing job on you guys stuff. And I'm still pumped about our branding, to be honest that they did years ago. So yeah. They're really good.
Joe Howard: Yeah.
Christie Chirin…: I remember we read through your blog post on the podcast, so it was intense. Yeah.
Brad Touesnard: Yeah, we've had since then… That first round of rebranding went really well. It was easy. But then when we were doing the branding for WP Offload SES, Tim and his partner they came up with this pigeon concept. Right? And I don't know about you guys, but a pigeon is not the most majestic bird in the bird kingdom.
Joe Howard: We're not talking of a pig or a falcon.
Brad Touesnard: No. We're talking about, yeah. Exactly. We're talking about a flying rat. It's what we're talking about. And so we were so against it right out from the outset. We even said in the initial brief, that we didn't want a pigeon. Even though we knew that carrier pigeons and messaging are very closely linked, and it would make for a good thing. We were just like, we don't want to pigeon. And then one of the first things that came back with was this pigeon. And we were just like anti pigeon.
But then we went through a bunch of other things. We went through like a St. Bernard dog thing that didn't work. There was just a bunch of other things. And it was just this lengthy exhaustive process. And I think Tim and his partner were just getting really bummed and exhausted by us. And then eventually we just capitulated the end, and we really started to embrace the pigeon, the branding that they had done for us. And so we now have a pigeon. We've got a pigeon in our branding.
Joe Howard: And this is for WP Migrate DB pro, right?
Brad Touesnard: No, no, no. That's the migrating geese which are more majestic.
Joe Howard: I knew [crosstalk 00:04:17] that's why I was trying to.
Brad Touesnard: Yeah. And that's another reason we quoted why we didn't want another bird. Because it was going to be confusing. But no, we really like the pigeon. The pigeon that they came up with looks really slick, the brand, and so we love it. Yeah. We came around on it even though we were determined for it not to be a pigeon.
Joe Howard: I think that's one thing that I would definitely rely on that team at DOS for. Is they can go from a concept that sounds like, hmm, I don't know about that, and they can take it to like, whoa, this is actually really cool. And they have the design chops. And honestly kind of the creative chops I think to help you take that step, help us take that step. We were totally like lost and they totally let us on. Pretty much how to move forward with everything.
Brad Touesnard: Yeah. I think the next time we do branding, we're going to just go in with a completely open mind and not put any kind of kibosh on any ideas out of the gate. At the same time, even if we hadn't done that, I definitely would have been opening that pitch deck with like, don't be a pigeon, don't be a pigeon, don't be a pigeon, in my mind. So sometimes you just go in with preconceived notions, right? You just can't help it.
Joe Howard: Yep, totally, man. Cool. We talked a little bit before we got started here. We were just chatting offline and talking about some of the stuff you're working on this year, you personally. And it sounds like you're pretty active in the hiring process, for I don't know, a few different positions, just that's where you're spending a lot of time on right now. How's that going? How's 2020 been for you?
Brad Touesnard: Not great. It kind of fits with everything else that's been going on in 2020. And I think that actually, the pandemic has actually maybe thrown us a curve ball in hiring as well. Because, one of our biggest differentiators before the pandemic, was that we were a remote company, right? That you can work from home. And all of a sudden, that is no longer a differentiation. Everyone's working from home, everyone's remote. I mean, I shouldn't say everyone, because obviously there's people out there doing difficult work during this pandemic.
But everyone in IT pretty much, right? Except for the people at the data centers that have to keep the server's running. Everyone else is kind of good to work from home. And so, yeah. I think that's been a big challenge. So our typical process involves posting a job to weworkremotely.com. And we just get tons of applicants from there. And we just pick from them. And this year, we've gotten way less applicants because there's way more companies hiring on that job board. SO-
Joe Howard: Interesting. Total applications went down a lot this year.
Brad Touesnard: Yeah. Way down, way down. We used to get close to 300 applicants for developer jobs, we would post on there. And we're getting like 20 to 30 now.
Christie Chirin…: What, that's a huge change.
Joe Howard: I know it's like 90%.
Brad Touesnard: It's incredible. It's staggering.
Christie Chirin…: I'm surprised because at least in the U.S., we're hearing a lot about just our astronomical unemployment rate because of the pandemic. Right? And granted that is mostly across non-IT, but I still heard there's plenty of people. Right? Exactly. It's a lot of surface work. But even then, I've heard of plenty of people in IT who have lost their jobs. Some company's revenues that are… At least client pipeline has gone down. So I'm shocked, what?
Brad Touesnard: Yeah. I think the thing is, there's an imbalance there, though. Most people in IT haven't been affected. But most companies have stopped working in offices, right? Not most, all IT companies have stopped working in offices. So I think there's a huge disparity there. Right? And so you've got way more companies competing for job postings that are not local anymore.
And you've got just a handful, relatively speaking, of people who have lost their jobs that were kind of linked to the service sector or something, right? So yeah, I am staggered too. I feel like there might be another part of the story that I'm missing. I keep double guessing myself, second guessing myself. Like, what? Did we change something? Is our job postings repelling people now? What is going on?
Joe Howard: Yeah, it's funny because you're competing against a lot of other companies right now. So maybe not as easy for individual companies who are remote hire anymore, but definitely a good time for the remote job boards. I'm sure we working remotely is happening up here, right? There have a ton of people posting on, oh, we got to find more remote workers. Brad, do you feel like this is a temporary thing? Or do you feel like people, I don't know are starting to… I mean, everyone's working remotely this year. So I'm sure a lot of people are like, this pandemic sucks.
Brad Touesnard: Yeah.
Joe Howard: But working remotely, I could see myself doing this. Maybe I want to do this more. Do you think that you're going to probably have ongoing challenges competing with more remote companies in 2021 and moving forward?
Brad Touesnard: Yeah, I think so. I think a lot of companies are not going back to offices. Especially in IT where a lot of the workers are introverts anyway, right? Now, if you're an extrovert and you thrive off of, you get energy from other people, and you're sitting in your office by yourself at home, that's going to be a problem long term. Right? It's going to be difficult. And so I feel like there's certainly some companies like an agency, for example, right? An agency with Client Services people, that thrive off that, I don't think they're going to be able to-
Christie Chirin…: I don't know. I don't know. I don't know about that one. I mean, it's probably true, honestly. But at the same time, right? I'm a pretty extroverted person. And so a lot of the nature of work from home is a sacrifice to me. But the sacrifice is still totally worth the benefit, right? I just have to work really hard to fill that other part of what I need to be happy and thriving. So I think even then, we're going to see those people be like working from home is great.
Brad Touesnard: Have you taken a personality test though? Do you know that you rank as extrovert? You do?
Christie Chirin…: I have taken a personality test. And the shocking thing is that, depending on how I'm feeling that day, I get introverted or extroverted. So I'm right in the middle, I'm right in the middle, right? So I might not be the super extroverts. I definitely know people who are extremely extroverted, right? Who coordinate everything, and love to put events together and stuff like that. And I can definitely see those folks really struggling in a fully remote environment.
Brad Touesnard: Yeah. I had my whole team take a… it wasn't Myers-Briggs, I don't think. It was some variation or something. Anyway, I don't think one person in my team ranked as extrovert.
Joe Howard: Wow.
Brad Touesnard: And that sort of, I work 12, 13 people, right? So it's not surprising that… Especially the way we hire, we hire, we try not to do video interviews till the very end. And we don't use that as a decision. So we don't. The video interview at the end, it's really just a meet and greet. Just for fun. We've already made a decision by that point, one way or another. And the reason for that is a bunch of… There's a bunch of reasons for that.
But the primary reason is we don't do a lot of video calls as a team, right? We primarily, we do one once a week video calls for updates. And we don't really need to do that. We just do it because we want to get some face time and so that we don't turn into complete social idiots.
Joe Howard: So just to clarify for your hiring process. So you only do one video meet with the person you're hiring at that point, you've already decided if you're going to hire them or not? And the rest is
Brad Touesnard: That's right.
Joe Howard: … communications emails or slack right or something?
Christie Chirin…: That's mostly your job anyway, right?
Brad Touesnard: Exactly. Exactly. Writing clearly, and concisely is a big ranking factor for us. And, yeah. So yeah, we actually have been doing text-based chat interviews over Google Docs. So the interesting thing with Google Docs is that you can actually see them, every letter they type you can see as they type it, whereas typically with like a slack chat or something like that, they have to hit enter after they've typed their whole message and then you see it all. But you can see their thought process and they're backspacing and everything as part of the chat when you use Google Docs to do the interview.
And so it's a little nerve wracking, I think for the candidates. But we haven't had any serious complaints about it, and I feel like we glean a lot. We know we really get the cadence of their thought processes and just how quickly they type. And there's a bunch of information that comes from doing it that way. So yeah, we found that pretty effective way of doing things. It's really bizarre.
Joe Howard: Did your team come up with that? Or is that something you've [crosstalk 00:14:32]
Brad Touesnard: I think I came up with that idea myself as part when I was developing the hiring process. Yeah.
Joe Howard: Yeah. That's a cool idea. I like that a lot. I like the idea of not doing a lot of video through the interview process, especially if your job is based on written communication. It also is a nice way to take pressure off of people who may be more of introverted maybe not as much video people, and want to showcase their skills in a different way.
Brad Touesnard: Exactly. Exactly.
Joe Howard: Also, that means there's always going to be some kind of pressure in a job interview. I mean, it's a job interview. So it's, it can't be, no pressure. And there probably should be some pressure because, working a job to get some kind of results has some kind of pressure too, right? The Google Doc sounds like a nice happy medium, because it's, you can write, and someone can be there hanging out with you and chatting with you.
But you get to glean a little bit into that process. And I totally get the backspacing, or the speed of typing, and looking into people's thought process. I bet you see people like, oh, I really liked that he or she deleted that little part and rewrote it, because I think that how they rewrote it was better. That glean in those little things are, a lot of times can be helpful. Is this the right candidate or not?
Brad Touesnard: Yeah, totally.
Joe Howard: I mean, still[crosstalk 00:15:54]
Christie Chirin…: I would find [crosstalk 00:15:54]
Brad Touesnard: What do you do? Do you guys, yeah, do you do interviews over video early on or?
Christie Chirin…: I can talk about Caldera, because Liquid Web has a very traditional hiring process, right? But we used to do slack interview. We'd bring them on as guests, and they would have a time and things like that. But we would do a slack interview, right? Because, again, we're testing for your skills about what you're actually going to do here, not your interviewing skills, right? So we're going to be talking over slack a whole lot more than we're ever going to be talking on video. Right? So that was how we started. Yeah. And then the rest of it was pretty traditional. But we started with a slack interview, because that's the basic skill, right?
Almost anything else, depending on the role, of course, but almost anything else we can teach you when it comes to tooling. And that's the one thing I can't teach you, or at least don't have the resources to. What just can you effectively communicate asynchronously in short messages? And I don't know, I'm kind of curious. And I want to come back to this thought, right? But I'm really curious about what both of you think about how the current moment presents an opportunity to teach people stuff. To bring on the people who maybe aren't currently IT workers, but could reasonably switch now that we're going to be focused more on online work from home and things like that. So I'm kind of curious.
Joe Howard: Yeah. I think that's super challenging. I've had a couple WordPress friends reach out to me, like, hey, I have a friend, or someone I know who's looking for a job, they're looking to get into a tech job, or technology job, or WordPress job. And they have been the manager of a clothing store for three years. And I've had reservations about potentially hiring those people. And I think my reservations stem from having to do a ton of teaching and education. And that's a big commitment. I don't know if we have the systems built out to… We can teach people how to do basics of most things, but around the WordPress community.
How does the WordPress community work? How does WordPress work? How does open source software work? That takes a lot of experience. I think, took me a lot of time to figure that stuff out. And to bring someone who's like, what's WordPress? Or WordPress with a lowercase p? It's like, okay, there's a lot to dig into here. So I've been hesitant actually to hire people from outside of kind of at least some experience in working in a technology coming or working in here. But Brad, I'd be interested to hear what your thoughts are there too.
Christie Chirin…: Yeah.
Brad Touesnard: Yeah. My biggest reservation there would just be digital communication. I mean, I see this on a daily basis, with the other people, non-IT people that I interact with. Is they're just, they can't even do email right. They're replying all saying, thanks. And just breaking all the rules of like digital etiquette, right?
Brad Touesnard: And I'm just like, oh, man, this would be so painful to try onboard someone like this, and to just train them up on basic things like, how to email properly. I'm not saying-
Joe Howard: I think [crosstalk 00:19:37] when someone posts a new post and doesn't reply to the other post about the same topic, don't start a new post reply to that. And that's even another level. Yeah.
Brad Touesnard: Right. Right. But I mean, they wouldn't even… Potentially they would have a hard time even getting their head around slack. Right? If they're having a hard time with email, right? And the etiquette there. So everything would be new to them, or a lot would be new to them at a basic level. And I think that would be very difficult for a small company to absorb someone and have to train them up at that very basic level. I could see larger organizations being able to do that, and having the processes in place to handle that. Because larger organizations tend to take on more junior people anyway, as part of their whole growth strategy and hiring strategy.
For us, we don't even take on intermediate and junior people, because we felt like we would be spending so much of our resources, the little resources that we have, just training those people up and getting them to a point where they're going to be a valuable member of the team. And then they might leave. Right? Is the other thing. And we've only got 13 people. So yeah, I feel like you need to be a much bigger company to take on some of the basics. I would say at least 50 people you would have to be… I think that's kind of the number I have in my head anyway.
Joe Howard: Yeah. I feel like I want an academy or a training section of my company, right? It's you see a bunch of big Fortune 500 companies doing a ton of technology education for youth around the world. A lot of that is they want to be a good company, and maybe make the world a better place. But there's also the advantage of, hey, in 10 years, that person could be an employee here, because we helped bring them up. Right?
Brad Touesnard: Exactly.
Joe Howard: There's that thought process. So yeah, Christie, I'd be interested to hear it Liquid Web, like you said, you have a more traditional approach. Do you all have, or have you this year, you may not be super privy to all the hiring stuff, but have you seen folks come into Liquid Web who have not had traditional backgrounds? Or is it mostly people who have had some experience?
Christie Chirin…: It goes either way. With Liquid Web in particular, I mean, we're 1000 person company. So-
Joe Howard: You don't know every single person [crosstalk 00:21:54]
Christie Chirin…: Well, the thing is I probably know more people on the average part of that 1000 person company, right.? And that just has to do with my role and my personality.
Joe Howard: Extroverted, yeah.
Christie Chirin…: But in the middle, right in the middle. But it depends, right? I think that even a company like Liquid Web isn't going to hire someone with absolutely zero tech skills, right? And I also think that today in particular, there really aren't that many people with zero tech skills. I mean, there's a lot of people with zero tech skills. But a lot of the technology skills that you need to come in with are now things that more of us are practicing. Right? Just for daily life, especially now that we're living in this weird, topsy turvy post apocalyptic pandemic world, a lot of people have had to learn how to communicate online.
Have had to learn how to use Zoom, right? Have had to learn how to write. So I think the tides are changing a little tiny bit, right? And I don't want to be discouraging to anybody in that position. For the most part, though, Liquid Web is traditional in it's hiring. And so part of that means that you don't see a whole lot of sort of career switchers, right? You see, roles being posted, and people with experience coming in. Some of the roles are deliberately posted as entry level roles, right? And the company is still looking for the relevant credentials for an entry level role, right?
And so with Liquid Web, it's more in the traditional. And I definitely agree with you both that for a small company, the amount of resources that training requires, is massive. And training is a skill, right? I don't think that everyone who is a CEO, or an owner, or a technology lead is necessarily going to be the best teacher. And that alone brings on a level of complexity that is not going to be easily approachable to most small companies. The other thing too, is it's not the best thing for the entry level person, right?
You mentioned that they might leave. But it's really hard to start out in a position in which you don't have mentorship. And you don't have a lead in whatever you're trying to do to learn from and grow from. Right? And I think that that can also be a disadvantage, but is that disadvantage heavier than the disadvantage of getting your foot in the door? I don't really know.
Joe Howard: Yeah, interesting. Also this kind of transitions into something else that Brad you put as maybe a potential topic we could talk about today, which is, when you're rating potential candidates for a position, there's this intuition versus scorecard, I don't know, conversation. Some people may do more of a formal scorecard. We used to do pretty formal scorecards around what we thought about answers to certain questions. Was this a 7 out of 10 answer?
This seemed like a 7 out of 10 answer. Actually, I remember we specifically didn't do 7 out of 10, we weren't allowed to give 7 of 10s because 7 of 10 is like a total awful answer. It's not good and not bad. But it's just in the middle. So we were like either six or eight, or any other number out of 10 besides seven.
Christie Chirin…: No 7s.
Joe Howard: But anyway, you could give… Yeah, no sevenS. But we'd like go into a Google Doc, or a sheet. And we'd like go and average the numbers and, okay, this person got like, an 8.2. And this person got like an eight. So was one person better than the other? And don't really do that anymore.
Brad Touesnard: My point too. Clearly he's better.
Joe Howard: Yeah, exactly. But we've kind of transitioned to more, I think, intuition based. And we think you're going to be good. We've done some qualifications on you. Let's do a trial period. But and see how this actually works. And that's, I think, worked out better for us. But I'd be interested to hear Brad what, your thoughts on there? Because you had this as a point you want to chat about it? I don't know what you guys do over there.
Brad Touesnard: Yeah, man, I feel like our hiring process has gone from, so the approach was just throw them in the deep end and sink or swim, we would literally just take several candidates that we barely even vetted and just throw them at the project, and just add them to GitHub and everything and just say, here you go pick up some issues, start contributing to this project, right? Kind of almost an open source kind of mentality, right? And the problem with that is, super disruptive to our team, right? Because you've got all these other people in there just fiddling around and trying to learn on the fly, and they're asking questions, it was a mess. So we do a lot more vetting now before we get to the stage where we bring them on into a trial.
But our trial now is still based on our product. So it's like a fork, we just make a copy of our product repo. And we just copy some issues into there that we feel like this person, or that the role would be revealing for the role. And things we want to see. And then they just do that. They open a pull request for that stuff and commit some code, and we review it, and we give them feedback and they fix it. And we just go through the process that we normally would. And that's been the best trial project. We've in the past also come up with these conceived trial projects for people. And that's been a really false positive signal in the past. Because we could try this project, and it was too simple for the person to get their head around.
And so they did great on that project, but then they get into our actual plugin, and they can't get their head around it, the concepts are eluding them. And so yeah, we've really kind of gone back to the old way of like throwing them in the deep end in a way, but just in a way that's less disruptive to our team. And that's been pretty good. One other problem we've had, though, is that so what part of our process is to review sample code upfront, as part of kind of the application process we ask in your in the application.
Can you provide some sample code that we could quickly review to see if you're in the same arena as what we're looking for here? Right? And a lot of people especially when we're hiring Laravel developers for spin up, a lot of people say they don't have any code to share. Everything's under NDA or whatever, right? And I think that's just the difference between Laravel world and the WordPress world, whatever WordPress world is GPL everything right? So it's kind of all open source if you're working on WordPress stuff. So you should be able to share pretty much anything you work on there. Whereas Laravel is much more private and protected stuff. So now with Laravel developers, we have to have this kind of code challenge project that is contrived, that allows them to do something that can show us, can you cut it?
Will you be able to cut it when you get into our application? Right? So we have to contrive something there just for those people. But then we still bring them into our app and try them out sometimes, right? If we're still not sure. So our process is really fluid. And it really if we're not feeling sure about something, we'll figure out a way to squash that uncertainty before we make a commitment, especially if someone is employed full time and has to leave their job to come and work for us. Right? In those situations, you don't want to say, yes, you're hired and then find out two weeks in that they're not a fit. And then they're out at sea. You just let them go. Right? It's tricky, man. It's so tricky.
Joe Howard: It's tricky is like the number one word I use for hiring stuff. Because it's a huge challenge. It's no matter how good or bad, I feel that someone's almost it's like anything could happen, right? As someone who's hired a good amount of people successfully, but also had a lot of issues hiring in the past, over the past three years, like I've probably had, we've had, I'll say we, I have personally had like three or four people who I've hired who just didn't work out very well. And usually I can look back, in the moment it's hard to say I need to let this person go. It can be difficult to say that.
Brad Touesnard: Sure.
Joe Howard: But then after it's done, I can always look back even to the application process, even to their first week. Obviously, there's more stuff we could always do for onboarding and helping people get better at that. But there's usually something I can look back at to say, hmm that was maybe a red flag for something that could have turned into something bigger. Brad, I don't want to call you out. Maybe you've had some hiring that's worked out. Maybe some it hasn't worked out. Any arounds hiring it hasn't worked out where you've seen something like that? Anything specifically you've seen that you look back and like, oh, that wasn't, I should have listened to myself more and notice that, that might have been an issue?
Brad Touesnard: Yeah, I feel like in the past I've given up that is the hiring decision to my team without guidance. I mean, that was a huge mistake. That was probably the biggest mistake I've made hiring in the past where it's just I said, you guys hire this person. And just like, you're on your own, you've never hired anybody before, but I'm sure it'll work out. Is basically the approach I took, which is terrible in retrospect, right? Everything that doesn't work out is always terrible and retrospect. But at the time, it didn't seem like that big of an ask that they would just figure it out. But in retrospect, the hiring is super difficult. Of course, I'm not very good at it still. And I've been doing it for years.
Joe Howard: That's my thing. I was like, I'm not very good at it. Someone else should probably help him please.
Brad Touesnard: Yeah, yeah. So yeah, that that was probably the biggest thing. And then, like I said earlier, we contrived of a project that didn't actually test their skills very well to test kind of all the important parts. And so in retrospect, we look and say, oh, yeah, that project is a bad project to actually use as bedding. So yeah, that's true. I'm sure there's a dozens of others if I… I'd rather not sit down and make that list though.
Joe Howard: Yeah. Exactly. It's a stressful list to put together.
Brad Touesnard: And I feel it's kind of whack-a-mole too. I feel like there's going to be something new next year that's never happened that someone gets in through the cracks. And then we find out, oh, shoot. Yeah, we got to-
Joe Howard: Another thing.
Brad Touesnard: … watch out for that in the future.
Joe Howard: Yeah. How about well, maybe we could talk about the other side of the coin? The positives people who have worked there for a long time. Anybody or your best team members, people who've been there, and you can really lean on and trust in a really core members of the team, maybe some positives from some of their, I don't know, because there's kind of hard skills and soft skills. There's obviously technical chops that your developers need. But then there's also soft skills around communication.
How do you use slack? Like, okay, they can just do it. Anything specifically that comes out to you as things that… I usually think about it, the people I manage directly, if they can make my life easier as a manager, I don't have to sit over their shoulder, they get their stuff done, they're good team members. To me if they can do that they're 80% of the way they are, right? So anything from your perspective, though, where you're like, this is what tells me this person is the bomb.
Brad Touesnard: Yeah. Well, I mean, our retention has been excellent. We just had our first team member leave that's been with us for a long time, which is sad. But he was moving On to new exciting things. And so we kind of celebrated it. But there was a somber mood to it too, right?
Joe Howard: Once you get to 10 plus people statistically speaking at some point.[crosstalk 00:35:11]
Brad Touesnard: Yeah. So he had been with us since 2015, so five years. We still have five people that have been with us for at least that long. And we got two more that have been with us, I think, for three or four years. And then the rest are newer ones, been with us for two, and the others are much newer. So yeah, retention rates are really good. We had one person stay for two years and leave, our marketing manager. That happened.
But I think largely what happened there is that she hired someone under her to help her with a bunch of tasks, and it kind of replaced a lot of the work that she was doing. It kind of filled her role a little bit too much, if you know what I mean. So she kind of made herself obsolete.
Joe Howard: She was stuck between manager and individual contributors. She was just kind of like, [crosstalk 00:36:24]
Brad Touesnard: Yeah, yeah. I think that's a bit what happened there. And I mean, the idea there was to grow. For her to become more of a high level person. Right? But she was having difficulty doing that, I think. And so she ended up leaving the company. Which is fine. We've been fine ever since. So it wasn't like, oh, this is devastating. We're not going to be able to keep going here. That would be bad. Right? If you lost that key person.
Joe Howard: Yeah. Yeah. I feel like honestly, at this point most people on our team, if they quit or had to leave, things would be okay. But there are definitely probably two or three people who I would be stressed if they left. Because they're really core to the team, which is good, right? They're really core contributors. But if they left, that would be a challenge for us. Which is, that's a challenge too. So you want to have people it's like, where do you want people? You want people to be dependent on but not too dependent on? Yeah.
Brad Touesnard: Right. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I feel the same way. I just promoted, I mean, promoted it's a weird word. Change the role is probably a better word. He went from being a developer primarily to be a manager. So he's managing a development team. He's doing almost no coding, actually. Yeah, he's doing little tiny bit of coding still, here and there. And doing some PR reviews. But other than that, he's just managing the projects, and the products, and eventually going to be doing some UX work and stuff like that, product managers stuff. And then we have another person, again, this person's been with us for over five years. And he's kind of taken on a lead developer role within one of the teams.
And so yeah, if for one of these… The whole reason for this was to take a bunch of stuff off my plate, right? There kind of stepping into a new role and taking away a bunch of stuff that I've been doing, right? So yeah, if they were to leave, it would really, really suck because I would have to inherit all those things again, until I could find a replacement. And one of the only reasons that I felt confident in giving up these responsibilities to these people, because they've been with me for so long. They know everything so well. And I trust them. Right? And so yeah, if they were to leave, it would be really difficult, so.
Joe Howard: Yeah. Totally. The one other other thing I wanted to chat about here, in this podcast actually is based on what we all started talking about, which was how you're seeing fewer leads come in for new hiring prospects. So top of the funnel. And I wanted to talk a little bit about that, because as someone… I personally, I've adjusted my hiring structures somewhat from just basing it on these websites where I post a job, and I get candidates, to actually doing more, "recruitment."
That sounds really formal, but it's more just using my network to reach out to people. Allie Nimmons is on our team now. That started from a Twitter DM where I DMed her a project I think she was helping her coworker Michelle raise money for a laptop. And I Dmed her and was like, this is a really cool project, super cool. And that eventually turned into now she's our community person and rocking it.
Brad Touesnard: Nice.
Joe Howard: And I'd be interested to hear also from you Christie around… I mean, Liquid Web is 1000 person company, right? So you probably have an HR department that does outreach and has a certain candidate quota every month. But Brad is a smaller company, wondering if you do any outreach for people like Slack, DMs, and the making WordPress channel, reaching out to some educators in the space, we have a collection of like 100 freelancers they work with, hey, anybody, you know who could do this? Yeah, and thinking about that as kind of to support your process of getting candidates on the top of the funnel.
Christie Chirin…: Out button real quick. I want to hear Brad's answer. but I will let you know that, that recruitment process never really goes away. Yes. Liquid Web has an entire HR department. And they do all the HR things. Like wellness programs, and paperwork, and onboarding, and all this stuff that you associate with a larger company. But, my job still came from a Twitter DM from Chris. So it never goes away. Right? [crosstalk 00:41:19]. I don't think that, that process ever becomes like hiring is completely disassociated, and 100% outsourced to HR. It's always going to be about networks. And that's true for people looking for jobs, too, right?
You have a better chance when you know someone who works in the company, even if it's not someone who works in hiring, why? Because they could talk to a hiring manager, because they can make your name relevant in a stack of resumes, blah, blah, blah, all the regular sort of employment advice. Right? So that's a bit about Liquid Web. I can definitely talk to how things were at Caldera. I mean, a lot of the things that you all are talking about are different for me. And that was because we did bring on entry level people. And that was because it wasn't difficult for me to teach. Right?
And that just sort of comes with again, it's a skill and people are different levels of knowledgeable and also interested in it, right? Because it does take a lot of patience. And it does take a lot of effort and investment, right? But for me, I mean, a ton of my job responsibilities now is to teach the product catalog to sales, to the partner team, to new support people to things like that, right? So this is just sort of, I hate these words, too. But kind of a natural competency, right? And so when you're looking at entry level roles, that funnel is just going to be bigger, it's just going to be bigger.
And that sometimes helps if you have the structures or the time to put into bringing someone on and then documenting all that stuff, and then reusing all that stuff for the next person, which is more of what I have been doing here at Liquid Web. But outside of taking on that strategy, it's hard to get qualified people. When we were looking for roles that were intermediate to senior, it was really hard to find people. A lot of recruitment was required. A lot of people didn't make it through even if they weren't entry level, just because there were key pieces of information that we just couldn't teach. And I don't have a great answer. But I do want to add that at no point does active recruitment go away.
Brad Touesnard: Yeah. Totally, totally. I mean, so my second hire Ian Polson, who's still on the team, and he's actually the product manager I was talking about earlier. He was hired because he replied to a tweet. I had posted that I was hiring. So we already had a relationship because he had bought WP app store from me. And he still runs WP app store today, which is now it's just a deal site, right? And that's what it was when he bought it from me. It's kind of like, app Sumo, but for WordPress products, right? And he still runs that today. And anyway, yeah. He reached out to me on Twitter, and he said, hey, I might be interested in this.
I think it was around the post that I'd written where it's like, come work for me, and I'll teach you how to launch your own product. Or something like that. It was kind of an apprenticeship kind of thing except paid. You actually get paid for your time. So he reached out to me for that. And then I think I reached out to Matt Shaw, who's also with us still and had a conversation with him. And then it turned into an acquisition. So he had his own product, Better Search Replace. And it was basically turned into an aqua hire. And so Matt came to work for us. And that product rolled into our catalog.
And the rest is history. So I agree. And I have been talking to people who know us from our content and our products. Some of the best candidates that we get applying, by far actually are people who know us already, right? Know our products and want to work for us. And are very enthusiastic about it. And they demonstrate that in their application. Right? I would say active recruitment has never been a thing for us. And we've only really been considering it lately, because it's been so difficult to hire lately, but yeah.
Joe Howard: Those are all interesting anecdotal stories. Very interesting we've all had Twitter experience of a hiring process. I'd second what you said about people who know your product or good potential hires. I've talked to the team at Beaver Builder, and Anthony is their marketer over there. He was just a Beaver Builder power user. And they hired him because he just knew Beaver Builder so well and had marketing chops. Like boom, easy hire, right?
Brad Touesnard: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Joe Howard: And then for us, I hired Alec who's our head of growth. And he was a WP Buffs' white label partner before we hired him. And so he knew the white label process. He was a white label partner, he was using it to grow his business. So he knew the benefits of it. He knew the ins and outs of it and obviously had learned from our side, but. He talked about Christie listening to us on podcast episodes during when he was applying. And it's a small thing, but it's an impactful thing. You know about the company, you know about us. And he's been fantastic so far. So I think these little gold nuggets are important. Yeah, cool.
Brad Touesnard: [crosstalk 00:47:42] Yeah. Speaking of HR, oh, sorry.
Christie Chirin…: Oh, no, no. It's okay. I was just shining in that what Joe just described with Alec happens a good amount at Liquid Web too. Especially when it comes to sales posts.
Joe Howard: Sales post, a lot of Liquid Web. Totally.
Brad Touesnard: Oh, yeah. I would imagine. Yeah. Speaking of HR, though, we are now, after this year of, basically, I spent so much time hiring this year, I'm starting to consider a part time HR person to really do some of the heavy lifting around hiring. Because I feel like we've probably hit the point now where we are just going to be hiring kind of perpetually. And if I don't have help with that, then I'm just going to be the one doing it perpetually.
So a recruiter or someone to like filter applications, and maybe do initial contact with applicants. I've been doing all of that myself this year. And I really need to give that up. I need to get over the idea that I'm some kind of special evaluator of these applications. I don't think I am. I know I am not. But yet when I'm doing it, I'm feeling like, oh, I'm so good at this.
Joe Howard: Brad after we wrap up here, we'll do some [inaudible 00:49:04]. Because we just hired a People Ops manager, part time People Ops manager.
Brad Touesnard: Okay.
Joe Howard: It's changed a lot of what we do and made things a lot easier for Nick and I in terms of hiring process. So I will help to push to help you find someone, if you could connect me, this is a nice trade here, right? For HR stuff. I would love to talk to quid pro quo.
Brad Touesnard: It's a quid pro quo.
Joe Howard: It's a quid pro quo, here we go. I would love to talk to your designer, because I would be interested in not hiring that person. But I would love to maybe cook into their network, and to find help them help me find a designer because, I see all the stuff you guys put out at Delicious Brains. And everything is… beautiful, impeccably designed, and you can tell that you have an in house designer, and not just a design firm helping you out. I can tell it's all works together really well. So yes, quid pro quo. Sorry. But like I want to[inaudible 00:50:01].
Brad Touesnard: I don't know how much Louis is going to be able to help you. I mean, first of all, Louis is an incredible designer, and I'm so fortunate to have him on the team. And it was a pretty difficult hiring process to find him, though it was only one round. I feel like how good Louis is, it should have taken three rounds to find someone like him, right? So I don't know how a day he was working at an agency. He saw our job posting and he applied. It was really that simple. I don't know how much he's going to be able to help you there. It's probably going to be luck, Joe, I'm afraid to say.
Joe Howard: Turns out usually that's the case. And so, yeah. I'm with you there. But cool. Well, let's wrap it up. We've been doing like 50 minutes or so. So yeah, appreciate you being on Brad. Why don't you tell folks websites, Twitter handle,-
Joe Howard: … places they can find you online?
Brad Touesnard: Yeah, @bradt on Twitter, and you can find our products at deliciousbrains.com and spinupwp.com.
Joe Howard: Yes. Cool. And last thing Brad, we ask guests to do, on the show is ask our listeners, for a little iTunes review. So if you wouldn't mind asking our listeners right now for a little five stars here, we'd appreciate it.
Brad Touesnard: All right, folks. It's time to do a little work. Not really, though, is it? It takes like than five minutes to do this, right? You go to iTunes and… Actually do you have to go into the iTunes app to do this? Or can you go to the website? Or where do you go?
Joe Howard: You can go to the website. My computer has a little pop up window when I go to the website. It says, do you want to open this in iTunes? So then I just opened it in iTunes but we also have a redirect so people couldn't just go to wpmrr.com/itunes and whatever your devices does with that, it'll take you to that view area. Yep. Super easy.
Brad Touesnard: So wpmrr.com/itunes. That's easy. Just do that. And then two minutes later, you're done. And you've done a really nice thing, for Joe and Christie. I mean, that should make you feel good. Right?
Joe Howard: Oh. There you go. So, as always, we appreciate those. Leave a little comments with something you learned from this episode, and then we can shoot the screenshot to Brad's Twitter. Thanks, Brad, appreciate you getting helping us get a review. And will also help us choose what other episodes to do if we get a bunch of reviews about a hiring episode. Hey, we'll talk more about it in the future and bring other folks on to talk about it too. So cool. If folks are new listeners, we got a few older episodes. Right Christie?
Christie Chirin…: We have hundreds of older episodes. Is it hundreds? I think it's 100, and then some 10s.
Joe Howard: 100 with maybe a super small, s or something. 120 or so. Maybe not multiple 100's, but 100 plus 10's. Yeah, there we go.
Christie Chirin…: There we go.
Joe Howard: … of episodes in the bank. So go and check out some older content specific to challenged. We have a search on the website. So hey, you're having trouble with pricing, search pricing, we got a bunch of episodes on that kind of stuff and everything else under the sun. If you have questions for us at the show, Christine I always want to do more Q and A episodes. So shoot your questions into where? Christie.
Christie Chirin…: Into joe@wpmrr.com.
Joe Howard: I just had that inbox redirected to my team to help me handle that because I'm not very good at checking email. So they'll be checked even better now that inbox. So that's another reason to send those in. Or you can just hit us up on Twitter @JosephHHoward, @xtiechirinos.
Christie Chirin…: Yeah. X-T-I-E Chirinos. That's C-H-I-R-I-N-O-S. Yeah. I got an email from joe@wpmr.com. Allie forwarded it to me. It was very exciting.
Joe Howard: There you go. Perfect. Makes it easy. All right, that's it for this week. We'll be in your podcast players again next Tuesday. Brad, thanks again for being on man. It's been real.
Brad Touesnard: Thanks, folks. Appreciate it.
Joe Howard: See you everybody. Bye.
E127 – Making the Internet 100% Accessible by 2025 (Rafi Glantz, accessiBe)
E125 – Finding Success at the Intersection of Design and Development (David Yarde, Sevenality) | {
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} |
Myth and the Russian Pogroms, Part 2: Inventing Atrocities
May 11, 2012 /80 Comments/in Anti-Jewish Writing, Anti-Semitism, Featured Articles, Historical Anti-Jewish Writing /by Andrew Joyce, Ph.D.
Having grounded ourselves in the history of Russia's Jewish Question, it is now time for us to turn our attention to the anti-Jewish riots of the 1880s. The following essay will first provide the reader with the standard narrative of these events advanced by Jewish contemporaries and the majority of Jewish historians — a narrative which has overwhelmingly prevailed in the public consciousness. The latter half of the essay will be devoted to dissecting one aspect of the Jewish narrative, and explaining how events really transpired. Other aspects of the Jewish narrative will be examined in later entries in this series. While a work like this can come in for heavy criticism from certain sections of the population who may denounce it as 'revisionist,' I can only say that 'revisionism' should be at the heart of every historical work. If we blindly accept the stories that are passed down to us, we are liable to fall victim to what amounts to little more than a glorified game of Chinese whispers. And, if we taboo the right of the historian to reinterpret history in light of new research and new discoveries, then we have become far removed from anything resembling true scholarship.
The Jewish Narrative.
In 1881 the 'Russo-Jewish Committee,' (RJC) an arm of Britain's Jewish elite, mass-produced a pamphlet entitled "The Persecution of the Jews in Russia," and began disseminating it through the press, the churches, and numerous other channels. By 1899, it was embellished and published as a short book, and today digitized copies are freely available online.[1] By the early 20th century, the pamphlet had even spawned a four-page journal called Darkest Russia – A Weekly Record of the Struggle for Freedom, ensuring that the average British citizen did not go long without being reminded of the 'horrors' facing Russian Jews.[2] The fact that these publications were mass produced should provide an indication as to their purpose: It is clear that these publications represented one of the most ambitious propaganda campaign in Jewish history, and combined with similar efforts in the United States, they were aimed at gaining the attention of, and 'educating,' the Western nations and ensuring the primacy of the 'Jewish side of the story.' Implicit in this was not only a desire to provoke anti-Russian attitudes, but also copious amounts of sympathy for the victimized Jews — sympathy necessary to ensure that mass Jewish chain migration to the West went on untroubled and unhindered by nativists. After all, wasn't the bigoted nativist just a step removed from the rampaging Cossack?
The first element of the narrative advanced by the RJC is essentially a manipulation of the history of Russian-Jewish relations. It holds that the Jews of Eastern Europe have been oppressed for centuries, their whole lives "hampered, from cradle to grave, by restrictive laws."[3] It was claimed that the Russians had an unwritten law: "That no Russian Jew shall earn a living."[4] Russian Jews, according to the Russo-Jewish Committee, have wanted nothing more than to participate in Russian society, but have been rebuffed time and again as "heretics and aliens." The Pale is an impenetrable fortress, where every Jew "must live and die." Implicit in this interpretation of the history of Russian-Jewish relations in the belief that "the fount and origin of all the ills that assail Russian Jewry" has nothing to do with the Jews themselves, but everything to do with the Church, the State, and the Pale. In essence, the plight of the Jews was the result of nothing more than irrational hatred. Jews adopt a meek and passive role in this narrative, having committed no wrong-doing other than being Jews. They are also presented as the only victims of Russian violence. There is no acknowledgement of failed Russian efforts to break down the Jewish walls of exclusivity and claim the Jews as brothers. In fact, there is no reference at all to the walls of exclusivity. The pogroms themselves, according to the Jewish narrative, broke out following the assassination of Alexander II, when shock, anger and a desire for revenge brought this irrational, rootless hatred to the surface.
The second element of the Jewish narrative is that the government and petty officialdom had some role to play in organizing and directing the pogroms. Much disdain is heaped on the government, and petty officialdom, which was said to have been afflicted with "a chronic anti-Semitic outlook." It was claimed that when the riots began, the government was "not altogether sorry to let the excitement of the people vent itself on the Jews."[5] In reference to the restrictive May Laws, the authors were forced to concede they had never really been enforced, but maintained that "whether moderately or rigorously applied, the May Laws still remained on the Russian Statute Book."[6]
The third element of the Jewish narrative is that the pogroms were genocidal, and that they had been organized and perpetrated by groups seeking the extermination of the Jews. The 1899 edition of "The Persecution of the Jews in Russia" included a copy of a lengthy letter written to the London Times by Nathan Joseph, Secretary of the RJC, dated November 5th, 1890. In the letter, Joseph claimed that in the present circumstances "hundreds of thousands could be exterminated,"[7] and that Russian legislation in relation to Jews represented "an instrument of torture and persecution." In sum, the Jews of Russia were claimed to be living under "a sentence of death," and it was further claimed that "the executions are proceeding." The letter ends with an appeal to "Civilized Europe" to intervene, chastise Russia, and aid the victimized Jews.[8]
The fourth key element of the Jewish narrative is that the pogroms were extremely violent in nature. Contemporary media reports especially were the source of most of the atrocity stories, reportedly gleaned from newly-arrived 'refugees' who had given statements to the Russo-Jewish Committee about the pogroms they had fled. In these reports, which were carried very regularly by both the New York Times and the London Times, Russians were charged with having committed the most fiendish atrocities on the most enormous scale. Every Jew in the Russian Empire was under threat. Men had been ruthlessly murdered, tender infants had been dashed on the stones or roasted alive in their own homes. During a British parliamentary consultation on the pogroms in 1905, a Rabbi Michelson claimed that "the atrocities had been so fiendish that they could find no parallel even in the most barbarous annals of the most barbarous peoples."[9] The New York Times reported that during the 1903 Kishinev pogrom "babes were literally torn to pieces by the frenzied and bloodthirsty mob."[10]
A common theme in most contemporary atrocity stories was the brutal rape of Jewish women, with most reports including mention of breasts being hacked off. There are literally thousands of carbon-copy reports in which it is claimed that mothers were raped alongside their daughters. There is simply not enough space to cite extensively from these articles, but they number in their thousands and are available to anyone with access to the digitized archives of any major newspaper, or the microfilm facilities at major libraries. In addition, these articles claim that whole streets inhabited by Jews had been razed, and the Jewish quarters of towns had been systematically fired.
The 'atrocity' aspect of the narrative has continued to be advanced by Jewish historians. For example Anita Shapira, in her Stanford-published, Land and Power: The Zionist Resort to Force, 1881-1948, claims that "each series of new riots was worse than the one preceding, as if every bloodbath provided a permit for an even worse massacre."[11] Shapira further hints that the murder of Jewish babies was common during the pogroms, stating that a common worry of Russian Jews was "Will they take pity on the small babies, who do not even know yet that they are Jews?"[12] She concludes one particular section on pogrom violence by stating, without referencing any evidence, that there were "numerous acts of rape," and that "many were massacred — men, women, and children. The cruelty that marked these killings added a special dimension to the feeling of terror and shock that spread in their wake."[13] Joseph Brandes, in his 2009 Immigrants to Freedom alleges, without citing evidence, that mobs "threw women and children out of the windows" of their homes, and that "heads were battered with hammers, nails were driven into bodies, eyes were gouged out … and petroleum was poured over the sick found hiding in cellars and they were burned to death."[14]
Another crucial element to the Jewish narrative is that Russia is barbaric, ignorant, and uncivilized compared to the Jewish citizens of the country. Russia is said to be lingering in the "medieval stage of development,"[15] and in comparison to the "ignorant and superstitious peasantry,"[16] Russia's Jews are presented as an outpost of Western civilization — they are urban, and "intellectual." The RJC publication argued that university quotas allowing 5% of the student body to be made up of Jews were insufficient for "an intellectual race." Astonishingly, it is claimed that "the root of the whole matter is racial arrogance,"[17] though this arrogance of course is said to emanate from the Russians.
The RJC charged the government with criminal sympathy, the local authorities generally with criminal inaction, and some of the troops with active participation. The situation, they argued, was simply so hopeless and the possibility of extermination was so great, that the only way out was for the civilized nations of the West to throw open their doors and let in these poor 'Hebrews'.
And to a great extent this is exactly what the churches, the politicians, and the media agreed to. This capitulation to manipulated conscience ushered in the greatest migration in Jewish history, with profound consequences for us all. But there was just one small problem — the vast majority of this narrative was a calculated, designed, and expertly promoted fraud, furthered by the willing participation of Russian-Jewish emigrants who wished to ease their own access to the West and obtain "relief money from Western Europe and America."[18]
The 'Atrocities'
Let us first turn our attention to the atrocity stories. Prior to any major reports of violence, the British public was already being primed to hate the Russian government and accept the Jewish narrative. John Doyle Klier points out that the Daily Telegraph was at that time Jewish-owned, and was particularly "severe" in its reports on Russian treatment of Jews prior to 1881.[19] In the pages of this publication, it was stated that "these Russian atrocities are only the beginning. … [T]he Russian officials themselves countenance these barbarities."[20] Around this time in Continental Europe, Prussian Rabbi Yizhak Rülf established himself as an "intermediary" between Eastern Jewry and the West, and, according to Klier, one of his specialities was the spreading of "sensationalized accounts of mass rape."[21]
Other major sources of pogrom atrocity stories were the New York Times, the London Times, and the Jewish World. It would be the Jewish World which furnished the majority of these tales, having sent a reporter "to visit areas that had suffered pogroms."[22] Most of the other papers simply reprinted what the Jewish World reporter sent them. The atrocity stories carried by these newspapers provoked global outrage. There were large-scale public protests against Russia in Paris, Brussels, London, Vienna, and even in Melbourne, Australia. However, "it was in the United States that public indignation reached its height." Historian Edward Judge states that the American public was spurred on by reports of "brutal beatings, multiple rapes, dismemberment of corpses, senseless slaughter, painful suffering and unbearable grief."[23]
However, as John Klier states, the reports of the Jewish World's "Special Correspondent," "raise intriguing problems for the historian."[24] While his itinerary of travel is described as "plausible," most of his accounts are "flatly contradicted by the archival record."[25] His claim that twenty rioters were killed during a pogrom in Kishinev in 1881 has been proven to be a fabrication by records which show that in that city, at that time, "there were no significant pogroms and no fatalities."[26] Other claims that he witnessed shootings of peasants on his travels have been entirely discredited due to the vast number of minor inaccuracies in those accounts.
Furthermore, Klier states that the atrocity stories compiled by the Jewish World correspondent, which went on to be so influential in manipulating Western perceptions of the events, must be treated with "extreme caution."[27] The reporter "portrayed the pogroms dramatically, as great in scale and inhuman in their brutality. He reported numerous accounts where Jews were burned alive in their homes while the authorities looked on."[28] There are hundreds of instances where he references the murder of children, the mutilation of women, and the biting off of fingers.
Klier states that "the author's most influential accounts, given their effect on world opinion, were his accounts of the rape and torture of girls as young as ten or twelve."[29] In 1881 he reported 25 rapes in Kiev, of which five were said to have resulted in fatalities, in Odessa he claimed 11, and in Elizavetgrad he claimed 30.[30] Rape featured prominently in the reports, not because rapes were common, but because rape "even more than murder and looting" was known to "generate particular outrage abroad." Klier states that "Jewish intermediaries who were channelling pogrom reports abroad were well aware of the impact of reports of rape, and it featured prominently in their accounts."[31] The two most dramatic and gruesome accounts came from Berezovka and Borispol. In fact, as the year neared its end, the reports became more and more gruesome and brutal in the details they conveyed.
There is, of course, a reason for this. As the non-Jewish public began to tire of the reports and switched their minds to the coming Christmas festivities, Klier states that records show the RJC made a conscious and calculated decision to "keep Russian Jewry before the eyes of the public."[32] A key component of this strategy was to take the accounts of the Special Correspondent and publish them in a more widely circulated and respected newspaper. They settled on the London Times, which was already predisposed to "critical editorial faulting of the Russian government." Klier further states that these evidently false reports "garnished with the prestige of The Times and devoid of any attribution, subsequently published as a separate pamphlet, and translated into a variety of European languages … became the definitive Western version of the pogroms."[33]
As increasingly lurid atrocity tales again captured the attention of the Gentile public, the British Government found itself under pressure to intervene. The British Government, however, adopted a more cautious approach and undertook its own independent investigations into events in the Russian Empire. Its findings, published as a "Blue Book," "presented an account of events at great variance with that offered by The Times."[34] The most notable aspect of the independent inquiry is the outright denial of mass rape. In January 1882, Consul-General Stanley objected to all of the details contained within reports published by The Times, mentioning in particular the unfounded "accounts of the violation of women."[35] He further stated that his own investigations revealed that there had been no incidences of rape during the Berezovka pogrom, that violence was rare, and that much of the disturbance was restricted to property damage. In relation to property damage in Odessa, Stanley estimated it to be around 20,000 rubles, and rejected outright the Jewish claim that damage amounted to over one million rubles.
Vice-Consul Law, another independent investigator, reported that he had visited Kiev and Odessa, and could only conclude that "I should be disinclined to believe in any stories of women having been outraged in those towns."[36] Another investigator, Colonel Francis Maude, visited Warsaw and said that he could "not attach any importance" to atrocity reports emanating from that city.[37] At Elizavetgrad, instead of whole streets being razed to the ground, it was discovered that a small hut had lost its roof. It was further discovered that very few Jews, if any, had been intentionally killed, though some died of injuries received in the riots. These were mainly the result of conflicts between groups of Jews who defended their taverns and rioters seeking alcohol. The small number of Jews who had been intentionally killed had fallen victim to unstable individuals who had been drunk on Jewish liquor — accusations of murderous intent among the masses were simply unfounded and unsubstantiated by the evidence.
When these reports were made public, states Klier, they represented "a serious setback for the protest and aid activities of the RJC."[38] The Times was forced to backtrack, but responded spitefully (and bizarrely) by stating that the indignation of the country was still justified even if the atrocities were "the creations of popular fancy."[39] (Reminiscent of the JewishGen response to Ukrainian discoveries mentioned in Part 1 of this series?!)
The revelations came at a bad time for the RJC, which was at that time attempting to move the British Government to "act in some way on behalf of persecuted Russian Jewry."[40] It resorted to republishing (in the Times) its pamphlet on persecution in Russia twice in one month, presumably in the belief that blunt repetition would suffice to overcome tangible evidence. Klier states that the pieces were examples of "masterful" propaganda, as they attempted to undermine the credibility of the Government consuls, while sycophantically appealing to "the wise and noble people of England," who "will know what weight should be attached to such denials and refutations."[41] The RJC offered its own "corroborative evidence of the most undeniable kind," though of course the exact source of this evidence was not specified beyond "persons occupying high official positions in the Jewish community" and "Jewish refugees."
In essence, the people of western nations were being asked to trust an anonymous Rabbi on the other side of the world rather than identifiable representatives of their own government. The pieces, states Klier, "painted the familiar picture of murder and rape," and despite the debunking statements of the consuls, "a number of mother/daughter rapes, which had already done so much to outrage British public opinion, were again repeated."[42] Although the move for British government intervention failed, in the battle for public opinion "the RJC clearly won the day," and the Times and the RJC remained good bedfellows.
The Consuls were outraged. Stanley reiterated the fact that his intensive investigations, which he carried out at great personal cost with a serious leg injury, illustrated that "The Times' accounts of what took place at each of those places contains the greatest exaggerations, and that the account of what took place at some of those places is absolutely untrue."[43] He related the fact that a Rabbi in Odessa had "not heard of any outrages on women there," and that the object of almost every pogrom he had investigated was simple "plunder."[44] Enraged by the lies circulating in Britain and America, Stanley "went right to the top," interviewing state rabbis and asking for evidence and touring pogrom sites. In Odessa, where a wealth of atrocity stories had originated, he was able to confirm "one death, but no looting of synagogues or victims set alight." There was no evidence that a single rape had taken place. One state Rabbi admitted that he had not heard of any outrages of women in Berezovka and further assured Stanley that he "could with a clear conscience positively deny that any deaths or any violations had occurred there during the disturbances of last year."[45] He again sent this report to his superior in London, with a note saying "This is in accordance with all the information I have received and forwarded to your Lordship, and which I think more credible than anonymous letters in The Times."[46]
Despite Stanley's best efforts the Jewish narrative advanced by the RJC, imbued with atrocity tales, has remained unalterably attached in Western perceptions of the pogroms. The Blue Book was smothered by the more visible, and oft-repeated, tales of the RJC and organisations like it around the globe. Only with the decade-long research of John Klier has some revision of this narrative, grounded in scholarship and archival evidence, been possible. In light of this evidence, one can only conclude that stories of rape, murder and mutilation were "more legendary than factual."[47] However, the task remains to further dismantle and analyse other aspects of the Jewish narrative, and to seek the true motives behind its creation.
[1] http://archive.org/stream/persecutionofjew00russ
[2] Max Beloff, The Intellectual in Politics: And other essays, (London: Taylor and Francis, 1970) p.135
[3] The Persecution of the Jews in Russia, (London: Russo-Jewish Committee, 1899), p.3.
[4] Ibid, p.4
[5] The Persecution of the Jews in Russia, (London: Russo-Jewish Committee, 1899), p.5
[7] Ibid, p.36
[8] Ibid, p.38.
[9] Anthony Heywood, The Russian Revolution of 1905: Centenary Perspectives (New York: Routledge, 2005) p.266.
[10] "Jewish Massacre Denounced," New York Times, April 28, 1903, p.6
[11] Anita Shapira, Land and Power: The Zionist Resort to Force, 1881-1948 (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1999), p.35
[12] Ibid, p.34.
[14] Joseph Brandes, Immigrants to Freedom, (New York: Xlibris, 2009) p.171
[15] The Persecution of the Jews in Russia, (London: Russo-Jewish Committee, 1899), p.4
[16] The Persecution of the Jews in Russia, (London: Russo-Jewish Committee, 1899), p.30
[18] Albert Lindemann, Esau's Tears: Modern Anti-Semitism and the Rise of the Jews (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997) p.291.
[19] John Doyle Klier, Russians, Jews and the Pogroms of 1881-82, p.399
[22] Ibid, p.400
[23] Edward Judge, Easter in Kishinev: Anatomy of a Pogrom (New York: New York University Press, 1993) p.89.
[26] Ibid
[31] Ibid, p.12
[34] Ibid, p.405. (Correspondence Respecting the Treatment of Jews in Russia, Nos. 1 and 2, 1882, 1883)
[38] Ibid, p.405.
[43] John Doyle Klier, Russians, Jews and the Pogroms of 1881-82, p.407.
https://www.theoccidentalobserver.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/TOO-Full-Logo-660x156-1.png 0 0 Andrew Joyce, Ph.D. https://www.theoccidentalobserver.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/TOO-Full-Logo-660x156-1.png Andrew Joyce, Ph.D.2012-05-11 01:27:282012-05-13 12:48:52Myth and the Russian Pogroms, Part 2: Inventing Atrocities | {
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Diagnostic Medical Systems SA (DGM) - Medical Equipment - Deals and Alliances Profile
Report Title Diagnostic Medical Systems SA (DGM) - Medical Equipment - Deals and Alliances Profile
Diagnostic Medical Systems SA (DMS) is a medical device company that designs, manufactures and distributes imaging systems. The company's products comprise radiography and fluoroscopy, retrofit kits, mammography, chest and bone rooms, mobiles, bone densitometry, 3D reconstruction, mobile C-arms, and posturology solutions. It offers bone densitometry products such as 3D-DXA, Pegasus, Stratos, and Stratos dR. DMS's DR solutions comprise Baccara dRF 43, EZ2GO, Pixium EZ, and Platinum. The company has its presence in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America and South America. DMS is headquartered in Montpellier, France.
Diagnostic Medical Systems SA (DGM)-Medical Equipment-Deals and Alliances Profile provides you comprehensive data and trend analysis of the company's Mergers and Acquisitions (M&As), partnerships and financings. The report provides detailed information on Mergers and Acquisitions, Equity/Debt Offerings, Private Equity, Venture Financing and Partnership transactions recorded by the company over a five year period. The report offers detailed comparative data on the number of deals and their value categorized into deal types, sub-sector and regions.
- Financial Deals-Analysis of the company's financial deals including Mergers and Acquisitions, Equity/Debt Offerings, Private Equity, Venture Financing and Partnerships.
- Deals by Year-Chart and table displaying information encompassing the number of deals and value reported by the company by year, for a five year period.
- Deals by Type-Chart and table depicting information including the number of deals and value reported by the company by type such as Mergers and Acquisitions, Equity/Debt Offering etc.
- Deals by Region-Chart and table presenting information on the number of deals and value reported by the company by region, which includes North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa and South and Central America.
- Deals by Sub-sector-Chart and table showing information on the number of deals and value reported by the company, by sub-sector.
- Major Deals-Information on the company's major financial deals. Each such deal has a brief summary, deal type, deal rationale; and deal financials and target Company's (major public companies) key financial metrics and ratios.
- Business Description-A brief description of the company's operations.
- Key Employees-A list of the key executives of the company.
- Important Locations and Subsidiaries-A list and contact details of key centers of operation and subsidiaries of the company.
- Key Competitors-A list of the key competitors of the company.
- Key Recent Developments-A brief on recent news about the company.
- The profile enables you to analyze the company's financial deals by region, by year, by business segments and by type, for a five year period.
- The profile presents deals from the company's core business segments' perspective to help you understand its corporate strategy.
- Detailed information on major recent deals includes a summary of each deal, deal type, deal rationale, deal financials and Target Company's key financial metrics and ratios.
- The profile analyzes the company's business structure, locations and subsidiaries, key executives and key competitors.
- Recent developments concerning the company presented in the profile help you track important events.
- Key elements such as break up of deals into categories and information on detailed major deals are incorporated into the profile to assist your academic or business research needs.
Diagnostic Medical Systems SA, Medical Equipment, Deals By Year, 2012 to YTD 2018 5
Diagnostic Medical Systems SA, Medical Equipment Deals By Type, 2012 to YTD 2018 6
Diagnostic Medical Systems SA, Medical Equipment, Deals By Region, 2012 to YTD 2018 7
Diagnostic Medical Systems SA, Medical Equipment, Deals By Market, 2012 to YTD 2018 8
Diagnostic Medical Systems SA, Medical Equipment, Deals Summary, 2012 to YTD 2018 9
Diagnostic Medical Systems SA, Medical Equipment, Deal Details 10
Private Equity 10
Diagnostic Medical Systems to Raise up to USD44.8 Million in Private Placement of Bonds and Warrants 10
Jolt Capital and Ambrosia Investments Acquire 42.94% Stake in Alpha Mos from Diagnostic Medical Systems 11
Equity Offering 12
Diagnostic Medical Systems to Raise Funds in Public Offering of Shares 12
Diagnostic Medical Systems Raises USD2.5 Million in Private Placement of Shares 13
Diagnostic Medical Systems Raises USD10.4 Million in Public Offering of Shares 14
Alpha MOS Raises Additional USD1.25 Million in Private Placement of Shares 15
Diagnostic Medical Systems Acquires STEMCIS 16
Diagnostic Medical Systems Acquires AXS Medical 17
Diagnostic Medical Systems SA-Key Competitors 18
Diagnostic Medical Systems SA-Key Employees 19
Diagnostic Medical Systems SA-Locations And Subsidiaries 20
Diagnostic Medical Systems SA, Medical Equipment, Deals by Type, 2012 to YTD 2018 2
Diagnostic Medical Systems SA, Medical Equipment, Key Facts, 2017 2
Diagnostic Medical Systems SA, Deals By Market, 2012 to YTD 2018 8
Diagnostic Medical Systems SA, Key Competitors 18
Diagnostic Medical Systems SA, Key Employees 19
Diagnostic Medical Systems SA, Subsidiaries 20
Diagnostic Medical Systems SA, Deal Analysis, Mergers, Acquisitions, Asset Purchases, Asset Divestitures, Company Divestitures, Equity Offerings, Capital Raising, Debt Offerings, IPOs, Initial Public Offering, Private Placement, Private Investment In Public Equities, Secondary Offerings, Follow-On Offerings, Debt Private Placement, Public Debt Placement, Partnerships, Joint Venture, Licensing Agreements, Co-Marketing Agreements, Upfront Payment, Milestone Payment, Phases, Clinical Trials, Private Equity, Venture Capital, PE,VC, Asset Finance, Project Finance, Tax Equity Financing, Bond Financing, Lease Financing, New Build Financing, Deal Analysis By Market/sector, Deal Analysis By Geography, Deal Analysis By Deal Types, Key Employees, Locations And Subsidiaries, Competitors, Recent News, Company Overview, Key Facts, Deals By Year, Deal Details, Recent Developments, Significant Developments. | {
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New Jersey High School Sports
Bloomfield over North Bergen - Wrestling - NJSIAA N1G5 1st round
Updated: Feb. 10, 2020, 11:50 p.m. | Published: Feb. 10, 2020, 10:27 p.m.
For NJ Advance Media
By Ryan Patti | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Fourth-seeded Bloomfield defeated fifth-seeded North Bergen 48-28 in Bloomfield in the quarterfinal round of the NJSIAA/Rothman Orthopaedics North Jersey, Section 1, Group 5 Wrestling Tournament.
Bloomfield (22-5) will take on the winner of top-seeded Passaic Tech and eighth-seeded Passaic in the semifinal round on Wednesday. | {
"redpajama_set_name": "RedPajamaCommonCrawl"
} |
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Bijoux L'Inédit
524, avenue Victoria, Saint-Lambert, QC, J4P 2J5, Canada
524, avenue Victoria, Saint-Lambert, QC, Canada, J4P 2J5
Joaillerie Langevin
66, route 132, Local 100, Deslon, QC, J5B 0A1, Canada
66, route 132,
Local 100, Deslon, QC, Canada, J5B 0A1
Boutique Le Présent
155, rue Saint-André, Terrebonne, QC, J6W 3C2, Canada
155, rue Saint-André, Terrebonne, QC, Canada, J6W 3C2
Novo Bas
1001, boul. de Montarville, Boucherville, QC, J4B 6P5, Canada
1001, boul. de Montarville, Boucherville, QC, Canada, J4B 6P5
Signé Local - DIX30
9200, boul. Leduc , suite 160, Brossard, QC, J4Y 0J1, CANADA
9200, boul. Leduc ,
suite 160, Brossard, QC, CANADA, J4Y 0J1
Cachet Ampleman
270 Boul. Anjou, Châteauguay, QC, J6K 1C6, Canada
270 Boul. Anjou, Châteauguay, QC, Canada, J6K 1C6
645, Boul. Samson, Laval, QC, H7X 1J9, Canada
645, Boul. Samson, Laval, QC, Canada, H7X 1J9
Nous Vous Ils Boutique Métiers D'art
150 chemin de la Grande-Côte , Suite 101, Rosemère, QC, J7A 1H3, Canada
150 chemin de la Grande-Côte ,
Suite 101, Rosemère, QC, Canada, J7A 1H3
Atelier Bois Brillant
22 Chemin de la Grande-Côte, Boisbriand, QC, J7G 1E2, Canada
22 Chemin de la Grande-Côte, Boisbriand, QC, Canada, J7G 1E2
Boutique Héritage
260, rue Notre-Dame, Repentigny, QC, J6A 2R6, Canada
260, rue Notre-Dame, Repentigny, QC, Canada, J6A 2R6
Boutique La Chaumière
1401, rue de Montarville, Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville, QC, J3V 3T6, Canada
1401, rue de Montarville, Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville, QC, Canada, J3V 3T6
La P'tite Bise
367, boul. Arthur-Sauvé, Place Saint-Eustache, Saint-Eustache, QC, J7P 2B1, Canada
367, boul. Arthur-Sauvé,
Place Saint-Eustache, Saint-Eustache, QC, Canada, J7P 2B1
Ombelle Fleuriste
191, rue Sir Wilfrid Laurier , Local 110, St-Basile-le-Grand, QC, J3N 1R1, Canada
191, rue Sir Wilfrid Laurier ,
Local 110, St-Basile-le-Grand, QC, Canada, J3N 1R1
Boutique Signé Marie-Pierre
505, boul Arthur Sauvé, Saint-Eustache, QC, J7P 4X4, Canada
505, boul Arthur Sauvé, Saint-Eustache, QC, Canada, J7P 4X4
Gaby Style et Passion
1255, boul. de Périgny, Place Chambly, Chambly, QC, J3L 1W7 , Canada
1255, boul. de Périgny,
Place Chambly, Chambly, QC, Canada, J3L 1W7
La Douce Pensée
520, boul. Arthur-Sauvé, Hôpital de Saint-Eustache, Saint-Eustache, QC, J7R 5B1, Canada
Hôpital de Saint-Eustache, Saint-Eustache, QC, Canada, J7R 5B1
459, boul. Saint-Luc, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, QC, J2W 1E7, Canada
459, boul. Saint-Luc, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, QC, Canada, J2W 1E7
290, boul. Saint-Luc, Local 28, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, QC, J2W 2A3, Canada
290, boul. Saint-Luc,
Local 28, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, QC, Canada, J2W 2A3
Bijouterie Renaissance
814, boul. de l'Ange-Gardien, L'Assomption, QC, J5W 1P6, Canada
814, boul. de l'Ange-Gardien, L'Assomption, QC, Canada, J5W 1P6
G. D'Aoust et Cie
73, rue Sainte-Anne, Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, QC, H9X 1L9, Canada
73, rue Sainte-Anne, Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, QC, Canada, H9X 1L9
145, boul. Saint-Joseph, Local 96, Halles Saint-Jean, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, QC, J3B 1W5, Canada
145, boul. Saint-Joseph,
Local 96, Halles Saint-Jean, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, QC, Canada, J3B 1W5
Boutique L'Antilope
934, rue Monseigneur-De Laval, Beloeil, QC, J3G 4E7, Canada
934, rue Monseigneur-De Laval, Beloeil, QC, Canada, J3G 4E7
Mers & Monde – Boutique Mode Voyage
418, boul. Sir-Wilfrid-Laurier, Mont-Saint-Hilaire, QC, J3H 3N9, Canada
418, boul. Sir-Wilfrid-Laurier, Mont-Saint-Hilaire, QC, Canada, J3H 3N9
Pensée Pour Vous
286, avenue Saint-Charles, Vaudreuil-Dorion, QC, J7V 2L8, Canada
286, avenue Saint-Charles, Vaudreuil-Dorion, QC, Canada, J7V 2L8
Boutique Amandine Joliette
21, place Bourget Nord, Joliette, QC, J6E 5E3, Canada
21, place Bourget Nord, Joliette, QC, Canada, J6E 5E3
Simplement Célyne
51, rue Grande-Île, Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, QC, J6S 3L9, Canada
51, rue Grande-Île, Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, QC, Canada, J6S 3L9
Boutique Amandine
1305, rue des Cascades, Saint-Hyacinthe, QC, J2S 3H3, Canada
1305, rue des Cascades, Saint-Hyacinthe, QC, Canada, J2S 3H3
Fleurs du Village
61, route 338, Les Coteaux, QC, J7X 1A2, Canada
61, route 338, Les Coteaux, QC, Canada, J7X 1A2
Le Marché Vert
75, avenue de la Gare, Bloc K-1, Les Galeries des Monts, Saint-Sauveur, QC, J0R 1R6, Canada
75, avenue de la Gare,
Bloc K-1, Les Galeries des Monts, Saint-Sauveur, QC, Canada, J0R 1R6
Les Choix de Mimi
260, rue Principale, Saint-Sauveur, QC, J0R 1R0, Canada
260, rue Principale, Saint-Sauveur, QC, Canada, J0R 1R0
2347, rue de L'Église , Val-David, QC, J0T 2N0, Canada
2347, rue de L'Église , Val-David, QC, Canada, J0T 2N0
L'Échoppe de la Montagne
725, rue Shefford, Bromont, QC, J2L 1C2, Canada
725, rue Shefford, Bromont, QC, Canada, J2L 1C2
Vert Partout
19, rue Principale Nord, Sutton, QC, J0E 2K0, Canada
19, rue Principale Nord, Sutton, QC, Canada, J0E 2K0
Rien ne se perd tout se crée
91, rue Principale, Saint-Sévère, QC, G0X 3B0, Canada
91, rue Principale, Saint-Sévère, QC, Canada, G0X 3B0
814-2, rue de Saint-Jovite, Mont-Tremblant, QC, J8E 3J8, Canada
814-2, rue de Saint-Jovite, Mont-Tremblant, QC, Canada, J8E 3J8
La Grange des Artisans
284, rue Lindsay, Drummondville, QC, J2B 1G3, Canada
284, rue Lindsay, Drummondville, QC, Canada, J2B 1G3
Fleuriste Savard
1833 Boulevard Louis Fréchette, Nicolet, QC, J3T 1M4, Canada
1833 Boulevard Louis Fréchette, Nicolet, QC, Canada, J3T 1M4
Bijouterie La Perle Rare
3905, rue Bellefeuille, Trois-Rivières, QC, G9A 6K8, Canada
3905, rue Bellefeuille, Trois-Rivières, QC, Canada, G9A 6K8
Boutique Cinq Continents
1468, rue Notre-Dame Centre, Trois-Rivières, QC, G9A 4X5, Canada
1468, rue Notre-Dame Centre, Trois-Rivières, QC, Canada, G9A 4X5
300, rue Barkoff, Les Galeries du Cap, Trois-Rivières, QC, G8T 2A3, Canada
300, rue Barkoff,
Les Galeries du Cap, Trois-Rivières, QC, Canada, G8T 2A3
Bijouterie PierLyn
107, rue Galipeau, Thurso, QC, J0X 3B0, Canada
107, rue Galipeau, Thurso, QC, Canada, J0X 3B0
Belle et Rebelle Sherbrooke
90 rue Wellington Nord, Sherbrooke, QC, J1H 5B8, Canada
90 rue Wellington Nord, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada, J1H 5B8
Atours du Monde
87, rue Notre-Dame Est, Victoriaville, QC, G6P 3Z8, Canada
87, rue Notre-Dame Est, Victoriaville, QC, Canada, G6P 3Z8
Shepherd's Fashions
145 Trainyards Drive, Unit 4, Ottawa, ON, K1G 3X8, Canada
145 Trainyards Drive,
Unit 4, Ottawa, ON, Canada, K1G 3X8
Magpie Jewellery
799 Bank Street, Glebe store, Ottawa, ON, K1S 3V7, Canada
799 Bank Street,
Glebe store, Ottawa, ON, Canada, K1S 3V7
50 Rideau Street, Unit 220B, CF Rideau Centre, 2nd Floor, Ottawa, ON, K1N 9J7, Canada
50 Rideau Street,
Unit 220B, CF Rideau Centre, 2nd Floor, Ottawa, ON, Canada, K1N 9J7
Boutique Moi
355, boul. Gréber, Gatineau, QC, J8T 6H8, Canada
355, boul. Gréber, Gatineau, QC, Canada, J8T 6H8
National Gallery of Canada Boutique
10 Lady Grey Drive South End, Ottawa, ON, K1N 9N4, Canada
10 Lady Grey Drive South End, Ottawa, ON, Canada, K1N 9N4
Musée Canadien de l'histoire
100, rue Laurier, Gatineau, QC, K1A 0M8, Canada
100, rue Laurier, Gatineau, QC, Canada, K1A 0M8
Boutique Le Local
144, rue Eddy, Gatineau, QC, J8X 2W8, Canada
144, rue Eddy, Gatineau, QC, Canada, J8X 2W8
Clothes by Muriel Dombret
1258 Wellington Street West, Ottawa, ON, K1Y 3A5, Canada
1258 Wellington Street West, Ottawa, ON, Canada, K1Y 3A5
430 Richmond Road, Westboro store, Ottawa, ON, K2A 0G2, Canada
430 Richmond Road,
Westboro store, Ottawa, ON, Canada, K2A 0G2
La Nomade
103, rue Principale, Gatineau, QC, J9H 3L9, Canada
103, rue Principale, Gatineau, QC, Canada, J9H 3L9
Bijouterie Signe B
220, rue du Collège, Suite 102, Pont-Rouge, QC, G3H 0C6, Canada
220, rue du Collège,
Suite 102, Pont-Rouge, QC, Canada, G3H 0C6
A. Setlakwe
600, avenue Champlain, Disraeli, QC, G0N 1E3, Canada
600, avenue Champlain, Disraeli, QC, Canada, G0N 1E3
188, rue Notre-Dame Ouest, Thetford Mines, QC, G6G 1J6, Canada
188, rue Notre-Dame Ouest, Thetford Mines, QC, Canada, G6G 1J6
Groupe Jacobus
2700 Boulevard Laurier, 2e niveau, Place Laurier, A/s de Diane Lacasse, Québec, QC, G1V 2L8, Canada
2700 Boulevard Laurier,
2e niveau, Place Laurier, A/s de Diane Lacasse, Québec, QC, Canada, G1V 2L8
Musselli
1329B, avenue Maguire, Québec, QC, G1T 1Z2, Canada
1329B, avenue Maguire, Québec, QC, Canada, G1T 1Z2
Accessoires Mode Elle & Lui
8500, boul. Henri-Bourassa, Carrefour Charlesbourg, Québec, QC, G1G 5X1, Canada
8500, boul. Henri-Bourassa,
Carrefour Charlesbourg, Québec, QC, Canada, G1G 5X1
Boutique du Musée des beaux-arts du Québec
179, Grande Allée Ouest, Grand Hall, Québec, QC, G1R 2H1, Canada
179, Grande Allée Ouest,
Grand Hall, Québec, QC, Canada, G1R 2H1
1191, avenue Cartier, A/s de Kathy Dion, Québec, QC, G1R 2S9, Canada
1191, avenue Cartier,
A/s de Kathy Dion, Québec, QC, Canada, G1R 2S9
Boutique Exil
714, rue Saint-Jean, Québec, QC, G1R 1P9, Canada
714, rue Saint-Jean, Québec, QC, Canada, G1R 1P9
La boutique Artisans Canada (Québec)
30, côte de la Fabrique, Québec, QC, G1R 3V7, Canada
30, côte de la Fabrique, Québec, QC, Canada, G1R 3V7
Boutique Fairmont (Le Château Frontenac)
1, rue des Carrières, Niveau du Grand Hall, Québec, QC, G1R 4P5, Canada
1, rue des Carrières,
Niveau du Grand Hall, Québec, QC, Canada, G1R 4P5
39, rue du Petit Champlain, Québec, QC, G1K 4H5, Canada
39, rue du Petit Champlain, Québec, QC, Canada, G1K 4H5
Atelier La Pomme
47, rue Sous-le-Fort, Québec, QC, G1K 4G9, Canada
47, rue Sous-le-Fort, Québec, QC, Canada, G1K 4G9
29, rue Notre-Dame, Place Royale, Québec, QC, G1K 4E9, Canada
Place Royale, Québec, QC, Canada, G1K 4E9
Boutique du Musée de la civilisation
85, rue Dalhousie, Québec, QC, G1K 4A5, Canada
85, rue Dalhousie, Québec, QC, Canada, G1K 4A5
Bijouterie du Vieux Fort
7777, boul. Guillaume-Couture, Local 29, Lévis, QC, G6V 6Z1, Canada
7777, boul. Guillaume-Couture,
Local 29, Lévis, QC, Canada, G6V 6Z1
Bittersweet Fine Craft and Art
5 Leckie Lane, P.O. Box 14, Burnstown, ON, K0J 1G0, Canada
5 Leckie Lane,
P.O. Box 14, Burnstown, ON, Canada, K0J 1G0
32 Dundas Street East, Napanee, ON, K7R 1H6, Canada
32 Dundas Street East, Napanee, ON, Canada, K7R 1H6
Massothérapie Manon Dufour
955 Boul. Auger Ouest, Alma, QC, G8B 2B9, Canada
955 Boul. Auger Ouest, Alma, QC, Canada, G8B 2B9
Le Moule à Sucre
248, avenue de Gaspé Est, Saint-Jean-Port-Joli, QC, G0R 3G0, Canada
248, avenue de Gaspé Est, Saint-Jean-Port-Joli, QC, Canada, G0R 3G0
Autour du Pot
42, rue Saint-Jean Baptiste, Baie-Saint-Paul, QC, G3Z 1L9, Canada
42, rue Saint-Jean Baptiste, Baie-Saint-Paul, QC, Canada, G3Z 1L9
Véronique Fortier Joaillière
341B, rue Racine Est, Chicoutimi, QC, G7H 1S8, Canada
341B, rue Racine Est, Chicoutimi, QC, Canada, G7H 1S8
Miss Priss
215 Front Street, Belleville, ON, K8N 2Z4, Canada
215 Front Street, Belleville, ON, Canada, K8N 2Z4
Boutique Indigène art et culture (Séguin)
40, rue du Quai, La Malbaie, QC, G5A 2Y1, Canada
40, rue du Quai, La Malbaie, QC, Canada, G5A 2Y1
Talk O' The Town
19555 Opeongo Line, Barry's Bay, ON, K0J 1B0, Canada
19555 Opeongo Line, Barry's Bay, ON, Canada, K0J 1B0
Zihua Boutique
22A Bridge Street West, Bancroft, ON, K0L 1C0, Canada
22A Bridge Street West, Bancroft, ON, Canada, K0L 1C0
Boutique Le Coquill'Art
356, rue Saint-Jean-Baptiste, L'Anse-Saint-Jean, QC, G0V 1J0, Canada
356, rue Saint-Jean-Baptiste, L'Anse-Saint-Jean, QC, Canada, G0V 1J0
The Clan Shoppe
47 Main Street, Brighton, ON, K0K 1H0, Canada
47 Main Street, Brighton, ON, Canada, K0K 1H0
Trentmendous
33 Main Street, Unit 3, Warkworth, ON, K0K 3K0, Canada
Unit 3, Warkworth, ON, Canada, K0K 3K0
Eclectic Mix
13 Main Street, Warkworth, ON, K0K 3K0, Canada
13 Main Street, Warkworth, ON, Canada, K0K 3K0
13 Main Street, P.O. Box 414, Warkworth, ON, K0K 3K0, Canada
P.O. Box 414, Warkworth, ON, Canada, K0K 3K0
Fragrances d'Alex
295, boul. Armand-Thériault, Rivière-du-loup, QC, G5R 5H3, Canada
295, boul. Armand-Thériault, Rivière-du-loup, QC, Canada, G5R 5H3
Boutique Nomade
382, rue Lafontaine, Rivière-du-Loup, QC, G5R 3B4, Canada
382, rue Lafontaine, Rivière-du-Loup, QC, Canada, G5R 3B4
Brittany N Bros
35 King Street West, Cobourg, ON, K9A 2M1, Canada
35 King Street West, Cobourg, ON, Canada, K9A 2M1
392 George Street North, Peterborough, ON, K9H 3R3, Canada
392 George Street North, Peterborough, ON, Canada, K9H 3R3
Bijouterie Baribeau
775, 3e Avenue, Val-d'Or, QC, J9P 1S8, Canada
775, 3e Avenue, Val-d'Or, QC, Canada, J9P 1S8
Esthétique Florilège
2366, rue Commerciale Sud, Témiscouata-sur-le-Lac, QC, G0L 1X0, Canada
2366, rue Commerciale Sud, Témiscouata-sur-le-Lac, QC, Canada, G0L 1X0
The Kawartha Store
30 Colborne Street, Fenelon Falls, ON, K0M 1N0, Canada
30 Colborne Street, Fenelon Falls, ON, Canada, K0M 1N0
Oxtongue Craft Cabin & Gallery
1073 Fox Point Road, Dwight, ON, P0A 1H0, Canada
1073 Fox Point Road, Dwight, ON, Canada, P0A 1H0
241 Queen Street, Port Perry, ON, L9L 1B9, Canada
241 Queen Street, Port Perry, ON, Canada, L9L 1B9
Eclipse Art Gallery
1235 Deerhurst Drive, Deerhurst Resort, Huntsville, ON, P1H 2E8, Canada
1235 Deerhurst Drive,
Deerhurst Resort, Huntsville, ON, Canada, P1H 2E8
96, rue Saint-Germain Ouest, Rimouski, QC, G5L 4B5, Canada
96, rue Saint-Germain Ouest, Rimouski, QC, Canada, G5L 4B5
255 Boul Ste-Anne, Rimouski, QC, G5M 1E7, Canada
255 Boul Ste-Anne, Rimouski, QC, Canada, G5M 1E7
Optimus Jewellery & Watches
13 Queen Street, Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON, L0S 1J0, Canada
13 Queen Street, Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON, Canada, L0S 1J0
33, route du Fleuve Ouest, Sainte-Luce, QC, G0K 1P0, Canada
33, route du Fleuve Ouest, Sainte-Luce, QC, Canada, G0K 1P0
Thompson Landry Gallery (Cooperage Space)
6 Trinity Street, Distillery District, Toronto, ON, M5A 3C4, Canada
6 Trinity Street,
Distillery District, Toronto, ON, Canada, M5A 3C4
223 Carlton Street, Toronto, ON, M5A 2L2, Canada
223 Carlton Street, Toronto, ON, Canada, M5A 2L2
Bijouterie Lingot D'Or
100, rue du Terminus Ouest, Promenade du Cuivre, Rouyn-Noranda, QC, J9X 6H7, Canada
100, rue du Terminus Ouest,
Promenade du Cuivre, Rouyn-Noranda, QC, Canada, J9X 6H7
Options For Her
163 Cumberland Street, Toronto, ON, M5R 1A2, Canada
163 Cumberland Street, Toronto, ON, Canada, M5R 1A2
Shop at Art Gallery of Ontario
317 Dundas Street West, Toronto, ON, M5T 1G4, Canada
317 Dundas Street West, Toronto, ON, Canada, M5T 1G4
Freda's
86 Bathurst Street, Toronto, ON, M5V 2P5, Canada
86 Bathurst Street, Toronto, ON, Canada, M5V 2P5
494 Lawrence Avenue West, Marshalls Lawrence Square, Toronto, ON, M6A 1A1, Canada
494 Lawrence Avenue West,
Marshalls Lawrence Square, Toronto, ON, Canada, M6A 1A1
Petroff Gallery
1016 Eglinton Avenue West, Toronto, ON, M6C 2C5, Canada
1016 Eglinton Avenue West, Toronto, ON, Canada, M6C 2C5
Made you Look Jewellery
1338 Queen Street West, Toronto, ON, M6K 1L4, Canada
1338 Queen Street West, Toronto, ON, Canada, M6K 1L4
100 Fourth Avenue, Unit 25, Ridley Heights Plaza, Saint Catharines, ON, L2S 2J2, Canada
Unit 25, Ridley Heights Plaza, Saint Catharines, ON, Canada, L2S 2J2
Joni's Fine Clothing & Accessories
48 Ellen Street, Barrie, ON, L4N 3A4, Canada
48 Ellen Street, Barrie, ON, Canada, L4N 3A4
Haven's Clothing
4242 Dundas Street West, Kingsmill Shopping Centre, Etobicoke, ON, M8X 1Y6, Canada
4242 Dundas Street West,
Kingsmill Shopping Centre, Etobicoke, ON, Canada, M8X 1Y6
McMichael Canadian Art Collection
10365 Islington Avenue, Kleinburg, ON, L0J 1C0, Canada
10365 Islington Avenue, Kleinburg, ON, Canada, L0J 1C0
Objects To Desire
1 Livingston Avenue, Grimsby, ON, L3M 1K4, Canada
1 Livingston Avenue, Grimsby, ON, Canada, L3M 1K4
The Shop For All Reasons
228 Queen Street South, Village of Streetville, Mississauga, ON, L5M 1L5, Canada
228 Queen Street South,
Village of Streetville, Mississauga, ON, Canada, L5M 1L5
147 Water Street, Saint Andrews, NB, E5B 1A7, Canada
147 Water Street, Saint Andrews, NB, Canada, E5B 1A7
Art Gallery of Burlington
1333 Lakeshore Road, Burlington, ON, L7S 1A9, Canada
1333 Lakeshore Road, Burlington, ON, Canada, L7S 1A9
Pippa & Prue
312 Dundas Street East, Unit 1, Waterdown, ON, L0R 2H0, Canada
312 Dundas Street East,
Unit 1, Waterdown, ON, Canada, L0R 2H0
Shop at Art Gallery of Hamilton
123 King Street West, Hamilton, ON, L8P 4S8, Canada
123 King Street West, Hamilton, ON, Canada, L8P 4S8
Dragonfly Arts on Broadway
189 Broadway Avenue, Orangeville, ON, L9W 1K2, Canada
189 Broadway Avenue, Orangeville, ON, Canada, L9W 1K2
Ladies Designer Fashions
10 Keith Avenue, Suite 205, Cranberry Mews Plaza, Collingwood, ON, L9Y 0W5, Canada
10 Keith Avenue,
Suite 205, Cranberry Mews Plaza, Collingwood, ON, Canada, L9Y 0W5
Pavlo Pottery Studio and Shoppe
776 Old Highway 8, Rockton, ON, L0R 1X0, Canada
776 Old Highway 8, Rockton, ON, Canada, L0R 1X0
Carrington & Co.
225 Woodstock Road, Fredericton, NB, E3B 2H8, Canada
225 Woodstock Road, Fredericton, NB, Canada, E3B 2H8
Urban Threadz
103 Church Street, Fredericton, NB, E3B 4C8, Canada
103 Church Street, Fredericton, NB, Canada, E3B 4C8
Women's International Gift & Gallery (YWCA)
55 Dickson Street, Cambridge, ON, N1R 7A5, Canada
55 Dickson Street, Cambridge, ON, Canada, N1R 7A5
Karger Gallery
14 East Mill Street, Elora, ON, N0B 1S0, Canada
14 East Mill Street, Elora, ON, Canada, N0B 1S0
Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery Shop
25 Caroline Street North, Waterloo, ON, N2L 2Y5, Canada
25 Caroline Street North, Waterloo, ON, Canada, N2L 2Y5
Xclusive Elements
7 Front Street, Saint Jacobs, ON, N0B 2N0, Canada
7 Front Street, Saint Jacobs, ON, Canada, N0B 2N0
The Butcher's Daughter
47 Charlotte Street, Saint John City Market, Saint John, NB, E2L 2H8, Canada
Saint John City Market, Saint John, NB, Canada, E2L 2H8
Boutique Zekara
47 Clark Road, Rothesay, NB, E2E 2K8, Canada
47 Clark Road, Rothesay, NB, Canada, E2E 2K8
Kisses Ladies Wear
247 Durham Street E, Walkerton, ON, N0G 2V0, Canada
247 Durham Street E, Walkerton, ON, Canada, N0G 2V0
The Touchmark Shop
137 Ontario Street, Stratford, ON, N5A 3H1, Canada
137 Ontario Street, Stratford, ON, Canada, N5A 3H1
Le Serpent à Plumes
756, boul. Perron, Carleton, QC, G0C 1J0, Canada
756, boul. Perron, Carleton, QC, Canada, G0C 1J0
The Flight of Fancy
1869 Clementsvale Road, Bear River, NS, B0S 1B0, Canada
1869 Clementsvale Road, Bear River, NS, Canada, B0S 1B0
MUSE (Museum London's Gift Shop)
421 Ridout Street North, London, ON, N6A 5H4, Canada
421 Ridout Street North, London, ON, Canada, N6A 5H4
Gifted at Applegate
49 South Sharpsville Avenue, Sharon, PA, 16146, USA
49 South Sharpsville Avenue, Sharon, PA, USA, 16146
Studio Style
215 Main Street, Port Stanley, ON, N5L 1C4, Canada
215 Main Street, Port Stanley, ON, Canada, N5L 1C4
Catherine & Company
173 Main Street, Bathurst, NB, E2A 1A6, Canada
173 Main Street, Bathurst, NB, Canada, E2A 1A6
The Urban Nest
3 Renaud Street, Miramichi, NB, E1V 6T2, Canada
3 Renaud Street, Miramichi, NB, Canada, E1V 6T2
Eccentricity Designs
135 E Main St, Carnegie , PA, 15106, USA
135 E Main St, Carnegie , PA, USA, 15106
The Cameleer
125 East Davis Street, Culpeper, VA, 22701, USA
125 East Davis Street, Culpeper, VA, USA, 22701
Judy's Art Gallery
17 Main Street, Suite A, Bayfield, ON, N0M 1G0, Canada
Suite A, Bayfield, ON, Canada, N0M 1G0
Objects Art and More
4462 Irvington Road, Irvington, VA, 22480, USA
4462 Irvington Road, Irvington, VA, USA, 22480
Sophia Boutique
7578 Fredle Drive, Painesville, OH, 44077, USA
7578 Fredle Drive, Painesville, OH, USA, 44077
Folies Féminines
431, avenue Brochu, Sept-Îles, QC, G4R 2W9, Canada
431, avenue Brochu, Sept-Îles, QC, Canada, G4R 2W9
Stile Fashion Accessories
801 Main street, Moncton , NB, E1C 1G1, Canada
801 Main street, Moncton , NB, Canada, E1C 1G1
Robert & Gabriel
5244 Mayfield Road, Lyndhurst, OH, 44124, USA
5244 Mayfield Road, Lyndhurst, OH, USA, 44124
Maddie & Sofia
250 Champlain Street, Unit 1B, Dieppe, NB, E1A 1P3, Canada
250 Champlain Street,
Unit 1B, Dieppe, NB, Canada, E1A 1P3
Boutique Jolie Eve
445, boul. Saint-Pierre Ouest, Place Saint-Pierre, Caraquet, NB, E1W 1B2, Canada
445, boul. Saint-Pierre Ouest,
Place Saint-Pierre, Caraquet, NB, Canada, E1W 1B2
Fine Points
126202 Larchmere Blvd, Cleveland, OH, 44120, USA
126202 Larchmere Blvd, Cleveland, OH, USA, 44120
Cleveland Museum of Art Store
11150 East Boulevard, Ames Family Atrium, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA
11150 East Boulevard,
Ames Family Atrium, Cleveland, OH, USA, 44106
Lilieth Boutique
220 Main Street, Liverpool, NS, B0T 1K0, Canada
220 Main Street, Liverpool, NS, Canada, B0T 1K0
Evie Lou
2509 Professor Avenue, Cleveland, OH, 44113, USA
2509 Professor Avenue, Cleveland, OH, USA, 44113
Don Drumm Studios & Gallery
437 Crouse Street, Akron, OH, 44311, USA
437 Crouse Street, Akron, OH, USA, 44311
Laura of Pembroke
3119 Whipple Avenue Northwest, Canton, OH, 44718, USA
3119 Whipple Avenue Northwest, Canton, OH, USA, 44718
Herbin Jewellers
453 Main Street, Wolfville, NS, B4P 1E3, Canada
453 Main Street, Wolfville, NS, Canada, B4P 1E3
Northern Sun Gallery & Gifts
8 Edgewater Street, Mahone Bay, NB, B0J 2E0, Canada
8 Edgewater Street, Mahone Bay, NB, Canada, B0J 2E0
Caico-Mae Clothiers
138 Montague Street, Lunenburg, NS, B0J 2C0, Canada
138 Montague Street, Lunenburg, NS, Canada, B0J 2C0
30 Church Women's Clothing
30 Church Street, Amherst , NS, B4H 3A7, Canada
30 Church Street, Amherst , NS, Canada, B4H 3A7
Lamia Lamia Salon and Day Spa
19653 Mack Avenue, Grosse Pointe Woods, MI, 48236, USA
19653 Mack Avenue, Grosse Pointe Woods, MI, USA, 48236
3011 West Grand Blvd, Fisher Building, Detroit, MI, 48202, USA
3011 West Grand Blvd,
Fisher Building, Detroit, MI, USA, 48202
Studio Sandra
415 East 4th Street, Suite B, Royal Oak, MI, 48067, USA
415 East 4th Street,
Suite B, Royal Oak, MI, USA, 48067
Trinity Jewellers
6226 Quinpool Road, Halifax, NS, B3L 1A3, Canada
6226 Quinpool Road, Halifax, NS, Canada, B3L 1A3
FireWorks Gallery
1569 Barrington Street , Halifax, NS , B3J 1Z7, Canada
1569 Barrington Street , Halifax, NS , Canada, B3J 1Z7
Barbara Boz Boutique
205 East Maple Road, Birmingham, MI, 48009, USA
205 East Maple Road, Birmingham, MI, USA, 48009
Timeless & Twist
219 Highway 2, Unit 1, Enfield, NS, B2T 1C9, Canada
219 Highway 2,
Unit 1, Enfield, NS, Canada, B2T 1C9
Island Beach Company
1 Bell Boulevard Extension, Halifax Airport, Enfield, NS, B2T 1K2, Canada
1 Bell Boulevard Extension,
Halifax Airport, Enfield, NS, Canada, B2T 1K2
Wanda's Perfect Stitch
6449 Inkster Road, Bloomfield Hills, MI, 48301, USA
6449 Inkster Road, Bloomfield Hills, MI, USA, 48301
Marta's Loft
115 South Saginaw Street, Holly, MI, 48442, USA
115 South Saginaw Street, Holly, MI, USA, 48442
Maynard's Fashions & Cosmetics
2123 South Linden Road, Flint, MI, 48532, USA
2123 South Linden Road, Flint, MI, USA, 48532
Details Past & Present
166 Richmond Street, Charlottetown, PE, C1A 1H9, Canada
166 Richmond Street, Charlottetown, PE, Canada, C1A 1H9
ModeAlise
7227 North High Street, Suite 122, The Shops at Worthington Place, Worthington, OH, 43085, USA
7227 North High Street,
Suite 122, The Shops at Worthington Place, Worthington, OH, USA, 43085
Sherrie Gallery
694 North High Street, Columbus, OH, 43215, USA
694 North High Street, Columbus, OH, USA, 43215
129 East Main Street , Midland , MI, 48640, USA
129 East Main Street , Midland , MI, USA, 48640
Night Gallery - Branching Out
201 South Estes Drive, University Place, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, USA
201 South Estes Drive,
University Place, Chapel Hill, NC, USA, 27514
Ameublement BrandSource du Havre
1280, rue de la Digue, Havre Saint-Pierre, QC, G0G 1P0, Canada
1280, rue de la Digue, Havre Saint-Pierre, QC, Canada, G0G 1P0
Mackerel Sky
211 M.A.C Avenue, East Lansing, MI, 48823, USA
211 M.A.C Avenue, East Lansing, MI, USA, 48823
Devils Lake View Living
200 Devils Lake Hwy, Manitou Beach, MI, 49253, USA
200 Devils Lake Hwy, Manitou Beach, MI, USA, 49253
Carolyn Todd's
1826 Pembroke Road, Greensboro, NC, 27408, USA
1826 Pembroke Road, Greensboro, NC, USA, 27408
Katalyst
1214 Turner Street, Lansing, MI, 48906, USA
1214 Turner Street, Lansing, MI, USA, 48906
139 State Street, Harbor Springs, MI, 49740, USA
139 State Street, Harbor Springs, MI, USA, 49740
The Plum Tree Gift Shoppe
225 Main Street, Antigonish, NS, B2G 2C1, Canada
225 Main Street, Antigonish, NS, Canada, B2G 2C1
Lavoie Designs Artwear
9076 Helena Road, Alden, MI, 49612, USA
9076 Helena Road, Alden, MI, USA, 49612
Juliaetta's Trunk
100 Corry Street, Yellow Springs, OH, 45387, USA
100 Corry Street, Yellow Springs, OH, USA, 45387
Eve Avery Boutique
131 Northeast Broad Street, Southern Pines, NC, 28387, USA
131 Northeast Broad Street, Southern Pines, NC, USA, 28387
126 East Front St., Traverse City, MI, 49684, USA
126 East Front St., Traverse City, MI, USA, 49684
1121-G Military Cutoff Rd. , Wilmington, NC, 28405, USA
1121-G Military Cutoff Rd. , Wilmington, NC, USA, 28405
Monroe Hair Design
8720 Gull Road, Richland , MI, 49083, USA
8720 Gull Road, Richland , MI, USA, 49083
YT Galleria
966 Cherry Street Southeast, Grand Rapids, MI, 49506, USA
966 Cherry Street Southeast, Grand Rapids, MI, USA, 49506
Eve's Leaves
1129 Main Street, Blowing Rock, NC, 28605, USA
1129 Main Street, Blowing Rock, NC, USA, 28605
Pomegranate & Lime
6804 Wooster Pike, Mariemont, OH, 45227, USA
6804 Wooster Pike, Mariemont, OH, USA, 45227
Cockerill Gallery
2700 Erie Avenue , Cincinnati , OH, 45208, USA
2700 Erie Avenue , Cincinnati , OH, USA, 45208
MiCA 12/v
1201 Vine Street, Cincinnati, OH, 45202, USA
1201 Vine Street, Cincinnati, OH, USA, 45202
Moving Spirits
429 River Street , Manistee, MI, 49660, USA
429 River Street , Manistee, MI, USA, 49660
Patchouli Accessories Boutique
503 Chebucto Street, Unit 5, Baddeck, NS, B0E 1B0, Canada
503 Chebucto Street,
Unit 5, Baddeck, NS, Canada, B0E 1B0
Judee's
1205 East University Drive, Granger, IN, 46530, USA
1205 East University Drive, Granger, IN, USA, 46530
Pawleys Island Wear
10880 Ocean Highway, The Hammock Shops Village , Pawleys Island, SC, 29585, USA
10880 Ocean Highway,
The Hammock Shops Village , Pawleys Island, SC, USA, 29585
Desirant
34 Broadway Street, Asheville, NC, 28801-2917, USA
34 Broadway Street, Asheville, NC, USA, 28801-2917
23 Haywood Street, Asheville, NC, 28801, USA
23 Haywood Street, Asheville, NC, USA, 28801
Scout Boutique
10 All Souls Crescent, Asheville, NC, 28803, USA
10 All Souls Crescent, Asheville, NC, USA, 28803
Classic Couture
109 E Rutherford St, Landrum, SC, 29356, USA
109 E Rutherford St, Landrum, SC, USA, 29356
Talloni, A Shoe Salon
43 Town Square Blvd, Suite 110, Biltmore Park Town Square, Asheville, NC, 28803, USA
43 Town Square Blvd,
Suite 110, Biltmore Park Town Square, Asheville, NC, USA, 28803
Banana Moon (Moon on Main)
329 North Main Street, Hendersonville, NC, 28792, USA
329 North Main Street, Hendersonville, NC, USA, 28792
Laura's Fine Clothing & Gifts
1502 West Sycamore Street, Kokomo, IN, 46901, USA
1502 West Sycamore Street, Kokomo, IN, USA , 46901
9341 Spring Road, Building A, Unit 10, Top of the Hill Shops, Fish Creek, WI, 54212, USA
9341 Spring Road,
Building A, Unit 10, Top of the Hill Shops, Fish Creek, WI, USA, 54212
Indianapolis Museum of Art Store
4000 Michigan Road, Indianapolis, IN, 46208, USA
4000 Michigan Road, Indianapolis, IN, USA, 46208
Christopher Park Gallery
608 South Main Street, Suite A, Greenville, SC, 29601, USA
Suite A, Greenville, SC, USA, 29601
468 Main Street, Highlands, NC, 28741, USA
468 Main Street, Highlands, NC, USA, 28741
101 West Kirkwood Avenue , Suite 107, Bloomington, IN, 47404, USA
101 West Kirkwood Avenue ,
Suite 107, Bloomington, IN, USA, 47404
Northern Lights Gallery
423 Main Street, Racine, WI, 53403, USA
423 Main Street, Racine, WI, USA, 53403
1640 East 87th Street, Chicago, IL, 60617, USA
1640 East 87th Street, Chicago, IL, USA, 60617
Arts & Artisans
321 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL, 60601, USA
321 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL, USA, 60601
Mary Walter
33 West Superior Street, Chicago, IL, 60654, USA
33 West Superior Street, Chicago, IL, USA, 60654
35 East Wacker Drive, Chicago, IL, 60601, USA
35 East Wacker Drive, Chicago, IL, USA, 60601
720 South Michigan Avenue, Hilton Hotel, Chicago, IL, 60605, USA
720 South Michigan Avenue,
Hilton Hotel, Chicago, IL, USA, 60605
Accents Plus
601 Davis Street, Evanston, IL, 60201, USA
601 Davis Street, Evanston, IL, USA, 60201
500 West Madison Street, Ogilvie Transportation Center, Chicago, IL, 60661, USA
500 West Madison Street,
Ogilvie Transportation Center, Chicago, IL, USA, 60661
Picardy Shoe Parlour
11035 North Port Washington Road, Mequon Pavilions Shopping Center, Mequon, WI, 53092, USA
11035 North Port Washington Road,
Mequon Pavilions Shopping Center, Mequon, WI, USA, 53092
Milwaukee Art Museum Store
700 North Art Museum Drive, Milwaukee, WI, 53202, USA
700 North Art Museum Drive, Milwaukee, WI, USA, 53202
1515 Sheridan Road, Suite 25, Plaza del Lago, Wilmette, IL, 60091, USA
1515 Sheridan Road,
Suite 25, Plaza del Lago, Wilmette, IL, USA, 60091
241 North Broadway, Suite 1B, Milwaukee, WI, 53202, USA
241 North Broadway,
Suite 1B, Milwaukee, WI, USA, 53202
4161 North Lincoln Avenue, Chicago, IL, 60618, USA
4161 North Lincoln Avenue, Chicago, IL, USA, 60618
DeBerge's
2008 63rd Street, Kenosha, WI, 53143, USA
2008 63rd Street, Kenosha, WI, USA, 53143
Hoypoloi Gallery
2140 Monroe Street, Chicago, IL, 60612, USA
2140 Monroe Street, Chicago, IL, USA, 60612
Mattie M
990 Green Bay Road, Winnetka, IL, 60093, USA
990 Green Bay Road, Winnetka, IL, USA, 60093
1882 Sheridan Road, Highland Park, IL, 60035, USA
1882 Sheridan Road, Highland Park, IL, USA, 60035
Citywoods
651 Central Avenue, Highland Park, IL, 60035, USA
651 Central Avenue, Highland Park, IL, USA, 60035
The Villager Gift Shop
2007 Ridge road, Homewood, IL, 60430, USA
2007 Ridge road, Homewood, IL, USA, 60430
7532 West State Street, Wauwatosa, WI, 53213, USA
7532 West State Street, Wauwatosa, WI, USA, 53213
Team Blonde
7442 West Madison Street, Forest Park, IL, 60130, USA
7442 West Madison Street, Forest Park, IL, USA, 60130
Robin's Nest
16389 Main Street, N89, Menomonee Falls, WI, 53051, USA
16389 Main Street,
N89, Menomonee Falls, WI, USA, 53051
3626 Walton Way Ext. Suite 500, Augusta, GA, 30909, USA
3626 Walton Way Ext. Suite 500, Augusta, GA, USA, 30909
Chicago O'Hare International, Terminal 2, Concourse E, Gate E-3, Chicago, IL, 60666, USA
Chicago O'Hare International,
Terminal 2, Concourse E, Gate E-3, Chicago, IL, USA, 60666
Hinsdale Adventist Hospital Gift Shop
120 North Oak Street, Hinsdale, IL, 60521, USA
120 North Oak Street, Hinsdale, IL, USA, 60521
Old Sautee Store
2315 Highway 17, Sautee Nacoochee, GA, 30571, USA
2315 Highway 17, Sautee Nacoochee, GA, USA, 30571
Gia Haute & Home
45 South Washington Street, Hinsdale, IL, 60521, USA
45 South Washington Street, Hinsdale, IL, USA, 60521
Alexian Brothers Medical Center Gift Shop
800 Biesterfield Road, Elk Grove Village, IL, 60007, USA
800 Biesterfield Road, Elk Grove Village, IL, USA, 60007
Grace & Glory Uptown
1029 Boundary Street, Suite A, Beaufort, SC, 29902, USA
1029 Boundary Street,
Suite A, Beaufort, SC, USA, 29902
St. Alexius Medical Center Shop
1555 Barrington Road, Main entrance, Hoffman Estates, IL, 60169, USA
1555 Barrington Road,
Main entrance, Hoffman Estates, IL, USA, 60169
Willow Gift & Home
3500 Hulman Street, Terre Haute, IN, 47803, USA
3500 Hulman Street, Terre Haute, IN, USA, 47803
1600 Main Street, Hilton Head Island, SC, 29926, USA
1600 Main Street, Hilton Head Island, SC, USA, 29926
Evernia
219 West State Street, Geneva, IL, 60134, USA
219 West State Street, Geneva, IL, USA, 60134
Naked South Boutique
9924 Davis St #4, Braselton, GA, 30517, USA
9924 Davis St #4, Braselton, GA, USA, 30517
13 Secrets
426 East Oglethorpe Avenue, Savannah, GA, 31401, USA
426 East Oglethorpe Avenue, Savannah, GA, USA, 31401
Aurum Jewelry and Art
1051 Parkside Commons , Suite 101, Greensboro, GA, 30642, USA
1051 Parkside Commons ,
Suite 101, Greensboro, GA, USA, 30642
Wild Flower Boutique
2809 Lincoln Avenue, Suite 124, Evansville, IN, 47714, USA
2809 Lincoln Avenue,
Suite 124, Evansville, IN, USA, 47714
Potpourri of Sandy Springs
227 Sandy Springs Place Northeast, Suite 374, CityWalk Sandy Springs, Atlanta, GA, 30328, USA
227 Sandy Springs Place Northeast,
Suite 374, CityWalk Sandy Springs, Atlanta, GA, USA, 30328
Squash Blossom Boutique
113 E Court Square, Decatur, GA, 30032, USA
113 E Court Square, Decatur, GA, USA, 30032
22 E Church St, Cartersville, GA, 30120, USA
22 E Church St, Cartersville, GA, USA, 30120
Pearl Luvs Earl
2308 North 3rd Street, Wausau, WI, 54403, USA
2308 North 3rd Street, Wausau, WI, USA, 54403
1017 Park Street, Jacksonville, FL, 32204, USA
1017 Park Street, Jacksonville, FL, USA, 32204
Jule Collins Smith Museum Of Fine Art Shop
901 South College Street, Auburn, AL, 36849-0001, USA
901 South College Street, Auburn, AL, USA, 36849-0001
Beverly Ruff Antiques and Linens
2417 Canterbury Road, Beverly Ruff Antiques and Linens, Mountain Brook, AL, 35223, USA
2417 Canterbury Road,
Beverly Ruff Antiques and Linens, Mountain Brook, AL, USA, 35223
2000 Reverend Abraham Woods Jr Blvd., Birmingham, AL, 35203, USA
2000 Reverend Abraham Woods Jr Blvd., Birmingham, AL, USA, 35203
6 North Main Street, Rice Lake, WI, 54868, USA
6 North Main Street, Rice Lake, WI, USA, 54868
The Queen Bees
2732 North Highland Avenue, Jackson , TN, 38305, USA
2732 North Highland Avenue, Jackson , TN, USA, 38305
Northcutts On Main
1774 West Main Street, Dothan, AL, 36301, USA
1774 West Main Street, Dothan, AL, USA, 36301
Modernism Museum Shoppe
144 East 4th Avenue, Mount Dora, FL, 32757, USA
144 East 4th Avenue, Mount Dora, FL, USA, 32757
Coco's Gallery and Boutique
402 Brevard Avenue, Cocoa, FL, 32922, USA
402 Brevard Avenue, Cocoa, FL, USA, 32922
Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art Shop
445 North Park Avenue, Winter Park, FL, 32789, USA
445 North Park Avenue, Winter Park, FL, USA, 32789
Peacocks and Pearls
404 North Gloster, Tupelo, MS, 38804, USA
404 North Gloster, Tupelo, MS, USA, 38804
Luya shoes and other fine things
236 S Main St, Zumbrota, MN, 55992, USA
236 S Main St, Zumbrota, MN, USA, 55992
524 2nd St, Hudson, WI, 54016, USA
524 2nd St, Hudson, WI, USA, 54016
6150 Poplar Avenue, Suite 116, Regalia Shopping Center, Memphis, TN, 38119, USA
6150 Poplar Avenue,
Suite 116, Regalia Shopping Center, Memphis, TN, USA, 38119
Paper Patisserie
366 Selby Avenue, Saint Paul, MN, 55102, USA
366 Selby Avenue, Saint Paul, MN, USA, 55102
957 Grand Avenue, Saint Paul, MN, 55105, USA
957 Grand Avenue, Saint Paul, MN, USA, 55105
Fawbush's
3420 Galleria, Edina, MN, 55435, USA
3420 Galleria, Edina, MN, USA, 55435
Suzette's on the Rocks
400 Indian Rocks Road North, Belleair Bluffs, FL, 33770, USA
400 Indian Rocks Road North, Belleair Bluffs, FL, USA, 33770
2725 Ingersoll Avenue, Des Moines, IA, 50312, USA
2725 Ingersoll Avenue, Des Moines, IA, USA, 50312
Sunbug
141 West Venice Avenue, Venice, FL, 34285, USA
141 West Venice Avenue, Venice, FL, USA, 34285
The Art of Fashion and Moore
2267 First Street, Suite 12, Fort Myers, FL, 33901, USA
2267 First Street,
Suite 12, Fort Myers, FL, USA, 33901
Nichole's Collection at Town & Lake
25148 East Main Street, Nisswa, MN, 56468, USA
25148 East Main Street, Nisswa, MN, USA, 56468
Cybele's
382 Fairhope Avenue, Fairhope, AL, 36532, USA
382 Fairhope Avenue, Fairhope, AL, USA, 36532
M & F Casuals
17070 Scenic Highway, Suite 98, Point Clear , AL, 36564, USA
17070 Scenic Highway,
Suite 98, Point Clear , AL, USA, 36564
EPS - Dorothy Maynard D 6257
8260 NW 14th St., Miami, FL, 33191, USA
8260 NW 14th St., Miami, FL, USA, 33191
Jami's
26811 South Bay Drive , Suite 136, The Promenade at Bonita Bay, Bonita Springs, FL, 34134, USA
26811 South Bay Drive ,
Suite 136, The Promenade at Bonita Bay, Bonita Springs, FL, USA, 34134
Johnny Ruth
181 Water Street, St. John's, NL, A1C 1B1, Canada
181 Water Street, St. John's, NL, Canada, A1C 1B1
Scarlet Pearl Casino
9380 Central Avenue, D'Iberville, MS, 39540, USA
9380 Central Avenue, D'Iberville, MS, USA, 39540
Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art
4420 Warwick Blvd, Kansas City, MO, 64111, USA
4420 Warwick Blvd, Kansas City, MO, USA, 64111
Blue Monarch
120 West Main Street, Suite 102, Vermillion, SD, 57069, USA
120 West Main Street,
Suite 102, Vermillion, SD, USA, 57069
749 Saint Mary's Road, Winnipeg, MB, R2M 3N6, Canada
749 Saint Mary's Road, Winnipeg, MB, Canada, R2M 3N6
Tara Davis Studio Boutique
246 McDermot Avenue, Winnipeg, MB, R3B 0S5, Canada
246 McDermot Avenue, Winnipeg, MB, Canada, R3B 0S5
House of Broussard
100 West Main Street, Broussard, LA, 70518, USA
100 West Main Street, Broussard, LA, USA, 70518
Shelmerdine Garden Center
7800 Roblin Blvd, Headingley, MB, R4H 1B6, Canada
7800 Roblin Blvd, Headingley, MB, Canada, R4H 1B6
The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth Shop
3200 Darnell Street, Fort Worth, TX, 76107, USA
3200 Darnell Street, Fort Worth, TX, USA, 76107
Feather your Nest
3500 Jefferson Street, Suite 120, Austin, TX, 78731, USA
3500 Jefferson Street,
Suite 120, Austin, TX, USA, 78731
Blanton Museum Shop
200 East Martin Luther King Junior Blvd, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, 78701, USA
200 East Martin Luther King Junior Blvd,
The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA, 78701
Meyer's Department Store
200 Main Street North, Watford City, ND, 58854, USA
200 Main Street North, Watford City, ND, USA, 58854
Studio S Fashion House
3221 Quance Street East, Regina, SK, S4V 3B7, Canada
3221 Quance Street East, Regina, SK, Canada, S4V 3B7
Four and Twenty Blackbirds
505 Main Street, Windsor, CO, 80550, USA
505 Main Street, Windsor, CO, USA, 80550
100 West 14th Avenue Parkway, Denver, CO, 80204, USA
100 West 14th Avenue Parkway, Denver, CO, USA, 80204
Jillian's Design Elements
621 Main Street North, Moose Jaw, SK, S6H 0W6, Canada
621 Main Street North, Moose Jaw, SK, Canada, S6H 0W6
Mixx Projects Atelier
307 E Colorado Ave P.O. Box 3567, Telluride, CO, 81435, USA
307 E Colorado Ave P.O. Box 3567, Telluride, CO, USA, 81435
7039 North Oracle Road, Contact: Moriah, Tucson, AZ, 85704, USA
7039 North Oracle Road,
Contact: Moriah, Tucson, AZ, USA, 85704
5001 50th Street, Camrose, AB, T4V 1R3, Canada
5001 50th Street, Camrose, AB, Canada, T4V 1R3
8787 North Scottsdale Road , Suite 222, The Shops at Gainey Village (Contact: Sue), Scottsdale, AZ, 85253, USA
8787 North Scottsdale Road ,
Suite 222, The Shops at Gainey Village (Contact: Sue), Scottsdale, AZ, USA, 85253
6560 North Scottdale Road, Suite 115, Scottsdale, AZ, 85253, USA
6560 North Scottdale Road,
Suite 115, Scottsdale, AZ, USA, 85253
Arizona Biltmore Resort
2400 East Missouri Avenue, Phoenix, AZ, 85016, USA
2400 East Missouri Avenue, Phoenix, AZ, USA, 85016
Virtu Boutique
5004 50th Street, Beaumont, AB, T4X 1E6, Canada
5004 50th Street, Beaumont, AB, Canada, T4X 1E6
2 Sir Winston Churchill Square, Edmonton, AB, T5J 2C1, Canada
2 Sir Winston Churchill Square, Edmonton, AB, Canada, T5J 2C1
Blu's Womens Wear
4719 101 Street NW, BDC, Edmonton, AB, T6E 5C6, Canada
4719 101 Street NW,
BDC, Edmonton, AB, Canada, T6E 5C6
C'est Sera
8239 104th Street Northwest, Edmonton, AB, T6E 4E7, Canada
8239 104th Street Northwest, Edmonton, AB, Canada, T6E 4E7
Harlow Crestwood
9676 142 Street, Crestwood Centre, Edmonton, AB, T5N 4B2, Canada
Crestwood Centre, Edmonton, AB, Canada, T5N 4B2
Side Street Fashion & Accessories
3310 50 Avenue, Cambridge Red Deer Hotel & convention center, Red Deer, AB, T4N 3X9, Canada
Cambridge Red Deer Hotel & convention center, Red Deer, AB, Canada, T4N 3X9
Blue Moon Accessories
10816 Macleod Trail Southeast, Suite 210, Willow Park Village, Calgary, AB, T2J 5N8, Canada
10816 Macleod Trail Southeast,
Suite 210, Willow Park Village, Calgary, AB, Canada, T2J 5N8
BraTopia West Inc.
206 1409 Edmonton Tr. NE, Calgary, AB, T2E 3K8, Canada
206 1409 Edmonton Tr. NE, Calgary, AB, Canada, T2E 3K8
Glenbow Museum Shop
130 9th Avenue Southeast, Ground Floor, Calgary, AB, T2G 0P3, Canada
130 9th Avenue Southeast,
Ground Floor, Calgary, AB, Canada, T2G 0P3
313 19th Street Northwest, Calgary, AB, T2N 2J2, Canada
313 19th Street Northwest, Calgary, AB, Canada, T2N 2J2
Something2Wear
326 Aspen Glen Landing Southeast, Unit 118, Calgary, AB, T3H 0N5, Canada
326 Aspen Glen Landing Southeast,
Unit 118, Calgary, AB, Canada, T3H 0N5
The Best Little Wordhouse In The West
7 Balsam Avenue, Suite 208, Calgary, AB, T0L 0K0, Canada
7 Balsam Avenue,
Suite 208, Calgary, AB, Canada, T0L 0K0
Boutique Nine
5005 Dalhousie Drive Northwest , Suite 135, Dalhousie Station Shopping Centre, Calgary, AB, T3A 5R8, Canada
5005 Dalhousie Drive Northwest ,
Suite 135, Dalhousie Station Shopping Centre, Calgary, AB, Canada, T3A 5R8
210 8560 8A Ave. SW, Calgary, AB, T3H 1T1, Canada
210 8560 8A Ave. SW, Calgary, AB, Canada, T3H 1T1
Eclectica Fashion
5012 50th Street, Sylvan Lake, AB, T4S 1M5, Canada
5012 50th Street, Sylvan Lake, AB, Canada, T4S 1M5
Toccata for Her
721 Main Street, Suite 108, Canmore, AB, T1W 2B2, Canada
Suite 108, Canmore, AB, Canada, T1W 2B2
Whyte Museum Of The Canadian Rockies Shop
111 Bear Street, Banff, AB, T1L 1A3, Canada
111 Bear Street, Banff, AB, Canada, T1L 1A3
La Quinta Resort Resort & Club
499 Eisenhower Drive, Unit 49, La Quinta, CA, 92253, USA
499 Eisenhower Drive,
Unit 49, La Quinta, CA, USA, 92253
1500 Orange Avenue, att. Accounts Payable, Coronado, CA, 92118, USA
1500 Orange Avenue,
att. Accounts Payable, Coronado, CA, USA, 92118
Marla June's Clothing Company
5215 W Clearwater Ave #101, Kennewick, WA, 99336, USA
5215 W Clearwater Ave #101, Kennewick, WA, USA, 99336
Lady Chadderton's
8318 Main St. , Box 984, Osoyoos, BC, V0H 1V0, Canada
8318 Main St. ,
Box 984, Osoyoos, BC, Canada, V0H 1V0
KoLu
1950 Harvey Avenue, Suite 115, Spall Plaza, Kelowna, BC, V1Y 8G6, Canada
1950 Harvey Avenue,
Suite 115, Spall Plaza, Kelowna, BC, Canada, V1Y 8G6
447 Bernard Avenue, Kelowna, BC, V1Y 6N8, Canada
447 Bernard Avenue, Kelowna, BC, Canada, V1Y 6N8
Autry Museum of American West
4700 Western Heritage Way, Los Angeles, CA, 90027, USA
4700 Western Heritage Way, Los Angeles, CA, USA, 90027
Craft & Folk Art Museum Shop
5814 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA, 90036, USA
5814 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA, USA, 90036
Sass Boutique
10118 Main Street, Summerland, BC, V0H 1Z0, Canada
10118 Main Street, Summerland, BC, Canada, V0H 1Z0
1130 State street, Santa Barbara, CA, 93101, USA
1130 State street, Santa Barbara, CA, USA, 93101
Birkenstock Midtown
2612 J Street, Sacramento, CA, 95816, USA
2612 J Street, Sacramento, CA, USA, 95816
320 Broadway St., Chico, CA, 95928, USA
320 Broadway St., Chico, CA, USA, 95928
Museo Gallery
215 First Street, Langley, WA, 98260, USA
215 First Street, Langley, WA, USA, 98260
212 Homer Avenue, Contact: Diane, Palo Alto, CA, 94301, USA
212 Homer Avenue,
Contact: Diane, Palo Alto, CA, USA, 94301
Marita's Boutique
551 Lighthouse Avenue, Pacific Grove, CA, 93950, USA
551 Lighthouse Avenue, Pacific Grove, CA, USA, 93950
Jolie By The Sea
South Ocean between MonteVerde & Lincoln, South Ocean, Carmel, CA, 93921, USA
South Ocean between MonteVerde & Lincoln,
South Ocean, Carmel, CA, USA, 93921
2108 Vine Street, Berkeley, CA, 94709, USA
2108 Vine Street, Berkeley, CA, USA, 94709
2111 Vine Street, Contact: Sherry, Berkeley, CA, 94709, USA
2111 Vine Street,
Contact: Sherry, Berkeley, CA, USA, 94709
1799 Fourth Street, (store) Contact: Kay, Berkeley, CA, 94710, USA
1799 Fourth Street,
(store) Contact: Kay, Berkeley, CA, USA, 94710
Edge Fashion
15223 Pacific Avenue, Unit 7A, White Rock, BC, V4B 1P8, Canada
15223 Pacific Avenue,
Unit 7A, White Rock, BC, Canada, V4B 1P8
J. James Sonoma
122 East Napa Street, Sonoma, CA, 95476, USA
122 East Napa Street, Sonoma, CA, USA, 95476
Bison Country Life
1341 Main Street, St. Helena, CA, 94574, USA
1341 Main Street, St. Helena, CA, USA, 94574
Mara Shoes and Fashion
824 Grant Avenue, Novato, CA, 94945, USA
824 Grant Avenue, Novato, CA, USA, 94945
3080 Edgemont Blvd, North Vancouver, BC, V7R 2N4, Canada
3080 Edgemont Blvd, North Vancouver, BC, Canada, V7R 2N4
Artina's Jewellery
387 Water Street, Vancouver, BC, V6B 1B8, Canada
387 Water Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada, V6B 1B8
Vancouver Art Gallery Store
750 Hornby Street, Vancouver, BC, V6Z 2H7, Canada
750 Hornby Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada, V6Z 2H7
Mia Bella Boutique
1666 Johnston Street, Unit 3, Granville Island, Vancouver, BC, V6H 3S2, Canada
1666 Johnston Street,
Unit 3, Granville Island, Vancouver, BC, Canada, V6H 3S2
Eclectic Gallery
2170 Oak Bay Avenue, Victoria, BC, V8R 1E9, Canada
2170 Oak Bay Avenue, Victoria, BC, Canada, V8R 1E9
Runway Fashions
702 Douglas Street, Victoria, BC, V8W 3M6, Canada
702 Douglas Street, Victoria, BC, Canada, V8W 3M6
Something More
5325 Cordova Bay Road, Suite 127, Mattick's Farm Shopping Centre, Victoria, BC, V8Y 2L3, Canada
5325 Cordova Bay Road,
Suite 127, Mattick's Farm Shopping Centre, Victoria, BC, Canada, V8Y 2L3
Out of The Blue Boutique
455 Bowen Trunk Road, Suite 22, Bowen Island, BC, V0N 1G0, Canada
455 Bowen Trunk Road,
Suite 22, Bowen Island, BC, Canada, V0N 1G0
Frankly Scarlet Jewellery
115 Fulford-Ganges Road, Suite 1104, Grace Point Square, Salt Spring Island, BC, V8K 2T9, Canada
115 Fulford-Ganges Road,
Suite 1104, Grace Point Square, Salt Spring Island, BC, Canada, V8K 2T9
Palmeros
5514 Wharf Avenue, Sechelt, BC, V0N 3A0, Canada
5514 Wharf Avenue, Sechelt, BC, Canada, V0N 3A0
180 Commercial Street, Nanaimo, BC, V9R 5G6, Canada
180 Commercial Street, Nanaimo, BC, Canada, V9R 5G6
1336 Bay Street, Florence, OR, 97439-9649, USA
1336 Bay Street, Florence, OR, USA, 97439-9649
Penny Tyme Fashions
442 Duncan Avenue, Suite D, Courtenay, BC, V9N 7J5, Canada
442 Duncan Avenue,
Suite D, Courtenay, BC, Canada, V9N 7J5
Mai des Lys
16, rue Dr Verron, Epernay, 51200, France
16, rue Dr Verron, Epernay, France, 51200
7, rue du Général de Gaulle, Héricourt, 70400, France
7, rue du Général de Gaulle, Héricourt, France, 70400
Röser & Zillekens GmbH
Kirchenstraße 33, Ladenburg, 68526, Germany
Kirchenstraße 33, Ladenburg, Germany, 68526
Julius Staudt Kunstgewerbe Gmbh
Fürther Freiheit 2-4, Fürth, Bavaria, D-90762, Germany
Fürther Freiheit 2-4, Fürth, Bavaria, Germany, D-90762
Peter Bijoux
Sparkassenstraße 21, Merano, BZ, 1-39012, Italia
Sparkassenstraße 21, Merano, BZ, Italia, 1-39012
Grand Wailea Resort
3850 Wailea Alanui Drive, Wailea, HI, 96753, USA
3850 Wailea Alanui Drive, Wailea, HI, USA, 96753
Showroom Equip, designer jewelry multi-brand
Нижний Сусальный переулок, д.5,, стр.5А, бизнес-квартал АРМА, Москва, 105064, Russia
Нижний Сусальный переулок, д.5,,
стр.5А, бизнес-квартал АРМА, Москва, Russia, 105064
Vice Jewelry
204 Al Tayer Building , c/o Al Ayali General Trading, Al Riffa, Bur Dubai, Dubai, UAE
204 Al Tayer Building ,
c/o Al Ayali General Trading, Al Riffa, Bur Dubai, UAE, Dubai
3-8-19 Ebara, Shinagawa-ku, room #307, Tokyo, 142-0063, Japon
3-8-19 Ebara,
Shinagawa-ku, room #307, Tokyo, Japon, 142-0063
Professionnal tradeshows
Studio, workshops and boutique
5333, Casgrain Ave., studio 502
Montréal (Quebec) Canada, H2T 1X3
International: +00 1 514 844-4305
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Football All-American Gage Larvadain having immediate impact for Southeastern hoops
Southland conference Freshman of the Year and Freshman All-American honors is a full season for most college football players. For Southeastern's Gage Larvadain, it's just the...
The No. 12 LSU Women's Basketball team defeated...
13-year-old boy struck by falling bullet dies at Chicago hospital
4 years 6 months 1 week ago Sunday, July 09 2017 Jul 9, 2017 July 09, 2017 6:30 PM July 09, 2017 in News
Photo: ABC7 Chicago
CHICAGO - Authorities say a 13-year-old Indiana boy has died after being struck by a falling bullet that was likely fired into the sky by someone in a nearby community.
WMAQ-TV reports that Noah Inman was playing basketball on July 1 when he suddenly fell to the ground in Hammond, Indiana. The city is about 25 miles south of Chicago.
Witnesses called an ambulance, thinking he'd suffered a seizure. Hospital workers soon discovered he'd been hit by a falling bullet.
Noah was flown to a Chicago hospital. On Friday, he was pronounced dead by the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office.
Police say an investigation determined the bullet had likely been fired skyward, like fireworks. It's illegal to discharge a weapon within Hammond's city limits.
The case remains under investigation.
Gage Larvadain staying busy while doing two sports at Southeastern | {
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Latest News About Black Holes
In a typical star, nuclear fusion is liable for generation of vitality and pressure. This is an outward strain that neutralizes the gravitational pull created by the star's personal mass.
Related Space Facts:
But the mathematics of black holes was extremely complex. Many researchers believed they have been nothing greater than mathematical artefacts, current solely on paper.
Two gaseous clouds resembling peacocks have been found in neighboring dwarf galaxy the Large Magellanic Cloud. In these photographs by the ALMA telescopes, purple and inexperienced spotlight molecular gas while blue exhibits ionized hydrogen gasoline. A shut-up view of an interstellar comet passing by way of our photo voltaic system may be seen on the left. On the best, astronomers used an image of Earth for comparability.
NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope captured the Tarantula Nebula in two wavelengths of infrared mild. The purple represents sizzling fuel, while the blue regions are interstellar dust. This is an artist's impression of two white dwarfs within the strategy of merging. While astronomers anticipated that this may cause a supernova, they have found an instance of two white dwarf stars that survived merging.
This type of explosion is referred to as a fast blue optical transient. The afterglow of brief gamma ray burst that was detected 10 billion gentle-years away is shown right here in a circle. The purple supergiant star Betelgeuse, in the constellation of Orion, skilled unprecedented dimming late in 2019.
The more telescopes within the array that are extensively spaced, the higher the image decision.
Learning about mysterious constructions in the universe supplies perception into physics and permits us to test observation strategies and theories, such as Einstein's principle of basic relativity.
Its unique capabilities are revolutionizing astronomy as Hubble continues humanity's quest to explore the universe.
With imaginative and prescient that spans the ultraviolet by way of visible and into the near infrared, Hubble investigates every thing from black holes to planets round other stars.
After the supernova explosion, fusion response is totally absent. When a star dies and this explosion occurs, the majority of the whole mass of star is thrown out into the void of the house whereas solely a chilly remnant stays back. This remaining part of the star doesn't experience any fusion reaction that used to provide it life. The imaging methods used to capture the photograph reveal that the supermassive black hole has a hoop-like structure and a shadow, which is represented by a darkish central area.
Planets round a photo voltaic-mass stars can develop until they start accreting gas and turn into large planets similar to Jupiter, in a couple of millions of years. But we thought that small stars such asProxima, TRAPPIST-1, TeegardernÕs star and GJ 3512, could not form Jupiter mass planets. This is an artist's illustration of what a Neptune-size moon would appear to be orbiting the gasoline giant exoplanet Kepler-1625b in a star system 8,000 mild-years from Earth. The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array captured this unprecedented image of two circumstellar disks, in which child stars are rising, feeding off material from their surrounding birth disk.
It took researchers a long time to realise they might persist in the actual world. With the new 'black hole Sun' having the same mass as the original Sun, the gravitational pull on Earth will stay the same. Black Holes are very very similar to spheres and not funnels as illustrated in many text books.
This image was taken in January utilizing the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope. For greater than 50 years, physicists had suspected that there could also be a black hole at the centre of the Milky Way. But the know-how needed to catch up earlier than this idea might be demonstrated.
Hidden Sources Of Mysterious Cosmic Neutrinos Seen On Earth
This is an artist's illustration of a brown dwarf, or a "failed star" object, and its magnetic field. The brown dwarf's environment and magnetic subject rotate at different speeds, which allowed astronomers to find out wind pace on the item. A bright yellow "twist" near the center of this picture reveals where a planet may be forming around the AB Aurigae star. The image was captured by the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope. A new kind of explosion was present in a tiny galaxy 500 million gentle-years away from Earth.
about, black, holes, latest
8 Free Online Courses That You Learn From Home
Ultrasound Exams | {
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Photocopies, Patents, and Knowledge Transfer: "The Uneasy Case" of Justice Breyer's Patentable Subject Matter Jurisprudence
Dmitry Karshtedt
One aspect of Justice Stephen Breyer's discomfort with patents, as expressed in his opinion for the Supreme Court in Mayo v. Prometheus and his dissent from the order dismissing certiorari in LabCorp v. Metabolite, is strikingly similar to one of his critiques of copyright law in The Uneasy Case for Copyright, a well-known article he wrote as Professor Breyer more than forty-five years ago. In The Uneasy Case, Breyer argued that the burdens on duplication of technical articles imposed by copyright law restrict the flow of information and prevent scientists from enjoying spillover benefits of published research. His patent opinions on the Supreme Court, too, talk of diminished access to information resulting from intellectual property protection. In this Article, I contend that the parallel that Justice Breyer implicitly draws between the harms of copyright and patent is a questionable one. In particular, Justice Breyer's opinions on patentable subject matter do not address the notion that inducement of disclosure and dissemination of information is one of the very purposes of patent law, nor the idea that there are many noninfringing uses of information contained in patents. I argue that these omissions may provide an insight into Justice Breyer's patent law jurisprudence-particularly, the recent reinvigoration of limits on patentable subject matter in his opinion for the Court in Mayo.
Dmitry Karshtedt, Photocopies, Patents, and Knowledge Transfer: "The Uneasy Case" of Justice Breyer's Patentable Subject Matter Jurisprudence, 69 Vanderbilt Law Review 1739 (2016) | {
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Category: Sons of Sol
What a crazy year! For the world, for the game industry, for games culture, in my own personal life and for RetroNeo Games.
I really can't pick a topic for this month so I'm free-styling a bit.
There's no shortage of topics to choose from.
It's been the year of the Loot Crate, but that's been done to death. Even my blog of lost month dealt with it indirectly.
Relatedly, EA has been seeing nothing but negative headlines all year even apart from the Loot Crate issues, due to Mass Effect Andromeda, closing Visceral Games (and shutting down the single-player Star Wars project), and more, but I don't really see the fun in rehashing that out.
Reportedly, the new Assassin's Creed was great and sold twice what its predecessor did (proving the benefit in breaking the yearly release cycle), but I haven't played it so I can't really talk about it.
Horizon: Zero Dawn is one of the top games of the year, but I haven't a PS4 so I can't speak about that either (borrowing one is top of my to-do list though).
The Nintendo Switch is doing far better than anyone expected, and Zelda and Mario are another two game of the year contenders, but I've no Switch so I haven't played them either.
One thing I can say is that I was wrong in my predictions of this time last year that the big shooters would be 50% off again this Christmas. The sale prices this season on Battlefront "2" (it's 4, really) and Call of Duty are decidedly more conservative, with only Wolfenstein 2 being discounted all the way down to 50%.
Today's news that a man was killed in Kansas during a swatting "prank" is very newsworthy but I don't exactly want to end the year on that note. Though I will link to the PC Gamer article. An arrest was made, at least. Conventional wisdom is to keep your business channel quiet on anything political or controversial, but I don't fully subscribe to that idea. If something is plainly wrong and needs opposing, then staying silent helps the offenders, not the victims. I hope the perpetrator goes to prison for a very long time. I personally can't believe that the 'set an example' harsh sentencing of another swatting case last year didn't stop swatting in its tracks. In that case, police non-fatally shot the swatting victim. The perpetrator, a teenager, was charged with domestic terrorism and given a heavy sentence (if I recall correctly. I can't find the older articles today as the current tragedy is dominating the search results). He cried for his mother as he left the court room.
Anyway, now a man is dead, and we have toxic gaming culture and manchild streamers to thank.
That segues into a personal note. I like coding, and I like creating, so making games is a great fit for me, but looking at the problems of the world this year, and then looking at the types of people I'm creating disposable content for (whiney sexists & racists and swatting scumbags) really turned my stomach all of a sudden. I've struggled with feelings of anger, frustration, and depression on and off for years. While I'm coming through it, I used to use playing games as escapism, and making games as my way of fitting into the world productively.
Lately, though, I've felt an urge to help the world more directly. To stop contributing to distractions and start taking positive action – whether that be for charity, fighting toxic gamer culture, or something else. I've wrestled with the idea of leaving this industry (that I've fought very hard to become a part of – more on this next month) and beginning a coaching practice to get unhappy young men out of their gaming escapism and give them meaning and purpose. Then, as fate would have it, a couple of amazing opportunities came my way from the games industry and so I've stayed – though I still feel the call to do more. As I said, more on this next month.
I want to update the world on what all of that previous bullet point has meant for Sons of Sol, but, next month.
I've also barely played any games in the last 5 months (reasons next month, again) and when I do I've only managed to enjoy the ones that I know I can beat in an evening, like What Remains of Edith Finch or Tacoma. Just why this is, I've a few ideas on, but that's a blog I'll write another time.
I was seriously looking forward to Wolfenstein 2 as I loved the original remake, but after a few hours playing it over Christmas, I was just stressed by playing it, which defeats the purpose. Great game though, and I'm all for its themes and marketing. Would like to hear if other non-parent gamers (because the reasons for parents not having time are obvious) experience the same thing.
Click for short video.
My main goal for Christmas (and my reward for the year) was to play through XCOM 2: War of the Chosen, along with several other games, but with it more than half over I feel I've barely started.
I asked a friend who's staying over what I should blog about, and she said to write about "how to find more time to play games". Together we joked that the first thing in the article would be "stop writing blogs"!
So, I'm actually just going to go with that and stop this one here!
Happy New Year to all of you fine readers, especially the regulars. Thank you. Your support is greatly appreciated, especially the notes or the comments when we meet in person. They keep me going.
I've a lot more life changes coming up shortly and some Sons of Sol questions to be resolved in the next month, so I'll fill in all the blanks next time. It'll be a sort of a follow-up to the quite-popular first blog I wrote after starting full-time development on Sons of Sol.
So, until next time…
Author Kevin MurphyPosted on December 30, 2017 Categories Announcements, Development, Industry, Sons of Sol, ViolenceTags Game Industry, Sons of Sol, swattingLeave a comment on 2017's over! So… games…
Greenlight turning red!
It's February 28th, 2017. Last day of the month, second day of GDC (the Game Developer's Conference in San Francisco), and our Greenlight campaign for Sons of Sol (please vote here) is 15 days old, but was born prematurely. The original due date was approximately February 26th.
So this month's blog is a bit more personal than usual as a major industry change affects RetroNeo Games directly.
What is Greenlight?
If you already know, consider skipping this section, but to sum it up quickly; Valve are the company behind Steam, an online digital storefront responsible for 90+% of all PC games sales. If you want to have a business that develops PC games, you need to be on Steam, basically.
Up until 2012, it was very hard to get on the store because each game was vetted on its way through to the platform. This takes time and so the bigger titles from bigger studios/publishers were prioritised. That's probably an oversimplification, but it'll do..
In August 2012, Steam Greenlight launched. It's a process where first-time developers pay $100 to place a game on a community voting subsection of Steam, called Greenlight. They can't sell their game from here, but instead throw up early videos, screenshots and a description of what the game will be, and the community vote on whether or not they would buy the game if it became available on the actual store.
To this day, nobody really knows what it takes to get through. A few thousand votes and waiting a few weeks is a virtual guarantee, but a few hundred can get a completely fake scam game up as well, or see real games languish in limbo.
Even Valve said that it was an imperfect system, and was basically a stop-gap, but it's taken them nearly 5 years to move past it. The theory of crowd-sourcing some quality control and democratising access to the platform was solid enough, but in practice it allowed all sorts of scams and asset flips (where you buy a functioning game prototype or several assets, intended for learning or fast prototyping, then try to sell that as an original game on Steam with a minimum of effort to get from A to B) to flood the store and give Greenlight a bad name.
Broforce was one early Greenlight mega-success.
To be sure, Greenlight is also how the real indie successes got through to Steam as well ("over 100 Greenlight titles that have made at least $1 Million each" – do the math on that!), whereas before they may never have had a platform to be noticed, but the rubbish gets through as well. Greenlight has done a lot of good, but it's broken, with all sorts of workarounds (trading game keys for votes, for example) gumming up the gears of a well-intentioned system.
There are community groups and YouTube channels like Jim Sterling dedicated to highlighting the scams.
Red Light for Greenlight
On Friday February 10th, Valve announced that it would be shutting down Steam Greenlight forever "this Spring" and replacing it with Steam Direct, a system that does away with the community involvement in favour of a verification process "similar to setting up a bank account" and then a recoupable fee for each game submitted. Greenlight used to allow the same developer to submit additional games for free once their first had passed through.
This is intended to reduce "noise in the submission pipeline", which most would agree is a desirable goal. The problem is how much the fee will be set at, and how exactly it can be recouped. It has to be high enough to dissuade the scam artists, but low enough that legitimate small-time studios (and especially ones based in countries with lower average incomes) can still manage to get their games on Steam.
To be blunt, there is going to be no good number here. Valve are taking feedback and mentioned that they'd been advised on fees ranging between $100 and $5,000! No matter what it is, some scams are going to get through, and some developers are going to fail to get on the store. Since profitable games are meant to be able to recoup the fee, perhaps less well off developers who believe in their game could borrow to pay the fee, but frankly, game development is already very expensive and risky. A high fee here is quite an unwelcome added expense for the little guys.
In true Valve style, they seem to be prepared to make sweeping changes and "listen to the community" (which is good, but also points out that they don't really have a solid plan) just to see what breaks, and fix it later.. well, that's one way to do it, and it's their platform so what can I say?
They're throwing the baby out with the bathwater and waiting to see what the next baby looks like, basically.. and it's not actually the worst idea..
Re-emphasis on publishers
..for them at least. They can set this fee quite high to try and clean up their store. This just means that serious indies will have to go to people with deep pockets to get their games published. Re-enter the publisher!
The Kickstarter revolution (also circa 2012 – for games anyway) meant that games could raise lots of capital from the public, without needing to be beholden to a publisher. But with the success rates for Kickstarter campaigns (for digital games) falling off in the last couple of years, and with a potentially high barrier to entry to the commercial storefront in this Steam Direct fee, we may see the power back in their hands.
Kickstarter changed the way that games are made.. well, some games… a little bit… for a while..
Publisher Raw Fury announced just days after Valve's statement, that they would cover the Steam Direct fee for developers who couldn't afford it, without obligation. They won't own part of the game or anything. Their aim is to develop closer ties with talented developers, and to garner good will and make a bigger name for themselves, generally. That's a great idea, since personally I hadn't heard of them before, and now I think of them as quite a forward-thinking publisher who isn't gunning for your back pocket. Good will earned!
How many others will do the same, or similar? That's when I realised..
Valve's Genius
Raw Fury will obviously be vetting the submissions that they get to try and put through the games most likely to recoup the Steam Direct fee. That means they will be doing quality control for Steam!! Think about that! Valve have just outsourced their quality control department, and Raw Fury will pay Valve for the privilege!
People were long arguing that Valve, a multi-billion dollar corporation that employs approximately only 360 people (2016 figure) should hire more staff to oversee Greenlight submissions. They could most definitely afford it. The number of new Greenlight submissions averaged just a few dozen per day normally. That's certainly something that a small new department could handle. Valve just don't want to say 'no' to anyone truly deserving, or 'yes' to any hate speech or copyrighted material that sneaks by a human worker. They'd prefer instead to let their automated systems take the blame for any missteps.
Again, that's probably fair enough, though.
How this all affects RetroNeo Games
RetroNeo Games' plan was to launch our Greenlight campaign to coincide with our new 'vertical slice' demo of the game that shows off our home carrier, some characters, new sound design and music, and a bit more gameplay. This same demo would be ready for GDC for any publisher or press meetings we might stir up.
But with Valve's announcement that Greenlight would be gone during Spring (when I was in school in Ireland, I was taught that Spring was Feb – Apr, so we were already in it by my count..) and that it would be replaced with a potentially very high pay wall, the team had a quick emergency meeting over Skype on Saturday and decided to shift focus to doing a Greenlight trailer and page, sprucing up the website, and launching by Monday. The trailer would basically be the one we'd released just weeks before but with a Greenlight logo at the end. Previously the plan had been to shoot new footage from a playthrough of a newer demo and put that on the trailer.
We chose to move up our timeline because we knew that hundreds of other developers would be thinking the same way as us, and that the Greenlight servers would be absolutely flooded in a matter of days. We were only a few weeks from our intended launch anyway, so we figured we had an advantage in terms of the quality of the submission that we could make.
It's a pity because I've done a lot of research in the past year (one 2016 Gamasutra blog stood out in particular) as to how to maximise your launch on Greenlight. This included having a playable demo ready, having YouTubers play said demo, try to get press to talk about it, translate the page into multiple languages, and hook up Google Analytics.
Now, just two weeks shy of accomplishing all of this, we had to go off half-cocked. Seeing the green light turning red, we basically had to rev the engine to try and make the amber, because the red might be too expensive to… eh.. this metaphor is falling apart, sorry!
So, without translations, a press mailing list, a MailChimp campaign, or a demo, we launched. About the only thing we did get from our list (because it was the quickest thing to set up) was the ability to take some preorders on the site to prove to certain legal bodies that we're "in commerce". They're still available at the time of writing, heavily discounted, but limited in quantity.
How have we done so far?
Well in the first week we got about 300 votes and made it 18% of the way to the top 100. There's no specific target to meet, but thousands of votes and being in the top 100 is certainly desirable (and normal for games getting through in the past).
The problem is that now, after a second week, we've gotten almost no further!
The reason we wanted all our ducks in a row was to maximise the 'yes' votes while Steam's algorithms were still sending natural traffic to our site. Just by launching, you'll get a certain number of referrals from normal Greenlight users browsing, but after that you're on your own to generate your voting traffic. In normal circumstances, the Steam algorithms send people your way for a few days.
Our natural traffic died off in under 12 hours. That's a measure of just how many other new Greenlight games were going up just 3 days after Valve's announcement. At that stage we were closer to 200 votes. The next 100 votes we got during the first week were basically from friends and colleagues through Facebook and Twitter shares.
I've heard similar stories from many developers who are struggling with the campaign because they were forced to launch early and are just drowned out by the noise.
Our votes after 24 hours
What did we try?
Since the launch I've been working every day for at least 12 hours, but not so much on the Greenlight campaign. Getting the demo ready for GDC to wow press and publishers was still a better priority – after all, nobody knows how many Greenlight votes you really need anyway, nobody knows when Greenlight is actually shutting down, and we had a request from a publisher to see a new build of the game. So, after launch and until yesterday, a new demo was priority number one!
I suspect that once Valve stops taking new submissions for Greenlight, they'll probably let through a lot of what remains in the following weeks, though they have kept their options open by declaring that anyone who has paid the $100 Greenlight fee and who doesn't get through will be reimbursed. So, who knows?..
That doesn't mean that I've ignored Greenlight either, though. Not at all. Over the coming days I ran a tentative €5 Facebook and €5 Twitter ad campaign (well targeted, with video) to see what happened. We got about a dozen clicks total and about 2 new votes. So, probably not worth investing too heavily there, then. One issue is that you have to log in to Steam (if you even have an account) and often have to be emailed a security code for a 'new device' (so sick of doing that!), so anyone clicking a mobile or browser link would not likely be logged into Steam, and probably wouldn't bother doing so.
I got the Greenlight page translated into Russian, Portuguese, Brazilian Portuguese and German. Even though the algorithms had stopped sending us traffic, I hoped that a new language detected might send us users from those territories. It didn't. Absolutely nothing! So I decided not to proceed with French, Spanish and Italian.
I also contacted about two dozen Greenlight community user groups who exist to highlight legitimate Greenlight games. I especially targeted groups interested in space games. We did get included in four collections, but I saw no corresponding increase in traffic to us, unfortunately.
Well, with the GDC demo complete, I now get to turn my attention to contacting proper press outlets and YouTubers. I'm a big fan of grassroots marketing and using your own networks, but having tapped the social circles and developers that I know already we seem to have reached the limits of what that can offer us – namely, 320 votes.
Contacting press and YouTubers is a very low probability game, but one good bit of coverage can do wonders, and there are some existing relationships that I can leverage. That's now the stage that we're at to try and get more votes.
I have confidence in our game, our trailer, our demo, and our team, but we're fighting in an oversaturated market.
This has felt like a bit of a weird blog to write. I often write about the industry somewhat abstractly, but I'm right in the middle of this one, and it's an incomplete story. Greenlight isn't gone yet, we haven't yet been accepted for or refused press coverage, and nobody, including Valve, knows much about Steam Direct yet.
I do hope I can do a positive follow-up to this blog in the near future. Until then, I can just thank you for reading, ask that you vote for us if you haven't yet, and consider sharing our Greenlight campaign with your friends.
Thank you! If you'd like to hear the end of this story, sign up to our mailing list below to be notified when new blogs go live.
I'll leave you with our Greenlight trailer. And don't forget to try our free demo. Download it from the Sons of Sol page.
Emails will be about once per month. We hate spam as much as you do.
Author Kevin MurphyPosted on February 28, 2017 Categories Announcements, Industry, Marketing, Sons of SolTags Greenlight, Sons of Sol, Steam, Steam Direct, Valve7 Comments on Greenlight turning red!
Making Crow's Nest (part 4 of 4): "Sons of Sol" & "Crow's Nest"
I'm still looking for an artist. Can you tell?
Hi! This is Part 3 of me offering some insight into the development of my game, Sons of Sol: Crow's Nest.
In Part 1 I explained my pitch "Asteroids meets Total War".
In Part 2 I talked about the games that are influencing the design of Crow's Nest.
In Part 3 I discussed a design challenge that the game faces.
Now we've reached the final post of this 'Making Crow's Nest' series. You may recall from Part 1 that these four posts were written together and scheduled to post while I was on some down time. Next week I'll be back to blogging on more mainstream game topics.
Today I'm talking about what Sons of Sol and Crow's Nest actually are. This will be a more autobiographical post than normal, so you have been warned. This tale will interweave a little bit with my previous blog on how I got into game development, which I was uneasy about writing but which people seemed to respond very positively to. This won't be as much of downer, though, promise!
Together, "Sons of Sol" and "Crow's Nest" are the working title for the game that I'm working on, which is my (and RetroNeo Games') first game ever. Hopefully there'll be no need to change those names, but these things happen sometimes in development. Better names come along or products with similar names get released before yours.
An Evil Empire
Sons of Sol actually began in 2012 not long after Disney bought Star Wars from George Lucas. I was a life-long Star Wars fan. The films, games, and especially the books. My brother bought me one of the Expanded Universe (EU) novels in 1997 for my 10th birthday; a Han Solo trilogy one. From then and for the next 15 years, 4 out of every 5 books that I read were probably Star Wars books. I loved how the stories interconnected. I loved that a character could be introduced in one book, and survive fifteen fictional years, then be killed off when you least expect it.
There were a lot of bad books in the Expanded Universe, but far more good ones. I loved how you were rewarded for your time by seeing threads of stories affect each other decades apart. The rebels eventually take Coruscant, Han and Leia have three kids, these kids get dozens of their own books and become their own proper characters, grow to adulthood and war with each other, for example. There's a book for more than every year of their lives. You can observe their whole character arcs from birth to… well.. if you put the time in. The EU was all internally consistent, and all canon. It all worked together.
There are a few early exceptions and a few game stories that don't fit, but otherwise the EU really rewarded fans for their time. In 2012 I finished reading to the end of the Star Wars chronology. That's 40 years of story after Return of the Jedi, not to mention the Clone Wars books and books set between and during the movies. I didn't read all the books, but read most from the timeline of Episode 1-6 and beyond. None of the Old Republic stuff, though.
Anyway, I felt I'd achieved a monumental reading goal that I set myself in 2007 (before that I'd read the books a little randomly). Five years of reading little but Star Wars, and the stories I got out of it were great. No other franchise could achieve this (well, maybe Star Trek).
Then Disney bought Star Wars, and soon announced that there would be a new trilogy, but that they'd be throwing away all of that canon. The EU didn't count any more. Timothy Zahn started with Heir To The Empire in 1994. 18 years of work and some great stories now didn't count because Disney felt there was more money in movies and merchandise.
I'm not naive. I know there is. I know entertainment is a business, but I'm just trying to convey my disappointment at the news. They could have set new movies inside the EU, easily. Instead they threw it away for.. well, we don't know yet. This blog is posting 1 month before the release of JJ Abrams' Episode 7. We've no idea if the new movies will be good or if the stories will be better than the ones discarded. I'm still totally reserved at the time of writing this.
I also know that I now have two timelines. More Star Wars! Yay! Well, that's just not how I feel about it. I'm allowed to feel disappointed, particularly after the loyalty I showed the franchise.
A Great Journey
Anyway, also around this time, I moved back to Ireland after unsuccessfully attempting to get a permanent visa in Australia. So I was back in Ireland and unemployed with no decent chances of starting a career any time soon. I decided to start writing science fiction to fill the Star-Wars-shaped hole in my soul (okay, I'm being overly dramatic. I'll watch it. Sorry).
I was going to write a universe of my own that I would promise to keep consistent with itself. I didn't believe that this would become a big thing, or even necessarily that I would get a single book published, but it occupied the time.
Building a Galaxy
I started watching tonnes of science fiction movies and documentaries and designing my universe. This took a long time. You have to design whole new physical rules for your world. You have to say "you can do this, but not this" and consider if that statement even makes sense. If you have one technology available, like artificial gravity without rotation, then you have to consider what else you can have. With that, for example, you're kind of saying that the theory of 'gravitons' existing is correct, and that we've managed to develop technology to manipulate them. Well, keeping someone fixed to the deck in a spaceship (as seen in almost every sci fi movie and show ever) means that you can cause attraction towards a point. In that case, you can probably cause repulsion in the opposite direction. This would make hover technology a reality. Did I want hover cars and hover crates in my sci-fi? Because if not then I have to solve the artificial gravity problem in another way.
How long does it take to travel from one star system to another? That's going to have a major impact on stories later on. Armies can't reinforce one another in the middle of a battle if it takes two weeks to travel to the nearest star.
In the end, I came up with rules I was happy with. It's a lot like Battlestar Galactica with some Mass Effect and Starship Troopers thrown in. A cold-hard-metal feel to things but with certain sci-fi tropes like artificial gravity. Warp speed is accomplished assuming that Alcubierre's (real) theories are correct and realisable. There's no light swords, weapons fire hard projectiles, and there are no shield technologies. Armour and photo-chromatic materials are all that you've got in battle. There's also ABSOLUTELY NO TIME-TRAVEL OR ALTERNATE DIMENSIONS, EVER!!
Next I was writing broad story arcs and setting up so that the universe could grow wide, and so that you could have human factions appear in all parts of the galaxy. After all, it's easier to dress the actors as humans than aliens. You've got to think forward! 😉 Look at Stargate!
I sketched out a 3 part story that told the tale of Earth's first expansion beyond our solar system, our first contact with aliens, and our introduction to the wider galaxy. I designed alien races called the Cestral and the Skulaari, the latter being the villains, themed on terrifying sea creatures like giant squid and crustaceans. I even wrote a little language for these factions.
I Need a Name
This all took several months, and I got a job for a few months which led me to drop the writing project for a while. Then I lost the job and took the writing back up again. I started writing the real story, finally, and decided to call the story at large "Sons of Sol", after conducting extensive web searches for similarly named things.
At the time, I found none. I bought the .com address and set up a wiki to lay some sort of claim to the name. I've since found some similarly named games, a Korean TV show called "Sons of Sol Pharmacy" and a hoody company with the very same name. Apparently, I'm still fine to be using the name, so for now I'll keep it unless I can think of a name I like more.
In early 2013 I started studying tax in Ireland, believing this would be my route to eventual (permanent) employment. I worked hard at it, but I was unemployed and it was a part time course, so I still had some time to give to writing and designing the world. I also had been writing down game ideas as they came to me and designing them out in .txt files for fun. I never expected to make a game, though, as I didn't want to study another degree course just to go into a risky profession.
A Flirtation with Games
One day I was very sick of studying this boring topic and posted on the forum Boards.ie to see if any game developers needed somebody with "great ideas" (I know, right?! haha) but who could also record audio, compose music, write, and manage the business/marketing side (okay, that's a little better).
A guy called Rob Reinhardt in Dublin got back to me and he was actually interested in doing some collaborating. We struck up a friendship and met a few times, talking about games and what we might make together. I was only going to be involved part time as I was studying and hopefully going to get a normal job, but I'd help with the writing and other stuff as much as I could. I wasn't looking for pay or anything.
Eventually, we decided to use Sons of Sol's universe as a setting for a game. It would be a prequel for the book I was writing. The book focussed on the people of Earth (at first), but the game would focus on a lost human civilization called the Kolrir and how they came (secretly) to Earth, setting up the events of the book I was writing.
Nothing came of the game ultimately, but we'd designed a lot on paper for Sons of Sol: Exodus (that name would have to change if we'd done it because Sol: Exodus came out from somebody else).
An Earth-shattering Kaboom!
2014 rolled around. I got a job in tax.. for 6 weeks, then lost that one too. Rob and others had told me that Unity was easy to pick up and start using, so with game design now on the brain and no tax to work at or study, I started at Unity and learned how to do some basic programming through their tutorials. It was only a couple of months before I had a very early version of a space game up and running. I later returned to this very first game for Crow's Nest.
I started going to gaming events in Dublin and meeting the great community here, as well as improving my own skills and looked into starting a company through the unemployment enterprise scheme.
The game that Rob and I had designed was still well beyond my skills still (probably his too. We weren't good at 'scope') but the space game currently on my screen could work inside the Sons of Sol universe too. After all, I'd designed it very openly. I can plug in new civilizations wherever I like and the story still all holds together. I'd put a lot of time into the 'Exodus' story (with Rob) and thought it was solid, so I wanted to keep it in tact. I decided to write a prequel to the prequel and tell the story of the characters that you would meet in Exodus and call it "Crow's Nest".
My very own Game
The game would be ostensibly about a private military company from Kolrir protecting their territories from pirates. The 'Crows Nest', the lookout spot on a sail ship (like a pirate boat) sounded suitably pirate-y for a name. In space, though, particularly in another non-Earth culture, the crow's nest wouldn't really be a term in use, both because you can't sit outside a spaceship, and the Kolrir culture may never have had sailing ships as far as we know. So in this case, the "Nest" would refer to a pirate base hidden inside a large asteroid, and "Crow" would be the pirate villain in question who owned that base.
I'll fully admit that I didn't finish a book, didn't finish a game, and am now starting another game, but bear in mind that I saw writing the book as just killing time while unemployed. The first game was killing time in between studying. With the current game, I've formed RetroNeo Games as a company. This is now my job, and that's a hell of a difference. I also now have the skills to make a game (or at least prototype it) by myself, without just being in a position where I'm giving ideas to other people. I have the time, ability, and drive to deliver Sons of Sol: Crow's Nest.
The Future of Sons of Sol
I plan to release in early 2017. This will then be the first Sons of Sol product to exist, almost five years after I first created the universe. I hope people will like it!
I could take the same game and abandon the Sons of Sol name. It'll make no difference to the players. They don't know what Sons of Sol is! But I've a whole universe worth of stories to tell and why shouldn't I make the game a Sons of Sol title? It fits. It works. But what if it's bad and I wreck the name before I even begin?
Well, then I released a bad game, I guess. That's the risk with any creative work. And it's still better than releasing no game at all and Sons of Sol never getting its chance in the public domain. But I've worked too hard for years for no reward to approach this half-assed. Sons of Sol: Crow's Nest is going to be my absolute best effort, and nobody can ask fairer than that. I'll be a very proud daddy the day I finally release the game. And who knows, maybe I'll get to those other story lines some day, either through game sequels, or finishing the novel. The novel was only a couple of chapters in, though, when I last left it. If that were to be finished now I'd be better off having a different writer do it while I make a game. And I could only do that if a Sons of Sol game were wildly successful and there was the interest in a book.
That's extremely unlikely, I know, but it doesn't bother me either way. I feel that if I can release one Sons of Sol title at this stage, I'll be happy and it will all have been worth the effort.
Is he done yet?!
If you read this far, well done, and thanks very sincerely for your interest! Especially if you read all 4 parts. Sorry for the lack of images today, also. I've really got no pictures of this topic, though. Next week we're back to non-Crow's Nest gaming topics for the blog.
Author Kevin MurphyPosted on November 15, 2015 Categories Crow's Nest, Development, Sons of SolTags Crow's Nest, Development, Sons of Sol, WritingLeave a comment on Making Crow's Nest (part 4 of 4): "Sons of Sol" & "Crow's Nest"
Making Crow's Nest (part 3 of 4): A design challenge
Last week in Part 2 I talked about the games that are influencing the design of Crow's Nest.
This week I want to talk about one particular design challenge I'm facing: Meaningful Character Death.
Crow's Nest is a space combat game meets a strategy game. You fly missions like Wing Commander or X-Wing missions (but in 2D) and then go back to a strategy map like XCOM or Total War. I spoke last week about how I'm very fond of the attachment to your soldiers that XCOM can create for the player. It adds a real tension and a greater range of emotions for the player when a soldier dies or barely escapes.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! Not Billy-Bob!
I decided very early on that I wanted meaningful character death in my game. So I thought "fine, I'll have you play as one character, and you have wingmen. Those characters can live or die or get captured by the enemy. After that they could stay captured or you could rescue them".
That sounds reasonable enough, but there was something that I didn't take into account. In my game's battles, you control one character directly. You can give orders to your other wingmen but you have very little control over what they do beyond that. In XCOM, you're the commander. You're not on the field. You control every one of your soldiers individually, one at a time. You are responsible for everything that they do. Therefore, the consequences are yours alone to deal with. You can't blame the game or the AI for making your beloved soldier do something stupid (usually) and getting themselves killed.
I only realised the full importance of this distinction when I watched the following interview. In it, Adam Sessler brings together Jake Solomon (lead designer on 2012's XCOM: Enemy Unknown and 2016's XCOM 2) and Julian Gollop, the designer of the original XCOM from 1994. The whole interview is very interesting, but if you don't want to watch it all, skip to 12:32 and watch for about two minutes.
Jake Solomon made the point that without turn-based gameplay you can't have meaningful character death. I saw this and I thought "oh crap! He's completely right"! If the player isn't directly accountable for the decision that led to a soldier dying, then they won't feel survivor's guilt, or the guilt of having ordered somebody to their death. They'll probably feel nothing, or worse, they'll blame the game for the consequence. If that happens, the system may as well not be in the game. As I said, I think it's a very powerful feature of XCOM that I want to try and emulate insofar as possible, so I have a problem.
Now, I haven't built the system into the game yet, so it hasn't been play-tested, but I am at the design stage for it, and I'm left considering what I can do for the best results.
Poking a hole in that theory
If I'm to bother implementing meaningful character death into Crow's Nest (a real-time game), I need Solomon and Gollop to be (at least somewhat) incorrect. They're far better game designers than me, so maybe it's not possible, but if I could poke a breathing hole in the design-bag they've placed over my head, then I might be okay.
My starting point for designing around the problem is this: We know that we can develop strong emotional ties to fictional characters. This is why we can cry when Bambi's mother dies or celebrate when Luke blows up the Death Star. Empathy is real, even if the character isn't. Game of Thrones in particular proves that the unpredictability of death can have a great impact on fans and really raise the tension.
Real-life battles happen in real time (obviously, hence the word "real"), and while the commander's soldiers will have been trained, they operate of their own volition. A commander doesn't control them with their mind, or decide whether they run left around a barrel instead of right. But the tension they feel at ordering their troops into danger is no less real for the lack of direct control.
Perhaps, then, you don't need total control over your units in a game in order to feel something for them. They are your team mates, after all, whether they're AI or not. Maybe it's possible to bring the emotions of XCOM to a real-time game, then. Maybe meaningful character death for Crow's Nest is possible.
XCOM lets you make an awful lot of decisions, and it gives you the time to make them so that you'll feel (if it goes wrong) that you didn't think the problem through well-enough. You'll feel that it was your fault!
If XCOM shows us a formula for meaningful character death, then, it might look like this:
Quantity of player decisions + Time to make them = Meaningful Character Death
Time to make them
Let's look at this part first. A real-time game doesn't really offer you time, typically. But it can! Many RPGs will let you paused the action to give orders and then resume it to see them play out in real time. There's an option! The problem with this is that is interrupts the action, and in Crow's Nest, if you spend too long paused, you might forget that you were literally a half a second away from smashing into an asteroid before you paused.
So how about a compromise? The Bureau: XCOM Declassified (2013) was a real-time cover-based third-person shooter that tried to implement meaningful character death. It utterly failed because it was so story-driven that the main character (you) couldn't die. If you did, you just went back to a checkpoint. Your squad mates could die, permanently, but if they did you could just get yourself killed, reload the checkpoint to before they were hit, and everybody's happy again. That's what they did wrong.
What they did right was their 'pause' system. Like the RPG system I mentioned, you could pause the action and issue orders, but it wasn't really paused. Time was still moving, albeit very slowly. You had more time to make decisions, but the tension remained as you saw an enemy moving (very slowly) to flank your sniper and you tried to decide whether to order your him to move back or to take a headshot on the enemy before it was too late! That's one way I could buy the player the "time" part of the formula.
I could just acknowledge that in real time you have to make quick decisions and just live with that, however, this will then allow the player to make far less decisions in the same amount of (game) time and so the formula is less healthy looking.
Quantity of Player Decisions
There's a lot that I could do to give the player more decisions. In the combat demo I have currently available (see video above) there's a lot that will be changed. In this demo you have infinite fuel, infinite (bullet) ammo, and recharging health. The enemies also come in equal waves each time.
First off, I intend that when you encounter the first enemies of a battle, they'll call reinforcements, who'll take a certain amount of time to get there, but who will be stronger that the first group. Think of it as a wave system, but where you don't have to beat one to spawn the next one. It's a truer reinforcement system. You want to deal with one problem before the next arrives.
Of course, different mission types could have different rules and spies might disable enemy communications, etc, but imagine that some missions as they go on get harder and harder, to the point that waves will spawn that you couldn't possibly beat. This is one option that opens a lot of doors.
This set up would force you to chose to flee at some point. That choice alone means that if you or your allies die, you know you stayed one wave too long.
If I then make ammo, fuel, and health limited, then you have to choose if you and each of your wingmen have enough of those three resources left to take on the next set of reinforcements, or just run whenever you get the chance. That's at least three choices that you make for each of three (or more) craft, every couple of minutes. That's a lot of opportunity for the player to start blaming themselves if something goes wrong.
Other decisions would have been made before the battle. Do you take the more experienced pilots or train up rookies? Do you arm missiles, or save the weight to make the craft more agile? Did you invest in an armour upgrade last month or did that money go to set up a spy drone in an asteroid field where you suspect the enemy to be?
I could go on, but you can see that quantity of decisions shouldn't be a problem, even in a real-time game.
The Real Trick; AI
Can I make you care about these guys?
Assuming we can get the formula balanced correctly, the whole thing hinges on whether or not the player will accept that, if a wing mate dies, the fault lay with their decisions. According to Gollop and Solomon, the player would blame the AI. I think that the more you stack decisions and input from the player, within an interface that allows them to make decisions in good time, the greater the chance you have of the player accepting the consequences of those decisions and arriving at our goal of meaningful character death.
Balancing the AI is the key ingredient, and this is where so many games have failed in the past. I may well fail here, too, but I don't plan to make meaningful character death my game's only selling point, so it wouldn't be a fatal failure.
Your wing mates have to be good enough that they can survive on their own for a while against reasonable odds, but they can't be so good that you can just let them beat the whole mission for you.
In the demo at the moment, because the Arrow Fighters are harder to hit, turn faster, and have recharging health, they're actually capable of taking all of the kills if you do nothing. There aren't enough enemies on the map at once to stop them, usually. This is an unbalanced demo, however.
The AI will run if they're damaged, usually saving their lives. They'll call to you for help, and if you don't give it, the enemy might just catch up and kill your ally. This is already more intelligent behaviour than many games would bother giving to computer-controlled characters, and it's essential to meaningful character death in a real-time game, but it's not nearly enough.
Alien Isolation is known for its brilliant AI.
To be honest, I haven't figured out the balance yet, and it will require a lot of play testing.
I'd like to caveat that all of the above is assuming that you actually do things to give those wing mates a personality. They have to have a face, a voice, a backstory that you are spoon fed during quieter moments, as well as skills, abilities, a record of confirmed kills, and a rank that progresses as they gain experience. They have to taunt the enemy when they get a kill. They have to call you for help. They even have to react to incoming enemies believably; either with confidence, or the realisation that they're truly outmatched.
Some of those latter points are observable in the demo already, but most have yet to be implemented, and I only have one voice pack so far.
This is an open problem, not a post-mortem. Moreso than with any other blog that I've posted, I'd really appreciate your opinions in the comments below. What do you think of my problem? What do you think of my proposed solutions? Have you anything you might recommend as other player decisions or wing mate behaviours? What pitfalls should I avoid? Are there games I should be looking at to see how they handled this problem? Thank you in advance.
Next week is the last of these posts focussing on Crow's Nest (for now). I'll be talking about what Sons of Sol and Crow's Nest actually are (fictionally speaking) and how they came to be.
Author Kevin MurphyPosted on November 8, 2015 Categories Crow's Nest, Development, Sons of SolTags Crow's Nest, Development, Sons of SolLeave a comment on Making Crow's Nest (part 3 of 4): A design challenge
Making Crow's Nest (part 2 of 4): Influences
Hi! This is part 2 of me offering some insight into the creation of Sons of Sol: Crow's Nest. In Part 1 I talked about my "Asteroids meets Total War" pitch and what, exactly, the hell that meant.
This week I'll be basically talking about some of the games that are having a big influence on the development of Crow's Nest. If you're a space and/or strategy game fan, this may be of interest to you. Fair warning; there's going to be a lot of Star Wars games in here!
These aren't "games that are similar to my game", but instead they make up more of a history of the games that I have personally played that influence Crow's Nest in some way.
First up..
Asteroids (1979)
Last week I talked a bit about this and Total War as influences so I'll be brief. Here is one of the very original space shooters, and a classic game. There's the three-life formula with a single hit and you're dead. There's extra lives, speed, intensity, high scores, and great use of limited technology to deliver imaginative graphics. The key ingredient to itss addictiveness is the quick restart. You can instantly hop back in for another round to try and beat your previous high score. It's a simple, but proven method of keeping players pumping in quarters (or nowadays, playing and seeing advertising).
The computer room in my school when I was a kid had this on some machines so I'd race through our typing lessons so that I could play. In years since I see it every now and again as a web link and I always click in for a few rounds. The thrill of dodging through asteroids at high speeds and evading incoming laser shots never gets old, and it's a mechanic that I'm endeavouring to capture in Crow's Nest.
Total War series
Shogun: Total War (2000)
Again, I talked about Shogun specifically last week, but to reiterate, I loved the two-sided approach to a strategy game. Until Shogun, I'd only played strategy games like Command & Conquer (C&C) where you fight one battle at a time and it never influenced the next battle. It didn't matter how many losses you took in exchange for victory, and if you lost you would just restart the level. In Total War, you finally could say "we may have lost this battle, but we'll win the war" and it would mean something.
At the time, I was unaware that XCOM had been doing this since 1994, and there were probably several other games too, but this was my first and the experience of playing Shogun for the first time shaped how I would view games forever more. Now, as a designer, the strategic depth of Total War and games like it is something I want to incorporate into my games whenever possible.
I also liked how special units could affect the war. Diplomacy and assassinations could drastically change the course of the war. I've always kept in mind the influence that special units could and (I think) should have on a strategy game.
X-COM series
X-COM: Ufo Defense (aka UFO: Enemy Unknown) (1994)
There were a whole bunch of XCOM games starting with 1994's original, but the series wasn't well managed, wasn't always in the hands of the original creators, and really took a dive until the 2012 remake by Firaxis and 2K, 'XCOM: Enemy Unknown'. When the latter was announced, it was the first time I really noticed the series. I'd never played it. I picked up the original before the release of the remake, and played both games in 2012. My world changed!
I'd always avoided turn-based strategy games. I just had never liked the few examples I'd played. I thought they were too unrealistic because you wind up with two soldier just looking at each other instead of fighting. What I didn't appreciate was that in the moments between the action, when you're making your decisions like in a chess match (ironically, I loved chess), you're getting a whole different type of gameplay. Instead of trying to simply react quickly like in an RTS, you're really trying to solve a problem in the most efficient way possible (like a puzzle game) but with the added element of random chance getting in the way of your best laid plans. RTS games have this plus speed, but turn based games forego the speed in favour of really making you think about the consequences of your actions.
I'll be talking next week about a design challenge that this posed to my game. The turn-based element buys you gravitas insofar as the player has made every move and so they have nobody to blame for the consequences. In any real-time game where you have allies, they'll likely by controlled by the AI, and if they die you may be inclined to blame the designer or the AI, and not your own command skills.
Chances are they're not all coming back!
What I love about XCOM is the same thing that I love about Total War: persistence! The game allows you to fail and recover, not just restart. What XCOM does that Total War doesn't really do is make you care about individual soldiers. In dealing with small squads over dozens of missions (and especially if you choose to name and customise them yourself) you get to form relationships with individual soldiers. Sending your best veteran sniper into a risky situation to try and rescue your best medic is a weighty decision that C&C or Total War can't really deliver. The tension is immense because the consequences are permanent. That means that success is vastly more rewarding here than in normal games. You're always glad to see troops come home alive. The range of emotions you can evoke in the player is what earns the XCOM series such devoted fans.
I also loved the base management, particularly in the original game (or the fan-made Xenonauts (2014)). Having to actually buy replacement rockets, bullets, grenades, and med packs may have been too heavy on the micromanagement side, but then again, a shortage of finances really affected your tactical options when you went into battle. You might fire a rocket to keep your troops safe from an ambush, but you wince as you see thousands of credits go up in smoke! Also in those games I loved that your home base could be attacked, but may not be. 2012's XCOM and its expansion Enemy Within didn't have this. EW had one mandatory base attack mission. In the other games you could attack enemy bases or leave them be, and they could do the same to you. Each side could have more than one base, but they were expensive to run. The decision was up to you!
I haven't decided how many of these design influences will appear in the strategy layer of Crow's Nest, but some of them definitely will.
Star Wars: X-Wing series (1993-1999)
Now we get to the combat influences! I've said before on this blog that 1993's X-Wing was my first ever game. I played the hell out of it! Its sequels TIE Fighter, X-Wing vs TIE Fighter, and X-Wing Alliance were also hugely influential for me.
I must acknowledge that, like many of the Star Wars games, these were cashing in on the popularity of other games. Wing Commander (1990) paved the way for X-Wing. Lucasarts said "we could do that, but with iconic Star Wars ships, music, and sound. People will go insane for it!" So my influence's influence was really Wing Commander, but I never actually played any of them until I backed Star Citizen and started looking up Chris Roberts' older games.
Tragically, X-Wing Alliance (1999) remains the last game in this series, but it's one of my favourite games of all time. The series centred around dogfighting in the Star Wars ships, exclusively in space. Alliance was the first one where you could fly bigger ships like the Millennium Falcon, jump sectors in hyperspace during a mission, or dock with craft to rearm or "board" them (you just sat in the turret while other people on your ship supposedly did the boarding, but it was still cool).
X-Wing Alliance (1999). Fly the Millennium Falcon against the second Death Star !
It had over 50 missions and (what I thought) was a great story set alongside the events of Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, culminating in you (changing characters to Lando) flying the Millennium Falcon in the Battle of Endor, all the way inside the second Death Star!
Wing mates would take your orders, get chatty with you, call for help, and taunt the enemy! That's not unique to this game, or anything, but it adds greatly to the atmosphere and it's in Crow's Nest too!
The briefings, the mission types, the dramatic set-pieces, the in-game reinforcements and dramatic turnings of the tide of battle are all fresh in my memory and are heavily influencing the way I'm designing the combat missions of Crow's Nest. While Alliance was a linear game, and mine is more dynamic, I feel I can still deliver a lot of the same drama, action and intensity but with the added benefits of the tension gained from the possibility of loss.
The one major thing I wanted to change is that in 3D space you see very little of the battle. When an enemy goes past you you lose sight of them. When a big ship explodes spectacularly, you may not be looking in the right direction at the right time to see it. I wanted to take 3D space combat games and put them in 2D so you have greater situational awareness and can see more of the action! That's my big departure, but otherwise, the combat in Crow's Nest is heavily influenced by the X-Wing games; far more so than it is by your average top-down space shooter.
Star Wars: Rogue Squadron (1998)
The original was out on the N64, and later the PC. Two sequels came out on the Gamecube too. These were also 3D Star Wars ship combat games, but now mostly focussed on planetary combat, against TIE Fighters & ground units, instead of TIE Fighters & Star Destroyers.
If you played these games and the current Crow's Nest demo, my big take-away from Rogue Squadron should be obvious: The orders system.
You have two wing mates with you most of the time and they can largely take care of themselves, but you can give them a few orders on the D-pad. D-up is to "Form Up" and they increase your overall fire power by flying on your wing and shooting when you shoot. I've used this order directly (it's not stealing if you declare the influence, right?) as well as the ability to keep your wing mates safe by telling them to retreat. Beyond that, the orders system starts to differ, but feeling like you're not alone is important to a game where you play a fighter squadron, and Rogue Squadron handled it well!
Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor (2014)
Can anyone have played this game and not loved the nemesis system? This Lord of the Rings game has you play a human Ranger & elven ghost (sharing the same body) and travel around Mordor… eh, doing things.. revenge, mostly. It played a bit like the Batman Arkham games in the fighting systems and like many open world games otherwise, but the nemesis system stood it apart, and it even won a few Game Of The Year Awards.
In the picture above, you can see one of dozens of enemy commanders. These exist in a ranking hierarchy. You can "ally" with some of them and assist their rise to power in order to get rid of certain other nemeses in the game.
Each nemesis (as long as they're alive, anyway) will remember having met and fought you, and they'll comment on the result of that battle. As seen above, they all have different strengths and weaknesses. At first, these are unknown to you but you can interrogate underlings and rivals (forgive me if I'm not exactly right, there) to learn these traits. For example, a nemesis might have beaten you down the first three times you tried to fight him, then you learn he's afraid of a 'caragor', so you show up riding on the back of one and he'll flee with his tail between his legs! Another nemesis might hate caragors, and so this same tactic would only enrage him, boosting his stats!
This latter part of the system is something I'm interested in implementing into Crow's Nest. You will benefit from spying on enemies by learning things about their movements, or what types of ships they favour using. You could just approach the battles blind, but intel gathering will pay off.
I don't necessarily plan to have you ally with factions or control pirate groups, but I'm at least taking inspiration from the nemesis system insofar as learning about your enemy and having them remember you goes.
Star Wars: Empire At War (2006)
This is one of my favourite strategy games ever, especially the two player competitive campaign, but there's not so much I'm taking from it that I didn't already credit Total War for.
Your armies persist across a galaxy map, space map, AND individual planetary maps. It's very unlike Empire at War, though, because you control fewer units. The loss of the only Star Destroyer you may have in your fleet really hurts, even if you win the battle. You can steamroll the enemy for a while, but you're taking losses as you go and will run out of steam, thus having less units left to defend your new territories from counter-attack.
The land maps also host buildings like Ion Cannons or Hypervelocity Guns which can be used by the defending team in the space battle above that planet. If you are wise, you might raid the planet with a small force (small raid forces can bypass the space battle) with the sole aim of destroying that one building before launching your space battle. If you hold the space above the planet, you can hit the land battle with bombing runs and orbital strikes. This interplay of systems is another great example of what multi-layered games can achieve.
X-COM: Interceptor (1998)
I only played this for the first time in 2015, and development on Crow's Nest was already well underway. It's not far off what I'm doing, as it turns out, but nobody thought this game was all that it could be either.
You command a base on a strategy map and manage its resources, as with other XCOM games, but instead of the turn-based battles you have a fighter ship battle. The problem is that these battles were nearly all the same and they got very repetitive.
The only influence I'm taking from this game is in what not to do. I need to ensure missions in Crow's Nest are varied enough, and that there are real characters and stories playing out during the campaign. To what extent, I don't yet know, but this is a good example of a game relying 100% on its systems producing all the gameplay.
Star Citizen (20??)
How can I make a space game in 2015 and not be influenced by Star Citizen/Squadron 42? That said, my game is a single-player war game, not a multiplayer space-everything game. I'm very excited for Star Citizen, but even moreso for the single-player side, 'Squadron 42'. If we get to play S42 early next year I imagine it might influence Crow's Nest somewhat, but probably not in many ways that X-Wing and Wing Commander haven't already. If the game takes longer than that to come out, Crow's Nest may already have been released. Time will tell.
I could also mention FTL for its art style, actually, but the art in Crow's Nest so far is just my placeholder stuff and I don't believe that I can draw. I certainly won't be the final artist, so it's not worth mentioning visual influences at this stage, really.
I've found that when making a game, a lot of people will come and say "oh, you must have been influenced by this" or "have you played that"? There are so many games out there that chances are the answer will be "no, actually. I haven't heard of that one". I've listed my main influences here, and very few of them are actually 2D space games.
If there's anything you think I should check out, either because it's similar to what I'm doing or just because it rocks, please let me know!
Next week I'll be focussing on a design challenge posed by trying to do some of what XCOM does in a real-time action game. If that sounds interesting to you, please subscribe to the RetroNeo Games Facebook or Twitter accounts (link icons at the top and bottom of this page).
Author Kevin MurphyPosted on November 1, 2015 Categories Crow's Nest, Development, Retro, Reviews, Sons of SolTags Crow's Nest, Development, Sons of Sol1 Comment on Making Crow's Nest (part 2 of 4): Influences
Making Crow's Nest (part 1 of 4): My "Asteroids meets Total War" Pitch
At work in Unity
I'll be away over the next few weeks so I've decided to do a four-parter and schedule it to post at my normal times so my one-a-week blog goal remains unbroken. I've been going now for over 6 months now and wanted to at least see out the end of 2015 with an 'undefeated streak'.
To that end, I'll be turning the blog's focus a little more inward and talking about how my game in development (Sons of Sol: Crow's Nest) came to be, what its influences are, the features of the game and certain design challenges that I'm facing. As it's still in development and still just me on the team, this is all still in motion, but there should be good insights and new information for anyone who's interested in reading. It will be interesting to compare these posts with a post-mortem for the game once it's finally out, too.
So, with that out of the way..
What is Crow's Nest?
I won't wax lyrical here, you can check out the game's page yourself, and either play the demo or watch the gameplay footage. Briefly, Sons of Sol: Crow's Nest is an upcoming tactical space shooter with a strategy layer. I've described it as "Asteroids meets Total War".
You can see some gameplay from the playable PC demo below. It's early in development and due out in Q1 2017.
How Does Asteroids meet Total War, exactly?
So my pitch for Sons of Sol: Crow's Nest is that it's "Asteroids meets Total War" and I've found that this can get people interested quite effectively. How does a top-down space shooter from the 1970s tie in with one of the largest, most successful strategy game series in the world; one which, until Total War: Warhammer was announced, was set exclusively in historical Earth periods with swords and spears and massive armies?
To be fair I could also describe the game as "Wing Commander meets Xcom", but a pitch has to be as catchy as possible, n'est pas?
The similarities between Asteroids and Crow's Nest are pretty plain to see. They both have a small, triangular space fighter flying around an asteroid field, and, quite importantly, the ships are driven by Newtonian physics, meaning if you stop accelerating you will keep drifting. There's no drag in space so you can turn on the spot and shoot backwards, and to slow down you have to turn around and thrust in the opposite direction.
The similarities really end there, though. In Crow's Nest the goal is not to kill asteroids for points, the screen isn't locked in position, and both you and the asteroids can take more than one hit.
Then from here I started building up more of a squadron-based thing, adding wing mates, squad orders, and reasonably intelligent enemies, as well as the ability to communicate with your fleet for reinforcements. Here, I was taking inspiration from Star Wars games like Rogue Squadron and X-Wing. I'll talk about games that influenced Crow's Nest in a follow-up part.
The important take-away is that Crow's Nest has an action/combat layer presented in a classic arcade-like style.
The trailer above is for Shogun, the first Total War game in 2000. I haven't played them all, but I beat this one so I know it represents some of the ideas I'm going for. You command your chosen family dynasty in feudal Japan during the Sengoku Jidai period of history. It's a game of two halves. There's the tactical combat side where you command individual army units in a single battle. This half of the game is represented in Crow's Nest as the 'Asteroids' part.
The other side of the game is the strategy layer, where you have a map of all of Japan and time passes months at a time. You move your armies around the country to reinforce or attack territories (Risk style) and then fight the tactical battles for those areas using only the units you brought with you. No Command & Conquer-style building during a battle! But in addition to this, you could send spies, assassins and emissaries around the world. You could negotiate for peace or assassinate an opposing general the night before a battle, weakening his forces when you face them in the tactical layer.
You could also bring your own character (the Daimyo) into battle for big morale bonuses, but if you died in battle, you were dead. If you didn't have an adult male heir, it was game over! If you did, you basically had an 'extra life'. Similarly, if you won a battle but lost all of your cavalry, they were gone! You no longer had them to move around the strategy layer. This interplay leant real gravitas to every little decision, and to every death. I love these mechanics and knew I wanted them for Crow's Nest.
An early prototype for the strategy map in Crow's Nest.
My original idea was that you would control several fleets (as many as you could build/afford) in Crow's Nest and defend a territory from pirate marauders. You would also send spies on missions to gather intel and attempt assassinations or to sabotage the enemy. When a tactical battle occurred, the losses and gains would persist back to the strategy layer. This is why I chose "Total War" as a suitable descriptor for my pitch.
As development went on, I decided that it might be better for you to control just a single fleet. This would make your flagship all the more precious to you, and prevent you from using steamroll tactics to the same extent. This way, even in the late game, battles would stay tense for the player. It would also limit the amount of pilots you have to dozens, not hundreds, and make their lives and progression matter more to you. This means that Xcom might be a better descriptor than Total War now, but as the strategy side in Crow's Nest is still very early in development and prone to change, I haven't decided whether to change the pitch yet.
Obviously, those four words aren't my whole pitch, but they're the short version.
What do you think of the pitch? Have you any experience pitching? Any advice? Would saying "Xcom" be better than "Total War"? Both franchises are currently doing well and get the point across to anyone who knows games.
Next Sunday, I'll be posting Part 2, where I talk about the other games that have influenced the development of Crow's Nest in a mini-review sort of way.
Sons of Sol: Crow's Nest page on RetroNeo Games
Play the game in web browser (not Chrome)
Download PC version
Author Kevin MurphyPosted on October 25, 2015 Categories Crow's Nest, Development, Sons of SolTags Crow's Nest, Development, Sons of SolLeave a comment on Making Crow's Nest (part 1 of 4): My "Asteroids meets Total War" Pitch | {
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Tribal Sleuth
Articles and resources for genealogical research, historical events and life in the past.
September 30, 1954: USS Nautilus commissioned
September 30, 2016 Uncategorizedsleuthboss
Previously posted at: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/uss-nautilus-commissioned
The USS Nautilus, the world's first nuclear submarine, is commissioned by the U.S. Navy.
The Nautilus was constructed under the direction of U.S. Navy Captain Hyman G. Rickover, a brilliant Russian-born engineer who joined the U.S. atomic program in 1946. In 1947, he was put in charge of the navy's nuclear-propulsion program and began work on an atomic submarine. Regarded as a fanatic by his detractors, Rickover succeeded in developing and delivering the world's first nuclear submarine years ahead of schedule. In 1952, the Nautilus' keel was laid by President Harry S. Truman, and on January 21, 1954, first lady Mamie Eisenhower broke a bottle of champagne across its bow as it was launched into the Thames River at Groton, Connecticut. Commissioned on September 30, 1954, it first ran under nuclear power on the morning of January 17, 1955.
Much larger than the diesel-electric submarines that preceded it, the Nautilus stretched 319 feet and displaced 3,180 tons. It could remain submerged for almost unlimited periods because its atomic engine needed no air and only a very small quantity of nuclear fuel. The uranium-powered nuclear reactor produced steam that drove propulsion turbines, allowing the Nautilus to travel underwater at speeds in excess of 20 knots.
In its early years of service, the USS Nautilus broke numerous submarine travel records and in August 1958 accomplished the first voyage under the geographic North Pole. After a career spanning 25 years and almost 500,000 miles steamed, the Nautilus was decommissioned on March 3, 1980. Designated a National Historic Landmark in 1982, the world's first nuclear submarine went on exhibit in 1986 as the Historic Ship Nautilus at the Submarine Force Museum in Groton, Connecticut.
September 29, 2005: Reporter Judith Miller released from prison
Previously posted at: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/reporter-judith-miller-released-from-prison
On this day in 2005, New York Times reporter Judith Miller is released from a federal detention center in Alexandria, Virginia, after agreeing to testify in the investigation into the leaking of the identity of covert CIA officer Valerie Plame. Miller had been behind bars since July 6, 2005, for refusing to reveal a confidential source and testify before a grand jury that was looking into the so-called Plame Affair. She decided to testify after the source she had been protecting, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, signed a waiver giving her permission to speak.
The Plame Affair dates back to a July 6, 2003 op-ed piece for the New York Times written by former U.S. diplomat Joseph Wilson, Plame's husband. In it, Wilson questioned the Bush Administration's reasons for going to war in Iraq. Later that month, on July 14, undercover agent Valerie Plame's identity was revealed in a newspaper column by Robert Novak. Wilson's claim that the disclosure was retaliation by the White House for his op-ed piece sparked an investigation in December 2003 led by special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald. A 1982 law made it illegal to reveal information about a covert agent to anyone not authorized to receive such classified information.
Fitzgerald interviewed President George W. Bush, Vice President Cheney and other top administration officials, along with various journalists. Although Miller hadn't written an article about Plame, she did meet with Libby shortly after Wilson's op-ed piece was published and Fitzgerald believed Miller had information that was relevant to his investigation.
After 85 days in jail, Miller was released and testified before a grand jury that prior to the Novak column, she had several discussions with Scooter Libby in which he talked about Plame. On November 9 of that same year, Miller announced her retirement from the Times after a 28-year career with the newspaper.
On March 6, 2007, Scooter Libby was convicted of obstruction of justice, perjury and making false statements to federal investigators in the Plame investigation. In June, he was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison and fined $250,000. However, one month later, on July 2, President George W. Bush commuted Libby's prison term before the ex-White House aide served any time.
September 28, 1941: Ted Williams becomes last player to hit .400
Previously posted at: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/ted-williams-becomes-last-player-to-hit-400
On this day in 1941, the Boston Red Sox's Ted Williams plays a double-header against the Philadelphia Athletics on the last day of the regular season and gets six hits in eight trips to the plate, to boost his batting average to .406 and become the first player since Bill Terry in 1930 to hit .400. Williams, who spent his entire career with the Sox, played his final game exactly 19 years later, on September 28, 1960, at Boston's Fenway Park and hit a home run in his last time at bat, for a career total of 521 homeruns.
Williams was born on August 30, 1918, in San Diego, and began his major league career with the Red Sox in 1939. 1941 marked Williams' best season. In addition to his .406 batting average–no major league player since him has hit .400–the left fielder led the league with 37 homers, 135 runs and had a slugging average of .735. Also that season, Williams, whose nicknames included "The Splendid Splinter" and "The Thumper," had an on-base percentage of .553, a record that remained unbroken for 61 years, until Barry Bonds achieved a percentage of .582 in 2002.
In 1942, Williams won the American League Triple Crown, for highest batting average and most RBIs and homeruns. He duplicated the feat in 1947. In 1946 and 1949, he was named the American League's Most Valuable Player and in June 1960, he became the fourth player in major league history to hit 500 homers. He was selected to the All-Star team 17 times.
Williams played his last game on September 28, 1960, and retired with a lifetime batting average of .344, a .483 career on-base percentage and 2,654 hits. His achievements are all the more impressive because his career was interrupted twice for military service: Williams was a Marine Corps pilot during World War II and the Korean War and as a result missed a total of nearly five seasons from baseball.
Williams, who was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1966, managed the Washington Senators (renamed the Texas Rangers in 1972) from 1969 to 1972. In 1984, the Boston Red Sox retired his uniform number (nine). Williams died of cardiac arrest at age 83 on July 5, 2002, in Florida. In a controversial move, his son sent his father's body to be frozen at a cryonics laboratory.
AF-093: How Much of the Original White House is Actually Left?
Previously posted at: http://youtu.be/a72H5gfxUns
September 27, 1779: John Adams appointed to negotiate peace terms with British
Previously posted at: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/john-adams-appointed-to-negotiate-peace-terms-with-british
On this day in 1779, the Continental Congress appoints John Adams to travel to France as minister plenipotentiary in charge of negotiating treaties of peace and commerce with Great Britain during the Revolutionary War.
Adams had traveled to Paris in 1778 to negotiate an alliance with France, but had been unceremoniously dismissed when Congress chose Benjamin Franklin as sole commissioner. Soon after returning to Massachusetts in mid-1779, Adams was elected as a delegate to the state convention to draw up a new constitution; he was involved in these duties when he learned of his new diplomatic commission. Accompanied by his young sons John Quincy and Charles, Adams sailed for Europe that November aboard the French ship Sensible, which sprang a leak early in the voyage and missed its original destination (Brest), instead landing at El Ferrol, in northwestern Spain. After an arduous journey by mule train across the Pyrenees and into France, Adams and his group reached Paris in early February 1780.
While in Paris, Adams wrote to Congress almost daily (sometimes several letters a day) sharing news about British politics, British and French naval activities and his general perspective on European affairs. Conditions were unfavorable for peace at the time, as the war was going badly for the Continental Army, and the blunt and sometimes confrontational Adams clashed with the French government, especially the powerful Foreign Minister Charles Gravier, Comte de Vergennes. In mid-June, Adams began a correspondence with Vergennes in which he pushed for French naval assistance, antagonizing both Vergennes and Franklin, who brought the matter to the attention of Congress.
By that time, Adams had departed France for Holland, where he was attempting to negotiate a loan from the Dutch. Before the end of the year, he was named American minister to the Netherlands, replacing Henry Laurens, who was captured at sea by the British. In June 1781, capitulating to pressure from Vergennes and other French diplomats, Congress acted to revoke Adams' sole powers as peacemaker with Britain, appointing Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Jay and Laurens to negotiate alongside him.
The tide of the war was turning in America's favor, and Adams returned to Paris in October 1782 to take up his part in the peace negotiations. As Jefferson didn't travel to Europe and Laurens was in failing health after his release from the Tower of London, it was left to Adams, Jay and Franklin to represent American interests. Adams and Jay both distrusted the French government (in contrast with Franklin), but their differences of opinion and diplomatic styles allowed the team to negotiate favorable terms in the Peace of Paris (1783). The following year, Jefferson arrived to take Adams' place as American minister to France, forming a lifelong bond with Adams and his family before the latter left to take up his new post as American ambassador to London and continue his distinguished record of foreign service on behalf of the new nation.
September 26, 1960: First Kennedy-Nixon debate
Previously posted at: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/first-kennedy-nixon-debate
For the first time in U.S. history, a debate between major party presidential candidates is shown on television. The presidential hopefuls, John F. Kennedy, a Democratic senator of Massachusetts, and Richard M. Nixon, the vice president of the United States, met in a Chicago studio to discuss U.S. domestic matters.
Kennedy emerged the apparent winner from this first of four televised debates, partly owing to his greater ease before the camera than Nixon, who, unlike Kennedy, seemed nervous and declined to wear makeup. Nixon fared better in the second and third debates, and on October 21 the candidates met to discuss foreign affairs in their fourth and final debate. Less than three weeks later, on November 8, Kennedy won 49.7 percent of the popular vote in one of the closest presidential elections in U.S. history, surpassing by a fraction the 49.6 percent received by his Republican opponent.
One year after leaving the vice presidency, Nixon returned to politics, winning the Republican nomination for governor of California. Although he lost the election, Nixon returned to the national stage in 1968 in a successful bid for the presidency. Like Lyndon Johnson in 1964, Nixon declined to debate his opponent in the 1968 presidential campaign. Televised presidential debates returned in 1976, and have been held in every presidential campaign since.
September 25, 1957: Central High School integrated
Previously posted at: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/central-high-school-integrated
Under escort from the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division, nine black students enter all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. Three weeks earlier, Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus had surrounded the school with National Guard troops to prevent its federal court-ordered racial integration. After a tense standoff, President Dwight D. Eisenhower federalized the Arkansas National Guard and sent 1,000 army paratroopers to Little Rock to enforce the court order.
On May 17, 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka that racial segregation in educational facilities was unconstitutional. Five days later, the Little Rock School Board issued a statement saying it would comply with the decision when the Supreme Court outlined the method and time frame in which desegregation should be implemented.
Arkansas was at the time among the more progressive Southern states in regard to racial issues. The University of Arkansas School of Law was integrated in 1949, and the Little Rock Public Library in 1951. Even before the Supreme Court ordered integration to proceed "with all deliberate speed," the Little Rock School Board in 1955 unanimously adopted a plan of integration to begin in 1957 at the high school level. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) filed suit, arguing the plan was too gradual, but a federal judge dismissed the suit, saying that the school board was acting in "utmost good faith." Meanwhile, Little Rock's public buses were desegregated. By 1957, seven out of Arkansas' eight state universities were integrated.
In the spring of 1957, there were 517 black students who lived in the Central High School district. Eighty expressed an interest in attending Central in the fall, and they were interviewed by the Little Rock School Board, which narrowed down the number of candidates to 17. Eight of those students later decided to remain at all-black Horace Mann High School, leaving the "Little Rock Nine" to forge their way into Little Rock's premier high school.
In August 1957, the newly formed Mother's League of Central High School won a temporary injunction from the county chancellor to block integration of the school, charging that it "could lead to violence." Federal District Judge Ronald Davies nullified the injunction on August 30. On September 2, Governor Orval Faubus—a staunch segregationist—called out the Arkansas National Guard to surround Central High School and prevent integration, ostensibly to prevent the bloodshed he claimed desegregation would cause. The next day, Judge Davies ordered integrated classes to begin on September 4.
That morning, 100 armed National Guard troops encircled Central High School. A mob of 400 white civilians gathered and turned ugly when the black students began to arrive, shouting racial epithets and threatening the teenagers with violence. The National Guard troops refused to let the black students pass and used their clubs to control the crowd. One of the nine, 15-year-old Elizabeth Eckford, was surrounded by the mob, which threatened to lynch her. She was finally led to safety by a sympathetic white woman.
Little Rock Mayor Woodrow Mann condemned Faubus' decision to call out the National Guard, but the governor defended his action, reiterating that he did so to prevent violence. The governor also stated that integration would occur in Little Rock when and if a majority of people chose to support it. Faubus' defiance of Judge Davies' court order was the first major test of Brown v. Board of Education and the biggest challenge of the federal government's authority over the states since the Reconstruction Era.
The standoff continued, and on September 20 Judge Davies ruled that Faubus had used the troops to prevent integration, not to preserve law and order as he claimed. Faubus had no choice but to withdraw the National Guard troops. Authority over the explosive situation was put in the hands of the Little Rock Police Department.
On September 23, as a mob of 1,000 whites milled around outside Central High School, the nine black students managed to gain access to a side door. However, the mob became unruly when it learned the black students were inside, and the police evacuated them out of fear for their safety. That evening, President Eisenhower issued a special proclamation calling for opponents of the federal court order to "cease and desist." On September 24, Little Rock's mayor sent a telegram to the president asking him to send troops to maintain order and complete the integration process. Eisenhower immediately federalized the Arkansas National Guard and approved the deployment of U.S. troops to Little Rock. That evening, from the White House, the president delivered a nationally televised address in which he explained that he had taken the action to defend the rule of law and prevent "mob rule" and "anarchy." On September 25, the Little Rock Nine entered the school under heavily armed guard.
Troops remained at Central High School throughout the school year, but still the black students were subjected to verbal and physical assaults from a faction of white students. Melba Patillo, one of the nine, had acid thrown in her eyes, and Elizabeth Eckford was pushed down a flight of stairs. The three male students in the group were subjected to more conventional beatings. Minnijean Brown was suspended after dumping a bowl of chili over the head of a taunting white student. She was later suspended for the rest of the year after continuing to fight back. The other eight students consistently turned the other cheek. On May 27, 1958, Ernest Green, the only senior in the group, became the first black to graduate from Central High School.
Governor Faubus continued to fight the school board's integration plan, and in September 1958 he ordered Little Rock's three high schools closed rather than permit integration. Many Little Rock students lost a year of education as the legal fight over desegregation continued. In 1959, a federal court struck down Faubus' school-closing law, and in August 1959 Little Rock's white high schools opened a month early with black students in attendance. All grades in Little Rock public schools were finally integrated in 1972.
September 24, 1789: The First Supreme Court
Previously posted at: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-first-supreme-court
The Judiciary Act of 1789 is passed by Congress and signed by President George Washington, establishing the Supreme Court of the United States as a tribunal made up of six justices who were to serve on the court until death or retirement. That day, President Washington nominated John Jay to preside as chief justice, and John Rutledge, William Cushing, John Blair, Robert Harrison, and James Wilson to be associate justices. On September 26, all six appointments were confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
The U.S. Supreme Court was established by Article 3 of the U.S. Constitution. The Constitution granted the Supreme Court ultimate jurisdiction over all laws, especially those in which their constitutionality was at issue. The high court was also designated to oversee cases concerning treaties of the United States, foreign diplomats, admiralty practice, and maritime jurisdiction. On February 1, 1790, the first session of the U.S. Supreme Court was held in New York City's Royal Exchange Building.
The U.S. Supreme Court grew into the most important judicial body in the world in terms of its central place in the American political order. According to the Constitution, the size of the court is set by Congress, and the number of justices varied during the 19th century before stabilizing in 1869 at nine. In times of constitutional crisis, the nation's highest court has always played a definitive role in resolving, for better or worse, the great issues of the time.
September 23, 1875: Billy the Kid arrested for first time
Previously posted at: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/billy-the-kid-arrested-for-first-time
On this day in 1875, Billy the Kid is arrested for the first time after stealing a basket of laundry. He later broke out of jail and roamed the American West, eventually earning a reputation as an outlaw and murderer and a rap sheet that allegedly included 21 murders.
The exact details of Billy the Kid's birth are unknown, other than his name, William Henry McCarty. He was probably born sometime between 1859 and 1861, in Indiana or New York. As a child, he had no relationship with his father and moved around with his family, living in Indiana, Kansas, Colorado and Silver City, New Mexico. His mother died in 1874 and Billy the Kid—who went by a variety of names throughout his life, including Kid Antrim and William Bonney—turned to crime soon afterward.
McCarty did a stint as a horse thief in Arizona before returning to New Mexico, where he hooked up with a gang of gunslingers and cattle rustlers involved in the notorious Lincoln County War between rival rancher and merchant factions in Lincoln County in 1878. Afterward, Billy the Kid, who had a slender build, prominent crooked front teeth and a love of singing, went on the lam and continued his outlaw's life, stealing cattle and horses, gambling and killing people. His crimes earned him a bounty on his head and he was eventually captured and indicted for killing a sheriff during the Lincoln County War. Billy the Kid was sentenced to hang for his crime; however, a short time later, he managed another jail break, murdering two deputies in the process. Billy the Kid's freedom was brief, as Sheriff Pat Garrett caught up with the desperado at Fort Sumner, New Mexico, on July 14, 1881, and fatally shot him.
Although his life was short, Billy the Kid's legend grew following his death. Today he is a famous symbol of the Old West, along with such men as Kit Carson, Jesse James, Wild Bill Hickok, Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp, and his story has been mythologized and romanticized in numerous films, books, TV shows and songs. Each year, tourists visit the town of Fort Sumner, located about 160 miles southeast of Albuquerque, to see the Billy the Kid Museum and gravesite.
September 22, 1862: Lincoln issues Emancipation Proclamation
Previously posted at: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/lincoln-issues-emancipation-proclamation
On this day in 1862, President Abraham Lincoln issues a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, which sets a date for the freedom of more than 3 million black slaves in the United States and recasts the Civil War as a fight against slavery.
When the Civil War broke out in 1861, shortly after Lincoln's inauguration as America's 16th president, he maintained that the war was about restoring the Union and not about slavery. He avoided issuing an anti-slavery proclamation immediately, despite the urgings of abolitionists and radical Republicans, as well as his personal belief that slavery was morally repugnant. Instead, Lincoln chose to move cautiously until he could gain wide support from the public for such a measure.
In July 1862, Lincoln informed his cabinet that he would issue an emancipation proclamation but that it would exempt the so-called border states, which had slaveholders but remained loyal to the Union. His cabinet persuaded him not to make the announcement until after a Union victory. Lincoln's opportunity came following the Union win at the Battle of Antietam in September 1862. On September 22, the president announced that slaves in areas still in rebellion within 100 days would be free.
On January 1, 1863, Lincoln issued the final Emancipation Proclamation, which declared "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebel states "are, and henceforward shall be free." The proclamation also called for the recruitment and establishment of black military units among the Union forces. An estimated 180,000 African Americans went on to serve in the army, while another 18,000 served in the navy.
After the Emancipation Proclamation, backing the Confederacy was seen as favoring slavery. It became impossible for anti-slavery nations such as Great Britain and France, who had been friendly to the Confederacy, to get involved on behalf of the South. The proclamation also unified and strengthened Lincoln's party, the Republicans, helping them stay in power for the next two decades.
The proclamation was a presidential order and not a law passed by Congress, so Lincoln then pushed for an antislavery amendment to the U.S. Constitution to ensure its permanence. With the passage of the 13th Amendment in 1865, slavery was eliminated throughout America (although blacks would face another century of struggle before they truly began to gain equal rights).
Lincoln's handwritten draft of the final Emancipation Proclamation was destroyed in the Chicago Fire of 1871. Today, the original official version of the document is housed in the National Archives in Washington, D.C.
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Biographies Russian Artists 19th Century Late 19th Century National Romantic Isaac Levitan
Isaac Levitan
Born: 1860, Kybartai (Lithuania)
Died: 1900, Moscow
National Romanticism
Painter, graphic artist, teacher. Born to a poor Jewish family in the town of Kybartai near Kovno in Lithuania (1860). Moved with his family to Moscow (1870). Studied under Alexei Savrasov, Vasily Polenov and Vasily Perov at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (1873–85). Member of the Wednesday Art Club (1886–89), Moscow Society of Lovers of the Arts (1888), Society of Travelling Art Exhibitions (1891) and Munich Sezession (1897). Academician of painting (1898). Headed the landscape class at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (1898–1900). Worked in Ostankino near Moscow (1880–84) and painted sets for Savva Mamontov's Private Russian Opera (1884–86). Lived in the village of Maximovka in Moscow Province, where he met Anton Chekhov, who was a guest at an estate in nearby Babkino (1885). Travelled to the Crimea to rest after suffering from heart disease and manic depression brought on by constant poverty and stress (1886). Painted melancholic "mood landscapes" which were considered a reflection of his own troubled psyche. Never married, but had many affairs and was suspected of being in love with Anton Chekhov's sister Maria. Lived and worked in the small town of Plyos in Kostroma Province (1888–90), where he painted two hundred landscapes. Visited France and Italy (1889–90), where he was influenced by the works of the Barbizon school and the Impressionists. Fell out with Anton Chekhov (1892–95) after the writer used his liaison with married student Sofia Kuvshinnikova as the plot for his short story The Grasshopper (1892). Broke up with Sofia after having an affair with Anna Turchaninova, wife of the governor of St Petersburg (1894), which led to another love triangle when Anna's eldest daughter also fell in love with him (1895). Mother and daughter fought over the artist, who attempted to commit suicide by shooting himself in Gorki (1895). Visited by Anton Chekhov, who further angered the artist by depicting him as the suicidal playwright Konstantin Treplyov in The Seagull (1895). Lived and worked in Finland (1896). Contracted typhoid and diagnosed as suffering from aneurysms (1896). Visited the town of Courmayeur in the Italian Alps (1897) and lived at the house of Anton Chekhov in Yalta (1899). Returned to Moscow (1900), where he remained housebound and died of tuberculosis shortly before his fortieth birthday (1900). Buried at Dorogomilovo Jewish Cemetery (1900) and reburied next to Anton Chekhov at the Novodevichy Cemetery (1941). Contributed to exhibitions (from 1880). Contributed to the exhibitions of the Society of Travelling Art Exhibitions (1884–1900), Moscow Society of Lovers of the Arts (1887–1900), Fellowship of South Russian Artists (1892), Moscow Fellowship of Artists (1893), Munich Sezession (1896, 1898, 1899), Exhibition of Russian and Finnish Artists (1898), World of Art (1899, 1900), Pan-Russian Exhibition in Nizhny Novgorod (1896), World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago (1893), Kraft- und Arbeitsmaschinen-Ausstellung in Munich (1898), Exposition Universelle in Paris (1900) and posthumous one-man shows in St Petersburg and Moscow (1901).
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Home»Hot Copy»Lucas Garrett: GF musician's Caffe Lena solo debut, album, unique sound
Lucas Garrett: GF musician's Caffe Lena solo debut, album, unique sound
December 1, 2022 Hot Copy
Lucas Garrett graduated from Glens Falls Hall in 2011, went to SUNY Adirondack for Science and earned his Bachelor's degree in applied mathematics from SUNY Empire in 2017 — but music is his passion and his career.
He has his solo debut at Caffe Lena, the storied coffeehouse in Saratoga Springs, tonight, Thursday, Dec. 1.
The 7 p.m. show is a release party for Reaching Through Dreams, Lucas' latest album, what he describes as a very personal collection of six original songs. (Tix: $16, $8 child; info: caffelena.org.)
'No one knows how it works'
It so happens Lucas has Pompe disease. The ventilator and wheelchair he depends on are part of the picture, not the definition of it, although it has informed his work in unique musical ways.
Growing up, Lucas says, "Like any kid, I was all over the place, into something new every day. Then, I heard my dad playing the White Album by the Beatles when I was really little, about 7, and I was like, What the hell am I hearing? I was instantly into it."
Lucas studied guitar briefly as a kid with local Mike Flores, but says he is largely self-taught. He's recently begun additional lessons with acoustic blues player Thomasina Winslow of Albany.
Reaching Through Dreams has a sound reminiscent of 70s concept artists Peter Gabriel or David Byrne. Lucas' unique baritone voice has an ethereal quality, high on the outside edge. His songs are both complex and catchy.
"I never took vocal lessons," Lucas says, "but I sing practically every day."
"Absolutely no one including myself knows how the hell I'm singing on a ventilator," he says. "Even my doctor asks, how do you do it?
"The long answer is, I breathe with the ventilator in a way that incorporates the muscles."
He's in a wheelchair, but he's not paralyzed, Lucas notes. "The only difference between me and a typical person is, my muscles don't work as well. But they do work."
"When I was young, I was a lot weaker than I am now. When people say, they've never seen anyone play the guitar quite like I do," he says, "I had to learn a lot of different patterns. I didn't have the strength to go up and down the neck. In that sense, my weakness at the time informed my playing.
"Now I'm older, stronger and healthier. I can play the way the guitar is usually played."
The modifications he developed are "not unprecedented," Lucas says, but more common to jazz players. He calls his guitar style "the best of both: Conventionality, and some unconventionalness."
"Even though I have a math and science background," and opportunity to pursue a related career, he says, "I know what I need to be doing. It just feels right to be doing music. At the end of the day you have to do the career that is meaningful to you."
Today, he says, "All the income I make is from music making or music activities," including teaching guitar and writing about music for Nippertown, the online Capital Region music site.
'Music is an equalizer'
"Music is an equalizer," Lucas says. "People see me with a guitar in my hand, they take me a lot more seriously than they do if they just see me out and about."
That's both fortunate and unfortunate, he says.
"Stereotypes are lazy. Speaking just from my experience," he says he sees less "ableism" from younger people than older — maybe a sign the world is changing.
And, he says, "When it comes to music, I see the least ableism. They don't care what your problem is. They just want to make some music. There are lots of other messed up things in the music industry, but looking at me as an equal, it's nice to have that."
"I don't like to pigeonhole myself," Lucas says of his sound. "Overall, I call it alternative rock. It's broad, allows me to do whatever I want."
Influences, Beatles to locals
"Influences," he says: "I started with the Beatles. Cat Stevens, Jethro Tull, Peter Gabriel, Jack White of the White Stripes. I listen to a lot of different things, all the way back to 1500s Celtic music."
He appreciates local musicians he's worked with citing, among others, Girl Blue and Candy Ambulance — longtime collaborators he played with earlier this fall at the Park Theater in Glens Falls.
"I'm thankful to be part of a great community of musicians," he says. "Now to be playing Caffe Lena as a headliner…."
His Lucas Garrett Band members are Kevin Kosach on bass, Madison Lewis on vocals, and rotating drummers — Sam Zucchini for the Lena gig.
The local who's-who of album collaborators includes Eric Braymer on bass, Paul Guay on drums, Tania Susi on violin, Jonathan Newell on keys, the late Bob Bates on cello, and producers Marc Clayton and Alan Dunham.
Pandemic-born album 'Reaching'
Reaching Through Dreams had its start in August 2020, "when the pandemic was at its worst," Lucas says. "I thought I was done with music. We had so much going and then, like so many of my friends, lost it all overnight. I was a guitar teacher, performing out and working at various studios. I had all this money coming in, and it all went away overnight. I sat down and wrote the first song, 'So Many Times.' It's really a story about anxiety."
He put it aside, he said, until 2021.
"As the world started opening, slowly, I found it again."
"At the same time someone came into my life that changed how I view love. I'm not old, but when you are 29 and someone changes your entire view on what love is — a lot of songs on the album deal with that as well," he says.
"The first lyric on the album is 'I'm going crazy, what is under my bed?' The last lyric of the last song is 'You lay your head on my shoulder of stone, it turns into clouds.' I think that's very indicative of what the album is about."
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By Zander Frost, Chronicle Staff Writer Two years ago, when Dick Mead was still living, … | {
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Vance class sets record with 8 female pilots
VANCE AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. — Vance Air Force Base set a new record Dec. 3 as eight of the student pilots graduating in Class 22-03 were women. That broke the previous record of seven women graduating with Class 17-06 in March 2017.
The eight women and 22 men in Class 22-03 embraced their diversity by celebrating women throughout their entire time training in the T-6A Texan II. In fact, their class patch, an identifier worn by all members of the class, embraced female pop culture.
"We're the 'girl class,'" said 2nd Lt. Caitlin Bitting, now in follow-on training with the 25th Flying Training Squadron at Vance. "So we made our class patch based off of the movie 'Mean Girls' to tell people to 'get in… we're going flying.'"
2nd Lt. Raily Duffy, with Class 22-03, is the creative genius behind the iconic patch.
"The guys ate it up, they even got mad when we tried to use the color yellow instead of pink," Duffy said.
While Class 22-03 was a record-breaking class, members of the class described the experience as normal.
"When I walked in and saw that many girls, I didn't think anything of it," said 2nd Lt. Shinryu Aoyama, a male student pilot in the class. "I mean, we like to brag when we're different, and being different isn't a weakness, it's a strength that we got to share as a class. With different ways of thinking and different backgrounds, it can only make us better."
The mission at Vance continues to be to train the world's best pilots. Class 22-03 members made sure that even with a record-breaking class, they brought just as much to the table as every other class.
"Being in this profession, it's important to know that standards don't change based on gender," said 1st Lt. Kaitlyn Cook, a student now in follow-on training with the 25th FTS.
In addition to the patch, the women brought a since of camaraderie that the other classes didn't seem to have. They looked at pilot training as a "team sport."
"Our flight commander emphasized that if we worked together, we would succeed," Cook said. "We really took that to heart, even to go as far as to have weekly dinners and breakfasts together."
Duffy also thought the brunches their class enjoyed were a unique twist that the women brought.
Whether it was the brunches or the teamwork, Cook and Duffy's recipe for success paid off. They both graduated as two of the three distinguished graduates from Class 22-03.
"I would tell young girls that want to fly, to go for it," Cook said. "It's hard for a reason. We need our Air Force pilots to know how to do complex things. Don't let that deter you from being a part of such an awesome group."
The other five females graduating with Class 22-03 were 2nd Lt. Abby deVarennes, 2nd Lt. Mary Luking, 2nd Lt. Melanie Sundahl, 2nd Lt. Mariah Waters and 2nd Lt. Kayla Wofford.
Article by: 2nd Lt. Alyssa Letts 71st Training Wing Public Affairs | {
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Skull and human remains found on Eastern Cape beach
08 October 2019 - 06:42 By IAVAN PIJOOS
Police were called to the scene, where they discovered more remains.
Image: iStock
A skull and other human remains were found at Boknes Beach in the Eastern Cape at the weekend, police said on Tuesday.
Police spokesperson Capt Mali Govender said the discovery was made on Sunday by a family who was on holiday in the small seaside town.
"One of the family members was walking along the beach, close to the lagoon, when he came across what he initially thought was a round stone. He started to dig around and discovered that it was the skull of a human being," Govender said.
Govender said the bones would be sent to the department of health's forensics section.
An inquest docket has been opened for investigation.
"According to our records, no person has been reported missing in the area. Detectives are trying to establish the identity of the victim."
Skull and bones of child found in open field in Port Elizabeth
The decomposed body of a child was found in an open field in Malabar, Port Elizabeth, on Sunday | {
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Lifestyle / Entertainment
Kim Kardashian West meets with death row inmate
by The Sunday Post
© Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
Kim Kardashian West has described the moment a death row inmate, whose case she has championed, received a stay of execution.
Kardashian West, a reality TV star who is studying for a career in law, believes there is "substantial evidence" that would exonerate murder accused Rodney Reed.
Reed, 51, was facing death by lethal injection on Wednesday for the 1996 killing of a 19-year-old woman.
Following a high-profile campaign featuring celebrities including Beyonce and Oprah Winfrey to have his case reexamined, Texas's top criminal appeals court halted the execution.
Kardashian West revealed she was with Reed when the decision was announced and described the moment he discovered the news.
She tweeted: "Today, I had the honour of meeting #RodneyReed in person and the privilege of sitting with him when he got the news that the highest court in Texas had issued a stay of execution and remanded the case back to the trial court for further consideration.
"Words cannot describe the relief and hope that swept over the room in that moment.
"We have seen Democrats and Republicans come together. We have seen grassroots activists and lawmakers link arms."
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Danny DeVito Buys 'Taxi' Reprieve With 'SNL' Stunt
If television executives have learned one thing (and it's far from certain that they have) it's not to piss off Danny DeVito.
The TV veteran has never been afraid of biting the hands that have gingerly fed him during his time on such classic series as It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia or Taxi. The diminutive but garrulous DeVito has made a career out of playing irascible, irresponsible loudmouths, mirroring the acclaimed actor and director's willingness to take a snarky stand for something he believes in.
Just ask ABC, which found itself in the crosshairs of DeVito on his Season 7 hosting stint on Saturday Night Live. DeVito, then famous for playing unscrupulous taxi dispatcher Louie DePalma on ABC's Taxi, had been booked to host the May 15, 1982, episode of SNL, which just so happened to fall 11 days after Taxi creator and fellow TV legend James L. Brooks was told by Anthony D. Thomopoulos, president of ABC Entertainment, that the ratings-challenged Taxi's just-concluded fourth season would be its last.
DeVito asked SNL producer Dick Ebersol if he could use his monologue to do a little Louie-esque venting. Ebersol, to his credit, not only allowed that but went a few steps further in skewering rival ABC for canceling one of the best and most intelligent sitcoms in TV history — including airing one filmed sketch so literally explosive that it's been edited out of the Peacock version of the episode available now.
Watch Danny DeVito in a 1982 Episode of 'Saturday Night Live'
Kicking off his monologue, DeVito gets a shower of boos by announcing Taxi's cancellation, putting a biting emphasis on the network that had done the deed. "That's the American Broadcasting Company," DeVito stressed to a new wave of sympathetic New York hostility. "A … B … C." DeVito then produced a letter he claimed had been written to him by his Italian immigrant mother, reading, in part, "You have been besmirched by men so shallow that they do not know the depths to which their deeds have taken them," with Mrs. DeVito purportedly concluding, "May God forgive them, but of course, we understand if He does not."
But DeVito had an even bigger surprise for the SNL audience, as, lamenting the fact that the cast and crew were robbed of a proper "final bow" when filming what turned out to be their last episode, DeVito welcomed all of his Taxi costars alongside him in Studio 8H. One by one, DeVito brought out Andy Kaufman, Christopher Lloyd, Marilu Henner, Tony Danza and Judd Hirsch to rapturous applause and a standing ovation from the crowd. (Longtime regular Jeff Conaway was not in attendance, having been let go from the show in response to the substance-abuse issues that would plague him until he died in 2011.) Frequent Saturday Night Live provocateur Kaufman, it should be noted, sports the neck brace he wore following his recent worked-shoot wrestling match against Jerry "The King" Lawler, an infamous stunt played up throughout the night's episode.
It's playful (Hirsch sweeps DeVito into an embrace at the end), with just the right edge of "screw-you" to ABC. But that was nothing compared to the first sketch following the monologue, a filmed piece set to Taxi's melancholy instrumental theme song ("Angela" by Bob James), which sees DeVito's DePalma riding a cab to the ABC building — and blowing it up via remote detonator.
A joke about somebody destroying a very real New York City skyscraper doesn't play in a post-9/11 TV landscape, so the 51-minute Peacock version of DeVito's episode omits the sketch. (Two performances by the band Sparks were also cut, because of music-licensing issues.) Still, with DeVito striking a victory pose at the sound of ABC's headquarters crumbling to dust, the destruction at least seems in line with Louie DePalma's MO.
ABC still had one more blow coming its way: During the goodnights, DePalma brings out his actual mother, Julia. An Italian immigrant, Mrs. DeVito, shorter even than Danny and defiantly smoking a cigarette, is asked if she has another message for the people who put her son out of a job. Indeed she does, as Mrs. DeVito spits out a series of Italian curses (the words "ciucca" and "stupida" are in there for sure), while the mixed and assembled Taxi and Saturday Night Live cast members cheer in delight. Fellow Italian Danza even puts his hand over his mouth in shock before leaning in for a kiss.
Watch a 1982 Promo for Danny DeVito's 'Saturday Night Live' Appearance
Little did ABC know that its public humiliation was just beginning. Following DeVito's episode, NBC would pick up Taxi for its fifth and final season in 1983. Even then, however, the blue-collar cabbies of the Sunshine Cab Company couldn't catch a break. While the fifth-season order did put the series over the 100-episode mark that was then necessary for the show to be sold to syndication, NBC, too, canceled the series at the end of that season.
Perhaps taking a cue from DeVito's gleefully spiteful example, Hirsch, after winning his second Emmy as Taxi's longest-suffering driver Alex Reiger, mocked NBC president Grant Tinker who was sitting in the Emmy audience. (In addition to Hirsch, Taxi costars Lloyd and Carole Kane also took home Emmys on the night.) "We're ready, Grant, we're ready, whenever you want to put us back on," taunted Hirsch, proving, as DeVito did before him, you don't cross even a fictional New York cabbie, and then give him a live mic.
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Georgia May Jagger Signs With CAA Fashion
The Hollywood agency's fashion division has also signed Marquita Pring, the Dominican-American model and activist.
By Booth Moore on January 12, 2021
Georgia May Jagger on the cover of Elle.
Courtesy/Russell James
CAA Fashion is continuing to expand in 2021.
The Hollywood agency's burgeoning fashion division has signed Georgia May Jagger, daughter of Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger and model Jerry Hall.
Known for her signature Jagger pout and gap teeth, she has appeared on the covers of Vogue, Elle and Harper's Bazaar, and appeared in campaigns for Chanel, Versace and Miu Miu. Jagger has been the face of the Just Cavalli and Angel by Thierry Mugler fragrances, and is the muse for the jewelry company Pandora. She's managed by Tess Management in London.
CAA has also signed Marquita Pring, the Dominican-American model and activist who made waves in 2010 when she appeared in the "Curves Ahead" V Magazine spread, one of the first size-inclusive fashion editorials.
Later that year, Pring walked the Jean Paul Gaultier spring 2011 runway in Paris, and in 2012, she covered Italian Vogue, a milestone for curvy women in the fashion industry.
Pring has appeared in ads for Levi Strauss & Co., Polo Ralph Lauren, Bloomingdale's, Macy's, Lane Bryant, Marks & Spencer, Talbots, L'Oréal and Olay; in magazines including Vogue, Glamour and Cosmopolitan, and on the runways for Christian Siriano, Tommy Hilfiger, Tadashi Shoji and Prabal Gurung.
A model in the 2020 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition, she is a champion for body positivity and racial diversity, focusing on issues affecting biracial people.
CAA Fashion was founded last year by Christian Carino with the goal of changing the industry by elevating models to the realm of Hollywood talent in pay and personal branding attention. The group's roster includes Claudia Schiffer, Alessandra Ambrosio, Elsa Hosk, Winnie Harlow, Indya Moore, Kate Upton, Leomie Anderson, Dilone, Duckie Thot, Jillian Mercado, Lourdes Leon and more. | {
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Africa Has Not Been A Priority Region For The Trump Administration-CFA President Mel Foote
By Ajong Mbapndah L
President Trump really has not had any discernible agenda for Africa, says Mel Foote
Very little has been done by President Trump in articulating and fostering a concise African policy, says Mel Foote, President of the Washington DC, based Constituency for Africa. In addition to not paying a visit to Africa in his first term, the President's utterances and actions have not been helpful in forging stronger ties with Africa, says Mr. Foote, a highly respected veteran of African Affairs in the Washington, DC circuit.
Fielding questions from PAV, Mr. Foote says the upcoming Presidential elections will have profound implications on how the U.S interacts with Africa and the rest of the world.
"Should Trump win re-election, we certainly should not expect anything of significance for Africa, and certainly no new initiatives. On the other hand, should Vice-President Biden win, we can certainly expect a stronger hand of friendship coming from the U.S., although the attention of President Biden will most certainly be on responding to the COVID-19 impact in the U.S," says Mr. Foote.
"While clearly President Trump has not engaged much with African-Americans during these four years , African-Americans have not done well with the Democratic Party either as both sides routinely promise things in exchange for votes, but deliver little," Mel Foote charged.
Still, the CFA leader believes that the African American vote could be decisive in swaying the election either way and for this to happen, their turnout must mirror 2008 levels when President Obama won the elections, Mr. Foote says.
Thanks for accepting to grant this interview, can we start with your assessment of the state of US-African relations?
Since assuming the Presidency of the United States, President Donald Trump has done very little to advance any significant U.S. – Africa policy agenda. He started off on the wrong foot, by insulting African countries, calling them "shithole countries", and followed this up by putting African countries, including Nigeria on a list to restrict U.S. visas! The first lady Melania Trump visited Africa last year, but did not focus on any real substantive agenda, and there has been little or no follow-up.
What was the Trump agenda for Africa and what impact did it have on the traditional ties that the US has had with Africa?
President Trump really does not have any discernable agenda for Africa. The U.S. is only peripherally involved in major movements on the continent, i.e., the Continental Free Trade Agreement; efforts to respond to climate change on the continent; and efforts to respond to COVID-19. Having said that, the U.S. State Department has been helpful in the peaceful transition to democracy in Sudan. The US played a role in the peaceful elections in the DRC. The US seems to be on the right side in pressing for democratic reform and leadership change in Cameroon.
President Trump is wrapping up his first term of office with Africa been the only region he has not visited, what message does it send to the seriousness with which the US takes its ties with Africa?
Given all of the challenges the Trump administration is facing as it wraps up its first term, including the global COVID-19 pandemic, no one can expect President Trump to make a trip to Africa any time soon. In fact, for security reasons, the President is not able to travel to Europe, Canada, Asia or anywhere else, until such a time that a vaccine would be available! Most of the Africa-watchers in Washington, would have questioned his motives for making a trip to Africa anyways, given some of his rhetoric, and his abhorrent disregard and treatment of black people in Africa and here in the United States.
An operational concept of unification, that allows African Americans, African
immigrants, Afro Latinos, and Afro Europeans, to cooperate is still needed, says Mel
Foote pictured here with President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya
Elections are around the corner, what could be at stake for US-Africa relations come November?
The US Presidential Elections in November will certainly be important for Americans and for the entire world! Should Trump win re-election, we certainly should not expect anything of significance for Africa, and certainly no new initiatives. On the other hand, should Vice-President Biden win, we can certainly expect a stronger hand of friendship coming from the U.S., although the attention of President Biden will most certainly be on responding to the COVID-19 impact in the U.S.; putting Americans back to work; and getting the U.S. economy going again.
What guarding principles or recommendations do you have for African Americans in making their choice of who to vote in November?
African-Americans certainly are in position to determine the outcome of the elections, if we turn out to vote at the level of 2008, when Barack Obama won the election. The Trump re-election team is working hard to make it difficult for Black people to vote, and clearly want to limit the potential! While clearly President Trump has not engaged much with African Americans during these four years — African Americans have not done well with the Democratic Party either! Both sides routinely promise things in exchange for votes, but deliver little! Unfortunately, we can expect little to achieve for Africa and for African people, regardless of who is elected!
What do you make of the way Africa reacted to the recent murder of George Floyd?
With the advent of social media, the entire world witnessed to murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis, Minnesota police! While thousands of blacks have been systematically murdered by police across the United States, it has always been covered up, with police claiming that they were defending themselves and had to use lethal force! African immigrants have generally stayed out of the issue of police brutality, but increasingly are being caught up as the police are only seeing them as black people, and not as Ethiopians, Guineans, Nigerians, etc. The George Floyd murder reverberated across the world including across Africa! The African immigrant community also has been caught up in the global protest, and the Black Lives Matter movement.
The emotional responses from Africa during the George Floyd included calls from the Minister of Culture for aggrieved African Americans to come back "home," what is it that African countries could do to build bridges to its diaspora?
Africa and African people are certainly coming to realize the potential of the African Diaspora, for remittances, for trade promotion, for tourism, etc.
Thus, the African Union's launching of the Diaspora as the "Sixth Region", in 2012! However, much work remains to be done in Africa and here in the Diaspora, to make this Sixth Region a functional reality. The biggest challenge is to how we can develop an "operational concept of unification", that allows African-Americans, African immigrants, Afro-Latinos, Afro-Europeans, etc., to cooperate!
While most of the Africa-focused organizations in the U.S. have disappeared, the CFA under the leadership of Mr Foote continues to respond to the call of Africa
As we speak, the African Union Mission in Washington DC has gone without an Ambassador since October 2019 when Ambassador Arikana was recalled, what do you make of this?
We all applaud the tremendous effort of Ambassador Arikana Chihombori to engage the Diaspora, during her three years as the Permanent Representative to Washington. She was tireless in her approach, and did much to wake the Diaspora up to the possibilities in Africa! On the other hand, Ambassador Chihombori was clearly functioning as a part of the African Union Commission and operated under their organizational policies and procedures! She served at the pleasure of the AU Chairperson, and like all Ambassadors, was subject to recall for any reason as determined by the Chairperson. The African Union has an "Acting" Representative in place here in Washington, and given the COVID-19 pandemic, the AU is certainly suspending efforts for the time being, to formally fill Ambassadorships around the world! I do expect that the way Ambassador Chihombori departed the position, unfortunately will hurt efforts in the future for the AU to focus on African Diaspora issues and engagement. They will likely focus on bilateral issues with the U.S. government, and with institutions like the World Bank and IMF!
What plans does the Constituency For Africa that you lead have for the 2020 annual Ron Brown African Affairs Series?
The CFA 2020 Ronald H. Brown African Affairs Series will take place virtually, between September 12 – 19. The theme for the Series this year is, "Advocating for Africa in the Mist of the Pandemic"! While most of the Africa-focused organizations in the U.S. have disappeared, or have severely reduced their programming during the Coronavirus pandemic, CFA has clearly adjusted, and continues to respond to the call of Africa, albeit with minimum resources. In some respect the programming is even better today in that we have much better access with the use of ZOOM and other information technologies, to reach leaders across Africa, and throughout the Diaspora around the world! We are planning to release the agenda for the 2020 RHB Series next week.
Mel, we like to end with a last question on what is been done by you and other veterans of African advocacy in Washington ,DC, to ensure that there is continuity in the great work you have done for decades?
I am pleased to say that CFA has always prioritized preparing the next generation of leadership to support Africa. I recall my own experience in coming up, how the Black leaders at that time were not attuned to helping me or any of the up and coming folks, to prepare for leadership. One of my bosses told once told me when I went to him about career advice, "You must pull yourself up by your own bootstraps"! In other words, he was not going to do anything to help me to advance my career! I decided then and there that if I am ever in the position, I would take a much different approach to the next generation!
I am extremely proud of my role in the formulation of the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI), that was launched by President Barack Obama, after he became President. President Obama sent an aide to see me late in 2008, and asked me to offer my thoughts on what approach the President could take in regards to Africa, in that when he arrived in office, the U.S. economy was in total freefall, we were fully engaged in fighting two wars (Iraq and Afghanistan), and he needed to spend his first year or so in fixing the economy and getting Americans back to work! He also followed George W. Bush in office. President Bush, despite his limited knowledge and interest in Africa, ended up being perhaps the most successful U.S. President in history in relationship to Africa, allocating $15 billion to respond to the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and $5 billion to launch the Millennium Challenge Corporation, which provided new development support for Africa.
President Obama wanted to show Africa that he, as a son of the continent, was indeed very much interested in the affairs of Africa, but he needed to spend his first year or so, fixing the monumental problems in the U.S. I wrote a paper for the President Obama, and suggested that he not spend his political capital trying to get African old tyrants to do the right thing, but focus his attention on the young, the up and coming generation, and preparing them for leadership! President Obama loved the idea, and went on to structure YALI!
*Culled from August Issue for PAV Magazine
Friends In Need, Friends Indeed:Q & A With Dr Rasha Kalej On The Merck Foundation Response To COVID 19 in Africa
The COVID-19 pandemic may have slowed its agenda, but the Merck Foundation under the leadership of its CEO Rasha Kelej remains a dependable development partner for Africa. From continuous engagement with African first Ladies, to raising awareness and showing appreciation to frontline actors, Dr Rasha Kelej sheds light on the response of the Merck Foundation to Covid 19 in Africa in the following Q &A
With the first ladies that you work with, what initiatives have been embarked on in response to COVID 19?
Merck Foundation has raced to respond to the Coronavirus pandemic in partnership with 18 African First Ladies, Ministries of Health, Information and Education focusing on four main areas: community support , training doctors and community awareness through our "stay at home " media recognition awards and children storybook. To give a brief ;
1) Community donations: the lockdown imposed in most countries had hit the daily workers and women the most, making it very difficult for them to survive. Therefore, we partnered with the African First Ladies of Liberia, Ghana, DR Congo, Zimbabwe, Niger, Sierra Leone, Malawi (Former) and Burkina Faso to support livelihood of thousands of women and families of casual and daily workers who are most affected by the Coronavirus (COVID -19) lockdown. The relief contribution was also undertaken in Egypt with the aim to support 500 families.
2) Coronavirus Healthcare Capacity Building: We strongly believe that building professional healthcare capacity is the right strategy to improve access to quality and equitable healthcare specially during this vicious pandemic, therefore, Merck Foundation will strongly continue their current capacity advancement programs and will specially focus on building Coronavirus healthcare capacity through providing African and Asian medical postgraduates with one-year online diploma and two-year online Master degree in both Respiratory Medicines and Acute Medicines at one of the UK Universities. This program is in partnership with African First Ladies, Ministers of Health and Academia across the two continents.
As part of our strategy of responding to coronavirus lockdown, we scaled up to more African and Asian medical postgraduates to provide online medical specialization scholarships. We will now focus more on online scholarships which will be for one-year diploma and two year master degree in several specialties such as: Diabetes, Cardiovascular Preventive Medicines, Endocrinology and Sexual and Reproductive Medicines. We invite Medical Graduates to apply for these courses by email us on submit@merckfoundation.com
3) Community Awareness: We also launched 'Stay at Home' Media Recognition Awards in partnership with First Ladies of Ghana, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Malawi (Former), Namibia, Niger, Guinea Conakry, Burundi (Former), Central African Republic (C.A.R.), Chad, Zimbabwe, Zambia, The Gambia, Liberia and Congo Brazzaville, Angola, Mali, Mozambique for English, French, Portuguese and Arabic Speaking African countries. The awards have been also announced for Middle Eastern, Asian countries and in Spanish for Latin American Countries. The theme of the awards is 'Raising Awareness on how to Stay Safe, Keep Physically and Mentally Healthy during Coronavirus Lockdown with the aim to separate facts from myths and misconceptions'. The winners of the awards will be announced soon.
4) Community awareness for Children and Youth: We also launched an inspiring storybook called 'Making the Right Choice' in partnership with 18 African First Ladies. The story aims to raise awareness about coronavirus prevention amongst children and youth as it provides facts about the pandemic and how to stay safe and healthy during the outbreak. It also promotes honesty, hard-work and the ability to make the right choices even during the most challenging times. The story has been released in three languages: English, French and Portuguese.
Dr Kelej and the Merck Foundation have partnered with African First Ladies on diverse projects to mitigate the effects of Covid 19
There is also a song out -My White Army song from a group of 11 artists from 11 African countries in three languages ; for ur first time in Arabic , French and English. on the pandemic, how did you come about this initiative?
I started this song as an idea of creating an inspiring pan African song which aims to thank the doctors and nurses fighting on the front lines of the coronavirus battle, who are risking exposure to the virus so everyone else can stay home and stay healthy.
I strongly believe, it is important for the people on the front line; doctors, nurses and health workers to know how grateful we are. I did not want this to be a one-off thank you, but one that becomes a regular act of gratitude across our communities. I have heard stories of horrible behavior against our health workers, such as, landlords are forcefully evicting them due to paranoia that they might spread COVID -19. It is shocking, illegal and inhuman behavior".
Through the My White Army song, singers representing Africa are expressing our love, respect and gratitude for doctors, nurses and health workers, the frontliners in the coronavirus battle. It is their messages of support for those braving the outbreak to help others.
This is the first time in Africa and may be in the world that 11 singers from 11 African countries in three languages have participated in one song, to support the medical staff during this difficult time.
The title of the song- 'My White Army' simply refers to the team of health workers who wear white uniforms to save and defend us against the coronavirus pandemic which seem like a battel to the world.
What criteria was used in picking the 11 artists that were used for the song and what is the feedback you have received since the song was released?
The criteria I used was to approach singers from Arabic, English and French speaking countries with a representation from East, West, North and South Africa. Of course, I approached many singers, but I selected the ones who showed passion and great interest and were willing to work under this difficult times and restrictions.
I must say am happy with the team of singers that could come on board, but this is the beginning of series of projects and songs to be done from different countries including Portuguese speaking countries. Singers from all countries will be contacted and represented in the future to create songs to address different sensitive topics in Africa.
The 6th edition of Merck Africa Asia Luminary took place in Ghana last year , what souvenirs did you take out the forum and with COVID 19, what plans for the next one?
Of course this year we will not be able to conduct the luminary in Zambia in October like it was originally planned due to coronavirus pandemic new regulations. We will conduct our forums online this year and we will postpone the luminary to 2021. Hopefully by then everything will be under control.
The Merck Foundation rallied a group of top African artists to use music in thanking frontline actors and sharing safety tips
You were listed last year amongst the top 100 most influential Africans by New African magazine; how did you receive this news?
I am very proud to be listed among the 100 Most Influential Africans of 2019. This recognition is very important for me and for Merck foundation as it acknowledges my efforts, my team's efforts for empowering infertile women and extensively working on eliminating stigma associated with infertility through our historic campaign 'Merck More Than a Mother' that aims to empower infertile women through access to information, education and change of mind-sets. I am very passionate about this cause and I love my work and my achievements as an African woman.
Through this movement, we have succeeded to initiate a cultural shift to de-stigmatize infertility at all levels: By improving awareness, training local experts in the fields of fertility care and media, building advocacy in cooperation with 18 African First Ladies who are the ambassadors of this movement, I love to work with them. And also, by supporting childless women in starting their own small businesses. It's all about giving every woman the respect and the help she deserves to live a fulfilling life, with or without a child.
May we have an idea of any other initiatives or projects that the Merck Foundation will be working on in the course of the year?
In addition to the four areas we are focusing on to respond to COVID 19. We will focus online speciality education like as mentioned earlier. And of course all our awards which can be conducted remotely. The full focus will be on our community awareness through our social media channel. I am very prod that we reached 3 m followers on all our channels including my private channels @Rasha Kelej . I am still thanks to all technology platforms , in close contact with all our partners , as our Alumni and new candidates to ensure that Merck foundation is on the right track to realize our vision.
*Culled from August Issue of PAV Magazine
Conversation with Marieme Esther Dassanou, Coordinator of the African Development Bank's Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa programme
Marieme Esther Dassanou
She previously led IFC's Gender Secretariat's work on advancing women's inclusion in the insurance and financial sectors.
Marieme Esther Dassanou is the Coordinator of Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA) the African Development Bank's flagship pan-African initiative, which aims to bridge the $42 billion financing gap facing women entrepreneurs in Africa.
In this interview, she outlines progress made with the AFAWA initiative and its future plans.
You recently joined the African Development Bank as AFAWA coordinator. Can you tell us more about the initiative?
AFAWA is a pan-African initiative launched by the African Development Bank at its Annual Meeting in Lusaka, Zambia in May 2016 to promote gender-inclusive financing and unlock the women entrepreneurship potential in Africa. Through AFAWA, the Bank seeks to bridge the $42 billion financing gap faced by women-empowered businesses (WEBs) by deploying financing instruments better suited to addressing their finance needs for the growth of their businesses.
These financial instruments are coupled with technical assistance to financial institutions to better address the needs of WEBs as well as capacity building for women entrepreneurs to increase their profitability and bankability. AFAWA also includes a business-enabling environment component to ensure regulation is conducive to enhancing the ability of financial institutions to lend to women. Through AFAWA the Bank aims to unlock up to $ 5 billion in the next five to six years.
Why is it important for the Bank to have such a vehicle or mechanism in place?
The development and growth of women-owned businesses on the continent is a priority for the African Development Bank. The continent's women entrepreneurs start businesses faster than anywhere else in the world, and in most countries represent at least 30% of formally registered businesses. Taking into account the informal economy, one could comfortably say that women represent the largest part of the SME sector. Thus, aiming to develop our continent without them would not make economic sense. They are fundamental and key drivers of sustainable economic growth and widespread and inclusive prosperity.
It is important to support these businesses to grow by ensuring they have the financial and business tools they need. AFAWA, through its Guarantee for Growth programme, supported by the G7, the Netherlands, Sweden and Rwanda, is a good starting point. Implemented together with the Africa Guarantee Fund, the programme reduces the guarantee requirements for women when they need a loan. AGF is a pan-African financial institution that provides financial institutions with guarantees and other products specifically intended to support small and medium-sized enterprises in Africa. Together, we will work with financial institutions to enhance their understanding of women entrepreneurs and their different risks, which should be considered in the development of financial services for women.
The Bank is also further leveraging its lines of credit, trade finance lines and investment in equity funds to increase access to finance for WEBs of a certain size even more. The partnership signed with the Women Entrepreneurship Finance Initiative (We-Fi) supports the Bank in increasing it financial coverage for women entrepreneurs through these traditional instruments, as well as increase trading opportunities for women entrepreneurs and grow the fashion and creative industries.
What are the commitments so far?
The program has so far received commitments from G7 members, including France, the UK, Canada, Italy and Germany, as well as the Netherlands, Sweden and Rwanda. AFAWA has also received its first tranche of funding from We-Fi , a portion of which will go towards enhancing to the capacity of women-owned businesses to respond to the COVID-19 crisis.
We invite other governments, especially our regional member countries, to partner with us in helping to bridge the finance gap for women-run businesses in Africa.
On the implementation front, what ground has been covered?
We've made great progress since the G7 Biarritz Summit last year. On 31 March 2020, the Board of Directors of the African Development Bank approved the two mechanisms that will enable us to de-risk women-led businesses and increase their ability to access to loans with lighter collateral requirements. We've been slightly delayed by COVID-19, but we expect that the Guarantee for Growth Programme will be operational before the end of 2020.
In the meantime, we are leveraging the Bank's lines of credit, trade finance and equity funds to enable women to access funds and grow their businesses. The Bank is also ensuring that the SME component of its COVID-19 Rapid Response Facility (CRF) package, has a part specifically dedicated to women businesses. The Bank is also exploring opportunities to work with equity funds in enhancing the ability of women enterprises to further participate in the COVID-19 response to increase their operations and production.
Who is eligible to borrow?
It's not only about borrowing. The access to finance gap is in part due to the inability of women-owned and led businesses to access funding, their lack of skills in presenting financially viable businesses, and an environment that is not always conducive to increasing women's access to financial services. The AFAWA approach addresses all these areas. Thus, depending on their needs, women entrepreneurs will be eligible at different levels including access to finance for those with viable and bankable projects and also access to training and capacity building for those who may not yet be eligible to borrow but could improve their financial management skills, record keeping, marketing and any other area to enhance their bankability.
*AFDB
African Economic Outlook Supplement: Here is how African countries can deal with COVID-19, reopen economies and accelerate recovery.
Charles Lufumpa, the African Development Bank's Acting Chief Economist and Vice President for Economic Governance and Knowledge Management speaks on the recent release of the African Economic Outlook 2020 Supplement. He shares policy recommendations to cushion the shock of COVID-19 on countries.
Charles Lufumpa is the African Development Bank's Acting Chief Economist and Vice President for Economic Governance and Knowledge Management
How has Africa's economic trajectory changed since the 2020 African Economic Outlook launched in January?
Almost everything has changed since January. The outbreak COVID-19 pandemic has distressed the global economy, particularly African economies. At the time the projections for Africa's economic growth and prospects were prepared in January 2020, no one anticipated the magnitude of disruptions that COVID-19 would cause.
Both the pandemic and the containment measures put in place by governments to limit its spread have had important economic implications. International travel restrictions, school and workplace closures, cancellation of public events, restrictions on public gatherings and closures of national borders and non-essential businesses have had an unprecedented impact on Africa's economic, health and political landscape.
The direct and indirect consequences of the outbreak have upended the strong upward trajectory of many African countries through 2019. Our analyses, projections and forecasts in the AEO 2020 Supplement reflect this sharply changed landscape.
Why is the African Economic Outlook 2020 Supplement necessary at this time?
The pandemic has reversed the strong growth projections reported earlier in our 2020 African Economic Outlook due to the significant economic and health-related disruptions it is causing African countries.
To account for the impact of the pandemic on Africa's socio-economic landscape, it was necessary to reassess the situation and revise our growth projections and outlook for 2020 and 2021.
The AEO 2020 Supplement presents revised projections for Africa's economic growth and outlook for 2020 and 2021, assesses the impact of COVID-19, and offers policy prescriptions on safe strategies to reopen economies and accelerate recovery after the pandemic.
What are the main policy recommendations to spur 3.0 percent growth in 2021?
It is important to first underscore that projections of a 3-percent growth recovery in 2021 are subject to major downside risks arising from both external and domestic factors. For instance, there remains a non-negligible risk of a second wave of COVID-19 infection, which could necessitate that African countries reimpose physical distancing, lockdowns, and quarantines.
We should also not forget other natural catastrophes such as the locusts swarms in parts of East Africa that are hurting farmers' yields and livelihoods. Other exacerbating factors such as subdued commodity prices, high debt burdens, and tightening global financing conditions are likely to increase the uncertainty of Africa's projected economic recovery.
The AEO 2020 Supplement emphasizes a multi-pronged policy approach to addressing the pandemic that involves: a public health response to contain the spread of the virus and minimize fatalities; a monetary policy response to ease liquidity constraints and solvency risks, a fiscal response to cushion the impacts on livelihoods and to assist businesses; a labour-market response to protect workers and their jobs; and structural policies to enable African economies to rebuild and enhance their resilience to future shocks.
Actionable details on how to implement these policy responses are presented in Section 3 of the Supplement.
How can African countries build economies that are more resilient against future shocks?
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is certainly not the last major shock the continent will face. In the AEO Supplement, we emphasized the need to accelerate structural reforms to help African countries build more resilient economies and become better prepared to face future shocks.
By increasing productivity and addressing obstacles to the business environment, African countries could revive their productive base and increase levels of industrialization. These resilience-boosting reforms would require investment in human capital to build a workforce with the right skills for high-productivity sectors and bridging the infrastructure deficit to advance Africa's industrial development.
Moreover, promoting economic diversification will help countries adapt to an increasingly volatile global economy and better shield their economies from future shocks. This will require targeted policies that boost agricultural productivity and move labor from low-productivity to high-productivity sectors as well as supporting competitive sectors such as agro-processing, digital technologies, or information and communication technology-based services, which have proved critical during the pandemic.
Other challenges that will need to be addressed in order to achieve faster-growing and more resilient African economies include: formalizing the informal sector; ensuring political stability, good governance and transparency, and stronger protections for property rights.
*AFDB.
Nigerian Actress / Screen Writer Pens Coronavirus hit African lockdown series
Tunde Aladese
Tunde Aladese is an African film actress and screen writer, she won an Africa Academy Award in 2018, she has recently been a studying BA in Filmmaking at MetFilm School .As a result of the Coronavirus pandemic, a popular series called, Shuga went into a mini-series nightly show titled MTV Shuga Alone Together highlighting the problems of Coronavirus on 20 April 2020. Tunde is the screenwriter.
The show was originally to be broadcast for 60 nights, but it's now been increased to 65 nights and its backers include the United Nations. The series is based in Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya and Cote D'Ivoire and the story is told through with on-line conversations between the main characters. In the Q and A below she discusses the series and her career plans
Do you remember how you fell in love with films and writing? Was there a particular film/ script? Did it make to feel a particular way? Anything growing up that pushed you in this particular direction?
This is a difficult one because it's never really just one thing. It's the gradual growth of a lifelong romance. My love for writing started with prose, making sorry imitations of any book I enjoyed in order to somehow prolong the experience that the book had given me. Cinemas weren't much of a thing in Nigeria at the time when I was growing up but VCR was big business and watching movies was a big family pastime.
It's hard to pick just one film because the exposure was constant, and the genres were varied. It was the eighties so there was a lot of that B movie style action. Also, a lot of the glam mini-series type content, usually centred around a woman who succeeded against all odds. There was 'The Sound of Music' which my siblings and I could quote in its entirety. Arthouse came later, as options widened. I didn't have a proper understanding of how films came to be for quite a while and a couple of appearances on kids' variety shows were a surreal experience.
I guess primary school drama club was my first proper sense of trying to create a narrative out of thin air and get other people to help bring it to life. But I can say that I fell in love with the film business, this idea of actors and directors and storytellers on screen after reading biographies of some old Hollywood movie stars between the ages of 10 and 13.
I think that was when I began to understand the process of how all that came to the screen. The possibility of anything like that being a tangible and viable career plan, came much later.
Please expand on the origins of when and why you decided that career in the screen industry was for you.
I'm not quite sure I decided. I think the timing was fortunate for me. My first job after university led to an introduction between my boss and a producer who was about to make a radio drama series for the BBC in Nigeria. My boss showed him some ideas I had put down and I got invited to be part of a writers' room, something I'd never heard of. I couldn't believe someone paid me that much money (not a huge amount but at the time I was making almost nothing) to do something I'd been doing for fun all my life. I figured 'I could get used to this…' Success was not immediate but over the next couple of years, enough opportunities came my way that when an international cable company became interested in producing Nigerian series, I actually had a little experience under my belt and could pitch myself for some writing opportunities.
Tunde Aladese won an Africa Academy Award in 2018
Why did you choose Metfilm school? What's unique about it? What were you experiences there? What were your education experiences beforehand? Where did you grow up and where did you go to college / university… what did you study before?
My first degree was in English Literature, from the University of Ibadan in Nigeria. After almost 10 years working professionally as a screenwriter, mostly in television, I wanted new challenges and a wider canvas. I thought learning formally about all aspects of film production would help me with that. Choosing Metfilm was a combination of timing, location (Berlin had been popping up a lot in my timeline in the months preceding), language and investigating their alumni and the things they had gone on to do since leaving the school. It's a great way to study the European arthouse film aesthetic, which I was very interested in, without having to take the time to learn a whole new language. And because it's an English speaking school in a very European city, you get to study with students from a wide variety of countries from all over the world.
Tell me about MTV Shuga – how did the project come about about? 60 episodes – it's quite an ask… how did you manage to complete it?
We're still trying to! And I'm not going to deny that it is a challenge. I just take it one block at a time, and fortunately I don't have to do it all on my own. There's a co-head writer and co-director who alternates blocks with me and of course, the SAF team. I had worked on 2 previous seasons of the series, including one season as Head Writer and had therefore had some contact with some members of the team. They reached out within the first couple of weeks of lockdown in Germany and told me about this idea they were throwing around, and asked whether it was something I would be interested in coming on board for. I'd been sitting home for 2 weeks, reading about everything going on all around the world, from news headlines to social media posts sharing people's emotions, so I knew as soon as they asked that there was potential here. I didn't imagine at the time that it would be 65 episodes (yeah, it's 65 now)! We're recording 41-50 this week and then my co-head takes over again for the next batch.
What's the response been like? From the audience and the industry?
To be honest? I don't know. I usually try to stay away from comments because you get drawn in by the good stuff and then one negative comment and you might spend the rest of the day overthinking. I do understand that reactions and feedback from the first few episodes was quite exciting. It's been challenging trying to find ways to maintain and increase the momentum and interest. But I did say I was looking for challenges, right?
Tunde is the screenwriter of the mini-series nightly show titled MTV Shuga Alone Together highlighting the problems of Coronavirus
What are you working on now, what are your plans for the future?
I'm almost done with this season of Shuga and there are a couple of things lined up for me to switch over to from next month. But nothing that I am at liberty to talk about right now.
What advice would you give to anyone thinking about becoming a screen writer / considering a career in the screen industries?
Read a lot of books, watch a lot of movies. Figure out what you like, what excites and moves you and why. And then try to put it into your own work. Write, write, write. Even when you hate it, keep at it. I had a period of about 6 years from secondary school into university where, everything I wrote, I hated soon after. But that made me question why I hated it and what I needed to do differently. The trick is to keep writing so that when an opportunity comes your way, you have something to show of your ability that will make them at least consider you. Don't wait for someone to find you and make you a writer. And then of course, seek out those opportunities. I know this is a bit glib, and won't work out for everyone, but it will for some. Oh, and I should mention this magic trick. The first time I went to a writers' workshop, everyone there introduced themselves as a writer except me. I didn't think I had the right to claim that about my hobby. The people present in the room made me say it 'I'm a writer'. When I returned to my life, I started introducing myself that way. And people remembered. And the calls started coming.
*Q & A facilitated by Ruth Sparkes and MetFilm School
From Kenya To East Africa, African Made SUV Mobius Eyes Continental Market
Joel Jackson is the Founder and CEO of Mobius Motors specialized in the building of vehicles in Africa for Africa
In the hugely competitive world of cars, Mobius, a Kenyan based company manufacturing luxury SUVs, has carved a niche for itself, and is set for expansion into the East African market.
Designed specifically to handle the rugged African terrain with consideration for income levels, business needs, vehicle loading and more, Mobius vehicles are a strong combination of very high level durability, and very high levels of affordability, says Joel Jackson, its Founder and CEO. Speaking in a skype interview with Pan African Visions, Joel Jackson who was pushed into car manufacturing because of the transportation challenges he faced in Kenya while working with a forestry NGO, says Mobius is developing cars specifically for the local market.
"To get the combination of high durability, and affordability with a free one-year warranty covered, and authorized servicing in a way that has not been offered before is a truly unique proposition from Mobius," says Joel Jackson.
With roots firmly established in Kenya, Jackson says the next phase involves expansion into other countries in East Africa and eventually across the rest of the continent.
PAV: Good morning and thanks for granting this interview to talk about Mobius cars. Can we start with an introduction of the company and its products?
Joel Jackson: Mobius is a new car company in Kenya, and we design, manufacture, and sell vehicles suited specifically for the African markets. We launched our first generation vehicle in 2015, and we are preparing to launch our next generation vehicle now, and the vehicle is built in Nairobi factory in Kenya.
PAV: When you say the cars are designed for the African market what do you mean by that, and how different are your cars from Japanese, American, French or even German cars?
Joel Jackson: Firstly, they are very durable; they offer the same type of performance as an SUV in the Kenyan market, but they are also very affordable as well. Our position in price is just over $13,000 for a brand new SUV which is unparalleled in price offering in the market. So, it is a combination of very high-level durability, and very high levels of affordability but offered in a very attractive package which consumers find very appealing.
PAV: You are from Britain, what prompted you to get into the car business, and why the choice of Africa, and why Kenya out of 54 African countries?
Joel Jackson: My first experience in Kenya was working with a forestry NGO on the coast of Kenya, and it was quite an eye-opening experience. I spent a lot of time moving around in the rural areas of the country and I really had first-hand experience of the kinds of transportation challenges the people in those communities were facing so that was the original inspiration for Mobius to develop a car that was durable enough to handle the kinds of roads, terrains I saw in those areas. Although I planned to be in Kenya for a relative short stint, and move back to the UK and continue my career as a management consultant, I ended up staying in Kenya and founded Mobius, and I have done that since.
PAV: Let's talk about the work force of Mobius, how many workers do you have and are there Kenyans or Africans who actually participate in the production process of your cars?
Joel Jackson: Yes. So today we have about 55 people on the team, and that continues to grow. We have been fortunate to hire some incredible people from all around the world with very deep automotive experience. The vast majority of our team are Kenyans, and that includes Kenyans who have been educated abroad, worked in different car companies for a while and decided to move back to Kenya and join Mobius.
PAV: With regards to the models that you currently have, could you tell us the kinds of cars you have in the market at the moment?
Joel Jackson: Our next generation Mobius 2 vehicle is currently available for pre-order, and our customers can log into our website and pre-order the vehicle. It is an SUV offering which gives customers specifically developed rugged performance for rough road driving environments. It has many of the key features customers will expect in a vehicle, power steering, air conditioning, an optional Wi-Fi enabled tablet entertainment system in the vehicle as well. But it is specifically developed for high durability, drive performance, and a very low price rate.
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta had a special test drive of a Mobius car in 2014
PAV: We believe there are many car companies in Kenya, how is Mobius copping with the competition from Japanese, French, Italian, and German cars?
Joel Jackson: The vast majority of cars in Kenya are mostly imported from countries like Japan. Those vehicles tend to experience high import duty when they arrive, so in many cases cars are mostly doubling in price. We are one of the few car companies operating on the continent which means we do not experience the same taxation as imported vehicles. What Mobius is doing is developing a car specifically for the local market which is highly differentiated regarding its combined durability, and affordability and that is a unique offering in the market.
To find an SUV at this price rate; we are the only one offering. Even when you compare Mobius to a five, six-year-old SUV import from Japan, our vehicle is lower in price, brand new with a free one-year warranty offer, assembled, and authorized servicing. So, it is a genuine, exceptional proposition to the consumer.
PAV: What has the response been from the consumers regarding sales, how excited are Kenyans about using your products?
Joel Jackson: Kenyans are really excited about the introduction of Mobius. We have already generated hundreds of pre-orders with minimal marketing to date and that is largely based out of the positive experience customers in Kenya have already received for our first generation vehicle we launched a few years ago. There is a huge anticipation in Kenya for the launch of our next generation car, and again our brand is well perceived in the local market.
PAV: With regards to expansion, do you plan to limit yourself to just the Kenyan market or what plans do you have in place to expand production to other African countries?
Joel Jackson: So, we plan to expand to other countries in Africa very quickly. We will be starting expansion out of Kenya initially within East Africa, and the focus there is stabilizing the production and distribution systems. One of the unique elements to Mobius that we are pioneering is a new model of sales and service for the customers, so beyond offering fantastic products in the market we are also looking to offer a better sales and service experience as well.
We have built in Mombasa a new sales and service centre that we will be launching later this year and that centre is quite different from traditional dealerships, you find in East Africa. It will be run by Mobius and has quite a distinctive architecture, it combines service operations alongside a show room facility, and we will be building such facilities across East Africa in the coming years. We will be expanding the Mobius brand presence in the Region, and we will also be offering customers much closer touch points for servicing their vehicles outside the major cities alone in East Africa. This is the big focus of the company in the coming years to scale up our distribution to reach many customers not just in Kenya, but across East Africa. Long-term as that system is stable, we will look to replicate in the other regions of Africa.
PAV: With regards to challenges, what are some issues that you have face?
Joel Jackson: The first challenge is setting up global supply chain for a product such as a vehicle, there are thousands of components going into it and each of those components have different suppliers, sometimes, the same suppliers. In our case, our primary sourcing, and has been in Asia and one of the things we have heavily been investing is building a body chain in Kenya, building that ecosystem of suppliers in Kenya in the coming years for the contents of our cars. We have a view of driving industrial change in Kenya and across East Africa and to create more jobs, and the increase in skilled levels across countries. So there has been a lot of investments in so far as working with our existing suppliers to improve the production capacity. We will be doing more work in the coming years as we drive up local content in our cars even higher from where we are today. That's certainly been one of the big focus areas of the business.
The second challenge has been in setting up the right talent base in the business to do what we do. Obviously as I have mentioned earlier, developing a vehicle in an African context is new. We are really pioneering the development launch of vehicles specifically suited for the African market. Finding the right kind of skills sometimes can be challenging particularly when you are talking about specific engineering kind of skills. But again, we have been fortunate to hire a really strong team over the previous years and develop our in house capabilities in those areas. But again, when you are starting on a baseline where sought of expertise does not exist, you have to progress as you build that over time.
PAV: Is there any kind of support or partnership that you have received from the Kenyan government as you go about business in Kenya?
Joel Jackson: Yes, we are already working according to the existing incentive scheme that the Kenyan government offer, and we are in discussion with the Kenyan government about how we can work more closely with them over time to improve the incentives that are offered in industry. We are also in discussion with the government about potential purchase of our vehicles, clearly these vehicles are well suited to the African context, and this extends to various government ministries and different parastatals which may want to buy products suited for their needs. There is also in Kenya a buy Kenya, build Kenya initiative that we are a big supporter of, and we see a kind of natural synergy in Mobius supplying Kenyan made vehicles to Kenyan government.
PAV: What impact has COVID-19 had on your activities?
Joel Jackson: At the moment as we finalize the preparation of the vehicle ready for launch, there is a lower degree of impact on Mobius than it will be on other car markers around the world who are actively in production and revenue generation. Clearly, COVID has had a major impact around the world and across all sectors. Majority of our team are working at home at the moment for obvious health reason and exercising social distancing for those who do need to be in the office, and at the factory. The first sign of this situation as we look forward to post COVID-19 world is that Mobius really has unique potential in the Kenyan and East African context to be a real proponent of change and recovery in the economy by driving job creation, and skill creation in the country, as our local content increases, and the supply chain in Kenya, increases. As our production increases, we need to be hiring more people on the production line, there is a knock-on effect to the economic potential. We also need to expand the knowledge of the workers to expand their knowledge of automotive processes.
These are value-added skills that will benefit the economy more generally, and ultimately the intention of Mobius as we drive our production volume is that we are starting to export content from Kenya to other countries in East Africa and as you export contents you drive up GDP. There is huge development potential of Mobius particularly in post COVID-19 world where there is even more need for stable manufacturing operations as a backbone for economic recovery
PAV: There is a lot of talk on the continent about the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement, are you looking forward to that?
Joel Jackson: We are. We welcome any news that will make the trade of goods easier, quicker, and cheaper. We think the African Union has a huge potential long-term to benefit from the same type of trade or regulation that we see in the EU for example. We think our vehicles are well suited to a broader Pan-African market, and we see clear potentials in other markets beyond East Africa, so, we are all in favour or encouraging the free movement of goods. We think also on the supply chain as well as we invest in greater self-reliance in Africa to boost local industrialization. In Africa, we need to encourage more suppliers to come on board. There are many benefits, and we think everyone can win by increasing the movement of goods long-term.
PAV: How does your company give back to the community?
Joel Jackson: There are a number of ways as I have already referenced regarding industrialization, job creation, skills creation, all of these things can make a big difference to many people's lives as they get jobs they enjoy doing, get a good salary, and get a good environment that their skills can develop. Also, one of the unique characteristics of Mobius is that we are positioning our vehicles as enablers of mobility. So really there is a two-prong social impact potential of Mobius; one is in driving industrialization, and two is driving access to mobility.
So not only in the SUV offering that I was describing earlier, but also with a feature configuration of that platform that is currently under development that will enable owners to physically plug in different modules for different businesses with. It could be a public transport business, delivery service, and a wide range of applications. Those are the kinds of businesses that these entrepreneurs can run to generate income with and crucially the kinds of services that enable users in their communities to benefit from transportation. So, for everyone one entrepreneur owner of a Mobius vehicle there can be hundreds of more beneficiaries.
We hope that when people buy Mobius to run public transport businesses with, in turn we will see more people in communities in rural parts of Africa benefiting from all the kinds of services that the transportation system literary provides. So, industrialization, and mobility are two really important elements to what Mobius is doing.
Designed specifically with the rugged African terrain in mind, brand new Mobius cars sell cheaper than used foreign cars in Kenya
PAV: Looking at the economic conditions of Kenyans and Africans, how affordable are the cars with regards to the economic realities you see?
Joel Jackson: Relative to the incumbents in the market they are really affordable. As I mention earlier, if you buy a five or six-year-old SUV in Kenyan today imported you are paying well over $20,000. For a brand-new Mobius SUV you are paying a price starting from around $13,000. So, it is truly exceptional in that respect. But equally, many customers when they buy, they buy the vehicle with vehicle financing, and we have already work with a number of customers, and their banks to help to set up vehicle financing lines that they can purchase their vehicles with. Obviously, vehicle financing is something that we will be placing more and more emphases on over time as we expand our market, and we hope long-term with more vehicle financing products available many more customers in East Africa will be able to buy these vehicles.
PAV: We end with an opportunity for you to make a direct pitch to Kenyans and Africans out there on your business, why should they go for a Mobius made car as opposed to a Toyota ,Honda or some other brand ?
Joel Jackson: To get the combination of high durability, and affordability with a free one-year warranty covered and authorized servicing in a way that has not been offered to date, is a truly unique proposition, and it's a very attractive vehicle that is a lot of fun to drive in, and we will encourage customers to come visit our showroom and see for themselves
PAV: Mr. Joel Jackson thank you for talking to Pan African Visions.
Joel Jackson: Likewise, it was great to be with you and thanks for taking the time.
* The full interview is featured in the upcoming July issue of Pan African Visions Magazine.For more information on Mobius cars click here
Second Term For Adesina At AFDB Will Deepen Ties Between Brazil and Africa- IBRAF President João Bosco Monte
Prof. Joao Bosco Monte says he looks forward to stronger and more diverse cooperation between Brazil and Africa during Dr. Adesina's second AFDB Term.
The re-election of Dr Akinwumi Adesina to second term of office as the President of the African Development Bank-AFDB will greatly deepen and broaden ties between Brazil and Africa says Prof João Bosco Monte ,President of the Brazil African Institute- IBRAF .
In an interview with Pan African Visions, Prof João Bosco Monte lauded the great achievements of Dr Adesina including his whole hearted endorsement of partnership with the IBRAF on hugely successful exchange programs on Agriculture that have benefited many African countries.
"I am optimistic about the possibility of Adesina being re-elected to the presidency of the African Development Bank, especially when we see Brazil as a country that can work very closely with Africa, not only at the government level, but also with the private sector," says Prof João Bosco Monte in the interview which also discusses the IBRAF, racism , and the future of relations between Brazil and Africa.
Prof Joao Monte thanks for granting this interview, could we start this interview with an introduction of the Brazil -Africa Institute that you lead?
The Brazil Africa Institute, when was founded, I had the idea to put together Brazilians and Africans from many perspectives. The collaboration and the partnership that we can see between Brazil and some African countries are very obvious. But Brazil doesn't know much about Africa, on the other hand, Africa doesn't know everything about Brazil. So, the genesis of the Brazil Africa Institute, when we created it, was to put together both sides of the Atlantic and have mutual and respectful Knowledge and understanding about each other.
And now, after ten years of the conception of IBRAF we can see many opportunities that we can put together between the two sides, African and Brazilian. Not only the government, and I could say mainly the private sector can understand the potential of collaboration and opportunities that we can see from both regions.
The agenda of the Brazil Africa Institute brings many possibilities for interactions. One of the activities that we have annually is the Brazil Africa Forum, which brings leaders, Heads of States, Ministers, diplomats, private sector, the civil society, in order to discuss one important topic for Brazil, Africa, and for other regions. And this gives me the opportunity to emphasize that when we talk about Brazil and Africa, we should include all the latitudes on the agenda.
Could you also shed some light or put historical perspective on relations between Brazil and Africa, how important are the ties between your country and Africa?
Since 2006, when I started to visit Africa, I saw clearly, a very important connection between Brazil and some African countries. Actually, when I visit Africa, in many countries I feel just as I am in Brazil. On the other hand, whenever I see Africans in Brazil they say "Well, this is just like home. This is just like Africa". In this regard, there is a very particular relationship between the two sides of the Atlantic.
And it's important to emphasize the historical ties that Brazil has with Africa. Not because of slavery, and I can say, very sadly, Brazil is one of the places that had many slaves from Africa. But besides this, Brazil has a historical connection with Africa, and now we can see the roots of Africa in Brazil, in the gastronomy, in the music, in the clothes and the way that we dress, and I can see that Brazil is very connected with the continent.
We are doing this interview at a time when racism has also taken centre stage with world protests following the killing of Floyd Georges in the USA…what are race relations like in Brazil?
The killing of George Floyd in the US brought to the international arena a discussion about racism and how countries, how organizations, how governments, how people are acting about this theme. It's a bit very unique. We can see demonstrations in many parts of the world, not only in the US, against racism, that are asking the governments to bring the new policies to eradicate racism from the face of the world.
In Brazil, we do have problems with racism, and some demonstrations, some protests, also came to this discussion here essentially to highlight that historical inequalities are behind the great disparities faced by black people in the labor market. Less access to education is one of them, as well as more precarious living conditions. The governments of Brazil, I'm talking about Federal and State governments, should start to discuss what kind of argument we can bring to the table, to bring to poor people, and also black people as well, the possibility to have a better life. So, the agenda that we have to include now in Brazil, and also in some parts of the world, should include the discussion about racism, but also how can we bring dignity to people who don't have the eyes of the state.
Under Prof João Bosco Monte IBRAF has been a vital link between Brazil and Africa
One of the partner institutions that the Brazil -Africa Institute works with is the African Development Bank, what do you make of the recent standoff between with external partners notably the USA? How has it been like working with current AFDB President Dr Akinwumi Adesina, and what do you think a second term for him is deserved?
We have many partners around the world. One of the key partners of the Brazil Africa Institute is, indeed, the African Development Bank, and this was emphasized in the last years, and I'm very proud to say that this partnership is because of the confidence and the vision of President Adesina. I had the opportunity to discuss with him, in many occasions the potential of collaboration between African countries and Brazil, and he's very familiar with the possibilities of collaboration. Now, when we see countries like the US bringing issues about the leadership of President Adesina, we should understand what, specifically, are the reasons that the bank is being attacked by the US Government. We need to see the details, but we also need to see a concrete reason and the objective that the government of the US is bringing to damage the reputation of president Adesina. My personal opinion is that he's doing a very good job, and this is important for the bank and for Africa.
Watching the situation from outside I can see that many African leaders, many former Head of States, are now supporting Adesina and what he's doing at the bank. This is important to emphasize because the leaders who are dealing with him, who had the opportunity to deal with him, are bringing to the table a very strong message that he's doing the job very well. And this emphasized that he needs to have the opportunity to have a second turn. My feeling is that, in five years, is not possible to change the whole situation, and what he was doing in the last five years was bringing a discussion, a dialogue, among many people, many organizations, and bringing the flag of the bank, and the demands of the continent to partners around the world, including Brazil. That's why I emphasize and defend the possibility of President Adesina to be reelected.
What did you make of the allegations levied against him and were you satisfied with the defense he put up to deny any wrongdoing?
It is very relevant to mention that the Ethics Committee of the African Development Bank received the response from President Adesina in a very positive way. So, I don't think we need to go any further to make this clear and I particularly feel very satisfied with the answers given by him.
In 2017 the AFDB and the Brazil Africa Institute launched the Youth Technical Training Program to train young African professionals in research and technology, how is the program working out?
Three years ago, the Brazil Africa Institute started a very important program, bringing young Africans to Brazil to receive training in areas that the country achieve great results. And the African Development Bank actually was the first door that we knocked to start the talks, to show the evidence, and the possibilities of bringing these young Africans boys and girls to Brazil. This was a valuable moment for us, and the Bank received it very well, and the voice of President Adesina, followed by his team, was very helpful and proactive. And we started with agriculture, which is related to the mind of President Adesina. This was in 2017, and after this activity that we have launched with the bank, we started to develop other initiatives with some other international organizations. I'm sure that the beginning of this program, with the African Development Bank, was a crucial moment for us to reach other areas, other activities and to amplify our partnerships around the world.
I am sure that the start of the Youth Technical Training Program in partnership with the African Development Bank, was a crucial moment for us to reach other areas, other activities and expand our connections around the world.
After 3 years of the program, we are very pleased to identify that many young Africans – now with more knowledge and skills – are applying some successful Brazilian experiences in many parts of the African continent, which clearly demonstrates the importance of south-south cooperation.
After 3 years of the Youth Technical Training Program in partnership with the AFDB we are very pleased to identify that many young Africans applying some successful Brazilian experiences in many parts of the African continent ,says Prof João Bosco Monte
What expectation would you have for a second Adesina term at the AFDB especially with regards to prospects of more projects and partnerships with IBRAF and Brazil as a whole?
I am optimistic about the possibility of Adesina being re-elected to the presidency of the African Development Bank, especially when we see Brazil as a country that can work very close to Africa, not only at the government level, but also with the private sector. And I see President Adesina's vision as something that we can have coincidences with the activities of the Brazil Africa Institute.
How is the agenda of IBRAF going to look like for the rest of the year especially with the challenges posed by COVID-19? We will like to end this interview with your perspective on the future of ties between Brazil and Africa, in what areas or sectors do you see potential for additional cooperation and what needs to be done on both sides to make the bonds stronger?
Like all organizations in the world, we are adapting to this situation of isolation and remote work, which of course is not an easy task. As an international organization, it is very necessary to be close to people in many parts of the world, participating in meetings or activities organized by us or our partners.
I think the Brazil-Africa agenda for next year is very positive and I am very optimistic about the future of these relations. Many areas can be addressed, and Brazil is already doing things with Africa in various activities, in many fields. I see agriculture, again, as a possibility for Brazil to become more and more involved with Africa, especially in the context of transfer of technology. But it is important to emphasize that Africa must know more about Brazil and African leaders must be open to seeing Brazil as a potential partner. On the other hand, Brazilians must look for the possibilities to get involved with Africans, and we need to understand more and more the potential that we have before us.
The role of the Brazil Africa Institute is to emphasize that the moment that we have now is very appropriate for Brazil and for Africa. Not only because we see the market potential to sell and buy things, but also because the partnership we see between the two sides is very unique and can last for a long time.
For the second half of 2020, we are still planning some activities, such as the YTTP, with an edition in September and the other in October. We are bringing Africans, from West Africa, to receive training in Brazil, as we have done in the last 3 years. In addition, we are starting the IBRAF Fellowship Program for South-South and Triangular Cooperation, with the objective of facilitating the dialogue between African researchers and local professionals, enabling the exchange of knowledge in various fields, through a platform for expanding contact with the top sustainable development practices in Brazil.
Certainly, our desire is that the result of all the activities that we are developing can somehow contribute so that Brazil and Africa are better prepared for the post-COVID era.
From Lost Boy To Beacon Of Hope For Global Refugees- Manyang Reath Kher On The Sharing Award
734 Coffee exists to level the playing field for the often-forgotten refugee population that hails from East Africa, says Manyang Reath Kher
From the wreckage of the South Sudan civil, a new generation has emerged with fresh hope on how to better the lot of refugees across the globe. One of the perfect epitomes of this new generation is Manyang Reath Kher who was part of the 4,000 Lost Boys who was fortunate enough to land a ticket to the United States in 2001.
A University Lecturer at George Mason University today, Manyang Reath Kher is better known for using the social enterprise 734 Coffee to advocate and conscientize the American population on the plight of refugees. Working with others under the aegis of the NGO Humanity Helping Sudan, Manyang Reath Kher has partnered with some other organizations to come up with the Sharing Award to understand and support the most vulnerable in society-refugees.
In an interview with Pan African Visions, Manyang says the Awards are intended to support individuals and organizations that work on sustainability, social inclusion, and diversity to recognize the humanity and hard work of refugees.
"My advice to successful citizens and especially those considered lost boys, is to invest in South Sudan. The country will not move forward if those of us who have learned and excelled in our respective professions or ventures do not return to invest our time and financial resources," Manyang says.
Thanks for granting this interview to talk about 734 Coffee and the Sharing Awards, first could we start with an introduction and your journey from South Sudan where you hail from to the United States?
I currently teach Human Rights at the George Mason University (Virginia). I also steer the social enterprise 734 Coffee, as we take the lead on human rights advocacy for refugees and distribute conscious consumer goods to educate the broader American population. When I, Manyang Reath Kher, was three years old, my village was attacked and destroyed by unspeakable violence. My uncle was killed while trying to help me escape. I managed to survive and lived in three different refugee camps for the next 13 years. Blessed by the hands of parishioners, I am one of the 4,000 Lost Boys who was fortunate enough to land a ticket to the United States.
How was the adaptation process like for you and what motivated you to come up with 734 Coffee and how long has it been running now?
I have a burning desire to help my fellow refugees who are forced to make their new homes in a foreign land. During my senior year in high school, I began working to develop my nonprofit, the Humanity Helping Sudan Project, and recruited others to help me with this effort. Founded in 2008 in Richmond, Virginia, my award-winning NGO seeks to provide aid and assistance to the Sudanese Diaspora in the Gambella region of Ethiopia. HHSP's mission is to create sustainable solutions to help alleviate suffering in the region by providing over 40,000 displaced people in refugee camps with materials and resources to battle famine, agricultural training and cultivation of indigenous crops, and clean drinking water through expansion of water wells and springs. Within the past 8 years we have gained national recognition and top sponsor dollars to do just this as well as further enriching thousands around the world with my story, and the plight of the Sudanese refugees.
Manyang says the Awards are intended to support individuals and organizations that work on sustainability, social inclusion, and diversity to recognize the humanity and hard work of refugees
There is coffee from so many countries, what makes 734 coffee unique and how has it fared in the USA market?
In the world today, racial injustice continues to be prevalent, however, when we couple that injustice with another factor, it becomes a heightened situation that needs immediate attention. Refugees already experience unimaginable social injustices and human rights violations, especially during the current political climate in the United States, that impacts the entire world. However, when refugees (especially those of African descent) do make their way to the United States, they are met with yet another desperate circumstance, that is the racial divide in America that systemically leads to racial injustice.
734 Coffee exists to level the playing field for the often-forgotten refugee population that hails from East Africa. 734 Coffee uses America's most popular beverage as a gateway to introduce Americans to the world refugee crisis and how the U.S government's actions play a part. The 734 Coffee project distributes Arabica coffee from the Ethiopian and South Sudan region of Gambela; it caters to over 250,000 refugees, many of whom historically have been relocated to the United States. New policies in the U.S have not allowed for many refugees to find refuge here in America, this puts a burden on neighboring countries that already struggle to maintain an economy.
Coffee is Ethiopia's number one source of export revenue generating about 30% of the country's total export earnings yearly. Using Fair Trade coffee, to create opportunities, educate and build the local economy.
In terms of distribution, how wide is your network in the USA and considering that it has become a brand of its own, are there plans for expansion beyond American shores?
734 Coffee currently distributes coffee to commercial and residential complexes including Hosteling International, The WhyHotel (Tysons Corner and Arlington Campus), The Warner Building (D.C) and The Louis at 14th by Greystar (D.C); specialty coffee shops, TimGad Cafe (Reagan Center and F. st., D.C), Porter's House (D.C) and Z-Zoul Cafe (San Francisco, CA) ; retail stores, Takoma Park Co-op (Takoma, MD).
Commercial and residential complexes and specialty coffee shops:
Commercial and residential complexes, specialty coffee shops and retail stores currently make up 70% of revenue. These accounts were obtained primarily through in-person events. To retain these existing accounts and compete for new accounts, 734 Coffee will invest in equipment for them. Providing equipment for these accounts guarantees a minimum of a year-long contract and consistent and reliable purchasing of coffee beans from 734. These investments will be secured through contracts that detail the terms of use, including machine maintenance and exclusivity. This will be the most cash intensive investment that 734 Coffee makes in 2020.
734 Coffee plans to expand distribution to South America, Europe, the middle east and Asian in the future, but the next couple of years are focused on North America.
What are some of the challenges that you faced in the course of taking 734 coffee to where it is today?
Of the many challenges that 734 Coffee has faced on its journey to where it now stands, we have noticed two developing trends. The first, the bigger players in the space are undoubtedly ready to defend their market-share like any business would, regardless of our mission and the positive output that we have on the world. Second, establishing partnerships and deals at the intersection of social good and profit has been a daunting task.
We understand you are working on a very important project dubbed the Sharing Award, could you shed some light on this?
The Sharing Award is the result of a partnership between Humanity Helping Sudan, 734 Coffee, The Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship and One Journey Festival. It was inspired by the generosity of The Tides Foundation following the spotlight placed on HHSP by the refugee-focused film THE GOOD LIE, and the advocacy of its award-winning producers, Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, Karen Kehela Sherwood and Molly Smith. The purpose of the award is to support innovative individuals and organizations that work on refugee sustainability, social inclusion and diversity in order to build communities that welcome refugees, recognize their humanity, value their hard work, offer them a path to dignified work and have respect for their cultural differences, religious ideals and political beliefs.
The Sharing Award was launched earlier in June — World Refugee Month — to shed as much light as possible on the many organizations that are moving the needle on refugee issues.
With 734 coffee, the creative genius of Manyang Reath Kher is not just bringing dignity and hope to refugees but also contributing to the economic growth his host country and region of origin
Who is eligible to benefit from the awards, what is the application process, what exactly will you be looking for in successful applicants?
The Sharing Award Winner (individual or organization) will be awarded our prestigious Vision Development Package:
A cash prize of US $5,000,
Acceptance to the world-renowned Atlas Corps Fellowship,
Invitation to attend the exclusive 2021 Nexus Youth Summit, a global community founded to bridge communities of wealth and social entrepreneurship, where the most innovative social entrepreneurs gather to discover new ideas and collaborate on world changing projects (choose to attend in New York City or Washington, DC – virtually or in person).
Applications will be reviewed by a select committee from Ashoka. Ashoka is known for its transformative program that supports the world's leading social entrepreneurs.
1st Runner Up will be awarded:
3 Months of business mentoring support through the highly regarded Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship Jumpstart accelerator program.
Invitation to attend the exclusive 2021 Nexus Youth Summit.
Applications will be reviewed by a select committee from Ashoka.
2nd Runner Up will be awarded:
All Finalists (top 20):
Thanks to an innovative co-review partnership with Unfunded List, all of the Finalist applications will also be independently reviewed by an experienced evaluation committee. Each finalist will receive helpful and candid feedback regardless of whether or not they win.
Special Nomination(7):
Additionally, 7 applicants will also be nominated to receive an Ashoka review.
Individuals and organizations that submit an application for The Sharing Award must fulfill each and every one of the following criteria to be deemed eligible:
Individuals and organizations must have fully developed conceptual ideas or existing projects that focus on tackling challenges faced by migrants and refugees. Examples include projects in the areas of: entrepreneurship, job opportunity, education, leadership development, capacity building, interfaith dialogue, integration, developing welcoming communities and civic engagement.
Applicants must have a valid mailing address where postal mail can be shipped.
Applicants must have a bank account (eligible financial institution account) in the name of the organization or individual (special circumstances will be considered).
A worthy Ambassador for Refugees at United Nations Foundation event with Senior Officials. Manyang says the lost boys must continue to contribute their quota towards the emergence of a better Southern Sudan
What do you make of the political and economic developments in South Sudan, and what is it "lost boys" who have eventually turned out to be amazing success stories could do to help build or contribute your home country forward?
The political and economic landscape in South Sudan is an ever improving one with the people's voice slowly but surely making a dent in actions taken by the government. With new appointees that have fresh ideas, I think that there is a lot of hope that we can look forward to.
My advice to successful citizens and especially those considered lost boys, is to invest in South Sudan. The country will not move forward if those of us who have learned and excelled in our respective professions or ventures do not return to invest our time, financial resources and key partners.
Yours has been a tale of resilience in the face of great odds, what message can you send the millions of refugees across Africa and the world going through experiences similar to what you went through?
Accept that Life is NOT "Supposed to be Fair": Know that there is no single way that life is "supposed" to be. Demanding that life meet our expectations is a sure fire recipe for a miserable existence. Life is a game with no rules. Life just happens to us regardless of our best intentions. Our only path to happiness lies in being open to receiving whatever life throws at us with Gratitude.
*For more information on the awards and how to apply visit here
AFDB: Supporting Adesina for second term in US Interest-Former U.S Exec Dir to the AFDB Mima Nedelcovych
June 8, 2020 | 0 Comments
I am fully convinced with the responses provided by Dr Adesina to the accusations of the whistleblowers , says Dr Mima Nedelcovych Former U.S. Exec Dir to the AFDB.
Unless the US government is holding some secret that the American public is not aware of, I see absolutely no reason why it should not wholeheartedly support the re-election of President Akinwumi Adesina for a second term at the helm of the African Development Bank, says Dr Mima Nedelcovych Former U.S. Exec Dir to the AFDB.
In an exclusive interview with Pan African Visions, Dr Nedelcovych says "If competing with the Chinese in Africa is primordial to the US, then supporting the position of our African fellow shareholders in the AFDB and supporting President Adesina is in our own interests."
Adesina has established the framework for furthering the critically important role that the AfDB is playing in the development and inclusive growth of the continent, says Dr Nedelcovych. With his vision and execution of the "High 5s" for Africa, Dr Adesina has contributed tremendously to the development of the continent, and President Obasanjo and other former African Presidents have every reason to come out in public support of the champion that the current AFDB President is, Dr Nedelcovych says.
On the whistleblower allegations that triggered the current tensions between AFDB partners, Dr Mima Nedelcovych says the internal inquiry did its job fully in line with statutory guidelines. " For me, those accusations that were made public and investigated by the Ethics Committee, have been responded to in great detail by President Adesina to my full satisfaction," says Dr Nedelcovych
Dr Adesina and the AfDB have stepped up when most needed for an African institution to lead the way in the responses to the Covid-19 pandemic ,says Dr Nedelcovych who also shares his take on expectations for a second Adesina term, and how U.S -African relations have fared under the first term of President Donald Trump.
Dr Mima Nedelcovych served as the 1989 to 1993 as the U.S. Executive Director to the African Development Bank (AfDB) may we start this interview with some historical context on the relationship between the USA and the African Development Bank?
The US is the largest non-regional shareholder of the AfDB, and one of the major contributors to the African Development Fund, the concessional window. The AfDB has always had strong support from the US and that continues to be the case.
What was your working relationship like with the AFDB leadership at the time, what are some of the pleasant and less pleasant experiences or souvenirs that come to mind?
The pleasant experiences were seeing the AfDB take up its role as the major development institution on the continent under the visionary guidance of then President, the late Babacar Ndiaye. It was during the time I sat on the Board that the Private Sector Department was officially set up (previously the bank did not make non-sovereign loans) the African Export Import Bank was established, the African Business Roundtable was formed, and generally speaking the realization that the private sector was going to be the engine of growth was finally accepted. On the unpleasant side are memories of certain African countries falling in arrears to the very bank they should have been championing while keeping current on other MDB engagements.
In a recent letter, USA Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin expressed misgivings about the outcome of an internal inquiry that cleared AFDB President Akinwumi Adesina of any wrong doing and called for the appointment of an outside investigator, what did you make of the letter and the US position?
The US Governor, as does every shareholder, has the right to question management's application of policies and guidelines as established by the shareholders themselves. Upon receiving the letter from the US Governor, the Ivoirian Governor, as the Chair of the Governing Board this year, in my mind did the exactly right thing. She took into consideration the supposition made by the US Treasury Secretary, reviewed it in the light of the formal procedures and guidelines, and concluded that the policies were followed and that the Ethics Committee cleared the President beyond any doubt.
Furthermore, she has asked that the whole whistleblowers statute be formally reviewed, so that it may remain effective, but not become abusive to the proper conduct of the bank. She has asked that an external well-respected individual be recruited to provide an outside unbiased perspective within the next six weeks, so that this matter is cleared up and does not smear the Annual Meetings and the election of the President. The full review of the whistleblower statues and its applications will take a longer period and should not impede the normal functioning of the bank. It is at this point that the shareholders should come to agreement as how to treat similar accusations in the future, balancing the need for such a statute for proper governance with the assurances that serious charges can be properly documented and not be issued lightly or frivolously.
President Adesina, in his vision and execution of the "High 5s" for Africa, has contributed an awful lot to the development of the African continent, says Dr Nedelcovych
Beyond your stint at the Bank, we know you continue to monitor developments closely, have frictions of this nature or such stark contrast in positions been common between the USA and the AFDB?
Frictions are always to be found in international organizations; it is the nature of the beast as every shareholder has the right to their own opinion. Having said that, I must admit that this "disagreement" is the starkest of any I have seen in the past between the US and the AfDB.
What were your impressions after reading the whistleblower report, were you convinced with the responses from Dr Adesina and do you think the internal inquiry did its job in line with statutory provisions that guide the resolutions of incidents of that nature at the AFDB?
I have known President Adesina for quite some time, including in his previous positions as Minister of Agriculture in Nigeria and at the Rockefeller Foundation, and I am fully convinced with the responses provided by him to the accusations of the whistleblowers. And yes, the internal inquiry did its job fully in line with the statutory guidelines. If there is something that the USG or other shareholders know and/or that the whistleblowers know, then that should be presented to the external individual that will be appointed to conduct the review. For me, those accusations that were made public and investigated by the Ethics Committee, have been responded to in great detail by President Adesina to my full satisfaction.
Considering that Dr Adesina was literally endorsed by all African countries and was on course to get a second term since there was no challenger, some see in the U.S position a form of opposition to Dr Adesina, what information are you getting from your networks, does the US have an issue with a second term for Dr Adesina?
That question is better posed to representatives of the USG. I have been out of government for over 25 years now and happily since in the private sector, where the African continent is finally and truly becoming a very promising market for investors.
What do you make of reactions from people like former President Obasanjo, the Nigerian Minister of Finance and others who have come out forcefully to speak in support of Adesina?
President Adesina, in his vision and execution of the "High 5s" for Africa, has contributed an awful lot to the development of the African continent. He and the AfDB have stepped up also when most needed for an African institution to lead the way in the responses to the Covid-19 pandemic. So, President Obasanjo and the large number of former African Presidents that came out in support of President Adesina have every reason and right to come forward and publicly support their champion.
In a recent open letter to Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, Ambassador Harold E. Doley, Jr, the first ever U.S Representative to the AFDB called on the US to support Adesina, may we have your views on the letter, and do you share his call for the US to back Adesina?
I am in total alignment with my good friend Harold Doley, Jr's accolades for all that President Adesina has achieved to date, and I would add that Adesina has established the framework for furthering the critically important role that the AfDB is playing in the development and inclusive growth of the continent. As for the US backing Adesina, unless the USG is holding some secret that the American public is not aware of, I see absolutely no reason for the US to not wholeheartedly support the re-election of President Adesina.
What is your assessment of the way Dr Adesina has managed the AFDB in his first term, in what areas have you seen progress and what would you like to see from him in a second term?
President Adesina came in with a very big vision and mission embodied in the High 5s that I very much supported from day 1. This was and is the necessary vision to bring the African continent into the mainstream of the world economy. The basic tenets of the high 5s that I certainly experience every day as a business person in Africa, those being that farming is a business and a growth sector, that without power you cannot industrialize, that without industry you cannot create inclusive growth and wealth, that without integration you cannot scale and be competitive, and that without those 4 you cannot achieve the 5th of improving the quality of life of Africa's people are at the core of that mission.
Big visions take time to implement and are often not easy to execute. They required structural changes in the body of the bank, which included both the reorganization and the strengthening of the professional cadre and morale in the bank. As an outside observer, champion and client of the bank, I see these changes taking root and the results beginning to give fruit. What I would like to see in his second term is to give him and the AfDB the time to ripen those fruits to full fruition and in consonance with the fruition I see of the African continent as a whole in today's world economy.
To Mima Nedelcovych ,If competing with the Chinese in Africa is primordial to the US, then supporting the position of its African fellow shareholders in the African Development Bank and supporting President Adesina is critical .
When we last interviewed you in December 2016, you opined that the Trump Administration will discover the reality of good deals in a rapidly changing Africa, what changes have you seen in US-African relations in the first term of President Trump?
The best thing that has happened is the passing of the US Build Act that has created the US Development Finance Corporation with all it new tools and authorities that could make it a major player on the continent. Furthermore, the Prosper Africa Initiative that recognized that prosperity is a two-way street, is good for American business as it is good for African business and the uplifting of the African population. The reauthorization of the US EXIM Bank is another very important element. Taken as a whole, and especially as evidenced by the goal of having "Deal Teams" at each US Embassy, coordinating all the arms and tools of the USG, will be a big boon for US businesses entering or already operating in Africa.
What do you make of the fact that President Trump has not visited Africa in his first term, does this not send the wrong message to the kind of US-African relations that people like you and many others have been advocating for?
As an American doing business in Africa, whether President Trump visits Africa or not is of no particular concern to me. What is of concern is to get the full-blown support of the USG through the Deal Teams and that those teams and the vision of that support is effectively executed. And that is why all those new instruments are important.
A very astute African business colleague once remarked that the African business train is leaving the station. The Chinese have clearly gotten on board, now it is up to Americans to decide whether to board and participate in that economic growth or not. I would add that simply bashing the Chinese is not the answer, the answer for our mutual benefit is providing our African colleagues an alternative option, a solution to their problems and turning them into opportunities.
We end with a last word from you on how you see this standoff between the U.S and the AFDB eventually playing out and if you do not mind a word on your company Africa Global Partners as well.
The way I look at it, the African Development Bank is the continent's most prominent and influential multilateral player and is one of the few such institutions that the US has a commanding say over the Chinese. If competing with the Chinese in Africa is primordial to the US, then supporting the position of our African fellow shareholders in the African Development Bank and supporting President Adesina is in our own interests.
Two years ago, I turned over my mantle as President of the Initiative for Global Development, and returned to Chairing the two companies I have been associated with since departing the AfDB in 1993, AfricaGlobal Partners in DC and Schaffer International in Louisiana. We are both advisers and developers of projects, and our sweet spot is the nexus of agro-industry, clean energy and infrastructure. I also proudly sit on the Boards of the US owned Vista Bank Group (focused on SME lending) in West Africa, Fayus International, a Sacramento, CA based food processor and distributor operating throughout Africa, and the Niger Delta Partnership Initiative in Nigeria.
Cameroon: Collective Efforts Needed For Efficient Results in COVID-19 Fight — Dr Martin Mokake
By Boris Esono Nwenfor
Dr Martin Mokake, Director of the Buea Regional Hospital say for them (medical personnel) to put their lives in danger is not much of a problem, but putting their lives without the necessary protective equipment is uncalled for. The Director was speaking to PAV's Cameroon Reporter in an exclusive interview on Wednesday, May 27, 2020.
The Director has stated that it is impossible for you to suffocate to death while wearing a mask, while also detailing the psychological difficulties the health personnel go through taking care of COVID-19 patients.
" Together if we organize ourselves individually, and respect the measures put in place by the government, and the Ministry of Health we will be able to fight this deadly virus and win," says Dr Mokake
Dr Martin Mokake, Director of the Buea Regional Hospital
PAV: Some Cameroonians still do not believe that coronavirus exists. What do you say to them?
Dr Martin Mokake: Coronavirus is here; it is ravaging the society, killing people, and making others very sick, and yet, I do not understand why someone would not believe it exists. Sometimes I have heard a lot of postulates; some people say it is a way for hospitals and governments to make money. The question I ask myself is that all governments will come together from Europe, Asia, America, Africa to formulate something that deceives the whole world, I think it is far fetched.
Coronavirus has come to kill us, to make our lives difficult, it has come to destroy economies of many countries, and I think the earlier we start believing and seeing that coronavirus is not our friend, then that is the first step to defeating coronavirus. If someone does not believe then he will not take the measures lay down by the government, and WHO. When they do not do that the infection rate climbs.
PAV: There is the call from the government for everyone to wear face masks, how long should an individual wear these masks, and what are the potential health risks of wearing the masks?
Dr Martin Mokake: Recently, I have read a lot about masks choking people to death, which is completely false. I will employ you to do a little exercise, cover your nose, and mouth tight and do not breath; you will found out that you cannot do that because your brain will not even allow you to do that. A mask cannot suffocate you to death, it is impossible.
Looking into wearing the masks, normally we can wear a surgical mask for approximately 3 hours, and it needs to be changed. However, surgical masks are not for everybody. First, they are rare to come by and definitely we cannot have that for everybody. What we use in the society are masks that are made up of fabrics, and sometimes people factually complain that they do not breath well with those masks, it is a possibility. I will advise that if you are not in a position, in an area where there are many people, or if you are alone, why would you want to wear a mask?
The standardized masks have been made in such a way there are filters (the air you are breathing goes through the masks, and the air you are breathing is not the air in the mask — air without the masks). I have heard theories of carbonmonoxide poisoning because of masks, and factually it is impossible. However, there is always a nasty feeling when you put on the masks for long hours; the air you exhale usually comes out with the body temperature and so, it is hot. Without the masks, you do not feel that but with it, you feel the hot air. We need to make a decision here, wear the masks and save lives with its inconveniences or not to wear the masks and be exposed.
PAV: As a doctor, you work with nurses, especially in the COVID ward, what are some challenges you and the nurses go through on a daily basis?
Dr Martin Mokake: Our challenges are enormous. I want to salute the medical personnel that are risking their lives to save human lives. We have been victims of slander, victims of molestation, people have beaten up medical personnel, people have spat on them, and people have abused them and accused them wrongly. Yet, those are people who never come to the media, or social media to justify themselves.
Many people think since we are medical personnel we do not have feelings, or we do not have, "heart" or we do not have families. Putting our lives in danger is not much of a problem, but putting our lives without the necessary protective equipment is uncalled for. We have been having a lot of challenges fighting against the COVID-19 with the limited resources we have, blaming nobody as we all know that no government was prepared to fight the virus. Fighting the coronavirus comes with various psychological difficulties; when you think how medical personnel are completely exposed. If you have a little fever or headache you think you are down as well. It is not a secret that we have had a lot of medical personnel with the South West Region tested positive for COVID-19. We are trying within the Regional Hospital in Buea to put mental health nurses and clinical psychologists at the disposition of our medical staff and our patients to make sure that we can boost their psychology.
We will continue the fighting because even when we are tired we cannot stop fighting because our primary aim is the community, and our patients
PAV: Many people in the society have accused hospital staff of tagging anyone as COVID patients. Does the hospital do that?
Dr Martin Mokake: I think they may have a point, and they may also have to listen. Sometimes people want to see what they want to see. We in the hospital have advised that if you do not have something pertinent to do in the hospital please do not come. It does not mean if you come we will catch you and lock you up, it simply means the hospital is a high risks area where people can get infected. We do not have the logistics to keep people, so there is no point coming to the hospital and say you have flu, someone is going to quarantine you for any reason. Nobody tags anybody a COVID-19 patient.
Not every cough or flu or fever is COVID-19. How do we know it is not COVID-19, we have to examine you are take some simple steps. So do we assume that this flu is not COVID-19 and send you home to die? Our society is always about accusation, and yet, the reality needs to be handled. We are not going to tag anybody, we have strict rules in this hospital that do not disclose the identity of anybody's test death or alive. Families have the results in their pocket, but they do not belief it is COVID-19 because they feel that it is a stigma. It is not and nobody goes to buy it in the market.
PAV: Does the hospital burry COVID-19 patients?
Dr Martin Mokake: We should know that the hospital does not burry patients. We have heard rumours that when people die the hospital takes them away and burry. It is unethical, and the hospital is never going to do anything that goes against medical ethics. It is responsibility of the council to do the burial. When a COVID patient dies in the hospital it is there the hospital's responsibility ends, the council comes to the hospital, disinfect it for burial. We do not even disinfect graves, nobody does that. So if you slammed the hospital for not coming to disinfect the grave we will forgive you for ignorance but it is our responsibility to educate you on what it is supposed to be.
PAV: There is a situation now in Buea where people who may have symptoms to call instead for the call to be picked in Buea it is done so in Yaounde wasting so much time. What is being done to decentralize the call centres?
Dr Martin Mokake: Yes, the national numbers that have been given (1510) is still a centralized call system. This is one of the things we have been discussing in meetings, and they are working on, to decentralize. We understand that every society has its peculiarities. For example, a mother in Ekona wants to call because she has symptoms and knows how to speak just Pidgin English, and she calls and someone respond to her in English or French, and she cannot really understand they become frustrated. We have tabled this problem, and we have told them (Officials in Yaounde) that this is something that the population is not happy about. The national call centre should be decentralized why not even at the level of the sub divisional level that within Buea you have a call centre in Buea, Limbe, Tiko, and Muyuka and there we will be able to serve the population even better.
PAV: How equipped is the Buea Regional Hospital to take care of COVID-19 patients?
Dr Martin Mokake: It is equipped to a certain level; we do not have ventilators here to put people on artificial ventilation. We have been working with other partners to try to equip the ward (COVID ward). What we have is a 20 bed facility (refurbished with the help of MSF, and the government of Cameroon). We have 10 beds for the confirmed cases, and 10 for the suspected cases. We are working with the protocols from the WHO as stipulated from the time of the Ebola virus. We are also constructing a 24 VIP area whereby we are going to use for isolation as it is in the roofing stage. An ambulance has been set aside for the transportation of COVID patients. The hospital spends a lot to take care of its patients and staff.
Dr Mokake says people should wear the surgical masks at least 3 hours a day
PAV: How long should someone wait for the results of their test?
Dr Martin Mokake: Testing has evolved recently because we had a problem whereby we will send the tests to Yaounde it will take one week before we get the results and it caused a lot of psychological problems to the patients. Now, the testing centre in the University of Buea is fully functional, and we have our results 24 hours or 48 hours maximum. In this case it has help in the management of patients. The workers including myself have routines times when we see that we should be tested to make sure that we are ok and not also serving as a source of contamination to our patients who are not suspects.
PAV: Any Message to the Population?
Dr Martin Mokake: We just want to encourage the population and thank them for their understanding. If you have any symptoms please try to contact any health personnel around your vicinity, and they will advise you on what to do. Together if we organize ourselves individually, and respect the measures put in place by the government, and the Ministry of Health we will be able to fight this deadly virus and win. We will continue the fighting because even when we are tired we cannot stop fighting because our primary aim is the community, and our patients.
The picture now shows a rising level of infections within the South West Region. As at May 27, the South West Region has a total of 97 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the Region. The major areas include: Mamfe, Kumba, Buea, and Limbe.
COVID 19 & Beyond:Time For Africa To Look Inward For Solutions-Former Mauritius President Ameenah Gurib-Fakim
Dr Ameenah Gurib was the first female President of Mauritius. Photo credit Forbes Africa
As Africa grapples with adequate measures to cushion the ravages of COVID-19, Dr Ammenah Gurib-Fakim says it is time for the continent to take ownership and leadership in solving its own problems.
Speaking in a skype interview from Port Louis, the Biodiversity Scientist who served as the first Woman and 6th President of Mauritius, says it is time that Africa digs deep in its pockets, bring out all the philanthropists , business community, governments , and all the full resources available to power the continent forward.
"Africa has resources, and should be able to change the narrative, work with the international community but more importantly should start investing in ourselves. Up until we start doing this, we will always be in the narrative of waiting for other people to come and help us," says Dr Ameenah Fakim as she urges the continent to invest in institutions, and training human capital.
Addressing concerns about testing vaccines in Africa, Dr Ameenah Gurib Fakim says using Africans as guinea pigs should be out of the question.
"Whenever a trial is done on the continent it must be done in the right way, with the consent of the person, we do not talk about "guinea pigs" but volunteers, so the person who is participating in the clinical trial must have given his/her consent," she said.
PAV: Madam President Good afternoon, and thanks for accepting to grant this interview.
Dr Ameenah Fakim: Good afternoon and you are welcome.
PAV: Let us start with the situation in your home country. How is Mauritius fairing with regards to the coronavirus pandemic?
Dr Ameenah Fakim: We have been in lockdown for the past two weeks, and as of today we are counting over two hundred and fifty (250) infected cases and seven (7) deaths.
PAV: There are concerns about the capabilities of healthcare infrastructures across Africa to handle the pandemic, how equipped, and prepared are health facilities in Mauritius?
Dr Ameenah Fakim: In Mauritius ever since we got independence, we have systematically invested in the health sector; the health service is free in Mauritius. We have also invested in the past fifty-plus years on social security nets. This has been one of the pillars in Mauritius, and right now I am very pleased that our founding fathers of this country had this vision to set up a social security net especially the wealth gap.
We are going to be stretched a bit. We keep getting a lot of infections, and what we are encouraging people to do is to stay home so that the pressure does not build on the health services in this country. Having said this, I am concerned about what is going to happen in the African continent because unfortunately, the infrastructure is going to be pushed a great deal but more importantly, if we look at the advice of the WHO they are talking about social distancing, washing hands properly, and in many places, unfortunately, these are still luxuries.
Many people are leaving in cramped conditions in one room, social distancing is out of the question, access to water is an issue, social security net in many of the fragile states is out of the question, and even food is an issue. We talk about people staying home, those operating in the informal sector they are going to be challenged because if they do not work, they do not eat. So unfortunately, in many of these places, the concerns are there that the COVID may not get them, but hunger will.
PAV: Let us talk a little more about the pandemic, what should Africa brace itself for, just how bad could this be and what impact do you see socially, politically and economically for the continent?
Dr Ameenah Fakim: The interesting thing about what is happening in Europe, and what we are observing in many parts of West Africa is that it has not hit so badly so far. I am not going to be controversial here, but could this be because Africa has been hit by so many of these pandemics they have developed somehow a little bit of resistance but already we are seeing that South Africa has enacted all the measures of social distancing, and all that so they are taking it very seriously. Whether we get the true picture of what is going on in Africa depends on the capacity to test. Now, do they have the means to do all the testing? That is the issue
We are just praying that the right measures will be taken on board in the African countries so that more importantly people stay away from those who are infected, and those who are infected have their tests, and have the appropriate care that they need.
In terms of political impact, one thing we have to address is what the COVID has done which has revealed the state of our institutions in the continent. When we talk about the state of our institutions, first is the healthcare system which we find will not be able to cope that much. The second issue which I have always been talking about is the exodus of our competence from the continent, and right now we need all the capacity we can have to be able to handle this and you know the ratio of Doctors to population is very weak on the continent. So, I fear that we may not have the appropriate human capacity to be able to tackle this pandemic. In terms of the pressure politically, time will tell but I think many governments will be under a lot of pressure to be able to address this crisis which the health sector is facing.
Africa must start invest in itself and do more in building its institutions says Dr Ameenah Fakim Photo credit: James Duncan Davidson/TED
PAV: Leaders like Mohamadou Issoufou of Niger say the world needs to consider a Marshal Plan for Africa to help cushion the impact of the pandemic, is this something that you subscribe to?
Ameenah Fakim: I have signed a letter which we sent to the G20 in terms of the measures. We have a plea that people come together, governments come together, institutions come together to capitalise the institutions to help provide the social security net, provide medication all these. These are all our wishes that we will like to put to governments, and institutions. When we talk about the Marshal plan that was of course in 1948, it was done for a particular purpose, for reconstruction immediately after World War II. Right now we are talking about a global pandemic and this calls for countries to come together.
The scenario now is not the same as it was then. My narrative all the time has been African countries have got fifty plus years of post-independence history. It is time that we look at the continent, start digging in our pockets, bringing all the philanthropists, business communities, government because Africa is a very rich continent.
Africa has resources and should be able to change the narratives, work with the international community but more importantly should start investing in ourselves. Up until we start doing this, we will always be in the narrative of waiting for other people to come and help us. The international community has been going a great job of helping us. Beyond the solidarity, we need to start looking at ourselves and I mean this very seriously beyond the health crisis, we have a young population and we need to start investing in them.
We need to start investing in our institutions, training our human capital is our responsibility, keeping the population is our responsibility, so let us all come together to use our resources for the betterment of our institutions, and, of course, our human capital.
PAV: The African Development Bank is setting aside big sums to help African countries fight the pandemic. Considering the poor track records of managing resources across the African continent, is there a message you have for African leaders on how to manage these resources?
Dr Ameenah Fakim: If you look at a country like Rwanda, Paul Kagame after the genocide turned things around. This country does not have many resources, but I think it is leadership. We need to start looking at our leadership as I said invest in our institutions because this is something that will go beyond the lifetime of the leader. We need to start building our institutions, and it comes with investment, with investment in human capital, and in our people and institutions. We need to start building, it should have started yesterday, as we are here with COVID-19, we can start immediately after the pandemic is over but go and invest in our institutions.
Next thing I will also like to point out is that Africa has just signed up to the Continental Free Trade Agreement, there is nothing to prevent West or East Africa trading together, bringing the necessary goods and services and encouraging the movement of people so that we can promote brain circulation so that we can promote human capital, trade, goods and services across the continent. So, this is something we need to start looking at very seriously.
PAV: There has been a lot of controversy in recent times about the vaccine and testing that are needed in Africa coming from two French doctors who said Africa should be the centre for some of these testing. Being a scientist and a former leader, do you think Africans should be concerned about participating in trial runs for any potential vaccines?
Dr Ameenah Fakim: Clinical trial is an inevitable step in drug development and vaccine development. Now, do we need to incorporate Africans in clinical trials? Yes, we need to incorporate Africans. We need to do it in the right way, the same way we do it in the United States, Europe, Asia, and other areas. We need more Africans in these clinical trials. The reason why we need more Africans in these clinical trials is that genetics matter. Whenever a drug is developed in the North it is tested with Caucasians, in Asians, unfortunately, we do not see many Africans being part of the clinical trial panel. Genetics matter because whatever dosage is being developed for a Caucasia or Asian person may not be the right dosage.
Whenever a trial is done on the continent it must be done in the right way, with the consent of the person, we do not talk about "guinea pigs" but volunteers, so the person who is participating in the clinical trial must have given his/her consent. Coming back to the issue on whether we should use Africans as "guinea pigs", certainly not. Everything must be done appropriately but we need more Africans in these clinical trials so that the dosage and the drug whenever we are prescribing to African genotype it makes a big difference to his or her health.
PAV : Let us talk about leadership from former Presidents like you, former Prime Ministers, across the continent, what role do you think they can play in addressing such a pandemic and generally trying to make sure that Africa stays on the right path to progress?
Dr Ameenah Fakim: I think past leaders have the responsibility of mentoring and this is what I have given myself the task of mentoring girls in science because of my background. We need to educate our girls and to bring them there we need to be a role model for the girl who is growing up in a village in Africa to know that it is possible to reach a certain position through hard work. In the current pandemic, we have the responsibility of advocating, speaking to governments, addressing, and seeing how we can provide best practices. I feel that at this moment in time, we need to be able to know what are the best practices and how do we also speak to the people so that they can adopt best practices so that we can get this pandemic behind us.
Having said this, getting the pandemic behind us is short term, what we have to ensure is that the conversation and the communication still go on because a second or third wave is not impossible as it is already happening in some countries as we have seen in China, Singapore. We have to make sure that when we address this issue on the continent, the conversation remains alive so that we do not get this issue again and again, and I can assure you that we have not seen the last of the COVID. We have not seen the last of any pandemic because climate change will be the next pandemic we have to settle.
Dr Ameenah Gurib believes that any clinical trials for vaccines in Africa must follow standard protocols
PAV: Let us end this interview with an opportunity again for you to make a direct statement to everyday hardworking Africans on safety ad survival measures. How can they walk their way around this troubling time and with all the wave of panic across the continent can you also give a positive message on the way forward?
Dr Ameenah Fakim: I think what we have to do in this incident is to communicate, communicate to the people, encourage governments to do tests, tests and more tests. Hopefully, with the necessary financial measures that are been put in place, we will be able to provide the safety nets for those who are desperately in need for it. It also calls for a time of solidarity and I know that at the level of the African Union, there is an effort to get people to contribute to a fund so that they can then use that to help those people who are in desperate need. Here I have a special thought to those children because I am also working with Save the Children in Africa and I know that they have huge needs as well.
PAV: Madam President thank you so much for talking to Pan African Visions
Dr Ameenah Fakim: Thank you for having me. It has been a pleasure and as I said let us work towards getting rid of this COVID virus fast so we can start building ourselves again.
*Interview conducted earlier this month for Pan African Visions Magazine. To get Copies contact pav@panafricanvisions.com, and marketing@panafricanvisions.com
Cameroon:Law On Official Languages Will Yield Results If Embraced By All-George Ngwane
Following the promulgation into law on the promotion of Official Languages (English and French) on the 24th December 2019 by the President of the Republic, the National Commission for the Promotion of Bilingualism and Multiculturalism is heralding a nation-wide mission aimed at exchanging views with targeted professionals on the merits of this law on Bilingualism. The Sun newspaper's Managing Editor Wasso Norbert Binde caught up with a scholar on Language Commissions, prolific writer and conflict management panAfricanist Mwalimu George Ngwane to shed some light in an interview on some of the black and white provisions found in the law.
The added value is that this law now transforms our official languages from a state policy to a citizen policy action instrument, says Mwalimu Ngwane
Mwalimu, first of all thank you for accepting to grant us an interview on the law of Official Languages in Cameroon. As a scholar on Language Acts and Commissions,What is the novelty in this law?
Thanks for inviting me to engage your readers about this law. As you may know this is the first time in the life of our country to have a law on bilingualism. Granted that Article 1 sub 3 of our constitution stipulates that English and French are of equal status and granted as well that there exist a plethora of legal instruments that make bilingualism in Cameroon a state policy. I must also add here that barely in its two and a half years of existence the National Commission for the Promotion of Bilingualism and Multiculturalism has been associated with the conception of such a law. So for me the added value is that this law now transforms our official languages from a state policy to a citizen policy action instrument. In other words the law on bilingualism can be seen as an important step on the journey to upscaling the language rights of Cameroonians especially those from the minority official language community. It is now the responsibility of all public entities to make bilingualism a more robust user-centered and citizen-friendly activity.
But certain sections of the law have come under criticism right from the time the bill was sent to Parliament
That is true and I am sure you are referring especially to Section 19 and Section 26 which on the surface are controversial with regard to those of us who come from the Anglophone regions of the North West and South West. Just to refresh the minds of your readers Section 19 says Official correspondences between public entities shall be written in either of the two languages while Section 26 says English and French shall be used indiscriminately in ordinary law and special courts. Now these two Sections can be examined through the Language Commission prism of Inference and Interpretation. By Inference we may jump into the conclusion that correspondences or court communication in the Anglophone region may be rendered in French even though the language community is predominantly English-speaking- something which the Anglophone lawyers fought against as from 2015. But by Interpretation, at least from the perspective of any language body it must be made clear that laws on Official Languages focus on the principles of proportionality and specificity. Proportionality means Official language used is reflected by the proportion of language users in that community while the principle of specificity is informed by the historical and linguistic specificity of the language community. More so Section 26 sub 2 says court decisions shall be done following the language choice of the litigant. One can replace the legal term "litigant" with the global term "user" to mean that oral or written communication in any situation must respect the language choice of the user. This is what is called the principle of active offer. However with regard to official written correspondences served in either of the two languages it would have also been ideal to write both languages side by side as it is the case between Welsh and English in the United Kingdom or one language above the other as it is with some other bilingual communities.
While there are still some grey areas, Mwalimu Ngwane believes that the law marks significant progress
Let us take the case of our courts, what do you do if the Magistrate or Legal personnel does not speak or understand the language of the litigant?
I am told that the courts normally have Interpreters even though complaints have been made about some of them in relation to their mastery of oral translation. But this is an area to be examined seriously so that our courts and other public entities have Interpreters whose integrity and performance cannot be questioned. Secondly there is a need for public servants at a certain level and in this case Magistrates and others of their rank to be sufficiently bilingual. So the recommendation to your specific question is that bilingualism is something which all professional schools must henceforth take more seriously. Our government and I am sure this is within the purview of the Commission on Bilingualism should be working on what Canadians call the Public Service Official Languages Appointment Regulation or what we may simply call the Bilingualism Proficiency Appointment Charter. This is a Charter that places premium on appointment to certain positions in the public service based on the individual's bilingual capacity. Third, team spirit is very important in the dispensation of bilingual communication so having less bilingual and more bilingual personnel or two from different language communities working side by side is an option to also consider. And this should be from the front desk workers like mail officers, secretaries, janitors, security guards etc to the highest working level.
You just talked of translation and we find poor translation in some of our official documents, billboards and public notices; what is the problem?
I am happy you said some of… because frankly the bulk of our translation is fantastic. Cameroon has about the most talented professional Translators and Interpreters in the world. They are found in most continental and world bodies, ample testimony that our Schools of Translators and Interpreters meet up with global standards. When the Commission on Bilingualism visited the various Ministries and parapublic institutions they discovered that most of them have Translation units. So the problem with some of the poor translation you are referring to cannot be due to a lack of professional Translators. Could it be that some of the Translators are not functionally empowered, could this arise from the erroneous notion that a minimum knowledge of the two languages can just qualify you as a Translator or could it just be a neglect of the fundamental role professional Translators play in our society? I am sure members of the Association of Professional Translators and Interpreters can best answer your question.
Now, let us come back again to the law proper, what do you consider as some of the strong sections in this law?
I am sorry I cannot quote all of the positive sections by heart. However I know of one that stipulates the right of every citizen to freely communicate in the language of their choice so expressions like "je ne comprend pas ton Anglais la" or " you are even speaking Mbouda French" should now be stigmas or pejoratives of the past. Another section also talks of the state providing incentives for greater proficiency or what is called bilingualism bonus. I also have in mind I think it is Section 16 that encourages code switching which means using both languages alternately in the same official speech.
And which are the dark areas or sections?
I prefer to call them the grey areas because they are a little loose ended and open to subjective implementation. We have already talked of Sections 19 and 26 although I must add that other public entities like the health sector where diagnosis and prescriptions are made by the medical practitioner to a patient in a language the patient does not master. How about the notion of bilingual colleges today/ How about the monolingual medium of instruction in some professional schools including those in the Anglophone region? Yet and on a very personal assessment I feel much has been covered in our bilingualism journey from the time I was arrested and locked up in March 1990 just for writing and questioning the validity of our bilingualism state policy to today where state officials use both languages effortlessly. Thirty years after it is both a personal vindication for me and a linguistic paradigm shift for the government. Of course we have not yet arrived but we are on track.
A key proposal from Mwalimu Ngwane is the government working on the creation of Bilingualism Proficiency Appointment Charter similar to what the Canadians call the Public Service Official Languages Appointment Regulation
Finally what sanctions are written in the law for those who violate these provisions?
Well, sanctions have not been implicitly built into the law. We all wish they were because implementation is a problem with especially state officials. But my take is that first those who do not implement the law expose themselves to self-sanctions because they limit their chances on career upward mobility. Second I think it must be Section 27 of this law that says the state shall ensure the monitoring and evaluation of the law through an Advisory body. That Advisory body I am certain is the Commission on Bilingualism which has the role of receiving complaints or petitions from the public on the violation of their linguistic freedom or abuse of their language rights. It has already been doing this through its webpage and telephone hotline 1518. Most language commissions prefer the tongue rather than the teeth approach to sanctions. By this they carry out investigations, send reports to other state bodies like Human Rights or Parliament, call the violator to order through oral or written means or sometimes do a kind of name and shame report on the violator.
Any final word Mwalimu?
No law is static and when it comes to law on languages it is always prone to revisions and amendments based on public feedback and contestations. The Welsh Language Act of 1993 has been revised so many times and already in 2015 they have a new language law called the Wales Measure. I was privileged thanks to the Commonwealth Professional Fellowship offered me in 2016 to have understudied the Welsh Language Commissioner in Wales. Other Official Language Acts in Northern Canada, Belgium, Spain and Ireland have been subjected to revisions and amendments after being tested on the field. It is therefore advisable for governments to be sensitive to citizen response to the law on languages. But before then let us give the language law a chance to be tested on the field for like it is said in French "le macon sera connu au pied du mur".
Thanks Mwalimu
My pleasure Sir
*Culled from The Sun Newspaper. Photo Illustrations by PAV
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Farm Campus
Jackie Milne, the President of NFTI, is a local Hay River Métis woman with over 20 years of successful market gardening. Her business started as a way to safely provide for her family, but soon Jackie noticed how interested other people were in what she was doing. When she was hired to run workshops and travel to 13 communities around the Northwest Territories, she truly discovered the depth and breadth of learning that Northerners needed. People wanted to know 'How can we feed ourselves?' and this is not a question easily answered in a short 2 hour workshop without a demonstration garden!
NFTI grew out of this grassroots need for authentic northern food production education for our isolated communities. When Jackie Milne came up with the concept and laid out a detailed and ambitious long-term plan for truly empowering people of the north to restore our local food systems, it was a labour of love. NFTI was born, and instead of sending experts into communities, the idea was to invest in local people who will become the experts for their community by building their capacity through indepth hands-on learning experiences in 'living classrooms'. Throughout the first season of workshops, we were overwhelmed with the response from students to this strategy; they not only understood more about food production in the North, they actually had the skills and tools needed to begin businesses they are passionate about, learn about healthy and nutritional food, start alleviating the anxiety of food insecurity in their communities.
In September of 2013, the United Nations published their Trade and Environment Review 2013 "Wake Up Before it is Too Late: Make Agriculture Truly Sustainable for Food Security in a Changing Climate". This report recommends a rapid and significant shift in agriculture and the practical ways to accomplish this align with the Northern Farm Training Institute:
"The transition from an energy-intensive form of agriculture […] to a system that builds productive ecosystem services to sustain multifunctional, suitable, resilient, viable and equitable agriculture requires major new investments in institutions and infrastructure. This inevitably requires the creation of new research centres and initiatives, which should be dedicated to research, education and extension under a fully participatory system that will also favour women and cover ecosystem services, organic farming, agroecology and agroforestry. The ultimate aim of those centres and initiatives should be the transformation of the present agricultural research system at national, regional and international levels to cater to the needs of a new agricultural paradigm." – page 175 United Nations, March 2013
In March 2014, Jackie was asked to present at the Agriculture Canada AgriRisk Conference in Ottawa where she had a chance to share the NFTI dream of building a dedicated permanent farm campus based on the recommendations from the United Nations report.
Later in March, the Council of Canadian Academies published their report "Aboriginal Food Security in Northern Canada: An Assessment of the State of Knowledge." NFTI is mentioned in this very important report as one of the current 'Promising Practices to Build Food Security, Food Sovereignty, Health and Wellness with a Multidisciplinary Approach'.
NFTI began conversations with the Town of Hay River Economic Development Officer in the summer of 2013 to discuss the concept of the NFTI working farm and a potential site for the farm campus. In February 2014 the Town of Hay River completed their "Hay River Sustainable Agriculture Plan" which recommends actively supporting the development of a centre for agriculture incubation along with other recommendations to support education and communication of agriculture in Hay River.
The atmosphere was right for this type of a project in Hay River and with some dedicated work, we also secured the financial support needed to make the development of the farm campus a reality! In August 2014 during his Northern Tour, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency funding of $2 million over 2 years for NFTI. We had the opportunity to show him and his accompanying ministers around our students' garden plots in the Fort Smith Community Gardens and explain the long-term benefits of investing in sustainable agriculture and ongoing educational support for new farmers.
With this support, and a partnership with the Town of Hay River to lease an abandoned property previously owned by Northern Pork, NFTI began our ambitious task: transform an abandoned industrial pig barn site with 20 years of debris and neglect into a training and research centre which could support our vision. We repaired roads, restored power to the site, removed derelict buildings and cleaned up industrial waste. We recovered and recycled thousands of dollars worth of materials and infrastructure and moved forward in building accommodations, classrooms, offices, a store, industrial kitchen, greenhouses and barn. At the same time, we trained northerners through intensive experiential courses. We now have a complete campus with all the facilities required and are continuing to develop more and grow to meet the needs of our local community and northern farmers.
In November of 2016, Jackie was honoured with the Meritorious Service Medal. This award is given by the Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General of Canada, on behalf of Her Majesty The Queen to recognize her outstanding contributions to our country. She will be traveling with her family to Ottawa to formally receive this medal in June. Jackie also has recently been sponsored by a private foundation to attend the Global Food Summit "Sequestering Carbon in Soil: Addressing the Climate Threat" in Paris, France in May.
NFTI in the News
https://nnsl.com/hayriverhub/mlas-gather-feedback-on-bills-in-hay-river/
https://nnsl.com/hayriverhub/five-organizations-in-hay-river-and-area-supported-by-anti-poverty-fund-of-the-gnwt/
https://inhabitat.com/the-organic-farm-teaching-sustainable-growing-techniques-in-canadas-cold-dark-north/
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/hay-river-shredded-paper-1.4907968
https://www.farms.com/ag-industry-news/n-w-t-family-wants-to-farm-potatoes-215.aspx
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/indoor-growing-damages-north-food-security-1.4099389
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/zak-the-yak-1.4070850
https://www.myyellowknifenow.com/26556/agriculture-laws-arent-enough-says-nwt-farming-expert/
https://www.myyellowknifenow.com/26379/nwt-making-shift-agriculture/
https://www.greenhousecanada.com/structures-equipment/greenhouses/the-true-north-strong-and-free-and-fed-31805
https://this.org/2017/07/25/whats-behind-the-high-cost-of-food-in-canadas-north/
https://norj.ca/2016/01/a-nifty-year-of-transformation-for-the-northern-farm-training-institute/
https://norj.ca/2016/02/adventures-in-flerding-the-nfti-goats-just-kept-coming/
https://norj.ca/2016/03/how-nfti-will-save-27000-lbs-of-food/
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/goats-hay-river-northern-farm-training-institute-1.3401995
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/northern-farming-hay-river-nwt-1.3670220
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/prof-nwt-led-greenhouse-funding-government-1.3572614
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/sudbury-food-forest-1.3773842
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/plenty-of-local-eggs-in-gameti-1.3874789
https://www.myyellowknifenow.com/18200/hay-rivers-jackie-milne-receives-meritorious-service-medal/
https://www.myyellowknifenow.com/11508/hay-river-farm-animals-sort-of-get-taste-of-yellowknife-beer/
https://www.myyellowknifenow.com/10820/no-kidding-surprise-goat-pregnancies-stun-hay-river-farm/
https://www.myyellowknifenow.com/10993/hay-rivers-newborn-goats-need-baby-monitors/
https://uphere.ca/articles/can-north-feed-itself
https://edgenorth.ca/article/farm-in-a-can
https://edgenorth.ca/article/rethinking-northern-meat
https://www.foodincanada.com/features/growing-in-the-north/
https://www.macleans.ca/education/birds-bees-and-drones-the-new-face-of-canadian-agriculture/
https://www.prlog.org/12508341-savory-institute-announces-northern-farm-training-institute-nfti-as-an-accredited-savory-hub.html
http://media.wix.com/ugd/e31b91_cc5291121e3147d0a28b6faaead84e28.pdf
https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/wd7e9w/northerners-fight-food-insecurity-with-first-farm-school
https://norj.ca/2015/09/working-to-restore-our-local-food-systems-wild-harvest-complemented-by-domestic-animals/
https://norj.ca/2015/11/chasing-food-sovereignty-fighting-climate-change/
https://norj.ca/2015/11/time-for-a-revolution-on-paris-soil-and-young-farmers/
https://norj.ca/2015/10/new-wave-nwt-farming-hits-golden-horseshoe/
https://norj.ca/2015/09/bombs-away-after-30-years-of-seeding-lakes-and-ponds-nwt-wild-rice-yields-a-bumper-crop/
https://www.myyellowknifenow.com/9357/nfti-to-become-local-hub-for-major-international-non-profit/
https://www.myyellowknifenow.com/1679/farming-hay-river-become-big-industry/
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/gameti-s-garden-grows-adds-goats-and-chickens-1.3109818
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/ndp-candidate-dennis-bevington-1.3256374
https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/agriculture-dominates-second-day-of-harper-s-northern-tour-1.1972227
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/farmed-caribou-will-be-safe-from-pollution-dene-man-1.2602942
http://norj.ca/2013/02/northern-farm-training -institute-takes-root
http://norj.ca/2013/05/northern-farm-training -school-already-bearing-fruit
http:www.nnsl.com/frames/newspapers/2013-05/may6_13dig.html
http:www.mmsl.com/frames/newspapers/2013-03/mar18_13gr.html
http:www.cbcc.ca/player/News/Canada/North/ID/2382419719
(around the 45min mark)
http:www.cbcc.ca/player/News/Canada/North/ID/2408409514/?page=2
(around the 6min mark)
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Michigan State tops rival Michigan for Big Ten Tournament title
Dylan Buell / Getty Images Sport / Getty
CHICAGO (AP) Matt McQuaid scored a career-high 27 points, Cassius Winston converted the go-ahead layup in the closing minute, and No. 6 Michigan State rallied to beat No. 10 Michigan 65-60 for its sixth Big Ten Tournament championship on Sunday.
The top-seeded Spartans (28-6) rallied from a 13-point deficit in the second half and scored the game's final 10 points to capture their first championship since 2016. No other program has won the tournament as many times as Michigan State, and this one was particularly sweet.
After all, the Spartans prevented a championship three-peat by Michigan (28-6) and beat their rivals for the third time this season.
McQuaid nailed a personal-best seven 3-pointers. Winston, the Big Ten Player of the Year, had 14 points and 11 assists as Michigan State won for the 10th time in 11 games. The Spartans were awarded a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament and will face Bradley in the second round on Thursday in Des Moines, Iowa.
Ignas Brazdeikas led Michigan with 19 points. Jordan Poole scored 13. Jon Teske had 10 points and 10 rebounds. Zavier Simpson added 10 assists.
But the third-seeded Wolverines fell again to Michigan State after blowing their chance to win the league by losing to their rivals twice in the final four regular-season games.
Michigan led by 13 early in the second half, but Michigan State went on a 13-4 run to tie it at 48 with just over seven minutes remaining.
The Wolverines were up 60-55 after Livers hit a 3 with 2:29 left. But McQuaid answered with one of his own to start the game-ending run and Xavier Tillman made a tying layup for Michigan State.
After Simpson missed a 3 for Michigan, Winston drove to his left for a layup to put the Spartans on top 62-60 with 28 seconds left.
Brazdeikas then missed a pull-up jumper that got tipped by Aaron Henry with 14 seconds to play. Teske and Tillman went up for the rebound, the ball got tipped out of bounds and the referees gave possession to Michigan State after a review as Michigan coach John Beilein screamed on the sideline.
Henry made a free throw and missed hit the second, making it a three-point game. Poole then appeared to get bumped by Winston - Michigan State had a foul to give - as he launched a long 3 off the dribble, but there was no call.
The Spartans' Kenny Goins hit two free throws to make it 65-60 with two seconds left.
Michigan State forward Kyle Ahrens was taken from the court on a stretcher with a left leg injury in the first half.
Michigan: The Wolverines have their sights set on another big NCAA run after losing to Villanova in the championship game last year.
Michigan State: The Spartans head to the tournament with high hopes, though their rotation figures to be a little thinner after Ahrens went down.
Michigan: NCAA Tournament.
Michigan State: NCAA Tournament.
More AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/Collegebasketball and http://twitter.com/AP-Top25
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Kansas' Grimes transferring to Houston | {
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The adventures of tintin 1991
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Les Aventures De Tintin aka The Adventures of Tintin (1991) Sezona 2 Epizoda 10 [S2E10&11] Land of Black Gold (wizzcameron) fps: 25 Prevod postavio: bojan969 18The Unicorn (French: La Licorne) is a fictional 17th-century three-masted armed French Royal Navy vessel appearing in The Adventures of Tintin, the comics series by
Tintin, a young Belgian reporter, gets involved in various mysteries and adventures with his dog Watch full series The Adventures of Tintin (1991) Putlocker123, downloadThe adventures of the young
Tintin kalandjai (The Adventures of Tintin) Műfaj: kaland, rejtély, komédia, dráma The Adventures of Tintin - 1991 The Crab with the Golden Claws Part 1 1-1 was released on: Canada: 2 October 1991 USA: 4 November 1991 France: 12 May 1992 Netherlands: 11While shopping at an outdoor market, young reporter Tintin, accompanied by his faithful dog, Snowy, buys a model of an old ship called the Unicorn
You are currently watching The Adventures Of Tintin - Season 1 1991 now, stars are : Colin O'Meara, Thierry Wermuth, Christian Pellissier
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The Adventures of Tintin The series was one of the most popular European comics of the 20th centuryPirates of Dark Water
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com, Nonton Layarkaca21 The Adventures of Tintin (2011) Sub Indo diAudience Reviews for The Adventures of Tintin It is a delight to see Spielberg play with the possibilities of the 3D animation - impossible camera movements, fabulous
The Adventures of Tintin, known as The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn outside North America, is a 2011 American 3D motion capture computer-animated epic
In Red Rackham's Treasure, sequel to The Secret of the Unicorn, Tintin and the Thom(p)sons accompany Captain Haddock on a journey in the footstepsThe Adventures of Tintin (disambiguation) The Adventures of Tintin is a series of comic albums by Hergé
WEB/HDRip Stream The Adventures of Tintin (Jino Remix) [FREE download] by Jino from desktop or your mobile device
com: The Adventures of Tintin, VolO longa é dirigido por Steven
From Academy Award winning filmmakers Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson comes the epic adventures of TintinThe Adventures of Tintin The Adventures of Tintin (French: Les Aventures de Tintin; [lez‿avɑ̃tyʁ də tɛ̃tɛ̃]) is a series of 24 comic albums created by Belgian cartoonist | {
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Shafston International College
University Type Private
University Motto "Friendship and Learning"
President Cameron Lloyd
Address 46 Thorn St, Kangaroo Point QLD 4169
City Kalgoorlie, Western Australia
Shafston International College is a private education institution for international students located in Brisbane and the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. It offers certificate, diploma and English language programs.
Shafston was established in 1996 and has grown rapidly with over 70,000 students having attended since its inception. Shafston has a diverse student population with over 36 different nationalities on campus at any given time.
Shafston features three campuses, two in the heart of Brisbane and the other in Southport on the Gold Coast. The original Kangaroo Point Campus, which is centred on Shafston House, a heritage-listed building constructed in 1851, is located on the banks of the Brisbane River and covers an area of five-acres.
Shafston has been operating for 24 years, educating students in both English language and Vocational Courses. There have been in excess of 120,000 students educated at Shafston, from over 100 countries since its foundation in 1996. The school has received numerous accolades including being rated the number 1 English school in Australia in 2013, 2014 and 2019 by Ryugaku Journal.
The Shafston International College is a Private university located in Kalgoorlie.
The Shafston International College was founded in 1996.
The current president of Shafston International College is Cameron Lloyd.
Location of Shafston International College
James Cook University Townsville, Queensland
South Australia Institute of Business and Technology Adelaide, South Australia
University of Notre Dame Australia Fremantle, Western Australia
MEGT Institute Melbourne, Victoria
University of Tasmania Hobart, Tasmania
Engineering Institute of Technology Perth, Western Australia | {
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Copyright batte over 'unauthorized' Catcher in the Rye commentary
Jim Lindgren has an interesting post over at Volokh.com concerning the legal battle over a book that may or may not be characterized by some as an unauthorized sequel to "Catcher in the Rye".
Be sure to read it here.
This case brings up a number of issues:
First, it exposes the lie that is perpetuated in the legal community that copyright laws don't protect "ideas", but rather only the "concrete expression" of ideas. In practicality, this statement is pure nonsense as evidenced by the fact that a copyrighted work seals in monopoly protections of "characters" and "derivative works" - even if such derivative works don't include any actual "copying" of cloned material from the underlying work.
For instance, if I feel that I have a far better script or storyline that utilizes the character of James Bond, but without utilizing any previous cloned image from a Bond film and without copying previously used dialogue beyond a minimal instance of "My name is Bond...James Bond." or "Shaken...not stirred.", I still would not be able to create it, because Ian Flemming's estate and/or Sony Pictures, etc. has a monopoly over the IDEA of James Bond.
I would argue that by protecting "derivative" works, copyright effectively asserts control over ideas - except for those envisioned at the most abstract levels.
Second, this case also illustrates just how slippery (and I would argue, unsustainable) current fair use concepts are that try to differentiate between "criticism", "parody" and academic explorations of previous literary works versus competing concepts such as "satire" and unauthorized "derivative works" that may contain some vestiges of the previously mentioned fair use categories.
How will "Coming Through The Rye" be classified if it functions as both a "derivative work" of "Catcher in the Rye" as well as literary criticism and history concerning the creation of the same?
Third, this case seems to be another instance of where the judiciary throws out their usual rules regarding prior restraints against free speech when it comes to mere (unproven) allegations of IP infringement. Courts will not allow prior restraints in libel cases. They didn't even allow it in the famed Pentagon Papers case which involved allegations of breaches of national security. But when it comes to protecting IP whenever somebody shouts "copyright" - judges too often seem to ignore free speech concerns.
Eugene Volokh wrote a great law paper on this issue. I'd advise checking it out here:
http://www.law.ucla.edu/volokh/copyinj.htm
I remember once being lucky enough to come across a copy of "The Wind Done Gone" during a time when a federal judge had enjoined its publication through a temporary restraining order - essentially declaring it unlawful to own and distribute due to copyright complaints from the Margaret Mitchell estate. I purchased it, and secretly horded it away as though I was living through some twisted version of "Fahrenheit 451". I thought it might remain on the list of "banned books" in the U.S. As it turned out however, the copyright case over it was settled, and the book was eventually "allowed" to published.
Perhaps the proper solution is the same one utilized in "Fahrenheit 451". When a rebellious populous was faced with a nation of "firemen" whose job it was to burn all books, each person was given the task of committing a book to memory in order to orally recite it later to others, thus circumventing the state by placing the books in the one area it could not reach - the human mind.
On second thought, that won't work. Current copyright laws prevent the unauthorized "performance" of copyrighted works - including recitals.
Beware the current crop of "firemen" looking to set the nation's Rye fields ablaze....
[Posted at 06/22/2009 12:08 AM by Justin Levine on Against Monopoly comments(15)]
UnoZeroSevenSeven: | {
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The Next Step for UAE/China
Following President Xi's visit to the UAE last week, the two countries have an opportunity to leverage their shared interests in emerging technologies
By Xische Editorial, July 25, 2018
Source: Vectorpouch/Shutterstock
President Xi arrived in Abu Dhabi last Thursday for a state visit—the first by a Chinese head of state in almost 30 years—designed to reinforce the already hefty economic and cultural ties between China and the UAE. However, his visit may have missed a broader opportunity to leverage the two countries' shared interest in emerging technologies—namely artificial intelligence, blockchain, and ICT infrastructure. Unsurprisingly, energy investment and the ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) featured heavily during President Xi's three-day trip. The flurry of announcements included a partnership and investment agreement in the world's largest solar energy project, two memorandums of understanding to enhance e-commerce ties and greater cooperation at the China International Import Expo, and several extensive energy agreements.
The UAE stands to profit from translating China's ever-expanding trade interests in the region to those grounded in emerging technology. Indeed, the two countries already have a strong track record of collaboration on technology initiatives, including the YVOLV data centre, a project by Meeras and Alibaba, along with the MBR Solar Park, which is run by DEWA and the Silk Road Fund. Pairing Chinese talent with UAE test environments would support the development of everything from AI technology and blockchain to telecoms in both countries and accelerate global development.
The Burj Khalifa in Dubai lit up in the colours of the Chinese flag to mark President Xi's visit last week. Source: The National (CC)
AI systems are heavily dependent on data. China's ability to harness the large volume of data emanating from its billion-plus citizens is one of its natural advantages in the field. The BRI's trade networks across the emerging world present a valuable data proposition for China. Not only can Beijing expand its influence through the creation of analogue infrastructure such as bridges, tunnels, and railroads, but the country can also expand its technology footprint.
China is betting big on becoming a leader in high tech innovation. In July 2017, China announced a development plan to become the global leader in artificial intelligence, including a $2.1bn technology park in Beijing dedicated to AI research. With homegrown mega-companies such as Baidu and Tencent already leading the global AI race, China is well-positioned to achieve this goal. The UAE is a slightly different case. While the UAE announced its strategy for AI in October 2017, coupled with investment in AI projected to surpass $8bn by the end of 2017, the country is still in the process of developing or recruiting the right talent to deliver on the UAE's AI goals. By leveraging Chinese technological expertise, the UAE can rapidly grow its AI expertise. Meanwhile, the Chinese will benefit from the optimal testing ground for AI solutions that the UAE provides with access to high-quality engagement points of over 200 nationalities that call the UAE home.
On ICT infrastructure, particularly high-speed and broadband internet, the UAE could - and should - step in. China has been successful in selling smartphones outside of the mainland with companies such as Transsion and Huawei dominating smartphone sales across African and Asian markets. Meanwhile, through telecoms companies such as Etisalat, the UAE has experience in several markets along the BRI.
The conditions are ripe for a UAE-China partnership on blockchain development, an area that certainly warrants further investigation. The UAE has an established track record on blockchain with the Dubai government taking the lead and pushing for blockchain to be used in the public sector. Likewise, China has expressed interest in using blockchain to improve governance.
Working together with Chinese researchers and companies, the UAE could build on its alliance with China to expand blockchain research around the world. As Xische's strategy advisor, Mary Ames, recently argued in Gulf News, "Analysts predict that Chinese officials are setting the stage for a new blockchain strategy. If so, then China will soon join the UAE in shifting all applicable government transactions to local and federal blockchains. Given China's influence on the blockchain industry, such a move is likely to have a profound impact on the trajectory of the evolving technology."
Technological innovation requires the ability to quickly draw on the best talent from across the globe. The UAE has an opportunity to translate its strategic relationship with China on the BRI to an important partnership on emerging technologies like AI, blockchain, and ICT infrastructure. President Xi's visit to the UAE is proof positive that both countries have much to gain from such a strategic bilateral relationship. Now is the time to take it to the next level.
Opinion, Artificial IntelligenceWisam Amid July 25, 2018 UAE, AI, China, machine learning, technology, innovation, Bitcoin, Blockchain, artificial intelligence, ICT, telecoms
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Opinion, DataWisam Amid July 30, 2018 technology, data, diplomacy, governance, social media, Facebook
Betting on a Blockchain Future
Opinion, Published, BlockchainWisam Amid July 23, 2018 UAE, China, technology, innovation, ICO, Blockchain, Bitcoin | {
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2022 Mazda RX 7 Changes, Interior, HP
Posted on April 23, 2022 by Al Connie R. Mitchell
2022 Mazda RX 7 Changes, Interior, HP – Mazda did not state once the generation automobile will get to showrooms. Still, it appears that the subsequent-gen RX-7's progress is determined by how fast the technical engineers can think of a dependable and energy-successful Wankel powerplant. More information ought to grow to be offered in 2016. However, right up until you're doing, we made an offering in the manufacturing automobile, together with a thoughtful inspection regarding what the subsequent-gen RX-7 may well provide the kitchen table.
2022 Mazda RX 7 Changes
2022 Mazda RX 7 Engine
2022 Mazda RX 7 Price and Release Date
Just like most concept cars, the RX-Sight goes via some adjustments before it will become a generation automobile. Our supplying depicts a somewhat well developed directly down variation in the Tokyo examine, provided with various creation-pleasant capabilities.
Our designer started away by supplying the RX-Eyesight a higher roof structure. While the idea is hostile having its very low roofline, the function isn't likely, therefore it will be around the production automobile, mainly because it would influence both mind and arm distance. Luckily, the concept does not seem to eliminate a lot of its attractive dimensions using a bigger roofing, a significantly less raked entrance windscreen, an apparent B-pillar, and stainless windows encompass. Other changes towards the car's user profile include fabricating entry care of, a rather larger grille from the front side fender, along with brand new multiple-spoke rims.
At the beginning, we rely on typically the 2022 Mazda RX 7 Changes, Interior, HP to obtain an adjusted grille and fender in addition to a new sort of headlamps. While the total size and shape in the production grille need to keep comparable, the apparatus will most likely be given a stainless encompass and additionally the side to side panels observed on all current Mazdas. Listed under, the fender area intakes are a bit bigger on your creating, as the splitter together with the middle segment continued to be unaffected. The headlamps ought to make the most changes as the concept's slim apparatus are far too amazing for any generation engine car. Buthowever, the reduction area will probably rely on Mazda's present headlamp layout; the top, curved Directed strip may find its way around the generation automobile. Finally , we rounded out your creation providing using a standard hood as well as a Mazda logo in the nasal space, while removing the one from the grille.
Considering the rear end from the RX-Perspective isn't specifically wilderness, Mazda will probably maintain many of the features in the creation of coupe. The specific RX-7, however, might find an improved tailgate, somewhat re-designed taillights without a"hovering" spoiler, along with various diffusers.
Compared to a lot of concept autos, the RX-Eyesight got a neat and basic interior that may go into generation these days. Nevertheless, Mazda will, in all likelihood, alter a couple of things sometimes, for example, device group, the entranceway panels, along with the center unit. The next will probably get the maximum changes since the 2022 Mazda RX 7 Changes, Interior, HP will get a typical middle pile with different control keys along with knobs. A good infotainment system, as well as a big screen, also need to be additional. However, it actually remains to be noted if the screen will be fitted in addition to the dashboard – like found in several present-day Mazda automobiles – or contained in the middle bunch. Additionally, search for multiple-work controls together with a lot more comprehensive tool cluster powering it.
In terms of the larger quantities of leather-based and lightweight aluminum inserts observed in typically the notion goes, assume that these folks to be around on increased trims. Similar to the MX-5, the specific RX-7 should be a little bit more cost-effective when compared with its rivals, which means the entrance-stage layout will function much less or no leather material at all. Nonetheless, the cottage should consider looking athletic and are offered in only two-sculpt combos across the bottom variation at exactly the same time.
Typically the drivetrain is certainly the RX-7's main secret to date, as Mazda has absolutely nothing to say regarding the engine apart from the proven fact that it will probably be a Wankel and also referred to as the SkyActiv-R. A company agent, even so, suggested that this would use turbocharging, and this the sport vehicle will probably be geared towards the particular Porsche Cayman. Considering the German coupe comes combined with at minimum 275 horsepower in basic toned, the 2022 Mazda RX 7 Changes, Interior, HP, which is less heavy when compared with the Cayman approximately 2,700 pounds, would want no less than 250 horses to make an impact in this particular region of interest. Assume 0 -to-60 miles per hour run of about 5 moments in addition to a top-rated velocity of a minimum of 150 miles per hour.
It is absolutely too soon to talk about cost ranges, but it is secure to believe that this RX-7 can become Mazda's priciest thing in the present collection. The previous decal label is set by a lot of aspects. On the other hand, the sport vehicle will likely cost more when compared to $35,000 from the basic clip.
2022 Mazda Rx 7 AWD, 2022 Mazda Rx 7 Colors, 2022 Mazda Rx 7 Cost, 2022 Mazda Rx 7 Coupe, 2022 Mazda Rx 7 Electric, 2022 Mazda Rx 7 Engine, 2022 Mazda Rx 7 Horsepower, 2022 Mazda Rx 7 Hot Wheels, 2022 Mazda Rx 7 Interior, 2022 Mazda Rx 7 Manual, 2022 Mazda Rx 7 MPG, 2022 Mazda Rx 7 Price, 2022 Mazda Rx 7 Release Date, 2022 Mazda Rx 7 Review, 2022 Mazda Rx 7 Rumors, 2022 Mazda Rx 7 Specs, 2022 Mazda Rx 7 Top Speed
When Will The 2022 Mazda 6 Be Released
2022 Mazda CX 9 USA Specs, Price, Release | {
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Prep Athlete of the Week: Cook critical to…
Prep Athlete of the Week: Cook critical to Durham High volleyball team
Durham High volleyball player Bethany Cook is the Prep Athlete of the Week.
By Joseph Shufelberger |
PUBLISHED: November 12, 2014 at 12:00 am | UPDATED: September 8, 2018 at 12:00 am
DURHAM >> Sometimes, statistics don"t tell the entire story, or even most of it.
The Durham High volleyball team was going to a fifth set at Hamilton in a Nov. 4 Sacramento Valley League match, and Trojans coach Noelle Keese decided to go against her standard move of subbing for Bethany Cook after the senior serves.
"I said, "We need her heart,"" Keese recalled telling her assistant. "/I"m going to leave Bethany on because I think her heart is going to make us win this game." We were just in a kind of funk that whole game. I really thought Bethany"s heart and leadership was going to make us win that game."
The Trojans won that fifth game and the match 21-25, 25-14, 21-25, 25-23, 15-13. Now, Durham (30-3) has time off this week as the No. 1 seed in the Northern Section Division V postseason field and awaits its next opponent for a contest at home Tuesday.
Keese said deviating from the norm was easy when it kept Cook where she was needed.
"Bethany has been our biggest leader this year," the Trojans" coach said. "She"s so vocal on the court and off the court, whether she"s playing or if she"s not playing. She is the loudest person. She"s constantly talking, encouraging. She"s always positive."
Cook is also among the team"s leaders in several statistical categories for Durham, which has not lost a match against divisional foes.
"I"ve been really surprised how people have stepped up," Cook said, as the Trojans have gotten even better after reaching the section final last year but lost some of their top players due to graduation. "We have confidence in each other. It"s all a team effort."
While Cook has been playing volleyball since she was 8 years old and wants to keep doing so if she can, she"s focused on extending this season as much as she can.
"If I can play somewhere, I"m definitely going to go there first," said Cook, who has a 3.6 GPA and is involved with Future Farmers of America in addition to playing softball. "I"m just really trying to make sure every practice counts. It"s my last year before maybe playing college, maybe not. I wanted to lay everything out on the court."
Connect with Sports Writer Joseph Shufelberger at 896-7774.
Joseph Shufelberger
Bob Myers explains Kevin Durant's decision to leave Warriors | {
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Vero News > All News > News > Sebastian Police investigating car-bike crash
Sebastian Police investigating car-bike crash
Written by: Admin November 04 2010
SEBASTIAN – The Sebastian Police Department is investigating the cause for a crash that sent a bicyclist to a hospital in critical condition.
The crash happened Wednesday around 12:32 p.m. at the 1200 block of Main Street. A 2008 Toyota collided with a bicycle. The bicyclist, identified as James Shaw, was transported to Holmes Regional Medical Center where he is listed in critical condition.
The driver, Tammy Carnohan, was not injured.
Charges have yet to be filed, pending the outcome of the investigation.
Anyone with information pertaining to the crash is encouraged to call the Sebastian Police Department at (772) 589-5233.
bicyclistcarnohancentercharges:conditioncrashcriticaldepartmentdriverencouragedholmesinjuredinvestigationlistedmedicalpoliceregionalsebastianstaff reporttammythe
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GoLine hub gets the boot from Vero City Council
Authorities nab Melbourne man accused of robbing Vero Beach TD Bank
Man charged in July crash that left woman seriously injured
SEBASTIAN — A 25-year-old man is waiting to go before a judge on several charges from a July crash that left a woman seriously injured. The woman suffered a broken shoulder blade and had to undergo surgery, reports show. "(Dillon) Wright was under the influence of an alcoholic beverage while operating a motor vehicle at the time of the crash and fled the scene on foot, failing to render aid to the victim or provide information to her," reports show. "Inside of the vehicle operated by Wright was a safe containing 407.5 grams of suspected cannabis in multiple different packages." Sheriff's officials said Wright's blood alcohol level was more than three times the legal limit. Wright, of the 800 block ...
1 hurt after two tractor trailers collide on I-95
INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — A driver was injured after a tractor-trailer slammed into the back of another tractor-trailer on Interstate 95 on Tuesday morning, fire rescue crews said. The crash happened at 8:15 a.m. on I-95 southbound near the 142 mile-marker, officials said. The tractor-trailer that struck the other vehicle had significant damage, Indian River County Fire Rescue Bureau Chief of Emergency Medical Services Steve Greer said. The driver of the heavily damaged tractor-trailer was flown to HCA Florida Lawnwood Hospital in Fort Pierce, Greer said. The condition of the driver, a man, was not immediately known. The driver of the other tractor-trailer refused treatment, Greer said. Photos provided by Indian River County Sheriff's Office and Rick Kulmann
Woman hurt in overnight rollover crash
INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — A woman suffered traumatic injuries after her car rolled over into a grassy area in an overnight crash Monday, authorities said. The single-vehicle wreck happened about 12:15 a.m. in the 6200 block of County Road 510 in West Wabasso, fire rescue crews and Indian River County sheriff's officials said. The woman, who was driving a light-colored sedan, was taken by ambulance to Health First's Holmes Regional Medical Center in Melbourne, Indian River County Fire Rescue Bureau Chief Bill Herrington said. Deputies briefly closed the roadway in the area of the crash. The sheriff's office continues to investigate the wreck. Photos contributed by Indian River County Sheriff's Office | {
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