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Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Why I'm delighted Tokyo wants Talentime.
Four years ago, when Sepet came under fire from Berita Harian, RTM, and even the then Minister of Culture, it was given the Best Asian Film award at the 18th Tokyo International Film Festival.
Then just last year, the 21st TIFF gave Muallaf a Special Mention in the Asian-Middle Eastern section, while here at home, it was facing a possible ban.
Is it any wonder, then, that when they wrote and asked us for Talentime, I was both touched and thrilled?
You may find this hard to believe, but I never ever think about festivals or awards while I'm writing a script or making a film. But given the flak I get back home sometimes, you cannot blame me for feeling at least a little vindicated when foreign festivals like Tokyo seek my permission to celebrate our films.
Allah is indeed great.
Posted by yasmin at 11:06 PM 47 comments:
Saturday, June 27, 2009
What do you call a comedian who never swore, and never made fun of anyone other than himself?
I would call him "a genius", and he would be Tommy Cooper, my favourite comedian of all time.
Right from the moment I first saw him play out a sketch, I believed that if I, as a scriptwriter and a filmmaker were to observe him closely, I might learn something to help me with my craft.
If you're reading this, and you fancy taking up scriptwriting and/or filmmaking one day, try this simple test:
What do you reckon was the biggest lesson in filmmaking I learnt, just by observing the late great Tommy Cooper?
Posted by yasmin at 8:53 PM 24 comments:
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Food for farmers, fit for kings.
It's Vietnamese hot noodle broth with beef or chicken, and it's called the "pho".
No, it's not pronounced "po", or "fo", or even "fur", and it's impossible to learn how to say it, without someone sitting in front of you to instruct the intonations and inflexions. (Yes, there are more than one intonation/inflexion just in that one brief word!)
It's soup is made with home-made beef or chicken stock. No fat or oil is added to that already drawn from the meats.
Herbs and spices include basil leaves, cardamom, cinnamon, fennel seeds, ginger, lemongrass, nutmeg, sawgrass, scallions, shallots, sriracha and star anise.
The noodles or koay teow are immersed shortly before serving the broth, so as to retain the firmness of texture.
Fresh bean sprouts, chilli padi, lime, and fish sauce are served on the side.
Pho is, by any reckoning, humble food.
If you're in Saigon, try it at a small halal restaurant with the inappropriately grand name of "Four Seasons". I did, yesterday.
And it... was... DIVINE!
Posted by yasmin at 10:45 PM 25 comments:
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Off to Saigon for four days!
We're looking at actors and locations. There'll be auditions and lots of looking around for suitable places to shoot.
Wish us luck. I'll be back on Friday, inshaallah. Then it's Taipei on Saturday.
Posted by yasmin at 10:07 AM 32 comments:
Friday, June 19, 2009
My fourth time judging at an international film festival. (Excited giler, siot!)
It all began in 2006, with the Fajr International Film Festival in Iran. What an experience that was! Tehran was freezing, my skin was so dry that my whole body was itchy, and my poor mother slipped and fell on the sleet-covered sidewalk and cracked her wrist.
On the plus side, I met Abbas Kiarostami, Majid Majidee, and became close friends with Bahman Ghobadi.
Another sunny side to Tehran was meeting a Turkish ulama with whom I shared my experiences on Gubra, and how certain quarters here went up in arms over the idea of a bilal who was very civil towards dogs and prostitutes. His response was, "What kind of Muslims do you have in your country?!"
Then it was Thessaloniki in Greece. This time around, it was my husband who came along. We enjoyed long walks, holding hands, by the Thermikos Bay, and the Greeks took us dining at magnificent restaurants. (Greek salads have no equal on earth.)
Best of all, I got to judge with, and learn from, cinematic luminaries like Fred Roos and Jirzi Menzel.
Next was Berlin. It was freezing again, but thankfully, a lot less dry. And by then, I had already developed such a soft spot for the Berlinale. They had given Mukhsin two prizes the year before, and, as it so happened, just slightly over a week after that memorable, if somewhat traumatic, bout of jury duty in Iran.
And now, Taipei.
I was in Taipei for the Golden Horse Film Festival less than two years ago, when they held a retrospective of my films: Sepet, Gubra, and Mukhsin. It was a charming experience I should never forget.
To start with, each screening was held in a thousand-seater hall, and almost every screening saw a full house. Alhamdulillah.
The programmers had lined up the screenings of my films in the chronological order of Orked's life, starting with Mukhsin, and ending with Gubra. Smart move, I thought.
But the most sensational experience of all happened at the Q&A after a screening of Sepet.
A young man in the audience declared openly, "Hi, I'm from Tainan City, in the south of Taiwan. My friend and I saw Sepet last year and we loved it. He is so sad that he couldn't come, but he asked me to kiss you for him. Would you please let me kiss you?"
The audience roared with wild laughter. Then, just as suddenly, it fell silent, waiting for a response from me. But I was gobsmacked!
First of all, I kept thinking, "How on earth did they get to see Sepet in Tainan?" And secondly, how the hell do you say "No" to a guy who was obviously very shy, but had somehow mustered enough courage to make such an earnest request, in front of 999 people?
After a long, uncomfortable spell of pin-drop silence, I cleared my throat nervously and mumbled into the microphone, "Ok... but can it wait until we're outside?" I swear the hall then literally shook with the thunderous applause and foot-stomping that ensued.
Sigh. Unforgettable city, Taipei.
Posted by yasmin at 9:38 AM 44 comments:
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Strictly for ardent fans of Tora-san.
Anyone who has ever clicked on the profile button of this blog would be familiar with the eclectic nature of my top 10 favourite films. And while some may note the presence of what certain people refer to as "arthouse films", others may wonder what films like Raj Kapoor's "Bobby" are doing there.
Closer to the truth would be those who notice the one constant factor in my choice of favourite films: Sentimentality. And that would explain the nature of my own films which, unfortunately, has been the reason why some people disapprove of them so.
Towards the end of 2002, I stumbled upon a Japanese film called "Tasogare Seibei" (Twilight Samurai), written and directed by an old man named Yoji Yamada. So taken was I with the simplicity of the story, and the basic yet deep and humble emotions that dwelled within it, that I hungrily found out as much as I could about Yamada-san's body of work.
I remember Encik Hassan Muthalib, one of my three gurus of filmmaking, telling me to look out for the Tora-san series. Yamada-san had made 48 films in the series, apparently, so I searched everywhere I could -- in Singapore, Hong Kong, and France -- for the very first one.
Happily, I found a dvd copy of it in Hong Kong. It was the last on the shelf, and it was entitled "Otoko wa Tsuraiyo" (It's Hard Being A Man).
The film opened with a square-faced man in his late thirties, roaming around the Japanese countryside, with his voice narrating his plight. He had left home as a teenager after getting into a fight with his father, his head bloodied as a result of it. He had left behind a younger sister named Sakura, now living with some relatives after their parents had died. It was spring now, and watching the Sakura flowers falling made him think about going home. He sang a song, and in it, apologised to Sakura for having been such an unreliable brother to her.
It all sounds terribly melodramatic, obviously, and in a way it was, but as you can see from the third video above, the film offers laughter as well as tears. There are no heroes in the story, and neither are there villains. Every character on screen is capable of both heroism and villainy.
In other words, they are just like you and me.
I have since watched 30 of the 48 in the Tora-san series. Sometimes you get mad at his rude, calloused ways, but sometimes you can't help but admire his kindness and courage in the face of adversity.
In the end, Tora-san was just a man. Worthy of scorn, worthy of admiration, and most of all, worthy of our love and compassion.
On August 4, 1996, the main actor of the Tora-san series, Kiyoshi Atsumi, died, after two years of battling pulmonary tuberculosis. Thus ended the world's longest movie series, in the history of cinema.
Recently I saw the 48th installation, the last in the series, and Atsumi-san clearly looked weak, despite the laughter and bravado so characteristic of Tora-san.
At the end of the film, when the credits rolled, I wept and wept. I realised then that it wasn't just Tora-san I was weeping for. It was for every man I had ever known and learned to love -- my father, my husband, my brother, nephews, and even my friends.
I wept recognising that no one was perfect, and that if we expected to be loved for all our imperfections, why are we so reluctant to accept and forgive the imperfections of others?
("Otoko wa Tsuraiyo" is now officially my number one favourite film of all time.)
Posted by yasmin at 11:32 PM 76 comments:
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Sharifah Amani, Nothingness, and Kiki Sugino.
While looking at locations for "Wasurenagusa" and meeting with investors in Japan a couple of months ago, I asked our Executive Producer, Kousuke Ono, to take us to Ozu's grave.
So off we went, the four of us. Sharifah Amani (who is to play the lead character Inom), Kiki (the producer who will also play Yukiko), Ono-san himself, and I.
We took a long train ride from Tokyo to Kita-Kamakura station, walked to Engaku Temple at the edge of it, and climbed steep paths and steps to the tomb of one of my favorite filmmakers of all time.
Written on his tombstone was the Chinese character "Wu" ("Mu" in Japanese).
In my opinion, along with the term "Zen", "Wu" is perhaps one of the most frequently misunderstood words in history. It literally means "Nothing", and herein lies the first hint of its hidden meaning.
No one is truly able to understand Nothingness or the figure Zero, any more than they can comprehend the concept of Infinity.
So what does it mean when we say a Thing is in a state of Nothingness? How can Nothing (No Thing) ever be a Thing at the same time?
Perhaps, and I stress perhaps, it has something to do with Lao Tzu's concept of emptiness.
"The True Way is empty
yet it fills every vessel with endless supply
The True Way is hidden
yet it shines in every corner of the universe"
Five times a day, a Muslim is asked to face what some people would describe as The True Way.
He begins by standing upright.
At some point, he lowers his head and torso and bows.
A little later, he finds himself at an even lower position, kneeling and pressing his forehead against the ground.
All the while, as he reduces himself physically, he expresses obeisance and utters words that concede absolute subservience to a Greater Power.
In other words, he drops all manners of arrogance, and sheds any belief of self-importance.
Is he, in fact, approaching the state of Nothingness?
Posted by yasmin at 8:31 PM 74 comments:
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Why do I love this deceptively simple poem by William Carlos Williams? Would anyone care to explain?
I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox
and which
you were probably
for breakfast
Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold
Posted by yasmin at 9:05 PM 88 comments:
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Talentime screening at FINAS, free entry for public.
At 3pm this Saturday May 23, inshaallah FINAS will be screening our film Talentime at Pawagam Mini P.Ramlee, followed by a Q&A with the audience. On the panel will be Dr Wan Zawawi, Mahesh Jugal Kishor, and I.
See you there, maybe?
Posted by yasmin at 9:36 PM 57 comments:
Monday, May 18, 2009
Inshaallah, after "Wasurenagusa", it's a Singaporean film called "Go, Thaddeus!"
( The article below was lifted from Today, the Singaporean daily paper. Look it up here: http://www.todayonline.com/articles/320449.asp )
Monday, May 18, 2009.
Go, Yasmin, go! Malaysian director tackles Singaporean teen triathlete's tragic death for new film. ~ Mayo Martin in Cannes
Yasmin Ahmad's new film will soon be up and running. And it's based on one of the biggest tragedies to have hit Singapore sport, involving triathlete Thaddeus Cheong.
Yasmin, the Malaysian director of award-winning films like Muallaf and the TV commercials for the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports — Eulogy and Red Shoes — is currently writing the script for "Go, Thaddeus!"
In June 2007, the 17-year-old Cheong, a Raffles Junior College student, collapsed at the finish line during a selection race for the South-east Asian Games triathlon event. He died soon after.
"Go, Thaddeus!" will be based on the book "Running The Full Distance: Thaddeus Cheong", written by the late athlete's aunt, Belinda Wee.
It is set to be released in Singapore and Malaysia in August next year as a lead up to the Singapore Youth Olympics.
Coming on board as producer is Thomas Chia, director of independent movie distributor Lighthouse Pictures. The first-time feature-length producer told Today at the Cannes Film Festival that Wee had contacted Yasmin through him.
Chia, a personal friend of the director and distributor of her films, said: "(Wee) sent me the book, I finished it in four hours and cried my eyes out. I knew Yasmin would be interested in something like this."
He added: "I saw this project as viable because it's for the Youth Olympics, it's a real story of a national hero, and Belinda went all out to get all the government agencies to be involved." One of the film's earliest supporters is the Singapore Sports Council.
The 15-day shoot for "Go, Thaddeus!" commences in February next year, with an estimated budget of somewhere between $700,000 to $1.2 million. Actors have yet to be cast, but Chia revealed that the short list for one of the lead roles includes a Singapore TV and movie actress, and that Yasmin "has been speaking to one of the biggest actresses in Malaysia. And she's Chinese".
Posted by yasmin at 4:45 AM 40 comments:
Sunday, May 17, 2009
If the ticket counter person says it's a full-house, insist on seeing their computer screen!
What happened to Gubra has been happening to SellOut!
People wanting to buy tickets were told there were none left and that it was a full house, when in actual fact the hall was half empty. Don't ask me why they're doing it, but apparently some of them do.
So if you feel like supporting an internationally-acclaimed Malaysian comedy that was a hit in Italy, do the right thing. Insist, insist, insist they sell you the ticket you want to buy.
Posted by yasmin at 1:08 PM 39 comments:
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
My first hard-sell commercial in a while!
My husband often said to me, "You have it easy. All you do is make entertaining commercials that don't require direct, hard selling of a product's benefits."
He was right, of course, although I often argued that making my kind of commercials wasn't as easy as it seemed.
That's why I grabbed the chance to make this product benefit riddled spot for my favourite airline in the world.
Admittedly, it wasn't an easy task, but it was one that I enjoyed immensely.
I hope you enjoy watching it.
Posted by yasmin at 10:07 AM 100 comments:
Saturday, April 18, 2009
The killing of a puppy.
This morning, I received a heartbreaking email which brought tears to my eyes.
Entitled "Puppy Murderer", it read as follows:
"6 month puppy, strangled because it entered a neighbour's house and into prayer area. Story: Langkawi. Owner of dog Muslim. Neighbour Malay. Puppy gets loose and enters neighbour's house. Neighbour takes a noose and strangles dog to death. Rescuers arrive in time to bury the dog and get profanities shouted at them by puppy murderer. We need to do some justice for the dog and educate these people. We are awaiting more news about this incident - please contact me, Sherrina K, at 012 202 6384."
Recently, I received a long comment on my SPCA video, which Lembaga Penapisan Filem refused to let us run, without some drastic changes. The irate commenter said that I was making a big deal out of nothing, and that there were more pressing issues at hand.
Well, to that commenter, I submit that yesterday, while that self-righteous neighbour tied that noose around that puppy's neck and tightened it, nothing mattered more to that innocent, helpless creature of God than to have a kind hand intervene and loosen that rope, so it could run home again, into the arms of the people who loved it.
Posted by yasmin at 1:53 AM 86 comments:
Friday, April 3, 2009
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Thursday, March 12, 2009
"Talentime" - Countdown to March 26th.
It's been a bit crazy.
In the last four weeks, I've shot 14 commercials for Earth Hour, one for AirAsia, and just last week, one for the Singapore government.
And in between, I attended one meet-and-greet session for the second release of "Muallaf" in Singapore, and two pre-release screenings of "Talentime".
The picture you see above was taken at the Q&A session following a press screening of "Talentime" at Cineleisure, The Curve.
Yes, it's been crazy. And I'm deliriously happy. Alhamdulillah.
Posted by yasmin at 7:24 PM 117 comments:
Thursday, March 5, 2009
An achingly beautiful film.
Okuribito (Departures) is a film by 54-year old Yojiro Takita. You must do everything possible to watch this Oscar winning film, as soon as you can.
Posted by yasmin at 4:15 PM 58 comments:
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
"Muallaf" re-opens in Singapore at Causeway Point, starting today.
I'm in Singapore, so I might drop by later to see if everything's alright.
Inshaallah, I'll be there this Saturday afternoon to watch the 3:30pm with the audience.
So, my darling Singaporeans, see you there!
Posted by yasmin at 8:20 PM 28 comments:
Why didn't anyone tell us that we won two of these!
I chanced upon this website ~
~ and discovered that all of two years ago, our film "Mukhsin" had won two of these awards, including the Best Feature Film, from the international jury of that festival.
What I would like to know is, who's got the trophies?
I mean, sure, perhaps it's not as prestigious a festival as the Berlinale, but hey, "Mukhsin" already HAD won two prizes at the Berlinale. Besides, I'm not one to dismiss any blessing the Lord presents to me, however small it may seem to others.
So please, if anyone out there knows where these trophies are (someone from Grand Brilliance perhaps, or maybe they're still with the festival organisers?), please at least let me have a look at them.
These Olympia trophies would make the number of international awards won by "Mukhsin" total up to eight. (Oh, but none in Malaysia, though... ahem!)
Posted by yasmin at 9:59 AM 23 comments:
Sunday, March 1, 2009
"Talentime" nominated for the SIGNIS Award at the 33rd Hong Kong International Film Festival.
You can read all about it here: http://www.hkiff.org.hk/eng/info/festival/awards/4.html
"Co-organised with SIGNIS Hong Kong, it is a salute to films that fully express social and humanitarian concerns, as well as spiritual and artistic values."
No Puedo Vivir Sin Ti (Taiwan)
Somewhere I Have Never Travelled (Taiwan)
Lonely Tunes of Tehran (Iran)
Deep in the Valley (Japan)
Treeless Mountain (Korea)
The Blue Bird (Japan)
Once Upon a Time in Rio (Brazil)
Vaclav (Czech Republic)
The Rainbow Troops (Indonesia)
Talentime (Malaysia)
Mid August Lunch (Italy)
Quiet Chaos (Italy)
As always, we're not really expecting to win, but very grateful to be nominated at all, amidst what looks like really, really tough competition.
Posted by yasmin at 6:45 AM 55 comments:
Monday, February 16, 2009
Sunday, February 15, 2009
By far the best film I've seen in the last 12 months!
This little big film absolutely threw me for six.
I'm not a fan of Colin "see-how-good-I-look-when-I-brood" Farrell. And with very few exceptions from Hitchcock and Kitano, crime thrillers usually thrill me about as much as a plate of boiled fish.
But right from the word "Go", this small story, set in the small Belgian town of Bruge, shook me to my foundation.
As a writer of screenplays, I marvelled at the deftness with which Martin McDonagh roused every human emotion possible to make me sympathise with, believe it or not, three MURDERERS, making me laugh and cry with each character, all the way, right until the very end.
Not since Almodovar's "Talk To Her" and Neil Jordan's "Mona Lisa" did I sit back after watching a film and thought, "Damn, I wish I had written that script!"
I rank this head and shoulders above all other films I've seen this year and most of last year, including, yes, the much lauded "Slumdogs".
Posted by yasmin at 6:33 AM 51 comments:
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Please spread this little film.
On the 29th of December, 2008, my crew and I shot this commercial in Ipoh. It was a one-day shoot, alhamdulillah.
I had written a script, based on the true story of Encik Shahrul's family, or more specifically, of his youngest child, Adlan.
Adlan was an extreme autistic who, for 7 years, behaved like he was trapped in a bubble, unable to communicate with the outside world, and vice versa.
What finally brought him out of that state is shown in the commercial you see here.
The dog is the most misunderstood animal in this country. Its haters, I'm sad to say, are largely Malays who often don't even know the difference between "haram" and "najis", let alone the finer points and different degrees of najis.
With this little film, I urge my people to read more about the true Islamic rules concerning this beautiful creature of God, and to please refrain from being cruel to it.
Let's do this for Allah.
Posted by yasmin at 7:38 PM 124 comments:
Sunday, February 1, 2009
"Muallaf" back by popular demand in Singapore.
Inshaallah, come February the 26th, something which almost never happens, will happen.
It's called a "re-release", and it's scheduled to take place at the Cathay Causeway Point cinema.
As some of you may know, our film was severely maligned by one local journalist who could not tell the difference between Quranic and Biblical verses, but never bothered to find out, and went on to accuse me of being a religious pluralist.
Consequently, there was a sort of cyberspace persecution, where bloggers and forumers who had never even seen the film embarked upon a blind crusade to send me to hell. And to think that they were attacking the very same film which made many people in Japan and Singapore, both Muslims and non-Muslims, look up the Holy Quran and later confess how they found it beautiful.
Perhaps that's why the mere thought of "Muallaf" resurfacing, despite all those attempts to suppress it, now moves me so deeply.
"If Allah helps you, none can overcome you. If He forsakes you, who is there, after that, that can help you? In Allah, then, let believers put their trust." - Al-Imran, 3:160.
Posted by yasmin at 7:29 AM 97 comments:
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Wish us well on tonight's charity screening for Mercy Malaysia's work in Gaza.
We didn't want to complicate things by opening it to the public. Handling cash is dicey. So we decided to keep it simple by inviting a select group of corporations to donate and attend the very first theatrical screening of our new film "Talentime".
It's a 320-seater cinema hall, but we didn't really care if only 7 people turned up, as long as they brought cheques with them. The corporations we invited were given no "minimum amount" instructions, and were told they could send up to 30 or 40 people.
Response has been good, alhamdulillah.
We saw the print yesterday at a local colour lab studio and it looked beautiful, thank God. Jaclyn Victor's performance was particularly outstanding on big screen. That girl can go far, inshaallah.
My producer and I will most likely be sitting at the back of the hall, anxiously watching the audience reactions throughout our 1 hour 57 minute film.
The seats are almost fully taken, with some room to spare for our main cast. Jac, Mahesh, Kahoe, Pamela, Elza, Kak Azean, and Ida Nerina might come. Mohd Syafie, unfortunately, is in Sarawak at a shoot.
May Allah guide us in making things run smoothly tonight. Ameen, ya rabbal aalameen.
(ps: "Talentime" is scheduled for general theatrical release on March 26th, 2009. "Muallaf" will be back, by popular demand, in Singapore, from February 26th.)
Posted by yasmin at 8:29 PM 60 comments:
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Quick update.
"Muallaf" is at Lembaga Penapisan Filem. Apparently, the verdict will be announced tomorrow.
Fendi Harjoh, the producer for "Talentime", delivered the print to them and asked that it be given at least a temporary stamp of approval, if not a full one.
He also asked that they got onto it immediately as each single day of delay would mean a delay in the delivery of much needed medicine and medical equipment to Gaza.
Inshaallah, the private corporate screening of "Muallaf" will be held next week, at Cineleisure, The Curve.
Please pray that it'll happen sooner rather than later.
In the meantime, we had a photo shoot of our main actors yesterday at Studio DL. Faiz Akbar is designing the poster, and David Lok is the photographer.
The picture above is NOT the "Talentime" poster. It was just something we were trying out.
Aren't my babies beautiful?
Posted by yasmin at 7:14 AM 37 comments:
Sunday, January 11, 2009
An important article about the lies the Western and Israeli media tells about Gaza, written by an Israeli journalist.
NEARLY SEVENTY YEARS ago, in the course of World War II, a heinous crime was committed in the city of Leningrad. For more than a thousand days, a gang of extremists called "the Red Army" held the millions of the town's inhabitants hostage and provoked retaliation from the German Wehrmacht from inside the population centers. The Germans had no alternative but to bomb and shell the population and to impose a total blockade, which caused the death of hundreds of thousands.
Some time before that, a similar crime was committed in England. The Churchill gang hid among the population of London, misusing the millions of citizens as a human shield. The Germans were compelled to send their Luftwaffe and reluctantly reduce the city to ruins. They called it the Blitz.
This is the description that would now appear in the history books – if the Germans had won the war.
Absurd? No more than the daily descriptions in our media, which are being repeated ad nauseam: the Hamas terrorists use the inhabitants of Gaza as "hostages" and exploit the women and children as "human shields", they leave us no alternative but to carry out massive bombardments, in which, to our deep sorrow, thousands of women, children and unarmed men are killed and injured.
IN THIS WAR, as in any modern war, propaganda plays a major role. The disparity between the forces, between the Israeli army - with its airplanes, gunships, drones, warships, artillery and tanks - and the few thousand lightly armed Hamas fighters, is one to a thousand, perhaps one to a million. In the political arena the gap between them is even wider. But in the propaganda war, the gap is almost infinite.
Almost all the Western media initially repeated the official Israeli propaganda line. They almost entirely ignored the Palestinian side of the story, not to mention the daily demonstrations of the Israeli peace camp. The rationale of the Israeli government ("The state must defend its citizens against the Qassam rockets") has been accepted as the whole truth. The view from the other side, that the Qassams are a retaliation for the siege that starves the one and a half million inhabitants of the Gaza Strip, was not mentioned at all.
Only when the horrible scenes from Gaza started to appear on Western TV screens, did world public opinion gradually begin to change.
True, Western and Israeli TV channels showed only a tiny fraction of the dreadful events that appear 24 hours every day on Aljazeera's Arabic channel, but one picture of a dead baby in the arms of its terrified father is more powerful than a thousand elegantly constructed sentences from the Israeli army spokesman. And that is what is decisive, in the end.
War – every war – is the realm of lies. Whether called propaganda or psychological warfare, everybody accepts that it is right to lie for one's country. Anyone who speaks the truth runs the risk of being branded a traitor.
The trouble is that propaganda is most convincing for the propagandist himself. And after you convince yourself that a lie is the truth and falsification reality, you can no longer make rational decisions.
An example of this process surrounds the most shocking atrocity of this war so far: the shelling of the UN Fakhura school in Jabaliya refugee camp.
Immediately after the incident became known throughout the world, the army "revealed" that Hamas fighters had been firing mortars from near the school entrance. As proof they released an aerial photo which indeed showed the school and the mortar. But within a short time the official army liar had to admit that the photo was more than a year old. In brief: a falsification.
Later the official liar claimed that "our soldiers were shot at from inside the school". Barely a day passed before the army had to admit to UN personnel that that was a lie, too. Nobody had shot from inside the school, no Hamas fighters were inside the school, which was full of terrified refugees.
But the admission made hardly any difference anymore. By that time, the Israeli public was completely convinced that "they shot from inside the school", and TV announcers stated this as a simple fact.
So it went with the other atrocities. Every baby metamorphosed, in the act of dying, into a Hamas terrorist. Every bombed mosque instantly became a Hamas base, every apartment building an arms cache, every school a terror command post, every civilian government building a "symbol of Hamas rule". Thus the Israeli army retained its purity as the "most moral army in the world".
THE TRUTH is that the atrocities are a direct result of the war plan. This reflects the personality of Ehud Barak – a man whose way of thinking and actions are clear evidence of what is called "moral insanity", a sociopathic disorder.
The real aim (apart from gaining seats in the coming elections) is to terminate the rule of Hamas in the Gaza Strip. In the imagination of the planners, Hamas is an invader which has gained control of a foreign country. The reality is, of course, entirely different.
The Hamas movement won the majority of the votes in the eminently democratic elections that took place in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. It won because the Palestinians had come to the conclusion that Fatah's peaceful approach had gained precisely nothing from Israel - neither a freeze of the settlements, nor release of the prisoners, nor any significant steps toward ending the occupation and creating the Palestinian state. Hamas is deeply rooted in the population – not only as a resistance movement fighting the foreign occupier, like the Irgun and the Stern Group in the past – but also as a political and religious body that provides social, educational and medical services.
From the point of view of the population, the Hamas fighters are not a foreign body, but the sons of every family in the Strip and the other Palestinian regions. They do not "hide behind the population", the population views them as their only defenders.
Therefore, the whole operation is based on erroneous assumptions. Turning life into living hell does not cause the population to rise up against Hamas, but on the contrary, it unites behind Hamas and reinforces its determination not to surrender. The population of Leningrad did not rise up against Stalin, any more than the Londoners rose up against Churchill.
He who gives the order for such a war with such methods in a densely populated area knows that it will cause dreadful slaughter of civilians. Apparently that did not touch him. Or he believed that "they will change their ways" and "it will sear their consciousness", so that in future they will not dare to resist Israel.
A top priority for the planners was the need to minimize casualties among the soldiers, knowing that the mood of a large part of the pro-war public would change if reports of such casualties came in. That is what happened in Lebanon Wars I and II.
This consideration played an especially important role because the entire war is a part of the election campaign. Ehud Barak, who gained in the polls in the first days of the war, knew that his ratings would collapse if pictures of dead soldiers filled the TV screens.
Therefore, a new doctrine was applied: to avoid losses among our soldiers by the total destruction of everything in their path. The planners were not only ready to kill 80 Palestinians to save one Israeli soldier, as has happened, but also 800. The avoidance of casualties on our side is the overriding commandment, which is causing record numbers of civilian casualties on the other side.
That means the conscious choice of an especially cruel kind of warfare – and that has been its Achilles heel.
A person without imagination, like Barak (his election slogan: "Not a Nice Guy, but a Leader") cannot imagine how decent people around the world react to actions like the killing of whole extended families, the destruction of houses over the heads of their inhabitants, the rows of boys and girls in white shrouds ready for burial, the reports about people bleeding to death over days because ambulances are not allowed to reach them, the killing of doctors and medics on their way to save lives, the killing of UN drivers bringing in food. The pictures of the hospitals, with the dead, the dying and the injured lying together on the floor for lack of space, have shocked the world. No argument has any force next to an image of a wounded little girl lying on the floor, twisting with pain and crying out: "Mama! Mama!"
The planners thought that they could stop the world from seeing these images by forcibly preventing press coverage. The Israeli journalists, to their shame, agreed to be satisfied with the reports and photos provided by the Army Spokesman, as if they were authentic news, while they themselves remained miles away from the events. Foreign journalists were not allowed in either, until they protested and were taken for quick tours in selected and supervised groups. But in a modern war, such a sterile manufactured view cannot completely exclude all others – the cameras are inside the strip, in the middle of the hell, and cannot be controlled. Aljazeera broadcasts the pictures around the clock and reaches every home.
THE BATTLE for the TV screen is one of the decisive battles of the war. Hundreds of millions of Arabs from Mauritania to Iraq, more than a billion Muslims from Nigeria to Indonesia see the pictures and are horrified. This has a strong impact on the war. Many of the viewers see the rulers of Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority as collaborators with Israel in carrying out these atrocities against their Palestinian brothers.
The security services of the Arab regimes are registering a dangerous ferment among the peoples. Hosny Mubarak, the most exposed Arab leader because of his closing of the Rafah crossing in the face of terrified refugees, started to pressure the decision-makers in Washington, who until that time had blocked all calls for a cease-fire. These began to understand the menace to vital American interests in the Arab world and suddenly changed their attitude – causing consternation among the complacent Israeli diplomats.
People with moral insanity cannot really understand the motives of normal people and must guess their reactions. "How many divisions has the Pope?" Stalin sneered. "How many divisions have people of conscience?" Ehud Barak may well be asking.
As it turns out, they do have some. Not numerous. Not very quick to react. Not very strong and organized. But at a certain moment, when the atrocities overflow and masses of protesters come together, that can decide a war.
THE FAILURE to grasp the nature of Hamas has caused a failure to grasp the predictable results. Not only is Israel unable to win the war, Hamas cannot lose it.
Even if the Israeli army were to succeed in killing every Hamas fighter to the last man, even then Hamas would win. The Hamas fighters would be seen as the paragons of the Arab nation, the heroes of the Palestinian people, models for emulation by every youngster in the Arab world. The West Bank would fall into the hands of Hamas like a ripe fruit, Fatah would drown in a sea of contempt, the Arab regimes would be threatened with collapse.
If the war ends with Hamas still standing, bloodied but unvanquished, in the face of the mighty Israeli military machine, it will look like a fantastic victory, a victory of mind over matter.
What will be seared into the consciousness of the world will be the image of Israel as a blood-stained monster, ready at any moment to commit war crimes and not prepared to abide by any moral restraints. This will have severe consequences for our long-term future, our standing in the world, our chance of achieving peace and quiet.
In the end, this war is a crime against ourselves too, a crime against the State of Israel.
(Uri Avnery is an Israeli journalist, peace activist, former member of the Knesset, and leader of Gush Shalom. He is a regular contributor to Media Monitors Network (MMN).)
Web link
Posted by yasmin at 7:20 AM 19 comments:
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Sad, but hopeful. Dr Jem's latest sms from Gaza.
At around 5:50am this morning of January the 8th, 2009, I sent a message to Dr Jemilah:
"Salaam, my love. Hope all's well with you. We're in the midst of organising a charity screening of 'Muallaf' to garner corporate donations for Mercy. Doa for us, ok?"
Her response came in less than a minute:
"Alhamdulillah. I am fine. Spent some time with Palestinian kids transferred to Cairo for treatment. They were crying and wanting to go home! They don't realise their homes have been blown apart. So very sad. Getting the second consignment ready to go again. Take care. Salaam to all and thank everyone for their generosity and doas."
So far, AirAsia, the New Straits Times, TV3, Alliance Cosmetics (Silky Girl), AddAudio and McCann-Ericson have said YES to block-booking seats for the screening. I thank them for their generosity. Heads of corporations reading this are welcome to do the same.
We should be sending the "Muallaf" print to Lembaga Penapisan Filem next week, inshaallah. We are asking them not to make any cuts.
According to a recent report, about a third of those killed in Gaza have been children. Those children are now safe with Allah. Let's try and help the ones left behind wounded and homeless.
Posted by yasmin at 1:57 PM 46 comments:
Monday, January 5, 2009
Some news from Dr Jemilah of Mercy Malaysia.
Salaam, all.
Apart from the brief feature of Dr Jemilah in the video above, I also received another sms from her, after I told her that I was to be phone-interviewed, live, on Astro last night.
"Allahu Akbar (God is great). Please thank Malaysians for their support. After I wrote to you, the bombs stopped. I am now crossing into the border. Doa for me. Love u."
Latest news!
I sms'd Dr Jem, enquiring about her current state of affairs, and got this reply:
"Alhamdulillah (Praise the Lord). Nothing short of a miracle and Allah's love and mercy for us. We managed to transfer 50 tons of supplies. Many people waited for days, but we sailed through. Alhamdulillah. How was your TV thing? To be honest, it's been very slow on the fund-raising side from HQ."
Understandably, many of you out there are young and don't yet have a steady income. And you probably feel helpless about it all. Don't worry. You can do what a group of us did when we were studying in England: collect small amounts from as many people as possible, then ask someone with a bank account to make out a cheque. As Dr Jemilah often says, "No amount is too small, and will be gratefully received."
And who knows, the 10 ringgit that you gather may seem small, but by God's will, it could translate into some suture (medical sewing) which would stop a child from bleeding to death.
( Please make cheques payable to MERCY MALAYSIA. CIMB account number: 1424-000-6561053. For more information, please contact 03-2273 3999. )
Posted by yasmin at 8:21 PM 18 comments:
Sunday, January 4, 2009
IMPORTANT! Please watch these, or go straight to the end of the posting to find out how you can help.
Chomsky, Solomom, Ackerman, and many others. Even the Jews are speaking out against the Israeli occupation of Palestine.
For God's sake, and for the sake of thousands of broken children, please post these videos on your blogs and pass them around.
( I just received an sms from Dr Jemilah of Mercy Malaysia. It went like this: "Salaam, Min. As I write this, in the last 15 minutes more than 20 bombs have fallen on Gaza, within the distance I can hear them. We are about 2 km from Palestine, and it is a case of so near and yet so far. Our five trucks are loaded with USD100,000 worth of valuable medicine, surgical sets, and disposable items, including syringes, intravenous infusions and bandages. We will wait till the bombings stop, and once the gate opens, we will try to push the goods through. While the Egyptian border has thankfully allowed aid to go through, the challenge is to wait for trucks from the Palestine side to come and collect the goods. For the past day, they have not been able to collect even life saving goods as Israel continues with land and air assaults. We will try our best and stay till we can assure our aid goes through. Many people have been kind to us here and we ask for your continued support and prayers." )
Once again, I urge you to contact Mercy Malaysia at 03-2273 3999, or email to firstname.lastname@example.com and find out how best you can help raise funds for medical aid that can help save the lives of wounded children in Gaza.
Posted by yasmin at 10:01 PM 15 comments:
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Good news everyone! I've decided to create an improved and streamlined version of How!
Basically I've just removed a couple of bugs (guess what, now you can actually beat the final boss!) and I've added a few things here and there (new level too!).
So go ahead and download the latest version from the website!
No need to thank me.
M. Jensen

subset: commoncrawl


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London soul demos
Demo records of the sixties are much loved by record collectors, often attracting much higher prices that regular issues. There was the Beatles demo of Love Me Do that sold for £3,000 of course, but soul demos often go for eye wateringly high prices as well. London demo 45s do not seem to attract as much interest as quite a few released on the Stateside and Tamla Motown labels, for example, largely because there were fewer Northern soul tracks released on the label, but some of them have a strong appeal. The early demos were one sided only, and I featured some of these on the blog some time ago, but from 1960 onwards they were two sided. Here a few from my collection, mostly soul flavoured.
1. The Miracles - Shop Around/ Who's Lovin' You.
The Miracles' first UK release is a great record and was a huge hit in the States - Motown's first R and B number one - but it made very little impression in the UK. (It reached number one in my personal top ten at the time, but that didn't count for much). Written by Smokey Robinson and Berry Gordy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQGXa3FiXKM
One of the earliest UK releases from Stax, this was the label's house band in fantastic form. Produced by Chips Moman, the prominent organ riff is played by Jerry Lee 'Smoochy' Smith and Steve Cropper also contributed - but not on guitar. 'I wound up playing the hold-down on the organ on the root note,' he said. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FX5T9GvSnbY
This was the high point for New York R and B duo Roland "Don" Trone and Claude "Juan" Johnson reaching number 7 in the US. A superb record, recorded for Big Top, it missed out in the UK (but was another number one in my personal top ten.) Johnson was previously with doowop group the Genies. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrZf3vRHmkw
Well before You've Lost That Loving Feeling, the blue eyed soul of the Righteous Brothers produced a moderate US hit with this Bill Medley number. Another great record that failed to make a mark in the UK. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMS9niabUpA
The Hollies ruined this song when they covered it but in the hands of Doris Troy it was a soul classic. Co written by Doris under her then stage name of Doris Payne, it was recorded as a demo, but Jerry Wexler liked it so much he released it as it was and it reached number ten in the US. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tM_nfDPgcuI
This pre-war song written by two Englishmen for a BBC broadcast was something of a change of feel for James, but he pulled it off successfully and it featured frequently in his revue. B side is a bluesy organ instrumental. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8R8xzF2y5Jo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJgNdxUY00U
Otis's first UK release is an absolute classic but caused controversy at the time. The label states that the writers were Otis Redding and Phil Walden, but it bore a striking similarly to Irma Thomas's Ruler Of My Heart and subsequent issues, including the LP of the same name, attribute it to Naomi Neville, Allen Toussaint's pen name. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=158fwCG27zE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Um6zDTEqPro
By the time this rather downbeat song was released the popularity of the Ronettes was in decline, but it shows off Ronnie Spector's voice to perfection. It only reached number 75 in the US and it's something of a neglected classic, as is the B side. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HxcZ-IZJts https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8tDhAPSk5Y
Great double sider from the genius of Hi records. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3I73iXXKzFI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdliK6IwsYU
After the atmospheric Hey Girl in 1963 Freddy Scott lost his way somewhat as Columbia tried to turn him into a middle of the road singer, but he was bang on form with this 1966 Bert Berns song, recorded for Shout, which gave him his biggest US hit. Back up singers include Cissy Houston and the Sweet Inspirations. The Youtube video is not available for some reason - will have to put it on myself.


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Enforceability Of Noncompete Agreements
March 20, 2008 Leave a comment
It seems like every employee in every industry, field, and profession is governed by a noncompete agreement these days. Two myths that I often hear about noncompete agreements are that they are always enforceable or that they are never enforceable. The truth actually lies somewhere in between those extremes.
The bottom line is that employees need to take noncompete agreements very seriously because employers sure do. If there is one thing that employers will always sue former employees for, regardless of the cost, it's violation of noncompete agreements. The consequences of such a business practices or contract law lawsuit can be financially devastating, even if you win, so you need to be careful that you give as much respect and thought to your noncompete agreement as your employer does.
No Iowa law categorically invalidates noncompete agreements. They can be enforced by the courts like any other contract. Employees are taking a risk if they just ignore and violate them. Your best course is to have the noncompete agreement reviewed by an attorney before you sign it. Your next best choice is to have the noncompete agreement reviewed by an attorney before you decide to potentially break it. An attorney can give you a better idea of the enforceability of the agreement and the meaning of its restrictions. An attorney may also be able to help you negotiate a more favorable noncompete agreement that protects your employer's interests while still allowing you to work elsewhere.
Because of the myth that noncompete agreements are never enforceable, I have seen people get themselves into bad situations that have no easy way out because they go to work for a competitor in complete disregard of a noncompete agreement that they have with a former employer. To put it bluntly, if the former employer threatens a lawsuit over the violation of the noncompete agreement, the former employee is basically looking at three distasteful options: (1) find a new job that doesn't violate the noncompete; (2) pay the former employer a lot of money to settle the breach of contract claim; or (3) pay a lot of money for an attorney to defend the breach of contract claim in court.
The consequences of violating a noncompete agreement can be more serious than people realize. You can be forced by the court to stop working for the competitor. You may be ordered to pay money damages to your former employer. You may be ordered to pay your former employer's attorney fees.
In sum, litigation over a noncompete agreement should be avoided if possible through a preventative consultation with an attorney. If the noncompete agreement is likely enforceable, than you should avoid violating it or ask the attorney to try to negotiate a modification of the agreement. Once you have gone to a competitor and your former employer threatens litigation if you don't stop the competing employment, it is usually too late to avoid the problem or try to work something out with your former employer.


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President's Plaza Developer Complaint Acknowledged
RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) — The Rapid City Council has voted to acknowledge a developer's concerns about Mayor Sam Kooiker talking to potential funding sources for a proposed $50 million downtown development.
However, the vote doesn't require Kooiker to stop asking questions.
The Rapid City Journal reports Alderman Chad Lewis says Kooiker has the right to ask questions but that financial negotiations for the President's Plaza project are "fragile."
The project is to include a mix of retail shops, a hotel, a convention center, condominiums and a 500-stall parking garage. Kooiker has raised questions about the developer's efforts to secure up to $25 million in tax credits to help finance it.
Developers worry the mayor's questions might hurt their funding efforts. Kooiker says he supports the plan but thinks transparency also is important.
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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I love this city. I truly do. Young, vibrant and entrepreneurial, it is a place that I am proud to call home. At times, however, Calgary has had the reputation of being a touch trite and is oft accused (usually by those who spend little to no time in here) of being "unoriginal" or "vapid". It is an unfortunate slander, and one that long time Calgarians will passionately argue against .
It is true, we can can become vitriolic when defending our fair city. If Vancouver is the Ferris Bueller of Canada, delightfully irreverent and loved by all who encounter it. Than Calgary is certainly Ferris's younger sister Jeanie. It kills us that we are confidently doing our own thing, blazing our own trail with a no nonsense approach, but all anyone ever talks about is Ferris, Ferris FERRIS!
John Hughes taught us many things with the angst ridden teen characters who appeared in his films, but the core theme that ran through all of his great films was that before we can be truly happy we have to "let go and be ourselves". With that I would like to remind Calgarians of one of the most original, most unpretentious houses of "Hughessence" in the world, the nationally recognized "Ship and Anchor"
When the people of this city want to shed all the bullshit and just sit back and relax without the headaches of the office, or the stress of the nine to five, they go to the Ship. Why the Ship? Its pretty simple. For 20 years it has been Calgary's best spot for a pint. A place where the 21 year old cook can swill beer with the 65 year old oilman. Where the Betty Paige types can enjoy a rum with the Betty White types, and where the self-proclaimed intelligentsia rub elbows with the locally anointed "rock and roll" set. Truly a place where anyone is comfortable with everyone.
After too long a hiatus, I recently sat at the Ship bar to have a pint with my lovely fiance. We were instantly at ease. My good friend Sanjay was behind the bar, as he has been for years, and we bellied up to some good old fashioned pub food done properly, and a big glass of draught.
What better to do when you are shedding pretension than drink an American beer? I went for a pint of one of my favorites, Samuel Adams Pale Ale. This beer is much lighter and a far more traditional English style "pale" than the many of the super bitter, high hop, pales coming out of the States. The sweet peach fruit and delicate floral hops were a refreshing break from many of the "huge" beers I have been drinking lately. In a word… POUNDABLE.
We had a wonderful time as we always do and I wanted to take this time to encourage all Calgarians to get out to the Ship and enjoy a beer amongst some of the "good people" of this City.
I have a feeling the Ship and Anchor is going to be around for a very long time. After all, as Ferris says, "Only the meek get pinched, the bold survive."


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Mike Finkelstein
Director of Maintenance
Email Address: [email protected]
I've been multitasking with an eye on perfect service as a District bartender and restaurant manager for over a decade. Now I'm bringing the same skillset with an eye on your perfect house. Restaurant and bar management means keeping things flowing smoothly and managing drama effortlessly. My specialty! These days I'm overseeing our in-house Maintenance Team and ensuring happiness on both sides of the tenant/owner equation. As a DC native, I can't wait to share my enthusiasm for the District's ever evolving urban housing scene with anyone looking for their new nest.


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EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) The Los Angeles Kings have activated goalie Jeff Zatkoff from injured reserve after an eight-game absence with a groin injury.
The Kings also reassigned goalie Jack Campbell to their AHL affiliate in Ontario.
Zatkoff was injured during a morning skate on Oct. 22. He played in just three games with his new team before the injury, which occurred one week after Jonathan Quick badly injured his groin in Los Angeles' season opener.
NHL veteran Peter Budaj has been the Kings' top goalie in Zatkoff's absence, going 6-3-0 in 10 appearances with a 2.06 goals-against average and a .912 save percentage.
Zatkoff lost his first three decisions for the Kings with a bloated 4.38 GAA.
The Kings open a five-game road trip Tuesday at Toronto.


text: If it doesn't challenge you… it won't change you. Spread the love Tweet If it doesn't challenge you… it won't change you. #MotivationalMonday Get your motivation HERE! By amgym|2017-01-09T00:55:22-04:00June 13th, 2016|Categories: MotivationalMonday, Sports Psychology|Tags: MotivationalMonday|0 Comments Share This Story! FacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditGoogle+TumblrPinterestEmail Related Posts Souls & Goals Souls & Goals November 28th, 2016 | 0 Comments Joy in Challenges Joy in Challenges November 21st, 2016 | 0 Comments Strength Tomorrow Strength Tomorrow November 14th, 2016 | 0 Comments Never Settle Never Settle October 24th, 2016 | 0 Comments Dare to Dream Dare to Dream October 17th, 2016 | 0 Comments Leave A Comment Cancel reply Login with your Social IDComment Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.


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Lord Cameron of Lochbroom: Before the noble and learned Lord sits down, I should like to ask him a question. He indicated that he has charged many juries on rape cases north of the Border. I wonder whether his experience is similar to mine; namely, that on very infrequent occasions have I ever had to deal with the issue of "honest belief".
Lord McCluskey: The short answer to that question is that I have never, in my entire experience as a
Lord Lucas: I wish to make two brief points. First, I want to encourage my noble friend Lady Noakes not to disparage professional views. She has, as have I, spent most of her life working as an accountant and thus putting great weight on what accountants have to say. I have argued for a long time over financial affairs, but ultimately you must give in. For the most part, when accountants say that something is impracticable, they are right. Also, it can be dangerous to go against their advice.
Secondly, I do not think that it is a good idea to introduce the concept of "reasonable" into long-standing human relationships. Many of the cases we are considering here concern incidents that take place within the context of relationships that have been running for a good long time. Human relationships are varied and extremely strange when looked at by an outsider. Trying to view other people's relationships as something inherently reasonable is, I think, mistaken. People have their own ways of living and working things out, in particular within close relationships. Surely it is better to concentrate on the facts of the case rather than to introduce a strange third party, as if there was an objective view of human relationships.
Lord Falconer of Thoroton: I agree with the noble Viscount, Lord Bledisloe, that my earlier intervention was confusing and confused. We have had an extremely helpful debate on the principle. I congratulate the noble Earl, Lord Onslow, for spotting that it was worthwhile to debate the principle of whether or not one should import an objective element into the defence of consent. The issue arises not only in cases of rape but in cases of sexual assault and penetration.
The issue we are debating can be summarised as follows. No crime currently is committed where a person is forced against her will to have sexual intercourse with a person who can convince a court that he honestly interpreted whatever happened as consent to sex however unreasonable such a belief might be. Should that remain the law, or are there benefits in changing the law?
At this stage, I shall not debate the precise detail of how to introduce an objective element; the question is whether or not an objective element should be introduced. We believe that it should be, for two reasons. First, it is a more just approach; secondly, it is likely to produce more convictions. However, I am not able to say what the increased number would be.
I thoroughly endorse what the noble Baroness, Lady Howarth, saidnamely, that this is not a dispute between the lawyers on the one hand and the Baronesses on the other. This should be an earnest endeavour by all of us to find the right answer. It is not only lawyers in this country who are fairly divided in their views. For example, the Criminal Bar
Equally, we should not think that, because the wholly admirable Mrs Justice Heilbron in the 1970s took the view that there should not be a change, the position has stood still since then. We need to look at the question afresh and come to a reasonable conclusion.
What are the arguments for introducing an objective element? The Law Commission, when referring to the purely subjective rule, stated:
What does justice suggest is the right answer? The mistaken belief will often arise in a situation where it is easy to seek consent and the cost to the victim of the forced sexual activity is very high. It is not unfair to ask any person to take care to ensure that his partner is consenting and for him to be at risk of a prosecution if he does not. It easy to raise the defence of mistaken belief in consent but very hard for the prosecution to disprove it.
There is no justice in a situation where a person who has been raped, or subjected to other forced sexual activity, sees an assailant go free because of a belief that society as a whole would have found unreasonable or completely unreasonable or totally unreasonable. In considering where justice lies, it is important to consider not only the interests of the defendant but the interests of the victim. In circumstances where the defendant has behaved wholly unreasonably in believing that there is consent and could have taken steps to put the position beyond doubt, where should the risk lie? Should it lie with the victim who has, through her own experience, been raped in the sense that she has sexual intercourse forced upon her without her consent; or should it lie with the defendant who, although extraordinarily unreasonably, honestly believed that she consented? The defendant would be acquitted, rightly, under the current lawbut, we would say, wrongly as a matter of justicewhereas the victim will suffer from the humiliation of being raped and not receiving justice.
It is a difficult balance. It should not be determined by political correctness but by something that reflects people's understanding of what is or is not just. I am struck by the fact that the noble and learned Lord, Lord Lloyd of Berwick, the noble Lord, Lord Thomas of Gresford, and my noble friend Lady Mallalieu, all say that where the belief in consent is wholly unreasonable the jury will not acquit. If noble Lords
The noble Lord, Thomas of Gresford, believes that that is right; the noble Lord, Lord Alexander of Weedon, believes that that is right. They question whether the method by which we seek to achieve it will deliver that result, but in terms of increasing legitimate convictionsby which I mean defendants are convicted because they have committed the wrongand in relation to delivering justiceby which I mean ensuring that rape victims feel that the system understands their predicament and produces a just resultthe change to introduce an objective element is the right approach.
My noble friend Lord Campbell-Savours and the noble and learned Lord, Lord Morris of Aberavon, legitimately asked why so many cases are failing. Let me be clear about the statistics. Seven per cent of reported rapes end in a conviction; many cases do not lead to a charge being brought or continued with by the Crown Prosecution Service; the rate of conviction in respect of charges pursued and brought to court is about 45 per cent. It is important to be clear about the figures. The Crown Prosecution Service is obliged to address such cases in the way it addresses every other casethat is, there must be more than a 50 per cent chance of success and it must be in the public interest for the case to be brought. There is no difference in the approach to these issues from the approach to any other issues.
As to the approach of the Judicial Studies Boardwhich I believe to be correct; I make no complaintit will not produce standard directions until it sees the final form of the Bill; that is, when it becomes an Act of Parliament. The senior judiciary responded to Setting the Boundaries shortly before the Bill was introduced. I have had conversations with the senior judiciary about the detail of the provisions subsequent to the publication of the Bill.
Lord Lloyd of Berwick: Did I understand the Minister to say that in 45 per cent of cases brought to court there is a conviction? If so, why does he believe that figure is too low?
Lord Falconer of Thoroton: There is an issue both in relation to the consideration given to whether or not a charge should be brought and in relation to what happens when the case gets to trial. At both stages the law needs to reflect what we would regard as a sensible position. As to whether the conviction rate is too high or too low, I believe that 45 per cent is too low.
Lord Carlile of Berriew: Can the Minister confirm that he means that nobody has been asked to produce a specimen direction, despite requests being made on Second Reading that this should be done, and therefore nobody has tested whether such a specimen direction would have the sort of technical problems of which the noble Baroness, Lady Howarth, rightly complains?
Lord Falconer of Thoroton: The Judicial Studies Board has not; other people have been asked, including the noble Lord, Lord Thomas of Gresford, and counsel on behalf of the Government. We need to see what the Bill looks like later on. I think that after Committee is the time to produce a specimen direction. The amendments that the Government have tabled to Clause 78 will be incorporated in the Bill, if the Committee is minded to pass them, and we can see how complex this is.
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The City of Branson would like to give drivers in Branson a heads up on street maintenance that will occur through the month of June, 2018. The following work will begin this week and end Friday, June 29, 2018 depending on the weather.
Crews will begin milling these streets on Thursday, May 31, 2018 with repaving work to follow thereafter. Construction will be between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. each day.
Motorists traveling these roads or citizens living in these subdivisions are encouraged to be aware of signage and work crews in the Work Zone. One lane of the roads will be open to traffic at all times.


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Great things happened in 2012 – one of which being the formation of Far From Alaska – a band with a, what is best described as, stoner-rock sound. The band hails from the distant land of Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. The band consists of Emmily Barreto on the microphone, and Chris Botarelli on the synthesizer, lap steel, and vocals. Originally, it was just these two members who aimed to have something consistent musically, but as time went on, it was decided that Rafael Brasil (on guitar), Edu Filgueira (on bass) and Lauro Kirsch (on drums) just made sense and completed their outfitting.
A Brief History
Far From Alaska was originally just a project between Emmily and Chris, and decided together to have a side project including the other three above-mentioned band members, influenced by the kinetic sounds of Queens if the Stone Age, Kyuss, and Nine Inch Nails. None of the members, however, were foreign to being in a band, as all five had been dabbling in bands prior to Far From Alaska's formation.
Far From Alaska has their distinct sound. With the additional members, and being born as a band only six months prior, they won an award known as "Som Para Todos" and landed themselves distribution of their music through DeckDisk. Later they were so gratefully privileged to grace the audience attending the Planeta Terra Festival in Sao Paulo. This being only their second live performance together, they had to opportunity to meet and be complimented by the lead singer of the band Garbage. Chris comments on this experience Far From Alaska has with Shirley Manson by saying that it was an unusual experience, though it was through the same contact between bands that always happens behind the scenes of festivals. She was quite shocked and pleased that Shirley not only heard them, but also made a post on Garbage's site about them on quite a positive note. Not bad for an emergence right?
Some Decisions Were Made
Having hurled themselves into such a quick success, as you may be able to call it, the band made a few edits and some decisions. Chris described naming the band as, to paraphrase lightly, five annoyed/annoying people who could not come to an agreement. Thankfully, Emmily's mother had some whimsical input for the band name, and everyone just went with it! Something we do not believe many bands to face is the issue of language – not necessarily the usage of colloquialisms and vulgarities, but actual language. Some parts of the country appreciate the music despite the band singing in English, where as other regions question as to why they do not sing in Portuguese. Their reply to such petty questions, "Because we like it!" Really, though, if it isn't broken, don't fix it! According to fans of the band, there is not a single thing that needs to be fixed, and their success tells a similar story.
Click HERE to visit the TTS store filled with original products!
Then Some Progress Was Made
In 2014 they released their first album modeHuman, containing 15 tracks, including re-recordings of all four of their previously released EPs. Far From Alaska has made as far as to playing for Lollapalooza and the FIFA Fan Fest event in Natal during the 2014 FIFA World Cup. This is coming a long way considering that their release prior to this was in October 2012 when they pre-recorded Stereochrome, their first EP. All the while, some of the members maintain other work outside of music itself.
The band expressed some of the difficulties they face – it's been said that Brazil is rather large and the northeast, where they are from, is very expensive. Far From Alaska has moved their base from Natal to Sao Paulo to make things more conducive to their growth. The move from Natal to Sao Paulo was fascinating, to say the least: the people are more somber and tend to spend Christmas on the beach. Perhaps the move worked in their favor, as in 2015, they played at Lollapalooza again!
New Releases
This year they have released Chills, a song off of their new album. In June 2016, Far From Alaska was mentioned by Forbes as a band that is to be watched at Midem Festival 50th Anniversary in Cannes. All things considered, getting hundreds of plays on Pandora, thousands upon thousands of views on YouTube, and constantly collecting Facebook followers is pretty impressive. It's estimated that Far From Alaska has nearly ten times the amount of popularity than is normal of a band with their short history and limited scope. Surely, their popularity could be attributed to their playing big-named stages. But they earned those spots and continually prove why and how they earned them!
Far From Alaska – Far From the End
In all modesty, a questions was answered pertaining to their success and where the band intends to go with their career: right now, they are playing things safe. It is frequently questioned as to whether they intend to sing in their mother tongue or not, but it had not been a serious consideration for Far From Alaska. As it was stated, "We do not have plans for world domination… and that was not a consideration when we started writing," further concluding that if 'world domination' did happen, great! If not, that would be alright as well.
Having won the "We Are the Future" award for new artists at Midem (one of the biggest fairs in the world for the music industry!), world domination just may happen into their path. Up against 11 other bands and artists, they won by nearly a landslide. They had a celebratory performance of Politiks from their much-fussed-over album modeHuman.
If anyone will be in Sao Paulo, Brazil, you can catch Far From Alaska playing at the Rolling Stone Festival on Saturday, December 3. The only other date before the winter solstice kicks in is this October in Brasilia, Brazil where the band will be playing Porao do Rock.
Keep up-to-date with the band on their Facebook to see when they will be opening shows and ears in a town (or country!) near you.


text: Home > Life Ireland exhibit to show Kurt Cobain's personal items Reuters Posted at Jun 14 2018 11:56 AM Share Save Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Kurt Cobain is seen in 1986 in an image handed out by his family which will form part of an exhibition of his personal items which will be exhibited at Museum of Style Icons in Newbridge, Ireland. Handout courtesy of the Cobain Family Archive via Reuters LONDON -- An exhibition dedicated to late Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain opens in Ireland next month, showcasing a selection of the grunge rock singer's belongings curated by his family. From his sketches and drawings to clothing and a car, "Growing Up Kurt Cobain" will display dozens of Cobain's personal items, some of them never seen before by the public. His daughter, Frances Bean Cobain, and mother, Wendy O'Connor, will be among the singer's relatives attending the opening at the Museum of Style Icons in Newbridge, 50 kms southwest of Dublin. Cobain, who had Irish ancestry, died in 1994 at the age of 27 from a self-inflicted gunshot. "I have always been the most intimately informed of who my father was by my grandmother and aunts," Frances Bean Cobain said in a statement sent to Reuters. "I am so ecstatic that their view of who Kurt was gets to be celebrated with Nirvana fans the world over." Fans of Cobain, who popularized grunge rock in the early 1990s, will be able to see the striped green sweater he wore in the video for Nirvana's 1991 hit "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and his MTV Video award for the same song. Watch more in iWant or TFC.tv The singer's childhood drawings of cartoon characters, handwritten lyrics and powder-blue 1965 Dodge Dart car will also be on display. "With this exhibition we hope to bring the focus back to Kurt's roots, vision and artistic genius, to inspire everyone not to lose their creativity and childlike wonder," Cobain's sister Kim Cobain said. The small museum in County Kildare has outfits worn by the likes of Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor and Grace Kelly on display, and has previously hosted exhibitions dedicated to Michael Jackson and Prince. The museum's owner, William Doyle, who is also chief executive of jewellery and homeware maker Newbridge Silverware, said the idea of a Kurt Cobain exhibition stemmed from his friendship with the singer's family. "The family have this feeling that they are bringing him back home," he said. "Growing Up Kurt Cobain" opens on July 19 and runs until end-September. Share Save Facebook Share on Twitter LinkedIn Read More: Kurt Cobain Nirvana exhibit Museum of Style Icons /life/06/02/18/mind-museums-space-exhibit-is-a-fun-way-to-teach-astronomy-to-kids


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Contact: Public Affairs Office, 307.739.3431
Based upon a current fire danger rating of High and regional fire conditions, Teton Interagency fire managers announced today that partial fire restrictions will begin on Sunday, July 1, 2012 for Grand Teton National Park and the Bridger-Teton National Forest. Teton County will also implement similar restrictions.
Fire managers study the moisture content of various fuel types, track current and expected weather conditions, and monitor available fire-fighting resources, as well as the occurrence of human-caused fires, to determine when fire restrictions need to be applied to public lands.
Partial fire restrictions include:
Violation of these prohibitions is punishable by a fine of up to $5,000 for an individual or $10,000 for an organization, and/or by imprisonment for more than six months.
Unattended or abandoned campfires can quickly escalate into wildfires, and it is extremely important that all campfires are completely extinguished and cold to the touch before campers leave their site. Visitors should NEVER leave a fire unattended, and should prepare for the unexpected by having a water bucket and shovel on hand and ready to use. The fine for an abandoned campfire is $225, but campers can also be held liable for suppression costs if their campfire becomes a wildfire.
As the Fourth of July holiday approaches, visitors and local residents alike are reminded that fireworks are NOT permitted in Grand Teton National Park, on the Bridger-Teton National Forest, or in Teton County. It is essential that everyone comply with this regulation, especially given the current fire danger rating and tinder-dry conditions.
To report a fire or smoke in either area, call 307.739.3630. For more fire information, visit www.tetonfires.com.
Last updated: February 24, 2015


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Good day folks. I've been away… Sorry about that. Other things commandeering my time and it's good news. Oxford University Press has agreed to publish my new book. The working title is "Caterpillars, Consciousness, and the Origins of Mind." It's based on a pretty radical notion: that consciousness begins with the first emergence of life, that it isn't and shouldn't be treated as something that only appeared in our species. If anyone's curious, a preliminary overview of the model appeared here, in the new journal Animal Sentience.
But back to politics: Today is a "special" day, the 100th of the Trump presidency — the specialness is, of course, based on a arbitrary standard. We could make the 101th the cut-off (like with Dalmatians), or 76 (from 1776) or any other that might be cooked up. The 100-day thing began, apparently, back in FDR's day when things were rather bleak and everyone was looking, hoping and needing quick fixes to the vast array of critical issues that the Great Depression had brought on. And it stuck cause "100" is a nice, round number.
So, we hit the magic number today which is usually the honeymoon period where the newly elected POTUS gets to do, or at least present the framework for doing, the many things promised. In an article in The New Yorker, David Remnick presented his overview of this period. One of the things he noted was that normally the rest of us folks go about living our lives. We enjoy this period by not worrying about politics because the new administration is doing what it's supposed to do. Alas, nothing is normal with Trump. As Remnick put it, this time we're here:
"His Presidency has become the demoralizing daily obsession of anyone concerned with global security, the vitality of the natural world, the national health, constitutionalism, civil rights, criminal justice, a free press, science, public education, and the distinction between fact and its opposite."
Why? Here's why: The economy grew at a mere 0.7%, not the 4% growth Trump claimed he would bring (it'd been averaging some 2.2% under Obama). He's refused to release his tax returns, divest from his business interests, is in violation of the Emoluments clause, has ignored standard protocol with regards to nepotism, handing over administrative and regulatory responsibilities to his daughter and son-in-law. He vacations constantly on the taxpayers' dime (each weekend trip costs the taxpayers over $3 million) and plays more golf than any president in history.
As for all those campaign promises: Well, there's not going be any funding for that ridculous border wall and Mexico won't pay for it. All efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare have foundered. Two shots at his promised Muslim ban got slapped down by the courts which, just in passing, recently ruled that he cannot defund sanctuary cities. NAFTA will stay. The US will not pull out of NATO, which suddenly became a really important alliance. The Iran treaty will not be torn up. China is no longer a currency manipulator but an important ally and trading partner. The proposed budget framework is a, to use his favorite word, "disaster." Just the first quick look makes clear that it favors the rich and big corporations, fucks over everyone else and will blow a Bush-sized hole in the economy — the initial analyses project the debt to rise by roughly $7 trillion if a full budget along these lines passes. It won't.
Then there's been a whole bunch of really bizarre blunders, ill-conceived phone calls to world leaders, paranoid-infused tweets, a brewing Russia-linked scandal, and the current insane bout of saber-rattling over North Korea. Much of these crazy and dangerous adventures of his are designed to deflect attention from the three investigations into the Russian tampering with the election and Trump's role in it. That gambit has actually worked but it has also had another, far more serious impact. World leaders are freaking out. They don't know what the US is up to, what our aims are, what the priorities are, who's a friend this week, who's on the Trump shit-list…. Even if they can settle on some apparently stable position, Trump has another tweet-storm and shifts gears. The "Trump Doctrine" seems to be "promote chaos."
Amusingly, I've seen some of his truly desperate supporters claim that this is deliberate and he's playing a crafty game of international politics where he's always on top of the situation and manipulating all others. Yeah. Right. I'm a scientist. We all learned early on to cling to Occam's Razor — do not invoke complicated explanations for situations that can be accounted for by simple ones. The simple one is simple: Trump is totally unqualified to be president.
At the heart of it is the obvious: Trump has no grasp of … well, virtually everything. He discovered that health care complicated (and seems to think no one ever realized this!); never even looked at the details of NAFTA or NATO before claiming he'd pull out of both; didn't have a clue about the long and complex history of relations between China and the Korean peninsula; failed to recognize that China stopped manipulating its currency in 2014, that Erdogan is moving Turkey toward a dictatorship, that imposing border tariffs will drive up costs of goods, that … and that and … that..
He seems to think Frederick Douglas is still alive and doing great things for "the Blacks." Then there's the lies, the duplicity, the deception and those off-the-freaking-wall interviews that keep coming, each one hot on the heels of the previous. They are all done with friendly news outlets and reporters which has had an unintended outcome. Because they just let him ramble on he manages to drown himself in his own, truly blistering ignorance. The transcript of the one with the AP is here. Read it and cringe.
And the weirdest part of all, almost beyond grasping, is that he still has support among some 40% of the electorate and over 90% of those who voted for him. I guess they're pleased about that new deregulation that allows the mentally ill to purchase guns and the thousands of families of long-term, law-abiding, tax-paying residents broken up.
I, frankly, can't wait to see the train-wreck the next 100 days will bring, especially since now he's finally discovered what we all knew from the beginning: he's profoundly ill-equipped for this job and hasn't a fucking clue what being president is all about. He never reads anything and that included the job description for the position. The only good thing that's come out of these 100 days is the endless fodder for comedians.
Donald J. never wanted to be president. He wanted to be called president. No training, background or experience needed for that. It's like having "TRUMP" on buildings someone else put up.


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5 Creative Activities for Kids
Here are fun crafts to boost creativity at camp or when kids are home from school.
We have a huge selection of fun and easy craft ideas for kids of all ages. Lots of our crafts make use of items that can be found around the house.
Here are fun crafts to boost creativity at camp or when kids are home from school.
Kids can make lovely little gems made from acorn caps, magic markers and glue.
Kids can make this fun decoration for a camp cabin, or as a souvenir to take home after camp. Make this fun decoration for your camp cabin, or as a souvenir to take home after camp.
Kids can make and sculpt cinnamon dough into holiday themed shapes.
Kids can roll up their work and slip it inside of these personalized tubes.
You can use baby wipes to make colorful tie dyed items. A nice, easy and clean introduction to tie dying.
Here are two baking clay recipes that kids can use to make terrific sculptures.
If your Dad is a baseball fan, this plaque, made to look like an autographed baseball, is an ideal gift. Great for hanging in his office, above his tool box, or by his baseball memorabilia.
This beaded keychain craft would be a great Scout or Guide project. It would also be a fun activity for kids to try at camp or at a birthday party.
This is a tutorial about how to make stained glass creations, including the proper tools and techniques to use.
Grades: Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12
Levels: Middle School, High School
Students will review symmetry while creating crayon resist butterflies.
Grades: K-2, Grades 3-5
This craft is so easy for kids to make, even toddlers get into the fun. Give this gift to Dad and he will absolutely love it. A great gift for Father's Day or his birthday, he'll cherish it and carry it around proudly. Better than a tie any day!
Students will learn about paper quilling as they make a bird and flower ring art picture.
Grades: Grades 3-5, Grades 6-8
Levels: Junior, Middle School
Students will make body tracing self portraits.
Ages: 5-8 yrs, 8-11 yrs, 11-14 yrs
Grades: K-2, Grades 3-5, Grades 6-8
Levels: Primary, Junior, Middle School
This cute Halloween bat is the perfect project. It is easy to make, uses recycled materials and best of all, it's fun! Gather the kids around and make several of these quirky bats.
Create a locket for your sweetie using recycled materials
You can make clay using a piece of bread! This clay is great for small items like beads and charms.
These easy and personalized bubble frames make wonderful gifts for relatives.
Students can make a picture of calico corn (Indian corn) using footprints, seeds and beans.
Kids can make a cool banner to decorate their camp mess hall or cabin. All you need is paper, glue and buttons (or other found objects). Make this fun banner to decorate the camp mess hall or your cabin.
These super cute and fun cardboard tube mummies make great finger puppets.
You can create wonderful works of art using string and chalk.
Students will create their own checkerboard using cardboard or wood and paint.
Make simple sparklers using chenille stems and glitter.
This darling snowman and snowwoman make the perfect couple. All bundled up for a cold winter's day, and so easy, younger kids can make them too!
Make cute winter friends using upside down clay pots.


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Kahavanu gold coins: type III:
The type III coin has previously been described as coarse and lacking the features and fineness of the earlier types. A recent discovery of a few Type III, 'Jasmine flower & chank' coins with extremely fine features proves that the type III too can be a handsome coin. Generally though expect coarse and rough features characteristic of impressions from overworked, worn dies.
The type III of the kahavanu is comprised of two well known varieties and a recently discovered, unique but important variety.
Ball and Annulet:
Jasmine Flower & Shank:
The fineness and detail of the type III coin above is very rarely met with, usually it is more like the first coin above.
Silver Type III coin:
Codrington in 'Ceylon Coins and Currency' mentions a damaged type III coin in silver apart from that the coin above is the only other reported specimen.
Double strike on one side:
Note the double head on this coin, clearly it has been struck twice, this coin is believed to be unique.
Type III Fractions:
Sales: As we do not sell from this website, we recommend that you check out the excellent selection of Ceylon material that is generally available with the US based Asian Collectibles Network, we find their quality and service to be excellent.


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Fast Track 2 -- Last Day to Withdraw
October 17, 2018 | All Day Event
All BC3 Locations
Fast Track 2 Classes -- Last day to Withdraw from classes for this Fast Track. A Withdrawal "W" grade will appear on academic record.
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Apple Unleashes Jaguar, OS X Version 10.2 in Stores
Monday, August 26, 2002
Press release from the issuing companyCUPERTINO, Calif., Aug. 23 -- Mac O S X version 10.2 "Jaguar," the next major release of Mac OS X featuring more than 150 amazing new features and applications, will be "unleashed" in retail stores throughout the U.S. tonight. The "Jaguar" kick-off will begin at 10:20 p.m. and last until midnight at participating Apple Authorized Resellers and Apple retail stores. All 35 Apple retail stores will host "Jaguar" kick-off events with free gifts, great savings, theater demos and a chance to win a Mac. "With Jaguar, you get a whole new Mac for just $129," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "With more than 150 amazing new features and applications-such as iChat instant messaging, junk mail filtering and Rendezvous networking technology-Jaguar delivers the best Mac experience ever." With more than 150 amazing new features and applications, "Jaguar" includes a new Mail application designed to eliminate junk mail, iChat AIM-compatible instant messenger, a system-wide Address Book, Inkwell(TM) handwriting recognition, QuickTime 6 with MPEG-4, improved Universal Access, an enhanced Finder(TM), Sherlock 3 with Internet Services, Quartz(TM) Extreme graphics acceleration technology and Rendezvous(TM), Apple's revolutionary networking technology. Pricing & Availability Mac OS X v10.2 "Jaguar" will be available on August 23 starting at 10:20 p.m. through the Apple Store (www.apple.com), at Apple's retail stores and through Apple Authorized Resellers for a suggested retail price of $129 (US) for a single user license. Mac OS X v10.2 "Jaguar" Family Pack is a single residence, five-user license package that will be available on August 23 starting at 10:20 p.m. through the Apple Store (www.apple.com), at Apple's retail stores and through Apple Authorized Resellers for a suggested retail price of $199 (US). The Mac OS Up-to-Date program covers both new Mac purchases made on or after July 17, 2002 and Mac OS X v10.1 purchases made on or after July 17, 2002. The Mac OS X v10.2 Up-To-Date package is available for a shipping and handling fee of $19.95 (US) and includes the Mac OS X v10.2 upgrade CDs and an updated Developer Tools CD. Mac OS X v10.2 "Jaguar" requires a minimum of 128MB of memory and is designed to run on the following Apple products: iMac, iBook, Power Macintosh G3, Power Mac G4, Power Mac G4 Cube and any PowerBook introduced after May 1998. Quartz Extreme requires a NVIDIA GeForce2 MX, GeForce3, GeForce4 Titanium or GeForce4 MX card or any ATI AGP RADEON card. A minimum of 16MB VRAM is required; 32MB VRAM is recommended for optimum performance. Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Apple is committed to bringing the best personal computing experience to students, educators, creative professionals and consumers around the world through its innovative hardware, software and Internet offerings.
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - First-year residents may soon get a reprieve from grueling hospital shifts that last more than 24 hours, but that is not enough to prevent an alarming number of medical errors, according to a report released on Friday.
Starting July 1, new rules will require first-year residents to work shifts no longer than 16 straight hours. But that will not spare more experienced residents from working as long as 28 hours at a stretch.
A group of 26 doctors and patient safety experts are calling for limiting all resident physician work to shifts of 12 to 16 hours. Their report was published on Friday in the journal Nature & Science of Sleep journal.
"What started as a good system has evolved into a system where the residents are extremely sleep deprived, caring for some of the sickest patients in the country, and that's a set-up for disaster," Dr. Christopher Landrigan, one of the report's authors, said in an interview.
The report is the product of a conference held last year at Harvard Medical School. It also recommends that residents should be subject to increased supervision by attending physicians and hand off routine work like blood draws or paperwork to other staff.
The group cited U.S. government statistics that show as many as 180,000 patients each year die due to harm resulting from their medical care.
The new resident work rules are based on recommendations from the Institute of Medicine, which estimated implementation would cost $1.7 billion, mostly to hire additional hospital staff. Landrigan said the costs would be offset by reducing medical errors.
"Few people enter a hospital expecting that their care and safety are in the hands of someone who has been working a double-shift or more with no sleep," said Dr. Lucian Leape, adjunct professor of health policy at the Harvard School of Public Health and a co-author of the report.
"If they knew, and had a choice, the overwhelming majority would demand another doctor or leave," he said in a statement.
The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), the body that oversees residency training, issued the new rules for first-years in September 2010. It has said it was committed to examining resident hours "with a goal of making them better."
Landrigan said he does not expect the report to change the rules for other residents anytime soon, because of tradition and costs.
Reporting by Andrew Seaman; Editing by Michele Gershberg


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Research projects at the Center for CER in Cancer Imaging are designed to accelerate cancer CER related to advanced imaging. New imaging technologies for detecting cancer and determining treatment are intended to improve the health of the U.S. population. Research is needed to see if these technologies actually improve clinical care and health outcomes.
Effective new imaging technologies for detecting cancer and determining treatment have great potential to improve the health of the U.S. population. However, research is needed to investigate whether these technologies actually improve clinical care and health outcomes under realistic circumstances when implemented in the U.S. health care system. Ongoing research within the Center for CER in Cancer imaging is:
- Addressing the health care utilization impact of potentially significant incidental imaging findings associated with the use of spiral CT for lung cancer screening (Project 1)
- Characterizing the diffusion of Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and its effect on care patterns and assessing the degree to which the physician-reported impact of PET on planned care is reflected in actual care patterns (Project 2)
These projects will have important implications for the design of future registries to support CER and will enhance cancer CER capacity for advanced imaging. An accompanying Center goal is the development of novel methodologies and the innovative use of data resources so as to optimize the design of future imaging studies.
Project 1: Characterizing Significant Incidental Findings Identified with Advanced Imaging
This project entails assessment of the health care utilization impact of potentially significant incidental imaging findings associated with the use of spiral CT for lung cancer screening. Although the primary endpoint of the National Lung Screening Trial is lung cancer mortality, an important secondary endpoint is downstream medical care utilization, much of which may be attributable to the detection of incidental findings on low-dose helical computed tomography (LDCT). In this project, we will use Medicare claims data to estimate the rates and costs of medical utilization related to the detection of incidental findings in the Medicare-eligible subset of the ACRIN-NLST (>27% of participants). In addition, we will use the Medicare claims data to compare these rates and costs to those obtained from the NLST medical abstraction process triggered by self-reporting of medical utilization.
Project 2: CER Studies of PET
CER studies of PET are focused on the population of US Medicare beneficiaries with cancer who are ages 65 and older and on participants in the National Oncologic PET Registry (NOPR). Thus, two distinct cohorts are studied:
- Participants in the National Oncologic PET Registry (NOPR)
- Beneficiaries with claims for six different cancer types for which Medicare expanded payment in 2001
NOPR was established in 2006 under the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) coverage with evidence development (CED) designation for PET use in individuals with specific cancers. From 2006 to 2008, NOPR collected data on more than 100,000 individuals with cancer. On the basis of NOPR-reported data, in April 2009 CMS expanded coverage of PET to include a single imaging study to guide initial therapy clinical management for most beneficiaries with solid tumors. It is notable that the NOPR evidence was based solely on physician-reported changes in management plans rather than on observed management changes. Little is known regarding the concordance between the NOPR physician-reported care plans and actual subsequent care. Likewise, little is known about how the diffusion of PET has affected use of other imaging modalities. This project addresses these knowledge gaps. For NOPR participants, we will compare intended post-PET care plans with observed resource utilization through analysis of CMS administrative claims data. Our findings will have important implications for the design of future registries.
More generally, we will characterize PET use and diffusion patterns in the Medicare population. In July 2001, PET became a covered service for Medicare beneficiaries when used for diagnosis, staging and restaging of non-small cell lung, esophageal, colorectal and head and neck cancers, lymphoma, and melanoma. We will be assessing 1) temporal trends of PET use relative to that of computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, or bone scintigraphy and seek to determine whether PET was or was not temporally clustered with other imaging (i.e., whether it was additive or replacement) and 2) assess regional health care market characteristics and socio-demographic profiles of Medicare beneficiaries undergoing imaging to explain differences in the rate of adoption of PET.