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Retailers may not have their names on the credit rolls of kids TV shows just yet, but if prodcos have their way, they soon will. With broadcaster license fees falling and traditional funding sources – from government grants and tax credits, to private investment – drying up, studios are increasingly fixing their sights on retailers and toycos to top up production budget shortfall.
'The fact of the matter is that for every production company, financing needs to get more creative [because] it's getting harder and harder to make the budgets,' says Julie Fox, director of international distribution and co-productions at Paris, France-based Alphanim. Although she says Alphanim came off one of its strongest years in 2002, notably selling its show Potatoes & Dragons to CiTV, Fox began mailing out packages late last year to a group of retailers with the goal of snaring financial support for the company's upcoming projects.
The fact that no retailer or toyco has yet hopped into bed with a studio might be a disheartening reality, but that's only if you ignore recent rumblings from U.S.-based retailer Toys 'R' Us. Giving prodcos hope for this potential funding source is Warren Kornblum, chief marketing officer at TRU, who has been very vocal about the potential for retailers co-funding or co-developing kids TV shows. 'We have had conversations with studios and networks,' he says. 'Nothing has come to fruition, but I don't think it would be unreasonable in the not-too-distant future to look at that kind of business opportunity.'
Kornblum – who attended last October's MIPCOM for the first time to get an early read on what properties could become hot licenses and who may put in an appearance at NATPE this month – sees a more collaborative retail-studio dynamic as inevitable. 'There's absolutely a convergence to what we're all doing. I'm really looking forward to the day when content developers and our team can sit down and work out what could be the next cool thing for kids.'
While the inherent risks that retailers incur by co-producing a TV show remain steep – namely, losing their entire investment, not to mention lost sales on the shelf space they give up – the upsides are too good to ignore. If they own a piece of a property, retailers theoretically stand to inherit a percentage or even complete ownership of the revenue streams that flow from it (licensing & merchandising, promotions, broadcast sales, etc.). Like many retailers, TRU has already ventured into this area on the product side, snagging exclusive licenses to entertainment properties – including select categories on Liberty's Kids and E.T. – as a means of differentiating itself from the competition. Currently, licensed exclusives account for 20% of TRU's revenues, a quadruple increase over 1999, when it started to employ the tactic heavily. Developing exclusive content for its stores is clearly paying off, and it remains a cornerstone strategy for the company.
'Like all specialty retailers, we're in the business of purveying commodities,' says Kornblum. 'There really isn't a whole lot of need for them, so we've got to be about generating excitement and a different kind of experience, as well as enabling consumers to find things in our stores that they can't find anywhere else. Otherwise it doesn't make much sense for us.' Viewed within this context, taking ownership of a TV or film property is a plausible next step for retailers wanting to gain a competitive edge.
Though it doesn't guarantee a show will be sold, let alone become a hit, the prospect of having a major retailer like TRU or Wal-Mart attached to a project betters one's odds immeasurably with broadcasters, says John Bullivant, managing director of U.K.-based prodco Kickback Media. From Bullivant's point of view, the burning question these days is who holds the power in the kids TV biz – those who put it on the screen or those who sell it at retail? Bullivant believes it's the latter: 'Put it this way – do you know of any franchise property that doesn't appear at retail? Just because it's on TV, it isn't necessarily a franchise. It's only ever a franchise property if it exists at retail, so that's where the ultimate power is.'
Then why aren't retailers or toycos partnering with prodcos on their series already? Because there is a hornet's nest of variables – from creative control, to rights and regulatory issues – that could turn any such union into a marriage from hell. After all, at the end of the day, the two parties want different things from a TV show. 'We're coming from two different places,' says TV-Loonland CEO David Ferguson, who has tried to pitch toycos on funding properties in the past, but to no avail. 'We want to create a show that people will watch, and they're coming from a very toy-led position that's all about play values and what makes a great toy.'
But Kickback's Bullivant, who is currently shopping some concepts to potential partners including retailers and toycos, feels that the two agendas needn't be mutually exclusive. 'How you marry the needs of each requires a new mindset, with both sides learning from each other,' says Bullivant. 'But obviously there has to be a fairly good idea in the middle that can be shaped with the interests of both parties in mind.'
However, others on the production side are less hopeful about the creative fruits a partnership involving a retailer or toyco would yield. 'That's where we won't go in our discussions [with retailers and toycos],' says Tom Lynch, namesake and president of L.A.-based The Tom Lynch Company, which is currently in development with a show based on an as-yet-unnamed, existing Hasbro toy property. 'Having people influence story lines for the sake of selling [product] is a recipe for failure. The content has to stand on its own, and then we can look at ways to exploit it,' says Lynch, who adds that the only partners he'll take notes from on an original property that he has created or co-created are the networks who are airing it.
On matters of content, Warren Kornblum says that Toys 'R' Us would willingly defer to a production partner if it were involved in a co-production. 'I don't think we would ever enter into a relationship where we have more to say about creative control than they do,' he says. 'The last thing we want to do is to cross the line into territory where programs become 90-minute commercials, because that's not good for anyone – including us.'
No less thorny is the issue of rights. Like any other investor, a retailer like Toys 'R' Us would be entitled to the same percentage of revenues that it contributed to the show's production budget, says Kickback's Bullivant. Where things get sticky is in the area of merchandising. If TRU invested in a property, it would want to be intimately involved in consumer products, have exclusives on core categories and control how the character or property is exploited promotionally, says Kornblum. The problem is that broadcasters looking to invest in shows often demand points on, if not full ownership of, those same ancillary revenue streams. The situation grows more complex if the prodco already has a merchandising and distribution arm. 'There's going to be some serious number-crunching going on in those types of deals,' says Bullivant.
Kornblum says TRU would be willing to cede ground on the back end, provided that it would be able to participate on revenues gained on the front end, like when the show is sold. 'The ideal scenario for us would be to sit down with the producer and network and our team and figure out what makes sense,' he says. 'In total honesty, if that means certain categories need exposure for the betterment of the brand and didn't make sense to be exclusive, then I'd hope we'd be first to acknowledge that.'
Even if prodcos and retailers/toycos could reconcile these potential rights and creative conflicts, regulatory hurdles threaten to undermine their best-laid plans. In key co-pro hotspots, including the U.K. and France, the whiff of toyco or retail investment in a kids TV show can get it yanked from the airwaves.
In England, commercial outfits are not permitted to underwrite a kids TV series, either in full or in part, if they are producing toys or other merchandise based on it. The rules, which the Independent Television Commission (ITC) introduced in 1990, are intended to 'prevent the market of programs, particularly children's programs, [from being] distorted by advertisers who, if this rule did not exist, might wish to make or fund programs based on existing commercial products. Such products could be offered to broadcasters at a discount, reflecting their undoubted promotional value for the advertiser concerned.' Nevertheless, producers often don't find out if their shows violate ITC regulations until the program is near completion.
Such was the case about a decade ago with Nelvana's Crash Test Dummies. The ITC yanked the show a week before its planned CiTV debut, primarily because it featured 'undue prominence' of a toy line, but also because it had been entirely funded by Tyco, which was already using series footage in its TV ads for the toy line (another no-no). 'We just weren't aware of the rules,' says TV-L's Ferguson, then Nelvana Enterprises' managing director of international co-productions.
But however circuitous the route may seem, there are ways for property developers to get toyco or retail investment. Kickback's Bullivant, for example, plans to establish a boy-skewing preschool property as a toy by partnering with either a toyco or retail partner. But before any toy deal is struck, Kickback would first issue the property as a book, even at a loss. That way, as a co-owner of the property, Kickback would be free to develop it as a TV show down the road if that became an option. In any case, given the glutted preschool TV market, Bullivant feels that using retail as the initial entry point will extend the property's shelf life. 'If a property has some roots at retail, however small, it's easier to grow it into something bigger, as opposed to sticking it on TV and saying, 'okay, now grow some roots at retail.' The reality is that most things don't.'
Additionally, in theory, there's nothing to prevent toycos from developing a series and paying for initial eps up front, as long as they're not funding production at the same time that they're producing merchandise. The problem, says TV-L's Ferguson, is that when you sit down to do your revenue projections, there are no guarantees on the front-end that such efforts will work.
Still, on the upside, Ferguson believes that governing bodies in Europe are beginning to relax their grip on such regulations. To wit: Max Steel airs on Channel 5 in the U.K. Although master toy licensee Mattel doesn't fund the show, the CG characters closely resemble the toy line. 'So it would have had an undue prominence issue if the same interpretation of the [ITC regulations] that was used for Crash Test Dummies was used today,' says Ferguson. And as the U.K. amalgamates its five regulatory bodies into one über-controller called the Office of Communications (OFCOM), Ferguson predicts that the threshold for what is and isn't considered toyco investment will continue to loosen up.
With the kids TV industry in a state of flux, many believe the market is primed for a new business model, one that will see retailers and toycos playing a more active role. There are, in fact, already some examples of non-traditional partners working in the co-development sphere – Nickelodeon signing a game and property development agreement with gameco THQ last year is just one case in point.
'It may end in tears,' says Kickback's Bullivant, 'or it may herald a complete change in the way character franchises get launched. Success will come not because you get a retailer to write you a big fat check to fund your show; that will just lead to a failed partnership.
'Rather, it's about finding a creative synergy between what works for both. The companies that go into it with that kind of mindset, rather than just saying 'it's all about making 26 half hours of animation or live-action,' are the ones that are going to come out on top.'


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First Eagle Bank in the News
The Illinois Bankers Association (IBA) recently presented the Illinois Bank Financial Literacy award to First Eagle Bank in Chicago.
First Eagle Bank is proud to have been honored recently as one of three 2015 Illinois Bank Community Service Award winners by the Illinois Bankers Association (IBA).
Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago Announces Community First® Award Winners in Illinois. The Jewish Council on Urban Affairs (JCUA) is the recipient of the $10,000 project or program award.
If you build it, they will come. Jay Fahn, First Eagle Bank's Senior VP for the REJournals.com
Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago Awards Nearly $22 Million Through Its Competitive Affordable Housing Program
The NCIF Network Banks: A Look at First Eagle Bank
First Eagles Wageman: Making A Difference for 30 Years
Bank hosts finance course
More than 350 Streamwood High School students have dedicated more than 2,240 hours this year to the First Eagle Bank Financial Scholars Program.
New CIC 1-4 loan fund creates more affordable housing
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel jointly announced the launch of Community Investment Corporation's new 1-4 Unit Rental Redevelopment Loan Program at an April community meeting in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood on the South Side.
SBA loans open up options for expansion
Small businesses are an important part of our economy, but to thrive they need access to credit. The demand among small businesses for commercial real estate is high across the country, especially on the construction side.
Financial Literacy Workshop...Malcolm X College
Faruk Daudbasic conducted a session about money saving. The module presented was Pay Yourself First.
They're back
Banks return to home construction lending
Aid for Rental Market
CIC $26M loan pool set up to help investors buy, rehab 1- to 4-unit structures.
Innovative New Community Investment Corporation Program Provides More Affordable Apartments
Financing readily available for residential construction
Article by Rose Wageman, Executive Vice President of First Eagle Bank.
2013 Outstanding Women in Banking - Illinois Banker Helps Create High-Performing CRE Bank
Rose Wageman, Chief Lending Officer/Executive Vice President of First Eagle Bank is named a 2013 Outstanding Woman in Banking .
Keeping Gen Y Workers Happy
Theres a kind of knee-jerk reaction to criticize the younger generation for its work habits. But theyre teaching us to bring more fun and balance to our work Andy Salk of First Eagle Bank in Hanover Park
First Eagle Bank Helps Keep Seniors Safe
Thanks to First Eagle Bank, residents of Ozanam Village and Matthew Manor in Chicago, IL will live in a safer and even more secure environment. First Eagle Bank has been involved with the Senior Housing Crime Prevention Foundation, Inc. (SHCPF) for many years, and is helping to protect those seniors by funding the Senior Crimestoppers program for seniors residing in this care facility.
Father, Son Team Run Growing Bank in Hanover Park
An interview with Andy Salk, co-owner of First Eagle Bank in Hanover Park.
Banking & Finance: Crash Survivors Share Strategies "Hands-on" approach
First Eagle Bank in Hanover Park has routinely earned top 5-star ratings from Echo Partners because of its high profits and low overhead.
Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago Announces Community first Partnership Award Winners in Illinois
First Eagle Bank and Facing Forward were honored by the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago (FHLBC) with a Community First Partnership Award at its regional meeting...
The Power of One Family - West Humboldt NHS' newest homeowner
For the first nine years since moving to Chicago, the Shirk family of six lived in a 2-bedroom apartment, and had long believed that homeownership was out of their reach.
First Eagle Bank Reaches 48 Students through Online Financial Education Program
Two local elementary schools (Ontarioville and Parkwood) took advantage of the First Eagle Bank Financial Scholars Program, a free, online financial literacy program sponsored by First Eagle Bank, at no cost to the schools, during the 2015 fall semester.

subset: commoncrawl


text: Dark Bubble Mole DGPH has announced their screenprinted inflatable mole...named Dark Bubble Mole. It'll stand in at 12" tall and is a limited edition run with GID ink on a transparent body. If you're going to Comic Con, you'll be able to get a sneak peek of Dark Bubble Mole at the ToyQube booth. Related TweetNo Commentsslovak34ToyQubePermalinkJuly 15, 2007 at 9:51 AM


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Phase2a Nerofe study has begun in Rabin and Kaplan medical centersSeptember 21, 2018
Phase2a Nerofe study has begun in Rabin and Kaplan medical centers
PMWC 2018 conference – New Technology PresentedFebruary 4, 2018
At PMWC 2018 conference Dr. Yoram Devary presented ISK new technology dealing with "personalized ImmunoOncology therapy"
New Article Published: Nerofe Phase I trial summaryDecember 11, 2017
The Phase I Nerofe (dTCApFs) human trial summary has been published in the Molecular and Clinical Oncology Journal.
In this trial Nerofe was found to be safe and well‑tolerated, and potentially efficacious as an anti-cancer agent.
Successful completion of Phase I Nerofe Trial on Solid tumorsNovember 21, 2017
Successful completion of Phase I Nerofe Trial on Solid tumors
ISK is going to the BIO conference 2016March 29, 2016
ISK was selected for the 6th time to represent Israel in the BIO conference which is being held this year in San-Francisco.
Nerofe's Triple ActionNovember 1, 2015
Nerofe causes ER stress to different type of cells
In Vitro assays have shown that Nerofe causes ER stress to cancer and endothelial cells, thus leading to cancer cell death and depletion of angiogenesis factors from serum, as seen in Phase Ia results. Because Immune cells express ST2 (Nerofe's receptor), it is hypothesized
Breakthrough – Cancer Immunotherapy Effects of NerofeSeptember 17, 2015
NerofeTM stimulates cancer cells attraction to APC and T cells and thereby inducing the death of cancer cells.
Recent FACS results have shown a significant increase in CD86 expressing cells in three types of malignant cells treated with NerofeTM.
CD86 is expressed by antigen-presenting cells, and it is the ligand for two proteins at the cell surface of T cells,
ISK is going to the BIO conference 2015June 23, 2015
ISK was selected for the 5th time to represent Israel in the BIO conference in philadelphia


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Friday, 25 September 2009
Time to resurrect this blog!
I know I say it every time, but this time I am definitely back!
I have been doing loads of knitting recently, learning to machine knit, want to learn to spin and am, low and behold, pregnant again (!!!) and I want to blog it all here.
At the moment I am currently taking part in Sockdown on Ravelry where this month's challenge is to knit a any pair of socks or the mystery sock pattern designed by the lovely and very talented Nancy Bush in Yellow OR any Wendy Johnson pattern in any colour.
I have cast on two pairs of socks.......the Nancy Bush Mystery sock in my own hand-dyed yarn named 'Sofia's Sunshine' and a pair of Nanners, designed by Wendy Johnson in Krafty Koala yarn called Candystripper.
As you can see from my progress pictures (which will be added later when I can get the card reader to work again!). I have nearly finished the mystery sock which we now know is called Foxes Faces, as the lace does look a bit like them. But I haven't made much progress on the Nanners.
My excuse is this month we had our family holiday in Tunisia and although I took loads of projects and expected to get loads of knitting done, we were too busy running around after a toddler to sit still for more than five minutes.
Knitting and swimming pools do not mix well either so all I managed was a few rows here and there in the hotel bar of an evening while our daughter danced about!
The rules of Sockdown state that although you have to cast on before the end of the month, you actually have until the end of the next month to finish projects.
I think when I have finished the Foxes Faces I will blog a lot more about them as I have learnt so many new techniques while making them and loved every minute!!
I have quite a few projects in progress at the moment and I desperately want to get them finished so I can start doing some Christmas knitting and, of course, knitting for the baby!!!
I'm so excited about knitting for the baby. I didn't take up knitting again until after my daughter was born so I didn't have the joy of knitting little cardigans and booties last time round.
I have been exploring unisex patterns for the little one, who is due in February. I don't intend to find out the sex beforehand, we honestly do not care what we get as long as he or she is happy and healthy.
A few people have commented that it is shame I don't know either way so I can buy either pink or blue wool but I don't really like all that gender/colour business anyway. Plus, I hate baby shades and pastel colours so my little one will be a riot of colour when he/she arrives!
It is funny, as we were the same with our daughter. She wore every colour going rather than just pink, pink, pink. I am not very pink, pretty, girly, girly, so I thought she wouldn't be either.
She is now nearly three and everything she wears has to be pink, sparkly, flowery or princessy. She adores stories about princesses and fairies and loves pretty things. I don't know where we went wrong!!!!!
Honestly, though. If that is how she wants to be, I am happy to dress her that way. It is her decision. I want her to be happy and comfortable with herself.
My mother used to put ringlets in my hair, tie them in ribbons and make me fancy frocks on her sewing machine. I am sure I looked like a cherub but I felt really uncomfortable and dolling up was never me.
I spend a lot of time wondering what the new baby will be like. My Mam says you never get two the same. Well, in five months I'll find out!
Hopefully in five months I can make quite a few lovely things for both the baby and our daughter, I can't leave her out!
Posted by Charlie Chuckles at 05:31
Labels: baby, daughter, foxes faces, knitting, nancy bush, pink, sockdown, tunisia, wendy johnson, yellow
2 comments:
- Abby said...
Congratulations! I wish I had been knitting when my kids were little, but I am trying to make up for it now that they are grown. Looking forward to following your pregnancy and knitting. Welcome back!
- 25 September 2009 at 07:15
- Cinders said...
Congratulatons on your pregnancy.
I knitted for my first one but not the other 2.
I also hate girlie pink, but all little girls love pink and glitter, though thankfully my daughter did ask for a black dress aged 3!!
Enjoy your daughters phase. they grow up so quickly and good luck with the sock knitting
- 25 September 2009 at 10:15
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Your Local Dollar Store
By Dan Pryce
2. Nail polish and top coat - For making heads on minnow imitations, etc.
3. Feathers - Many dollar stores now sell craft feathers and if you're there on the right day you can find some feathers that aren't only good for children's arts and crafts.
4. Plastic eyes - The googly kind. They come in many shapes, sizes and colours.
5. Containers - This is one of the best places to go for containers of all shapes and sizes to help you stay organized at your bench and on the water. Look in the sewing area for containers made specifically for storing thread.
6. Nail clippers, scissors, and other sharp things - Not usually the greatest quality, but you may be surprised if you look hard enough. Why waste your good scissors for cutting coarse material when a cheap pair will do it. Once the cheap pair wears out, buy another.
7. Magnetic wands and sheets - The wands, as mentioned in previous tying tips, are great for finding that almost invisible hook on the floor. The magnetic sheets are great to line your fly boxes and hook boxes to keep things from blowing out with a gust of wind or from falling onto the carpet where your foot will definitely find it if it's sharp.
8. Yarns, fluff, etc - Have a good look at things and you'll see loads of materials masquerading as shoe insoles or a dog toys.
9. Ziploc bags - There are usually huge selections ranging from very tiny ones great for dubbing, to huge ones to store the largest feathers you have.
10. Snacks - Just because the fish aren't biting it doesn't mean you can't bite into some of your favourite snacks!
Archive of Tying Tips
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FlyAnglersOnline.com © Notice


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I'm all about getting the most mileage out of products. That is why a lot of times I will use the same tag as a mask & an embellishment on two different layouts (see this post), deconstruct an embellishment to get more out of it, or take apart an envelope to use as a photo mat. When it comes to getting my monthly scrapbooking kit from Studio Calico, I decided to challenge myself to use the one thing I get every month and usually throw away: the brown paper bag.
kraft paper for the same look.) I had a farm-y type layout in mind and thought this would go perfect. I left the bag as is, which gave me two sets of each letter I cut.
precision pen. The gingham paper below is the width of my layout. Having it under my letters gave me an idea of how big to make them. You can see I did some letters more than once. That way, I had options when putting the layout together. I think a mix of upper and lowercase makes it look more interesting.
September's Poet Society kits, as well as South of Market and a few random pieces from my stash.
So simple and cost effective. You could do several things different here--like outline each letter or even sew around each individual letter. These bags would also be great for punching out shapes, cut into tags, even folded in to a paper bag mini album. The possibilities are kinda endless (and cheap)! Thanks for checking out this paper bag idea. I'm already thinking of ways I can use next month's brown bag. Hmmm.....
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Avis have an awesome Safari Rental option. If you are keen for something a bit more luxurious than a tent or camper van, check out their exciting 4×4 vehicles with pop-up tents and state-of-the-art facilities. They have a variety of vehicles, from 2 sleepers to 4 and 5 sleepers.
Please note, you will need to provide your own driver and purchase a camper van package from joBerg2c (which gives the drivers access to the race village and three meals a day). Log in to book your camper van package.
For more information on the vehicles available click here or visit their website.
To book contact Wanda – email@example.com – +27 76 7616617
Some key features:
- Fully-fitted kitchen with gas cooker
- Shade awning
- Shower cubicle with hot and cold water
- 80l water tank
- Fridge and freezer
- Table and chairs
- Solar panel
- Electric tyre pump with hose and pressure gauge.


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of the best ways to get to know the area is on foot. The area is
criss-crossed with a network of walking trails offering
a variety of landscapes and distances - anything from a short stroll
to a complete day's walking. Some walks start from the house or are
just a short journey by car.
If you want to bring your bikes or hire them locally then the VTT trails are well marked and range from challenging off-road trails to pleasant rides along small roads that are virtually traffic-free.
For those who would prefer someone else to take the strain then there are a number of horse riding stables including "western" style and if water is your theme then why not hire a canoe and float down the spectacular Dordogne river valley? The Lac du Tolerme which is only 10 minutes from the house is where you might find us on a warm summer's afternoon. The lake is the perfect place to cool off with a swim and has excellent facilities during the summer months.
The Golf du Montal just outside St Cere has a good 9 hole course and is close to one of the top restaurants in the Lot. Slightly further away is top championship golf course near Aurillac.
If you prefer a proper swimming pool there is an excellent water park locally with a very large outdoor pool with slides, sun loungers and a cafe where you can relax and soak up the sun. You will also find exercise courses such as the one located around the Lac du Tolerme which combines a 4km route with various exercise stations, all located in beautiful countryside.
House for sale Click here for full details


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Following a string of deadly incidents in Bangladesh's garment industry, German sports gear maker Adidas is encouraging workers in the factories of its Asian suppliers to text grievances about their working conditions.
Workers employed in the factories of Adidas' Asian suppliers can in future use a text message limited to 160 characters to complain about their working conditions or when they feel their rights have been violated. Adidas said the initiative is a step towards improving labor conditions in the country.
Adidas said it has been testing the SMS initiative since last year at a factory in Indonesia. "We realized that almost everyone there has a mobile phone," an Adidas spokeswoman told DW.
Under the program, workers at a supplier can anonymously send text messages directly to Adidas when they feel their rights have been breached. The text messages will first go to the management at the various suppliers. "But we have access to them and can see what the problems are," the spokeswoman said.
If Adidas sees the need for direct intervention and action, she added, it would commission local non-governmental organizations to tackle the issue.
String of disasters
It's not the first time that western retailers and brands selling apparel made in Asia have come under fire for not doing enough to improve labor conditions there.
Last month, a building housing garment factories in Dhaka collapsed, sparking days of painstaking rescue efforts in which hundreds were pulled from the rubble. Authorities say the death toll now stands at over 900. It was well-known that the building had structural faults and workers entered it on the morning of the disaster only because they were forced to.
The incident was one of many deadly catastrophes that have rocked the Bangladesh garment industry in recent years. Last September, a fire broke out a garment factory, killing 112 people. The emergency exists were reportedly blocked, trapping many workers who burned to death.
The incident has raised pressure on Western retailers and brands with ties to Bangladesh to address public concerns about working standards there. Many non-governmental groups have repeatedly accused retailers like Adidas of simply doing nothing when workers in supplier factors complain about poor safety conditions.
Maike Pflaum from the Christian charity Romero said he remained skeptical of Adidas' latest SMS hotline project. "Labor conditions in Asia are generally poor," he told DW. "The SMS is a drop in the ocean and quite ridiculous."
Adidas, Pflaum said, is interested in lowering prices, and should instead focus on improving production standards rather than diverting attention from real problems with an SMS program.
Adidas defends move
Adidas however has rejected the allegations, saying the text message campaign isn't just a marketing stunt.
"The SMS hotline is an additional program which we're using to ensure that our workers stay safe," the Adidas spokeswoman said. "That's why we don't think it's ridiculous."
Big problems emerge when there's a lack of communication, she pointed out. "We were of the view that it's important to change that," she said. She added that Adidas has for years pushed for better working conditions in its suppliers' factories. "Among other things, we've hired 65 specialists who visit companies around the world and monitor whether workers' rights are being upheld."
In a recent statement, Adidas management board member Glenn Bennett insisted the company was working on improving labor conditions. "We are always trying to continue to improve worker conditions in the factories of our suppliers. The protection of their interest is our primary goal."
Adidas not an exception
But NGOs aren't buying the talk. "At the moment, a fire protection law is being debated in Bangladesh," Maik Pflaum pointed out. "Consumer goods firm Tchibo and clothing company Phillips-Van Heusen are two big companies that have signed it. Adidas however refuses to do the same."
Plaum added that the SMS hotline campaign was "hypocritical" because Adidas did not want to change structural problems. "Adidas is raising pressure on entire countries. That goes to the point, where for example, minimum wages aren't being raised," Pflaum said. He pointed to China as an example. "After China raised minimum wages for two years in a row, Adidas CEO Herbert Haine said the company would in future build factories in other countries."
It's only when workers get more pay, can additional projects such as an SMS hotline make sense, Pflaum said. "Around the world, people who stitch clothes for the sports gear maker, earn just a fraction of what they need to ensure their basic needs are met. The company must ensure that these wages are raised."
But others say that Adidas is only the tip of the iceberg. Sophie Koers from the Dutch NGO Fair Ware Foundation said there are plenty of rotten apples in the industry.
"It applies to all multinational textile companies," Koers said. "On the one hand they say they want to improve working conditions but on the other hand, they insist on quick and cheap production," she said, adding you just can't have both.
Asian economies have remained resilient to the 2008/9 financial crisis, but regional growth is slowing and the poverty alleviation efforts of the last decade risk being undone, says the United Nations. (06.05.2013)


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Did Ramu watch Sholay 27 times? If that's the case, then there should be a law to ban such hideously reckless activity, for it gives rise to a dangerous itch, the horrible results of which are there for us all to see and bear. When RGV announced the pompous remake of Sholay with great enthusiasm, I knew it was going to be one of the last nails in his filmmaking coffin. My fears turned out to be true, and so, even with clear disaster warnings written in bold all over, I took a chance with AAG, braved Ramu's towering inferno for close to 3 hours and came out aghast with a lot of roasted body parts.
The following crap video is a consequence of the severe mental shocks that I endured. I had originally left it out (considering it to be too mawkish) but now that ~uh~™ and bouncing-bubble are poking me in the ribs, I'm sharing it here for your collective merriment.
The cinematographer was earlier working with The Royal Japanese Earthquake Filming Society….his unique style of wildly swaying, swinging, spinning, screwing camera angles gave away this valuable clue. It's another thing that the poor viewers nearly vomited with vertigo and motion sickness. The assistant cinematographer had probably co-invented the stump vision camera. So all shots were taken from 2 ft. height to enable the viewer to have a clear view of the balls' movement. .I was enlightened by the fact that after the 'mole', the next most useful way of hiding your identity is by wearing a brown moustache. A pair of goggles can compliment the mooch nicely. If used intelligently, the combination of a mole, a moustache and a pair of goggles can hide the differences between a man, a dog, a lion, a police inspector and even an elephant.Ajay Devgan (Heero) cant even steal an ogle properly. Each time he stared at Ghungroo's ghung…I mean breast pockets, he was caught red handed. He nearly drilled his eyes into Ghungroo's anatomy. Ogling, like whistling, is an art, and like all other fine arts, needs perfection. Heero is lousy and miserable in the movie with his red hair and should have committed suicide when Ghungroo's mom didn't consent for their marriage. Had Veeru known that he would be emulated thus, he too would have given up his claim on Basanti, gulped down a few more mouthfuls of whiskey and jumped off the tank in Sholay.Prashant (Raj) thankfully dies in the last scene. He didn't have much to do other that look like a cool dude (what's a dude?).
Babban reminded me of Waterworld somehow. His makeover was hideous. His hamming was pathetic. His gang had a whole bunch of shrunken old men chiselling away old 12 bore guns which led me to suspect that Jai (from Sholay) probably survived, hoodwinked all, fled to Mumbai, became Babban with the help of Gabbar's dropouts and kicked as*. Also, Babban as a patient appears pretty difficult to treat and seems to be a physician's nightmare. Likely to be suffering from tuberculosis, barber's itch, foot drop, limp, groin eczema, sore eyes, psychosis, mange, lice, scabies, pinworm, impotence, Gilles de la Tourette syndrome, dislocated hip joint, asthma, piles, tics…..where is the doctor?
The Natural Endowment Policy – If you are a nymphet, naturally endowed, love fig leaves, are thrifty with clothes, can jump, heave and are willing to get wet either at the beach or under the shower, you can become Ramu's heroine and end up with loads and loads of crappy dialogues. He won't pay any attention to your horrible, slimy, incoherent, staccato jerks which you may try to pass off as acting. Nisha Kothari was pathetic.
Had Basanti and Dhanno seen this, both would have turned up at a lunatic asylum. Sush as Durga Devi gave me the impression of the latest version of 'Widow's Vista'. Attractively packaged, but terribly faulted. And literally dying to 'upgrade' at the first opportunity! When confronted with Raj's secret love for her, Durga Devi nearly jumped with glee, chanted har har har har har quietly and went about spinning a day dream.
It was hazardous for Amitabh to experiment with an apple, that too at this age. He should have read about Newton's laws of motion. It was equally hazardous for him to fiddle with ants, bees, flies and kill hundreds of them without any apparent reason. Flickered his tongue like a snake sometimes. Ugh! But I think it is not really Ramu's fault and shouldn't be blamed for the hideous misdirection. He was busy directing 12 other movies at the same time. One hits next week.
Everyone went completely over the top. It was like a mad rush for the gold medal in hamming. The film is horrid, ghastly and revolting beyond belief. All the guns seemed to have an excess of gunpowder, made a terrible racket when fired, and often missed the target. Background score is jarring, deafening and revolting beyond description. Bizarre and unnecessary references to CIA and Al Qaida appear to inserted to give this movie an international texture. Ramu's creativity seems to have sunk to the pits really. Is this the same one who made Satya???
Tambi showed promise. If he grows a real moustache, sticks to Ramu loyally and doesn't eye Ramu's girls, he may land up with a plump role in the near future.
Rajpal Yadav probably choked on icecream and ruined his voice.
Chekravarty's career seems to have come to an end with Satya. Though only one glimpse of him was heart warming. And I am still to comprehend how a fingerless Narsimha hurled that hunting knife at Babban's back. Moreover, he failed to convince as a police inspector, no matter how hard he tried. Ramu should have made him a lawyer or something. Would have suited him better.
There are countless other inconsistencies, to document which I shall need to write two more reviews. Naah, don't really have the stomach for that.
Hazam nahi hua….
This post was first published elsewhere. It can be read in the original context along with the comments here.


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American Music Awards 2016 Performers
44th Annual American Music Awards 2016 Performers & Presenters List!
The 44th Annual American Music Awards will take place on November 20, 2016 hosted by Gigi Hadid and Jay Pharoah, 2016 AMAs held at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. The nominations were announced on October 10, 2016. and we have the full list of performers and presenters you can expect to take the stage!
American Music Awards 2016 Details
Date : November 20, 2016
Location: Microsoft Theater, Los Angeles, California, United States.
Hosted by : Gigi Hadid and Jay Pharoah
Most nominations : Drake (12)
Network : ABC
Runtime : 180 minutes
Produced by : Dick Clark Productions
44th Annual American Music Awards 2016 nominees – #AMAs2016
The performers and presenters list has lots of famous faces in music world and beyond.
Be sure to catch the American Music Awards 2016, airing at 8/7c on abc live from Rotterdam, Microsoft Theater, Los Angeles.
here is the full list of performers and presenters…
Performers AMAs 2016
Performances at 44th Annual American Music Awards 2016
Ariana Grande & Nicki Minaj — "Side To Side"
Bruno Mars — "24K Magic"
Fifth Harmony — "That's My Girl"
James Bay
The Weeknd
Green Day
John Legend — "Love Me Now"
Lady Gaga
Shawn Mendes — "Mercy"
Twenty One Pilots — "Heathens"
Niall Horan — "This Town"
DJ Khaled feat. Nicki Minaj, Rick Ross, Future & August Alsina —"Do You Mind"
Maroon 5 & Kendrick Lamar — "Don't Wanna Know"
The Chainsmokers & Halsey — "Closer"
Justin Bieber
Presenters at 44th Annual American Music Awards 2016
Bebe Rexha
Ryan Seacrest
Hailee Steinfeld
Taraji P. Henson
Octavia Spencer
Nina Dobrev
Matt Bomer
Heidi Klum
Zoe Saldana
Karlie Kloss
Steven Yeun
Robert Downey
Teyana Taylor
Idina Menzel
Julianne Hough
Blake Jenner
Gigi Gorgeous
Erin Foster & Sara Foster
Florida Georgia Line
Ansel Elgort
Rebecca Romijn
Mark Cuban
Jenny McCarthy
Olivia Munn
Chrissy Teigen
Rachel Platten
Bella Thorne
Keke Palmer
Red Carpet Performers
Emeli Sande
Spencer Ludwig
Red Carpet Hosts
Bailee Madison
Jeannie Mai
Laura Marano
George Kotsiopoulos
Rocsi Diaz
Roshon Fegan
Kira Kazantsev
44th Annual American Music Awards 2016 Performers & Presenters List!


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The glaze firing of the second two angels went well, much to my relief, as one of these was the commissioned angel that originally started me on this angelic mini series! The commissioned angel is shown in the first three photos, and I am pleased to report that it was well received. At the end of this post I will say something more about the blue/green glaze on this angel's gown.
Next are photos of the other angel that was in the second glaze firing.
Green/blue glaze.
The green/blue gown on the first angel in this post has a glaze that I developed recently. It is a substitute for one that is in a Thames and Hudson glaze book (The Glaze Book A Visual Catalogue of Decorative Ceramic Glazes by Stephen Murfitt). I love the look of the one in the book, it is a green that shades through to clear on rims and edges. The glaze crazes, but it does so attractively. There is a watery clarity to the glaze that reminds me of a cold copper stained pool high in the mountains. The original glaze uses Cornish stone, and this is a very expensive glaze ingredient in this part of the world, so, much as I like it, I cannot afford to use it in anything other than small amounts. I set about making an alternative. Unfortunately you cannot simply substitute potash feldspar weight for weight with Cornish stone, because both are quite different materials. It is necessary to attack on several fronts simultaneously! I fired up the Insight glaze software that I purchased recently, and fiddled around until I had something that was chemically very similar to the original glaze, but used soda and potash feldspar in place of Cornish stone, and adjusted the other ingredients in the glaze, both the china clay and the silica had to be increased appreciably.
When I tested the glaze on a tile I found that, to my surprise, my substitute was much better than the original, giving superior coverage when applied with a brush (the extra china clay in my substitute would have helped with this). The colour was almost identical, as was the crazing. This is a glaze with character, and I suspect that it will do well as a copper red if fired in reduction, but I have not had the opportunity to test that yet. At cone 10 the glaze will move, and it pools attractively in the bottom of bowls, giving a bluer colour where thick, green where medium and almost clear where thin. It is not really suitable for the sort of potter where everything has to be the same, but it is a lovely addition to my glaze repertoire.
Here is the original glaze (listed as being for 1290 degrees C or 2354 degrees F with an hour soak)
Cornish Stone 28
Silica 20
Dolomite 18
Whiting 16
China Clay 12
Bone Ash 4
Tin Oxide 2
Copper Carbonate 1
My substitute (I fire to cone 10)
Potash feldspar 8
Soda feldspar 8
Silica 28.25
Dolomite 18
Whiting 17
China Clay 16
Bone Ash 4
Tin Oxide 2
Copper Carbonate 1
Whilst I think about it, do take care when following recipes from books. Most glaze books that I have come across contain errors, unfortunately the Thames and Hudson has many really bad ones, some glazes are incomplete, and others have wrong amounts. It always pays to read and to think about the glaze, ask your self, does the glaze sound sane and sensible to you? How does it compare with similar ones elsewhere in the same book? It annoys me that otherwise good and useful books can be let down in this way. I could be wrong, but it does appear to me that the newer a book is, the more likely it is to contain errors..., we seem to be in a process of devolution rather than evolution, in a few more generations we will be conversing in grunts and dragging our knuckles on the ground!! OK, and whilst I am on my soap box, I do wish that people publishing recipes used cone readings rather than temperatures. There is a vast difference between a glaze that has been fired rapidly to 1290 degrees C, to one that has taken many hours to get there! Cones give a truer record.


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Program Income is income earned by a grant recipient from activities which are supported by the direct costs of an award. It includes, but is not limited to:
- Fees earned for services performed under the grant, such as those resulting from laboratory drug testing.
- Rental or usage fees, such as those earned from fees charged for the use of computer equipment purchased with grant funds.
- Third-party patient reimbursement for hospital or other medical services, such as insurance payments for patients where reimbursement occurs because of the grant supported activity.
- Funds generated by the sale of commodities, such as tissue cultures, cell lines, or research animals.
- Fees received to attend conference or workshop funded by a sponsored project.
This income must be appropriately documented and the resulting revenue and expenses properly recorded and accounted for. This income must be administered through a program income account established by the Research Foundation.
Program Income is the property of the sponsor and is to be accounted for in accordance with the Terms and Conditions of the Award.


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Erbprozent Kultur— «Forum 8» in the Sitterwerk
In 2018, Erbprozent Kultur, the Swiss foundation for the promotion of culture across generations, supported the Sitterwerk with a notable contribution. On November 24, 2018, the ...
November 24, 2018 Event date: 11.00
Fluid Libraries—Automated Processes and RFID
The Art Library in the Sitterwerk is dedicating an afternoon to new perspectives and technical possibilities in the field of libraries and archives. International speakers present ...
November 30, 2018 Event date: 14.00 to 16.30
Material, Wissen und Kunst versammelt im Sitterwerk
Im Rahmen der Öffentlichen Vorlesungen der Universität St.Gallen gibt das Sitterwerk an drei Abenden Einblick in die Tätigkeiten der Stiftung. In drei Vorträgen werden die ...
On a Search for Clues in the Sitterwerk: Museum Night 2018
On Saturday, September 8, 2018, the Museum Night is taking place in St. Gallen. A good reason for the Sitterwerk, in cooperation with the neighboring Kunstgiesserei and the Fotolabor ...
September 08, 2018 Event date: 18.00 to 00.00
Urs Lüthi—Facets of a Self-Portrait
Invitations, Posters, Publications
May 27 to August 19, 2018
Blank books – A lecture by Moritz Küng on invitation by Werkplaats Typografie
Saturday May 5, 2018
Event with presentations by the participants of the Werkplaats Typografie from 16.00 and a lecture by Moritz Küng from 18.00
Program ...
World Book Day
In 2018, the Sitterwerk is once again participating in "World Book Day". With a loose overview of the topic "the material from which books are made," we titillate all the senses and ...
April 23, 2018 Event date: 09.00 to 17.00
The Stiftung Erbprozent Honors the Sitterwerk
In 2018, the Sitterwerk has received a considerable contribution from the Stiftung Erbprozent. The Swiss foundation for the promotion of culture across generations by civil society ...
The Sitterwerk Catalogue with New Functions
You can now access our online catalogue with subtle, but significant improvements. At
Robots in Libraries?—An Evening of Conversation in the Art Library
What do robots, digital tools, and RFID technology do between bookshelves? Can structures of order be broken up with automated processes, and do we now find everything in chaos? ...
November 23, 2017 Event date: 19.00
From A to Z (minus Q, X, and Y)
André Tavares as Guest in the Depot of the Sitterwerk Art Library
October 31, 2017
In the depot of the Sitterwerk Art Library ...
Orphan Papers
An exhibition by Izet Sheshivari with the Sitterwerk Art Library
November 12, 2017, to January 28, 2018
Salome Schmuki and Katalin Deér in the Art Library
Within the framework of "5ünfstern, offene Künstlerateliers in der Ostschweiz" (Open Artists' Studios in Eastern Switzerland)," Salome Schmuki and Katalin Deér provided insight into ...
April 29, 2017 to April 30, 2017
World Book Day 2017 in the Sitterwerk
Since 2004, the "World Book Day" initiated by UNESCO has also been celebrated in Switzerland. In 2017, the Verein Buchstadt St. Gallen in cooperation with the Cantonal Library St. ...
April 23, 2017
17 Meters of Picasso
For some time, with the Magazin, the Sitterwerk Foundation has had at its disposal a second work and library space that we would also like to use for exhibitions. To venture a ...
April 18, 2017 to April 24, 2017
Sculptures by Hansjürg Buchmeier,
An Exhibition in the Sitterwerk
Opening: Sunday, February 12, 2017, 2 to 5 pm
Book launch of the publication africana, edition typoundso
Welcome speech at ca. 3 ...
February 12, 2017 to March 26, 2017
Specialist Presentation by Ralph Schraivogel
He is one of the most well-known contemporary Swiss poster designers. His works are visually distinctive as a result of the complex structural patterns and the handling of images. ...
December 02, 2016 Event date: 19.00
Museum Night
The Sitterwerk, Kunstgiesserei, and Fotolabor are also participating again in this year's St. Gallen Museum Night, which takes place on Saturday, September 10, 2016, ...
September 10, 2016 Event date: 18.00 to 00.00
Between Cabinet of Curiosities and High-Density Storage—An Evening at the Art Library
On activating and mediating libraries, estates, and other collections.
The Sitterwerk Foundation is celebrating its tenth anniversary in 2016. We are taking this as an ...
June 23, 2016 Event date: 19.00
Between Pixel and Print—Physical Archives in the Digital World
An evening at the Art Library
February 25, 2016 Event date: 19.00
«Das Denken unterbrechen»: An Exhibition on Drawings, Notes, Idea Sketches
The exhibition «Das Denken unterbrechen» (Suspending Thought) takes up an element of interest to both the Sitterwerk and the Kunstgiesserei: drawings as idea sketches, as a ...
November 22, 2015 to February 14, 2016
«The Dynamic Library»: English Publication about Organizing Knowledge in the Sitterwerk
«The Dynamic Library» was published by Soberscove Press in mid-October 2015. We are taking the publication of the English translation of ...
With / Without a Claim to Completeness – Rare Wooden Library
Starting on January 25, one of the two wooden libraries still extant in Switzerland will be exhibited in the Sitterwerk. For the exhibition «Mit / Ohne Anspruch auf Vollständigkeit» ...
January 25, 2015 to March 22, 2015
«The Dream of Perfect Order: Library Stories»
On April 30, the Sitterwerk is hosting the literature theorist Martina Süess. Within the framework of the «langen Donnerstag» (long Thursday) the ...
April 30, 2015 Event date: 19.00
Mirko Baselgia on the Queen of the Plant Kingdom: The Artist from Graubünden as Guest
On February 11, Mirko Baselgia, an artist from Graubünden, was a guest of the Sitterwerk, where he took wood as a material as the starting point for research along with Annett Höland ...
February 11, 2015
On Sunday, November 23, 2014, in the Art Library, the Bibliozine project will be presented and introduced as a working tool. Bibliozine consists of a table equipped with radio ...
November 23, 2014 Event date: 14.00 to 18.00
The Most Beautiful Swiss Books 2013 at Sitterwerk
The book designer and typographer Jan Tschichold is said to have warned that, «Poor typography is bad for your health» — a quote that on the one hand best ...
October 26, 2014 to November 23, 2014
Adam Feldmeth – Project in the Art Library
September 14th, 3 p.m.: public discussion between Adam Feldmeth and Akiko Bernhöft (in english)
Museum Night 2014
During the Museum Night 2014, taking place on Saturday, September 6, from 6 pm to 1 am, visitors are invited to visit the Art Library, Material Archive, Kesselhaus Josephsohn, and ...
September 06, 2014 Event date: 18.00 to 01.00
"Feuer & Flamme" Available on DVD
In the last ten years, the filmmaker Iwan Schumacher filmed the creation of various art works in the
Spector Books at the Sitterwerk
Applied Publishing Studies – An Improvisation
Symposium on book design and book-making
May 10, 2014 Event date: 11.30 to 18.00
The Sitterwerk Art Library at Herrmann Germann Contemporary, Zurich
«Echo Travel Echo Star»
Vera Ida Müller, Sebastian Utzni, Marina Schütz, Sitterwerk Art Library
March 29, 2014 to May 10, 2014
Book Design for the Sitterwerk – Presentation of the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts
In September and October 2013, fifteen students of graphic design under the direction of the designers Megi ...
March 04, 2014 to April 06, 2014
contrapunkt: NONO 90 – The Minguet Quartett at the Art Library
On Friday, February 28, 2014, starting at 7 pm, contrapunkt / new art music, the St. Gallen Forum für neue Musik, is guest in the Sitterwerk. Established in 1987, contrapunkt – which ...
February 28, 2014 Event date: 19.00 to 22.00
Neighborly Relations – Archival Exhibition on Aby Warburg and Positions in Contemporary Art from the Holdings of the Sitterwerk Art Library
The Sitterwerk Art Library invites interested individuals to a dialogue with the exhibition
October 18, 2013 to November 17, 2013
Tour of the industrial site in the Sittertal
– with Felix Lehner and Richard Dindo
"Warum Meienberg? Pourquoi Meienberg?" is an exhibition on the work of Niklaus Meienberg (1940–1993) that will be presented in the
September 08, 2013 Event date: 17.00 to 21.30
Veronika Spierenburg: «Between Handle and Blade»
Opening: Sunday, May 5, 2013, 2–6 pm
3 pm: Introduction by Winfried Heininger, Kodoji Press
May 05, 2013 to June 23, 2013
Presentation: Publication on New Systems of Order
A Symposium took place in the Sitterwerk in the fall of 2011: under the title «Archive of the Future – New Systems of Order ...
April 24, 2013 Event date: 19.30
Sitterwerk is a «Shaper of the Future in
Libraries 2013»
award for the project of dynamic order
«Yuan Trio» – Jazz Concert in the Sitterwerk
Claude Diallo | piano
Wen Hui Tsai | vocals
Martijn Vanbuel | double bass
January 19, 2013 Event date: 19.30
Publication on New Systems of Order
Dynamic order is a distinguishing characteristic of the Art Library. The books do not have a fixed location on the shelves: users may rearrange the books as they wish—and they can ...
The Most Beautiful Swiss Books of 2011
The Bundesamt für Kultur (BAK) is holding "The Most Beautiful Swiss Books" competition each year. With this award, the BAK, on the one hand, acknowledges outstanding achievements in ...
November 18, 2012 to December 16, 2012
Trio Onyx – Concert in the Sitterwerk
Eva Boesch: Violoncello | Maria Schmit: Violoncello | Brian Archinal: Drums
The piece «Match» by the composer Mauricio Kagel first interested the three musicians primarily because of ...
November 02, 2012 Event date: 20.00
Presentation by Vaclav Pozarek
The archival exhibition
October 23, 2012 Event date: 18.30
«ein Gebäude sein – être un bâtiment»
A theater piece by the Compagnie un tour de Suisse in the Art Library.
September 21, 2012 Event date: 18.30 to 21.30
Museum Night 2012
A museum night is being held in St.Gallen once again this year. On Saturday, September 8, 2012, from 6 pm until after midnight, a total of 35 cultural institutions receive interested ...
September 08, 2012
Books, Bridges, Images – An Archival Exhibition in the Art Library
In an allusion to the exhibition «Landschaft und Kunstbauten» in the neighboring ...
August 18, 2012 to November 04, 2012
Thomas Stricker – «Skulpturale Fragen»
– Exhibition and Book Presentation
January 22, 2012 to March 25, 2012
The Archive of the Future —
New Orders of Knowledge
November 04, 2011 to November 05, 2011
The Archive of the Future: Workshop in the Sitterwerk
October 21, 2011 to October 23, 2011
Museum Night St. Gallen 2011
September 10, 2011 Event date: 18.00
«Caravan, descending a staircase»
– from the sound poem to the speech bubble
Start of the trilogy: «Sprechmusiksprachen – Crossing Frontiers between Lecture, Concert, and Theater»
Organized by «bibliOnzert» – Ueli Vogt and Jürg Hochuli
May 18, 2011 Event date: 20.00
Kulturlandsgemeinde Appenzell Ausserrhoden 2011
The Kulturlandsgemeinde Appenzell Ausserrhoden
as guest in the Sitterwerk
May 08, 2011
Library of the Future:
Flexible and associative organization systems
The organization of the Library in the Sitterwerk is flexible. In the catalogue, the current location of every book is shown along with the surroundings in which the book is located at ...
Continuous Library Inventory
using RFID Technology
To mark the launch of the RFID system in the Art Library, the Sitterwerk presents a thematic evening
February 17, 2010 Event date: 19.30
The Andreas Züst Library makes a stop in the Sitterwerk
For over three months, the Art Library of Daniel Rohner in the Sitterwerk is receiving a visit from an intellectual kin - from the library of Andreas Züst. Around 10,000 volumes ...
November 30, 2009 to March 07, 2010
Museum Night 2009
Museum Night bus: stop at the Sitterwerk or shuttle from the Stocken bus stop
September 05, 2009 Event date: 18.00 to September 06, 2009 Event date: 01.00
Farewell to Daniel Rohner
May 20, 1948 – October 9, 2007
«Aus dem Off legen»
Six publishing houses for art and one collector
June 04, 2007 to September 09, 2007
«Book Design in St.Gallen»
Spring 2007 - an exhibition catalogue is created in the Sitterwerk
Peter Fischli/David Weiss:
«Bücher, Editionen und Ähnliches»
An exhibition to mark the opening of the Art Library in the Sitterwerk
April 22, 2006 to May 02, 2006


text: Frankie Gaye, brother and virtual double of his late brother, soul singer Marvin Gaye, will make his first local performance tonight at the Gardenia club after gigs in England, Scotland, Canada and New York. Gaye sang back-up vocals for brother Marvin for many years and is expected to include a medley of Marvin's hits in the show, according to a club spokeswoman. Shows are also scheduled for the following weekends.


text: Home / About Kichler / News Room / Kichler Press Releases / 6-21-12 Dallas Market LED Tape Kichler® Lighting Now Offers Complete Line of Versatile, High-Quality Taskwork LED Tape Lighting Easy to install in a wide range of options for indoors, outdoors and long-length applications CLEVELAND – June 21, 2012 – Kichler® Lighting takes tape lighting to a new level with Taskwork LED Tape in a wide range of options for creating beautiful, energy-efficient lighting. The sleek, ultra-low profile Taskwork LED Tape from Kichler is available for flexible indoor/dry, indoor/damp and outdoor/wet applications, including home theaters, game rooms, kitchens, baths, decks, patios or anywhere imaginable. Perfect for enhancing tray ceilings, highlighting cabinet toe-kicks or creating wall-wash effects, it can create lighting effects in a variety of applications. The safe, 24-volt tape is fully dimmable and comes in a range of white light and color options and convenient lengths up to 20 feet. "Our new Taskwork LED Tape offers high-quality, even light ideal for both decorative and practical applications," says Jeff Dross, Kichler's corporate director of education and industry trends. "With its affordability, incredible versatility and ease of installation, designers and homeowners can be more creative and efficient with how they use and layer light." When tucked into bookshelves, under counters, above cabinets and inside coves, the sleek fixture disappears, leaving targeted areas awash in light to aid in task work or highlight architectural features. Outdoors, Taskwork LED Tape adds ambience and aids in nighttime navigation when used around barbecues, gazebos, decks and planters. Kichler's Taskwork LED Tape for indoor/dry use (such as living and dining rooms) and indoor/damp use (including bathrooms and kitchens) is available in both high and low lumen output options for a choice of light intensity. 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A classic question in ethics is 'why be moral?'. My usual answer has been 'because you want to'. A correct understanding of the nature of morality makes 'why be moral?' sound like 'why like ice-cream?'. Morality is not some alien creation that we need an independent reason to accept. It is a system that subsists within our desires.
'X is good' is pretty much short hand for 'I desire X to obtain'. Moral language is a projection of our attitudes on to the world, allowing us to reason about them as if they were properties of the world. Moral reasoning is simply us figuring out how to best achieve what we want. It says for example, if you don't like little girls dying, then don't like setting orphanages on fire because that causes little girls to die. Morality gets more abstract the more you think about it. You might go on to decide that it's not little girls dying per se that you don't like; it's the loss of a distinct mind. Realising this, you will want to start disliking things that you that you never considered before, such as the death penalty.
Our desires have logical consequences that we can (in theory) discover. Morality is the sum of all our values and their logical consequences. There are objective moral truths of which we are ignorant in the same sense as there are objective winning games in chess that no one has played. They exist out there in logic land. At its best, Ethics allows us to work out this logic and get more of what we want (such as fewer dead girls).
Ethics is not about dutifully submitting to something outside you, its about rationally maximizing what you want. In fact it i think morality is just a special subset of practical rationality that deals with concerns like helping others rather than concerns like getting to work on time.
However there are complications with the above account. There are two ways something can be good. Firstly there is simple projection; Ice cream makes me feel warm and fuzzy so, as well as being cold and organic, ice-cream is 'good'. Secondly there are the various extrapolations we make off such simple intuitions. For example I might examine why ice cream is good and conclude that the reason ice cream is good is because pleasure is good.
Note that 'reason', as used in the last sentence, does not mean 'cause'. When we says things like 'the reason why ice cream is good is because pleasure is good' we are providing a justificatory normative reason, explaining what is is we value about ice cream. However 'pleasure being good' is not what really makes you value ice cream ie the causal reason. That is some long story involving stimulation of the olfactory system and evolution.
What causes ice creams goodness (causal reason) ie our projected liking, is thus a different type of thing from the explanation we give for its goodness (normative reason). Ethical theory trades in the normative. A consequence of this is that we can get normative 'goods' via reasoning that we don't actually desire because they fail to pull the correct levers in our psychology.This messes with my orignal story about ethics being a way to get what you want. We can end up with a break between what we feel is good and what we reason is good.
I basically accept preference utilitarianism as the correct normative account of morality, yet I don't feel much motivation to follow its prescriptions. I put this down to the badness of human(or at least my) psychology. Another response would be to say im wrong about utilitarianism and just strip my normative theory down to match my feelings, as do moral particularists. Either way Ethical reasoning doesn't look that good. With the first approach Ethics is inconsequential, with the 2nd it is redundant.
This is probably too strong though. I don't think I have shown ethics is completely useless, rather that Plato was wrong that to know the good is to will the good. We in fact end up with two systems of morality, the set of our intuitive moral judgments and the more formal ethical system that arises from it. This second system may have its uses but it will work quite differently from the first. My wanting to alleviate pain of the little girl on fire in front of me is quite different from my wanting to alleviate pain in the future-persons by donating 10% of my income to tech research. The first is brute desire which demands little explanation.While with the second it makes sense to ask 'why be moral' where you are using 'why' in the practical deliberative sense.
So what can formal ethics do? Although I doubt it can generate or suppress natural moral passions it may come in to play where our desire is 'to do the right thing' where the right thing is not specified. In other words when we simply want to 'be moral' rather than act on any particular moral impulse like pity. For example, accepting utilitarianism won't make me wince with guilt whenever I spend a dollar on ice-cream, but if i feel like giving to charity so i can feel virtuous, ethics may lead me to choose to feed starving humans rather than re-home kittens. I will say more about this in the next post.


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iPad Mini Goes on Sale: 10 Reasons It Will Beat Small Tablet Rivals
iPad Mini Goes on Sale: 10 Reasons It Will Beat Small Tablet Rivals
by Don Reisinger
The Wait Times Aren't Awful
One of the big issues with Apple's products and other similarly popular tablets is that they often become hard to come by soon after launch. However, as of this writing, the iPad Mini with Retina display can be shipped within one to three business days for those who want the cheaper WiFi-only model. The LTE version is only five to 10 days out. Apple has done a good job delivering enough product to store shelves to keep the purchase train running.
Apple Went Big on the Storage
One of the ways Apple tries to set its product apart in the smaller-sized tablet market is through storage. The iPad Mini starts with 16GB of onboard space, but jumps all the way to 128GB for those who are in need of additional space. The additional storage will certainly not appeal to everyone, but for power users, it might just work out well.
iOS 7 Is a Step Up--After Prolonged Use
There's no debating that iOS 7 takes some getting used to for those who have become so comfortable with the operating system's previous design. Upon further use, however, those folks find that the software's improvements, like Control Center and AirDrop, really do improve productivity. Even notifications are better. Saying iOS 7 is a selling point is not to discount Android or Amazon's FireOS, but it is to say that Apple has come a long way in addressing user needs for software.
The Track Record Is Stellar
It's hard to argue with Apple's track record as a device maker. Last year, Consumer Reports said that as a whole, Apple is tops in product reliability. In a recent study from Rescuecom, Apple was second only to Samsung for computer and tablet reliability. In other words, Apple knows how to build devices that hold up and last years. That matters to folks who don't want to invest in new devices each year.
Apple's Customer Care Is Outstanding
Apple's customer care team is outstanding. The company's Genius Bars have become the envy of retailers around the world and have prompted companies like Best Buy to improve their own product-support offerings to keep up. AppleCare, while a tad bit expensive, also provides competitive after-purchase support for the company's products. Granted, it's not Mayday, the on-device feature in the Kindle Fire HDX, but in terms of traditional support, Apple is doing quite well.
Apple's Full Suite of Services
From iBooks to iTunes to FaceTime, Apple delivers enough built-in services with its iPad Mini with Retina display that customers should be able to get all their entertainment needs met by the software. That's important. Tablet owners don't want to jump through hoops to access movies or books, and they like knowing that they can be synced across devices. Apple's built-in services allow for that.
HDTVs Have Nothing on This Tablet
All of this talk of the iPad Mini with Retina display must come back to the device's most important feature: its Retina display. The Retina display delivers a downright beautiful picture, showcasing text and other minute details far more sharply than Apple's non-Retina displays. According to Apple, the iPad Mini with Retina's screen comes with more than 3.1 million pixels. That's 1 million more pixels than those on an HDTV. Who can argue with that?
Go to the Air
Although Apple hasn't adopted near-field communication, a wireless technology that allows for the transfer of data, it has gone wireless in its own way. The company's AirPlay, which comes bundled with iOS 7, allows users to share their iPad Mini screens with Apple TV-attached televisions. In addition, the device features AirDrop, which allows for the transfer of files between Macs and iOS-based products. Apple has officially gone to the air.
The Battery Life Is a Plus
Apple's iPad Mini with Retina offers up to 10 hours of battery life while on WiFi, watching video or listening to music. On cellular networks, the iPad Mini with Retina can keep its charge for 9 hours. Since the iPad Mini is designed to be a mobile companion for folks, Apple needed to deliver a battery life that could last a long time. It did just that.
No Sacrifices on Power
Although the iPad Mini with Retina is supposed to be one of Apple's budget-friendly devices, as indicated by its $399 starting price, it's actually quite powerful. The tablet comes with Apple's A7 processor, complete with 64-bit architecture to facilitate better software experiences. The device also features the M7 motion coprocessor. On the graphical front, the iPad Mini with Retina is similarly impressive, delivering enough power to play high-end games or edit videos. The iPad Mini might not be big, but it's certainly powerful.


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The Trump administration has asked China to act against several Chinese entities suspected of doing illicit business with North Korea, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Wednesday.
North Korean ally China is the "capstone" of an international pressure campaign to hold North Korea to account for rogue missile and nuclear development, Tillerson said during testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
But Tillerson was explicit that Washington also believes that Chinese businesses and individuals are helping North Korea evade a yoke of international sanctions.
"Our expectations have been very clear with the Chinese. Their cooperation, I would say, has been notable, but it has been uneven," Tillerson said.
"We continue that dialogue with the Chinese, specifically around their actions that support revenue streams to North Korea, but also taking action against entities inside of China that may be supporting revenue streams as well," Tillerson said.
The Wall Street Journal reported this week that the Trump administration has given China a list of about 10 such suspect entities and has demanded action.
Tillerson appeared to confirm that report and added that Chinese compliance would be a central topic during meetings he will have with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and their Chinese counterparts next week in Washington.
"We have made it clear to them, and we have provided them a list of entities that we believe they need to take action against," Tillerson said.
"We have asked that they take the action, but President Trump has also been very clear with President Xi that if they either don't want to take the action or they do not take the action, we will act on our own."
Later, in testimony to a panel of the House Appropriations Committee, Tillerson said the United States assesses that China's complicated relationship with North Korea is changing and that China increasingly sees Pyongyang as a liability.
The combination of North Korean advances in nuclear weapons and long-range missiles means that "there's no runway left," for lengthy or ineffective diplomacy, Tillerson said.
"We have to reverse what North Korea is doing," and China understands the imperative, he said.
"They have affirmed their policy is a denuclearized Korean Peninsula," Tillerson said.
Chinese diplomats recently worked alongside the United States to approve additional new United Nations Security Council sanctions. Although mild, those penalties served as a warning that Chinese patience is thinning.
"There is a critical window of opportunity for the nuclear issue of the [Korean] Peninsula to come back to the right track of seeking a settlement through dialogue and negotiations," China's U.N. ambassador, Liu Jieyi, told the Security Council, according to Reuters.
"It is incumbent on all parties concerned to exercise restraint and to do more to help ease the tension and build mutual trust."
(c) 2017, The Washington Post · Anne Gearan


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Heroes/Smallville: Shave The Cheerleader And Rock Her World (Mf,shave)
by The Fan ([email protected])
Kal-El looked at Claire Bennet, the beautiful blonde-haired young
cheerleader. Damn, she looked hot. Claire smiled at the sexy young stud from
Smallville, and giggled as he licked whipped cream off her breasts. Kal-El
smiled. Life couldn't get any better than this.
He pulled down Claire's panties, and looked at the cheerleader's pubes. The
young woman was quite hairy down there. Kal-El took the razor and whipped
cream she handed to him, and began to shave her down. Claire closed her eyes,
not believing what was happening. Ever since she met this stud, weird and
fabulous things had begun to happen in her life. For starters, she was naked
in his bed and he was having his way with her. Oh, and she was loving every
moment of it.
Kal-El continued to shave down the cheerleader's tender young pussy. While he
was at it, he fingered her snatch. He shaved her down until she was clean and
smooth. Claire gasped in surprised pleasure and begged him for more. Kal-El
did something very naughty. He blasted Claire Bennet's pussy with microscopic
heat beams from his eyes, melting away even the tiniest hairs on her pussy.
All Claire felt was a heat rush which was quite pleasurable. She looked at
Kal-El and begged him for more.
Kal-El grinned. He held his hard cock in hand and pressed it against Claire
Bennet's pussy. With a swift thrust, he entered her. Claire gasped as her
hymen was broken by the alien stud's ten-inch, uncircumcised cock. Damn, it
hurt for a second. Kal-El continued to thrust into her, going deeper. Claire
wrapped her arms around him. He was so masculine and sexy. The man of her
dreams. He fucked her hard and fast, and she welcomed him inside of her. She
had been dreaming of sex for ages and now, he was finally making her dreams
a reality.
Kal-El continued to pump his cock into Claire Bennet's snatch. She cried out
in pleasure as he took her to kingdom come. He loved the tightness of her
pussy. Virgins were totally awesome. He continued to fuck her hard and fast,
until he came. He filled her with his seed. He rested on top of her and
sighed. Claire slowly let out her breath. Damn, he was something else! Kal-El
looked at Claire Bennett and smiled. He had never had a more energetic lover
in his day. She was definitely kindred.
It wasn't long ago that they met. Clark Kent left Smallville, seeking to meet
other superhumans. He wanted to form a team or a league to fight the threats
that the world faced. There were quite few Kryptonians who had escaped from
the Phantom Zone and the Last Son of Krypton had already faced off against
some of them. He'd lost his friend Raya of Krypton in the battle against the
radioactive alien psychopath known as Baern.
Oliver Queen, better known as the Green Arrow had gone on a journey as
well. He was seeking Victor Stone, Bart Allen and Arthur Curry, the other
super-powered young men Clark had encountered during his varied adventures.
The billionaire was using every resource imaginable to find the next great
bunch of Heroes. The young men nature and fate entrusted with the power to
make a difference.
Clark Kent traveled all the way to Odessa, Texas, where there were rumors of
sightings of men and women with extraordinary abilities. He had explored some
of these leads. He had encountered a young black man named D.L. Hawkins and
his son. Both father and son exhibited supernatural abilities. Hawkins phased
through a wall while fleeing from the cops. Micah Saunders, the son of D.L.
Hawkins seemed to be quite talented with manipulating any metallic or
electronic devices. Still, they weren't exactly sticking around so Clark Kent
gave up on finding them. Finding super-powered men and women who did not want
to be found wouldn't be easy. Clark Kent knew from experience.
He had practically given up on finding more potential Heroes until he
watched an accident happen right before his eyes. There was a young woman,
blonde-haired and pretty, walking near the highway. A car came and struck
her at full speed. Clark watched, horrified. He was too far away to do
anything about it. Still, he sped forward. The car struck the young woman,
but amazingly, she sprang right back to her feet. Clark couldn't believe it.
The young woman, whom he later learned was Claire Bennet, had superhuman
abilities. She could regenerate. How awesome was that!
Clark Kent approached Claire Bennet, and introduced himself. The young
woman was distraught. Just a couple of weeks ago, she was attacked by a
super-powered serial killer named Sylar. Another superhuman intervened
and saved her, but the poor man was arrested by the cops. The two of
them were walking and talking, getting to know each other when yet another
car came at them. This time, Clark Kent used his powers to stop the
vehicle. Claire looked at him, astonished as he lifted a truck clear off
the ground. Smiling, Clark tossed the car aside.
Out of the car came a tall, dark-haired man clad in dark clothing. Claire's
eyes widened when she saw him. She warned Clark. The young Superman looked
at the super-powered serial killer. He didn't look like much. Sylar smiled
evilly and hurled a huge car at Claire. It landed on the cheerleader,
crushing her. Angered, Clark rushed at Sylar. The telekinetic serial killer
blasted him with a mind punch and struck him hard enough to send him flying.
Clark landed beside the car, just in time to see Claire emerging from
underneath it, healing faster than anything he'd ever seen.
The cars on the road had stopped. Ordinary men and women watched as three
super-powered individuals battled it out. One guy even broadcasted it on You
Tube! Clark sped toward Sylar. Somehow, the killer sensed he was coming and
struck him again. Claire rushed forward to help. Sylar struck her and she
fell. Being what she was, she didn't stay down for long. Clark watched Sylar.
The super-powered serial killer was tough. He had quite a few abilities. But
Clark was a powerhouse himself. He would do whatever it took to win. So, he
unleashed his secret weapon.
From the dark corners of Clark Kent's mind, Kal-El came out to play. The
Kryptonian bad-boy and would-be conqueror of Earth looked at Sylar, and
smiled. Sylar smiled evilly and flew in the air, coming at him
telekinetically. Kal-El flew, and blasted Sylar with the full force of his
heat vision. Sylar screamed as the incredible force struck his body. Crimson
beams blasted away his universe. He fell forever. Kal-El looked at Sylar.
The alien smiled. His enemy was defeated. He looked at Claire Bennet, and
told her to come with him. And come she did. He picked her up in his arms
and flew away.
Kal-El took Claire Bennet to a private place. A motel room, to be exact. He
looked at her. She was one sexy super-powered babe. The cheerleader outfit
was a real turn-on. He definitely wanted to see what was under that skirt.
So, he played the role of knight in shining armor. Claire Bennet fell for
it. Completely. She was drawn to this sexy, masculine superhero. Who wouldn't
be? Presently, they lay in bed, after their initial lovemaking session.
Kal-El watched as Claire Bennet got up and walked around, completely naked.
The cheerleader had a very sexy booty. Kal-El definitely wanted some of that.
When Claire Bennet came back, he smiled at her. Claire smiled back. This sexy
and gorgeous young man had saved her life twice and she just met him. He was
awesome. How she wished other men were like him. She felt that she was
falling for him already. So, when he asked her to try something she felt
rather dubious about, she took one look in his clear blue eyes and nodded.
For him, she would do anything. Kal-El smiled. This was too easy!
* * *
Claire Bennet smiled at her new lover, then she assumed the position. Kal-El
positioned himself behind her, and spread her cute butt cheeks before sliding
his cock against her back door. Claire took a deep breath. This was the
moment of truth. The cheerleader was going to take it up the butt. Kal-El
gently nibbled her ear, and she smiled. A second later, he thrust his cock
deep into her asshole. And Claire stopped smiling. It's kind of hard to smile
with a ten-inch cock deep in your ass. Oh, and devilishly handsome alien stud
plowing deep into you where the sun didn't shine. Claire Bennet tried her
best not to scream. She tried to take it like a champ. But when Kal-El
gripped her hips with hands that were harder than steel and shoved his cock
as far as it would go ( and beyond) in her ass, she couldn't help but howl
like a woman possessed. Kal-El smiled. This was music to his ears.
A short while later, Kal-El came, filling Claire Bennet's ass with his seed.
Claire screamed. Kal-El grinned and smacked her cute booty. Claire winced as
he squeezed his massive cock out of her stretched asshole. Claire had tears
in her eyes. Kal-El gave her a peck on the cheek. She smiled bravely. He was
pleased with what she had given him. And she only wanted to make him happy.
In those days, anyway. As for Kal-El, the Last Son of Krypton was rather
pleased with himself. He had shaved the cheerleader, sodomized her and
totally rocked her world! All in a good day. That's Kal-El for you. He does
whatever he wants, to whomever he wants. He's got no conscience whatsoever.
I wonder what he's going to do tomorrow.
The End
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