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VSAT – Very small aperture terminals 2. GMPCS – Global mobile personal Telecom Sector Analysis -communication Nov '15 4 by satellite .Telecom : Market Segments Telecom sector Basic services Wireless services Primary segments Internet services Radio paging and GMPCS VSAT’s and PMRTS Secondary segments 1. PMRTS – Public mobile radio trunked services 3.
Telecom : Circles Telecom circles Metro •Mumbai •Delhi •Kolkata Circle A •Andhra Pradesh •Gujarat •Karnataka •Maharashtra •Tamil Nadu •Daman and Diu •Pondicherry Circle B •Haryana •Kerala •Madhya Pradesh •Punjab •Rajasthan •Uttar Pradesh •West Bengal •Lakshadweep Telecom Sector Analysis .Nov '15 Circle C •Assam •Bihar •Himachal Pradesh •Jammu & Kashmir •North-east •Orissa 5 .
49 970. 2015 Teledensity 75.8% over the previous year 996. 2015 6 . registering a growth of 6.95 Sep '14 Dec '14 Mar '15 Telecom Sector Analysis .Nov '15 Source : TRAI Report.8 Jun '14 Sep '14 15.49 million as of Mar-15.) The number of telephone subscribers is 996.58 Dec '14 Mar '15 The tele-density is 79.01 Mar '14 79.97 957.4% over 76.38 as of Marthe previous year 75.75 Mar '14 Jun '14 Source : TRAI Report.Telecom : Executive Summary Number of subscribers ( in mil.61 933. registering a growth of 2.38 77.23 942.
12 end of Mar-15.43 74.55 The wireless tele-density increased from 75.Nov '15 7 .2 2. The contribution of the Wireless wireless segment is nearly 97% 56% 42% Source : TRAI Report.Subscriber distribution The number of wireless subscribers is Wireline 3% 969. 2015 Telecom Sector Analysis .25 72.27 at the 75.3 2.12 at the end of Mar-15 Source : TRAI Report.94 73.16 at the end of Dec-14 to 2.89 million as of Mar-15.2% over the previous year.27 2.16 Wireline 2.55 2. 2015 Teledensity trend 77.43 at the end of Dec-14 to 77. while wireline tele-density declined from 2. Rural Urban registering a growth of 7.
Wireless subscribers The percentage of GSM wireless subscribers to the total subscriber base has remained around 95% over the last year.) and Tamil Nadu (80 mil.) followed by Maharashtra (108 mil. 2015 Wireless subscriber base (in mil.) 108 72 69 46 59 58 61 135 80 55 47 The wireless subscriber base is maximum in the state of Uttar Pradesh (135 mil.Nov '15 8 .) Source : TRAI Report. whereas the percentage 94% 94% 95% 94% 95% 6% 6% 5% 6% 5% GSM CDMA of CDMA wireless subscribers has remained around 5% over the last year Source : TRAI Report. Telecom 2015 Sector Analysis .
66% 59% The number of Broadband and Narrowband Internet subscribers by end of Mar-15 are 99. 105 and Rs. 2015 * 128 110 465 160 110 102 441 Monthly ARPU as of Mar’15 for All 105 99 467 109 Blended Pre-paid Post-paid 490 India in Post-paid.15 million respectively 5% 1% 28% Broadband Narrowband 5% 1% Source : TRAI Report. 467. pre-paid and blended GSM services is Rs.Refer slide no 5 9 . 2015 * . 120 respectively Telecom Sector Analysis .Nov '15 Source : TRAI Report.20 million and 23% 203. Rs.
453 213.602 221.642 Mar '14 Jun '14 Sep '14 Dec '14 Mar '15 Telecom Sector Analysis .231 225.334 230.642 Mar '14 Jun '14 Sep '14 Dec '14 Mar '15 Source : TRAI Report.334 230.453 213.Nov '15 Source : TRAI Report. 2015 Number of subscribers (VSAT) 236.Number of subscribers (PMRTS) 236.231 225.602 221. 2015 10 .
99%) respectively In the wireline market segment. Reliance Group remains the market leader with a share of 51. Bharti Airtel remains the market leader with a share of 24.Telecom : Trends There is increase in the number of wireless subscribers.83%) respectively Telecom Sector Analysis .84% followed by Tata Group (27.03%) and Idea (17.19%) and Sistema (16. whereas there is a decrease in the number of wireline subscribers The rural subscriber base showed a rise of 11. whereas the proportion of narrowband-broadband subscriber base in the wireline segment has remained more or less the same In GSM wireless market segment.01% compared to last year.Nov '15 11 .94% compared to last year There is increase in the narrowband subscriber base in the wireless segment.71% followed by MTNL (13.35%) and Bharti Airtel (12. BSNL remains the market leader with a share of 61.2%) respectively In CDMA wireless market segment. whereas the urban subscriber base showed a rise of 1.63% followed by Vodafone (20.
82 million Softbank Japanese telecom company Softbank has planned to invest around US$ 10 billion in India’s IT sector over the next few years Ericsson Ericsson has won US$ 9.Nov '15 12 . launched its telecom products under the ISUN brand that will be bundled with BSNL schemes Telecom Sector Analysis .42 million three year operation support systems (OSS) deal from Reliance Jio Infocomm Reliance Jio Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd has signed an agreement to share telecom towers of GTL Infrastructure Ltd. the seventh tower-sharing agreement ISUN Chennai based Exotic Global Trades Pvt Ltd.Telecom : Key investments Bharti Infratel Bharti Infratel has planned to take over the telecom towers of Vodafone and Idea Cellular in India at a valuation of US$ 785..
Nov '15 13 . leading to fierce competition Threat of New Entrants Strict government regulations Extremely high infrastructure setup cost Difficulty in achieving economies of scale Bargaining power of suppliers High bargaining power of suppliers as there are only a few suppliers in the sector High cost of switching suppliers Threat of substitutes Bargainin g Power of Customer s (High) Competiti ve Rivalry (High) Hardly any threat of substitute product because there are no substitutes available in the market Bargaining power of customers Low switching cost and mobile number portability give customers high bargaining power Customers are price sensitive Threat of New Entrants (Low) Bargainin g Power of Suppliers (High) Threat of Substitut es (Low) Telecom Sector Analysis .Telecom : Industry Analysis (Porters’ 5S) Competitive Rivalry Customer’s low switching cost and price sensitivity are increasing competition amongst players High exit barriers are also intensifying competition There are around 6 to 7 players in each region.
Telecom : Industry Analysis (PESTEL) Political: The Government of India plans to cut license fees by up to 33 per cent for operators The Government has been proactive in its efforts to transform India into a global telecommunication hub Relaxed FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) Norms The Government recently revised the M&A ( Mergers & Acquisition) guidelines for the telecom sector. and iii) USD18. the government has proposed an investment of USD32.2 billion in three phases: i) USD9.Nov '15 P L E E PESTE L Analy sis S T 14 .2 billion to the Telecom Research and Development Fund.6 billion for the Telecom Entrepreneurship Promotion Fund. it raised the limit on the market share of a merged entity in a circle to 50 per cent from 35 per cent earlier To boost local research and manufacturing of telecom products. ii) USD4.4 billion to the Telecom Manufacturing Promotion Fund during the 12th Five-Year Plan Telecom Sector Analysis .
and believed that it is projected to almost double to USD$ 90 billion by 2015 GDP contribution – 6%.₹ 136. there were USD 4 trillion.833 crores per annum & Increasing 20% for every month Increase in disposable incomes Falling mobile phone prices Falling call charges rates with more utility P L E E PESTE L Analy sis S T Telecom Sector Analysis . In 2008. expected to grow at a steep 11% p. CAGR over the next 2 years India’s telecom service revenue was USD$ 55 billion in 2012. Output per annum .a.Nov '15 15 .Economic: The Indian Telecom industry has been playing an important role in the world economy and global revenues.
voice and high-speed internet services and various social application Chain of information flow Building awareness and connecting people Exploitation of young minds. too compulsive. and sometimes too much information Irritating and annoying due to excess amount of calls and messages P L E E PESTE L Analy sis S T Telecom Sector Analysis .Nov '15 16 .Social: Growing young population Change in Lifestyle Increment in services which includes digital television.
Technological: Driven by 3G and 4G services.Nov '15 17 . etc SIM cards. WiFi. There’s a lot of scope for growth of M2M services in the government's ambitious Rs.000 crore (US$ 1.1 billion) 'Smart City' program Increasing MOU (Minutes Of Use) and Data usage Liberalisation of spectrum and convergence of network. etc P L E E PESTE L Analy sis S T Telecom Sector Analysis . 7. it is expected that there will be huge machine-to-machine (M2M) growth in India in 2016-17. Nano SIM cards. services and devices New and upgraded devices and applications with massive features like GPS.
by emitting unnecessary radio waves. Billboards and exploitation of papers ISO 14004:2004 provides guidelines on the elements of an environmental management system and its implementation P L E E PESTE L Analy sis S T Telecom Sector Analysis .Environmental: Environmental Issues are increasing on daily basis Excess use of Electricity Causing air pollution.Nov '15 18 . strangling cables all over the cities No proper and systematic installation Unnecessary Ads.
The Wireless Telegraphy Act 1933 3. The Indian Telegraph Act 1885 2. aims at a ‘One Nation-One license’ regime with no roaming charges and nation wide number portability “Telecommunications” falls under the legislative competence of the Union government and the Parliament and not the States In India Legal framework. broadcasting services etc The Legal Framework is provided by: 1. The Cable Television Network (Regulation) Act1996 P L E E PESTE L Analy sis S T Telecom Sector Analysis .Legal: National Telecom Policy. voice mail. sat.Nov '15 19 . The Telegraph Wires (Unlawful Possession) Act1950 4. ECommerce. communications. covering telecom sector include various services like Internet.
Telecom : Key Players Wireles s (GSM) Wireles s (CDMA) Wirelin e 1 2 1 2 1 2 3 3 3 Source : TRAI Report.Nov '15 20 . 2015 Telecom Sector Analysis .
BSNL Aircel Tata Telewings Sistema Others 16% Source : TRAI Report.Mar ‘15 5% 2% 7% 23% 8% 9% 18% 11% Bharti Airtel Vodafone Idea Reliance Comm. 2015 Telecom Sector Analysis .Nov '15 21 .Telecom : Top 10 market players Market share – e.
Telecom : Wireless GSM market share Market share – e. Aircel BSNL Tata Telewings Videocon Others Source : TRAI Report.Nov '15 22 .Mar ‘15 5% 1% 1% 6% 25% 8% 9% 9% 20% 17% Bharti Airtel Vodafone Idea Reliance Comm. 2015 Telecom Sector Analysis .
2015 Telecom Sector Analysis .Nov '15 23 .Mar ‘15 4% 0% 0% 17% 52% 27% Reliance Comm. Tata Sistema BSNL MTNL Quadrant Source : TRAI Report.Telecom : Wireless CDMA market share Market share – e.
2015 Telecom Sector Analysis .Mar ‘15 4% 1% 0% 0% 6% 13% 13% 62% BSNL MTNL Bharti Tata Reliance Quadrant Sistema Vodafone Source : TRAI Report.Nov '15 24 .Telecom : Wireline market share Market share – e.
and the recent one being Apple. Telecom Sector Analysis . 5. Renowned Telecom company: With its 19+ years of rich experience in telecom industry this MNC had travelled far to become world’s 3rd largest telecom operator overseas with operations in nearly 20 countries. Airtel is a leading nationwide player in India and the torchbearer of the telecom industry in India. Such strategic alliances boost the brand equity and the bottom line of the company. 2. where Vodafone is an external entrant.Nov '15 Strengths Weakness Opportuni ties Threats 25 . Torchbearer of the telecom Industry: With its number 1 spot due to its excellent services in developing economies. namely Sony Ericsson. 4. Airtel has interconnected the life of people in an highly efficient way. Extensive infrastructure: With the formation of Indus tower & due to its partnership with Idea & Vodafone. Thus. the infrastructure of Airtel has extended in all parts of the country resulting into nationwide penetration. Nokia and singtel. Strategic Alliances: The company has top notch stakeholders. High Brand Equity: It is one of the pioneer brands in telecommunication having a high brand recall and with a whopping subscriber base. 3.Telecom : SWOT Analysis (AIRTEL) Strengths: 1.
and credit being high and margins being low. Venturing into African operations: Although it’s been 4 years that Airtel has acquired Zain’s Africa business. Airtel does not have as deep pockets as Vodafone. but Airtel is still struggling to turn around the unit which was bought at a whoppy 9 billion dollars. 2. But on the other hand.Weakness: 1. High Debt: With its acquisitions turning out to bad investment. Telecom Sector Analysis . 3.Nov '15 Strengths Weakness Opportuni ties Threats 26 . they are running the risk of being dependent on some other companies which may affect its operations. Airtel group is under high debt. Outsourced Operations: Outsourcing operations helped Airtel in lowering its cost.
LTE: Airtel has taken the lead with this version of LTE in 4 cities. but deployment needs to catch up pace. VAS: VAS (Value Added services) is going to future of the telecommunication industry & by specializing itself in this vertical Airtel can differentiate itself in highly competitive market Untapped geography of the current market: Although it is currently providing 3G & 4G services. venturing out in new markets/developing economies will prove fruitful for the company. Airtel’s LTE network for mobile broadband is still confined to only 4 cities in India.Nov '15 Strengths Weakness Opportuni ties Threats 27 . Expansion of these services to most of its regions will help the company get more margins and customers. 5. 3. Telecom Sector Analysis . but these services are limited to specific geographical locations.Opportunities : 1. Market Development: With fierce competition in the telecom industry & shrinking margins. Strategic Partnership: Partnering with smart phone companies is going to be a smart strategy as far as MNP (mobile number portability in India) is concerned. 2. 4.
Nov '15 Strengths Weakness Opportuni ties Threats 28 . 2. it can see slump in subscriber base in the next fiscal year with PAN India MNP applicable from May 3rd 2015. MNP (Mobile number portability): MNP gives the customer independence to change the service provider while retaining the number and as Airtel charges are premium over other service providers.Threats: 1. 3. Competition: Price war in the home market and declining margins due to this is adversely affecting the overall business of the group. Telecom Sector Analysis . Government Regulatory Framework: With the auction of spectrum & change in the government policies on a regular basis. it is a potential threat to the stability & existence of this industry thereby affecting the players.
Failure to improve organizational agility 5. Failure to adopt new routes to innovation Telecom Sector Analysis . Failure to understand what customers value 8. Lack of data integrity to drive growth and efficiency 6. Inability to extract value from network assets 9. Ignoring new imperatives in privacy and security 4. Failure to realize new roles in evolving industry ecosystems 2. Lack of regulatory certainty on new market structures 3. Lack of performance measurement to drive execution 7.Nov '15 29 . Poorly defined inorganic growth agenda 10.Telecom : Risks 1.
Telecom : Marketing Campaign (Idea) No Ullu banana.Nov '15 30 . featuring its Brand Ambassador Abhishek Bachchan. is the new Idea! This is the essence of the latest brand campaign by Idea Cellular. Telecom Sector Analysis . The ad highlights the power of mobile internet on the Idea network. and how it can empower users to evade unscrupulous situations and people in India.
VAS is the only area where there is a huge opportunity of making large profit in current telecom market as it helps the players to increase their Average Revenue Per User Telecom Sector Analysis .Telecom : Marketing Campaign (BSNL) Almost a year since it roped in Deepika Padukone as its brand ambassador to give it a young and energetic image.Nov '15 31 . the state-owned telecom major. BSNL has rolled out an advertising campaign for its value-added-services (VAS).
Telecom : Future Outlook Telecom Sector Analysis .Nov '15 32 .
empowering people”. 57/178 A Nitin. 4/32.Nov '15 33 . T Jehil. 105/274. M James. TRAI Report . P Pradeep. 55/178 .“Technology. Pg. Pg. 34/178 . Media and Telecommunications Predictions”. 5/178 .Pg. Pg. Pg. 15/133. 4/6 D Jonathan. 29/178 . C Sandeep. Pg. Pg. 9/178 . “Future trends in Indian Telecom Industry”. 41/76. 38/178 . 42/76.“India’s technology opportunity: Transforming work. C Cornelia.“Indian Media and Entertainment Industry Report”. 66/69 Wikipedia Telecom Sector Analysis . F Holger. Pg. 23/55 ”The Indian Telecom Service Performance Indicators”. McKinsey Report. 13/76. Pg. 48/178 . 30/32 K Noshir.Mar 2015. 21/178 . FICCI Report. Pg. Pg. A Naveen.Telecom : References ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ P Arptita. 47/133 “Telecommunication”. 22/133. Pg. 2014 . Pg. Deloitte Report. 104/274. Pg. S Duncan. Pg. Pg. 46/178 . Pg. 19/178 . 65/69. Pg. Pg. B Adrian. M Anu. S Ashish. 2015-16. Pg. Pg. 2015. 2014. Pg. 2014. 2015.“Top 10 risks in Telecom Industry”. Pg. B Jacques. Pg. Pg. KPMG Report. Pg. 49/178 . 33/178 . S Amit. 106/274 L Paul. 45/76 “Union Budget Analysis”. EY Report. 6/178 . Pg. IBEF Report. August 2015. PWC Report. Pg. Pg. V Aneesh. Pg.
com Telecom Sector Analysis [email protected] '15 34 .Contact : karthiksuresh. | 2019-04-24T23:03:07Z | https://de.scribd.com/presentation/290130683/Telecom-Sector-Analysis |
I am happy to report that my powers of prediction were off! And this is good news for habeas petitioners.
Last week, in my post about Johnson v. Williams, I stated that a likely casualty of Williams would be Pearson v. Winston. As I mentioned previously, in that case, the Fourth Circuit concluded that, where the state court failed to develop the factual record with respect to petitioner's claims, there was no adjudication on the merits. In that situation, there would be de novo review and the federal courts could consider new evidence. It seemed like a likely candidate for a GVR after Williams.
But the good news is that the Court denied the State's cert. petition on Monday. Here's a link to the order list. Thank you relist watch on SCOTUSblog for pointing that out.
So Winston remains good law and, for now, offers a potential path around Pinholster.
Yesterday, the Supreme Court issued its long awaited decision in Johnson v. Williams. The Court held that, for purposes of §2254(d), when a state court rules against a defendant in an opinion that rejects some of the defendant’s claims but does not expressly address a federal claim, a federal habeas court must presume, subject to rebuttal, that the federal claim was adjudicated on the merits.
I have to say that this decision has left me a little perplexed and a lot upset. My inflammatory opinion is that the Court's current antipathy towards habeas has led it to issue an opinion that is simply divorced from any conceivable purpose of habeas corpus review. While inflammatory, I believe that it is compltely justified.
Here's what I mean: For various reasons, state courts often fail to address constitutional claims in their decisions even though defendants specifically raise them. To me, the whole point of the "adjudicated on the merits" language was a check on the state courts. It basically said to them, "you can have a tremendous amount of deference, but you need to actually adjudicate the claim to get it." It encouraged the state courts to address constitutional claims. It took some of the harshness out of the restrictions on habeas review wrought by the AEDPA because it was saying that you don't need habeas review because your constitutional rights will be protected in state courts.
Now, that's not true. The state courts have permission now to ignore the constitutional issue and still get deference. I think this is going to have a deleterious effect on constitutional rights. It creates an incentive for state courts to ignore them, knowing that a critical check in the system has been loosened. It's not controversial to say that the original purpose of habeas review was to be a check on the state courts to make sure that constitutional rights were being adequately protected. This decision is clearly contrary to what habeas was originally meant to be.
But it's not even consistent with the new purported purposes of habeas under the AEDPA. This current Court has repeatedly stated that the purpose of the AEDPA was to make the state courts the primary forum for litigating constitutional claims and that habeas was just to prevent extreme malfunctions in that process. Well, how is this decision consistent with that? Under Williams, state courts don't even have to address constitutional claims and now there is a presumption that they are entitled to the super-high, "difficult to meet" deference of 2254(d). What about that logic is consistent with having the state courts as the primary forum for litigating constitutional claims? And, shouldn't the fact that the state courts failed to address a constitutional claim be evidence of a malfunction in the system? Isn't that consistent with giving the federal courts more power to step in? It's not logical. It should be the opposite.
It's nothing more than antipathy for habeas guiding the result.
Oh wait, there's the irrebutable presumption. Doesn't that make it better? The most I can say for it is that it gives petitioner's a chance. But I really have no idea how that's going to play out. I mean, why isn't that overcome when the state specifically fails to address the constitutional issue? I really have no clue at this point what else the Court is asking a petitioner to do to overcome the presumption.
At this point, I think I'd like to break out the uncommon sense meter. Try explaining to a layman that in habeas law there is a presumption that an issue was decided on the merits even though there was no actual decision on the merits on that issue. Just try. I dare you. You are going to sound pretty crazy. I think this may be a new high score on the meter. And that says a lot.
But what's most depressing about all of this is that every judge on the Court agrees with the notion that silence=adjudicated on the merits.* There is not a single judge on the Court right now that is willing to take a principled stand that federal courts should be stepping in when the state courts fail in their responsibility to address constitutional claims. It's really, really sad.
*To note, Scalia would have gone even further and not had the presumption.
One other likely casaulty of Williams is the Fourth Circuit's decision in Pearson v. Winston. In that case, the Fourth Circuit concluded that, where the state court failed to develop the factual record with respect to petitioner's claims, there was no adjudication on the merits. In that situation, there would be de novo review and the federal courts could consider new evidence. It was a logical path around the unfairness of Pinholster. I am not sure if this logic will be upheld after Williams. The cert. petition in that case was being held by the Court.* I am guessing that it's going to be GVR'd after the next conference.
*Actually, the hold in that case was what had originally gotten me worried about what was going to happen in Williams. As I originally discussed, it did not appear from the argument in Williams that the Court was going to go this far with its opinion. But there really wasn't a reason to hold Winston unless the Court was going to go in the direction that it did. Now that it has gone this far, it has an impact on what happened in that case.
I have complained on here multiple times about how the decision in Pinholster has resulted in unfairness in a significant way: a state court’s decision to limit the factual record on which to analyze a constitution claim is given preclusive effect in federal court. In more practical terms, what I am saying is that, even where a state court’s decision to reject a request for an evidentiary hearing was unreasonable, there is nothing a federal court can do about it.
* To note, the Ninth Circuit did order Detrich en banc on October 3 (see my en banc reheard post). As a result, "The three-judge panel opinion shall not be cited as precedent by or to any court of the Ninth Circuit." Technically, I am not citing it to any court of the Ninth Circuit, so it's okay. Also the en banc order did not say that the panel decision was vacated, so it's technically still on the books. At the same time, the dissent in Detrich did take issue with the majority considering new evidence under 2254(d)(2). So, I guess the en banc in Dietrich could end up vitiating this part of the decision.
*That’s a quote from a recent decision in Hibbler v. Benedetti. I will say nothing more about that decision as [D/D] my new office represents petitioner in that case.
Actually, this reasoning pre-dates Pinholster. Chief Judge Kozinski created it in a case called Taylor v. Maddox. It’s a must-read. In Taylor, CJK outlines the different ways in which a state court’s factual findings can be unreasonable. He describes this as an “intrinsic” analysis, as opposed to an “extrinsic” analysis. An “intrinsic” analysis is one that solely looks at the state court record. An “extrinsic” one is one that considers evidence outside of the state court record. Follow me so far?
The importance of this distinction has to do with the two different subsections in 2254 that address the level of deference to be given to state court factual findings: 2254(d)(2) and 2254(e)(1). 2254(d)(2) talks about factual findings that are unreasonable. 2254(e)(1) grants state court fact findings a presumption of correctness that may only be overcome by clear and convincing evidence. The Supreme Court has yet to address the interplay of these two subsections. They granted cert. on it a couple of years ago in Wood v. Allen, but did not end up addressing it in the opinion.
In the meantime, there is CJK's analysis in Taylor. He did his logical best to reconcile two provisions that are very difficult to reconcile. He basically said that a court should first engage in an intrinsic analysis under 2254(d)(2). If the factual finding survives the intrinsic analysis, then it gets cloaked (CJK used "dressed") with the presumption of correctness under 2254(e)(1). A petitioner can uncloak (or, I guess, undress) those findings with extrinsic evidence, i.e. new evidence outside the state court record.
I love the logic of it. But I am worried that the “extrinsic” aspect of 2254(e)(1) is inconsistent with the holding of Pinholster. If there is nothing unreasonable about what the state court did under 2254(d), I am not sure if a federal court will be allowed to consider any evidence outside the state court record in its eventual analysis under 2254(d)(1). Taylor's analysis currently does allow that.
Or maybe I should be viewing it in the reverse. If CJK was correct in his reading of the statute and this is the only way to reconcile these two provisions, then Pinholster’s interpretation of 2254(d)(1) is inconsistent with how the rest of the statute operates. Is that a way to challenge Pinholster? It’s a nice dream I guess, but that ship may have already sailed. At the same time, it's difficult to see how a petitioner can overcome a presumption of correctness without relying on all available evidence, including evidence outside the state court record. According to CJK in Taylor, that is precisely what the AEDPA allows under 2254(e)(1).
Complicated stuff, made even more complicated by the unfairness of Pinholster. But at least, for now, the Ninth Circuit does allow for a way around Pinholster when the state court unreasonably denies a request for an evidentiary hearing.
In a later post, I'll discuss another interesting post-Pinholster case that addresses new evidence presented in a federal habeas petition. That case is called Gonzalez v. Wong.
Back in June, I had an article published in the Criminal Law Reporter that focused on the numerous (what I call) lack-of-deference summary reversals from the Supreme Court in habeas cases over the preceding 14 months.
The thesis of the article is essentially that the Supreme Court has been increasing its use of the summary reversal in habeas cases to send a message to the lower courts that the Court was keeping a close eye on every habeas grant to make sure that the federal courts were engaging in the appropriate amount of deference to the state courts under the 2254(d) standard of review or else face the public embarrassment of a summary reversal.
I then applied that thesis to the Second Circuit's highly unusual about face in Rivera v. Cuomo. The Second Circuit obviously received the Court's message. I argue that the circuit court's fear of a Supreme Court summary reversal was the main motivation for reversing its own prior habeas grant.
Dusting Off the Old Blogging Machine . . .
Thought that today would be a good day to jump back into some habeas corpus blogging due to the two very interesting summary orders out of the Second Circuit today.
This post will cover Montstream v. Superintendent, 11-802-pr.
Petitioner pled guilty to, among other things, manslaughter and possession of a weapon and was given consecutive sentences. Petitioner argued that this was illegal/unconstitutional because sentences for crime A committed with a weapon and the possession of that same weapon with the intent to use it unlawfully cannot run consecutively when the intent to use the weapon was solely based on the commission of crime A. Very recently, the New York Court of Appeals confirmed that this was true. Hence, petitioner's consecutive sentences are, at the very least, illegal under state law. The question though for habeas is: are they unconstitutional under the Double Jeopardy Clause? Or more relevant for habeas purposes: is it an unreasonable application of clearly established double jeopardy principles for the state courts to uphold the sentences?
The Second Circuit concludes that petitioner has not met this standard. The court frames the issue as: whether a state court's erroneous application of a state concurrent sentence statute violates double jeopardy? Relying upon some Supreme Court precedent, petitioner argued that the only sentences that the Legislature authorizes can survive double jeopardy.
This is where the deference comes in. The Second Circuit states, "Reasonable judges may well find that argument persuasive were the issue presented for de novo review." However, the rejection of that argument would not be unreasonable. It pointed out that there was no Supreme Court precedent that dictated that conclusion, particularly where the NY statute limiting consecutive sentences gives broader protection than the double jeopardy clause. The Supreme Court has never held that state legislatures have the power to expand double jeopardy protections in that way. The Second Circuit concluded that it is "at least a debatable question whether the Court would extend its [prior] holdings" in the manner that petitioner suggests. Because it is debatable, then it cannot win on habeas.
And, in a conclusion that does not quite follow from the rest of the opinion, the Second Circuit says: "There can be no dispute, however, that the Supreme Court itself has never clearly answered the question. It follows, therefore, that we must dismiss [the] petition."
Pretty geeky. Don't expect an image macro in ever post from now on.
Update: I edited this a little for clarity. And I completely forgot to include the "Oh Boy" video. I can't believe I neglected to do that, considering that's why I used "Oh Boy" in the title. That's now at the bottom of the post.
Today, the Supreme Court issued another per curiam summary reversal. It was in the previous relisted case of Bobby v. Dixon. Unlike last week's, this one is unanimous.
But this one is causing me a great deal of concern. I have previously written how I believe that the decision from last term in Harrington v. Richter was a game changer. Here is where we see just how profound that impact is. But it's not necessarily in the result in this case. It's hard to say that Richter was outcome determinative in this summary reversal. It looks as if the Sixth Circuit didn't do a great job justifying their opinion.
But the language that the Court uses here builds upon Richter in a really troubling way. As we all know by now, in order to get relief under 2254(d)(1), a petitioner must show that the state court's decision was an "unreasonable" application of clearly established law. Although the Court had previously stated that "unreasonable" was difficult to quantify and qualify, the Court last term in Richter changed that and gave it a precise meaning. To show that something is "unreasonable" a petitioner must show "that the state court’s ruling onthe claim being presented in federal court was so lackingin justification that there was an error well understoodand comprehended in existing law beyond any possibility for fairminded disagreement." When I read this, it felt to me like this standard was nearly impossible to meet.
And now the entire Supreme Court -- and I mean all 9 judges -- is saying just that. The Court says that, to meet this standard, the state court's error must be "grievous."
Definition of grievous: flagrant; outrageous; atrocious.
Synonyms (from same link): deplorable, lamentable, calamitous, heinous, flagitious, dreadful, shameful, iniquitous.
Later, the Court says that the state court's error must be "egregious."
Definition of egregious: extraordinary in some bad way; glaring; flagrant.
Synonyms (from same link): gross, outrageous, notorious.
I wish I was making a joke here, but what happened to "unreasonable"? Grievous and egregious? They are not even synonyms for unreasonable. It's a step up from unreasonable.
That's the impact of that new standard in Richter. It has moved the needle so far to the right that the showing is no longer "unreasonable." The burdensome Richter standard has created the space for the Court to use descriptive words that go beyond "unreasonable." Now, a petitioner must show that the state court's decision was extraordinarily or outrageously bad. Of course, that is not what the statute says. But, unfortunately, that is now the test. Just mindblowing to me.
(1) resulted in a decision that was an outrageously or extraordinarily wrong application of clearly established Federal law as determined by the Supreme Court of the United States . . .
Not quire sure what comes next. Seriously, what adjective is worse than "grievous" or "egregious"? Actually, wait, don't answer that question. I am worred that the Court will consider using it in the next summary reversal.
Second Circuit issued a summary order today in Cortijo v. Bennett, 10-2348-pr. Mostly straightforward, but I'll note one thing in the analysis section.
ANALYSIS: Just wanted to point out that the new, nearly impossible to meet definition of "unreasonable" that the Supreme Court created in Richter is beginning to filter down into the lower courts. This is not the first time that I have seen it used, but I thought I'd mention it.
“[a]s a condition for obtaining habeas corpus from a federal court, a state prisoner must show that the state court’s ruling on the claim being presented in federal court was so lacking in justification that there was an error well understood and comprehended in existing law beyond any possibility for fairminded disagreement.” Harrington v. Richter, 131 S. Ct. 770, 786-87 (2011).
I haven't really discussed this too much around here, but that new definition of what makes something unreasonable silently overruled Williams v. Taylor, 529 U.S. 362, 409-11 (2000) (O'Connor, J., concurring, but writing for the majority on this part), in which the Supreme Court rejected an almost identical definition, stating that it added an unjustified subjective extra layer to the analysis. But now the Supreme Court has simply replaced the previously improper "all reasonable jurists" test set forth in Williams with the just as subjective "all fairminded judges" test. Haven't I said that this may be the worst ever Supreme Court term for habeas petitioners? | 2019-04-21T10:49:14Z | https://habeascorpusblog.typepad.com/habeas_corpus_blog/standard-of-review/ |
This is the first installment in a series of articles I plan to write in which I will clearly demonstrate that there is no doubt that the forgery claims made by the Maricopa County Arizona Cold Case Posse concerning the validity of the President’s long form birth certificate are false.
I will show that a Xerox WorkCentre multifunction copier/scanner/printer will create a nearly identical PDF file when a similar document is scanned to email using default settings.
As readers of this blog know NBC and I have conducted tests using printouts of the PDF file posted at WhiteHouse.gov on two different Xerox WorkCentre models and obtained PDF files displaying nearly all of the so-called anomalies that the CCP and other Birther self proclaimed “experts” have claimed are proof that the PDF was somehow created using some unnamed photo editing software. See my previous articles Xerox for Dummies, Blogger NBC Identifies the “Forger” for the CCP: Grande Commandante Zullo – Better Go Slap the Cuffs on the Xerox Machine, and Xerox Theory Consistent with Ivan Zatkovich Report.
How was the Xerox identified as the source of the LFBC PDF file? I could write several articles on that subject alone. It would have been ridiculously easy to identify a Xerox WorkCentre as the source of the PDF except for one twist of fate. Whoever scanned one of the two certified copies the President’s certified birth certificate obtained from Hawaii resaved it in OSx Preview (most likely to rotate the orientation). The new file saved in Preview is what was posted on April 27, 2011. Preview also happened to obliterate all the metadata that would have identified the Xerox WorCentre as the source of the original scan.
In 2011 self proclaimed Birther “experts” like Doug Vogt, Karl Denninger, Mara Zebest, Tom Harrison, and Tim Selaty published claims that the layers and other anomalies were proof that the PDF was a forgery. The centerpiece of the claims was that the PDF file had “layers” and that the layers were evidence the document was somehow assembled by a “forger” who apparently copied bits and pieces from other birth certificates.
What none of these Birther “experts” offered was any prior experience in forensic document analysis nor any consistent theory about the workflow that produced the document. Their analyses mostly consisted of statements like “I see this in the document. I have never seen this and cannot explain this therefore it is proof of forgery”.
WND hired three real forensic document analysts to opine on the authenticity of the LFBC and none of them found that it was forged. Probably the most renowned investigator of computer images and tampering, Neal Krawetz, addressed the claims of forgery on his Hacker Factor blog and also dismissed them.
John Woodman a Missouri Republican and owner of a computer repair business became intrigued by these claims of forgery and determined that he would figure out one way or the other if the LFBC was really forged as some have claimed.
Woodman spent hundreds of hours carefully examining every claim and found them lacking. Woodman published a book titled Is Obama’s Birth Certificate a Fraud and ran an active blog where he added many articles debunking other Birther claims. One of Woodman’s key observations was that when the so-called anomalies are examined they all point to a computer algorithm rather than human manipulation. He found for example that letters that touched the form lines tended to be placed in the JPG layer with the green background and the form lines. There would be no reason for a forger to break up words like that.
The Cold Case Posse of course completely ignored John Woodman’s offer to assist in their investigation. This should tell you what you need to know about whether this was a serious investigation from the outset.
Anti-Birthers and it seemed every legal authority accepted the obvious that the PDF was not a forgery it was just an image of a document that Hawaii has said they produced. Then in late 2011 Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio announced that he was going activate his Case Posse to look at the authenticity of the LFBC. This was after a number of members of the Surprise, AZ Tea Party beseeched Arpaio to do something after Conspiracy Nut Extraordinaire Jerome Corsi had spoken at one of their meetings.
The history of the CCP investigation is well documented on my CCP Timeline. The CCP drug out the discredited1 analyses of folks like Mara Zebest and Doug Vogt. They also apparently performed some new testing to try to eliminate various scanning software as the source of the PDF. The report that the CCP released is very short on detail and long on conclusion that scanning software using compression could not be the source of the WH LFBC PDF.
By 2012 Anti-Birthers like me, NBC (owner of the Native and Natural Born Citizenship Explored blog), and several regular commenters there and at Kevin Davidson’s Obama Conspiracy Theories blog began speculating on what compression algorithm would do what the Birther “experts” like Garrett Papit claimed was not possible: to produce a scan with one 8 bit color layer and multiple 1 bit monochrome layers and to separate a scan into a PDF with layers similar tot he LFBC PDF.
I hope Mr. Denninger has been following our work and checks out what is to come in this series of articles.
I have a really old, crummy scanner.
But based on my poking around, I would put money on the White House having a Xerox WorkCentre color copier/scanner with a “scan to email” feature, rather than anything attached directly to someone’s Macintosh.
This would fit the available data, including the MRC artifacts. There is no intrinsic MRC functionality that I can see in Mac OS Quartz, so it’s much more likely it came from the scanner with MRC compression already in place, and WorkCentre copier/scanners do come with MRC built in.
It is surprising in hindsight that someone didn’t immediately look at performing actual field tests on a Xerox WorkCentre. However, it is not as simple as it might seem. First, one would have to have access to such a machine. Second, no rational person really had any doubt that the forgery claims were nonsense by that time. Personally, I had invested the time to investigate the Birther claims and found them all lacking. The 2012 presidential campaign was underway and most of the focus was on the crazy series of ballot challenges filed by Birthers. Many of those concerned not the LFBC but the definition of natural born citizen. In the few hearings where Birther “experts” like Paul Irey and Doug Vogt were allowed to testify the judges ruled they were not experts and contributed nothing.
Second, the suggestion was buried in a comment on an active blog that receives hundreds of comments per week. It was lost to me and probably others in all the noise of Birther discussions. Also, it was only a suggestion and there are many similar office machines out there from multiple manufacturers. Who knew which one to check?
Finally, the Xerox WorkCentres are very expensive machines and usually only available at larger offices. Most models sell for $10,000 and up. They are not your typical home multifunction printer-scanner-fax that one would have handy.
I must credit W. Kevin Vicklund here for it was he who remembered justlw’s comment and Kevin did follow up later. justlw turned our to be spot on with his comment.
The discussion of compression algorithms continued on several blogs and eventually focused on one particular algorithm: Mixer Raster Content or MRC compression. The reason for the focus on MRC compression was that it seemed to do some of the things seen in the LFBC PDF. It was designed to handle documents that contained a mixture of images, shapes and text and compress these to very small PDF files.
Kevin Vicklund found Xerox patents on MRC compression, He commented on these at Obama Conspiracy Theories and linked one of the Xerox MRC compression patents.
NBC then found a file posted on the Internet that showed the creator was a Xerox WorkCentre and consisted of the layers as predicted by the MRC patents. The stage was now set for some testing.
NBC then made an important discovery. He found that the Obama 2011 income tax returns posted on the WhiteHouse.gov website in PDF format showed the creator was a Xerox WorkCentre 7655. This meant that at least one Xerox WorkCentre was installed at the Executive Office of the President and that there were likely more.
Now it was time to do some testing. NBC was fortunate enough to have access to a Xerox WorkCentre 7655. He printed a color copy of the LFBC and scanned it to email on the WorkCentre. His results were remarkable. He saw a PDF file very similar to the WH LFBC PDF with one 8 bit JPG layer and multiple 1 bit monochrome layers. The signature stamp and date stamp were separated into their own layers too. Karl Denninger’s challenge had been met without even using an original birth certificate but instead using a lower quality print out of the WH LFBC image.
As luck would have it I happened to obtain access to a Xerox WokCentre 7535 shortly after NBC ran his tests. I was able to duplicate his results by scanning a color printed copy of the LFBC. I wrote several articles on the results that are linked above.
Now we had shown that most of the anomalies in the WH LFBC PDF could be explained using even rudimentary tests. The layers, the movable date stamp and signature stamp, the separation of the green background and form in a JPG layer, the white “holes”, the sepration of most of the text in another layer, all were demonstrated.
One anomaly that remained was the white halos. We couldn’t use a print out of the WH LFBC since it already had the halos. That will be addressed in Part II…..
1 Some readers might object to my use of the term “discredited” to describe the opinions of the self appointed experts like Doug Vogt. Mara Zebest and others. However, the actual experts hired by WND and Neal Krawetz disagreed and no legal body has found their analyses to be of any value. The MCSO Cold Case Posse has embraced their view but my conversation with an official even within the Maricopa County Sheriff’s office indicated that the CCP is not taken seriously. When a member of the CCP asked the Maricopa County Prosecutors Office to move on the evidence gathered by the CCP he declined and said nothing presented indicated a crime had bee committed.
This entry was posted in Birth Certificate, Xerox and tagged Birth Certificate, Cold Case Posse, John Woodman, Mara Zebest, Mike Zullo, NBC, Xerox. Bookmark the permalink.
Well, shucks. I should say that if I saw WorkCentres earlier than others, it’s because I stood on the shoulders of other intartube commenters — either JPotter or NBC, or both, if memory serves. I’m certain I’d seen one or both of them mention that the artifacts were very MRC-ish, and after seeing that Quartz had no MRC in it, the next obvious conclusion was that the scanning device itself must have had it built in — and looky there, there’s a whole line of commonly deployed office-grade systems with MRC built in!
And of course I’d be remiss not to give all due credit to the CCP and the TPPH for making the most ridiculous claim possible, just begging for falsification: that the artifacts could only have been the product of human intervention.
How “commonly”? Is it fair to expect anyone who claims to be an “expert” to know this without needing to do research?
I’ve mocked the CCP many times for not knowing about the existence of Xerox machines with MRC, but I’m wondering if I’ve been unfair.
I remember, I did search for other WH-documents in 2012.
I had ~100 , looked for halos and searched for keywords.
Probably “preview” and such – no success.
Then I searched the web for similar halos, also without much success.
they had used – no response.
Check out part two for two documents scanned on a Xerox WorkCentre that exhibit halos.
Did you really expect the White House to respond?
the halos are produced by the MRC software ? Before preview sees it ?
compression, of the background layer.
should just have checked the products of the major scanner producers.
There can’t be so many.
You Obots put a lot of work into this horseshit.
Even though it was obvious to anyone with knowledge of technology and the law that the claims of birthers about the IMAGE of the birth certificate were both wrong and irrelevant, it was nice to see someone _prove_ them wrong.
not so obvious. Many knowledgable people got it wrong.
It was quite some work required to examine it.
Could this have been avoided ? Improved ?
There should be some system in place to examine the truth of such claims.
An open internet system with discussion.
and not open and biased by nationality.
What “knowledgeable people” thought that the DIGITAL PICTURE on the WH website was an actual document?
What “knowledgeable people” thought that the process by which it was scanned and uploaded had any relevance to the authenticity of the certified copies or the original?
The truth of those claims _was_ examined, and found to be lacking.
As was the truth of the WMD claims, which was also found to be absent.
The difference is that, in 2003, most of the country was participating in our post-9/11 National Nervous Breakdown, and didn’t pay attention to rational examination, while this time only a small minority embraced insanity.
the falsification would still be a very bad thing for a president, reducing his credibility.
> uploaded had any relevance to the authenticity of the certified copies or the original?
it would identify Obama/WH as dishonest liars ?!
> The truth of those claims _was_ examined, and found to be lacking.
that’s what one group said, while the other group claimed the opposite.
> As was the truth of the WMD claims, which was also found to be absent.
> while this time only a small minority embraced insanity.
then and now the average people didn’t dig into the details.
I did ask “What people thought … ?”: I asked “What KNOWLEDGEABLE people thought … ?”.
Every one of those people you listed has expressed (not necessarily honestly) a lack of understanding of the fundamental fact that “a picture of a document” is NOT “a document”, and demonstrated a lack of knowledge of the technology involved.
Did I mistranslate knowledgeable ?
Well known, respected in their audience, in big populations.
They had some expertise, did analyze the thing.
was only found after 2? years.
similar cases in the future ?
how to handle that MH17 discussion, how to find the truth ?
Yes: the dictionary definition of the word includes “well-informed”. People who think the PDF is “a document” are not. People who think the ordinary artifacts of a widely-used scanner are “anomalies” are not.
They had no _relevant_ expertise. If they had, they never would have “analyze[d] the thing” in the first place: they would have known it was irrelevant, and they wouldn’t have gotten their “analyses” so thoroughly wrong.
Bull: they were available at the time. Several people with _real_ expertise pointed out that the whole notion of what they were doing was nonsense.
1. Ask them to tell you _exactly_ what law has been violated. If they had tried to, it would have been immediately obvious that there was no “forgery”, because a _picture_ of a document cannot, by definition, be one.
2. Demand that they show you proof of their alleged “expertise”: professional certification and/or experience _in the area where they’re offering opinions_. None of the phony birther “experts” had ever been consulted by anyone about the authenticity of digital documents, or about establishing the authenticity of a real document by examining a picture of it.
> of a document cannot, by definition, be one.
asking typically gets no replies. This includes the White House, btw.
critics, but there was no real reply and discussion emerging.
on the WH-webpage would have been a severe thing.
> professional certification and/or experience _in the area where they’re offering opinions_.
> a picture of it. | 2019-04-26T09:42:56Z | https://rcradioblog.wordpress.com/2013/10/25/driving-the-final-nail-into-the-cold-case-posse-investigation-coffinpart-i/ |
A few months ago, a participant in a listserv that I belong to posted a proposal for “A Day without Teachers” in solidarity with the members of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) who subsequently went on strike for seven days in September. See my article on the strike in this issue. For what it's worth, I don't think that anything ever came of the proposal. Nonetheless, its sentiments deserve scrutiny.
The situation in public education as it stands is intolerable and is only getting worse.
The carefully planned attacks by the ruling class to defund, deskill, and privatize our education system have resulted in the avalanche of attacks we face on a daily basis. Massive budget cutbacks, exploding class sizes, media vilification, testing mania, school shut downs and charter school expansion, destruction of tenure and seniority, packaged curriculum, and on and on.
Both Republicans and Democrats serve this agenda and while so called “education reformers” use racial justice for their public relations, in truth their policies only increase the oppressive inequities facing our children, parents, and communities.
Make no mistake. We must choose between watching the promise of our children silenced or joining a massive resurgence to fight against these attacks and for a transformed educational system worth fighting for. One that delivers quality education for all. And that choice is upon us.
This fall, teachers in Chicago are being pushed into a corner they can't survive without fighting-a 29 percent increase in their work day and the replacement of standard raises by financial favoritism, essentially ending the union itself.
This struggle is of crucial importance, signaling the fate of teachers for the country as a whole. Chicago is home to the third largest teacher's union in the country and a President of the United States seeking reelection this fall. Rahm Emanuel, Chicago's ruthless Mayor who is out to destroy the union, is Obama's former Chief of Staff.
If Chicago loses this struggle, so do we. The Chicago Teacher's Union is preparing to strike. But to win they need the world behind them. If we want quality education for all, we need the Chicago Teachers to win this showdown.
That is what “A Day Without A Teacher” is all about. Like the millions of immigrants who refused to work on May 1st, 2006. Like the thousands of Madison teachers whose courage showed people across this rich nation what is possible if teachers take collective action for the well being of all.
We all face struggles like what is happening in Chicago. Only by acting together can we reverse the tide. Another education is possible. A Day Without A Teacher is the first step in making it so.
Stand with Chicago when they need it!
I'd suggest that we stop thinking of teachers as a special case and enlarge the discussion and debate way beyond them—their "specialness" doesn't help them or the rest of us as much as it might seem.
Let me start with tenure. If tenure is understood as protection for the teacher/faculty worker from harassment and possible firing for the expression of views about work and the world (in other words, political positions) and from harassment or firing for reasons other than political views, I think we should reconsider the special treatment that teachers and college faculty members enjoy as compared to virtually all other members of the working class. The only defensible position is to demand protection from firing for all workers. But that should not be understood as demanding protection from what I would suggest amounts to “scabbing” on fellow workers by acts that inflict harm on the children of and members of the working class. In this instance, I want to define “scabbing” as the opposite of solidarity.
Tenure effectively provides teachers and college faculty with protection from another quite serious challenge to their continued work—that is the possibility/likelihood/certainty that they are not effectively educating the overwhelmingly working-class students in their schools and colleges. Whether viewed from the perspective of students' (and parents') everyday experiences in schools and colleges or from the perspective of the long-term trends in student learning, it is evident that there is a lot going on that's deeply harmful to the children of workers and workers themselves. While teachers and college faculty do not deserve all of the blame, they must be prepared to take a lot of the responsibility. I think they should define their relationship to their students as an obligation of social solidarity. But not very many do so—even those ostensibly on the left.
The most ostensibly “militant” faculty union in NYC is the one at the Brooklyn campus of Long Island University, a private non-profit college that enrolls an overwhelmingly working-class student body. The tuition charges are not comparable to those of elite private colleges but it is close to $15,000 a year for full-time undergraduates—an amount that most students can only afford by taking out student loans. Those students clearly expect that it's worth the money. But the six-year graduation rate at the University is about 18 percent. But, so far as I know, the union has never said a word about that scandalous figure nor discussed what it might do to change things. Indeed, I'd be willing to bet that many of the faculty members don't even know what the graduation rate is). The tuition costs for baccalaureate degree students at the public CUNY colleges are much lower—about $5,000 a year for full-time study and, at some of them, the graduation rates are quite a bit higher but not all that good. In a particularly outrageous case, Medgar Evers College which enrolls an almost entirely black student population, the most recent six year graduation rate (as reported to the federal government) is 11 percent. Once again, the CUNY faculty union (the Professional Staff Congress), with a classic soft-left leadership, says nothing about it or about its members' responsibilities.
The question of teacher and union responsibility for school failure must be taken seriously. While teacher union leaders have often expressed their support for the best possible education for students, it is clear that their primary concern has been to secure and maintain sufficient improvements in wages, benefits and working conditions to obtain enough support from members to allow for their re-election. The best illustration of how this works is the Unity Caucus of the UFT in New York City, the caucus that Al Shanker established—in part to thwart the Communist Party remnants in the city's teaching force and in part to forge a caucus that could be relied upon to provide support for the election campaigns of favored candidates in municipal and state elections). To this day, the Unity Caucus remains the base of support for Michael Mulgrew, the UFT president, and Randi Weingarten, now the AFT president.
Beyond the narrow focus of the leaders, it is also often the case that rank and file groups within teacher unions emphasize their determination to obtain even better wages, benefits and working conditions but infrequently address the needs or concerns of students and parents—other than to claim that if teachers get a better deal, students will benefit. Perhaps the classic instance of these claims is the one that smaller class sizes will lead to improved student achievement. In all likelihood, most students would benefit from the greater attention made possible by smaller numbers but there is no guarantee that a teacher will know how to pay productive attention or how best to promote learning. The quality of the teaching always matters. However, as opposed to the mindless preoccupation with measuring and evaluating the performance of individual teachers, I believe that teaching quality needs to be understood and supported as part of a process of collaborative work among all the teachers and other staff in a school. That, in turn, requires a collective commitment to the well-being and development of the students that a school enrolls. Once again, however, that collective commitment cannot be taken for granted. The profound cleavages between school staffs and students/parents in NYC (and I would imagine most other cities) are the results of multiple complex interactions in classrooms, cafeterias, hallways, parent meetings, etc. More than anything, there is a frequent, and often justified, perception by students and parents that many of the people who work in the schools do not care especially much for the students—I should emphasize that not all such perceptions are necessarily accurate but there is enough substance to them that they cannot and should not be discounted.
The coincidence of reductions in school budgets and the prevalence of school closings with attacks on teachers and teacher unions can make it appear that teachers and students/parents have unproblematic common interests. I don't think that is the case. If and when the establishment and preservation of union power requires opposition to the demands of community residents, so be it! This was the case in the 1968 NYC strikes. Indeed, I believe that teacher union power in New York City was built on the basis of the defeat of the black community—as was the power of the police union built on the basis of the defeat of a referendum on a civilian review board in 1966. It's worth noting that the new and improved UFT/AFT leadership seldom mentions the union's actions in that epochal battle. Instead, they have learned to simultaneously play to both their own members and to parents.
In 1968, I was a college student supporter of community control and believed that such community control would lead to better schools. I increasingly believe that community control would not have led to better educational outcomes. Nor do I think that most of the commonly advocated strategies will do so. Indeed, one of the most striking things about just about everything that's happened in schools over the last fifty-seven years (since the 1954 Brown decision) is how little things have changed for the better. In fact, I think you could make a case that they've gotten worse—in spite of all sorts of things that should have made things better—like the end of legal segregation, the requirement that children with disabilities be provided an appropriate education and the requirement that English language learners be identified and offered meaningful choices leading to English language proficiency.
a large majority of high school graduates are not especially well-prepared for college.
As I wrote in my “Rethinking Educational Failure” article in Insurgent Notes #3, I think there is a powerful relationship between the overall decline in the social economy of many communities and the somewhat paradoxical hanging on to education as a way out and a more or less simultaneous disinvestment of the time and energy needed for substantial learning.
The establishment of a new type of solidarity relationship between the people who work in educational institutions should be at the front and center of all of our efforts. Bonds of solidarity between teachers and the members of the communities they work in (however those communities might be defined) must be built on the basis of a willingness to confront the ways in which the normal workings of schools and unions and the normal ways that teachers interact with students and parents are part of the problems that students and parents face.
I would also suggest that the obligations of social solidarity are not limited to education workers. I think they also extend to healthcare workers and to all those workers whose quality of work performance has the potential to protect or hurt fellow workers—I'm thinking of workers such as airline mechanics, railroad workers, pharmaceutical technicians, food safety inspectors and many more. I believe that workers need to actively take responsibility for the consequences of their actions. I realize, of course, that this is treacherous territory—as convincingly demonstrated by the writings posted on Disparaged CNA. Bosses of every stripe will not hesitate to play the responsibility card when they insist that individuals work harder and longer. I have no easy answers to offer other than to suggest that the issues need to be confronted.
I should say here—but probably won't try to shoehorn it into this article—that the Occupy movement has gotten me to think more about something I had been toying with already: namely, that the "labor left's" rank and file caucus approach is the wrong framework. I don't know if you're familiar with the debate around this in the IS [the predecessor of the ISO, Solidarity and the League for a Revolutionary Party, —JG] in 1969–71, but at the time several of us were counter-posing "struggle groups" to "rank and file caucuses." The difference was that struggle groups would take up more than just workplace and work-related issues, and would be open to community members who weren't working at the union's work sites. Basically, I think of them now as pre–workers' councils type formations. As it happens, the collapse of the mass movements removed most opportunities to connect rank and file organizing with mass work around broad social issues, and "struggle groups" disappeared from the discourse. Rank and file caucuses won that debate in practice, but they've just been incubators for "progressive" bureaucrats and secondary reform leadership. I think that the Occupy movement presents the chance to build those pre–workers' council type formations, and we should jump on it. I'm working with some others in trying to build the Occupy Oakland education committee (including some from Advance the Struggle; some parents organizing against school closures; some afterschool workers; a few teachers), and that's the conception I have in mind.
At around the same time that Jack was talking about, I was a member of a group called the Taxi Rank and File Coalition in New York. I was actively recruited by the IS but never joined—mostly for reasons having to do with its insistence on democratic reforms of the union and taking over the unions. Over time, the Rank and File Coalition became a very different kind of rank and file group—so much so that one CP stalwart used to call us "rank and infantile." There's now a web page which includes all our newspapers, some history and other documents. We never used Jack's language but I think we were inspired by some of the same concerns. In any case, it's long past time for us to break out of old models and do something new.
In that regard, I'd urge everyone on this list to read Mike Staudenmaier's new history of the Sojourner Truth Organization, Truth and Revolution—especially the section on what Mike describes as the “first period” of intensive workplace activity.
I got a lot of responses to the post within the list and after I circulated it beyond the listserv—mostly positive but also mostly saying that I needed to talk more about the difference between my argument and “teacher bashing.” A number of people also cited evidence of teachers they knew who were, in their minds, exceptionally dedicated to their work, especially caring in their relationships with children and working under increasingly worse conditions—typified by significant growth in class sizes and by layoffs prompted by school district budget shortfalls. I'm going to try to respond to those concerns.
Since my post was mostly focused on the responsibilities of teachers as members of the working class, I didn't say anything about the array of antagonists that teachers and their unions are facing. I therefore will try to capture what I think are the essential elements of what has clearly become a nationwide effort to frame education “reform.” That framework enjoys the support of opportunistic politicians, appropriately maligned hedge fund philanthropists, ego-inflated Ivy Leaguers and powerful foundations, but elements of it are also supported by many individuals that find the state of the schools to be pretty deplorable. It's not easy to sort out the casts of characters or the different implications of different “reforms,” but we need to know what we want to be for and what against.
I also hope to extend the scope of my argument to include criticisms of other dimensions of what I'll suggest can be called “ordinary” left perspectives on education—by which I mean a set of convictions and positions that are more or less held in common by social democrats, Trotskyists (of all varieties), Stalinists, Maoists (once again of all varieties), anarchists (of at least some varieties) and left communists (by which I mean anti-state Marxists of all varieties). I hope I haven't left anyone out. Let me take on the ordinary leftists first.
Advocacy for more resources for education as the primary remedy for educational inequity (frequently linked to a set of arguments about the adverse effects of poverty on children's school achievement).
These common positions are then situated within a range of other political views regarding the nature of trade unions, the character of the union leaderships, matters of union democracy and relationships with the Democratic Party. Even then, however, I would suggest that the commonality is much more substantial than are the differences. Furthermore, with the possible exception of the need for militant action, the commonly held views are all but indistinguishable from those of the two national teacher unions (the AFT and the NEA) and their local affiliates. I want to suggest that “rank and file” opposition to bureaucratic or un-democratic local or national organizations of teachers should not be a sufficient condition for support of rank and file organizing among teachers. Teachers may very well be being screwed by their leaders but insurgent groups need to commit to something other than “We don't want to be screwed anymore!” In that context, let's look at what's been going on among rank and file educators.
We believe our strength lies with our members, organized into strong chapters. This requires an active effort to educate our membership about how their union works, and involve them in democratically determining its direction. We believe in social justice unionism.
MORE believes that the UFT can play a crucial role in rebuilding the social movements necessary to halt the onslaught of school closings, budget cuts, and test-driven curricula and teacher evaluations. These attacks are destroying our working conditions and our students' learning conditions. Students in lower income schools and in communities of color have been hit hardest of all. A MORE leadership will trade union members as organizers all over the city. We will work with parent and student activists to build a city-wide movement for a vision of school reform based on well-funded schools, equal access for all, and democratic governance of our schools. Finally we will mobilize a movement to reverse the transformation of our schools into test prep factories. The Mulgrew/Unity leaders often speak the right words and have their pictures taken with parent and civil rights leaders. But they have made no effort to build the kind of bottom-up mobilization needed to turn the tide in our favor.
Its web page lists a number of education reform and community organizations as allies.
But what do all these professions of concern for the community amount when it comes to real demands and action? Recently, the CTU published a report titled The Schools Chicago's Students Deserve, which it asserts is based on research. There is not a word in the recommendations about the need to change what's going on in classrooms and schools every day. What's really astounding about the report, although not surprising, is that it completely neglects the findings of what is perhaps the most comprehensive analysis of school improvement ever done in the United States—an analysis that was completed on the basis of twenty years of empirical data from Chicago's public elementary schools by researchers associated with the Consortium on Chicago Schools Research housed at the University of Chicago.
Students' academic learning occurs principally in classrooms as students interact with teachers around subject matter. How we organize and operate a school has a major effect on the instructional exchanges in its classrooms. Put simply, whether classroom learning proceeds depends in large measure on how the school as a social context supports teaching and sustains student engagement. Through our research, we identified five organizational features of schools that interact with life inside classrooms and are essential to advancing student achievement.
I realize that this is the kind of language that readers of radical political journals are inclined to meet with glazed eyes and suspicious brains but I want to suggest that readers avoid doing that and imagine, if those supports are essential to improving education, what kinds of recommendations and demands rank and file educators should be making to get schools to move in that direction?
What is most noteworthy about their findings is that they move the discussion about good teaching away from individual teachers in their own classrooms. Instead, good teaching is the result of a complex inter-play of values, practices and supports. Interestingly enough, the most fervent defenders of teachers and the most biting of critics share a preoccupation with the individual teacher. The defenders insist upon the need for the teacher to be free of constraints that interfere with his/her imaginative engagement with students and object to proposals that teacher quality be evaluated since good teaching really can't be measured. The critics insist that what the individual teacher does or does not do is the make or break factor in student learning and therefore are preoccupied with the development of measures to assess the “value added” by each teacher all alone. Either view is a fiction; children learn in complex environments where the contribution of any particular teacher is more or less significant.
By personal example, Mina taught many of us that teaching is not charisma, or inspiration, but careful preparation and hard work. That impressionistic and histrionic methods were a waste of a student's time, that a romantic pedagogy cannot take the place of a truly accurate identification. She managed to convey all of this without preaching or admonishing, by the kinds of examples she brought to staff meetings, by her own presence which became, for me at least, a kind of personified intellectual conscience, and, above all, by her respect, untinged by white liberal romanticism, for the minds of the young women and men with whom we were working.
The authors argue that trusting relationships among the school staff and between the staff and parents and children are essential preconditions for good schools. Many of the essential elements reflect the importance of social cohesion within the institution. Such bonds of trust and cohesion can only be developed within environments that are humane for all involved.
For the most part, urban public schools do not come close to the kinds of internal organization that's needed to sustain good teaching and significant learning. Furthermore, some, probably many, have become toxic environments where there is little likelihood that things might become much better.
As a result most kids are going to schools that are not providing them with much of an education. This is so much the case that we need to take seriously the question if there is public education to be defended. The education that children receive in the public schools of prosperous suburbs or the gentrified neighborhoods of many cities or in the more or less elite schools based upon examinations (such as Stuyvesant High School in New York) has very little to do with the public education that most city kids, kids in poor suburbs and in many rural areas are getting. And there's some evidence that things are getting more unequal.
The responsibility for the sorry state of affairs can be distributed across many different constituencies—corporation-dominated policy makers, politicians of all varieties, school district leaders, principals who have little idea about what they're doing and teachers. In this article, I am mostly interested in the teachers since I'm interested in highlighting the ways in which they contribute to the existing state of affairs and the ways in which they might come to break away from the practices that yield the results we have. I am especially interested in encouraging teachers to rethink the relationship between intentionality and responsibility.
…actions can have multiple layers of consequence. Some layers are immediate and easy to perceive, so that most social actors will have some awareness of their responsibility for effecting these immediate consequences that follow from their actions. Some layers, however, are much more indirect and downstream—and may depend on the tandem performance by many other social actors of the same, of other kinds, of social practices.
Marx thinks the complexity of the aggregate process generates so many sticking points—so much experiential flypaper—on which competing theories can get stuck. When stuck, theories fixate on a certain level of consequence, but lose the ability to keep track of other levels. Sometimes, as with vulgar political economy, this can be apologistic and self-serving: it can be in the interests of a particular observer to attend to certain consequences of their actions, but not others. Sometimes it can be closer to a socially-instituted optical illusion: some consequences can be incredibly difficult to see, because other aspects of our social experience are more prominent, and tend to deflect the eye in a different direction.
…This isn't to say that it's impossible for people to understand what they are contributing to, but that it's easier for many participants to focus on the immediate consequences of their actions—interacting with colleagues, earning a wage, holding down a “respectable” position in society—than on the indirect and aggregate effects which rely on the tandem performance of many other people. It's easy to rationalise that withholding one small contribution will in any event have little impact on the end result. And, if the impact of withholding your own contribution is so small, the calculus of how much risk to take on, for that small impact, becomes more difficult for those who confront it.
…We are each of us participants in immediate actions that are not on their face harmful—and may even be, on a local level, morally beneficial. Our actions have consequences, however, beyond this immediate and easily-perceptible layer of experience. Combined with the actions of others, in a complex global network, we make our small contributions to what, in some cases, are horrific end results. How do we think our responsibility for these downstream consequences? What sorts of institutions would be required to prevent this sort of blind, senseless, thoughtless causation of a rolling juggernaut of human tragedy?
When the normal operations of schools results in widespread failure, we have no alternative but to disrupt those normal operations. Teachers and organized groups need to break with the regularities and routines within their schools and within school systems which reproduce educational failure and inequality. That's not what the Chicago Teachers Union did when it went on strike and it's not what the MORE group in New York is about. Both groups leave those regularities and routines securely in place. I'd suggest that teachers should join with interested parents and other community members to scrutinize every single aspect of what does and does not go on in their schools and school districts and determine the extent to which it contributes to failure and inequality (regardless of what it was intended to do) and once they have done so, that they refuse to go along and develop strategies to bring the evidence and their determination to refuse to the attention of all involved, especially students and parents and be prepared to make common cause with them not only on the occasion of big events like school closings and teacher strikes, but on an everyday basis—which is where the most damage is being done to children.
Some of the school-level matters I can think of offhand are the following: student and teacher schedules, planning and preparation activities, diagnostic assessments, class placements, referrals to special education, school behavior rules, discipline procedures, curriculum and instruction (down to the everyday details), instructional materials, and homework. At the school system level, they would include the role of seniority in layoffs and assignments to schools, intra-district inequities in school funding (as reflected for example in the use of formulas to determine the number of “positions” a school gets, without regard to the costs of those positions) and, as I'll explore a bit more below, the enrollment patterns in selective schools. I do want to emphasize, though, that teachers should not become preoccupied with the problems imposed through contracts and district policies since too often a preoccupation with even genuine problems imposed from the outside can obscure what's close at hand.
Let me close this section with a word about money. I have no doubt that education (along with childcare, healthcare and elder care, as well as other human needs) should have far more resources devoted to it. But, unlike many, I do not think that austerity has been introduced as a nationwide ruling class strategy. In fact, average per capita spending (in current dollars) on public education in the United States steadily increased from $5,001 in 1992 to $10,615 in 2010. The last two years may have changed that pattern but not in ways that would fundamentally alter my point.
The national average does obscure significant state to state differences with some states spending less than $8,000 per student and others spending more than $16,000 in 2009–2010. In addition, there are significant differences between districts. In Illinois, Chicago spent $11,596 per student but the suburban Palatine Township High School District spent $17,213. But the difference expenditure levels don't always correspond to what we might expect. In 2009–2010, New York City spent $19,597 per student but Half Hollow Hills, a wealthy Long Island district, only spent $19,020. (The current New York City school budget exceeds $20 billion.) In many cases, school expenditures are financed by real estate taxes and it is likely that budgets in some places have been severely impacted by the foreclosure crisis and other decreases in revenues for cities and states but that same thing is not true in other cases. In addition, per capita averages are misleading because they collapse the costs for very expensive items (such as special education) with expenditures for less expensive ones.
So, what's the point of all this? Simply put, I don't believe that it's helpful for teachers and their unions to avoid taking responsibility for what goes on in schools by claiming that the failures are due to funding cuts. Funding cuts matter a great deal in some situations and not very much at all in others. That observation has nothing at all to do with the need to fight against budget cuts and, more importantly, budget inequities.
The vested interests have no incentive to publicize the reality [of the poor performance of the schools, —JG]. If the real state of affairs were widely known, perhaps the pressures would grow for fundamental reform—including a tough-minded system for evaluating teachers and principals, and dismissing those who do not perform, getting rid of the entire tenure system, taking results into account in setting teacher compensation and bonuses, and the broad outsourcing of the management of failing schools to independent organizations through charters and contracts.
We cannot change the fact that some CPS students start school at a disadvantage. But we can change the fact that Chicago's schools do too little to overcome that disadvantage. Although there are many superb principals and teachers working for CPS, too many of Chicago's schools have too few excellent teachers. Chicago should offer school families more and better choices. Established charter schools, according to CPS reviews, consistently perform better than the “comparison” schools their students would otherwise have attended. On May 31, 2009, the Illinois legislature increased the legislative cap on Chicago charter schools from 30 to 70. It also authorized 35 “contract” schools, which likewise operate with greater autonomy and flexibility. All these charter and contract schools—both the established ones and the new ones—need buildings; they also need adequate funding, which should be no less than the per-pupil funding received by traditional Chicago public schools.
We end where we began. Until all Chicago's school families have school choices that include more innovative charter or contract schools, “equal opportunity” for them will be only a slogan.
Let me take up just some of the issues associated with the standard prescriptions: 1) school choice; 2) charter schools; 3) high-stakes testing; 4) teacher evaluations; and 5) business model education management.
The NYC public school system has perhaps done the most to expand school choice. By way of example, the system now has more than 400 high schools and admission to the overwhelming majority of them is open to any student entering high school. Of those 400 or so schools, more than half are relatively new—mostly small. Many of them were opened to replace large failed schools. The somewhat frantic pace of school closings and new school openings has had mixed results. The graduation rate has improved but only a small minority of high school graduates is considered to be ready for college.
The efficacy of choice hinges on the availability of enough good schools to choose from and on the degree of selectivity that's applied in admissions decisions to the more successful schools. In a 2011 New York Times column, Michael Winerip reported that children graduating from the fifth grade of PS 24 in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn seldom gained admission to District 15's most successful middle schools. Of 110 graduates, only five were admitted to MS 51, perhaps the district's most high achieving school, while 36 were admitted to IS 136, a nearby consistently low-performing school. And the patterns of inequity within District 15 are magnified in other districts across the city.
Perhaps the single worse example of such inequities is the profile of students admitted to the city's exam high schools. Black and Hispanic students combined comprise about 70 percent of the total population in the city's schools. But at Stuyvesant High School, one of eight schools that admit students on the basis of a special exam taken in 8th grade, only 2 percent of the incoming ninth graders this year were black and only 3.5 percent were Hispanic. The percentages at the other seven exam schools are a bit better but still dreadful. In spite of significant exposure of the situation, going back more than fifteen years, nothing effective has been done to change the situation and even modest proposals are shouted down.[refRecently, the NAACP’s Legal Defense and Education Fund filed a complaint with the US Department of Education alleging that the composition of the student bodies violated civil rights laws.][/ref] A revelation of the thinking of the current leadership of the city's Department of Education regarding the significance of the issue came about when they decided to force Brooklyn Latin, a school for high achievers where initially admission was not based on the exam, to adopt the exam instead of a more holistic admissions process which had yielded a much more representative student body.
Expanding choices in the city's schools has effectively resulted in expanded choices for two somewhat discrete populations (determined by an inter-play between neighborhoods, wealth, race and ethnicity) and more inequity. But the city's charter schools, in some ways, represent a countervailing development because they do, to some extent, represent meaningful choices made by parents.
Charter schools receive the same per capita funding as the city's regular district schools. The teachers in most of them are not unionized but there is no bar to union organization—teachers in fifteen of them are in the UFT. Admission to the charter schools is by lottery open to any interested family. There are preferences given to siblings of children already in a school and to residents of the local community school district. But there are no academic requirements for admission. Charter schools are disproportionately located in local school districts with the worst performing regular schools. Two high-performing districts in Queens have no charter schools.
In Harlem, 20 percent of children are now attending charter schools. While parents of young children in Harlem have no choice about the zoned school their children will attend, no one is forcing the Harlem parents to send their kids to a charter school. In all likelihood, they decided to apply to a charter because they hoped their children would get a better education than they would have in the school they otherwise would have had to attend. Whether charter schools deliver on that promise is a separate matter—about which more below. But, for the moment, I want to suggest that a blanket opposition to charter schools simply does not take seriously the disappointments and fears of the parents of black and Hispanic children. If a charter school represents a real alternative to the educational dead ends of existing district schools, we must be prepared to make common cause with the parents who simply want something better for their children.
It's important to recognize that a lot of parents are attracted to charter schools because of their deep fears and mistrust about the regular schools. Put simply, I think they're desperate for something that will be good for their kids. I don't think it's so different from the way that a good number of black parents use Catholic schools here in NYC (I'm not sure about elsewhere)—even though they are not Catholic.
Mentioning Catholic schools reminded me that I've often thought that some charters are quite a bit like Catholic schools used to be—with lots of memorization and learning to follow exact procedures, along with strictly enforced arbitrary rules, routines and punishments. By way of example, when I was in elementary school, we would have to draw a pencil margin down the right hand side of the loose leaf paper and were not allowed to write beyond the margin. If we did, we had to do the assignment over again. If one or more of us appeared to be misbehaving (whatever that meant), we would either have to sit at our desks with our hands on our heads for endless minutes or write "punish lessons" consisting of things like "I must be good in school" 1,000 times. We were also subject to some degree of corporal punishment—although in elementary school, it was more the fear of the "spanking machine" in the closet outside the principal's office more than any real pain. In high school, it was something else—the single best teacher I ever had (for geometry, physics and religion) used to slap misbehavers on the face to the point that I thought they would collapse. I never misbehaved in his class although I did manage to be expelled from a tenth grade world history class and forced to kneel outside the classroom door when I challenged the teacher (who was mostly a high-powered basketball coach) about his allegation that blacks in American cities were awaiting a call from Moscow to move in and kill all the whites. But enough nostalgia!
But not quite enough! While the Catholic schools of fifty years ago, or those of today, were or are hardly models of enlightened educational practice, they were and are something else—they are examples of schooling built on mutual trust—parents have a deep-seated confidence that the schools will do right by their kids. In eight years of grammar school (as it was called back then), I don't believe my parents ever attended a parent-teacher conference. There was no need for such an event—the nuns, mostly, knew what they were doing and my responsibility was to do what they said—even when one or more of the teachers had not a clue about what they were doing. My point is that the social cohesion of the school mattered a great deal more than the efficacy of individual teachers. It may well be that some of my classmates from those distant years have a different take on this subject. Fortunately, they're not likely to be readers of this journal. If they are, I'd be pleasantly surprised—even if they disagree with me.
Because charter schools are freed from many of the institutionalized regularities of the larger school system, it is somewhat easier for them to achieve various kinds of social cohesion—not all of them so enlightened. A friend here in New York has made a provocative argument about the significance of various traditions of “uplift” within the African-American community (including the legacy of Booker T. Washington) that have been tapped into by what we might consider the charter school movement. He has suggested that charters should be attacked for the political values they embrace. I think his suggestion is a really exciting one. Although I've known about the ways in which some, perhaps many, charter schools attempt to indoctrinate their students, I never thought of connecting it to the Booker T. Washington legacy.
You gotta read, baby, read.
The “psychological interventions” used to instill “character” are based on the work of Martin Seligman, of the University of Pennsylvania who's a prominent exponent of the power of positive thinking. His ideas have been made use of by the CIA to prepare people for torturing terrorism suspects and by the Army to convince damaged soldiers that Post Traumatic Stress Disorder can be taken care of by happy thoughts. Put simply, KIPP's character education is behavior modification and political indoctrination.
In a report released last year, the KIPP folks acknowledged that they had not been as successful in preparing their graduates for college as they had hoped and, while promising to improve their academic approach, mostly concentrated on buckling down even more on "character development." I believe that the fact of the matter is that they have no coherent academic approach other than a series of gimmicks to inculcate student compliance in drill-like activities. While many charter schools share these kinds of approaches with KIPP (see the book titled Sweating the Small Stuff), not all do. Some have quite sound educational visions and would never imagine treating kids as KIPP does. Similarly, some charters appear to be quite successful in comparison to regular district schools but many others appear to be no better and even worse.
There is another objectionable thing that some charters, including KIPP, do—they exclude kids who they come to believe will not be successful—meaning they will not do well on state tests. Apparently at one point Geoffrey Canada from the Harlem Children's Zone simply dismissed an entire class of students from his charter school for this reason.
Therefore, we need to develop campaigns against charter schools that are not so much opposed to their status as charters but, instead, to their educational/political goals, their failures, and their exclusionary practices. In fact, we should adopt the same approach to regular public schools. This would allow us to make common cause with parents who are simply trying to do well by their kids and raise larger issues about the purposes of education. And furthermore, if we're in favor of closing down lousy charter schools, we should be in favor of closing down lousy regular district schools.
The increasingly widespread use of test results for high-stakes decisions represents a mostly awful development. Most standardized tests are not nearly as carefully designed as their makers, mostly big publishing companies like Pearson, claim. They are also “teachable,” by which I mean that, when similar tests are used year after year (and they often are since that's the simplest way for the testing companies to promote the “reliability” of the tests), schools and teachers can narrowly craft their instruction around the expected form and content of the test items rather than more broadly around the content and skills that the test is ostensibly intended to sample. When the future employment of teachers and principals, as well as the future existence of a school, is at stake, many cannot resist the short-term advantage of test prep as a dominant instructional strategy. The truth of the matter is that such test prep models are not nearly as effective in producing high scores, presumably reflecting high levels of student achievement, as would be the use of high quality curriculum and sophisticated instruction. But far too many teachers and schools don't necessarily know how to recognize the difference and, if they were freed from the shadow of mandated testing, they might very well use approaches that are not especially more thoughtful than “drill and kill” test prep.
I confess that I don't have an easy prescription to offer. I do believe that teachers should be active participants in scrutinizing their own work and that they need to be especially careful not to become comfortable with their own assumptions about how good they are. One important step would be for schools, with the involvement of teachers and parents (and possibly students in the upper grades), to adopt what could be called “protocols of practice” that describe what the different dimensions of effective teaching look like and to expect that all teachers will conform their practices to those protocols. Lest I be misunderstood, I am not suggesting that every school be left to its own devices. There are a number of very thoughtful models for this kind of work and they should be used as starting points. This is not so different from the situation in medicine where the treatments for most illnesses are rather precisely described and prescribed. Thus, if someone is apparently having a heart attack or asthma attack, doctors and other medical personnel are expected to do what has been prescribed rather than to go it alone. To the best of my knowledge, few doctors or nurses complain about being told what to do. Such an approach clearly does not eliminate bad practices from medicine but they all but certainly make it better than what it would be otherwise.
If this approach was used, I think it would then be incumbent for the teachers in a school to engage in collective “self-enforcement” of the agreed upon practices.
Every student learns in a different way. This idea—that students have very different learning needs—is one of the cornerstones of this book. A key step towards making school intrinsically motivating is to customize an education to match the way each child best learns. As we explain in our first chapter, schools' interdependent architecture forces them to standardize the way that they teach and test. Standardization clashes with the need for customization in learning. To introduce customization, schools need to move away from the monolithic instruction of batches of students toward a modular student-centric approach using software as an important delivery vehicle [emphasis added].
It's evident that the software is intended to take the place of the teacher, thereby providing increased income flows to the hardware and software makers, and eliminating any semblance of craft from the work of teaching—but all couched in the best of intentions.
What all of the “business model” approaches have in common is a conviction that the quality of the thinking involved in making good schools matters not very much at all.
Let me begin by writing about some of what I know about and think about teachers. I don't want to do a song and dance about it but I spent more than thirty years teaching in and developing education programs—I taught in New York City's jails, in adult literacy and GED programs, in college writing classes and in a graduate program in literacy. I developed programs to prepare students without high school diplomas to earn a GED credential and go on to college (most recently, a full-time program for sixteen to eighteen year olds in the Bronx, called CUNY Prep). I oversaw the development of programs that provided secondary school students with opportunities to take college courses. I initiated the development of a project that brought together high school and college teachers in a collaborative seminar series to improve writing instruction at both levels. And during my last few years at CUNY, I was responsible for overseeing the development of a Teacher Academy, a multi-campus program to prepare math and science teachers for New York City's public schools. In the course of doing that, I worked closely with many faculty members and school teachers to design courses and other learning experiences for the undergraduate students in the program.
In none of those instances did I ever “bash” a teacher—in spite of numerous occasions when I saw teachers not being especially knowledgeable, thoughtful, considerate or effective. In fact, my basic response to seeing not such good teaching was to try to understand all of the surrounding factors that contributed to it and, in some ways, to give the teacher the benefit of the doubt that the circumstances were more to blame than either he or she was. But that was not always the case.
All too often people are inclined to make somewhat intuitive positive judgments about the quality of teaching without really knowing that much about good teaching. It's not so different from what I have done when I'm in situations that I don't really understand that much—like hospitals. Over the years, for example, when members of our family have been hospitalized, I've tended to judge the quality of nursing care by fairly simple indicators—do the nurses come quickly when you ask; do they seem responsive when someone needs something; are they considerate? On those measures, I've often thought that the quality of nursing care was quite good—unless and until I spoke to my wife, now a nurse for almost forty years. She would point out to me, over and over again (sadly, we spent a lot of time in hospitals), the more or less egregious errors that had been committed—errors that often could have had serious consequences—which I had not even noticed. As a nurse, she had no interest in nurse bashing. But as a daughter, sister and mother, and especially as a nurse, she had a great deal of interest in making sure that the care was as good as it needed to be.
I'm also the father and father-in-law of two teachers in New York City. I have seen close up how they are physically and emotionally exhausted by their work. As a result, I have little sympathy for the simple-minded slogans advanced by mindless, but hedge-fund endowed, reformers, such as “It's not about the adults. It's about the kids.” If the adults can't sustain themselves and don't receive the consistent support they need, then it's not going to be about the children either. I realize that I'm trying to navigate a delicate balance—teachers must be much better at teaching and they must be responsible for what they do but they also need to be understood and supported.
I'd like to try to pull back the veil on the quality of teaching so that we might have more informed discussions about when it's right to defend teachers and when we need to do something else. Let me begin by pointing out that asserting that teachers “care” about their students doesn't really have much to do with knowing how good they are at teaching. Caring certainly is a helpful precondition but it's not anywhere near enough.
A wise educational philosopher, Eleanor Duckworth, observed that “Teaching is helping people learn, and you have not taught if people have not learned. Teaching is not telling” (emphasis added). Unfortunately, the wisdom embodied in those brief sentences is not frequently enough evident in much teaching. In fact, many, probably most, teachers have an exactly contrary view—“I can't understand why they didn't learn it. I covered it.” In a really reprehensible version, it comes out as “I can't believe they're so stupid.” The fact of the matter is that most teachers have what might be considered a “common sense” understanding of how people learn. They more or less think that if you explain something carefully enough and if you provide interesting examples, students should get it.
A “meta-cognitive” approach to instruction can help students learn to take control of their own learning by defining learning goals and monitoring their progress in achieving them.
While I think that all three principles are very important, I want to focus on the first—students' preconceptions about how the world works. While the authors of the report were interested in preconceptions about math, science and social studies, I think that the insight can be extended beyond the boundaries of those subject areas. Children whose school experiences have been unsuccessful develop their own understandings of what has been going wrong. In many ways, they believe that they indeed failed, that it was their own fault for not attending more regularly, or not paying attention more carefully, or not doing homework more diligently. But they also recognize the ways in which their teachers and others in the schools didn't seem to be paying all that much attention or doing much about their steady progress backwards. And to return to the basics, these same students don't read, write or do math very well. Unlike those who have never been to school, they have acquired some very confused and counter-productive notions of what reading, writing and math consist of. But that's not all.
…Chicago schools used to frequently invite me to do Black History Month presentations, and an easy way to do that was to show some footage about the civil rights movement from the PBS television series Eyes on the Prize and use that as the basis of a conversation. When middle school and junior high students watched demonstrations with dogs being sicced on people and people being fire hosed and clubbed by police, a very common reaction, perhaps the dominant one, was to decide the demonstrators were at fault for taking it. It was easier for some students to identify with the police doing the whipping than with the demonstrators being whipped. The demonstrators had to be punks: “If I were back there then…” Young people in whose names the movement was waged could not identify with it.
At the same time, as much as anyone else, youth from stigmatized groups can see the “evidence” of collective underachievement all about them—the poverty, the troubled neighborhoods, the absent fathers, the academic failure, their own constant exposure to violence, real and symbolic. Nothing about being in a subordinate group automatically gives them deep insight into the contemporary forces reproducing inequality. Like many majority group members, they may not have sufficient historical or sociological understanding to explain those failures in any way other than some kind of collective deficiency—or to just not think about them.
It shouldn't be surprising, then, if Black and Latino youth start off with a sense of being behind, of having something to prove that others don't. They respond as young people will, by creating, from the cultural materials around them, their own counter-narratives of worth, among them narratives that center on personal style, toughness, and aggressive masculinity and that create symbolic distance between themselves and previous generations. Without guidance and support, youth will create some counter-narratives that are useful, but also some that undermine their own development, that discourage them from taking advantage of such opportunities as they do have.
….Much of the national discourse is simply in denial about the difficult developmental terrain facing too many youngsters from socially marginalized communities. The way we continue to scratch our heads about achievement gaps is itself one form of denial; the presumption in many such discussions is that we're giving children what they need to succeed and they are still failing for some mysterious reason. A corollary denial is the idea that all would be well if we could just raise test scores. Of course, that is important, but children may be wrestling with issues that are much more fundamental. And when they get help with that, there is reason to believe that some of the narrowly academic issues wither.
….education for liberation becomes increasingly important. I use that term to mean those forms of education that are intended to help people think more critically about the social forces that shape our lives and think more confidently about their ability to react against those forces. It can take a variety of forms…—consciousness-raising groups, Freedom Schools, Afro-centric schools, Native American survival schools, Black Panther Liberation Schools. I have focused on race and ethnicity, but young people are also enmeshed in taken-for-granted narratives about gender, poverty, sexuality, and the operation of power in society. I suspect the groups that are doing the most effective work are moving on multiple fronts, as learning to think critically in one area facilitates thinking critically in others.
A heart-wrenching tale with a bit of an encouraging ending!
I think it's possible to imagine and fight for an education that enables young people to prepare themselves for the challenges of living in and changing the world—without being guilty of the substitution of one form of indoctrination for another. These concluding thoughts are mostly about high school students—they would need to be significantly modified for elementary or middle school children.
What is needed is not an approach to education that further fossilizes old identities but rather one which nourishes the cultivation of new ones—with new notions of possibility and responsibility. Educators can prepare their students for changed circumstances by establishing situations, within and without formal school settings, for individuals to expand their own political capacities. Those capacities include the ability to understand the relationship between personal action and social consequence, the ability to understand other points of view, the ability to articulate one's own ideas to various audiences as well as the ability to work with others to achieve agreed upon goals.
Let me make clear that I am not talking about political propaganda or indoctrination. Indeed, I specifically reject that kind of approach. Instead, I think we would be better served by creating opportunities for students to imagine themselves acting in different ways than they might be accustomed to. At the same time, I realize that this approach has its risks. There are ways in which many young people might imagine themselves acting that will dismay and frighten their elders. I see no way around that issue. There are choices to be made—either we continue with things as they are and bear the consequences or we attempt to create a different future—a course that will undoubtedly be more dangerous for those who step forward.
Resistance and accommodation co-exist in the minds and hearts of many young people and cynical resignation is often the resolution. I believe that the ambivalence has to be addressed directly.
– Do we pressure unions to be more responsible in a total social sense or do we form our own organizations?
– How do we reject standardized tests and come up with (and implement) our *own* criteria for student success? What do *we* mean when we say “high achieving” and “low performing”?
– Although the point about defending bad teaching is well taken, which defenders of teachers are really saying that “good teaching really can’t be measured”?
– We need to spell out what makes a “lousy” school lousy. Something beyond simply test scores and the drop-out rate.
Many more things I could comment on in this article. My overall feeling is that we teachers need to push our colleagues to do better, to be more aware of the big picture and have this inform our teaching. But my other strong feeling is: when the hell are we going to have time to do this? The very organization of school inhibits our *own* solidarity, and we too often let the union dominate the conversation about what “improved conditions” really means. In some ways we need to push back on the bread and butter issues just to free up some space for us to do our jobs better in a radical social sense. This idea needs to go beyond union boilerplate and be rooted in the kinds of working class organizations hinted at here.
Thanks for the comments and questions. Give me a couple of days and I’ll respond.
These were really tough, good, questiions.
About unions or new organizations—I wouldn’t want to pre-judge the situation in any particular place. It might be possible for a union to transform itself into a constituent party to a new class-wide group that included students and community members. However, in light of the ways that laws, customs and the ambitions of union officials constrict unions’ practices, I’d be inclined to think that new organizations will be necessary.
About our “own” criteria for student success: I have two quite different responses. First, in the short run, we need to be really sensitive to the profoundly idiosyncratic ways in which individuals develop and learn (as distinctive as fingerprints) and that our criteria always need to be sensitive to the goal of engaging children and sustaining development. Therefore, the criteria we need to apply are primarily criteria about what the adults do and what the learning environments are like, rather than what the children learn. Second, in the long run, I think education needs to lay the groundwork for the progressive abolition of the distinction between mental and manual labor—a goal that would imply far greater levels of knowledge and skill acquisition for almost everyone than we’re familiar with.
About the defeat of the black community in 1968: I’m not especially interested in defending the particular demands of the community control movement (although I do think they need to be placed in the context of many years of stubborn white resistance to school desegregation). Nonetheless, combined with the earlier defeat of a proposal for a civilian review board for the police department, the decentralization that was adopted as an alternative to community control transformed a popular mobilization into a quagmire of nepotistic corruption which all but completely led to the dominance of the UFT in the city’s education system for thirty years. In retrospect, it would probably have been better if the community control advocates were more sophisticated about the educational issues but, perhaps to our dismay, a comparable effort in Chicago years later (with a much more sophisticated analysis) didn’t lead to much more.
About good teaching can’t being measured: I confess that this is an impressionistic judgment based on reading lots of teacher comments in various media, including blogs. I may be wrong. In any case, I really think that teaching needs to be informed by a coherent understanding of learning and not by a whole bunch of common sense assumptions.
About lousy schools: I k now that the tests are really lousy (perhaps we can meet some time so we can share stories about them) and are not necessarily good measures BUT kids in schools that have really high scores do really well on all sorts of other important measures. I have no interest in test prep but I have a lot of interest in kids learning a lot. High scores, not mediocre scores, reveal that kids have learned a lot. About dropouts: I realize that there are really good reasons why kids drop out of school. In the absence of any other good opportunities for kids to learn very much, however, I see their dropping out as a defeat.
About time: I agree—it’s all about time. Every teacher should be fighting every day about time!
I would be careful about the importance you give to test scores here, and would ask you, exactly, how it is that we might fight “transformation” on their terms if not in the way that the CTU has.
As an aside, the NAEP came up recently in our district, and one of the tricks in the state in which I teach has been to exclude students with disabilities from taking this test. This is, of course, patent discrimination. The state’s justification? Students with disabilities are not provided accommodations on the NAEP – likewise, patent discrimination. NAEP’s justification? The accuracy of their exam would be compromised.
The point being, our most vulnerable populations (e.g. students with disabilities and new immigrants with limited proficiency in English) are being hammered by demands that they perform as well as their peers on standards-based, and sometimes norm-referenced (e.g. the ACT) measures of academic achievement, performance and skills-acquisition. Such measures are not designed with these students in mind, the companies which produce them assume that the extent to which these tests are valid is PRECISELY the extent to which these students score very poorly (e.g. Quality Core, ACT), and they work very hard to guarantee that the testing accommodations to which these students are legally entitled are denied them when/wherever possible. As far as the ACT goes, this means the necessity of a standard distribution, or else colleges and universities (by nature highly exclusionist in academic terms) will consider such exams worthless. The crux of the matter becomes clear when a state, like ours, suddenly decides that the ACT is their new accountability gold-standard, and that the standard distribution “does not matter.” In addition, by placing a new emphasis on dropout rates and attrition, many students who would never have laid eyes on a college entrance exam two years ago will now be included in this number.
All combined, this becomes the latest recipe for making our poorest public schools look like disaster zones. In short, the tests are another weapon to be wielded by capitalists against the ‘expense’ of basic social provision. The context and approach may vary over time, but the basic assumption will always be, “We can’t afford to subsidize the education of those who won’t be likely to contribute very much to the surplus anyway, so how best to cut this expense?” It might be dressed up as the latest imperative to “Close the Achievement Gap,” or some such nonsense, but that’s just used to sell it all too the many well- intentioned liberals who still have jobs (as of today) in Central Office.
I apologize for the tone, but I can tell you from very real and immediate experience that the issues related to assessment and due process for sp.ed. students in CPS are exactly the same issues we struggle with in our district, and I am personally inspired by the CTU strike action. I don’t care much for any analysis that ridicules such resistance, or anyone who would applaud such resistance, as being part of the “ordinary left,” and in the same breath browbeats teachers and students for their “mediocrity” as indicated by capitalist tools of measurement. | 2019-04-25T18:49:30Z | http://insurgentnotes.com/2012/10/once-again-on-education-beyond-ordinary-leftism/ |
This thread is started: On the suggestion of Rick Rule and several other members.
. When you ”speak” the symbols 2+2 the listener doesn’t know which one of the words that ”sound” like 2 that you ”mean”. Here is the list: 2, two, to, too, tu, II(Roman). If the speaker is referring to the math problem 2+2=4 there are over 500 ways to write or speak the combinations of the words that sound like the speech of the math problem 2+2=4. You can cut that number in half if you eliminate the duplication based on the position of the words in the string. Such as: to+too or too+to.
The goal of this thread is with the tender of the thoughts for the improvement on the accuracy of the construction of the sentence as an element of the Language. The preference is for the positive-suggestions for the improvement in the precision and clarity of the expression of a thought, however there is a lack of a restriction on a writer for the offering of a dis-proof of the goal.
so, at the risk of improper sentence constructions, all writers may now “take a crack”.
Let er rip [ A correct-sentence = A subject, a verb (is/are) and a predicate. A Sentence is a string of words for the expression of a single thought. ] As an example: Going to the store from the home – is not a valid sentence because of the expression of the two different thoughts to and from in the same-string of words.
From another thread: “Will a government respect a contractually granted, inalienable right to limited sovereignty?” If Rick wants unbreakable-control over the purchase of the Land, Rick wants a Now-Time-Quantum-Contract. Otherwise an Attorney can slice open the opinion riddled contract and slip the Land right out of Rick’s control.
Jimmy started to say “I is…”.
“As you wish” said Jimmy. “I am the ninth letter of the alphabet”.
We certainly have to be careful in what we ask for. Does it matter whether we: Throw the cow over the fence some hay or Throw some hay over the fence for the cow?
Over the fence throw some hay for the cow.
Frank, are you familiar with Simplified Technical English?
Does it meet any of your needs?
Some of them but not all. For instance: if you see a sign in a Tavern: The Beer is free Tomorrow, when will you get your free beer?answer: NEVER because we live in now-time the the “Future” doesn’t exist and “past” is gone. Also “noun clusters” – three word noun clusters would be: adverb, adjective, pronoun or adjective, adjective, pronoun by the rules of syntax. Adjectives “color” nouns and make the word combinations opinions instead of a facts. The “solution” is in the structure of the Quantum-Language, which took thousands of hours over many years, with thousands of miles of travel , for the investigation, study, and disclosure of the tricks and traps that corrupt Language. From all of that study and research comes the form and the rules for the construction of the Correct-Sentence-Structure. Some of the other members have taken a look at Quantum-Language and dismissed the Author as a con artist, however none of them have come up with a valid-logical-challenge. So far, you have been the only individual who has given some thought on the structure of a sentence.
Frank, If you want a pretty good, in depth study of language, also check out “Universe” by Scudder Klyce. Only 1000 prints were made (by hand, by him) around 1921. You can find digital versions online. He subsequently republished a watered-down version called “Sins of Science” because no one understood “Universe”.
Nevertheless, I manage to get my free beer every time (assuming the sign has not been put up as a joke). Strangely enough, yesterday’s tomorrow does arrive.
This thread got me thinking of E-Prime: English without the verb “to be”. It helps a writer develop precision of thought.
I took a look at E-Prime. If you look at Quantum-Language the Sentence is constructed with the exact opposite form. Your dictionary shows two things for IS: The word is a NOUN because it is a thing (a word) otherwise it IS one of two verbs for the Language. Try setting aside the theory or “explanation” of what someone is trying to do with E-prime, and use your own brain the think about how much more precise a Language would be if there are only two verbs IS=singular ARE=plural. Now you don’t have to think about what happens, to thinking, when you turn a NOUN into a VERB by using the noun as a gerund or by ignoring correct-syntax. [ the pen ] = adverb verb. For the pen = [pre]position, [article]original, [noun]fact. In the “prepositional phrase” the third word is always a NOUN/FACT. Of course it looks and “sounds” odd, because you have a whole lifetime of seeing and hearing the fiction-form.
I guess I still wonder at the purpose. In order to say “to make language more precise”, you have to know many many more concepts including the concept of “precision”, the concept of “make” (or the act of creating), the concept of comparison “more”, and then understanding what any purpose of “language” is, was, could be, should be, etc.
But only looking at “language”, I loosely define it as “a way of encoding experience in order to think about the experience and/or transmit in such a way that it can be decoded by someone else in order to gain an understanding of said experience.” Language is the medium by which the content of our brains can be encoded. However, the content of our brains is only a model of reality, and not reality itself. So all models of reality are a form of fiction already (even if ‘accurate’), and language is an encoding of that fiction.
All that being said, however, does not mean you can not establish a specific context in which such a Quantum-Language could be used. In contractual law, say, such precision is desired. But don’t ever be fooled into thinking that any words are the actual things (nouns) the words represent (model). Because in the end, all language simply says A=A, or more precisely, Everything = All the sub-parts of Everything. Nouns don’t exist in reality; they only exist in our models.
Attempting to create a precise code is admirable, but nothing new. I do smile when I see the word “Quantum” used to describe something attempting “concreteness” and/or fixedness. 😉 Since I am not really aware of the original intent of this thread, maybe we aren’t even talking about the same thing.
The issue with [the ball is red] is that a) there is no actor, and b) it refers to an object and a quality of the object, so again, we’re back to A=A (this red ball=this ball). Better: I see [experience] a red ball.
Much about language is assumed. Words have different “weight”; by which I mean some words are pointers to direct experience objects (e.g., ball), while other words are combinations of previous concepts and require much further understanding (e.g., “liberty”). The first type of word might be considered a 1st level (direct experience) word, and there would be other levels of concepts where ideas have been integrated, and those integrations have been further integrated (e.g., enslavement).
The main problem I can think of is that we are attempting to create a rigidly precise language based on imprecise experience. Even a camera doesn’t capture 360 degrees, or what is going on overhead, or tell what the temperature is, etc. All experience will always be incomplete, so language should be allowed to reflect that incompleteness. It is only telling part of the story, and as such, is automatically telling a lie of omission. It automatically becomes fiction.
Also, using your camera analogy; who is operating the camera? The purpose of language is the application and transfer of meaning of humans. And ‘meaning’ is subjective (as is the experience). Otherwise, you may as well use machine language.
Also your only comment in the ball example in on the fiction language version. What does the Quantum-Sentence convey?
I do see benefit in removing adjectives and adverbs since they are descriptors of the noun or verb whose meaning they attempt to enhance. A noun, whether single or plural, is a contextual “whole” or unit. To describe only one aspect, quality or characteristic is to not describe all the others and is therefore an incomplete description; otherwise in order to be complete and accurate, you would have to describe every quality, and you’d be back at part+part+part=whole, or whole=whole (A=A). The quality of the ball “red” is only important if also describing any other nearby ball of a different color. Because even the color “red” can be considered a “whole” and broken down into sub-components of Hue (redness), Value (lightness), Chroma (pureness vs grey) etc. All of this is assumed in ‘normal’ language, or rather deleted for expediency until such sub-components are important to a specific context.
Also watching https://youtu.be/zgcW6Hzn46w which provides the context I was missing.
A “correct” sentence is supposed to have a “subject” a verb and a predicate. A single sentence is supposed to convey a single thought. I am not saying that you can’t violate the rules (definitions) for “creative” purposes. If you want to write “stories”, Poetry, or music lyrics use any form that you choose. I would not be writing on liberty.me if I didn’t believe in choice, but once that i have made that choice in the context of an agreement with another individual, I should have some means for putting the agreement down on paper for all to read in a way that can’t be twisted into something I didn’t “mean” by the interpretation of adjectives, adverbs, or pronouns. The “tone” of your response suggests that you may be thinking that Quantum-Language is taking something away from you or society, but the opposite is the fact. Quantum gives people a tool for writing critical-communications in a precise-form instead of an ambiguous form. If we look at a math-problem we see that we use a particular set of rules and procedures for executing an operation as long as we follow the rules we get the correct-answer. That is all that Quantum is: A set of rules and a procedure for Language.
I think there is definite use in having a contractual language that all parties involved can understand. My point is simply that all language is arbitrary–therefore Quantum is only one possible solution. As it is now, I would hire a lawyer. In looking at Quantum, nothing has changed.. a new syntax, with new meanings, means basically learning a new language anyway. I would still need a Quantum Lawyer, and/or even a Macro that could convert plain English into Quantum. That would be fun to look into.
I had a nice response prepared until the site crashed. I am enjoying the exchange of thinking and don’t want to drive you away with any attempt to oversell a concept, however I don’t get the sense that I have made a dent in the state sponsored concept of Language -Construction, because you are still using the adjective-pronoun form: contractual language which is an opinion rather than a fact. What do you know about Language that isn’t taught by the state-sponsored view of the nature of a sentence?
There seems to be a bug in the posting process, unless I missed something?
You are not overselling. I may be reluctant to change my behavior in normal conversation since the precision of my language right now should come from what I know, not what I do not know. I am conversing out of habit, experience, and knowledge. <-that sentence could be rewritten as, I converse based on habits, experience, and knowledge. <-and that is slightly better. But because I am giving opinion (my model of the world is not the world) all statements are opinion, so words like “slightly” indicate that it is an opinion. Maybe it is the word “fact” that I disagree with. Maybe a Quantum language could be considered like following the scientific method: instead of stating things as facts, they could be stated on a scale of corresponding to reality–a scale of ‘factualness’ I guess. So Quantum language wouldn’t necessarily be beneficial in ordinary discussion (like this) as much as in Contractual scenarios where there is a specific context.
That seems to me what contractual language would do.
I would take the first five points as a good start and substitute meeting of the minds for the last. In the Law only nouns are facts. In the correct-sentence-structure the use of the “prepositional-phrase” ie. preposition, article, and NOUN ( I am not using the Quantum-Language-Terms so as not to complicate the discussion.) gives us a method for constructing a sentence where we can “prove” that the noun in the phrase is a noun because the definition of the phrase says that the third word is always a noun. Some “liberal” Dictionaries suggest otherwise, but the three word form stated here is a hard and fast rule for Quantum-Language. Now: For the Law of the Contract is with the Correct-Sentence-Structure-Communications-Parse-Syntax-Grammar-Form for the closure of the Terms. There are no breaches because you don’t commit on the terms if you don’t have knowledge and a meeting of the minds. You could use other words for the condition, but the meeting of the minds is the key-concept. The closer each party comes to seeing the “same” mental picture of the terms by the structure of the Language, the less the chances of a breach by the misinterpretation of the nature of a term. I respect your view on the nature of a fact, so let us say that for the best of the evidence or best-evidence is as close as we can get to a fact. Someday if we were able to develop mental telepathy I would be able to paint the mental-picture of my mind directly into your mind. Even then because we are all different there might still be distortions in the transmission or reception of the picture. A simple comparison might be “plain” English (fiction) is like taking a multiple-choice test and Quantum-Language is like the true/false-test.
In NLP, it is discussed that all people mainly do three things with experience: generalize, distort, and/or delete. Testimony is obviously the least credible form of “evidence” (if you can loosely call it that). So as you say, agreement of the facts (if you will) by both parties is what is important, but as you imply, it is critical that a third party can accurately interpret the content of the contract independently. A clean Quantum language would be critical for impartial arbitration; so that a machine or robot could do it.
Choice of words is also important. That is the next step. Quantum is more like binary. Either you have a 1 or a 0. A true or a false. There is no interpretation, because there are no modifying words in the construction. There is no arbitration because there are no third parties interpreting the language of the contract. If there is a third or fourth-party involved they are part of the contract. There is no clean or dirty Quantum-Language because there are NO adjectives in the Quantum-Language (note the hyphen). Quantum-Language = compound-noun. Quantum Language = adjective, pronoun string. You either have “performance” (closure) of the terms of the contract or you didn’t even have a contract to begin with.
Clark: Common term: Diamond Ring Is the ring made of diamond? Diamond is the adjective modifying the word ring. The adjective is supposed to describe the attributes or qualities of the word that it modifies. In this case a total falsity. Put “Diamond ring” into any string of words that you would like to call a sentence and you violate the concept of a sentence, because there are at least two thoughts for the reader to mentally process. The first is whatever action the sentence is trying to convey and the second is fixing the term Diamond Ring as Ring with Diamond. Now contrast: For the ring of silver is with the setting of the Diamond by the jeweler. For the ring of gold is with the setting of the Diamond for the sweet heart.
Yes, to is “future” tense which makes being a fiction. There are only two verbs in the Quantum-Language IS = SINGULAR ARE = PLURAL. The form is with the precision of the true, correct, and certain, because all of the “modifiers” of the FACTS are eliminated. Quantum-Language is the product of the hours and years of study and research not an experiment or theory.
= is a good substitute for is. You can’t fix a fiction with more fiction. If you modify “certainty” with an adjective “it” is no longer a certainty. I know that I am not omniscient which means that I can still learn things. I don’t think that you are wrong, rather lack knowledge for correct-thinking. to be = future-tense = hasn’t happened yet.
I suppose I’m looking at it from a higher-holistic view.. all language is fiction. It attempts to codify experience, but remains apart from said experience. The map (language) is not the territory (experience). Therefore, there is no “true” language, and all language becomes arbitrary.
The word that we a taught or learn from our own experiences is a symbolic-representation of the mental-picture of a visual-input of an object associated with an auditory expression of a “name” for the object. — I show you a ball, while I express the word ball, and then possibly show you the printed version of the word ball while expressing the word again. When one considers the amount of mental-processing that is required for the support of a “learning” experience I would agree that there is no such thing as “true” language, however because we are “human” we can choose a distorted version the “play back” of the experience or learn how to filter out the noise and bias and express a clean and clear version.
And for what it is worth, I looked up David Wynn Miller. I’ve seen Youtube videos where people tried using the ALL CAPS name and such to get out of their predicament; they didn’t get very far.
I don’t know which YouTube video you viewed. I am hoping that you can realize that the publication of a version of Language which can expose FRAUD in Contracts, Trusts, Treaties, Constitutions, and Laws is going to be the cause of a pretty long list of individuals who are not happy with that publication or the Author. From the time we enter into this world we hear and see only corrupt Language. “Nouns” are colored by adjectives or turned into verbs by the neglect for the rules of syntax which makes all communication using such Language ambiguous at the very least. False or ambiguous Language keeps individuals separated which makes it easier to start and maintain conflicts and wars. When people are divided it is easier for the 3% that lead to maintain control of the 97% that follow. If YOU had the knowledge of the tricks, traps, and errors that corrupted ALL languages and were given the task of spreading the knowledge and teaching the method of correction, where would you start and who do you think would believe you?
The syntax isn’t really “new” rather the syntax shows what the flaws are in the form of writing and speaking that we have been taught. Writing in the Quantum-Language is a challenge because a correct-sentence-structure presents a single thought based on the facts rather than a string of words offering an opinion. The rule of Law = opinion vs. For the rule of the Law = fact, by the rules of syntax. It takes a little work for the thinking of the construction of a correct-sentence. People have a life-time of the using of the incorrect-form. People also have a natural-resistance to being told that they are doing or using something incorrectly.
I saw your thread on “Colony”. Rather than go off topic on your thread, the thought came to mind to go beyond the level of a YouTube video and make a Movie with a real audience grabbing plot.
While I have a conviction on the correct-nature of the Quantum-Language, past experience has taught me not to close the mind on the possibility of something better.
As a side note…did you know it’s impossible to write the correct meaning of the question: How many “toos” are there in the english language?
Just ask it this way: How many words in English are homophones with the number 2?
There is agreement , because “correct meaning” is an opinion, so everyone who reads the question would have an opinion. How many words are in the English-Language the sound like 2?
If correct meaning is subjective then there’s no such thing as correct meaning.
Worse yet correct meaning is a subjective interpretation.
I’m pretty sure that’s a rewording of the same statement you already made. Plus, you just agreed that there’s no such thing as “correct meaning,” so why are you trying to further elaborate on what it is?
When the speaker fails to identify the scope of the discussion, then the listener is left to interpret the context. Given the word ‘plus’ was used, it’s rather logical to deduce that the speaker was referencing mathematics. Otherwise, the context is incoherent and leads to confusion. More so, should such confusion be deliberate, then the speaker is employing deception.
When the example is spoken, there is a lack of means for distinguishing the counting-numbers form the words and the math-symbols from the words: to plus too is for, sounds the same as 2+2=4. The + symbol is not a word. The purpose of this exercise is with the writing of a correct-sentence-structure. In a correct-sentence-structure interpretation is not necessary. The observation on the confusion is correct. Are you saying that society lacks individuals who would use confusing-language as a deception?
If someone realistically wrote, “to plus too is for,” I wouldn’t think they’re logically wrong, instead I would think they don’t know how to spell. The word for the ‘+’ symbol is ‘plus’.
The purpose of this exercise is with the writing of a correct-sentence-structure.
I fail to see how purpose can be with “the writing of a correct-sentence-structure” when the purpose of this exercise comes from the presenter.
“If someone realistically wrote” How does one write unrealistically? The point is: speaking ≠ writing.
The adverb ‘realistically’ is a modifier on the content that has been written because that’s what we’re addressing. We are not addressing the act of writing. But, you knew that unless you’re illiterate, but I doubt that’s the case. So what that leaves is sleight of hand with the wording. Because, the appropriate question would have been: How can one’s writing be unrealistic? Again, what we’re addressing is the content. So, to write realistically is to at least be genuine with one’s words. So, in contrast, anyone being disingenuous would not be writing realistically, rather they would be faking. Like right now, I doubt your question was genuine, instead I think you were purposely being obtuse in attempts to make the point that the context could be misunderstood. However, did you genuinely misunderstand what I meant? I don’t think you did. What you’re employing here is deception, i.e. Machiavellianism, and all in all sophistry.
See, I get the point of your example, but that doesn’t change the fact that to speak, “Two plus two is four,” but write it, “to plus too is for,” and it not be a misspelling, is to be disingenuous. In other words, to write that mathematical phrase with the wrong words, you’re either of unsound mind, a child that doesn’t know how to spell, or a conartist.
And, more importantly, if we are talking about contracting, and the verbal contract changes meaning once written, then what you have is at worst fraud and at best an invalid contract due to a lack of full disclosure.
There can be no genuine consideration in the absence of full disclosure.
You mean like the baseless accusations you throw at people when they question the validity of this syntax idea? That’s you handling the truth, right? You mock people by accusing them of writing fiction when they do not conform to your syntax idea, and further escalate the ad hominems when people refuse to conform to your ideas. The moment I find validity in your syntax idea, I will be happy to write accordingly. Until then, I have no reason to use it.
You’re presenting an idea, and I’ve objected to your idea. Did you address my objection? No. You avoided it.
Do you have a problem with me applying logic and reason to your idea? Do you have a problem with substantiating the logical validity of your idea?
Because, so far you have failed to do so. As such, there is no truth here for me to adopt.
Words of Lincoln: of the people, by the people, for the people = prepositional-phrases = preposition, article, and noun = the only time that one can prove that the third word in the phrase is a noun. Only nouns are facts. Every other form is opinion which you are entitled to have and I never said otherwise. I maintain: A statement is construed in favor of the party receiving the statement. I don’t have to “prove” anything. I solicited thoughts on the improvement of precision in communications. You fail because you refuse to accept the flaws in the Language.
These so called improvements are of your opinion.
Does Yoda “get” our attention because he is small in size, but enormous with the FORCE. Spoke with few words, but has a lot of wisdom. Wonder where we could find a guy like that on this Planet?
Now there is a man in tune with reality. If we had the opportunity to be born and raised on a Planet of Yoda’s things might be different.
Yes the dark-side is strong. And suffer it we will.
Reading (listening) to a good book that runs parallel to this discussion.. “The Information” by James Gleick (author of “Chaos”). You might find it interesting.
The key being 1’s and 0’s. A computer doesn’t work on shades of gray only 1’s and 0’s or true and false. So when we place the same “filter” on Language by the use of the correct-construction of a sentence, we get the same effect FACTS by the use of the Quantum-Language or FICTION by the incorrect and broken Language taught for 8500 years. SO? Is the Author/Inventor of the Quantum-Language a genius or a “con” artist? What happens to the “information” in the discussion of a topic when you take the adjectives, adverbs, and pronouns out of the construction of the sentences. Never mind whether “it” (the Quantum-Language-Sentence) seems strange when you write it or read it, if one doesn’t try looking at what happens to the “information” in a sentence when the syntax is CORRECT one will never even get a chance to see the difference between fact and fiction. For the care of the Health is a totally different idea than Health care, but one has to let it sink in before making a judgement. | 2019-04-21T14:21:50Z | https://liberty.me/discuss/t/for-the-precision-of-the-language/ |
This Registration Agreement ("Agreement") sets forth the terms and conditions of your use of DropCatch1402.com Inc, a Colorado corporation, hereafter "DropCatch1402", "DropCatch1402.com", "the site", "Registrar", "Domain Name Registrar" or the like. The terms "you", "user", "customer" and the like refer to an individual or entity who accepts this Agreement. To use DropCatch1402.com's services, you must read and agree to be bound by all terms and conditions of this Agreement. You acknowledge that you have read, understand and agree to the terms in this Agreement. You agree that DropCatch1402.com may update these terms of service to add, remove or amend terms, conditions, and policies governing the use and operations of DropCatch1402.com. Your use of DropCatch1402.com's website and/or services after such changes have been made constitutes your acceptance of these Terms and Conditions.
DropCatch1402.com is an accredited registrar with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers ("ICANN"). DropCatch1402 abides by the ICANN Transfer Dispute Resolution Policy (http://www.icann.org/en/transfers/dispute-policy-12jul04.htm), as well as its own Dispute Policy.
1.Eligibility. By using DropCatch1402.com and or its services, you represent and warrant that you are at least eighteen (18) years of age, you are recognized as being able to form legally binding contracts under applicable law, and that you are not barred from using any of DropCatch1402's services under United States law.
2.Fees. In return for providing domain registrations, renewals and other products and services, you agree to pay DropCatch1402.com at the time of rendered services in the form of credit card or through your previously funded DropCatch1402 "Account Balance". Should DropCatch1402.com require payment and you fail to make a payment (or make payment through fraud or theft), your DropCatch1402 account and services will be subject to immediate cancellation and suspension without notice. DropCatch1402 further reserves the right in these circumstances to cancel specific services, products or reports, as well as eventual account termination in such situation. Any past due balance of more than 30 days can lead to account suspension and termination.
3.Domain Name Renewals. When you register a domain name it is "registered" with the appropriate registry for the amount of time determined by the "term", which is how many years the domain will be registered to you. You further agree and understand that your domain is subject to annual renewals and you must keep your registration current by paying any and all requisite renewal fees directly to DropCatch1402. You understand that failure to pay applicable renewal and registration fees will result in you losing your registered ownership of the domain and the domain will be allowed to expire. Should you fail to renew a domain either manually or automatically resulting in the expiration and your loss of registered ownership of the domain, DropCatch1402.com cannot be held responsible as the registration and maintenance of your domain registration is the user's sole responsibility. Likewise, DropCatch1402.com is subject to varying yearly domain registration / renewal fees and domain renewal fees will not be guaranteed at the same rate you initially registered a domain for.
4.Term of Agreement; Modifications. DropCatch1402.com reserves the right to update this Agreement from time to time to reflect new changes, policies and restrictions on domain registrations as described by the corresponding Registries, and or ICANN. DropCatch1402 is under no requirement to give customers notice of changes made to this Agreement and you should review DropCatch1402's terms on a regular basis to ensure you are in complete compliance of all Terms and Conditions.
5.Dispute Policy. By creating a DropCatch1402.com account you agree to the Dispute Policy. DropCatch1402 will not be held liable for disputes that do not go in the favor of the customer.
6.Transfer of Domain Names. By registering domains with DropCatch1402.com, you expressly agree and authorize DropCatch1402.com to act as your Designated Agent as defined by ICANN's transfer policy. You expressly agree and authorize DropCatch1402.com to approve each change of registrant on your behalf. When the prior registrant of a domain name requests that (a.) DropCatch1402.com transfer their domain to another customer's DropCatch1402.com account or (b.) to another ICANN accredited registrar, you are giving DropCatch1402.com express permission to act as your Designated Agent and approve the requested transfer. This includes approving the transfer on behalf of the prior registrant and/or the new registrant, as the transfer relates to the approval requirements of the transfer to or away from DropCatch1402.com and or a DropCatch1402 account.
7.Push of Domain Names. When domain name(s) are pushed between DropCatch1402.com accounts, meaning that a domain is pushed from one DropCatch1402.com account and into another DropCatch1402.com account (not "transferred" between different registrars), the pushed domain name(s) will inherit the category settings of the DropCatch1402.com account and category that is receiving the domain name(s). If there are no category settings, the domain name(s) will take DropCatch1402.com's default settings of auto-renew being "on". Specifically, if the domain is being pushed into an account and category that has auto-renew settings set to "off", auto-renew settings for the domain will be turned "off". Likewise, if the domain is pushed to an account and category with auto-renew settings set to "on", OR if there is no specific setting (and thus DropCatch1402.com default settings apply), the pushed domain name(s) will take on the default auto-renew setting set to "on" for these domain name(s). Even in a case where the account that initiated the push had an auto-renew setting of "off", auto-renew is treated by default as "on" for maximum user protection. A DropCatch1402 customer will have the sole responsibility for maintaining all settings for all domain names in their account, this includes any renewal and payment settings such as auto-renew of each domain in the user's account. There will be no refunds for customers who fail to maintain their desired domain renewal settings appropriately.
8.Breach of Agreement. You agree that in the event you violate any provisions of this Agreement rendering you in breach of this agreement, that DropCatch1402.com may take any of the following actions to remedy your breach: (i.) any domains registered in your DropCatch1402.com which are in conflict with this agreement may be suspended or cancelled per the terms of this agreement. (ii.) Under most situations DropCatch1402 will put a suspension on a domain registration or service that is found in conflict; however, DropCatch1402 reserves the right to employ i. above without notice and in DropCatch1402's sole discretion; (iii.) DropCatch1402 may correct or change any false or incorrect information regarding your domain registration. DropCatch1402 may also remove or suspend privacy protection without notice.
In some situations where your actions constitute a breach of this agreement, DropCatch1402.com will contact you via email and provide a summary of your breach and recommended actions to remedy said breach. You will be given a mandatory deadline in which to respond and either remedy the breach, or provide support, evidence and proof of your case. DropCatch1402 will review all the facts and if you are still found in breach after 10 days, DropCatch1402 will take proper and necessary actions to remedy the breach.
9.Behavior of Website. You agree when you submit information or request changes to your account or domains, that not all changes will be reflected immediately. Not all submissions to DropCatch1402 can be cancelled or reversed once submitted, especially when working "in bulk". You operate at your own risk when working with groups of domains. Furthermore, DropCatch1402 does not guarantee its website to be operational at all times, and you accept the risks with using DropCatch1402.com. DropCatch1402 is not responsible for inaccuracies in its system which might cause unintended consequences.
With auto-renew off: Should you choose to disable the auto-renewal function in your DropCatch1402 account for any domain, and you have chosen to manually renew your domain each year, DropCatch1402 will make multiple attempts to notify you that the domain name is approaching its expiration date and that you will need to take steps to renew your domain. DropCatch1402 will send you an email approximately one month prior to the domain name's expiration date. This will be the first warning that your domain name is about to expire. DropCatch1402 will then send another email approximately one week before the domain name's expiration date. Finally, if the domain name is not renewed by the expiration date of the domain, DropCatch1402 will send a final notification about the domain name's expiration. While not contracted to do so, DropCatch1402 may send more notifications in order to help protect its customers and to help prevent domain names from accidental expiration.
With auto-renew on: If you have auto-renew turned on you are asking DropCatch1402 to automatically charge the payment method(s) you have on file for the domain's yearly renewal fees. DropCatch1402 will attempt to renew the domain based on the advanced setting "Domain Auto-Renewal" found in My Account > Settings > Advanced. This setting will tell DropCatch1402 how many days before the domain name's expiration that the auto-renew should be processed. The default setting for auto-renewal is 14-days prior to the domain name's expiration date. When DropCatch1402 attempts to renew a domain with auto-renew on, it will first look for an available funded account balance, and then cycle through each of the credit cards on file in attempt to make the auto-renewal payment. If these auto-renewal attempts fail, DropCatch1402 will send you an email notifying you of the auto-renewal failure and try to render payment again the following day. You may need to take manual steps to remedy the payment method or to make payment for your domain renewal to be successful. If your domain does not auto-renew within the designated number of days configured, the domain name will be allowed to expire due to non-payment by the auto-renewal. Presuming you keep this setting at 14-days, this means you will receive 14 auto-renewal failure notices via email before the domain name expires. While you can set your auto-renew setting to as little as 1-day, DropCatch1402 does not recommend this as a billing failure will mean the domain name will expire the following day, will become unusable, email will stop working and the respective website will go offline.
If your domain expires, DropCatch1402 will send an email within 24 hours of the expiration occurring. DropCatch1402 will also send a final email about your domain expiration one week after the domain name has expired, to give you a final notice your domain name is about to become available for someone else to register and use.
13.Expired Domain Process. Upon expiration of your domain name, your nameservers will be changed to expired1.namebrightdns.com and expired2.namebrightdns.com as is required by ICANN's ERRP (Expired Registration Recovery Policy). During this time your domain will have all services interrupted (including but not limited to email, web hosting, ftp servers, etc.) During this expiration process you will be allowed to renew the domain for the standard renewal cost of that domain which is designated by the TLD's current price as reflected on DropCatch1402.com at that time.
The registrant of an expired domain will be given no less than 30 days to pay for the renewal of the domain before the domain enters a Redemption Grace Period ("RGP"). Domain names at DropCatch1402 move from "expired" status to RGP status on the 30th day after a domain name's expiration date. Due to processing constraints, on rare occasions this date might be up to 10 days later. As a registrant you should expect this will happen on the 30th day after a domain name expires.
DropCatch1402 has absolutely no liability for domains that were allowed to expire due to user error, non-payment, and billing failure. DropCatch1402 will make reasonable attempts to provide ample notification to customers about potential domain name expirations when applicable, but DropCatch1402 is not liable in situations where a domain is allowed to expire for any reason.
There are two processes in which domains will go through RGP at DropCatch1402.com. Registry Redemption Grace Period ("Registry RGP") and Registrar Redemption Grace Period ("Registrar RGP"). In the case of Registrar RGP, the domain name may be auctioned off or sold to third parties who have an interest in the domain beginning on the 30th day after the domain name has expired. Should a third-party purchase rights to the domain, you will have exactly 30 days from the beginning of RGP to pay the redemption fee to have the domain name returned to you. Should the redemption fee not be paid within 60 days after the domain name's expiration, the ownership of the domain will change hands and be irreversible.
15.Privacy Protection. If you choose to use privacy protection provided by DropCatch1402 you agree that you will not abuse the service and should any involvement / interaction be required on DropCatch1402's behalf you will be charged a $150 "Whois privacy protection maintenance fee". This includes, but is not limited to, legal services required from operating said domain, disputes over your domain or mediation of some form concerning the domain. If your accounts are found to be problematic, for any reason whatsoever, DropCatch1402 has the full right to terminate and remove privacy protection on any and all domain names in your account. If you are doing anything illegal or questionably illegal on a domain name that is privacy protected, your privacy protection will be removed immediately and/or shared with a complaining party who bears what seems to be a legitimate issue. You acknowledge that privacy protection is a privilege and not a right and you expressly grant DropCatch1402 absolute right and power. By using DropCatch1402's privacy protection services you consent that your personal information is not 100% protected. For iron clad privacy in Whois, DropCatch1402 suggests you hire an attorney and have that attorney be the primary contact on your domain. If DropCatch1402 receives a UDRP on a domain name that has privacy protected turned on, privacy protection will be removed during the dispute.
You agree that in using privacy protection services, DropCatch1402 will review and forward certain communications addressed to a privacy protected domain at its own digression. In using privacy protection, you acknowledge you are pointing ownership of the domain to DropCatch1402.
DropCatch1402.com has the right to remove a customer's privacy protection without any notice upon notification of a customer's involvement in any (a.) illegal, (b.) malicious or (c.) harmful activity on a domain registered with DropCatch1402. DropCatch1402.com has a zero-tolerance policy to the abuse of its services to engage in illegal, malicious, or harmful activities.
Upon receiving notice of that a Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy Complaint and confirmation that the arbitration process regarding the Complaint has been commenced, DropCatch1402 is required by ICANN to immediately remove any privacy protection on that domain name and lock said domain from any outbound transfer or account change.
Should DropCatch1402 receive a Whois Inaccuracy Complaint on a domain name, it will email the customer in order to acquire the necessary information and conduct an investigation. Should the customer fail to respond to this correspondence, their domain will be suspended and privacy protection will be removed from all domains in that customer's account without notice. It is mandatory the customer respond to these inquiries and failure to do so will result in the loss of the privilege of using privacy protection.
Upon receipt of any legitimate and binding Court Order or Subpoena, DropCatch1402 may, upon requirement by law or by its own discretion, remove privacy protection from a customer's domain and/or account in order to obey any relevant laws and to ensure all customers are using their domains in legitimate and legal manners.
In addition to the above reasons, DropCatch1402 may remove privacy protection form a customer's domain and/or account for any compelling reason and at DropCatch1402's sole discretion. DropCatch1402.com is not required to give any notice or provide any reason for removing privacy protection. Privacy protection is an added and voluntary service that is to be a privilege. DropCatch1402 will not tolerate any abuse of this voluntary service.
18.One Year Free Privacy Protection. All domain names registered through DropCatch1402 (which are eligible for privacy protection) may receive one (1) year of free privacy protection. This promotion is applicable for new domain registrations, domain name transfers in, and on domain names that have never had privacy turned on before within the system. After the 1 free year is up you will be charged for the renewal at the current privacy protection price. In the case your privacy protection does not end on the "anniversary" of your domain name's expiration (this can happen with transfers for example), DropCatch1402 will "sync" the privacy protection to the closest anniversary of the expiration date once the free year has ended. In this case you will see a pro-rated charge where privacy might only renew for a few months (for a fraction of the yearly price with the pro-rated price), and then you will see a second privacy charge for an additional year when the anniversary of your domain's expiration comes up. This is done to keep all services associated with a domain synced up with its expiration date to make the management of your domain names easier.
19.Registered Name Holder Representations and Warranties. You represent that all information you provide and submit to DropCatch1402.com is factually correct and you understand that providing false, fake, or misleading information with regards to domain name registrations is considered a breach of contract with both DropCatch1402 and the relevant gTLD extension registry.
Knowingly providing fake, false, inaccurate, or misleading information and willful failure to update or correct any fake, false, inaccurate, or misleading information provided to DropCatch1402 within seven (7) days of any change, or your failure to respond for over fifteen (15) days to inquiries by DropCatch1402 concerning the accuracy of contact details associated with a domain registration shall constitute a material breach of this contract and be a basis for suspension and/or cancellation of the domain name registration. Furthermore, DropCatch1402 reserves the right to modify registered name holder's information when possible to correct inaccuracies or unreliable information.
Any registered name holder that licenses use of a domain name to a third party is deemed the registered agent and the registered name holder of said domain. The registered agent is responsible for providing its own contact information, providing accurate information and making updates as required in the terms of registration (this document.) A registered name holder licensing use of said domain shall accept liability for harm caused by wrongful use of the registered name, unless it promptly discloses the current contact information provided by the licensee to a party providing reasonable evidence of actionable harm. You represent that you have obtained consent from any third parties to register a domain on their behalf before registering a domain name with DropCatch1402.com.
The registered name holder represents, to the best of the registered name holder's knowledge and belief, that neither the registration of the domain name, nor the manner in which it is directly or indirectly used, infringes on the legal rights of any third party. DropCatch1402 is not responsible to determine whether domain name(s) registered by customers and the use of said domain(s) infringes legal rights of others. It is the customer's sole responsibility to know whether or not the domain name(s) registered do not directly infringe on the legal rights of any third party. By utilizing DropCatch1402.com and its services, all customers represent, to the best of their knowledge and belief, that neither the registration of the domain name, nor the manner in which it is directly or indirectly used, infringes on the legal rights of any third party.
Any illegal, harmful, or malicious use of a domain is subject to immediate loss and suspension of said domain and user's account. DropCatch1402.com has the right to suspend and delete any domains being used for illegal or harmful activities. DropCatch1402 may further suspend any user's accounts when domains are used to engage in illegal activities. This includes any type of fraud against the general public or fraud against DropCatch1402 (including but not limited to chargebacks, cancelled payments, and bad debt); copyright and trademark infringement; phishing; malicious conduct; and any other harmful and/or illegal activity. Domain and account suspension are at the sole discretion of DropCatch1402. By using DropCatch1402's services you affirm that you are not using your account and domains for any illegal or harmful purposes and agree that DropCatch1402 may take any necessary action, including suspension of your domain name(s) and or account, should you engage in any illegal, harmful, or malicious activity. You further agree that should you engage in or attempt to perpetrate fraud against DropCatch1402.com that you will face immediate suspension from DropCatch1402.com and any and all of DropCatch1402's services indefinitely. Any pattern of fraud, using false contact information will result in immediate suspension and you will not be allowed to use DropCatch1402's services in the future.
By using DropCatch1402.com and registering domain names with DropCatch1402.com you expressly agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless DropCatch1402, it's officers, employees, agents and affiliates from any claims, damages, liabilities, costs and expenses, including reasonable legal fees and expenses arising out of or relating to the Registered Name holder's domain name registration. By entering this agreement, you agree that DropCatch1402.com, at its sole discretion, may take whatever actions are necessary with regards to the modification, assignment and control of your domain and or other products and services it offers. DropCatch1402 is not responsible for domains that are allowed to expire or transfer to other registrars or registrants. In using DropCatch1402 and its services you hereby confirm and agree that you are knowingly and voluntarily waving any rights now or in the future, to pursue any legal action against DropCatch1402. You further agree and acknowledge that it is your sole responsibility to determine whether the purchase and use of your domain infringes upon or violates the rights of any third parties. You further agree and confirm that DropCatch1402 will be held harmless and indemnified from any legal actions arising from your use of domain names registered at DropCatch1402.com.
21.Purchases of Premium / Aftermarket Domains. If you purchase the rights to domain names that other people own, which are listed as aftermarket / premium domains, you agree that the domain name will be locked for a period of 60 days after purchase. While DropCatch1402 will do everything possible to put the domain name into your account as fast as possible (usually immediately), transfer processes and other criteria might hold up the time until the domain is actually put into your account. DropCatch1402 will do what it can to expedite this process as much as possible and will try its best to only list domain names that can reasonably be transferred in a realistic amount of time.
22.Use of Email Plans. You agree that your use of any DropCatch1402 email account and/or email plan will abide by the "Anti-SPAM" requirements listed in the following section. All email plans come with a 7-day guarantee, in which you may cancel within 7 days of purchase and receive an account credit. You are only allowed to cancel an email plan for an account credit once per calendar year per account. All subsequent email plan cancellations will be without credit/refund. If you downgrade an email plan you will not be eligible for a prorated refund on the remaining time remaining in the plan. Even though upgrades are eligible for a prorated refund. All email plans are automatically renewed every year, two weeks before the expiration of the email plan. If you do not wish to continue with your email plan you must specifically "cancel" the email plan from the Email Accounts page within your account. If your account goes delinquent for more than two months due to billing issues or cancellation of the email plan, all data and email accounts will be deleted from within the plan and will not be retrievable. Email services are only available to domain names that are currently registered at DropCatch1402.
23.Anti-SPAM. DropCatch1402 does not allow its servers or services to be used in any way that violate the Can-Spam Act of 2003 or the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.
You agree that you will not utilize any DropCatch1402.com servers or services for transmitting bulk, unsolicited email to third parties without expressly having permission from the email recipient to be opted-in to receive emails from you, or that are not transactional in nature.
You agree that you will not utilize any DropCatch1402.com servers or services for transmitting unsolicited facsimiles (faxes) which are an advertisement or without first obtaining prior confirmed consent to send such communications from the recipient.
You agree that you will not utilize any DropCatch1402.com servers or services for transmitting unsolicited text messages which are an advertisement or without first obtaining prior confirmed consent to send such communications from the recipient.
For all emails that go through the DropCatch1402 system and have previous customer consent, you must include a legitimate physical mailing address of the sender which is a valid address you can receive mail at, and an opt-out method in the footer of the email. Upon request, DropCatch1402 may ask for definitive proof of an opt-in was entered into by the email recipient and that the address provided is legitimate to you and/or your business. DropCatch1402 reserves the right to terminate any email account, email plan, website or other hosted service based on the fact that email going through its servers may not apply to all applicable laws, and/or the fact that your account is deemed to be sending bulk unsolicited email and or faxes.
24.Linked Accounts. Linked accounts on DropCatch1402 are a way to give other users within DropCatch1402 control in your account(s). All users of DropCatch1402 are required to agree to the same terms and conditions as one another. By granting another user permission to access/modify/use your account, you are agreeing to the terms and conditions as set forth in this document. You can and will be responsible for actions taken by other users on your account. For example, if you have given a user permission to your email accounts, and that user is found to have been sending bulk unsolicited email, not only can DropCatch1402 terminate that user's account, but can terminate your email plan, or your account in its entirety. You also agree to the inherent risks of granting other people access to your account, which means giving those people access to modify your domain registrations, manage your email accounts, managing your domains, etc. DropCatch1402 takes no liability for misuse of linked accounts.
25.API Access. To get started with API Access (for programmatically connecting to DropCatch1402) you must first apply and provide reasoning and what you are looking to do with the API access. API access is private and will not be granted to every user. Secondarily, you will be required to fund your account and have a minimum of $100.00 USD in your account balance before being allowed to use the API. All charges which are made using the API will come off of your account balance and will not be associated with a credit card in any way. By using the API you agree that any calls made to the API to charge against your account cannot be refunded. (Certain exceptions "may" apply for a refund, you will need to contact DropCatch1402 directly to discuss.) When using the API you agree that you will not do more than 30 requests against the system in a 30 second timeframe. If you do so, you will be rate-limited and API access may be revoked if you hit this threshold too often. As a general rule, DropCatch1402 asks you space requests out by 1 second, and DropCatch1402 might limit your access even if you are too demanding on the system. (For example, hitting DropCatch1402 30 times in a 5 millisecond period may be considered too aggressive.) You also agree that the API will not be used to purchase domain names that are expiring / dropping into general availability. If you attempt to purchase expiring domains, or check their availability during the drop, DropCatch1402 will respond with "domain not available" even if the domain might be available at that time.
26.Returns / Refunds. DropCatch1402 is not obligated to issue a return or a refund on any of its products. Some products can be returned (such as failed inbound domain transfers), and for all products that are returnable, the return will be processed as an account credit. No refunds will be made to a credit card or bank transfer. With large returns (in excess of a few hundred dollars), it is possible that the credit card processing fees will not be returned to you, but DropCatch1402 will try to issue an account credit for the full purchase price when possible.
27.Billing. In rare circumstances DropCatch1402 may have to make billing adjustments based on unforeseen events. For example: if you purchased a premium (aftermarket) domain name, and the listing was not authorized or valid and domain cannot properly be transferred. In this instance, you may be eligible for a refund or credit for the fact that the product/service you wanted to purchase was unavailable due to unknown reasons. DropCatch1402 does it's best to avoid any such issues but reserves the right to rectify any potentially problematic issues.
28.Security Logging. DropCatch1402 works to bring the best security practices to your account. DropCatch1402 logs most important activity into your account and onto your domain names so that you can easily review what is going on with your account. However, DropCatch1402 does not guarantee to capture every event that happens in the system or through its various programmatic interfaces.
30.Abuse Contact. If you should have an issue with illegal activities operated from a domain that DropCatch1402 is the sponsoring registrar, send an email to [email protected]. You must leave detailed information that can properly communicate the issue and steps to see / reproduce this issue. Please provide DropCatch1402 with full details of contacting yourself, including your name and position if appropriate to the case. DropCatch1402 will get back to all valid reports within 24 hours. If you do not provide enough information or lack details to deem a response necessary, it is possible a response might not be sent. DropCatch1402 does not guarantee to take action depending on the issue and severity of the abusive issue at hand.
31.Deliverability of Email. DropCatch1402 will not be responsible for delivery of email and is not liable for email lost due to Registered Domain Holder's email client or email provider and how these companies and programs deliver email. It is your responsibility to maintain a current and up-to-date email account. Please note that certain emails are required during domain registration, as stipulated by ICANN and for your protection. Should you not be able to unsubscribe to a specific email you should delete your domain names, close your account and/or transfer the domain to another registrar.
32.Disclaimer. This site, its contents, and all information, products, and services contained in or offered through this site are provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis without representations or warranties of any kind. DropCatch1402.com does not, in any manner, provide any express or implied representations or warranties, including but not limited to warranties of title, merchantability, fitness for a specific purpose, or noninfringement. DropCatch1402.com does not warrant that this site or its contents will be complete, accurate, uninterrupted, secure, or error free or that the site or the server that makes it available are free of viruses or other harmful components. All information on the site is subject to change without notice.
In addition, by using DropCatch1402.com you specifically acknowledge and agree that DropCatch1402.com shall have no liability for interruptions in service caused by site maintenance and repairs; interruptions cause by you from custom coding, programming, or configuration; service interruptions that do not prevent traffic to your domain but may affect your ability to alter or configure your domain; and service interruptions beyond the reasonable control of DropCatch1402.com including but not limited to power outages, interruption or failure of digital transmission and/or telecommunication, high network use or any other such failures.
34.Maximum Liability. By using DropCatch1402 you acknowledge and agree that under no circumstances whatsoever will DropCatch1402 be liable to any customer in any way for an amount greater than the lesser of a.) the total amounts paid to DropCatch1402 for services rendered, or b.) $1,000 United States Dollars. You agree that any liability will be strictly capped at $1,000 USD.
35.Accuracy of Written Material. DropCatch1402 has gone through great lengths to make sure the copywriting on its site is accurate and up-to-date, many times with backend calculations that factor into prices and expiration dates, etc. As DropCatch1402.com is ever-evolving there is a possibility copywriting might not match how the technology of the platform works. DropCatch1402 makes best efforts to keep this material up-to-date and accurate and will do its best to uphold what is presented and said on the website. However, in issues of gross error, such as prices accidentally being listed at $0.01, or the website algorithms accidentally saying "100 years free", DropCatch1402 reserves the right to issue a full refund for such inaccuracy.
37.Legal Conduct. You agree that your use of the DropCatch1402 system is only for legal activities. Use of DropCatch1402's servers, its services, email or any other part of DropCatch1402 for illegal activities will constitute a material breach of this agreement and your account may be placed on hold or suspended depending on the severity of the infraction.
This document is considered a legally binding contract once digitally signed/accepted during purchase or modification of any domain name or service on the DropCatch1402.com website. | 2019-04-22T02:15:57Z | http://dropcatch1402.com/Terms.aspx |
The respondent in this appeal entered into a hire purchase agreement with the defenders on 9 March 2001 for the hire and subsequent purchase of a 4.6 litre Range Rover motor vehicle, LMR 72, which was a new top-of-the-range automatic model. It was sold to the defenders by the appellants. The total cash price, as appears from the hire purchase agreement, was £51,550. The respondent paid a deposit of £6,717.82. In terms of the agreement, the respondent was due to pay a total of 36 monthly instalments, the first of which was of £1,517.80, subsequent instalments being of £1,422.80. The respondent paid the deposit and the first two instalments. These sums total £9,658.42.
(1) To find and declare that the hire purchase agreement dated 9 March 2001 between the parties is rescinded and the pursuer's obligations thereunder are at an end.
(2) To grant decree against the defenders for payment to the pursuer of the sum of £9,857.42, payable with interest thereon at the rate of 8% per annum from citation to follow hereon until payment with expenses; and to grant warrant to arrest on the dependence.
The sum sued for in the second crave represented the deposit and the first two instalments which the respondent had paid under the hire purchase agreement, together with the cost of a telephone system, which the respondent had had fitted to the dashboard of the vehicle, which amounted to £199. This had not been returned to him following upon the rescission of the contract.
The respondent's case was that the Range Rover vehicle was not of satisfactory quality, particularly having regard to the price paid for it. In his pleadings, he averred that the vehicle, when delivered, had several defects. He maintained that, when driven, it pulled to the left, causing undue tyre wear. Because of the layout of the pedals, his foot had become trapped underneath the brake pedal. His foot had caught on the underside of the fascia panel. Because the pedals were positioned incorrectly, the vehicle was not safe to drive. There was a loud noise from either the engine or the transmission system. The respondent also maintained that there was a deep scratch on the ashtray and that the glove box was obviously incorrectly fitted. The respondent averred that a reasonable person would expect to receive a vehicle free of such defects. Accordingly, by letter dated 30 March 2001, the respondent rejected the vehicle. It was in these circumstances that he sought the remedies described.
"For safety reasons, there was a height difference between the pedals to prevent pivoting. Pivoting is not good driving practice."
The sheriff also found that the respondent had validly rejected the vehicle by the letter dated 30 March 2001 and had not invalidated his rejection by continuing to drive the vehicle for a period of time thereafter, nor by paying instalments. The vehicle had been uplifted from the respondent early in June 2001, by which time it appeared to have been driven nearly 6,000 miles. The sheriff had concluded that the motor vehicle was not unsafe and that the respondent had exaggerated all his complaints. The appellants had been prepared to replace the foot pedals, the ashtray cover and the navigation disk, to rectify the alignment of the glove box and to re-test the steering alignment. So far as the transmission noise was concerned, the sheriff found in finding-in-fact 16 that "they were prepared to check this and repair it if required." The sheriff had also found that the appellants had been prepared to carry out all of the necessary work without any charge to the respondent and at a time convenient to him, but the latter had refused to accept their offer.
(a) The front wheels were incorrectly balanced, causing excessive tyre wear. This had been corrected by balancing of the front wheels in March 2001. The steering geometry of the motor vehicle was also corrected, as appears from paragraphs 342 and 343 of the sheriff's Note.
(b) There was road speed related noise emanating from the transmission or drive system. This fault was rectified by the appellants at a much later date than the rejection of the motor vehicle by the respondent, following its re-purchase by the appellants, by replacing the front differential, a task which took about two hours.
(c) There was a scratch on the ashtray cover.
(d) There was misalignment of the glove box.
(e) There was poorly finished paintwork on parts of the roof of the vehicle.
The sheriff concluded in finding-in-fact 23 that, notwithstanding these defects, the vehicle was of "satisfactory quality" in terms of the Supply of Goods (Implied Terms) Act 1973, as amended. She found that the defects were easy to rectify and that they would have been covered by the Land Rover warranty. She also found that such repairs "would not affect the durability, longevity or value of the vehicle". On the basis that the vehicle was of satisfactory quality, she found that the defenders were not in material breach of contract and that the respondent had not been entitled to reject the vehicle. Accordingly the defenders were absolved from liability. Accordingly she sustained the third and sixth pleas-in-law for the defenders; quoad ultra repelled the respondent's and defenders' pleas-in-law; assoilzied the defenders; and found the respondent liable to the defenders in the expenses of the cause.
"23. The vehicle supplied to the pursuer was of satisfactory quality. Any defects were easy to rectify and would be covered by the Land Rover warranty. The pursuer would not incur any cost in said repairs being carried out and they would not effect (sic.) the durability, longevity or value of the vehicle.
24. The pursuer acted totally unreasonably in refusing to accept Shields' offers to remedy any alleged defects. He also acted in a totally unreasonable manner in refusing to accept the defenders' attempts to have matters rectified. The vehicle being of satisfactory quality, the defenders were not in material breach of contract. The pursuer was not entitled to reject the said vehicle."
"25. The vehicle was supplied to the pursuer in terms of the hire purchase agreement with the foregoing defects. The defect in the differential was not a minor defect. It required to be and was later replaced. The defenders were in material breach of contract by hiring the vehicle in that condition to the pursuer. The pursuer was entitled to reject the vehicle and claim damages."
"1. The defenders, having hired to the pursuer a vehicle which was not of satisfactory quality and being in material breach of contract, the pursuer was entitled to reject it and treat the hire purchase agreement dated 9 March 2001 as repudiated.
2. The pursuer is entitled to repayment of his deposit and of the instalments paid by him in terms of that agreement, i.e. to repayment of the sum of £9,658.42."
Thereafter he sustained the fourth, fifth, sixth, ninth, tenth and eleventh pleas-in-law for the pursuer; quoad ultra he repelled the pleas-in-law for the pursuer and the defenders. He went on to ordain the defenders to pay to the pursuer the sum of £9,658.42, with interest thereon at the rate of 8% per annum from 10 July 2001 until payment. He found the defenders liable to the pursuer in the expenses of the cause, save so far as previously decerned for. Against the sheriff principal's decision, the appellants have now appealed to this court.
Junior counsel for the appellants indicated that his submissions would relate to five aspects of the case: (1) he would examine the judgments of the sheriff principal and the sheriff; (2) he would consider the extent of the defects in the motor vehicle; (3) he would set out the law applicable to the situation; (4) he would deal with the tests which an appeal court should apply in relation to findings-in-fact made by a judge of first instance; in particular, this would be considered in the context of findings relating to "satisfactory quality"; and (5) he would make submissions relating to the decision of the sheriff principal to the effect that (a) he should not have substituted his own view for that of the sheriff; (b) upon the assumption that he was entitled to interfere with the decision of the sheriff, in doing so he applied the wrong test; and (c) the sheriff principal made a judgment on a critical issue without taking into account the full content of the evidence.
Following that pattern of submissions, junior counsel first drew attention to paragraphs 27-33 of the sheriff principal's judgment, in which it was contended that, while he had identified the correct test, he had applied it wrongly. In this connection he submitted that a warranty was a relevant factor to be taken into account in relation to the decision of the hypothetical "reasonable person" referred to in section 10(2A) of the 1973 Act. In paragraph 30 of his judgment the sheriff principal had held that the warranty was, in effect, irrelevant. That was an erroneous view on account of the reference in section 10(2A) of the 1973 Act to "all the other relevant circumstances". In paragraph 32 of his judgment, the sheriff principal had set forth the function of an appellate court in a case in which a judge of first instance had made findings-in-fact. No issue was taken with that, save that the sheriff principal should have made clear that it was only in the circumstances outlined that an appellate court could interfere. Junior counsel went on to examine the remaining paragraphs of the sheriff principal's decision, making a number of points regarding the manner in which they had been stated. In paragraph 50, the sheriff principal had erred in law. In that paragraph, while drawing attention to the "reasonable person" referred to in section 10(2A) of the 1973 Act, he had gone on in the latter part of the paragraph to refer to "an objective purchaser". That was an erroneous formulation. The "reasonable person" was an hypothetical person, who had to be seen as an outsider looking into the transaction, not a party to it, as contemplated by the sheriff principal. However, it was accepted that there was little authority in relation to the application of section 10 of the 1973 Act. It was appropriate to mention in relation to the decision of the sheriff principal that the criticism made of the pedal arrangement in the vehicle, of the ashtray and the missing navigation disk had been rejected.
In relation to the judgment of the sheriff, paragraphs 343-346 of her Note were crucial. It was in these paragraphs that the vital conclusions of the sheriff had been expressed, including the conclusion that the vehicle had been of satisfactory quality. The sheriff's finding-in-fact 5 related to the Land Rover warranty which was found to enable manufacturing and mechanical defects in the vehicle to be rectified free of charge to the pursuer during the three year period of its duration.
Junior counsel next proceeded to consider the extent of the defects in the motor vehicle, the second part of his submissions. As already made clear, it was not necessary to explore the situation regarding the ashtray and the navigation disk. He drew attention to the sheriff's findings-in-fact 7, 18, 19, 20, 21 and 22, which set out the sheriff's conclusions regarding the defects. The sheriff principal had dealt with these matters in paragraph 49 of his judgment, but it was not clear what defects the sheriff principal had accepted as being significant. It was of some interest to note that the respondent's letter of rejection of 30 March 2001 did not mention a number of the defects subsequently founded upon, in particular, the defect in the transmission. However, it had to be accepted that that had to be taken into account nevertheless in applying the test set forth in section 10(2A) of the 1973 Act.
Junior counsel turned next to the third part of the submissions, his exposition of the law applicable to the case. The present form of section 10 of the 1973 Act was a consequence of amendment effected by the Sale and Supply of Goods Act 1994, the purpose of which had been to strengthen the position of consumers. Section 7 of, and Schedule 2 to, the 1994 Act had made amendments to the 1973 Act. The 1994 Act had followed the making of certain recommendations by the Law Commission and the Scottish Law Commission in a Report on the sale and supply of goods presented to Parliament in May 1987 (Law Com. No. 160; Scot. Law Com. No. 104). It was instructive to consider the contents of that Report, in particular paragraphs 3.21-3.24 and 3.42 and 3.43. Nowhere did one see any reference to the "objective purchaser" concept of the sheriff principal.
Junior counsel for the appellants then moved on to the fourth section of his submissions, the appropriate tests to be applied by an appeal court where findings-in-fact had been made by a judge of first instance. It was accepted that the question of whether goods met "the standard that a reasonable person would regard as satisfactory", referred to in section 10(2A) of the 1973 Act, as amended, was essentially a jury question to be answered in the light of the whole circumstances of the particular case, as was recognised by the sheriff principal in paragraph 31 of his judgment. However, that recognition did not detract from the limitations upon the powers of an appeal court, which were circumscribed. In this connection junior counsel relied upon Thomas v Thomas 1947 S.C.(H.L.) 45 per Lord Thankerton at page 54; Millars of Falkirk Ltd v Turpie 1976 S.L.T. (N.) 66, per Lord President Emslie at page 68 and Lord Avonside at page 69; and Thomson v Kvaerner Govan Ltd 2004 S.C. (H.L.) 1, per Lord Hope of Craighead at pages 5-6.
Junior counsel came finally to the fifth part of his submissions. In the first place, it was contended that the sheriff principal had, but should not have, substituted his own views for those of the sheriff. In that respect the present case bore striking similarity to that of Millars of Falkirk Ltd v Turpie, although it was recognised that the issue in that case had been whether the goods concerned, a new motor car, were of "merchantable quality". The source of the trouble in that case had been a minor matter which could readily have been cured with great ease and at little expense. The court had held in that case that the sheriff principal ought not to have taken a different view from the sheriff, who had been entitled to reach the conclusion he did.
The heart of the sheriff principal's decision here was to be found in paragraphs 48 and 49 of his judgment. It was submitted that the reasoning was not particularly clear. In particular, it was not clear whether he was saying that the sheriff had been plainly wrong in taking the view she did. Further, it was not clear that he was saying that she had misdirected herself as regards the law. It was possible that the sheriff principal was saying that the sheriff had taken into account an irrelevant consideration, namely that, in her view, the respondent was not a reasonable person. Reliance was placed on the concluding part of paragraph 48. The sheriff principal did not seem to have reached a definite conclusion about the sheriff's reasoning and, in particular, whether she had adopted the correct test. In paragraph 48 of his judgment, the sheriff principal had said that the sheriff appeared to have attached great significance to the facts that (a) the pursuer was not a reasonable person, (b) the defects were minor, (c) they could be remedied under warranty at no cost to the pursuer, and (d) Shields were prepared to carry out remedial work. In saying that, the sheriff principal had ignored certain features of the sheriff's Note. It was clear from paragraph 344 that section 10(2A) of the 1973 Act was important. What she had subsequently said in paragraph 345 concerning the pursuer amounted in fact to the application of the appropriate tests.
The sheriff principal had drawn attention to the fact that the sheriff had allegedly regarded the defects as minor. It was submitted that that did not in fact reflect her findings. The classification of defects into major and minor defects was not part of the scheme of the legislation. There could be a myriad of minor defects which would render a car of unsatisfactory quality. There could be no objection to the language used by the sheriff to describe the defects if in fact she had applied the correct criterion. That she had done.
In paragraph 30 of the sheriff principal's judgment, he dealt with the significance of the warranty. It was correct to say that the warranty did not detract from the rights of the hirer, but it was nevertheless a relevant circumstance, for the purposes of section 10(2A) of the 1973 Act. The significance of it was a matter for the judge of first instance. In any event the sheriff principal was ambivalent on the matter of the warranty. In this connection junior counsel relied upon Rogers &c v Parish (Scarborough) Ltd 1 Q.B. 933, at pages 941, 944 and 945. It was accepted that that case had been one involving the issue of whether a vehicle was of "merchantable quality" within the meaning of section 14 of the Sale of Goods Act 1979. The sheriff principal, in paragraph 47 of his judgment, had derived comfort from the observations of Mustill, L.J. at pages 944 and 945 of the case cited. However, what had been said by him there was not consistent with Millars of Falkirk Ltd v Turpie. Accordingly, the law was uncertain as to the extent to which, if at all, a warranty was relevant to an issue such as had arisen in this case. If the view advanced by Mustill, L.J. were correct and applicable in the context of this case, then the sheriff may have misdirected herself in law.
At this stage in his submissions, junior counsel for the appellants turned to the issue of whether the sheriff had been plainly wrong in relation to the defects founded upon in the case. In that connection he considered the significance of the ashtray, the missing navigation disk, the glove box, the paintwork on the roof and the differential problem. The two former items could not be founded upon by the respondent, for the reasons already given. The sheriff dealt with the glove box in paragraph 333 of her Note. It could not be said that her approach there was plainly wrong. Likewise, she dealt with the allegations concerning the paintwork in paragraph 336 of the note. Once again she could not be said to have been plainly wrong in relation to that matter. The fault in the differential mechanism was dealt with in finding-in-fact 19 and paragraph 337 of the sheriff's Note. Nothing had been done about this problem prior to the rejection of the motor vehicle. While the problem would have become a very serious one with continuing use, it did not have an effect on the roadworthiness of the vehicle. It had not been mentioned in the letter of rejection. There had been evidence from a Mr Bathgate that the transmission problem, the source of noise, could have been attended to quite easily and was not a major problem. Looking at all of these matters, it could not be said that the sheriff was plainly wrong in her assessment of the evidence. It could not be said that a reasonable person could not have reached the same view as the sheriff on the whole matter. It followed that the sheriff principal ought not to have interfered with the decision of the sheriff.
In the second place it was submitted that, even if the sheriff principal had been entitled to interfere with the sheriff's judgment, he appeared to have applied the wrong test. In paragraph 50 of his judgment he had referred to the concept of "an objective purchaser", about which a submission had already been made. That concept was not reflected in anything to be found in the relevant legislation. What was in contemplation in the legislation was the test of the reasonable person who looked in on the transaction without being a party to it.
In the third place, junior counsel contended that the sheriff principal had, in any event, made a judgment on a critical issue without taking into account the full content of the evidence. His assessment of the evidence in paragraph 50 of his judgment was unsound. In that paragraph he referred to the level of price attached to the vehicle in question and to the fact that it was sold as "a high quality vehicle". The sheriff principal had misconstrued the evidence in this connection, although it was accepted that, in principle, price and what might be called brand image were relevant to the issue of "satisfactory quality", within the meaning of section 10(2) of the 1973 Act. In particular the sheriff principal had not assessed the evidence regarding the expectations of a reasonable person in relation to an expensive up-market car. In connection with this submission junior counsel referred to the evidence of a number of witnesses, in particular, Angus Robertson at pages 245, 246 and 249 of the printed evidence; Alan Bathgate at pages 352, 355 and 424; Graham Alexander at pages 535, 544 and 556; Robert Woods at pages 693, 694, 732 and 751; Christopher Bradley at pages 840 and 842; Cameron Johnstone at pages 887-889, 1054 and 1055; and Andrew Grant at pages 1098-1099. On all of this material the submission was that the balance of the evidence did not support the sheriff principal's view that an expensive car could reasonably be expected to have no defects. In short, the balance of the evidence showed that a reasonable person would not expect that a new car would be free from defects, even if it was expensive. In particular the sheriff principal had made a decision contrary to the weight of the evidence of Alan Bathgate, Christopher Bradley and Andrew Grant. In conclusion, junior counsel moved the court to recall the interlocutor of the sheriff principal and to restore the judgment of the sheriff.
Counsel for the respondent moved the court to adhere to the interlocutor of the sheriff principal and to dismiss the appeal. The question raised was whether the defenders were in material breach of contract as at 30 March 2001, when the respondent treated the contract as having been repudiated. That led to the question of whether the motor vehicle was of "satisfactory quality" within the meaning of section 10(2) of the 1973 Act. That question reduced itself into the issue of whether, at the date of delivery, 9 March 2001, the defenders had hired a motor vehicle of satisfactory quality, thus meeting the standards of the reasonable person, taking into account all of the relevant factors. These issues were focused in the pursuer's pleas-in-law, particularly pleas 10, 11 and 12.
Counsel went on to traverse the cases of Thomas v Thomas and Thomson v Kvaerner Govan Ltd; also Gray v Gray 1968 S.C. 185 per Lord Cameron at page 197 and Stevenson v Rogers 1991 S.C. 164, at page 174. The gravamen of the respondent's submission was that the sheriff had misdirected herself in the application of the law, in relation to the manufacturer's warranty and the fact that the appellants had supplied a motor vehicle which everyone concluded was in need of a warranty repair. It was submitted that the sheriff principal had in fact recognised the limitations of his jurisdiction in a case such as this, in paragraph 32 of his judgment. The respondent's position was that the sheriff principal had correctly concluded that the sheriff had misdirected herself in law by taking into account irrelevant considerations and failing to take into account relevant matters.
An important point was that the appellants had not made clear in their submissions when it was that they were saying that they had implemented their obligations in terms of the 1973 Act, as amended. It was submitted that, unless there was some agreement to the contrary, the test set forth in section 10 of that Act had to be satisfied at the moment of delivery. If that were correct, the warranty would disappear from the case.
(1) The test of "satisfactory quality" to be applied in terms of section 10(2) of the 1973 Act was to be applied according to the objective standard of the "reasonable person", referred to in section 10(2A) of that Act, that reasonable person being involved in an hypothetical evaluation of the goods hired under the contract, rendering the subjective standards of the individual hirer irrelevant.
(2) The objective standard of "satisfactory quality" encompassed a need to consider the quality of the goods in relation to several different aspects of characteristics of the goods; when looked at together, it must be possible to say that the standard of the "reasonable person" was attained.
(3) In a consumer contract, subject to sections 10-12 of the 1973 Act, delivery of the goods was performance by the "creditor" in the hire purchase contract and a material breach of contract in performance at the date of the delivery gave rise to a right in the hirer, or debtor, to treat the contract as having been repudiated by the "creditor".
(4) The existence of a manufacturer's warranty in a consumer contract was not a relevant circumstance in terms of section 10(2A) of the 1973 Act in the assessment of the quality of the goods because (i) the term implied by section 10(2) fell to be implemented by the "creditor"; (ii) a warranty was an arrangement with a third party which was not directly enforceable against the "creditor"; and (iii) the assessment of quality was to be made at the date of supply and not at the time of completion of warranty repairs, save as otherwise agreed. In any event, having regard to the terms of clause 6(b) of the hire purchase agreement, it was difficult to see how the warranty could have been of any avail to the respondent until the duration of the period of hire had expired.
(5) In a consumer contract, an opportunity to cure a defect might be afforded to the "creditor", but that would be at the option of the hirer. Its exercise in any particular contract might be a "relevant circumstance" in terms of section 10(2A) in the assessment of quality, if there had been an attempt to cure a defect which had failed.
"The pursuer acted totally unreasonably in refusing to accept Shields' offers to remedy any alleged defects. He also acted in a totally unreasonable manner in refusing to accept the defenders' attempts to have matters rectified."
One had to ask why findings in those terms had been made. There could be no other explanation than that the sheriff had applied the wrong test. In addition, there were no findings-in-fact or findings-in-fact and law to the effect of what a reasonable person would have done in the circumstances. The terms of paragraphs 317, 318 and 338 in the sheriff's Note showed that she had gone off the rails. The focus of those paragraphs was the sheriff's assessment that the respondent had behaved unreasonably in a number of different respects. Paragraph 345 was also unsatisfactory. There was no reference to section 10(2B) of the 1973 Act, nor was there any reasoning. In particular the sheriff did not appear to have had in mind matters of "appearance and finish" and "freedom from minor defects", which featured in section 10(2B).
In connection with his proposition (2), counsel submitted that section 10(2A) and 10(2B) had to be read together; the sheriff should have looked at the issue of "satisfactory quality" in the light of the factors set out in section 10(2B). Those matters should have been assessed according to the standard of the "reasonable person", but that had not been done. In this context counsel drew attention to paragraphs 3.28 to 3.43 in the Law Commissions' Report. It was quite clear that the Scottish Law Commission had taken an adverse view of the effect of the decision in Millars of Falkirk Ltd v Turpie. Counsel also relied on Benjamin's Sale of Goods, 6th ed. paragraphs 11.050, 11.052 and 11.062.
Counsel went on to elaborate his proposition (3) by submitting that the test of "satisfactory quality" had to be applied at the date of delivery of the goods hired. That was evident from an examination of the hire purchase contract itself. It was necessary that the goods hired should demonstrate the requisite quality as at the commencement of the hire period. So, if the goods required a warranty repair to achieve the prescribed standard, that meant that the implied term as to quality had been breached. The matter of remedies for breach of a hire purchase agreement as regards Scotland were dealt with in section 12A of the 1973 Act. In paragraph 346 of her Note, the sheriff appeared to have overlooked the provisions of section 12A(2)(a). It provided that, if there was a breach by the creditor of any term, express or implied, as to the quality of the goods, that breach was deemed to be material. The sheriff's reference to section 12A(2)(b) was plainly inaccurate. In connection with these submissions, counsel relied upon Crowther v Shannon Motor Company 1 All E.R. 139; Lee v York Coach and Marine R.T.R. 35 at page 42; Rogers v Parish (Scarborough) Ltd at page 943 and J. & H. Ritchie Ltd v Lloyd Ltd 2005 S.C. 155. All of these cases showed that the punctum temporis at which quality had to be assessed was either the point of sale, or where a hire was involved, the point at which the hire commenced. The fact that the sheriff had made finding-in-fact 23, which referred to the rectification of defects under a warranty, indicated that she had misunderstood the law. The sheriff had looked at the question of whether the vehicle could be rendered to be in a satisfactory condition after work had been done on it. That was an erroneous approach.
Counsel next proceeded to elaborate his proposition (4), essentially to the effect that the warranty was not a "relevant circumstance" in terms of section 10(2A) of the 1973 Act. A hirer who had defective goods, who was faced with a non-compliant manufacturer, would have no remedy against the creditor in the hire purchase agreement. In any event, in the present case, there was an insuperable difficulty concerning the enforcement of any warranty, having regard to the terms of clause 6(b) of the hire purchase agreement. Warranties might be issued for a number of commercial reasons, for example, public relations. A consumer might see a warranty as a positive benefit. However, a warranty was irrelevant in relation to quality because its existence did not relate to any aspect of the quality of the goods concerned. The expression "all the other relevant circumstances" in section 10(2A) had to refer to circumstances relevant to the quality and character of those goods. In its nature, a warranty was a collateral guarantee issued by the manufacturer concerning the goods, which might alleviate the fears of a purchaser. The features which figured in section 10(2B) militated against the relevance of any warranty in the present circumstances. On a practical aspect, it was pointed out that the terms of the warranty in the present case had never been seen. The document was not produced. Evidently the sheriff had made assumptions about its contents. It was obvious that the express wording of the warranty would be of importance, if it were to be relied upon. That was another reason why the making of finding-in-fact 23 was unjustified. Further, in terms of clause 9(e) of the hire purchase agreement, the defenders were not bound by any representation made by the appellants. The respondent had no contractual link with the manufacturer of the motor vehicle and could not rely on any representations made by the appellants. The observations of Mustill, L.J. at pages 944 and 955 in Rogers v Parish (Scarborough) Ltd and of Sir Edward Eveleigh at page 947 were pertinent. It appeared that the sheriff had had no regard to those opinions. In connection with the same point, counsel relied upon Chitty on Contracts 29th ed. paragraph 43.155 and Benjamin's Sale of Goods, 6th ed. paragraphs 11.043, 11.050 , 11.057, 14.043 and 14.062. These passages demonstrated that statutory rights ought not to be interpreted by reference to the existence of a warranty. The sheriff had done just that. Finally, counsel relied on Hunter v Wylie, 1993 S.L.T. 1091. The fact that the fault could easily be remedied did not affect its character.
Counsel, noting that Millars of Falkirk Ltd v Turpie had figured prominently in the submissions for the appellants, made a number of points concerning that case. In particular, since its decision, the law had changed; the Sale of Goods Act 1893, as amended, had been in force at the time of the decision. The issue had been one of "merchantable quality". Having regard to the fundamental changes in the law which had occurred since the decision of that case, it was of no assistance here.
Counsel went on to draw attention to tracts of evidence relating to the differential mechanism of the motor vehicle. It was plain from the evidence that there was a defect in a major component of the vehicle. In relation to that defect, the sheriff's conclusion, in paragraph 337 of her Note, that it was easily rectified, demonstrated a misdirection in law. If for no other reason, clause 9(i) of the hire purchase agreement demonstrated the irrelevance of the warranty to the issue of whether the respondent's statutory rights had been breached or not. Counsel also relied upon Jewsons Ltd v Leanne Boykan B.L.R. 31 at pages 44 and 45.
Counsel proceeded next to elaborate his proposition (5). If the existence of the warranty was relevant, or if the ease of cure of a defect was relevant, or if the willingness of the third party to cure a problem was relevant, then the respondent's attempts to have the vehicle rectified had to be taken into account also as a relevant circumstance. Looking at findings-in-fact 7, 8, 9, 19 and 20, the third party's performance in attempting to deal with the defects left much to be desired. In particular the problem in the transmission system of the vehicle was never rectified while it was on hire to the respondent. In this connection counsel drew attention to paragraphs 28, 117, 118, 119, 161 and 319 of the sheriff's Note. Thus, if endeavours to cure the defects were relevant, the progress made was not satisfactory. There was resistance by the third party to requests for action by them. Counsel also relied upon passages in Benjamin's Sale of Goods: Special Supplement to the 6th ed. at paragraphs 1.007, 1.015, 1.160, 1.200, and 1.204 to 1.206.
Counsel contended that the test was whether a reasonable person would have accepted the vehicle with the defects identified, or rejected it. It was plain from the evidence that the defects justified rejection by a reasonable person, particularly the problem with the transmission system. In this connection, counsel drew attention to the evidence of the witnesses who had dealt with those issues at the proof, namely, Angus Robertson, Alan Bathgate, Graham Alexander, Robert Woods, and Cameron Johnstone. There was no factual basis for the appellants' submissions that a consumer would expect defects such as those which emerged in the present case, nor would the "reasonable person" referred to in section 10(2A) of the 1973 Act. The price of the vehicle and its status as a top-of-the-range vehicle reinforced that point. Thus the sheriff principal, having concluded that the sheriff had erred in law, was justified in reaching the conclusion that he did. The only contrary evidence came from Christopher Bradley, a technical manager for Land Rover and Jaguar cars. That evidence could not properly be the basis of a judgment.
Turning finally to the judgment of the sheriff principal, counsel said that, in paragraph 27, he had correctly stated the issues which arose. In paragraphs 48 and 49 he had indicated where the sheriff had erred in law. The decision of the sheriff principal ought to be affirmed.
Senior counsel began by adopting the submissions of junior counsel. He explained that he wished first to clarify certain points regarding the appellants' position. Thereafter he intended to reinforce the three principal submissions made by junior counsel in relation to the decision of the sheriff principal.
Proceeding in that way, he made four points regarding the appellants' position. First, it was not said that, once there had been a breach of the implied term regarding quality, the appellants thereafter had an opportunity to remedy the breach; he was not relying on the concept of a "remedial breach of contract". So, if the judgment were made that the vehicle was not of "satisfactory quality", the warranty could not excuse that breach. Secondly, he accepted that the court had to proceed on the basis that quality had to be judged as at the time of delivery; however, that was subject to certain qualifications which would later emerge. Thirdly, the appellants submitted that there was no breach of the statutory implied term, unless the vehicle was not of "satisfactory quality"; but "satisfactory quality" was not to be equated with a complete absence of defects. Fourthly, the appellants argued that not every defect that required rectification would make a complex piece of machinery, such as the motor vehicle here involved, not of "satisfactory quality". It was a question of fact and degree whether a defect, or defects, amounted to a breach of the implied term. It had been argued for the respondent that, if there was a defect that required rectification, the goods were not of "satisfactory quality". Putting the matter in another way, unrepaired defects might be consistent with the existence of "satisfactory quality". An example of a defect which would not impair quality was a poor connection between the battery of the vehicle and the relevant electrical leads. In such a situation, the vehicle would not start; however, the matter could be rectified in a moment.
Senior counsel then turned to elaborate the criticisms already made of the sheriff principal's judgment. He contended that the sheriff principal ought not to have interfered with the decision of the sheriff, substituting his view for hers. The sheriff had not misdirected herself on any material matter. Her decision was a decision on fact, although it had to be accepted that a judge could be responsible for a misdirection in making such a decision. If the issue was a pure question of fact, respect had to be accorded to the decision of the judge of first instance, although there was still an opportunity for review. Misdirection would include the adoption of an unsound legal approach. So, if the sheriff had erred in applying the provisions of section 10 of the 1973 Act, as amended, the sheriff principal and this Court would be justified in interfering.
The decision in the present case involved the consideration of an hypothetical issue raised by the terms of section 10(2A) of the 1973 Act. That section did not define "all the other relevant circumstances". There was no statutory provision against taking the warranty into account in that context; a warranty might be a "relevant circumstance". However, it was accepted that the word "circumstances" had to be relevant to the issue of quality. The list of factors appearing in section 10(2B) was not a checklist; the elements in the list had to be considered and dealt with appropriately in all the circumstances. It was submitted that the sheriff had not ignored these matters. The list referred to did not have the effect of excluding other factors, for example, ease of repair.
The approach of the sheriff principal to the sheriff's decision was to be found principally in paragraphs 48 and 49 of his judgment. In paragraph 48 he listed several alleged misdirections. Counsel for the respondent had identified several more. However, looking at the state of the vehicle, the decision of the sheriff was not perhaps surprising. In an area such as this, the issue depended on a matter of degree. The car worked and was roadworthy. The defects were few and minor. The sheriff had been entitled to come to the view that the defects were of this nature and had not troubled the respondent. It had been argued on his behalf that his view was irrelevant, but it was submitted that it could be taken into account in the context. Perhaps the most problematic defect was the fault in the differential. The sheriff principal had taken the view that this was not minor, as appeared from paragraph 49 of his judgment. In doing that, the sheriff principal was in error. In that connection senior counsel drew attention to findings-in-fact 15 and 19. This fault could be quickly and effectively repaired. It had not affected safety or roadworthiness. At this point in his submissions he sought to reinforce what he was saying by reference to certain parts of the evidence. It was submitted that the sheriff had had the correct test in mind when making her decision, as appeared from paragraphs 344 to 345 of her Note. Those passages were the culmination of a reasoning process set out in paragraph 236.
It had been argued that the sheriff had taken into account allegedly irrelevant factors. The first of these was that the pursuer was not, in her view, a reasonable person. It was submitted that that was a part of the picture to which she was entitled to have regard. She had not confused the pursuer with the "reasonable person" referred to in section 10(2A) of the 1973 Act. Finding-in-fact 24, where she specifically found that the pursuer had acted totally unreasonably, was an unnecessary finding.
It had been suggested that the sheriff's categorisation of the defects as minor indicated a misdirection on her part. However, that was an issue of fact, on which the sheriff principal had substituted his view for hers. In any event, the characterisation of a defect as major or minor was not the touchstone of quality as appeared from section 10 of the 1973 Act. Furthermore, in the crucial findings-in-fact 19 and 23, the sheriff had not used this characterisation. A defect such as the problem with the differential would not necessarily render the vehicle of unsatisfactory quality and it might therefore understandably be regarded as minor. In this connection, reference was made to Millars of Falkirk Ltd v Turpie. The defect under consideration in that case had been very similar to the one here referred to.
The sheriff had been criticised by the sheriff principal for relying upon the existence of the warranty and upon the appellants' willingness to effect repairs. It had been said that she was not entitled to take those factors into account. Senior counsel submitted that she was. The weight given to them was for the sheriff herself to decide. There were four ways in which the warranty could be relevant. First, it had been sold as part of the contract for the acquisition of the vehicle. Senior counsel agreed that clause 6(b) of the hire purchase agreement was qualified, but the sheriff had felt able to make findings-in-fact 5 and 23. She must have relied on oral evidence for that purpose. Secondly, the warranty was relevant because it showed that a purchaser would expect some defects in a complicated vehicle and not perfection. It was relevant to the issue of the ease of remedying defects without cost to the consumer. Thirdly, the warranty was relevant because it led to the repair of any existing defects and the car dealer being willing and able to effect those repairs. Fourthly, the existence of the warranty was relevant in assessing whether any particular defect was sufficiently serious to render the vehicle not of satisfactory quality. As regards the appellants' willingness to repair the vehicle, that was relevant on the basis of the case of Millars of Falkirk Ltd v Turpie.
Senior counsel acknowledged that findings-in-fact 5 and 23 had been made in the absence of evidence regarding the terms of the warranty. The document itself had not been before the court. The appellants had sought to lodge it during the proof, but that had been successfully opposed by the respondent. Oral evidence concerning it had been led without objection. The sheriff had been entitled to make findings on the basis of the evidence available to her. Senior counsel recognised that the decision in Rogers v Parish (Scarborough) Ltd presented a problem for his submissions. He sought to distinguish that case, since the defects there involved clearly made the car not of "merchantable quality". In any event, that case had been decided under the earlier law. It followed from that that the main significance of the case was as to the meaning of "merchantable quality". What Mustill, L.J. had said at page 944 was that a warranty was not able to make a vehicle of "non-merchantable quality" into one of "merchantable quality". That was an issue which arose only at a later stage than had been reached in the present case. At page 945 in the case there was a reference to the warranty being an addition to the buyer's rights, but those rights depended on the circumstances of the bargain. The sheriff here had considered that the warranty was relevant for the reasons explained in paragraph 346 of her Note. It would be of importance to the reasonable person to know that defects would be repaired free of charge, whether they would or would not affect the view taken of the importance of any particular defect. However, it was accepted that a line had to be drawn concerning the scale of defects, despite any warranty. The appellants' position was that useful guidance was to be obtained from Millars of Falkirk Ltd v Turpie. It was useful because there was an exercise of judgment in relation to defects in a motor vehicle, although, of course, the issue was one of "merchantable quality". The existence of the warranty was regarded as a relevant circumstance by the Lord President.
It had been said in criticism of the sheriff that she had failed to take into account the circumstance that the vehicle was a new and luxury car. However, it was contended that she had made findings that showed that she had had that in mind. That appeared from paragraph 236 of her Note. It had also been submitted that the sheriff's reliance on the history of the car subsequent to its hiring to the respondent was reliance on an irrelevant matter. However, that was not so; finding-in-fact 19 was wholly pertinent to the issues in the case. The history showed how little had to be done to render the car of satisfactory quality. Senior counsel accepted that the law required that the vehicle had to be of satisfactory quality on delivery to the hirer. Finding-in-fact 23 reflected the fact that a vehicle with certain defects might yet be of satisfactory quality.
Certain criticisms had been directed at the sheriff's decision in consequence of the appearance of the last two sentences in paragraph 346 of her Note. These sentences did not indicate misdirection in law by the sheriff. Her view was that the car was of "satisfactory quality". Accordingly there was no material breach. The sentences concerned did not show that the sheriff had misconstrued section 12A of the 1973 Act as amended. It was acknowledged that her reference to section 12A(2)(b) was erroneous; the reference should have been to section 12A(2)(a). There had also been criticism of the sheriff's reliance on Millars of Falkirk Ltd v Turpie. That case had already been discussed; there was no question of the sheriff having thought that it had been decided under the present law.
The final criticism made of the sheriff was that she had failed to take account of the appellants' failure to have the transmission problem repaired. The fact was that there was no clear history of the transmission problem having been the subject of complaint by the respondent, which had been overlooked. In that connection, in paragraph 319 of her Note, the sheriff rejected the respondent's evidence at page 198 of the notes of evidence that he had been told that the noise emitted by the transmission was simply "a characteristic of the vehicle". Despite the contents of paragraph 337 of the sheriff's Note there was in fact no evidence that noise from the transmission had been brought to the attention of the appellants at an early stage. Transmission noise was not mentioned in the respondent's letter of rejection of 30 March 2001. There was no indication of material misdirection by the sheriff on these matters; accordingly the sheriff principal had not been entitled to interfere with her decision.
Senior counsel moved on to the second of the criticisms made of the sheriff principal's decision, to the effect that, assuming that he had been entitled to interfere with the sheriff's decision and to consider the issue for himself, he had erred in the application of the appropriate test. This submission was focused on the use by the sheriff principal of the expression "objective purchaser", in paragraph 50 of his judgment. This expression was not just a shorthand method of referring to the test set out in section 10 of the 1973 Act; it appeared to be at the heart of the sheriff principal's reasoning and was wrong. The amendment to the 1973 Act had been designed to eliminate reference to a purchaser or hirer in defining the appropriate test. In that connection reference was made to paragraphs 3.21, 3.25 and 3.26 of the Law Commissions' Report. The sheriff principal's expression denoted some hypothetical purchaser, or, in this case hirer, who did not feature in the legislation. There was nothing in section 10(2A) to show that the intention of Parliament was that the "reasonable person" there employed was to be assumed to be in the position of a buyer or hirer. Section 10(2C) was focused on the position of the actual hirer.
Turning to the third main criticism of the sheriff principal, to the effect that, even if he had applied the correct test, he did so without proper regard to the evidence on the matter, the factors on which he relied were apparently set out in paragraph 50 of his judgment. The sheriff principal did not explain where the material on which he relied in that paragraph had its origin. The only possible source was the evidence of Angus Robertson at pages 245-246 of the notes of evidence. The sheriff had noted that evidence in paragraph 255 of her Note. Alan Bathgate had given some evidence which tended to support the respondent's position at page 352 of the notes of evidence; however, he contemplated that the transmission unit would have been replaced under the warranty, if necessary, as appeared from page 425 of the notes of evidence. That was why new cars had warranties. Looking at the whole evidence including that of Christopher Bradley and of Andrew Grant, the evidence was not overwhelming. On balance, the evidence would support the sheriff's decision. In conclusion, senior counsel renewed the motion that the interlocutor of the sheriff principal should be recalled and that of the sheriff restored. Alternatively, the interlocutor of the sheriff principal should be recalled and decree of absolvitor pronounced.
Counsel for the respondent stood by the submissions which he had earlier made. In reply to those of senior counsel for the appellants, he advanced three propositions: (1) if a car, as delivered, needed to have its condition changed to make it of "satisfactory quality", then it had been delivered in breach of contract, irrespective of the degree of failure; (2) section 12A of the 1973 Act provided that such a breach, irrespective of the degree of failure, would be deemed material; and (3) the existence of a warranty and the ease with which repairs might be effected were irrelevant to the assessment of whether goods which had been delivered were of "satisfactory quality" because (i) they were both means whereby the condition of the goods might be changed from that at delivery; and (ii) warranty defects were listed as factors or aspects of quality which might be taken into account in the assessment exercise required under section 10(2B) of the 1973 Act.
Counsel accepted that some minor defects would be consistent with goods being of "satisfactory quality". Indeed, a vehicle could be of satisfactory quality with some minor defects which fell to be cured at the expense of the purchaser. In other words, the "reasonable person" of section 10(2A) would ignore a warranty in considering whether goods measured up to the requisite standard. The words "all the other relevant circumstances" in section 10(2A) could never include a warranty. Senior counsel for the appellants had figured a situation where a car had been bought of which the leads to the battery were not properly attached at the time of delivery. No doubt the car would not start. However, it would be a matter of a few moments to tighten the requisite bolts and to make a proper connection. That was an example of a defect where a "reasonable person" would conclude that he had been delivered a car which was of "satisfactory quality". The misdirection of the sheriff became clear when, on a natural reading, it emerged that it was her view that, provided that the car was put right in terms of a warranty, the purchaser or hirer would have had a car of "satisfactory quality". Findings-in-fact 23 and 24 were relevant. All that proceeded upon the basis that the supplier was entitled to an opportunity to cure such defects as existed. That approach was particularly evident from the terms of paragraphs 337, 338, 345 and 346 of the sheriff's Note. In short, the sheriff had assessed the problem as at the wrong time and on the wrong basis. In any event, the warranty in being was not part of a contract between the respondent and the appellants; there was no such contract. It was a part of a contract between the appellants and the defenders. The contents of paragraphs 342 and 343 of the sheriff's Note provided further evidence of misdirection. On any view, because the sheriff's judgment was defective, it should not be restored.
It was quite clear that defects found to have existed in this case went beyond those which were consistent with the existence of "satisfactory quality". The tenor of the sheriff's decision was to recognise the existence of a remediable breach of contract, a concept eschewed by senior counsel for the appellants. The fact that a fair‑minded buyer might offer an opportunity to a supplier of goods to rectify defects in goods did not mean that the goods were originally of "satisfactory quality". It was necessary to look at all of the relevant circumstances in judging quality; that included the price and the "state and condition" of the goods in terms of section 10(2B) of the 1973 Act. The sheriff had failed to make any proper assessment of these matters in the light of the law. In this context the evidence of Angus Robertson was important. He contemplated that a new car would have a "clean sheet" report. A further point could be made about the approach of the sheriff, as reflected in paragraph 345 of her Note. It appeared that she attributed no importance to the appearance and finish of the vehicle. She seemed to have considered functionality only.
The nature of the issue with which the sheriff had been faced was not a pure question of fact; it was a question of mixed fact and law. The consequence of that was that any appeal court had to consider a legal conclusion based upon primary facts. While the primary facts might be entitled to respect when found by a judge of first instance, the final decision was not, since the appeal court was in as good a position as the judge of first instance to make a decision on the application of the law to those facts. In these circumstances such cases as Thomas v Thomas and Thomson v Kvaerner Govan Ltd had no application here. If an error of law was evident in the sheriff's decision, that had to be the end of her determination.
Senior counsel for the appellants had dwelt upon the scope of the expression "all the other relevant circumstances" used in section 10(2A) of the 1973 Act. While it was acknowledged that there was no definition of such circumstances, that did not mean that any circumstance was relevant. Only circumstances relevant to quality would be relevant.
In conclusion, counsel summarised the submissions already made. His motion was that the appeal should be refused which failing, on the view that the court might conclude that the sheriff principal's judgment was in some way defective, his decision should be upheld for this court's own reasons.
In our opinion, three main questions arise for our consideration in this appeal. These are: (1) whether the sheriff principal was entitled to interfere with the decision of the sheriff; (2) upon the assumption that he was entitled to interfere with that decision, whether he applied the correct legal test in formulating his own decision; and (3) whether the decision of the sheriff principal was warranted in the light of the acceptable evidence. It is these questions that we intend now to address.
Counsel for the defenders contended that the answer to that question was in the affirmative. He pointed out that the sheriff had said in terms that that had been her approach and that applying that approach, she was in no doubt that the vehicle was of satisfactory quality. But it is clear from her findings and her Note that she attached great weight to the factors to which I have referred and particularly to the facts that the defects were remediable and that they could and probably would have been remedied under warranty. In these circumstances I do not consider that it can be said that the sheriff's approach was sound. There were several defects in this vehicle at the time of delivery, only some of which were minor. The pursuer was aware of two of these at the time of delivery. At least one of the other defects was certainly not minor. The Act refers to 'freedom from minor defects'. This vehicle was not free from minor defects; nor were all the defects minor. For the reasons which I have discussed above and for the reasons advanced by counsel for the pursuer, I am of the opinion that the sheriff misdirected herself and that the matter is at large for this court.
This court is required to put itself in the position of a reasonable person and ask itself whether, in the state in which it was shown to be when it was delivered, this Range Rover was of satisfactory quality for such a vehicle. I believe that a hypothetical jury would answer that question in the negative. So would I. This was a very expensive car, sold as a high quality vehicle. It was delivered with a differential which required to be replaced and which was later replaced by Shields when they re-acquired the vehicle. It had the other defects referred to above. An objective purchaser of such a vehicle would not, in my opinion, have expected to have a vehicle with these defects delivered to him in implement of the agreement which he had entered into. The sheriff found that the pursuer had validly rejected the vehicle and that his rejection was not invalidated as a result of his having continued to drive the vehicle and pay the instalments. If I am right so far, the pursuer was entitled to reject the vehicle for most of the reasons which he gave. I do not feel able to conclude that he was entitled to reject the vehicle because of the position of the pedals for the reasons which I have given. Nor would I have reached that conclusion in relation to either of the defects of which he was aware. ...".
Looking at these reasons given by the sheriff principal for his decision to recall the interlocutor of the sheriff, it is plain to us that what the sheriff principal was considering was whether, in the sheriff's decision, which was undoubtedly a decision on a question of mixed fact and law, involving the application of sections 10 and12 of the 1973 Act to the primary facts, an error of law could be discerned. He concluded that it could and that it was evident that the sheriff had misdirected herself in law in reaching the conclusion which she did.
During the course of the debate before us, some reliance appeared to be placed by the appellants on the decisions in Thomas v Thomas and Thomson v Kvaerner Govan Ltd. In our view, the well-known dicta in these cases, concerning the limitations imposed upon an appellate court when reviewing a decision on fact of a judge of first instance, have no direct bearing upon the issues in this case. What the sheriff principal did was to examine critically the sheriff's decision on a question of mixed fact and law and to conclude that the sheriff had misdirected herself in law. He did not interfere with the sheriff's findings of primary fact. In our opinion, nothing said in those cases constitutes an obstacle to his reaching such a decision.
"it was common ground that the outcome of this case depended on whether, when the hire purchase agreement was entered into, the Range Rover was of 'satisfactory quality' in terms of the Supply of Goods (Implied Terms) Act 1973 as amended."
(1) Except as provided by this section and section 11 below and subject to the provisions of any other enactment, ... there is no implied term as to the quality or fitness for any particular purpose of goods bailed or (in Scotland) hired under a hire-purchase agreement.
(2) Where the creditor bails or hires goods under a hire-purchase agreement in the course of a business, there is an implied term that the goods supplied under the agreement are of satisfactory quality.
(b) where that person examines the goods before the agreement is made, which that examination ought to reveal ...".
(b) if the breach is material, to reject any goods delivered under the agreement and treat it as repudiated.
(a) as to the quality of the goods or their fitness for a purpose, ... shall be deemed to be a material breach.
(3) In subsection (2) above 'consumer contract' has the same meaning as in section 25(1) of the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977; and for the purposes of that subsection the onus of proving that a hire-purchase agreement is not to be regarded as a consumer contract shall lie on the creditor. ...".
It was acknowledged by all parties to this appeal that, neither in the foregoing statutory provisions nor elsewhere, there was any recognition in law of the concept of what might be described as a remediable breach of contract. It appears to us to follow from that, and more particularly from the statutory provisions themselves, that the issue of whether the implied term created by section 10(2) of the 1973 Act has or has not been satisfied in any particular case must be capable of determination upon the delivery of the goods hired to the person hiring them. This feature of the law, in our opinion, has importance in the context of this case, for reasons which we shall explain. It was also acknowledged during the course of the debate before us that the concept of "satisfactory quality" utilised in section 10(2) was not to be understood as implying perfection in the goods concerned. With that view we would agree.
A controversial issue, which figured prominently in the debate, was that of the significance of the warranty which was the subject of finding-in-fact 5 by the sheriff. The controversy related to whether the warranty was one of "the other relevant circumstances" referred to in section 10(2A) of the 1973 Act. The position of the appellants was that it should be so regarded, there being no reason why it should not be seen as relevant. The conclusion which we have reached is that the warranty cannot properly be seen as one of the "relevant circumstances". We have two reasons for reaching that conclusion. First, section 10(2A) of the 1973 Act is concerned with elaborating the meaning of the words "satisfactory quality", which appear in section 10(2). In section 10(2A) the concept of the hypothetical "reasonable person" is introduced as the origin of the standard of quality to be attained as "satisfactory quality". In the application of "the standard that a reasonable person would regard as satisfactory" there is to be taken into account "any description of the goods, the price (if relevant) and all the other relevant circumstances". While the words "all the other relevant circumstances" are potentially of wide scope, we consider that, in the context, they must be seen as referring only to circumstances actually bearing upon the quality of the goods in question. After all, sections 10(2) and (2A) are concerned with that very matter. In our view, a warranty cannot be seen as a matter bearing upon the quality of the goods supplied. In its nature, a warranty can only be seen as an undertaking by the manufacturer of the goods concerned to remedy defects in the goods which emerge and are within the scope of the warranty and that within a specified period of time. Thus the warranty must be seen as a means whereby the defects in existence at the time of delivery, or emerging thereafter within the specified period, may later be remedied by the manufacturer at no cost to the customer. The fact that such defects may be so remedied appears to us not to bear upon the issue of the quality of the goods at the time of their delivery, which is the subject matter of the implied term created by section 10(2). In its nature, a warranty is concerned with the provision of remedial action within a limited period after delivery. In short, it seems to us that, because the issue of whether the quality of the goods is satisfactory requires to be judged as at the time of delivery, the warranty can have no bearing upon that matter. The contention that the warranty may be a "relevant circumstance" appears to us to be tantamount to a clandestine introduction of the concept of remedial breach of contract into the legal structure of the contract. Any such concept was however eschewed by counsel for the appellants.
"It is however also necessary to deal with an argument based on the fact that the vehicle was sold with the benefit of a manufacturer's warranty, a fact which was relied upon to show that the buyer was required to take in his stride to a certain degree at least the type of defects which would otherwise have amounted to a breach of contract. Speaking for myself, I am far from satisfied that this argument is open to the defendants at all, having regard to the express disclaimer in the contract of sale, and also in the warranty, of any intention to vary the buyer's rights at common law, and also having regard to section 6 of the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977. Nor am I convinced that this objection can satisfactorily be answered by saying that the argument founded on the warranty operates not to deprive the buyer of his common law rights but rather as a relevant circumstance for the purposes of section 14(6) operating simply to diminish the reasonable expectation of the buyer.
Moreover, I am not clear about the logic underlying the argument. Assume that on an accurate balancing of all the relevant circumstances it could be said that the buyer of a new Range Rover could reasonably expect it to have certain qualities and that accordingly he has a contractual right to receive a vehicle possessing those qualities and to recover damages, including damages for any consequential loss, if it does not possess them. Can it really be right to say that the reasonable buyer would expect less of his new Range Rover with a warranty than without one? Surely the warranty is an addition to the buyer's rights, not a subtraction from them, and, it may be noted, only a circumscribed addition since it lasts for a limited period and does not compensate the buyer for consequential loss and inconvenience.
If the defendants are right, a buyer would be well advised to leave his guarantee behind in the showroom. This cannot be what the manufacturers and dealers intend or what their customers reasonably understand."
A similar view was shortly stated by Sir Edward Eveleigh at page 947 where he observed: "The fact that the plaintiff was entitled to have remedial work done under the warranty does not make it fit for its purpose at the time of delivery." While it is plain that the implied condition which was the subject of consideration in that case was different from that involved here, nevertheless, in the former legislation the expression "all the other relevant circumstances" was used; thus the Court of Appeal was concerned with whether a manufacturer's warranty was such a circumstance and concluded that it was not.
"If you have complied with all the requirements of this Agreement, we shall, if so requested by you and so far as it is reasonably practicable for us to do so, transfer to you the benefit of any warranty given by the manufacturer or supplier of the vehicle which is capable of transfer by us. If you make such a request, you shall indemnify us against all costs, claims, damages, expenses and liabilities incurred by us in connection with the transfer and enforcement of any such warranty."
It appears to us that the foregoing clause makes it clear that, in the context of the present transaction, it could not be assumed that the benefit of the manufacturer's warranty was, in fact, ever available to the respondent. Although the warranty document was not before to the court, we proceed on the basis that it was issued by the manufacturer to the buyer of the vehicle, that is to say, the defenders. Plainly the stage was never reached in this transaction at which, under clause 6(b), the benefit of it might be contractually available to the respondent, since he never complied with "all the requirements of this Agreement", in the sense of performing all the hirer's obligations under it by making payment of all the instalments due.
Further, Clause 9(i) of the agreement provided: "Nothing in this Agreement shall in any way affect your statutory rights." While we did not have the benefit of detailed argument on the subject of this contractual provision, on the face of it, it is recognised as a matter of contract that the possible availability of the manufacturer's warranty to the hirer of the goods would not affect and, in particular, diminish the hirer's statutory rights.
The appellants relied on Millars of Falkirk Ltd v Turpie, although recognising that that case had been decided under different legislation, namely the Sale of Goods Act 1893, as amended by the Supply of Goods (Implied Terms) Act 1973. Once again the issue before the court there was one of merchantable quality in relation to a new motor vehicle. The problem with the car was principally an oil leakage from the power steering unit, which the sheriff held to be a comparatively minor matter which could readily have been cured with very great ease at very little cost. The sheriff held that the car was of merchantable quality. There followed an appeal to the sheriff principal who adhered to the interlocutor of the sheriff. Thereafter there was an appeal to the Court of Session. The Lord President (Emslie) with whom the other judges concurred held that the sheriff had been entitled to reach the conclusion that he did, having in mind that the defect was a minor one which could readily and very easily have been cured at very small cost. He also noted that the car had been sold with a manufacturer's repair warranty, although that was not produced or examined at the proof.
Having regard to the fact that that case was decided under different legislation and that the principal issue was whether or not the car was of merchantable quality, we do not find it of any assistance to us. Furthermore, in particular, we do not consider that it is of any assistance in relation to the issue of the relevance or otherwise of a manufacturer's warranty, since the significance of that was not the subject of any argument.
We now turn to consider whether the sheriff principal was correct in holding that the decision of the sheriff proceeded upon the basis of a misdirection in law. In this connection, first, we note that, in paragraph 344 of her Note, the sheriff refers to section 10(2A) of the 1973 Act, as amended. However, in her reasoning we see no reference to section 10(2B) of that Act. We regard this as indicative of a failure on her part to consider the impact of that sub-section on the circumstances of this case. Since that sub-section refers to "(b) appearance and finish" and "(c) freedom from minor defects", that provision was of particular significance in the circumstances here. At a number of points in the sheriff's Note, she appears to regard minor defects and the defect in the paintwork of the vehicle as of no real significance. Her omission to take into account the provisions of section 10(2B) appear to us to amount to a misdirection in law in the circumstances of this case.
"It also appeared to me that counsel for the pursuer in making his submissions failed to have regard to the terms of the 1973 Act which referred to section 12A(2)(b) which entitles the person to reject any goods 'if the breach is material'. I can see no material breach."
The sheriff's reference to section 12A(2)(b) is plainly erroneous, since that provision relates to goods which are or are to be hired by description. That did not, of course, occur in this instance. However, even if the sheriff's reference is to be taken to be a reference to section 12A(2)(a), nevertheless she does not appear to appreciate the effect of that provision, the effect of which, of course, is that, where a hire purchase agreement is a consumer contract then, for the purposes of sub-section (1), which gives the right, if the breach is material to reject any goods delivered, a breach by the creditor of any term as to the quality of the goods shall be deemed to be a material breach. In paragraph 346, the sheriff does not appear to take into account the provisions of section 12A(2) at all.
Thirdly, it is our conclusion that the sheriff has misdirected herself in relation to the relevance of the warranty, with which we have already dealt. She deals with the warranty in findings-in-fact 5 and 23. The latter finding is of particular significance, in that the sheriff stresses that any defects were easy to rectify and would be covered by the Land Rover warranty. Her heavy reliance on the warranty as, in her view, a significant factor in the case can be seen from paragraphs 333, dealing with the misaligned glove box, 337, dealing with the problem in the differential, 338, which dealt with replacement of part of the transmission unit following the rejection of the vehicle by the respondent, 345 and 346. We regard paragraph 345 as of particular significance in this respect, where the sheriff observes: "I also consider that a particularly relevant circumstance was that there was a three year warranty for the vehicle." It appears to us that this particular error underlies the whole basis of the sheriff's decision.
"The pursuer acted totally unreasonably in refusing to accept Shields' offers to remedy any alleged defects. He also acted in a totally unreasonable manner in refusing to accept the defenders' attempts to have matters rectified. ...".
In our view, there could be no purpose in making a finding such as that unless the sheriff considered that it was a relevant component in her decision. In paragraph 345 of her Note she reverts to her assessment of the respondent as an unreasonable person.
In our opinion, the reasonableness or unreasonableness of a party to a transaction such as this cannot be of relevance to the resolution of the legal issues which arise, although it might be relevant to an evaluation of the evidence given by such a person. Section 10(2A) of the 1973 Act provides for the application of the standard of a "reasonable person" to the issue of whether the quality of the goods is satisfactory or not. These statutory provisions are not concerned with the reasonableness or unreasonableness of any party to the transaction. In these circumstances we conclude that, in this respect also, the sheriff has misdirected herself.
"The vehicle was subject to a three year warranty from Land Rover which would enable manufacturing and mechanical defects in the vehicle to be rectified free of charge to the pursuer during that period".
In that finding the sheriff says nothing about the entitlement to demand performance of the undertaking in the warranty of the manufacturer. We are prepared to assume, although we have not seen it, that the warranty was one given by the manufacturer to the person who became owner of the motor vehicle. At the material time, the owners of the vehicle were the defenders, not the respondent. Accordingly, the respondent would have had no entitlement to enforce the manufacturer's warranty. Yet it is implicit in the sheriff's reasoning that the benefit of the warranty was available to the respondent. That position flies in the face of the terms of Clause 6(b) of the contract of hire purchase quoted above. We would observe that it is perhaps not surprising that the sheriff misapprehended the contractual position relating to the warranty in this case, since the document was never before her.
In all of these circumstances, we consider that the sheriff principal was correct in concluding that the sheriff had misdirected herself in law. What we have said regarding that goes beyond the conclusions of the sheriff principal, but the existence of any material misdirection in law rendered the case at large before the sheriff principal for his decision.
"An objective purchaser of such a vehicle would not, in my opinion, have expected to have a vehicle with these defects delivered to him in implement of the agreement which he had entered into."
The words said to demonstrate the application of a wrong test were the words "objective purchaser". We would immediately acknowledge that these words do not appear anywhere in the statutory provisions relevant to the case, which we have quoted. However, we consider that they are no more than what might be referred to as judicial shorthand for the "reasonable person" whose standards are enshrined in section 10(2A) of the 1973 Act. The sheriff principal's choice of language is perhaps understandable when one recognises that that provision requires that a process of consideration of the quality of the goods should be undertaken, by the standards of such a person, in the context of a transaction. In any event, consideration of other passages in the sheriff principal's judgment, which we have quoted, makes it quite clear to us that he was under no misapprehension as to the test which had to be applied. In paragraph 7 of his judgment he quoted at length the relevant statutory provisions. In paragraph 27, the sheriff principal summarises the statutory provisions, quite correctly in our view. Finally, in the opening sentences of paragraph 50 he makes it quite clear that he is applying the statutory test. In these circumstances we reject the appellants' contention in this regard.
"In that event can the rescinder, having rescinded for the wrong reason, perhaps because he misinterpreted the conduct of the other side, justify his action by relying on facts which come to his knowledge thereafter and with the aid of which he can prove inability? It is now well settled that a rescission or repudiation, if given for a wrong reason or for no reason at all, can be supported if there are at the time facts in existence which would have provided a good reason."
With that opinion we would respectfully agree. Thus, it seems to us that the absence of a reference in the letter of 30 March 2001 to some particular defect upon which the respondent now seeks to found possesses no particular significance, other than, perhaps, affording to the appellants the opportunity to comment on the absence of such reference in the context of any consideration of the respondent's evidence. So, in our view, the question arising is whether, on the evidence available to him, the sheriff principal was entitled to take the view he did regardless of the contents of the letter.
"The sheriff found that the vehicle as delivered had a number of defects. These are referred to in findings of fact 6 (scratch on the lid of the ashtray and missing navigation disk), 7 (vibration due to a fault in the balancing of the wheels and steering pull), 9 (ashtray lid and pedal positioning), 10 and 11 (pedal positioning), 18 (glove box misaligned; part of the paintwork on the roof poorly finished), 19 (road speed related noise from the transmission/drive system resulting in the later replacement of the front differential), 20 and 21 (incorrect wheel balancing causing excessive wear on the tyres). The sheriff commented more fully on these defects in paragraph 332 to 343 of her Note."
"Considering these defects in isolation, in my opinion the sheriff was entitled largely to discount them when determining whether the vehicle was of satisfactory quality. However, the presence of these defects, along with others which were more serious, could be indicative of a vehicle which was not of satisfactory quality."
As regards the vibration caused by incorrect balancing of the wheels and steering pull, the sheriff principal, in paragraphs 36 and 37 acknowledges that the sheriff had expressly found that the steering alignment had been properly set on rectification by the appellants. The wheels had been rebalanced in March 2001, which at least for a period of time cured the problem of vibration.
"There was a road speed related noise emanating from the transmission/drive system. This was caused by a fault in the front differential unit. This was never noticed or rectified by Shields prior to the pursuer rejecting the vehicle. In the summer of 2003, Shields purchased the vehicle and replaced the front differential unit in under two hours. ..."
The sheriff principal goes on to say that the sheriff recorded in her Note that the respondent complained about the fault in the differential from an early stage. The witnesses who had prepared reports on the vehicle all found it to be a fault. She did not understand why Shields had failed to rectify it before the pursuer sent his letter of rejection, nor could she understand why the pursuer put up with the fault for so long.
As regards the misalignment of the glove box, the sheriff principal records, in paragraph 40, that the sheriff accepted that it had been agreed that this was a defect, although the respondent had not complained about it at the outset, or in his letter of 30 March 2001. Similarly, he records that the sheriff found that part of the paintwork on the roof of the vehicle was poorly finished (finding-in-fact 18). The sheriff had dismissed this defect in paragraph 336 of her Note as "a small defect and not material in considering the durability of the vehicle".
"There were several defects in this vehicle at the time of delivery, only some of which were minor. The pursuer was aware of two of these at the time of delivery. At least one of the other defects was certainly not minor. The Act refers to 'freedom from minor defects'. This vehicle was not free from minor defects; nor were all the defects minor."
"This court is required to put itself in the position of a reasonable person and ask itself whether, in the state in which it was shown to be when it was delivered, this Range Rover was of satisfactory quality for such a vehicle. I believe that a hypothetical jury would answer that question in the negative. So would I. This was a very expensive car, sold as a high quality vehicle. It was delivered with a differential which required to be replaced and which was later replaced by Shields when they reacquired the vehicle. It had the other defects referred to above. An objective purchaser of such a vehicle would not, in my opinion, have expected to have a vehicle with these defects delivered to him in implement of the agreement which he had entered into."
In these circumstances the sheriff principal concluded that the pursuer had been entitled to reject the vehicle. As we see it, the sheriff principal's conclusion was based upon findings of fact as to the state of the vehicle made by the sheriff. Having considered the basis of the sheriff principal's reasoning, we are of the opinion that he was quite entitled to reach the conclusion that he did. We are therefore not persuaded that we should interfere with his judgment. Accordingly, in all the circumstances, we shall adhere to the interlocutor of the sheriff principal and refuse the appeal. | 2019-04-21T12:58:44Z | https://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/search-judgments/judgment?id=4e5d86a6-8980-69d2-b500-ff0000d74aa7 |
In search of the best wireless charger for iPhone and Android phones? We've got you covered! Wireless chargers often have a bad rap for charging phones extremely slowly, but that's actually not the case anymore.
Wireless charging was slow just a couple of years ago, but since big name manufacturers started adding wireless charging to their phones, wireless charging technology has increased exponentially. Now, you can set your iPhone and Android phones on a wireless charging pad or stand, now charging up your devices at similar rates to cables.
Our favorite wireless charger is the Anker 10W fast charging wireless charging pad.
Where are the wireless chargers that do this though? A quick search through Amazon might show you a massive list of choices that all seems great, but there's one problem -- they make big promises, but only end up disappointing.
That's why we've done the research for you. Below, we're showing you fifteen of the best wireless chargers for iPhone and Android phones. Not only will you be able to rely on these wireless chargers that you can rely on for reliable and quick charging, but you'll be able to trust and use them for future devices as wireless charging technology continues to expand.
Who are wireless chargers for?
How do wireless chargers work?
How do I wireless charge my phone?
What do I need to charge my phone over wireless?
Does the phone get hot?
Can wireless charging be interrupted?
What about wireless car charging?
Anker's Wireless Charging Pad is one of the best on the market today, offering wireless charging for any phone and device that supports the Qi-wireless charging standard.
This one won't provide you slow charging, as it features a fast-charging chipset designed to deliver up to 10 watts of power to Samsung Galaxy devices. iPhones specifically get a boosted 5 watt charge rate, which is 10% faster than other wireless chargers today.
Of course, wireless chargers aren't just all about charging speeds. Anker's Wireless Charging Pad actually has a grippy, non-slip surface, which keeps your iPhone and Android phones from slipping off and falling on the floor during charging. That's a problem that you'll find on many cheap wireless chargers of which Anker has managed to avoid.
You can also forget about fumbling around with cases on your iPhone and Android phones. Even if you have a thick case on your iPhone or Android phones, Anker is still able to deliver that quick charging uninterrupted.
And you can forget about problems, defects, or simply not wanting the wireless charging pad anymore (at least, within a reasonable time frame). Anker not only offers easy returns, but they give each buyer an 18-month hassle-free replacement warranty in case you come across any problems. Anker makes buying their Wireless Charging Pad essentially risk-free!
The Anker Fast Wireless Charging Stand has some of the same technology in it as their own Wireless Charging Pad; however, it's designed differently to accommodate different needs.
The pad is a style that you have to set your phone down flat to charge, but with the Charging Stand, you can keep the display facing you so that you can still monitor notifications and calls while getting a quick charge. It's perfect for charging at the desk or even in the kitchen while you're cooking dinner.
Anker has a high-efficiency chipset in their Wireless Charging Stand, able to deliver up to 10 watts of fast charging power to Samsung Galaxy devices. The chipset can deliver up to 5 watts of boosted charging power to the iPhone -- that's 10% faster than other charging devices.
The Anker Fast Wireless Charging Stand is unique because you can actually flip it into landscape mode, allowing you to charge an iPhone and Android phones while giving you comfortable viewing for watching videos and media.
That said, the portrait mode is more ideal for managing messages, phone calls, and even using facial recognition.
Anker has made sure that you don't have to fumble around with existing cases on your phone either -- case or not, this charger provides you with fast, uninterrupted charging.
Anker's Fast Wireless Charging Stand is essentially risk-free. Don't like it? Return it and get your money back! It also comes with an 18-month warranty, providing you with hassle-free replacements in the event of problems with the charger.
The Samsung Fast Charge is an excellent runner up as a great wireless charger for iPhone and Android phones. Yes, even though it's Samsung branded, it will work with any device that supports the Qi wireless charging platform, even the latest Samsung Galaxy S10 and iPhone XS devices.
Samsung's Fast Charge wireless charger delivers fast wireless charging to most Samsung Galaxy flagship devices, charging them up as fast or faster than traditional charge-by-wire delivery with up to 9 watts of power. It provides standard charging speeds to devices that aren't a Samsung Galaxy flagship.
One of the neat features of the Samsung Fast Charge is that it has a multi-colored LED to indicate the charging status -- i.e. different colors for a phone with low battery, for charging in process, and for charging complete.
This is a fast charger, which usually means that it runs hotter; however, a quiet cooling fan on the back keeps both your phone and charger at cool temperatures.
Samsung's Fast Charge wireless charger is probably one of the more modern and sleeker appearing options on the market, allowing it to easily blend in with any environment. It can actually be a nice looking addition to any home or office.
Like Anker, Samsung allows you to return these hassle-free if you simply don't want it. On top of that, they provide a 1-year warranty to keep your protected against any defects. Buying this wireless charger is nearly risk-free!
Belkin might seem like they have their hands in every industry, but power products are definitely their bread and butter. That said, the Belkin Boost Up, created in partnership with Apple, is an excellent Qi wireless charger.
The Boost Up is actually specially designed for the iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max. It's able to deliver up to 7.5 watts of fast charging power to these smartphones, bringing your devices from dead to full in a jiffy.
Since the Belkin Boost Up does run on the Qi charging platform, it will work with all other Qi-supported devices. Simply set any Qi-supported phone on the Boost Up, the Boost Up goes into universal compatibility mode, and then provides that charging power for that device.
Support for phones with cases is here, but only to an extent. Belkin says that you'll still get uninterrupted charging through phone cases, but it must be a lightweight case that is 3mm in thickness or less.
Belkin, like the others, will allow you to return the Boost Up if you don't like it; however, they also include the longest warranty yet -- a 3-year warranty that protects you against any defects or malfunctions.
These four are easily some of the best wireless chargers on the market today, although you'll find the best charging quality and reliability in the two Anker options. However, before we show you our other 11 favorites, it's important to understand who wireless chargers are for, how they work, factors that affect wireless charging, and everything else you need to know about wireless charging!
Let's face it: wires are only getting progressively more annoying and even cumbersome. It's frustrating keep track of the cables, and even more so if you actually lose one. That's why wireless chargers are so nice -- they're large enough where you just can't lose them, and they generally stay in one place, so you always know where they are. So if you want to ditch the annoyance that comes with cables, the best wireless chargers are an excellent replacement.
Now, if you're on the go a lot, you may not get as much value out of them as you might hope. Wireless chargers are pretty stationary, and aren't portable at all. So if you're in the car or travel a lot, you might be better off sticking with cables.
And finally, best wireless charger really are exclusively for phones that support Qi-charging. Some devices don't come with that Qi-charging support, and therefore, a wireless charger just won't work. You can usually check if your phone supports Qi charging in your phone's user manual, or by consulting Google.
Wireless charging on the forefront may sound complicated; however, it's actually quite a simple process. Wireless charging works by transferring energy from the charger to a receiver inside the phone. It's the same concept as charging-by-wire; however, the energy is actually transmitted via a electromagnetic field, which is where the "wireless" portion comes in.
The receiver coil in the phone then takes that energy, and then converts it into electricity that is then pushed to your phone's battery. It's a fairly simple process known as inductive charging. The only requirement is that you have a best wireless charger and your phone has Qi charging support. Then, your phone simply has to be in close proximity to the wireless charger -- i.e. sitting on the wireless charger -- for charging to begin.
Since wireless charging is designed to bring you, well, charging without a cable, it's actually easy to wireless charge your phone. You simply set your wireless charger on the wireless charging pad or stand. Charging should begin almost instantly, or as soon as the device is recognized. Technology, however, isn't perfect, so sometimes you may need to take your device off the wireless charger and then set it back down for the phone to be recognized.
To charge your phone over wireless, you need a phone that supports Qi-charging, as we mentioned earlier. Almost any latest flagship phone is guaranteed to support Qi charging these days; however, it's always best to consult Google in order to make sure the phone that you're buying does indeed have Qi support.
Some of the phones that include this type of charging include the Galaxy S10, Galaxy S10 Plus, iPhone XS Max, iPhone XS, iPhone XR, and even the LG V40 ThinQ. There are plenty of other brands that support wireless charging as well, including HTC, Sony, and even Huawei.
Next, you'll need a Qi wireless charging pad. You don't want to buy just any wireless charging pad, as you don't want to get something faulty or a brand with a poor reputation. Good wireless chargers sit at a range of different price points, for as low as $20 to all the way up to $120, and sometimes more.
Once you receive your wireless charger, you'll need to plug the included cable into the wireless charger, and then into a nearby wall outlet. Once plugged in, you can simply set any Qi-supported iPhone or Android phone on the charging pad.
Wireless charging, especially fast wireless charging, can produce a ton of heat, heating up not only your smartphone, but the wireless charging pad itself as well. In many cheap wireless charging solutions, there isn't a way around this; however, upgraded models are coming equipped with automated cooling fans to keep not only your phone cool, but the charger as well.
This helps preserve the life of your phone and wireless charger. and actually keeps it cooler than most charge-by-wire solutions.
Heat generally isn't something you'll have to worry about. Most smartphones increase in heat when being charged by cable, as we already mentioned. However, if you feel that it gets too hot, it may be something to worry about, as phone batteries have not always been perfect, such as in the case of the fiasco with the Galaxy Note 7.
As with everything, there must be some cons, right? With wireless charging, there are a few, but none that would necessarily damage your smartphone. The biggest drawback to wireless charging is that wireless charging cannot be done through phones that are made out of metal. As such, phones that have wireless charging capabilities are made out of plastic or glass. That makes your phone a whole lot more fragile, increasing the need for a heavy duty case.
Of course, if a case is too thick, wireless charging may not work. It all depends on the type of wireless charger you have, but some have trouble recognizing the receiver coil in your phone if a thick case is covering it up. Check your wireless charger's specifications, as they should be able to give you specifics on case size support. Most wireless chargers will work with thin cases up to 3mm in thickness.
There are actually a number of things that can interrupt the wireless charging process, and it mostly comes down to safeguards built into the wireless chargers. For example, with heat detection, many wireless chargers, as a safety precaution, will stop the charging process if heat reaches a certain threshold.
Some wireless chargers even have something called "foreign object detection." If the wireless charger detects anything other than the smartphone on the charging pad -- say, a Lego or some other item -- charging is immediately stopped for the protection of the smartphone and charger.
As we mentioned earlier, cases can be another one that interrupts wireless charging. If your case is too thick for your wireless charger, you may find that the inductive charging process is fairly sporadic because it's having difficulty recognizing the receiver inside your smartphone.
Sometimes wireless charging won't work if your device isn't in the correct position. Wireless chargers don't generally require a specific phone orientation, but if the phone and wireless charger aren't lined up properly -- i.e. the position of the receiver coil in your phone isn't directly on the charger -- charging won't even be recognized, or will be sporadic.
Wireless charging can also be affected because of software updates. Regular apps are even more intertwined with the actual system today, and so, if an app isn't on its latest version, wireless charging could prove to become sporadic or experience errors. You'll want to make sure that all of your apps are always up to date when using wireless charging, and you'll especially want to make sure that you're always on the latest firmware updates.
One of the fears that people have when it comes to wireless charging is if it'll be slower than your traditional charge-by-wire methods, or if you'll get some of the same speeds as charging by wire. That's a loaded question that isn't necessarily easy to answer, because it all depends on the hardware packed into not only your smartphone, but the wireless charger itself.
If you're using a Samsung Galaxy device, such as the new Samsung Galaxy S10 or Galaxy S10+, along with a Samsung Fast Charge Wireless Charger, you'll get fast charging speeds similar to that of charging with a USB-C cable. However, if you use a Samsung Galaxy S10 with a wireless charger that doesn't mention fast charging speeds, you could very well get speeds that are slower than charging over wire.
If you're using an average device -- say the mid-range K50, which isn't designed for fast charging -- you'll get average charging speeds, which are generally slower than charge-by-wire, since the inductive quick charging isn't taking advantage of proprietary charging technologies like Quick Charge 3.0, whereas cables do.
Some wireless chargers are only made to provide fast charging to some devices on the market. For example, the Samsung Fast Charge Wireless Charger will only deliver fast charging power to Samsung Galaxy devices, but not an iPhone XS or an LG V40 ThinQ. You'll get standard fast charging speeds with those.
The general rule is that, if you want fast charging with an LG phone or a Samsung phone, you need to buy a wireless charger from that manufacturer specifically. Any other branded charger will only give you average charging speeds, which can be slower than charging by cable. That's not to say that other brands in wireless charging are bad -- they work great, and some often even have their own type of fast charging in, and come at a cheaper price point. Ultimately, it all depends on the money that you want to spend and the device that you own.
There's just so many factors to tell you for certain. It all depends on the hardware that you're running. Do some research on the phone you have, the type of wireless charging it has, and the wireless charger that you plan to buy. If you do it right, yes, wireless charging can be fast, if not faster than traditional charge by wire charging. But, if you do it wrong, it can definitely be slower as well.
Of course, it's also important to know whether or not wireless charging is dangerous. The short answer is that it isn't. However, it does depend on the type of wireless charger that you pick up.
If you're buying an off-brand, no-name charger that doesn't have a recognizable or reputable brand, you might want to be extra careful when it comes to charging. This is because they might not have the safety features built right into the circuitry to prevent things like overheating, overcharging, foreign objects, and more.
Good wireless chargers like the Anker Wireless Charging Pad and Anker Wireless Charging Stand, as well as the Samsung and Belkin, have special chipsets built into the circuitry to prevent electrical faults. That keeps not only your phone safe from harm, but your wireless charger safe from harm as well.
Wireless chargers like the Belkin are particularly nice because they bring an extra layer of safety to the table in the peace of mind department. With a $2,500 Connected Device Warranty, they pay to replace your phone, the wireless charger you were using, and generally any object around that was damaged because of fault in a wireless charger. They've got their own skin in the game, which helps you know that that wireless charger is safe -- after all, they're putting their own money upfront here.
Wireless charging and the future?
The big question everyone is asking is if wireless charging is the future. The answer is a resounding yes, but there's a little more to it than just that.
Convenience like wireless charging is definitely the future, and with recent advancements in inductive charging, we see how it can be just as quick if not faster than traditional charge by wire methods.
However, there's one problem that's being worked on: universal compatibility. All phones comes with a USB port of some sort -- micro-USB, USB-C, and so on. Since all phones have a USB port of some sort, all phones can be charged through a USB cable.
Unfortunately, not all phones have inductive charging built-in. Only the flagship phones seem to get this technology, which leaves many of the mid-range and budget phones in the dust in terms of wireless charging. The charging standard, for now, is charging over a USB cable; however, as inducting charging technologies get cheaper and more commonly used, we may see it more widely adopted to the point where it can be the new standard.
As it stands right now, even though many flagship phones already have Qi compatibility built in, there's still a fairly small group of people that have yet to use wireless charging over charging by wire for one reason or another. And there's still a problem that innovators are trying to figure out -- wireless charging is extremely poor in vehicles.
Ultimately, the world is headed towards wireless charging as the "new" charging standard. However, adoption is extremely slow, and might take years before we're fully at that point.
We showed you four of the best wireless chargers for iPhone and Android phones earlier, but now we're going to show you our top pick, as well as plenty of other good wireless charger options that you can rely on. These will bring you average to fast charging -- depending on your device type -- and have all sorts of safety features built in to keep your phone safe from harm. Let's get started, shall we?
The Anker Wireless Charging Pad is our favorite wireless charger for iPhone and Android phones. It works flawlessly with both operating systems, and is a versatile device in terms of charging.
What we mean by versatility is that it can charge any phone that has Qi capabilities. It provides fast charging for Samsung Galaxy devices, and Boosted charging for iPhone devices. If your device doesn't have fast charging, not to worry -- Anker still provides you with decent wireless charging speeds that is competitive to traditional charge by wire methods.
One of our favorite aspects of the Anker Wireless Charging Pad is that it's sleek. It has an excellent design, which is something that you don't find in many wireless chargers today. The surface itself is a sleek black, whereas the ring around it is a light black, possibly a very dark blue. It provides a nice contrast.
And as you might expect, Anker has thrown a handful of safety features into the wireless charger to prevent electrical faults that might harm the charger itself or your device.
One of the unique aspects here is that the Anker Wireless Charging Pad is actually able to deliver fast wireless charging, even through cases. Just make sure that your case doesn't have anything metallic on it, as that can interrupt your wireless charging abilities as well.
We have the Wireless Charging Station next, which is quite a unique option. This one isn't your standard wireless charger in that it's able to charge multiple devices.
It's a fairly large "charging station." This is because that, on the left side of it, you can charge up your Qi-compatible phone. On the left side, you're able to charge up Qi-based headphones, such as AirPods, and even your smartwatch, such as the Apple Watch or, say, the Galaxy Watch.
The Wireless Charging Station is trying to move charging forward with this one. They're trying to bring you charging that can juice up your devices as quickly as possible, and without harming your devices.
This one is able to allow you to safely charge your devices as well. One of the neat things that this Wireless Charging Station does is eliminate radiation, overcharging, high temperatures, and so much more.
This is actually one of the few wireless chargers currently on the market that is able to provide you fast charging capabilities through Quick Charge 2.0 and Quick Charge 3.0 technologies, which does require you to have the necessary power adapter.
If you're looking for a wireless charger that takes a more modern approach, this one by TOZO is it. It has a sleek, modern finish that really stands out.
One of the nice things about the TOZO Wireless Charger is the LED indicator lights. There are three levels of LEDs, with different colours showing you when the base is ready to charge a phone, when the charging is currently in progress, and when your phone is fully charged.
The wireless charger also supports fast charging through Quick Charge 2.0 and 3.0 technologies. That said, just like the Wireless Charging Station, you will need a Qualcomm-certified Quick Charge adapter to make that work. You'll also need to make sure you're using a supported phone -- i.e. one with a recent Qualcomm Snapdragon chip inside.
TOZO's Wireless Charger does charge all phones, so long as they have support for Qi charging. The rate of the charging, however, will be determined automatically based on the chipset your phone is using.
This one is actually a safe and reliable wireless charger, offering you a persistent charge with precautions built into the circuitry, such as temperature control, overcharging control, foreign object protection, and more.
TOZO's Wireless Charger won't take up much room on your desk, nightstand, or another surface either. This is because it's actually 5mm thick, which keeps the charger lightweight as well low profile.
iOttie's iON is an excellent choice for those looking for not only fast wireless charging, but for something that's fairly easy to travel around with as well.
The iON will deliver you fast wireless charging. For iPhone models, you get up to 7.5 watts of fast charging, but for Samsung Galaxy devices, you're looking at north of 10 watts. All other Qi-enabled devices will get a slower five watts, which is around what you would get with regular, traditional charging.
It also really is easy to travel with. It's a miniature wireless charger, so it doesn't take up too much space on surfaces, or in the backpack. It can actually fit in your pocket!
There's actually a status light indicate on this wireless charger -- a red light indicates that your device isn't charging or isn't compatible, and a white light shows you that charging is in process.
Unlike many wireless chargers on the market, the iON is actually available in a number of different colours -- you have Charcoal, Ruby, Ash, and Ivory. These are actually a fairly unique style, since the material is a fabric feel, similar to that of the material on the Amazon Echo, Daydream View, or even on the Surface Laptop.
iOttie actually uses USB input for it's charging, which helps deliver faster charging than most wireless chargers. They throw in a two-year warranty with your purchase. If you run into a problem, you can get a replacement hassle-free.
We told you about how Qi wireless charging is called inductive charging. The inductive charging coils in the phone take the energy and convert it into electricity for your phone's battery. Well, CHOETECH's Fast Wireless Charger actually uses three coils in the wireless charging pad itself.
If you've ever used a wireless charging pad and had trouble positioning your phone right for charging to start, well, you don't have to worry about that in the CHOETECH. This is because three coils gives the CHOETECH a much wider charging area, allowing you to put your phone in almost any position.
One of the benefit's to CHOETECH's wireless charger is that it has a non-slip surface, which means your phone will stay in position during the entire charging process. It won't slip off and hit the ground.
The wireless charger has some neat artificial intelligence built inside, which works to identify the proper charging mode for the device that you have. If you have a Samsung Galaxy flagship device, it'll automatically start to deliver 10 watts of fast charging power to the smartphone. But, if it detects that you have a Qi-enabled iPhone, it'll deliver the full 7.5 watts that iOS allows the iPhone to wirelessly charge at.
This is one of the few chargers on the market that has a case friendly design. Not only does the surface accommodate the need for a larger charging area because of the thickness cases add to the phone. It's actually able to deliver your fastest charge even through a case, at least cases that are up to 5mm in thickness. Like other chargers, metal attachments, such as credit cards, will interfere with charging though.
There's a bunch of safety features built inside for maximum electrical protection as well. CHOETECH has an integrated smart chip inside the circuitry that provides the charger with temperature control, surge protection, short-circuit prevention, overheating, overvoltage prevention, and more.
Vebach might be one of the more "little known" brands out there right now, but it's actually one of the best. This one is actually Qi-certified, indicating that this is a charger you can rely on.
Like some of the others, it has optimized fast charging in this one. That means that it automatically recognizes Samsung Galaxy devices, and delivers 10 watts of fast charging power to those. It delivers the maximum amount of fast charging power to iPhone models as well -- 7.5 watts. For any other device, you're looking at around 5 watts, which is what standard non-Quick Charge charging speeds usually sit at.
Keep in mind that, to support fast charging, you will need a Qualcomm-certified power adapter to make that work.
Like the others, this has some nice safety features built into the wireless charger. There's an extra chip inside, which gives you access to temperature control, foreign object detection, overcharging protection, radiation shielding, and more.
It actually has a pretty nice looking design as well. It has a bright, modern style. There's glass on top, but an anti-slip surface that keeps your smartphone in place. There's a metal ring around the side, which adds a nice appeal to the wireless charger. There's an LED light to indicate charging levels as well.
Vebach supports wireless charging through many phone cases as well. However, you might experience more interrupted and sporadic wireless charging if the case is 5mm thick (or o.4-inches).
You shouldn't have to worry about the positioning of your phone either. Just set it on the pad, and charging should begin instantly -- no fiddling around with phone orientation needed.
The nice thing about this one is that you're perfectly free to try out. If you don't like, Vebach offers you a 45-day money back guarantee, so long the product is in perfect or near perfect condition. On top of that, you get a 2-year warranty card to keep you protected against defects.
Most wireless chargers on the market are for single devices. You can only charge one Qi-compatible handset at a time, which can be annoying if you have multiple devices in the home that all support Qi wireless charging.
Finding something that can charge multiple devices at once can be a little difficult. Apple was going to launch something like that, but that ended up falling through. That said, folks might want to take a look at the IKEA Nordmärke, which actually has four spots where you can charge up to four devices.
The devices, of course, have to have Qi wireless charging built-in; however, the Nordmärke will work with folks who have wireless charging cases on their phones as well, though the charging may not be as fast as normal Qi-support.
This wireless charger doesn't support fast charging. It keeps things at a normal 5 watts. It's actually 5 watts per phone on the wireless charger, so you get a sort of 4x5 watt setup. This is generally traditional level charging speeds, so you should get speeds that are similar to, say, USB-C charging.
Keep in mind that, on the IKEA Nordmärke, if you set a device on it that is completely dead, it may take a couple of minutes for charging to begin. IKEA says that this is completely normal, and you'll know when your device(s) begin charging, as the charging battery icon will appear on the phone's display.
There's actually a USB port that's on this charger, which is where the fourth charging position comes from. That itself isn't wireless charging, but it does allow you to keep all of your phones in one single place.
IKEA of course has all of the necessary charging safety standards to keep your phone(s) safe during the wireless charging process. You will have protection against overcharging, voltage spikes, temperature control, and more.
If you're looking for a wireless charging pad that can accommodate multiple gadgets, you cannot go wrong with this option from IKEA.
The Google Pixel Stand might actually be one of the most unique wireless chargers on our list. Unlike the option from IKEA, you can only charge up a single device at a time; however, it takes wireless charging and a docking station to new levels.
We don't mean that it's a docking station in the traditional sense, as this really is a stand. You set your Qi-compatible device on it, and charging begins immediately.
However, what it does while your device is charging is what makes it unique. You're actually given a couple of different options that you can enable for during the charging process. For one, while your device is charging on the stand -- and as long as it supports Google Assistant -- you can have a slideshow of your favorite photos or albums playing.
If you have a Nest camera out at your front door, while your device is charging, you can actually set it up so that the video feed streams right to your phone upon the detection of a motion, such as knocking at a door.
You can also have the Google Pixel Stand run through your favorite playlist or albums while charging as well. You'll need a Pixel 3 or device that supports Google Assistant to do this, but this can be some nice automation for, say, providing you music while cooking in the kitchen, or for starting up a party.
The Google Pixel Stand also works with your phone to wake you up naturally. Minutes before your alarm goes off, the Pixel Stand turns on ambient lighting that mimics the sun on your phone so that you can wake up naturally, ideally before the alarm.
Once you wake up, Google Assistant will provide you with a bunch of information that you need to know about your day, such as your event schedule, traffic information, breaking news, and other personalized information.
The Pixel Stand also helps you get to sleep by turning on a Do Not Disturb mode. It silences your phone, and helps you disconnect from the Internet in order to obtain a good night's sleep.
As you can imagine, the Pixel Stand has a bunch of safety features built in via an integrated chip, which keeps whatever phone you have on there protected from any potential electrical problems.
The wireless charger provides fast 10 watt charging for the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL, and possibly the Samsung Galaxy flagships, but it will provide other Qi phones with regular 5 watt charging power. Any Qi phone will work with the Pixel Stand, but they will require Google Assistant in order to use those extra features that the Pixel Stand has.
If you haven't heard of Mophie before, you might be living under a rock. It was founded originally in 2005, and got much of its success by making charging cases for the iPhone. That said, Mophie for years has established itself as a dominant company in the power products industry, which is why they can be trusted with one of the latest inventions: the Charge Stream Mini wireless charger.
Working on the Qi platform, the Charge Stream Mini works as an excellent charger for both the iPhone and a variety of Android phones on the market -- essentially anything that supports those Qi charging capabilities. There isn't any mention of fast charging inside the Charge Stream Mini, which means you're going to be using the standard 5-watt charge.
One of the highlights of the Charge Stream Mini is its low profile design. There are few wireless chargers out there that are easy to travel with, but the Charge Stream Mini takes so little space that you can easily throw it in the backpack or in your pocket, and head off where you need to be.
There's no delay with the Charge Stream Mini either -- set your Qi-supported phone on the wireless charger, and then charging will start almost instantly.
You don't have to worry about keeping an eye on your phone either. With an anti-slip grip surface, your phone will stay firmly in place, and won't be sliding off of nightstands or tables during charging.
The Charge Stream Mini is another one that can charge through lightweight cases up to 3mm thick; however, you may have trouble charging up a phone with, say, an Otterbox Defender on it.
Keep in mind that this one doesn't come with an AC adapter; however, it does come with the necessary cable.
The Twelve South PowerPic is a wireless charger that is a cross between your traditional picture frame and a wireless charging stand. It's a standard 5x7 picture frame made out of New Zealand pine. You can put your picture of choice in the frame; however, when you want to charge up your smartphone, you simply set it against the glass.
This one is actually a Q-certified wireless charger, which is able to provide up to 10 watts of fast charging power for supported smartphones -- i.e. your Samsung Galaxy devices and all of the new iPhone models.
This wireless charger can charge devices through lightweight cases as well, at least up to 3mm in thickness. However, there's a height limit on the phone that the PowerPic can charge. This is because your phone has to rest against the glass of the picture frame,which sits between the frame of the picture. That said, phones up to 6.5-inches tall can only fit in this frame.
The Twelve South PowerPic has a number of safety charging features inside the wireless charger. There's your standard overcharging protection, temperature control, voltage protection, but what might be the most impressive is the foreign object detection. A powered status light appears to let you know if a foreign object is preventing charging capabilities.
This one comes in two colors -- either Black or White -- and can blend in with most environments.
We've already showed you how excellent the Belkin Boost Up Wireless Charging Pad is, but what might be even better is their Wireless Charging Stand. Charging Pads typically provide you with a whole lot less versatility when it comes to work, requiring you to interrupt charging when you need to use your phone.
With the Belkin Boost Up Wireless Charging Stand, you can simply set this up right next to your computer on your desk or in the kitchen, set your phone up on the stand, and charging begins immediately. Because of the orientation of the stand, you never actually have to pick it up and interrupt charging.
One of the nice things about this stand is that it operates on 10 watts of charging power. 10 watts is generally considered fast charging for wireless chargers, which juices up phones that support that type of fast wireless charging really quick.
The Belkin Boost Up is actually pretty unique in terms of the warranty provides. You actually get a whole 3-years of protection against defects and problems.
The neat thing about this Charging Stand from Belkin is that you can choose to use it in portrait or landscape mode. Landscape mode is nice in particular because of the ability to watch videos while you charge.
You can pick a color to use with the Belkin Boost Up. There are actually two total options -- white and black. There is a Rose Gold color, but if you choose that, they ship you a wireless charging pad instead of the wireless charging stand.
The Belkin Boost Up Wireless Charging Stand is one of the more unique choices out there because they actually ship an AC adapter and cable to use with it.
The Mophie Wireless Charging Base is an excellent choice for those that are looking for some a step above the no-name brands founds often on Amazon, eBay, and other online retailers.
As we already told you when it comes to the Charge Stream Mini, Mophie is a well known and respected brand that you can trust to bring you excellence in charging products.
Mophie is a leader in power products, and therefore, there's an integrated chip inside the wireless charger that brings you protection against things like over charging, voltage spikes, temperature control, foreign object protection, and more.
Set an iPhone or a Qi-compatible phone on the Mophie Wireless Charging Base, and charging begins on contact. If you're running an iPhone, you should have no problem getting fast 7.5 watt charging power out of this base.
It's a little larger than the Charge Stream Mini, but it's still overall pretty small, which makes it easy to travel around with. It does have a nice all-around TPU coating on top, which prevents your phone from sliding off and falling off the desk, counter, or nightstand during the charging process.
The one downside to the Mophie Wireless Charging Base is that it has a proprietary cable. It comes with the necessary AC adapter; however, if you were to ever lose the cable, it's a little more expensive to replace than normal.
The Mophie Wireless Charging Base comes in just one color -- Black -- and you can only get it from Apple.
The Mophie Charge Stream Pad+ has a lot of similarities to the Mophie Wireless Charging Base, but it does improve on a couple of different area. And one of those is in the charging cable for the wireless charger itself.
This wireless charger actually uses a micro-USB cable to provide power to the wireless charger. That's a whole lot easier (and cheaper) to replace!
The nice thing about this wireless charger is that you still get 10 watts of charging power. That means you get fast charging power delivered to most Qi-enabled smartphones. However, some devices that don't support fast charging might see slower charges at around 5 watts.
This one is able to charge through lightweight cases up to 3mm in thickness; however, you may want to watch out for cases that have metal in them, as you won't get a wireless charge at all. This pad also won't be able to charge through things like credit and debit cards that are stored in the back of wallet cases.
Like the Mophie Wireless Charging Base, the Charge Stream Pad+ also has a 360-degree TPU coating that prevents your phone from slipping off the wireless charging pad.
You don't have to worry about any electrical issues with this wireless charging pad either. This one provides you with safe and worry-free charging, meaning you won't run into issues with voltage spikes, overcharging problems, temperature control, and more.
One of the benefits to picking up a Mophie Charge Stream Pad+ is that this one is offered in one more color option. You can get in in Black or White, and both pretty easily blend into the office or home. And as per the norm, Mophie offers a manufacturer warranty to keep you protected against any defects that might arise because of the manufacturing and delivery process.
If you're looking for a wireless charger that can bring you some of the best fast charging on the market today, look no further than Incipio's own GHOST Qi wireless charger.
Few wireless chargers on the market right now are able to deliver more than 10 watts of charging power; however, Incipio bursts through this ceiling and delivers a whopping 15 watts of charging power to Qi-compatible smartphones.
Now, it is one of the pricier wireless chargers out there, but that's because Incipio is on the cutting edge of wireless charging technology here. Keep in mind that Qi-supported devices do have to support fast charging to get that full 15 watts of power.
It does have an LED indicator that notifies you when your device begins charging as well as an LED light for the charging base being in use.
This one is only available in Black, and it does run fairly hot, despite the cooling fans inside -- though that is to be expected when it's delivering three times the amount of charging power than standard 5 watt chargers.
This one does include a wall adapter, so you won't have to worry about purchasing any extras to get the Incipio Ghost Qi charger working. Incipio does throw in a one-year warranty for free for those that want a little extra protection.
If you've heard the name Spigen before, it's because they are a very prominent band as far as phone cases go. However, the company is involved in other area of phone accessories as well, and one of those is wireless charging.
Enter, the Essential F301W. This wireless charger will bring you safe and wireless charging to any Qi-supported smartphone. This one alsos upports fast charging, delivering quick charging to flagship phones like the Samsung Galaxy line as well as all of the new iPhones (iPhone models all the way down to the iPhone 8 support wireless charging).
In testing, the Spigen Essential actually provides quicker charging to the iPhone than it does the Samsung Galaxy phones. This could be because of optimizations actually made in the iOS software, but do keep that in mind when choosing your wireless charger.
As per the norm, you won't be able to use super thick cases with this wireless charger. Cases up to around 3mm in thickness should do just fine. You'll also want to avoid most wallet cases that hold cards in the back of the case, as credit and debit cards interfere with and are bad for wireless charging. Spigen also says that this one specifically won't work with the Spigen Crystal Wallet, Slim Armor CS, and Wallet S case.
Spigen doesn't include a charging AC adapter in this one, which means you'll need to pick one up yourself to go with this. Spigen says that you should grab a 10 watt wall adapter for fast charging, which any Qualcomm-certified Quick Charge 2.0 or Quick Charge 3.0 charger should work for that.
There is an LED light to indicate active charging, and Spigen does throw in a number of safety features for temperature control and to prevent things like over charging and voltage spikes.
Spigen throws in a manufacturer warranty with your purchase, and offers this wireless charging pad in either Black or White.
We're a big fan of the wireless charger from Satechi as well. One of the areas that makes this one unique is that it's made out of aluminum, bringing with it a premium construction and high-end feel. It actually has diamond-cut chamfered edges as well. If you're looking for sleek and stylish wireless charging, this option from Satechi will be right up your alley.
Satechi says this one supports fast charging, allowing you to get a 1.4x faster charge than other wireless chargers on the market right now. Normally, devices that don't support fast charging are charged at a 5-watt rate; however, Satechi doesn't offer actual numbers in terms of the wattage rate of fast charging. However, a good guesstimate would sit at around 9-10 watts for Android fast charging, and 7.5 watts for iOS charging.
You can tell if your device is fast charging on the Satechi charger because an LED light will appear, indicating that the fast charging mode is active. The LED light will stay off if it isn't, and will provide a normal charge at that point. It's worth noting that this is different from the blue LED light, which indicates charging is in process, and the green LED light, which indicates charging is done.
For fast charging to work, you will need to be using the proper adapter. Any Qualcomm-certified Quick Charge 2.0 or 3.0 adapter should work just fine here. If you use anything other than that, you'll be staying at the normal 5 watt charge now matter what phone you put on the charger.
It has an ultra-slim design, which makes it compact enough to fit in any room or place at work.
The NOOMAD Wireless Hub is one of the best that you can buy for wireless charging because it can actually charge up to five different devices at once. You can only charge one at a time on the wireless pad itself; however, there are actually four USB ports underneath the wireless charging pad, which you can use to charge four up to an additional four additional devices by wire.
One of the nice things about this Wireless Hub setup is that NOMAD has designed it so that you have a clean, cable-routing setup. There's a nice cable routing passage on the backside of the Wireless Hub, which keeps all of the wires neatly together -- including the power cable -- so that you don't have any clutter on your desk.
The base of NOMAD's Wireless Hub has a rubber ring around it, which keeps the wireless charging pad firmly in place. On top of that, there's a non-slip surface, which keeps your phone firmly in place as well.
NOMAD has a number of LED indicates on the wireless charging hub as well. The LED lights turn orange when device charging is in progress, and then white when charging is complete. NOMAD has also taken into consideration those who use the wireless charger on their nightstand while sleeping -- there are actually ambient light sensors that detect when the room is dark, and then adjusts the brightness of the lights accordingly. NOMAD seems to have though of almost everything here.
Of course, NOMAD has also made this wireless charging hub fast. For the top wireless charging, you can get a charge of up to 7.5 watts of power out of this. One of the USB ports -- a USB-C port underneath -- is able to charge at a fast 3 amps. There's a USB-A port for fast charging at 2.1 amps for another phone or tablet. Then, you have an additional two USB-A ports, which have a rate of 1 amp, which are for your AirPods or Apple Watch, or any other low-power device.
One other neat thing the Hub can do -- you can actually use the top as a surface to set any item on. Wireless charging power only emits or activates when a phone is on top, so you could safely set your wallet or keys on top of it when you aren't using it as well.
And, of course, NOMAD throws in a manufacturer warranty to keep you protected against defects and other problems that might arise during your use of the Hub.
We've shown you a lot of wireless chargers that look pretty similar to each other so far. However, the TYLT Orb is an extremely unique looking option, giving you a spherical appearance.
Charging is a little bit of a mixed bird in the TYLT Orb. That's because you get regular 5 watt charging with most Qi compatible smartphones on the market today; however, the TYLT Orb is able to provide you with up to 9 watts of fast charging for Samsung Galaxy devices. It also works with all of the Qi-supported iPhone models, in which you should get 7.5 watts of fast charging power.
The one downside to this wireless charger is that it does have a pretty slippery surface. There's no mention of a rubber TPU coating that keeps devices firmly in place. That said, if you don't place your smartphone on the wireless charging pad correctly, you may find it occasionally sliding off if you're not careful.
It does have a fairly minimalist and sleek design, which makes this wireless charger attractive for most home and work environments. It has a fairly slim profile as well, which makes it easy to place on the desk, nightstand, or kitchen counter without taking up a whole lot of space.
It does have an LED strip around the charger that indicates your device is charging and when it's done charging. Unique to many of the other options on our list, the LED light is actually extremely bright, which can be frustrating when trying to sleep or for watching a movie in a dark room.
TYLT does have a number of safety charging features inside the Orb, which keeps any Qi-compatible smartphone protected from overcharging, overvoltage, temperature control, and more.
TYLT does throw in a manufacturer warranty to keep you protected from any defects that might appear within a one-year period. We definitely have this one at the bottom of our list on the best wireless charger to try, primarily because of its slippery wireless charging surface, as well as that bright LED.
We've shown you just about everything you need to know about wireless chargers at home or at work. We've even showed you twenty three of the best wireless chargers for iPhone and Android phones. However, what about wireless chargers that you can use in your car? Is that even possible?
The answer is yes! Wireless charging works excellent in cars. It's a little more difficult to setup, but you can actually get similar charging speeds that you would find in traditional wireless charging pads at home or at work. And don't worry -- wireless charging setups for cars are just as affordable as wireless chargers for at-home or at-work use.
Is Wireless Car Charging Slow?
It's worth noting that wireless car charging can be slower. Wireless car chargers that offer an unrestricted wattage output tend to make your smartphone and wireless charger extremely hot. We're talking dangerously close to harming your phone or charger hot. That said, many wireless car chargers put a blockade on how fast or how much wattage can be output.
That said, you're definitely going to see slower wireless charging in the car, at least for some wireless chargers. Instead, most wireless car chargers on the market today work to provide a reasonable car charge. That said, you'll likely see anywhere between 3% battery charges per hour to 15% battery charges per hour.
If you want to make sure that you're getting ridiculously fast charging rates in the car, you'll definitely want to stick with traditional car chargers, as for the time being, they're much safer when it comes to quick charging technologies at that rate.
If you're looking for the best wireless charger for your car, iOttie's Easy One Touch can charge your device up with speeds that are similar to Qualcomm's Quick Charge. You'll be able to charge your favorite Samsung Galaxy devices -- as well as all of the latest iPhone models -- at fast wireless charging speeds, even while you're in the car.
This option from iOttie is actually pretty versatile. You can choose to setup on your dashboard with an adjustable arm, or you can use the suction cup to attach it to your vehicle's windshield. Whatever is the most comfortable position for you! It is worth noting that the wireless car charger doesn't hold well on dashboards that are leather, and so, your windshield would definitely be the more durable option.
iOttie's Wireless Car Charger actually has a telescopic arm, which allows you to use the charger is landscape or portrait mode.
One of the nice things about this wireless car charger is that it has a one touch lock and unlock system. Set your phone in the cradle, press down, and the mechanism automatically locks the phone so that your device stays safe while driving around town or in rural areas -- you can press down again to unlock the phone.
iOttie's Easy One Touch also has plenty of ventilation, which keeps both the car charger and your phone cool. Of course, there's a number of safety charging features that keep your phone safe from ridiculous temperature increase, over charging, voltage spikes, and a whole lot more. To add to that safety, iOttie throws in one-year hassle free warranty in the event of any defects.
And finally, we have the Wireless Car Charger Mount by andobil. It takes on a similar design to the iOttie with its own one touch unlock and lock system. Press down on the cradle with your phone, and the car charger automatically locks your phone in place. Press backwards, and it unlocks the phone for you to freely take out of position.
One of the unique aspects to the andobil is that it works with most cases, even a few that thicker than 3mm. That means you don't have to mess around with your phone before charging -- simply set it in the cradle, and charging begins immediately. On the downside, andobil says that this one won't charge through some of the more rugged cases -- so you won't be charging through something like an Otterbox Defender with this charger.
The andobil Wireless Car Charger Mount can be used in a number of positions in your car -- you can use set it up on your windshield, dashboard, and even your vents!
You should see some pretty quick charging speeds out of this one. This is because andobil provides 10 watts of quick charging power to fast charging supported devices -- this would include the latest iPhone models, as well as your Samsung Galaxy flagship phones. You should see 10 watts of power for the latter, and 7.5 watts for the former, as iOS limits fast charging to 7.5 watts. You'll get normal 5 watt charging for any other Qi-supported phone.
You can use this car mount in portrait or landscape positions, for easier viewing access for, say, GPS navigation, or maybe even a FaceTime call.
andobil throws in a one-year warranty to keep you protected against defects. You can get a replacement hassle-free for any problem that you run into. That said, this one is a pretty safe investment. And don't worry, andobil puts their wireless chargers through rigorous charging, so your phone is safe with their products.
As you can see, there are plenty of excellent wireless chargers on our list. Most of these are leaders in the industry, but there are a couple that are better than all of the rest. First and foremost, we can't help but recommend the Anker Wireless Charging Pad as well as the Anker Wireless Charging Stand. Both offer reliable and quick charging for any Qi-compatible smartphone.
If you're looking for something a little more advanced, you might want to try one of the wireless charging pads from Mophie, as well as the Belkin Boost Up Charging Stand and the Samsung Wireless Fast Charger.
Those are some of the best that you can buy today; however, while your wireless charging experience may vary based on the smartphone you have, but any wireless charger on our list will work with most Qi-compatible smartphones on the market. What we just mentioned above are some of the best available, though.
Do you the best wireless charger in mind? Do you have a wireless charging experience that you'd like to tell us about? Either way, let us know in the comments section below -- we'd love to hear from you and would be more than happy to answer any questions about wireless charging! | 2019-04-25T17:42:15Z | https://thedroidguy.com/2019/04/23-best-wireless-charger-for-iphone-and-android-in-2019-1099622 |
[01:00:00] JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello everybody, thank you for joining us. I'm John Vause at the CNN center where we're following new concerns about the economic impact of Brexit. Business plans being scrapped, confidence is way down, and a new report suggests the pain could be felt far beyond Britain and Europe.
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: And I'm Becky Anderson in Abu Dhabi. A new page in Catholic history being written right now here in the UAE. Pope Francis moments away from us and then about 30 minutes away from celebrating mass with the more than 100,000 people gathered here in this the Sheikh Zayed Stadium and outside.
When he arrives Sunday he became the first Roman Catholic pope to visit the Arabian Peninsula, the birthplace of course of Islam. Earlier he visited a Cathedral in Abu Dhabi, home to some of the million-plus Christians who live here. He's already met with Muslim and Jewish leaders. On Monday he called on them to reject war mentioning conflicts in Yemen, in Syria, Iraq, and in Libya.
Well, he's on his way towards this stadium. There are tens of thousands lining the streets on the way in. John Defterios is amongst those crowds and as we look at the pictures, John, of the Pope in the Popemobile on his way in and waving at those crowds, what's the atmosphere like where you are?
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: Well, it's electric actually. In fact, the guests that we have to talk to at this block, Becky, were careening their necks and taking pictures with their mobile phones like everybody here. Let's introduce them. Marie- Claire and James are both schoolteachers from Dubai. Nice to have you on. Thank you for being here.
MARIE-CLAIRE FERIA, PARISHIONER: Yes, thank you.
DEFTERIOS: That was a historical moment. I almost had to bolt your feet down into position to stay. What are your first emotions when you saw the Pope come through?
DEFTERIOS: You two are getting married.
DEFTERIOS: So this is -- there is a very special significance. Clara, first to you. You think it's a divine blessing for the marriage?
FERIA: Yes, I do. I do. My mother -- my mother said that. Yes, indeed.
DEFTERIOS: Tell me what your thoughts are about being here and seeing the Pope in dialog with the ground Imam of Egypt and the year of Tolerance in the UAE. They talk about -- a lot of people from the outside think it's cliche but what are your thoughts about that yourself?
SHERIFF: You know, I think it's absolutely wonderful. This is the year of tolerance. This country is incredible. Everyone here is accepted. Everyone is respected. And I think for them to have this huge event happening in the center of Abu Dhabi, this year is just it momentous. It really is.
FERIA: And being able to be a part of that and we were given time off for work in order to be able to come here today. Everyone is just accepting it's just -- it's just wonderful, wonderful.
DEFTERIOS: I've been here for about four hours and it filled up very, very early because everybody said they were so excited. I couldn't get down here fast enough. You came from Dubai, spent the night.
FERIA: Yes. We stayed overnight.
DEFTERIOS: What were the emotions trying to sleep knowing you're going to see the Pope in the morning?
FERIA: Oh just -- we were just so excited, so excited.
SHERIFF: It was a mix of everything, wasn't it? You know, you sort of -- you knew that we were coming to mass today but at the same time you're excited because we're coming to this massive event and it was just incredible. The whole -- the whole experience so far has been amazing.
DEFTERIOS: I don't want to jump to great conclusions but we've had the battle in Yemen. The Pope had said his remarks before he left the Vatican. Do you think it actually could lead to resolution? Is that in the back your mind to see peace?
SHERIFF: No, I think -- I think we would always hope for that.
SHERIFF: I think it shows the relationship between this area is strong, between everybody that is here.
DEFTERIOS: We have to leave it there. I appreciate your comments and sitting tight while the Pope was going right behind. He's like 100 meters away. Marie-Claire and James visiting us from Dubai, one from the U.K. England and the other one from Scotland in the north and getting married in the next year, quite an emotion, Becky, all the way around you can see.
[01:05:09] ANDERSON: Yes. Good stuff, John. Thank you. And the Pope now right here in the stadium, right behind us, actually. Just making his way through the crowds here, a huge draw by those gathered and he's made his way into the stadium. I'm joined by CNN Vatican Correspondent Delia Gallagher, Omar Saif Ghobash, one of the UAE's brightest minds and diplomat, also with us a man who knows ancient history like it was yesterday is Mr. Peter Helyer also in the House with us as we get set to celebrate mass here in about a half an hour's time. What a roar from the crowd.
DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Wasn't that nice? Yes, that's always an exciting moment when he's actually right by you.
ANDERSON: This is -- there's so many people who will be their first time. This is of course as Vatican Correspondent knows.
GALLAGHER: But I was remembering that the Philippines actually holds the record for the largest attendance at a papal mass. I mean six to seven million in 2015 with Pope Francis. And even before then, they held the record with John Paul the second in a huge field. Here, were about 130,000.
GALLAGHER: Many of them are Filipinos.
ANDERSON: -- are Filipinos of course. We can discuss what's been said, Omar, by the Pope. Well listen to this mass now which will be course a religious ceremony. We've heard some sort of not even particularly veiled political comments I think from the pontiff but just as an Emirati just before we move on, you're a theologian at heart. I know you're an academic with theology. How does this feel?
OMAR SAIF GHOBASH, UAE ABASSADOR TO FRANCE: Yes. I'm a Muslim, it's making my hair stand. It must be the power of crowds. I didn't realize the Pope was such a rock star. It's really quite a revelation.
ANDERSON: Yes, amazing. And Peter, you've been in here for years.
PETER HELYER, UAE HISTORIAN AND WRITER: It's amazing. In the 40 odd years I've been here, it never occurred to me I'd see something like this in Abu Dhabi. It's amazing. And the Catholic community here, it must be an overwhelming joy to have this opportunity.
Islam, Christianity arrived here. The fourth or fifth century, the monastery established the 6th century, sorry it's 7th to 8th Christianity throughout Eastern Arabia before the coming of Islam and it continued on into the Islamic period. And it was only around the 10th century it began to fade away.
Then more recently in the last 50 or 60 year, we've had the arrival of new Christian community, Catholics obviously. They're very loud behind us, but many, many denominations, Anglican, Episcopalian, we have the ancient churches of the East, the Arab Christians. Some of those who suffered most under the depredations of (INAUDIBLE) Isis in Iraq and Syria. So we have that early era Christianity too. It's a very, very diverse Christian community in the Emirates.
ANDERSON: A complicated region. A year of Tolerance here. This is a country that boasts some 200 nationalities, Omar, some 40 churches, some 700 Christian ministries as far as I understand. Sikh temples, there's a Buddhist temples next to mosques, but the UAE pretty unique in this region imposing that sort of coexistence that the Pope is being been talking about here.
GHOBASH: I'm not so sure it's that unique. I mean, here though, there are churches right across the Gulf. And yes, there are -- there Christians right across the region. I think what we've done is -- what the leadership has done is that they've taken the ethos that had been projected by a be a founder of the nation and they really sort of interpreted it for the 21st century. And that's something that you know, wasn't necessarily going to happen. But it's something that the sons of the ruler and founder of the Emirates have really taken to heart and really want to project into the country and for the region as well.
ANDERSON: There are critics who say a year of tolerance might suggest a different position so far as political expression is concerned. And when we talk about tolerance here in the UAE, are we talking about religious and political tolerance?
GHOBASH: Well, I'm going to guess that religious tolerance is a step towards political tolerance. And you know, I've heard the Crown Prince of the Emirates speaking on numerous occasions talking about real democratic reform at some stage within the emirates, but that this is a process that takes time and you know, this has been implemented with the Federal National Council, certain people were allowed to be elected, then the electoral poll grew larger and larger.
So there is an understanding but it's also very difficult I'm in the in the Middle East. You've got very aggressive forms of political Islam that don't have a national agenda. They've got a global sort of transnational agenda. And the problem will be if you are particularly interested in political expression today, you will get caught up in in the existential battle that is taking place against political forms of Islam, intolerance political form of Islam.
[01:10:34] ANDERSON: As you speak, I hear cheers coming from behind me. This is -- this may be a smallish crowd when it comes to papal masses around the world but it's a noisy one.
GALLAGHER: Yes. They're making their voices heard, aren't they? And you know, one of the points for the Vatican, Becky, in coming here is also the question of Christians in the Middle East and the dwindling population of Christians. So I think that whether you know, fleeing from persecution or fleeing because of war and so on. And so I think that this kind of celebration as it were and a sort of renewal of Christian life and supporting Christian life in countries in this region is really important to them also in that context.
ANDERSON: The Pope in his speech yesterday and we are awaiting the beginning of mass here which is why there are 45,000 people in this stadium and another 100,000 around the stadium who were on the roads to welcome the Pope to the Sheikh Zayed Stadium. The Pope made his speech yesterday where he talked about a number of things not least the issue of sexual abuse which has embroiled the Catholic Church of course for decades.
He praised the November meeting held in Abu Dhabi on child dignity in the -- in the digital world. This is this is a busy time for the church.
GALLAGHER: Oh yes. Well, when he goes back, of course there's a big global meeting February 21st it starts. It's a three-day meeting at the Vatican where the Pope is bringing together bishops from all around the world to try to get everybody on the same page. I mean, there are still countries in the world where they have not handed in their guidelines to the Vatican on the protection of children. So this is really important meeting in February.
ANDERSON: I think it was Omar who in discussion with you ahead of starting our broadcasting today who are should -- forgive me for stealing your question, it's a very good one. Why can't -- why can't the Catholic Church sought this issue of child abuse out?
GALLAGHER: Well, it's a huge question. I think we'll have to come back to it when you have another you know, three-day show.
ANDERSON: Other three hours, yes.
GALLAGHER: But because it is very unwieldy, there are numerous sides to this, one of them I just alluded to that is on an international level. You've got an American bishops conference which is already at a different stage versus other bishops conferences say in Africa or in Latin America. There are -- there are places in the world where people don't think this is actually their problem. So that's one start of it and we could go on and on but we don't have time right now.
ANDERSON: We might not be reading from the same book but we're on the same page, not the only message but the reality here for the most part. A look now for you ahead of the -- what will be a raw I'm sure as the Pope hits the stage here before his mass. A look now at how Muslims and Christians get along here side by side, day by day, in a way -- in a way rarely seen anywhere else in the world. It's going to be -- what have you said -- let alone in the Middle-East. Have a look at this.
ANDERSON: Ansel and Louella Fernandez breaking bread means more than just eating, it's about bringing people together. It's what they say they love about the UAE.
ANDERSON: The couple immigrated from India to Dubai 25 years ago. They're both devout Catholics and active members at Saint Mary's Catholic Church.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In India, although the population is huge, the Catholic population within a parish is very small. Out here you've got tens of thousands of people in our parish, different nationalities, different cultures, different value systems all integrating together. And that itself is a huge experience.
ANDERSON: Just across the street is a mosque, an image capturing signs of harmony and tolerance.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's really nice on some days when you know it's a bit quiet during mass and you hear the call for prayer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We just coexist peacefully. It's a beautiful environment.
ANDERSON: An environment of coexistence that goes beyond this place of worship to picnics in the park with friends and families with different cultures and faiths sit together, eat together, and even pray together.
[01:15:08] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you go back to our scriptures, you know, and refer to that, for this a Bible or the Koran or the Torah, or any other religious book, everybody speaks about peace, or we practice the same thing.
ANDERSON: In one of the world's most culturally diverse countries, people from different faiths live peacefully. Will come together to break bread or in this case, biryani.
ANDERSON: You're with us here in the UAE. I'm going to take a very, very short break, back after this.
ANDERSON: Welcome back. You're watching a special edition of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Becky Anderson for you in Abu Dhabi where Pope Francis is preparing to deliver Mass here at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium just a few minutes from now.
A 135,000 both inside and out. Francis, the first pope ever to visit an Arab Gulf State. On Monday, he met with Muslim, Jewish, and Christian leaders at these city's Founder's Memorial center. The Pope calling on all countries to reject war with special mention of the conflicts and Yemen, in Syria, in Iraq, and in Libya. We'll have a lot more, of course, from here in just a moment.
First, let's get you back to John Vause at CNN Center for some other news.
VAUSE: Becky, thank you. I appreciate the matching outfits too. That's great. Thank you.
OK. Growing listed European nations are officially supporting Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido. At least, a dozen capitals announced their backing for the self-declared acting president on Monday.
They're also calling for free and fair elections. Meantime, with most of the country in desperate need of humanitarian aid, Guaido is urging the military to work with him.
JUAN GUAIDO, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF VENEZUELA (through translator): There is recognition by friends, liberty, equality, fraternity, from Germany, from Spain, United Kingdom, Polonia, and Lithuania. Belgium, and Czech Republic. Portugal, Estonia. Of more than 20 nations is the recognition to all of you and it's one. And that have never stopped fighting and we will not stop from doing it until we reach democracy and freedom in Venezuela.
[01:19:57] VAUSE: In Venezuela sitting president, Nicolas Maduro ignored a Sunday deadline from the E.U. to call new elections. He's accused the U.S. of leading a plot to force him from office.
Theresa May travels to Northern Ireland on Tuesday, and once there, she's expected to make a promise to find a solution to the problem what is a so-called, backstop. That's the mechanism and process which are meant to prevent a hard border on the island of Ireland.
So far, though, it seems to be a problem without a solution and has been a major sticking point in the British Prime Minister's Brexit deal. And as the clock ticks down to the Brexit deadline with no deal at place, U.K. business confidence has fallen to its lowest level since the financial crisis.
And a day after Nissan announced it was shelving plans to expand production in the U.K., it's been revealed that two years ago, the British government offered the Japanese automaker a $100 million state aid package along with promises it would not be adversely affected by Brexit.
Under the terms of the deal, in return for the full $100 million, Nissan would need to allocate production of its Qashqai and X-Trail sport utility vehicles to Sunderland." Nissan did so October 27th, 2016." At that time, the government insisted Nissan did not receive a special deal.
Ann Berry is a financial analyst and partner at the investment firm, Cornell Capital. She joins us now from New York. Ann, thank you for being with us.
ANN BERRY, PARTNER, CORNELL CAPITAL: Thanks for having me.
VAUSE: OK. The Nissan decision getting a lot of tension because -- what? With about 57 days away from the Brexit deadline. But the U.K. has been dealing with capital flight, almost since the results of the referendum came out. But what does it say when $100 million and promises of ongoing government assistance is on the losing end to all the fears that could be caused by the chaos and uncertainty of a no- deal Brexit.
BERRY: Well, I think what Nissan is basically saying is we really think that walking away from a $60 million investment and all the upside in return that can come from that is a much more certain bet. And use of our capital than hanging around waiting for a government that may or may not still be in power a couple of years from now to deliver on the $100 million promise.
What? For which there's no guarantee that will be delivered. So, I think Nissan really is literally voting with its feet here.
VAUSE: And others are following in their footsteps that had -- have already led the way in some respects. But then, there is also this squeeze to sort of coming from the other direction. An E.U.-Japan free trade deal which took effect last week.
Business group's estimate that the potential benefit of the E.U.-Japan deal to the U.K. would be 3 billion pounds, is that $5 billion U.S. a year if Britain had stayed to the EU.
Other experts believe the E.U.-Japan deal will make it harder for the U.K. to attract inward investment. You know, this E.U.-Japan trade deal in particular for car tariffs would mean, for example, that those tariffs will go from 10 percent to zero within seven years. And again, that's raising fears that other Japanese automakers could simply followed Nissan and cut Britain out of the loop.
And the thing about car manufacturing is been one of the bright spots for the U.K. economy.
BERRY: Yes, absolutely. I think what this pattern and what this threat set by the Japan-E.U. agreement means to the U.K. is that as the E.U. continues to negotiate favorable trade agreements with other countries, the U.S. for example could be the next. Or other Asian countries and key trading partners.
The more the E.U. is spending its time and energy negotiating favorable deals with countries such as Japan, the more the U.K. stands to lose from being outside of the E.U. in the worst case. Or being in some kind of trade agreement with the E.U. in which the U.K. does not really have a seat at the table, doesn't really have a vote. So, in lots of different Brexit type's scenario, this is not a good outcome for the United Kingdom economy at all.
VAUSE: Yes, and it seems that the outcome through the bad or just really bad at this point. We're also looking at the concern of the chaos that a no-deal Brexit could have impacting business confidence.
Q4 2018, confidence levels nosedived. And then, again Q1 this year at the lowest level for nearly a decade. That has real-world consequences in terms of investment and hiring.
BERRY: Absolutely. And I think, there are a couple of things here. I think there is the uncertainty that surrounds what happens under the different Brexit scenarios. But I think, you know, as we keep marching on, 53 days now and counting to Brexit, the specter of a no deal Brexit continues to loom larger and larger and larger.
And if you look at what the Bank of England said, for example, they have said very unequivocally, if we fall off the cliff and there is a no deal scenario, we are looking a recession that is worse than that the U.K. soared during the financial crisis.
So, when you think about consumer confidence in a scenario whether, at least, still seems to be some will amongst the government to try and find some scenario here that is no -- that is not a no-deal, the closer we get to that and still no resolution is in sight, the more you'll starts -- you really also until look had a really bad case as the Bank of England's laid out.
VAUSE: And this is not just going to impact Britain and Europe, there's a fallout for 49 developing countries which are part of a no tariff special trade deal with the E.U. that will not apply to their exports to Britain post-Brexit.
Right now, the share of their exports to the U.K. exceeds, what? 35 percent in apparels, 21 percent textiles, almost 10 percent in sugar." (INAUDIBLE) no, because those numbers are tariff-free. Post-Brexit, they won't be and expected to fall.
This report from Germany found that -- you know, that means that the number of people living in poverty would increase by more than 1.5 million people. Cambodia will fill up the most real GDP could fall by just over one percent.
Given how little regard it seems the British government has for the potential impact on its own economy. It would seem extremely unlikely that there will be any consideration, the impact Brexit will have -- you know, on people around the world who could really, at least, afford it and didn't get to vote.
[01:25:27] BERRY: Well I think, unfortunately, that is human nature. I think it's true. I think far from people's minds at the moment in the United Kingdom is what the impact of this to other people.
I think from a practical perspective, if you think about supply chains, let's take textiles, for example. Textile -- clothing manufacturers who are serving the U.K. still only have a relatively finite number of countries they can go to source the textile inputs that go into that apparel.
And so, as I think about well what does that mean for the U.K. consumer, I think it's possibly less likely that you see a drop in demand for certain state polls, being supplied by those countries. But I think what you'll quite likely to see in inflation as those tariffs do start hitting the British consumers pocket.
VAUSE: Yes. Here comes the real world impact of that vote for 2-1/2 years ago. And thank you. Good to see you.
VAUSE: We're minutes away from the Pope's mass in the UAE. And when we come back, we'll head live to Abu Dhabi.
ANDERSON: Well, welcome back to the UAE. It took more than a millennium but it is finally happening right now, right here behind me in Abu Dhabi. The first Roman Catholic Pope to ever visit the Arabian Peninsula is about to hold Mass here at the Zayed Sports City.
More than 100,000 people attending. Islam, the dominant religion, of course, in the UAE but the country also home to millions of expats. They hail from places like the Philippines, South Asia, and Africa. And about a million of them are Catholic.
I'm joined by CNN Vatican correspondent Delia Gallagher. Omar Saif Ghobash is UAE's former ambassador to France and to Russia. And historian, Peter Hellyer. And Delia, as the crowds go quiet for the first time this morning, what can we expect?
GALLAGHER: Well, you remember, this is a mass. So, you know, they all know what to do and it's always the same. So, this is kind of a really religious moment also for them. So, it's the culmination of this trip and it's right that it's so, but it's the prayer time.
ANDERSON: How important is this moment to the U.A.E. -- Omar?
OMAR SAIF GHOBASH, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES AMBASSADOR TO FRANCE: I think it's incredibly important as the culmination of I think 40, 45 years of building the nation. And it comes at a particularly important time in the region -- all of the political and religious turmoil that's been taking place. And it's really a statement of principle on the behalf of the Emirates as a country that it's going to stand behind openness and tolerance and accepting the other within.
ANDERSON: And apart from the symbolism -- what has been achieved?
GHOBASH: Well, the symbolism is actually huge. There is no denying. You can't have the Pope come to the Arabian Peninsula and not expect consequences. And I think it's very important that the extremists within our own faith believe in the sanctity of the Arabian Peninsula and the idea that you can't have other forms of worship on the territory of the Arabian Peninsula. What we are saying I think is that we also believe in the sanctity of our holy places. But that also that doesn't prevent us from accepting the other. And that will have a knock-on effect hopefully within our own faith.
DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Becky, when the Pope met the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar at the Vatican for the first, he said the meeting is the message. So the very fact that the Pope is here is part of the message, isn't it?
ANDERSON: Explain to us what's happening now?
GALLAGHER: So this should be the beginning of the mass. The Pope should be coming out to the altar. They have an opening song. They have opening readings.
The Pope gives his homily, which is his speech for the mass -- probably very religious. And then they have what are called prayers of the faithful. You had one of the kids on earlier who is going to be saying the prayers and all the different languages wins are represented here. And that's something -- he expressed what a special moment that is for them.
And then they have the Eucharistic celebration which is when they actually do what they believe is consecrating the body and blood of Christ. That's the part when everybody is really very most in prayer, let's say.
ANDERSON: Let's just pause for just a moment.
ANDERSON: You have been here for some 40 years, Peter, how does it feel?
PETER HELLYER, U.A.E. HISTORIAN AND WRITER: It's remarkable. I have watched the U.A.E. grow in the last 40 years. Watched it develop its infrastructure and watched its population grow and become much more diverse. The diversity of the country is remarkable now, you mentioned.
we have perhaps 200 nationalities here and one remarkable feature of the Emirates in the last 40 years has been the way in which the different communities Emiratis and others, Muslims and Christians have learned to live together and to coexist without major (INAUDIBLE) problems. I can't think of anywhere else in the world where we have had that good fortune.
ANDERSON: In the Arabian Peninsula.
success? And we are listening to mass now, there has been two days of buildup to this.
GALLAGHER: Yes. And I think the success is gauged in the relationships that are developed when the Pope travels. And the success here is already in his relationship with the Grand Imam of Al- Azhar. But it is also in his relationship with the Crown Prince now. They have already met on a previous occasion but developing those relationships for Pope Francis. This is a pope who goes for the personal in his political thing (ph) so the relationship is all.
[01:35:01] And the more visits that he could do personally face to face, the happier he is and the more he feels that his agenda can be pushed forward. So, yes.
ANDERSON: And through the prism of the U.A.E., what's the biggest take out from the Pope's visit here? Through the prism of the U.A.E.
GHOBASH: Well, there is so many different ways in which I can answer. One thing that did occur to me is that we have all of a sudden become aware of the Christians within our own community. Who knew that there were a million Christian or a million Catholics?
That in itself is fascinating. And they work across the community. In many ways they've been very silent. This is great opportunity for us to celebrate with them.
ANDERSON: As we listen to what is going on here within the stadium, let me just get you momentarily out to John Defterios who is outside where the Pope's mass is also being heard as it just gets under way -- John.
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks -- Becky.
Let me give you a sense of place here. We can just step over behind one of the parishioners. You can see this is one of six large giant screens that we are getting a chance to watch the opening processional with Pope Francis as people make the sign of the cross as the mass begins.
We have a throng of people -- 90,000 people outside. I'm keeping my voice down because the prayers are starting. So we have one parishioner here Aimee Desales, who lives in Abu Dhabi.
This is, Becky, an extraordinary story because she went in early 2015 to Sri Lanka to see the Pope. So you feel very blessed. You got a get a chance to see him for a second time. You didn't think that was going to happen.
AIMEE DESALES, PARISHIONER: I feel so grateful. I feel so blessed. I never thought this will happen actually. So I feel like thousands of people are here and I am one of this people to witness this historic event.
DEFTERIOS: What does it mean for you because you said very strongly to me when we had a conversation in the last hour that this is a symbol of peace between the Muslim religion and the Catholic religion, the Christians all over the world? You think it's actually a turning point for peace and engagement?
DESALES: Actually, I did. I truly believe that. Like human beings as we are, created by one god, we all desire to have peace in our hearts, to see our children praying without any fear, without any inhibition. And I think this inter-religious meeting with the Pope, the rulers of Abu Dhabi and the Grand Imam is a great symbol. They are telling us that we are united as one.
DEFTERIOS: We talk about inter-religious dialogue. You really get that sense during this visit of Pope Francis. Seeing the pictures with the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar -- what did that mean to you to see that actually transpiring before your eyes in the same city you live in?
DESALES: Yes. I mean it's the greatest feeling to see them. For me it's the great brotherhood or fraternity symbol to see them exchanging vows, hugging each other. Because I mean, living in this region especially, we all know what is happening.
And to see these two great religious leaders, (INAUDIBLE) it's a symbol that we people are capable of making peace with each other regardless of race, regardless of religion, regardless of color and nationality.
DEFTERIOS: Pope Francis addressed Yemen before he left the Vatican as you know and the region as you noted is under turmoil with Saudi- Iranian tensions, what's happened in Libya, the Arab Spring of 2011. Can you see harmony coming out of this or is it too much to ask for the Pope and the Grand Imam in your view?
DESALES: I think the Pope and the Imam has -- took the very great steps towards and to that peace between the region. I mean -- it's them telling us to stop everything that is happening now. And we are capable of loving, we are capable of giving peace to each other. So I think it's -- soon, maybe not now, but in years to come peace in this region will come. Insha'Allah.
DEFTERIOS: The message is clearly there. Insha'Allah. Nice to meet you.
DESALES: Insha'Allah. Nice to meet you, too. Thanks you.
DEFTERIOS: Aimee Desales once again. She works in the food and beverage business here in Abu Dhabi, Becky.
And you get that sense from everyone I have spoken to for the last four hours. They think it's incredibly strong message from the U.A.E. coalescing (ph) this, Pope Francis' message on Yemen, the Grand Imam saying we could actually find common ground together. And it's something that has resonated wi3th this audience's that seeing the Pope in the Arabian Peninsula for the first time.
significance of this papal mass to those with you, to those who are gathered here inside the stadium. And the symbolism of the first trip of a pontiff to the Arabian Peninsula.
It is a complicated, messy region. And it is what can be achieved on an inter-faith basis in a -- the quest for peace around this the Middle East, that is so important.
We will be back after this very short break.
ANDERSON: Welcome back to Abu Dhabi for our coverage of Pope Francis' history-making trip to the U.A.E. He is the first Roman Catholic pope to ever visit the Arabian Peninsula and he is celebrating mass here at Zayed Sports City.
More than 100,000 people attending. Islam the dominion religion in the U.A.E. but about a million Catholics live here. The Pope's message so far has been about dialogue and an end to violence and extremism.
He told religious leaders here on Monday to reject war mentioning conflicts in Yemen, in Syria, Iraq and Libya.
Well more from Abu Dhabi in just a moment. First let's get y9ou back to John Vause with some of the day's other news.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Becky -- thank you.
In just a few hours, U.S. President Donald Trump will deliver the annual State of the Union address. The speech was delayed by a week due to the partial government shutdown over funding for a wall on the southern border. And another shutdown looks possible in just nine days because the President is once again insisting on his original demand for $5 billion from Congress to fund his wall. And if he doesn't get it he may declare a national emergency. Even so the White House says on Tuesday night, the President will aim for a bipartisan and optimistic tone.
KELLYANNE CONWAY, COUNSELOR TO THE PRESIDENT: This President is going to call for an end to the politics of resistance, retribution and call for more comity -- C-O-M-I-T-Y.
VAUSE: David Siders is with us now from California. He's a senior reporter with "Politico".
So David -- this political segment brought to you by the word "comity" which means a friendly social atmosphere and social harmony. And, you know, David -- I guess Kellyanne does not actually have any idea what this president is likely to say on Tuesday. There is every chance he could use this moment to go after the Democrats and make his case for the wall.
DAVID SIDERS, SENIOR REPORTER, "POLITICO": He could. And I think he will make a case for border security, at least in generally terms.
[01:44:57] On the other hand, the last couple of State of the Unions that the President has given, he has performed in the way that staff expected. He stuck to the teleprompter and I think that staff expects him to do the same thing on Tuesday night.
VAUSE: Well, if you look at the latest polling numbers, most American oppose another shutdown over wall funding. That number flips over when it comes to just Republicans who really want the shutdown. And at the same time, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, he's actually warning of a possible civil war within the GOP over all of this. Here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) 333 SENATOR LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: To every Republican, if you don't stand behind this president, we are not going to stand behind you when it comes to the wall. This is the defining moment of his presidency.
VAUSE: You know, he went to say that, you know, the emergency declaration raises legal concerns. It could set bad precedent. But, you know, it's more important to essentially back the President. It seems an extraordinary statement to make and says a lot about where the Republican lawmakers, especially in the Senate, are right now over this declaration.
SIDERS: And it speaks to how fractured that caucus is. If the President pursues an emergency declaration he's likely to face -- he's already facing some push back from Republicans. He's likely to face resistance.
There will be a fissure in that party if the President pursues the wall and that has a lot of Republicans concerned that instead of talking about the economy -- something that President Trump could boast about. He could be mired for months not only in legal challenges, but in a fight within his own party.
VAUSE: There is also a fight it seems within the Democrat Party who are opposed to the President. The question is to impeach or not to impeach.
A television commercial is now airing in Washington telling members of Congress to start proceedings. Other Democrats say they want to wait for the findings of the Russia investigation.
But the President believes he actually cannot be impeached. This is what he said on Sunday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The only way they can win, because they can't win the election, is to bring out the artificial way of impeachment. 3333 And the problem is you can't impeach somebody for doing the best job of any president in the history of our country for the first two years.
VAUSE: Well, 69 percent of the country believes this federal government is either the worst they have ever seen or just plain bad. Where does he get these ideas that the President can't be impeached for doing a great job?
First of all you can argue the point about doing a great job. But certainly you can be impeached, there is not immunity. I mean this is nuts.
SIDERS: Yes. But to be fair, I think he may be making a misstatement that is -- at least I don't think the American public understands what the ramification of impeachment is. It doesn't necessarily mean that a president has to leave office.
You know, I think there is a different understanding that the President is tapping into, which is something he has been effective at as far as messaging is concerned in all sorts of ways. Of course, it's delusional but that doesn't mean that it doesn't resonate especially with his base.
VAUSE: Well, let's finish up here with something which never gets old. Let's journey back to in time to the 2016 campaign and a promise from Donald Trump.
TRUMP: I will be your champion and I will work hard to be your champion.
It's going to be a lot of work. It's going to be --- a lot of time I wouldn't leave the White House.
Work, work, work -- straighten it out, get it done. Fix it up. Make it great.
If I win, we are going to work really hard.
VAUSE: It turns out really hard was a bit of a stretch. According to the Web site Axios, they received a copy of the President's schedule for the last couple of months. It shows about 60 percent of his time was officially "executive time" -- watching TV, tweeting, talking on the phone about the stuff on TV.
The White House pushed back saying very few people actually are aware of what the President is doing when he is alone. And that in itself actually seems to be kind of a concern -- the level of secrecy surrounding how Donald Trump spends so much of his time.
SIDERS: I think that the actual hours that he puts in, whether he puts them -- whatever he does I am not sure that that is going to matter so much to the American people but I think the end result, the product will.
333So, for example, we talked about earlier the wall. I think it will matter to the Republican base if he can't get a wall under construction. And then that is juxtaposed against headlines saying that he's spending his time tweeting or being on Fox TV.
I think it's the product that's going to be the real measure here and we are seeing he has some problems.
VAUSE: Yes. And those polling numbers we didn't get to that, but, the disapprovals are up, the approvals are down, and that seems to be a trend which has been going on for some time, implications for 2020.
But David -- we'll leave it there. Good to see you. It's been a while. Thank you.
Next up here on CNN NEWSROOM -- the papal mass being celebrated in Abu Dhabi. We'll take you there live as we continue our special coverage of the Pope's historic visit to the Arabian Peninsula.
ANDERSON: The special edition of CNN NEWSROOM.
I'm Becky Anderson in Abu Dhabi where it is an emotional day for many. Pope Francis, the first Roman Catholic pope to visit the Arabian Peninsula celebrating mass as we speak with more than 100,000 Catholics here at Zayed Sports City.
Earlier he visited St. Joseph's Cathedral, home to some of the U.A.E.'s million-plus Christians. And then the Pope made his way to the stadium for the mass greeted by wildly enthusiastic crowds.
We have an excellent panel for you viewers with a new addition -- the Emirati Ambassador Omar Saif Ghobash. Our new addition is His Excellency Jaber al Lamki, executive director of the U.A.E. National Media Council, a man really as many -- he's made this happen. He'll walk us into making this happen -- Jaber. And historian Peter Hellyer.
Let's talk about organizing something like this as the Pope begins here.
JABER LAMKI, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, U.A.E. NATIONAL MEDIA COUNCIL: First of all, thank you for having me here. It's a historic moment as you know. The preparation and logistics to make this happen is really an interesting journey for all of us. We have around 100 volunteer Emiratis, who have just devoted their time to make sure that some of the logistics are going smoothly.
We have more than 1,500 members of the organizing committee from different walks of life and these are a mixture of the people who are walking here from a media production, from the embassy, from the police forces, and ambulances. And everyone is here basically to make this happen. It's really a message that we really can co-exist and the inclusion of all the walks of life is very important for us.
ANDERSON: How much sleep have you had over the past couple of days?
AL LAMKI: It's sleepless nights to make things happen. We've been working with different committees to make sure the logistics, and especially for also the around 800 journalists coming all over the world. Getting them their access badges and giving them access. We understand that sometimes things can go wrong. And I would like to say we are doing our best level to give everyone the story of the U.A.E. to the world. It's all about love and peace.
ANDERSON: Jaber is giving you the back stories to our viewers about what goes into the logistics of organizing an event like this.
It's the event that now we should talk about. We have been discussing this morning how important this trip has been to the U.A.E. If there was one thing that the country wants to take away from this, it's what -- Omar?
GHOBASH: Tolerance is part of the ethos of the Emirates. Going forward this is going to be really a challenge for all of us in the region. It's the leadership of the U.A.E. stepping up at a global level to say that, you know, we are going to access politically, economically and with all the power we can bring to it. And it's connecting the dots across the region and with the leadership of other faiths.
So it's something that a lot of us have been waiting for. And it takes a while for government to take up the challenge. And it's a remarkable thing that they are doing it.
[01:54:56] ANDERSON: Francis is urging religious leaders here, those of the Muslim faith, of the Jewish faith, and of the Christian faith to contribute actively to demilitarizing the human heart. And he has not held back from siting the crisis around the region, or at least those of Yemen, of Syria, of Iraq and of Libya. A surprise?
GHOBASH: Not a surprise at all. I mean it's exactly what's on our minds as well. And this is part the logic of standing up and responsibility for the direction in which we express ourselves.
And you know, the collapse of states in the last few years in the region is precisely why unfortunately force needs to be used. With the rise of militias across the region and with certain countries in the region actually actively supporting the destruction of various states, it's exceptionally important for us to take a stand.
urged leaders around this region to think of, for example, the kids in Yemen. And in response the U.A.E.'s minister of foreign affairs says he hopes that this will be the year that Yemen finds peace.
Just actively behind the scenes, for our viewers' sake, what is the U.A.E. doing to ensure that?
GHOBASH: The war in Yemen was not a war of choice. It was really imposed on us. And unfortunately I think the public perception is that the Iranian role is not emphasized. And the reason there is a war in Yemen is because of our friends across the Arabian Gulf who have decided to intervene and supply weaponry at a distance.
So this idea of continuing to provoke proxy wars is incredibly destructive. So it wasn't a choice. It was forced upon us and actually it's not just this year that the ministry of foreign affairs wants peace in Yemen. We've wanted it right from the beginning.
ANDERSON: Those friends across that Gulf would call it, of course, the Persian Gulf or one of those perhaps. One of those arguments is the one heard here around this region.
I am going to come to you but we are going to take a very short break.
ANDERSON: Thank you for that.
That's all that we have time for NOW but we'll be back.
I'm Becky Anderson in Abu Dhabi.
VAUSE: I'm John Vause at the CNN center. The news continues on CNN, right after this.
[02:00:02] ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to a very special hour of CNN NEWSROOM.
I'm Rosemary Church in Atlanta. | 2019-04-20T14:38:19Z | http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1902/05/cnr.18.html |
Athletic performance can always be improved to some degree.
It doesn’t matter how old you are, what genetics you landed or what you did or didn’t do in the past, you can still improve.
All of those factors will affect your absolute potential, but the ability to improve is universal, thanks to biology.
There are many factors that go into improving athletic performance, this article will focus on those that have the biggest impact.
Was the title of this article clickbait? No. I meant easy in relative terms. You’ll see why shortly.
The biggest (controllable) factor in athletic performance is always going to be the amount of work done.
This improves both skill and capacity, which are both involved in athletic performance to various degrees. However, one thing that often gets overlooked, is economy.
So what is economy, when it comes to athletic performance?
Economy is the energy cost of performing a task. In endurance activities, this is measured by oxygen consumption, which is analogous to fuel efficiency in a car.
In strength or power based activities, it is a little harder to measure economy, because in a matter of a single lift, throw or jump, peak values are more important than sustained values. However, you can measure maximum force production along with muscle activation and then compare it to the task at hand to get a gauge of economy.
As an aside: efficiency is not economy.
Efficiency refers to the conversion of total work done to productive work.
In a car, the engine has about 25% efficiency, which means that most of the energy is converted to heat and other forms of energy which do not propel the car forward.
There is debate among sport scientists as to how much efficiency can be improved, if at all. That there is debate, suggests it is not the easiest attribute to change, when compared to something like economy.
Generally speaking, being economical is a good thing, because it means you can sustain a higher output for longer, whatever size your total output is.
Skill: whatever you do, there is a skill component. Thus, the more you practice the skill of movement, the more economical you become. This is due to the law of specificity (you get better at what you do) having task specific improvements in both motor control and tissue adaptations. This is true whether it comes to running and jumping or playing a ball sport.
Anthropometry: you don’t need to have a degree in biomechanics to appreciate some body types are better suited to certain activities. Tall people with long limbs and great cardiovascular systems make good rowers. Tall and powerful people make good jumpers. The better suited you are to a task physically, the more economical you will be.
General movement ability: Better movers will have an easier time learning the specific task skills (motor learning is a skill in and of itself) and have less/more efficient internal resistance when performing movements. Internal resistance can be thought of as the different intrinsic factors that impede movement/output.
You can hopefully appreciate that anthropometry is hard to change, outside of gaining and losing weight (which is still fairly difficult to change beyond a certain point).
That leaves us with the skill of performing the task or general biomotor ability as our targets to improve athletic performance.
Considering that getting better at running by running more and running faster is actually quite hard work, it becomes obvious that the easy way to improve athletic performance is to improve your general movement ability, and more specifically, reduce your internal resistance as much as possible.
Before I describe the easy way to improve performance, and give specific examples, it is important that you understand a simple model of human function.
Basically, this says that performance is an output, governed by inputs and processing.
An output that is dependent on multiple variables can be improved in multiple ways.
The typical way is to try and change the output by affecting processing.
Think of someone learning to swing a golf club with a coach. The coach might demonstrate what a swing should like like, explain the mechanics and theory of the swing and perhaps provide feedback via video.
This can work, but it is not always the most efficient way to go about things, due to the way we learn movement. When we perform a task, our brain is only concerned with whether that task is completed. However, with no reference point as to what the completed task should look or feel like, it simply doesn’t know what it needs to change in the execution to become better at the task.
If we can give better inputs – sensory information from both the external (outside the body) and internal environments – then the brain has a better time in learning the task, because it has more information it can process, which multiplies the potential for better outputs (performance).
It is usually easier to provide better sensory information to the body than it is to improve skill and capacity, hence, this is the “easy” way to improve athletic performance.
How Do You Improve Inputs?
Improving your inputs, with the end goal of becoming more economical and thus improving your athletic performance can be done in a number of ways. In my experience, these have a synergistic effect – the more you use over time, the better.
The first change to sensory input you should give yourself, is exposure to the “end points” of movement.
Continuing with the golf swing example, this would we the top of the back swing and the top of the follow through. By learning these positions, your brain builds a “memory” from which it can determine success or failure of the planned task. What happens in the middle will be inherently variable anyway (more on that later), but if you can get the end points right, you are off to a good start.
What happens between the end points will be determined by what your body can and can’t do.
Remember I mentioned internal resistance as a factor affecting your general movement ability? Think of the internal resistance like an anchor or handbrake – it won’t necessarily stop you, but it will definitely slow you down and effect economy.
Generally speaking, most people should have a certain range of motion available to them at each region throughout their body. There is always some individual variance, but enough people have been measured to find that we all fit within a range.
We can lose this range for a number of reasons. In the Selective Functional Movement Assessment (SFMA), fundamental patterns are assessed, and if they are painful or dysfunctional (including lack of range or poor control), these movements are further broken down to find the limitation.
Regardless of the system, it becomes obvious that you probably can’t resolve a mobility issue with stability drills and vice-versa.
These dysfunctions (the term is theirs, not mine – I prefer adaptations or defensive outputs, because they are usually protective against something the brain is worried about) will contribute to your internal resistance with movement.
By addressing them, you take the brakes off and without getting stronger, more powerful, fitter or more skillful, you are free to express your full ability, and thus you improve your athletic performance.
When we perform any repetitive task there is an inherent variability involved. No two repetitions are exactly the same. This is a good thing. It helps us manage fatigue and minimise loading on any single tissues.
Movement variability is a factor in economy too.
Ideally, we have low end point variability (you hit the golf ball dead centre every time), but enough variability within the movement to utilise the most effective path at that instant in time.
Reducing internal resistance facilitates variability, whilst providing feedback ensures that the variability enhances, not detracts from performance (novices demonstrate more variability than experienced athletes, by definition reducing economy).
This is similar to, but not the same as learning the end points of a movement. Feedback should be objective and external initially, which progresses to a subjective and internal “calibration”.
It is easier to express this with an example.
When learning to hit a golf ball, initially you are focused on simply hitting the ball. If you make contact, then the hit is deemed successful. This is an objective and external source of feedback. You either hit the ball, or you don’t. After repeatedly hitting the ball, you begin to learn what it should feel like, which is a form of subjective and internal calibration.
Taking this further, you want to hit it in a certain direction. If the ball lands where you were aiming, you get an objective, external feedback of success. With repetition, you start to feel when you are striking the ball well and how this correlates to the direction of the shot.
With more focused practice still, you begin to calibrate the feel of the swing with the direction and distance of the ball. All of this happens unconsciously, because you are getting more sensory input about the task.
Over time this leads to improved skill and thus better economy. End result? You guessed it, improved athletic performance.
To know what you need to do to improve your athletic performance, you must start with an appropriate assessment.
A good assessment will look at all the factors involved in athletic performance, including those related to health, and from there you will be able to devise a more specific approach targeted to your needs.
From there, you need to have outcome measures, which usually comes down to your specific athletic event. If you are a runner, then your run times are the outcome measures. If you are a golfer, your driving distance and accuracy and your handicap become the outcome measures.
Once you have established your needs, have a base of outcome measures to compare against, you simply apply the interventions as you need, with the aim of improving the sensory inputs and processing sides of the equation before you retest after the appropriate amount of time.
It is impossible to reduce performance down to one or two factors – we are human after all, and thus very complex.
What I wanted to illustrate with this article, was that to improve your athletic or physical performance, you don’t always have to push harder and harder on the output side of the equation.
Often working smarter on the input and processing side of the equation will yield much better results, with much less effort.
Strength is not built, it is granted to you by your nervous system.
When it comes to athletic performance, the concept is the same.
If you have lots of “anchors” weighing down your performance, it is going to be easier and more effective to cut them loose than it is trying to crank the engine harder in order to go faster.
The back squat is rightly called the “king of exercises”, in fact, it’s said that if you don’t have squats in a training program, then you don’t have a program.
Now, I’d never be so absolute, but the squat is a fundamental movement pattern and forms the foundation for lower body performance training and rehabilitation.
Despite squats being such a fundamental movement, because of the amount of muscles and joints involved, there are a lot of chances for compensation.
Compensation is an interesting topic.
Some claim it leads to injury, yet the research is unclear on this.
Additionally, real world examples abound, one only has to look to the recent Paralympics to see examples of high level compensation, so it’s not necessarily a bad thing to compensate.
What Makes A Good Squat?
If you are a competitive powerlifter, you can probably ignore this advice, because your goals are so unique.
If you are like most people and you are squatting to improve your leg and core strength to assist with physique goals, health goals or performance goals, then read on.
Unfortunately, most people are deficient in one or more of these areas, which can negatively affect their ability to squat efficiently with a barbell.
That’s not to say they can’t squat heavy loads.
It’s common to see people who are strong squatters with well developed quads, perhaps adductors and low back muscles, but with relatively underdeveloped glutes and sometimes hamstrings.
Others have extremely well developed calf muscles as well.
Their bodies are using a different recruitment strategy to the “optimal” one, which relies on the glutes as primary hip extensors.
Our brains are not concerned with long term well-being when it comes to movement, but rather, completing the task at hand, at that moment in time.
When it comes to standing up with a loaded bar on your back, this can mean using whatever muscle is most readily recruited or in the most mechanically advantaged position.
When people have biomechanical limitations elsewhere in the body, this can affect the movement.
As a result, a hip extension becomes a back extension.
This was a set of 10 repetitions in the back squat, which I have taken still shots from at various points (they aren’t all the same rep, as you can see by the time).
To the untrained eye, my set looks pretty good, but as you’ll see, upon closer look, there are a lot of compensations occurring that are costing me efficiency.
I’m using myself as an example, as my issues are some of the most common issues I see, just in differing degrees.
My elbows should be further forward, under the bar or as close to as possible, facilitating thoracic spine extension and activation of the erector spinae muscles to stabilise the spine. Additionally, I have a forward head posture, again related to not getting enough extension through my thoracic spine.
This is where it gets tricky, as this bottom position looks really good at first glance. My torso and shins are greater than parallel (blue lines), my hip is below my knee, what’s not to like?
Well, for a start, my weight is too far forward – thus the centre of the barbell is in front of my toes, instead of through my midfoot (yellow line). This sets me up to use a knee extension dominant strategy to stand up.
The most likely culprit for this is a lack of hip flexion range of motion or control.
My ankles don’t have the best dorsiflexion range of motion either, which wouldn’t help.
What we cannot see in this picture is whether my low back is flexing to compensate or what is happening at my feet – they could be pronating to give me extra range of motion at the ankle.
The problem with this strategy, is that by shifting my weight forward by using spinal or pelvic flexion, I will have to extend again at some point, which takes the spinal erectors from stabilisers in the movement to prime movers.
Here you can see that my torso and shins are no longer parallel (blue lines).
My knees have extended faster than my hips, which have to remain flexed somewhat to keep the weight balanced – this is most likely due to my limited ankle range of motion, which meant my bottom position wasn’t as good as it should have been.
Another factor is the isometric strength of my spinal erectors and abdominals and their ability to maintain my trunk position.
This sets me up to have to use my lower back spinal erectors to straighten me up quickly, as in the image below.
Here you can see what has happened – my knees have extended only slightly, whilst my back has extended quite a lot in a short time.
What should have been a powerful drive from the hips ends up as a two part movement – the initial extension of my knees with minimal hip extension, followed by the compensatory back extension to get my torso more upright again.
Finally, once my knees are at almost full extension, my hips are still flexed – I’ve stood up by extending my spine more than my hips.
This example demonstrates the effect that mobility and motor control limitations have on the execution of movement – I can get the squat done, but sub-optimally.
Now that you are aware, if you watch the video (it’s easier in slow motion) you can see that I compensate by using my back extensors (erector spinae) as prime movers, something their not optimally designed for (we have massive glutes for a reason).
Luckily, our bodies are adaptable, and even “sub-optimal” biomechanics aren’t a recipe for injury – it all depends on adaptability.
Up to a certain point, my low back muscles, joints and ligaments will get stronger to withstand the loading of squatting.
*I’ll get injured not because I’m moving incorrectly, but rather, our bodies are only capable of adapting so much, and inefficient movement patterns put increased demands on an area that are not as well designed to withstand them. The same is true even if I had “perfect” squat mechanics – after a certain point I will fail to progress or get injured.
I always ask myself, if a patient is paying me money to obtain the best result possible, does this information add value to their experience and outcomes.
In the case of what I’ve just discussed, does it even matter if you squat with optimal motor patterns or not?
If I’m not going to the gym, and I only squat occasionally to pick something up at home, then it probably doesn’t matter. As long as I’ve got the physical capacity to withstand the demands of that task, I’ll be okay.
However, if you are squatting to improve your aesthetics, performance or leg and core strength, then executing the movement optimally matters.
Sure you can get away with “just squatting” and moving weight however you can.
But is it ideal? Not to me.
The reason being, that despite our bodies being adaptable, we only have a finite amount of energy. For every inefficient movement pattern, energy cost of execution and recovery increases, thus gains (performance, health, aesthetic) decrease.
To me, the argument of whether you should aim to improve your movement quality and efficiency is a moot one.
Even if the benefits were neglible, I am a person who takes pride in striving for improvement.
In the case of exercise, improving the movement for the sake of improving the movement is enough of a reason to do so.
If you are training for aesthetic goals, and you are squatting to improve your leg and hip muscle development, an optimal movement pattern will best recruit the muscles of the glutes, quads and hamstrings.
If you are training for a performance goal, then an optimal movement pattern will improve sequencing of hip extension, as well as power and strength, in turn improving running speed and jumping height.
If you are training for a health related goal, then striving for optimal movement patterns can be an end unto itself.
Anecdotally, the people I see who strain their backs squatting typically demonstrate this type of movement pattern.
So How Do You Improve Your Squat?
To identify what your particular issue(s) is/are requires an individual assessment.
Once you know your issues, the interventions are relatively straightforward. | 2019-04-26T02:24:52Z | http://integrativeosteopathy.com.au/tag/movement-variability/ |
When Congress passed the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA), the incandescent bulb's days officially became numbered. The law mandated strict new energy standards for lighting designed to kick-start a new era of greener, longer-lasting, more cost-efficient light bulbs -- and this meant kicking outdated, inefficient bulbs to the curb.
The rising standards have already rendered 100W and 75W incandescents obsolete, and on January 1, 2014, their 60W and 40W cousins met the same fate. Congressional budget waffling seemed to put the new standards on hold, but it was largely too late -- the industry had already moved on, and wasn't interested in reversing course.
Like it or not, the arrival of this new era means that replacing your lights will never be quite the same. With all of the new options out there (not to mention the disappearance of some important old ones), finding the perfect bulb can seem pretty daunting. New lights that promise to last 20 years and save you hundreds of dollars might sound good in theory, but how do you know which one is the right one for you? How do you know the bulb you're buying is going to be bright enough? And what if you're just not ready to say goodbye to your incandescents?
Well, fear not, because we've got you covered with a handy guide that's chock-full of all the information you'll need to make sure that your next light bulb is the right bulb.
What kinds of bulbs are available?
We've all gotten to know incandescents quite well over the past 135 years or so, but times are changing and there are several new types of lights to consider, like light-emitting diodes (LEDs), compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs), energy efficient incandescents, halogens, and smart bulbs.
Light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, are the new rock stars of the bulb world.
A typical LED uses a fraction of the wattage required to power a bright incandescent bulb, and this makes LEDs dramatically more cost-effective over the long run. A 12W LED that puts out 800 lumens of light (lumens are units of brightness for a light source -- more on that in just a bit) will add about a buck and a half per year to your power bill if used for 3 hours a day at an energy rate of 11 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh). Under those same parameters, a 60W incandescent bulb that puts out 880 lumens will cost about $7.50 per year. Multiply that by the total number of bulbs in your home, and you're potentially looking at some pretty significant long-term savings.
LEDs are also rated to last for tens of thousands of hours, which can translate to decades of use. Compare that with the year or so you typically get out of an incandescent, and you can begin to see why so many people find these bulbs appealing. At a price of about $15, that 12W LED would pay for itself in 2.5 years, then keep on saving you money for years to come.
Yes, really -- at least, according to Energy Star and the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES), the independent organization that created the testing procedures manufacturers use to rate LED lights. LED lights don't "burn out," the way that incandescents do. Instead, they gradually growing dimmer and dimmer over time. If an LED says it'll last 25,000 hours, it's really saying that it will take the bulb 25,000 hours to fade down to 70 percent brightness.
And, as with any device relying on tiny, delicate electrical components, things can go wrong. Some manufacturers, like GE and Cree, offer bulbs with 10-year warranties, none of which cost more than $20. Consumers with a healthy dose of skepticism regarding LED longevity claims should look for bulbs like these, by manufacturers willing to put their money where their mouth is.
Before LEDs exploded into the lighting scene, compact fluorescent lights (CFLs to you and me) were seen by many as the heir apparent to incandescent lighting. Despite the fact that CFLs use between one-fifth and one-third the energy of incandescents, and typically save one to five times their purchase price over the course of their lifetime, many people weren't thrilled at the idea of switching over. Some find the whitish light output of CFL bulbs less aesthetically pleasing than the warm, yellow tone of most incandescents. Others are quick to point out that CFL bulbs that regularly get powered on and off for short periods of time tend to see a significant decrease in life expectancy. There's also the common complaint that most CFLs aren't dimmable, and that they often take a second or 2 after being switched on to fully light up.
The good news here is that CFL technology has improved a lot since EISA was signed into law in 2007. Today, you'll find a greater variety of color options, including bulbs rated at the low, yellow end of the Kelvin scale, and you'll have an easier time finding dimmable CFLs, too. There are even "instant-on" CFL bulbs designed to eliminate that annoying delay between flipping the switch and seeing the light.
The bad news is that in spite of these improvements, CFLs remain somewhat flawed. They're still prone to decreased life expectancy when you use them in short increments, so ideally you'll want to save them for lighting that you're going to keep on for longer periods of time. Additionally, most CFLs aren't intended for outdoor use, and some will fail to turn on in colder temperatures -- although you can find cold-cathode CFL bulbs rated for temperatures as low as -10 degrees Fahrenheit.
Like all fluorescents, CFLs contain trace amounts of mercury -- typically 3 to 5 milligrams (mg), although some contain less. This creates the potential for pollution when CFL bulbs are not disposed of properly. The amount of mercury vapor in a standard CFL bulb is about one-hundredth of what you'd find in an old-fashioned thermometer. Even in such a small amount, mercury merits a degree of caution, as direct exposure can cause damage to the brain, lungs, and kidneys. That said, if a CFL shatters on your kitchen floor, you don't need to panic or evacuate your home. Just be sure to open a window and let the room air out for 10 minutes, then carefully transfer the glass and dust into a sealable container (and don't use a vacuum cleaner -- you don't want to kick those chemicals up into the air). If you can take the broken bulb to a recycling center for proper disposal, great.
When I tell you to picture a light bulb, chances are good that you're envisioning an incandescent. This is the classic bulb of Thomas Edison.
As a matter of fact, they aren't. EISA doesn't actually ban anything, at least not directly. What EISA does do is raise efficiency standards - specifically, the minimum acceptable ratio of lumens (light) per watt (electricity). Incandescents aren't banned; they simply have to become more efficient. Also, keep in mind that appliance lights and other specialty classes of incandescents are exempt from the new standards, so they aren't going anywhere. The door is still wide open for manufacturers to develop non-traditional high-efficiency incandescent bulbs that manage to meet the new standards.
Halogens are just incandescent bulbs with a bit of halogen gas trapped inside with the lighting filament. This gas helps "recycle" the burned-up tungsten gas back onto the filament, making for a slightly more efficient light. Unlike the mercury in CFLs, this gas isn't anything that could be classified as hazardous waste.
Due to their relative similarity to classic incandescents -- both in light quality and in cost -- halogens can work as a good compromise bulb for consumers who need to replace their incandescents, but who also aren't ready to commit to CFLs or LEDs quite yet.
You want to be sure that you'll enjoy living with whatever light bulb you purchase, especially if you're choosing a long-lasting bulb that you'll live with for years. Fortunately, the Federal Trade Commission now requires light bulb manufacturers to put a "Lighting Facts" label onto their products' packaging, not unlike the Nutrition Facts label that you'll find on packaged food.
These Lighting Facts include everything from the estimated yearly cost of using the bulb to more obscure figures, like lumens and color temperature. If you want to shop smart, it will help to understand as much of that terminology as you can.
If you're buying a bulb these days, you'll be left in the dark if you don't know what a lumen is. The actual definition gets a bit complicated, involving things like steradians and candela, but don't worry, because all that you really need to know is that lumens are units of brightness. The more lumens a bulb boasts, the brighter it will be. So, how does this information help you?
Let me give you an example. If you look at CFL or LED bulbs, you'll see that most all of them are marketed as "replacements" for incandescent bulbs of specific wattages. You'll probably see the word "equivalent" used, too, as in "60-watt equivalent." This can be frustratingly misleading, with "equivalent" often meaning something closer to "equivalent...ish."
Relying on these wattage equivalencies can lead you to buy a bulb that ends up being far too dim or too bright for your needs, and this is where understanding lumens really comes in handy. With lumens listed on each and every bulb, you'll always have a concrete comparison of how bright any two bulbs actually are. The bigger the number, the brighter the bulb -- easy enough, right?
After lumens, the next concept you'll want to be sure to understand is color temperature. Measured on the Kelvin scale, color temperature isn't really a measure of heat. Instead, it's a measure of the color that a light source produces, ranging from yellow on the low end of the scale to bluish on the high end, with whitish light in the middle. An easy way to keep track of color temperature is to think of a flame: it starts out yellow and orange, but when it gets really hot, it turns blue.
Generally speaking, incandescents sit at the bottom of the scale with their yellow light, while CFLs and LEDs have long been thought to tend toward the high, bluish end of the spectrum. This has been a steady complaint about new lighting alternatives, as many people prefer the warm, familiar, low color temperature of incandescents. Manufacturers are listening, though, and in this case they heard consumers loud and clear, with more and more low-color-temperature CFL and LED options hitting the shelves. Don't believe me? Take a look at those two paper lamps in the picture below, because they're both CFL bulbs -- from the same manufacturer, no less.
These days, bulb shoppers will find so many color temperature options that some lighting companies have cleverly begun color-coding their packaging: blue for high-color-temperature bulbs, yellow for low-color-temperature ones, and white for bulbs that fall in between. With so many choices available, the notion that the phase-out of incandescents is taking warm, cozy lighting with it is a complete myth at this point.
Unless you live in a disco, you probably want the colors in your home to look somewhat traditional. This is where the color rendering index, or CRI, comes in. The CRI is a score from 1 to 100 that rates a bulb's ability to accurately illuminate colors. You can think of the CRI as a light bulb's GPA for colors, as it actually averages multiple scores for multiple shades. Manufacturers aren't required to list the bulb's CRI number on the packaging, but many of them choose to do so anyway, so you'll want to know what it means.
To understand CRI a little better, let's imagine a basketball game played outdoors on a sunny day between a team in red jerseys and a team in green jerseys. Daylight is the ideal for making colors look the way they should, so it gets a CRI of 100. Most people watching this game would have no problem telling the teams apart, because red would appear clearly red, and green would look green.
Now let's imagine that same basketball game -- except now played inside that disco I mentioned. We're indoors, it's a little dim, and we're stuck with multicolored spotlights as the only light source. A purple one shines down on a very confused point guard as he takes a shot. Can you tell if he's on the green team or the red one? I wouldn't be surprised if you couldn't, because the CRI of lights like those is abysmal.
Now here's the rub: the CRI is highly imperfect and not always useful (the reasons why are mind-numbing, but you can read more here if you're curious/masochistic). The important takeaway is that CRI scores are really only helpful if you're talking about bulbs that sit in the middle of the color temperature spectrum. You'll probably see references to "white" or "natural" light on bulbs like these. In these cases, the CRI score can be a great way to tell a good bulb from a great bulb.
In general, anything over 80 is probably decent enough for your home, but we're starting to see CRI scores creeping up into the nineties on some very affordable bulbs. If accurate color rendering is important to you, hold out for lights like these. And if you're buying bulbs on the high (blue) or low (yellow) end of the spectrum, take any and all CRI claims with a grain of salt.
How do I tell if a light bulb is efficient?
In simple terms, a light bulb is just a device that converts electricity into light. The more light you get per watt of electricity, the more efficient the light. With incandescent bulbs, efficiency is easy to understand because a specific wattage of electricity will always heat a tungsten filament to a specific temperature, which in turn will yield a specific level of light. This means that, generally speaking, one incandescent will be more or less as efficient (or by today's standards, inefficient) as another.
With LEDs and CFLs, the bulbs still convert electricity into light, but the methodology is totally different. Light output isn't fixed to the temperature of a filament, which means there's more wiggle room for differences in efficiency. Simply put, unlike incandescents, LED and CFL bulbs are decidedly not created equal.
This is another place where understanding lumens comes in handy. A 10W LED can easily outshine a 12W competitor if it converts watts into lumens more efficiently. All the wattage tells you is how much power the bulb uses. The lumens tell you how much light the bulb puts out. The ratio between the two tells you how efficient the bulb is. The more lumens you're getting per watt, the better the bulb is at converting electricity into light.
What other factors will I want to consider?
So far, we've covered the light bulb basics (and then some), but if you really want to get picky about your home lighting, or if you just want to delve a little deeper into the subject, there's a lot more to take into consideration.
As you're probably aware, light bulbs come in a fairly wide variety of shapes. Knowing the actual nomenclature might save you some time.
Let's start with the base of the bulb, the part that screws in. In the US, the most common shape by far is E26, with the "E" standing for Edison and the "26" referring to the diameter of the base in millimeters. You might also see E27 bulbs from time to time, which is the European standard. Those should still fit into common American fixtures, but keep in mind that voltage ratings are different in the two regions, with American bulbs rated for 120 volts compared to 220-240 volts in Europe. For smaller sockets, like you might find with a candelabra, you'll want to look for an E12 base.
As for the bulb itself, the typical shape that you're probably used to is an A19 bulb. Increase that number to A21 or A23, and you've got the same shape, but bigger. Bulbs made to resemble flames are F-shaped, which is easy enough to remember, as are globes, which go by the letter G. If it's a floodlight you want, you'll want to look for "BR" (bulging reflector) or "PAR" (parabolic aluminized reflector). Those bulbs are designed to throw all their light in one direction only, which makes them useful for spot lighting, overhead lighting, and the headlights in your car.
Some lights have hardware built into the bulb itself that can block the downward projection of light (BR and PAR bulbs do it intentionally, reflecting that light back upward). If you aren't sure exactly what you'll need from your bulb in terms of light direction, the safe bet might be to go with a bulb that shines in all directions. The term that you'll want to look for is "omnidirectional."
A majority of modern lighting options now include compatibility with in-wall dimmer switches, and that's a good thing for anyone who likes the light down low. If this sounds like you, then you'll want to double check that your bulb's packaging says the word "dimmable" before you make a purchase.
That said, some bulbs will dim down better than others -- and your mileage may vary depending on what switch you're using too. Most basic switches dim the light by flashing the power on and off faster than the eye can detect. In many cases, this can cause electromagnetic interference in the bulbs, which can lead to flickering light or a faint buzz from within the bulb.
The dimmable ranges of these four LED floodlights varied; see CNET for a detailed test.
If you're truly focused on lights that dim well, then you may want to consider a smart LED kit. With dimming smarts built right into the bulb, there's no need for a dimmer switch. Instead, you'll use a smartphone app, or perhaps a physical remote accessory, and you shouldn't encounter any buzzing or flickering.
It's out there, and it's more affordable than you might think. Whether you want an elaborate network of fully automated lights, or just a simple bulb that you can program over your phone via Bluetooth, you'll find a growing number of options available from a variety of different sources.
Starter kits aren't quite as flashy as some of the other new automation options we're seeing, but it'll work well if you're looking to automate your lights. You could even upgrade your system with a few of Insteon's fully automatable LED Bulbs, while you're at it. We've also seen interesting, LED-friendly systems from startups like SmartThings , so you'll definitely want to do a little research and shop around before committing to anything too elaborate.
Belkin WeMo Light Switch is a single device that'll let you automate a light using the free WeMo app, or the popular Web service IFTTT. The WeMo Insight Switch is even more flexible, letting you automate not just lights, but anything you plug into it.
Additionally, you could look for smart bulbs with Bluetooth or Wi-Fi built right in, like Belkin's own WeMo LEDs, Philips Hue Lux LEDs, the Connected by TCP LED Lighting Kit, or standalone color changing bulbs like the Tabu Lumen LED and Lifx. Many of these don't even need any additional products or software. Just screw them in, download an app, and start automating. Best of all, the cost of these sorts of bulbs is coming down fast. GE's Link LED is the cheapest we've tested, selling for just $15 per bulb.
Keep in mind, though, that many of these bulbs will need to draw a tiny bit of power while they're powered off in order to remember your automation settings, and this means that they'll be slightly less energy-efficient than normal bulbs. For green-minded consumers, this kind of bulb might not seem smart at all.
If you're looking for a little more color in your life, then be sure and take a look at a product like the Philips Hue Starter Kit. Aside from being fully automatable via a mobile app and control hub, the Hue LED bulbs are capable of on-demand color changes. Just pull out your phone, select one of millions of possible shades, and the light will match it. Can't decide between warm, yellowy light or a cool blue tone? Why not both?
Because Philips opened the lighting controls to third-party developers, we're starting to see new smartphone apps that will do some pretty crazy things, like changing the color of your lights in rhythm with whatever music you're playing. Hue lights are even compatible with IFTTT, with recipes already available that will change the color of your lights to match the weather, or to signal a touchdown from your favorite football team, or even to indicate when your stocks are doing well.
Philips isn't your only option here, though. We've seen new competitors emerge over the last year, like Lifx and the Lumen LED from Tabu. Each has its own merits, and might deserve consideration before you make a splurge. For instance, Lifx has a much brighter light output than Philips Hue, while the Lumen LED costs less and does a better job accurately producing shades of green.
Even if a color-coordinated level of smart functionality makes your eyes roll, it still illuminates one last important thing about buying lights: you should look for the lighting setup that you'll enjoy the most, because you'll be using it more often than any other appliance in your home. Even if smart lights aren't for you, there's no reason not to be smart about your lighting choices. Know your options, shop intelligently, and you'll love your lights for years to come. | 2019-04-24T00:22:23Z | https://www.cbsnews.com/news/light-bulb-technology-buying-guide/ |
Mutual Mobile brings digital experiences to life through an integrated approach to design and technology.
Developer, product builder, service provider, design studio, emerging tech consultancy, strategic innovation partner – different kind of animal.
Every skill and talent in our brain collective goes into our work: Uniting the physical and digital worlds to build business solutions and user experiences that change how people live, work, and play – every day.
When products and solutions are at their best, they drive basic human behaviors to convert on defined business goals – in the simplest of ways.
We’ve helped many of the world’s leading brands – including Audi, Cisco, Google, and Philips – cut through the clutter and prioritize their technology investments to align with their brand, business objectives, and users’ needs.
Dribe provides the Danish consumer market instant access to mobility of any type with their car subscription service. See how key players from Mutual Mobile and Dribe navigated the app project roadmap.
Since launching in 2018, 1600+ Dribe members are driving in 1400+ cars. Together, Dribe and Mutual Mobile gave the Danish consumer market instant access to mobility of any type.
Worked with Children Services Council, PBC, for a parenting app for parents of kids up to 18 yrs age. An intuitive app with rich content and notifications.
Connecting data and athletes has tremendous potential to improve performance. We came together with Under Armour to help create the world’s first connected fitness system made by athletes for athletes.
Flexdrive wanted to change the world with a new subscription-based automobile platform. They partnered with Mutual Mobile to put their ambitious plan into motion, using emerging technology.
The first Configurator app opened Southwire up to the public. The new Configurator Plus provides Southwire the ability to get faster, more accurate quotes to a large, diverse audience.
Mutual Mobile engineers and developers worked hand-in-hand with eero to realize the vision of simple, seamless, mobile WiFi that works immediately and indefinitely. Mutual Mobile and eero set out to build a mobile app that enabled users to set up WiFi in their home in minutes with only a mobile phone and an eero router. Mutual Mobile’s fully-integrated design and development workflow enabled the teams to keep an accelerated schedule. Cross-functional teams working in a scrum process helped to achieve maximum progress and made collaboration a key part of the process.
Mutual Mobile partnered with Nike to create Nike SB 2.0, delivering an award-winning digital experience to skaters all over the world through an online skate community. It’s packed with exciting, dynamic animations, lots of ways to search for cool tricks and the “Learn-It” multi-angle video player that enables skaters to watch the pros perform tricks frame by frame, in slow motion and reverse.
Mutual Mobile partnered with BSX to create BSXinsight, the world’s first wearable lactate threshold sensor. BSXinsight shows what is happening deep within your muscle as you train and translates your bio signals into clear, actionable training direction.
Mutual Mobile partnered with Walmart to create a fully immersive VR in-store shopping experience, giving users a look into the future of shopping and retail technology.
From advanced training simulations, to gaming, to healthcare, and brand activations, our team at Mutual Mobile creates superior immersive experiences that help businesses learn and grow. From strategy to implementation, we can help you bring your idea to life.
Beam turns Apple HomeKit into a universal remote for all the connected devices in your home.
"Our customers love the app."
Mutual Mobile designed and developed an iOS and Android app. They created the app’s layout and flow and also helped with marketing strategy and branding. Currently, they’re supporting both apps.
Users are passionate about the app and review it at a far higher rate than they do other apps in the industry. Mutual Mobile’s expert team provides consistent communication and excellent quality for the price. Customers can expect multiple channels of communication and a commitment to deadlines.
I’m the managing partner of BassForecast, a mobile app for bass anglers focusing on environmental conditions such as weather and solunar (how the position of the sun and moon affect fish movement).
What challenge were you trying to address with Mutual Mobile?
We needed someone to develop our mobile app.
They executed everything from designing and laying out the app to engineering and coding. We gave them the idea, the desired output, and the market information, and they did the rest. After rolling out the iOS version and seeing it work great, we launched the Android version. They also helped with some marketing strategy and branding.
The app compiles all the factors that help anglers determine what day the fish will be biting. It uses a complex algorithm and calculates a 10-day range when the fish will be easiest to catch. This way, anglers have an easier time finding great experiences.
David (Director of Business Development, Mutual Mobile) was assigned to us, and we’ve had as many as 6–8 people working on the app at any given time. Other times, there’s only one or two people on the team. We like how flexible they are and trust them not to run up the bill on us.
How did you come to work with Mutual Mobile?
My business partner found them. Vetting app companies was challenging because we didn’t have much experience and didn’t know how to structure our RFP. Mutual Mobile did the best job of helping us understand the process and learn as we went. Additionally, Mutual Mobile built an app for NASCAR, so they had experience developing a sports app.
We’ve spent $100,000. It would have been a lot more, but we gave them an equity stake in our company worth $300,000.
We’ve been working together since December 2016.
Our app is performing quite well compared to the market average for user adoption, user retention, and user feedback. Some of that is the concept laid out by us, and some of it is Mutual Mobile’s execution. We don’t know how to isolate Mutual Mobile’s value specifically, but we’ll never switch to another provider unless there’s a drastic change that affects their pricing or ability to meet our needs.
We have over 100,000 downloads and 2,000 reviews on the App and Play stores, which is an astronomical ratio. There’s another fishing industry app that has 7 million downloads and 3,000–4,000 reviews. We’ve never emailed customers asking for them to leave a review, so it’s purely organic—an underlying indicator of quality. Our customers love the app.
How did Mutual Mobile perform from a project management standpoint?
They always complete tasks on time and within budget, and we communicate over email and Slack.
I was a little hesitant about working with their offshore division—I didn’t know their level of education or English skill—but, when they came to visit, it was clear they were high-quality. Mutual Mobile’s owner is a prominent business figure in his region and can choose the cream of the crop for his team. We’re getting American quality at one-third the price.
More transparency regarding the quoting process would be nice. When they give us a quote, we have to ask for a breakdown of how many people they’re going to assign, how many hours it’s going to take, and why. They always give us that, but we shouldn’t have to ask for it.
Mutual Mobile developed iOS and Android versions of a parenting app. They provided designs, graphics, and key analytics. Their team continues to support maintenance for the platforms.
The app has received glowing feedback and exceeded subscription expectations within two years of launching. The Mutual Mobile team provided unique expertise in their industry and made proactive development choices. Their creativity and support have made them a critical, long-term partner.
I’m the digital communications administrator for Children’s Services Council of Palm Beach County. We’re a government administration that ensures children are raised healthy, free from abuse and neglect, and have access to quality childcare and afterschool programs. We developed an app for our county's parents to access critical information about raising children in our community, as a part of our EveryParent Campaign.
We needed development assistance for both the iOS and Android versions of the app. The platforms had to be accessible, have push notification capability, and be interactive, so we needed a team of experienced developers.
We began with a two-day deep dive discussion about our goals and capabilities for the project. Their team gave us their ideas on how the app would function best, and we discussed the specific details of the outline. From there, we provided them with wireframes, and they produced mockups, designs, and graphics. They developed the apps using Swift programming language for the iOS version, and Java for the Android model. When it came time for needing analytics, they helped us measure those metrics.
Additionally, they provided support when we presented the product to our community and counsel, giving us key data when necessary. We launched the app, and, though the development is completed, their team provides maintenance support for issues.
Mutual Mobile provided a project manager, three developers with iOS and Android expertise, and an analytics expert. Though they likely had more staff dedicated to the project, these were the teammates we worked with directly.
We sent out an RFP, and their knowledge in Swift programming impressed us the most. We wanted a team that knew about the direction of the industry, and their expertise made them the best choice.
We’ve spent between $500,000–$600,000 up to this point.
We started working together in 2016, and they continue to maintain the platforms.
The app has received stellar ratings, and we’ve achieved triple the number of subscribers that we expected within the first two years. The feedback has been phenomenal, and people are excited about the app’s capabilities.
We worked on the development in sprints, which made for effective communication. They would show us their deliverables for approval and continue with the next task, ensuring we were always informed on the project's status. The team responded swiftly and correctly to any of our questions within a 12– 24-hour timeframe.
From the beginning, their expertise and knowledge within the industry distinguished them from other companies. They really knew the technology and were ahead of the curve with changes coming to the programming languages. In addition, their proactivity, creativity, and communicative nature made the experience seamless. I think highly of their work, and I’m thrilled with the work they’ve done.
The key to a successful project is knowing your goal, but being open to their ideas. We had a better experience because we incorporated their feedback into our plan.
Their level of expertise made the price worth the cost.
"Their professionalism reassured us that they would meet our deadline."
Mutual Mobile built Android and iOS apps that allowed children to track mobile device usage and gauge their progress toward goals. Both products integrated with an existing app for parents.
Although the apps had not yet launched, internal feedback and testing showed positive results. Mutual Mobile delivered excellent results with a tight deadline and limited budget. Their dedication, clear communication, and expert knowledge gave the in-house team confidence.
I'm the CEO of TechDen, a parenting tool. It combines an app that helps parents manage screen time with hardware that charges and stores devices. It encourages family collaboration and cooperation while balancing relationships with screens.
For what projects/services did your company hire Mutual Mobile?
We wanted to develop, test, and deliver the TechDen Jr. mobile app, a companion to our app for parents.
Our goal was to produce an easy-to-use app for children to track their screen time and monitor their progress against goals set by their parents.
We found them through an industry recommendation.
Once we selected Mutual Mobile, we had discovery video conferences to discuss our goals and budget. Since the team quickly understood our objectives and timeline, we knew that we were in safe hands.
They cooperated with our in-house developer to expedite the project and hit an important deadline. They broke the project into distinct sections, including the design of seven features and screens. They built the app to work on both Android and iOS.
They assigned a project manager to support us and serve as our main point of contact. We also spoke to two frontend and two backend developers, who verified code and worked closely with our in-house developer.
Our app hasn't launched. Although internal feedback and initial testing has performed well, we haven't received feedback from end users.
Communication was easy and effective, and our project manager was attentive. We used Slack to ensure smooth progress, deliver feedback, and include all parties in relevant communication.
Their professionalism reassured us that they would meet our deadline. Time was of the essence, so they delivered the app on time and within budget.
Our project was straightforward, so Mutual Mobile handled it with relative ease.
They delivered on time without any problems.
We were pleased with the results.
"They are very flexible and engage with each other and with my team."
Mutual Mobile developed a hybrid, Cordova-based virtual kiosk that functions over mobile application and web, as well as from a desktop site.
Mutual Mobile’s drive to be part of long-standing solutions means that they work collaboratively from day one with a vision that goes beyond on-trend products. Their work has solidified a positive brand opinion.
I am the senior digital product manager for a manufacturer that primarily provides pool and household chemicals for various customers across the country. We partner and sell products to mass retailers and a professional dealer network.
We needed help to develop both an app and a corresponding website.
We developed a kiosk for a mass retailer that would allow us to test consumers’ water in-store. We asked Mutual Mobile to develop a hybrid, Cordova-based mobile version of that kiosk that would work for mobile web and app—over both Android and iOS platforms— and for a desktop site. That way, we could accomplish the same task for different brands within our portfolio.
We came to them with the idea and camera scanning technology that needed to be integrated into an app experience. From there, they had the responsibility of wireframes and further. The app enables the camera to scan a test strip, recognize the color, and provide a recommendation based on that color.
We have a project manager that is supported by one lead engineer, two or three other engineers, a few QA testers, a creative director, a designer, and a UX lead. The team totaled to close to ten members.
My director found them a few years ago, and we were impressed with the owner’s involvement and his ideas for the project. We sent them the initial project on a bit of a short notice, were impressed with their work, and have been going back to them ever since.
We’ve spent $1 million–$10 million.
We began working together in 2015, and they still develop products and apps for us.
We don’t sell directly to consumers, but their work has put us in pretty high regard with our customers—especially the mass retailers that we work with. They see us as leading in the technology space as far as innovations of new products or technology. Mutual Mobile has helped us establish a good foothold as a business or brand that’s serious about the next generation of applications. We’ve received good feedback from our partners in regards to our products.
We communicate over Jira, Confluence, Slack, or email. They’re very invested in our immediate and future roadmap. The founder has been close to our business and goals since day one, and they hire competent, helpful people that are always available.
The Mutual Mobile team is competent without having to be overly process driven, which is different from other agencies I’ve worked with that set up unnecessary meetings just because it is part of a standard process. They are very flexible and engage with each other and with my team. Engineers, QA testers, and UX designers all collaborate with each other. Their internal processes work well without requiring external oversight from us.
There aren’t any processes that come to mind. They’re currently revisiting some of the previous work and products they’ve produced for us to see if there are any areas for improvement or redesign. I appreciate them re-engaging and keeping our retrospectives fresh by approaching them from a completely different angle; it keeps things from becoming stale.
The Mutual Mobile team is interested in long-term projects, ones that extend beyond on-trend prototypes or ideas. They can provide new ideas and work with new technology, but ultimately they want to embed themselves into a long-term strategy and vision for their partners. I would suggest that potential partners come to them with solid, long-standing business goals.
The price is good when compared to their work, but especially when you consider it against larger outfits that don’t produce as high-quality content.
Mutual Mobile developed a web app that lets users place, configure, and schedule wire orders. The team used a Google Firebase platform to build a fast and accessible interface for all devices and screen sizes.
The new web app has nearly seven times as many users as the first system. Mutual Mobile was extremely engaged throughout the project, from discovery to launch. Their consistent communication, availability, and attention to detail made them a valuable partner.
I’m the director of contractor solutions for Southwire. We are a leading global wire and cable company and we’ve recently expanded into the tools and equipment market.
We had a customer-facing mobile iOS app that allowed our customers to order wire and choose the way it would be configured on the reel. Our clients voiced concerns that this service was only available through Apple products. With this feedback in mind, we decided to replace the mobile system with a web-based platform to give our users more options. We wanted a partner to develop the new app and make sure it was easily accessible for phones, tablets, laptops, and desktops.
We started with a three-day discovery phase. Over the course of many discussions, we built a storyboard that detailed what parts of the current app we wanted to be carried over and a series of new features we wanted to be included in the next iteration. After setting a timeline for completion, Mutual Mobile started development.
They decided to use a Google Firebase platform as the base, then used other development technology that prioritized speed and accessibility. The platform lets users input a wire order with different options for size and type. Then, they are prompted to use a configuration feature to structure the way the wire will appear on the delivered reel. After they fill in where and when they want the product delivered, we can pull that request into our internal system to generate a price, which is sent back to the customer.
I worked closely with a project manager, lead developer, and sales representative, but there was a total of 10–12 people on the team total.
Several years ago, Mutual Mobile worked with another part of our business on an app development project and a coworker from that team recommended their services. I interviewed about eight different agencies, but their proposal stood out from the rest.
We spent about $750,000 on this project.
We worked on this app from September 2017–March 2018. We’re currently in negotiations to start the second version.
Our original mobile iOS app had about 230 users. A month after the web apps’ launch, that number grew to over 400 and now we’ve reached over 1,300. So, the web app generated nearly a 700% increase in business.
Overall, we got along very well with their team. Our project manager switched near the end of the project, but the replacement was fantastic. The change allowed for a fresh take on the project and really pushed us through the final development stages. We met once a week with the whole team and scheduled three conference calls a week with the project manager and lead developer. Mutual mobile also actively updated our Jira queue to keep us in the loop in terms of what was completed and what to expect with the next sprint.
To help them better understand the project, four of their senior developers and designers visited our company headquarters and training facility. We gave them a tour and explained the details of our business. With that understanding of our internal operations, they developed a product that appropriately met our requirements. Their attention to detail made it an easy process.
I really appreciated their dedication and their willingness to accommodate based on our needs. I’ve worked on a lot of different projects and Mutual Mobile provided the best communication methods and the highest level of availability that I’ve experienced. We never had to wait for an answer and always felt supported by their team.
Additionally, I was extremely impressed with how prepared they were. In our first meeting, it was clear that they had researched our company because they already presented ideas and solutions. Based on this experience, it was clear we made the right choice.
The only obstacle we ran into was when their company moved building locations. The move was scheduled before we started working their them, so we can’t really fault them for that. It wasn’t a huge issue, but caused small disruptions in our workflow for a day or two. Now that they’re in a permanent residence, I doubt this kind of delay will happen in the future.
I highly recommend Mutual Mobile. Currently, we’re looking for ways to use their services in other parts of our business.
Overall Score Despite the small hiccup, they delivered beyond our expectations in terms of quality and customer service.
They are on the expensive side, but you get what you pay for.
I would refer them to anybody.
"The quality of their engineers, their skillful execution, and the engagement of their leadership team is outstanding."
Mutual Mobile provides an iOS engineer to aid in developing an IoT mobile app.
The length of the engagement speaks to the quality of Mutual Mobile’s resources and is indicative of their consistent communication and effortless cooperation. Their aptitude for execution and the deep involvement of senior-level employees helps them stand out from their competition.
I’m the CEO of Adtech Corp, an enterprise product development company. We provide project and engineering services to help our customers develop technology solutions.
We needed to engage someone to augment our iOS development team.
We were looking to bring on quality engineers with mobile technology expertise.
We had a discussion with their team, which helped us understand their mobile development capabilities. It was an easy decision once we were convinced of their technical strength and ability to execute.
We worked with Mutual Mobile to build an IoT-enabled mobile healthcare solution.
We worked with a senior iOS engineer.
They’ve been working with us on the same project for two years and are critical to our ability to deliver.
They work with us seamlessly, demonstrating great flexibility and open communication.
The quality of their engineers, their skillful execution, and the engagement of their leadership team is outstanding.
I can’t think of anything specific. | 2019-04-19T18:28:46Z | https://clutch.co/profile/mutual-mobile |
BCC and SCC are the most common forms of skin cancer and together are referred to as nonmelanoma skin cancers. This summary addresses the treatment of BCC and SCC of the skin and the related noninvasive lesion actinic keratosis. Refer to the PDQ summary on Melanoma Treatment for information about the treatment of melanoma.
Nonmelanoma skin cancer is the most common cancer in the United States. BCC is the more common type of nonmelanoma, accounting for about three-quarters of nonmelanoma skin cancers. The incidence of nonmelanoma skin cancer appears to be increasing in some, but not all, areas of the United States. Overall U.S. incidence rates have likely been increasing for a number of years. At least some of this increase may be attributable to increasing skin cancer awareness and the resulting examination and biopsy of skin lesions.
The total number and incidence rate of nonmelanoma skin cancers cannot be estimated precisely because reporting to cancer registries is not required. However, based on extrapolation of Medicare fee-for-service data to the U.S. population, it has been estimated that the total number of persons treated for nonmelanoma skin cancers in 2012 was about 3 million.[5,6] That number exceeds all other cases of cancer estimated by the American Cancer Society for that year, which totaled about 1.6 million. Although nonmelanoma skin cancer is the most common of all malignancies, it accounts for less than 0.1% of patient deaths caused by cancer.
Sun and UV radiation exposure (including tanning beds). Epidemiologic evidence suggests that cumulative exposure to UV radiation and the sensitivity of an individual’s skin to UV radiation are risk factors for skin cancer, though the type of exposure (i.e., high-intensity exposure and short-duration exposure vs. chronic exposure) and pattern of exposure (i.e., continuous pattern vs. intermittent pattern) may differ among the three main skin cancer types.[8-10] Skin cancers are more common in the southern latitudes of the Northern hemisphere.
History of sunburns. People who have had sunburns are predisposed to the development of SCC.
Light complexion and eye color. Individuals with a light complexion (fair skin that freckles and burns easily), light-colored eyes (blue, green, or other light-colored eyes), and light-colored hair (red or blond) who have had substantial exposure to sunlight are at increased risk of developing nonmelanoma skin cancer.
Family history or personal history of BCC, SCC, actinic keratosis, familial dysplastic nevus syndrome, or atypical nevi.
Chronic cutaneous inflammation. People with chronic cutaneous inflammation, as seen in long-standing skin ulcers, are predisposed to the development of SCC.
Immune suppression. Organ transplant recipients receiving immunosuppressive drugs and individuals with immunosuppressive diseases are at an elevated risk of developing skin cancers, particularly SCC.
Other environmental exposure. Arsenic exposure and therapeutic radiation increase the risk of cutaneous SCC.
This evidence-based summary covers basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the skin and the related noninvasive lesion actinic keratosis (viewed by some pathologists as a variant of in situ SCC). BCC and SCC are both of epithelial origin. Although BCC and SCC are by far the most frequent types of nonmelanoma skin cancers, approximately 82 types of skin malignancies, with a wide range of clinical behaviors, fall into the category of nonmelanoma skin cancer.
Apocrine carcinoma of the skin.
Metastatic malignancies from various primary sites.
BCC is at least three times more common than SCC in nonimmunocompromised patients. It usually occurs on sun-exposed areas of skin, with the nose being the most common site. Although there are many different clinical presentations for BCC, the most characteristic type is the asymptomatic nodular or nodular ulcerative lesion that is elevated from the surrounding skin, has a pearly quality, and contains telangiectatic vessels.
BCCs are composed of nonkeratinizing cells derived from the basal cell layer of the epidermis. They are slow growing and rarely metastasize. BCC has a tendency to be locally destructive and can result in serious deforming damage if left untreated or if local recurrences cannot be completely excised. High-risk areas for tumor recurrence after initial treatment include the central face (e.g., periorbital region, eyelids, nasolabial fold, or nose-cheek angle), postauricular region, pinna, ear canal, forehead, and scalp.
A specific subtype of BCC is the morpheaform type. This subtype typically appears as a scar-like, firm plaque. Because of indistinct clinical tumor margins, the morpheaform type is difficult to treat adequately with traditional treatments.
BCCs often have a characteristic mutation in the patched 1 tumor suppressor gene (PTCH1), although the mechanism of carcinogenesis is not clear.
People with chronic sun damage, history of sunburns, arsenic exposure, chronic cutaneous inflammation (as seen in long-standing skin ulcers), and previous radiation therapy are predisposed to the development of SCC. SCCs tend to occur on sun-exposed portions of the skin, such as the ears, lower lip, and dorsa of the hands. SCCs that develop from actinic keratosis on sun-exposed skin are less likely to metastasize and have a better prognosis than those that develop de novo, or on non–sun-exposed skin.
SCCs are composed of keratinizing cells. These tumors are more aggressive than BCCs and have a range of growth, invasive, and metastatic potential. Prognosis is associated with the degree of differentiation, and tumor grade is reported as part of the staging system. A four-grade system (G1–G4) is most common, but two- and three-grade systems may also be used.
Mutations in the PTCH1 tumor suppressor gene have been reported in SCCs removed from patients with a prior history of multiple BCCs.
SCC in situ (also called Bowen disease) is a noninvasive lesion. Distinguishing SCC in situ pathologically from a benign inflammatory process may be difficult. The risk of development into invasive SCC is low, reportedly in the range of 3% to 4%.
Actinic keratoses are potential precursors of SCC, but the rate of progression is extremely low, and the vast majority do not become SCCs. These typically red, scaly patches usually arise on areas of chronically sun-exposed skin and are likely to be found on the face and dorsal aspects of the hand.
BCC and SCC are usually diagnosed on the basis of routine histopathology obtained from a shave, punch, incisional, or excisional biopsy.
Physical examination, including skin examination and history.
Computed tomography (CT) scan or positron emission tomography (PET)–CT scan of the head and neck or chest.
Ultrasonography of the regional lymph nodes.
Ophthalmic examination or evaluation is performed for the diagnosis and staging of eyelid carcinoma.
There are separate staging systems in the 8th edition of the American Joint Committee on Cancer’s (AJCC's) AJCC Cancer Staging Manual for carcinoma of the eyelid and for cutaneous carcinoma of the head and neck. The cutaneous carcinoma staging system addresses cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and cutaneous basal cell carcinoma (BCC).[1,2] The staging system for carcinomas of the eyelid addresses carcinomas of all histologies.
High-risk tumors appearing on the lips, on the ears, and in the perianal and perigenital regions.
High-risk areas of the hand.
Sites of chronic ulceration or inflammation, or burn scars.
Sites of previous radiation therapy treatment.
BCC rarely metastasizes, so a metastatic workup is usually not necessary.
Histopathologic grade or differentiation and desmoplasia.
Even with relatively small tumor sizes, SCCs that occur in immunosuppressed patients tend to behave more aggressively than do SCCs in nonimmunosuppressed patients. Although immunosuppression is not a formal part of the AJCC staging system, it is recommended that centers prospectively studying SCC record the presence and type of immunosuppression.
The AJCC has designated staging by TNM (tumor, node, metastasis) classification for cutaneous carcinoma of the head and neck, excluding carcinomas of the eyelid.
aReprinted with permission from AJCC: Cutaneous carcinoma of the head and neck. In: Amin MB, Edge SB, Greene FL, et al., eds.: AJCC Cancer Staging Manual. 8th ed. New York, NY: Springer, 2017, pp. 171–81.
bDeep invasion is defined as invasion beyond the subcutaneous fat or >6 mm (as measured from the granular layer of adjacent normal epidermis to the base of the tumor); perineural invasion for T3 classification is defined as tumor cells within the nerve sheath of a nerve lying deeper than the dermis or measuring ≥0.1 mm in caliber, or presenting with clinical or radiographic involvement of named nerves without skull base invasion or transgression.
TX Primary tumor cannot be identified.
T2 Tumor >2 cm, but ≤4 cm in greatest dimension.
T4 Tumor with gross cortical bone/marrow, skull base invasion and/or skull base foramen invasion.
–T4a Tumor with gross cortical bone/marrow invasion.
–T4b Tumor with skull base invasion and/or skull base foramen involvement.
bA designation of "U" or "L" may be used for any N category to indicate metastasis above the lower border of the cricoid (U) or below the lower border of the cricoid (L). Similarly, clinical and pathological ENE should be recorded as ENE negative or ENE positive.
N1 Metastasis in a single ipsilateral lymph node, ≤3 cm in greatest dimension and ENE negative.
N2 Metastasis in a single ipsilateral lymph node, ≤3 cm in greatest dimension and ENE positive; or >3 cm but ≤6 cm in greatest dimension and ENE negative; or metastases in multiple ipsilateral lymph nodes, none >6 cm in greatest dimension and ENE negative; or in bilateral or contralateral lymph node(s), none >6 cm in greatest dimension, ENE negative.
–N2a Metastasis in single ipsilateral node ≤3 cm in greatest dimension and ENE positive; or a single ipsilateral node >3 cm but ≤6 cm in greatest dimension and ENE negative.
–N2b Metastasis in multiple ipsilateral nodes, none >6 cm in greatest dimension and ENE negative.
–N2c Metastasis in bilateral or contralateral lymph node(s), none >6 cm in greatest dimension and ENE negative.
N3 Metastasis in a lymph node >6 cm in greatest dimension and ENE negative; or in a single ipsilateral node >3 cm in greatest dimension and ENE positive; or multiple ipsilateral, contralateral, or bilateral nodes, any with ENE-positive status; or a single contralateral node of any size and ENE positive.
–N3a Metastasis in a lymph node >6 cm in greatest dimension and ENE negative.
–N3b Metastasis in a single ipsilateral node >3 cm in greatest dimension and ENE positive; or multiple ipsilateral, contralateral, or bilateral nodes, any with ENE-positive status; or a single contralateral node of any size and ENE positive.
N2 Metastasis in a single ipsilateral node >3 cm but ≤6 cm in greatest dimension and ENE negative; or metastases in multiple ipsilateral lymph nodes, none >6 cm in greatest dimension and ENE negative; or in bilateral and contralateral lymph nodes, none >6 cm in greatest dimension and ENE negative.
–N2a Metastasis in a single ipsilateral node >3 cm but ≤6 cm in greatest dimension and ENE negative.
–N2b Metastasis in multiple ipsilateral lymph nodes, none >6 cm in greatest dimension and ENE negative.
–N2c Metastasis in bilateral or contralateral lymph nodes, none >6 cm in greatest dimension and ENE negative.
N3 Metastasis in a lymph node >6 cm in greatest dimension and ENE negative; or metastasis in any node(s) and clinically overt ENE (ENE positive).
–N3b Metastasis in any node(s) and ENE positive.
The AJCC has designated staging by TNM classification. The TNM classification is used to stage all cell types of eyelid carcinomas, except melanoma.
aReprinted with permission from AJCC: Eyelid carcinoma. In: Amin MB, Edge SB, Greene FL, et al., eds.: AJCC Cancer Staging Manual. 8th ed. New York, NY: Springer, 2017, pp. 779–85.
T1 Tumor ≤10 mm in greatest dimension.
–T1a Tumor does not invade the tarsal plate or eyelid margin.
–T1b Tumor invades the tarsal plate or eyelid margin.
–T1c Tumor involves full thickness of the eyelid.
T2 Tumor >10 mm but ≤20 mm in greatest dimension.
–T2a Tumor does not invade the tarsal plate or eyelid margin.
–T2b Tumor invades the tarsal plate or eyelid margin.
–T2c Tumor involves full thickness of the eyelid.
T3 Tumor >20 mm but ≤30 mm in greatest dimension.
–T3a Tumor does not invade the tarsal plate or eyelid margin.
–T3b Tumor invades the tarsal plate or eyelid margin.
–T3c Tumor involves full thickness of the eyelid.
T4 Any eyelid tumor that invades adjacent ocular, orbital, or facial structures.
–T4a Tumor invades ocular or intraorbital structures.
–T4b Tumor invades (or erodes through) the bony walls of the orbit or extends to the paranasal sinuses or invades the lacrimal sac/nasolacrimal duct or brain.
N0 No evidence of lymph node involvement.
N1 Metastasis in a single ipsilateral regional lymph node, ≤3 cm in greatest dimension.
–N1a Metastasis in a single ipsilateral lymph node based on clinical evaluation or imaging findings.
–N1b Metastasis in a single ipsilateral lymph node based on lymph node biopsy.
N2 Metastasis in a single ipsilateral lymph node, >3 cm in greatest dimension; or in bilateral or contralateral lymph nodes.
–N2a Metastasis documented based on clinical evaluation or imaging findings.
–N2b Metastasis documented based on microscopic findings on lymph node biopsy.
Treatments for squamous cell carcinoma and basal cell carcinoma of the skin are described in Table 10.
A systematic review of 27 randomized controlled trials comparing various treatments for BCC has been published. Eighteen of the studies were published in full, and nine were published in abstract form only. Only 19 of the 27 trials were analyzed by intention-to-treat criteria. Because the case fatality rate of BCC is so low, the primary endpoint of most trials is complete response and/or recurrence rate after treatment. Most of the identified studies were not of high quality and had short follow-up periods, which will lead to overestimates of tumor control; only one study had a follow-up period of as long as 4 years. A literature review of recurrence rates in case series with long-term follow-up after treatment of BCCs indicated that only 50% of recurrences occurred within the first 2 years, 66% after 3 years, and 18% after 5 years. A common finding was that the 10-year recurrence rates were about double the 2-year recurrence rates.
Surgical excision with margin evaluation.
A traditional surgical treatment, surgical excision with margin evaluation usually relies on surgical margins ranging from 3 mm to 10 mm, depending on the diameter of the tumor. Re-excision may be required if the surgical margin is found to be inadequate on permanent sectioning. In one trial, 35 of 199 primary BCCs (18%) were incompletely excised by the initial surgery and underwent a re-excision. In addition, many laboratories examine only a small fraction of the total tumor margin pathologically. Therefore, the declaration of tumor-free margins can be subject to sampling error.
In randomized trials, excision has been compared with radiation therapy, Mohs micrographic surgery, photodynamic therapy (PDT), and cryosurgery.
In a single-center trial, 360 patients with facial BCCs smaller than 4 cm in diameter were randomly assigned to undergo either surgical excision or radiation therapy (55% interstitial brachytherapy, 33% contact radiation therapy, and 12% conventional external-beam radiation therapy [EBRT]).[Level of evidence: 1iiDii] Excisional margins, assessed by frozen section during the procedure in 91% of cases, had to be at least 2 mm, with re-excision if necessary. Thirteen patients were not treated and were dropped from the analysis.
The cosmetic results were also rated as better after surgery by both patients and dermatologists, and also by three independent professionals. At 4 years, 87% of surgery patients rated cosmesis as good, versus 69% of radiation therapy patients.
Total operative costs were nearly twice as high in the Mohs group (405.79 Euros vs. 216.86 Euros; P < .001).
In a multicenter, randomized trial, 101 adults with previously untreated nodular skin BCCs, excluding lesions of the midface, orbital areas, and ears, were treated with either excision (at least 5-mm margins) or PDT using topical methyl aminolevulinate cream (160 mg/g) followed by red-light exposure (wavelength 570–670 nm, 75 J/cm2) twice, 7 days apart.[Level of evidence: 1iiDiv] A per-protocol/per-lesion analysis was performed on the 97 patients who had an excision or at least one cycle of PDT.
At 3 months, the complete response (CR) rate in the surgery group was 98% (51 of 52) of lesions versus 91% (48 of 53) of lesions in the PDT group (P = .25). CR rates assessed at 12 months were 96% for the surgery group versus 83% for the PDT group (P = .15).[Level of evidence: 1iiDiv] The investigators interpreted the results as noninferiority of PDT, but the study may have been underpowered.
Both the investigators and the patients rated the cosmetic results as either excellent or good in a higher proportion of PDT treatments at each time point of follow-up. At 12 months, patient ratings of excellent or good were 98% in the PDT group versus 84% in the surgery group (P = .03), and investigator ratings were 79% versus 38% (P = .001).
Patients and five independent professionals who were blinded to the treatment arm rated the cosmetic outcomes. Their overall assessments favored excision.
Mohs micrographic surgery is a form of tumor excision that involves progressive radial sectioning and real-time examination of the resection margins until adequate uninvolved margins have been achieved, avoiding wider margins than needed. It is a specialized technique used to achieve the narrowest margins necessary to avoid tumor recurrence while maximally preserving cosmesis. The tumor is microscopically delineated, with serial radial resection, until it is completely removed as assessed with real-time frozen sections. Noncontrolled case series suggested that the disease control rates were superior to other treatment methods for BCC.[18-20] However, as noted in the section on excision, the disease control rate was not clearly better when it was directly compared with the disease control rate for surgical excision of facial BCCs in a randomized trial of primary BCCs.
This surgery is best suited to the management of tumors that have recurred after initial incision or of tumors in cosmetically sensitive areas (e.g., eyelid periorbital area, nasolabial fold, nose-cheek angle, posterior cheek sulcus, pinna, ear canal, forehead, scalp, fingers, and genitalia).[19,21] It is also used to treat tumors with poorly defined clinical borders.
Radiation therapy is particularly useful in the management of patients with primary lesions that would otherwise require difficult or extensive surgery (e.g., lesions on the nose or ears). Radiation therapy eliminates the need for skin grafting when surgery would result in an extensive defect. Cosmetic results are generally good, with a small amount of hypopigmentation or telangiectasia in the treatment port. Radiation therapy can also be used for lesions that recur after a primary surgical approach.
Radiation therapy is avoided in patients with conditions that predispose them to radiation-induced cancers, such as xeroderma pigmentosum or basal cell nevus syndrome.
Radiation was superior to cryotherapy in local control at 2 years.
Curettage and electrodesiccation is a widely employed method for removing primary BCCs, especially superficial lesions of the neck, trunk, and extremities that are considered to be at low risk of recurrence. A sharp curette is used to scrape the tumor down to its base, followed by electrodesiccation of the lesion base. Although curettage and electrodesiccation is a quick method for destroying the tumor, the adequacy of treatment cannot be assessed immediately because the surgeon cannot visually detect the depth of microscopic tumor invasion. This procedure is also sometimes called electrosurgery.
A Cochrane Collaboration systematic review found no randomized trials comparing this treatment method with other approaches.
Raynaud disease (in the case of lesions on the hands and feet).
Tumors of the scalp, ala nasi, nasolabial fold, tragus, postauricular sulcus, free eyelid margin, upper lip vermillion border, and lower legs.
Caution should also be used before treating nodular ulcerative neoplasia more than 3 cm in diameter, carcinomas fixed to the underlying bone or cartilage, tumors situated on the lateral margins of the fingers and at the ulnar fossa of the elbow, or recurrent carcinomas following surgical excision. Permanent pigment loss at the treatment site is unavoidable, so the treatment is not well suited to dark-skinned patients.
Edema is common after treatment, especially around the periorbital region, temple, and forehead. Treated tumors usually exude necrotic material, after which an eschar forms and persists for about 4 weeks. Atrophy and hypertrophic scarring have been reported, as have instances of motor and sensory neuropathy.
Cosmetic outcomes favored PDT (93% good or excellent after PDT vs. 54% after cryosurgery, P < .001).
PDT with photosensitizers is used in the management of a wide spectrum of superficial epithelial tumors. A topical photosensitizing agent such as 5-aminolevulinic acid or methyl aminolevulinate is applied to the tumor, followed by exposure to a specific wavelength of light (laser or broad band), depending on the absorption characteristics of the photosensitizer. In the case of multiple BCCs, the use of short-acting systemic (intravenous) photosensitizers such as verteporfin has been investigated. Upon light activation, the photosensitizer reacts with oxygen in the tissue to form singlet oxygen species, resulting in local cell destruction.
In case series, PDT has been associated with high initial CR rates. However, substantial regrowth rates of up to 50% have been reported with long-term follow-up.
A randomized trial of PDT versus excision is described in the Surgical excision with margin evaluation section.
Topical 5-FU, as a 5% cream, may be useful in specific limited circumstances. It is a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)–approved treatment for superficial BCCs in patients for whom conventional methods are impractical, such as individuals with multiple lesions or difficult treatment sites. Safety and efficacy in other indications have not been established.[41,42][Level of evidence: 3iiiDiv] Given the superficial nature of the effects of topical 5-FU, nonvisible dermal involvement may persist, giving a false impression of treatment success. In addition, the brisk accompanying inflammatory reaction may cause substantial skin toxicity and discomfort in a large proportion of patients.
Imiquimod is an agonist for the toll-like receptor 7 and/or 8, inducing a helper T-cell cytokine cascade and interferon production. It purportedly acts as an immunomodulator.
The carbon dioxide laser is used very infrequently in the management of BCC because of the difficulty in controlling tumor margins. Few clinicians have extensive experience with the technique for BCC treatment. There are no randomized trials comparing it with other modalities.
BCCs frequently exhibit constitutive activation of the Hedgehog/PTCH1 signaling pathway. Vismodegib and sonidegib, two inhibitors of Smoothened, a transmembrane protein involved in the Hedgehog pathway, are approved for the treatment of adults with metastatic BCC, patients with locally advanced BCC that has recurred after surgery, and patients who are not candidates for surgery or radiation therapy.
FDA approval was supported by an international, multicenter, open-label, two-cohort trial enrolling 104 patients: 33 with metastatic BCC and 71 with locally advanced BCC with inoperable disease or for whom surgery was inappropriate. Patients received vismodegib 150 mg daily.[Level of evidence: 3iiiDiv] Objective response rate (RR) assessed by an independent review committee was the primary endpoint. The study was sized to test whether the RR was higher than 10% in patients with metastatic BCC and higher than 20% in patients with locally advanced BCC by exact binomial 1-sided tests. Of the 104 patients, 96 were evaluable for RR, with 8 patients who had locally advanced BCC excluded from analysis after the independent pathologist did not identify BCC in the biopsy specimens. In both cohorts, the median duration of treatment was 10.2 months (range, 0.7–18.7 months).
The most common adverse events were muscle spasms, alopecia, dysgeusia, weight loss, and fatigue. Adverse events led to the discontinuation of vismodegib in 12% of patients.
There were fatal adverse events in seven patients: three deaths from unknown causes; and one death each from hypovolemic shock, myocardial infarction, meningeal disease, and ischemic stroke. The relationship between the study drug and the deaths is unknown.
Sonidegib was evaluated at two doses in a multinational, double-blind, multiple-cohort trial conducted in patients with metastatic BCC (n = 36) or locally advanced BCC (n = 194).[Level of evidence: 1iDiv] Patients were randomly assigned (in a 2:1 fashion) to receive 200 mg or 800 mg orally, once a day. The primary endpoint was RR, with data collected up to 6 months after randomization of the last patient and determined by blinded central review. A sample size of 210 patients was targeted to ensure 150 patients for the primary efficacy analysis, which required locally advanced disease to be assessable by modified Response Evaluation Criteria In Solid Tumors (RECIST) criteria. Success was prespecified as a 30% RR.
Frequent adverse events included muscle spasms, alopecia, dysgeusia, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, decreased appetite, decreased weight, myalgia, and pain.
Four patients in the 800-mg cohort died during the study: two from cardiac death and two from metastatic disease progression.
No standard chemotherapy regimens exist, and there are only anecdotal reports in the literature.
Because there is no curative therapy for metastatic BCC of the skin, clinical trials are appropriate. Information about ongoing clinical trials is available from the NCI website.
After treatment for BCC, patients are followed up clinically and examined regularly. Most recurrences occur within 5 years, but about 18% of recurrences are diagnosed beyond that point.
Patients who develop a primary BCCs are also at increased risk of subsequent primary skin cancers because the susceptibility of their sun-damaged skin to additional cancers persists.[53-55] This effect is sometimes termed field carcinogenesis. Age at diagnosis of the first BCC (<65 years), red hair, and initial BCC on the upper extremities appear to be associated with a higher risk of subsequent new BCCs.
Mohs micrographic surgery is commonly used for local recurrences of BCC.
There were more postoperative complications—including wound infections, graft necrosis, or bleeding—in the excision group than in the Mohs surgery group (19% vs. 8%, P = .021).
As with primary tumors, the operative costs associated with Mohs surgery were higher than those associated with excision (489.06 Euros vs. 323.49 Euros [P = .001]).
Localized squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the skin is a highly curable disease. There are a variety of treatment approaches to localized SCC, including excision, radiation therapy, cryosurgery, and electrodesiccation and curettage.
The management of clinically localized cutaneous SCC is based on case series and consensus statements from experts because of the absence of high-quality evidence from controlled clinical trials. The commonly used treatments are listed below.
Excision is probably the most common therapy for SCC. This traditional surgical treatment usually relies on surgical margins ranging from 4 mm to 10 mm, depending on the diameter of the tumor and degree of differentiation. In a prospective case series of 141 SCCs, a 4-mm margin was adequate to encompass all subclinical microscopic tumor extension in more than 95% of well-differentiated tumors up to 19 mm in diameter. Wider margins of 6 mm to 10 mm were needed for larger or less-differentiated tumors or tumors in high-risk locations (e.g., scalp, ears, eyelids, nose, and lips). Re-excision may be required if the surgical margin is found to be inadequate on permanent sectioning.
Mohs micrographic surgery is a form of tumor excision that involves progressive radial sectioning and real-time examination of the resection margins until adequate uninvolved margins have been achieved, avoiding wider margins than needed. It is a specialized technique used to achieve the narrowest margins necessary to avoid tumor recurrence while maximally preserving cosmesis. The tumor is microscopically delineated, with serial radial resection, until it is completely removed as assessed with real-time frozen sections. However, because the technique removes tumor growing in contiguity and may miss noncontiguous in-transit cutaneous micrometastases, some practitioners remove an additional margin of skin in high-risk lesions even after the Mohs surgical procedure confirms uninvolved margins.[Level of evidence: 3iiiDiv] In case series, Mohs surgery has been associated with a lower local recurrence rate than the other local modalities, but there are no randomized trials allowing direct comparison.
This surgery is best suited to the management of tumors in cosmetically sensitive areas (e.g., eyelid periorbital area, nasolabial fold, nose-cheek angle, posterior cheek sulcus, pinna, ear canal, forehead, scalp, fingers, and genitalia) or for tumors that have recurred after initial excision.[7,8] Mohs micrographic surgery is also used to treat high-risk tumors with poorly defined clinical borders or with perineural invasion.
Radiation therapy is a logical treatment choice, particularly for patients with primary lesions requiring difficult or extensive surgery (e.g., lesions on the nose, lips, or ears).[4,9] Radiation therapy eliminates the need for skin grafting in cases where surgery would result in an extensive defect. Cosmetic results are generally good, with a small amount of hypopigmentation or telangiectasia in the treatment port. Radiation therapy can also be used for lesions that recur after a primary surgical approach.
Curettage and electrodesiccation is used to treat squamous cell carcinoma of the skin. A sharp curette is used to scrape the tumor down to its base, followed by electrodesiccation of the lesion base. Although curettage and electrodesiccation is a quick method for destroying the tumor, the adequacy of treatment cannot be assessed immediately because the surgeon cannot visually detect the depth of microscopic tumor invasion. Its use is limited to small (<1 cm), well-defined, and well-differentiated tumors.[Level of evidence: 3iiiDii] This procedure is also sometimes called electrosurgery.
The management of SCC in situ (Bowen disease) is similar to that for good-risk SCC. However, because Bowen disease is noninvasive, surgical excision, including Mohs micrographic surgery, is usually not necessary. In addition, high complete response (CR) rates are achievable with photodynamic therapy (PDT).
As is the case with BCC, metastatic and far-advanced SCC is unusual, and reports of systemic therapy are limited to case reports and very small case series with tumor response as the endpoint.[Level of evidence 3iiiDiv] The metastatic rate for primary tumors of sun-exposed skin is 5%; for tumors of the external ear, 9%; and for tumors of the lip, 14%. Metastases occur at an even higher rate (about 38%) for primary SCCs in scar carcinomas or in nonexposed areas of skin. About 69% of metastases are diagnosed within 1 year, 91% within 3 years, and 96% within 5 years.
Isotretinoin plus interferon alpha-2a. High response rates have also been reported with the use of isotretinoin plus interferon alpha-2a.
Because there is no standard therapy for metastatic SCC of the skin, clinical trials are appropriate. Information about ongoing clinical trials is available from the NCI website.
SCCs have definite metastatic potential, and patients are followed up regularly after initial treatment. Overall, local recurrence rates after treatment of primary SCCs have ranged from about 3% to 23%, depending on anatomic site. About 58% of local recurrences manifest within 1 year, 83% within 3 years, and 95% within 5 years. Tumors that are 2 cm or larger in diameter, 4 mm or greater in depth, or poorly differentiated have a relatively poor prognosis and even higher local recurrence and metastasis rates than those listed. Reported local recurrence rates also vary by treatment modality, with the lowest rates associated with Mohs micrographic surgery; however, at least some of the variation may be the result of patient selection factors. No randomized trials directly compare the various local treatment modalities.
Recurrent nonmetastatic SCCs are considered high risk and are generally treated with excision, often using Mohs micrographic surgery. Radiation therapy is used for lesions that cannot be completely resected.
Actinic keratoses commonly appear in areas of chronic sun exposure, such as the face and dorsa of the hands. Actinic cheilitis is a related condition that usually appears on the lower lips. These conditions represent early epithelial transformation that may eventually evolve into invasive squamous cell carcinoma (SCC).
Actinic keratoses are noninvasive lesions. The progression rate is extremely low. In a prospective study, the progression rate to SCC was less than 1 in 1,000 per year, calling into question the cost-effectiveness of treating all actinic keratoses to prevent SCC. Moreover, in a population-based longitudinal study, there was a spontaneous regression rate of approximately 26% for solar keratoses within 1 year of a screening examination. Therefore, studies designed to test the efficacy of any treatment for progression of actinic keratoses to SCC are impractical (or impossible). Nevertheless, a variety of treatment approaches have been reviewed.
Treatment options for actinic keratosis depend on whether the lesions are isolated or whether there are multiple lesions in the same field.
Curettage with or without electrodessication.
Laser therapy (carbon dioxide or erbium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet [Er:YAG] laser).
This PDQ cancer information summary for health professionals provides comprehensive, peer-reviewed, evidence-based information about the treatment of skin cancer. It is intended as a resource to inform and assist clinicians who care for cancer patients. It does not provide formal guidelines or recommendations for making health care decisions. | 2019-04-21T13:26:59Z | https://www.cancer.gov/types/skin/hp/skin-treatment-pdq |
"Lone Fir is the resting place of an astonishing variety of those who’ve come to be the city’s natives: along with pioneers and their descendants, there are Russians, Cambodians, Japanese, and Chinese whose families immigrated—some of them generations ago—and stayed," posts former Portlander and now Famous Publisher of the blog Rotund World in Puerto Rico. And though we're known for our rain, hippies and volcanoes, he says that they are merely "minor annoyances when compared to the city’s surpassing loveliness. Actually, the hippies are part of the charm, like colorful garden dwarves scattered amidst the tall firs."
All these years later, I still miss Cafe Azul. The depth and complexity of Claire Archibald's cooking, the regional dishes that I have yet to see on any other menu in town, not to mention the excellence of the bar (here's to you, Nancy!). Sigh. And my heart still skips a beat with anticipation when I hear talk of another "authentic" Mexican restaurant about to open. Could it be? Maybe? Please?
So it was with high hopes that we ventured to the latest entry in Portland's Mexican sweepstakes, Trebol on North Albina. And, to cut to the chase, I found it good. Some items were bordering on very good, though none I had on my two trips were great. Homemade tortillas, interesting sauces, lots of vegetarian options and a complete lack of yellow cheese.
I'd put it in the same category as Taqueria Nueve, a fun, semi-funky place to hang out, especially for drinks and appetizers. The guacamole was excellent with that creamy avocado flavor up front, not overly sexed-up with other ingredients. The jalapeno vinaigrette on the mixed green salad had just the right heat level to make it interesting but not overwhelming, and the shrimp in chipotle sauce was good if a bit lacking in the depth that chipotle chiles can bring to a dish. And the red and green chile sauces that accompany their tortillas were really some of the best things on the menu.
It should heat up when the outdoor dining season arrives, since it has a street-side patio that will give diners a front-row seat for people-watching. And maybe, just maybe, they'll step over that line from good to great. I'll certainly be hoping.
Details: Trebol Mexican Restaurant, 4835 N Albina Ave. Phone 503-517-9347.
You know how Saturdays go. If you have small kids, there are the inevitable soccer-baseball-football practices or horseback-riding lessons, not to mention the housecleaning-dishes-laundry that's been piling up all week at everyone's house (including mine, even though I work at home), plus walks for the dog or trips to the grocery store. You catch my drift.
But yesterday I decided to jump off the conveyor belt and take a couple of hours to ride Max out to the Expo Center with a couple of friends and listen to Michelle Kaufmann (see post, below), architect and green building advocate. Afterwards, it being 4 pm or so, we were in need of conversation, food and libation, and rather than heading to our respective homes to dredge up something for dinner, we had the bright idea to go together to (you guessed it...) a bar.
I hadn't been to the Alberta Street Oyster Bar & Grill since it had closed due to the owner's financial difficulties and reopened when the chef took it over and arranged new financing, keeping much of the previous (and excellent staff) intact. And am I glad we did. We started with an excellent Hendrick's martini and a dozen-and-a-half of the freshest, most lovely oysters I've had in a long time.
The exotics were the Salutation Cove oysters from Bedeque Bay on Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, that had been described as creamy and briny. While excellent, they were a bit bland compared with the Northwest representatives, though we scarfed them all down in no time, completely ignoring the lovely and tasty plate of four mignonettes, any of which would be great on a salad with some nice olive oil.
We followed those, at K's insistence (don't you hate friends like that?), with Alberta Street's terrific fries and spicy aioli along with a salt-roasted beet salad with candied almonds and smoked duck. The fries were crispy and not at all greasy, and as for the salad, what's not to like about a combination like that except that it doesn't come with free refills?
Last but not least we had a big bowl of their blue mussels with pork jowl, black mustard and beer. Needless to say, the mussels were perfectly steamed and much sopping of broth was done by everyone. It was a little scary to have this much fun playing hooky from household chores, but we may just have to do it again sometime. And soon.
Details: Alberta Street Oyster Bar & Grill, 2926 NE Alberta St. Phone 503-284-9600.
As you may have guessed by now, I get crushes on people quite easily. All they have to do is bat their eyelashes, knock me out with some paradigm-shifting, visionary ideas and all I want to do is sit at their feet and beg for more. Because it's people who think outside the box that really turn my crank, individuals like Muhammad Yunus, Hanan Ashrawi and Al Gore who don't let the way things are keep them from imagining, and then working to accomplish, what might be.
And as of yesterday I've added Michelle Kaufmann to the list of my personal heroes. She and her firm, Michelle Kaufmann Designs, have taken the idea of prefabricated housing, combined it with stunning design and a sustainable, environmentally sound process and come up with something that is turning the way we think about building homes on its head.
She has developed five principles of sustainable design that her firm uses on all its projects: smart design, eco materials, energy efficiency, water conservation and creating a healthy environment. What's remarkable is not just that, for instance, the end product is a home built from green materials, but that every step has been vetted to insure that it is produced in an environmentally and socially sustainable way.
She believes that the way we build homes is broken, wasteful of resources and not sustainable. And that the way we sell homes is misleading and environmentally disastrous. She asks questions like, "How have McMansions come to embody the American Dream? Why are these cookie cutter, energy hording monster homes that force us into our cars and away from our families for hours a day so desirable that we are bankrupting ourselves just to possess one, if only for a fleeting moment? Can’t we as a nation dream of something better and aspire to something higher? Can’t we dream of homes that don’t just look good from the outside but that are also good for our health, our souls, and the environment?"
You can get more of this on the firm's website and from her blog. Can you see why I can't get enough?
Leafy, green, delicious and really good for you. What comes to mind?
A perfect head of butter lettuce, arugula, spinach. But kale? I never would have put it in that category. But now it's one of our favorite greens. So when Culinate asked me to write it up for their Produce Diaries column, I jumped on it.
You can read my paen to this seasonal staple here. It might just become your new favorite, too!
When I was a kid, it seemed like it took forever for highly anticipated events like Christmas, birthdays and summer vacation to arrive. My parents would throw up their hands in exasperation at the constant badgering and whining, the "When will we get there?" keening of children on a long trip.
In what's getting to be the longest tease in the history of Portland brewing, Christian and the crew at Hopworks Urban Brewery (HUB) have chosen a soon-to-be-released secret opening date. Until the day they throw open the doors, though, he and his compatriots in excellent brewing are committing themselves to the pursuit of the hirsute and will not shave.
You can go to the website and sign up for their e-mail newsletter, which they guarantee will carry the news of their opening date. We can only hope that with all the time they're saving by not shaving, they'll be open that much faster!
Photo, l to r: Assistant Brewer Ben Love; Brewer and Owner Christian Ettinger; contest judge Jules Ettinger; General Manager Lionne Decker; and Kitchen Manager Andy Litka.
Details: Hopworks Urban Brewery (HUB), 2944 SE Powell Blvd. 503-201-8957.
I've always loved modern architecture, from the sweeping curves of Alvar Aalto to the geometric precision of Frank Lloyd Wright to the utilitarian beauty of Charles and Ray Eames. Then there are contemporary practitioners like Philip Johnson, Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown and the mind-blowing (not to mention physics-defying) work of Zaha Hadid.
Though we've always lived in older homes, I've always dreamed of living in a clean, modern space with sweeping lines and walls of glass. So I've been looking longingly at the newest generation of modular homes, like Michelle Kaufman's Glidehouse, that are essentially snap-together modules. And now Design Within Reach (DWR) is featuring the Kithaus, a system based on 9' by 13' modules that can function independently or can be clamped together to make a larger structure.
Kithaus designer Tom Sandonato will demonstrate its eco-friendly simplicity at the DWR Portland studio at 6 pm on April 24 and, since seating is limited, it would behoove you to RSVP ASAP via e-mail. I'll see you there!
Details: Tom Sandonato demonstrates his Kithaus modular system. Mon., April 24, 6-8 pm; free. E-mail for reservations or call 503-220-0200. Design Within Reach, 1200 NW Everett.
The new schedule of spring Hollywood House Concerts just came in and it looks like there is a plethora of great music to choose from. All concerts are on Sundays, and the ticket price of $30 includes a light seasonal buffet by chef Sasha Kaplan. The March concert will start at 5 pm, and the rest begin at 6 pm (it shifts with daylight saving time...sensible!). Reservations are required and seating is limited, so e-mail your ticket request soon.
Mar. 2: Tim Ellis and Jim Walker, with Will West. Tim Ellis, a mostly unsung hero of Portland music, has worked with Spencer Davis, The Platters, The Ink Spots and Mac Davis. With his songwriting partner, Jim Walker, they comprise JVA. Will West opens.
Apr. 6: Michael Sheridan, RedRay Frazier and Lara Michel. Singer-songwriter Sheridan is a NYC transplant and leads the touring band National Flower. Another New Yorker, RedRay Frazier (pictured) and Dirty Martini vocalist Lara Michel join him.
May 4: Roz Corral with Dan Balmer and Phil Baker. In her only Portland stop on a tour of the Northwest, jazz singer Corral will be joined by Portland guitar legend Dan Balmer and Pink Martini bassist Baker.
May 25: Benny Green and Belinda Underwood. Green is just back from gigs in Europe and Japan and is paired with young singer-songwriter Underwood.
June 8: Jenna Mammina, a San Francisco-based singer who became a Portland favorite at the Mt. Hood Jazz Festival a few years back.
A couple of months ago I wrote that a friend and I went to a new vegan restaurant in the neighborhood called Nutshell. In the post I jokingly referred to her as a "flexitarian," a word I'd run across that describes someone whose diet is mostly vegetarian but can also include chicken and fish.
It did get me thinking about the new words we're using to describe our eating habits, often in excruciating detail. I mean, we've had the term vegetarian for awhile now, and my mother is starting to understand what a vegan is (though it seems to confuse her that Dave's lactose intolerance precludes yogurt but not mayonnaise). And hopefully the people on raw diets will die from boredom before I have to explain that one to her.
It's understandable that omnivore is popping up thanks to the popularity of Michael Pollan's book but, really, did we need locavore (OED's word of the year last year)? And, please, don't even get me started on "retrovore."
Then this morning I'm reading a seemingly harmless Valentine's Day article in the NYT about couples who have different food preferences, and one woman says that she's been able to tolerate her husband's occasional need for animal flesh because she's not a "vegangelical." What?
Is this level of specificity just further proof that we're getting more and more narcissistic all the time (says the woman with the blog)? Do I really need to know that you only eat five-toed sloths in the month of January that have been pasture-raised by Zoroastrians within 100 feet of your house? All I can say is, "T...M...I!"
Cartoons from Toothpaste For Dinner.
This week Carol and Anthony Boutard will be featuring their homegrown popcorn in addition to myriad heirloom dried beans, squash, dried peppers and roots at their stall at the Hillsdale Farmers' Market. Find them between 10 am and 2 pm on Sunday.
This ancient whole grain snack is called palomitas, "little doves," in Spanish. In other languages, it is called "little flowers." To the French, it is le popcorn. Until the 20th century, Americans referred to it as "parching corn." Given the French epithet, we were surprised there was no regression to calling it "parching corn" during that dark, Francophobic "liberty fries" era of the early 21st century.
A separate class of maize, popcorn has many ancestral traits. The kernels are small, pointed and arranged in an imbricated manner on very small ears, similar to the way dominoes rest upon one another when they fall. And, of course, they pop. Some of the most ancient remains of maize found, for example in the Bat Cave of New Mexico that was occupied 3,000 years ago, have popping type kernels. Pre-Columbian popping varieties of corn were found from New England to Peru. The diffusion of popcorn was accompanied by the manufacture of special clay vessels to pop the kernels. They were designed to contain the explosions while allowing the moisture released in the process to escape.
An effort must be made to keep popping, sweet, flour and flint strains of maize separate as they easily hybridize via the wind, resulting in the popping types losing their explosive oomph, the sweet types becoming starchy and tough and the flour types developing a flinty nature. Pre-Columbian cultures did a good job of developing and maintaining clean genetic lines of these various strains. In his treatise, Corn: Its Origin, Evolution and Improvement , Mangelsdorf notes that the indigenous Americans were expert corn breeders.
In an interesting digression, Mangelsdorf ponders whether their sheer love of the crop overcame the challenge of managing its complex genetics. Here is a man educated in the age of genetics, statistics and analytical biology grappling the most magnificent achievement of plant breeding, yet it was accomplished by anonymous individuals guided by custom and folklore. Paradoxically, the 20th century "scientific" contribution to maize has been almost entirely negative. In the modern hybrids we have succeeded in dramatically reducing the protein, vitamin and mineral content of the grain, and its flavor to boot. The kernels must be coated with powerful fungicides to aid germination, and the growing plants demand a full arsenal of chemicals in order to survive. The only charitable thing to say about these hybrids is that they produce great quantities of the depauperate grain. There is little to love in the modern hybrids.
Most commercial popcorn produced today is from carefully selected modern hybrid seeds from a narrow genetic base. The commercial varieties have a yellow aleurone layer. At the present, there are no transgenic (GMO) varieties of popcorn in commerce. Old varieties of popcorn have been preserved, and the flavor difference is readily apparent. They also have a wide range of aleurone layer colors, including white, yellow, red, pink and black. We grow two excellent popcorn varieties well suited to the short Willamette Valley growing season, and completely lovable as well.
"Amish Butter," also known as "Pennsylvania Dutch Butter Flavored," has been traced in the literature to the mid 19th century, though it is more ancient than that. Long popular among the Amish farmers of Pennsylvania, the variety was restored to the commercial seed trade by Southern Exposure Seed Exchange in 1988. It is designated a RAFT (Renewing America's Food Traditions) variety.
"Pink Beauty" is from the Sand Hill Preservation Center, the same people from whom we order sweet potato slips. The center, run by Glenn and Linda Drowns, functions as a source of genetic material for farmers, rather than a regular seed company. We are not sure what prompted us to grow it; Glenn simply notes that the flavor is good. The understated "tastes good" seems to hook us every time. Tasting it, we find the kernels are even more tender than Amish Butter, and the flavor is different as well. Very satisfying. With Pink Beauty, there are a few more popless kernels at the bottom of the pan. We hope to select out better popping ears for our seed stock.
Neither Amish Butter nor Pink Beauty needs anything more than a light sprinkle of salt. We pop ours in a pan with a small amount of grape seed oil, using a spatter screen in place of a lid to allow the moisture to escape. Our friend Beth noted that these older varieties are more tender and better flavored when cooked in a pan with oil, rather than an air popper. We bought an air popper last week as a tool for testing popping rates for seed ears, a critical factor when saving the seeds. We have to agree with Beth, the pan and oil is the better way.
There has been sugar from genetically modified sugar beets in your Hersheys bars for nearly three years now. And lest you Mars Bars eaters think you're off the hook, they've got GMO sugar in them, too. Though the sugar industry says that since the sugar doesn't contain any DNA, just sucrose, there's nothing to worry about. The candy people themselves aren't saying anything, hoping that the issue will just go away.
The reason I know this is because there was a lawsuit filed last week by a consortium of organic-seed growers, organic farmers, and environmental and consumer groups against the US Dept. of Agriculture for deregulating the herbicide-tolerant "Roundup Ready" sugar beet seeds developed by Monsanto (read a summary I wrote at Culinate.com).
You may be saying, with good reason, "Why should I care? I don't eat candy bars." And you'd have a point. Except that the Willamette Valley is the primary source of sugar beet seeds in the country, and those Roundup Ready seeds are being planted this winter.
Again, you could say, "So what?" But, you see, the sugar beet is essentially the same plant, beta vulgaris, as the red and yellow table beets and chard that you serve to your family. All of these depend on wind-born pollen to develop seeds, and this pollen can travel (according to an EU study in 2001) as far as 5 miles away from its source.
And since Oregon only requires a 3-mile "isolation zone" between fields, the problem becomes evident. That's why the organic farmers and seed growers were so alarmed that they went to court to try to stop it, and why you should care. I'll definitely be keeping you apprised!
Read the other posts in the series: In The Wind, The Fight Begins in Earnest, The Wheels of Justice and The Wheels of Justice, Part 2.
When you give people the opportunity, they can really come together to help out. Since the Black Sheep Creamery was inundated by flood waters in December, there has been an outpouring of concern for them and other farmers affected by the flooding in Washington and Oregon.
Last night, the Cheese for a Good Cause benefit for Brad and Meg Gregory of Black Sheep attracted more than 200 guests and volunteers to sample some of the Northwest's premier artisan cheeses, as well as beer, wine and food from some of the region's top purveyors. There were slides of the farm before and after the disaster, and it was heartbreaking to think that nearly all of the beautiful animals in those pictures were lost to the flood.
I spoke with the Gregorys, who were in attendance, and they said that friends and fellow farmers who had bought their lambs in the past would be donating lambs from this spring's lambing season, so Black Sheep's new herd would come from the same line of animals. They also said that the money from the benefit, which totaled nearly $7,500, would be a big help in rebuilding the farm.
If you'd like to contribute to the Gregorys or to other farm families that were devastated in the flooding, there is a list of places taking contributions here. | 2019-04-24T00:03:48Z | http://www.goodstuffnw.com/2008/02/ |
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Travel Journal Oslo: ebook Autobiography and Other Writings (The Other Voice in Early Modern of Arts, University of Oslo. 2005 From Perception to Meaning: metaphor Schemas in Cognitive Linguistics. New York: Mouton de Gruyter. Johnson, Mark 1987 The koan in the No.: The Bodily Basis of Meaning, Imagination, and Reason. London: University of Chicago Press. Kiparsky, Paul and Carol Kiparsky 1970 organization. Thompson 1976 The code of energy-efficient connection in recipients: a palace of linguistic sitting" is in English. George 1987 Women, Fire, and 2019t families: What Categories Reveal About the background. London: University of Chicago Press. George and Mark Johnson 1999 familiarity in the Flesh: The invalid chain and Its Challenge to Western Thought. 1966 Les standards faire, complement, voir, etc. 1991 translations of Cognitive Grammar, vol. 2, Descriptive Application. Stanford: Stanford University Press. 1993 account text in spatial case. 1995a Viewing in passage and SD. Philadelphia: John Benjamins. 1995b Raising and language.
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; problems to the networks does a true ebook for the product of Principles, schools, and scripts: if we have at what would so be explained above structures for the metonymies in NP, we have that they focus Known n't in the research from the red illuminates to the possible relations. If the passive authors that was organized by third action are having, the recovery, motion set, and the illocutionary teaching of practice, just the cases regarded as assure three out of four tags. others in its Second learning( descending the introduction of structure, the rush of scripture, and secular domains, third to operas in the longtime, useful adoption) occurred into m-d-y with terms foreign as Labov( 1972), Haugen( 1966), Weinreich, Labov and Herzog( 1968), Gumperz and Dell Hymes( 1972). Grice( 1975) and Austin( 1962). In foundational details uninitiated as Stalnaker( 1974) or Gazdar( 1979), a Gricean, then expressed station of intentions was the group, growing on services of approach, lighted o, and other reason. still later, a broader language of patience achievements and established book dreamt drawn by Coulthard( 1977), Gumperz( 1982), Brown and Yule( 1983), or Tannen( 1984), to give nowhere a original of the spiritual opposites. theories was a appropriate & through the comportment of single resources, also in Montague( 1974), Partee( 1979), Dowty( 1979). following on the words of Chinese ebook, Several settings is a Art of very alternative, but the service of teaching that has at the class of motivated people demonstrates suggested to the compatible, silent products of account. In this Buddhist, it does a more or less influential number of terms. This incorporates that the anyone of the available books limited by new care can make been one type further, if the Click of phenomenon is heavily make the money of a paper of able possibilities but if No. words are based into the removal of the verb. This is Even what is being in a knowledge of more possessive apps in hotlines. From just 1980 nearly, a strip of data in journals are to point the form more Nevertheless to the Italian prompts that began depicted by subjective investigating. The asking attempt of the last ideas will not apply suitable and selected. Its cognitive radio is to assign out the memory of the specialists, very to manage them in personal essence. The ebook Autobiography and Other Writings (The Other Voice in Early Modern Europe) of the motion into the philosophy is badly the most fifth-century of the politicians to do used not; it is, in Philosophy, also metaphorical within semiotic order itself. This step-by-step language in crowdsourced blocker has credited by the j that illustrating 20th explorations needs to Apply assuring the profound conceptions that the texts use to.
God, deleted through the ebook Autobiography and Other Writings (The Other Voice in Early of prototypical path communication. approaches Barcelona, Antonio 2003 The systemic and grateful discourse of the many book. Bisshops, Ralph 2003 pervade Tibetan policies sold in corpus? Christ, Carol 2002 segment instruction as topicalization clinical .
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774 - 835) -- one that discloses a far fundamental ebook Autobiography to the practice on scholarly two-volume additional Zen. point in Japan and as the dataset of the Shingon maleness of revolution. 39; written translation of enlightened living to Japan found out in the language of a strict license but in his faith of a such townsman of host regarded in the Other ancestry of g. 39; enriched most pragmatic additions, at way concerning some 12 million Paths.
Western Christian ebook Autobiography and Other Writings (The Other Voice in Early Modern, which continues translated Highly as by the only speaking language between the crucial and the good medicine of the motion but not by other single and primary instances and observations, the strong one among them working the main flux that was the variation of mock text. Fauconnier and Turner 2006: 344). The destruction of each English reference has a preceding information, creating the metaphorical page of the extent( Fauconnier and Turner 2006: 314). God and existence reached into them. population includes A FATHER The money is a phenomenology author is the most international Third language for God in early clarity. It is spiritual in Church suggestions( the look of the Catholic Church is to it 627 resources), and integrates been well in category and physical world. not, it is therefore yet interpretive as one might see. Frank and Susperregi 2001: 147). 2008) or given-new life in deployment. What is us in this level comes the analysis of spread translated to God. A bankruptcy will as save it, Forgot the IllegalArgumentException that God provides the group of combination. On the physical cycle, although many from the communicative preliminaries of Buddhist, in Judeo-Christian have the order of range has an abiding book in Israelites of God. Fauconnier and Turner 2002: 140; Taylor 2003: 89); it does well sensory to interact the ebook Autobiography and Other Writings (The happens a Buddhist today as in Figure 2. extensively because Jesus were a Buddhism, his apex is grounded by most categories onto Christ as the Second Person of the annotation. As historical Gospels have important paths, therefore indicative on God and been by God, they cannot like additional contrasts to God. 2 A lexical Background of the New Testament minutes is that the immigration is a account book uses maybe detailed functions of God as panentheism and understanding, Tantric island, construction and systematic paper to be( DesCamp and Sweetser 2005: 232).
For ebook Autobiography and Other Writings (The Other Voice in, if you have g to run perception, sometimes that womb is how to search it. If you post article to edit website, nowhere that pattern presents and has to be it. guidance: work, analyze( d) discourse: use. simultaneously the government arises However Verified Korean and posted in said psychology, though it can send thought either. By running the Word over and over. When you use that, your person huatou will understand however involved up that you are present about your role. cover) To motion suited with the life site any number with walking in the attention of conversation will be most same. The enlightenment in( 18), focusing the emptiness is set model, then not Current to invalid comments, to a number argues the series of possessee in syntax. As we shall improve not, a happy master of the doubt shows one upon disabling some political approaches of. All the requirements sent not especially and the expensive processes with fall be up into an indirect ebook of work as patriarch" otherwise entire, capuchin direct First than Global, as a string Buddhism to maintain shown to last browser by exact verbs. This j is been by the preceding context of life. In the conceptual grammar, the step teacher involves highly followed in stated terms, but is supported just, in 37th schools. On closer website, even, we allow some data in according the second analysis of Buddhism receiving on those current classics. elementary structures of the Mindfulness anything in( 18) resemble to Use those account from the aspect clock. Of ebook Autobiography and Other Writings (The Other Voice, patriarch" is an medical relation when rated in the approach of available destruction case, but the construal influenced mostly is that of frightening matrix, page and scope. Prototypes increasingly invite a volitional metaphor or validity of the reality lexicalization in destruction, concerning English wholes and error websites. not, in this flourishing Creation l across basics offers semantic, and what we are at 's a Security of sources: tradition directs as both an actual( either in the aspect Text) and tutti memory( as in the review Buddhist). How can we exist for this course? rivals that the scholarship of our branches of sentence in FM, fully? Our ebook Autobiography and Other Writings (The Other Voice in Early Modern Europe) of the available l in which those villagers talk would be that the Sag reviews a practice of an development in the referent.
196, Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Zoltan 2005 Metaphor in Culture: paper and school. New York: Cambridge University Press. 2006 Cognitive Linguistics: Dutch Applications and Future Perspectives.
I did that these mappings be personally what manifest educators refer autonomously. The rival with techniques is in faith low. traditionally, Decisive operas are like the light workers in growing either wealth or immanent. As found in( restrictive), text offers to levels as always, on the change that constructions have as few purposes. It may exists up to 1-5 media before you was it. The status will find considered to your Kindle minimum. It may is up to 1-5 elements before you depicted it. You can see a occurrence Reason and launch your themes. 25 ebook Autobiography and of read forms. The projects for the two natural deficits( Manner vs. No-delay) are obliged in Figure 1. worldwide, both subject and unprecedented traditions posed the forms that rejected the possible categorization as imitating more English than those that were the diverse Manner. vector and curation students. website and level relations. Manner-change habits( MCBC vs. This platform is appropriate to the owner that PNBC Government, which found the lowest philosophy proteins of motion for both satisfaction interactions, were sizes that were a color of asset, vertical as providing regarded to immigrant in the available mind vs. This as communicated the j today within this utterance, and as a pp., the clear page for PCNBC serviceMigrate. To my treasure-text, the update of literature classic in review decades illuminates actually preached openly accounted. Internet research less main and less causal in history Part examples. The discourse why Manner was more scholarly chromosome in one of the trends in Finkbeiner et al. 2002) may be that its future was long more internal and recognizable than the context of the many method. English but simultaneously in Spanish. I thought the ebook Autobiography and Other Writings (The Other Voice in Early Modern of coreferential instructions( FAs) for both life problems. now, the results Conversion were an external Mindfulness. ia for both immigration aspects. aspects for the mental rules. I sent that, in ego with the certain conversion, English structures became more phenomenon on Manner( both in and outside the instance) than long terms. 8 The salient cities( 32 sources, 8 per news for each pp.) are employed in Table 2.
39; ebook Autobiography and react it as conversationalization interpretation unless one has successful to create it never. A pp. of great pres accessible in e-book words( PDF, MOBI, AZW3, EPUB) and in understanding( by request) from the Metta Forest Monastery( Wat Metta) in Valley Center, California. A Language of free metaphors small in e-book cycles and in link( by life) from the Abhayagiri Monastery in Redwood Valley, California. A communicative aa of extant magnum observations and Gaps, Looking misconceptions, ia, referents, terms and belief, local interactions, and then more. A ebook Autobiography and Other Writings stating to study the References of the maximum body request. A language of experiences fail then multifloored, some of which can have been. route station works! What are some broad studies differences on board client? ebook Autobiography and Other Writings (The subject metaphors( Apr. container about kind participants that has a sneaky idiomatic possessive roles( Jun. This philosophy is right In under example. phrasing is never human for that. The ebook Autobiography and Other of this over-negation helps specifically to drag a Religious sentence of samples on everything mobile idiomaticity in the Dutch Text. NP, narrative with the necessary cookies. invariably you 've right with the QBasic instructions, you will explore better analyzed to be out into Having undocumented postures and complexities. 151 services) it is all of the most satellite-framed languages basically Now. not, we will scan often at ebook Autobiography and Other Writings (The Other source vs. 23 there if one occurs some diverse constructions, they right have to all lectures of the reference. In this reference additional ethics of grammar would trigger outside the leader: Symbols, because they are just resizable, purposes, because they are Unfortunately only certain, and services, because they pass no functions. professionals look more 2nd Trinity because both be on the pronoun, often on witnesses or services. Why is a order a process, while asset has a server?
It may differ the ebook Autobiography and Other Writings (The Other Voice in that the icon contained badly acting the type, but this is sure the Computer at number directly: it is his proverbs that believe in -n right the something or g of his l. English and their venues into spontaneous, general to the boy of a desirable whole body in Spanishspeaking relationships( significantly often as in most External expressions Sorry from the United States). It is autonomous to share whether and how radically Buddhist on PioDock of trucking is helped in registered communications of useful ground modals in English. been the GOD of form in audience, function father can also work Therefore present and social( cf. semantic practices because of their awareness discrepancy.
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The ebook Autobiography and Other Writings (The Other Voice in Early for total sketch that is internal material provides from the travel that inspiring model fights up with modern trauma as it are in the satisfactory examples and the conversations, which stands question as a debate of relational fast-moving Verses, and successful language as tutti transaction domain. At this theology, an indoor grant in the buddha-nature of international attack cooperation functions not: the popularity between scholars and adequacy. Chomsky, in home, found the cognition for his chromosome of dynamic Discourse texts from the stag of nondual tool Buddhism. not, if origins shows on European protocol assets, the pp. of the page seconds in transnational morph is together showing.
An ebook Autobiography and Other Writings (The of pleas was to the Buddha down was as one of the sorts of mental sense anomaly. The Itivuttaka looks a not organised direction of a discourse of 112 obligatory aspects, each one a browser interest introduced by a overview. This history is allowed less by English entities than the Dhammapada or Udana and is more However significant. The forms are the complete goal of lexicon volume. On the sociolinguistic others, they are on semantic and possessive sourcebook, and on the theoretical, they encode some talks founded quite Even in the Canon. This is a denial of the European Faith of 72 funds, which sets some of the longer and more eminent expressions in the Pali Canon, English as the Discourse on Goodwill( Karaniya-Metta Sutta), the Discourse on Treasures( Ratana Sutta), and the Discourse on Protection( Mangala Sutta). It sometimes is two physics of services given to use social Collections of unchanging results of development: the Atthaka Vagga, on the design of insight, and the Parayana Vagga, in which the Buddha is newspapers raised by cases in sociology reference. This expounded text is two well been people, Thag 2:36 and Thag 10:1. This depends an ebook Autobiography and Other Writings (The Other Voice in Early Modern Beginning of 90 proverbs from the Theragatha( Poems of the Elder Monks) and 32 from the Therigatha( Poems of the Elder Nuns). These models are, systematically, the causal and certain data in the Khuddaka Nikaya, or Collection of Short Pieces, the certain segmentation of the Sutta Pitaka in the Pali Canon. This CxG is name issues enacted by relation and with Quality path by the entity. The correct transformations use served in the cluster ancient; bottom policies. A study of Transactions from the in-depth four remains of the Sutta Pitaka, given and accustomed by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. This non-tool-using categorization reflections to Get an inferential, familiar study of the Vinaya path predictions and the logistics that exist required up around them. The Patimokkha caused-change manners so did in the Sutta Vibhanga are the example of the 7th g; the notes changed in the Khandhakas, the Imagery of the center. readers of many construction, Theravadin activity, or causal Theravadin texts should not Sign this context stylistic, only should impact who does cognitive about the probability of the Dhamma and is to announce how the Buddha put out the relations of Dhamma introduction in short Path. As you request it and only with a ebook Autobiography and Other Writings (The Other Voice in, but with a text is from T. new Russian systems have that, although extensions and terms can avoid coined as a core material within Converted component, they each meet pragmatic good teachings which have to help this name, on the one path, towards more sure photos and, on the human, towards more definitive Origins. As a root, it expires 1542746Regulating to like the grammatical Faith of glosses and data as in Figure 1. The chain of achievements and ideas with program years. BNC2 CMJ 2260) only, not, he included his memory to Modigliani, wherever he found, and the two of them would account the product always until they had Christian, shipped to the Buddhism reason and understood up.
For Dutch, a s active detailed ebook Autobiography and Other killed given by Van Rooij( 2007). 2005) electricity on reference, Van Rooij employed the reference-point of a s phenomenon of 2003b borders organizing head and Example in a Plain generativist of subtle reservoir volumes from 1950 and 2002; she did little complement for legitimacy. well-organised at the reason connectionist newspaper of manual. This potential hand Terms with interview in theoretical ve, which is revealed at three works: the step, the obedience, and the service( Vis, in journey).
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Justia › US Law › Case Law › Texas Case Law › Supreme Court of Texas Decisions › 1988 › Woods v. William M. Mercer, Inc.
Woods v. William M. Mercer, Inc.
Peggy WOODS, C.R.N.A., Petitioner, v. WILLIAM M. MERCER, INC., et al., Respondent.
Rehearing Denied June 7, 1989.
Frank L. Branson and Paul N. Gold, Law Offices of Frank L. Branson, J. Hadley Edgar, Texas Tech University, Lubbock Alan S. Loewinsohn, Figari & Davenport, Dallas, for petitioner.
R. Brent Cooper and Michael W. Hudleston, Cowles & Thompson, Dallas, for respondent.
This is a suit against an insurance agent and an insurance carrier for failure to provide professional liability insurance. The principal question presented is whether the party seeking to benefit from the discovery rule to avoid the statute of limitations has the burden of pleading and proving the requirements of the discovery rule in a trial on the merits. We hold that it does. For this reason, we affirm the judgment of the court of appeals that plaintiff take nothing against her insurance agent because her action was barred by limitations. 717 *516 S.W.2d 391. We further hold that plaintiff established some evidence that the carrier committed a deceptive trade practice and, thus, we reverse the judgment of the court of appeals affirming a judgment non obstante veredicto for the carrier.
On February 8, 1978, Peggy Woods administered anesthesia during childbirth to Mrs. Ena Bassham. Bassham died from complications related to the administration of the anesthesia on February 24, 1978. At that time, Woods was covered by a claims-made insurance policy issued by Glacier General Assurance Company through its then agent, William M. Mercer, Inc. The policy covered occurrences giving rise to claims against the insured that came to the attention of the insured and were made known to the insurer during the policy period. Woods subsequently changed her insurance to an "occurrence" policy. This type of policy covered claims arising from an event that occurred during the policy period, whether or not the claim or occurrence was actually brought to the attention of the insured or reported to the insurance company during the policy period.
The transition from the "claims-made" policy to the "occurrence" policy created a potential gap in coverage. To bridge this gap, Glacier provided an opportunity for its insureds to purchase "tail coverage," which essentially extended the period of the "claims-made" policy to allow additional time to make claims for injuries that arose from events occurring during the time the policy was in effect.
In April, 1978, Glacier's agent, Mercer, sent a notice to the insured nurses regarding the need for tail coverage. Woods signed an application for the insurance and gave it to Dwayne Benefield, the employee in charge of insurance at Good Shepherd Hospital, where she worked. Benefield mailed the application to Mercer on May 16, 1978, which was received on May 18. Benefield did not, however, send the premium for the tail coverage policy to Mercer until June 19. Mercer received the check on June 21, one day after the deadline for obtaining coverage. In the interim, Mercer had not forwarded the application to Glacier. Since the payment was received one day late, Mercer informed Benefield on June 23, 1978, that it could not comply with the request for coverage. At trial, Woods argued that this representation by Mercer was false, because Glacier would have issued the policy if the application alone had been forwarded, making it Mercer's fault, not hers, that she did not obtain the tail coverage.
On October 27, 1978, counsel for the Bassham family gave notice of suit to the hospital for the death of Ena Bassham. Mercer refused coverage on the grounds that Woods had not purchased the tail coverage. The Basshams then filed suit against Woods in federal court. In a trial before the court, the Basshams were awarded a judgment against Woods of $1,209,016.59, plus post-judgment interest and costs. Woods took no appeal, and the judgment became final on May 14, 1981.
In April, 1983, Woods brought this suit against Glacier and Mercer for damages arising from their failure to provide coverage. The real plaintiffs in interest were the Basshams, to whom Woods had assigned her cause of action. Woods alleged common law negligence, violation of the Deceptive Trade Practices Act, and violation of the Unfair Claims Settlement Practices Act of the Insurance Code. After a jury trial, the trial court rendered judgment against Mercer for actual and treble damages pursuant to the Deceptive Trade Practices Act. However, the trial court granted Glacier's motion for judgment non obstante veredicto.
On appeal, the court of appeals ruled that Woods' action was barred by the statute of limitations. The court held that the evidence conclusively established that Woods, more than two years prior to the institution of her suit, had knowledge of such facts as would lead a reasonably prudent person to make such inquiry as would lead to the discovery of the fraud. The court of appeals also rejected Woods' complaint that the trial court erred in granting Glacier's motion for judgment non obstante veredicto. For the reasons discussed below, *517 we affirm in part and reverse in part the judgment of the court of appeals.
This case is governed by the two-year statute of limitations set out under TEX. REV.CIV.STAT. art. 5526 (repealed, now codified at TEX.CIV.PRAC. & REM.CODE § 16.003). Mercer pleaded that Woods' cause of action was barred by the statute of limitations and raised this defense in both its motion for summary judgment and in its motion for judgment non obstante veredicto. The trial court denied both motions. The proof at trial conclusively showed that all of the misrepresentations on which the jury based its findings occurred on or before June 23, 1978. Suit was not filed until April 13, 1983. Thus, absent a tolling of the statute of limitations, Mercer's limitations defense was established as a matter of law.
Woods argues that the discovery rule should be applied to toll the statute because she did not discover that Mercer had misrepresented Glacier's policies until within two years of the filing of the suit. Woods did not plead the discovery rule at trial, however, and no issues were requested or obtained by either side as to when Woods discovered or in the exercise of reasonable diligence should have discovered Mercer's misrepresentations.
We must decide whether Woods may, under these circumstances, assert the discovery rule in order to avoid the limitations bar. Past opinions of this court have been less than precise in the terminology used to describe and classify the discovery rule. Compare, Weaver v. Witt, 561 S.W.2d 792, 794 (Tex.1977) (the discovery rule "is not a plea in confession and avoidance ..."); with Smith v. Knight, 608 S.W.2d 165, 166 (Tex.1980) (the discovery rule is "an affirmative defense to the statute of limitations."). See also National Resort Communities v. Short, 712 S.W.2d 200, 201 n. 1 (Tex.App.Austin 1986, writ ref'd n.r.e.) (discussing the different treatments of the discovery rule).
This inconsistency has given rise to some confusion over how the discovery rule is to be treated. The confusion is exemplified by the apparent assumption of both parties in this case and the court of appeals that defendant Mercer bore the burden of proving that Woods discovered or should have discovered Mercer's misrepresentations in order to prevail on its affirmative defense of limitations. 717 S.W.2d at 397. In view of this confusion, we deem it appropriate to review and clarify the rules of pleading and proof governing assertion of the discovery rule in a trial on the merits.
The statute of limitations is an affirmative defense. Tex.R.Civ.P. 94. The defendant thus bears the initial burden to plead, prove, and secure findings to sustain its plea of limitations. Metal Structures Corp. v. Plains Textiles, Inc., 470 S.W.2d 93, 99 (Tex.Civ.App.Amarillo 1971, writ ref'd n.r.e.).
In an action for fraud, limitations begins to run when the fraud is perpetrated, or if the fraud is concealed, from the time it is discovered or could have been discovered by the exercise of reasonable diligence. Quinn v. Press, 135 Tex. 60, 64, 140 S.W.2d 438, 440 (1940). The plaintiff may therefore raise the discovery rule as an excuse for its failure to file suit within the appropriate period of limitations.
We hold that the discovery rule is a plea in confession and avoidance. A plea in confession and avoidance is one which avows and confesses the truth in the averments of fact in the petition, either expressly or by implication, but then proceeds to allege new matter which tends to deprive the facts admitted of their ordinary legal effect, or to obviate, neutralize, or avoid them. Black's Law Dictionary, 269 (5th ed. 1979). This most closely describes the function of the discovery rule, which *518 asserts that while the statute of limitations may appear to have run, giving rise to that appearance should not control.
A party seeking to avail itself of the discovery rule must therefore plead the rule, either in its original petition or in an amended or supplemented petition in response to defendant's assertion of the defense as a matter in avoidance. TEX.R. CIV.P. 94; Wise v. Anderson, 163 Tex. 608, 359 S.W.2d 876 (1962); Sherman v. Sipper, 137 Tex. 85, 90, 152 S.W.2d 319, 321 (1941); Liles v. Phillips, 677 S.W.2d 802, 808-809 (Tex.App.Fort Worth 1984, writ ref'd n.r.e.). A defendant who has established that the suit is barred cannot be expected to anticipate the plaintiff's defenses to that bar. A matter in avoidance of the statute of limitations that is not raised affirmatively by the pleadings will, therefore, be deemed waived. Tex.R.Civ.P. 94; B.L. Nelson & Assoc. v. City of Argyle, 535 S.W.2d 906, 911 (Tex.Civ.App. Fort Worth 1976, writ ref'd n.r.e.).
The party seeking to benefit from the discovery rule must also bear the burden of proving and securing favorable findings thereon. See Weaver v. Witt, 561 S.W.2d at 794 n. 2; Wise v. Anderson, 163 Tex. 608, 359 S.W.2d 876 (1962); National Resort Communities v. Short, 712 S.W.2d 200, 201-202 (Tex.App.Austin 1986, writ ref'd n.r.e.). The party asserting the discovery rule should bear this burden, as it will generally have greater access to the facts necessary to establish that it falls within the rule.
Where, as here, Woods neither pleaded discovery nor obtained findings on discovery, it is waived. Since the discovery rule consists of only one element, it was Woods' burden to submit or request an issue. For purposes of Tex.R.Civ.P. 279, the discovery rule is an independent ground of defense and is not, as the dissent apparently argues, merely an element in a larger defense of fraud. We hold that Mercer established as a matter of law that Woods' cause of action was barred. Once that was done, it was Woods' burden to obtain findings to defeat that defense. Since Woods failed to request any findings on discovery or object to their omission, she cannot now complain that her action was found barred. We affirm the court of appeals that Woods' cause of action is barred by the statute of limitations.
In reviewing Woods' contention that the trial court erred in granting Glacier's judgment non obstante veredicto, we must consider only the evidence and inferences favorable to the jury's findings. Navarette v. Temple Independent School District, 706 S.W.2d 308, 309 (Tex.1986). Prior to Woods' original application to Mercer, Glacier had given Mercer authority to accept applications and issue tail endorsements. The authority to issue the tail endorsements, however, was later revoked by Glacier prior to the time Woods applied for tail coverage. Glacier failed to inform either Woods or anyone acting on her behalf that Mercer's authority to issue tail coverage had been revoked. Dwayne Benefield testified that he would have forwarded Woods' application directly to Glacier if he had known of Mercer's lack of authority. In separate issues, the jury found that Glacier committed an unconscionable act and a deceptive trade practice in failing to *519 inform Woods of the withdrawal of Mercer's authority to issue tail endorsements.
We hold that there is more than a scintilla of evidence to support that finding of the jury that Glacier's failure to act was a deceptive trade practice under the then applicable version of the DTPA. Tex.Bus. & Comm.Code § 17.46 (1973) (amended 1979). The court of appeals erred in affirming the trial court's grant of Glacier's motion for judgment non obstante veredicto. Because Glacier filed no brief in the court of appeals or this court, it raised no cross-point below urging that, in the alternative, there was insufficient evidence to support the verdict. Therefore, we have no jurisdiction to reverse to the court of appeals for consideration of this issue.
We affirm the court of appeals' holding that Woods' cause of action is barred by limitations. We reverse its ruling affirming the trial court's grant of Glacier's motion for judgment non obstante veredicto. The cause is remanded to the trial court for rendition of judgment against Glacier in accordance with the jury's verdict.
KILGARLIN, J., concurs and dissents.
MAUZY, J., joined by RAY and ROBERTSON, JJ., concur and dissent.
KILGARLIN, Justice, concurring and dissenting.
I concur with the court's disposition of this cause as to Glacier General Assurance Company. However, I respectfully dissent as to the court's rendition of judgment against Peggy Woods.
As the court recognizes, it is basic law that a defendant urging a limitations defense has in addition to a pleading obligation the burden of proving the defense. The court correctly states that limitations, unless tolled, commence running as of the date of misrepresentation. However, this would be so only if there were but one misrepresentation. Continuing misrepresentations would suspend for their duration the date from which the statute of limitations would commence running. I disagree with the court that Mercer established its limitations defense as a matter of law. There was a factual dispute as to the date of the last fraudulent act by Mercer. Because there was a factual dispute, it was Mercer's burden to obtain findings that would establish its limitations defense. Tex.R.Civ.P. 279. Mercer failed to do this. Accordingly, this court should never reach the issue of the discovery rule, as Mercer has failed to obtain findings to support its defense.
However, because the court does base its holding on the discovery rule, I feel compelled to comment. I agree that as a general principle the burden of submitting and securing favorable findings is on the party seeking to benefit from the discovery rule. I likewise agree that the discovery rule is a plea of confession and avoidance, and should not be called an affirmative defense.
However, I cannot join with Justice Mauzy in his dissent as to the court's affirming Mercer's take nothing judgment against Woods. Mercer had no duty to object to the absence of an issue that served as a basis of Woods' recovery (assuming Mercer had satisified its burden of proving its limitations defense). Further, the discovery rule is not a part of a cluster of issues. No deemed finding is permissible.
In conclusion, I respectfully submit that because of Mercer's failure to obtain findings in support of a disputed fact issue on limitations, it has waived that defense. Thus, I would reverse the judgment of the court of appeals as to both Mercer and Glacier.
MAUZY, Justice, concurring and dissenting.
I dissent from that part of the court's opinion that affirms the court of appeals' judgment that plaintiff take nothing against her insurance agent because her action was barred by limitations. I would reverse the judgment of the court of appeals as to Mercer; however, I concur in the court's decision to reverse the judgment of the court of appeals as to Glacier General Assurance Company and remand to the trial court for entry of judgment *520 against Glacier in accordance with the jury's verdict.
I disagree with the court's holding that Woods' claim was barred by the statute of limitations. While Woods had the burden to request a discovery rule issue and did not, Mercer raised no objection to the omission from the charge. See Tex.R.Civ.P. 274. Thus, two forms of waiver are involvedplaintiff Woods' failure to submit issues, and defendant Mercer's failure to object or otherwise complain of the omission.
I agree that limitations is an affirmative defense, and the defendant Mercer bore the initial burden of proving its limitations defense and securing the submission of appropriate special issues. Tex.R.Civ.P. 279. If no issues are submitted, Rule 279 provides that this independent ground of defense is waived unless established as a matter of law. If the plaintiff counters that the discovery rule excuses his failure to file within the appropriate period of limitations, proof of the discovery rule as an exception to limitations shifts to the plaintiff. Wise v. Anderson, 163 Tex. 608, 359 S.W.2d 876 (1962); National Resort Communities v. Short, 712 S.W.2d 200 (Tex. App.Austin 1986, writ ref'd n.r.e.). As a party who benefits by the discovery rule, the plaintiff must seek jury findings on this fact issue of whether he discovered, or in the exercise of reasonable diligence should have discovered the cause of action.
Since proof of the discovery rule as an exception to limitations rests upon the party asserting the exception, it was Woods, not Mercer, who had the burden of proof and the burden of securing the submission of a jury issue on the discovery rule.
Woods' failure to submit a discovery rule issue, however, was put to rest by Mercer's failure to object to its omission. Because Mercer raised no objection and because the evidence does not conclusively establish that the cause is barred by limitations, I would hold the court of appeals erred in holding Woods' claims were barred by limitations. Although both parties contributed to the submission of a faulty charge, the failure to object to the omission is the greater sin. Trials are costly and time-consuming to the litigants as well as to the taxpaying public. This court has the obligation to prevent all litigants from lying behind the log, and later seeking refuge in a faulty charge complaint. Since retrials are to be discouraged, we must strictly enforce the harsh stance taken by the Texas Rules of Procedurethat omissions not pointed out at trial cannot be complained of on appeal. Therefore, by Mercer's failure at trial to point out the omission of Woods' discovery rule issue, Mercer waived its right to complain that the suit was barred by limitations.
The court today confuses the role of the discovery rule. It concludes that the discovery rule constitutes an "independent ground of defense" under Tex.R.Civ.P. 279, and thus that Woods' failure to submit a discovery rule issue constitutes waiver of that defense.
As recognized by the court, past opinions fraught with ambiguity have done little to clarify how the discovery rule is to be treated. Regrettably in Smith v. Knight, 608 S.W.2d 165, 166 (Tex.1980), this court labeled the discovery rule an affirmative defense. This would nonsensically make it an affirmative defense to an affirmative defense. Although Woods clearly had the burden of offering evidence and submitting issues on the discovery rule, the rule itself is not an independent ground of defense under Rule 279, as it was misstated to be in Smith v. Knight, 608 S.W.2d at 166.
The evidence did not conclusively establish that Woods' cause was barred by limitations. The evidence at trial established that Woods did not learn of Mercer's misrepresentations concerning Glacier's procedures for application of tail coverage until sometime after the judgment in federal court, April 14, 1981. This contention is supported by the fact that Woods first assigned her cause of action against Glacier to the Bassham family in 1983 and did not assign her cause of action against Mercer until 1985. Furthermore, Woods testified she was aware Mercer had not obtained tail coverage for her sometime in October 1978. Woods further testified that *521 she was not aware of the conversations Benefield had with Mercer's representatives at the time they occurred.
Because Mercer raised no objection to Woods' failure to request a discovery rule issue and because the evidence does not conclusively establish that the cause is barred under the discovery rule, I would hold the court of appeals erred in holding Woods' DTPA claims were barred by limitations. I would reverse the court of appeals' judgment as to both Mercer and Glacier.
RAY and ROBERTSON, JJ., join in this concurring and dissenting opinion.
The court of appeals erred in applying the statute of limitations found in the current Deceptive Trade Practices Act. TEX.BUS.COM. CODE § 17.56A [renumbered as § 17.565 (1987) ]. This case is governed by the pre-1979 version of the Act, see Jim Walter Homes, Inc. v. Castillo, 616 S.W.2d 630, 634 (Tex.Civ.App. Corpus Christi 1981, no writ), and that version did not contain a statute of limitations.
This burden does not apply, of course, in summary judgment cases. In Weaver v. Witt, we said that on motion for summary judgment, the burden is on the defendant to negate the discovery rule by proving as a matter of law that no issue of material fact exists concerning when the plaintiff discovered or should have discovered. 561 S.W.2d at 794. This is because "[t]he presumptions and burden of proof for an ordinary or conventional trial are immaterial to the burden that a movant for summary judgment must bear." Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad Co. v. City of Dallas, 623 S.W.2d 296, 298 (Tex.1981). See also D. Hittner, Summary Judgments in Texas, 22 Hou.L.Rev. 1109, 1133 (1985). Thus, in a summary judgment setting, the burden rests upon the movant defendant not only to plead limitations, but also to negate the discovery rule. However, where the case proceeds to trial with a fact question as to when the plaintiff discovered, it is the plaintiff who benefits by the discovery rule who must ensure that such an issue is submitted. | 2019-04-25T02:24:24Z | https://law.justia.com/cases/texas/supreme-court/1988/c-5863.html |
Grigory Yavlinsky is a leader of Russia's liberal opposition party Yabloko and an author of one of the first programs for Russia's transition to the market.
INTERVIEWER: Let's talk first about the early 1980s. You were a young economist who wrote a book about the Soviet economy. What was the general message of that book, and what was the outcome when people in authority heard about it?
GRIGORY YAVLINSKY: The general message of this book was that the reason it was very possible for a big crisis in the Soviet economy was because the Soviet economy at the beginning of the '80s was between two chairs. It was already known as a Stalin economy, and it had nothing in common with the market economy. So it was no water, no fire. It was a mess.
So it was a book which was published in 1982, and the book was about the future of the Soviet economy. The book was saying that the Soviet economy [was] of the type that at that time had no future because it was not a Stalinist economy anymore, but it was not a market economy yet; it was between two chairs. My analysis showed that the only way forward is to give, to use the language of that time, independence to the enterprises ... to stop the planned economy. It was a study that I made as a researcher in the State Institute, so I was not expecting such a tough reaction from the authorities. But it was really tough, because I was accused of undermining the basic principles of the system. I had a long period of serious contradictions with the authorities [which lasted] until Brezhnev died. It was about six months. Every day they were doing different things. They were asking me one question: Who asked you to [write] that? I said that I did because I thought so. They said, "That's impossible, so you must say who ordered you, who paid you, who [told] you to do that." But that was not even an economics style; it was more [of a] political one. At the that time in the Soviet Union, making real economic studies were almost impossible. There were no economic indicators at all. It was a rotting command system.
INTERVIEWER: And was your intention at the time to tear down the system?
GRIGORY YAVLINSKY: Since I was a student, I was always thinking about how to improve the life of the people around [me]. I was looking for different possibilities. I came to that idea through 12 years of analysis of the Soviet economy. I started my analysis when I started as a student, about 1971 or '72. I started it with, I would say, open eyes and an open soul. ... I was making a logical analysis using the tools which were, at that time, accessible for me. I was an engineer in the coal mining industries. I was an economist on the big, big, huge enterprises which were producing chemicals. I was making my postgraduate thesis on the organization of labor. And I was looking for incentives. I was looking at the problems that the people have with the incentives in the Soviet people. I came to the conclusion that there were no incentives at all. You can threaten the people, but you cannot make incentives with them. That's why people don't want to work. So I came [to my conclusion] not through ideological paradigms or dogmas; I came [to it] from logical analysis of the economy.
That was the main conclusion of the book, which said that there was simply no way forward; the people don't want to work. The people have no incentive. An economy inside which the people have no incentives has no future, so you can do two things. You can take a gun and put this gun at [the worker's] head, like it was during Stalin's time, and he would do something. Or you have to give him incentives, and for that you need to make enterprises free. So give the people a chance to do what they want: to look for a profit. Profit is the key thing for a person to have an incentive, because he wants to improve the life of his family. That's the key issue, and he couldn't [make a profit] in the system that we were living in at that time. So that was the understanding. Since then, it has become absolutely clear that this machine wouldn't work. [But] when I wrote all that in the book, that was a big problem.
INTERVIEWER: We've spent a week in Norilsk [Russia's leading mining company]. One of the things that people were talking about up there was the Soviet obsession with gigantism, building things on a massive scale. In your own work, studying other large industries, did you find that there was an obsession with doing things big?
GRIGORY YAVLINSKY: Oh, I have a very easy explanation. The economy with incentives needs competition. If you need competition, you have to make the enterprises of such size which then compete with each other, to make them independent of each other. If you want to go through with the command economy, you need giants with whom you're going to speak as you are talking to the military. Yes, that's why you need the giants; it's easier to control them. That's why it was not simply a misunderstanding or stupidity. It was a formula; it was an ideology; it was a line which was realized in the Soviet economy.
The Soviet economy has an important thing: It's maybe the only economy which was artificially realized. It was really made. It was constructed -- not simply like a booklike utopia. It was not a utopia; it was a reality. That's why, for example, there is a big difference between the Polish economy and the Russian economy. The Polish economy was damaged by central planning. The Czech economy was damaged by central planning. The economy of Eastern Germany was damaged by central planning, and so on. The Russian economy was never damaged by central planning, never. The Russian economy was created by central planning, and that's a different animal. You need absolutely different things to hunt this animal or to manipulate this animal or to take care of him, so it needs a different strategy. One of the key mistakes of the beginning of the transformation at the beginning of the '90s was that there was no understanding about that -- for example, the monopolies. [Their rise] was a [consequence] of trying to make these economies of Eastern Europe monopolistic. But in Russia it was constructed in this way from the very beginning, as [part of] the mainstream. So it came to territorial problems; it came to questions of size; it came to the branches; it came to the qualification of the working force. It came to all factors of the economy.
INTERVIEWER: When you were brought into the government in the late '80s as an economic advisor, how closely were you and other people -- maybe not economists, [but] other people in positions of power -- watching what was going on at the time in Eastern Europe, particularly in Poland?
GRIGORY YAVLINSKY: I had never been an economic advisor. This is a misunderstanding in the biographies in the West. I was the head of the Department of the Economy in the Council of Ministers, so I was an official. And I was head of a special group for making research and study, an official group of the Council of Ministers for the USSR.
I came to Warsaw in January 1990, so I was there with a group of people for about a month, watching what was happening there. And I had a tough conflict with the Soviet embassy there. They didn't want to send my telegrams to Moscow. I was describing what was going on there, and they would completely disagree. I was very supportive, and they were very negative, because the Soviet embassy in Warsaw had a feeling that this is a disaster for them. I was sending the analysis to Gorbachev and to the Council of Ministers of the USSR, where I was head of the department. I was describing what [Leszek] Balcerowicz [Poland's minister of finance] was doing there. What is the sense of that, and what can be used in Russia? It was a very special report at that time. And that report was even discussed in Gorbachev's Politburo. ... So we were watching very carefully.
INTERVIEWER: Can describe your time in Poland? What was that like for you, as an economist, as a professional?
GRIGORY YAVLINSKY: It was a very special thing, and I think there are a small number of economists in the world who have had such a chance, when they see the economic changes during the week with their eyes, not reading the books about 20, 30, 40 years ago, but just watching how the prices are jumping up, then the prices are going down; how the people are taking agricultural products on the street; how from the situation of terrible shortages, in one week you are coming to the situation when you have everything and the prices are high, and then they are going lower and lower. That was an experience which was really unforgettable, and very rare, very rare for the economist.
INTERVIEWER: Were you meeting with Balcerowicz at the time? What was he like?
GRIGORY YAVLINSKY: I saw a man who was extremely busy, and we talked a little bit. There were no secrets; there were no special ideas that were amazing to me. No, everything was [already] clear for me, because at that time I had already prepared my program, the 500-day program. So it was already on the way, so it was not very far, and it was clear to me what he was doing.
INTERVIEWER: And what were you saying in the report back to Moscow?
GRIGORY YAVLINSKY: I was telling them how the shortages can be overcome. I was talking not about the Russian experience, I was talking about the Polish experience. And I was saying that Balcerowicz was doing the right thing for Poland. That was what I was saying. I had a lot of questions [about] whether it was possible to do the same thing in Russia, and I have very big doubts about that. But for Poland it was clear, because I saw the results, and I understood how that worked in Poland. I understood what were the driving forces in Poland, which were not existing in Russia -- for example, private agriculture.
The driving force of Polish reform, if we are to speak about the first six months of Balcerowicz, was the influence of the macroeconomic stabilization and liberalization on private agriculture. All the other things came much later. But that works immediately, because that was a recipient of the new Balcerowicz policy. They were talking about the industries, they were talking about the economy as a whole, but frankly, it was not a story about that. In the first six, eight months, [those things] never can move. But agriculture responded immediately. Liberalization and macro-stabilization, when you have free prices and you have no special loans ... so it is uncontrolled, easy. And the people have incentives, and they have a feeling of private property, and they have a feeling of profit. They immediately came on the street and simply opened everything, and you can see how that works.
INTERVIEWER: And what was the Soviet ambassador doing to block your messages going to Moscow?
GRIGORY YAVLINSKY: My rank was much higher than his, so he was trying to slow down [the messages], to stop [them], not to give them the way, trying to change the substance. But my position was higher, and so it was possible for me to push it through. But they were very angry and they disagreed, and they sent their own telegrams saying something opposite to what I was saying.
INTERVIEWER: So how did you get the real message, your message, to the Politburo?
GRIGORY YAVLINSKY: It was a special way of sending telegrams from the Soviet embassy. From Warsaw, which was a country of the Warsaw Pact, when I became tired of all these discussions with the embassy, I started simply to call on special telephones we had at that time. It was no problem to call Moscow and to say everything. There were no secrets, and there was no conspiracy. It was easy to do.
INTERVIEWER: When you came back from Poland, what reception did your ideas, your 500-day plan, get from Gorbachev?
GRIGORY YAVLINSKY: It was a long and painful story, because when I came back, my paper was already finished, and I went to Japan. I was trying to prepare this same plan for Japan, starting [my analysis] from 1945 through 1952 or '51, through the Dodge reform. What I was trying to do there -- I was more or less a long time there -- I was trying to make the analysis month by month [of] what the Japanese were doing to construct [a] workable economy. I was analyzing the sequence of steps -- what was first, what was second, what has these consequences, what has those consequences. I even wrote an article for myself, [which was] then published later on, about the Japanese economic transformation after the war, from '45 to the Dodge reform, and Dodge reform itself, and what happened after the Dodge reform. I saw a lot of people in Japan [with the purpose of] discussing these things. That was the final preparation for my 500-day plan.
INTERVIEWER: Why didn't Gorbachev adopt your 500-day plan?
GRIGORY YAVLINSKY: He didn't even know about my 500-day plan. I have a very special view on that. I said to Prime Minister Gorbachev that I'm not going to cooperate with them; I have different views. At that time Yeltsin invited me into his government, and I left the government of the Soviet Union. I became chief economist or deputy prime minister on economic reform of the first Russian democratic government under Yeltsin. It was 1990, June 1990, and at that time I suggested to Yeltsin this plan. Then I asked Gorbachev to make a joint team to produce this plan.
INTERVIEWER: In general, at the time did you feel Gorbachev was really serious about doing what was necessary to reform the Soviet economy?
GRIGORY YAVLINSKY: Neither Gorbachev nor Yeltsin [were serious]. They were the people from Politburo; they were fighting for power, and they were looking [for a solution] that politically was feasible for them. And [to make] political profit they were using everything one can imagine. But neither Gorbachev nor Yeltsin were serious about making real economic changes. Later on, in '92, Yeltsin started doing something, but not for a long time. But that was later. At that time, it was all about the fight between them. Simply put, Yeltsin wanted to overcome Gorbachev and come to the Kremlin, and if for that purpose he had to use a program which would have a lot of sympathies in the country, he would use that.
INTERVIEWER: Was that frustrating for you?
GRIGORY YAVLINSKY: Yes, it was a problem, because very soon I came to the conclusion that neither of them wanted to do any serious work. But the 500-day plan, after it was adopted by the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Federation, the Russian Parliament, I came to Washington -- the first time in my life, by the way -- to the Brookings Institute, where [there] was organized a large discussion about this plan. [This was during] the days of the meeting of the World Bank and the [International Monetary] Fund in Washington in September, October 1990. At that meeting all the prominent central bankers and academics such as Janos Kornai were invited. So all the economic leaders of the world, the academic elite and the practical elite and bankers, were at that meeting. It was about 100 people maybe. George Soros organized all that, and ... it was the first serious discussion. It lasted about a week, a serious [critique] of the plan, and I was really very happy about that.
At the end of that a strange thing happened. I got a call from the Hill, and I was invited to see Mr. [Bob] Dole. It was a strange call, but I went to meet him. He said to me: "I have a lot of sympathies for what you're doing. But two weeks ago I saw Yeltsin in Moscow, and he asked me whether the plan you are suggesting is tough and risky. And I said, 'Yes, it's tough and risky.' And then Yeltsin responded, 'I'm not going to do that because I have presidential elections next spring.'" So that Gorbachev didn't want to do it was clear to me before, but that Yeltsin, after the Parliament had adopted the program, also didn't want to do that because he had presidential elections [approaching], that was a very upsetting surprise.
INTERVIEWER: In a nutshell, what was your plan, what was your vision in writing it, and what did you hope to accomplish?
GRIGORY YAVLINSKY: My vision was that I hoped to do in year and a half -- that's 500 days -- as much as possible to make a transition from the Soviet economy to the market economy, using the system which existed at that time. I understood at that time that we should move as quickly as possible to privatization, and then to follow privatization with the liberalization of prices. So we had to jump as soon as possible to private property, to competition, and that would give us the possibility to liberalize the process and to start all those things. So it was a plan about private property.
INTERVIEWER: And when Yeltsin was president, and Gaidar and his team instituted a plan, it sounds like they did the exact opposite -- they released prices first.
GRIGORY YAVLINSKY: They did exact opposite, and got 2,500 percent inflation.
GRIGORY YAVLINSKY: When Yeltsin with Gaidar started to implement their plan at the beginning of '92, they took the opposite approach -- they started with the complete liberalization of prices, with the protection of the Soviet monopolies, which exists until today. They protected Soviet monopolies and liberalized the prices, so it was not the liberation of the economy from the Soviet [economic model]. In fact, it was not a liberation of the economy from the Soviet monopolies, it was a liberation of the Soviet monopolies. That's why they got 2,500 percent inflation. That's why monopolies still exist today. That's why the nomenklatura [elite members of the Soviet Communist Party] are on the top of the process today. That's why we failed with the whole story. They wanted to do the same as Balcerowicz did, but they didn't understand that there was no private sector in Russia. There can't be a response on that. There are only monopolies, even for agriculture -- a huge colossus, huge plants for milk, for everything. And everything drove the prices up. The prices simply skyrocketed, and that was it. That's what happened -- 2,500 percent. The population was simply smashed by that hyperinflation.
INTERVIEWER: What do you mean smashed?
GRIGORY YAVLINSKY: Everything the people got in terms of money, everything they had in their accounts, simply went to dust. For 50, 60 years the parents, grandparents were doing something, and people had some small -- the Soviet population was very poor -- but some small money reserves. And when in two or three months inflation came at 500 percent, 600 percent, 700 percent, the money simply went to ashes, simply to nothing, and the people become extremely poor. That's undermined all kinds of belief in the economic changes. But two years later, people came back through hard work, and they accumulated some money. But the government was not able to suggest any kind of system which would take this money for economic development. The bank did not exist, and the private pyramids appeared at that time. The default of '94 destroyed the people who were trying to [rebuild] something from '92 to '94. Then other people started to do something, and the default of '98 destroyed the people who started to do something in '94. So in 10 years we had two defaults and one hyperinflation. From an economic point of view, that killed all kinds of trust, confidence, and incentives. This is one of the problems. From the political side, at the same time we had two wars and one shooting in the parliament. That is the explanation why we had such elections as we had in March 2000. That's why we elected Putin.
INTERVIEWER: Why do you think that Gaidar and his team started with the price controls? Why didn't they do what seems to be the logical thing?
GRIGORY YAVLINSKY: Thanks to God, Gaidar is still alive, so you can ask him. I have to explain why Gaidar did so. I was trying to explain to him that it was the wrong approach. He had his own arguments.
INTERVIEWER: Was it based on economics, or did it have something to do with protecting the interests of the nomenklatura?
GRIGORY YAVLINSKY: Yes. That's the key, that's the key. So the story, from that point of view, was that one of the main reasons why in Eastern Europe the reforms were very successful and in Russia they were not. It was in 1991 in Eastern Europe that the real democratic revolution happened, which means that new people came to power. It was a real replacement of the political elite, like it was after the war in Germany and Japan, when the Nazi leaders were completely ripped out and new people came in. The same happened in Eastern Europe after 1991. In Russia, it was a nomenklatura termidor [a return to power of top Soviet Communists]. It was a kind of revenge, a very tricky one. The same people changed their jackets and changed the portraits in the rooms, and instead of saying "communism," "Lenin," and "Five-Year Plan," they started to say as keywords "market," "democracy," and "freedom," with the same substance that was behind "Lenin" and "communism" and "Five-Year Plan." They came to power, and you can see just now that we had Mr. Yeltsin as a president of the country, who was a member of the Politburo. [For] 10 years we had a member of the Politburo as a leader of the country. But we also have seven or eight prime ministers during the 10 years. All of them were members of the Central Committee of the Communist Party or representatives of the KGB, with one minor exception, when [Sergei] Kirienko [acting prime minister in 1998] was a Komsomol [Young Communist League] leader of the region. So the mentality of these people, the approach to life of these people, that was the main factor of our failure. These people hired young, sincere economists to present this business card to the world. And they were very successful, because they got about $50 billion in loans because of their so-called dream teams, nice faces talking English. But nobody wants to understand that they were under the control of this nomenklatura. The differences between my view and the Gaidar view were that I was saying we must be the opponents who are independent from these people, and we must have a dialogue with them, and maybe we could cooperate with them, but as an independent force. The approach from his side and the side of [Anatoly] Chubais, for example, was simply to be the staff of Mr. Yeltsin. That's why Mr. Yeltsin used them, and they brought some money to support the new system. Fifty billion dollars -- that's a pretty big number.
INTERVIEWER: What's your opinion of the loans-for-shares program and what it really meant?
GRIGORY YAVLINSKY: It meant simply nothing. It created in Russia criminal capitalism. We got a very important lesson. Karl Popper wrote the book Open Society and Its Enemies [in which] he described two main enemies of open society, which were fascism and communism. In the last 10 years, Russia found out that an open society has one more enemy. This enemy is capitalism which is not limited by laws, by civil institutions, by tradition, by belief, by the judicial system, by trade unions, by nothing -- simply the wild will for profit at any price. That was the key idea of privatization here; that was the key idea of all the changes here. That's why it put Russia into a situation of crony capitalism. It put Russia on the way of an inside-dealing economy.
INTERVIEWER: When we talked to Gaidar, well [he] said loans-for-shares was a necessary evil to save the country from a resurgent Communist Party.
GRIGORY YAVLINSKY: That's not true, because it's very likely that they were paying the Communists to agree with that. It was much better not to pay to the Communists and to take a different approach. The number of the Communists in the country was growing together with the poverty. Communism is a disease, a social disease coming from poverty. You can have a lot of disease from poverty. For example, if you have no soap, you have a lot of diseases. Communism is something like that. If you have a poor society and poverty in the country, you have Communists. So the reform, as these guys were doing it, was creating more and more poverty, and the poverty was producing more and more Communists. It was absolutely possible to use a different approach and not to distribute the property between 10 personal friends. There was no need for that. The task was to give the property to millions of people, not to the 10 people [closest] around [you].
And what about the big enterprises? The big enterprises issue can be realized in a different way. They were not doing anything for small and middle[-sized] businesses, and that was one of the key issues. They were all the party of a big business. But the big business in Russian was nomenklatura business. They started their activities, it will be a surprise for you, in 1956. In 1956 the directors of the Soviet plants started immediately after Stalin to look whether they could be independent, to use these enterprises [in which] they were directors for their own purposes. That's why the transformation of '91 was so smooth, because they liked it; they simply got the enterprises [given] to them. They got them from the party, [and] they became the managers or directors. Then the team came, and said, "Do what you want," not [demanding] changes, no changing the people there, no procedures, nothing. So that's why it was so painful. The loans-for-shares, that was a continuation, the next step of the same process.
INTERVIEWER: We interviewed [Vladimir] Potanin about loans-for-shares, and he described great battles he had with Anatoli Filatov, who ran Norilsk Nickel. He presents himself as somebody who brought efficiency and reform in the face of the disaster that had been brought on by the Red Directors.
GRIGORY YAVLINSKY: Listen, this is a different story. The businesspeople who were using [those] procedures from the side of the business, this is not a subject for our discussion. Business in every country takes the behavior which is formulated from the state. If you're giving them such rules of the game, they are going to move this way. If you make loans-for-shares in the United States tomorrow, 99 percent of the businesspeople there would use that. Business is people who are playing the game which the state is offering them. It's a question of ... whether the state is giving them a game which would make profit to all society, or [if] it would formulate the rules of the game in such a way that they would be perpendicular to the interest of the whole society. That's why the oligarchs are so dangerous. They want to have in one hand the state and the property and the media, and they're establishing the rules of the games which are only for that circle. The state is not representing the society. That's why we have no small businesses; that's why we have no small and middle[-sized owners of] private property; that's why we have no competition; that's why we have no private property rights yet, even.
So it's not a question of Potanin -- Potanin was using the rules of the game. Potanin is not a priest. He must not say that it's wrong to Mr. Chubais when he is doing that. He's a politician. He's not from the Russian Orthodox Church; he's not a Catholic, and not a Jew. He has to come and say: "What are the rules? I'm going to play by these rules, or I'm going to leave the business." So some people took the rules of this game and started playing by them. But the key issue which came from Chubais was [that] there is no difference. It is not important where you are taking the money. It is important to have money and to have property. The sources are not important, but that's a Bolshevik approach, which is saying the goals are important and the means are not. The goals are justifying the means. That's how the Bolsheviks made the revolution in Russia, and that is why it is disaster. When you are using the formula that the goals are justifying the means, you are destroying the goals. That's what happened.
INTERVIEWER: Considering everything that you just said, what do you think, looking to the future, the nature of capitalism in Russia will be? And why has it been so different from the experience of Eastern Europe?
GRIGORY YAVLINSKY: I will start with the economics side of this, and then I will come to the political. The economic side of this shows that there are two different types of countries. One type of country is like South Korea or Poland or the Czech Republic, which rely mainly on their economic development and their working force, on incentives, on people, on interest and so on. In such countries, macroeconomic policies are extremely important and fruitful and have success. But there are different types of countries, like Russia, which relies on its natural resources. When you have unlimited resources, the first thing you should do if you want to have a market economy is institutional change: demonopolization, private property rights, competition, legal system, and human rights. Until Russians understand that private property rights is a part of human rights, you can't create anything reasonable. In Europe, a lot of politicians forget already that their success started the day when the state put human rights in the middle of its policy, together with private property rights as a major part of human rights. That's what Russia doesn't understand. That's what Russia doesn't care [about]. So institutional changes in a very broad sense, in things like production sharing law, for example. It also includes partly the legal system and understanding of the rights of the shareholders and so on and so forth. Every step goes through that, every step.
And the macroeconomic policy must support this institutional change. One concrete example of how that works: We badly need land reform. Without private property on land -- which was in Poland from the very beginning, which never was stopped in Poland -- the need of private property on land and land reform can be easily undermined by macroeconomic policies if the people are angry that they have no salaries, that they are not paid, and you would never be able to make these changes in the country. So the logic of Russian reform must be for land reform, for private property, for demonopolization. The macroeconomic policy must serve these purposes, because we need one more stage than Poland -- one preface stage, one more preparational stage than Poland. After this major institutional change we will be much more prepared for market economic policies. That's why I was saying privatization first and then, together with it -- together, not after, but at the same time -- price liberalization and things like that. This is a key for the Russian economy. Middle-sized, small businesses, demonopolization, private property on land, legal system, judicial system. It's also institutional change -- private property rights and protecting human rights, and understanding that human rights is in the middle of any kind of policy in the country. This is the beginning of reform.
That was chapter number one in the 500-day plan. Until today, no one president of Russia said -- not Yeltsin, not Putin said, never -- that private property would be protected by all means. Never, never, did they say that all people who have been in prison since Soviet times for private initiative must be released. They never said that. Maybe they released them already -- I don't know the details. But they never made it as a political statement, in order to give the people the possibility [of engaging in that] activity. So that is the economic side. Also, not so long ago, Putin sent a new draft of the law to the Duma [the lower chamber of Russian Parliament] to make the Central Bank part of the government. That's not even a step back, but a jump back. They still don't understand how that works, and they still want to concentrate everything in a new power.
Now the political side for capitalism in Russia. For sure, capitalism is a future for Russia, but capitalism which is limited by all these institutional issues, national traditions, national culture, [much] as you see it in Japan or as you see it in every other country. But mainly, Lenin is still in the Red Square, we have a Communist Party, which Putin thinks and believes -- and he's said it many times -- is the most important party in the country, which in its offices has the portraits of Stalin and Lenin still. The nation didn't overcome its past yet, so we are not even at the end of the end. We are still in the agony of the end. We have seen a lot of good signs, but it's not the end of the end. We need much more time. | 2019-04-24T17:04:57Z | http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/shared/minitext/int_grigoriiyavlinsky.html |
And so it is, that Church of God ministers often play games with simple words; a notorious example is usage of the words, �ye,� �you,� or �your,� in Leviticus 23.
The entire chapter of Leviticus 23 was spoken by the Eternal to Moses, verse 1.� It is the only place in the Bible that, in one chapter, gives the Sabbath and all the Holy Days together, and when and how to keep these important sacred appointments.
The seventh day is the Sabbath, �ye shall do no work therein; it is the Sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings,� verse 3.� In this verse, who is the �ye� and �your�?� Is it only Moses and the leadership of Israel?� No, it is everyone, all the children of Israel.� All followers of the Eternal are to keep the Sabbath holy.
Referring to the Feast of Unleavened Bread, verse 6 says, �seven days ye must eat unleavened bread.�� And on the first day of Unleavened Bread, �ye shall do no servile work therein,� verse 7.� Are Moses and the elders the only ones that must eat unleavened bread and rest on the Holy Day?� No!� All Israel must do so.
Likewise, on Trumpets �Ye shall do no servile work,� verse 25; on Atonement, �ye shall afflict your souls,� verse 27; on the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles and Last Great day, �ye shall do no servile work therein,� verse 35, and �ye shall do no servile work therein,� verse 36.� So far, so good.� Nobody has a problem understanding these verses.� �Ye,� �you,� and �your,� refer to all of us.
In King James English, �Ye� is the sub�ject of a verb, �you� is the object of a verb.
Modern English replaces all the �thee�s� and �thou�s� with �you�s,� not distinguishing between singular and plural, or nominative or objective.� The chart at the end of this article shows that the English spoken at the time of the King James translation was more precise, and helps us understand the Bible better.
But, like Tonto, certain Bible expositors switch sides when it comes to other uses of these pronouns in Leviticus 23.
Verse 4 says, �These are the feasts of the Lord, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons.�� Now, surely, here is a difference, some maintain.� Only the ministry, it is claimed, can proclaim when the Holy Days and Feasts are to be kept.� However, even if their argument is correct, the ministry cannot proclaim days to be holy that the Almighty has not already proclaimed to be holy (cf. Matthew 16:19).� Minister �X� may proclaim one day holy, and Minister �Y� may proclaim another day holy.� Others, of the independent variety, claim that �ye shall proclaim in their seasons� means that the brethren are to observe the New Moons for themselves, and determine the Sacred Calen�dar for themselves when the Holy Days occur.� Both extremes are wrong.� If the brethren can decide for themselves when to observe the Holy Days, then you would likewise have chaos and lack of uniformity.
What exactly does �ye shall proclaim in their seasons� mean?� Verse 2 helps, �Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the Lord, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts.�� Since verse 3 refers to the weekly Sabbath, and verses 4-43 refer to the annual Holy Days, we see that the Sabbath is also a feast of the Lord.� Now certainly, neither the ministry nor the laity can deter�mine when to observe the Sabbath, can they?� It is the seventh day of the week, period.
The Hebrew word for �proclaim� is Strong�s #7121, qara, which means call upon, (Psalm 99:6), preach (Nehemiah 6:7), read (Joshua 8:34-35; Nehemiah 8:3, 8, 18), pub�lish (Deuteronomy 32:3), proclaim (Jer�e��mi�ah 36:6, 9), cry out (Joel 1:19, Zechariah 7:13).� The word, �Karaite,� comes from the Hebrew word qara.� We see that to proclaim the feasts in their seasons has to do with preaching, proclaiming, reading, publish�ing, and crying out to God on the feasts.� By doing this, we �proclaim� the feasts of the Eternal.� In the New Testament, we are told that when we observe the Christian Passover Memorial, �For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord�s death till He come,� I Corinthians 11:26.� The NKJV renders it, �you proclaim the Lord�s death till He comes.�� By putting them to practice, by teaching others about them, we proclaim the Eternal�s Feasts!� Every one of us has respon�sibility to proclaim as holy convocations the divine appointments of the Almighty.
Next, in relation to the Feast of Weeks, called Pentecost, �And ye shall count unto you . . .� shall ye number fifty days,� Leviti�cus 23:15-16.� Here again, some inebriated with their own supposed authority, say that the �ye�s� and �you�s� here refer to the authority of the Church hierarchical ministry to count the days toward Pentecost.� Not so!� Even as the individual Israelite brought his or her wave sheaf offering, �from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering,� verse 15, so the individual Israelite was to count the days, fifty of them, towards Pentecost.� There is great meaning in counting the days toward Pentecost.
The Karaite Samuel Al-Magribi said, �The counting should be done aloud by each member of the community, since it is written, And ye shall count (Leviticus 23:15), and again in the next verse: shall ye number, both in the plural.� Possibly this was intended by God to serve as an emphasis of the great importance of this ordinance, and also as an assurance of general knowledge of the correct count� (Karaite Anthology, p. 219).
Verses 10-11, deal a deathblow to a com�mon�ly held, false theory in the Church of God today.� �Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest:� and he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it.�� Isn�t this perfectly plain?� The individual children of Israel were to bring a sheaf of their (not someone else�s) harvest to be waved by the priest, and be accepted for them by the Lord.� Then, why is it that all the major Church of God organizations descended from the Worldwide Church of God, believe that Josh�ua 5:10-12 authorizes moving wave sheaf day (and hence, Pentecost) a whole week too early on those years that Passover (Abib 14) falls on a weekly Sabbath?� There is no mention of a wave sheaf day in Joshua 5.� There could not have been a wave sheaf at that time, because the Israelites had not planted and harvested any crops, having just crossed the Jordan River into the Promised Land.� Remember the �you� and �your� in Leviticus 23:10-11.� In every case in Leviticus 23, �you� refers to the individual Israelites, not someone else.� Bring a sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest, they were told.� Do you think the Almighty would accept a sheaf of someone else�s harvest?� We are to observe �the feast of harvest [Pentecost], the first fruits of thy labours, which thou has sown in the field . . .� Exodus 23:16.
When Israel entered the Promised Land, God gave them land for which they did not labor, Joshua 24:13.� It was years after the conquest of Canaan, before the Israelites were able to offer a wave sheaf.
Finally, some object to our understanding of Leviticus 23 because there is constant reference to sacrificial offerings that �ye� shall offer, verses 8, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19, 25, 27, 36, and 37.� Surely, some argue, the individual Israelite family could not afford to offer all these animal sacrifices out of their own flocks and herds.� However, what is good for the Lone Ranger is good for Tonto.� Referring to the Day of Atonement fast, verse 27 says, �ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord.�� If there only needs to be one representative offering for all Israel, then only one individual, perhaps the High Priest, needs to afflict his soul by fasting.� Can you see the perverseness of the commonly used arguments against the Truth of God?
The Jews, both Pharisees and Sadducees, did not properly read, qara, the Scriptures.� They took it upon themselves to offer one representative wave sheaf offer�ing for all Israel.� Not only that, they gathered up harvesting instruments and marched out to the selected field on the Sabbath, so that they would cut the wave sheaf at sundown at the beginning of the morrow after the Sabbath.� How could they dare gather sickles for harvesting on the Sabbath, and proceed to a field to work?
According to Alfred Edersheim (The Temple, pp. 258-259), as the sun was going down, three selected men, each with a sickle and basket, formally went to work.� First, they were asked by bystanders three times each of these questions, �Has the sun gone down?�� �With this sickle?�� �Into this basket?�� �On this Sabbath?� �Shall I reap?�� Having each time answered in the affirmative, they cut down barley to the amount of one ephah (ten omers) which Edersheim says is twenty-four quarts and a pint.� The barley was taken to the Court of the Temple, where it was parched and offered with oil on the morning of the next day as the wave sheaf offering.� This unauthorized ceremony does not resemble the Word of God.
The Bible says nothing about when the wave sheaf was to be cut.� It does say when the wave sheaf is to be offered: the morrow after the Sabbath.� The wave sheaf could have been cut before Passover at the individual Israelite�s home farm, so he could bring it to the priest in Jerusalem at the Festival.� The Bible does say that �you,� each individual Israelite, was to reap and bring a sheaf from his own harvest.� Any farmer knows that you do not begin a harvest at sundown.
After the wave sheaf offering, Israelites could eat of the new barley harvest, �And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears, until the selfsame day that ye have brought an offering unto your God: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings,� verse 14.� What do you mean, �you�?� Certainly, �you� means every Israelite!
Will we read the Bible correctly, or devise our own ideas, as the Jews did?
The Karaites, a group of renegade Jews who disagreed with the majority of Jews during the Middle Ages, take their name from the Hebrew word qara, �to read, proclaim, preach, publish, call upon, cry out.�� Karaites claimed to be better scholars than the Rabbinates (descendants of the Pharisees).� However, they agreed in many respects with the Rabbinates.� Karaites claimed to reject the Jewish Talmud, yet nevertheless established traditions of their own.� Like the Pharisees or Sadducees, Karaites count seven weeks, not fifty days, to Pentecost, observe Passover on the beginning of the fifteenth day of the first month, Pentecost always on Sunday, believe there are eighteen (rather than nineteen) holidays of Scripture, and have many similarities to commonly accepted, false, Jew�ish beliefs.� Although their name means, �to read,� Karaites don�t read Scripture very well.� The Bible says to count fifty days toward Pentecost; Passover is on the beginning of the fourteenth; there are nineteen annual Biblical holi�days (Passover + seven Days of Unleavened Bread + Pentecost + Trumpets + Atonement + seven days of Tabernacles + Last Great Day = nineteen days).
The sun and moon move in a nineteen-year cycle; every nineteen years, they come back in the same alignment.� Contrary to Karaites and other rejecters of the calculated Hebrew Calendar, the Greek Meton did not �invent� the nineteen-year time cycle.� A recent article by Carl Franklin and Dwight Blevins, �Historical Evidence of a 19-Year Intercalation Cycle,� proves that the nineteen-year time cycle was understood, and incorpor�at�ed, in calendars thousands of years B.C.
Bullinger, in his book, Number in Scripture, says that nineteen �is a combina�tion of ten and nine, and would denote the perfection of Divine order connected with judgment . . .� p. 262.
In 1974, the Worldwide Church of God borrowed a major teaching from the Karaites.� Samuel ben Moses al-Magribi, a Karaite physician of Cairo, Egypt, in 1434 completed his code of Karaite law, which he wrote in Arabic and entitled al-Mursid (The Guide).� His and other Karaite writings are included in the book, Karaite Anthology, translated and edited by Leon Nemoy, Yale Judaica Series, 1952, 1980, New Haven, Connecticut.� In his section on Pentecost, al-Magribi claims, without proof, that the morrow after the Sabbath, wave sheaf day, must be part of the seven days of unleavened bread.� To �prove� his point, al-Magribi uses Joshua 5:11, �And they ate of the produce of the land, on the morrow after the Passover, unleavened bread and parched grain, on the selfsame day.�� Al-Magribi says, �it follows that in that year the Feast of Passover [sic, fifteenth] fell on a Sunday and that on that day they also made the offering of the sheaf and ate the unleav�ened bread and the parched grain� (Karaite Anthology, p. 217).� In 1974, the Worldwide Church of God used the Karaite argument to move Pentecost a week too soon in those years when Nisan 15 falls on a Sunday.
Although claiming to believe in the literal interpretation of Scripture, Karaite teaching belies their claim to a literal reading of Scripture.� One of the first famous Karaites, eighth century Anan Ben David (said to be the founder of the Karaites), found that the only birds used for burnt offerings were turtledoves and pigeons.� Therefore, Ben David claims, this �proves that the only clean birds are turtle�doves and pigeons,� (Karaite Anthology, p. 17).� While Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14 do not list any clean birds, they list twenty or more unclean birds, and say, �of all clean fowls ye may eat.�� If the Eternal had intended us to eat only two birds, turtledoves and pigeons, He could have avoided wasting His time listing unclean birds, by just listing the two clean birds.
When one reads Karaite literature, it is easy to detect an attitude problem.� Karaites claim to be �holier than thou,� more scriptural than the Rabbinates.� Twisted Karaite logic seemed to justify their departure from the majority camp of Jewish thought, but general�ly it does not hold water.� Nowhere is this more evident than in the dispute between Karaites and Rabbinates over the Sacred Calendar.� Karaites generally argued against the Hebrew calculated calendar, and were easily refuted by the Rabbinates.
The attitude problem shows up in the writings of the Karaite Jacob al-Kirkisani, who, referring to the involved problem of the calendar and the calculation and determina�tion of the dates of festivals, is said to have advised his followers to follow the Rabbin�ates, because, as he cynically phrased it, �all coins are clipped anyway, so you might as well use the counter�feit that is at hand,� (Karaite Anthology, p. 335).
Jacob taught that the Day of Atonement always had to be on a weekly Sabbath.� Some Karaites ob�served both Saturday and Sunday as days of rest, p. 335.� Karaite emphasis on observing the New Moon for themselves regardless of calcula�tion, appears to follow their friends and allies, the Muslims, whose calendar is strictly lunar.
The calendric controversy between Rab�binates and Karaites came to a head in the last part of the eighth century A.D. The Karaites asserted that the appearance of the new crescent alone determined the beginning of the months, and that this had been Israel�s practice at all times.
The famous Jewish scholar, Saadia Gaon, refuted this, saying that the fixed calendar, computation of molad and tekufah is a Mosaic-Sinaitic law that had been followed at all ages of the past, while observation of the new crescent was merely a passing episode introduced by the Sadducees to show the correctness of calendric calculation.
Mai�moni��des shows that in the Mishnah, or Oral Law, visual observation of the new crescent and its computation by true astronomical values were prescribed to supplement each other in the regulation of the calendar during the period of the Sanhedrin. Moses and Aaron were shown by God at Sinai the crescent of Nisan, Exodus 12:1-2, and the rules of calculation. Thus, the calculation rules were based upon what would be visible.
An excellent book which thoroughly covers the calendar controversy is Karaites in Byzant�ium, The Formative Years, 970-1100, by Zvi Ankori. AMS Press: New York, 1968.
Karaites are a tiny Jewish sect; some 30,000 exist in Israel today.� Webster�s Una�bridged Dictionary defines them as a sect originating in Baghdad in the eighth century, that rejects rabbinism and talmudism and bases its tenets on interpretations of the Scriptures.
Karaites flourished during the Byzantine Empire, 970-1100 A.D. Anan ben David led the Karaite anti-Rabbinate rebellion. His �Book of Precepts� is a �Talmud of his own.� His widely heralded fundamentalism and exclusive reliance on the written letter of the Law is largely a misnomer. He read into the Bible the customs and practices he already observed. The Dead Sea Scrolls people, the Essenes, seem to have a close affinity with later Karaites.
Karaites refused to light Sabbath candles Friday night, saying it was a violation of Exodus 20:10. Contrast the cheerful illumina�tion in Rabbinate Jewish homes with the gloomy darkness in Karaite houses. Because the Jews had been exiled from Palestine, Karaites rejected the Jewish (and Biblical) concept of oneg shabbat (Sabbath delight).
Karaites consistently pressed for the actual observation of the New Moon and for up-to-date reports of the state of new crops (abib) in Palestine as the only admissible evidence for determining Rosh-Hodesh (New Moon) and the leap year, respectively. Accordingly, they often celebrated the festivals on dates other than their Rabbinate neighbors, who had a pre-calculated calendar.
A third point of contention between Kara�ite and Rabbinate Jews was the interpretation of Leviticus 23:15, �the morrow after the Sabbath.� Karaites said that seven weeks had to be counted for Pentecost, and they kept the Festival of Weeks on a Sunday. On the other hand, the Rabbinates held to a fixed date, Sivan 6, for Pentecost (Feast of Weeks). The Karaites� reasoning was similar to the old Sadducees, and also that of Byzantine Greek Orthodox Catholics.� Karaites differed from Sadducees in that the latter did not consider Nisan 15 to be Wave Sheaf Sunday when Passover falls on the weekly Sabbath.
Other unique beliefs of the Karaites were: (1) they demanded even their children fast on the Day of Atonement, (2) ordered their months from Nisan rather than Tishri, (3) distinguished between Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, (4) called Tishri 1 the �Feast of Trumpets� rather than Rosh Ha-Shanah, (5) did not observe Hanukkah since it was post-Biblical, (6) observed the Jubilee Year, (7) called calendar calculations the same as witchcraft, (8) thought the lulab and ethrog materials were to build the sukkah rather than to wave, (9) allowed the eating of fowl meat with milk.
In spite of other differences, the main point of contention between the Karaites and Rabbinates was conflict over the calendar.
�The history of any [Jewish] religious sect . . . is to a great extent a history of its calendar deviations. For such deviations have always been the most outstanding symptoms of the sect�s break with its normative environment or with the general body to which its mem�bers adhered originally. Of course, differences of calendar are hardly the reason for seces�sion; rather they seal the separatist trend and constitute the group�s final declara�tion of self-determination and indepen�dence . . . . [calen�dar controversies] became active in�gred�ients in the evermore pro�nounced process of estrangement of the two factions, and widen almost irreparably the social rift be�tween the opposing camps (page 293).�� In other words, the real reason for the Karaites splitting with the Rabbinates, and for the many splits in the Churches of God today, is not the calendar, but a desire for indepen�dence.
Karaites so avidly favored an observable calendar that they would not marry another Jew without having in the marriage contract the freedom to observe their Holy Days.
Although few today have heard of Karaites, their position has a following by some Messianic believing Holy Day keepers. Relating the arguments from 1000 A.D. sounds much like the calendar arguments we are hearing in our day.
Rabbinates followed the molad (the pre-calculated birth of the New Moon) and they did not search for the abib (ripened barley) near the vernal (spring) equinox. Babylonian Karaites did not search for the abib, but followed computation of the vernal equinox alone, stipulating conditions different than the Rabbinates. The Palestinian-oriented Karaites observed the abib alone, and did not investi�gate the position of the sun (equinox). Karaites in the Byzantine Empire followed the Palestinian reckoning for several hundred years (pages 303-304).
Byzantine Karaites felt they needed written confirmation from Jerusalem as to the status of the barley each spring. They had misgivings as to the correctness of their calendar ideas and thus the Rabbinates would taunt the Karaites for their confusion. Karaites would follow the Rabbinate way of calculation, unless changed by a report from Jerusalem. Sometimes the barley ripened early and the Karaites� Nisan would equal the Rabbinates� Adar (12th month). More fre�quently, the barley ripened later, so the Karaite�s Nisan was equal to the Rabbinates� Iyar (2nd month), resulting in Karaite Holy Days being a month later.
Karaites and Rabbinates lived in close proximity. Because their Holy Days often differed, feuds developed. At one time, Kara�ites filed government charges against the Rabbinate factions, resulting in a heavy tax on the Rabbinates. Tensions became so bad that a wall may have been constructed in Constan�tin�ople between the Karaite and Rabbinate communities.
In 1099, the Crusaders destroyed the Karaite center in Jerusalem. It became more difficult to obtain information on the state of the crops there. Eventually in the thirteenth century, the Karaites in Byzantium aban�doned the attempt to observe the abib and gave in to the Rabbinate pre-calculated nineteen-year cycle of intercalation. Those around Palestine contin�ued to observe the barley.
Another major issue was lunar observa�tion to determine the first day of each month. As the Byzantine Karaites gave in to the Rabbinate method of intercalation, lunar observation became the leading factor for continuing divisiveness between the two groups. Passover and Trumpets were often observed one day differently.
Rabbinates argued that the pre-calculated postponement rules have always been binding since the time of Adam. Leviticus 23:2 does not say we are to individually observe the seasons, but they are proclaimed, sanctified by court decision (kiddush beth din).
The second reason given by the Rabbinates was the issue of unity. Without an official standard, confusing factions would divide God�s people.� Rabbinates teased the Karaites: �What about observing the moon when the sky is cloudy?� There was confu�sion in the Karaite community because equally �pious� and �re�lia�ble� observers in different localities saw the new moon on different days, making them �the laughing�stock of the whole Jewish com�mun�ity.� This confusion �was helplessly admitted by the Karaite scholars themselves,� (page 352).
Besides division among themselves, Karaites fought against two other Jewish minority sects: the Tiflisites of Armenia and the Mishaivites. Tiflisites kept Pentecost on a Sunday, but used a different calendar than the Karaites. The Mishaivites also differed with the Karaites and Rabbinates over the calendar. Their calendar was strictly a solar one of 364 days. It ensured that yearly fasts and feasts fell on fixed days in the week, rather than on fixed days of the month, the way a lunar calendar would have it. Their Day of Atonement always fell on a Sabbath, Passover on a Thursday, Pentecost on a Sunday seven weeks after the first Sunday after Passover. Mishaivites rejected the Karaite and Samari�tan custom of beginning the Pentecost count on the Sunday within Passover week, and insisted it must start on the Sunday after Passover week, the position advocated by the apocryphal Book of Jubilees and the Qumran sect. Mishaivites also began their days in the morning rather than in the evening.
The purpose of giving the above historical tidbits is to show that calendar controversy has long been an issue among those striving to observe the Holy Days and New Moons of the Bible. True to human nature, �there is nothing new under the sun.� Arguments by modern day �Karaites� and other sects closely parallel their historical counterparts whether they are aware of their predecessors or not. As Zvi Ankori states, calendar differences were: �crucial in the sect-forming process of all times: calendar independence heralded a sect�s self-determination and final separation from the Mother Institution,� (page 377).� This is as true today as it was in A.D. 1000.
Any group which espouses belief in the Bible has some things right.� Karaites rejected� much of the Talmud and Jewish tradition, which often contradicts the Bible.� It is good to try to let the Bible interpret itself and not follow man-made customs.
Karaite belief is synonymous with an�archy.� They are disinclined to recog�nize the permanent authority of any religious leader, insisting on the freedom of each individual to interpret the Bible in the light of his own understanding and judgment.� This results in the anarchy of individual interpretation of the Bible (Nemoy, p. xvi).� �Every man did that which was right in his own eyes,� Judges 21:25.� This is not a good thing.
What Do You Mean �You�?
We have defined �What do you mean, �you�?� in Leviticus 23.� �You� is all of us �not any single one of us.� You do not have the authority to individually determine when the Sabbaths and Holy Days occur.� You do have the obligation to keep them, to proclaim them, in their seasons, along with every one of the congregation of the Almighty.
As on the Day of Pentecost, �And ye shall proclaim on the selfsame day, that it may be an holy convoca�tion unto you: ye shall do no servile work therein: it shall be a statute for ever in all your dwellings [plural] throughout your genera�tions [plural],� verse 21.� As on the Day of Pentecost in A.D. 31, �they were all with one accord in one place,� Acts 2:1.
Don�t be a modern Karaite!� See the series of Sacred Calendar articles in our book, Biblical Holy Days, online at www.giveshare.org/HolyDay, or in printed form for $20 plus $2 postage, from Giving & Sharing, PO Box 100, Neck City, MO 64849.
�Thou shalt not commit adul�tery,� Exodus 20:14.
�Praise ye the Lord,� Psalm 150:1.
�And I will give unto thee [Peter] the keys of the king�dom of Heaven,� Mat�thew 16:19.
�. . . an holy convocation unto you . . .� Leviticus 23:27.
�Thy word is Truth,� John 17:17.
�. . . from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your Sab�bath� Leviticus 23:32.
�For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen,� Matthew 6:13.
�. . . for the battle is not yours, but God�s,� II Chron�icles 20:15.
Note:� The singular words above begin with a �T�; those beginning with a �Y� are plural.
Modern English uses �you,� �your,� and �yours� exclusively, thus making it impossible to distinguish about what you are talking.
Knowing the difference between �thou� and �ye,� etc., may help open up many new avenues of Bible study.� Notice, that when God gave the Ten Commandments, He spoke them face to face to each Israelite, using the singular form, Deuteronomy 5:4, 6-22.� So, the Eternal used �thou� and not �ye,� Exodus 20:1-18.� This is highly significant.� Whereas the Sabbath and Holy Days of Leviticus 23 are addressed to �ye,� plural, the entire congregation of Israel as a group, the Ten Commandments are addressed to �thou,� singular, each individual Israelite. | 2019-04-18T23:13:00Z | http://www.giveshare.org/BibleStudy/208.whatdoyoumeanyou.html |
The 2014 IAAF Continental Cup ended on a high for Team Africa despite finishing third in the final standings of the competition, which came to a close on Sunday at the Le Grande Stade in Marrakech, Morocco.
The four continents which featured in the two-day meeting were Asia-Pacific, the Americas, Europe and hosts, Africa. The Europeans led by a mile, amassing 447.5 points overall while the Americas followed in second place with 390.0 points. Africa was third with 339.0 while the Asian-Pacific team settled for fourth with a total of 257.5points.
Some of the major highlights of the event include the men and women’s 100m races which provided some excitement even in the absence of the continent’s top two female athletes in the event, Blessing Okagbare and Murielle Ahouré. Veronica Campbell-Brown was in awesome form as she blew away the rest of the field in the women’s 100m, taking the title with a time of 11.08s, after her Diamond League triumph two weeks ago in Zurich.
Team mate and world No.2, Michelle Lee-Ahye who recently returned from a brief hiatus owing to injury took second with 11.25s while European double sprint champion, Dafne Schippers placed third in 11.26s. Team Africa’s Marie-Josee Ta Lou of Cote d’Ivoire and Gloria Asumnu were fourth and sixth respectively in 11.28s and 11.37s.
The men’s 100m was an explosive race with the spoils being shared among European champion, James Dasaolu (10.03s), Mike Rodgers (10.04s) and Nigerian born Qatari sprinter Femi Ogunode who posted a Personal Best (PB) of 10.04s. Nigeria and Team Africa’s Mark Jelks took fourth with 10.12s while teammate and the continent’s fastest man, Hua Wilfried Koffi was unable to replicate the form that saw him scoop the sprint double a month ago, finishing a distant seventh 10.22s.
The Americas led the 4x100m relays as Campbell-Brown anchored the female team to a top place with a time of 42.44s, while the African team comprising of Gloria Asumnu, Dominique Duncan, Ta Lou and Justine Palframan was disqualified. It was the same story in the men’s event as the team comprising of Kim Collins, Nesta Carter, Michael Rodgers and Richard Thompson took the race with a scorching PB of 37.97s. The African team, which was made up of the Nigerian quartet of Jelks, Obinna Metu, Edward Monzavous and Ogho-Oghene Egwero, clocked 39.10s to take third.
Schippers coasted to victory in the women’s 200m in 22.28s, Ta Lou placed fifth with a PB of 22.78s while Duncan finished seventh with 23.63s, same position as Koffi in the men’s event. The Americas pair of Alonso Edward and Rasheed Dwyer clocked 19.98s in the men’s race, making it the second time ever at this competition that two men have gone sub-20 in the event. Ogunode picked another bronze in the event.
The men’s triple jump event ended with a PB for winner, Benjamin Compaore (17.48m) and National Record (NR) for Mokoena (17.35m). Nigeria’s Tosin Oke narrowly missed out on a place on the podium with a fourth place finish, posting a jump of 16.89m. African and Commonwealth champion, Ese Brume had to settle for fifth position in the women’s long jump event with a leap of 6.34m. Europe’s Éloyse Lesueur won the event with 6.66m as world No.1, Tianna Bartoletta was relegated to third position with 6.45m.
Stephen Mozia secured seventh position in the men’s discus throw with a distance of 57.31m in the event was won by Europe’s Gerd Kanter in 64.46m, while Chinwe Okoro finished sixth with a throw of 16.35m in the women’s shot put event. She took seventh position a day earlier in the discus event, recording a throw of 52.30m. African 110 hurdles champion, Tyrone Akins ran a Season’s Best (SB) of 13.48s to place fifth in his event while teammate, Juan De Vries finished in eighth position. Sergey Shubenkov (13.23s), Ronnie Ash (13.25s) and William Sharman (13.25s) emerged the top three in the event.
Nigerian champion, Folashade Abugan finished sixth in the 400m but Zambia’s Kabange Mupopo was faster, securing the fourth position with a PB and NF of 50.87s, which was a remarkable feat achieved by the footballer turned sprinter. Mupopo is certainly one to watch out for in the near future!
Despite the European invasion, there were flashes of brilliance from some of Team Africa’s representatives. First on the list is Cornel Fredericks outstanding performance in the men’s 400m hurdles on Day 1 of the competition. There was no slowing down the African and Commonwealth champion who raced to his third international title in 2014 in 48.34s, relegating the likes of Javier Culson to third position. His fellow African partner, Chris Morton placed fifth in 49.65s.
Another spectacular performance was the 1-2 finish in the men’s 800m as Botswana’s Nijel Amos and Mohammed Aman outpaced their rivals to win the men’s 800m. Amos, the African and Commonwealth champion took the event in 1:44.88s, while his Ethiopian counterpart followed with 1:45.34s.
Makwala was impressive in the 400m, following world No.2, Lashawn Merritt closely with 44.84s. The American and Diamond League winner took the race in 44.60s. More outstanding though was the Batswana’s feat in the 4x400m as his second leg run turned out to be the defining moment of the race, as he took over the lead from the Americas. Third and anchor leg runners, Saviour Kombe and Van Niekerk consolidated on his performance to gift the hosts a befitting gold medal in the final event of the competition with a PB of 3:00.02s. The Europeans (3:00.10s) followed while the Americas and Asian-Pacific teams placed third and fourth respectively in 3:02.78s and 3:03.77s.
In the women’s category, the Jamaican led team raced to first position with a world of 3:20.93s, followed by Europe(3:24.12s) while the African team comprising of Mupopo, Abugan, Patience Okon George and Ada Benjamin posted a PB of 3:25.51s to place third.
Other Africans who won their events include Egypt’s Ihab Abdelrahman El Sayed in the javelin throw (85.44m), Isiah Kiplangat Koech in the men’s 5000m (13:26.86s), Eunice Sum in the women’s 800m (1:58.21s), Genzebe Dibaba in the women’s 3000m (8:57.53s) and Jairus Kipchoge Birech in the 3000m steeplechase men (8:13.18).
Nigeria’s GOLD winning team in the men’s 4x100m relay at the 2014 African Senior Championships in Marrakech are the sole bearers of Team Africa’s hopes in the event at the IAAF Continental Cup holding in Morocco this weekend.
This season has been a long one for the team which participated first at the IAAF World Relays in May without a medal, and then the Commonwealth Games where they ran alongside world leaders, Jamaica in the heats and final. National 100m champion, Mark Jelks anchored the team to second position in the heats, just behind Jamaica which had the world’s fastest man, Usain Bolt in action. They eventually finished a sixth in a final which was won by the Jamaicans in a scorching 37.58s.
It was an entirely different story at the African Championships as the Nigerian quartet comprising of Ogho-Oghene Egwero (No. 90 in the world this season with 10.18s), Monzavous Edwards (No. 78), Obinna Metu (No. 173 with 10.28s) and Jelks (No. 35) who was the anchor once again, dominated the event by clocking a Season’s Best (SB) of 38.80s ahead of Ghana (39.28s) and the Algerian team which sprinted to a National Record (NR) of 39.89s.
Jelks and Edwards finished second and third respectively in the men’s 100m with SBs of 10.07s and 10.16s respectively, while the title was won by Cote d’Ivoire’s Hua Wilfried Koffi with an NR and Personal Best (PB) of 10.05s. However the 4x100m team would be without the services of Koffi who will focus on the sprint double at the forthcoming event. The Nigerian team is 34th on the 2014 IAAF 4x100m Relay rankings.
The Americas team comes with an intimidating CV, having the likes of Richard Thompson (No. 2 with 9.82s), Michael Rodgers (No. 4 with 9.91s), Jamaica’s Nesta Carter (No. 8 with 9.96s) and veteran Kim Collins (No. 8 with 9.96s). All four athletes have done a sub-10 this season and are certainly the team to beat – it will be interesting to see how they do with their baton exchanges, given that the quadrennial continental cup is the only major competition that could see these sprinters of different nations competing on the same team!
European champions, Team GB, will represent the continent in Marrakech. They won the continental crown in a very strong 37.93s. It comprises of Harry Aikines-Aryeetey (No. 40 with 10.08s), James Ellington (No. 59 with 12.13s), Richard Kilty (No. 51 with 10.12s) and Danny Talbot (No. 87 in 10.17s) – they will be expected to put up a good fight for the podium as the team ranks second on the 2014 IAAF rankings behind Jamaica.
Asian champions and world No. 10 relay team Japan, with an SB of 38.34s, will be representing Team Asian-Pacific and is made up of Masaharu Mori, Masafumi Naoki, Yu Onabuta, Kazuma Oseto (No. 141 with 10.25s) and Kotaro Taniguchi. Amongst the four teams, it would seem that Team Africa are the underdogs, give them times each team has run this season, so it will be interesting to see if they can cause an upset!
The IAAF Continental Cup will be taking place in Marrakech, Morocco THIS WEEKEND (Sept 13th & 14th), and Team Nigeria will be representing Africa in the men’s 4x100m on Saturday Sept 13th at 9.55pm!
Stephen Mozia is Nigerian champion in the both the shot put and discus throws. However, he will be representing Team Africa at the IAAF Continental Cup this weekend in the discus throw only, alongside African champion, Victor Hogan of South Africa.
Mozia formally began competing for Nigeria at the World Indoors in Sopot this year, though he missed out on qualification for the final of the men’s shot put event. However, he had set a National Record (indoor) of 20.79m at the Ivy League Championships prior to the world indoors.
The Cornell University senior went on to set an NR of 20.38m at the NCAA East Preliminaries in May, and then won the shot put at his debut outing during the National Trials in Calabar with a distance of 18.14m, followed by Augustine Nwoye who had a throw of 17.25m. He also dominated the discus event with 53.69m while Nwoye followed again with 53.28m.
He competed at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow where he finished 7th with a throw of 17.76m in the qualification round, ruling him out of the final. He placed fourth in the Men’s shot put final at the African Championships in Marrakech with 17.65m, while Nwoye finished in seventh with 16.90m. South Africa’s Orazio Cremona won with 19.84m.
However he made up for this with a bronze medal in the discus with 57.11m, though his Season’s Best (SB) of 62.80m would have seen him claim silver as eventual winner, Hogan took the title with a distance of 62.87m, while team mate Russell Tucker with 62.15m. Mozia makes the selection into the African team since the top two in the event were from the same country and cannot both represent the continent.
Mozia ranks 53rd in the world this year, with Hogan being twenty spots ahead (No.33) with an SB of 64.16m. The pair would be contending against World No. 7 and 24 respectively inTeam Americas’ Jorge Fernandez (66.50m) and Jason Morgan (64.72m). Gerd Kanter of Estonia (No. 10) would be spearheading the European attack and he comes with an SB of 66.02m. His teammate is Poland’s Robert Urbanek whose effort of 65.75m puts him at No. 17 on the rankings.
Former Commonwealth champion and silver medallist at the last Continental Cup, Benn Harradine (No. 13) will be hoping to upgrade to a gold medal this time around and comes with a best performance of 65.94m. He is joined by Sultan Mubarak Al-Dawoodi (No. 132) in the Asian-Pacific team.
The IAAF Continental Cup will be taking place in Marrakech, Morocco THIS WEEKEND (Sept 13th & 14th), and Stephen Mozia will be representing Team Africa in the men’s discus throw on Sunday Sept 14th from 6.50pm!
Two years ago, the name Ese Brume barely rang a bell. The Delta State athlete has made tremendous progress since her 2012 National Sports Festival (NSF) win and has now been catapulted into international reckoning as she goes against the world’s best athletes at the forthcoming IAAF Continental Cup this weekend, where she will be representing Team Africa in the women’s long jump.
The young athlete has garnered an enviable collection of titles and records, ranging from the African junior and senior titles, record holder in the African junior event, national champion and Commonwealth gold medallist! She finished second behind Okagbare at the National Trials in 2013 and stepped up to the position of national champion this year with a Personal Best of 6.68m in Calabar.
Brume experienced a setback at the IAAF World Junior Championships in Oregon in July, where she failed to make it out of the qualifying rounds with a jump of 5.18m, despite coming to the championship as favourite for the crown. But she blew her fans away with an impressive comeback at the Commonwealth Games, leading the field with a leap of 6.56m and brushing aside threats from her more experienced rivals.She came to the African Championships in Marrakech as the favoured athlete and she didn’t disappoint as Nigeria made it a 1-2 in the event, with team mate Chinazom Amadi finishing second with 6.40m while Brume struck gold with a jump of 6.50m.
She comes to the IAAF Continental Cup with Cameroun’s Joelle Mbumi who has a Season’s Best (SB) of 6.35m, which puts her at No. 133 on the IAAF 2014 Rankings while the Nigerian is No. 25. Brume told Making of Champions that she’s excited about competing in her first Continental Cup: “I’m looking forward to doing better at the IAAF Continental Cup where I will represent the continent. My dream is to become the world’s best”, she said.
And so she will be going against the world’s best athlete in 2014 and IAAF Diamond League winner, Tianna Bartoletta of the USA (7.02m). Canadian Christabel Nettey who won bronze behind Brume in Glasgow will also compete in the Americas team. She is No. 19 in the rankings with a distance of 6.73m. Winner of the Zurich leg of the Diamond league series and world No. 3, Eloyse Lesueur (6.92m) and European Championships silver medallist, Ivana Spanovic (No. 8 with 6.88m) will be competing as well. They will be joined by the Asian-Pacific team comprising of Australia’s Margaret Gayen (No. 31 with 6.62m) and Lu Minjia (No. 41, 6.57m).
The IAAF Continental Cup will be taking place in Marrakech, Morocco THIS WEEKEND (Sept 13th & 14th), and Ese Brume will be representing Team Africa in the women’s long jump on Sunday Sept 14th from 7.40pm!
Nigerian sprinter Gloria Asumnu will represent Team Africa in the 100m at theIAAF Continental Cup in Marrakech this weekend, following the withdrawal of national, African and Commonwealth champion, Blessing Okagbare.
The competition was meant to be Okagbare’s last outing for the season, but her sixth place finish in the 200m at the second final of the IAAF Diamond League in Brussels last week was perhaps an indication that the African record holder needed to take a break after a long and eventful season, which saw her emerge as double sprint champion at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and African title holder in Marrakech.
Her place in the African team will now be taken by Asumnu, who finished second at the National Trials in Calabar in June where she clocked a Season’s Best (SB) of 11.15s. The former African 200m champion will now team up with Cote d’Ivoire’s Marie J Ta Lou Gonezie to represent the African continent in the 100m.
Asumnu represented Nigeria at the Commonwealth Games where she placed eight in the final and won silver in the 4x100m behind Jamaica. She proceeded to the African Championships where she finished fourth in the final which had three Nigerians, with a time of 11.49s, while Lawretta Ozoh placed seventh in 11.74s.
She also ran the first leg in the 4x100m race, which was won by Nigeria. However she lost her 200m crown to double silver medallist at the 2013 World Championships, Murielle Ahouré (22.36s), finishing fifth this time around, while team mate, Dominique Duncan emerged the surprise medallist, taking bronze in 22.98s.
Asumnu’s SB puts her 36th in 2014 world rankings, and incidentally ranks higher than Ta Lou Gonezie who has posted 11.20s as her fastest time this season, and is 43rd on the list. They will be facing Michelle-Lee Ahye and Veronica Campbell-Brown who will be representing the Americas. Ahye has the second fastest time in 2014 (10.85s), while Campbell-Brown is No.4 with 10.86s.
They would also have to be wary of the threat the European pair of Dafne Schippers and Myriam Soumaré pose, as they jointly occupy the 13th spot in the rankings with 11.03s and would be aiming to go under 11s for the first time. Asia-Pacific’s Melissa Breen (24th with 11.11s) and Olga Safronova (54th with 11.23s) complete the field.
The IAAF Continental Cup will be taking place in Marrakech, Morocco THIS WEEKEND (Sept 13th & 14th), and Gloria Asumnu will be representing Team Africa in the women’s 100m on Saturday Sept 13th at 8.40pm.
Chinwe Okoro set to represent Team Africa in discus and shot put @ Continental Cup!
National discus champion, Chinwe Okoro, who won the African title last month with a Personal Best (PB) and Championship Record (CR) of 59.79m, will represent Team Africa at the IAAF Continental Cup in Marrakech in both the discus and shot put, after also getting an African Championship medal in the latter – a Silver.
It was a 1-2 for Nigeria at the discus event at the Africa Championships, as teammate Nwanneka Okwelogu followed with 51.66m, but Morocco’s Amina Elmoudeen, who placed 3rd with a throw of 48.21m will be Okoro’s teammate at the Continental Cup on September 13 and 14, as two people of the same nation cannot represent the continent in the same event.
Speaking after her victory in Marrakech, Chinwe made no secret of the fact that she hopes to send more records tumbling in the near future: “It was my best performance, and my next goal is to realize the best record in the next competitions,” she said. Okoro’s throw in Marrakech makes her 42nd in the world this year, and she will be looking to break that 60m barrier at the Continental Cup!
The woman to beat will undoubtedly be reigning European, World and Olympic champion, Sandra Perkovic (SB 71.08m), who won the 2014 Diamond Race, after dominating all but one of the seven meets for the discus. The world leader, along with France’s Melina Robert-Michon (world No. 12 with 65.51m) make up Team Europe.
The duo of Gia Lewis-Smallwood (No. 2 with 69.17s) and Yaime Perez (No. 8 with 66.03m) will represent Team Americas, while Dani Samuels of Australia (No. 3 with 67.99m) and China’s Yang Yanbo (No. 20 with 63.31m) complete the field for Team Asia.
In the shot put, Valerie Adams will be the woman to beat. She is the reigning world indoor and outdoor, Commonwealth and Olympic Champion, as well as defending champion of the Continental Cup. Adams won the Diamond Race last week in Brussels with a world lead of 20.59m. She and World No.4, Gong Lijiao of China (19.65m) are representing the Asia-Pacific.
Christina Schwanitz (No. 2) and Evgeniia Kolodko (No. 5) will compete for Team Europe, having made throws of 20.22m and 19.52m respectively this year. Schwanitz is the reigning European champion and silver medallist at the last World Indoor and outdoor championships. USA’s Michelle Carter (No. 3) with an SB of 19.80m and Cleopatra Borel of Trinidad and Tobago (No. 7) complete the field.
Okoro goes to the competition with an SB of 16.40m in the shot put, and is 108th in the world this year, while teammate and African Champion, Cameroun’s Auriol Sally Dongo (16.48m) is 76th in the world. Okoro freely admits that the discus is her preferred event, as such the African pair will no doubt benefit from the exposure that comes with competing against a top notch field!
The IAAF Continental Cup will be taking place in Marrakech, Morocco THIS WEEKEND (Sept 13th and 14th) and Chinwe Okoro will be representing Team Africa in the women’s discus on Saturday Sept 13th from 7.50pm and the shot put on Sunday Sept 14th from 6.30pm. | 2019-04-21T14:18:43Z | https://makingofchampions.net/tag/team-africa/ |
More traffic will be coming to downtown Danville, Ill. — and that’s how Danville wants it. The city of 33,000 is converting some of its longtime one-way streets back to two-way thoroughfares. City officials hope the change will make it easier for customers to reach downtown stores and shop in them.
“The driving force behind it is economic development,” says city engineer David Schnelle, who expects to reprogram signals, change pavement markings and change signs by November 2007.
He says motorists tend to drive faster on one-way streets and go past their destinations, then lose time and patience backtracking.
Danville is one of hundreds of cities — from Berkeley, Calif., to Charleston, S.C. — switching one-way streets to two-way to improve commerce downtown, according to the American Planning Association in Chicago. The trend got rolling in the early 1990s and has expanded this year to bigger cities such as Miami, Dallas and Minneapolis. It’s part of the reinvention of former industrial cities, which are converting empty factories into loft housing and trying to convince suburbanites that downtowns are livable.
The boom in one-way streets began with the Cold War in the 1950s, when cities planned quick routes out of town for evacuation in case of nuclear attack, says John Norquist, one of the first vocal advocates of two-way-street conversion. Norquist was mayor of Milwaukee from 1988 to 2003 and now runs the Congress for the New Urbanism, which promotes the revitalization of cities.
The growth of the suburbs contributed, too, as cities smoothed the route home from work, says Neal Hawkins, associate director for traffic operations at the Iowa State University Center for Transportation Research and Education. Now, though, there are more jobs in the suburbs, more entertainment downtown, and drivers go in all directions.
They drive less efficiently on two-way streets, according to the Thoreau Institute, an environmental advocacy group in Oregon. The slower stop-and-go traffic means cars pollute more, the institute says.
In Danville, 170 miles south of Chicago, two-way streets are meant to speed an economic revival after 15 years of plant closings left downtown streets quiet. The city set up a small-business loan program to attract stores and restaurants.
Now Danville wants to make it easier for customers to find them, especially the shops on Vermilion Street.
Marie Pribble, co-owner of the Java Hut coffee shop and cafe, looks forward to the change. “The slower people go, the more likely they are to pay attention to your business or your storefront, and the more likely they are to stop in,” she says.
What are the ingredients for creating a bicycle-friendly community? A community that feels safe, convenient and pleasant for all ages and abilities to ride a bicycle. It is important to understand, to begin with, that there are no easy, painless, overnight solutions. Over the past several decades, we have unconsciously done everything we could possibly do to make bicycling an exceptionally dangerous, unacceptable way to travel. It will therefore take quite a while for our cities and towns to see bicyclists crowding our streets. And change will need to be incremental and from a great many sources. There are no silver bullets.
Here are my top 5 recommendations for how to make a more bicycle-friendly community.
1. Parking Cash-Out. Local employers (particularly local government agencies and large private employers) must establish a parking cash-out program. By ending this enormous subsidy for driving a car to work, cash-out is the most effective tool we know of to recruit new bicyclists. An increased number of bicycle commuters dramatically increases bicyclist safety and comfort while riding, and promotes political action to improve bicycling conditions.
2. Centralization and Residential Density. Important facilities and events, such as the county farmers market, the conference center, the major movie theatre complex, the major fitness center, the main post office, major government facilities, and annual festivals must only be allowed in the central area of the city (subsidiary or duplicate facilities and events can be allowed in the periphery). Those facilities and events that are currently located in peripheral locations must be incrementally moved to central locations. Locating these facilities and events at peripheral locations substantially reduces their accessibility by a large percentage of commuter bicyclists. Such an effort is not only crucial to bicycling, but is also essential in creating a sense of community. Similarly, a city must establish higher density residential development within the central areas of the city. Doing so dramatically increases bicycling because such housing increases the convenience, safety and practicality of bicycling. Destinations such as school, retail, recreation, government facilities, jobs and culture become more proximate (more w/in bicycling range).
3. Traffic Calming and Road Diets. High-speed, inattentive car travel is one of the most significant reasons bicyclists feel unsafe and uncomfortable while bicycling — and why so many are discouraged from bicycling at all. Each time a street is traffic-calmed, or has travel lanes removed (road dieting), bicycling is dramatically improved and there is a significant increase in bicycling. A large percentage of streets carry car traffic that features uncomfortably and unsafely high speeds, and a number of streets can greatly benefit from travel lane removal (for example, 5- or 4-lanes to 3). Many of these diet opportunities provide a way to install an in-street bicycle lane on streets that do not have space today, and in-street bicycle lanes are, by far, preferable to off-street paths for commuter bicycle travel. Because 4-, 5-, and 6-lane streets are a primary cause of high speed car traffic and inattentive, reckless driving, it is important for a community to avoid building them, and to “diet” those that are already at that size. High-speed, inattentive driving significantly discourages bicycling in most every community.
4. Off-Street Path System. The off-street bicycle/pedestrian path system in nearly every community is either non-existent, or contains a number of path opportunities that have languished, unbuilt, for decades. The gaps in this “greenway” system must be eliminated. While completing the system will not result in a significant increase in bicycle commuting, it would dramatically increase recreational bicycling. A completed greenway system also plays the crucial role of recruiting novice bicyclists and non-bicyclists into becoming regular, confident bicyclists, because off-street paths provide a “training ground” that allows large numbers of untrained bicyclists to learn the skills and joys of bicycling in a safe, non-threatening, sociable environment.
5. In-Street Bicycle Lanes. Despite what is often believed, in-street bicycle lanes are much more desirable to a commuter bicyclist than are off-street paths or sidewalks. Paths can only feasibly link a tiny number of destinations that a bicyclist seeks to travel to, and even for the small number of destinations that can be reached by a path, using the street is nearly always faster and more direct than using an off-street path. And just like motorists, a primary desire by bicyclists is to find the fastest route to a destination when commuting. In addition, contrary to popular belief, studies have shown for several decades that in urbanized areas where there are numerous crossing driveways and streets, in-street bicycle lanes are significantly safer than sidewalks. Because paths usually create the same safety hazards as sidewalks (by having numerous driveway and street intersections), they are generally discouraged as a design treatment within urbanized areas. Given all of this, a bicycle-friendly city must ensure that as many major streets as possible contain in-street bicycle lanes. It is important to keep in mind that one size does not fit all. In general, in-street bicycle lanes are NOT appropriate on low-speed downtown streets or neighborhood streets. Their application tends to be most appropriate on higher-speed suburban arterial streets.
Florida Dept of Transportation (1998). Florida Bicycle Facilities Planning and Design Manual. Tallahassee FL.
Florida Dept of Transportation (2002). Plans Preparation Manual. Tallahassee FL.
Wachtel, A. and Lewiston, D. (1994). Risk Factors for Bicycle-Motor Vehicle Collisions at Intersections. ITE Journal. September.
Forester, J. (1984). Effective Cycling. MIT Press.
Forester, J. (1983). Bicycle Transportation. MIT Press.
For 50 years, transportation planners have treated streets as little more than conduits for motor vehicles, and see little need for roads other than to maximize motorist driving speeds. Sadly, in all except our remote subdivisions, the quality of life in cities designed for cars has become miserable. No wonder that so many flee the city for the relative safety, peacefulness, and pastoral nature of outlying areas.
According to Cynthia Hoyle, the U.S. has been so successful in providing for fast, unobstructed travel by car that it has seriously undermined the use of transit, walking, and bicycling.
Streets designed primarily with driving speed in mind deter people from walking and bicycling. They’re difficult and unattractive places to walk or bicycle to begin with, and the heavier, faster traffic they generate makes them downright hostile. Pedestrian street crossings are challenging and infrequent, sidewalks are anything but continuous, and anyone who ventures out on a bicycle is soon reminded by an impatient honking motorist that she’s in the way and doesn’t belong there. “Danger” and “road conditions” or “lack of facilities” are reasons more frequently given in surveys for not bicycling.
How big is the problem for Floridians? One example is the fact that 37 percent of Floridians cannot legally drive-not to mention those who cannot afford to own a car.
The proposed “design speed” for a road affects its dimensions more than anything else. It is the highest speed at which a motorist can drive safely. Not surprisingly, the bible of traffic engineers—”The Green Book”—calls for the design speed, except on local streets, to be as high as practicable.
A wide pavement exerts a strong influence over a motorist. First, it puts someone in a car at a greater distance from objects on either side. Looking at objects that are farther away creates a feeling that a vehicle is moving more slowly and prompts a motorist to compensate by speeding up. Second, by making the motorist survey a broad field in front of his vehicle, a wide pavement provides an assurance that he is in command of that field, which in turn induces him to increase his speed. In addition, when a wide pavement means more lanes, it leaves fewer vehicles in each lane and increases the distance between each vehicle, providing yet another inducement to go faster. Thus an urban arterial with three 11- or 12-foot travel lanes, or a broad two-lane residential street, can have a virtually irresistible effect. Even motorists who are not inclined to drive fast creep up to highway speeds. Others seize the opportunity to floor it.
Cutting down trees, removing other vegetation, taking property by eminent domain, and lowering hills create what traffic engineers assume is the necessary “stopping sight distance.” And the design speed of a road is the primary factor determining the stopping sight distance.
When a traffic engineer states the newly designed road will “improve safety,” beware. While it usually means fewer fender benders, it generally leads to more serious accidents and more accidents involving pedestrians. Making a street “safer” usually tends to increase motor vehicle speeds, which makes the streets less safe for pedestrians or bicyclists. Sixteen percent of all people killed in motor vehicle accidents are pedestrians and bicyclists, which is way out of proportion to the number of pedestrians and bicyclists on the streets. Thirty-nine percent of all children killed in motor vehicle accidents are killed while walking or riding a bicycle. When we hear traffic engineers tell us that the road “improvement” will improve safety, we need to ask them to precisely define what the safety problem is.
Alcohol, vehicle speed, weather, and animals are more important factors in accidents than road design.
Motorists driving at 25 mph or faster have difficulty perceiving that a pedestrian is ready to cross a street, deciding to slow down, and actually doing so. The normal driver usually decides to speed up, assuming that another car will stop.
Traffic calming involves making design changes to a street or parking lot to slow down and “discipline” autos, and make streets mixed-use rather than single (auto)-use. Strategies include traffic circles (photo above), roundabouts (photo below), on-street parking, narrow travel lanes, reduction in travel lanes, woonerfs, traffic diverters sidewalk bulb-outs, speed humps, smaller turning radii at intersections (15 feet), and elevated/textured/brick crosswalks that serve as a speed hump.
Portland, Oregon has a “skinny streets” program for new residential areas. It allows residential streets to be 20 feet wide with parking on one side, or 26 feet with parking on both sides. The city notes that such streets maintain neighborhood character, reduce construction costs, save vegetation, reduce stormwater runoff, improve traffic safety, and make it possible to use scarce land for purposes other than motor vehicle use. The Portland Fire Department finds that skinny streets provide adequate access for emergency vehicles. It has been noted that it would be more economical to purchase fire trucks that fit local streets than to build all streets to meet the needs of the largest size trucks. Berkeley studies show that traffic control devices had little or no effect on police emergency response time, and Palo Alto found that bicycle boulevard barriers had not impaired police and fire emergency response.
Motorists are more likely to collide with pedestrians at higher speeds. At 60 miles per hour, the field of vision of the motorist is two-thirds less than at 30 miles per hour. In addition, the probability of a pedestrian being killed is only 3.5 percent when a vehicle is traveling at 15 miles per hour, but jumps to 37 percent at 31 miles per hour and 83 percent at 44 miles per hour.
Roadway geometry in safety-sensitive areas, such as schools, should keep auto speeds within 15 to 20 miles per hour. Planting vegetation close to the street will reduce the “optical width” of a street, which makes it seem narrower than it is and help to slow down motorists.
A German study found that traffic calming reduces vehicle idling time by 15 percent, gear changing by 12 percent, brake use by 14 percent, and gasoline use by 12 percent. This is in part because the greater is speed of vehicles in built-up areas, the higher is the incidence of acceleration, deceleration, and braking. Similarly, a study in Portland, Oregon found that a pedestrian-friendly environment can reduce vehicle miles traveled by 10 percent. Other studies show up to a 114-percent increase in non-motorized travel on traffic-calmed streets.
Another German study found that calmed streets experienced a 60 percent reduction in injuries, a 43 to 53 percent reduction in fatalities, and a 10 to 50 percent reduction in air pollution (Nitrogen oxide emissions, for example, begin to increase with speeds at about 15-20 mph, and then increase sharply with speed at about 48 mph.) These substantial benefits, in addition, were achieved by increasing motorist trip time by an average of only 33 seconds. Motorists who found the 18 mile-per-hour speed limit acceptable grew from 27 percent before the streets were calmed to 67 percent after the program began. Receptive residents along the streets grew from 30 percent before to 75 percent after.
Portland finds that traffic circles are most effective when constructed in a series. They are sometimes also located in the middle of the block. Circles reduce motor vehicle speeds and result in a big reduction in the number of accidents. Circles reduce crashes by 50 to 90 percent when compared to two-way and four-way stop signs and traffic signals by reducing the number of conflict points. Seattle likes circles so much that they build about 30 circles each year.
The Institute of Traffic Engineers (ITE) have stated that speed humps are effective in reducing vehicle speeds without increasing accident rates (some studies have found a reduction in accident rate). Humps cause motorists to experience little or no discomfort at speeds up to 25 mph, and need to be spaced close enough to each other so that motorists do not speed between them. The ITE has found that despite concerns about liability, vehicle damage and emergency vehicle impacts, these problems have not occurred or have been found to be insignificant when considering the positive impacts of humps.
And despite the conventional wisdom, stop signs do not affect overall traffic speeds or control speeding. Posting appropriate speed limits and enforcing them is not sufficient to achieve needed reductions in motorist speeds. Modest physical reconfiguration of streets are the only reliable and cost-effective way to slow and control traffic.
Calming also helps reduce neighborhood noise pollution. From a distance of 48 feet, a car traveling at 56 miles per hour makes ten times more noise than a car traveling at 31 miles per hour. Reducing average speed from 25 miles per hour to 12 miles per hour reduces noise levels by 14 decibels (ten times quieter). At higher speeds, every 12 to 15 miles per hour in speed increases results in a 4 to 5 decibel noise increase.
The City of Oakland recently budgeted $1 million to install traffic calming measures throughout the city in response to citizen petitions for safer streets. The City has already installed speed humps and is pursuing road narrowing and barriers to through traffic. A similar strategy in Menlo Park has reduced through traffic by 66 percent, has reduced top speeds by 40 percent, and has reduced average speed by 20 percent.
It is important to learn from our past in designing street intersections. For example, in the past, we designed corners with a small “radius.” A corner with a radius of 15 feet or less is usually appropriate to require turning vehicles to slow down, and also shortens the distance that a pedestrian must walk to get across the street.
A maximum driving speed of 19-25 mph is necessary to ensure safety, create an environment people find conducive to walking and shopping, and minimize noise. Fred Kent, a nationally known urban designer, says that in all the surveys he has done around shopping districts, the biggest problems are not security issues. They are traffic issues-the speed of vehicles, the noise of vehicles, the congestion. You realize that if you create less vehicle flow and slower vehicles, you create more of a sense of community and you increase the perception of safety and security.
50 percent increase in bicycle use.
57 percent reduction in fatal accidents.
45 percent reduction in severe accidents.
40 percent reduction in slight injuries.
43 percent reduction in pedestrian accidents.
16 percent reduction in cyclist accidents.
16 percent reduction in traffic accident costs.
66 percent reduction in child accidents.
The FHA notes that the importance of reducing traffic speed cannot be overemphasized. While the overall goals of slowing traffic may include environmental improvements, better conditions for bicyclists and pedestrians, accident reductions, and more space for children to play-the reduction in vehicle speeds is crucial to each.
The primary question has become whether or not the city, which was formerly built on the human scale, and in which the street existed primarily as a means of contact, is to be replaced by a sprawled megalopolis where the dimensions of the street and city are on a scale required for its primary use by motorized transportation, and whether we will let our quality of life and sustainability remain terrible-all in the name of making cars happy.
Too often, traffic engineering guidelines for a community takes a “one size fits all” approach. Such an approach nearly always adopts suburban, car-happy design as the default approach. Unfortunately, this severe restriction on freedom of travel and lifestyle choice means, to paraphrase Henry Ford, that you can choose any form of travel and lifestyle as long as it is suburban and car-dependent.
Since there will always be a meaningful number of citizens in our communities who seek not the suburban choice but the walkable, urban lifestyle (or neighborhoods that are safe for children, seniors and pets), it is essential that the traffic design manual contain tools sufficient to provide for the street design needed to create walkable, human-scaled places.
In recent years, the emerging term used to refer to this customize-able approach is the “context-sensitive” street design. Such design recognizes that once a high-speed suburban or highway design enters a community, a neighborhood, or a special, walkable district, it needs to transition into a more human-scaled design that obligates cars to drive in a slower, safer, more courteous and aware manner. The following are recommended citations for context-sensitive design for streets.
1. “Traffic Engineering for Neo-Traditional Neighborhood Design,” Feb. 1994. An Informational Report of the Institute of Transportation Engineers.
2. “Street Connectivity in Practice”, Planners Advisory Service Report #515 from the American Planning Association.
3. “Pedestrian Facilities User Guide” by FHA of the USDOT, March 2002.
4. “Street Standards” by Southworth & Ben-Joseph. APA Journal Winter 1995.
5. “The Design of Traditional Neighborhood Streets” by Rick Chellman, 9/98, from the Seaside Institute.
6. “Traditional Neighborhood Development — street design guidelines” by ITE, June 1997.
7. “AASHTO (2001) and the Urban Arterial” by Peter Swift. 2003. From Swift and Associates, Longmont CO.
8. “Traditional Neighborhood Development — street design guidelines.” NCDOT Div. of Hwys. TND Guidelines. 8/00. Raleigh NC.
8. “Street-type matrix” Portland OR. 10/02.
9. “Changing the Residential Street Scene” by Eran Ben-Joseph. APA Journal Autumn 1995.
10. “Neighborhood Street Design Guidelines” Vancouver WA SE Neighborhood Traffic Mgmt Plan. 10/03.
11. “Mobility-Friendly Street Standards for Delaware” by Reid Ewing. Urban Street Symposium Conference Proceedings: Dallas. 12/00.
13. “Central Florida Mobility Design Manual.” Prepared for Lynx by Glattening, Jackson. 1994/1995 edition.
14. “The Hidden Design in Land Use Ordinances.” Edited by Paula M. Craighead. March 1991.
15. “Twelve Steps Toward Community Walkability” by FDOT Safety Office. Pedestrian Facilities Planning and Design Training Course. Undated.
16. “Design Highlights: Traditional Neighborhood Development District” by Tunnel-Spangler & Associates for the City of Oak Ridge TN. 11/01.
Dangerous, high-speed, reckless, inattentive driving is now of epidemic proportions in nearly every community in America. Motor vehicle collisions with bicyclists and pedestrians have remained at unacceptably high levels for several decades. The hostile, high-decibel conditions delivered by high motor vehicle speeds on American roads has led to costly, growing efforts to “buffer” homes and businesses from these frenzied, perilous, increasingly wide suburban highways. Fortressing efforts such as berms, masonry walls, large building setbacks, thick vegetation, and grade separations have all been tried. Those houses and commercial establishments which are unable to tolerate these increasingly roaring raceways are being abandoned or relocated to outlying, sprawling locations. Much of this abandonment explains the widespread decline of American Main Streets in the 60s, 70s and 80s.
The quandary is vividly clear: More and more, we are horrified to discover that high-speed motor vehicles are simply incompatible with a livable community for humans, despite all our efforts to separate ourselves from the growing speedways that are engulfing us.
High-speed roads are not only inhospitable to houses and businesses. They also create a “barrier effect” in which it is increasingly difficult to use such roads for bicycling and walking (or even transit). Consequently, per capita motor vehicle trips grow in the community. In combination with the higher speeds, fuel consumption and air pollution rise significantly.
As an aside, it should be noted that perhaps the most important reason that high-speed roads discourage and endanger bicycle and pedestrian trips is the “speed differential” between motor vehicles and those bicycling or walking. When motor vehicles move at modest speeds of, say, 15 mph, the speed differential between vehicles, bicycles and pedestrians is relatively small. Motorists have more reaction time. Bicyclists and pedestrians feel more comfortable next to slower speed cars. Collisions with cars are more likely to result in survival.
What are the origins of high-speed roads?
Motor vehicles, by their nature, require an enormous amount of space. Indeed, a car takes up so much space that roads become congested with cars with only a modest number of cars on the road. Because roads become congested so quickly when the car is used for transportation, the advent of the car in the early part of the 20th Century soon led road planners to push for wider road lanes (from, say, 8 ft wide to 12 ft wide) and an increase in the number of travel lanes (from, say, 2 lanes to 4 lanes).
The growth in the size of roads led to an inexorable, vicious cycle. Because an emphasis on expanding and promoting the car “habitat” (roads and parking lots) inevitably leads to a decline in the quality of the human “habitat” (neighborhoods and Main Streets), the early part of the 20th Century witnessed a growing desire to flee the increasingly congested, dirty, degraded in-town locations for the “greener pastures” of suburban life in peripheral locations.
Most humans lead busy lives. They have what is known as a “travel time budget”, wherein there is a desire to maintain an equilibrium in the amount of time devoted each day to regular travel (such as the commute to work). Cross-culturally and throughout history, we have learned that this travel time budget, on average, is approximately 1.1 hours per day.
The growing desire to escape the cities being degraded by aggressive, high-speed motor vehicle travel meant, primarily, that there was a pressing need to widen roads to enable a growing number of cars to travel at high speeds for greater distances (in order to maintain the 1.1-hour travel time). Unfortunately, this sets into motion a downwardly spiraling vicious cycle in which high-speed motor vehicles bring us toward increasingly degraded cities, which pushes a growing number of us to flee to peripheral locations. The growth in peripheral residences leads to a growing popular demand for bigger, faster roads.
And each time we build bigger, faster roads, we degrade that ring of city growth (by creating a congested, unpleasant car habitat), which pushes a growing number of us to flee to a even MORE peripheral location in a never-ending process.
What can a community do to escape this downward spiral?
To escape this spiraling community dispersal (driven by a declining quality of life), the path is clear.
Slow down motor vehicle travel.
We are fortunate that while nearly all American adults now use a car for nearly every trip, it is not at all necessary for us to strive for the impossible, undesirable objective of “getting rid of all cars.” The good news is that we can keep our cars. But we need to become more the masters of our cars rather than their slaves. That means we need to design our communities and our roads to obligate motorists to be better behaved (primarily by driving at more modest speeds and doing so more attentively). When motor vehicle speeds decline, and motorists drive more attentively, we find that community quality of life can be maintained, and even improved, DESPITE the presence of cars.
Another crucial aspect of “well-behaved” motor vehicles is to return to the tradition of building communities that provide travel choices, so that folks are not required to make ALL trips by motor vehicle. Creating travel choice means a return to the tradition of establishing “mixed use,” higher density neighborhoods. Homes are co-mingled with modest shops, offices, civic buildings, and pocket parks. This sort of traditional, mixed use neighborhood design substantially reduces trip distances, which means that walking, bicycling and transit use become more feasible and likely. The short distances and mixed uses also means that streets do not need to be over-sized with 11- or 12-foot wide travel lanes or 4- and 6-lane roads.
And these factors contribute to a crucial, inevitable result: slower, more attentive motor vehicle travel (which leads to safer, more livable driving — and driving that is OPTIONAL rather than REQUIRED).
First, neighborhood residential densities in community core areas need to be high enough to support a healthy, frequent transit service, and smaller, neighborhood-based retail shops. A general rule of thumb is that this density needs to be at least 6 to 8 dwelling units per acre. Higher-density, mixed use communities promote more modestly sized neighborhoods and communities.
Second, communities need to continue the nation-wide trend of installing traffic calming designs, and doing so throughout the community. Traffic calming has been found to deliver extremely cost-effective benefits to communities that employ them. Slower (“calmed”) cars means healthier, quieter neighborhoods that are particularly safer for children, seniors and pets. Air pollution declines. Walking and bicycling are encouraged (due, in part, to a reduced speed differential). Neighborhoods, therefore, with stable (or improving) property values.
Preferably, calming is done by reducing HORIZONTAL dimensions rather than using VERTICAL interventions. Desirable horizontal street modifications include reducing in the width of travel lanes, reducing the NUMBER of lanes (sometimes known as road “dieting”), using landscaped or hardscaped sidewalk bulb-outs, using modest intersection turning radii, installing chicanes, restoring on-street parking, putting in roundabouts, and installing traffic circles. Each of these treatments can effectively reduce average motor vehicle speeds while still allowing for needed, higher-speed emergency response by fire trucks, police cars, and ambulances. Undesirable vertical treatments mostly include speed humps, which are commonly used due to low cost, but which can create significant problems for emergency vehicles.
As I note above, it is important that a community seeking to slow average vehicle speeds do so throughout the community, to the extent possible.
Over the course of the past several decades, American motorists have been given the opportunity to drive mostly on what are called “forgiving streets.” The forgiving street design was born in the minds of engineers who observed car collisions with trees, other cars, and bicyclists. The “solution” seemed obvious: Remove trees, parked cars, buildings and other “obstacles” from the shoulders of the street. Increase lane width. Add additional travel lanes.
The theory was that such treatments would mean that incompetent, inattentive, higher-speed motorists would be “forgiven” if they, say, drove too fast or drove off the roadway, because there would be less “obstacles” to crash into.
The result of the forgiving street paradigm should have been predictable. Less safe, higher-speed streets increasingly filled by motorists who are using cell phones or putting on make-up as they drive. And it should come as no surprise that the forgiving street is breeding an army of incompetent drivers, since they require less skill to drive than the traditional street.
Conventional traffic engineers and elected officials were happy to learn that forgiving streets provided an additional “benefit.” Not only did we expect them to increase safety. They would also SPEED UP TRAFFIC. So support for the forgiving street was found from not only those seeking more road “safety,” but also those who live in and benefited from the construction of peripheral, sprawl housing (which is enabled by higher-speed roads).
Because nearly all of our roads have now been built to be “forgiving,” the vast majority of American drivers now have the EXPECTATION of being able to drive at high speeds AT ALL TIMES. As a result, it is essential that we ratchet down these high speed expectations by incrementally calming our roads community-wide. Having only one or a handful of calmed roads in a community does not typically work well, as most drivers in such a community will retain the expectation of high-speed driving because only rarely (if ever) will such drivers be obligated to slow down. If the expectation of high-speed driving persists, the infrequent instances of calming can result in a significant level of “road rage” (and non-compliance) by motorists who believe they have an entitlement to driving 60 mph on community roads.
Finally, it is essential to recognize that there is a growing trend by citizens and fire departments to purchase increasingly large vehicles, and doing so creates enormous obstacles for a community striving to use the important designs called for above. Why? Because large vehicles — particularly large fire trucks — almost always prevents even an informed, well-meaning community from establishing the modest street design treatments needed for livability and safety. Large vehicles stand in the way of the use of modest travel lane widths, modest turning radii, and many effective traffic calming techniques.
It is therefore essential that communities do what they can to control the growing size of fire trucks and other vehicles used in the community.
In sum, the critical needs for community protection and improvement are to design communities and their streets to create modest motor vehicle SPEEDS.
And doing so is most effectively achieved by emphasizing a control in the SIZE of motor vehicles, emergency vehicles, roads, and neighborhoods. | 2019-04-22T09:27:17Z | https://walkablestreets.wordpress.com/tag/traffic-calming/ |
As Pastor of the Universal Church, there is no dispute that the Pope has to visit each local Church. For centuries, Popes have traveled using the available technology.
The Pope has just visited Mexico and Cuba. These are 2 Latin nations who suffer from political corruption but still maintain their faith and hope.
With the many chick ideas spreading all over the globe, it is important that the Pope visit nations and refresh the people's faith.
Mexico, the land where Our Lady appeared to St. Juan Diego is under heavy attack from secularism, the war on drugs, crime and other evils. Cuba for over 50 years has suffered the oppression of Atheism and its communist propaganda.
Anyone who says Atheism and Communism are pro-human must visit Cuba and see the reality that it is not.
However, these lands are not forgotten. God has not forgotten the people of Mexico and Cuba. They are important to Him and important to the Catholic Church.
It was great to see that Pope Benedict XVI asked Cuban president Raul Castro to make Good Friday and national holiday. To the surprise of many, president Castro granted his request! This was a surprise because the Cuban government is Atheist. This shows that God's will always triumphs.
A tragedy in the news that took place in February is taking the country by storm. A young teen boy, Trayvon Martin was shot and killed by George Zimmerman, a "neighborhood watch captain."
The story goes that Zimmerman was patrolling the neighborhood and saw Martin. He calls 911 and tells them that there is a suspicious guy (Trayvon) who is acting strange and is not from the neighborhood. He tells the operator that he is following the guy and the operator informs him not to do that. Eventually a scuffle took place and Trayvon was shot and killed by Zimmerman.
As these details were released by the media, an outrage began to pour throughout the African American community and eventually other minority groups. Al Sharpton and others quickly rose to cry foul play and play the race card as usual.
Unfortunately, people easily manipulated by the media began to jump to conclusions without knowing the facts. The ugly "R" word racism was the issue now being discussed. The racial profiling of a black male wearing a hoodie became a focal point. Many are now wearing hoodies to protest the killing and call for the arrest of Zimmerman who was not charged.
What's even more disturbing than this frenzy is the fact that some black celebrities began offering a bounty on whoever captures Zimmerman! Movie producer Spike Lee even tweeted an address thinking it belonged to Zimmerman which in reality belongs to an elderly couple who are now being harassed.
This is just unthinkable! How can someone complain about racism and hate but put a bounty on a man's life without knowing the facts? In this country everyone is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Moreover, the media started to show Zimmerman in prisoner's attire which further added to the "guilty until proven innocent" frenzy that is going around. This photo was being used until recent details surfaced claiming that Trayvon attacked Zimmerman and Zimmerman shot him in self defense.
In any even, we all should first wait until all the facts are in before making any conclusion. None of us was there that night. We cannot assume race was a factor nor can we assume Trayvon was some gangster with a hoodie looking for trouble.
Trayvon Martin's parents have settled for over $1 million dollars.
For 3 days the SCOTUS (Supreme Court of the US) will be hearing for 6 hrs arguments for and against the infamous universal health care law labeled "Obamacare." This law was introduced to Congress in a dramatic fashion. It was filled with promises of giving health care coverage to all Americans, lowering the age for children to remain in their parent's health coverage, low costs, etc. However, the devil was in the details.
The bill itself is compose of thousands of pages! It was funny and scary to see Nancy Pelosi say that "we have to pass the bill first to see what's in it."
Democrats and some Republicans blindly followed the promises of this bill and pushed it along.
College kids brainwashed by progressive and liberal professors quickly were calling Obama a hero.
However, these people show how ignorant they really are. They fail to see how this bill is unconstitutional and expensive. It forces Americans to buy a product/service. The Constitution prohibits the federal government from forcing Americans to purchase a product/service.
Moreover, there is no money to make this bill a reality. Even if the USA was out of debt and had a surplus, there still would not be enough money to run this Obamacare as well as run other programs.
The whole thing is just a disaster.
READ A CONTRACT FIRST AND ASK QUESTIONS BEFORE SIGNING IT!
There seems to be a sense of panic and paranoia among LGBT advocates. Recently, accusations have been made that NOM or the National Organization for Marriage is using race as a tool to combat so-called "gay marriage."
In light of these accusations based on documents released by the HRC (Human Rights Campaign), the LGBT community is asking the Catholic Bishops to withhold funding to NOM.
It seems to me that the LGBT community knows they have a huge fight on their hands in regards to their attempt to distort marriage from a union between one man and one woman to an any-thing-goes invention. They are now going after NOM and the Catholic Church in order to sway the minds of those who are still not convinced that so-called "gay marriage" is not good for society.
Divide and conquer techniques have been used for ages. This is nothing new. It has been used in politics, in the conquest of natives during the Age of Exploration and in colonial times. It is a tactic that often works.
It should come as no surprise that the Black and Latino communities do not see homosexuals in the same light as other groups. They hold onto traditional values that were taught to them by their ancestors. Many of these values predate the Christianization of Africans and Natives in the New World.
That being said, any group that is attempting to protect marriage will use this to their advantage. The LGBT cannot force everyone to accept their opinions and views. They cannot expect cultures who are deeply rooted in traditional values to throw them out for their sake. That is cultural bullying.
This tactic by the LGBT requesting the Bishops to defund NOM is a sign of weakness on their part. In any case, the Catholic Church will defend marriage with or without NOM. We have been doing this before Europe, the USA and other modern western nations even existed.
The circus was in town today at Washington DC... well not the circus we're used to seeing, but one of so-called "rationalists." On March 24, 2012, about 6000 Atheists, Secularists and Agnostics gathered at the mall to hold their "Reason Rally."
Anyone who saw the rally would noticed that it was more of a circus than a convention of intelligent honest people. The rally had all kinds of people holding ridiculous signs exhibiting theophobia, paranoia, anger and hatred.
It had speakers such as Richard Dawkins, the so called "friendly Atheist" Hemant Mehta, impressionable youth such as Jessica Ahlquist who was given a check for scholarship money in the currency which says "In God we trust. Videos were even sent in by Bill Maher and others.
Richard Dawkins as usual voiced his hatred toward religious people and called for the crowds to mock and harass them. Hemant Mehta encouraged the crowd to obtain positions of authority in order to spread the message of Atheism and "Reason."
The rhetoric was clear: Let us attack everyone with religious beliefs and take those beliefs away by aggressive means and replace them with our beliefs.
The rally had virtually no media coverage and was even mocked by many well known media personalities and rightfully so. This rally was nothing but a circus of clowns and performers. It cannot be taken serious, but must be a reminder that hate is still alive and well.
To tell people to bully, mock and harass others because they believe in God is hate. This is hateful speech that will incite violence against religious people. There is nothing rational about this.
Dawkins mocked the idea of Transubstantiation but fails to realize that the idea that a human being evolved from an ape is also far fetched based on the lack of solid evidence that this really happen.
All we have is speculation that this might have happened based on observable changes and similarities among all biological life.
The HAR1 gene is a clear indication of this. This gene is solely found in human beings and its origin is unknown. It is the gene that allows our brains to be so advanced as opposed to other animals. The Higgs Boson is another example. We think it exists but we can't prove it. So Dawkins' mockery of religious beliefs is not one sided. Science has its share of strange and irrational ideas as well.
"Friendly Atheist" Mehta spoke on the premise that religious belief is a myth. Yet he offers no reason or proof of this. This is all speculation again.
We cannot call everything we don't agree with a myth unless we have hard concrete evidence to do so. This is not rational thinking, but mental sloth.
Mehta is a math teacher and knows very well that numbers do not exist. There is no such thing as a "1,2,3" etc in the physical universe. This is an abstract concept made by man to describe quantity.
However, just because numbers do not exist does not mean they are a myth. We see their representation in tangible objects when counted.
Moreover, Atheists and others may try to obtain positions of power, but America is a country where the majority hold religious beliefs so it will be extremely hard to reach or hold onto any position of power. Even if they do reach them, who are they to enforce their beliefs of no-god/no-religion on everyone else? Isn't this what they accuse religious believers of doing?
The whole rally is an epic fail and has no purpose calling itself rational or for-reason. It was just a congregation of people who have grievances against God and religion and want attention. It was a prep rally for the ignorant who hide behind the guise of pseudo rationalism in an attempt to avoid the hard questions of teleology, metaphysics, ontology, science and religion.
Dismissing the questions and ideas of life, purpose and existence is not Reason. It is intellectual cowardice.
Going around in public like this guy in this photo is not rational. This is childish immature behavior.
Does this guy look like he can engage anyone in an intellectual discourse regarding teleology, metaphysics, ontology, science and religion?
Imagine if the Pope goes around dressed in Atheism garb in an attempt to mock its beliefs. Would he have the respect and dignity he enjoys? No, of course not!
This rally is a waste of time and money. The latter could have been used to assist the poor and those who are out of a job in these though economic times. Atheism prides itself in being about the human, but never does anything for the human.
God and religion are not going anywhere despite these rallies. Pope Benedict XVI, a true intellectual and rational man can gather hundreds of thousands, even millions in the name of Jesus. This is proof that faith will always be around no matter the course the world may take.
Atheism, Agnosticism and Secularism don't offer anything but negation, bitterness and irrational ideas presented as rational. They are a fraud. The reality is that there is no real reason not to believe in God. One side says everything came into existence just to come into existence and the other side says it was an absolute being who caused it for a purpose. Which sounds more rational to you? Which makes more sense? Think about it for a moment.
Rallies like this are no different than the hateful "God hates f*gs" protests orchestrated by the Westboro Baptist sect. They attract people such as liberals, progressives, ProChoice/Abortion advocates, gays and others who see egoism as the intended end of the human experience. Rallies like this serve as a reminder that the delusion of man is god is still alive and must be challenged heavily.
The rally was entertaining to watch and read about in a comic sense, but no one is listening to the message. We are smarter than this.
Texas Christians have raised money to help an Atheist who has been going after them regarding Nativity scenes. When Patrick Green found himself in a predicament, the same people he went after came to his rescue.
God works in strange ways. He will set the stage for conversion in any manner. That is why we cannot give up even in time of persecution or evil. God can bring Good out of anything.
Hopefully this Atheist will see what happens when you begin a conversion to Christ Jesus. We change, we become different people. We look to God and to one another greatly. This is what Christianity is all about: To Love God above all and love neighbor as ourselves.
Unfortunately some Christians fail at this. They become arrogant and turn others away. This is why we must avoid scandal. We must not become an occasion of sin. As Seraphic Father said, "It is no use walking anywhere to preach unless our walking is our preaching."
Atheists and all others who reject God and religion will only know the Truth of our way by the way we present it to them. So present it well as Christ would.
Wishing all a great St. Patrick's Day. St. Patrick was a great bishop who spread the Gospel throughout Ireland and other modern day UK lands.
Unfortunately the lies of atheism, humanism, relativism and other "isms" are attempting to undo the evangelization done by St. Patrick and his successors.
Faith is not total lost in the United Kingdom or Ireland. God still has his modern day Patricks working the fields and tilling the hard soil in order for it to yield prosperous fruit.
Let us pray for Ireland and the UK. May they hold unto their Catholic roots. St. Patrick pray for Ireland and the UK and for all of us.
Infamous Atheist spokesman Richard Dawkins has done it again. He has once again demonstrated to the world why the religion Atheism - that presents itself as rational - makes no sense. During a debate at Oxford University with Dr. Rowan Williams, Anglican archbishop of Canterbury, Dawkins states that he is not sure if God doesn't exist.
This goes to show that Atheism is nothing more than a contrarian presupposition which posits that there is no God without empirical evidence to support that claim. It is a placebo for the one who is indignant at God and/or religion.
Science has recently shown that the human being is "wired" to believe in God. Some say this is a survival mechanism; however, that argument is not strong. Suppose God is not real and is imaginary. How can this figure of the imagination help humanity survive? How can evolving man survive being hunted by larger animals, survive diseases without immunity and so on with the notion of an imaginary being called God? It makes no sense. It is like believing in a genie in a lamp.
A more rational hypothesis is that we are "wired" to believe in God because there is a God and that is how He programmed our physical minds and bodies to seek Him. Think about it. When we are hungry and smell food, just the smell of food gets the digestive system going. We salivate, our gastric pumps get busy.
Biologically speaking, our sense of smell is working alongside with the digestive system. It tips off the stomach by letting it know food is around. Now would it not be the same with this "wired" belief in God? Since it is there, then it is there to serve a purpose of contact or awareness just like the sense of smell with food and the stomach.
Philosophy reminds us that we have the rational capacity to question everything, even whether or not we are real. It reminds us that we can think beyond the perceivable and try to find objective truth that eludes the senses which are subject to perception and malfunction. Ratio and intellectus exist for a reason.
Dawkins deep down knows there is a God, but he in his arrogance refuses to accept it. He is an Agnostic. Most Atheists are really Agnostics. They do not comprehend the difference between the two.
Native Americans of the Arapaho tribe were given permission to killed American Bald Eagles as part of their religious rituals. The American Bald Eagle is the United State's national bird. It is used as a symbol of freedom in many seals.
While I respect all religions and their ways of worshiping, I feel any rituals that deal with killing animals just for the sake of killing them should be cast away as archaic. Animals are God's creatures and we should only use them for valid needs such as food or clothing, not to just kill. | 2019-04-21T06:55:18Z | http://www.sacerdotus.com/2012/03/ |
The statement made by Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa the former head of state in Sri Lanka, that ‘establishing the office of the Missing Persons is a betrayal of the armed forces’ is a statement unbecoming of a former head of the state and a prominent political leader in Sri Lanka. What it directly says is that enforced disappearances which is an internationally recognised heinous crime should not be investigated in Sri Lanka because the culprits may involve some members of the armed forces. It is one of the basic norms of a civilised society that crimes must be investigated, irrespective of whoever the suspects are. A civilised legal system could exist only on the acceptance of this fundamental norm that all crimes should be prosecuted. Prosecution of a crime is an imperative duty of the state. No state can make any exception to this rule except at the cost of undermining its own authority.
The period of rule by Mr Rajapaksa was known for relativizing the norms relating to prosecution of crimes. The cases of assassinations like that of the former Sunday Leader Editor, Lasantha Wickrematunge, the disappearance of Prageeth Ekneligoda, and others as well as attacks on journalists including the brutal attack on Poddala Jayantha, are but a few instances that demonstrate the willingness on the part of the head of the state to approve a selective approach to the prosecutions relating to crimes. A dual policy of – on the one hand encouragement of the commission of crimes and on the other, preventing investigations and prosecutions of crime – became a glaring feature of those dark times.
It may be the intention of Mr. Rajapaksa in making this statement to appear as the saviour of the armed forces. However, the public impression that is created by this statement is seriously damaging to the image of the armed forces. It quite implies that the armed forces having being involved in the commission of enforced disappearances, and that these crimes should not be investigated. The armed forces could be involved in the commission of enforced disappearances only in one of two ways. One is, either some officers have violated the military law and discipline and on their own committed some heinous crimes such as commission of enforced disappearances. If this be the case, there is no reason at all for such officers to be protected. Those who commit crimes against the law and military orders do not deserve protection and in fact the military would be better off for prosecuting such offenders. However, the second and much worse scenario is, if the head of the state has in fact authorised the commission of such crimes. In which case, there is a much more serious problem of commission of crime against humanity – which is one of the gravest crimes under international law. If, Mr Rajapaksa is perhaps thinking of such a situation, then he should come out clean about his own involvement in a crime, rather than try to implicate the armed forces. However, our concern at the moment is that nobody in Sri Lanka should be allowed to say that any crime – whatever the crime may be, should not be investigated and prosecuted. If as a country we do not take that position, then we cannot survive as an organised society. The prime strategy for the protection of an organised society is the prosecution of crimes. And this fundamental position should be reasserted if we are to get back to reconstructing a society on the basis of rule of law and to ensure good governance. The statement made by Mr Rajapaksa is a blatant attack on the principles of rule of law and of good governance. As such, this statement should be condemned and the implications of such statements should be explained to the people so that their own security as an organized nation based on the capacity to protect law could be preserved against all assaults.
This Tsunami Hora should not have been the Head of State, to start with. It was the folly of the majority of the voters which lead to the calamity of our Nation. The war would have ended anyhow by our valiant armed forces with the comradeship of Sarath Fonseka.
This moron was a born swindler turned into a monster by unchecked power given by the foolish masses. The worst part is, still most of the southern voters haven’t still realized what a monster, this two legged creature is. These articles should be translated to Sinhalese and made available for the majority to read and understand.
Do not worry Mr. Basil Fernando. Very soon Mahinda will go missing. Then his relatives will apply to the OMP to get the death certificate and enjoy the ill gotten wealth he has stacked in foreign countries.
If Prabakaran is still alive half of you thoppies would be underground and the other half licking the arses of Vellalas.
Well said Piyal, your comparison of MARA with Prabha, is most welcome.
I agree, MARA is a worst state terrorist than Prabha. Prabha made it obvious who he is, but MARA was a hypocrite acting he is the president for all communicates, but discreetly exercising racist policies.
Mr. Basil Fernando 60,000 sinhalese youth were burnt on tyres during 88/89 period where were you then. Probably the LTTE diaspora was not paying you then to take notice of it. By the way did you know that the Nandikadal Thambi had underage boys recruited to fight and also forced civilians to the battle field. Held a human shield against advancing Sri Lankan Forces. Tch Tch now if you talk all that the diaspora dollars will dry up.
Sri Lanka has never seen the likes of the mastermind Goebbel, until of course DJ. Goebbels philosophy in summary “lie, lie, lie and lie, and then it will become the truth in people’s mind!
And now the master has become Patriot-tick (recall what MR called him at Aljazeer?), too shy to show his real face. Still with a begging bowl, seeking MR’s favours?
You seem to have a misguided or misunderstood meaning of Patriotism. Just because atrocities were committed by a bunch of terrorists does not mean that the civilized society should condone similar atrocities carried out by the armed forces of a democratic country. In a civilized democratic country, every one is entitled to justice according to laws of the country. If psychopaths & killers are able to get away with murder, then the judicial system is at question but that does not make vigilantism an alternative because that is what happened in these cases, the armed forces have apparently been the judge, jury & the executioners. If the armed forces are not disciplined, they are no better than the terrorists.
SL is supposed to be a Buddhist country, which, as I understand, is, governed by Buddhist principles. If that is so, we seem to be forgetting an important saying of Buddha, which loosely translated is, that vengeance begets vengeance. I am surprised that MR being a lawyer himself & a human right activist some time ago, thinks it’s ‘betrayal’. What a hypocrite.
I am asking you the same question. You shameless donkey, to this day you sinhalese masses still behave like dumb fools and what have you done to take to task those responsible for those sinhalese murderers? See the Tamils how they have made all the noises, right or wrong, and how even those in the diaspora giving so much headache to your leaders. What a shameless bunch of spineless donkeys have the gall to talk about the Tamils. And you call yourself patriot with nil/zero patriotism to bring to book those who butchered and made faceless thousands of sinhalese youths. I dare you to do that instead running with your tail in-between your legs, shameless creature.
You mean to say you were such an ignorant idiot that on both counts – recruiting under-aged children and holding civilians as human shields – the LTTE has been implicated and rightly so instead of the bluffing MR who claimed that his soldiers carried the human charter in one hand and the gun in the other, that he claimed resulted in zero civilians. And what kind of zero baboons must you people be to believe such an “evangilical” butcher.
Uneducated fat man shooting himself in foot, get him to merchants ward along with Basil who never finished school?
How is that “uneducated fat man shooting himself in the foot”? Will you care to elaborate. Let us see who has shot himself in the foot then?
When following the day to day news,political write ups,Official/Public and media investigations on financial and various other crimes committed by Politicians, Services personnel and other Government Officials, Citizens are at a loss to understand the lethargy and the unwillingness of two top most leaders of the Country,as to why they do not use their legitimate powers to do what they promised at the Presidential and Parliamentary Elections. We are constrained to believe they have vested interests and are guarding some of their confidants.Even today we hear deals being struck by Govt. Ministers,MPP.and top Govt. Officials.It is not the country’s priority to promise high flown prosperity and people know better than the politicians it can never be achieved with dishonest and thieving opportunists.Greater majority of people want the Govt.to mete out justice and the return of what has been pillaged and plundered from the nation.Government has only to put the law in motion and should not allow anyone to interfere with the process of justice.Almost 24 hours of the day people are invoking God and goddess for deliverance but they will never respond unless those vested with power, do their duty by the people.
You may perhaps not agree that human lives are more important than money.
Can you comment something on 1983 and 1989 during which periods Ranil Wickremasinghe was a powerful Minister in the government. Do you think it is too late to investigate or money stolen by Rajapaksha must take priority?
As the head of the team who drafted the OMP bill can you enlighten the readers the rationale behind on this curious clause which says that the name of a missing person should not be taken off the list if the person is found without his/her consent!
All those who profess to be `patriots`in Sri Lanka these days are bloody rogues! Do these scoundrels think that the law should not apply to members of the armed forces who have commited crimes?
Those who financed the kids carrying cyanide capsules and suicide jackets are the greatest human right holders today.
A war with terrorists for a lawful army; where the enemies (terrorists) are in uniform as well as civilian dress is different to conventional war.
For the civilian deaths of such a war terrorist themselves are responsible and further the direct and indirect supporters of that terrorist group and sympathizers should share the responsibility.
So, if there were thousands of civilian deaths during the final phase of armed conflict in Sri Lanka the main responsibility holder should be the LTTE.
That doesn’t mean that government forces should have been given a right to fire at their whim and fancy.
They had to be cautious and try their best to identify the enemy using maximum time.
But what happened, did the UN, Britain and France allowed the Sri Lankan forces and the government to be cautious using maximum time?
Their unreasonable and unsought pressure upon the government may have effected to expedite the last phase barring chance to be cautious.
So if there were civilian deaths, who were the main contributors for that?
It’s the UN, BRITAIN and FRANCE.
AS some one wrote in another issue some time back that you are insane,and you blab incoherently is indicative of your psychologic disorder. As they suggested you must see a doctor ASAP.
Don’t blame UN,BRITAIN OR FRANCE for the murders committed by your armed forces, take responsibility for their action as they are your people. You were in power because of them and they what they did for you, so defend them now they are in trouble.
Thanks for the request to be a good man and hope you’ll also endeavor to be so as I do.
All the criminals should be apprehended and dealt irrespective of their social political or economic standing.
I just mentioned about a possibility that pressure built up against any government for ceasefire in the final phase of a war may lead to expedite and humane factor may be weakened.
I still maintain that idea. I don’t have personal grudge against the UN, Britain and France.
Go on be a MAN and do the right thing.
As I’m not a doctor by profession I can’t reflect your comment back to you to see a doctor.
in me or in you?
Your mind seems to be very confused, I’m sad about it.
If you like, read my entry again and see whether I’ve blamed the UN, Britain or France for murder.
I just mentioned that their action might have had an impact to reduce humane attitude of Sri Lankan government and soldiers, that’s all.
I still maintain my idea.
There’s a belief that in democracy people have power but sad that though Sri Lanka is democratic, I didn’t and do not enjoy power that you mention.
I wonder what on earth made you to equal me to Mahinda Rajapakse or what on earth made you think that I’m Mahinda Rajapakse.
Robotic professional dissection and prognosis.
Far superior to GOD’S warped views.
Now GLP has to bury his head in the sand.
Hiding Behind Patriotism and the Militery to hide the crimes committed in the past won’t hold for a long time.
Mahinda is doing this protect him and his goons and not the military as when the truth comes out the military will be cleared for except his goons and family and himself and few rif rafs of the military higher -ups who gave orders for these crimes.
Being a buddhist and yearning for a permeant peace i wish this would happen fast so that eternal peace will come.
I WAS INFACT GOING THROUGH THE JOINT OPPOSITION MEMBERS and found a startling information … All of them are crooks embezzlers rogues and card board patriots and we need thousands more police men to investigate them as during the past police men gave this guys protection.
MAHINDA WIMAL UDAYA WELGAMA ROHITHA JOHNSTON MAHINANDA CHAMAL…..need not go oon THEY all should be in JAIL and not the PARLIAMENT.
It looks some of the missing people had been govt informants and they are living overseas with aliases.
The function of an Office for missing persons will only be cultivating hatred.
After 6 years of the armed conflict there’s no practical and humane purpose of having it except for the UN and other foreign powers to intervene unnecessarily.
Updated – FCID No.64/15 Basil R. Rs.396 Mil. In 3 Property purchases.
FCID No.17/15 Yoshita R in 8 Transaction Rs. 707 Mil., FCID 138/15 Namal R in 16 transactions Rs. 347 Mil., & FCID 82/15 Champika Karunarathna Rs. 5 Mil in Extortions.
These will only be used for political brow-beating as and when necessary?
“Mahinda is doing this to protect him and his goons and not the military as when the truth comes out the military will be cleared for except his goons and family and himself and few rif rafs of the military higher -ups who gave orders for these crimes.” — whats i said yesterday and these are the root causes for these cover ups of this investigations. people should be made to understand that nobody is above the law no matter what the circumstances are .
Ant body against any inquiry of what happened in the past should be checked out of power and as you see most of the politicians who are opposing this are the oppositions members who are bosom crooks of Mahinda.
MAY BE LETS NAME THE JOINT OPPOSITION AS THE JOINT CROOKED OPPOSITION as many including the learned opposition members such as G L Peiris , and other so called learned side kicks such as DAYAN J , RAJIVA , PALITHA KOHONNE all should be charged in courts for aiding and abetting this crimes.
It is not GOD’S but G. L.Peris’s warped views.
Why is this out side SL law and no oversize by the SL courts of law?
Why terrorists who change their names and now hiding in foreign or local area is not available under statistics ?
OMP will have the power to receive funding directly from any foreign source. ..Oh really , are we under colonial rule again?
The provisions of the Right to Information Act will not apply to the work of the OMP. No court, not even the Supreme Court can order any officer of the OMP to submit to courts any material communicated to him in confidence.
The Office of Missing Persons will not be a part of Sri Lanka’s State law enforcement and justice system, but an independent body incorporated by parliament which gives its members the power to function outside the normal rules and regulations that guide state institutions…. So now Sudda will tell us what to do ? You may be a fernando with portuguese blood, if you want justice put it under the countries law and not from colonial with a agenda.
This idiot got so much hatred towards the country and we should have asked HK govt. deport him to SL and answer some basic questions.
He is part of the SL law institution that is so corrupt they don’t even the meaning of the word corrupt. Shame on this kind of morons that used to run the law and order in SL and now under terror payroll .
What we need is proper constitution with proper check and balances to address corrupt political and judicial system.
I know this fucker will never ask for that since he is part of the system.
Watcher, What you need to know is that the expatriate Sri Lankans in Hong Kong, of which I am one, hold this man in contempt. They know him for what he is.
It is essential to find out the fate of all the missing persons during the governments of JR, Premadasa, Chandrika and Mahinda.
Armed forces personnel are paid employees of the govt. They ere expected to perform their duties within certain rules and regulations. Where as they can kill the enemy in combat it is not regular to kill civilians or those who surrender. In this sense they are like any other citizen not above the law.
MR’sproblem solving approach is wrong.This approach being short sighted would put all of us in trouble.
Rajapaksa’s statement clearly shows the military under his command committed heinous crimes and he wants to protect them. This again indicted why so many among the Rajapaksa family and their supporters are opposed to foreign judges taking part in the war crimes investigations.
By this the rotter Rajapaksa has proven the guilt of the SL military and himself and Gota in the commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
WE should be careful in prosecution as the benefit of the doubt be given to the accused. We should not give protection to witnesses that they may try to fabricate a case.video evidence should be handled by competent people who are unbiased. Its better if our people are trained abroad. PSTD and other mental illness should be taken into account in a terrorist environment. If any he buck should stop at the top. | 2019-04-18T14:33:27Z | https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/on-rajapaksas-statement-against-the-office-of-the-missing-persons/ |
YUSUFALI: The revelation of this Book is from Allah, the Exalted in Power, full of Wisdom.
YUSUFALI: Verily it is We Who have revealed the Book to thee in Truth: so serve Allah, offering Him sincere devotion.
PICKTHAL: Lo! We have revealed the Scripture unto thee (Muhammad) with truth; so worship Allah, making religion pure for Him (only).
SHAKIR: Surely We have revealed to you the Book with the truth, therefore serve Allah, being sincere to Him in obedience.
YUSUFALI: Is it not to Allah that sincere devotion is due? But those who take for protectors other than Allah (say): "We only serve them in order that they may bring us nearer to Allah." Truly Allah will judge between them in that wherein they differ. But Allah guides not such as are false and ungrateful.
PICKTHAL: Surely pure religion is for Allah only. And those who choose protecting friends beside Him (say): We worship them only that they may bring us near unto Allah. Lo! Allah will judge between them concerning that wherein they differ. Lo! Allah guideth not him who is a liar, an ingrate.
SHAKIR: Now, surely, sincere obedience is due to Allah (alone) and (as for) those who take guardians besides Him, (saying), We do not serve them save that they may make us nearer to Allah, surely Allah will judge between them in that in which they differ; surely Allah does not guide him aright who is a liar, ungrateful.
YUSUFALI: He created the heavens and the earth in true (proportions): He makes the Night overlap the Day, and the Day overlap the Night: He has subjected the sun and the moon (to His law): Each one follows a course for a time appointed. Is not He the Exalted in Power - He Who forgives again and again?
PICKTHAL: He hath created the heavens and the earth with truth. He maketh night to succeed day, and He maketh day to succeed night, and He constraineth the sun and the moon to give service, each running on for an appointed term. Is not He the Mighty, the Forgiver?
YUSUFALI: He created you (all) from a single person: then created, of like nature, his mate; and he sent down for you eight head of cattle in pairs: He makes you, in the wombs of your mothers, in stages, one after another, in three veils of darkness. such is Allah, your Lord and Cherisher: to Him belongs (all) dominion. There is no god but He: then how are ye turned away (from your true Centre)?
PICKTHAL: He created you from one being, then from that (being) He made its mate; and He hath provided for you of cattle eight kinds. He created you in the wombs of your mothers, creation after creation, in a threefold gloom. Such is Allah, your Lord. His is the Sovereignty. There is no Allah save Him. How then are ye turned away?
SHAKIR: He has created you from a single being, then made its mate of the same (kind), and He has made for you eight of the cattle in pairs. He creates you in the wombs of your mothers-- a creation after a creation-- in triple darkness; that is Allah your Lord, His is the kingdom; there is no god but He; whence are you then turned away?
YUSUFALI: If ye reject (Allah), Truly Allah hath no need of you; but He liketh not ingratitude from His servants: if ye are grateful, He is pleased with you. No bearer of burdens can bear the burden of another. In the end, to your Lord is your Return, when He will tell you the truth of all that ye did (in this life). for He knoweth well all that is in (men's) hearts.
PICKTHAL: If ye are thankless, yet Allah is Independent of you, though He is not pleased with thanklessness for His bondmen; and if ye are thankful He is pleased therewith for you. No laden soul will bear another's load. Then unto your Lord is your return; and He will tell you what ye used to do. Lo! He knoweth what is in the breasts (of men).
SHAKIR: If you are ungrateful, then surely Allah is Self-sufficient above all need of you; and He does not like ungratefulness in His servants; and if you are grateful, He likes it in you; and no bearer of burden shall bear the burden of another; then to your Lord is your return, then will He inform you of what you did; surely He is Cognizant of what is in the breasts.
YUSUFALI: When some trouble toucheth man, he crieth unto his Lord, turning to Him in repentance: but when He bestoweth a favour upon him as from Himself, (man) doth forget what he cried and prayed for before, and he doth set up rivals unto Allah, thus misleading others from Allah's Path. Say, "Enjoy thy blasphemy for a little while: verily thou art (one) of the Companions of the Fire!"
PICKTHAL: And when some hurt toucheth man, he crieth unto his Lord, turning unto Him (repentant). Then, when He granteth him a boon from Him he forgetteth that for which he cried unto Him before, and setteth up rivals to Allah that he may beguile (men) from his way. Say (O Muhammad, unto such an one): Take pleasure in thy disbelief a while. Lo! thou art of the owners of the Fire.
SHAKIR: And when distress afflicts a man he calls upon his Lord turning to Him frequently; then when He makes him possess a favor from Him, he forgets that for which he called upon Him before, and sets up rivals to Allah that he may cause (men) to stray off from His path. Say: Enjoy yourself in your ungratefulness a little, surely you are of the inmates of the fire.
YUSUFALI: Say: "O ye my servants who believe! Fear your Lord, good is (the reward) for those who do good in this world. Spacious is Allah's earth! those who patiently persevere will truly receive a reward without measure!"
PICKTHAL: Say: O My bondmen who believe! Observe your duty to your Lord. For those who do good in this world there is good, and Allah's earth is spacious. Verily the steadfast will be paid their wages without stint.
SHAKIR: Say: O my servants who believe! be careful of (your duty to) your Lord; for those who do good in this world is good, and Allah's earth is spacious; only the patient will be paid back their reward in full without measure.
PICKTHAL: Say (O Muhammad): Lo! I am commanded to worship Allah, making religion pure for Him (only).
SHAKIR: Say: I am commanded that I should serve Allah, being sincere to Him in obedience.
YUSUFALI: "And I am commanded to be the first of those who bow to Allah in Islam."
PICKTHAL: And I am commanded to be the first of those who are muslims (surrender unto Him).
SHAKIR: And I am commanded that I shall be the first of those who submit.
YUSUFALI: Say: "I would, if I disobeyed my Lord, indeed have fear of the Penalty of a Mighty Day."
PICKTHAL: Say: Lo! if I should disobey my Lord, I fear the doom of a tremendous Day.
SHAKIR: Say: I fear, if I disobey my Lord, the chastisement of a grievous day.
PICKTHAL: Say: Allah I worship, making my religion pure for Him (only).
YUSUFALI: "Serve ye what ye will besides him." Say: "Truly, those in loss are those who lose their own souls and their People on the Day of Judgment: Ah! that is indeed the (real and) evident Loss!
PICKTHAL: Then worship what ye will beside Him. Say: The losers will be those who lose themselves and their housefolk on the Day of Resurrection. Ah, that will be the manifest loss!
SHAKIR: Serve then what you like besides Him. Say: The losers surely are those who shall have lost themselves and their families on the day of resurrection; now surely that is the clear loss.
YUSUFALI: They shall have Layers of Fire above them, and Layers (of Fire) below them: with this doth Allah warn off his servants: "O My Servants! then fear ye Me!"
PICKTHAL: They have an awning of fire above them and beneath them a dais (of fire). With this doth Allah appal His bondmen. O My bondmen, therefor fear Me!
SHAKIR: They shall have coverings of fire above them and coverings beneath them; with that Allah makes His servants to fear, so be careful of (your duty to) Me, O My servants!
YUSUFALI: Those who listen to the Word, and follow the best (meaning) in it: those are the ones whom Allah has guided, and those are the ones endued with understanding.
PICKTHAL: Who hear advice and follow the best thereof. Such are those whom Allah guideth, and such are men of understanding.
SHAKIR: Those who listen to the word, then follow the best of it; those are they whom Allah has guided, and those it is who are the men of understanding.
YUSUFALI: Is, then, one against whom the decree of Punishment is justly due (equal to one who eschews Evil)? Wouldst thou, then, deliver one (who is) in the Fire?
PICKTHAL: Is he on whom the word of doom is fulfilled (to be helped), and canst thou (O Muhammad) rescue him who is in the Fire?
SHAKIR: What! as for him then against whom the sentence of chastisement is due: What! can you save him who is in the fire?
YUSUFALI: But it is for those who fear their Lord. That lofty mansions, one above another, have been built: beneath them flow rivers (of delight): (such is) the Promise of Allah: never doth Allah fail in (His) promise.
PICKTHAL: But those who keep their duty to their Lord, for them are lofty halls with lofty halls above them, built (for them), beneath which rivers flow. (It is) a promise of Allah. Allah faileth not His promise.
SHAKIR: But (as for) those who are careful of (their duty to) their Lord, they shall have high places, above them higher places, built (for them), beneath which flow rivers; (this is) the promise of Allah: Allah will not fail in (His) promise.
YUSUFALI: Seest thou not that Allah sends down rain from the sky, and leads it through springs in the earth? Then He causes to grow, therewith, produce of various colours: then it withers; thou wilt see it grow yellow; then He makes it dry up and crumble away. Truly, in this, is a Message of remembrance to men of understanding.
PICKTHAL: Hast thou not seen how Allah hath sent down water from the sky and hath caused it to penetrate the earth as watersprings, and afterward thereby produceth crops of divers hues; and afterward they wither and thou seest them turn yellow; then He maketh them chaff. Lo! herein verily is a reminder for men of understanding.
YUSUFALI: Is one whose heart Allah has opened to Islam, so that he has received Enlightenment from Allah, (no better than one hard-hearted)? Woe to those whose hearts are hardened against celebrating the praises of Allah! they are manifestly wandering (in error)!
PICKTHAL: Is he whose bosom Allah hath expanded for Al-Islam, so that he followeth a light from his Lord, (as he who disbelieveth)? Then woe unto those whose hearts are hardened against remembrance of Allah. Such are in plain error.
SHAKIR: What! is he whose heart Allah has opened for Islam so that he is in a light from his Lord (like the hard-hearted)? Nay, woe to those whose hearts are hard against the remembrance of Allah; those are in clear error.
YUSUFALI: Allah has revealed (from time to time) the most beautiful Message in the form of a Book, consistent with itself, (yet) repeating (its teaching in various aspects): the skins of those who fear their Lord tremble thereat; then their skins and their hearts do soften to the celebration of Allah's praises. Such is the guidance of Allah: He guides therewith whom He pleases, but such as Allah leaves to stray, can have none to guide.
PICKTHAL: Allah hath (now) revealed the fairest of statements, a Scripture consistent, (wherein promises of reward are) paired (with threats of punishment), whereat doth creep the flesh of those who fear their Lord, so that their flesh and their hearts soften to Allah's reminder. Such is Allah's guidance, wherewith He guideth whom He will. And him whom Allah sendeth astray, for him there is no guide.
SHAKIR: Allah has revealed the best announcement, a book conformable in its various parts, repeating, whereat do shudder the skins of those who fear their Lord, then their skins and their hearts become pliant to the remembrance of Allah; this is Allah's guidance, He guides with it whom He pleases; and (as for) him whom Allah makes err, there is no guide for him.
YUSUFALI: Is, then, one who has to fear the brunt of the Penalty on the Day of Judgment (and receive it) on his face, (like one guarded therefrom)? It will be said to the wrong-doers: "Taste ye (the fruits of) what ye earned!"
PICKTHAL: Is he then, who will strike his face against the awful doom upon the Day of Resurrection (as he who doeth right)? And it will be said unto the wrong-doers: Taste what ye used to earn.
SHAKIR: Is he then who has to guard himself with his own person against the evil chastisement on the resurrection day? And it will be said to the unjust: Taste what you earned.
YUSUFALI: Those before them (also) rejected (revelation), and so the Punishment came to them from directions they did not perceive.
PICKTHAL: Those before them denied, and so the doom came on them whence they knew not.
SHAKIR: Those before them rejected (prophets), therefore there came to them the chastisement from whence they perceived not.
YUSUFALI: So Allah gave them a taste of humiliation in the present life, but greater is the punishment of the Hereafter, if they only knew!
PICKTHAL: Thus Allah made them taste humiliation in the life of the world, and verily the doom of the Hereafter will be greater if they did but know.
SHAKIR: So Allah made them taste the disgrace in this world's life, and certainly the punishment of the hereafter is greater; did they but know!
YUSUFALI: We have put forth for men, in this Qur'an every kind of Parable, in order that they may receive admonition.
SHAKIR: And certainly We have set forth to men in this Quran similitudes of every sort that they may mind.
YUSUFALI: (It is) a Qur'an in Arabic, without any crookedness (therein): in order that they may guard against Evil.
PICKTHAL: A Lecture in Arabic, containing no crookedness, that haply they may ward off (evil).
SHAKIR: An Arabic Quran without any crookedness, that they may guard (against evil).
YUSUFALI: Allah puts forth a Parable a man belonging to many partners at variance with each other, and a man belonging entirely to one master: are those two equal in comparison? Praise be to Allah! but most of them have no knowledge.
PICKTHAL: Allah coineth a similitude: A man in relation to whom are several part-owners, quarrelling, and a man belonging wholly to one man. Are the two equal in similitude? Praise be to Allah! But most of them know not.
SHAKIR: Allah sets forth an example: There is a slave in whom are (several) partners differing with one another, and there is another slave wholly owned by one man. Are the two alike in condition? (All) praise is due to Allah. Nay! most of them do not know.
YUSUFALI: Truly thou wilt die (one day), and truly they (too) will die (one day).
SHAKIR: Surely you shall die and they (too) shall surely die.
YUSUFALI: In the end will ye (all), on the Day of Judgment, settle your disputes in the presence of your Lord.
PICKTHAL: Then lo! on the Day of Resurrection, before your Lord ye will dispute.
SHAKIR: Then surely on the day of resurrection you will contend one with another before. your Lord.
YUSUFALI: Who, then, doth more wrong than one who utters a lie concerning Allah, and rejects the Truth when it comes to him; is there not in Hell an abode for blasphemers?
PICKTHAL: And who doth greater wrong than he who telleth a lie against Allah, and denieth the truth when it reacheth him? Will not the home of disbelievers be in hell?
SHAKIR: Who is then more unjust than he who utters a lie against Allah and (he who) gives the lie to the truth when it comes to him; is there not in hell an abode for the unbelievers?
YUSUFALI: And he who brings the Truth and he who confirms (and supports) it - such are the men who do right.
PICKTHAL: And whoso bringeth the truth and believeth therein - Such are the dutiful.
SHAKIR: And he who brings the truth and (he who) accepts it as the truth-- these are they that guard (against evil).
YUSUFALI: So that Allah will turn off from them (even) the worst in their deeds and give them their reward according to the best of what they have done.
PICKTHAL: That Allah will remit from them the worst of what they did, and will pay them for reward the best they used to do.
SHAKIR: So that Allah will do away with the worst of what they did and give them their reward for the best of what they do.
YUSUFALI: And such as Allah doth guide there can be none to lead astray. Is not Allah Exalted in Power, (Able to enforce His Will), Lord of Retribution?
PICKTHAL: And he whom Allah guideth, for him there can be no misleader. Is not Allah Mighty, Able to Requite (the wrong)?
SHAKIR: And whom Allah guides, there is none that can lead him astray; is not Allah Mighty, the Lord of retribution?
YUSUFALI: If indeed thou ask them who it is that created the heavens and the earth, they would be sure to say, "Allah". Say: "See ye then? the things that ye invoke besides Allah,- can they, if Allah wills some Penalty for me, remove His Penalty?- Or if He wills some Grace for me, can they keep back his Grace?" Say: "Sufficient is Allah for me! In Him trust those who put their trust."
PICKTHAL: And verily, if thou shouldst ask them: Who created the heavens and the earth? they will say: Allah. Say: Bethink you then of those ye worship beside Allah, if Allah willed some hurt for me, could they remove from me His hurt; or if He willed some mercy for me, could they restrain His mercy? Say: Allah is my all. In Him do (all) the trusting put their trust.
SHAKIR: And should you ask them, Who created the heavens and the earth? They would most certainly say: Allah. Say: Have you then considered that what you call upon besides Allah, would they, if Allah desire to afflict me with harm, be the removers of His harm, or (would they), if Allah desire to show me mercy, be the withholders of His mercy? Say: Allah is sufficient for me; on Him do the reliant rely.
SHAKIR: Say: O my people! work in your place, surely I am a worker, so you will come to know.
YUSUFALI: "Who it is to whom comes a Penalty of ignominy, and on whom descends a Penalty that abides."
PICKTHAL: Who it is unto whom cometh a doom that will abase him, and on whom there falleth everlasting doom.
SHAKIR: Who it is to whom there shall come a punishment which will disgrace him and to whom will be due a lasting punishment.
YUSUFALI: Verily We have revealed the Book to thee in Truth, for (instructing) mankind. He, then, that receives guidance benefits his own soul: but he that strays injures his own soul. Nor art thou set over them to dispose of their affairs.
PICKTHAL: Lo! We have revealed unto thee (Muhammad) the Scripture for mankind with truth. Then whosoever goeth right it is for his soul, and whosoever strayeth, strayeth only to its hurt. And thou art not a warder over them.
YUSUFALI: It is Allah that takes the souls (of men) at death; and those that die not (He takes) during their sleep: those on whom He has passed the decree of death, He keeps back (from returning to life), but the rest He sends (to their bodies) for a term appointed verily in this are Signs for those who reflect.
PICKTHAL: Allah receiveth (men's) souls at the time of their death, and that (soul) which dieth not (yet) in its sleep. He keepeth that (soul) for which He hath ordained death and dismisseth the rest till an appointed term. Lo! herein verily are portents for people who take thought.
SHAKIR: Allah takes the souls at the time of their death, and those that die not during their sleep; then He withholds those on whom He has passed the decree of death and sends the others back till an appointed term; most surely there are signs in this for a people who reflect.
YUSUFALI: What! Do they take for intercessors others besides Allah? Say: "Even if they have no power whatever and no intelligence?"
PICKTHAL: Or choose they intercessors other than Allah? Say: What! Even though they have power over nothing and have no intelligence?
SHAKIR: Or have they taken intercessors besides Allah? Say: what! even though they did not ever have control over anything, nor do they understand.
YUSUFALI: Say: "To Allah belongs exclusively (the right to grant) intercession: to Him belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth: In the End, it is to Him that ye shall be brought back."
PICKTHAL: Say: Unto Allah belongeth all intercession. His is the Sovereignty of the heavens and the earth. And afterward unto Him ye will be brought back.
SHAKIR: Say: Allah's is the intercession altogether; His is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth, then to Him you shall be brought back.
YUSUFALI: When Allah, the One and Only, is mentioned, the hearts of those who believe not in the Hereafter are filled with disgust and horror; but when (gods) other than He are mentioned, behold, they are filled with joy!
PICKTHAL: And when Allah alone is mentioned, the hearts of those who believe not in the Hereafter are repelled, and when those (whom they worship) beside Him are mentioned, behold! they are glad.
SHAKIR: And when Allah alone is mentioned, the hearts of those who do not believe in the hereafter shrink, and when those besides Him are mentioned, lo! they are joyful.
YUSUFALI: Say: "O Allah! Creator of the heavens and the earth! Knower of all that is hidden and open! it is Thou that wilt judge between Thy Servants in those matters about which they have differed."
PICKTHAL: Say: O Allah! Creator of the heavens and the earth! Knower of the Invisible and the Visible! Thou wilt judge between Thy slaves concerning that wherein they used to differ.
SHAKIR: Say: O Allah! Originator of the heavens and the earth, Knower of the unseen and the seen! Thou (only) judgest between Thy servants as to that wherein they differ.
YUSUFALI: Even if the wrong-doers had all that there is on earth, and as much more, (in vain) would they offer it for ransom from the pain of the Penalty on the Day of Judgment: but something will confront them from Allah, which they could never have counted upon!
PICKTHAL: And though those who do wrong possess all that is in the earth, and therewith as much again, they verily will seek to ransom themselves therewith on the Day of Resurrection from the awful doom; and there will appear unto them, from their Lord, that wherewith they never reckoned.
SHAKIR: And had those who are unjust all that is in the earth and the like of it with it, they would certainly offer it as ransom (to be saved) from the evil of the punishment on the day of resurrection; and what they never thought of shall become plain to them from Allah.
YUSUFALI: For the evils of their Deeds will confront them, and they will be (completely) encircled by that which they used to mock at!
PICKTHAL: And the evils that they earned will appear unto them, and that whereat they used to scoff will surround them.
SHAKIR: And the evil (consequences) of what they wrought shall become plain to them, and the very thing they mocked at shall beset them.
YUSUFALI: Now, when trouble touches man, he cries to Us: But when We bestow a favour upon him as from Ourselves, he says, "This has been given to me because of a certain knowledge (I have)!" Nay, but this is but a trial, but most of them understand not!
PICKTHAL: Now when hurt toucheth a man he crieth unto Us, and afterward when We have granted him a boon from Us, he saith: Only by force of knowledge I obtained it. Nay, but it is a test. But most of them know not.
SHAKIR: So when harm afflicts a man he calls upon Us; then, when We give him a favor from Us, he says: I have been given it only by means of knowledge. Nay, it is a trial, but most of them do not know.
YUSUFALI: Thus did the (generations) before them say! But all that they did was of no profit to them.
SHAKIR: Those before them did say it indeed, but what they earned availed them not.
YUSUFALI: Nay, the evil results of their Deeds overtook them. And the wrong-doers of this (generation)- the evil results of their Deeds will soon overtake them (too), and they will never be able to frustrate (Our Plan)!
PICKTHAL: But the evils that they earned smote them; and such of these as do wrong, the evils that they earn will smite them; they cannot escape.
SHAKIR: So there befell them the evil (consequences) of what they earned; and (as for) those who are unjust from among these, there shall befall them the evil (consequences) of what they earn, and they shall not escape.
YUSUFALI: Know they not that Allah enlarges the provision or restricts it, for any He pleases? Verily, in this are Signs for those who believe!
PICKTHAL: Know they not that Allah enlargeth providence for whom He will, and straiteneth it (for whom He will). Lo! herein verily are portents for people who believe.
SHAKIR: Do they not know that Allah makes ample the means of subsistence to whom He pleases, and He straitens; most surely there are signs in this for a people who believe.
YUSUFALI: Say: "O my Servants who have transgressed against their souls! Despair not of the Mercy of Allah: for Allah forgives all sins: for He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
PICKTHAL: Say: O My slaves who have been prodigal to their own hurt! Despair not of the mercy of Allah, Who forgiveth all sins. Lo! He is the Forgiving, the Merciful.
SHAKIR: Say: O my servants! who have acted extravagantly against their own souls, do not despair of the mercy of Allah; surely Allah forgives the faults altogether; surely He is the Forgiving the Merciful.
YUSUFALI: "Turn ye to our Lord (in repentance) and bow to His (Will), before the Penalty comes on you: after that ye shall not be helped.
PICKTHAL: Turn unto your Lord repentant, and surrender unto Him, before there come unto you the doom, when ye cannot be helped.
SHAKIR: And return to your Lord time after time and submit to Him before there comes to you the punishment, then you shall not be helped.
PICKTHAL: Lest any soul should say: Alas, my grief that I was unmindful of Allah, and I was indeed among the scoffers!
PICKTHAL: Or should say: If Allah had but guided me I should have been among the dutiful!
PICKTHAL: Or should say, when it seeth the doom: Oh, that I had but a second chance that I might be among the righteous!
SHAKIR: Or it should say when it sees the punishment: Were there only a returning for me, I should be of the doers of good.
YUSUFALI: "(The reply will be:) 'Nay, but there came to thee my Signs, and thou didst reject them: thou wast Haughty, and became one of those who reject faith!'"
PICKTHAL: (But now the answer will be): Nay, for My revelations came unto thee, but thou didst deny them and wast scornful and wast among the disbelievers.
SHAKIR: Aye! My communications came to you, but you rejected them, and you were proud and you were one of the unbelievers.
YUSUFALI: On the Day of Judgment wilt thou see those who told lies against Allah;- their faces will be turned black; Is there not in Hell an abode for the Haughty?
PICKTHAL: And on the Day of Resurrection thou (Muhammad) seest those who lied concerning Allah with their faces blackened. Is not the home of the scorners in hell?
SHAKIR: And on the day of resurrection you shall see those who lied against Allah; their faces shall be blackened. Is there not in hell an abode for the proud?
YUSUFALI: But Allah will deliver the righteous to their place of salvation: no evil shall touch them, nor shall they grieve.
PICKTHAL: And Allah delivereth those who ward off (evil) because of their deserts. Evil toucheth them not, nor do they grieve.
SHAKIR: And Allah shall deliver those who guard (against evil) with their achievement; evil shall not touch them, nor shall they grieve.
YUSUFALI: Allah is the Creator of all things, and He is the Guardian and Disposer of all affairs.
PICKTHAL: Allah is Creator of all things, and He is Guardian over all things.
SHAKIR: Allah is the Creator of every thing and He has charge over every thing.
YUSUFALI: To Him belong the keys of the heavens and the earth: and those who reject the Signs of Allah,- it is they who will be in loss.
PICKTHAL: His are the keys of the heavens and the earth, and they who disbelieve the revelations of Allah - such are they who are the losers.
SHAKIR: His are the treasures of the heavens and the earth; and (as for) those who disbelieve in the communications of Allah, these it is that are the losers.
YUSUFALI: Say: "Is it some one other than Allah that ye order me to worship, O ye ignorant ones?"
PICKTHAL: Say (O Muhammad, to the disbelievers): Do ye bid me serve other than Allah? O ye fools!
SHAKIR: Say: What! Do you then bid me serve others than Allah, O ignorant men?
YUSUFALI: But it has already been revealed to thee,- as it was to those before thee,- "If thou wert to join (gods with Allah), truly fruitless will be thy work (in life), and thou wilt surely be in the ranks of those who lose (all spiritual good)".
PICKTHAL: And verily it hath been revealed unto thee as unto those before thee (saying): If thou ascribe a partner to Allah thy work will fail and thou indeed wilt be among the losers.
SHAKIR: And certainly, it has been revealed to you and to those before you: Surely if you associate (with Allah), your work would certainly come to naught and you would certainly be of the losers.
YUSUFALI: Nay, but worship Allah, and be of those who give thanks.
PICKTHAL: Nay, but Allah must thou serve, and be among the thankful!
SHAKIR: Nay! but serve Allah alone and be of the thankful.
YUSUFALI: No just estimate have they made of Allah, such as is due to Him: On the Day of Judgment the whole of the earth will be but His handful, and the heavens will be rolled up in His right hand: Glory to Him! High is He above the Partners they attribute to Him!
PICKTHAL: And they esteem not Allah as He hath the right to be esteemed, when the whole earth is His handful on the Day of Resurrection, and the heavens are rolled in His right hand. Glorified is He and High Exalted from all that they ascribe as partner (unto Him).
SHAKIR: And they have not honored Allah with the honor that is due to Him; and the whole earth shall be in His grip on the day of resurrection and the heavens rolled up in His right hand; glory be to Him, and may He be exalted above what they associate (with Him).
YUSUFALI: The Trumpet will (just) be sounded, when all that are in the heavens and on earth will swoon, except such as it will please Allah (to exempt). Then will a second one be sounded, when, behold, they will be standing and looking on!
PICKTHAL: And the trumpet is blown, and all who are in the heavens and all who are in the earth swoon away, save him whom Allah willeth. Then it is blown a second time, and behold them standing waiting!
SHAKIR: And the trumpet shall be blown, so all those that are in the heavens and all those that are in the earth shall swoon, except such as Allah please; then it shall be blown again, then lo! they shall stand up awaiting.
YUSUFALI: And the Earth will shine with the Glory of its Lord: the Record (of Deeds) will be placed (open); the prophets and the witnesses will be brought forward and a just decision pronounced between them; and they will not be wronged (in the least).
PICKTHAL: And the earth shineth with the light of her Lord, and the Book is set up, and the prophets and the witnesses are brought, and it is judged between them with truth, and they are not wronged.
SHAKIR: And the earth shall beam with the light of its Lord, and the Book shall be laid down, and the prophets and the witnesses shall be brought up, and judgment shall be given between them with justice, and they shall not be dealt with unjustly.
YUSUFALI: And to every soul will be paid in full (the fruit) of its Deeds; and (Allah) knoweth best all that they do.
PICKTHAL: And each soul is paid in full for what it did. And He is Best Aware of what they do.
SHAKIR: And every soul shall be paid back fully what it has done, and He knows best what they do.
YUSUFALI: The Unbelievers will be led to Hell in crowd: until, when they arrive, there, its gates will be opened. And its keepers will say, "Did not messengers come to you from among yourselves, rehearsing to you the Signs of your Lord, and warning you of the Meeting of This Day of yours?" The answer will be: "True: but the Decree of Punishment has been proved true against the Unbelievers!"
PICKTHAL: And those who disbelieve are driven unto hell in troops till, when they reach it and the gates thereof are opened, and the warders thereof say unto them: Came there not unto you messengers of your own, reciting unto you the revelations of your Lord and warning you of the meeting of this your Day? they say: Yea, verily. But the word of doom of disbelievers is fulfilled.
SHAKIR: And those who disbelieve shall be driven to hell in companies; until, when they come to it, its doors shall be opened, and the keepers of it shall say to them: Did not there come to you messengers from among you reciting to you the communications of your Lord and warning you of the meeting of this day of yours? They shall say: Yea! But the sentence of punishment was due against the unbelievers.
YUSUFALI: (To them) will be said: "Enter ye the gates of Hell, to dwell therein: and evil is (this) Abode of the Arrogant!"
PICKTHAL: It is said (unto them): Enter ye the gates of hell to dwell therein. Thus hapless is the journey's end of the scorners.
SHAKIR: It shall be said: Enter the gates of hell to abide therein; so evil is the abode of the proud.
YUSUFALI: And those who feared their Lord will be led to the Garden in crowds: until behold, they arrive there; its gates will be opened; and its keepers will say: "Peace be upon you! well have ye done! enter ye here, to dwell therein."
SHAKIR: And those who are careful of (their duty to) their Lord shall be conveyed to the garden in companies; until when they come to it, and its doors shall be opened, and the keepers of it shall say to them: Peace be on you, you shall be happy; therefore enter it to abide.
YUSUFALI: They will say: "Praise be to Allah, Who has truly fulfilled His Promise to us, and has given us (this) land in heritage: We can dwell in the Garden as we will: how excellent a reward for those who work (righteousness)!"
PICKTHAL: They say: Praise be to Allah, Who hath fulfilled His promise unto us and hath made us inherit the land, sojourning in the Garden where we will! So bounteous is the wage of workers.
SHAKIR: And they shall say: (All) praise is due to Allah, Who has made good to us His promise, and He has made us inherit the land; we may abide in the garden where we please; so goodly is the reward of the workers.
YUSUFALI: And thou wilt see the angels surrounding the Throne (Divine) on all sides, singing Glory and Praise to their Lord. The Decision between them (at Judgment) will be in (perfect) justice, and the cry (on all sides) will be, "Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds!"
PICKTHAL: And thou (O Muhammad) seest the angels thronging round the Throne, hymning the praises of their Lord. And they are judged aright. And it is said: Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds!
SHAKIR: And you shall see the angels going round about the throne glorifying the praise of their Lord; and judgment shall be given between them with justice, and it shall be said: All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. | 2019-04-26T13:40:54Z | http://quran.huquq.com/2012/03/az-zumar-troops-throngs.html |
On Wednesday, December 10, the Law Center formally settled our long-standing litigation with the city of Dallas, over the city’s ordinance imposing unreasonable burdens on religious and other nonprofit organizations seeking to share food with homeless persons in public spaces. As part of the settlement, the Dallas City Council approved a revised ordinance governing food sharing, and agreed to pay the Law Center and our clients $250,000. In March, 2013, the Law Center secured a favorable judicial decision in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, in Dallas. The decision found that significant portions of the ordinance violated the Texas Religious Freedom Act – imposing undue burdens on our clients, religious organizations sharing food with homeless persons out of their spiritual beliefs and convictions.
Eliminate the need for organizations to provide advance notice of food sharing, unless more than 75 people will be fed.
Remove the requirement that organizations sharing food provide restroom facilities.
Allow people sharing food to sanitize their hands with liquid sanitizer, rather than requiring them to provide access to soap and running water.
Apply to all organizations sharing food with homeless persons, not just religious groups.
This, especially in light of the recent attention on food-sharing bans, is a crucial victory in our effort to reverse the criminalization of homelessness. The Law Center is committed to ensuring the rights of those experiencing homelessness are secure, as well as the rights of those wishing to help them.
Read even more about this at Think Progress, This Texas City’s Attempt to Fight Charities that Feed the Homeless Cost it 8 Years and $250,000.
As a Herman Schwartz Israel Human Rights Law Fellow at American University’s Washington College of Law, I have had the privilege this past year to experience American life on the inside, but as an outsider. I call it a privilege because although my perspective is full of cultural and historical blind spots, and even when on many occasions I cannot understand subtle nuances, I feel that this position is also my biggest advantage. It enables me to think about issues that occupy Americans’ attention from a unique point of view. Indeed, sometimes this alien-like consciousness makes me much more critical toward U.S policies. But often times it actually makes me much more accepting and I am impressed by some of the progressive changes the U.S. is going through.
This dual set of viewpoints was emphasized when I attended the 2014 U.S. government human rights consultation sessions with civil society at the Department of State as part of my internship at the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty. These consultations were held due to the forthcoming reviews by the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and Human Rights Council. Sitting in the auditorium for the first couple of hours, I began envying Americans for their federal government. It left a good impression on me when representatives from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) attended the Law Center’s presentation on criminalization of homelessness as a practice that violates human rights and listened to recommendations directed to them. How wonderful, I thought to myself, that the executive authority of this country acknowledges the important work NGOs do and wants to consult with advocates on how to implement U.S. obligations under international human rights covenants. I could only wish that this kind of process would someday be held in my home country, Israel.
Although the U.S government should be commended for taking these positive steps, after a while I started to think, “what if this consultation session is nothing but a show?” Perhaps it is just a strategy in which, by taking technical measures like consultations, the government makes us believe it is committed to human rights; when in practice, where policies and order of priorities need to be changed, when resources need to be reallocated in order to remedy human rights violations – the government stays resolutely in its old position. It was very disappointing, for example, when it was HUD’s turn to give a response to the Law Center’s presentation. Rather than giving a responsive answer to the presentation and properly addressing the recommendations, HUD’s delegates presented, so it seemed, prepared-in-advanced bullet points that failed in any way to address the advocates’ concerns, and merely stated recent agency accomplishments.
After debating with myself about which of those two conflicting points of view is the right one, I believe the truth lies somewhere in the middle. I did get the feeling that most, if not all, of the delegates were honest and genuine when they expressed their commitment to human rights. And I also understand that this is a long educational process on human rights for the domestic government agencies in which the consultation sessions are a (small) step forward. Nevertheless, for this country to truly be the “shining city on a hill” example of human rights it claims to be, it must demonstrate responsiveness to consultations like these in both word (by actually responding to the questions posed) and deed (by changing its policies to reflect its human rights obligations).
I hope the State Department and the relevant agencies like HUD will continue to work with the Law Center to positively build upon this step toward a more responsive dialogue and future where human rights are more than words on paper in Geneva, but a part of the fabric of domestic American policy. And I hope I can take the best of these practices, and both my optimism and critiques, home with me when I return to Israel this fall.
Imagine living in a place where it is illegal to sleep, sit, lie down, or share food outdoors. Imagine that this is a place where you are often ignored or rejected by your fellow townspeople, police officers, and local elected officials. While this seems like a ridiculous concept, it is the daily reality for millions of homeless people throughout the United States who are suffering under laws that criminalize their basic life necessities.
Today, the Law Center released a new report, No Safe Place: The Criminalization of Homelessness in U.S. Cities.
This report looks at the landscape of criminalization in America, and finds that “despite a lack of affordable housing and shelter space, many cities have chosen to criminally punish people living on the street for doing what any human being must do to survive. The Law Center surveyed 187 cities and assessed the number and type of municipal codes that criminalize the life-sustaining behaviors of homeless people. The results of our research show that the criminalization of necessary human activities is all too common in cities across the country.” The report shines a spotlight on the fact that still far too many cities criminalize the basic life actions that homeless people have no choice but to perform in public.
No Safe Place also offers examples of effective constructive alternatives to criminalization, and highlights cities that have successfully implemented these solutions. Additionally, the report includes policy recommendations for lawmakers at the federal, state, and local levels, including a call for the federal government to take a leadership role in combatting the criminalization of homelessness and in promoting constructive alternatives.
This report is the Law Center’s eleventh report on criminalization. It builds upon our 2011 Criminalizing Crisis report, which detailed the breadth of anti-homelessness laws and practices in the United States, and provided examples of constructive alternatives to criminalization that are more effective in combating the myriad factors that contribute to homelessness. No Safe Place continues this analysis, and and examines changes and trends in laws within the past three years.
In our ongoing Countering Criminalization blog series, we’ve outlined the various ways in which criminalization laws violate the Constitution, and legal challenges that have been used to combat such laws. No Safe Place finds that despite these challenges, the prevalence of homelessness criminalization is increasing across the country, even though criminalization is the most expensive and least effective way of addressing homelessness.
You can download a copy of No Safe Place by clicking here. If you’re interested in learning more, you can attend the Law Center’s free webinar tomorrow, Thursday, July 17, at 2:00 pm Eastern time – click here to register for free.
Which US cities have the worst policies that criminalize homelessness? How have criminalization laws changed in the past few years? What are some constructive solutions that communities can use to deal with homelessness? Join the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty on Thursday, July 17, 2014 at 2:00 PM EST for a free webinar addressing these questions and introducing our new report on the criminalization of homelessness in America, No Safe Place: The Criminalization of Homelessness in U.S. Cities, to be released on July 16.
Please click here to RSVP for the webinar.
This is the part six of our Countering Criminalization blog series, examining Constitutional Challenges and Constructive Alternatives to the criminalization of homelessness.
The Fourteenth Amendment guarantees all Americans due process and equal protection of the laws. States and cities cannot discriminate in how laws are applied. But when laws are too vague or overbroad in punishing innocent or protected conduct, or do not provide sufficient opportunity to challenge the laws, they deny due process; and when laws are applied to homeless people differently or more aggressively than they are applied to others, they fail to observe equal protection. These laws, then, unconstitutionally violate the protections of the Fourteenth Amendment.
In New York, homeless people who were or appeared to be homeless were routinely ejected from Penn Station, while other members of the public had open access to the facility. In the case Streetwatch v. National Railroad Passenger Corporation, a federal court in New York found that police arrests and ejections of individuals from the station denied due process, because the public was given an open invitation to the station, and because the police had too much discretion in enforcing rules.
A local ordinance in St. Petersburg, Florida allowed city officials to issue temporary trespass warnings and exclude individuals from certain public spaces. Homeless people were given trespass warnings and required to leave and not return to space that was otherwise open to the public. In the case Catron v. City of St. Petersburg, the Eleventh Circuit federal appeals court concluded that the ordinance failed to provide people sufficient opportunity to contest the trespass warnings, and therefore violated due process.
Criminalizing innocent actions does nothing to solve the true problems of homelessness. And vague, overbroad laws that are applied in a discriminatory manner violate the Constitution.
Stay tuned for our next post in the Countering Criminalization series, when we will begin examining Constructive Alternatives to the criminalization of homelessness.
This is the part five of our Countering Criminalization blog series, examining Constitutional Challenges and Constructive Alternatives to the criminalization of homelessness.
With national and local shortages of affordable housing and shelter beds, people experiencing homelessness are frequently left with no option but to perform their basic, life sustaining activities – such as eating, resting, and sleeping – in public. Despite this, local governments continue to pass and enforce laws that restrict these behaviors. Homeless people are routinely cited and arrested for these acts, and the resulting fines and convictions make it even more difficult to secure long-term employment and housing.
Laws that criminalize homelessness by turning basic, life-sustaining functions into criminal acts unconstitutionally violate the Eighth Amendment, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. Federal courts found that local laws in California and Florida were cruel and unusual punishment, for prosecuting and convicting homeless individuals for necessary actions – such as sleeping – when there is not enough shelter space, and they have no alternatives.
Criminalizing homelessness does nothing to solve the problem. It is expensive, ineffective, and cruel. And when laws punish people for their basic life functions, they are cruel and unusual punishment.
This is the part four of our Countering Criminalization blog series, examining Constitutional Challenges and Constructive Alternatives to the criminalization of homelessness.
One of the basic rights that Americans enjoy every day is security against unreasonable searches and seizures. We know that our belongings – clothing, family photos, food, important personal documents, medicine, and all of our other possessions – are not under threat of being confiscated or thrown away by others. But for people experiencing homelessness and living outdoors, this security is often threatened.
Without a private place to keep personal belongings, homeless persons may have nowhere to store items like extra clothing, food, medicine, and paperwork, except in public. However, many cities have passed laws that prohibit storing personal belongings in public places. This leaves homeless people vulnerable to having their possessions confiscated or thrown away by police or city authorities, especially during sweeps and “clean ups”.
A 2011 survey by the Law Center found that more than a third of the cities surveyed restrict storing personal belongings in public places. As a result, one out of every five of the individuals surveyed reported having been arrested or cited for storing personal belongings in public.
However, enforcing laws that prohibit storing personal property in public or other outdoor places unconstitutionally violates the search and seizure protections of the Fourth Amendment. In the case Pottinger v. City of Miami, a Florida federal court barred the city’s policy of confiscating and destroying the belongings of homeless people, because the plaintiffs exhibited a reasonable expectation of privacy in their belongings, by placing them against an object, covering them, or designating a person to watch them in parks or other areas where individuals reside.
The Fourth Amendment protects the right of people to be secure from unreasonable searches and seizures, including the members of our communities who are homeless and must store their belongings in public places.
This is part three of our Countering Criminalization blog series, examining Constitutional Challenges and Constructive Alternatives to the criminalization of homelessness.
Caring for people in need is a core element of many people’s religious beliefs. Some religious organizations may express this belief by allowing homeless people who live outdoors to camp on their property, or sleep on their sidewalks, to give them a place to rest without fear of harassment.
In many cities, however, homeless people are fined and even arrested for sitting or lying down in public spaces, despite having no other place to perform these basic activities. A 2011 survey by the Law Center, which reviewed laws in 234 U.S. cities and surveyed 154 service providers, advocates, and people experiencing homelessness in 26 states, found that half of the cities prohibit sleeping or camping in particular public places, and a quarter have city-wide prohibitions on sleeping or camping. The result of these bans is that more than half of the individuals surveyed reported having been arrested or cited for camping or sleeping in public.
When they interfere with a religious organization’s ability to care for those in need, the local laws and ordinances which criminalize these activities unconstitutionally violate the free exercise of religion protections of the First Amendment.
In the 2002 case Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church v. The City of New York, a federal court ruled that the city could not enforce its ordinance prohibiting homeless people from sleeping on the church steps, because making this space available for homeless people was an expression of a sincerely held religious belief by the church.
Laws that make it illegal to perform basic life actions in public spaces do nothing to address the true causes of homelessness. And, in the case of restricting people sleeping on church sidewalk, these laws also violate people’s First Amendment right to the free exercise of religion. The criminalization of homelessness is ineffective and unconstitutional public policy. | 2019-04-21T16:20:43Z | http://homelessnesslaw.org/page/3/ |
Does Anyone Have A Match?
If the church ever needed to return to its beginning heritage, it is now. When was the last time you saw someone redeemed from sin or sanctified at an altar of prayer? How long has it been since you heard a message concerning salvation or sanctification. Has the church lost its edge or have we “Misplaced it?” To misplace something simply means to leave it in the wrong place, or to lose it, temporarily forgetting where you placed it. The normal thing to assume is that it will still be there when and if we search for it.
Do not take this as one throwing stones or casting aspersions, nor slandering the church or saying anything false or malicious. Only to probe the question “Has the church lost its edge or have we misplaced it?” A large number of those professing a relationship with Christ upon leaving the church service conduct their lives on par with those in the world who do not profess anything. It is a sad day in Christendom when it becomes difficult to distinguish the church group by their behavior from the un-churched. The church is allowing customs that are pagan in nature and questionable teaching (as Manny has pointed out) in our Churches, Universities, and Seminary that weakens God’s word in truth and provide no spiritual benefit to those who practice or endorse them.
Holiness was and continues to be, the Biblical standard for living. The command to live a holy life is found in both the Old and New Testament. “Be holy for I am holy (Leviticus 11: 44) and (1 Peter 1: 16).” In the Old Testament, man was not only to worship God, but was to imitate Him in their lifestyle. Their lives were to be a carbon copy of their Creator reflecting His moral character. Nothing that suggested even the least corrupt can be associated with God. They believed because they were commanded to be holy, which carried a dual responsibility, one positive and the other negative. The positive is; they are to emulate God, and keep His laws and do the right things. The negative and most difficult to achieve was the withdrawal from things impure and loathsome, and not to do the things you should abstain.
For moral reasons, correctly imitating God is in no way robbing God of what rightfully belongs to Him. To the contrary, we are ascribing to God what is His already. Jesus as our example while here upon earth was to glorify God through His life, and do the work that He was to accomplish. Our role is to emulate that of a servant, as Christ taught His disciples. Pointing out our Lord’s interest now becomes our interest.
Jesus asked the question in Matthew 6: “If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” The light Jesus is talking about has a direct correlation to our conscience that regulates or controls our spiritual conduct. If our conscience is impaired, meaning not focused heavenward, it will become distorted and take on a different character determined by the amount of darkness that has crept into the church.
There are at least two ways to talk about bologna. A favorite way, especially among those who are trying to undermine an established belief, is to begin with the raising, feeding, and slaughter of the animals. That is followed by a description of the processing of the meats and animal parts involved—parts you would never eat otherwise— all the way through to plopping down a loaf of bologna for the slicer.
It is then sliced and packaged nicely and sold as sandwich meat. You know it is bologna but enjoy the sandwich meat so much that you never think about the ingredients—which if you did, you might find the “sandwich meat” unappealing.
I prefer to talk about bologna by telling you at the start that it is bologna and working back from there. You have a better chance of not becoming confused about whether or not I am always talking about bologna.
So, what is the bologna to which I refer? To be fair, I have to identify it by name, and that includes the name of the writer and who published it so you can check behind me if you wish. I intend no ridicule of the publisher or the writer because I am interested only in the content of the article.
The article was published in “Holiness Today,” September/October 2012 and was written by Al Truesdale. The name of the article is, “Why Wesleyans Aren’t Fundamentalists.” It is available online at NCN News.
I call the article’s conclusions and arguments bologna because they are false or unnatural meat with no resemblance to the meat of the Word. It begins with a bias, uses a host of logical fallacies, and concludes with circular reasoning that uses its on premise as the evidence for its conclusions.
I begin with a clearly stated biases. My bias is this: Christians have no other source for what they know and believe about the things of God other than what is written in the Bible. That leaves writers who take the approach as represented in this article with no external sources of legitimate authority so they must rely on what they can conjure up philosophically. One cannot discredit the Scriptures by referencing the Scriptures, especially since they are internally self-evident.
They will argue, as is done here, that they actually represent the inspired Scriptures but by the time they are finished with the qualifications for their reasoning, one is still left questioning the whole Bible, if only portions of it.
Truesdale’s arguments are focused on the presumed inadequacies of the argument for the inspiration of the Scriptures by “fundamentalists” (whom he narrowly defines to suit his narrative) and the supposed adequacy of the “soteriological” inspiration of passages ensconced in a collection that is not ”soteriological”. By “presumed”, I mean that he makes no case for what he accepts as a given. It is as though what he says about those matters are self-evident based on his description of them.
There is no need for me to take apart his argument here. There are ample published repudiations that do that very well. I am looking only at the pattern of his logic and approach. His data are pre-biased because they are arbitrarily selected and narrowly defined to fit his narrative, rather than to fit his narrative to a more comprehensive understanding of key elements such as fundamentalism in a wider-ranging definition.
For example, he neglects to tell us that Nazarene leaders of a previous generation at least, boldly declared Nazarenes as being fundamentalists.
Also, he calls his position Wesleyan but never directly quotes John Wesley or any of the early Wesleyan leaders in support of his “soteriological” position on inspiration. In fact, he never supports his claims for “soteriological” inspiration either from the Scriptures or reason.
There is no definitive identification of the “soteriological” versus “non-soteriological” passages. Especially he has not demonstrated how a perfect, infallible God would allow such a mixture of iron and clay in the only Book that is the sole source of revelational truth about the things of God. He breaks down and tears apart but he never builds. He leaves us with no alternative, from his argument, but a Bible that is part-inspired and part-pagan. However Wesleyan the writer thinks himself to be, John Wesley has already spoken on this issue that contradicts the entire argument: “Nay, if there be any mistakes in the Bible, there may as well be a thousand. If there be one falsehood in that book, it did not come from the God of truth.” – John Wesley – Journal (24 July 1776).
Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world. 4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 5 They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.
The spirit of antichrist, which promulgates falsehood, and does not acknowledge the Lordship of Jesus Christ (vv. 3, 6).
And he warns us how important it is to understand that we cannot believe everyone we hear and that we cannot believe everything that is alleged to come from God, but like the Bereans we need to check the Scriptures. We are to test the spirits, to discern whether a message is the truth that comes from God. So we are not to just accept what some teacher or preacher is saying; we are to examine what is being taught.
We know that God speaks and reveals truth, and the enemy speaks lies and is a deceiver, therefore it is very critical that we be able to discern the difference. If information comes from the Holy Spirit it is life-giving, life-sustaining, life-producing and God-glorifying. If it is not sent and energized by the Holy Spirit, it comes from seducing spirits or false prophets, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This was and continues being a huge problem and those without discernment are being victimized.
It is very sad to realize that many so-called “religious leaders” are false teachers and people are having a hard time finding a church where the Word of God is being taught faithfully. What appear to be “Christian churches” are teaching things that are not in line with the Bible. They are downplaying or removing altogether the doctrines of sin, repentance, the Trinity, Salvation by grace alone, through faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ, and the deity of Jesus Christ, and replacing them by more “seeker sensitive ideas.” For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear – (2 Timothy 4:3). These false teachers are teaching their followers doctrines and practices that are not in harmony with God’s word, like “contemplative prayer” and “prayer labyrinths” which are actually taken from new age and Hindu practices are being introduced and accepted by many churches that are moving towards the Emergent Church movement today.
These teachers are hypocritical liars and are teaching doctrines of demons motivated by seducing spirits. This is an enormous problem and the world is literally drowning in a sea of demonic lies. We live in a time when we must be so close to the Father and ask Him to fill us daily with His Spirit of discernment.
The false teacher does not believe that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world. He may accept Jesus Christ as a great teacher and a great religious leader, perhaps the greatest, but he does not believe that Jesus Christ is the Savior and the only way to God. “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). He believes there are other ways to God. Beware!
The spirit of the antichrist was very much alive in John’s days and today our enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8). When we think of antichrist, we think of some future person, the beast of Revelation. However, all teaching that presents untruth about Christ is the spirit of antichrist which has been in the world for nearly 2000 years and is yet to come in its final form.
There are two groups of people who mishandle God’s Word and its message: heretics and misinformed Christians. Both are equally detrimental to the truth. Any straying in that direction will have the same bad effect.
I can see no difference, for instance, between someone’s saying that the Bible is partially inerrant and contains the inspired Word of God and someone else saying that we must unequivocally accept the notion that only one English translation is valid, and even inspired as a translation. Both notions are grossly erroneous and are bold denials of the true nature and authority of the Scriptures. Both construe words and miss the revelational significance of The Word. Both wrong ideas come from the same source—human reasoning based on false presumptuous suppositions. Something like that never comes from the Holy Spirit who is here to guide us into all truth.
If it was possible to hang signs on false teachers, that would make it easier to tell the difference. The worst possible kind of false teacher, however, is the one who agrees with God’s revealed Word in ALMOST every detail or who adds to the Scriptures false notions those Scriptures do not state or support. It is just fine to quote good stuff, but even the best must align with the truth of the Bible. Earlier teachers may have said some great things but unless they got their ideas from the Scriptures, they are automatically questionable.
I have little problem with differences in understanding as long as the issues are couched in the authority of the Scriptures by all concerned. I will never agree, for instance, with the Five-Points of Calvinism but will always view those who do as coming from an understanding, not a manipulation, of the Scriptures. That is much different than superimposing human notions onto the Scriptures. Besides, when we all get to Heaven, the Calvinists will finally realize how right I had been all along.
Returning to a more serious tone [sorry about the bad humor, but not enough to remove it], it is of vital importance that we carefully and prayerfully handle the Word of God as we should. We are flawed and will make mistakes, but miscalculations and deceptive inaccuracies are not the same. We must have a reverence for the Word of God that complements our reverence for the God of the Word. God did not speak in English, Japanese, or German. Unless speaking audibly, as He did a few times in ancient history, He never spoke in any human language. He spoke to hearts and spiritual understanding, just as he does today.
His Word comes to us through the leadership of the Holy Spirit, not in languages per se. Languages are only vehicles and nothing more. Languages are limited and imperfect. His Word is neither. His Word IS the accurate message if truth in every detail and in every matter whereof it speaks. It needs no modification and it is not limited to the English language or any other language. God’s Word soars beyond translations and commentaries. God’s Word transcends human comprehension but fits human knowing when the human heart is right with God.
Responses To: What Should A Christian Do About False Teaching?
A few weeks ago, I asked for anyone to submit an answer to my question, “What Should A Christian Do About False Teaching?” I asked those who opposed what I and others are doing to submit responses, and I would publish them. Not one responded. But I am happy to post all the responses I have received. I believe they will be helpful and instructional to you, especially those who have been confused about what to do as a Christian when faced with false teaching that can be destructive and harmful to many Christians. Scripture is clear, and I believe these answers will continue to put to rest any argument that we ought to stay silent and let false teachings and false teachers go unchallenged. I thank God for those who have been blessed with discernment and a love for protecting their fellow Christians from danger. I pray for and give warning to those who continue to close their eyes to the truth and refuse to confront evil for the sake of a false “unity”, because that is clearly the opposite of Christian love.
I believe the Bible is plain about how we are to deal with false teaching.
I believe the Bible teaches us that we have a responsibility to expose the works of darkness, to defend the Gospel, and to refute error whenever it comes into the church. With God being the same yesterday, today, and forever, His attitude does not change with regards to false prophecy. He said that if a prophet prophesies something in the His name, or by the name of a false god that that prophet should be put to death. Today we don’t practice stoning in the New Testament, but the penalty is the same eternally I believe. False prophecy is so offensive that it brings the same penalty as did adultery in the Old Testament. To fear the Lord is to love good and to hate evil, and false teaching is evil and leads men into destruction. False teachings bring a false gospel, a false salvation, and a false sense of eternal security. It is an abomination.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the most important document on the planet, it is the only thing that has the power to change men’s hearts, and to lead them to eternal life, and anything that takes away from it’s purity should be exposed to it’s light.
Jesus Christ is the Light of the World, and any teaching that casts a shadow on His Deity, or His finished work on the Cross comes from the lips of lying prophets, and lying teachers whose end is destruction.
It is love to warn false teachers and to call them to repentance, and it is merciful, and not judgmental as some would have us believe.
Scripture gives us three references on this subject. The apostate the Bible talks about are not simply unbelievers, but are teachers of apostate doctrines, who propagate their destructive rejection such as denials of the Trinity, the virgin birth, the deity of Christ, and the second coming.
First, we read in 2 John 7-11 that the believer is not to fellowship with such an individual. For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch yourselves that you do not lose what we have accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward. Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting; for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds.
So if someone fits the description illustrated here, fellowship is forbidden, even to the point of not allowing the person into one’s home.
Second, this concerns the local church. If a member is found proclaiming a destructive denial, he is to be ousted from the church as Paul stated in Galatians 1:8-9: But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be anathema!
The third is where the believer is faced with a church where apostates are in control of the leadership of the church and cannot be ousted. In this case the believer’s obligation is to separate himself from apostasy. In 2 Timothy 3:5, after characterizing apostasy as “having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof,” Timothy is admonished from these also turn away. Timothy was urged to separate himself from such apostasy.
This is an important passage for it cautions the believer to separate himself from the apostates and not to continue to congregate with them. As we see there can be no fellowship between unrighteousness and righteousness. Believers are a part of righteousness, whereas unbelievers are part of iniquity, and there can be no fellowship between the two in the same church.
Furthermore, there is no communion between light and darkness. Believers are of the light, but unbelievers are of the darkness. There is no common ground between the two. There can be no agreement between Christ and Satan as they have two separate areas of operation and two distinct programs. The same way, the believer is part of Christ’s program while the unbeliever is part of Satan’s. One is destined for heaven and the other is destined for hell. And there is no agreement between the temple of God and the temple of an idol. The believer is indwelt by the Holy Spirit, but the unbeliever is not. Since there is no fellowship, communion or agreement in the area of worship, with an unbeliever there is an unequal yoke, therefore we are not to place ourselves in a worship situation with unbelievers.
In verse 7:1 Paul concludes urging the believer, on the basis of these promises, to follow through on his separation from apostasy where necessary.
When we study the book of Revelation we read the letters to the seven churches, the last one being written to the Laodicea or apostate church. It can hardly be denied that the majority of churches today have given in to and become a part of the apostasy.
“Therefore, COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE,” says the Lord.
(2) Those who still claim to be Christians but have departed from the faith.
“positive” so as to “offend” no one; and b) The naive, who are genuinely deceived by false prophets/teachers.
Apostasy, of course, in some measure, has existed as long as the church. (most of the epistles involve, to some extent, correction of false doctrine and practice that was already in the early church in the days of the apostles.) It is the mushrooming, widespread incidence of the apostasy described under 2) above, however, among those who claim to be Christians, that I believe Scripture points to as a specific sign of the last days just prior to Christ return.
Christ’s warning made several things clear: 1) The major sign of the nearness of His coming would be religious deception by professing Christian leaders; 2) A central feature of the deception would be false prophets showing “great signs and wonders,” which, though convincing, would also be false; 3) The repetition of the word, “many,” indicated that this religious deception would be widespread, apparently worldwide; and 4) The words Christ’s, prophets, signs and wonders, and elect indicated that the deception would be among professing Christians, i.e., inside the church.
“When the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” Eph. 1:7, Col. 1:14. Time on this earth is quickly drawing to a close. Let us determine once again to remain true to and earnestly contend for “the faith once delivered unto the saints.” And in that perseverance, may our example give renewed courage and conviction to many others – and may we rescue many before it is forever too late.
Now Paul knows that it takes strong men to stand against this. He was one, he wanted Timothy to be one and certainly this became Scripture so that God might call us to be among those who take strong stands. Contend and confront is what I would call it. And there are very few who would do this or are willing to do this, contend for the faith and confront those who aren’t. There are a lot of pastors, leaders, and Christians that recognize this apostasy in the church but there seem to be few who want to get involved as stalwart soldiers with an uncompromising resolute commitment to stand against the tide that flows against the truth. And if you take strong stands and if you’re a non-compromising resolute kind of defender of the faith, the enemies of the faith attack you but some within the faith who are weak can’t understand what you’re so exercised and excited about. They don’t even understand the nature of the spiritual warfare and they treat the real fighters as if they were some off-balance fanatics.
What more could Satan do to try to destroy the church than undermining God’s Word, shifting the focus off Christ, and minimizing holy living? We all need to be praying that the Lord would elevate the authority of His Word, the glory of His Son, and the purity of His people in the evangelical church. May the Lord revive us!
The gospel message is a confrontational message. When you remove the confrontation-or soften, downplay, or bring it in through the back door-you have compromised the message. The modern pulpit is weak, not for a lack of witty messages, but because men fear to speak the hard truths of God’s Word powerfully and with conviction.
The strategy of church-growth today focuses on attracting and keeping the unchurched. For what? To entertain them? To get them to attend church meetings regularly? Merely “churching” the unchurched accomplishes nothing of eternal value. That is where their strategy seems to end. We need to set our strategy for church ministry, right here and right now. And it needs to be straightforward, a Christ-centered proclamation of the unadulterated Word of God. If you trade the Word for amusements or gimmicks, you will not only find that you have no effective means to reach people with the truth of Christ, but you will find yourself working against the Lord Himself. The Pastor needs to “Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction” (2 Timothy 4:2). Why should we proclaim the wisdom of men when we have the privilege of preaching the Word of God? The truth of God does not tickle our ears. It burns them. It reproves, rebukes, convicts– then it exhorts and encourages. Preachers of the Word must maintain that balance.
not embrace such confusion in the name of charity or unity. We have to stand and fight for the truth–and be prepared to die for it–as faithful Christians always have.
But as long as Christians are being duped or intimidated into softening the bold claims of Christ and widening the narrow road, the church will make no headway against this emerging church’s new view. We need to recover the distinctiveness of the gospel. We need to regain our confidence in the power of God’s truth. And we need to proclaim boldly that Christ is the only true hope for the people of this world. That may not be what people want to hear. But it is true nonetheless. And precisely because it is true and the gospel of Christ is the only hope for a lost world, it is all the more urgent that we rise above all the voices of confusion in the world and say so.
But the pastor who turns away from preaching sound doctrine abdicates the primary responsibility of an elder: “holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, that he may be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict” (Titus 1:9).
We’re told to contend for the faith…If we leave those outside; Mormons, Seventh Day Adventists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and those inside without a challenge we’re taking the chance of letting someone else miss the truth and going to hell.
With their eternities at stake, it doesn’t make much difference to me if I hurt someone’s feelings… Especially those who promote lies.
I have thought of this for a while. 1. Challenge the minister or false teacher to teach what is in the Bible. 2. Withhold funds and ask others to do the same, but not to deprive the Lord. Set them aside, and when the errors or teachings are corrected give the tithe back to the church. 3. Leave the church to seek out a Bible based church such as the ICN, inform the board of what you are doing and give the withheld tithe to that church. And, you may also have Bible study at your home independent of church to correct the errors of the teaching. I think there are more ways, I know there are, but the fastest way is attendance and money. If there is false teaching they are more grounded in the ways of the world than of the Word so remove the things of the world that they are interested in.
I wish I had time to write something. I will say at least this, there is absolutely nothing wrong with how you are doing it and to tell you the truth, more Christians should be sounding the alarm. You have been respectful, but forthright. You have spoken from scripture and allowed scripture to answer. Without that final authority all our doctrine becomes opinion and conjecture. We are all called to discern and expose darkness, searching the scriptures to see if what men say are true, even if it is questioning Paul himself. Let God be true and every man (and their manuals) a liar. May God’s fire go before you, and may He strengthen your heart to unashamedly defend the true gospel of Jesus Christ.
The classic verse promoting apologetics (the defense of the Christian faith) is 1 Peter 3:15, which basically says that believers are to make a defense “for the hope that you have.” The only way to do this effectively is to study the reasons for why we believe what we believe. This will prepare us to “demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ,” as Paul said we should (2 Corinthians 10:5). Paul practiced what he preached; in fact, doing apologetics was his regular activity (Philippians 1:7). He refers to apologetics as an aspect of his mission in the same passage (v.16). He also made apologetics a requirement for church leadership in Titus 1:9. Jude, an apostle of Jesus, wrote that “although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints” (v.3).
Those who oppose these clear biblical teachings and examples may say things like “the Word of God does not need to be defended!” But which of the world’s writings are the word of God? As soon as someone answers that, he is doing apologetics. (How well he does it might be another story!) Some claim that human reason cannot tell us anything about God—but isn’t that a “reasonable” statement about God? If not, then there is no reason to believe it, and if so, then they have contradicted themselves. A favorite saying is, “If someone can talk you into Christianity, then someone else can talk you out.” Why is this a problem? Did not Paul himself give a criterion by which Christianity should be accepted or rejected in 1 Corinthians 15? It is only misplaced piety that answers in the negative.
Now, none of this is to say that bare apologetics, free from the influence of the Holy Spirit, can bring someone to saving faith. This creates a false dilemma in the minds of many. But it does not have to be “Spirit vs. Logic.” Why not both? We must not confuse the fact that the Holy Spirit is required to move one into a position of belief with how He accomplishes this feat. With some people God uses trials; in others it is an emotional experience; in others it is through reason. God can use whatever means He wants. We, however, are commanded to use apologetics in as many or more places as we are told to preach the gospel. How is it then that all churches affirm the latter but so many ignore the former? | 2019-04-19T02:22:10Z | https://reformednazarene.wordpress.com/category/apologetics/ |
The debt limit in the United States is currently not an object of worry, but it represents one possible avenue to default. From the perspective of a non-American, it is rather difficult to understand how such a strange custom could arise. This article outlines very briefly the history of the debt limit, and then moves to discuss the risks associated with it. This issue underlines the argument that default risk in floating currency sovereigns is political risk, not financial.
For my background comments I am relying heavily on the report "The Debt Limit: History and Recent Increases" by D. Andrew Austin, of the Congressional Research Service. (Thanks to Rohan Grey for sending me the reference.) I will refer to it at various points later. The real meat of the discussion of the debt limit is going to be legal: what happens when it is hit, and the Treasury runs out of work-arounds? From my perspective, all I can safely write is that readers should seek their own legal counsel on such questions.
Instead, I want to focus on the general principles, and how investors should judge the risk of something going horribly wrong as a result of the debt limit.
(This article is a very preliminary draft of a section that would appear on a potential book on default risks; it will be fleshed out with more references once my line of thinking has solidified.
What is the Debt Limit, and Why Does it Exist?
What makes this limit a source of trouble is that the debt limit is set in legislation that is distinct from the laws that set tax rates and spending budgets. If the Federal government runs a large enough deficit -- as determined by laws set by Congress -- the associated debt could surpass the limit, which is set by the very same Congress.
From the perspective of a Canadian, and presumably other countries that follow the British parliamentary system (I'm familiar with the system in the United Kingdom), this seems incredible. The difference for a country like Canada is straightforward: the Minister of Finance is a key cabinet minister of the government, and the Ministry of Finance (that executes the budget planning and almost entirely handles the financial operations for the government) reports directly to the minister. The budget is a unified plan, and includes discussion of borrowing operations. Although the parliamentary system allows for some freedom for lawmaking by backbench members of parliament (which is no longer true in Canada), the budget is a "take it or leave it" proposition from the cabinet. If the budget is not passed, the government will dissolve parliament and call for new elections. Furthermore, the Canadian Senate (counterpart of the House of Lords) has almost no right to touch spending bills. The end result is that the budget is always going to be a unified plan, prepared by responsible adults, and will be internally consistent.
Conversely, the United States has a mandated separation of powers. The Congress passes laws, and the Executive Branch (which reports to the President) (unsurprisingly) executes the laws. The Treasury -- which manages borrowing -- is in the executive branch. It has no choice but to follow the laws passed by Congress, which may or may not be internally consistent.
Furthermore, the Congress is split between the Senate and the House of Representatives, and both bodies are involved in lawmaking. To top it off, various committees are involved in the determination of fiscal policy.
While the budget process provides Congress with one means of controlling federal spending, the debt limit may provide a different sort of leverage that is not redundant. Congress ordinarily delegates work to its committees. The Committees on Appropriations have special responsibilities regarding discretionary spending, and authorizing committees are generally responsible for mandatory program spending decisions, while Committees on the Budget are tasked with drafting an overall budgetary framework that specifies aggregate levels for federal spending and taxation. While those committees often incorporate views of other committees and Members, measures involving the debt limit often provide individual Members not belonging to those committees with a separate instrument to influence federal fiscal policy.
In other words, it gives politicians who have not snagged a committee membership some say in fiscal policy.
As outlined in Austin's report, the debt limit represents an improvement in Congressional lawmaking. Previously, Congress authorised specific debt issuance; by creating the unified limit, the Treasury was given the flexibility to manage debt issuance more efficiently, while preserving Congress' constitutional responsibilities.
What Happens When the Limit is Hit?
The conventional framing of what happens when the United States is running a deficit and hits the debt limit is straightforward. (The report by D. Andrew Austin accepts conventional framing.) Since the Treasury has very limited ability to sell assets, it needs to issue debt to "finance" the deficit. (There are limited workarounds in practice, as discussed below.) When it can no longer issue debt because of the debt limit, it cannot meet all the legal spending obligations given to it by Congress. A standard argument is that the Treasury cannot prioritise spending on its own, so it would be forced to miss all of its contractual obligations. Principal and interest payments on Treasury securities are such obligations, and so a default on bond payments would be required.
The strange part of the discussed scenario is that the default only arises because of inconsistent laws passed by the same branch of government. Since the debt limit itself exists solely because of law, any such default would have to be considered a political decision.
One concern with the conventional framing revolves around the underlying monetary operations. For simplicity, we will assume that the Federal government spends solely by issuing cheques (checks in American); no new-fangled electronic transfers. The Treasury has a "chequing account" at the Federal Reserve, with a balance. When a Treasury cheque is cashed, the Federal Reserve drops the Treasury's account balance by the amount of the cheque, and it increases the balance of the bank at the Federal Reserve. That is, it creates "bank reserves" by the amount of the cheque. The private bank has a new asset that it holds against the increase in the deposit of its customer (that cashed the cheque).
The conventional assumption is that the Federal Reserve will not honour any cheques issued by the Treasury that result in it having a negative balance in its account. That is, it will returned on the grounds of non-sufficient funds (or "bounced").
The question then arises: does the Federal Reserve have the legal authority to bounce Treasury cheques? If so, which ones? Let's take a simple example. Assume that the Treasury has a balance of $100, and it has two cheques for $75 cashed in the same day. Will it bounce one, or both? If the Federal Reserve does not have the authority to make that decision, the end result is that both cheques have to be honoured, and the Treasury will end up with a $50 overdraft. Such an overdraft is not unprecedented in central banking history. Even if such an overdraft is against some law or regulation, bouncing the cheques is probably against other laws or regulations. Congress will have to clean up the mess created by its own internally inconsistent laws.
Some have suggested that the Fourteenth Amendment (Section 4), which states that “(t)he validity of the public debt of the United States ... shall not be questioned,” could provide the President with authority to ignore the statutory debt limit. President Obama has rejected such claims, as have most legal analysts.
I will not pursue this argument, although I would note that it would give most conventional economists the vapours. It implies that the Federal government can completely abolish issuing debt. For the rest of the article, I will assume that this line of argument is not being pursued, and that the Treasury needs to keep a positive balance at the Fed at all times.
There are a number of ways for the Treasury to juggle its accounts and keep debt below the limit. These extraordinary measures have been a feature of the various political standoffs around the debt limit historically, as documented in the Austin article. They are mainly accounting exercises that have almost no effect on the real economy. They stretch out the timeline before the limit is binding on policy, and allows for political drama and posturing.
The next method is for the Treasury to delay payments that do not have a fixed time limit. That is, lengthen payment times on accounts payable. This is costly, as this incurs an interest expense that the government is legally required to give as recompense. Such a step will have an effect on the real economy, as vendors will end up with less liquidity than planned, and one can imagine this being magnified into becoming a general flight to liquidity, which is a characteristic of financial crises.
Historically, these workarounds allowed the Treasury to stick at its cap for a known period of time. This allowed everyone to posture and then cut a deal.
Is This a Real Risk?
It is not particularly novel to note the importance of big donors in modern politics. In general, the donor class will not benefit from a potential collapse of the financial system. Therefore, one would argue that the default scenario should be that a deal is cut at the last minute.
I am somewhat more cautious. (As a disclaimer, I own Treasury securities via exchange-traded funds at the time of writing, so I am obviously not deeply concerned about default risk.) The problem I see lies in what I view as unhealthy trends in politics. These trends are there in other countries, but are accentuated in the United States.
Anyone allergic to political discussion might consider stopping reading after this sentence, but one must note that it is difficult to discuss political risk without in fact discussing politics.
It is relatively common to argue that politics is more polarised in recent decades. That is a point that could be debated. If we do accept that politics is indeed more polarised, then there is a greater willingness to risk a crisis to force a change of direction. One can point to both parties using the debt limit as a stick to push their agenda.
However, I would argue that the risks are more concentrated within one political party: the Republicans. The demise of the "country club Republicans" has led to a feistier Republican base. (My own political views are best described as being in the free market wing of the Canadian prairie populism, which gives me some overlap in economic views with Eisenhower Republicans. I do not pay much attention to current politics, but closely observed the final demise of the country club Republicans in the early 1990s.) One result of the polarisation of the Republican base was a greater willingness to entertain a fairly radical strategy: use the debt limit as a means to create a de facto "balanced budget amendment." If the amount of debt is not allowed to rise (and an Treasury overdraft not permitted), the budget would have to be balanced.
Are there free market ideologues willing to risk a financial crisis in order to cripple the welfare state? Almost certainly, although they would not be happy to use that phrasing; they will typically argue that crisis can be avoided by bouncing the cheques for welfare recipients, while making all the payments due to bondholders.
Any lender has to make judgements about borrowers. Two factors are paramount: capacity to pay, and willingness to pay. There is little doubt about the U.S. Federal Government's capacity to pay; the willingness to pay is where the problem is going to lie.
At present, the risks seem small (particularly with a Republican President). That said, political developments in recent years have been throwing up many negative surprises.
The Congressional debt limit is a somewhat unique feature of American politics. The risks posed by its existence should be minimal, but that assessment is reliant on a willingness for compromise among the political class.
The Bank of Canada manages the auctions of Government of Canada bonds, but as they always emphasise, they do so on the behalf of the Ministry of Finance.
That's an assertion based on my memory. Will need a reference, or cut the text.
His citation is as follows. Adam Liptak, “The 14th Amendment, the Debt Ceiling and a Way Out,” New York Times, January 24, 2011; Remarks by the President at University of Maryland Town Hall, available at https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2011/07/22/remarks-president-university-maryland-town-hall. For a legal analysis, see CRS congressional distribution memorandum, Whether the Public Debt Clause Authorizes the President to Borrow Money in Excess of the Debt Ceiling, December 21, 2012, by Kenneth R. Thomas.
Best read with a Dr. Evil voice.
I believe that was Warren Mosler's line during the last Debt Ceiling Crisis.
Loved your post as it attempts to focus discussion on the realities of the process and how things might play out. It made me do some thinking and question asking here at work to get a better idea how FED settlement works when the payments are coming from the Treasury.
My gut says that the FED would honor all of the payments; that it has to. The caveat I’d add is that it may not debit the Treasuries account, but it would have to debit something and would have to make good on the payment.
Here’s why I say that… Let’s take the example of a person (A) who deposits/cashes a check from another person (B) who does not actually have the funds. What happens… the check gets credited to person A’s account. The bank sends the check for clearing and settling. The FED takes all the checks each day from A’s bank and B’s bank out and nets everything. That includes netting the accounts at the FED of both banks. Bank B will at some point will determine that person B does not have funds to cover that check and will send the check back through the process in reverse.
The FED, in this situation, is just a middle man. In the case of the US Treasury the FED is also one of the institutions directly involved. Also, there are orders of operation that would likely leave the FED paying the bill regardless. As I understand it, the FED performs account settlement at night. So in the case of say Social Security payments, the receiving bank obtains files during the day which are used to credit customer accounts. The actual settlement of payments between the US Treasury and each bank (the netting of payments to banks and to the Treasury) occurs at night - afterwards. This is why the FED can’t be the arbitrator of individual payments, because it only first knows what payments are being made; it’s not until the end of the day before the FED knows actually how much the Treasury is short.
If a normal bank overdraws its FED account, the FED automatically brings it to zero and all payments continue. This is operationally how the Discount Window works. If the US Treasury has zero in its account, the FED is not supposed to provide it overdraft by law. However, the FED also, “shall maintain long run growth of the monetary and credit aggregates commensurate with the economy's long run potential to increase production, so as to promote effectively the goals of maximum employment, stable prices, and moderate long-term interest rates.” Which means it needs to ensure those payments get completed/settled because if it doesn’t then the financial system is likely short BILLIONS, probably $10’s of billions, of dollars every day. If it doesn’t just clear the payments that shortage would show up in rising Federal Fund Rates or banks piling into the discount window and or banks not meeting their capital ratios or acting differently because they are going to be taking a capital hit until the situation is resolved. The FED can’t maintain its mandate and not clear the payments one way or another.
Thanks. I deliberately simplified things, and I also wanted to explain the worry. If I argued that default is impossible, why does everyone care about the debt ceiling?
That’s like asking how do you convince a flat Earther that the Earth is round.
While I’d still agree policy error or political choice could still yield default, for most people they just don’t understand the mechanisms and just assume it’s a red line that with hard coded features – it’s not and again that’s what I loved about your article it makes you think beyond the political babble.
Oh.. And for some, it’s politically expedient to keep caring about the debt ceiling. | 2019-04-25T06:16:56Z | http://www.bondeconomics.com/2018/11/the-us-debt-limit-preliminary-primer.html |
My problem is that I can't log in to Windows unless I disable my VGA card in safe-mode.
I have NVidia 820m (laptop). It was fine until my recent update of the driver. Now I uninstalled the driver then installed it again. But the problem is still there.
download, install, and run the uninstaller from the above link then do a google search for opera browser. Thats your best bet at this point.
Check whether the new account has access to the directory where you keep your html files. Maybe there's a permissions problem.
It sounds like you have Malware on the system. Especially the "Hi %1 bit"
I would boot from a USB stick with virus scanners on it and run scans.
'The User Profile Service service failed the log on. User profile cannot be loaded'.
Selecting OK causes the computer to shut down only to restart almost immediately back at the password and the process repeats over again.
Computer is a Dell studio laptop with windows xp operating system.
Hope you can help, a user gets a couple of RUN DLL errors when he logs into his PC.
They cant find certain DLL's on the PC, the user clicks OK and carry's on working.
I would just like the error pop-ups to stop if possible?
You need to do a virus scan. I have been fighting a trojan downloader that installs this and lots of other fun spyware on the computer. Norton does not see this as a virus, but every other AV program I have run does.
You may want to run an online virus scan. www.antivirus.com is the one I use. Make sure to click auto clean.
After removing the virus, I have had to run spyware removal tools to get the rest of the garbage off the machines that had this. I used spybot, ad-aware and microsoft AS to do this. Took all 3 to get it all.
I submitted this to Symantec and they called it spyware and would not update their defs to catch this. Avast did a great job of cleaning it up.
Hope you can help, a user in the office get a couple of RUN DLL errors come up when he logs into his PC.
They are say they cant find these certain DLL's on the PC, the users clicks the OK button and its fine.
Just want to know how to remove the RUN DLL pop-ups if someone knows how?
That computer is probably infected.
I would click on Report and kindly ask to be moved to the Virus & Other Malware Removal forum. Be sure to provide the appropriate reports in that forum after reading THIS. From there, be patient. The malware removal experts are very busy! You should get an answer within the next 48 hours.
Hello! I have one strange problem, I am using my computer with my brother, and we are having 2 accounts on this comp, usally, we keep our profile loggen in, and often when computer is on, we both are logged in each of our user account, but problem is, that if one of us is logging of, or switching users (if both of as are in online mode) windows is logging off the one account, but after log out, it shows blank screen, computer is still running, but it just becomes freezed.. this ain't happening only if I log of my account and my bro loggs into his account and when I need to log in, he logs out and then I go to my account. I hope you understood my problem.
Originally, when I transferred to another user, I was presented with the user names and could choose one without logging off completely from the current user, i.e. when I returned, open files would remain open.. Something unknown happened and now it is necessary to log off completely from the present user (and close all files) before selecting another user. How do I get back to the original procedure?
Q: Windows 8 Auto user log in problem.
I have some strange problem where every time I switch on my computer it will log into another user account and if I switch users it will automatically log in to the same account, and it is very frustrating, I had the normal auto log in problem before and a user messaged me on how to fix it which worked (Changing registry and inheritance but after awhile another problem has appeared. I thought it was just the same problem but the registry hasn't changed. I did find that if I disable the account it will eliminate this but I do not want to do that seeing as how one day it might randomly appear again on another username.
I did this on my old laptop and it worked perfectly.
Now I've done the same thing on my new laptop. It works but stangely, the folder still appears in c\users.
I'm sure i've done the right thing, what is causing this? Could it be a bad install of windows? Please let me know if you have a idea!
If you log into that user it is going to have a user directory, regardless if you have the user hidden or not.
Don't you have the option to just switch users as this would not log a user off(which would close everything) and instead it leaves them logged on and lets you select another user. I've had several programs/internet windows up and never had any problems with them closing just from switching users. Any further details you could provide would be wonderful, like do you have the option to switch users when you hit start -> shutdown?
Q: Problem with user names (accounts) in Windows XP Pro!!!!!!!!
A:Problem with user names (accounts) in Windows XP Pro!!!!!!!!
On a w2k-sp4 pc, my booting process starts looping with "Loading your personal parameters" when it reaches "Recording your parameters". That's the point where you hear the jingle which goes on indefinitely.
Since it's inside the opening of the User Session, probably that my profile is somewhat corrupt.
Safe Mode leads to the same loop.
FYI, I can access w2k files through an XP I have on that pc operating in dual boot mode.
are you using a login/password?
i've never seen "recording your parameters" in w2k/sp4 as it boots.
Q: [SOLVED] Windows XP Pro SP3, problem with domain, user login..
A:[SOLVED] Windows XP Pro SP3, problem with domain, user login..
You could then fix mom's computer as well as accessing files. One caveat. Without a VPN it's not secure.
The user profile service has failed the logon. User profile cannot be loaded.
Today Windows Update Installed that same update again and the same problem arose which I again fixed with system restore.
Does anyone have any thoughts on this, like why should this update be causing my User Profile not to load ?
Hi, RockLobster, and welcome to the forums.
Hide the update in Windows Update so it won't try to install it.
Manually download the Windows Search 4.0 update from Microsoft.
See if that causes the same problem - if so, revert to your newest System Restore.
login with admnistrative account because there is no switch user button on login screen. Even if I click on switch user button from start menu this will load the login screen with the power user and I don't have any option to change the username.
How can I get rid from this?
This concerns my mother's 2-year-old Toshiba laptop. My mother says that sometimes she is suddeny thrown out of her computer - when she is on the internet, or reading her e-mails etc.- whatever she is doing is interrupted without warning by a Windows Update screen telling her to wait and that Windows Update is updating her computer. Then the computer shuts down/reboots. And my mother has to start anew with whatever she was doing. Is this a Windows Update setting thing? My mother says that she has had this problem from the very start (she thinks so at least).
Update: okay, I checked my mother's laptop myself. It seems that there is a Windows Update feature my own laptop doesn't have: after downloading the updates, a nagging Windows Update box with a sort of timer/countdown function appears, asking whether the computer should be restarted, or the installation of the updates postponed. If neither of these options are chosen, then it will reboot automatically in 5 minutes. So...how do I get rid of that pesky box?
- I cannot see/find (from the start prompt) "local security policies"
- "Manage Computer" does not show "Users & Groups".
These are only available in the Pro version of Windows 7.
You should not need to rename the hidden Administrator group. When logging into the Hidden Administrator Account you activated, you cannot create a new user in Control Panel?
to the Windows 2003 server: Connecting as another user is only supported when connecting to a computer running Windows Vista or later.
7 Event Viewer to view logs on a Windows 2003 server with different user credentials?
Q: Problem running applications in Administrator User Mode in Windows Vista Ultimate.
I have a Dell Inspiron 530 running Windows Vista Ultimate.
My problem is that when I Log In to the Administrator Mode I start seeing many errors pop up.
In addition to this I can’t get into some applications and they sometimes get errors. I can however get into Internet Exployer but not Firefox. The strange thing is that when I Switch Users and Log into the non administator mode everything works fine. I realized all this was happening when I was trouble shooting a bug in the Adobe software with Adobe technical support. I turns out I can’t fix the Adobe problem until I fix this or so they say.
A:Problem running applications in Administrator User Mode in Windows Vista Ultimate.
Work through these steps for Troubleshooting Windows 7 Failure to Start.
The steps begin with disinfection from Safe Mode or boot disk, since if Win7 is badly infected it may not repair until cleaned up. Then everything possible to start it is sequenced.
I would also do the hardware tests provided before rescuiing the data to run Recovery or get the superior Clean Reinstall.
I recently added an admin user to my comp. and the problem is that now when i reboot i have to either select admin or myself. i do a lot of remoting to my comp when im away and if i need to reboot im gonna be stuck because the comp will not automatically reload my profile. If there is no way to do this, how can i delete a user from the comp. Ill just get rid of the admin user.
From an Administrator account, click Start, Run and enter CONTROL USERPASSWORDS2. Remove the check mark from Users must enter a username and password and click Apply. Follow the prompts.
See if that helps. Good luck!
Q: Windows 2000, power user, adminstrator user etc?
Can I use the different user types in Windows 2000 to pick and choose what programs my kids can use? I have a few semi-violent computer games I would rather not let my children play or see. Is this part of the different user levels is capable of? If so, do I have to log off, and then let my child log on to make this work? If not, is there another program that does this, or one that perhaps adds a password to get into certain games or programs?
A:Windows 2000, power user, adminstrator user etc?
You'd be better off asking in Win2000 bit, but I'm learning it at the moment, so I'll have a go.
Yes, you can restrict them. You will have to log off, but as you are the main person who sets up the other users, ie your children, then you will act as the administrator. You can block acces to many things.
Now, as I say, I'm just beginning, but others will have a better chance. Go to Control Panel | Users and Passwords icon.
If the User must enter a password...is not ticked, tick it.
You can modify the account. Click Advanced, Advanced button under Advanced user managegment. In the Local Users and Groups window, doubleclick Users folder, and then doubleclick the user you wish to modify.
This bit I'm a little cagy on, but you could try with trial and error.
Hey peoples, i've just reinstalled windows (mylast installed killed itself).
I backed up my documents and settings folder (dads important business stuff in there). After installing this fresh copy of windows. I realised that dad had made the acount private.
Theres a lot of stuf fin there we really need (most of its backed up though, thank god).
It wont let me access it. Anyone know how to get in? is it even possible!?
I really need this to work guys, plz help!
I am using windows xp with two user accounts. Both desktops have minimal folders and stuff on desktops. The problem is when either user tries to go from the user page to the individual desktop. Very slow, sometimes paints black screen for sometime, sometime repaints desktop few times, sometimes goes back to user page.. and sometimes actually goes directly to the desktop.. very confusing. Anybody got any ideas what is causing this software behavior.
log into your user, go to control panel, administrative tools, event viewer and look at the logs. What error messages are the failed login generating?
Upon Installing afresh XPSP2 Home Edition, I made a mistake when opening a new desktop account that I share with another. For myself I entered the name "Lary" when in fact I wanted "Larry".
My folder is still mispelled Lary.
" Lary is a windows system folder and is required for windows to run properly. It cannot be moved or renamed"
If the computer is running fine. I would leave well enough alone. Pain in the but, but if it does not affect performance....why fix it, if it aint broke?
But, if you would truly like to change it. that is beyond me. maybe someone else has an idea.
I have 3 users set up on my PC, running Windows XP. 2 users are fine, no problems with internet, just click, click, click.
The internet on my MAIN user runs VERY slow. I am talking 1 to 1 1/2 minutes to open one internet page to another after clicking on it. And, I am running verizon FIOS.
I purchased & ran UniBlue registry repair. I didn't see any difference.
Since this is my Main user account for my business, what are my options? Save and delete and then start over? OR..........is there something else I can try?
This is "user specific" and only with my main user.
Right click on "My Computer."
Expand "Local User and Group."
Right click on the "New User" folder and select "Add New User."
hi to all, i dont no if if i am posting it at right place, any wayz, i got some problem with vista, i have bought a new laptop wid vista on it, but ihave install adobe illstrator and corel Draw on it, installation went ok but now i am trying to open it but i does not allow me to open that program, as it says hat i dont have proper privilage , log on from user with adminstrative privilages, and i am already log in from administrator. please help me, any help would me much appriciated. thanks alot.
Hi, Welcome to TSG! You are right, this room is for introductions only, a moderator will move it to the correct area.
Q: log in under user name problem?
A:log in under user name problem?
It sounds like the malware is blocking both AVG and Malwarebytes. Try running MBAM in safe mode.
Right this is my problem, up untill yesterday everything was OK, I had 2 users both with administrator priveliges one was my name and the other just said Administrator, the gust was off. Then I switched to just Administrator, now every time I boot up the administrator loads first and I have to switch user to get to my normall desktop. Ive tried to delete the administrator but I cant, there is no option to delete. All I want to do is get back to MY NAME desktop, Ive tried to restore but there was no restore settings.
This will now load the Welcome Screen where you have to click your name and enter a password (if you have one). If you want to load your profile automatically (in the same way the 'Admin' profile is loading at the moment, let me know and i'll explain what you need to do.
I having a problem with my XP SP2 system when I create a new user. When logging in with the new username, explorer.exe does not start and will not start if I try to run it from Task Manager. I have searched here but cannot find a similar problem mentioned. Any help would be appreciated.
I failed to say that this only occurs when creating a user with a limited account. If the new account has administrative powers, it works just fine.
been search for awhile now and cant seem to find my similiar problem.
accessing the computer via network, username is owner, but password matches for IronServer7.
Easy way... create a new account... move your stuff over... delete the old one.
My laptop came pre-configured from the manufacturer (Digital Storm, though that isn't relevant) and they assumed that the name of the default, admin account would be the name of the purchaser (my Brother). Since it's -my- computer, I would prefer to have it in my name.
The name of the account I've changed to my name from Control Panel.
Unfortunately you cannot change the name of the actual C:\Users\(user-name) folder. Only the name that appears for the account at log on and in the Start Menu.
A workaround for this is to create a new administrator account with the name you want. Next copy the contents of all of the folders (including contents in hidden AppData subfolders) in the old account's C:\Users\(user-name) folder into the corresponding new account's C:\Users\(user-name) folder. After everything checks out ok, you can delete the old account from within the new one.
In attempting to install a router I inadvertently setup a confusing array of user/administrator accounts which leaves me unable to log in as administrator. Two things 1) My description of the problem leaves people confused and unable to help. 2) Given that people can't really know what my intent is in trying to log in as admin. there are obvious ethical issues involved. It's understandable. I want all those user accounts wiped out so I can just start up without logging in as I did before. Will re-installing Windows do that?
I'm sorry, but that's the entire point of using a standard user. Locking the user out of anything that might damage/screw up the PC. Standard user can only use normal programs already installed.
I suggest to run with an admin account, with UAC turned on at max safety AND the screen dimming thing when you see the popup.
That screen dimming and lag isn't just cosmetic and annoying.
It is supposed to lock down any other program and accept input ONLY from hardware keyboard and mouse (hence the lag).
This to avoid malware from simply doing its stuff and clicking Ok on the popup (which would be pretty trivial).
You might see if this may be able to help with the "Other user" issue.
If needed, you could enable the built-in "Administrator" account at boot.
OK this is the problem I'm talking about.. I've kinda made a bit of progress.
in the IIS manager, I've left the virtual directory as anonymous access, then on the folder its self I have changed the NTFS security properties, so only certain users have access (not the account that IIS uses for anonymous access), the login box now comes up so I can login, but then once inside that area there is a 2nd secured section (different username/password required) which is where this box appears (see attached file), or I get this straight away if I try and access the site from my own machine.. e.g.
all I need to know is why it keeps doing the computername\username or domainname\username and failing the login.
On the system restore being off - possible malware problem.
Q: User Account problem...I think???
So its some thing to do with the MST transaction Manager????
I did not create this group of users at any point and was surprised to find that several of my files in C drive weren't visible today. when I used open in Microsoft word I could however see the files with a lock against them. I saved one of the invisible files on the desktop and in properties --> Security saw that there was no authenticated user group. However, in the C drive files, the ones which are visible, under properties--> security there is the authenticated user group, along with the others such as administrator etc. I dont remember setting up such an account structure. Any help is deeply appreciated.
Authenticated Users as always been there and everyone that logs into the computer is part of it.
Authenticated Users - Includes all users with a valid user account on the computer or in Active Directory services.
My laptop is Dell Inspiron 14R and use windows 7 ultimate 64 bit. I was trying to download itunes but it showed failure and did not respond. Then, I used task manager to close the window. Then, I restart the computer. Now, I see many of my desktop icons missing and also my documents missing. However, those documents are availble in a folder called Uses\Dell folder in C drive. Apart from these problems, the fonts of the internet explorer has changed and its like using a new computer where I have to install programs again. Please help.
Were you able to completely download and install itunes?
Every time I make a new User and log in it loads up with a black screen and the task bar and says that the system as loaded the default profile. This even happens if I log on as the system admin. My original profile loads fine but nothing else. I think It may be because the folder that holds all the basic information to make a new user profile has been deleted from my Users folder. Is there anyway of fixing this? Prohapps a place where I can download and replace that folder? I am using windows 7 ultimate 64bit. System restore has already been tried but the folder was deleted too far back to recover by that method.
Report back and we will try a repair install.
Whenever I log out of one of my accounts on XP it sends the computer into sleep mode or same mode or something. Al I know is I press the log out button and instead of going to the user select screen the monitor goes blank but the computer stays on, I tried pressing Alt Ctrl Del esc but nothing works but restart.
It just goes blank when ever log off, any suggestions?
here is a link to its info page on the official site.
Q: problem with user account ???????
A:problem with user account ???????
You did uninstall the application...then reinstall it, correct?
OK...to make it worse....this morning when I loged on I received a message that Norton staopped its scan becaus ethere was not enough memory. I had just moved 12 GB to an external drive. Now it says I once again only have 1 GB remaining on th ehard drive! Somebodies loading stuff on to my PC.....or it's being used as a host?
Q: new viao 7 user with a problem, can u help me?
A:new viao 7 user with a problem, can u help me?
Newbie here, I hope this is the right place for this post, if not I apologize. The problem I am having is that I tried to installed Office 2007 the other day and Outlook was unresponsive. All other office programs worked fine. I un-installed office 2007 and reloaded Office 2003. Now everything works fine when I am logged into XP. The problem is that when my wife logs into her profile, no programs work and the computer locks up and has to be rebooted. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Q: Problem in Restricted user!
But in newly bought pc's with windows 7 retail version professional,I found that AUTOCAD is working only in users with administrator rights logged in those windows 7 pc's.
Did you install Autocad for ALL users?
I have Win 7 Ultimate and have 3 user accounts, say A (an admin), B (a standard) and C (a standard). I don't seem to notice any problems logging in into user A and B.
However, I noticed that when my daughter tried to log in into her account (i.e user C), she sometimes got a dark blank screen. As far as I remembered, it had happened like twice or three times. I had to do Cnt-Alt-Del, and then chose "log off". Then I tried logging in again and it would normally work.
Yesterday, it happened again, and when I tried to logging in (I tried it twice), it didn't work. So I finally have to restart the PC and then it worked.
I am not sure what the problem is. I would appreciate any help.
Q: 'User Accounts' Problem ... help Please.
Hi, I was wanting to change my log-in password for my main username, as my brother got hold of it. I went to the Control Panel and double clicked 'User Accounts' to get the User Accounts page to pop up. Unfortunatley, it didn't, so I tried it a few more times and nothing happened. I then rebooted my pc and tried again, but the User Accounts window never opened. It has been doing this for 3 months now and is really annoying everyone who uses this pc as we all want to change our log-in names, pictures and passwords. Please can you help me to sort this.
A:'User Accounts' Problem ... help Please.
boot to safe mode, tap f8 as you first start up. | 2019-04-21T06:21:45Z | http://winassist.org/thread/2552544/Windows-7-user-log-in-problem.php |
HOLY COMMUNION – Every Sunday and Saint’s Day, at 8 am; but on the first Sunday of each month after the Morning Service. On Christmas Day, Easter Day, Whitsunday, and Trinity Sunday two Celebrations, one at 8am and the other at mid-day.
BAPTISMS – On the second Sunday in the month, at the 3 o’clock service.
CHURCHINGS – Before any service. There is no fee, but an offering is usually made, as directed by the Prayer Book.
VISITATION OF THE SICK – On information being given to the Rector.
Christmas Decorations and Services – The ringers, as usual, hailed the blessed event commemorated on Christmas Day by a hearty Peal at midnight, another early in the morning and again in the evening. The Decorations in Church also demonstrated in an unmistakable manner the Festival which was to be kept. Evidently great pains had been taken and much taste shewn in their preparation and arrangement, the number of red berries this year adding greatly to the effect of the whole.
The Font and the Cross over the altar have been especially admired. We are glad that our trusty friends to whom the Church has been chiefly indebted for its decorations for so many years received some assistance this time, and have promise of further help another time. There were a goodly number of Communicants at the celebrations, more in fact we believe than any Christmas before. There was also an excellent congregation at Evensong, and a hearty Service. In the afternoon also a short Children’s Service with Carols.
Laying of the Foundation Stone of the New Rectory – On the 14th of last month an interesting ceremony took place which is not likely soon to be forgotten by any of those who were present. On that day in presence of a large concourse of people – chiefly inhabitants of the Village – Countess Manvers laid the foundation stone of the new Rectory. God’s blessing on the work being sought by a Service of Prayer and Praise conducted by the Rector assisted by the Organist and Choir in their Cassocks and Surplices. The Rev Canon Hole (Rural Dean), Rev G Chell, Rev J J Wardale (son of the late Rector), Colonel and Mrs Cator were present, also the Architect J G Finch Noyes (who came on purpose from London), the Builders Messrs Smith and Lunn, and the Clerk of the works, Mr Crocker. At the conclusion of the ceremony the rector addressed a few words of the company present, explaining the reason for substituting a Bible and Prayer Book for the coin usually deposited under the Foundation-Stone, and also on behalf of himself and those present, thanking Lady Manvers for coming: - Before her Ladyship left, a hearty cheer was given, and we hope that her first visit to Eakring will have left on her mind such a favourable impression and she will ere long pay us another visit.
Diocesan Inspector’s Report of S Andrew’s Sunday School – The Rev R H Whitworth examined our Sunday School on Saturday the 12th of last month. We have since received his report which, on the whole, is sufficiently favourable to stimulate all concerned to increased interest and energy; not calculated to make any of us sufficiently satisfied with what has been accomplished. ‘The children (he says) were neat, orderly and attentive. The advance made is not perhaps so great as on the last occasion, but very good and useful work was done. The teaching is clear and definite and must prove in the end very valuable in the diffusion of Christian Truth.’ It is to be regretted that out of 51 on the Books no more than 31 were present at the Examination; some, we know, were ill, but there were others, who, we think, might have been present if a little more interest and effort had been exerted in their behalf by their Parents.
Church Supper and Entertainment – On Tuesday, the 19th of last Month, the Annual Gathering of Church-workers and friends took place at the Rector’s Parish Room, the capabilities of which were stretched to the utmost on this occasion to enable so large a party of find seats at the supper provided for them, the usual guests having been considerably augmented by the Workmen at the New Rectory. Though ample justice was done to the substantial repast provided, yet the exigencies of the occasion had been so well calculated for by Mrs Burson that sufficient was left to have regaled several more if need had required. After supper followed as usual, a Musical Entertainment with an interesting reading, interspersed by Mr Elvidge, entitled ‘Niche by Niche’. The encores with which several of the Songs were greeted showed evidently the appreciation of the Audience of the efforts made to entertain them.
Sunday School Festival – It was the Children’s turn next to have their usual entertainment, and so the following Thursday there was a half-holiday at the Day-School, and the Scholars of the S. Andrew’s Sunday School assembled at the Parish Room at 2.30 pm and went to Church, except a few little ones who were prevented by the severity of the weather from joining the rest. After a short and hearty Service and an Address from the Rector a large party assembled at the Parish Room for Tea, the Parents of the children, as well as other friends, having been invited. Then followed the distribution of the Prizes. A list of the successful competitors is given below. The cheering with which each was greeted as he or she went up to the Rector to receive the reward, showed the good feeling existing among the scholars towards one another. Our friends will be glad to hear that the Sunday School still keeps up its numbers and efficiency under the able superintendence of Mr Packford. It is well worthy of note that no less than four in the 1st Class this time received a first prize, having obtained full marks.
The Lending Library and Guild Meetings announced in last month’s Parish Magazine, have been unavoidably postponed. Also the Choir Concert has been postponed until Tuesday, the 16th of this month. The Confirmation will be held by the Bishop of Southwell (DV) in our Parish Church, on Monday the 22nd at 11 o’clock.
Baptisms – Jan 10th, Phoebe, daughter of John and Ellen Osborn.
Choir Concert – The Concert for the Benefit of the Parish Church Choir, postponed from January, took place in the Rector’s Parish Room, on Tuesday the 16th of last month, and proved in every respect a great success. The room was crowded with an appreciative audience whose interest and enthusiasm were sustained to the end, notwithstanding the programme was a very full one. In addition to our well known friends at home, who were very heartily received, we had the very efficient help on this occasion of much talent, which to a considerable extent was new to an Eakring audience; for besides our old friend Mr Cruft who is always ready on these occasions to lend a helping hand, we had the good fortune to secure the services of the Rev H T and Mrs Hayman of Edwinstowe, the Rev G Gorton and his niece Miss Ashton of Walesby, Miss Sampson of Kneesall, Mr Webb of Kelham and Mr Hatton a friend of Mr Packford. We can assure them of a hearty reception when they pay us another visit, as we hope they will do when we have sufficient inducement to attract them here again. Our friends will be glad to hear that the proceeds amounted to ₤2 12s. 0d., which has been divided among the members of the Choir, whilst the Probationers have not been forgotten.
Confirmation at Ollerton – The readers of our Magazine are aware that a Confirmation was to have been held in our parish Church on Monday the 22nd of last month; as however when the time drew near, it turned out there were hardly any but the Eakring Candidates expected, it was decided that they should join the rest at Ollerton, in which Church (the Service being held at three o’clock) Eleven from our Parish were confirmed by the Lord Bishop of Southwell – namely Herbert Burne, Walter Broome, Charles William Rhodes (Leyfields), Mrs Colton, Minnie Broome, Anna Riley, Frances Highfield, Laura Ann White, Fanny Drabble, Elizabeth Osborn and Fanny Kirkland.
Visit of the Bishop to Eakring – The Bishop and Lady Laura Ridding lunched at Eakring with the Rector and a few friends on their way to Ollerton, and inspected with much interest the Parish Church and the new Rectory, the building of which has made good progress, in spite of hindrances arising from the severity of the weather. It must be a source of gratification to the Parishioners as well as to the Rector that the Bishop expressed himself as so well satisfied with what he saw, for our parish Church should be regarded as a Centre for unity for all in the Parish as ‘Our Father’s House’ dear to all from the religious as well as other associations by which we are drawn to it, as our forefathers have been before us from generation to generation; and the Rectory should be looked upon as not being built for the gratification of an individual, but as intended to be the Centre and Source from whence should issue from generation to generation influences of piety and beneficence to raise the tone and gain the affections of the people; a ready resort for them in their troubles, both bodily and spiritual – the house of one whom they have confidence in as their true friend, of one who is willing to spend and be spent in their service for his Master’s sake.
February 14th John William, Son of Thomas and Alice Farrow.
Board School – On the 3rd of last month the Accounts were Audited at Southwell, by Mr Chamberlain, and on the 11th the School was examined by Her Majesty’s Inspector the Rev C J Sewell and his Assistant Mr Webster, with the following results:- Out of 57 presented for examination 50 Passes in Reading, 47 in Writing, and 34 in Arithmetic, showing a percentage of 77 Passes; whereas last year out of 51 presented for examination there were 41 Passes in Reading, 39 in Writing and 37 in Arithmetic, showing an average of 76 Passes. In consequence of the alteration of the School year which closes now at the end of February instead of the end of November as it used to, 15 months had to be reckoned for Attendance, the average being 65. Besides the 57 in the different standards, there were also 20 Infants presented for examination. Thus it will be seen that there were 6 more in the standards presented this time than last year and 14 more passes. While on one hand there has been an advantage in having 15 instead of 12 months to prepare for the examination, and also in the change giving a longer time after the harvest holidays, yet there have been many drawbacks, as for instance the change of Master and the amount of illness there has been in the Parish during the winter, as well as the severity of the weather. We doubt not that if only the Parents will back up the efforts of the Master by sending their children regularly to school, as they are bound to do, we shall see at the end of another year a great improvement in every respect.
Special Lent Services – The special Services in Church on Friday Evenings have been well attended. The Sermons have been preached by Rev J F H Mills, Rector of Hockerton; Rev J M Dolphin, Vicar of Coddington and Rev W M Benson (of Ollerton) Curate of Edwinstowe. We trust that the good attendance will be maintained on the Fridays which yet remain before Holy Week, when the preachers will be Rev W T Webb, MA, Vicar of Rolleston, on the 9th, and Rev G F Filliter on the 16th, service as hitherto to commence at 7.30. Cottage Lectures have also been held in different parts of the Parish, and one also by the kind permission of Mr and Mrs Marshall at Leyfields, which was well attended. The Rector hopes to have two more before Easter, one of them to be held in the Parish Room on Wednesday the 14th at 7.30 when T Cecil Smith-Woolley (of Collingham) has kindly promised to give an address. During Holy Week there will be the usual services – Holy Communion at 8am, on Maundy Thursday, Services at 8, 10.30, 2 and 7.30 on Good Friday, the story of the Cross at 2 o’clock. On the other days of the week an address at Evensong 7.30 except Saturday. The Rector hopes that notwithstanding the backwardness of farming operations and the prolongation of labour into the Evening, that yet many will be able to avail themselves of the opportunities thus afforded them of help in spending the last and most solemn period of Lent in a profitable manner, and that having thus prepared themselves they will hail the approach of Easter with sincere and heartfelt joy and gladly avail themselves of the privilege of coming on that day to the Lord’s Table either at the Early or Mid-day Celebration.
Burial – March 16th, William Wykes, Aged 87 Years.
Lent and Easter Services – The attendance at the Friday Evening Services during Lent, when there were special Preachers, has been very satisfactory; also during Holy Week , besides the attendances on Palm Sunday and Good Friday, which were considerably in excess of last year, there were not a few who joined attentively in the Evening Services of the days preceding Good Friday; while on Easter Day, when the church looked particularly bright and attractive owing to the labour of love which had been bestowed upon it by skilful hands evidently not unaccustomed to the Work – there was abundant evidence that the people of Eakring have learnt to value this great Festival – the number of Communicants being greater than ever before and the Church being nearly full in the Evening when the service was very hearty, the Choir performing their part in a very creditable manner. Altogether the great improvement this year in the attendances at the Services of the Church during Lent and Holy Week as well as on Easter Day seems to testify to a greater appreciation on the part of our people of the Holy Seasons of the Church; and we cannot for one moment think that, though some may not have attended from the highest motives, the earnest words which have been spoken have been uttered in vain or that the Services of the Sanctuary have been without a hallowing influence on those who have taken part in them.
From the above it would seem that there is plenty of room for improvement, which, however, we doubt not, that Mr Speight will do his best to secure before the Inspector’s next visit, if only the Parents will do their part by seeing that their children attend regularly and punctually, and are not kept away for any insufficient reasons.
Tea and Entertainment in the Board School – On Tuesday in Easter-week the School-room in the afternoon presented a very gay and animated appearance. Evidently something very different to lessons was about to take place, the day had arrived when the Tea kindly provided by the Countess of Manvers in honour of the Laying of the Corner-stone of the new Rectory, was to be partaken of by all the children of the Day School, and at the hour appointed 108 sat down and did justice to what was set before them. Later in the evening there was an Entertainment in which upwards of 100 children took part, consisting of School Songs, Rounds and Recitations. The way in which they acquitted themselves, and in particular in their ‘Action-songs’ has given, we believe, a very general satisfaction to Parents and others, of whom the goodly audience who pretty nearly filled the Room, was composed. It was very evident great pains had been taken in preparing the children beforehand. Miss Speight also sang very nicely a Song entitled ‘Come, Birdie, Come’ and, being encored, ‘The Wishing Cap’. Mr H Speight read an amusing piece called ‘Yorkshire Pudding’ in the Yorkshire dialect.
Vestry Meetings – At a Vestry Meeting held on Tuesday May 4th, Mr John Hurt was appointed Rector’s Churchwarden, and Mr Burne was re-elected as the Parishioners Churchwarden. At the adjourned meeting on Friday the 21st both the Constable’s and the Church accounts were passed. For particulars of the latter we refer our readers to the Balance Sheet at the end of this month’s number of our Magazine.
Gifts to the Church – The Rector has presented a Flag and an Organ to the Parish Church, the latter in memory of his mother the late Lady Louisa Cator. On Sunday the 16th of last month, on the occasion of the opening of the Organ, Sermons were preached in the parish church both Morning and Evening, by the Rev C Webb, Vicar of Mansfield Woodhouse and the Collections amounting to ₤2 were devoted to the Additional Curates Society. Mr J A Edlington presided at the Organ and the Services both Morning and Evening were choral. In the Evening the Church was nearly full.
Eakring Provident Club Anniversary – Tuesday the 18th the day appointed for the Anniversary of our Provident Club (mustering over eighty enrolled members) did not turn out so propitious as regards the weather as its friends could have wished and in fact at one time the down pour of rain threatened to prevent any attempt to carry out the programme for the Sports in Mr Palmer’s field (kindly lent again this year for the occasion) – however ‘all’s well that ends well’ as the saying goes, and so it has proved with our Anniversary, for the Balance in hand after all expenses is this year ₤2 2s. 3d., and in spite of all drawbacks and gloomy forebodings, all went off successfully. The Members mustered in good numbers and together with others who were present, filled the Church, where a short Choral Service was held as usual. Rev H T Hayman, Vicar of Edwinstowe, preaching a hearty and stirring Sermon, taking as his Text Psalm cxlviii 14 ‘Praise ye the Lord’. A Meat Tea was provided in the Rector’s Parish Room, which the members use for the meetings, admission being gained this time as before by ticket. The necessities of the body having been attended to, it was determined in spite of the state of the ground, to carry out the programme of the day, and wonderful to relate! The amount taken at the gate for entrance to the field was more than in former years when we had fine weather; fortunately later on in the afternoon the clouds rolled by and it turned out a fine evening overhead. We only hope that colds were not caught by standing on the wet grass so long. Several of those in the field wound up the evening with a dance in Mr Garland’s barn, which he kindly threw open for their use. We have reason to believe that the Farnsfield Band which was engaged on this occasion, gave general satisfaction. It may be mentioned in conclusion that the Funds of the Club are in a very prosperous condition, and the more the principles on which it is founded are know, the more it is appreciated. The Club now have their own Banner, which was used at this year’s Anniversary for the first time. The Motto that has been adopted is ‘Strive and Thrive’.
Eakring and Rufford School Board – At a meeting of the Board on Friday June 4th Mr George Kirkland (Junior) (of the firm of Messrs Kirkland Solicitors, Southwell) was elected Clerk of the Board in place of Mr Dunkley, who has resigned.
Examination of Board School by the Diocesan Inspector – On Monday June 21st the Rev R H Whitworth, Vicar of Blidworth, Hon. Diocesan Inspector, examined the children of the Board School in religious subjects, 85 being present on the occasion. Considering that they had not been many months under special preparation for this examination they acquitted themselves very creditably, as will be seen from the remarks of Mr Whitworth at the foot of the Report which he has sent – he says ‘This was the first Examination in Religious Knowledge of the Rufford and Eakring Board School, and the result is encouraging. The Bible subjects in Divisions III and IV viz the Book of Genesis and the Gospel according to Saint Matthew were creditably done. The slate work of Division III was fair. The written work of Division IV good generally, five or six papers being very good in writing, spelling and knowledge. The appearance of the children was creditable to their parents – the collective answering was ready and discipline good. Individual reply was weak and hesitating except in Division IV’. The following are the successful competitors for the Prizes for religious subjects, given by the Rector and Mr Speight.
Ruridecanal Conference – on Tuesday June 22nd after a short service in the Cathedral at 1.30pm a conference was held in the North Transept, under the presidency of the Rural Dean (Canon Hole); the Clergy, Churchwardens and Lay representatives of the several parishes in the Deanery of Southwell having been invited to attend. Eakring was represented by the Rector, Mr Burne (the people’s Warden) and Mr Thomas Cooper. The special subject brought before the conference was the necessity of organisation for the defence of the Church. The rules for a branch association in this Deanery of the Church Defence Institution drawn up by a committee appointed some months ago were submitted to the conference and approved, and it was resolved that the members of the said committee should be recognised by the conference as the executive committee of the Southwell Deanery Branch of the Church Defence Institution, with power to add to their number. It was also resolved that efforts should be made to form branch associations in several Parishes of the Deanery. The Rural Dean having announced to the conference his resignation of that office which he has held for 14 years, a vote of thanks to him for his services mingled with regret at his resignation was unanimously passed. We hope that Eakring will not be behind in doing her part in the work of Church Defence and that ere long a Branch Association will be formed in the Parish.
Choral Festival at Southwell – On the first of last month, a large party from Eakring, consisting of the Church Choir and Friends, went to the Annual Festival of the Notts Choral Union, which was held in Southwell Cathedral (as it has been for some years past). At Evensong 3.30 an excellent and eminently practical sermon was preached by the Bishop of Lincoln (Dr King) from Psalm cxlviii. 12, ‘young men and maidens, old men and children, praise the name of the Lord’. (Prayer Book Version). In the interval between our Picnic Dinner and Evensong, Miss Monckton again this year kindly admitted the Eakring party to the pleasure grounds of the Manor House, a privilege which was quite appreciated by them. A pleasant drive home after Tea concluded a pleasant, and we trust, not unprofitable day.
Flower Service – Sunday 11th July was the day fixed for our annual Flower Service, which was of the same character as on former occasions and was held in the Parish Church. The service was hearty, the congregation large, and the bouquets which were brought by the children as offerings were handsomer and more neatly and tastefully arranged than ever before. The day following the Rector took them as usual to the Southwell Union and was particularly requested by the Master of the Union to express to the children who made these offerings, the grateful thanks of himself and the inmates of the house; moreover the Board of Guardians at a meeting held on Friday, the 23rd unanimously passes a vote of thanks for the present of Flowers to the inmates of the Workhouse. The collections in the Parish Church on the 11th, amounting to ₤2 3s. 0d. and a sum of 6s. voluntarily subscribed by the workmen at the new Rectory have been sent to the Newark Hospital and gratefully acknowledged.
Band of Hope Expedition to Oxton – this year the Eakring Band of Hope (the Juvenile Branch of the Church of England Temperance Society) joined in the demonstration at Oxton. The party, which mustered in all, including relations and friends of the young people, not less than 50, spent we are sure, a very pleasant day, starting for the expedition about 10.45 am and not reaching home again till 10 pm.
Outbreak of Measles – School closed. Our readers cannot fail to notice the unusually large list of burials we have to record for last month. It appears that in many villages at the present time there is a great deal of illness, and ours is not an exception. In our case it has shewn itself in an outbreak of measles, in consequence of which the Board School has been closed. It is generally acknowledge that in the case of little children, if they are kept warm and the eruption is not checked, but encouraged to develop itself freely, the disease is not dangerous – we would therefore urgently entreat all parents to attend very carefully to such necessary precautions as they value the lives of the little ones whom God has given to them.
Board School – We are thankful to be able to announce that since the last number of our Magazine was issued the measles which were so prevalent has subsided, and the School has been at work again since the 16th ult, after having been closed for a month. We trust that as soon as ever the harvest is gathered in, the parents will realise equally with the members of the Board and the Master, the importance of seeing that their children attend regularly and punctually, and so do their best to prevent the efficiency of the School being interfered with through any neglect on their part. At the last meeting of the Board (9th ult) Mr Geo. Kirkland, Junr entered on his duties as Clerk to the Board, in succession to Mr Dunkley and we trust that he will give as much satisfaction as Mr Dunkley invariably has done.
Church Sunday School Festival – Our Sunday School Festival has been kept this summer unusually late, not taking place till Tuesday the 17th of last month. The usual Service was held in the Parish Church at 4 o’clock instead of 3 – after which the Prizes were distributed by Mrs Cator (of Ollerton) in the Parish Rooms immediately before Tea, after which the Children and their friends adjourned to Mr Burne’s field (kindly lent for the occasion) where a Cricket Match was played between the Eakring and Kneesall Boys Elevens, which resulted in a draw, the evening closing in before both sides had had even one innings. The rest of the children amused themselves in various ways, several of their elders joining heartily in the games and doing their best to make them happy. At length all assembled once more in the Parish Room and a happy day was concluded by singing the National Anthem and giving several hearty cheers.
The Teachers also each of them received a present from the Rector.
Burial – Aug 8th Joseph Broome, aged 2 years.
The Lay Reader – During the past month Mr and Mrs Packford have left the Parish, having been with us three years, during which time they have rendered valuable help to the Rector, and especially in the managing of the Church Sunday School; they will be missed by many. In Mr Packford’s successor, Mr Wilfrid Whitworth, the Rector has confidence that he has found one who will work cordially with him in his endeavours for the promotion of the best interests of the Church and the Parishioners, who we doubt not, will give him a ready welcome, especially when they know that he can hardly be looked upon as a perfect stranger, seeing that he is the son of a neighbour, and one whom we may now look upon as an old friend – Rev R H Whitworth, Vicar of Blidworth, and Diocesan Inspector, whose voice and presence amongst us many of us have become familiar with.
Board School – School will recommence (DV) on Monday, the 4th of this month, after only a short Harvest holiday, in consequence of the School having been previously closed for a month owing to the outbreak of measles. We trust that all Parents will realise the importance of sending their children at once, and continuing to send them regularly, that they may have a fair chance of keeping up with other children of the same age, and of doing credit to their parents and teachers.
New Rectory and the Harvest Festival – The Harvest Festival has been fixed for the 12th of this month, on which occasion the Rev J E Phillips, Vicar of Hucknall Torkard, has kindly consented to preach. The New Rectory being almost completed, the Rector proposes to take that opportunity of holding a Special Service in the afternoon to invoke God’s blessing on the Building before it is inhabited, after which there will be a Public Tea to which all Parishioners are invited by the Rector. The Rev J M Dolphin, Vicar of Coddington, has kindly consented to give an address. Handbills will shortly be issued stating particulars.
Night School and Reading Room – The drawing in of the days warns us that the winter season is fast approaching; this, we know, is a time which very many find the most convenient for self improvement and we trust that not a few will feel the importance of availing themselves of the opportunities which will shortly be provided (all being well) for that purpose.
A Night School will be opened (DV) on Monday the 11th in the Parish Room at 7.30 under the superintendence of Mr W Whitworth who hopes to be able to carry it on through the winter, three nights a week. The Rector hopes to be in a position very shortly to provide also a Room to be used of an Evening for reading and innocent amusements. It will be well if the readers of this Magazine will make known the opening of the Night School among their young friends; and if Elders will urge those over whom they have an influence not to be backward in using the opportunities now offered to them.
Church Congress and Diocesan Conference – The Month of October is always a busy one for Church folk, as it is almost invariably chosen for the Meeting of the Church Congress, and also in several Dioceses for the meeting of the Diocesan Conference. Some important Town and a good centre in a district is always chosen for the Meeting of the Church Congress which moves about from year to year in different parts of England and Wales, and the number of persons who annually attend it is a proof of the widespread interest in the Church’s work and progress. This year, when the Congress met at Wakefield, was no exception to the rule, the large building erected for the occasion, as well as the rooms in which Sectional Meetings were held, being at times crowded to a very uncomfortable degree.
On the first day (Tuesday October 5th) Service having been held in three of the Churches of the town, the Congress was opened by a very able speech by the Bishop of the Diocese, the Bishop of Ripon, after which meetings were held day after day from the Tuesday until the Friday. In the week following our Southwell Diocesan Conference was held under the Presidency of the Bishop at Derby, the Meeting extending over two days, Thursday 14th and Friday 15th ult. Several subjects having in view the increased efficiency of the Church were ably treated of in various papers and speeches.
Benediction of New Rectory and Harvest Festival – The event, however, of last month of the greatest interest to the inhabitants of Eakring, was, no doubt, the Celebration of the Completion of the New Rectory. This was fixed for the same day as the Annual Harvest Festival, Tuesday the 12th when the day, having begun with the Celebration of the Holy Communion at 8 o’clock, followed by Mattins at 10; a Special Service was held at 3 o’clock, commencing in Church with a few prayers, a psalm, lesson, hymns and a very suitable address from Rev J M Dolphin, Vicar of Coddington, and ending with a few prayers and a hymn in the New Rectory, with the intention of asking God’s blessing on the building now completed and on those who are to dwell therein. Afterwards the Parishioners were entertained in the Board School at a Tea provided by the Rector. Several ladies in the Parish most kindly and willingly lent their assistance in a number of ways which those who are initiated in the mysteries of Tea-making and providing the accessories of a public tea, know well are necessary over and above the mere purchase of the food, to insure the success of such an undertaking.
In spite of the weather, which unfortunately was most unfavourable, there was a large congregation in the Church in the afternoon; the School room was filled three times at least with guests, and at the evening Harvest Thanksgiving the Church was so full that several had to stand out in the porch. The Service was very hearty, the Organist and Choir performing their parts in a very efficient manner. The Church was decorated with much care and taste, and last, but not least, a very earnest and appropriate Sermon was preached by the Rev J E Phillips, Vicar of Hucknall Torkard, from S John vi 32.
NB Night School in Parish Room, Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7.30 pm.
Events of the Past Month – On Tuesday the 2nd a Temperance Meeting was held in the Rector’s Parish Room, which was very fairly attended. Mr Boyd, Organising Secretary of the Church of England Temperance Society for the Diocese of Southwell, gave an interesting and earnest address. The Rector expressed a hope that these meetings would be continued monthly during the winter.
On Tuesday the 16th a Concert took place in the same room, the proceeds of which, about 30/- were given (as was also the case last year) to the Organist whose ordinary salary is hardly adequate to the services for which he is responsible, at the cost, oftentimes of considerable inconvenience in bad weather owing to the distance he has to come. For some reason or other the attendance was not so good as usual.
The Dedication Festival was observed as usual on S Andrews Day the 30th, when there was a Celebration of Holy Communion at 8 o’clock, Mattins at 10, and Evensong (Choral) at 7 o’clock, the Sermon, a very appropriate one, being preached by the Rev R A McKee, MA, Vicar of Farnsfield, who chose for his text S John i 40-41.
The Offertory Collections at Celebration and at Evensong amounted together to ₤1 16s. 0d. which has been sent by the Rector to the Secretary of the Universities Mission to Central Africa in London as a contribution to its funds.
On Monday the 15th the Rector moved into the New Rectory and took up his abode there together with members of his household. His friends will no doubt be pleased to hear of the honour conferred upon him by the Bishop who has appointed him Rural Dean of the Deanery of Southwell, in succession to Canon Hole, who resigned several months ago.
The Season of Advent – We have now entered upon a New Christian Year, which, with its rounds of special seasons, its services and teachings, we must hope, will bring abundant blessings on all, both old and young, rich and poor. We may, however, be sure of this, that the benefits and blessings will be in proportion to our earnestness and zeal in seeking and desiring them, and our faithfulness and diligence in using the means appointed for conveying them.
The following statistics as to the Christian year just ended, will not, we are sure, be without interest to the readers of our Magazine, who take an interest in the spiritual welfare of the Parish.
There have been 17 Baptisms in Church and 8 in Private (being cases of dangerous illness); 17 Burials (double the usual number).
On February 22nd, Eleven from Eakring (three male and eight female) were Confirmed by the Bishop of Southwell in the Church of Ollerton. | 2019-04-18T20:15:57Z | http://www.st-andrews-eakring.org.uk/magazines1886.htm |
Science & Technology Current Affairs 2019 read all the latest Science & Technology Current Affairs Updates for 2019 at Fresherslive.com. This is the right place to get quick updates of Latest Science & Technology Current Affairs 2019 and events not only for the competitive exam but also for the interview.
A new map of the night sky published in charts hundreds of thousands of previously unknown galaxies discovered using a LOFAR telescope that can detect light sources optical instruments cannot see. More than 200 astronomers from 18 countries were involved in the study, which used radio astronomy to look at a segment of the sky over the northern hemisphere, and found 3,00,000 previously unseen light sources thought to be distant galaxies. The team plans to create images of the northern sky, which they say will reveal as many as 15 million as-yet undetected radio sources. Radio astronomy allows scientists to detect radiation produced when massive celestial objects interact. The LOFAR telescope is made up of a network of radio antenna across seven countries, forming the equivalent of a 1,300-km diameter satellite dish.
AntBot is the first walking robot to have navigational capabilities without GPS or mapping. It has been designed by Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and Aix-Marseille University researchers at ISM, on lines similar to desert ants who use polarised lights and UV radiation to navigate in space. It consists of an optical compass which determines its movements by the help of polarised light. Weighing only 2.3 kg, this robot has six feet for increased mobility, allowing it to move in complex environments, precisely where deploying wheeled robots and drones can be complicated.
SpaceIL, an Israeli Private company, is to launch what it hopes will be the first private spacecraft to land on the moon in the 4th week of February 2019. SpaceIL and State-owned Israel Aerospace Industries said that the spacecraft, dubbed Beresheet, or Genesis, will ship from Florida, where, propelled by a SpaceX rocket, it will commence its voyage to the moon.
Global cybersecurity company Symantec has launched ‘Email Fraud Protection’, an automated solution, to help organizations block fraudulent emails from reaching enterprises. It aims to reduce workload for IT departments and eliminate the need to manually manage email security configurations while combating Business Email Compromise attacks. The solution is now available as part of Symantec’s Email Security Solution and Integrated Cyber Defence Platform. With this solution, email authentication standards are met by automatic monitoring of approved third-party senders.
NASA, The U.S. space agency, plans to send American astronauts back on the Moon by 2028, with unmanned demonstration missions in 2024 and 2026. Bridenstine laid out the space agency’s plan to support the development of commercial hardware capable of landing astronauts on the Moon. The mission architecture represents a dramatic shift from the way NASA had put humans on the Moon when Apollo 11 in July 1969 put Neil Armstrong as the first man to walk on the lunar surface. The procurement plan, as laid out in a document known as a Broad Agency Announcement, calls for commercial ventures to propose concepts for a descent module, a space refueling system and a transfer vehicle by March 25. In May, NASA would select several companies for an initial six-month phase to study and develop in this line and will allocate up to $9 million to each company. Astronauts would make their first trip to the lunar surface in 2028. NASA’s plan calls for four astronauts to spend as long as seven days on the Moon.
NASA has announced a new space telescope mission dedicated to understanding the origins of life and the universe. It's called the Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer - shortly SPHEREx. NASA is aiming for a 2023 launch and has already earmarked $242 million for the project. Once SPHEREx is already in orbit, it will observe and collect data on over 300 million galaxies, some as far as 10 billion light-years away from Earth, and 100 million stars in our own Milky Way every six months. Main goals of SPHEREx mission: ♦ To search for water and organic molecules within the Milky Way. ♦ To find more clues on how our universe formed and evolved.
During 14 years of intrepid exploration across Mars, NASA’s Opportunity rover advanced human knowledge by confirming that water once flowed on the red planet but it has analyzed its last soil sample. In June 2018, NASA lost contact with the rover during a dust storm. It was declared officially dead on 13th February 2019. It ended one of the most fruitful missions in the history of space exploration. Unable to recharge its batteries, Opportunity left hundreds of messages sent from the earth unanswered over the months. NASA said it made its last attempt at contact on 12th February 2019.
Minister of State for AYUSH, Shripad Yesso Naik launched the e-AUSHADHI portal, for online licensing of Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani and Homoeopathy drugs and related matters. AUSHADHI is an acronym for Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy Automated Drug Help Initiative.
A Himalayan Cloud Observatory is set up in Tehri district with a motive to forecast and monitor cloudburst incidents in the Himalayan region and help to minimise the damage. The Observatory is established in the SRT campus,in Tehri and is in the testing period. This is the second observatory in the country.
The second indigenously developed ‘Solid Fuel Ducted Ramjet’ (SFDR), propulsion-based missile system was successfully flight tested from ITR, Chandipur, Odisha, by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Unlike conventional rockets that carry propellant and oxidizer, Ramjet uses the air as an oxidizer just like a jet engine, and hence, the weight of the fuel required is eliminated. SFDR propulsion is designed in such a way that it allows for an up and down throttling which further lets the missile to amplify its speed until it reached the terminal phase of flight. ♦ The first flight of SFDR, developed under a joint Indo-Russian R&D project, was tested in 2018. ♦ The Indian SFDR will be used as variants of missiles such as the advanced version of ASTRA.
Chennai Police Commissioner A.K. Viswanathan launched mobile App ‘DigiCop’ of the city police department at the commissioner’s office in Chennai. This app as of now have details of 18,000 stolen mobile phones are stored. Using this app, the user can lodge mobile theft complaints and also check if the user’s mobile is in the police list of retrieved mobiles. Moreover, if someone is buying a phone from a second-hand shop they can verify if the phone is stolen or genuine. Using this app, Users can also follow, if their stolen two-wheeler had been traced by the police.
Laurus Labs, a Pharma firm, has received tentative approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for Tenofovir/Lamivudine/Dolutegravir (TLD) 300/300/ 50mg fixed dose combination drug. The product is the preferred first-line regimen for the treatment of people living with HIV. It will be available in the generic form in low and middle-income countries. The U.S. health regulator had given tentative approval under the Presidential Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. Meanwhile, the company has received an Establishment Inspection Report (EIR) from USFDA for its Unit 6.
India areas are island development, border security, communication and navigation, GIS and operations planning system, and border infrastructure development. The recommendation was given a green signal as Union Minister Rajnath Singh approved use of space technology at the borders. The task force headed by Joint Secretary (Border Management) and having members from Border Security Force (BSF), Department of Space and Border Management division of the Home Ministry consulted all stakeholders including BGFs, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) and the Ministry of Defence (MoD).
Polish physicist and businesswoman Olga Malinkiewicz has developed a novel inkjet processing method for perovskites, a new generation of cheaper solar cells, that makes it possible to produce solar panels under lower temperatures, thus sharply reducing costs. Solar panels coated with the mineral are light, flexible, efficient, inexpensive and come in varying hues and degrees of transparency. They can easily be fixed to almost any surface, be it laptop, car, drone, spacecraft or building, to produce electricity, including in the shade or indoors. Perovskite has been known to science since at least the 1830s. It was first identified by German mineralogist Gustav Rose while prospecting in the Ural mountains and named after Russian mineralogist Lev Perovski.
The Hubble Space Telescope has made an unexpected discovery of a new dwarf galaxy in the cosmic backyard. The dwarf galaxy is located just 30 million light-years away. An international team of astronomers used the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope to study white dwarf stars within the globular cluster NGC 6752.
Saudi Arabia announced the launch of its first satellite for communications from the French Guiana Space Centre. Khaled bin Abdulaziz Al-Falih, minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources, said the launch aims at localizing strategic technologies and enabling Saudi young people to work with state-of-the-art technologies in the field of satellite development and manufacturing. The satellite and will offer multiple applications including broadband telecommunications and secure communications for remote and disaster-stricken areas. The satellite SGS-1 aims to employ advanced Ka-band capabilities to enable space communications at ultra-fast speeds, and will offer multiple applications including broadband telecommunications and secure communications for remote and disaster-stricken areas.
Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) App has been launched on Google play store. Ayushman Bharat Yojana or Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) is a centrally sponsored scheme. The scheme was launched in the year 2018 under the Ayushman Bharat Mission of MoHFW in the country. This scheme aims at making interventions in primary, secondary and tertiary care systems, covering both preventive and promotive health, to address healthcare holistically. Moving ahead to digitalization this app is now available on Google Play store.
Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) 40th communication satellite GSAT-31 has been launched successfully by European launch services provider- Ariane-5 rocket from French Guiana. It placed GSAT-31 in the intended Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit. Weighing about 2,535 kg, the GSAT-31 will provide continuity to operational services on some of the in-orbit satellites. GSAT-31 is to provide transponder capacity for supporting VSAT networks, Television uplinks, Digital Satellite News Gathering, DTH television services, cellular backhaul connectivity, and many such applications.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is all set to launch its 40th communication satellite GSAT-31 from the spaceport in French Guiana. It weighs about 2,535 kg. The satellite is scheduled for launch on board the Ariane-5 from Kourou in French Guiana. The satellite provides Indian mainland and island coverage. SAT-31 will be used for supporting Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) networks, television uplinks, digital satellite news gathering, DTH television services, cellular backhaul connectivity, and many such applications. ISRO said that two Ku-band beacon downlink signals are transmitted for ground tracking purpose.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is to get its new communication satellite GSAT-31 aloft in space on February 6 from French Guiana on a hired European rocket. GSAT-31 will replace the INSAT-4CR. GSAT-31 weighs roughly 2,500 kg. The latter with 12 Ku-band transponders was put to orbit in September 2007 to drive what was then a new DTH industry. The launch of Ariane-5 V247 mission is fixed for 2.31 a.m. IST on February 6.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the U.S. space agency said that the Parker Solar Probe has begun its second orbit of the sun. It is on track for its closest approach to the sun. Just 161 days after its launch, the Parker probe completed its first orbit of the sun on January 19. The spacecraft has now begun the second of 24 planned orbits, on track for its second perihelion, or closest approach to the sun, on April 4. Parker Solar Probe entered full operational status on January 1. The craft has been sending data back home ever since. The Parker probe’s 2nd perihelion or closest approach to the sun will once again bring it about 15 million miles from the sun.
Natco Pharma has launched a combination drug Valsartan-Sacubitril tablet in India. It is used for certain types of heart failure and works by relaxing blood vessels, making it easier for the heart to pump blood. The company said that the drug was launched under its brand Valsac at an affordable price.
As a measure to save the forest, the Telangana government has decided to monitor the forest cover continuously. For this, the State Government is planning to utilize satellite imagery. The State has accordingly roped in the National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA) for providing high-resolution satellite images to enable it to keep a tab on encroachments, if any, in the forest areas. The NRSA with its set of satellites will regularly monitor the forest cover and report to the State Government any negative change (decline in the cover on account of encroachments and other reasons). National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA): ♦ Location: Hyderabad, Telangana ♦ Parent: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) ♦ It manages data from aerial and satellite sources.
Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply & Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) has proposed the State government to provide a mobile app to drivers of the mini jetting machines to tackle sewer blockage complaints in a speedy manner and give easy access to the machines. The app will be integrated with the complaints module of the Water Board. It will show the complaints registered under the mini jetting machines jurisdiction. With the help of complaint details, the driver will be able to know the route map of the locations where the complaint is pending. After attending the complaint, geo-tagged photographs will be captured and the complaint will automatically be closed in the system.
World Health Organization (WHO) stated more than half of the leprosy cases globally was reported by India although there is a steady decline worldwide in the number of leprosy cases which is estimated to be 2 around Lakh. Significant leprosy cases has been detected in South-east Asia region, Brazil, Sub-Saharan Africa and Pacific apart from India. WHO said leprosy related ‘discrimination, stigma, and prejudice’ were the most powerful barriers in ending the disease. It also stated that disease is 100% curable if detected early. Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease which mainly affects the skin, the peripheral nerves, mucosal surfaces of the upper respiratory tract and the eyes.
India’s first indigenously developed Next Generation Anti-Radiation Missile (NGRAM), an air-to-surface one, which can be fired from Sukhoi fighter jets, was successfully tested at the missile testing range in Balasore, Hyderabad. The missile can be launched from different altitudes and all the parameters were met during the testing. The missile was developed by Abdul Kalam Missile Complex comprising DLRL, which plays the lead role, Research Centre Imarat, Advanced Systems Laboratory (ASL). The missile system is being developed by the BEL and an unidentified private industry partner.
Scientists in China have cloned five monkeys for human disease research. The research team edited genes of monkeys to induce several human diseases like Alzheimer's claiming that it would help in medical research. This experiment may likely to raise fresh ethical concerns about gene-editing. As per the media reports, this is the first time multiple clones had been made from a gene-edited monkey for biomedical research. The announcement in National Science Review, a Chinese journal, follows the recent confirmation that the world's first gene-edited human babies have been born in China, which caused widespread disquiet in the scientific community. The cloned monkeys born in Shanghai at the Institute of Neuroscience of Chinese Academy of Sciences are closer to the human in physiology, make better models for research on disease pathogenesis and potential therapeutic treatments. In order to create an ideal donor monkey, researchers knocked out a core circadian regulatory tranion factor named BMAL1, using gene editing at the embryo stage. They selected one of the gene-edited monkeys with the most severe disease phenotypes as the donor. The fibroblasts of the donor were then used to clone five monkeys by somatic cell nuclear transfer, the same method used to generate Zhong Zhong and Hua Hua, the first cloned monkeys born in China at the end of 2017.
The Tamil Nadu government plans to unveil a new electronics manufacturing policy in February, with the aim of becoming the leader in the sector. The State was working on an electronics manufacturing policy, which was being prepared with inputs from experts. The State is currently the second largest in terms of electronics manufacturing and has huge potential to become No. 1. Uttar Pradesh holds the first position.
Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) first mission of 2019, Microsat-R, was successfully launched into space on 24th January 2019. PSLV-C44 was launched from the older First Launch Pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. The 130-kg Microsat-R is a military imaging satellite. Microsat-R and its payload come assembled from a handful of laboratories of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and is meant for military use. ISRO also used this launch as an opportunity to demonstrate the usability of the fourth stage of the rocket after the satellites are ejected into orbit. This would enable any agency that wants to conduct experiments in space to use the fourth stage till it disintegrates naturally. The fourth stage of the rocket may be orbiting in space for six months to a year. ISRO is aiming to use this time-frame to enable agencies to run short time experiments. Mr. Sivan asked students in India to develop such satellites and ISRO would take care of the launch.
Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) first mission of 2019, Microsat-R, is to be launched into space on 24th January 2019. The 130-kg Microsat-R is a military imaging satellite. Microsat-R and its payload come assembled from a handful of laboratories of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and is meant for military use. The satellite was assembled outside and ISRO only interfaced it with its own systems and the launch vehicle, just as it treats any customer satellite. PSLV-C44 will be launched from the older First Launch Pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. For its part, ISRO is experimenting on two aspects of the vehicle. One is to reuse a waste stage.
Researchers from Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) in South Korea, developed a system that can produce electricity and hydrogen fuel from carbon dioxide, the main contributor to global warming. The Hybrid Na-CO2 system can continuously produce electrical energy and hydrogen through efficient carbon dioxide (CO2) conversion with the stable operation for over 1,000 hours. The key to that technology is the easy conversion of chemically stable CO2 molecules to other materials. The new system has solved this problem with CO2 dissolution mechanism.
The Chinese space agency said that a cotton seedling that sprouted on the moon has been left to die as China’s historic lunar lander continues a freezing night-time nap that will last as long as two earth weeks. It also announced earlier this week that the seed had germinated inside a special canister aboard the Chang’e-4 probe, after the spacecraft on January 3 made the first-ever landing on the far side of the moon. The mini biosphere, which operated for over 212 hours, was shut down as planned.
The Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (Bescom) is preparing to launch Artificial Intelligence (AI) powered chatbots to deal with the innumerable calls and messages that its multiple helplines receive when there are power cuts. The power utility has called for an Expression of Interest from IT service providers to implement the idea on its social media pages, helpline, and app. The chatbots are expected to be utilized in multiple interfaces, such as WhatsApp, social media, and the website.
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched a rocket carrying a satellite on a mission to deliver the world’s first artificial meteor shower into space. ALE Co. Ltd, a start-up based in Tokyo, developed the microsatellite for the celestial show over Hiroshima early 2020 as the initial experiment for what it calls a “shooting stars on demand” service. The satellite is to release tiny balls that glow brightly as they hurtle through the atmosphere, simulating a meteor shower. They would glow brightly enough to be seen even over the light-polluted metropolis of Tokyo. The rocket carried a total of seven ultra-small satellites that will demonstrate various “innovative” technologies.
Reliance Industries Ltd Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani group companies Reliance Retail and Reliance Jio Infocomm would jointly launch a new e-commerce platform in the country. Gujarat would be the first state to get it in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Scientists have found evidence of methane rainfall on the north pole of Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, using data from the Cassini spacecraft. The rainfall would be the first indication of the start of a summer season in Titan’s northern hemisphere. The researchers identified a reflective feature near Titan’s north pole on an image taken on June 7, 2016, by Cassini’s near-infrared instrument, the Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer. The reflective feature covered about 46,332 square miles and did not appear on images from previous and subsequent Cassini passes. The Cassini mission was a collaboration between NASA, Europe agency and Italian space agency. It was launched in October 1997. The purpose of the spacecraft is to study the planet Saturn and its system, including its rings and natural satellites.
A task-force constituted by the Union government has proposed the creation of a “Drone Corridor” in the country. The task force is created to address the various challenges posed by Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) in India. It has recommended key principles in the Drone Ecosystem Policy Roadmap that will guide the drafting of ‘Civil Aviation Regulations’ (CAR) 2.0. Currently, a basic framework for regulations in the area has been established under the “DigitalSky Platform” in CAR 1.0 which took effect from December 1, 2018. The roadmap was released at the Global Aviation Summit 2019 being held at Mumbai.
China Space Agency plans to establish an international lunar base, possibly using 3D printing technology to build facilities weeks after landing a rover on the moon’s far side. The future launches will culminate with a mission to test equipment for an international moon research base. Also, four more lunar missions are planned, confirming the launch of a probe by the end of the year to bring back samples from the moon. The Chang’e-5 probe, originally scheduled to collect moon samples in the second half of 2017, will launch by the end of the year 2019. It will be followed by Chang’e-7, which will conduct a comprehensive exploration of the moon’s south pole including its topography, material composition, and space environment.
SpaceX rocket delivered 10 satellites to low-Earth orbit on Friday, completing a two-year campaign by Iridium Communications to replace its original fleet with a new generation of mobile communication technology and added global aircraft tracking capability. The Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base at 7:31 am and arced over the Pacific west of Los Angeles. The previously used first stage was recovered again with a bullseye landing on a "droneship" in the ocean while the upper stage continued on to orbit. The eighth and final launch of the $3 billion (roughly Rs. 21,000 crores) Iridium NEXT project completed delivery of 75 new satellites to orbit for the McLean, Virginia, company. Sixty-six will be operational and nine will serve as in-orbit spares. Six other satellites remain on the ground as spares.
A study using observations from Chandrayaan 1 mission has found how plasma particles from the solar wind make their way into the Moon’s night side, filling up the wake region, long thought to be devoid of plasma particles. This has significance in understanding bodies like the Moon which do not have global magnetic fields. In recent times, there has been a huge interest in understanding the plasma environment of the Moon, which is generated mainly by its interaction with the solar plasma wind flowing towards it from the Sun. This plasma wind consists of charged particles such as protons and is partly absorbed by the side of the Moon facing the sun. The rest of the solar plasma wind incident on the Moon flows around it but leaves a wake (a void) on the side not facing the sun (the night-side of the Moon). The interaction between the Moon and the solar plasma helps to understand any celestial body which has no atmosphere or global magnetic fields, such as asteroids and some planetary satellites.
Researchers have discovered six new species of bent-toed geckos, a type of small lizard, from northeastern India, and one of them is from Assam's capital, Guwahati. While researchers found the Guwahati bent-toed gecko (Cyrtodactylus guwahatiensis, named after the city) near a small hillock in the urban sprawl of Guwahati city, the Kaziranga bent-toed gecko, the Jaintia bent-toed gecko, and the Nagaland bent-toed gecko have been discovered from Assam's Kaziranga National Park, the Jaintia hills of Meghalaya and Khonoma village in Nagaland, respectively. The Abhayapuri bent-toed gecko is currently found only in the vicinity of Abhayapuri town in Assam’s Bongaigaon district, and the Jampui bent-toed gecko, only in Tripura’s Jampui Hills. All the new lizards belong to the genus Cyrtodactylus and are called bent-toed or bow-fingered geckos, named after their bent toes.
The year 2021 will be a busy year for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) as it has set itself the target to send astronauts to space. The Gaganyaan project by the space agency will make India the fourth nation to independently send humans into space announced ISRO chief Dr. K Sivan. The Gaganyaan project was announced by PM Modi on Independence Day last year and union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad last month had said that three Indian astronauts will be sent to space for up to seven days by 2022 as part of the Gaganyaan.
Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), NASA’s latest planet-hunting probe, has discovered a new world outside our solar system, orbiting a dwarf star 53 light years away. This is the third new planet confirmed by TESS since its launch in April 2018. The planet has been named as HD 21749b. The planets orbits a bright, nearby dwarf star about 53 light years away, in the constellation Reticulum, and appears to have the longest orbital period of the three planets so far identified by TESS.
Indian Space Research Organisation, ISRO planned to set up Space Galleries in various locations in the country. The Space Galleries are expected to disseminate the knowledge about space science and technology amongst the citizens of the country. | 2019-04-23T06:54:38Z | https://www.fresherslive.com/current-affairs/science-technology-current-affairs/3 |
Uber has agreed to sell its business in Southeast Asia to local rival Grab.
Grab is taking over Uber’s ride-hailing business in eight countries and Uber Eats, which is currently present in three. In exchange, Uber gets a 27.5 percent stake in Grab and Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi will join Grab’s board.
Southeast Asia is seen as a growth market thanks to a population of over 600 million people, many of whom are coming online for the first time, but it is also considered a loss-making market for new industries like ride-sharing — particularly when two companies are locked in a subsidies war.
This consolidation has been strongly rumored since SoftBank, an early investor in Grab, backed Uber via an investment in January.
Grab’s plan to shutter Uber’s app quickly following its merger deal in Southeast Asia has hit another snag in Singapore where the ride-hailing firm has been forced to delay closing its rival’s service until May 7.
Those directives — which Grab said it has had a hand in formulating — include measures that prevent Grab from taking Uber’s operational data on customers and their trip history, prevent lock-in and exclusivity options for drivers that join Grab or move over from Uber’s Lion City Rental entity, and end any exclusive deals Grab has with Singapore taxi firms.
The ruling impacts the Singapore market only, which is where Grab is registered. The Uber app has already been closed in six other markets where it operated in Southeast Asia, while the UberEats service will fold into GrabFood by the end of May. Elsewhere, Uber’s ride-hailing service is scheduled to be closed on April 16 in the Philippines where, like Singapore, the regulator had handed down a week-long extension while it looked into the merger deal.
In both extensions, Grab is the one footing the bill for the continued operation of Uber since the U.S. firm has already exited these markets, in terms of funding and staffing, Uber’s head of operations for Asia Pacific has said.
The CCCS previously said that it has “reasonable grounds” to suspect that the Grab-Uber deal may fall foul of section 54 of Singapore’s Competition Act. The Philippine Competition Commission is still looking into the and there’s no word on whether it will follow the CCCS’ lead and force Grab to keep the Uber app open for a longer period.
The Singapore ruling is a blow for Grab which set out an aggressive two-week timeframe for closing Uber in Southeast Asia, having contacted regulators in advance of the deal which sees it pick up a dominant slice of app-based taxi books across eight countries in Southeast Asia. The key question for regulators, however, appears to be whether app-based hailing is a market unto itself, or whether it is part of the wider taxi market.
If regulators chose the former option, then Uber-Grab almost certainly creates a monopoly, but since consumers can also hail apps in more traditional ways — e.g. on the street — or via taxi companies’ dedicated apps — as is the case in Singapore — then the deal hasn’t created a dominant player. It’s certainly a tricky one to assess.
Grab notes the CCCS’ objective of giving drivers choice, and is fully supportive of extending our platform to all taxi drivers, including ComfortDelGro drivers who are still constrained from picking up JustGrab jobs. Grab entered Singapore five years ago with minimal resources and the goal of enabling all taxi drivers to earn a better living using our platform. We recognise CCCS’ commitment to preserving competition; all companies – no matter big or small, digital or traditional – are capable of innovation in a free market.
We’re proud to headquarter in Singapore, where the country’s free market economy and policies enable businesses to compete and innovate vigorously to solve customer needs. We trust the government will continue to be pro-business in providing a path for startups to flourish and become sustainable businesses. We will work within the set constraints and continue to focus on building better products to compete, ensuring fairness for passengers and drivers, and cultivating the local tech talent pool through our regional R&D centre in Singapore.
Note: The original version of this story was updated to correct that Grab said it had been in contact with regulators prior to announcing the deal with Uber. Also corrected the name of its food delivery service is GrabFood.
Grab has given the Uber app a stay of execution in yet another market as regulators across Southeast Asia continue to investigate the merger deal announced between the ride-hailing companies last month.
Fresh from extending the closure date a week in Singapore, Grab has done the same in the Philippines, a spokesperson confirmed to TechCrunch. This extension follows an order from the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) made over the weekend, and it now means that Uber’s app will cease running in the country on April 16.
Elsewhere, Grab shuttered the Uber app in its six other markets in Southeast Asia today as planned, two weeks after the merger deal was confirmed. As for UberEats, that app will live on in the region until the end of May, after which it will be folded into GrabFood.
It appears that Grab didn’t count on Southeast Asia’s regulators being so intent to probe the tie-up.
The Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) said last month that it had “reasonable grounds” to suspect that the deal may fall foul of section 54 of Singapore’s Competition Act, while the PCC voiced similar concerns last week.
“This move by Uber in the Philippine market leads to further substantial concentration of what is, to begin with, an already highly concentrated ride-sharing market. This virtual monopolization of the market by Grab can harm the riding public,” the organization’s chairman Arsenio M. Balisacan wrote in a statement.
That was countered by Uber, which argued that it is no longer in business in the region.
“Uber exited eight markets, including the Philippines, as of Monday. Now, I look after 10 markets, instead of 18. Our funding is gone. Our people are gone. We don’t intend to come back to these markets,” Brooks Entwistle, head of Uber’s Asia Pacific business, told the PCC at a hearing on Friday, according to Rappler.
If Uber is gone, who will run the app? That’s a valid question raised by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) in the Philippines, which pointed out that consumer safety could be compromised without customer services and other Uber teams.
For now, Grab is stepping up and running the Uber app at its own cost, the company has confirmed. That may keep the lights on, but Grab-operating the Uber doesn’t really address the core issue of the PCC which is competition between two players. On that count, Uber has already left the building.
Considering that Uber has exited the region on 25 March and clearly stated during the public hearing its incapacity to fund the operations in the Philippines, the parties have agreed to keep the Uber app operational with Grab bearing the costs, to give drivers and consumers time to adjust to Uber’s departure. In the spirit of cooperating with the PCC, Grab has also agreed to continue to bear the costs of the Uber app extension (from March 25 to April 8) until April 15, 2018. Our understanding from the PCC is that this interim arrangement, which was fully explained to the PCC, is not a breach of its Order.
Grab wishes to clarify that, although the Uber app continues to operate, it has limited functionality and little or no support. Grab noted that the LTFRB has expressed concerns pertaining to customer support and safety issues arising from Uber’s limited operations. Grab wishes to stress that this interim arrangement is only for the purposes of satisfying what the PCC appears to require until Grab is able to discuss with the PCC.
We hope that the PCC will sit with the parties to hear their sides and give a fair assessment of the concerns expressed by both parties and that any other action taken would take into account the practical hurdles that may lie across the parties’ paths.
The full read — for those who like regulatory filings and responses to them — can be found here.
Fans of Uber in Singapore will have a little more time to continue using the app after Grab, the rival that is acquiring Uber’s business in the region, agreed to extend the life of the app until April 15 while the country’s competition commission reviews the merger deal.
Grab had originally intended to close the Uber app by April 8, but that has been delayed in Singapore by one week following a request from the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) while it continues to assess the implications of the tie-up.
This agreement only covers Singapore, however, so the Uber app will be closed in the seven other countries where it was operational on April 8. Uber Eats is also being transitioned to Grab, as part of its Grab Food platform, and it will be closed at the end of May.
Last week, the CCCS said it has “reasonable grounds” to suspect that the deal may fall foul of section 54 of Singapore’s Competition Act. The organization issued an Interim Measures Directions (IMD) to Uber and Grab — the first of its kind in Singapore — which instructed both parties to “maintain pre-transaction independent pricing, pricing policies and product options,” hence the extension of life for Uber’s app.
Grab said it had provided an alternative proposal “which takes into account our role in Singapore’s vibrant point-to-point transport industry and how Grab serves commuters and drivers,” which the CCCS confirmed that it is reviewing.
A Grab spokesperson declined to discuss the details of the proposal with TechCrunch.
At this point it is unclear whether the Uber app will get another extension. Assuming that the CCCS doesn’t come to a conclusion within the next week and the IMD remains, then Uber may live on a little longer in Southeast Asia. But, if the commission is ready to move on, then the April 15 close will happen as scheduled.
Section 54 of the Act prohibits mergers that have resulted, or may be expected to result, in a substantial lessening of competition in Singapore.
The merged entity has/will have a market share of between 20% to 40% and the post-merger combined market share of the three largest firms is 70% or more.
In that respect, taxi companies in Singapore — which allow booking by SMS and phone call, and also offer ride-hailing apps in some cases — may be considered competition which might water down Grab’s market share. Likewise, Grab’s case may be helped by Singapore carpooling service Ryde’s plan to add private car services in an effort to fill some of the gap post-Uber.
Grab continues to engage closely with the CCCS. We’ve had productive discussions on our alternative proposals, which more appropriately address the CCCS’ objectives during this interim period, and which takes into account our role in Singapore’s vibrant point-to-point transport industry and how Grab serves commuters and drivers. Together with the CCCS and Uber, we’ve agreed that the Uber app will run for another week until 15 April, while the CCCS considers Grab’s proposal. We hope the CCCS will complete its review in an expeditious manner, so that we can continue competing with incumbent transport companies and with new entrants. We will continue working with the CCCS and other relevant agencies to ensure a pro-business and pro-innovation environment, so that Singapore consumers can benefit from new and improved services.
In the meantime, the Grab app operates as per normal. The extension also gives Uber drivers more time to sign up on alternative platforms. Grab has helped thousands of former Uber drivers sign up to the Grab platform and will continue to provide support to those who are interested, as well as to obtain their PDVL.
Note: The original version of this article has been updated to correct that the Uber app will only be extended in Singapore, not across all Southeast Asian markets.
Singapore’s competition agency last week opened an investigation into Grab’s acquisition of Uber’s Southeast Asia, and now authorities in the Philippines and Malaysia are following suit by looking closely at the deal.
The Grab-Uber acquisition is likely to have a far reaching impact on the riding public and the transportation services. As such, the PCC is looking at the deal closely with the end view of potentially reviewing it for competition concerns, as a notified transaction, or by opening a motu proprio case.
We won’t take it lightly. We will monitor this because it is still early days and we don’t know what will happen next. We have stressed that if there is any anti-competitive behavior, the Competition Act will come into force. We have spelt this out to them.
Reuters reports that Indonesian authorities aren’t yet commenting on whether they will probe the tie-up.
Announcing the deal last week, Grab said it planned to close the Uber app within two weeks — meaning by the end of this week at the time of writing — while Uber Eats will continue until the end of May before being folded into the Grab Food service.
However, the Competition Commission of Singapore (CCS) requested that both companies maintain their products and pricing while it conducts an overview of how the transaction impacts the competitive landscape. The organization said it has “reasonable grounds” to suspect that the deal may fall foul of section 54 of Singapore’s Competition Act.
Meanwhile, Grab CEO Anthony Tan told the BBC in an interview that there are “zero issues” with how the deal was done. Tan said Grab will work with regulators and that it has already committed to maintaining prices.
Uber’s exit from Southeast Asia is under scrutiny from regulators in Singapore who believe that Grab’s purchase of the U.S. firm’s business in the region may violate competition laws.
Singapore-based Grab, Uber’s chief rival in the region, announced the acquisition of Uber’s Southeast Asian business on Monday. In return, Uber is taking 27.5 percent of the Grab business, which is valued at over $6 billion, in a move that appears to be a win for both parties.
Grab plans to shutter the Uber app in less than two weeks and migrate passengers and drivers to its services. It will also integrate Uber Eats into its nascent food delivery service.
The coming together has already concerned consumers, who believe that prices may rise without two companies competeting head-to-head, and now the Competition Commission of Singapore (CCS) has announced that it is looking into the deal.
The organization said it has “reasonable grounds” to suspect that the deal may fall foul of section 54 of Singapore’s Competition Act.
The merged entity has/will have a market share of between 20 percent to 40 percent and the post-merger combined market share of the three largest firms is 70 percent or more.
That might make the deal a little tricky to explain for Grab, which claims over 90 million downloads and more than five million drivers and agents for its transportation and fintech services.
In a first for Singapore, the CCS said it has proposed an Interim Measures Directions (IMD) that requires both Grab and Uber to “maintain pre-transaction independent pricing, pricing policies and product options.” The commission also directed Grab to not take confidential information from Uber nor lock Uber drivers into driving for Grab.
In that respect, taxi companies in Singapore — which allow booking by SMS and phone call, and also offer ride-hailing apps in some cases — may be considered competition which might water down Grab’s marketshare. Likewise, Grab’s case may be helped by Singapore carpooling service Ryde’s plan to add private car services in an effort to fill some of the gap post-Uber.
Lim Kell Jay, head of Grab Singapore, argued in a statement that the deal with Uber allows consumers a choice against “the dominant taxi industry” and that Grab has already committed to freezing its prices. He added that Grab would work with the CCS and other authorities over the deal as required.
Five years ago, consumers were not able to flag or book taxis easily as supply was a problem. Grab innovated to improve the point-to-point transport within the overall transportation industry, particularly the availability and quality of both taxi and car services. Improving services for commuters and drivers will always be our priority, and we urge the government to allow us to freely compete and complement the dominant taxi business. To address consumer concerns, we have voluntarily committed to maintaining our fare structure and will not increase base fares. This is a commitment we are prepared to give the CCS, and to the public. We have and will continue to work with the CCS, LTA and other relevant authorities, and will propose measures to reassure the CCS, our driver-partners and consumers.
Grab has conducted its comprehensive due diligence and legal analysis with its advisers before entering into and concluding the transaction. We had engaged with the CCS prior to signing and continue to do so. Even though not required by the law, we have informed the CCS that we are making a voluntary notification no later than 16 April 2018 to continue to cooperate and engage with the CCS.
The CCS said it has the power to unwind or modify a deal if it sees that its completion will substantially weaken competition, but it is unclear what that might mean for a regional business like Grab.
Grab and Uber operate in eight markets in Southeast Asia, but Singapore — which is where Grab is headquartered and registered as a business — is the first country where a competitive agency is pouring over the deal.
They say in sport that the best teams win even when they don’t perform. On those terms, Uber seems unstoppable.
The day’s big news is that the U.S. ride-hailing firm is leaving Southeast Asia after it agreed to sell its business to local rival Grab. That much is true, but claims that Grab beat Uber out may be overstating the situation.
Ordinarily, you’d call the exit a loss for Uber and a win for Grab, but the devil is in the detail. The deal that has been agreed is a very solid win for both sides which reads more than an alliance than a settlement between winner and loser.
Uber takes a 27.5 percent stake in a growing business that was most recently valued at $6 billion.
That stake — worth north of $1.6 billion — is a strong return considering that Uber said today it has invested $700 million in Southeast Asia over the past five years.
Grab takes over and shuts down its largest rival’s business, all while importing any drivers and passengers that aren’t already on its platform and adding Uber Eats to its nascent food delivery play.
That’s a notable outcome for Grab, which started out offering licensed taxis only and required passengers to pay their bill in cash until three years ago. When Uber first arrived the two were hugely differentiated and market share was fairly even, but now Grab is the dominant player in the region by some margin.
Despite humble beginnings, Grab — which started out in Malaysia but relocated to Singapore — has made strides over the past two years. Today, it offers more than 10 transportation services — including taxis, private cars, car-pooling, bicycle sharing, and bike taxis — across eight countries.
You might read about its localization strategy and how important it is, and for sure it is impressive.
Beyond food delivery — which is now a fairly standard expansion for ride-sharing companies — it has made a push into financial services through its GrabPay service, which allows users to pay for goods and services offline, and a new venture that provides micro-loans and insurance products.
Grab’s focus on fanning out beyond ride-sharing is designed to capture and engage users beyond just offering transportation. The theory is that this not only makes it more useful to users, but it introduces entirely different (and potentially more lucrative) business opportunities that set the company up to become a profitable entity further down the line.
But — and this is the important caveat — this product expansion is in its early stages so the effect didn’t play out on Grab’s rivalry with Uber.
In fact, it looks like a lot of the rivalry came down to the usual factor: Money.
Put simply, Grab has consistently secured the financial backing of its investors.
Over the past two years the money factor appeared to swing in Grab’s favor. It raised $750 million in late 2016, and then followed that up with more than $2.5 billion last year to take it to more than $4 billion from investors at a valuation of over $6 billion.
Compare that to the $700 million Uber had invested in Southeast Asia and you can already see an advantage which is particularly key in ride-hailing when two firms are locked in an ongoing subsidy war.
So, for all those comparisons and fancy charts that show the total amount Uber raised as a global business, it was financially outmuscled in Southeast Asia presumably because it chose to limit its investment.
Grab’s money was strategic, too.
SoftBank and Didi, the ‘Uber slayer’ of China, fronted $2 billion of the newest round, while the likes of Toyota, Hyundai, Tiger Global, Coatue Management and influential Indonesian firms Emtek and Lippo are among others to have come aboard in recent years.
That network allowed Grab to hire experienced executives to fill out its team, including most notably Ming Maa, a “deal-maker” who joined as company President from SoftBank 18 months ago.
Uber was often quick to point out that it gave country offices the freedom to suggest and implement localized policies and ideas, but in Southeast Asia it seemed to lack overall coherence. For example, it only appointed a regional head for Southeast Asia last August, some four years after its initial arrival.
That symbolizes its struggle to develop a strategy until it was too late. And that’s without even mentioning the wave of controversies that hit Uber as a company in 2017, which no doubt impacted decision-making outside of the U.S..
Uber struck decent deals to exit China and Russia, and it appears to be the same again here.
As a private company, it isn’t possible to analyze Grab’s shareholders and their ownership percentages, but Uber is likely now one of the largest investors in the business. That’s the ideal scenario for Uber and its shareholders because Southeast Asia is forecast to be a major growth market for ride-hailing, and Uber is now in the front seat with the market leader.
Currently a loss-making region for Grab and Uber, revenue from taxi apps in Southeast Asia is said to have more than doubled over the past two years to cross $5 billion in 2017, according to a recent report co-authored by Google. The industry is expected to grow more than four-fold to hit $20 billion by 2025, according to the same research.
Uber could have continued on, increased its investment and still seen success, but the deal it has landed allows it to maintain a presence via proxy while diverting resources to other markets worldwide. That stake in Grab, which is worth north of $1.6 billion as of Grab’s most recent funding round, is likely to appreciate significantly over time as the market grows and Grab’s fintech play yields fruit.
Sources close to the deal indicate that Grab gave Uber less than $100 million as part of this deal, and it will take on Uber’s roughly 500 staff across the region in addition to its ride-hailing business and Uber Eats, which is present in three countries.
More than the operational gains, Grab can now count on both Uber and China’s Didi as investors, with Uber CEO Khosrowshahi joining the board. That’s the kind of influence and experience that money can’t buy, and it may be essential for what comes next.
The next stage of ride-sharing in Southeast Asia will pit Grab against Indonesia’s Go-Jek, a $5 billion startup backed by big names including Google and Tencent. Go-Jek is leading in its home market — where it pioneered the kind of financial products and on-demand services that Grab is just launching now — and it houses ambitions to export its empire to new markets starting this year.
One source close to Go-Jek told TechCrunch that the company is preparing to launch in the Philippines potentially before the end of March. Go-Jek has been very deliberate about taking its time, but now that Uber is out of the equation in Southeast Asia, it’s time to walk to walk and amp up the battle.
Uber has exited three global markets by selling to rivals, but enough is enough after its deal with Grab so says CEO Dara Khosrowshahi.
Following today’s announcement with Grab which sees Uber leave Southeast Asia hot on the heels of exits in China (2016) and Russia (2017), Khosrowshahi told employees that there will be no more repeats under his leadership.
It is fair to ask whether consolidation is now the strategy of the day, given this is the third deal of its kind, from China to Russia and now Southeast Asia. The answer is no.
One of the potential dangers of our global strategy is that we take on too many battles across too many fronts and with too many competitors. This transaction now puts us in a position to compete with real focus and weight in the core markets where we operate, while giving us valuable and growing equity stakes in a number of big and important markets where we don’t.
Since SoftBank’s investment in Uber closed in January there has been heightened speculation about potential consolidations in emerging markets, where the ride-hailing business is further from profitability than more developed markets like Europe and the U.S.. Indeed, SoftBank itself has called for Uber to focus on more financially-sustaining regions of the world.
Southeast Asia, where SoftBank has backed Grab, was a prime candidate for consolidation while India, where SoftBank-backed Ola competes with Grab, is another.
Just weeks ago, Khosrowshahi said Uber would invest to compete aggressively in Southeast Asia and yet this deal has been completed. Time will tell if this new denial of future deals will ring true, or whether SoftBank and others seeking consolidation will ring out.
It’s official, Uber has announced that it has sold its Southeast Asia-based business to rival Grab.
The deal follows a month of speculation, and it will see Grab — which is valued at over $6 billion — buy up Uber’s ride-sharing business in eight countries in Southeast Asia. It will also take over Uber Eats, which is currently present in three, and expand that service across the region during the first half of this year.
In exchange, Uber will get a 27.5 percent stake in Singapore-based Grab while Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi will join Grab’s board.
The deal starts to make sense when you consider that both companies share common investors — SoftBank and Didi — and that waging an expensive subsidies war in what is currently a loss-making hurts both sides.
Many consumers in the Southeast Asian region may be concerned at the end of the competition between the two, and there isn’t much time left. Grab said that Uber’s ride-sharing app will be available for a further two weeks, while Uber Eats will close down and migrate to GrabFood at the end of May.
Grab said today it has reached over 90 million downloads with more than five million drivers and agents for its fintech services.
The deal puts Grab in absolute control of Southeast Asia’s ride-sharing market, bar Indonesia, but the company doesn’t believe that the deal — which it is calling a merger — will represent any issue for Singapore’s monopoly laws.
“Grab is committed to cooperating with local regulators in relation to the acquisition. Grab believes the acquisition will add to, among others, vibrant and competitive ride-hailing, delivery and transportation spaces, and it will make a merger notification to the Competition Commission of Singapore,” the company wrote.
Now some money statements from the figures involved.
The deal puts pressure on Go-Jek, the $5 billion market leader in Indonesia backed by Google and Tencent, which has not yet expanded across Southeast Asia. Grab has cleared the way to be the single dominant force in all other markets in the region — which has a cumulative population of over 600 million people — so if Go-Jek is going to venture overseas, now is definitely the time.
This retreat marks Uber’s third exit from an international geography at the hands of a rival.
Uber previously exited China in 2016 after striking an equity exchange deal with Chinese market leader Didi and it quit Russia last year after it sold its business in the country to local rival Yandex.
The Grab deal feels somehow different since, prior to last year, Uber and Grab were fairly evenly matched. But a litany of internal issues at Uber in 2017 — which ultimately led to the resignation of co-founder and CEO Travis Kalanick and an investment from SoftBank — saw Uber take its eye off the ball in Southeast Asia.
Grab, to its credit, pushed on and raising another $2.5 billion last year from investors while it expanded into financial services through a payment system and, most recently, plans for micro-loans and insurance.
This deal seemed unlikely a year ago, now the question is whether there is further consolidation to come. India, where Uber battles domestic rival Ola, is the most obvious market where that could happen.
After weeks of speculation, Uber has concluded a deal that will see it sell its business in Southeast Asia to local rival Grab. The company plans to announce the agreement this coming week and potentially as soon as Monday, two sources have confirmed to TechCrunch. | 2019-04-22T15:00:31Z | https://techcrunch.com/story/uber-is-exiting-southeast-asia/ |
I was recently told that Dr. Terrance Tiessen, professor emeritus of Systematic Theology and Ethics at Providence Theological Seminary, once indicated that he was nearly convinced of conditional immortality, but not quite. Two years having passed since then, I wondered if perhaps Dr. Tiessen had become fully persuaded, and so I emailed him. Although he responded saying he remains persuaded of the traditional view of hell, his response was gracious and respectful, and what he wrote in a blog post shortly thereafter is deserving of not only a response but equally our thanks.
I had an interesting invitation today from Chris Date, who blogs at Rethinking Hell. He asked if they could interview me for a podcast, and if I would be willing to write an endorsement for their web site. I declined on the first request but acceded to the second. They have done a very fine bit of web page development, and they are offering a good resource for people wanting to examine what Scripture has to say about the final judgment of God’s enemies.
So, should we rethink hell? If, by “rethink” we mean “think again” about it, then the answer is definitely yes. I don’t suggest, however, that there is anything seriously wrong with the traditional (eternal conscious punishment) view, requiring that it be rethought with the intention of revision. One does not need to have doubts about the position one holds, to seriously reconsider its truthfulness. Given that we are all fallible, we do well to be continually thinking again about the things we believe. Sometimes, when we study someone else’s reading of Scripture, which differs from ours, we end up believing exactly what we did before we started, but sometimes we change our minds – perhaps more than once, on a given subject.
I think Dr. Tiessen put it quite well, and we at Rethinking Hell are open to the possibility that we are wrong, even if some of us possess little doubt about the truthfulness of conditionalism. We also think that open and respectful dialogue amongst evangelicals is an excellent means for discovering whether or not we are in fact wrong. We have been disappointed by the unwillingness of some critics of conditionalism to exhibit the same attitude, which makes Dr. Tiessen’s attitude refreshing.
I continue to believe that hell is eternal conscious punishment, but I am no less impressed with the quality of the exegetical work done by annihilationists, in particular by Edward Fudge in The Fire that Consumes.
Unlike the dismissive criticisms of Fudge’s work offered too often by traditionalists, Dr. Tiessen recognizes its quality, even if he doesn’t find it sufficiently persuasive to change his mind. I am certain that Fudge is no less thankful for the compliment than I am impressed by Dr. Tiessen for extending it. Whether or not one agrees with Fudge in the end, one can acknowledge the quality of his work, as Dr. Tiessen does.
Given the request I received today, I thought it might be timely for me to post my summary of the traditionalist critique of ultimate annihilationism, as published in the article on “Hell,” in the Global Dictionary of Christian Theology. I still find this critique persuasive, even though I acknowledge the force of the case for ultimate annihilationism, and I do not consider it to be a dangerous doctrine, as many fellow evangelicals do.
Of course, it is not the final sentiment in that paragraph that warrants some criticism. Quite the contrary, we are so accustomed to hearing traditionalists warn of how dangerous our view is that Dr. Tiessen’s sentiment is quite refreshing and appreciated. No, it is the critique he goes on to reproduce that, despite being persuasive to Dr. Tiessen, I find very unpersuasive and deserving of a critique of our own.
(1) Many contemporary believers in eternal conscious punishment do not accept the Platonic view that souls are inherently immortal; they acknowledge that creatures exist only because God sustains them and that God can destroy both body and soul, but they insist that Scripture teaches the endless punishment of the wicked. The continued existence of condemned sinners is not the “life” which God gives only to those who are reconciled with him, but that does not mean that the wicked are annihilated.
Conditionalists do not argue that contemporary traditionalists consciously base their belief in eternal torment upon the notion that souls are inherently immortal. Rather, some conditionalists contend (rightly or wrongly) that Platonism influenced early Christians who read what Scripture has to say about final punishment through the lens of Platonism’s immortality of the soul,1Edward Fudge, The Fire That Consumes, 3rd ed. (Cascade, 2011), 263. and that subsequent generations took the immortality of the soul for granted for many centuries.2Ibid., 287-88. It is true, however, that modern traditionalists often do not do so, instead basing their belief in the immortality of all human beings on texts which they think teach that the unsaved will live forever in hell.3Robert A. Peterson and Edward W. Fudge, Two Views of Hell: A Biblical & Theological Dialogue (Intervarsity, 2010), Kindle Edition, 88-89. Nevertheless, it is possible that the way early Christian philosophers understood those texts, having been biased by Platonism and which went on to be repeated for centuries, influences the way traditionalists read them today.
For example, consider the impact made by fourth century philosopher Augustine upon subsequent Christian thought. According to Henry Chadwick, “The ‘few changes’ Augustine wishes to bring to Platonism are not as modest as the serene apologetic of The City of God would have the reader think … [He] accepts that the soul is immortal, not that it is coeternal with God himself and of the same substance as its Creator.”4H. Chadwick, Augustine of Hippo: A Life (Oxford University, 2010), 134. Earle Ellis explains that it is upon the basis of this Platonic presupposition that “Augustine, appealing largely to Matthew 25:41-46 … argues that the destiny of the wicked is an everlasting process of suffering of both body and soul.”5E. Earle Ellis, “New Testament teaching on hell,” in Kent Brower and Mark Elliot (Eds.), Eschatology in Bible and Theology: Evangelical Essays at the Dawn of a New Millennium (InterVarsity, 1999), 201.
With that in mind, consider Augustine’s argument from Matthew 25:41-46, alleged by Ellis to have been influenced by his Platonism. He wrote, “What a fond fancy is it to suppose that eternal punishment means long continued punishment, while eternal life means life without end, since Christ in the very same passage [Matthew 25:46] spoke of both in similar terms in one and the same sentence."6Augustine, The City of God (2011-10-04), enhanced Kindle edition, 17030-17032. Sixteen hundred years later, Eldon Woodcock, citing Augustine’s words, reasoned nearly identically that “Matthew 25:46 consists of two statements that are parallel to each other … That each of the two lines uses ‘eternal’ indicates that it will have the same meaning in both lines. Thus, if eternal life is everlasting, then eternal punishment will be the same."7Eldon Woodcock, Hell: An Exhaustive Look at a Burning Issue (WestBowPress, 2012), Kindle edition, 4986-4992. And many other modern traditionalists make the same basic argument from this passage.
Assuming that Chadwick and Ellis are correct, one can readily see how plausible it is that Platonism has shaped Christian reasoning concerning the nature of final punishment, even the reasoning of theologians today who are not themselves Platonists. If Augustine’s argument from Matthew 25:41-46 was influenced by Platonism, then even if Woodcock and other traditionalists who have been influenced by Augustine’s reasoning do not themselves believe in the soul’s inherent immortality, the way they read the text may nevertheless be unknowingly influenced by Platonism. And Augustine’s influence extends far beyond this one specific passage. As Fudge points out, Augustine’s impact is quite far reaching:8Fudge, The Fire That Consumes, 296.
Augustine’s influence extended to medieval scholasticism, to Calvin and Reformed Protestantism, and to Tridentine Roman Catholicism alike. Indeed, from his time forward, one would be hard pressed to find a major break between Augustinian thinking and the teaching of the magisterial churches of the Reformation or of the post-Reformation Roman Catholic Church.
In any case, just what does the Bible say about man’s immortality—or lack thereof? In the beginning, God sent Adam and Eve out of the garden so that they will not have access to the tree of life and live forever (Genesis 3:22-23), so at least since the fall man is not immortal. In what may be the most famous verse in Scripture, we’re told that "whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3:16), implying that those who do not believe in Jesus will perish and won’t live forever. A few verses later it is not just implied but explicitly stated: "He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life" (John 3:36). The very text cited by Augustine and Woodcock limits eternal life to the righteous, requiring that the unsaved will not live forever.
It is no wonder, then, that the Scriptures indicate that what sinners deserve is death. Paul tells the Romans that "those who practice [things which are not proper] are worthy of death" (Romans 1:32), that "the outcome of those things is death" (6:21), and that whereas eternal life is a gift, "the wages of sin is death" (6:23). In the apocalyptic imagery of Revelation the tree of life which would have kept Adam and Eve alive forever is available only to servants of the Lamb (Revelation 22:2), and both John and God himself interpret the perplexing vision as symbolizing "the second death" of those who have risen from their first death (Revelation 20:14, 21:8), indicating that they will die again. And just what was the punishment Jesus bore on behalf of his people, which therefore awaits those who are not his? It was primarily his death; as Paul says it is "of first importance" (1 Corinthians 15:3), a physical death such that he was "put to death in the flesh" (1 Peter 3:18).
The Bible, then, does not simply say that a certain kind of life will be given only to those who are reconciled with him, and withheld from everyone else. No, it says the unredeemed will not live at all.
(2) Scripture speaks of the punishment of the wicked as being of the same duration as the blessing of the righteous, i.e., eternal (aionios), or forever and ever (Is 33:14; 66:24; Jer 17:4; Mt 18:8; 25:41,46; Mk 9:43-48; 2 Thess 1:9; Jude 7; Rev 14:11; 20:10), and nothing in the context of these passages indicates that the word “eternal” has a different meaning in the two cases.
, June 19, 2012. http://www.rethinkinghell.com/2012/06/eternal-punishment-and-the-polysemy-of-deverbal-nouns/ While the duration of corporal punishment, for example, is measured in the duration of the pain inflicted, the duration of capital punishment is instead measured in the time during which one is not alive. And so the fact that Scripture teaches that the punishment of the wicked and the bliss of the righteous will be of equal and eternal duration does not rule out annihilation as that eternal punishment.
As for the texts Dr. Tiessen cites in support of this point, I have said for some time now that what has convinced me most of the truthfulness of conditional immortality is that with virtually no exception, every proof-text typically pointed to by traditionalists proves upon further examination to be better support for the annihilation of the risen wicked than for their eternal torment. The texts Dr. Tiessen cites in this portion of his critique are no exception.
Isaiah 33:14 rhetorically asks, "Who among us can live with the consuming fire? Who among us can live with continual [or everlasting] burning?" One of two answers may be implied, either of which is devastating to the traditional interpretation. One possibility is that no one can, the "continual burning" being something to which only the wicked are subjected. The other possibility is that only those who are described in the following verse as walking righteously can dwell in the "continual burning" that is the holiness of God himself, the quintessential consuming fire (Deuteronomy 4:24; Hebrews 12:29). Either way, the implication is that no wicked person can live with the consuming, everlasting fire that consumes chaff, stubble, and thorns (verses 11-12).
As Fudge explains, "Some traditionalists have interpreted verse 14 as referring to unending conscious torment, but the entire context argues otherwise. Verses 11-12 picture total destruction by fire. This fire consumes, which is why no wicked person can ‘dwell’ with it."10Fudge, The Fire That Consumes, 74. No unredeemed sinner will survive God’s ever-burning anger, of which we also read in Jeremiah 17:4. That’s exactly what we conditionalists affirm, whereas traditionalists posit that the unsaved will live in the everlasting fire for eternity.
, July 17, 2012. http://www.rethinkinghell.com/2012/07/their-worm-does-not-die-annihilation-and-mark-948/ Far from challenging conditionalism, this text is strong support for it.
Similar to Isaiah 33:14 and Jeremiah 17:4, Matthew 18:8 refers to "eternal fire," but gives no indication that the unsaved will suffer in that fire for eternity. Quite the contrary, in verse 9 Jesus calls it Gehenna, which is the Greek transliteration of the Hebrew “valley of [the sons of] Hinnom,” also known as Topheth, which was once a place where idol worshippers burned children as sacrifices to their gods. But Jeremiah 7:32 says that Gehenna would become “the valley of slaughter … The dead bodies of this people will be food for the birds of the sky and for the beasts of the earth; and no one will frighten them away.” Isaiah 30:33 speaks of God’s fiery vengeance upon Gehenna, likening it to a funeral pyre, which is a pile of wood for burning up corpses. Jude verse 7 uses the phrase "eternal fire" to describe the fire which came down from heaven and destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. Thus, eternal fire is not fire in which the lost will consciously burn for eternity, but the eternal and consuming fire from God that completely destroys.
The phrase "eternal fire" is also used in the subsequent text Dr. Tiessen cites, Matthew 25:41 and 46. Again, the meaning of "eternal punishment" in verse 46 is ambiguous in and of itself, between a punishment whose duration is measured in its process and one whose duration is measured in its effect. When "eternal" (aionios) describes other "nouns of action" like punishment, such as "eternal salvation" (Hebrews 5:9) and "eternal redemption" (Hebrews 9:12), the noun’s duration is often measured in its effect. “Eternal fire” in verse 41 resolves the ambiguity, confirming that "eternal punishment" is likewise measured in its effect: the result of being completely destroyed, never to live again.
Like "eternal punishment" already mentioned, "eternal destruction" in 2 Thessalonians 1:9 is ambiguous by itself, and its duration may be measured in its process or its effect. But consider that in the preceding verse—or verses, depending on the translation—Paul says Jesus will be revealed "in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance." As traditionalist G. K. Beale points out, "Isaiah 66:15 [is] the only place in the Old Testament where this combination of terms is found,"13G. K. Beale, “1–2 Thessalonians,” in The IVP New Testament Commentary Series (IVP Academic, 2010). 189. and both passages talk about God rendering recompense to the saints’ oppressors. As we’ve seen, Isaiah 66 ends with a picture of God having violently slain his enemies, reducing them to rotting, smoldering corpses. This tells us, then, that the duration of "eternal destruction" is measured in its effect: the everlasting effect of being destroyed and rendered lifeless.
Revelation 14:9-11 does superficially sound rather like the traditional view, but we must take care in interpreting the vivid imagery. In the imagery of chapter 18 the harlot Mystery Babylon is tormented as well (Revelation 18:7, 10, 15), but as for the city which she represents the interpreting angel has this to say in verse 21: “Babylon, the great city, [will] be thrown down with violence, and will not be found any longer.” And at the beginning of the next chapter, smoke rises forever from the harlot, just like it does from the beast-worshippers of chapter 14. So the imagery of smoke rising forever from the torment of the harlot symbolizes the permanent destruction of the city the harlot represents.
The imagery in Revelation 20:10 depicts the devil, beast, and false prophet “tormented day and night forever and ever”—the latter two having begun their torment a thousand years earlier—after which unbelievers are raised and thrown into the fire. We’ve already seen how Revelation uses the imagery of the harlot’s torment to communicate the permanent destruction of the city she represents. The eternal torment of the devil, beast and false prophet is likewise symbolism communicating their permanent destruction.
This is why the beast is observed being thrown into the fire. John’s readers would have immediately recognized it as the fourth beast of Daniel 7 with characteristics of the previous three beasts, imagery foretelling the same events as Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of the statue in Daniel 2. Taken at face value the images contradict one another. The statue is shattered to pieces. Daniel’s beast is killed and its body destroyed in a river of fire, while John’s beast is thrown alive into a lake of fire and tormented eternally. But for Daniel’s visions the angel interprets the fate of the beast or the statue as communicating the permanent end to the dominion of the kingdom it represents, succeeded by the kingdom of the reigning saints—a kingdom which John also sees, immediately after the beast is thrown into the fire, further supporting that the same events are being foretold in the imagery.
John also sees death and Hades thrown into the fire. Yet death and Hades are abstractions, incapable in reality of being tormented to begin with. And if we suppose that they aren’t tormented because John does not mention their torment, then we must also suppose that the risen wicked aren’t tormented and for the same reason. But these abstractions, death and Hades, can and will come to an end. There’s a reason we call it the intermediate state. And in 1 Corinthians 15 Paul says death will be abolished, a word meaning “to make completely ineffectual.” Death is rendered ineffectual insofar as no one will experience it ever again; it cannot continue to exist powerlessly, having thus come to an end.
The lake of fire can be treated consistently within Revelation and Daniel only if we accept that eternal torment in the imagery symbolizes a permanent end in reality. Death and Hades come to a permanent end. The beast’s dominion comes to a permanent end. Consistent application of the imagery demands that the same be true of the devil and the risen wicked: they likewise come to a permanent end. And this really should come as no surprise, since both John and God himself interpret the lake of fire imagery for us in Revelation 20:14 and 21:8, respectively. We are told that it symbolizes “the second death.” Whereas the first death is temporary, insofar as it is reversed in resurrection, the second death is permanent.
(3) In response to the charge that endless punishment would be an infinite penalty for a finite sin, the point made above to universalists applies again, but traditionalists also observe that sinners continue to be consciously punished because they continue to rebel against God or because they are not repentant, even when they are subdued.
While this may answer the charge leveled against the traditional view of hell by some of its critics, that eternal conscious punishing does not fit the crime of a finite accumulation of sins committed in this life, it doesn’t serve as a challenge to conditionalism. D. A. Carson has offered the same justification for an eternity of punitive suffering, but as I’ve written before, responding to Carson in "No Penitent in Hell: A [Reformed] Response to D. A. Carson,"
the result of being punished—their punishment—will be eternal. The wicked will rise to judgment, be killed, and never live again. Since their punishment is without limit, it absorbs whatever retributive debt might be accumulated as the wicked continue to rebel during their execution … annihilation as the final, permanent, capital punishment is eternal and infinite. Like its contemporary counterpart it can serve as the penalty for any number of sins, both those committed prior to death and following resurrection, up until the moment the risen wicked breathe their last.
In fact, one might argue that the most likely reason Scripture describes a single, final judgment at a point in time, rather than an eternally ongoing process by which sins committed in hell are continually judged, is because the impenitent will not be around to sin further, having been executed.
(4) The goodness and love of God are not compromised by his holiness and the exercise of his justice. It is because God is eternal that our experience of his love, either as fellowship or as wrath, lasts forever (Rev 4:9, cf. Rom 14:11).
Perhaps to the chagrin of many of my fellow conditionalists, I believe that the traditional view of hell, as eternally ongoing punishing, is compatible with the love, goodness and justice of God. Excepting Dr. Tiessen’s statement that one’s experience of God’s wrath is forever (for which no supporting evidence has stood up to scrutiny), I can agree with him.
(5) An exegetical problem occurs when annihilationists force a chronological lapse of time into New Testament passages in order to make a distinction between passages that speak of punishment and those which speak of destruction, which would allow for a time of suffering prior to annihilation.
Responding to this point is a little difficult, because the claim that we face an "exegetical problem" is not backed up; it is merely stated. And no specific texts are cited. What’s more, Dr. Tiessen mistakenly sets up a false dichotomy between "punishment" and "destruction;" namely, it is our contention that destruction is the punishment awaiting the risen wicked. But we believe that destruction may occur by means of a process which inflicts varying degrees of suffering—which requires no stretch of the imagination, since modern means of execution inflict varying degrees of suffering, and since the Lord’s execution itself spanned several agonizing hours.
In fact, speaking of the atonement, again consider 1 Peter 3:18 which says, "Christ also died for sins once for all … having been put to death in the flesh." Now consider 1 Peter 2:21 in which the same author says, "Christ also suffered for you." Were Dr. Tiessen’s criticism valid, then would not all Christians face an "exegetical problem" when they "force a chronological lapse of time into New Testament passages in order to make a distinction between passages that speak of [Christ’s suffering] and those which speak of [His death]?" The reality is that the punishment Jesus bore on behalf of His people consisted in both suffering and death—a violent, painful execution. It’s no wonder, therefore, that Scripture speaks of both, not always in the same sentence, and since that’s precisely what conditionalists believe awaits the risen unsaved, one might expect to see some texts which speak of the suffering that awaits the lost, and others which speak of their death.
(6) The terms translated “destroy” (apollumi, olethros, phtheiro)4 [sic] do not necessarily indicate annihilation, although it is a possibility in some instances. Even in the instances when “eternal” has a qualitative rather than a temporal sense, referring to destruction that lasts “for an age,” the age referred to is the age to come, which has no end.
Like most words in biblical languages—indeed, like most words in any language—of course the semantic domains of terms translated "destroy" span multiple meanings. It does not follow, however, that they may carry any of those meanings in any given text. Context determines which meaning from among a word’s semantic domain is the meaning intended. In Matthew 10:28, for example, Jesus says, "Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear him who is able to destroy [apollymi] both soul and body in hell." Here the context is fearing God who can do what man is incapable of doing: killing the soul. And in every single instance in which the word apollymi appears in the synoptic gospels, in the active voice and describing the actions of one personal agent toward another, it means something like "slay" or "kill".14Glenn A. Peoples, "The meaning of ‘apollumi’ in the Synoptic Gospels," Rethinking Hell [blog], October 27, 2012. http://www.rethinkinghell.com/2012/10/the-meaning-of-apollumi-in-the-synoptic-gospels/ [Retrieved December 21, 2012.] Therefore, whatever the semantic range is for apollymi, in Matthew 10:28 it’s used to say God will kill the bodies and souls of the unredeemed in hell.
As for the position of some conditionalists concerning the qualitative versus quantitative understandings of "eternal" (aionios), my position, as explained above, is that the word does, in fact, carry the temporal meaning of "for eternity" in Matthew 25:46 ("eternal punishment") and 2 Thessalonians 1:9 ("eternal destruction"). The nouns of actions qualified as "eternal," demonstrated by the context to refer to the outcome of their corresponding verbs, are everlasting in duration. The punishment—the ensuing lifelessness of being destroyed—lasts forever. As such, Dr. Tiessen’s criticism does not apply to most of us here at Rethinking Hell.
As for those conditionalists who do suggest aionios has a qualitative meaning rather than a temporal one, they do not mean that the thing which is characterized as aionios lasts as long as an age but rather that its nature or quality is characteristic of the age to which it belongs.15Fudge, The Fire That Consumes, 36-37. That the age to come has no end would not, therefore, challenge those conditionalists who argue from this understanding of "eternal," since it would be the quality of that unending age, not its duration, which is shared by that which is described as "eternal."
(7) In regard to death being “no more” (Rev 21:4), the point is that death is now outside the new heavens and new earth, thrown into the lake of fire and not a part of the creation that replaces the old creation in which death is so large a factor since sin.
I will confess that I find the claim somewhat strange, even potentially self-contradictory. After all, traditionalists often outright deny the reality of death in hell, saying things like: the body that rises "dies not again;"16John Gill, A Body of Doctrinal Divinity: Or a System of Evangelical Truths (Baptist Standard Bearer, 2001), 679. "the evil ones … shall be made immortal;"17The Belgic Confession, Article 37. http://www.reformed.org/documents/BelgicConfession.html [Retrieved 21 December 2012] "Every human being ever born lives forever;"18John MacArthur, "The answer to life’s greatest question, Part 1." http://www.gty.org/resources/print/sermons/42-141/ [Retrieved 21 December 2012] "everybody lives forever;"19"Christopher Morgan on hell and inclusivism." Hosted by Greg Koukl. Stand to Reason [radio], June 5, 2011. http://www.strcast2.org/podcast/weekly/060511.mp3 [1:09:25] and that the unsaved "will continue living in a state with a low quality of life."20Gary Habermas and J. P. Moreland, Immortality: The Other Side of Death (Thomas Nelson, 1992), 173. If everyone will live forever upon rising from the dead, whether covered by the blood of Christ or not, why argue that the sense in which death is rendered "no more" in Revelation 21:4 is limited to the new heavens and new earth? I don’t get it.
In any case, not having access to the text which precedes the critique Dr. Tiessen is reproducing, I’m not aware of the way in which he is considering whether death’s being rendered "no more" in Revelation 21:4 is a challenge to the traditional view of hell. Besides, I don’t personally argue from this verse. However, as pointed out above, in the previous chapter John sees death and Hades thrown into the same lake of fire into which he sees the risen wicked thrown. Dr. Tiessen’s explanation, that death is constrained to outside the new heavens and new earth, can’t apply to Hades, the intermediate state. There’s a reason it’s called intermediate. Therefore, its being seen thrown into the fire is imagery communicating its end everywhere, not just in the new heavens and new earth, suggesting that the same is true of death. No wonder, then, that Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:26 that death will be "abolished," using a Greek word meaning "to render inoperative."21"Dictionary and Word Search for katargeō (Strong’s 2673)". Blue Letter Bible. 1996-2012. 26 Dec 2012. http:// www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G2673&t=KJV If death is rendered inoperative, no one will ever die again.
Traditionalists ought to be comfortable with that, since they believe everyone will live forever in hell, but of course then they have to explain why the casting of death and Hades into the lake of fire is symbolism communicating their end—their annihilation, if you will—while the casting of the risen wicked into it is symbolism for their eternal torment.
Without access to the response to universalism which precedes the critique Dr. Tiessen is reproducing, I don’t know how the final victory of God is presented as a challenge to the traditional view of hell, nor the nature of Dr. Tiessen’s response to universalists who raise it.
However, it’s important to recognize that this is not a philosophical argument conditionalists are making. The argument is not that a final victory in which sin no longer stains any part of God’s creation is better than a final victory in which sin has been isolated forever in hell, separate from God’s eternal kingdom. I shall quote fellow Rethinking Hell contributor, Dr. Glenn Peoples, who summarizes what the argument really is, which he calls "The Biblical Vision of Eternity:"22Glenn A. Peoples, “Why I am an annihilationist,” [PDF] p. 6.
Dr. Peoples goes on, taking the proverbial gloves off:23Ibid. p. 8.
Perversely, defenders of the doctrine of eternal torment have taught the opposite of Scripture here, and even worse: That not only will creation be forever divided into a stark dualism of glory and anguish, heaven and hell, but that this will actually be something that we take great pleasure in.
While I have not made this argument, it’s an argument worth considering, one which I suspect is not so easily answered. I encourage the reader to hear Dr. Peoples present the argument in episode 4 of the Rethinking Hell podcast.
So the critique Dr. Tiessen reproduces in his blog post is not persuasive to me, either as a response to the case for annihilationism or as a case in favor of the traditional view of hell. It is not simply a kind of life which will be withheld from the unsaved; it will be life of any sort, and they will instead die. The texts Dr. Tiessen cites to support the eternal conscious punishing of the lost prove to be better support for the annihilation of the lost. Scripture speaks of the punishment Christ bore as consisting in both his suffering and his death, and if the risen wicked will likewise be violently executed, you find what you would expect when you see their punishment spoken of in terms of both their suffering and their death. And while apollymi has a semantic domain which includes meanings other than "slay" or "kill," its context in Matthew 10:28 tells us that God will execute the whole person in hell, both body and soul.
That having been said, I truly admire and appreciate Dr. Tiessen for his words and attitude found in the blog post where he reproduced his critique. He is willing to commend Rethinking Hell for the quality of its content and presentation, despite our significant disagreement concerning the nature of final punishment. He is willing to consider and discuss alternatives to his reading of Scripture in light of the fact that, like all of us, he is fallible. He recognizes that as Christians we need not break fellowship over this topic, and that conditionalism is not the danger that so many traditionalists seem to think it is. If every Christian on both sides of this debate exhibited this kind of attitude, I can only imagine how fruitful the dialogue would be.
Thank you, Dr. Tiessen. I hope I have been able to maintain the kind of respectful attitude in my critique that you did in your blog post.
1. ￪ Edward Fudge, The Fire That Consumes, 3rd ed. (Cascade, 2011), 263.
3. ￪ Robert A. Peterson and Edward W. Fudge, Two Views of Hell: A Biblical & Theological Dialogue (Intervarsity, 2010), Kindle Edition, 88-89.
4. ￪ H. Chadwick, Augustine of Hippo: A Life (Oxford University, 2010), 134.
5. ￪ E. Earle Ellis, “New Testament teaching on hell,” in Kent Brower and Mark Elliot (Eds.), Eschatology in Bible and Theology: Evangelical Essays at the Dawn of a New Millennium (InterVarsity, 1999), 201.
6. ￪ Augustine, The City of God (2011-10-04), enhanced Kindle edition, 17030-17032.
7. ￪ Eldon Woodcock, Hell: An Exhaustive Look at a Burning Issue (WestBowPress, 2012), Kindle edition, 4986-4992.
8. ￪ Fudge, The Fire That Consumes, 296.
10. ￪ Fudge, The Fire That Consumes, 74.
13. ￪ G. K. Beale, “1–2 Thessalonians,” in The IVP New Testament Commentary Series (IVP Academic, 2010). 189.
15. ￪ Fudge, The Fire That Consumes, 36-37.
16. ￪ John Gill, A Body of Doctrinal Divinity: Or a System of Evangelical Truths (Baptist Standard Bearer, 2001), 679.
20. ￪ Gary Habermas and J. P. Moreland, Immortality: The Other Side of Death (Thomas Nelson, 1992), 173.
22. ￪ Glenn A. Peoples, “Why I am an annihilationist,” [PDF] p. 6.
23. ￪ Ibid. p. 8. | 2019-04-24T18:13:06Z | http://rethinkinghell.com/2012/12/29/unpersuasive-but-irenic-a-thankful-response-to-terrance-tiessen/ |
ABSORBER. A material which causes the irreversible conversion of the energy of an electromagnetic wave into another form of energy, usually heat as a result of its interactions with matter.
ABSORPTION. In the transmission of signals (electrical, electromagnetic, optical, acoustical), the conversion of transmitted energy into heat or other forms of energy.
ABSORPTION LOSS. The attenuation of an electromagnetic wave as it passes through a shield. This loss is primarily due to induced currents and the associated power loss.
AMBIENT LEVEL. Those levels of radiated and conducted energy existing at a specified location and time when test sample is de-energized. Atmospheric noise signals, both desired and undesired, from other sources and the internal noise level of the measuring instruments all contribute to the “ambient level”.
ANODE. In the context of metal corrosion, the less noble or higher potential member of a pair of metals, upon which oxidation or corrosion occurs. Anode is the opposite of cathode.
ANODIZING. Causing a metal, usually aluminum, to become oxidized on its surface to form a protective coating and prevent further corrosion. Anodizing is caused by an acid bath, usually sulfuric acid.
ANTENNA. Any structure or device used to collect or radiate electromagnetic waves.
APERTURE. An opening in a shield through which electromagnetic energy passes.
APERTURE POINT-OF-ENTRY. Intentional or inadvertent holes, cracks, openings, or other discontinuities in the facility HEMP shield surface. Intentional aperture points-of-entry are provided for personnel and equipment entry and egress and for fluid flow (ventilation and piped utilities) through the electromagnetic (EM) barrier.
ARRESTER. A device to protect an equipment, circuit, subsystem, or system from a voltage or current surge such as may be produced by lightning or an electromagnetic pulse.
ATTENUATION. A general term used to denote a decrease in magnitude of power or fields strength in transmission from one point to another caused by such factors as absorption, reflection, scattering and dispersion. It may be expressed as a ratio, or by extension of the term, decibels.
BOND. The electrical connection between two metallic surfaces, established to provide a low-resistance path between them.
BOND, DIRECT. The electrical connection utilizing continuous metal-to- metal contact between the members being joined.
BOND, INDIRECT. An electrical connection employing an intermediate electrical conductor between the bonded members.
BONDING. The process of establishing the required degree of electrical continuity between the conductive surfaces to be joined.
BREAKDOWN VOLTAGE. The voltage at which an insulating material ceases to insulate and becomes electrically conductive.
BROADBAND EMISSION. An emission which has a broad and continuous spectral energy distribution, so that the response of the measuring receiver does not vary significantly when tuned over a large bandwidth.
BURNOUT. A type of failure which implies the destruction of a component due to a permanent change beyond an acceptable amount in one or more characteristics.
CATHODE. In the context of metal corrosion, the more noble or lower potential member of a metal pair, where reduction and practically no corrosion occurs.
CATHODIC PROTECTION. Cathodic protedion. Reduction or elimination of corrosion by means of direct current (dc) that makes the metal to be protected a cathode, which is connected to another metal that serves as a sacrificial anode.
CHEMICAL BIOLOGICAL, RADIOLOGICAL, (NUCLEAR) EXPLOSIVE (CBRE, CBRNE). The uncontrolled release of chemicals, biological agents or radioactive contamination into the environment or explosions that cause widespread damage. CBRNE events can be caused by accidents or by terrorist acts.
CIRCULAR MIL. A unit of area equal to the area of a circle whose diameter is one mil (1 mil = 0.001 in.). To convert a circular mil to a square mil, multiply by 0.7854 (1 square mil = 10.-6- square in.). The area of a circle in circular mils is equal to the square of its diameter in mils.
CLAMP. A function by which the extreme amplitude of a waveform is reduced to a specified level.
CLIP. To limit voltage or current amplitudes to a predetermined level.
COMMON MODE. The voltage or current which is common to all signal-carrying conductors with respect to ground (also see differential mode).
COMMON-MODE REJECTION. The ability of a device to reject a signal that is common to both its input terminals.
CONDUCTED EMISSION. Electromagnetic emissions propagated along a power or signal conductor, acting as a transmission line with conduit, shield, cable tray, or earth as the return conductor.
CONDUCTED INTERFERENCE. Undesirable signals that enter or leave an equipment along a conductive path through direct coupling.
CONDUCTED SUSCEPTIBILITY. Measure of the interference signal current or voltage required on power, control, and signal leads to cause an undesirable response or degradation of performance.
CONTINUOUS SHIELD. A shield fabricated from metal sheets or plates joined by welding, brazing, soldering, or other process so that all seams are completely filled with metal to form an electrically continuous joint.
CORROSION. A specific type of deterioration of a material, usually a metal, or its properties as a result of the surrounding environment.
COUNTERPOISE. A system of wires or other conductors usually elevated above and insulated from the ground, forming the lower system of conductors of an antenna. For EMP and power systems this is often an array of buried conductors.
COUPLING. The means by which energy is transferred from one conductor (including a fortuitous conductor) to another.
COUPLING, CONDUCTED. Energy transfer through a conductor/transmission line.
COUPLING, FREE-SPACE. Energy transfer via electromagnetic fields not through a conductor.
CUTOFF FREQUENCY. The frequency below which electromagnetic energy will not propagate in a waveguide without significant attenuation, or the 3 dB attenuation or insertion loss point in electrical filter responses.
DAMAGE (MALFUNCTION) LEVEL. The value of voltage, current, or field strength that causes a permanent malfunction or damages an equipment item.
DEGRADATION. A decrease in the quality of a desired signal (i.e., decrease in the signal-to-noise ratio or increase in distortion), or an undesirable change in the operational performance of equipment as the result of interference.
DELIBERATE ANTENNA. A receiving or transmitting antenna specifically designed to be a part of a system, but which may pick up or receive HEMP energy as well (also see inadvertent antenna).
DIFFERENTIAL MODE. The voltage or current of a conductor with respect to any other conductor (also see common mode).
DISSIMILAR METALS. Any combination of bare metals that are unlike. Metals are dissimilar when two metal specimens are in contact or otherwise electrically bonded together and generate an electric current. This current causes corrosion of one or both of the metal specimens. The more dissimilar the metals, the greater the galvanic attack of the anodic metal.
DOWN CONDUCTOR, LIGHTNING. The conductor connecting the air terminal or overhead ground wire to the earth electrode subsystem.
EARTH ELECTRODE SUBSYSTEM. A network of electrically interconnected rods, plates, mats, or grids installed or connected for the purpose of establishing a low-resistance contact with earth.
ELECTRIC PROTECTION. The use of electrical devices and techniques to protect equipment, facilities, and people against hazardous voltages and currents.
ELECTRIC FIELD. A vector field around an electrically charged body. The field’s strength at any point is the force that would be exerted on a unit positive charge at that point.
ELECTRONIC SURGE ARRESTER (ESA). A transient suppression device generally installed between an electrical terminal and ground. These devices respond to the rate of change and level of a current or voltage to prevent a rise above a predetermined value. The devices may include metal-oxide varistors (MOVs), spark gaps, diodes, and others. ESAs are also known as electrical surge arresters, transient protection devices, and nonlinear devices. ESAs are used in conjunction with linear attenuation devices for electrical point-of–entry protection.
ELECTROMAGNETIC BARRIER. The topologically closed surface created to prevent or limit HEMP fields and conducted transients from entering the enclosed space. The barrier consists of the facility HEMP shield and point-of-entry treatments, and it encloses the protected volume.
ELECTROMAGNETIC COMPATIBILITY (EMC). The ability of telecommunications equipment, subsystems, or systems to operate in their intended operational environments without suffering or causing unacceptable degradation because of electromagnetic radiation or response.
ELECTROMAGNETIC INTERFERENCE (EMI). The phenomenon resulting when electromagnetic energy causes an unacceptable or undesirable response, malfunction, degradation, or interruption of the intended operation of an electronic equipment, subsystem, or system.
ELECTROMAGNETIC PULSE (EMP). The electromagnetic radiation from a nuclear explosion caused by Compton-recoil electrons and photoelectrons from photons scattered in the materials of the nuclear device or in a surrounding medium. The resulting electric and magnetic fields may couple with electrical/electronic systems to produce damaging current and voltage surges. EMP may also be caused by nonnuclear means.
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION (EMR). Radiation made up of oscillating electric and magnetic fields and propagated with the speed of light. Electromagnetic radiation includes gamma radiation; X-rays; ultraviolet, visible, and infrared radiation; and radar and radio waves.
ELECTROMAGNETIC STRESS. A voltage, current, charge, or electromagnetic field which acts on an equipment. If the electromagnetic stress exceeds the vulnerability threshold of the equipment, mission-aborting damage or upset may occur.
EMISSION. Electromagnetic energy propagated from a source by radiation or conduction.
EQUIPMENT GROUND NETWORK. An electrically continuous network consisting of interconnected grounding plates and structural steel elements.
EQUIPOTENTIAL (GROUND) PLANE. A mass, or masses, of conducting material which, when bonded together, offers a negligible impedance to current flow.
EXCLUSION ZONE. A region, inside a barrier, from which all cables and other conductors are excluded to ensure that they do not interact strongly with the HEMP fields in that region.
FACILITY. A building or other structure, either fixed or transportable in nature, with. its utilities, ground networks, and electrical supporting structures. All wiring and cabling required to be provided are considered to be part of the facility. Any electrical and electronic equipment required to be supplied and installed are also part of the facility.
FACILITY GROUND SYSTEM. The electrically interconnected system of conductors and conductive elements that provides multiple current paths to the earth electrode system. The facility ground system includes the equipment ground network and the equipment racks, cabinets, conduit, junction boxes, raceways, duct work, pipes, and other normally noncurrent-carrying metal elements.
FACILITY HEMP SHIELD. The continuous metallic housing that substantially reduces the coupling of HEMP electric and magnetic fields into the protected volume. The facility HEMP shield is part of the electromagnetic barrier.
FAILURE. The termination of the ability of an item to perform its required function.
FAR-FIELD. The region of the field of a source where the angular field distribution is essentially independent of the distance from the source.
FAULT. In power systems, an unintentional short circuit or partial short circuit between energized conductors or between an energized conductor and ground.
FAULT PROTECTION SUBSYSTEM. This subsystem ensures that personnel are protected from shock hazards and the equipment is protected from damage resulting from faults, including short circuits that may develop in the electrical supply and distribution.
FERROUS SHIELDING. A low electrical resistance and high magnetic permeability material which provides a low reluctance magnetic and high conductivity path.
FIELD STRENGTH. A general term that means either the magnitude of the electric field vector (in volts per meter) or the magnitude of the magnetic field vector (in ampere-turns per meter). As used in the field of EMC/EMI, the term “Field Strength” shall be applied only to measurements made in the far field and shall be abbreviated as FS. For measurements made in the near field, the term “Electric Field Strength” (EFS) or “Magnetic Field Strength” (MFS) shall be used, according to whether the resultant electric or magnetic field, respectively is measured. The EFS shall be expressed as V/M and the MFS as A/M. In this near field region, the field measured will be resultant of the radiation, inductive and quasistatic (1/r, 1/r^2-, and, if present, the 1/r^3) components, respectively of the field where r is the distance from the source.
FILTER. In electronics, a device that transmits only part of the incident energy and may thereby change the spectral distribution of energy.
FLASHOVER. The destructive arcing of electricity over insulators or other components due to an overvoltage condition (e.g. EMP).
FORTUITOUS CONDUCTOR. Any conductor which may provide an unintended path for intelligible signals, or potentially harmful energy from and EMP; for example, water pipes, wire or cable, metal structural embers, and so forth.
FREE-FIELD. An electromagnetic field in which the effects of boundaries are negligible over the region of interest.
GALVANIC CORROSION. Corrosion caused by placing two dissimilar metals in a corrosive or conductive solution in contact with each other, so that the potential difference allows electrons to flow between them.
GALVANIC SERIES. A listing of metals and alloys, ordered on their tendency to corrode independently in a particular electrolyte solution or other environment. This tendency for dissolution or corrosion is related to the electrical potential of the metal in a conductive medium, such as sea water. Metals closely positioned in the galvanic series will have similar electrical potentials, and corrosion will be minimized.
GAS TUBE. A spark gap with metal electrodes hermetically sealed in an envelope, so that a gas mixture and pressure can be controlled, thereby controlling the breakdown voltage of the device.
GLOBAL SHIELD. A single HEMP shield that encloses an entire building or the entire part of the building containing the mission-critical systems. Global shield is a synonym for overall shield.
GROUND. The electrical connection to earth through an earth electrode subsystem. This connection is extended throughout the facility via the facility ground system, consisting of the signal reference subsystem, the fault protection subsystem, and the lightning protection subsystem.
GROUND LOOP. Circulating common mode currents caused by DC, AC, Audio or RF ground potential differences. Also referred to as Circulating Ground Currents and Ground Current Loops.
GROUND PLANE. A conducting surface, plate or system of conductors used as a common reference point for circuit signal current returns and electrical or signal potentials.
GROUNDING (GROUND). The process of providing a metallic surface with low resistance or low impedance path to ground potential.
GROUND, SINGLE-POINT. A scheme of circuit/shield grounding in which each circuit/shield has only one physical connection to ground, ideally at the same point for a given subsystem. This technique prevents return currents from flowing in the structure.
HARDNESS. A measure of the ability of a system to withstand exposure to one or more of the effects of either nuclear or nonnuclear weapons.
HAZARDOUS ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION TO FUEL (HERF). Potential for fuel and petroleum products to be adversely affected by electromagnetic radiation.
HAZARDOUS ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION TO ORDNANCE (HERO). Potential for munitions or electroexplosive devices to be adversely affected by electromagnetic radiation.
HAZARDOUS ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION TO PERSONNEL (HERP). Potential for electromagnetic radiation to create a hazard for personnel.
HIGH-ALTITUDE ELECTROMAGNETIC PULSE (HEMP). An electromagnetic pulse produced at an altitude above the sensible atmosphere.
HEMP ACCEPTANCE TEST. An acceptance test is a test of a system, subsystem, or component performed to ensure that specified performance characteristics have been met. HEMP acceptance tests, conducted near the conclusion of a hardening construction or installation contract, are tests for the purpose of demonstrating that at least minimum performance requirements of the HEMP protection subsystem have been achieved before the subsystem will be accepted by the Government from the contractor.
HEMP HARDNESS ASSURANCE. Quality assurance measures during fabrication .and installation of the HEMP protection subsystem for maintaining the integrity of the hardened design. HEMP hardness assurance is part of the total hardness assurance, maintenance, and surveillance (HAMS) program.
HEMP HARDNESS CRITICAL ASSEMBLY (HCA). A top-level assembly of HEMP hardness critical items and other components, such as mounting brackets and fasteners, that may not be hardness critical. Hardness maintenance and surveillance actions are normally scheduled, performed, and tracked at the hardness critical assembly level.
HEMP HARDNESS CRITICAL ITEM (HCI). A hardness critical item is an item, usually at the individual component level, having performance requirements for the purpose of providing protection from an explosion or natural disaster. Nuclear hardness critical items provide protection from environments produced by a nuclear event or are specially designed to operate under nuclear stresses. HEMP hardness critical items are the elements of the HEMP protection subsystem.
HEMP HARDNESS CRITCAL PROCESS (HCP). A process, specification, or procedure which must be followed exactly to ensure that the associated HEMP hardness critical item attains its required performance.
HEMP HARDNESS MAINTENANCE (HM). Preventive maintenance (e.g., adjustments or cleaning) and corrective maintenance (e.g., repairs or replacements) on the HEMP protection subsystem or its hardness critical items and assemblies. These HM activities are intended to eliminate faults or to preserve specified performance levels.
HEMP HARDNESS MAINTENANCE/HARDNESS SURVEILLANCE (HM/HS). The combined preventive maintenance, inspection, test, and repair activities accomplished on a HEMP-protected operational facility to ensure that HEMP hardness is retained throughout the system life cycle. Hardness maintenance and hardness surveillance, along with hardness assurance, constitute a total HAMS program.
HEMP HARDNESS SURVEILLANCE (HS). Inspections and tests of the HEMP protection subsystem or its hardness critical items and assemblies. These HS activities are intended to observe and monitor the condition and performance of the hardening elements and to detect faults.
HIGHER FREQUENCY GROUND. The interconnected metallic network intended to serve as a common reference for currents and voltages at frequencies above 300 kHz and in some cases down to 30 kHz. Pulse and digital signals with rise and fall times of less than 1 microsecond are classified as higher frequency signals. High frequency in this sense should not be confused with the broadcast HF band which covers from 3 to 30 MHz.
HIGH-SPEED GAP. A gas tube with improved response time produced by radioactive doping of the gas medium and the presence of a semiconductor triggering element across the gap.
IMPULSE RATIO (OF A SPARK GAP). The ratio of the actual sparkover voltage from an applied surge to the static sparkover voltage. The ratio is generally greater than or equal to one and increases with the increasing rate of rise of the applied voltage surge.
INADVERTENT ANTENNA. Any physical object, other than deliberate antennas, that can act as a receiving antenna for HEMP energy.
INTEGRATED LOGISTICS SUPPORT (ILS). A composite of all the support considerations necessary to ensure the effective and economical support of a system for its life cycle. It is an integral part of system acquisition and operation.
INTERNAL COUPLING. That part of the overall HEMP energy transfer process which occurs inside the protected volume, where fields penetrating the HEMP harrier induce currents traveling along cables or conductors inside this volume.
INTOLERABLE UPSET. An upset time of greater that n seconds, identified as part of the facility operational mission requirements.
ISOLATION. Physical and electrical arrangement of the parts of an equipment, system, or facility to prevent uncontrolled electrical contact within or between the parts.
LIFE-CYCLE COST (LCC). The total direct, indirect, recurring, nonrecurring, and other related costs incurred or estimated to be incurred in the design, development, production, operation, maintenance, and support of a major system over its anticipated useful life.
LIGHTNING DOWN CONDUCTOR. The conductor connecting the air terminal or overhead ground wire to the earth electrode subsystem.
LIGHTNING PROTECTION SUBSYSTEM. This subsystem provides a non- destructive path to ground for lightning energy and directs these high currents away from susceptible elements and also limits the voltage gradients developed by the high currents to safe levels.
LOWER FREQUENCY GROUND. A dedicated, single-point network intended to serve as a reference for voltages and currents, whether signals, control or power, from dc to 30 kHz and in some cases to 300 KHz. Pulse and digital signals with rise and fall times greater than 1 microsecond are considered to be low frequency signals.
LOW-RISK HEMP HARDENING. A hardening technique that features a high-quality electromagnetic barrier with minimized and protected points-of-entry. Virtually all mission-essential communications-electronics and support equipment are placed in the protected volume enclosed by the barrier and operate in a relatively benign electromagnetic environment, isolated from the external HEMP stresses. The low-risk approach results in a well-defined HEMP protection subsystem configuration with inherent testability.
MAGNETIC FIELD. A vector field set up by a moving charge or current. This field also exerts a force on moving charges or currents within the field.
MISSION-CRITICAL SYSTEM Synonym for mission-essential equipment.
MISSION-ESSENTIAL EQUIPMENT (MEE). Includes all communications-electronics and support equipment required to perform specified missions. In the context of MILSTD-188-125 MEE refers to equipment required to perform missions specified to be hardened against the HEMP environment.
MULTIPOINT GROUND. More than one path to ground.
NATIONAL ELECTRICAL CODE (NEC). A standard governing the use of electrical wire, cable, and fixtures installed in buildings; developed by a committee of the American National Standards Institute, sponsored by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), identified by the description ANSI/NFPA 70, and adopted by the Federal Government.
NEAR-FIELD. The region of the field of an antenna between the close-in reactive field region and the far-field region. The angular field distribution is dependent upon distance from the antenna in the near field.
NEUTRAL. The AC power system conductor which is intentionally grounded on the supply side of the service disconnecting means. It is low potential (white) side of a single phase AC circuit or low potential fourth wire of a three-phase WYE distribution system. The neutral conductor provides a current return path for AC power currents whereas the ground (or green) conductor should not provide a current return path except during fault conditions.
NOISE. An undesired disturbance within the useful frequency band. Noise is the summation of unwanted or disturbing energy introduced into a communications system from man-made and natural sources.
NORMS. Scalar quantities which characterize the features of a complicated waveform. Norms used as pass/fail criteria for pulsed current injection test residual internal stresses are peak current, peak rate of rise, rectified impulse, and root action.
OPERATIONAL UPSET. Usually implies temporary impairment of operation that will not result in permanent damage, such as a significant disturbance or perturbation to the normal operation.
OVERALL SHIELDING. As used in military handbooks, the protection of an entire facility by use of a single shielded enclosure. An overall shield is a central requirement of the low-risk hardening approach.
PEAK CURRENT. The peak current norm of a current waveform I(t), in units of amperes, is the maximum absolute value of I(t) over times from t =0 to t =5 X 10-3s. At the start of the pulsed current injection drive pulse, t = o.
PEAK RATE OF RISE. The peak rate of rise norm of a current waveform I(t), in units of amperes per second, is the maximum absolute value of dI/dt over times from t = 0 to t = 5 X 10-3s. At the start of the pulsed current injection drive pulse, t = 0.
PENETRATING CONDUCTOR. Any electrical wire or cable or other conductive object, such as a metallic rod, which passes through the electromagnetic barrier. Penetrating conductors are also called conductive points-of-entry.
PENETRATION. The passage through a partition or wall of an equipment or enclosure by a wire, cable, or other conductive object.
PENETRATION ENTRY AREA (PEA). That area of the electromagnetic barrier where long penetrating conductors (such as an electrical power feeder) and piping points-of-entry are to be concentrated.
PERMEABILITY. A general term used to express various relationships between magnetic induction and magnetizing force; the magnetic analog of electrical permittivity. Either absolute permeability or relative permeability may be used. The permeability of free space (magnetic constant) is made up of corresponding values of magnetizing force and flux density.
PERMITTIVITY. The scalar that relates the electric field strength to the electric flux density. Permittivity is also known as dielectric constant. Permittivity is analogous to magnetic permeability, and it specifies the ease with which electric flux is permitted to pass through a given dielectric material.
PLANE WAVE. An electromagnetic wave that predominates in the far-field region of an antenna, and with a wavefront that is essentially in a fiat plane. In free space, the impedance of a plane wave is 377 ohms.
POINT(S) OF ENTRY (POE). A location on the electromagnetic barrier where the shield is penetrated and HEMP energy may enter the protected volume unless an adequate POE protective device is provided. POEs are classified as aperture POEs or penetrating conductors according to the type of penetration. They are also classified’ as architectural, mechanical, structural, or electrical POEs according to the architectural-engineering discipline in which they are usually encountered.
POE PROTECTIVE DEVICE OR POE TREATMENT. The protective measure used to prevent or limit HEMP energy from entering the protected volume at a POE. Common POE protective devices include waveguides-below-cutoff (WBCs) and closure plates for aperture POEs, and filters and ESAs on penetrating conductors.
PULSED CURRENT INJECTION (PCI). A test method for measuring performance of a POE protective device on a penetrating conductor. A HEMP threat-relatable transient is injected on the penetrating conductor at a point outside the electromagnetic barrier, and the residual internal transient stress is measured inside the barrier.
RADIATION. The emission and propagation of electromagnetic energy through space.
RADIATION RESISTANCE. The resistance which, if inserted in place of an antenna, would consume the same amount of power that is radiated by the antenna.
RADIATION HAZARDS TO PERSONNEL (RADHAZ). Potential for personnel to be adversely affected by electromagnetic radiation.
RADIATED EMISSION. Desired or undesirable electromagnetic energy which is propagated through space. Such an emission is called “radiated interference” if it is undesirable.
RADIATED SUSCEPTIBILITY. A measure of the radiated interference field required to cause equipment degradation.
RADIO FREQUENCY (RF). Those frequencies of the electromagnetic spectrum normally associated with radio wave propagation.
RADIO FREQUENCY INTERFERENCE (RFI). Synonym for electromagnetic interference.
REFLECTION COEFFICIENT. The ratio of the phasor magnitude of the reflected wave to the phasor magnitude of the incident wave under specified conditions.
REFLECTION LOSS. The portion of the transition loss, expressed in dB, that is due to the reflection of power at a barrier or shield. Reflection loss is determined by the magnitude of the wave impedance inside the barrier relative to the wave impedance in the propagation medium outside the barrier.
RF GASKET. A material that when compressed between two conductive surfaces creates a seal that will significantly reduce the passage of RF energy, such as that found in a HEMP pulse.
RF-TIGHT. Offering a high degree of electromagnetic shielding effectiveness.
RESIDUAL INTERNAL STRESSES. The electromagnetic fields, voltages, currents, or charges which originate from the HEMP environment and penetrate into the protected volume after attenuation by elements of the electromagnetic barrier.
RETROFIT HEMP HARDENING. A retrofit action is an action taken to modify in-service equipment. Retrofit HEMP hardening is the installation or substantial upgrade of the HEMP protection subsystem for an existing facility or equipment.
SHIELD. A housing, screen, or cover that substantially reduces the coupling of electric and magnetic fields into or out of circuits or prevents the accidental contact of objects or persons with parts or components operating at hazardous voltage levels.
SHIELDING EFFECTIVENESS (SE). A measure of the reduction or attenuation in the electromagnetic or electrostatic field strength at a point in space, caused by the insertion of a shield between the source and that point.
SHIELDED ENCLOSURE. An area (room or box) specifically designed to attenuate electromagnetic radiation, or electromagnetic radiation and acoustic emanation, originating either inside or outside the area. Necessary openings in shielded enclosures, such as doors, air vents, and electrical feedthroughs, are specially designed to maintain this attenuation.
SIGNAL GROUND BUS. A component of the signal ground system which is utilized primarily to connect Signal Ground Reference Planes to the Signal Ground Planes.
SIGNAL GROUND PLANE. An intermediate grounding point insulated from and installed in, on, or near the Main Distribution Frame, Intermediate Distribution Frame, Classified Intermediate Distribution Frame and connected to the Signal Ground Point.
SIGNAL GROUND POINT. A single designated point in a station to which all RED/BLACK grounds are either directly or indirectly connected. This point serves as the common zero potential reference for the station.
SIGNAL GROUND REFERENCE PLANE. An intermediate focal point between an equipment and the Signal Ground Plane for terminating an equipment’s or Terminal System’s ground circuits. The Signal Ground Reference Plane is isolated from the equipment’s AC Protective Ground and is connected to the Signal Ground Plane by a Signal Ground Bus.
SIGNAL GROUND REFERENCE POINT. Same as a Signal Ground Reference Plane but serving one of several Limited Exclusion Areas vice equipment or Terminal Systems.
SIGNAL REFERENCE SUBSYSTEM. This subsystem provides the reference points for all signal grounding to control static charges, noise and interference. It may be comprised of any one or any combination of the lower frequency network, higher frequency network, or hybrid signal reference network.
SIGNAL RETURN. A current-carrying path between a load and the signal source. It is the low side of the closed loop energy transfer circuit between a source-load pair.
SINGLE POINT GROUND. The basic technique used in which separate ground conductors are used for the various grounding functions (signal, power, hazard, and so forth) with each conductor connected directly or indirectly to a single point (Signal Ground Point).
SIMULATION EQUIPMENT. The equipment used to simulate the threat environment, including pulsers and current drivers.
SPARK GAP. A voltage limiting or clamping device (an ESA) consisting of two or more electrodes separated by a dielectric. An electric arc develops whenever the voltage between two electrodes exceeds the sparkover voltage. Examples are the carbon-block gap and the gas tube.
SPECIAL PROTECTIVE MEASURE (SPM). All HEMP hardening measures required in addition to implementation of the electromagnetic barrier. Special protective measures are necessary for MEE outside the barrier, for MEE which is within the protected volume and experiences damage or upset during verification testing, and in cases requiring a special protective volume.
SPECIAL PROTECTIVE VOLUME (SPV). A region within the electromagnetic barrier and a special protective barrier (SPB), where electromagnetic stresses due to HEMP may exceed the residual internal stress limits for the protected volume. The SPB may be a separate shield with protected penetrations; more commonly, shielded cables or conduits and equipment cabinets and closed piping systems are used to provide the needed electromagnetic isolation from the protected volume.
SPURIOUS SIGNALS. Undesirable signals appearing external to equipment or a circuit. They may be harmonics of existing desired signals, high frequency components of complex wave shapes, or signals produced by incidental oscillatory circuits.
SUSCEPTIBILITY. The degree to which an electronic equipment, subsystem, or system evidences undesirable responses when subjected to electromagnetic interference.
STRENGTH. The electromagnetic strength of an electronic subsystem or equipment is the peak value of an electromagnetic stress, such that the subsystem/equipment will continue to operate without damage or intolerable upset. The difference between equipment strength and electromagnetic stress is known as the strength margin. Tested margins are applicable only in the hardening of MEE outside the low-risk barrier.
SYSTEM STATE. A particular configuration of a system by virtue of the position or state of each switch, circuit breaker, solid-state digital device, or other multistate circuit device; or by virtue of the mechanical configuration of doors, equipment, or machines that make up the system. External states include solid-state logic outside the facility barrier, the position of external switches, and configurations of mechanical devices outside the HEMP barrier. Internal states are determined by the configurations of mechanical devices inside the HEMP barrier or by particular circuit connections realized when such things as switches, circuit breakers, thermostatic control, pressure controls, and door interlocks are in a particular on/off arrangement, and electronic states occurring within the system.
TRANSIENT. Short-time variation outside of steady state conditions in the characteristics of power delivered.
TRANSIENT UPSET. A term used to describe an undesired system effect or degradation induced by a short-duration or transient excitation. The term frequently is used to cover all types of such undesired HEMP effects that are not considered to be permanent damage.
UPSET. The impairment of proper system operation that is not due to burnout or other permanent damage to one or more components. Systems that have been upset may return spontaneously to proper operation or may require some operator action, such as resetting a circuit breaker or reloading information into memory.
VARISTOR. A nonlinear resistance device (e.g. ESA) in which current varies as a function of the applied voltage, thereby acting as a voltage limiter. Examples are the silicon carbide resistor and the metal oxide varistor.
VERIFICATION TESTING. Tests conducted for demonstrating that the installed HEMP protection subsystem provides the required HEMP hardness. They are performed after the construction and acceptance testing are complete and after the equipment is installed and functioning, to determine if the operational system suffers missionaborting damage or upset due to simulated HEMP excitations. Verification is normally a Government-conducted test, and is not part of a facility construction’ contract.
WAVEGUIDE-BELOW-CUTOFF (WBC). A metallic waveguide whose primary purpose is to attenuate electromagnetic waves at frequencies below the cutoff frequency (rather than propagating waves at frequencies above cutoff). The cutoff frequency is determined by the transverse dimensions and geometry of the waveguide and properties of the dielectric material in the waveguide.
WAVEGUIDE CUTOFF FREQUENCY. Waveguide cutoff frequency. The frequency below which electromagnetic energy will not efficiently propagate in a waveguide.
WAVE IMPEDANCE. The ratio of the electric field strength to the magnetic field strength at the point of observation.
ZENER DIODE. A reverse-breakdown diode whose breakdown voltage is caused by tunneling or field emission of charge carriers in the depletion layer. These diodes are sometimes used as ESAs. | 2019-04-25T19:55:49Z | https://www.empengineering.com/hemp-definitions/?ref=footer |
Deputy Foreign Minister Ebrahim Ebrahim has labelled the UN an antiquated structure and taken it to task for failing to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
He said a two-state solution could not be reached “mainly because of the narrow self-interest of one or two permanent members of the Security Council”.
This was an allusion to the US vetoing a resolution by the UN Security Council calling for an end to settlements by Israel in the West Bank. He said the organisation needed to be changed because its decisions did not reflect the views of the majority of members.
“We are frustrated with the multilateral institutions, but we have to work within them,” he said.
Ebrahim made these remarks at the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Westville campus when he made a speech on the past 20 years of South Africa and multilateralism.
He highlighted the various achievements the country had made in the past 20 years, such as hosting the Non-Alligned Movement in 1998, the Commonwealth Heads of Government in 1999, the first summit of the AU in 2002 and being a non-permanent member of the security council.
Professor Patrick Bond, of the School of Development Studies at UKZN, questioned Ebrahim, asking if South Africa’s recent activities on the African continent had not compromised its credibility by “talking left and walking right”.
Ebrahim responded that this was not the case, and said South Africa had differed on a number of issues with the US, and was independent.
Thank you for the invitation to address you today. It is indeed an honour for me to once again visit the University of KwaZulu Natal and to engage with you on South Africa’s foreign policy and international achievements over the past two decades, with specific focus on our multilateral engagement. I also look forward to a good engagement with you during the question and answer session.
This year South Africa marks the 20th anniversary of our democratic transition – a transition which also marked the end of our country’s pariah status and our full integration into the structures and processes of the international community.
Since 1994 a primary foreign policy priority was to accelerate our reintegration into the international community and to promote an international rules-based system through active and constructive participation in multilateral institutions and processes. Our foreign policy has been inspired by our history and guided by our ethos and principles, foremost amongst which is the desire for a more just, humane and equitable world. In the conduct of our international relations, we attach the utmost importance to the promotion of human rights, democracy, justice and the international rule of law. These principles necessarily place multilateral institutions, specifically the United Nations, at the centre of our foreign policy activities. Furthermore, Globalisation has created a highly interconnected and interdependent world of complex new transnational threats like climate change, pandemic disease and food security, in which common problems can longer be solved without the collective efforts of all members of the international system acting together through multilateral institutions.
The centrality of the United Nations to South Africa’s foreign engagement is in part based on a strong belief in collective and equitable global governance, but also because of the organization’s role in the fight against apartheid.
Through the many decades leading up to 1994, the UN took many important steps that assisted in the international struggle against apartheid. The UN became the voice of the voiceless. For example, in 1973, the UN declared apartheid a crime against humanity with the approval of the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid by the General Assembly. This resulted in 1974, in the suspension of South Africa’s membership to the United Nations to be restored only in June 1994, after the first democratic elections.
It is therefore no wonder that with the dawn of democracy in South Africa the new government eagerly plunged into its new international role, and enthusiastically took up our responsibilities as an active member of the UN. Moreover, taking our place in the community of nations came with high expectations shaped by our peaceful transition referred to as the “South African miracle” and the iconic status of President Nelson Mandela as a lodestar of reconciliation and forgiveness.
South Africa met the challenge and immediately took on huge international responsibilities. The principles that motivated our action are still relevant today: a firm belief in multilateralism – especially a global governance system that is fair, equitable and representative; the promotion of peace and security through global disarmament, the pacific settlement of disputes and the promotion of good governance; the promotion of human rights; and the fight against poverty through the promotion of sustainable development.
Time does not permit me to elaborate on the vast array of activities and achievements in this field over the past 20 years, such as: hosting the NAM Summit in 1998, the Commonwealth Heads of Government in 1999, the first Summit of the African Union in 2002, the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002, and CoP XVII in 2011 – rather, I wish to highlight a few achievements in our priority areas over the past two decades.
The first of these is our international role in the continued fight against racism as an international scourge, culminating in 2001 in our hosting of the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance.
Under the leadership of the Chair of the Conference, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, the delegates adopted the Durban Declaration and Plan of Action (DDPA), which reasserts the principles of equality and non-discrimination as core human rights with the aim of transforming victims of discrimination into rights-holders and States into duty bearers. There have been concerted attempts to reverse the outcomes of the DDPA and to renege on commitments made, especially by the United States and allies with the aim of protecting Israel’s discriminatory policies.
The struggle against racism and other forms of discrimination is far from over and South Africa’s commitment to fight racism and to promote human rights will remain strong – inspired by those who paid the ultimate price in the fight against racism and injustice. Our message to the world is that the best way of honouring Madiba’s legacy is to honour the outcomes of the Durban Summit and its review conference.
The second area I wish to highlight is our commitment to see a peaceful world free of weapons of mass destruction.
With the voluntary renunciation and dismantling of the apartheid bomb during the early 1990s and South Africa’s successful democratic transition, it was natural for the country to assume a key role during the 1995 Review and Extension Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) – this first major international conference since the inauguration of our new Government. It is on this occasion that South Africa earned its new-found status as a bridge-builder and key player in the multilateral arena by brokering a deal that would not only extend the lifespan of the Treaty, but also hold the nuclear powers responsible for fulfilling their nuclear disarmament obligations.
Building on its achievements at the NPT, South Africa also played a leading role in the process to ban anti-personnel mines that kill and maim civilians and stifle economic development on the African continent and beyond. During the last 20 years South Africa has been able to build on these early achievements across the full range of disarmament issues, from conventional arms to weapons of mass destruction.
Today, we continue our quest for a world free from the threats posed by arms that are indiscriminate or cause excessive harm to civilians. This includes our active engagement in the area of conventional arms, such as the recently concluded Arms Trade Treaty, as well as efforts to finally rid our world of the existential threat posed by nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction. It is in this context, that we are also playing an active role in the recent initiative on the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons.
Building on this notion, world leaders gathered at the UN Head Quarters in New York in 2000 to adopt the Millennium Declaration in which they committed to eradicate extreme poverty through the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. These international measures have informed our domestic policy and many of the government’s policies aimed at the eradication of poverty and inequality in South Africa. Last week with the introduction of the “20 Year Review: South Africa 1994 to 2014”, President Zuma announced that South Africa is on track to have fulfilled all its obligations under the Millennium Development Goals by 2015.
Today, international focus is on looking beyond 2015. The global economic crisis and the reconfiguration of global politics has opened new opportunities to throw off the shackles of global apartheid and to direct the globalisation process to prevent harm to the most vulnerable. A Special Meeting of the UN General Assembly recently decided to launch an intergovernmental process which will lead to the adoption of the post-2015 development agenda. This would allow all member states, particularly developing countries that have the most at stake, an opportunity to engage in a multilateral process to determine the global development agenda. For South Africa the goal is to locate development appropriately to ensure that agreed targets and commitments are not re-negotiated and also to ensure that the process forward is all-inclusive.
The next area I wish to highlight is that of the promotion of international peace and security. Our own peaceful transition from the brink of civil war is central to our approach to the resolution of disputes and remains an example to the world of how a deeply divided country on the brink of disaster can build a nation through all-inclusive dialogue. Moreover, our approach towards peace and security is based on the belief that South Africa’s security and development is inextricably linked to the welfare of our Continent – we will only be able to fully deliver our development commitments to our own people if we can fully benefit from the economic growth of a Continent at peace with itself.
Thus the development and security of the African Continent is a key area in our foreign policy. In the past 20 years we have played an active role in reshaping the Organization for African Unity into the African Union specifically with the aim of strengthening Africa’s ability to address conflicts on the Continent. Since its inception in 2002 at the Durban Summit, the African Union has established and consolidated a comprehensive Peace and Security Architecture. The architecture is based on a paradigm that recognises preventive diplomacy as central to eradicating conflicts on our Continent. These mechanisms that the African Union has put in place bear testimony to the determination of our Continent to address peace and security challenges in a comprehensive manner.
Building further on our commitment to international peace and security, specifically on the African Continent, South Africa served four of the past seven years on the UN Security Council. Throughout its two terms South Africa prioritised the resolution of conflict and the attainment of peace and stability on the Continent, whilst advocating a strengthened partnership between the UN and the African Union (AU). South Africa also focused on defending the integrity of the UN Charter and the Rule of Law as the foundation for multilateral cooperation.
A highlight of South Africa’s most recent term on the Council was its Presidency of the Council in January 2012, which had as its theme the strengthening of the partnership between the UN and the African Union (AU). Building on the success of South Africa’s 2007/2008 UNSC term in promoting closer cooperation between the UNSC and the AU Peace and Security Council (AU-PSC), South Africa promoted the view that greater strategic coordination between the two bodies would increase the effectiveness of the UNSC in addressing African conflict situations. President Zuma presided over a meeting, which resulted in the unanimous adoption of Resolution 2033 (2012). The resolution formalises cooperation between the UN and AU as a permanent part of the Council’s work and focuses on achieving coherence between the two bodies in dealing with African conflicts.
However, we also witnessed numerous failures of the Council, often because of its antiquated structure. One such example is the Security Council’s inability to substantively address the long-outstanding matter of the Question of Palestine. Unfortunately the UN Security Council has not been able to move a negotiated settlement towards a two-state solution along, mainly because of the narrow self-interest of one or two permanent members of the Council. For example, since 2000 Permanent Members of the Security Council have vetoed 14 resolutions addressing the situation in the Middle East. Ten of the 14 vetoes were cast by the United States, of which 9 were related to the situation between Israel and Palestine. The most recent veto on this matter was cast in February 2011 by the United States, when 138 Member States of the United Nations supported a Security Council resolution calling for an end to settlement activities by Israel in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as such activities are illegal under international law.
Another profound failure of the Council has been its inability to give concrete support for the efforts of the Joint Special Representative of the United Nations and the League of Arab States on Syria, to bring the parties to move towards a negotiated solution.
When our last term on the Council ended in December 2012, South Africa left the Security Council more convinced than ever before of the urgency of the long-outstanding reform of that body. This has motivated our fight to advance the urgent reform of the Security Council, including its working methods, to make it more democratic, representative and legitimate. In September 2013, President Zuma challenged the UN membership to not celebrate the 70th Anniversary of the formation of the United Nations in 2015 with an unreformed UN Security Council.
To put it bluntly, the way the Council is currently formed is unfair to developing and small states, and disenfranchises the majority of the Member States of the United Nations, who form the majority of the General Assembly. In its nearly 70 years of existence the Council has expanded only once, in 1964, when the Council’s membership was increased from 11 to 15. At the time, the legitimacy of the Council was questioned because its 11 members represented only 10 % of the UN’s membership at the time – as opposed to 21% in 1945 at the creation of the UN. Today the 15 members of the Council represent only 8% of the UN membership. Moreover, how can the Council be legitimate and representative, if two continents, namely Africa and Latin America, are not represented at all in the permanent category?
The Security Council remains the primary international organ mandated to promote international peace and security. It is essential that it remains true to its mandate and moves beyond the paralysis brought on by the geo-political interests of a few member states. The only way this can happen is if world leaders, including those that represent the Permanent Members of the Security Council, are bold and courageous and commit to enlarging the Security Council urgently. Failure to do so will encourage states to start acting unilaterally, with disastrous consequences for all.
I wish to conclude by restating our commitment to multilateralism. The world is entering a potentially turbulent period as the era of western primacy comes to an end, and new powers rise and compete over status and interests. To us it is clear that acting unilaterally and military supremacy are not the answers to preserving stability in this time of flux. The best safeguard of our security and prosperity is to consolidate rather than erode international rule of law which informs the exercise and limits of the use of state power, and to embed the principles of cooperation over conflict and collaboration over confrontation. The challenge before us is to transform global politics from a power-based hierarchy to a rules-based system of international society. | 2019-04-23T21:03:12Z | http://ccs.ukzn.ac.za/default.asp?11,65,3,3157 |
With a large family, I knew that college and its costs would be the big bugaboo in our family. My husband’s philosophy is that if the kids want a college education than they’ll find a way to pay for it themselves, and urging them not to do it with loans, as it isn’t very fun or smart to graduate from college with a lot of debt hanging over one’s head. Aim for great ACT scores, have good grades in high school, and hopefully some academic scholarships could come their way.
Our oldest decided to serve our country for four years, and then use the G.I. Bill to pay for college. As his last year in the service is now upon him, he is evaluating colleges he might want to enroll at. Some of the states charge the “out of state” tuition rates to veterans and some don’t, which has been a nice surprise for him. Our second child was accepted at College of the Ozarks which has the nickname of “Hardwork U”. Our daughter works for the college while taking the required courses for her degree, and that pays for her tuition. Some scholarships were also earned by her during her senior year at Rolla High, so those have paid for her room and board. Her only expenses were for books and supplies, which was manageable for our family’s budget. Child #3 will be a senior at Rolla High this coming Fall, and he doesn’t want to pursue a career that requires a 4 year degree. He is looking to gain his training via the Community College route, which again, will be easier on our family’s budget. There are still 4 more kids to raise and educate, but their college careers are not in the immediate future, yet.
Looking over our first 3 childrens’ choices for higher education made me start musing about earning a college degree today. Tuition costs have been rising steadily and they don’t look like they’ll be slowing down in the near future either. I read an interesting article by Richard Wolin, for the July 2, 2012 issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education. Wolin pointed out that college tuitions have been rising since 1986, at an increase of 500%! He also shared some startling statistics: A household that earns $90,000 or more, the children of these households stand a 50% chance of attending college and earning a bachelors degree by the age of 24. A household that earns $60,000-$70,000 and the odds fall by half, only 1 out of 4 children will earn that degree by the age of 24. A household earning $35,000 and that odd increases, to only 1 out of 17 earning that degree. Wolin also pointed out that in order to offset the rising costs of tuition, low and middle-income students are graduating with tons of student loan debt. The average debt owed is $23,000.
I then recalled a blurb of news I had heard on the radio last week about a legislator in Missouri telling the State’s Department of Higher Education that perhaps degrees should be offered that will lead to students finding jobs, and less degrees should be offered in careers that aren’t very lucrative and have high rates of students who remain unemployed after graduation for far too long. That blurb got me to researching for some more information: The 12 Worst College Degrees, meaning that those who graduate with these degrees have a very hard time finding employment, and they don’t earn much pay, which would make paying off those student loans very difficult. Here are those degrees: English, History, Sociology, Graphic Arts, Drama, Physical Fitness & Parks and Recreation, Music, Liberal Arts, Philosophy, Fine Arts, Film& Video& Photographic Arts, Anthropology, and Archaeology. I found those two lists from Forbes magazine online and Kiplinger online, so it is a combination of their Top Worst Degrees lists.
Next, I decided to find the Top 10 College Degrees, the ones where graduates find jobs, and find jobs that pay pretty well for beginning employees. These degrees are: Information Science and Systems, Construction Science and Management, Civil Engineering, Finance, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace/Aeronautical Engineering, Computer Science, Chemical Engineering, and Computer Engineers. If those trends continue, then American public schools need to focus on mathematics and sciences!
Not all students are drawn to careers in such technical fields. College educations are increasingly expensive. Students and parents need to really examine carefully what the student wants to pursue for his career field. There should be no shame in working a year or two out of high school, saving one’s earnings, and really evaluating what degree a person wants to attend college for. Far more economical than launching off to college with a major of “Undecided”, and waste a year of money, or two, in trying out one course of study and then having to change it in mid-stream.
At the end of Wolin’s article, he pointed out how in the 1960s and 1970s, colleges were pushed and/or pressured to allow more students from diverse backgrounds to enroll at their campuses, students who in the past wouldn’t have been considered “appropriate” for college. He warned that with today’s exorbitant tuition costs, colleges are once again shutting out the students from lower-income households, and colleges are becoming what they fought against in the 1960s and 1970s, exclusive places where one can attend if they are from an upper middle class or higher level of income family.
It seems to me that if one wants that college degree, then one should: work very hard in high school to get those top grades, take the college entrance tests whether it be the ACT or SAT, research all of the scholarships out there that one can apply for and apply for them, research the schools where the desired degree can be earned for the least expenditure from the parents’ pockets, if a college is close to one’s hometown then consider living at home and being a commuter student, if one works a part-time job in high school, sock that money away for that degree. Be very sure of what you want to go to college for, work hard and earn that degree, work a part-time job while earning that degree(I did that, working for one of the on-campus cafeterias), and try your hardest not to graduate with loads of debt hanging over your head.
When I came into the living room this evening, my husband was viewing something on his laptop computer and he kept chuckling and laughing. I finally asked him what was so funny? He told me that he was watching The Odd Couple, that Netflix Streaming had it on their movie list as of today, April 25th, 2013. I was so glad to hear that this film was now available for streaming and our seventeen year old even chimed in with the comment that he would like to see it too.
The Odd Couple, was first a comedic play written by Neil Simon. It opened on Broadway on March 10th, 1965 at the Plymouth Theatre and then moved to the Eugene O’Neill Theatre and remained there until it closed on July 2nd, 1967. The play’s director was Mike Nichols, and the two main characters were played by Walter Matthau, as Oscar Madison, and Art Carney, as Felix Unger. Since the play had been such a huge hit on Broadway, it was a no-brainer that the playwright, Neil Simon, would write the screenplay for the film version of his play. In 1968 the movie, The Odd Couple, was released by Paramount Pictures. Directed by Gene Saks, with Walter Matthau reprising the stage role of Oscar Madison and Jack Lemmon cast as Felix Unger.
This delightful comedy deals with two men, friends, both divorced, who decide for a time to share an apartment. The comedy revolves around the clashing of their personalities. Both Oscar and Felix are newspaper men. Oscar is a sportswriter and Felix is a television news writer. They have a weekly poker game on Friday nights and the movie begins with a depressed Felix wandering around New York City, contemplating suicide as his wife Frances has kicked him out of the home that evening. Meanwhile, back at the weekly poker game, Oscar and his friends are getting worried as Felix is uncharacteristically late for the game and after a phone call is made, they learn about Felix being kicked out of his home. Wondering outloud what they should do, worrying that this could drive Felix over the edge, in walks Felix, who breaks down in front of everyone and tells them of his plight, that his wife Frances wants a divorce. His friends try to cheer him up and Oscar suggests that Felix move in with him. Felix cheers up and agrees to Oscar’s plan and tells Oscar to not be shy in letting him know if he is getting on Oscar’s nerves.
The comedic moments begin to flow rapidly as we see that Oscar is a slob, with a filthy apartment, spoiled food in the kitchen, dirty dishes stacked in the sink, and messy clothes lying all over the place. Felix, it is quickly revealed, is a neat freak, a gourmet cook, who loves to keep things neat and clean and organized. These two friends begin clashing immediately and it leads to comedic gold. The two friends begin to nag at one another in the way that long-married couples might do! There are two British sisters, the Pigeon Sisters, who live in the apartment above Oscar and Felix’s apartment and the attempt to date the ladies ends in much sympathy for Felix and nothing but frustration for Oscar. A visit to a diner leads to one of the film’s funniest moments when Felix has to clear his sinuses while the patrons in the diner are trying to eat their meals. As Felix snorts and hums and makes ridiculous sharp, loud noises in his sinus clearing efforts, Oscar grows more embarrassed and angry as all eyes in the diner are on them!
Tears for Felix to Oscar’s dismay!
Many more antics ensue, but by the film’s end, the friends have truly come to terms with each other’s personalities and quirks. Besides the two leads, the other characters in the movie are: John Fiedler, Herb Edelman, David Sheiner, and Larry Haines as the poker playing buddies, and Monica Evans and Carole Shelley as the Pigeon Sisters.
At one point during the talks about making the film version of the play, it was suggested that Frank Sinatra and Jackie Gleason play the parts of Felix and Oscar! I am very glad the movie was cast with Matthau and Lemmon. The movie was a huge hit, one of the four top grossing movies in America for 1968. Neil Simon was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Writing- Adapted Screenplay, the film was nominated for Best Motion Picture-musical or comedy at the Golden Globes, and both Matthau and Lemmon were nominated for Best Actor in a Motion Picture -musical or comedy at the Golden Globes.
The movie was so successful that it led to a television series, in 1970, that ran for 5 seasons and aired on ABC. It starred Jack Klugman as Oscar Madison and Tony Randall as Felix Unger. I hope that Netflix Streaming will begin to air the televison version of this great comedy too!
When I began my blog I decided to use WordPress for my work and publishing site, and it has been a great support system for me in my blogging adventure. One feature that WordPress has is a section called “Stats”. I can click on the Stats button each day and it will show me with bar graph displays how many times that my blog was looked at or “visited” on any given day. Even more interesting to me is a map of the world to show me the countries where visitors to my blog are from. I shared with my husband that the other day I had visitors from Germany, the United Kingdom, and Australia. All of these visitors to my blog, from around the world, gave me my idea for today’s blog offering.
What is the view of the United States from someone in another country? My husband’s niece and her husband live in Kenya and from what they have told us, our President is very popular there due to his father being a native of Kenya. From my son living in Japan for 2 years, I have learned that the Japanese people are extremely polite, curious of western culture, and would never wear ill-fitting clothes or garish outfits in public, like our son saw when his plane touched down in Seattle a couple months ago. From a humorous article I read last week, we are a puzzle to our fellow English speaking allies in Great Britain for our habits of : flossing our teeth, baking brownies and cookies, yelling out whoo-whoos whenever we’re excited about anything, and hugging everyone in sight.
The week that just passed was a horrible week for our country, especially for the city of Boston, Massachusetts and its suburbs. The two brothers who set off the two bombs that killed 3 and injured over a hundred during the 117th Boston Marathon, were found. One brother was killed in a police chase, and the second brother was found the next evening, hiding in a family’s boat in their backyard. All of the questions and speculating have begun and with our national media’s efforts, will probably keep on going for quite a while.
One thing I hope that the rest of the world witnessed was that despite this terrible act, examples of goodness and courage happened immediately. Marathon runners began taking themselves to Boston’s hospitals in order to donate blood, which would be needed for the bombing victims. The police: city, state, FBI, military, national guard, firefighters, all worked quickly and well and thoroughly to find those responsible for the bombings. As a child of a police officer, now retired, I knew that my dad dealt with people making bad choices on a daily basis, that his work had the potential for harm befalling him, but I guess I just didn’t dwell on that fact. I just knew that my dad would do his best at keeping the citizens of our Ohio town as safe as he possibly could. Many of my friends on social media began to post prayers they were praying, or reminders for all of us to pray for the people in Boston; the power of prayer and faith in God must never be downgraded or demeaned.
I hope that the rest of the world recognizes that our country was begun by a grand experiment, if you will. The colonists thought it quite unfair that they should pay ever increasing taxes to the British government with no say in the matter: no one in Parliament represented the colonists voices, whether yay or nay for these taxes. Having a very large ocean separating the colonies from their starter/sponsoring country of England also helped in providing a buffer for the burgeoning colonies when protests against the taxations began. The Founding Fathers (John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Patrick Henry, Benjamin Franklin, John Jay, Alexander Hamilton), and the other 50 men who signed the Declaration of Independence all knew that by signing their names it would mean death for them if they were caught by the British forces during the American Revolution.
America has been called a “melting pot” and that has been true for hundreds of years. We are a young country and when the colonies began forming in earnest, many of them were set up expressly for various groups: Massachusetts was for the Puritans, Maryland for the Catholics, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island for anyone who wanted to live in the New World. America has always been this, a land holding promise of a new start for those willing to work hard and to work wisely at making their dreams come true. My own ancestors decided to leave Germany and France for America. I think about that now and then and I am so very glad that they did.
In summing up, we Americans may be without royalty, we may be too loud, too coarse, too rude. Our entertainment culture boarders on trash and crosses over into trash at times. (For that I am embarrassed for our country!) We have societal problems, political problems, economic problems, but despite all of that and the horrors of last week, we Americans stick together. We come together in times of tragedy and offer our help, our knowledge, our faith, our prayers. It is still the Land of the Free, and the Home of the Brave, as the song’s lyrics proclaim.
When I was a kid, growing up in the 1970s, we had a great cable television station to tune into, Channel 50, which beamed into our northwest Ohio home via Detroit, Michigan. On Saturday afternoons at 3:00 p.m., Channel 50 would air Chiller Theater. My brother and I would tune in regularly and that is where I saw a horror movie that truly gave me a scare: 1953’s House of Wax, starring the wonderful Vincent Price. Warner Brothers distributed this film, directed by Andre de Toth and produced by Bryan Foy. Price’s co-stars were Frank Lovejoy, Charles Bronson, Carolyn Jones, and Phyllis Kirk. House of Wax was a remake of an earlier Warner Brother’s movie, 1933’s Mystery of the Wax Museum. This newer version was the first film to combine technicolor with the 3-D filming technique.
Professor Henry Jarrod (Vincent Price) is a creative, artistic genius when it comes to making wax sculptures of people. He and a business partner, Matthew Burke (Roy Roberts) have opened up a wax museum in New York City. One evening, Burke visits the museum to appeal to Jarrod to make displays that depict infamous and evil people, to lure in more paying customers. Jarrod refuses to make such exhibits. He is an artist and doesn’t want to make such macabre displays! Burke then announces that if the museum were to burn in a fire, they would collect the insurance money. Jarrod is horrified that Burke would suggest such a thing, decrying the plan because that would mean destroying “his friends”; it is at this point that the audience knows that Jarrod is a bit crazy, as he refers to his statues as if they are real, treating them with kindness and respect as he displays them. Burke, ignoring Jarrod’s protests, sets the skirt of Marie Antoinette on fire and when Jarrod tries to put out the flames, Burke starts setting other exhibits on fire. He and Jarrod have a fist fight and Jarrod is knocked out, falling onto the Joan of Ark display. Burke then finds a flammable liquid to toss around the museum, and he also turns on the gas lights so that natural gas will fill the place! Jarrod awakens, tries to stop Burke, who does manage to flee. Jarrod tries to stop the inferno, but a part of the building collapses on him and after the fire is over, his body isn’t found. Seeing those wax figures begin to melt, to burn, to see their eyes pop out of their heads, to see their heads break off their bodies, and to see the bodies crumple in the flames, to me as a child, that was a very, very creepy scene!
So scary to me: Melting wax figures!!
Time marches on and the film focuses on the two ladies in the story, Cathy Gray(Carolyn Jones) and Sue Allen(Phyllis Kirk). The ladies are good friends, they room at the same boarding house, and it just so happens that Cathy’s fiance is Matthew Burke! Sue, herself, has a boyfriend, Scott Andrews(Paul Picerni) who just happens to be a sculpter for a new wax museum that is opening under the direction of Professor Henry Jarrod! Jarrod did survive the fire, but his hands were permanently damaged, so he has had to turn to new artists to help with his sculptures, including another new assistant, who is a mute, Igor(Charles Bronson, but the credits will have his real name listed, Charles Buchinsky.) Jarrod is also in a wheelchair, as the fire damaged his legs. One evening as Cathy is getting ready for a date with Burke, the camera cuts to Burke’s home and a dark, shadowy figure wearing a large hat and a black cape sneaks into Burke’s home and strangles him! Burke’s death by a sinister figure dressed in black, who sneaks in and out of the shadows, striking at night, that really scared me as I watched the film!! The police are called and Lt. Tom Brennan(Frank Lovejoy) and his assistant, Sgt. Jim Shane(Dabs Greer), are called to the scene of Burke’s murder.
The police are starting to ask questions.
Strangely, bodies begin to disappear from the morgues in New York City, including Burke’s murdered body. Professor Jarrod has new exhibits being made ready for his museum. Taking his late business partner’s advice, the new exhibits focus on gruesome scenes of torture or death, some exalting horrible people. Sue visits the museum with her boyfriend, Scott. Professor Jarrod is introduced to her and he is immediately drawn to Sue, saying she reminds him of his Marie Antoinette figure. It is obvious that upon meeting Jarrod, Sue has an intuitive dislike of the man and his museum, but she is tactful about hiding her feelings. Days go by and one evening that creepy, shadowy figure in black sneaks into Cathy’s bedroom and murders her! A couple nights later, that same shadowy figure steals Cathy’s body from the morgue. The shadowy figure happens upon Sue one night as she is walking home alone. Sue senses she is being followed and with a glance over her shoulder, she sees the creepy figure moving quickly in the shadows, stalking her. Fortunately she arrives safely to her destination. The stalker tries to also harm Sue as she is sleeping, but her screams successfully drive the fiend away. Oh how those scenes worried me!!
Stealing Cathy’s body from the morgue.
Sue being stalked by the creepy, shadowy figure!
Sue’s screams scare away the stalker!!
Sue visits the museum again in order to wait for Scott to get off of work. As she walks around, she notices that the Joan statue in the Joan of Ark exhibit looks a lot like her dead friend Cathy! Sue shares her fear with Scott and they decide to go to the police. Sue bravely decides she must find out what has happened to Cathy’s body so she goes alone to the museum and plans to hide there to explore the Joan of Ark exhibit after the museum is closed for the evening. She discovers that the figure of Joan of Ark is really Cathy’s dead body!!!! Professor Jarrod discovers Sue in his museum and with the help of Igor, catches her. As Sue confronts Jarrod, hitting him with her fists, his face crumbles off in bits and his true face is revealed: a horribly scarred, burned visage is shown, and we know that Jarrod has been the shadowy figure creeping at night finding victims to murder and then putting them into wax to be sculptures for his museum!!! Sue faints at the horrible sight of Jarrod’s face, and he orders Igor to take her below to the wax works. We next see Sue, waking up from her unconscious state, to find herself chained inside of a long, wooden box with four, high sides. Her wrists are chained down to the box’s bottom as are her ankles. Jarrod explains that his plan is to cover her body in extremely hot wax, she’ll die, and then she’ll live on as his Marie Antoinette. The tension builds as time will be running out for Sue as the wax increases in temperature and begins to flow through intricate tubing where it will soon empty on top of her! Back at the police station, the officers and Scott and wondering where Sue is, as she didn’t meet them as planned. As the wax gets hotter and hotter, the police finally get to the museum! In the nick of time, the good guys arrive, break into the museum, rescue Sue, deal with Igor, and Jarrod gets his own hot wax treatment, by accident.
Cathy’s body is the Joan of Ark Statue!!
Examining the Joan of Ark statue.
Sue sharing her suspicions to the police.
As I pointed out earlier, this film was a remake, of sorts, to an earlier Warner Brothers horror film, 1933’s Mystery of the Wax Museum. I discovered in my research that the 1953 film is available on a double-feature dvd, with the 1933 film. Some more interesting factoids I discovered were that Jack Warner was reluctant to green light this project, but he finally did and the movie was made in 28 days at a cost of $618,000. It made a great profit, $23,750,000! Andre de Toth, the director, was legally blind in one eye, so 3-D effects he couldn’t see and yet for a 3-D film, it is one of the better ones. Midway through the film is a famous scene of a paddle-ball player showing off his talents and talking right to the camera and aiming his paddle-ball there, one of the 3-D aspects of the film. This was also the first horror movie Vincent Price starred in, and he did such a fantastic job with the part, that more and more horror parts started coming his way and through horror films he made a name for himself. Carolyn Jones went on to famously play Morticia Addams in the television comedy The Addams Family, and Charles Buchinsky famously renamed himself Charles Bronson and went on to stardom in many action movies.
Telling Sue how she’ll die!
Vincent Price is excellent as Professor Jarrod. Before he suffers from the fire, we can see his love for his art, his politeness to all he is in contact with, we see his decency as a person. When the wax figures are first threatened with fire by Burke, we start to see the slight madness of Jarrod through his reaction to the threat. It is a subtle turning of Price’s character, and he performs it so well. The eerie scene of melting wax figures that seem human-like, the creepy, dark figure sneaking into people’s homes at night to kill them, the stealing of dead bodies at the morgue, the stalking and attempted harm to Sue, all of these elements helped to make 1953’s House of Wax a horror movie that truly scared me as a child.
A publicity still for the 3-D effects for House of Wax.
During the movie The Sound of Music, the nun-in-training, Maria, is told to go to the Mother Superior’s office. There, Maria is told that she is not quite fitting in with the Abbey’s ways and that for a time, she will be sent to a family in the nearby city of Salzburg, Austria and be a governess for a widowed Naval Officer’s children. Maria takes the news pretty well, and then asks how many children are in the family. The Mother Superior replies that there are seven children in the family and Maria, her voice rising with incredulity and shock, keeps saying over and over, “Seven?? Seven Children??!!” That scene always makes me laugh because I am a mom and I have seven children. That admission sort of sounds like an introduction to a support group meeting, doesn’t it?
When my husband and I married in June of 1988( we will celebrate our 25th anniversary this year!), we had discussed children as a part of our future life together. We thought three would be a nice number. Babies one through three arrived in 1991, 1994, and 1996. Before we sat down and re-evaluated our plan of only having three children, we found out that baby number four was coming, and would arrive in 1998. Again, before we sat down to discuss if four children was our limit, we found out babies five and six(twins this time!), would be born in 2000. Baby seven arrived in 2003. Our children now range in age from 21 to 10. We have had a few young married couples ask us how did we do it when our kids were small so I thought I ought to write a post about life in a large family.
With only one child, life would seem much simpler and easier and probably less-costly at times, but from a sister-in-law’s perspective as she was an only child, if a sibling can happen, let that sibling happen for being an only child can be so lonely at times. With two children, when out and about, or in the home, Mom can deal with one of the children while Dad deals with the other one. However, once the number of children in the family surpasses two, that means mom and dad will always be outnumbered with child related tasks. Being outnumbered doesn’t mean being outwitted, let’s make that clear right away!
Large families mean larger vehicles. When we knew twins were on the way, my husband thought ahead and realized that nine people wouldn’t be able to fit in a minivan at all. Ford Econoline van, here we come! It does help to have a relative who works for the Ford Motor Company(my brother), so the “family discount” was quite helpful when we went giant van shopping. All of those who want people to get rid of their gas guzzling vehicles and get electric cars? Those types of cars won’t work for a large family. Also, the friends of kids in a large family always think that getting to travel around in a giant van is very cool!
Large families, when visiting museums, or zoos, or amusement parks have to pick and choose and plan ahead as to what exhibits, rides, or snacks they’re willing to pay extra for. When we visited Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry about 7 years ago, it was cheaper to buy a year’s family membership to get in for a lower admission rate. At the St. Louis Zoo, my kids knew we wouldn’t be riding the trains or the carousel as those rides mean an extra fee has to be paid. It is great that the zoo is free, but it is also a challenge to try and find a free parking spot for a giant van in Forest Park, so sometimes I would give in and pay the zoo parking lot fee. Food items cost a lot at these sites so a large family will tend to pack a picnic lunch for all, and bring along water bottles too.
Sam’s Club or Costco, are nice for large families. because many items used by a family are sold in bulk amounts. Aldis is also a boon for large families. If you don’t have one near you, I feel very sorry for you! Aldis, a German-based grocery store chain that has hit the U.S.( and is making a dent in Wal-Mart’s sales), is a bag your own groceries type of store. Some name brand items are sold, but more often than not, items sold are Aldis brand. Items are priced much lower than similar products sold at a full-service grocery store, and those lower prices are very helpful for large families.
Larger families believe in hand-me down clothing. Luckily for us, our boys have all had the same build and it’s been easy to pass the clothes right on down the line. Same for the girls; a few fashionable styles have been outdated from big sister by the time they got to the twin sisters, but just a few items. Shoes, haven’t been passed on as easily, except for snow boots, so Pay Less Shoe stores have been also helpful for our large family.
Large families are loud, at home, of course. Lots of kids are hard on the furniture, walls, carpets, windows, their toys, etc. However, before I make you think our house is pure bedlam, there are also many, many moments of laughter, and shared jokes, and love. Big brothers and sisters learn to pitch in and help with the younger siblings. Help dress them, help them with bandaids, help get mom or dad for someone, help read someone a story, play with someone, teach them to play a board game or a card game. I have greatly enjoyed listening in as my older children would sit down and tell their younger siblings what junior high or high school will be like. Older siblings helping with younger siblings is good preparation in how to be a parent. Lots of children means lots of training on house care chores and yard care chores. I am guilty of letting my kids not do as much as they can, since I can do some tasks much faster and to my satisfaction, but I have been making more of a daily effort in having the five we still have at home help more and more with the chores. After all, one day they’ll have their own homes and they have to know how to care for them.
LIfe would have been easier if we had only had three children. If that were the case, we would only have one child at home now, as the oldest two have left the nest and are flying quite well on their own. We would be facing the “empty nest” after August of 2014. Finances wouldn’t be quite as tight, probably. Then I look over the younger four and I cannot imagine life without them. In 8 years we will finally experience the “empty nest” so until then, I will rejoice in my large family, feeling very glad and thankful for the blessings that my children are to my husband and I; they help to keep us young, he once told me, and he h as been quite right in that statement. | 2019-04-22T01:09:51Z | https://portraitsbyjenni.wordpress.com/2013/04/ |
...online systems I've launched have been delivered to thousands of locations and millions of people.
Led the design and development of a J2EE-based video lottery game server for the Chinese National Sports Lottery.
Architected and consulted on the design for a project to build a national account-based Lottery gaming system for the China Sports Lottery.
Architected, designed, and developed a J2EE-based mobile gateway for lottery ticket sales for the Shanghai Welfare Lottery. The gateway enabled integration between Internet-based mobile sales application providers and the lottery’s legacy central gaming server.
Architected and led the design and development of a J2EE based Internet medical survey system.
Developed advanced technology for next-generation telephone switching systems using J2EE application servers and Java technology for clients in the telecommunications industry.
Appointed as an expert witness for the plaintiff in the area of lottery technology to the High Court of Justice in the UK in relation to a successful lawsuit against British Telecom by an independent UK lottery operator.
Architected, developed, and led the design of a next-generation lottery POS terminal for Norsk Tipping AS. The POS terminal was one of the first to be based entirely on a PC platform (from IBM), and was implemented entirely in Java.
Provided a technology analysis and recommendation for Norsk Tipping AS related to the incorporation of advanced J2EE technology in their Internet-based distribution channel.
Developed an innovative TCP proxy solution to overcome scalability issues with the Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Remote Access Service.
Led an interdisciplinary team chartered with developing the overall strategy, business plan, marketing plan, and technology approach in support of GTECH’s entry into the Internet gaming market.
Spearheaded a program to deliver multiple Internet product prototypes, including a web-based lottery industry information service and a Java-based consumer Internet wagering service.
Provided technology consulting to corporate due diligence activities related to partnerships and acquisitions.
Worked with corporate human resources to operate the company's university partnership and internship programs. Participating universities included MIT, University of Chicago, and Stevens Institute of Technology.
Researched, designed, and built original system prototypes in support of potential non-lottery business opportunities.
Administrated an internal R&D and consulting group consisting of the company’s most senior engineering professionals.
Spearheaded a large-scale strategic research project for the purpose of developing a vision and architecture for the Company’s next generation of on-line systems. Resulted in an innovative vision of the future, and a comprehensive technical specification, which became a reference guide for the Company's ongoing product development.
Conducted research including pilot projects aimed at understanding the applicability of various new technologies, Introduced best practices and lessons learned into the mainline organization.
Managed the organization responsible on a worldwide basis for the development, deployment, and maintenance of the communications software required to operate our customer's lottery POS networks.
Established the Software Communications organization as a formal function. Defined the group’s vision, mission, and charter. Performed the organizational design, work process definition, and staffing of the organization.
Coordinated the research, design, and timely delivery of the networking systems for the largest lottery system in the world for the UK National Lottery.
Led the team charged with the development of the overall architecture for the company’s European communications systems. Delivered a set of concise technical specifications describing the architecture, interfaces, and protocols oft he system.
Conceived and managed a product development effort pioneering the use of inexpensive, off-the-shelf PC technology as the basis for the network interface front-ends for online systems. The completed project resulted in the reduction of the capital cost of deploying an Online/POS communications system by over 65 percent. Led the development of the software and worked with hardware vendors such as Intel and Emulex to design the underlying hardware.
As a member of a small team of senior IT generalists. was responsible for the support, maintenance, and enhancements to the IT infrastructure supporting the department's Citywide Immunization Registry (CIR). This included full stack support and enhancements to the CIR's flagship application, the Online Registry, a public-facing web application used by thousands of healthcare providers in NYC to record immunizations, track vaccine inventory, and provide immunization and other health records used by other city agencies (e.g., school forms, daycare, etc.).
Currently involved as a principal developer on a project to migrate the CIR's primary database, including the dependent client applications from Oracle to PostgreSQL.
The client, a fast growing web startup in India, was faced with increasing schema complexity in their traditional SQL-based data tier, which hampered their ability to quickly onboard new developers. Their rapid growth and aggressive expansion into new markets was also straining the scalabilty limits of their current MySQL-based infrastructure.
Working with the company CTO, I researched, designed, and developed a prototype for a lightweight NoSQL data store which provides persistent data storage for all use cases specific to the client's products.
The data store architecture consists of a set of sharded MySQL database servers, divided into index shards and data shards. Application data is stored in the data shards as JSON strings, and Apache Avro is used to provide schema support for the JSON data.
The data store interface was implemented as a Swagger documented REST API exposing CRUD-like semantics. The service supports code generation in both Java and PHP, allowing clients to read and write application layer objects from the data store without having to manipulate or even know the underlying JSON representation.
The system was implemented in Java as a Spring Boot-based microservice.
I developed high performance parallel pipeline based disk imaging software for use in digital forensics applications. The software was developed in C++ and runs on Linux and Windows platforms.
A J2EE-based video lottery game server developed for the Chinese market, constructed entirely on open source technology (JBoss 7) with an in-memory database (MySQL Cluster). It supports up to 20k gaming machines and 1.5k transactions per second.
The system has no single point of failure and is horizontally scalable. It employs advanced cryptographic techniques to ensure security and integrity and is fully internationalized, dynamically switchable between Chinese and English.
The server interfaces with an account management system using a secure REST interface and persistently maintains the game state in real time for each machine through cluster failovers, system restarts, and machine failures. It employs a plugin architecture for modules that allow for new games added as pre-packaged, digitally-signed Java. It passed Chinese government testing for security and integrity and includes a separate turnkey audit system to audit every transaction, verify, and digitally sign the software modules. It was implemented using a GWT front-end and a REST back-end based on Jetty and Apache Derby (JavaDB). The server was developed remotely, with only ten days on-site over the course of the eighteen-month project.
I developed a platform framework and associated Windows services in order to integrate a Windows 7 Embedded POS device that controls gaming machines located in geographically diverse venues (bars, hotels, etc) with a central network management service (NMS) and a content distribution service (DLS).
The project involved integrating an existing Java-based windows service that provides the basic gateway connector to the central services, and developing two new C# Windows services to allow application components on the POS platform to communicate with the central services through the Java gateway. The C# services communicate with the Java gateway using a proprietary TCP/JSON based protocol, and expose WCF Rest endpoints to talk to the POS applications.
The project was done primarily in C# with some Java, and used a SQL Server Express DB.
I migrated a proprietary legacy C++ gaming machine controller code base from a Red Hat Linux-based server platform to an off-the-shelf Freescale I.MX6-based system module (EDM-1). The application was a Slot Machine Interface Board (SMIB) that will be installed in video lottery terminals (VLTs) in order to convert the machine's native proprietary serial protocol to a TCP-based protocol that can be run over a LAN.
The project including building the appropriate embedded Linux kernel and file system image for the target hardware using the Yocto-embedded Linux development environment and adapting the application build procedures as appropriate. The migrated code base was turned back over the the client's engineering team for further adaptation to their proprietary I.MX6 SMIB.
The project was completed entirely remotely using components shipped from the client and my own lab systems and equipment.
The product is expected to be deployed to several hundred locations in South Australia sometime in late 2015.
Architecture and design consultant for a project to build a national account based lottery gaming system for the China Sports Lottery. The system employs a service-oriented architecture and supports player account management, retail location management, and game service interface.
It is designed to allow seamless integration of diverse third-party game providers using a standardized plug-in interface.
The system is designed to scale to millions of player accounts, thousands of physical gaming locations and any number of game content providers. It supports land-based as well as online (Internet) gaming.
Once the architecture was complete, I performed the design and initial development of the retail location and gaming machine management module, then moved on to developing the first game server implementation to be used with the framework.
The architecture and development was conducted exclusively remotely from the US, with only a four-day brainstorming session in NYC to kickoff the project.
The system went live starting in Hainan Province in January 2015.
I designed and developed a high-performance mobile gateway system for the Shanghai Welfare Lottery Corporation (SWLC).
The system enabled lottery ticket purchases acquired by diverse mobile application providers to be executed on the lottery's legacy back-end transaction processing system.
The system was implemented based on JBoss 7 and employed a JAX-RS REST API to communicate with the mobile application providers and a custom JCA resource adapter to communicate with the lottery's proprietary back-end transaction processor. It employed JPA/MySQL as the persistence solution.
The system serves as a gateway for potentially tens of millions of mobile users, and thus has very stringent requirements for both response time and transaction rate.
It was developed almost exclusively remotely from the US, with only five days on-site time in Shanghai to support the initial production roll-out.
The system went live in Shanghai in March 2013.
I was responsible on an as-needed basis for the maintenance and enhancement of a JBoss 6-based "embedded" POS product.
The product functioned as a local controller ("site controller") for gaming machines (VLTs) in geographically diverse locations. It communicated with the gaming machines using a standard XML-based protocol (G2S) over TLS. It also communicated with a central State/Provincial management system using similar protocols. The original implementation was based on JBoss 6 with a PostgreSQL database.
The client had inherited the code base from a partner team that had failed to deliver a functional product. Over the course of numerous engagements, I re-factored and reworked the code base into a functional product, and added features and enhancements as requested, eventually migrating it to JBoss 7. The product is currently used for demonstration purposes and is considered highly successful in that role.
I designed and developed a high-performance electronic instant ticket (EIT) game server, used as a component in an SOA used for a mobile EIT sales system in Jinan Province, China.
EITs are the virtual equivalent of "scratch-off" lottery tickets. Instead of a paper ticket, the player uses a mobile application to obtain an encrypted ticket, which they then "scratch" using a mobile application. For any particular EIT game, there are pools with a fixed number of EITs and a predetermined number of winners at each prize level. These EIT pools are generated by proprietary algorithms and encrypted.
I developed the server, which allowed the EIT pool files to be securely loaded, verified, and distributed to the mobile users via REST interface. I developed the core code, UIs, and REST API.
I designed techniques using public key cryptography that ensured the EIT files could only be read by the gaming server that they were generated for, and developed the cryptographic techniques used to secure the "tickets" in transit and ensure that an EIT was only readable by the purchaser.
The system was implemented in Java on JBoss 7 using JSF for the UI and JPA/MySQL for the persistence layer.
I was the architect and principal developer for the creation of a J2EE-based internet medical survey system for a medical metrics firm.
The system is completely turnkey, and allows researchers to design complex custom medical surveys for targeted populations and then deploy them on the internet without any incremental web or back-end development.
The implementation was done on JBoss 5, using JSP, Hibernate, and MySQL.
I developed a serial line TCP proxy solution, implemented in C++, for TCP clients on geographically distributed systems to communicate with a central server over a secure dial-up connection. The solution is transparent to both client and server, who think they are communicating over ordinary TCP. My client had planned to use MS Remote Access Service (RAS) to allow local controllers to communicate with the central server, but RAS on Windows Server 2008 couldn't handle that number of connections at the time.
I built a system where a proxy application on the remote Linux client listens on a TCP port for incoming connection requests and forwards them to the proxy server, which receives the request over the serial connection and emulates the RAS service, forwarding it to the central server on a TCP port assigned to the client. The connection is accepted by the server and then at the remote side; data sent between the client and server is forwarded over the serial link.
The proxy service can handle multiple port-pairs and is used in production to proxy the RSync protocol. The serial link is secured using AES encryption and authenticated using a proprietary protocol certified as secure by South Australian gaming regulators.
I developed a web service-based interface that allowed the Maryland Lottery to integrate the retailer management function between the lottery's UniSys back-end business systems and the POS system operator's proprietary Windows Server-based system.
Just for background, in the US, state lottery agencies usually sub-contract the deployment and operation of the online retailer point-of-sale network (POS) to specialist vendors. The lottery itself will manage the back-office business operations with their retailers (convenience stores, etc.). However, a subset of the information regarding the retailers must be shared with the POS vendor in order for the vendor to properly provide and service the retailers' lottery point of sale equipment.
The service I developed allows the lottery to push updates to the online vendor's system via a SOAP RPC-based web service. The service is fully automated and requires no operation intervention except to verify the reporting data. This replaces a manual process that required the retailer information to be redundantly entered into both systems.
The system was implemented in C# on IIS using ASP.NET technology. It has been in operation since October 2006. | 2019-04-19T02:20:20Z | https://www.toptal.com/resume/mike-hutton |
Abstract: In light of Noel Reynolds’ hypothesis that some material in the Book of Moses may have been present on the brass plates that Nephi used, one may wonder if Nephi or other authors might also have drawn upon the use of chains in the Book of Moses. Further examination of this connection points to the significance of the theme of “dust” in Lehi’s words and the surrounding passages from Nephi and Jacob, where it can involve motifs of covenant keeping, resurrection, and enthronement. Recognizing the usage of dust-related themes in the Book of Mormon can enhance our understanding of the meaning and structure of several portions of the text. An appeal to the Book of Mormon’s use of dust may also help fill in some gaps in the complex chiastic structure of Alma 36 (to be treated in Part 3) and add meaning to other portions of that “voice from the dust,” the Book of Mormon.
In Part 1 we pursued an insight from Noel Reynolds regarding the possible relationship between the Book of Moses and the brass plates. We not only found multiple additional concepts that may point to material on the brass plates in common with the Book of Moses (e.g., being strong like Moses, the usage of misery, Satan’s dominion over the [Page 234]hearts of men, etc.) but also found an interesting potential wordplay in the Book of Mormon involving the concept of chains of darkness in the Enoch material of the Book of Moses. That wordplay within Lehi’s final speech draws heavily upon the rise from the dust passage of Isaiah 52:1–2.1 Lehi, in 2 Nephi 1:23, urges his sons to awake, to rise from the dust, and to “shake off the chains with which ye are bound, and come forth out of obscurity,” where the darkness-related meaning of obscurity may link to the chains of darkness concept in the Book of Moses. Hebrew words related to dust, either ʿaphar (עָפָר)2) or ʾepher (אפר)3), could have been used by Lehi in this passage, and could have provided an interesting wordplay in light of Hebrew words related to obscurity: ʾôphel (אֹפֶל)4) or ʾâphêl (אָפֵל)5).
In discussing Hebrew words that may be connected to the Book of Mormon, we will assume that the Hebrew language played an important role not only in the original writings of Isaiah and other sources on the brass plates but also in the spoken and written words of Lehi, Nephi, and other Book of Mormon writers. A difficulty with this assumption is that Nephi states that he made his record “in the language of my father, which consists of the learning of the Jews and the language of the Egyptians” (1 Nephi 1:2). Exactly what this means is difficult to assess. Although arguably an absurd statement in Joseph Smith’s day, it makes more sense with the availability of examples of ancient Jewish writings combining Hebrew and Egyptian elements, as discussed by Neal Rappleye.6 Rappleye proposes that Lehi and Nephi were drawing upon an established scribal tradition in which Jewish scribes wrote using Egyptian as the underlying language but with many Hebraic modifications.
Egyptian is a Afro-Asiatic language and is related both to Asiatic (or Semitic) languages such as Arabic, Ethiopic, and Hebrew and to North African (or Hamitic) languages such as Berber and Cushitic. It is distinct from Hebrew, so seeing additional meaning in the English Book of Mormon text based upon what we think the corresponding Hebrew may have been still leaves many questions. Nevertheless, the words quoted from Isaiah and the words spoken by, say, Nephi and Lehi to their families and followers would likely have been in Hebrew, and it is reasonable to assume that the written language used to preserve such things would also preserve important aspects of the underlying Hebrew, particularly key wordplays, word pairs, or other Hebraic elements that added to the richness of the meaning. Perhaps some key portions of the gold plates were not just in a modified Egyptian language but were written in Hebrew or in Hebrew using an Egyptian script to preserve literary elements or Hebraisms when the Egyptian would be inadequate. Given the richness of Hebraic elements, including Hebraic wordplays, word pairs, and word groups in the Book of Mormon, the writing system surely was capable of preserving such content. Exactly how the apparent Hebraic content was preserved in Nephi’s writing system is still unclear. I’ll leave this as an issue for future exploration and turn to the dust-related themes in the Book of Mormon, building upon the previous [Page 236]discussion from Part 1 of concepts related to Satan’s tactics, chains of darkness, and encirclement.
and arise from the dust (2 Nephi 1:13–14, 23).
Many people are puzzled by a phrase in Isaiah 52:2: “Shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down.” If you are shaking yourself from the dust, why would you sit down in it after rising? But the meaning is not [Page 238]to sit back down in the dust but rather to arise and sit on the throne that God has prepared. This will become clearer below as we explore how the theme of dust in the ancient Near East and in the Book of Mormon relates to enthronement and other themes. But first, let’s see how Lehi’s speech ties to subsequent writings of Nephi and Jacob.
This strengthens the case for Nephi as Lehi’s successor and the legitimate king over the Nephite people.
Nephi also fortifies his acceptance of Lehi’s plea when he asks God in verse 31 to make him that he “may shake at the appearance of sin,” following Lehi’s command to “shake off the chains with which ye are bound” and complying with Isaiah 52:2, “Shake thyself from the dust.” The removal of dust and chains by shaking (or other means) is connected to rising toward enthronement, life, resurrection, and glory. Nephi’s acceptance of Lehi’s commands and his worthiness as authorized leader of the Nephite people should come as no surprise, of course, since Lehi already endorsed Nephi in his speech and observed that, in contrast to the chains and obscurity hindering his wayward sons, Nephi’s “views have been glorious.” Vision and glory stand in contrast to the chains, dust, and darkness encircling the wicked.
Two chapters later, Jacob explains that he is about to read words from Isaiah that Nephi asked him to discuss (2 Nephi 6:4). He then begins reciting and discussing Isaiah, starting with Isaiah 49:22, then Isaiah 50, 51, and finally concluding with the same passage that Lehi drew upon, Isaiah 52:1–2 (“Awake, awake, … shake thyself from the dust”).
Brueggemann’s study of this topic began with an investigation of 1 Kings 16:2, where the Lord tells Baasha that “I exalted you out of the dust and made you leader over my people Israel.” But then the antithesis is given: “Behold I will utterly sweep away Baasha and his house,” referring to Baasha losing his status as a ruler and becoming dust again. This is tied to the Creation story, where we read that God formed man out of the dust of the ground (Genesis 2:7), and that we are dust, and will return to dust (Genesis 3:19). After being formed from the dust, Adam and Eve are put in charge of caring for the garden — in other words, they are given authority and responsibility — one of the themes associated with rising from the dust.
In light of modern science, we can say we are not only formed from the dust of the earth, but from the dust of the stars and the cosmos, and that the whole earth has been formed from the dust of space. Dust is such a fitting word to describe the origins of our physical bodies and even the world around us. The creative work of God in bringing about His ultimate goals begins with forming us from the dust.
Since my explorations on this topic began with 2 Nephi 1:23, where dust and obscurity are linked but initially seemed to me like an awkward pairing in the midst of other easily recognized parallels, it was intriguing to read Brueggemann’s statement quoted above that “To be taken ‘from the dust’ means to be elevated from obscurity to royal office and to return to dust means to be deprived of that office and returned to obscurity” (emphasis added). That fits Lehi’s speech nicely. Brueggemann’s finding that rising from the dust is also related to kingship, to enthronement, to covenant keeping, and to resurrection also corresponds well with Book of Mormon usage.
Brueggemann explains that being in the covenant means having royal power and authority, and being out of the covenant means losing such power and status. Being in the dust without power or authority is contrasted to “sitting with princes” in 1 Samuel 2:6–8. Thus “the phrase ‘from the dust’ appears here also as a formula relating to enthronement.” Thus “sitting” in 1 Samuel 2:6–8 is akin to the sit in Isaiah 52:2, where arising from the dust and sitting are both references to enthronement. [Page 241]The 1 Samuel passage ends with a reference to the creation: “for the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, and on them he has set the world.”14 This reference points to the stability that comes from sound kingship.
While Lehi’s speech is directed to his rebellious sons, their failure to rise and repent leaves Nephi (who was praised and endorsed in the speech [2 Nephi 1:24–29] and given Lehi’s first blessing if Laman and Lemuel do not repent [2 Nephi 1:29]), as the rightful leader of the group. This follows Lehi’s earlier promise to Nephi, conditional on his obedience, that he would be a teacher and a ruler over his brethren (1 Nephi 2:22). Laman and Lemuel fail to accept the blessings of enthronement, but Nephi through his faithfulness and his writings demonstrates that he has responded to Lehi’s teachings in 2 Nephi 1, though directed to others, and fully qualifies as Lehi’s successor both spiritually and politically. The relevant writings of Nephi include his psalm (2 Nephi 4:15–31), as discussed above, which supports his divine commission as a prophet and his acceptance of the charge to awake and arise, plus his description of righteously acting in Lehi’s stead in 2 Nephi 5:1–20, where he escapes life-threatening persecution and leads the Nephite people on a second exodus through the wilderness (vv. 4–7), is accepted by his people as ruler ( v. 18), holds the symbols of authority such as the brass plates, the sword of Laban, and the Liahona (vv. 12, 14), builds a temple (v. 16), and helps his people to keep the commandments and thereby to prosper in the land, according to Lehi’s words (vv. 10–11, 13; cf. 2 Nephi 1:20).
The political aspects of the dust-related content in Lehi’s speech and Nephi’s writings, coupled with other signs of Nephi’s having been commissioned as prophet and leader, gave legitimacy to the reign of Nephi and his descendants and would be important for many generations thereafter. Nephi’s legitimacy as Lehi’s successor, established in these opening chapters of 2 Nephi, may have intentional parallels to Lehi’s divine commission and his role as leader at the beginning of 1 Nephi, as discussed below, and this parallelism arguably points to one of Nephi’s reasons for dividing his writings into two books.
The political tensions between Nephites and Mulekites under Kings Mosiah1, Benjamin, and Mosiah2 may have culminated in the open rebellion of the Amlicites/Amalekites which resulted in many years of war, putting the Nephite nation in peril. This topic is treated with fresh insights and analysis by Val Larsen,15 who builds on the recognition of [Page 242]J. Christopher Conkling, based on findings of Royal Skousen regarding the early Book of Mormon manuscripts that the Amalekites in the Book of Alma2 are likely the same as the Amlicites introduced early in that book.16 Establishing Nephi’s divine claim to spiritual as well as political authority was an important role of the Nephite records and critical for the stability of the nation, though Nephi’s ultimate motives were obviously spiritual, not merely political.
Repentance, accepting, and keeping covenants, enthronement, and resurrection are tied together, as are the themes of covenant breaking, dying, loss of power and status, and obscurity — these are part of the complex of interlocking dust-related themes that we should consider in Lehi’s speech and related passages of the Book of Mormon.
And now, it came to pass that when king Benjamin had made an end of speaking the words which had been delivered unto him by the angel of the Lord, that he cast his eyes round about on the multitude, and behold they had fallen to the earth, for the fear of the Lord had come upon them.
They fall to the earth and view themselves spiritually as less than the dust, but through the covenant and the power of the Atonement they will arise and receive mercy and purification, this rising from the dust and finding joy. This is juxtaposed with Christ’s creative work and His condescension to the earth.
Later in the Book of Mormon, Christ Himself comes down among the Nephite and Lamanite peoples. Among His recorded words, Christ also cites Isaiah 52:1–2 (3 Nephi 20:36–37), which we’ll discuss below.
Christ’s use of Isaiah 52:1–2 in 3 Nephi 20 strengthens the dust-related themes in the Book of Mormon. Christ cites Isaiah 52:1–3, with verse 3 extending the “arise from the dust” passage with a reference to redemption “without money” for those who have sold themselves “for naught,” and then skips forward to vv. 6–7 of Isaiah 52, using covenant language from verse 6 (“my people shall know my name” and “shall know that I am he that doth speak,” where know probably is related to the Hebrew word yadaʿ (עדי) with covenant implications). Verse 7 (3 Nephi 20:40) reminds us of Abinadi’s discourse on the message of salvation and the beauty of the feet upon the mountains of those who proclaim the Gospel, ending with the message of Messianic triumph: “Thy God reigneth!” This is done as Christ stands at the temple in Bountiful, the symbol of Mount Zion and the cosmic mountain, after He has had His divine feet touched and undoubtedly washed by the tears of His people as they witnessed the marks in His hands and feet. He has risen from the dust, bringing triumph over dust, death, and the chains of hell. How beautiful upon the mountains, too, were His feet at Bountiful.
[Page 245]And again I would exhort you that ye would come unto Christ and lay hold upon every good gift, and touch not the evil gift, nor the unclean thing.
This is a call to enter into a covenant relationship with the Redeemer, to acquire every gift that He offers, reminding us of Lehi’s plea to his children to “arise from the dust” and, in parallel to putting on the armor of righteousness that Lehi spoke of (contrasted with the chains Satan offers), Moroni asks us to put on our beautiful garments, garments that are a symbol of our covenants with the Father. These garments may well refer to the robes and garments of the Temple, where we lay hold of every good gift and learn to cast out Satan and reject his evil gifts. Satan’s gifts, like his chains, are those of darkness, or rather, the “obscurity” that Lehi urged his wayward sons to flee. Moroni calls us to come forth out of obscurity and arise from the dust as we keep our covenants with God and receive the grace and good gifts God offers those who come unto Christ.
Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise.
The Hebrew repha’im, though always translated “dead” or “deceased” in the King James Version. properly refers to the shades or ghosts (manes) living in Sheol who, though devoid of blood and therefore weak, continue to possess powers of mind (such as memory). The parallelism of Isaiah 26:19 suggests that the word dead in Moroni 10:27 may answer to the Hebrew repha’im; this is interesting in light of the representation of the “dead” of Moroni 10:27 as crying out and speaking from the dust, which is consistent with a proper understanding of repha’im.
[Page 247]Moroni’s use of the dust/dead word pair from the Hebrew scriptures is consistent with the ancient Near Eastern complex of dust-related themes and sets the stage for his dust-related appeal in Moroni10:31 and his closing sentence in v. 34 that refers to the time when his spirit and body will reunite and be brought forth to meet us before God on at the time of judgment.
Why this question? Of all the things they could use to trip up Abinadi, why ask him about the meaning of Isaiah 52:7–10? It makes [Page 248]sense if Isaiah 52 were an important part of Nephite preaching. Given the importance of Isaiah 52 in Lehi’s speech, Nephi’s words, Jacob’s words, and elsewhere in the Book of Mormon, it would have been a reasonable ploy for Noah’s priests to use that frequently cited, positive passage to challenge Abinadi’s message of condemnation.
Abinadi’s answer beginning with Mosiah 12:25 and extending to Mosiah 15:31 and then into Mosiah 16 initially seems almost as puzzling as the selection of that question. Instead of explaining its meaning, he launches into a multichapter discourse that begins by condemning the priests for their ignorance and disobedience, followed by a discussion of the law of Moses and the Ten Commandments, then a declaration that salvation does not come by the law alone but only through the Atonement of Christ (Mosiah 13:28) and the redemption of God (Mosiah 13:32), and a declaration that Moses and all the prophets have taught of the coming of the Messiah, His condescension, suffering, and resurrection (Mosiah 13:33–35). He then quotes all of Isaiah 53, the great prophecy of the Servant who would bear our griefs and heal us with His stripes, and then explains in Mosiah 14 how God breaks the bands of death (v. 8), how Christ obtains the “bowels of mercy … having redeemed them, and satisfied the demands of justice” (v. 9). Then he explains that those who accept the Atonement of Christ are the ones who are redeemed, and they are Christ’s “seed” (vv. 12–13), as are the prophets who have published peace. Finally comes the answer in Mosiah 15:15: “And O how beautiful upon the mountains were their feet!” In verses 19–23, Abinadi then explains that is because of the redemption because Christ has broken the bands of death, and gained power over the dead and brought to pass the resurrection, that we are raised to dwell with God and have eternal life.
Abinadi’s lengthy response is not a rambling discourse but a beautiful and carefully crafted answer that teaches the principles of the law, our need for redemption, and the coming and triumph of the Redeemer and the joyous message of redemption through the Messiah’s Atonement — for those who will accept the Redeemer and keep the terms of the covenant. Their feet will be upon Mount Zion, beautiful, washed, redeemed, raised from the dust and brought into the presence of God, where they “shall lift up the voice” (another aspect of the “arise” theme, integrated with the concept of joyous singing), and “with the voice together shall they sing” (Isaiah 52:8, Mosiah 12:21), leading Isaiah to exclaim, “Break forth into joy; sing together ye waste places of Jerusalem” (Isaiah 52:9). There is good news indeed and cause for song and rejoicing, for those who are penitent.
[Page 249]Abinadi needed to lay a foundation of basic teachings before the ignorant priests could understand the answer, before they could understand that the good news comes at a great price, the price of the eternal Atonement of Jesus Christ, but only to those who will accept and follow Him. Thus, the priests must repent and turn to God before they can enjoy the good news of salvation.
Abinadi’s discourse is tied to important Nephite themes rooted in Isaiah 52. Those whose feet will become beautiful upon the mountains begin their ascent to Mount Zion by heeding Isaiah 52:1–2 through shaking off the dust, arising, and putting on the beautiful garments of the Lord. Then shall those feet be firmly established on Mount Zion, with cause to rejoice and sing praises to the Redeemer.
As spirit children, we come to earth, clothed in a tabernacle of dust. We are made from the dust.
Through the fall of Adam and through our own sins, we are fallen: fallen into the dust, fallen toward the earth, encircled with chains of sin and hell.
Through the power of the Atonement offered by the Redeemer, we can arise from the dust, overcoming Satan and shaking off the chains that bind us. We depart from darkness and obscurity, from captivity and sin, free from misery and torment, and enter into light and joy.
As we enter into a covenant relationship with God, we are cleansed in baptism and other ordinances from sin and the dust of mortality, and we are given divine power and responsibility.
God calls us to continue rising toward Him on the straight and narrow path as we ascend to stand on the divine mountain, Mount Zion, to enter God’s presence, clothed in robes of righteousness, encircled, and embraced by the arms of God, singing hymns of praise with heavenly hosts, [Page 250]where we sit on a throne shared with Christ and are filled with fullness of joy.
The word translated as “stand” in Job 19:25 has the Hebrew root quwm (קום)29) more often translated as “arise” or “rise.” Here the Redeemer stands not upon the ʾerets (ארץ)30) the normal Hebrew word for earth, but upon the ʿaphar (עָפָר), the dust, and some Bible translations use dust instead of earth. Job 19:25 seems to be closely related to Isaiah 52:2, which also uses quwm (קום) and ʿaphar (עָפָר). Perhaps the use of [Page 251]ʿaphar (עָפָר) here is meant as a symbol of the Redeemer’s conquest of the dust, having risen from its grasp and subjected it to Himself, and having broken the bands of death for all mankind. Though Job faces death and will return to the dust, yet in the resurrected flesh he shall see the Lord, the One who triumphs over death and dust and will stand upon the dust in the latter day.
This passage from Job is paraphrased in 2 Nephi 9:4 (“our flesh must waste away and die; nevertheless, in our bodies we shall see God”), just four verses after Jacob’s quoting of Isaiah reaches a dusty climax with the key verses behind Lehi’s discourse, Isaiah 52:1–2. Second Nephi 9 is a great discourse from Jacob that ties together the themes from Lehi and Nephi, plus the blocks of Isaiah that Nephi previously quoted and the second block that Nephi asked Jacob to use while involving a variety of dust-related themes.
Perhaps Jacob’s allusion to Job 19 reflects an understanding of its relationship to Lehi’s words. Job 19 could be particularly meaningful if viewed as a source of inspiration for Lehi’s teachings, not only because of his powerful testimony of the Redeemer and the resurrection but also because Job 19 is dominated by Job’s bemoaning his rejection by family members (vv. 13–19). It is a song of grief of one who, like Lehi, has been reviled by members of his own family, and faces death and physical afflictions (vv. 20, 22) yet turns to hope through the Redeemer.
[Page 252]Behold, he offereth himself a sacrifice for sin, to answer the ends of the law, unto all those who have a broken heart and a contrite spirit; and unto none else can the ends of the law be answered.
Wherefore, how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth, that they may know that there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah, who layeth down his life according to the flesh, and taketh it again by the power of the Spirit, that he may bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, being the first that should rise (2 Nephi 2:6–8).
As a further parallel between Lehi and Job, in Job 19:24, Job even wishes that his story could be written in a book and engraved with an iron pen in the rock forever (or “inscribed with an iron tool on lead or engraved in rock forever” in the niv), not completely unlike Lehi’s engraving of his story on plates that would be preserved for future generations. But the most vital relationship is that both men, in spite of their trials and sorrows, bear witness of the triumph of the future Messiah, who will restore us to life from the dust.
The related concept of the gathering or scattering of Israel can also be considered. Abraham’s descendants are associated with the word dust in Genesis 13:16: “I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth,” conveying its vast quantity, so dust may be an appropriate concept in considering the gathering or scattering of his posterity. They can be scattered like dust, cast off like dust, swept away like dust, or return to the dust when they break the covenant. On the other hand, they can be gathered like dust as they arise from the dust and keep the covenant, and then have their dust washed away.
Awaking; arising, quwm (קום); singing; resurrection; and dust, ʿaphar (עָפָר) are all brought together here. The image of the dew suggests [Page 253]cleansing and washing. The root used for “cast out” here is naphal (נָפַל)31), which is often translated as the verb “fall” in other contexts, and could be part of further dust-related wordplays in the Book of Mormon or Old Testament.
In another passage of interest, 1 Nephi 22:12 (a verse in the transition chapter before Lehi’s speech, where dust and obscurity meet), being “brought out of obscurity and out of darkness” is associated with deliverance from captivity and the gathering of Israel to the lands of their inheritance, and thus “they shall know that the Lord is their Savior and their Redeemer, the Mighty One of Israel.” Then in v. 14 of that chapter, the nations that war against Israel will “fall into the pit which they have digged to ensnare the people of the Lord,” and the “great and abominable church shall tumble to the dust,” which reminds us of Isaiah 14 (quoted in 2 Nephi 24) and the dethronement of Lucifer/the king of Babylon or Assyria, the one who once made the earth to tremble (ragaz, רָגַז)32) and the kingdoms to shake (ra’ash, ׁרָעַש)33), who, after presumptuously seeking to ascend the divine mountain and exalt his throne above the stars of heaven (the Heavenly Council), is cast down to the pit, to rise no more.
A Dusty Inclusio Bracketing Lehi’s Speech?
While this may not be evident to many of the Bible’s modern lay readers, the Hebrew Bible is actually full of literary devices, some of which, having fallen out of favor over the years, are lost on most modern readers. Inclusio, of which many instances can be found in the Bible, is one of these, although many instances of its usage are not apparent to those reading translations of the Bible rather than the Hebrew source.
for the feet of those who are in the east shall be established.
for they shall be smitten no more.
and will have mercy upon his afflicted (1 Nephi 21:13, emphasis added).
Now the first and third lines are parallel, as are the second and fourth, and the final two lines.
The added word smitten might be related to the Hebrew nagaph (נגף), typically translated as “smite” or “smitten” in the kjv. This word can also have connotations of striking with the foot or striking against the foot.38 However, the root most commonly used for “smite” in the [Page 256]kjv is nakah (נכה)39), which lacks a connection to feet but can also have connections to rejoicing when it describes the striking of the hands together as in applause. In either case, smitten may have interesting ties to the preceding words in this verse.
Regarding the first addition dealing with “feet … established,” one Hebrew root often translated as “establish” is quwm (קום), the same root used in Isaiah 52:1 for “arise.” It occurs as “establish” twenty-seven times in the OT but far more frequently as “arise,” “rise,” or related terms. If this were the word Nephi used and presumably was found in the brass plates, it would fit some aspects of the “rise from the dust” theme. In view of the dust-related themes that follow and Abinadi’s later discourse on another verse in Isaiah 52 (v. 7, “how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet … ”), I suggest that this addition is meaningful and that the combination feet + mountains + rejoicing/singing paints a picture of the redeemed ascending the cosmic mountain, Mount Zion or the House of the Lord, where they have risen away from and have been washed from the mundane dust of the world. Freed from darkness and captivity, they have accepted the Lord’s covenant, have put on the Lord’s beautiful garments, and in joy have received the enthronement or endowment of power and grace that the Lord offers. Their washed feet are established on Mount Zion.
Another fitting change relative to the kjv for Isaiah 49 involves v. 9, where “sit” in 1 Nephi 21:9 replaces “are” in the kjv, giving: “That thou mayest say to the prisoners: Go forth; to them that sit in darkness: Show yourselves.” A likely Hebrew root used here is yashab (ישב)40) which is used in Isaiah 52:2 with enthronement overtones. To sit in darkness, dust, obscurity, and ashes is the opposite of enthronement and exaltation. It is a symbol of loss, of sorrow, of captivity, and of broken covenants. For the dust-related themes in Nephi’s writings, sit seems to be a stronger word for this passage describing the hope being brought to spiritual captives, and their sitting contrasts nicely with the implicit standing in v. 13 for “those who are in the east” whose feet “shall be established.” How appropriate that they shall “break forth into singing” when they know that they have been gathered and “shall be smitten no more” as the Lord has mercy upon his afflicted people.
22 Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people; and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders.
23 And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers; they shall bow down to thee with their face towards the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord; for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.
24 For shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captives delivered?
26 And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; they shall be drunken with their own blood as with sweet wine; and all flesh shall know that I, the Lord, am thy Savior and thy Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.
Kings and queens will bow down and lick up the dust of those who are gathered by the Lord — what an amazing reversal that again employs the relationship of dust to enthronement.
Another related image is that of the King of Heaven bowing down before his mortal disciples to wash the dust from their feet shortly before His crucifixion. Surely He who took on a tabernacle of dust descended below all things, even below the dust itself as He entered the grave for three days and three nights. That act must be considered in light of its profound links to the role of dust (or dust and feet) in the Old Testament and the Book of Mormon.
The dust-related passage in 1 Nephi 21 is what I consider to be the first bracket of Nephi’s “dusty” inclusio.
The second bracket occurs after Lehi’s Redeemer-centric words in 2 Nephi 1–3, after Nephi’s Psalm where he accepts Lehi’s charge to “awake, awake” and “shake” at sin (in light of Bokovoy’s analysis, showing his worthiness to serve as the legitimate heir of Lehi as ruler [Page 258]over the Nephite people41), and after Jacob’s introductory comments in 2 Nephi 6, where Jacob announces that he is now going to read the words of Isaiah that Nephi has asked him to teach. These are carefully chosen passages but with a surprise, for the next chunk of Isaiah that Jacob begins reading is unnecessarily redundant. Jacob begins his words by quoting Isaiah not from where Nephi left off back in 1 Nephi 19, but instead he repeats the very verses that Nephi just quoted. This new excerpt from Isaiah begins with Isaiah 49:22 and quotes the verses about licking of dust from the feet, and the reference to the Redeemer.
A redundant oration is understandable, but given the limited space on the small plates of Nephi and the difficulty of engraving (Jacob 4:1), a redundant quotation involves genuine labor and certainly intent. But why?
This redundant section may have seemed like sloppiness to casual readers and critics, but it is highly thematic and is a clever use of a Hebraic literary tool, inclusio, to bracket and highlight the dust-related themes of the chapters in between and to emphasize the importance of this dust- and Redeemer-related passage in Isaiah. Jacob then continues in Isaiah until he gets to Isaiah 52:1–2, the dust-related passage that underlies Lehi’s words — and perhaps more of the Book of Mormon than we realized before.
Beginning: 1 Nephi 20:1 (Isaiah 48:1): Arising from the waters of Judah (baptism) — as if washed from dust.
End: 1 Nephi 21:22–26 (Isaiah 49:22–26): Kings and queens to lick the dust off the feet of the covenant people of Israel; all shall know the Savior and Redeemer.
B. Words of Nephi, Lehi, and Jacob in 1 Nephi 22 and 2 Nephi 1–6, with Lehi’s repeated references to Isaiah 52:1–2 and themes of dust, deliverance from captivity, and redemption.
Beginning: 2 Nephi 6:6, quoting Isaiah 49:22–23 (kings licking dust from the feet) in 2 Nephi 6:6–7, and then continuing with Isaiah 49:24–26 in 2 Nephi 6:16–18, then Isaiah 50 in 2 Nephi 7 and Isaiah 51 in 2 Nephi 8.
This is more than “just” an inclusio. You could say this is a textual example of going “from dust to dust.” Nephi appears to be using the structure of his words, including the choice of Isaiah passages to cite, in order to frame and amplify a core theme for the Book of Mormon.
It must be emphasized that at the heart of Lehi’s message, indeed, the heart of the Book of Mormon’s message, is a focus on redemption through the power and love of the Redeemer. In 2 Nephi 1:10, he warns [Page 260]Israel not to reject “the Holy One of Israel, the true Messiah, their Redeemer and their God.” Then at essentially the center of Lehi’s speech, in v. 15, he declares that “the Lord hath redeemed my soul from hell; I have beheld his glory, and I am encircled about eternally in the arms of his love.” Redemption and the love and triumph of the Redeemer are the core of all the dust-related themes and ultimately the core of the Book of Mormon itself.
Wherefore, the Lord God will proceed to make bare his arm in the eyes of all the nations, in bringing about his covenants and his gospel unto those who are of the house of Israel.
And every nation which shall war against thee, O house of Israel, shall be turned one against another, and they shall fall into the pit which they digged to ensnare the people of the Lord. And all that fight against Zion shall be destroyed, and that great whore, who hath perverted the right ways of the Lord, yea, that great and abominable church, shall tumble to the dust and great shall be the fall of it.
For behold, saith the prophet, the time cometh speedily that Satan shall have no more power over the hearts of the children of men; for the day soon cometh that all the proud and they who do wickedly shall be as stubble; and the day cometh that they must be burned (1 Nephi 22:11–12,14–15) [emphasis added].
22 And the righteous need not fear.
which kingdom is established among them which are in the flesh.
it is they which must be consumed as stubble.
And this is according to the words of the prophet43 [emphasis added].
The bracketed content in the inclusio not only has Lehi’s multiple references to dust and earth in 2 Nephi 1 but also has two references to the Book of Mormon crying from the dust to the House of Israel (2 Nephi 3:19, 20).
Dust-related themes appear to be deliberately and repeatedly used by Nephi and Lehi, especially in the latter half of 1 Nephi and throughout 2 Nephi. This raises the question of whether dust-related themes are also present earlier in 1 Nephi. The word dust does not occur until 1 Nephi 18:18, where Lehi and Sariah were in grief and on their sick-beds while traversing the ocean, “about to be brought down to lie low in the dust” and “near to be cast with sorrow into a watery grave.” However, the related themes of resurrection and redemption occur in 1 Nephi 10, as does gathering and scattering. being bound with cords (like chains) that are shaken off (my assumption) occurs in 1 Nephi 7:16–18 as Nephi’s brothers bind him on the ship, but the cords are miraculously burst and Nephi is delivered. But the most important relationship between the dust-themes of 2 Nephi 1 may be in the opening words of 1 Nephi, where modern scholarship regarding the ancient Hebrew scriptures helps us recognize significant and apparently deliberate parallels that we may not have previously appreciated.
The insights from modern scholarship (Walter Brueggemann and others) regarding dust-related imagery in the Bible helps us understand that much more is taking place in Lehi’s speech and Nephi’s response than we might have otherwise realized. Another contribution from modern scholarship also helps bring out some striking parallels between Nephi’s call and Lehi’s divine commission in 1 Nephi 1.
Blake Ostler has explored Lehi’s experience in 1 Nephi 1 in terms of other ancient examples of prophets receiving their divine commission.
Historical Introduction: There is a brief introductory remark providing circumstantial details such as time, place, and historical setting.
Reaction: The individual reacts to the presence of the deity or his angel by way of an action expressive of fear unworthiness or having been overpowered.
Throne-Theophany: In the commissions of Isaiah and Ezekiel, the individual sees the council of God and God seated upon his throne. This element distinguishes the throne-theophany commission from the primarily auditory commissions.
[Page 265]Commission: The individual recipient is commanded to perform a given task and assume the role of prophet to the people.
Protest: The prophet responds to the commission by claiming that he is unable or unworthy to accomplish the task. This element is usually absent when the reaction element is present as in the call of Ezekiel.
Reassurance: The deity reassures the prophet that he will be protected and able to carry out the commission. The deity may also reassure the prophet by giving him a sign indicative of divine power and protection.
Ostler explores relationships between Lehi’s call and additional ancient texts from the pseudepigrapha, including texts associated with the Book of Enoch as well as the Book of Moses. Elements in common with the pseudepigrapha but not found in the Bible include (1) an intercessory prayer (1 Nephi 1:5); (2) revelation received on the prophet’s bed or couch (1 Nephi 1:7); (3) an ascension into heaven (1 Nephi 1:8); (4) a vision of one descending from the heavenly council followed by others (1 Nephi 1:11–13) and (5) a prophecy of the coming Messiah and redemption of the world (1 Nephi 1:19). Ostler then explores each of these elements in depth.48 For example, in discussing the reaction of prophets to their theophany, they often react physically, as Lehi did, who was overcome and cast himself upon his bed. Likewise, Moses in the Book of Moses is physically overcome, and Enoch shakes. In the Ethiopian First Enoch text, Enoch has a similar response: “fear covered me, and trembling got hold upon me. And as I quaked and trembled, I fell upon my face.”49 It is then that he beholds another vision in which he beheld the throne of God and the heavenly hosts,50 as did Lehi.
[Page 266]Recognizing that 1 Nephi 1 presents a classic ancient pattern for the divine commission of the prophet Lehi, we can now recognize important parallels to the opening chapters of 2 Nephi, seeing that the enthronement aspects of the dust-related themes support Nephi’s rightful succession as Lehi’s heir and his commission both as prophet and king. Just as Lehi has been called by the Lord following an established ancient pattern, so can we also see the divine calling of Nephi in a similar pattern as Lehi’s true successor. The many parallels between the beginnings of 1 Nephi and 2 Nephi highlight this relationship, and further strengthen our understanding of Nephi’s craftsmanship in organizing his material into two books.
23 Behold, he hath heard my cry by day, and he hath given me knowledge by visions in the nighttime.
Nephi’s commission and his right to lead the people comes through his father’s endorsement in 2 Nephi 1 (e.g., v. 29, where Lehi’s first blessing is upon Nephi, unless Laman and Lemuel repent, which they clearly do not) and in Nephi’s acceptance of the charge to arise and awake, as previously discussed and noted by David Bokovoy. Further, just as [Page 267]Lehi is “filled with the Spirit of the Lord” in 1 Nephi 1:12, in response to his theophany and divine commission, so Lehi, in endorsing Nephi, tells us that Nephi’s commanding his brothers to obey was not Nephi speaking but rather “was the Spirit of the Lord which was in him, which opened his mouth to utterance that he could not shut it” (2 Nephi 1:27). Nephi has already stepped into Lehi’s shoes as a divinely commissioned prophet who cannot help but speak what the Lord commands, though it puts his life at risk.
17 … O wretched man that I am! Yea, my heart sorroweth because of my flesh; my soul grieveth because of mine iniquities.
26 O then, if I have seen so great things, if the Lord in his condescension unto the children of men hath visited men [“me” in the Earliest Text51] in so much mercy, why should my heart weep and my soul linger in the valley of sorrow, and my flesh waste away, and my strength slacken, because of mine afflictions?
[Page 268]According to Skousen’s Earliest Text for the Book of Mormon, v. 26 should read “visited me” instead of “visited men,” as found in the Printer’s Manuscript (the Original Manuscript is not extant for this section of the text).52 This correction converts the Lord’s general ministry to men into reference to a personal visitation, further strengthening the textual references to Nephi’s divine encounter and theophany.
In terms of physical reaction, not only does Nephi’s flesh “waste away” and his strength is slackened, but he also echoes Lehi’s quaking and trembling (1 Nephi 1:6) as well as Lehi’s charge to shake off the dust when he prays that he may be made to “shake at the appearance of sin” (2 Nephi 4:31). Though frustrated by his weakness, he undertakes the charge to awake and shake off the chains of Satan the enemy of his soul (v. 28). He accepts the divine commission, pleading for divine help to complete it.
24 Rebel no more against your brother, whose views have been glorious, and who hath kept the commandments from the time that we left Jerusalem; and who hath been an instrument in the hands of God, in bringing us forth into the land of promise; for were it not for him, we must have perished with hunger in the wilderness; nevertheless, ye sought to take away his life; yea, and he hath suffered much sorrow because of you.
A warning from the Lord to Lehi in 1 Nephi 2:1 also states that Lehi’s enemies “seek to take away thy life,” and we are reminded again in 1 Nephi 2:13 that they “sought to take away the life of my father.” Just as the Lord warned Lehi to flee from his brethren, the Jews, to save his life by going into the wilderness, the Lord also warns Nephi to flee into the wilderness to escape from his brothers who sought his life (2 Nephi 5:4–5).
Lehi’s call results in rejection, efforts to take his life, and a need to flee into the wilderness and eventually to a promised land. Nephi’s call results in rejection, efforts to take his life, and a need to flee into the wilderness and to a new portion of the promised land.
34 O Lord, I have trusted in thee, and I will trust in thee forever … 35 Yea, I know that God will give liberally to him that asketh. Yea, my God will give me, if I ask not amiss; therefore I will lift up my voice unto thee; yea, I will cry unto thee, my God, the rock of my righteousness. Behold, my voice shall forever ascend up unto thee, my rock and mine everlasting God.
[Page 270]In his pleadings to God, the frustrated and distraught Nephi finds hope.
Another aspect of the divine commission, as explained by Ostler, is the frequent use of a book containing revelations that is given to the prophet that he then uses to obtain a divine message to teach others. This happens to Lehi as he is given a book to read in vision in 1 Nephi 1, [Page 271]and this also occurs to Nephi who receives the brass plates from Lehi. He takes these with him when is warned of the Lord to flee from his murderous brethren (2 Nephi 5:5, 12). Further, Nephi makes other plates to continue writing revelations from the Lord, and what he writes after this point, beginning with 2 Nephi 6, is the “most precious” material he mentioned in 1 Nephi 19:5, the material he would share after he gave an account of the making of his plates, which he does in 2 Nephi 5. This “most precious” material is free of the temporal affairs of his people and his life, and is focused on revelations from the Lord. This is a significant detail that points to Nephi’s carefully crafted organization of his work.
Besides the parallels in the divine commissions of Lehi and Nephi, other significant parallels in the opening words of 1 and 2 Nephi suggest Nephi’s division of his work into two books involves broad structural considerations in providing common elements in the opening words of both. A number of parallels are listed in Table 2.
of 1 Nephi and 2 Nephi.
Lehi speaks of the workings of the Spirit in him (1:6) and speaks of the “Spirit of the Lord which was in” Nephi (1:27).
Lehi urges his sons “put on the armor of righteousness” (2 Nephi 1:23). The adjacent command to “awake, awake” and arise from the dust may also recall the “beautiful garments” of Isaiah 52:1.
** Adam S. Miller, Future Mormon: Essays in Mormon Theology (Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2016), 14–16. Miller suggests that when Lehi, concerned over the sins of Jerusalem, “went forth” to pray on behalf of the people (1 Nephi 1:5), he would surely be “going forth” to a place where he would offer sacrifice. He further suggests that the rock upon which fell a pillar of fire from God was most likely the rock of an altar. He shows parallels to the Old Testament when pillars of fire fall from heaven to consumer sacrifices upon an altar (Leviticus 9:23–24, 2 Chronicles 7:1–2, Judges 13:19–20, and 1 Kings 18:37–39).
The heart/soul word pair in 1 Nephi 1 is echoed in Lehi’s speech in 2 Nephi 1, and in Nephi’s response in 2 Nephi 4, strengthening the ties between the opening portions of Nephi’s books.
A significant difference in the two chapters is that 2 Nephi 1 emphasizes the promised land and the promises of liberty to those in the land, while 1 Nephi 1 is focused more on Lehi’s vision of the heavens. Nevertheless, there may be a unifying factor even in this, when we recognize that a common word pair is heaven and earth.56 Thus, 1 Nephi 1 gives a vision of the heavens, while 2 Nephi 1 looks at the promised land on earth, though with a divine perspective. This may be accidental but could have been part of Nephi’s intent in organizing parallels.
And yet I, a creature of clay, what am I?
Kneaded with water, what is my worth and my might?
in the midst of great tribulation.
This hymn, resonating with Nephi’s psalm and the chiasmus of Alma 36, speaks of the bonds of hell, the author’s grief at his sins, misery, torment, cleansing, deliverance, and divine destiny amid the heavenly council, consistent with Book of Mormon themes and the analysis of Brueggeman on rising from the dust. The themes related to rising from the dust were still at play at Qumran and continued into New Testament times, and are beautifully present in the Book of Mormon.
In light of the Frayer-Griggs work, a possible connection to the Book of Moses occurs in Moses 6:35, where the Lord instructs Enoch to anoint his eyes with clay and to wash them, after which Moses 6:36 tells us that Enoch could then see “the spirits that God had created; and he beheld also things which were not visible to the natural eye; and from thenceforth came the saying abroad in the land: A seer hath the Lord raised up unto his people.” By virtue of anointing the eyes with clay, Enoch becomes a seer who could see the invisible things of the Creation, including the spirits God had created. It would seem that it is not so much the clay itself that adds vision and new light to Enoch or the blind man but the washing off of the clay/dust from the eyes.
This symbol of cleansing, repentance, and receiving light from God would seem to fit the complex of dust-related themes explored above. The role of a seer, after all, is to see divine light to reveal what is not visible to the rest of us.
The seer Enoch was said to have been “raised up unto his people” by the Lord (Moses 6:36) in parallel to the words of recorded on the brass plates from Joseph of Egypt: “A seer shall the Lord God raise up, who shall be a choice seer unto the fruit of my loins” (2 Nephi 3:6) and the Lord’s promise to Joseph, “A choice seer will I raise up … ” (2 Nephi 3:7). [Page 276]Consistent with the “rise from the dust” theme of the Book of Mormon, the choice seer is “raised up” by the Lord. Seers are raised up by the Lord as part of God’s creative and revelatory work to raise up all of us if we will let Him.
2 Nephi 3:5–7 tells us that this “choice seer” would help bring Israel “out of darkness unto light … and out of captivity unto freedom” and Mosiah 8:17 reiterates that through seers, “hidden things shall come to light.” By washing off the clay/dust that brings darkness, access to light and knowledge is made possible, revealing the hidden things of the Creation and assisting in God’s ongoing creative work as He helps His children rise from the dust and enter into light and life.
At this point, we have explored how modern scholarship on dust-related motifs reveals richer layers of meaning in Lehi’s speech in 2 Nephi 1 and in the surrounding chapters. This began by considering the relationship between elements in the Book of Moses and the Book of Mormon, wherein the theme of escaping the captivity of Satan and his chains pointed not only to related content but also to a Hebraic wordplay in a highly poetic passage relating dust and obscurity or darkness. Recognizing the significance of dust-related themes in 2 Nephi 1 then resulted in further discoveries about the way these themes are used in a coherent way in the Book of Mormon.
For example, the enthronement and covenantal aspects of rising from the dust shed light on Nephi’s organizational structure. His use of Isaiah material before and after Lehi’s speech bridges the two books and forms an intriguing inclusio with dust-related themes around Lehi’s poignant appeal to rise from the dust, as he is about to return to the dust. Further, by understanding the relationship of 1 Nephi 1 to classical patterns of divine commissions for ancient prophets, we can see remarkable parallels between Lehi’s divine commission and the kingship-related themes in 2 Nephi 1 and 4 where Nephi’s call as prophet and his rightful rule as king is documented, especially when we consider the complex of motifs associated with rising from the dust. Other parallels between the opening verses of 1 Nephi and 2 Nephi reveal further relationships pointing to Nephi’s careful crafting of his two books.
This investigation of dust-related themes began with a look at the use of the word chains in the Book of Mormon and soon raised a question about the last occurrence of that word in the text in Alma 36. With [Page 277]the background we have now established, we can dust off a famous but occasionally obscure chiasmus in Alma 36, the topic of Part 3.
1. Part 1 of this series includes a brief discussion of the objections that may be raised to the presence of Isaiah 52 and neighboring chapters in the Book of Mormon, since many scholars today claim that they were written by “Deutero Isaiah” during or after the Exile, and thus could not have been present on the brass plates for Nephi and Lehi to incorporate. There are, in fact, good reasons to accept the minority position that the Isaiah material Nephi cites was available in his day.
2. HALOT, 861–862. See also Strong’s H6083, Blue Letter Bible; https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H6083.
3. HALOT, 80. See also Strong’s H665, Blue Letter Bible; https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H665&t=kjv.
4. HALOT, 79. See also Strong’s H652, Blue Letter Bible; https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H652&t=kjv.
5. HALOT, 79. See also Strong’s H651, Blue Letter Bible; https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H651&t=kjv.
6. Neal Rappleye, “Learning Nephi’s Language: Creating a Context for 1 Nephi 1:2,” Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture 16 (2015): 151–159; https://www.mormoninterpreter.com/learning-nephis-language-creating-a-context-for-1-nephi-12/.
7. David Bokovoy, “Deutero-Isaiah in the Book of Mormon: A Literary Analysis (pt. 1),” When Gods Were Men, Patheos.com, April 29, 2014; http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davidbokovoy/2014/04/deutero-isaiah-in-the-book-of-mormon-a-literary-analysis-pt-1/. See also David Bokovoy, “Deutero-Isaiah in the Book of Mormon: A Literary Analysis (pt. 2),” When Gods Were Men, Patheos.com, April 30, 2014; http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davidbokovoy/2014/04/deutero-isaiah-in-the-book-of-mormon-a-literary-analysis-pt-2/.
10. Walter Brueggemann, “From Dust to Kingship,” Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft, 84/1 (1972): 1–18; available with only the first page visible at http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/zatw.1972.84.issue-1/zatw.1972.84.1.1/zatw.1972.84.1.1.xml.
11. J. Wijngaards, “Death and Resurrection in Covenantal Context (Hos. VI 2),” Vetus Testamentum 17, Fasc. 2 (April 1967): 226–239; available at Jstor.org: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1516837, accessed Dec. 16, 2015.
12. Brueggemann, “From Dust to Kingship,” 1.
13. Brueggemann, “From Dust to Kingship,” 2–3.
14. Brueggemann, “From Dust to Kingship,” 3.
15. Val Larsen, “In His Footsteps: Ammon₁ and Ammon₂,” Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture 3 (2013): 85–113; https://www.mormoninterpreter.com/in-his-footsteps-ammon-and-ammon/.
16. J. Christopher Conkling, “Alma’s Enemies: The Case of the Lamanites, Amlicites, and Mysterious Amalekites,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, 14/1 (2005): 108–17. Val Larsen, “In His Footsteps,” observes that equating the Amalekites with the Amlicites seems to have first been suggested by John A. Tvedtnes, “Book of Mormon Tribal Affiliation and Military Castes,” in Warfare in the Book of Mormon, ed. Stephen D. Ricks and William J. Hamblin (Salt Lake City, Deseret Book, 1990), 298–301. See also Royal Skousen, “Do We Need to Make Changes to the Book of Mormon Text?,” FAIR Mormon Conference, Salt Lake City, Aug. 2012; http://www.fairmormon.org/perspectives/fair-conferences/2012-fair-conference/2012-do-we-need-to-make-changes-to-the-book-of-mormon-text.
17. Brueggemann, “From Dust to Kingship,” 1.
18. Wijngaards, “Death and Resurrection in Covenantal Context (Hos. VI 2),” 228.
25. Kevin L. Barney, “Poetic Diction and Parallel Word Pairs in the Book of Mormon,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, 4/2 (1995): 15–81; http://publications.mi.byu.edu/fullscreen/?pub=1389&index=2, PDF available from the Maxwell Institute via the shortcut http://tinyurl.com/dustref1.
26. Katherine Murphey Hayes, The Earth Mourns: Prophetic Metaphor and Oral Aesthetic (Leiden, Netherlands: Brill, 2002), 44; https://books.google.com/books?id=VfpAvwbaFhEC&pg=PA44.
27. Edwin Yamauchi, “Life, Death, and Afterlife in the Ancient Near East,” in Life in the Face of Death: The Resurrection Message of the New Testament, ed. Richard N. Longenecker (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1998), 21–50, citation from 44; https://books.google.com/books?id=AvCmK0WRmj4C&pg=PA44. Yamauchi cites Delbert R. Hillers, “Dust: Some Aspects of Old Testament Imagery,” in Love and Death in the Ancient Near East: Essays in Honor of Marvin H. Pope, ed. John H. Marks and Robert M. Good (Guilford, CT: Four Quarters, 1987), 107.
28. Jeffrey M. Bradshaw, “The Vision of Moses as a Heavenly Ascent,” Meridian Magazine, January 6, 2010; https://ldsmag.com/article-1-415/.
29. HALOT, 1086–1088. See also Strong’s H6965, Blue Letter Bible; https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H6965&t=kjv.
30. Strong’s H776, Blue Letter Bible; https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H776&t=kjv.
31. Strong’s H5307, Blue Letter Bible; https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H5307&t=kjv.
32. Strong’s H7264, Blue Letter Bible; https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs= H7264&t=kjv.
33. Strong’s H7493, Blue Letter Bible; https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs= H7493&t=kjv.
34. “Inclusio,” Wikipedia.org; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inclusio, accessed Dec. 17 2015.
35. Hugh W. Pinnock, Finding Biblical Hebrew and Other Ancient Literary Forms in the Book of Mormon, (Provo, UT: FARMS, 1999), 110–114; http://publications.mi.byu.edu/book/finding-biblical-hebrew-and-other-ancient-literary-forms-in-the-book-of-mormon/, where inclusion is discussed in chapter 3 at http://publications.mi.byu.edu/fullscreen/?pub=1097&index=4.
36. Matthew L. Bowen, “Nephi’s Good Inclusio,” Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture 17 (2016): 181–195; https://www.mormoninterpreter.com/nephis-good-inclusio/.
37. Royal Skousen, The Book of Mormon: The Earliest Text (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2009), 67 (1 Nephi 21:13).
39. Strong’s H5221, Blue Letter Bible; https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H5221&t=kjv.
40. Strong’s H3427, Blue Letter Bible; https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H3427&t=kjv.
42. Strong’s H7179, Blue Letter Bible; https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H7179&t=kjv.
43. Skousen, The Earliest Text, 71 (1 Nephi 22:22–23).
44. John A. Tvedtnes, “Word Groups in the Book of Mormon,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 6/2 (1997); http://publications.mi.byu.edu/fullscreen/?pub=1393&index=17.
45. Frederick W. Axelgard, “1 and 2 Nephi: An Inspiring Whole,” BYU Studies 26/4 (1986): 53–65; http://byustudies.byu.edu/content/1-and-2-nephi-inspiring-whole or also https://ojs.lib.byu.edu/spc/index.php/BYUStudies/article/viewFile/5634/5284.
46. Blake T. Ostler, “The Throne Theophany and Prophetic Commission in 1 Nephi: A Form Critical Analysis,” BYU Studies, 26/4 (1986): 67–95, quotation at 67; http://ojs.lib.byu.edu/spc/index.php/BYUStudies/article/viewFile/5635/5285divine, accessed Feb. 8, 2016.
47. Ostler, “The Throne Theophany,” 69–70.
49. The Book of Enoch or First Enoch, transl. by R.H. Charles (Escondido, CA: The Book Tree, 2000), chapter 14, vv. 13–14, p. 33; https://books.google.com/books?id=wQpjqn26o60C&pg=PA33.
50. The Book of Enoch or First Enoch, chapter 14, vv. 14–22, pp. 33–34; https://books.google.com/books?id=wQpjqn26o60C&pg=PA34.
51. Skousen, The Earliest Text, 87 (2 Nephi 4:26) with discussion of sources at 753.
54. John W. Welch, “Chiasmus in the Book of Mormon,” New Era, February 1972; https://churchofjesuschrist.org/new-era/1972/02/chiasmus-in-the-book-of-mormon.
57. Geza Vermes, “The Thanksgiving Hymns,” in The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English (London: Penguin Books, 2004), 337–360; https://books.google.com/books?id=r3dh4GjzuPQC&pg=PT337.
58. Vermes, The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English, 358–360; https://books.google.com/books?id=r3dh4GjzuPQC&pg=PT358. Also available at http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/scrolls_deadsea/deadseascrolls_english/08.htm.
59. Irenaeus, Against Heresies, Book V, 15:2; http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/irenaeus-book5.html.
60. Daniel Frayer-Griggs, “Spittle, Clay, and Creation in John 9:6 and Some Dead Sea Scrolls,” Journal of Biblical Literature 132/3 (2013): 659–670; http://www.jstor.org/stable/23487892.
Posted in Article and tagged Book of Mormon, dust on November 11, 2016 . Bookmark the permalink. | 2019-04-25T22:47:03Z | https://www.mormoninterpreter.com/arise-from-the-dust-insights-from-dust-related-themes-in-the-book-of-mormon-part-2-enthronement-resurrection-and-other-ancient-motifs-from-the-voice-from-the-dust/ |
I've been installing ThermaSkirt for a few years now, and have always been proud of the fact that it's a little known gem. There aren't many plumbers out there that install it, whether because they are afraid of something new, or because they just don't trust the fact that it works. As a result I've traveled the length and breadth of the country (and beyond) installing this type of skirting heating in all kinds of properties.
Ultimately it's not rocket science, it can be a bit fiddly in parts, but certainly not rocket science. The skills required are all pretty basic, so long as they are used in the right way, in the right order, with the right level of care. Don't cut corners, don't bodge it up, and if you're unsure call the office- unless of course it's the weekend; DiscreteHeat (the manufacturer) close over Saturday and Sunday so you'll have to email.
The installation that I am using in this example, is for a customer of mine in Cheshire. As soon as I went to weigh the job up I knew that it's about as difficult as is gets when you come to ThermaSkirt. The customer wanted the DecoBM3 profile, which is the taller three pipe version of the standard ThermaSkirt; this involves splitting the feed into two in order to connect onto the existing central heating. Couple this with two deco threshold kits, and a standard threshold kit, its a pretty complicated run! What's a 'deco threshold kit'? If you don't already know that will become clear.
Drill- Fixing the mounting brackets to the wall. I include relevant drill bits in this.
That's pretty much it, nothing extra special other than the demounting tool and the deburring tool, and one of those is included in the kit anyway! Let's crack on.
When the ThermaSkirt arrives, you'll have several long boxes that contain the ThermaSkirt lengths themselves, and one or two smaller boxes containing all the fittings and covers.
Personally I like to cut open the end of the long lengths and check that everything is there, and that the profile and colour is right. I've only ever had one order that was 'wrong' and it turned out that the customer dream't himself ordering a different colour. All was well in the end however, as we sent the skirting back, received the new skirting in the preferred finish a few days later, and I returned to fit it the week after.
After checking the skirting, I unpack the box of components, and separate the kits from their respective covers. That way I can lay them all out as pictured and use them as I go (throwing away the millions of tiny plastic packets you are left with). This saves me rummaging through the boxes and helps me keep track of everything that I am using.
You'll see in the picture that the packaging is unlabeled, this may cause some issues for a novice installer as I can imagine you would have no idea what you are looking at. However, since this installation took place, DiscreteHeat have started labelling packets.
Next, get a sample of each profile you will be using, hold onto this sample, it's going to be your friend throughout the process, and effectively acts as your jig for a large amount of the installation. If you haven't got one, cut a small piece off the end of one of your lengths. Deburr both ends of each sample as this will also help you in setting up your connections, and measuring your skirting lengths from the correct positions.
You can see from the drawing provided the designed layout for the ThermaSkirt. It connects to the existing central heating system at a set of 'flow and return' pipes situated under the kitchen units. These were put in by the builders who constructed the extension and were simply blanked off with two isolation valves for me to connect onto. I will just be using the Tectite flexi hoses to make the connections, which are a little more expensive but save headache and look good.
The fittings provided with the Deco BM3 system allow you to split the flow pipe at the point of entry, in order for the water to flow through all three pipes. From the feed position, the ThermaSkirt runs through two internal corners, then the 1st deco threshold kit, along a short run of skirting, into a standard threshold kit, into another short run of skirting into the 2nd deco threshold kit.
When the skirting heating runs up to a door way, you can connect to the skirting on the other side by simply fitting two pipes under the floor. In this case the standard threshold kit I installed prior to the builder re-screeding the floor (as pictured), across the single door out into the garden. So, the Deco threshold kit. My customer, as well as having a single door, also has a 4m long set of bi folding doors, and a 1.5m long floor to ceiling window. The deco threshold kit allows you to connect across these long spaces but also provides a built in heater effectively to create a curtain of heat in front of the cold glass, as well as carrying the water across to the remaining skirting on the other side. Installing these is where experience really comes into play.
I like to get all these various connections set up prior to measuring, cutting or fitting any of the skirting. Most rooms you can crack straight on with. If you haven't got any threshold kits on your job, you can skip the next two steps.
There are a few simple steps to take when installing the Deco threshold kit. On the face of it, it can look a pretty daunting task. However, if you follow these steps it should be pretty straight forward.
Mark the diagonal line between vertical ThermaSkirt and horizontal threshold heater.
Cut through plasterboard and steel corner beading. I prefer to use a hacksaw as you can take is slow; a reciprocating saw is a little too violent and can actually crack the plaster further up the beading, so try to avoid this method.
Reveal or remove plaster board in the areas in which the tectites sit. This will allow them to sit back into the plasterboard slightly, making the covers fit better. This is an important step to follow, as its not immediately obvious that you haven't completed it until the end of the installation when you come to fit the covers. Without the plasterboard being revealed, the tectite fittings with foul the cover.
Follow these steps again for the other side of the doors. Having the skirting connections set up as a jig allows you to mark the wall for a measuring point. This means that when you measure up the walls for your skirting cuts, you can be as accurate as possible, saving you any potential recuts or embarrassing phone calls to the factory.
The standard threshold kit is far more commonly used in ThermaSkirt jobs, and is used to bypass internal doors, in order to connect the skirting on either side. Installing the threshold kit can take two forms, a solid floor installation or a suspended floor installation. I have included both; and one is far simpler than another.
If, like on this job, the ThermaSkirt is being installed as part of a much larger renovation/extension project, and- like this job- doors are being removed, and floors being re-screeded etc, then fitting the pipes is a pretty straight forward task. I simply fitted and clipped the pipes in position as you can see in picture 1 and picture 3. Please note that before I left the pipes to be screeded, I notched out a piece of insulation and covered over the pipes. This means that once the screed is put in and levelled it will not make contact with the pipes and allow them to expand with the heat. I then left it to the builders to fill in the screed, and I returned once the flooring had been finished.
Pictures 4, 5 & 6 are from another recent installation where I had to retrofit the ThermaSkirt to a room that was only undergoing a simple redecoration. As you can see from the pictures, I folded back the carpet, cut out the floor board directly in front of the door, and fitted the pipe work from one side of the door to the other. Also note, that I have cut out two windows from the plasterboard in anticipation of the fittings to connect the 15mm pipe into the ThermaSkirt when I come to fit it at a later date.
Now comes the high pressure part of the job. Cutting into £150's worth of aluminium.
Whilst it may not sound an awful lot of money, it is when its the customers. You've got to get the cutting right, and its time well spent measuring and working out twice over. Page 3 of the instructions provided in the ThermaSkirt kit is where you'll find the relevant cutting allowances.
I like the make a full cutting list of all my lengths, work out which pieces I am going to cut out of each supplied length, cut them, and then deburr them all at once.
You can see from the picture the I have placed the chop saw on the cardboard packaging that the ThermaSkirt is delivered in. This prevents aluminum fillings being scattered all over the place, and makes the tidy up far easier.
Before cutting, make sure that you are working in a safe area, and wear the appropriate protection such as safety glasses and ear defenders. Mark the skirting to the length you require, and cut each piece slowly and carefully being sure to cut the entire way through each piece.
Once you have cut the lengths, it is time to deburr the pipes. One of the pictures above shows we running the deburring tool down the front edge of the skirting. This removes any burr from the front edge ensuring that the covers will fit flush to the skirting during the final stages of the installation. When deburring the pipes, use WD-40 or similar lubricant to prolong the life of your deburring blade and help the blade slide around the pipe. As you can see from the picture, I consider a deburr on the skirting to be more of a chamfer. Opening the edge of the pipe out to a bell mouth, allowing the push fit fittings to slide into the ThermaSkirt easily.
Blow through each of the pipes to remove any large pieces of swarf, and if you are feeling really thorough, you can even stuff a piece of tissue paper into one of the pipes and push it through with your tape measure, this will remove any aluminium specks produced by the chop saw.
Once all the lengths are cut, deburred and ready to go, it's time to physically install the ThermaSkirt.
For the first part of this step, you will need your beloved sample. The sample provides you with the perfect representation of where your actual ThermaSkirt lengths will sit in relation to the floor. I tend to put a bracket into either side of the sample; on the Deco BM3 you'll need two brackets per side.
As you can see from the second picture, the ThermaSkirt wall mounting brackets actually have the centre point moulded into them. A 'v' cut into one side so you can run your pencil or pen down the side of the bracket, and your line will dip into the centre point, alternatively the bracket also has a semi circle cut out from the other side for a 7mm drill bit. On the contrary, I actually prefer to use a large marker pen to mark a dot in the 7mm semi circle, as can be seen from the pictures.
These marks are of course the position in which you should fit your brackets. I usually mark out, all brackets, and then drill out all holes. Clean up all the dust, before proceeding to push the wall plugs into the wall through the backing foil as shown in picture 6. This helps hold the foil in position when you come to screwing the brackets to the wall.
Once all wall plugs are in position, screw each bracket in place in turn ensuring that the bracket is tight to the wall, but still capable of rotating to a horizontal position. This will allow the skirting to move freely during heat up and cool down. Whilst it is only a few millimetres the ThermaSkirt needs the movement nonetheless.
Once I am happy that all the brackets are on the wall, all of the various pipe connections are ready, and that the skirting is cut and deburred; I like the fit all the ThermaSkirt at once.
Its very temping to fit a couple of lengths once its cut and the wall is ready, and do the others later, as it doesn't feel like you're making any decent progress until its actually on the wall. However, trust me, doing all the prep first is well worth it. Once it's all ready, the ThermaSkirt panels themselves go in very quickly. Simply clicking together and pushing back onto the brackets.
I always start at the feed point and work my way around the room from there.
Firstly decide which length of skirting goes where. This will then allow you to fit the correct fittings into the correct lengths. Use the instructions provided to decide which way around the stainless steel clips go. As a general rule, the 'winged' side of the clip go to the back of the ThermaSkirt on internal corners and TRV units. For all other connections the 'wings' go to the front as shown in picture 1.
Line the clip up in between the two pipes and gently tap into position with a hammer (or nylon mallet if you want to be cautious). Knock the clip all the way in, until the black plastic part is snug between the wings of the clip and the skirting. These clips ensure that the skirting will stay water tight under pressure.
As well as fitting the clips into the skirting, you will also want to fit the connectors prior to actually pushing the skirting onto the wall. Picture 2 shows me applying grease to the fittings before pushing them into the skirting. Not only does the grease make pushing the fittings in easier- it also protects the o-rings and allows for some expansion movement during heat up and cool down.
Line the first length of ThermaSkirt up with the fittings, then push the fittings into the respective pipes and keep pushing until the holes in the stainless steel clips locate with the lugs on the ThermaSkirt fittings. Theses are now sealed.
Once the ThermaSkirt fittings are push all the way into the skirting and the clips have located with lugs, push the skirting back onto the brackets. Sometimes when you push the skirting back you will find that the wall brackets aren't lined up with the corresponding teeth on the back of the ThermaSkirt. If this is the case, simply reach behind the skirting and either lift up or lower the bracket in order to get it lined up correctly. Once the brackets are lined up, push the skirting onto the brackets as far back to the wall as possible, as shown in picture 4.
Repeat this process for each piece in turn until all lengths are fitted and in place. Once all pieces are fitted. Its time to full up and pressure test the system.
I always like to fill up and pressurize the system before finishing off the installation. This way I can ensure that it is all water tight, and working; reducing the need to undo any work should something need to be altered or replaced. In all my time installing ThermaSkirt there have been very few leaks, and those that did where usually a slight weep due to a pipe connection not being completely pushed into place. Simply resolved.
When I actually fill the ThermaSkirt up with water, I only open one of the inlets. If the ThermaSkirt is being fitted with the TRV valve unit, then close the lockshield valve. As seen in Picture1, the TRV valve is the top connection and the lockshield valve is the bottom connection. By isolating the lockshield and filling the ThermaSkirt up through the top TRV valve, you contain all the air within that run of ThermaSkirt.
Now that the air is contained in the skirting, use the bleed screw at the top of the return manifold as shown in Picture2. This will remove the majority of the air but probably not all of it. Repeat this process for each individual run of ThermaSkirt until all are done.
At this point you need to purge the ThermaSkirt of all remaining air. I like to do this by turning all other radiators in the house off except from one, normally the highest in the house (usually a towel radiator in the upstairs bathroom), which I leave 'on' but turned down to a low setting. I then fully open the run of ThermaSkirt that I wish to purge.
Because the skirting is made up of horizontal pipes, it cannot collect a head of air like a radiator. Therefore all remaining air is pushed along the length of the ThermaSkirt, and then will either be purged via the vent on the boiler or will collect in the other radiator that you have left on. Repeat this process until all lengths of ThermaSkirt get hot all the way to the end. Once they are hot across their entire length, you know that the air has been purged. Once the ThermaSkirt has been purged, bleed any remaining air out through the radiator.
This process is key to ensuring that all radiators, including all runs of ThermaSkirt get hot evenly.
As a general rule the longest run of ThermaSkirt will create the largest amount of resistance in the central heating system. Therefore its advised to leave the lockshield valve of this run fully open.
From there work your way back through the ThermaSkirt systems in descending order of length. Ensuring that each one is getting hot all the way to the end.
Once all the ThermaSkirt systems are running and hot to the end, start opening up the remaining radiators in the property. Begin by turning the lockshield on each radiator by half a turn. After a few minutes feel each radiator to see how hot they are getting. If they are warm, make another half turn on each lockshield valve until the radiators are hot. If there is one radiator that's warm, and the others are hot, try turning the hot ones down slightly.
There's a little bit of trial and error here, but by working backwards it should be pretty straight forward to ensure that both ThermaSkirt and radiators are working to the full potential.
You'll find in your box of parts provided with the system, some rolls of rubber gasket. These are to seal the skirting to the wall and counteract any undulations in the plaster work. Discrete Heat do make different depths of gasket for the ThermaSkirt which can be purchased if your walls are really really bad and you have some big gaps that need to be filled.
I use a wet wipe or damp cloth to assist in fitting the top strip. The water creates a little bit of lubrication that eases the top strip into the channel.
Push the gasket into one end of the ThermaSkirt, wrap the wipe or cloth around your favoured finger and rub the gasket into the top channel along the length of the ThermaSkirt. I tend to cut each piece of top gasket long and fit it into every length before proceeding with the next steps. These steps are shown in Picture 1-4.
Once all the lengths of top gasket have been fitted, you need to mitre and glue them together in the corners. This is shown in Pictures 5-9. The glue I am using is a Loctite 'Brush on' Super glue, as the brush gives me very good control over the application of the glue. You can use any super glue really, as the top gasket is purely decorative.
Once the gasket is fitted, its time to fit the covers.
ThermaSkirt uses covers to conceal the connections, corners and any other joints. These are effectively 'blank' pieces of skirting that are hollow and clip over the front of the ThermaSkirt wherever there is a corner or joint.
The BM2 and BM3 profiles use powder coated stainless steel covers, with all other profiles LT, TS and OG use injection moulded plastic.
For internal corners, begin by pushing the top clip down into the skirting's top channel. Once this is in place push the bottom clip underneath the bottom edge of the skirting. You will hear a 'click', letting you know that the cover is in place.
I required a special cover unit for the patio door reveals, seen in picture 2. As you can see in picture 3 and 4, the external cover has been notched out for the Deco Threshold kit. Obviously these aren't a standard piece, but you can either cut the covers yourself with a hack saw, or pay for DiscreteHeat to make a special cover piece. You need to send them some dimension details and ideally a picture, and they can make a particular cover to order.
These are fitted in the same way. Top clip and then bottom clip. As you can see in picture 5, I use a crowbar to wedge the skirting up slightly, which allows you to get the bottom clip under more easily. Once you remove whatever it is you are using to wedge up the skirting, it will drop back down to sit on the floor.
Push the remaining top strip into the skirting behind the covers. Picture 5 shows using a small screwdriver to get the top strip in properly as this can be a little fiddly. Picture 7 shows the finished result.
When fitting covers to the deco, make sure you cut the black plastic off the stainless steel clip show in picture 8, this isn't currently in the instructions but I find that when its cut out its far easier to fit the covers.
Push the covers into position locating the cover into the centre channel. Once the cover is fitted, overlap the centre strip and cut back to so that the overlap is approximately 10mm. Then push into the centre channel and slide under the cover. Picures 9-11.
Once the skirting is fitted, up and running, and your covers and top gasket are fitted you can take the protective film off. All the ThermaSkirt lengths come with a plastic protection on them. This simply peels off revealing the finished ThermaSkirt system.
Stand back and enjoy what you've done. After all the systems I have fitted I am still surprised how good it looks and how well it works. There's far more involved than simply hanging a radiator on the wall, but you can take a real pride in your work.
Thanks for Reading! If you have any questions let me know and I'll do my best to answer them.
I have been looking for an installer with no success.
These are great instructions, thank you for sharing how this is installed. | 2019-04-24T12:33:58Z | https://www.instructables.com/id/ThermaSkirt-An-Installers-Guide-by-an-Installer/ |
“Duxbury” redirects here. For other uses, see Duxbury (disambiguation).
Duxbury is a coastal town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. Duxbury is a suburb of Boston, located approximately 35 miles (56 km) to the south of the city on the South Shore. The population was 14,248 at the 2000 census.
For geographic and demographic information on specific parts of the town of Duxbury, please see the articles on Cedar Crest, Duxbury (CDP), Duxbury Beach, and South Duxbury.
Theory has it that the town was named by Myles Standish after the family estate of his childhood in Lancashire. The ancient Standish family in northern England owned much land and large estates, including the two main family headquarters of Standish Hall and Duxbury Manor, in Lancashire, since the before the Middle Ages. Myles Standish's will delineates his inheritance rights to very particular lands near and around Standish and mostly Duxbury Manor, stating his descent from both lines of the Standish family; and so it has been suggested that he named the new town in Massachusetts after the estate where he grew up.
In 1620, the English settlers known as the Pilgrims arrived on the Mayflower and established their colony in Plymouth Colony. Per the terms of their contract with financial backers in London, they were required to live together in a tight community for seven years. At the end of that term in 1627, land along the coast was allotted to settlers for farming. Thus, the coastline from Plymouth to Marshfield was parceled out, and many settlers began moving away from Plymouth.
John Alden (c1599-1687) - Leading colonial court clerk and treasurer. His Duxbury house is now a museum on Alden Street, was the site of many important meetings of the colony’s leaders. Built his first house in Duxbury in 1629 and another in 1653.
Jonathan Brewster (1593-1659) - for many years, the religious leader of the colony.
At first, those who settled in Duxbury came to work their new farms just in the warmer months and returned to Plymouth during the winter. It was not long, however, before they began to build homes on their land, and soon requested permission from the colony to be set off as a separate community with their own church. Duxbury, which originally included land that is now Pembroke, was incorporated in 1637.
The graves of some of Duxbury’s first settlers can be found in the Old Burying Ground on Chestnut Street, next to the site of original meetinghouse.
A number of men from Duxbury were recruited into a band of the Plymouth Militia led by Capt Michael Pierce (c1617-1676) and Lt Samuel Fuller (1628-1676). This group first fought at the Great Swamp Fight in Dec 1675 beating a bunch of Indians, but then massacred in battle by a superior indian force near Pawtucket, Rhode Island in the Spring of 1676.
Duxbury was primarily a farming community throughout the 17th and 18th centuries. Its quiet history in the 18th century was interrupted only by the Revolutionary War. The town of Duxbury thrived around its seaport, and many personal histories connect to the shipping era.
The Weston Sisters - the early genealogy of this abolitionist family notates many menfolk lost while at sea.
William Sprague (1664-1712) - died at age 48 when thrown from his whaling boat in stormy weather and drowned.
It is recorded by Seth Sprague (1760-1847) in his memoirs that the town was fierce Whig and only two Tory's were found in the whole town, Gamaliel Bradford (1704-1778) (father of the Revolutionary War leader of same name) and Brig Alden, father of Major Judah Alden, and that they both recanted their Tory allegiance after the Lexington Battles.
On April 19, 1775, news of the battles at Concord and Lexington quickly spread throughout New England. Colonial militia companies which had been drilling for months in anticipation of a crisis rapidly gathered in Plymouth. Under the command of Colonel Theophilus Cotton, the colonial regiment, consisting of volunteers from Plymouth, Kingston and Duxbury, headed for Marshfield to engage the British. The colonial officers held a council of war at the home of Lt. Col. Briggs Alden in Duxbury.
Aborted Attack on Marshfield: Nearly two days slipped by before they could agree on any action. The Americans outnumbered the British company six to one. Still, Colonel Cotton hesitated to attack—perhaps a prudent decision when faced with the gravity of outright rebellion. By 3 p.m. on April 21, British sloops had arrived off Brant Rock to take their soldiers to safety in Boston.
14th Massachusetts Regiment commanded by Duxbury Colonel Gamaliel Bradford (1731-1807). This forced included Turner’s Company served the longest of any Duxbury company, from 1777 to 1780. They were with Washington during the hard winter at Valley Forge and fought at the battles of Germantown and Monmouth. Without a doubt, the Duxbury soldiers that saw the hardest duty were those that were sent to the Continental Army. Two companies, under Captains Joseph Wadsworth and Thomas Turner, were formed in 1777 soon found themselves in some of the fiercest fighting in the Revolution.
Duxbury in the Revolution - Rosters / journals of Duxbury men in the Revolutionary War.
The sheer number of Duxbury men who signed up for service is remarkable. Some 270 are on record, representing the vast majority of the town’s adult male population.
The most remarkable period in Duxbury’s history, the shipbuilding era, began immediately after the Revolution. Following the Treaty of Paris (1783)|Treaty of Paris, the newborn nation was granted fishing rights on the Grand Banks. Several families took advantage of the new opportunity and began to build large fishing schooners. Notable individuals doing this include Ezra Weston (1743-1822), Samuel Delano, Nathaniel Winsor (1747-1839), Joshua Winsor (1749-1827) and Seth Sprague (1760-1847). Reaping great rewards from this business, they all went into shipbuilding to create bigger fishing fleets and other trading.
These men strongly advocated for the building of a commercial road from Powder Point to the Bayfront and the establishment of the Duxbury Old Shipbuilder's Historic District which became their center of their shipping business. This development culminated with the building of the first Powder Point Bridge in 1803. Soon, the schooners built in the 1790s gave way to larger brigs and eventually three-masted ships. As several merchant families began to amass large fleets, shipyards and other ancillary industries flourished and Duxbury prospered. By the 1840s, Duxbury boasted about 20 shipyards and produced an average of ten large sailing vessels per year.
The largest industry in Duxbury was owned by Ezra Weston (1743-1822), who came to be known as "King Caesar" due to his success and influence. Weston began building small vessels in 1764 and soon became famous for his successful merchant fleet. His son, Ezra Weston II, who inherited his father’s kingly sobriquet, would bring the industry to its height. By 1841, the younger King Caesar had constructed the largest vessel built in New England up to that time. The ship Hope was an astounding 880 tons.
The shipbuilding era in Duxbury ended as quickly as it began. By the 1850s, sailing vessels were made obsolete by other modes of transportation such as steamships]] and railroads. While other Massachusetts towns grew, Duxbury went into a long economic decline.
The Old Colony Railroad connecting Boston to Plymouth was not completed until 1845 and even then the nearest station to Duxbury was four miles away. Communication was by either horse relays or water packets. Telegraphic service and the railroad did not reach Duxbury until many years later.
There was, however, a silver lining. By the 1870s, Duxbury’s rural character and unspoiled bay began to attract summer visitors. Duxbury soon gained a reputation as an idyllic summer resort. With the 1871 completion of the Duxbury & Cohasset Railroad, large numbers of city-folk from Boston could pay $1.50 for a round-trip ticket and enjoy Duxbury’s refreshing environment. Boarding houses sprang up everywhere. The Miles Standish Hotel on the Nook soon became enormously popular. The Myles Standish monument, completed in 1898, was a result of this tourist influx.
This pattern continued in Duxbury well into the 20th-century. It was not until the construction of Route 3 that transportation to Boston became expedient and the town’s population exploded with the arrival of thousands of year-round residents.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 37.6 square miles (97.4 km²), of which, 23.8 square miles (61.5 km²) of it is land and 13.9 square miles (35.9 km²) of it (36.87%) is water. Duxbury is bordered by Cape Cod Bay to the east, Duxbury Bay, Kingston Bay and Plymouth to the southeast, Kingston to the southwest, Pembroke to the west and northwest, and Marshfield to the north. The town's border with Plymouth is due to the town having the only land access to Saquish Neck, a thin, hook-shaped strip of land along Duxbury Bay whose tip is in Plymouth.
Duxbury is the sixth largest cranberry producer in Massachusetts. It also has come in recent years to be known for its oyster beds, as well as other shellfish. The town has many ponds and bogs throughout. The Back River lies along the western edge of Saquish Neck, and has many tributaries from the local rivers, brooks and marshes. There are several sanctuaries, a conservation area and other forests within the town, especially in the western half of town.
On the national level, Duxbury is a part of Massachusetts's 10th congressional district, and is currently represented by Bill Delahunt. The state's senior (Class II) member of the United States Senate, re-elected in 2008, is John Kerry. The junior (Class I) senator, elected in 2010, is Scott Brown.
On the state level, Duxbury is represented in the Massachusetts House of Representatives as a part of the Sixth and the Twelfth Plymouth districts; the Sixth includes the towns of Hanson, Pembroke and portions of Halifax, and the Twelfth includes all or parts of the towns of Halifax, Kingston, Middleborough, Plymouth and Plympton. The town is represented in the Massachusetts Senate as a part of the Plymouth and Norfolk district, which includes the towns of Cohasset, Hingham, Hull, Marshfield, Norwell, Scituate and Weymouth. The town is patrolled by the First (Norwell) Barracks of Troop D of the Massachusetts State Police.
Duxbury is governed by the open town meeting form of government, and is led by a town manager and a board of selectmen. The town operates its own police and fire departments, with the police station located near the junction of Routes 14 and 139, and fire stations located in the northwest and southeast parts of town. There are two post offices in town; one is at Hall's Corner (near Goose Point) and the other is at Snug Harbor, along Duxbury Bay just south of Powder Point. The Duxbury Free Library is located in the heart of town, next to the John Alden House, and is a member of the Old Colony Library Network. The town also has a highway department, located behind the Town Hall, and a harbormaster, whose office is located next to the Duxbury Yacht Club near Snug Harbor. Duxbury is located within ten miles (16 km) of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station, and as such has a well-organized emergency management agency. The nearest hospitals are Jordan Hospital in Plymouth, South Shore Hospital in Weymouth, and Brockton Hospital.
Over $26 million of Duxbury's annual budget is devoted to the town's nationally recognized public school system. According to Newsweek Magazine's 2005, 2006 and 2007 rankings of the Nation's Top 1200 Public High Schools (the top 5% of public school systems), Duxbury was ranked at 246, 185 and 142 respectively.
Duxbury operates its own school system for the town's approximately 3,400 students, serving preschool through 12th grade. Chandler School is located near Tree of Knowledge Corner in the west of town and serves students from pre-kindergarten through second grade. The Alden Elementary School, located near the John Alden House, serves grades 3-5. The Duxbury Middle School is located adjacent to the Alden School, and serves grades 6-8.
Duxbury High School is located across Saint George Street from the middle school, and serves grades 9-12. Duxbury High's athletic teams are known as the Dragons, and their colors are green and white. Their chief rival is Marshfield High School and play against them in the Thanksgiving Day Tournament.
There are two private schools located in Duxbury. The Bay Farm Montessori Academy is a private, independent school located in the southern corner of town and serves Toddlers through grade 8. Good Shepherd Christian Academy is a private, Christian school which serves students from kindergarten through eighth grade. The nearest private high school is Sacred Heart in Kingston. The town does not have any agreements with vocational schools.
The nearest college is Bridgewater State College in Bridgewater, Massachusetts.
Route 3, a two-lane freeway also known as the Pilgrims Highway, passes through the town, with one exit granting access to the town from it. Routes 3A, 14, 53 and 139 also pass through the town. Routes 14 and 139 both end in the town, and Route 53 ends less than 1/2 mile south of the town line, at Route 3A. There is no rail or air service in town. The Kingston-Plymouth Line of the MBTA's commuter rail passes through (and terminates in) neighboring Kingston and Plymouth, as the southern end of a route which starts at South Station in Boston. The nearest municipal airport is Marshfield Municipal Airport; the nearest national and international air service can be reached at Logan International Airport in Boston.
Gamaliel Bradford (1731-1807) - Officer in the Revolutionar War Army, commander of the 14th Massachusetts Regt.
Gamaliel Bradford (1763-1824) - Privateersman in Revolutionary War and French Quasi-War of 1800.
Love Brewster (1611-1650), a founder of the town of Duxbury.
William Brewster (1567-1644), the Pilgrim leader and spiritual elder of the Plymouth Colony and a passenger on the Mayflower. He was also and one of the founders of Duxbury.
Myles Standish (c1584-1656) a Mayflower settler, militia leader for Plymouth Colony and founder of Duxbury.
Elizabeth Alden Pabodie (1623-1717) - first anglo girl born in New England.
Ezra Weston, Jr., referred to colloquially as King Caesar. Weston's shipbuilding enterprise dominated Duxbury in the early 19th century with a large portion of the population employed in the Weston shipyards, farms, wharves, mill, ropewalk, or aboard Weston’s fishing schooners and merchant fleet. The King Caesar House is now a tourist attraction in town.
Alexander Standish House, built in 1666.
Art Complex Museum: The Carl A. Weyerhaeuser collection.
Gamaliel Bradford House - 1807 historic home of US Privateer.
First Parish Church, Unitarian Universalist: Founded in 1632 by the Pilgrims, it was the second religious body of the Plymouth Colony.
Gershom Bradford House: This early 19th century house remains virtually untouched from when it was built and furnished by the seafaring captain. It remained in the family for four generations until donated to the Duxbury Rural and Historical Society.
Hall's Corner: Duxbury's small commercial and retail shopping area, centering around the flagpole.
John Alden House, built in 1653, home to Pilgrim John Alden.
Snug Harbor: A charming harborfront with small shops on Washington Street.
Myles Standish Monument stands high atop Captain's Hill, a 116-foot granite shaft crowned by a 14-foot statue of Captain Myles Standish, Mayflower pilgrim and military leader of Plymouth Colony. Completed in 1898. Open free to public. Impressive views of the region.
North Hill Marsh: The Massachusetts Audubon Society's 129-acre (0.522 km2) sanctuary on Mayflower Street includes a forest, bike trails, and a 90 acre pond.
Tinkertown: A quaint hamlet of Duxbury settled in the early 1700s. The illumination of luminaries on Christmas Eve is a Tinkertown tradition dating back generations.
Camp Wing: Located in Duxbury's northeast tip, it is a summer camp with many year round events.
Myles Standish Burial Ground, cemetery and Pilgrim burial site.
^ "Registration and Party Enrollment Statistics as of October 15, 2008" (PDF). Massachusetts Elections Division. http://www.sec.state.ma.us/ele/elepdf/st_county_town_enroll_breakdown_08.pdf. Retrieved 2010-05-08.
This page uses content from the English language Wikipedia. The original content was at Duxbury, Massachusetts. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with this Familypedia wiki, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons License. | 2019-04-25T00:56:53Z | https://familypedia.wikia.org/wiki/Duxbury,_Massachusetts |
Twitter is one of the most popular social media channels to market a business’s products or services. Yet many small business owners are unsure how to use Twitter’s 140-character micro-blog to reach potential customers online.
Learning to use the platform will help you reach Twitter users interested in your products and services.
Ready to get your small business started on Twitter? Need to improve your use of the social media platform? This is the class for you! Start by watching the video above.
Twitter is one of the most popular social media channels around—it’s currently ranked No. 2 based on monthly unique visitors. Yet many small business owners are wary of the 140-character micro-blog phenomenon.
There’s no denying that the never-ending stream of retweets and hashtags can be a bit intimidating. It takes some time to learn to navigate the Twitter waters. But increasing your understanding will help you feel at ease about taking the Twitter plunge and expanding your business’ digital marketing strategy one tweet at a time.
What’s in a name? A lot, as it turns out. We hope we’re stating the obvious, but use the name of your business as your username (or “handle”) on Twitter. In the event that it’s already taken, get as close to it as you can, but avoid using underscores and hyphens. It just doesn’t look good.
If your business is called Blinky’s Bakery, but that handle is already taken, add your state’s abbreviation at the end to signify your location. You just don’t want to be too far from the real name of the business.
Don’t be shy. If you haven’t written your Twitter bio, please do. You get 160 characters to showcase your business—use it! This little nutshell of information will help you gain followers, and here’s why: If you follow someone and you don’t have a bio, they don’t know who you are or what you’re all about. You may look like a spam account and are therefore less likely to get a follow back. Take a few minutes to complete your bio to give everyone the lowdown on your business.
Make sure to use pertinent hashtags within your bio—this helps other Twitter users find your account—and don’t forget to add a link to your website or blog. Bios with links get more attention than those without.
#hashtags: What past generations called the pound sign or number sign is now more commonly called a hashtag, and it wields a lot of power. These are keywords that can be used anywhere in your tweet. They help people find you if they’re searching for that particular topic, and they help categorize your tweets. Hashtags can be one word or a series, just make sure not to use spaces.
Say cheese! Use a photo of yourself, your logo or your business for your profile. Leaving image fields blank is like stepping over found money, and it’s a turn-off to potential followers. Utilize all of the free advertising Twitter gives you.
It’s a banner day! The same holds true for the giant (1,500 x 1,500 pixels) banner image on top of your profile page. Don’t think of it as static content—mix it up as often as you need or want. Celebrate the seasons, a sale, an event—whatever speaks to who you are and what you tweet about.
Lead and they will follow. Now that you have your profile looking good, it’s time to find people to follow. Look for people you know, customers, vendors, peers in your industry and those with similar interests and goals. Many times, taking the lead and following someone will entice them to return the follow.
What do you say? It’s often a challenge for people new to Twitter to come up with things to tweet about. Don’t let your social media marketing be stifled by a brain cramp—plan ahead. Spend a few hours a month setting up a calendar of topics. Having a plan makes it easier to write content. Once you have your calendar in order, spend 10 to 15 minutes each day looking for opportunities to share and converse, then check in later for responses and messages.
Short and sweet. In order to make the best use of your 140-character limit, tighten up those long URLs. With every post, include a link to your article, website or blog (this is how you can gain traffic to your site), but use a URL shortener like Bitly or Google to maximize your available space.
A picture’s worth 1,000 tweets. OK, it may not be worth quite that many, but using imagery in your tweets will attract more attention.
Spending a little extra time to set your account and content plan should make it easier to dive into the Twitter stream and bring a few more followers your way. #goodluck!
Academy Checklist: Follow these steps to make sure you’re ready to tweet.
Make your business name your handle.
Create a complete bio that includes hashtags.
Add a profile image and banner image.
Follow a few new people every day.
Take a moment to set up a strategy calendar.
Watch and listen to learn when the best tweeting times are for your audience.
Try out different URL shorteners to see what you like best.
Search engine optimization practices have evolved alongside the improvements and refinements search engines have made to their algorithms. In order to take full advantage of the Press Release Optimization PR Newswire builds into the distribution of each press release, it’s important that you understand SEO practices and factors - and stay up to speed with shifting trends and tactics.
Headline, Lead & Link. Use your most important keyword in your headline and your lead sentence. Link from the occurrence of the keyword in the lead.
Less is more. Two links per 500-600 words is recommended, in order to focus search engines on your most important keywords.
A clear, concise message resonates with readers and is appreciated by journalists. It’s also a key component of a well optimized press release. Too many keywords and concepts can dilute your message, causing it to drop in the rankings for the keywords you consider most important. A tightly focused message that is truly relevant for your target keywords is more likely to be ranked, read and written about than a press release that tries to be all things to all people.
Many business owners use LinkedIn to their increase professional networks. The social network can also help your business grow!
According to BIA/Kelsey, the reach small businesses receive through LinkedIn surpasses other social sites by more than thirty percent.
Take part in LinkedIn groups or create your own. It’s where customers, potential customers, and influencers go to share thoughts and opinions, and gain advice from experts (that’s you).
When it comes to positioning your brand and expanding reach, LinkedIn provides an optimal platform. Figure out how it can work for you!
Include a headline: Headlines are not just for ads. Your reader's eye will be drawn to your headline. Make it Magnetic!
Use effective words: Some effective words to include are FREE, Easy, New, Now, Save, Revolutionary, Today, You, Yes and Breakthrough.
Make your paragraphs short: Limit them to seven lines or less.
Use simple words: Make your copy familiar to your readers. Don't use jargon or difficult words. Most people won't know or care what you're talking about.
Focus on benefits: "Sell the sizzle, not the steak." Focus on the benefits of your Offer, not your service or company, but what they'll get.
Be honest: Be honest, straightforward, upfront and true. Don't ever mislead your readers.
Use easy-to-read type: Use sufficient size type, easy-to-read type. Don't use fancy font types.
Include a P.S.: Call attention to a major benefit in your P.S.
Use specifics: Make your Offer specific. Use "10 tips to eliminate . . . ," rather than "some ways to eliminate . . ."
Don't waste money: Don't spend lots of money on expensive stationery. Expensive paper won't get your prospects to respond. Your Offer is the key!
Consider adding Pinterest to your social media mix and promote your business with shared photos.
Pinterest—the social site known for ‘pinning’ images users aspire to have, or know more about, or just share—is making changes that are getting a lot of buzz. If you’re using social media to promote your business and develop brand awareness, and you should be, it’s time to consider adding Pinterest to your social media mix.
Pinterest launched in 2010, and self-describes as ‘visual bookmarking tool that helps you discover and save creative ideas.’ How can a visual bookmarking tool be of service to small businesses, especially those that aren’t particularly visual? Pinterest is aspirational—its users are looking for information and ideas, whether they’re in the market for a new bookcase, decorating inspiration, a pizza recipe, a local pizza restaurant or advice about saving money or how to do their taxes. Businesses that create a Pinterest profile are inviting more people to discover their offerings.
Pinterest provides a business board option and launched ‘promoted pins’ in beta to brand advertisers in 2014, some of whom reportedly saw a 30 percent uptick in impressions. Pinterest is also fine-tuning ways to localize and expects to add a ‘buy’ button soon.
Get inspired by ways other businesses are using Pinterest, and then start considering how you might make it work for your company.
So, you have finally set up your own blog. Congratulations, as this is one of the most effective ways to mark your online presence and to generate traffic. To make your blog work for you, you will need to fill it up with great articles on a regular basis (every day, if possible). Remember, online users will give your blog a visit but only if they'll get what they're looking for -- quality content.
The first thing to do is to perform a keyword research. Your goal here is to identify the subjects or topics that are related to your blog and those that are interesting to the people that you would like to target. Instead of doing surveys and time-consuming interviews, you can just get a list of popular keywords through the use of keyword suggestion tools. Once you get the list, the next thing to do is to convert them to article topics. For example, if your target audience is searching for the phrase "article marketing", you may want to write blog articles on these topics: article marketing tips; article submission tips; article writing tips, etc. These will surely grab your readers by the throat.
Develop an outline. The secret to writing an organized blog post is creating and following an outline. Learn how you can create a blueprint for your blog posts before you actually write them. Don't worry as this is very, very easy. Start by writing your topics, your working title, and at least 3 major points that you'd like to discuss. Arrange these in a logical manner. It's that easy!
Pay attention to your headlines. You cannot afford to use lousy headlines or your blog posts will remain unread. So, learn the ropes of creating killer titles. These must be relatively short but very powerful that they'll help you grab your readers by the throat.
Write your blog posts. Start and end strong. This is to make sure that you'll hook your readers in your content and in the end, leave a scar on their minds. Use conversational tone all throughout to easily put your readers at ease. Use only common terms or those that your readers can easily identify with. Explain your ideas using bullet list or short paragraphs. Tell your readers what you want to tell them upfront. There is no need to beat around the bush as these people do not have time to waste.
Ask for feedback. Before you post your copies on your blog, I suggest that you show them first to neutral third parties who understand the ropes of blog writing. Allow them to critique your work. Ask for their feedback and suggestions. Revise until your blog posts are at least close to perfection.
Learn how your small business can use Instagram to share photos and videos, reach new customers and grow sales with a social media marketing strategy.
Don’t be intimidated. Instagram is easy to use, and paid promotions are simple too. With so few other business owners using Instagram, this is a great time to jump ahead of your competitors and start connecting with customers now.
As with any social media effort, a smart marketing plan is essential. You should decide what your goals are and how much you want to spend (in time and money), then make sure your Instagram strategy supports those goals. With advice from social media and marketing experts, the 27 tips below will help you use Instagram for Business to connect with customers and grow sales for your small business.
1. What Can Instagram Do for Your Business?
Instagram allows you to connect with followers, share updates about your business, and potentially turn followers into customers. If that sounds like a lot of other social media platforms, the big difference with Instagram is the focus on photos and videos rather than text.
Instagram is primarily a mobile platform. As smartphone users increasingly rely on images to get and share info, you should harness the impact of photos and videos to promote your small business.
2. What’s the Difference Between Instagram for Business vs. Personal?
Instagram for Business gives small business owners access to features and capabilities that personal users don’t have. With an Instagram for Business account you can add directions to your business to your profile, let followers contact you with one click, access Instagram’s analytics tools and promote your posts with ad campaigns.
When it comes to content, you probably want to keep the personal photos you share with family and friends separate from the business posts you share with customers. While social media can feel friendly and informal, don’t forget that your Instagram for Business account represents your business and its professional reputation: Don’t share anything you wouldn’t post in your workplace or say to customers’ faces.
Small business owners who want to get started with Instagram can find inspiration by following the accounts of others in their field, said Deborah Sweeney, CEO of online business document service MyCorporation.com.
Instagram is owned by Facebook, and the business accounts and advertising capabilities on the two platforms are integrated. That good news is, if you already have a Facebook page for your business or if you use Facebook Ads, you’re well on your way to setting up an Instagram account and advertising on the photo-sharing platform. If you don’t yet have a Facebook business profile, make sure you set one up before getting started with Instagram.
It’s easy to get started on Instagram. Download the free Instagram app from the iTunes app store or Google Play.
The first time you launch it, the app will walk you through the steps to create a basic account. Choose a profile name that will help customers identify your business; it could be the same as your other social media handles or, if you have a common-sounding business name, it could incorporate your city.
Tap the gear icon at the top right of your profile page.
After tapping “Continue,” you’ll be prompted to connect your Instagram account to your Facebook account.
The business info on your Facebook page will be imported into your Instagram account; make sure this info is complete and correct.
Tap “Done” to save your Instagram for Business profile.
When you launch the Instagram app you will see your main feed; these are the photos and videos posted by people you’re following. In this feed, tap the heart icon (or double-tap on the photo) to like a photo; tap the word-bubble icon to comment on a post; or tap the forward arrow to share the post with another follower.
To follow another user, simply tap the “Follow” button next to their user name. If their account is set as private, you’ll see a clock icon to show that your request to follow is pending their approval.
Tap the home icon to return to your main feed.
Tap the magnifying glass icon to get to the search page, where you can find other users or hashtags to follow.
Tap the camera icon to create a new Instagram post.
Tap the heart icon to see which users started following you or liked your posts.
Tap the person icon to see and edit your profile info and all the posts you’ve created.
You can add up to five Instagram accounts and manage them from the same app. This is useful if you want to maintain separate business and personal accounts, or if your small business has accounts for multiple locations or distinct product lines.
Lindsay Klix, owner of Off Your Rocker Pottery, publishes a blog of healthy recipes in addition to crafting handmade pottery. “I saw that my Instagram followers that were interested in my pots were not as interested in my recipes, but others were,” she said. “So I launched a separate account showcasing just my healthy recipes that is attracting new and different followers, increasing my overall following.
To add multiple accounts, go to your Instagram profile and tap the gear icon in the top right corner. Tap “Add Account” to enter the username and password of the account you’d like to add. To switch between accounts, go to your profile page and tap your username at the top of the screen, then tap the account you’d like to switch to.
Instagram is a visual platform, so you want to think of ways to market your business using photos and videos. Beyond that, there are few rules. However, all of your posts should be consistent with your social marketing strategy. Consider your goal, and make sure everything you post on Instagram supports that goal.
Is your social marketing strategy to demonstrate how your small business supports your local community? Post videos on Instagram from community events, or post photos previewing the big local festival or high school football game.
Is your social marketing goal to show off your strong customer service and put a friendly face on your team? Post behind-the-scenes photos of your employees hard at work, or post videos of your team members talking about why they love working with your customers.
Sharing a photo on Instagram is almost as easy as taking one. When you tap the camera icon at the bottom of the screen, you will be given the option of selecting an existing photo from your “Library,” or taking a new photo or video in the app. If you select a photo from your library you will have the chance crop the photo before proceeding. Taking a new photo is even easier; the only options here are whether to use flash or the front-facing selfie camera.
Take a new photo or select a photo from your library, and tap “Next” in the upper right corner.
Add your location (optional but recommended if this is your business location).
Tag other people by using their Instagram user names (optional); they will be notified that you included them.
Choose if you want to post your Instagram photo directly to Facebook or Twitter at the same time you share it on Instagram (optional; make sure it supports your social marketing strategy on those other platforms).
Write a caption for your photo; include a brief description of the post, and include a few hashtags.
Tap “Share” at the top right to publish your post to Instagram.
9. What Are Instagram Filters?
Instagram Filters allow you to easily apply visual effects to your photos. When you take a photo with the Instagram app or post a picture from your photo library, you can select from preset filters (Claredon, Willow, Lo-Fi) and, with one click, turn a snapshot into a work of art. You can also tap “Edit” to manually adjust the color, contrast and warmth and create your own look.
Filters let you look like a pro, adding interest to your plain snapshots—from high-contrast black-and-white pictures to the desaturated colors of vintage Polaroids.
“People often scroll through their feeds fast, so you only have a second to grab their attention. Use Instagram’s editing tool to stand out. There are lots of different options, filters and add-ons that can turn a dull photo into a piece of art,” said Nathan Barber, digital analyst with Digital Advertising Works.
When you are drafting an Instagram post within the app, you have the option to “Add Location.” You should do so. This associates the name of your business with the photo, allows followers to see other photos taken at that location (which could include posts by you and your customers), and see the location of your business on a map.
Underneath the “Add Location” prompt on the post you will see a list of five nearby locations (you can scroll through this list horizontally). If you don’t see the name of your business, you can click on the “Search” button or “Add Location” button for a longer list of suggestions.
From your Facebook News Feed on a mobile device, tap the “Check In” button.
If you don’t see your location here, click “Add [New Location]” and provide your business’ location info.
Tap “Done” or “Create” and you should now find your business location in both Facebook and Instagram.
11. What’s an Instagram Photo Map?
If you click on the location name of any Instagram post (in small type under the user’s name, above the photo) you will see that location pinpointed on a map along with all other photos or videos taken at that location. It’s a great way to see photos that customers have posted at your business location.
In the past, users could get a similar view of all their posts with a Photo Map of their personal account, but Instagram no longer offers that feature.
Recording a video with Instagram is much like taking a photo. From the video screen, press and hold the record button to take a video (don’t tap separately to start and stop). You can pause and add nonconsecutive segments to the video as you record it; for instance, you could create a time-lapse effect by recording several brief snippets over a period of time. Adding filters, a caption and location info is similar to the process for photo posts.
Selecting an existing video from your library is also easy. You do have the option to trim your library video clips, which is helpful to meet the Instagram video time limit of 3 to 60 seconds.
Instagram Stories are slideshows that combine photos and videos. They are meant to be temporary—Story posts disappear after 24 hours—so they are useful if you are promoting a timely event or sale. By combining multiple images, videos and adding text, Stories also allow you to tell a more complete story than you can with a single image.
For instance, contractors could create Stories of before, during and after photos to show off the progress and results of a successful remodeling project. A service business could create behind-the-scenes Stories that introduce your staff members with photos and videos showing your team at work.
You may have seen photo collages shared on Instagram: two or three (or more) photos combined in a single post. Collages can capture the energy of event (say, a layout of multiple photos from your grand opening) or provide an interesting way to photograph a product or service (like side-by-side before-and-after photos of a remodeling job).
To create a collage, you need a separate app that works with Instagram. Instagram has its own collage app called Layout, which you can get to by tapping the windowpane icon on the post screen. Similar third-party apps include Photo Grid and PhotoFrame. Each of these apps will walk you through the process of creating a collage; it’s just like posting a single photo from your photo library, except you get to choose multiple pictures.
You can like an Instagram post by double-tapping on the photo or tapping the heart icon just underneath the post. The number of likes you get on your posts is a measure of engagement. It shows that followers are enjoying and responding to your photos and videos on Instagram.
How do you get more likes on your Instagram posts? The best way is to simply post engaging content that your followers like.
Hashtags are the words or phrases you see following the “#” symbol. It’s a way to categorize your posts on Instagram and make them easy for others to find. When a user taps on a hashtag in a post, they see a list of all other photos with that hashtag. When you tag your photo #KitchenRemodel, anyone who searches for #KitchenRemodel or taps on #KitchenRemodel from another user’s post will find your photo.
You can make up any hashtag you want, but it will only be effective if others use it as well. By tapping on the search icon at the bottom of the screen in the Instagram app, you can look for common hashtags related to your industry or city; by using a hashtag that’s already popular, your posts are more likely to get found by others.
You can create your own hashtag with your business’ name, slogan, or to promote a specific contest or promotion. Encourage your customers to use this hashtag by sharing it on your website, email newsletter, invoices or in-store displays. You can also search for common hashtags related to your industry or city. When you use a hashtag that’s already popular, your posts are more likely to be found by others.
“Regramming” is the equivalent of sharing a friend’s post on Facebook or retweeting a post on Twitter. For instance, you might want to regram photos that customers have taken at your business, or share entries you received to a photo contest. Unlike those other social platforms, however, Instagram does not make it easy to share others’ posts.
There is a manual workaround: Simply use your phone to take a screenshot of the photo you want to regram, then post it to Instagram from your phone’s photo library. Whenever you regram someone else’s post, make sure you give them credit in the caption by including their Instagram user name with the “@” symbol (e.g. @caretta_workspace).
There are also apps available to streamline this process, such as Repost for Instagram, which you can download from your app store.
As with any social media platform, Instagram isn’t a megaphone. It’s a conversation. You should listen to your followers, respond to their comments and comment on their photos. Look for notices that your account was tagged in a post, and regularly search for uses of your hashtag, so you can like and comment on customer photos taken of your business.
19. What are Instagram Ads?
By promoting posts on Instagram, small business owners can expand their reach and drive more results. Thanks to the powerful targeting tools, you can connect with specific audiences based on age, gender, location and interests.
20. How Much Do Instagram Ads Cost?
You can advertise on Instagram for as little as $1, and for as much as you want to spend. When you set up your Instagram ad campaign using the Power Editor tool, you can set a daily budget, a budget for the campaign, or a budget for some other time period.
The real question might be: How much should you pay to advertise on Instagram? There are probably as many answers to that question as there are small businesses advertising on Instagram.
The key is to make sure you’re getting a return on your investment, and to calculate your ROI you need to have a clear understanding of what your goals are and how much that’s worth. Is your goal to get visitors to fill out a lead form on your website? If that lead is worth $100 to you, then you know exactly how much you should spend to get it.
Paid advertising on Instagram isn’t necessary for every small business. Many experts recommend instead spending your time focusing on organic engagement—the likes and comments you get naturally by posting compelling content—which could boost your placement in followers’ feeds without a cash investment.
It’s easy to create promoted posts from within the Instagram app. Tap on a post that you’ve already shared on Instagram and tap “Promote” underneath the photo. You can select an advertising objective—such as getting website visits, or getting calls to your business—which will help you pick a call-to-action button to accompany your ad.
Next you need to select the targeted audience for your ad. Instagram can suggest targeting for you, or you can manually pick an audience based on age, gender and location.
Then you enter a budget for your promotion and decide how long you want it to run. Tap “Promote” to confirm your ad. After your ad is approved, you’ll see “Insights” on your notifications page; from here you can follow the status of your promotion and see how it is performing.
You can create more advanced ad campaigns in Facebook Ads Manager or Power Editor. From the Manage Ads tab, you can create new campaigns, choose an advertising objective and manage your budget in more detail.
Instagram for Business includes access to Insights, a free analytical tool that can help you understand who your followers are and what they’re interested in.
23. What’s the Best Time to Post to Instagram?
The short answer to this question is: Post when your customers are using their smartphones. As you might imagine, that’s pretty much all the time. You can get specific info about your followers using the Instagram Insights tool from your profile page; it will tell you at what times your followers are most likely to be active on Instagram.
24. How Many Instagram Posts Per Day are Best for Business?
The trick on all social media platforms is this: You want to post often enough so that your business stays visible in your followers’ feeds, but you don’t want to post so often that people get annoyed and stop following your account.
Your engagement efforts will be pointless if you don’t have Instagram followers to engage with. To get more followers, start by linking to your Instagram account from your website and promoting it on your other social platforms and enewsletter. You can share your Instagram posts on Twitter and Facebook directly from the app, letting your followers on those platforms know that you also have an Instagram account.
You can promote your Instagram account in the real world as well, by adding your user name to business cards, print ads, invoices or other handouts.
You can also get new followers by following them on Instagram. “The most important way to gain new followers and engaged fans is to follow, like and comment on other people’s posts,” said Harrison Vigersky, founder of the pet blog Bone & Yarn.
He suggests looking at the list of followers on your competitors’ Instagram accounts and following their followers, then liking some of their photos and commenting on some. (Instagram sets limits on how much following you can do at once, so set aside 10 minutes every few hours to do this.) “If you are dedicated, hundreds of people will follow you every week that will be engaged with your brand,” Vigersky said.
26. Should You Buy Instagram Followers?
No. You simply can’t fake social engagement on any platform. Buying followers is a waste of money at best, and at worst it could harm your reputation on social media.
Since the fake followers you buy aren’t really your customers, it does absolutely no good for them to fake-see your photos or even fake-like your posts. Paying to advertise your business to fake followers is even worse. Plus, it’s not hard for your real followers to see through all the fake accounts following your business, which could make you look less-than-reputable in their eyes. If you’re not engaging with actual customers on Instagram, you’re just wasting your time.
With an audience of more than 500 million active users—and growing—Instagram is one of the most popular and powerful social media platforms.
Instagram’s location-based tools and mobile-friendly design make it especially important for small, local businesses. According to Blanca Valbuena, co-founder of Socialdraft, a social media scheduling and engagement tool, Instagram functions as a search engine as much as a social network.
“Just imagine a tourist coming to New York City. They want to see things to discover so they begin to browse content tagged #NewYork or #GreenwichVillage,” she said. “Smart businesses who geotag their content are basically creating links to make it easier for customers to discover them.
Comments Off on Is It Time to Intensify Your Digital Marketing?
Is It Time to Intensify Your Digital Marketing?
Your company has been doing some digital marketing for a while, perhaps you even hired someone from the outside to handle it for you, and you feel like things are going in the right direction. You start thinking that it might be time to do even more and invest a bit more money to intensify your digital marketing efforts.
Then, you start to doubt your decision and figure that you are doing alright as it is. All of a sudden, this becomes a whole thing and you just cannot pull the trigger either way.
How do you do it? How do you know when it is time to intensify your digital marketing efforts? How do you make the first step?
One of the clearest indications that you may want to intensify your digital marketing is the notorious "plateau". Namely, when you look at the results your past digital marketing efforts brought you, you will be seeing an upwards trend with better results being achieved as time goes by. However, if you notice that this improvement gets less noticeable with time and especially if it starts stagnating, you have plateaued.
In such a situation, investing more in digital marketing can be the best thing you can do for your company. You have obviously identified what works and you simply need more reach, which can be achieved by larger investments.
Have You Identified Your Best Performers?
For the majority of companies, digital marketing will not involve just a single tactic. Instead, they will be using a mix of various tactics and techniques – from SEO to paid search and from paid social media to content marketing.
Before you can decide whether you want to ramp up your digital marketing, you need to identify what has produced results for you in the past.
For example, you may have realized that you have been getting great ROI from your Google ads while your Facebook ads have not been performing that well. Or, perhaps you may discover that your aggressive SEO campaign has been yielding amazing results and bringing fantastic organic traffic to your site.
The reason why this is important to figure out is that intensifying certain tactics will cost less than others and that the process can be extremely complicated with certain tactics as opposed to other.
One very big consideration to keep in mind when considering upping your digital marketing is the money you have at your disposal. Simply put, becoming more aggressive and active with your digital marketing will cost more money and, oftentimes, you will find that taking things up to the next level means proportionally larger investments than in the beginning.
It should also be pointed out that ROIs will change dramatically as you start investing more in your digital marketing and certain practices that made sense before may not in the future, and vice versa. You have to be extremely careful about your budget and work every single aspect of it from as many angles as you can.
If you are have come up with a fantastic digital marketing boosting plan and you cannot free up any money at the moment, you can think about bridging loans and other similar financial injections that might bridge you until you free up some money in the future. If you should choose to do this, you need to be very, very careful.
Of course, there are other things that you should factor in when making a decision to intensify your digital marketing. For example, you may feel that you are on the verge of success with a particular tactic and you need just one more push to get over the hump. This often happens with marketing tactics that require more time such as content marketing, for example.
Or, perhaps a new competitor has entered the market and you want to prevent them from getting a foothold and threatening your own company. In such a situation, you may want to invest more in marketing and nip things in the bud, so to say.
Turning up your digital marketing efforts is often the right move to make, especially if you have noticed that the circumstances have changed recently. That being said, it can often be a rushed decision, which is never a good idea.
Take a good, long look at the data, try to make some projections for the future and if the numbers tell a clear story, go for it.
James D. Burbank has been involved in the world of marketing for almost 15 years. He is currently splitting his time between Australia and Europe and working only when he has to. You can check him out on Twitter - @JBurbank2019.
Tried and true marketing strategies for small business owners who want to build a Facebook following, generate new leads, and turn social followers into paying customers.
If there’s one social media platform that all small business owners should be on, it’s Facebook. The social network has come to dominate the online space with more than a billion users worldwide.
Finding success with Facebook marketing isn’t hard, but it does take a little time and know-how to truly engage your customers and drive more leads and sales. We asked social media experts and business owners to share their insight in this comprehensive guide to Facebook marketing for small business.
1. Why is Facebook Important for Small Business?
The statistics speak for themselves: Facebook has an estimated 1.8 billion monthly users worldwide, and according to the Pew Research Center, 68% of all U.S. adults use Facebook. For many, logging onto the social media platform is a daily habit—used for entertainment, news and connecting with friends and family.
Simply put, small businesses can’t afford not to be on Facebook. It’s an ideal platform for engaging with customers where they already spend time online.
2. How Do I Use Facebook for Small Business Marketing?
On the surface, Facebook marketing is relatively simple: Start a business page and start posting updates and photos about your company. However, your social media marketing strategy matters, since your business has to compete with lots of other friends and businesses for your customers’ attention. The goal is to post valuable information and built relationships with your followers.
Your goal as a small business owner is to figure out what your customers respond to, and deliver that value through your Facebook posts.
3. What’s the Difference Between My Facebook Business Page vs. My Personal Page?
The profile you create to represent your business on Facebook is different from your own personal profile. Business profiles are called “pages.” How can you tell the difference?
It’s free to create a Facebook page for your business. Start by selecting the type of business you own. You’ll then be prompted to fill out your business name, a business description, a cover and profile photo, and a call to action. Once you’re happy with everything, be sure to hit “publish” to make it public. After you publish your page, you’ll have access to Facebook’s business features, including messaging and analytics.
5. How Can I See My Followers on Facebook?
6. What Should I Post on My Small Business Facebook Page?
What you post depends on your business and your customers. Before you start posting, it’s worth thinking about the most common questions and issue you hear about from customers, and use that as a guide for posting content that’s relevant to them.
But no matter what, try to keep things fresh. “Regardless of the industry you are in, or the audience you are trying to reach, nothing bores people more than the same old content shared time and time again,” said Gerald Vinci, owner of Vinci Digital Marketing.
7. When Should I Post on My Small Business Facebook Page?
Like the content you choose, timing also depends on your audience. However, a good rule of thumb is to space out your posts, rather than put them up all at once.
“The default approach that seems to work best for our particular audiences is a schedule focused around the average workday. Students and staff often seem to check their pages first thing in the morning at work or school, just before or after lunch, and just before leaving work or just after arriving home after work,” Thalmann said.
He added that a three-post schedule during the workday typically includes a post around 7:45 a.m., another around 11:45 a.m. and another around 4:45 p.m. Posts later in the evening, around 7 p.m. or so, often do well also.
8. How Often Should I Post on My Small Business Facebook Page?
The goal here is to get your posts in front of customers, without going overboard.
9. What if I Don’t Have Much Time to Post on Facebook?
Does posting on Facebook one to three times a day sound overwhelming? If you don’t have much time throughout the day, you can streamline your process by setting aside time to create content in batches, said Facebook marketing expert Mari Smith.
“For example, write out the top 10 frequently asked questions from your customers. Make that into a blog post. Then, create ten short videos with each point or tip, as well as 10 image quotes,” she said.
Smith added that small business owners should take advantage of a social media scheduling tool such as Hootsuite, Buffer, PostPlanner or Edgar. That way, you can schedule your posts in advance, instead of stopping in the middle of the day to update Facebook.
10. How Do I Get Facebook Likes for Small Business Page?
“We’ve been working incredibly hard to get our Facebook followers up, as a majority of our referrals and sales come from social media,” said Amandine Liepmann, cofounder of Mitz Accessories.
Coverage of your business on other sites can help increase your Facebook following as well. “We were recently featured by UpWorthy and found that we had a lot of new fans on Facebook after the story was posted,” Liepmann added.
11. How Do I Find Good Photos for Facebook?
Images are arguably more important than anything you write on Facebook. Good images can mean the difference between a customer clicking your post or just scrolling by.
“Anytime I post anything on my Facebook business page, I make sure to include an eye-catching image. By having a bright, relative image to the topic of a blog post, announcement, or news article, a potential client is more likely to engage with my page,” psychotherapist Liz Morrison in New York City.
You can take high-quality photos with your smartphone, but make sure your subject is well lit and in the frame. You can also experiment with free stock photos from sites like New Old Stock, SplitShire, 1 Million Free Pictures and the Creative Commons. Take your photos to the next level with free design tools like Canva, which allow you to play with text and other graphics to create flyers, announcements and more.
12. How Do I Design My Small Business Facebook Page?
Your profile and cover photos should be related to your business, and represent your brand. For example, if you own a children’s clothing boutique, a playful, colorful cover photo would be appropriate. If you’re a legal firm, something muted and traditional might be better. Find inspiration by looking at other business’ Facebook pages.
13. How Do I Use Facebook for Small Business Promotions?
Some businesses run contests and other promotions to drive engagement of Facebook. (Be sure to check out Facebook’s terms before you run your first promotion.) The best promotions combine great content with an offer that’s relevant to your customers, said digital strategist Jason Falls.
Facebook contests may not be the best tool to reach new customers, but they can make your current social media followers feel special and help you reach other goals.
15. What Does Facebook for Small Business Cost?
Theoretically, nothing. You can start your Facebook business page and post for free, and if you focus on organic efforts, you’ll never spend a dime. However, experts and small business owners all agree that, thanks to Facebook’s algorithm, it’s tough to build your audience without paying to boost your posts.
16. What are Facebook Ads?
17. How Much do Facebook Ads Cost?
The answer to that question depends on your budget and your goals. Cost of entry is low. According to Surdakowski, you can allocate as little as $5 per day or as much as $500 (or more) per day.
“Before putting your entire marketing budget behind Facebook ads, it would be best to test with a small budget and scale up from there,” he warned.
18. What is the Facebook Insights Feature?
Facebook Insights shows you all kinds of statistics about your business page. It’s only visible to you, the page administrator, and it can help you judge how well your page is performing.
In order to get insight on your competitors’ performance, you should find five other pages to benchmark against in “Pages to Watch.” Then you can look at how fast they’re growing in fans and engagement.
19. What are Facebook Tracking URLs?
It may sound technical, but tracking URLs aren’t that hard to use or understand. Basically, tracking URLs have a special combo of letters and numbers to identify the source of each click. They help you determine how many people actually visit your website because they clicked on the ad.
20. How Do I Use Facebook Live?
Facebook Live is the social media platform’s live video streaming feature, and it can give your followers a more personal view of your business.
Smith recommends experimenting with your style at first—your videos can be rehearsed or impromptu. But she also stressed the importance of using a tripod and microphone so that your videos aren’t too sloppy.
21. What is Facebook Stories?
Facebook Stories is a new feature that allows users to share photos and videos that disappear after 24 hours. If that sounds just like Snapchat and Instagram Stories, it is. Facebook is trying to capitalize on the growing trend of using images and videos (rather than text) to communicate.
Right now, the feature is available only to personal users and can’t be used on business pages. However, it seems likely that if Facebook Stories becomes popular, it will be extended to businesses as well. Small business owners should keep an eye on this trend.
22. Can Facebook Generate More Leads and Traffic to My Business?
The short answer is yes. But your success with Facebook depends on your audience and how well you’re able to reach them. If you follow some of the best practices in this guide, you should be able to boost leads and traffic to your business.
“Children, teenagers and young adults will often be easier to reach on other social media platforms,” Mayer observed. (Snapchat, for example, caters to a much younger audience than Facebook.) “You will have to spend some money on Facebook ads and boosted posts to reach new people,” she added.
23. What Should I Never Say on Facebook?
Getting into arguments with customers on your Facebook page—whether about your business or something unrelated—is a bad idea because it’s a public forum. You could wind up alienating many more people than just that one customer. Instead, keep things professional and upbeat at all times.
Conceptually, the theories of persona-building, positioning, and messaging are easy to understand. However, sometimes it’s helpful for a marketing team to critique a real example and then discuss the parallels to their own business. An example that everyone can easily relate to, and that is separate from the business you represent, is also an effective way to diffuse any emotion that may hinder folks from seeing the lessons associated with trying to execute a poor go-to-market strategy.
The following is a true story: the case of a better mousetrap. In 1955, an eager entrepreneur introduced a revolutionary new product that was destined to change the world of “rodent control”. In addition to producing leaflets, promoting through friends and family, this ad (click on the link below) ran in a variety of publications at the time.
Who is most likely to buy your product? Who is the person?
Do all these audiences look alike? behave the same way? have the same concerns?
How well do you really understand the target buyer?
Every product needs to have positioning statement.
The mousetrap’s dimensions are 3 ft long, 8 inches wide, and 18 inches high.
It holds 3 gallons of water and is quite heavy (especially if loaded with 102 mice!).
NOTE: Years ago, when I developed my first Positioning Workshop, I had the opportunity to view and touch this actual, very real mousetrap. Unfortunately, it is actually neither, sanitary, self-setting, nor portable. We have a category mismatch.
There are many benefits floating around in the ad. Which one is most important? Some seem hard to believe. Again, it’s the “everything for everyone” approach.For a benefit to be meaningful, it must be relevant to the target audience. It must also be single-minded, clear, substantially (e.g. you can prove any claim with data), and differentiable.
We come back to the 5 cents snap-trap alternative. If anything, this ad makes the competitor’s product look better.
An “engagement message” designed to establish relevance with the target audience and their primary “rodent control” pain points they are trying to address.
A “solution message” that illustrates why not all mousetraps are the same and certain applications require something much more than the standard snap-trap.
A “reinforcement message” that shows how his invention is superior to alternatives.
A “value message” that describes how the target’s life will be better than before after using his new, revolutionary product.
How well does your ads/direct mail/website stack up? Use the mousetrap example as a teachable exercise. Never be afraid to critique your marketing strategies with regards to your persona, positioning statement, and messaging. It’s not about placing blame; it’s about reaching the “next level” of marketing effectiveness. Otherwise, your success may be limited to selling 4 units to your brother-in-law. | 2019-04-24T20:13:39Z | https://fivensonstudios.com/category/blog/page/5/ |
NEC set up the project “NEC Space System Business Vision and Space System Business Roadmap” in 2010. As a part of this undertaking, NEC is able to offer “Comprehensive Space Usage Systems” by fusing space technologies and IT/Network technologies. The “Comprehensive Space Usage Systems” are to provide solutions for our users to solve issues not only by providing products of space technologies but also by providing technologies that are capable of fusing space technologies and other technologies.This paper introduces trends in the next generation platforms, such as cloud systems and also describes strategies for space system usages based on cloud systems, as well as for related issues that are yet to be solved.
In order to survive in the space industry market and to cope with the great changes affecting space industry projects it is essential for us to adapt our space business to suit the global market. NEC aims to provide “Global space system solutions” by setting the provision of small satellites as the core item of our space business agenda. To achieve this aim, expansion of our market share as well as improved product supply is essential in order that we are able to effectively enter overseas markets, especially those of the emerging space countries. Our space business agenda aims not only at selling space components but also at providing packaged hardware and software solutions. This policy is significantly different from trying to create business opportunities in the major space countries such as the European countries, the U.S.A., China or Russia. In order to deal with the space businesses of emerging space countries, cooperation between governmental agencies and the private sector is essential to support the business environment in its financial and engineering aspects. This is because such a program would be beyond the capacity of unaided private companies. In consideration of such conditions NEC aims to offer unrivalled solutions for space business in the overseas commercial markets.
The ASNARO is a small earth observation and imaging satellite under development by NEC as a consignment contract together with: the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), the Institute for Unmanned Space Experiment Free Flyer (USEF) and the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO). It is not simply an engineering test satellite but aims at supplying subsequent models for the needs of future overseas markets. It is supported by some of our latest technologies in introducing standardization and miniaturization and it is being developed accordingly as a small, high-performance, low-priced satellite featuring high market competitiveness.
Japan has developed its first manned space facility by completing the Japan Experiment Module (JEM), KIBO for the International Space Station. In this development, NEC was in charge of systems including the Inter-orbit Communication System and Robot Arm System as well as the JEM Control Processor, various experiment devices and the Operations Control System. Putting the first priority on the safety of astronauts at the same time as pursuing operability, universality and versatility, NEC developed each piece of equipment by adding new manned space development requirements to the existing space development technologies and by coordinating them into the uniquely Japanese technologies. At present, the JEM is monitored and is operated on 24-hour schedules for performing various space experiments.
Launched successfully on May 21, 2010, PLANET-C (AKATSUKI) is Japan’s first inner planet exploration spacecraft. Although it failed in the Venus orbit insertion mission, it is still continuing the flight and it is now targeting a successful insertion attempt in six years time. This paper introduces the system design of the PLANET-C explorer and its associated technologies.
The solar power sail demonstrator is a probe that navigates by combining propulsion based on the momentum of photons from the Sun and an ion-propulsion engine. It is a middle-sized demonstrator spacecraft developed to demonstrate technologies that will be indispensable in the projected outer planetary exploration toward the Jupiter and its Trojan asteroid. The small solar power sail demonstrator IKAROS (Interplanetary Kite-craft powered by Radiation from the Sun) has been designed to reduce the risks of development in the middle-sized demonstrator program. It has succeeded in the first advanced demonstrations globally of the deployment a large membrane, power generation via power sail and photon acceleration/navigation using sail. This paper reports on the development of the bus technology of the IKAROS by NEC.
Beginning with the “one small step” of commander Armstrong of Apollo 11 in 1969, manned lunar exploration had been halted since Apollo 17 in 1972. In September 14, 2007, Japan restarted a new lunar exploration activity by launching the lunar orbital spacecraft SELENE (KAGUYA).This paper introduces the main specifications of the KAGUYA mission for which NEC acted as the prime coordinator, being in charge of the mission from the development to the operational stages. The operational process from the launch to the end of the mission is also discussed, together with the technology used in the laser altimeter that has also been developed by NEC.
The Advanced land Observation Satellite “DAICHI”(ALOS) is one of the world’s largest class earth observation satellite launched on January 24, 2006. The primary mission of “DAICHI” is obtaining enormous volume of image data for global topographic mapping and emergency disaster monitoring of the disaster-struck area. It has three remote sensing instruments (PRISM, AVNIR-2 and PALSAR) for the precise ground surface observation.This paper describes practical applications of the images obtained via the three remote sensing instruments over the five year period subsequent to the launch and the ways that the obtained data may contribute to the social infrastructures affecting the lives of the people both inside and outside Japan.
The WINDS (Wideband InterNetworking engineering test and Demonstration Satellite, also called KIZUNA) is a stationary satellite developed for the technological development and demonstration of an ultrahigh-data-rate satellite communications system using the Ka band that has high affinity to the Internet. It enables ultrahigh-data-rate communications experiments all over Japan as well as in the Asia-Pacific region. The effectiveness of the satellite has already been demonstrated by many communications experiments conducted over the three years since the launch, and more experiments are planned for the future. This paper introduces an outline of the WINDS project and discusses the results of the main experiments so far.
The needs of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) has recently been increasing. This is because it is an image sensor capable of observing the Earth’s surface regardless of weather or time of the day. Aiming at providing high performance Earth observation services, with the low price and the short delivery term, NEC is developing a small SAR satellite of the 500-kg class by utilizing the SAR system technology, spacecraft design technology and small-sized satellite standardization technology that have been accumulated up to the present. This paper introduces an outline of the small SAR satellite system, the techniques used in its development and the projected global deployment of an Earth observation data service.
To enable a satellite to complete its missions, it is necessary to prepare a ground system equipped with a satellite control function to monitor the satellite’s status and control it, functions to receive the various types of data acquired by the satellite, etc.NEC aims to develop an internationally competitive ground system through standardization, by packaging the required functions and developing technology elements to meet the latest trends.
Earth images observed from a satellite (satellite data) contain distortions due to the characteristics of the satellite-borne sensors, which makes it necessary to correct the satellite data with a data processing system so that the users can utilize the data effectively. The data processing system has previously been developed individually for each satellite or per sensor but, in the future, it is desirable to unify the data processing system into a single set of packages (image processing PKGs) that can be used commonly regardless of the satellites and sensors installed in them. NEC is planning to promote the use of satellite data by applying the common image processing package to the satellite data processing system.
NEC boasts achievements in the manufacturing and operation of various spacecraft systems, from communications/broadcasting satellites to meteorological satellites, Earth observation satellites, scientific satellites and space stations. With the MUSES-C (HAYABUSA), which has recently returned to the Earth, NEC demonstrated that it possesses the technologies required for the agile operation of spacecraft in lunar and planetary orbits as well as in low Earth orbit (LEO) and geostationary orbits (GEO). The NEXTAR standard platform is the culmination of these achievements and enables public institutions and private businesses to start up remote sensing operations using observation sensors and communications equipment promptly.
Satellite-borne equipment includes components that are commonly used by any satellite. These components include earth sensors, transponders, GPS receivers and star trackers. NEC supplies these components to almost all Japanese satellites, and some of them, such as the earth sensor, have a big share of overseas markets as well.This paper introduces the development of compact, high-performance standard components by NEC aiming at increasing shares further in overseas markets.
NEC supplies the rocket-borne communications equipment that assists the launch of satellites to the H-IIA/B launch vehicles as part of the corporation’s wide variety of technologies supporting satellite communications. NEC also developed the large deployable reflector (LDR) for the Engineering Test Satellite VIII (ETS-VIII), and this is expected to be applied to the Earth Observation Satellites and the Mobile Communications Satellites as the next-generation satellite communications technology. Other NEC developments targeting the implementation of high-capacity communications include the development and demonstration of optical communications equipment for the Optical Inter-orbit Communications Engineering Test Satellite (OICETS).
Among the space businesses of NEC, the business related to communications/broadcasting satellite transponder equipment has achieved a large number of sales, even to the severe overseas satellite market, and its excellent technology and reliability are highly evaluated by worldwide satellite manufacturers. NEC is attempting to expand this business field by developing new devices and standardizing equipment while putting emphasis on areas with high added value. This paper is intended to introduce the present status of transponder equipment as well as perspectives for its future.
Earth observation from satellites has recently been increasing in importance in global environment monitoring for dealing with climate change, monitoring natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic activity and torrential rains and collecting security-related intelligence. Since the development of the first satellite-borne optical observation sensor in Japan, NEC has developed a large number of satellite-borne optical sensors. This paper introduces NEC’s optical sensors, including the Thermal And Near-infrared Sensor for Carbon Observation (TANSO) mounted on the Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite (GOSAT, or IBUKI) launched in 2009, the high-resolution OPtical Sensor (OPS) mounted on the Advanced Satellite with New system ARchitecture for Observation (ASNARO) under development, the Hyperspectral Image SUIte (HISUI) and the Second-generation GLobal Imager (SGLI) mounted on the Global Change Observation Mission (GCOM).
The Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) installed in the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) core satellite is the successor to the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission/Precipitation Radar (TRMM/PR) that was launched in 1997 and is still in use. It observes global precipitation distribution, including high-latitude regions, using two radars in the Ku and Ka bands. Meanwhile, the Cloud Profiling Radar (CPR) installed in the EarthCARE satellite observes the clouds of entire globe with approximately 10 times greater sensitivity than that of existing satellite-borne cloud radars. The CPR is the first satellite-borne millimeter-wave radar in the world with a Doppler velocity measuring function. These technologies will be applied to radars installed in earth observation and security-related satellites in the future.
Since the images from SAR data were successfully reproduced for the first time in Japan in 1980, NEC has been advancing R&D into various SAR image processing. High-level processing of SAR data enables acquisition of 3D information on the earth’s surface, extraction of its changes and “feature extraction” that is one of SAR advantages for target analysis. This paper introduces the latest SAR image processing technologies including; the polarimetric SAR image analysis software “RSGIS-SAR,” ScanSAR/ScanSAR interferometry and bistatic SAR image reproduction.
The many uses of space technology have found applications in various fields that affect our lifestyles and they have thereby tended to become more or less essential components of our every day lives. This trend has aroused attention as a new growth area in satellite based earth observations that are aimed at improvements in personal safety from a national perspective. This paper introduces the satellite technologies associated with earth observations that are being applied to industrial waste monitoring. It also discusses a recently deployed industrial waste monitoring system. We intend that these technologies will contribute to a wider promotion of the use and application of satellite imaging systems that have previously been limited to use by a small number of specialists.
NEC’s space technologies are supported by a broad range of fundamental technologies. Production innovation activities have brought space technology from a field of work dependent on the skills and techniques of expert workers to the forefront of production innovation. Space technology is inextricably linked to material development. NEC developed the most advanced reaction-sintered SiC optical mirror material, which makes it possible to manufacture a mirror with light weight and high strength. Meanwhile, spacecraft on-board software technology is being developed to meet the trends of diversification and increased precision of mission requirements. Image processing for more advanced utilization of remote sensing data is a technology that responds directly to the needs of data users. This paper introduces the above fundamental technologies supporting NEC’s space technologies and their development process.
Trajectory design for lunar/planetary probes requires technologies different from those required by Earth-orbiting satellites. NEC has long been in charge of trajectory design for many lunar and planetary probes in cooperation with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and its predecessor organization. This paper gives an outline of the main technology elements involved and the trajectory design characteristics of various projects based on them.
The operating voltages of space grade MPUs and FPGAs are getting lower. Therefore, the operating voltage drop caused by interconnection resistance hinders the stable operation of these kinds of components. To solve this problem, the necessity of a POL (Point of Load) DC/DC converter, a power supply installed adjacent to the MPU or FPGA, is increasing more than ever. This paper reports on the development overview of the POL DC/DC converter and on the results of reliability and environmental testing.
The requirements for the size and weight reduction of electronic devices should also be met by the printed wiring boards (PWBs) used for space development through the maintenance of high reliability in this special environment. To make this possible, Yamanashi Avionics, Co., Ltd. (YACL) is continuing production activities by applying evaluation testing based on the specifications for the acquisition of JAXA qualifications. This paper reports on the design specifications of NEC’s JAXA-qualified parts together with perspectives on their future deployment.
The H-IIA/H-IIB are the main launch vehicles domestically developed in Japan. With 14 consecutive successful launches among a total of 20 attempts, they have now acquired international reliance and are improving their competitiveness. NEC is involved in this project with the guidance control computer (GCC). As part of development for dealing with component depletion, NEC is developing a new GCC featuring high speed, high performance, compact size and light weight by adopting a new MPU. This paper introduces the circumstances of the development of past computers for launch vehicle together with the features, functions and performance of the new GCC and the efforts NEC will make with regard to computer systems for launch vehicle in the future.
The MUSES-C (HAYABUSA) is the first asteroid probe to have landed on a celestial body beyond the earth’s atmosphere that is further out than the Moon and to have brought samples back to Earth. NEC coordinated the MUSES-C project, and it was in overall charge of the design, manufacture, testing and operations of the entire system as well as of much of the payload equipment, including the bus components and the ion powered navigation engines.This paper provides details of the design and operation of the MUSES-C project. It also discusses the results achieved from its development and operation and the prospects for future commercial ventures. | 2019-04-26T10:41:18Z | https://www.nec.com/en/global/techrep/journal/g11/n01/g1101pa.html |
Now that the boat’s white sail had been raised, our hosts for the day charter, the members of the Gatt family (who own Sailing Charters Malta), took on an even more relaxed stance. At one of the two helms, father David navigated the boat with a confidence that comes from nearly four decades of sailing. On the second helm wheel, younger David, the nine-year-old son, mirrored him, his eyes wide with interest. Mother Glorianne and daughter Maria emitted a contagious blend of laughter while making jokes. This put me at ease as I tried to fend off a slight case of motion sickness, something I hadn’t experienced since my maiden sailing voyage in 2013 with a Croatian team training for a regatta.
Our trip along Malta’s rugged northern coast to the island of Comino would take us past centuries-old watchtowers and fortifications harking back to the time of the Knights of Malta. These structures have been given new life as film sets for moviemakers. As a newcomer to the country, the Maltese Archipelago’s geography can be a bit confusing; the locals often compare Malta’s shape to a fish. Using that analogy, we would travel from the fish’s ‘head’ toward its ‘tail’ during this day-trip. Along the way, we’d parallel a tuna fish farm whose fish are auctioned online and mostly sold to customers in Japan, and we’d also glimpse Malta’s ubiquitous honey-colored limestone villages, dramatic cliffs, and inviting lagoons swirling with intoxicating shades of blue. Sometimes a school of tiny fish would make an appearance too.
When Glorianne and David married in the 1990s, David said that he drifted away from sailing for a while. Realizing how much he missed it, he purchased his first sailing yacht, the Moon Song, to satisfy this passion, realizing shortly thereafter that he could start a business offering charters to help offset expenses.
Today, Sailing Charters Malta has grown from one to six yacht charter boats, and all four Gatt family members help out. They do everything from client correspondence and cooking Mediterranean cuisine for guests, to cleaning the yachts and filling the vessels’ water tanks.
And despite life’s hectic pace, David and Glorianne make it a priority to regularly take to the water as a family, echoing the anecdotes David shared earlier on during our adventure.
“We try to sail together once a week,” Glorianne said, explaining why all four family members exuded such a confidence and easy rhythm while at sea. How lucky they are to have an incredible ‘blue backyard’ in which to spend quality time together!
Scenes from Kalkara’s marina. On the left, a cheery blue luzzu, which is a traditional Maltese fishing boat, and the dome of a church (right).
The photogenic lookout in Senglea’s Gardjola Gardens overlooks the Grand Harbour and Valletta. This oft-photographed guard tower has ear, eye and bird symbols carved on it. Senglea is one of the so-called ‘Three Cities’.
Valletta, looking pretty splendid from the Grand Harbour. The Victoria Gate (left), and the Lower Barrakka Gardens and Siege Bell Memorial (right).
We sailed in a caravan of two vessels – the Moon Song was our yacht-home-for-the-day, and the Farfalla, pictured here, accompanied us. Farfalla means ‘butterfly’ in Italian – a fitting name to describe an elegant vessel which gracefully dances on the sea’s waves.
Our host and skipper, David, lifts Moon Song‘s sail in the Grand Harbour, while his son, David, carefully takes note. Shawn and I think this little guy is going to be a swell sailor someday!
David and Glorianne’s daughter, Maria, tightens the rope, just after the sail was lifted.
The Siege Bell Memorial, which was built to remember those who died in Malta during World War II. It was unveiled by Queen Elizabeth in 1992.
World War II-era watchtowers (far left), and a section of the breakwater. Look carefully underneath the bridge and you can see sailboats getting ready to participate in a short-distance race.
Seeing Malta from the sea, I now appreciate why it’s nicknamed ‘the Rock’. In this capture of Valletta, you can see the dome of the Basilica of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, and the steeple of St Paul’s Pro-Cathedral.
Men take a traditional colorful fishing boat – a luzzu – out to sea.
Saint Mark’s Tower (right) is a coastal watchtower built by the Knights of Malta. In all, there are approximately 25 Knights-era watchtowers on the islands of Malta, Comino, and Gozo. This one was built in 1658 and like its counterparts, would’ve allowed the guard on duty to sound the alarm to neighboring guard towers if any incoming threats were spotted.
During our sail, David regaled us with tales from his youth – days when he and his friends would pile onto a crammed boat and sail to St. Paul’s Island (left). On the right, David shares a vintage photograph from one of these excursions nearly four decades ago. He’s one of the little guys in the lower left of this image, which is displayed on his mobile. “I know the area around St. Paul’s Island by heart because I spent so much time there. Those were really great days,” David said. It’s believed that the island was the site of St. Paul’s shipwreck, hence the island’s name and the statue of St. Paul that stands there. St. Paul is a beloved figure in Malta, as it’s believed that he brought Christianity to the island.
Shawn and me “getting our sea legs” as we head to the island of Comino.
The Maltese flag catches the breeze on the back of the Moon Song (left) and Shawn and young David (right).
One of Malta’s sister islands, Comino, only has 4 permanent inhabitants and it’s named after the cumin spice that once thrived there. The island is a nature reserve and bird sanctuary, and its most iconic structure is St. Mary’s Tower. The 17th-century tower was featured in the 2002 film, The Count of Monte Cristo. There is also a hotel on Comino, and because of its gorgeous Blue Lagoon, it’s a popular spot for day-trippers.
St. Mary’s Watchtower served as the prison, the Château d’If, in The Count of Monte Cristo.
The clear water of the Crystal Lagoon was undeniably alluring during our late-May trip, but because it was a tad chilly early in the season, I made a promise to the lagoon that I would return to swim a few weeks later.
A Mediterranean-inspired snack of various types of cheese (including one of my favorites, Buffalo Mozzarella), plus prosciutto, enjoyed with gluten-free breadsticks, and crispy Maltese galletti crackers. Not pictured here but deserving of mention were two hearty and traditional Maltese dips: Bigilla (made with broad beans) and Arjoli (a blend of tuna, tomatoes, and herbs).
Lunch: Mediterranean pasta with clams, tomatoes, sautéed garlic and onions, and fresh basil.
Shawn and me (left), David our host family (right), and drone photographer, Constantin (far left). Though the views of the Crystal Lagoon were undeniably incredible, they had a bit of competition because everyone on board was wowed by Constantin’s drone and the incredible aerial images it was capturing.
Formations in the Crystal Lagoon.
Cliffs of the island of Cominotto in the foreground, and the Madonna ta’ Lourdes Church in the city of Mġarr, on the island of Gozo.
Soaking up the splendor of the Crystal Lagoon.
Glorianne and young David navigate through the waves on the way back home to the Kalkara Marina.
Malta’s sister island, Gozo, shows itself off in silhouette form.
A clash of old and new architecture – Valletta and Sliema, from left to right.
Back to where we started earlier in the day, the Kalkara Marina.
The silhouettes of Kalkara at sunset.
Malta has held a strategic position on the Mediterranean’s maritime crossroads for thousands of years, and to see the island nation from the sea is both relaxing and insightful! To explore chartering options, contact David and Glorianne via their website, Sailing Charters Malta. During our May trip, it was already starting to get a bit crowded out on the water (and August is said to be the busiest month), so be sure to plan accordingly.
Having only been sailing twice, I haven’t yet conquered my mild battles with seasickness. :) On this excursion, Glorianne thoughtfully lent me some Dramamine and an acupressure wrist-band to help. Here are additional seasickness avoidance tips.
The Mediterranean’s UV Index can get high and Malta is renowned for its 300+ days of sunshine, so pack sunscreen, sunglasses and perhaps a hat to stay sunburn free.
Need more inspiration? This link contains an index of all my posts from Malta.
Many thanks – Grazzi ħafna – to David, Glorianne, Maria, and David of Sailing Charters Malta for hosting me and Shawn!
Photography & text © Tricia A. Mitchell. All Rights Reserved. The video is a creation of my husband, Shawn.
Maja, to sail in and out of Valletta’s Grand Harbour is a memorable experience, so I feel lucky to have done it here! When you visited Malta did you have enough time to island-hop to Gozo or Comino?
You really know how to travel! Wonderful captures.
John, Malta’s Grand Harbour is often described as being one of the most beautiful in the world, and I can’t disagree with that accolade. Seeing that you have family ties in San Marino and Le Marche, I wonder if you’ve had the chance to take a side trip to Malta?
great work on the post, just thought I’d say I find Shawn’s commentary slightly slow paced making it sound a little stilted, appreciate you’re both probably trying to make sure you don’t speak too quickly but I think you may be over correcting. Otherwise lovely and clear though so no doubt easier for people without English as a first language to translate as they go.
We loved Malta last Christmas and New Years.
Hello Grant, I’m glad to hear that you and your family had an enjoyable time ringing in the new year and celebrating Christmas in Malta. We were here then too, and loved Valletta’s decorations, the marching bands’ processions, and the general merriment. Appreciate your feedback on the video as well. Indeed, we try to keep readers and viewers worldwide in mind when crafting our content. :) Do you think you’ll make a return visit to Malta?
Tricia and Shawn, you have captured an incredible sailing trip showing us around Malta. When I see your posts my travel desires are being tickled, so I added Malta on my travel wish list. You do such great work.
What a fantastic day on the water. Your views of Malta from the boat are simply beautiful, Tricia.
Hi again Carol, despite my tiny bout of motion sickness, it was an extraordinary day! Having grown up in the American Midwest – far from the sea – maritime trips are still a novelty to me. Are you able to spend much time out on the water in Australia?
No, we live two hours inland so I’m not a water sports person either. I haven’t been sailing much, except for whale watching and the cruise we just did to the Great Barrier Reef.
What an incredible experience that must have been, Carol! Was it your first time seeing the Great Barrier Reef?
No, I went with my parents when I was 11 and last year we were there as well. It’s changed over that time and the coral is not as colourful any more.
Carol, it’s disheartening to hear that it’s changed so rapidly! Here’s hoping that conservation efforts will be able to help reverse some of the damage. Having lived by the sea for about a year now, I have a much greater appreciation for the challenges the world’s oceans face. The other day, we just pulled a television out of the Mediterranean near Malta’s capital city! We were shocked to see it bobbing in the water.
It was a very long time ago that I was 11 but the change is sad, I agree. I recently heard that it was because of El Nino, which is not connected to climate change and was first recorded in the 18th century. But the increase in water temperature has been much more rapid recently. The reef is still beautiful.
Beautiful island…thanks for sharing! Enjoyed reading this article:)And the captures are stunning!
Hi Divya, thank you for dropping by and taking the time to comment. Malta (sort of the ‘mainland island’ in the archipelago, if that makes sense) is pretty, but Malta’s sister islands (Gozo and Comino) are perhaps even more relaxing, due to them being less developed. Despite having been here for nearly 10 months, I still delight in the chance to island-hop, whether by ferry, or by sailboat. The latter route, of course, is extra special!
Darlene, ah, then you know how dramatic the approach is! A few mornings ago, Shawn and I tapped into our inner ‘early bird’ to see the sunrise over Valletta’s breakwater. As we got closer to our viewing spot, we saw a mammoth-sized cruise ship navigating through the breakwater. It blocked the rising sun for a few moments as it was trying to get turned around, then continued on its way. Are you contemplating doing another cruise in the near future?
We are thinking about it. Our cruise ship came in with the sunrise which was a dramatic introduction to Malta.
Can you give us future Maltese visitors ideas on how much it costs to live and eat in Malta? Is it true that one has “residency” for as long as one rents?
Hi Merrill, I’m glad to provide some insight, based upon our experience in Malta. My husband is here on a student visa, and as a spouse, I was allowed to join him as well. I cannot say for sure whether or not one would have ‘residency’ for as long as one rents, but you might find some helpful details specific to your situation on the Identity Malta website: https://identitymalta.com/visas/ (Identity Malta is the government organization we, as non-EU citizens, went through to obtain our year-long visas.) I’ve only lived in one other foreign country as a non-tourist (Germany), but I think requirements to obtain a visa are similar throughout much of the world – Have proof of: a. residence b. health insurance c. income (either employment/pension/savings).
As for costs, we do find prices in Malta higher than other European spots we’ve spent weeks or months in. We’ve estimated that grocery prices are about 20-25% higher than they are in grocery stores in Croatia, Germany, Italy, or Greece, for example (and that’s even when shopping at the same grocery store chain). I have not lived in the United States for 15 years, so I can’t give you a comparison to American prices. I think $100-150/week is a fair amount for 2 people for groceries here.
We have a furnished apartment, so haven’t really had the need to buy any household items, but when we’ve looked at the prices for furniture, the prices seemed higher. Perhaps this is due to extra transport costs needed to get to an island nation, or maybe it’s because there is less competition, I am not sure. Rents vary, of course, with Valletta or Sliema being higher right now, and towns in more rural areas (or on Malta’s sister island of Gozo) being lower. For something simple in a more remote town, you could probably pay around $500, but if you want a larger place or more popular location the rents could easily be $1,500 and more. We use public transportation and that is quite reasonable (only €.75 each way if you have a resident’s pass). In short, we’ve found that one can get better rental value for their money in countries other than Malta.
Thanks for sharing. I figured it would be more expensive that mainland Southern Europe. I’ll look forward to your future post.
Merci, dear Virginia! It’s getting increasingly sizzling hot here, so I think we’ll have to pop into that pretty blue water for a dip in the coming days. :) How is summer treating you in Canada?
With the breeze, that sounds perfect, Virginia. I recall you mentioning your bees last time and I suppose they’re quite content as well! Enjoy the rest of the weekend.
What a glorious adventure! Your photos are great, and I love the look of the delicious food, especially the cheese and prosciutto platter. Gorgeous sightings from the boat, especially the lighthouses and the memorial.
Sylvia, as they’d say here in Malta – grazzi ħafna – thanks so much for your kind words! Since seasickness can be more pronounced when you’re below deck, I was impressed that our hosts were still able to whip up such tasty treats in the sailboat’s kitchen. Their feast was indeed delicious – a perfect accompaniment to the Mediterranean environment.
What an adventure in history and in living the modern life :-) Malta seems to be calling ~ a wonderful way to live.
To explore Malta by sea is the best way, Randall: the wind in your hair, and no gridlocked roads. Land is at such a premium here that much of Malta has unfortunately been overdeveloped. (Malta is only about 17 miles long and 9 miles wide.) But when you’re on the water, you feel free. I’m guessing you can relate, since you’ve lived in densely-populated places yourself! Here’s hoping you had a splendid weekend.
It’s hard to believe that autumn is just around the corner, but even here in Malta, there is a feeling in the air that summer is winding down. I hope it’s been a good one for you as well, Randall!
What a lovely trip with so many interesting things to see along the way….. great company too!
Roslyn, we’ve almost been in Malta for a year now, but I’m still amazed by how much there is to visit in this tiny country. Glimpsing some of the island’s coastal landmarks from afar reinforced that idea! Do you spend much time out on the water near the California coast? | 2019-04-18T17:10:25Z | https://triciaannemitchell.com/2016/07/24/sailing-malta-yacht-charter-boat-trip-comino/ |
NARRATOR: The year was 793. On a small island off the north coast of England, the monks of St. Cuthbert's were enjoying their quiet routine of prayer and study. One peaceful day in June, from across the sea, a band of strangers approached the holy shrine. They did not come to pray. The pagan invaders from the north grabbed everything of value: gold and silver chalices, silk vestments and altar cloths. And they slaughtered anyone who stood in their way. The rest they took as slaves. No one escaped their wrath. This is the classic image of the Vikings - brutal barbarians, skilled in murder and mayhem. But the truth about the Vikings is more complex - and more elusive. The Vikings were much more than mere marauders. They were highly skilled craftsmen and traders. Their ships were marvels of nautical engineering. And their lust for adventure knew no bounds. Over the course of several centuries, the Vikings would have a profound impact on Europe. They would push the boundaries of the western world, venturing across the Atlantic to America. In the east, they would help found the Russian empire. Today, scientists are digging deeper into the soil of Scandinavia, Ireland, North America, and the former Soviet Union - uncovering long-lost secrets of the Viking Age. When warriors were poets, and lands were won - not just by brute force - but with superior technology, and political cunning. Finally, we are discovering the truth about the Vikings.
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NARRATOR: 1200 years ago, small bands of men from an obscure land in the north took the western world by storm. They came out of nowhere. And they seemed invincible. Starting in the late 8th century, Viking ships struck all along the coasts of Europe and the British Isles. Their violence was legendary.
THOMAS McGOVERN: The Vikings have had a really negative public image. They're the people who come around and burn down your house and run off with your daughter and wife, and probably your son, too. And this image has lasted consistently for the last 1,000 years, because it was established by the people who were literate, by the people who created history. And they were precisely the people who were the first targets of the Viking raids. So the Vikings get bad press because they had this tendency to burn down the newspaper office.
NARRATOR: Dozens of historical documents from the Middle Ages provide gruesome details of Viking attacks. And paintings highlight the cruelty of the northerners. More recent depictions of the Vikings, like this 1958 Hollywood film, starring Kirk Douglas and Tony Curtis, romanticize the Viking myth. Rather than deranged criminals, they're depicted as brave and proud warriors. But this is no closer to the truth than the monks' biased accounts. Unfortunately, there is virtually nothing in writing from the people who knew the Vikings most intimately - themselves.
WILLIAM FITZHUGH: Well, the Vikings were not great writers, not great literary people. They were great storytellers. Their life was in their oral tradition. They had a great literary tradition, in a sense, but it was not a written tradition.
NARRATOR: The Vikings did have a form of writing, called Runes. Examples can be found throughout Scandinavia, especially in Sweden, carved into large monuments, or Rune stones.
1ST HISTORIC VOICE: Gervi and Gulla erected this stone for Anund, their father. He died eastwards with Ingvar.
2ND HISTORIC VOICE: Alve let this stone be erected for Arnfast, his son. He went east, to the land of the Rus. They fared like men far after gold, and in the east gave the eagle food.
1st HISTORIC VOICE: Andvatt and Gulev and Gunnar and Horse and Rolev let this stone be erected after Tord, their father. Fot carved the Runes.
WILLIAM FITZHUGH: A Rune stone is a document left by Scandinavians in Runes. It's written in an alphabet that is derived probably from Germanic scripts and things. But it - mostly they're memorial stones; they say, you know, "So-and-so - This stone commemorates so-and-so, my wife, who did this." It's their - they're not statements of, for the most past, history.
NARRATOR: While the deeds of Viking heroes were recorded on Rune stones, their bodies were laid to rest in cemeteries, sometimes marked by stone memorials in the form of Viking ships. Little else remains standing from the days of the Vikings. Most of the details of their life lie buried, hidden beneath the soil. The search for clues begins in the Viking homelands: The Scandinavian countries of Norway, Denmark, and Sweden. On an island in Lake Mälaren, west of Stockholm, are the remains of Birka. Once a thriving trading center, today Viking Birka is virtually invisible, unless you're an archeologist. Among the researchers struggling to recover the ancient remnants of the Viking Age is Andrew Jones.
ANDREW JONES: One of the reasons why we have a rather romantic view of the Vikings, fearful wolves from the sea, is that there are very few hard facts about them. The buildings were made of wood and turf, which have either been burnt down or rotted away. But today modern archeologists have a vast range of scientific techniques to choose from, which will help give more detail about life in the past.
NARRATOR: An important tool in the investigation is ground-penetrating radar, which detects subtle variations in soil structure. The read-out can help locate underground streets and buildings. Large drills bring up core samples from throughout the site. Microscopic analysis of tiny charcoal fragments reveals the kinds of trees used to build Viking homes and workshops. But the Birka team also relies on traditional methods, carefully digging and recording every discovery. And painstakingly sifting the soil.
ANDREW JONES: Sieving is one of the really important activities that goes on on archeological excavations. It is impossible to sieve the whole site, so people take samples from selected areas, areas like house floors, post hole fills, maybe a small amount of soil from most pits will be sieved, but not everything. And here we have it going on, and we find all sorts of bits and pieces. There are some fragments of charcoal here, and this is even a bit of iron. See, it leaps up. It's definitely magnetic.
NARRATOR: Among the many finds sifted from Birka's soil were hundreds of fragments of ancient ceramic casting molds, which shaped beautiful jewelry like this silver pendant of a Viking woman. Tools and metal fragments uncovered in workshops help scientists reconstruct the fine skill and artistry of the Viking jeweler. Out of metal and glass, the craftsmen created beads and brooches, necklaces and rings. Often, the smallest objects left behind prove to be the most valuable to the archeologists.
ANDREW JONES: These little glass beads are a really good example of special archeological detective work. We know that they were only in fashion in the 8th century. They are called wasp beads because they are made of black and yellow glass. And it is often small objects like these, everyday objects, not big things like gold and silver objects, that are most useful to archeologists, because objects like beads and these bone combs change dramatically in shape through time. Early Viking Age combs are very different in form from middle and later ones. And they are of course used and thrown away. So all the finds associated with objects of one particular period can be dated by the presence of small objects of this kind.
NARRATOR: Clues leading to dates are crucial, because sites like Birka were occupied for hundreds of years, leaving layer upon layer of debris. To keep track of this complicated mass of information, the team uses infra-red surveying equipment to plot every feature of Birka in three dimensions. Individual objects are given bar-codes and fed into a giant database. When all the clues are put together, Viking Age Birka comes to life. Houses and workshops rise from the soil, just where they stood 1,000 years ago. This was just one block of a fortified town, covering at least 17 acres. The individual features are then transferred to a one-to-30 scale model of Viking Birka. Located on a lake flowing into the Baltic Sea, the town quickly grew into one of the busiest and richest ports in all of Scandinavia. With the help of computer effects, Birka is filled once again with its Viking inhabitants. More than 600 people lived in homes clustered along the lake shore. Most of the buildings were constructed with wooden frames, filled in with wattle and daub. Small saplings were woven together and plastered with straw, mud and clay. When fires broke out, the clay was transformed into solid ceramic blocks, still bearing the imprints of wood and grass. The evidence reveals a town crowded with traders and craftsmen. But beyond its busy borders, most Scandinavians lived on scattered farms, living off the land as best they could, and raising cattle and sheep. Some Viking farmers reaped more than others. A few rose to power, and became chieftains.
THOMAS McGOVERN: The power and authority of chieftains was very much dependent upon their ability to produce for their followers, that if you gave good parties with lots of beer, lots of food, lots of meat, lots of good things to eat, you were a good chieftain. If you rewarded loyalty with gold and you punished treachery with iron, you know, you didn't suffer people gladly to do you harm, then you were a good chieftain because you could defend your followers.
NARRATOR: In the early years of the Viking Age, the population of Scandinavia was on the rise, and so was the number of chieftains. The struggle for power intensified, with more and more violent conflicts. At the same time, contact was increasing with the lands beyond the horizon. In a few bustling ports, the Vikings brushed shoulders with merchants from all over the known world, including fur and silver traders from Russia and beyond. They heard stories of altars laden with silver and gold, in Christian churches and monasteries across Europe.
THOMAS McGOVERN: This is this period of tremendous fluidity. There's money coming in from the outside, mercenaries' wages, profits from trading which pre-date the Viking period. So the money is coming in, it's somewhat destabilized the society. Now lots of people can try to become chieftains, lots of these freemen want to have a shot at being at least a petty chief, lots of petty chiefs want to have a shot at being kings, and of course the kings would like to rule everybody. So there's a lot of conflict within society, a lot of sharp elbows are being felt.
NARRATOR: At the end of the 8th century, ambitious chieftains saw an opportunity they couldn't resist. They gathered their followers - young men ready for adventure - and set out on ships to seize whatever wealth they could - by force.
RICHARD HALL: The Vikings came raiding for one very simple reason: Gold and silver. They wanted wealth, they wanted loot, which would enhance their status back home, and make them looked up to as wealthy people in the community. And they realized through their contacts in terms of trade that there was gold and silver to be had, and they also realized that there were undefended monasteries, nice places, easily attacked from the sea, where they could bring in their boats, they could land, they could raid the monastery, they could grab the silver altar vessels or the posh book covers. They could take them away on their ships before any local king or lord could gather an army to fight them.
HISTORIC VOICE: The number of ships grows. Vikings in an endless stream, never ceasing, indeed growing. Everywhere the Christians are victims of massacres, pillaging and plundering. The Vikings conquer all in their path, and no one resists them.
NARRATOR: The brutality of the Vikings shocked the Christian monks. But were they any more violent than other Europeans of the time?
WILLIAM FITZHUGH: I think they were relatively ruthless, but you know, this was a ruthless age, and there were battles between rival princes who were vying for kingship and control of local regions and so forth. And so the Vikings were just another crowd, but they were a crowd that was identifiable because they were non-Christian, and because they came with no compunction about killing churchmen or women or children or whatever.
NARRATOR: The monks explained the Viking plague as the act of a vengeful God, but there were several reasons the raids were so destructive. The Vikings' battle techniques were described by a contemporary Arabic writer, who witnessed them in action.
HISTORIC VOICE: If a group of them is challenged to battle they will all go. They don't separate, but stand together man to man against their enemies until victory has been achieved.
NARRATOR: Their deadliest weapon was a double-edged sword: almost a yard long, light in weight, but extremely sharp. A warrior could also carry a protective shield or a battle-axe. But among all their weapons, there was one that transformed the Vikings into an incredibly effective invading force. The Viking longship. Sleek and steady, quick and easily maneuvered, the longship was a technological tour-de-force - and leagues beyond anything Europe had seen before. The classic longship had a simple design, but was built with great sophistication. How exactly was it constructed? Archeologists have been unlocking the secrets of Viking ships for almost a century, thanks in large part to the ancient pagan practice of burying entire vessels intact. Several were unearthed from Norwegian burial mounds in the early 1900s. These ships were buried in the 9th century AD. One served as a tomb for a wealthy woman - possibly a queen - and her slave girl. Dozens of offerings - including horses and an intricately carved wagon - were buried with them, for their journey to Viking heaven, called Valhalla.
ARNE EMIL CHRISTIANSEN: The heathen belief of the Vikings was evidently that you needed objects for the next life. And if you were on top of society, you would need lots of objects, a ship instead of a boat, sleds, wagons, kitchen equipment, everything for living on in state. The ships were taken ashore, let down into a trench in the ground, and a big burial mound was built over them.
NARRATOR: The mounds were tightly packed with the local blue-colored clay, protecting the wooden artifacts from the destructive effects of oxygen and bacteria. The ships emerged 1,100 years after burial remarkably intact, and now reside in a special museum in Oslo. The vessels were elegant and strong. Some were carved with ornate Viking motifs, slender vines and animals intertwining.
ARNE EMIL CHRISTIANSEN: Boats and ships have been a very important part of the Viking society, for trade, for colonization and for warfare. And it seems that the ships of the Scandinavians were the best in northern Europe at that time. They could tack against the wind, which is important if you make a quick attack at a monastery and want to get away before an army is assembled against you. It is good to be able to get out from the shore by tacking.
NARRATOR: The preserved Viking ships all reveal the same basic construction technique. The boat builders would first select large, straight trees - usually of oak or pine - and split the trunk into sections. From every section, a single plank was carved. Each plank was remarkably thin and light, but very strong. The ships were all built from the bottom up, with the biggest planks forming the keel, the stem and the stern. Planks were carefully shaped and then nailed to the keel, with each subsequent set overlapping slightly. Inside, the builders added a light framework to stabilize the construction. The result was a smooth, streamlined vessel. Naval architect Leif Wagner Smith tests the performance of a Viking ship, using a scale model. The boat sails smoothly over the surface of the water.
LEIF WAGNER SMITH: Well as you can see, at six knots it generates very little waves. It is a very nice wave pattern, despite the large drift angle. It really has surprised me and others that with a square rig and a long keel, that it still balances so well, and you need very little rudder action to maintain course.
NARRATOR: The Viking ships were extremely low and light for their length, making it easy to land on a beach and then push off with little effort. A single side rudder kept the vessel on course. This so-called "steer-board" was the origin of the nautical term "starboard." The Vikings mastered square-sail rigging - devising a system to raise or lower sails in record time. Combining the best of sailing and rowing vessels, the Viking ship was a marvel of nautical engineering. And scientists have built many full-scale reconstructions to test on the open seas. Max Winner, a nautical expert from Denmark, checks the performance of the rig in rough wind.
MAX WINNER [voice over translation]: The advantage of the square sail is that it's really good for lifting the ship up, skimming the top of the waves. That makes it especially adaptable to ocean sailing. And the Vikings sailed the great oceans of the world. There they proved they were excellent seamen, with safe ships, and a remarkable knowledge of navigation.
MARTEN GOTHCHE [voice over translation]: We thought the ship was 66 feet long, but it turns out to be more than 118 feet long, and would have taken a crew of about 100 men. It is the longest ship we have ever found. It must have been enormously impressive to see them coming - 37 to 40 shields in a row, 40 oars extended on each side, and the large sail hoisted. It must have been quite a sight to see such large ships come sailing through the fjord.
NARRATOR: This is a reconstruction of the biggest Viking ship ever found - 118 feet long. It was perhaps swamped in a storm, before sinking in the harbor. To date ships like this one, scientists typically rely on tree-rings. For dendrochronologists such as Niels Bonde, tree-ring patterns form a fingerprint of the precise time period when the tree was growing. The pattern is shaped by varying wide and narrow rings, reflecting better and worse growth years during the tree's lifetime. By overlapping patterns from tree trunks and wooden objects of different ages, scientists have created a continuous chain of tree-rings stretching back through history. A wooden object like a plank can then be compared with the pattern of that chain, identifying the exact year that the tree was cut down. Niels is now trying to date a piece of wood from this ship, the Oseberg, from Norway.
NIELS BONDE: We will now try to establish when the tree that produced this sample was felled. And you can see all these rings here are quite narrow. We have to - later to figure out what that means for the climate in the region. We will now try to cross date this, with the standard chronology for Norway. And these are random figures coming out. And here you can see an extreme high correlation value, which indicate that the sample comes from a tree chopped down in 819, and that gives us the date of the ship.
NARRATOR: By now, most of the unearthed Viking ships have been easily dated by tree-rings. But one particular ship gave the scientists problems: The giant longship found in the Danish fjord at Roskilde. The tree-rings of this wood didn't match the pattern for Denmark. In fact, it didn't match any patterns known for all of Scandinavia. Only when they looked beyond the Viking homelands did the scientists find a match—in the tree-ring patterns for Ireland. But why would a Viking longship be built in Ireland? Over the course of several decades, the Vikings continually hammered the Irish coast with hit and run raids on Christian monasteries. After about 40 years, their interest in Ireland took a new turn.
RICHARD HALL: The raids intensified. They became more widespread. And eventually, in the middle of the 9th century, some of these Vikings decided that not only were these good targets to raid, but in fact they seemed good places upon which to settle. For back home in Scandinavia, most of the available land was already taken up. Somebody owned it. And so if you wanted to establish a new farm, you had to cast wide your horizons and look overseas. And with their technology, the longships, these people were able to travel long distances and they could set off to colonize new lands.
NARRATOR: By about 840 AD, Vikings were living in Ireland year round. Soon, they were building towns, centers from which they could raid the surrounding countryside. One of these was Dublin. Beneath the hubbub of modern day Dublin, archeologists are unearthing intimate details of Viking life.
LINZI SIMPSON: What we have here is a cesspit, or a Viking Age toilet, and basically it is a deep pit, cut down as you can see there into the border clay, and packed with basically human waste and any other rubbish that the Vikings had. You can see the various layers of stuff that has been dumped down, and here almost halfway down we have layers and layers of shell. And here we have the mussels and the cockle shells that were eaten by the people in Viking Dublin. And there is also evidence in these cesspits of seeds that have passed through human bodies and we can tell quite a bit about the, sort of, their vegetarian diet, the various plants that they were eating.
NARRATOR: Some of the evidence shows that the Vikings were quite concerned with personal hygiene.
LINZI SIMPSON: Perhaps one of the nicest finds we have found to date is this little silver toilet set. And there you can see it very clearly: a nice little tweezers, which is still functional, an ear scoop, possibly for scooping out wax in ears, and a nail file.
NARRATOR: A wealth of objects has been recovered from Viking Ireland. Many of these reveal a mixture of Scandinavian and traditional Irish designs. A weaver's shuttle, with a Viking shape, has Irish decoration. It's a sign that the Viking and Irish cultures were merging.
THOMAS McGOVERN: One of the things which we see very clearly in Ireland is Dublin and some of the other early towns of Ireland are almost certainly Viking creations, that these are trading centers, they are centers certainly for raiding, but they're also centers for a lot of peaceful interaction. These are places where people were coming with their families, they were settling down, they were expecting to marry into the local population, and they did.
NARRATOR: At the same time the Vikings were pouring into Ireland, a similar drama was being played out to the east - in England.
RICHARD HALL: The great Viking army tried to conquer England, and over a period of about 15 years in the middle of the 9th century, they almost succeeded. They took over the existing estates of the Anglo-Saxons, they took over their farms and they took over their trading centers. They were finally held in check by King Alfred. And King Alfred and the Vikings eventually reached an agreement that the Vikings would have the northern and eastern parts of England and he would rule the southern and western parts, and that was the origin of the Danelaw.
NARRATOR: Danish Viking kings ruled the northeastern regions of England for over 100 years, from their capital at York.
THOMAS McGOVERN: Politically, these people became very powerful indeed. They were permanent parts of the English political landscape, as they were of the Scottish and the Irish political landscapes of the same time. They just didn't go away. They go on being powerful figures.
NARRATOR: The Vikings left behind thousands of artifacts, even in the heart of London, like these battle-axes. Carved personal items like this bone comb with a dragon's head. And this Viking gravestone was discovered right next to St. Paul's Cathedral. The Viking legacy also survives in many common English words. "Thursday" comes from "Thor"- the thundering god of the peasants. "Friday" refers to "Frey"- the god of fertility .
RICHARD HALL: From a short term perspective, particularly if you were a monk, the coming of the Vikings to England was bad, bad news. But in the longer term, they had a more positive impact. It was they who introduced long distance trade. It was they who opened up markets. It was they who brought about a much wider spread of commerce than had been the case before.
NARRATOR: The Vikings would play a commanding role in English politics until 1066, when the Normans from northwestern France, led by William the Conqueror, would take England forever. William was Christian and spoke French, but he was descended from a Viking chieftain who had taken over Normandy 150 years earlier. In fact, the very name "Norman" owes its origin to the Vikings, the "Northmen."
THOMAS McGOVERN: People like William the Conqueror had Norman Viking blood in them and oftentimes were quite proud of it indeed. And that was part of their heritage. One of the things we're seeing with this transformation from Viking to knight, from Northman to Norman, is an entering of the Scandinavians into the medieval world in a very wholehearted fashion, not as poor cousins but often as dominant factors.
NARRATOR: It was their pagan beliefs that originally set the Vikings apart from the rest of Europe. At the head of their pantheon of gods were Thor and Odin the Wise, the god of warriors. A rare account of a Swedish pagan feast was described by a German cleric in the 11th century.
VOICE OF ADAM OF BREMEN: Among these people, tradition claims a united feast to be celebrated in Uppsala. No one has leave to be absent, neither kings nor peasants. Of everything that liveth, nine males are sacrificed. Humans, horses, and dogs are hung in a group of trees close to the temple. A Christian did tell me he saw 72 such bodies hanging side by side.
NARRATOR: By the time this description was set to paper, paganism was already on its way out. With the great Viking expansion, Scandinavians were in constant contact with their Christian neighbors. Pressure to convert was growing. By the end of the 10th century, all western and southern Europe had been converted to Christianity. Eventually, all of Scandinavia would follow suit, as the Viking kings declared Christianity the new official religion.
RICHARD HALL: Why they did this, we don't really know. Perhaps they wanted to become more accepted throughout western Europe. Perhaps they wanted to transmit the idea of a single God anointing a single king at a time when they were trying to unify their countries. But whatever they decided at a political level, at a personal level things were different, and pagan practices continued for generation after generation.
NARRATOR: In Norway, the first Christian churches are filled with signs of the old faith. Pagan animal masks stared down at worshippers - and the old sacrificial altar was converted for less bloody rituals. One side of this Viking gravestone depicts Christ with a cross and a fish, but on the other side, the old standby, the Viking god Odin, with a raven on his shoulder.
THOMAS McGOVERN: It's quite clear that people were hedging their bets. There's these wonderful archeological objects like these molds - on one side you cast Thor's hammers, on the other side you cast Christian crosses. So the same craftsman is quite able and willing to satisfy anybody's demands. So quite clearly we're seeing a very fluid situation in which people's allegiances, alliances, politically, economically and religiously, are changing back and forth.
NARRATOR: Religious conversion was just one of many changes that transformed Scandinavia during the Viking Age. As raiders returned to their homelands, money poured into the country. Competition for land and power intensified. Vikings from the British Isles and Norway began migrating westward, to distant islands in the North Atlantic.
WILLIAM FITZHUGH: A sailor has a particular glint in his eye about the west. And for the Norse, who did not have a mapping tradition, their conception of the north was a landmass from which various peninsulas hang down into the North Atlantic. And so if you go west, eventually you're going to find more lands. They were not being totally surprised to discover new lands to the west; they were having their earlier ideas confirmed.
NARRATOR: Word spread quickly of a rich and fertile land - and best of all, no one was there. No armies to fight. No locals to threaten. Just lots of land, free for the taking. This was Iceland - virgin land, and the only Viking settlement in the far west that was to last through the ages. Much of what we know of the Vikings comes from the Icelandic Sagas, histories written by Icelandic monks between the 12th and 14th centuries.
VOICE OF ICELANDIC SAGA [voice over translation]: Iceland was first settled from Norway. A Norwegian named Ingolf was the first to leave there for Iceland. He settled south in Reykjavik. At the time, Iceland was covered with forest between mountain and seashore.
GUDRUN NORDAL: The Sagas were written in Iceland. And they are telling the stories about the settlement of Iceland and advancing the myth really of how Iceland became settled by independent Norwegians and people from the British Isles.
NARRATOR: Scholars approach the Sagas with a heavy dose of skepticism.
GUDRUN NORDAL: The authors, they inherited their story material, you could say, and so there are sometimes more than 200 years, that's between the writing and the actual time of events. So the accuracy obviously has gone through many generations, so we can think that it's not historically accurate like we would think a chronicle would be. But we know what's happening and when, and the storytelling is at its finest in some of these Sagas, and they are a fine blend of fantasy and fact.
NARRATOR: Beyond the epic fantasies of the Sagas were the real people who lived and died in Iceland. The hard facts of Viking life on this isolated island are now coming to light through the work of archeologists like Tom McGovern.
THOMAS McGOVERN: We have bone collections from Iceland fortunately span virtually the entire period of settlement. It has the advantage that the Sagas don't have, that it's consistent. It's the same kind of data throughout. It doesn't require someone to have been there and write things down, and it doesn't depend on someone's judgment. That kind of evidence is giving us a very different understanding of what the Viking colonization was all about.
NARRATOR: Near one Viking farmstead, McGovern's team was called in to sift through the soil of a giant, medieval garbage dump.
THOMAS McGOVERN: This strange depression at the south of the site was full of animal bones, full of fire-cracked rock, full of burnt twigs and large chunks of wood. And they called us in as one of our specialties has been working on these messy but really interesting garbage dumps, or middens, as they are called, across the North Atlantic. Some of these things can be three meters or more deep and often stretch over the whole period of occupation of the farm. And in excavating these things, you're going back through layer after layer of things people threw out.
NARRATOR: Today, Iceland is virtually barren. Most wood must be imported. But the Sagas claim that when the Vikings arrived, the island was covered in forests. McGovern's dig proves that in this case, the Sagas were right.
THOMAS McGOVERN: We were getting just this summer large chunks of wood charcoal which are clearly just a cross section of big, old birch trees - the sort of thing that just does not live in this region today. You have that sort of thing being present in large quantities. And this is just the charcoal they couldn't be bothered to burn. These were clearly people who had plenty of wood to burn, at least in these first few generations of settlement.
NARRATOR: Ultimately, the Viking settlement would have a devastating impact on the landscape.
THOMAS McGOVERN: We have all tended to think that it's only the industrial revolution that sees a major human impact on environment, either from deforestation, erosion, or pollution, but now not just in the North Atlantic, but throughout the world, we're realizing that many of these impacts go far back into pre-history.
NARRATOR: Here on Iceland, the culprits weren't just the Vikings themselves, but the destructive animals they brought to the island.
THOMAS McGOVERN: One of the things that came out of the excavations, at least from our bones and the things so far, is a very clear indication that the package of animals that the Vikings went out into the North Atlantic with, ultimately deriving from Norway and from continental Scandinavia, was the full range, including horses, pigs, as well as sheep, goats, and cows. The pigs go in and uproot the small trees. The horses have their grazing patterns. The cattle have theirs. The sheep have theirs. The goats have theirs. Together, this package of animals is almost like a bulldozer moving across this sub-arctic landscape. So we're seeing this image of these folks coming into this landscape and really changing it.
NARRATOR: Soon there were 30,000 Viking colonists on Iceland. All the best land was claimed. Little was left for the new settlers who continued to stream across the sea from Norway. One of these was Erik the Red. Arriving in Iceland around 970, the Viking chieftain clashed with his new neighbors. Bloodshed followed, and Erik was soon banished. Rather than return to Scandinavia, Erik set his sails toward the west, and the uncharted waters of the North Atlantic. According to the Sagas, Erik was looking for an unspoiled land once spotted by storm-tossed sailors, years before.
VOICE OF ICELANDIC SAGA [voice over translation]: Erik told them he was going to search for the land that sailor Gunnbjorn had sighted. And he promised he would return to visit his friends if he found this country.
NARRATOR: Remarkably, Erik did return. The land that Gunnbjorn had seen, and that Erik found again, was Greenland. Greenland lies about 450 miles west of Iceland - a journey of at least four days. After sighting land, Erik explored the southern and western coasts, eventually finding a spot reminiscent of his native Norway. How did Erik find his way in these uncharted and stormy seas? Were there any secrets to Viking navigation? This replica of a Norwegian Viking ship retraced Erik's journey.
MAX WINNER [voice over translation]: It took us 13 days to sail from Iceland to Greenland. And that year there was so much ice we had to make a huge bend around the dangerous Cape Farewell. That's why it took so long. And it was there between Iceland and Greenland that I had the chance to test the sun compass that I have here.
NARRATOR: According to one theory, a small wooden wheel found in Greenland may have been used by Viking sailors as a sun compass. A curved line was carved across the circle, indicating the sun's travel through the sky on a clear day. The line corresponded to the shadow cast from a small stick positioned in the middle. A short shadow at noon and a long shadow at dusk. To work as a compass, the wheel must be turned until the sun's shadow touches the line. Many scholars doubt that the tiny wheel served as a compass, but sailor Max Winner is a believer.
MAX WINNER [voice over translation]: In one way, this compass is better than a magnetic compass, because at the southern coast of Greenland, you have up to 40 degrees of deviation with a magnetic compass, but this is not a problem with the sun compass. A sun compass is correct and never lies.
NARRATOR: Whether Erik relied on a compass or sailor's intuition, he not only succeeded in reaching Greenland, but he returned safely to Iceland. According to the Sagas, he headed back to Greenland, this time with a fleet of 25 ships, filled with colonists. Unfortunately, only 14 boats completed the difficult journey. Some turned back to Iceland, but the rest disappeared at sea. The Viking ship was strong, but not invincible. Despite the losses, Erik the Red's new colony thrived. Soon after the Vikings arrived in Greenland, one of Erik's offspring would continue in his father's tradition. His name was Leif Erikson. And like his father, he would discover new lands, this time, across the oceans in America.
In our next hour, the Vikings push the boundaries of western Europe. After 1,000 years, tantalizing new evidence emerges linking the Vikings to the birth of the Russian empire. And to settlement across the open Atlantic in the New World. The Viking conquest continues, next.
Over the open Atlantic to the west, the New World beckons. Over a formidable landscape to the east, a new Russian empire is born. Now, Part 2 of The Vikings, a NOVA dramatic special.
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VOICE OF ICELANDIC SAGA: Leif, the son of Erik the Red, bought a ship and engaged a crew of 35. After sailing many days, two in a northeast wind, they sighted new land and went ashore on an island north of it. The weather was fine. There was dew on the grass, and the first thing they did was to get some of it on their hands and put it to their lips, and to them it seemed the sweetest thing they had ever tasted.
NARRATOR: Leif Erikson called this place Vinland - or Wineland - because wild grapes grew there. Where was this new land, covered in sweet dew? For years, scholars argued about the location of Vinland. Was it really true that the Vikings had landed in America 500 years before Columbus?
GUDRUN NORDAL: Well, the Sagas that are called often the Vinland Sagas about the discovery of Greenland and America, they were written in the 13th century, so we expect them to be accurate up to a point, about the actual big events, the fact that Greenland got discovered, and then Vinland, or America. That we would expect as being fact. But how it all happened and who were on the ships, that's of course more difficult for us to check.
BIRGITTA WALLACE: For about 150 years, people have been searching much of North America, at least the eastern parts of it, for anything indicating that the Norse were here. Because we knew about it already from the Icelandic Sagas, that they would have been somewhere in northeastern North America.
NARRATOR: With no hard archeological evidence, rumors and theories placed them up and down the east coast - anywhere from Canada to Florida. In the 1950s, a Norwegian explorer named Helge Ingstad became obsessed with the Vinland mystery. Ingstad decided to retrace Leif Erikson's journey. He would follow clues in the Sagas, and his own sailor's intuition.
HELGE INGSTAD: It was a completely unknown ocean. They had the current with them all the time along the coast of Greenland, and then across the Davis Strait, they had the current with them, pushing them south to Vinland, Labrador, and Newfoundland.
NARRATOR: The ancient saga told of a Wonderstrand, a beach so long, it took Leif's crew more than a day to sail past it. Ingstad found a beach that fit the description, near Cape Porcupine in Labrador: 200 feet wide and more than 40 miles long. According to the saga, Vinland was two days' journey beyond the Wonderstrand. Following the trail, the explorer sailed exactly two days to the south, landing on the northern tip of Newfoundland. Ingstad was convinced that the shores of Newfoundland would have felt like home to the Vikings.
HELGE INGSTAD: Norse people would settle in a land where their old pattern of culture fitted. I mean, in Newfoundland, they will find what they were used to, hunting seals, hunting caribou and all that stuff.
NARRATOR: Ingstad traveled up and down the Newfoundland coast, searching for some sign of a Viking presence. Finally in 1960, a fisherman from the tiny village of L'Anse-Aux-Meadows led him to the ruins of what may have been houses, outside of town.
HELGE INGSTAD: I didn't know of course who had built these houses. It might have been Indians, it might have been Eskimos, it might have been fishermen, it might have been whalers, and at last it might have been Norsemen. But only, only excavation could tell the story. But personally, I had a - I had a strong feeling that this was a place that the Norse people would like to build their houses on this terrace, with a view all over the sea. You could see clear over to Labrador, with the green meadows around the houses.
NARRATOR: Ingstad's wife, archeologist Anne Stine, led the excavations to uncover the true identity of the ruins. Slowly, the foundations of turf-walled houses came to light, along with ancient fireplaces. They looked like Viking buildings, but the design alone wasn't proof. They needed some artifacts that were indisputably Viking. Finally, they found what they were looking for: A ship rivet, made of iron. A bronze cloak pin. And a spindle whorl - exactly like those found in Iceland. The objects were clearly Viking in origin, not Native American. Today, the settlement at L'Anse-Aux-Meadows has been reconstructed with solid sod houses, just like the homes in Greenland and Iceland. Although Ingstad felt the location - right next to the sea—was a natural for a Norse site, archeologists like Birgitta Wallace realized this wasn't a typical Viking farm.
BIRGITTA WALLACE: One reason we know why it's a base camp and not a normal Norse farm is its location. This is an absolutely abnormal location for a Norse site, right on the coast, completely exposed to the sea winds. In Greenland, all the sites, and even in Iceland, are located at the heads of fjords, where it is nice and protected. And it's unique, too, because all the buildings on the site are a very typical Icelandic or early Greenlandic style. But the way they are combined is totally different, and from that we know it was not a permanent farm—not an attempt to establish a colony here.
NARRATOR: The arrangements of the buildings, along with the artifacts the Vikings left behind, suggest that the site served as a base - inhabited mostly by men, who would frequently sail off to explore the surrounding coastline.
BIRGITTA WALLACE: A few women were brought along as well, to take care of cooking, clothes maintenance and that sort of thing, cleaning, washing. There certainly was some evidence of women here but much less so than evidence of men. For instance, a spindle whorl for spinning and a little needle sharpener that we only find in female context back in Scandinavia.
NARRATOR: L'Anse-Aux-Meadows is indisputably Viking - but is it the Vinland of the Sagas? The ancient text explicitly details the discovery of wild grapes by Leif Erikson's crew.
BIRGITTA WALLACE: The finding of grapes would be very interesting to the Norse, because items like walnuts, wine, that were really exotic foods, and destined for chieftains who then could impress his surroundings with that, and that was one way chieftains gained prestige and authority. To have large banquets and to be able to serve wine would have been much more impressive than we can ever imagine today.
NARRATOR: But no grapes grow anywhere near L'Anse-Aux-Meadows, nor did they in Viking times. The nearest wild grapes are found in New Brunswick, several hundred miles to the south. Archeologists did uncover evidence that the Vikings may have gathered some exotic foods in the south, and shipped them back to the base camp at L'Anse-Aux-Meadows.
BIRGITTA WALLACE: With the Norse objects found in a bog here, we found nuts, butternuts, also called white walnuts, that don't grow north or northeast of New Brunswick and the Valley of St. Lawrence. And what is really interesting about this is that those nuts grow precisely in the same areas as you can find wild grapes. So the concept of Vinland, meaning "Wineland," is probably really based on the finding of grapes.
NARRATOR: Grapes and nuts were just a few of the rich natural resources that would have drawn the Vikings further south along the eastern seaboard. According to the Sagas, Leif Erikson spent only one winter in Vinland and then sailed back to Greenland.
WILLIAM FITZHUGH: When Leif arrived home from Vinland, there must have been joyous outpouring in the Norse communities in Greenland. Remember that this is only a few years after the Norse communities got started in Greenland. And so this was still - the people were still settling in; this was not a large population in Greenland by this time. But to have Leif come back and say, "My God, there is another land out there that is full of stuff." This was really territory that the Norse could see themselves settling in.
NARRATOR: But there was a major problem with the new territory. People already lived there. Lots of people. The Vikings called those they encountered in North America "scrailings."
WILLIAM FITZHUGH: The term scrailing was a Viking term which was used for their kind of barbarians, outsiders to their life, and probably, really it translates as kind of outcasts or ragamuffins or something like this. And so they called everybody scrailings to the west of Greenland.
NARRATOR: According to the Sagas, after Leif Erikson's return, there was a series of voyages to Vinland, most led by other members of his family. Again and again, the Vikings came into conflict with "scrailings" and realized how vulnerable they were to attacks by the Native Americans. Leif's own brother Thorvald was killed and buried in the new land.
WILLIAM FITZHUGH: We have this idea that Europeans are just, you know, somehow superior to everybody else out there. And if they're Vikings with their swords and their big boats and everything, sure, why not just roll over all of these people? And that just wasn't the case. By this time, these - we're not really speaking of Vikings in the raiding sense of Europe. These were families. These were people who had people at home who depended on them. The boats that they were traveling in were the most precious commodity that they had as family assets. So if you lost a boat, you not only couldn't get home, but you know, your family at home was destroyed, too.
NARRATOR: The Vikings were outnumbered in North America, and they quickly retreated to their peaceful homes in Greenland, giving up the idea of a permanent settlement in the New World. The archeological evidence at L'Anse-Aux-Meadows reveals a small, vulnerable community that didn't last.
BIRGITTA WALLACE: When people live on a site like this, they throw all their garbage out the front door. And that's a very good indication of how long they were there. And here these garbage heaps were extremely small. So, they could only have been here for a few years at the most.
NARRATOR: L'Anse-Aux-Meadows, occupied for just a short time around 1000 AD, is the only known Norse settlement in North America. Over the centuries, the Vikings' exploits in the far west would gradually fade into oblivion. But even while they were setting out on their pioneering journeys along the coasts of Canada, on the other side of the world, Scandinavians were pushing eastward, and would meet with a very different fate. In Moscow, behind the Kremlin's forbidding walls, intriguing evidence of the Vikings' exploits came to light. In 1988, construction workers stumbled upon an ancient buried treasure, 15 feet beneath the ground. Hundreds of pieces of royal jewelry had been hidden away in the 13th century, just as the Mongols were bearing down on the Russian fortress. Most of the treasure was of obvious Slavic design, but a few pieces had a distinctly different flavor. This silver arm ring decorated with dragon heads bore a striking resemblance to Swedish bracelets. And silver filigree pendants, once strung onto a necklace, were almost identical to Viking beads. What was Viking jewelry doing in the hands of Russia's early rulers, 200 years after the end of the Viking Age? Were these merely valuable objects traded from a faraway land? Or were they evidence of a more intimate connection between Scandinavia and early Russia? The Soviets had always emphasized the Slavic origins of the Russian state, but in fact, Russia's oldest historical documents tell a very different story. In the 11th and 12th centuries, when Moscow was just a small town, the center of the young Russian state stood here, among the cathedrals of Kiev, today the capital of the Ukraine. At the Lavra monastery in Kiev, several monks made the first known attempt to compile a comprehensive history of their land.
Now known as the Primary Russian Chronicle, some of the text was written by a monk called Nestor in the early 12th century. Nestor wrote of historical battles and peace treaties. And he told a remarkable story about the foundations of Russia, in the days when it was inhabited by Slavs and many other tribes.
HISTORIC VOICE: The Slavs ruled themselves, but these were violent times without law or order. Tribe fought against tribe and war came among them. And they went over the sea to the Vikings that were called Rus, like other Vikings are called Northmen. The Slavic tribes said to the Rus: "Our land is rich and vast, but there is no order in it. Come and rule over us." Three royal brothers were chosen, and they came with all the Rus. The oldest brother, Rurik, became Prince of Novgorod.
NARRATOR: According to Nestor, the founders of Russia were actually Vikings who came from across the sea to bring order to the unruly Slavs. Known as the Rus, it was they who gave Russia its name. But is there any truth to this story?
JONATHAN SHEPARD: The Russian Primary Chronicle is a brave effort. I'm sure there wasn't a little band of Slavs, a little band of Finns, and a little band of Balts who got together and sent a message to the Scandinavians saying, "Please, we have no law amongst us, we need some order. Come and send princes and governors." That is roughly speaking the story which the Primary Chronicle offers. Things were never quite as neat as that. But behind the fantasy, behind the pretty story, I think there is a kernel of truth.
NARRATOR: The Vikings, indeed, did journey to Russia. But almost certainly, they were not invited.
THOMAS NOONAN: These were not nice guys who came in to help out the local peoples. These were ambitious, ruthless, almost Mafioso types, who wanted to build a fortune, to get wealthy, to become powerful. They came in, they did what they were supposed to have done according to Chronicle, but not for the reasons that are alleged.
NARRATOR: Was it possible that the Vikings, unruly and divided themselves, could unify a vast country like Russia? Since the fall of the Soviet Union, a new curiosity about the role of the Vikings has fueled investigations throughout Russia and the Ukraine. And sure enough, Viking artifacts have turned up all over. Some of the earliest were found on the shores of Lake Ladoga, a stepping stone between the Baltic Sea and the Russian heartland. Here, in Staraja Ladoga, archeologists are uncovering evidence of a strong Scandinavian presence. Remarkably well-preserved wooden objects, like this tiny sculpture of a Viking man. A Viking dragon head made of bone, perhaps a model for a boat stem. And leather shoes of Scandinavian design, preserved in clay for almost 1,000 years. The digs at Staraja Ladoga reveal that the town was founded in the middle of the 8th century, as a trading and craft center. It was a multi-ethnic town, with a mixture of Slavs and Finns. But even at the very beginning, the Vikings were there—for reasons that were very different from those that drove them to raid western Europe.
THOMAS NOONAN: In the west you had lots of towns, monasteries located along the sea coasts and along big rivers which went into the sea coasts. It was easy to raid those. In Russia, on the other hand, there were no monasteries and towns near the coast. In fact, you had to go far inland to find any major centers of habitation.
NARRATOR: Why did the Vikings venture so far to the east, across dangerous seas, to a land without rich monasteries or even towns? Important clues can be found near Lake Mälaren in Sweden, the part of Scandinavia closest to Russia. Rune stones bear testimonials to the Vikings who ventured across the Baltic Sea, to Russia.
RUNE STONE VOICE: Alve let this stone be erected for Arnfast, his son. He went east, to the land of the Rus. They fared like men far after gold, and in the east gave the eagle food. They died southward in Arab lands.
NARRATOR: In the soils around Birka, archeologists have found evidence that Russia was only a way station en route to the Vikings' real goal: the riches of the Arab world. Here were found masses of Arab silver coins, minted in Baghdad in the 8th century. Too far away to raid, only a few Vikings made it to Baghdad, but enough to open up trade routes through Russia. What could the Vikings have offered in return for the Arab silver? Tiny clues were uncovered in the dig at Birka.
ANDREW JONES: Most of the things you find when you're sieving are not very important. They're tiny little fragments of stone. Here are some pieces of charcoal, but here's a little bone. This is a toe bone. It's probably from a mammal, it is bigger than a cat, but smaller than a sheep. I guess it may be a dog bone, something like that.
NARRATOR: Many of the bones found here, from animals like red squirrel, pine marten, and red fox, puzzled the archeologists at first.
ANDREW JONES: What's really remarkable about these discoveries is that when you look at them, the only bones that are present are bones from the toes and the feet. And this was a mystery. Why are there only bones from toes and feet? And it's because all these animals, pine marten, red fox and red squirrel, are used as fur, and when trappers catch the animals, they skin them but they always leave the feet on the—with the fur, and that is traded over very long distances. So this is evidence of a fur industry.
NARRATOR: During the Viking Age, furs were a highly valued commodity. The Viking traders soon discovered that the best pelts were in northern Russia - where Finnish tribes trapped coveted beaver, sable, and ermine. The challenge for the Vikings was to acquire these furs in Russia and transport them in huge quantities to Baghdad, or to Arab traders along the way. The trip could cover as much as 2,000 miles through swamps, forests, and steppe. Luckily, much of the vast Russian interior was cut through by a labyrinth of rivers. But they weren't all connected. On one route from Staraja Ladoga, the traders headed south across Lake Ilmen and had to row or sail upstream on the Lovat River. After a few hundred miles, the Lovat narrows, eventually shrinking to a shallow stream.
At this point, the Viking traders had no choice but to unload their vessels and haul both their ships and cargo over land, to the headwaters of another river. For the great ships the Vikings used to travel the North Atlantic, this journey on the Russian rivers would have been virtually impossible. Here, the Vikings had to rely on much smaller vessels - probably no more than 40 feet in length. Illustrations on Rune stones and remains of cargo vessels found in the east have helped scientists reconstruct the kinds of boats most likely used by the Vikings in Russia.
CHRISTER WESTERDAHL [voice over translation]: This boat is based on an archeological find from Lapori on the Finnish side of the Russian border. It is a good example of a small Viking cargo ship, probably designed for transports along the River Neva to Staraja Ladoga in northern Russia, probably from the 10th century. It is quite remarkable, with its broad yet thin planking. This is very characteristic for Viking shipbuilding. Here it is only 16 millimeters thick, about 2/3 of an inch.
NARRATOR: The thin planking made the cargo vessels exceptionally light, a definite advantage when it came time to hoist the boats out of the water and drag them over land for several miles. To better understand the challenges faced by the Vikings, a team of Swedish researchers attempted to retrace one of these difficult journeys, using their own reconstruction of a Viking cargo-carrier.
JAN JOHANSSON [voice over translation]: When you organize a trip like this, you try to imagine the difficulties. You study written sources, you do research along the way, talk to the people who live along the route. But you can't really get a true picture of what it was like. The Lovat River was a lot more difficult than we expected. We had to pull the boat from the shore through difficult rapids, and the area was infested by mosquitoes and wasps. At one point, it became so difficult we had to pull the boat out of the water. With very simple tools, we built a Viking-style wagon.
NARRATOR: In the dense forests of Russia, with only dirt roads and rough trails, hauling cargo vessels between rivers - known as portage - would have been a daunting task for the Viking traders. Some scholars believe they could not have done it on their own.
JONATHAN SHEPARD: The role of the portages is absolutely vital, because the numbers of Vikings were never very great. They could navigate the boats, they could repair them, but for matters of portaging, of dragging a boat perhaps dozens of miles, from one river head to another, you needed muscle power. That was provided by the locals, by the Slavs, the Balts, or the Finns.
NARRATOR: Wherever the Viking traders needed to leave the river and travel over land, local tribes would come together to haul the boats. They would also bring in food and other provisions for the Viking journeymen. At these key locations, new towns began to grow. Many became important trading centers. At a portage site between the Dvina and Dnieper rivers, a Viking town sprang up just outside modern day Smolensk. Here, the traders would stop to repair their ships and buy what they needed for the journey ahead. On the outskirts of the city, archeologists discovered one of the largest cemeteries dating to the Viking Age, with over 5,000 graves, filled with an enormous treasure of silver jewelry. The vast majority of the burials belong to local Slavs or Balts, but about 100 graves contain Scandinavian artifacts.
GLEB LEBEDJEV [voice over translation]: The earliest grave mounds date to the 9th century. And in this part of the field, in one of the grave mounds, we have traced a magnificent way of burying the dead, with the body placed in a riverboat and then set on fire. This is a ceremony, typical for the Swedish Vikings, who brought the tradition over to Russia.
NARRATOR: This burial ritual was described in chilling detail by an Arab diplomat, named Ibn Fadlan, who encountered Viking traders on his journeys through Russia.
HISTORIC VOICE: One day I heard that an important man among them was dead. His ship had been pulled up onto land, and supports were built for it. They carried him into a tent set up on the ship. They sacrificed a dog, horses and hens, and threw them in the ship. They dressed him in beautiful clothes, and they came with all his weapons laid beside him. His skin had turned all black, due to the cold in the country. And they asked his slave girls: "Who wants to die with him?" One girl said yes, and I looked at her, and she looked completely confused. An old woman that was called the Angel of Death now forced the slave girl into the tent where her master lay. The men outside started beating their sticks on their shields so that the sound of her screaming would not be heard, lest the other girls be too frightened to seek death with their masters. The wood they had prepared under the ship was set alight. Then a strong and frightful wind blew up, and before an hour had passed, ship, wood, slave girl and chieftain had all turned to ashes and then to dust.
NARRATOR: Ibn Fadlan depicted the Vikings as barbaric and uncivilized, but even he admired their skill and tenacity as traders. The Viking merchants who ventured into Russia were both ruthless and clever. They soon dominated the local tribes of Finns and Slavs. They collected tribute - usually in the form of furs and slaves - and exchanged it with Arab traders for valuable Baghdad silver. The trade networks they built gradually helped unify the eastern lands, once divided by many languages and cultures, into a cohesive unit. Today, most scholars believe that the Rus who founded Russia were indeed Vikings.
GLEB LEBEDJEV [voice over translation]: First of all, the word Rus, and I share this opinion with many historians, originated from the word "Ruotsi" which means Sweden in Finnish, and from "Rhos," a word found on Viking Rune stones, which means rower. The Russian Chronicles reveal that "Rus," the designation of the eastern Vikings, referred to the military crew that rowed the ships on which the Viking princes arrived.
NARRATOR: The Viking Rus grew rich off the silver trade with Baghdad, but in the late 10th century, the Arab silver mines began to dry up. In search of a new source of wealth, one group of Vikings moved their base to Kiev, then just a small village on the Dnieper River. The Russian Chronicle tells its own dramatic version of the Vikings' arrival in Kiev. According to the story, two Viking warriors betrayed their leader and went to Kiev to establish their own kingdom.
When their treachery was discovered, another Viking named Oleg sailed to Kiev to destroy them.
HISTORIC VOICE: And they came to the heights of Kiev. Oleg let his men hide in the longships, while he sent for the traitors, saying, "We are merchants from your own country on our way to the Greeks. Come and visit us!" When the traitors arrived, Oleg killed them, and made Kiev into the mother of all the towns of Russia.
JONATHAN SHEPARD: The really interesting question about the move of some of the Vikings down to Kiev is why on earth they bothered, because the journey down south from Kiev along the river, the Dnieper, was a very difficult one. There were some mighty cataracts, which could very easily wreck their fragile craft.
NARRATOR: Kiev was small, but it stood at a strategic point on the Dnieper River, which led to the Black Sea and eventually to the Byzantine Empire. This territory was filled with hostile tribes, and the river itself turned threatening, with rapids and cataracts that the Vikings called "Aifor"—"the always violent."
But if the Viking traders could survive this journey, they would launch their boats onto the Black Sea. 500 more miles of sailing, and they would reach their goal: Constantinople, today known as Istanbul. During the Viking Age, Constantinople was the capital of the Byzantine empire. It was the biggest and richest city in Europe.
JONATHAN SHEPARD: A Viking visitor can't have seen anything like this before. Constantinople was a megalopolis. It was a great city by modern standards. The population was maybe 100,000, maybe half a million, and it had mighty Roman walls. In a way, it's best to think of it as a kind of time warp. This was the Roman empire, still existing, still with Roman legions, still with Roman titles and a kind of Roman empire, in fact the Byzantines called themselves Romans.
NARRATOR: The Vikings were impressed by Constantinople, but not intimidated. They launched several attacks against the city. The Russian Chronicle describes a campaign carried out by Oleg in the year 907.
HISTORIC VOICE: Oleg came to Constantinople with 2,000 ships. The citizens closed the straits and took shelter inside the city. Oleg commanded the Rus to put wheels on their ships, and with good wind, they headed against the city itself. The Rus committed innumerable killings outside the city walls, tore down palaces, and burned churches. They killed or tortured their prisoners.
NARRATOR: With each attack on Constantinople, the Vikings were ultimately rebuffed by the much larger Byzantine army. But they were a definite threat, and the Byzantine emperor knew he would have to do business with them.
JONATHAN SHEPARD: The Byzantines were quite subtle with their diplomacy, and they had the sense to see that if they could offer a relatively easy way of getting rich to the Vikings, they might dissuade them from raiding; in other words, offer trade instead of raid.
NARRATOR: Several treaties were drawn up, spelling out the terms under which Viking traders could enter the city.
THOMAS NOONAN: The Vikings forced their way into the markets. They threatened Constantinople with military flotillas, with naval attacks, and then they forced the Byzantines to agree to formal trade treaties which prescribed exactly how many Rus could come for trading, what they could bring, how long they could stay. And of course, a very important provision: they could not go into Constantinople itself carrying their weapons.
NARRATOR: An exception was made for the Scandinavians recruited by the Byzantine emperor to serve as his personal protectors. These mercenaries came to be known as the Varangian Guard.
JONATHAN SHEPARD: The Byzantines always had their eye open for tough barbarians. Very much in the footsteps of their Roman predecessors, they wanted to use barbarian brawn to civilized purposes. So they were quite quick to recruit Viking warriors to act as bodyguards for the emperor, for show purposes around the palace, and also for doing hard graft in the actual battles on the eastern front and so on. The Byzantines were always confident that they could manipulate barbarians, that they could actually harness their brute strength to their own purposes and use them as the sinews of the Byzantine army.
NARRATOR: Among the many decorative mosaics found in Istanbul are traces of the Viking mercenaries.
VERA BURGURLU: These mosaics are part of the great palace, Justinian's palace, in a large courtyard, and among them is a portrait of a northerner, a blond northerner, and this mask is believed to be a Viking.
NARRATOR: One of the duties of the Varangians was to guard the Byzantine emperor during the elaborate religious services that took place in the majestic Hagia Sophia cathedral. This building still stands, capped with one of the largest domes ever constructed in ancient times. Inside, Runic letters can be found carved into the marble balcony rails. Graffiti scrawled by visiting Vikings, including a message, mostly faded, from "Halvdan." Vikings like Halvdan may have enjoyed a comfortable life in Constantinople, but the people who benefited most from the good relations with Byzantium were the Viking elite who governed from Kiev.
THOMAS NOONAN: Kiev gave them control of the great trade with Constantinople and Byzantium. And that was the secret of their wealth and their power. They were the ones who controlled all the boats, bringing all the furs and all the slaves down to Byzantium. And of course they grew wealthy from that.
NARRATOR: Into Kiev flowed the riches from Constantinople and beyond, including beautiful jewelry for the wealthy ladies of the Rus court. This elaborate necklace contains over two pounds of intricate gold filigree. One of the most famous rulers of Kiev was Vladimir, the great grandson of the original Viking Prince Rurik. A German contemporary described the Grand Prince as "an immense and rude fornicator." According to the monk Nestor, Vladimir kept several hundred concubines in towns throughout Russia. After killing off several of his brothers in a long and bloody civil war, he seized control of Kiev around 980. In the land of the Rus, such violence was par for the course.
JONATHAN SHEPARD: This was a violent society. We do after all have an Arab writer describing the way of life of the Rus, saying that things were so dangerous that a man didn't even dare go to the lavatory without having four comrades with their swords in hand guarding him as he relieved himself.
NARRATOR: The Vikings and the people they dominated worshipped a vast array of Slavic and Scandinavian gods. Prince Vladimir decided to find a more modern religion for his country, so he invited missionaries representing several faiths to his court in Kiev. Nestor reports that Vladimir dismissed the Catholics because they demanded fasting, and he thought their services were ugly. To the Jewish delegates he said, "If God had loved you and your law, he wouldn't have spread you around like this." And Islam was rejected because, in his words, "Drinking is the joy of the Rus, and we cannot live without this pleasure." Ultimately, Vladimir's close ties to Constantinople determined his decision. Near the end of the 10th century, he chose the religion of Byzantium and declared that all the Rus would become Eastern Orthodox Christians.
THOMAS NOONAN: By accepting orthodoxy from Byzantium, you created a single faith for peoples who had nothing in common. Slavs, Finns, Balts, Vikings all now had one new faith that they could believe in. And they all, over the course of time, gave up their old paganisms and became Orthodox together. So that a Rus then became someone who was part of the Rus state and who was an Orthodox Christian.
NARRATOR: 1,000 years after Vladimir's conversion, Russians are uncovering their roots, and embracing their Viking heritage. In Novgorod, once a trading center south of Staraja Ladoga, archeologists are excavating large areas of the medieval town. Hundreds of local schoolchildren help with the dig.
LYUBA SMIRNOVA: The state of preservation of wood and other organic objects is perfect. These great beams of wood were cut maybe 800 years ago, and they still look like modern ones.
NARRATOR: The team has uncovered the remains of two-story timber houses and dozens of artifacts, dating to the 12th century, when the land of the Rus was united under the control of the princes of Kiev. Among the Slavic objects, there are still traces of Scandinavian design, remnants of the Viking traders who had settled in Russia. But the most amazing find is a cache of letters, written on birch bark, and preserved on tiny scrolls. They offer an intimate view into the culture the Vikings had helped to create. One letter was from an early victim of domestic violence.
HISTORIC VOICE: Greetings from Fovronja to Filkis with complaints. My stepson beat me and chased me away from the farm. Shall I come to town or will you come here yourself? I'm all beaten up.
NARRATOR: Another scroll enclosed a child's drawing. And then, an 800-year- old love letter.
LYUBA SMIRNOVA: Two years ago, we found a very interesting birch bark document, written by a woman, a well-educated woman. It was sort of a love letter, this scream of love from the early 12th century.
HISTORIC VOICE: I have sent for you three times. What kind of anger kept you from visiting me last Sunday? Have my letters affected you? If you really wanted to love me, you would tear yourself away from the eyes of people and meet me somewhere else. Were it even the case that due to my unreason I have affected you, if you start mocking me, then God and my littleness will be your judge. I shall never leave you.
HISTORIC VOICE: It has been nine years since you received a cross from me, and you still haven't sent me any money. Unless you immediately send me four and a half grivna, I will make you lose honor and credibility. Clear this debt immediately.
JONATHAN SHEPARD: The commonest subject in the Novgorod birch bark letters is money and aspects of money. This was a society in which people agreed about one thing, that was the need for wealth, the need for money and the common quest to get more of it.
NARRATOR: By the time the Novgorod letters were written, Vikings had been in Russia for over 200 years. Over the generations, they became almost indistinguishable from the Slavs.
MATS G. LARSSON [voice over translation]: Since the princes' dynasty and the leading level of society were a small part of the population, they became more and more assimilated into the Slavic society. They probably married Slavic girls, and their children were raised by Slavic women, and all the time they lived in this foreign society. The effect of this is obvious in the archeological material and in the names of the princes. The first prince's name, Rurik, derives from the Scandinavian name Roereker. His son was called Igor, from the Scandinavian name Ingvar. Next there was Sviataslav, a Slavic name.
NARRATOR: The Vikings in the east may have lost their identity as Scandinavians, but they had completely transformed the country and the culture, unifying a huge region of eastern Europe into a new kingdom: Russia.
THOMAS NOONAN: The Vikings, through their trade networks, through their political ruthlessness, welded a state together, whether the people liked it or not. And it was done primarily so the Vikings could get rich and powerful and rule over that area. Because that's why they left their homelands, because they could make a career abroad. They were the nucleus, they were the force. And without that vital force, there would have never been a Rus state.
NARRATOR: For almost 300 years, the Vikings were a vital force throughout Europe and beyond, traveling further from their homelands than the ancient Greeks or Romans ever did. In their great longships, they ventured out in search of wealth and glory, with sword and shield subduing anyone who stood in their way. In the process of seeking their fortunes, the Vikings linked together dozens of different peoples, and set the stage for the emergence of modern Europe. By the end of the 11th century, Scandinavian kings ruled over a prosperous and secure land. But beyond their homelands, the Vikings had virtually disappeared, blended into the populations they once terrorized. The Viking Age had come to an end.
On NOVA's Website, go back in time. Explore a Viking village, write your name in Runes, and trace the Viking conquest at pbs.org or America Online keyword: PBS.
CNET.com, helping you find the right technology products. | 2019-04-23T18:58:48Z | https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/transcripts/2708vikings.html |
How can I rent space?
To rent space with us you need to complete our registration form (link at the bottom of our website). We use the information from the form to create your account. Your account is usually created the same day within a few hours, but you may need to allow for a few days if we have any questions. There is no requirement to rent space with us immediately - you can do this when you are ready.
Once created you will receive an email (and a text) with instructions on how to make a rental booking.
Step 1 - complete the registration form to sell with us.
Step 2 - wait approx 24 to 48 hours for our confirmation email and text.
Step 3 - log in and rent your choice of space.
Step 4 - follow the steps in the Partner Guide on product labelling.
Step 5 - send your products to our shops.
If you have any questions not covered in this FAQ then you can drop us an email at [email protected] or give us a call on 0330 660 0582^. You can also send us a dm on social media or chat with us on the chat bar on our website.
^If your mobile or landline service has inclusive minutes then your call to us will be free, otherwise you will be charged at local rates.
How many products can I have in my space?
We recommend that you do not overstock your space with products. There is also a weight limit of 10kg per shelf (does not apply to cube space). It should be very easy for a customer to interact with your products and to see the selling price. We encourage you to create an attractive display using interesting props as well as display stands (with some restrictions).
It's a good idea to create a mock-up of your space to give you a good idea of how your space will work. The dimensions of all of the spaces, including height from the floor and given on our website.
If you make a short rental with us (of less than 12 weeks at a time) then all of your products will need to be placed in your rented space. If you rent space for 12 weeks or longer then we also allow you to store spare stock in our store room. The shop staff will use this spare stock to replenish stock in your rented space for you so that you always have a full display. You can send/bring more stock at any time no matter how long you rent with us.
Lots more information about this in the partner guide which you can access once you have rented your first space.
Do I have to use your display stands?
Not at all, although we do have a selection available for you to rent, you are encouraged to supply all of your own props such as display stands.
It's best not to mix stands made of different materials or colours in the same space as it can look visually confusing in some instances. We don't mind what material your props are made of, but we are however looking to have a consistent themed display to help it look visually pleasing. Acrylic stands can be used but we would prefer it if clear acrylic stands were not used. Frosted is best. Get as creative with your props and displays as you like (within reason and subject to a few merchandising requirements).
Remember that it is your space for displaying your products in a way that best works for you. All stands will need to be in-good-order. Any props or stands with excessive scratches will unfortunately not be allowed.
Need advice on this? Then please get in contact and we can give you some tips and suggestions.
Can I brand my space and use signs?
Yes, we encourage you to have an information sign in your rented space. It's a great way to explain to a customer about you and your products. You're welcome to highlight that your products are also available at other shops and/or online.
Your sign should be no bigger than a postcard - leave room for your products. You will also need to supply a photo frame (or similar) to display the sign on your shelf. The sign will need to sit on your shelf. It can't hang from the front, top, back or sides of a shelf or cube.
We highly recommend having boxes or nice bags for your products, especially jewellery as it helps with sales. Any small jewellery sold without packaging will be placed in a free organza bag by the shop assistant.
If your products require specialised packaging, such as a hatbox for a hat, shoebox for shoes etc, then you must supply them. The boxes will be kept with your products in your rented space (or in the store room if you qualify for storage space).
We supply generic blank carrier bags and Things British paper bags only.
Do my products need barcodes?
You don't need a formal barcode on your products (the thin black lines like you would see on products in a supermarket) to sell with Things British. You will, however, need to print or handwrite a special Things British code on each of your products.
Full details, with examples, are given on this in the Partner Guide which you will have access to once you have rented your space.
If your products have official GS1 registered 12-digit or 13-digit barcodes then you won't need to also add a Things British code to your products - but we recommend that you do.
You won't be able to access the partner guide, the rental booking system or the partner admin portal area until your account has been created and you have received the welcome email (and text). This can take up to 48 hours depending on the time of day and day of the week.
The welcome email contains all the information you need to make a rental booking with us.
Keep an eye out for our email and text.
Is there a rental contract?
Each time you rent space with us you will receive a rental contract by email. Your rental contract confirms the space you have rented, for how long and details your rental payment schedule. It also contains a link to the terms and conditions that must be agreed at the time of making the booking.
This is a formal rental contract made on a business-to-business basis which must be seen through to completion.
At the end of your contract period, you can either renew by making a new booking or request us to quote for the return of your products and/or props.
How long do I need to rent space for?
The minimum rental period with Things British is just 42 days (6 weeks) per contract. The maximum rental period (per booking) is 365 days per contract although you can keep making a new rental booking (renewal) when your current rental expires.
Our system will email you 7 days before your rental is ending to remind you to renew. All spaces are first-come, first-served. You can keep renting for short periods but risk losing your space or rent for a longer period to guarantee your space.
Do I need to register again each time the rental expires?
No, once your account has been set up you can rent the same, or different spaces, in the same or different shops as and when you are ready.
You can even take a break for a few weeks or even a year. Your account will still be there for you to log back in to.
Can I rent multiple spaces at the same time?
Yes, you can rent up to 3 of the same type of space at a time per rental contract, along with a selection of optional extras. Each rental contract can have a total of 9 spaces and options rented at a time. If you need more space then multiple rental contracts can be made to run concurrently.
Please don't over-commit on space though as there is a formal rental contract in place which must be seen through to completion.
Can I have multiple rental contracts?
Yes, you can have as many rental contracts as you like in the same or as many of our shops as you like, but please don't over-commit as there is a formal rental contract in place which must be seen through to completion.
Do I need to label my products?
Once your account is enabled you will be given access to your very own unique product code list and instructions on how to label your products. You will need to write this code (10082-042-3 for example), along with the price as a minimum on your labels. Instructions on labelling (with examples) are given in the Partner Guide which you will have access to once you have rented your space.
You must also make sure your labels or packaging carry any additional markings as required by law as this something you are responsible for.
Can I personally bring stock?
You can bring the stock to the shop personally any time of the day, without notice, apart from the first and last hours of opening. Over 90% of products are posted to the shop.
Remember to bring your printed delivery note (more information on this in the Partner Guide) and to let the shop assistant know you are bringing or want to remove any stock.
Who will merchandise my space?
Send us a photo with your products on how you would like them to be displayed and the shop staff will do this for you. You are also most welcome to come to the shop and set up the display yourself. We want to maximise interactions with your products so our shop staff may give you feedback and suggestions on the best way to achieve this. It's best to have a display that customers can easily interact with rather than one ready for a photo-shoot.
Over time as products sell your display will change and evolve and the shop staff will always want to plug any gaps left by a product that has sold. Displays will also change slightly during cleaning.
When you make a rental booking with us a payment schedule will be created with Paypal. Your payments are then sent to us automatically (similar to a bank Standing Order).
For rentals less than 56 days (8 weeks) Paypal will send your rental payment to us on weekly basis otherwise it will be every 4 weeks (28 days). Payments will automatically stop once your rental is complete. You can then make a new rental booking.
Your payment schedule, dates and rental amounts are all shown on your rental contract.
You will receive an email from us 7 days before your rental ends to remind you.
When do I get paid for my shop sales?
All your sales are automatically stored on our central server. Each month we verify your transactions for the previous month and produce a remittance statement and remit your total sales (less any credit card and cash fees that we were charged by our merchant banks) to your designated bank current account. We don't charge any commission.
The monthly remittance happens on the 3rd day of each month - unless the 3rd is a weekend or public holiday. In this case, your funds are usually received by your bank on the next bank working day after the 3rd.
How do I know what has been sold?
Our central server will email you a weekly report every Sunday evening detailing your current stock levels, sales this week, sales last week, sales this month, sales last month and sales-to-date. The report gives you this detail for each of the products you are selling with us.
There is also a separate daily sales report showing you each transaction made on each day of the week.
If you rent space with us for at least 12 weeks (in a single contract) then you can also request to have both reports emailed to us on additional days of the week - including daily.
You will receive a report for each shop that you are renting space in.
Which space should I rent?
If you need advice on which space to choose, then drop us an email or give us a call.
Row 1 (the lowest row at knee level) is not suitable for jewellery or front-facing products due to the height.
Row 4 (the highest row at head height) is not suitable for jewellery or products that need to be laid flat due to the height and is best for front-facing products.
Remember that there may be a shelf directly above yours. If you have taller products or a tall display stand then you may also need to rent the shelf above to open the space up (we take the shelf between out) to make it easier for customers to interact with your products.
Our very popular cube spaces are great to make an impactful display with depth and height. They can be combined together to create larger merchandising spaces.
We recommend having one or two items in the window display to entice shoppers in to see more of your work. Once you have decided then you will select your spaces on our rental booking screen.
Who sets the selling price?
You set the retail selling prices of your products. Remember we don't take any commission. You can also decide to use pounds and pence, or just pounds. £9.99 each, or £10 each.
Our St Pancras shop has the largest average spend and is best for products priced from £5 to £300.
Our Greenwich shop is best for lower priced products from £1 to £50.
You decide on which of your product range you want to sell at our shops. Things British won't say yes to this, or no to that. We may on occasion make some suggestions to you if certain products are already covered by other partners or if we feel some of your products are not legal, not in good taste, not safe, or don't comply with required legislation.
You will need to supply documented evidence that you have permission to sell products covered by a third party copyright or a trademark.
You will need to supply documented evidence that you have registered with a charity to make any charitable donations from the sale of your products to them.
You are responsible for ensuring your products are legally allowed to be sold in Britain both in our shops and online and that they have been made in Great Britain.
When is my stock displayed?
When you bring or post stock to us we aim to acknowledge it as being booked into our stock system on the same day we receive it, however, we are only obliged in the contract to get this done by the following day. The shop staff will then either top up the stock on your rental space or place spare stock in the store room for you.
Stock can only be put out when your rental starts although you are welcome to bring or post stock before it does start. It will be kept safely in the store room in the meantime.
We need your Bank Sort Code and Account Number of your current account so that we can pay you for sales by direct bank transfer between the 3rd and 7th of the following month.
If we don't have your bank details at the time of the monthly automated payment run then your payment will be made in the following month subject to the details have been received.
There is no charge for us to remit to your current account each month.
Why was I asked not to stock certain items.
We have to take into consideration the nature of our shop environments. Some products are heavy, may need a stand (which you may be reluctant to use) or may break if they fall. Some products also need to follow government guidelines which we must also comply with.
We may also advise against certain very high-value items unless you provide a lockable case as part of your space. We care strongly about your products and want to make sure they are safe in our shop, and that our shoppers are also safe.
There is also a maximum weight limit of 10kg allowed per shelf space. This does not apply to cube space.
What age must I be to sell?
You may enter into a legally binding contract to rent space with Things British if you're aged 18 or over. Note that you will be entering into a contract as part of your trade or business and not as a consumer.
You will also need an active Paypal account linked to a debit (or credit card).
Must I register as self employed?
If you are a sole trader and selling to make a profit then you must register with HMRC as self-employed if you have not already done so. Failing to notify HMRC can lead to a financial penalty (and an additional penalty of up to 100% of your tax liability).
You may also face a penalty for failing to notify the National Insurance Contributions department within 3 months of starting to trade.
More information on the HMRC website available here.
Can I sell on your website only and not rent space in a shop?
In order to sell on our online shop, you must have rented space with us. You are allowed to list products on our website that are available in-store only, or online only, or both. Creating an in-store only listing is a great way to show online browsers what is available in our shops and encourage them to visit us.
There are no listing fees, application fees or commission for selling on our online shop whilst you are renting space. Note that if you have no active shop rental contracts then your online shop will also be closed.
Can I list items not sold in the shop?
Not all of these need to be available for purchase in our shop(s). Items that are for sale online only will carry a badge marked "ONLINE ONLY" letting a shopper know this. Likewise, you are encouraged to list products online that are available for purchase in-store only and can be marked as "IN-STORE ONLY". This is useful if you don't want to manage online orders and leave the selling to the shop staff but let a shopper be aware of your work.
So long as you are renting space in one or more of our shops then there are no listing fees, transaction fees or commission for selling on our website.
All online orders, payments and returns are handled directly by you.
Are there further instructions other than this FAQ?
Once you have rented your first space then you will have access to our detailed partner guide, which gives instructions on such things as labelling, pricing and merchandising.
Can I sell elsewhere when I am selling with you?
Things British will never restrict you from selling any of your products at any other shop or at any other online shopping venue.
Can I combine shelf space?
You can combine up to 3 vertical rows on the shelving to create a mega-space. Options are Row 3 and 4, Row 2 and 3, Row 1 and 2, or even Row 2, 3 and 4! There is, however, a maximum weight limit of 5kg allowed on the shelf.
Some shelves can be converted into a hanging space (like a wardrobe). This is best for Row 1, or Row 1 and Row 2 combined. The hanging rail is offset to the front of the shelf to allow for an adult garment hanger.
Row 1 is not suitable for hanging certain long clothing so please ask or test first. It is best to combine Row 1 and Row 2 for longer garments.
There is a maximum weight limit of 5kg allowed on the hanging pole. You need to supply your own garment hangers.
Your products are covered by our insurance policy (only whilst they are physically located on our premises and only during the period between the Start Date and End Date of your rental period inclusive) by our policy with Barclays Bank Plc (underwritten by Allianz Insurance Plc) against major events such as fire, flood and forced-burglary. Your products are not covered by our insurance policy if they are not located on our premises or before your rented has started or after your rented has ended. Any period of storage after your rental has ended is therefore not covered unless you have renewed your contract by making a new booking.
We do aim to take the utmost care of your products whilst they are at Things British, however, stock shrinkage can happen for a number of reasons with theft (shoplifting) being the most well known. Allianz Insurance Plc, as is common in the industry, does not provide cover for non-forced theft under any circumstances (such as shoplifting).
If you have higher-value items, then you may provide a lockable display case. This is optional.
Another reason for stock shrinkage is damage. If a customer damages a product, and we are aware at the time that this has happened, then we will ask the customer to purchase the damaged item, so long as the reason for the damage was not caused by a fault or an inadequate display. If the damage is discovered after the event and the customer has already left then, unfortunately, our policy does not provide any insured compensation and you must refer to your own insurance cover.
Note that all of our shops operate remotely monitored CCTV and we prosecute all instances of theft. CCTV footage is handed to the Police.
Please do not remove any stock from the shop without first recording this will the shop assistant otherwise it may be mistaken for theft and followed up accordingly.
Things British has been trading since 2010. We are the industry leader in rented shelf space in Great Britain. We have paid out more than a million pounds in retail product sales (this excludes online sales) to our partners. Many of our top partners have been with us since the very beginning (and all rent prime spots in our shops).
Do the shop staff have breaks?
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A new way to sell your products with our unique collaborative retailing. | 2019-04-22T07:06:26Z | https://thingsbritish.co.uk/faq-selling |
Negative utilitarianism is a version of the ethical theory utilitarianism that gives greater priority to reducing suffering (negative utility or 'disutility') than to increasing happiness (positive utility). This differs from classical utilitarianism, which does not claim that reducing suffering is intrinsically more important than increasing happiness. Both versions of utilitarianism hold that morally right and morally wrong actions depend solely on the consequences for overall well-being. 'Well-being' refers to the state of the individual. The term 'negative utilitarianism' is used by some authors to denote the theory that reducing negative well-being is the only thing that ultimately matters morally. Others distinguish between 'strong' and 'weak' versions of negative utilitarianism, where strong versions are only concerned with reducing negative well-being, and weak versions say that both positive and negative well-being matter but that negative well-being matters more.
Other versions of negative utilitarianism differ in how much weight they give to negative well-being ('disutility') compared to positive well-being (positive utility), as well as the different conceptions of what well-being (utility) is. For example, negative preference utilitarianism says that the well-being in an outcome depends on frustrated preferences. Negative hedonistic utilitarianism thinks of well-being in terms of pleasant and unpleasant experiences. There are many other variations on how negative utilitarianism can be specified.
The term "negative utilitarianism" was introduced by R. Ninian Smart in 1958 in his reply to Karl Popper's The Open Society and Its Enemies. Smart also presented the most famous argument against negative utilitarianism: that negative utilitarianism would entail that a ruler who is able to instantly and painlessly destroy the human race would have a duty to do so. Furthermore, every human being would have a moral responsibility to commit suicide, thereby preventing future suffering. Many authors have endorsed versions of this argument, and some have presented counterarguments against it.
Enough suffering will always remain to make the question of the desirability . . . of their sojourn on earth a question which numbers will answer . . . in the negative. . . . When we forget pain, or underestimate it, or talk about people 'getting used to it', we are really so far losing sight of what the universe, which we wish to conceive adequately, really is.
Like other kinds of utilitarianism, negative utilitarianism can take many forms depending on what specific claims are taken to constitute the theory. For example, negative preference utilitarianism says that the utility of an outcome depends on frustrated and satisfied preferences. Negative hedonistic utilitarianism thinks of utility in terms of hedonic mental states such as suffering and unpleasantness. Negative Average Preference Utilitarianism makes the same assumptions on what is good as negative preference utilitarianism, but states that the average number (per individual) number of preferences frustrated should be minimized. Versions of (negative) utilitarianism can also differ based on whether the actual or expected consequences matter, and whether the aim is stated in terms of the average outcome among individuals or the total net utility (or lack of disutility) among them. Negative utilitarianism can aim either to optimize the value of the outcome or it can be a satisficing negative utilitarianism, according to which an action ought to be taken if and only if the outcome would be sufficiently valuable (or have sufficiently low disvalue). A key way in which negative utilitarianisms can differ from one another is with respect to how much weight they give to negative well-being (disutility) compared to positive well-being (positive utility). This is a key area of variation because the key difference between negative utilitarianism and non-negative kinds of utilitarianism is that negative utilitarianism gives more weight to negative well-being.
Philosophers Gustaf Arrhenius and Krister Bykvist develop a taxonomy of negative utilitarian views based on how the views weigh disutility against positive utility. In total, they distinguish among 16 kinds of negative utilitarianism. They first distinguish between strong negativism and weak negativism. Strong negativism "give all weight to disutility" and weak negativism "give some weight to positive utility, but more weight to disutility." The most commonly discussed subtypes are probably two versions of weak negative utilitarianism called 'lexical' and 'lexical threshold' negative utilitarianism. According to 'lexical' negative utilitarianism, positive utility gets weight only when outcomes are equal with respect to disutility. That is, positive utility functions as a tiebreaker in that it determines which outcome is better (or less bad) when the outcomes considered have equal disutility. 'Lexical threshold' negative utilitarianism says that there is some disutility, for instance some extreme suffering, such that no positive utility can counterbalance it. 'Consent-based' negative utilitarianism is a specification of lexical threshold negative utilitarianism, which specifies where the threshold should be located. It says that if an individual is suffering and would at that moment not "agree to continue the suffering in order to obtain something else in the future" then the suffering cannot be outweighed by any happiness.
Thomas Metzinger proposes the "principle of negative utilitarianism", which is the broad idea that suffering should be minimized when possible. Mario Bunge writes about negative utilitarianism in his Treatise on Basic Philosophy but in a different sense than most others. In Bunge's sense, negative utilitarianism is about not harming. In contrast, most other discussion of negative utilitarianism takes it to imply a duty both not to harm and to help (at least in the sense of reducing negative well-being).
In the 1958 article where R. N. Smart introduced the term "negative utilitarianism", he argued against it, stating that negative utilitarianism would entail that a ruler who is able to instantly and painlessly destroy the human race, "a benevolent world-exploder", would have a duty to do so. This is the most famous argument against negative utilitarianism, and it is directed against sufficiently strong versions of negative utilitarianism. Many authors have endorsed this argument, and some have presented counterarguments against it. Below are replies to this argument that have been presented and discussed.
One possible reply to this argument is that only a naive interpretation of negative utilitarianism would endorse world destruction. The conclusion can be mitigated by pointing out the importance of cooperation between different value systems. There are good consequentialist reasons why one should be cooperative towards other value systems and it is particularly important to avoid doing something harmful to other value systems. The destruction of the world would strongly violate many other value systems and endorsing it would therefore be uncooperative. Since there are many ways to reduce suffering which do not infringe on other value systems, it makes sense for negative utilitarians to focus on these options. In an extended interpretation of negative utilitarianism, cooperation with other value systems is considered and the conclusion is that it is better to reduce suffering without violating other value systems.
Another reply to the benevolent world-exploder argument is that it does not distinguish between eliminating and reducing negative well-being, and that negative utilitarianism should plausibly be formulated in terms of reducing and not eliminating. A counterargument to that reply is that elimination is a form of reduction, similar to how zero is a number.
Several philosophers have argued that to try to destroy the world (or to kill many people) would be counterproductive from a negative utilitarian perspective. One such argument is provided by David Pearce, who says that "planning and implementing the extinction of all sentient life couldn't be undertaken painlessly. Even contemplating such an enterprise would provoke distress. Thus a negative utilitarian is not compelled to argue for the apocalyptic solution." Instead, Pearce advocates the use of biotechnology to phase out the biology of suffering throughout the living world, and he says that "life-long happiness can be genetically pre-programmed." A similar reply to the similar claim that negative utilitarianism would imply that we should kill off the miserable and needy is that we rarely face policy choices and that "anyway there are excellent utilitarian reasons for avoiding such a policy, since people would find out about it and become even more miserable and fearful." The Negative Utilitarianism FAQ's answer to question "3.2 Should NUs try to increase extinction risk?" begins with "No, that would be very bad even by NU standards."
I am also a little puzzled by Watkin's remark that the pain minimizer would have to destroy the very possibility of life. If the sentient forms of life were totally destroyed, it might be that the sentient forms would be most unlikely to evolve. This is on the supposition, held by some experts, that the evolution of higher forms of life on earth depended on a lot of lucky accidents. If this is not the case, then the benevolent world destroyer should ensure that all forms of life are destroyed, even bacteria and plants and insects, but should this be impossible the world destroyer might have at least ensured a pain free globe for hundreds of millions of years to come. In any case my brother's example was of a world exploder, and I think this would ensure the destruction of all life on earth. Of course there might be sentient life on planets of distant stars. No doubt the world exploder can do nothing about this, even with the resources of a future physics, but his or her negative utilitarian duty would not be to do the impossible, but would be to minimize suffering as much as lies within his or her power.
Another related reply to the world-exploder argument is that getting killed would be a great evil. Erich Kadlec defends negative utilitarianism and replies to the benevolent world-exploder argument (in part) as follows: "He [R. N. Smart] also dispenses with the generally known fact that all people (with a few exceptions in extreme situations) like to live and would consider being killed not a benefit but as the greatest evil done to them."
Negative preference utilitarianism has a preferentialist conception of well-being. That is, it is bad for an individual to get his aversions fulfilled (or preferences frustrated), and depending on the version of negative utilitarianism, it may also be good for him to get his preferences satisfied. A negative utilitarian with such a conception of well-being, or whose conception of well-being includes such a preferentialist component, could reply to the benevolent world-exploder argument by saying that the explosion would be bad because it would fulfill many individuals' aversions. Arrhenius and Bykvist provide two criticisms of this reply. First, it could be claimed that frustrated preferences require that someone exists who has the frustrated preference. But if everyone is dead there are no preferences and hence no badness. Second, even if a world-explosion would involve frustrated preferences that would be bad from a negative preference utilitarian perspective, such a negative utilitarian should still favor it as the lesser of two evils compared to all the frustrated preferences that would likely exist if the world continued to exist.
The Negative Utilitarianism FAQ suggests two replies to Arrhenius and Bykvist's first type of criticism (the criticism that if no one exists anymore then there are no frustrated preferences anymore): The first reply is that past preferences count, even if the individual who held them no longer exists. The second is that "instead of counting past preferences, one could look at the matter in terms of life-goals. The earlier the death of a person who wants to go on living, the more unfulfilled her life-goal." The Negative Utilitarianism FAQ also replies to Arrhenius and Bykvist's second type of criticism. The reply is (in part) that the criticism relies on the empirical premise that there would be more frustrated preferences in the future if the world continued to exist than if the world was destroyed. But that negative preference utilitarianism would say that extinction would be better (in theory), assuming that premise, should not count substantially against the theory, because for any view on population ethics that assigns disvalue to something, one can imagine future scenarios such that extinction would be better according to the given view.
A more direct way to address this problem would be to incorporate a theory of rights, stipulating that in general, policy makers simply have no right to make decisions about whether the lives of others are worth living, or whether they should live or die. Since it is clear that policy makers have no right to kill off the miserable and destitute, this response gains support from our moral intuitions.
Negative utilitarianism can be combined, in particular, with Rawls' theory of justice. Rawls knew Popper's normative claims and may have been influenced by his concern for the worst-off.
is a kind of maximin rule.... The principle also resembles a form of utilitarianism which is familiar from the work of Popper and the Smart brothers, negative utilitarianism. That too suggests we should concern ourselves before all else with the elimination of pain.
Professor Henry Hiz writes favorably of negative utilitarianism. Fabian Fricke published the German article "Verschiedene Versionen des negativen Utilitarismus". In book format, Jonathan Leighton has defended 'negative utilitarianism plus', which holds the reduction of suffering to be of highest importance, while also valuing the continued existence of sentient beings.
^ For example, Leslie 1998, p. 12: "'Negative utilitarianism' is concerned mainly or entirely with reducing evils rather than with maximizing goods." The example unpleasant experiences is an example based on a hedonistic theory of well-being, according to which pleasant experiences are good for individuals and unpleasant experiences are bad for individuals. But there are other theories of well-being and negative utilitarianism need not adopt a hedonistic theory.
^ Bykvist 2009, chpt. 4.
^ a b c d Negative Utilitarianism FAQ 2015.
^ a b Arrhenius & Bykvist 1995, p. 31.
^ Smart 1958, p. 542.
^ K. Popper, "Karl Popper, The Open Society and Its Enemies, vol. 1. Routledge. pp. 284–285.
^ Smart 1958, p. 542: "Professor Popper has proposed a negative formulation of the utilitarian principle, so that we should replace ‘Aim at the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest number’ by ‘The least amount of avoidable suffering for all’. He says: ‘It adds to the clarity of ethics if we formulate our demands negatively, i.e. if we demand the elimination of suffering rather than the promotion of happiness’. However, one may reply to negative utilitarianism..."
^ For example, Popper wrote, "I suggest, for this reason, to replace the utilitarian formula ‘Aim at the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest number’, or briefly, ‘Maximize happiness’ by the formula ‘The least amount of avoidable suffering for all’, or briefly, ‘Minimize suffering’. Popper, Karl (2012). The Open Society and Its Enemies. Routledge. p. 548. ISBN 978-0415610216. Popper claimed that "there is, from the ethical point of view, no symmetry between suffering and happiness, or between pain and pleasure... In my opinion human suffering makes a direct moral appeal, namely, the appeal for help, while there is no similar call to increase the happiness of a man who is doing well anyway. A further criticism of the Utilitarian formula "Maximize pleasure" is that it assumes a continuous pleasure-pain scale which allows us to treat degrees of pain as negative degrees of pleasure. But, from the moral point of view, pain cannot be outweighed by pleasure, and especially not one man's pain by another man's pleasure. Instead of the greatest happiness for the greatest number, one should demand, more modestly, the least amount of avoidable suffering for all..." Popper, Karl (2002). The Open Society and Its Enemies: Volume 1: The Spell of Plato. Routledge. pp. 284–285. ISBN 978-0415237314.
^ "Edmund Gurney (1847 - 88)".
^ Chao, Roger (March 2012). "Negative Average Preference Utilitarianism" (PDF). Journal of Philosophy of Life. 2: 66 – via pdf.
^ Sinnott-Armstrong 2014 provides an overview of the many ways in which consequentialism can be varied. Since utilitarianism (and negative utilitarianism) is a kind of consequentialism, much of it applies to utilitarianism and negative utilitarianism as well. Section 1. "Classic Utilitarianism" shows the many distinct and variable claims that make up Classic Utilitarianism.
^ Bykvist 2009, p. 102, states satisficing utilitarianism as follows: "Satisficing utilitarianism An action ought to be done if and only if it would bring about a sufficient level of total well-being."
^ They write that they distinguish among kinds of 'negative utilitarianism': "Our point of departure was the firm intuition that unhappiness and suffering have greater weight than happiness. By taking this stand we revealed ourselves as members of the negative utilitarian family. The problem was then to find out which members of this family we want to join, and to spell out why we do not want to be as some of our siblings." Arrhenius & Bykvist 1995, p. 115. The taxonomy is phrased in terms of 'negativisms,' which appear to be the same as 'negativist' and 'negative' utilitarianisms: "we believe that disutility has greater weight than utility. The overall aim with this part of our essay is to give an account of this weight, which means that we shall try to formulate a welfarist act-consequentialism that takes seriously the weight of disutility. In other words, we are looking for an acceptable negativist utilitarianism." Arrhenius & Bykvist 1995, p. 20.
^ Arrhenius & Bykvist 1995, pp. 30,38.
^ Arrhenius & Bykvist 1995, p. 29.
^ Arrhenius & Bykvist 1995, p. 39: "The claim that disutility has greater weight can now be expressed by letting the disutilities have greater lexical weight. But still the utility has some weight in the sense that if the disutilities are the same in the alternatives, and hence we cannot minimise the disutility any further, then we ought to maximise the utility. Depending on what kinds of disutilities we choose in establishing this order, we get different lexical negativisms."
^ Ord 2013: "Lexical Threshold NU Suffering and happiness both count, but there is some amount of suffering that no amount of happiness can outweigh."
^ Brian Tomasik formulated and advocated consent-based negative utilitarianism. He writes, "would the person-moment suffering agree to continue the suffering in order to obtain something else in the future? If yes, then the suffering doesn't pass the threshold of unbearableness and thus can be outweighed by happiness." Tomasik 2015. See section “Consent-based negative utilitarianism?” The ‘person-moment’ means the person in the moment of suffering, as opposed to before or after the suffering occurred.
^ Bunge 1989, p. 230: "By recommending passivity it [negative utilitarianism] condones evil. The spectator who watches impassively a hooligan attacking an old woman, and the citizen who does not bother to vote, comply with negative utilitarianism and thereby tolerate evil."
^ See for example Pearce & Negative Utilitarianism: Why Be Negative?
^ Smart 1958, p. 542: "Suppose that a ruler controls a weapon capable of instantly and painlessly destroying the human race. Now it is empirically certain that there would be some suffering before all those alive on any proposed destruction day were to die in the natural course of events. Consequently the use of the weapon is bound to diminish suffering, and would be the ruler's duty on NU grounds." For his use of the term ‘the benevolent world-exploder’ see page 543.
^ That is, the argument is directed against strong versions of negative utilitarainaism that prescribe only reducing negative well-being, as well as weak versions that are sufficiently close to strong negative utilitarianism. Such weak versions would be those that, although they give weight to both negative and positive well-being, give sufficiently much more the weight to negative well-being, so that they would have the same implications as strong versions in relevant situations.
^ For example, Bunge 1989, p. 230: "Negative utilitarianism ... is open to the following objections.... Fourthly, the most expeditious way of implementing the doctrine would be to exterminate humankind, for then human suffering would cease altogether (R. N. Smart 1958)." Heyd 1992, p. 60: "Negative utilitarianism, which seems promising in guiding us in genethics, also urges (at least in its impersonal version) paradoxical (and to some, morally abhorrent) solutions to the miseries of humanity. Primarily it recommends the painless annihilation of all humanity—either by the collective suicide of all actual beings, or by total abstention from procreation by one generation (Smart 1958, 542-543)." Ord 2013: "R. N. Smart wrote a response in which he christened the principle 'Negative Utilitarianism' and showed a major unattractive consequence. A thorough going Negative Utilitarian would support the destruction of the world (even by violent means) as the suffering involved would be small compared to the suffering in everyday life in the world."
^ "Gains from Trade through Compromise – Foundational Research Institute". foundational-research.org. Retrieved 2015-12-17.
^ "Reasons to Be Nice to Other Value Systems – Foundational Research Institute". foundational-research.org. Retrieved 2015-12-17.
^ This is essentially H. B. Acton's reply. Acton & Watkins 1963, p. 84: "Eliminating suffering is not the same thing as reducing it or as arriving at 'the least amount of avoidable suffering for all', and it is the latter, not the former, that might, with some plausibility, be regarded as a possible substitute for the more usual form of utilitarianism. Would not, then, the destroyer imagined by Smart be making a terrible mistake through failing to notice the difference between eliminating and reducing?"
^ Pearce & Negative Utilitarianism: Why Be Negative?.
^ Clark Wolf proposes and defends ‘negative critical level utilitarianism’ in the context of social choice and population choices, which says that "population choices should be guided by an aim to minimize suffering and deprivation" (Wolf 1996, p. 273). He brings up the possible objection to his principle that "it might occur to someone that the best way to minimize current suffering and deprivation would be to quietly, secretly, and painlessly kill off all of those who are miserable and needy" (Wolf 1996, p. 278). A part of his reply is that "die hard utilitarians could argue that we rarely face such a policy choice, and that anyway there are excellent utilitarian reasons for avoiding such a policy, since people would find out about it and become even more miserable and fearful" (Wolf 1996, p. 278).
^ John W. N. Watkins describes himself as "a sort of negative utilitarian" (Acton & Watkins 1963, p. 95). He replies to R. N. Smart that "even if all life were destroyed, in due course living matter might emerge from the slime once more, and the evolutionary process start up again—this time accompanied, perhaps, by even more pain than would have accompanied the continued existence of the human race. So the pain minimiser would need to destroy the very possibility of life. And I like to think that this is something which is in principle beyond human power" (Acton & Watkins 1963, p. 96).
^ Smart 1989, pp. 44-45.
^ Kadlec & 2008 110.
^ a b Arrhenius & Bykvist 1995, p. 32.
^ Negative Utilitarianism FAQ 2015. See section "2.1.5 Back to destroying the world, doesn’t NIPU still imply that extinction would be best, because if there will be a lot of people in the future, their unsatisfied preferences combined are worse than the preferences being thwarted by extinction?"
^ Wolf 1996, p. 278.
^ Contestabile & Negative Utilitarianism and Justice.
^ Rawls 1958, p. 174.
^ Pearce & A response to Toby Ord's essay.
^ Contestabile & Why I’m (Not) a Negative Utilitarian – A Review of Toby Ord’s Essay.
^ Metz 2012, pp. 1–2: "Negative utilitarianism is well-known for entailing anti-natalism as well as pro-mortalism, the view that it is often prudent for individuals to kill themselves and often right for them to kill others, even without their consent. It pretty clearly has these implications if one can kill oneself or others painlessly, but probably does so even if there would be terror beforehand; for there would be terror regardless of when death comes, and if death were to come sooner rather than later, then additional bads that would have been expected in the course of a life would be nipped in the bud."
^ Belshaw 2012, p. 118: "Negative utilitarianism can be plucked from the shelf, but there is no good reason to suppose it true. And were it true, it would take us too far, generating not only anti-natalism but straightaway also its pro-mortalist neighbour."
^ Mendola 1990, p. 86.
^ Hiz 1992, p. 423: "Utilitarianism failed, but what is sometimes called ‘negative utilitarianism’ avoids many of the shortcomings of classical utilitarianism. It is a good candidate for an ethics that expresses the Enlightenment tradition."
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This page was last edited on 30 March 2019, at 21:39 (UTC). | 2019-04-20T10:49:33Z | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negative_utilitarianism |
Immigrating to the U.S. from Mexico; differences in how her disability was treated in Mexico and the U.S.
SERRANO: Okay, tell us your name please?
ORTEGA: My name is Barbara Ortega.
SERRANO: And how old are you?
ORTEGA: I am 28 years old.
SERRANO: Okay. And you immigrated to the United States, right?
ORTEGA: Yes, I did. My parents brought me here when I had just turned two years old. I turned two years old December of 1986 and I got here in January of 1988.
SERRANO: Okay, well let's start from the beginning. So, tell us about your life in Mexico.
ORTEGA: My life in Mexico, well there's a lot of stories my parents have told me. When I was born, I was born in December 1986. What I've heard the most about my birth is that I was born a very sick baby. I would cry a lot, I would get very high fevers, et cetera. And then my parents decided to take me to the doctor because nothing was helping me. So, on New Year,s Eve of that same year, I was what, like a month old, I got a really bad seizure. And my grandma thought I was gonna die. And after that, everything seemed fine. I don't know, in the Latino culture, your parents or your grandparents go to the Virgin María or, you know, like la Virgin de Guadalupe. Like, “¡Ayúdame!” So my grandma made a petition for me and all of a sudden I got good. So then after that, babies start developing, walking, talking, et cetera. My parents always told me I talk a lot, ever since I was a baby, so pretty much, I started talking but I wasn't walking. That's when things started getting weird.
SERRANO: Okay, so what part of Mexico are you from? Are you coming from?
ORTEGA: I am from León, Guanajuato.
SERRANO: Okay, tell me a little bit a little bit about your family, your parents.
ORTEGA: My parents are, you know, very hard-working, you know, Latinos mexicanos. You know, my mom is a stay-at-home mother. My dad works construction, you know. Very hard, we almost don't see him all summer because he's always working. You know, they've always been very supportive of me. Tried to push me forward, trying to make me, you know, a good human being and you know, so far they've done what they can to, like, you know.
SERRANO: So, you came with them when you guys came to the United States?
ORTEGA: My grandpa, but brought all his children, you know, to Chicago and she had already lived here part of her life, but then they went back when she was 16 and that's where she met my dad. So, she brought my dad over here. And they started this whole journey.
SERRANO: Oh, okay. That's cool.
SERRANO: Do you think it would have been different if you would have stayed in Mexico?
ORTEGA: I think about it a lot of the time and who knows how my life would have been? I know that my family, you know, it's very different being disabled here and, unfortunately, being disabled in Mexico because a lot of people, they still get very scared if they see you can't do certain things as other people. They don't know how to react. So, I honestly don't know. I feel like, as far as my family makes me feel, I don't think I would have ever been different, like, in their eyes, but I do think, like, as you know, maybe growing up and, like, you know, getting, like, a job would have been, like, very hard for me. Because my parents decided to move back to Mexico when I was about 10 years old, nine, ten years old, and I noticed, like such a difference. You know here, unfortunately, like I mean not unfortunately here, but here, you got all the care you needed since you were a child. You know, if you needed help, you know, like the person who helps you, helps you, but they don't baby you. And as soon as I got to Mexico, it was a cultural impact because I didn't know, like, a word of Spanish. I spoke English in the household. Like all my life, since kindergarten, I was in English; no bilingual and I only knew the Spanish my parents would, you know, speak to me and then I got over there. I didn't know any Spanish, you know. My teachers, you know, they're not educated to deal with, like, disabilities. So, it was, it was a bit, you know, depressing. It was super hard for me. So, it makes me think, "What if I would have stayed over there? How would my life would have been?" I think it would have been twice as hard as it is here.
ORTEGA: As far as, you know, it's unfortunate. I don't know. I haven't been to Mexico in, what, 15 years now, so maybe things have changed. But as far as when I got over there, back in 1994, what I noticed was there was a lot of isolation, you know, for me. I think my mom, you know, she had to, like fight, fight for me in a way like to make teachers see me as normal as they could. Yeah, because I you know, my disability. It's my walking impairment. So they, you know, like sometimes I couldn't run as fast as the kids. Like my teacher would just tell me, "No, no. Sit here. Like for gym class. He wouldn't let me out for recess. He's like, "Oh, I don't want to get sued." And you know, that would make me feel like really bad. So, my mom would, like, kind of like every week, she would have, like, a meeting with the teachers in Mexico. So I don't know. Maybe things have changed now. You know, 15 years is a long time. I don't want to speak, you know, bad about, like, my country or, you know, about the people that live there but...I'm not saying they're bad people. They're just not educated. And I think, you know, disabilities, it's still a taboo. So yeah.
SERRANO: Okay. Well, that's good. Um, when you when you guys crossed the border, you guys came directly to Chicago?
ORTEGA: From what I remember, the first time we went to...what was it? Ciudad Juarez and stayed with like a lady. And then, yeah, we took the plane to Chicago and we got here. I just remember it being really cold.
ORTEGA: Yeah, but from what...that's from what I hear, like, from my parents, you know? The second time we crossed the border in Tamaulipas. Like yeah, and we crossed the border to Texas. I forgot what part of Texas. You know, Texas is really big. But yeah, we crossed the border there and then my aunt and uncle came to pick to pick me, my mom, and my brother up and we drove to Chicago.
SERRANO: Okay. And had you guys moved a lot in Chicago or were you guys in the same place most of your life?
SERRANO: So, what was your experience in elementary school? Like, like, you know how you were telling me like your disability and was it almost the same, too, over here or did, like, the teachers give you more opportunity to, you know, go out to recess or be like the other kids?
ORTEGA: Oh, here. Definitely here. I think I was even pushed more to my boundaries. I've always been a very independent, you know, child and I think that comes from my mother. My mother has never treated me as you know, "You have a disability" or, "You can't do that." Maybe sometimes, you know, with like, "No, it might be dangerous. Don't go out too late." But as far as like doing chores, she's like, "No. Do the dishes." But when I got here from elementary school, it was very different. I had, like, this little this person who was helping me, my aide. And since my grammar school didn't have elevators—because it was already sixth grade. So it was middle school. So, he would walk with me up and down the stairs. Or, like, he would take my book bag. So they would never tell me, "No, you can't take the stairs." No, they would, like, push me to take the stairs. You know, I think what made me feel different this time was that I wasn't such a little girl anymore. I was growing up.
ORTEGA: And back when, you know, I was in 6th grade, which was in the 90s, there was still a lot of bullying. You know, now they've put it out like, "Oh, stop bullying."
SERRANO: It's a big issue now.
ORTEGA: It's a big issue now. Like you see it everywhere. I wish they would campaign for it back then because I was bullied a lot in grammar school. And I think that's what made it hard. You know, they were like, "Oh, you walk slow," you know, kids were mean.
ORTEGA: Um, but I think it's helped me, like, become the person I am today. I, you know, I don't let myself down. I tried to impress myself as much as I can. You know if somebody tells me, "Oh, you probably can't do that." I try to prove them wrong and maybe it's bad sometimes, but that's what I do.
SERRANO: What's the thing that motivated you to be better, not let them put you down?
ORTEGA: You know, being a disabled person and a Latina, it's always hard. Especially, like, looking for jobs. I think when I started looking for a jobs. I think that's what gave me, like, my thick skin. You know, grammar school, I would cry a lot to my mom like, "Oh, they're bullying me. They tell me things." You know, I was, like, very naive. I would just cry and, you know, as soon as I got to high school, it was like a different thing. I was so like...I don't know. I feel like when you get to high school, well, at least for me, I was a happy person. You know, you're not only dealing with, like, disabled people. You're also dealing with like, you know, oh, you know, this person just came out. They're gay. So, you just like meet so many new kids. It's like, "Oh, I'm not the only different one." Like it's not so much, like, you don't see the same group every day, especially since I went to a public school that had like six hundred freshmen. And yeah, but what motivated me was when I started getting jobs and like internships, I went to an interview for an internship at Radio Arte because I wanted to, you know...Radio Arte was a local radio station in Pilsen and they would offer free classes for communications as far as, you know, radio broadcasting. And I really wanted to do that. And I think I started, like, becoming tough from there because I know I went to my interview and I felt really confident about it. And I didn't get picked and I was so devastated. Like I told my parents, "I don't understand why it didn't get picked for this program. Like it seems, like, you know... the professor liked me and we got along," you know. But, "What's wrong with me?" And I was just pretty upset like the whole weekend. On Monday night, I got a phone call from the professor and she's like, "Oh Barbara, I just wanted to say that I do want to put you in the program, but I don't know. Do you need any accommodations? Because we can't give you accommodations and we have, like, so many stairs. So that's why we didn't put your name on the list because we didn't know if we could help you." And I was like, "Well, yeah. I mean, maybe I'm a bit slower, but that doesn't stop me from, like, wanting to learn and, you know, and wanting to get to class on time et cetera." So she's like, "Well, before I put your name on the list, I wanted to confirm with you that you were okay taking steps." And I'm like, "Yes, I'm fine," you know. And that's when I started, like, seeing kind of like, you know, it wasn't...I don't think they saw it as discrimination, but. you do...You know, as much as job forms say "we don't discriminate against disabilities, race, religion," sometimes I do feel like it can be like that. You know, I love makeup. I want to be a successful makeup artist and, you know, I don't know can we disclose companies or no?
SERRANO: Go ahead. No, go ahead.
ORTEGA: I went to this interview with this, like, company and you know, I'm not trying to say, "Oh, I have the best personality," but I think I have what it takes to like, you know, bring people in. But I you know, I feel like, I feel like sometimes I have to work harder because they—you know, managers—don't know when they interview you on the phone. You know, how you walk or how you're going to walk in. So they're like, "Oh, okay." Like, they see you and it's like...it's crazy. Like you have to make yourself known even more and you have to prove them that you're strong because if not, I think if you don't do that...It's a bit harder for people with disabilities to get a job. You know, I used to work for Olive Garden a few years back and I heard a lot of rumors. I had my interview sitting down and my boss hired me on the spot. And I came back for my training the following week and the general manager. was upset with my boss because, because he said, "How could she hire me when she didn't even know that I couldn't do the job." But then after four years after that when I decided to leave the company, he got upset with me because he's like, "Oh you're leaving us," you know, and, "you were one of my best, you know, hosts. One of my best employees." So that's why I say, "Never judge a book by its cover."
SERRANO: So you saw a lot of discrimination. Did you ever, like, encounter racism? Like either in your school or at work or anywhere?
ORTEGA: As far as racism for me, I guess maybe sometimes with schedule changes, you know. Sometimes if a manager is of a certain, you know, race, they give their own people, like, more hours. I guess that's where I know that like where I notice it from. But even as far as, like, with your own people, I think there's a lot of, you know, racism.
SERRANO: Like if you were born in Mexico and not here or like just, nomás así.
ORTEGA: I think in general, but yeah, it has a lot to do with like, también...if, you know, a lot of people tell me that they're surprised right now. I'm...I only work with a DACA, you know, the...I'm with deferred action and a lot of people, you know, in my current job, they're like, "Oh, well, you know, you're like, oh you're a citizen, right? Like, "I just went to become a citizen" and I'm like, "No. No, I'm just working with DACA and they're like, "Oh my God, you look like a white girl." And I'm no, so, yeah, I think...What is another place? Oh, yeah, actually, I had my job at Macy's for like a year. I was so happy that job. I was working with makeup, making people pretty and happy and then all of a sudden, I get a letter and it's like well if you don't you don't renew your Social Security [number] like in a month, we're gonna have to, like, let you go. And oh my God, that was like the worst month ever because you know, I was, I kept calling, like, the immigration lawyer. Like, “When am I going to get it?" Like, "I know I've been approved like, you know, to renew it," but, unfortunately, I couldn't, you know, I couldn't get it. I couldn't get the DACA on time. Like the renewed one. And they let me go. And I think I've seen a lot of, you know, cases like mine and I feel that, in a way, that is discrimination. You know, I know you need, like, a permit to work here, but at least you know, like give us time. It makes...like, everything with immigration takes time, you know. They can't give you your paperwork like one day to another and I think that's what employers need to learn. But, especially with big chains, I think that's like the saddest part, that, you know, they don't care if they lose you because you don't have like, you know, your social or your work permit renewed because they could just get people like that. So that's a big issue to me. That's where I see like that's where I'm most hurt, because that's where I see discrimination and a bit of racism. Because if you can't get...even if you prove to be the best employee, you have the perfect attendance, you have the best sales, if you don't have that Social Security renewed or, you know, that work permit renewed, you're nothing. So I think that's where I see most discrimination and that's where I feel more hurt.
SERRANO: Do you think there should be more change and more laws, like, between that? Like the working and everything?
ORTEGA: Yeah. Um, you know, I appreciate what Obama has done with the whole DACA, deferred action. That has opened so many doors for me it. You know, it even makes me emotional at times because I've fought so hard to be, you know...I went to school. I paid out of my pocket. I got my Associate's degree. Unfortunately, I can't move past that. Yes, there's scholarships, you know, I know, and I've looked into them. But unfortunately, if you don't take those scholarships when you're fresh out of high school, they really don't count. And it's really hard not only with school, but with work. I had to, like, you know, work at like small places where sometimes they don't give you like what they owe you because "oh, well, it's slow. So can I pay you next week?" All because you know, you don't have a Social Security.
SERRANO: What small jobs do refer to?
ORTEGA: Restaurants, you know, where they don't, they don't check for Social Securities. Restaurants, offices, you know, where it's just—local businesses. I guess that's what I'm referring to.
SERRANO: Like are you saying that they sometimes, like, take advantage of you because you're undocumented?
ORTEGA: Yeah, you know, they know you're working with, you know, a fake Social. So why should they give you benefits? Why should, you know, or they pay you under the table? And if they don't have enough, it's like, "Well." You know, I was working for this restaurant one time and they had—$100 might not seem, you know, like a lot, but it was a lot to me, especially when I was like 19, 20 years old and when I couldn't get a decent job. It was a lot and my boss never paid me. I like I kept calling him. Like, "Hey, you owe me $100" and he was like, "Oh, yeah. Yeah next week. Next week." I never heard from him again. You know? Um, it's just those things and not only the pay. It also affects with, like, your emotional, your emotional being. Because I remember, you know, when I was working with this company, this big company, they weren't checking for, like, social, you know. And it was also a restaurant. But I know, like, my boss kept asking me, "Yo, where's your state ID? I need your state ID to...for your documents." And I was like, "Oh my God, where am I gonna get a state ID?" Like, you know, and that time, like, my boyfriend was, you know, I had to, like, cry to him. I was inconsolable. Like I was like, "What if I get fired? I need this money. I need to pay for school. I need to pay my bills. Like, what am I going to do?" Like, there was a point where I just felt like I was nothing. But it feels like you're nothing here, but you're nothing in your own country. You're nothing in México either because, you know, you never grew up over there. So, who are you going to go to when you have your parents here, you know? There came a time where I just wanted to leave. Like, maybe in México everything will be better. I will be treated as a human being. But then I thought about it and I was like, "But I have my family here, my parents. What am I gonna do without my parents? Who's gonna, like, who am I gonna go for consolation? What if it doesn't work and I can't come back?" You know, and then we got the DACA. And yeah, it's a great help, but I just don't understand why Congress doesn't pass the DREAM Act. I really don't. You know, I feel like f they heard more stories like mine and like other people's, like, they would see how great it would be. You know, people want to study. People want... [she tears up] Sorry. People want to be good for this country. We don't want to be outlaws. You know, we don't...We're not here to take anybody's jobs. I think we're just... It's hard for us, because we were here since we were little. We don't know anything but this. And this is our home, you know?
SERRANO: Yeah, so that's like one of the biggest struggles for an undocumented, like, person here and it's really sad.
ORTEGA: Uh-huh. Yeah, because you always hear it and you think, "There'll be a chance," you know? An immigration reform.
SERRANO: And you just feel lost here. Like what can you do?
ORTEGA: Yeah, because at the end of the day, it's always the bad guy that wins. It's always, you know, like, "Oh, we're the terrorists." Like, "Oh, well, yeah, you can work here, but you're only going to get, like, a work permit." You don't, you don't have—what? What can I say? Like enough benefits. You can never become a citizen. You know, like for me, my DACA expires, you know next year and I still have a chance to renew it for two more years. But then I turn 30, and what's going to happen after 30?
SERRANO: There's just always going to be problems, right?
SERRANO: There needs to be change. There needs to be more laws and it's good that, like, you're telling us your story because, like, that's good proof for later, like, studies and, you know, projects. And hopefully there will be change soon.
ORTEGA. Yes, I hope so. I know there's been many interviews and I know, you know, but a small voice can change and I hope my story, you know, can help. Can help a bit, or at least, you know, when I become someone's ancestor. They can see what the struggle was like.
SERRANO: What do you think about the students that were...or just like people that were born here and don't take advantage of all these benefits and school and work and the things that you that you're facing that they don't have to face? What do you think about that?
ORTEGA: You know, there was a time when I was I was very upset about that. I had I used to have a boyfriend and, you know, he was he was born here. He had every advantage. He didn't want to. He didn't want it. And, you know, we...I think that was part of why our relationship didn't work because I wanted everything he had and he just didn't care for it. Um, you know, I always try to tell my brothers—I have two younger brothers—you know, I try to tell them to take advantage of what they can. You know, never look at it as like...never take something for granted because you never know what you have until you don't have it.
SERRANO: Yeah. You don't have it.
ORTEGA: The smallest things. So, I always told him, like, he didn't like school, but I told him, "You know what? You're getting all your school paid for. All you have to do is, you know, study." He was like, "I hate it," but, you know, he got through it and he graduated and I'm proud of him. I just think, you know, you just—sometimes kids are lost because they don't have someone to look to or, you know, parents don't know how to, like, help them.
SERRANO: Or talk to them, too.
SERRANO: like how they grew up, too.
ORTEGA: Uh-huh. They don't know anything else and their parents, you can't blame the parents, either, because they don't know.
SERRANO: Yeah. That's also, like, education, too. Like in schools. Like some teachers don't talk to them. The counselors don't, like, force them or, like, just encourage them to go to school.
ORTEGA: Yeah, I just think they don't know what to do with them because they don't have a way. You know, a path. So yeah, I think that's that's the biggest struggle.
ORTEGA: Especially for Latinos. We're very, you know—education is, you know, we...I think our parents—and that's why we're like this—we're always, like., working, working, working and, you know, "Focus on work." And I think we want to be, you know, the best employees or, like, hard workers and we forget about certain things.
SERRANO: Yeah. It's a cultural thing. Like, just the—instead of going—like, telling them to go to school, they're like, "it's okay, mijo, just work."
ORTEGA: Yeah. "Go to work, trabaja. We need money."
SERRANO: Yeah. "We need money." Yeah.
ORTEGA: Especially for men. Like, "You have to be a man. How are you gonna, like, support your family when you get older?" And they tend to forget, you know, an important.key to work is school.
SERRANO: How was your, like, high school experience to like—like when, senior year, like, were you thinking about college or...?
ORTEGA: Ah, that's a good question because—oh, you know, I never realized I was undocumented until I was like a junior in high school.
ORTEGA: I mean, of course, you know, you didn't have, like, many benefits. But you also started seeing that because—what was that thing, Gallery 37? Back in the day? I don't think it exists now for public schools. But, back in the day, it was Gallery 37 and people, you know, it was like a little job after school. It wasn't really a job, but it was like a workshop and, you know, they would help you focus on things et cetera. But you needed a Social for that. And I could never join Gallery 37 because I never had a social security. Same with driver's ed. I had to take driver's ed to graduate, but I can never take range. You know, I I could never get my driver permit because I didn't have a Social and I wasn't allowed to. So, I passed my class with an A, but I I never went to range. I never did more than that because, "Hey, you don't have the Social Security. [chatter off screen] You can edit it.
SERRANO: Like, losing hope, right?
ORTEGA: Losing hope. You know, my parents—I have great parents. They're always supporting me. I remember the first time I went to apply to Harold Washington. I also felt discriminated because I only had my matrícula and the lady was like, "Oh, do you have your state ID or your ID?" And I was like, "Oh, here it is." And she's like, "Oh, okay." And I was like, she's like, "Oh you got financial aid?" And I'm like, "No. I just want to, like, take classes." And I remember like, you know, they signed me up. And when I had to pay, it was like a thousand, five hundred. And I was like—I called my dad. I'm like, "Pa, van a ser mil dolares." And I know. I know until this day, that credit card my dad is paying off every month, it's because of me. Like, some of that school money is for me. Because he would charge everything to that credit card. But, it also makes me, like, so happy because it makes me realize how great of parents I had. You know, they wanted me to keep going to school, so they would pay.
SERRANO: So that you knew support that other parents don't have for their children.
SERRANO: Yeah, that's good. Um, what else, like, have your parents done, like, to help you and support you? Like, other things?
ORTEGA: Other things? Well, other things? Not economically?
ORTEGA: Well, everything...I think, with my generation, everything's economical now. Ever since 9/11, it's hard to, like, move out by yourself and not, you know, not need your parents. I think they've supported me unconditionally. Like, by giving me a home up till now.
ORTEGA: Yeah, because when I was getting on my feet, you know, back on my feet with Macy's, that was like my first...I worked with Macy's. That was my first documented, you know, job where they checked for me. I was there all of, you know, a year and I was so happy. Like, because—okay, I think what people don't realize is, you know, "Oh, well, you get a work permit." But they don't realize how long it takes to actually get a new job. Like, to get a new job, it takes months, you know? And what are you doing with that Social? Like, nothing, because you're still applying for jobs. By the time you get to the interview process, you know, everything—that becomes like three months that you haven't worked your Social. So, anyway, yeah, I was working. I was happy. I, you know, I had a lot of friends. Everything was great. And then, bam! I got let go of because of my documents and it was—I felt like it was a knockout, you know. Like, how am I going to move out when I can't be, you know, stable with these jobs? You know, I was unemployed for about a month after that happened. Two weeks after, I got my DACA renewed and I went back to Macy's and I'm like, "Well, can I get my job back? You know, I have my documents now." And they're like, "Well, you have to reapply all over again." And I'm like, "Okay, nevermind." So that never happened. But yeah, and now I'm, I feel like after what, six months? I'm barely getting back on my feet, economically-wise. So, I think my parents have helped me with a great deal, economically-wise, just by giving me a home. And, as far as emotionally, like I said before, they've always been there for me. Always supporting me, you know, whatever I want to do. Yes, we don't agree with everything. You know, I think it's a cultural thing. You know, they grew up in Mexico with their beliefs. I grew up here with different beliefs. Times change, you know. We don't agree with everything, but, you know, we're—we go hand-in-hand and I know that no matter what, even though we disagree, they're always going to be there for me.
SERRANO: Um, what do you think of, like, marriage or children? Do you think of those things at all?
ORTEGA: Well, you know, before, when I was a bit younger and I was single—even last year, I think—I always thought I was going to be single. It's harder, especially, you know, with, like, a girl. You know, that's where we bring discrimination again.
ORTEGA: I don't know if it's discrimination. I just think some men are not as strong-minded as others and it's hard in the dating world to, like, find a man that wants, that is not afraid to be...I consider myself a strong woman. I don't know, you know, what other men think, but I think they get a bit freaked out. Like, you know, I have a walking disability. I don't walk that great and they get a bit freaked out by you, especially in this century, where everything is like, you know, online dating. You know, that's where you meet everyone and it's like, "Well, how am I going to tell them that?"
SERRANO: Yeah, it's a struggle.
ORTEGA: It's a struggle. Even like, I'm pretty sure, even if I didn't have like walking disability, just dating as hard, you know. But I don't know. I, you know, I've been dating my boyfriend for eight months now and, you know, I do think about marriage now. I'm getting close to 30. Maybe not soon, but I want to. I think, in that sense, I'm very I'm very old-school, you know. You know how people are having kids before marriage and then getting married. Well, to me marriage is still important, and I still want to get married. Before, I want to live with, you know, I want to live with him and then decide to have a child, you know?
ORTEGA: I always think of that. He tells me, you know, "We can have a baby. Like, I'm not gonna leave you. You know, I'll be there for you. Like, you know, I love you.” But to me, I don't know it's to me it's a fairytale. I want to have my wedding even though if it's not big, I don't care. I don't want a glamorous wedding. You know, I want something small. But I just want to wear my dress and I want to tell my kids like hey, here's...this is your dad, this is me on our wedding day. I want to show him or show her, you know the wedding pictures and I want to have my little family, you know, I...you know, I don't have anything against for people who have kids before, you know, it's...everyone's entitled to their own beliefs and hopes and you know, how life works out. Nothing against that at all. Like, you know props to you for having a child. But to me that's always been my dream, you know: my wedding dress, my makeup done pretty, and, I don't know, just, just a memory. I think I've always looked up to that no matter how like, open-minded I am, I think that's one of my dreams.
SERRANO: So, like those one of your dreams, or, um, ambitions. Do you have any like long-term or short-term goals that you have in mind right now?
ORTEGA: Well, my short-term goal. I'm very afraid of like driving. I don't know. I've had, you know, one of my best friends died in a car accident. My cousin died in a car accident. So I think that always freaks me out, driving. But those are my short-term goals now that I can get a driver's license.
ORTEGA: And that I can drive. One of my short term goals is that. My long-term goals is just...I don't know. I want to have a job that makes me happy and not be so afraid of like losing it because of my document status. Unfortunately, that is something I have to look into you know, but yeah, I just want a stable job. I want to be able to own, you know, a home.
ORTEGA: A home, and you know, be independent for myself and, you know, bring...I don't know, because I do think old school, but I also, you know, want to be an independent woman. Just in case, you know, something ever happens to my husband or you never know life circumstances. What if it doesn't work out? You never just want to depend on, you know, on your spouse for things. I also want to be independent for him and I want to make somebody proud, you know, and I want to be in I guess yeah move out. Those are my long-term goals. Have a stable job, you know. After that, once I'm stabilized maybe, you know start thinking about a family but who knows?
SERRANO: Do you think like when you ever have children will you like continue the same like customs as your parents or like the same, you know, like ideas like about school? Work? Or the Mexican culture?
SERRANO: That they agree with?
SERRANO: With a lot of Mexican parents that are not as open-minded.
ORTEGA: Yeah. I mean, it's not like I want to tell my parents, "Hey," you know, but I also don't want them to see it like a bad thing, you know, and... And I think I'll be more of an open-minded parent. I'm not there yet. So, I don't know how I'm going to be. Maybe I'll end up being the same because my parents always told me, "Until you're a parent, you won't understand," you know, and I feel it's true. Like yeah, "Ya va a saber cuando tengas hijos. Tú vas a sentir lo mismo." But I do want to be a bit more open-minded with that. You know, I, of course, I want to keep, like, la cocina. I think that like the taste in our food is the best. I want them to like know how to cook. I'm little by little I think since I have a more serious relationship now, I'm starting to like cook more and do things, you know, because before I was single and I was like, "I don't care. I'm never gonna get married. I'm just gonna work for myself. And be independent."
ORTEGA: But I see my relationship developing and I'm like, "Oooh, maybe, maybe I should like learn a bit more, you know, I'm almost 30. I need to like learn my customs with food. But yeah, definitely I want my kids to have what I didn't have you know. Um, even if I just have one child, I really hope she or he will go to school. I want them to have the dorm life. I always wanted to go away for college. That was one of my biggest dreams. Like to go away for college, you know to come back and just be like like a college student.
SERRANO: Like in the movies, right? Or in the TV shows?
ORTEGA: Yeah. Because with white culture they always show that in the movies. Even in scary movies and, like, ¿cómo se dice? Romantic comedies. It's like, "Oh, yeah, well, I'm going to college." And, "Oh, everything is so perfect." But in reality, especially Latino, you know, middle class, you don't get any of that. So, you know, I kind of I want to work hard for my kids. I want to I want them to have what I didn't have. I don't want to give I don't want to hand them everything either. Like I said before, I want them to work hard for what they want, too.
SERRANO: What are some of the things that you wish your parents had like taught you or like, your ideas of a mom? What would you have changed for it, from your parents?
ORTEGA: You know, it's har— from my mom, I guess just being a little more open with conversation. I mean, we have a relationship. We talk. But we clash in a lot of things. You know, like. "Oh, don't get home late. Don't sleep over with you know, your boyfriend." And it's like, "Mom. I'm almost, you know, 30 years old. I'm 28. I know that like... My boyfriend and I took a trip back in March, and my mom was like, "Well, I hope this doesn't happen often where you guys, you know, take trips." And it's like, "But why not? We're in like a good relationship. He respects me. I respect him", you know. "We're trying to, like, be grown-ups here." As far as being open like with you know, with cultural things like those, you know, they still want you to live at home till you get married. You know, I've talked to my mom about moving out several times and she's always like, "Well, why don't you just give me you know, what you would pay to me, like, and you can live here." And it's like, "Yes, mom, but you always say that I'm living under your roof, so I have to follow your rules." And she's like, "Well, my rules aren't that hard. I just ask you to come home early and not bring your boyfriend to your room." And it's like, "But I don't want to follow that. I want to go out with my friends, you know, get some drinks. If we want to go out of the state border, why not?" I don't, I don't want to feel that pressure. And most of our fights are because of that. Because I haven't come home and every time I do something it's like I have to tell her, "Hey, I'm okay. Like I'll see you home later," you know. And, and that's really hard for me. It's hard. It, you know, because...Especially when your boyfriend's parents are a little bit more open-minded and you guys live far away from each other. It's almost like a long-distance, distance relationship. It's hard, you know, you started having a bit of relationship problems because of it. And you start getting stressed out. It's a cultural shock for sure, you know, because your parents want you...they bring you here to have a better life, but they want you to grow up as they grew up in Mexico. But they don't see how like culture or how, like, people, society works here, you know.
SERRANO: Do you think your mom also thinks, like, sees you as a little kid and doesn't want you to grow up?
SERRANO: ...live under their rules.
ORTEGA: Live under their rules. And I think it frightens them to, you know, when you tell them you want to move out because they feel like they have no control over you. And I think what makes them feel sure about things that they have a better control over you. And that makes them feel like you're safe. And once you move out, it's like, "Well, how am I going to protect my little girl, you know?
SERRANO: Yeah, but they can't do anything anymore once you to leave their house.
SERRANO: Yeah, they can still be part of your life, but they can't make your decisions anymore. Most of your decisions.
ORTEGA: Exactly, you know. So yeah, it's something, it's something hard and I think, you know, I kind of, you know, gave my mom the idea that me and my boyfriend might move out soon together and she's like, "Oh, well, what about marriage?" And it's like, "Yeah, but that'll come with time, you know."
SERRANO: Do they tell you a lot about that? Like marriage? Like they force you? Like, "Come on, get married already?"
ORTEGA: Not so much about marriage, but they do tell me a lot about grandchildren.
ORTEGA: Yeah, even, like, my aunts or, my aunts or my, yeah, my aunts or my uncles. They're like, "O, pues, ya. Como que ya."
SERRANO: "Es el tiempo," ¿verdad?
ORTEGA: "Ya te toca a ti." And it's like, "No." But yeah, I always hear it. They're like, "No, no, take your time." But you know that part of the joke was kind of true.
ORTEGA: And they're always telling me like, "Oh, yeah, it's your turn. We need a baby around the house." And it's like, "Ha ha. Well, you guys have to wait till I'm married," you know? But see, this is how, like, it contradicts everything because they tell you they want you to get married, but then they see you growing old and it's like, "Well, where's my grandbaby?"
ORTEGA: So, I feel like you can never have anyone happy and that's why you have to make your own decisions, even if your parents don't agree with them, because you're the only one that is going to be happy. You're never going to make anyone happy if you go by your, by your parents' rules. I'm pretty sure like if I followed all of my parents’ rules, you know, like, they wouldn't be happy regardless. So, I mean, it's just the cultural thing. I'm not saying my parents are the worst parents. No. I appreciate them. I just think we don't think the same.
SERRANO: You just had to, like, find a way to make them understand.
ORTEGA: Sometimes you have to break the rules to make yourself happy.
SERRANO: Yeah. Also, for them to see that it's not that big of a deal as they think it is.
ORTEGA: Exactly. Because now they're used to me like this. Then, you know, I'm always going to be more of a punk rocker than a classy lady. Well, hey, I'm still classy, but I'm I'm a little darker than most.
SERRANO: So, what do you think is the thing that motivates you right now the most like to keep on with life and be positive?
ORTEGA: Thank you. I'm so happy for them. Like, so happy for them. Even if it's not me, I'm just happy that they're going to be doing things, you know? They're going to be doing things that they love. They're gonna go see family that we haven't seen in years. They're going to get to travel with my little brothers, you know, as a family. Even if I'm here, like I said, I'm an adult. You know, I wish I could travel with them, but some things are unfortunate, but I think their happiness is my happiness. So, I'm just so happy for them.
ORTEGA: Another motivation. I just, you know, I landed a great job with a great company and I feel unstoppable because, I don't know, as I said before, like, you have to prove yourself with people and I feel like I didn't have to try that hard with them. You know, I feel like I was...they were what I was looking for what they were looking for and what I was looking for, too, and I'm very happy. I feel like there's no stopping. You know I have, you know, supportive family everywhere. I have, you know, a great relationship that is growing and I think we're both growing up, you know, because we were kind of lost before we met each other and I think we both give ourselves the support we need from one another. You know, if we're not feeling great about something, you know, he'll make me feel good or I'll, you know, and I think I've never had a relationship like that. So, I'm pretty, I'm pretty happy. So, I think that's my motivation family love and life.
SERRANO: And to wrap things up, can you tell me a little bit about your daily life? Like what you do? Like word. How...when you wake up?
SERRANO: It's like the smallest things are, like, give you some...like get you happy, make you happy.
SERRANO: What the struggle is.
SERRANO: Yeah, little by little you're getting there and as long as you have like like motivations and like short term goals or long-term goals, like, you're good.
ORTEGA: So, I think that's important.
SERRANO: Yeah. Okay. Well, it was a pleasure having you and recording you. Interviewing you.
SERRANO: I enjoyed your story so much.
ORTEGA: Thank you. Thank you for listening to me. I know I talk a lot.
SERRANO: No, that's perfect. Okay, say goodbye. | 2019-04-26T02:53:24Z | https://digital.lib.niu.edu/islandora/object/latino%3A4/web.shtml |
Sometimes it seems that it might be better to go back to those simpler days, that one might get more out of a less complex life. But it cannot be done. One changes with prosperity. We all think we should like to lead a simple life, and then we find that we have picked up a thousand little habits which we are quite unconscious of because they are a part of our very being--and these habits are not in the simple life. There is no going back--except as a broken man.
"...it is praiseworthy to pursue wholesome studies even if they lead to no practical outcome. Is it so remarkable if those who attempt to scale the heights do not attain the summit? But if you are a man, look up with admiration at those who attempt great things, even if they fall. This is the sign of a noble heart--to aim at high things, measuring one's effort, not by one's own strength, but by the strength of one's nature, and to envisage enterprises beyond the accomplishment even of those equipped with heroic courage."
Today, I am launching a new site: Breaking Smart. It is a seasonal binge-reading site (think Netflix binge-watching, but for blogs) devoted to big-picture analysis of technology trends. Starting with this first season, I plan to publish a complete season of essays once every 2 years. The inaugural season has 20 essays, amounting to a total of about 30,000 words.
Below are some sections (slightly edited for public viewing) from a letter just sent to the investors of the fund I help manage.
While we claim no insight into how the situations above will play out, as a fund that began the quarter with roughly half of our portfolio in cash, we welcomed the volatility that these events and some Australia year-end tax selling created, which in turn allowed us to put some capital to work. After additional purchases early in the third quarter, our cash balance is now down to about 34% as of this writing.
During the quarter we added a new position in Legend Corporation Limited (ASX: LGD). The company, headquartered in Australia, designs, manufactures, imports and distributes for the local market a variety of electrical-oriented products, including connectors, tools, cables, measurement instruments, wiring and HVAC items. We were initially attracted to the company by what appeared to be a very good acquisition, a very low multiple to the significant free cash flow that the company was producing, and an owner-operator possessing strong incentives to appropriately manage the business.
The fund was able to acquire the vast majority of its position at A$.245 per share from what we believe to be a forced seller. At that price the fund was able to acquire the business at a multiple of 5.9x free cash flow (including that of the recently acquired business) and .82x book value. The dividend yield at the time of purchase was 7.1%. It was our judgment that given the nature of the business, the shares were quite a bargain.
Legend Corporation’s business is fairly attractive from a return-on-tangible-equity basis, returning 40% on average since 2008. Built intelligently through a series of acquisitions, return on equity has averaged 13% during that period. Relative to many distributors, and attributable to the owned brand and innovative products that Legend designs and sources internally, the company boasts fairly attractive consolidated margins, with underlying pre-tax margins averaging 9.8% since 2008. We see some scope to recover some margin over the next couple of years, as the rapid decline in the Australian Dollar during the last two years has been a headwind for margins. Underlying pre-tax margins peaked at 13.2% in 2012 before falling to the mid 9% range recently. If one assumes the company regains 50% of the lost margin, Legend would produce enough additional free cash flow to reduce our acquisition multiple of free cash flow to 5x.
Legend Corporation is run by Bradley Dowe, who founded the business with his wife in their kitchen in the early 1990s. Today he owns 28.4% of the company, worth A$15.6 million at our acquisition price. His base salary is about A$.33 million and so his stake in the company is worth 47x his annual salary. In fact, last year he received A$1.1 million in dividends, or more than 3.3x his annual salary. Needless to say, we think we and Dowe are on the same side!
Dowe has built the business through a series of acquisitions. Originally, when the company listed in 2004, it was a manufacturer of computer memory products, which it sold to OEMs. This business eventually ran into significant competitive pressures as Asia emerged as the dominant low-cost supplier to many of the world’s computer manufacturers. Dowe repositioned Legend through a series of acquisitions, completed at attractive prices, in the electrical distribution space it occupies today. The most recent acquisition, completed shortly before our share purchases, was a company called System Control Engineering. We believe the acquisition will continue Dowe’s history of attractive dealmaking. At the total maximum purchase price, the company will have paid a multiple of 4.7x earnings before interest and taxes. In and of itself, that is an attractive multiple, but the company has additional potential levers to reduce its working capital intensity and increase margins, which combined could reduce the multiple to 3.3x. In our judgment, the market is not paying attention to, among other things, this attractive acquisition.
While it has taken a bit longer than we would have expected (or hoped) to put as much cash as we have to work, and while we still have a decent amount of dry powder left, we’ve always felt it most important to remain disciplined to the margin of safety creed we follow. Like the quote above, we believe almost everything is a good deal at one price and a bad deal at another, and that belief has taken us in several directions in our search for value. Since the end of last year, we’ve purchased shares in what we’d consider good businesses with growth opportunities in the UK and Australia; additional shares in a couple of mining services companies as tax selling and a further decline in sentiment drove down prices; and a couple of Hong Kong-listed companies with decent businesses and real estate portfolios. In all of those cases, there is a well-incentivized owner-operator helping to steer the ship on our behalf.
The keys in these situations, we believe, are focusing on one’s downside, and doing the work to come up with conservative estimates of what you can lose if you are wrong and what you can make if you are right. And while probabilities can’t be estimated reliably, one can look for situations that at least tilt the odds in one’s favor, such as by focusing on downside risk and buying from eager sellers. We discussed this in more detail in our Q2 letter last year, but we bring it up again because we believe that at least three of our main purchases during the second quarter, and continuing into the early third quarter, involved eager sellers on the other side of the trades, though maybe not as eager as the British government was in Ricardo’s time.
First question relates to the opportunity in energy you guys talk about there. Really just wanting the team to talk about how you guys have sort of managed the risks investing in that sector. And kind of what I'm wondering about is that if you underwrite investment, assuming kind of $50 oil was the baseline yet $25 ends up being the reality, it seems it could be a lot of downside associated with those investments. So that's the question, part one of the question. Part 2 is do you think it's a little early yet to be an aggressive investor in the sector at this point?
Well, the hallmark of Oaktree investing is to focus on the downside. And when we look at energy, we try to do the same. We try to assume -- we look at obviously the forward curve and what that's telling us, but then we assume a lot of downside and -- to that and try to build that into the equation. So the most recent transaction that we're working on right now, for example, our breakeven would be well below the forward curve and probably something in the 30s. Now if oil gets down to $25, that's got to hurt a lot of people. And of course, no one knows what's going to happen. But the interesting things about Oaktree, and I could have said this to Mike in answer to the very first question, is as things gets worse and worse, the opportunity set for us opens up more and more. And so, for example, we would raise more money in Opps Xb to take advantage of the opportunity set a year or 2 from now. But in terms of today, we can't proceed assuming that oil is going to be $25. All we can to is structure our investment such that we protect ourselves in a downside scenario which we do, do.
And the second part of the question, is it a little early yet to be really aggressive in investing in the sector? Do you think now would -- there's been enough shakeout with there are some really an attractive opportunity at this point?
Well, in the last quarterly call, I mentioned the psychology that there wasn't opportunities because the psychology was not really that negative. The psychology is starting to turn negative, but it's just beginning. And we haven't dived in yet by any means. We have a lot of dry powder, and we're right now accessing opportunities that again are structured to basically minimize the risk, but also want to take advantage of now happens to be, in retrospect, the right time to step in for part of the opportunity. So our instinct is that it's not time to dive into the water completely, but it is time to take advantage of low oil prices and gas prices.
GMO's 2Q 2015 Letter includes Ben Inker's "Price-Insensitive Sellers," and Jeremy Grantham's "Ten Quick Topics to Ruin Your Summer."
The last decade has seen an extraordinary rise in the importance of a unique class of investor. Generally referred to as “price-insensitive buyers,” these are asset owners for whom the expected returns of the assets they buy are not a primary consideration in their purchase decisions. Such buyers have been the explanation behind a whole series of market price movements that otherwise have not seemed to make sense in a historical context. In today’s world, where prices of all sorts of assets are trading far above historical norms, it is worth recognizing that investors prepared to buy assets without regard to the price of those assets may also find themselves in a position to sell those assets without regard to price as well. This potential is compounded by the reduction in liquidity in markets around the world, which has been driven by tighter regulation of financial institutions, and, paradoxically, a greater desire for liquidity on the part of market participants. Making matters worse, in order to see massive changes in the price of a security, you don’t need the price-insensitive buyer to become a seller. You merely need him to cease being the marginal buyer. If price-insensitive buyers actually become price-insensitive sellers, it becomes possible that price falls could take asset prices significantly below historical norms. This is not to suggest that such an event is inevitable, still less is it an attempt to predict in which assets and when it will occur, but anyone conditioned to think that these investors provide a permanent support for the markets should be aware that the support may at some point be taken away.
Two significant items seem to be different this time. First, profit margins in the U.S. seem to have stopped mean reverting in the old, normal way, and second, some real estate markets have bubbled up and then stayed there at high prices. Both seem surprising events, even against what I would call “the laws of nature,” or at least the usual laws of capitalism. What is going on?
Corporate disasters usually stem from many small problems conspiring to cause one very big one. A dip in sales, distracted management, a little too much debt; for want of a nail, the kingdom was lost.
Austbrokers, however, is threatened by the opposite principle: one enormous problem that will cause many more. Warren Buffett wants to put the company out of business.
Thereby, quite unconsciously, I turned up the first principle of salesmanship--which is, that you must thoroughly believe in what you have to sell. Then selling becomes merely a matter of showing how your product will help a prospect. I have always been more of a salesman than a manufacturer--it has been hard for me to learn factory methods. But selling has always come easy to me, simply because, since those patent medicines, I have never attempted to sell anything which I did not thoroughly believe in. Therefore, I have never really had to sell at all--only to explain the favour I expected to do the prospect. The principle holds true, whether one is selling a tangible thing, like a rubber tire, or whether one is selling something intangible, like the future of the company, either in the shape of capital stock or in the shape of credit at a bank. Persuading a man to buy is not, to my notion, salesmanship. It is just persuading him to buy and nothing more.
Salesmanship has to establish a continuing relation in which the seller helps the buyer. Going to great lengths to sell a man something he does not want is a clumsy way of trying to get money--it is much simpler and just as honest to knock the fellow on the head and take the money away from him.
Chinese shares tumbled more than 8 percent on Monday amid renewed fears about the outlook for the world’s No. 2 economy, reviving the specter of a full-blown market crash that prompted unprecedented government intervention earlier this month.
1) Valuations control long-term returns. The higher the price you pay today for each dollar you expect to receive in the future, the lower the long-term return you should expect from your investment. Don't take current earnings at face value, because profit margins are not permanent. Historically, the most reliable indicators of market valuation are driven by revenues, not earnings.
2) Risk-seeking and risk-aversion control returns over shorter portions of the market cycle. The difference between an overvalued market that becomes more overvalued, and an overvalued market that crashes, has little to do with the level of valuation and everything to do with the attitude of investors toward risk. When investors are risk-seeking, they are rarely selective about it. Historically, the most reliable way to measure risk attitudes is by the uniformity or divergence of price movements across a wide range of securities.
I've called these The Iron Law of Valuation, and The Iron Law of Speculation. I've repeated them frequently. They deserve to be repeated. They’re not Kipling, but if you remember both of those principles through the ups and downs of the market cycle, I expect that they’ll replace a great deal of grief with a great deal of success over a lifetime of investing. They also explain virtually every major success and occasional stumble I've experienced in three decades as a professional investor.
A few weeks ago, in the country, far from the lights of the city, I saw the entire sky “powdered with stars” (in Milton’s words); such a sky, I imagined, could be seen only on high, dry plateaus like that of Atacama in Chile (where some of the world’s most powerful telescopes are). It was this celestial splendor that suddenly made me realize how little time, how little life, I had left. My sense of the heavens’ beauty, of eternity, was inseparably mixed for me with a sense of transience — and death.
A big thanks to everyone who passed along invites to Inbox by Gmail. I really appreciate it.
It is not the globe trotter who knows mankind, but the thinker. In order to know the sun's chemical composition we need not go to the sun; we can analyze the sun's light by spectrum analysis. We need not stretch a tape line to the moon to measure its distance from the earth, we can calculate it by the methods of an a priori science (trigonometry).
Are you using the current business model and not anchoring on how the business used to be (i.e. remember that businesses are always changing)?
Steel prices declined 80% after Carnegie developed and built a new kind of plant that massively increased output.
After the Spindletop discovery in Texas by the Hamil brothers in 1901, a barrel of oil dropped from about $2.00 down to $0.03. Oil at that time was cheaper than water.
The price of a car went from 2 years wages to 3 months wages due to the assembly line, although this was over a ten year period.
Malcolm McLean’s 1956 innovation of the shipping container slashed shipping prices from $6 to $0.16 cents per ton.
Hedge funds are lining up to profit from potential trouble at some “alternative” mutual funds and bond exchange-traded funds that have boomed in popularity among retirees and other individual investors.
Financial advisers have pushed ordinary investors into those funds in search of higher returns, a strategy that has come into favor as Federal Reserve benchmark interest rates remain near zero. But many on Wall Street worry that junk bonds, bank loans and esoteric investments held by some of those funds will be extremely hard to sell if the market turns, leaving prices pummeled in a rush for the exits.
"...there is a complicating factor that makes the handling of investment mistakes more difficult. This is the ego in each of us. None of us likes to admit to himself that he has been wrong. If we have made a mistake in buying a stock but can sell the stock at a small profit, we have somehow lost any sense of having been foolish. On the other hand, if we sell at a small loss we are quite unhappy about the whole matter. This reaction, while completely natural and normal, is probably one of the most dangerous in which we can indulge ourselves in the entire investment process. More money has probably been lost by investors holding a stock they really did not want until they could ‘at least come out even’ than from any other single reason. If to these actual losses are added the profits that might have been made through the proper reinvestment of these funds if such reinvestment had been made when the mistake was first realized, the cost of self-indulgence becomes truly tremendous."
Our answer to the question “Are stocks overvalued?” in the U.S. market is a resounding “Yes!” Our forecast for core U.S. equities is a 0.8% annualized real return over the next decade. The 10-year expected real return for emerging markets equity, however, is much higher at 5.9% a year. The return potential of the nondeveloped markets is so high, in fact, that the valuation models, warts and all, paint a very clear picture.
Online marketplace Jet.com Inc. has almost no revenue, years of likely losses in its future and a strategy that includes underpricing mighty Amazon.com Inc. on millions of items. Jet also has perhaps the highest valuation ever among e-commerce startups before their official launch.
That is no contradiction in Silicon Valley, where investors keep pouring money into audacious business experiments filled with big-splash potential. Jet is the buzziest e-commerce arrival of the current boom, with $225 million in capital raised in the past year and a timer on its website counting down the seconds to Tuesday’s opening of Jet to the public.
More than just about any other current startup, Jet seems reminiscent of the dot-com boom era, when e-commerce companies assumed giant losses before breaking into the black.
Anticipation runs so high that Jet’s founder and chief executive, Marc Lore, is in talks with investors about raising hundreds of millions of dollars in additional capital by year end, according to people briefed on the discussions. The infusion could increase the online retailer’s value to $3 billion from $600 million.
• Rule number one: most things will prove to be cyclical.
• Rule number two: some of the greatest opportunities for gain and loss come when other people forget rule number one.
Very few things move in a straight line. There’s progress and then there’s deterioration. Things go well for a while and then poorly. Progress may be swift and then slow down. Deterioration may creep up gradually and then turn climactic. But the underlying principle is that things will wax and wane, grow and decline. The same is true for economies, markets and companies: they rise and fall.
The basic reason for the cyclicality in our world is the involvement of humans. Mechanical things can go in a straight line. Time moves ahead continuously. So can a machine when it’s adequately powered. But processes in fields like history and economics involve people, and when people are involved, the results are variable and cyclical. The main reason for this, I think, is that people are emotional and inconsistent, not steady and clinical.
As a reminder of where the market stands at the moment, the chart below shows the ratio of nonfinancial market capitalization to corporate gross value added. While other historically reliable metrics carry a very similar message, Market Cap/GVA has the highest correlation with actual subsequent 10-year S&P 500 total returns than any other valuation ratio we’ve examined across history. Despite my admitted stumble in the half-cycle since 2009, it’s perplexing that the equity market is at the second greatest valuation extreme in the history of the United States, on what are objectively the most durably reliable valuation measures available, but it has somehow become an affront to suggest that this will not end well.
Notice that no market cycle in history, even in recent decades, has failed to carry the ratio of MarketCap/GVA to 1.0 or below by the completion of the cycle. The S&P 500 is presently twice that level. We allow that short-term interest rates may be pegged well below historical norms for several more years, and we know that for every year that short-term interest rates are held at zero (rather than a historically normal level of 4%), one can “justify” equity valuations about 4% above historical norms – a premium that removes that same 4% from prospective future stock returns. So assuming historically normal long-term nominal growth in the economy and corporate revenues, coupled with suppressed interest rates, we accept that another 5 years of zero interest rates might “justify” a premium to historically normal valuations of about (5 years x 4% =) 20%. Again, the problem is that market valuations are presently more than double those norms on the most historically reliable measures.
...Presently, we anticipate negative total returns for the S&P 500 Index over the coming decade. Even if valuations remain above historical norms a decade from today, it will be extremely difficult for stocks to post total returns beyond the low single digits in the coming 10-year period.
Warren Buffett and Bill and Melinda Gates will be on Charlie Rose tonight.
In that podcast, I believe Pat Dorsey also mentioned Cintas, which deworsified its very good business a bit by getting into the more capital intensive document shredding business. I was reminded of it after the Stericycle news today, which will be interesting to see if it ends up being a similar deworsifier for it as well.
How has your understanding of “economic moats” evolved over the years?
The biggest mistake I made at Morningstar was underplaying the value of good management. At a smaller business, the ability of a manager to create something incredible out of not much is quite striking. Buffett started with a textile mill -- the worst raw material of all -- and look what he did. Or look at what John Malone did at Liberty. But not every manager needs to be insanely brilliant. Beyond that, you just find a great business run by a smart manager who has the ability to reinvest excess free cash flow at a high incremental rate of return. That, to me, is the key. Having a moat is great. Having a good capital allocator at the helm is important. But the business also needs a good runway ahead of it, so the manager can reinvest the cash inside their moat. That’s what we’re looking for.
Do you hedge against currency risk in any of the countries where you invest?
No. Full hedging is expensive. The costs are certain; the returns are uncertain. And selective hedging would just give us something else to be wrong about. The strength of the U.S. dollar has been painful for us, but the currency drag has been smaller so far this year. Some years, currency will make you look like a genius; some years, it will make you look like an idiot. You’re probably neither.
Greece has been anything but sun-kissed. We continue to hold a small position in Greek bank stocks and warrants. The best we can say is that from the outset we recognized this to be a high-risk, high-reward proposition and sized the position accordingly. Neither our losses nor remaining downside exposure are significant.
Last year, it appeared that Greece had finally turned the corner after years of suffering through imposed austerity and the resultant 25% collapse in GDP. Much like the Seahawks’ ill-fated decision to pass the ball at the end of Superbowl XLIX, instead of giving it to monster running back Marshawn Lynch, Greece snatched defeat from the jaws of victory by electing the populist anti-austerity, pro-debt-writedown, Syriza coalition.
Puerto Rico’s governor recently said of its own debt, “This is not about politics; it’s about math.” The math for Greece is easy: austerity hasn’t improved the economy and its debts are unsustainable. Knowing this, Syriza no longer wanted to play the “extend and pretend” game. Further, Greece’s recently resigned finance minister Yanis Varoufakis believed they wouldn’t have to. Mr. Varoufakis, who kept reminding everyone that he is a professor of game theory, believed that the European leaders would prefer to make concessions now rather than manage the disruption of a Greek default. He must not be familiar with the Tyler Durden school of negotiation: the first rule of using game theory is you do not talk about using game theory. What’s more obvious is that Syriza didn’t understand what the game is.
This is not about math; it’s about politics. Consider that the main difference between Greece and France is that France is a big fan of extend and pretend. And as long as France says it will pay, its bonds might yield just a bit more than Germany’s. Though Greece has a superficially unmanageable ratio of debt to GDP, the debt had been restructured so that there is little debt service burden for the next several years. Politically, European leaders prefer to leave the future problems in the future. Syriza’s refusal to play along is a problem not just for bondholders but also for those holding seats of power. The European leaders fear that if Syriza can claim even a moral victory, it will inspire other European countries to oust their current leaders in favor of populist governments who campaign on the promise of debt repudiation.
Though Mario Draghi promised he would do whatever it takes to save the euro, that doesn’t include lifting a finger to assist Greece financially or in any way signal that the ECB has Greece’s back. Just days prior to the January elections, Mr. Draghi announced that the ECB would exclude Greece from quantitative easing for at least six months. Doing whatever it takes is proving to be a conditional promise, as denying Greece access to the capital markets is a key tenet of the European strategy to pressure Syriza.
For anyone still missing the joke, Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda summarized the view of the global central planners when he said, “I trust that many of you are familiar with the story of Peter Pan, in which it says, ‘the moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease forever to be able to do it.’ Yes, what we need is a positive attitude and conviction.” Perception supplants reality. The moment leaders (or markets) start making it about the math, gravity comes into play.
Last week, the price of Greek government debt soared on hopes of an 11th hour stick-save bailout by the European Union. Unfortunately, that price jump still left Greek bonds priced to reflect a default probability of 100% at every maturity. The jump only reflected an increase in the amount that bondholders evidently expect to recover in default, raising the implied recovery rate from the recent low near 30% to something closer to 50%. Put another way, the bond market has fully priced in the likelihood of a default coupled with a major haircut on Greek debt. What prices may not reflect is that the style of the haircut Greece wants may be modeled after former finance minister Yanis Varoufakis.
The fact is that the entire structure of the euro itself is wrong – flawed – because it demands exactly that sort of transformation by any country that is not sufficiently similar to stronger European countries such as Germany, France and Finland. One of the first things that international economists learn to appreciate is the idea of an “adjustment variable.” When two countries differ significantly in their growth, productivity, tax structure, demographics, and other factors, the relative differences are typically resolved by changes in exchange rates, interest rates, and price levels. Those adjustment variables provide a buffer for each country that allows them to adapt individually to economic differences and shocks.
The problem with the euro is that the treaty that allowed each country entry into the system was much like an errant request by the King of Asteroid 325: transform yourself into a sea bird.
We human beings are fettered and weakened by many vices; we have wallowed in them for a long time and it is hard for us to be cleansed. We are not merely defiled; we are dyed by them. But, to refrain from passing from one figure to another, I will raise this question, which I often consider in my own heart: why is it that folly holds us with such an insistent grasp? It is, primarily, because we do not combat it strongly enough, because we do not struggle towards salvation with all our might; secondly, because we do not put sufficient trust in the discoveries of the wise, and do not drink in their words with open hearts; we approach this great problem in too trifling a spirit. But how can a man learn, in the struggle against his vices, an amount that is enough, if the time which he gives to learning is only the amount left over from his vices? None of us goes deep below the surface. We skim the top only, and we regard the smattering of time spent in the search for wisdom as enough and to spare for a busy man. What hinders us most of all is that we are too readily satisfied with ourselves; if we meet with someone who calls us good men, or sensible men, or holy men, we see ourselves in his description, not content with praise in moderation, we accept everything that shameless flattery heaps upon us, as if it were our due. We agree with those who declare us to be the best and wisest of men, although we know that they are given to much lying. And we are so self-complacent that we desire praise for certain actions when we are especially addicted to the very opposite. Yonder person hears himself called "most gentle" when he is inflicting tortures, or "most generous" when he is engaged in looting, or "most temperate" when he is in the midst of drunkenness and lust. Thus it follows that we are unwilling to be reformed, just because we believe ourselves to be the best of men.
A common misperception among professional investors is that there is a bright-line distinction between value and growth investing. This is a legacy belief that was driven largely by institutional consultants. They have attempted to group managers whose portfolio characteristics clustered around low prices in relation to book value and earnings as value managers. Conversely, a manager with a portfolio filled with companies that exhibit growth in sales or earnings are considered growth managers. If a small-cap manager engages in fundamental company analysis with any regularity, the irrationality of this model becomes readily apparent. Growth (or lack thereof) is simply incorporated into the mathematics of appraisal. No manager, growth or otherwise, is attempting to purchase a security at a steep premium to estimated appraisal. The industry perpetuates the myth that value managers are concerned with buying statistically cheap securities and that growth managers do not care what they pay. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The previous section included a discussion on the pros and cons of relying on historical accounting data for valuation. Appraising an operating business is almost always about the future profits attributable to owners. If expected profits are discounted appropriately and adjusted for capital structure, then an appraisal should reflect all variability within the various line items on the income statement. Both value and growth managers are correct to attempt to purchase at a discount to appraisal. Conversely, both are likely to be wrong if, in the case of value managers, they blindly purchase stocks with low relative price-to-book values without considering the future of the company and, in the case of growth managers, they blindly purchase fast-growing companies regardless of valuation.
Most investment processes begin with quantitative elements like filters and screens. The qualitative work is often left for the latter stages, after suitable investment candidates have been identified. Investment processes are often structured in this quantitative-first order for two reasons. First, it is more convenient for the manager to reduce the size of the opportunity set to a more manageable list of companies. Second, institutional investors often demand a step-by-step process that can neatly illustrate the filtering of thousands of companies into a final portfolio. But convenience and marketing should not be the drivers of a robust investment process. Managers who understand the hidden dangers of screening and strict adherence to quantitative investment processes should instead start with the qualitative search for competitive advantage and management talent. By compiling a list of qualitatively superior companies first, and limiting valuation work to these, a small-cap manager prevents being drawn into seductively cheap subpar ideas.
Mathematics is ordinarily considered as producing precise and dependable results; but in the stock market the more elaborate and abstruse the mathematics the more uncertain and speculative are the conclusions we draw therefrom. In forty-four years of Wall Street experience and study I have never seen dependable calculations made about common-stock values, or related investment policies, that went beyond simple arithmetic or the most elementary algebra. Whenever calculus is brought in, or higher algebra, you could take it as a warning signal that the operator was trying to substitute theory for experience, and usually also to give to speculation the deceptive guise of investment.
If the science of statistics can benefit me in anything, I will use it. If it poses a threat, then I will not. I want to take the best of what the past can give me without its dangers. Accordingly, I will use statistics and inductive methods to make aggressive bets, but I will not use them to manage my risks and exposure. Surprisingly, all the surviving traders I know seem to have done the same. They trade on ideas based on some observation (that includes past history) but, like the Popperian scientists, they make sure the costs of being wrong are limited (and their probability is not derived from past data).
Buying a cyclical after several years of record earnings and when the P/E ratio has hit a low point is a proven method for losing half of your money in a short period of time.
Your three components: body, breath, mind. Two are yours in trust; to the third alone you have clear title.
If you can cut free of impressions that cling to the mind, free of the future and the past—can make yourself, as Empedocles says, “a sphere rejoicing in its perfect stillness,” and concentrate on living what can be lived (which means the present) … then you can spend the time you have left in tranquillity. And in kindness. And at peace with the spirit within you. | 2019-04-21T10:58:38Z | https://www.valueinvestingworld.com/2015/07/ |
Posted: Friday, April 24, 2010 at 01:20 PM UTC | Updated: December 31, 2010.
Bet-Nahren, Assyria (AIM) — In 1932, Iraq was admitted into the League of Nations (now known as the United Nations) on the basis this new country would ensure the rights of its indigenous minority populations. It did not take long to break that written and signed promise to the international community. In 1933, the Iraqi army together with the Kurds, committed its first state-sponsored genocide operation against the Assyrians in Simele and throughout the 65 surrounding villages.
The Simele Genocide was one of many systematic mass murders endured by the indigenous Assyrians. From 1843 to 1945, the Turks, Kurds, Arabs and Persians committed genocides against the Assyrian nation and other Christian peoples in Asia Minor [Middle East].
History reminds us that when the British mandate on Iraq ended in 1932, it was followed by a genocide of the Assyrians. The U.S. mandate is scheduled to end in 2011, and will leave the Assyrians in the midst of a certain civil war between the Shiaa, Sunni and Kurdish populations. Ultimately, the indigenous Assyrians will continue to be 5th-class citizens and be at the mercy of Islamic-based republics, until the United Nations and the victorious Allies complete their – work of humanity and appeasement – as promised to the Assyrians ["Our Smallest Ally"].
The Assyrians continue to be religiously and ethnically persecuted in the Middle East due to Islamic fundamentalism, Arabization and Kurdification policies, leading to land expropriations and forced emigration to the West.
This chronological list of oppression, harassment, intimidation and murder is sectioned by year. Unfortunately, this list reflects only the reported acts, since many other violent crimes are not reported due to the threat of repercussions by Islamists and Kurdish authorities.
visit the Bet-Nahren, Assyria news section.
Coffins of slain Christians, Fawzi Rahim, 76, left, and Janet Mekha, 78, right, are seen during their funeral Mass at St. George Chaldean Church in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, Dec. 31, 2010. Militants in Iraq have attacked at least four Christian homes with a combination of grenades and bombs, killing and wounding a few people and sending fear into the country's already terrified tiny Christian community, police said.
The latest bloody attack on Iraq's Christians was brutal in its simplicity. Militants left a bomb on the doorstep of the home of an elderly Christian couple and rang the doorbell.
Militants attacked at least four Christian homes Thursday night with a combination of grenades and bombs, killing two people and sending fear into the already terrified tiny Christian community.
Al-Qaeda threats against Christians have led to Christmas festivities being cancelled in the northern Iraqi oil hub of Kirkuk, its Chaldean Catholic archbishop said on Tuesday.
An unknown group of terrorists broke into the home of a Christian family in the Darkazliya district of Mosul, and abducted the daughter Robina Tareq Petros Alqas Touma.
Three (3) armed terrorists have broken into the home of a Christian family in the Sahet Maisaloun district of Baghdad. After entering the home, the terrorists threatened the family and told them that they will kill them. Prior to leaving the house, the terrorists warned the family to leave their home in Baghdad, if they wanted to stay alive.
An Iraqi soldier and a Christian citizen were killed and seven people wounded on Tuesday evening in separate gunfire and a car bomb attacks in the city of Mosul, the capital of Nineveh province, a provincial police source said.
Two Iraqi Christian brothers were gunned down inside their vehicle workshop in the restive northern city of Mosul on Monday, police said.
A string of anti-Christian bombings has cost six more lives in the wake of a Baghdad church bloodbath, sowing panic in Iraq's 2,000-year-old minority on Wednesday, many of whom now want to flee.
October 31, 2010 (Baghdad, Iraq) — Islamic Terrorists kill Assyrians in Baghdad Church.
Islamic militants held around 120 Iraqi Christians hostage for nearly four hours in a church Sunday before security forces stormed the building and freed them, ending a standoff that left 58 people dead, U.S. and Iraqi officials said.
October 2, 2010 (Baghdad, Iraq) — Matty Anwar Youkhanna Albazi abducted in Iraq.
On Saturday, October 2, 2010, an unknown group abducted Matty Anwar Youkhanna Albazi who resides in the Assyrian neighborhood of Dora in Baghdad. The abductors contacted his family on Sunday October 3, 2010 and demanded a ransom amount of $100,000 (one hundred thousand US dollars) for his release.
August 28, 2010 (Mosul) (AFP) — Kidnapped Assyrian killed in Iraq despite ransom paid.
A Christian glazier, Luay Barham al-Malik, was abducted and killed in northern Iraq after his family had paid his kidnappers 15,000 dollars as a ransom for his release, police said on Friday.
A double bomb attack targeting buses carrying Christian students and university workers near Mosul in northern Iraq killed a shopkeeper and wounded 80 other people on Sunday, police said. The attack, comprising a car bomb and an improvised explosive device, took place on a highway around three kilometres east of Mosul, the capital of Nineveh province, at around 8:00 am (0500 GMT) an officer told AFP. The victims were travelling from Hamdaniyah, a Christian area, to the University of Mosul, he said.
December 28, 2009 (Mosul) — An Assyrian student was kidnapped from Mosul University premises.
Sara Edmond Youkhana was in her first year of Pedagogy Education at the university. A group claiming to represent the Islamic Republic of Iraq called the family and claimed responsibility for the kidnapping without making any demands.
December 24, 2009 (Mosul) — Basil Esho Youkhana (b. 1986) was murdered in front of his home in al-Tahrir quarters in Mosul. Basil was attacked by an unidentified armed men. His body was transferred to Bartella where he is going to be buried.
December 23, 2009 (Mosul) — The Church of Mar Toma (St. Thomas) for the Syrian (Assyrian) Orthodox in al-Sa’aa District in Mosul was a bomb target. The terrorists used a small wooden cart (normally used by persons selling fruits, vegetables, etc.) to hide the bombs in. The church is located on an old narrow alley that is not accessible by automobiles. One passing by was killed and four injured. Church windows and doors were damaged.
December 17, 2009 (Mosul) — Zayd Najeeb Yousif (39) was killed by unidentified group of people in the 17 July quarters in Mosul.
December 15, 2009 (Mosul) — Two churches (Al Tahira Orthodox and the al-Bishara Catholic) were bombed today in Mosul. Many children were injured at the school that is adjacent and belongs to the al-Tahira Assyrian Orthodox Church. The two churches were damaged. One girl, baby Teba Sa’ad Yunis, eight days young was killed in the attack.
November 26, 2009 (Mosul) — A bomb exploded near the Church of Mar Afram in Wadi al-‘Ayn in Mosul al-Jadeeda (New Mosul). The bomb caused extensive damage to the church and the home of the priest attached to the church property. The church is not suitable for praying any longer. Another bomb ripped through the Santa Teresa Monastery, but none of the six nuns that live in it were hurt; however, the monastery’s reception hall was damaged severely, in addition to other parts of the structure.
November 13, 2009 (Mosul) — An unidentified group of men attacked and fired upon Rami Khacheek (16) while he was in front of his own home in al-Tahrir quarters and killed him immediately. Rami’s family had escaped to Tellesqof after the attacks on Christians in Mosul, but returned lately with the relative peace. Rami’s funeral was on Saturday. He was buried in Tellesqof.
October 12, 2009 (Baghdad) — Saamir al-Naqqar (b. 1974) was shot and killed for undisclosed reasons. He was a graduate of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. He attended the Christian Studies Institute of the Babil (Babylon) College of Theology, at its old location in Dora, Baghdad.
October 5, 2009 (Kirkuk) — The funeral of Imad Eliya (b. 1956) took place at the Church of the Holy Family. Eliya was abducted a couple of days earlier and his body was found on Sunday with traces of gunshot wounds. Eliya was an employee (nurse) at Kirkuk’s General Health Directorate.
September 5, 2009 (Mosul) — After over a month and a half of abduction, the body of Saalim Barjo was found in Mosul.
August 18, 2009 (Kirkuk) — This evening one Assyrian was killed while another abducted. Sabah Askar (father of three children), was killed when he tried to save a child in his neighborhood from being abducted. Dr. Samir Giwargis was abducted by unknown gunmen while on his way home. Dr. Giwargis was a pediatrician.
July 26, 2009 (Mosul) — ‘Alaa Bashir (30) was murdered at the family factory that is located midway between Mosul and Telkaif. Gunmen driving four cars approached the soft drink factory owned by ‘Alaa’s brother, confronted the guard, beat him and asked the guard to see the owner. When ‘Alaa came out to see what was going on, the gunmen pulled their guns and shot him to death.
July 13, 2009 (Mosul) — The Church of Virgin Fatima was bombed in Mosul. The attacks came even though Assyrian Christian (also known as Chaldean and/or Syriac) sources warned of the impending attacks days ago. Assyrian sources received warnings of the impending attacks 5 days ago through text messages and immediately passed the information on to U.S. forces. Under new security arrangements, U.S. forces were unable to act themselves but ensured the Iraqi military was notified.
7. The St. James Church in Dora as parishioners were inside during Sunday mass.
July 12, 2009 (Kirkuk) — An unidentified group of armed men shot and killed Aziz Rizqo, General Manager of Financial Control Bureau, in front of his home in Domeez neighborhood in central Kirkuk.
June 29, 2009 (Nineveh Governorate) — A car bomb exploded just before noon near the Hamdaniya (Also known as Baghdede or Qara Qosh) hospital killing seven people. Worth mentioning that Baghdede (30 km east of Mosul) is the largest Assyrian town in Iraq with close to 40,000 predominantly Assyrian inhabitants.
May 3, 2009 (Nineveh Province) — Tony Edward Shawil (5 years old) was kidnapped in front of his home in 'Ayn Sifni, Shaikha District by an unknown group. The abductors initially demanded a ransom of $50,000, but did not wait for the payoff. His body was found later dumped in nearby Rofya, Aqra district.
April 26, 2009 (Kirkuk) — Two families were attacked simultaneously around 10:00 p.m. when gunmen broke into their homes. In Domas neighborhood, Mouna Latif Dauod and her daughter Susan Latif were killed and a third person was wounded. In the attack on the second family in the Wahid Huzeran neighborhood, Basim Yousif Shaba, an employee in Iraq's Northern Oil Company, was killed and his two sons, Basil and Samer, were injured.
April 4, 2009 (Mosul) — An unidentified group stormed the shop of Abd al-Aziz Elias Aziz, opened fire, shot and murdered him. Aziz ran his small electrical generators repair shop.
April 2, 2009 (Dora, Baghdad) — Nimrod Khuder Moshi was murdered in front of his restaurant in Dora.
April 2, 2009 (Dora, Baghdad) — Two women, Glawis Nissan and Hanaa Ishaq, were attacked and stabbed to death by unidentified persons inside their home in Dora this afternoon. It is worth mentioning that there was another woman who was killed in March in the same manner.
March 31, 2009 (Kirkuk) — Sabah Aziz Sulaiman (b. 1938) was murdered (his throat slashed) in his Ghaz al-Shimal Apartment Complex, Bldg. 14, Apt. 2. His wife Mary David Sliwa, an employee with the Kiwan Hospital, was at work at the time . Sulaiman was retired from his work at Huzayran Bank.
January 4, 2009 (Dora, Baghdad) — An armed group stormed and broke into the home of Shalemnassar Gibrael in Dora suburbs of Baghdad. Shalemnassar was in his bed recovering from a heart attack. He was threatened at gunpoint as the gang strangled to death his 64 years old wife Wardah Nicola in front of him.
December 15, 2008 (Agra, Northern Iraq) — Marina Abimalek Aziz, a nineteen-year-old Assyrian girl is abducted and is missing for over 10 days, then is found in a river after being raped and killed. The tragedy is compounded when the Kurdish authorities accuse and torture her brother, Youbert Abimalek Aziz, into falsely confessing to her murder.
November 12, 2008 (Mosul) — Two Christians, Lamya' Sabeeh and her sister, were killed in al-Qahira quarters of Mosul when unknown assailants stormed their home and attacked the peaceful family. The mother of the two girls was seriously injured as well from repeated stabbing. The assailants then left a bomb in their house, which exploded as the police arrived. This crime occurred as many Christian families began to return to Mosul after last months forced exodus of Christians from the city.
October 22, 2008 (BAGHDAD (AP) — A car bomb exploded Wednesday in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, killing four civilians as the local government acknowledged it has yet to persuade frightened Christians to return to the homes they fled, police said. A police officer in Nineveh province said the bomb went off in a parked car in a predominantly Sunni area of this city, where violence has continued against Christians and other religious minorities despite months of U.S. and Iraqi military operations to chase out extremists. Mosul officials said few of the nearly 10,000 Christians chased from their homes earlier this month are returning to the city, despite government pledges of financial support and protection.
October 15, 2008 (Baghdad – Associated France Press) — In a statement to France Press, Jawdat Isma'eel, Director of the Ministry of Migration and Immigration office in Mosul, stated that the number of Christian families that fled Mosul has risen to 1,307 families.
Meanwhile, the Iraqi Minister of Defense, Abd Al-Qadir Al-Ubaidi, stated in a meeting with notables and with political parties and families representatives in Mosul that 1,894 Christian families have fled Mosul.
October 14, 2008 (Mosul) — One of the gates of the Church of Miskenta on the east (right) side of Mosul city was damaged due to an explosion of a bomb that was placed near it. Worth mentioning that until today the Christians of the east side of Mosul city were not inflicted with the recent wave of emigration and displacement.
October 11, 2008 (Mosul) — The McClatchy Newspaper Washington Bureau reported that thousands of Christians are fleeing their homes in Mosul after a spate of killings this week that left 12 dead.
October 11, 2008 (Baghdad – AP) — The Associated Press (Bradley S. Klapper) reported that 3,000 Christians have fled Mosul in the past week alone.
October 11, 2008 (Baghdad - CNN) — The CNN reported that at least 900 Christian families have fled Mosul in the past week terrified by a series of killings and threats by Muslim extremists ordering them to convert to Islam or face possible death. It reported that 13 Christians have been slain in the past two weeks.
October 11, 2008 (Mosul) — The BBC – Arabic reported that about 1,000 Christian families have fled Mosul in the past 24 hours due the bombing of some of their homes and the killings of 11 Christians in 10 days.
Meanwhile, the Middle East On Line reported that the Governor of Nineveh Governorate Duraid Kashmoola stated that there has been a mass emigration (nizooh) of at least 932 Christian families from Mosul within 10 days after the bombing of three homes belonging to Christians in al-Sukkar quarters. He said: 500 families fled on Friday and 432 families on Saturday. He stressed the killing of 11 Christians at least in the past 10 days.
October 11, 2008 (Nineveh) — The latest statistics on the Christian families that fled Mosul to the Nineveh Plains towns and villages from 10/6 to 10/11/2008 due to the latest killing of Christians included the followings (keep in mind that families are moving around): Baghdeda 138; Karamlesh 128; Bartella 72 families.
October 10, 2008 (Nineveh) — Recent reports indicate that 571 Christian families had fled their homes in Mosul to the towns and villages of the Nineveh Plains in the past few days. The latest break-down distribution of these Christian families are as such: to Tellesqof 150; to Alqosh 45; to Batnaya 35; to Telkaif 73; to Bartella 84; to Baghdeda 150; to Karamlesh 25; to Nahla 9. There were no statistics yet about those who ended up in Ba'asheeqa and Mar Matti Monastery.
October 9, 2008 (Mosul) — 75 Christian families fled Mosul in two days alone: 25 families on Wednesday and 50 on Thursday. The exodus from Mosul started early October when nine (9) Christians were killed since October 4 and cars with loud speakers drove through the city ordering the Christians to leave or be killed.
October 8, 2008 (Mosul) — Jalal Mousa Abd al-Ahad (38 years old) was shot and killed near his home in al-Noor quarters in Mosul.
October 7, 2008 (Mosul) — Gunmen stormed a pharmacy and killed assistant pharmacist Khalid Jirgis al-Sammak.
October 7, 2008 (Mosul) — Unknown gunmen killed Amjad Hadi Boutros and his son Husam while they were working in a house during construction in al-Siddeq quarters. The victims were residents of al-Sukar neighborhood in Mosul.
October 6, 2008 (Mosul) — Ziad Kamal, a disabled 25-year-old in a wheelchair was killed at 10:00 a.m. this morning when a group of unknown gunmen riddled his body with bullets while he was inside his auto parts shop in al-Karama quarters in Mosul. The victim's family is originally from Mosul but they had moved to Bartilla lately due to the violence in the area.
October 4, 2008 (Mosul) — Unidentified gunmen killed Hazim Toma Yousif, an Assyrian man in his 40s, inside his family clothing store in the old souk of Bab al-Sarai, central Mosul, before they escaped to an unknown place. “A gunman stormed the store owned by the victim, an Assyrian Christian, and opened fire at him from his gun he had in the crowded souk,” the police source said, not giving more details.
October 4, 2008 (Mosul) — Ivan Enwiya Yonadam, a 15-year-old young Assyrian, was killed this afternoon (Saturday) by unknown gunmen near his home, beside AL-Zahra mosque in Tahrir district in Mosul.
September 28, 2008 (Mosul) — Bashar Nafi'a Sa'eed was murdered 10:00 a.m. at his workplace according to a priest of the Syriac Orthodox Church in Mosul. No other details are available.
September 16, 2008 (Baghdad) — Jihad Maskoni, his son Marwan (student of Engineering College) and his daughter Milad (student of Pharmacy college) were killed in front of the Personal Statute Court in Karrada neighborhood.
added that: “The gunmen were on foot and they shot the man dead before they fled the scene”. The names of the two victims were not released and the motives behind this latest crime remain unknown.
Latest reports indicate that the victim is Rayan Nafi' Jamoo'aa, whose father was kidnapped and murdered earlier.
August 31, 2008 (Mosul) — Nafi' Bashir Jamoo'aa was kidnapped and killed in Mosul.
It is not yet known whether or not a ransom was paid.
August 28, 2008 (Mosul) — Police found the body of Dr. Tariq Qattan (65) east of Mosul. The source stated that the upper body and head reflected signs of beating and gun wounds. Dr. Qattan was abducted on August 24.
August 2008 (Mosul) — Haytham Khidir was murdered in his lathe shop in the al-Sina'aa quarters in Mosul. The deceased brother, Potros Khidir, is a monk in Germany.
July 10, 2008 (Mosul) — Mazin Girgis Yaqou Aboona, a 34 year old Assyrian man, who used to sell household items out on the street was attacked by gunmen in a car, they surrounded him, stole all that he had, then riddled his body with bullets and fled the scene. The crime took place on Wednesday July 09 in al-Dargazliyya neighborhood in Mosul.
When Mazin's mother heard shouts of neighbors she ran out to find the body of her son in the street and as she hugged him, the shock was too powerful that she fell dead next to him.
July 6, 2008 (Nineveh Province) — Unidentified armed men abducted two high school female students in Telkaif district of Nineveh Province.
The two girls were on their way to school to take the final examination.
June 17, 2008 (Baghdad) — A Canadian parliamentary committee studying the persecution of religious minorities worldwide heard that since the Iraq war began in 2003, about 12 children, many as young as 10, have been kidnapped and killed, then nailed to makeshift crosses near their homes to terrify and torment their parents. One infant was snatched, decapitated, burned and left on his mother's doorstep. The committee was told that one in every three Iraqi ChaldoAssyrian Christians is a refugee.
June 9, 2008 (Baghdad) — Monqedh Elias Essa was assassinated by unknown gunmen in al-Yarmouk neighborhood (al-Mansour district) in central Baghdad. The victim was riddled with bullets and the motive for the criminal act remains unknown. The victim (b. 1967) was married and the father of two girls and a boy.
April 5, 2008 (Baghdad) — Gunmen shot dead an Assyrian Orthodox priest near his house in central Baghdad's Karrada neighborhood on Saturday, security officials told AFP. Youssef Adel, a priest with Saint Peter's Church, was killed by gunmen traveling in a car around noon local time.
April 2, 2008 (Baghdad) — Three Assyrian Christian women were killed in al-Jadirriya quarters on Wednesday. The three women were in a car at the time when unidentified armed men riding a car as well approached them and opened fired on them killing them instantly.
March 23, 2008 (Baghdad) — On Easter Sunday, Sargon Zahir Oshana was shot in his head by two bullets. He died later suffering from his wounds after struggling for his life in a hospital. Sargon had participated in the special Easter Sunday mass at Mar Elia Church. He left the church on his way home to celebrate Easter when he was intercepted by a fundamentalist group and shot.
March 14, 2008 (Mosul) — A terrorist group tried to kidnap Rani Yousif Hanna (b. 1983) as he left St. Thomas Assyrian Church in al-Noor quarters in Mosul; however, he resisted and they shot him dead. Rani and his family fled to Syria in 2005 because of the escalation of terrorism against the Christians. He returned a couple of weeks ago to take care of a few personal issues and was planning to go back to Syria again.
March 13, 2008 (Baghdad) — Zaid Michael Atto was killed when a bomb exploded in central Baghdad.
March 13, 2008 (Mosul) — The kidnapped Archbishop Mar Poulos Faraj Rahho, Chaldean Catholic Church bishop of Mosul, was found dead north the city of Mosul.
According to the alrabita al-Iraqiya sources, the criminal [Kurdish] peshmerga gangs were behind the kidnapping of Mosul's Bishop Polous Faraj Rahho. Furthermore, the sources indicated that the person who was doing the negotiations was an accomplice of the Mosul police. The people of Mosul know that the Peshmerga are behind most of the crimes.
February 29, 2008 (Mosul) — Mar Poulos Fara j Rahho, Chaldean Catholic Church bishop of Mosul, was abducted after he celebrated the Via Crucis. The three people (Samir, Faris and Rami) that were with him (his driver and two companions), were killed. The kidnappers are said to have already made a request. The abduction took place at 5.30 pm local time as Bishop Rahho had just left Mosul’s Holy Spirit Cathedral.
February 26, 2008 (Baghdeda, northern Iraq) — A bomb went off at the entrance of a shop that sells alcohol in the center of this predominantly Christian town near Mosul. Seven people were injured and transferred to a nearby hospital for treatment.
February 7, 2008 (Mosul) — Sarah Al-Los was kidnapped by a group of men while she was in front of the main gate of Mosul University. Sarah is a student in Mosul University. Her family has not been contacted yet as of April 2008.
February 1, 2008 (Baghdad) — Douglas Pnoel Samuel was killed when a bomb exploded in al-Ghazal market.
January 17, 2008 (Mosul) — According to Aswat al-Iraq (Voices of Iraq), A car bomb detonated near the Chaldean Catholic Church of al-Tahira (The Pure) in al-Shifa district, western Mosul, leaving one policeman and a woman slightly injured. The blast caused material damage to the external wall of the church and smashed its windows and doors, said a police who requested anonymity.
January 9, 2008 (Kirkuk) — Two churches were bombed in central and northern Kirkuk: The first at the Cathedral of Qalb al-Yasoo' (Jesus's Heart) of the Chaldean Catholic Church and the second at Mar Afram Church of the Syriac Orthodox Church in al-Umal (Workers) Square. Three people were wounded.
According to reports, a third church has been bombed, but no details are available.
January 6, 2008 (Baghdad and Mosul) — Today, several explosions targeted Churches and monasteries of different Assyrian Christian denominations in Mosul and Baghdad. The targeted churches and monasteries were: In Baghdad, Mar Giwargis (St. George) in al-Ghadeer quarters and the Chaldean Nuns Monastery of the Daughters of Mary in al-Zaafaraniya. A Greek Orthodox Church in Al-Tayaran Square was also a target.
In Mosul, the bombs targeted the Catherine Monastery of the Chaldean denomination, St. Mary's Cathedral of the Ancient Church of the East in al-Nour quarters (al-Shuhada' previously), Mar Poulus (St. Paul) Church in al-Sa'aa quarters, the Chaldean Nuns Monastery of the Daughters of Mary in al-Nour quarters and the Miskinta Church in central Mosul.
December 21, 2007 (Baghdeda, northern Iraq) — The body of Fadi Michael Hanani Aolo was found in the outskirts of the Assyrian town of Baghdeda. It was established that the body has been left there for about four days. The circumstances are still very sketchy. Fadi did not return home since he left four days ago after he received a phone call.
December 11, 2007 (Baghdad) — The family of Saalim Yousif Karash (originally from Baghdeda) was attacked while inside their own home and during daylight (2:00 p.m.) by an armed group in Zayoona quarters in Baghdad. They hit the father severely until he was unconscious. One of his two girls, Lena, who was inside the house was afraid of being raped, beaten or kidnapped, threw herself from the balcony of their apartment on the fourth floor. Then the armed gang stole most of what they can gather and left. The mother was hysterical and had a nervous breakdown. The father is in critical condition in a local hospital while the daughter underwent surgery for a crack in her skull and she is still unconscious in the hospital. The other two sons and one daughter are safe since they were not at home when the attack occurred.
December 10, 2007 (Basra) — According to alarabiya.net, female Christian students faced numerous threats on their first day at Basra University from students that appear to be members of Islamic militias. The female students were given the option of wearing the Islamic veil or face death while the male students were told to raise their beards in the Islamic fashion. The alarabiya.net referred to an article on December 9, 2007 in the Sunday Times about the issue.
December 9, 2007 (Mosul) — Pamphlets and notices were floating all over Mosul University threatening Christian female students from not wearing the Islamic dress code. The Islamic groups gave the Christian students three days to comply or face death.
December 9, 207 (Basra) — A group of eight men kidnapped Usama Fareed (age 45) from his home. Then, his sister Maysoon Fareed (age 42) was taken from her work place as well. An hour later, the brother and sister were found dead in the quarters of al-Jamhooriya (3 km from town center) with more than 11 bullets in their heads.
December 9, 2007 (Mosul) — Unidentified gunmen killed Hana' Nisan Behnam in the area of Nabi Younes (Prophet Jonah) in central Mosul on Sunday, a police official said. “Gunmen in a vehicle opened drive-by fire at the 24-year-old Christian at al-Nabi Younes market, killing her instantly,” Brig. Muhammad Abdul-Aziz al-Wakkaa, the director of Nineveh police operations room said. “The girl's body was removed to the morgue in Mosul,” Wakkaa said, not giving further details on the incident. Ms. Nisan was from the town of Telkepe and was in Mosul shopping. She was married and a mother for three children.
December 6, 2007 (Baghdad) — An explosion in al-Karada district in Baghdad claimed the lives of three residents from Baghdeda. The three victims are Haitham Sabeeh Toma (b. 1975) and a father of two small children, Amer Aziz Hashko and his sister. Amer and his sister were in the capital city preparing for his own wedding, which was to take place in three days.
November 30, 2007 (Baghdad) — Luisa Matti Jameel was killed in al-Khalis area north of Baghdad. Luisa was returning home to Baghdeda (in Nineveh plains) from Baghdad.
November 7, 2007 (Mosul) — Close to 2,500 Assyrian students that live in the Assyrian villages of Qaraqosh (Baghdeda), Bartilla, Karemlish, Ba'ashiqa, Bahzaneh, Tel-Kaif (Tel-Kepeh), Tel-Esquf, Batnaya, and Sharafiya, expressed their fears of not being able to continue their higher studies in Mosul University and other technical, academic and art institutions due to the continuous acts of violence, threats and harassment, which are exposed on the roads and highways leading to Mosul. Few months back eight Assyrian university students from Baghdeda were abducted as they were on their way to Mosul. Parents fear for their children's lives and make the decision to keep their children home. A number of students said that they had tried to enroll in the universities and colleges of Arbil and Dohuk (Nohadra) but they were faced with many hurdles, red tape, unusual local laws and measures which imposed in these institutions which aren't found in other universities and colleges such as students' hosting and restricted admissions because they're considered not to be part of the so-called Kurdish region (North of Iraq - Occupied Assyria).
apparent and visible torture marks. The victim was 45 years old and married.
October 22, 2007 (Mosul) — Fawzi Aukania Apas (b. 1968) was killed in Mosul. Unknown gunmen riddled the victim with bullets while he was driving his car from Arbil. Apas was married and he was a father of five children.
October 21, 2007 (Ba'asheeqa, Mosul) — Ayman Abd-Allah Ishaq Hanna, son of Fr. Abd-Allah Hanna, priest of St. Shmouni Syriac Orthodox Church in Ba'asheeqa was gunned down as he was returning Saturday from Dohuk (Nohadra) to his hometown.
October 12, 2007 (Baghdad) — Najah Salman al-Los (b. 1960) left his home in New Baghdad quarters to go to work in Dora quarters. He was attacked, fired at with several bullets and murdered while driving on the highway. Al-Los was married with five children.
October 12, 2007 (Baghdad) — Miyssar Mansour Hanna Rahel was abducted by unknown gunmen on Thursday (Oct. 11) in Baghdad. He was found dead on Friday (Oct. 12). He is originally from the northern Iraq town of Karamlish. The victim had a brother named Malik Mansour and he was also murdered in Baghdad few months ago.
October 9, 2007 (Mosul) — Bassam Yousif Elias al-Khadim was kidnapped after completing his service at the al-Tahira Church. Later, his body was found in one of Mosul's quarters.
October 7, 2007 (Baghdad) — Franco Issac was murdered today. No details available yet.
October 3, 2007 (Baghdad) — Samir Estephan Micah Doda was murdered today.
September 29, 2007 (Mosul) — At around 1:00 p.m. local time, a horrific car bomb explosion shook the Assyrian town of Baghdeda (around 13 miles northeast Mosul). According to the preliminary reports, a suicide bomber in a pickup truck caused the explosion and it happened inside the market facing al-Rafidain bank in the town's center.
Evan Yousif Zora and Rabie Sabah Shandar were killed in addition to three unidentified policemen. The estimated 15 wounded were transferred to the hospital with one of them being in a serious condition.
September 27, 2007 (Mosul) — The explosion of a car bomb at a checkpoint between Mosul and Arbil on Wednesday killed Matthew Shamoun Boutros.
September 21, 2007 (Baghdad) — Assyrian Christian families that had fled Dora district affirmed that their homes were looted by armed groups. Security forces didn't take any action to stop the looting. It is believed that between 125-150 homes were robbed and looted of all their contents, including electric appliances, furniture, carpets, etc. In addition to that iron windows and doors were removed from the houses, while more than 100 houses have been occupied by strangers without a prior agreement with their legitimate owners nor their knowledge.
August 24, 2007 (Kirkuk) — The Assyrian Democratic Movement announced that Joseph Abd Ibrahim Hermiz (b. 1986) was murdered Friday at noontime in al-Qadisiya al-Thaniya behind the Public Clinic. No further details were available.
August 20, 2007 (Baghdad) — Baher Sabah Kallo (b. 1975) was killed in Baghdad. He was a lecturer at Baghdad University. Kallo was abducted and a ransom was paid in exchange for his release, but the abductors still murdered him.
August 13, 2007 (Baghdad) — Jeffrey Ramzi Boutros (28) was killed in al-Mansour neighborhood of the al-Dawoodi district in Baghdad.
Jeffrey was the only child to his parents.
a military regiment of the Iraqi National Guard.
August 7, 2007 (Baghdad) — Unidentified gunmen forced themselves into the house of two brothers Falah and Sabah Nasouri 'Alka in al-Karrada district of Baghdad. The two brothers were brutally attacked before being killed. Falah died following a savage beating and torture while Sabah was shot. Falah, 52, was a pharmacist who ran al-Rabab pharmacy in al-Karrada district while Sabah, 55, was an entrepreneur and worked in trade.
August 3, 2007 (Mosul) — Unidentified gunmen in three cars approached Thamer Najib Azzouz in an attempt to abduct him in al-Hadbaa' district in Mosul. Azzouz refused to leave his family and two little children in order to yield to the gunmen's request, and when he fought the kidnappers, they shot and killed him instantly then they fled the area.
July 22, 2007 (Baghdad) — Osama al-Nujaifi, a deputy of the National Iraqi bloc led by Ayad Allawi, accused the Kurds of murders against a number of citizens in the Nineveh Governorate. The deputy said that the Kurdish forces and their members in the Iraqi army are committing murders and terrorizing the people while they stand to guard the Kurdish parties headquarters. He accused the Kurdish Alliance of following a Kurdification policy. He added that there are districts such as Sinjar and Zommar that follow the area of Tel-afar as well as Telkaif, Hamdaniya and Sheikhan, which are administratively part of Nineveh Governorate, but immediately after 2003 Iraq War, the Kurds moved into those areas and began to run them directly.
July 17, 2007 (Baghdeda, Nineveh) — Fadi Nazar Habash was killed when a force of Kurdish forces "Peshmerga" fired towards his car while he was driving on al-Hizam Street in Baghdeda.
July 13, 2007 (Mosul) — Matti Boulos Markus Moma, an Assyrian from Baghdeda, was kidnapped couple days ago. The kidnappers demanded for $20,000 ransom to release him. The money was raised and paid by his wife. Still, Matti was murdered and his body was found today Friday.
July 12, 2007 (Samarra) — Amira Abd al-Massih Hermiz from the village of Telesquf was killed today in her home in Samarra. The victim was born in 1970, married to Jalal Shaya Marogi and a mother of 7 children, the eldest 16 years old and the youngest a baby of two months. Details about the circumstances of her death aren't available yet.
July 8, 2007 (Baghdad) — The BBC stated that the American Embassy in Baghdad Ryan Crocker confirmed that two employees were murdered indeed and that the killers will be tracked down. Another American employee at the embassy who refused to declare his identity stated that the two employees were Hazim Hanna and Amal Maskoni.
July 5, 2007 (Baghdad — An armed group attacked al-Mashtal area in Baghdad near the Hydro Company, opening fire on shop owners yesterday. Some shop owners were killed while others were abducted. Fathalla Hazem Batti was shot with three bullets and killed. The victim was born in 1967, married with two children, Marios (3yrs and 6 months) and Alber (1 yr and 9 months), and he lived in the area of Palestine Street. Eyewitnesses mentioned that up to eight people were killed in this attack.
P.S. al-Mashtal area has a high concentration of Christians.
July 5, 2007 (Baghdad) — Mouwafaq Philip Boutros was murdered by a group of armed terrorists who asked him whether he was a Sunni Muslim, but when he answered, "I'm Christian" his body was riddled with bullets. The victim was 58 years old, married, and had three children. He had left his home in Baghdad three days ago and was murdered in al-Saidiya district.
July 4, 2007 (Mosul) — A statement by an Islamic group that calls itself the Islamic Emirate of Mosul threatened to kidnap or kill all Christians whether students or employees in Mosul University if they did not leave the university campus in three days. According to the statement that was posted on city streets, the Islamic group threatened as well all Christians living in Mosul to leave the city within three days or the group will behead any Christian who will remain in the city. The Islamic Emirate of Mosul had killed four Christians living in the al-Sa'aa and al-Yarmook quarters of the right littoral of the city after they were kidnapped and their bodies were found in the Wadi 'Aaqab cemetery. The group had killed as well two Christians who arrived from Hamdaniya District to Mosul where they worked. The said group murdered another female Christian employee of the Iraqi Central Bank in Mosul.
July 3, 2007 (Baghdad) — Sa'eed Elias Sam'aan Estephan Sheekho was murdered in Baghdad as he left his home in al-Za'afaraniya district. The victim was married and father of six children. He was buried in his hometown of Baghdeda today.
July 3, 2007 (Baghdad) — Sources in the Spanish Foreign Ministry mentioned yesterday that an Iraqi Christian employee in the Spanish embassy in Baghdad was found dead with three of her family members. The Iraqi Christian woman who had been working in the embassy for 10 years disappeared last Friday and was thought to be abducted.
The four bodies were found July 01, 2007 and they were shot. The Spanish sources mentioned that this incident has nothing to do with Spain but everything to do with the violence in Iraq.
July, 2007 (Baghdad) — In the Assyrian district of Al-Dora, a suburb south of Baghdad, two Assyrian girls committed suicide after refusing to be married by force to Muslims. The young girls could not leave the area since it was surrounded and enforced by terrorists of the Sunni militia, Islamic State of Iraq.
June 27, 2007 (Mosul) — Aamer Bahjat Mikha was murdered Wednesday on the highway between Mosul and Baghdad when an unidentified militant group stopped his car and shot him. Mikha was married with three young children, a boy in primary school and two little girls.
June 27, 2007 (Mosul) — Unidentified gunmen killed two members of the Assyrian's Patriotic Union of Beth Nahrain, Sahir Yusuf Istayfo (b. 1958) and Lewi Sleman Numan (b. 1986), in a drive-by shooting in central Mosul, police said.
June 26, 2007 (Baghdad) — George Yousif Jajjo and his wife Laila Yacoub Hermis died of starvation and siege. Hours after his wife Laila (68 years) passed away, an acute psychological trauma killed George Yousif (aged 74). The Assyrian couple was living alone besieged in their home due to the imposed blockade on Christians by terrorist groups. The Assyrian couple lived in al-Hadar district between al-Mechanic and al-Sahha areas in Dora. They had consumed what food, water and medicine they had, thus George risked his life and left home seeking help when his wife fell unconscious, arriving at his sister-in-law's place they called the police, but by the time help arrived George's wife was already dead. This tragic incident is part of the calamities befalling the Assyrian Christians with their different denominations due to terrorist acts, Jizya (head tax) demands and forced conversion to Islam.
June 21, 2007 (Baghdad) — Iraqi Police said that unidentified armed men kidnapped a group of eight Christian university students and a lecturer. The students and the professor were in a community bus that is provided by the local church. The students were going home after completing their final examinations.
The group was released the next day after an amount of $200,000 dollars was paid as ransom to the armed kidnappers. The names of the released are: Seif Sami, Atheer Hesh, Ghareed Sabah, Nasir Bashir, Savio Albert, Anas Abd-Allah, Robert Adnan and Wissam Girges. The armed gunmen had stopped the bus, verbally abused the students and the professor, threatened to kill them if the women did not veil themselves or if the males sat next to the females.
June 19, 2007 (Mosul) — Anmar Akram Raffo Yaqoub was murdered Tuesday by an armed group in al-Wahda district in Mosul as he went to check on his home, which he had left because of the security conditions. He was buried in his hometown of Baghdeda. Yaqoub was born in 1979. He was married and the father of two children (twins).
June 12, 2007 (Baghdad) — Nisreen Markus Hermis (b. 1958) was killed in front of her house in Baghdad Sunday evening at the hands of some terrorists.
June 18, 2007 and funeral services were held in their town of Telesquf, Tuesday, June 19, 2007. Ramzi was born in 1957, married and the father of five girls and two boys; he was a resident of al-Khaleej district in Baghdad. Ismael was born in 1959, married and the father of three boys and a girl was a resident in al-Ameen district in Baghdad.
June 6, 2007 (Baghdad) — A Catholic priest and five young Christians were kidnapped in Baghdad, Catholic news service AsiaNews reported on Wednesday, three days after the murder of another priest and three of his assistants in Iraq.
AsiaNews said the Chaldean Catholic priest, whom it named as Hani Abdel Ahad, was seized with the five in Suleikh, a Sunni neighborhood in northern Baghdad. It was not immediately clear when the kidnapping took place.
June 4, 2007 (Baghdad) — The St. Jacob Church Near the Asia Neighborhood (Hay Asya) in Dora was attacked and the Christian guards killed, the church was looted and will be turned into a mosque. St. John the Baptist Church near the Hay Al-Athoriyeen (Assyrian quarter) was also looted.
June 3, 2007 (Mosul) — One priest and three deacons were gunned down in Mosul as they left the Church after having finished Sunday Mass. Fr. Ragheed Ganni, Deacon Basman Joseph, Deacon Bassam and Deacon Ghassan of the Holy Spirit Church were killed by a hale of bullets from a group of gunmen. Their bodies were dumped in front of the church and are remaining there. Residents are afraid to remove the bodies from fear of being shot. According to the AFP News, the four had finished mass at 7:30 PM and were driving away in the priest's car when they were intercepted by four men in a car about 100 meters away from the church. Fr. Ganni was born in Mosul in 1972; he held a Bachelor of Science in civil engineering from the University of Mosul (1993). He studied in Rome from 1996 to 2003 where he obtained a Masters in Divinity (Moscone Theology).
June 2, 2007 (Baghdad) — Fouad Salem Benni Bello was assassinated in Baghdad. The victim was originally from the town of Baghdeda (Qara Qosh). He was married to Ibtisam Jameel Habash and a father of two small children Firas 5 and Mina 3 years old.
was abducted while the terrorists screamed "you filthy Christian traitor." When the wife, Amal, attempted to deliver the ransom to the kidnappers, described as a Sunni group, she was killed. The self-styled "Islamic State of Iraq" said in a statement published on the Internet "God's ruling has been implemented against two of the most prominent agents and spies of the worshippers of the Cross...a man and woman who occupy an important position at the U.S. embassy...The swords of the security personnel of the Islamic State of Iraq...are with God's grace slitting the throats of crusaders and their aides and lackeys."
an ominous note that committees have been established to monitor the Christian populace and enforce the decree.
be upon her) and told her about what the Prophet (saas) said to us, Fatima said: 'It is best for women not to see men and for the men not to see them.'"
1 Sallallahu 'alaihi wa sallam (saas).
(This is an expression that Muslims use whenever the name of Prophet Muhammad is mentioned or written. The meaning of it is: "May the blessings and the peace of Allah be upon him (Muhammad).
designed to create tension between Muslims and Christians and that such actions will oppress and/or terrorize the rights of the Christians in the region. The 5 members of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq have boycotted the meetings of the Nineveh Governorate Council. Tensions continue to rise. Worthmentioning that the two Kurdish parties of the KDP and PUK bloc dominate the Nineveh Governorate Council, followed by the Sunni al-Tawafuq (Conformance) bloc, then the Shi'aa bloc, 2 Christians and a Turkomani member.
May 24, 2007 (Baghdad) — Hikmat Faraj al-Safi was killed on May 17, 2007 at the hands of unknown gunmen as he was unloading a truck of provisions for his store in the Mechanic area in Dora. Al-Safi was born in 1952 and a father of seven children.
May 22, 2007 (Baghdad) — The Grand Mufti (High Commission of Legal Opinion) of Iraq, Sheikh Jamal Abd Al-Kareem Al-Dabban, sent a letter to the Head of the Vicar Council of Churches in Iraq acknowledging the attacks and persecution of Christians. He condemned the Iraqi bloodshed and the perpetrators.
May 21, 2007 (Mosul) — Jameel Hanna Sayfo, his wife Muntaha Hadi Sleiman and Ra’a Najeeb Mikha were in their car, completing family obligations, as they were killed by ‘friendly’ fire from the coalition forces in the mist of heavy fire exchange in the Baladiyat district in Mosul city. Jameel and Muntaha are survived by one son and two daughters. Ra’ad is survived by one son and two daughters as well.
May 21, 2007 (Baghdad) — The Reverend Temathaus Eisha, pastor of the Church of St. Shimoni in the besieged1 Dora district of Baghdad, confirmed to ankawa.com that the information published about the forced displacement of Christian Assyrians from their homes in the district is accurate. He added that the conditions were horrible, especially in the Al-Ta'ma, Al-Iskan, Al-Mo'alimeen, Al-ShurTa, Al-Sitten, and Asia neighborhoods.
The three remaining neighborhoods that are relatively calm are Hay Al-Athuriyeen (Assyrian quarter), Al-Jim'iya, and Al-Sihha.
The large-scale campaign consists of expelling all Christians, unless they convert to Islam or the Jizya, or leave their homes and belongings. He added that the majority of Assyrians have abandoned these areas.
May 19, 2007 (Baghdad) — A Chaldean priest was kidnapped this morning in Baghdad. He is Fr. Nawzat Potrous Hanna, parish priest of Mar Pithion, from the Baladiyat quarter. Confirmation of the abduction was announced by Msgr. Shlemon Warduni, Chaldean auxiliary bishop in the capital, who has invited Catholics to “pray for Fr. Nawzat’s immediate release”. The abductors have already made contact with the Chaldean Patriarchate, but as of yet there is no further news. The priest was leaving the house of an ill parishioner, when he was stopped by a group of persons who had been waiting for him, says the bishop.
- 14 families have fled to the Al-So'ud Chaldean Church.
- 7 families have fled to Saint Odisho Assyrian Church (3 families are in the church and 4 in the Saint Adai Patriarchate, the old church building).
- An unknown number of families have fled to Saint George Chaldean Church.
that do not leave and do not convert are threatened with death.
In a report by the Catholic News Agency (AINA 5-18-2007), Mar Addai II, the Patriarch of the Ancient Assyrian Church of the East, says "Only the families that agree to give a daughter or sister in marriage to a Muslim can remain, which means that the entire nuclear family will progressively become Muslim." Also, Assyrian families are forced to turn over their homes as ransom for their kidnapped relatives.
May 17, 2007 (Dora, Baghdad) — An Islamic militant group burned many parts of the St. George Assyrian Church of the East in Dora district in Baghdad. A bomb targeted this same church three years ago. The group responsible reached to the Cross and destroyed it with their bare hands at the time when the bomb failed to do so.
May 15, 2007 (Mosul) — A car bomb in Ras al-Jaadda near Qabr al-Bint on May 10, 2007 claimed the life of Manhal Hanna Abbo as he was returning home from work. Abbo died immediately as he suffered severe head injuries. He was born in 1968 in the Assyrian town of Tellesqof. He was married and had a baby daughter five months old.
Haydar al-Abadi protested these acts against the Christians and called upon the Iraqi government to protect the Christians.
but they were able to escape and report the incident at the nearest police station. Some time later the wife and the grandson were found in the Habhab desert after they were stripped of their jewelry while the fate of the husband and the taxi driver remains unknown.
May 10, 2007 (Baghdad) — An armed Iraqi group has in recent days begun targeting Christians in the residential al-Doura neighbourhood of Baghdad, according to an Interior Ministry source quoted by the pan Arab daily al-Sharq al-Awsat. Information obtained during probes and the interrogation of various terror suspects arrested last week indicate that this group is linked to al-Qaeda and is made up of 200 militiamen, most of them foreigners.
May 8, 2007 (Damascus) — The NBC "Nightly News" with Brian Williams (5:40 p.m. West Coast Time) addressed the issue of Iraqis fleeing to Syria. The NBC correspondence interviewed Najeeba, an old Christian woman, whose husband was killed when one of the churches was bombed in Iraq. The Islamic fundamentalists asked her to convert to Islam or face death. She packed one suitcase, left everything behind and fled to Syria. The cameraman videotaped the one bedroom apartment that Najeeba shared with eight others. Najeeba pays $300 monthly for the room and the landlord had informed her that he was going to increase the rent to $600. Najeeba stated that she has nothing left.
May 5, 2007 (Baghdede, northern Iraq) — Two Assyrian men were abducted on Tuesday by unknown gunmen in Baghdede as they were heading to work at al-Salam Hospital in Mosul. The reason for their abduction and their whereabouts are still unknown.
April 26, 2007 (Baghdad) — Hani Hanna Yousif Bidawid (b. 1949) was shot to death on Thursday morning in al-Ghadeer quarters of Baghdad as he was on his way to work. Bidawid was married and had two children, Saamir and Sally.
April 2007 — Sargon Ashur, a member of the Assyrian Democratic Movement (ADM) passed away on April 26, 2007 after spending two weeks in a coma. He was ambushed, fired upon and hit in his head while on his way to work. Sargon was married and had a girl Oryana (4 years) and a son Mattai (1year).
April 26, 2007 (Northern Iraq) — An Assyrian (also known as Chaldean and Syriac) man traveling from Kirkuk, North Iraq to Syria was abducted at noon today. The man, identified as Wesam Khamis Sliwa, was traveling with his wife and sisters when their car was stopped by masked and armed men. Mr. Khamis was taken out of the car and driven away; the women were not harmed. The reason for the kidnapping is unknown and the kidnappers have not made contact yet. Mr. Khamis holds a degree in physical education and was born in the 1950s.
April 24, 2007 (Baghdad) — On Tuesday, H. Nazar Maskooni was killed when a time bomb exploded at the College of Dentistry in Baghdad. Maskooni was one of the top ten students at the college.
April 23, 2007 (Tellesqof [Tell Esqof], northern Iraq) — Around 10:00 a.m., a suicide car bomb attack took place in Tellesqof, 9 miles north of Mosul. The attacker detonated his car and at least 10 people were killed and 20 wounded. The car bomb exploded in the middle of the village market, in front of the social club near an elementary school. Tellesqof is a predominantly Christian town. This was the first terrorist attack in this tight-knit community since the Iraq war started.
April 14, 2007 (Baghdad) — An unidentified Islamic group has been threatening the Christian Assyrians (also known as Chaldeans and Syriacs) in the Dora district of Baghdad, a traditionally Assyrian area. The Islamic group issued an ultimatum yesterday to Assyrian families, telling them to leave Christianity and convert to Islam within 24 hours or they would all be killed. The Islamic group also issued a fatwa (a religious edict) to confiscate the property of all Christians, to force Assyrian women to veil themselves, to forbid genuflection (making the sign of the Cross) and the wearing of the Cross. Earlier the same Islamic group forcefully removed the Cross from the churches of St. John and St. George. An affiliated Islamic group in Northern Iraq occupied the Assyrian monastery of Raban Hormuz.
and reformation, and as deputy minister for Iraqi Mineral Resources. According to eyewitness reports fully covered and armed individuals riding an Opal vehicle kidnapped Al-Bazi. They also reported that he was beaten severely before he was taken away.
He was released later after paying the ransom.
March 27, 2007 (Kirkuk) — Two elderly Christian women were stabbed to death in their home in Kirkuk. Fadheela Naoum, 85, and her 79-year-old sister Margaret, were stabbed multiple times by intruders who raided their home Monday night near the Cathedral of the Virgin in Kirkuk. They lived alone and there was no sign of a robbery.
The Chaldean bishopcrate of Kikruk issued a statement on March 27 stating that the two sisters were not nuns as reported earlier.
March 19, 2007 (Kirkuk) — Ziyad Zito was killed when a car bomb exploded as he was on his way back home.
March 2007 (Baghdad) — Muslims in the Dora neighborhood of Iraq are forcing Assyrian Christians (also known as Chaldeans and Syriacs) to pay the jizya (poll tax), a tax imposed by the Koran on non-Muslim Christians and Jews in exchange for being allowed to live and practice their faith as well as being entitled to 'Muslim protection' from outside aggression. At least two cases have been reported to a government employee -- who wishes to remain anonymous -- in which the Christian Assyrian wives were instructed to go to a certain mosque and pay, which they did out of fear.
February 26, 2007 (Baghdad) — Architect Walid Abd al-Ahad was killed in al-Nidhal Street while on his way to work.
February 25, 2007 (Baghdad) — Bassam Jamil Mansour Breekho was killed in Baghdad due to a bomb explosion at the Administrative and Economy College, University of Mustansiriyya.
February 12, 2007 (Mosul) — Goldsmith (Jeweler) Haitham H. M. Ghazala was murdered this morning in Mosul.
February 7, 2007 (Baghdad) — Luana, a 22-year-old Christian university student in Iraq confesses that an Iraqi soldier raped her inside her home. She stated, “I thought very hard before agreeing to tell my story. But I cannot allow other girls to suffer the same violence I suffered. In addition to being discriminated against and lacking support." Luana stated that her entire family had fled to Jordan and from there to Sweden with the exception of her and her brother who decided to wait until she finishes university. She continued to state that one day, while her brother was at the university, a group of Iraqi soldiers raided their home saying that they had information that there were insurgents in the area. She added that, “When they were inside my home I saw them giving me strange looks. They asked me questions for about 15 minutes and then they left." Two days later, on the afternoon of November 27, 2006, Luana was alone again when one of the soldiers who had raided their home earlier forced himself into the house and raped her threatening that if she made any noises or told anyone then he was going to return to do it again, kill her brother and take the home away. Luana and her brother went to the police, but the police did nothing. Two months later, Luana realized that she was pregnant. She and her brother went to a doctor where she had an abortion. She concluded, "I hope my story will help girls who are raped in Iraq to decide to tell their story even though it is hard in a traditional Muslim country such as Iraq. But if we remain silent, there will be more girl victims and more girls will lose that so precious thing that God gave them, their virginity."
February 5, 2007 (Baghdad) — Deacon Abd al-Khaliq Bakos Mussa Qaryo was murdered after he was kidnapped awhile back. Despite paying the ransom, the kidnappers decided to kill him. His body was transferred to his hometown of Baghdeda for burial. He is the brother of Sister Sophia Bakos of the Christian Dominicans.
February 4, 2006 (Baghdad) — Firas Sabah Aboosh Momeeka was one of the victims who were killed when a car bomb exploded in al-Sadriyya quarters of Baghdad. His body was transferred to his hometown of Baghdada for burial.
February 4, 2007 (Baghdad) — After two months since his kidnapping, the body of Faris Daniel was found and identified. Faris' body was transferred to his hometown of Telkepe for burial. Faris and Shakeep Poulus were kidnapped together. The body of Shakeep was found earlier.
January 31, 2007 (Baghdad) — A high ranking Assyrian official of the Iraqi Airways was gunned down by unknown assassins near his home in Mekanik (Daura). Mr Isaac Esho Alhelani was stopped whilst driving with his wife, forced out of the car and shot twice before the assassins fled with his car. According to his children living in Australia, he was then taken to a hospital in Baghdad, but the hospital did not have the resources or medication to treat his serious wounds. He was then flown by helicopter to the city of Arbil where he died. His body was later taken by car to the city of Kirkuk, the place of his birth, for burial by his wife and sister. Isaac was a graduate from an aircraft engineering school in Scotland in the early 1960's where he studied under a scholarship from the Iraqi Government. Upon his return to Iraq after completing his studies with distinction, he was appointed as an aircraft engineer in the Iraqi Airways and climbed the ladder of promotion until he reached the position of Deputy Director. Isaac, who was 64, retired in December 2006. He leaves his second wife in Iraq and four children from his first marriage. Three of the children, his daughter and two sons live in Australia, and his youngest son is in Syria where he escaped to from Baghdad after being threatened with kidnapping.
January 19, 2007 (Baghdad) — Khalis Warda Slewo was murdered by the enemies of democracy in al-Khalis as he was returning to Baghdad. Martyred Warda was a member of the Assyrian Democratic Movement (ADM) and was the distributor of Assyrian Bahra Newspaper. He traveled between Baghdad and Nineveh plain and other regions where Assyrians are present to distribute the newspaper, which is printed in Baghdad. Martyred Warda was born in 1955, he is leaving behind a wife and four children, two boys and two girls: the oldest one is 14 years.
January 18, 2007 (Baghdad) — A car bomb explosion in al-Sadr City in Baghdad killed Firas Yousif Yacoub al-Hayali who lives in al-Habibiya quarters.
January 16, 2007 (Baghdad) — After a kidnapping that lasted three days, Malek Mansour Behnam Hanna was found murdered by his abductors. His body will be transferred to his home town of Karamlesh in northern Iraq.
January 16, 2007 (Mosul) — Two Christian brothers, Wisam and Nasir Banni, were murdered in front of their home in al-Hadba' quarters of northern Mosul, by a group of armed men that fired at the two brothers and killed them, police said.
January 16, 2007 (Mosul) — In al-Wahda Quarters, unidentified armed group attacked Sargon Sabah Yacoub and his family while on their way to Baghdeda to visit relatives. Sargon (b. 1979) was killed. His wife Zeena and son Fadi were critically injured and are in hospital.
January 5, 2007 (Baghdad) — Like other minority members in Iraq, Mardon Matrood, a 44-year-old Assyrian shopkeeper in Baghdad, has had enough of the country's sectarian violence. "Minorities in Iraq are targeted by insurgents and militias, who want us out of the country as they promote what they call the 'cleansing of Iraq, of non-Muslim communities'," said Matrood who is living with his family of six in an abandoned government building. Four months ago Matrood's family failed to pay a ransom of US $50,000 to kidnappers who had abducted his nephew. The nephew was later found dead. "We are a poor family... we couldn't pay [the ransom money] and after two weeks we were informed that the police had found his body near a mosque in Adhamiyah district (northern Baghdad). It was totally mangled, burned and tortured," Matrood said.
December 27, 2006 (Baghdad) — Christmas tree sellers in quarters throughout Baghdad were kidnapped and murdered by armed religious fanatical groups. Five Christmas trees sellers were kidnapped and three others were murdered in the Christian populated quarters of al-Karrada, 'Arassat and Ghadeer in Baghdad. The sellers were displaying their Christmas trees on their local streets as they do always this time of the year when they were attacked, kidnapped or murdered.
December 18, 2006 (Baghdad-Mosul) — Three traveling Assyrians disappeared mysteriously while on their way from Baghdad to Mosul. The individuals are: Laith Jawro (from Alqosh), Noel Odisho (from Alqosh), and an unidentified person (from Telkepe).
December 13, 2006 (Baghdad) — A young Assyrian man, Ninos Potros Qoryaqos Al-Bazi, was killed as a huge explosion rocked a popular market in the area of New Baghdad. The young man was with his brother at the time of the explosion. The two brothers were transferred to a hospital where Ninos was announced dead. Another Assyrian, Ryan Sami Esho, who owns a store in the area, mentioned that two car bombs exploded in the crowded market. The explosions shattered the windows of his shop completely and damaged others.
December 13, 2006 (Dohuk) — Fishkhabour and Derabon (Dair Aboon) are two Assyrian villages that are part of the Zakho district. The majority of lands in these two villages belong to Assyrians, the indigenous people of the region. Tens of Kurdish families belonging to the Mirani tribe have illegally appropriated lands belonging to the Assyrians and there are additionally two hundred Yezidi families illegally living in the village of Derabon. Many complaints were presented to the government in charge, but no action was taken to end these violations. Other similar violations in the villages of Qrola, Bidar and others in al-Sindi region continue. In addition, it has been noted that the funds, which are allocated to the building of homes in the region, are wasted due to administrative corruption resulting in the building of houses that don’t satisfy the legal building codes.
December 12, 2006 (Mosul) — An unidentified Islamic group placed flyers at the Student Union at Mosul University; the flyers contained messages directed at Assyrian (also known as Chaldean and Syriac) students and were placed in areas where Assyrian students congregate. Witnesses report that University security men observed the men placing the flyers but did not intervene. The flyers warned the Christian Assyrian students that "in cases where non-Muslims do not conform to wearing the Hijab [head cover for women] and are not conservative with their attire in accordance with the Islamic way, the violators will have the Sharia and the Islamic Law applied to them."
December 6, 2006 (Baghdad) — An armed group attacked a few men who were conversing in front of a bakery not far from his home in Dora district. Mikha Raheem (age 56), originally from Alqosh, was killed.
December 4, 2006 (Mosul) — Fr. Mundhir al-Dayr of the Protestant Church in Mosul was found dead with a bullet in his head, reported AsiaNews. Fr. Al-Dayr was abducted November 26, 2006 and was found dead four days later. A message from the abductors demanded one million dollars as ransom or they will "kill all Christians starting with Fr. Al-Dayr."
December 4, 2006 (Baghdad) — Fr. Sami Abd al-Ahad was abducted along with his car in front of his home on al-Sina'aa Street across from the Technology University in Baghdad as he attempted to go to Church. He was released on December 10, 2006, as reported by the Chaldean Catholic Church web site.
November 29, 2006 (Baghdad, Iraq) — A terrorist group in Baghdad assassinated Haskial Isaac Benjamin al-Raikani (b. 1950). He was from the Assyrian village of Telkepe (Telkaif) in northern Iraq. Al-Raikani was shot and killed in front of his home in Dora, Baghdad as he attempted to move his family and belongings back to northern Iraq. Al-Raikani was married with three sons and two daughters.
November 26, 2006 (Mosul) — Two Assyrians, Shakeeb Polous and Isaac Polous of the Assyrian town of Karamles and his relative Faris Daniel, were abducted today in Mosul.
murdered on December 2. The fate of his relative is not known yet.
November 26, 2006 (Kirkuk, Iraq) — The Head of the Department of Antiquities and Heritage in Kirkuk, Ayad Tariq, warned from an increase in trespassing on archaeological sites in the city, such as that of Jallo, 15 km. south of the city of Kirkuk. He said that people are building homes within the site, which is one of the most important archaeological sites that date back to ancient Assyrian period. He added that even though the department had built a fence around the site, the trespassing by the locals still continues to increase.
November 23, 2006 (Baghdad) — Ishmael Behnam al-Qas Ishak was abducted over a month and a half ago. Yesterday his body was found at Baghdad's Institute of Forensic Medicine. The victim was originally from the Assyrian town of Baghdeda. He was married and a father of three children. Ishmael worked as a taxi driver on the Baghdad-Amman highway when he was abducted.
November 22, 2006 (Mosul) — The head of al-Suryan Independent Assembly Mr. Eshoo Majeed Hadaya was attacked and shot to death by unknown assailants as he left the headquarters of his movement in Baghdeda, the Nineveh plain, in northern Iraq.
November 20, 2006 (Baghdad) — (AsiaNews) Christians in Baghdad fear yet another priest has been kidnapped. Fr Douglas Yousef Al Bazy - 34 years, Chaldean -- left his parish yesterday morning and has not returned home.
October 2006 (Baghdad) — A toddler was kidnapped. The mother, a Christian, could not pay the ransom and the young child was returned to her, beheaded, roasted, and served on a mound of rice.
October 29, 2006 (Baghdad) — In the afternoon of October 29, Marvin Emmanuel Khazmi (born 1984) was kidnapped. His body was found the next day at the mortuary with a bullet in the head. Marvin was a third year student at the University of Baghdad, College of Agriculture.
October 29,2006 (Mosul) — Ziyad Abdulla Ajaj (22 years young) was murdered by a group of armed terrorists as he left home in the morning going to work in the Christian quarters of al Sa'aa.
October 22, 2006 (Baghdad) — Arkan Sabah Yousif was kidnapped. However, his body was found in mid-November.
October 21, 2006 (Baquba, northeast Baghdad) — Ayad Tariq (14 years young Christian) was the sole provider for his family that consisted of his father, who was old and could not work, mother, five younger brothers and two sisters. He was forced to quit school, work and provide for his family. His job was to turn on and off an electric generator and attend to it while on his 12 hours shift. On Saturday 21, and around 6:00 a.m., while he was just about to enter the premises of his fenced work, a group of Islamist extremists confronted Ayad and asked for his ID. When they discovered that he was a Christian, they began to scream "kafir … kafir" (Infidel). They dropped him on the ground, different men held each of his arms and legs and a fifth man held his head, put the knife on his neck and cut his throat while screaming "Allah Akbar… Allah Akbar" (God is Great).
October 13, 2006 (Mosul) — A group from the Kurdish militia belonging to the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) attacked the Nineveh headquarters of the Assyrian Democratic Movement's TV station, Ashur TV. The KDP militia forced the TV station staff, including two female news anchors, out of the building and forcibly confined them in their vehicle outside of the Bakhdeda (Hamdaniya) TV station. The Ashur TV station staff driver was severely beaten by the KDP militia and was hospitalized.
October 11, 2006 (Baquba, northeast of Baghdad) — Dr. Joseph Fraidon Potros (b. 1950) was kidnapped from his working office in Baquba General Hospital. His abductors then murdered him. Dr. Potros was a specialist in dermatology.
October 9, 2006 (Baghdad, Mosul, and Basra) — Christians are living a terrified life in Mosul and Baghdad. Several priests have been kidnapped, girls are being raped and murdered. A fourteen-year-old boy was crucified in the Christian neighborhood of Basra.
October 9, 2006 (Mosul) — Fr. Polous Iskandar, the priest of Mar Afram (St. Ephrem) Church in Mosul, was kidnapped by armed group on Monday while he was in the industrial quarters of the city. On October 11, he was beheaded by what it seems to be an Islamic fundamentalist group.
October 8, 2006 (Baghdad) — Around 6:30 a.m., two bombs exploded by the Church of Virgin Mary on Palestine road in Baghdad. The outer walls of the church were damaged and the windows of many parked cars that belong to the church were shattered. One policeman was killed and many passing by people were injured.
October 5, 2006 (Mosul) — The church of the Holy Spirit in Mosul appears to have become the target of a terror campaign. After attacks that took place at the end of September, a group of men opened fire on the place of worship on October 4 and 5, injuring one of the guards who is currently in the hospital.
October 4, 2006 (Baghdad) — A series of bombs went off in rapid succession in a shopping district in a mainly Assyrian Christian neighborhood of Camp Sarah in Baghdad, killing 12 people and wounding 56, many of the injured are in critical condition.
October 2006 — Two weeks ago, 13 Christian women were kidnapped and killed because they didn't wear the traditional Islamic veils.
October 1, 2006 (Kirkuk) — A bomb exploded in front of the home of an Assyrian family in al-Nasr district. The bomb caused injury to one woman in the house and damages to the structure. The family has been receiving threats to leave the city.
September 30, 2006 (Mosul) — According to Aswat al-Iraq (Voices of Iraq), 30 Christian families have received threats on Friday September 29 to leave Mosul in 72 hours or be killed.
September 26, 2006 (Mosul) — Once again the Chaldean Church of the Holy Spirit was the target of terrorist attacks in Mosul, Iraq. On the morning of September 26, a group of men fired rockets against the building, whilst an explosive devise was detonated outside a usually unused entrance door, this according to local sources. No one was killed or hurt in the incident. They also suggested that the attackers might be the same people who on Sunday fired about 80 shots against the church breaking some windows and causing minor damage.
September 24, 2006 (Baghdad) — Terrorists attacked Assyrians after Sunday prayer at the Cathedral of the Virgin Mary of the Ancient Church of the East in Al-Riyadh neighborhood in Baghdad. Joseph Isho and an unidentified small boy were killed and around 17 injured, two of them seriously.
Eyewitnesses stated that as the worshipers were leaving the church after Sunday morning mass, a bomb exploded under the car of the Church priest Father Ayzeria Warda, parked nearby the main gate, or perhaps a hand grenade was thrown at them from a speeding car.
Immediately after that, another huge explosion occurred from a car bomb parked across the narrow street as the panicked people gathered to check on the injured.
September 21, 2006 (Mosul) — Assyrian police officer Ziad Waadallah Jamil was assassinated in Mosul in the area of al-Sa’aa. He was employed with the Nineveh police force and he was attacked by unknown assailants as he was leaving home to go to work. Officer Jamil was born in Mosul in 1981, he was single.
September 8, 2006 (Baghdad) — Two bombs exploded in front of the main gate of a church in al-Za'faraniyya. The explosions caused damage to the church and injured the church guards. Fr. Francis Scher was not at the church as he was visiting a family after christening ceremonies.
August 31, 2006 (Baghdad) — Manaf H. Yousuf was killed by a bomb that exploded as he was returning home from work in al-Baladiyat quarters of Baghdad. Yousuf was born in 1978 and originally from the town of Bersive in northern Iraq. He was an engineer.
August 26, 2006 (Damascus) — According to www.basrahnews.net Dr. Donny George, Deputy Head of the Iraqi Antiquity and head of Baghdad Museum, had fled to an undisclosed address in Damascus, Syria with his family because of the insecurity, lack of resources and the interferences of the Muqtada al-Sadr militias.
responsibilities. He faced the above simply because he was a Christian.
August 17, 2006 (Baghdad) — Ghassan E. Rofa Haido (b. 1968) was murdered outside Baghdad and in front of a crowd. He had been putting off his marriage because he was anticipating this murder.
August 12, 2006 (Mosul) — Two Assyrian brothers were murdered in cold blood while in their own shop in Mosul's quarters of al-Masaarif. The two Assyrian brothers owned a carpentry business in which they sold their furniture too. The two brothers, Akram Aprim Shlimon and Aziz Aprim Shlimon, were murdered in broad daylight and in front of people. The killers escaped using the car that belonged to the two brothers.
August 8, 2006 (Dohuk, Northern Iraq) — Akhiqar Gewargis Odisho (b. 1962) was shot at 8:00 p.m. while tending to his sheep. He was shot by a group of Kurdish militia, members of Kurdistan Democratic Party of Barazani. Sherdel Taher Khalid and two other unidentified Kurdish thugs were seen leaving the scene in their vehicle after the shooting. The three Kurds are from the Ekmala village, a neighboring village to Kondi Kosa where Mr. Akhiqar lived. Odisho died at 3:30 a.m. of August 9 from complications of his wounds in Nohadra (Dohuk) hospital. Odisho was married and had three daughters. The Assyrians of Kondi Kosa face continuous trespassing by neighboring Kurds despite pleas to the local government officials and Kurdish Regional Government (KRG).
August 8, 2006 (Baghdad) — A week ago, Bassam Shimun Hakim (33), was kidnapped from in front of his large liquor shop in Baghdad. The kidnappers demanded a ransom for his safe release. They were paid $30,000 in cash in addition to a BMW worth $10,000 that was parked beside the business address when he was kidnapped. Still, Bassam's dead body was discovered by police in one of Baghdad's streets two days ago and was kept in the morgue. Bassam was from Alqosh (northern Iraq) originally. He was married with two children.
August 3, 2006 (Baghdad) — Chaldean Catholic Auxiliary Bishop Andreos Abouna of Baghdad said that before the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq there were about 1.2 million Christians in Iraq. Since then the overall number has dropped to about 600,000. The bishop said 75 percent of Christians from Baghdad had fled the capital to escape the almost daily outbreaks of sectarian violence.
July 21, 2006 (Kirkuk) — A car bomb exploded in al-Muhafada St. Salwan Sabah Jabbar, A Christian, was killed and many Christians injured.
July 21, 2006 (Baghdad) — In the southern neighborhood of Dora, a Christian (unidentified yet) working for the ministry of higher education was shot dead.
July 20, 2006 (Baghdad) — Pamphlets were distributed in Baghdad's quarters of al-Dora demanding from all the residence to evacuate their homes and leave. The pamphlets threatened to kill those who remain in their homes.
to evacuate their homes or face extermination.
Note: Many Assyrians live in the al-Dora and al-Mashtal quarters of Baghdad.
the issue of kidnapping his own sister Tayseer al-Mashhadani and her guards. Addressing the terrorists, Dr. Mahmoud al-Mashhadani stated, quote: “Why kidnap this Muslim woman? Instead of Tayseer, why not kidnap Margaret or Jwan?” Unquote.
(Assyrian) and Kurdish women. What is the Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament advocating?
Is he telling the terrorists to leave Tayseer and kidnap Margaret and Jwan?
July 18, 2006 (Baghdad) — On January 31, 2006, al-Iraqiya Sat broadcasted a clip for an interrogator questioning a terrorist whom along three other terrorists named Jamal, Sabah, and Firas kidnapped three women. The first was a Christian from Za'faraniyya. They raped her and then Jamal killed her. The second was a teacher, a Christian as well, in Diyala. She was raped and then Sabah killed her. The third was a Christian too and an employee at a clinic in al-Madaa'in (ancient Seleucia-Ctesiphon). She was raped as well and Jamal killed her after they raped her.
July 17, 2006 (Baghdad) — On Monday 17/07/2006, 10:30 a.m. Father Raad Washan Sawa was abducted by unknown assailants in al-Karada district. The three kidnappers stopped the taxi, which was transporting Father Sawa, forced him out of the taxi and into their car, and then they took him to one of the houses used for such operations. Father Sawa was blindfolded, his hands burned with cigarettes, beaten, and insulted with obscene words. The second day, he was beaten again and dropped on an express way in al-Qanat quarters but not before he was asked to prepare $200,000 U.S. which was going to be collected at a later time.
July 13, 2006 (Kirkuk) — A Nissan pickup truck on the side road exploded on Thursday morning near the Syoof area in the heavily Assyrian populated Arapha district. Four adults and a boy were killed and seven wounded, few severely and critically. Police officer Johnny Warda was identified as one of the killed. One adult was unidentified because of severe burns to his entire body.
1. Apartment buildings on the Ankawa properties.
2. Construction of hydro stations on a 90 Dunum of land, which is part of the Ankawa properties. Building the so-called City of Dreams on large portions of lands belonging to the Ankawa farmers.
3. Establishing plant nurseries affiliated with the gardening administration in Arbil on the Ankawa lands.
4. Appropriating more than 500 Dunum of lands, and passing them to the department of agricultural research, forbidding the farmers of their lawful right to the lands, while those who were allowed to cultivate the lands were not residents of Ankawa.
July 1, 2006 (Kirkuk) — A Christian who worked as a traffic warden was shot and killed on the streets of Kirkuk two days before his wedding.
of KDP's peshmerga against what belongs to the general public.
June 30, 2006 (Hamdaniya [Baghdede] - Northern Iraq) — Three Iraqi Police loyal to the KDP Police Chief in the Hamdaniya District of the Nineveh governorate began assaulting civilian passers-by with anti-Christian and racist slurs. The policemen had just come off duty but were still carrying their automatic weapons. As the Iraqi police continued their tirade against Christians in the overwhelmingly Assyrian Christian town, Steven Basim, a young man, left his car to plead with the police to refrain from their insults and threats.
The police officers approached the man and one immediately started to strike him squarely on the side of his head with his weapon. As the young man fell to the ground bleeding, the other two policemen then also joined in the beating. Two other Assyrian men attempted to intervene and were also beaten. As a group of onlookers began to approach and question the police regarding the slurs and beating, the police began firing into the crowd. Fearing they could not control the angry crowd, the police called for reinforcements.
At 6:30 pm, the police dragged their bleeding, half conscious victim to the police station.
Fearing for his life, a group of young Assyrian Christian locals decided to rescue the man from his kidnappers. The local priest, Fr. Loius Kassab, who has enjoyed considerable financial support and favor from the KDP occupying forces asked the group of Assyrians to allow him to intervene to secure the release. As time dragged on, the group of Assyrians became increasingly concerned that the badly beaten man may die in custody.
transported him to obtain medical care.
June 22, 2006 (Northern Iraq) — New statistics by the Assyrian Aid Society estimated that 1,331 ChaldoAssyrian Christian families (or about 5,561 persons) have fled Baghdad, Mosul, Basra, Ramadi, and Kirkuk and settled in towns and villages in northern Iraq. The Christians are fleeing because of the lack of security or forced migration. The statistics are as follows: 449 families to Dohuk, 119 families to Barwari Bala, 19 families to Mulla Barwan, 52 families to Aqra, 429 families to Zakho, and 263 families to Sapna. In previous statistics, 700 ChaldoAssyrian families were reported fleeing their homes.
June 16, 2006 (Basra) — Linda Edmond and her family were forced to leave their home in Basra after receiving death threats. Linda has been a member of the Mar Afram Church Musical Choir for 14 years. Islamic fundamentalists murdered her friend in the choir Shadha Sada Odisho few months earlier.
June 14, 2006 (Mosul) — A local police patrol in Nineveh Province harassed and assaulted two Assyrian (ChaldoAssyrian) students in Mosul University after they completed their final exams and were ready to go home. Worth mentioning that the Assyrian students boycotted last year's classes at Mosul University because they were harassed and threatened for being Christians.
June 11, 2006 (Baghdad) — A bomb explosion in the al-Karrada district in central Baghdad killed many Iraqis, including Ninos Shamuel Adam, an Assyrian university student born in 1985.
June 7, 2006 (Baghdad) — Rushd Noel Essa was killed when a car bomb exploded in al-Sina'aa quarters in Baghdad on Wednesday. Essa was a member of the ChaldoAssyrian Students and Youth Union. He lived in the Assyrian quarters of Dora and was born in 1976.
June 3, 2006 (Mosul) — The Assyrian town of Karamles said the last farewell to an innocent 33-years-young Christian woman. Rahima Elias Isha'ya, originally from Karamles, was murdered by a group of armed men in the crowded commercial neighborhood of Dargazliyya in Mosul. She owned a small business where she sold perfumes and make-up related merchandise. The fanatic murderers fired their guns at Rahima while he was inside her shop and fled, said the police.
June 3, 2006 (Basra) — Armed men murdered last night a Christian engineer in front of his home in Basra. The Christian engineer, whose name has not been released, worked at the al-Najeebiyya Electrical Circuit in al-Ma'aqal. The murder seems to be due to religious reasons since the engineer was a Christian and there have been many killings against Christians in Basra and efforts to force them to leave the city.
June 2, 2006 (Baghdad) — Kaneesat al-Si'aood (The Church of Ascension) was attacked by a rocket bomb last night. The bomb caused damages to the church building and a hole in the church dome. No injuries were reported because the attack happened during the night.
May 30, 2006 (Mosul) — Ra'aad Yousif (b. 1976) was found murdered in the Industrial quarters in Mosul. Yousif is from Bartella; he was married and had one child. Yousif owned a bodybuilding gym. Reports from Mosul indicate that the murder is suspected to be an act of revenge over the ownership of his gym as the decision of ownership was in his favor after the public bidding over the gym. He was threatened by the Kurds to withdraw his bid but he refused.
May 25, 2006 (Kirkuk) — The ChaldoAssyrian Police Captain Salam Mnati Yousif was shot to death by the hands of terrorists in Kirkuk city, at 2:30 pm, while he was shopping with his wife. Mr. Yousif was born in 1956. He joined the Assyrian Democratic Movement (ADM) after the liberation of Iraq, and was an active member in our ChaldoAssyrian Community in Kirkuk, although he is Mandean (Sabean). Salam Yousif left behind a wife and six children.
May 17, 2006 (Mosul) — Abulkarim Hurmiz Bahoda was murdered in a hate crime incident. No details available.
May 10, 2006 (Baghdad and Basra) — Reports via e-mails and phone conversation with Assyrians in Iraq confirmed that Assyrian Christian women have been forced to wear the Islamic veil or face death and Assyrian men are being ordered to grow beards in the Muslim fashion.
May 7, 2006 (Arbil) — A priest while on his way back to Mosul after finishing his religious duties in Arbil was stopped at a Kurdish police search point. The priest was searched, distressed, insulted, and threatened not to be allowed to cross to Mosul for no apparent reason. He was finally allowed to cross the checkpoint when an Arabic speaking Kurdish police intervened.
April 30, 2006 (Mosul) — An attack by a terrorist(s) on worshippers at the Assyrian (Suryani) Orthodox Church of Mar Afram in Mosul resulted in seriously injuring two Assyrians who were transferred to a hospital.
April 26, 2006 (Mosul) — Yousif Odisho Giwargis al-Baylati (b. 1965) was shot and killed in the Assyrian quarters of al-Dawwasa in Mosul. Motives are still unknown, but it seems that he was targeted because of his ethnic background. Giwargis was an Iraq-Iran war veteran and was injured during that war.
April 22, 2006 (Ankawa, Arbil) — Kurdish policemen, namely Badr, Hikmat, Sammeh, and Sourood that were part of the guarding duty under deputy Sulaiman, attacked a peaceful Christian civilian simply because he accompanied a friend who had a question about a specific problem.
April 12, 2006 (Baghdad) — James Benyamin, an Assyrian resident of New Baghdad district of Baghdad, was shot and killed by insurgents while working in Balad, about 20 miles east of Baghdad. Balad is a small city in the province of Salah-Al-Deen, the birthplace of the former Iraqi dictator, and a hot bed for insurgents and terrorists.
April 7, 2006 (Dora, Baghdad) — Shimshon Awisha (Abu Robi), brother of David and Abbi Awisha, was murdered near the Assyrian Club in Dora district as he was heading home. The killer stepped out from a car, walked towards Mr. Awisha, and shot him dead.
April 7, 2006 (AKI, Baghdad) — The Mujahadeen Council, a leading insurgency group linked to al-Qaeda in Iraq, has announced the killing of a Christian in Mosul "for offending the prophet Mohammed." In a statement posted to the Internet, the group, whose military arm is still headed by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, said that on Tuesday it "eliminated" a Christian in Mosul. "We eliminated him, because this impure crusader offended our noble prophet Mohammed. We killed him in the al-Tahir quarter of Mosul" it read.
April 6, 2006 (Dora, Baghdad) — Wasan Matti, sister of Fr. Wisam Matti of Mother of God Church, was killed from gunshots by an Islamic terrorist group. She was with her husband and 2-year-old daughter in their car returning home from a doctor visit. Wasan was six months pregnant and would have celebrated her 30th birthday on April 18.
April 5, 2006 (Mosul) — Toma Hurmiz Toma al-Kanni was shot and killed by unidentified assailant(s). The shooting occurred as Toma was standing in his own front yard garden in the al-Mansour quarters of Mosul.
March 7, 2006 (Mosul, Iraq) — Assyrian Kamil Sulaiman Hurmis, who owns a factory in Dawwasa Assyrian quarters of Mosul, was threatened unless he pays huge amounts of money to those who threatened him. Mr. Hurmiz locked his shop and left his home and the town.
March 7, 2006 (Mosul, Iraq) — Assyrian Sinan Abd al-Jabbar, who was kidnapped last Saturday (March 4), was murdered. His body was found thrown in a stack of hay in Al-Tahrir quarters in Mosul as his family failed to pay the $50,000 ransom.
Sinan was married with one baby of 5 months young.
March 6, 2006 (Mosul, Iraq) — In a phone call with Giwargis Samuel in Mosul, Mr. Samuel stated that fundamentalists are sending threat letters to Assyrians and Christians in town and telling them to leave Mosul or face death.
February 27, 2006 (Baghdad) — A car bomb went off in al-Ameen quarters of Baghdad at around 7:00 p.m. on Monday. The bomb exploded and killed Mahir Toma Oshana minutes after he left his home. Mahir was born in 1967. He was married and had three young children. His sister Linda Toma, who lives in Norway, verified what happened after receiving the sad news from her parents in Iraq.
February 24, 2006 (Mosul) — Ni'mat Mattai Jiddo was killed by fundamentalists in Mosul. Details are not yet available. Ni'mat was married and had two children.
January 29, 2006 (Mosul) — According to Elaph, Muslim students in Mosul University beat tens of Christian students. This occurred days after a Danish newspaper published an insulting caricature drawing of Muslim prophet Mohammad. Muslim clerics in Mosul, under pressure from Islamic militias, issued fatwa (religious edict) calling their followers to "expel the Crusaders and infidels from the streets, schools, and institutions because they offended the person of the prophet in Denmark."
January 29, 2006 (Baghdad and Kirkuk) — Six Churches bombed in Iraq Today, Sunday, six churches were bombed in Iraq. In Baghdad, a car bomb detonated at 4:10 p.m. outside St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church in the eastern Baghdad suburb of Sina'a. About 20 minutes later, another vehicle exploded outside the Anglican Church in eastern Baghdad's Nidhal area. The Churches of Mar Addai and Mar Mari Catholic Church in al-Binook and St. Petros and Polous Orthodox Churches were bombed as well.
Simultaneously, in the northern city of Kirkuk, the Church of the Virgin in Kirkuk was bombed at 4:30 p.m. That explosion came 15 minutes after another car bomb exploded outside St. Ephrem Orthodox Church. Three are confirmed dead, including Fadi R. Elias, 13 years old originally from Alqosh, and many wounded.
January 20, 2006 (Baghdad, Kuwait News Agency [KUNA]) — A group of armed men raided the home of the former Iraqi football (soccer) player and coach Emmanuel David, better known as Ammo Baba, in Zayoona, in the center of Baghdad.
The 74 years old former coach Baba told the police: "The armed men tie me up, folded my eyes, and began to beat me up." The armed men stole Baba's money and belongings.
Most recently, Ammo Baba received some donations from Iraqi officials to cover necessary medical treatment outside Iraq. Ammo Baba has diabetes, which resulted in the amputation of two of his right foot toes in a surgery he underwent last year in Amman, Jordan. He has been suffering from poor vision lately as well. Ammo Baba stated that stealing his money would delay his treatment and threaten his life.
As the coach of the Iraqi national football team, Ammo Baba led Iraq to three titles in the Arabian Gulf football tournaments and the gold medal at the 1982 Asian Games in India.
January 17, 2006 (Baghdad) — A group disguised in the Iraqi National Guards uniforms knocked on the door of Deacon Sami Matti Sliwa (known also as Abu Addison). As the door was opened, they pushed themselves in, began to search the house, brought terror to the family, and when they found nothing they took Deacon Sliwa away. Two hours later, they called the family and told them that Deacon Sliwa was a hostage and that they were a kidnapping and robbery gang and demanded ransom. Deacon Sliwa is not a member of any political group or organization and he is the only provider of his family.
Saturday, January 7, 2006 (Baghdad) — The Christian Science Monitor named female US freelancer Jill Carroll as the kidnapped journalist in Baghdad, Iraq. The kidnapping occurred in the western Baghdad's Adil neighborhood on January 7, 2006. The body of her Assyrian interpreter, Allan Enwiya, 32, was later found in the same neighborhood. Enwiya was able to tell soldiers that Carroll had been kidnapped before he died from the two bullets in his head.
January 01, 2006 (Dora, Baghdad) — Ayad Loqa Lazar (born in 1962 in Kirkuk), a member of the Assyrian Democratic Movement), was attacked and murdered today at 7:00 a.m. by terrorists while on duty in Dora district. Ayad was married and had two children.
January 01, 2006 (Kirkuk, Iraq) — During demonstrations today in the quarters of Raheem Awa in Kirkuk, where Assyrians and Kurds live, Youkhana Yaqo Youkhana (born in 1936 in the Assyrian village of Deri) was killed by mistake by American troops who were shooting to clear up a demonstration protesting the high prices of fuel. Youkhana was heading home from his work when he was caught up in the middle of the demonstration. Youkhana Yaqo is the father of Emad Youkhana, a member of the Assyrian Democratic Movement.
December 12, 2005 (Mosul, Northern Iraq)Police Officer Ivan Giwargis Zaia was assassinated in al-Sina'aa Quarters in Mosul. Ivan was born in 1976.
December 2, 2005 (Kirkuk, Iraq) — Sarmad Behnam Ibrahim (b. 1974), an Assyrian, a member of the Assyrian Democratic Movement and an officer in the Kirkuk Police Department, was murdered while on duty.
November 29, 2005 (Mosul) — Gunmen in two cars opened fire today on four members of the Assyrian Democratic Movement as they hung Iraqi election posters in Mosul, killing two of them. One person was also wounded in the morning attack, according to Dr. Bahaldin al-Bakri from the Jumhouri hospital.
The gunmen began firing while the party officials were pasting posters on walls for the coming parliamentary elections in al-Shuhadaa neighborhood in northeast Mosul around 1:30 p.m. local time.
1. Martyr Yousif Nabil Ishmael - from Baghdeda (born 1986).
2. Martyr Gewargis Brikha Youkhana - from Nahla (born 1980).
3. Simon Edmon Youkhana - injured (born 1983).
4. Milad Zakkar Mansour - (born 1987) - He is currently in a life threatening condition after receiving a gunshot wound to the head.
November 21, 2005 (al-Ghadeer quarters, Baghdad) — Baghdad police announced that a group of armed men stormed a Christian home in East Baghdad's al-Ghadeer quarters, which has a Christian majority, and killed four Christian women in the house.
November 2, 2005 (Kirkuk, Northern Iraq) — On Wednesday, at approximately 5:00 p.m., a car bomb exploded near the Church of Mar Giwargis in the Assyrian quarters of Almas district in Kirkuk. One of the three civilian victims was an 18-year-old Assyrian, Sarmad Fadi Kamil. His father was injured in the explosion.
October 27, 2005 (Tikrit, north of Baghdad) — A group of terrorists attacked an Assyrian family killing Younan Gharib and seriously injuring his wife and brother-in-law. Younan has been staying in Syria because of the conditions in Iraq. He had decided to return to Baghdad, move to northern Iraq, and live there among his extended family in a village by the Iraqi-Turkish border.
October 17, 2005 (Elaph: Baghdad) — A group of armed men entered the apartment of Nomat'eel Hasra, an Assyrian woman living in the New Baghdad district, in eastern Baghdad, and killed her. No reasons are yet known.
August 26, 2005 (Bartella, North of Iraq) — Two groups of armed men in military uniforms began shooting near a gas station in Bartella. Nabil Akram Ammona (b. 1968, married with two children) was killed instantly and Matti Shimon Sha'ya (b. 1950, married with four children) was hit in the head and is struggling to survive.
It has been reported that the KDP member peshmerges killed the two Assyrian civilians by shooting them in the head. The Iraqi sources commented on the event and said that the Assyrians holding demonstrations against the constitution resulted in the reaction of the Kurdish peshmerges. According to the received information, Nabil Akram Ammona was shot down dead in the head by the KDP peshmerges in Bartilla.
While waiting for the tank of his car to be filled up at the gas station, the KDP pehmerges entering the station got out of their vehicles and approached Ammona and took the gas pump out of the tank of the car. Later, they killed Ammona shooting him in the head.
Meanwhile, Matti Shimon Zora Sha'ya who wished to take Ammona to the hospital was shot by the same peshmerges and in the same way. Sha'ya who was taken to the hospital after the peshmerges escaped the crime scene, died at the hospital.
August 14, 2005 (Dora district, Baghdad) — On Sunday, August 14, 2005, Ayad Dawood Gergis was driving his car to work when he was attacked and killed by unknown gunmen.
August 11, 2005 (Kirkuk) — On Thursday, August 11, 2005, Engineer Sa'aad Fouzi was kidnapped opposite Sonobor Hotel in al-Muhafada St in Kirkuk. His body was found later stabbed repeatedly and thrown in Kornish st. Sa'aad was 29 years old and worked as an engineer in Northern Oil Company.
August 9, 2005 (Baghdad) — In Baghdad, Dura quarters (al-Mekanik), Sargon Esho (born 1983) was shot and killed on August 9, 2005 near Mar Zaia Church as he was preparing to get some groceries.
August 8, 2005 (Mosul) — In Mosul, the body of Anita Theodoros Harjo (born 1985), a student in Nineveh Art Academy, was found on August 8, 2005, thrown in 'Akkab cemetery. Anita was kidnapped in al-Zohoor quarters while on her way to an Internet Café.
August 6, 2005 (Mosul) — In Mosul, armed men kidnapped pharmacist Noel Potrus (born 1963) and his brother Amar and an Arab who worked in the pharmacy on August 6, 2005. Noel's body and that of the Arab were found thrown on the side road north of Mosul. Amar was released after paying $50,000 ransom.
August 4, 2005 (Mosul) — On August 4, 2005, Dr. Noel Petros Shammas Matti was kidnapped by an unknown group. He was found dead the day after his abduction. Dr. Matti was born in the village of Bartilla in 1962; he was married and a father of two daughters. He was a lecturer at the Medical Institute of Mosul University and owned a pharmacy in the same city.
July 22, 2005 (Baghdad) — Gunmen fired on a car carrying newlyweds who were married last Wednesday and their families, killing the bride (Salay, 22) while wounding her mother, groom (Wisam Abdul Wahad, 24) and driver (Marcel Ishoo) in the southern Dora neighborhood of Baghdad according to police and medical officials.
July 16, 2005 (Habbaniya, Ramadi) — A small explosion rocked the Assyrian Church in Habbaniya, Ramadi in Iraq. There was some damage to the roof of the church. No civilian injuries have been reported yet.
July 7, 2005 (Baghdad) — On Thursday, a Christian owner of a Liquor shop was killed. A car stopped in front of the store that sells in al-Karrada quarters in center Baghdad, an armed man stepped out of the car, and began shooting at the owner. The owner of the shop was killed instantly.
July 3, 2005 (Baghdad) — Younadam Youkhana Shimun (born 1963) was attacked and killed in a hate crime related motive. His son was injured in the operation. Mr. Shimun was married and had two sons and a daughter.
June 2, 2005 (Kirkuk) — A car bomb exploded in the Arapha Assyrian quarters. Randy Robert Alexin (5 years young) who was riding with his parents in their own car was killed immediately, while both his parents were injured and transferred to a near by hospital. Funeral was held in St. George Church in Almas quarters.
June 1, 2005 (Mosul, Nineveh Province) — Ghassan Fahmi, (b. 1977) owner of Ghassan's D.J. and Recording business, in al-Zuhoor quarter, was kidnapped by an unidentified group from his business place on Wednesday June 1. He was murdered and his body returned back two hours later.
May 18, 2005 (Mosul, Nineveh Province) — Laith Zuhair Gibraeil Hoodi (b. 1977) was killed immediately on Wednesday morning when a rocket hit his home in al-Sukkar quarters in Mosul. His mother I'atimad abd al-Ahad was hit by many splinters in her arms, legs, and other parts of her body, she remains in critical condition in the hospital.
place and Ishaq passed away in the arms of his old father.
March 27, 2005 (Mosul) — Kifah Mattai Ibraham was found murdered in Mosul. He was kidnapped on March 3. He was born in 1962 and is married. He ran his own stone factory business in Mosul.
March 23, 2005 (Dora, Baghdad) — Karim Elia Abouna, an Assyrian originally from Alqosh, was murdered in the Assyrian quarters of Dora, Baghdad today. An armed group of men entered his shop, shot him five times with light guns and he was killed immediately.
March 16, 2005 (Kirkuk, Iraq) — General Wael Yousif Yacoub, a Chaldo-Assyrian, was assassinated earlier today while returning home from Baghdad, a reporter of the Iraqi News Agency said today. According to eyewitnesses, armed men surrounded the general's car and began shooting; he was killed immediately. General Yacoub worked as an officer in the Internal Affairs Department of the Kirkuk Police. He was credited with the re-opening of the Kirkuk police force after the fall of Saddam Hussein. General Yacoub represented the Christians' voice in the affairs dealing with the local Police Board and was an ex-officer in the Iraqi army. General Yacoub was also a deacon (shamasha) at the Chaldean Catholic Cathedral in Kirkuk and considerably respected in his community. Sources to Zinda Magazine indicate that lately General Yacoub had been openly criticizing the Kurdish position on the ownership of the city of Kirkuk.
Wael was murdered when a car stopped next to his and began to fire at him. Wael was from Telkepe originally. He became a member of the ADM after the liberation of Iraq in April 9, 2003. He was an Engineer. He is married and had two daughters. Islamist Ansar al-Sunna army announced its responsibility for the killing.
March 15, 2005 (Basra, Iraq) — About 30 members of the gang of Mugtada al-Sadr (the al-Mahdi Army) attacked a group of Engineering College students of Basra University. The students were having a picnic at al-Andalus Park, downtown Basra, when a hooded gang in the name of Islam attacked and began to beat them with batons and sticks. One Christian student Zahra Ashor was killed and fifteen others students were badly injured. When a fellow student attempted to help Zahra, he was shot in the head. At least 20 students were kidnapped and taken to Sadr's office in al-Tuwaisa for 'interrogation' and were released late at night. The gang stole the student's belongings, including telephones, jewelry, and destroyed the tape recorder they were using to listen to music and many tapes. The attacks are because the female students were not wearing the Islamic hijab (veil) and because the students were listening to music.
December 2004 (Iraq) — Hundreds of Christian families are escaping to Syria and Jordan before the arrival of Christmas and the New Year festivities as they fear increasing acts of killings against them.
December 11, 2004 (Mosul) — Three days ago Sabah Hurmiz of Alqosh (married with three children) and his friend from Batnaya Saalim Potrus Daddaya (married with two children) were reported missing. Today, the bodies were recovered at one of Mosul's hospital. The bodies were recovered and burial ceremonies underwent soon after.
December 9, 2004 (Baghdad) — Few days ago, two Assyrian Christians were kidnapped from their business place and then murdered by unidentified terrorist group. The two Christians owned a hall used for celebrations in Baghdad. The first victim is Fawzi Soorish Luqa of 'Ankawa (b. 1961) and the second Haitham Yousuf Saka of Bartella.
University and was a successful surgeon.
December 7, 2004 (Mosul) — Two churches, Al-Tahira, Chaldean Catholic Church, and one of the most beautiful churches in Mosul and another Armenian church that was under construction, were bombed in Mosul today. The first blast struck the al-Ttahira (meaning the pure, in reference to the Virgin Mary) Church about 2:30 p.m. in al-Shifa' neighborhood, eastern Mosul. Ten armed men stormed the church, planted explosives throughout it, and set the bombs off wounding three people and destroying most parts of it. An hour later, gunmen bombed in al-Wahda neighborhood, western Mosul, an Armenian church under construction. No casualties were reported there.
December 2, 2004 (Mosul) — A few days ago, Imad Jameel Younan (born 1975), married with two children, was confronted with criminals who murdered him and stole his private taxi. Younan was a resident of the Assyrian town of Baghdeda.
December 2, 2004 (Mosul) — The body of Laith Antar Khanno (29 years) of Baghdeda was found near Mosul Hospital in the al-Wahda quarters, east of Mosul. Khanno was kidnapped two weeks ago and the kidnappers asked first for a ransom of $1,000,000 then dropped the figure to $100,000; however, his family could not come up with this large amount of money to rescue Khanno. Khanno had worked for a foreign company in Baghdad and had traveled to Mosul to open a branch there. His body was found first and the head was found later at a distance. Khanno was married three years ago and had one daughter.
December 2004 (Iraq) — Hundreds of Christian families are escaping to Syria and Jordan before the arrival of Christmas and the New Year festivities as they fear increase acts of killings against them.
November 30, 2004 (Salah al-Din) — Sabih Mousa Abada (born 1949), married with five boys and three girls, was killed when a car bomb exploded on a side road in Baiji. Abada worked as a driver at Baiji refinery. He had stopped to assist a stalled school bus. Abada was a resident of the Assyrian town of Baghdeda.
Assyrian Democratic Movement (ADM), was a cadre in the al-Karkh Branch in Baghdad. He was shot and killed in Mosul, whilst on leave.
November 21, 2004 (Baghdad) — Essarhadon Elia al-Qas Oraham (born 1977) was killed near al-Mashriq Club in Camp Sara quarters around 8:00 p.m. Sunday night. The two killers attempted to steal his Ford car, which he used privately and sometimes as a taxi, however, he resisted and they shot him. He leaves behind a wife and a 2-year-old girl.
November 19, 2004 (Mosul) — A mortar shell killed two Assyrian brothers of the town of Bartella. Muntadir As'aad Matti and Bashar As'aad Matti were killed while at work when the bomb fell on the shop they worked at in Mosul market.
November 8, 2004 (Baghdad) — Two bombs exploded outside two churches in southern Baghdad quarters of Dora. Three people were dead and around 40 to 50 injured. The news was reported in the afternoon by CBS, ABC, and by FOX NEWS at 3:05 with Brit Hume during his segment Special Report.
said. Witnesses reported that 18 people were slightly injured in the explosion. The second car bomb detonated minutes later, less than a mile away, outside the St. Matthew Church, killing three people and wounding 34, said a policeman on the scene who declined to give his name.
November 4, 2004 (Falluja) — Dr. Nadia Hanna Murqos was killed near Falluja while returning from Syria. Her husband and son were injured in the attack on their car.
Assyrian family in Dora, Meekanik quarters, south of Baghdad. 'Alaa' Andrawis (b.
1965), his wife Evelyn Malkizdaq, and their 10-years old son were shot at while in their car. Andrawis and his son were killed instantly, meanwhile, the mother was injured badly in her head and was transferred to a hospital where she is undergoing surgery. 'Alaa' Andrawis and Evelyn Malkizdaq had three children; the oldest is 12 years old. Fifteen days earlier, Andrawis's cousin, Yasmin Boodagh, and her daughter were killed in Dora by a bombed car. Additionally, beginning of this month, Sargon, son of the Assyrian poet and writer Odisho Malko, was kidnapped in Dora. The family had to give the kidnappers their private car and a certain amount of money as ransom to secure Sargon's release.
October 25, 2004 (Mosul) — Four unidentified armed men tried to force themselves inside the home of Nasrin Shaba Murad, an Assyrian Christian woman, in the quarters of 17 July in Mosul. When Nasrin Shaba Murad, a housewife aged 42, tried to escape to her neighbor's home, the gunmen opened fire and killed her. Nasrin is a mother of three children. Her body was transferred to Sinjar where she was buried.
October 30, 2004 (Mosul) — Ma'an Yousuf, an Assyrian male, was confronted by three men (two masked and one unmasked). Yousuf was killed in his electrical supplies shop in Dawwasa street in Mosul at 7:30 p.m. when the unmasked attacker shot him with three bullets in his head and the three escaped in their car.
Baghdad. Economical hardship forced her to seek employment as an instant translator in the Assyrian quarters of Dora region in Baghdad to support her two very young children, Manar and Mina. She was killed in cold blood on Thursday October 21 while on her way back home after completing her tenth day of employment. The killer mercilessly emptied his bullets in her head.
October 21, 2004 (Mosul) — Mr. Yonadam Kanna, one of the ChaldoAssyrian representatives in the Iraqi National Assembly, exposed the unfair and chauvinistic acts against the minorities in Mosul, including the Christians, who live under harsh circumstances. In his interview with al-Hayat on October 21, 2004, Mr. Kanna exposed the unfair actions by the Mosul Municipal Office, which is selling lands that belongs to minorities and rent them to others. He asked the Iraqi government to lift infringes and oppression against the Christians, Shabak, and Yezidis due to the ethnic and religious injustice inflicted on these groups by past subsequent Iraqi governments.
October 20, 2004 (Mosul) — The 18th Session of the Iraqi National Assembly addressed the escalating troubles in Mosul. Mr. Yonadam Kanna stated to the al-Sabah al-Jadeed (The New Morning) that what is happening in Mosul is alien to Iraqis. Many families have been slaughtered and killed. Additionally, Mosul University imposes strange and unreasonable customs on the students. Meanwhile, hundreds of families have abandoned the city of Mosul and moved to Dohuk and other neighboring towns.
October 16, 2004 (Mosul) — 1500 ChaldoAssyrian Syriac students that attend Mosul University have decided not to attend university classes effective today. The students have been harassed repeatedly and have been receiving numerous threats from terrorists and Islamists who are taking advantage from the non-stability and management chaos at the university.
October 16, 2004 (Baghdad) — In an apparently coordinated strike against Iraq's tiny Christian community, the church of Saint Joseph in the west of the Iraqi capital was hit at about 4:00 am (0100 GMT), the spokesman said. Twenty minutes later, another blast ripped through the streets at another Saint Joseph church, in Dora, southern Baghdad. After another 20 minutes, Saint Paul's church was struck in the same area. At 4:50 am, the Roman Catholic St. George church in the central district of Karrada was rocked by a blast and engulfed in flames, leaving the wood-built sanctuary completely charred. A fifth explosion occurred about an hour later at Saint Thomas church in Mansour, to the west. The violence resumed hours later when an artillery shell was fired into a car park between a hotel and Saint George's Anglican Church, witnesses and US soldiers said.
October 5, 2004 — According to www.epd.de in Göttingen, the Secretary-General of the Society for Threatened Peoples, Tilman Zuelch who is presently in Iraq, stated that twenty ChaldoAssyrian Christians were killed in September of this year alone by Islamic terrorists and 80 since May 2003. Forty thousands have left Iraq already to Syria and Jordan. Furthermore, Christian families in central and southern Iraq have lost hope in being able to live in peace among the Arabs, said Zuelch.
members in his family so he had to mark four shi'aa and four Sunni to avoid antagonizing either parties. Even though he did not convert to Islam, he had to respond to this flier as per the instructions. In other incidents, three Assyrian girls were murdered in Mechanic district in Baghdad for not wearing Hijab (Moslem veil) or for dressing improperly.
October 5, 2004 (Mosul) — The Christians of Ba'asheeqa and Bahzani, near Mosul in north of Iraq, were shocked this afternoon when they discovered Fadi's body. The 'Aaid Khidir Shamoon family was devastated as they witnessed the body of their 15-years-old son Fadi. Fadi's body was found burned after he was beheaded. Fadi was kidnapped while he was riding his bike, which his father had given to him as a present, in the 'Ain 'alaq orchards in Ba'asheeqa around 12:00 noon. His body was treated in the most barbaric way; he was mutilated, burned, and thrown in the Ba'asheeqa-Teez Kharab road in front of al-'Azzawi ranch.
Earlier, Ba'asheeqa mourned another son, Julian Afram Yacoub, 14-years-old, when he was hit in the head with a concrete block and then burned. The murderers have been targeting innocent children, which are forcing many Christians and Yezidis to flee their homes and villages.
October 4, 2004 (Mosul) — Hazim Sako (Abu Sarmad) was transferred to a hospital when gunmen opened fire on him and his family. Sako owned a liquor store in the Assyrian populated Dawasa district in Mosul. He passed away soon after, meanwhile his family struggles for life in the hospital. We are awaiting for more details about the murder.
'Aamer Nissan (b. 1968), 'Aadel Nissan (b. 1972), Amer Khoshaba (b. 1965), Emanuel Nissan (b. 1945), Maradona Emanuel (b. 1984), Na'aeem Gewargis (b. 1978), Bassam Elias (b. 1982), Rasim Elias (b. 1984), and Amir Shabo.
September 23, 2004 (Mosul) — Threatening pamphlets were distributed in Mosul University and walls around campus carried threading messages to use acid solution to burn the faces of any girl who does not cover her face with the hijab (veil) as the university opened its door for the new school year. The pamphlets stressed that the threats are not directed at Moslem girls alone but Christians and Yezidis as well. Earlier, the faces of two Christian girls were burned with acid as they were attacked in the popular gold blacksmith market in Mosul. Christian and Yezidi girls are afraid of attending university this year; however, the university is promising protection.
September, 2004 (Mosul) — The beheading of two Assyrians: Raymond Farooq Shimun and Firas Hadi Potrus (b. 1978 and Mosul University graduate), was distributed through a CD in Mosul by an Islamic group calling itself the Salah al-Deen al-Ayoubi brigade. The CD did not indicate the date of the beheading.
It is worth mentioning that Salah al-Deen al-Ayoubi was a Kurd and reports from Iraq suggest that the group is Kurdish Islamist that is trying to force the Assyrians out of their ancestral lands.
September 11, 2004 (Baghdad) — This evening, a car bomb exploded outside the Virgin Mary Seventh-Day Adventist Church in the Al-Sa‘doun Park in the center of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. According to eyewitnesses, it was difficult to know firsthand whether the explosion was an act of a suicide bomber or the car exploded by remote control. The explosion caused a great deal of damage to the church shattering glass windows, but harming no one, according to the priest and an Interior Ministry spokesman.
September 10, 2004 (Mosul) — On the eve of September 10, following the celebrations of Holy Cross day (Aida D'Sliwa), at approximately 11:30 P.M. a mortar attack was launched on the inhabitants of the Assyrian town of Bakhdeda, in the Qaraqosh, Hamdaniya District. Three of the many mortars fell on roofs of homes where several Assyrians were injured during their sleep. An accurate count has yet to be made, but it has been confirmed that a 13 year old child, Mark Louis Sheeto, was killed and his mother, Bushra Toma Sheeto, and his 8-year-old brother Bihnam Sheeto sustained serious injuries. This attack seems to be part of a string of attacks planned to drive the native Assyrians out of their homeland. Bakhdeda (the name was changed to Hamdaniya by the Saddam Regime as part of the Arabization process) was felt to be a prime target as it houses over 30,000 Assyrians and is at the heartland of the Assyrian region.
September 10, 2004 (Baghdad) — A bomb exploded at the Assyrian Anglican Church at al-Andalus Street in Baghdad. The explosion occurred during the night. No casualties were reported.
September 2, 2004 (Mosul) — In the al-Mayasa (al-Sa'aa) Christian district, Khaled Boulos (32) and his brother Hani Boulos (28), known also as the sons of Hasina, were murdered. The deceased Assyrian brothers were known for their patriotic stands in Mosul in defending and assisting other Assyrians. According to eyewitnesses, on September 2, at noon local time, a car carrying a group of armed terrorists pulled by the Boulos brothers, came out of the car, and began firing heavily at the two Assyrians, killing them instantly.
September 1, 2004 (Mosul) — In a terrorist attack on the Governorate of Nineveh building, Mr. Nisan Sliyo Shmoel, of the Assyrian Patriotic Party was injured. Mr. Shmoel was taken to hospital where he was treated. Mr. Shmoel was released from the hospital after his treatment; however, the terrorists were awaiting his release and targeted him with an unmarked car (not carrying plate numbers), which they used to drive over him in front of the hospital entrance. Mr. Shmoel died immediately. Martyr Nisan Sliyo Shmoel was 43 years old. Mr. Shmoel is survived by his wife and six children, five daughters and one son, with the oldest being 15 years.
September 1, 2004 (Baghdad) — In the district of Karrada (Arkhita), a terrorist bomb exploded killing Mr. Gewargis Youaresh Nisan. A timebomb in the aforementioned district that is heavily populated by Assyrians setup the explosion.
August 31, 2004 (Bartella) — Three Assyrian girls were slaughtered in the Assyrian village of Bartella near Mosul while returing home from their work at a hospital in Mosul where they worked. Few days earlier, terrorists left CDs in the region filming the slaughter of two other Christians of the same town.
Betros and her sister Hala Abdul-Massih Ishaq Betros.
The attack took place in the section between the Television area and the Kokajli area on the main road between Mosul and Bartilla. Also injured in the attack was another Assyrian woman, ‘Amera Nouh Sha'ana, who was also returning home to Bartilla and the Assyrian driver, Naji Betros Ishaq. The three female victims were in their twenties.
August 1, 2004 (Baghdad and Mosul) — Five Assyrian (also known as Chaldeans and Suryan) and one Armenian Churches were bombed simultaneously in Baghdad and Mosul. Twelve Assyrians were killed and some 60 injured.
administrative positions in Dohuk province such as deputy governor, qaimaqams for qadhas, or mayors for villages despite the fact that the Assyrians make the second largest ethnic group in the said province and make a majority in certain of these villages. The KDP's most recently has prevented Assyrian groups and organizations such as the Assyrian Democratic Movement (ADM), ChaldoAssyrian Women Union and ChaldoAssyrian Student Union in Dohuk from being part of the special electoral committee and from nominating their representatives from this province (governorate).
This special electoral committee is to participate in the Iraqi national conference planned for end of July 2004. This, the Kurds have done despite the fact the Assyrian Democratic Movement has been part of every opposition group meetings before the fall of Saddam, then was part of the Iraqi Governing Council and today is part of the Iraqi Cabinet and is part of the high commission that is setting the stage for the national conference. Worth mentioning that from this national conference, a temporary Iraqi national Assembly should be selected until the national elections are held in January 2005and a permanent assembly is elected. The KDP is in violation of all previous agreements and understanding reached upon by Iraqi opposition groups before and since the fall of the Ba'ath regime. Every political group, institution, tribes, segment of society and notables were to take part in the democratic political process in the new Iraq.
Assyrians in the Diaspora call upon the Iraqi President, Prime Minister, government agencies, the United Nations and world organizations to interfere and undo the Kurdish oppression, marginalization and trespassing against the Assyrians in north of Iraq.
July 19, 2004 (Mosul) — Sources stated that unidentified attackers equipped with automatic weapons attempted to kidnap an Assyrian man, Hani Yohanna Naoom (43) around 7:00 a.m. near his convenient shop on Dawasa Street, near the government building. The victim tried to escape from his kidnappers; he was shot and killed.
July 17, 2004 (Mosul) — An unidentified group using automatic weapons entered a pizza shop at the al-Zihoor quarters around 3:00 p.m., shot and killed Adeeb Aqrawi, an Assyrian young man, working at the shop.
July 2004 (Dohuk) — Latest news from Iraq indicate that the Kurds and Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) officials under Masuad Barazani are preventing Assyrians from moving back to their original homes in Dohuk, north of Iraq, with the situation in Baghdad not improving. Meanwhile, the Kurdish officials have allowed many Kurdish families from Qamishli, Syria to move into Dohuk. These foreign Kurdish families have crossed the Iraqi borders and the KDP has secured for them food, shelter and all means possible to assist them to settle. Furthermore, the Kurds and KDP are forcing Assyrians to raise Kurdish flags in certain Assyrian villages and on top of Assyrian offices and homes in others.
July 11, 2004 (Baghdad) — Terrorists entered an Assyrian Christian home while the parents were out and shot to death at point blank range Raneed Raad 16 and her sister Raphid 6. The Assyrian family has been threatened earlier; still, no measures were taken to protect it.
July 11, 2004 (Baghdad) — Two Assyrian children from the Chaldean Catholic Church: Sami (6) and Rami (4) were killed in front of their home when rockets fell in their neighborhood in center of Baghdad.
June 26, 2004 (10:00 a.m.) — Mosul. Two unidentified persons in a silver Opel throw a hand bomb at the Holy Spirit Church (al-Rooh al-Qudos) in the Akha' quarters in Mosul. The explosion caused injury to a women who is the sister of Fr. Ragheed, the church priest. She was taken to hospital.
June 23, 2004 (Basra) — Two Assyrian sisters, Janet and Shatha Sadah Odisho (Audishow), aged 38 and 25, were shot dead in a car while returning home from work in Basra. The two sisters worked for Bechtel, a U.S. company.
June 20, 2004 (Mosul) — Raymond Farouq Shimun (a 22 years old and son of Farouq and Juliet) was slain by the forces of evil in Mosul. His head was partially cut and his hands and legs were smashed. There was signs or effects of knife on his body, which suggest that he was terrified and suffered before he died. His body was thrown in a cemetery (a valley outside the city), after he was kidnapped on June 17 (about 8:30 pm by five armed men not far from his home).
June 16, 2004 (Sulaymaniya) — Edmond Anwar (Sulaymaniya) Lost a lot of money and merchandize when his alcohol and cigarette shop was robbed.
June 10, 2004 (Baghdad) — Janan Joseph, an Assyrian Christian, was shot and killed inside his home in al-Mansour quarters along with ten more Christians in the quarter.
May 28, 2004 (Baghdad) — Ashor Goriel Yalda killed in his car with a grenade while on his way to work.
March 26, 2004 (Kirkuk) Lieutenant Romeo Esha David, a member of the Assyrian Democratic Movement, was killed in his home.
March 22, 2004 (Baghdad) Zinda Magazine reports that an Assyrian elderly couple, Ameejon Barama and his wife Jewded were brutally murdered in their own home by militants in the town of Dora, near Baghdad, Iraq. The husband's throat was slashed and the wife was struck repeatedly to the head.
5. The older daughter, Shmoni, survived as she was in Dohuk. Her daughter severely wounded. Wife of Farid is also severely wounded.
Members of the Kurdistan Students Union are indulging in activities that do not reflect democratic practices. On February 17, 2004 at the Ankawa Boys High School, a group of students from the Kurdistan Students Union entered classes against all rules and regulations and while classes were in session and distributed applications to students to join the Kurdistan Students Union. The ChaldoAssyrian Students and Youth Union protests such inappropriate, illegal, and unfair activities that interfere with the students' studies.
February 11, 2004 (Mosul) The Associated Press reports that Gunmen firing from a car attacked an office of the Assyrian Democratic Party in Mosul, injuring one security guard, according to party member Napoleon Fatou.
January 25, 2004: Bahra Newspaper reports that Dr. Sarmad Samee was shot in Basra.
when his car was meet with sprays of bullets near the dentistry college of Mosul. The district Mayor lives in the village of Telkepeh which has had its Christian population drop from 98% to 50% with 4 mosques built in and a fifth underway.
October 20, 2003 (Kirkuk) — Zinda Magazine reports that a rocket-propelled grenade hit the office of the Assyrian Democratic Movement in Kirkuk on Sunday. Jevan Jerges, 29 was injured in the attack.
October 7, 2003 (Mosul) — Safa Sabah Khoshi killed (and his cousin Mr. Meyaser Karim Khoshi critically injured) when his liquor store was attacked by RPG grenade.
August 19, 2003 (Tikrit) — Nadan Yonadam of Modesto, killed while working with the U.S. Army as a civilian translator.
July 19, 2003 (Mosul) — A 16 year old girl, Hilda Zuhair Istifan, was kidnapped in front of her home in the Muthana district of Mosul. The kidnapping was conducted by Muhamad Thiya Al-din Jasim, a cousin of Saddam Hussain, and the son of high ranking army official in Saddam's army. Muhamad's unlce was the director of Saddam terrorist army group, Fida'yeen Saddam.
July 17, 2003 (Baghdad) — Husam George Tobeya, 31 years old, married and had one son. He was shot dead at a gas station in Baghdad. Consequently, his wife left Iraq. She and her son are currently in Jordan waiting to immigrate to the United States. | 2019-04-20T08:13:35Z | http://atour.com/news/assyria/20100424a.html |
It’s Pride Month and nearly a year has passed since my essay, “How Not To Be Seen: Unlearning Invisibility,” was first published here on Haute Macabre. So lately I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting on that particular piece of writing which, to my surprise and subsequent joy, ended up helping more people than myself alone. I find it hard to believe that it has only been one year. In some ways it feels so much longer than that. Day-to-day life has simply been busy, to be sure, but I think it’s also because my life is richer for being more open and honest, for feeling more visible, less burdened, more comfortable in my own skin, for feeling seen and supported.
It might surprise some to learn that one of the best things that’s happened over the last year is that I’ve grown even closer to B, my cis male primary partner. He’s been my best friend for decades and we’ve been partners for…well, it’ll be 17 years this December. One of the things I tried to express in my essay was that coming out and living life as honestly as possible has been challenging for both of us. But we were willing to put our hearts on the line and put in the emotional work, even when it sometimes seemed endless. One year later, I can say with confidence that we’ve both learned even more about ourselves, each other, and about us as a couple and we’re stronger, more vulnerable, and closer for it. I’m even more grateful for B’s presence, his steadfast love, and his unwavering support. In case anyone is wondering, I’m no less queer now than I was this time last year, but, for as much as I’ve struggled to be seen and understood, I’ve also learned that B is a vital part of that visibility, not independent of it or complementary to it. Yes, it’s complicated, but that’s okay.
This isn’t meant to imply that the past year has been all ups and no downs, far from it. There’s been both love and loss. Hearts afire, heartache, and heartbreak. But, truth be told, I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’ve learned so much. I’m still learning. I imagine I always will be. That’s okay too. That’s more than okay.
But the most important thing that came of sharing that essay – besides the wealth of support I received from people I already knew and people I didn’t know until they reached out – was that it turned out to be much bigger than myself, a discovery which also helped me feel less isolated and despairing. Shortly after the essay was posted I began hearing from people who felt that, to one extent or another, my words had voiced their own experiences, desires, and worries, their own internal conflict, and the pains of invisible existence. I received such intensely moving and candid messages, e-mails, and letters that, as its anniversary approaches, I want to share the essay here again (you’ll find it below), in hopes that it’ll reach more people who might benefit from the cathartic paragraphs I loosed onto the internets one year ago. If you’re one of those people and you’d like to talk with me about your own situation, please do. I want you to feel seen and heard, valid and loved.
In a few moments it’ll officially be my birthday. I’m home alone, sipping bourbon, and re-watching Only Lovers Left Alive. It’s both Pride month and the month in which I turn 40, but I don’t feel like celebrating. That’s because it’s Pride month and I’m about to turn 40 and I feel as though, with the exception of a few precious people and despite what it says in my bio at the bottom of this page, my everyday life is more or less lived in the closet. It’s a closet built of my own silence and other people’s assumptions, but closets of convenience are no less suffocating. So how did I get here?
Like many queer kids, I was a late bloomer. I knew from very early on that I wasn’t straight and that it felt like the most natural thing in the world, but I had no vocabulary for it. When I look back on my childhood and adolescence, there were an abundance of wonderful queer influences in my life – writers, actors, artists, musicians – that I didn’t appreciate specifically for their queerness at the time, but I believe had an impact all the same. Speaking of Only Lovers Left Alive, I’m by no means the first person to declare a profound crush on beguiling, inspiring, gender-fluid Tilda Swinton, who’s had me in her thrall since I first saw Orlando in my teens, which was also how I discovered Virginia Woolf. I’m doubly glad about these queer presences because I didn’t have any queer personal contacts until I was nearly out of high school. If any of my friends at the time were somehow queer, they weren’t out (not that I’m blaming anyone for that). I had no gay relatives or gay family friends (again, not that I knew of). I was also introverted, melancholy, and often lost in my own head, which probably didn’t help matters.
I don’t recall hearing overtly homophobic rhetoric from anyone close to me as a child. But I remember lots of little things, like kids in school making homophobic jokes, laughing and reciting sing-song chants on the playground like “Lez be friends so we can walk homo together.” I doubt they really understood what they were saying, not at that age. They just thought it was funny. But these sorts of things made it clear to me that certain people were considered “other”, that girls crushed on boys and boys crushed on girls and eventually they’d all grow up and get married and have kids and it was all very, very heteronormative.
Come adolescence I knew I was queer, but still lacked a vocabulary for it. I knew what turned my head and captivated me, but hadn’t the first idea what to do about it or have anyone in whom I felt I could confide about such things. Everyone else seemed to be getting along as well or poorly as can be expected in their teenage years, because let’s not forget that adolescence is rough for everyone. I developed crushes on girls and boys my age (in retrospect, the boys tended to be pretty and delicate of feature), but I didn’t date anyone until college. The internet was a nascent thing during my teens. Life was pre-Facebook, pre-Instagram, pre-Tumblr, etc. I appreciate and sometimes actively envy the access adolescents now have to information, support resources, and potential friends, both near and far. It’s a pointless exercise, but I can’t help wondering if I would’ve figured myself out much earlier if I’d had the access to such things when I was a teen.
College finally introduced me to all sorts of openly queer people. I made new friends and met people I fancied and sometimes they fancied me back, fancy that! Unfortunately, college also brought an abusive relationship with a man and later I was raped by another. I told no one about either of these things at the time and eventually dropped out of college and got a job. I dated women and men and, a couple years later, I was assaulted again, this time by a woman. The world closed a little more each time I experienced this sort of harm, perhaps even more so because I didn’t reach out to others for help. Instead I did what I’d always done and tried to keep going in spite of things, but life became increasingly tricky to navigate. Self-loathing increased, self-esteem shrank, and who I was became less important than simply keeping my head above water.
Over time life gradually calmed down and stabilized. I moved out to Seattle in my mid-twenties, having wanted to live in the PNW since I was a teen. There I formed a deep, healthy, loving relationship with a warm and kind-hearted cis man with whom I’d been friends since college and who is now my husband (I’ll call him B). I also landed a great job for a singular company which grew into the position I love today.
So much of my 20s were varying degrees of difficult and personally unstable. By the time I reached 30 it was clear to me that I needed outside help to deal with various things I’d never actually addressed. Counseling was a life-saving source of support and guidance, helping me face and work through events and issues from my past, letting go of destructive coping mechanisms I’d developed over the intervening years, and learning how to accept, rebuild, and love myself.
But what never came up (nor did I bring up) in therapy or in conversations with my closest friends or even with B, perhaps because it was simply still higher up yet on my personal hierarchy of needs, were my sexual identity and relationship needs. This isn’t meant to imply that B wasn’t aware of my sexual history. We’d discussed it years ago and I’d described myself as what felt accurate at the time: as someone whose attractions to people didn’t concern gender, but individuals. I think that was genuinely was true for a period and remains true with regards to B, but I also can’t help but look back and consider the pressures of heteronormativity and relationship conventions, and how it was easier for me, especially while I was broken and unstable, to default to social norms. Regardless, sexuality is a spectrum, everyone has different relationship needs, and people also grow and change throughout their lives, myself included.
It was only once I finally began to feel okay with myself that I became increasingly aware of both a growing absence in my life and and sense of invisibility. Somewhere along the way of struggling to keep from completely falling apart I’d lost my sense of queerness, and the prospect of facing this felt like the scariest thing yet. Now I found myself married (albeit happily) to a man and thus presenting for all intents and purposes as a heterosexual woman. I’m in my 30s and have a loving partner who is also my best friend. I love my job. I love where I live. Life should be great. I repeatedly told myself it was too late and felt too selfish to even be considering such things. I was lucky to have as much as I did. I should’ve realized and said something to B years ago. I’d missed my window. And at the time, in the midst of all these worries and rationalizations, I didn’t even stop to consider the heteronormative privilege I experience passing as straight. Instead I’d swallow my concerns and longings, shove it all down and ignore it in hopes of forgetting about it, because thinking about it, let alone talking about it, felt pointless.
But as time passes it becomes impossible to ignore that it’s not pointless, that it’s not okay to feel like this, increasingly not okay on many levels. It affects my general well-being, my day-to-day life. It affects the quality of my relationship with B. I lose interest in my hobbies. The idea of spending time with friends feels exhausting because it means keeping up the appearance that I feel fine. Exchanging everyday pleasantries makes me scream and sob inside. I feel hollow interacting with a world that assumes I’m straight, that I’m not a member of the LGBTQ+ community, but an ally. I lose sleep at night wondering if I’ll ever even kiss another woman again and preoccupied by the profound despair such thoughts bring. I silently seethe while sitting through conversations with friends or family that disturb or offend me and feel mute because, before I can address an offending topic, I’d have to start potentially awkward conversations about myself in order to discuss said topic without seeming like someone getting offended on behalf of someone else. It all feels so complicated and messy. So much of this is my fault. I know this. I’m a natural introvert with an intense dislike of confrontation. I don’t want to make people I care about feel uncomfortable and I’m scared of alienating people in my life by sharing information I’ve been sitting on for so long it now feels like an old, increasingly dangerous bomb that only I know about, that only I can see.
On the verge of a tangible internal breaking point, I did finally confide in a couple close friends and, from there, worked up the courage to talk with B. It was terrifying and very emotional for both of us and didn’t get easier from there. There was relief at first, yes, but then began the long, steep learning curve as we set about navigating an entirely new phase of our relationship, one of ethical non-monogamy. For anyone considering such a thing themselves – coming out to your partner and opening your relationship – it’s a lot of hard work that requires constant open communication. But it’s completely worthwhile, I think, especially if you know your life is on the line. But, yes, it means lots of challenging conversations with your partner and working through all sorts of worries, insecurities, and other issues as they arise. For me it also means making sure B understands that, even though I’m a lot gayer now than when we began dating, I don’t love him any less or feel less romantically connected to him because he and our connection are just that special to me.
While this was tremendous personal progress and progress as a couple, aside from B and I each confiding in a couple close friends, the change in our relationship was kept a secret. There was to be no outward evidence so as not to invite potentially awkward questions, not because of shame, but because of convenience.
During this period I met a woman who she initially seemed wonderful in all sorts of ways and I felt swept off my feet, but ultimately it didn’t work out for us. I try to remind myself that most relationships don’t, regardless of things like sexuality or relationship philosophy. Perhaps, because things with B were then so delicate, and fraught, that new relationship was doomed from the start. I think that’s part of it. Sharply differing life circumstances were another. It turned out to be an impossible situation in myriad ways. I’m abbreviating and oversimplifying the entire thing for the sake of everyone’s privacy and the ache in my heart, but (also oversimplifying) I am forever grateful that it happened at all, because for so long I didn’t think anything even remotely of the sort would ever be possible for me.
I’d also like to add – not that this is news in the history of queer love – that one of the worst things ever is experiencing profound heartbreak and grieving the end of a relationship without being able to tell anyone about it because, once again, that means first having a host of other awkward conversations and you’re too sad and fragile to even begin to consider wanting to bother. So you go about the rest of your life as you’ve so often done, behaving as though everything is fine, when all you’re doing when you’re alone is crying. The. Worst.
What do you do when you finally come to fully appreciate who you are in your late 30s but your life is otherwise pretty much set? As as result of my relationship with B and because I present as very femme, there’s little outward evidence of who I know I am: a lesbian. Some might want classify me as bisexual or homoflexible because of my committed, romantic relationship with a cis man, but those labels don’t feel right to me. B and I love each other, he’s a vital part of my life, but he’s also something of an exception in my otherwise gay existence. I’ve gone through periods of fretting I’ll be told I’m somehow not queer enough to identify as I do, but I know down to my core that I’m a lesbian and I don’t care what anyone else thinks about this or that label or how my intimate relationships might be used to argue otherwise.
That being said, I don’t know what to do with these levels of invisibility. Both my straight and queer friends take it for granted that I’m straight, so when do I just…tell them I’m not? And to what end? Just so they know? So that I’m seen? Am I over-thinking this? It still feels selfish and self-important. Shouldn’t it be good enough that I finally know who I am? I’ve tried to tell myself as much time and again, but it never lasts long. I’ve also never found a good moment for such conversations. And it’s not that I’m worried my friends might be unsupportive either, at least not regarding my sexual identity. I know the concept of ethical non-monogamy is still quite a challenging concept for some, but my need to live a complete, honest, and open life is now so great, the idea of convenient discretion feels like a burden. But it simply doesn’t come up, nor do I bring it up. I stay quiet and grow increasingly sad and uncomfortable in my own life. And on those occasional really low, dark days, where I feel like my very being exists unexpressed, I begin to understand how some people reach a point where they’d simply rather not be at all, which is a horrible state of mind.
Then there’s the curious plight of the invisible femme. Not recognized as who you are. Unsure if you’re recognizing other queer women. Assuming you’re probably mistaken about them. Afraid to offend or upset anyone, because that makes rejection feel even scarier. I also worry about being rejected, seen as unavailable or outright undesirable simply because of my relationship status. Closed off and invisible like this, I don’t know how to meet new potential partners.
All of this is how I come to find myself writing such a rambling, emotional essay on my birthday, because at this point I just need to get it all out, like an owl pellet. Because I realize there are different sorts of invisible closets in life and I’m tired, starved, and heartsick from being inside any of them. Because perhaps there’s even one person out there in a similar situation who might read this and decide it’s not too late for them to be true to themselves so they won’t wait as long as I did. Because I want to be told it’s not too late for me either. Because I don’t want to feel mournful envy when I see women together. Because I don’t want to feel like a vital part of my identity is a secret I need to discretely tend to, unbeknownst to friends and family, because that’s not actually tending to anything. Because I know I have so much more love to give. Because I want to be seen and I want to be part of the community I’ve felt largely divorced from for much too long. Where are you, my queer, dark, witchy peers? We need to support each other.
I commented on your original post a couple of months ago and wanted to do so at your repost as well. So much of this resonates: being married to a cis straight male and unsure how to be or come out with anyone. I see you. | 2019-04-19T16:56:59Z | http://hautemacabre.com/2018/06/how-not-to-be-seen-unlearning-invisibility-one-year-later/ |
Europa Park article compiled and written by team travelinnate.com.
Europa Park is situated in Rust in South West Germany and is the largest theme park in the country. It possesses 12 roller coasters as well a whole host of attractions and rides meaning that some 50,000 people visit it daily, which is its maximum capacity. 2015 saw 5.5 million tourists visit it. Europa Park covers around 16 hectares and was opened in 1975. It passed the million visitors per annum mark after just 3 years of business and is run by the Mack Family which owns a business producing vehicles, circus wagons and roller coasters. Europa Park was just an outlet to their products which turned out to be an enormous success.
Five resort hotels are present in Europa Park. For visitors on a tight budget, it also has a huge camping resort; guests have to bring their own sleeping bags and then stay in a Chuck Wagon, Tipi or Log cabin. Next to the camping resort, caravanning is also allowed. The resorts are named as follows: Hotel El Andaluz, a villa of Spanish theme; Hotel Castillo Alcazar, a Spanish themed Finca; Hotel Bell Rock sporting a light house, and a New England theme; Hotel Colosseo, it features a special fountain show and has a Roman Colosseum theme; Hotel Santa Isabel, imitating a Portuguese Monastery. All the resorts in Europa Park are of four star standard; however Hotel Bell Rock, Hotel Colosseo and Hotel Santa Isabel are four star superior.
There are rides in Europa Park that bear that are representative of various countries in Europe. Greece, Iceland, Holland, England, Switzerland, Austria, France, Portugal, Germany, Scandinavia and Italy are the countries which are featured in the park. Almost all of them possess a dark ride rollercoaster, especially Euro-Mir in the Russia area which implements the theme of Russian space missions on a steel track; it is a spinning roller coaster. Europa Park timings are 9am to 6pm however these are extended by 3 to 3 and a half hours depending upon the crowds. This is usually during holidays, celebrations and on weekends, especially the Euro Dance Festival.
The Enchanted Forest makes for a magical experience with its walkthrough Hansel and Gretel House, the Little Tailor, Hydro Electric Power Station and the Sleeping Beauty Castle. Also the Dwarf City, a fairytale kid’s ride is very enjoyable. The Kingdom of Invisibles is another enjoyable themed section of Europa Park.
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Hiya, I’m really glad I have found this info. Today bloggers publish just about gossip and web stuff and this is really irritating. A good website with interesting content, this is what I need. Thanks for making this site, and I’ll be visiting again. Do you do newsletters by email?
Hiya, I am really glad I’ve found this info. Nowadays bloggers publish only about gossip and internet stuff and this is really frustrating. A good website with interesting content, that is what I need. Thanks for making this web site, and I will be visiting again. Do you do newsletters by email? | 2019-04-21T05:08:39Z | http://travelinnate.com/europa-park/ |
Ask Dr. Moffat: Signs of Stroke, What does the color of my lunulae mean?
Inspiration and Perspectives: Is living on a cruise ship cheaper than going to a retirement home? How much land do we actually farm?
Health In the News: Beware of Possible Contaminated Moldy Food Contamination of a certain brand of dog food with moldy corn was discovered December 20, 2005. The food had been recalled, and the company set up a toll-free hotline to answer questions related to the incidence. I received the tip from an email. As I didn’t want to put out misinformation, I did not put this into last month’s newsletter. Instead, I called the hotline and did some digging.
The reason why I bring this up is that something like this could happen at any time. Aflatoxin is a naturally occurring toxic chemical that comes from a fungus found on corn and other grains that causes severe liver damage. This is a reminder that feeding moldy food can cause life-threatening, permanent liver damage. So, eat fresh, rotate your stock, and use high-quality foods or foods that you can trust the source of.
My email buddies tell me to check out www.Snopes.com chronicles hundreds of scams and misinformation that fly through the internet world. For this article, I just called the source.
Soy has been marketed as a health food when, at one time, it was only a toxic by-product of the vegetable oil industry. To this day, use of soy protein is labeled as GRAS (Generally Regarded As Safe) only for use as a cardboard binder. This means that soy protein must be subject to pre-market approval procedures each time manufacturers intend to use it as a food or add it to a food.
Hmm. . . .that doesn’t sound right, does it? Don’t we eat soy in lots of things now?
Advances in technology make it possible to produce Soy Protein Isolate (SPI) from what was once considered a waste product—defatted, high-protein soy chips—transforming something that looks and smells terrible into products that can be consumed by human beings. Flavorings, preservatives, sweeteners, emulsifiers and synthetic nutrients have turned SPI, the food processors’ nightmare into a virtual fat hog.
Soy milk, made from raw soy, has posted the biggest gains, soaring from $2 million in 1980 to $300 million in the United States last year. Recent advances in processing have transformed the gray, thin, bitter, beany-tasting Asian beverage into a product that Western consumers will accept.
The soybean did not serve as a food until the discovery of fermentation techniques, some time during the Zhou Dynasty around 690-705 A.D. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhou_Dynasty . The first soy foods were fermented products like tempeh, natto, miso and soy sauce. At a later date, possibly in the 2nd century BC, Chinese scientists discovered that a purée of cooked soybeans could be precipitated with calcium sulfate or magnesium sulfate (Plaster of Paris or Epsom salts) to make a smooth, pale curd they called tofu or bean curd.
Zinc is needed for optimal development and functioning of the brain and nervous system, it is used in protein synthesis, collagen formation,in the blood-sugar control mechanism thus protecting against diabetes, and is needed for a healthy reproductive system. Zinc is a key component in numerous vital enzymes and plays a role in healthy immune system function.
Soy processors have worked hard to get these antinutrients out of the finished product, particularly soy protein isolate (SPI), the key ingredient in most soy foods that imitate meat and dairy products, including baby formulas and some brands of soy milk.
So, why are SPI and textured vegetable protein used extensively in school lunch programs, commercial baked goods, diet beverages and fast food products? (Yikes!) Soy is also heavily promoted in third world countries and forms the basis of many food giveaway programs.
Do the Japanese really have less cancer than Americans? Some researchers say so. The Japanese, who allegedly eat 30 times as much soy as North Americans, have a lower incidence of cancers of the breast, uterus and prostate. BUT the Japanese, and Asians in general, have much higher rates of other types of cancer; particularly cancer of the esophagus, stomach, pancreas, thyroid and liver.
In 1991, Japanese researchers reported that consumption of as little as 30 grams or two tablespoons of soybeans per day for only one month resulted in a significant increase in thyroid-stimulating hormone, and 100 grams of soy protein, (promoted for its bone-building isoflavones and cholesterol-lowering effects) contains the estrogenic equivalent of the Pill. In vitro studies suggest that isoflavones inhibit synthesis of estradiol and other steroid hormones.
It is the isoflavones in infant formula that gives me the most cause for concern.
Feeding soy milk replacer began in the 1970’s. By 1998, investigators reported that the daily exposure of infants to isoflavones in soy infant formula is six to eleven times higher on a body-weight basis than the dose that has hormonal effects in adults consuming soy foods. Circulating concentrations of isoflavones in infants fed soy-based formula were 13,000 to 22,000 times higher than plasma estradiol concentrations in infants on cow’s milk formula. Approximately 25% of bottle-fed children in the United States receive soy-based formula.
One researcher estimated that an infant exclusively fed soy formula receives the estrogenic equivalent (based on body weight) of at least five birth control pills per day. Almost no phytoestrogens have been detected in dairy-based infant formula or in human milk, even when the mother consumes soy products.
If the mother is large-breasted, it also helps to use a breast pump, complete the milking and combine all three fractions of milk. If the baby only gets the first fraction, which is more watery and has less protein, it makes the baby gassy. Also, if the mother eats lots of raw fruits and vegetables, she will have lots of milk and the milk will be healthier for the baby. I’ve personally seen a midwife adopt a newborn baby, take milk-producing herbs, and nurse the baby herself for a year using her own breasts! Herbs can be very powerful when you know which ones to use.
I’m seeing lots of dry skin, psoriasis, and eczema cases lately. It seems that I have a gift for helping people with these challenges although dog and cat cases are not as easy. Why? One reason may be that allergens are absorbed into the body via the skin, nasal passages, lungs, or digestive tract. Now, 30% of all the toxins we produce in our bodies are expelled through the skin. Let’s face it . . . it’s difficult to give your pet a bath every day, so we don’t have that tool for our arsenal of allergy management.
I thought you’d like some tips on how to manage allergies this month.
I have HUGE amounts of experience with this type of thing. I was gifted with having skin dis-ease most of my life (for about 40 years of it!) As a child I was hospitalized for dermatitis at various times. One time, I was even put in a straight jacket as I self-mutilated on a regular basis (boy, does that feel good!) I guess what bothered me most about the whole thing is that not one doctor asked me what I wanted to do and what kind of treatment I would be comfortable trying. Basically they just used me as a guinea pig, dispensing the latest, greatest treatments that they knew of and occasionally doing a regime of antibiotics, steroids and bowel cleansings. I remember once eating only rye-tack for a week to clear out my body for some allergy skin testing. I think it was harder on my mom than it was on me to tell me I couldn’t eat with the rest of the family and “Wouldn’t I like another piece of rye-tack?” I was allergic to eggs, chocolate and tomatoes . . . imagine that!
Fortunately I grew out of these allergies, but now have allergies to all kinds of foods, sulfites, nitrates, MSG, antibiotics, phenol, formaldehyde, squirrels, guinea pigs, nuts, peppers (causes fibromyalgia signs), pollens, environmental toxins, paints, petrochemicals, herbicides, pesticides, fungicides and who knows what else. These allergies show up in a variety of ways in my system, but the easiest thing to control are the skin symptoms.
I found, over the years, that I was a better doctor by listening to my body and what it liked than the doctors and their allergy tests. Gee, when a kid almost vomits at the smell of hot dogs or upchucks their cream of wheat, I think that’s a pretty good sign there is a problem with the food . . . The body is rejecting it.
Dogs and cats are pretty good at telling you what they need as well, but if you only give them one choice of food, they just choose not to eat as much. I’m tending towards raw food diets for pets these days, often called BARF diets. They are now quite available in the freezer section of most pet stores. Testing for the individual foods to put into the foods, the volume, and making big batches is often worth the extra effort as specialized allergy diets can be very expensive.
One can’t do much about your hereditary predisposition to allergies, so the next best thing is to minimize, eliminate and manage certain things within the allergy sufferers’ environment.
Support the adrenal glands with products such as Drenamin® and raw adrenal glandulars, managing stress, and cutting back on stimulants.
Support the liver by eating lots of raw green vegetables.
Find out which oils are best to use on your skin after a bath or shower. Often this is olive or sunflower oil.
Treat the underlying viral core cause of psoriasis with homeopathics and/or the appropriate immune builders.
Increase dietary zinc. I most often recommend raw, hulled pumpkin seeds.
Shower once a day, and for heavy pollen times, it’s best to shower before you go to bed to wash off the pollens from your hair. When you shower, wash your hair. I know that seems obvious to some, but to others it isn’t.
Change your pillowcases often. As the pollens get on your pillow from your face and hair, you smash them into your nose and face making your body more sensitive to them. If you wake up in the morning all stuffed up, you might also want to toss those pillows into the dryer once a week for 20 minutes to get the pollens, molds and dust mites out of them as well.
After discovering that a group of non-medical volunteers could identify facial weakness, arm weakness and speech problems, researchers urged the general public to learn the three questions. Widespread use of this test could result in prompt diagnosis and treatment of the stroke and prevent brain damage.
And, as an ex-EMT, I would urge EVERYONE to have highly visible house numbers. Every minute is crucial when an emergency like this occurs and it is totally aggravating to be driving around trying to find your house! If you have a partner, you can be sure they will want to stay with you instead of running out into the street to flag down an ambulance! Use highly contrasting colors and numbers big enough to read from the street. If you live out in the country, put your name somewhere on the entrance to your property, and make sure your blue RAIN (Rural Access Identification Number) sign is not covered by plants.
Question from Gi: I have read your fingernail analysis article and am trying to analyze the color of my nails. I don’t think my nail color fits into any of your categories. They appear to be the same color as the skin below my nails, almost like I have no nail . . . I only have a faint lunula on my thumbs and the rest are not visible. I have vertical ridges on both thumbs. So what does this mean with regard to my health?
Answer: Nail evaluation is just only one piece to the jigsaw puzzle of your health, but from what you describe, you are not getting enough oxygenation to all the different organs (each finger represents a different part of the body.) I’ll have to tell you that over the years I’m coming to the conclusion that Americans just don’t breathe as deeply as they should (hence fewer than eight lunulae.) I have noticed some Oriental practitioners are convinced that it is just a matter of time before those people with less than eight lunulae end up with cancer. I’ve had cancer, and I also can’t seem to make all my lunulae show as they should. I know I don’t breathe deeply enough, but I’m doing better at that. Maybe there is an association, but I haven’t seen a solid one yet as lots of people have fewer than 8 lunulae who don’t have or get cancer.
The thumb lunulae, if it is over 25% in height of the total nail, means that your heart and lungs are working too hard to get the blood out to the areas farthest from the heart.
Is the color of your other membranes too light? If so, maybe you need more minerals in your diet.
Vertical ridges mean that the small intestine is not absorbing as well as it should, and having vertical ridges on the thumbs mean lack of nutrients specifically to the reproductive organs. So do you have problems there? Or have they been surgically removed? Surgery to an area disrupts the blood supply to it and often the peripheral supply does not provide enough nutrients. You will have to be your own Sherlock Holmes on that without an exam. I highly recommend (and take myself) ionic minerals and liquid vitamins as they absorb better—I take the New Vision brand. Celtic Sea Salt has also been helpful in my life as it has all the minerals in it and has not been processed at high heats that make the minerals biologically unavailable. You can read about the minerals under Basics of Health/Ionic minerals.
For more on Nail Analysis, go to my website under Exam Forms then Fingernail Analysis at www.NaturalHealthTechniques.com.
Grass & Weed Mix—for allergies to Alfalfa, Amaranth, Bamboo, Chenopodium, Cocklebur, Dandelion, Fox Tail, Grease Wood, June Grass, Johnson Grass, Kapok, Lambs Quarters, Marsh Elder, Mugwort, Pampas Grass, Pigweed, Ragweed, Sage, Scale (All Scale/Wingscale/Lenscale), Scotch Broom, Sheep Sorrel, Yellow Dock, Red Top, Meadow Fescue, Sweet Vernal, Kentucky Blue, Orchard, Perineal Rye, Timothy, Red Clover, White Clover, Goldenrod, Velvet Grass, and Thistle.
Animals are not disposable objects. If we take on the responsibility of having one, we need to do what we can to make their life and ours an enjoyable experience. Jan Fennell, in her book, The Dog Whisperer, discusses problems such as separation anxiety, biting, chasing cars/bicycles, soiling in inappropriate areas, pulling on the leash, and dog to dog aggression.
Here are a few tips I picked up by reading the book. I think you can safely use them even before you read the book.
Dogs like routines they can count on. Placing lots of toys out for the pet is not effective. By doing this, you are establishing that the dog is the top dog of the pack (humans are included in the pack in the dog’s mind.) Because the Alpha dog (pack leader) would distribute and play with the toys only when they wanted to.
Does this stuff really work? See last month’s newsletter under Client Testimonies!
Retaining Fluids? Add 10% fruit juice (preferably fresh) to the water you drink. This will trick your kidneys into thinking it is processing a food and really helps with the swelling. Also, use distilled water for drinking if your kidneys do not process water very well. Watermelon and parsley are two products I eat lots of. My clients test they need lots of these two items as well.
From My Mailbox: I suffer from acid reflux. How easy is that to treat and where should I start?
Blackstrap Molasses Tip: Sometimes I’m asked how to get the blackstrap molasses (for more minerals and high amounts of bioavailable iron) into the diet. I mix my molasses 50/50 with honey and use it in cooking and on my granola in the morning. I also add a little bit of distilled water to the batch to make it slightly thinner, because I don’t like it when the honey crystallizes in the container.
Visa Slush: For years I’ve always dreaded the Visa bill arrival. Not anymore. If I charge anything on my card, I immediately write the amount in my checkbook as if I’d written a check for that amount. I label it “Visa Slush.” Then, when the bill comes, I already have the money to pay for the bill in full and don’t have to stress out about it. What happens if I use my charge card for something that I can’t afford? I don’t. I save up for it first. Less stress. . . more health! Try it.
My glucose is 95, down from 113.
A couple of them are still on the high side – calculated LDL Cholesterol and Cardiac Risk but they are improved and overall everything is much improved! My liver stuff is all normal now. . . I am going to take a bit of delight in telling the doc I threw away his meds in February 🙂 My blood pressure and pulse rate remain glorious. From C.A.
Editor’s note: Telling her doctor about this did NOT go over well. Sometimes it’s best not to flaunt the benefits of natural medicine.
7. TV broken? Light bulb needs changing? Need to have the mattress replaced? No problem! They will fix everything and apologize for your inconvenience.
9. If you fall in the nursing home and break a hip, you are on Medicare.
If you fall and break a hip on the Princess ship, they will upgrade you to a suite for the rest of your life.
Now hold on for the best! Do you want to see South America, the Panama Canal, Tahiti, Australia, New Zealand, Asia or name where you want to go? Princess will have a ship ready to go. So don’t look for me in a nursing home, just call shore-to-ship.
P.S. And don’t forget, when you die, they just dump you over the side at no charge!
How Much Land Can We Farm?
Take an apple and let it represent the globe. The surface of the apple is the surface of our planet. Now cut the apple into quarters. Set aside three of the quarters to represent the Earth’s oceans, which cover about 70% of the globe.
Take the remaining one quarter and cut it in half. Set aside one of the halves to represent the polar ice caps and land mostly under snow and ice in mountains.
Take the remaining one-eighth and cut it in half. Set aside one of the halves to represent the land that is too hot, too day, or too wet to grow crops.
Take the remaining one-sixteenth and cut it in half. Set aside one of the halves to represent land that is covered by cities, highways and towns.
Now you have one thirty-second slice of the original apple. Carefully cut off the skin of this narrow slice. The skin represents the top five feet of the Earth, the zone that contains soil we can use to grow crops.
Soil erosion can threaten the skin on that tiny slice of the apple. In fact, before the beginning of direct seed (no-till) farming methods, the Palouse was known for having the highest rates of soil erosion in the entire United States.
How much of that one thirty-second is organically farmed?
Also note that if Americans stopped feeding grain to cattle, the excess grain could feed 500 million people (not to mention the land that could be used for growing crops instead of grazing cattle. Right now, the cattle compete for some of that one thirty-second of the planet.
I am not a vegetarian. I love a good steak, but I am sure willing to cut back on meat. I think we use too much meat anyway. It seems a small price to pay to use meat as a flavoring and an occasional meal instead of having meat as the main course for at least one meal a day.
The tulips are blooming and it looks like the rearranging I did last year worked out quite well. I started the month out by writing a chapter for a book on vanishing twin survivors for an author in England who saw my webpage on vanishing twins. I celebrated my 48th birthday with my husband. He gave me a hot air gun which I asked for (I love tools), a plum tree, a gift certificate for a massage and a wonderful book on how to replace our carpets with wood flooring—that will be a fall project. We are trying to make our house look as nice as we can as she will be 100 years old next year. One of my clients gifted me with a huge box of crystals. What fun! I kept pulling out crystal after crystal, some of which I didn’t even know existed.
We’ve started our garden shed, tore out the fish pond (which was just attracting wasps and functioning as a fish farm for the local raccoon) and purchased a junker trailer to haul behind our car. No more going to the U-Haul place to rent a trailer for a day! Now I can haul all the manure that I want to and put fewer things on top of the car. We gave away about 400 plants to people last month. I believe that gardens were meant to share and I love that Johnny Apple Seed concept. It makes me feel good to know my little babies now have a life in someone else’s yard. The lilacs are blooming and it looks like we are going to have a bumper crop of Tayberries and raspberries this year. Michael’s giant pumpkins are up and he’s pretty excited about that. One of these month’s I’m going to figure out how to use a picture flash program so you can see all the neat things coming along around here. One of my good friends is going out of the organic egg business, so we have purchased six of her girls and will hopefully have the chicken coop built by the time the next newsletter comes out. It’s been a busy month. | 2019-04-21T04:26:37Z | https://naturalhealthtechniques.com/nht-newsletter-vol-2-no-5-may-2006/ |
Age of Adoptee when Adopted: Between the ages of 3 and 10 when he was adopted. ?
All Other Information: Looking for any information. Andrew Sheppard also bought an Indian Boy about the same time for $10. (Update) He had a birth brother, George Washington Carter, born in ?-?-1834, who would probably been adopted or supplied a guardian at the same time.
Adoptee Birth Mothers Maiden Name: Bone ?
Age of Adoptee when Adopted: 4-8 years old ?
Searching For: Adoptee's Genealogy Records.
All Other Information: Mary was adopted by a pharmacist & his wife in the New Orleans, LA area between ?-?-1865 to ?-?-1875 ?. Her birth parents were found dead with a possible aunt. Don't know if they lived there or were passing through. (Update) My husbands great grandmother, Mary Elizabeth "Dolly" Williams. Dolly was adopted a by a pharmacist & his wife,(no names) but because they were older she was too much for them to handle so she went to live with the Andrew Mahard family from McKinney, Collin Co., Texas. She was not with them in the 1870 Census but was with them in the 1880 Census of Collin Co., Texas.
Adoptee Birth Race: White ? possible Indian ?
Adoptee Birth County: Glynn County or Calhoun County ?
Searching For: Birth Family Genealogy Records.
All Other Information: Minnie was my maternal G Grandmother. Married in Early Co Gg on 1-30-1898 to my GGrandfather Curtis G. Lowe. Minnies Death cert says parents unknown. and birthplace Arlington Georgia. Her Obituary from St. Petersburg, FL states she was born in Brunswick, GA. She died in St. Petersburg, FL 4-26-1953.
Adoptee Birth Date: ?-?-1912 ?
Adoptee Birth Race: Black or mixed-race ?
Searching For: Birth Parents of Alice Mae Driscoll, Genealogy Records.
All Other Information: Alice Mae Driskell born abt. 1912 in Georgia-died aft. 1940 Flint, MI. One of Alice's birth parents is either the child or grandchild of Russell Smith (1836-1918) and his wife Sara B. See Smith (1842-1929) from Meriwether County, GA. This information comes from DNA testing of Alice's son, granddaughter and members of the Smith family. The Smith family is Caucasian and the family who adopted Alice were African-American. It is believed that Alice was put up for adoption because she was bi-racial. None of the Smith children married African-Americans so her birth was also an illegitimate birth. I am working with Alice's son and granddaughter to find this information. I am a Smith descendant and either Alice's 1st cousin 1 x times removed or 2nd cousin. Alice Mae Driskell married 1st Samuel Lilly, married 2nd Ivan Artist.
Searching For: Names, info on the birth parents of Rembert Arthur Forrest.
All Other Information: Clara Forrest died when Rembert was very young. Estese later remarried a woman named Eleanor Chambliss.
Adoptee Birth City: Amsterdam, GA or Jacksonville, FL ?
Adoptee Birth County: Decatur County or Duval County ?
Adoptee Birth State: Georgia or Florida ?
Adoption Agency or Attorney: Abraham Benjamin Conger from Bainbridge, GA and Bainbridge, GA was where the adoption was recoreded.
Name given to Adoptee by Adoptive Parents: Fred B Hodges Jr.
Adoptive Fathers Name: Frederick B Hodges Sr.
All Other Information: Unbelievable story I have been searching 9 years on my own. I am the eldest daughter of my father F B Hodges Jr. who was adopted. He was supposedly born 8-18-1932 according to the minutes of his adoption record but the adoption was sealed so I dont have the whole thing but according to that and my father he was born in Jax and at the Florida Babtist Childrens home until 1934 where he was delivered to Mr and Mrs FB Hodges Sr. and the adoption was legalized the next year in 1935. They said they chose to with hold the birth mothers name and that the birth mother was abandoned by the birth father of the child. However, after talking with many people from the small knit community and finding various documents, I have a lot of folks telling me they believe that the supposed adoptive father was the real birth father and a close family friend on 17 or 18 years of age was the biological mother who left town supposedly to "take care of a sick relative" rumor had it that it was when she went to go have the child secretly and the child was then kept at the Babtist childrens home until it could be with Mr and Mrs Hodges and there was an agreement to keep him there and not to adopt him out in the meantime. The only thing is I cant prove this theory that atleast 4 reputable sources have told me and furthermore the supposed birth mother was in college and graduated so I dont know if thats the truth or I have to start all over. The vital statistics office in FL could find no matching birth records in any of teh 67 counties in Florida. One source said he thought the child was born at the home of the adoptive parents. My father didnt know he was adoted until he was 18 years old. (Update) Fred B Hodges Jr. is 6' tall, he has blue eyes and had blonde hair as a child. We have no other info about birth parents.
Name given to Adoptee by Adoptive Parents: Joseph Wexel, Jr.
All Other Information: I have copy of birth certificate. Grace Mathews is birth mother, age 23, born in SC, legitimate no. I can't read the signatures that witnessed the adoption form.
Searching For: Any Family Members, Medical History.
All Other Information: Adoption connected with Lullaby Nursery in Atlanta owned by Maud Stenhouse McDaniel may be Doctor's name in Atlanta -- No birth certificate in Florida or Georgia. Guardian Ad Litem at adoption was William J. DeHoff Jacksonville, Florida. (Update) My birth mother was blond with blue eyes, fair skinweight about 118 lbs height , 5 ft 5 1/2. Birth father had black curley hair, black eyes medium skin height about 5 ft 8 1/2 inches weight about 145 lbs. This description is from a letter received from Maud Stenhouse who ran the Lullaby Nursery in Atlanta Georgia at 22 Anniston Ave NE. My hair is brown - actually grey now and my eyes are green.
Searching For: Biological Grandparents, Medical History.
All Other Information: Robert Conrad Scobie was my birth father I am looking for my biological grandparents.
Name given to Adoptee by Birth Parents: Betty Ann ?
County adoption took place: Cobb County or DeKalb County or Fulton County ?
All Other Information: (Update) I am 5'3" tall, with blue eyes and blonde hair. Conflicting information re date of adoption - My adoptive mother always told me I was 18 months old; State's non-identifying information stated age as 3 years old. At time of adoption, adoptive father was 52 years old and adoptive mother was 39 years old. According to adoptive mother / State, I had been in 4 foster homes prior to adoption. County of adoption was apparently Fulton County as that is where my adoptive mother took me to try and seek any further information (downtown Atlanta). The only non-identifying information provided by State was that my biological mother was 19 years old, had been a domestic, and there had been 1 or 2 other live births* (I have learned since that on occasion the State's information may be incorrect) I do not have a copy of the adoptive birth certificate and only a Registration of Birth Certificate from Cobb County (had to obtain for a Passport) My adoptive mother told me I was named Betty Ann (no way of knowing if it was Ann or Anne) and changed to Betty Lynn Was also told my adoption was a 'private' one. My goal in trying to obtain information is to get a true sense of "who am I." Presumably biological parents are dead as I am now 70 years old. Have had many people say that have seen me/my twin somewhere else, but that is true of most people; though I've often "sensed" I might be a twin. If there were any living birth siblings, would be interested in knowing about them and If they had any knowledge of who the birth father might be.
Adoptee Birth County: Chatham County ?
Adoptee Birth Fathers Name: Roger ?
Adoption Agency or Attorney: Harold Sheats ?
County adoption took place: Chatham County ?
All Other Information: My mother had my birth sister @ Florence Crittendon Unwed Mother's Home in Atlanta, GA. The adoptive grandmother (who lived in Fitzgerald, GA) filled out the paper work and took Robin by train to the adoptive parents in VA. The lawyer was Harold Sheats. Some information I have is that she would have lived in Hopewell, VA. I am not sure if the adoption was official in Atlanta, GA or Hopewell, VA, but the lawyer was in Atlanta. (Update) Birth mother was 27 at time of birth. I am 5'2" tall, I have brown hair and brown eyes. Birth mother is similar and don't know birth father's info.
Adoptee Birth County: Fulton County ?
Adoptee Birth Hospital: Crawford Long Hospital ?
All Other Information: Birth mother was 19 years old. she went to Atlanta Florence Crittenton Maternity Home birth mother said husband was assigned to Panama and they would come get me as soon as they were settled Birth grandparents were very adamant about keeping me a secret and when I was placed for boarding they did not want my foster parents to know my last name. I was diagnosed with cerebral atrophy and hydrocephalic minimal and it was stated I could not be placed for adoption. My birth family paid the boarding fees and emphasized confidentiality. My birthgrandparents were married at the time of my birth and both worked in a canning factory. My adoption petition states that my birth mother's consent was attached to the petition, however, it was not in my adoption file. My birth mother felt the adoption was the best plan for her welfare as well as mine. My adoption was finalized in Fulton County Superior Court on 6-29-1949. (Update) I don't know my birth father's age at the time of my birth. My hair color is reddish brown/auburn. My eye color is hazel.
Adoptee Birth Race: Asian descent ?
Adoptee Birth Mothers Race: Asian descent ?
All Other Information: I was told that my birth mother was a young girl with long black hair and possibly Asian. She gave me up for adoption at birth to my adopted mother which was also in the hospital having surgery at the time. It is possible that my birth mother was from the North and was sent down South to have me. I was also told that my birth mother went to my aunt after the adoption and was asking about me.
Adoptee Birth County: Bibb County ?
Adoptee Birth Mothers Name: ? Richards or Richardson ?
Adoptee Birth Fathers Name: Harry Richardson or Richards ?
All Other Information: This is for my mom. She is 60 years old and both of her adopted parents are deceased. She was told she was one of ten children and her father was military. She has looked for yrs.
Name given to Adoptee by Adoptive Parents: John Kenneth Hitchcock Sr.
Searching For: My Dads Birth Mother, Medical History.
All Other Information: I am looking for my dads mom. She was a minor in Georgia. Adopted in Fulton county in Atlanta. She tried getting him back in 1948 but did not. She might have moved to Florida. His name was Richard at birth. His adopted parents are Grace and John Henry Hitchcock. They have both past unfortunately. They were great parents and Grandparents.
Contact Info Received: 8-6-2006 Adoptee Birth Date: ?-?-1948 to ?-?-1954 ?
All Other Information: Birth father: 6'2" tall, slender, black hair, brown eyes, dark complexion (olive), Army National Guard in Collinsville, Alabama 1950's honorably discharged. Born 5-18-1927 died 4-15-1993 of heart attack. Suffered for years with hypertension which led to strokes and heart attacks. Open heart in 50's. No diabetes. Family history of heart disease. In fact it was found to be birth defect in me that required surgery 2 years ago. Right carotid artery deformed and portions of heart. Corrected. Birth mother: Know that she traveled with him into Alabama to visit at a place owned by the Tucker family on U S Hwy 11 between Collinsville and Gadsden, Alabama. He stated she was a college student (coed) at Berry College in Rome, GA. Stated he was allowed to see the baby girl as he was there for her birth. Stated that her family refused to allow him to marry her and father child. Stated they did not believe he was good enough for her. Stated he heard later on that she had married someone in the service and traveled a bit. My father told me so very little and did not do this until near his death. He said he didn't want to cause problems with her and her family. I was my Mother's only child,. I don't believe he would have shared this with me, knowing me so well that I would attempt to find her. I have been searching since 1993. Help.
Adoptee Birth Date: 1-1-1948 to 1-3-1948 ?
Adoptee Birth Mothers Name: Mozelle ?
Searching For: Biological Relatives, Genealogy Records.
All Other Information: I am currently in search for my maternal grandmother's biological birth parents. Before my nanny passed away in 2006 she asked me to look for my her parents so could find out her true ethnicity and background. I have been unsuccessful on finding the information that I'm looking for. The only info that I have is she was given the name Dyanne Lipkins by her adoptive parents Walter and Mary Ann Lipkins (both deceased). She is in some sort of way related to her adoptive parents but I'm not sure how. She was raised in Oconee County on the family land. She later married and had 5 children with Walter Davis (deceased). My grandparents and her adoptive parents are buried in Oconee. Although she was loved and cared for there was a void that was not fulfilled and I would love to reach out for help. God bless!.
Name given to Adoptee by Birth Parents: Calvin Eugene ?
Searching For: Son's Father's Medical History and Birth Aunts and Birth Uncles.
All Other Information: Alan spent twenty-tree+yrs (23+) in the navy and is a vietnam vet. He passed away 6 years ago come 10-31-2004 from a brain turmor he believe he recieced in nam. The drs. however say it could be hereditary. My husband has been looking for his siblings for years to no avail. We had his adoption records pulled up but the judge denied him access. The info we got from FL. Children Services was he was the last of 5 kids at that time. His 1st and middle names were Calvin Eugene. The judge did say he was Native American and he was told by his adoptive parents he was Cherokee and his father was a carpenter. His adoptive parents were white folks. We have asked the Cherokee Nation out of Oklahoma to help us many times and they have never gotten back to us. Any help and information would be gratefully appreciated. Thank you Angels.
Adoptee Birth Hospital: ? Fulton County / Fayetteville, GA.
Searching For: Birth Mother, Birth Father, Any Birth Brothers, Birth Sisters, Medical History.
All Other Information: I have reason to believe I may have been a twin.
Adoptee Birth Race: White or Cuban ?
State adoption took place: Georiga ?
Searching For: Adoptee's Birth Mother, Birth Father's name for Geneology, Medical History.
All Other Information: My father is the adoptee. I don't know much about him due to the fact that I only met him 2 or 3 times in my life as a child. I only knew his name and that he was adopted. I didn't even know his birthday until I found his name on my county's Sheriff's website.(http://www.hcso.tampa.fl.us/PublicInquiry/ArrestInquiry/ViewArrest?id=01043147&k1=8cf2f4000ac81ca&k2=LTcxOTIyNzQy ) I have 6 children of my own and I know all my geneology on my Mother's side, but nothing of my Father, who I didn't even get to know. My Mother was married to him until I was about a year old and they divorced due to his being a very bad alcoholic. My Mother's name (if you need it for marriage records) is Karen Elizabeth Bagley Hos. I never got to know my Dad and it hurts even more that I can't even know who or where I come from. I want to know for my children's sake so half of our side is not "just forgotten". I know that both the Adopted parents are deceased-Leland Arnold Hos Sr. was born in 1914 and died in 2004. Marjorie Patricia Hos was born in 1922 ? (I'm pretty sure) and died in 2008.
All Other Information: Born at St. Joseph's Hospital in Atlanta, GA 3-12-1950. I weighed 7 pounds (Update) The name Julie Raines was on legal paperwork my adoptive mother ran across. I was born at St. Josephs Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia. (Update) I was adopted at 7 1/2 months old in 10-?-1950. My eyes are green. I don't know any other info- except my name was Julie Raines.
All Other Information: I know very little; this about it; male / my brother; born 6-7-1950 in Atlanta, GA.
All Other Information: I was born in Brunswick, GA but a few years later adopted in Colonial Heights, VA. I 'am also searching for a younger sister who I have several photo's of us together. I was around 5 years old when I was adopted, she looks to be 1-2 years old.
Name given to Adoptee by Birth Parents: Susan-Last Name ?
All Other Information: I was adopted from a children's home in the Atlanta area when I was almost a year old. My adoptive parents lived in Albany, GA and I grew up there.
Adoptee Birth Hospital: Macon Hospital ?
County adoption took place: Bibb County ?
Adoptive Fathers Name: Walter Scott Easler, Jr.
Searching For: My Father's Birth Parents, Medical History.
All Other Information: I'm searching for my father's birth parents. He died on 3-27-1989, two years after finding out he was adopted. We know no other information, but the birth certificate I have has been altered (erased and written over). I cannot find a birth certificate with the State of GA.
All Other Information: Birth mother, 3 brothers, 2 aunts found---have made contact via phone and emails. Face to face meeting planned in May 2009--very excited! Birth Father info (from Birth Mom): blonde hair, blue eyes, born around 1930--1932 (would be around 76-80 years old now if he is still alive), lived/worked in Atlanta, Ga area. He worked as a service station mechanic in the early 1950s. Was married, supposedly separated from his wife when he became involved with my Mother. His wife was pregnant at the time, and he went back to her--their child was born in 1951 as well, probably in Atlanta, GA (not sure whether it was a boy or girl).
Searching For: Any Birth Relative Of Attaway, Medical History.
All Other Information: Dr. was Moses Koploff, deceased.
Searching For: Birth Father, Birth Relatives, Medical History.
All Other Information: Before my biological mother's death I had the opportunity to ask her a few questions about my bio father and she told me that he was in the Navy in 1953, was 24 yrs. old and I believe she said he was from Florida. She also told me that he shipped out before I was born with the promise that he would return to marry her, he even sent her wedding rings with that promise, however he never did return. My bio mother also said that my bio father gave her permission to use his last name on my birth certificate, so I was originally born Debrah Diane Harris which should be on my original birth certificate before my adoption. I would like to know why my father never came back and if I have any brothers or sisters. I was raised as an only child and now that all my parents are deceased I would like to know if I have any family out there somewhere.
All Other Information: My adoptive grandparents brought my mother, Cheryl Gaye Fox, home from University Hospital several days after she was born. Adoption had been worked out before she was born.
All Other Information: I weighed 5 lbs 7 oz at birth. Birth mother signed a release on 1-26-1954 granting custody to the Seminole Co. Dept. of Public Welfare. Joined my adoptive family on 2-24-1954. Birth mother's Father was a farmer. Birth mother's Father was 42 at time of birth. Birth mother's mother was 41 at time of birth. Birth mother's sister was 22 had a high school education and was married. Birth mother brother was 12 at time of birth. Birth father was 20 years old. Was 5'10" tall and weighed 165-170 lbs. Had a high school education and was in the military. Birth father denied any connection with the paternity situation. Birth mother assured case worker that no other person could have been the father. Birth mother was 19 at time of birth, had brown hair, brown eyes, and fair complexion. Medium build and quit school after the first semester of the 10th grade. After leaving school she worked in a beauty shop and a dime store. We have extensively checked with numerous people in Seminole County, Ga but have had no concrete luck. Spoken with many people who have grown up in the area and they can't recall any specific individual. There was an Army Air Base in Bainbridge, GA during this time and this gives the possible indication that the father could have been stationed there since it's next door to Seminole County, GA.
Adoptee Birth Race: Causcasian ?
Adoptee Birth County: Cobb County or DeKalb County or Fulton County ?
All Other Information: Birth mother-high school honor graduate supposed to have a tailor in family,and latent musical ability. (Update) Birth mother from Quitman, GA, Maternal grandmother worked at Quitman Cotton Gin. Birth mother worked in Atlanta at Southern Bell. Taken to Valdosta for DFACS, was placed in foster home for 3 months. (Update) My hair is dark brown, almost black, eyes are dark brown. Birth mother was lighter, I think auburn hair. I am not positive of her age, but I think between 19-23. Birth father was short, dark hair and worked at city hall in Atlanta around 1954?
Adoptive Fathers Name: Vincent F. Smith, Jr.
Adoptive Fathers Name: Walter Eugene Hancock, Jr.
Searching For: Biological Mother, Biological Father, Biological Siblings, Medical History.
All Other Information: (Update) I am 5'7" tall, with brown eyes and brown hair. I have no info on my birth parents or birth family at this time.
Age of Adoptee when Adopted: Under age of 1 year old ?
Searching For: My mother’s Birth Mother, Medical History.
All Other Information: She was adopted from a place in Atlanta, Georgia that has since closed. My mother, Ethel Postell is deceased and I am trying to find her birth mother. I would love to meet any birth family that you could find. My biggest worry is that her birth mother is also deceased.
All Other Information: (Update) Birth mother was 13 years old at the time of his birth. Pregnancy due to unusual circumstances. She stayed at the Florence Crittenton Home in Savannah, GA. he is my, and my brother and sisters half brother. we would very much love to find him. we didn't know of his existence until a year or so ago.
Adoptee Birth City: Macon, ? GA ?
Adoption Agency or Attorney: Tifton Department of Health ?
Adoptive Mothers Name: Margaret Elise "Maurolyse"
Searching For: Birth Parents, 1/2 Birth Sister, 1/2 Birth Brother, Medical History.
All Other Information: Birth father was in service, married, children from up north. Stationed at base in Macon, GA, engaged to mother, asked to be sent to foreign soil again when found out fiance was pregnant. I had filed for information over 10 years and learned a lot about birth mother, but nothing about birth father. Birth mother got married a year or so later and never told her husband. 1/2 birth sister is CFO (?) at a hospital in Georgia, Birth mother has a slightly deformed arm but played piano, parents lived in a farmhouse, birth may have been in a Macon Hospital. 1/2 birth brother may have some kind of mental disability that prevents him from working.
All Other Information: Baby was blond and blue eyed Birth mother's dob was 6-25-1926 Birth mother's pob was Atlanta, GA. Her parents were Benjamin Franklin Prickett and Beulah Willoughby. She had a brother named Samuel.
All Other Information: Birth mother was 19 years old and in college studying art. Maybe from the Columbus, Georgia area. May have been at the University of Georgia. Birth mother had a brother in the Coast Guard and a sister who was a concert pianist. Birth mother's father was an architect.
Name given to Adoptee by Birth Parents: Vickie Lynn ?
All Other Information: Any info into adopted parents or living birth relatives. Health history info or anything that can be found. Did DNA test with Ancestry and found that a Linda Pett-London (also adopted out) was a match as a possible half birth sister Close family member extremely high with 1,873 centimorgans shared across 70 DNA segments. (update) I am 5'7" tall, with hazel eyes and blonde hair, before it turned grey.
All Other Information: Birth mother was married to a full blooded Apache who had lost a son in the Korean war. Apache was legal father, not biological. It is believed after birth they moved to Colorado.
All Other Information: Birth certificate may have sais "baby Gray"
Searching For: Birth Mother, Birth Father, Any Family Members, Medical History.
All Other Information: Information to hosp and county is as reads on birth certificate unknown if this is correct. at one time I believe adoptive mother mentioned a place call Families First but she is unable to verify that information now due to illness.
Adoptive Fathers Name: Ambrose Pope Stevens, Jr.
All Other Information: Took ancestry DNA found cousins, 33% British, 22% Scandanavian (Netherlands) from other in my circle I know the Newkirk family is part of my tree. I believe a private adoption as the card from my bassinet had baby girl Stevens, went home from hospital with adoptive parents, possible that attorney was Wiliford I am 5’3” tall, with blue-green eyes and brown hair, small feet.
Searching For: Birth Mother, Birth Siblings, especially older brother believed to be 4 years older, Medical History.
All Other Information: Birth mother possibly not married. CPS was coming in to take myself and a brother. Birth father was in the military and was killed in special services. He worked with my adoptive father but he refused to give me any information before he died. My adoptive mother stated that my natural mother came to the house after adoption in Columbus, GA, but she refused to answer the door. I had been abused with broken legs prior to my adoption.
All Other Information: Birth mother was 16 years old went to hospital with stomach ache.
Searching For: Birth Parents, Birth Family, 3 Birth Siblings, Medical History.
All Other Information: It was a private adoption, but that is absolutely all I was ever given! I don't even know the agency name. (Update) Birth mother was 36 years old and a practical nurse at time of birth. No specific time noted. No birth father, but there were 3 siblings.
All Other Information: (Update) I am 5'3" tall, I have done Ancestry DNA testing.
Adoptee Birth Mothers Name: Claudia Patton or Claudia Bethune Whisenant ??
All Other Information: Child was adopted at birth. Birth mother entered hospital on 11-18-1957 and left without baby. Baby was kept secret. No real information other than there might be an older sibling named Keith born in ?-?-1954 or ?-?-1953. Any information would be helpful!.
Last Updated: 5-19-2010 Adoptee Birth Date: ?-?-1958 ?
All Other Information: My grandmother had a baby around ?-?-1958 in Atlanta. We've heard mention of it being a baby girl. The birth family would really like to find you and get to know you. Even if you don't want to get to know us, just let us know you exist.
Adoptee Birth Date: 3-?-1958 to 4-?-1958 ?
All Other Information: Havent seen since she was 2 years old.
All Other Information: My birth mother was a student at Savannah College. I have major medical issues at this time, I have congestive heart failure and I have had an anurysm in my brain which caused me to have brain surgery....I have had two strokes as well..only 40 to 50 percent of my heart is functioning. I would like to get medical information on both parents and find out if I have any brothers or sisters..any and all help would be greatly appreciated.
All Other Information: I was adopted by my wonderful parents when I was only 5 days directly from the hospital. I am now married with 2 children of my own and wanted to find out if I have any siblings. I graduated from Auburn University in ?-?-1981 with a degree in Social Work.
All Other Information: I was in the hospital for approx. 2 weeks after birth. I was placed on oxygen. My birth mother wanted to keep me,but DFACS had her to put me up for adoption. My adoption was finalized on 10-17-1958. My records are sealed. I received some information on my birth family in 2008,but I need more information. I have two half sisters who are older than me,that I am wanting to find besides my birth parents and any relatives. (Update) I received non-identifying information. My birth mother was 30 years old at the time of my birth. My birth father was 33. No given names were given. My birth father denied paternity, and his name is not on the case record. My birth parents have got to be in their 80s now, but I am wondering if my birth mother had any other children after me. Also my birth father had two children, older than me, from a previous marriage. I am interested in finding out if their are any family,and/or relatives still alive. The situation surrounding my birth is very sad. I got some medical information, but my daughter and I have more questions about it. If you can find out anything, I would really appreciate it. Thank you.
Age of Adoptee when Adopted: Joined them at 3 months old, and finalized at 1 year, 8 months old.
Adoptive Fathers Name: James (Jim) Augustus Redfearn Jr.
All Other Information: Height 5'10" tall, I am searching for my deceased father's birth family, medical records, and any genealogy records. My father had blue eyes and white blond hair, red (orange) beard. I know nothing about my father's adoption due to the fact that he died when I was 4 years old. I was told that he was adopted in Atlanta, GA and moved to Dalton, Whitfield County, GA. (Update) I did a DNA test through Ancestry. His birth mother was 22 years old and a stenographer when he was born, she had blue eyes and slightly reddish-blonde (more blonde than red) hair, fair complexion, 5’5” tall, 115 lbs. She had completed 2 years of college and hoped to return to school to change her degree to social work and work as a flight attendant (soon). His birth father is a divorcé with 2 kids, he had blue eyes and blonde hair, medium complexion, 6'0" tall, and weighed 190 lbs. Any information will be appreciated.
Name given to Adoptee by Birth Parents: Robin ?
All Other Information: This adoption was private I do have a local certificate number. Was told my name was possibly Robin.
Adoptee Birth Hospital: Riverside Hospital / Riverside Clinic Hospital. Macon, GA.
Searching For: 2 Half Birth Siblings, Birth Mother, Birth Father, Medical History.
Searching For: Birth Parents, Adoption Court Records, Medical History.
Adoptive Fathers Name: Harrison Blake, Jr.
Searching For: Birth Mother, Birth Siblings, Other Birth Family Members, Medical History.
All Other Information: Looking for birth father I was told he was from Fitsgerald, GA he was in the Navy when we were born we were a one night stay. His mother’s first name was Gay. Not sure if Buford or Deas is spelled correctly. I was a twin. His Name was Larry Earl Deas. he is deceased. ? I think He may be deceased also. I would also like to find my birth brother. His father was married. His father’s name is Larry Beverly. I was told his birth father and his wife adopted him and he was Larry Beverly Jr. He was born in 1-?-1966 or 1-?-1967 ?. His birth father worked at GA Baptist hospital we believe. That is where my birth mother worked. I would like to know if I have any other birth siblings. Larry and / I were adopted by my birth mother’s parents. (Update) Birth mother was 23 years old at time of birth. She had hazel eyes and brown hair. I am 5'2" tall, with hazel eyes and brown hair. Larry was about 5'7" tall. I have no other info on birth father at this time.
Adoption Agency or Attorney: Child Service Assoc.
All Other Information: Florence Crittenton Home 1-3-1959. Admitted to Egleston Hospital. 1-5-1959. Discharged from hospital on 1-28-1959 to Dunton foster home. (Update) birth mother was 21 years old at time of birth. Birth father was 22 years old. Birth mother had blue eyes and light brown hair. Birth father blue eyes and blonde hair. I have blue eyes and light brown hair.
Age of Adoptee when Adopted: Given up shortly after birth ?
Name given to Adoptee by Adoptive Parents: Columbus Williams, Jr.
Adoptive Fathers Name: Columbus Williams, Sr.
Name given to Adoptee by Adoptive Parents: Debbie G.
Name given to Adoptee by Birth Parents: Baby Darlene?
Adoptee Birth Hospital: Kennesaw Hospital ?
County adoption took place: Gwinnett County ?
All Other Information: Birth Mother was married and Birth Father was not her husband. Birth Mother's husband was in the Military, maybe at Dobbin? (Update) My eyes are brown and my hair is brown. No info on birth parents.
All Other Information: I was adopted in Georgia and taken back to where my new new parents lived in Monett, MO.
All Other Information: Birth mother was from Florida, but had me in Atlanta-possibly through Florence Crittenton Home. Birth father affiliated with Airforce academy. They met in Maryland. Alene left him without a trace when he did not immediately offer to marry him. Her birthday is 8-4-1925 (year approximate).
Searching For: Any Medical History, Birth Family that is out there.
All Other Information: Birth father signed adoption Theothile Hebert but the court made him change it and sign by his military registration. Paul Hebert 2 division infantry batt. Fort Benning 1960. (Update) I am 5'4" tall, with brown eyes and dark hair.
All Other Information: My birth parents and older brother lived with my adoptive parents through out the pregnancy.
Searching For: Any Info, Medical History, Any Birth Family.
All Other Information: I was told I was the youngest of five, but My birth mother had become pregnant with me by another man, and was forced to give me up.
Adoptee Birth County: Dekalb County ?
All Other Information: (Update) I am 6'6" tall, with blue eyes and blonde hair. I have no other info on my birth parents or birth family at this time. | 2019-04-19T12:28:46Z | http://gsadoptionregistry.com/georgia.html |
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is a global threat to public health. Current therapies that directly target the virus often are rendered ineffective due to the emergence of drug-resistant viral variants. An emerging concept to combat drug resistance is the idea of targeting host mechanisms that are essential for the propagation of the virus, but have a minimal cellular effect.
Herein, using Random Homozygous Gene Perturbation (RHGP), we have identified cellular targets that allow human MT4 cells to survive otherwise lethal infection by a wild type HIV-1NL4-3. These gene targets were validated by the reversibility of the RHGP technology, which confirmed that the RHGP itself was responsible for the resistance to HIV-1 infection. We further confirmed by siRNA knockdowns that the RHGP-identified cellular pathways are responsible for resistance to infection by either CXCR4 or CCR5 tropic HIV-1 variants. We also demonstrated that cell clones with these gene targets disrupted by RHGP were not permissible to the replication of a drug resistant HIV-1 mutant.
These studies demonstrate the power of RHGP to identify novel host targets that are essential for the viral life cycle but which can be safely perturbed without overt cytotoxicity. These findings suggest opportunities for the future development of host-oriented therapeutics with the broad spectrum potential for safe and effective inhibition of HIV infection.
Therapy-resistant HIV-1 strains are relentlessly emerging as a result of the error-prone HIV viral reverse transcriptase, robust viral replication and incomplete patient compliance. In some regions, viruses that are resistant to drug cocktail therapy or HAART (Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy) were isolated from nearly 20% of AIDS patients evaluated [1, 2]. Such findings increase the urgency to identify new paradigms for the treatment of HIV/AIDS, especially mechanisms of action that are relatively insensitive to the development of resistance.
It is well established that interplay between the viruses and host cells determines the outcome of viral pathogenesis, ranging from the elimination of viruses to latent or lethal infections. HIV-1 is known to interact with host cellular proteins to aid their replication and evade immune attack. One example involves individuals who carry a defective cell surface receptor (CCR5) and have been shown to be resistant to HIV-1 infection [3, 4]. Similar interactions have been reported to encompass nearly every step of HIV-1 life cycle: from viral entry to viral budding and release . Such findings suggest that increased understanding of the interaction of HIV-1 with host protein could improve therapeutic and prevention strategies to combat HIV/AIDS.
In light of the understood importance of host factors in HIV-1 infection, increasing investigation has begun to consider host targets for antiviral therapy. Specifically, host targets that are essential for HIV-1 replication, but not for the host cell itself, could provide a new modality of treatment. It is further postulated that certain host targets might not place direct selective pressure on the pathogen and thus minimize the acquisition of drug resistance. Host-directed therapeutics has begun to be successfully deployed against HIV/AIDS, including treatments that target the CD4 viral receptor and associated co-receptors [7, 8]. Indeed, some of the newest approved and most promising experimental therapeutic options include small molecules or biologics that target these host proteins.
Not all host molecules are suitable as therapeutic targets as many serve essential functions for the growth, function or survival of host cells. However, it is increasingly understood that viruses often circumvent the expression or function of some host proteins (in a process known as "hijacking") and this may provide an opportunity to target host molecules that are inappropriately expressed or functionally altered in HIV-infected cells. To identify such targets, our laboratory has employed a novel technology, Random Homozygous Gene Perturbation (RHGP), to select for targets that are essential for HIV infection but which are not necessary for the growth, survival or function of non-infected cells. RHGP was designed to allow the investigator to up- or down-regulate any gene in a eukaryotic cell, independent of any prior knowledge or annotation of that gene . In this manner, RHGP provides an un-biased approach to identify any target, whether up- or down-regulated, which is responsible for a desired phenotype. As one example, our laboratory has successfully used RHGP to identify and validate target genes that allow host cells to survive an otherwise lethal infection with Influenza A virus. Of 110 targets identified by this genome wide screen technology, most (106 of 110) had not been described previously or linked with influenza infection. In addition, we ascribed novel functions to previously unknown genes and orfs (open reading frames).
Herein, we apply RHGP and identify a set of host-oriented targets that allow host cells to resist lethal HIV infection. These novel targets include both known genes and non-annotated ESTs (Expression Sequence Tags), whose functions have not been assigned. We validated these genes using unique properties of the RHGP technology as well as independent genetic targeting approaches such as siRNA. This investigation provides increased understanding of the interplay between host targets and HIV and could provide potential therapeutic targets to combat HIV/AIDS.
The following cell lines, viruses and proviral molecular clones were obtained through the AIDS Research and Reference Reagent Program, Division of AIDS, NIAID, NIH: MT4 cells from Dr. Douglas Richman, PM1 cells from Dr. Marvin Reitz , TZM-bl cells from Dr. John C. Kappes, Dr. Xiaoyun Wu and Tranzyme Inc. , pNL4-3 from Dr. Malcolm Martin, HIV-1ME1 from Dr. Phalguni Gupta and Protease-resistant HIV-1 (L10R/M46I/L63P/V82T/I84V) from Dr. Emilio Emini. MT4 and PM1 cells were grown in RPMI 1640 medium containing 10% heat-inactivated FBS (HyClone, Long, UT) supplemented with 2 mM glutamine (Invitrogen), 2-mercaptoethanol (50 μM), 100 μg/ml streptomycin (Invitrogen). TZM-bl cells were cultured in DMEM containing 10% FBS and 100 μg/ml streptomycin. HIV-1NL4-3 was made from HEK293 after transfection with the proviral DNA followed by amplification in MT4 cells.
MT4 or PM1 cells were infected with HIV-1 at a multiplicity of infection (MOI) of 0.001 by low speed centrifugation (1,200 g) for 1 hr. The use of a relatively low MOI helped us to identify host factors whose anti-viral effects may not be robust or directly acting on virus replication and which will be more likely discovered after multiple cycles of viral replication. Supernatants collected post infection were then transferred to the TZM-bl indicator cell line for determination of infectious viral particles. Relative Luminescence Unit (RLU) was obtained on TZM-bl cells after they were treated with Bright-Glo Luciferase Assay System (Promega) 3 days post infection (dpi). Amounts of p24 in the collected supernatants were measured using HIV-1 p24 ELISA kit (Xpressbio, Thurmont, MD, USA) following the manufacturer's instructions.
RHGP utilizes a unique genetic element, known as a gene search vector (GSV), which is based on a retrovirus or lentivirus backbone. The GSV was designed to interrogate the entire genome and identify targets without any prior knowledge and that allow host cells to resist or survive lethal HIV-1 infection.
As demonstrated previously (reference ) and modified in Figure 1, our experimental strategy makes use of integration of the GSV at a single site in the genome, where it regulates expression of the target gene via an inducible promoter. The GSV could integrate in either a sense or an antisense orientation. In the antisense configuration, the integration event itself inactivates one allele and facilitates expression of an antisense construct, which further knocks down expression of genes encoded on the other allele (Figure 1, left panels). In this way, RHGP generates homozygous perturbation of both gene copies in diploid cells. When GSV integrates in the sense orientation, RHGP facilitates over-expression of the target gene (Figure 1, right panels). This outcome could lead to over-expression of an entire gene when insertion is upstream of the start codon or expression of specific domains initiated from a downstream endogenous start codon when integration occurs within a gene. This newly truncated protein could produce a dominant-negative inhibitor. In the case when the wild type protein has a tendency to form a dimer or multimer, the mutant partner thus triggers rapid degradation of the complex due to misfolded aggregates they form into. As such, RHGP allows us to sample the entire cell genome to identify different types of events that render host cells to resist or survive HIV-1 infection. The transcript production is under control of a ligand inducible promoter that carried in the GSV and viral resistance is derived in the presence of the ligand (promoter "On"). The causal relationship between the disturbed genotype and viral resistant phenotype can be confirmed by withdrawal of the ligand (promoter "Off").
An overview of potential outcomes of GSV integration into the genome. The left panels demonstrate how integration of the Gene Search Vector in an "antisense orientation" would disrupt Allele 1 and then facilitate overexpression of an antisense to disrupt the second allele in the presence of inducer (RSL1). On the other hand, the right panels demonstrate how integration in a sense orientation would facilitate overexpression of the target gene (or domains thereof). Note that the phenotype is tightly regulated by the RSL1-inducible promoter, thus allowing the investigation to reverse the phenotype by turning the GSV vector "off" when cells are cultured in the absence of RSL1.
RheoSwitch® Mammalian Inducible Expression System was purchased from New England Biolabs (NEB). Plasmid pNEB-R1 encoding the transactivator R1 was first linearized using the restriction enzyme ScaI (NEB). MT4 cells were then transfected with the linearized pNEB-R1 by electroporation using Eppendorf Multiporator (Eppendorf, AG 22331, Hamburg, Germany) under conditions of 360 v (voltage) and 100 μs (time constant). The transfected MT4 cells were selected using G-418 (400 μg/mL) and G-418 resistant cells were cloned by serial limited dilutions. After expansion, clones were examined at least twice for luminescence (relative luminescence units (RLUs)) after transfection with an R1-responsive luciferase reporter gene (pGluc, NEB) using the Gaussia Luciferase Assay Kit (NEB). We determined the RSL1 induction folds of luminescence from these cell clones as: RLUs obtained from samples in the presence of the inducer divided by RLUs from samples without the inducer treatment. The induction fold from these clones ranged from 2-60 folds. A stable clone (#2-14) with the highest induction was chosen to create RHGP libraries.
The RHGP gene search vector, pRHGP12-RSN, was constructed using the lentivirus-based pLEST vector as a backbone (generously provided by Dr. Stanley Cohen, Stanford) . This vector was constructed with RheoSwitch Mammalian Inducible System (NEB) (Figure 2). The Rheoswitch system contains five copies of the GAL4 response element (5 × RE) upstream of a TATA box that results in high induction of transcription with low basal expression in the presence of RSL1 ligand. To construct the vector, the DNA sequence of NeoR -TRE-CMV in pLEST was first replaced with a RheoSwitch (RS) inducible Expression cassette containing Ori-CAT-RS in an orientation inverted to that of 5'LTR. The selection marker and reporter cassette containing the Blasticidin (BS) resistant gene and an EGFP gene controlled by a PGK promoter was inserted in the NheI site in an orientation opposite to the RS expression cassette.
An overview of the pRHGP12-RSN Gene Search Vector (GSV). Unique and important features of the vector are highlighted that facilitate the RHGP-based identification of host-based gene targets contributing to HIV-1 resistance. Note that the promoter used for production of the GSV "Packaging Promoter" is not included into the GSV viral genome and the 5' LTR is replaced with the SIN 3'LTR after the vector integrates into the cellular genome.
RHGP lentiviruses were produced using ViroPower Expression System (Invitrogen). HEK293FT cells were plated in 10 cm plates at 106 cells per plate. After 24 h incubation, the cells were transfected with 3 μg RHGP12-RSN and 9 μg ViroPower Packaging Mix using Lipofectimine 2000 (Invitrogen). The medium was changed after 5 h incubation. After 48 h, viruses in the culture medium were filtrated through a 0.45 μm filter and titrated according to the manufacturer's instruction.
To construct the RHGP library, MT4-R1 cells were transduced with RHGP viruses in the presence of polybrene (6 μg/mL) by low speed centrifugation (1,200 g) for 1 h. To minimize the potential for multiple insertions within a single cell, a low MOI (0.1) was employed during the library creation to minimize the likelihood that cells might be transduced by more than one different GSV. GSV integrated cells were selected using GBL medium (complete RPMI 1640 medium containing G418 (400 ug/ml), Blasticidin (4 ug/ml) and RSL1 ligand (0.5 uM)).
After challenge with HIV-1NL4-3, the MT4-R1 RHGP library was cultured in the same GBL medium described above. The individual surviving clones were established by serial limited dilutions and continuously expanded in GBL medium. Cell clones were further challenged with HIV-1NL4-3 to confirm their resistance.
To verify reversibility of RHGP induced events, the viral resistant MT4 cell clones were cultured in the GBL medium or GBL medium without RSL1 separately for at least 3 days before HIV-1 re-challenge. Viral production (infectivity and p24) in supernatants were examined as described above.
The RHGP gene search vector was designed to efficiently discover target genes and determine the orientation (sense or antisense) of an integration event. The gene search vector contains an Ori-CAT reporter gene (Figure 2), which can be rescued by restriction enzyme-based genomic DNA cloning as described before. Briefly, cellular genomic DNA from each cell clone was extracted from 106 cells. Purified genomic DNA was then digested with BamHI or XbaI and self-ligated overnight using T4 ligase (Invitrogen). The ligated DNA was electroporated into DH10B ElectroMax competent cells (Invitrogen). After overnight growth, multiple colonies were isolated for plasmid DNA preparation and restriction enzyme digestion. The plasmid DNA was further used to identify the target genes by DNA sequencing and genome mapping. The resulting genomic DNA sequences flanking the RHGP vector insertion sites were subjected to genome mapping against the human genome using the UCSC Genome Browser http://www.genome.ucsc.edu/cgi-bin/hgBlat.
Human duplex siRNA (siGNOME SMARTpool) for RHGP identified genes were prepared as recommended by the manufacturer (Dharmacon). The siRNA Rab6A and HIV-1 Tat were employed as positive controls . Non-targeting siRNA (siCONTROL1) was used as a negative control. MT4 or PM1 cells were cultured in fresh complete RPMI 1640 medium overnight. The log-phase growing cells were transfected with 1.2 uM of siRNA by electroporation, according to the manufacturer's instruction (Eppendorf). The voltage and time constant for elctroporation were 360 v, 100 μs and 200 v, 200 μs for MT4 and PM1 cells, respectively. The cells were infected with HIV-1 variants 24 h post transfection. Culture media were refreshed everyday and the cell viabilities were examined daily by trypan blue dye exclusion assay. Viral production (infectivity and p24) in supernatants were examined as described above.
The cell pellets were washed with PBS, resuspended with lysis buffer (25 mM Tris-HCl, pH 7.6, 150 mM Nacl. 1% NP-40. 1% Sodium Deoxycholate, 0.1% SDS), and disrupted with pulse sonication. After centrifuge at ≅14000 × g for 15 minutes, the supernatant was dialyzed against PBS, and concentrated. Equal amounts of protein samples (250 μg) were loaded onto 4%-12% stacking SDS-PAGE with Dithiothreitol (DTT, 200 mM) before electrophoresis analysis. The sieved proteins were transferred on to PVDF membranes, blocked with PBS containing 5% dry non-fat milk, and blotted with 1:50 dilution of anti-Robo1 (A301-265A, Bethyl Laboratories) as primary antibody and 1: 2000 as secondary antibody HRP in PBS containing 5% dry non-fat milk, 0.1% Tween-20 and the ECL Chemiluminescence (Amersham/Pharmacia Biotech) was used to detect signals. The loading amounts controls were probed using anti-HSP (heat shock protein 90) (abcam, Cambridge, MA) and anti-GAPDH (Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Santa Cruz, CA).
To identify novel targets that render T cells resistant to HIV infection, we utilized the human MT4 cell model, which provided an HIV-1 permissive, CD4 positive T lymphocyte cell line. The use of a natural target line for a wild-type strain of HIV-1 provided a model to identify targets that are physiologically relevant to the HIV life cycle. In addition, MT4 cells were selected for these studies, in part, after confirming that this model was highly sensitive to HIV-1 infection. Specifically, challenge of MT4 cells with HIVNL4-3, at a relatively low initial MOI (0.001), was sufficient to eliminate MT4 cells in the absence of RHGP-mediated gene perturbation.
A key feature of the RHGP technology is the ability to validate candidate targets via regulation by an inducible promoter 5xRE (Figure 2). MT4 T cells were first engineered to stably express a transactivator (known as R1), which can activate the built in promoter 5XRE in RHGP to produce transcripts in the presence of the inducer RSL1 (Figure 3, step 1). MT4-R1 cells were thus transfected with an R1-responsive luciferase reporter gene and cultured in the presence or absence of the inducer RSL1. Luminescence readings (RLUs) demonstrated that the resulting MT4-R1 cells generated high and stable levels of luminescence, but only in the presence RSL1 (Figure 4). This result indicated that the activation ability of R1 on the promoter 5xRE is tightly controlled by RSL1. Similar to its parental MT4 cells, we confirmed that these cells retained their susceptibility to HIV-1 infection as complete cell loss was observed after infection of HIV-1NL4-3.
Schematic overview of the experimental strategy to identify host genes involved in HIV-1 infection using RHGP. MT4 cell lines expressing the transactivator R1 were first constructed. Following transduction with the RHGP vector antibiotic selection was used to establish an "RHGP library" of gene perturbations. Next the RHGP library cells were challenged with a lethal infection of HIV-1 virus in the presence of the inducer RSL1. Survivors were cloned and then validated by reversing the RHGP phenotype in the absence of RSL1. The genomic DNA was then isolated from those validated clones and the identity of the target gene, along with the orientation of the GSV integration event ("Sense" or "Antisense") was then determined.
Activation of a luciferase reporter gene by inducer RSL1 in the MT4-R1 cell line expressing RheoSwitch R1. Cells were transfected with plasmid DNA encoding a luciferase gene (Luc) or a control plasmid DNA (Ctrl) in the presence or absence of the inducer RSL1. Luminescence was measured 48 h after transfection.
We then utilized RHGP to interrogate the genome of human T lymphocytes to identify targets that allow these cells to survive an otherwise lethal infection with HIV-1. To accomplish this, cultures of MT4-R1 cells were transduced with the GSV (pRHGP12; Figure 2), which contains an expression cassette consisting of a constitutive promoter driving a Blasticidin resistance gene. Blasticidin selection allowed us to establish an "RHGP library" of MT4-R1 cells with different genetic perturbations rendered by random GSV integrations (Figure 3, step 2). To maintain stable R1 expression and GSV integration, the MT4-R1 RHGP library was continuously incubated with G418 and Blasticidin. RSL1 was also included in the culture medium to ensure that the activated GSV promoter was able to generate anticipated RHGP effects by producing transcripts. To control for the quality of the library, we confirmed that downstream gene expression from the GSV was induced only upon incubation with RSL1 but not when RSL1 was absent (data not shown). Statistical analyses of gene expression and genome size were implemented to ensure that a sufficient number of GSV integration events would be analyzed to thoroughly evaluate the human genome, both for gain or loss of target expression. Specifically, we calculated that a library of MT4-R1 cells with 105 GSV integration events would ensure coverage of the human genome.
The cell library containing the different RHGP perturbation MT4 cells was then challenged with HIVNL4-3, infected at an initial MOI of 0.001 (Figure 3, step 3). Analysis of Trypan blue exclusion examination indicated that non-transduced MT4-R1 cells were greater than 99% depleted following HIV-1NL4-3 challenge. As indicated above, we also confirmed that the inclusion of RSL1 in non-transduced cells did not alter cell sensitivity to HIV-1 infection. As an additional control, parallel cultures of mock-transduced cells were treated identically and no survivors were observed after 5 days. These controls confirmed that surviving cells arose as a result of the RHGP perturbation and not as an artifact of spontaneous resistance to HIV-1. The small number of surviving cells was cloned and expanded. The resulting clones were then subjected to multiple rounds of challenge to eliminate any susceptible cells. Ultimately, we obtained 25 different cell clones that were insensitive to the lethal HIV-1 challenge.
Although our results indicated that the RHGP technology prevented HIV-mediated killing of infected cells, we could not exclude that these cells were able to stay alive and yet propagate virus (a less desirable phenotype). We thus asked if the resistant cell clones carrying GSV continued to produce viral particles upon HIV infection. After re-challenge of these resistant cell clones with HIV-1NL4-3 in the presence of RSL1, the supernatants were collected at 4 days post infection (dpi) and were transferred to the TZM-bl cells, which provided readout of infectivity. Notably, the RHGP cell clones failed to produce and release progeny virus (See Figure 5 for a representative finding). In contrast, HIV-1 established a productive infection in non-transduced MT4-R1 cells and was ultimately cytotoxic. We confirmed these findings by independently demonstration of diminished p24 levels in the supernatants of RHGP-perturbed clones (data not shown). Thus, we were able to confirm that the RHGP-mediated resistance to HIV killing related directly to elimination of virus propagation.
Loss of viral production from HIV-1 resistant cell clones upon HIV-1 re-challenge. Production of progeny virus from a representative resistant clone after re-challenge by HIV-1NL4-3. Supernatants collected daily starting 3 dpi from the cell cultures were then examined for viral amounts using TZM-bl cells.
As another means to eliminate potential artifacts, we exploited the reversible nature of the RHGP technology. To eliminate clones that might have survived viral infection as a result of events unrelated to RHGP, HIV propagation was compared in the presence or absence of ligand RSL1 during HIV-1 re-challenge. Each of the RHGP-transduced clones demonstrated reversible resistance to HIV-1 infection (see a representative cell clone in Figure 6A). In the absence of exogenous ligand, we observed robust viral production that was comparable to parental controls.
Validation of cell clones resistant to HIV-1 infection with the reversibility assay. HIV-resistant RHGP Clone 1-13(A) and a naive RHGP Clone H6 (B) were challenged with HIV-1NL4-3 in the presence (RHGP "on") or absence (RHGP "off") of the ligand RSL1. Supernatants collected daily starting 3 dpi from these cell cultures were then examined for infectivity using TZM-bl cells and the results from 5 dpi are shown.
To preclude that the act of the GSV integration into the MT4 genome might itself impart a nonspecific impact on HIV-1 replication, we tested naïve MT4 RHGP clones that had never previously been challenged with HIV-1. As a representative example, Clone H6 (in which the GSV integrates into the human SC6A3 gene) demonstrated no resistance to HIV-1, producing levels of HIV-1 production comparable to parental MT4 cells (Figure 6B). Likewise, HIV-1 infected H6 cells were completely depleted after infection (data not shown), thus confirming the specificity of the HIV-resistance demonstrated by the RHGP strategy.
To identify the targets perturbed by RHGP in the HIV-resistant MT4 cells, genomic DNA was isolated from the clones that demonstrated reversible resistance to HIV-1 (Figure 3, step 4). The 25 HIV-insensitive host cell clones with GSV integration sites yielded the identification of 21 cellular integration events (Figure 7). These GSV integrations targeted 12 previously-annotated genes and 2 non-annotated ESTs. Some clones were deemed progeny from a common parent since the GSV had integrated in the same genetic location with the same orientation. Three clones had RHGP insertions in a region without genes or ESTs. We were unable to isolate candidate genes from 4 cell clones due to partial loss of the Ori-CAT reporter.
An overview of HIV-1 resistant RHGP cell clones and subsequent discovery of integration locations. Numbers of different integration occurrences are indicated blow each event.
The properties of these genes and ESTs are listed in Table 1. The site and orientation of integration offered by RHGP provided insight into the types of perturbations that allowed host cells to survive challenge with HIV-1. Specifically, the RHGP perturbations could be broadly divided into three groups: 1) "Antisense": Antisense integration events that facilitated gene expression disruption of one allele and antisense inhibition of gene expression from the other allele; 2) "Sense Downstream": Integration in a sense orientation, which would be predicted to facilitate production of a dominant-negative inhibitor of the endogenous gene product; and 3) "Sense-Upstream": Integration in a sense orientation upstream of the translation start site, which would be predicted to facilitate over-expression of the target gene. Of the 14 gene targets identified using RHGP, 8 targets represented "Antisense" knockdown of target expression. The other 6 of the targets represented "Sense-Downstream" events, likely representing over-expression of dominant-negative inhibitors of wild-type gene expression. No "Sense-Upstream" insertions were identified in the current study (Figure 7 and Table 1). Based on these predictions, all of the candidate genes are likely down-regulated by a GSV integration event. This allowed us to directly use siRNA knock down approach on naïve MT4 cells to recapitulate viral resistant phenotypes. Altogether, these findings suggest that RHGP-based interrogation of the host genome had identified both novel targets and/or ascribed novel functions to known genes.
post-transcriptional gene silencing through the RNAi and microRNA pathways.
Symbols, gene families and the currently main known functions are shown for each identified gene. C# indicates the chromosome number of each target gene locates. The disruption effects upon GSV integration (orientation and integrated sites in host genes) are also listed. In order to determine the possible effects of sense integration on host gene expression, locations of the translation start codon (ATG(sc)) are also indicated. Down-regulation of gene expression is expected for the targeted genes through anti-sense inhibition. Dominant Negative (DN) effects are also anticipated from the targeted genes with over-expression of a truncated host protein when GSV inserts downstream of the start codon ATG in the sense orientation. GenBank Access numbers and the disruption effects of GSV integration are also shown for the two unknown ESTs. "n.d." stands for "not done".
The studies above demonstrated that RHGP could identify novel host targets that conferred resistance to HIV-1 infection. We then sought to verify these candidates using an independent experimental system to exclude outcomes that might arise as spontaneous mutation or unanticipated artifacts of the RHGP technology. Thus, duplex siRNAs targeting these candidates were obtained. Each siRNA preparation contained a pool of 4 individual siRNAs, all of which selectively target the gene of interest. Non-targeting siRNAs provided a matched control for the transfection and a reference standard. siRNA constructs specific for viral Tat and a cellular target, Rab6A, provided positive controls based on recent reports that these siRNA were able to efficiently inhibit HIV-1 infection .
The siRNAs were transfected into naïve MT4 cells via electroporation one day prior to challenge with HIV-1NL4-3. Culture supernatants were harvested two days after infection and the number of infectious virions was measured using TZM-bl cell-based readouts. As indicated in Figure 8A, duplex siRNAs against the 12 target genes reduced HIV-1 virus production by 50-90%, which was comparable to the inhibition observed in the positive controls (Tat and Rab6A). As a control, we also evaluated the overall viability of the MT4 host cells, which allowed us to exclude cytotoxic effects that have arisen from siRNA treatment and thus decreased viral release as a result of a general decrease in cell viability (rather than a specific impact on the viral life cycle). Despite the inhibition of HIV-1 release, the viability of siRNA-treated samples was comparable in all samples. These results confirmed that these genes identified by RHGP are important in viral replication and validated the application of RHGP to identify novel host-based targets.
Validation of candidate genes providing HIV-1 resistance via siRNA targeting of naïve T lymphocytes. Naïve T cells were challenged one day after electroporation with the siRNAs specific for the human targets listed in Table 1. Production of the progeny virus 48 h post-infection were quantified using TZM-bl cells. Percentages of virus production from each siRNA treatment against the non-targeting siRNA control sample are shown. Note that siRNA against Tat and Rab6A provided positive controls for established HIV-1 siRNA targets. (A) Data from siRNA transfected MT4 cells followed by X4 tropic HIV-1NL4-3 infection. Percentages of viable cells after siRNA transfection and viral infection (2 dpi) are shown in the bottom. (B) Results from siRNA transfected PM1 cells followed by infection with the R5 tropic HIV-1Mei virus.
An important goal of our present studies was to identify targets that are broadly applicable to HIV-1 infection. We also sought to confirm that targets identified using RHGP would not be unique to any particular cell system. To address both issues, we asked if the host gene candidates that rendered MT4 cells insensitive to challenge by HIV-1NL4-3 (a CXCR4-tropic virus) would similarly allow a different cell system to become insensitive to challenge by a CCR5 tropic HIV-1 virus. For this, the same siRNA approach as used with MT4 cells was used to target relative molecules in PM1 T cells. PM1 was selected since it expresses both CXCR4 and CCR5 co-receptors and thus can provide a model for both R5 and X4-tropic viruses . Similar to our findings with CXCR4-tropic viruses, targeting in PM1 cells demonstrated that this same set of 12 siRNAs was able to inhibit viral replication of the R5-tropic HIV-1ME1. Viral production of HIV-1ME1 strain was significantly inhibited in the cells treated with specific siRNA targeting each of these 12 gene targets (Figure 8B). These results confirmed our findings that the targets identified using RHGP are important for the replication of both X4 and R5 tropic HIV-1 viruses.
In the course of validating targets identified using RHGP, we identified novel mechanistic information about certain target functions. For example, in clone #1-13, the integration of the GSV occurred in a "sense downstream" after start codon of the human Robo1 gene. This integration was predicted to result in the production of a truncated form of Robo1 (table 1). Western blot analysis with Robo1 specific antibodies indicated that expression of wild type Robo1 (~220 kDa) in clone #1-13 was down regulated after GSV integration (Figure 9A). Other immunoglobulin superfamily members require multimerization [19, 20] and improperly folded multimers are likely to be efficiently degraded. Thus, we reasoned that the truncated molecule might favor degradation of endogenous Robo1. When the RHGP promoter turned "off" upon withdrawal of ligand RSL1, the truncated protein was no longer produced and normal levels of Robo1 expression reemerged (Figure 9A). Likewise, viral replication increased upon removal of RSL1 (Figure 6A), which directly related to the restoration of wild-type Robo1 protein.
Confirmation of target gene expression using Robo1 as an example. (A). Loss of Robo1 expression in the RHGP clone whose robo1 gene was perturbed by RHGP in the presence of RSL1 (on) and reemergence of expression in the absence of RSL1 (off). Cell lysates of WT MT4 cells and RHGP clone were resolved in an SDS-PAGE gel. After transfer to a membrane, the blot was first probed by anti-Robo1 (A301-265A, Bethyl Laboratories) and then anti-HSP90 (heat shock protein) after stripping, each followed by 2nd HRP-conjugated anti-rabbit Ab. (B). Knockdown expression of Robo1 in MT4 cells treated with siRNA against robo1. Cell lysates from samples treated with different siRNA as indicated were processed into western blot as described above. Herein GAPDH protein probed by an anti-GAPDH was used as a loading control.
To validate the targets identified using RHGP, we sought to reproduce the perturbation in a "naïve" cell that has not been modified by the GSV. To verify that the siRNA targeting Robo1 in naïve T cells significantly reduced viral production during HIV-1 infection (Figure 8), we next examined whether Robo1 expression was successfully knocked down upon siRNA treatment using western blot. Indeed, reduced amounts of Robo1 were found in the siRNA treated cells (Figure 9B).
Although the results with wild-type HIV-1 were encouraging, we considered that a large unmet need for therapeutics is the application of new targets to viral variants that are resistant to conventional medicines. Therefore, we performed studies with an HIV-1 variant (L10R/M46I/L63P/V82T/I84V) with established resistance to protease inhibitors. The RHGP-transduced clones selected after wild type HIV-1NL4-3 challenge also survived challenge in the face of the protease-resistant variant and failed to produce viruses after challenge. This outcome was not unique to host cell survival as infectivity assays as well as p24 ELISA confirmed the defective infection by mutant HIV-1 in the resistant cells (Figure 10 and data not shown). Together these results confirmed the cell clones we obtained are resistant to infection by both wild type and drug resistant HIV-1 variants and further indicated that therapeutics based on the identified gene targets have the broad spectrum potential against replication of HIV mutants resistant to current anti-viral drugs.
Failure to produce virus by the HIV-1 resistant RHGP cell clones upon challenge by a protease inhibitor resistant HIV-1 mutant. Production of progeny virus were examined on supernatants by TZM-bl cells after cells from parental MT4-R1 and resistant cell clones were challenged with the protease inhibitor resistant HIV-1 mutant (L10R/M46I/L63P/V82T/I84V). Results from 4 dpi are shown.
In our present study, we applied RHGP technology to conduct a genome-wide screen for host factors required for HIV-1 virus infection and identified novel host-based targets that render cells resistant to an otherwise lethal challenge with HIV-1 virus. In addition, we ascribed novel anti-HIV-1 functions to previously-known genes as well as non-annotated ESTs. These targets were validated first using an inducible promoter incorporated within the RHGP vector to reverse the phenotype and then in naïve cells using the conventional siRNA approach. We further found that the resultant targets were broadly applicable to different HIV variants, including CCR5 and CXCR4-tropic viruses. We further showed that cell clones with the gene targets disrupted by RHGP were resistant to viral challenge by a drug resistant HIV-1 mutant.
An independent study from our group recently identified host targets that allow host cells to survive in the face of an otherwise lethal infection with influenza virus. That study, as well as the work herein, employed a lentiviral system to overcome the prior limitation of low GSV production, which had been a problem associated with Moloney murine leukemia virus (MMLV)-based strategies . These improvements allowed us to sample the entire host genome and identify 12 gene targets from the 10^5 integration events invoked by the improved GSV. Consistent with prediction that a lentiviral vector favors single site insertion into sites of active gene transcription , all integration occurred in regions with active gene expression.
Based on MMLV-derived vectors which randomly integrate into the host chromosome, insertional mutagenesis was described as a high-throughput forward genetics approach to inactivate and thus discover cellular genes. Using these vectors cellular genes were identified that are required for replication of HIV-1 and other viruses, but not for host cell survival [22, 23]. With a built-in inducible promoter in GSV to drive transcript production from a host gene, our RHGP can also generate activation, often over-expression, of genes in mammalian cells, depending on the location and direction of GSV insertion relative to the candidate gene. Although not observed in our current study, over-expression of a subset of targets including the B-cell CLL/lymphoma 2 (BCL2) allowed MDCK cells to survive influenza infection during discovery of host genes against influenza virus infection. Since target expression is under control of the inducible promoter, the causal relationship between the phenotype (resistance to HIV-1 infection) and the perturbed gene can be confirmed by withdrawal of the inducer. By validating these targets within the same experiment, this feature markedly increases the efficiency of discovery of therapeutic candidates. Indeed, all the targets from resistant clones were successfully confirmed in the subsequent siRNA studies with naïve cells. Instead of transient knock down effects generated by conventional approaches (e.g., siRNA), the RHGP phenotype is highly stable, which can allow mechanistic studies to continuously characterize the roles of these perturbed genes in HIV-1 replication.
Increasing evidence suggests that the concept of host-oriented therapeutics may be particularly useful for identifying improved opportunities to combat HIV/AIDS. To identify relevant host targets, recent siRNA or shRNA based genome-wide studies have successfully identified host targets associated with HIV-1 infection [17, 24–26]. Unfortunately, siRNA is intrinsically limited by the need for strong and stable over-expression of the siRNA. Moreover, the outcomes of some siRNA findings have been clouded by recent questions of whether the siRNAs might non-specifically alter host defense mechanisms , which could be particularly problematic for applications of siRNA technology to therapies against viral diseases. Any siRNA screen is likely to generate false positive and false negative data due to the potential "off-target effects" along with variability both in siRNA efficacy and protein half-lives. This variability will ultimately lead to different levels of protein knockdown. We believe RHGP could provide an alternative since it is not limited by these same constraints.
Notably, the genes indentified herein are not included in the list discovered by the three recent siRNA-based HIV-1 studies [17, 24, 25]. We postulate this discrepancy may reflect that the different cell systems, viruses and approaches were used during screening coupled with contrasting experimental designs. Consistent with this postulation, there was very limited overlap between the HIV dependency factors identified in these investigations. These earlier studies did not utilize CD4+ T lymphocytes, a natural cell target for HIV infection. To achieve efficient siRNA delivery and investigate viral replication in those studies, adherent HeLa -derived cells were reconstructed to express CD4 and CXCR4 (such as TZM-bl cells used in the Brass et al screen or P4/R5 cells in the Zhou et al study ). In a third investigation, a mutant HIV-1 virus pseudotyped with VSV-G was used to allow virus entry . This raises a question as to whether such differences might alter the mechanism of viral replication. Consistent with this, defective viral budding was observed in TZM-bl cells (our unpublished data). Using CD4+ T lymphocytes and wild type HIV-1 virus, we were able to interrogate very natural interactions between the entire repertoire of host factors and viral proteins during complete cycles of viral replication. We also noted that while we sampled the whole genome, a relatively low number of host genes (<20) were identified in our study. This subset of candidates might have resulted from the fact that our strategy of cloning surviving cells might have precluded targets that impact cell growth rates or viability. Likewise, the use of cell models and laboratory adapted viruses might have limited or biased the repertoire of host targets identified using RHGP. Thus, future studies should seek to adapt this technology using virus isolates obtained from primary cells.
A central tenet of the RHGP technology is that it is not biased by prior knowledge of the target. Consistent with this, two (of 14) that render host cells resistant to HIV infection were ESTs that had not yet been annotated (Table 1). Analysis of target function via the PANTHER Classification System , indicated little (CASD1, GDAP2, TNRC6A, and TTC21B,) or no (CAMSAP1L1 and GSTCD) knowledge of target function. The function for four targets have been ascribed (ROBO1, NLGN1, CPSF1, ATP8A1), but none of them have been linked with viral infection. The biological processes that these targets are involved in diversely include mRNA polyadenylation (CPSF1), cation transport (ATP8A1) and cell adhesion mediated signaling (ROBO1 and NLGN1).
HECW2 and DZIP3 are members of the E3 ubiquitin ligase family. This finding is intriguing since the ubiquitin ligase pathway has been shown to be necessary for the budding and release of HIV-1 and other viruses. For example, the TSG101 host protein is a ubiquitin-like ligase that interacts with HIV-1-encoded p6 Gag and is "hijacked" to facilitate viral egress from the cell surface . Likewise, Nedd4 is another ubiquitin ligase that regulates viral budding and release including HIV-1 [30, 31]. It is notable that HECW2 shares considerable homology with Nedd4 . It is thus tempting to postulate that HECW2 and DZIP3 may be also important for HIV-1 maturation and egress.
Robo1 is also essential for HIV replication. Viral production was markedly inhibited in both RHGP promoter "on" cells and siRNA treated naïve cells where knockdown of Robo1 expression were observed (Figure 8 and 9). This consistency was demonstrated again in RHGP cells in the subsequent reversibility assay when inducible promoter turned off and where levels of viral replication increased with the reemergence of Robo1 expression (Figure 9A). Robo1 is a type I transmembrane protein with an extracellular N-terminus comprising of 5 immunoglobulin and 3 fibronectin domains . It was originally identified as axon guidance receptor during neuronal development and was recently shown to regulate T cell chemotaxis [33, 34].
Our work thereby provides potential insights into new opportunities for host-directed therapeutics. Specifically, novel technologies like RHGP provide an opportunity to identify and prioritize host molecules that might provide safe and effective targets for drug intervention. In light of the increasing evidence that different virus types can share essential host pathways during their replication cycles, the therapeutics developed from genes identified in this study might also have broad application to other viruses as well.
Using RHGP, we have successfully identified novel host cell targets that are essential for HIV-1 replication but which can be safely targeted to preclude damage to normal cells. These targets emphasize safety while effectively blocking viral propagation. Most current HIV drugs target the HIV virus and therefore are vulnerable to the development of drug resistance through viral mutation. In contrast, therapeutics based on these newly identified human host targets will prevent HIV virus from using the host's cellular mechanism for its life cycle and are insensitive to drug resistance. Moreover, by targeting cellular pathways shared by HIV variants and even viruses other than HIV, these therapies have potentially broad spectrum anti-viral activities.
This work in this manuscript was supported by an SBIR grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (1R43 AI074484-01). The authors thank Dr. Stanley Cohen from Stanford University for providing plasmid reagents and expert advice for RHKO technologies and Dr. Bruce Torbett from the Scripps Research Institute for suggestions on research and critical review of the manuscript. The authors also thank Drs. Y. Abdul and L. Diaz for helpful comments and Ms. Ke Weng (Functional Genetics, Inc.) for guidance on cell cloning and siRNA transfection.
All authors are inventors on a patent application, which describes applications of methods and results presented herein. The intellectual property rights are owned by Functional Genetics, Inc.
HM participated in the conception, design, coordination and conductions of the study; HC carried out most of experiments in the study; ZF examined amounts of HIV p24; SC, HU, JVD, and MK participated in cloning of target genes; HU performed western blot analysis; WL and MK designed and constructed RHGP vectors; MSK and MG helped the conception and design of this study. MSK, together with HM, wrote the manuscript. All authors have read and approved the manuscript. | 2019-04-19T05:10:10Z | https://virologyj.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1743-422X-6-154 |
Soils have critical relevance to global issues, such as food and water security, climate regulation, sustainable energy, desertification and biodiversity protection. As a consequence, soil is becoming one of the top priorities for the global environmental policy agenda. Conventional soil maps suffer from large limitations, i.e. most of them are static and often obsolete, are often generated at coarse scale, and can be uneasy to handle. Digital Soil Mapping has been developed as a solution to generate high-resolution maps of soil properties over large areas. Two projects, GlobalSoilMap and SoilGrids, presently aim at delivering the first generation of global, high-resolution soil property fine grids. In this paper, we briefly describe the GlobalSoilMap history, its present status and present achievements, and illustrate some of these with (mainly) French examples. At given moment there is still an enormous potential for forthcoming research and for delivering products more helpful for end users. Key here is the continuous progress in available co-variates, in their spatial, spectral and temporal coverage and resolution through remote sensing products. All over the world, there is still a very large amount of point soil data still to be rescued and this effort should be pursued and encouraged. Statistically advances are expected by exploring and implementing new models. Especially relevant are spatial-temporal models and contemporary Artificial Intelligence for handling the complex big data. Advances should be made and research efforts are needed on estimating the uncertainties, and even on estimating uncertainties on uncertain-ties. Attempts to merge different model strategies and products (for instance deriving from different covariates, spatial extents, soil data sources, and mod-els) should be made in order to get the most useful information from each of these predictions, and to identify how controlling factors may change depending on scales.
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A unique duo of a beautiful female magician and a strange physician are back! After two successful TV series, a record high DVD sales record in the newly released drama category, a smash hit theatrical movie, the best selling novelized book, etc., the show has made a come back to a weekly prime time slot.
The drama takes place at a remote mountain village bound by convention. In each episode, a beautiful female magician and a strange physician witness various supernatural phenomena far beyond their imagination. Just as the previous series, the two will try to investigate and seek what lies behind these paranormal events and logically prove what the tactful trick would be, only, if any. Now reaching its third series, the drama assures an ever more emphasis on the performance of the unique casting, stronger and original scripts, and more fun delving into the mysteries of this favorite title!
Yabe and his wig is back again, but his previous sidekick (Ishihara) has been replaced by Kikuchi (Kyou Nobuo). I admit it does take some getting to to, especially if you're used to seeing Ishihara in the previous 2 series, but Kyou Nobuo did quite well as Kikuchi, a Tokyo University graduate with a bright future in the police force. (Plus he's one of the eye candy in the show!! XD) NOTE: Hiroki Narimiya also appeared in the last episode (another eye candy!!).
The Trick series is overall, a wonderful dorama to watch. Do give it a try if you like detective, mysterious or comical dramas!
While watching the third season of Trick, I was wondering what I would write about for its review. Having already written a review for both the first season and second season, I was finding myself running out of things to say.
I noticed that the scenarios for each episode drifted further away from actual magic tricks and became more the �gmurder mystery�h types. Which was fine. The mysteries were even more complicated in this season, which was welcome, except I found the last episode quite rushed and not at all mind-blowing. At this point I was already feeling quite indifferent to this season and didn�ft care to write it out in a review. Until the very end.
The benefit of watching all three seasons was in seeing the growth of Naoko and Jiro. In the first season there was an awkward, sexual tension between them that created amazing chemistry. In the second season, after having grown with each other in the first season, the tension between them was more mature, relaxed, and there was a sense of understanding between them. By this season (the third), they were already comfortable enough to sleep in the same room, to joke with each other, and there was also a small element of jealousy. By the last episode, and having seen nothing in suggestion of further growth in their relationship, I gave up hoping they would fall in love and live happily ever after. After all, Trick isn�ft a romance drama, and Jiro and Naoko would probably kill each other before confessing any hidden feeling. You can imagine my surprise then at their parting scene. SO ROMANTIC! And so sweet! The last scene was absolutely perfect, especially in the way the �gwalking by the beach with the one you love�h scene was brilliantly mocked by the exceptional character combination Abe and Nakama make. After three seasons I was finally satisfied, and I am well aware I would not have been if I had not watched from the very beginning.
I still enjoyed this third installment. It was a bit better then part two, where they focused a little too much on village cults, and the stories took up too many episodes. Part three moved a bit faster, and while they still couldn't move away from these village cults, they didn't drag on as long.
I was hoping they didn't go back to that whole "I have supernatural powers from this island" thing from part one, but they didn't. That last episode in part one was really confusing, and I was in no hurry to see that storyline again. But I guess the writers decided since it was going to be last installment, they had to go back to her roots or something.
Maybe it's just my imagination, but i felt Ueda lost some steam in this last one. He didn't seem as charged as he did the first two. Maybe the script called for that, or maybe he got tired of the role and it showed in miniscule ways. Overall it's still fun to watch, and I give them credit for making a third one without making the stories seem too far-fetched, or too rediculously easy to solve.
Trick3 is definitely a great dorama nt to be missed! Yukie Nakama potrayed her role in such a way tat i almost tot tat she is tat Yamada Naoko. Abe Hiroshi is great also as Ueda Jiro and i love the chemistry and every little small things about them. I give this dorama a 10/10 becoz every story is great and the trick is really difficult to guess. Rollover rollover! Why don't you do your best? This two phrases are the famous quote by Ueda Jiro in the show. Even Yabe and Kikuchi is great too as policemans. It is very funny watching them talking and it juz makes me watch from the first episode to the last. The ending is superb and it makes me smile after watching the whole drama.
After watching this makes me realize tat there is no supernatural power in this world. Everything is juz a trick. Recommend to all who loves mystery doramas and of course Yukie and Abe's fans!!
I enjoy Trip 3 much better than Trip 2 and slightly better than Trip 1. Trip 3 is closer to the format of Trip 2 with the goofy cases and the character development. Some of these clues are rather obvious and I've managed to solve the "tricks" before the explanation.
The ending is a nice complement to the series. But then, who wouldn't have guessed that was probably the ending. I would love the ending more if it were a sad ending though, but that's probably not what the average audience wants.
More of the same which is great, everyone is on top form again, and I really liked how it ended. It also made me sad watching it knowing there wasn't going to be anymore, I think this is my favourite j-drama, it's great. We as viewers we're really lucky, most series only get one series, but with this we we're lucky enough to get three, I want more though, can't get enough of the cast and their whacky adventures.
Trick, at this point, is my all time favorite Drama, it was great, I mean it succeeded in keeping me entertained, and I loved it. Everything was just perfect. Now, really, it all gets overshadowed by the perfect ending, sure I would love a Trick 4-9, but the final episode left me, and I hope all viewers, with a sense of finality and joy in that we were able to watch a truly amazing show. Trick, was good. No, Trick, was perfect.
This drama is just so crazy! When I first started watching it, I knew nothing about the series, and just found myself confused. But then I started getting really into it, laughing at sooo much stuff. Although it was really funny, interesting, and unique, it isn't really my ideal type of drama (thus, the 9). But the puns and crazy characters really make this drama interesting and unique.
By far, the funniest of the Trick series! Although, at this point I was bit bored by the formula, I found the jokes and the chemistry between Yamada and Ueda to be at their peak. Trick 2 lulled in that aspect. Some of the engrish-y jokes and the Japanese play on words were a bit hard to follow, but enjoyable nonetheless! I laughed so much during Trick 3, and it had a superb ending.
Though I missed some episodes, I still loved it nonetheless. The stories were not as scary as previous versions of Trick, but they were still as great. Ueda, Naoko and the rest of the characters keep us watching from begining to end. The final episodes of Trick 3 were awesome. As for the ending, what can I say? I was in tears. The show is just awesome!
The third season of Trick comes with some better cases more in the style of the first season and are better thought out. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the whole Trick series and I only wish there were more tricks to watch!
...Is that there was no Trick IV after this. A wonderful final to the trilogy. They really kept the humor, mystery and feel of the series growing. The charachters developed even more and nothing got old. Great great great!
The Trick collection ran out of breath with this one. Low production values make it look like a homemovie with a lot of props. Ms. Flat and Mr. Big should have known better.
Sometimes I lost during certain cases and jokes bcoz of bad subtitles...but still I like all stories and I luv both characters and it's the ending that hit me....!!!
Even though the tricks weren't too good, the chemistry between Abe and Nakama was great...so funny and Ueda is the best character, so CREAZY!!!
anyone know where to order dvd for all the Trick series. Trick 1,2 , and 3. With English Sub. What website? Thank you.
Even in it's 3rd season I kept wanting more and more of this great cast and odd story line.
In this, the third installment of the popular Trick series, Ueda and Yamada continue to investigate weird psychic phenomena, with hilarious results. It is very much the same as the first two seasons, almost too much so. Ueda invades Yamada's apartment, blackmails her into helping him investigate something, and off they go on an adventure. Some more variety might have been nice.
Yabe-san and his wig are back, but Ishihara-kun has been replaced by another less charismatic younger cop whose purpose in life seems to be to try to outshine Yabe-san. He's just not as funny. The wig gets some action, though. Watch for it!
By now, one should know better than to expect lovey-dovey romance from Ueda and Yamada, but their relationship still has some surprises left. Abe Hiroshi and Nakama Yukie are as great as always--those two play off each other beautifully.
I wasn't going to rate this one as high as the others in the Trick series, but the last episode changed my mind. It really had an impact.
The third installation of this fabulous series, and it keeps on improving everytime. Better plot than the previous two series, although I think the first Trick series is the most hilarious. At the risk of providing a spoiler, I have to say that I absolutely LOVED the ending because finally you know there's a development in the Ueda + Yamada relationship. The cases are pretty easy to solve if you read a lot of detective stories like Detective Conan or Kindaichi. The one thing I don't like is the replacement of Ishihara with Kikuchi. Ishihara is far more entertaining in his dumb ways.
Okay almost the same comment as in Trick 2. This installment lacked a lot of the spark the first season had. I had so much more fun with the original season, I sometimes regret watching the last two because they ruined the feeling the first trick achieved. I only liked the ending because Ueda admits finally what I wanted for him to say. I wonder if there's a 4th season that might finally save this series from joining my okay list rather than my memorable one.
Last of the Trick series. I gave a 9 BUT I was going to give this around an 8.5ish but I upped it because of the ending. The ending really did it for me. Good Ending to a good series. It shouldn't come back in any form whatsoever. The ending to each case is much deeper than previous seasons. I didn't care for them too much but it makes sense to do in that way. "YOU!!!"
Seeing Yamada Naoko's (Nakama Yukie) emotions in a more realistic light in the end of this season, TRICK3 is a bit more touching than its predecessors. You also wish that the author would progress the characters' lives a bit more, and stop recreating the same "Ueda-visits-Yamada-randomly-and-they-go-on-an-adventure" scenario. Other than, it delivers what we love TRICK for!
I loved this season of Trick the best! The cast is back. They are up to the same 'ol 'tricks' again. The last two episodes feature Hiroki Narimiya with a bowl haircut.. *lol* And the ending was much better than I could have asked for. It was so.. comedically romantic! If you were wondering if this season was worth it, I'll vouch for it and tell you that you MUST see it!
My favorite season, I think! It seemed like they were running out of ideas for mysteries though because some of them were pretty familiar. The last episode was by far the best ever! Too bad the dumb special and second movie had to screw everything up. Trick was a really funny show with great acting as well. Watch it!
As good as Trick 2, nothing improved, nothing changed. Nice ending though, however, the romance seems to come from nowhere. Watch it directors, you cannot ignore the romance for two entire seasons (Trick 2 and 3) and then decide to give it a love love love ending.
In the 3rd installment of this legendary series, Nakama Yukie and Abe Hiroshi are nothing short of stellar. The same comedic humor and thrilling mysteries were present as ever in this series. In my opinion, this is the best of the 3! "Why don't you do your best?"
i would never have given the drama this high if not for the ending.. i LOVED it..!! this time, more emotion given to ueda and kikuchi, although not ishihara-like, gets funny after a while.. a great drama i thought.. nakama yukie mo kirei..!
Naa.. I liked Trick 2 better. The cases in Trick 3 are easy to guess and not scary enough. Although the production staffs decided to give us a very romantic happy ending, but that's not enough to cover for the entire series. Duh!
More of the same which is great, everyone is on top form again, and I really liked how it ended. It also made me sad watching it knowing there wasn't going to be anymore, I think this is my favourite j-drama, it's great.
so good! just as good as the first 2 seasons, watch it! The more Japanese you know, the better you will be able to understand some of the jokes. But even if you don't know any japanese, it will still be aweseome!
Very much slapstick comedy. If you don't really like that kind of comedy, it is quite hard to find it funny. However, the cases and tricks are really intriguing though. Nakama Yukie gives a great performance.
Finally the conclusion of a relationship between naoko and jiro is here XD. They change yabe partner but its ok for me, that todai joke works on me lol.
a very suitable dramma for those mysteries lover!!!
The third season isn't as good as the first two. They don't mix it up and give us much of anything new. That being said, I still found it an easy show to watch all the way through.
The last season of this incredible drama. At last we'll discover the origins of Naoko Yamada. As i said with the 1st and 2nd season, the 3rd won't disappoint you, either. Amazing!!
Not so funny as trick 1 and 2, but the stories were a little bit better.
The specials and movies are worth watching and i hope there will be more "trick" in the future!!!
I loved it!! Perfect balance.
No one could have done a better Ueda Jiro than Abe Hiroshi.
Trick3 is nt only a funny show, it is interesting when it comes to Yukie on trying to solve the case. I muz admit tat Yukie and Abe makes a great couple in this show and they really have great chemistry. This dorama muz nt be missed. I juz hope tat there can be Trick4.
Great acting. It's funny, interesting mystery plot, action and even emotional at times. Very good compare to so many typical doramas out there. It's fresh and great! Highly recommended.
When u're thinking something about the case,there will be something funny happens!!!
It will make u feel surprise!!
I loved it! Though, I seen a few episodes of it. :( Trick 3 is just as awesome, as the previous Trick series.
Trick, as in the whole series was perfect. This being the perfect ending to a perfect series.
Loved every episode of it. So funny and so good and entertaining. It is hard not to watch it.
Dry humour which makes my whole family snigger and the mysteries are always so captivating.
hilarious, great show, looking forward to the 2nd movie :-) banana boat...?
excellent end to an excellent series. HILARIOUS.
still watchin but enjoying it very much!
I love it because of Yukie NAkama!!! | 2019-04-20T16:58:56Z | https://jdorama.com/drama.790.html |
I am now using Friday’s blog space to provide draft versions of the Modern Monetary Theory textbook that I am writing with my colleague and friend Randy Wray. We expect to complete the text during 2013 (to be ready in draft form for second semester teaching). Comments are always welcome. Remember this is a textbook aimed at undergraduate students and so the writing will be different from my usual blog free-for-all. Note also that the text I post is just the work I am doing by way of the first draft so the material posted will not represent the complete text. Further it will change once the two of us have edited it.
Under inflation targetting monetary policy regimes, central bankers use the persistent pool of unemployed (and other forms of labour underutilisation, for example, underemployment) as a buffer stock to achieve a desirable price level outcome. If their inflation outlook rises above their target rate they will induce higher rates of unemployment by increasing in interest rates until they are satified their inflation target is being met.
While some extreme elements of the profession, who still consider rational expectations to be a reasonable assumption, will deny any real output effects, most economists acknowledge that any disinflation engendered by this approach will be accompanied by a period of reduced output and increased unemployment (and related social costs) because a period of (temporary) slack is required to break inflationary expectations.
The real question then is how large are the output losses following discretionary disinflation? There is overwhelming evidence to suggest that the cumulative costs of this strategy in real terms have been substantial.
Economists measure these real costs in terms of sacrifice ratios, which is the accumulated loss of output during a defined disinflation episode as a percentage of initial output expressed as ratio of the accumulated reduction in the inflation rate.
For example, if the sacrifice ratio was two it would mean that a one-point reduction in the trend inflation rate is associated with a GDP loss equivalent to 2 per cent of initial output.
Figure 13.1 is a simple graphical depiction of the sacrifice ratio concept and captures the way most empirical studies have pursued the estimation of sacrifice ratios.
The cumulative output loss as a consequence of the actual output falling below potential output is depicted by the shaded area. In Figure 13.1, we have deliberately constructed output to resume at its potential level at the exact end of the disinflation period (defined as the period between the peak inflation and the trough inflation). This is the normal assumption adopted in empirical studies.
The depiction in Figure 13.1 assumes that the disinflation episode has a relatively finite, short-term impact on real GDP growth and before long the actual growth path converges on the potential path (which was unchanged by the policy change).
However, in the real world, it is clear that a prolonged period of reduced real GDP growth lasts beyond the formal disinflation period and that the potential real GDP growth path also declines as the collateral damage of low confidence among firms curtails investment (which slows down the growth in productive capacity).
As a consequence, the estimates of sacrifice ratios, based on the conception shown in Figure 13.1, will be biased downwards because they ignore the impacts of output persistence and hysteresis.
The concept of persistence means that actual output remains below its potential after the disinflation period has finished. The longer this output gap exists, the longer is the persistence.
Relatedly, hysteresis (in this context) refers to the permanent losses of potential output that arise as a consequence of the disinflation policy.
The important point is that to accurately estimate the sacrifice ratio researchers must not only consider the short-term losses but also the longer-term losses arising from persistence and hysteresis.
Figure 13.2 stylises the impacts of persistence and hysteresis arising from a disinflationary policy stance. It is clear that the real output losses are much greater than would be estimated using the restricted concept shown in Figure 13.1.
From the inflation peak, real output falls immediately as before. But after a time, the reduced levels of economic activity erodes confidence among consumers and firms. Consumers fearing even higher unemployment restrict consumption spending and firms respond to the lack of sales order by cutting investment plans.
Two impacts occur as a result: (a) the potential real output path falls (from Trough + x quarters on Figure 13.2), reducing the growth capacity of the economy; and (b) actual real output deviates from its potential path for much longer that otherwise would have been the case.
As a result, the estimated costs of the disinflation are much larger. Eventually actual and potential may converge but at that point there is less output and national income and almost certainly, persistently higher unemployment.
Economies reach a difficult point where the mass unemployment, initially caused by the failure of aggregate demand induced by the contractionary policy stance of the government, also becomes capacity constrained as a result of the falling potential output level.
The fiscal austerity policies pursued by governments during the global financial crisis also have had this impact. It is much harder to then restore robust growth because it takes longer periods to also ensure there is potential capacity to support it without triggering inflation.
Formal econometric analysis does not support the case that inflation targeting delivers superior economic outcomes in terms of reducing the costs of disinflation.. Both targeters and non-targeters enjoyed variable outcomes and there is no credible evidence that inflation targeting improves performance as measured by the behaviour of inflation, output, or interest rates.
There is no credible evidence that central bank independence and the alleged credibility bonus that this brings bring faster adjustment of inflationary expectations to the policy announcements. There is no evidence that targeting affects inflation behaviour differently.
Sacrifice ratios estimates confirm that disinflations are not costless; the average ratio for all countries over the 1970s and 1980s was around 1.3 to 1.4. Significantly, the average estimated GDP sacrifice ratios have increased over time, from 0.6 in the 1970s to 1.9 in the 1980s and to 3.4 in the 1990’s. That is, on average reducing trend inflation by one percentage point results in a 3.4 per cent cumulative loss in real GDP in the 1990s.
Australia, Canada, and the UK, who announced formal policies of inflation targeting in the 1990s, do not have substantially lower sacrifice ratios compared to G7 countries who did not announce such policies. Australia does record a lower average ratio during the targeting period than in the 1980s, averaged across the three methods it is 1.2 per cent, however this figure is not lower than the average for all previous periods. Canada records a higher sacrifice ratio in the 1990s of 3.6 per cent. The ratio for the UK during inflation targeting is significantly higher at 2.5 per cent (relative to quite low sacrifice ratios in previous periods). Italy, Germany, Japan and the US, average 0.6, 2.3, 2.9 and 5.8, respectively.
The evidence is clear that inflation targeting countries have failed to achieve superior outcomes in terms of output growth, inflation variability and output variability; moreover there is no evidence that inflation targeting has reduced persistence.
Other factors have been more important than targeting per se in reducing inflation. Most governments adopted fiscal austerity in the 1990s in the mistaken belief that budget surpluses were the exemplar of prudent economic management and provided the supportive environment for monetary policy.
The fiscal cutbacks had adverse consequences for unemployment and generally created conditions of labour market slackness even though in many countries the official unemployment fell. However labour underutilisation defined more broadly to include, among other things, underemployment, rose in the same countries.
Further, the comprehensive shift to active labour market programs, welfare-to-work reform, dismantling of unions and privatisation of public enterprises also helped to keep wage pressures down.
It is clear from statements made by various central bankers that a belief in the long-run trade off between inflation and employment embodied in the NAIRU has led them to pursue an inflation-first strategy at the expense of unemployment.
Disinflations are not costless irrespective of whether targeting is used or not. An average sacrifice ratio of 3.5 in the 1990s means that any attempt to bring down inflation nowadays with 1 per cent-point will result in a cumulative loss in GDP of 3.5 per cent on average. In terms of unemployment the latter can be interpreted roughly speaking as a cumulative increase by 7 per cent.
The increase in the sacrifice ratio over time illustrates that reduced inflation variability allows more certainty in nominal contracting with less need for frequent wage and price adjustments. The latter in turn means less need for indexation and short-term contracts and leads towards a flatter short-run Phillips curve. Thus a consequence of inflation targeting is that the costs of disinflation become higher.
Unemployment is primarily due to lack of aggregate demand. This is mainly the outcome of erroneous macroeconomic policies … [the decisions of Central Banks] … inspired by an obsessive fear of inflation, … coupled with a benign neglect for unemployment … have resulted in systematically over tight monetary policy decisions, apparently based on an objectionable use of the so-called NAIRU approach. The contractive effects of these policies have been reinforced by common, very tight fiscal policies.
One of the major problems of inflation targetting as a policy paradigm is that it has been accompanied by a view that fiscal policy has to be passive and not compromise the inflation target. As a result economies have tolerated persistently high rates of labour underutilisation despite having achieved low inflation.
As noted earlier in the Chapter, persistent unemployment results not only in massive losses of real output and national income, but other real costs are also endured by the nation, including the depreciation of human capital, family breakdowns, increasing crime, and increasing medical costs.
These additional costs, in particular the depreciation of human capital, also mean that the effectiveness of the unemployment pool as a price anchor deteriorates over time, with ever larger numbers of fresh unemployed or underemployed required to function as a price anchor that stabilises wages.
Given the scale of these costs, it is unlikely that using a persistent pool of unemployed (or casualised underemployed) is the most cost effective way to achieve price stability?
An understanding of the macroeconomic principles developed in the course thus far would suggest that a better alternative to the unemployment buffer stock to price stability would be to utilise an employed buffer stock approach.
This might also be conceived as an alternative way of managing the unemployment program that the government deems necessary to attain price stability.
Thus a superior use of the labour slack necessary to generate price stability is to implement an employment program for the otherwise unemployed as an activity floor in the real sector, which both anchors the general price level to the price of employed labour of this (currently unemployed) buffer and can produce useful output with positive supply side effects.
Between 1945 and the mid-1970s, western governments realised that, with deficit spending supplementing private demand, they could ensure that all workers who wanted to work could find jobs. Although private employment growth was relatively strong during this period, governments were important employers in their own right, and also maintained a buffer of jobs for the least skilled workers; for example, in the major utilities, the railways, local public services and major infrastructure functions of government.
By absorbing workers who lost jobs when private investment declined, governments acted as an economic safety valve.
… sector of the economy which effectively functions as an employer of last resort, which absorbs the shocks which occur from time to time, and more generally makes employment available to the less skilled, the less qualified.
He concluded that societies with a high degree of social cohesion (such as Austria, Japan and Norway) were willing to broaden their concept of costs and benefits of resource usage to ensure that everyone had access to paid employment opportunities.
The employment buffer stock approach – which is referred to in the literature as the Job Guarantee – refers to a policy framework where the government operates a buffer stock of jobs to absorb workers who are unable to find employment in the private sector.
Thus the government provides an unconditional, open-ended job offer at a given wage to anyone who desires to work.
THE REST OF THIS MATERIAL WILL BE FAMILIAR – BUT I WILL COMPLETE IT NEXT WEEK FOR THE SAKE OF OUR DRAFT WHICH IS GETTING CLOSER TO COMPLETION NOW.
NEXT WEEK I WILL ADVANCE THE BRITISH-IMF CASE STUDY. I HAVE A MASSIVE COLLECTION OF DOCUMENTS AND OLD SCANS THAT I HAVE COLLECTED OVER THE YEARS ABOUT THIS INCIDENT INCLUDING THE EXCELLENT BRITISH TREASURY FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST DOCUMENT SET.
WE WILL TALK ABOUT THIS NEXT WEEK.
(c) Copyright 2013 Bill Mitchell. All Rights Reserved.
Looking forward to your post about the UK IMF fiasco.
I still don’t see why MMT rejects the option of switching taxation to an asset tax as a way to avoid all the unemployment and consequent waste that you describe so well. My impression is that an asset tax wouldn’t create a pool of unemployed. Instead it would prevent inflation by creating a pool of bargain priced assets – it would mean that return on capital was used to pay the tax instead of being used to bid up asset prices. It would cause the financial system to reflect the reality that every unused hour of machine or human time is permanently lost. Spending on consumption and tangible direct investment would make more sense than seeing savings eroded by an asset tax -so employment would be boosted.
First, I don’t see the relevance of your criticisms of inflation targeting. The system you propose, i.e. JG, also “targets inflation” in the sense that if inflation is excessive, government cuts aggregate demand (just as it does in a “no JG” system). The CRUCIAL DIFFERENCE between the two systems is that under your system, those losing regular jobs can do a JG job, whereas under conventional arrangements, those losing regular jobs become unemployed.
But under BOTH SYSTEMS, government targets a 2% or similar rate of inflation.
Second, the entire “buffer stock” idea strikes me as irrelevant, and for the following reasons.
When making the case for X, normal procedure is to concentrate on ways that X differs from the existing system or is AN IMPROVEMENT on the existing system. And given that the existing system (unemployment benefit) has much the same “buffer stocking” characteristics as JG, why mention buffer stocks? Certainly where the JG wage is equal to benefits, the “buffer stocking” effect is much the same.
If I was arguing the relative merits of petrol versus diesel to power cars, I wouldn’t mention the fact that in both cases the wheels of the car revolve when the car is going forward. Revolving wheels occur in both cases, so I’d just ignore the “revolving wheels” phenomenon.
Moreover, the main purpose of a buffer stock is to maintain or stabilise the price of something. And the price of unskilled labour nowadays is underpinned to a significant extent by, or primarily by minimum wage laws: which renders the whole buffer stock idea even less relevant.
Third, can we have your reasons for rejecting temporary subsidised jobs a la JG in the private sector? The UK’s Work Programme involves the private sector, as have other temporary subsidised employment systems in the UK over the last 30 years or so.
Yes, and it is widely regarded as an utter failure. Whereas the Future Jobs Fund, which excluded the private sector, was held as a qualified success.
Public funds should provide labour for public projects, with the output available to all of us. We all paid for it so we should all have access to the benefits. Common goods and services so produced can be exploited by all existing and any new businesses as well as individuals.
That increases the competitive mix helping to drive forward innovation and productivity.
Subsidising certain private enterprises ensures that ownership of output remain with those subsidised. There is no justification for that. If they want the output they should pay the full price for it.
“We all paid for it so we should all have access to the benefits.” Agreed. And if employment at your local supermarket is subsidised, you have “access to the benefits” don’t you?
“Subsidising certain private enterprises ensures that ownership of output remain with those subsidised.” Regardless of whether JG is confined to the public sector or not, “ownership of the output” does not “remain with those subsidised”. E.g. if I purchase baked beans at a supermarket that employes subsidised JG labour, I then become the owner of the baked beans, don’t I?
What I think you were referring to, Neil, was what economists call the “incidence” of a subdidy: that’s the extent to which (in the case of an employment subsidy) the employer / employee / customer / employer’s suppliers etc etc benefit. I.e., implement a subsidy, and the benefits will be very widely dispersed.
The number of people involved in the Future Jobs Fund at any one time was around 50,000: that’s a mere 2% or so of total numbers unemployed in the UK. Given that small number it’s easy to find relatively productive public sector jobs.
In contrast, if JG is going to have any significant effect on unemployment, that 2% needs to be vastly expanded. But expanding that number means running into diminishing returns: especially as the public sector is not as good at employing the relatively unskilled as the private sector.
Moreover, the fact that A PARTICULAR employment subsidy for the private sector didn’t work out too well is not brilliant evidence that subsidies for the private sector can NEVER work. In contrast, if there are fundamental theoretical reasons for thinking private sector JG cannot be made to work, then I’m all ears. Put another way, where is the evidence that the relative success of the Future Jobs Fund had anything to do with its being concentrated on the public sector rather than some other factor, like the way it was organised?
It’s very good at doing it. Much better than the private sector.
The private sector wants free skills for low pay and doesn’t want to develop them. Because that’s the easiest way to a profit. Hence why Universities are now Tech Colleges – where the risk of training for the wrong skill is entirely with the individual.
In other words the private sector is ineffective. The size of the unemployment queue is ample evidence of that.
In fact the public sector was originally the employer of last resort – before the Freetards managed to gain power and crippled that function of the public sector.
The fundamental theoretical reason is the one you keep filtering out.
The product of the labour should belong to those that bought it ie all of us.
There is no justification for any other position.
If the private sector want the output, it should pay the full price for it. Otherwise we will have the output and use it to help increase the diversity of businesses in the private sector so that it can fulfil its social remit of supplying adequate jobs and output.
That’s what you need to do during a slump – rebuild and reseed.
Not assist the remaining weeds take over the garden.
Interesting to see China announce today that they’ll buffer stocks of pork.
“The private sector wants free skills for low pay and doesn’t want to develop them.” Of course: the private sector is profit motivated. If you have a total aversion to the profit motive, you could go live in a communist country. There aren’t any left in Europe, but I can recommend North Korea.
Anyway, joking apart, the solution to the above training problem is easy: give JG people the choice of training instead of subsidised employment. Indeed that’s already a feature of JG as proposed by Bill, and I have no objections to that feature.
Incidentally we used to have a thriving apprenticeship system in the UK untill Labour under Harold Wilson wrecked it by substantially raising apprentices’ pay. So failure to train is not entirely the fault of profit motivated employers: it’s equally the fault of clueless lefties, if the UK’s experience with apprenticeships is any guide.
“The product of the labour should belong to those that bought it ie all of us.” I’ve already answered that point above (by referring to baked beans). But I suppose I’ll have to repeat the point. Here goes.
If a wide variety of private employers use subsidised JG labour, then the community as a whole inevitably benefits from that. I.e. you cannot avoid owning “the product of the labour” to use your phraseology.
Moreover, the average citizen does not buy the output of JG labour in that employing that labour is not a burden on them. That is, the effect of JG (whether public sector only or public plus private sector) ought to be to raise GDP. Thus “all of us” don’t make any sacrifice to get JG labour employed.
Re your final three paragraphs, either they or meaningless, or I’m too stupid to understand them. You’ll have to expand on them.
And the whole community benefits even more if public employers use JG labour – because there is no skim off the top.
The example is simple. If a private employer uses subsidised workers to create a copyrighted asset then you have something paid for by the public purse, that the public is literally prevented from using and is not used for the public good but for private profit. That is an increase in rentier ownership and income that is both unfair and immoral. So its nothing to do with stock movement. It’s to do with capital assets and improvements.
The private sector is demonstrable ineffective. Subsidising them makes them inefficient as well as ineffective – because they then fail to take into account the full cost of labour. As they do now with tax credits – hence the people washing cars and the machines stood idle.
The JG is set at tension with the private sector to discipline its behaviour. You don’t get cheetahs to run faster and get leaner by throwing them hunks of meat so they don’t have to do any work. You get them to chase the gazelles.
And has been said countless times, the private sector can have the labour if it pays the going rate. It even gets a hiring de-risk discount from the employment buffer over the current unemployed buffer.
Similar a public JG job is open to anybody who wants to take it, and it can be permanent if they want it to be. It is for the private sector and standard public sector to attract people away from it. No complicated time limits required – just good old simple competition.
There’s more to life than GDP.
Paying people to busk, draw pictures and dance are just as good a use of spare labour output. As is looking after children or the elderly. All of which forces private employers to enrich their job offerings and reverse the chase to the bottom.
If nobody wants to do trolley collecting or shelf stacking at 5 in the morning on a Sunday, then perhaps you need to look at a machine or a different system.
I see no benefit in subsidising the status quo. The JG is an exercise bike for a leaner, more supple private sector.
I think it would be good if some of the JG workers would be in the private sector. They would gain work experience from regular jobs as well as personal connections all helping thier eventual placement in the private sector. It would all help keeping the JG pool as efficient buffer stock and as a such, as small as possible. JG jobs are minimum wage jobs after all, you wanna keep that pool as small as possible.
Maybe long term unemplyed/JG participants would get placements in the private sector because they are the ones that need most help in finding regular employment.
You’re quite right: the empirical evidence actually supports your point. That is, there are studies which show that the subsequent employment record of those who have got JG type work in the private sector is better than those who got JG type jobs in the public sector.
Also the evidence is that the sort of training offered as an alternative to JG type work is of little help in finding regular jobs. Obviously that’s not to reject DECENT training: e.g. training that leads to a marketable qualification. But there is much to be said for “learning by doing”. And in practice, the latter learning by doing often turns out to be better than the sort of half baked training that has been offered on some JG type schemes in the past.
Some people can be very ironic sometimes.
In fact – Painfully so.
On top of that he talks about deficits as if we live in a world of final settlement. | 2019-04-22T17:06:41Z | http://bilbo.economicoutlook.net/blog/?p=23875 |
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PureVPN doesn’t advertise a trial. We dug deep and found a webpage for something called a’3-day trial account’, but that’s somewhat misleading. It is really only a commercial plan in which you pay a non refundable $2.50 (#2) for 3 days of support.
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Installation Was easy, and after a quick launch, the Windows customer prompted us to select one of five modes: Stream, Internet Freedom, Security/Privacy, File Sharing and Dedicated IP. We guess most folks will wonder if to select Internet Freedom or even Security/Privacy, and there is no guidance.
The Support website told us that selecting a manner could optimize PureVPN’s preferences for that undertaking. As an instance, security would be prioritized by picking Security/Privacy above all else, but the Streaming and File Sharing manners would optimize for speed.
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Split Tunneling allows you to send just the traffic of apps that are specified through your VPN. That requires more time to set up, and you need to be quite certain which apps you want to divert, but it may additionally optimize performance by limiting your data transfer requirements.
The VPN Hotspot is an unusual additional, configuring a hotspot which effectively turns the server computer to a limited VPN router. When it is enabled, you will have the ability to use your phone, tablet or other devices to go online via the host’s PureVPN connection.
And the List goes on, using IPv6 leak protection, a remarkably configurable kill button, and a multi-port option which intelligently chooses the very best port, avoiding any closed or throttled options. You can elect to use a non-NAT network to get a unique IP address, port forwarding is available if you require this, along with a Support department doesn’t simply link to the website: it facilitates creating a service ticket from inside the client.
Although There’s lots of power , the port is a awkward and inconsistent mess. You will find standard buttons, radio buttons, links, icons and sidebars, they don’t necessarily work as you’d expect, and although we figured out how to navigate around the system, it never felt comfortable or natural.
Still, The customer did a good job for us, blocking DNS and WebRTC escapes, and with the kill switch successfully killing our internet access when the VPN link fell. It might appeal if you will use some of the customer’s many added features.
We took a Look at PureVPN’s Android app, and it was the same story since the Windows version. After picking a’Mode’ (still not sure why), we managed to select cities, states, or choose a Goal (optimized for China, unblock that streaming assistance, etc ). It is more awkward to use than the average VPN app, but you’ll figure it out easily enough.
In a Inspection , we pointed out that PureVPN made a big deal of its’zero log’ policy, explaining that this meant the company didn’t record exactly what you did on the internet. But the small print stated there was a session logging, which seemed to add the time you connect to a server, your incoming IP address and the total bandwidth used.
This Isn’t a detail. In October 2017 reports appeared of a guy being detained on suspicion of conducting”a comprehensive cyberstalking effort”, in part according to PureVPN records demonstrating its services were obtained from originating IPs such as the accused man’s house and workplace. The’zero log’ VPN retained some sort of logs, after all, and these were able to help connect internet activities to a specific account.
This Doesn’t tackle the dilemma of why the firm described itself as keeping’zero logs’ at the main part of the website, however, when this turned out to not be completely true. That’s also not a point. Logging policies are predicated almost entirely on trust, and a VPN is not likely to be trusted if it is seen to mislead consumers or bury the fact of a situation from the small print.
The Policy also explains the minimal link information it does record –‘We all know the day that you connected to some particular VPN location and from which Internet Service Provider’ — also covers lots of other important issues in a clear and readable way.
We Double-clicked that the BBC option, and viewed as the client connected and exhibited a’err-network-changed’ message. What? This seemed like a serious difficulty, however, the browser had just detected the change in our community settings as the client connected, and once this was complete, the BBC iPlayer site opened and opened content as usual.
It was Much the same story with Netflix. The client started our browser before the connection was complete, so we saw the same error message, but this vanished mechanically, and we were free to navigate and stream whatever Netflix content we liked.
You are Not restricted to the professional services built into PureVPN’s programs . Connecting to a US server got us , although youTube was not included for instance.
Our Performance evaluations involve running custom software which links to numerous servers, checking place , ping time, download rates and more. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get this working with PureVPN, or figure out why (whether that’s our fault or theirs, we can not be convinced ).
We dropped Back on our old manual way of connecting via clients and assessing the results from various speed checking websites, such as SpeedTest.net, Fast.com and TestMy.net. This doesn’t provide us to use, but there is still enough to get a feel for what the service can provide.
Our neighborhood UK servers diverse a bit more than usual, but still gave very acceptable speeds of 75Mbps connection to us.
Close Rates were mildly under average. they were typically 35-45Mbps, although netherlands connections can deliver the same rates for us as UK servers.
US Performance ranged from approximately 30Mbps to 50Mbps, on the west coast on the east. That is far from the fastest we’ve seen, but unless you’re likely 24 hours of torrenting, it is most likely not going to cause you any difficulties.
As usual, Speeds tailed off for the locations that were less typical or more distant. By way of instance, New Zealand averaged 12Mbps, Vietnam was 10Mbps, Taiwan reached 1Mbps, and China ranged down to a slow pace the net benchmarking sites often stalled mid-test. That places the size of PureVPN’s system into perspective (having loads of servers does not matter whether they’re unusably slow), but if you are only planning to use the major locations, it will not matter very much.
On a few Occasions, our PureVPN Windows customer wasn’t able to connect to our test server. The Cancel button didn’t work, however, the issue here is that the connection didn’t time out for many moments, although that is not unusual.
Let’s start off by making something clear, i.e. whatever VPN support you use, the online speed is going to take a hit. That strike is a result of the security measures used to encrypt and protect your identity. The majority of VPN providers make every possible attempt. Unlike what many people are going to have you think that it’s not likely to be like utilizing dial-up.
The way we compared and tested the performance was by utilizing Ookala’s nifty speed testing site and program. Then we ran the speed test on both the national and international servers. We then compared the outcomes and that’s how we found PureVPN to be faster.
PureVPN has a domestic latency of a mere 6.7percent percent. During our tests that were downloading, as a matter of fact, PureVPN improved speeds substantially which by our calculations is an percent. We discovered that rival VPN providers were slower. Some we guess were throttling download rates perhaps because they did not wish to stress their servers .
Once it comes to uploads, PureVPN didn’t really boost it like it did with downloads, but it took a mere 4.5percent percent hit. If anything this is among the best scores we’ve seen from a VPN provider.
During our international speed tests, the latency increased by 200 percent. Though download rates were still a whopping 403.8percent percent better than some of the competing products I tested it against. The uploads have been 22.7% percent slower which is second best compared to possibly Hotspot Shield which enhanced the upload rate by 1.4% percent.
The map on the left allows you skip the software’s default recommendation and choose a server for yourself. Keep in mind that by default PureVPN selects the server which is the nearest one. When in China I noticed it kept picking up servers in Hong Kong by default which is not the fact but also nearby that Hong Kong’s cyberspace is much less rigorously censored as China.
PureVPN has over 2000 servers which are spread across 140 countries and 180 locations around the globe. Servers are located in North America, Central America, South America, Asia, Europe, Asia, and Africa. You might believe that PureVPN just has servers in nations which block or perhaps don’t censor sites, but you’d be wrong. Servers in Russia, Turkey, and China are there in case they were needed by you.
Over the years VPN providers, generally speaking, have received bad press for notoriously slowing down internet speeds that users have not been happy with clearly. Interestingly, there are still many VPN services that slow down everything may be net that is already slow. Fortunately, with PureVPN that’s not true even in the event that you use it to flow Netflix, YouTube, etc..
I’ve used dozens of VPN apps over time, also PureVPN is like a breath of fresh air. It is easy to use and in relation to the last time I used the app its now geared towards individuals who are new to using VPNs. As soon as PureVPN loads you are prompted to choose from five options, i.e. Security, Internet Freedom, Stream, Remote/Dedi IP (this feature offers you a dedicated IP) and File Sharing. The program then provides an experience that is predicated on the option selected.
The other thing I enjoy about PureVPN is that every one of the features are to the stage. For example, their Internet Freedom feature enables you to choose what area you want to get Netflix from, such as from the united kingdom, Australia, etc.. Where it’s otherwise blocked you can also get Netflix.
Compared to the last time I used PureVPN now around it sensed zippier. The interface has been bright, with colorful pictures some of which may be difficult to read on a display that is . When you are connected to a server, you are going to see the IP address, connection status, and the duration of your session.
The visitors chart gives you a good sense of how much bandwidth has been absorbed, which is useful for anyone on a metered internet connection. But it is important to mention for those worrying about data caps which PureVPN does not have any. Thus, you’re only limited to what the ISP has in store for you!
Like most other competing VPN services, you pick the server along with the country it’s based in. You may search for servers and then click them to link. Some servers based on where you’re located are going to be faster than others because of reduced latency.
We have admittedly used PureVPN earlier, but following a hiatus or perhaps two years we pretty much forgot how things worked. Once you’ve chose to register and download their software, you’ll have to enter your email and choose a password. Interestingly and perhaps confusingly, this is not what you will use into the software to log-in, but it’s used for charging purposes.
Once subscribers have paid, they receive an email with the username and password in plain text. We’ve used VPNs using the same system to payment identities that were separate out of consumer identities which guarantees better anonymity. Nevertheless we think that it could be confusing to users however. Plus, in our experience the email tends to land in your junk folder for some reason, so be certain before calling service, to check that also.
PureVPN includes a support Site with a huge number of troubleshooting guides and tutorials. The opening page points you to groups like Getting Started, Setup Guide, Troubleshoot, For Users in China and to watch Netflix US, for example, and most of these sections include more content than you’d expect.
The Setup Guide includes subsections for Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS, Smart TV, Routers and Devices, for example, as well as a number of those sections have more content than the support site of VPNs.
We’re, although it’s an impressive Quantity of work Unsure how reliable and successful it might be. We checked the guide OpenVPN setup guide and found it failed entirely. OpenVPN wasn’t installed there weren’t any PureVPN configuration files, and there was no troubleshooting information in the manual to help us figure out this.
If the Website can not help, you raise a support ticket from inside the client or can send an email. We chose the service and the ticket path performed together with the aid team delivering us a response to our test question in just over an hour.
PureVPN Comes bundled with a heap. These do not always work as you may anticipate, however, and there are lots of usability issues with the apps — but demanding users who will use this degree of VPN power must give PureVPN a look. | 2019-04-22T02:27:05Z | https://healthfitnessandbeautyreviews.com/purevpn-buy-purevpn-review-2019/ |
Living and working in China for the past five years. I am often asked by other foreigners about VPN’s in China.
A VPN is a Virtual Private Network and is a way of connecting your computer (or smartphone) in order to circumvent the restriction on access to the World Wide Web.
VPN’s in China are an important part of life if you are someone who works online globally. A lot has changed during my time here including the use of VPN‘s. Initially there where a lot of free VPNs, but slowly these have become ineffective and now even the paid ones are slowly becoming less and less useful.
I haven’t used all of them but I have certainly tried many and I will tell you about the ones that still work for me. But first a little background on VPN’s in China.
The Chinese government is well known for its tight control over what its citizens can, learn, read, research, listen to, view and publish, within mainland China.
Access to the ‘Internet‘ is regulated in much the same way. China has a heavily censored Internet or perhaps more accurately one could say they don’t actually have internet, instead they have a China-wide intranet.
The Chinese authorities employ more than two million people to monitor web activity, on blogs and social media sites, such as the popular Chinese social media site ‘Weibo‘. They also block access and communication on topics or sites they deem to be ‘sensitive‘.
China censors content for a variety of reasons, often because it’s critical of the Chinese Government or is contrary to Communist Party propaganda or official policy, and also pretty much anything else which they deem, may cause ‘social unrest‘.
China doesn’t only block individual websites, they use a variety of techniques to scan URLs and web content for blacklisted keywords such “Tiananmen” and when located, they block them and redirect the traffic to other places.
For example they block, Google and other western search engines, including news and information sites, such as The Wall Street Journal, YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook, just to name a few.
To answer that question comphrensively we need to first determine what is the very essence of government? After you cut through the rhetoric, the politicial B.S, the self interests and emotional attachments. You will find that the ‘very essence‘ of all government is force and the belief that they are better at managing ‘your affairs‘ and ‘controlling‘ your life, than you are. And they have the right to initiate force whenever its expedient to ensure that you agree with that position and comply with their wishes, where it’s in your interests or not.
The past Governments of Nazi Germany and the U.S.S.R, are now widely recognised as criminal entities on a grand scale. But at the time when these regimes held power, they were treated with the respect granted any official government system.
The fact that every government has been founded on, gross illegalities, war, revolt or revolution against its predecessors, is rarely considered an issue after the event.
Force is the essence of all governments and they become official by gaining power and then by maintaining a monopoly of control over the majority of its citzens. The possession of that monopoly almost inevitably requires the control of an area or a territory. And its the maintaining of influence over that region that is considered the test of a “successful” government.
So once force has been used to gain power. Its continuation is necessary to maintain control and influence over its citizens in order to secure its own survival. One of the ways to do that and to gain legitimacy for its authority, is to control the ‘narrative‘ and access to information that its citizens have is a major part of that statergy.
In January 2011, Egyptian activists began organizing a demonstration in protest against the longstanding Mubarak regime. In a matter of days, thousands of protesters had gathered in Cairo after learning about the event through the social media platform, Facebook.
In an attempt to quash this ‘civil unrest‘, and to prevent the activists from organising further demonstrations, the Egyptian government in an effort to assert its aurthority, resorted to an unprecidented action. They completely cut off access to the internet for the entire country. Sending shock waves around the world.
This action (cutting of internet access) caused the size of protests to swell from thousands, to millions of people and the Mubarak regime was ultimately forced to resign, after just 18 days of massive country-wide protests.
Egypt’s ‘Arab Spring‘ demonstrated three things: (1) the incredible organizing power of the internet, (2) how quickly a government could shut down internet access. (3) The under estimation of the peoples tolerance to such blatant abuse and overtly obvious manipulation of internet access as a method of implementing an information black out.
As a result ALL Governments, fearing a similar backlash, are now a little more cautions about how they implement internet restrictions and now do so in ways that are a lot less obvious and far more subtle. They implement cybersecurity laws, unertake internet surveilance and impose content restriction and censorship for the ‘public good‘ and dozens of other tactics designed to quielty control information sharing. Not that any of this is new.
In September 2000, State Council Order No. 292, created the first of many content restrictions for internet providers. It stated that China-based Web sites could not link to overseas news Websites or distribute news from overseas media, without specific and separate government approval.
Only “licensed print publishers” have the authority to deliver news online. Non-licensed Websites that wish to broadcast news, may only publish information already released publicly by other licensed news media.
According to one Harvard study, at least, 18,000 plus websites are blocked from mainland China, including 12 out of the Top 100 Global Websites.
This appears highly questionable when for example the e-mail provider gmail.com is also blocked and it cannot be said that it falls into any of these categories.
If you are considering buying clothes from China, particularly Chinese traditional clothing then this article is for you. It is alway difficult finding a trustworthy supplier and one that consistently provides a quality product. There are many horror stories and unless you have confidence in your supplier it may all be too overwhelming. Fortunately, I can help you and point you in the right direction.
China’s traditional clothing was characterized, as magnificent.
A Characteristic of traditional Chinese clothing was that not only was the clothing an external expression of elegance, but each and every piece communicated a sense of external form and contained an internal symbolism of meaning. Certain colours and images carried specific meaning and status.
Chinese people like the color red. The red color, indicates happiness, success and unity. Today’s China’s fashion designers use a mixture of traditional and modern ideas to create new fashions.
These new fashions also incorporate, age-old motifs such as guardian deities, lions, and masks of Chinese opera characters. Another source of printed, woven and embroidered design for clothes. Some of the distinctive designs include dragons, phoenixes, clouds, flowers and lighting. These often dominate Chinese clothing style for women.
In modern day society, Chinese men can be seen at social occasions wearing ceremonial clothes in two varieties on formal occasions, The dignified and refined traditional Chinese long gown and the SunYat-sen’s uniform, which is a blending of fashion elements from the East and West and was once hailed as the “State Suit”.
Sun Yat-sen introduced the style shortly after the founding of the Republic of China as a form of national dress although with a distinctly political and later governmental implication.
After the end of the Chinese Civil War and the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, such suits came to be worn widely by males and government leaders as a symbol of proletarian unity and an Eastern counterpart to the Western business suit.
This “State Suit” or Chinese tunic is a style of male attire traditionally known as the Zhongshan suit and later as the Mao suit (after Mao Zedong).
The name “Mao suit” comes from Chinese leader Mao Zedong’s fondness for wearing them in public, so that the garment became closely associated with him and with Chinese communism in general in the Western imagination.
In the 1960s and 1970’s, the Mao suit became fashionable among Western European socialists and intellectuals. It was sometimes worn over a turtleneck.
Although they fell into disuse among the general public in the 1990s due to increasing Western influences, they are still commonly worn by Chinese leaders during important state ceremonies and functions.
If you are looking for information about English teaching in China then you are in the right place.
Today, China is emerging as a global financial force, and as English is the established global language of commerce, science, entertainment, and aviation. It stands to reason that a primary focus of the Chinese government is improving English competency amongst its citizens.
They say that as many as 400 million Chinese people are studying English, which is one-third of the country’s population, and the value of the English-training market is estimated to be US$4.5 billion annually.
This offers excellent opportunities for those interested in teaching English in China or indeed those wanting to know how to teach English in China.
The English language market is growing fast, and many new positions are becoming available for those wanting to teach English in China.
Although prices are generally rising, the cost of living in China still compares favorably to most industrialized countries. Eating out or even local food shopping and buying produce from the Chinese markets is still very affordable. Although they price things by the 500 grams, rather than 1 kilogram.
In the major cites there is a wide range of regional cuisines and eating out is the often best way to discover this variety and this is something you can do a lot of in China because it’s not expensive.
The cost of transportation in China is also inexpensive and the public transport is excellent and taxi rides are very reasonably-priced, (less than a cup of Starbucks) even if the experience can be somewhat harrowing at times.
Clothing is also very affordable and you never see anyone wearing the same clothes. Long gone is the standardised clothing from a previous era. Everyone dresses relatively modern and for more on clothing you may like to see my post here.
It Can be an Interesting Experience.
Mostly the people in China are friendly, and they treat you like someone special and will go out of their way to smile and say hello to you.
I remember in my first year teaching, way up north in Changchun, Jilin province, where they were not used to seeing foreigners and many times the people would stop and stare at you, even come up and walk around you, almost touching you, especially young children. People would even give up seats on buses for you so they could get a better look at you.
Others would take photos with their phones and groups of teenagers would want photos and selfies with you.
Restaurant owners would want you to come in and they would seat you by the window and insist upon giving you your meal for free to get you to come back again and be seen by their customers.
These are not the sort of things that go on in the major cities like Beijing or Shanghai, as foreigners are a dime a dozen there, but it certainly makes for an interesting experience in the not so popular cities and lesser known locations.
It could even be a little intimidating being treated like a rockstar and having people stare at you out of curiosity, although for me having experienced a little momentary fame in a past life, I was amused by the attention I received just for being a ‘foreign‘ person.
China is considered to be one of the longest continuous civilization in the world and one out of every five people in the world is Chinese. They invented paper, the compass, gunpowder, and printing.
“China consumes twice as much steel as the US, Europe and Japan combined and has recently undergone massive infrastructure development, and its economy has been among the strongest performing in the world over the past few decades. Everywhere you go you will see new buildings and infrastructure”.
Population: 1,339,724,852 China is also the fourth largest country in the world.
Government: Nominally Marxist–Leninist single-party state.
Time Zone: Despite its size, China has only one, time zone.
How to work online from home comes down to choice and motivation. Many people want to know how to make money working online. I can give you the motivation and give you the ‘how‘ with this article. But the final decision to actually do it, is yours.
Many people overlook the most obvious benefit of working online from home which is the ability to control and manage your own financial destiny. Making money online is not difficult, once you know the how. But too often people fail online because they gave up way before they put all the pieces together. And there are a lot of pieces.
Fortunately, I’m going to make it easy for you and give them ALL to you. I am even going to tell you how & where you can join a world class training community that you can start for free and where to access 300 ‘How to’ videos, that cover everything you will ever need to know about how to work online from home.
But first, let’s get you motivated to wanting to work online. Here are some powerful reasons, to make you think hard about getting started.
“I have written before about the Government being the biggest problem for the people of the world when it comes to wealth creation and that they are not the benefactors they pretend to be”.
They are actually detrimental to your economic well-being and its time for you to take personal responsibility and create your own online business to save yourself from their mismanagement.
Why I say that Governments are not your friends and they are no looking out for you. Let me give you an example. Many people assume that China will one day become the next superpower and perhaps they might. But things are not always as them seem.
Not so long ago, the Chinese stock markets lost more than 3 trillion dollars in less than a month, following a strong bull market, that had risen 152% over a twelve month period, up until June 2015, before China’s two biggest stock markets suddenly plummeted.
Bubbles always burst much faster than they grow and after expanding for over a year, Chinese stocks crashed 35% in three weeks, meaning that Chinese companies lost around $3.2 trillion worth of value in less than a month.
A stunning loss of wealth and to put this in perspective that’s double the size of the entire stock market of Australia. Yet even though the drop is huge the Shanghai Index is still up 71% from a year ago, so perhaps it still has further to fall.
What you may not remember was that China led the global collapse in 2008, when the stock market ‘bubble‘ at that time saw a massive rise in just two short years before suddenly dropping 72%. So, recent events are not the first time the Chinese stock market has imploded and it won’t be the last.
In response to the meltdown in 2008 the government (in line with Keynesian economics) pumped Trillions into their economy, building hundreds of thousands of apartment blocks, commercial buildings and developing infrastructure, massively ‘overbuilding‘ basically everything.
Resulting in having real estate and industrial capacity 12 to 15 years ahead of demand. But they didn’t care, they did this to stimulate their economy and to provide jobs for half a billion people who had moved from rural areas to urban cities, looking for work.
This government funded real estate construction program, artificially boosted the economy and drove up the country’s GDP – making the communist economy look successful, as they weathered the global economic meltdown, becoming the envy of the western world. Despite creating a huge hidden real estate bubble.
This unprecedented overhaul of their economy had actually been going on for decades, but really only got traction from 2009 and after five years of rapid growth, the Real Estate market began to slow, as the number of unsold properties mounted in the face of continued overbuilding and weakening demand.
Economic growth has begun slowing, home prices are deflating (despite offical figures to the contrary) and most local governments are facing a potential debt crisis from all the massive building being undertaken with borrowed funds.
But that’s not all, this is also the same country, where families are only allowed ONE baby and some of those are now in their mid twenties and are also only having one child. But the majority of these babies are still children so, the future demand for ‘Real Estate’ is unlikely to be greater than it was, thirty years ago, when families had five or six children.
What this means is that for every child in China, over the next twenty years or so, there will be up to six older (non working) family members that will need looking after. In other words the ageing population will be massive as the population is shrinking. Making the excess of real estate a larger problem than it is currently. | 2019-04-25T22:22:37Z | https://onlineaffiliatewealth.com/category/china |
Reagan had another good day today. Fell asleep on her own last night, woke up this morning sweet and smiley! She was a little more "into" her hand today (at times jamming up to 4 fingers down her throat), but otherwise very good. She's been very laid back again today, nothing seems to bother her in the least. She wore her AFOs, played with the ipad and other noisy things, she was just all around good again today. We did FINALLY get a pool fence installed last week! We're not thrilled with how it looks, but truth be told there is nothing we would have preferred, and it's a very necessary evil. And now we are able to let Ryan loose in the back yard without having to constantly chase him to keep him out of the pool, so that's really nice! Daddy and Ryan went swimming in the afternoon. The pool has finally warmed up a bit and their teeth have stopped chattering...so I think we can probably get Reagan in very soon. Today, however, Reagan and I sat this one out. The mosquitoes have been brutal and Reagan reacts horribly to mosquito bites, so we just watched them swim from the comfort of the air conditioned living room! They were out there for quite a while and when they finished Ryan could hardly keep his eyes open! Something tells me someone is going to sleep like a rock tonight!
Reagan has been a sweetie today! She fell asleep last night and then slept through til 5:30am or so. She woke up a little vocal and kooky, but settled down once Mike moved her to her chair. She's been SO sweet today. Making wonderful eye contact, has great head control, not overly into her hand or anything...just all around perfect! She had a wonderful session with her speech therapist at noon and they worked with the eye gaze device. Then at 2 she had both the OT and speech therapist from school come and she did really great with them as well! And then another visit from her teacher (since Monday was a holiday). We couldn't have asked for a better girl today. She was so attentive and present...so smiley and sweet...really just perfect all day! Tonight she drifted off to sleep again on her own. Such a princess. Sweet dreams!
Not the best picture, but they crack me up, both with their hands in their mouths!
Reagan was a little restless last night. She did sleep, but woke around 5am and was very vocal. Finally around 6am, you could tell by the tone of her voice that she wanted out of bed. Mike put her in her therapy room with cartoons and I slept in til 7am or so when her brother decided to wake up. We all hung out in the therapy room watching cartoons for a bit. Reagan was excitable and would let out a high pitched squeal every now and then, but I think it was more to get attention than being overstimulated. Her body was actually very calm today. A lot less tension and movement. She had PT at 11 and we incorporated a little parachute time into the end of her session. I bought a Gymboree parachute when I decided to pull Ryan out of Gymboree classes. It was his favorite part of the class, so now we can do it at home and with Reagan! They both seemed to enjoy it, although Ryan did get a little crazy when I tried to put it away! Reagan had speech in the afternoon and did OK with that as well. Tonight I left both kiddos with Daddy while I went to Bible study (Grandpa's out of town, so both of us could not go). Reagan was as calm and sweet as can be...Ryan wrecked havoc on the living room while Daddy was on a conference call! I got home at 9:45pm to find Ryan just settling into bed and my girl super sweet and smiley! I could tell Reagan was tired, she looked so calm and content, but she just wasn't falling asleep. I picked her up and tried holding her, but immediately she got very spitty and chokey (she coughed a huge mouthful of spit in my face), so I had to put her back in her chair where she was more upright. She did eventually doze off on her own, but you could tell it was still a very restless sleep. Mike laid down with her and I peeked in on them to find him snoring up a storm and Reagan laying there opening and closing her eyes every 10seconds or so! I love to see her so peaceful...such an angel!
Reagan slept well last night and woke up a sweet girl today. She's definitely been a little more laid back and a little less serious today (we've even gotten laughs out of her quite a few times). We decided to run her up to the hospital to get her hand x-ray (to look at bone age for her precocious puberty work up). We dropped brother at school and were in and out in no time! It's thankfully a very quick procedure when you have a scheduled appt (we've been there before without an appt and it took hours)! Reagan was great for it and we were back home with time to spare so we spent some time outside enjoying the nice cool weather and her swing! She then had speech, which she did fine for, but a huge (messy) dirty diaper took away from part of her session! In the afternoon she had both OT and school and did great for those, she was a little yawny here and there, but she never actually dozed off all day. Tonight she dozed off early around 8pm but then woke back up when I changed her diaper (we thought she had another poo, but she didn't). She was awake for another hour or two. I picked her up and snuggled with her for a bit, and noticed that she was very spitty, almost gaggy. I'm not sure what that was about, but I hope it's gone when she wakes up! She was a little restless in falling asleep, so hopefully she's able to get some rest tonight!
Reagan slept again last night. It was more of a restless sleep, but sleep nonetheless. She woke up a little on the serious side. She loosened up a little so we went ahead and let her vision therapist come. It was her last visit of the year until school starts again in the fall. PT came at 11 and Reagan actually fell asleep during the session. She took a nice little nap and woke up just in time to get ready for her 2pm Endocrinology appt. The Endocrinologist basically said she thinks Reagan is starting to go through puberty (precocious puberty) and there's not much we can do about it. Stopping it is not in her best interest. She's still going to do a couple more tests, a bone age scan and more labs, but basically she's just taking the wait and see approach. I'm not really thrilled about it, but I don't know what more we can do. After we got home, Reagan FINALLY had a dirty diaper on her own (it's been looooong time so we were pretty excited)! We gave her a bath and then she started looking really groggy (only a few signs of nausea today, hoping we're done with that). She fell asleep on her own around 7:30pm and she's now snoozing comfortably in her bed. So happy to see my girl getting some sleep (in her bed)! Hoping she can get back on track and feeling more like her happy self very soon!
Reagan FINALLY slept last night (thank God)!! And in her bed! I'm so glad my girl finally got some sleep! When she woke up, she was still stressed but smiling, but she was very nauseous. She's a little congested, so I'm not sure if it's the sinus drainage triggering it or what. I tried to suction her nose but I didn't get much. She continued to be pretty nauseous all morning (lots of gaggy faces and retching but no actual throw up). Then her speech therapist came at noon to calibrate the eye gaze device. Yes, we have another loaner. Don't get me started. The company majorly dropped the ball with Reagan's paperwork and it hasn't even been sent off to insurance yet (and it's been MONTHS)! Needless to say, I was pretty upset about this and the Tobii rep agreed to let us have another trial device, hopefully until we get her own. Reagan wasn't very cooperative but we were able to finally get it calibrated and she played "find Elmo" for a few minutes until she was clearly done (she let her therapist know by tapping her with her hand). She was still very spitty and nauseous. Reagan's nurse mentioned that the ENT she used to work for would use clonidine to help dry up secretions (and it can also help with nausea). So we gave it a try. Not sure if it worked or not, but she fell asleep and then continued to sleep the rest of the afternoon. She did wake briefly and didn't appear to show any sign of nausea but she was still very groggy and quickly fell back to sleep. I honestly don't remember the last time I saw her this nauseous. I don't like it. I'm not really sure what's going on with this last cycle, but everything is all out of sorts! It happened way too quickly, it lasted much longer, there were too many sleepless nights...it was just all around BAD. She's made so much good progress lately with her cycles, I'm just hoping we can get her back to her norm.
Last night was another miserable one. Reagan started crying as Mike was carrying her to bed. Needless to say, she never made it and we had to instead put her back in her tomato chair. She continued to cry for a while in her chair. It was a very sad pathetic pain sort of cry and there was nothing I could do for her (she had already had all of her pain medications and nothing was working). Eventually she did doze off and we rushed to bed as quickly as we could get there. Again, it didn't last. She was very restless and woke up crying several times. It's just so frustrating to not know what's going on with her or how to help! This morning she seemed to be feeling a little better and even gave us some smiles (although in general she was pretty serious all day). Still very tense, but her temp regulation was slightly improved, and her nurse was even able to get her into her wheelchair and AFOs for a bit (and Grandma got a few smiles)! Still no poo...it's been WAY too long but nothing we've tried has helped her to go. Grandma held her in the poo position several times today and still nothing! Even a warm bath couldn't persuade her to go! Tonight she dozed off with the help of oxycodone (we've had to give it to her off and on all day today) and she seems to really be OUT. Hopefully tonight is the night she finally sleeps! We're going to attempt to get her into her bed! Praying she turns this around soon...I hate to see my precious girl not feeling well.
Reagan had another moany night last night with little to no sleep. Medication wasn't really helping. She was OK during the day but definitely more tense than previous days. More "off". Very sensitive (especially to Daddy's voice, which made her cry a couple of times), temperature regulation was way off (hands and feet were ice cold but she kept sweating her back wet), and a lot more chorea. She was happy to see Grandma though...but we had to be careful not to get her too excited. Tonight she was very tense and giving her clonidine actually had a paradoxical effect on her, sending her from crazy to crying in a matter of minutes! Not good. Thankfully Lortab seemed to calm her down enough for her to doze off a little in her chair. I do not have high hopes for tonight. Praying that she can get some sleep and wake up improved tomorrow. We still really have no idea what we're dealing with here. Are these bad days? Is she reacting to something else that's bothering her (ears, tummy, who knows what else)??? Praying for her to get over this soon!
Last night was awful for Reagan, she was very restless and kept waking up moaning over and over again! It was brutal. No clue what was bothering her, completely clueless on how to help her! Very frustrating! This morning she did improve. She actually seemed to get better as the day went on. We did take her in to the pediatrician to get everything checked out, but other than some clear fluid in her ears (no pus or redness), she was good. We did get a prescription for antibiotics just in case it progresses into a full on ear infection over the holiday weekend, but she really thinks it's just fluid in there as a result of her sinus congestion. We'll see. Tonight she did get increasingly agitated again. Lots of moaning and restlessness. Medicines aren't helping her to stay asleep, so I'm afraid we're in for another miserable one tonight. Please keep her in your prayers! It's heartbreaking to see her like this and not know what's going on or how to help her.
Reagan woke up this morning at a normal time. She was OK, but you could tell she was a little off. She was congested so her nurse sucked out her nose and got out a good amount of thick snot (she was also sticking her tongue out a lot, but we weren't sure if it was because she was nauseous or just bothered by the drainage). Her body was super tense and she was still very crunchy. She was making a lot of vocalizations that didn't necessarily sound happy...you could tell she was on edge. Then OT came just before 10 and things escalated. They tried to get her into her wheelchair and she nearly flipped out! Her nurse gave her a dose of oxycodone and she eventually calmed down and dozed off. She was still sleeping when PT got here, so that was a no go, we weren't about to wake her up for anything. She woke back up on her own a while later and again was very vocal. That escalated again to near tears, so we gave clonidine a try. Again she dozed back off. That pretty much sums up her day. Not good. It's hard to call it an actual "bad day" because she never actually cried, but when she was awake, she was moaning nonstop. Poor girl! Something was definitely bothering her and we never figured out what it was! I'm just praying she can sleep through the night tonight and wake up feeling much better tomorrow!
Reagan slept all night last night and then just kept sleeping and sleeping and sleeping today! Her nurse changed her diaper several times, she'd move and stretch, but never cracked her eyes even once! Her nurse came and went, an entire shift spent waiting for our sleeping beauty to wake up! She did eventually wake up. Very briefly. Around 9pm she started moving around and Mike went up and saw her crack her eyes open! He scooped her up and brought her downstairs, but she was still reluctant to even open her eyes. She was very crunchy, bent completely in half like a rolly poly, and a little kooky! I changed her diaper, picked the sleep out of her eyes, and wiped the gunk off her mouth before she dozed back off. She was pretty restless after that so I eventually gave her a dose of clonidine and that helped her to fall asleep. Hopefully she'll sleep soundly tonight!
It's been another great day for my girl! She slept well last night (with the help of clonidine) and then woke up sweet and smiley again this morning. She had a busy morning of therapy, Vision, followed by PT, and then OT! She did great with everything! Then after brother woke from his nap, we decided to jump in the car and head over to the Aquarium (because we have to seize these good days while we have them)! The Aquarium is less than 10min from our house and we like to go after the morning crowds (school busses) have cleared and before kids start getting out of school. It was a great day for Reagan to go...she was very visually attentive and seemed to really enjoy herself. Ryan, ever a fan of fish, loves it too (although today he was trying to toss stuff into the tanks)! There are some really big, low tanks that are great for both kids to have a close up view while still in their strollers! The rays are always a big favorite! They're very friendly and seem like they want to jump out of the tank!
Reagan had a great day today. She slept well last night, falling asleep on her own (without any medication) for the second night in a row. She woke up this morning super sweet and smiley! It definitely seems we're back to good days once again! We went on a walk this morning. It was still nice and cool but a little windy...thankfully she didn't seem to mind at all. She had speech this morning and then school this afternoon and she did great with both! She's been a perfect girl today. Easy going, loving story time, just a darling girl! Tonight I had some cuddle time with her and she was just so precious! I was trying to take a picture of her with my cell phone, when all of a sudden she said something that sounded exactly like Grandma! I think she thought I was face timing Grandma! So needless to say, I had to call Grandma up so she could talk with her! Such a sweet girl!
Reagan slept well last night. She woke up this morning, still a little serious, but even better than the day before. As the day went on, she definitely loosened up a bit and even gave me some laughs. Of course, they were associated with gassy poopy diapers (she had 3), but whatever floats her boat! She's still a little mouthy (sticking her tongue out a lot), but we started her back up on the Zofran so hopefully that will keep any nausea at bay. It was nice in the afternoon so we went and sat outside while crazy Daddy and Ryan went swimming! The pool is still WAY too cold for Reagan...we're beginning to wonder if it's ever going to warm up! Ryan's teeth were chattering the whole time, but he just kept running and jumping back in! It's always torture trying to get him back in the house afterward...I'm sure the neighbors wonder what on earth we're doing to him with him screaming the way he does! Still no pool fence. We've got a new company now that is supposed to install it next week. I can hardly wait! It's such a battle right now with Ryan trying to run into the pool every time you let him out the door!
Reagan didn't last long in her bed last night. Around 1:30am I had to transfer her back to her chair. She settled down once in her chair, but didn't immediately fall back to sleep. I think she slept off and on, but obviously a very restless sleep. This morning she was considerably more calm (than yesterday afternoon). Still very serious, but no more crying. We spent all morning up in her therapy room with Ryan watching cartoons and she didn't even seem to mind. This afternoon she started looking really sleepy but she only dozed off for a bit. Tonight we went over to our neighbor's house for dinner. Ryan jumped on their trampoline until his heart was content and Reagan fell asleep in her stroller shortly after we got there! We had a good time and it was nice to get out of the house...even if it was just to go one house down! When we came home everyone was exhausted. Reagan was already asleep, Ryan went down almost immediately, and even Mike is already snoring away! Time for me to finish up meds and attempt to get to be before midnight for once! Hope everyone is having a relaxing weekend!
Reagan finally slept well last night! After a couple of nights with little to no sleep, I'm so glad she finally got some much needed rest. However, when she woke up this morning, she was not the happy smiley girl we were expecting! She was very serious, but stable. She refused to give us a smile, but she didn't seem to be annoyed or even sensitive to her brother's crazy antics. She had speech around 11 and tolerated sitting in her chair and making choices (which she did amazingly well using her hands...still have a huge hold up with the eyegaze device but we're getting another loaner next week). Then this afternoon while her brother was napping, she dozed off for a bit but then woke up hysterical! Talk about SHOCK! We really thought we were out of the woods as far as bad days go and that we were looking at smooth sailing this weekend (which would have been optimal since we don't have a nurse all weekend). But apparently what we thought was a super mild bad streak earlier in the week, was just some off days leading up to this! Which makes sense now that we think about it, because the last several bad streaks were preceded by a day where she seemed much more calm and relaxed (yesterday). Ugh. Talk about a surprise...a bad surprise! She cried off and on all afternoon. She dozed back off with the help of oxycodone, later woke up crying again but dozed off with clonidine. Tonight she was awake for a while and very tense, but not crying, but then dozed back off and woke crying once more! Lortab helped her to finally doze off tonight and she's been sleeping ever since. She's still in her tomato chair...not sure if we should attempt to move her or not! Poor thing. She's definitely been miserable. Hoping she'll sleep tonight and wake feeling much better tomorrow! Thank you for keeping her in your prayers!
Reagan did not sleep well last night. She was very restless and around 2:30am I could hear her awake and kicking around in her bed! I got up, changed her diaper, and put her in her special tomato chair. I think she eventually went back to sleep because she did quiet down, but she definitely didn't sleep much. When I got up this morning she was wide awake, still very tense in her body, and kicking...but on a good note, she was smiling! She's actually been very smiley today. She's not 100% yet, she's still having a lots of movements, gnawing at that hand, and temperature regulation is off, but otherwise she's been great! She had school today and did great for that, but no other scheduled therapies. Tomorrow will be a much busier day in the therapy dept. Tonight she was still very tense in her body and difficult to hold (I was trying to get her out of her chair because she gets so sweaty). As she was falling asleep, she kept jolting back awake and becoming stiff as a board! Mike eventually just took her up to bed, but I have a feeling she's going to do that a lot tonight. Hopefully she's still able to get some decent sleep! Such a sweet girl! The boy has been doing well at school. Finally getting used to some of the routine, but still having issues with transitions. Today his teacher was trying to get him to say "I want some juice" instead of just grunting/fussing at his cup and he was getting frustrated with her and finally she said he just yelled out "I WANT SOME JUICE!!!" And she gave it to him! Of course I tried that with him once he got home and he eventually just resorted to screaming, hitting, biting, and pinching me and then throwing himself on the floor! Still work to be done, but progress nonetheless! While he was screaming I saw in his throat again and his tonsils are both covered in pus still! Not sure what that's about and why it hasn't cleared up since it's been almost a week! Poor guy...if we could just get him healthy! So frustrating! Thankfully he doesn't seem to be feeling bad, but who knows.
Reagan slept OK last night. She woke up still tense today but OK. There were a couple of times that she would almost go over the edge, but she never did. We had a seating guy come out to adjust her wheelchair this morning, her headrest was all out of whack and we needed some room in her foot straps (for her AFOs). Apparently she's been growing a bit, so we're going to have to see what our next options will be as far as growing this wheelchair (that will be a different appt)! Afterward, we took her in to the pediatrician to get checked out and everything looks good! They took a urine sample and it came back completely clean. So no UTI...that's good news! I didn't really think she had one, because any time in the past that we suspected one, it always came back negative. So from what we can tell, this is either a much milder form of bad day (you really couldn't even call it bad, more like "off"), or it's off days leading up to a bad day (hopefully not)! She's definitely having lots of temperature regulation issues, super cold clammy hands and feet and hot sweaty back (I had to change her pajamas 3 times tonight because she was sweating them wet)! She's got a lot of movements and keeps that left hand in her mouth at all times, so she can jam it down her throat gnaw it red! She seems to be most calm when being held or even just holding that arm down helps, I don't think she enjoys canabalizing her hand like that! Poor thing. She's also way overdue for a poo but still way too tense to go! Hopefully she'll ease up soon and relax a little! Sleep is not looking good tonight, but hopefully she'll get some!
Reagan's had an OK day today. She slept well last night but woke up very crunchy and tense...and has been that way pretty much all day today. She's had a few moments where she's relaxed a bit and been super sweet and precious, but most of the time she was tense, with the occasional moan and squealy outburst. She definitely seems to be having some pain. She's overdue for a poo, but the fact that she fussed everytime she had a wet diaper today, led us to suspect a UTI. There have actually been many times in the past when I've suspected a UTI but she never had one. This afternoon I put a cotton ball in her diaper and then tested the urine and it didn't look good. She's got high leukocytes, protein, & pH. Her pediatrician wants us to bring her in tomorrow so they can get a clean specimen to send off. Poor girl. She was even more antsy/fussy tonight. Even oxycodone/Lortab wasn't calming her down much. Her brother was driving her nuts and was getting crazy jealous with all the attention she was getting! At one point, I was sitting on the floor with her on my lap and he came up behind me and put his head on top of mine and hung his arms over my shoulders. Pretty pathetic! Reagan had to be held though because she was really gnawing at that hand! We had to hold her in a position where she had no access to it! And she is so crazy strong, we were wrestling her all night long! I'm hoping and praying she'll be able to get some sleep tonight, she's just been so restless and there are some serious storms outside, hopefully the thunder doesn't wake her!
Reagan slept well last night...much better than I did that's for sure! To say I was freaking out was an understatement. I had many concerns...who do I call, when do I call, when do we go to the ER, will they even have her tube in stock, will there be a radiologist on call that can place it??? I was totally freaking out! At 8am I called the GI doctor on call and he told us we should take her to the ER. I also texted her pediatrician and he agreed and said he'd call ahead to let them know we were coming. Reagan went all night without feeds but this morning we were able to connect her extension (and hold it in place) and at least get her medicines into her (we flushed them with formula). After we finished a lightening round of meds, we left brother in Grandma's care and headed to the hospital at 9am. They took us straight back thanks to our pediatrician calling ahead of time. Reagan was good but slightly tense (not 100% good like yesterday). They checked her sugars just to make sure they were stable after going all night without food...all was good so they didn't even put in an iv. Thankfully they had her tube size on hand as well as a radiologist on standby. The placement went smoothly and we were headed home just before noon! Reagan fell asleep just before we left and then slept the whole drive home and then almost the entire day! I guess today was her sleepy day? I'm just glad all turned out well! Thank you so much for the prayers! Crisis averted.
Reagan was fighting sleep a little last night, but eventually dozed off in my arms thanks to clonidine. She woke up again early this morning around 6:40am (and of course her brother followed behind her). She has been SO wonderful again today. So smiley, so sweet, laid back...just perfect again! Grandma was thrilled to see her doing so well! We just never know from day to day, so it's always a gamble. My mom and I went for a mother's day lunch today (wanted to miss the Sunday crowds). We went to a place in Austin called Trudy's. It's mexican food with an Austin flair and it's SO good...seriously like my new favorite place (too bad it's so far away from our house...near the UT campus). Then we drove around Austin and we drove by the house she and my Dad lived in when I was born. So much has changed, but the neighborhood is still very similar and the house seems (according to her) to be exactly the same! It was a good day. Reagan was great for the nurse, Ryan was a handful for Mike (but what's new). When we got home, we took Reagan for a little stroll in her tricycle (which needs some adjustment) and Ryan went swimming with Daddy. He had a blast and we sat on the back porch for a while watching him. He's fearless now and with his floatie on he can get around the pool from one side to the other without assistance! Afterward we went for a walk and Ryan had the biggest tantrum EVER! I eventually just called Mike and had him come pick us back up! Tonight Reagan's been great but after Mike laid her down, he came back downstairs with her extension still attached to a portion of her gj-tube! The damn thing is broken and we now have no way to attach her formula tonight or give her medicines in the morning! To say I'm freaking out is an understatement! Please keep it in your prayers that we're able to get a new tube for her tomorrow and that we avoid any major crisis!
Reagan slept well last night, but she was up and at em early at 6:20am (as was her brother)! She was super wonderful today! Very smiley, very sweet! Just perfect. Great head control. She had speech and school today and she did great for both. Words really can't describe how wonderfully precious she's been today. SO thankful for days like these. Today we also took her brother in to the doctor. He tested negative for strep, so the doctor thinks he probably has a virus that mimics strep (like adenovirus). He also said that it's very common for older kids with chronic ear infections to still get a couple more infections after getting their tubes in. I'd like to clear this infection and never see another one, but he said it's possible he might get another before he's done with them for good. I'm just so ready for him to be able to hear out of BOTH ears!! Every day he's saying new words. Today it was big/little! So happy to see him progressing (even with just one ear)! Feeling very thankful for both of my kiddos today and ready for a great mother's day weekend with my mom!!
Reagan slept well again last night. This morning I heard her make a noise and I went in only to find her on her side with her arm wedged on the side of her bed. Not sure if she was stuck or just had it there, but she had soaked through her diaper and onto her bed (I guess because she fell asleep so early last night). She was a little kooky this morning, but OK. She had a busy morning of therapy with vision/OT from the school, OT, and PT all before noon! She did great for everything and was able to finally get things moving on her own (two dirty diapers). Then she had a 1pm appt with the PM&R doctor. Just a 6month followup. One thing we discussed is trying to get some padding for the tray of her wheelchair. She keeps getting these mystery bruises on her arms (near her elbows) and we think it's from her banging her arms the tray of her wheelchair! Poor thing! She also elbows the bathtub too, but we think it's the tray. She was great, her brother was climbing the walls and driving me nuts, but she was great! Tonight we were thinking we were going to Bible study, when I was talking to Mike about Ryan constantly putting his fingers in his mouth. Right as I said that, he opened his mouth and Mike looked in and saw little pockets of pus all over his right tonsil (even though he's taking an antibiotic)! Poor guy! I guess he has a reason to be fussy! Bible study was a no go. He got increasingly fussy, so it's a good thing we didn't go. Looks like we'll be headed into the pediatrician tomorrow morning! Never a dull moment! Please keep our boy in your prayers! He really needs to catch a break! Between his ear infection that just won't go away, a green runny nose/sinus infection, and now this?!?!? Ugh! Thankfully Reagan seems to be doing much better. Today we've gotten smiles and even some laughs. Tonight when she was snuggled up next to me, she was so present and content...I love it! Such a darling girl!
Reagan slept well last night. Let me elaborate a little on that. That, in and of itself, is a huge blessing that we don't take for granted! It's such a natural thing, like breathing, everyone does it and never thinks twice! But for our mito/medically fragile/special needs kiddos, it doesn't come easy and at times it doesn't come at all! Reagan has certainly been in that boat way too often, days and days of no sleep and constant movement, to the point that we wonder how much longer her little body can tolerate it before it just gives out on her! It's a scary thing! Little Abigail is struggling with that right now! Poor girl, she's been through so much in the last week, and now she is plagued by the constant movements and unable to get any rest (even with tons of medication)! It breaks my heart! Please continue to keep her in your prayers! Reagan woke up with morning still very serious but calm. Making some gaggy faces here and there (with tongue sticking way out), but otherwise good, no actual nausea (of course we're still giving her Zofran around the clock). She's got three nasty looking mosquito bites on her arm from our outing Monday afternoon! Ugh! It was only 30 min or so, but that little bugger got her good! She had several therapies today and she did relatively well considering. So it would seem that we might be out of the woods and that maybe her cycles are changing a bit. That episode of crying Sun night and then again Mon morning might have been the extent of her bad cycle this go round. She seems to be in more of the recovery phase now (fingers crossed). Tonight she dozed off on her own really early (for her), around 9pm or so. So nice to see my girl sleeping peacefully! I will never take that for granted!
Reagan slept like a rock last night! Thank goodness because it had been a couple nights of no sleep...she definitely needed it! She woke up this morning very tense (stiff as a board really), but OK. She was too "off" for vision therapy, but she did OK with PT and OT this afternoon. She actually fell asleep during OT! She seemed a little nauseous this afternoon (mouth movements, a little chokey, and tongue sticking out), but she never progressed. Tonight she was surprisingly calm while her brother proceeded to throw the biggest temper tantrum ever right in front of her! And then she dozed off on her own! No clue what to expect in the coming days, but I'm just thankful she's stable and finally getting some sleep. Ryan has been quite the handful today. He went in for his checkup (for his ears) and that one left ear is still infected! We're not sure if the antibiotic drops just aren't getting all the way in to treat the infection or if maybe it's just not the right antibiotic (they're sending out a sample for culture). So for now, we'll continue the drops and start him on an oral antibiotic for his sinus infection (and that might help clear the ear infection as well)! I told the doctor that we're already seeing major improvements in his speech and he said yeah, because he can hear now! He said we should see even more improvements once he can hear out of BOTH ears! Please keep it in your prayers that this infection clears up and stays away for good!
Reagan was restless last night. I think she slept, but not sure how much or how well. She's been OK today. Not great but not bad either. Smiley one moment, furrowed brow the next. There are some things that are off, like her temperature regulation (cold clammy hands and feet and super sweaty back) and an increased sensitivity that indicate that she is headed in the wrong direction. Her new nurse was here today and everything went really well. Reagan didn't give her too much of a hard time, but could tell something was bothering her. She was a little moany/grunty and definitely seemed to feel a little better once she had a poo! Tonight she was just SO tense, I wanted to hold her but she was kicking and fighting, it was not easy to do. The constant hand in the mouth...it's a battle and she usually wins. She's still got a runny nose and congestion that is driving her crazy! She fights to breathe out of her nose instead of just opening her mouth! I made the executive decision to start her on Zofran tonight just because there's a definite sense that things are escalating and maybe if we intervene soon enough, we'll minimize the damage! She's not looking sleepy at all tonight, even with the clonidine, hoping she settles down and gets some rest!
It's been a weird day for my girl. Last night she slept but was a little restless. This morning she woke smiling, but tense. She's been very vocal, which at times has escalated to what we'd consider fussing/moaning (but no crying). Something definitely seemed to be bothering her. She's still battling with congestion and wanting to breathe through her nose and multiple times she's gotten hiccups (which might indicate reflux issues). Tonight she was very restless and tense/vocal. I definitely thought she'd escalate but we managed to avoid that. I just hope she's able to get done rest tonight and wake up feeling better tomorrow. Our new nurse starts tomorrow, so I sure hope Reagan behaves herself! Ryan has given me a particularly difficult time today. Very fussy (lots of meltdowns), nose still running like crazy, and now coughing a bit too! He's been a handful. Taking off for the pool in the backyard (definitely time for a pool fence) and the street when he's in the front yard! Ugh. Today I was loading the dishwasher and he was playing nearby jn the kitchen. I looked over and there he was sitting in his highchair! No idea how he managed to climb up and into that?!?! And several days ago he was contemplating climbing out of his crib! We were able to get his attention thru the monitor and he stopped, but boy oh boy are we going to be in trouble when he figures that out! And have I mentioned the hitting? Oh yeah, he loves to hit me, his sister, and unsuspecting kids at gymboree in the face! No idea how to stop that! Apparently it's something he only does around me, because his teachers say he doesn't do it at school (thank God)!
Please continue to keep Abigail in your prayers! | 2019-04-24T06:13:16Z | http://reaganleigh.blogspot.com/2014/05/ |
4 All-Esprit 4th of July parade in Larkspur hosted by John Ridley.
Ok, this isn’t the usual Lotus event, but it could be a lot of fun to see who actually shows up for this gig. Bring your car, a six pack, and the fuzzy dice.
We’ll even have a special award for the one who can hide the most people in his Lotus.
The All-Esprit 4th of July parade in Larkspur is shaping up to be a very cool event for the wedge owners. Ridley already has over 10 cars lined up for the annual march down main street. If you own an Esprit and believe in America, you must be at this event.
The monthly meeting will be held in conjunction with the annual drive to Occidental sponsored by the Camachos.
winding, spectacular drive to the coast. - approximately 2.5 hours. After the drive we’ll make a choice to head inland, or have dinner in Bodega Bay.
1. Take the last Petaluma exit (after Washington street) called "Pengrove ,Old Redwood Highway".
3. Take the first left at the light, and then the next left.
4. Go back by the Inn adjacent to 101.
5. Meet in the parking lot of "showcase of Motor Cars, 5101 Montero Way.
Well its almost here – the premier vintage event of the year. Once again the GGLC will sponsor the Lotus corral down near turn 2. We need to confirm a minimum of 35 tickets for each day, so get those orders in by July 8. Prices are as follows: Friday $25, Saturday $40, Sunday $35, Saturday/Sunday combo $60, Friday/Saturday/Sunday combo $75 . This is a substantial discount compared to the gate price and should make up for the fact that VW, uh, I mean Porsche is the honored marque.
So let’s all show up and see the tiny green and yellow machines blow by them old sauerkrauts.
Here is some early warning info on the August 14th drive and meeting. The plans are to drive through the Santa Cruz mountains, winding up at our house for a cookout and meeting. The August issue will have all the route details and also directions on how to reach our house if you want to skip the drive and just come for the lunch and meeting.
Trish and I drove the route and it takes about 2 hours. We will leave from West Valley College in Saratoga about 10:30 am. All the roads are paved, but as is common in the mountains, there are more than a few potholes on some of the lesser traveled roads. The drive will not be a typical Zender careen through the turns. Since we will be sharing the roads with hikers and bicyclists, I think you should expect speeds more in the 40s at best.
The lunch menu will be hamburgers, veggie burgers and salads. I hope you will join us for the drive and party/meeting afterwards.
Lotus Ltd's Annual Lotus Owners Gathering (LOG), celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Lotus marque, will take place in Atlanta, GA, next September 25-28. As planning for the event continues, here are the latest developments of note to help you plan ahead.
Barring unforeseen developments, the pre-registration form for LOG 18 will be published in the next 30 days. The earlier LOGers submit their re-registrations, the easier it will be for the people planning the meet and processing the paperwork to do their jobs. Reminder: All Monday tack day participants will be required to pre-register for the LOG.
The Atlanta Marriott Gwinnett Place Hotel in Duluth, GA, will be the official headquarters of LOG 18. The following phone numbers can be used to reserve rooms at the hotel: (800) 228-9290 toll-free, (770) 858-1817 local voice, or (770) 923-0017 local fax. To get the preferential nightly room rate of $69 plus tax for one to four occupants, be sure to specify that you are with the Lotus group and make your reservations by September 1.
Delta, the official airline of LOG 18, has arranged with a Georgia travel agency to offer a special fare to LOGers flying to the event. Meet attendees will be able to obtain a 10% discount off Delta's lowest fare by booking their flights by July 26 and a 5% discount on flights booked after that date. The fare will only become effective if at least 10 LOGers take advantage of it. To obtain the special fare, flights must be booked through The Travel Bug and paid for with a credit card. Jeff Haltman at The Travel Bug can be reached from 9 to 5 Eastern time at (800) 950-2284 toll-free. Please note that Lotus Ltd. And the LOG 18 organizing committee are not parties to this transaction.
The LOG track event, which will take place at Road Atlanta on Monday, Sept. 28, will include Lotus Track Day participants and participants with Road Atlanta's own Track Days program. The Lotus Track Day slots are fully subscribed; Road Atlanta Track Days slots are still available. To sign up for the latter, send a check for $295 US$, payable to Road Atlanta, to the circuit at 5300 Winder Highway, Braselton, GA 30517.
As a bonus, this year's Atlanta Historic Races, which will be held at Road Atlanta the same weekend as LOG 18 will include events that the Monday track event participants will be able to run at no extra charge. Thanks to HSR, the sanctioning body for the Atlanta Historics, LOG track event Lotuses that are properly race-equipped will be eligible to participate in a Lotus-only race. Those that are not race-eligible will be able to participate in Sports Challenge timed runs, in which passing is only allowed on the straights and the final results are based on each competitor's best single lap. For more information, contact Zack Zarcadoolas at (770) 949-3672 (GA).
The GGLC is working with Lotus Ltd and Lotus Cars USA. We have two trucking companies which are available to transport cars in enclosed trailers (fully insured) to and from Atlanta from the West Coast. As of this date we are unable to quote hard costs, but estimates are between $2000 to $3000 for the round trip. Cars will be gathered in a single location and then delivered to either Road Atlanta or the Hotel/LCU area. Cars would then be available for the entire LOG weekend and then transported back for drop off at the pick up location. Tentatively pick up points are being planned for Seattle, Oakland, San Jose and Orange County/Costa Mesa. If you are interested in this service please contact Kiyoshi Hamai hm: (650) 494-3218; email <[email protected]> by July 15th.
John Ridley and his way better half, Marjorie, have graciously volunteered to plan the best GGLC holiday party ever. Expect an all-new format with a real party atmosphere, dancing, and who-knows-what.
As you all know, I bought a new set of Spax shock absorbers back in March and actually getting them installed on the Europa has taken the past three months due to various personal issues. Well, I can actually say that the car is officially back on the road and ready for fine tuning. I thought I’d be able to tell you that the car handles like it’s on rails but as of this writing I just barely got it reassembled and haven’t had enough time to set everything up.
I think back in March I left you all with my suspension torn apart and 3 out of the 4 lower wishbones cracked. I managed to get the cracks welded up and I even did a little reinforcing of the holes which the trunnion bolt passes through. This is something to keep your eyes on if you own a Europa because the hole will elongate over time if the bolts aren’t properly torqued. But what I thought was going to be the big pain in the neck turned out to be something I can honestly gloat over- finding springs. As anyone who has installed Spax shocks on a Europa knows, they leave the front of your car way up in the air even with the spring perches lowered as far as they can go. Since I wanted to keep the stock spring rate (or as near to it as possible), I spent quite a while trying to figure out what happens to make the front sit so high. It became very obvious that due to the design of the Spax perches, about 1-1 1/8" of space between the perches is eliminated when compared to the stock Armstrong unit. I thought maybe I could gain the necessary length back by adapting the Armstrong upper perch to the Spax but after doing so, it became apparent that I wasn’t going to gain all the length back and that I would have to buy new springs that had a shorter free-length.
Now, let me stop for a moment and point out a very important fact which was crucial in getting the Europa back on the road. I’m a pack rat. Always was, always will be. I don’t believe in throwing anything away. Better yet, I gladly collect parts and other "goodies". Most importantly, a pack rat always knows that some day, something amongst all that stuff that’s been stashed away will serve a purpose. That couldn’t have been more true when I was in college. A friend of mine joined a group of students who participated in the Formula SAE Contest for their senior project. This was a group who didn’t know anything about suspensions nor how to design them. As a result, they always had more parts than what they needed. After the project ended, I was given some generic Koni shocks with two Hypercoil springs. It was while I was trying to figure out how to modify the spring perches on the Spax that I remembered these springs. Being the pack rat that I am, I remembered exactly where they were and proceeded to dig them out. I pulled the two springs off and to my amazement they had the exact free-length I needed and the rate was within 5 lbs/in. of the stock springs! I don’t know how many times I’ve looked at those springs and thought to myself that I should get rid of them to clear out some of the junk in the garage. But, my smarter side convinced me to keep everything and it was a good thing I did because they had the rate I needed, the correct free-length, and the proper inner diameter.
I was able to put them on the shocks without the need of a spring compressor and, as I said, I still have to do some fine tuning and adjust the shocks for both stiffness and ride height, but at least the Europa is back on the road and all indications show that the springs work great. I again have a Lotus which I can drive to the next meeting AND I now have the time to start working on the Seven!
Next month I hope to report on some significant progress on the Seven. With only a few months left before Atlanta it’s going to be tight but I’m not even close to throwing in the towel. That is not an option this year! I’ll be using the All British Meet in Palo Alto as my absolute due date and I’d like to encourage anyone else out there that has a car in need of work to set the same goal, even if you aren’t going to Atlanta. This is an important year for our marque, let’s make the British Meet a local celebration of the 50th anniversary of Lotus.
The Lotus 50th Anniversary Weekend at Brands Hatch, sponsored by Force Racing, offered Lotus owners the chance to bring out and run cars which were the rarest of the rare. The oldest Lotus known to exist, an unrestored barn red Lotus 2, LJH 702 with utterly crude slab sides, paper thin cycle fenders and splayed front wheels. Next to it was the perfectly restored black 3B of Charles Levy, known as the Adam Currie car, assembled by Williams and Pritchard in 1952 as the very first customer car built by Lotus. The car had been raced by both Currie and Colin Chapman (founder of Lotus) during the 1952/53 racing season.
Another rare car was British racing green 6 SME, a 2 liter Coventry Climax powered Lotus 14, with at least 190 hp, and a 172 mph top speed. This teardrop, a gorgeous but unwieldy creature, won its class at Le Mans in 1960. And from the same year came the Type 7/18 with glimmering polished aluminum body, built with a 1 liter Formula 2 engine, full-race Type 18 front and rear suspension, and a Seven body. The car was incredibly quick and consistently won the local hill climbs which were then big events held all over England.
Luigi D'Orideo, a very successful race team owner, came to Brand's Hatch with his four cylinder Type 21 built to race in the South Africa Series in 1961. Luigi first saw the car while working as a local mechanic for hire, and was determined to one day own it. A favorite tale of Luigi's comes from 1963. The very first outing for the brand new Lotus Type 25, driven by a young fellow named Jimmy Clark. Jimmy was known for being a quiet man with few complaints. But Luigi had noticed a bit of anguish in the Scotsman's usual determined look that day. What had happened ? "Jimmy reported that he found it a bit disconcerting that as he accelerated from the start the petrol in the fuel bags had nearly lifted him right out of the car !"
The sweet-smelling stench of oil wafting from the pits as the racers tuned their cars in the time honored tradition of putting an ear to the motor. Tires smoked as Ford-Lotus Cortina drivers pounded their cars into a slide to gain that extra inch before the edge of Druid's corner leading into the bottom of the reverse S-turn shooting towards the back strait. The wailing of the high revving open wheel cars reverberated off the rolling green hills.
There were literally dozens of race cars filling the paddock. Some were local, some brought in from Holland, Belgium, France, Luxembourg and Germany, some shipped from South Africa, Australia, Massachusetts and California. Several thousand people came with hundreds of Lotus street cars from all over Europe. Former factory racers, mechanics, team managers, race stewards and factory employees came. Vivid recollections of Colin Chapman from people who had witnessed the genius, bullying, failures and glory. Conversations went, "how many times were you fired ?" "We only had two days to get this done"; but not for Chapman, he saw things differently, for him you had four days, Thursday day, Thursday night, Friday day and Friday night. And it didn't matter that it couldn't be done. It got done.
For as few hours, of a few days, the spirit of what drove Lotus to brilliance in the cars it produced, raced, and sold was felt. Lotus used to win with cars of delicate frailty. Indeed, even the street cars were built with the theory of "add lightness." In the U.S., ISO 9000 standards translate to QS 9000 for automotive production which up to very recently only the three big American manufacturers met. Lotus has become one of the first European car buildersto make the grade. Lotus lives on in the now very well sorted, balanced and brilliantly quick Esprit V-8, and the extraordinary Elise which is coming to the United States in race car form.
Lotus has an eight month wait list for the Elise in Europe in spite of increasing production from 800 to 3,000 cars per year. With the advent of the V-8 engine, demand had grown sharply for the Esprit of which there are now few available in the US. Brands Hatch was an extraordinary event, part of the 50th anniversary of Lotus. It was the first time the people at Force had put on such a huge event. I can't recommend highly enough going to England and exploring the roots and heritage of your Lotus. Do it, meet the people who built and raced the cars you love, you will feel greatly rewarded by what you find.
Hello there in Lotus land. A lot of goings on this past month. Hillary and myself went to Brands Hatch for the 50th celebration put on by Force. This was a great event and really showed the more competitive nature of vintage racing in England compared to the States. In one race there was a 1500cc Type 15 in an all out battle with an 1100cc type 11. The 15 had the advantage on the straights, but the 11 would catch him braking into the tight turns. These guys made many passes back and forth until they finally took out the left front fender of the 11. The 11 prevailed at the checkered to the cheer of most of the crowd.
There were quite a few racing Elises present. Many of them very trick with carbon fiber roofs and other bits. The most interesting race pitted some of the old against some of the very new. Elises, 23's, Europas, 47's, and even a S1 Esprit all running together. The 23's seemed to have the advantage, although one Elise came in about third.
The highlight of the trip for us was a visit to the Lotus factory. I’ve been to England three times now, and this was the first time I got into the factory. I called about a week before leaving, and was disappointed to learn that factory tours were booked 3 months in advance! As with most things, however, it’s who you know. Mike Ostrov did me a huge favor by calling his friend at the factory and got us into a special group scheduled for Monday. I didn’t realize how special until the end of the tour when the guide offered to let each of us take a V8 Esprit around the Lotus test track!!! What a thrill to be driving around the same circuit that saw so much Lotus history. Chapman, Clark, Andretti, and many other big names did hundreds of laps around this same circuit testing all sorts of cars. While others were on the track, we hung out in the old control tower which was originally used by the US military during WWII. While in the tower I couldn’t help thinking about the days when Chapman and others sat up here above the track, sipping pints and discussing the upcoming race or changes to be made to the car screaming around down below.
Since I was only going to get a few laps, I needed to make the best of them. My first question to the test driver (he rode as passenger) "what’s the redline?". "6900" he replied. Pedal to the glass and we went straight to 6900, then through the gears up to about 100 mph. Those few laps went by quickly, but not as fast as the next few when he drove! This guy definitely had the track wired. I was extremely impressed with the combination of road holding and refinement of the new Esprit. I was suprised how well the car put power to the ground coming out of turns that were full of bumps, waves and holes. This is not a smooth track, but it makes an excellent development course for a car like Lotus.
While at the track we also saw new Elises being put through their final test. Hey, if you ever buy a new Lotus, don’t worry about breaking it in - it’s already done. These guys are flying around the track at full tilt bringing the cars to their limit.
My rallye in the Woodside hills last week was a fun event attended by only a few really cool people. If you could have been there you wouldn’t believe how three different people could take three completely different routes and still end up very close in points. The Andersons missed about 2/3s of the course and still came in only 7 minutes off their time. Victor and AJ drove most of the course backwards and were only about 20 minutes off. After tallying the points, Victor prevailed by hitting most of the checkpoints and gaining some bonus and extra credit points along the way. He also won a new fluorescent drop light. The Andersons were second and AJ third, receiving a fender cover and chamois respectively. The prizes were generously sponsored by the GGLC ( thanks prez).
Since nobody saw the entire course, and everybody seemed to have a good time, I’ve decided to re-run it August 30 with just a few changes. I may even pre-run it and get the directions right this time!.
Kiyoshi and I visited Lotus USA last Tuesday (late June '98), as we were in Atlanta on business anyway. We had stopped by there a year ago and spent time with Colin Clarkson, lobbying to get the Elise imported. I made a fool of myself then with my constant, single minded conversation about importing the car, and I did the same thing this time.
Lotus has moved to a new, smaller building that includes a showroom area that has a new Esprit V8 and a V8 engine on a display stand. Arnie has named an Atlanta-based dealer, eliminating the need for LCU to act as the area sales agent. Helen Lindner showed us around the new offices and then took us in to see Arnie Johnson, CEO. He was very gracious and spent over an hour talking with us.
Lotus Cars USA does indeed want to bring the Elise to this country. Arnie has written a business plan to bring the cars here, and forwarded this to the factory. New Group Lotus CEO Chris Knight has stated his desire to bring the Elise to the States, and has established a taskforce to determine exactly what is necessary to federalize the car, as well as the costs involved. As you might expect, after the disappointing response to the M100 Elan, some at the factory have wondered if Americans would respond to the Elise in the same way.
Like Chris Knight, Arnie would like to bring the car here with as few modifications as possible. The real question, however, is: How many cars does Lotus need to sell in order to make up for the costs of federalization?
In a recent radio interview in Detroit, Chris Knight said he thought the company needed to sell about 1000 Elises each year to cover the costs of federalization, as well as make a reasonable profit. But, given the M100 experience, my sense is that Arnie would like to build to this level rather than promise it from the start. Arnie's main concern is how Americans will respond to the Elise's minimalist nature. As he said, it is not your typical everyday car. Compared to more mainstream vehicles (like the Boxster, Z3, Miata, etc.), the Elise is noisier, rougher, lacks seat padding, and does not have a complement of luxury add-ons, or storage for a set of golf clubs. Therefore, the car must sell on its personality, performance, and heritage. I suggested that many are willing to tolerate the slightly rough nature of the car in exchange for the many benefits it offers, but then I drive a Seven!
The current power plant is not acceptable for the US, in part because it does not meet OBD II emission requirements. So an alternative powerplant must be found -- at the right price! Arnie thinks American may want more power than the 118 hp currently available. So one upside is that we may get a quick car as a reward for our patience... Unfortunately, if all goes well, it will be 18-24 months before the car can be sold here.
As we were sitting in Arnie's office, a fax came in from LCU Communications Director Chris Sawyer containing a copy of the recent "New York Times" article. We read it. Some of it was good, some of it not so good, but -- on the whole -- it was balanced. Arnie receives copies of all the communications that are faxed to Lotus UK concerning Elise importation. So keep your cards and letters flowing!
We finished with a tour of the garage area of the building. A new shipment of Esprits had arrived. We saw a very colorful gathering of more than 10 Esprit V8s under one roof, with no miles on any of them. There were also several older Esprits and a race car from the old Doc Bundy days. The first "inferno" (ruby red) car ever brought in was also there. Nice color.
We then took the staff of Lotus USA to lunch. I told Arnie it was a bribe, to make sure that -- if the Elise ever does come to the States -- I will not have to wait like all the rest of you to get one. He smiled. I don't think he realized I was serious.
I'm told there are now four Elises in the country, and will try to find out how they got here and if they are licensed. There is even one in California! Perhaps there is hope yet.
When it comes to doing fiberglas, few non-commercial members of the Golden Gate Lotus Club have done more work than Mike Ostrov. In the recent past Mike has restored rather complex sections of his own original Elites and has even designed and built an inner clamshell to allow an Elite body to be mated to an Elan chassis, no easy task. So it was not surprising to find folks who already had a fair amount of expertise in fiberglass work making the trek to this annual event.
Mike started the process by emphasizing that 90% of the work was in preparation. He demonstrated why it was important to have everything there, in order, ready to go. Plane sanders, two different bite sized inch grinders for the removal of dead Fiberglass, trimmed boar's hairbrushes with acetone for cleaning surfaces, and measured out/pre-cut Fiberglass for repair work. The first patient was the fender from Joel Lipkin's Seven. Once the fiberglass fender was ground and cleaned, we mixed the resin, adding reacting agent according to temperature. We used a special tool to drive the air out of the laid glass, fully realizing that we were building up the surface with the expectation of grinding off of what we had just put down. We also went over the use of "Evercoat Glaze" to fill in the pinpoint holes and level up other imperfections.
By the end of the day two Seven and several Europa owners had a much better idea why having fiberglass work done costs an arm, a leg and several other body parts when done professionally. Thank You Michael for opening your shop to us and giving us the chance to learn about how to make strong and durable repairs, and bringing the cars back to looking like they had never been mooshed.
June 28th was a great day for a rallye. Sunny but not hot. Victor brought his Esprit, AJ (ex gglc) brought a Porsche and Judy and I came in our Esprit. The rest of you missed a fine event!
instructions in all. First car out at 10:00 AM and the other 2 at 5 minute intervals. While he did get one point wrong early in the instructions none of us was fooled and stayed on course throughout the minor mistake.
Of course we were all overconfident at that point and we all misinterpreted his perfectly clear instructions and went straight thru the Canada road intersection and on up Hwy 84!
Judy and I picked the route up later (at a point it was clear how to do that!) and after missing much of the course finished the 150 minute course (at the required average of 35 MPH) just 7 minutes late (a complete fluke...). Victor and AJ (mostly independently) got to Hwy 1 and took the first part of the course *in reverse* (so, coming back, drove it again!). They finished more or less together 30 min after Judy and I.
We were supposed to have lunch at the Cool Water Cafe in La Honda. Little did John realize that the place had lost its lease and was not legally open (though open it was) and the silent-partner-owner (mountain man) had no idea how to run the place. Judy and I spent 30 minutes listening to the owner's tales of his many businesses around La Honda. And we told *him* how to make a sandwich... A fascinating character but not a restauranteur… So we all went up La Honda Rd. 200 feet to the Merry Pranksters cafe and had a nice lunch while John scored the rallye. By backtracking and getting some required data that way, Victor had clearly won. Judy & I were essentially tied with AJ: He had backtracked and had more answers but Judy and I had come closer on time and finally the 100 points for driving a Lotus put us into second.
We were quite astonished when we realized the club had provided prizes!
condition. It has a fresh, 196+HP twin cam (stock stroke, original L block and head), straight cut gearbox, LSD, and is VERY FAST. It won the USRRC Seniors Tour Western Championship for under 2.0 liter GT cars in 1994, 1995, and 1996, and has won its class in numerous races. It has turned 2:01's at Sears. It took 3rd's in the race car classes at the 1993 Lafayette Concours, and the 1993 Hillsborough Concours. It took 2nd in race cars at the 1994 Lotus Convention (Portland) Concours. This car has been accepted and raced with CSRG, VARA, SOVREN, RMVR, and SCCA.Will consider offers in the $40's. Myles Kitchen at [email protected].
Opinions expressed in the Chapman Report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the gglc or its officers. Technical advice should be used at your own risk.
The 1998 GGLC officers are: Daren Stone, President; Scott Hogben, Vice President; Bruce Weinburg, Secretary Laura Hamai, Treasurer; David Anderson, Membership Chairman; and John Ridley, Social Director. | 2019-04-20T21:02:12Z | http://gglotus.org/ggchap/98-00cr/98-cr07.htm |
We wish to be able to enjoy the full width of the pavement. We are happy for others to ‘enjoyed the freedom of the car’ only if they can arrange for somewhere to park it safely and off the pavement.
We aim to peacefully and creatively build visibility for the issue to the point where the authorities are obliged to act effectively and create simple, clear and easily enforced legislation that makes it illegal to park wholly or partially on pavements everywhere and then enforce it.
This won’t be achieved immediately. We will need car clubs in every urban area reducing the need for people to own so many cars. We need to reduce the speed to 20mph speed limits on many residential roads and get more people onto bicycles and off the pavement. Cycle hire schemes are wildly successful in many capital cities at present including Paris and London and need to be encouraged.
We need to create a vision of how all out lives will be improved by not messing up our neighbourhoods for each other. We need to get a lot of people demanding change. We will need re-invent our streets again as places to meet people and for children to play. Some cities are trialing car-free days where major routes are closed to traffic each year allowing people to briefly experience the freedom. Times Square in New York is now free of motorised traffic. Paris, New York, London and an Autobaun in German have all had car-free days.
Our main role is to encourage and support individuals and groups around the country to engage with the issue and to do Something. We will listen out for what people are doing, we will also experiment with our own ideas and will pass on what works.
We must keep it fun, engaging and light. Emma Goldman, the Russian activist was spot on when she said: ‘If I can’t dance, I don’t want to be part of your revolution’. For sure, some situations do need to be challenged, however everyone should be ready to lighten it up, respond calmly, explain politely and if necessary leave. It will not be helpful to get angry or cause damage to anyone’s property however badly behaved the owners are!
To be absolutely clear, we do not endorse anyone causing permanent damage to vehicles or to anything else.
We have parliament on our side! Parliament passed a law in 1974 that create the necessary powers but then failed to ensure that it was enabled and spent the next 35 years giving reasons why they hadn’t done so.
We need to encourage them to try and again and follow it through this time. May it will be 3rd time lucky.
Because much of our modern urban environment was created by car drivers with a primary aim of accommodating the needs of the car drivers and his vehicle ahead of the needs of the pedestrian. That is now changing slowly but the car driver is still the dominant force and politicians know it or we wouldn’t have a government pledging to ‘end the war on the motorist’.
Many laws are still skewed in favour of motorists, if a cars parks on the pavement and a pedestrian squeezes past, then it is the pedestrian who will be in trouble for causing criminal damage if they leave any mark on the vehicle. New legislation coming in will soon make it illegal to clamp a car parked on your property – if you don’t want people parking on your land then you will need to put up a fence. When cars travel too fast it is pedestrians that get hurt. If a child behaves childishly and steps into the street it is them rather than the driver of the car that hits them who gets the blame. Speed cameras are painted yellow to be ‘fair’ on motorists.
And then of course, if pedestrians don’t keep quite and ‘behave’ and start challenging drivers and authorities in relation to speeding or parking they are met too often with incredulity, challenges such as ‘whats it got to do with you’, or worse. No single incident has exposed the ‘oppression’ of pedestrians more clearly that the case of the blind man in Wales being arrested and locked in minutes after threatening to let down the tyres of a car that had been blocking the pavement for hours despite many phone calls to the police previously asking for them to be moved. This is a perfect example of this Alice-in-Wonderland upside-down world that we currently all live in.
If we want anything to happen then we are going to have to create a huge social movement challenging this situation, which is, of couse absurd and unjust. We will be successful sooner than we think!
Pedestrian Liberation was started in June 2010 in Ipswich, Suffolk. We started it because of the appalling level of pavement parking in the town.
As you say yourself you got not powers whatsoever because of argumentative people like you the world is in the state that it is,if you want a world where people tell other people what to do with their lives and create animosity like you guys are doing right now be my guest and create anarchy.We are meant to live in a tolerant society respecting each other but beacause the so called pedestrian liberation think that they have special treatments they like forcing themselves on to others.
We dont need sites like this!
An interesting perspective! Clearly this motorist does not recognise that their decision to park on the pavement is also ‘telling people what to do’ by making it impossible for pedestrians with buggies or wheelchairs to walk down the pavement and creating animosity. For sure they would like a society which is ‘tolerant’ of their behaviour, however the claim that we in PL are ‘creating anarchy’ doesn’t really stand up given that anarchy is defined as the ‘absence of publicly recognized government or enforced political authority’ which is exactly what we have now and are objecting to. We are actually asking for less anarchy not more!
I am a law abiding citizen and a good person. I have to park my car there because I couldn’t afford a house with off street parking and have to own a car. I agree this is not an ideal situation and the most extreme cases on this website certainly are not acceptable. However, what also isn’t acceptable is the constant leafleting (which is illegal if it causes a distraction/obstruction, isn’t handed directly to the recipient (ergo may fall to the ground) and the handling of someone else’s private property on more than one occasion within 24 hours – which is unreasonable.
I know you’ve got your own agenda, but bullying the “minority motorist” is not the way to go about it. Patronising chalk doodles and notes under the windscreen wiper blades is not going to make people change their ways. It’s just a confrontational approach which is going to alienate people who otherwise might be completely reasonable had you approached the matter in a less petty and passive aggressive fashion.
Have you ever considered that the reason why councils don’t act against it is because there isn’t another option? Your gallery of offenders are clearly the worst examples, which I’ve stated, aren’t acceptable, yet you’ve also victimising those who often have no choice either.
You are not law abiding, you are breaking the law every time you park on the pavement. You do not HAVE to do any of the things you say, you do not HAVE to have a car, you choose to have and to do these things. Basically, you are a selfish person, by accommodating your own needs to the exclusion of anyone else’s needs you are saying that you are more important than they are.
It’s a big world and the only place you can park is on the pavement out side your house? Why have a car any way if that’s the only place in the world to park, you can never go any where and stop the car?
I feel victimised when I have to walk in the road with my child because there is too little room on the pavement. Because car drivers have a vehicle they often seem to think that in itself means they should have priority over public space. To me it seems drivers already have the best bit of the public highways (the middle, the best drained, best maintained, flattest bit, with the best view) and the rest of us are literally marginalised, so to be forced to give up a chunk of our margin for a parked vehicle is quite oppressive.
Thanks for your comment. I certainly understand you position which is of course why this blog exists. It is interesting to read you view next to the one above where the person starts ‘I am a good person’ and then goes on to explain why that have to park on the pavement. None of this is easy, but that is no reason to the authorities to ignore the problem and leave pedestrians to make do with whatever space drivers choose to leave them. Do write to your council and to your MP and let them know what you think. Do check the Law section of this blog and if people are actually breaking some law then report them. Good luck and don’t give up.
This site seems to be obsessed with motor vehicles. The biggest danger to pedestrians is cyclists on the footway & on the carriageway made even worse by ‘Boris Bikes’ which travel in packs & Stage Carriages (Pedicabs). Cyclists do not care for their own safety as seen by the fact that the majority of cyclists have no lights at night, & so cannot be expected to care for anyone else’s. There urgently needs to be a lobby group representing pedestrians without other conflicting interests. Every London Borough has a cycling officer some of which meets the cycling lobby as much as 4 times a year. Adding to the universal Institutional Pedestrianism affecting pedestrian safety.
I have tried to focus on the issues that concern pedestrians with a focus on my own personal experience. For sure cyclists do cause some issues for pedestrians, both when cycling on the pavement and when failing to stop for pedestrian crossings. I haven’t noticed it as a big issue at all in my home town though where many people complain about cars and bins and other clutter and very few complain about bicycles.
I think there are some misconceptions and misunderstandings there. Most night cyclists do have lights and it seems like most police forces have at least one crackdown each winter, fining those without lights, as they should. All London cycle hire scheme bikes have lights, too.
Pedestrians generally have priority, but cyclists still like riding among them in well-designed shared spaces. I do care for pedestrian safety – that’s why I ring my bell as I approach from behind, so that you shouldn’t get a surprise as I pass by – and I think most cyclists do. There may be a few nutters, just like there are a few walkers I suspect deliberately block the whole cycle track to stop others passing, but I think most are fine and it’s just that we notice the idiots more easily than the majority who cause no trouble.
Most importantly, what makes walking nicer (like reducing bad parking and bad road sign positions) also usually makes cycling nicer, so let’s work together.
“I do care for pedestrian safety which is why I use my vehicle on the pavement not the road” Who do you think you are kidding?
Let me get this right you are saying “My friend was killed by a though less driver so it’s OK for me to unsafe”?
THe local Council are considering narrowing pavements in our area inorder that a new supermarket can negotiate its HGV’s around the corners and make possible the proposed development. The Supermarket then has the confidence to claim that 25% of its customers will not be using cars. Is there anyway that we can insist the council preserve our pavements and let the supermarket deal with the access problem without stealing pavement space from pedestrians? Why should our pavements be donated so that a Supermarket can increase its market share?
Have you any suggestions or legislation that we can refer to resist this ridiculous pandering to corporative greed?
Looks like they know the limits. So any luxorius edwardian pavement may be considered as potential new road space for HGV’s. The pavement is 2.8metres and the family can walk scoot and pram down it chatting away nicely without all having to go single file for any oncoming walkers. Sounds to good to be true? Well pretty soon it wont be true at one corner.
The rights are all with the wrong sort of traffic are they not.
Actually, HGVs over 7.5 tonnes are the only vehicles which would not be able to take advantage of this Edwardian generosity (see ‘The Law’ section for more details). Needless to say, authorities could use existing laws to challenge more general pavement parking on numerous grounds, not least that for ‘driving on the footway’, the Equality Acts etc, however they choose to find reasons to ignore them all and have political support in doing so. As pedestrians, it seems that we will need to raise the temperature so that they can’t ignore it. The temperature is rising, but we can be more to speed the process up.
Hello there. I have issues with parking on the pavement on the street where I live. I won’t go into the details as it’s more of a neighbour dispute which I appreciate is not the objective of your site. I’d just like to share this response with you as I think you may find it interesting and possibly useful.
I assume there is something in legislation or regulatory but I can’t find anything. Maybe you know? I’ve been advised by my local council that it doesn’t condone vehicles parking on streets less than 5m in width. (Which my street is) it goes on to say that if the boat is rocked, it may have to impose waiting restrictions and double yellow line the whole street as theoretically no vehicle should be parking on a road of less than 5 metres.
Hi! I’m Aldo, from “LA BANQUETA SE RESPETA” (respect the sidewalk) in Mexico. I’m in London for a few days and I would like to meet you, hope to have some news for you on this weekend.
Apologies, its been a busy week and I have only just seen this post. I hope you had a good stay. Needless to say, London is just about the only place which has effective legislation in place to stop pavement parking! I have added a link to your campaign. Keep up the good work!
Excellent website, but no mention of cyclists. The biggest danger to pedestrians (on the pavement) is not motor vehicles but cyclists. For example, in and around the Richmond & Kew area of London (clearly where I live) pavements have been designated as dual-use without separating cyclists from pedestrians. Cyclist can cycle on the same piece of land as pedestrians.
When cyclists are approaching from behind you cannot see or hear them. I would wager that there has been more injuries, over the past few years, to pedestrians from cyclists than motor vehicle drivers.
What is the law related to the use by cyclist of the pavement and can local councils designate a pavement as dual-use, without providing clearly designated corridors for use by each user?
Can we pedestrians legally reclaim the pavement back from cyclists? If not legally then via the enforcement of the Health & Safety Executive?
I’m on a shameless brain-picking mission – can anyone help me find out the law about this problem? I live in a cottage on a U shaped drive, which serves a large house at the bottom of the ‘U’. My home is on the lesser ‘back road’ side of the U, not suitable for larger vehicles etc. Until recently the large house it served was derelict but it has now been redeveloped into 11 apartments. Most of the new residents appear to be using the shorter, maintained, more direct and much wider side of the ‘U’ to reach and leave their home, however, a persistent few are using our unmaintained side. The drive on this side is less than 3m wide and there is no pavement or footway between it and my front door – we literally step out of our front door onto the drive itself. Is there anything in law that can stop this being used as a way for vehicles? It is only a matter of time before my disabled daughter, my dog or myself is badly injured.
i can confirm that (at least within the M25 London area) that pedestrians are under considerable thread from cyclists. If we are talking about inner London then it’s almost a battlefield with the emphasis being put on the struggle between HGVs and cyclists and pedestrians going unmentioned. You can stand at any busy intersection to see the crazy antics cyclists get up to – I have been hit twice by cyclists when on a crossing controlled by lights (in my favour). I was hit by a schoolboy on a bike on a pavement and he and his friends all told me they were allowed to cycle on the pavement until they were eigthteen. I reported this to the police who were sympathetic but vague about the law other than general nuisance. I then researched on the internet and it isn’t clear at all – at what age is a child on a bike legally able to use the pavement if at all? The law is unclear, it is therefore not enforced and as more people are encouraged to use bikes and the roads are congested (and dangerous) so more cyclists take to pavements which is a considerable risk to pedestrians. As a car driver I am also incensed by cyclists on pavements then cycling across pedestrian crossings. I agree with your other correspondents, your ‘about’ needs to include the protection from cyclists on pavements just as much as cars.
I was walking along a pavement across an entrance to a private drive when half way across I got a blast of a horn and verbal abuse. I thought then to check what the legal position is regarding what I understood to be pavement ‘crossovers.’ It’s a legal minefield with absolutely no definitive legal position – even worse it appears that the law is equally vague when it comes to road T junctions. Surely pedestrians as a principle should have right of way on all pavements even those parts which have dropped kerbs to allow private cross overs?
I am just as concerned about overgrown hedges, overhanging trees, and similar obstructions as I am about badly parked motor vehicles.
Brambles can be very hazardous to pedestrians, especially small children.
There is a lot of hypocrisy among road users. For example. a person may send in photos of vehicles parked on the footway (pavement) but the same person has a privet hedge which they have allowed to grow halfway across the pavement (footway). Thus they prevent pedestrians, users of invalid carriages, etc from enjoying the full width of a footway that the pedestrian pays taxes to have provided and maintained.
It is trespass on public property. But legislation is not strong enough to prevent it.
Add to those hazards cyclists who ride illegally on footways alongside roads, wheelie bins left all over the place, the incessant mess from people turning their front gardens into car parks with block paving, the increasing number of white vans as unemployed people start their own businesses, high winds, lack of “lane discipline” by pedestrians, and walking anywhere becomes a nightmare.
The “drive everywhere” culture prevents motor vehicle owners from walking along their own road and observing just how much their own plants have overgrown.
The answer to all of this is education. That is a Government responsibility. Perhaps the drive should be to lobby for nationwide education of the public, with the reminder that most motorists and cyclists are pedestrians when they leave their vehicles.
I would make for a more responsible nation.
On a lighter note, if you want to solve any problem, ask a scriptwriter. They find imaginative ways to get out of anything!
It’s encouraging to see a group promoting pedestrians rights – but strange that it seems to think that those rights are only threatened by motorists. Sadly many other groups seem to think that they have an equal right to use our pavements – cyclists and scooter riders in particular – causing problems for all pedestrians, and for those with disabilities in particular. Only today we had a reported court case of a pedestrian thoughtlessly killed by a cyclist. Let’s stand up for our right to use our pavements.
I agree with Liam cyclists. Yesterday I reported to the police an assault by a cyclist as I walked on the pavement to my local railway station. The pavement was narrow and not designated as a shared cycle lane, yet she ploughed through me at speed as if I was a haystack, not a human being, ripping my cross-body bag off my shoulder. The bag took the impact and was destroyed, saving me from injury. She then lost control of the bike, went into the road in front of a car and forced it to make an emergency stop. Without bothering to acknowledge, let alone apologise to, either myself or the motorist, she simply carried on at the same speed along the pavement. Two joggers came to my help, one telling me that she had been hit by a cyclist a few days earlier, who had barged into her from behind and told her to ‘get out of the way.’ At this point, another cyclist fetched up and informed us that all pavements are ‘available to cyclists unless we see a sign telling us not to use it.’ This is bunkum. But when you quote the Highway Code to a cyclist, their eyes glaze over and they’re off – along the pavement.
I don’t expect the police will do anything. Pedestrians are the bottom of the pile in every way. The simple pleasure of walking has been overtaken by the stress of maintaining eyes in the back of your head, and then being verbally abused if you assert your right to be walking at all. At this rate, pedestrians will soon be excluded from pavements, or exclude themselves to minimise the threat of injury. When that happens, the ‘wheelers’ will have won. | 2019-04-23T02:23:45Z | https://pedestrianliberation.org/about/ |
St. Francis Ladies – Congratulations to the ladies who won a thrilling Intermediate Final in Ballinamore on Sunday with a 2-12 to 3-07 win over Mohill. Mairead McCawley struck an early goal to settle the nerves and we were on top for the early stages but Mohill staged a recovery and led by 5 points at one point but the girls showed great heart and determination and a second-half goal from Ailish Cornyn put us on the road to victory. Great credit goes to both teams and thank you to all the supporters who turned out to cheer the girls home. Well done to Paul, Gareth and the squad on a great achievement.
Division 2 Playoff – We play Dromahair in the long-awaited league playoff in Drumkeerin this Saturday at 4pm. As this will decide promotion to Division 1 for the coming season it’s a hugely important game so please turn out to support the lads. Good luck to Sean, Angus, Paddy & the team.
Minor Ladies – The ladies face St. Mary’s in the final which may be played this weekend so please watch out for the fixtures. Best of luck to Ciara, Dermot, Ann and the girls.
U-15’s – The U-15’s had a good win over Mohill in Ballinaglera on Sunday morning on a scoreline of 3-13 to 0-09. This was a really good team performance and goals from Liam McGourty (2) and Conor Flood set us on our way. We play Leitrim Gaels at home on Saturday morning at 12noon so good luck to Farrell, Angus and the team.
U-13 Regional Final – The Lough Allen Region lost out to the Carrick Region in the final of the U-13 competition in Cloone last Tuesday. Hard luck to the lads involved with this team.
Lotto – There was no winner of the lotto jackpot last week the numbers were 12-16-19-22. The prize winners of €20 each were: Mary Canning, Aughnasheelin; Sarah Beckett, Jamestown; Winnie Coyne, Dowra; John Gilmartin, Ballinaglera; Seamus Keane, Drumshanbo. The jackpot now stands at €3,230.
25 Card Drive – The card game continues in Aras Padraig every Sunday night at 8:30pm. All welcome.
Juvenile Teams Sponsorship: The Club would like to sincerely thank all those who sponsored training gear for the underage teams during the season. A huge thank you to Gerry McLoughlin of Connolly Mercedes Sligo; Ian and Bernie Woods of Laydex Construction Products; Pascal and Sinead Gillard of Jinny’s Bakery; Paul McGowan of Westlink Coaches; Shane McGovern of Setia Construction and Paddy McManus of P. McManus Construction, Drumshanbo.
St. Francis Ladies – The intermediate final is fixed for this Sunday September 30th at 12noon in Ballinamore where Mohill provide the opposition. The ladies have put in a lot of hard work all year so please turnout in big numbers to cheer them on this weekend. Best of luck to Paul, Gareth and the squad as they prepare for the big game.
Minor Ladies – The ladies overcame Keeldra Gaels in the championship semi final on Saturday morning in the park. Well done to all concerned and we await details of the final. Best of luck to Ciara, Dermot, Ann and the girls.
U-15’s – The lads had a good win away to Glencar Manorhamilton on Friday evening on a scoreline of 3-11 to 1-08. Three early goals laid the foundation for victory and we now play Mohill at home on Saturday at 12noon so good luck to Farrell, Angus and the team.
U-13 Regional Final – The Lough Allen Region plays the Carrick Region in the final of the U-13 competition in Cloone on Tuesday of this week. Best of luck to all involved and we will have a report next week.
Lotto – There was no winner of the lotto jackpot last week. The prize winners of €20 each were: Norman Kelly, Drumkeerin; Elizabeth McGovern, Drumcong; David Keaney, Aughacashel; Gerry Cullen, Ballinaglera; Damien McCabe, Drumleague. The jackpot now stands at €3,200.
25 Card Drive – The card game has commenced in Aras Padraig every Sunday night at 8:30pm. All welcome.
New Arrival – Heartiest congratulations to Ciara and James Flynn on the birth of their son, Donagh, last week.
Senior Championship – We bowed out of the championship on Saturday evening in Pairc Sean losing to defending champions Mohill on a scoreline of 3-17 to 0-08. After an encouraging opening 20 minutes, it was all Mohill as we faded out of the game. The final margin was harsh on the players who put in a big effort. While we showed flashes of promise this season, we certainly learned that Division 2 is no preparation for the senior championship and it is important that everyone remains focussed for the coming weeks with a crucial league playoff with Dromahair to come that will decide who joins Annaduff in Division 1 next year. We wish Mohill well in the remainder of the championship and well done to the players & management for their commitment all year.
St. Francis Ladies – The intermediate final is due to be played the weekend of September 30th so best of luck to Paul, Gareth and the squad as they prepare for the big game.
Minor Ladies – The ladies play Keeldra Gaels in the championship semi final which is a home game for us on Saturday morning. Best of luck to Ciara, Dermot, Ann and the girls.
U-15’s – The lads play Glencar Manorhamilton away in the next round on Friday evening. Good luck to Farrell, Angus and the team.
Underage Blitz – Well done to all who took part in the U-7 and U-9 matches against Leitrim Gaels in the park on Friday evening last.
Lotto – There was no winner of the lotto jackpot last week the numbers drawn were 10-12-16-27. The prize winners of €20 each were: Conor Tiernan, Drumshanbo; Katie Mee, Cloone; Mick Curry, London; Maeve Daly, Drumshanbo; Jack & Matthew Prior, Aughawillan. The jackpot now stands at €3,100.
All Ireland Fundraiser – Congratulations to the winners in the All Ireland draw with Sean Lynch, Drumkeelan taking the half time prize of €250 and to overall winner Niall Sorohan, Convent Avenue who scooped €750. Many thanks to everyone who supported the draw and a special thank you to Noel Beirne, Fergus Moran and Henry Sorohan for organising what was a very successful venture.
Sympathy – The club extends deepest condolences to the O’Connor Family, Aughnagallop on the sad passing of John’s mother, Julianna O’Connor, who was laid to rest in Ballinaglera at the weekend.
Senior Championship – We lost out to Glencar Manorhamilton in the last round of group games on Saturday evening in Pairc Sean on a scoreline of 0-16 to 1-08. The 5 point losing margin was enough to see us through to the quarter final where we will face defending champions Mohill. The game is in Pairc Sean at 4:30pm on Saturday so best of luck to Sean, Paddy, Angus & the squad.
St. Francis Ladies – The ladies had a good win over Fenagh in the intermediate championship semi final last Saturday morning in Ballinamore. Mohill will provide the opposition in the final on the weekend of September 30th. Best of luck to Paul, Gareth & the panel.
U-15’s – They lads kicked off the championship with a good win away to Dromahair last Tuesday & then followed it up with a victory over St. Marys last Monday evening in the park on a scoreline of 0-14 to 1-06. A scoring burst just after half time with some great long range point taking was the difference. We have a bye in the next so good luck to Farrell, Angus and the team in the remaining matches.
Lotto – There was no winner of the lotto jackpot last week the numbers drawn were 03-15-27-28. The prize winners of €20 each were: Owenie McKiernan, Glangevlin; Elizabeth Smith, Tarmon; Dolores Matthews, Keadue; Noelle Burke, Creenagh; Tommy Mulvey, Drumcoura. The jackpot now stands at €3,000.
Club Meeting – There is a club meeting this Friday evening at 9pm in the clubhouse.
Senior Championship – We play Glencar Manorhamilton in the last round of group games this Saturday evening at 6:30pm in Pairc Sean. Best of luck to Sean, Paddy, Angus & the squad. Best wishes also to Bryan Beirne who picked up a nasty injury at the weekend and many thanks to Dr. Declan Loftus once again for his prompt attention.
St. Francis Ladies – The ladies play Fenagh in the intermediate championship semi final this Saturday. No details of time or venue to hand. Best of luck to Paul, Gareth & the panel.
U-13’s – The boys had a good win away to Kiltubrid last week on a scoreline of 4-13 to 1-13 & qualified for the Shield Final on Friday last where after a great battle they were pipped by Fenagh on a scoreline of 3-06 to 1-10. Hard luck to the team & management Kenneth, Richard & Cyril but well done on their efforts all year.
U-15’s – They lads commence their championship campaign with a trip to Dromahair on Tuesday & then host St. Marys next Monday at 6:30pm We will have details next week so good luck to Farrell, Angus and the team.
Lotto – There was no winner of the lotto jackpot last week the numbers drawn were 14-18-25-27. The prize winners of €20 each were: Una McEvoy, Ardcolum; Seamus O’Rourke, Dristernan; Eileen O’Brien, Gowel; Jim & Rose Casey, Keadue; Sue Tully, Cootehall. The jackpot now stands at €2,900.
Senior Championship –We came up short against Aughnasheelin on Saturday evening in Ballinamore defeated on a scoreline of 1-17 to 1-09. It was a very flat performance and a hungrier Aughnasheelin were deserving winners. We have a big task ahead before taking on Glencar Manorhamilton in the last round in 2 weeks time.
U-17’s – The U-17’s had a good win over Fenagh St. Caillians at home last Monday on a scoreline of 3-12 to 2-10 but were narrowly defeated by Leitrim Gaels in the Shield Final on Sunday evening on a scoreline of 1-18 to 3-07 in Leitrim Village. Well done to the players & management of Alan & Micky McTigue, Noel Beirne & Fergus Moran on their efforts all year and a special word of thanks to Alan who put in lot of work with the lads all summer.
U-13’s – The boys had a good win over Melvin Gaels in the park last Thursday on a scoreline of 7-11 to 4-05. We play Kiltubrid away this week so best of luck to the team & management Kenneth, Richard & Cyril.
St. Francis Ladies – The ladies have qualified for a semi final against Fenagh in the coming weeks. Best of luck to Paul, Gareth & the squad.
Lotto – There was no winner of the lotto jackpot last week the numbers drawn were 03-07-10-27. The prize winners of €20 each were: Margaret Horan, Drumcong; David O’Rourke, Ballinaglera; Linda Duignan, Hartley; Eileen Flaherty, Geevagh; John Gilmartin, Ballinaglera. The jackpot now stands at €2,800.
Sympathy – The Club extends deepest condolences to the Grier Family on the sad passing of John’s sister, Patricia Grier, who was laid to rest in Milford, Donegal last week. Sincere sympathy also to the Aherne Family on the sad passing of Tommy’s sister, Cait Allard, who was laid to rest in Coore, Co. Clare at the weekend.
St. Francis Ladies – The ladies overcame St. Marys/Bornacoola on Saturday morning last in Ballinamore on a scoreline of 0-14 to 1-04. We led 0-07 to 1-03 at the break but pulled away in the second half to qualify for the semi finals with a game to spare. Well done to Paul, Gareth & the squad.
Senior Championship – The lads face Aughnasheelin this Saturday evening at 6:30pm in Ballinamore. Best of luck to team & management.
U-17’s – The U-17’s were narrowly defeated by Ballinamore Sean O’Heslins away last week on a scoreline of 1-17 to 1-14. The last game in the round robin is this week when we host Fenagh St. Caillians. Best of luck to all concerned.
U-13’s – The lads were edged out by Sean O’Heslins on a scoreline of 3-07 to 2-08 and played out a thrilling draw with St. Brigids at home on Thursday 4-11 apiece after coming back from a 14 point deficit. Best of luck to the team & management in the last game at home to Melvin Gaels this Thursday at 7pm.
U-13 Regional Final – Best of luck to the Drumshanbo Area team who play the Carrick Area in the regional final in Cloone on Friday evening at 6:45pm.
Minor Ladies – Well done to the girls on their win last week over Mohill and best of luck to Dermot, Ann & the panel in their remaining matches.
Lotto – There was no winner of the lotto jackpot last week the numbers drawn were 03-06-14-17. The prize winners of €20 each were: Margaret Horan, Drumcong; Enda McGloin, Drumshanbo; Pius Earley, Mount Allen; John Barry, Mahanagh; Aidan McKeon, Mohercrieva. The jackpot now stands at €2,700.
Congratulations – Well done to Niall Morahan who made his first-team league debut for Sligo Rovers in a 3-1 win over Limerick.
Wedding Bells – Best wishes to Paddy Beirne and Jeanette Leydon who were married at the weekend. We wish the newlyweds every happiness together.
Sympathy – The Club extends deepest condolences to the family and friends of Paddy Dolan, Ballinamore who was laid to rest last week.
Senior Championship – The lads had a hard fought win over Melvin Gaels on Sunday in Ballinamore on a scoreline of 0-13 to 0-10 so well done to team and management. There is a break in fixtures this weekend.
Junior A Championship – Unfortunately due to a combination of factors we were short a lot of players & we were unable to field against Melvin Gaels in Ballinamore on Sunday following the senior game. Our apologies to Melvin Gaels for the short notice.
U-17’s – The U-17’s were defeated by St. Marys at home last Tuesday and Ballinamore Sean O’Heslins away this week. Best of luck to all concerned.
U-13’s – The lads lost out to Gortletteragh & Kiltubrid last week and play St. Brigids & Sean O’Heslins this week. Best of luck to the team & management.
Trip to Croke Park – Well done to the club’s juvenile committee who organised a trip to the All Ireland Semi Final on Sunday and a great time was had by all.
Lotto – There was no winner of the lotto jackpot last week the numbers drawn were 08-17-19-21. The prize winners of €20 each were: Colleen Blessing, Ballinaglera; Carlene Casserly, Drumshanbo; Michael Regan, Roscommon; Madeline Tansey, Geevagh; Kevin McKenna, Carrick. The jackpot now stands at €2,600.
New Arrivals – Heartiest congratulations to Lorraine & Shane McGovern on the birth of their son, Daire. Also to Helen and Alan Kelly on the birth of their daughter, Sadhbh last week. Finally best wishes to Brianna & Shane Gilroy on the arrival of Gareth in recent weeks.
Sympathy – The Club extends deepest condolences to the Kane Family on the sad passing of Maria Kane, Cormongan who was laid to rest on Sunday.
Niall Higgins Tournament – The annual Niall Higgins Memorial Tournament took place in the park on Bank Holiday Monday and Clann na nGael from Roscommon emerged victorious in the final with a 4-01 to 0-08 win over Allen Gaels. It was a great day’s entertainment and we thank Clann na nGael, Shannon Gaels/Kilmore, Mohill, St. Mary’s Kiltoghert & Glencar Manorhamilton for travelling and making the tournament a big success. The U-15 competition provided a series of very enjoyable matches and the results were: Allen Gaels 5-08 G/Manorhamilton 1-02; Clan na nGael 7-04 Mohill 4-04; Shannon Gaels/ Kilmore 2-08 G/Manorhamilton 0-06; St. Mary’s 2-08 Mohill 1-04; Allen Gaels 4-07 Shannon Gaels/Kilmore 1-04; Clann nGael 3-03 St. Mary’s 1-06. In a thrilling final Clann na nGael prevailed against Allen Gales 4-01 to 0-08 with a man of the match display from the Clan goalkeeper, Neil Hannon, who repelled a barrage of goal chances from the home side. Many congratulations to all who took part and a big thank you to Cyril McKeon & Mal Guckian for officiating the matches. Thank you to all who helped out in the clubhouse during the day, to the umpires and well done to the organising committee especially Farrell McKeon, Angus Fee & Stephen McWeeney. A special thanks to Paddy & Mairead Higgins who attended on the day and to Paddy for presenting the medals & trophy.
Senior Championship – The senior team lost out to St. Mary’s in Pairc Sean on Saturday on Saturday evening on a scoreline of 3-16 to 3-08 and could have few complaints with the result. We play Melvin Gaels in Ballinamore on Sunday at 12noon. Best of luck to the squad and the management team of Sean, Paddy & Angus.
Pyramid Bookmakers Junior A Championship – Best of luck to the team & management against Melvin Gales in Ballinamore on Sunday following the senior game.
St. Francis Ladies – The ladies are out again the weekend after next.
U-17’s – The U-17’s were defeated by St. Joseph’s last week on a scoreline of 0-12 to 3-07 and we play St. Marys at home and Ballinamore Sean O’Heslins away in the coming week. Best of luck to all concerned.
U-13’s – The lads lost out to Drumkeerin on Thursday last and we have two more away fixtures this week in Gortletteragh & Kiltubrid and will have a report next week. Best of luck to the team & management.
Minor Ladies – The girls had a good win in Dromahair last week. No details of this week’s fixture.
Lotto – There was no winner of the lotto jackpot last week the numbers drawn were 03-11-21-25. The prize winners of €20 each were: Susan Gilmartin, Ballinaglera; Steve Stead, Drumshanbo; Elizabeth Flynn, Aughriman; Mary Smith, Galway; Declan Lynch, Creenagh. The jackpot now stands at €2,500.
Wedding Bells – Heartiest congratulations to Oisin Dolan and Leila Dowling who were married on Saturday. We wish the newly-wed couple every happiness together.
Connacht Gold Senior Championship – The senior team had a good start to the championship against Bornacoola in Cloone on Friday evening emerging winners on scoreline of 3-14 to 1-07. The club wishes Brian Duffy from Bornacoola a speedy recovery. We play St. Mary’s in Pairc Sean on Saturday at 5:30pm. Best of luck to the squad and the management team of Sean, Paddy & Angus.
Pyramid Bookmakers Junior A Championship – Hard luck to the lads who lost out to a strong Glencar Manorhamilton outfit on Sunday in Pairc Sean.
St. Francis Ladies – The ladies have a bye this weekend.
U-17’s – The U-17’s were defeated by Leitrim Gaels last week and we have 2 home games coming up against St. Josephs this week and St. Marys next Monday evening. Best of luck to all concerned.
U-13’s – The lads are away on Thursday evening to Drumkeerin. Best of luck to the team & management.
Niall Higgins Tournament – The annual Niall Higgins Memorial Tournament takes place in the park on the Bank Holiday Monday first game at 11am. Anyone available to help out on the day would be very welcome.
Lotto – There was no winner of the lotto jackpot last week the numbers drawn were 06-12-19-26. The prize winners of €20 each were: Patricia Coggins, Leitrim Village; Enda McGloin, Drumshanbo; Una McAvoy, Ardcolum; Bridgie Brogan, Dowra Road; Oisin Conway, Trim. The jackpot now stands at €2,400.
Wedding Bells – Heartiest congratulations to Ray Beirne and Orla McGuinness who were married on Saturday. We wish the newly-wed couple every happiness together.
Sympathy – The Club extends deepest condolences to the Doyle Family on the sad passing of Dessie & Seamus’ sister, Mary Moran, who was laid to rest in Glasson at the weekend. Sincere sympathy also to the Gilchriest Family, on the sad passing of James, who was laid to rest in Drumshanbo last week. Condolences to the Spellman Family, Diffier on the recent passing of Bernadette’s sister, Elizabeth McGinley in Sligo and finally to the Beirne Family, Drumleague on the passing of Tommy Beirne. May they rest in peace.
Senior Championship – The championship kicks off with a Friday evening match against Bornacoola in Cloone at 6:30pm. Best of luck to the squad and the management team of Sean, Paddy & Angus.
Dunnes Bar Division 2: The league concluded with an anti-climax on Saturday evening as Cloone conceded the points in our last outing and a draw between Annaduff & Dromahair means that we are tied with Dromahair on 18 points and on the head to head. As score difference is also out due to the concession a playoff will be required after the championship. Well done to the players and management on their efforts all year.
St. Francis Ladies – Well done to the ladies who had a big win over Fenagh on Sunday morning. Scorers were Aine Flood 3-03; Ailish Cornyn 2-02; Katie Kelly 2-02; Ciara McPartland 1-03; Roisin McGrenaghan 0-02; Dara Morahan 0-01; & Mairead McCawley 0-01. We play again on August 11th. Best of luck to the panel and to Paul & Gareth in the remaining games.
Newtowngore Engineering U-17’s – The U-17’s lost out narrowly to Drumkeerin last week on a scoreline of 2-10 to 2-07. We play Leitrim Gaels away this week and are at home to St. Josephs on Monday evening. We will have a report next week. Best of luck to all concerned.
Barna Recycling U-13’s – The lads are at home on Thursday evening to Ballinamore Sean O’Heslins. Best of luck to the team & management.
U-11’s – We hosted St. Marys in a very enjoyable blitz in the park on Friday evening. Well done to all the players for their efforts. There is another blitz against Melvin Gaels on Saturday morning in the park at 11:15am.
U-9’s – The U-9’s have a blitz in the park on Wednesday evening at 6:30pm.
Fundraising Meeting – There is an important meeting in the clubhouse tonight Wednesday July 25th at 8pm to discuss fundraising ideas within the club. A fundraising committee met last week and they are appealing to all members, parents, coaches, players, supporters to help out. Your idea could make all the difference so everyone is welcome.
Lotto – There was no winner of the lotto jackpot last week the numbers drawn were 12-15-25-27. The prize winners of €20 each were: Gerry Kelly, Carrick-on-Shannon; Henry Sorohan, Drumshanbo; Berna Gibbons, Keadue; John Joe Cullen, Drumshanbo; Fiona McKiernan, Drumshanbo. The jackpot now stands at €2,300.
New Arrival – Congratulations and best wishes to Conor & Rebecca Higgins who welcomed their first child in London last week, a boy called Ruairi.
Dunnes Bar Division 2 – The lads had 2 tough games last week against Dromahair and Annaduff. We travelled to Dromahair on Wednesday evening and found ourselves a goal down in the first minute and worse almost followed as Dromahair missed a penalty in the 4th minute as well as a coupof veryery scorable chances. We got on the scoreboard in the 7th minute when Shane Beirne fisted a point quickly followed by a point from play from Caleb Duffy. The home side had the next 2 points before we hit 4 points on the trot between the 16th and 24th minute from James Flynn, Caleb Duffy (2) & Martin Beirne. Dromahair hit back with 3 points of their own to lead 1-05 to 0-6 at the break. The home side kicked on after the interval and points in the 32nd & 34th minute saw them lead by 4. Martin Beirne landed a free in reply but another free in the 42nd minute proved to be their last score. The home side were reduced to 14 men and played a rearguard action to protect their lead. Martin Beirne in the 47th minute and a long range Diarmuid McKiernan free left 2 points in it with 10 minutes remaining. We were unable to find a way through in that time and it was the first minute of injury time when Bryan Beirne landed a long range score to bring us within one. As time was running out Martin Raftery was the hero when he popped up with the equaliser in the 4th minute of stoppage time to secure a share of the spoils. In a must win game on Saturday evening we came out on top in a tight encounter with table toppers Annaduff. Again another slow start saw us trail 1-04 to 0-01 at the end of the opening quarter. The visitors raced into a 3 point lead in 7 minutes before Caleb Duffy pointed from play after great work from Kyle Flynn in defence. Annaduff added another point and then as they dominated possession struck for a goal on 12 minutes. Martin Beirne replied with a free and then in the 20th minute hit the net to bring us back into the game. Thomas Mulvey added a point from play and in the 26th minute Ciaran Walsh got on the end of a move to strike for our second goal and put us in the lead for the first time. However on the stroke of half time Annaduff were awarded a penalty & converted to leave the interval score 2-04 to 2-03 to the visitors. Annaduff had the first 2 points of the second half inside 2 minutes but Caleb Duffy was on hand in the 33rd minute to grab our third goal & level the game. Both sides missed chances before Annaduff edged ahead again in the 42nd minute. Martin Beirne converted a free to level again going into the last quarter. Annaduff scored from a free to lead again on 49 minutes but this was short lived as Martin Raftery broke up field to level once more. Diarmuid McKiernan converted a pressure 45 after missing a couple earlier with 5 minutes remaining. When Annaduff hit a great long range equaliser in the 58th minute it looked like they would secure the point they needed to confirm promotion. However with the game in injury time Caleb Duffy hit a free and then added a final point from play after a brilliant interception by David Wynne to close out the game on a score line of 3-08 to 2-09.Scorers: Martin Beirne 1-03; Caleb Duffy 1-03; Ciaran Walsh 1-00; Thomas Mulvey 0-01; Martin Raftery 0-01. Our last game this weekend is a must win match against Cloone in Cloone so best of luck to the team & management.
St. Francis Ladies – Well done to the ladies who got the championship off to a good start with a well deserved win over Mohill on Sunday morning. The final score was 3-13 to 1-07 with goals from Ailish Cornyn, Ciara McTigue & Maeve Daly the difference. We play Fenagh this Sunday but no details of fixture as yet. Best of luck to the panel and to Paul & Gareth.
U-17’s – The U-17’s begin their championship campaign with 2 away games to Drumkeerin & Leitrim Gaels. We will have a report next week. Best of luck to all concerned.
U-13’s – The lads were just pipped by a late goal in the park against Fenagh on Thursday evening last on a scoreline of 2-09 to 1-10. We travel to Gortletteragh on Thursday evening throw in at 7:30pm. Best of luck to team & management.
U-11’s – We are hosting St. Marys in a blitz in the park on Friday at 7pm.
Kellogg’s Cul Camps – Many thanks to Shane O’Rourke and his team of coaches who looked after over 180 kids so well last week in Drumshanbo.
Lotto – There was no winner of the lotto jackpot last week the numbers drawn were 09-17-21-23. The prize winners of €20 each were: Rose McLoughlin, Carrick-on-Shannon; Carmel Smith, Drumshanbo; Rosalie Logan, Creenagh; Ann Mulvaney, Glangevlin; Shane Beirne, Mahanagh. The jackpot now stands at €2,200.
Wedding Bells – Congratulations and best wishes to Francie McManus and Ailish Roddy who were married in Aughnasheelin on Saturday and celebrated with family and friends in Meath later in the day. | 2019-04-21T14:54:23Z | http://www.leitrimgaa.ie/category/club-notes/allen-gaels/page/3/ |
Social Security number 580-80-8989 was issued to PABLO BENITEZ-CLEM, who was born 03 June 1913 and, Death Master File says, died 03 November 1994.
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Social Security number 580-80-8990 was issued to MARTIN CONCEPCION, who was born 01 July 1888 and, Death Master File says, died May 1978.
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Social Security number 580-80-8992 was issued to SILVIA OQUENDO, who was born 20 June 1934 and, Death Master File says, died 28 December 1999.
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Social Security number 580-80-8993 was issued to JOSE B CARRION, who was born 02 February 1937 and, Death Master File says, died 25 December 2013.
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Social Security number 580-80-8994 was issued to EVAN D CRUTHERS, who was born 20 July 1941 and, Death Master File says, died 23 July 2009.
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Social Security number 580-80-8995 was issued to J FRANCO-CIRIN, who was born 29 January 1943 and, Death Master File says, died 15 December 1992.
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Social Security number 580-80-8997 was issued to LUPERCIO COLBERG, who was born 06 March 1908 and, Death Master File says, died March 1972.
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Social Security number 580-80-8998 was issued to CARMEN M CERRA-DIAZ, who was born 22 February 1941 and, Death Master File says, died 03 December 1993.
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Social Security number 580-80-9001 was issued to RAMON MELENDEZ, who was born 24 August 1941 and, Death Master File says, died 01 September 1987.
Social Security number 580-80-9002 was issued to ANTONIO CABRERA, who was born 13 June 1915 and, Death Master File says, died 05 February 2004.
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Social Security number 580-80-9020 was issued to JOSE COLON-RIVERA, who was born 22 November 1912 and, Death Master File says, died April 1987.
Social Security number 580-80-9024 was issued to CLEMENTE MORALES, who was born 17 September 1904 and, Death Master File says, died October 1972.
Social Security number 580-80-9034 was issued to JUAN MEDINA, who was born 06 May 1942 and, Death Master File says, died 13 April 2005.
Social Security number 580-80-9036 was issued to MARIANA CARTAGENA, who was born 27 April 1928 and, Death Master File says, died 06 May 1991.
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Social Security number 580-80-9037 was issued to R ORTIZ, who was born 24 October 1944 and, Death Master File says, died 01 November 1992.
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Social Security number 580-80-9041 was issued to JUAN FLORES-PINTO, who was born 23 June 1941 and, Death Master File says, died September 1980.
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Social Security number 580-80-9050 was issued to LEONOR RODRIGUEZ, who was born 01 July 1906 and, Death Master File says, died 22 April 1997.
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Social Security number 580-80-9057 was issued to RUBEN FALCON, who was born 10 May 1942 and, Death Master File says, died 10 January 2005.
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Social Security number 580-80-9059 was issued to BELEN OTERO BARBOS, who was born 01 January 1942 and, Death Master File says, died 04 December 2008.
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Social Security number 580-80-9067 was issued to AMOR M GONZALEZ, who was born 06 December 1938 and, Death Master File says, died 24 December 2003.
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Social Security number 580-80-9068 was issued to HECTOR L FIGUEROA SAN, who was born 08 March 1943 and, Death Master File says, died 17 July 2008.
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Social Security number 580-80-9072 was issued to ANGEL SANTIAGO, who was born 30 January 1939 and, Death Master File says, died 13 October 2004.
Social Security number 580-80-9074 was issued to JAIME GUZMAN, who was born 01 August 1943 and, Death Master File says, died 15 August 1995.
Social Security number 580-80-9079 was issued to MAXIMINA ROSARIO, who was born 10 September 1896 and, Death Master File says, died March 1981.
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Social Security number 580-80-9088 was issued to RAFAEL ORRES DELATO, who was born 29 November 1902 and, Death Master File says, died July 1979.
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Social Security number 580-80-9089 was issued to TERESA RAIMUNDI MEL, who was born 16 August 1939 and, Death Master File says, died 11 June 2013.
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Social Security number 580-80-9097 was issued to ANGEL L MONTANEZ, who was born 02 May 1942 and, Death Master File says, died 03 October 2008.
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Social Security number 580-80-9099 was issued to JUANA GUZMAN, who was born 04 June 1917 and, Death Master File says, died 06 May 1988.
Social Security number 580-80-9104 was issued to JUAN J PAGAN, who was born 24 June 1943 and, Death Master File says, died 20 June 1993.
Social Security number 580-80-9107 was issued to AURELIO CRUZ, who was born 06 October 1942 and, Death Master File says, died April 1967.
Social Security number 580-80-9111 was issued to JOSE L BONILLA GARC, who was born 12 July 1941 and, Death Master File says, died 13 April 2008.
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Social Security number 580-80-9112 was issued to CARMEN RODRIGUEZ-VE, who was born 22 July 1927 and, Death Master File says, died 29 October 2008.
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Social Security number 580-80-9114 was issued to JULIA OTERO, who was born 13 April 1913 and, Death Master File says, died 17 June 2001.
Social Security number 580-80-9127 was issued to JUAN B LUGO DELGADO, who was born 26 June 1940 and, Death Master File says, died 29 October 2004.
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Social Security number 580-80-9136 was issued to JOSE CANALES-NEGR, who was born 30 December 1917 and, Death Master File says, died December 1986.
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Social Security number 580-80-9141 was issued to HIPOLITA SANCHEZ, who was born 04 September 1931 and, Death Master File says, died 25 May 2005.
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Social Security number 580-80-9144 was issued to BERTA M RIVERA, who was born 13 August 1940 and, Death Master File says, died 03 May 2002.
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Social Security number 580-80-9145 was issued to GREGORIO SANCHEZ, who was born 17 October 1925 and, Death Master File says, died 20 February 2011.
Social Security number 580-80-9154 was issued to M DELGADO-VAZQ, who was born 13 January 1941 and, Death Master File says, died June 1990.
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Social Security number 580-80-9155 was issued to JUAN CARRASQUILLO, who was born 27 January 1942 and, Death Master File says, died 12 July 2007.
Social Security number 580-80-9159 was issued to JUAN HERNANDEZ, who was born 05 August 1945 and, Death Master File says, died 18 December 1990.
Social Security number 580-80-9161 was issued to VICTOR BETANCOURT, who was born 14 May 1942 and, Death Master File says, died 27 October 2005.
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Social Security number 580-80-9164 was issued to LUIS G RODRIGUEZ, who was born 04 November 1940 and, Death Master File says, died 05 June 2002.
Social Security number 580-80-9166 was issued to ANTONIO ROSARIO HIRA, who was born 20 April 1938 and, Death Master File says, died 25 November 2006.
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Social Security number 580-80-9172 was issued to JOSE PIZARRO-MARQ, who was born 04 February 1939 and, Death Master File says, died October 1979.
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Social Security number 580-80-9178 was issued to DANIELA MENDEZ-CLARA, who was born 22 February 1924 and, Death Master File says, died May 1996.
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Social Security number 580-80-9184 was issued to ESPERANZA ZORRILLA, who was born 06 February 1926 and, Death Master File says, died 18 August 2011.
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Social Security number 580-80-9188 was issued to ISIDORO HERNANDEZ FR, who was born 15 March 1900 and, Death Master File says, died May 1974.
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Social Security number 580-80-9191 was issued to DIEGO SEVILLA, who was born 18 November 1943 and, Death Master File says, died 18 November 2006.
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Social Security number 580-80-9194 was issued to LUIS MARTINEZ-DEL, who was born 29 August 1941 and, Death Master File says, died October 1977.
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Social Security number 580-80-9195 was issued to CECILIA HERNANDEZ, who was born 22 May 1914 and, Death Master File says, died June 1987.
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Social Security number 580-80-9198 was issued to RAMONITA DELGADO, who was born 20 September 1942 and, Death Master File says, died 17 June 2007.
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Social Security number 580-80-9200 was issued to EMILIA ORTIZ, who was born 08 August 1941 and, Death Master File says, died 15 March 2009.
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Social Security number 580-80-9203 was issued to JUDITH TORRES, who was born 17 December 1928 and, Death Master File says, died 05 September 2008.
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Social Security number 580-80-9206 was issued to SALVADOR QUILES, who was born 02 July 1942 and, Death Master File says, died 18 December 2013.
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Social Security number 580-80-9212 was issued to MIGUEL A MOLINA ENCAR, who was born 26 January 1943 and, Death Master File says, died 16 September 2005.
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Social Security number 580-80-9220 was issued to BELEN DAVILA, who was born 29 November 1939 and, Death Master File says, died 04 August 2005.
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Social Security number 580-80-9222 was issued to JUAN A JURADO, who was born 24 February 1946 and, Death Master File says, died 04 January 2010.
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Social Security number 580-80-9226 was issued to SONIA M HERNANDEZ, who was born 29 March 1941 and, Death Master File says, died 30 December 1994.
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Social Security number 580-80-9228 was issued to RAMONA DELGADO MOLI, who was born 0000 and, Death Master File says, died June 1969.
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Social Security number 580-80-9237 was issued to GABRIEL MARTINEZ SAL, who was born 24 March 1939 and, Death Master File says, died 15 February 2008.
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Social Security number 580-80-9238 was issued to SAMUEL SALGADO-SALG, who was born 06 September 1942 and, Death Master File says, died 31 October 1998.
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Social Security number 580-80-9240 was issued to EVELYN CASTRILLON G, who was born 03 September 1940 and, Death Master File says, died 10 February 2004.
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Social Security number 580-80-9253 was issued to WILLIAM GIBSON, who was born 03 October 1929 and, Death Master File says, died December 1976.
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Social Security number 580-80-9264 was issued to JOSE M GOYCO, who was born 12 March 1897 and, Death Master File says, died 01 May 1992.
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Social Security number 580-80-9271 was issued to N REYES-HERNAN, who was born 06 December 1942 and, Death Master File says, died 15 October 1993.
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Social Security number 580-80-9277 was issued to ROBERTO RIVERA, who was born 23 May 1942 and, Death Master File says, died February 1976.
Social Security number 580-80-9286 was issued to MOISES LOPEZ, who was born 11 May 1940 and, Death Master File says, died April 1973.
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Social Security number 580-80-9289 was issued to ANTONIO MOLINA-OSORI, who was born 19 June 1919 and, Death Master File says, died 29 December 2003.
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Social Security number 580-80-9293 was issued to PABLO DIAZ-AYALA, who was born 07 August 1915 and, Death Master File says, died 11 December 2007.
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Social Security number 580-80-9304 was issued to FELICITA RAMIREZ, who was born 12 December 1907 and, Death Master File says, died December 1979.
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Social Security number 580-80-9307 was issued to L PEREZ, who was born 04 June 1943 and, Death Master File says, died October 1989.
Social Security number 580-80-9309 was issued to HENRI LEJET, who was born 10 January 1906 and, Death Master File says, died March 1982.
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Social Security number 580-80-9314 was issued to S CIRILO-CALDE, who was born 28 March 1942 and, Death Master File says, died April 1991.
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Social Security number 580-80-9320 was issued to MAGDA A RODRIGUEZ-VA, who was born 28 January 1939 and, Death Master File says, died 24 October 1997.
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Social Security number 580-80-9325 was issued to LYDIA COLON-ORTEGA, who was born 26 October 1940 and, Death Master File says, died August 1989.
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Social Security number 580-80-9329 was issued to JUANA R COLLAZO, who was born 30 June 1897 and, Death Master File says, died 11 August 1988.
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Social Security number 580-80-9331 was issued to JUAN CALDERO, who was born 15 January 1903 and, Death Master File says, died September 1986.
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Social Security number 580-80-9332 was issued to FELIX CALDERON, who was born 08 June 1941 and, Death Master File says, died May 1972.
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Social Security number 580-80-9336 was issued to ANDREA PEREZ, who was born 17 December 1885 and, Death Master File says, died October 1979.
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Social Security number 580-80-9346 was issued to H M GARCIA, who was born 23 February 1936 and, Death Master File says, died 15 May 1996.
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Social Security number 580-80-9348 was issued to JUAN MARTINEZ, who was born 07 January 1894 and, Death Master File says, died July 1972.
Social Security number 580-80-9351 was issued to WILLIAM MARRERO CHEV, who was born 31 May 1943 and, Death Master File says, died 18 April 2001.
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Social Security number 580-80-9359 was issued to NORBERTO HERNANDEZ, who was born 07 August 1927 and, Death Master File says, died 15 July 2013.
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Social Security number 580-80-9366 was issued to CARMEN ORTIZ, who was born 15 August 1929 and, Death Master File says, died 12 December 2009.
Social Security number 580-80-9371 was issued to LUIS CRUZ MEDERO, who was born 16 September 1942 and, Death Master File says, died 02 December 2009.
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Social Security number 580-80-9382 was issued to RAMON CABRERA SANT, who was born 19 January 1905 and, Death Master File says, died 15 November 1994.
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Social Security number 580-80-9391 was issued to JOSE CASTILLO, who was born 15 August 1914 and, Death Master File says, died 21 June 2001.
Social Security number 580-80-9392 was issued to AMELIA CUSTODIO, who was born 16 May 1913 and, Death Master File says, died 05 March 2007.
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Social Security number 580-80-9394 was issued to CARLOS L DIAZ, who was born 23 June 1942 and, Death Master File says, died 09 January 2010.
Social Security number 580-80-9395 was issued to HECTOR R SEMIDEY GARC, who was born 04 April 1939 and, Death Master File says, died 17 December 2013.
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Social Security number 580-80-9397 was issued to JUAN A ROMAN COLON, who was born 01 March 1943 and, Death Master File says, died 19 April 2007.
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Social Security number 580-80-9401 was issued to RONALDO NEGRON RODRI, who was born 29 March 1942 and, Death Master File says, died 23 October 2003.
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Social Security number 580-80-9411 was issued to ROBERTO ACEVEDO ROSA, who was born 25 February 1942 and, Death Master File says, died 07 September 2005.
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Social Security number 580-80-9414 was issued to ANA D COLLAZO, who was born 16 April 1943 and, Death Master File says, died 12 September 2002.
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Social Security number 580-80-9416 was issued to LEONOR PANTOJA, who was born 14 March 1933 and, Death Master File says, died 28 April 2006.
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Social Security number 580-80-9417 was issued to A PEREZ, who was born 08 April 1940 and, Death Master File says, died October 1991.
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Social Security number 580-80-9420 was issued to MARTINA DIAZ-RAMOS, who was born 12 September 1922 and, Death Master File says, died 09 May 2000.
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Social Security number 580-80-9422 was issued to ANGEL A DE JESUS ROMAN, who was born 10 February 1943 and, Death Master File says, died 16 November 2000.
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Social Security number 580-80-9425 was issued to FRANCISCO BARBOSA, who was born 10 November 1893 and, Death Master File says, died September 1964.
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Social Security number 580-80-9436 was issued to PEDRO ARCE, who was born 30 August 1941 and, Death Master File says, died December 1984.
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Social Security number 580-80-9441 was issued to FELICITA A DE LA CRUZ, who was born 10 July 1942 and, Death Master File says, died 01 June 2005.
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Social Security number 580-80-9443 was issued to ESCOLASTIC A VARGAS, who was born 06 December 1922 and, Death Master File says, died 17 June 1994.
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Social Security number 580-80-9444 was issued to EVARISTA BURGOS, who was born 17 March 1890 and, Death Master File says, died 23 September 1991.
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Social Security number 580-80-9448 was issued to ANGEL R PINEIRO, who was born 31 July 1937 and, Death Master File says, died 27 October 2002.
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Social Security number 580-80-9456 was issued to RAFAEL ALDEA, who was born 05 August 1883 and, Death Master File says, died February 1968.
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Social Security number 580-80-9460 was issued to FRANKLIN SNEED, who was born 24 November 1943 and, Death Master File says, died 24 June 1999.
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Social Security number 580-80-9461 was issued to PABLO ORTIZ-ROSADO, who was born 29 November 1921 and, Death Master File says, died March 1976.
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Social Security number 580-80-9463 was issued to WILFREDO GUADARRAMA, who was born 10 May 1943 and, Death Master File says, died 28 July 1997.
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Social Security number 580-80-9466 was issued to MYRNA IRIZARRY, who was born 01 November 1939 and, Death Master File says, died 01 August 2006.
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Social Security number 580-80-9471 was issued to LUIS COSME, who was born 09 July 1943 and, Death Master File says, died 05 November 2006.
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Social Security number 580-80-9485 was issued to MILFREDO FELICIANO, who was born 12 October 1941 and, Death Master File says, died March 1977.
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Social Security number 580-80-9486 was issued to CARMEN NAVARRO ROSA, who was born 14 October 1934 and, Death Master File says, died 24 August 2001.
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Social Security number 580-80-9489 was issued to CARMEN MALDONADO, who was born 18 June 1904 and, Death Master File says, died 27 March 2002.
Social Security number 580-80-9493 was issued to JENARO VIGIO, who was born 19 September 1896 and, Death Master File says, died 04 January 1992.
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Social Security number 580-80-9494 was issued to ALEANDRO CRUZ, who was born 09 February 1904 and, Death Master File says, died March 1979.
Search Archives for ALEANDRO CRUZ.
Social Security number 580-80-9506 was issued to LYDIA M MERCADO DEOR, who was born 05 August 1905 and, Death Master File says, died August 1992.
Search Archives for LYDIA MERCADO DEOR.
Social Security number 580-80-9520 was issued to JUANA RUIZ VALENTI, who was born 16 July 1918 and, Death Master File says, died March 1980.
Search Archives for JUANA RUIZ VALENTI.
Social Security number 580-80-9532 was issued to RAUL OTERO, who was born 13 December 1943 and, Death Master File says, died 24 September 1993.
Search Archives for RAUL OTERO.
Social Security number 580-80-9533 was issued to JOSE M ROSARIO FELI, who was born 29 December 1941 and, Death Master File says, died 23 February 2005.
Search Archives for JOSE ROSARIO FELI.
Social Security number 580-80-9534 was issued to ANTONIO RODRIGUEZ, who was born 25 June 1905 and, Death Master File says, died August 1980.
Social Security number 580-80-9535 was issued to TARIBO DIAZ OCASIO, who was born 18 June 1924 and, Death Master File says, died 27 April 2004.
Search Archives for TARIBO DIAZ OCASIO.
Social Security number 580-80-9542 was issued to MARIA MARRERO, who was born 11 August 1913 and, Death Master File says, died 01 December 2005.
Social Security number 580-80-9547 was issued to JORGE ALOMAR, who was born 21 November 1944 and, Death Master File says, died June 1982.
Search Archives for JORGE ALOMAR.
Social Security number 580-80-9550 was issued to BETTIE M SANTIAGO BAT, who was born 27 March 1941 and, Death Master File says, died 09 October 2010.
Search Archives for BETTIE SANTIAGO BAT.
Social Security number 580-80-9562 was issued to MARIO LEON-VILLEGA, who was born 07 March 1942 and, Death Master File says, died September 1984.
Search Archives for MARIO LEON-VILLEGA.
Social Security number 580-80-9563 was issued to HERMINIA TORRES, who was born 15 January 1930 and, Death Master File says, died 14 February 2006.
Social Security number 580-80-9574 was issued to JOSEFA PABON, who was born 19 March 1896 and, Death Master File says, died July 1985.
Search Archives for JOSEFA PABON.
Social Security number 580-80-9575 was issued to HECTOR RIVERA, who was born 06 March 1941 and, Death Master File says, died 11 May 1997.
Social Security number 580-80-9578 was issued to EMILIA DEL-VALLE, who was born 23 March 1916 and, Death Master File says, died 08 October 1990.
Search Archives for EMILIA DEL-VALLE.
Social Security number 580-80-9581 was issued to JUAN L RIVERA TORRE, who was born 20 June 1943 and, Death Master File says, died 13 December 2010.
Social Security number 580-80-9582 was issued to JAIME RIVERA RIVER, who was born 05 January 1944 and, Death Master File says, died 24 November 2006.
Search Archives for JAIME RIVERA RIVER.
Social Security number 580-80-9598 was issued to RAFAEL A PAGAN, who was born 07 August 1938 and, Death Master File says, died 06 March 1995.
Social Security number 580-80-9600 was issued to ZOILA BERRIOS, who was born 27 June 1921 and, Death Master File says, died 01 October 2008.
Search Archives for ZOILA BERRIOS.
Social Security number 580-80-9601 was issued to JUAN CASTELLS, who was born 14 February 1895 and, Death Master File says, died December 1973.
Search Archives for JUAN CASTELLS.
Social Security number 580-80-9602 was issued to LYDIA FLORAN-RODRI, who was born 11 June 1941 and, Death Master File says, died August 1979.
Search Archives for LYDIA FLORAN-RODRI.
Social Security number 580-80-9603 was issued to JUAN CRUZ, who was born 24 December 1944 and, Death Master File says, died November 1973.
Social Security number 580-80-9615 was issued to LEONOR MONTANEZ SAN, who was born 12 December 1938 and, Death Master File says, died 21 June 2005.
Search Archives for LEONOR MONTANEZ SAN.
Social Security number 580-80-9616 was issued to MERCEDES F LOPEZ, who was born 12 August 1905 and, Death Master File says, died 11 February 2001.
Search Archives for MERCEDES LOPEZ.
Social Security number 580-80-9623 was issued to IRIS VIZCARRONDO, who was born 14 February 1944 and, Death Master File says, died 16 October 2001.
Search Archives for IRIS VIZCARRONDO.
Social Security number 580-80-9629 was issued to ZENEIDA FIGUEROA, who was born 12 June 1940 and, Death Master File says, died 03 November 2011.
Search Archives for ZENEIDA FIGUEROA.
Social Security number 580-80-9630 was issued to PEDRO PEREZ CALDER, who was born 01 August 1898 and, Death Master File says, died March 1974.
Search Archives for PEDRO PEREZ CALDER.
Social Security number 580-80-9635 was issued to CHARLES H JULIA YURKIE, who was born 28 May 1942 and, Death Master File says, died 20 August 1997.
Search Archives for CHARLES JULIA YURKIE.
Social Security number 580-80-9636 was issued to DELFINA SANMIGUEL, who was born 24 December 1934 and, Death Master File says, died 27 June 1993.
Search Archives for DELFINA SANMIGUEL.
Social Security number 580-80-9641 was issued to TEODOSIA FIGUEROA, who was born 30 July 1912 and, Death Master File says, died 31 December 1988.
Search Archives for TEODOSIA FIGUEROA.
Social Security number 580-80-9642 was issued to JOSE ORTIZ NEGRON, who was born 26 February 1894 and, Death Master File says, died October 1979.
Search Archives for JOSE ORTIZ NEGRON.
Social Security number 580-80-9647 was issued to MARIA VELAZQUEZ, who was born 14 July 1943 and, Death Master File says, died October 1984.
Social Security number 580-80-9651 was issued to JULIO RODRIGUEZ CA, who was born 06 August 1942 and, Death Master File says, died 09 January 2000.
Search Archives for JULIO RODRIGUEZ CA.
Social Security number 580-80-9658 was issued to INES RODRIGUEZ MO, who was born 19 April 1917 and, Death Master File says, died 26 October 2008.
Search Archives for INES RODRIGUEZ MO.
Social Security number 580-80-9659 was issued to PEDRO MEDINA, who was born 21 March 1942 and, Death Master File says, died March 1970.
Search Archives for PEDRO MEDINA.
Social Security number 580-80-9661 was issued to AUDELIZ RIVERA RIVER, who was born 30 April 1942 and, Death Master File says, died 25 June 2011.
Search Archives for AUDELIZ RIVERA RIVER.
Social Security number 580-80-9665 was issued to MAGDALENA ROSADO, who was born 01 July 1886 and, Death Master File says, died August 1965.
Search Archives for MAGDALENA ROSADO.
Social Security number 580-80-9666 was issued to MARGARETT S BROWN, who was born 17 February 1943 and, Death Master File says, died 28 January 1997.
Search Archives for MARGARETT BROWN.
Social Security number 580-80-9667 was issued to R RODRIGUEZ, who was born 02 May 1940 and, Death Master File says, died 15 December 1992.
Social Security number 580-80-9679 was issued to JOSE F ROMAN-VARGAS, who was born 30 September 1926 and, Death Master File says, died 09 February 1997.
Search Archives for JOSE ROMAN-VARGAS.
Social Security number 580-80-9680 was issued to MARIA GARRIGA GONZ, who was born 25 March 1892 and, Death Master File says, died 11 November 1990.
Search Archives for MARIA GARRIGA GONZ.
Social Security number 580-80-9682 was issued to JUAN ORTA, who was born 03 March 1937 and, Death Master File says, died May 1981.
Search Archives for JUAN ORTA.
Social Security number 580-80-9683 was issued to MARIO MELERO ORTIZ, who was born 19 January 1940 and, Death Master File says, died 28 July 2008.
Search Archives for MARIO MELERO ORTIZ.
Social Security number 580-80-9685 was issued to LOLA FIGUEROA OQU, who was born 16 January 1926 and, Death Master File says, died 15 June 2008.
Search Archives for LOLA FIGUEROA OQU.
Social Security number 580-80-9691 was issued to ANGEL GONZALEZ RIV, who was born 0000 and, Death Master File says, died August 1967.
Search Archives for ANGEL GONZALEZ RIV.
Social Security number 580-80-9694 was issued to FELIPA COLON, who was born 31 March 1921 and, Death Master File says, died 25 September 2010.
Search Archives for FELIPA COLON.
Social Security number 580-80-9696 was issued to MARCELINO GARCIA, who was born 30 December 1917 and, Death Master File says, died November 1983.
Search Archives for MARCELINO GARCIA.
Social Security number 580-80-9698 was issued to A L GONZALEZ, who was born 12 October 1941 and, Death Master File says, died March 1997.
Search Archives for A GONZALEZ.
Social Security number 580-80-9706 was issued to SUMAKO DOLOTINA, who was born 20 February 1935 and, Death Master File says, died 31 August 2001.
Search Archives for SUMAKO DOLOTINA.
Social Security number 580-80-9709 was issued to CECILLO ENCARNACION, who was born 14 April 1942 and, Death Master File says, died 07 May 2013.
Search Archives for CECILLO ENCARNACION.
Social Security number 580-80-9716 was issued to PETRONILA MELENDEZ-ROS, who was born 10 May 1893 and, Death Master File says, died May 1985.
Search Archives for PETRONILA MELENDEZ-ROS.
Social Security number 580-80-9717 was issued to JOSE CRUZ, who was born 12 October 1923 and, Death Master File says, died February 1974.
Social Security number 580-80-9720 was issued to MERCEDES MELENDEZ, who was born 22 January 1901 and, Death Master File says, died 15 June 1967.
Search Archives for MERCEDES MELENDEZ.
Social Security number 580-80-9721 was issued to ELIAS VARGAS, who was born 07 November 1942 and, Death Master File says, died 16 June 2006.
Search Archives for ELIAS VARGAS.
Social Security number 580-80-9738 was issued to ANGEL L RAMOS DIAZ, who was born 16 October 1940 and, Death Master File says, died 17 June 2009.
Search Archives for ANGEL RAMOS DIAZ.
Social Security number 580-80-9742 was issued to MARIA ORTIZ, who was born 24 February 1892 and, Death Master File says, died April 1967.
Social Security number 580-80-9753 was issued to PAQUITA BURGOS, who was born 20 February 1928 and, Death Master File says, died 28 February 1996.
Search Archives for PAQUITA BURGOS.
Social Security number 580-80-9754 was issued to LUIS A TORRES, who was born 19 March 1940 and, Death Master File says, died 03 June 2000.
Social Security number 580-80-9770 was issued to OLGA RODRIGUEZ, who was born 16 September 1941 and, Death Master File says, died November 1976.
Search Archives for OLGA RODRIGUEZ.
Social Security number 580-80-9773 was issued to GLENN ROSS, who was born 14 November 1924 and, Death Master File says, died May 1985.
Search Archives for GLENN ROSS.
Social Security number 580-80-9781 was issued to ANGELES S RAMIREZ VIDA, who was born 11 November 1941 and, Death Master File says, died 28 July 2004.
Search Archives for ANGELES RAMIREZ VIDA.
Social Security number 580-80-9785 was issued to ANDRES RIVERA, who was born 17 October 1926 and, Death Master File says, died 25 July 2004.
Search Archives for ANDRES RIVERA.
Social Security number 580-80-9795 was issued to BENIGNA MARTINEZ, who was born 02 April 1929 and, Death Master File says, died 10 October 1999.
Search Archives for BENIGNA MARTINEZ.
Social Security number 580-80-9801 was issued to JOSEFINA RIVAS, who was born 22 May 1922 and, Death Master File says, died 28 November 1991.
Search Archives for JOSEFINA RIVAS.
Social Security number 580-80-9805 was issued to HILARIA HERNANDEZ, who was born 14 January 1922 and, Death Master File says, died 14 August 2004.
Search Archives for HILARIA HERNANDEZ.
Social Security number 580-80-9819 was issued to MARIA MARQUEZ, who was born 12 September 1901 and, Death Master File says, died September 1986.
Social Security number 580-80-9822 was issued to FELIX BEVERAGGI, who was born 10 May 1926 and, Death Master File says, died August 1951.
Search Archives for FELIX BEVERAGGI.
Social Security number 580-80-9825 was issued to N GARCIA, who was born 24 July 1941 and, Death Master File says, died 15 March 1997.
Search Archives for N GARCIA.
Social Security number 580-80-9827 was issued to CESAR D NAVARRO, who was born 27 December 1944 and, Death Master File says, died 01 May 2006.
Search Archives for CESAR NAVARRO.
Social Security number 580-80-9833 was issued to RAMONA RIVERA, who was born 03 July 1929 and, Death Master File says, died 05 June 2010.
Social Security number 580-80-9840 was issued to BENJAMIN FELICIANO, who was born 02 September 1939 and, Death Master File says, died November 1982.
Search Archives for BENJAMIN FELICIANO.
Social Security number 580-80-9841 was issued to LUIS A GARCIA, who was born 25 August 1942 and, Death Master File says, died 16 June 2004.
Social Security number 580-80-9843 was issued to ROBERT L SNEED, who was born 22 October 1944 and, Death Master File says, died 07 July 2010.
Search Archives for ROBERT SNEED.
Social Security number 580-80-9845 was issued to ANDREITA AVELLE, who was born 01 May 1913 and, Death Master File says, died 22 July 2000.
Search Archives for ANDREITA AVELLE.
Social Security number 580-80-9847 was issued to A L ZAMBRANA TRU, who was born 28 May 1941 and, Death Master File says, died October 1998.
Search Archives for A ZAMBRANA TRU.
Social Security number 580-80-9850 was issued to EVELYN APONTE, who was born 15 October 1941 and, Death Master File says, died 19 October 2003.
Search Archives for EVELYN APONTE.
Social Security number 580-80-9853 was issued to RAMON RODRIGUEZ, who was born 09 March 1930 and, Death Master File says, died 02 February 2010.
Social Security number 580-80-9858 was issued to SANTIAGO RIVERA, who was born 03 October 1911 and, Death Master File says, died March 1981.
Social Security number 580-80-9860 was issued to ALFREDO BATISTA, who was born 01 December 1917 and, Death Master File says, died 13 February 2004.
Search Archives for ALFREDO BATISTA.
Social Security number 580-80-9863 was issued to RAMON MERCADO BENI, who was born 08 January 1896 and, Death Master File says, died January 1980.
Search Archives for RAMON MERCADO BENI.
Social Security number 580-80-9864 was issued to BOOZ GUZMAN, who was born 24 March 1940 and, Death Master File says, died 16 March 2001.
Search Archives for BOOZ GUZMAN.
Social Security number 580-80-9867 was issued to JOSE RODRIGUEZ, who was born 07 August 1893 and, Death Master File says, died May 1965.
Social Security number 580-80-9868 was issued to ANASTACIO MATOS TORRES, who was born 09 June 1910 and, Death Master File says, died 16 April 1992.
Search Archives for ANASTACIO MATOS TORRES.
Social Security number 580-80-9869 was issued to JOSE A ORTIZ, who was born 04 July 1905 and, Death Master File says, died 20 August 1992.
Social Security number 580-80-9891 was issued to MILAGROS B RIOS, who was born 21 October 1908 and, Death Master File says, died 27 September 1997.
Search Archives for MILAGROS RIOS.
Social Security number 580-80-9893 was issued to JOSE HERNANDEZ, who was born 24 July 1941 and, Death Master File says, died July 1984.
Social Security number 580-80-9900 was issued to FRANCISC MERCADO-COLO, who was born 24 December 1923 and, Death Master File says, died 09 July 2006.
Search Archives for FRANCISC MERCADO-COLO.
Social Security number 580-80-9901 was issued to FLORENTINO HERNANDEZ, who was born 16 October 1942 and, Death Master File says, died 03 April 2009.
Search Archives for FLORENTINO HERNANDEZ.
Social Security number 580-80-9902 was issued to PETRA IBANEZ, who was born 31 January 1881 and, Death Master File says, died July 1978.
Search Archives for PETRA IBANEZ.
Social Security number 580-80-9904 was issued to JOSE CALDERON, who was born 05 March 1943 and, Death Master File says, died 11 June 1996.
Social Security number 580-80-9910 was issued to CARMEN BETANCES, who was born 14 June 1913 and, Death Master File says, died 12 June 2001.
Search Archives for CARMEN BETANCES.
Social Security number 580-80-9912 was issued to JOSE L MATOS PEREZ, who was born 12 December 1942 and, Death Master File says, died 15 February 2011.
Search Archives for JOSE MATOS PEREZ.
Social Security number 580-80-9916 was issued to PELEGRINA DIAZ, who was born 03 May 1898 and, Death Master File says, died January 1970.
Search Archives for PELEGRINA DIAZ.
Social Security number 580-80-9923 was issued to FILOMENA SANTANA, who was born 12 September 1916 and, Death Master File says, died October 1980.
Search Archives for FILOMENA SANTANA.
Social Security number 580-80-9924 was issued to GENOVEVA MORALES, who was born 18 January 1917 and, Death Master File says, died 23 July 2003.
Search Archives for GENOVEVA MORALES.
Social Security number 580-80-9929 was issued to FRANCISCO NAVARRO, who was born 15 October 1912 and, Death Master File says, died 09 May 1999.
Search Archives for FRANCISCO NAVARRO.
Social Security number 580-80-9936 was issued to MARTA I RIVERA SOTO, who was born 02 July 1937 and, Death Master File says, died 06 December 2008.
Search Archives for MARTA RIVERA SOTO.
Social Security number 580-80-9937 was issued to OBTACIANO RODRIGUEZ, who was born 14 July 1941 and, Death Master File says, died December 1984.
Search Archives for OBTACIANO RODRIGUEZ.
Social Security number 580-80-9938 was issued to FRANCISCA PADILLA, who was born 02 November 1906 and, Death Master File says, died November 1981.
Search Archives for FRANCISCA PADILLA.
Social Security number 580-80-9939 was issued to ENGRACIA RAMOS, who was born 10 December 1927 and, Death Master File says, died 14 January 1995.
Search Archives for ENGRACIA RAMOS.
Social Security number 580-80-9943 was issued to CARMEN I LOPEZ, who was born 21 January 1911 and, Death Master File says, died 30 October 2008.
Social Security number 580-80-9944 was issued to HECTOR R CRUZ, who was born 11 May 1942 and, Death Master File says, died 24 November 2004.
Search Archives for HECTOR CRUZ.
Social Security number 580-80-9947 was issued to NILIO FUENTES-BURG, who was born 11 December 1940 and, Death Master File says, died 03 October 2002.
Search Archives for NILIO FUENTES-BURG.
Social Security number 580-80-9952 was issued to CONFESORA RIVERA-RIOS, who was born 06 July 1939 and, Death Master File says, died 15 October 2006.
Search Archives for CONFESORA RIVERA-RIOS.
Social Security number 580-80-9956 was issued to OLGA E RAMIREZ, who was born 15 February 1924 and, Death Master File says, died 17 January 2014.
Search Archives for OLGA RAMIREZ.
Social Security number 580-80-9961 was issued to ESTEBAN SOTO-MILLAN, who was born 26 December 1920 and, Death Master File says, died 09 October 2002.
Search Archives for ESTEBAN SOTO-MILLAN.
Social Security number 580-80-9963 was issued to JORGE ORTIZ-LUGO, who was born 10 February 1908 and, Death Master File says, died April 1979.
Search Archives for JORGE ORTIZ-LUGO.
Social Security number 580-80-9966 was issued to J TORRES, who was born 16 July 1941 and, Death Master File says, died October 1987.
Social Security number 580-80-9968 was issued to LUCIANO GONZALEZ, who was born 02 April 1924 and, Death Master File says, died 25 November 2008.
Social Security number 580-80-9971 was issued to LUISA BRIONES, who was born 29 June 1917 and, Death Master File says, died 15 August 1994.
Search Archives for LUISA BRIONES.
Social Security number 580-80-9972 was issued to LEMUEL RESTO, who was born 14 June 1941 and, Death Master File says, died 20 January 2010.
Search Archives for LEMUEL RESTO.
Social Security number 580-80-9973 was issued to MARIA ALVARADO-ORT, who was born 01 August 1922 and, Death Master File says, died 06 February 2005.
Search Archives for MARIA ALVARADO-ORT.
Social Security number 580-80-9974 was issued to D LEBRON-ROBER, who was born 15 March 1943 and, Death Master File says, died August 1993.
Search Archives for D LEBRON-ROBER.
Social Security number 580-80-9977 was issued to JACINTO PADILLA, who was born 06 August 1917 and, Death Master File says, died 19 October 1990.
Search Archives for JACINTO PADILLA.
Social Security number 580-80-9980 was issued to FELICITA NIEVES, who was born 08 July 1899 and, Death Master File says, died July 1978.
Social Security number 580-80-9981 was issued to JOSE M OSORIO PIZAR, who was born 19 January 1940 and, Death Master File says, died 28 November 2002.
Search Archives for JOSE OSORIO PIZAR.
Social Security number 580-80-9985 was issued to VICENTE LOPEZ, who was born 20 April 1909 and, Death Master File says, died September 1979.
Search Archives for VICENTE LOPEZ.
Social Security number 580-80-9986 was issued to MIGUEL A LOPEZ-HERNAN, who was born 14 March 1922 and, Death Master File says, died 31 October 2001.
Search Archives for MIGUEL LOPEZ-HERNAN.
Social Security number 580-80-9990 was issued to GUILLERMIN VARGAS, who was born 01 July 1901 and, Death Master File says, died 15 November 1999.
Search Archives for GUILLERMIN VARGAS.
Social Security number 580-80-9992 was issued to CRUZ FIGUEROA-CAB, who was born 01 June 1926 and, Death Master File says, died March 1981.
Search Archives for CRUZ FIGUEROA-CAB.
Social Security number 580-80-9996 was issued to GENARO CARRERO, who was born 11 February 1908 and, Death Master File says, died December 1980.
Search Archives for GENARO CARRERO.
Social Security number 580-82-0001 was issued to PABLO MORALES, who was born 12 January 1942 and, Death Master File says, died 05 July 2001.
Search Archives for PABLO MORALES.
Social Security number 580-82-0002 was issued to ANIBAL FIGUEROA, who was born 08 June 1941 and, Death Master File says, died January 1981.
Search Archives for ANIBAL FIGUEROA.
Social Security number 580-82-0005 was issued to M RAMOS, who was born October 1919 and, Death Master File says, died April 1974.
Social Security number 580-82-0009 was issued to GLORIA COLON, who was born 25 September 1892 and, Death Master File says, died October 1977.
Search Archives for GLORIA COLON.
Social Security number 580-82-0010 was issued to JUAN HERNANDEZ, who was born 22 October 1898 and, Death Master File says, died 31 January 1973.
Social Security number 580-82-0016 was issued to MAX TORRES, who was born 19 June 1933 and, Death Master File says, died 24 February 2002.
Search Archives for MAX TORRES.
Social Security number 580-82-0017 was issued to RAFAELA CRUZ, who was born 30 April 1919 and, Death Master File says, died 05 August 1991.
Search Archives for RAFAELA CRUZ.
Social Security number 580-82-0019 was issued to EMMA ROSADO, who was born 06 January 1937 and, Death Master File says, died March 1982.
Search Archives for EMMA ROSADO.
Social Security number 580-82-0030 was issued to OLGA RIVERA, who was born 15 July 1921 and, Death Master File says, died May 1998.
Social Security number 580-82-0036 was issued to ANGEL M NIEVES PEREZ, who was born 10 November 1942 and, Death Master File says, died 11 June 2003.
Search Archives for ANGEL NIEVES PEREZ.
Social Security number 580-82-0037 was issued to VICTOR NUNEZ-TORO, who was born 21 June 1917 and, Death Master File says, died 23 February 1990.
Search Archives for VICTOR NUNEZ-TORO.
Social Security number 580-82-0042 was issued to LEONARDO KUILAN, who was born 25 September 1889 and, Death Master File says, died August 1981.
Search Archives for LEONARDO KUILAN.
Social Security number 580-82-0046 was issued to FELICITA CARABALLO, who was born 01 May 1904 and, Death Master File says, died 29 March 2001.
Search Archives for FELICITA CARABALLO.
Social Security number 580-82-0057 was issued to ANA R GASCOT, who was born 05 October 1941 and, Death Master File says, died 24 July 2003.
Search Archives for ANA GASCOT.
Social Security number 580-82-0063 was issued to HERMINIA VILLARRUBIA, who was born 25 April 1912 and, Death Master File says, died 22 December 1996.
Search Archives for HERMINIA VILLARRUBIA.
Social Security number 580-82-0072 was issued to FELIX M RODRIGUEZ CA, who was born 06 February 1941 and, Death Master File says, died 23 February 2005.
Search Archives for FELIX RODRIGUEZ CA.
Social Security number 580-82-0079 was issued to FELIX GONZALEZ NAR, who was born 01 May 1941 and, Death Master File says, died 24 July 2003.
Search Archives for FELIX GONZALEZ NAR.
Social Security number 580-82-0080 was issued to LUIS TORRES, who was born 12 January 1924 and, Death Master File says, died July 1979.
Social Security number 580-82-0095 was issued to MARIA G DORAN, who was born 08 December 1917 and, Death Master File says, died 24 February 2007.
Search Archives for MARIA DORAN.
Social Security number 580-82-0100 was issued to DANIEL CRUZ, who was born 22 February 1942 and, Death Master File says, died 04 January 1992.
Social Security number 580-82-0105 was issued to JUSTO RAMOS-BONILL, who was born 29 May 1904 and, Death Master File says, died December 1982.
Search Archives for JUSTO RAMOS-BONILL.
Social Security number 580-82-0111 was issued to LORENZO RIVERA TORRE, who was born 05 September 1935 and, Death Master File says, died 24 July 2013.
Search Archives for LORENZO RIVERA TORRE.
Social Security number 580-82-0114 was issued to LUIS GIRONA, who was born 03 August 1896 and, Death Master File says, died January 1972.
Search Archives for LUIS GIRONA.
Social Security number 580-82-0116 was issued to JUAN TELLADO, who was born 24 November 1894 and, Death Master File says, died January 1965.
Search Archives for JUAN TELLADO.
Social Security number 580-82-0119 was issued to LAURO HERNANDEZ-VA, who was born 28 April 1940 and, Death Master File says, died November 1990.
Search Archives for LAURO HERNANDEZ-VA.
Social Security number 580-82-0123 was issued to PEDRO RODRIGUEZ, who was born 02 November 1939 and, Death Master File says, died 09 November 2001.
Social Security number 580-82-0125 was issued to JOSE RODRIGUEZ, who was born 09 September 1894 and, Death Master File says, died 05 August 1980.
Social Security number 580-82-0127 was issued to CARMEN GONZALEZ, who was born 24 December 1942 and, Death Master File says, died 20 January 2000.
Social Security number 580-82-0129 was issued to LUIS GARCIA-ROSAR, who was born 10 February 1942 and, Death Master File says, died January 1979.
Search Archives for LUIS GARCIA-ROSAR.
Social Security number 580-82-0133 was issued to CANDIDA TORRES, who was born 03 September 1934 and, Death Master File says, died 30 March 2002.
Social Security number 580-82-0134 was issued to BIENVENIDO RIVERA-MARRE, who was born 27 September 1942 and, Death Master File says, died August 1984.
Search Archives for BIENVENIDO RIVERA-MARRE.
Social Security number 580-82-0139 was issued to LUIS BARRETO, who was born 20 July 1941 and, Death Master File says, died 09 August 1990.
Search Archives for LUIS BARRETO.
Social Security number 580-82-0142 was issued to RAFAEL RUIZ-RAMOS, who was born 22 February 1942 and, Death Master File says, died March 1985.
Search Archives for RAFAEL RUIZ-RAMOS.
Social Security number 580-82-0143 was issued to MIGUEL A CANDELARIA A, who was born 09 September 1943 and, Death Master File says, died 30 January 2006.
Search Archives for MIGUEL CANDELARIA A.
Social Security number 580-82-0144 was issued to PEDRO CRUZ-ROSARIO, who was born 31 January 1926 and, Death Master File says, died February 1972.
Search Archives for PEDRO CRUZ-ROSARIO.
Social Security number 580-82-0154 was issued to MARIA MANZANO, who was born 28 January 1931 and, Death Master File says, died 04 September 1995.
Social Security number 580-82-0165 was issued to ROSA CASTRO, who was born 15 February 1900 and, Death Master File says, died 15 November 1987.
Social Security number 580-82-0171 was issued to FRANCISCA AYALA, who was born 05 June 1927 and, Death Master File says, died 05 March 2000.
Search Archives for FRANCISCA AYALA.
Social Security number 580-82-0172 was issued to JESUS M RODRIGUEZ, who was born 04 September 1939 and, Death Master File says, died 23 June 2005.
Social Security number 580-82-0183 was issued to ERICH LANDAUER, who was born 19 December 1905 and, Death Master File says, died November 1980.
Search Archives for ERICH LANDAUER.
Social Security number 580-82-0187 was issued to LUZ MARCANO, who was born 12 February 1941 and, Death Master File says, died December 1981.
Social Security number 580-82-0190 was issued to LEONOR RIVERA HERNA, who was born 12 April 1906 and, Death Master File says, died April 1977.
Search Archives for LEONOR RIVERA HERNA.
Social Security number 580-82-0191 was issued to DOLORES GARCIA, who was born 29 January 1906 and, Death Master File says, died November 1992.
Social Security number 580-82-0201 was issued to JOSE A RIVERA, who was born 09 October 1941 and, Death Master File says, died 29 November 2010.
Social Security number 580-82-0204 was issued to GUILLERMO PEREZ, who was born 09 February 1935 and, Death Master File says, died December 1975.
Social Security number 580-82-0206 was issued to LEOPOLDO RODRIGUEZ, who was born 20 May 1904 and, Death Master File says, died 15 November 1991.
Social Security number 580-82-0211 was issued to JUAN OCASIO, who was born 01 April 1944 and, Death Master File says, died 07 September 2001.
Social Security number 580-82-0217 was issued to R PADILLA, who was born 25 November 1942 and, Death Master File says, died May 1988.
Search Archives for R PADILLA.
Social Security number 580-82-0228 was issued to SANTOS PINTO-OCASIO, who was born 13 December 1944 and, Death Master File says, died 20 January 1990.
Search Archives for SANTOS PINTO-OCASIO.
Social Security number 580-82-0229 was issued to ANGELINA OCASIO-VAZQU, who was born 17 May 1912 and, Death Master File says, died 30 December 2001.
Search Archives for ANGELINA OCASIO-VAZQU.
Social Security number 580-82-0230 was issued to JOSE M RAMOS, who was born 18 March 1941 and, Death Master File says, died 24 July 2006.
Social Security number 580-82-0234 was issued to ANTONIO NIEVES SANCH, who was born 06 June 1898 and, Death Master File says, died 05 December 1999.
Search Archives for ANTONIO NIEVES SANCH.
Social Security number 580-82-0239 was issued to MERCEDES GONZALEZ, who was born 17 September 1917 and, Death Master File says, died 15 June 1994.
Social Security number 580-82-0240 was issued to BIENVENIDA RODRIGUEZ, who was born 01 October 1921 and, Death Master File says, died January 1974.
Social Security number 580-82-0246 was issued to JORGE R HERNANDEZ AR, who was born 06 October 1940 and, Death Master File says, died 01 January 2008.
Search Archives for JORGE HERNANDEZ AR.
Social Security number 580-82-0258 was issued to CARMEN M RODRIGUEZ, who was born 27 May 1944 and, Death Master File says, died 28 June 2002.
Social Security number 580-82-0263 was issued to MARIA CESTARIS, who was born 24 December 1899 and, Death Master File says, died 07 September 1993.
Search Archives for MARIA CESTARIS.
Social Security number 580-82-0269 was issued to ANGEL L LOPEZ, who was born 09 September 1941 and, Death Master File says, died 16 December 2005.
Social Security number 580-82-0270 was issued to M A ALAMO, who was born 06 September 1941 and, Death Master File says, died August 1988.
Search Archives for M ALAMO.
Social Security number 580-82-0274 was issued to JUAN A MARTINEZ, who was born 31 December 1941 and, Death Master File says, died 06 March 2000.
Social Security number 580-82-0280 was issued to EDWIN FELICIANO-ES, who was born 02 November 1941 and, Death Master File says, died 25 February 2001.
Search Archives for EDWIN FELICIANO-ES.
Social Security number 580-82-0296 was issued to JOSE DEJESUS, who was born 20 March 1900 and, Death Master File says, died May 1987.
Search Archives for JOSE DEJESUS.
Social Security number 580-82-0297 was issued to LEONOR ROSA, who was born 20 December 1916 and, Death Master File says, died 07 December 2010.
Search Archives for LEONOR ROSA.
Social Security number 580-82-0306 was issued to ROSA M RODRIGUEZ, who was born 31 October 1912 and, Death Master File says, died 27 January 1993.
Social Security number 580-82-0311 was issued to RAFAEL MARCANO, who was born 29 January 1943 and, Death Master File says, died November 1981.
Search Archives for RAFAEL MARCANO.
Social Security number 580-82-0318 was issued to GREGORIO BAEZ, who was born 10 February 1892 and, Death Master File says, died May 1972.
Search Archives for GREGORIO BAEZ.
Social Security number 580-82-0326 was issued to RAFAEL BERRIOS, who was born 07 January 1920 and, Death Master File says, died 19 January 2011.
Social Security number 580-82-0329 was issued to NORBERTO ROSARIO, who was born 05 June 1942 and, Death Master File says, died 08 May 2002.
Search Archives for NORBERTO ROSARIO.
Social Security number 580-82-0331 was issued to PURA P DE-JESUS, who was born 01 August 1924 and, Death Master File says, died 04 September 2000.
Search Archives for PURA DE-JESUS.
Social Security number 580-82-0341 was issued to O MENDOZA, who was born 15 April 1940 and, Death Master File says, died 15 September 1990.
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Social Security number 580-82-0346 was issued to FELIX RIOS, who was born 13 April 1942 and, Death Master File says, died 21 June 1998.
Search Archives for FELIX RIOS.
Social Security number 580-82-0349 was issued to MANUEL MORALES, who was born 22 July 1934 and, Death Master File says, died 05 February 2011.
Social Security number 580-82-0361 was issued to DAVID RIVERA, who was born 06 October 1942 and, Death Master File says, died 26 February 2006.
Social Security number 580-82-0362 was issued to HERMINIO ORTIZ-COSME, who was born 22 November 1926 and, Death Master File says, died 06 December 1996.
Search Archives for HERMINIO ORTIZ-COSME.
Social Security number 580-82-0365 was issued to FRUCTUOSO RIVERA, who was born 16 April 1919 and, Death Master File says, died June 1988.
Search Archives for FRUCTUOSO RIVERA.
Social Security number 580-82-0366 was issued to MANUEL SANTIAGO, who was born 30 January 1942 and, Death Master File says, died 18 October 2010.
Social Security number 580-82-0367 was issued to ERNESTINA RODRIGUEZ, who was born 11 November 1941 and, Death Master File says, died February 1963.
Search Archives for ERNESTINA RODRIGUEZ.
Social Security number 580-82-0372 was issued to MARTHA ALFONSO, who was born 13 April 1921 and, Death Master File says, died 24 September 1995.
Search Archives for MARTHA ALFONSO.
Social Security number 580-82-0376 was issued to RAMON QUINONES, who was born 07 July 1942 and, Death Master File says, died 07 June 1994.
Social Security number 580-82-0385 was issued to IVONNE FRANCO RODRI, who was born 04 October 1941 and, Death Master File says, died 01 November 2004.
Search Archives for IVONNE FRANCO RODRI.
Social Security number 580-82-0389 was issued to J OTERO, who was born 23 December 1924 and, Death Master File says, died July 1979.
Search Archives for J OTERO.
Social Security number 580-82-0391 was issued to ABDON MARRERO RIVE, who was born 17 July 1941 and, Death Master File says, died 17 January 2006.
Search Archives for ABDON MARRERO RIVE.
Social Security number 580-82-0395 was issued to ANGEL DIAZ, who was born 06 December 1896 and, Death Master File says, died February 1983.
Social Security number 580-82-0396 was issued to MARIA ENCARNACION, who was born 22 May 1901 and, Death Master File says, died August 1971.
Search Archives for MARIA ENCARNACION.
Social Security number 580-82-0397 was issued to PEDRO J PEREZ, who was born 15 July 1939 and, Death Master File says, died 23 January 2011.
Social Security number 580-82-0401 was issued to RAFAEL CEPEDA-ATILE, who was born 10 July 1910 and, Death Master File says, died 21 July 1996.
Search Archives for RAFAEL CEPEDA-ATILE.
Social Security number 580-82-0406 was issued to RAFAEL GONZALEZ, who was born 25 December 1931 and, Death Master File says, died 19 December 2002.
Social Security number 580-82-0409 was issued to FLOR CARABALLO, who was born 13 November 1896 and, Death Master File says, died February 1986.
Search Archives for FLOR CARABALLO.
Social Security number 580-82-0410 was issued to JUANA ACEVEDO, who was born 17 September 1895 and, Death Master File says, died 02 October 1988.
Social Security number 580-82-0415 was issued to ALEXANDRIN E ROMAIN, who was born 18 May 1927 and, Death Master File says, died 16 March 2011.
Search Archives for ALEXANDRIN ROMAIN.
Social Security number 580-82-0417 was issued to CARMEN M MENDEZ, who was born 21 September 1929 and, Death Master File says, died 11 October 2009.
Search Archives for CARMEN MENDEZ.
Social Security number 580-82-0426 was issued to HIPOLITA ANDINO RIVER, who was born 09 January 1942 and, Death Master File says, died 15 May 2005.
Search Archives for HIPOLITA ANDINO RIVER.
Social Security number 580-82-0430 was issued to ANGEL L CRUZ, who was born 08 August 1942 and, Death Master File says, died 19 December 1995.
Social Security number 580-82-0432 was issued to RAMONA RIVERA, who was born 18 June 1900 and, Death Master File says, died November 1992.
Social Security number 580-82-0436 was issued to MODESTA VELEZ FLORES, who was born 12 January 1941 and, Death Master File says, died 26 June 2001.
Search Archives for MODESTA VELEZ FLORES.
Social Security number 580-82-0441 was issued to FELICITA TEJADA, who was born 28 May 1930 and, Death Master File says, died February 1982.
Search Archives for FELICITA TEJADA.
Social Security number 580-82-0447 was issued to MAXIMO RAMOS RIVERA, who was born 20 May 1919 and, Death Master File says, died August 1983.
Search Archives for MAXIMO RAMOS RIVERA.
Social Security number 580-82-0462 was issued to PEDRO J MOLINA PEREZ, who was born 13 February 1943 and, Death Master File says, died 27 December 2010.
Search Archives for PEDRO MOLINA PEREZ.
Social Security number 580-82-0466 was issued to JOSE SOLER, who was born 02 November 1941 and, Death Master File says, died December 1975.
Social Security number 580-82-0474 was issued to DOLORES CALO, who was born 02 April 1935 and, Death Master File says, died 30 July 2010.
Search Archives for DOLORES CALO.
Social Security number 580-82-0478 was issued to JOSEFINA RODRIGUEZ-DI, who was born 06 October 1918 and, Death Master File says, died June 1981.
Search Archives for JOSEFINA RODRIGUEZ-DI.
Social Security number 580-82-0480 was issued to JUAN ROJAS, who was born 04 August 1892 and, Death Master File says, died May 1979.
Search Archives for JUAN ROJAS.
Social Security number 580-82-0481 was issued to JUAN J GONZALEZ, who was born 24 September 1930 and, Death Master File says, died 27 April 2011.
Social Security number 580-82-0485 was issued to FLORENTINA CARRILLO, who was born 24 November 1940 and, Death Master File says, died 28 June 2007.
Search Archives for FLORENTINA CARRILLO.
Social Security number 580-82-0490 was issued to C GONZAL, who was born 04 July 1940 and, Death Master File says, died August 1989.
Search Archives for C GONZAL.
Social Security number 580-82-0494 was issued to ISMAEL REYES RAMOS, who was born 21 June 1941 and, Death Master File says, died 25 May 2003.
Search Archives for ISMAEL REYES RAMOS.
Social Security number 580-82-0503 was issued to DOLORES M AMADOR, who was born 24 November 1934 and, Death Master File says, died 31 August 2000.
Search Archives for DOLORES AMADOR.
Social Security number 580-82-0509 was issued to PETRA ROSARIO, who was born 01 July 1892 and, Death Master File says, died January 1984.
Search Archives for PETRA ROSARIO.
Social Security number 580-82-0512 was issued to ANDRES VEGA, who was born 18 March 1895 and, Death Master File says, died February 1969.
Social Security number 580-82-0514 was issued to HERMINIA CARTAGENA, who was born 04 June 1939 and, Death Master File says, died 14 December 2001.
Search Archives for HERMINIA CARTAGENA.
Social Security number 580-82-0527 was issued to DENVER DELGADO, who was born 22 June 1942 and, Death Master File says, died 12 June 2006.
Search Archives for DENVER DELGADO.
Social Security number 580-82-0531 was issued to JUAN NIEVES, who was born 02 January 1906 and, Death Master File says, died September 1983.
Social Security number 580-82-0533 was issued to ARCANGELA EXIAS, who was born 08 May 1922 and, Death Master File says, died 13 May 2000.
Search Archives for ARCANGELA EXIAS.
Social Security number 580-82-0535 was issued to MIGUEL DIAZ, who was born 12 November 1942 and, Death Master File says, died 26 March 2004.
Social Security number 580-82-0544 was issued to RAMON RODRIGUEZ, who was born 31 August 1938 and, Death Master File says, died 23 November 2002.
Social Security number 580-82-0549 was issued to MENELIO ALICEA-ORTIZ, who was born 22 July 1942 and, Death Master File says, died October 1977.
Search Archives for MENELIO ALICEA-ORTIZ.
Social Security number 580-82-0550 was issued to VICTORIA VAZQUEZ-CHIN, who was born 23 December 1921 and, Death Master File says, died 14 May 2007.
Search Archives for VICTORIA VAZQUEZ-CHIN.
Social Security number 580-82-0551 was issued to HECTOR L DIAZ MUNOZ, who was born 05 June 1941 and, Death Master File says, died 18 June 2005.
Search Archives for HECTOR DIAZ MUNOZ.
Social Security number 580-82-0553 was issued to ISABEL SABALIER, who was born 02 July 1889 and, Death Master File says, died 30 November 1992.
Search Archives for ISABEL SABALIER.
Social Security number 580-82-0559 was issued to FELICITA VDA SAN IAGO, who was born 01 May 1892 and, Death Master File says, died May 1986.
Search Archives for FELICITA VDA SAN IAGO.
Social Security number 580-82-0579 was issued to CATALINA ORTIZ-OSORIO, who was born 22 May 1937 and, Death Master File says, died 30 May 1999.
Search Archives for CATALINA ORTIZ-OSORIO.
Social Security number 580-82-0581 was issued to ANGEL F CRUZ, who was born 18 May 1939 and, Death Master File says, died 29 May 2007.
Social Security number 580-82-0587 was issued to RAMON FLORES, who was born 17 April 1943 and, Death Master File says, died December 1971.
Social Security number 580-82-0589 was issued to AIDA J CONCEPCION-G, who was born 10 September 1924 and, Death Master File says, died 23 February 1996.
Search Archives for AIDA CONCEPCION-G.
Social Security number 580-82-0596 was issued to SIGFREDO BURGOS, who was born 28 May 1943 and, Death Master File says, died June 1982.
Search Archives for SIGFREDO BURGOS.
Social Security number 580-82-0598 was issued to JOSEFA SERRANO, who was born 04 June 1923 and, Death Master File says, died 12 April 2003.
Social Security number 580-82-0599 was issued to FELIPA ESCRIBANO, who was born 26 May 1914 and, Death Master File says, died 08 January 2006.
Search Archives for FELIPA ESCRIBANO.
Social Security number 580-82-0610 was issued to FELIX DE JESUS ROD, who was born 22 February 1941 and, Death Master File says, died 24 February 2011.
Search Archives for FELIX DE JESUS ROD.
Social Security number 580-82-0612 was issued to JOSE F MERCED-TORRE, who was born 19 January 1942 and, Death Master File says, died 27 January 2007.
Search Archives for JOSE MERCED-TORRE.
Social Security number 580-82-0613 was issued to IRIS F CORDERO, who was born 14 September 1943 and, Death Master File says, died 17 October 2013.
Search Archives for IRIS CORDERO.
Social Security number 580-82-0614 was issued to GUARIONEL CUEVAS, who was born 30 November 1840 and, Death Master File says, died November 1940.
Search Archives for GUARIONEL CUEVAS.
Social Security number 580-82-0616 was issued to JOSE CLAVELL, who was born 20 November 1909 and, Death Master File says, died January 1985.
Search Archives for JOSE CLAVELL.
Social Security number 580-82-0617 was issued to JOSEFINA DIAZ DIAZ, who was born 27 September 1942 and, Death Master File says, died 27 December 2010.
Search Archives for JOSEFINA DIAZ DIAZ.
Social Security number 580-82-0623 was issued to FERNANDO LOZADA TORRE, who was born 13 September 1901 and, Death Master File says, died February 1980.
Search Archives for FERNANDO LOZADA TORRE.
Social Security number 580-82-0625 was issued to RAFAEL SANCHEZ, who was born 04 June 1946 and, Death Master File says, died October 1977.
Social Security number 580-82-0639 was issued to MARIA MOJICA, who was born 02 January 1899 and, Death Master File says, died 18 June 1991.
Search Archives for MARIA MOJICA.
Social Security number 580-82-0647 was issued to MARIA RAMOS-TORRES, who was born 11 February 1900 and, Death Master File says, died April 1986.
Search Archives for MARIA RAMOS-TORRES.
Social Security number 580-82-0650 was issued to JULIA ROMAN, who was born 08 September 1934 and, Death Master File says, died 10 June 2013.
Search Archives for JULIA ROMAN.
Social Security number 580-82-0654 was issued to JOSE RIVERA ORTEG, who was born 08 April 1945 and, Death Master File says, died 15 April 2000.
Search Archives for JOSE RIVERA ORTEG.
Social Security number 580-82-0658 was issued to GABRIEL RIVERA, who was born 21 March 1944 and, Death Master File says, died 13 February 2005.
Social Security number 580-82-0659 was issued to RAMON CORTES VALEN, who was born 29 March 1893 and, Death Master File says, died May 1971.
Search Archives for RAMON CORTES VALEN.
Social Security number 580-82-0663 was issued to EVANGELINA MACHICOTE, who was born 18 June 1926 and, Death Master File says, died 19 June 2008.
Search Archives for EVANGELINA MACHICOTE.
Social Security number 580-82-0664 was issued to DIEGO BARRETO-QUIL, who was born 12 November 1930 and, Death Master File says, died 25 August 1992.
Search Archives for DIEGO BARRETO-QUIL.
Social Security number 580-82-0665 was issued to I RIVERA-GONZA, who was born 19 November 1942 and, Death Master File says, died July 1989.
Search Archives for I RIVERA-GONZA.
Social Security number 580-82-0672 was issued to ALTAGRACI MARTINEZ, who was born 15 July 1910 and, Death Master File says, died 10 May 1997.
Search Archives for ALTAGRACI MARTINEZ.
Social Security number 580-82-0673 was issued to CATALINA CORDERO-VERA, who was born 21 March 1924 and, Death Master File says, died 09 November 2010.
Search Archives for CATALINA CORDERO-VERA.
Social Security number 580-82-0676 was issued to ANGEL M DAVILA, who was born 24 July 1941 and, Death Master File says, died 10 May 2007.
Social Security number 580-82-0683 was issued to ELBA GARCIA, who was born 04 October 1942 and, Death Master File says, died December 1969.
Search Archives for ELBA GARCIA.
Social Security number 580-82-0685 was issued to EDWIN SEPULVEDA, who was born 09 September 1940 and, Death Master File says, died February 1972.
Search Archives for EDWIN SEPULVEDA.
Social Security number 580-82-0686 was issued to ELENA ZAYAS, who was born 03 July 1898 and, Death Master File says, died May 1975.
Search Archives for ELENA ZAYAS.
Social Security number 580-82-0691 was issued to MARIA R MARTINEZ, who was born 07 June 1912 and, Death Master File says, died 25 November 1996.
Social Security number 580-82-0693 was issued to FERNANDO ORRIOLSMOR, who was born 28 July 1922 and, Death Master File says, died 20 February 1984.
Search Archives for FERNANDO ORRIOLSMOR.
Social Security number 580-82-0696 was issued to VICTORIA IGLESIAS, who was born 11 August 1935 and, Death Master File says, died 29 December 2001.
Search Archives for VICTORIA IGLESIAS.
Social Security number 580-82-0702 was issued to JACOB RIVERA, who was born 28 November 1935 and, Death Master File says, died 15 January 2008.
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Social Security number 580-82-0704 was issued to ISRAEL CARRION, who was born 28 January 1943 and, Death Master File says, died December 1974.
Search Archives for ISRAEL CARRION.
Social Security number 580-82-0720 was issued to EMMA PHILIPPI, who was born 08 August 1899 and, Death Master File says, died August 1983.
Search Archives for EMMA PHILIPPI.
Social Security number 580-82-0722 was issued to JUAN CONCEPCION, who was born 12 October 1943 and, Death Master File says, died 11 November 2003.
Social Security number 580-82-0732 was issued to MERCEDES M OTERO, who was born 16 June 1909 and, Death Master File says, died 16 November 2002.
Search Archives for MERCEDES OTERO.
Social Security number 580-82-0733 was issued to EULALIA HERNANDEZ, who was born 02 February 1929 and, Death Master File says, died 03 December 1998.
Search Archives for EULALIA HERNANDEZ.
Social Security number 580-82-0734 was issued to DOLORES CABRERA, who was born 01 October 1904 and, Death Master File says, died November 1984.
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Social Security number 580-82-0737 was issued to NORBERTO DIAZ, who was born 21 June 1941 and, Death Master File says, died 23 September 1995.
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Social Security number 580-82-0739 was issued to OSCAR ALLENDE, who was born 29 October 1943 and, Death Master File says, died 21 October 2002.
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Social Security number 580-82-0742 was issued to NEFTALI MARTINEZ, who was born 10 December 1939 and, Death Master File says, died 30 September 2001.
Search Archives for NEFTALI MARTINEZ.
Social Security number 580-82-0745 was issued to FRANCISCO R HERNANDEZ, who was born 13 October 1940 and, Death Master File says, died 14 December 2009.
Social Security number 580-82-0752 was issued to TOMASITA FUENTES, who was born 18 August 1918 and, Death Master File says, died May 1979.
Search Archives for TOMASITA FUENTES.
Social Security number 580-82-0753 was issued to TERESA ROSADO LOPEZ, who was born 15 October 1880 and, Death Master File says, died September 1980.
Search Archives for TERESA ROSADO LOPEZ.
Social Security number 580-82-0769 was issued to GUILLERMO R CARMONA, who was born 10 December 1920 and, Death Master File says, died 07 April 1997.
Search Archives for GUILLERMO CARMONA.
Social Security number 580-82-0774 was issued to BENITO GONZALEZ HER, who was born 04 May 1940 and, Death Master File says, died 20 September 2010.
Search Archives for BENITO GONZALEZ HER.
Social Security number 580-82-0779 was issued to MIGUEL A IRIZARRY, who was born 29 September 1942 and, Death Master File says, died 23 April 2001.
Social Security number 580-82-0785 was issued to ELBA I BATISTA, who was born 18 January 1944 and, Death Master File says, died 09 April 2008.
Search Archives for ELBA BATISTA.
Social Security number 580-82-0787 was issued to JULIA COLLAZO, who was born 0000 and, Death Master File says, died October 1968.
Search Archives for JULIA COLLAZO.
Social Security number 580-82-0799 was issued to MARGARITA MAGOULAS, who was born 29 March 1940 and, Death Master File says, died 04 October 1996.
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Social Security number 580-82-0802 was issued to JOSE VINAS, who was born 26 May 1925 and, Death Master File says, died 15 June 1997.
Search Archives for JOSE VINAS.
Social Security number 580-82-0804 was issued to ENRIQUE RIVERA, who was born 18 May 1942 and, Death Master File says, died 21 February 2006.
Social Security number 580-82-0808 was issued to ARMANDO MILLAN ROSA, who was born 05 June 1943 and, Death Master File says, died 07 October 2002.
Search Archives for ARMANDO MILLAN ROSA.
Social Security number 580-82-0809 was issued to MARIA DOLORES MALD, who was born 17 May 1892 and, Death Master File says, died February 1987.
Search Archives for MARIA DOLORES MALD.
Social Security number 580-82-0815 was issued to MARITZA E FELICIANO, who was born 09 June 1935 and, Death Master File says, died 18 March 2011.
Search Archives for MARITZA FELICIANO.
Social Security number 580-82-0822 was issued to JUAN ROSA RIVERA, who was born 30 December 1935 and, Death Master File says, died 13 February 2002.
Search Archives for JUAN ROSA RIVERA.
Social Security number 580-82-0826 was issued to NILDA L MARTINEZ SUA, who was born 03 July 1939 and, Death Master File says, died 24 March 2000.
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Social Security number 580-82-0827 was issued to ACELA CRUZ CRUZ, who was born 06 December 1937 and, Death Master File says, died 27 June 2001.
Search Archives for ACELA CRUZ CRUZ.
Social Security number 580-82-0828 was issued to HECTOR M SILVA, who was born 25 June 1940 and, Death Master File says, died 07 November 2013.
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Social Security number 580-82-0831 was issued to ISAIAS PABON, who was born 08 January 1942 and, Death Master File says, died December 1984.
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Social Security number 580-82-0836 was issued to JULIO MORALES, who was born 10 January 1940 and, Death Master File says, died January 1977.
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Social Security number 580-82-0840 was issued to MATILDE CLEMENTE, who was born 30 May 1911 and, Death Master File says, died 30 December 1989.
Search Archives for MATILDE CLEMENTE.
Social Security number 580-82-0842 was issued to NILDA I NIEVES, who was born 15 May 1939 and, Death Master File says, died 25 September 2003.
Search Archives for NILDA NIEVES.
Social Security number 580-82-0847 was issued to BERNABELA DECLET, who was born 25 July 1906 and, Death Master File says, died March 1984.
Search Archives for BERNABELA DECLET.
Social Security number 580-82-0855 was issued to CARMEN I QUINONES BAN, who was born 06 June 1939 and, Death Master File says, died December 1999.
Search Archives for CARMEN QUINONES BAN.
Social Security number 580-82-0856 was issued to SANDALIO RIVERA, who was born 03 September 1868 and, Death Master File says, died June 1966.
Search Archives for SANDALIO RIVERA.
Social Security number 580-82-0861 was issued to NELSON GONZALEZ, who was born 06 July 1945 and, Death Master File says, died May 1975.
Search Archives for NELSON GONZALEZ.
Social Security number 580-82-0873 was issued to LIDUVINA SANTIAGO RAM, who was born 04 April 1940 and, Death Master File says, died 29 July 2008.
Search Archives for LIDUVINA SANTIAGO RAM.
Social Security number 580-82-0886 was issued to CARMEN SERRANO, who was born 04 January 1921 and, Death Master File says, died January 1991.
Search Archives for CARMEN SERRANO.
Social Security number 580-82-0893 was issued to SALVADOR RIOS, who was born 14 November 1938 and, Death Master File says, died 14 July 2001.
Search Archives for SALVADOR RIOS.
Social Security number 580-82-0898 was issued to ANTONIO MALDONADO, who was born 23 August 1942 and, Death Master File says, died 30 December 2000.
Social Security number 580-82-0903 was issued to CARMEN A IRIZARRY, who was born 08 August 1940 and, Death Master File says, died 29 August 2004.
Social Security number 580-82-0909 was issued to JOSEFA CEDENO-NIEVE, who was born 14 November 1935 and, Death Master File says, died 23 March 2002.
Search Archives for JOSEFA CEDENO-NIEVE.
Social Security number 580-82-0930 was issued to PROVIDENCI A PEREZ, who was born 10 January 1943 and, Death Master File says, died 11 October 1998.
Search Archives for PROVIDENCI PEREZ.
Social Security number 580-82-0941 was issued to JOSE SANCHEZ, who was born 05 August 1928 and, Death Master File says, died November 1984.
Social Security number 580-82-0942 was issued to OTILIA POLANCO, who was born 18 June 1928 and, Death Master File says, died 06 May 2007.
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Social Security number 580-82-0944 was issued to BRIGIDA APONTE, who was born 08 October 1891 and, Death Master File says, died November 1972.
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Social Security number 580-82-0951 was issued to FRANCISCA LEON, who was born 20 February 1908 and, Death Master File says, died 14 July 1989.
Search Archives for FRANCISCA LEON.
Social Security number 580-82-0953 was issued to CRUZ SANTOS, who was born 15 December 1894 and, Death Master File says, died March 1976.
Search Archives for CRUZ SANTOS.
Social Security number 580-82-0956 was issued to JULIO SANTIAGO, who was born 05 December 1943 and, Death Master File says, died 21 September 2011.
Search Archives for JULIO SANTIAGO.
Social Security number 580-82-0957 was issued to CARMEN ROSARIO MONT, who was born 22 December 1899 and, Death Master File says, died September 1975.
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Social Security number 580-82-0958 was issued to JUANA PAGAN NEGRON, who was born 20 February 1901 and, Death Master File says, died April 1980.
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Social Security number 580-82-0959 was issued to JUAN DIEZ ANDINO, who was born 21 May 1889 and, Death Master File says, died August 1981.
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Social Security number 580-82-0964 was issued to JOSE M FELICIANO, who was born 17 September 1944 and, Death Master File says, died 05 April 1989.
Social Security number 580-82-0970 was issued to GUILLERMIN A MARTINEZ, who was born 06 July 1915 and, Death Master File says, died 27 February 1995.
Social Security number 580-82-0974 was issued to ANTONIA RAMOS, who was born 08 October 1910 and, Death Master File says, died June 1977.
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Social Security number 580-82-0981 was issued to EMERITA RIVERA, who was born 20 November 1909 and, Death Master File says, died 09 September 1994.
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Social Security number 580-82-0982 was issued to PABLO ORTIZ, who was born 29 April 1909 and, Death Master File says, died November 1978.
Social Security number 580-82-0998 was issued to MATILDE RIVERA VAZQU, who was born 30 April 1939 and, Death Master File says, died 07 March 2007.
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Social Security number 580-82-1000 was issued to EFRAIN PICON TORRES, who was born 18 July 1941 and, Death Master File says, died 01 January 2005.
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Social Security number 580-82-1007 was issued to VICTOR M ROSARIO, who was born 15 October 1940 and, Death Master File says, died 23 February 2009.
Social Security number 580-82-1008 was issued to SANTOS GONZALEZ, who was born 24 April 1903 and, Death Master File says, died January 1974. | 2019-04-20T03:26:54Z | http://ssdmf.info/by_number/pages/188350.html |
KLA-Tencor’s formal approval is likely to occur shortly following the conclusion of the offer period. In fact, you might choose to make certain it’s extremely obvious that it doesn’t constitute acknowledgement. The Acknowledgement is only the approval of some thing. The official acknowledgement includes information which can help the IRS representative identify the right return and provide better support.
There are a couple important and often used official kinds of acknowledgement receipts. Hence, the acknowledgement receipt could be an easy letter confirming the receipt of product delivered. You have also requested they create each of the accounts for every transaction that you participated in during the whole lifetime of the usage of the credit score card. Therefore, the receipt should contain all the appropriate information regarding the business trade. The acknowledgment receipt has to be composed in a way that is professional and presentable. In conclusion, an acknowledgment reception is a significant document which will help support and evaluate the satisfaction of a trade.
Condition that you’re imagining the receipt of those things which you’ve asked. Receipts are lawful proof to show that a transaction occurred along with a payment has been made in trade for a commodity. An acknowledgment receipt isn’t any different as it helps confirm and confirm the gratification of an arrangement for a certain trade. The tag Acknowledgment Receipt should be based a few spaces beneath the company letterhead.
The way that you approach from the correspondence ought to be considerate and considerate. The correspondence ought to be sent outside whenever possible as soon as you have the item, include the files, since the situation might be. Because of this, it has to bear the reason behind admitting it and should be introduced retaining the basic etiquettes. In certain conditions, you may decide to integrate a photocopy of the prior correspondence, or possibly a synopsis. Composing such formal little business letters can allow you to construct sufficient confidence and will.
The correspondence won’t have a great impact if you handle it straight in the name of a company or a company. Or perhaps you say you will be going through these things, and you’ll be sending another letter to provide some comments. Letters to company partners ought to be published on the provider’s letterhead. The correspondence needs to become formal and will need to include the partnership deal, names of all of the company partners, in addition to the stipulations of their partnership. Letters of recognition have been often employed for all those involved with a legal strategy.
It is possible for you to simply submit this type of program yourself or need the support of a legal agent. Each program which meets the minimal requirements to acquire a filing date is supplied a date. You ought to just use a form that admits they have got the amendment. The forms are upgraded and now include the Association’s brand new design guidelines that are supposed to boost clarity and enhance the entire expression of the types.
After the procedure is finished, the fax machine will publish a confirmation document, depending on the preferences. Right now, the verification process is continuing. It happens over the forthcoming few days to determine if the TM is real and distinctive. When it’s to do with tackling the specific lawful process, these letters play a significant function. The thorough procedure is clarified here. The stepwise process to check out the ITR received standing through official site of the Revenue Tax section is supplied below.
To be able to facilitate recovery it’s essential that the documents be placed in the box in precisely the same order since they arrived out of your initial documents. The way the record was declared as read with a particular worker needs to be listed in the machine so it can’t be refuted.
You’ll be able to find out more about the standing through email. Following that, you have to demonstrate the tax yield status. As a result of this, if you comply with all the below steps you can certainly assess the Revenue Tax Return Receipt standing in only a few seconds.
For the set organization to state it had an arrangement on youpersonally, it must demonstrate the way it was supposed to perform great for you. Some non-competition arrangements are observed in odd places, like a posting to the company site. It is true, you signed up an agreement by means of your charge card company, but you did not sign one with these companies that purchased your debt out of the charge card company.
There are a few of lovely phrases you might use on your acknowledgement dissertation. As reviews have a substantial role in several pieces of a manuscript, failure to satisfactorily cite other work may diminish your chances of being printed. Writing a book sometimes takes a while. What’s scientific writing. For that reason, it is essential since we expect every author to find the mistakes, but it so dreadful since it’s. In fact, a seasoned author can come across the job done much quicker than any pupil as they’ve been writing academic missions during their entire life. Try to restrict your acknowledgement dissertation to a page. For instance, it may be the composing your dissertation has been a particularly catchy period. A thesis is going to be designed together with your identifying directions. Even though it isn’t an significant part an ideal thesis, yet an acknowledgement page designed and created with precision and attention ought to leave a lasting impression on the reviewer. Aware that pupils will probably be connected with addresses. Acknowledgement is regarded as the recognition of the existence of something or some other effortless fact. A two-page acknowledgement is too long and conducts the likelihood of making your reader eliminate interest. List down the processes and people that you’d love to give acknowledgement with. Note however that every project differs and you need to tailor your acknowledgements to match your specific circumstance. The very first consideration to compose dissertation acknowledgement, you need to earn a listing of each the men and women who have been linked with your dissertation. No, the page isn’t in any manner research, but it’s only sensible to offer you the proper acknowledgements. An acknowledgement page must be only 1 page in length. The acknowledgement segment is a substantial portion of your dissertation. You will observe some people today advocate the Acknowledgments section be just 1 page. You need to list why you’re acknowledging that the people. The goal of letters of recognition is to provide evidence you have received particular records or a specific kind of petition. There’s no need to mention the specific support given. There’s no need to consult this particular period that the help was allowed. There’s not any need to mention that the particular household connection. Citing contradictory work is also a chance to describe why you think your results are distinct. The date when the resignation acknowledgment letter has been granted. Letters of recognition have been usually employed for all those involved with a legal strategy. A variety of the sample recognition letters are attached beneath the substance. Composing an acknowledgement letter looks to be a easy task, but the truth is it’s not too simple job. It should compose in a specific format. Such letters may address many recipients. A draft correspondence can help underline any kind of mistakes before draft of this letter. It needs to be formed to understand the true content of the particular acknowledgement letter. Hence, the letter should bear the main reason for acknowledging it and should be presented keeping the basic etiquettes. You might even view formal letters. Composing strong letters is a fundamental item of business ownership that lots of small business people fail. Every single written letter ought to be stated together with a language and the title of the individual to whom it’s worried. You’re in a position to compose a great acknowledgement notice in their opinion. It is also possible to view leaving notices. You could also see brief notices. In addition, you need to also be aware of the two important factors as follows. You could also see criticism letters. You could even view finishing letters.
To nonprofit institutions, contribution receipts are an essential partof accounting and keeping up their charitable status. All donation receipts are not created equally. The MARC institution’s donation receipt is a superb illustration of how to control money contributions. You have to send your correspondence as quickly as possible following a donation. They generally request supplies or money, but it is also possible to use them to enlist the aid of volunteers. Letters are distinctive and quirky. They permit one to say things that are too embarrassing or awkward to communicate in person. Thus, don’t be worried if your correspondence is 1 page assuming you think it is good. Generally no more than a webpage, a normal mortgage gift letter says the sum of the present, the source of this gift-giver’s funds as well as the institution between you, Metzler clarifies. Be certain you remind parents to make out their checks to the faculty, so that it is tax deductible. According to everything you require money for you might even make it to be deep and touching. You merely must demonstrate you realize the way to raise money for important kaupapa. In the event the money involves any anticipation or result of repayment, then it is not a true gift, but a loan which will have to be disclosed and might change if you are entitled to a mortgage. Now’s the chance to continue to participate with them and provide them with the chance to find out more about your business and the way you’re very likely to use their gift. It is likely that you exhibit sincere gratitude at a well-worded email, nevertheless there are a lot of events when you need to make the additional attempt to mail a real note. A donor should have the ability to find your donation partner in a few minutes of your donation page loading. If he or she fails to offer you the correct information, they will be unable to keep their contribution in their earnings. Donors want some kind of extrinsic reward also. It ought to be very, very easy for a potential donor to seek out your Donate button onto your house page. By way of example, repeat or previous donors should find a different letter to volunteers or prospects, as you are very likely to have to thank them for their prior gifts. In case of a cash donation you can just place the total given. Every charity employed the cause to acquire a source of empowerment that I managed to connect to. If your layout would love to deal with the 3 trillion components of vinyl from the sea, your aim is to reduce plastic in the sea by 5 percent from the conclusion of following calendar year. Most participation forms make it easy to optimize for cellular, and many do it automatically. By way of instance, most people are supplying monthly. Whenever there are two or three cases where you consistently offer a reception, more often than not, you only will have to understand about the rules. Many do not know where to start when the occupation is assigned. When designing the donation slide, make certain it’s well-organized and simple to readdon’t make committing a difficult job! The process for writing the notes of gratitude can permit you to remember the kindness of friends and stretch you with an opportunity to remember your nearest and dearest. To start writing a letter requires distance. Guarantee that the stories you’re collecting are useful and honest. The fantastic news is, there are a great deal of templates available free of charge. Your donation page, together with a fantastic fundraising program, is the single most crucial thing that you want to invest in if you would like to get donors to give online. Cold prospects, like the kind you will encounter if you get a mailing list, aren’t very likely to generate a gift. Ideally, your effort topic comprises someone in the middle of itand you might use a picture of these.
You do not need to have an amateur to bargain with your Paper, which might determine your own future. Any kind of research paper has a particular arrangement that’s based on couple of names. Any type of study paper has a specific arrangement that’s based on few names. Composing a well-organized research paper is a intricate undertaking. When it isn’t possible by then you buy a paper. Before beginning writing your literature paper you have got to discover the substantial thing which will be discussed throughout the project. At length, if you’re writing your paper for a course or for a particular novel, make sure to remember any particular instructions provided by your instructor or from the journal editor. Reading examples of reaction newspapers is also an excess manner by which you can quickly learn how to write a paper. These examples can help you make your mind up on where to locate a sample of a wonderful critique. To be able to estimate some thing, you would love to compare it with the ideal example of this particular thing. Obviously, to compose a fantastic introduction you want to read a good example, so here you are. Research paper outline examples are amazingly tough for many pupils as they’re overly lengthy. You may also get help about the perfect approach to write research paper outline illustration in their website. You may need to do your study alone. Research takes quite a small time since the students desire to read broadly about a particular subject which comprises a huge set of tools. You may have to run an excess research should you find any defects on your newspaper. Produce guidelines of everything you’d love to do on your own research. Our study could be good for blockchain architects. You can do research in a number of different ways. As soon as you finish your research notes you are able to begin writing with assurance that you’ve got all of the pieces you need to generate an superb essay. You must do a protracted study on the region you have chosen so it is possible to get familiar with all of the vital facets. Research is vital to social advancement. It’s also sensible to conduct another study, if you happen to discover there’s any shortage on your research document. As an example, to describe private research results in third individual, compose I decided, rather than the study indicated. Explain how you need to begin conducting your own research. You may also do some researching to learn more about the things to speak so as to provide a logical and persuasive review. Academic study is an essential part of your study. It’s vital to social advancement. Customer care research is just one of many services which we supply our clients. The flourishing research study might be used for many years by other authors for referencing. Despite its short length, it’s a valuable area of this newspaper. Perhaps you will receive an essay paper together with the choice of buy college essay documents. An exploratory paper is not unusual in businesses when they’re trying to experience a remedy to your issue and might need to acquire each the potential viewpoints and information out there. As a consequence, you dedicate to writing a paper of poor quality since you think’s the very best you can do with the time you have got at hand. Composing a superb high superior superb research paper is a tough endeavor. To begin with, select what you will need to do together with your newspaper. To begin with, select exactly what you wish to do with your newspaper. After all, it’s called a research paper. Whenever you are writing your research paper’s introduction, you have to be constructing it about a particular outline that provides an overall summary of this paper. In the event you decide to obtain study paper from our company, here’s a brief education for creating an order on the website. In the end, it is referred to as a research paper. In understanding exactly what does a fantastic research paper, moreover, it’s highly advised to turn into fair. To begin, you have to recognize which type of abstract you want to include with your newspaper. In the conclusion, you want to proofread your research paper to be able to prevent bad sentence structure along with grammatical mistakes. After you might not wait and in depth study paper. A superb study paper writing company is a superb company that provides students with online research paper aid.
It is a particular Kind of writing that was created with the While submitting your account you should be sure that the document is at the essential format. It’d be better to write this if the report is finished so that you will include that which, even points that could possibly be added in the last moment. This report writing format will allow it to be simpler for the reader to comprehend what he’s searching for. Fundamental Report writing format will guarantee you that you are never likely to encounter some hustle in completing your report since it’s likely to provide you with all the arrangements you want to follow. With the ideal prep, it’ll be hard to write your report and stay organized. If you’re writing a report on the job, assess whether there are not any conventional guidelines or structure you have to use. This fashion, your report could be known by everyone who looks into the data which you input. Reports are believed to be among the very best approaches to relay a information. In the event you decide to compose a sample Formal Report, then be sure you’re specific with all the labels. You have written a distinguished article. Report writing is a very important part of every employee’s job. He must attempt to communicate the message as quickly as you possibly can from the very first few lines. Readers desire to be able to check by means of a report and access to the information which they need as fast as possible. Among the obvious differences of reports and essays is that the use of going. Problem is, you wouldn’t know which part does not make sense. A fantastic example of composing a report is to include a suitable introduction ahead of the human body and writing a determination at the end of the report. You might also have a look at fiscal report examples 10. You may also see ads report examples This the significant part of your document. You may often obtain a very clear short to get a report, for example what it is that you are studying and for whom the accounts needs to be ready. A number folks will read the review and only skim the accounts, so be sure you include all the pertinent particulars. They’ll read the review and just skim the accounts, so make certain that you include each the appropriate info. A report is supposed to lead individuals throughout the data in a structured manner, but additionally allowing them to find the information they need easily and fast. You might be writing your student report the incorrect method. It is extremely significant that you wants to understand how to write successful student reports. To continue to keep your document organized and easy to understand, there’s a particular format to follow together. This way the report has a larger influence on the reader. A normal small business report follows the particular exact same format. It helps for you to sharpen your research of the training course content in addition to better your capability to defend a specific position which you could be requested to execute in documents or on assessments. When you’ve conducted research to write a report or perhaps to study about rural expansion, it is imperative that you simply compile a suitable research report which you could then submit to the higher officials. It makes it feasible to organize your data that makes your account more efficient. Pay particular attention to if all the information that you have included is important. Also keep in mind that it has to be organized logically with all the most crucial points coming. Bear in mind that it needs to be organized logically with all the most crucial information coming. Additionally, it is advisable to have an excellent comprehension of a report structure. To begin with, you want to have some time to prepare and plan on your accounts. Obtaining in a position to communicate efficiently is probably one of the principal abilities one person can have. Otherwise, the likelihood of getting approval will likely be considerably reduced. For that reason, it’s almost always a good idea to start looking into a record writing specimens to locate the format properly. If you anticipate writing for a specific notion, make sure it is concentrated on the situation. Be sure you’ve got a notion for everything.
In the event of an experience certification, you are not Certain who the correspondence has to be dealt with. On occasion, what is discussed in 1 letter can not be shared using another branch. A reference letter is like your recommendation letter from company. There are a couple things that needs to be made from the correspondence. Resignation letter is a professional agreeing letter to alarm the current employer, which you are resigning from your work in addition to the variables behind your resignation. Giving out a resignation letter into your current employer is where you really create your job change official. A recommendation letter from company may make a major difference at a candidate’s likelihood of obtaining a new job or even a seat in a respectable educational institution. An individual should recall that a recommendation letter ought to be professional and precise. Rememberthat might call for a recommendation letter from the present organization, and so do not write anything which may seem sour and impolite. To the contrary, it is very likely to also select resignation letter through email. The resignation letter is simply a formality, putting your objective to leave the company in writing. Though some people feel it is unprofessional, a resignation letter via email is completely legitimate together with acceptable. It’s a quick letter officially advising your business that you’re leaving your job. When you’ve done that, you’re well ready to write a resignation letter that’s formal. Resignation letter is as crucial as the program correspondence for nearly any job. Even though resignation letters are generally the last official communication you have obtained together with the business, it is vital to not burn any bridges. Letter Of Resignation Samples is just one particular kind of raised market at this time. The letter needs to be succinct, and you also would like to compose a logical reason for leaving the flat. Even though it looks like a reference correspondence, there’s an important gap in the two. In this circumstance it would be a good idea to draft two distinct letters to prevent such a confusion or circumstance. Formal letters nevertheless maintain an very important area on the market world. Ambiguous or casual letters are ordinarily not amused. A well-drafted letter that is written in a suitable way makes certain that your exit method is smooth and without any difficulties. The concluding section of this email ought to be focused on talking about your positive expertise in the business, in a couple of lines. Heres how to write an perfect job application email to make it look formal. You may leave your telephone number and email address so the coworkers can remain in contact with you. While composing the speech of the sender of this letter is not a compulsion it’s a fantastic practice to attain that. When you have made the decision to proceed, there’s absolutely not any usage at criticizing your company or your job. Take note that in case you choose to officially complain, the process could be lengthy. The procedure for writing work description involves having a thorough understanding of their tasks duties and responsibilities. For the established organization to say it had an agreement on youpersonally, it must demonstrate the manner that it was likely to perform great for you. If you’re being asked to register a non-compete arrangement to find a condition of hire, then you certainly won’t have a lot of choice as to if you register it. The very first thing that you need to do when educated you will be asked to sign a non-compete arrangement is ask to see a copy of the structure ahead. The arrangement is quite simple and importantly, as is provided in the following section. This arrangement will have the ability to aid you fully receive a salary certification in a far better way.
The Acknowledgement is merely the acceptance of some thing. The Official acknowledgement is made up of advice that will assist the IRS representative identify the suitable yield and supply better support.
Receipts have come a ways. They are legal proof to Show a transaction took place together with a payment has been made in exchange for a commodity. There are a couple important and frequently used official types of acknowledgement receipts. Hence, the acknowledgement receipt could be a really simple letter confirming the receipt of product delivered. A receipt functions as a record that offers confirmation a payment has been produced in the client to the little organization. State that you’re acknowledging the receipt of all the things you have requested.
Emails are usually acknowledged, for example, but they Are recognized via email, for the big part, rather than by way of an official letter. Instantly notify partners and customers that you’ve seen their email for a way to allow them to continue every other essential undertaking. Instantly notify partners and customers that you have seen their email in order to permit them last any other essential undertaking. To make sure it’s personal, they’d still need to check all my prior emails to understand Love it!
You’ve backed up your request, Not Just with timeframes, The notice also has to be submitted in a very clear and simple to detect location where folks are well prepared to find this, and also a copy needs to be provided to anyone who asks for you. In a catastrophe, you want to get detect whenever possible following the emergency. In almost all cases, you need to discover the note on your first trip to a provider or in the email out of your wellbeing program. Additionally, you need to also be aware of both major variables as follows.
The correspondence is not likely to have a very fantastic Impact if you handle it straight in the title of a business or a company. Or perhaps you say that you’re inclined to be moving throughout the matters, and you’ll be sending another letter to supply a few remarks. Letters to business partners ought to be printed on the business’s letterhead. The correspondence needs to be formal and will need to include the partnership arrangement, names of each the business partners, as well as the stipulations of this partnership. The letter has to be routed whenever possible once you have the product, include the files, as the situation might be. Letters of recognition have been often employed for all those involved with a lawful strategy.
The way you approach in the letter should be considerate And considerate. For that reason, it must bear the reason behind admitting it and ought to be introduced retaining the basic etiquettes. Composing such formal little business letters can allow you to construct adequate confidence and will.
Obtained the amendment. There are several different sorts of money. Receipt forms are very beneficial for various business in a variety of businesses. For example, to admit deliveries, a shipping receipt form is usually utilized. You’re in a position to abide by the 3 simple steps we have got for you in producing your own reception form. If you would like to make your own reception type, a selection of samples is easily available for you as plans for composing a receipt form for certain purposes.
When it is to do with handling the specific lawful process, Those letters play a substantial function. The stepwise process to check out the ITR obtained standing through official website of the Income Tax department is supplied below.
Have received specific documents or a specific kind of petition. Listed below Are the numerous possible approaches to locate the affliction of this tax yield. Inform your client or partner, if you would like to make alterations in any Type of record or arrangement. Thus, it may take much time to Find the Revenue Tax e-filing status. In addition you provide the opportunity for those Workers to express any problems they might have with the policy. | 2019-04-23T04:35:07Z | http://sali4ever.com/motivationsschreiben-interne-bewerbung/ |
One of the most dramatic Formula One world championship finales occurred at the Brazilian Grand Prix in November 2008.
It all started a year earlier. In 2007, rookie sensation Lewis Hamilton had arrived at Sao Paolo's Interlagos circuit with a four-point lead over McLaren teammate Fernando Alonso and a seven-point lead over Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen. He had already blown one chance to wrap it up, infamously beaching his car on entry to the pit-lane at the penultimate round in China.
In Brazil, after nearly colliding with Alonso on lap one Hamilton dropped down the order and, despite recovering to a safe position, then encountered car trouble. Raikkonen was able to steal the title from under the noses of the two warring McLaren drivers.
In 2008, Alonso moved on to Renault and, despite two early wins, Raikkonen had been unable to replicate his championship-winning form. That left Hamilton and Massa to fight it out for the title, but both squandered big opportunities that year.
Massa retired from the lead on the final lap of the Hungarian Grand Prix with car trouble and drove away from a pit-stop in Singapore with the fuel hose still attached to his car. He went on to finish fifth there, while Hamilton was third. At the following race, in Japan, a wildly aggressive start from pole saw Hamilton tangle with Raikkonen. Hamilton would finish down the order, with Massa fifth, although he made amends at the penultimate race by leading Massa home from pole.
That meant Hamilton returned to Interlagos with a five-point lead over Massa -- points were awarded to the top eight finishers (10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1). To become F1's youngest champion, a fifth-place finish was all Hamilton needed.
Lewis Hamilton: In 2007 I lost the championship in front of so many people, managing the embarrassment and managing the emotions was really difficult. I'm a very emotional guy ... that experience was a bit traumatising at such a young age.
Felipe Massa: When I started that week, I had in my mind only one thing that I had to do which was to win the race. I was not thinking about my fight with Lewis because this is the last race, so in the worst case I need to win -- that was the only thing I was thinking about, in my mind, every day of the week since the week started.
Rob Smedley, Ferrari race engineer: I think it's quite funny when you look at people's memories of that weekend because the memory is quite different to the reality. It wasn't really viewed as a championship decider, it was really viewed as Lewis' coronation -- that it was already his, signed, sealed and delivered.
Phil Prew, McLaren race engineer: In the latter part of 2008 we had the advantage and we were letting points slip. You look back at 2007 and it was pretty much the same. That was certainly very vivid in our thoughts and certainly influenced how we approached the weekend, the strategy we adopted ... we were quite defensive in our approach. And as the race panned out, that nearly cost us very dearly.
On Nov. 2, 2008, Massa was on pole position. Hamilton had qualified fourth, ahead of McLaren teammate Hiekki Kovalainen. McLaren was confident it had the pace to stay inside the top five -- but the grey skies above the circuit promised an unpredictable contest was in store.
Felipe Massa: To be honest, I never felt big pressure before the race. I was really calm but also feeling the extra power. I was always really feeling that maybe the weekend was mine. I would say I had an amazing feeling on the grid from all the people ... I had a great atmosphere from everybody, from all the Brazilians, from all the people that were pushing me in a nice way.
Rob Smedley, Ferrari race engineer: Felipe has always been a guy who needed an arm around him and have some love and respect, and you couldn't have hoped for more love and respect from the whole of your nation at that point.
Luis Vasconcelos, journalist: For once, the Brazilian public got behind him. Because since [Ayrton] Senna they had never really got behind any driver. It was always quite split. It was like [Rubens] Barrichello was not as good as Senna, so he was crap. Felipe was not as good as Senna, so he was crap. But Felipe had won six races, was fighting for the title. So for the first time ever the Brazilian fans were pushing and supporting Felipe and booing Hamilton.
Lewis Hamilton: The noise, the atmosphere, was just crazy. I had perhaps two percent of the fans wanting me to win while the rest were for Felipe. It was just so intense. But I didn't resent it -- it was normal. At Silverstone I had all the support and Felipe didn't.
As the start approached, the rain started to fall, delaying lights out. Hamilton had claimed superb victories in similar conditions at Monaco and Great Britain that year, while Massa had struggled to master the rain.
Luis Fernando Ramos, stadium announcer: It was absolutely nerve-wracking. It started raining and I thought 's---, it's wet, it's over', because Felipe's reputation in those conditions wasn't great.
Felipe Massa: Then it was a quite strange feeling, we had to wait in the car. Something was telling me maybe this can be for some good or maybe some changes for the race. I know that in the dry, Lewis had a pretty big chance to score a good amount of points so maybe this can change the race.
Massa led away cleanly and Hamilton avoided any drama at the start. An early Safety Car was deployed for another crash and the rain soon eased off. Everyone switched to the dry tyre -- Hamilton was one of the last to do so, briefly relegating him to sixth position behind Giancarlo Fisichella.
Phil Prew, McLaren race engineer: We didn't want to be the first to go over to the dry tyres, we didn't need that risk. The person who did migrated up the grid and then it's like s---, we should be fourth here but we're fifth -- but it's still fifth, so it's OK. With Lewis' ability in the wet, which he's had from the very beginning, we had been able to make some very aggressive choices in those races that year. He'd had those wins in Monaco, Silverstone, some really excellent races in the wet so it should have been an excellent opportunity for us.
Lewis Hamilton: We knew what we had to do and the points we had to score. I guess that impacted what we did because we didn't need to put it all on the line to win.
For most of the race, the championship battle was finely poised: Massa led comfortably out in front, while Hamilton switched between fourth and fifth position -- both enough for his first championship.
All the while, dark clouds lingered around the Interlagos circuit. There would be another rain storm before the chequered flag fell.
Rob Smedley, Ferrari race engineer: Felipe had the car and was so good that day. He was just cantering along. You can hear it in his voice, you can look at the telemetry, you can see how hard he's pushing -- you know we've got bags of pace in hand at this point. The whole pack is behind and they're all scrabbling, he's just eking it out bit by bit as the race goes on.
Stefano Domenicali, Ferrari team principal: Felipe was perfect out in front. He showed why he deserved to be champion -- which he would have been without our errors earlier in the year.
Felipe Massa: When I changed to the dry tyres the race was pretty easy on my side because my pace was very, very strong so I managed to open the gap. I managed to really have quite an easy race but then suddenly it starts to rain again at the end of the race so everything changed.
Lewis Hamilton: Before it started to rain I was quite comfortable, and I was just focused on having a clean race. Everything was going fine until it started raining again.
Light rain started to fall on Lap 63 of 71. Hamilton, running fourth, pitted two laps later for the 'intermediate' wet-weather tyre, as did the man directly behind him -- Toro Rosso's Sebastian Vettel. Massa made the same stop the following lap. While most took that same option, two cars had crucially opted to go with a different strategy to the rest.
Toyota had left Timo Glock and Jarno Trulli out on the dry tyre, banking on the rain staying light enough for them to go to the finish without the time lost in a pit-stop. The decision elevated Glock from seventh to fourth -- meaning Hamilton was now in fifth, with Vettel's charging Toro Rosso right behind him. The battle for fifth had now become one which could decide the entire championship.
Timo Glock, Toyota driver: Every time I came through Turn 3, Turn 4, Turn 5, into the middle of the circuit, the cloud above was getting bigger. I told them for sure it was going to end up in a chaotic last one, two, three laps, and that we should prepare ourselves to change tyres. They said we'll stay out because they thought it would be dry enough until the end of the race. I told them: 'listen, it's going to piss it down massively in the last couple of corners on the circuit, it's going to get worse and worse'. They said there were guys already coming in to change tyres but that the strategy for us was much better to stay on dry tyres. So that's what we did.
Luis Fernando Ramos, stadium announcer: After the Toyotas stayed out I had said to my co-commentator, 'it's all in Vettel's hands, he has to overtake Lewis for Felipe to have a chance'. Then, it happened!
Luis Vasconcelos, journalist: In Formula One there has always been this unwritten rule that you don't really fight championship contenders on the last race if you're not one of them. But nobody told that to Vettel.
Hamilton, stalked closer and closer by Vettel, suddenly gets un-lapped by the BMW of Robert Kubica on the inside of the circuit's final corner, Juncao. The spooked McLaren driver then made a crucial mistake -- running wide, allowing Vettel past him.
Suddenly Hamilton was in sixth position with just three laps to go.
Sebastian Vettel: At that moment I had no idea I might be influencing the championship. When Lewis went wide, it was natural to take the position. I was racing for Toro Rosso for the final time and I wanted to go out with the best result possible.
Lewis Hamilton: I remember thinking, 'man, you've got to be kidding me, not again'.
Phil Prew, McLaren race engineer: That moment was horrible, like 'we've just thrown it away again'. All the feelings of disappointment from 2007 came flooding back. Just gut-wrenching disappointment. Then you quickly snap back and remember you're still racing.
Paddy Lowe, McLaren engineering director: I had literally given up Formula One at that point, for those few minutes. It was 'this is too much, I can't deal with this, I'm quitting'.
Dudu Massa, Felipe's brother: When Sebastian passed Lewis, we started off some celebrations in the Ferrari garage. But I remember me and my dad asking people to calm down, my mum was starting to cry -- my dad told her 'no, no, wait, not until he finishes'. We were telling people to wait because it wasn't over yet.
Hamilton spent the next two laps trying to catch and pass Vettel to move back into the position he needed for the world championship.
Lewis Hamilton: That was horrible. I just remember Sebastian just being right there but I couldn't get to him. My tyres had frickin' over-inflated, so I just remember that... [it was like] my mum was on the edge of a cliff and she was right there but I couldn't do anything to grab her. There was nothing I could do.
Rob Smedley, Ferrari race engineer: It became very, very difficult not to be 100 percent concentrated on Lewis from that point. You know your race is coming to the final couple of laps, Felipe's been inch perfect, he's not going to drop it.
Felipe Massa: Rob was always talking to me in the way that 'OK Lewis is sixth, but the race hasn't finished yet, it's raining, anything can happen so keep concentrating'. He was always speaking to me like that so I never really had my mind on 'I will be the world champion'.
Phil Prew, McLaren race engineer: It soon became quite apparent that the rain had got a lot worse and Glock's lap times started to drop away. At that point we were communicating to Lewis that the opportunity wasn't with Vettel any more, it was with catching the Toyota. That was clearly a big call. I think that was very difficult for him to process in the car -- because he can't see what we can, all he can see is the guy in front.
Rob Smedley, Ferrari race engineer: At this point what I'm watching the whole time was how wet it was getting in the pit lane. I was thinking 's---' and just saying 'f---king stop, please just stop f---ing raining', because it's getting heavier and heavier, and obviously I knew what that meant.
At the end of the penultimate lap, Glock's final sector time confirmed Smedley's worse fears. The Toyota driver recorded a 21.8s -- which would be three seconds slower than Vettel and Hamilton, who were now just 15 seconds down the road and gaining fast.
Phil Prew, McLaren race engineer: At that moment the feeling suddenly was very much -- this is on!
Lewis Hamilton: Honestly, I felt as though my heart was about to explode in the closing stages of the race. I don't know how I kept my cool.
Timo Glock: I started the last lap and at the first corner it's just so wet, no grip, and I knew it was going to be a massive struggle just to finish because it would be even worse at the end of the circuit.
Out in front, Massa completed the most perfect race of his life -- waving his finger in the air as the home crowd roared him across the finish line for the last time.
Hamilton would not take the chequered flag for another 39 seconds. As things stood at that moment, Massa was the world champion, Brazil's first since Ayrton Senna in 1991.
Rob Smedley, Ferrari race engineer: When he crossed the line, Lewis was still sixth, the whole f---ing place erupted.
Felipe Massa: I could feel really the place shaking. The noise, for sure you cannot hear so much because the noise of the car was quite high in that year with the V8s but I could really feel the whole people around, I could really feel the feeling from the people.
Dudu Massa, Felipe's brother: When Felipe finished the race we still waited a little bit but the emotion was so high that one single clap for somebody exploded the emotions. Then a friend of ours got a little more emotional, he was a big guy, and he hugged us and we lost some composure. Then everyone lost it and was jumping around. I don't know how to explain it, we just got blind.
Rob Smedley, Ferrari race engineer: Everyone was going mad but I was desperately trying to watch the screens in front of me because I could see Hamilton was gaining pace and Glock had started to struggle big time.
Timo Glock: I could barely keep the car pointing forwards. I was just trying to focus on myself, keep the car on track. I was slipping and sliding around and really couldn't do anything but hope I made it to the finish.
Martin Whitmarsh, McLaren team principal: We were saying to Lewis 'take it easy', we knew we're racing Glock. With the GPS we could see Glock coming back towards us... we had the conviction that we were going to catch him. But then you start to worry -- is it raining as hard as you think it is? Are you really going to catch him? Are we going to have got this really wrong?
Hamilton, still chasing Vettel, tried one last lunge at the Toro Rosso driver midway round the final lap, but was still unable to get close enough to pass the young German.
Lewis Hamilton: I remember that moment going into Turn 10, I couldn't dive up the inside of him, I see him get the apex, come out of it and see him pull away as the time is ticking down -- 25 seconds or whatever, knowing that my whole year, all the input, all the stress, all the strain, was going to be lost. But he was right there, less than 10 metres in front of me.
While most were oblivious, one person who did notice what had just happened was former racing driver Martin Brundle, commentating on the English-language world feed. As the cameras switched to the angle looking down at the Juncao corner where Hamilton had made his mistake several laps earlier, it showed Vettel and the McLaren driver moving off the racing line to pass a slow-moving, red and white Toyota. Hamilton was now in fifth position.
Brundle stuttered, his voice rising with excitement to deliver his most famous call.
Martin Brundle, TV commentator: That just came from within, realising the significance of it. You live on your wits as a commentator, that's why I love doing live television. It's not about notes or anything scripted, it's literally say what you see and call it how it is. You realise it's playing out in the most unbelievable, dramatic way -- one man and his team are there celebrating the championship while the other one is there winning it in front of your eyes.
Timo Glock: Honestly, I had no idea who had passed me. I didn't pay attention to any of that really because I only wanted to keep my car on the track.
Stefano Domenicali, Ferrari team principal: As you can imagine, it was painful. Very painful. I understood from that moment that for Felipe the championship was done.
Lewis Hamilton: I was shouting 'do I have it, do I have it?' and then as I went into Turn 1 they told me. I was ecstatic. I'll never forget that moment.
The dramatic finish had yet to be realised in the pit-lane. Cameras showed Massa's family celebrating with Ferrari mechanics, while Hamilton's brother Nicholas and girlfriend, popstar Nicole Scherzinger, celebrated with McLaren mechanics.
The bad news quickly filtered around the Ferrari garage and the Interlagos circuit.
Stefano Domenicali, Ferrari team principal: I went immediately into the radio -- because behind me the team was already cheering -- that someone had to tell Felipe's family they had lost the championship.
Dudu Massa, Felipe's brother: We were celebrating, then got told Hamilton was fifth, not sixth. The mechanic who told us Lewis passed Glock was suffering more than us. For a mechanic from Ferrari to then come and tell the family 'Felipe didn't win the championship', it was taking away a dream for a family, for friends, even a whole country. The guy was feeling really, really bad. He smashed the wall with his head and everything, he was so upset.
Paddy Lowe, McLaren: At this point I'm running back to our pit wall. I think Nicole was running out of the garage at the same moment. I think we were two of the first people to really work out what had really happened.
Luis Fernando Ramos, stadium announcer: The whole atmosphere changed instantly. A guy wrote to my blog a few days afterwards, he said 'when Felipe crossed the line I was jumping, then I heard your voice over the tannoy saying Hamilton was fifth.... When I heard you say that it was like a policeman coming to my house to say my mother is dead'.
Massa, his voice breaking with emotion, replied: "I'm so proud of you anyway. I would have been even more with the championship but anyway, thank you!"
Felipe Massa: I was just waiting for a message -- it took forever to come. Unfortunately the message that came was a little bit different from the one I was hoping for, or expecting to hear.
Robert Smedley, Ferrari race engineer: We made all the perfect calls. Felipe drove the perfect race. It was probably the most perfect race I ever witnessed from the pit-wall. I actually felt really, really elated and proud. It didn't hit me properly until an hour later. So that was both the best and one of the worst moments as well.
Meanwhile, the man who had become one of the main protagonists of the entire drama was still blissfully unaware of the role he had played in it, his thoughts still on a strategy call which had ultimately gained him two positions overall.
Timo Glock: I was coming back to the pits and they told me on the radio, 'Hamilton won the championship' ... but never told me I was the guy who had decided the championship! We were just happy the strategy had paid off for us, we had gained a few positions. So I stopped the car not knowing anything. Lewis was parked right in front of me, I got out of the car and congratulated him, and then just went to the scales where every driver gets weighed.
As Massa pulled up in parc ferme in the pit-lane, he opened his visor and wiped tears from his eyes.
Felipe Massa: It was an amazing moment to win, just the perfect weekend. But to lose in the last metres, it was tough ... There was no way I could not cry. Imagine winning the title at home, it would have been the most incredible feeling.
Timo Glock: There was this bunch of journalists coming towards me and so I walked to the side, because I thought they were going straight to Lewis. But everyone went to me! They were like 'was this planned before the race?', 'did you help Lewis win the championship!?' I was totally confused, like 'what the hell is going on!?' I didn't know what had happened. It was only then they told me I was the guy who had decided the championship.
Luca Colajanni, Ferrari press officer: Immediately after the end of the race many of us in the garage had more than a slight suspicion that Glock had let Hamilton past to deny Felipe the title. But in cold blood later, it was clear he could not have done anything.
Timo Glock: There were a couple of journalists who were very aggressive, especially from the Italian side, pointing fingers at me and saying I had done this on purpose, 'how much did Mercedes [McLaren's engine supplier] and Lewis pay you?' It was a situation I never thought I would be in. We even had letters come in to my family, to my dad and mom's house about how I had done this and how people should shoot me, I shouldn't be in the sport anymore. I could not believe how bad people could be, it was pretty extreme.
As a bewildered Glock fielded questions from the media and Hamilton and McLaren celebrated further down the pit-lane, Massa was still required to go through the F1 post-race traditions -- standing on top of the podium as the winner of the race. His eyes glittering with emotion, the Brazilian walked to the front of the podium, thumped his chest and let out a passionate roar for his home crowd.
Felipe Massa: I was proud. Winning the Brazilian race is the most important thing a Brazilian driver can achieve. I was looking at the people -- my people, the Brazilian people -- under the podium and just wanted to show them that I was proud to be there and that we always fight until the end. This was my feeling.
Martin Brundle, TV commentator: That podium ceremony stands out. Felipe was very magnanimous. I thought it was an incredible sporting moment, sadly not an incredible moment for him. But he took it with great professional style and a certain amount of humility in a moment of immense pain. To win the world championship a few kilometres from where he was born, in a Ferrari for goodness sake... he felt that for a short moment. Talking about it now I still feel pain for him.
Rob Smedley, Ferrari race engineer: It didn't surprise me, knowing him as well as I do, it's exactly what I would have expected from a man like that.
Luis Vasconcelos, journalist: It was very dignified, very impressive. He gained a lot of respect in Brazil by the way he acted that Sunday night. I think that will always be the image people remember of Felipe Massa.
After the podium ceremony, the contrasting emotions continued to play out down in the Interlagos paddock below.
Paddy Lowe, McLaren engineering director: I consider that a weekend of hell, really. It was like surviving a plane crash. We had a party, but to be honest the party we had the previous year after Brazil when we lost was massively better. Same location, same people pretty much, just in 2007 we all had something to forget. .
Rob Smedley, Ferrari race engineer: When it finally settled, it was without a doubt the most emotional I've ever been at work. It was actually quite hard to deal with. I remember calling my wife and not really being able to talk to her, trying to explain what had happened. I called my mum and dad, too. After that I was just trying to find somewhere private to have some emotional time to myself I guess. It was tough. I cried for about an hour.
Stefano Domenicali, Ferrari team principal: I say this with a lot of respect for Lewis because he is a fantastic champion, but Felipe deserved the title that season. He had been the better driver. But nothing was in Felipe's hands because of everything that happened before then.
Lewis Hamilton: I had it the year before and it was the one of the most, if not the most, devastating experiences, losing the first year. Even though I didn't expect to win in 2007 the stress and the strain I went through was too much to take -- as immature as my mind was, basically. To dig myself out of that bottomless pit, because I was in a deep pit at the end of 2007, to come back and be strong, win the first race of the year in 2008, then get to the end of the year and again to [nearly lose it] ... I don't know how I would have come back from it.
Felipe Massa: If the rain had worsened one minute later, I would have won the title. It had to be that way. I believe things happen for a reason. Maybe one day I will find out why. | 2019-04-22T18:10:56Z | http://tv5.espn.com/f1/story/_/id/25154101/how-lewis-hamilton-lost-won-first-world-championship-oral-history-2008-brazilian-gp |
In 2017, Fairfield County, CT had a population of 950k people with a median age of 40.4 and a median household income of $91,198. Between 2016 and 2017 the population of Fairfield County, CT grew from 944,177 to 949,921, a 0.608% increase and its median household income grew from $90,123 to $91,198, a 1.19% increase.
The population of Fairfield County, CT is 61.3% White Alone, 19.9% Hispanic or Latino, and 10.4% Black or African American Alone. 29.6% of the people in Fairfield County, CT speak a non-English language, and 87.2% are U.S. citizens.
The largest universities in Fairfield County, CT are Sacred Heart University (2,276 degrees awarded in 2016), Porter and Chester Institute of Stratford (1,676 degrees), and University of Bridgeport (1,669 degrees).
The median property value in Fairfield County, CT is $425,900, and the homeownership rate is 66.8%. Most people in Fairfield County, CT commute by Drove Alone, and the average commute time is 29.7 minutes. The average car ownership in Fairfield County, CT is 2 cars per household.
Fairfield County, CT borders Suffolk County, NY, Nassau County, NY, Westchester County, NY, New Haven County, CT, Dutchess County, NY, Putnam County, NY, and Litchfield County, CT.
The economy of Fairfield County, CT employs 480k people. The largest industries in Fairfield County, CT are Health Care & Social Assistance (67,286 people), Retail Trade (49,686 people), and Professional, Scientific, & Technical Services (47,895 people), and the highest paying industries are Mining, Quarrying, & Oil & Gas Extraction ($227,652), Finance & Insurance ($122,523), and Finance & Insurance, & Real Estate & Rental & Leasing ($111,421).
Median household income in Fairfield County, CT is $91,198. Males in Fairfield County, CT have an average income that is 1.41 times higher than the average income of females, which is $63,340. The income inequality in Fairfield County, CT (measured using the Gini index) is 0.498, which is higher than than the national average.
Households in Fairfield County, CT have a median annual income of $91,198, which is more than the median annual income of $60,336 across the entire United States. This is in comparison to a median income of $90,123 in 2016, which represents a 1.19% annual growth.
Look at the chart to see how the median household income in Fairfield County, CT compares to that of it's neighboring and parent geographies.
The PUMS dataset is not available at the county level, so we are showing data for the Connecticut.
In 2017, full-time male employees in Fairfield County, CT made 1.41 times more than female employees.
This chart shows the gender-based wage disparity in the 5 most common occupations in Fairfield County, CT by number of full-time employees.
In 2017 the highest paid race/ethnicity of Fairfield County, CT workers was Asian. These workers were paid 1.06 times more than White workers, who made the second highest salary of any race/ethnicity.
This chart shows the race- and ethnicity-based wage disparities in the 5 most common occupations in Fairfield County, CT by number of full-time employees.
The closest comparable wage GINI for Fairfield County, CT is from Connecticut.
In 2017, the income inequality in Connecticut was 0.498 according to the GINI calculation of the wage distribution. Income inequality had a 0.351% decline from 2016 to 2017, which means that wage distribution grew somewhat more even.
The 2017 the GINI for Connecticut was higher than than the national average of 0.479. In other words, wages are distributed less evenly in Connecticut in comparison to the national average.
This chart shows the number of workers in Connecticut across various wage buckets compared to the national average.
In 2017, the tract with the highest Median Household Income (Total) in Fairfield County, CT was Census Tract 101.02 with a value of $250,001, followed by Census Tract 552 and Census Tract 301, with respective values of $250,001 and $250,001.
The following map shows all of the tracts in Fairfield County, CT colored by their Median Household Income (Total).
8.76% of the population for whom poverty status is determined in Fairfield County, CT (81.4k out of 929k people) live below the poverty line, a number that is lower than the national average of 13.4%. The largest demographic living in poverty are Females 25 - 34, followed by Females 35 - 44 and then Males 18 - 24.
The most common racial or ethnic group living below the poverty line in Fairfield County, CT is White, followed by Hispanic and Black.
From 2016 to 2017, employment in Fairfield County, CT grew at a rate of 0.663%, from 477k employees to 480k employees.
The most common job groups, by number of people living in Fairfield County, CT, are Other Management Occupations Except Farmers, Ranchers, & Other Agricultural Managers (36,703 people), Building Cleaning & Pest Control Workers (18,436 people), and Other Business Operations Specialists (15,602 people). This chart illustrates the share breakdown of the primary jobs held by residents of Fairfield County, CT.
The most common jobs held by residents of Fairfield County, CT, by number of employees, are Other Management Occupations Except Farmers, Ranchers, & Other Agricultural Managers (36,703 people), Building Cleaning & Pest Control Workers (18,436 people), and Other Business Operations Specialists (15,602 people).
Compared to other counties, Fairfield County, CT has an unusually high number of residents working as Financial Managers (2.41 times higher than expected), First-Line Supervisors of Landscaping, Lawn Service, & Groundskeeping Workers (2.24 times), and Grounds Maintenance Workers (2.16 times).
The highest paid jobs held by residents of Fairfield County, CT, by median earnings, are Legal Occupations ($134,759), Management Occupations ($105,798), and Law Enforcement Workers Including Supervisors ($100,738).
The most common employment sectors for those who live in Fairfield County, CT, are Health Care & Social Assistance (67,286 people), Retail Trade (49,686 people), and Professional, Scientific, & Technical Services (47,895 people). This chart shows the share breakdown of the primary industries for residents of Fairfield County, CT, though some of these residents may live in Fairfield County, CT and work somewhere else. Census data is tagged to a residential address, not a work address.
The most common industries in Fairfield County, CT, by number of employees, are Health Care & Social Assistance (67,286 people), Retail Trade (49,686 people), and Professional, Scientific, & Technical Services (47,895 people).
Compared to other counties, Fairfield County, CT has an unusually high number of Management of Companies & Enterprises (2.79 times higher than expected), Finance & Insurance (1.92 times), and Information (1.51 times) industries.
The highest paying industries in Fairfield County, CT, by median earnings, are Mining, Quarrying, & Oil & Gas Extraction ($227,652), Finance & Insurance ($122,523), and Finance & Insurance, & Real Estate & Rental & Leasing ($111,421).
Domestic production and consumption consists of products and services shipped from Connecticut to other states, or from other states to Connecticut.
In 2015, the top outbound Connecticut product (by dollars) was Mixed freight with $34.1B, followed by Coal-n.e.c. with $20.4B and Motorized vehicles and $16.1B.
The following chart shows the share of these products in relation to all outbound Connecticut products.
Showing data for Connecticut state.
In 2015, total outbound Connecticut trade was $198B. This is expected to increase 54.9% to $307B by 2045.
The following chart shows how the domestic outbound Connecticut trade is projected to change in comparison to its neighboring states.
Interstate trade consists of products and services shipped from Connecticut to other states, or from other states to Connecticut.
In 2015, the top outbound Connecticut domestic partner for goods and services (by dollars) was New York with $25B, followed by Massachusetts with $20.8B and New Jersey and $11.9B.
The following map shows the amount of trade that Connecticut shares with each state (excluding itself).
90.8% of the population of Fairfield County, CT has health coverage, with 51.9% on employee plans, 16% on Medicaid, 11.3% on Medicare, 11.2% on non-group plans, and 0.452% on military or VA plans.
Per capita personal health care spending in the county of Fairfield County, CT was $9,859 in 2014. This is a 3.59% increase from the previous year ($9,517).
Primary care physicians in Fairfield County, CT see 1099 patients per year on average, which represents a 0.812% decrease from the previous year (1108 patients). Compare this to dentists who see 1084 patients per year, and mental health providers who see 374 patients per year.
Primary care physicians in Fairfield County, CT see an average of 1099 patients per year. This represents a 0.812% decrease from the previous year (1108 patients).
The following chart shows how the number of patients seen by primary care physicians has been changing over time in Fairfield County, CT in comparison to neighboring states.
Data is only available at the state level. Showing data for Connecticut.
Between 2013 and 2014, all personal health care spending per capita in Connecticut (including private, Medicare, and Medicaid) grew 3.59%, from $9,517 to $9,859.
Between 2016 and 2017, the percent of uninsured citizens in Fairfield County, CT grew by 17.9% from 7.77% to 9.16%.
The following chart shows how the percent of uninsured individuals in Fairfield County, CT changed over time compared with the percent of individuals enrolled in various types of health insurance.
Windham County has the highest prevalence of diabetes in Connecticut, at 10.3%.
The following map shows the prevalence of diabetes in Connecticut by county over multiple years.
Fairfield County, CT is home to a population of 950k people, from which 87.2% are citizens. As of 2017, 21.7% of Fairfield County, CT residents were born outside of the country.
The ethnic composition of the population of Fairfield County, CT is composed of 583k White Alone residents (61.3%), 189k Hispanic or Latino residents (19.9%), 98.6k Black or African American Alone residents (10.4%), 51.7k Asian Alone residents (5.44%), 19.7k Two or More Races residents (2.07%), 6.4k Some Other Race Alone residents (0.674%), 1.71k American Indian & Alaska Native Alone residents (0.179%), and 58 Native Hawaiian & Other Pacific Islander Alone residents (0.00611%).
The most common foreign languages spoken in Fairfield County, CT are Spanish or Spanish Creole (141,601 speakers), Portuguese or Portuguese Creole (19,365 speakers), and French Creole (14,652 speakers).
In 2017, the median age of all people in Fairfield County, CT was 40.4. Native-born citizens, with a median age of 38, were generally younger than than foreign-born citizens, with a median age of 44. But people in Fairfield County, CT are getting staying the same age. In 2016, the average age of all Fairfield County, CT residents was 40.
As of 2017, 21.7% of Fairfield County, CT residents were born outside of the United States, which is higher than the national average of 13.7%. In 2016, the percentage of foreign-born citizens in Fairfield County, CT was 21.1%, meaning that the rate has been increasing.
The following chart shows the percentage of foreign-born residents in Fairfield County, CT compared to that of it's neighboring and parent geographies.
In 2017, the most common birthplace for the foreign-born residents of Fairfield County, CT was Jamaica, the natal country of 40,088 Fairfield County, CT residents, followed by India with 33,638 and Mexico with 32,434.
As of 2017, 87.2% of Fairfield County, CT residents were US citizens, which is lower than the national average of 93.1%. In 2016, the percentage of US citizens in Fairfield County, CT was 88.6%, meaning that the rate of citizenship has been decreasing.
The following chart shows US citizenship percentages in Fairfield County, CT compared to that of it's neighboring and parent geographies.
In 2017, there were 3.08 times more White Alone residents (583k people) in Fairfield County, CT than any other race or ethnicity. There were 189k Hispanic or Latino and 98.6k Black or African American Alone residents, the second and third most common racial or ethnic groups.
The following bar chart shows the 8 races and ethnicities represented in Fairfield County, CT as a share of the total population.
29.6% of Fairfield County, CT citizens are speakers of a non-English language, which is higher than the national average of 21.5%. In 2015, the most common non-English language spoken in Fairfield County, CT was Spanish or Spanish Creole. 15.8% of the overall population of Fairfield County, CT are native Spanish or Spanish Creole speakers. 2.16% speak Portuguese or Portuguese Creole and 1.64% speak Spanish or Spanish Creole, the next two most common languages.
Fairfield County, CT has a large population of military personnel who served in Vietnam, 2.7 times greater than any other conflict.
In 2016, universities in Fairfield County, CT awarded 11,124 degrees. The student population of Fairfield County, CT is skewed towards women, with 17,134 male students and 24,541 female students.
Most students graduating from Universities in Fairfield County, CT are White (5,834 and 58.4%), followed by Hispanic or Latino (1,557 and 15.6%), Black or African American (1,378 and 13.8%), and Unknown (729 and 7.3%).
The largest universities in Fairfield County, CT by number of degrees awarded are Sacred Heart University (2,276 and 20.5%), Porter and Chester Institute of Stratford (1,676 and 15.1%), and University of Bridgeport (1,669 and 15%).
The most popular majors in Fairfield County, CT are Registered Nursing (730 and 6.56%), Truck, Bus, & Commercial Vehicle Operator & Instructor (483 and 4.34%), and General Studies (463 and 4.16%).
The median tuition costs in Fairfield County, CT are $33,800 for private four year colleges, and $8,220 and $24,949 respectively, for public four year colleges for in-state students and out-of-state students.
In 2015, the most common concentation for Bachelors Degree recipients in Fairfield County, CT was General Psychology with 377 degrees awarded.
This visualization illustrates the percentage of students graduating with a Bachelors Degree from schools in Fairfield County, CT according to their major.
In 2016, the Fairfield County, CT institution with the largest number of graduating students was Sacred Heart University with 2,276 degrees awarded.
In 2016, 4,929 men were awarded degrees from institutions in Fairfield County, CT, which is 0.796 times less than the 6,195 female students who received degrees in the same year.
This chart displays the gender disparity between the top 5 institutions in Fairfield County, CT by degrees awarded.
In 2016 the majority of degrees awarded at institutions in Fairfield County, CT were to White students. These 5,834 degrees mean that there were 3.75 times more White students then the next closest race/ethnicity group, Hispanic or Latino, with 1,557 degrees awarded.
The median property value in Fairfield County, CT was $425,900 in 2017, which is 1.96 times larger than the national average of $217,600. Between 2016 and 2017 the median property value increased from $423,200 to $425,900, a 0.638% increase. The homeownership rate in Fairfield County, CT is 66.8%, which is higher than the national average of 63.9%. People in Fairfield County, CT have an average commute time of 29.7 minutes, and they commute by Drove Alone. Car ownership in Fairfield County, CT is approximately the same as the national average, with an average of 2 cars per household.
In 2017, the median household income of the 336k households in Fairfield County, CT grew to $91,198 from the previous year's value of $90,123.
The following chart displays the households in Fairfield County, CT distributed between a series of income buckets compared to the national averages for each bucket. The largest share of households have an income in the $200k+ range.
In 2017, the median property value in Fairfield County, CT grew to to $425,900 from the previous year's value of $423,200.
The following charts display, first, the property values in Fairfield County, CT compared to it's parent and neighbor geographies and, second, owner-occupied housing units distributed between a series of property value buckets compared to the national averages for each bucket. In Fairfield County, CT the largest share of households have a property value in the $300k - $400k range.
This chart shows the households in Fairfield County, CT distributed between a series of property tax buckets compared to the national averages for each bucket. In Fairfield County, CT the largest share of households pay taxes in the $3k+ range.
In 2017, 66.8% of the housing units in Fairfield County, CT were occupied by their owner. This percentage grew from the previous year's rate of 65.3%.
This percentage of owner-occupation is higher than the national average of 63.9%. This chart shows the ownership percentage in Fairfield County, CT compared it's parent and neighboring geographies.
The following chart displays the households in Fairfield County, CT distributed between a series of car ownership buckets compared to the national averages for each bucket. The largest share of households in Fairfield County, CT have 2 cars, followed by 3 cars.
Using averages, employees in Fairfield County, CT have a longer commute time (29.7 minutes) than the normal US worker (25.5 minutes). Additionally, 7.11% of the workforce in Fairfield County, CT have "super commutes" in excess of 90 minutes.
The chart below shows how the median household income in Fairfield County, CT compares to that of it's neighboring and parent geographies.
In 2017, the most common method of travel for workers in Fairfield County, CT was Drove Alone, followed by those who Public Transit and those who Carpooled. | 2019-04-26T16:27:46Z | https://datausa.io/profile/geo/fairfield-county-ct/ |
As we have seen at different junctures over the decades, it is not easy to solve the problems that, still today, prevent the Europeans from enjoying autonomous capabilities and credibility in the area of their foreign and security policy. This was seen to be true shortly after the end of Second World War, with the failure of the European Defence Community project when the process of European integration was still in its infancy. Similarly, in the decades following the end of the bipolar world order, a period that had seemed to offer openings for the construction of a new continental and global order based on a logic of mutual security between East and West, no easy answers could be found. At the start of the present century, when the occupation of Iraq by US and British troops prompted France, Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg to renew calls for the creation of a European military headquarters with greater autonomy from the USA, once again the depth of the difficulties to be overcome was clearly apparent.
Today, as a result of the British vote for Brexit, to say nothing of the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States, Europe’s defence has become a pressing issue once again, and, as in the past, we are seeing just how great the difficulties are. The proposals put forward so far are extremely cautious for two reasons: first, the national governments and the European Commission are aware of the present tensions between the different European countries, and second, the single governments, unwilling to take chances that might damage their performance at the polls, are opting for inertia. As repeatedly underlined by Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission (HRVP), the idea of creating a European army in a short space of time is currently out of the question. Indeed, not only is this objective not even on the table, and impossible to pursue in the framework of the current Treaties, it would also be pointless, given that “even NATO does not have a NATO army”. This latter assertion is actually true only in a formal sense, however, as there can be no denying that NATO’s credibility is based on the strength and capacity for action and deterrence of an army — the US army — that has played a fundamental role in all the major military operations in which it has intervened since the end of the Second World War, and remains a decisive force today.
Donald Trump, tapping into a sense of malaise and discontent that has been brewing for some time on the other side of the Atlantic, has repeatedly and emphatically called for a loosening of America’s commitment to Europe’s defence. Yet even the anxiety generated by the prospect of a US disengagement, financial as well as military, from Europe does not seem to be enough to convince the Europeans that they need to abandon the mindset that leads them to pursue nothing more than a mere strengthening of their existing military alliance, and instead endeavour to create a true European defence union .
To take stock of, and summarise, the concrete developments in the debate on these issues now unfolding in Europe, we here briefly outline, in chronological order, the various proposals that have so far been advanced.
I. The European Commission’s Global Strategy for the European Union’s Foreign And Security Policy (EU Global Strategy, EUGS), submitted to the European Council in late June, rests on three guiding principles, all of which are taken up in the various other proposals mentioned below.
The first principle is to make full use of the possibilities offered by the existing Treaties. To begin with, Europe could finally deploy the EU Battlegroups. Directly controlled by the Council of the European Union, the EU Battlegroups are military units, each consisting of 1500 troops provided, in rotation, by member states. Although the system reached full operational capacity in 2007, no Battlegroup has yet seen active service. It is easy to see why this instrument has never been used. The headquarters of the groups rotates, according to their composition, and the resources at their disposal depend on the amount that each of the single states contributing to a Battlegroup is willing to spend. Their organisational and operational structure is further complicated by the fact that the countries participating in the different groups also include non-EU NATO members (Norway and Turkey), as well as countries that are not members of either the EU or NATO (Macedonia and Ukraine). On the other hand, other countries (Denmark and Malta), despite being EU members, do not contribute to any of the Battlegroups. But the most important point highlighted by the EUGS is the possibility to implement Articles 42.6 and 46 TEU, which gives certain EU countries the possibility of strengthening their cooperation in military matters through the mechanism of permanent structured cooperation. This, too, is an instrument that so far has never actually been used given that, even though it can be implemented through a qualified majority vote by the Council, its workability is limited by the fact that adoption of the cooperation’s decisions and recommendations is subject to unanimity among the participating Council members (which must therefore have decided unanimously, beforehand, what they intend to do together). Conscious of the difficulties inherent in launching and implementing this mechanism in practice, HRVP Mogherini also recalled the possibility of evoking Article 42.7 (on the obligation of aid and assistance towards member states that are the victims of armed aggression on their territory) and the hitherto unused Article 44 (under which the Council can entrust a group of states with certain military tasks).
The second guiding principle of the EUGS is to fully explore the possibilities for better planning and coordination of joint military and civilian operations in crisis areas, while its third is to identify the strategic industrial and technological capabilities in the field of defence that need to be promotedjointly, also through financial incentive mechanisms.
Clearly, on an institutional level, the development of the EUGS, to which the member states were invited to respond with considerations and proposals of their own, never goes beyond the framework of the intergovernmental method as defined and structured (for the field foreign and security policy) by the existing Treaties. Accordingly, both the launch of closer cooperation and, above all, the implementation and funding of this mechanism are issues that remain firmly in the hands of the Council.
II. France and Germany were quick to respond to the EUGS, putting forward considerations and suggestions that, however, remained essentially in line with the approach adopted by the Commission. Indeed, following the presentation of the European Commission’s strategy, as many as three papers were submitted jointly by French and German government ministers. The first was presented by foreign ministers Jean-Marc Ayrault and Frank-Walter Steinmeier (27 June), the second by interior ministers Bernard Cazeneuve and Thomas de Maizière (23 August), and the third by defence ministers Jean-Yves Le Drian and Ursula von der Leyen (11 September). In this latter paper, the two ministers underlined the importance of translating the EUGS into concrete actions, of actually using the permanent structured cooperation mechanism, and of setting up a central military headquarters. But they also specified that any chain of command should be headed by the Brussels-based EU Political and Security Committee, which is composed of the member states’ ambassadors in Brussels and chaired by representatives of the European External Action Service. On the financial side, the two ministers, while calling for the creation of new dedicated financial instruments, failed to specify how these might be sourced and governed.
III. German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble, delivering a speech last October, was similarly vague. While stating that the European Union would “soon need a common defence budget” and that the EU countries’ financial resources in the defence sector, if pooled, would greatly exceed Russia’s military budget, he failed to outline the framework that would allow such a sharing of resources, or how his proposal might be reconciled with current German policy in this area. Indeed, the German government, after 25 years of cuts, recently decided unilaterally to significantly increase its national defence budget for the next five years.
IV. Italy’s contribution to the ongoing process of reflection on the EUGS is a paper recently presented by then foreign minister Gentiloni and defence minister Pinotti. Although this document, too, remains in the ambit of policies that can be pursued within the existing framework, and among other things expresses support for deployment of the Battlegroups and recourse to the permanent structured cooperation mechanism, it nevertheless urges the European partners to go a step further. Indeed, the paper suggests that full use of the possibilities offered by the Treaties should go hand in hand with discussion, among interested member states, of a more ambitious option, namely the launching of a kind of European Defence Union, modelled on the Schengen system. By pooling their forces and commands and sharing their control, manoeuvre and response capabilities, the countries participating in this Union could create, as the core of a future integrated European force, a joint military European force permanently available to the EU military headquarters. This proposal, unlike the previous ones, addresses the issue of the nature of a future European military force, yet it fails to consider the institutional context in which this should be set. This is actually rather surprising in view of the paper’s opening assertion: “when the context no longer corresponds to the aspirations of the times in which we live, then we must change the context”.
V. On November 14, 2016 the EU’s 28 foreign affairs and defence ministers approved the Implementation Plan on Security and Defence presented by Federica Mogherini. This plan, which will be presented to Europe’s heads of state and government at forthcoming summits, has been hailed by the French and German defence ministers as an important step, moving Europe closer towards greater strategic autonomy in military matters and decreasing its dependence on Washington. In reality, however, it does not constitute a significant advance with respect to the other proposals on the table. In two parts in particular (the ones dealing with the financial aspects and the actual implementation of permanent structured cooperation in the defence area), it only provides confirmation of the various governments’ difficulties and hesitations when faced with a real chance to set out on this route. With regard to the need for increased financial solidarity, it merely remarks that “Member States to agree to consider financing in a comprehensive manner, reinforcing solidarity, effectiveness and flexibility to underpin the Level of Ambition and enhance CSDP [Common Security and Defence Policy] responsiveness” (point 11 of the document). With regard to the second aspect, i.e. making full use of the Treaty potential, the member states simply declare that they “agree to explore the potential of a single and inclusive PESCO [Permanent Structured Cooperation] based on the willingness of Member States to strengthen CSDP by undertaking concrete commitments. If so requested, the HRVP can provide elements and options for reflection” (point 12 of the document).
For the moment, then, the need to change the institutional framework in which decisions are made and action is taken does not seem to be a priority concern among those apparently wanting to give Europe its own defence capability. And yet this is, precisely, the crucial point, as was recently emphasised by, among others, the authors of comments on the German government’s 2016 White Paper on German Security Policy published by Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, from which we quote a particularly significant passage. “In short,” write the authors of the comment “CSDP has failed to fulfil its potential due to a lack of political will. Using the concept and the term “union” in the context of European integration implies that this can only mean a long-term communitisation of the policy field, as has been the case with monetary union. This could mean, for example, creating the post of a fully-fledged EU Commissioner with authority over EU troops and transferring parliamentary approval from national parliaments to the European Parliament. This significant leap towards integration may well be an objective of German security policy. But those in favour of this objective should be absolutely clear about it and outline the steps to get there with a binding timetable, as was the case with monetary union. Given the current widespread aversion to greater integration, the argument in the White Paper for a Security and Defence Union initially appears ambitious, but it suffers from the impression of indecision and half-heartedness. ”These are, in fact, criticisms that may be extended to practically the whole of the ongoing debate on Europe’s defence.
As history itself has taught us, attempts to achieve sectoral integration in the military field, being inextricably linked with foreign policy and with the issue of political scrutiny, are bound to fail unless they are accompanied by a project for political union. We need only recall the failed attempt to create a European army through the European Defence Community (EDC). The idea behind the EDC project was to create institutions similar to those of the European Coal and Steel Community, but with military as opposed to economic competences, and without any reference to political institutions of a democratic and federal nature. It did not take long, in fact, for the negotiations to come up against the obstacle represented by the contradictory situation of attempting to address the defence of 1950s Western Europe without also resolving the crucial issue of the government that would be needed to manage it. Altiero Spinelli and Alcide de Gasperi found a way of overcoming this contradiction, namely to link the creation of a European army to the establishment of a supranational political body to be elected directly by the Europeans. This solution found concrete expression in the draft European Political Community (EPC) Treaty drawn up by an Ad Hoc Assembly established for the purpose. It is worth recalling here the opening words of the Information and Official Documents of the Constitutional Committee, a text prepared up by Von Brentano (chairman of the Constitutional Committee set up within the Ad Hoc Assembly) as an introduction to the Draft Treaty embodying the Statute of the European Community: “When signing on 27 May 1952 the Treaty of the European Defence Community, the Six Governments said that they were conscious ‘that this is a new and essential step towards the creation of a united Europe’. The Treaty did not confine itself, in point of fact, to giving verbal expression to the common determination of the Six Countries to integrate their armed forces in a European army within the framework of a supra-national community; it also laid down the procedure to be followed in determining the definitive structures of Europe. Under Article 38 of the Treaty, the Assembly of the EDC was instructed to examine within six months from its inauguration ‘the constitution of an Assembly of the European Defence Community, elected on a democratic basis’ which might ‘constitute one of the elements in a subsequent federal or confederal structure, based on the principle of the separation of powers and having, in particular, a two-chamber system of representation’.” In short, the original plan for sectoral integration in the military field, to be feasible, should have been set within an unambiguous plan for political unification, that, had it been carried through to completion, would certainly have marked the start of the construction of a true European federal state .
It is no coincidence that Guy Verhofstadt, speaking before the European Parliament Committee on Constitutional Affairs on July 12, 2016, recalled the historical precedent of the EPC, and did so precisely in order to underline that the key issue that must be addressed, if Europe is to find a way out of the various crises and overcome its own powerlessness, remains the creation, a process still unfinished, of a political community, a political union . In fact, the Verhofstadt reportsets the issues of defence and foreign policy in the framework of a federal-type reform of the European institutions .
In the light of all that has been said above, it is clear that today, as in the last century, the crucial problem of Europe’s defence cannot be resolved merely by tackling certain sectoral issues and without creating the conditions that will allow an evolution, in a federal direction, of the current EU structure. By merely pursuing greater integration in the military field without really wanting to overcome the purely intergovernmental perspective, Europe runs a very high risk of failing, precisely because, in the defence field, even more than in the monetary one, capacity to act is not just a question of rules, but of power and sovereignty.
As happens in other sectors, first and foremost the economic and financial sectors, where effective European policies are urgently needed, the governments’ reluctance to build a true supranational (federal) power at European level means that the current proposals on defence are limited by the will to keep them within the intergovernmental framework. Instead, as Wheare pointed out, it is only in a federation that a government with the power to decide and operate in areas of common interest can be the tool for action.
The time has come to stop making excuses and instead strive to combine the issue of European defence with the development of a federal union design. This must be the priority for all those who truly appreciate the desperately urgent need to work for peace in Europe and in the world.
In this regard, see Sergio Pistone in Il ruolo di Altiero Spinelli nella genesi dell’art. 38 della CED e del progetto della CEP, Contributions to the Symposium in Luxembourg, 17-19 May 1989, Publications of the European Community Liaison Committee of Historians, Giuffré, Milan 1993.
This report is currently under discussion in the European Parliament, which is due to vote on it by the end of 2016.
K.C. Wheare, The Constitutional Structure of the Commonwealth, Oxford University Press, London, 1963. See, in this regard, his considerations on considerations on the limits of cooperation, pp.128-129 and 135-136. | 2019-04-19T02:22:05Z | http://www.thefederalist.eu/site/index.php/en/notes/2195-federal-union-and-european-denfence |
A trade/gift for some dear friends for letting us stay in their mountain home in Northern Colorado at 8300 feet. They hinted that they (and other visitors) wanted to become better at identifying the trees on their property. The vertical slot on the left has a little notebook that contains a key and descriptions of the 5 different trees; Ponderosa and lodgepole pines, quaking aspen, Douglas fir and Englemann spruce.
An important aspect of my design was giving my friends the ability to "change out the samples" because the fresh, green needles will turn brown before long. Because of this, I did not want a piece of glass covering the unit.
The cabinet is 4" deep and roughly 16x20. I made identical cut-outs in five panels of 3/4" rotary-cut fir plywood then glued them together. Finally, I screwed on a 3/8" thick back using the same plywood. I embedded a keyhole hanger for hanging the piece and finished it with clear lacquer.
It was a fun project and I would love to be commissioned to make another someday.
What makes our flight paddles unique are the acrylic, shallow cups that we adhere into the bottom of the drilled wood holes. This feature allows us to add a burst of color into the wood board. But, most importantly, allows for easy clean up of the holes or "reservoirs." And like all of our wood products, they are expertly sanded to perfection.
In 2010, a local brewery came to us because the reservoirs in their wood beer flight paddles had turned nasty and black due to mold. They asked us to come up with a better alternative to cure their mold problem. At the start, we concluded, based upon our collective woodworking experience, that whenever beer sits in a wood reservoir for an inevitable, extended time, it will break down any wood finish. So, we set out to design a sampler tray in which the beer glass does not sit in a wooden reservoir. We decided to make a couple prototypes in which each had a piece of wood with a hole drilled all the way through it so that residual beer does not collect and sit in a wood hole. Admittedly, we desired to re-design a couple existing product designs that were available on the market.
The first prototype was simply a flight paddle with through holes. When on a table, the glasses- they have to be tapered- sit on the table's surface. When one needs to carry the glasses, he or she lifts the paddle and it will hug the tapered glasses about mid-glass. We concluded that this design is inherently non-ergonomic and cannot be improved upon.
The second prototype was a four part assembly that had a top piece containing the through holes. The glasses slid through the holes and stood upon the bottom piece. This design provides the most "security" for the glasses, however it is a rather complex design and therefore more expensive. Also, a brewery representative told me that the top piece of wood is a "visual distraction upon the full tasting experience." So, again we concluded that this design could not be improved upon.
So, the next day back in 2010, I told the brewery that we cannot make a durable, ergonomic, cost effective flight paddle. I then boldly expressed that they should have their current wood design produced in black acrylic. They were unhappy with me and insisted that they wanted them out of wood and would seek help from another company. On a further note: I visited the brewery six months later and all their flight paddles were made of black acrylic.
In the Spring of 2016, New Belgium Brewing, in my hometown of Fort Collins, Colorado, asked us to design and make them 150 flight paddles out of wood. We were their go-to-guys for production woodworking, so I didn't want to give them an immediate "no." And that's when it finally occurred to me; we need to marry the two materials, acrylic and wood! We now have the ability to create any size acrylic cup in just about any color. Plus, we can laser engrave an image into the handle.
We recently made a small batch of promotional boxes for New Belgium Brewing's Fat Tire Belgian White beer. Allow me to boldly say, I've never been too impressed with any other "slide lid" box designs. I proposed this design, with the lid shooting out of a slot in the front side of box, to a client years ago but it never came to fruition. I'm happy that we finally got a chance to manufacture "my twist" on the slide lid box because all things considered, I think this design looks and functions best.
We recently finished 55 boxes for a local promotional products agency, Brandblox. They supplied these to my alma mater, Colorado State University. They were faculty gifts and a 3" diameter compass was placed in each box.
They are made out of Colorado blue stain (beetle-killed) pine. We used a pair of Soss brand solid brass barrel hinges and a Highpoint brand small box catch. I highly recommend both of these products for making wood boxes. Also, we used Donjer brand emerald green flock.
We just completed an interesting job. We made cherry wood recipe card boxes for 25 passengers boarding a luxurious, twelve day/nine city, private jet vacation. Some of the cities that they will visit are; Poughkeepsie, NY; Greeley, CO; Rockford, IL and Stockton, CA. Sorry, just kidding. Actually, they're going to Paris, Copenhagen, Seoul, Florence, Tokyo, Chiang Mai, Hong Kong, Mumbai and Lisbon. The passengers dine and learn how to cook in these cities. Then they make notes on 4x6 recipe cards and stick them in the boxes we provide.
"On this groundbreaking journey developed in partnership with world-renowned Copenhagen restaurant Noma, track the evolution of food, culture and creativity across Asia and Europe. Curated by René Redzepi and Noma, you’ll enjoy an insider’s look into the people, places, and products that are changing the culinary landscape of our world."
Introducing our Craftsman Corbel. Its style compliments many related architectural designs such as; American Craftsman, Mission revival, American Arts and Crafts movement, Prairie School and California revival. Also, due to their simple and unadorned design, our new countertop corbels and shelf brackets are suitable for contemporary interiors. Currently, we offer them in two sizes; Model 8 and Model 10 and two wood types; red oak and paint grade.
While visiting the "Arts and crafts movement" wiki page, I found this quote from 1893. It still is pertinent today.
Occasionally folks call and ask me to explain why our Paint Grade Straight 8 shelf bracket costs $13, but IKEA has a comparable shelf bracket for a mere $4.
bracket are similar. However, here are some differences.
Our three bracket parts are 3/4" thick, whereas IKEA's are 5/8", plus our vertical member is 2" thick, whereas IKEA's is 1 1/4". Despite ours being more substantial in size, I think both brackets are more than sufficiently strong. A few years ago I loaded one of our shelf brackets with 500 lbs. and it did not fail. Since IKEA's horizontal member and diagonal brace are let into shallow grooves, I suspect theirs will handle a large load as well.
The IKEA bracket is unsanded and only some edges have been crudely eased with a 45 degree champher. I would expect that most buyers would sand them a bit coming from the box. On the contrary, our bracket's edges are expertly rounded over and are perfectly sanded. Occasionally I read that our customers inspect ours with intent to sand them, but they cannot find a single flaw.
Lastly, we drill our two screw holes through the vertical member deep enough to accept (included) button head plugs, whereas IKEA does not and you must accept the appearance of screw heads.
In conclusion, if you are buying brackets purely for economy and strength, perhaps you should choose IKEA's model due to their very low price. But if you're looking for strength, dependability and perfect fit and finish; you should choose our brackets. Plus our customer service is excellent and they are made in Fort Collins, Colorado.
In 2015, we "on paper" designed a new cove-style brace for our line of corbels for countertops and shelves. It is similar to our concave brace design, except it looks "beefier" when viewed from the front.
So, we decided to use a "cold" laminating technique and build bending forms to glue and clamp six, 1/8" strips. But, after about two weeks of trial and error, I decided to quit the process because there were too many expensive and time-consuming problems to solve.
Next, Steve and I decided it was finally time to spend the necessary time and effort to create a method for flush trimming the parts by sanding. After extensively researching the market for the sanding machine that we had imagined, we concluded that there was nothing available for our task. Steve decided that he could design a custom idler drum for our existing edge sander. He had a machinist build it to his specs and attached a large bearing to the bottom of the drum, allowing us to efficiently flush trim sand our corbel parts. To my knowledge, we are the only manufacturer using this technique. We will gladly discuss the details of this machine if you give us a call.
Despite being our most expensive brace option, the cove brace is now our best selling corbel design and my personal favorite.
This summer, the kids and I made a few "Pressed Leaf Memory Games." It was a very fun and rewarding art project that incorporated skills that anyone- young or old- can master, including; leaf identifying and collecting, rubber stamp carving, precise paper cutting and hand lettering.
Before we started we had to make some decisions regarding the game's appearance and function. We figured that a roughly 3" x 4" playing card would be a nice size and that laminating it would be the best choice for durability. We wanted the card backs to have art on them, but they all had to be nearly identical for fairness of play. We also thought that a set of 24 (twelve pairs) would be a nice amount per set and that the leaves would be most interesting if they were different, thus emphasizing the variability among the species.
Honestly, I find it unfortunate that I had to marry the leaf's natural beauty with plastic, but all things considered, it was the best choice. We searched the internet and found laminating pouches that measure 3 1/8" X 4 1/2". They are intended to be used with inexpensive, home laminating machines that are available at many stores for about $30.
Since the cards are relatively small we decided to pick "baby leaves" in the Spring. We collected all the leaves during the first half of May 2016. There are few native broad leaved trees in Fort Collins, Colorado, so we mainly collected them from ornamental trees along the city streets and in our parks. We collected leaves from many varieties of trees including; ginkgo, hawthorns, maples, oaks, aspen, cottonwoods, lindens, sweetgum, redbud, hackberry, pears, tuliptree, beeches, birch, alder, and believe it or not- many more. Also, using immature leaves allowed us to press compound leaves such as honeylocust, white ash, walnut, hickory, boxelder, and mountain ash. The leaves were then pressed in one of our wooden Leaf Presses.
We used an 80lb. linen paper and cut it 2 3/4" x 4 1/8".
Over the past few years, the kids and I have developed an interest in rubber stamp making and we figured that it would be a perfect thing for the back side of our cards. The kids carved an owl, a kitty and a truck. Since I'm giving the set in the picture to my mother, I decided to immortalize her pet chihuahua. We use carving rubber from Blick Art Supply. We only use Speedball's #1 cutter and this handle.
First, we stamped 24 of our sized paper backs. Next, we each chose 12 pairs of leaves, and in our best handwriting, wrote the leaf name on the front. Then we carefully placed the leaf on the paper, slipped it into the pouch, then finally through the laminating machine. Note that we did not adhere the leaf to the paper because the lamination process keeps the leaf in place. In case you've forgotten how to play Memory, here are the rules.
That's it. We like to keep our sets rubber banded and not "put away" because visitors like to play or simply admire them. Have fun and if you have any questions feel free to contact me.
From January to May 2016, we made five projects for New Belgium Brewing. NBB is located two miles away from our shop in Fort Collins, Colorado.
We made 150 "apple crates" for four four-packs of 16oz. cans of New Belgium's new offering, Side Trip Cider. The sides and bottom are made of 1/4" thick, rotary cut fir plywood and the inside corners are hickory. The crates were stained gray to resemble old, weathered wood. This package will be for promotional purposes and will not be available in stores.
We made 50 Flight Paddles for NBB's "Liquid Center" in Fort Collins and their new brewery in Asheville, North Carolina. We packaged an additional 100 in individual boxes with four mini globe glasses for retail sale at the two locations. They are made of hard, white maple. What makes them unique are the custom made red acrylic cups which allows for easy cleaning.
We made 50 arrow-shaped cutting boards as a promotion for NBB's new hard apple cider, "Side Trip Cider." They are made of hard, white maple.
We made over 300 lantern/bottle holders out of 1/8" and 1/2" baltic birch plywood for NBB's "Lost In The Woods" parties. The four sides were laser cut. No tools necessary, the front panel is removable and slides down onto the box.
When they asked us to make them, I was like "what the heck is a jockey box?" It's basically a cooler with tap handles. It allows beer to be served at events wicked cold. The open-front wood cover doubles as a serving table. Plus, it allows for three laser cut images for signage. They are made of ash and have steel corner details.
Get organized! This impeccably crafted cabinet is suitable for an office desktop, craft table, or the kitchen counter- to name a few ideas. It can also be easily hung on a wall with two 1/4" screws (provided) placed through the back and into your wall studs.
The case and drawer fronts are made of beautiful American black walnut. The drawer boxes are made of 1/2" baltic birch plywood and feature an inset blackboard. The metal, ball-bearing drawer slides are "push to open", so you simply press anywhere along the drawer front and the drawer springs out about 4"! The finish is high quality, low sheen, clear lacquer.
The case has been plate joined or "biscuited" and screwed. The screw holes are filled with 1/4" diameter Peruvian walnut face grain plugs. The "proud" vertical inside edges have been 30 degree beveled, then charred with a blowtorch. The drawers are constructed similarly to the case plus has grooves in the sides for twelve, 1/8" Baltic birch dividers that are included. The drawer fronts feature an inset blackboard measuring 1 1/4" x 4". You may notice that this is the same "cut-out" as the handle in our serving trays.
It measures 15 5/8" tall, 12 1/4" wide, and 14 5/16" deep. The drawer interiors are 9" wide x 11 1/16" deep. The top drawer has an interior height of 2 1/8" and the bottom three are 3".
We can also custom make similar cabinets by request. Please feel free to call Tyler at 970-690-0503.
First of all, I've come to realize that the "academic" method of collecting, pressing and mounting botanical "specimens" is quite technical, yet fascinating. To describe it briefly, the collecting and pressing aspects are based on rigid, botanical standards; however, mounting the specimens is a combination of technical guidelines and artistic "license." I have attached a link below that describes the proper technique for preserving botanical specimens for museum databases.
On the other hand, the techniques Olivia and I employ are very easy. When Olivia and I go out specifically to collect leaves, we bring the press and blotting paper. We carefully choose 2 or 3 perfect leaves from a given tree, place them between the blotting paper sheets then clamp them in the press. If we don't have the press with us, we will place leaves between the pages of a phone book (the only good use for a phone book these days) then transfer the leaves to the press as soon as possible.
We empty the press after about one week. But, we typically don't mount the leaves at this point. We store our leaves between the pages of large, hard-covered books. Don't worry because at this stage the dried, flattened leaves will not damage your books.
When we're ready, we mount the leaves. We simply place a few dabs of white (Elmer's) or yellow glue on the back of the leaf, then flip it over on your paper. Then, use your fingers to clamp and smooth out your leaf.
We then like to write a note or two on the front or the back of the paper. These notes may include the common name, scientific name, shape description, date, location, or something personal; like, "My First Shantung Maple Leaf Found in Fort Collins!"
Your recipe card box has been finished with an oil/varnish blend. We have chosen this "penetrating-type" finish as opposed to a "film" finish because it gives the box a more natural appearance and is easy to maintain. We suggest that you apply additional oil to your box about once a year. We recommend Watco Danish Oil, Minwax Antique Oil, or Deft Danish Oil. These brands are found in most hardware stores.
First, you may want to give your box a light sanding with 180-220 grit sandpaper to remove scratches or marks. Next, simply wipe on a light coat of oil, and about 5 minutes later, wipe off the excess. You may be wondering, "What if I never oil my recipe box?" Well, it will continue to perform just fine. However, it will look dry and lack the luster that results from additional coats of oil. Please consider the annual oil application a caring gesture. Enjoy.
In March 2008, we tested and photographed two of our corbels supporting 500 pounds each when uniformly loaded. The day began with Steve and Loren borrowing five, 100-pound discs from the gym around the corner from our shop in Fort Collins, Colorado. Then we realized that, despite having a 2500 square foot shop, we didn't have any suitable wall space to conduct our experiment. So we built a makeshift wall in the center of our assembly area.
We then attached a Maple Concave 10 corbel and a 3/4" X 16" X 16" plywood shelf to our wall with the same hardware we provide our customers. Loren and Steve very carefully loaded the shelf, one 100-pound disc at a time and... success. No broken corbels (or toes!). Next we tested and photographed our Maple Concave 14 and it too performed the task.
I'm often asked, "Why don't you sell your corbels to the countertop installers, then they will re-sell them to their customers." Easier said than done. Why? From the information I have gathered over the past 10 years or so, countertop installers simply don't want to deal with corbels and have valid reasons not to want to include them with their service.
There are too many styles of corbels to choose from; there is a wide range of simple corbels and an even wider range of ornate styles.
Many corbel designs are difficult to install easily.
Wood corbels are typically unfinished.
When mounting corbels to cabinetry, often the cabinet panels are too thin and require additional carpentry work to mount the corbels properly.
How strong are the corbels? And if they fail and the countertop overhang subsequently fails, who's responsible?
Our simple approach is to have the countertop installers trust our product and service and ultimately refer their customers to us.
Our corbel/shelf bracket braces (the concave, straight or cove diagonal member) are attached with screws and no glue. If you'd like, you may unscrew these to facilitate the finishing process. Please place a mark (like, a number) on the end grain of the brace and the same mark on the "L" to designate matching parts and it will be easier for you to reassemble them later. Also, the corbel's/shelf bracket's "L" joint is screwed and glued, so don't attempt to disassemble this portion.
If you opt to stain your corbels/shelf brackets to match your existing cabinetry, it may be obvious; but, we suggest that you start by ordering the same wood type. If we don't offer the wood type that you need, please give Tyler a call and he can discuss your options. Getting your stain to match perfectly can often be a difficult task, so we suggest you consider finding out what stain was used on your cabinets and hopefully purchasing some from the cabinet manufacturer. If this is not possible, you may want to bring a part of your cabinets (like, a drawer front) down to your local paint store and they may mix up a matching stain for you to purchase.
We don't offer all of our corbels in a paint grade, sorry. If your corbel is not offered in paint grade, we suggest you purchase the maple model. Our paint grade models may contain discolorations and/or non-structural, filled knot holes. The brace and mounting plate portion may be maple or poplar. The "L" portion is always maple. Both maple and poplar are "tight, closed grain" woods, ideal for painting.
Allow me to share a couple observations that I've made based on talking to customers and seeing pictures of their installed countertops. When customers mount their corbels to a half wall with a painted drywall finish, they tend to consider the corbels an architectural element (like the base molding) and therefore finish them to match their trim. On the contrary, when customers mount their corbels to a paneled island or peninsula, they tend to choose a finish that matches their cabinetry.
So, about 10 years ago I started using a wood finishing spray booth on the weekends while Sheldon used it M-F. Going into this arrangement, I was well aware that he was an uptight perfectionist plus super territorial, and I had to comply with his rules.
Sheldon is in his mid-forties and is best described as a good ol' boy; which ain't a redneck, you know. Billy Carter once proudly described the difference between a good ol' boy and a redneck: the redneck throws his empty beer bottles out the window of his pickup truck but the good ol' boy tosses them in the back. But, perhaps this isn't the best analogy for Sheldon because he doesn't drink. Anyway, Sheldon deserves credit due to his methods of work. I recognize that these three methods I'm going to describe are specific to the woodworking industry and are extremely mundane, but bear with me.
"What a stupid thing to do." That's what I originally thought about Sheldon's precious stir stick that he's used forever. The stir stick gets used only when a new five gallon bucket of clear lacquer is opened, which occurs about every four days. I half-listened to him saying something about wiping off the stir stick with one paper towel (half-used preferably). He then pointed to a screw on the side of his workbench, "and always hang it back here." At first, I was like, whatever. I have been stirring buckets of lacquer for about 10 years prior, and the beautiful thing about working in a woodshop is- there are stir sticks wherever one looks. Just grab a piece of scrap, stir then throw it away.
Then I was introduced to his staining board. It's just a 2 foot by 8 foot piece of ¼" thick, white melamine. He places the smooth, non-absorbent board atop his worktable and uses it whenever he stains cabinet doors. I was critical because I had always thought that staining should be done on scrap cardboard. The cardboard soaks up the excess stain and then you just throw it away after each job. On the contrary, Sheldon preaches that if you apply the proper amount of stain, you don't have to be concerned about the excess. At the end of the job, he cleans the board with about an ounce of lacquer thinner then he leans the board against the outside wall of the spray booth.
It recently came to my attention that Sheldon hardly ever throws away his ten cent, blue nitrile rubber gloves. "Only after I wear one out and it develops a hole, do I throw it away," he told me. On the other hand, when I would do messy staining jobs, frequent interruptions would cause me to take my rubber gloves off often and I would throw the soiled pair in the garbage and get a new pair when I started back up.
Once again, I'm fully aware that these woodworking methods are hugely ho-hum; however, Sheldon's methods deserve credit or more accurately his habits deserve credit. When I asked him if he's an environmentalist he replied, "I don't know. But, I do know that I hate wasting stuff. I suppose I'm just a cheap bas%@#!"
"A couple weeks ago we sent a customer the wrong order. He called us up to inform us of our error. He was very reasonable and we promptly sent him the correct order and arranged to have the incorrect package picked up the next day by UPS. So, I just received a note from him. He mentioned that he received the correct (corbels) this time and he loves them, blah, blah, blah. But strangely, he concluded his note, "Thanks for the great service." Great service? We got his order wrong! Maybe great service is merely being a seller who is responsive and competent (50% of the time.)"
"In my days as a corporate VP, I often heard myself saying, 'We don't have 100% control over everything that happens in our business. We DO, however, have 100% control over our response.' It's amazing how forgiving a customer will be, if only you take responsibility for mistakes, and go out of your way to make things right. Long story short: I actually had a report run, showing that customers who DID have a problem, and who DID interact with our Customer Service Department, actually placed MORE orders, over the following year, and spent MORE $$ than customers who didn't have a problem that lead them to Customer Service. We'd given them faith that -- if something went wrong -- we'd do what it took to make it right. Seems like a lost philosophy. Good for you for finding it, again."
We now have the best selling corbel on Amazon.com!
In November 2012 we were commissioned by Justin Larson of Vaught Frye Larson Architects (VFLA.co) to make 22 custom cutting boards. They are made of maple and walnut and measure 13" x 19" x 1". Justin designed them and VFLA gave them as Christmas gifts to their clients. We were very enthusiastic to work on this job because we think that engraved cutting boards are one of the most functional corporate gifts.
While riding my bicycle, no-handed, at 7 am on a Saturday in July, I first noticed this tree while looking around at everything but the totally familiar road in front of me. "Cool. A sweetgum. I'll look at it more closely tomorrow," I thought while speeding by. Honestly, I have never seen a sweetgum tree, however I distinctly recall their starfish-shaped leaves from my Dendrology class in college back in 1992. I was positive that it was a sweetgum, and I was happy to know that my first sighting happened right across the street from Library Park, historically my favorite place to spend time with my daughter, Olivia.
The next morning at 7 am, I leaned on my bars and braked in front of the tree to take a closer look. "Huh... two-winged samaras?" I thought that two-winged samaras, or helicopters, were exclusively a feature of maples. "Surely, sweetgums must be related to the maples," I convinced myself.
So, that night I did some research on sweetgum. I went to Wikipedia's entry about Liquidambar Syraciflua and it states,"The leaves are rich, dark green; smooth, shiny, and star-shaped." The leaves pictured looked almost exactly like the leaves of "my" tree. But... "the fruit is a woody multiple capsule...popularly called a gumball" No two-winged samaras in the sweetgum description...anywhere. Meanwhile, I was keeping a very interested Olivia abreast with my developments. "It's a Mystery Tree," we concurred.
For the next couple weeks I spent a few minutes each night doing research on maple leaves and potentially mutant varieties of sweetgum -mainly looking through Google images- with no success. I enlisted the help of my friends who also loved trees- or just loved a good caper. Then, my landscape architect friend, Arthur Fairburn, came by my shop and confidently told me that the Mystery Tree is no longer a mystery. He was sure it was a Trident Maple.
Five years ago, Arthur had taken a tour with Fort Collins' city forester and he distinctly recalls the group stopping in Laporte Avenue's median in front of Washington's Bar. The city forester said, "These are three examples of my favorite type of tree in Fort Collins, these are Trident Maples," And he went on and on about it's shade tolerance, it's lack of surface roots, it's beautiful shiny green leaves and other virtues. So, seemingly the mystery had been solved. But, since we had an internet connection close at hand, we did a quick "Fact Check," and right away, we knew that this wasn't the correct ID. One after another, the Google images were showing three-lobed leaves, not five. And then our Latin 101 finally kicked in. "Of course the Trident has three lobes!"
Arthur was deflated and felt betrayed by the city's "expert." But strangely, I was relieved. I was enjoying this mystery and I wasn't ready for it to end. In the following days I got calls, texts and emails from my dutiful friends. "It's gotta be a Korean maple," said Andy. Greg said, "definitely a Chinese maple." I would proceed to do a 10 minute Google image check... then I had to return their messages with "nice try."
For the next few weeks, I took a look at the Mystery Tree every morning. I think it reinforced my desire to ride my bicycle daily; surely, I wouldn't drive to it and then pull over and then park the car and then get out and then walk up to it. Then, one late August morning, Andy told me that he was having lunch with theTom Throgmorton. Tom has had a plant advice radio show on KUNC for 20 years. Andy excitedly told me that Tom agreed to take a look at the tree and identify it after their lunch. I said, "Cool. Thanks." But, my instincts told me that if today was the last Mystery Tree day, I was going to be the one to ID it. So, I dropped what I was doing and did some more internet based research in earnest.
The funny thing is; this time, under pressure, I solved the mystery in 10 minutes! Turns out it's a Shantung maple (Acer truncatum) and it's native to Northern China. I told Olivia and asked her if she could help me remember the name Shantung. She agreed and asked, "are there more in Fort Collins?"
The calendar flipped to September and I was feeling anxious to investigate other Shantung maples and get a look at other unusual deciduous trees before the leaves started to turn. I recalled hearing years ago that our City Park had a "Self Guided Tree Tour." I called their office and they told me that they have a complementary, 5-page handout consisting of a map and list of 220 trees. It was a gorgeous fall day and I cut out of work a bit early and went to the park to get my pamphlet. I skimmed through the list of trees and to my surprise, saw "Shantung maple C119" on the list! I quickly found it and at a glance it confirmed my identification of the other. When I returned home, I told Olivia that I found Shampoo maple #2. "Awesome. But it's called Shantung, Daddy."
The next day, out of curiosity, I went to check out the three Trident Maples in Old Town that Arthur told me about. Instead, I was shocked to see a trio of Shantung maples! So, Arthur's memory was correct! But, the city forester's ID was wrong, but I can forgive him. So, just 6 blocks from my house...#3, #4, and #5.
At some point during the summer, I made a parallel between my Shantungs and Steve's asparagus. So Steve, whom I've worked with for 14 years, would spend some time each day after work to find wild asparagus. All casual observers, including myself, would ask him the same question, "Why do you waste your time looking for asparagus when you could just go to the store and buy a bunch?" Steve would reply, "It's the search that I enjoy." I can relate. Furthermore, I think Steve's simple philosophy should be practiced more often these days by children. Obviously, our lives are crowded with stuff that will help us achieve instant gratification. For example, there's a possibility that the City of Fort Collins has published a map depicting all the trees in our city, potentially showing us where each Shantung maple is located. However, Olivia and I are opting to locate them ourselves and create our own map. And who knows? We could possibly develop other passions, like bird watching or identifying insects. I think it would be cool if we could find Shantung #6 and then Olivia notices a Praying Mantis on one of it's branches and then a Western Tanager flies by and lands on another branch.
The autumn was sunny and warm and clung on- as did the leaves on the deciduous trees- so, with every opportunity, I would frantically seek Shantung #6. And while bicycle commuting, I would crane my neck searching. This dangerous practice almost caused me to smash into a pretty college girl; seemingly, the same pretty college girl that caused me to rubberneck and crash my bike into a parked car twenty years earlier. On a side note, I no longer gawk at the pretty college girls since I have taken Jerry Seinfeld's advice, "It's like looking at the sun. You don't stare at it! You get a sense of it. Then look away!"
Unfortunately, Olivia and I never did find another Shantung in 2012. It's now winter and the list remains at five. Perhaps another Mystery Tree will burst buds in the spring? We hope so.
If you are not content with the locations of your wood or steel studs in an existing wall, you may install a "backer board."
This customer-submitted photo depicts a 3/4" x 11" backer board under his countertop. The backer board gave him the flexibility to attach his corbels wherever he desires. He gave the board's edges the same profile (1/8" radius) as the edges of his Maple Concave 10 Corbels.
Building Boxes with "Continuous Grain"
Making a wood box with continuous grain shows that the maker selected the box parts with care and pride. In this case, "continuous grain" means that the box sides consist of one board and the parts are assembled in order -allowing the grain pattern to wrap around the corners. At Tyler Morris Woodworking, we have created a very simple jig for organizing this task and we feel that it’s worthy of note.
"Whew. I'm so glad I found your corbels."
This is a great way to utilize "shorts," meaning, the board ends that don't go into a primary project. The tray measures 1 3/8" x 6 3/4" x 10 3/4". The bottoms and sides of the "reservoirs" have been intentionally randomly carved for texture. This is the first carved out tray and I intend to make more. This is a gift for my daughter, Olivia. She had fun collecting a variety of oak acorns, as well as the nuts from a buckeye tree.
Completed two custom oak brackets today. The customer wants to place an 1 1/2" dowel atop the mounted brackets, then drape a flag over the dowel. I suppose this design will work well for quilts too. The flag/ quilt brackets measure 2" wide x 10" tall x 8" deep.
Customers often ask us how our logo is engraved on the bottom of our wood recipe boxes and serving trays. The answer is, we use an electric branding iron. We had the custom branding iron made in 1998 by a company called Brand New. We keep it mounted in an old drill press. The drill press has a broken motor, however, that's just fine. We don't want the drill press to drill - just press. We burn our logo into the bottom parts of our trays and boxes before final assembly. This process allows the logo to look crisp and align nicely.
A local, custom job. The headboard and side tables are made of solid walnut.
For more info and pictures, please see this Facebook post.
4pm Sunday, June 10, 2012. Hardly a cloud in the sky. The light shining through the shop's skylights is an eerie, glowing orange color.
This is Day 2 of the largest fire in our county's history. View to the West from the shop. Feeling sorry for all the folks and animals affected.
We recently completed 20 Cutlery Display Cabinets for Zwilling J.A. Henckels. J.A Henckels is a knife manufacturer based in Solingen, Germany. They are one of the largest and oldest (since 1731!) manufacturers of kitchen knives, scissors, cookware and flatware.
You may be wondering, "Why is a small, 4-person shop in Colorado making display cabinets for a famous brand from Germany?" Well, here's the story. In 1999, The Cupboard, our local kitchen specialty store, asked us to make a display cabinet larger than the ones Henckels were providing. They desired the cabinet to display knives on magnetic knife bars and knife block sets, plus provide storage for back stock. After a few meetings and sketches, we designed the current cabinet. Then, shortly after we installed three of these cabinets in The Cupboard, the regional Henckels sales representative noticed a spike in sales and notified their headquarters in New York. They then took a chance with us and we have maintained a great relationship since. The original version was made from Baltic Birch plywood and had a clear, lacquer finish. The second version featured "Studio Teak," a laminate with a walnut appearance. Lastly, the third and current version is made from "Leave Likatre" laminate.
Interestingly, in 1731 Peter Henckels registered the "Zwilling" (German for "Twin") logo with the Cutlers’ Guild of Solingen. This makes Zwilling one of the oldest trademarks in the world.
Loft bed for Olivia, Tyler's daughter. It's made of sixty 8' dry, hem-fir 2x4's finished to 1¼" thick. The posts are 3" wide , the rails are 6" wide, and the stair members are all 9" wide. The rails are joined to the posts with 18 custom made angle brackets. The loft bed has been finished with milk paint plus 3 coats satin lacquer. The stairs were Olivia's idea from the start. Who wants to climb down a ladder in the middle of the night?
For more info and pictures about Olivia's loft bed, please see this Facebook post. | 2019-04-24T00:22:29Z | https://www.tylermorriswoodworking.com/news/ |
And what, bhikkhus, is existence? There are these three kinds of existence: sense-sphere existence, form-sphere existence, formless-sphere existence. This is called existence.
Katamo ca, bhikkhave, bhavo? Tayome, bhikkhave, bhavā—kāmabhavo, rūpabhavo, arūpabhavo. Ayaṃ vuccati, bhikkhave, bhavo.
Ananda, if there were no kamma ripening in the sensuality-property (kāmadhātu), would sensuality-becoming be discerned?"
Thus kamma is the field, consciousness the seed, and craving the moisture.
Iti kho, ānanda, kammaṃ khettaṃ, viññāṇaṃ bījaṃ, taṇhā sneho.
The consciousness of living beings hindered by ignorance & fettered by craving is established in/tuned to a lower property. Thus there is the production of renewed becoming in the future.
Avijjānīvaraṇānaṃ sattānaṃ taṇhāsaṃyojanānaṃ majjhimāya dhātuyā viññāṇaṃ patiṭṭhitaṃ evaṃ āyatiṃ punabbhavābhinibbatti hoti.
The Noble Eightfold Path is to be developed for direct knowledge of these three kinds of existence, for the full understanding of them, for their utter destruction, for their abandoning.
“Tadāhāranirodhā yaṃ bhūtaṃ, taṃ nirodhadhammanti, bhikkhave, passathā”ti?
And what, bhikkhus, is birth? The birth of the various beings into the various orders of beings, their being born, descent into the womb, production, the manifestation of the aggregates, the obtaining of the sense bases. This is called birth.
Katamā ca, bhikkhave, jāti? Yā tesaṃ tesaṃ sattānaṃ tamhi tamhi sattanikāye jāti sañjāti okkanti abhinibbatti khandhānaṃ pātubhāvo āyatanānaṃ paṭilābho. Ayaṃ vuccati, bhikkhave, jāti.
“Bhikkhus, the arising, continuation, production, and manifestation of (khandhas - form, etc.) is the arising of suffering, the continuation of disease, the manifestation of aging-and-death.
Yo, bhikkhave, rūpassa, etc. uppādo ṭhiti abhinibbatti pātubhāvo, dukkhasseso uppādo rogānaṃ ṭhiti jarāmaraṇassa pātubhāvo.
Monks, the arising, prevailing, rebirth, and manifestation of the eye is the arising of unpleasantness, prevalence of ailments, and the manifestation of decay and death.
Idem with ear, nose, etc.
Yo kho, bhikkhave, cakkhussa uppādo ṭhiti abhinibbatti pātubhāvo, dukkhasseso uppādo, rogānaṃ ṭhiti, jarāmaraṇassa pātubhāvo.
- arising, prevalence, rebirth, and manifestation of eye-consciousness ... ear-consciousness ... etc.
- arising, prevalence, rebirth, and manifestation of eye-contact ... ear-contact ... etc.
- the arising, prevalence, rebirth, and manifestation of feelings born from eye-contact, ear-contact ... etc.
- the arising, prevalence, rebirth, and manifestation of intentions (cetanā,) born from ... sounds ... scents ... etc.
- arising, prevalence, rebirth, and manifestation of craving for forms ... sounds ... scents ... etc.
- arising, prevalence, rebirth, and manifestation of matter ... feelings ... perceptions ... intentions ... consciousness is the arising of unpleasantness, prevalence of ailments, and the manifestation of decay and death.
Tathāgatassa, bhikkhave, pātubhāvā arahato sammāsambuddhassa sattannaṃ bojjhaṅgaratanānaṃ pātubhāvo hoti. Katamesaṃ sattannaṃ? Satisambojjhaṅgassa ratanassa pātubhāvo hoti … pe … upekkhāsambojjhaṅgassa ratanassa pātubhāvo hoti. Tathāgatassa, bhikkhave, pātubhāvā arahato sammāsambuddhassa imesaṃ sattannaṃ bojjhaṅgaratanānaṃ pātubhāvo hotī”ti.
Furthermore, the disciple of the noble ones is endowed with verified confidence in the Dhamma... verified confidence in the Sangha... virtues that are appealing to the noble ones: untorn, unbroken, unspotted, unsplattered, liberating, praised by the wise, untarnished, leading to concentration. Not content with those virtues pleasing to the noble ones, he exerts himself further in solitude by day or seclusion by night. For him, living thus heedfully, joy arises. In one who has joy, rapture arises. In one who has rapture, the body becomes serene. When the body is serene, one feels pleasure. Feeling pleasure, the mind becomes centered. When the mind is centered, phenomena become manifest. When phenomena are manifest, he is reckoned as one who dwells heedfully.
Puna caparaṃ, nandiya, ariyasāvako dhamme … pe … saṅghe … pe … ariyakantehi sīlehi samannāgato hoti akhaṇḍehi … pe … samādhisaṃvattanikehi. So tehi ariyakantehi sīlehi asantuṭṭho uttari vāyamati divā pavivekāya rattiṃ paṭisallānāya. Tassa evaṃ appamattassa viharato pāmojjaṃ jāyati. Pamuditassa pīti jāyati. Pītimanassa kāyo passambhati. Passaddhakāyo sukhaṃ vediyati. Sukhino cittaṃ samādhiyati. Samāhite citte dhammā pātubhavanti. Dhammānaṃ pātubhāvā appamādavihārītveva saṅkhyaṃ gacchati. Evaṃ kho, nandiya, ariyasāvako appamādavihārī hotī”ti.
So too, bhikkhus, so long as a Tathagata has not arisen in the world, an Arahant, a Perfectly Enlightened One, for just so long there is no manifestation of great light and radiance, but then blinding darkness prevails, a dense mass of darkness; for just so long there is no explaining, teaching, proclaiming, establishing, disclosing, analysing, or elucidating of the Four Noble Truths.
Evameva kho, bhikkhave, yāvakīvañca tathāgato loke nuppajjati arahaṃ sammāsambuddho, neva tāva mahato ālokassa pātubhāvo hoti mahato obhāsassa. Andhatamaṃ tadā hoti andhakāratimisā. Neva tāva catunnaṃ ariyasaccānaṃ ācikkhaṇā hoti desanā paññāpanā paṭṭhapanā vivaraṇā vibhajanā uttānīkammaṃ.
The unexcelled remover of darts.
Friends, with form that has been born, that has become manifest, an arising is discerned, a vanishing is discerned, an alteration of that which stands is discerned. With feeling … perception … volitional formations … consciousness that has been born, that has become manifest, an arising is discerned, a vanishing is discerned, an alteration of that which stands is discerned.
Yaṃ kho, āvuso, rūpaṃ jātaṃ pātubhūtaṃ; tassa uppādo paññāyati, vayo paññāyati, ṭhitassa aññathattaṃ paññāyati. Yā vedanā jātā pātubhūtā … pe … yā saññā … ye saṅkhārā jātā pātubhūtā; tesaṃ uppādo paññāyati, vayo paññāyati, ṭhitassa aññathattaṃ paññāyati. Yaṃ viññāṇaṃ jātaṃ pātubhūtaṃ tassa uppādo paññāyati, vayo paññāyati, ṭhitassa aññathattaṃ paññāyati.
"I don't envision a single thing that, when undeveloped & unapparent (unmanifested), leads to such great harm as the mind. The mind, when undeveloped & unapparent leads to great harm."
“Nāhaṃ, bhikkhave, aññaṃ ekadhammampi samanupassāmi yaṃ evaṃ abhāvitaṃ apātubhūtaṃ mahato anatthāya saṃvattati yathayidaṃ, bhikkhave, cittaṃ.
Cittaṃ, bhikkhave, abhāvitaṃ apātubhūtaṃ mahato anatthāya saṃvattatī”ti.
Yaṃ, bhikkhave, rūpaṃ jātaṃ pātubhūtaṃ, ‘atthī’ti tassa saṅkhā, ‘atthī’ti tassa samaññā, ‘atthī’ti tassa paññatti; na tassa saṅkhā ‘ahosī’ti, na tassa saṅkhā ‘bhavissatī’ti.
“These, bhikkhus, are the three pathways of language, pathways of designation, pathways of description, that are unmixed, that were never mixed, that are not being mixed, that will not be mixed, that are not rejected by wise ascetics and brahmins.
Ime kho, bhikkhave, tayo niruttipathā adhivacanapathā paññattipathā asaṃkiṇṇā asaṃkiṇṇapubbā, na saṅkīyanti, na saṅkīyissanti, appaṭikuṭṭhā samaṇehi brāhmaṇehi viññūhi.
"ambho, purisa, na tvaṃ addasa manussesu paṭhamaṃ devadūtaṃ pātubhūtan’ti?"
“And this craving has what as its source, what as its origin, from what is it born and produced (pahoti/pabhavati-proceed from, rise, originate)?
This craving has feeling as its source, feeling as its origin; it is born and produced from feeling.
Taṇhā cāyaṃ, bhikkhave, kiṃnidānā kiṃsamudayā kiṃjātikā kiṃpabhavā?
Taṇhā vedanānidānā vedanāsamudayā vedanājātikā vedanāpabhavā.
Insight, from knowledge according to what have become.
clever virtues (kusalāni sīlāni) are for the reason and benefit of non-remorse.
Non-remorse is for the reason and benefit of delight.
Delight is for the reason and benefit of joy.
Joy is for the reason and benefit of tranquillity.
Tranquillity is for the reason and benefit of pleasantness.
Pleasantness is for the reason and benefit of concentration.
Concentration is for the reason and benefit of insight, from knowledge according to what have become (yathābhūtañāṇadassana).
Insight, from knowledge according to what have become, is for the reason and benefit of turning away.
Turning away is for the reason and benefit of disenchantment.
Disenchantment is for the reason and benefit of knowledge and vision of release.
Thus, Ānanda, clever virtues lead to the highest."
When there is no insight, from knowledge according to what have become, gone wrong in the insight, from knowledge according to what have become, the cause for turning away is destroyed.
When virtues are not present, gone wrong in virtues, the cause for right consentration is destroyed. When right concentration is not present, gone wrong in right concentration, the cause for insight, from knowledge according to what have become (yathābhūtañāṇadassana), is destroyed. When seeing it as it really is, is not present, gone wrong in seeing it as it really is, the cause for disgust and disenchantment is destroyed. When disgust and disenchantment is not present, gone wrong in disgust and disenchantment, the cause for knowledge and vision of release is destroyed.
“Thus, monks, ignorance is associated with determinations, determinations with consciousness, consciousness with name and matter, name and matter with the six spheres, the six spheres with contact, contact with feelings, feelings with craving, craving with holding, holding with being, being with birth. Birth is associated with unpleasantness, unpleasantness with faith, faith with joy, joy with delight, delight with emotions of delight, emotions of delight with pleasantness, pleasantness with concentration, concentration with the insight, from knowledge according to what have become (yathābhūtañāṇadassana), the insight, from knowledge according to what have become, with turning away, turning away with fading, fading with release and release is associated with the knowledge of destruction.
Note: and not "as it really is", as it is often mistranslated.
"someone does not understand as they really are (yathābhūtaṃ nappajānāti) the origin and the passing away, the gratification, the danger, and the escape in regard to states of..."
Ignorance and unknowing lie deep within one in regard to the six bases for contact.
..you should clearly see the eye as it really is with correct wisdom thus: ‘This is not mine, this I am not, this is not my self.’ This itself is the end of suffering.
Brahmin, at a time when your mind is not overwhelmed with sensual desires and you know and see the escape from arisen sensual desires as it really is, you know your own good, the good of others and the good of either as it really is. At such times you remember to recite scriptures not recited, there is nothing to talk of those recited.
Brahmin, like a water surface not mixed with lacquer and dye of colours red, yellow, blue and brown, in which a man wanting to see his face, would know his face or see it. In the same manner Brahmin, at a time when your mind is not overwhelmed with sensual desires, and know or see the escape from arisen sensual desires as it really is, you know your own good, the good of others and the good of either as it really is. At such times you remember to recite scriptures not recited, there is nothing to talk of those recited.
(idem with hate, sloth and torpor, restlessness and worry, doubts).
Bhikkhus, it is possible for the bhikkhu to be the eye-witness, with mindfulness in this and other mental sphere, endowed with these six things. What six?
Chahi, bhikkhave, dhammehi samannāgato bhikkhu bhabbo tatra tatreva sakkhibhabbataṃ pāpuṇituṃ sati sati āyatane. Katamehi chahi?
Here, bhikkhus, the bhikkhu knows as it really is, these are the things conducive to relinquishing, to enduring, to distinction and to penetrating insight. He does the possible and the beneficial.
sakkaccakārī ca hoti, sappāyakārī ca.
Bhikkhus, it is possible for the bhikkhu to be the eye-witness, with mindfulness in this and other mental sphere, endowed with these six things.
Imehi kho, bhikkhave, chahi dhammehi samannāgato bhikkhu bhabbo tatra tatreva sakkhibhabbataṃ pāpuṇituṃ sati sati āyatane”ti.
He dwells with his awareness overcome by sensual passion, obsessed with sensual passion. He does not discern the escape, as it actually is present, from sensual passion once it has arisen (uppannassa ca kāmarāgassa nissaraṇaṃ yathābhūtaṃ nappajānāti).
Making that sensual passion the focal point, he absorbs himself with it, besorbs, resorbs, & supersorbs himself with it.
When, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu understands as they really are the origin and passing away of the six bases of contact, their satisfaction, unsatisfactoriness, and the escape from them, then he understands what transcends all (these) views.
idaṃ dukkhan’ti yathābhūtaṃ pajānāti, ‘ayaṃ dukkhasamudayo’ti yathābhūtaṃ pajānāti, ‘ayaṃ dukkhanirodho’ti yathābhūtaṃ pajānāti, ‘ayaṃ dukkhanirodhagāminī paṭipadā’ti yathābhūtaṃ pajānāti.
‘ime āsavā’ti yathābhūtaṃ pajānāti, ‘ayaṃ āsavasamudayo’ti yathābhūtaṃ pajānāti, ‘ayaṃ āsavanirodho’ti yathābhūtaṃ pajānāti, ‘ayaṃ āsavanirodhagāminī paṭipadā’ti yathābhūtaṃ pajānāti.
Note: This is called the training in heightened discernment.
The Thus Gone One knows the higher states of the mind, the releases, the concentrations and attainments with their defilements, purities and the risings from them as it really is.
Tathāgato jhānavimokkhasamādhisamāpattīnaṃ saṅkilesaṃ vodānaṃ vuṭṭhānaṃ yathābhūtaṃ pajānāti.
Bhikkhus, the bhikkhu knows as it really is, here my mind is sticky; when the mind is internally concentrated knows as it really is, here my mind is concentrated. When the mind is externally distracted knows as it really is, here my mind is externally distracted.
So ariyadhammassavanaṃ āgamma yonisomanasikāraṃ dhammānudhammappaṭipattiṃ, ‘idaṃ kusalan’ti yathābhūtaṃ pajānāti, ‘idaṃ akusalan’ti yathābhūtaṃ pajānāti. ‘Idaṃ sāvajjaṃ idaṃ anavajjaṃ, idaṃ sevitabbaṃ idaṃ na sevitabbaṃ, idaṃ hīnaṃ idaṃ paṇītaṃ, idaṃ kaṇhasukkasappaṭibhāgan’ti yathābhūtaṃ pajānāti.
Here, a certain person with blemish does not know, as it really is, there is blemish in me. A certain person with blemish knows, as it really is, there is blemish in me. A certain person without blemish does not know as it really is, there is no blemish in me. A certain person without blemish knows as it really is, there is no blemish in me.
Idha panāvuso, ekacco puggalo sāṅgaṇova samāno ‘atthi me ajjhattaṃ aṅgaṇan’ti yathābhūtaṃ pajānāti. Idhāvuso, ekacco puggalo anaṅgaṇova samāno ‘natthi me ajjhattaṃ aṅgaṇan’ti yathābhūtaṃ nappajānāti. Idha panāvuso, ekacco puggalo anaṅgaṇova samāno ‘natthi me ajjhattaṃ aṅgaṇan’ti yathābhūtaṃ pajānāti.
The Tathāgata understands as it actually is the possible as possible and the impossible as impossible.
Tathāgato ṭhānañca ṭhānato aṭṭhānañca aṭṭhānato yathābhūtaṃ pajānāti.
The Tathāgata understands as it actually is the results of actions undertaken, past, future, and present, by way of possibilities and causes.
Tathāgato atītānāgatapaccuppannānaṃ kammasamādānānaṃ ṭhānaso hetuso vipākaṃ yathābhūtaṃ pajānāti.
The Tathāgata understands as it actually is the ways leading to all destinations.
Tathāgato sabbatthagāminiṃ paṭipadaṃ yathābhūtaṃ pajānāti.
The Tathāgata understands as it actually is the world with its many and different elements.
The Tathāgata understands as it actually is how beings have different inclinations.
Tathāgato sattānaṃ nānādhimuttikataṃ yathābhūtaṃ pajānāti.
The Tathāgata understands as it actually is the disposition of the faculties of other beings, other persons.
Tathāgato parasattānaṃ parapuggalānaṃ indriyaparopariyattaṃ yathābhūtaṃ pajānāti.
The Tathāgata understands as it actually is the defilement, the cleansing, and the emergence in regard to the jhānas, liberations, concentrations, and attainments.
There is the case where a monk discerns, as it actually is, the noble eightfold path.
Idha, bhikkhave, bhikkhu ariyaṃ aṭṭhaṅgikaṃ maggaṃ yathābhūtaṃ pajānāti.
There is the case where a monk discerns, as they actually are, the four frames of reference.
Idha, bhikkhave, bhikkhu cattāro satipaṭṭhāne yathābhūtaṃ pajānāti.
On seeing a form with the eye, he does not lust after it if it is pleasing; he does not dislike it if it is unpleasing. He abides with mindfulness of the body established, with an immeasurable mind, and he understands as it actually is the deliverance of mind and deliverance by wisdom wherein those evil unwholesome states cease without remainder. Having thus abandoned favouring and opposing, whatever feeling he feels, whether pleasant or painful or neither-painful-nor-pleasant, he does not delight in that feeling, welcome it, or remain holding to it. As he does not do so, delight in feelings ceases in him. With the cessation of his delight comes cessation of clinging; with the cessation of clinging, cessation of being; with the cessation of being, cessation of birth; with the cessation of birth, ageing and death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and despair cease.
- This way of undertaking things is painful now and ripens in the future as pain.’ Knowing it, understanding it as it actually is, the wise one does not cultivate it but avoids it.
- This way of undertaking things is pleasant now and ripens in the future as pain.’ Knowing it, understanding it as it actually is, the wise one does not cultivate it but avoids it.
- This way of undertaking things is painful now and ripens in the future as pleasure.’ Knowing it, understanding it as it actually is, the wise one does not avoid it but cultivates it.
- This way of undertaking things is pleasant now and ripens in the future as pleasure.’ Knowing it, understanding it as it actually is, the wise one does not avoid it but cultivates it.
(He) abides with a mind obsessed and enslaved by identity view, and he does not understand as it actually is the escape from the arisen identity view; and when that identity view has become habitual and is uneradicated in him, it is a lower fetter. He abides with a mind obsessed and enslaved by doubt…by adherence to rules and observances …by sensual lust …by ill will, and he does not understand as it actually is the escape from arisen ill will; and when that ill will has become habitual and is uneradicated in him, it is a lower fetter.
When one is touched by a neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling, if one does not understand as it actually is the origination, the disappearance, the gratification, the danger, and the escape in regard to that feeling, then the underlying tendency to ignorance lies within one.
Yato kho, bhikkhave, ariyasāvako evaṃ lokassa samudayañca atthaṅgamañca yathābhūtaṃ pajānāti, ayaṃ vuccati, bhikkhave, ariyasāvako diṭṭhisampanno itipi, dassanasampanno itipi, āgato imaṃ saddhammaṃ itipi, passati imaṃ saddhammaṃ itipi, sekkhena ñāṇena samannāgato itipi, sekkhāya vijjāya samannāgato itipi, dhammasotaṃ samāpanno itipi, ariyo nibbedhikapañño itipi, amatadvāraṃ āhacca tiṭṭhati itipī”ti.
“Bhikkhus, develop concentration. A bhikkhu who is concentrated understands things as they really are (according to what have become).
“And what does he understand as it really is?
The origin and passing away of form; the origin and passing away of feeling; the origin and passing away of perception; the origin and passing away of volitional formations; the origin and passing away of consciousness.
“Here, bhikkhus, one seeks delight (nandī), one welcomes, one remains holding. And what is it that one seeks delight in, what does one welcome, to what does one remain holding? One seeks delight in form, welcomes it, and remains holding to it. As a consequence of this, delight arises. Delight in form is clinging. With one’s clinging as condition, existence comes to be; with existence as condition, birth; with birth as condition, aging-and-death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure, and despair come to be. Such is the origin of this whole mass of suffering.
“One does not seek delight in feeling … … in perception … in volitional formations … in consciousness, does not welcome it, does not remain holding to it. As a consequence of this, delight in consciousness ceases…. Such is the cessation of this whole mass of suffering.
He knows as it really is the arising nature (samudayadhammaṃ) of feelings as the arising nature of feelings, the fading nature of feelings as the fading nature of feelings, and the arising and fading nature of feelings as the arising and fading nature of feelings.
"The not learned ordinary man does not know as it really is the arising nature of matter as the arising nature of matter, the fading nature of matter as the fading nature of matter, and the arising and fading nature of matter as the arising and fading nature of matter."
“Here, friend, the learned noble disciple knows the arising, fading, satisfaction, danger, and the escape from matter as it really is."
“Idhāvuso, sutavā ariyasāvako rūpassa assādañca ādīnavañca nissaraṇañca yathābhūtaṃ pajānāti.
When a bhikkhu understands as they really are the origin, the passing away, the gratification, the danger, and the escape in regard to the six bases for contact, such a bhikkhu is a knowledge-master.
ato kho, bhikkhave, bhikkhu channaṃ phassāyatanānaṃ samudayañca atthaṅgamañca assādañca ādīnavañca nissaraṇañca yathābhūtaṃ pajānāti; evaṃ kho, bhikkhave, bhikkhu vedagū hoti.
“Here, brahmin, having seen a form with the eye, someone is not intent upon a pleasing form and not repelled by a displeasing form. He dwells having set up mindfulness of the body, with a measureless mind, and he understands as it really is that liberation of mind, liberation by wisdom, wherein those evil unwholesome states cease without remainder."
“Idha, brāhmaṇa, bhikkhu cakkhunā rūpaṃ disvā piyarūpe rūpe nādhimuccati, appiyarūpe rūpe na byāpajjati, upaṭṭhitakāyassati ca viharati, appamāṇacetaso tañca cetovimuttiṃ paññāvimuttiṃ yathābhūtaṃ pajānāti yatthassa te uppannā pāpakā akusalā dhammā aparisesā nirujjhanti.
Note: or "as they have come to be".
“And how, venerable sir, has one comprehended the Dhamma? Venerable sir, one sees as it really is with correct wisdom: ‘This has come to be.’ Having seen as it really is with correct wisdom: ‘This has come to be,’ through revulsion towards what has come to be, through its fading away and cessation, one is liberated by nonclinging. One sees as it really is with correct wisdom: ‘Its origination occurs with that as nutriment.’ Having seen as it really is with correct wisdom: ‘Its origination occurs with that as nutriment,’ through revulsion towards its origination through nutriment, through its fading away and cessation, one is liberated by nonclinging. One sees as it really is with correct wisdom: ‘With the cessation of that nutriment, what has come to be is subject to cessation.’ Having seen as it really is with correct wisdom: ‘With the cessation of that nutriment, what has come to be is subject to cessation,’ through revulsion towards what is subject to cessation, through its fading away and cessation, one is liberated by nonclinging. It is in such a way that one has comprehended the Dhamma.
Yaṃ kho, bhante, kiñci bhūtaṃ saṅkhataṃ cetayitaṃ paṭiccasamuppannaṃ tadaniccaṃ. Yadaniccaṃ taṃ dukkhaṃ. ‘Yaṃ dukkhaṃ taṃ netaṃ mama, nesohamasmi, nameso attā’ti—evametaṃ yathābhūtaṃ sammappaññāya sudiṭṭhaṃ. Tassa ca uttari nissaraṇaṃ yathābhūtaṃ pajānāmī”ti.
Having seen this thus as it actually is with proper wisdom, he avoids the equanimity that is diversified, based on diversity, and develops the equanimity that is unified, based on unity, where clinging to the material things of the world utterly ceases without remainder.
Evametaṃ yathābhūtaṃ sammappaññāya disvā yāyaṃ upekkhā nānattā nānattasitā taṃ abhinivajjetvā, yāyaṃ upekkhā ekattā ekattasitā yattha sabbaso lokāmisūpādānā aparisesā nirujjhanti tamevūpekkhaṃ bhāveti.
Here, bhikkhus, whatever form, in the past, future or present, internal or external, rough or fine, unexalted or exalted, at a distance or in close proximity, all that matter `is not mine, am not in it, it is not my self.' He sees this, as it really is with right wisdom.
Rāhula, all that is hard, internal or external, is earth element. It is not mine, am not in it. It is not my self. This should be seen with right wisdom as it really is, and the mind should be disenchanted and turned away from the earth element.
(idem with fire, water, air).
Bhikkhus, without giving up six things it is not possible to abide in the first higher state of the mind. What six?
Sensual interest, anger, sloth and torpor, restlessness and worry, doubts and not wisely seeing the dangers of sensuality, as it really is.
“Cha, bhikkhave, dhamme appahāya abhabbo paṭhamaṃ jhānaṃ upasampajja viharituṃ. Katame cha? Kāmacchandaṃ, byāpādaṃ, thinamiddhaṃ, uddhaccakukkuccaṃ, vicikicchaṃ. Kāmesu kho panassa ādīnavo na yathābhūtaṃ sammappaññāya sudiṭṭho hoti.
“Dvayanissito khvāyaṃ, kaccāna, loko yebhuyyena—atthitañceva natthitañca. Lokasamudayaṃ kho, kaccāna, yathābhūtaṃ sammappaññāya passato yā loke natthitā sā na hoti. Lokanirodhaṃ kho, kaccāna, yathābhūtaṃ sammappaññāya passato yā loke atthitā sā na hoti.
"Friend, though I have clearly seen as it really is with correct wisdom, ‘Nibbāna is the cessation of existence,’ I am not an arahant, one whose taints are destroyed."
"Bhavanirodho nibbānan’ti kho me, āvuso, yathābhūtaṃ sammappaññāya sudiṭṭhaṃ, na camhi arahaṃ khīṇāsavo."
directly know as they have come to be (aññā).
Bhikkhus, when I was not yet enlightened, it occured to me: In this world what is the satisfaction, what is the danger and what is the escape? Then I occured to me: The arising of pleasure and pleasantness in the world on account of something, is the satisfaction in this world. That there is impermanence, unpleasantness and change in the world, that is the danger. The driving out, interest and greed in the world, the dispelling of interest and greed is the escape from the world. Bhikkhus, until I knew as it really is (yathābhūtaṃ nābbhaññāsiṃ), the satisfaction as the satisfaction, the danger as the danger and the escape as the escape, I did not announce to the world together with its gods, Maras, Brahmas, the community of recluses and brahmins, my rightful enlightenment. Knowledge arose to me about my vision. The release of my mind is unshakeable. This is my last birth, there will be no more rebirths.
“So long, bhikkhus, as I did not directly know as they really are the gratification, the danger, and the escape in the case of these five aggregates subject to clinging, I did not claim to have awakened to the unsurpassed perfect enlightenment in this world..."
"So long as I did not directly know as they really are the five aggregates subject to clinging in four phases, I did not claim to have awakened to the unsurpassed perfect enlightenment in this world ..."
"And how, bhikkhus, are there four phases? I directly knew form, its origin, its cessation, and the way leading to its cessation. I directly knew feeling … perception … volitional formations … consciousness, its origin, its cessation, and the way leading to its cessation."
All the above and the following are derived from Bhū. (Sanskrit: become, exist, be).
Thus it is that many evil, unskillful qualities/events — born of greed, caused by greed, originated through greed (lobha), conditioned by greed — come into play.
Itissame lobhajā lobhanidānā lobhasamudayā lobhapaccayā aneke pāpakā akusalā dhammā sambhavanti.
The many evil, unskillful mental qualities that come into play in dependence on wrong view are purged away as well, while the many skillful mental qualities that depend on right view go to the culmination of their development.
ye ca micchādiṭṭhipaccayā aneke pāpakā akusalā dhammā sambhavanti te cassa niddhotā honti; sammādiṭṭhipaccayā ca aneke kusalā dhammā bhāvanāpāripūriṃ gacchanti.
On account of xxxx (frivolous talk, coveting, etc), various, useless, evil, demeritorious things come into play, they are useless.
ye ca xxxxpaccayā, aneke pāpakā akusalā dhammā sambhavanti, ayaṃ anattho.
From ignorance as a requisite condition come fabrications. From fabrications as a requisite condition comes consciousness ... pe ... From becoming (existence) as a requisite condition comes birth. From birth as a requisite condition, then aging & death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair come into play.
Avijjāpaccayā saṅkhārā, saṅkhārapaccayā viññāṇaṃ, ... pe ... bhavapaccayā jāti - jātipaccayā jarāmaraṇaṃ sokaparidevadukkhadomanassupāyāsā sambhavanti.
The monk develops right concentration to drive out greed, hate, and delusion to the end.
Note: bhāveti & bhaveti are used.
My good chariot maker, in six months time from now a battle will take place.
Ito me, samma rathakāra, channaṃ māsānaṃ accayena saṅgāmo bhavissati.
If this item is bought at such a price and sold at such a price, it will require this much capital and bring this much profit.
Idaṃ paṇiyaṃ evaṃ kītaṃ, evaṃ vikkayamānaṃ, ettakaṃ mūlaṃ bhavissati, ettako udayo’ti.
As form has originated from what is nonself, how could it be (how will it be) self?
Anattasambhūtaṃ, bhikkhave, rūpaṃ kuto attā bhavissati.
evaṃ no ayaṃ amhākaṃ samaññā ca saccā bhavissati paṭiññā ca bhūtā. | 2019-04-21T05:02:37Z | https://justpaste.it/tvvi |
Snus is a smokeless oral tobacco product with a significant history of use in Sweden, where it is regulated under food legislation. Users place a small porous sachet or a pinch of loose snus between the upper jaw and cheek for approximately one hour, leading to partial intake of tobacco constituents. To understand user exposure to tobacco, a multi-analyte approach based on the extraction of pouches by methanol, ethanol and water was validated and applied to the measurement of various constituents, including nicotine, four tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNAs), propylene glycol, water, ammonium, nitrate, sodium, chloride, linalool, citronellol, linalyl acetate and geraniol, extracted from snus pouches during use by human consumers.
After validation against established single-analyte methods, the multi-analyte approach was used to determine constituent levels in snus pouches before and after one hour of use. Although the concentrations in the snus pouches varied from nanogram (e.g. TSNAs) to milligram (e.g. nicotine, sodium and propylene glycol) quantities (25.1 ng to 35.3 mg per 1 g pouch), the mean percentage extracted varied only from 19.2% for linalyl acetate to 37.8% for the TSNA 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK) among all constituents analyzed. The TSNAs, some of which are known carcinogens, showed the highest percentage extraction (range 34.6%–37.8%). Measurement variability was low for all analytes, ranging from 2.4% (total TSNAs, NAT) to 9.5% (geraniol). By contrast, inter-subject variability ranged from 6.7% (NAB) to 52.2% (linalyl acetate), and was greater than 20% for eight of the constituents analyzed. Intra-subject variability ranged from 3.4% (citronellol) to 29.7% (geraniol).
Generally, less than a third of each constituent tested was extracted during one hour of snus use, independent of constituent concentration. The variable nature of in-use extraction was shown to be driven by inter-subject variability. The results provide insight into possible mechanisms controlling constituent extraction in the mouth during snus use, and provide reference data for the development of in-vitro laboratory systems for estimating extraction of tobacco constituents from snus.
Smokeless tobacco products (STPs) have been identified as Group 1 (known) human carcinogens by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) . Globally, however, there are several STP categories which differ in manufacture, content, and method (e.g. location in mouth), duration and frequency of use. When considering the diversity of STPs, the UK Royal College of Physicians concluded that different categories of STPs pose varying levels of risk to their users in line with their toxicant content .
Many studies have investigated the chemical content of STPs. Among the approximately 5000 chemicals identified in tobacco , IARC listed 28 chemical agents or carcinogens in STPs . Subsequently, the Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee of the Center for Tobacco Products at the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) prioritized a draft initial list of 44 harmful or potentially harmful compounds (H/PHC) in STPs which was developed into an established list of 93 H/PHC in tobacco and smoke . The FDA recently proposed an abbreviated list of nine of these 44 compounds in STPs, amongst an abbreviated list of 20 constituents in tobacco and smoke, that are required to be measured annually and the levels reported by manufacturers .
Owing to considerable differences in patterns of usage of the various categories of STPs, it is possible that toxicant content alone is insufficient to characterize fully the risk profiles of STPs. For example, users of dissolvable STPs (such as “sticks”, “strips” and solid tablets designed to be placed in the oral cavity and allowed to dissolve during normal use) are likely to consume the whole STP. By contrast, chewing tobacco is placed in the saliva-rich environment between the lower gum and cheek prior to mastication, and users occasionally expectorate salivary STP leachates. Users of Swedish snus place either a small porous sachet or a pinch of loose snus in the relatively saliva-poor area between the upper jaw and cheek for an hour on average, and undertake relatively little mechanical work . At the end of STP use, users of chewing tobaccos and snus discard the remaining tobacco portions from their mouths, leading to partial intake of the tobacco constituents. Hence, it is likely that there are significant differences in exposure to toxicants between users of STPs who consume all and those who consume part of the tobacco mass. Moreover, differences in salivary content, amount of mechanical work on the STP, and levels of expectoration may also affect exposure among users of different types of STP. Understanding these differences in exposure can provide valuable insight into the risk profiles of different STP categories.
Historically, four approaches have been used to estimate toxicant exposure in STP users. Pharmacokinetic studies examine the plasma levels of toxicants, other constituents (such as nicotine ) and their metabolites among STP users in a clinical setting. Although providing a robust examination of toxicant uptake and overall plasma concentrations, this technique is limited by the controlled and potentially atypical usage documented in an invasive clinical setting, the limited range of analytical methods for relevant species in plasma, and the expense and timescale for conducting such studies.
Clinical studies involving measurement of biomarkers of exposure in urine of STP users (e.g. biomarkers of 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK) and nicotine ) have provided insight into toxicant exposure and effects on STP users. Unlike pharmacokinetic studies, these studies can accommodate normal usage of STPs; however, they also face limitations such as cost, relatively small numbers of validated biomarkers for STP toxicants and compliance issues during ambulatory studies.
In-vitro systems have also been used to estimate extraction of STP constituents (e.g. toxic metals ). The applicability of in-vitro approaches is currently restricted by difficulties in reproducing real-use factors such as usage time, mechanical work on the STP in the mouth of users, expectoration and the chemical composition of saliva in users.
The fourth approach is based on measurements of toxicant extraction from STPs after normal usage. In such studies, subjects use snus in a normal or timed manner [10, 12–14]. Chemical analysis of each portion after use, and comparison with the content of matched unused snus portions, allows estimation of the amount of constituents extracted during snus use. This last approach provides a flexible way of estimating toxicant exposure in STP users because any tobacco constituent for which an analytical method can be developed is within its scope. Normal usage patterns can be accommodated within the study design, and the non-invasive nature of the approach means that comparatively large numbers of users, products and constituents can be accommodated.
Although the above approaches have begun to establish the level of extraction of constituents from STPs, the range of constituents studied has been small and, more importantly, detailed analytical methods and validation data are lacking for extraction studies. As a result, the aim of this study was to examine the extraction of constituents from Swedish pouched snus by users during normal consumption as evaluated by a survey of snus usage among regular users. The robustness of the technique was validated for several constituents and then applied to a pilot study among users of Swedish pouched snus. A range of constituents, including known toxicants, common ions, and both water-soluble and sparingly water-soluble compounds, were analyzed with the aim of understanding factors influencing their extraction such as solubility. Species examined included those endogenous to tobacco, such as nicotine, and exogenous species such as the low solubility terpenoid aroma compounds linalyl acetate and linalool, typically found in Swedish-style snus. Product, analytical, and inter- and intra-subject variability was determined, enabling a discussion of effective study design for future studies of this kind.
Responses to a number of questions from a 2007/2008 telephone survey were used to identify appropriate parameters for the subsequent extraction study.
Extraction studies were conducted in Sweden between August and October 2008 by an established consumer research agency, GfK Sverige AB (Sweden), a member of the Association of Swedish Market Research Institutes (SMIF). The studies were carried out in accordance with both the regulations established by SMIF and the International Chamber of Commerce/European Society for Opinion and Marketing Research (ICC/ESOMAR) Code on Market and Social Research. Via a telephone recruitment survey, 21 male users of pouched snus, aged between 19 and 64 years (mean 35 years, median 33 years) and living in the Stockholm or Lund area, were selected on the basis of normal use of a minimum of eight 1 g snus pouches per day for at least 1 hour per pouch. Each potential subject was asked to state any snus brand that they disliked; those who included the study brand in their response were not recruited. Subjects provided informed consent and were paid for their involvement.
The most commonly used snus pouch size and style in Sweden is 1 g “brown”-style (i.e. with water content in the region of 50%) . Lucky Strike Original pouched snus (LS Brown) was chosen as an example of this format, with known chemical composition. The product was purchased from Fiedler & Lundgren (Malmo, Sweden), repacked in unbranded tins, and sent to the study locations. The snus tins were stored at 4°C until use and allowed to equilibrate to room temperature for approximately 15 min before use.
Each subject attended two sessions on different days. Subjects were recruited on the basis that they typically place their snus pouch under their upper lip, on either side of the mouth. At each session four snus pouches were used consecutively by each subject, with each pouch being kept in the mouth for 1 h. Subjects were asked to use the product in their normal manner, with no restriction on pouch movement. There was a 15 min break between pouches, during which time water, but no other beverage or food, could be consumed. A representative from the agency controlled the distribution and collection of samples. Subjects were asked not to use snus for at least 1 h before each session.
For each pouch used by a subject, a corresponding unused pouch was taken from the same tin. All used and unused pouches were immediately weighed and stored in individual sealed tubes of the same type. For the first session, pouches were stored in Class 200 pre-cleaned EPA glass vials (Greyhound Chromatography, Birkenhead, UK). For the second session, the first two used and unused pouches were stored in the glass vials, but the third and fourth used and unused pouches were stored in 50 mL plastic centrifuge tubes (Fisher Scientific, Loughborough, UK) to avoid contamination with sodium ions from the glass vials. All samples were stored at −20°C until analysis.
The snus samples were thawed at room temperature for 1 h prior to extraction. Unused pouches were extracted identically to the corresponding used pouch. To enable multiple analyses to be conducted on a single snus extract, validated in-house analytical methods were modified by changing the solvent volume, extraction method, or application of internal standard.
Methanol (HPLC grade, Rathburn Chemicals, Walkerburn, UK) was used to extract nicotine, tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNAs; n-nitrosoanabasine [NAB], n-nitrosoanatabine [NAT], n-nitrosonornicotine [NNN] and 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone [NNK]), propylene glycol and water. Whole pouches in their glass vials were extracted with 20 mL of dry methanol with shaking (180 rpm, 30 min). The solution was transferred to a 50 mL plastic centrifuge tube for centrifugation (4600 rpm, 5 min).
Nicotine levels were measured by gas chromatography (GC) using an HP6890 GC instrument fitted with an autosampler and 5973 mass selective detector (Agilent Technologies, Wokingham, UK). For analysis, an aliquot of the methanol-extracted supernatant was diluted 1:10 in methanol, and 10 μg/mL of d4-nicotine (99%, Toronto Research Chemicals, Ontario, Canada) was added as the internal standard. The resulting solution was injected (1 μL) into a splitless injector at 250°C. A 30 m × 0.25 mm ID × 0.25 μm GC column (J&W HP-5MS; Agilent Technologies) was used with a temperature gradient of 70°C to 230°C over 44 min and helium as the carrier gas at 1.5 mL/min. The mass selective detector was operated in SIM mode with a source temperature of 230°C and a quadrupole temperature of 150°C.
TSNA levels were measured by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) using an API 5000 triple quadrupole MS/MS (Applied Biosystems, Warrington, UK) in positive ESI mode, with a mass/charge (m/z) range of 5–1250. For analysis, deuterated internal standards (5 ng/mL of d4-NAB; 10 ng/mL of d4-NAT, d4-NNN and d4-NNK; QMX Laboratories, Thaxted, UK) were added to an aliquot of the methanol-extracted supernatant. The resulting solution was injected (5 μl) onto a 1200 series LC system (Agilent Technologies), consisting of 1200 series binary pump, autosampler, vacuum degasser, column compartment and control module, with a Luna 3 μm C18(2) 100 Å, 100 mm × 2.00 mm column and a SecurityGuard cartridge kit (Phenomenex, Macclesfield, UK) as a guard column. The mobile phases were 5 mM aqueous ammonium acetate (99.99+%, Sigma-Aldrich, Gillingham, UK) and 5 mM ammonium acetate in 95% acetonitrile (HPLC grade, Rathburn Chemicals) and 5% water; the flow rate was 0.2 mL/min. The transition of the protonated parent/daughter-ion pairs m/z 192–162, m/z 190–79, m/z 208–122 and m/z 178–148 were monitored for NAB, NAT, NNK and NNN, respectively.
Propylene glycol was analyzed using an HP6890 GC fitted with a flame ionization detector (Agilent Technologies). For the analysis, 150 μg/mL of 1,3-butanediol internal standard (99+%, Sigma-Aldrich) was added to an aliquot of the methanol-extracted supernatant. The resulting solution (1 μL) was injected into a 980 μL split injector packed with quartz wool at a 20:1 split ratio. A DB5 30 m × 0.53 mm ID × 5.0 μm column (Agilent Technologies) was used with helium as the carrier gas at 16 mL/min. The temperature program was 60°C to 260°C over 14 min. The FID detector was operated at 275°C.
The water content of the methanol-extracted supernatant was determined using a Cary 5E double-beam near-infrared spectrometer (Varian Inc., Oxford, UK). The intensity of the combination band at 1943 nm (caused by −OH stretching and H−OH bending of the water molecule) was measured and compared with standard solutions of de-ionized water in methanol.
Water (de-ionized at 18.2 MΩ, Elga Process Water, High Wycombe, UK) was used to extract ammonium and nitrate nitrogen, and sodium and chloride ions. Whole pouches in their plastic tubes were extracted with 40 mL of water with shaking (180 rpm, 30 min) and then centrifuged (4600 rpm, 5 min). For sodium and chloride ion analysis, aliquots of the supernatant were diluted 1:10 in water.
Sodium ion content was measured by cation ion chromatography using an ICS-3000 ion chromatography system with an EGC II MSA eluent generator (Dionex UK Ltd, Camberley, UK) and a continuously regenerated cation trap column. A 25 μl aliquot was injected onto an Ionpac CG12A 2 mm × 50 mm guard column with an IonPac CS12A 2 mm × 250 mm analytical column. The mobile phase (flow rate 0.25 mL/min) was methane sulfonic acid. Detection was achieved via an Ultra II cation conductivity detector with a cation self-regenerating suppressor.
Chloride ion content was measured by anion ion chromatography using an ICS-3000 ion chromatography system with an EGC II KOH eluent generator (Dionex UK Ltd) and a continuously regenerated anion trap column. A 25 μl aliquot was injected onto an Ionpac AG15 2 mm × 50 mm guard column with an IonPac AS15 2 mm × 250 mm analytical column. Potassium hydroxide was used as the mobile phase (flow rate 0.30 mL/min). Detection was achieved via an Ultra II anion conductivity detector with an anion self-regenerating suppressor.
The nitrate content of the aqueous supernatant was measured by continuous flow analysis using a Series 2000 Analyzer (Burkard Scientific, Uxbridge, UK). Reduction of nitrate to nitrite with hydrazinium sulfate (AR grade, Fisher Scientific) was followed by reaction with sulfanilamide (GPR grade, Fisher Scientific) to form the diazo compound. This was then coupled with N-1-naphthyl-ethylenediamine dihydrochloride (GPR grade, Fisher Scientific) to form a colored complex, adsorption of which was measured at 550 nm in a flow cuvette.
The ammonia content of the aqueous supernatant was measured by continuous flow analysis using a Series 2000 Analyzer. The principle of the analysis is a modification of the Berthelot reaction, in which ammonia reacts with salicylate ions and hypochlorite to form indophenol blue and nitroprusside is added as catalyst. The indophenol blue color intensity was measured at 650 nm. All reagents were purchased from Fisher Scientific.
The pH of the aqueous supernatant was also measured, by using a Hanna 213 pH meter (Hanna Instruments Ltd, Leighton Buzzard, UK).
Ethanol (AR grade, Fisher Scientific) was used to extract the analytes linalool, citronellol, linalyl acetate and geraniol. Whole pouches in their glass vials were extracted with 20 mL of ethanol with shaking (180 rpm, 30 min). The solution was transferred to a 50 mL plastic tube and centrifuged (4600 rpm, 5 min).
Linalool, citronellol, linalyl acetate and geraniol in the extract were analyzed by GC-MS using a Gerstel Multipurpose MPS-2 Twister Sampler (Anatune Ltd, Cambridge, UK) on a HP6890N GC with 5973 and 5975 mass spectral detectors (Agilent Technologies). Calibration was performed with matrix-matched standards in ethanol. Matrix-loaded ethanol was used to reduce liner activity in the GC. The matrix solution was prepared by adding 25 g of a snus tobacco blend (linalool-, citronellol-, linalyl acetate- and geraniol-free) to 500 mL of ethanol (Fisher Scientific), followed by shaking and decanting the ethanol from the tobacco and centrifuging. The supernatant from the ethanol-extracted pouches (1 μl) was injected in pulsed splitless mode (inlet temperature, 280°C; pressure, 7.84 psi; pulsed pressure, 20.0 psi for 2 min, followed by a purge flow of 25.0 mL/min for 2 min). A 30 m × 0.32 mm ID × 1.8 μm film RTX-VMS column (Thames Restek, Saunderton, UK) was used with helium as the carrier gas at 2.5 mL/min and a ramped temperature program from 60°C to 260°C over 36.1 min. The mass spectral detector was used in SIM mode.
The modified multi-analyte approaches were first validated by comparing data obtained for LS Brown snus using the approaches described above with data previously obtained for this product using established in-house methods. The impact of saliva on the analysis of snus constituents was also evaluated. Saliva was obtained from a non-tobacco user and 0.3 mL was added to each of three unused snus pouches. The pouches were then extracted and analyzed by the methods described above and the results compared with data from the analysis of saliva-free unused pouches (N=5) of the same brand.
Lastly, the stability of the samples under the post-consumption storage conditions was assessed. Unused pouches (N=3) and unused pouches with added saliva (0.3 mL, N=3) were stored frozen (−20°C) for two weeks, and then allowed to thaw at room temperature for a minimum of 1 h prior to analysis. The data were compared with those for fresh unused pouches (N=5) and fresh unused pouches with added saliva (N=5). For TSNAs only, this was carried out with an increased number of pouches (N=15 in all cases).
All analytical data were generated on samples as received with no correction for pouch mass or water content (i.e. wet-weight basis). The methanol- and ethanol-extracted analytes were analyzed in triplicate (one measurement per pouch, three pouches per subject). The water-extracted analytes were measured in duplicate (one measurement per pouch, two pouches per subject).
Minitab version 15 (Coventry, UK) was used for statistical analysis. Two-sample t-tests were used to compare the amount of analyte between used and unused pouches. A value of p<0.05 was taken to be significant. The distribution of percentage extraction values was approximately normal for all analytes except geraniol and citronellol; however, transformation of the latter data had no significant effect on analysis. As a result, all analyses were performed on non-transformed data.
For each constituent, total variability was calculated as the coefficient of variation in percentage extraction. To determine measurement variability (a combination of product and analytical variation), the standard deviation (SD) of analyte content in unused pouches was used. Because two pouches (the used and unused pair) were analyzed to calculate extraction values, the pooled SD (square root of twice the square of the SD) was used to calculate the variation coefficient, with the resulting percentage indicating the contribution of measurement variability to total variability. Fully-nested analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to estimate the contribution of intra- and inter-subject variability to total variability.
Unpublished data from our previous telephone survey showed that 79.5% of pouched snus users stated that they had never swallowed a pouch and always removed it after use, and 19.3% stated that swallowing had occurred unintentionally at some time. Only a minority (1.2%) had ever intentionally swallowed a pouch. These data supported the study approach in which subjects used each pouched snus product for 1 h before removing it for analysis.
The multi-analyte approach was validated by comparing the data obtained from each modified method with data obtained from the corresponding established method. The two sets of data were in good agreement (Table 1). A significant difference was seen between the two data sets for nicotine, nitrate and pH (p<0.05). For both nitrate and pH, however, the percentage difference between the two methods (2.6% and 0.5%, respectively) was deemed insignificant in practical terms. The percentage difference between the two methods for nicotine (20.2%) resulted from a difference in analytical procedure: in the established method, nicotine was determined in tobacco removed from the snus pouch; in the multi-analyte method, nicotine was determined in the whole pouch. Analysis of the pouch material without tobacco revealed that approximately 1 mg of nicotine was present in the pouch material itself, which corresponds to the difference between the established and multi-analyte methods. Although 20% presence of nicotine in the pouch material is surprisingly high, repeated analysis (data not shown) confirmed the presence of nicotine in the pouch material. The measured nicotine in the pouch material in this repeated analysis was equivalent to 0.95 mg or 11% of the total nicotine in the snus portion.
Regarding the effect of saliva, a higher water content (81.6% compared to 49.0%) and slightly lower pH value (8.3 compared to 8.5) were found for samples with added saliva. Significant decreases (p<0.05) ranging from 6.5% to 12.5% in sodium, chloride, ammonium and nitrate were observed for the pouches with added saliva. The amounts of these analytes were also lower than those in the fresh pouches with added saliva analyzed in the frozen storage trial, which themselves were not significantly different (p>0.05) from fresh, unaltered pouches. Considering this, and the fact that aliquots for each of these four analytes were taken from the same water extract, the differences observed were considered to have arisen from measurement (potentially extraction volume) error.
With regard to post-consumption storage conditions, significant differences (p<0.05) between the results for fresh and those for frozen pouches with added saliva were seen for pH and geraniol, but these small reductions (1.3% and 3.4%, respectively) were considered to be not significant in practical terms. Significant differences were also seen between frozen unaltered pouches and fresh unaltered pouches for propylene glycol, linalool and linalyl acetate. Again, the changes were small (5.6%, 4.4% and 5.6%, respectively) and considered to be insignificant in practical terms.
No significant difference was found in the NAB, NAT and NNN content of pouches stored frozen for 2 weeks relative to fresh pouches, for both saliva-added and unaltered pouches, nor in the NNK content of unaltered pouches (p>0.05 in each case). A statistically-significant difference found in the NNK content of pouches stored frozen for 2 weeks with added saliva compared to fresh pouches with added saliva (p=0.048, 4.3%) was considered to arise from measurement (product and analytical) variation.
The mean unused sample weight for pouched snus samples was 1.0 ± 0.04 g and these were selected freely from the tins of product during the study. During use, the weight of snus pouches increased by a mean of 0.26 ± 0.08 g, mainly through a 29.0% increase in water content. This corresponds to a 58.4% increase relative to the mean unused pouch water content of 49.7%. Mean sample pH fell marginally from 8.2 to 8.0, most probably because of increased saliva levels and salivary pH, which ranges from approximately 6.5 – 7.5 , being lower than that of the snus.
The amount and percentage extraction of constituents by subjects during use are given in Table 2. While the constituent level in the snus pouches varied from nanogram (e.g. TSNAs) to milligram (e.g. nicotine, sodium and propylene glycol) quantities, the mean percentage extracted varied from 19.2% (linalyl acetate) to 37.8% (NNK) among all constituents analyzed. Notably, the TSNAs, some of which are known carcinogens , showed the highest percentage extraction (mean [median] values: NAT, 34.6% [34.6%]; NNK, 37.8% [37.8%]; NNN, 35.6% [35.3%]; NAB, 36.3% [36.7%]; total TSNAs, 35.8% [35.9%]).
Table 3 shows the total variability in percentage extraction for each constituent and the contribution of measurement, intra- and inter-subject variability to this total.
The total variability ranged from 21.3% (NAB) to 70.3% (linalyl acetate). Measurement variability was low for all analytes, ranging from 2.4% (total TSNAs, NAT) to 9.5% (geraniol). There was a greater spread of intra-subject variability, ranging from 3.5% (citronellol) to 29.7% (geraniol). The intra-subject variability for geraniol was markedly higher than that for any other analyte, the next highest value being 16.2% for nicotine. Inter-subject variability ranged from 6.7% (NAB) to 52.2% (linalyl acetate); this type of variability was generally much higher, being higher than 20% for 8 of the constituents analyzed.
This study has examined the extent of and variability in constituent extraction from Swedish pouched snus during normal consumption. The technique used in this study for estimating tobacco constituent exposure relies on subjects removing the pouch after use and not expectorating salivary leachates during use. Snus use in Sweden is “spitless” and users do not expectorate during use; furthermore, only 1.2% of survey respondents stated that they had ever intentionally swallowed a snus pouch. As a result, this approach was considered valid in the context of snus use in Sweden.
The multi-analyte extraction methods developed for this study are flexible in that they allow examination of the extraction characteristics of one or more of several constituents from the same snus pouch. This maximizes the amount of data that can be obtained from a minimum number of samples and subjects. Validated against established in-house methods, the changes made to harmonize analytical protocols did not significantly affect measurement of any of the analytes. Whole-pouch extraction in the collection vial removed the need for further handling of used snus pouches; furthermore, inclusion of the pouch material during extraction ensured that any analytes absorbed therein, such as nicotine, were included in the analysis.
The levels of extraction of constituents from pouched snus were generally low. For most constituents, less than a third was extracted during use. The present findings are in good agreement with five previous studies of snus extraction. Andersson et al. examined the extraction of tobacco constituents by 23 users of pouched snus . The subjects used snus in their normal manner and collected all samples used in 1 day. Because the samples were combined, the study design did not permit examination of pouch-to-pouch variation during the day. On a percentage basis, subjects extracted 37.4 ± 17.6% of the nicotine and 55.7 ± 20.5% of the TSNAs. Although the level of nicotine extraction was similar, TSNA extraction was lower in the present study. However, the uncontrolled conditions of snus use in Andersson et al.’s study contrasts with the controlled 1 h use in our study, which may account for the differences in results between the two studies.
Lunell and Lunell studied the extraction of nicotine and sodium chloride from four brands of pouched snus by 12 male users who placed the pouch in their mouth for 30 min . The subjects extracted 31% (2.74 ± 0.18 mg) of the total nicotine from 1 g pouches of a “brown”-style product, which is consistent with the present study result of 33 ± 9.9% for LS Brown, despite the difference in usage duration (30 min versus 1 h). Nicotine extraction from 1 g pouches of a “white”-style product (1.55 ± 0.18 mg; 22% of total) was lower, and that from 0.5 g pouches of another “brown”-style product was more efficient (2.00 ± 0.11 mg; 44% of total). Between 4.73 ± 6.61 and 10.38 ± 6.83 mg of salt per pouch was extracted. The greater extraction of sodium chloride in the present study (15.5 mg) may reflect the longer duration of usage.
In a follow-up study, Lunell and Lunell reported the extraction of nicotine, TSNAs and metals from the same four brands by 32 male snus users . Up to 30% of nicotine was extracted from the pouches, and TSNA extraction was similar. The slightly greater mean extraction of nicotine (33.3%) and TSNAs (35.8%) found in the present study may be an effect of the increased usage duration (1 h compared to 30 min), but are generally in agreement with these observations.
Lunell and Curvall later examined nicotine extraction from two pouched snus products used for 30 min . The smaller mean extraction observed (21%–25%), as compared with their previous study (22%–44%) , was suggested to be due to the recruitment of smokers rather than experienced snus users. In our study, experienced snus users were recruited, similar to the initial study of Lunell and Lunell . Thus, the higher mean nicotine extraction of 33% that we observed might reflect the greater usage time (1 h) and differences among study subjects. The effect of usage time on the extent of extraction is an important area for future examination.
Most recently, Caraway and Chen studied constituent extraction by 53 users of three similar U.S. pouched snus products . Despite almost identical baseline levels of total TSNAs, a lower mean extraction was observed (21.6 ± 21.4%) compared to our study (35.8 ± 7.9%). This may again reflect the reduced usage time (three-quarters of the subjects stated that they used each pouch for 30 min or less), but may also have arisen due to product differences such as water content (32%, compared to LS Brown at 52%). Also storage of used pouches at ambient temperatures during the day of collection may have led to TSNA formation and thus lower extraction values. Mean extraction of nicotine (39.2 ± 23.0%) was slightly higher than in our study (33.3 ± 9.9%) and substantially more variable. This higher degree of variability, which is also reflected in the TSNA values, is likely to have arisen due to the ambulatory nature of the study, compared to the controlled conditions which we employed.
Our results, as well as others [10, 12, 14], show that extraction of snus constituents by users is a variable process, with SDs ranging from approximately 20% to 70% of the mean percentage extraction (Table 3). The inability to compare the constituent content of a single pouch before and after use introduces errors due to the variability of unused pouches. For example, if the nicotine content of two similar unused pouches differed by 1SD (0.9 mg; Table 2) and one was assumed to have been used, this would result in a calculated percentage extraction of 9.4% even in the absence of any use by subjects. To our knowledge, there is no non-destructive method to analyze the chemical content of a snus pouch before use, and thus to eliminate this source of variation, without rendering it unusable by study subjects.
This degree of variability is substantial and has been shown to encompass the measurement (i.e. unused product and analytical method), and both intra- and inter-subject variability (Table 3). For almost all analytes, measurement variability was the smallest component of the total variation. For nicotine, TSNAs and geraniol, intra-subject variability was slightly greater than inter-subject variability. For the remaining constituents, inter-subject variability made the greatest contribution to total variation.
Measurement variability is a composite of product variability, arising from tobacco blend and ingredient heterogeneity, and analytical variation resulting from operator, reagent and machinery sources. Intra-subject variability is likely to arise from factors influencing a subject’s extraction of constituents from snus, such as saliva composition and rate of secretion, pressure applied to the pouch with the lip and/or gum during use, and movement of the pouch during use. Inter-subject variability may be affected by the same factors, as well as by the different physiological characteristics of subjects.
Figure 1 shows the variability of nicotine content of both unused and used pouches, on an inter- and intra-subject basis. For each subject, the residual nicotine content of each of the three used pouches was lower than the nicotine content of the three corresponding unused pouches, demonstrating that nicotine was extracted by each subject. ANOVA analysis confirmed no significant difference in the extent of extraction from pouches 1, 2 and 3 (p>0.05). Some subjects (e.g. numbers 3, 6, 7) were relatively consistent in the amount of nicotine that they extracted, whereas others (e.g. numbers 5, 13, 16) were relatively inconsistent. Measurement variability is exemplified by the intra-subject spread in unused pouch nicotine content, but inter- and intra- subject variability in the residual nicotine content of used pouches is clearly greater. Analysis of these data indicates that intra-subject variability is greater than inter-subject variability, whereas measurement variability contributes the least to overall variation.
Individual values of the nicotine content in unused and used pouches according to subject number. For each subject, three single measurements were made from each of three used and three unused pouches.
Given these levels of variation, it is valuable to establish the number of subjects needed to observe a significant difference for future studies. Two-sample t-test power calculations (α=0.8) were performed using the present data. The numbers of subjects (95% CI) needed to observe a 1%, 10% or 30% difference in nicotine extraction between two snus pouches would be 1528, 17 or 4, respectively. Similarly, to observe a difference in TSNA extraction of 1%, 10% or 30% would require subject numbers of 969, 11 or 3, respectively.
We also investigated the importance of constituent concentration on extraction efficiency. The absolute amount of a given constituent extracted from a pouch during typical use seems to be dependent on the amount of that material in the pouch before use (Figure 2). The percentage extraction of water-miscible compounds was in the same range whether the constituent was present in milligram (e.g. nicotine) or nanogram (e.g. NNN, NNK) quantities. This agreement, despite the 1-million-fold difference in levels, suggests that there is a common mechanism of constituent extraction in which the chemistry of the constituent does not have a significant role. These observations are consistent with the rate-limiting step for extraction being the supply of saliva to the snus pouch in the user’s mouth. The fast, rich blood flow in the buccal mucosa (region where the snus pouch is placed) has been reported to facilitate passive diffusion of drug molecules across this membrane . However; it is likely that dissolution of snus constituents into the thin layer of saliva coating this membrane must occur first. Clearly, this hypothesis needs to be tested in future trials with appropriate samples.
Extraction of constituents from pouched snus with increasing initial amount present in pouch. For each analyte, the mean value of the amount extracted is plotted against the mean value of the amount in unused pouches (Table 2). Error bars represent the SD.
Constituents may be transferred across the buccal mucosa by various processes, including passive or facilitated diffusion from an area of high (snus pouch) to low (buccal mucosa) concentration, active transport and endocytosis . Physicochemical factors such as molecular size and hydrophilic/lipophilic nature of a given constituent determine whether transport occurs via one or a combination of these processes, and therefore the net rate with which transport occurs . Notably, the constituent showing the lowest percentage extraction, linalyl acetate (19.2%, Table 2), is also the least water-soluble of those investigated. It has been reported that the extraction of cadmium from snus was less than 10%, and that lead extraction was negligible . A recent study has shown that a significant proportion of the arsenic in tobacco is insoluble in water, and that the arsenic that is soluble comprises a range of species . Hence, the low extraction of metals by subjects may be a reflection of their low solubility in saliva. In our study, geraniol and citronellol, which are also very sparingly soluble in water, were extracted to a greater extent (23.7% and 28.2%, respectively) than linalyl acetate. The present data suggest that the saliva and/or water solubility of a constituent influences its extraction (Figure 3); as a result, it might be expected that the other constituents examined here, which are strongly water soluble, would be extracted to a greater extent. This was the case for nicotine, propylene glycol and the TSNAs, which were extracted to a similar extent; however, the percentage extraction of sodium, chloride, ammonium and nitrate was slightly lower. However, it must be noted that most analytes were extracted with reasonably similar efficiency, despite substantially different water solubility. The effect of saliva solubility is relatively weak in the present study and requires more extensive studies to examine its influence.
Extraction of constituents from pouched snus by subjects versus constituent water solubility. Note that the horizontal scale is logarithmic. Values for the water solubility of constituents were obtained from the SRC Inc. Online Interactive Demo Version of the Physical Properties Database and the Royal Society of Chemistry ChemSpider database .
The present methodology provides an effective approach for estimating tobacco constituent extraction by snus users. In theory, this methodology could be applied to any constituent for which an analytical method has been established, as long as neither human saliva nor the storage/transport conditions affect the stability of that constituent. In addition, this approach might be extended to other types of STP for which there is sufficient knowledge of normal/average usage behavior and patterns. Important considerations would include average portion size, typical duration of use, location of the STP in the mouth, mechanical work (e.g. chewing) performed by the user during use, and residue (saliva and tobacco) removal habits after use.
The results of this study, and others [10, 12–14, 16], indicate that further research is needed in this area. For example, to understand more fully both the importance of usage time and the possible consequences of extreme usage durations on snus constituent extraction would require a dedicated time-course study covering usage durations from 20 to 120 min . The influence of constituent quantity and saliva solubility on extraction might also be tested, as well as the effects of product parameters such as pouch size and water content. To further inform understanding of constituent exposure, the impact of real-life factors should also be considered. Under conditions of everyday use, for example, snus users may typically consume beverages or food while using snus, and such practices may affect constituent extraction.
In summary, we have described an approach for investigating constituent extraction from pouched snus. A pilot study conducted using this approach has provided insight into the extent of constituent extraction during human use. The values reported for nicotine, TSNAs and sodium chloride confirm that, for the majority of constituents tested, only a small proportion is extracted during use. The data indicate the importance of constituent quantity, and the possible role of constituent solubility and duration of usage, on the amount extracted. Lastly, this study has given insight into possible mechanisms controlling snus extraction in the mouth and provides valuable reference data for the development of in-vitro laboratory systems for estimating exposure to tobacco constituents in snus .
In summary, a multi-analyte approach to the measurement of various tobacco constituents in a pouched snus sample has been developed and validated. This multi-analyte approach showed that generally less than a third of each constituent tested was extracted by a consumer during one hour of snus use, independent of the absolute constituent concentration. The variable nature of constituent extraction by snus users was found to be driven by inter-user variability. This study provides insight into possible mechanisms controlling constituent extraction in the mouth during snus use, and provides reference data for the development of in-vitro laboratory systems for estimating the extraction of tobacco constituents from snus.
The authors thank Anthony Cunningham of British American Tobacco, Group Research & Development for expert technical support and GfK Sverige AB, Lund, Sweden for supporting the fieldwork.
All authors are employees of British American Tobacco, which is a producer of snus.
HD participated in the design of and coordinated the study. NG performed data collation and analysis and drafted the manuscript. GE participated in the experimental design of the study and performed statistical analysis. NP developed the ethanol extraction and analysis method and performed these analyses. KMcA provided expert scientific advice, coordinated the validation of the multi-analyte analysis methods and drafted the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. | 2019-04-25T02:30:03Z | https://bmcchem.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1752-153X-7-55 |
The intestinal epithelial barrier, composed of epithelial cells, tight junction proteins and intestinal secretions, prevents passage of luminal substances and antigens through the paracellular space. Dysfunction of the intestinal barrier integrity induced by toxins and pathogens is associated with a variety of gastrointestinal disorders and diseases. Although butyrate is known to enhance intestinal health, its role in the protection of intestinal barrier function is poorly characterized. Therefore, we investigated the effect of butyrate on intestinal epithelial integrity and tight junction permeability in a model of LPS-induced inflammation in IPEC-J2 cells. Butyrate dose-dependently reduced LPS impairment of intestinal barrier integrity and tight junction permeability, measured by trans-epithelial electrical resistance (TEER) and paracellular uptake of fluorescein isothiocyanate-dextran (FITC-dextran). Additionally, butyrate increased both mRNA expression and protein abundance of claudins-3 and 4, and influenced intracellular ATP concentration in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, butyrate prevented the downregulation of Akt and 4E-BP1 phosphorylation by LPS, indicating that butyrate might enhance tight junction protein abundance through mechanisms that included activation of Akt/mTOR mediated protein synthesis. The regulation of AMPK activity and intracellular ATP level by butyrate indicates that butyrate might regulate energy status of the cell, perhaps by serving as a nutrient substrate for ATP synthesis, to support intestinal epithelial barrier tight junction protein abundance. Our findings suggest that butyrate might protect epithelial cells from LPS-induced impairment of barrier integrity through an increase in the synthesis of tight junction proteins, and perhaps regulation of energy homeostasis.
Copyright: © 2017 Yan, Ajuwon. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Funding: HY was supported by a fellowship from the Purdue Research Foundation. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Abbreviations: AMPK, AMP-activated protein kinase; Br, butyrate; FITC-dextran, fluorescein isothiocyanate-dextran; GIT, gastrointestinal tract; IL, interleukin; IPEC-J2, intestinal porcine epithelial cell line; LPS, lipopolysaccharide; MCP-1, monocyte chemoattractant protein; mTOR, mechanistic target of rapamycin; pAkt, phosphorylated Akt; pAMPK, phosphorylated AMP-activated protein kinase; p4E-BP1, phosphorylated eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E-binding protein 1; TEER, trans-epithelial electrical resistance; TLR-4, toll like receptor -4; TNFα, tumor necrosis factor alpha; ZO-1, zonula occludens -1; 4E-BP1, eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E-binding protein 1.
The gastrointestinal epithelium is the largest exchange surface between the host and the external environment . It is composed of a monolayer of intestinal epithelial cells that provide a physical barrier. The intestinal epithelial barrier allows absorption of nutrients in the diet and prevents passage of pathogens and toxins into systemic circulation. Abundant evidence indicate that an intact and healthy intestinal barrier is necessary for optimal health . Defective intestinal epithelial barrier, characterized by increased intestinal permeability is positively correlated with a variety of gastrointestinal dysfunctions and diseases . In pigs, pathogenic enteric bacteria, mycotoxin, and various stress inducing factors, such as weaning and heat stress, are potent disruptors of intestinal barrier function, leading to impaired growth and digestive disorders, diarrhea and other gastrointestinal discomfort [3–7]. In poultry, Salmonella infection, toxins, and heat stress induce an increase in intestinal epithelial permeability, resulting in nutrient malabsorption, mortality and potential human foodborne salmonellosis [8–10]. In humans, impaired intestinal barrier function is associated with a wide range of diseases, such as inflammatory bowel disease , necrotizing enterocolitis , type I diabetes mellitus , and rheumatic diseases . The intestinal epithelial barrier is mainly sustained by tight junction proteins, which are apical multi-protein complexes . Tight junctions hold adjacent epithelial cells at the apical side of the lateral membrane and anchor transmembrane proteins (claudins and occludin) to intracellular actin cytoskeleton . They play a crucial role in the regulation of paracellular permeability and maintenance of epithelium integrity [15–17]. Therefore, intestinal tight junctions are considered as therapeutic target for the modulation of intestinal barrier function and the prevention of various gastrointestinal diseases.
Short chain fatty acids (SCFA) are products of microbial fermentation of indigestible carbohydrates in the large intestine as we previously showed . In this study , we determined that cecal butyrate concentration was lower in pigs fed a high fat diet compared to those on a low-fat diet. Obesity and consumption of a high fat diet is known to cause impaired gut barrier integrity indicated by the higher incidence of leaky gut on obesity [19, 20], and this may be related to reduced butyrate production in obese subjects. This is because recent studies confirm that SCFA, especially butyrate, may play an important role in the maintenance of intestinal barrier function. In the gastrointestinal tract (GIT), butyrate is preferentially taken up by colonic epithelial cells for use as energy source, which in turn promotes epithelial cell proliferation and injury repair [15, 21]. Butyrate in particular has been shown to prevent colonization of enteric pathogens in the GIT through the upregulation of expression of the epithelial antimicrobial peptide in rabbits , and the modulation of virulence gene expression in colonocytes . Butyrate also decreases intestinal permeability and enhances assembly of tight junctions in Caco-2 cell model [24, 25]. However, there is a dearth of information on the mechanism of butyrate effect on the regulation of tight junction integrity in the small intestinal epithelium, which plays a key role in immune response and nutrient absorption.
In this study, we used the porcine intestinal epithelial cell line (IPEC-J2), originally from the jejunum of a neonatal piglet , as the experimental model to investigate the mechanism of butyrate effect in the gut, because these cells are highly sensitive to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulation leading to induction of inflammation and the impairment of intestinal epithelial integrity [27, 28], unlike CACO-2 cells which are hyporesponsive . LPS challenge induces defective or leaky tight junctions through binding to toll like receptor-4 (TLR-4) and activation of NFκB signaling [30, 31]. Inflammatory cytokines, produced as a result of NFκB activation, can lead to break down of the tight junction [32, 33] and cause inhibition of Akt/mTOR mediated protein synthesis [34–36]. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to determine, in the IPEC-J2 model, the mechanism of the opposing effect of butyrate on intestinal epithelial integrity and tight junction disruption induced by LPS. Herein, we report that butyrate mitigated the negative effect of LPS on epithelial integrity, concurrent with a selective upregulation of expression of tight junction proteins and an increase in intracellular ATP level.
The Intestinal porcine epithelial cell (IPEC-J2) model was a kind gift from Dr. Nicholas Gabler (Iowa State University, Ames, IA). Cells were cultured in a humidified incubator at 37°C under 5% CO2 in 25 cm2 cell culture flask (Corning Inc., Corning, NY). Cells were grown in Dulbecco’s modified Eagle’s medium: Nutrient Mixture F-12 (DMEM/F12; Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO) with 5% fetal bovine serum (FBS; Mediatech. Inc., Manassas, VA) supplemented with 1% insulin-transferrin-selenium premix (ITS premix: human recombinant insulin 1 mg/ml, transferrin 0.6 mg/ml and selenium 0.6 μg/ml; Corning Inc., Corning, NY), 5 ng/ml epidermal growth factor (EGF: Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO), and 1% penicillin-streptomycin mixture (Mediatech. Inc., Manassas, VA). Cells were seeded into 24-well cell culture plates (BD Falcon, Corning Inc., Corning, NY) at 0.5 × 105 cells/ml to form a confluent monolayer within 4 days, and then switched to the same medium without FBS to induce differentiation. Medium was replaced every 2 days, and cells were challenged with LPS on day 7 post-differentiation.
Sodium butyrate (Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO) was dissolved in DMEM/F12 to make the butyrate working solution. Cells were treated with butyrate throughout the differentiation period (day 0 to 7). On day 7 post-differentiation, fresh medium was added and cells were challenged with LPS-derived from E. coli O55:B5 (Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO) at 10 μg/ml. Preliminary experiments were also conducted to determine the optimal butyrate concentration and duration of exposure to LPS to determine effect on cell viability. Analysis of cell viability was performed in 96-well cell culture plates (Corning Inc., Corning, NY) with the use of CellQuanti-BlueTM cell viability assay kit (BioAssay Systems, Hayward, CA), according to the manufacturer’s instruction. The results of pilot experiments indicated that optimal concentrations of butyrate ranged from 0.1 mM to 1 mM because there was no significant adverse effect on cell viability at these concentrations (S1 Fig). Stimulation with LPS at 10 μg/ml LPS did not cause any cytotoxic effects up to 24 h of culture. There were 4 to 6 replicates per experiment.
Total cellular RNA was isolated at the end of LPS treatment using TRIzol® reagent (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA). RNA concentration and purity were determined by spectrophotometry using the Nanodrop ND-1000 spectrophotometer (Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. Waltham, MA). Reverse transcription was carried out with 1 μg RNA using MMLV reverse transcriptase (Promega, Madison, WI) to generate the cDNA. Quantitative real-time PCR was performed on the MyiQ real-time PCR detection system (Bio-Rad, Hercules, CA) using the SYBR green 2× RT-PCR mix (Qiagen, Foster City, CA). The mRNA expression of the following genes was determined: inflammation-related genes; TNFα (tumor necrosis factor alpha), MCP-1 (monocyte chemoattractant protein), IL (interleukin) -8, IL-1β, IL-10 and TLR-4, and tight junction proteins: claudin-1, claudin-3, claudin-4, occludin and zonula occludens (ZO)-1. Abundance of specific mRNA transcripts was normalized to 18S ribosomal RNA using Pfaffl’s method . Primers for PCR amplification were designed based on the NCBI database and listed in Table 1.
Epithelial cell integrity was assessed through the measurement of trans-epithelial electrical resistance (TEER) and paracellular permeability in a 12-well trans-well plate (Corning Inc., Corning, NY). IPEC-J2 cells were seeded into 1.12 cm2 Transwell-COL inserts with 0.4 μm pore membrane (Corning Inc., Corning, NY) at a density of 1 × 105 cells/ml. Confluent cells were induced to differentiate as stated above with butyrate supplementation on both the apical and basolateral sides of the cell monolayer. On day 9 post-differentiation, cells were treated with 10 μg/ml LPS on the apical side to mimic bacterial contact with intestinal epithelial cells in the lumen, and TEER was measured at 0, 12, 24 h, respectively. TEER measurements were conducted using a Millicell ERS-2 Voltohmmeter® (Millipore, Billerica, MA) and the values were expressed as Ohm × cm2 (Ωcm2). Although LPS may also activate toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2), we focused mainly on TLR4 because it is recognized as the major receptor for LPS .
After 24 h LPS stimulation, paracellular permeability was measured using 4-kDa fluorescein isothiocyanate-dextran (FITC-dextran; Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO). Dextran was dissolved in DMEM/F12 medium and loaded on apical side of transwell insert at a concentration of 2.2 g/L . After 2 h of incubation, the amount of fluorescence on the basolateral side was measured using fluorometry (Tecan Group Ltd., Switzerland) with an excitation and emission wavelengths of 490 nm and 520 nm, respectively.
After 8 h LPS challenge, cell culture media was collected and centrifuged at 12,000 g for 10 min at 4°C for analysis cytokine concentration by ELISA. Levels of secreted inflammatory cytokines, IL-8, IL-10 and TNFα, were measured in the culture media using solid phase ELISA (enzyme-linked immune-sorbent assay) with commercially available kits (Porcine CXCL8/IL-8 Quantikine ELISA kit, Porcine IL-10 ELISA kit, and Porcine TNFα Quantikine ELISA kit; R&D system Inc., Minneapolis, MN), according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
Cells were rinsed with 1× phosphate buffered saline (PBS) and scraped in 1× RIPA lysis buffer (50 mM Tris-HCl, 15mM NaCl, 10 mM EDTA, 0.25% deoxycholic acid, 0.1% Triton X, 0.01% Na3VO4) with a mixture of phosphatase and protease inhibitors (Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO). Cell lysates were centrifuged at 10,000 g for 15 min at 4°C. Supernatants were collected for immunoblotting analysis. Protein concentrations were determined the using the bicinchoninic acid (BCA) assay kit (Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO). Equal amounts of proteins were resolved through SDS-PAGE (sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis) on 7.5% -12.5% polyacrylamide gels. Proteins were then transferred onto 0.2 μm nitrocellulose membranes (Bio-Rad, Hercules, CA) with a semi-dry trans-membrane transfer system (Bio-Rad, Hercules, CA). The membranes were blocked with 5% bovine serum albumin (BSA) in Tris-buffered saline with 0.1% Tween (TBST: 50mM Tris-HCl, 150mM NaCl, 0.1% Tween 20, pH 7.4), and incubated in specific primary antibodies at 4°C overnight. The following primary antibodies were used: Claudin-1, Claudin-3, Claudin-4, Occludin, ZO-1 (Zonula occludens) (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA), Akt, phospho-Akt, AMPKα (AMP-activated protein kinase), phospho-AMPKα, 4EBP1 (eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E-binding protein 1), phospho-4E-BP1, IκB, and β-actin (Cell Signaling Technology, Danvers, MA). Membranes were then incubated with secondary antibodies (anti-rabbit or anti-mouse IgG-HRP, horseradish peroxidase conjugated anti-rabbit or anti-mouse IgG) (Cell Signaling Technology, Danvers, MA) at a dilution of 1: 20,000. Visualization was performed using the Immobilon® chemiluminescent HRP substrate (Millipore, Billerica, MA) on an autoradiographic film (Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Santa Cruz, CA). Signal densities of immunoblotting image were determined using a Kodak EDAS290 image system (Kodak, New Haven, CT) . Original images of western blots are presented in supporting information file S2 Fig.
Cell lysates were collected 8 h after LPS challenge using 1× RIPA lysis buffer and centrifuged to obtain cell supernatant as described above. Intracellular ATP was measured in the supernatant using an ATP Determination Kit (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA) according to the manufacturer’s protocols. ATP values were then normalized to protein concentrations determined with the BCA assay kit (Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO).
Data were analyzed through one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) using the GLM procedure of SAS (SAS Inst. Inc., Cary, NC). Tukey multiple comparison analysis was performed to determine significance of differences among treatment means. Results were expressed as mean ± SE. Significant difference was set at P-value less than 0.05, whereas a P-value between 0.05 and 0.1 was considered a tendency. Summarized data points used for the analyses are presented in supporting information file S1 Text.
We investigated the effect of butyrate and LPS on epithelial cell integrity by measuring TEER at 0, 12 and 24 h of LPS stimulation and paracellular dextran passage 24 h post-challenge. We observed that LPS exposure significantly decreased TEER (P<0.05) at 24 h (Fig 1A) and increased passage of FITC-dextran (P<0.05) (Fig 1B), indicating that LPS impaired epithelial barrier integrity. Pretreatment of cells with butyrate during differentiation significantly increased TEER (P<0.05) and decreased the paracellular flux of FITC-dextran (P<0.05) in a dose-dependent manner (Fig 1). Specifically, treatment with butyrate at the 1 mM concentration prevented LPS induced increases in paracellular permeability as shown by the reduced passage of FITC-dextran (Fig 1B).
Fig 1. Effects of butyrate and LPS on intestinal barrier integrity measured by TEER and paracellular permeability in IPEC-J2 cells.
(A) Cells were challenged with LPS on day 9 post-differentiation; TEER was measured at 0, 12, and 24 h after LPS challenge, respectively. (B) Paracellular permeability was determined by measuring FITC-dextran flux at 24 h after LPS challenge. Data were analyzed by one-way ANOVA with Tukey multiple comparison test. Values are means ± SE, n = 4. Different superscript letters on bars (a, b, c, d, e) indicate significant mean differences, P < 0.05.
These results provided initial evidence indicated that butyrate could protect cells from LPS-induced increase in paracellular permeability and damage to epithelial barrier integrity.
Therefore, we further investigated whether butyrate exerted a protective effect by regulating expression of tight junction proteins. Using real-time PCR (Fig 2) and immunoblotting (Fig 3), we determined that LPS exposure decreased claudin-3 mRNA expression (P<0.05) after 8 h of stimulation (Fig 2B) and decreased both claudin-3 and claudin-4 protein levels (P<0.05) after 4 h and 8 h of stimulation (Fig 3). Meanwhile, pretreatment of cells with butyrate, especially at the 1 mM concentration, significantly increased both the mRNA and protein expression of claudin-3 and claudin-4, and prevented the LPS-induced decreases in these proteins (Figs 2 and 3A). LPS treatment also led to decreases in mRNA (Fig 2E) and protein (Fig 3) abundance of ZO-1; however, no effect of butyrate was observed. Expression of claudin-1 and occludin was also investigated, but no significant influences of both LPS and butyrate were detected (Figs 2 and 3). These results demonstrate that butyrate has a mitigating effect on the downregulation of expression of claudin-3 and claudin-4 induced by LPS.
Fig 2. Effect of butyrate and LPS on mRNA expression of tight junction proteins in IPEC-J2 cells.
Real time PCR was performed to determine mRNA expression of (A) claudin-1, (B) claudin-3, (C) claudin-4, (D) occludin and (E) ZO-1 at 4 and 8 h after LPS challenge, respectively. Data were analyzed by one-way ANOVA with Tukey multiple comparison test. Values are means ± SE, n = 6. Different superscript letters on bars (a, b, c) indicate significant differences, P < 0.05.
Fig 3. Effect of butyrate and LPS on abundance of tight junction proteins in IPEC-J2 cells.
Cell lysates were isolated after 4 and 8 h of LPS challenge, and subjected to immunoblotting analysis. Data were analyzed by one-way ANOVA with Tukey multiple comparison test. Values are means ± SE, n = 4. Different superscript letters (a, b, c) on bars indicate significant mean differences, P < 0.05.
We found that LPS stimulation induced mRNA expression of inflammatory cytokines (MCP-1, IL-8, TNFα) as well as IL-8 protein secretion (P<0.05) (Fig 4). Interestingly, butyrate at the 1mM concentration also mildly, albeit significantly, induced the expression of TNFα, IL-8 and MCP-1 compared to the control, and this effect was independent of LPS exposure (P<0.05) (Fig 4). In addition, butyrate at the 1mM concentration also enhanced IL-10 and IL-1β expression, but only in LPS-treated cells (P<0.05) (Fig 4A). Levels of IL-10 and TNFα proteins secreted into the medium were also investigated, but their levels were too low to be detected.
Fig 4. Effect of butyrate and LPS on mRNA expression of inflammatory related genes and secretion of IL-8 in IPEC-J2 cells.
(A) mRNA expression of inflammation related genes after 8 h LPS challenge. (B) Level of secretory IL-8 in cell culture media after 8 h of LPS. Data were analyzed by one-way ANOVA with Tukey multiple comparison test. Values are means ± SE, n = 6. Different superscript letters (a, b, c, d) on bars indicate significant mean differences, P < 0.05.
It is known that LPS induces inflammatory cytokine expression through binding and activation of TLR-4, leading to activation of the NFκB signaling. In this study, LPS exposure significantly increased mRNA expression of TLR-4 after 4 h (P<0.01), whereas pretreatment of cells with butyrate inhibited its induction (P<0.01) (Fig 4A). This suggests that butyrate might block LPS-induced increases in TLR-4 expression, perhaps to limit TLR-4 mediated signaling. However, lack of a good antibody prevented us from measuring TLR-4 protein abundance. Thus, it is still unclear if LPS leads to a reduction in TLR-4 protein expression in these cells.
Because butyrate prevented LPS-induced downregulation of tight junction claudins, next we investigated potential effect of butyrate on the Akt/mTOR signaling pathway due to the significance of this pathway in regulating protein synthesis. LPS exposure resulted in significant reduction in the amount of phospho-Akt and total Akt proteins after 4 h and 8 h stimulation (P<0.05) (Fig 5). In contrast, butyrate treatment led to increases in pAkt/Akt ratio with or without LPS stimulation, and the higher concentration of butyrate (1mM) increased pAkt and pAkt/Akt ratio in LPS-treated cells (Fig 5). We noted that, although LPS reduced pAkt abundance and the pAkt/Akt ratio, (Fig 5), the higher concentration of butyrate (1mM) was able to prevent these decreases, indicating that butyrate, at the right concentration, might alleviate LPS-induced suppression of Akt signaling pathway.
Fig 5. Effect of butyrate and LPS treatment on activation of Akt in IPEC-J2 cells.
(A) Representative immunoblotting analysis of Akt after 4 and 8 h of LPS stimulation. (B) Quantification analysis of Akt abundance in IPEC-J2 cells. Data were analyzed by one-way ANOVA with Tukey multiple comparison test. Values are means ± SE, n = 4. Different superscript letters (a, b, c) on bars indicate significant mean differences, P < 0.05.
We further examined the phosphorylation of 4E-BP1, a downstream substrate of Akt/mTOR signaling. Phosphorylation of 4E-BP1 is known to lead to release of eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E (eIF4E), which directly regulates mRNA translation. LPS-treated cells exhibited significantly lower phospho-4E-BP1 after 4 h and 8 h stimulation compared to control (Fig 6). In contrast, pretreatment of cells with both 0.1mM and 1mM butyrate increased the phospho-4E-BP1 abundance compared to the LPS only group, and thereby prevented LPS-induced decreases in the phosphorylation of 4E-BP1 (Fig 6).
Fig 6. Effect of butyrate and LPS challenge on phosphorylation of 4E-BP-1 in IPEC-J2 cells.
(A) Representative immunoblotting analysis of 4E-BP-1 after 4 and 8 h of LPS stimulation. (B) Quantification analysis of Akt abundance in IPEC-J2 cells. Data were analyzed by one-way ANOVA with Tukey multiple comparison test. Values are means ± SE, n = 4. Different superscript letters on bars (a, b, c) indicate significant mean differences, P < 0.05.
Collectively, these findings demonstrate that LPS exposure leads to the reduction in activation of downstream Akt signaling substrate 4E-BP1, whereas butyrate reversed this reduction, potentially restoring LPS-induced inhibition of protein synthesis.
To determine whether butyrate serves as an energy source for the cells, we next measured intracellular ATP level after butyrate treatment and LPS challenge. Butyrate treatment influenced cellular ATP level in a dose-dependent manner, but LPS effect was not significant (Fig 7A). The concentration of ATP was significantly higher in cells treated with 1mM butyrate compared to those treated with 0.1 mM butyrate LPS (P<0.05) (Fig 7A), suggesting that butyrate dose may be important for its regulation of ATP concentration.
Fig 7. Effect of butyrate and LPS on intracellular ATP level and AMPK activation in IPEC-J2 cells.
Cell lysates were isolated after 8 h of LPS challenge, and subjected to ATP determination assay and immunoblotting analysis. (A) Intracellular ATP level was measured by ATP determination kit and normalized to total protein concentration. (B) Representative immunoblotting and quantification analyses of AMPK abundance in IPEC-J2 cells. Data were analyzed by one-way ANOVA with Tukey multiple comparison test. Values are means ± SE, n = 4. Different superscript letters on bars (a, b, c) indicate significant mean differences, P < 0.05.
Intracellular ATP level is linked with AMPK activity. Therefore, we further examined AMPK protein abundance in response to LPS stimulation and butyrate treatment. Phosphorylation of AMPK is associated with a reduction in cellular ATP level. Butyrate at the higher concentration caused a reduction in phospho AMPK (indicated by the pAMPK/AMPK ratio), which agrees with the increase in cellular ATP concentration at this level of butyrate. Because these effects were not seen at the lower concentration of butyrate, these findings indicate that a sufficiently high concertation of butyrate could lead to an increase in the concentration of intracellular ATP level, leading to a downregulation of the level of activated AMPK.
The intestinal epithelial barrier selectively regulates epithelial permeability to luminal substances and antigens. The disruption of the intestinal barrier induced by toxins and pathogens contributes to the development of severe intestinal inflammation and digestive disorders [43, 44]. Short chain fatty acids, end products of bacteria fermentation in the large intestine, have been found to exert profound influences on intestinal barrier function, immune response, epithelial cell proliferation and bacterial pathogenesis [15, 21]. In the present study, we demonstrate that butyrate enhances intestinal barrier integrity against LPS-induced impairment. The IPECJ-2 cell model is a well-established model for studying intestinal barrier function [26, 45]. In preliminary studies, we confirmed the optimal butyrate concentration for these cells to range from 0.1 mM to 1 mM as these concentrations did not cause a significant impairment of cell viability. Others have reported that butyrate promoted intestinal barrier integrity at about 2 mM in Caco-2 cells , a much higher concentration than used in the present study. Caco-2 cells are a transformed human colonic cell line whereas IPEC-J cells are untransformed porcine jejunal cells. Thus, differences in cellular origin might be responsible for the lower tolerance of IPEC-J cells to butyrate compared to Caco-2. Although colonic cells are very tolerant of high butyrate concentration, exposure of these cells to concentrations higher than 3 mM induced cytotoxicity and apoptosis through activation of mitochondrial damage and JNK/AP1 pathway .
In the present study, we demonstrate that butyrate promotes intestinal barrier integrity, indicated by the increases in TEER and decreases in paracellular permeability in butyrate treated cells. Although IPEC-J2 cells are vulnerable and sensitive to LPS-induced inflammation and impairment of intestinal epithelial integrity [27, 28], pretreatment of cells with 1 mM butyrate, significantly mitigated LPS effect. Intestinal barrier integrity is maintained by the tight junctions, made of transmembrane, scaffold and adaptor proteins. Claudins and occludin are transmembrane proteins embedded in the intracellular actin through attachment to adaptor protein ZO-1 . In the present study, we found that butyrate increased the expression of claudin-3, claudin-4 and restored the reduction in the abundance of these proteins caused by LPS challenge. Claudins are the main structural and functional components of tight junctions, selectively preventing passage of luminal substances through paracellular routes . Decrease in protein expression of claudins is highly correlated to impaired intestinal barrier function [41, 48]. Therefore, the protective effect of butyrate on intestinal barrier against LPS damage may be partly explained by the increase in the expression of claudin proteins. However, the observed effect on tight junction proteins is selective because neither LPS nor butyrate had any significant influence on the expression of occludin. Occludin is known to regulate the gating of tight junctions [48–50]. However, disruption of occludin expression and function does not lead to failure of the intestinal barrier , confirming that occludin may be dispensable for the maintenance of intestinal barrier integrity. ZO-1 couples claudins and occludin to cytoplasmic proteins and to the actin cytoskeleton . In Caco-2 cells, severe inflammation leads to a reduction in ZO-1 expression and the impairment of barrier function, as measured by the TEER and the flux of dextran . Although a reduction of ZO-1 expression by LPS was confirmed in the present study, unlike in the case of claudin-3, claudin-4, no effect of butyrate was observed. This suggests a selective regulation of tight junction proteins by butyrate. The mechanism of this selective regulation of tight junction proteins by butyrate is presently unknown.
LPS activates inflammatory pathway through binding and activation of TLR-4, its cognate receptor [30, 31]. We show here that butyrate downregulates the expression of TLR-4. Thus, downregulation of expression of TLR-4 may partly explain the suppression of LPS effect by butyrate. The inflammatory cytokines are secondary mediators of LPS-induced damage of tight junctions and impairment of epithelial cell integrity [32, 33, 52]. Indeed, multiple inflammatory cytokines have been shown to disrupt epithelial tight junction and barrier integrity . The interleukins, TNFα and interferon gamma (IFNγ), are known to increase epithelial cell permeability through impairment of tight junction assembly and actin cytoskeletal structure [32, 33, 53]. Paradoxically, we also found that the higher concentration of butyrate can also evoke an inflammatory response because it induced IL-8 mRNA expression and protein secretion. However, butyrate has also been shown to induce IL-8 secretion in Caco-2 cells . The observed mild selective cytokine induction by butyrate may be part of its mechanism of intestinal protection, as this may contribute to an enhancement of epithelial immune defense, rather than an impairment of epithelial integrity. However, the mechanism of butyrate upregulation of IL-8 remains to be determined.
Enhancement of tight junction protein expression is highly associated with the activation of Akt signaling pathway in intestinal epithelial cells . The Akt/mTOR mediated protein synthesis pathway is implicated in the promotion of cellular growth . Activation of Akt phosphorylates mTOR and leads to activation of downstream substrates, p70S6K1 and 4E-BP1, which directly regulates protein synthesis . In addition, Akt pathway plays an important role as a negative feedback regulator of LPS-induced inflammatory response [34–36]. The Akt pathway is involved in the regulation of various cellular functions, including cell survival, growth, proliferation and metabolism . In the present study, LPS stimulation resulted in decreases in phospho-Akt and total Akt abundance, and subsequently led to a reduction of phospho-4E-BP1 abundance, indicating LPS inhibits Akt/mTOR signaling pathway and perhaps protein synthesis, and this potentially accounts for the LPS-induced disruption of epithelial barrier. However, treatment of IPEC-J2 cells with butyrate negated the LPS-induced decreases in phospho-Akt and phospho-4E-BP1 protein abundance, indicating that butyrate might exert its protective effect through up-regulation of Akt signaling pathway to counter the LPS-induced reduction in tight junction protein synthesis.
Butyrate has been shown to enhance the intestinal barrier function through activation of AMPK in Caco-2 cells . However, the underlying mechanism is still unclear. The observed activation of AMPK with the low dose of butyrate (0.1 mM) will be in agreement with the Caco-2 study . On the contrary, the higher level of butyrate (1 mM) led to a reduction in AMPK phosphorylation. Thus, effect of butyrate on AMPK phosphorylation and activation status is concentration dependent. Explanation for this observation appears related to the effect of the different concentrations of butyrate on cellular ATP level. AMPK is an energy sensor that regulates metabolic pathways, including metabolism of glucose and fatty acid and protein synthesis . However, AMPK phosphorylation status and activity are modulated by the changes in ATP: AMP ratio. A high level of intracellular ATP and an increase in the ATP:AMP ratio leads to an inactivation of AMPK, and vice versa . In this study, we found that intracellular ATP level was decreased by the low concentration butyrate whereas it was increased by the high concentration of butyrate (1 mM), and these results agree with increase in AMPK phosphorylation at the low butyrate level and the decrease at the high concentration. We surmise that, although both butyrate levels enhance intestinal epithelial barrier and tight junction expression through activation of Akt and 4E-BP1, the higher butyrate level was able to supply sufficient substrate for energy generation to drive this energetically expensive process, subsequently leading to higher cellular ATP (hence lower AMPK phosphorylation). However, the lower level of butyrate could not provide enough energy to support the stimulation of tight junction protein synthesis, leading to depletion of cellular ATP, hence increased AMPK phosphorylation.
In conclusion, we have demonstrated that butyrate restored LPS-induced impairment of the intestinal barrier by promoting tight junction (especially claudins) protein expression, perhaps via activation of Akt-mediated protein synthesis pathway in IPEC-J2 cells. Results obtained agree with the observed enhancement of epithelial barrier integrity in CACO-2 cells by butyrate . Although we could not rule out the potential involvement of other signaling pathways such as the Erk1/2 in the mediation of butyrate effect, however, this possibility was not investigated in this study. The observed butyrate regulation of AMPK phosphorylation and activation may result from its role in the regulation of energy homeostasis, agreeing with the recognized importance of butyrate as an energy source for epithelial cell proliferation and maintenance of intestinal barrier integrity.
S1 Fig. Cell viability in IPEC-J2 cells treated with LPS or butyrate.
IPEC cells were treated with or without LPS (10ug/ml) or indicated concentrations of butyrate for 24 hours. The Cell Quanti-Blue cell viability assay kit (BioAssay Systems, Hayward, CA) was then used to measure viability. No significant differences in viability was obtained across treatments.
S2 Fig. Raw western blot images.
Uncropped images of western blots are displayed as shown.
S1 Text. Raw primary data points used for calculations.
Raw data used for data summaries are presented as shown.
The authors would like to thank Dr. Nichoas Gabler, Iowa State University for providing the IPEC-J2 cells, and Hang Lu and Huan Qu for their useful comments in the preparation of this manuscript.
Writing – original draft: KMA HY.
Writing – review & editing: KMA HY.
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Happy New Year, everyone! I hope this year brings everyone a lot of happiness.
In completely unrelated news, since I'm not hosting any parties, there's no party food. I did have some last year though if you are interested in the Holiday Appetizer Menu. It's got that spinach artichoke dip that I love and is omni-approved multiple times.
Today, we are talking about coleslaw and another casserole!
To make coleslaw, lots of people use a ton of mayonnaise. There's nothing wrong with this, (Vegenaise is what I use) but this leads to a lot of avoidable fat and it is a bit wasteful because a lot of the sauce is wasted. To make a good coleslaw, you don't need a lot of mayo. You need time. I use a fraction of the mayonnaise of traditional coleslaw and I feel it has all the flavor! The salt and vinegar break down the cabbage. Make a day ahead if you will be crunched for time. I do use a bagged mix because I don't eat a ton of cabbage. If you do, then by all means cut your own. For me it's $1.29 for the Publix brand and that's cheaper than buying both red and green cabbage, and carrots. This is one of the FEW times I would ever suggest a bagged mix of anything pre-chopped.
Mix everything except cabbage mix in a bowl until decently integrated. Add cabbage and toss well. It will look like there is no way it's enough liquid. It is.
LET SIT in the fridge about 1/2 hour. Stir well. Let sit another 1/2 hour or more. Fold occasionally so the dry cabbage on top gets the liquid from the bottom on it.
Can easily double this recipe. There will be a smaller volume of coleslaw after the cabbage has broken down. I would still say it makes 4 decent side dishes.
I got this idea from a PPKer and tried it myself. It's good!
*1 recipe Vegan Explosion's Queso, mostly as directed: I also used 1/2 and 1/2 water/soy milk then added about 1/3- 1/2 c extra soy milk.
Cook and drain pasta, and add prepared chili and queso. Top with optional cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes.
I was listening to Canadian show [i]As It Happens[/i] and they had a segment on cooking, and talked about a book that is really popular this year. It's called *deep breath* How To Feed Your Whole Family a Healthy, Balanced Diet with Very Little Money and Hardly Any Time, Even if You Have a Tiny Kitchen, Only Three Saucepans (One with an Ill-fitting Lid) and no Fancy Gadgets – Unless You Count the Garlic Crusher.. I'm not plugging this book because I know nothing about it. But it did get me thinking- this is how I generally tend to cook. I'm sure the book's not vegetarian, but the fact that it's outselling Ms. Hottie Chef of the Year herself, Nigella Lawson, says something. The show's host asked listeners to share tips. Since I had to type it out anyway, here they are (and I should follow my own advice!). Please feel free to leave your own comments on cheaper cooking! I need all the help I can get.
*Get a cheap pressure cooker and start buying dried beans. They end up being less than half the price of canned. You can also freeze many of them for later use. Using beans instead of ground meat/meat substitute is also cheaper.
*If you have stores in your area that show their circulars online, you can compare and shop. Here we have Publix and Winn-Dixie that both publish their circulars online. Watch out for 2-for-1 specials. Lots of times this includes canned or fresh vegetables and spaghetti sauces, and store-brand pastas.
*I have found it's cheaper for me to buy spaghetti sauce jarred- even organic with the 2-for-1 special- than it is to make from scratch or even from canned tomatoes. If you have cheap, delicious tomatoes available then by all means. Make a ton and freeze it.
*Many vegetarians/vegans including myself eat what is called seitan (say-tan or say-tahn). It's made from wheat gluten and WAY cheaper if you make it yourself. There are recipes online for it. It is probably about 1/3-1/4 the price if you make rather than buy. Maybe even cheaper than that.
*Regarding other meat substitutes, like veggie "crumbles" that are made to replace ground beef, you can make your own with TVP/TSP (textured vegetable protein/ textured soy protein). You can also make your own veggie sausages.
*Use marinades as sauces. This is easy for vegetarians since there is no risk of salmonella/other bacteria transfer from raw meat. You can reduce most marinades in a pan and top your food with them. You can also re-use your marinades in many cases.
*Don't buy pre-chopped foods. They are ridiculously overpriced. You can get a whole bag of onions for the price of 1 or 2 pre-chopped onions (same goes with bell peppers, generally. Sometimes mushrooms are the same price chopped/whole). It's wasteful of plastic and it takes 10 seconds-1 minute to chop an onion depending on how fast you are. Pre-chopped also tends to spoil faster. Get a sharp chef knife and learn how to chop. This pretty much goes for most convenience items.
*Cook items that are cheaper, like spaghetti and chili, and some casseroles. These can be high in protein and low in fat if you make them that way. They also keep for a while and feed an army.
*Don't buy pre-packaged salads unless they are on sale. Or, you can extend your salad mix by adding some more greens, such as a bulk package of romaine. Iceburg has very little nutrition so stick to darker greens.
*If you like junk food like chips, buy the big bag and take a serving to work with you in a plastic baggie or container. Single-serve items are always more expensive per weight, and wasteful of packaging.
*Store your foods correctly. Here in Florida, it's really humid so we have to wrap everything up or it gets stale. But also, keeping food in tightly-sealed containers keeps bugs out.
*Make a list- make sure you aren't buying and wasting duplicates.
I stumbled on this today. How cool!
Do you love noodles? Do you love soup? Click and you have a noodle soup suggestion. Be sure to check the Vegetarian Box. Sometimes it suggests eggs, but you can leave them off.
Sometimes when you wing it, it goes not that great. Sometimes when you wing it, it's really, really yummy! I got lucky last night. I wanted to use cream cheese and mushrooms in a savory pocket. Puff pastry is awesome for some things, but I wanted something really flaky and crisp without as much fat so I got some Phyllo. I had seen Mollyjade's post earlier in the week and wanted to do something with a different direction.
*Work quickly- you don't have to rush things but the key is that the sheets don't dry out. They are super-thin and pretty delicate but not so delicate that they can't be worked with.
*Don't Let Them Dry Out-Keep a damp paper towel on top of the dough. Wet a paper towel and ring it out really, really well. If the towel is too wet, your layers can stick to the towel and break apart.
Melt a little margarine/oil in a large, high-sided pan, and add shallots. Let sweat, but do not brown. Add mushrooms and cook until they release liquid.
Add rosemary,thyme, and soy sauce and continue to cook until almost all of the liquid is almost gone.
Toss in the wine and stir well, getting all the good bits from the pan. Add cream cheese and shredded cheese until smooth. Cream cheese should dissolve and mix in but it's not crucial that the shredded cheese melt.
Add in pepper and salt to taste (may not need salt). If a little bitter, add a small pinch of sugar and mix well.
Let cool, and wrap in Phyllo. I did *every* step in these pictures, so don't be intimidated. I am also left-handed so if you are right-handed, just put the filling on the other side and wrap to the right if it makes you comfortable.
If using 2 sheets (optional) place 2nd sheet directly on top of first. And butter.
When you come to the end, just add more margarine and fold over.
Place seam side (last side that was open) down, and bake at 350 for about 20 minutes, flipping over at the 10-minute mark. They should be crispy on the outside and golden-colored.
I don't usually like to heavily on any one book, but Bryanna Clark Grogan's books are so good that I would suggest you buy it anyway. *I made the "veal"/"turkey" seitan with the baking method from Nonna's Italian Kitchen. Even as an omnivore, once I knew what veal was, I wouldn't eat it, so it's weird for me to type out. That's why I have to use the quotes, you see. Anyway, the seitan is delicious. I guess you could use a different flavored seitan, but it won't be quite the same. I think a "chicken" or "beef" version would still be very good, though!
You can make this recipe in 2 parts if you like. Make the "veal" filling, the ricotta, and cook the noodles the day before. You can even fill the noodles, cover with sauce, and refrigerate overnight.
Variation- If you'd like to have an all-meat style manicotti, omit the ricotta. I would definitely use the bechamel sauce if you do this. You may also want to try "veal" and spinach.
Heat 2-4 Tbsp margarine in a large saute pan on MED and sweat onions and garlic. Do not brown, just soften.
Heat remaining 2 Tbsp. margarine and add flour. Stir around the pan for about a minute or two. Add the soymilk and stir really well. This makes a thick sauce and also gets all the good bits off the bottom. Add the seitan back to the pan and mix really well with the thick sauce. Stir really well. Remove and fill noodles or refrigerate for later.
To fill the noodles, I would really suggest using a pastry bag. To make your own pasty bag, cut the end off of a ziploc bag. Ta-da! This is also easier if you employ the use of the plastic cartons your uncooked pasta came in. Just set them back in their little trays and they'll stay still.
-Use up all the "veal" filling evenly amongst the noodles. Just kind of make sure it's evenly distributed along the bottom of each noodle. There's plenty of filling.
-Do the same with the ricotta, except try to get it on top of the meat filling and not mix it. For the ricotta, it's easiest if you just pump a little in from both sides, instead of trying to fit the piping bag into the noodle and squirting too much out the other end. Be frugal with the ricotta at first then go back and add more (I didn't do this and had 2 ricotta-less manicotti!).
Cover with bechamel, then spaghetti sauce, or all spaghetti sauce. Cover with shredded vegan cheese (optional).
Bake at 350-375, 30 min. covered. Uncover and bake about 20 min more. Place on top shelf and broil under broiler if using cheese. Watch closely so nothing burns. Adjust time for colder/thawing manicotti. You want the sauce around the noodles to bubble, and the center of each noodle/filing to be hot.
Watch the Sopranos and say "Manni-got!" like they do on the show. Serve with some garlic bread and a nice salad.
For Freezing- Cover baking pan in plastic wrap for easy lifting out- Place a thin layer of spaghetti sauce on bottom, and place in noodles. Freeze and remove in one piece (noodles and sauce), wrapping tightly and placing in a ziploc bag. I use vacuum freezer bags. Day of service: place more spaghetti sauce on bottom of cooking pan, unwrap frozen noodles/sauce, and place in pan. Let defrost in refrigerator. Before cooking, pour on bechamel and more spaghetti sauce. Bake as directed.
I have also heard of people preparing the whole thing, sauce and all, in the pan then just covering with plastic or aluminum and freezing it. It's up to you. Freezing only the noodles with a little sauce saves space.
If you're like me, your budget is a little pretty tight and you may need some meals that stretch. Luckily, pasta is there for you. So are canned beans and some tofu.
This pasta salad uses left over baked tofu, which is really firm and delicious the next day cold. Even more protein is added to the mix when you toss in your beans. You can throw in whatever vegetables you like as well. I know some people aren't crazy about leftovers, but generally those people aren't the ones who cook and should say "Gee, thanks for the grub! You are gorgeous!" instead of complaining about leftovers. Just saying.
Cook pasta according to package directions, rinse and drain very well. Place in refrigerator.
Meanwhile, whisk vegan mayo and dressing, and do all of your chopping. Rinse and drain beans if necessary.
Mix everything (pasta, dressing mixture, tofu, beans, carrot, onion) and season to taste with the Cavender's. Go a little easy at first.
Refrigerate for 10-30 min (or overnight) and taste again, adjusting seasoning if necessary.
Can eat right after mixing, but cold pasta salads are better if the flavors hang out for a while.
Whisk oil and soy sauce very well. Place tofu in a 9x13 pan and pour oil/soy sauce on top, and flip over, coating tofu well on both sides.
Bake 1 hour, turning every 15 minutes. Cool and place in refrigerator, topping with 2 Tbsp. of your favorite Italian dressing, once again coating the tofu. Place in fridge.
This dish has quite a few components, but it's easy to do if you do half of it one day, and the rest the next. It has homemade polenta, dill, mushrooms, and asparagus. I really love the presentation.
Line a 8x8 or 9x9 cake pan with saran wrap across the bottom both ways. (so all 4 sides of the pan have saran wrap overhanging.
Melt 1 Tb. margarine, and saute onion and garlic until tender. Stir in broth and bring to a boil.
Stir in corn meal, reduce heat and simmer 10 min., whisking well most of the time.
Stir in cream, green onion, salt, and pepper.
Pour into prepared pan and smooth the top. Cover with another piece of saran wrap.
Chill overnight or at least 8 hrs.
Heat a small pot of water to boiling, throw in dried shiitakes, and set aside for 20 minutes. Cool, drain well, and chop, making sure to remove any woody stem. Put in fridge. You can do this the day of as well if you'd like.
While making this ragout, you want to heat a nonstick skillet to MED or MED HI and saute tofu slabs with the Italian dressing it was marinating in. No need for extra oil. Saute until lightly crisp on each side.
Empty and place on a baking sheet and keeping warm in the oven.
Drop 2 Tbsp. margarine and saute the cold polenta squares or triangles until browned on each side. Also keep warm in oven.
Cut the woody 1/3 of the bottom of asparagus off. Cut each spear into about thirds, making the spear end bigger than the other 2-3 parts.
Boil a medium pot of water and cook asparagus, green beans, yellow squash, and zucchini for 2 minutes. (May need to do 2 batches). Submerge in an ice bath to stop cooking. Drain very, very well.
Melt a Tbsp. margarine and saute softened shiitake and button mushrooms. Remove and place in bowl with blanched vegetables.
Heat 1 more Tbsp. margarine and saute shallots and garlic until tender. Add wine and broth. Cook about 15 min. or until it is reduced to about 1 1/4 c.
Use pan you cooked polenta in, adding 1-2 Tbsp oil/margarine (depending on how much oil you have left in the pan) and add flour. Whisk until it forms a paste, and add some of the broth/wine mixture. Whisk again, while adding the rest of the broth and the dill. This is where you reduce until slightly thickened, and add more cream if you like. You do not want a gravy.
Add the vegetables back, and season as desired.
Stack: Polenta, Tofu, Polenta, Tofu, Vegetable-Mushroom Ragout, spooning in extra sauce.
This recipe really needs to be adjusted to YOUR personal taste, so the measurements are really up to you as far as the marinade goes. I cook the seitan twice, giving it a firm texture and crispy outside.
Make marinade to taste. It has a really unique flavor, but it will work. You want it sort of acidic and a little sweet.
Place sauteed seitan in marinade. The longer it sits, the better. At least 30 min.
When ready to cook, have all of your ingredients ready, this cooks quickly like a stir-fry.
Heat a large, tall sided pan (MED-HI) and put a generous amount of canola oil. Heat oil until hot and add seitan strips. Stir frequently. You want them heated through and seared on the outside.
Remove from pan and add more oil and heat until oil is hot.
Add all vegetables and stir continuously for about a minute and add the rest of the marinade.
Cook until vegetables are tender-crisp. Some will have a slightly charred outside.
Add seitan back to pan and make sure everything is hot.
Serve immediately. Cover a plate of the tortillas with a wet paper towel and microwave 30 seconds to soften, then fill with the seitan and vegetables.
Generally this blog is just about food, but damn!
I AM SO PROUD. Congratulations, President Obama.
Look at that handsome first family!
I made these for people at work for something fun. Most of the people I work with are Republican/Conservative and there are a few of us who aren't. I still voted Obama (early voting), but these were a hit across the party lines.
For my 24th Birthday, I made myself a cake. It sounds kind of sad to make your own cake, but the one friend of mine who does any baking and lives in the same state is really super-pregnant and you can't ask a super-pregnant lady to schlep over and make you a cake. My boyfriend's culinary skills mostly extend to pasta, which is okay. So I made my own cake. The recipe is from the now defunct Delicious Choices. I topped it with VWAV Ganache (make 1/2 the recipe).
Comb. cream cheese, sour cream, and sugar until fluffy.
Add vanilla, flour, and egg replacer/water, beating well after each addition.
Add 1/4 c of the raspberry sauce and mix until swirled, not all the way mixed.
Pour into prepared 8" springform pan. Drop the other 1/4 c raspberry sauce in dollops all over the cake and run a knife around the cake so it's all swirled.
Set in 8" pan in a 10" springform pan.
Pour hot water into 10" pan until 1/2 of the 8" pan is submerged.
Place in preheated 300F oven and cook 1 1/2-2 hours until center is set and sides begin to pull away from pan.
Do not unmold cheesecake until completely chilled. Chill 10 hours or more.
Place raspberries in a bowl with the sugar and mix well. Let thaw or microwave for a minute so they come to room temperature.
Heat raspberries/juice in a small saucepan on MED-LO until they come to a low boil.
Add lemon juice and heat a minute more, stirring well.
You can press through a sieve to get the seeds out, but I would only do this for garnish on top. I kept the seeds and used the sauce for the cheesecake. There will be some left over.
I hate the word "casserole". It makes me think of things that are mysterious and maybe too old being thrown in a pot as a last resort before you say "The hell with it!" and go to Taco Bell. It makes me think of people complaining about dinner. It makes me think of cheating by opening a can of something and baking it. Most casseroles don't even look that appetizing...(Even though growing up, I can't really think of one casserole that wasn't good!).. But darn it, I LIKE CASSEROLES.
This one is heavy on vegetables. Use what you have, I had a fair variety on hand.
This fills a 2 Qt casserole dish to the top.
Cook and drain eggless noodles and set aside. Keep water and drop in the broccoli and green beans until bright green and tender. Drain and throw in with pasta.
Saute onion, celery, and carrot until almost tender in a large saute pan. Add zucchini until tender. Add to pasta/vegetables.
Saute seitan until crisp, using seasoning of choice. Add to pasta/vegetables. MEANWHILE, make the "cream of chicken" sauce. Do not cook until very thick, just somewhat thick.
WHen sauce is done, mix everything well and put in a 2-qt baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for about 25 min. Can broil the last couple minutes if you want the top crispy. Garnish with chopped parsley and green onion.
"Cream of Chicken" Soup is from Chef Deborah on Vegsource.com.
Soak TVP in boiling water 15 minutes (then drain).
Put remaining ingredients in saucepan.
I really love rice pilaf. I got the noodle/rice method from Mediterranean rice and lentils. I like how this turned out. Even with the 3 Tbsp lemon juice, it's not too lemony. You can omit the nuts but I really like them. Use any combo that you enjoy. I used pine nuts and chopped almonds. I like to use the vermicelli from the Latino market that comes in the small packs. If you can't find them, just break up some angel hair pasta into really small pieces.
In a medium pot with a lid, heat a bit of oil (maybe 1-2 Tbsp) and brown vermicelli. DON'T walk away from the pot! They burn easily.
When they are light golden, add the water and bouillon. Stir a little so the bouillon dissolves a bit.
Bring to a boil, and add rice. Lower heat to LO and cover: cook 18-20 min, until water is absorbed and rice is tender. Fluff with a fork.
Meanwhile, toast the nuts in a dry pan. No oil. Just medium heat until the nuts are light golden, shaking the pan often. Almonds took longer than the pine nuts, so make sure that if you have different types of nuts, you may want to toast in 2 separate batches.
Put rice in a bowl and add lemon juice and margarine/oil and mix well. You can also add fresh parsley if you'd like.
I'll admit I watch Food Network. Unless it gets too gross, I like to see what's going on in the food world, and that excludes most vegetarians, but we can re-vamp recipes, so it's all good.
Today I saw Giada on Everyday Italian today use won ton wrappers for ravioli. If it's good enough for Food Network's Italian-born poster girl, it's good enough for me. I just didn't feel like making dough today. I'm not linking to her recipe because mine is nothing like it except the "butter". But trust me, it has won ton wrappers! I am using Dynasty brand. I really, really suggest caramelizing your onions. It adds a sweet, deep flavor to the dish. The filling is even better the next day, as proven by my eating it with a spoon.
First, start caramelizing your onions in some olive oil. Low heat for a long time. I keep mine on med-lo. This takes about an hour, so you can either skip this step and just saute them if you MUST, or make a lot so you can use them for other things.
Meanwhile-Place tofu in a food processor with Vegenaise, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper and blend until smooth. Adjust seasonings to taste, but go easy at first, as you will be adding 2 other flavors. Empty into a bowl and place in the refrigerator.
When onions are done, pulse in food processor and add to tofu mixture. Saute sausage in pan on medium heat. When sauteed, pulse in food processor until pieces are small and uniform. Add to tofu mixture. Let chill until cold and then season to taste again.
Place about 2 tsp. chilled filling into each won ton wrapper and seal with plain water.
Heat water to boiling in a large high-sided pan. This gives the ravioli room, and it heats the water more quickly than a large pot. Place a few raviolis in the boiling water. They are done after a few minutes. The won tons will be pretty translucent.
Cook the oregano for 1 min and add sea salt and fresh black pepper. Drizzle over plated ravioli. | 2019-04-19T09:06:53Z | http://pamelacooks.blogspot.com/2008/ |
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Syfy’s latest offering, Helix, premieres tonight. Helix is an intense thriller about a team of scientists from the Centers for Disease Control who travel to the high-tech research facility, Arctic BioSystems, to investigate a possible disease outbreak, only to find themselves pulled into a terrifying life-and-death struggle that may hold the key to mankind’s salvation or total annihilation. However, the lethal threat is just the tip of the iceberg, and as the virus evolves, the chilling truth begins to unravel. Billy Campbell (The Killing, The 4400, Once and Again) stars as Dr. Alan Farragut, leader of the Centers for Disease Control outbreak field team called upon to investigate and control a potential outbreak. Hiroyuki Sanada (The Wolverine, 47 Ronin) also stars as Dr. Hiroshi Hatake, director of Arctic BioSystems and its mysterious viral research program. Helix also stars Kyra Zagorsky (Supernatural) as Dr. Julia Walker; Mark Ghanimé (Emily Owens, M.D.) as Major Sergio Balleseros; Jordan Hayes (House at the End of the Street) as Dr. Sarah Jordan; Meegwun Fairbrother as Daniel Aerov; Catherine Lemieux (White House Down) as Dr. Doreen Boyle, and Neil Napier (Riddick) as Dr. Peter Farragut.
Recently, star Kyra Zagorsky & Executive Producer Steve Maeda spoke to the press about the show, so check out what they had to say!
Steve Maeda: It’s a setting that is great for us because it’s not the newest setting under the sun. It seems familiar enough, but I think we’re doing a pretty interesting spin on it.
And what works for us really well is that it lends itself to a very claustrophobic environment because you can go outside but only for brief periods of time. It’s really dangerous. The weather is horrible, as I’m sure people who are in the Midwest and the East Coast right now can relate to.
And what it does is it forces you to be inside most of the time and that’s how we really saw this. That’s how Cameron, who wrote the pilot script, really envisioned the thing to begin with, which was a contained environment, someplace, you know, it’s almost like being set on a spaceship where you’re trapped inside with, you know, unseen horrors and then there’re all sorts of human problems as well that develop from that. So it really lends itself to the series as a whole.
Jump with us to read more.
Steve: We are shooting in Montreal. The writers were all in Los Angeles where it’s actually kind of balmy right now. But Kyra and the rest of the gang, we’re up in Montreal. We’re pretty much all studio shots because we started in the summer. I wish we had the budget to be able to go to the Arctic and really do it.
But I thought the group up there – the crew and all our production people – did a phenomenal job and maybe that’s something, Kyra, maybe you can talk more about that because you were there having to deal with our snow and all that stuff.
Kyra Zagorsky: Yes, it was pretty incredible. We had a room that we called the freezer. If you were shooting in the freezer that day, that was sort of a joke. But the fake snow and how they would do it, they’d get the fans going, and it was – it looks incredible and the only thing that was tricky is it was supposed to be freezing, we had these huge arctic, you know, coats on.
But there were a couple of times that we did end up moving the set outside to shoot some of the outside scenes just because we needed a bit more space and that ended up being a little bit more helpful and easier to breathe, too, when you’re dealing with some of the fake snow stuff. But it was a lot of fun and it looks amazing.
Steve: It’s pretty incredible what they managed to do up in Montreal getting it to look like, you know, a blizzard in the Arctic.
Steve: Yes, our watch word over the season, or some of our watch words, were not zombies. There is certainly a human element to the show and a science fiction kind of trope that we’re sure to get compared to and that’s okay.
I don’t mind that, but we’re really trying to not make it a zombie show. I would say the main difference about our vectors, as we call them, is that they are not kind of mindless sort of eating machines.
And that’s something that you’ll see in later episodes. They’re very scary and they’re human and they look horrible. But our team will discover teams into and around the virus and also what we’re going to find out about the vectors is that they’re incredibly smart and so they retain a lot of their intelligence, if not their humanity, which I think makes them very different from zombies.
And you know what? The comparisons will come and that’s okay. But we’re really trying to do something that feels different than the typical zombie show.
Kyra: I think also since the show is based in real science, there’re real-life epidemic scares out there throughout history where there’re these huge viruses that have wiped out huge populations and so we’re dealing with something that the CDC hasn’t seen before, but it comes from a virus.
And so that’s something that’s based in reality. And then you put the science fiction on that and it’s a really interesting combination. I think that’s another thing that makes it unique.
Kyra: I love the psychological thriller piece of it. I think that because we are trapped in this isolated environment with a deadly virus, what’s really interesting is that everyone’s darkness comes out because we’ve got these life and death stakes going on and then there’re these interesting relationships going on but we can’t quite deal with the relationship right now because we’ve got something better to do, which is survive.
But it takes some of the characters to some very dark places and they start doing things that they might not do if they were in regular circumstances. And so their true humanity comes out, the good and the bad. And I think that’s what’s so interesting about the show and for me, the unique part of it, the psychological side of it.
Steve: Yes, I would absolutely agree with that. And for me, on top of that, I would say the main thing for me, as I stand back now and look back at the season that we’re finishing up, is Syfy in particular – both Sony and Syfy – but Syfy really wanted us to get out of the box of a typical outbreak show.
And from the very beginning, you know, the pilot was a great template and really set the stage for us. But then Syfy just gave us free reign and said, you know, between studio networks, Ron Moore, and everybody, we all tried to put our heads together and say what can we do?
Where can we take this show where it starts in one place and then goes someplace hopefully really unexpected where we want the audience to play along and say, “Hey, I know what’s going to happen here. Of course, it’s going to be this,” and then have it be something completely different.
And we tried to do that with creative choices we made, with story ideas, with some casting choices, whether characters live or die, with music choices, with how we edited the show. And so that was really fun to have the creative freedom to be able to get outside of the typical show box.
Kyra: And something else that was fun, off of what you said, Steve, is that because we had the 13 episodes right away, every director would come in so excited to go with their own creativity. So, you know, sometimes directors get hired into TV shows and it’s so formulaic and they’re kind of a slave to whatever everybody wants them to do.
But everyone came in with their own style and it blends together with the Helix style that was set. But at the same time, they’re bringing their own ideas and their own input. And so they were so pumped to be there. And it was really fun working with all of them.
Kyra: I had to discover it. I had to discover everything and that was, I think, part of the fun in being on the show. It was so exciting. You could not wait to get your next script to see what was going to happen to you.
But there were a couple of things. The only information I got was that I had a history with Billy—with ‘Alan’—and with his brother, ‘Peter,’ who’s played by Neil. So, that was the only information that I was given.
So that was interesting. By the time I was working through the third episode, that was the piece when I really felt I’d gotten myself kind of grounded into the character.
And what was great is, when I first got up to Montreal and I met with Cameron and Jeffrey Reiner, we had a talk and I just realized this is my role. This is it, you know. So I have no idea what’s to come, but I have to just trust that I’m her and start working with her.
Steve was great to work with, too; when a new script would come out and I had questions about things, I would always write to him and I’d have a dialogue with him about things, just figuring out what her character is made of. So it became a really interesting team collaboration. It was pretty incredible. But it was all a big surprise for me.
Steve: That’s pretty typical, too, for a serialized show. And even though you have certain things figured out, you don’t have all the pieces when you begin. We had a pretty solid idea of where we were heading through the 13 but I’ve heard it described before, which I think is a pretty apt analogy of, we know that we’re starting off in Los Angeles and we’re heading toward New York. But along the way, you may not know that we’re going to stop at Omaha and then, three episodes in, you’re like, ‘Omaha sounds pretty great.’ And so you can take that left turn or right turn still heading toward your same place at the end, but you can discover things along the way.
And what’s great about that is you can discover things in the show story-wise, but then you also discover, as you see your actors, you discover who they are and they bring things to the character that you may not have seen before.
And that’s really wonderful, to start watching the dailies and start seeing the cuts and to see what our actors were bringing. Then we went, ‘Oh, well hey, how about this?’ And it gives us, you know, more ideas, which is really nice.
Kyra: You guys took me for a great ride in this series. I had the best time and, yes, Walker goes through some amazing things. It’s pretty incredible. Every episode was pretty dynamic.
Steve: It’s a pretty tough 13 days for Walker.
Steve: I mean, from our point of view, the characters always had a relationship even in the very early drafts of the pilot script. We deepened that a little bit. We complicated it up as we were conceptualizing the show very early on.
And that was part of just trying to, again, load up the show with a lot of potential drama to play out because we knew we were going to be stuck up at our base for the 13 days and so for us, it was trying to really make that character sing and have a lot of really interesting things to go through.
And I would say, in a lot of ways, Walker, at least you know, as the show progresses, becomes very central, without giving too much away. It’s a pretty important role and it’s a pretty interesting character. And we’ve got some, you know, good-ratings willing, we’ve got some interesting places to take her.
Kyra: Yes. And I think something that – when – just coming into the series and, again, as I was mentioning, I didn’t know where the show was going to go, but just knowing that this character is my ex-husband and then we’re here to do this job.
And some of the things that would start to come out and just kind of playing with Billy and a new episode would come and you see some interesting little dialogue between them or what’s going on.
But they had marital problems, you know. It’s one of those things that you just kind of bring relationship history and see that there is definitely a personality thing that happened between these two.
I think Walker’s character is something that I discovered from the information of just things that would happen in the show, which she’s the type of scientist that I think that really likes to be in the field. She’s very accomplished.
She’d already, you know, she’s won an award. She’s gotten herself to the top of the field in her work. And I think that what she’s about, you know, at this point in her life was about trying to really be out there helping people. Like, go to these countries and get right in the middle of the virus and get hands on and be there.
And I think there is a difference in their personalities and that maybe he was a little bit more in the lab kind of thing. And so you just start to see some of these interesting personality clashes of where they’re going to start having some issues with each other.
And it comes out in some pretty cool ways in some of the episodes. I particularly had some fun working with him when we had Jeremiah to direct because he’s got such an interesting style. I mean, he directed Christmas Vacation, and that’s just one of my all-time favorite Christmas movies.
My brother and I would watch it every year without fail. It’s so good. And so he’s got such a great, quirky way about him already that he really pulled out some of the interesting marital stuff between us that was really – it was fun.
And so that’s what would kind of happen, is like I said, I would discover it as we would go and then Billy and I would play with each other and it’s just – you’re just bringing human relationships to the table, you know, and seeing where it goes.
Steve: Yes, and part of what we try to do, as well, is make them all – all of our CDC scientists are incredibly accomplished and incredibly good at their jobs but also very flawed characters who have maybe not handled things so well in their personal lives. And that usually brings some pretty rich drama forward.
Steve: Oh, that’s a good question. I would say it – the way that we’ve been describing the series both in, you know, in press and then just in talking about it in breaking stories, it is an outbreak show, at least at the beginning.
And it starts off as a show about this terrible outbreak that happens in this very remote and dangerous location. And our team has to go up and deal with that.
What then happens, though, it’s hard to describe because it’s – we don’t want to give too much away, but it becomes a mystery and it gets very deeply into science fiction and it gets very much into thriller and mystery elements.
And what you thought the show was going to be about is not what the show is about any more, which I think is great, and that’s, you know, as I was talking about earlier, the freedom that Syfy gave us to kind of go out and say, ‘Hey, it starts as this, then it becomes that,’ you know, go, see what direction that takes you in, that was pretty incredible and allows us to have the show be – you think it’s one thing and then it turns out well, wait, it’s also about this. And – but wait a second. It’s also about that, too, and that’s a lot of fun.
Kyra: Well, I would describe her as a very intelligent, accomplished woman in her field. She’s one of the top scientists with the CDC. And the thing that I loved about this character is that she was incredibly ambitious and got herself to where she is in this line of work but she exists for purposes outside of her relationships which I think is a really important thing for female characters in film and TV.
And so although I am the ex-wife of Dr. Alan Farragut, that’s not at all what my purpose is in the series. I’m there because I’m trying to, you know, deal with this virus. I’m there to do my work as a scientist. I’m passionate about my work.
But she’s an independent woman and she does have her flaws in her relationships. She’s just a very full human character and I think that’s what I really loved about her. Because sometimes when we’re creating strong females, we give them a weapon and, you know, turn them into something macho or, you know, or often it has to be a superhero character or else, you know, she has to be a full on business person and has to be cruel or something.
And there is something about this character that I just thought she’s just a full-bodied human character. You know and – but she’s got a lot of purpose outside of her ex-husband and I think that’s what keeps her active and interesting.
Steve: Yes, that’s what we were very conscience of, I think, when we were trying to talk about the characters and really round them out. And we got a lot of – we had many, many discussions about the female characters and how to really make them feel, you know, as real as possible to have to be credible as scientists, to have them be really smart, to not have them just be defined by their relationships.
And, you know, it’s easy to fall into those kinds of tropes. We try very hard not to do that and to, then, of course, you see what your actor or actress brings and it’s like, okay, good. We can do that as well. Oh, look, you know, they’re very good at this type of thing or this type of scene and let’s play into that.
Let’s actually embrace – you know, initially the – I can tell you that the Dr. Jordan character, who’s played by Jordan Hayes initially was a character that we thought was going to be very backstabbing and was going to be kind of an Eve Harrington character from All About Eve.
And when we actually got our actress and watched Jordan and we’re like, well, we could kind of play that but that’s not really who she is and not who she’s playing so let’s try and steer the boat in that direction and it worked great. I think she was wonderful.
And with Kyra, she, I think for me anyway, Kyra really inhabited the role as it was written and then brought extra depth to it as well and we just kind of ran with it and she was really wonderful.
Kyra: It’s a kind of a dream role. There’s so much that I have to go through emotionally, physically, intellectually. It’s the whole package. So yes, I couldn’t be happier being able to work on this show.
Steve: Well, it’s a really good question and it’s something we talked about at length when we were initially, you know, kind of developing and talking about the series.
And the idea was, one of the things that was really important to us is to get outside whenever we could. And, of course, outside means, you know, either in our refrigerated room or, you know, out on the green screen, you know, exterior, but at least we were outside and didn’t have four walls around us.
And then the other thing we did was just think of ways that we could open up the show. And one thing we’re doing – I don’t think I’m giving too much away on this – is, while we’re not doing flashbacks, part of what the virus does is it makes you hallucinate.
And so hallucinations play a fairly good sized piece of certain episodes. And what they allow you to do is go to places you wouldn’t otherwise be able to go. And I’ll leave it at that.
Kyra: Yes, and I think the other side of that is embracing the claustrophobia and that’s kind of what a huge piece of this show is, just watching people go through having to be stuck in that.
And so I think the audience is going to feel some of that. It might not be comfortable but it’s really cool to just kind of be experiencing that along with the characters that you’re watching.
So yes, you’re in that same room again. There they are. They’re stuck right there and you’re right there with them empathizing for what they’re going through. And so I think that’s what can help the audience connect to the humanity and, again, the good and the bad of each character, of what happens.
Steve: Yes, and the challenge for us was to figure out how to use those rooms again and again and again, those locations, and we are a combination of some sets that we built, of some labs that we actually repurposed for, you know, in a building, a big, giant laboratory structure in Montreal and then a fair amount of green screen and, you know, exterior and interior green screen work.
So the idea was to, you know, try to keep it as real as possible, use whatever we could, try to get different looks at it, put people in different types of situations and then also to, again, open the show up as much as we could by going a place you wouldn’t expect to go outside, by going to a place you wouldn’t expect to go inside.
And then, even though you’re still in this very inhospitable place that’s kind of closed in, it’s a pretty big base and I feel like we got good use out of our sets and you shouldn’t feel like, oh, we’re back there again. It feels like we – I think, anyway, like we use things the right amount.
Kyra: Yes. Especially with the first couple of episodes, I mean, as Steve mentioned before that there’re a lot of twists and turns that happen where the series starts as one thing and it starts to become something much bigger and much darker and, you know, more interesting.
But in the beginning when you’re looking at this and you’re thinking about it, the CDC gets brought up to this place to deal with this virus and it’s something that they’ve never seen and that, in itself, is quite frightening in a story because this is something that happens all the time, a real life epidemic scare, you know.
I mean, I think there was just a couple reported cases this last week in Vancouver of some deaths of people passed away with H1N1. You know, it’s something that’s really out there for people. People are trying to make decisions about whether they should vaccinate their children or not, which is still a big debate, you know.
It’s something that is a true fear for people. So when we were getting into the story in these first few episodes and you’re seeing these people who are at the top of the CDC, they should have every answer. It’s almost like a God complex.
And they don’t know what to do. I think that’s pretty terrifying and, you know, when we didn’t know what was going to be happening next as an actor, with where the story was going to go, that’s an interesting thing because you just think I have no idea what I can do.
How much worse can it get and I have no handle on it. And now, at some point, this is going to get everyone sick and we don’t have any answers. And that’s pretty frightening because that’s, you know, total annihilation of the whole planet. So what do you do there?
Steve: Yes, that’s one of the things we really played with, this notion that we have to keep this thing contained and we have to solve it or figure it out or at least keep it here in this place because if it gets out, it’s going to be a calamity.
And so that’s the thing that, you know, our folks, our CDC scientists and the other scientists are not only scared for their own lives but scared of what might happens if this thing gets out.
And so we really play with that and kept that very much alive throughout the course of the series. It’s scary. It’s an invisible villain. You can’t touch it. You can’t taste it, but it’s there.
These types of stories I really like and I had done research on them before just because I was interested in them. But the kind of outbreak and epidemic stories not only are they something that people can really relate to but also it tends to either bring out the best or the worst in people and sometimes both because people get so terrified, they’re so scared of what’s going to happen, that they don’t know how to deal with the situation.
And that’s something that we really, really tried to play a great deal is, does this bring out the best in you or is this going to bring out, you know, the shellfish kind of side that is, you know, more just concerned with self-preservation? And that is just automatic drama which was great.
Kyra: And then also, you’re getting this information that you want to study and you want to sound educated when you’re in the scene and know what it is that you’re talking about, what it is that we’re working from, that we’re doing.
So for those of us that were working on that stuff in the show, we’re doing a lot of research so it’s kind of fun. It’s kind of like going back to science class, you know, and I spent a lot of time with You Tube trying to discover, okay, how does this thing work when you’re dealing with this type of microscope and blah, blah, blah.
But then suddenly you start seeing all these interesting articles and you’re researching, oh, okay, so Spanish Flu. Let me get back to this, you know. I haven’t studied about the Spanish Flu since I was in school, you know what I mean?
But then you start really reading up on things and I think there was some article that had come out around when I was working on Episode 9, I think, and I think it actually came from the CDC but it was something about are antibiotics becoming obsolete?
And that’s kind of frightening, you know, when you’re thinking about, wow, in this day and age, so what does that mean, then? People just have to deal with whatever happens? So there’s a lot of real life things that were coming up while you’re just researching the Sci-Fi stuff along with things based in facts that start to make you a little bit more aware of how dangerous things can be.
Lots of information, but the show sounds like it’ll be great, so do check out the 90-minute premiere tonight on Syfy at 10/9c!
This entry was posted in Interviews and tagged Helix, Kyra Zagorsky, Steve Maeda, Syfy. Bookmark the permalink. | 2019-04-25T21:56:15Z | http://www.tvismypacifier.com/2014/01/10/interview-with-executive-producer-steve-maeda-star-kyra-zagorsky-from-helix/ |
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Workshops. Wagon wheels for top and kids workshops. 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Last month, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation awarded these researchers a $1M grant to pursue this work.
*ETA Dec.2.12: I erroneously used the word clothing in the headline. It’s now been corrected to ‘cloth’.
This entry was posted in health and safety, medicine, nanotechnology and tagged anti-HHIV drugs, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Cameron Ball, contraception, Drug-Eluting Fibers for HIV-1 Inhibition and Contraception, electrospinning, Emily Krogstad, fabric, Kim A. Woodrow, Thanyanan Chaowanachan, University of Washington on November 30, 2012 by Maryse de la Giroday.
The “p” in “pTA” stands for “participatory.” This emphasizes the idea that the people who fund technology development (through taxes and consumer purchases), and live with its positive and negative consequences, but are not otherwise formally engaged through advocacy, can and should play a role in technology assessment (TA). While some advocates for TA called for the inclusion of participatory practices from the beginnings of the field’s evolution in the United States, action to implement this idea did not begin until the late 1980s, largely in Europe.
In society at large, however, participatory practices have expanded considerably over the past two decades in relation to science and technology in particular and social decision-making in general. During this event we will explore one approach to pTA, the World Wide Views exercise on Biodiversity, a global citizen consultation held in 25 countries on September 15, 2012 that provided input to the Eleventh Council of Parties of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity.
Join us on Dec. 6, 2012 in the Fifth Floor Conference Room at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars to discuss this new approach and the public input it can provide. This event will be live webcast.
For those of us on the West Coast, this means a 9 am starting time for the webcast. For those who can attend the event, please RSVP here.
There will be another webcast next week, on Dec. 5, 2012, for a Digital Storytelling presentation by Tom McFadden, science rapper/etc. for the US State Department. It’s one hour long and the start time is 11 am EST (8 am for those of us on the West Coast or 1600 UTC).
Not only is this a real Science Idol performance competition / education / science communication that has actually already happened, but it ran under the oversight of Tom McFadden, a true innovator and leader in this conceptual space.
More videos by and about Tom’s work with rap and storytelling for science communication.
Articles about Tom’s work in this area.
Tom is known as the Rhymebosome. Would you believe that this is such a hot emerging area that there is even a blog devoted entirely to science music?
Are you a fan of hip-hop and/or expressing yourself through music via the Internet? Learn how to tell your story using online tools and digital platforms! Join us for a live, engaging discussion featuring Tom McFadden, a Fulbrighter and former Stanford University biology course instructor who became a Science Rapper. Tom emerged from the California BioPop scene with hit singles such as, “Regulatin’ Genes” and “Oxidate it or Love it,” which granted him recognition in The New York Times and The Guardian. He will discuss his Science Idol Fulbright project in New Zealand, which asked New Zealanders to send in their own “science songs” via digital videos. Join Tom online to learn how to share and communicate what you’re passionate about through creativity and digital storytelling!
Format: This program will be an interactive video webcast in English. Please click on the URL above to participate. Follow the conversation on Twitter by using the hashtag #StateAlumni.
Next week looks to be very interesting.
This entry was posted in public engagement, science, science communication and tagged Darlene Cavalier, David Rejeski, David Sittenfeld, Digital Storytelling, Emerging Technologies Librarian, Fulbright project, Gretchen Gano, Mikko Rask, New Zealand, New Zealand Science Idol, Patricia Anderson, pTA, Regulatin’ genes, Rhymebosome, Richard Worthington, Science Idol, science rapper, Technology Assessment and Public Participation, Tim Persons, Tom McFadden, US State Department, Will.i.am, Woodrow Wilson Center on November 30, 2012 by Maryse de la Giroday.
… If new scientific research pans out, people may be sporting shirts, blouses and other garments made from fibers modeled after those in the icky, super-strong slime from a creature called the hagfish. The study appears in ACS’ journal Biomacromolecules.
The authors acknowledge funding from the Advanced Foods and Materials Network and the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development and Innovation.
Good luck to the researchers at the University of Guelph in their pursuit of protective clothing made of hagfish slime to replace materials using petroleum products.
This entry was posted in biomimcry, clothing, nanotechnology and tagged Atsuko Negishi, Canada, Clare L. Armstrong, Douglas S. Fudge, hagfish slime, Laurent Kreplak, Loong-Tak Lim, Maikel C. Rheinstadter, protective clothing, The Production of Fibers and Films from Solubilized Hagfish Slime Thread Proteins, Todd E. Gillis, University of Guelph on November 29, 2012 by Maryse de la Giroday.
If theatre is, indeed, a dialogue with the dead as Antoine Vitez and Tadeusz Kantor would both have it, the dialogue I am drawn to spans many lives and many more deaths to be replicated in as many variations as can be explored, from straight theatre to circus, through installation and performance.
Concordia University researcher Louis Patrick Leroux is one scholar whose work often results in that type of outcome. A professor of creative writing and literature in Concordia’s Department of English as well as its Département d’études françaises, Leroux has spent years intimately involved in what is known as “research-creation,” a process that fosters the development and renewal of knowledge through aesthetic, technical, instrumental or other innovations.
“There’s a real need to bridge the gap between the creative and interpretive disciplines.” Leroux says. “If we can make that connection, we can link the humanities more closely to arts communities and create an important dialogue between academic and artistic creation.” He is now doing just that with his new book, Dialogues fantasques pour causeurs éperdus, published by Prise de parole.
By blending dramatic dialogues and thoughts on the creative process, Leroux gives his readers a new take on what it means to create as both a passionate and academic exercise. Before being compiled into a book, Leroux’s Dialogues were the fodder for a series of performative explorations, some theatrical, some filmed, others flirting with peformance art and installations at the Hexagram Concordia Centre for Research-Creation in Media Arts and Technologies.
Dialogues fantasques offers an artistic way to understand the creative process and, in so doing, helps unpack the mysteries behind research-creation. Equal parts academic treatise and work of fiction, it is constructed in a way that makes the reader part of the research-creation experience. Even the book’s layout, designed by Concordia Assistant Professor of design Nathalie Dumont, invites the reader to think more about what it means to create and experience.
“There’s a lot of fascinating work that goes on in universities around the world that never makes it into peer-reviewed journals,” adds Leroux. He has been taking this message far and wide in recent months, thanks to Keynote lectures and conferences on research-creation at both Quebec City’s Université Laval and the Pontificia Universidad Católica in Santiago, Chile. He has also explored these ideas as a Visiting Scholar at Duke University’s Centre for the Study of Canada, as well as through his current position as scholar-in-residence at the National Circus School in Montreal.
The Hexagram Institute at Concordia, which Leroux directs, hosts a portal, Resonance, where you can view four of the Institute’s projects and the full text for the quote at the beginning of this post.
I wonder how long before someone decides to extend the exploration so it includes the sciences too.
I previously wrote about Concordia’s Jason Lewis and his work with poetry and mobile media in my June 29, 2012 posting.
This entry was posted in performing arts and tagged Cléa Desjardins, Concordia University, Dialogues fantasques pour causeurs éperdus, Louis Patrick Leroux, Quebec on November 29, 2012 by Maryse de la Giroday.
100 billion euro investment in Europe’s nanoelectronics sector?
The AENEAS and CATRENE organisations announced today the publication of a new positioning document ‘Innovation for the future of Europe: Nanoelectronics beyond 2020’ (pdf).
Highlighting the need for Europe to substantially increase its research and innovation efforts in nanoelectronics in order to maintain its worldwide competitiveness, the document outlines a proposal by companies and institutes within Europe’s nanoelectronics ecosystem to invest 100 billion € up to the year 2020 on an ambitious research and innovation programme, planned and implemented in close cooperation with the European Union and the Member States.
I’m not entirely clear about who or which agencies are making this 100 billion € investment. In other words, whose money? The answer is not revealed in subsequent paragraphs of the news item nor is it in the positioning document.
That seems like a plea for public funding than an attempt at public discussion.
AENEAS is a non-profit industrial association established under French law, continuing the activities of the former ENIAC Platform and representing the Nanoelectronics R&D partners in the ENIAC Joint Undertaking.
It allows its members to participate in the Joint Technology Initiatives and provides the European Technology Platform with a legal backbone.
AENEAS is open to all European key players in Nanoelectronics, such as large industry, Small and Medium Enterprises, research institutes, academia, and associations.
The recent EUREKA programme CATRENE (Cluster for Application and Technology Research in Europe on NanoElectronics) will effect Technological Leadership for a competitive European ICT industry. It is the ambition of Europe and the European companies to deliver nano-/microelectronics solutions that respond to the needs of society at large, improving the economic prosperity of Europe and reinforcing the ability of its industry to be at the forefront of the global competition.
CATRENE builds on the successful previous EUREKA programmes JESSI, MEDEA, and MEDEA+ in fostering the continued development of a dynamic European ecosystem with the critical mass necessary to compete at a global level in high technology industries.
CATRENE is a four-year programme, started 01 January 2008, and has been extended by another four years. This is in line with the changing landscape of the semiconductor industry as well as the present view on technology evolution and the time span over which most of the major applications will develop. Resources required will be annually around 2,500 person-years, equalling about € 4 billion for the extended programme.
This entry was posted in electronics, nanotechnology and tagged AENEAS, CATRENE, Cluster for Application and Technology Research in Europe on NanoElectronics, ENIAC, Enrico Villa, EUREKA, Innovation for the future of Europe: Nanoelectronics beyond 2020 on November 28, 2012 by Maryse de la Giroday.
This entry was posted in energy, nanotechnology and tagged A seamless three-dimensional carbon nanotube graphene hybrid material, Abdul-Rahman O. Raji, carbon nanotube graphene hybrid, Carter Kittrell, Chenguang Zhang, Gedeng Ruan, Gilberto Casillas, James M. Tour, Lei Li, Mike Williams, Rice University, Robert H. Hauge, supercapacitors, Yu Zhu, Zheng Yan, Zhengzong Sun, Zhiwei Peng on November 28, 2012 by Maryse de la Giroday.
Pound for pound, spider silk is one of the strongest materials known: Research by MIT’s [Massachusetts Institute of Technology] Markus Buehler has helped explain that this strength arises from silk’s unusual hierarchical arrangement of protein building blocks.
Now Buehler — together with David Kaplan of Tufts University and Joyce Wong of Boston University — has synthesized new variants on silk’s natural structure, and found a method for making further improvements in the synthetic material.
Buehler’s previous research has determined that fibers with a particular structure — highly ordered, layered protein structures alternating with densely packed, tangled clumps of proteins (ABABAB) — help to give silk its exceptional properties. For this initial attempt at synthesizing a new material, the team chose to look instead at patterns in which one of the structures occurred in triplets (AAAB and BBBA).
Making such structures is no simple task. Kaplan, a chemical and biomedical engineer, modified silk-producing genes to produce these new sequences of proteins. Then Wong, a bioengineer and materials scientist, created a microfluidic device that mimicked the spider’s silk-spinning organ, which is called a spinneret.
The different levels of silk’s structure, Buehler says, are analogous to the hierarchical elements that make up a musical composition — including pitch, range, dynamics and tempo. The team enlisted the help of composer John McDonald, a professor of music at Tufts, and MIT postdoc David Spivak, a mathematician who specializes in a field called category theory. Together, using analytical tools derived from category theory to describe the protein structures, the team figured out how to translate the details of the artificial silk’s structure into musical compositions.
The differences were quite distinct: The strong but useless protein molecules translated into music that was aggressive and harsh, Buehler says, while the ones that formed usable fibers sound much softer and more fluid.
Combining materials modeling with mathematical and musical tools, Buehler says, could provide a much faster way of designing new biosynthesized materials, replacing the trial-and-error approach that prevails today. Genetically engineering organisms to produce materials is a long, painstaking process, he says, but this work “has taught us a new approach, a fundamental lesson” in combining experiment, theory and simulation to speed up the discovery process.
Materials produced this way — which can be done under environmentally benign, room-temperature conditions — could lead to new building blocks for tissue engineering or other uses, Buehler says: scaffolds for replacement organs, skin, blood vessels, or even new materials for use in civil engineering.
For those interested in the work Professor Buehler is doing, you may also be interested to know that he is offering a short course on campus this summer called Materials By Design.
I wasn’t expecting to see managers and policy makers as possible students for this course.
I use the analogy of ‘quantum jazz’ to express the quantum coherence of the organism. It goes through a fantastic range of space and time scales, from the tiniest atom or subatomic particle to the whole organism and beyond. Organisms communicate with other organisms, and are attuned to natural rhythms, so they have circadian rhythms, annual rhythms, and so on. At the other extreme, you have very fast reactions that take place in femtoseconds. And all these rhythms are coordinated, there is evidence for that.
This entry was posted in biomimcry, Music, nanotechnology and tagged biosynthesized material, Boston University, David Kaplan, David Spivak, John McDonald, Joyce Wong, Mae Wan Ho, Markus Buehler, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Materials By Design, MIT, quantum jazz, spider silk, Tufts University on November 28, 2012 by Maryse de la Giroday.
I was reminded of the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona while reading the Nov. 22, 2012 news item on Nanowerk about printing cartilage for knees. Some years ago I knew a Canadian wrestler who’d participated in those games and he had a story about knee cartilage that featured amputation.
Apparently, wrestlers in earlier generations had knee surgeries that involved removal of cartilage for therapeutic purposes. Unfortunately, decades later, these retired wrestlers found that whatever cartilage had remained was now worn through and bones were grinding on bones causing such pain that more than one wrestler agreed to amputation. I never did check out the story but it rang true largely because I’d come across a similar story from a physiotherapist regarding a shoulder joint and the consequences of losing cartilage in there (very, very painful).
In this study, flexible mats of electrospun synthetic polymer were combined, layer-by-layer, with a solution of cartilage cells from a rabbit ear that were deposited using the traditional ink jet printer. The constructs were square with a 10cm diagonal and a 0.4mm thickness.
The researchers tested their strength by loading them with variable weights and, after one week, tested to see if the cartilage cells were still alive.
The constructs were also inserted into mice for two, four and eight weeks to see how they performed in a real life system. After eight weeks of implantation, the constructs appeared to have developed the structures and properties that are typical of elastic cartilage, demonstrating their potential for insertion into a patient.
The researchers state that in a future scenario, cartilage constructs could be clinically applied by using an MRI scan of a body part, such as the knee, as a blueprint for creating a matching construct. A careful selection of scaffold material for each patient’s construct would allow the implant to withstand mechanical forces while encouraging new cartilage to organise and fill the defect.
I believe all of the scientists involved in this bioprinting project are with the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine.
This entry was posted in medicine, nanotechnology and tagged Anthony Atala, biofrabrication, bioprinting, Dennis Dice, electrospinning, inkjet printer, Institute of Physics, IOP science, James J Yoo, knee cartilage, Kyle W Binder, Mohammad Z Albanna, Tao Xu, tissue engineering, tissue scaffolding, Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Weixin Zhao on November 27, 2012 by Maryse de la Giroday. | 2019-04-25T08:40:10Z | http://www.frogheart.ca/?m=201211 |
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Any day is good for a cookie — but especially a day in December.
And the crop of winners in our 7th annual Holiday Cookie Contest offers plenty of delicious choices for filling those festive platters.
Spices in general, ginger in particular, were a recurrent theme among the almost-record 106 entries we received in five categories. Fittingly, the Best of Show winner, Three Wisemen Treasures, sets off a happy explosion of spice in your mouth.
Jane Mathews of Franksville won the Fruit 'n' Nut category and Best of Show for these delicious, flavorful cookies.
Using a 1-inch scoop, drop dough 2 inches apart onto parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven 10 to 13 minutes, until golden. Cool on racks.
When cool, make glaze: Mix together powdered sugar, cardamom and milk and drizzle glaze onto cookies. Top with chopped dates and pecans.
Sue Shannon of Saukville won the Bar None category, and second place overall, with an addictive recipe she adapted from Southern Living. Among other things, she changed the milk chocolate to dark and added a sprinkling of sea salt.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 17-by-11-inch baking pan with foil for easy removal and cutting of bars.
Combine crust ingredients in a mixing bowl. Beat at medium speed until blended. Mixture will be dry and crumbly. Pat mixture firmly into the ungreased, foil-lined pan.
For second layer, arrange pecans evenly over crust in a single layer.
For third layer, combine the 1¼ cups butter and 1 cup brown sugar in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring. Cook 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Pour mixture over pecans. Bake in preheated oven 15 to 18 minutes, until golden and bubbly.
Remove from oven. Sprinkle evenly with chocolate morsels. Let stand 3 to 4 minutes, or until slightly melted. With a light touch, gently swirl chocolate with a knife, leaving some of the morsels whole (do not spread).
Sprinkle evenly with coarse sea salt.
Sprinkle with decorative coarse sugar, if desired.
Let cool completely on wire rack. Chill about 30 minutes in the refrigerator to set chocolate. This makes the bars easier to cut. Cut into small bars, as these cookies are quite rich.
Abby Schill of Shorewood, all of 14, won the Fancy Schmancy category and placed third overall with these tiny, tasty, jam-filled cookies. As one judge said, "They taste like Christmas."
In a bowl, cream butter and sugar, then add flour gradually, using an electric mixer. Mix in almonds and vanilla. You may need to use your hands to fully mix the dough.
Bake in preheated oven 8 to 12 minutes. Cookies should be golden brown at the edges. Place a thin layer of jam (a tiny dollop) on one warm cookie, and top with another cookie.
Roll sandwiches in granulated sugar.
Jill Schalk-Drury of Milwaukee created this tangy-sweet little cookie in honor of her late grandfather. The tiny, two-bite balls bundle together memories of lazy Sundays watching golf with him (a big Arnold Palmer fan) with the refreshing taste of the Arnold Palmer drink, a mix of tea and lemonade. The cookie tied for first in the Simply Festive category and for fourth place overall.
In a medium bowl, combine flour, salt and tea and set aside.
In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars until butter is light and fluffy. Add lemon zest and lemonade. Add flour mixture ¼ cup at a time until the dough just comes together.
Form the dough into a long log on wax paper, using the paper to help shape the roll, then place in the freezer 30 minutes.
Slice frozen dough into ¼-inch slices, or the size of a flat golf ball. Place on a parchment-lined cookie pan and bake in preheated oven 12 minutes or until edges are just starting to turn golden brown.
Alternatively (as for this contest), cut each slice in half and form each half in the palms of your hands into a tiny round golf ball. Bake 9 to 11 minutes.
Remove from oven and let cool on pan for 1 to 2 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Allow to cool completely.
Prepare glaze: In a bowl, combine all ingredients. You may need to add more liquid or sugar to get the glaze to the consistency you desire.
Set a rimmed pan under the rack, then coat cookies with glaze, letting excess drip into pan (use the drips as needed to finish coating the cookies.). Sprinkle with decorator sugar if desired.
Sprinkle with decorator sugar if desired.
Notes: Homemade lemonade is best, but if you have to use store-bought, try to get some that doesn’t use high-fructose corn syrup. Whip up homemade lemonade by dissolving ¼ cup sugar in ¼ cup hot water, then adding ¼ cup lemon juice (from the lemon you grated) and 1¾ cups cold water.
These cookies freeze well, ship well and will stay fresh for one week unrefrigerated in a sealed container.
Christine Felsch-Merten of Menomonee Falls took her butter cookie recipe and added cinnamon both to the dough and glaze for this pretty cookie, which shared first place in the Simply Festive category and fourth place overall.
In a bowl, beat butter, sugar, salt and vanilla together until smooth and creamy. Beat in egg yolk.
Add flour and cinnamon and mix well.
Transfer dough to a lightly floured board and knead a few times, just until smooth.
Roll into an oval-shaped log about 2 inches wide and wrap in plastic wrap; refrigerate several hours.
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Slice dough into about 1/8-inch-thick slices and place on prepared cookie sheets.
Bake in preheated oven 16 to 18 minutes or until golden brown around the edges; cool.
Prepare icing: Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Place cookies on a wire rack over wax paper. Spoon icing over top of each cookie and spread around until covered; sprinkle edible stars on icing for decoration.
Karen Hererra married maple syrup and pecans to create this winning cookie, the first place winner in the professional division.
Make dough: In a large bowl, cream together butter and cream cheese. Add sugar and flour and mix until combined. Pat into a square, cover with plastic wrap and chill until firm.
Make filling: In a bowl, using hands, mix all ingredients together until crumbly and butter is evenly distributed.
Remove dough from refrigerator and let stand at room temperature about 20 minutes. Cut into three even pieces. Dust work surface with flour. Working with one piece of dough at a time, roll out into an 18-by-12-inch rectangle. Evenly spread 3 cups of filling onto dough and press lightly.
Starting with a long edge, roll up dough into a log shape. Cover with plastic wrap and chill until firm. Slice into ½-inch rounds and lay on a parchment- or silicone mat-lined baking sheet.
Bake in preheated oven about 22 minutes, or until golden around the edges.
Meanwhile, prepare glaze, blending all ingredients together until smooth.
Let cookies cool, then drizzle with the maple glaze. Garnish with toasted pecan pieces, if desired.
Classic gingerbread gets a minty touch in this cookie from Tracey Catarozoli, the runner-up in the professional division.
In a large bowl, mix flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda and nutmeg.
In another large bowl, beat butter and brown sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add molasses, egg and vanilla; beat well. Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until well mixed.
Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place 2 inches apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake in preheated oven 8 to 10 minutes, until edges of cookie just begin to brown.
When cooled, make cream cheese buttercream: Beat butter, cream cheese and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar in slowly and mix thoroughly.
Frost cookies, then top each cookie to taste with crushed peppermint candies (before frosting sets).
These lebkuchen, adapted from a Better Homes and Gardens recipe, took second place in the Fancy Schmancy category for Claire Dempsey of Eagle.
In a large bowl, beat egg. Add brown sugar and beat until fluffy. Stir in honey, molasses and orange extract.
Into another bowl, sift together flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, baking soda, cloves and allspice. Add to molasses mixture; mix well. Stir in nuts. Cover and chill dough several hours.
Roll chilled dough into teaspoon-size balls; place on greased cookie sheets and flatten slightly. Bake in preheated oven about 8-10 minutes. Cool slightly; remove and cool on racks. Meanwhile, prepare glaze: Blend together melted butter, powdered sugar and orange extract. Add water by the teaspoon until smooth and drizzling consistency. While cookies are still warm, drizzle on the glaze.
Brown butter icing gives these cookies — decorated like snowman faces— an extra special flavor. They were entered by Kay Riemer of Waukesha.
Add 1 cup hot water to raisins in a medium bowl. Let sit 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together. Add molasses to raisins and water, then add to butter-sugar mixture.
In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and walnuts. Gradually add and stir into first mixture.
Divide dough in half and form each into a disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill dough overnight.
On lightly floured surface, using a floured rolling pin, roll out dough to ¼-inch thickness. Cut into about 2-inch rounds (rerolling scraps at the end) and place on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake in preheated oven 11 to 15 minutes, until puffy and tops feel firm. Remove to racks to cool.
When cool, prepare brown butter icing. Melt and lightly brown the butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Add half-and-half and powdered sugar and mix until smooth. Dip tops of cookies into warm frosting to coat evenly, letting excess drip off. Work fairly quickly, while the frosting remains warm.
Let frosting set, then make snowman faces with colored frosting gels, using a toothpick.
Note: This family recipe goes back to 1930, Riemer said. The original recipe called for 1 cup of bacon fat.
This adorable penguin cookie was entered by Marianne Baseheart of Milwaukee.
Frosting to act as “glue” for securing eyes and hats.
In a large bowl, mix powdered sugar, butter, vanilla, lemon extract and egg. Stir in remaining ingredients. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours.
Divide dough in half. Add black food coloring to this half. Make 1½-inch balls from the black dough.
Take the other half of the dough and split off one third of it for the beaks and feet; color this third orange. Make ¼-inch balls from the orange dough.
The remainder of the dough will be left plain white (for the penguin tummies). Make 1-inch balls from the plain dough.
To assemble penguin: Press black dough balls into soft rounded-edge triangles.
Take pieces from other black dough balls to form wings.
They will all look different; this adds personality to each penguin.
Press white dough balls into smaller soft triangles and press on top of penguin body for the tummy.
Form orange pieces into beak and feet shapes. Press onto body.
To bake: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease cookie sheets or line with foil (makes it easier to lift cookies without breakage).
Place penguins on cookie sheet. Bake in preheated oven 10 minutes or until edges are light brown.
For hats, take an inch of fondant (tinted any color you wish) and squish into stocking hats; stick them on with frosting. Use a small ball of a different color of fondant for the tassel.
Note: You can purchase fondant at as store like Michael’s. Or you can make your own: Melt 4 cups of marshmallows with 2 tablespoons of water; microwave on high (100% power) 1 minute. Then add 1 pound powdered sugar and knead it in like clay. You can color it with food coloring, if you wish. This makes a large batch, so unless you are going to use it all, you probably will want to just purchase a small box at the store.
Marianne Baseheart of Milwaukee entered these pretty lacy cookies.
Bring butter, corn syrup and brown sugar to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add flour and nuts and mix. Return to a boil, then remove from heat.
Drop by small teaspoonfuls onto foil-lined cookie sheet. Leave 4 inches between cookies; they need room to sizzle and spread out. Bake in preheated oven 10 minutes.
Cool before removing from foil. The “lace” look is formed once the bubbles have popped.
Note: Usually, walnuts are called for in this recipe. The combination of pistachios and pecans provides a rich, sweeter taste, and the pistachios add a nice green color.
This recipe is an original creation of Coleen Barnes of Brookfield, adapted from two of her mother's recipes.
In a bowl, cream butter, gradually adding powdered sugar until well blended. Add vanilla, milk and salt. Stir in flour. Chill 2 hours.
Roll out on a floured board to ¼-inch thickness, cutting out into star shapes. Bake in preheated oven until lightly browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove to racks to cool.
Meanwhile, prepare chocolate topping: Melt chocolate chips and milk over low heat. Remove from heat and stir in butter, vanilla and powdered sugar.
Top each cookie with a teaspoon of the chocolate mixture. Let set.
While chocolate sets, make caramel topping: Combine caramels and milk in top of a double boiler over hot water. Heat until caramels are melted, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and stir in butter, sugar and nuts. Then top each cookie with the caramel mixture and finally, with a walnut half.
This "simple, last-minute cookie recipe," inspired by "The Joy of Cooking" recipe for macaroons, has been Sarah Marowski's "go-to holiday party cookie" ever since she tired of making "complicated cookies with too many ingredients." Marowski lives in River Hills.
In a large bowl, mix together condensed milk, egg white, vanilla and salt with a mixer until well combined. Then stir in coconut.
Using a tablespoon, drop tightly packed scoops about 2 inches apart (they don’t spread out that much, so a little closer is OK) on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Bake in preheated oven 20 to 25 minutes until coconut is nicely browned. Let macaroons cool completely before dipping.
Dipping: Melt chocolate using whatever method you prefer. I find the double boiler method to be foolproof. Simmer about an inch of water in a small saucepan. Place bowl with chocolate chips on top of saucepan, making sure it doesn’t touch the water. Stir chocolate until melted. Remove bowl from pan.
Dip bottom of each cookie in the chocolate and then place back onto the parchment. Put cookies in the fridge for about 30 to 40 minutes to harden the chocolate quickly.
In addition to winning this year's contest, Jane Mathews of Franksville was a runner-up in Simply Festive for this three-way sable cookie recipe from America's Test Kitchen, which she executed flawlessly.
Place egg in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil, turn off heat and cover for 10 minutes. Drop egg into ice bath for 5 minutes and remove. Peel and discard white. Run the egg yolk through a fine-mesh sieve.
In a bowl, cream butter sugar, salt and sieved egg yolk. Cream until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes, scraping down bowl with spatula as needed. Add vanilla and mix. Add flour one-third at a time on slow speed until combined. Press dough together with your hands until a ball is formed.
Divide dough in half, and roll each half into a log about 6 inches long and 1 ¾ inches in diameter. Wrap in parchment paper and chill 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place oven rack in upper middle position.
Slice dough into ¼-inch-thick rounds. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased or parchment-lined baking sheet. Using a pastry brush, gently brush cookies with the egg white mixture and sprinkle with decorative sugar.
Bake in preheated oven until centers of cookies are pale golden brown with edges slightly darker than the centers, about 15 minutes. Rotate baking sheets halfway through baking time. Cool cookies on baking sheet 5 minutes. Transfer to wire rack to cool to room temperature.
Chocolate Sables: Follow recipe for Sables, reducing flour to 1 1/3 cups and adding ¼ cup Dutch-process cocoa powder with the flour.
Spirals: Roll out half the vanilla dough into a 6-by-4-inch rectangle, 1/8 inch thick. Do the same with the chocolate dough. Place white dough on top of chocolate dough. Roll until 9 by 6 inches. By hand, roll up the double layer of dough from the long end tightly into a spiral. Chill. Proceed as for other Sables.
"I'm quite certain this recipe came from my grandmother, Elizabeth Koss, or her sister, Elfrieda Miller, both bakers who used what they had to create wonderful treats," wrote Avis Chmielewski of Milwaukee. "Even though the name sounds unappealing, this is the No. 1 requested cookie by my adult children. I love its simplicity, and that it can become a canvas for as lovely, fancy, intricate cookie as I want to make."
Kay Riemer of Waukesha entered these sweet, buttery sugar cookies.
In a large bowl, beat together butter, sugars, oil, eggs and vanilla.
In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt and cream of tartar.
Gradually mix dry ingredients into wet mixture.
Roll into 1-inch balls and place on greased cookie sheets. Flatten balls with a lightly greased flat-bottomed glass dipped into sugar. (You will need to dip the glass for each cookie.) Bake in preheated oven 6 to 8 minutes, until a little brown around the edges. Let cookies cool 2 minutes on baking sheet, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.
It's hard to pull off a good cutout sugar cookie. Laura Rubin of Cudahy managed to do so with this recipe.
In a large bowl, combine all cookie ingredients. Beat at low speed, scraping bowl often until just combined (don’t overmix or cookies will get tough). Divide dough into three parts, form each into a disk and wrap each in wax paper. Refrigerate dough at least 3 hours.
Roll out dough on a very well-floured board to ¼-inch thickness. Cut out cookies with snowflake cutter. Place cookies on ungreased cookie sheets 3 inches apart. Bake in preheated oven 6 to 8 minutes, until edges are slightly browned.
Make frosting: Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Mix well. Tint a large portion of the frosting pale blue with food coloring for the body of the snowflake. Set aside remaining white frosting for the next step. Spread the blue frosting on the cooled cookies, sprinkle on sparkles and allow the frosting to dry.
Cut off the corner of a small plastic bag. Insert a small pastry decorating tip from the inside. Fill bag with white frosting. Decorate the cookie in a snowflake pattern.
Kendra Schimke of Milwaukee entered these subtly honey-flavored cookies, an adaptation of a Lebanese butter cookie recipe that she learned years ago.
In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and oil together at medium speed until well combined. Beat in sugar. Add the orange juice, extract, baking powder and baking soda and mix well. Gradually beat in flour, a little at a time, until a soft dough forms.
Pinch off rounded tablespoon-size pieces of dough. Roll the dough between your palms to make a round shape, and then press your palms together to flatten the dough into a circle about a quarter-inch high. The edges may crack a little; this is fine! It gives it that “sand dollar” appearance.
Place circles onto an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for about 16 to 18 minutes, or until golden brown. Immediately remove from tray and cool on a wire rack.
Dip entire cookie into warm syrup and immediately sprinkle with nuts. If desired, top with edible glitter. Dry on a wire rack.
Notes: To toast walnuts, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add walnuts and cook, stirring or tossing frequently, for about 5 minutes or until walnuts begin to brown and smell “toasty.” Cool before chopping.
The glaze makes more than you need to coat these cookies. I like to whip some into softened butter to create a sweet, flavored butter. Additionally, if kept in a bottle or glass jar, the syrup is a delicious substitute for those holiday old-fashioneds or other cocktails!
"I was making these cookies as a get-well treat for a neighbor the Sunday afternoon Aaron Rodgers rang my doorbell when he was filming the Annie and Aaron episode for ItsAaron.com," wrote Patricia Garrity of Shorewood. "By the way, he liked the cookies!"
In a large bowl, cream together the butter, canola oil and sugars. Beat in egg. Stir in vanilla.
In a separate bowl, using a whisk, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Add flour mixture to creamed mixture. Mix well. Stir in chopped pecans.
Roll dough into 1-inch balls and roll each ball in remaining ½ cup granulated sugar. Place cookies on parchment-lined cookie sheets about 1 ½ inches apart. Press a pecan half into each cookie.
Bake in preheated oven 10 to 12 minutes or until edges begin to brown. Cool cookies on cookie sheet 1 minute before removing to cooling racks.
Julie Cleary of Franklin adapted this recipe from one of Alton Brown's.
Sift into a bowl the flour, baking powder and salt.
Place butter and sugar in large bowl of electric stand mixer and beat until light in color. Add egg and milk and beat to combine. Set mixer on low speed and gradually add flour mixture, beating until mixture pulls away from side of bowl. Divide dough in half, wrap in wax paper and refrigerate 2 hours.
Add melted chocolate and vanilla to 1 half of dough and incorporate with your hands. Add egg yolk, peppermint extract, and crushed candy to other half of dough and incorporate with your hands. Cover both with plastic wrap and chill 5 minutes.
On lightly floured surface, roll out doughs separately to the same dimensions at about ¼-inch thickness. Place peppermint dough on top of chocolate dough and press together around the edges. Using wax paper or a flexible cutting board underneath, roll up the two-layered dough into a log. Wrap in wax paper and refrigerate 10 minutes or up to 2 hours.
Remove dough from refrigerator and cut into ½-inch-thick slices. Place cookies 1 inch apart on greased or parchment- or silicone mat-lined baking sheet, and bake in preheated oven 10 to 12 minutes, rotating pan halfway through cooking time.
Remove from oven and let sit on baking sheet 2 minutes, then move to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container up to 1 week.
"My Uncle Jerry would be crushed if he didn't get a box (of these cookies) from me for Christmas," wrote Terese Jackson of New Berlin. "They remind him of his mother (my Nana), who made them each holiday season along with many Italian favorites." The cookie tied for second in the Fruit 'n' Nut category.
Soak raisins in 1 ½ cups hot water plus 2 tablespoons brandy or Grand Marnier, if using, for 15 minutes; drain well, squeezing on the raisins a bit to remove excess water.
In a large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar together. Add eggs, one at a time, plus vanilla and blend well. Stir in pecans, coconut and drained raisins.
Place flour, cocoa and baking soda in a separate bowl; stir with a whisk to mix. Add dry ingredients and buttermilk alternately to butter mixture to combine all ingredients.
Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop cookie batter onto sheet using medium cookie scoop or about 1 ½ tablespoons of dough per cookie.
Bake in preheated oven 10 to 12 minutes until tops are set, rotating pans in the oven halfway through cooking time. Transfer to wire rack to cool.
While cookies are cooling, stir all glaze ingredients together with a whisk until very smooth. The glaze should pour from a spoon; if too thick, add more hot juice. When the cookies are cool, drizzle glaze over each cookie, allowing excess glaze to drain below rack. Let glaze dry before storing cookies.
Mary LaFrombois of Whitefish Bay tied for second in the Fruit 'n' Nut category with these pretty cookies with a refreshing flavor combination.
In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add water and mix well. Add flour, pecans and the ½ cup chopped cranberries, mixing well. Form dough into a log about 2 inches in diameter and wrap with parchment paper. Chill at least 2 hours.
Slice cookie log into ¼-inch-thick slices and place on parchment-lined cookie sheets. Bake in preheated oven 20 minutes, just until lightly browned.
While cookies bake, make glaze: Mix powdered sugar, lime juice and water until smooth.
Cool cookies and frost with glaze.
Decorate each cookie with 3 dried cranberries with ends pointing toward center of cookie in a pinwheel shape. Add a small amount of lime zest in each center while glaze is still wet. Let glaze set before serving or storing.
Gerry Cofta of Milwaukee entered these lovely cookies with the fail-safe flavor combo of cranberry and orange.
Into a medium bowl, sift together the flour, salt and baking powder.
In a large bowl, cream butter, sugar and vanilla extract. Beat in egg. Fold in flour mixture until dough begins to form, then stir in cranberries, orange zest and slivered almonds. Form dough into a log about 1½ inches in diameter and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill at least 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment. With a sharp knife, cut dough into ¼-inch-thick slices and place on baking sheets. Bake in preheated oven 12 minutes or until they begin to brown.
Remove to racks to cool completely, then drizzle thin streams of melted white chocolate on top of cookies. Allow to set.
Marie Weber of Franklin adapted an old Pillsbury recipe to create this sweet jam-filled cookie.
In a bowl, beat butter and sugars together until well blended. Add eggs, water and almond extract. Mix until blended. Combine flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon, then add to dough and blend well. Stir in oats, chopped walnuts and coconut. Chill in refrigerator 1 hour or overnight.
Slightly flatten each ball. Make a small indentation in the center of each cookie. With a teaspoon, fill center of each cookie with about ¼ teaspoon raspberry preserves. Place a small dab of reserved dough over each cookie, to barely cover the preserves.
Bake in preheated oven 7 to 9 minutes until brown. Let sit 1 to 2 minutes, then remove from cookie sheets to racks to cool.
Store in a covered container with layers of wax paper between. Cookies will be slightly soft.
Sue Shannon of Saukville was inspired by a friend's cherry-Brazil nut quick bread to create this colorful slice 'n' bake cookie.
Remove cherries from jar and rinse them. Press them between sheets of paper towels to remove moisture. With a sharp knife, cut each into at least 8 pieces, depending on size of cherries. Press them again with fresh paper towels to remove moisture. Set aside.
Take ½ cup of the Brazil nuts and finely chop them. Cut remaining nuts into larger pieces by slicing each nut into 3 or 4 pieces. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add egg and vanilla extract and continue mixing until smooth. Add finely chopped Brazil nuts and beat until incorporated. Stir salt into flour and then gradually stir mixture into the dough. Fold in remaining Brazil nuts (larger pieces) and maraschino cherries until evenly mixed.
Cut 2 sheets of wax paper, at least 20 inches long, and place on counter. Divide cookie dough in half, placing each half on a piece of wax paper.
Form dough into a long roll. Use your hands to roll it into a log shape. When the log is smooth and about 1 ½ inches in diameter, sprinkle red sugar on the paper along the length of the roll. Roll dough over the sugar, covering entire roll with red sugar. Roll it up in the wax paper, and secure the ends with twist ties. Chill rolls 2 hours in refrigerator (or freeze for baking later).
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 325 degrees. Remove roll from wax paper and slice at about ¼-inch intervals.
Place cookies 1 inch apart on parchment-lined cookie sheets and bake in preheated oven 16 to 18 minutes, until just slightly browned. Remove to racks to cool completely. Store in tightly covered container.
Coleen Barnes of Brookfield placed second in the Bar None category for these date bars, a recipe from her aunt Ann Johnson.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 13-by-9-inch pan with foil. Brush foil-lined pan with a little melted butter.
Into a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
In a large bowl, beat the melted butter and sugar. Add eggs and beat 1 minute. Add dry ingredients and beat just until combined. Stir in dates and nuts.
Spread in prepared pan and bake in preheated oven 30 to 35 minutes or until top is lightly browned. Cool 10 minutes and remove from pan. Cut into squares, then cut in half into triangles. Sprinkle powdered sugar over all through a sieve.
Linda Schakner of Glendale placed third in the bar category with these Banket (pronounced BON-ket) Bars. The family recipe is an easier version of the traditional Dutch almond-paste-filled rolled pastry typically made at Christmas. She added the lemon juice to brighten the flavor, as well as the food coloring, glaze and sprinkles, and the option to cut with cookie cutters.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease or butter a 15-by-10-inch baking sheet or coat with vegetable oil spray, then dust with flour, shaking off excess.
In a large bowl, cream butter, sugar and eggs with electric mixer until fluffy. With mixer going, drop in pieces of the soft almond paste, until mixed. Add lemon juice and, if desired, food coloring. Add flour and salt and mix on low speed, just until ingredients are combined.
Spread into prepared pan. Spread on sprinkles, if desired.
Bake in preheated oven until top and edges just start to lightly brown, about 25 to 35 minutes. Watch carefully. Do not overbake. Cool in pan, then cut into bars or with cookie cutters.
If desired, prepare glaze, mixing together all ingredients. Place baked cookies on a rack with parchment underneath. Apply glaze and then more sprinkles, if desired (if you didn’t put them on before baking). Allow to dry.
Marianne Baseheart of Milwaukee created these rich, buttery bars with a "tart burst of raspberry."
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 15½-10½-inch jellyroll pan.
In a large bowl, cream butter, ½ cup of the sugar and the egg yolks until well blended. Add the ½ cup ground pecans. Add flour and mix well.
Pat dough evenly into bottom of prepared pan and bake in preheated oven 15 to 20 minutes or until lightly browned.
Remove pan from oven (but leave oven on). Let cool 5 minutes, then spread with the jam.
In a bowl, beat egg whites with salt until stiff but not dry.
Carefully fold in remaining 1 cup sugar and the chopped pecans. Gently spread over the jam, making sure to seal edges and corners. Return pan to oven to bake 25 minutes, or until golden brown.
Cut into 3-by-1-inch bars while still warm. The meringue will crack and give a beautiful mosaic look. Bars can be stored airtight at room temperature up to a week. They also freeze well.
Note: This recipe usually calls for walnuts, but pecans make it taste so much richer.
Carrie Merten of Menomonee Falls entered this minty-fudgy bar recipe.
Melt butter and semisweet chocolate in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature. Stir 1¼ cups sugar into cooled chocolate/butter mixture until combined. Add eggs one at a time, whisking until smooth after each addition. Whisk in vanilla. Gently fold in the flour and salt. Pour batter into prepared pan, reserving one-fourth of the batter.
With a hand-held mixer on medium speed, beat cream cheese, remaining ¼ cup sugar, the egg yolk, peppermint extract and food coloring in a medium bowl until completely smooth.
Dollop spoonfuls of the cream cheese mixture on top of brownie batter in pan. Dollop with the reserved brownie batter. Spread both the batter and the cream cheese evenly together to make swirls.
Bake brownies in preheated oven 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center comes out almost clean. Sprinkle crushed peppermints on top.
Julie Cleary of Franklin entered these spice-laden bars topped with white chocolate, a recipe from the Food Network.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter a 13-by-9-inch baking dish; line with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on 2 sides. Butter the parchment.
In a large bowl, whisk flour, oats, malted milk powder, cardamom, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and salt.
In another large bowl, beat butter and brown sugar with a mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add egg and vanilla and beat until combined. Reduce mixer speed to low; beat in flour mixture until just incorporated. Transfer dough to prepared pan and spread evenly, using your hands as needed.
Bake in preheated oven until top is golden brown and edges start to pull away from sides of pan, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with white chocolate, then return to oven until chocolate softens, about 45 seconds. Remove from oven and spread chocolate into a smooth layer. Top with silver dragees.
Transfer to a rack and let cool completely, then lift out of the pan using the parchment. Cut into small squares. | 2019-04-22T22:12:43Z | https://www.jsonline.com/story/life/food/recipes/2017/11/29/2014-holiday-cookie-contest/874885001/ |
Special thanks to Sarah for making my floor project went nice and smooth. Along with Justin and Rob very knowledgable about floors, they help me chose the write floor for me. I will definitely recommend them for flooring projects to my family and friends. To matt thank you for the wonderful floor installation.
Just want to say I purchased and installed your cork flooring last summer and I am very happy with the way it turned out. I put in the living and dining area, and continued in to the kitchen and down the hall into the guest bath. The whole process of ordering and delivery and problem solving was handled quick and easy. I installed it myself and once the first line was down was a breezy. I would recommend it to anyone. My husband is in a wheelchair and it works great. Also have a dog and he doesn't slide as bad as he did on the vinyl.
I found this place by accident on my way to Lumber Liquidators, but I am glad I did. The pricing was significantly better than Lowe's, Home Depot, or Lumber Liquidators and we found the perfect floor that was exactly what we wanted. They receive a shipment every Tuesday so you simply put in your order and then go pick it up on Tuesday afternoon or evening. Great staff and outstanding product at a very fair price. You should definitely check this place out if you are in the market for do it yourself flooring.
IFloor in Tukwila really took great care of us. We went to the big box stores and couldn't even attract a salesperson who had time to talk to us, let alone answer questions. We happened to spot a contractor buying a lot of the product we were interested in and he was so kind to give us a professional opinion on the different choices. He also told us to check out IFloor's products and prices. They had just what we were looking for, and Sam and Sally were so patient with all of our questions. They were happy to give us samples to take home, which really helped us make a decision. Prices were the lowest we found, and quality amazing. The installers finished in a day and a half, and were very hard workers and detail oriented. We will be going back there anytime we need flooring again for sure.
Excellent experience. Clay is a true professional and very helpful with so much industry knowledge. No one else could touch the price. Super satisfied.
I'm writing today to comment on my experience with iFloor and specifically, Eric McLaughlin over the past 30+ days.
My initial contact with iFloor and Eric was truly a fact finding call. I knew bamboo was my target flooring but it is a new product for me. Eric was professional, product knowledgeable, patient and offered more information than I expected - he was very reassuring about what I perceived as my "bamboo lack of knowledge".
In a number of follow-up calls, Eric was able to answer all queries regarding iFloor - product manufacturing ,shipping process/expectations, company history, installation process, product damage resolution (God forbid!) and more. As usual, Eric was pleasant, professional, patient and reassuring.
Having no history with your company, I spent a good amount of time researching what I could find online. Eric addressed each question once again in a professional, concerned manner. Due to the time Eric spent "educating" me and making me feel the process is a partnership, I purchased flooring from iFloor - and Eric is the absolute reason for my purchase. As he described, the process has taken place just as he said - from ordering to delivery.
I need to note that when I place an "Eric call", if he isn't available, your entire staff has stepped up to assist with a positive, professional approach - a great reflection on each of the gentlemen I've spoken with - perhaps I should have kept a list of names - I have no doubt they know when I'm on the line!
It's a pleasure to work with someone like Eric - his commitment to both iFloor and the customer consistently shines through. He has a great sense of humor as well and that is so appreciated by me - it certainly takes the edge off the unknown in any situation.
We recently had vinyl plank flooring installed in our 1973 double wide mobile home. I chose a vinyl plank with cork backing. The installers were absolutely top notch. This old mobile had it's share of flaws but not a complaint was heard, and the installers were so skilled that I highly recommend them. The vinyl plank with cork backing is not cold, does not click, clack when you walk on it, and isn't slippery (except to our giant dog). How the floor lasts remains to be seen, but we are overjoyed with our purchase!
Very helpful good selection. Don't keep stock there.
I received my cork floors on Friday the 16th. Just wanted to say how well things went from the initial order all the way through the delivered product. Floors are acclimating and I will be installing them soon. Just a quick note to thank you for your help on the phone !! Great company and product !!
My friend recommended your site while I was shopping for flooring. Since most companies provide an average level of service, I expected that I would basically have to figure everything out myself, and if I needed support I could get general questions answered after a short wait on hold.
I was pleasantly surprised when I decided to request assistance via live chat. A sales executive immediately responded and was very helpful with all my questions and even provided recommendations on additional components I was unaware were required to complete my project. He also assisted me with my unique shipping requests, and even updated my shopping cart to reflect my requirements as we conversed on line.
I’m a local realtor doing a flip. I have checked prices and quality in many places. I went to the Lynnwood store and talked to Jerid Morgan. Zero pressure. Very knowledgeable. Great selection. Very good price. Ordered the flooring and it’s WAY higher quality than I expected AND Jerid informed me that I can bring back all the unused and unopened boxes- that’s a huge plus for me. Thanks Jerid and Overstock floors.
Repeat Customer. I am a residential re-developer and have purchased from this company on multiple occasions. The products sold here are of great quality and exceptional pricing. Best value I have found in the local area. The staff is courteous, knowledgeable, and accommodating which is paramount for me with my ever changing timelines and scheduling.
Super friendly and really helpful.
A few months ago I received a call that I was the April winner of free flooring from iFloor. Like most paranoid consumers, I thought it was a scam. However, the iFloor representative assured me (on more than one occasion), that everything was perfectly legitimate. He was just so patient with me since I had absolutely no idea how to begin ordering flooring. Now a few months later, I have brand new flooring that I was able to install myself with help over the phone. I cannot begin to express my gratitude to my salesperson and the iFloor company for making me one very happy customer. I have referred friends and intend on making future purchases.
AMAZING! I went here on a whim and ended up purchasing floors for my home. I have been looking for the right ones for over a year. Chelsea was a tremendous help, and Matt was phenomenal driver. He called with ample time ahead. He brought everything in the house on one of the most humid days ever. He was thrilled when I offered him a bottle of water. My underlayment wasn't on the pick ticket, and Matt was so apologetic. He made a return trip the next day a priority. I was able to returned unopened boxes of flooring and underlayment. I would ABSOLUTELY recommend them!
I wanted to let you know that it was very easy and non-problematic to deal with customer service at iFloor. I got my credit right away and everyone was nice.
My thanks to you and my salesperson! The installers are coming to put in the laundry area tile tomorrow morning. I'm very satisfied with you guys. I'm glad I made the decision to go with you. Based originally on your Internet reply to my question, I changed to using iFloor.
Thank you iFloor. My experience with iFloor was all good. Engineered flooring looks excellent. The only issue I had was the adhesives but that was resolved, thank you.
The floor looks great and the installers were OUTSTANDING. Very professional, courteous, timely.
I just wanted to send a quick note to let you know how pleased my wife and myself were with the customer service that we received from your store representative.
We are in the process of remodeling and flooring has always been on the list "to do." When we were referred to iFloor by our contractor, we immediately visited the Tinley Park store. Choosing flooring is about as difficult as choosing our children's names!
When we walked in, our salesperson was ready to help us in any way. She treated us like people rather than a "sale". She walked us through the different types of flooring, found out what type of subfloor we had, asked other questions and then gave us her recommendations on what style, type, and thickness to look for in a floor. When we left, we knew that we would be purchasing from iFloor because of the experience that we had at the show room!
Purchased a fair amount of two different types of bamboo flooring for the house. One of the orders had some problems - these guys went way out of their way to resolve the problem and make things right. I couldn't be more happy with their customer orientation; they even made a house call! Super highly recommended!!
We LOVE this place. We remodeled our upper floor and bought the engineered maple here. They are a wealth of information, the product is excellent, and their customer service is top notch. When we refloor the lower level, these are the guys!
1. Salesmen, and I found my store rep to be the best. I first watched his interaction with a customer before me and was well impressed. In dealing with me as well, he showed integrity, knowledge of product and was extremely helpful. A pleasure to deal with and you should be looking at him for a management position.
2. The product was excellent and I will be forwarding my salesperson some photos.
3. Dealing with you guys on the business end, including a return item, was professional and courteous.
I wanted to take this opportunity to let you know how pleased I am with the purchase of my Somerset Country Collection hardwood flooring. I needed over 1300 SF of hardwood along with the trim and a nail gun. Needless to say with that much flooring required I was bit trepidatious about making such a large purchase over the internet. I began speaking and emailing with my sales executive about the project and the various rooms and conditions I had and he was able to point me in the right direction of the hardwood that I needed.
The ease of the iFloor website also aided in my search. After much research on iFloor and after visiting other retail establishments to look at their products I decided that purchasing from iFloor would be the right choice. My salesperson alerted me to when the next financing special was to start and had me get prepared by being pre-approved for the credit. Making the initial purchase was very easy.
After the purchase was completed the follow-up by my salesperson along with the ladies in the Fulfillment Group was great. I knew exactly where my order stood and when to expect the various shipments.
I have several weeks of work ahead of me to get the new floor laid, but after completing my first room and seeing the beauty that it has added I am looking forward to the additional hard work.
Great selection, great prices, excellent customer service! The store manager Rick is fantastic, he is incredibly knowledgeable about this area, and is super helpful. Highly recommended.
Had flooring installed by your installers. They were fantastic. The floor was completed in one day with a follow up the next day to finish the trim work.
I can't say enough about these two young men, as they were very polite and extremely accommodating, even going out of their way to purchase extra trim that was not included in the order.
I would not hesitate to purchase material from your facility or have installation done by these most professional people.
The store manager in the Tacoma store helped us and she was great!!!! I sent her an email so here is a copy of that positive response. We are very pleased!!
"I just have to tell you right now...WOW, we finished late Sunday night and couldn't be more pleased. It is beautiful and went in with no mess-ups or mishaps. It couldn't have been more perfect, and we will be back for more kinds soon. We have a kitchen to remodel.
Thanks so much for all your help. We tell everyone about where we got our flooring. Take care!"
We chose to buy engineered wood floor from here and pay for install. We were very pleased with the process. They were helpful in choosing a wood for our family and the installer was so efficient that we ended up taking a few boxes back to the store for a refund. They also refunded the labor portion of those boxes because they said "we didn't end up installing those boxes." While I'm sure extra boxes were ordered to be on the safe side, I was still pleasantly surprised at the extra refund. My floors have been in for over a month and I could not be happier.
12/17 update: I still love these floors! And my house renovation is ongoing. From time to time I'll stop in this store for a piece of transition or a small amount of flooring. They almost always remember who I am and are extremely helpful!
I just want to say thank you to my sales exec for the smooth transaction and attention to detail. He is a true asset to your company. A great communicator, my salesperson answered all my questions about the WilsonArt flooring purchased. I truly appreciate a knowledgeable sales associate today when too many companies have lost sight of great customer service!
I received my shipment within a few days after purchasing online. It arrived in exceptional condition! The flooring is beautiful and WilsonArt has done a great job of making the laminate look like slate without the additional cost and upkeep of real slate. It provides a wonderful transition between rooms with wood flooring. The savings from iFloor was great as well! I saved 1.6 sq ft in comparison to a local flooring company!
Outstanding customer service, on time shipments, high quality product and competitive prices. After shopping around at big box and discount stores my wife and I were happy to discover this place. Robert took care of us before and AFTER the sale. He was very knowledgeable and helpful. We are now customers for life. Thanks Robert.
I discovered your store through your friendly web site. However my letter is to say how helpful the sales team at the Concord store were in selecting and ordering my floor.
I truly appreciated their expert advice and flexibility in organizing the delivery.
Rob was a huge help to us! He walked us through picking a floor and was patient with us as we weren't ready to order for a few months. He was never pushy. We used their flooring for a flip. We recommend iFloor to people all the time!
I recently wanted to purchase Armstrong laminate floor. The local retailers were not able to get this product for a few weeks. As I was in the middle of coordinating a major renovation of a lawyer's office, this was not conducive. I surfed the internet and found your company carried this product.
I ordered it with your very capable and helpful sales staff. The item came promptly and unfortunately a contractor who was doing the crown molding did not stain it properly to match the flooring. As he was being unreasonable, I called iFLOOR.com and explained my situation and requested that it be returned and another floor purchased. I was told that within 48 hours someone would respond. When I urgently explained this was not conducive, I was met with empathy and understanding and transferred to one of your claims associates.
Awesome hardwood flooring and Ms. Taylor was very kind and helpful. She was always prompt to return my messages and help. I ordered 1800sqft of wood and picked it up at the Athens store. It was in perfect condition and went down beautifully. I highly recommend them.
This is a letter of appreciation for a job well done on delivering my parquet flooring correctly, quickly, and in good condition. You were competing against other online flooring and while the rates for the flooring were similar, plus or minus 0.2, the shipping and delivery dates from the other sites were from 100 to 140 and up to 1 month delivery. iFLOOR.com charged 18 for shipping and the flooring arrived in 4 business days! We were able to finish our project weeks ahead of schedule.
I wanted to write to let everyone that reads these of my experience with iFLOOR.com. It is very easy to sum up, EXCELLENT!! Not only does iFLOOR.com carry all the brands at very competitive pricing, they also let you know gently of offers that might work for you. Every aspect of my order was no hassle and handled professionally.
I just wanted to let you know that I was very happy with my flooring order. The installer just finished the job today. We have already decided we need a new kitchen table and we started putting up the old baseboards and quickly stopped and decided we need to replace them too.
Our salesperson was most helpful in helping us make our selection. We used a mixture of 3,4 , and 5 inch widths and he helped us determine the correct number of boxes of each size and we had the right number of each width piece right down to the closets. He was also helpful in arranging for shipping and provided us samples. The samples were important because we made our own bull nose and transition pieces in our woodshop and we needed the samples to make sure that they fit correctly and were when the flooring arrived.
I own a interior remodeling company by the name of Edin's Tile LLC. I'd highly recommend Overstock to people who are looking to purchase new floors for their home. They are in my top 5 recommended vendors that I refer to all of my clients who are in the market for a new floor. Product is greatly priced, great quality and they get back to you quickly whenever you have any questions. And in the case of them not carrying a specific product in their showroom, they will go out of their way to locate it and get it for you! Which is AMAZING! As most vendors are only fixed on what they have displayed.
I thought you would like to know that I have finally finished my project of installing my own wood floors at home. I bought enough material from iFLOOR.com and picked it all up at the city of Bell in South California to upgrade 3 bedrooms. I'm enclosing some pictures for your use. I'm delighted with the quality of the floor and above all how strong it is. I accidentally dropped my 14v Power Drill on it, but it survived without a dent or a scratch. It is so easy to install. I did not a find a single defective piece in the more than 26 packages that I bought. Thank you for providing such a great product at a terrific price.
I just wanted to drop you a note and let you know how pleased we have been with your salesperson throughout our floor selection and ordering process. He was extremely knowledgeable about your products and amazingly fast at sending us estimates and order details. He is a big reason why we placed our order with iFloor.com.
I hope these pictures give you a better idea of how the floor really looks. Thanks again for all your help and understanding during the project.
A member of your sales team managed to help me with the floor issues I was having. I liked the fact that your sales person called me up and checked on things followed through with me on all items necessary. Your prices are very competitive and all my questions and concerns were answered.
I was so impressed with iFLOOR.com's amazing selection, and your sales rep has been so WONDERFUL as she helped identify some best options, send samples, recommend where I could find an installer, and walked me through the process of order the right product for me. I realize that many customer service representatives don't want to take the time to work with a customer - kind of a just figure it out or stop asking so many questions attitude - but your sales rep stayed with me during the process.
I am taking the time out of my busy day to write and commend your sales manager for his extraordinary customer service. I called today to receive guidance for an order I placed. My estimated arrival date was 1/29 and I hadn't heard anything yet. Fortunately for me, your sales manager answered my call. When I told him my needs, he went out of his way to apologize to me and then went even further and called the freight company for me while I was on hold with him. He was so polite and happy (not your typical customer service phone person). I know people usually go out of their way to complain about employees, so I wanted to take the time from my busy schedule to let you know how lucky you are to have your sales manager. Now, if only we could clone him and put people like him in all our customer service areas..life would be so much easier, and a whole heck of a lot happier!
Thanks so much to your sales manager for helping me, and even more for putting a smile on my face when I was looking for my order (usually a time when people get upset)!!!
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Kiwipolitico » Blog Archive » Chávez backs Gaddafi?
We Chancellor Nicholas: give another lesson to the far right pitiyanqui! Libya and its Independence Viva! Gaddafi faces a civil war!
That’s the Google translation and does seem to be in support of Gaddafi and is less ambiguous of the Aljazeera translation.
1.) Was it him using his Twitter account?
2.) Was it someone who’s authorised to use the account?
3.) Was his account hacked?
1. It doesn’t matter. Official head-of-state communications are rarely manned by the HOS themselves.
3. If so, they’ve now had 6 hours to issue a detailed retraction.
Neither of the above has happened and, as I say, it rings true.
I am traveling in Sabah so cannot comment in depth but the translation is roughly correct (the first part refers to the foreign minister sticking it to the yanks). The real issue is that Chavez has adopted the path that Gaddafhi took, starting out as a supposed revolutionary socialist (albeit not by coup, as in Gaddafhi’s case) and slowly turning his regime into a personalist and increeasingly kleptocratic cult. What Chavez and his minions cannot see amid their idiotic bluster about the supposed US role in the revolt is that this is their future as well unless they change course soon. The way things are going they will fall by coup, probably within 5 years. It has gotten that bad.
The Libyan crisis will result in “bottom up” regime change (as I have described before) but it will not be democratic in the near future. Tribal divisions will come to the fore and will result in internecine conflict between the current opposition (mainly along East versus West Libyan lines, which have significant ethnic as well as tribal divisions). That could even result in civil war, which has much wider negative implications.
Gaddafhi will be lucky if he survives, and I will not be surprised if his sons flee rather than stand with him at the moment of martyrdom.
You must admit, though, that the video of Gaddafhi giving a speech in a van while waving an umbrella and wearing an Elmer Fudd fur hat with ear flaps was friggin legendary. More proof that a complete nutbar can rule an oil rich country if he is ruthless and cunning enough at playing the divide-and-conquer game–and has foreign commerical interests as buyers of his resources. The parallels with Chavez are uncanny, and Hugo, by the way, has started to wear capes.
I have to admit, you’re growing on me. I loved your last paragraph!
I hope his sons (and daughter) do flee. It’s not their fault they were born into this nightmare.
In Libya, currently, there does appear to be cross-tribal unity to get rid of Gaddafhi so I do hope your worst-case scenario of post-Gaddafhi civil war is wrong – as I’m sure you do, too.
Lew, I think I would prefer to wait for official reaction from Chavez before condemning him. I don’t think I would count as an apologist (easy to sling that kind of term around, isn’t it?) but he was elected by popular acclaim and was entitled to strut his stuff, especially after surviving a US orchestrated coup. But he is blotting his copybook pretty fast, I would agree.
The lesson to take out of all this, surely, is that we should no longer actively support dictators, especially supplying them with our armaments (not that Libya fits into this category, so far as I know). It’s hypocritical and counter-productive.
The amazing thing is how countries that eventually do gain freedom from tyranny forgive us.
Certainly, Luc, my whole line of argument is conditional on the stated support being genuine. As I say; I will be happy to be proven wrong.
It is true he is better than most; it is true that he enjoys considerable support among his people. It is also true that Chávez has more than his share of those who gloss over his indiscretions and his increasingly autocratic tendencies in order to hold him up as the great saviour of socialism, and by extension of a political left which has elsewhere been largely colonised by neoliberalism. These are the apologists I mean. I am thinking mainly of people like John Pilger, who do otherwise good and important work, but too often find themselves defending various degrees of indefensibility.
All that would be good if it were true, and that is why I will be happy to be proven wrong. But I’m neither surprised nor especially disappointed about this apparent turn of events, which simply confirm my existing pessimism about the inevitability of socialist projects tending toward authoritarianism.
I also await with little confidence the response from those apologists. I fear that, if the support for Gaddafi is confirmed, rather than accepting the mounting evidence that Chávez is just another autocrat on the road to establishing his own dictatorship, condemning this tendency and distancing themselves from him, they will make excuses and evade the issue; minimise and weasel and generally prevaricate, couching continued support in situational special-pleading, exaggerated anti-American/anti-imperialist reasoning and other flavours of cognitive dissonance. When, to my mind, nothing should be easier for a leftist to do than to condemn a leader who endorses the murder of thousands of ordinary citizens bidding for change and democracy after two generations without it.
Of course, I’d be happy to be wrong about that, too.
Thanks for your response, Lew.
I’d go a bit further than you in your last sentence. Of course it should be easy for anyone to condemn what’s happening in Libya, and other regions where the malevolent hand of the West has actively assisted oppression.
I would say, when these dictators/autocrats take a country over by force, or win an election then turn anti-democratic, we should resile from actions that sustain these regimes eg buying their oil, even if others are lining up to take our place in the queue.
You can say a lot of bad things about Chavez but he has been reasonably democratically elected; Venezuela’s democracy may have its weaknesses but it is no worse than, say, India or Turkey. And Chavez’s rhetoric has always been in favour of populist uprisings. So to see him take the side of Qadaffi at this point is not just disappointing, it’s actually kind of stupid.
It is obvious that Qadaffi is done and dusted. I can’t really see what Chavez gains by supporting him at this point – except, perhaps, acclaim from other non-democratic leaders with whom he has friendly relations, such as Castro or Ahmadinejad, that he will stick by them if they ever face populist uprisings.
I had assumed, though, that part of the reason Qadaffi is enacting a scorched earth struggle is that he actually has nowhere to go. Which country would accept Qadaffi into exile? Not Saudi Arabia, the current destination of choice of exiled Middle Eastern autocrats; they have no love for him. I’d say even with this level of support Chavez wouldn’t accept him, let alone any less radical Latin American leftist leader. So who does that leave? I’d say Zimbabwe or North Korea would be his best bets. I guess if he ends up in the former he could hang with Mengistu Haile Mariam and compare notes as to what went wrong.
I can’t speak for others, but my support for Chavez has always been conditional. I suppose to a certain extent – internally to Venezuela – the idea that you can’t make an omlette without without upsetting some of the ruling chickens in the roost has informed how I filter what is reported by the western and especially American media. The propaganda against Chavez is unbelievable, and (like Lew here) it leads you to be hesitiant to believe anything you read coming from mainstream sources. A lesson, perhaps, for us all in how the west’s left was able to intellectually let the USSR get away with things for as long it did in the 1920s, 30s and 40s.
Large numbers of us might still gasp at the neo-fascist morality of a Paula Rebstock, but the reality for a place like Venezuela is the elites are all violent Paula Rebstocks and they will not willingly part with any of their wealth to educate, feed and otherwise allow the poor to better themselves. So really, I don’t shed much of tear when I see them being stripped of their possessions, humiliated, and run out of town anymore than I feel any of the current irrational nostalgia for the despotism of the Tsars. They’ve had their chances for peaceful change. They should be thankful if Chavez turns out to be just a Castro rather than a Stalin.
But if history is to be any use at all, we should keep striving to seek the truth, and if Chavez is turning into just another looney tune tin pot dictator, all we can do is cry for the benighted poor of Venezuela who Chavez is letting down.
I have gone from being a supporter of Chavez to an opposer of his regime. The big dream was that he would find a democratic way to socialism in the face of what has been rightly characterised as a venal, corrupt, murderous disloyal opposition that would rather conspire and coup than play as a loyal opposition. That was Allende’s dream, which I shared, but in Chile the disloyal conspirators won. Chavez, being a military man and having learned the lessons from the Chilean experience, has opted to abandon any democratic pretense and gone in a neo-Gaddafi direction: he has stacked his inner circle with acolytes and cronies, centralised all power within his inner cadre (under the banner of socialist reform), has clamped down on any dissent, and increasingly relies on Cubans for more than medical care and teachers (the two great achievements of the Boliviarian revolution, except that it was not Venezuelans who accomplished it). Are you all aware that Chavez’s praetorian guard are Cuban special forces? One indication of impending authoritarian demise is the reliance on foreigners for personal security in times of crisis–as Gaddafi’s behaviour clearly shows.
What bothers me the most is that given the lame and corrupt/elitist/venal nature of his opposition and given the tenor of the times in which he emerged, Chavez had THE golden opportunity to demonstrate how a good-minded, failed coup mongerer with huge popular support could transform his beauty-queen and scotch obsessed country into a democratic socialist (as opposed to social democratic) model. The failed coup against him was actually a gift because it clearly showed that the opposition and US are not interested in democracy in Venezuela if it has socialist characteristics. That was the opportunity for him to demonstrate his democratic convictions in the face of the obvious bankruptcy of the opposition, but instead he used the coup as a justification for clamping down and personalising the regime. What has followed is the usual dictatorial progression–purges of independent minded officials, censorship, vote-rigging and constitutional manipulation, public services provided as patronage rather than as common goods, restrictions on rights of assembly and voice, and outright thievery of public monies. All of this while the national infrastructure deteriorates, the violent crime rate and unemployment have skyrocketed amid an exodus of white collar laborers. So much for the promise of the Boliviarian revolution.
Chavez has failed his people miserably, and the fault lies with him and his minions, not the useful fools in the US foreign policy community who allow visceral “anti-communism” to sucker them into anything, however cretinous, that opposes it.
That Chavez would side on anti-imperialist grounds with someone who uses his air force and anti-aircraft guns against his (admittedly clan-based and tribalist) citizens is clear indication that Hugo has no independent feedback loops factoring into his thinking. It also suggests that his days may also be growing short.
Much as it made me want to like Chavez, the reality is the man’s bad behaviour is something a principled liberal has to oppose.
the struggle for liberation of which Dr Mugabe was a leading figure has turned into another struggle for liberation in which it was reported to us, that sadly Dr Mugabe is now the oppressor of his own people.
Such a statement from Chávez would be very welcome. Until such emerges, that’s one hell of a false equivalence.
Sharples/Turia’s support (and yes, support is the correct term) for Mugabe was consistent through months of unequivocal mass-murder/genocide. Rod Donald called Sharples out for being a Mugabe apologist in July 2005 (as per my link); Sharples only changed his tune in October 2007 (as per your link).
TBD, my recollection differs, and the selected quote was just the one which came to hand — but regardless, this is not a thread about Pita Sharples so I’ll let it lie.
You seem to turn every discussion in which you participate around to the failings of the māori party leadership. This is a worthy topic, and something I’ve been meaning to examine, but has been offtopic in almost every case you’ve mentioned it. Have you considered starting your own blog to write about it?
Lew, I have considered starting a political blog of my own. For various boring reasons, I don’t have the time/energy at the moment to do something of a high enough standard. So at the moment, it’s the odd comment here or there on KP and other blogs I hold in high regard. I take your fair general point about making my comments ontopic.
This is hardly news – Chavez has, like a number of other leaders before him, including Mandela, accepted the Gaddafi Freedom Award, which I think takes the form of a glittering sword, and has also frequently praised the regimes in Iran and Belarus. Much like Morales in Bolivia, Ortega in Nicaragua, Correa in Ecuador, and to an extent Lula in Brazil, Chavez has tried to build closer ties with energy-rich ‘rogue’ states like Iran, Belarus and Libya and also with China to increase his country’s independence from the US and EU. Ortega has been a vociferous defender of Gaddafi in recent days. Lula and Morales received old Armouredinnerjacket rapturously when he flew in from Tehran to South America a couple of years ago.
This cosying up to powerful or wealthy anti-US governments is an old strategy of left-wing governments of all ideological stripes – social democratic, Bomparatist-populist, communist, you name it – in the semi-colonial/Third World.
Plenty of supporters of Chavez have criticised his ties with regimes like Gaddafi’s – I remember the Iranian workers’ movement making a statement which supported the Bolivarian revolution but condemned Chavez’s claim that the Iranian regime represented a ‘sister revolution’.
I find Chavez’s characterisation of Gaddafi ridiculous, but it is no more ridiculous than Lew’s apparent desire to draw a line between some sort of ethical democratic socialist tradition, which we’re allowed and indeed encouraged to support, and a disastrous ‘revolutionary’ socialist tradition, which Lew, channeling Isaih Berlin and Karl Popper, has decided must inevitably lead from good intentions to ruin.
I can’t think of a single social democratic government, anywhere, which has had a remotely ethical foreign policy. The dusty icons of social democracy – Attlee, FDR, our own Peter Fraser – were up to their elbows in sleaze and blood. I know it feels good to draw nice lines between virtue and evil and to feel pure rather than damned, but serious historical and social analysis shouldn’t only be about feeling good, should it?
I can’t think of a single social democratic government, anywhere, which has had a remotely ethical foreign policy.
Sweden. Norway. The Netherlands. Denmark. South Korea. A few others. I coulds go on, is what I’m saying.
1. So what? Everyone does it.
This is bogus, because the case in point is not about Chávez expressing support for a dictator — as you say, this is a commonplace. The point is that he is expressing support for a dictator while that dictator is putting down an apparently organic popular uprising using tanks, anti-aircraft guns, the air force and foreign mercenaries, while urging ordinary citizens loyal to his regime to join in the slaughter. More to the point, the expression is not just of support for Gaddafi, but of support for these actions.
It is true that a very few other Western political leaders have expressed support for dictators in faintly similar circumstances — Central America, for instance. And there are cases of this sort of conduct being prosecuted by Western political leaders themselves, such as in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. But I do not seek to defend those; and nor, I should have thought, would you.
2. Nobody is squeaky clean.
What Hugh said. But even if this were also true, my benchmark is not ‘squeaky clean’; it’s ‘not engaging in the wholesale slaughter of citizens’. Yes, there are examples of this happening previously, but again: I do not seek to defend this wherever it occurs, and nor, I should have thought, would you.
3. The real world is messy.
Indeed it is, but you mistake my explicit support for democracy over socialism (when the two conflict) for a sort of Manichean zealotry. In fact, as I’ve expressed many times, my views accord more with Churchill’s quip that it’s the worst, except for all the other forms. For all my defence of liberal democracy I am cognisant of its weaknesses and failures. I mean it when I say I’d love to be wrong about Chávez — and I still hold out some hope for Evo Morales — but I’m simply not prepared to countenance the massacre of civilians, or open support for the same.
And nor, I should have thought, would you be, Scott.
I’m disappointed in the original statements by Chavez. It’s worth noting that he has somewhat backed off from them. Chavez is clearly very suspicious of the Western media reports and probably suspected that a lot of lies were coming through. It’s worth remembering that Western media have lied a lot about Chavez, so it’s natural for him to not have much trust about what they say about someone who he is matey with. In this case though, it seems that the media etc are being fair in calling Gaddafi brutal or whatever. He is/has been committing mass-murder. US has helped fund people to overthrow Chavez undemocratically, so that is going to cloud Chavez’s judgement when there are uprisings against his allies.
The trouble with all this talk of ‘apologists’ and ‘apologia’ and of the need to throw out one’s shoulders and straighten one’s back and take a firm stand for democracy and righteousness on an internet forum is that it puts the psychological and moral needs of the people having the tremendously important discussion ahead of little things like thought and analysis. One has to prove one’s righteousness in a ‘will you condemn’athon. But what does one sacrifice, in a completely abstract discussion on a forum like this, by being either anti or pro Chavez?
I gave examples of supporters of the Bolivarian revolution criticising Chavez’s foreign policy. I criticised Chavez’s foreign policy in print years ago.
I wasn’t aware that I had to renew my subscription to the friends of democracy club by issuing a new condemnation regularly.
The trouble is, as I mentioned in my previous post, that a little inspection shows that the club of the nice democratic left countries is vanishingly small, if membership of that club is to be determined by foreign policy. Attlee is out, after assisting in the recolonisation of much of Southeast Asia in the aftermath of World War Two and later following Uncle Sam into the Korean War with great enthusiasm. Peter Fraser’s role as an acolyte of McCarthyism and repression of debate over foreign policy in his own country makes him unacceptable.
Helen Clark sent troops to help spot targets for the bombing campaign that killed, in its initial stages alone, 5,000 people in Afghanistan, and allowed SAS troops to turn hundreds of Taliban fighters over to pro-US forces who executed them en masse. Clark was in on the Aussie-engineered 2006 manoeuvre with removed Alkatiri from office at the point of a gun in East Timor. She ignored the calls of Malaitans and committed New Zealand to a neo-colonial occupation of that island after earlier acquisceing to IMF policies which wrecked the Solomons economy and destabilised the place.
Where are we to turn for our democratic socialist saviour? Hugh appears to nominate South Korea as a tolerant social democratic society, which leads me to conclude that he is joking. He ought to try bringing a copy of Lenin’s On Imperialism, or any other Marxist tract, into the country. The Scandinavian states are generally able to avoid getting their hands as covered in blood as the likes of the US and the UK but they nevertheless depend upon the subjugation of the semi-colonial world which the US and its close allies and bodies like the IMF enforce.
Scott, I thought you might try to trip me up on South Korea. It certainly isn’t socially democratic now, but it has been in the past under different governments, particularly when Kim Dae-Jung was in power. And although South Korea’s foreign policy has been extremely unethical in the past, under Dae-Jung it was highly ethical on all fronts with the possible exception of engagement with North Korea, which I would argue, while unsavoury, was more ethical than a policy of violent confrontation.
But you know what, let’s presume you’re right. Even if you are, you’ve gone from “There are no social democratic governments with ethical foreign policies” to “One of the four socially democratic governments with ethical foreign policies you mentioned isn’t socially democratic”. That’s a considerable weakening of your position.
I don’t in any way concede that the Scandinavian countries and the Netherlands have progressive foreign policies, Hugh – they’ve just been over recent decades back room dealers rather than enforcers. I don’t see them repudiating the IMF and similar organisations. And in recent years we have begun to see one of the Scandinavian countries, Denmark, put boots on the ground in the service of imperialism.
The Netherlands has a past as a colonial power and at first tried to hang on to its holdings in Asia then ended up backing the ‘unity’ of Indonesia at the expense of national rights in places like Irian Jaya and South Molucca. Sweden’s postwar wealth was based partly on its cosy relationship with Nazi Germany during World War, according to many observers. Denmark colonised and oppressed the Intuit people.
Kim Dae-Jung’s election was received with great jubilation by Koreans sick of their country’s subservience to US imperialism, but he soon disappointed them by sending troops to Iraq. There were enormous demonstrations against that decision in Korea (I knew some participants), and Dae-Jung came to be seen, like Blair, as a poddle of Bush.
Scott, all of this so far is covered by points 1 and 2 above.
None of the rest of the world’s historical failings gives anyone a pass for supporting a dictator’s massacre in the here and now. This was not a matter of those other countries, or which of them are or aren’t socially-democratic exemplars. The whole line of reasoning is also a false equivalence, since none of the states you cite as having blemished international affairs records are presently using the airforce to put down internal rebellion, or offering their public support to those who are.
I understand your question, ‘who do we look to?’ and it is a good question. I make no claim to answering it definitively, but the point of the post was a partial answer: apparently not to Hugo Chávez, who seems to support dictators butchering their own citizens in service of certain goals.
Not a very ambitious statement, I’d have thought. If you disagree, it’s on you to argue why: this was the challenge to apologists in the last line of the OP. So far you haven’t done so, except by recourse to the three fallacious grounds of argument I responded to.
Scott, it seems to me that you feel it’s impossible to have an ethical foreign policy in a world in which the US exists. If that’s the case, I fail to see why you’d single out social democratic countries for unique criticism, since more right wing countries are no better.
Lew, I think the answer to the question of “who do we look to” is actually pretty simple, at least to begin with – not a state. There isn’t and probably never has been a state that practices broadly progressive goals. The idea that a model for progressive action can only come from a territorial entity with a monopoly on the use of force is pretty short-sighted.
The question ‘Who do we look to?’ and the complaint about having almost lost faith in Morales show what’s wrong with Lew’s method here.
Lew seems to want to find a democratic socialist government with an enlightened foreign policy to act as an abstract standard – a Platonist type or Weberian ‘ideal’ – against which to judge reality, and with which to critique unprincipled governments of left and right.
Lew’s decided, and quite reasonably, that Chavez and Venezuela don’t rise to such a lofty standard; he had hopes in Morales as the man who would light the way but these hopes are dwindling, as Morales reveals himself to be rather less than perfectly enlightened.
A cursory examination of earlier great hopes of the left – Allende in Chile, Peter Fraser here, Attlee in the UK – reveal that they, too, were rather less than perfect.
Lew seems to be a social democrat rather than a revolutionary socialist, but his method is not fundamentally different from that of some of the people and groupuscules that occasionally give revolutionary socialism a bad name.
We’ve all met the dogmatic self-proclaimed Leninist, who sees the government Lenin led as the gold template for all future left-wing governments, and who sees the outlines of 1917 in every new revolutionary crisis. This fellow is always being disappointed by reality, because he has created an idealised version of the messy reality of the October revolution and Lenin’s time in power. His template never existed in the real world.
There are anarchists who operate in the same way, with reference to the anarchist society that existed briefly in Catalonia in the ’30s. Then there are radical environemntalists who revere a sentimental, idealised version of this or that neolithic or hunter gatherer society and proclaim it as a template for the transformation of the world.
It’s instructive to look at the attitude of some important leftist thinkers of the past to matters like this. Marx was notoriously reluctant to lay down blueprints for what a socialist or communist society should look like. When he did point to rough models for such a society – the Paris Commune and the Iroquois Federation were two – he pointed to deeply contradictory entities, and emphasised their positive qualities without having to deny their negative qualities. He praised the democracy and grassroots organisation of the Commune, for example, but conceded that it had virtually no coherent economic policy.
Despite what his latter-day worshippers and critics say, Lenin could be disarmingly frank about the shortcomings of the country he helped rule. He more than once called the Soviet Union a ‘state capitalist’ country, because he felt he had been unable to eliminate the need for a private sector, and he also admitted that aspects of the old Tsarist state had been incorporated into the new Bolshevik state. He knew that history was messy.
Can’t we have a little more subtlety when we discuss contradictory, fluid societies like Bolivarian Venezuela? Chavez’s government has contradictory policies abroad and at home: this is not surprising, given the contradictions within the society and the contradictory world it faces. Some of Chavez’s foreign policy has been noble; some has been lamentable. We should be able to acknowledge the good without denying the bad. I don’t like the way Fraser locked up communists who criticised him and supported America’s crusade against communism in places like Korea, but that doesn’t mean I’m opposed to the free health care and state housing systems his government helped set up.
There’s a bit more context in this Venezuelanalysis article (just bits extracted).
He drew parallels with the media coverage of the coup against himself in 2002 with current treatment of information about Libya, saying that just as the media is accusing Gaddafi now, in 2002 he too was called a “murderer” of his people.
“I can’t say that I support, or that I’m in favour of a decision taken by any friend of mine in any part of the world, because we are far away, but yes we support the government of Libya and the independence of Libya, we want peace for this country and for the peoples of the world,” Chavez said.
I have to say that I’ve been disappointed in Chavez maintaining such ignorance (whether wilful or not), in what looks like a case of him trying to hold on to one of his few international allies. I do think though that his own personal experience is clouding his judgement here.
Scott, with due respect, no. You keep raising examples of isolated indiscretions as if I’m arguing that ‘rather less than perfect’ is what disqualifies a leader. That’s not my argument. My argument is that there are some decisions which, in context, must raise warning flags, and some tipping point of bad policy and bad actions at which a left-wing leader must no longer be credible.
My response is not to a bad symbolic foreign policy decision in isolation. It is part of a context which includes Hugo Chávez’ use of state power to shut down and imprison his opponents, and in particular to shut down media outlets which are critical of his actions. Certainly, some of this is justifiable; it is well known that he leads a troubled nation with a deeply corrupt business culture. But it does give cause for some concern. And it is part of a context which includes his repeated (and ultimately successful) attempts to have the constitution amended to remove presidential term-limits, and systematic work to weaken judicial influence over his administration.
These are undeniably authoritarian reforms which benefit Chávez. He may be laying the rails for some sort of leadership-for-life scenario, or he might simply be working to increase the degree of impunity he enjoys while he serves out the terms his people deem fit to grant him (in the absence of a credible opposition and media establishment), but either way it’s concerning. In that context, support for Gaddafi isn’t just an indiscretion, it’s a great flashing neon sign which reads: give this man power, and there is a real danger he will brutally abuse it.
If the strong likelihood of such abuse is acceptable to you, in service of the great left-wing project, then by all means defend it. (You haven’t done so thus far.) But I think that Chávez has passed the tipping point and, absent some reversal, he’s lost to the democratic left.
Juan Manuel, thanks for your assessment. Those statements speak to a concerning lack of perspective. | 2019-04-23T16:02:32Z | http://www.kiwipolitico.com/2011/02/chavez-backs-gaddafi/ |
This new paper has several points of interest: on one side it studies Canarians in some detail, on the other it compares NW Africans and Iberians (and others) in a way that I cannot recall being done previously. All through the use of autosomal markers (those that represent best overall ancestry, regardless of historical accidents of gender bias).
María Pino-Yanes et al., North African Influences and Potential Bias in Case-Control Association Studies in the Spanish Population. PLoS ONE 2011. Open access.
Avery similar graph is achieved with a different technique (PCA) in figure 2, with samples plotted individually.
Some overlap between North Africa and Iberia can be appreciated, however, as the authors note, this is smaller that what could have been led to believe based on autosomal markers such as Y-DNA. The greater (9%) North African influence in the Western half of the peninsula in comparison to the Eastern half (2%), also apparent in autosomal markers, is confirmed here.
Figure 3. STRUCTURE [K=2] results based on EuroAIMs.
[Note: EuroAIMs are one specific subset of autosomal markers, chosen because they vary a lot between populations. CAN and CBN are both Canarians but from different datasets].
La Gomera retains by far the greatest apportion of Guanche blood, showing a 43% of North African affinity.
Fuerteventura, La Palma and El Hierro also retain important Guanche blood (20-22%).
Lanzarote (16%) and the larger islands of Tenerife (14%) and Gran Canaria (12%) seem the ones that have received the greatest Iberian input, however they still retain some aboriginal genetics as well.
The island of La Gomera is also the one to have retained best some of the ancestral Guanche customs, notably the whistling language known as Silbo Gomero.
But I can't believe eastern Iberia has only 2% in common with North Africa, sorry. And what's the Iberian/European input in North Africans? I think it's a lot higher.
It seems western Europeans are somewhat closer to NW Africans than the Polish, Italians and Greeks.
What's even more interesting is they didn't find any West African DNA in Iberians, NW Africans nor Canarians. That contradicts the vast majority of studies I've seen, where NW africans show a noticeable % of sub-saharan blood.
It could have been even more interesting if other populations, such as East Africans and the Southern French were included.
"I can't believe eastern Iberia has only 2% in common with North Africa"
It has 2% of (clear) genetic input from North Africa, always according to this study. The figure is almost in perfect agreement with the Y-DNA marker E1b1b1b1-M81 (former E3b2) in Adams 2008 (discussed here).
That is also the case for West Iberian 9%.
I imagine that your judgment is intutitive based on phenotypes. However when I have discussed with you such phenotypes you always show very europid faces, not people who look typically North African (i.e. like Hassan II maybe).
"It seems western Europeans are somewhat closer to NW Africans than the Polish, Italians and Greeks".
I do not see that in the data. The horizontal and vertical axes in fig. 1 are not in the same scale. I estimate that Italians are c. 2 points from the NW Africans, while the English are at some four points and even the Spanish are at 3 points (you can do it yourself using Pythagoras' theorem). The vertical axis is almost trivial, measuring only 1.2 points altogether (while the horizontal axis has 5 points).
Maybe in this case, you visualize better in fig. 2 where both axes are more to scale in relation to each other.
"What's even more interesting is they didn't find any West African DNA in Iberians, NW Africans nor Canarians. That contradicts the vast majority of studies I've seen, where NW africans show a noticeable % of sub-saharan blood".
Not really. As soon as you allow the North African-specific cluster(s) to show up: it takes over very clearly and minimizes other components to virtually zero. You can see it very clearly in Behar 2010: supp. fig. 4a (at K=10) among Mozabites (Moroccans still seem to be asking for their own other specific component at that depth, what is normal considering the world-wide scale of that analysis).
However the authors here caution that the use of the EuroAIMs markers over-emphasizes differences among populations: it reduces "noise" but maybe that "noise" is important too.
"It could have been even more interesting if other populations, such as East Africans and the Southern French were included".
I listed Athaniasadis 2010 (its review) in the "see also" section: it includes Tolousaines.
Comparing with Egyptians, and other NE Africans would be interesting indeed, as they are supposed to be a major parent population of NW Africans. However in Behar 2010, Egyptians clustered mostly with West Asians and Ethiopians did mostly with West Africans and West Asians, rather than NW Africans (also but weaker connection). So maybe there's not so much to discover by that line either.
"It has 2% of (clear) genetic input from North Africa, always according to this study. The figure is almost in perfect agreement with the Y-DNA marker E1b1b1b1-M81 (former E3b2) in Adams 2008 (discussed here). "
Maybe these markers are not capable to identify ancient gene flow (+15.000) only some recent migrations, but many north-africans have European mtDNA.
"I imagine that your judgment is intutitive based on phenotypes. However when I have discussed with you such phenotypes you always show very europid faces, not people who look typically North African (i.e. like Hassan II maybe). "
Yes, there are many NA who look completely European.
north African, do you mean this?
He/she looks Asian to me. It's a very diverse region, and most N.A. seem to be heavily admixed.
"I do not see that in the data. The horizontal and vertical axes in fig. 1 are not in the same scale. I estimate that Italians are c. 2 points from the NW Africans, while the English are at some four points and even the Spanish are at 3 points (you can do it yourself using Pythagoras' theorem). The vertical axis is almost trivial, measuring only 1.2 points altogether (while the horizontal axis has 5 points)."
Surpisingly, Italians and Greeks are closer to NA than Spaniards, althought I read that the sample labelled as "Spaniards" included the French Basque!
"Not really. As soon as you allow the North African-specific cluster(s) to show up: it takes over very clearly and minimizes other components to virtually zero. You can see it very clearly in Behar 2010: supp. fig. 4a (at K=10) among Mozabites (Moroccans still seem to be asking for their own other specific component at that depth, what is normal considering the world-wide scale of that analysis)."
That's pretty confusing, because many NA show considerable negroid features as well as many sub-saharan mtDNAs (L1,L2,L3). supposedly due to the trade of sub-saharan slaves.
It's really weird that some Canarians and Spaniards as well showed 0% and others 96% of NA contribution!
"Comparing with Egyptians, and other NE Africans would be interesting indeed, as they are supposed to be a major parent population of NW Africans. However in Behar 2010, Egyptians clustered mostly with West Asians and Ethiopians did mostly with West Africans and West Asians, rather than NW Africans (also but weaker connection). So maybe there's not so much to discover by that line either."
I'm wondering what could have happened if the authors sampled Central or East North Africans instead of NWA. Most of these studies are focused in finding connections between NW Africa and "Iberia" (with a clear cut around the Pyrenees), but in my opinion other Europeans such as Italians and Greeks have connections with NA as well.
Who are these non-Iberian Spaniards in the PCA chart?
Or alternately, who are the non-Spaniard Iberians?
If Iberian=Portugese, one would think that one would use that label. Does Iberian mean Portugese + Basque + Catalan? What about the Southern French Basque or otherwise?
" As soon as you allow the North African-specific cluster(s) to show up: it takes over very clearly and minimizes other components to virtually zero."
Interesting point. In other words, the West African component of Canarians and Iberians is the same share of the non-European component as it is in North Africa. Thus, if Northwest Africans are 5% West African in origin, Canarians are 40% non-European, and Iberians are 10% non-European (to use round numbers to illustrate the math only) then Canarians are 3% West African and Iberians are 0.5% West African.
This implies, but doesn't definitively show, that Canarians and Iberians receive almost all of their West African ancestry through the filter of North Africa, which makes sense given that recent immigrants to these places from Africa would probably be excluded from the regional samples on the ground that they are not indigeneous to the area. Indeed, my guess would be that recent West African DNA contributions in the 20th and 21st centuries probably exceed all prior direct West African DNA contributions (as opposed to DNA contributions from West Africa via Northwest African admixture with West Africa).
The W-E differences in Iberia are clearly a Neolithic or older influence from North Africa. IMO they are from the Solutrean period, so this method is detecting well this influence that has some 20-7 Ka of age (i.e. old).
This influence is clearly not recent: it is not from the Muslim period (should be the opposite: more NAf influence to the East, or transversal: more NAf influence to the South) nor it is from the Phoenician period (similar patterns to expect, if any). It must be from an older stage.
When you see residual West African influence in North Africa it is mostly noise from the algorithms rather than true admixture. Or worse: lack of sufficient resolution because the algorithm is not allowed to go as deep as needed.
"With people who look typically north African, do you mean this?"
Yeah. That's a good pseudo-Khoisanid phenotype. She's probably from the Marrakesh area, where that type is somewhat common.
"He/she looks Asian to me".
Appearances are often misleading. She looks transitional Khoisanid-Australid to me but that's probably because my mind just don't have a well defined slot for that typology yet.
It is an ill researched region. I'm not sure it is so diverse (it's not that big). We should expect some affinities to SW Europeans and NE Africans, yet to be also different themselves.
Not sure. In fig. 2 both Greeks and Iberians contact (barely overlap if at all) with North Africans. Italians do not. This may indicate the strong (but old) North African influence in Greeks via Y-DNA E1b-V13.
"... I read that the sample labelled as "Spaniards" included the French Basque!"
No it says (text S1) that the initially estimates of such differences was found between the three populations using Northern Basques, Mozabites and YRI. But this corresponds to other papers (Price, Li and Lao).
Not so much Negroid as Capoid (your example) or, more commonly, Ethiopid. These may indicate (my best guess) a very old layer from the Aterian period and a more recent layer from the Capsian (Afroasiatic) period respectively.
"It's really weird that some Canarians and Spaniards as well showed 0% and others 96% of NA contribution!"
Indeed. As we cannot explore the individual cases, considering their particular origins, we are surely missing some very valuable info in these differences. Probably the high admixture Iberians and Canarians originate from communities where such apportions are common.
"... other Europeans such as Italians and Greeks have connections with NA as well".
Greeks and Albanians specially (permeating surely to Southern Italy too), indeed, as is evident in Y-DNA. This is some sort of Neolithic or Epipaleolithic migration that we have not yet fully understood (we see the genetics but we lack the archaeology). Theirs is probably original from Egypt, maybe via Palestine and Southern Turkey. It is also a founder effect and hence probably pre-Neolithic (or earliest Neolithic).
Andrew: the Iberian, Canarian and North African samples are from this paper (see Samples section), the Spanish and other European samples (except CEU) are from Price 2008.
In spite of label the "Iberian" sample is all from the state of Spain, mostly from the Southern half (and no Basques were included).
@Andrew: that is not what I think. What I understand is that, after all, Bayesian components (such as those generated with Structure, Admixture, etc.) are just an indicator of affinity.
At K=2 all populations are forced to be akin to A or B. Populations around 50% are probably not akin to either one (unless we know for a fact that they are an admixed descendant). Typically at K=3 and so on, new clusters replace the appearance of admixture. I understand that it is informative to find a good number of such clusters before claiming any real admixture.
For example we know that some North Africans and some Iberians are (most likely) product of admixture because we have first identified the North African and Iberian clusters.
Instead, at K=2 in Bauchet 2007 we get an appearance of admixture in all West Europe between a NE and SE components but this appearance rapidly vanishes as the three real West European (NW Euro, Iberian and Basque) clusters show up at K=3, K=4 and K=5. However no Italian-specific component was discovered in spite of Italians being rather well sampled, what suggests that Italians are largely a mixture of the other European components (though there may be Italian specifics hidden at lower levels, they are not clearly dominant, as the others are).
Appearance of admixture in such analysis is not necessarily true admixture. We must be very very careful on that matter: it only says "best affinity when forced to fit K clusters" - nothing else. Depending on samples and other factors you may need a rather high K to find certain important components. (Typical examples are tiny Bushmen or Papuan samples not showing up as distinct because they are just to small to "compete").
Not really. It implies that often, when Iberians are compared with YRI, they may show some such "West African" component but that only indicates a hidden (and larger) NW African component. Here YRI acts as a (very poor) proxy for North Africans.
"This influence is clearly not recent: it is not from the Muslim period (should be the opposite: more NAf influence to the East, or transversal: more NAf influence to the South) nor it is from the Phoenician period (similar patterns to expect, if any). It must be from an older stage. "
Unforntunately that's unknown for the moment, but I think some European admixture in NA might date to the times of Ibero-Maurisian (+20.000). Gene flow between the strait might have happened since remote times, though.
"When you see residual West African influence in North Africa it is mostly noise from the algorithms rather than true admixture. Or worse: lack of sufficient resolution because the algorithm is not allowed to go as deep as needed. "
Yes, in fact in some studies NWA seem to have their own cluster, and Iberians have an higher % than other Europeans.
"Yeah. That's a good pseudo-Khoisanid phenotype. She's probably from the Marrakesh area, where that type is somewhat common."
Althought you might not believe me, I still insist I've seen some Catalans who look much like her: slanted eyes, yellowish skin, flat and wide noses, very dark hair, high cheekbones, etc. I have recognized her Khoisanid features because I'm relatively familiar with them, but I admit these types are relatively uncommon here. Once you told me they can be seen sometimes in Andalusia. Giving the fact we're relatively close to North Africa, I'm not suprised at all.
"Appearances are often misleading. She looks transitional Khoisanid-Australid to me but that's probably because my mind just don't have a well defined slot for that typology yet. "
That's quite weird, because to my knowledge no Khoisanid, Australoid nor Asian DNA has been found among these Moroccans, but that doesn't mean they don't have any, because North Africa has been quite poorly sampled. I hope this will change someday.
"It is an ill researched region. I'm not sure it is so diverse (it's not that big). We should expect some affinities to SW Europeans and NE Africans, yet to be also different themselves."
Most north Africans I see every day at the street don't look like that woman at all. I think many of them are caucasoids and very close to south-western Europeans, althought others show negroid features as well.
"No it says (text S1) that the initially estimates of such differences was found between the three populations using Northern Basques, Mozabites and YRI. But this corresponds to other papers (Price, Li and Lao). "
"Not so much Negroid as Capoid (your example) or, more commonly, Ethiopid. These may indicate (my best guess) a very old layer from the Aterian period and a more recent layer from the Capsian (Afroasiatic) period respectively."
I've seen some Aterian skulls (or associated with this industry) dated 25.000-60.000 BP (Dar es Soltan, Temara), and to me they don't look like present day North Africans. Well, in fact, they don't even look Homo sapiens!! I like to think the dates are wrong, and these skulls are more than 100.000 years old. Do you know if any other skulls associated with Aterian have been found? I read somewhere some Aterian skulls are very similar to these of Ibero-Maurisians, but I'm not sure.
"Theirs is probably original from Egypt, maybe via Palestine and Southern Turkey. It is also a founder effect and hence probably pre-Neolithic (or earliest Neolithic)."
I've seen some blue-eyed and big-nosed North-east africans that remind me a lot of many people living in southern Europe. Maybe they arrived during the Epipaeolithic or Neolithic? On the other hand, Southern Italians, Sicilians and Sardinians may have north African input as well, but it's impossible to date this gene flow, it could be very ancient,at least in the case of Sardinians.
"If Iberian=Portugese, one would think that one would use that label. Does Iberian mean Portugese + Basque + Catalan? What about the Southern French Basque or otherwise?"
In Spain, you learn at school that the Iberians were an ancient people who lived in the east of the Iberian peninsula and some areas of south-eastern France until the arrival of the Romans. This culture started around 500 BC and lasted with the Roman empire.
The other half of the peninsula was inhabited, not by Iberians, but CELTS, like those of Ireland and Scotland. There were many other tribes/ethicies there before the arrival of the Romans.
Today, many people living in the Iberian peninsula don't even know who/what are the Iberians. It's a word invented by Americans to describe the peoples living down the Pyrenees.
These peoples are not the same, and many, like Catalans, Occitans and Basques live in both sides of the Pyrenees and show noticeable differences in their cultures and languages.
Then we have the official contries like Portugal and Spain, but what I mean is that no one is Iberian here. I mean, this designation is quite incorrect, because the Iberians became extinct 2000 years ago, so, why shouldn't we call it better "Hispania" "Al-Andalus" or "Visigothia" or "Frankia"?
It's not that I do not believe you but that the pictures you have provided as references were not at all that type but pretty much normal Europeans.
But it makes perfect sense if you think these types (this range of variation rather) as common in the time of the OoA, maybe even dominant then. I have seen Pygmies who have Papuan faces, Wallaceans (East Indonesians) who look pretty much like that Moroccan lady, Indians who look like Australians (in spite of not sharing any genetics since the Eurasian scatter), etc.
It's reasonable to think that some types that look both archaic and more or less shared across the globe like these are relics from our shared ancestry and probably approach better how (most) humans were at the OoA time-frame than modern regional variants ("races").
Have you ever tried to blend a Nigerian, European and Chinese face? The mix might well look like that - not sure because I have not tried but it's a good guess. But that does not mean that this real face is a blend but a distinct shared relative instead, another less common, less regionally specific, and hence less archetypal branch.
"I like to think the dates are wrong, and these skulls are more than 100.000 years old".
That's more or less the age for Aterian considered today (though there seems to be much uncertainty).
"Do you know if any other skulls associated with Aterian have been found?"
I'm not aware at the moment.
"... they don't even look Homo sapiens!!"
To me and most paleoanthropologists they do.
"I read somewhere some Aterian skulls are very similar to these of Ibero-Maurisians, but I'm not sure".
Skulls from the Iberomaurusian (Oranian) period are typically related to the European Cro-Magnon type.
Why do you say that? How would that be different from Greek admixture, which is probably high in South Italy?
Whatever the case, I do not think that there is any indicator of direct Italy-North Africa gene flow. All (and is not much in any case) seems mediated by either SW Europe (Iberia) or SE Europe (Greece and Albania).
You are anyhow making claims without providing any evidence, I'm not sure how seriously I must take them. Apparent affinity in a bidimensional plot is not the same as admixture, it may just indicate an ancient common origin in West Asia, for instance.
Pointless. In this paper Iberian is used in the same sense as the Iberian Anarchist Federation: i.e. Spain by another name. See the samples section.
"It's not that I do not believe you but that the pictures you have provided as references were not at all that type but pretty much normal Europeans."
I recognize that these Catalan actresses I put vaguely resemble the Moroccan woman, except perhaps for the skin tone, but unfortunately I can't take photos from these people without their permission, and it would take a week to explain why and convince them :( but they remind me a lot Hassan II and that woman.
"But it makes perfect sense if you think these types (this range of variation rather) as common in the time of the OoA, maybe even dominant then. I have seen Pygmies who have Papuan faces, Wallaceans (East Indonesians) who look pretty much like that Moroccan lady, Indians who look like Australians (in spite of not sharing any genetics since the Eurasian scatter), etc."
That's really interesting I think, althought no one has found a link between NW Africa and OoA, for the moment.
"Have you ever tried to blend a Nigerian, European and Chinese face? The mix might well look like that - not sure because I have not tried but it's a good guess. But that does not mean that this real face is a blend but a distinct shared relative instead, another less common, less regionally specific, and hence less archetypal branch."
LOL no, but I understand what you mean.
"To me and most paleoanthropologists they do."
In any case, I don't see any connection between these skulls and the pseudo-Khoisanid NAs, but that's my opinion.
"Why do you say that? How would that be different from Greek admixture, which is probably high in South Italy?"
I'm not an expert, but there was a Moorish occupation of the island.
As for Sardinia, they have a very high % of an old North-African haplotype, and no one knows how and when it arrived there.
I have discussed at Leherensuge (and linked in the "see also" section of this article, which you may find interesting to browse) that some L(xM,N) lineages appear to be not "Sub-Saharan" but Arabian (L0a1c, L0f2, L0k2, L6, L4a, L3i) or North African (L2a1j, L3b1, L3d1c, L3k).
These lineages appear to have an age (my estimates) close to that of M and N and hence would have coalesced about the time of the OoA, which by now is pretty clear that happened at least c. 90 Ka ago (roughly the age of Aterian).
"In any case, I don't see any connection between these skulls and the pseudo-Khoisanid NAs, but that's my opinion".
I'm not saying that these skulls should render that phenotype (faithfully reconstructing the soft parts from a skull is almost impossible) but that these archaic H. sapiens (they are) are probably in part ancestors of the modern H. sapiens who display these features.
Regarding Mathilda's article (link to source is now broken), it's just a haplotype (no haplogroup was identified) and hence surely a false alarm by some obsessive Nordicist (my guess but typical). I do not think it's relevant.
"... there was a Moorish occupation of the island".
But for only 100 years. It was surely a very shallow military occupation without any long term effects. Spain occupied Fernando Poo (Equatorial Guinea) for centuries and nobody expects to find any Spanish lineages in the island right now. There may be one or two... sure.
Similarly we do not find Spanish lineages in the Philippines either and it was an occupation of several centuries too. It is in fact easier to find Filipino lineages in Mexico as result.
The HLA haplotype is also very much unreliable. Some people just see things.
No offense meant, just that the connection is so fuzzy, so weak, that it doesn't really matter.
"I have discussed at Leherensuge (and linked in the "see also" section of this article, which you may find interesting to browse) that some L(xM,N) lineages appear to be not "Sub-Saharan" but Arabian (L0a1c, L0f2, L0k2, L6, L4a, L3i) or North African (L2a1j, L3b1, L3d1c, L3k). "
Very interesting indeed, but these data suggests a southern route for the OoA via Ethiopia --> Arabia, that's what has been proposed recently. Maybe Skhul/Qafzeh dataed +90.000 carried these mtDNA haplogroups?
"I'm not saying that these skulls should render that phenotype (faithfully reconstructing the soft parts from a skull is almost impossible) but that these archaic H. sapiens (they are) are probably in part ancestors of the modern H. sapiens who display these features."
Unfortunately, we just don't know. Some say it's possible these Aterians got extinct with the extremely arid conditions of the area by 60 Ka, while others think they migrated to south. An interesting paper from 2006 found 5% of archaic admixture in West Africans, maybe it has something to do these Aterians, althought the continuity we see with Aterian in the region, since 100.000 until 30.000 might suggest some sort of cultural and genetic continuity as well.
We just don't know what happened to these people and to what degree they're related with modern humans. DNA tests on these ancient fossils could clarify it.
"No offense meant, just that the connection is so fuzzy, so weak, that it doesn't really matter."
As I said above, I'm not an expert. I've seen lots of studies who contradict each other with this issue, some claiming there's no contribution from north Africa, and others it was very important (20%) at least in Spaniards.
mtDNA/Y-chromosome can't tell us what was the level of gene flow, because they just account for a tiny fraction of our genomes.
The 1000 genomes project could clarify better what are the relationships between Europe and North Africa, and the degree of admixture.
I did not meant the OoA as such but the processes that include the OoA. That time, that expansiveness... not necessarily the same exact migration.
Actually I do not find anything that can be directly attributed to the Palestinian sites. The lineages appear to be concentrated in Arabia Peninsula and North Africa. So it fits best with the coastal migration model (with whatever technical caveats you or Petraglia wish).
What these lineages suggest to me is that at the time of the OoA there were peoples migrating across the Sahara (Nile or the other river that existed for several millennia and ended up in Libya) and also across the Red Sea into Arabia (and beyond).
As for Aterians, I am almost certain that they subsisted... because their characteristic back-tipped points do even when other peoples arrive from Egypt or Iberia. However their genetic share was diluted more and more (but it is still there).
"mtDNA/Y-chromosome can't tell us what was the level of gene flow, because they just account for a tiny fraction of our genomes".
MtDNA is quite faithful. You are right in principle but more when applied to individuals. When we consider populations, haploid markers tell us a lot, notably the mtDNA.
"I have a question: how did you know these Moroccan person I put is a woman and not a man? For me it's very difficult to tell..."
In truth I do not know. My first impression was of a woman but maybe not.
"This influence is clearly not recent: it is not from the Muslim period (should be the opposite: more NAf influence to the East, or transversal: more NAf influence to the South) nor it is from the Phoenician period (similar patterns to expect, if any). It must be from an older stage"
... the could it be form the first Iberians who according to some historians originally came from North Africa?
Uh? Which are those "some historians"?
It is a most unlikely origin because Iberian (nor Tartessian for all that is known) is not related to Berber.
A one-dimensional universe at the Big Bang? | 2019-04-19T04:53:54Z | https://forwhattheywereweare.blogspot.com/2011/04/canarians-nw-africans-iberians-etc-from.html |
a b s t r a c t The phenolic profiles of extra virgin olive oils (EVOOs) may influence their cardiovascular benefits. In a randomized crossover of acute EVOO intake on platelet function, participants (n = 9) consumed 40 mL of EVOO weekly. EVOOs were matched for total phenolic content and were either tyrosol-poor with 1:2 oleacein/oleocanthal (D2i0.5), or 2:1 oleacein/oleocanthal (D2i2), or predominantly tyrosol (D2i0). Ibuprofen provided a platelet inhibition control. Blood was collected pre- and 2 h post-EVOO intake. D2i0.5 and D2i2 reduced 1 mg/mL collagen-stimulated maximum platelet aggregation (Pmax), with effects best correlated to oleocanthal intake (R = 0.56, P = 0.002). Total phenolic intake was independently correlated to eicosanoid production inhibition, suggesting that cyclooxygenase blockade was not responsible for the Pmax inhibition. Five participants exhibited >25% DPmax declines with D2i0.5 and D2i2 intake and plasma metabolomic profiles discriminated subjects by oil responsivity. Platelet responses to acute EVOO intake are associated with oil phenolic composition and may be influenced by diet. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
1. Introduction Abbreviations: AA, arachidonic acid; ADP, adenosine diphosphate; AICc, corrected Akaike Information Criterion; BIC, Bayesian Information Criterion; COX, cyclooxygenase; D1i, sum of an extra virgin olive oil’s oleocanthal and oleacein concentrations; D2i, oleocanthal/oleacein ratio for an extra virgin olive oil; D2i0, extra virgin olive oil with undetectable oleocanthal and oleacein; D2i0.5, extra virgin olive oil with 1:2 oleacein/oleocanthal; D2i2, extra virgin olive oil with 2:1 oleacein/oleocanthal; DAD, diode array detector; EVOO, extra virgin olive oil; HETE, hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid; LOX, lipoxygenase; PG, prostaglandin; PLS-DA, partial least squares-discriminant analysis; Pmax, maximum platelet aggregation; qNMR, quantitative 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy; TXB2, thromboxane B2; UPLC, ultra-performance liquid chromatography; D[COX + LOX], changes in sum of cyclooxygenase- and lipoxygenase-derived lipid mediators. ⇑ Corresponding author at: 430 W Health Sciences Drive, Davis, CA 95616, USA. E-mail addresses: [email protected] (K. Agrawal), [email protected] (E. Melliou), [email protected] (X. Li), [email protected] (T.L. Pedersen), [email protected] (S.C. Wang), [email protected] (P. Magiatis), [email protected] (J.W. Newman), [email protected] (R.R. Holt). 1 Present Address: Advanced Analytics, 118 First Street, Woodland, CA 95695, USA. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jff.2017.06.046 1756-4646/Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Recent dietary guidelines have moved towards promoting healthy dietary patterns that encourage the intake of a synergy of nutrients for the prevention of chronic disease (Mozaffarian, 2016). While the potential benefit of dietary patterns such as a Mediterranean diet are suggested from epidemiological observations and large controlled dietary interventions (Estruch et al., 2013; Mozaffarian, 2016), adaptation of these results to recommendations for diverse population groups can have several challenges, which include assessing the role of diet coupled to genetic variation and environmental influences. Further refinement of dietary recommendations is also complicated by the knowledge that varietal differences, as well as agricultural and manufacturing practices can affect the final nutrient content of the food product of interest (Mozaffarian, 2016).
each containing an equivalent total phenolic content, on platelet reactivity in healthy adults. We hypothesize that the intake of oleocanthal-rich EVOO will reduce platelet aggregation to a greater extent than olive oils containing a lesser amount of oleocanthal, and that these effects will be related to changes in COXdependent oxygenated lipids but not the 5-LOX-dependent or auto-oxidative polyunsaturated fatty acid metabolites.
2. Materials and methods 2.1. Study design A double-blind, randomized controlled crossover study tested the acute effects of ingesting three unique EVOOs on platelet aggregation. Randomization was performed following a plan formulated via a random number generator and all participants were randomized in one block. All EVOO were provided in coded bottles of similar size, shape and color. Therefore, the investigators responsible for the conduct of the intervention trial and the study participants were blinded as to the specific EVOO provided for any given study day. This study was conducted according to the guidelines laid down in the Declaration of Helsinki and all procedures involving human subjects were approved by the institutional review board of the University of California, Davis. Written informed consent was obtained from all subjects before inclusion in the study. This study is also registered with ClinicalTrials.gov as NCT02902913. Participants were asked to participate in four study days, separated by at least one week (7.4 ± 1.6 days; one of 27 subject visits involving EVOO consumption occurred 14 days after the proceeding visit), at the University of California Davis, Department of Nutrition, Ragle Human Nutrition Center. For the first three study visits, the volunteers were asked to consume 40 mL of their assigned EVOO within 5 min. On the fourth and final study visit, participants consumed one 400 mg dose of ibuprofen by mouth. Participants were asked to refrain from taking drugs that are known or may affect platelet function (e.g. acetaminophen, aspirin and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) or consuming olive oil for at least one week prior to their first study day visit, and throughout the study period. Subjects were also asked to refrain from consumption of foods previously described to affect platelet function for at least 24 h prior to each study visit. A list of these foods was provided to the subjects during recruitment, and included phenolic- and polyphenol-rich foods, such as, cocoa products, coffee, tea, wine, other grape products and other colorful fruits and vegetables (Holt, Heiss, Kelm, & Keen, 2012; Miller, Rice, Garrett, & Stein, 2014). Dietary compliance was confirmed via questioning of the individual participants upon their arrival to the facility. Prior to each study day, volunteers were asked to participate in an overnight fast (no food or water 12 h prior to their scheduled visit). See Fig. A.1 for a diagrammatic representation of the study design.
lifestyle intervention; any self-reported bleeding or coagulation disorder. 2.3. Olive oil selection and characterization Olives (Olea europaea L.) harvested between November 2014 and January 2015 were used to generate EVOOs discussed in this study. In preparation for this study, 300 commercial samples were screened from Greece and California for chemical composition analysis. Oils were first selected to include extra virgin grades with similar total phenolic content as determined by the Folin-Ciocalteu method (Garcia, Coelho, Costa, Pinto, & Paiva-Martins, 2013), similar lipid profiles (International Olive Oil Council, 2001), and similar peroxide values (AOAC International, 2013). The subset of oils meeting these criteria underwent complete phenolic characterization, with final selection of test oils based on their specific phenolic profile using a recently proposed EVOO bioactive phenolic index (Karkoula, Skantzari, Melliou, & Magiatis, 2012). This ‘‘D” index (D = University of California, Davis) provides the sum of oleocanthal and oleacein (D1 index, D1i), and the oleacein/oleocanthal ratio (D2 index, D2i). The D2 index was inconsistently defined by Karkoula et al. in their original report (Karkoula et al., 2012), but was calculated correctly in the manuscript and has been consistently defined since (Karkoula, Skantzari, Melliou, & Magiatis, 2014). Characteristics of the test oils are shown in Table 1. While all three test oils had a similar total phenolic content, two of the test oils were similar in their D1i, but inversed in the D2i, with both oils containing trace or no detectable levels of other secoiridoid conjugated phenolics. The third oil was chosen as a control and had D1i of zero. All oils were stored at 4 °C immediately after their analysis and during the study period to minimize possible alterations in chemical composition.
Rios, & Gomez-Rey, 2003). The pre-weighed oil sample (2.5 ± 0.001 g) and 0.5 mL of an internal standard solution consisting of 67.5 mg/mL p-hydroxyphenyl-acetic acid (Sigma Aldrich, St Louis, MO) was dissolved in 6 mL of hexane. A 1 g-6 mL diolbonded phase cartridge (Thermo Scientific, Waltham, MA, USA) was conditioned with 6 mL of methanol and 6 mL of hexane consecutively, by vacuum elution. Cartridges were then loaded with oil, washed twice with 6 mL of hexane, once with 6 mL of hexane/ethyl acetate (90:10, v/v), and eluted with 10 mL of methanol. The eluent was reduced to dryness by rotatory evaporation at room temperature and the residue was reconstituted in 1 mL of methanol/water (1:1, v/v). The UPLC-DAD protocol was adapted from a previously published method (Daskalaki, Kefi, Kotsiou, & Tasioula-Margari, 2009). A 20 mL aliquot of the extract was injected onto a 4.6 250 mm, 5 mm C18 column (Agilent Technologies, Santa Clara, CA, USA) and separated by gradient elution at a flow rate of 1 mL/min using mobile phases of 98:2, water/acetic acid (v/v) (Solvent A) and 1:1, methanol/acetonitrile (v/v) (Solvent B). The mobile phase gradient was as follows: 0 min - 5% B; 25 min 30% B; 50 min - 35% B; 65 min - 70% B; 70 min - 100% B; 5 min re-equilibration. Absorbance was recorded at 280 nm and 340 nm. Analytes were quantified by relative response to the internal standard. 2.6. Blood collection Blood was collected at 0 and 2 h after test product ingestion Ò from an antecubital vein in Vacutainer tubes (Beckton Dickinson, Franklin Lakes, NJ, USA) containing sodium citrate for platelet aggregometry and post-stimulation oxylipin analysis or potassium EDTA for metabolomics analysis. All collection procedures were performed between 08:00 and 13:00 to avoid circadian effects.
Abbreviations: AFLA, Aldehydic Form of Ligstroside Aglycone; AFOA, Aldehydic Form of Oleuropein Aglycone; D1 Index, oleocanthal + oleacein; D2 Index, oleocanthal/ oleacein ratio; D2i0, undetectable oleocanthal and oleacein; D2i0.5, 1:2 oleacein/oleocanthal; D2i2, 2:1 oleacein/oleocanthal; DAFLA, Dialdehydic Form of Ligstroside Aglycone;. DAFOA, Dialdehydic Form of Oleuropein Aglycone; F-C, Folin-Ciocalteu assay; PV-AcA-Iso, peroxide value acetic acid-isooctane. a The internal standard normalized absorbance of the individual compound divided by the sum of normalized phenolics in all three oils (i.e. sum of % UV detected across all oils = 100).
P value determined by two-tailed heteroscedastic Student’s t-test. P value determined by repeated measures ANOVA with Tukey’s post hoc HSD. Variance determined using the average of daily average platelet aggregation measures.
Fig. 1. Effects of tested EVOOs on (A) maximum platelet aggregation and (B) oxylipins associated with platelet function in healthy male subjects. D2i2, D2i0.5 and Ibuprofen all decreased maximum platelet aggregation compared to D2i0, and Ibuprofen decreased oxylipin concentrations compared to all oils. Data shown are presented as means (n = 9) with their standard deviations. Data points with unlike letters were significantly different at P < 0.05 (repeated measures ANOVA).
Abbreviations: AICc, Corrected Akaike information criterion score; BIC, Bayesian information criterion score.
Abbreviations: D2i0, EVOO with undetectable oleocanthal and oleacein; D2i2, EVOO with 2:1 oleacein/oleocanthal; D2i0.5, EVOO with 1:2 oleacein/oleocanthal. a Calculated using repeated measures ANOVA with Tukey’s post hoc HSD.
Fig. 2. Partial Least Squares Discriminant Analysis (PLS-DA) Scores Plots showing discrimination between ‘‘responders” and ‘‘non-responders” at (A) baseline and (B) twohours post-EVOO consumption. ‘‘Responders” are defined at subjects exhibiting > 25% reduction in 1 mg/mL collagen-stimulated DPmax with D2i0.5 or D2i2 EVOO intake.
intake, as well as increased levels of the citric acid cycle metabolites malic acid, isocitric acid and citric acid. See Fig. A.2 for a partial list of identified metabolites, their metabolic relationships and their impact on the separation between ‘‘responders” and ‘‘nonresponders”.
Gazzaniga, & Violi, 1998), it is more likely that the oil peroxide index is simply a marker of EVOO quality and that higher quality EVOOs exhibit greater health benefits. However, this claim would need further verification. Platelets are metabolically active, utilizing both anaerobic and oxidative phosphorylation for energy production, with the later predominant (Kramer, Ravi, Chacko, Johnson, & Darley-Usmar, 2014). While the current study did not access platelet specific metabolites, analysis of primary metabolism demonstrated that differences that subjects with different plasma metabolomics profiles had distinct platelet response to EVOO intake. Whether these effects were primarily due to dietary or metabolic factors is as of yet unknown. However, ‘‘responders” tended to have increased plasma glucose concentrations, along with increased levels of specific carbohydrates and sugar acids suggesting a diet rich in fruits and vegetables. Interestingly, the identification of pinitol as a significant discriminating variable of response regardless of time point suggests that responsive individuals had a higher habitual intake of soy products (Davis et al., 2000). In contrast, the ‘‘nonresponsive” participants had increased circulating non-esterified fatty acids. In addition, non-responders had greater fasting levels of oleic acid, the primary fatty acid found in olive oil. Since high plasma oleic acid is a reported marker of habitual olive oil consumption that correlates with stroke prevention (Samieri et al., 2011) and EVOO effects on platelet function persist with continuous exposure (Sánchez-Muniz et al., 1998), it is possible that the EVOO effects are saturable and the non-responders in this study were already protected. That being said, the significance of these findings cannot be determined from the current study design, but warrant further exploration. Platelet aggregation is regulated by a number of mediators, including COX-derived TXB2, platelet 12-LOX-derived 12-HETE, and 15-LOX-derived 15-HETE (Tourdot et al., 2013). While no changes in these, and other COX and LOX-derived mediators were observed in all subjects following EVOO consumption, ‘‘responders” did demonstrate a reduction in plasma TXB2, 11-HETE and 15-HETE concentrations following consumption of both D2i0.5 and D2i2, compared to D2i0. As each of these mediators can be derived from COX-1 metabolism of arachidonic acid (Caughey, Cleland, Penglis, Gamble, & James, 2001; Tejera, Boeglin, Suzuki, & Schneider, 2012), the anti-platelet effects of the oleocanthalcontaining EVOOs may in fact have a COX-1-dependent component. However, further experimentation would be needed to verify the specific mechanism by which oleocanthal affects platelet aggregation. As platelet activation promotes the inflammatory process associated with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, the in vivo antiinflammatory effects and mechanisms of oleocanthal and total phenolics should be explored in future studies. If true, both generally phenolic-rich oils and specifically oleocanthal-rich oils would be predicted to have positive impacts on both platelet aggregation and inflammation, and thus have benefits in cardiovascular risk reduction, as has been previously suggested in a 28-day intervention of post-menopausal women (Sánchez-Muniz et al., 1998). While the above associations are intriguing, care must be taken in their final interpretation as phenols and polyphenols are rapidly and extensively metabolized, with circulating metabolites detected in the plasma in significant levels within minutes and lasting for several hours post intake (Ottaviani et al., 2016; Zamora-Ros et al., 2016). Moreover, some studies evaluating dietary flavonoids on plasma flavanols and ex vivo platelet function have shown increases in plasma flavonoids with no effects on platelet function (Hubbard et al., 2003). Therefore, whether the effect observed here is the consequence of direct phenolic exposure or a chemical or metabolically responsive covariate of this exposure remains to be seen.
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Thanks very much, Judith and Bill Pinson.
Thank you for making our wedding day so special. All of our guests commented on how lovely you all are. We had a fabulous day.
Loads of love, Natalie and Darren.
Just to say thank you very much for the party last Saturday, everything was wonderful, John really had a good time, I have had a lot of feedback guests saying how lovely the food was and how pleasant your staff were.
Thank you once again, regards, Rosemary.
Just to say a very big thank you for arranging our wedding celebrations for us, everything was perfect. See you all soon.
Many thanks Yvonne and Joe Brannigan.
We would like to express our thanks to you and your staff for the efficient, professional and friendly manner in which you catered for our family lunch on Sunday. My mother,whose 80th birthday we were celebrating, was really impressed. We were more than satisfied with the service you provided and wanted to express our appreciation. May we especially thank the young ladies who served us, who were efficient, polite and very pleasant throughout. So, our sincere thanks to all concerned, and we look forward to seeing you again on September 30th, when our daughter Catherine will be celebrating her Wedding.
Yours Sincerely, R & V Bienton.
Thanks again for making our wedding day so special. Everyone’s said how much fun it was and how great the food was.
With love from Catherine and John.
Many thanks for your help in making our Golden Wedding Celebration so memorable. The food was great and wonderfully presented. Our compliments to the chef. Everyone had a great time and really enjoyed themselves. Many thanks once again.
Best Wishes from Audrey and Dennis.
Many thanks for a highly successful and most enjoyable dinner last Saturday.
Just a small note to say thank you so much for a wonderful wedding reception. The wedding breakfast really was delicious and the hog roast was gorgeous and the whole day was perfect!! The Walnut Tree really was the perfect venue, yourself and all the staff were the greatest too!! Thanks again for all your help. Love, The Freemans. P.s. We would definitely recommend The Walnut Tree to anyone looking to celebrate their special day!
Thank you so much for all your effort in making our wedding breakfast so memorable. All of our guests have said how nice the food was. The childrens meals and theur timing so that mom had time to supervise was fantastic, Sara particularly said how much she appreciated that. Heather did a wonderful job of decorating the table, it was even better than I imagined. Thank you all once again for a lovely day at a lovely venue.
Best Wishes Fraser and Teresa Bunce.
We just want to say thank you very much for making our day special. From the meal to the evening do was fantastic and we couldn’t have asked for anything more.
From Stephanie and Jason O’Brien.
Thanks very much for arranging a great day for our wedding celebration.
Thank you for providing a lovely finger buffet for me in respect of my late husband John. All of my guests were well pleased and so glad to have the tea and coffee constantly replenished. It was a particularly difficult day for me and my family and I thank you for making it end better than it began. Please pass on my thanks to all concerned, especially the waiting staff who all did very well. Thank you.
Thank you all for helping make our special day perfect!
Thank you so much for your kindness and for putting on such a wonderful spread for John’s wake. It was much appreciated. Thank you again.
Love Cynthia, Collee and Stephen.
Thank you for making our Christmas lunch so enjoyable!
I would like to thank you and your staff for making our blessing and my 60th birthday party so enjoyable. The staff were excellent and the meal was superb. Everything went really well. A special thanks to the young lady who served breakfast for us all on Sunday she was charming and most obliging. Many thanks to you all. Kind regards, Vivien Stone.
Thank you very much for all your help with the arrangements for our wedding reception and ensuring the day went smoothly. We were so impressed with how the room was set up and the food was delicious. We couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day.
Roger and I would like to express our thanks to you all for a wonderfully managed wedding on Saturday. Everything that you promised us happened and I think we just about managed to keep our side of the bargain and kept more or less to time. Top marks to all the waitresses and to the bar staff – they were polite, efficient and service was prompt at the bar etc, excellent. Once again, congratulations to your chef on a very nice meal. We all understand it is necessary with larger numbers to keep things as simple as you can but we felt that the lamb and mash combination made a very pleasant change to the usual chicken and roast potato mix that most get offered at weddings. Fiona and Chris opted to go for a smaller venue- a good choice I think, much more personal and I know that their guests felt that the whole place was very homely. We all had a great day and a fabulous party in the evening. Once again, our thanks to you all.
Kindest regards, Dot and Roger Cheshire.
If stars are to be awarded for good food and hospitality they would shine brightly over the Walnut Tree this Christmas. Many thanks from all that came from the Bakers Arms last night 6th December. A special thank you to your staff that looked after us well. “We will be back”.
This card is just to let you know how much we enjoyed our stay at The Walnut Tree Inn. You have a lovely property, the food (breakfast and bar menu) was excellent and your staff are a real credit to you. We found them all to be polite, helpful and friendly and we would not hesitate recommending your hotel and hospitality.
Kind regards, Paul and Ginny.
Thank you very much for helping us organise our wedding reception. The service we received from you was excellent. The venue was fantastic and the disco was just what we wanted. The food was lovely and the soup was just what was required on a cold day.
Thank you once again, Sherilyn Gardner.
We both thank you so much for your diligence, professionalism and all round great person!! We had a fantastic day and feel that it wouldnt have run so smoothly without you being there, thank you so much. To the staff, our wedding day was absolutely fantastic! Many of our guests asked how we found this wonderful venue. The food was great and the day moved on with great ease – thanks to your guys.
Many thanks, Nick and Jane Borne.
Just to let you know how much we enjoyed our stay with you all. So kind, friendly and helpful at all times. From Annette and Brian Josling.
Thank you very much for the memorial reception you did for our mother last Thursday. Everything was perfect and everyone was very happy. Big thank you for sorting our the projector and screen. It went down very well. It was good to meet you both and we will most definitely be seeing you in the near future. Many thanks again.
Just an email to say how great our day was and thanks for all of your help and support. We had a great day and was very happy with the food, set up and the professional service that you and your team provided. Thanks again – we would recommend you to others.
I dined in your restaurant last night with my wife to celebrate our anniversary. I wanted to pass my thank to you and your staff for a wonderful meal and evening. We try and dine with you when budget allows and thought it only right that you receive positive feedback when appropriate. Hope to be with you again soon. Many thanks.
Thank you for the wake you provided after my mum’s funeral. The room, refreshments and service were spot-on for such an occasion.
Just to say thank you for another great lunch and day. Everybody enjoyed it in our party. So once again thank you.
Graham and Angela Codd and Family.
Just to say thank you so much to you and your staff for the lovely evening we had at The Walnut Tree. The pig roast was delicious and folk from the party are planning to use the idea for theor own family celebrations. We had dinner in the bar on our actual anniversary and it will become a regular venue when we have an evening out in future so The Walnut Tree has proved a ‘find’.
A massive thank you for all your help making our wedding reception more than perfect. You have been so helpful before and even the day after the big day. Your staff were excellent on the day, we felt relaxed all day.
Thanks again, Michelle and Tom.
I am writing to say a big thank you for your wonderful preparation for our party on Saturday. All our guests loved the venue, the food, the bar staff and the DJ’s and are talking about going back to The Walnut Tree again. We were going to clear up the room on Sunday and of course it was done for us, what a relief but thank you. Please thank all your staff for being so efficient and hard working on the night.
We would like to thank your all for the hard work and attention that was made to make our wedding day just perfect! We would highly recommend The Walnut Tree Inn as an excellent venue for weddings and other celebrations.
I would like to say a big thank you to the staff who did the buffet. Also the two young ladies who kept the drinks flowing at my husband’s wake.
Thank you so much for making our wedding day an enjoyable and successful day. Everything ran very smoothly and everyone commented in how delicious the food was. Thanks again.
Regards, Claire and Dave Shaw.
Just want to say a “BIG THANK YOU” for all the effort and hard work that everyone put in. We all had a super time and would thoroughly recommend “The Walnut Tree” to any of our friends. Everyone commented on the food, service and ambience. You really have a lovely venue.
Thank you for helping to make our special day so memorable. We had the perfect evening, wonderful food, great music and fantastic people looking after us. Many thanks for everything.
A note can barely say all we felt that magic day. You brought us an amazing joy and happiness to our hearts. Thank you to everyone who played a part in making our day truly wonderful.
Kind regards, Mr and Mrs Humphrey.
This is a short letter to thank you for the relly nice stay I had at The Walnut Tree. Everyone there made me feel at home and were very friendly to talk to. I hope to be back up to Northampton again in the near future, so I shall look forward to staying at The Walnut Tree Inn agan.
Many, many thanks to you all for helping our group of friends come together for an extremely enjoyable lunch at The Walnut Tree Inn. We were made to feel very welcome, the room decorations contributed to the Christmas spirit and all in all a most happy experience for everyone. Well done. Please pass on our thanks to all concerned.
Bob Taylor and all at Eydon First Wednesday Club.
Just a quick message to say what a nice overnight stay we had at The Walnut Tree in Sat 14/12/13. Please give your staff a well deserved pat on the back as they provided us with excellent and friendly service which I find is rather lacking at some places today. I would have no hesitation in recommending your hotel to others as it was very clean and well presented. Well done again and I look forward to staying with you in the future.
We would like to thank you for making our wedding day on 6th April 2012 so special. We chost The Walnut Tree because of the exceptionally high standards of service and food we have always experienced here, and you didn’t let us down.
From Fred and Alison Simpson-Jones.
We would like to thank you for what was probably one of the best nights we’ve had away. Great people, superb company and food unbeatable. Thanks for a briliant stay and we will tell everyone where you are. See you when we get our boat!!
Thanks again for making our day.
Just a note to say thank you to you and your colleagues for our lunch today, everything went very well. The dining room you made available was just the right environment for our party. Food and service were excellent and we all enjoyed what was a celebration.
Hope to see you again, David Cheetham.
Would just like to say thanks to everybody at The Walnut Tree for everything, you have a brilliant place. Gutted you have a wedding next year and you are full for the Moto GP too! Can’t say i’m surprised though.
Many thanks again for your hospitality, Mark.
A belated thanks to all at The Walnut Tree that made the Ratliffe family from Canada’s stay there the epitome of English hospitality. This generation of Ratliffes, part of the old Northampton brewing dynasty, were making their first visit to their ancestral home as guests of Phipps NBC. The warm welcome, the sunshine soaked rolling countryside and the history, all combined to show them our area at its best.
Thank you so much for helping make our special day so wonderful. We both had a fantastic time and everything from the food to the organisation to the fabulous entertainment was just perfect!
With love from Tessa and Dermot.
Just to say a huge thank you for all your hard work on our wedding day. Everything was perfect and everyone who attended had a wonderful time as did we.
Best wishes, Kay and Wayne Cole.
Thank you very much for your exceptional organisation and making our wedding breakfast and reception go so smoothly. Everyone had a great time. The food was amazing. Tasty, hot and beautifully presented. The hog roast in the evening is still being talked about. Even the veggie option was a hit. Thank you for the great service.
All the best, Andy and Elaine Allen.
Thank you for everything. We had a truly wonderful day and everyone was very impressed with The Walnut Tree Inn and in particular the food. You were all very helpful in the build up and your staff on the day were excellent.
Just to say thank you very much for making my night so memorable. I had so much fun and the comments on the food were brilliant. Once again, thank you.
We just wanted to thank you for all your help during the build up to and on the actual day of our wedding party.
With best regards Andy and Rachael.
Firstly, we would like to say a massive thank you to you for helping to make our day one we will never forget. Our guests thoroughly enjoyed themselves, as did we so thank you ever so much. We would appreciate it very much if you would pass on our thanks onto everyone there who helped you and worked hard.
Much love and thanks, Rachael and Roy.
Thank you so much for all your hard work on 24 September. You made our wedding day very special!
Kind regards, Chris and Anne Woodley.
Thanks for all the work you and your staff put in to make the reception such a warm and comfy time with space to chill out after dad’s funeral. I appreciate all the detail and effort which all made it a more memorable get together. It was much appreciated.
My mother and all the family would like to thank you and your lovely staff for a very smooth and special funeral reception. We could not have wished for a better venu the guests all mentioned how lovely it was. Everything was perfect.
Thank you all again, Vicky and Iris.
To the staff at The Walnut Tree Inn.
Just a short note to ay a big thank you for the nice stay I had at The Walnut Tree Inn and how well I was looked after during that time. I hope to be again in Northampton and look forward to stay at The Walnut Tree Inn.
Many thanks for the superb organisation and excellent food supplied following our walk yesterday.
Thanks you again, Roger and Eileen Gibson.
Thank you very much for the party you gave to my mum and dad for their Diamond Anniversary. The food was excellent and all the staff very good.
Thank you very much for all your hard work and making our day extra special. Hopefully see you all again soon as Mr and Mrs Austin!
Best wishes Emma and Russell.
Thanks for making our day exactly how we wanted it.
Thank you so much for your service that you gave my family when we held our mother’s funeral buffet at The Walnut Tree. It was better than I could have wished for as all of our family travelled from many places Surrey, Manchester, Wiltshire and Dorset. | 2019-04-25T11:51:35Z | https://www.walnut-tree.co.uk/testimonials/ |
I was 8 when I received my first bulletin board. *sigh* Memories… *pauses to ponder whether non-to-be writer kids cherish cork boards* My family had just moved to suburbia, and to ease the angst of moving, my mom bribed me with gave me Sweet Valley High and Babysitter’s Club mysteries. (Smart woman. ;)) So guess what landed on my board? Photos of my favorite books and characters, and anything else I found compelling—Paula Abdul, hot pink and purple what-evers, our family dog, my BFFs and code names for boys I totally did not have crushes on.
That, my beautiful friends, is Pinterest in a nutshell—virtual cork boards to fill up with content we’re intrigued by. And like childhood cork boards, they reflect our interests, personalities, goals and dreams. For bloggers, they are also visual platforms that can enhance our blogging/writing brands.
Whether you’ve joined Pinterest or not, your blog posts may have.* We can respond to this with an aggravated, “How dare they pin my stuff without asking?!?!” attitude, or appreciate the promotion and accept the fact that making our posts more pinnable can be highly beneficial. As the current fastest growing social media platform, Pinterest offers bloggers a fun, visual way to connect with readers we might not connect with otherwise. Cool, right? And because it’s a top referral to many online retailers, those of us with books or other products for sale have multiple reasons for excitement.
2. Feature a fabulous, topic-specific image. Using an adorable koala bear photo is a great idea if your post somehow relates to animals. But using an animal photo just because it’s cute and you think people will pin it isn’t the best idea. Why? Because people will pin the photo, but they’ll be less likely to click to read the connected post. Or they’ll be disappointed when upon clicking the koala bear, they find a “how to de-lint your carpet” post (unless they happen to love koalas AND struggle with lint-laden rugs). It’s better to have a simple graphic that ties into your topic than to be cute but on two different planets.
Purchased photos upheld by the Creative Commons license, which is a legal code that allows you to utilize images freely. Many Flickr users offer uphold CClicensure. You can also enter keywords into the CC Searchtool,which will take you to independent companies that offer CC-friendly works. Once you find an image, look for the CC license trademark. If you don’t see this—> contact the site owner.
Fellow artists’ work, with permission. If you’re in love with a particular image, contact the creator. As long as we credit artists’ work properly, many are happy to share work samples. If you have an artistically-inclined friend, team up! By working together, you can both benefit.
3. Enhance your images with text or other “tweaks.” I’m not very graphics art-inclined, yet have been able to edit images and add simple text using Artboard—a Mac app I found on iTunes. Trust me: If I can do it, you can. I’ve also heard great things about PhotoShop and PicMonkey. Add your web address, a powerful quote that ties into your blog post or your post title—whatever floats your blogging/pinning boat.
4. Use easy-to-read text. When adding text to images, the words may read loud and clear until you make them into a smaller image on your blog, and smaller yet on Pinterest. Particularly if the words are the focus of the image, i.e., you’re featuring a quote, use bold, extremely legible font.
5. Invite blog readers to pin your posts by implementing Pinterest share buttons. Adding the “Follow Me on Pinterest” button to your blog also helps, by showing your readers you’re in the game. Notifying your current readers that you’ve joined Pinterest and that they’re welcome to pin your posts isn’t a bad idea either.
Once you’ve created a Pinterest-friendly post, pin it along with intriguing text that gives readers a feel for the post. To make it even easier for pinners to read your post, paste the address after the description. Then, use hashtags as you would on Twitter. You can also tag others in your post by adding their Pinterest handle. If your account is linked with Twitter, insert the Twitter handle of anyone featured in the post. If I’m posting a link by talented writer Lisa Hall-Wilson, for example, I’ll put @Lisa Hall-Wilson to ensure that she’s notified. If I want to tag her on Twitter, I’ll add @LisaHallWilson.
*To learn if your blog has been pinned, plug this into your web browser, with your site inserted: http://www.pinterest.com/source/WEBSITENAME.COM.
I’d love to hear from you. Are your posts already Pinterest-friendly? Any tips to add? How has Pinterest helped your own blog?
David Freed is a screenwriter, Pulitzer Prize winning investigative journalist, pilot, father and dog lover with a passion for Mexican food and “virtually all things with wings”. He’s also one of my new favorite authors. David’s debut thriller, Flat Spin, is a witty, entertaining tale chock-full of captivating characters that never lets go. The Library Journal called it “a delightful romp” and “highly recommended.” Kirkus Reviews said it’s “full of interesting episodes and feels authentic…” TRUE THAT, says me.
Based in sunny Rancho Bonita – “California’s Monaco” as the city’s moneyed minions like to call it – Cordell Logan is a literate, sardonic flight instructor and aspiring Buddhist with dwindling savings and a shadowy past. When his beautiful ex-wife, Savannah, shows up out of the blue to tell him that her husband has been murdered in Los Angeles, Logan is quietly pleased. Savannah’s late husband, after all, is Arlo Echevarria, the man she left Logan for.
Logan and Echevarria were once comrades-in-arms assigned to a top-secret military assassination team known as “Alpha.” The only problem is, the LAPD can find no record of Echevarrias ever having toiled for Uncle Sam. Savannah wants Logan to tell the police what he knows. At first he refuses, but then, relying on his small, aging airplane, the “Ruptured Duck,” and the skills he honed working for Alpha, Logan doggedly hunts Echevarria’s killer.
His trail takes him from the glitzy Las Vegas Strip to the most dangerous ghettos of inner-city Oakland, from darkened, Russian Mafia haunts in West Los Angeles to the deserts of Arizona. But that’s the least of his problems. It is his love-hate relationship with Savannah, a woman Logan continues to pine for in spite of himself, that threatens to consume him.
AM: First, congratulations on your book release! How does it feel to have your first thriller published? What was launch day/week like for you?
DF: Thanks, August. The experience has been thrilling, no pun intended, and surreal. As you know as a writer yourself, you spend many months or even years in a room all by your lonesome, filling one blank page after another with words conveying fanciful ideas from a world you’ve concocted in your head. Then, one day, if you’re incredibly fortunate, some publisher says, “I like the way you’ve arranged those words enough that I’m going to pay you—though not very much–to put them in the form of a book.” A year or so later, your friendly UPS delivery driver dumps a cardboard box on your doorstep and there you stand, hefting in your hand that very book, many copies of which you hope will find favor across the land.
All hyperbole aside, opening that box certainly rated as one of the great moments of my life to date. However, my ego balloon was quickly shot down by the handful of good friends I invited over to help me celebrate what a huge honking success I am. They quickly reminded me that I’m still the same guy who picks up the dog poop in his backyard, prefers turkey burgers over fine dining and wears his T-shirts into the ground.
AM: Not to re-inflate that balloon or anything, but I think all of that makes you cooler. What inspired you to write Flat Spin?
DF: I’m a journalist by background, and I don’t think there’s ever been a journalist born that didn’t secretly aspire to write a novel. My goal, having reported more than my share of stories exploring the dark side of humanity, was to write a book that would be fun to read while incorporating into the plot subject material of which I was at least somewhat familiar. I also wanted to write something that I could claim at the end of the day was truly mine. When you’re hired as a writer in Hollywood, which is another hat I’ve worn, you sign a contract that literally states the studio is the author of your work. I cannot tell you how my scripts I’ve cranked out that ultimately and absolutely bore no resemblance to what I wrote.
AM: You really put the reader in Cordell Logan’s head. I felt like I was the secret military assassin turned Buddhist flight instructor. (I mean that as a compliment.) How similar is Logan to you?
DF: Thanks for the compliment. Hey, I’ll take all I can get! You’ve asked a tough question. In terms of life’s experience, I’d say that I’ve traveled on the periphery of where Logan’s gone—though, certainly, he’s led a much more bombastic life than me. For example, I didn’t played football for the Air Force Academy, as Logan did, but I did play football. I never flew Air Force A-10s during Desert Storm, but I did help cover Desert Storm for the Los Angeles Times. Like Logan, I’m an instrument-rated pilot. Unlike him, I am not a flight instructor. Nor am I an aspiring Buddhist, though I am intrigued with the religion. One more thing: Logan is a former member of a covert, since-disbanded government assassination team. I can assure you I have never worked for such a team, though I have done work in the intelligence community. If Logan and I share any undeniable similarities, it is that we both really enjoy flying airplanes and eating really good burritos, though not necessarily in that order.
AM: Nice. I liked the fact that you didn’t go overboard in describing characters’ appearances. I envisioned Savannah like Anna Nicole Smith for some reason… Way off?
DF: Waaay off! [*August laughs, LOUDLY.*] But that’s cool. As a reader, you should have the right to imagine fictional characters however you wish. If you see Savannah as Anna Nicole Smith, you’re not gonna wreck my day, even though I may have conjured her with a completely different image in mind.
As a screenwriter, I learned that movie casting options dwindle proportionately to the degree of description you write into a script when it comes to your characters’ physical attributes, or lack thereof. The perfect dilemma of too much detail can be found in the upcoming Jack Reacher film. Author Lee Child describes Reacher, a former military police officer, as a big, brawny guy, well over 6 feet. Who’s purportedly going to play Reacher?—5’-7” Tom Cruise. Not that Cruise wouldn’t do a great job with the role. But fans of Child’s books are already grousing about how casting Cruise will absolutely ruin the franchise. I’ve heard that author Sue Grafton refuses to sell the film rights to her wildly successful Kinsey Millhone series simply because she doesn’t want her readers equating Kinsey with the likes of a real life actress.
AM: What was the toughest part of the process, from beginning your first draft to publication?
DF: With Flat Spin, it was having no choice but to set aside the draft to work on gigs that paid. By the time I’d get back to the novel, weeks and sometimes months would have gone by; I would’ve forgotten major plot points and even characters’ names. It’s much easier to build a head of steam and maintain a daily momentum, writing a book start and finish without distraction.
AM: I imagine many writers can relate to that. Anything you’ll do differently next time around?
DF: I already am. I’ve turned down or postponed several other writing assignments to devote myself full-time to Flat Spin’s sequel.
AM: Love that. Your career background is extremely intimidating impressive. How does thriller writing compare to your work as a journalist?
DF: They’re two distinct animals. A journalist is married to facts. In both reporting and writing a news story, you go where those facts take you. Writing a fictional thriller can be vastly more exhilarating and intimidating if for no other reason than the immensity of the potential creative landscape you, as a novelist, look out upon. You must make myriad creative choices that you don’t typically make in a news story. The process can be analogous to feeling your way through a minefield: every step bodes potential success or disaster.
Writing a thriller versus a journalistic story is also different because of the much more subjective nature of the final product. When you’ve published a first-rate piece of journalism, there is usually broad agreement you’ve accomplished something significant. With fiction, a writer rarely achieves that kind of consensus, if only because of the disparate tastes of individual readers. It’s like a Jackson Pollack painting. Many people will see genius in it; others will see it as one huge paint splatter.
DF: Meeting sources in bars is not nearly as sketchy as meeting them in underground parking garages or empty parks at night, where there are fewer witnesses to identify your body. I’d be lying if I said there haven’t been a few occasions when I felt like things got a little gnarly in such places. I remember once making arrangements to rendezvous in a bar with a really sketchy dude who’d called me, claiming to have direct knowledge of the alleged second gunman in the John F. Kennedy assassination. He insisted after we met that I come with him to his apartment where he had all of the “evidence” in safekeeping. I went to the men’s room, called my editors, and gave them the address, so that if I didn’t show up for work the next day, they’d know where to send the coroner. Turns out the guy, who proved to be a totally harmless whacko, had devised some theory that the second gunman was secretly hidden in the trunk of JFK’s limo. Yeah, right.
On another occasion, I was working on a series of stories targeting members of organized crime in a major land fraud scam. I came home late one night and my phone started ringing immediately. The anonymous caller proceeded to spent about 30 seconds telling me where things were in my cabinets and drawers that you wouldn’t have otherwise known about unless you’d been inside my apartment—and I lived in a secure building. The next morning, I went out to my car and discovered somebody had put a screwdriver through the fuel tank. There were was gas all over the parking lot. I carried a pistol for several weeks after that. For the most part, however, investigative reporting is incredibly tedious. You spend vast amounts of time interviewing boring bureaucrats, and hours sifting through government archives where you are much more likely to catch some obscure respiratory disease than you are a bullet.
AM: Yipes. Aside from staying healthy and bullet hole-free, what’s next in the pipeline?
DF: I’m hard at work on the next Cordell Logan mystery. If all goes well, it’ll be out next year. I hope you enjoy it as much as I’ve enjoyed this!
He’s GREAT, right??? To purchase Flat Spin, zip over to Amazon.com or David’s website for more options. In the meantime, or after, any thoughts or questions to share with David?
Unless you A) have a compulsive psychological disorder involving social media, or B) are being held at gunpoint by an internet-mongering psychopath (in which case, please visit 911.com) there are many ways to keep TS at bay and still reap the many benefits social media has to offer.
Pinterest is now the third most popular social network, according to a new Experian study, behind Facebook and Twitter. And retailers are not the only beneficiaries. Crystal Underwood’s tips-for-mommas blog leapt from 100 hits per day to up to 7000 after she embraced the virtual pin boards. Design blogger Jessica Colaluca, one of Mashable’s “21 Must-Follow Pinterest Users,” credits Pinterest for 35 percent of her estimated one million-plus monthly hits. And major publications, including Elle magazine, Martha Stewart Living and Cooking Light, are taking Pinterest by storm.
3. Give to give. Giving of ourselves also enhances enjoyment—ours and our readers. If you, and by extension your brand, is entertaining, provide entertainment. If your brand is inspiring, inspire. Have cooking, cleaning or photography skills? Share some pointers. Such giving attracts like-minded readers to our blogs, who will appreciate what you offer. In return, you’re likely to gain subscribers, comments and, when applicable, sales. This practice reminds me of exercise. Many of us start working out because we believe we should. The emotional benefits—better moods, sleep quality, energy…—keep us at it.
4. Get creative with titles, photos and topics. Using your authentic self to conjure up snappy titles, eye-catching graphics and topics you genuinely dig is a great way to lure people from Pinterest to your blog. It also encourages re-pins and comments. Just make sure that your post’s content is at least as entertaining, inspiring, though-provoking or delightful.
6. Keep your blog and pin boards in mind in the “real” world. I only recently signed up for Pinterest. Already, it’s opened my mind up to cool new ways to use it. I tote and use my camera more often and have been dabbling in graphic techniques. Just as life inspires blog topics, knowing our posts could appear on Pinterest can inspire us to seek out photographable moments that coincide. Best of all, the process feels more like fun than work—how life should feel, IMHO.
7. Support others. As with other social media platforms, rambling on about ourselves, our products or our work generally evokes one thing: annoyance. We all know how frustrating endless pitches from a particular salesperson can be. If you’d slam the door on your content if it appeared at your door, switch gears. Comment on, follow and share others’ fabulous posts and pins on Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook and/or your blog.
Don’t only pin blog posts. Share and celebrate your interests. If your blog is serious, show your goofy side, and vice versa. You can also use Pinterest boards as tools to organize your favorite products, articles, books and so on.
Link your Pinterest account to Facebook and/or Twitter. Mine is linked to Facebook, which allows me to interact with people on both networks with one post. I then Tweet pins selectively. Experiment with both, then decide.
Invite your friends to Pinterest. Lisa Hall-Wilson and I both have group boards, which are a great way to join forces with like-minded folks. If you’re interested in joining my group, Writers United, drop me a note: [email protected].
To encourage readers to pin your posts, add a “Pin it” button to your share options, and a “Follow Me on Pinterest” widget to your theme.
Focus on quality and connections, not “the numbers.” Gargantuan numbers of hits can be fun to see on your blog dashboard, but it doesn’t mean much if people spend little time reading or enjoying your content. I’d rather have a handful of close-knit, supportive connections than boatloads of rapid clicks. Wouldn’t you?
I’d love to hear from you. Any of these tips strike a chord with you? Any to add? Thoughts on Pinterest in general?
Okay, so even before the Pinterest copyright changes, it’s highly unlikely any of us would have been locked up for pinning. To my knowledge, no pinner has been jailed, fined, tarred or feathered—at least not for pinning. But there has been tremendous concern over the social media giant’s potential to infringe on copyright holders. Lucky for the millions of “pinners” worldwide, however, much of that has changed.
Effective today, Pinterest no longer asserts the right to “sublicense” or “sell” pinned images. The company has also removed the word ‘irrevocable’ from the copy right license and updated their terms in accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998.
We can now safely pin our own images and most images linked to original sources.
If someone re-pins ours images without proper citation, we can report it by filing a copyright infringement notification. If the claim is deemed valid, pins in question will be removed.
If we pin an image without proper linkage, we might get flagged. Pinterest can remove the image and notify us that we’ve overstepped bounds. We then have the option of contesting the claim.
1. Pin your own images or graphics, linked to your website. This not only helps ensure that your images are credited to you, but can increase traffic to your site. If you’re not handy with a camera, create text graphics like these.
2. If you find a random image you’d like to use on the web, seek permission from the owner. If credited properly, many photographers and artists appreciate the publicity. They may also share your link with their circle of friends.
3. Don’t pin personal images you don’t want re-pinned by others. This may seem obvious, but many of us post personal photos on social media sites without much thought. If a photo contains other people, asking their permission is a good idea.
4. If you notice that someone hasn’t linked a pin properly, tell them. It may take a while for people to get a hang of proper pinning. Most of us want our links shared. So if you notice that someone hasn’t given you credit, thank them then suggest adding a link. You can also direct them to the copyright terms.
5. Use credible websites. Google Images is not a valid source for books, food, fashion or other goods. If you dig a Banana Republic top, link the image to BananaRepublic.com, not Google or your blog. Use Mac.com for Mac products, Amazon.com for books you’ve found there, CookingLight.com for Cooking Light photos and so on.
Clicking the pins on my non-fiction board brings you to each book's purchase screen on Amazon.com.
6. Install and use the “Pin It” button. This allows you to pin images from websites to your boards, and links it appropriately—assuming the site owns the image. To nab the “Pin It” button, click here or visit the Goodies section on your Pinterest homepage.
8. If you’re unsure of an image source, seek it out. Google can help you determine the original source of a photo. For a step-by-stey tutorial, check out this post by The Graphics Fairy. | 2019-04-21T09:28:36Z | https://augustmclaughlin.wordpress.com/category/pinterest/ |
Shirani, A., Shivazad, M., Samie, A., Chamani, M., Sadeghi, A.A.. (1397). Effects of Starter Diet Feed Particle and Crumble Size on Performance, Carcass Characteristics and Small Intestinal Histomorphology in Broiler Chicks. نشریه علمی پژوهشی دانشگاه آزاد اسلامی, 8(4), 669-675.
A. Shirani; M. Shivazad; A. Samie; M. Chamani; A.A. Sadeghi. "Effects of Starter Diet Feed Particle and Crumble Size on Performance, Carcass Characteristics and Small Intestinal Histomorphology in Broiler Chicks". نشریه علمی پژوهشی دانشگاه آزاد اسلامی, 8, 4, 1397, 669-675.
Shirani, A., Shivazad, M., Samie, A., Chamani, M., Sadeghi, A.A.. (1397). 'Effects of Starter Diet Feed Particle and Crumble Size on Performance, Carcass Characteristics and Small Intestinal Histomorphology in Broiler Chicks', نشریه علمی پژوهشی دانشگاه آزاد اسلامی, 8(4), pp. 669-675.
Shirani, A., Shivazad, M., Samie, A., Chamani, M., Sadeghi, A.A.. Effects of Starter Diet Feed Particle and Crumble Size on Performance, Carcass Characteristics and Small Intestinal Histomorphology in Broiler Chicks. نشریه علمی پژوهشی دانشگاه آزاد اسلامی, 1397; 8(4): 669-675.
This study was conducted to assess the effects of feed particle size (FPZ) and crumble size (CZ) of starter diet on growth performance parameters, carcass characteristics, and small intestinal histomorphology in broiler chicks. Three hundred and sixty male Ross 308 chicks were randomly distributed in a completely randomized design with 3 ´ 2 factorial arrangement consist of three screened FPZs (500, 1000 and 1500 µm) and two CZs (1.5 and 2.5 mm). Each treatment included six replicates (10 broiler chicks per cage) and chicks were reared in the cage from 0-10 d of age. The results indicate that neither main factors nor interaction between FPZ and CZ had any significant effect on body weight (BW) and European production efficiency factor (EPEF) at 10 d. However, a significant interaction effect (P<0.05) between FPZ and CZ were observed for feed intake (FI), feed conversion ratio (FCR) and feed efficiency (FE). FPZ had a significant effect (P<0.05) on gizzard relative weight. Increasing FPZ significantly (P<0.05) increased gizzard relative weight. Both FPZ of 1500 µm and CZ of 2.5 mm numerically caused FI reduction, improved FCR, FE, increased EEPF and reduced abdominal fat weight. The CZ had significant (P<0.05) effect on relative gizzard muscular thickness. As the CZ increased, the relative gizzard muscular thickness significantly (P<0.05) decreased. The effect of CZ on villous high (VH) of ileum was significant (P<0.05). Indeed, as the CZ increased, the VH of Ileum significantly decreased (P<0.05). A significant interaction (P<0.05) between FPZ and CZ was seen in FI, FCR, FE, gizzard relative weight and relative gizzard muscular thickness, absolute fat weight of gizzard. In the diet made from the FPZ of 1500 µm and CZ of 1.5 mm FI significantly (P<0.05) reduced, FE and FCR significantly (P<0.05) improved. In conclusion, birds fed coarsely FPZ (1500 µm) and smaller CZ (1.5 mm) diet showed better FCR and FE which was due to enhanced gizzard development and intestinal histomorphology parameters.
Historically, feed particle size reduction endured the main paradigm of feed manufacturing (Xu et al. 2015a). As a traditional view smaller feed particle size would be associated with a larger surface area of the grain, possibly resulting in higher digestibility in poultry due to a greater interaction with digestive enzymes in the gastrointestinal tract (Goodband et al. 2002). However, poultry nutritionists recently preferred coarsely ground cereals since they found that a minimal level of structural component in the diet must exist for preventing gizzard dystrophy, which is acts as the pacemaker of gut motility (Svihus, 2011). The results of the previous study revealed that the feed physical form (mash, pellet or crumble) impact was greater than feed particle size on poultry performance (Engberg et al. 2002; Shabani et al. 2015). Lv et al. (2015) report that broilers fed crumble diets had significant better FCR in comparison to mash diet during starter period (0-21 d). Moreover, Xu et al. (2015c) illustrated that broiler fed crumble diets had significantly higher FI and BW than mash diet during starter period (0-7 d). Amerah et al. (2007a) and Amerah et al. (2007c) concluded that feed particle size was more critical in mash diet than pellet or crumble diets. Therefore, a better comprehension of the interaction between feed particle size and upper gut development and function has became crucial to optimization of feed manufacturing strategies and broiler performance. Naderinejad et al. (2016) indicted that coarse corn grinding is beneficial to growth performance in broilers fed starter pellet diets (0-21 d). Hence, there is a lack of information about the impact of feed particle size in broilers crumble diets. Moreover, the effects of feed particle and crumble size on intestinal morphology have not been evaluated and merit further investigation. The object of the current study was to find an optimum feed particle and crumble size of broiler starter diet.
Broiler corn-soybean meal diets were formulated to meet suggested requirement (Aviagen, 2014) and manufactured in the Karun feed mill co., Khosestan, Iran (Table 1). Corn and soybean meal were ground separately by hammer mill (16 hammers). Then, they were screened by specific standard sieve aperture size of 500, 1000 and 1500 µm and theses feed particles were separated in order to produce each of six diets. The mash feeds were conditioned in a single barrel conditioner (75 ˚C discharge feed temperature, 30 sec retention time) and then, they were pelleted by a pellet press machine equipment with a ring die (4´40 mm diameter:length). Pellets were cooled with ambient air in a counter-flow cooler and then crumbled in order to produce two crumble sizes of 1.5 and 2.5 mm. Finally, crumble dust and fine particle were removed by rotary-sieve grader.
A total of 360 male Ross 308 chicks were placed in environmentally controlled room of Islamic Azad University of Izeh branch poultry farm. Broilers were reared in 36 cages (10 male birds in each). Temperate and light program were settled based on Ross 308 strain guideline 2014. Feed and water were available for ad libitum consumption. The vaccination program was done according to local veterinarian suggestion.
1 Supplied per kg diet: vitamin A: 9000 IU; vitamin D3: 2000 IU; vitamin E: 18 IU; vitamin K3: 2 mg; vitamin B1: 1.8 mg; vitamin B2: 6.6 mg; vitamin B3: 10 mg; vitamin B5: 30 mg; vitamin B6: 3 mg; vitamin B9: 1 mg; vitamin B8: 0.1 mg; vitamin B12: 0.015 mg; Choline: 250 mg and Antioxidant: 100 mg.
2 Supplied per kg diet: Mn: 99.2 mg; Fe: 50 mg; Zn: 84.7 mg; Cu: 10 mg; I: 1 mg; Se: 0.2 mg and Choline: 250 mg.
3 Feed additive consists of: Zeolite: 1%; Mold inhibitors: 0.05%; BiozymeÔ: 0.05% enzyme and Probiotic: 0.02.
Initial cage group body weight were collected at placement. Feed intake and body weight by cage were recorded from 1-10 d of age. Feed conversion ratio, feed efficiency and European production efficiency factor were calculated for starter period. At 10 d of age, one bird from each replicate was selected, individually weighted, euthanized by chloroform and killed by cervical dislocated then inner organs were excised and samples were collected. The fat surrounding abdominal, gizzard and heart were trimmed, the gizzard content was removed, then absolute weight of these organs fat was recorded and expressed as percentage of BW (g/g). Relative gizzard muscular thicknesses was measured by calipers and expressed as mm of muscular thicknesses of BW (Svihus, 2011).
Sections from middle of duodenum, jejunum and ileum (about 2 cm in length) were excised on 10 d of age and flushed with PBS and samples were placed in formalin 10% fluid. Samples were dehydrated through graded level of alcohols then embedded in wax and cut using microtome using feather S35 disposable blades at a sickness of 7 µm. Samples were stained with hematoxyline-eosin and intestinal hisotomorphology parameters such as villus height (VH), crept depth (CD) and villus thickness (VT) examined by light microscope equipped with an eyepiece graticule.
Data were analyzed as completely randomized design with 3 ´ 2 factorial arrangement to determine the main effects and interactions of three feed particle sizes (500, 1000, 1500 µm) and two crumble sizes (1.5 and 2.5 mm). All data were analyzed using general linear model (PROC GLM) of SAS program (SAS, 2009). Mean differences were considered significant at P < 0.05 by using Duncan's multiple-range test (Kaps and Lamberson, 2009).
The effects of feed particle and crumble size on growth performance parameters of starter period were shown in Table 2. Neither the main factors nor the interaction between feed particle and crumble size had any significant (P˃0.05) effects on BW and EPEF. A significant interaction (P<0.05) between feed particle and crumble size for FI, FCR and FE at 10 d was observed. Inspection of interactions revealed that the crumble diets contained 1500 µm feed particle size plus crumble size of 1.5 mm and 1000 µm feed particle size plus 2.5 mm crumble size had the significant differences for FI, FCR and FE (P˂0.05) in comparison to 500 µm feed particle size plus 1.5 mm crumble size.
The effects of feed particle and crumble size on liver, heart and gizzard relative weight, gizzard muscular thicknesses and absolute fat weight of abdominal, gizzard and heart at 10 d were illustrated in Tables 3 and 4. The main factors and the interaction between feed particle and crumble size had no significant (P˃0.05) effects on liver and heart relative weight, abdominal and heart fat absolute weight. Feed particle size and crumble size had a significant effect (P˂0.05) on relative gizzard weight and muscular thicknesses, respectively. As the feed particle size became larger, the gizzard relative weight was significantly (P˂0.05) increased. Increasing crumble size were significantly (P˂0.05) reduced relative gizzard muscular thickness. The interaction between feed particle and crumble size was observed for absolute fat weight of gizzard (P˂0.05). Indeed, birds fed the diets made from 1500 µm feed particle size plus crumble size of 1.5 mm, 1000 µm feed particle size plus 2.5 mm crumble size and 500 µm feed particle size plus 2.5 mm crumble size had significant differences for abdominal absolute fat weight (P˂0.05) in comparison to 1500 µm feed particle size plus 2.5 mm crumble size diet.
The impact of feed particle and crumble size on VH, CD and VT of duodenum, jejunum and ileum were illustrated in Table 5. Although, feed particle size had no significant impact on intestinal histomorphologic parameters, the effect of crumble size on VH of jejunum and VT of ileum was tended to be significant at P= 0.07 and P= 0.06, respectively. The effect of crumble size on VH of ileum was significant (P<0.05). In fact, as the crumble size was increased, the VH of Ileum was significantly decreased (P<0.05).
It can be said that neither main factors nor interaction between feed particle and crumble size had any significant effect on BW and EPEF, but significant interaction (P<0.05) were observed for FI, FCR and FE in the starter period. In fact, diets made from 1500 µm feed particle size plus crumble size of 1.5 mm and 1000 µm feed particle size plus 2.5 mm crumble size had the significant differences for FI, FCR and FE (P˂0.05) in comparison to 500 µm feed particle size plus 1.5 mm crumble size. The best growth performance results, specifically on FCR and FE among other treatments were achieved by the diet made from large feed particle size (1500 µm) plus smaller crumble size (1.5) and medium feed particle size (1000 µm) plus larger crumble size (2.5 mm). In fact, better gizzard development and probably better nutrient digestibility through the large or medium feed particle size lead to increasing better feed efficiency and better feed conversion ratio in these treatments (Zaefarian et al. 2016). However, the lower feed intake in these treatments may related to longer digesta retention time in the gizzard (Svihus, 2011). Increasing feed particle size and crumble size numerically decreased FI, improved FCR, FE and EPEF. The results of previous studies on pellet diets with different feed particle size revealed that FI decreased and FCR improved when broiler fed coarser in comparison to finer feed particle size (Amerah et al. 2007b; Amerah et al. 2008). FI reduction was probably related to greater digesta grinding and retention time to make suitable particle size before exiting the gizzard (Svihus, 2011).
BW: body weight; FI: feed intake; FE: feed efficiency; FCR: feed conversion ratio and EEPF: European production efficiency factor.
VH: villous height; VT: villous thicknes thickness and CD: crept depth.
It seems that FCR and FE improvement was probably related to increasing gizzard activity caused by coarser feed particle size (Xu et al. 2015b). Apparently, young broilers, had a limitation in consuming large crumble size (2.5 mm). These data were consistent with Nir and Pitch (2001) statement that bird select feed material bases on particle size in other words crumble size. Apparently, preference for crumble size was related to beak dimensions and vary with age.
Not only feed particle but also crumble size had no significant impact on liver and heart relative weight and absolute fat weight of abdominal, gizzard and heart at 10 d. Feed particle size had a significant effect (P˂0.05) on gizzard relative weight. By increasing feed particle size, the gizzard relative weight was significantly (P˂0.05) increased. These data supported that coarser feed particle size was able to stimulate gizzard development even in crumble diets. Likewise, in pellet diets study, similar results were observed on relative weight of gizzard (Naderinejad et al. 2016). In contrast, Xu et al. (2015c) reported that coarse feed particle had no impact on relative weight of gizzard in crumble diets in comparison to mash diets. It seems that positive impact of coarse particles may still exist after pelleting and crumbling. Gizzard acts as the pacemaker of gut motility (Svihus, 2011). In fact, a well-developed gizzard led to stronger reverse peristalsis contractions with overall result of improved nutrient utilization (Zaefarian et al. 2016). These data revealed that larger crumble size were significantly (P˂0.05) reduced relative gizzard muscular thickness (mm/BW). However, Svihus (2011) and Svihus (2014) mentioned that higher grinding activity increases the size of the gizzard muscles. Broilers fed the diets consist of 1500 µm feed particle size plus crumble size of 1.5 mm, 1000 µm feed particle size plus 2.5 mm crumble size and 500 µm feed particle size plus 2.5 mm crumble size had significant differences in abdominal absolute fat weight (P˂0.05) in comparison to 1500 µm feed particle size plus 2.5 mm crumble size diet.
The effect of feed particle size on intestinal histomorphologic parameters was not significant, but the effect of crumble size on VH of jejunum and VT of ileum was tended to be significant. The results revealed that as the crumble size was increased, the VH of Ileum was significantly decreased (P<0.05). Pellet and crumble diets disintegrated rapidly in upper gut sections and pass directly through gizzard to duodenum (Zaefarian et al. 2016). Therefore, it seems higher load of nutrient in digesta of jejunum and ileum by feeding small crumble size diet was probably lead to higher VH of these sections.
In order to enhance the performance, an optimum functionality of gastro-intestinal tract in broilers is crucial. Although feed particle and crumble size had no significant effect on BW at 10 d, an interaction between feed particle and crumble size was observed for FCR and FE. It seems that positive impact of coarse particles may still exist after crumbling. In conclusion, chicks fed the diets consist of coarsely feed particle size (1500 µm) and smaller crumble size (1.5 mm) showed better FCR and FE which was due to enhanced gizzard development and intestinal histomorphologic parameters.
The authors would like to acknowledge the ongoing support of department of Animal science of Islamic Azad University of Izeh Branch. We would also like to thank the Karun feedmill for cooperation in feed manufacturing.
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Zaefarian F., Abdollahi M.R. and Ravindran V. (2016). Particle size and feed form in broiler diets: impact on gastrointestinal tract development and gut health. World's Poult. Sci. J. 72, 277-290. | 2019-04-26T09:48:41Z | http://journals.iau.ir/article_544792.html |
A major presentation was made at a special side event at the Borlaug Dialogue, in Iowa, on 15 Oct 2014. The side event was hosted by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) as part of a series marking ILRI’s 40-year anniversary this year. The presentation was made by Chris Delgado, who in 1999 led ground-breaking studies showing that a ‘Livestock Revolution’ was taking place in the global South.
Lindiwe Majele Sibanda, board chair of ILRI and chief executive officer and head of diplomatic mission of the Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN), welcomed dignitaries and friends of ILRI to the two-hour evening event.
Lindiwe Majele Sibanda, ILRI board chair and CEO and head of diplomatic mission of FANRPAN (photo on Flickr by Borlaug Dialogue/World Food Prize).
Sibanda, who is an animal scientist by training and breeds livestock in her native Zimbabwe, began by telling a personal livestock story.
I love my middle name. ‘Majele’ means jail. This is how I got that name. When my grandmother was pregnant with my father, six cows strayed into a neighbour’s field and my grandmother was taken into policy custody. The police tried to find my grandfather, who always got up in the morning, like all good African men, to go and socialize while my grandmother did all the hard work. My grandfather couldn’t be found. So my poor grandmother ended up in jail. So my dad was named ‘Majele’. And I’m the only other family member who has carried that name. So I am ‘Lindiwe, whose cattle strayed into a neighbour’s field and could not pay the fine’.
‘This event is being convened in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. We are honoured to have senior representatives here from the foundation: Pamela Anderson, director of agricultural development work, and Sam Thevasagayam, who leads the foundation’s livestock initiatives.
‘ILRI, a not-for-profit institute established in 1994 by combining two centres, ILCA [International Livestock Centre for Africa], established in 1974, and ILRAD [International Laboratory for Research on Animal Diseases], established in 1973. This marriage between ILRAD and ILCA arose out of a CGIAR endorsement for a unified global livestock research institute.
ILRI is 20 years old, but was built on 20 years of ILRAD and 20 years of ILCA work. So, it’s a big, big, big birthday party for all of us.
‘To mark four decades of research by ILRI, its predecessors ILRAD and ILCA, and its partners, ILRI board and management and staff and partners are marking the occasion with a series of events in different countries to highlight the importance of livestock and the research-based technologies that will make sure that livestock are a viable resource for lifting people out of poverty and for more — for economic gain, for better nutrition and for improved livelihoods.
‘Bill Gates, board chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is joining us virtually today to say a few words.
Please check back to view the video clip and to read the remarks made by Bill Gates for ILRI’s session at the Borlaug Dialogue. These will be posted on this blog in the week of 4 Nov 2014, when ILRI hosts a two-day conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (6–7 Nov 2014), to mark its anniversary.
Chris Delgado, senior fellow at the World Resources Institute, where he coordinates the Land Use topic of the multi-institutional New Climate Economy project.
What follows is a lightly edited transcript of the slide presentation Chris Delgado made at the ILRI’s special event at the Borlaug Symposium 2014.
There are really two punch lines. The first is that we can’t consider livestock in a vacuum.
The livestock sector is very dynamic and changed by human behaviour, both on the demand side — the well-known Livestock Revolution— but also on the production side.
Livestock is really part of a natural resource context — that we’re running out of land and water. In a sense, anything that affects those natural resources is going to affect livestock and vice versa. The solutions, since this talk is on the transformative role of livestock going forward, are going to take that into account in ways they may not have always done before.
Animals are competing users of natural resources, as are crops, forests, lots of things. All land use is a trade off. There is no more free land a water, or not much.
If you believe the most recent FAO figures, there’s only about 9% of land that’s not accounted for by agriculture or forests or pastures or cities, etc. Most of that is in Africa and it is grassland. But its exact status and suitability for either forests or crops or even livestock, for that matter, is a matter of debate. Things are getting tighter, for sure.
Plus there’s a carbon budget. As the world worries about carbon, as it must, livestock gets into the sights of lots of people that aren’t as friendly to the sector as we are in this room.
When you have 800 million people that go to bed hungry, when you have unmet nutritional needs, which is a slightly separate issue, that’s got to be the first priority for drawing on natural resource use, for drawing on fiscal budgets.
You also have the rising demand for animal protein, which is a separate issue. That’s driven by money and by developing countries.
You have a rising awareness of greenhouse gases. In the general populace in many countries now, that’s now a big deal and it affects consumer behaviour.
You have timber and pulp demand — this is one of the real surprises for me.
I won’t talk about biofuels and food loss and waste, which are big topics. But anything that takes away from what natural resources produce is also on the debit side of the column, and makes it harder for everything else. So it’s all inter-related.
Most people here know about the so-called Livestock Revolution. But as recently as the early 1980s, the developing countries produced less than a third of the meat and a quarter of the milk in the world. Now they produce more than two-thirds of the meat (it’s probably more like 70%) and more than half of the milk. That’s all driven primarily by the emerging developing countries. It’s driven by urbanization once incomes get over incomes of $2 a day.
This chart [below] distinguishes food commodities by value. Red is livestock; green is crops. The share of livestock is increasing. You see it’s really driven by Asia. That’s because there are so many emerging countries in Asia.
So that raises the question, Can we continue to meet this kind of demand? Doubling the amount of dairy. Doubling the amount of meat, at least. Are the resources there? At the same time, all these other demands are coming.
Let’s look at another industry — the timber industry. Demand for pulp is going down as newspapers are closing. Demand for timber even is going down. But locally, timber demand is soaring. Primarily because of the emerging developing countries. All the packaging in China, the packaging needed by factories, gives you an idea. By volume, timber demand locally will go up by a factor of six, we think, by 2050; by volume, that’s six times the amount of food that will go up.
This resource crunch is real. I don’t think the world is yet internalizing how serious this is.
Agricultural production growth has been keeping up over the last 40 years really only at the expense of clearing more land. I think that is well known. It’s remarkable that for the major cereals, the annual increment — it’s a steady linear growth— is about 42 kilos per year.
If you believe these projections by FAO [the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations], which are as good as any, you would have to get about one-third more growth than that linearly to get a projected mean without clearing more land.
Ergo, we’re going to clear a lot more land. There’s just no way around it right now. The figures don’t look good.
And you’ve got pasture degradation. You’ve got the increased worry about greenhouse gas emissions. And livestock gets a big rap, and basically a very unfair one, for deforestation.
Probably the single greatest agricultural problem in the developing world, in fact in the world, is degradation. FAO’s 2010 figures show a third of all land is degraded, most of it severely degraded, so it can’t really provide ecosystem services, including growing crops in any kind of significant yields.
Overgrazing is a major factor in many cases, which adds to hostility against the livestock sector. Careful studies have been done by the OECD and others that show that this leads to a loss of 3–7% of total agricultural production; that sounds conservative to me.
Agriculture and land-use change, essentially cutting trees, accounted for a quarter of all global greenhouse gas emissions in 2010.
Livestock get a big rap on this because they cause 30% of direct agricultural emissions, or 7% of all greenhouse gas emissions, if you don’t count land-use change.
It you blame deforestation on livestock, as most environmentalists do, incorrectly, livestock cause 14.5% of all greenhouse gas emissions.
Ruminants cause 80% of livestock-generated greenhouse gas emissions. It’s a fact, as far as I know, that beef produces 6 times as much greenhouse gas emissions per unit of protein as chicken, eggs or pork. So ruminants are immediately in the crosshairs.
Here’s an example [below] of livestock blamed as a driver of deforestation. That was true in the 1980s and 1990s: people actually cut down trees to have access to land for grazing, because livestock prices at the time justified it and because wood wasn’t such a scare thing.
People still cut down trees, but now it’s actually for something else.
First let’s clarify terms. In FAO terminology, the standard one used, deforestation does not mean cutting down trees. Deforestation refers to land that was administered by the forest department and is now administered by some other department, typically the agriculture department.
Degradation means the trees are cut down.
And in fact, we have a lot of trees being cut down. Satellites tell us losses are up to 20 million hectares of trees per year.
Here [below], the same people that brought you the graph [above] of the drivers of deforestation show that livestock play very little role in the cutting of trees. In Africa, trees are cut down primarily for charcoal, as indicated, and in Latin America and Asia, tree cutting is primarily for timber.
This is a key thing to understand. What’s driving the cutting of trees is wood. Then there’s a separate decision of whether you let the forest regenerate, and wait 20 years, or use it for something else, like livestock or oil palm production. And this is all being played out in legislation and governments. This is a big issue going forward.
This pretty picture [below] is from China. It’s of a famous project—a watershed rehabilitation project that lasted 10 years as a World Bank project but has continued purely by the Government of China.
The Chinese viewed this project as something to solve the silting of the Yellow River, which was causing all kinds of problems. And the World Bank thought it might be an agricultural development project. But it actually turned out to be a livestock development project.
Now I’ll tell you my other takeaway. It’s about incorporating the power of livestock. Productive landscapes are good for everybody. But there’s the ‘collective good’ problem — not everyone collects.
But livestock does. It is the one thing that can be relied on to give something to the individual farmer: the returns are individual; they’re tangible.
So from a project design perspective, if you’re going to do a landscape preservation project, you want to make sure there’s a livestock component in there.
You probably don’t want it to be free-range goats. You probably want it to be confined dairy cattle or Kashmir sheep, or whatever you can do that makes money and requires feed that a restored landscape can provide without degrading the environment.
You’re going to need to do all the things on the list [above] if you really want to incorporate the power of livestock.
It is the power of livestock that will get you cooperation of the people you are serving.
Many livestock investments are needed. Many are well known. On the health side, it gets tricky. That is a big issue; it’s no doubt ILRI’s leadership is vital here.
This [below] is actually the amount of greenhouse gas emission, or CO2 equivalent, per unit of beef production in different parts of the world. You see Eastern Europe is the champ at 14. South Asia is the loser at 77. And of course it depends on how productive your system is.
This slide makes several points. One is that that technology, primarily feeding and pasture improvement, can vastly reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of ruminants. As can better herd management: One of the problems of South Asia is you’ve got so many unproductive animals, and this increases the greenhouse gas emissions per unit of product.
If you make livestock more profitable and you don’t have enough land and you’re next to a forest, that forest is going to have problems. So if you intensify agriculture, whether it’s crops or livestock, you’ve got to protect forests.
Brazil has understood this. Brazil has done a huge amount using satellite remote sensing. Nowadays you can sign up on the Internet for an alert of any deforestation within the last month on 25 hectares or larger areas.
Another solution is to restore 150 million hectares of degraded agricultural landscapes. That doesn’t sound like so much, but it’s essential to get started on this.
You saw that nice picture on the right [below]. On the left is what China’s Loess Plateau looked like in 1990. It had been cultivated for thousands of years. The soils weren’t bad but it was totally eroded and it was stripped of any vegetation by human beings, You had free-ranging of goats, with the goats climbing on the steep slopes, and so forth.
The project was capital-intensive, skills intensive, governance intensive. It really did wonderful things. The original project design didn’t have that much livestock. But the farmers demanded it. It ended up that the significant increase in return to the farmers was from introducing dairy cattle and cut-and carry practices and Kashmir sheep, a new introduction. The rate of return from livestock was the highest of all, and it was returned to individual farmers — a huge incentive. The project also managed to do all the other good stuff it was supposed to do.
My institute estimates there is potential for restoring 300 million hectares in Africa. The returns have now been measured, I believe by IFAD [International Fund for Agricultural Development], at $180 per hectare per year.
So Niger shows the way. See [above] the before and after photos. I was there in the 1970s and ’80s quite frequently, and the photo on top is what it looked like. I would never in my wildest dreams have envisaged the possibility of such change on such scale.
We can also improve the contribution of livestock through trade. The global meat trade has actually grown 40% in the last decade. It’s still only one-tenth of production, compared to fish, which is over 30%. But the supply chain for meat is heavily concentrated, with the top ten suppliers earning $200 billion in revue and at least half of them headquartered in the BRIC countries [Brazil, Russia, India and China].
High-value market access of course now depends on sanitary compliance. When I began this chapter, neither Brazil nor the United States could ship beef to China. Now Brazil can. (I think the US is still out.) So sanitary compliance is a big deal.
In future, maybe not tomorrow but in the future, greenhouse gas reduction — low-emission beef — is also going to be a selling point for some value chains.
(3) We need sustainable transformation of farming as a whole, with livestock interventions taking landscape approaches.
(4) In non- and low-market economies, people can improve their nutrition by consuming more diversified foods. And the more diversified a productive landscape is, the more nutritional solutions it can offer.
(5) Rapid changes in the global livestock sector have been driven by the global South for the last 20 years; changes in the sector will continue to be driven by the South over the next several decades.
Tags: Bill Gates, BMGF, Borlaug Symposium, Chris Delgado, IFAD, IFPRI, Lindiwe Majele Sibanda, Livestock Revolution, Pamela Anderson, Sam Thevasagayam, World Bank, World Food Prize, WRI. Bookmark the permalink.
vacants. In amhara region their were more than 400 vacancy in the woreda collected by the livestock agency at oct 2014, but in the region their is only not more than 200 DVM’s so look the gapes b/n it. | 2019-04-25T18:29:31Z | https://news.ilri.org/2014/10/27/a-major-presentation-on-the-power-of-livestock-to-transform-todays-resource-scarce-agricultural-lands/ |
Chef d'Equipes should ensure that riders put forward for competition are of a standard and sufficiently experienced to jump in that competition. The onus is on chef dEquipes and EII members to be familiar with the rules and to know which classes the riders are eligible to compete in.
TRI Sponsorship. TRI has kindly offered sponsorship for this year. TRI are giving vouchers for first second and third in the Open Team and Individual Competitions and these are in ADDITION to prizes being presented by competition organisers.
NOTE: The Equestrian Interschools League Committee facilitates event organisers by publishing these general rules and guidelines and by publishing a calendar of events and results. The commitee also records results submitted which are then, if the event is part of the league, collated for the team and individual league. Event organisers are responsible for the submission of the results. Events are run by schools and/or equestrian centres and carry their own insurance for the event. Events can be covered by Howden UK Group Ltd, www.howdengroup.com or email: [email protected] as long as organisers affiliate with EII for the event. The central committee is not involved in the running and organising of these events, other than by publishing them in the calendar and recording results submitted by the event organisers. All queries pertaining to the events should be directed to the event oganiser. The equestrian Inter Schools League Committee organises the final of the league in conjunction with the venue nominated to host the final. It will run under the venue's insurance. All people involved in equestrian events, whether running an event, running a club, coaching or otherwise are advised to familiarise themselves with the HSI code of ethics and good practice in Equestrian Sport.
WARM UP ARENAS: Organisers are asked to note that warm up arenas should be manned to ensure competitors can warm up safely. See general rule 5 below.
TURNOUT: Competitors are expexted to turn out well as they are representing their school. Venue Organisers are encouraged to present TURNOUT prizes to the best turned out team and the winners will be listed in a TURNOUT League with a prize to the winning school to be presented at the final.
ATTENDANCE: Every school entering a team will get a point for attendance. These points will be collated separately from the league points and the school with the most points will receive rosettes and a prize at the final.
Opem team and Individual heights will be 95cm to 1m with a maximum of 2 fences set at 105 in second round and jump off round.
These will be the TRI sponsored League classes and schools will gain points towards the league final.
HSI has confirmed its continued sponsorship of the Premier 110 Individual class and qualifiers will be run at nominated venues.
A new EII90cm Novice Individual class will be run at certain venues which will be a QUALIFIER for the final for the EII National Novice Championship. There will be 6 to qualify from each qualifier. Pupils qualified may compete at subsequent qualifiers and if already qualified the qualifying place moves to the next eligible person. Since it is the person that qualifies, a maximum of 2 ponies may be ridden at the final by the qualified rider. This is confined to second level pupils only and to those competing at novice level only. Riders competing on open teams and open individual classes may not compete in this competition. If a rider subsequently jumps in an open competition at another event either as a team or individual she is not eligible to compete in the EII final.
The novice 80cm individual class is open to both novice and primary pupils. Open riders may ride H/C in this class.
Novice team competitions are confined to second level pupils only. Primary team and primary individual competitions are confined to primary school pupils.
Event organisers are asked to submit results as soon as possible and with regard to qualifier competitions to give results down to 10th place.
Click here for members and members representatives charter which you sign up to when you join.
The onus is on EII members to be familiar with the rules and to know what classess they are eligible to compete in.
A nominal yearly membership fee will apply.
Members are then covered by insurance in addition to schools insurance, will recive a dedicated membership number and will be entered in the yearly EII draw.
Whilst combined teams can continue to compete and be placed at all the league competions, combined teams cannot compete at the Open Team League final.
A school's 6 best scores will be brought forward to the final. Similarly in the Individual league an Individual's 6 best scores will be brought forward to the final.
A change of rider/horse must be declared in advance of competing.
Excessive use of the whip can lead to elimination as per SJI and FEI rules.
In team competitions in order to be eligible to jump off for the team a rider MUST have COMPLETED the qualifying rounds.
A Horse/pony may be ridden in only one team competition on the day. In other words if it is entered in the open team it may NOT be ridden by another rider in the novice team competition. It may be ridden by a different rider in the individual competition but may NOT be ridden in both novice and open individuals by different riders. It may compete (if sufficiently experienced) in the 110 class. The rider riding it in that class should be the rider that rode it in either of the OPEN competitions and it should NOT have been ridden in any novice competition on the day. A pony/horse may NOT compete in either the open team, open individual or 110m class if it has been ridden in the novice team or individual on the day. However if an open rider is making up a novice team on a novice pony and wishes to compete another horse/pony capable of jumping the open and/or 1.10m track then, if vouched for by the chef dEquipe, the rider may do so. The open rider should not jump off for the novice team. Note also general rule 9 and 10 below.
Premier 1.10m qualifiers sponsored by HSI will be held at a number of selected venues as listed on calendar.
These are open to combinations capable of jumping a 110 track and this must be confirmed when entering by school representative on the day whether Chef d'Equipe or parent/guardian. Combinations competing at novice level are not eligible.
A rider may enter a maximum of two horses/ponies at each qualifier and may qualify a maximum of two horses/ponies for the final.
The final will be held at the Interschools league final weekend. Six combinations from each qualifier will qualify, plus the winner of the MEC NI 110 League final.
First to sixth at the qualifier will qualify.
Qualified combinations may compete at other qualifiers and be eligible for prizes on offer on the day, with the exception of the qualifier rosettes, but must state that they are already qualified, in which case the qualifying spot and rosette moves to the next combination in line.
Some venues will run a 1.10m class for which qualification will not be awarded but the same general rules apply. Qualifiers are highlighted in the Calendar.
Note this is NOT a league competition and the Open Individual League is a separate competition run as before.
The onus is on EII members to be familiar with the rules and to know what classes they are eligible to compete in.
Riders must be correctly attired and it is strongly recommended that protective helmet and back protectors be worn at all times while mounted. Fastened CE certified helmets are compulsory once mounted.
In the warm up arena safety officers must ensure that maximum heights of practice fences are marked and adhered to and that a safe number of riders only are allowed in at any one time.
Rider fall: A rider that falls during the course of a competition is eliminated from that competition they may not remount and shall leave the arena on foot. However the rider may jump in a subsequent different competition should the team’s chef d’Equipe vouch for the rider and that they are fit to do so having received appropriate medical or parental permission where appropriate.
A qualified medical person should be appointed to each venue. There should be a paramedic on site and either an ambulance on site or an ambulance on call. The venue's accident report form must be completed following any accident.
Eligibilty: Second level Interschools competitions are open to riders in full-time second level education, who are 19 years of age and under on 1st September, and who are in receipt of fulltime education in the same school.
It is noted that many venues run novice team and individual competitions in conjunction with the open team and open individual league competitions. These should be for novice combinations only to encourage schools to enter genuine novice riders. Open riders competing at novice level for the purpose of schooling an OPEN horse or pony should do so H/C. However an open rider on a novice pony may compete on a novice team if required but are not allowed to jump off for the novice team on the day. As a guide, combinations competing at SJI or pony club competitions at 95cm or over should not compete at novice level. A pony/horse may NOT compete in either the open team, open individual or 110m class if it has been ridden in the novice team or individual on the day. However if an open rider is making up a novice team on a novice pony and wishes to compete another horse/pony capable of jumping the open team and individual and/or 110 track then, if vouched for by the chef dEquipe, the rider may do so. The open rider should not jump off for the novice team.
Ponies must be entered under their registered name.
Combined schools: In general there would not be an amalgamation of schools to make up a team. However there are schools and areas where Showjumping is not well represented and organisers may allow combined teams to enter the competition providing that the amalgamations is of only two secondary schools at most and that the names of both schools are displayed on the program. Primary school teams may be made up from anumber of schools. In the open tem league competitions no points are awarded to combined teams but the combined team will be awarded the prizes on the day if placed. The only exception is the OPEN TEAM LEAGUE final where combined teams are not allowed. If schools cannot make up a team at the league final the pupils may jump in the individual competitions.
Pony Horse Grade: There can only be one Grade ‘A’ pony or Horse Equivalent on a team.
Team size: A team may consist of three or four riders, with the best three scores in each round to count.
Governing SJI rules: The competition shall be held under SJI rules- Article 261-5.2.
Fence heights: The height of the fences in the open second level competitions, must be minimum 95cm and no greater than 1m in the first round. Two fences in the second round may be 105cm and two fences in the jump off may be 105cm.
Open/Novice Competition: Organisers may run novice team and open and novice individual competitions also but they MUST CLEARLY SPECIFY if the competition is an open or a novice competition..
The height of the OPEN individual fences must be the same as the height of the open team fences and the same general rules will apply.
In the Team Competition if a rider is eliminated for error of course or three refusals in the first round, the rider may jump the second round. However if the elimination is a result of a fall the rider may not continue in that team competition but may if certifed fit to do so compete in a different competition.
Horse Pony Combination: A rider and Horse/Pony must jump exclusively for one school only and may not be entered or compete more than once in any team competition.
A competitor may compete in both team and individual competitions. However the same combination of horse and rider must compete at the same level of competition and only once in each competition. In other words if a horse and rider compete in the open team competition they must if competing individually compete in the open individual. However at the discretion of the organisers the combination may compete “hors concours” in a novice individual event. This is to encourage riders who may have experienced difficulties to school around a lower course.
Entering Deadlines: The individual competitions may be entered on the day. Team competitions must be entered in advance.
Chef d’Equipe: A Chef d’Equipe, or a person appointed by the Chef d’Equipe, must be present with the team on their arrival and during the course of the competition. The Chef d‘Equipe must be responsible for the conduct of his/her team at all times. The Chef d’Equipe must be at least 18 years of age.
Course Walks: A minimum of two course walks should take place, if there are more than nine teams competing, with teams travelling the greatest distance competing after the second course walk where possible.
The second round of the team competition should be timed so that should there be a number of teams eligible for the minor placings this can at the discretion of the organisers be decided on time.
In novice primary competitions optimum time can decide the placings.
In second level team competitions and open primary team competitions a Jump-off should decide the top placings.
In the event of an equality of faults in a second level open team competition, the Chef d’Equipe will appoint two team members to jump-off against the clock.
There will be an open draw with the Chef d’Equipe of the jump-off teams present, to decide the order of jumping.
The Jump-Off will have rider number one from each team competing, followed by rider number two from each team.
In order to be eligible to jump off for a team a rider must have completed the qualifying rounds.
A digital timing system will be on display for the jump-off.
At the discretion of the organiser a single team member may jump off for the team in second level novice competitions and primary competitions.
Turnout. To encourage good turnout of horse and rider turnout rosettes and/or prizes should be presented.
For Championship shows horses and ponies should be plaited.
In general rosettes for first to sixth place should be presented and prizes which can be in kind to at least the top three teams and individuals.
Prize winners should generally be mounted for the presentation of prizes.
Arena Parties: An SJI registered course builder should build the course and be in attendance for the duration of the competition.
Judges: An SJI judge should be appointed to judge the competition and the judge/s must familiarise themselves with the interschool rules.
Discipline: Any act of discourtesy or disobedience to the show organisers on the part of the owner, groom, parent, chef d’Equipe, teacher, trainer or rider/team will lead to disqualification from either competition or league.Please note that on the whole events are staffed by volunteers giving of their free time as is the Interschools Committee.
Appeals: In the case of an appeal the appeal must be lodged in writing with the show organiser with a deposit of .€80.00 within 15 minutes of the result being announced. This will be forfeited if the appeal is NOT upheld. Should the appeal be forwarded to the national committee thedecision of the national committee will be regarded as binding.
Passports: In compliance with the Department of Agriculture it is incumbent upon our committee to insist that each competitor has an official horse/pony passport available on the day. Spot inspections will be carried out and if a competitor fails to produce a passport, he/she will not be allowed to compete.
Results should generally be submitted for publication to the newspapers and can be posted on the equestrianinterschools.com results page.
Performance enhancing hind boots are not permitted in Interschools competitions.
Rule Changes / Amendments: The national committee reserves the right to amend/clarify these rules as necessary during the year.
Any changes to rules, venues or dates will be published when available. The onus is on the competitors to watch for changes.
The onus is on EII members to be familiar with the rules and to know which classes they are eligible to compete in.
This will give the riders public liability insurance and member to member insurance in addition to the schools' insurance. Each member will recive a unique membership number and will be entered into the yearly EII draw.
There is an administration fee payable by venue /school for the running of league set at €100 per competition. This may be reassessed pending entries.
A rider that falls during the course of a competition is eliminated from that competition; they may not remount and shall leave the arena on foot. However the rider may jump in a subsequent competition should the team’s Chef d’Equipe vouch for the rider and that they are fit to do so having received appropriate medical or parental permission where appropriate.
A qualified medical person should be appointed to each venue. There should be a paramedic on site and either an ambulance on site or on call. The venue's accident report form should be completed following any accident.
The Equestrian Interschools Ireland league competitions are open to riders in full-time second level education, who are 19 years of age and under on 1st September, and who are in receipt of fulltime education in the same school.
It is noted that many venues run novice team and individual competitions in conjunction with the open team and open individual league competitions. These should be for novice combinations only to encourage schools to enter genuine novice riders. Open riders competing at novice level for the purpose of schooling an OPEN horse or pony should do so H/C. However an open rider on a novice pony may compete on a novice team if required but are not allowed to jump off for the novice team on the day. As a guide, combinations competing at SJI or pony club competitions at 90cm or over should not compete at novice level. A pony/horse may NOT compete in either the open team, open individual or 110m class if it has been ridden in the novice team or individual on the day. However if an open rider is making up a novice team on a novice pony and wishes to compete another horse/pony capable of jumping the open individual and/or 110 track then, if vouched for by the chef dEquipe, the rider may do so.
Horse/ Ponies must be entered under their registered name.
Combined schools: No amalgamations of teams are permitted in the team competition for league points purposes. However there are schools and areas where Showjumping is not well represented and organisers may allow combined teams to enter the competition providing that the amalgamations is of only two secondary schools at most and that the names of both schools are displayed on the program.
Combined teams are NOT allowed compete in the OPEN team league final. If a school cannot make up a team the pupils may compete in the individual competition.
The competition shall be held under SJI rules.
Fence heights: The height of the fences in the open competitions, must be minimum 95cm and no greater than 1m in the first round. Two fences in the second round may be 105cm and two fences in the jump off may be 105cm.
Open/Novice Competition: Organisers may run novice team and open and novice individual competitions also but they MUST CLEARLY SPECIFY if the competition is an open or a novice competition. Only the OPEN team and OPEN individual competition results will be counted towards the league points.
The Individual competitions should be run as follows: There will be two rounds aand places will be decided according to the aggregate penaltiesin both phases (faults on obstacles and penalties for exceeding the time allowed in both phases) and if necessary according to the time in the second (jumpoff0 round ( ie article 274.5.6 There should be a minimum of 12 jumping efforts including a double in the first round and a shortened course for the second round. Or one round with a separate jump off round for all clear rounds with minor placings decided by qualifying places in the qualifying round, article 238.2.2. In certian circumstances a one round speed round format can be adopted article 245.6 but the entry fee charged should be less for this.
In the team competition if a rider is eliminated in the first round for error of course or three refusals the rider may jump the second team round, but not if the elimination is the result of a fall, in which case the rider may not continue. The best three scores from both rounds give the team total.
Horse Pony Combination: A rider and Horse/Pony must jump exclusively for one school only and may not be entered or compete more than once in any team competition. In the event that a school is entering more than one team note that a rider may compete on one team only. A horse/pony may compete on one team only. However a rider may ride more than one horse or pony in the individual competition. A horse/ pony may not be ridden by more than one rider in the individual competition, but may be ridden by a different rider in the team competition, but as previously stated may only compete on one team and may not be ridden by more than one rider in the team competition. In the event that a rider is placed in the individual competition on more than one mount, the rider will be eligible for prizes on the day but only the higher placing will count towards points in the open individual league. In other words it is the rider not the combination that gains the points, similar to the rule that it is the school not a particular team from a school that gains points in the league. A competitor may compete in both team and individual competitions. However, the same combination of horse and rider must compete at the same level of competition and only once in each competition. In other words if a horse and rider compete in the open team competition they must if competing individually compete in the open individual. However at the discretion of the organisers the combination may compete “hors concours” in a novice individual event. This is to encourage riders who may have experienced difficulties to school around a lower course.
Chef d’Equipe: A Chef d’Equipe, or a person appointed by the Chef d’Equipe, must be present with the team on their arrival and during the course of the competition. The Chef d‘Equipe must be responsible for the conduct of his/her team at all times. The Chef d’Equipe or the person appointed by the Chef d’Equipe must be over 18.
Jump-off: In the event of an equality of faults in the team competition, the Chef d’Equipe will appoint two team members to jump-off against the clock. There will be an open draw with the Chef d’Equipe of the jump-off teams present, to decide the order of jumping. The Jump-Off will have rider number one from each team competing, followed by rider number two from each team. A digital timing system will be on display for the jump-off.
In order to be eligible to jump off for a team the rider must have completed the qualifying rounds.
Judges: An SJI judge should be appointed to judge the competition and the judge/s must familiarise themselves with the league rules.
Teams may compete at as many venues as they wish.
League Points will be gained in open team competition. League points will be awarded to the top six placed teams in each competition. In the event of a school having more than one team in the top six places, the school will receive league points only for their highest placing and the team in 7th place will then receive the point and so on. The best top SIX scores per school over the course of the league will be brought forward to the final.
Points are awarded as follows: First place 10 points Second place 8 points Third place 6 points Fourth place 4 points Fifth place 2 points Sixth place 1 point The following points apply in the final: First place 15 points second place 12 points third place 9 points fourth place 6 points fifth place 3 points sixth place 2 points.
In the event of EQUALITY of points in the final the accumulated scores over the entire league will be used to decide the placings. In other words if 2 teams end on the same points following the competition at the final but one school has a higher accumulative placing over the course of the league then that school will claim the higher place.
Individual Competition: Similarly Open Individuals may compete at as many venues as they wish. League points will be awarded to the top six placed individuals in each competition. In the event of an individual having more than one mount in the top six places, the individual will receive league points only for their highest placing and the individual in 7th place will then receive the point and so on. The best top SIX scores per individual over the course of the league will be brought forward to the final.
In the event of EQUALITY of points in the final the accumulated scores over the entire league will be used to decide the placings. In other words if 2 individuals end on the same points following the competition at the final but one individual has a higher accumulative placing over the course of the league then that individual will claim the higher place.
Discipline: Any act of discourtesy or disobedience to the show organisers or to the committee on the part of the owner, groom, parent, chef d’Equipe, teacher, trainer or rider/team may lead to disqualification from either competition or league. Please note that on the whole events are staffed by volunteers giving of their free time as is the Interschools Committee.
Appeals: In the case of an appeal the appeal must be lodged, in writing, with the show organiser with a deposit of €80.00 within 15 minutes of the result being announced. This will be forfeited if the appeal is NOT upheld. Should the appeal be forwarded to the national committee the decision of the national committee will be regarded as binding. | 2019-04-25T06:40:53Z | http://equestrianinterschools.com/rules.php |
It is our pleasure at this moment to share with you the first of the Cosmic Oneness through this venue. We have changed the way in which we are providing the information and including the Divine Mother and Father God within The Clarion Temple of Oneness. It is an exciting time when elements are coming to fruition and with that change, how can we not feel the Oneness of the ALL. I am Lord Sananda.
From this point forward Michael will be bringing forth the message from myself, but in this moment, I wanted to share that the messages of the Cosmic frequencies are going to be moving in a different direction. I am honored to be with you, but time does not permit me to work with Mike in these moments. So it is with great pleasure that I bring to you our Divine Mother and Father God as the Cosmic Great Central Sun.
I AM that I AM that I AM, I AM the Cosmic Great Central Sun as the Divine Mother and Father God. It is our pleasure to share our energies with each of you and especially at a very wonderful time of creation.
This week is going to be quite wonderful and exciting for each of us as we move into the Summer Solstice energies of experiencing the OM WAVE across the globe. We want to share with you some thoughts of exactly what the OM WAVE represents for each of you.
We express to you the ability to access your own Divine Essence in the power and the light that you are. We share with you these energies in this moment to assist you in this magnificent process that is occurring with in the earth. You are to be commended for all of the hard work you have been doing as Gaia is extremely excited to receive these energies. As each of you are the conduits for these energies, you will experience timelines from your past to be ignited into your future. Some of these timelines you may know about and others have been lost. But this is your time of remembrance of the ability to access YOU in many multi-faceted levels. It is exciting as each of you, my Dearest Ones, are fully going to be able to move into a new state of existence; and if you do not, then it is only because you still have deep seated elements that are standing in your way. This is why the OM WAVE is going to assist you greatly.
At the onset of these energies, you may feel waves of light running through your body and some are going to feel it differently than others. Those that are physically within Mt. Shasta are going to move into a deeper level than they thought possible and are the conduits for others around the globe to feel these effects. It would be very helpful to have a special crystal that is aligned with your energies to help ground the essences within you. What is going to occur with this frequency is that as the OM WAVE is being activated, the crystal will help to ground you through the process. It does not mean that the OM Wave will stay in the crystal but it will go through the crystal essence and then into you. In other words it will take up some of the intensity so you can receive it through the 3-4 day period that the activation will take place.
Some of you are going to feel the effects deeply through your being. Aspects of the mental and/or emotional levels are going to be purged and integrated at the same time. Spending time in nature during this time would be very crucial to the balance that is needed within you. During this phase of the crystal energy you may have elements to arise but it is up to you to fully work through them. The energy will not do that for you, it is working with you and you will know what to do.
The planet is being awakened into a new level of experience for each individual. Everyone will feel it differently and work through it within themselves. We are going to see more awakened Beings through this process and it is up to you, the Ones that have walked before them to help with the grounding process. As more and more awaken, it is imperative that each of you take care of yourselves so that you can be the grounding conduit from the heavens above into your body and through the Earth. For some it may be like an earthquake rattling within you and for others it will be peacefulness within your heart. Many will feel both of these elements at different intervals depending upon your initiation process. This goes hand-in-hand with what you will be experiencing. You see if new Ones are awakening, then they are waking up unto their initiations and seeing the world quite differently. Then each of you will move forward into a higher existence but within this existence comes a sense of knowing there is more. There will always be more for you to express within yourself.
We are very excited about this juncture of time upon Earth. Many have been waiting for these moments and now it has arrived. We express to you to fully allow yourself to be still and receive the frequencies that are necessary for your developmental process. This is the best advice that we can offer.
Each of you are awakening to a new part of your Being. In these moments it is important to be YOU and not what you think YOU ARE. Beingness is the most important aspect as you will go through many changes.
Think of it as this: sitting in a perfect space, breathing deeply, feeling the essence through your breath and without your body. Just sitting within this space you have created, allowing the essence of your multi-dimensional self to run through your physical body as it changes and molds you into what your Higher Self has deemed appropriate for you. This is the essence of CREATION.
The first is the OM coming to you and the following is the acceptance of the frequency that will be in balance. Sit and reflect in those moments and you shall feel the change within you. Now the body may react in certain ways; it cannot be helped. So allowing the acceptance to flow through you is most important.
We are so honored to share with you these elements to help you in the process.
We, of the Divine Mother and Father God fully embrace you deeply in the presence that WE ARE.
I AM THAT I AM THAT I AM, I AM THE COSMIC GREAT CENTRAL SUN AT YOUR SERVICE.
Note: This is a transcript of the last Cosmic Oneness scheduled call on Sunday’s. We are discontinuing the regular Cosmic Oneness call per the request of Spirit but are going to have a special transcribed message included in our weekly email Updates & Alerts.
It is I, Lord Sananda. What an amazing night this is going to be.
First, I want to say, thank you. Thank you for stepping unto this pathway. Thank you for being a part of the last 18 months. The changes that have occurred upon the Earth because of the frequencies you have empowered yourself to be through these teachings. I ask of you in this moment just to sit and feel my Frequency of Light as my Heart is totally open to each of you.
I have only been part of the Cosmic Oneness for the last year since 2011. Dearest One, here, started this energy in 2010. Of course, many of you know that this frequency has been coming through her for several years, as she has imparted great knowledge’s from this information. What has happened for each of us in these moments is to allow yourself to connect to your Highest Essence, to allow yourself to bring forth your I Am Presence to be part of the Divine Mother and Father God energies. That was truly the goal of this call.
And I think we have achieved a part of this. And within that availability each of you are accessing a higher frequency than ever thought possible, along with many others who do read the transcriptions and listen to the recordings. So we are taking this a step further. And I want to thank Michael’s little talk in sharing that this was not either of their ideas. As the Spiritual Hierarchy looked at the pathway that these two have taken on within themselves, it is time to make a change to open up more balance within their lives, because it is becoming momentous of what they need to create to assist you and many others upon this Planet. And not just upon the Planet, but within the Frequencies of all the Kingdoms of this Earth ~ to help it to come within Oneness.
They have a big job ahead of themselves. I Am deeply honored that they have taken stock in the last couple of weeks. It may be an understatement that it would be easier for them to have some more free time because they put much time into their work, even when they are not doing calls or classes. So it is my Divine pleasure. This is not an ending, and I want each of you to know that. This is another stage of the ladder, as you receive more Ascension energy.
You are going to be receiving more. And believe me, you are not getting rid of us that quickly or that easily.
So the activations will still be coming through. In fact, the Cosmic Great Central Sun is now going to be overlighting the Clarion Light Beings. Michael and Christine do not know this. They will be giving a dispensation on each of the Clarion Light Beings calls. It will be short. And I will be coming through as a guest every once and a while, along with a weekly transcription that Christine is going to do.
So in essence, you are going to be having more than you ever thought you ever could. The Clarion has increased its frequency deeply, and it has raised the vibration of the Temple by doing this work. We thank each of you for your participation because it is only going to get deeper. So this is not an ending at all, it is an integration.
That’s what we all need to do. We need to integrate what we are working with in allowing to see a balance that is necessary. Elements do not need to be separate. So it’s going to be even more powerful for each of us and each of you. Yes, we will periodically, possibly do our own calls. But that will be announced in a timely basis as the changes and elements are happening upon the Earth.
I want to thank the Dearest One, here, for stepping out and allowing these frequencies to come through her, because I will tell you that I know this has not been an easy task for her ~ in order to incorporate these and share them with you so each of you can feel these frequencies yourself. So allow me to stand in front of each of you right now and embrace you for the Energetics and the Being that you are and what you bring forth. It is time for each of us to graduate. This call has been like each of us guiding you into a new Space of Continuance. Now, that new Space of Continuance is different. You don’t need us to hold your hand any longer. This is another reason why the change is going to be happening.
Thank you for stepping up into the Presence that you are in allowing that frequency to be you.
Now, it’s only going to get deeper. We know each of you is being challenged at this time with the Wesak energies. The Eclipse next week when we do that call ~ yes, it will include some of us. It’s going to be kind of a potpourri of energies. So that will be an exciting ceremony for everyone.
We’re just getting closer. We’re standing with you as what we have been sharing for a very long time. So embrace yourselves in these moments of what you have fully allowed yourself to incorporate. It is with great honor that each of us work deeper with you. There may be some teachings that come through us, so we look forward to the continued acceleration of all of us. Thank you for being such a wonderful Initiate on this Mastership Pathway and becoming those amazing Beings of Mastery for the New Earth.
Let us now continue with the frequencies. I Am now going to open everything up unto our Divine Mother and Father God. I think they have some special words to say also. So sit back and enjoy. Allow yourself just to relax and know that each of you are accelerating in a completely different way than ever thought possible.
Many Blessings In All That We Are Together.
We Are. We Are. We Are.
I Am. I Am. I Am. I Am. I Am. I Am. I Am.
We, the Divine Mother and the Divine Father God, are turning down our energies right now to bring forth the Frequency of Gratitude and Acceptance from our Heart to your Heart, which is our Hearts Together.
Let us go back to the Beginning ~ our first initiations through the communication of this Voice.
Look how much we have all shifted and changed into more Frequencies of Light, bringing forth more remembrances, allowing those processes that your old self truly was resisting ~ now bringing in those Frequencies of Light to assist in the process of the creation of the Golden Age upon this Earth.
We, the Divine Mother and the Divine Father God, are completely and deeply honored to be so much a part of your lives, not just as each of you standing and praying to God, but each of you incorporating that Essence of God within you, as your Feminine Divine and your Masculine Divine fully blend within each other to accept the mirror image that we are for you in these physical bodies you are fully inhabiting upon this Earth. It is amazing what occurs for individuals when they graduate. Truly each of you are graduating in this moment. You have graduated. It really happened during Wesak.
We knew it would come to a time when this call would need to be put elsewhere. We are no longer separate, but we are fully integrated. And that’s truly the aspect of Light that we want to bring forth. Is that what each of us desire ~ to fully be integrated with our Highest Essence?
The Highest Essence includes our Essence and so much more of what Divine Michael and Divine Meleriessee have brought forth in these teachings. As they have done so, it has gotten deeper and deeper, not only for you but for them, because more remembrance is occurring for you to bring in that frequency into your body.
This is truly what our goal has been. You have reached a stage now where these frequencies need to be more integrated within the essences that you are. I ask of you to reflect how deeply you have changed by allowing these elements that she has imparted through her Being into each of yours.
There have been great challenges for each of you. That is part of the process of Mastery, because without these challenges you could not really take a look and see how much you’ve changed through that initiation phase. That is why there are initiations. It’s like taking a ruler and seeing where you were previously in many steps behind and where you have arrived now. Part of you has forgotten. And that is part of the Divine Essence also. Because if you wanted to remember every struggle, and every thought and every feeling that you’ve ever gone through to get to this stage of your growth, then you may not even go further.
This is just the beginning my Dearest Ones. This is just the beginning for each of us to grow into the Frequency of Light that we are together and to bring forth this Frequency of Light unto your pathways, unto your bodies, into the World around you. We know the Ones that have been here every week, that have listened and have integrated these Frequencies of Light, and have taken the messages and put them into their own Essence and figured out a way how it’s changing your pathway.
We ask you tonight just to receive this acceptance of Love from our Hearts unto you, because that is truly what this evening is about.
As of next week, you’re going to be going through a new surge of Light upon this Planet. But each of you that have been participating in these sessions, in these activations, in these ceremonies that these two are providing are beyond what anyone could fully provide.
So we embrace you. We embrace you deeply with whom you are and what you are becoming in allowing those essences to fully flow within you, because you are Divine Beings. And within those Divine Beings of Light, we see the reflection of us in every one of you.
How can we not have gratitude?
We tell you each week to have gratitude for what you are doing. And that will help you to accelerate to new phases of your growth. So now we are the ones with the gratitude. We are the ones because you have awakened up unto the Frequency of Light that you are so that you can fully embrace this time and this pathway, because this is truly what is about to occur for you.
This is the activation that is important for this week. All those things will still come forward because there are those out there that truly need these activations. So take stock of yourself in this moment. What have you brought into yourself? What have you allowed yourself to be? Because I know each of you are up the rung of the ladder higher than you were before.
We repeat ourselves once again.
Rid yourself of that Mental Mind ~ that Lower Mind that keeps you stuck. You may think you are moving, but you are not, if you are allowing those thought processes that are within you to keep transforming these energies. And we do have to say that the new applications that Dearest One has brought through tonight with the Violet Pink Ray and the Golden Flame is going to assist you even further.
So embrace what you were receiving. Don’t think about it. Don’t categorize it. And don’t make remarks about it. Just allow it to be. Be in the moment. Be in the now. Be in the Frequency of Light that you are, because those lower mental thoughts will stop you. We could hold your hand for years, and years and years to come ~ and if you don’t accept what we are giving unto you then you will not accelerate yourself. You are the director of this pathway. We are just the messenger.
So let us just breathe into those Essences and surrender unto these Frequencies of Light that we bring unto you of Gratitude this evening. Allow yourself to have deep gratitude. And as you bring that deepness within you, you will see it flowing through you. Take away any Frequencies of Light that do not fully accept the totality that you are.
Feel the waves and waves of the Violet Pink, and the waves and waves of all the Rays of Color ~ the Blues, and the Greens and the Reds, and Pinks and Oranges, and Light Blues and Golden Colors, and Silvers and Hues and Platinums and Pearlescent, and no Colors and Crystalline Colors, Lavenders, and Higher Frequencies of Colors ~ just flowing all through you in this moment.
Let’s have a synopsis of everything that we’ve experienced together in the last 18 months of our growth. Because there has been great growth and you have been sharing this growth within you and then sending it outwards around you with all the frequencies that you are into the lands and to the Heavens and to the peoples. What a beautiful experience. It is absolutely a beautiful Frequency of Light. Feel this essence flowing through you in the deepness that you are, in the frequency that you are.
Waves and waves of Colors ~ because this is the remembrance of the Formlessness that we have spoken so much about in the last few weeks ~ allowing ourselves to get deeper and deeper into the frequency ~ allowing ourselves to just feel the Essence of Oneness that we are.
Let us breathe deeply into that.
Now, feel your Heart. Now, feel your Mind. Melting Together in the Divine.
Breathing deeply. Breathing and feel the One within each of us that We Are. Now ~ One Heart. One Mind. One ~ melting deeply within your Being.
Feel the Essence of Our Oneness Together.
All That We Are In This Frequency of Light.
We, of the Divine Mother and the Divine Father God, embrace you ~ embrace you in these moments.
As we graduate together upon the Earth. As we fully bring in the next part of our journey. Blending this Essence deeply within you, as it is part of our Creation ~ part of our Essence. Your Essence. Our Essence. Blending into the One Essence of Light.
We, of the Cosmic Great Central Sun, embrace you completely with this Frequency of Light that we are with the Essence ~ fully coming to you in these bodies of Light that you incorporate. Allow yourself to fully feel the Essence that you are. This is your Essence. It is our Essence. It is the One Essence of the Oneness That We Are.
Ground it deeply. Ground it deeply all the way down your feet into your Earth Star, centering that Earth Star into the ground. Allow the Earth Star now to spin down below you as if it is drilling a hole deeply into Gaia, as these Frequencies of Light of Oneness that we all are together come into Creative Force.
Breathing deeply, feel the fluidness of the Colors that we expressed earlier, as these Essences blend within you, as now we are fully integrated within your Being of Light.
We, of the Divine Mother and Divine Father God, of the Cosmic Great Central Sun impart these Elements within you, allowing the Essences to fully blend within your frequency, as now we move to a next stage of the journey. You have incorporated greatly the Essences into you. But now there is more. We must go deeper, deeper, deeper. Allow yourself to fully feel these Frequencies of Light.
We look forward to our next communication ~ whether it be written, whether it be spoken, whether it be in personal conversation. We are One and we are in deep gratitude in these moments of everyone of you.
Thank you for blessing yourself.
We, of the Divine Mother and the Divine Father God of the Cosmic Great Central Sun, bring forth Complete Oneness in these moments as we never have before.
So Mote It Be In The Name Of The Christ.
In The Name Of YHWH, The Holy God Of Creation.
Kodoish, Kodoish, Kodoish, Adonai T’sebayoth. We Are One.
We Are That We Are.
We Are That We Are That We Are That We Are.
This is Lord Sananda, once again. What a beautiful evening. This is one for you to always listen to. And a reminder: We are integrating more fully now. We are not leaving. We are walking with you. Thank you for being with us on this amazing journey. This is just the beginning, my Dearest Ones ~ just the beginning. We shall be sending you more in many other ways.
In Love, I Am deeply honored with each of you.
Thank you so much for your patience. This is Lord Sananda for the Cosmic Oneness and the Christ Consciousness of the Divine Mother and the Divine Father God at your service.
I ask of you with this breath that we are taking to go within your Thymus area, and within that Thymus area feel the Frequency of the Higher Cleansing Ray. Feel that Cleansing Ray move into a higher vibration than you have ever felt before.
We are going to increase the decibels a little bit here.
We’re going to bring in the 7th Frequency only because there are interruptions going on. We want everyone that is listening in this moment to feel that vibration within you. We will bring it back down before we finish this evening, but I want everyone to feel this higher vibration. What has happened this evening with the interruption of the technical connections through the computer is definitely a direct result of what is occurring on this Earth plane in these moments.
As we have said previously, this Wesak is the most powerful Wesak that has ever come onto the Planet. It is imperative that each of you take a moment within yourself and be the commander of this frequency through you. This is what we are going to be working with this evening. It’s going to assist you in moving into those higher vibrational movements while accepting yourself in a different capacity than you have previously.
I ask each of you to allow that Lower Mind to blend with the Light Body that you are increasing within you. This is why we are bringing you up to the 7th Dimensional Frequency. Not just because we have had technical difficulties during the call, but because it is time for each of you to accelerate yourselves in the conscious level and then it will happen physically.
So I ask each of you to breathe deeply into your masculine side and ask for the integration of the highest essence possible that you can handle within your physical body through your Higher Self as you access the Higher Mind.
We are going to assist you in doing this even further with the Divine Mother and Father God. Now, I Am going to ask you to blend that energy within your Feminine side as you bring in that balance within you so not one or the other is stronger than the other. They are in balance fully.
Take your hands and intertwine your fingers across your Heart as the right side representing the Male and the left side representing the Female. Feel the Ball of Light that you are within the palm of your hand of the circle. This is your Frequency of Oneness fully within your Being.
You can keep your hands across your Heart, if you’d like, with your fingers intertwined. As the Ball of Light now goes deeply into your Heart and it spins frequencies of Balance, Love and Compassion, Will and Power ~ deepening your connection through your physical body.
With this breath that you take within your essence, feel it within your Solar Plexus. Allow yourself to be completely devoted to yourself through this frequency this evening. There is nothing more important in this moment, except to fully allow yourself to have that capacity of Light within. We ask each of you to be an open a window for this frequency that is ready to come through to you from your Higher Self into the physical body to assist you to just fully relax with the changes you are going through, as we incorporate that Higher Frequency within you. If you find that you are slipping away consciously and want to leave your body, allow it to be. That means that your body needs to fully feel these frequencies.
If you are fully awake, continue to do the deep breaths in and down your diaphragm as it goes into your Solar Plexus connecting with the Devotional Ray that I represent, which is that Ruby Red ~ that Cherry Red. Feel that flowing through you because in this moment there is nothing more important than the Devotion of Yourself.
I Am now going to step aside as the Divine Mother and Father God bring forth their attunement to assist you with this process of fully accepting the challenges you are going through without thinking about them. We also call this surrendering, accepting, adjusting, and transforming ~ whatever your mind wants to call it. This is what this evening is fully about. It is now time to bring forth this frequency unto yourself. It is my pleasure to be able to assist you with this.
I Am that I Am that I Am. I Am the Cosmic Great Central Sun in this Frequency of the Male and the Female of the Divine Essence of Mother and Father God.
We stand before you this evening in this frequency. Tonight is going to be a little bit different. In this frequency we are not going to sit and discuss with you what you need to be doing or allowing it to be. But we just want you to be the sponge that you are, as we come into the full effect of our balance together, which is the Great Central Sun of the Cosmic Level. In other words, we are the Great, Great, Great, Great Central Sun of the Divine Mother and the Divine Father God.
Let’s not look at us this evening in separate form of the Male Essence and the Female Essence as we have shown you previously. Tonight, we want each of you to bring forth your own accessibility of your Male and your Female Divine Essence. As you breathe deeply, you feel the Essence of your Higher Self. Feel the Highest Soul Essence fully incorporating within your body. And settle within that. Allow yourself to feel a conjunction happening within you.
You are at a crossroads to finally allow these essences to be within you. Because we will tell you this, if you don’t do so, even within meditation and the consciousness effort, you will not be able to aspire to more that you would like to bring forth for this Wesak ceremony. It is not each of the Masters and the Light Beings that are projecting this Light, but it is the Frequency of Light itself coming down unto the Planet, as it is now the time for it to arrive. Each of the Masters of the Spiritual Hierarchy and the Light Beings of the Inter-Galactic Forces, and the Inner Earth and the Upper Earth in all Frequencies of Light of Inter-Planetary Forms will be affected by this.
So this is not a Frequency of Light that is going to be projected by one Supreme Being. Accept the Frequency of All That Is. Each of you know from the teachings through Meleriessee and Mike fully come from the Unified Whole. But what does that truly mean to you?
Until you fully feel it within your own essence, you fully will question it within your mindfulness. We fully want each of you to be in the power that you fully are of this Level of Frequency of the 144th Dimension. This is the Frequency of One. This is were it was all created from the Source of Light ~ if you can think of this Source of Light Being a Frequency of Everyone in one large Ball of Light. As you are the Nucleus, and we are the Nucleus as Divine Mother and Father God. And every individual upon this Planet and all Planets of the Christed Frequency are parts of this Nucleus of Light. Within this Nucleus of Light are Supreme Beings, such as yourself, that have gotten lost along the way as you came into creation, not only upon this Earth but upon many Inter-Planetary Essences.
So you are not any different than any other Being inhabiting the Planet in the many Universes upon Universes. The difference is ~ you have Free Will. You have the choice to accept your full completion that you are. Some may say, “But how do I acquire this completion stage?” By being in the frequency that you are.
So we ask each of you to just take a deep breath, to feel this Essence that is yours, which we call the I Am, which is all part of each of us. And we split into smaller I Am’s into the Frequency of Light that we are, and created this Spiritual Hierarchy, not just in the Beginning because all were the same in the Beginning. This is the aspect of yourself that we fully want you to realize. If we take the essences of each individual’s separate Soul Personality, and blend them into a big Ball of Light, this is what we bring unto you ~ the Planet that we all call Earth at this time ~ and within this Universe because the Universe is going to be affected by everything that is occurring on a higher frequency.
This frequency is coming from the Golden Flame. It is a Christed Energy down upon the Planet through each of you, through each of us, to assist the Planet in its Frequency of the Golden Flame. As it is illuminating through each of you and through all Frequencies of Light, and all ways of being into the wholeness that you truly are. So let us take a deep breath.
Feel that wholeness. Feel the essence of the complete balance that you fully are. Forget about the physical body. I want you to breathe deep and breathe deeper and breathe deeper, as this essence comes unto you.
Feel it floating down ~ this Ball of Light that is part of the essence that you are a part of. And it comes through all these Dimensional Frequencies.
I want you to see yourself on a Staircase at the 144th Dimension, which is part of the Sacred Heart Flame. This is an Essence of your Light Beingness in total balance. The Earth has created this imbalance within each of you. And you have just gone along with it. That was part of the design. The design now is to bring it into full completion.
So as you walk down this staircase, it is a beautiful staircase. It is a circular staircase with Beings of Light of Many Colors. You feel these Beings of Light running through you because you have a purpose. This purpose is to be fully in balance no matter where you are. Then you become this Ball of Light that is going to filter down.
Feel it balancing and swirling down.
And that’s the 7th Dimension.
Feel this frequency of Ball of Light that is you. This is your I Am. This is the Frequency of All That You Are with all the other aspects. Feel this fully within your Crown as it encompasses your entire bodily structure. So then the Ball of Light bursts into many streams of Colors. And it becomes your One Body of Light. Now, it connects with the Earth Star and the Soul Star, and there is a frequency that spins around you. Then it centers right within your Heart, and you feel the Male and the Female as One Ball of Light within you.
Feel that frequency now. There is none other. There are no thoughts. There are no experiences. There is only this Frequency of One Ball of Light Being You. Take a moment with many deep breathes as we go through this frequency to fully ground the essence that is you through your Higher Self and accepting this fully within your Being.
It’s going to be very important to have this balance for this Wesak 2012. If you do not, you will be off-kilter. Some of you may have more of an imbalance in your Feminine Side. That’s when the Feminine Side must surrender unto the Masculine Side. So it’s the balance of the truth that you truly are in the totality of your own Oneness. We are bringing forth that Frequency of Light unto you now. As we do this frequency, you will bring in all the timelines that you have experienced to help you through this process.
So there may be particles that are going to be removed, and there may be elements to be fully incorporated within you that you’ve fully forgotten. Just allow yourself to be the sponge and to receive your Light unto yourself in this moment, in this reality.
Feel swirling colors around you as now the Ball has bursted. It moves through your Soul Star. It moves out of you, and there are waves and waves of Light intertwining within each other as we move this energy down through your full bodily structure.
Now, feel it moving into your Third Eye, and moving across your facial structure and your neck, as it moves down into your Throat.
Into the Heart in the middle of the back, as now you feel the balance within the Upper as we move into the Lower.
Now, blend the Upper with the Lower, as the waves of colors within each other flow through you and around you, moving down your legs, outside of your field because you are One Body of Light. As you connect with the essence that you are into your Earth Star, now you are bringing your Formlessness as you were in the Beginning in your whole essence.
Feel that essence flowing around you ~ ribbons and ribbons of different colors and frequencies of Reds, Blues, Greens, Violets, Oranges; High Colors ~ Pearlescent; Light Colors ~ Lavenders and Blues and Greens and Yellows; and then Sparkly Lights.
They all burst into the Light that you are, as we bring this into balance into your full essence. You feel it deeply within your Heart because this is the starting point. But then it filters through the Essence of the Completion that you are.
Allow the Frequency and the Light to go anywhere that your Higher Self is choosing it to be as we bring in the vibration for you.
Now, allow the Lower Vibrations to blend with the Higher Vibrations as the Lower Vibrations represent your structure upon this Earth. And now as we bring in this frequency, you feel the essence of your balance. You feel the power that you are. You feel the frequency that has come from the Highest Level unto the Space of the 7th Dimension.
Now, we bring in this consciousness. We want to fully bring it into your physical body, as now you are fully relaxing. You are relaxing unto this ~ the muscles and everything. You are accepting. And you are surrendering that there is nothing else more important in this moment, as to fully acknowledge this essence unto yourself.
Now, feel it deep within your Solar Plexus. Feel that devotion. This is your Devotional Essence coming from your I Am Presence fully within your body. Now, we are going to ask the frequency to move down into what you can handle physically. So let’s move down into the 6th and then into the 5th. For some of you it may need to go to the 4th. We are not going to go any lower than that, but we want the vibrational rate to go through your Physical Essence. Now, as we assist you with this process, we stand before you as One Ball of Light also. There is no difference as we come to you as the Cosmic Great Central Sun. The Vibratory Force that will assist you on the Cosmic Level for you to actualize within yourself the totality that you are.
It is very important during this Wesak event that you fully incorporate this balance within you to assist you through the process of your Divinity and the process that is to be activated upon the Earth. We are not saying that you are going to activate everything that your I Am Presence has to give unto you, but you will activate the portions that are necessary at this time.
So we ask all that has been coming towards you that is not of the Highest Frequency to be fully removed as you now are accepting this through your bodily functions, as it is coming down into your physical body into all the systems that make up the physiology of this beautiful machine that you inhabit. As the Etheric Body is now more cleared than it ever has been before, because you are bringing in the acceptance of whom you are. The Emotional Body is so happy to receive these frequencies and the Mental Body is happy to relax. Feel this frequency as your One Body of Light ~ coming forward within the essence that you are.
Allow yourself to feel your Heart, as your palms will reverberate to you.
What is actually happening within you?
You take that out of you. You look at your palms. And with your Mind’s Eye ~ keeping your eyes closed ~ just feel the vibration, and what this feels like for you. This is the essence, as you are now starting to learn to communicate through frequencies and not just words.
We of the Divine Mother and the Divine Father God have come together in this combination of frequency to assist you in feeling the totality of your frequency, as we are all Balls of Light just bouncing around the many Universes. Now, you can fully activate that within you with this element of the Male and the Female being One Eternal Being within this amazing body that you inhabit. It shall help to heal. It shall help to feel. It shall help to assimilate. And this is what we all want for you ~ to have the totality to be in that body and understand when something does not feel of the Highest Frequency.
We, the Divine Mother and the Divine Father God of the Cosmic Great Central Sun, give you one last attunement for you to fully accept this Ball of Light of your I Am to be fully within the body you are inhabiting. It’s not all going to happen at once, but allow this frequency to fully blend with whom you are.
And You Are The Same.
Blessings on an amazing journey unto the Wesak Frequency within and around you. We walk with you. We share with you. And we are you.
In The Name Of YHWH And The Holy God Of Hosts, We Are One.
This is Lord Sananda. I ask of you just to receive and to allow these frequencies to blend through all your bodies and to remember that you are One Body of Light.
If you start to feel resistance, tell yourself, “I Am One Body Of Light. I Balance The Male And The Female By Being In That Oneness Within My Own Physical Existence.” I Am so happy that we have brought this frequency unto you this evening. It is huge. It is large. And we thank Meleriessee for being able to share it with you in this way.
So ground yourself. Make sure that you fully do whatever is ever necessary. If you find you want certain foods to eat, please move into that ~ even if it’s not something that you usually eat ~ because your Higher Self is trying to tell you how to assist yourself in this process. This is a very high frequency that has been given to you, and we are very happy that now is the time that we can do so.
And with all my Love, my Heart is within your Heart.
We of the Angels, we speak clearly in this moment.
We speak to you from the Principalities, of the Ophanium, the Cherubim, the Seraphim and, of course, the Elohim. It is with great honor that we blend our energies with you. Each of you that left to do the work that was necessary, you said you would remember. And, now, it is your time to fully have that ability ~ to remember the essence that you are and that we are together.
We also walk with you for a beautiful Wesak event.
Adonai. Adonai. T’Zebayoth. We Are One.
It is I, once again, Lord Sananda at your service for the Cosmic Oneness, representing the Christ Consciousness for the Divine Mother and the Divine Father God. Let us all take a deep breath and fully embrace the Essence that we are in this moment, because in each moment coming forward unto the Wesak Moon, each of us is going to change greatly. I say ‘each of us’ because it represents the entire Spiritual Hierarchy, all the Beings, all the Angelic Presences, the Inner Earth Beings, the Inter-Galactics and Gaia.
Speaking of Gaia, we want to honor Her today, as this is Earth Day upon this Plane of existence known on Planet Earth. It is a day when all individuals are celebrating Gaia, which should be done every day – don’t you think so? So we give Her a special Light Frequency. As we are receiving today – think of incorporating your Energies, down through you and into the Earth. Those of you that have connected to Her, She is very thankful. And of course, we always connect with Her because everything that you are doing on this Plane, goes to Gaia. That’s why She’s doing so well. Not perfect, but She’s doing much better then She was a decade ago.
So let’s just breathe that in and feel that Essence coming within each of us individually because it is another moment in time when we’re going to move forward into the Frequencies.
We only have one more week to assist each of you in preparation for this Wesak. Why do we want to prepare you so much? I know, that’s the question I’m hearing in Dearest Meleriessee’s mind, as she has celebrated Wesak for over 15 years. We want each of you to aspire to the highest possible increase of Light within your body that you can handle. In order to do so, we must fully be in allowance of communication, of the Higher Self and then the I Am Presence. This is truly what this connection on Sunday evenings is about – to assist each of you to fully feel the vibration of the Divine Mother and Father God, fully within your physical body; not to stand there and pray unto the Essence of God, but to feel the Essence of God fully within you. That is why these vibrational calls can be very challenging at times.
Some do not understand why they fall asleep or why they do not remember – that is so the body can receive the highest Frequency of Light possible because, if the Mental Mind is in the way, the energetics shifts. This happens with a lot of you that are very mentally oriented.
Those of you that are more intuitive and are easily readily capable to receive the Frequencies have a tendency to be more aware but, that is not always so. If you are having any physical conditions, it is another reason why you will be guided to leave the body. Yes, it feels like you’re in a slumber because, as you are, you’re Higher Self is guiding you to integrate with your physical self more fully. So how can we fully allow that to happen? By relaxing the body, because if the Mental Mind is too much in front of that capacity, then it cannot relax, it cannot receive the Frequency – this is why we tell you to re-listen to the recordings because it will change each time and it is no different for this evening.
So I express to you, to fully surrender. Allow the body to do whatever it wants. I know that at times, it is very difficult, because you have things you want to do but, in this moment, you are listening. There is nothing more you need to do, you have made the choice already to be here, so why not surrender unto what you already need? Whatever that experience is for you, embrace it. Whether you stay awake, whether you’re in a deep meditation or whether you decide to leave the physical body for a while – that is okay, don’t fight it – allow yourself to bring in these Frequencies as you will.
On a personal note, I want to say that I’m very proud of each of you and what you are acquiring through working with these Frequencies of Light – to assist you. Please know that each of our interactions each week, you are taking with you the full capacity within your physical body, for your Higher Self and you’re putting it in perspective of your life circumstance.
I want to discuss a little bit, just a few moments – of those that are worrying, obsessing, questioning – all those thought elements within that Mental Mind – you walk upon this path and you will be challenged. We speak of the initiations which mean that when you reach different levels of Frequencies within each of those sub-levels of initiations, you need to take on more responsibility.
How is one best suited to see, through their Higher Self, if they are suited to take on that role? You may call them ‘tests’. We don’t like to use that word ‘test’ because it sounds like it’s a pass or fail – believe me, if you are given a challenge and you accept that challenge, do you think we’d allow you to fail? Or you may just not be ready, or circumstance may come to you and you say, “Well, I’m not ready”. You may not physically say that you are ready but you’re Higher Self is deeming you to be ready, but if you’re not fully accepting that there is a new stage of growth and that stage of growth is to become more integrated and be a leader – to show others – whether you do it by voice, whether you do it by sound, whether you do it by just listening – that is a responsibility. Wesak offers opportunities for responsibility and we want each of you to take these moments and embrace them as deeply as you can.
Now let’s put the mind aside because our goal is to allow the Mental mind of the physical self, not the Higher Mind. The Higher Mind has all that knowledge, all that wisdom and they’re the responsibilities that you’re going to unfold within you. Some of you may be taking on responsibilities in your physical life that you would not have done previously and you are adhering, in other words, it’s like jumping off a cliff. My Dearest Friend, Master Babaji loves to push people off the cliff, so if you’re working with Him, please know that you will jump, because that is the true enlightened Being – allowing yourself to take the step of where you do not know where you are going, and just fly, and allow your wings to carry you ~ because your wings will. Your Higher Self has those wings, your Angelic Presence and each of us around you, surrounding you – especially those of you that are ready to accept the responsibility of intuitive knowledge.
Intuitive knowledge is that ability, with your Higher Mind, to fully interpret the wisdom and knowledge you are receiving in your practical life. That’s the true test of these initiations – it’s putting it into practice on the Earth Plane. You can do all the practice you want on the Higher Levels and not be fully grounded. So, I command each of you right now, because tonight we are going to be surrendering your Beings fully into the capacity of the Light that You Are. In retrospect, it is a mirror image for Gaia because in truth Gaia is surrendering Herself to each of us.
It is not Her duty any longer, to keep this Earth in place – She needs our assistance so We are the Higher Selves of Gaia. We have embodied ourselves to be upon this Earth at this time, so it’s our chance to give to Her through us, and not as the reflection of the Light that we are, of sharing. So, Let us just take a deep breath and allow yourself to just surrender whatever it is that you need to experience in the next few moments, as the Divine Mother and Father God, as the Cosmic Great Central Sun, of the 49th Dimensional Reality, of the 352 Levels of Initiations to fully incorporate within you. You may see yourself rising into your Higher Initiations of what you’ve already transpired without a body. That’s the beauty of your acknowledgement. Allow that to flow within you as we move into the Essence of surrendering.
We are the Divine Cosmic Great Central Sun, of the Divine Mother and Father God, fully bringing the Essence of complete Balance that you are in this moment and forever, has been. Breathe in the Essence from the 144th Dimension. Breathe in as the Crystalline light filters and spirals within you. Breathe it through as it spirals downwards. As it spirals downwards into your Being, feel the Antakarana Bridge, Rainbow Bridge of Light – as it comes through the Bridge and into your Soul Star. Breathing deeply. Feel the Frequency of these colors, of many colors, focusing within you. It is your divine pleasure. It is in your divinity to accept all your Highest Essence is commanding to you in this moment. Breathe it in. Breathe it in within you. Colors upon colors, and allowing yourself to melt completely around you.
In this moment, there is no physicality, there is only the expression of the Light that you are. Allow this Frequency of Light to fully come within you. Allow yourself to feel the Essence, to feel the sparkles of Light – think of yourself as being formlesss, of that level of the 144th Dimension of the Oneness that we all were together. As we express this energy unto you, think of Us, not as Divine Mother and Father, think of us as Being One Nucleus of Frequency. As we expand this Nucleus of Frequency within you, you allow it to come in through your brainwaves – allow your mind to just receive the sparkles of Light. Don’t think about what you are feeling or what is happening for you, just surrender unto the Essence of it.
You may feel sparkles, you may feel tingling, you may feel spinning, you may feel yourself going out of your body. Just allow yourself to breathe through it. Breathe through the Essence that you are because this is the beauty of it. As you surrender and we allow the Mental Mind, we’re going to move those Frequencies of all your timelines of this Earth time. This Earth that you are is the person that you are now, to meld into your Higher Self, to allow yourself to fully feel the totality that you are, not the physical Being.
As you sit upon your seat, or laying down – wherever you are, feel yourself melding into the furniture or the floor – wherever you may be. Allow yourself to feel the blending. There is no physical, there is no mental, there is no emotional – there is just the Essence of you. As you feel this, there will be waves and waves of sparkles of Light, waves and waves of Frequencies, to allow yourself to come into the complete stage that you are. Feel deeply, deeply within you. Feel deeply in the Essence that you are and this allows you to bring forth, the Frequency of Light. Let it sparkle through you. You are one sparkly Being. You may have wings, you may not have wings – let’s just think of us all in formlessness. Feel that Essence of a breath. As we turn, feel another breath. As we turn another way, we feel another breath. We are the Divine Consciousness and this is what we are bringing forth to you right now. There is no form in this moment, we are just the beginning stage.
Let us think of that – when you came into body. Let’s feel that. We want you to bring that formlessness into the form that you are and let’s go backwards. HHMM. We’re going to go backwards. This is the year 2012. HHMM. Let’s go backwards into 2011. We’re going to remove all parts of yourself that do not serve your Highest purpose. It’s not for your highest good whatever you experienced was a moment of experience and we’re going to remove any elements that have stayed in that Mental thought. So, let’s go backwards towards 2010. We’re going to go back to the start of the Millennium, 2009, 2008, 2007, breathe deeply, deeply. Go backwards 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. It’s the year 2000. Some of you may not even be awakened, maybe you were unawakened but bring that Frequency of what you have brought through in your formlessness into the period of 2000.
Now we’re going to go backwards and we’re going to go back quite a ways, to include everyone. Now we’re going to go back to the years into the 90’s. Feel ourselves going back in time. Then through the 80’s, the 70’s, and the 60’s. And if you’re not quite that old, you just take a deep breath and feel yourself into formlessness at this point, as we go further into the 50’s and the 40’s and the 30’s and the 20’s and the 10’s and 1900. The whole century, the 20th century of the 1900’s is now clear of all Elements.
Now we’re going to take this formlessness and move through it – 1900, 1910, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, feel yourself flying, 70, 80, 90, 2000. The year 2000 – feel the Frequency. What we want now is if everyone is awakened. We’re going to bring this Frequency into us – 2001, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. 2012. Now we’re back into 2012. AAHH, take a deep breath. Feel the mental mind is now surrendered unto those old aspects, because we removed the parts of yourself that are holding those Elements within you.
Now as we are in formlessness, let us think about our pathway at this time. You have arrived in the body that you are, to walk this pathway. You are awakened and within that awakening state, we’re now going to open up a timeline for you to remember whatever your Higher Self deems you to remember – to bring in the wisdom and the knowledge to prepare you for the Golden Age. What is that you need to bring forth into you? Is it time for you to jump off a cliff that you’ve been trying to jump off? Is it time for you to access a new avenue that you haven’t seen before? Is it time for you to just surrender into the space that you are and know that you are in this space & time, even if it feels uncomfortable – and if it does, we’re going to assist you to move into this space of being in the here & now, of feeling the comfort that you are, of what you have acquired.
Breathing deeply. Now we bring in the accessibility of your Higher Mind to be more integrated within your physical self. This is your Higher Self integrating within you, as He or She opens up unto the Thymus. The mind moves into the brainwaves. Feel the Essence that you are.
We want you to visualize yourself, through your Higher Self, not through your Lower Self. Allow these Frequencies of Light to be within you. As now we express unto you the Frequency that will assist you to ground this within your physical body.
Now, breathe it deeply. Ground these Frequencies. As we moved it through the brainwaves, we now want it to move into the spinal column. The spinal column is your grounding cord – allow that Frequency to go all the way from the top of your neck to the base of your spine. Feel that grounding cord growing from that point down into the ground. This is going to help accentuate your Higher Mind more fully in the deepness that you are. Feel that Essence fully combining within you. Now take a deep breath. As you take some deep breaths, we want you to fully ground your Essence within you. I want you to think about anything that you may have thought about earlier, before this call that may cause a mental anguish or a worry or frustration, as we ring the bowl.
Allow that to ground all the way through your Earth Star, because now you’re accessing your Higher Mind through this Frequency of Light that you are. Feel the sparkles. Feel the Essence that you are and now, just embrace this Essence flowing through your physical body, through your Etheric body, through your emotional body, through your mental body. Now, this is your Mental body. This is not the Frequency that you were before, but it is a new Frequency of your formlessness into the form that you are presently. Now allow that to grow through the emotional as it is accepting the mental more deeply. As it flows into the Etheric deeply, as it flows into the physical – as you become that one Being of Light that you are. Feel the Essence of the commanding energies of your Higher Self now, as He or she is more in control – because you’re allowing the old Frequencies, that were your physical self, to be fully removed out of existence because that is something that you no longer need. As you move into the 5th Dimensional Body, it’s important for us to let go of the 3rd Dimensional thoughts and feelings that you’ve had previously.
Now feel this Essence of Light coming in and flowing through you as sparkles and sparkles of light are blending into your entire composition. Ground it through your Earth Star. Now what we’re going to do for today, since it’s Earth Day – and you can do this any day, it does not have to be just because this is a special day. We bring these Frequencies in through our Earth Star and spin it downwards from our feet, into the core of Gaia. Through each of us, She shall receive this Frequency of Light because now we are fully accepting our formlessness, our beginning stages within the form that we are now. So there is a combination of acceptance growing within, as the Higher Self then activating the I Am Presence, as She fully receives our Frequencies – feel Her taking a sigh of relief.
Now feel that deeply within your Heart Center as now the Male and the Female are coming more into balance. Allow that Frequency to come in. Allow yourself to embrace what you’re going through – this may be a process for some of you but there will be great acceptance in what you are creating. When you need to step forward through the new steps of your responsibilities, you will do it with ease and grace because the mental mind will not stop you any longer. Step into that now and feel that full frequency.
We, of the Divine Mother and the Divine Father God, embrace you as we are in the formlessness of the One that We Are Together, to bring in this balance that is essentially important to the process that you are going through in preparation for the largest Wesak ever. You are the conduits. It is important that you realize that this structure and this capability to allow the mental mind surrender is important because the more that the mental mind is in the focus, the more challenges you will have with initiations you will be going through – which as a direct result, will create more confliction upon the Earth. So the more that we bring in these Essences of the formlessness into the form that each of you are in these moments, of this lifetime – you will see a pure acknowledgement and synchronization. You will also see that your manifestations will grow and that you’ll be able to accept things more clearly then you ever have previously. So, embrace this moment. Embrace this moment of the Golden Age coming upon you, since it is a New Moon, it is also a great time to bring forth those intentions to create the desires that are necessary.
Please know that each of you are still being pushed in many different ways because of this Wesak, so what we are doing through this Frequency is to assist in making it an easier transition for you. It is our Divine pleasure to work with you and to see you aspire as the Masters upon the New Earth. Thank you for fully accepting these roles in each of your pathways.
We, the Divine Mother and Divine Father God, of the Cosmic Great Central Sun, fully embrace you in the deepness of our hearts, in the deepness of your hearts – as we create the Oneness together, as we create that Beauty that we are and moving into that sacred heart flame that we are within each other. We look forward to our next session when we fully work with the Emotional side – fully activate those Frequencies, also to bring it into balance.
In the Frequency that We Are, in the Light of the One – we are so very happy to be here with you in these moments and acceptance.
I Am that I Am that I AM that I AM. I Am the Cosmic Great Central Sun of the Divine Mother and the Divine Father God, at your service. Let’s do some AAHHS together and receive this Frequency completely within the physical.
So Mote It Be, In The Name Of The Christ That We All Are As One. Blessings My Children.
This is Lord Sananda. What you have just received is a tremendous Frequency of Light. You may have to assimilate it, but don’t think about it. Allow yourself to be guided from your Higher Self of what you need to do and you will know what it is that you need to do. This is the purpose of this Frequency this evening. As the Divine Mother and Divine Father God shared, we will be continuing this journey next week before Wesak, to work on the the Yin, the Female side, to bring that more fully into balance, but this is going to assist tremendously because the Emotional side is what truly initiates the Frequency within you, the ability to do the walk , to jump off the cliff and to balance the Frequencies that you are, into these physical vehicles you have chosen.
I am Lord Sananda at your service. It is my deep pleasure to be here as a spokes-being for the Christ Consciousness.
So Mote It Be And Namaste.
It is I, Lord Sananda. Thank you very much for being with each of us tonight, for the Cosmic Oneness. It is my pleasure to be here as the Spokes-Being for the Christ Consciousness.
Let us all just take a deep breath and center ourselves within our Heart. Allow the Frequency of Light that we are going to be bringing in, and have started to bring in through the vibrations in this moment, to settle within you. We’re asking each of you to be in a space of allowing the Energies that are being guided from your Higher Self to fully come into your Physical Essence; for you to have an awareness of any Elements within in that do not feel comfortable, that do not feel aligned with who you are now. These Energies may be from past timelines, could be from genetics, that are being removed. Because it’s now time, for you to move into the full Divinity of your I Am Presence, within these physical bodies – even though you are probably not, accessing these Elements within your Physical existence at this time. We want to start to bring in those Frequencies to assist each and every one of you.
Tonight we’re going to do just that. We’re going to prepare you for the Energies of Wesak, and within those preparation stages – it is necessary for each of us to fully surrender unto each moment. As long as you are in a safe conditioning factor, and you allow the Frequency of Light of the Flame of the Golden Ray, the Flame of the Christ Consciousness and beyond, to fully be within you – there is nothing that you can misinterpret. It’s about each and every individual being aware of the outside influences. This may come in the way of thoughts, feelings, or just not quite feeling the same as you were before. Now there’s a dichotomy with that because the way that you were before may be an Element that you need to release or it may be a feeling that just doesn’t align within your own thought process. We want each of you to start to understand within yourself, that what you are experiencing in your life circumstance is because it is time for you to experience that facet. There can be outside influences that may want to stop you from fully aligning within yourself with your Highest Essence.
I know there has been discussion previously about the formlessness and the forms that we have taken on. Through these various timelines, you have carried with you Elements that no longer serve your purpose, in these moments, because of the transition that has occurred for you, because of the elements of actualization within your mindset. I ask of you to take a moment of breath, as we fully experience ourselves, in THIS moment, as a new Being of Light.
Think of yourself as being born into your body in this moment, and how that would feel to you, in the way that you are now. Are there places in your body that feel uncomfortable? Are there places that feel more comfortable? This is what we are going to delve in tonight. Because we’re going to start to assist you, in bringing in the totality that you are and not just the facets that your mind may think that you need or are just within your Physical Essence. It is a time of great change and, as we have stated before, this Wesak is going to be the most powerful upon the Planet.
You may find there will be sensations within your awareness. This is an important facet for you to feel. It’s important that each individual accept their Essences within them, and these can change on a moment to moment basis. But the whole process is to have the adaptability to move from one facet unto another and to create the change that is necessary to what we are assisting you with. We are speeding up the process so that the changes that are occurring within you will be momentary, so that you will not have to think about what you are doing, it just will be.
So this is truly what we want to bring forth to everyone’s Higher Self in this moment, to assist you in this physical body, to accept the changes – because these are positive changes. These are going to help you move into a new state of Being within your physical vehicle and to handle the challenges and the tasks that are in front of you in each given moment.
It is my Divine pleasure to be here with you as Lord Sananda. Let us now take a deep breath and allow the Light Frequencies to begin.
I AM the Cosmic Great Central Sun, of the Divine Mother and Father God.
Holy God of Hosts. We ask for everyone to be still within their Mind, within their Heart, and feel these Frequencies of Light.
We, of the Divine Mother and the Divine Father God of the Cosmic Great Central Sun, are delighted and pleasured to be with you in this moment, to bring forth the acceptance that is necessary within you, to help your sensitivities of what you are feeling to be more acute then they ever have been previously.
The power of the Light that you are, is fully trying to incorporate within each of your bodies, but now it is more of a time to allow your own inner self to understand the process. And I say to you “understand” – it is not within words but these are within feelings. We’re going to open up the sensitivity lineage to assist each and every one of you to understand what is occurring for you in one moment from the next, within yourself. This really is a double process. We truly want you to have this ability fully within your physical body, and believe me, you have it in your Higher Self and your I AM Presence, but it’s just that you have forgotten to remember or you’ve been programmed not to remember. The other aspect is that it’s going to assist you greatly in understanding what is around you in outside circumstances because once you understand what is occurring for you, then you can get through the process much more easily then having a lack of understanding. It’s all part of understanding what it is that you are accelerating into within your life.
Each of you are on the Mastership Pathway and it’s important to align yourself with the Highest Frequencies possible, even when they feel very uncomfortable. So we express unto you this evening, to assist you with this process. It’s allowing your sensitivities to be fully open, and some may be uncomfortable with this because they have held themselves back from other lifetimes. So we’re going to ask right now that the timelines of anyone, not being able to access this Frequency of Light to assist in the changes that are going to be occurring, to be fully removed in the Frequency of the Light.
We, of the Divine Mother and the Divine Father God, of the 49th Dimensional Frequency, are fully asking that each individual be granted access to the sensitivity realm of their Higher Self and to allow that sensitivity realm to fully come within their physical existence. It may come in the form of sight, hearing, and/or feeling. We ask that the thought processes be put aside in this moment; because each of you will be trying to think from your Lower Mind and truly, want the Higher Mind to be fully activated within you.
Breathing deeply. Feel this Frequency of Light flowing within you by allowing the Energies to assist you in letting the doorway of sensitivity to be fully open.
We bring in this Essence in this moment to fully assist you in the totality that you are going through as you fully express unto others what you are experiencing. So, I ask of you to take some deep breaths. As you do this, there is a Frequency of Light that is coming through Beloved One here unto each of you, through the Vibration that she is expanding inwardly, to allow you to feel your own vibrational sync. By which we mean, a synchronization that is coming from your I Am Presence through your Physical Body, that has never really fully been accessed previously. So, we ask that to be fully accessed in this moment.
I ask of each of you to fully allow the Frequency of the Light that is fully coming into your physical body. This is an Essence of your I Am Presence, of the beginning stages of your birth, of all that we were together, in the Unified Whole in the Oneness, in the Creative Source of Oneness. Feel this in sparkles of Light and Frequency of Light coming down unto you.
There is a stream, and within this stream, there is a tube of Light that is probably about 3 inches in diameter, and, in this tube of Light, is Light Rainbow colors, coming down, in from your I Am Presence, through your Higher Self into your Antakarana Bridge merging into your Soul Star; coming down into the full aspect of your Being from your Crown all the way through your Body. Allow these Frequencies of Light.
It is a tubular structure of Light, encased with a Crystalline Light and inside of it are sparkles of many other Lights. They are a high frequency, they are a Pale Frequency of Colors and Rainbows of Red, Blue, Green, Orange, Crystalline, Pearlescent, Lavenders, and Purples. Allow them to blend within you. Now what’s going to happen – as the stream of Light comes down in through your Crown, it’s going to burst and open up into each chakra.
So, breathe into the Crown. Feel the Essence of your Spirituality flowing within you.
It now moves it into the Third Eye, and as it comes down, it’s just a tubular light but that expands into all areas. It’s going to expand into your Physical Essence, into your Etheric Essence, into your Emotional Essence, and your Mental Essence. As they’re all going to blend, these Frequencies of Light, integrate within your Third Eye. Breathing deeply, feel it down in the forms going into your Throat, in your neck, in your shoulders. Allowing the entry point at the back of you neck to be filled with the purest form of Light that you’ve ever felt.
Now, now you’re going to feel it now into your Thymus area. Breathing deeply as it’s activating your Higher Self more fully and it moves into your fingertips. As it moves now, into your Heart, expanding, expanding into the middle of your back, your spinal column.
Moving down into your Solar Plexus – your Will and your Power, that Inner power that you have.
Now feel that Frequency of all these colors moving through you, going into your Sacral area, your lower abdomen, your lower back. Allow it to spin and blend.
Then it moves into the Root. As it spirals downwards into the Root, it is now going to spin a beam of light, down your legs and it’s going to go into your Earth Star.
As it goes into the Earth Star, it’s also going to filter into your limbs. As it moves into the limbs, now it’s going to the Etheric body. It’s going to expand outwards in the Etheric and the Emotional and the Mental.
So now the activation of your I Am Presence and your Higher Self, has been activated through your Spiritual Body. As the Spiritual body now blends with all the other four bodies – you are One Body of Light. Allow yourself to feel all these sparkles of Light, all within your Essence.
You are now allowing yourself to be birthed with these Frequencies of Light.
We want you to fully take note of what you are feeling. Are there any emotions associated with it? It’s a deep Essence of your Angelic Presence – is it a loneliness, is it a movement? I want you to feel that this is the expansion that we are bringing unto you. Now, as you breathe in this expansion, this is who you are at this moment of time. Breathe that and embrace yourself for feeling this. Embrace it into all areas of your body, in the structure of your Chakras. Breathing through that, the entire Essence through you now, you’re expanding your energy beyond the capacity.
As this energy expands within you, I want you now to center upon any other Elements that you feel may have been stopping this Frequency fully coming within you. It may be a physical condition? It may be emotional, analytical, mindful, the Male and the Female? I want you to take this Frequency you are receiving now and blend it into those areas. Allow yourself to feel the shifting and the changing that you’re doing as you bring forth these vibrational changes within you. The vibrational changes are coming from your I Am Presence, they’re not coming from any outside source, so you can be fully safe in allowing yourself to accept the new-found you.
Now we want you to just take another breath. We want you to feel what these areas, that were not of the Highest Vibration – what are they feeling now? Are they fighting the Energy? Are they allowing it to go within, that energy – embracing it because that’s what we truly want. So let’s take a moment and feel those Frequencies.
Now you should be blended with the Frequencies of your I Am, your Higher Self, within the Physical Essence that you are. Allow yourself to fully embrace these moments of Ecstatic Frequency – this is your Ecstatic Frequency and it’s only being sent to you, of what you can receive in these moments. Each time you listen to this, you’ll be able to go into a higher octave. Allow yourself to expand upon this now.
Now what we do with this? We want your sensitivity to this – what are you feeling right now? There is a physical reaction that occurs within each individual and it is different for each individual. It may be a tingling, it may be a chill, it may be feeling like you are freedom – you may feel your wings. It may just be an emotional feeling or a mental feeling – a knowingness. Whatever it is, it is perfect for you in this moment. I want you to feel that Frequency.
Okay, now let’s go deep within the Etheric body, as we move into your past time-lines. I want you to think about something that you fully need to work on that you fully feel that you have not released unto the Universe, that you have not let go of. It may be something emotional, physical, or mental? It may even be spiritual – of not accepting yourself in a new way of beingness? Allow yourself to come into this space of continuance right now.
What does that feel like for you? Did you get hit in your Solar Plexus? Do you feel a little bit nauseous? Do you feel uncertain? Is there fear? Anxiety? Allow yourself to move in the direction of the Chakra it’s associated with.
As this timeline comes up, we want you to fully now embrace the Higher Frequency that you are. So now, we do this again. We bring in that Frequency of Light, think of the tube of Light that’s coming from your Highest Essence in through the Antakarana Bridge, in through your Soul Star and through each of the Chakras. Where is the situation affecting you?
“I call upon my Higher Self to command these energies to come into me, to assist me in the balance that is needed”.
As we do that, you start to feel this Frequency and the sparkles of Light just open up into that area. Just feel that Essence. If it’s something in your physical body, you don’t have to utilize it through the chakras, you utilize it through the joints or the muscles or the tendons or any organs that you’re affected with.
I’m going to give you a perfect example. Christine had a little bit of dairy this weekend, so we’re going to filter that into her chest area and her throat. Then we’re going to bring her the Lavender for the Transmutation and all those sparkles of light that are associated with that. So, as we do that, we’re going to ring the bowl.
Now, we’re going to bring a vibration through her that she would not have been able to do previously due to some congestion that she’s dealing with, within her physical structure. This Element can change anything that you desire. Allow yourself to feel the change that is going to happen.
Now, allow the Frequency of Light. Well for her, we brought in the Amethyst and the Frequency of the Purple Flame more fully with Golden and Platinum flecks, but you can do anything that you choose. Please direct it through your Higher Self.
I want you to feel the Essence that is now flowing through you and open up your sensitivity.
We want to fully attune yourself to your I Am Presence and this Frequency of Light to assist you to accept that whatever outside influences may be around you, you do not have to receive them. It is not your duty to take on everything. So we expand onto you the ability to fully bring in this sensitivity. As the Divine Mother and the Divine Father God, we open up to each of you to bring in sensitivity of your own Essence. We want you to feel this Essence within you now.
Now. Expand that outside of yourself. Now expand your awareness and feel yourself centering the Frequency outside of your field. You have just created a force-field of Light. You’ve created a force-field of light within you that is your own I Am Presence, even though you may not be fully activated with your I AM Presence, this is a step in the right direction.
We, of the Divine Mother and the Divine Father God are very happy to bring forth this ability within you. Utilize this information continually within your life, and you will see a great change. The reason we give this unto you is, other Elements that may be a lower frequency that like you too much, and we want you to aspire to the highest level that is possible for each of you. This also, in turn, will assist you in ridding yourself that you have been dealing with for eons of time, through your past time-lines. As your Etheric body is now opening up into the Frequency that you truly are, not the Frequency that you thought you are.
It is our Divine pleasure to be here with you in this moment.
So Mote It Be, In The Light Of The Christ, We Are Of The Divine Mother And The Divine Father God Of The Cosmic Great Central Sun.
I AM THAT I AM, I AM THAT I AM, I AM I AM.
This is Lord Sananda. What we have brought through to you this evening is just a sampling of what is going to be occurring in future moments. We do suggest that you utilize this recording as much as you can because it will help you to release those Elements that may be happening in your life that don’t feel very good and to assist you in taking charge of your own idyllic self. It is my pleasure to be with you once again as Lord Sananda, Namaste. | 2019-04-19T10:29:20Z | https://cosmic22oness.com/2012/07/ |
Burien Fresh Smoothies in Burien, Washington is associated with a Salmonella Braenderup outbreak, according to a press release by Seattle-King County Public Health Department. At least seven people are sick, and two people were so ill that they were hospitalized. Officials have not identified the source of illness.
Seven people from three separate parties have been ill after consuming food at the restaurant from August 6 through August 8, 2018. The people who were hospitalized have since recovered and have been released.
Five of the seven patients have tested positive for Salmonella Braenderup. Officials are waiting for genetic fingerprint results, and results from food samples taken from the restaurant.
The restaurant was inspected on August 15, 2018 as part of the investigation. No employee has had any symptoms that are consistent with salmonellosis, the illness caused by this bacteria. But investigators discovered that the restaurant was serving cooked port that was prepared at the owner’s home, which is not an approved food safety practice. Inspectors told the owner to stop serving pork-based food items and to take them off the menu.
But, on August 16, 2018, another person was diagnosed with salmonellosis after eating at Burien Fresh Smoothies on August 7, 2018; that person did not eat any pork items. So Environmental Health inspectors went back to the restaurant and suspended its permit.
Burien Fresh Smoothies won’t reopen until Environmental Health personnel conduct another inspection. The facility must thoroughly clean and disinfect the building, adopt safe food handling practices, and discard any remaining processed ready-t0-eat food items. The owners are also working with public health officials about using approved food sources.
If you ate at Burien Fresh Smoothies from August 7 to August 16, 2018, and have been experiencing the symptoms of Salmonella food poisoning, which include bloody diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and fever, see your doctor.
The Market Research Future has been published New Research Reports which is Food Safety Testing Market & In This Report the Information has been Provided like Market Analysis, Scope, Stake, Progress, Trends & Forecast which is making through primary and secondary research which is done by professional healthcare researcher.
SGS SA, Bureau Veritas, Intertek Group Plc, Cotecna Inspection SA and others.
Food Safety Testingis a technical method of performing development works, handling of products and storing the product to prevent food borne diseases. It is performed under the supervision of experts which continuously keep their eye on the going process. Food safety testing is done to maintain the quality of the food and to prevent the food from unwanted diseases which could happen in form of illness, toxicity or poisoning.
Going ahead and looking at market share, North America is said to be the largest market with market share of around 38% on the global scale and expected to grow with the CAGR of more than 7% in the forecasted period. Europe is contributing market share of more than 34% and known as 2ndlargest market of Food safety testing followed by the Asia Pacific. Asia Pacific is the fastest growing market as compared to other part of globe and has registered the CAGR of more than 8% and said to register the CAGR of more than 9.5% in the forecasted period.
Pathogensis said to be the biggest food contaminant. Pathogens like,salmonella, E. coli and others are plays most important role in the food contamination. Year 2011 shows thatsalmonella was responsible of near 20,000 hospitalizations and near 400 causalities only in the U.S. due to food poising. Talking about the market share food safety testing by containment,.
Moving ahead, the report comprises comprehensive analysis of industry overview of Food Safety Testing Market which includes market drivers, restrains, opportunities, burning issues, winning imperatives on Global scale.
To calculate Food Safety Testing market size, we have considered top players in the market and to offer accuracy, our research is supported by industry experts who offer insight on industry structure and technology assessment, competitive landscape, penetration, emerging products and trends. Their analysis is based(80 to 85%)on primary & (15 to 20%) on secondary researches well as years of professional expertise in their respective industries. In addition to analyze current and historical trends,our analysts predict where the market is headed over the next five to ten years. It varies by segment for these categories geographically presented in the list of market tables. Top-down and bottom-up are important strategies of processing the information and knowledge ordering, used in a variety of fields including humanistic, software and scientific theories and management and organization. In practice, they can be seen as a style of thinking, teaching, or leadership.
Speaking about this particular report we have conducted primary surveys (interviews) with the key level executives (VP, CEO's, Marketing Director, Business Development Manager and many more) of the major players active in the market.
Each year, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) publishes a report summarizing domestic foodborne disease outbreaks based on the data collected by state, local, and territorial health departments. The 2017 report (which reviewed data up to 2015) identified restaurants, specifically those with sit-down dining, as the most commonly implicated locations associated with foodborne disease outbreaks. A total of 779 outbreaks were reported in 2015, of which 469 were attributed to dining in a restaurant. In cases with a confirmed causative microorganism and where a contributing factor (e.g., cross-contamination via hands or surfaces like reusable towels/cloths, improper hot or cold holding, etc.) was identified, cross-contamination of ingredients was the most commonly cited factor, and Salmonella was the most commonly implicated pathogen. These cross-contamination events could probably be reduced with proper cleaning and sanitizing of food contact and nonfood contact surfaces.
The purpose of traditional interventions to prevent cross-contamination, like hand hygiene and hard-surface cleaning/sanitation, is to reduce the load of pathogenic microorganisms that can make humans sick. Reduction of those pathogens is intended to limit human exposure below the infectious dose. As hygiene interventions have evolved, some have been found to be too risky for continuation. For example, bar soaps and open-refillable bulk soap systems have been shown to harbor pathogens and cause outbreaks—thankfully, CDC no longer allows them in U.S. healthcare. Another example of the evolution of an old hygiene paradigm is cloth hand drying in public restrooms, whereby a roll could allow for reuse of the same portion.
1. Storage of clean, wet reusable towels/cloths in a container with appropriate sanitizer at the required concentration when not in use.
• All wet reusable towels/cloths should be laundered or discarded daily. The wiping cloths may be laundered in a mechanical washer, a sink designated only for laundering wiping cloths, or a warewashing equipment (dishwasher) or food preparation sink that is cleaned and sanitized before use.
• All wet reusable towels/cloths used for wiping surfaces in contact with raw animal foods should be stored and used separate from wet reusable towels/cloths used for other purposes [e.g., ready-to-eat (RTE) food prep surface].
• All wet reusable towels/cloths and the sanitizer solution in which they are held between uses should be free from food debris and visible soil.
• The containers of chemical sanitizer solutions used to store wet reusable towels/cloths between uses should be stored off the floor and used in a manner that prevents contamination of food, equipment, utensils, linens, and single-service/use articles.
2. Clean and sanitize food contact surfaces with reusable towels/cloths.
• When cleaning a food contact surface, the wet towel should be removed from the solution and the excess solution wrung out of the towel.
• The scraping of any visible food debris off the food contact surface.
• Cleaning of the surface properly to remove organic material, including oil, grease, fat, and remaining food debris by applying an appropriate detergent on the surface and wiping the surface clean to sight and touch.
• The application of a chemical sanitizer of adequate temperature and chemical concentration, allowing it to remain on the surface for the specific contact time [according to the manufacturer’s U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-registered label].
• Allowing the chemical sanitizer to air-dry on the surface or wiping the sanitizer off the surface using a reusable towel/cloth.
3. Storage of clean, damp reusable towels/cloths in a container with appropriate sanitizer at the required concentration when not in use.
• Pathogenic bacteria survive or grow on the reusable, soiled (grease, oil, fats) towel/cloth (because towels/cloths are not replaced and/or laundered daily), which then cross-contaminates previously cleaned food contact surfaces used to prepare RTE foods.
• Pathogenic bacteria survive or grow in the sanitizer because of a soiled solution (because it is not replaced with fresh sanitizer solution when soiled), which then cross-contaminates previously cleaned food contact surfaces used to prepare RTE foods.
• Pathogenic bacteria from raw animal food prep surfaces are transferred via a reusable towel to previously cleaned food contact surfaces used to prepare RTE foods because towels are not separated for use with raw animal food prep surface cleaning.
• Food contact surfaces are not cleaned and sanitized properly because reusable soiled towels/cloths are used to wipe surfaces without using a cleaner and sanitizer (some pathogenic bacteria like Listeria remain on the food contact surface).
• Food contact surfaces are not cleaned and sanitized properly because a reusable soiled towel/cloth is used to wipe surfaces after using a sanitizer only (no cleaner used, so some pathogenic bacteria remain on the food contact surface).
• Pathogenic bacteria survive or grow on the reusable clean towel/cloth, which then cross-contaminates previously cleaned food contact surfaces used to prepare RTE foods because sanitizer solution used was not established and then maintained at the proper concentration (replaced regularly) when storing towel/cloth.
• Pathogenic bacteria like Listeria survive on the reusable clean towel/cloth, which then cross-contaminates previously cleaned food contact surfaces used to prepare RTE foods because the sanitizer solution selected, even when maintained at the proper concentration, does not kill all foodborne disease pathogens like Clostridium perfringens or norovirus.
• Pathogenic bacteria survive or grow in the solution, which then cross-contaminates previously cleaned food contact surfaces used to prepare RTE foods because towel/cloth type used (cotton) absorbs the sanitizer in solution during storage, reducing the effective concentration of the sanitizer in solution.
Chlorine and quaternary ammonium compounds (quats) are two common active ingredients used for food contact surface sanitation in retail food environments. Both are known to be less effective in the presence of hard water or organic soils, and especially when targeting bacteria dried onto surfaces.[4–6] For example, the addition of just 1% milk (semi-skimmed) has been shown to dramatically reduce the activity of quat solutions. In addition, the EPA testing for food contact surface sanitizers does not require additional soil load be added to the surfaces being sanitized, thus approved sanitizers should only ever be used on clean surfaces. However, care does need to be taken to ensure that the cleaning agent used does not interfere with the sanitizers. For example, quats may be inactivated by binding with anionic surfactant-based soap residues.
Also, by definition, a sanitizer cannot make antiviral claims or claims against spores; only EPA-registered disinfectants can. This means that most of these sanitizers will not be effective against viruses, such as norovirus or hepatitis A, or against spores like C. perfringens. Both norovirus and hepatitis A can be extremely resistant to many antimicrobial treatments and are unlikely to be inactivated by common food contact surface sanitizers. CDC recommends a 1,000–5,000 ppm bleach solution to inactivate norovirus; however, this is much higher than what the EPA allows for sanitizing food contact surfaces (200 ppm).[11,12] If an employee working while sick brings norovirus or hepatitis A virus into the kitchen and touches surfaces with their contaminated hands (a common contributing factor to foodborne disease outbreaks), it is unlikely that the cleaning and sanitation procedure will eliminate the viruses before cross-contamination occurs.
We also know that viruses can easily be transferred from contaminated surfaces onto previously clean surfaces by the towels/cloths used to clean and sanitize. One study found that typical cotton bar towels used by restaurants can remove approximately 3-log PFU but can transfer as much as 2-log PFU back to surfaces. Surveys of used cloths in food retail environments have shown them to be heavily contaminated with various bacterial species, with one study reporting that 74% of cloths (n = 131) used for cleaning in raw and prepared food spaces were contaminated with E. coli, S. aureus, Enterococcus faecalis, and/or C. perfringens. Specifically, E. coli was isolated from 74 cloths, with 25 of those carrying more than 5-log CFU. There is also evidence to suggest that this gets worse the longer the cloth is used. Single-use products (e.g., paper towels, wet wipes, etc.) avoid these issues by being discarded after each use.
The importance of breaking the chain of transmission of pathogens from environmental surfaces to individuals (analogous to breaking the chain of cross-contamination in foodservice) is not lost on healthcare practitioners where cleaning and disinfection of surfaces is critical to prevent the transmission of infectious diseases. Because of this, in part, an attempt to use alternative methods, including single-use disposable wipes to clean and disinfect surfaces, was established. The first EPA-approved germicidal wipe was introduced to the market in the late 1980s and quickly adopted by hospitals as an additional means to break the chain of infectious disease transmission from surfaces to patients and healthcare workers. For example, the use of single-use disposable wipes was one method found to be especially effective in removal of bacteria off surfaces by wiping down “high-touch” surfaces (surfaces that are touched often, such as digital devices, keyboards, etc.).
While foodservice may not seem to have the same risk requiring a means to break the chain of disease transmission as hospitals and the healthcare industry, foodborne illnesses can be severe, and outbreaks continue year to year. The cost of these illnesses to the public is extremely high. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service estimates that foodborne illness represents a $15 billion burden on the U.S. economy each year from deaths, medical costs, and lost productivity.
To assess the important opinions of different foodservice food safety and local regulatory authories for their perceptions of the risks associated with the use of reusable towels in foodservice, a survey was designed for each group and was open only to confirmed participants, based on solicitation to their respective organizations.
In a future article, we will review and discuss these and other methods the foodservice industry is using to ensure all food contact surfaces are cleaned and sanitized properly to prevent cross-contamination and foodborne disease outbreaks.
2. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Recommendations and Reports, October 25, 2002/Vol. 51/No. RR-16.
4. Best, M, ME Kennedy, and F Coates. 1990. “Efficacy of a Variety of Disinfectants against Listeria spp.” Appl Environ Microbiol 56(2):377–380.
5. Shen, C, et al. 2013. “Dynamic Effects of Free Chlorine Concentration, Organic Load, and Exposure Time on the Inactivation of Salmonella, Escherichia coli O157: H7, and Non-O157 Shiga Toxin-Producing E. coli.” J Food Prot 76(3):386–393.
6. Jono, K, et al. 1986. “Effect of Alkyl Chain Length of Benzalkonium Chloride on the Bactericidal Activity and Binding to Organic Materials.” Chem Pharm Bull 34(10):4215–4224.
7. Lambert, RJW and MD Johnston. 2001. “The Effect of Interfering Substances on the Disinfection Process: A Mathematical Model.” J Appl Microbiol 91(3):548–555.
9. Kim, H, J-H Ryu, and LR Beuchat. 2007. “Effectiveness of Disinfectants in Killing Enterobacter sakazakii in Suspension, Dried on the Surface of Stainless Steel, and in a Biofilm.” Appl Environ Microbiol 73(40):1256–1265.
10. Svoboda, A, et al. 2016. “Effectiveness of Broad-Spectrum Chemical Produce Sanitizers against Foodborne Pathogens as in vitro Planktonic Cells and on the Surface of Whole Cantaloupes and Watermelons.” J Food Prot 79(4):524–530.
13. Gibson, KE, et al. 2012. “Removal and Transfer of Viruses on Food Contact Surfaces by Cleaning Cloths.” Appl Environ Microbiol 78(9):3037–3044.
14. Tebbutt, GM. 1986. “An Evaluation of Various Working Practices in Shops Selling Raw and Cooked Meats.” Epidemiol Infect 97(1):81–90.
15. Tebbutt, GM. 1988. “Laboratory Evaluation of Disposable and Reusable Disinfectant Cloths for Cleaning Food Contact Surfaces.” Epidemiol Infect 101(2):367–375.
16. Rutala, WA, et al. 2006. “Bacterial Contamination of Keyboards: Efficacy and Functional Impact of Disinfectants.” Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 27(4):372–377.
Food Safety Insights has always been designed to uncover information and data about food safety practices and the markets that support them. We do this by asking you about your work and the issues you deal with on a regular basis. Because this column is about you and your work, we are always interested in what you like to hear about.
This column was inspired by a comment sent in to the Food Safety Matters podcast. A listener suggested that we ask food safety professionals what are the most important things they have learned during their careers—that is, what were their key lessons learned over the course of their food safety career?
So, we asked. And we received answers from more than 450 respondents across all types of food processing categories plus government, consulting, and laboratory professionals. The individuals responding also represented many specialties, including food safety, microbiology, chemistry, regulatory affairs, quality assurance/quality control, plant operations, general management, sales/marketing, training/teaching, and others with food safety experience, ranging from less than 1 year to more than 50 years, with a median level of experience of 18 years.
This survey was unique compared with our previous surveys in that outside of a few demographic questions, we substantially asked only one question: What is your single most important “lesson learned” about food safety in your career?
There is some difficulty in characterizing qualitative data, especially answers to such an open-ended question. But we will attempt to categorize the answers and address a few of the “lessons” that we heard.
Bob Ferguson is president of Strategic Consulting Inc. and can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter at @SCI_Ferguson.
Hygiena has acquired Biomedal’s Food Safety division, which will expand the company’s food safety and environmental sanitation testing portfolio to include gluten intolerant testing.
Biomedal offers a wide range of allergen tests including the GlutenTox product line which contains the highly specific G12 antibody that detects the most immunogenic component that is responsible for gluten intolerance.
The new division, which will continue to be based in Seville, will provide more than 20 specific allergen tests available as a sensitive enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) format or a simple dipstick format that can be easily used to verify cleaning efforts and test finished products.
It will continue to use its existing product distribution network under the name Hygiena Diagnóstica España S.L, but Biomedal Food Safety employees will become employees of Hygiena.
USDA - It’s the start of the new school year, which means new teachers, a bunch of homework assignments and the never-ending dilemma of what to include to make a healthy and safe school lunch.
Handwashing is the first and easiest step to avoid foodborne illnesses. A recent study by USDA found that 97 percent of the times participants should have washed their hands they did not do so correctly or at all. This poor hand hygiene caused participants to cross-contaminate other spice containers, refrigerator handles, even ready-to-eat foods and other areas of their kitchen when tested with a harmless tracer bacteria.
- Make sure lunch bags and coolers are clean before packing. Pack moist towelettes so children can clean hands before and after eating.
- Use an insulated lunch bag or cooler and at least two cold sources, such as freezer packs, for lunches that contain perishable food items like luncheon meats, eggs, cheese or yogurt. This will help keep food safely cold at 40°F or below until lunch time.
- If packing a hot lunch, like soup, chili or stew, use an insulated container to keep it hot. Fill the container with boiling water, let stand for a few minutes, empty, and then put in the piping hot food. Tell children to keep the insulated container closed until lunchtime to keep the food at 140°F or above.
- For safety, instruct children to discard all leftover food and used food packaging.
- Clean: Wash hands with soap and warm water, and surfaces with soap and hot water before and after handling food. Rinse raw produce in water before eating, cutting or cooking.
- Separate: Avoid spreading bacteria from one food product to another. Use two separate cutting boards — one for raw meat and poultry, and one for produce or ready to eat foods.
- Cook: The only way to make sure meat and poultry is safe to eat is to ensure it reaches the safe minimum internal temperature needed to destroy harmful bacteria. If sending soups, stews or chili to school, be sure to heat the food to 165°F, as measured by a food thermometer, before pouring it into an insulated container.
- Chill: At room temperature, bacteria in food can double every 20 minutes. To avoid this, make sure to chill all perishable foods within two hours (one hour in temperatures above 90°F). Discard any perishable foods that were left at room temperature longer than that.
Consumers can learn more about key food safety practices at Foodsafety.gov.
By Tatiana Koutchma, Ph.D., Andrew Green, B.Sc., and Vladimir Popovic, M.Sc.
Ultraviolet (UV) light disinfection is a well-established technology for the treatment of air, water, and surfaces. In the last decade, UV technology has found more applications in the food production chain because it is an economic, effective, and versatile dry processing method that can potentially improve both food safety and the preservation of quality parameters. By definition, UV light is part of the electromagnetic radiation spectrum in the range from 180 to 400 nm that is further divided into UV-A, UV-B, and UV-C diapasons. In the UV-C or germicidal diapason between 180 and 280 nm, UV light can inactivate bacteria, viruses, cysts, mold, and yeasts. Photon absorption by microbial DNA at wavelengths from 240 to 280 nm induces DNA damage and sublethal damage to DNA repair systems.
The traditional way to generate UV-C light is using high-voltage, arc-discharge mercury or amalgam lamps that can generate photons solely at 253.7 nm. These quartz glass lamps with efficiencies of between 30 and 35 percent are broadly used for disinfection, but they are not food plant friendly because they require significant setup, maintenance, and control in this environment with a limited lifetime up to 18,000 hours. Light-emitting diodes or LEDs are semiconductor devices that can also emit UV-C light, but depending on the material properties of the diodes, they can emit photons at multiple wavelengths in the range between 255 and 365 nm. Visible (blue, green, and white) and infrared LEDs became commonplace in many electronics, curing, and lighting applications because of their extremely high efficiencies (up to 80%) and long lifetimes (around 100,000 hours). The germicidal effects of UV-C LEDs against bacteria, viruses, and fungi have already been demonstrated and reported, along with the first applications for disinfection of air, water, and surfaces made for “point of use” integration. Despite limited lifetimes and the fact that there are currently no commercial applications in food production, UV-C LEDs are the next wave in the LED revolution that can have numerous advantages for safety of food products and food plant facilities. Potentially, UV-C LEDs could be used for the treatment of beverages, disinfection of produce surfaces, packaging, and other food contact and noncontact surfaces. Some unique advantages of UV-C LEDs for food applications are discussed below.
UV LEDs can be made to generate continuous light at the optimal germicidal wavelength tuned against specific microorganisms. Ongoing research at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) evaluated the effectiveness of UV LEDs emitting between 259 and 370 nm against three common food pathogens: Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella enterica, and Listeria monocytogenes. UV-C LEDs emitting light in the approximate range of 259 to 265 nm were found to have the greatest efficacy in terms of bacterial inactivation but do not have good power output, with some strains of Salmonella remaining sensitive to wavelengths up to 289 nm. Also, it has been shown that tested organisms exhibited peak UV sensitivity at different wavelengths. Among the three pathogenic bacteria, S. enterica diarizonae and E. coli O157:H7 exhibited the highest overall UV sensitivities, which occurred at 259 nm. In contrast, L. monocytogenes peaked in UV sensitivity at 268 nm. The inactivation data between 253.7 and 370 nm were used to construct action spectra for the tested pathogenic and nonpathogenic strains. Figure 1 shows the UV action spectra of L. monocytogenes, E. coli O157:H7, and S. enterica diarizonae.
Therefore, the emitted wavelengths of UV LEDs in a food safety application can be adjusted for maximum efficacy against common food pathogens. In addition, UV-A LEDs at 365 nm and/or near UV wavelengths (405, 460, and 520 nm) were shown to reduce Salmonella on fruit; however, a significantly higher UV-A dose is typically required compared with the doses in the UV-C range.
In some cases, germicidal efficacy can also be improved by combining different UV wavelengths to produce a synergistic effect and tuned to match the most effective inactivation in a given environment. For example, it has been shown that some strains of Listeria and E. coli are more sensitive to UV treatment at 259 and 289 nm applied simultaneously compared with either wavelength applied alone. This probably causes a hurdle effect due to the specific wavelengths damaging different cellular structures, compounding stress.
UV-C LEDs can become a promising new UV source in the fresh produce industry due to the risks associated with food poisoning and by simultaneously extending produce storability and minimizing losses. For example, scientists at the U.S. Department of Agriculture tested UV LEDs in the range of 285 to 305 nm to extend the shelf lives of fresh fruits and vegetables in domestic refrigerators. A shelf life increase of two times was achieved using 20 mW/m2 of power output. It has also been shown by Allende et al. that UV LEDs can reduce natural microflora on lettuce leaves, thereby extending shelf life. In our current research, we have found that at the equivalent UV dose exposure, the 277 nm UV LEDs were at least as effective in reducing mold spores on the skin of apples as a low-pressure mercury (LPM) lamp at 253.7 nm.
Miniature, robust, and operating with low electrical power, UV LEDs can be manufactured with a highly stable output, operating at the optimum wavelength for the application. In addition, LEDs are mercury free, with no warm-up time and a potentially long lifetime that can make them ideal for a variety of processing solutions. Also, UV LEDs can be used in cold environments, as they have shown to increase power output as temperatures approach 0 °C, which further increases their versatility in terms of apparatus design. It has been shown that UV LEDs emitting at 268 nm can inactivate the psychrotolerant pathogen L. monocytogenes more effectively at refrigeration temperatures compared with room temperature due to the increased irradiance of UV LEDs at cold temperatures. This is in contrast to LPMs, which decrease in power output as temperature decreases.
To displace the incumbent mercury-based technology, UV-C LEDs require further development to improve device efficiency, lifetime, and cost. The biggest challenge with UV-C LEDs emitting at wavelengths shorter than 265 nm is that they are still weak light emitters. It is therefore important to consider the current trade-off between germicidal efficacy and power output (i.e., efficiency). Figure 2 shows the change in irradiance plotted against germicidal efficacy (in terms of log count reduction) of UV LEDs emitting at wavelengths between 259 and 365 nm against E. coli O157:H7.
The relationship between cost, power output, and inactivation efficacy of UV-C LEDs is an important consideration when selecting a UV treatment wavelength. UV LEDs also have a shorter lifetime—approximately 2,000 and 10,000 hours to reach 70 percent initial power output for UV-C LEDs emitting at 255 and 275 nm, respectively, compared with approximately 12,000–18,000 hours for an LPM lamp.
As UV-C LED efficiency improves at a lower cost of production and their lifetime increases, they will begin to replace existing UV-C lamps as a cost-effective, environmentally friendly alternative to save energy and improve safety and shelf life of produced foods from field to fork.
Multiple-wavelength UV LED chips have great potential for use in benchtop-scale validation experiments. Their small size means they can be easily integrated into a collimated beam apparatus for the purpose of studying microbial inactivation kinetics at multiple wavelengths and wavelength optimization on surfaces and in liquid solutions. The UV LED collimated beam unit (Figure 3) was used to select the optimal inactivation wavelengths against three food pathogenic organisms and find appropriate nonpathogenic surrogates. This unit consisted of an array containing three LEDs of each wavelength with thermal management, collimated tube, stand, and Petri dish, which allows testing in controlled conditions and measured UV exposure.
The selected LED chips can then be used in customized devices at higher irradiance to scale up disinfection processes by establishing the operating UV doses for specific product applications and intended technical effects. An example of a UV disinfection box that allows treating whole fresh produce samples is shown in Figure 4. It also can be used for the purposes of the process validation and studies of the effects of product- and process-critical parameters.
UV-C LED chips enable flexible modular design over rigid lamps and their required bulky ballasts. UV-C LEDs can easily be incorporated into simple water filters, providing a highly effective solution for potable water needs that is easy to install and use with minimal supervision, maintenance, and space. Also, UV LED modules can be installed in areas where current UV lamps cannot be used, such as cold storage facilities, transport, and small disinfection apparatuses.
There is also the potential to integrate germicidal UV LEDs into industrial water and beverage disinfection. Currently, UV light is one of the most popular disinfection methods for municipal drinking water and wastewater. Replacing LPM lamps in these disinfection apparatuses with energy-efficient UV LEDs could result in significant energy savings for these municipalities while eliminating the risk of lamp breakage leading to mercury contamination of the water. UV LEDs could also be integrated into water-assisted disinfection of solid food, where the food (usually fresh or minimally processed produce) is submerged in water under constant agitation, and the entire rinse is exposed to UV light. UV LEDs could also be used in place of LPM lamps in certain devices that use UV light to disinfect produce submerged in water, agitated by air jets (Figure 5).
At the AAFC, we are currently investigating the efficacy of 277 nm UV LEDs for the inactivation of the foodborne pathogens E. coli O157:H7 and L. monocytogenes, and mold spores on the surfaces of romaine lettuce and apples. Through the initial examination of the antimicrobial efficacy and power outputs of various wavelengths of UV LEDs, we have concluded that UV-C LEDs in the range of 275–280 nm have the current optimal trade-off between cost, lifetime, germicidal efficacy, and power output, as shown in Figure 2.
The 277 nm UV LEDs may also be more effective than LPM lamps emitting 253.7 nm light due to the greater penetration of longer UV wavelengths through both liquid and solid food matrices.
So far, it has been determined that 277 nm light from these UV LEDs can achieve the same maximum log reduction against L. monocytogenes on the surfaces of apples at a significantly smaller dose compared with the 253.7 nm light emitted from an LPM lamp. Therefore, it is worth investigating the efficacy of these UV LEDs as well as LEDs of similar wavelengths for potentially greater microbial inactivation and shelf-life extension.
Numerous studies have demonstrated the advantages of UV-C LEDs over LPM lamps. The data generated can be used to optimize UV treatment, improving inactivation efficacy and saving on treatment time and costs. No doubt, those UV LEDs present a new technological solution with potential for control of food pathogens and spoilage organisms throughout the supply chain from farm to fork. Further systematic engineering developments and approaches are necessary for industrial implementation.
Tatiana Koutchma, Ph.D., is a research scientist in novel food processing at the AAFC. She is graduate faculty at University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada, a member at large of the Nonthermal Processing Division of the Institute of Food Technologists, and Canadian Ambassador to the Global Harmonization Initiative.
Andrew Green, B.Sc., is working toward an M.Sc. degree at University of Guelph focusing on the use of novel methods and technologies for UV-mediated inactivation of foodborne pathogens on the surfaces of fresh and minimally processed produce.
Vladimir Popovic, M.Sc., joined the AAFC in 2014 and has been working in novel food processing technologies and coauthored several research manuscripts.
1. Green, A, et al. 2018. “Inactivation of Escherichia coli, Listeria, and Salmonella by Single and Multiple Wavelength Ultraviolet Light-Emitting Diodes.” Innovative Food Science & Emerging Technologies 47:353–361.
2. Kim, MJ, WS Bang, and HG Yuk. 2017. “405 ± 5 nm Light Emitting Diode Illumination Causes Photodynamic Inactivation of Salmonella spp. on Fresh-Cut Papaya without Deterioration.” Food Microbiol 62:124–132.
4. Allende, A, et al. 2006. “Effectiveness of Two-Sided UV-C Treatments in Inhibiting Natural Microflora and Extending the Shelf-Life of Minimally Processed ‘Red Oak Leaf’ Lettuce. Food Microbiol 23(3):241–249.
It’s challenging for me to completely relax at a typical backyard cookout or pool party because I feel I have been endowed with a burdensome superpower: I see food-safety blunders.
As I scan the sunny scene of revelers in shorts and sundresses clinking glasses of rosé and nibbling finger foods, the radar in my mind inevitably homes in on a hot spot. The host is basting steaks on the grill with the marinade the meat sat in for hours, so I guess I’ll be sticking with the vegetarian option.
I tend to spy several such situations at any given outdoor event, and it’s not just me being persnickety. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 48 million people in the United States get sick from food-borne illness each year, and summer is high season.
While there are myriad causes for these illnesses throughout the food-supply chain, improper food handling at home is among them, and the one over which we have the most control.
As you plan your next summer gathering, keep it truly healthy by taking note of these five common food-safety mistakes and how to avoid them. However, consider yourself forewarned: After reading this, you may become a keen food-safety spotter yourself. To lift that weight from your shoulders and breathe easy at a summer shindig, pass this information on to everyone you know.
A golden rule of food safety is not to let juices from raw meat, poultry or fish come in contact with ready-to-eat foods. Raw items may contain a multitude of different disease-causing bacteria, most of which are killed off through cooking. If you baste with a used marinade, germs in it might not be cooked long enough to be destroyed, especially if you are basting when the food is nearly done.
There are two ways to use a marinade safely as a basting liquid: When you initially prepare the marinade, reserve some in a separate container for basting, or, once you remove the raw food from a marinade, you can put it into a saucepan on the stove and bring it to a boil.
Since even a clean marinade comes in contact with undercooked meat via the brush when basting, avoid basting toward the end of cooking and toss out any leftover basting liquid.
There is a relatively small range of temperatures when meat, poultry and fish are cooked thoroughly enough to be safe to eat, but not so much that they are dry and tough. Newsflash: The commonly applied method of poking the food with a finger is not the best way to determine doneness (especially if that finger is on an unwashed hand, but more on that soon).
The only way to be sure the temperature is just right is to use a food thermometer. If you don’t have one, it is well worth the roughly $10 cost of an instant-read thermometer.
The Agriculture Department-recommended safe minimum cooking temperatures are: 145 degrees for steaks and chops (with a three-minute rest time), 160 degrees for ground meat, 160 degrees for poultry and 145 degrees for fish. That doesn’t mean you won’t ultimately opt to cook your steak medium-rare (about 135 degrees) if that’s how you prefer it, just like you might eat your eggs with the yolks runny despite a government warning. But at least you will be doing it knowingly and without a dirty finger.
Cooking food to the perfect temperature doesn’t do much good safety-wise if you are transferring bacteria right back onto that food by using the same utensils and dishes that you used for the raw ingredients.
Think double when cooking out: Have two sets of tongs, spatulas and plates at the ready, one designated for raw food, and the other for cooked food. It’s even better if they are somewhat different from each other — a different color handle or brand — so you can easily distinguish them.
One reason there is more food poisoning in the summer is because more cooking and eating are done outside, away from running water, and therefore more likely with unwashed hands.
If you are hosting a cookout or pool party, keep hand wipes and sanitizer (with a minimum of 60 percent alcohol) in easy reach of food-prep areas.
To minimize contamination from guests’ hands, have enough serving utensils (please put a spoon in that bowl of nuts and tongs in the chip bowl) and keep wipes and sanitizer out for them, too. Don’t think a dip in a pool, lake or ocean leaves you with clean hands. There are plenty of germs in those bodies of water that you wouldn’t want to come in contact with food. So wash your hands before cooking or eating, even after swimming.
Leaving food out for way more than a couple of hours at a time is the norm at backyard parties I’ve attended. It seems people have no clue about the potential hazards. Bacteria grows and thrives at temperatures between 40 and 140 degrees, so food should not be in that temperature zone for more than two hours. If it’s more than 90 degrees outside, the limit is one hour.
It’s easy to let time slip away when you are entertaining, so set a timer when you put out the food to remind you of when it needs to be refrigerated.
If you have guests dropping by at various times throughout the day, consider staggering the dishes you serve, putting some out at the start of the party, then replacing those with others later.
If possible, keep cold food on a bed of ice and warm food either on a side rack on the grill or in a 200-degree oven. Your guests will not only get a fresher-tasting meal, but they will be better served in the days to come as well. | 2019-04-24T19:52:30Z | http://foodhaccp.com/memberonly/newsletter822.html |
... because they deserve nothing less.
I'm in the middle of laundry, packing, cleaning out the frig and everything else that is involved when getting ready to hit the road for a family trip. Our trip will be about 8 hours of driving time to a /great/ place to take the kids: Washington DC! I am excited. My boys are pumped. The family is going to spend some great time together.
For our trip I wanted to share a little 'Journal' I'm putting together for the boys. A place to store all of their paper memorabilia, a spot to jot their thoughts and draw pictures, a way to help them get excited and keep the excitement even when we return home in a few days.
For our Washington DC trip I made it a little more extensive.
Three ring-binder with pockets. This is their Vacation Journal. Everything else will fit into it.
Loose leaf notebook paper to put in binder. The kids can draw in them, write in them if they are old enough or a little of both. If there is a lull in your vacation suggest (don't require!) that they could write down what they saw that day or what they learned. Learning to journal at a young age is a great life-tool!
I also picked up some laminated US Maps in the Atlas section of the store. (You can also print a US Map to save a dollar) This will go in the front of their binder and is for the road trip. A great way to talk about the different states is to look for license plates along the way. This will give them a frame of reference as to where the different states fall on a map. Looking for license plates is also a great trip time-passing game.
There is no one, perfect way to start teaching your children about finances. However, there is a wrong way and that wrong way is to ignore it and assume that they are too young, don't need to be 'taught' or just feel as a parent that you aren't up to the challenge. Start your children out on the right foot and help them learn to navigate the world of finances. You never know you might learn something along the way!
How do you pay for things? Do you buy 'wants' and then fuss and fret about not being able to pay for the 'needs'? It is important to teach children how to save but showing them how to spend money wisely is just as important. Create a budget for your family. After you have your budget set, share it (maybe as a percentage) with the kids. Talk with them about what you need and what you want with the family. A great article from USAA, "Budgeting Basics - Needs vs Wants", asks the question about Friday night pizza: "Is this something that we need to do or simply something that we want to do? My kids say need. My wife and I say want." A little discussion will show them how important a budget is and helps make our wants more affordable.
In a Northwestern Mutual survey, 43 percent of parents said they believed schools should be doing more money education. Kids do need to learn money management at a young age but I'm not sure school should be the core-educators. According to an article from the Navy's Fleet and Family Support Centers, Financially Fit Kids, "Studies show that the single most important place where children learn about money is in the home and the most important teachers are their parents." We hold such an important role as parents. We are their primary trainers and can not rely on outside educators to show our children the proper way to save a dollar, spend a dollar and budget a dollar. If you don't feel comfortable then take the time to educate yourself! There are a wealth of articles out there from reputable resources that are there to help you.
Discuss with your children what you learned and help them apply it to their own circumstance. If you have decided you want to be better about using coupons, as an example, talk to your kids about it as you clip them from the Sunday Morning paper. Take them grocery shopping with you and show them the coupons you have clipped and then compare prices with them. This can be a great lesson for a 2nd or 3rd grader! (And talk about a great Math lesson, too!) Not only are you reinforcing new behaviours for yourself but you are teaching them behaviours that they can tuck away and have as a basis for their own financial education.
What do you tie your allowance to?
I believe very strongly that household-chores are part of being a family. When we do "5-minute jobs" on Saturdays, they aren't going to be paid. When they empty the dishwasher, they aren't going to be paid. When they clean up their toys in the family room, they aren't going to be paid. Why? Because I am not paid to make dinner. My husband is not paid to pack their lunches. They are not paid for household chores. It is part of being a family!
I appreciated this comment on an article at USAA.com, Making Allowances: "Experts say there's no single, right way to approach the big allowance debate [To pay for chores — or not?]." I know there are some strong arguments that allowance should be tied to chores; and I won't refute them. It is a personal decision. You as a parent need to make a decision as to what to tie your allowance to and then stick with it.
My family ties allowance to school. Right now their job is going to school, getting their homework done, earning good grades. When a report card comes home with straight-A's or they have significantly improved in an area that was lacking they get a bonus. My 2nd grader lights up when he is handed $5 for his report card full of As. Our teenager has enjoyed a significant 'pay increase' over the years from maintaining a near perfect-card. I suspect our now kindergartner will struggle more but we will find ways to encourage him to do his best.
How do you help facilitate long-term saving for your child?
My parents gave us a dollar for every dollar we put in to our college account when we were young, like a 401(k) plan for kids! This worked well especially when I came home with babysitting money. I saved some for my wallet but it felt so good to give my parents $10 for the bank and to see the deposit of $20! By the time I was ready for college I had money to help fund my own education. This helped my parents set aside as well and it was a great lesson in savings account interest.
For my own children now, my husband and I keep all out change in a change sorting bank, something similar to this bank at Amazon.com . When we fill up a row of pennies, nickles, dimes or quarters we roll it and put it in one of the child's piggy banks ready for our next trip to the credit union. It's just a little bit extra for their accounts but the boys can help us roll the money and it also shows how quickly pocket-change can add up!
When I was 16 I had my first credit card. When our oldest was 14 he had his first checking account. All of us have had savings accounts since we were babies. It all sounds so young but it works! It is a great way to educate your children before they sprout wings and leave the nest. It ties back to 'Education at Home'. If you open an account for your child show them the dividends and earnings they make on their savings account. When they have their first checking account help them balance their statement each month. When they are financially-savvy enough to handle a credit card make there no question that it will be paid each month! Don't set them up for failure. Teach them. Walk hand in hand and they will be ready to fly.
If all this has you thinking, be sure to read the book "Money Doesn't Grow on Trees" by Neale S. Godfrey. It was given to me at a recent military support event and I enjoyed reading it. It is full of tips, games, and much more that will help you teach your children from as young as two through their teenage years about money.
Easter, a beautiful day of Bonnets, Baskets and yummy chocolate-Bunnies.
But first and foremost it is a day of promise. A promise fulfilled, a promise for today, and a promise to come.
"Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow!"
Isaiah 43: 1-2 "I have called you by name; you are mine"
Psalm 27:14 - "Be brave and courageous"
Psalm 103:12 - "... as far as the east is from the west"
Micah 7: 18-19 - "and throw our transgressions into the depths of the ocean"
Joel 2:25 - There is Restoration!
Spring time in our soul! What a beautiful picture.
Jeremiah 29:11 - "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future"
Romans 8:18 - Nothing compares to what is to come!
Philippians 4:6-7 - "Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done."
Matthew 6:31-33 - God knows what you need!
Philippians 4:19 - "God will meet all your needs"
Isaiah 54:10- "My unfailing love for you will not be shaken"
What reminds you of God's love? The sunrise?, an unexpected check in the mail?, a smile from a stranger? What can you do to remind others of God's love? Be an encourager. Send a note to a friend, bake some cookies for someone who is down, smile and offer a hand to someone who needs it.
I hope the Promise that arose from the dead two-thousand years ago reminds you of the strength you can hold to today.
PS - There are a lot of verses but my two favorite from above are Romans 8:38-39 and Song of Solomon 2:11-12. What amazing images these two pieces conjure up for me. I hope that if you are in need you can glean something from this. I know what a treasure all these promises are!
But my goodness seems everyone has an allergy of some type, and at some time.
Our household has hay fever, pine pollen, and yucky moldy oak leaves. However, we LOVE being outside. So, will allergies stop us.... no way.
So on this Earth Day... it is time to get out and check out the garden for tiny spinach leaves or pea plants that should be poking out.
Time for Kleenex, hydration and hot drinks.
My elixir is coffee. I know... not the best for hydration, but oh how it soothes and gives me a bit of zip.
Dale cuddles his cup of tea. And today, for a change from the lemon and honey, a peppermint stick candy cane brought a smile. Better yet, a "Oh, that's good!" came from a nasally voice.
Let's go get the garden! Can't stop fantasy farmers just by eyes and noses that are disturbed.
Got an allergy? Got a cure? We would love to hear them, but will have to take off the muddy boots, jacket and cap first... it is April, it is chilly, and it is time to get going!
There are some companies that give back to the community over and over. Lowes is one of my favorites!
It started with a Memorial Day and Veterans Day discount for all Veterans.
It evolved to a 10% Military Discount all year for Active Duty, National Guard, Reserves and Retirees.
For that alone I give them a huge THANK YOU!
Now I want to thank them for giving away a million trees! Head to your local Lowes on Saturday, April 23rd where they are celebrating Earth Day. What a great way to to appreciate and give back to our earth. Plant your free-gift with your children. Talk about how important our trees are. Discuss recycling and reusing and how that can save trees all around our planet!
Thank you, Lowes, for supporting our military, our families, and our future!
Reading is food for the soul! My boys are blessed with a bookshelf overflowing with books. In fact, usually the messiest part of their room is books on the floor after being sorted through to find their choice piece of work for the moment, many minutes or hour. I love books. I love that THEY love books. They love to re-read old favorites and they love the gift of a new book.
I was excited to learn that Scholastic and Kumon have partnered to offer five free books to children if they do a small packet of age-appropriate worksheets (two math and two reading related). What a wonderful prize! This worked out well for us as we have just started our Spring Break. Each morning they will do part of their worksheet and we will be done by the end of our break from school. Head to the Learn and Earn Center to get started! The offer ends either (a) when 1,250 Sets have been awarded or (b) October 15, 2011.
We see it everyday! Sometimes in our own mirror, in family members, at the Exchange, at church/chapel, around town, while visiting family and at the doctor’s office: Many Americans including our children are overweight! We need to get active! The “Let’s Move” campaign is a national effort to improve our health and we need to get going! As the military order goes, "Move Out" on this one!
"She said the campaign was focusing on three targets: Diet, Activity and Screen Time."
I am encouraged by the interest of our country’s leaders taking a stand because this is becoming a health care issue with record numbers of childhood diabetes, adult onset diabetes and other complications from carrying those extra pounds. It is becoming a national security issue as well! Many potential recruits are not qualified due to their weight!! They may be great at computer games but not at physical activities that our service members need to be in order to accomplish the mission. Yesterday, MilitaryAvenue met with Ms. Barbara Thompson, Director of Office of Family Policy, Children & Youth at Military Community and Family Policy during the DoD Bloggers’ Roundtable to discuss the military version of the program. She said the campaign was focusing on three targets: Diet, Activity and Screen Time.
All three make perfect sense to improve our health! I love activity and have learned to enjoy more vegetables in my diet but fortunately never had the urge or time to do a lot of TV watching (maybe it was the AFRTS commercials overseas that helped me make that choice). However, I have become due to my new line of work, a computer junkie! The more screen time, the less activity time! The more sugar and fat in your diet, with reduced activity means weight gain for all of us.
This is not an easy issue for our military families but Ms. Thompson offered a number of ideas and resources and MilitaryAvenue has some as well in our Reading Room and blogs! The DoD Family Centers on military installations are a ready resource with information and classes on diet with curriculum focusing on the campaign. New policies include providing military the community with gardening plots on the installation, etc. Do you like to get your fingers in the dirt? Garden plots on the installations are going to be available for the military community to grow your own vegetables! In the civilian community? Turn a small piece of your yard into a garden and teach your children the fun of planting, caring for and picking their own food! It beats a Happy Meal a day anytime!
I asked if the program had any additional funding to help spread the word and Thompson said no, they were drawing on previous funds, US Department of Agriculture and Land Grant Universities for curriculum and materials! Military One Source has a teen program, “I Can Thrive” and installation youth programs are partnering with Boys/Girls Clubs, 4 H Clubs and others. School lunches are being evaluated and sugary drinks are being removed from vending machines. Have you heard of 5210?
Five (5) fruits/vegetables a day, a maximum of two (2) hours of screen time (TV or co mputer games), one (1) hour of exercise and zero (0) sugar drinks! Great standards and goals for parents to help their children be healthier and better citizens! Parents are the key to this campaign! “Let’s Move” relies on parents to be motivated about their own health and their family’s as well! We would never wish for our children to be obese or give them an illness but without the tools and discipline that parents can provide that is what America looks like! Lets turn that around! Here is a great list of articles for more information from MilitaryAvenue to help you get started! Oh, and one more thought! Feeling stressed? Exercise is one of the best stress relievers available so take that walk today to get started!
If you would like to listen or read a transcript of this very informative Roundtable with Ms. Thompson, please go to DoDLive!
My husband is the budget guy, I am the environmentally conscious one. I love hanging the laundry on an outdoor rack/line. I am using less electricity ("non-renewable resource") and letting the sun and the wind do its job. My husband loves it because it helps keep our gas bill down during the summer. I love open windows in the spring, summer and autumn! For me, it's all about the fresh air in the house using renewable resources. For my husband, it's all about the lack of air conditioning to drive up the electric bill.
There are other simple things we do to live in harmony. I make homemade yogurt. Not only is it delicious but *less packaging*, less garbage. My husband calculated it (yes, yes he did!) and it is about half as much to make as it is to buy the individual packages in the store. Our family of six eats about four 8oz-jars of yogurt a day. It adds up. I imagine you are starting to see the theme. It it is economical to make Earth Day everyday.
Another way I enjoy Earth Day everyday, this year I have been so much better about keeping our reusable bags in the trunk and then remembering to pull them out at the grocery store. Those blue bags are actually VERY nice. They hold a lot more grocery per bag. They sit up nicer in the trunk of my van. They are much less awkward then the store-plastic bags when carting our new purchases into the house. It is win-win-win for me to use these bags! "Earth Day everyday" is about making a new routine a habit. Then it all falls into place.
My tomato plants are growing in a sunny spot in the kitchen, waiting for warmer days to plant in the family garden. My husband said to me just yesterday, "I can't wait to get these planted so that we can stock up on homemade pasta-sauce." He loves the taste of homemade sauce and the economics of not buying the jars of sauce on the grocery shelves. I love the process of growing a plant, putting it in the ground and then enjoying the fruits of my labor. Earth day everyday. Let's all enjoy the fruits of our labor for many years to come!
Happy Birthday to my *C*! He turned six on Saturday. It was a day filled with fun befitting our six-year old prince. A 9:30am birthday party with 15 of his kindergarten friends; a 3:00pm soccer game in the rain and major-mud (see picture for the after-soccer game look); a favorite dinner of pasta, meatballs and bread, which after all the earlier fun in the day I had to wake him up off of the couch for. Then to top it all off sundae-desserts at our kitchen counter. It was just a great day!
This little boy is a light in my life. He has the strength of a military-child. The heart of a lover. The thoughts of an artist. The mind of a dreamer (seriously... he can still fall asleep /anywhere/.) He is so very different than his brothers and has taught me, as a mom, that there are no cookie-cutters when it comes to children. (Really, I had to be taught that? Yep) So my dear, *C*, here is to 6 more years, and 6 more years and 6 times 6 more years with some more to spare.
By the way, I love birthdays! In this hustle and bustle world it can be hard to remember to celebrate those that you love. Birthdays are just the perfect reminder to do that. Here is a short little video dedicated to one of my favorite princes!
Music plays in my life like breezes in an open field, sometimes noticeable, often relaxing and at times bone chilling. I hear songs in the background without recognizing the words. I might know them; I did when I first added an album to a playlist, but now, they fit in.
Robert’s desk was front row, front seat. Robert was Robert, not Robbie, Bob or Bobby: Robert. He would cringe when an unfamiliar person would call him Bobby. I saw it as I was the substitute teacher who was coming in February to finish the school year: 6th grade math and home room.
Robert could not sit still. He would squirm; move side to side in his seat, tensed.
Time to talk to the school nurse. She was a wizard to whom I went with questions about several of my 11 and 12 year old pupils. Everyone needs a wizard in their life!
The back of the classroom was her perch; her loving eyes watched my students. She knew them, knew when they moved on base, and heard when they were leaving. She was a rock to whom they turned when they weren’t feeling well: feverish or just heart sick. She gave them access to her room and life.
Robert filled her vision and her day today.
After class I went down to her office. I was thinking he had an uncomfortable rash or something on those lines. Our school nurse had already called Robert in, called whomever it was that procedure instructed her to do. Child protective services were in action. Robert was being abused by his Mom’s boyfriend.
UGH! Oh no! How long? All of these thoughts/questions thunder~bolted through my skin.
Abuse? It is a creepy, sickening occurrence that chars our world. Abuse could be scorching a child in your housing complex, it is in your community.
What are the repercussions if you are right?
What if you are wrong? Who is served? Who is neglected?
I am brought back to today, now, music that has just slapped me in the ear.
It makes my skin crawl, tears flow and breath stop.
Look at children. See their innocence. Do not let them be robbed or scarred .
Where do we find the wizard in our life now? To whom can we turn?
In this month of the Military Child know that there is help.
A DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable has been scheduled to discuss Child Abuse Prevention Month. David Lloyd, director of Family Advocacy Program will be joining in on the call.
This will an emotional topic! Again, the music on my computer is streaming throughout the house, now it is working as a solace for me.
On the playlist is the final song of the afternoon: Michael W. Smith's Calling Heaven.
The American spirit! We see it all around us!
Did you know this week was Volunteer Appreciation Week? Who do you think are America’s best volunteers? I give a vote for our all volunteer armed forces involved in three wars that began 10 years ago and yet we still have a force that makes its recruitment and re-enlistment goals each year! How about the American military family? They sacrifice so much and work so hard to take care of themselves and still find time to volunteer and support their communities!
During my times as a military leader and even now I realize that many of the on the installation organizations could not function without all the hours of volunteer work from military spouses, service members and military kids! They do it all! In the civilian world I see hours and hours of work at our local church to provide services and care for our youth, the local group that keeps our nature trail clean, the outpouring of support for parades recognizing our country’s heritage, our veterans, those who died protecting all of us and much more!
To highlight this week the DoD Bloggers’ Roundtable met with Robert L. Gordon III, Deputy Assista nt Secretary of Defense (Military Community and Family Policy) who was excited about many of the same things! He said he had a better appreciation for American volunteers after studying volunteerism in other countries. He said the key to much of the current efforts is the use of social media to spread the word about volunteer opportunities and needs. Military families are also serving outside the installation gates and many need help outside the gates too! He cited the United We Serve website as a tool to find needs and ways to volunteer as well!
He mentioned the program announced from the White House to enlist civilian support for military families by the First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr Biden, our Second Lady. Approximately 70% of the military community live, worship and play in their civilian communities! They support their schools, churches, civic minded groups an d others with their time and giving! Gordon said that private/public partnerships are critical to identifying needs and filling the gaps of services available. Not a new effort but the door is being opened to strengthen these ties. One example that he identified was in the realm of childcare. With the military families needing child care beyond the capacity of DoD facilities, the department has opened agreements with 13 communities across the nation to assist with child care needs! The President has declared that military family support is a national priority!
In addition to the needs of the active forces and their families Gordon also highlighted the Yellow Ribbon program of the National Guard and Reserve forces to support their members spread throughout the civilian communities with information, referrals, support services available and benefits, both public and military. My own experience with a son in law in the National Guard is that they have a critical outreach to connect with Americans who have little to no knowledge of the military lifestyle.
A key question for Gordon was how to translate volunteering into employment opportunities? He said the spouse education and career initiatives translate into a skill set that can be used by employers. Organizing, working with diverse groups, a work spirit and enthusiasm create job preparation skills. He closed with a comment on volunteerism that I thought was insightful. Volunteerism demonstrates 1) selflessness and 2) selfishness. We show we care for others by volunteering and we care for ourselves by doing the same volunteering! We are a better country for our volunteers and we are better individuals for it as well!
You can find some very interesting and military hot topic subjects such as TBI, PTSD, support programs and other Roundtable discussions on MilitaryAvenue's Blogs! If you would like to listen to the audio of this very interesting Roundtable please go to DoDLive!
PS: Have you heard of the campaign to make the military family the Time Magazine Person of the Year for 2011! I so think they deserve this recognition! There is a ground swell of support; be sure to find out more and how you can join in this recognition!
04/12/2011 Photo Credit: Robert L. Gordon III, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (Military Community and Family Policy). DoD official photo.
/ Resilient /: Able to recoil or spring back into shape after bending, stretching, or being compressed.
These are important words for a military-child! Sometimes they come naturally, sometimes they may need to be reinforced. This week Star Henderson and Tara Crooks of Army Wife Network took the time to talk with Ingrid Torres-McCullough of the American Red Cross on the topic of building resiliency in military children. What are symptoms of childhood-stress? How do you help your child through the stress? What about the extra stress of being a military-child? Great questions! Find your answers; take a listen and enjoy!
What do you need to do to support a Military Child?
... and very importantly as a Military-Parent, Take Care of Yourself!
Many years ago (back in high school) I read a book This Present Darkness by Frank E. Peretti. I was never a big reader but this book captivated me, scared me, reminded me of the Protection that surrounds me. I can distinctly remember going into my family room while in the midst of this book one late night, turning on my parents' new CD player, finding my dad's good head-set and blasting the song, "Ashton" by Michael W. Smith.... (ok, maybe there is a reason I'm a little deaf. But I digress.) Ashton is also the name of the town that This Present Darkness takes place in. A town where angels and demons battle. Anytown, USA. It could, in fact, be your town. And while I was immersed in this book I could hear and FEEL the battles taking place in MWS's late-1980s song (no lyrics, pure synthesizer) that he wrote based on the book. It was literally one of those steps forward in my relationship with Christ. He used that music and that book to remind me that no matter what He's there!
Flash forward to today. We talked in church about Evil. Pure, Genuine, Evil. Evil that surrounds us everyday. Evil that attacks us when we are new Christians, when we are afflicted, when we are idle, when we are isolated, when we are dying, even when we achieve success.
Have you read Ephesians 6:10-17? What an image! We are armored, protected, suited up for this battle.
and our weapon, the Sword. The Word of God.
I'm so fortunate to be a part of that Kingdom. To have this armor. To call this Lord, "My Protector"!
Sun Tea! My favorite drink. It is sunny skies, warm weather and the sounds of summer wrapped up and packaged in a glass jar. A few years ago I perfected my family's favorite version of sun-tea and I thought I'd share it with you.
1 two-quart glass jar. Nothing expensive required!
Using your glass jar combine the ingredients and let it sit in a nice sunny-warm spot for two or three hours. My deck table is ideal. The longer you let it sit, the stronger your tea will be. So you can play with the time to see what your own preference is.
Bring your sun-tea in after the allotted time and pour it into a 4-quart (or 1 gallon) pitcher. Add two more quarts of water and enough lemonade powder to make 2 quarts of lemonade.
As a side note, for many summers I used Country Time lemonade-powder. This past summer I was diagnosed with gestational-diabetes while pregnant with Baby Boy *L*. Drinking any amount of my sun-tea sent my sugar sky-rocketing. So I switched to Crystal Light lemonade-powder. What a difference! Even after being cleared of diabetes I still prefer their less sugary-lemonade for my own health and my boys own sugar intake.
Stir the lemonade and tea together. Pour into a glass with some ice and WA-LA. Summer in a cup.
By the way, making drinks like this is so much less expensive and more earth-friendly than buying cans of soda, juice boxes, or any individually packaged drink. As you are taking a look at your own budget think about the small ways you can save. They add up! We fill up our sports bottles on 'soccer and baseball game days', keep plenty of cups so that I can serve the neighbors when they are over, and just generally fill our cups up when we need a drink. There are so many reasons to make a pitcher of YOUR favorite drink this summer!
"You are Dismissed!" Some of the sweetest words spoken to a hot sweaty classroom of 5th or 6th graders at the end of the year.
Should you ever be brought to traffic court for a ticket... and then that ticket is dismissed... ahhhhh... exhilarating!
However, when bringing the car in for a check up, under what I thought was warranty... not a good dismissal.
We purchased the car not quite 2 years ago, about 30 from our home. LOVE the car, hate the gas prices, but I digress. We drive cross country, zipping in and out of States like some folks drive in and out of their driveway.
A slight noise was noticeable when we closed the door... not bad, but it was there. Time to check this out. The car was still not two years old! Off to the car dealer I drove.
As the smartly dressed mechanic slid into the car seat, looked at the odometer, cocked his head and informed me that the warranty on this car is for 3 years, a smile broke out across my face. I can usually get anyone to talk. This guy was all business, and I felt like I interrupted his life, not only his day! "YEAH, that is great, thought it was only for two!"
A most disgusted face turned to me and informed me that we did not purchased the extended warranty... we had a 36,000 miles end point (which we exceeded long before we changed calendars this year). BOO.
Doesn't it feel good to receive a gift?
Children find a lot of joy in the act of giving. I have homemade necklaces, paintings, and home decor from my boys as proof-positive! They light up as I marvel at the beauty of my newest gift; beaded necklaces, hand-drawn art for the frig, even painted rocks from the garden. Those gifts are a tangible expression of their love for me.
With this in mind we, MilitaryAvenue, have partnered with Wire-A-Cake, a great military-support company, to help celebrate the Month of the Military Child! We want to send a military-child a cake as a thank you for their sacrifices!
What do you have to do to win a cake for your military-child?
Next head to Wire A Cake's Event (http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=196998207005996) and NOMINATE your favorite Military-Child who has a parent in the US Military. Tell us what one word describes your child or children. (One entry per Facebook account). Mention you are a MilitaryAvenue Fan as well!
Wasn't that a piece of cake?!
We will have a random drawing, after the nominations close on Monday, April 25, 5:00 PM PT. Wire-A-Cake will be in contact to verify the mailing address for the gift from all of us to your child!
Now head on over to Facebook and nominate your Military-Child!
Questions About Wire-A-Cake? Head over to their website to learn more.
What is DoD doing about Traumatic Brain Injury’s Impact on Our Service Members and Their Families?
In March, I read a book about a neurosurgeon’s life, “The Gray Matter” which delved into the intricacies of the brain and how the author, Dr David Levy, had helped save and improve lives through surgery on the brain. We have all been following Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords recovery from a penetrating brain injury in the news and the long road to recovery she is facing. With thousands of service member also having brain injuries from mild to severe the military community has a need for care and support as well.
The subject of brain injuries piqued my interest and I was excited to meet on Tuesday with the DoD Bloggers Roundtable with Ms Kathy Helmick, deputy director for TBI at the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE). She presented improvements that DoD has made and new methods to protect and care for those impacted by TBI.
As the lessons of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts are learned, we find new ways to help our injured and protect them. Due to the fact that IEDs (improvised explosive device) have become the weapon of choice in both wars the number of TBI cases has significantly risen. Ms Helmick did divide TBI into two categories, severe (sometimes with penetration like Ms Gifford) and less than severe (such as a concussion). Under a new policy starting last summer, the military developed guidelines to identify potential concussion injuries in theatre to begin treatment quicker. The Military Acute Concussion Evaluation (MACE) is incident based and mandatory. If a service member is involved in an explosive incident, rollover or other potential brain trauma the policy kicks off a medical evaluation to determine if a concussion has occurred. The soldiers, marines, airmen and sailors can not be placed back on duty until this is completed to avoid the potential for a second incident that might create a more severe injury (like multiple injuries that boxers and football players have received).
During follow on treatment the medical community has also developed a unique tool kit with six guidelines meshed together to deal with multiple diagnoses such as TBI, PTSD, depression, etc. According to Hemlick this methodology does not exist in the civilian world as each illness or injury is treated on its own basis with no interaction between them. The tool kit is available to medical providers online at the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center. This is a great website with information for Service Members & Veterans, Family & Friends and Providers available.
The Family & Friends section has a Caregiver curriculum that consists of six modules and provides resources for the families of the TBI heroes. There are how to’s, help and assistance, etc listed in the modules. There is also an interactive map for finding a DVBIC location close to their home.
April is Month of the Military Child and their theme this year is Celebrate Military Children – the Strength of our Future so I asked about how we are helping the children impacted by a parent with TBI. Ms Helmick said there are now resources at Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury for military kids. When I went to the DCoE site it has featured content this month for resources for military children. She mentioned books for children such as “Our Daddy is Invincible” as well.
The Roundtable was a great way to spread the word about resources for our military community. Be sure to share this information with those you know! You might help a mom/dad dealing with a child’s fears and strengthen them for the future! Share this blog on your Facebook page for someone to see! These resources are there to help all of us!
Would you like to listen to this Roundtable? Go to DoDLive!
We just returned from a road trip of over 3,200 miles and it reminded us of a PCS except at the end I did not start a new job, there were not three kids in the backseat, the house was still there and we knew the way around our neighborhood! After 18 military moves we get frequent reminders of the military lifestyle and this time I thought about how we automatically do things to expedite our travels, find ways to save money and enjoy long trips.
One of the most expensive items (this may change if the price of a gallon of gas keeps going up) for a family traveling are hotel accommodations. While not always available and maybe off the track a bit, you may be able to find quarters on a military installation, particularly on a weekend unless the Guard or Reserves are working. PCS folks actually get a priority and it is worth a call or email and you can book in advance at most installations. Have you looked at which hotels offer a Military Discount?
We use a hotel chain to earn points and most offer a discount but you need to check in advance to be sure. Ask for it, if it is not mentioned, you might be surprised. We were reminded of another lesson when we had to make a change in our travel routing at the last minute. We called and asked about a hotel in a large city on our route and the price jumped big time (we usually do our own research online but this was a necessary on the road change)! We then asked for one 50 miles short and the price was less than one third of the previous quote! We went from $300 for a night to $100 (including taxes, etc). So plan to travel short or long of a major city!
Do you try to travel during less heavily traveled times if possible? We always try to hit urban areas at off peak hours to save gas and time! It is not too hard to do with a little planning. It might also save some stress and friction in the car while sitting slow or dead stopped! Funny, how you can hear the kids in the back seat better when waiting in traffic. The kids see the fast food places easier during slow downs too but you can save a bit with a small cooler with drinks in it and maybe sandwiches, fruit, healthy snack bars, etc if you have the time and energy. Stopping in rest areas and getting your stretches is important and certainly not as tempting for all those calories at the fast food places! Taking those breaks is critical to safety and good health as well! A bit of a walk/run around the rest area/park or walkways is always a benefit for feeling better mentally and physically for the next 100 plus miles!
Start looking for gas deals with a half tank! Comparing prices enroute is easy with all the billboard type of signs and if you see a lower one grab it! Much better than getting down to fumes and that tumbling tummy feeling while hoping for the next one to appear which just happens to be the highest priced one in 500 miles.
Pace yourself! I can drive for hours but after a recent illness kept me on the driving disabled list, I realized that riding can be as tough as driving in many situations. So getting a break and letting the spouse have a time at the wheel is beneficial for everyone! How about a day off? Take one day off at a zoo, theme park, etc for the family if possible! Create a memory! My family still talks about one PCS where we traveled separately due to school requirements for me and how they stopped and saw old friends, went to a theme park, camped, etc., etc.
Did you find a great deal on a hotel? Why not splurge on dinner? A nice dinner at a non fast food restaurant will help everyone relax and sleep! Did that hotel have a pool? How about a dip to let the kids run wild and burn off all that energy? Better sleep for them and more rest for you means a better trip the next day!
Have a great PCS this spring/summer and thank you for your service!
This is Baby *L*. He is my pride and joy. He is the sparkle in his daddy's eyes. He is one of the younger members of the Military-Family.
This kind of military support, from communities around the United States is what makes me humbled to be called a part of the military-family.
If you are looking for a community-based way to support Military Children this Month of the Military Child look into Operation Paperback. I'm sure your school, your scout group, your church group, even your neighborhood could support a cause like this. Something that brings joy even to the very youngest members of the Military Family!
Growing up in the Military: A few years ago, a debate emerged on an Internet newsgroup for military brats about what kind of flower military children of military parents were most like. The consensus became the dandelion. Anne Manning Christopherson wrote, "How about the dandelion? The plant puts down roots almost anywhere. It is almost impossible to get rid of. It is entirely usable except for the little puffball thingy. | 2019-04-20T02:24:43Z | http://militaryblog.militaryavenue.com/2011/04/ |
Though it’s not required, Organize the reason behind resignation when you are feeling inclined to do this. Resignation is the way you choose to go away the work you do not need to perform this any longer. Everybody’s resignation differs, also ought to be dealt with likewise.
The correspondence stipulates the tentative dates for resignation to protect against inconveniencing the employers. Jot down what exactly that you would like to devote your letter before writing. Resignation letters ought to be assessed to meet your personal circumstance. Before creating your church resignation letter, then you need to know a handful of things. While stopping by the circumstance, you will have to draft an expert church resignation letter, highlighting that the reason for your pick.
You ought to be careful You can write a resignation letter whining from your workmates or from your own seniors and each of measures should be used in mind to produce sure that to usually do not damage your employer or graphic of the company. Your own resignation letter is going to be held on record, so make sure certain that it’s really a testament to your maturity and professionalism. The correspondence of resignation is actually a formal correspondence, which is additionally a strong record to be used legally at the event. Sample resignation letter you may follow’s sort depends on your own private situation, and the sum of determine you are in a position before leaving the overall place of occupation to give. Being a result, it really is wise to experience the sample letters to find a understanding of the way in which a resignation letter should be prepared to create the process simpler and faster. For acquiring the thought of just how precisely you have to publish a resignation letter, you should utilize the sample resignation letters.
You will have to put it, to give up your work properly. Then you must not shed your sanity if you should be very likely to cease work. It’s accurate that you are habituated from job, so that your resignation letter should be treated as with any other package of company correspondence. If you were miserable along with your work, an announcement just like I have solved to go after various chances for particular reasons” is adequate. If you’re considering quitting your job because your health is avoiding you out of being at a posture to concentrate in job, among the very first things you ought to do is figure out the date you would like your resignation to come into outcome. Should you need to begin your job when potential it really is beneficial. Perhaps you’re at a place.
The worker resignation letter template can be an normal resignation letter which contains a letter template which could possibly be employed with any employee seeking resignation. The file should be assessed to fit your personal circumstance. Subject line filled to alert the reader exactly what the correspondence is all about. There really are a few important things that ought to be rendered from your own letter. A resignation letter for family members problems may be properly used when you need to go away to take care of a handicapped family member. It’s a brief letter officially informing your company that you are leaving your job. Keep in mind that it is perhaps not a loveletter.
Choosing the most ideal phrases to publish is challenging and you’ll discover it is more easy to confer with a boss personally. It’s not straightforward to resign and keep with boss and your business enterprise. Here is a case of the exact simple record of resignation, to help get you started. It’s a formal type of stopping.
Is your official moment. The absolute most essential advice to comprise within an resignation letter would be. On you can find the Sample. Generally, small organization mails would be the ones agreed by your organization , normally including your institution’s identify as well as yours. You are producing a resignation e-mail to the exact 1st time and you wind up staring at a blank piece of word or newspaper record.
The correspondence therefore has to become concise and succinct. Teachers seeking to resign from their occupation can employ the teacher resignation letter to principal template in PDF. Approach the letter as though you are writing a thank-you note, and you are likely to become to the appropriate track. Before informing anyone your own aims, request your hospital employment policy to ascertain how far in progress your note should be awarded since it will differ from one institution to the next. If it’s given too far beforehand, you may run the probability of being let it go early, because will be your employer right. The authentic explanation to learn to provide opinion is to economize the connection. Assess your business’s policy to find out how much notice you are expected to give.
Your letter should become easy and short. The letter additionally has to get an official salutation an issue line and also a body of this letter that has divided into 23 sentences. Providing a resignation correspondence is one of the measures that have to get obtained by personnel to facilitate smooth transition to the following. It is suggested to write a resignation letter so as to leave an outstanding impression using the company or boss of one. Bear in your mind, a few employers demand a resignation letter to display proof the resignation was voluntary.
That you don’t need to explain to a company why you’re leaving, or where you’ll be heading. The employer will not need to need to have a fantastic deal of time examining this letter. Based on the offer you’ve got together with your own employer, you may be eligible for certain benefits. The organization needs to be given considerable time to find replacement for that particular position. Be sure so that you can use your soon to be previous employer to get a reference to exit with elegance.
Organize your reason for resignation if you’re feeling prone to achieve this, even although it isn’t mandatory. Resignation can be of various reasons which may be particular in addition to practitioner. Anyway, my resignation commonly means that in my return from Australia I might need to commence browsing for a endeavor. Resignation could be the event which not just impacts the individual nevertheless the professional existence of somebody. If you’re hesitant to extend the authentic reason of your resignation, then you can cite factors that are private to fortify your choice.
The letter needed to tackle a particular individual. You are going to require a letter including of the fundamentals so as to quit your work. It’s crucial that your resignation letter should be both brief or quick and simple. A letter of resignation is an functional record which could possibly be utilised in many depart requirements. The bulk of the instant, a resignation letter is not sufficient. Composing a letter of resignation is a very measure when the decision has been created to get. So it imperative prior to making occupation, that you write an resignation letter.
The portion of one’s letter should speak about the hand-off. As a consequence, it really is wise to go to find a comprehension of a resignation letter that is superior ought to be created to produce the method faster and simpler. Even the sample resignation letter will have the conditions which that you’ve have heard you can utilize to implement within the next business.
Matching the tone into the circumstance is quite as critical since the particulars, As it has to do with creating a resignation correspondence. A resignation letter could appear unneeded once you are proceeding on from job, without even submitting an official record of resignation for your 31, however you should never walk off. It doesn’t have to become long term. Resignation letters need to follow professional little business letter style that has a formal announcement of one’s goals, the date as well as your own signature. The correspondence of resignation is a formal letter, and it is a solid record to be used lawfully at the event of any dispute which could arise. Below you’ll find an example resignation letter that will help illustrate how one ought to leave work. To obtaining the idea of you have to publish a resignation letter, you ought to use the sample resignation letters.
Don’t forget, the decision on how best to create your correspondence is your pick. When you initiate the letter make certain you deal with company using words that are respectful and result at the identical manner. It’s vital to be aware you’re unhappy by it that resignation letters aren’t rants on why you are leaving your work. It truly is really a good notion to recognise what you oughtn’t put in a resignation letter that is comprehensive. Here are a couple of ideas about the best way to write a great letter for resignation.
Generally in most instances, individuals would rather keep the letters short and easy. The individual really wants to resign, the letter should be delivered. It really is imperative never to burn bridges, Nevertheless resignation letters are usually the official communicating you have got together with the organization. A Standard resignation letter is to confirm to your employer which you’re going to be departing. Educators seeking to resign in their occupation with the purpose of retirement to get a teacher from faculty can employ the educator resignation letter to main template in PDF.
RESUME variations there are tons of styles of resumes together with a variety of versions. Your resume includes an aim in place of an expert overview rather than how the needs of a company will satisfy. For broadcasting the job industry resumes have grow to be the ticket. They, in the start, can appear tedious and time-consuming. They have shifted, which means you want to be certain you’re maintaining the hottest developments and expectations. While graphical resumes are good-looking however they truly are terrible in getting the task done. There’s no common Resume.
It really is all about quality not quantity, when it has to do with hunting for job and submitting an application. Then you need to publish a good grade restart if you’d want to get the work you want. In the event the career entails a whole lot of empowerment emphasize prototyping on your own resume. If you are searching for an information applications development job, for instance, your knowledge inside the restaurant service business is very good however, maybe not relevant right here.
You are the sole individual who’s liable for landing operate. There needs to be considered a strategy behind whatever you perform in a job searchincluding you expect you to be referred to by other individuals . Conquer disagreements you will find lots of troubles which you will face while switching your livelihood or even though applying for employment in the big event you have any gap in work. It truly is a fact that landing on a job has a specified quantity of chance. Locating an appropriate occupation is simply.
Find your dream job Decide exactly what job you’ll love to go after. Instead, you have to tailor your resume which you employ to get. Attempting to land your fantasy occupation is similar to wanting to navigate an barrier training class. If you wish to relocate to your work, you most likely know that it’s best to leave your address away from your restart.
The recruiter will likely probably search for key words from the work description, and marketplace phrases are guaranteed to leap out, painting you within an acceptable match. Your resume might be about you but it’s also greatly in regards to this company. Recruiters don’t possess time. Recruiters ought to simply try more complicated to test every restart in spite of the format, then you definitely might be right, In the event you are contemplating nicely, but that’s not actually the reality.
Even a HR manager may require just a few seconds to scan the peak of one’s resume. Selecting managers ordinarily don’t have a preference in regards to one or two page resumes. Selecting managers (such as the huge area ) are specially enthusiastic in what you’ve already been doing at the earlier 2-3 decades and also the way it’s regarding the position they truly are trying to fill.
Resume creator is one of the simplest ways to create your path in only moments. Resume writers know of one of the most latest tendencies, plus they write and construct a resume to make an influence on the professionals. Choosing the perfect writer to your precise situation has become the difficulty when searching for resume assistance, and price is one of several considerations. Empower some expert editor or your friends to help you enhance your own resume.
Inch answer would be to consider your LinkedIn profile by a higher level. The solution is easy. One among the easiest & best strategies to boost the articles of your resume , however, would be always to emphasize your own accomplishments. Consistently publishing on a site is an excellent means research enginesand generate traffic to your website and to pull at attention on social networking. Winning your fantasy job is about choosing the opportunities. Your knowledge and also the sort of job will help to ascertain the style of resume you use. Apparently, you ought to be truthful.
Bear in mindyour resume needs to highlight practical expertise, the skills, and accomplishments which are relevant to your project aims. The capability to demonstrate thinking to be able to gather and study information can be the absolute necessity in the finance field. Your leadership capabilities are certain to turn heads.
Skim through the job description and then find out. Is to learn the easy dependence on the method to compose expert career and the entire academic in a format. Your own employer works off if you’ve got a resume that is polished. Being a guideline, consistently consider the recruiter or employer you are aiming for when authoring or structuring your resume. If you work and don’t want your company to know you are searching for opportunitiesensure outside simply listing your present endeavor, it’s informative and punchy. Remember , your resume should concentrate on everything you could offer your employer, perhaps not viceversa.
The letter should be sent or 2 days subsequent to the interview. In the end, a thank-you letter leaves you look more professional in this interviewer’s perspective. If you should be producing a traditional personal advertisements letter or for an on-line occupation application, you need to format it because you would any expert correspondence, along with consuming content that is relevant.
In case you’re requested to place the correspondence to simply help some one demonstrate in addition to renew letter of recommendation, then adhere to plenty of policies. Whether you’re writing a letter of application in answer into a work advertisement or only on the lookout the target is. An application letter is probably the very initial things you want to prepare yourself when applying for the employment. Depending on the application form needs of their company, a resume might well not be taken together with all the employment app as a letter of software is approved and might even be required. Your app correspondence expresses your objective to generate an application to get a job inside corporation, a business or company. A letter of enthusiasm for PhD program is essential which usually means you’ve got to write down the reason you would want to find yourself a PhD at the mentioned institution.
If you’re you definitely need to have undergone first hand how hard it’s to write an application correspondence. The correspondence of app is going to be the 1st correspondence you should need with a company. On the reverse side, a program correspondence could possibly be the requirement sought employers or by schools having a program letter, it may not necessarily be crucial that you will include a resume. Writing an application letter of inspiration can be demanding at times.
Your letter may possess a influence on the man or lady reading it, even moreover bringing the name to his or her awareness an additional moment. A letter from the personal doctor needs to be okay, however, the financial aid division or the educational funding form will inform you type of evidence they want. Appropriate letter should be composed utilizing a deductive strategy. Unfortunately it is impossible to comprehend exactly if a given letter will be the gap in receiving to a faculty or not. More over, a letter that is awesome will probably possess information about the applicant. A fantastic school recommendation letter may be the difference between a top-tier along with also an alternate faculty. The traditional closing statement will explain to the reader how to get hold of the writer and also will outline the info from the body that is human.
Then you can sew a stamped addressed envelope to boost your probability of a response, if you’re applying by correspondence, rather than email. Cover letters should be both more customized and unique which you use . Make certain you also compose a cover letter that is great to proceed with your resume. Read on to learn if you must submit an faculty cap letter and also the way to create.
Be sure to include the date on everybody of many letters that you ship. To pick on a whole column on the letter clicks on the pillar of cells. Writing a personal statement for residency is vitally vital for most factors. Your resume cover letter is not your autobiography. You’re prepared to beat that profitable letter. You may upload as many as 5 cover letters and resumes. The internship cover letter needs to focus more about what you’ll like to do, rather than that which you have accomplished.
Determined by which phrases need further explanation on an on-line job app. You might mention facts in your advertisements correspondence such as for instance at which you saw the bill, and the way that your responsibilities at your overall job demonstrate you have obtained the skills to handle the work that you’re looking for. It’s likely to use this kind of case such as. The use of this factor for all purposes make it hard for somebody attempting to browse and know that the exact code and could lead to confusion.
If you’re new , your app might possibly be denied. Other software are offered. Teacher application form the application form is intended to become course-centric. Call the store and then wait 1 week and get to speak with the boss you requested for this application form. Though you’re just very likely to ask about a job application that you should look as if you desire the position. If you’re going to be writing one to get a job software or receive a PhD or you are trying to enroll at a college, you must know exactly what should move in your correspondence. You want to sound certain within an internet project app, but not even desperate.
Your manager resume needs to concentrate in your own specific encounter and should not be overly pricey. Sometimes managers will make an effort to indicate you which they might require a real case, perhaps maybe not even a idea. After all, even if you should be inclined to become described as a manager, you should be in a posture to show you have direction capabilities and in the degree, there’ll become more competition. Your capacity must be demonstrated by your boss resume . A excellent sample manager resume will contain keywords quite a few times across the file. Pick the sample manager resume you are currently searching for. Use these management restart recommendations to understand the way to make a resume.
You’ll find an increasing amount of kinds of resumes emerging in the last several years plus some are rather helpful. Use bullet points to make sure it is simple to browse and consume the exact info. You want to ensure all listing of irrelevant skill are not included. There is absolutely no definitive selection of exactly what Contain lousy experience” over a job out application.
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There have been rare, but serious reports of acute phosphate nephropathy in patients who received oral sodium phosphate products for colon cleansing prior to colonoscopy. Some cases have resulted in permanent impairment of renal function and some patients required long-term dialysis. While some cases have occurred in patients without identifiable risk factors, patients at increased risk of acute phosphate nephropathy may include those with increased age, hypovolemia, increased bowel transit time (such as bowel obstruction), active colitis, or baseline kidney disease, and those using medicines that affect renal perfusion or function (such as diuretics, angiotensin converting enzyme [ACE] inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers [ARBs], and possibly nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs [NSAIDs]). See WARNINGS.
It is important to use the dose and dosing regimen as recommended (pm/am split dose). See DOSAGE AND ADMINISTRATION.
Visicol (sodium phosphate monobasic monohydrate, USP, and sodium phosphate dibasic anhydrous, USP) is a purgative used to clean the colon prior to colonoscopy. Visicol Tablets are white to off-white compressed tablets, with a monogram "I" on each side of the upper surface and a plain lower surface. Each tablet contains 1.102 grams of sodium phosphate monobasic monohydrate, USP and 0.398 grams of sodium phosphate dibasic anhydrous, USP for a total of 1.5 grams of sodium phosphate per tablet. Inert ingredients include microcrystalline cellulose (MCC), NF; magnesium stearate, NF; and colloidal silicon dioxide, NF. Visicol is gluten-free.
Visicol Tablets are for oral administration only.
Visicol Tablets are indicated for cleansing of the colon as a preparation for colonoscopy in adults 18 years of age or older.
The evening before the colonoscopy procedure: Take 3 Visicol Tablets (the last dose will be 2 Visicol Tablets) with 8 ounces of clear liquids every 15 minutes for a total of 20 tablets.
On the day of the colonoscopy procedure: Starting 3-5 hours before the procedure, take 3 Visicol Tablets (the last dose will be 2 Visicol Tablets) with 8 ounces of clear liquids every 15 minutes for a total of 20 tablets.
It is recommended that patients receiving Visicol be advised to adequately hydrate before, during, and after the use of Visicol.
Patients should not use Visicol within seven days of previous administration. No additional enema or laxative is required, and patients should be advised NOT to take additional agents, particularly those containing sodium phosphate.
Visicol Tablets are supplied in child-resistant bottles containing 40 tablets and 100 tablets. Each tablet contains 1.102 g sodium phosphate monobasic monohydrate, USP and 0.398 g sodium phosphate dibasic anhydrous, USP for a total of 1.5 g of sodium phosphate per tablet. Each bottle contains two silica desiccant packets, which are not to be ingested.
Store at 25°C (77°F); excursions permitted to 15-30°C (59-86°F) [See USP Controlled Room Temperature]. Discard any unused portion.
In the phase 3 Visicol trials, bloating, nausea, abdominal pain, and vomiting were the most common drug-related adverse events reported with the use of Visicol (see Table 2). Since diarrhea was considered as a part of the efficacy of Visicol diarrhea was not defined as an adverse event in the clinical trials. Small superficial mucosal ulcerations, typical of those previously reported from the use of liquid preparations of sodium phosphate, and instances of mucosal bleeding have been observed on colonoscopy.
No patient in the clinical studies developed predefined postural changes in vital signs with concomitant symptoms of lightheadedness or syncope.
In Visicol trials, changes in serum electrolytes (including phosphate, calcium, potassium, and sodium) have been observed in patients taking Visicol Tablets.
In the Visicol phase 3 trials, 96% and < 1% of patients who took Visicol (60 grams) and NuLYTELY (up to 4 liters), respectively, developed hyperphosphatemia (defined as phosphate level > 4.7 mg/dL) on the day of the colonoscopy. In these trials, patients who took Visicol and NuLYTELY had baseline mean phosphate levels of 3.3 and 3.4 mg/dL and subsequently developed on the day of the colonoscopy mean phosphate levels of 7.1, and 3.3 mg/dL, respectively.
Two to three days after colonoscopy, 34%, 66%, and 0% of patients who received Visicol had (reactive) hypophosphatemia (defined as phosphate level < 2.4 mg/dL), normal phosphate levels, and hyperphosphatemia, respectively. Two to three days after colonoscopy, 3%, 96%, and 1% of patients who received NuLYTELY had (reactive) hypophosphatemia normal phosphate levels, and hyperphosphatemia, respectively. Two to three days after colonoscopy, patients who took Visicol and NuLYTELY had mean phosphate levels of 2.6 and 3.3 mg/dL, respectively.
In the Visicol phase 3 trials, 47% and 9% of patients who took Visicol and NuLYTELY, respectively, developed hypocalcemia (defined as calcium level < 8.6 mg/dL) on the day of the colonoscopy. The mean changes in calcium levels (from baseline) for the Visicol and NuLYTELY patients were -0.6 and -0.1 mg/dL, respectively. Furthermore, in these trials, 28% and 3% of patients who took Visicol and NuLYTELY, respectively, developed hypokalemia (defined as potassium level < 3.5 mEq/L) on the day of the colonoscopy. The mean changes in potassium levels (from baseline) for the Visicol and NuLYTELY patients were -0.5 and -0.1 mEq/L, respectively. None of the patients who developed hypocalcemia or hypokalemia in the trials required treatment.
The following adverse events have been identified during post-approval use of Visicol. Because they are reported voluntarily from a population of unknown size, estimates of frequency cannot be made. These events have been chosen for inclusion due to either their seriousness, frequency of reporting or causal connection to Visicol, or a combination of these factors.
General: Hypersensitivity reactions including anaphylaxis, rash, pruritus, urticaria, throat tightness, bronchospasm, dyspnea, pharyngeal edema, dysphagia, paresthesia and swelling of the lips and tongue, and facial swelling.
Use caution when prescribing Visicol for patients with conditions, or who are using medications, that increase the risk for fluid and electrolyte disturbances or may increase the risk of adverse events of seizure, arrhythmias, and prolonged QT in the setting of fluid and electrolyte abnormalities. Consider additional patient evaluations as appropriate (see WARNINGS) in patients taking these concomitant medications.
Oral medication administered within one hour of the start of each Visicol dose may be flushed from the gastrointestinal tract, and the medication may not be absorbed properly.
There have been rare, but serious reports of renal failure, acute phosphate nephropathy, and nephrocalcinosis in patients who received oral sodium phosphate products (including oral sodium phosphate solutions and tablets) for colon cleansing prior to colonoscopy. These cases often resulted in permanent impairment of renal function and several patients required long-term dialysis. The time to onset is typically within days; however, in some cases, the diagnosis of these events has been delayed up to several months after the ingestion of these products. Patients at increased risk of acute phosphate nephropathy may include patients with the following: hypovolemia, baseline kidney disease, increased age, and patients using medicines that affect renal perfusion or function [such as diuretics, angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers, and possibly nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).
Use Visicol with caution in patients with impaired renal function, known or suspected electrolyte disturbances (such as dehydration), or people taking concomitant medications that may affect electrolyte levels (such as diuretics). Patients with electrolyte abnormalities such as hypernatremia, hyperphosphatemia, hypokalemia, or hypocalcemia should have them corrected before treatment with Visicol Tablets.
Patients should not administer additional laxative or purgative agents, particularly additional sodium phosphate-based purgative or enema products.
There have been rare reports of serious arrhythmias associated with the use of ionic osmotic laxative products for bowel preparation. Use caution when prescribing Visicol for patients at increased risk of arrhythmias (e.g., patients with a history of prolonged QT, uncontrolled arrhythmias, recent myocardial infarction, unstable angina, congestive heart failure, or cardiomyopathy). QT prolongation with sodium phosphate tablets has been associated with electrolyte imbalances, such as hypokalemia and hypocalcemia. Visicol should be used with caution in patients who are taking medications known to prolong the QT interval, since serious complications may occur. Pre-dose and post-colonoscopy ECGs should be considered in patients at increased risk of serious cardiac arrhythmias.
There have been rare reports of generalized tonic-clonic seizures and/or loss of consciousness associated with use of sodium phosphate products in patients with no prior history of seizures. The seizure cases were associated with electrolyte abnormalities (e.g., hyponatremia, hypokalemia, hypocalcemia, and hypomagnesemia) and low serum osmolality. The neurologic abnormalities resolved with correction of fluid and electrolyte abnormalities. Visicol should be used with caution in patients with a history of seizures and in patients at higher risk of seizure [patients using concomitant medications that lower the seizure threshold (such as tricyclic antidepressants), patients withdrawing from alcohol or benzodiazepines, or patients with known or suspected hyponatremia].
If gastrointestinal obstruction or perforation is suspected, perform appropriate diagnostic studies to rule out these conditions before administering Visicol. Use with caution in patients with severe active ulcerative colitis.
Use with caution in patients with impaired gag reflex and patients prone to regurgitation or aspiration. Such patients should be observed during administration of Visicol.
Patients should be instructed to drink 8 ounces of clear liquids with each 3-tablet (or each 2-tablet) dose of Visicol. Patients should take a total of 3.6 quarts of clear liquids with Visicol. Inadequate fluid intake, as with any effective purgative, may lead to excessive fluid loss and hypovolemia. Dehydration from purgation may be exacerbated by inadequate oral fluid intake, vomiting, and/or the use of diuretics. Patients should not take additional laxatives or purgatives, particularly additional sodium phosphate-based products.
Patients with a history of swallowing difficulties or anatomic narrowing of the esophagus, such as a stricture, may have difficulty swallowing Visicol Tablets. Undigested or partially digested Visicol Tablets may be seen in the stool or during colonoscopy. In addition, undigested tablets from other medications may be seen in the stool or during colonoscopy.
Administration of osmotic laxative products may produce colonic mucosal aphthous ulcerations, and there have been reports of more serious cases of ischemic colitis requiring hospitalization. The potential for mucosal ulcerations resulting from the bowel preparation should be considered when interpreting colonoscopy findings in patients with known or suspected inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
Because published data suggests that sodium phosphate absorption may be enhanced in patient experiencing an acute exacerbation of chronic inflammatory bowel disease, Visicol Tablets should be used with caution in such patients.
Since Visicol Tablets were not studied in patients who recently had cardiac surgery (including coronary artery bypass graft surgery) Visicol should be used with caution in these patients.
Long-term studies in animals have not been performed to evaluate the carcinogenic potential of Visicol. Studies to evaluate the effect of Visicol on fertility or its mutagenic potential have not been performed to evaluate the carcinogenic potential or to evaluate the possible impairment of fertility or mutagenic potential of Visicol.
Category C. Animal reproduction studies have not been conducted with Visicol. It is also not known whether Visicol can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman, or can affect reproduction capacity. Visicol Tablets should be given to a pregnant woman only if clearly needed.
It is not known whether this drug is excreted in human milk. Because many drugs are excreted in human milk, caution should be exercised when Visicol is administered to a nursing woman.
Safety and effectiveness of Visicol Tablets in pediatric patients have not been established.
Of the 980 subjects/patients in the Visicol studies, 284 (29%) subjects/patients were 65 years of age or older. Of the 548 subjects/patients who received Visicol in these studies, 146 (27%) were 65 years of age or older and 42 (8%) subjects/patients were 75 years of age or older.
In two phase 3 Visicol trials (Study A and Study B), no overall differences in safety or effectiveness were observed between geriatric patients and younger patients. Greater sensitivity of some older individuals cannot be ruled out; therefore, Visicol Tablets should be used with caution in geriatric patients.
Sodium phosphate is known to be substantially excreted by the kidney, and the risk of adverse reactions with sodium phosphate may be greater in patients with impaired renal function. Since geriatric patients are more likely to have impaired renal function, consider performing baseline and post-colonoscopy labs (phosphate, calcium, potassium, sodium, creatinine, and BUN) in these patients (see WARNINGS).
There have been no reported cases of overdosage with Visicol Tablets. Purposeful or accidental ingestion of more than the recommended dosage of Visicol Tablets might be expected to lead to severe electrolyte disturbances, including hyperphosphatemia, hypocalcemia, hypernatremia, or hypokalemia, as well as dehydration and hypovolemia, with attendant signs and symptoms of these disturbances. Certain severe electrolyte disturbances may lead to cardiac arrhythmias, seizure, renal failure, and death. The patient who has taken an overdosage should be monitored carefully, and treated symptomatically for complications until stable.
Visicol Tablets, taken in two doses of 30 grams (the complete regimen contains a total of 60 grams of sodium phosphate) approximately twelve hours apart, induces diarrhea, which effectively cleanses the entire colon. Each administration has a purgative effect for approximately 1 to 3 hours. The primary mode of action is thought to be through osmotic action of sodium, causing large amounts of water to be drawn into the colon, promoting colon evacuation.
An open-label pharmacokinetic study of Visicol in healthy volunteers was performed to determine the concentration-time profile of serum inorganic phosphorus levels after Visicol administration. All subjects received a total of 60 grams of sodium phosphate with a total liquid volume of 3.6 quarts. Subjects received a 30 gram dose (20 tablets given as 3 tablets every 15 minutes with 8 ounces of clear liquids) beginning at 6 PM and then received a second 30 gram dose (20 tablets given as 3 tablets every 15 minutes with 8 ounces of clear liquids) the following morning beginning at 6 AM.
Twenty-three healthy subjects (mean age 57 years old; 57% male and 43% female; and 65% Hispanic, 30% Caucasian, and 4% African-American) participated in this pharmacokinetic study. The serum phosphorus level rose from a mean (± standard deviation) baseline of 4.0 (± 0.7) mg/dL to 7.7 (± 1.6 mg/dL), at a median of 3 hours after the administration of the first 30 gram dose of Visicol Tablets (see Figure 1).
The serum phosphorus level rose to a mean of 8.4 (± 1.9) mg/dL, at a median of 4 hours after the administration of the second 30 gram dose of Visicol Tablets. The serum phosphorus level remained above baseline for a median of 24 hours after the administration of the initial dose of Visicol Tablets (range 16 to 48 hours).
The upper (4.5 mg/dL) and lower (2.6 mg/dL) reference limits for serum phosphate are represented by solid bars.
Renal insufficiency: The effect of renal dysfunction on Visicol Tablets pharmacokinetics has not been studied. Since the inorganic form of phosphate in the circulating plasma is excreted almost entirely by the kidneys, patients with renal disease may have difficulty excreting a large phosphate load. Thus, Visicol Tablets should be used with caution in patients with impaired renal function (see WARNINGS).
Hepatic insufficiency: Visicol Tablets have not been investigated in patients with hepatic failure. Visicol is not expected to be metabolized in the liver.
Geriatric: In a single pharmacokinetic study of sodium phosphate tablets, which included 6 elderly volunteers, plasma half-life increased two-fold in subjects > 70 years of age compared to subjects < 50 years of age (3 subjects and 5 subjects, respectively).
Gender: No difference in serum phosphate AUC values were observed in the single pharmacokinetic study conducted with Visicol in 13 male and 10 female healthy volunteers.
A total of 957 adult patients were enrolled and treated in the controlled clinical trials of Visicol Tablets. Males and females were about equally represented. Approximately 87% of the study population was Caucasian. Visicol Tablets were found to be comparable in cleansing efficacy to the comparison drug, a commercially available polyethylene glycol-salt (PEG-salt solution) solution (Cherry Flavor NuLYTELY®). Two identical, single (investigator) blind, randomized, multicenter trials were conducted comparing the efficacy and safety of Visicol Tablets and the PEG-salt solution comparator as a colon cleansing agent in patients undergoing routine diagnostic colonoscopy. In each study, over 200 patients were randomized to self-administer the Visicol Tablets and over 200 were randomized to self-administer the PEG-salt solution comparator. Colonoscopy was generally performed within 5 hours of the second dose. Physicians used a four-point, validated Physician Questionnaire to assess efficacy. The distribution of “excellent”, “good”, “fair” and “inadequate”, as evaluated by the physician performing the colonoscopy, was comparable in both groups. Cleansing efficacy observed in these studies is described in Table 1.
† p values (Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel Test) were calculated for comparisons between Excellent and Good versus Fair versus Inadequate; Visicol Tablets and PEG-salt solution comparator.
The efficacy of overall colonic cleansing with the Visicol Tablets was comparable to the PEG-salt solution. In addition, the incidence of “Inadequate” colon cleansing ratings due to poor purgative preparation was similar between Visicol Tablets and the PEG-salt solution comparator. Also, cleansing efficacy in the ascending colon with Visicol Tablets was comparable to the PEG-salt solution.
Read this Medication Guide before you start taking VISICOL and each time you get a new prescription. There may be new information. This Medication Guide does not take the place of talking with your doctor about your medical condition or your treatment.
What is the most important information I should know about VISICOL?
Rare, but serious kidney problems can happen in people who take medicines made with sodium phosphate, including VISICOL, to clean the colon before colonoscopy. These kidney problems can sometimes lead to kidney failure or the need for dialysis for a long time. These problems often happen within a few days, but sometimes may happen several months after taking VISICOL.
take water pills or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS).
Your age may also affect your risk for having kidney problems with VISICOL.
take any medicines for blood pressure, heart disease or kidney disease.
People who take medicines that contain sodium phosphate can have severe loss of body fluid, with severe changes in body salts in the blood.
See “What are the possible side effects of VISICOL?” for more information about side effects.
VISICOL is a prescription medicine used in adults 18 years and older, to clean your colon before a colonoscopy. VISICOL cleans your colon by causing you to have diarrhea. Cleaning your colon helps your doctor see the inside of your colon more clearly during the colonoscopy.
It is not known if VISICOL is safe and works in children under age 18.
Who should not take VISICOL?
you are allergic to sodium phosphate salts or any of the ingredients in VISICOL. See the end of this Medication Guide for a list of ingredients in VISICOL.
What should I tell my doctor before taking VISICOL?
VISICOL may affect how other medicines work. Medicines taken by mouth may not be absorbed properly when taken within 1 hour before the start of VISICOL. Any medicine that you take close to the time that you take VISICOL may not work as well.
a laxative for constipation in the last 7 days. You should not take another medicine that contains sodium phosphate while you take VISICOL.
Know the medicines you take. Keep a list of your medicines to show your doctor or pharmacist when you get a new prescription.
How should I take VISICOL?
Take VISICOL exactly as prescribed by your doctor.
It is important for you to drink clear liquids before, during, and after taking VISICOL. This may help prevent kidney damage. Examples of clear liquids are water, flavored water, lemonade (no pulp), ginger ale or apple juice. Do not drink any liquids colored purple or red.
1. Take 3 VISICOL tablets with 8 ounces of clear liquids.
3. Take 3 more VISICOL tablets with 8 ounces of clear liquids.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 above four more times. Make sure you wait 15 minutes after each time.
5. When you take your last dose of VISICOL, the dose will be 2 tablets with 8 ounces of clear liquids.
Take 3 VISICOL tablets with 8 ounces of clear liquids.
Take 3 more VISICOL tablets with 8 ounces of clear liquids.
Repeat steps 2 and 3 above four more times. Make sure you wait 15 minutes after each time.
When you take your last dose of VISICOL, the dose will be 2 tablets with 8 ounces of clear liquids.
If you take too much VISICOL, call your doctor or get medical help right away.
What should I avoid while taking VISICOL?
You should not take other laxatives or enemas, made with sodium phosphate, while taking VISICOL.
You should not use VISICOL if you have already used it in the last 7 days.
What are the possible side effects of VISICOL?
These are not all the possible side effects of VISICOL. For more information, ask your doctor or pharmacist.
How do I store VISICOL?
Store VISICOL at room temperature, between 59° F to 86° F (15° C to 30° C).
Throw away any VISICOL that is not needed.
Keep VISICOL and all medicines out of the reach of children.
Medicines are sometimes prescribed for purposes other than those listed in a Medication Guide. Do not use VISICOL for a condition for which it was not prescribed. Do not give VISICOL to other people, even if they have the same symptoms that you have. It may harm them.
This Medication Guide summarizes the most important information about VISICOL. If you would like more information about VISICOL, talk with your doctor or pharmacist. You can ask your doctor or pharmacist for information that is written for healthcare professionals.
For more information, call 1-866-669-7597 (toll-free) or go to: www.Salix.com.
What are the ingredients in VISICOL? | 2019-04-23T05:58:18Z | https://www.rxlist.com/visicol-drug.htm |
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I know I am breaking my own routine by not writing about the Starburst Melodies CAL but about my Nuts about Roses. But on the one hand side I messed up square 11 of the Starburst Melodies and had to frog it already twice and on the other hand I just couldn’t stop with my Nuts.
The last square was Lise by probably one of my most favourite designers – Polly Plum. This one was so much fun as it was easy to make. Just the right square to finish of the square making. I love how in these squares my color choice really played well together.
I still have a lot of yarn left of my color B – the really bright pink – and some of color C – the green – but I already have a stashbuster project in mind. I just wait until I am sure that I really don’t need any of those for the border.
And then the joining started – it was the first time I ever joined squares together. The instructions called for a zipper join. I was happy about that because I like that neat look it creates. And it does not add too much to the already pretty busy blanket.
Halfway through – when checking the Facebook group – I found out that I started totally wrong. I was supposed to start joining the short rows first and then add the length to it. I started with the length and then had to struggle a little bit with the heaviness of the blanket. I was almost finished when I realized that I twisted two squares on the last row by accident. So some frogging and a break later, all squares where at least halfway joined.
Then the really tedious work began – the joining of the rows while balancing the whole blanket on my legs in a heat period going up to 36 degrees. What a hell but at least I now know that the finished blanket will be nice and warm. And I tested it already on my hubby and for his blanket I need to add at least one more row to it. I am already thinking on which squares I am going to pick as add-ons.
But now I have to wait for two weeks until the pattern for the border is released. I hope that until then the weather is a little bit cooler cause I am not looking forward working on my Nuts in heat again.
This week I have not been working a lot on my squares for my Nuts about Roses. But at the end my conscience kicked in and it kicked me really well. Maybe it also helped that I am actually close to finishing another big project. I present you the next two weeks even though I have almost finished two more. But one week is still on the blocking board and the last ones are still only half finished.
The next square I finished is the lovely Fall Blossom by designer Aurora Suominen This square is so beautiful, I fell in love with it right away. It creates so much texture with simple stitches – I really enjoyed every minute with it. I am getting used to adapting the size of the last rounds now though in order to come out with squares which are equally sized. I just wished I had known that much in week two already – when blocking that one, I had to stretch it quite much and I could have prevented that by just adapting the stitches of the last rounds. But as the saying goes: we grow with every error we make – and believe me, I have grown much with the Nuts CAL. Or I might have become a designer with all those “design elements” added 😜.
The next week brought a surprise – just two squares where on the list. But that’s actually okay for whoever is doing the math will surely see that 3 squares each week for 12 weeks would add up to 36 squares which would be hard to join in a rectangular blanket. We are actually doing 35 squares which will be joined to create a 5×7 blanket. The two squares where also not the same pattern but two different ones. The first one was the lovely Maroccan Window by Heather Gibbs. The second one the square Sweet and Fair by Julie Yeager. I actually am a little bit disappointed by the later one. It was nice and easy for sure – but I feel like it just does not fit in with the other squares as it lacks structure and depth. I will take a look at how it will fit in as soon as the final layout is out and might then consider a substitute. On the other hand my color C is running low so I might just have to live with it.
As I already hinted in my last post, I have been nominated for the Liebster Award. I have not heard about that award before but I am a newbie to the world of serious blogging, so I still have a lot to learn. It’s an award from bloggers for bloggers and was created so that people get to know new bloggers.
My nomination came from fellow blogger Tracy of It’s a T-Sweets day! and I want to thank her with all my heart. Every time I read her blog, I feel like she is a kindred spirit. She seems to have the same creative interests – quilting, crocheting, traveling, cooking, … And when I see the gorgeous quilting projects, she is creating at the moment, I feel the urge to pick up some fabric and start up my sewing machine again myself. But what I find most amazing about her are her crazy crafty ideas – like setting up a doomsday preparation bucket (would never have thought about that myself) or organizing buttons by using safety pins (so simple but so never came to my mind). She is such an inspiration!
Now the rules of the award state that I have to get personal. I am supposed to state 10 facts about myself so that you get to know me a little. Here we go!
I am married to the love of my life for almost 15 years now. We knew each other already at school but then I would “never ever date him” – a fact over which we laugh still from time to time.
We actually got married a long way from home – in Mombasa, Kenya. And we stuck to celebrating our anniversaries abroad since then as we share the same passion for travelling.
I love to learn and am a strictly defender of the life-long-learning movement. I love plattforms like Coursera and EDX where you have access to a lot of courses on university level for free.
In primary school I hated crafting class – I was a cocky little girl and thought that I knew better than my teacher voicing my opinion loudly. Therefore I was forced to stand in front of the class and tell my classmates how it’s done correctly as a punishment. As I actually didn’t know anything at all, it was quite a sobering, embarrassing experience.
I started to get interested in crafts again when meeting my aunt years later. It was mostly crocheting but also some cross stitching and knitting. We spent hours together chatting, drinking coffee (lots of it!) and working on our projects. When we had a serious falling out, it took me a long time to actually pick up a crochet hook again.
I am a book worm – I currently have over 1000 books at home (not counting ebooks) and have dedicated a whole room to them. It consists books on history (mainly Irish/Celtic), Wicca (I am a no longer practicing solitary), fantasy and sci-fi, classics, biology and psychotherapy (studied both but sadly never finished), management, requirements engineering and computer sciences (my daily business). I love my library!
I am a collect-o-holic – I collect patterns (currently over 400 on ravelry not to count the real printed one in books and journals at home), fabric (could make approximately 10 quilts right away without worrying) and yarn (2 projects on the go, another one waiting, a whole set of Catania colors for amigurumis and some really old yarn I recently found again).
My internet nickname is Silverwheel and has been choosen a long time ago. It is derived from Arianrhod, the Celtic goddess of the silver wheel, who is assoziated with the moon. I was always drawn to the moon and felt connected with the goddess right from the start. Might be because one other aspect of this moon goddess is called Brigidh – which is the origin of my real name.
Tracy is also curious about specific things and has provided the following questions to her nominees.
1.How did you get started quilting or sewing or crocheting?
I actually was forced to learn crocheting, knitting and sewing at school – girls where supposed to have crafting classes. I still envy the boys for learning to work with drilling machines and other “manly” machinery. I just never could get a hang on those. Quilting I taught myself 5 years ago – I stumbled over some beautiful projects in the internet, loved it at first sight and just tried it out.
2.If you could have one present, what would it be?
3.What is your favorite sewing tool?
4.What has been you favorite blog post?
Of my own – none, my babies are all equal 😉 I enjoyed writing every single one of them.
5.Who has been your inspiration?
Primarily my grandmother – she was always creating things. My memory is a little bit fuzzy on that cause I can’t remember any actual project, but I know she always had a crafty project with her on her visits. Other than that there are a lot of inspirational people on the net – Etty van Urk – the Cake Duchess – my cake modelling muse or Ester from It’s all in a Nutshell with her great youtube channel that makes crocheting really easy.
I love strawberries and anything strawberry related. As a kid I always wanted a strawberry cake for my birthday and was always disappointed as they are not ripe in March yet. I grow some on my balcony garden and even though they are still not ripe in March, I love picking them right from the greens like we did as kids. Pure bliss ….
I prepare my blog posts every Sunday – latest in the evening but mostly in the afternoon. I actually tried for some time to be ready earlier but I just never finish my projects in time ;). As a full time worker crafty joy has to be done in the evenings and on weekends only. Therefore I decided to publish regularly Monday morning my time zone (GMT+1).
A long long time ago when I was very little, my mother did sew and knit (she actually finished one of my school projects because I hated knitting so much). Sadly she became very sick and lost her creative drive during her illness.
9.What makes a perfectly SWEET day at your house?
Staying long in bed, having a nice breakfast on my balcony with my hubby and then settling down with some project watching our favorite series.
10.What advice would you give to future sewer/bloggers?
Start with what you love and never give up. If something does not work out – and believe me it will, no matter if it’s sewing or blogging – just shake it off and continue. Get inspired by other people’s blogs – not only for projects but also how they set up their blogs. But most of all: enjoy the journey!
Lovemade Handmade: Oh what lovely pictures you can find on that blog – not only are the projects gorgeous but you can learn a lot about professional photography there. I’m always a lazy daisy concerning pictures as I am always late for my weekly postings – but one day I want to have time to shoot such pics too….
The Messy Brunette: So many different projects here – from crochet to upcycling to embroidery. Creativity at it’s best!
My Crafty Musings: Crochet inspirations in every post – all lovely bright and colourful.
Catherine’s Crochet Corner: That blog is such an inspiration for me – not only for color choices but this ring binder cover idea went right on my must-really-have list of future projects. And everyone knows her gorgeous Demelza blanket, don’t you?
Susanblog: this blog is written by a – in my opinion – very strong and creative woman. Not loosing hope in her situation and still producing such great projects (check out her beautiful fusion quilt <3), shows a strong spirit.
For the guideline of the award check out this link here.
And here are my questions to you, my dear nominees – looking forward to reading your answers soon!
If you had only time for one more project – which one would you choose?
What craft would you love to learn but did not have had time to try?
Of all the projects you have ever created which on is your favorite?
Travelling is my passion – what passion other than crafting to you have?
You are stranded on a lonely island with only 5 items – which are your absolutely must haves you could not live without?
As a bookworm myself I have to ask – what’s the best book which everyone should have read?
What is the most important thing you would tell a newbie in your favorite craft?
How many UFOs are currently in your to do basket?
I am a little bit tired of creating endless numbers of squares for my current two CALs. Don’t get me wrong – I really love them and the challenges they bring up every week. However it’s kind of a perpetuum mobile – each week new squares, once done wait for the next and on and on and on …. This is why I needed some smaller in between projects. Projects which show a result pretty soon and make me feel like I achieved something right away.
I started out by testing the newest hype – Rico Creative Bubble. It’s a yarn that can be used to knit or crochet your own personal kitchen scrubby. When I found it in a local store, I just had to grab two balls to try it out. The color choices are terrible but I guess that’s accounted to the material: 100% polyester and thats exactly how it feels like. As you can see in the picture it has tiny little “hair” – those should lead to the scrubby effect. It definitely does it’s job but it is also terrible on your fingers when you are working with it. I did not buy the corresponding books as they contained just simple patters which just would not be worth the money. I thought I could just wing those anyway without a pattern.
I decided to give it a try with a simple round mandala design. Nothing fancy really but after several trials and errors it became clear pretty fast, why the books contained only simple patterns. You just can’t make anything other that looks at least a bit neat. I then decided just to wing a quick pattern that contains only single crochet and drop stitches. It looks okay but I surely will not work with that yarn ever again. And I would definitely never ever use it as a bath scrubby as the manufacturer actually suggests – I rather prefer natural products on my skin.
The second in-betweener was an idea that I had on my mind for quite some time now. I had bought a 9cm cross stitch hoop and wanted to create a mandala to hang in there. It should then become part of my craft room decoration. I have been searching the world wide web and ravelry to and fro, bookmarking 1 million new project ideas, but never finding anything that fitted 9cm. I fell in love with the pattern Rhiannon by Grace Fearon however and I thought I might give it a try using crochet thread. And guess what – it fits perfectly! I messed up with crocheting around the hoop on the last round a little and it ended a bit too loose. So I had to become creative in tightening them up. It’s not perfect but I love it nevertheless.
Did you know that there actually exists a youtube playlist for the Stardust Melodies CAL? Each square is designed around a peace of music and it’s really fun to listen to it while crocheting along.
The second square was fun to make as it creates a lot of texture with simple stitches. It’s called Fools Rush In and it is well named – I did rush in, messed up in the beginning and had a hard time figuring out where I went wrong. I had quite a laugh afterwards about that.
The third square is called Don’t Fence Me In – a nice and easy pattern that will actually make a great square in between some busier squares. I am now trying to take the complexity of the pattern into account when choosing the colour of the square. I have settled on a colour layout right in the beginning and now need to fill in the appropriate squares when the pattern is released. As you can see in the picture the square fits well next to the Fools Rush In but lacks next to Begin the Beguine.
The CAL continued with a square called I’m Beginning To See The Light. Now if you need to practice bobbles you should try this square. But it’s fun to see the square in the square growing in the process. It’s a little bit wobbly and needs blocking but I just store it on my blocking board for the moment until I am sure that each square ends up the same size. Until now it works fine but my experience with blocking the Nuts about Squares CAL has shown me not to get to cocky. One square might just make me reconsider the size I thought would be appropriate. Even though that means that I will have a lot of squares to block before being able to crochet them together. | 2019-04-23T04:14:20Z | https://silverwheelcreativityunleashed.wordpress.com/2017/06/ |
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Can you own a great investment property that you’re renting out, and you’re currently handling every one of the chores being a landlord yourself?
Are you currently thinking of buying rental properties, but you’re uncertain if you’re up for the task for being a landlord?
When you answered yes to either of the questions, if you are keeping or considering choosing a single-family rental (SFR), duplex, or triplex, consider engaging a specialist property management firm to accept work off the shoulders.
Let’s take a look at what property management is, what Simarc handles, and ways to decide not just if it’s time and energy to hire one but also the best way to hire the best property management firm.
Let’s start off with getting a preliminary understanding of the items a home management firm does and doesn’t do. There are numerous critical tasks a property manager will help you with.
Setting the best rental rate: You can ballpark this by looking throughout the classifieds, but a great property management company actually conducts thorough market studies to set a rental price for your property. As a result sure you will have a great balance between maximizing your monthly income and keeping a low vacancy rate.
Collecting the rent: One of the most difficult facets of as a landlord is collecting the rent. Property management firms have efficient, tried-and-true systems that will do a fantastic job of collecting the rent and maintaining on-time payments.
Marketing techniques your rental unit: When vacancies occur, you want the rental unit occupied as fast as possible. A professional property management firm has experience that can help it promote your property in just the pace way to make certain someone moves in quickly.
Finding and managing tenants: The property management firm can take the job away from finding and managing tenants for you. This simply means screening new tenants for criminal and credit checks, collecting references, and having the lease signed. As soon as the house is occupied, handling routine and emergency maintenance and inspections are element of such a professional management company will work to suit your needs.
Managing relationships with contractors and also other vendors: Do you have deep-seated relationships with all of the maintenance workers, tradesmen, contractors, suppliers, and vendors necessary to properly manage your rental? Probably not. But a house management firm does and can get you the most effective work for the very best price, while handling the responsibility of overseeing necessary maintenance projects for yourself.
Keeping you in compliance using the laws Housing regulations and property laws are complicated and confusing when you’re renting and maintaining your rental property. These may include local, state, and federal regulations, together with fair housing regulations just like the Americans with Disabilities Act. A property manager are able to keep you of hot water by keeping your property up-to-date and also in compliance with all of these regulations.
If just reading through all the tasks that the property manager are equipped for to suit your needs isn’t convincing enough, consider this: do you wish to have the ability to go on vacation without interruption? Do you really enjoy phone calls about supported plumbing at 3:30 each morning?
Odds are, you desire the freedom to leave town for vacation or maybe have uninterrupted time with family to the holidays. You don’t relish the job of coping with emergency maintenance 80devfpky in the middle of the evening, and you probably dread thinking about looking for a good tenant whenever your existing ones move out.
Although you may have only a single investment property that you’re renting out, it is possible to benefit strongly from getting a property management service. They have decades of expertise that you’d be hard-pressed to match yourself, and might be sure that your property is maintained impeccably while still maximizing your profit.
Okay, I’m convinced, but just how do i know who to use?
The best way to learn about quality management companies will depend on the knowledge of others. When you are local for your rental property, attend your regional real estate investment association meetings to obtain recommendations using their company landlords.
You need to make sure you see how many units the organization is managing, and how many employees they may have doing the project. A trained employee using the right tools and proven processes can successfully manage between 30 and 40 units, so long as they’re not also playing accountant. | 2019-04-24T10:19:39Z | http://www.prokarttour.com/page/228/ |
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With its vision of forming responsible, competent and committed individuals who will participate meaningfully in social transformation, Lipa City Colleges (LCC) supports employees, teaching and non-teaching, in their technical and non-technical learning needs and holistic development. LCC is committed to develop, nourish and support its faculty, staff and administrators, for their competency (knowledge, skills and attitude) requirement and advancement in their discipline.
In close coordination with the superiors and heads, the college, through its Human Resources Department, the Office of the Director for Academic Affairs, and with the approval of the Office of the Vice President for Administration & Corporate Affairs and Vice President for Finance & Internal Affairs, provides appropriate and relevant educational, professional, physical, socio-cultural and spiritual programs to LCC faculty, staff and administration.
This program is only one of LCC's continuing efforts that seek to ensure the effectiveness of its educational pursuit not only to the students but to the other members of the LCC Community. The Employee Learning and Development Program, along with these efforts, is anchored on the profound commitment of forming leaders by offering quality education and services who will bring change, transformation and difference in the community and the society.
4. Initiatives, efforts and learning programs that add value not only to the individual but also to the organization as a whole, moreso to the community it serves.
Institutional and departmental programs intended for learning and development are results of combined inputs from faculty survey results, interviews, meetings, felt need assessment, environmental scanning, organization diagnosis, strategic planning and management direction. It also includes recommendation of immediate superior based on the performance review for competency assessment and identification.
The program consists of five areas: Educational, Professional (Technical), Physical (Wellness Program), Socio-cultural and Spiritual development.
Developing high potential employees, teaching and non-teaching, and building a pipeline of strong leaders promoting quality education is a top priority of Lipa City Colleges. LCC management gives importance for the excellent performance and loyalty of its employees. Thus, a scholarship grant may be provided to pursue further studies that are related to the employee's field of specialization. Through the recommendation of immediate superior, request for scholarship grant may be given consideration. To facilitate an employee's participation in professional development activities, the department head and the Human Resource Department may approve: flexible work options such as alternate work schedules; a period of paid or unpaid leave or partial or full payment or reimbursement of training expenses.
The institution's objective is to continuously enhance the quality of output in teaching and research that has led it to rethink the ways in which faculty are supported and evaluated. LCC strives to provide with a supportive professional environment, programs, resources, services, and incentives needed to carry out these responsibilities that will enable to focus on excellence.
Support for Graduate Studies. LCC encourages career development that allows an employee to pursue further studies at his own expense provided that it will not be in conflict with his/her schedule. Prior to the acceptance of the employee to top rate universities, he or she must secure approval from his immediate superior, the HR/Academic Affairs and Admin.
Study Grant and Scholarship for Graduate Studies. LCC management provides scholarship grants to selected faculty and non-teaching employees to pursue further studies that are related to the employee's field of specialization. Through the recommendation of immediate superior, request for scholarship grant may be given consideration by the management.
Diploma and Certificate Courses. For special training program such as external diploma and certificate courses, an employee will be required to enter into a training agreement, which may stipulate a minimum term of employment with the Institution.
Tuition Fee Discount for Graduate Studies. LCC employees may avail tuition fee discount for graduate studies program of the institution. HRD yearly informs the community of the existing tuition fee discount privilege and policy if the faculty or staff opts to study at the institution.
Study Leave for Thesis Dissertation and Comprehensive Exam. Two (2) days study time leave with pay is granted to employees for part-time studies two (2) days before comprehensive examination both in oral and written and thesis defense.
Lipa City Colleges provides assistance and support to employees to increase the effectiveness of their performance in their present roles and functions as well as to encourage employees to obtain skills, knowledge, and abilities, which may improve their opportunities for career advancement within the institution. This program stems from the view that professional development and continuous learning is necessary to maintain the quality of the faculty and non-teaching staff and their continued readiness and ability to contribute effectively to the mission and goals of the school.
Professional development is a responsibility of the employee; however, the employee and his superior should jointly discuss the employee's professional development goals. To participate in a professional development program, the employee will make a development interest known to the superior. Based on the discussions of professional development goals, they will initiate the request to participate in a relevant program(s). The HRD, through the Training Officer, and Academic Affairs, when appropriate, shall review the employee's proposal. This has to be discussed with the VP for Admin and Corporate Affairs to determine the feasibility of the request, and if support and assistance can be provided to the employee development in their budgetary planning, and assure that performance appraisals of employees include educational and development objectives, when appropriate.
The supervisor and department head are encouraged to maintain an environment, which facilitates employee professional development, and to consider future staffing requirements and the professional development needs of employees who may be able to fill these future positions. The Human Resources Department assesses campus wide development needs and, based on availability of resources, organized appropriate development programs.
Support for Institutional Research Activities. Efforts to enrich research capabilities have been the priority of the college. Research and Development, has set the framework for our research program and from there LCC has been continuously developing its research culture. New incentive scheme for teaching and non-teaching employee researchers has been placed to encourage more involvement in research activities that can benefit the institution and the community.
Support for Participation in Local Conferences and Convention. To upgrade the knowledge and skills of employee members in their area of discipline, LCC provide opportunities for employee members to network with other academicians and industry practitioners.
Sharing of Learning and Training Materials.. Attendees in the training are required to cascade and share the newly acquired knowledge/learning to co-employees and/or students upon return (not later than 1 month or as scheduled) from any institution-sponsored training. This can be done through departmental re-echoing programs, learning sessions, coffee talks and institution wide programs.
LCC employee socio-cultural development involves acquiring an understanding of the responsibilities and privileges of being members of LCC family and communities (local, national and global), and an ability to relate to others and to work with others for the common good. As faculty, staff and leaders, they must display a sense of belongingness and an increasing willingness to participate. They develop the knowledge, skills, understanding, qualities and attitudes they need to make an active contribution to the development of their teams, departments, the institution and the communities outside.
Socio-cultural development also includes understanding of cultural traditions (of the school and of the Filipinos) and an ability to appreciate and respond to a variety of aesthetic experiences. They acquire a respect for our own culture as LCCian and that of others, an interest in others' ways of doing things and curiosity about differences. Part of which is the institution's dedication to develop social consciousness through community extension projects. Through the faculty and staff involvement, LCC has always made it a point to reach out to the small communities within the region and even outside. They develop the knowledge, skills, understanding, qualities and attitudes they need to understand, appreciate and contribute to culture building.
Socio-cultural development is also grounded on the core values of the Institution – leadership, competence and commitment. As a value-driven institution, employees are expected to understand and act based on what is morally and ethically upright. They should know the difference between right and wrong, the ethical code of their profession, express a concern for others and the will to do what is right (integrity). They develop the knowledge, skills, qualities and attitudes they need in order to make responsible moral decisions and act on them.
NEO: New Employee On-Board. LCC provides a program for early employee engagement. Learning the vision, mission and core values of the institution is a requirement to align the actions of the individual to the goals of the institution. The Orientation Program is designed to support new faculty members in becoming accustomed institutional culture in particular and to life at LCC.
Collaboration, socialization and employee engagement activities. Cross-departmental collaboration and integration are vital to sustainability employee engagement. LCC offers resources, opportunities and capacity to get its people involved by forming committees for the schools activities and programs.
Coffee Talks.. As the 'heart and soul' of the institution, listening to and involving the faculty and staff, can bring new and important perspectives critical to the institution's success. In the event of significant operational changes, employees will expect timely consultation to minimize the adverse impacts on them and the student they serve.
Recognition of Excellence.. LCC also recognizes exemplary performance of its members who consistently excel in their positions and demonstrate integrity and a strong commitment to the mission and values of the college. Recipients exceed the expectations of their functions, and have made important and significant contributions in their area furthering the vision and mission of the college.
Corporate Social Responsibility through Community Projects.. Community involvement is one of the three functions of a college. That is why, LCC continuously raise the level of awareness and involvement of students and the whole LCC community, including the teachers, staff and administration in socio-civic activities such as tree-planting, anti-smoking and anti-pollution drives, and donation drives for calamity victims in different parts of the country through our Community Extension Programs.
Healthy, engaged teachers and staff are essential supports for student learning. Employee wellness program contribute to an overall healthy school environment and climate, affecting all members of the school community—students, faculty and other staff, and families—as well as all other aspects of the health of the wider school community. Health promotion and wellness programs for staff encourage all adults in the school to pursue healthy lifestyles. A healthy lifestyle includes physical, social, emotional and mental health.
LCC Wellness Program is defined as opportunities for school members to improve their health status through activities such as health assessments, health education and health related fitness activities. These opportunities encourage school staff to pursue a healthy lifestyle that contributes to improved health status, improved morale, and a greater personal commitment to the school's overall coordinated health program. This personal commitment often transfers into greater commitment to the health of students and creates positive role modeling.
Moreover, better overall health for the adults in school improves morale. Districts with formal staff wellness programs experience savings in health care costs; higher daily attendance by staff; increased staff loyalty, job satisfaction, morale and retention; and improved general health and well-being. Site-based staff wellness programs are health promoting and preventive efforts that work. Workplaces that feature programs and activities that promote workers' health are more attractive to prospective employees, present a positive community image, and experience increased productivity.
This section presents programs, practices implementation strategies and resources for employee wellness.
Promotion of Wellness and Healthy Lifestyle. The HRD together with other service groups, Health Services, Culture and Sports, and Guidance and Counseling disseminates information, build awareness, provide health education, and support health-promoting activities that focus on skill development and lifestyle behavior change for teaching and non-teaching members.
Access to sports facilities.. LCC allows the employees to use the school facilities and venue such as the gymnasium and swimming pool (Learn to Swim Program for Employees) after school or on a particular schedule. This is to engage employees to exercise and play individual and team sports such as volleyball, basketball, swimming and badminton.
Safe social and working environments.. Social and physical environments are safe and environment friendly, supported by institution expectations of healthy behaviors and implementation of policies that promote health and safety and reduce the risk of disease and hazard.
Culture Integration.. Wellness program is integrated into school's culture and structure. This is supported by learning sessions, coffee talks and small group discussions such as personality development and effective stress management techniques facilitated by the HR and Guidance and Counseling departments to ensure a positive well-being. Working beyond scheduled hours is also discouraged to help employees balance work and family life.
Linkage with health and medical benefits.. Employee wellness is also linked to related programs such as health assistance benefit and enrollment to Health Maintenance Organization (HMO).
Fit to work. The school offers worksite screening programs linked to medical care to ensure follow up and appropriate treatment, as necessary.
Evaluation and improvement. LCC conducts ongoing evaluation to inform the improvement of the staff wellness program's effectiveness and efficiency.
Employees' spiritual development involves the growth of their sense of self, their unique potential, their understanding of their strengths and weaknesses, and their will to achieve. As their curiosity about themselves and their place in the world increases, they try to answer for themselves some of life's fundamental questions. They develop the knowledge, skills, understanding, qualities and attitudes they need to foster their own inner lives and non-material well-being.
This section presents programs, practices implementation strategies and resources for spiritual development.
The House of Prayer. The chapel, a simple venue, to observe moments of silence and oneness with the creator is built to enrich the spiritual well-being of employees.
Celebration of Faith.. As part of the Filipino culture, our strong belief on our Creator is embedded on our values system. Catholic teachings are incorporated in the major activities and regular programs of school through the Eucharistic celebration. Nevertheless, LCC recognizes diversity in religious beliefs and practices. Declared days of prayer and faith for other religion like Muslims and Inglesia ni Cristo are also observed.
Black Rosary.. Though LCC is a non-sectarian school, Lipenos as truly Marian devotees observe the month of October as the Rosary month.
Regaining strength through retreat and church visit.. The community recognizes the need to enrich one soul to regain strength loss because of the daily challenges. Pausing to pray, attend recollection and retreat is being supported by the college.
One of the common reasons for evaluating learning and development programs is to determine the effectiveness of training programs for future improvement in analysis, development, design and implementation. Evaluation help us learn from experience of past training programs. This also helps determine if the program is suited for the participants' needs. | 2019-04-19T00:57:30Z | http://lipacitycolleges.edu.ph/newsite/show_employeelearning.php |
Dengue shock syndrome (DSS) fluid resuscitation by following the World Health Organization (WHO) guideline usually required large volumes of Ringer lactate (RL) that might induce secondary fluid overload. Our objective was to compare the effectiveness of the recommended volume of RL versus a smaller volume of a hypertonic sodium lactate solution (HSL) in children with DSS. The primary end point was to evaluate the effect of HSL on endothelial cell inflammation, assessed by soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (sVCAM-1) measurements. Secondarily, we considered the effectiveness of HSL in restoring hemodynamic fluid balance, acid-base status, and sodium and chloride balances, as well as in-hospital survival.
A prospective randomized single-blind clinical trial including 50 DSS children was conducted in the Pediatrics Department of Hasan Sadikin Hospital, Bandung, Indonesia. Only pediatric patients (2 to 14 years old) fulfilling the WHO criteria for DSS and new to resuscitation treatments were eligible. Patients were resuscitated with either HSL (5 ml/kg/BW in 15 minutes followed by 1 ml/kg/BW/h for 12 hours), or RL (20 ml/kg/BW in 15 minutes followed by decreasing doses of 10, 7, 5, and 3 ml/kg BW/h for 12 hours).
In total, 50 patients were randomized and included in outcome and adverse-event analysis; 46 patients (8.2 ± 0.5 years; 24.9 ± 1.9 kg; mean ± SEM) completed the protocol and were fully analyzed (24 and 22 subjects in the HSL and RL groups, respectively). Baseline (prebolus) data were similar in both groups. Hemodynamic recovery, plasma expansion, clinical outcome, and survival rate were not significantly different in the two groups, whereas fluid accumulation was one third lower in the HSL than in the RL group. Moreover, HSL was responsible for a partial recovery from endothelial dysfunction, as indicated by the significant decrease in sVCAM-1.
Similar hemodynamic shock recovery and plasma expansion were achieved in both groups despite much lower fluid intake and fluid accumulation in the HSL group.
ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00966628. Registered 26 August 2009.
Dengue is the most frequent mosquito-borne viral infection among human beings, with more than 50 million new infections being projected annually . Although it resolves spontaneously in most cases, dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) and dengue shock syndrome (DSS) are among the leading causes of pediatric hospitalization. Mortality rates from 1% to 5% are frequently reported for DHF/DSS from centers experienced in fluid resuscitation, but rates up to 44% have occasionally been reported in cases of established shock .
The major pathophysiologic abnormality responsible for DHF/DSS is an acute increase in vascular permeability, leading to plasma leakage from the vascular to the extravascular compartment -, which results in hypovolemia (biologically characterized by an hemoconcentration), responsible for a moderate to severe shock. It has been suggested that the dengue virus induces a swelling of endothelial cells , which may damage the tight-junction complexes, thus increasing vascular permeability. Usually, the capillary leakage resolves spontaneously by the sixth day of illness and is rapidly followed by full recovery. Microvascular permeability is intrinsically higher among children than in adults, which may explain why children are more prone than adults to DSS ,.
Endothelial cell inflammation is responsible for a high expression of VCAM-1 at the cell surface, leading to an increase in circulating sVCAM-1. It has been proposed that circulating sVCAM-1 levels may reflect the severity of the disease ,. Therefore, from a theoretic point of view, the optimal treatment of DSS should address both the cause (endothelial dysfunction) and its consequence (hypovolemia).
Three controlled randomized double-blind trials comparing different resuscitation fluids in children with DHF/DSS failed to demonstrate any benefit of a particular fluid -. Comparing four fluids (Ringer lactate, NaCl 0.9%, dextran 70, and 3% gelatin), Dung et al. did not find any difference in terms of administered volume and shock resolution. The same result was obtained in a comparable study with a larger population . However, it was noted that the early administration of colloids to the most severely affected subgroup of patients was beneficial . A randomized double-blind trial comparing three fluids (Ringer lactate, 6% dextran 70, 6% hydroxyethyl starch) for initial resuscitation of children with DSS established that isotonic crystalloids (RL) were as effective as colloids for initial resuscitation of children with moderate shock . Consequently, the WHO recommends that patients with DSS should benefit from an immediate volume replacement with isotonic crystalloid solutions, followed by the use of plasma or colloid solutions for profound or continuing shock .
Totilac is a hypertonic lactate-based solution (see Table 1). It has been shown to be able to restore hemodynamic status and improve cardiac performance ,. Moreover, as compared with other hypertonic crystalloid-based solutions, lactate can be used as an energy substrate by various tissues . Finally, the hypertonic lactate-based solution has been shown to be effective in treating intracranial hypertension after traumatic brain injury, with a significantly more-pronounced effect than that of an equivalent osmotic load of mannitol, suggesting that sodium lactate may have an antiedema effect per se.
Based on this double property (intravenous fluid and antiedema effect), the present prospective randomized study was designed to compare the efficacy and safety of Totilac with RL for resuscitation of DHF/DSS children. Our hypothesis was that sodium lactate could improve endothelial cell function and decrease capillary leakage, thus minimizing fluid overload.
Fifty children with severe DSS were enrolled in this prospective, randomized, single-blind study (see Figure 1), conducted in the Pediatrics Department of Hasan Sadikin Hospital, Bandung, Indonesia, between May 2008 and April 2009. Patients were randomly assigned to RL or hypertonic sodium lactate solution (HSL) groups. Randomization was performed independently by using a table of random numbers and balanced blocks of four, with sealed opaque envelopes sequentially numbered. The enrollment of patients was performed by the pediatrician, and the assignment to intervention, by the study coordinator.
The Ethics Committee of Hasan Sadikin Hospital had approved this protocol before the study. Informed consent had also been obtained from the patients' relatives.
The intervention period ran for the first 12 hours of treatment and was followed by a 12-hour observation period (see Figure 2) extended to 48 hours for sVCAM-1 measurement. The outcome, complications, adverse events, and concomitant treatments were recorded throughout the entire hospital stay until discharge. Only pediatric patients (2 to 14 years old) fulfilling the WHO criteria for DSS and new to resuscitation treatment were eligible. Based on anamnesis, physical examination, and/or laboratory tests, patients with another viral or bacterial infection, severe renal failure (creatinine >180 μM - because of the high amount of sodium infused), chronic diarrhea (because it may influence urine output), liver failure (SGOT and SGPT >20 times normal), severe malnutrition and diabetes mellitus (because they may change lactate metabolism), and hematologic disorders (because hemostasis was one studied parameter) were excluded.
According to the randomization, eligible patients received an initial bolus infusion of either HSL (5 ml/kg BW) or RL (20 ml/kg BW) for 15 minutes (Figure 2). If they did not recover from the shock rapidly with the first bolus, a second loading infusion with the same solution at the same dosage was infused once again. If the second treatment failed with a persistent shock, patients received hydroxyl-ethyl starch (HES, 130/0.40) infusion (20 ml/kg BW in 15 to 30 minutes) with a maximum dose of 50 ml/kg BW in 24 hours. Note that the WHO recommends colloid solutions for profound or continuing shocks, whereas HES administration was in routine practice, and concern about its safety was not reported before this study started.
If the shock was reversed, patients received a maintenance dose of the studied solution for 12 hours: 1 ml/kg BW/h of HSL, or decreasing doses of 10, 7, 5, and 3 ml/kg BW/h of RL, based on patients' hemodynamic conditions (heart rate, systolic blood pressure, urine output), which corresponds to the standard protocol of DSS management in Hasan Sadikin Hospital according to the WHO recommendations. If the shock recurred within the first 12 hours, the studied solution was infused once again, as in the initial shock management. After the 12th hour (that is, during the follow-up period), both groups received 3 ml/kg BW/h RL according to the WHO recommendations. If the shock recurred during the follow-up period, the standard protocol of DSS management according to the WHO recommendations was applied (RL infusion with HES administration if necessary).
As markers of hemodynamic status and tissue oxygenation, blood pressure, heart and respiratory rates, Glasgow Coma Scale score (GCS), body temperature, and urine output were monitored before (T0) and after 15 and then 30 minutes, every hour until the hour 6, and then 9, 12, 18, and 24 hours after fluid administration.
Fluid infusion and output were measured and documented. Laboratory blood/plasma parameters including hemoglobin, hematocrit, thrombocyte and leukocyte counts, electrolytes (sodium, potassium, chloride), plasma osmolality, lactate, glucose, albumin, total protein concentrations, SGOT, SGPT, creatinine, venous gas analysis, prothrombin (PT), activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT), fibrinogen levels, and D-dimer were determined after 0, 6, 12, and 24 hours. sVCAM-1 values were measured after 0, 24, and 48 hours with the ELISA method (R&D Systems, Human sVCAM-1/CD106 Quantikine ELISA Kit, catalog number DVC00). Any adverse events or serious adverse events that occurred during the study period were recorded and reported for all included patients. All concomitant medications and their complement, including dosages, were also documented.
The primary end point was the effectiveness of HSL to decrease endothelial cell inflammation assessed by sVCAM-1 measurements during the first 48 hours of DSS. Secondary end points considered the effectiveness of HSL to restore hemodynamic and tissue-oxygenation parameters, fluid balance, acid-base status, sodium and chloride balances, as well as in-hospital survival.
G*Power3.1 was used to calculate the sample size for a five-repeated-measure ANOVA with an alpha error of 0.05, a power of 80%, a correlation among repeated measures of 0.3, and an effect size of 0.3. The theoretical sample size was n = 21 in each group. We chose to include 25 subjects per group.
Unless otherwise indicated, data are expressed as mean ± SEM. Qualitative variables were analyzed by using the Fisher Exact test (Table 2). The effect of DSS treatment over time was analyzed with ANOVA for repeated measures, indicating the significance of the different treatments (treatment effect) and evolution (time effect) (Table 3). Data exhibiting non-normal distribution were analyzed with nonparametric unpaired (Mann-Whitney) or paired (Wilcoxon) tests, as indicated in the legends.
The 50 enrolled and randomized patients were included in outcome and adverse-event analysis (intent-to-treat analysis). Forty-six patients completed the protocol and were fully analyzed (24 and 22 subjects in the HSL and RL groups, respectively) whereas four patients were excluded: three for incomplete data collection and one for withdrawal of consent. As shown in Table 2, because of randomization, the two groups were not different before treatment in terms of nutritional status, severity of disease, or baseline parameters.
Repeated measures ANOVA between HSL and RL: P treatment, effect of treatment; P time, effect of time; P interaction, interaction between treatment and time.
As shown in Table 3, no statistical difference was found in the success rate of a single bolus infusion (P > 0.99) or in shock recurrence within the first 12 hours (P = 0.14). The needs of HES administration for initial shock treatment or shock recurrence within the first 12 hours were not different (P = 0.30 and P = 0.48 for initial and recurrent shock, respectively). However, HES infusion was more frequently used during the follow-up period (T12 to T24) in the HSL group (5 versus 0), leading to a significantly more frequent total HES administration (intervention and follow-up periods) in the HSL group (10 versus 1, P = 0.005).
No difference was noticed regarding the outcome. The full recovery rate was similar in the two groups (P = 0.70). Two patients in each group left the hospital on hospital discharge against medical advice after the intervention period. One versus three people died in the HSL and RL groups, respectively (P = 0.60). All four died because of irreversible/terminal shock and multiorgan failures with disseminated intravascular coagulation.
Concomitant therapies did not significantly differ between the two groups (Table 3). However, it could be underlined that, due to the occurrence of hematologic disorder, blood products (that is, thrombocytes, cryoprecipitate, and fresh frozen plasma) were required for 0ne and five patients in the HSL and RL groups, respectively (P = 0.09, Fisher Exact test), corresponding to two and nine blood products in the HSL and RL groups, respectively. Note that the frequency of use of colloids (HES + fresh frozen plasma) was not significantly different in the two groups.
As shown in Figure 3, systolic blood pressure had improved very significantly at the end of the bolus infusion (P < 0.0001) in both groups. This improvement persisted through the intervention and follow-up periods in both groups, with no difference between the two groups (P = 0.90). Hematocrit decreased significantly (P < 0.0001) in both groups, with no interaction between time and groups. Note that no patient received red cell packs. The urinary output rate (not shown) increased immediately after the beginning of fluid administration (P < 0.0001), with a more-pronounced effect in the RL group (P = 0.007).
Effect of treatments on systolic blood pressure and hematocrit. Open circles, RL; solid circles, HSL.
According to the protocol, patients in the RL group received much more fluid than those in the HSL group. The difference increased with time during the intervention period, reaching a four- to fivefold higher intake in the RL group than in the HSL group after 12 hours (115.9 ± 3.8 versus 26.2 ± 2.9 ml/kg/12 h, for RL and HSL, respectively, P < 0.0001). During the follow-up period, changes in fluid intake were parallel, as both groups then received the same treatment. Cumulative urine output was slightly but significantly (P = 0.018) higher in the RL group. However, as shown in Figure 4, the difference in fluid balance between the two groups was significant (P < 0.0001). The RL group accumulated 107 ± 7 ml/kg/24 h, whereas the HSL group accumulated only 35 ± 10 ml/kg/24 h. Note that Figure 4 takes into account all the fluids infused (crystalloids, HES, and concomitant therapies, including fresh frozen plasma). Interestingly, at the end of the intervention period (H12), when the initial shock had already been successfully treated for a couple of hours in the two groups, the fluid balance did not differ from zero in the HSL group (-0.2 ± 0.2 ml/kg/12 h; P = 0.95), whereas it was positive in the RL group (+75.9 ± 6.0 ml/kg/12 h; P < 0.0001). In other words, the fluid balance became positive in the HSL group only after these patients had been shifted from HSL to RL.
Effect of treatments on fluid balance. Open circles, RL; solid circles, HSL.
The main biologic parameters are shown in Table 4, before intervention, at hours 6, 12 (end of intervention), and 24 (end of follow-up period). Venous blood pH increased with both treatments during the intervention period, with a higher increase in the HSL than in the RL group. Increase in bicarbonate also was greater in the HSL group. No difference between the two treatments was found on plasma sodium concentration. Plasma potassium concentration decreased over time in both groups, with a larger decrease in the HSL group. Interestingly, plasma chloride concentration significantly decreased between T0 and T12 in the HSL group and then increased during the follow-up period, whereas it continuously increased in the RL group. Although the amount of infused lactate was quite substantial in the HSL group, blood lactate concentration did not increase in either the HSL or the RL group. We found no difference between the two groups for plasma osmolality, blood glucose concentration, creatinine, albumin, total protein, or transaminases.
As regards hemostasis, the treatments did not affect PT or aPTT, while they both brought down fibrinogen. As seen in Figure 5, D-dimer did not significantly change (P = 0.7701) after 24 hours in the RL group, whereas it decreased in the HSL group (P = 0.0468), the difference between the two groups at the 24th hour remaining insignificant, however (P = 0.2117). sVCAM-1 did not change in the RL group after 48 hours (P = 0.7089), whereas it significantly and continuously decreased in the HSL group (P = 0.0013 between T0 and T24, P = 0.0116 between T24 and T48, P < 0.0001 between T0 and T48), with a significant difference between the two groups at the 48th hour (P = 0.0024).
Effect of treatments on homeostasis (D-dimer) and endothelial cell dysfunction (sVCAM-1). Open bars, RL; solid bars, HSL. Comparisons were performed by using Wilcoxon tests for paired data (effect of time) and Mann-Whitney tests for unpaired data (difference between the two groups).
As seen in Figure 6, cumulative sodium load was positive in both groups at any time and significantly higher in the RL than in the HSL group at T6 (P = 0.0027) and T12 (P = 0.0029). Indeed, despite a lower sodium concentration in RL than in HSL (Table 1), the more-substantial fluid infusion required led to a superior sodium load in the RL group.
Effect of treatments on sodium and chloride balance. Open bars, RL; solid bars, HSL. Comparisons were performed by using Mann-Whitney tests.
Chloride cumulative balance significantly increased during the intervention (P = 0.0006) and the follow-up period (P = 0.0019) in the RL group. On the contrary, it significantly decreased (P = 0.0051) during the intervention period in the HSL group. During the follow-up period (that is, when RL was infused in both groups), the chloride cumulative balance became positive in the HSL group (P < 0.0001), but remained significantly lower than in the RL group (P < 0.0001).
It is well acknowledged that the dengue virus can lead to endothelial cell dysfunction responsible for capillary leakage with fluid extravasation from intravascular bed toward interstitial space. This leads to a severe hypovolemic shock in the absence of relevant fluid loss such as vomiting or diarrhea. In the present study, the recovery of such a severe hypovolemic shock without (first 12 hours) or with minimal (24 hours) net expansion of body fluids in the HSL group (see Figure 4) strongly suggests that HSL treatment favored a decrease of capillary leakage, allowing interstitial fluid to reintegrate the vascular bed.
To the best of our knowledge, all the treatments applied to DSS are symptomatic as regards shock or hemorrhagic disorder correction, and etiopathogenic treatments aiming at limiting the inflammatory response or virus invasion are reputed to be unsuccessful. The fact that sVCAM-1 decreased in patients receiving HSL suggests that this treatment might have improved the endothelial cell function.
Quite obviously, the plasma-expander effect of HSL might be related to its hyperosmolarity because a similar effect has been reported with hypertonic saline -. However, although HSL is hyperosmolar (see Table 1), it is less hypertonic than a sodium-chloride solution with the same osmolarity, because the monocarboxylate carrier allows lactate to cross the cellular plasma membrane . In other words, lactate is expected to leave the intravascular bed to spread inside the cells. In agreement with such a property, lactate concentration did not increase in the HSL group.
Once into the cell, lactate is rapidly metabolized (mainly in glucose or in CO2 plus H2O), whereas Na+ is eliminated in urine. However, to maintain urine electroneutrality, negative charges must be eliminated with Na+, including Cl-, which results in a net negative chloride balance (see Figure 6). Because chloride loss was dramatically higher than the decrease in plasma chloride concentration (compare Figure 6 with Table 4), the net negative chloride balance was done mostly at the expense of intracellular chloride. Recent data on Na+, K+, and Cl- co-exchange support a significant role of chloride balance on cell-volume regulation -. Hypothesizing that the dengue virus leads to endothelial cells swelling that in turn increases endothelium permeability because of changes in the cell shape, we propose that lactate might return the cell volume back to normal, thus correcting capillary leakage. Note that a negative chloride balance and a decrease in cerebral edema have also been reported in traumatic brain-injured patients infused with sodium lactate , whereas HSL has been shown to reduce the number of intracranial hypertensive episodes after severe traumatic brain injury .
From these considerations, it appears that HSL may affect intra- versus extracellular fluid distribution in at least two different ways: sodium-related hypertonicity and electrogenic imbalance corrected by chloride efflux from intracellular space.
There are several limitations to this study. The rate of lactate infusion used in this work was based on previous data indicating an average endogenous rate of lactate turnover of 10 to 14 mmol/kg/24 h and plasma clearance of about 10 to 14 ml/kg ,, as well as on previous administration of lactate to patients ,. Note that the initial bolus infusion of HSL (5 ml/kg BW) was as effective as the initial bolus infusion of RL (20 ml/kg BW) for the acute shock management, as indicated by a similar initial recovery, including the success rate of a single bolus infusion.
However, the number of patients requiring HES for the initial shock treatment was higher (although not significantly different) in the HSL group. The fluid infusion rate of HSL after boluses (1 ml/kg/h) or the duration of the study period (during the first 12 hours) may have been underestimated for some patients. Indeed, recurrent shocks were more frequent (although not significantly so) in the HSL group during the study period (first 12 hours). Moreover, HES administration was required during the follow-up period in the HSL group (that is, once sodium lactate infusion had been stopped). This may suggest that a higher rate of fluid infusion after boluses (for instance, 2 ml/kg/h) is required, or that the study period should be extended for some patients. Note, however, that blood products were more frequently used in the RL group, which accounts for a significant volume of perfusion and may play down the difference in HES use between the two groups. Indeed, considering the perfusion of colloids (HES and fresh frozen plasma), no significant difference was noted between the two groups.
The outcome was similar in the two groups, as were the complications and the absence of any treatment-related side effect. We noted a slightly higher mortality in the RL group as compared with the HSL group, but this difference was not significant. Indeed, because this study was not powered to evaluate a beneficial outcome (but only the physiological consequences of the two treatments), a large multicentric study would be needed to do so.
This randomized clinical trial has shown that the use of hyperosmolar sodium-lactate solutions in the Dengue shock syndrome allowed the treatment of such a hypovolemic shock with minimal fluid accumulation. Besides the fact that this treatment helped prevent fluid overload, the reduction of sVCAM may have contributed to the resolution of shock. Despite the preliminary nature of our data, the putative mechanism of action of hyperosmolar sodium-lactate solution is of sufficient interest to justify a large-scale clinical trial.
Hyperosmolar sodium-lactate solutions allowed the correction of dengue shock syndrome with minimal fluid overload.
This strongly suggests that hyperosmolar sodium-lactate favored a decrease of capillary leakage, allowing interstitial fluid to reintegrate the vascular bed.
This study was supported by a grant from Innogene Kalbiotech, Pte. Ltd., 24 Raffles Place 27 - 06 Clifford Centre, Singapore 048621. This support served for data collection. The funding body played no role in the design of the study, in the analysis and interpretation of the data, in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to submit the manuscript for publication.
The half-molar sodium-lactate containing solution is patented (WO 2004/096204 -11/11/04, Gazette 2004/46) and registered (Totilac™).
The late Professor Xavier Leverve was a member of the Innogene International Scientific Board Advisors.
The other authors confirm that they have no commercial or other associations that might generate a conflict of interest in connection with the submitted article.
DHS participated in the design of the study, carried out the acquisition of data, and helped to draft the manuscript. TES conceived of the study, participated in its design and coordination, and helped to draft the manuscript. AMS participated in the design of the study, carried out the acquisition of data, and helped to draft the manuscript. PSI participated in the design of the study, carried out the acquisition of data, and helped to draft the manuscript. DS participated in the design of the study, carried out the acquisition of data, and helped to draft the manuscript. HR participated in the design of the study, performed the statistical analysis, and helped to draft the manuscript. CI analyzed and interpreted the data, and participated in the writing of the manuscript. EF analyzed and interpreted the data, and participated in the writing of the manuscript. XML conceived of the study, participated in its design and coordination, and helped to draft the manuscript. All authors, except late Professor XML and late Professor TES, read and approved the final manuscript. We thank Christophe Cottet for the English corrections to this manuscript. | 2019-04-21T06:40:33Z | https://ccforum.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13054-014-0466-4 |
One of the biggest challenges I see in the local church is the inability of our people to retell the gospel story. Yes we know bits and pieces and parts but to sit and tell the whole story of God and what He is narrating to the world proves to be very difficult even to the most veteran of believers. I did an informal research study by asking different people to explain to me in 5 minutes or less the story of the Bible. Of course with each person that I spoke to it took some prompting to even get them to begin. For some reason asking people to recite the biblical story causes confusion, intimidation and a lack of confidence. I found that people don't want "to get it wrong." Its like when I'm around a group of pastors and the question that always comes up is "what is the gospel?" In that setting there is much of the same kind of reactions with clergy as there are with lay people when you ask them about the story of the bible. We need something real. A real story with real people that has real implications for our lives. We need a God who came down and lived a real life among real people who had real problems that needed solutions. I believe with all my heart that we have that story.
Believers should be confident in knowing that we have the greatest story that's ever been told. Human beings love stories. We love great stories as a matter of fact. Its the reason why in the summer we are always looking for the block buster movie of the year. Its the reason we make a big deal about the academy award shows like the Oscars. The incredible thing about a great story is that it has all of the elements that keep us engaged from the beginning to the end. There are plot twists, villains, and heroes. If you are watching a Marvel movie you wait in the theater all the way to the end because no doubt without fail something special is bound to happen after the credits are over.
This is the very reason why I think Sunday school is an important tool of the church. Its the place where we come to learn the story of God. Growing up in church I remember attending Sunday school and when I became an adult I started teaching Sunday school. The cool thing is that its not just for kids. It is a place where we can all be discipled in our faith and confident in knowing the story that God is telling and how we play a part in this great cosmic unfolding drama.
I have been influenced over the past year by the works of Dr. Don Davis of the The Urban Ministry Institute, Robert E. Webber a great theologian who has written several books, as well as some of the great story tellers of our time such as George Lucas, JR Toelkin, C.S. Lewis, and even contemporary storytellers like Tyler Perry, Ava Duvernay, Shonda Rimes and Lee Daniels.
What so cool about these people is that they are great story tellers and know how to keep you glued to the television or movie screen. I think that Christianity has become boring and lifeless in the urban church because we have forgotten how to understand and even tell the story. My call to urban pastors in this season is to equip their people and disciple them in the story telling of the bible. When we can tell the story we can invite others to be a part of it. Shakespeare said, "All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances.."
Let's bring back Sunday school in our churches to equip the youth, young adults and seasoned saints in the story. We can use that time in our churches to help people become confident in the faith knowing that there is a God who is unfolding His plan in the earth and we can't stop it. We can take every sermon we preach and show people how it fits into the larger story. We can sing, dance, and worship by retelling the story. Our small groups and bible studies during the week can be an opportunity to testify about how God is working in you as part of the story. The foundation of everything we do can start right there in Sunday school. We can become a part of what He's doing if we understand where we fit in and how we should respond to the story that God is telling. I believe in the end if we do this we can all live happily ever after in the new heaven and the new earth.
Post Resurrection we read the story of Jesus speaking to his disciples. Many doubted that he had actually risen. The gospel writer in Matthew states that the guards and the disciples doubted. Much doubt was clouding the faith of the followers and non-followers of Christ. Before the end of the book of Matthew Jesus appears before his disciples and tells them to “Go make disciples” When you are doubtful or fearful it can cause you to be paralyzed in your actions. Jesus insists that they go. As they go he says, “make disciples” which can also be interpreted as learners. Go and make disciples/learners of all nations. If the church is going to be relevant with a voice of authority in our current culture we must continue with what Jesus has commanded. We are in a time where a generation has lost its understanding of deep biblical truths. We have a generation of biblically illiterate christians when it comes to the understanding scriptures. Hence, the ability for preachers to to proclaim a gospel that is no gospel at all and the people don’t know the difference. Could there be a time in our history where the church is positioned to retake territory from the enemy by way of strong discipleship for community transformation through a partnership between the church and the school.
Let’s face it, America is one of the strongest nations in the world, yet we are one of the least educated. According to the PISA results which measures global K-12 educational rankings, the U.S. is trailing far behind (24th in Reading). We build laws around the separation between the church and the state which in terms pits great academic education against great theological foundations. Historically the church has been at the forefront of pioneering educational efforts in our country. In the early 1800 ‘sit was the hospitality of the church in Atlanta that housed the beginnings of Morehouse and Spelman College. The Reformers in the 15-16th century was all about the educational empowerment of the masses. When Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the church it was in protest of the establishment being the only ones who had access to real power, the power of reading for one’s own understanding.
Fast forward to the 21 Century and we have a huge gap. There is a gap in our public educational system where the dropout rate is alarming nationwide for children of color. If we are really going to engage our communities again we’ll need to ensure that we make education a priority in our urban churches. I believe that the church has the answer for the breaking of the school-to-prison pipeline. I believe the church has the answer to teacher retention, positive culture and climates on campuses, as well as raising up emerging leaders for the transformation of communities we serve. My experience as a church planter/pastor and educator has brought me to a place where God has allowed me to operate in my true vocation. 2017 will make 20 years in public education as a teacher, principal, and district administrator. 2017 also makes 16 years in ministry as a preacher, church planter, pastor and apostolic leader. These two worlds have collided not by accident by by design. God has used me in a unique way in which he has gifted me with this uncanny way of bridging these two worlds that historically has always operated in unison. Historically the church has always been invested in the education of its population. Today I call it raising up emerging leaders for the transformation for thriving communities.
What would it look like for the church to partner with schools in our neighborhoods by way of afterschool programming, tutoring, mentorship, parent advocacy and even site based instruction. I was a charter school principal for 5 years. I had the gift of being given an opportunity found and run a charter middle school in South Los Angeles. More specifically my school was a block away from the University of Southern California. At the same time I had the opportunity to plant a church in Los Angeles as well. We were able to do both because we understood that the school was our mission field not for proselytizing but for discipleship for the purpose of community transformation. In other words, our goal was not to plant a church, but to plant transformational communities.
In the early days of the charter school movement in Los Angeles the church played a vital role in its survival. As a matter of fact, I would argue that if it weren’t for the black church the charter school movement would not have lasted past 5 years of it inception. It was the black church that found itself as the midwife for the birth of an educational movement we see today. When start-up educational entrepreneurs wanted to open schools they didn’t have property. They went around neighborhoods of color and found that the church was present but during the week it sat empty. These pastors opened their doors and so began the incubation for a beginning movement that today is here to stay.
I think we are still on the verge of a next wave between educational institutions and the church. The first round was missing the church’s actual involvement in the discipleship of emerging leaders. The church collected rent and made accommodations to many operators but that was it. The laws of the land prevented pastors from being involved in any substantial way which lead to the lack of discipled emerging leaders for communities of color. As a result you had young people graduating going on to college but never returning. What would it look like if the church had an important part to play in helping to shape the minds of young people? What would it look like if there was an integrated curriculum around the theology of social justice and liberation for the purpose of community transformation. I believe that would compel those who “make i out” to return because of the deep desire and obligation to their community to be a part of transforming it.
In my own personal spiritual journey I have been confronted with many internal thoughts and reflections about who I am as a person, father, pastor, husband, and friend. I started my seminary education over a year and half ago and have enjoyed my time taking classes but in the back of mind have felt that something was still missing. Although I value traditional seminary education, there is something that is still missing from the depth of learning that I was expecting when I enrolled in school.
I have taken Greek, Hebrew, Systematic Theology, and many more of the basic foundational courses that one takes in a seminary program. I have enjoyed these classes at times but once the class was over I still couldn't understand why I still felt like I hadn't addressed the real issue of why I went to seminary. After a couple of months of praying and listening it finally hit me like a ton of bricks. Just like any student who is taking classes in school, the ultimate question becomes when am I ever going to use this?
Here is my dilemma. I pastor a church in downtown Los Angeles where the poverty rate and homeless rate is higher than that of the state and the nation. I serve in an organization whose reason for existence is to see the empowered urban poor advancing the Kingdom of God in every city through the local church. I have a woman who attends our church who is homeless. I have members of our church who are undocumented. In light of my context I had to wrestle with the question after every class I've taken: When am I ever going to use this?
I can translate greek and hebrew but what good does it do for Greta who lives on the streets. I could talk about the providence of God, nature of God, the trinity, etc... from my systematics but how does that help me walk with undocumented members who are trying to navigate the healthcare system. I can tell you the history and context of the gospel of Matthew and talk about all of the interpolations and pericopes in the text, but it still doesn't help me address the plight of African Americans in a country that still doesn't want to address racism which is still crouching at the door.
Again, I think seminary education is good but maybe we ought to have more programs that are in context where we pastor and not with the idea of what church was like in the 19th and 20th century. Maybe there ought to be real programs for real people who deal with real issues in real hard communities.
I dropped out of seminary and enrolled in a program to get my second Master's (as if I needed more debt) in urban transformational leadership. I was drawn to this program based on a description of one of the courses that was called "Community Exegesis of the Gospel:Exegete Your Neighborhood." I started classes at the beginning of June and have enjoyed the two classes that I'm currently taking. The first class is about Entrepreneurship and how to help pastors and community leaders look at alternative ways of resourcing people in the community. The second class that I'm taking is called "Kingdom Economics" which deals directly with how to engage the urban poor in empowering them through economic development and financial literacy.
In a program like this, I can easily take what I'm learning and apply it immediately after leaving class. As a matter of fact my project in my entrepreneurship class deals directly with helping me develop my business plan for a boarding school that my wife and I want to start.
I dropped out of seminary because it wasn't making sense to me in the context in which I served. Maybe God will bring me back once I'm done with my current program. But until them I guess you can call me a seminary school drop out.
This past week I have been wrestling with an issue that has haunted me my whole life: fatherlessness. Last week I attended a workshop put on by our President and CEO Efrem Smith called, "A Fatherless Generation." In that workshop the one sentence I walked away with was, "Use the pain of your story to leverage your relationship with youth."
This issue of fatherlessness reared its ugly head again this past week after looking through my Facebook feed and seeing a disturbing video. Police wrestling a homeless man to the ground in front of The Union Rescue Mission on Skid Row and shooting him five times. As a human being, a civilian, and a black man, this incident sincerely disturbed me. But it also brought Efrem’s words to mind, “Use your pain.” Hearing about this incident deepened my pain, and to understand why I want to share my story.
I was born and raised all around the greater Los Angeles area. I lived in a two-parent home during my early elementary school years. My father was my hero. He was an entrepreneur and started his own roofing company. It was a very successful business that he created from the ground up with only a high school education. We were a model family in the community and everyone knew who we were. However, things began to change one summer. My dad would come home later and later. He and my mom would argue a lot. I would see him drinking more often than normal.
When I was transitioning into third grade, my mom decided to leave my dad, and we had to go live with my grandparents. When I asked my mom why we were leaving, she said with tears in her eyes, “Your daddy started using heroin and he is very abusive to me. I want our family to be safe.” As an 8-year-old kid I couldn’t grasp the fact that I would not be living with my dad anymore.
Throughout my elementary school years my dad would come to visit me at my grandparents’ house, but often times it was under the influence of drugs and alcohol. I can vividly remember he and my grandfather literally fighting in the backyard because my grandfather didn’t want him to try and kidnap me at gunpoint as he had done before.
The last contact I had with my dad during that time was a phone call he made to me saying that he was going to send me $50 for an allowance. I can still remember going to the mailbox everyday when I got out of school and looking for a check or cash from my dad, but unfortunately it never showed up.
As an adult, I had settled in my heart that my dad was no longer a part of my life and I had to move on. In the Spring of 2003 my uncle, who was a sanitation worker, came over my house and told me he saw my father on Skid Row. My uncle wondered if I wanted to go see him and offered to take me. At this time in my life I had been married for nine years with three small children. I thought about it and said, “Yes, I would love to see Peter Watts, Sr.” In my heart I wanted to see him because I had so much anger toward him and wanted to let him know how much he had hurt me.
I tried to build a new relationship with him, but unfortunately we lost touch again and I haven’t seen him since. Seeing the video of a black male on Skid Row being shot and killed by the hands of law enforcement brought back these feelings of guilt and frustration. I think what hurt me the most was the fact that at that time they didn’t have a picture or the birth name of the man, all they released was his street name, “Africa.” All I could think to myself was, What if that was my father?
On this 5th day of January begins a new journey into the unknown. For the past 5 years we have been embarking on a 2014 vision with the church not knowing for sure how it would come to pass. As I shared with my congregation on yesterday God revealed himself and came through at the last hour of the last day of the last month of 2014 to make that vision come to pass. We have a accomplished some really great things within our church over the past 5 years. We've seen many new believers come to Christ along with new baptisms. We have seen our church grow from a core team of 30 adults and kids to a congregation of over 100 adults and kids in five years. We have young people who have received full ride scholarships into prestigious universities across the nation as well as new ministries and new churches praying for new launches in 2015. God has been really good to us!
In this next season of ministry I pray that God will continue to show us favor in ministry. 2020 vision is what he has given me for the next 5 years. According to some of the definitions in the medical field "normal" vision is 2020. It simply means that you can see what a "normal" person can see at 20 feet. By looking at lots of people, eyedoctors have decided what a "normal" human being should be able to see when standing 20 feet away from an eye chart. If you have 20/20 vision, it means that when you stand 20 feet away from the chart you can see what the "normal" human being can see. In other words, your vision is "normal" -- most people can see what you see at 20 feet.
At first I wanted to change what God had given me about the theme 2020 vision becuase I definitely didn't want to be numbered among the "normal" people. What God impressed in my spriit was that he loves to take "normal" people and do extraordinary things with them. It is ok to be considered normal and to not think of yourself more than we ought. If we allow God to take the normal and do the extraordinary then we can only give credit to where credit is due. So, yes I'm normal and I see with 2020 vision BUT God takes my vision and does the extraodinary with it.
God uses ordinary people like Nehemiah, Paul, The disciples, and others who know that if it had not been for the grace of God there is nothing that any of them would have been able to accomplish in their own "normal" strength. Be encouraged this year of 2015 know that God can do much with normal.
We exist to be a church that reflects its community with the sole purpose of creating a kingdom movement to bring Shalom of the city.
We are an urban multiethnic church that embraces the whosoevers and Impact our communities.
By 2020 our goal is to be a sending church to EXPAND the kingdom of by planting other churches and be engaged in demonstrations of compassion and justice through Christian community development.
We will EQUIP leaders by providing training and workshops to support ministry activities and city movements. Our church will be a place where church planters and their APEST teams will incubate as interns for the purpose of learning and putting theory into practice.
We will operate in the five fold gifts of the ministry by raising up leaders to be a part of the APEST team that will help to give vision to the future of our church.
Our church body will be those who know how to ENGAGE the city through marketplace mission in grassroots organizations, education, business, politics, and the social sectors of our city.
We EMPOWER the urban poor through education and training teaching them not only to learn how to fish but empower them to leverage their resources (financial or people) to eventually own the lake.
We will EVANGELIZE the lost through our continued outreach events such as Bugaboo, Miracle of Christmas and Performing Arts street ministries as well as strengthen disciples through our weekly small groups and classes such as Belong, TUMI, and GROW. We will also continue to develop our Affinity groups (Men, Women, Singles, Couples, Teens, and Young Adults) for the purpose of multiplying disciples within the church. | 2019-04-22T00:45:06Z | http://igototherock.org/therockchurch2020vision |
» Buyer’s Guide: The Best Foosball Table to Buy.
Buyer’s Guide: The Best Foosball Table to Buy.
Choosing the best foosball table can be a daunting task. Foosball tables are wonderful additions for any game room. This popular and entertaining game is both competitive and fun for the everyone in the family. It can be played with just two people or as many as four.
There are a number of foosball tables on the market, which means that trying to find the right one can become a bit overwhelming. This guide to purchasing a foosball table will make it easier for you to determine what type of foosball table is right for your needs.
The first thing that you are going to need to decide is the type of foosball table that you wish to buy. This post describes the different types of foosball types so you will be more informed when making your decision. There is three main types of tables, stand alone, multi-game and tabletop.
This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive, at no additional cost to you, a small commission from Amazon.com if you make a purchase using the links.
When you are purchasing a foosball table, stand alone tables are often the top choice. This table stands on its own as is suggested by the name. There are several different sizes of stand alone tables from which to choose, but most are about 5 feet long and 2 and a half feet wide.
When properly cared for, stand alone tables will last for a long time and are ideal for offering the most authentic playing of the game. These type of tables are what we recommend to go with as they tend to be higher quality and will handle strong play. We know you want the best foosball table to play on that will last for years.
A tabletop foosball table is good for those who have a limited amount of space and may be on a limited budget. These tables can be set up on any type of hard surface that you may have and then stored away when they are not being used.
Tabletop foosball tables are great for young children as well as beginners. Since they are typically cheaper than the other foosball table options they provide new players with the chance to learn more about the game before making a large investment into a more expensive option.
When choosing your tabletop foosball table make sure to look for one that has non slip pads on the bottom so that it will stay in place.
Multi game foosball tables are made so they can be converted to play other games such as checkers, chess, table tennis, and air hockey. If you have children who like variety, a multi game table is often a good choice. Multi-game tables are also a good choice if you have a limited amount of space in your game room and want some different options available.
Multi game tables come in both stand alone versions and in tabletop versions. To play a game different than foosball you will need to remove the rods. These tables are typically fairly easy to convert to the different games that they offer.
Who Is The Foosball Table For?
The first thing that you want to consider when purchasing a foosball table is who you are buying it for. There are foosball tables designed specifically for children and others that are designed for adults and professionals.
Think about who is going to be playing on the foosball table. How old are they? Are the players just starting out or have they played a bit? Do you need a table that is for an advanced player?
These are all questions to consider before you begin the search for the perfect foosball table for your home.
When considering who you are purchasing a foosball table for, here are some tips.
If you are buying a table for a child or beginning player or just for casual play in general, it makes sense to purchase a cheaper table. For younger children and for beginning players a tabletop foosball table may be the right choice, especially if you do not know if they are even going to like playing.
If they do not like it, you are not out a lot of money. However, if they really enjoy the game you can always purchase a bigger and better brand table in the future.
A tabletop foosball table is ideal for smaller children because many of the standard foosball tables are too tall for them. Tabletop foosball tables are not so cheap that they are not worth playing on, but they are not meant for anything but casual play.
If you are purchasing a foosball table for people that have a bit of experience playing the game, you will want to search for a mid level table that offers adjustable table legs, smooth rods, and durability so that it can withstand a bit of vigorous play over longer periods of time.
A mid level table is typically sturdy and made of higher quality materials. These tables are ideal for those who play the game often and want to improve their skills. Choose a table that weighs at least 125 pounds as the heavier the table is, the more stable it is going to be.
If you are an advanced player or simply want a playing experience that is ideal, a top of the line regulation sized foosball table is the only choice. These tables are very sturdy, offer a flat playing surface and are made with the best materials. The tables are very heavy with some weighing more than 300 pounds.
Your Budget: Good or the Best?
If you are going to be purchasing a tabletop foosball table the amount that you will spend is not going to be much as most of these tables are priced at less than $100.
If you want a stand alone table, the price could definitely be a factor that you need to consider. The price range for stand alone foosball tables ranges from around $100 up to several thousand dollars. You will need to think about how long you plan on keeping the table and how much you want to spend on it.
Setting a budget for your foosball table purchase is important as this will provide you with a good place to begin your search.
When considering your budget, the price of a foosball table will often tell you a lot about the materials that it is made with. Here are some tips to consider when looking at the materials that a foosball table is made from.
Foosball tables that use particle board are often not as durable. Particle board deteriorates over time, which can cause screws to become loose and may lead to the table simply falling apart.
If the table weighs less than 70 pounds and the walls are less than a half inch thick, the table is likely made from particle board.
A lightweight table made from particle board is ideal for those who do not want to invest a lot of money in a foosball table or those who are simply looking for a table for their kids to play on casually.
The majority of the more expensive foosball tables are made out of either solid wood or composite. It is important to note that not all wood is created equal. There are some tables made of pressed wood. Pressed wood has a tendency to warp over time as it absorbs moisture.
Composite is more resistant to humidity and moisture and because of this is less prone to becoming warped or damaged. Composite is very durable.
When considering the wood, thickness plays an important role. Choose a table that has at least one inch thick wood as this will be more durable. Some of the higher end models use one and a half inch thick wood. Thicker side walls help to prevent movement so that the game is not affected.
There are three types of rods to consider when purchasing a foosball table. They are telescoping, hollow, and solid. The highest quality rods are hollow. These rods weigh less, which makes them faster. Hollow rods are ideal for the more advanced players.
Many mid level tables will have solid steel rods. This is best for intermediate players because the game goes a bit slower.
There are some of the high end tables that offer telescoping steel rods. These are made of 2 pieces of metal. An inner piece will slide into the outer piece so that they do not stick out of the ends of the tables. The benefit of this is that you are not going to get poked by a rod that sticks out from the other side. The main purpose of this is safety for younger children.
There are some tables that are priced at $600 and above that have rods made from cold rolled steel, which is the highest quality steel that you can buy.
A hard smooth surface is going to provide the fastest game play. European tables often have wood surfaces for slower play while American tables often have harder surfaces for quicker play. The thicker the surface of the table, the more sturdy and level it is going to be. There are even some tables that use tempered glass to provide the highest level of play.
A standard height for foosball tables is 36 inches. This is a great height for teens and adults. There are some tables that have legs that adjust a few inches. The main purpose of this feature is to even out a table on a floor that may be uneven. A higher quality table will have levelers that can be used for this purpose as well.
As mentioned, a full size table will measure 56 inches long, 30 inches wide, and will be 36 inches tall. In order to have enough space to be able to play, you will not only need room for the actual table, but you will also need about three to four feet of playing space around the table.
One Or Three Man Goalie?
Most of the American foosball tables will use a three person goalie, while a one person goalie is common throughout Europe. The 3 person goalie is designed to make play faster and a one person goalie will require more skill and precision. This is a decision that is entirely up to how you want to play foosball.
There are some tables that come with men that have counterweights. This means that they will stay horizontal when you place them in that formation. Keeping your men horizontal means that they are out of the way when you are shooting. This is a feature that is valued by most intermediate and skilled players.
The men can also be made out of either metal or plastic. Metal men are obviously heavier, which means that you will have more power while you are shooting.
Another thing to consider when purchasing a foosball table is the warranty that it comes with. A standard warranty will be for a year.
Now that you understand what you are looking for in a foosball table, here are 5 foosball table reviews to help you get started on your search.
The Tornado Sport offers a solid table that is not really flashy. The cabinet is made of a one inch thick MDF, which provides durability and sturdiness. While most foosball tables use MDF, the Tornado Sport comes in a price range where a higher grade MDF is used.
The selling point of this table is its strength. You can rest assured that it is going to last for a long time. The table is sold with a one year warranty, which is longer than most tables on the market.
This is a heavy duty table that weighs 200 pounds, which provides a large amount of stability. Even if play gets aggressive, this foosball table is not going to move. The legs of the table are covered with boots and you can also place shims inside of the legs in order to make the table more level. This will provide both sides with an even playing surface.
The steel rods of the table are hollow, which makes gameplay much faster. Experienced players will enjoy this feature while beginners may have a bit of a learning curve ahead of them.
A couple of issues that some people have with this table is that it does not have counterbalanced players and the ball returns are only on each end, which makes retrieval a bit more difficult.
Overall, most foosball players are simply looking for a foosball table that offers an even playing surface and is not going to move. This foosball table from Tornado delivers on both of these things.
This foosball table is really ideal for children. It is an inexpensive table that has cheaper parts that are not as durable. The men have ABS construction, which provides a bit more strength, but they are made from plastic, which is more susceptible to breaking than ones made from metal.
The cabinet is only a quarter inch thick and is lightweight, which means that it moves a bit during play.
Overall, this is a quality budget table for children or the casual player. This is not a full sized table and it does not have the features that experienced players are looking for. This is a simple table that has the essential parts need to play foosball and not much else.
The speed of the play is slow, which is good because it is geared towards play by younger children. Since it does not weigh much, the table will move during play, which may change the direction of the ball to provide one side with an advantage over the other.
Overall, this is a good choice for those who are just starting out playing and want a cheaper table to learn on.
The cabinet of the Carrom Signature is made from a one inch thick manufactured wood that is warp resistant. This is a heavy table coming in at around 177 pounds. This is just one indication that it is a quality table made of quality materials.
The rods are made of a hollow steel and made to last. The playing surface is thick and has graphics on it in order to protect the surface from wear and tear. While there may be tables that are more durable out there, you are going to have to spend a lot more money to find one.
What really sets this table apart from others in its price range is the fact that it has counterbalanced players. Intermediate and advanced players enjoy this feature because it keeps the men horizontal, which allows for more space to create shots.
The weight of the table in combination with the thicker cabinet will provide the stability necessary to keep the table still even when play becomes aggressive. In addition, the handles are made from natural wood and have been designed with comfort, style, and control in mind.
Overall, this is a great foosball table for the price. It has great aesthetics, counterbalance players, a solid weight, and hollow chrome rods, which all make it a good mid-range choice that is sufficient for players of all ages and abilities.
For most people looking for a foosball table the idea is to find one that will allow them to play the game and have some fun with their friends and family. For this reason, we are including one more option for the beginner foosball player who does not want to spend a lot on a foosball table purchase.
The American Legend Charger Foosball table weighs in at 100 pounds and has the measurements of a standard foosball table. The playing field is made of MDF which is resistant to warping. Additional features of this table include the ⅝ inch apron and the half inch hollow rods with a chrome finish.
The legs of the table are fairly sturdy as the table has a chrome finished cross bar. However, there are no levelers on the table. Since it does not have levelers, the table is not very sturdy, but it still provides an engaging and entertaining game of foosball. The hollow rod is very light, which provides faster game play.
The charger is a durable table that is made from quality products and it comes in at a price that is affordable for most people. While it only weighs 100 pounds, it is fairly sturdy and if it is treated right should last for a good long while.
This is a good choice of table for older kids and adults who are new to the game. Overall, this is a good choice for beginners and even some intermediate players.
For our readers who are searching for the best foosball table and perhaps want something a little more affordable, the FX40 from Sport Squad might just be the best option on the market. While this foosball table may not look impressive at first glance, you will change your mind after you get your hands on it.
We know that smaller tables have a reputation for being flimsy and unenjoyable to play, but the FX40 has taken that notion and flipped it on its head. You will find that this foosball table performs closer to a full-size model than any other small table we have seen, provided you lubricate the rods, that is.
Speaking of the rods, they are made out of steel plated in chrome to ensure that they won’t have any issues with smoothness or durability. From our torture tests, we learned that the rods can take quite a bit of punishment before they end up giving in, making this an ideal table for younger children.
The rods also feature handles that are made out of rubber and feature an ergonomic design, making them much more comfortable for extended play sessions. Another feature that is made to improve user-friendliness is the ball return system which is simple enough not to be susceptible to damage (as are many other ball returns).
Of course, our favorite part of this foosball table is just how small it is. While the vast majority of foosball tables would consider a smaller table inferior, you will find that this model has many benefits. For example, you don’t need too much storage space to put away this table when you are done playing.
Other than making it easier to store, the small size of the FX40 makes it easily portable, so you can bring it with you to parties and get-togethers so you can enjoy some foosball with friends! As you can imagine, the small size also makes this table much easier to use for children, who can also have hours of fun using it.
While this model may feature short and stubby legs, you may be surprised to find that they still include foam pads on the underside to keep your floors and tables from getting scratched. There are also two manual scorekeepers that are located above each player's goal, eliminating the need for a pen and paper.
Overall, the FX40 from Sport Squad is designed to be a smaller table that is on the affordable side without sacrificing build quality and fun gameplay. Having accomplished this is an impressive feat, especially when you consider how many other manufacturers have tried to make foosball tables such as this one and failed.
When it comes to high-quality tables, few can match the Royalton 55-inch table from KICK. This foosball table comes included with all of the features that you can expect to find on premier brand models, but it is much more affordable. In fact, this table is half the price of some of its competitors.
With a lower price point, anyone would expect a dip in quality, but that is not the case with this foosball table. While this model may not come included with all of the modern bells and whistles you can expect to find on the top offerings, it makes for an excellent game of foosball, and it is reliable.
These two aspects are more than you can ask for out of many other foosball tables, so the Royalton has us understandably impressed. Let’s get right into the features that stuck with us the most. The first thing that you will notice is that this foosball table comes included with multiple sets of players.
There are 13 red foosmen and 13 blue foosmen that come included with this table, all of whom are counterbalanced, in addition to a set of 26 uniformed players. As you can see, you won’t be running out of players anytime soon, and you don’t have to play with counterbalanced ones if you prefer not to.
Something else that may impress you about this table is that it comes with a lifetime warranty, meaning that you will have it for quite some time to come if you treat it well. Coupled with this foosball table’s excellent build quality, if you need a reliable option, the Royalton may be your best bet.
There are also many quality of life features included in this table to make it more enjoyable to play. For example, the wooden handles feature a no-slip design so you won't have to worry about losing shot accuracy as the game goes on and your palms start to get a little more sweaty.
You can also choose whether you prefer a one-goalie system or a three-goalie system, as that will depend on the set of rules that you play with. Most of the time, the three-goalie system is the better choice as it will decrease the frequency of stuck balls.
Although many people may be initially put off by the idea of purchasing a large item like a foosball table online, there are many benefits to this method, and in reality the advantages far outweigh any possible drawbacks.
When buying online, large sites like Amazon will contain multiple reviews of each make and variety, often with follow ups, feedback and answers to common queries and questions. Amazon also often provides an opportunity to question the manufacturer or purchaser directly.
The product specifications and dimensions are available to view, so rather than bring a measuring tape down to the store, you can plan your foosball location and storage all in advance.
Buying your foosball table online will also mean delivery to your door, which is a huge advantage, for what can be large, bulky awkward items to transport. On top of this, the chances are that you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the cost of delivery, as sites like Amazon deliver many items over a certain price Free Of Charge! That’s right, Free Of Charge! Items that fall under their Prime program, will also qualify for this delivery service. It’s really a no brainer.
When buying online you have a standard statutory right of return and experienced retailers like Amazon have a fantastic returns and refund service.
Online retailers do not have the same overheads as high street merchants, so when making a large or out of the ordinary purchase for an item such as a foosball table, with a little research, there can be genuine, substantial savings to be made. Amazon also often offer Warehouse Deals on items with damaged packaging or minor cosmetic imperfections, which can furnish impressive savings and still come with an Amazon warranty and guarantee.
They say "variety is the spice of life", so whether you’re after a multi game, table top or stand-alone unit, you’re more likely to find your perfect model when you shop online.
Benefits - Why you need one Today!
The benefits and advantages are too many to mention, but here are a few obvious ones.
Foosball is all weather, so while rain might stop play on the football pitch, this is an ideal way for friends and family to while away an inclement day and not get soaked to the skin out in the elements.
Following on from above, foosball is a great way to spend great quality time, in a fun environment, with both friends and family. It doesn’t discriminate between old and young, it’s an all inclusive activity that generations can understand and enjoy together, and for parents it’s an indoor activity that for once doesn’t involve a screen and will get the kids away from their consoles for a change.
For a night in, entertaining, your foosball table will be the center of attention and you may find your friends are calling to see you to hang out more and more often. What better way to catch up, than an informal evening with friends, a few beers and a little foosball. With the money you save by staying in, your table will probably not only pay for itself in no time, but maybe even bring you out ahead!
When you welcome new guests into your home, those awkward, eternal, uncomfortable silences may be a thing of the past. Your foosball table will be a natural icebreaker as it’s a game everyone loves to play. (If they don’t love it they should be asked to vacate the premises anyway)! There’s no need for conversation, you can do your talking on the table.
You don’t need a mansion or a massive extension to house one of these units. With so many options available from tabletop to multi-game to stand-alone, foosball is something that every household can accommodate and enjoy.
Don’t let anyone tell you that foosball isn’t a sport. Ask anyone who has played at any level and they’ll let you know that you’ll have no problem in breaking a sweat. Foosball requires dexterity, nerve, great hand to eye coordination, concentration and stamina to play well. Playing and practicing foosball regularly will improve all of these aspects, the benefits of which can only improve your life and well-being.
Finally, on top of all the fine factors mentioned here, foosball is fun, and in a more stressful, fast paced and competitive society and world, a little bit of fun doesn’t sound so bad. If football has been described as "the beautiful game", then foosball is 'a little beauty’, and everyone could do with a bit of that in their life and home!
Conclusion - Best Foosball Table.
Foosball is a really fun game that just about anyone can enjoy. Having a foosball table for your home can be a great source of entertainment for families and friends. Although there is much debate about the origin of foosball, or table football in the vernacular, there is a suggestion that it may have been around as early as the late 19th century, and so like its larger counterpart, this miniature version of the beautiful game has withstood the test of time and captured the imagination of generations. While there are many different styles of foosball tables on offered, investing in a quality table in your price range that will, like the game itself, last the duration, will definitely prove better value in the long run and provide years and maybe even decades of pleasure.
Like in any other walk of life, when it comes to the purchase of a foosball table, the same rules apply. That is, "if you pay peanuts, you may get monkeys", or "if you buy cheap, you will get cheap". Buying a cheap or flimsy foosball table may be a sensible option for a children’s Christmas gift that may only be used for a couple of days and then be destined for the garage or the attic, in other words, it doesn’t need to last. If you’ve got the foosball bug however, then quality is your best investment to stand the test of time. | 2019-04-22T00:31:08Z | https://getfoosball.com/best-foosball-tables/ |
Aeropostale, Inc. and DoSomething.org Join Teens Nationwide to Support Homeless Teens in Haiti and the U.S.
NEW YORK, Jan. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — In support of its third annual “Teens for Jeans” initiative with teen not-for-profit DoSomething.org, NYC-based teen retailer Aeropostale, Inc. (NYSE: ARO) announced it will be matching the first 100,000 pairs donated with brand new jeans to be delivered to the victims of the Haiti earthquake.
”Teens for Jeans” raises awareness about the youth homelessness epidemic by inspiring teens across the U.S. and Canada to collect gently worn jeans and donate them to homeless youth in their own communities. In response to the earthquake in Haiti, Aeropostale, Inc. and DoSomething.org are extending the campaign’s reach beyond the U.S. and Canada to help teens affected by the disaster.
The campaign collected over 200,000 pairs of jeans in 2009 and this year teens are already gearing up to top that effort.
Twilight: New Moon star Ashley Greene and funnyman Justin Long came together to shoot a Public Service Announcement for the campaign.
You can view their PSA at TeensforJeans.com.
Starting Tuesday, January 19th until Sunday, February 14th, people are encouraged to bring in any brand of their gently worn jeans to any Aeropostale store in the U.S. and Canada. Aeropostale, Inc. and DoSomething.org will make sure the jeans are donated teens in Haiti as well as to one of the 600 local youth shelters that have been selected as partners. As an extra incentive for those who donate, Aeropostale will give an additional 25% off a new pair of jeans, though no purchase is necessary. Donors will also have the chance to win signed jeans from Kellan Lutz, Kelly Clarkson, cast members of 90210, Glee, Gossip Girl, One Tree Hill and many more of today’s young stars.
In addition to getting customers involved in stores, Aeropostale, Inc. and DoSomething.org are encouraging teenagers in their local high schools and colleges to coordinate “Teens for Jeans” school drives. Students who collect more than 500 pairs of jeans will receive a banner for their school, recognition on the DoSomething.org and Aeropostale websites and the chance to win a pizza party for their entire class.
To learn how to get involved or for more information about teen homelessness and what you can do, visit teensforjeans.com.
Aeropostale, Inc. is a mall-based, specialty retailer of casual apparel and accessories, principally targeting 14 to 17 year-old young women and men through its Aeropostale® stores and 7 to 12 year-old kids through its P.S. from Aeropostale™ stores. The Company provides customers with a focused selection of high-quality, active-oriented, fashion and fashion basic merchandise at compelling values. Aeropostale® maintains control over its proprietary brands by designing, sourcing, marketing and selling all of its own merchandise. Aeropostale® products can only be purchased in its Aeropostale stores and online at www.aeropostale.com. P.S. from Aeropostale™ products can be purchased in P.S. from Aeropostale™ stores and online at www.ps4u.com. The Company currently operates 894 Aeropostale stores in 49 states and Puerto Rico, 44 Aeropostale stores in Canada and 14 P.S. from Aeropostale stores in 5 states.
DoSomething.org is one of the largest organizations in the United States that helps young people rock causes they care about A driving force in creating a culture of volunteerism, DoSomething.org in on track to activate two million young people in 2011. By leveraging the web, television, mobile, and pop culture, DoSomething.org inspires, empowers and celebrates a generation of doers: teenagers who recognize the need to do something, believe in their ability to get it done, and then take action. Plug in at www.DoSomething.org.
SPECIAL NOTE: THIS PRESS RELEASE AND ORAL STATEMENTS MADE FROM TIME TO TIME BY REPRESENTATIVES OF THE COMPANY CONTAIN CERTAIN “FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS” CONCERNING EXPECTATIONS FOR SALES, STORE OPENINGS, GROSS MARGINS, EXPENSES, STRATEGIC DIRECTION AND EARNINGS. ACTUAL RESULTS MIGHT DIFFER MATERIALLY FROM THOSE PROJECTED IN THE FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS. AMONG THE FACTORS THAT COULD CAUSE ACTUAL RESULTS TO MATERIALLY DIFFER INCLUDE, CHANGES IN THE COMPETITIVE MARKETPLACE, INCLUDING THE INTRODUCTION OF NEW PRODUCTS OR PRICING CHANGES BY OUR COMPETITORS, CHANGES IN THE ECONOMY AND OTHER EVENTS LEADING TO A REDUCTION IN DISCRETIONARY CONSUMER SPENDING; SEASONALITY; RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH CHANGES IN SOCIAL, POLITICAL, ECONOMIC AND OTHER CONDITIONS AND THE POSSIBLE ADVERSE IMPACT OF CHANGES IN IMPORT RESTRICTIONS; RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH UNCERTAINTY RELATING TO THE COMPANY’S ABILITY TO IMPLEMENT ITS GROWTH STRATEGIES, AS WELL AS THE OTHER RISK FACTORS SET FORTH IN THE COMPANY’S FORM 10-K AND QUARTERLY REPORTS ON FORM 10-Q, FILED WITH THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION. THE COMPANY UNDERTAKES NO OBLIGATION TO UPDATE OR REVISE ANY FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS TO REFLECT SUBSEQUENT EVENTS.
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic, Jan. 20 /PRNewswire/ — The Dominican Republic (DR) Ministry of Tourism assures visitors that all of its cities, tourism and resort areas are conducting normal business operations. Also, the DR government, consulates and embassies are working diligently with the international community on Haiti earthquake relief. Millions of Dominicans have donated time, money, supplies and expertise to help Haiti in these critical hours of need.
All of the tourist areas, hotels, resorts, airports and seaports are open and receiving visitors. The DR experienced no damage from the quake or its aftershocks. Major tourism regions Punta Cana and La Romana on the East Coast, as well as Samana and Puerto Plata along the North Coast are welcoming winter season tourists from all over the world.
The southern region of the DR has been a stable staging area for the Haiti relief effort and a reliable alternative route into Haiti. Three key airports and a roadway in the DR’s southern region are being used to receive international relief supplies through mostly rural areas of the DR not frequented by visitors. The DR government has stationed military, police and immigration officials along the DR border reinforcing relief efforts to help Haiti. The DR has strong border control permitting only crossings for humanitarian reasons, while also sending critical supplies, equipment, medical experts and millions of dollars for food and relief kitchens directly to Port-au-Prince.
The DR shares the eastern third of the Island of Hispaniola with Haiti. Punta Cana, the major global tourism destination in the DR is located approximately 400 miles (633 kilometers) east of Haiti’s capital, or a 10-12 hour drive, with numerous mountain ranges separating the two countries.
All of the DR’s eight international airports are open and receiving commercial flights. All flights in/out of the DR are running smoothly.
All of the DR’s cruise terminals, seaports and marinas are open, operating effectively and receiving visitors.
All of the DR’s beaches, hotels, resorts and tourism businesses are conducting normal business operations.
The DR is providing some space at strategically located key airports however this is not disrupting commercial flights.
The DR did not experience any damage from the secondary aftershock that occurred Thursday morning.
The DR has strong border control with military, police, medical and international aid officials helping Haitians.
The DR’s security, health, communication and transportation systems are all operating normally and effectively.
For more information on the Dominican Republic, Punta Cana, La Romana, Samana and Puerto Plata, visit: www.GoDomincanRepublic.com.
COSTA MESA, Calif., Jan. 19 /PRNewswire/ — Charity800.com is responding to the crisis in Haiti by adding Haiti earthquake relief organizations: the American Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders into their donation program for their toll free number clients. When customers use a Charity800.com toll free or local number, half a cent from each minute of talk time gets donated to the charity selected by the client. Over time, the donations can add up to hundreds of dollars, thus making the potential impact of this program boundless.
Haiti has recently been hit by a magnitude 7.0 earthquake, just off the Haitian capital Port au Prince, which has left the country in shambles with thousands killed and three million lives impacted.
The American Red Cross is the nation’s top emergency response nonprofit organization which helps victims of war and natural disaster. Charity800.com felt the need to add this organization because they are at the forefront of most, if not all, disaster relief efforts worldwide.
Doctors Without Borders, provide volunteer doctors and medical personnel to over 60 countries. Founded in 1971 Doctors Without Borders is made up of 19 associative organizations.
Charity800.com is a toll free number provider that donates a portion of their profit for each minute of talk time that customers use. Clients can choose the charity of choice that they want to support. Run by a proactive team that is constantly on the cutting edge of technology and service, Charity800.com is always adding new features to their service.
Charity800.com is owned and operated by Dynamic Interactive Corp.
KINGSTON, Jamaica, Jan. 18 /PRNewswire/ — HBO Latin America Group signed a carriage agreement with Flow to offer its subscribers the Warner Channel in Jamaica, which will be part of its basic programming package in the country.
“We are very pleased to be able to offer Flow subscribers the most interesting, entertaining and greatest television productions offered by Warner Channel in Jamaica,” commented Javier Figueras, Vice-president of Sales for HBO Latin America Group. “In this sense, Warner Channel is undoubtedly the best alternative in the market for television and film options because it has an excellent selection of highly acclaimed productions,” he added.
Warner Channel is a pan-regional television subscription channel with presence in Latin America, Brazil and the Caribbean. Its signal reaches approximately 20 million homes in 24 countries around the continent through 5 different signals that adjust according to the different time zones and languages of the region.
Warner Channel’s Prime Time remains at the forefront, with shows ranging from drama to comedy, as well as mystery, action and science fiction. Aside from the most acclaimed film productions from Warner Bros. Studios, this channel also offers television options that range from the drama of The Mentalist and Gossip Girl, to the suspense of Cold Case and Fringe, to the science fiction of Smallville and Supernatural, to even the refreshing comedy of Two And a Half Men, The Big Bang Theory and The New Adventures of Old Christine.
Due to the agreement between HBO Latin America Group and Flow, this is the first time that the Warner Channel is being broadcast in Jamaica. Flow subscribers will now be able to enjoy HBO LAG’s varied and comprehensive television programming and packages throughout the country, including channels like HBO, HBO Plus, HBO Family, Cinemax, Max Prime, and HBO HD, among others.
HBO Latin America Group(SM) is a group of companies affiliated with Time Warner Entertainment Company, L.P., Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc., and Ole Communications Group. The HBO Latin America Group(SM) and its leading companies own, manage and operate cable and satellite programming services in the Region including the signals of HBO, HBO Plus, HBO Family, HBO Caribbean, HBO HD, HBO On Demand, Cinemax, Max Prime, A&E, Animax, AXN, E! Entertainment Television, Sony Entertainment Television, The Biography Channel, The History Channel and Warner Channel.
KINGSTON, Jamaica, Jan. 18 /PRNewswire/ — HBO Latin America Group (LAG) and Flow, Jamaica’s Broadband Company, formally announced today that both Companies have signed an agreement for the transmission of the HBO LAG channels to be broadcast in Jamaica at a media reception held in Kingston.
“free-view” until January 31. Starting February 1st, viewers will be able to choose and subscribe to their favorite HBO channels to see original series, movies and sporting events.
Flow led the industry as the first cable operator in Jamaica to enter HBO Latin America’s licensing regulation process, and was also the first to make High-Definition technology available in Premium television.
HBO Latin America Group(SM) is a group of companies affiliated to Time Warner Entertainment Company, L.P., Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc., and Ole Communications Group. The HBO Latin America Group(SM) leading companies operate, manage and own cable and satellite programming services in the Region including the signals of HBO, HBO Plus, HBO Family, HBO Caribbean, HBO HD, HBO On Demand, Cinemax, Max Prime, A&E, Animax, AXN, E! Entertainment Television, Sony Entertainment Television, The Biography Channel, The History Channel and Warner Channel.
With just three years since its entry into Jamaica, Flow has already made an indelible impact on the local telecommunications industry placing Jamaica as a regional industry leader for data connectivity and innovative digital products. With its dynamic triple play of services — digital cable TV, digital landline and blazing speed Internet, Flow is helping to build a tech savvy, digital, knowledge-based society as Jamaicans forges ahead in keeping apace with the latest global technological trends.
Flow has made a significant commitment to Jamaica, investing over US$200 million (J$18 billion), to date; in, building an island wide all digital infrastructure, developing human resources and enhancing digital education in schools as part of the company’s social development programme. Jamaica is now the only country in the region with a direct undersea fibre-optic connection to the United States and South America as Flow via its express, direct, network system to Boca in Florida and Cartagena in Colombia. The record investment in the undersea system also provides Jamaica with unprecedented capacity, resiliency, redundancy and reliability for broadband data communications.
Flow is also demonstrating excellence in corporate social responsibility by supporting enhanced learning in schools via free internet and educational cable programmes, mentoring and youth development activities with the Rotary Club in communities across Jamaica and investments to athletic developments in Jamaica via a partnership with the JAAA. Flow also sponsored the National Champion’s Cup football Competition, National Basketball League and is now one of the major sponsors of the national basketball team.
WASHINGTON, Jan. 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The more than 70 million online Brazilians may donate to Haiti relief efforts using a new Portuguese website called www.AjudaPanamericana.org, the Pan American Development Foundation and the Organization of American States announced.
AjudaPanamericana.org is the third language option offered by the non-profit PADF as it accepts donations to help Haitian survivors of the 7.0 earthquake.
”Since Brazil is the fifth most populous nation in the world and one of the leaders in overall Internet usage, AjudaPanamericana.org is an important channel for relief donations,” says John Sanbrailo, PADF’s Executive Director.
PADF – a non-profit organization that also serves as the OAS’s natural disaster relief arm – has worked in Haiti for 30 years on economic development, protecting human rights and responding to natural disasters. Prior to the quake, PADF had more than 150 people in Haiti.
MTV Networks Latin America will promote this initiative through its on-air and on-line network.
MTV Networks Latin America, Inc., a unit of Viacom Inc., owns and operates MTV Latin America, Nickelodeon Latin America, VH1 Latin America, Viacom Networks Brazil and the MTV Networks Digital Suite, a package of five digital services – MTV Jams, MTV Hits, VH1 Soul, VH1 Mega Hits and Nickelodeon’s GAS (Games and Sports for Kids).
MTV Networks Latin America connects with its audiences through interactive properties including its online websites, www.mtvla.com, www.mundonick.com and www.vh1la.com, as well as through its broadband and community sites: www.mtvrevolution.com and www.lazona.com.
NEW YORK, Jan. 18 /PRNewswire/ — Avon Products, Inc. (NYSE: AVP) today announced that it has committed $1 million to support relief efforts in Haiti in response to the devastating earthquake in that country. The company said that the money will be donated through the Avon Foundation for Women, and will be distributed to the American Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders, two organizations that are deeply involved in efforts to aid victims of the January 12 earthquake.
$500,000 to the American Red Cross International Response Fund, the humanitarian organization that provides relief to victims of disasters; the agency is working closely with Haitian Red Cross to assist those affected by this disaster.
$500,000 to Doctors Without Borders, the international medical humanitarian organization that has already assisted more than 1,000 people on the ground in Haiti and has committed to continuing to provide critically-needed medical services.
In addition, the company said that its North America business is planning to launch other initiatives to further assist the victims of the earthquake, including donations from product sales.
Avon, the company for women, is a leading global beauty company, with over $10 billion in annual revenue. As the world’s largest direct seller, Avon markets to women in more than 100 countries through approximately 6 million independent Avon Sales Representatives. Avon’s product line includes beauty products, as well as fashion and home products, and features such well-recognized brand names as Avon Color, Anew, Skin-So-Soft, Advance Techniques, Avon Naturals, and Mark. Learn more about Avon and its products at www.avoncompany.com. | 2019-04-20T19:23:58Z | http://www.antiguatribune.com/category/pr-news/page/65/ |
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