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Do you dream of making a decent living whilst doing only things you are passionate about? In this podcast, former PE teacher Jarrod Robinson talks about his journey from the classroom to travelling the world. He now gets paid well to do what he loves.
13:29 – Who’s footing the bill?
James: James Schramko here, welcome to SuperFastBusiness.com, I have with me a wonderful guest, Jarrod Robinson. How are you?
Jarrod: Very good James, thanks for having me.
James: Now, you’re in Mexico at the moment.
Jarrod: Yes, I am, unfortunately. I’m not in Australia, but I am somewhere just as beautiful, in Mexico.
James: Why do you say “unfortunately”?
Jarrod: Sometimes I miss being back home. But yeah, when you get to sort of travel around and see exciting things, it sort of reminds you that there’s so much more than just sitting on my couch and doing a bit of work.
James: Well, it ties in with today’s topic. We’re going to be talking about combining travel and business, and in particular the way that you have become an expert in your field. You’ve put on a delivery model of running events, and you’ve somehow managed to combine that with your desire to travel. And it came from humble beginnings, as a teacher. You were a teacher, doing PE teaching, I imagine?
Jarrod: Yeah, absolutely. I mean it is the most humble of beginnings. Like, go and become a teacher, that’s like that noble profession. I started it, still loved it, and just began a blog in 2008 like documenting what I was doing in the classroom. And eventually, by accident, became something that it is today. But it’s through you know, meeting people that get this world that it’s become so much more.
James: Right, so the short version is you were a PE teacher, you started, you got really passionate about it, you have obviously got a strong mind for the technical stuff, you’ve started documenting this on a blog, talking about what tools you were using, how you do your session planning, etc. And you’ve built up a following. You’ve done a classic niche marketing thing of combining two different fields. You’ve got the PE, and the geek, and you’re now called “ThePEGeek.com.” Is that right?
Jarrod: Yeah, exactly. And that came from a student. I was in my early classes and talking about the various technology that we were using to students. And a student actually said that to me, like, “You’re just like a PE geek.” And I’m like, that absolutely sums up exactly what I’m trying to do here.
So I go and buy the domain, started writing even more consciously about how you can use technology in your PE teaching to improve the student outcomes, and it was right time, right place, because nobody was talking about it, it was sort of a combination of two niches, and it just became, yeah, it became an authority in that space.
James: Yes, and often with our unique ability, as Dan Sullivan talks about, or the thing that we’re really good at, we can’t see it so much ourselves, but outsiders tend to be able to label us better than we label ourselves, and they can often tell us what we’re good at, even if we’re not sure about it. And you’ve now proven it, beyond any shadow of a doubt, because you’ve built up an audience, you had demand from people to share what you’re doing, and you’ve somehow engineered this situation where you are travelling around, running events, so we’re going to cover that a little bit in this episode.
I want to just zoom back a bit and explain how we came together in terms of right time, right place. I remember sitting across the table from you and you were explaining to me what you’re up to, and my jaw just dropped. The sheer quantity of things that you’ve been doing, the rapid pace that you do things, the specialization of what you do, they’re all uncommon compared to the average person I speak with. And we made the decision that I should help you refine and streamline your business model a little bit. And that was now, what, 3 or 4 months ago. How is it working out for you?
Jarrod: Yeah, man, I mean that’s exactly right. When I often talk about the number of things that I was doing, it is a little bit ridiculous. I mean, that was the absolute impression that I got from you as well, and it’s absolutely been really empowering to realize that more is definitely not the best thing to be focusing on, and I’ve had more impact in the things I’ve been doing since I met you and been focusing on less.
It’s strange how that happens. I’ve been consciously ignoring things that I would normally have jumped at, and I’ve seen an increase in the income. I’m now spending less on new projects, and ultimately working less, which is another positive.
James: Right, and the thing that’s almost mind-blowing, is that as your PE geek business was ultra successful, tens of thousands of dollars a month on a rapid projection, you still managed to squeeze in a teaching job.
Jarrod: I don’t know how. I look at it now, and I wonder how I did that, because from 6 a.m. until 6 p.m., that was nothing to do with my business. It was teaching in a classroom, and then outside of that the rest of it happened. As soon as I left teaching, I immediately gave myself this massive effective hourly rate increase, because I immediately dropped 12 hours of my day. I know you’re a big proponent of that, so that’s been one of the most powerful things that’s happened since meeting with you and understanding how valuable my time is.
James: Exactly. You mentioned the word effective hourly rate. Any of the listeners of this podcast know that I like that measurement as a way to filter opportunities. And I think we had a discussion around the mindset shift of letting go of that role. It was something close to your heart, it was the thing that started your business, it’s your area of expertise, in the beginning.
It’s also, you really could call it research and development, but we did have a bit of a mindset discussion about letting go of one thing to be able to embrace something in a bigger and better way and a more meaningful way, to actually have a greater impact sometimes by letting go of the less leveraged activity to be able to focus on the more leveraged activity. And there’s probably no better example that your current world tour. Give us an insight as to what you’re doing right now. Where are you off to on this trip?
Jarrod: It’s about 15 countries in total. So it started in July, head over to the U.S. and just do all the typical tourist thing, but mixed up conferences and workshops all along the way. So perfect opportunity to see the world, and also meet with and work with teachers who are in those countries that I’m visiting. So it’s all come down from growing a list, but more importantly finding out information about these people, where they are, what countries they’re in, what cities they’re in, and then using that to formulate a bit of a plan of where I could go and run profitable workshops.
James: Right, so let’s talk about that process. I think in essence, we’re really talking about getting paid to travel the world and doing what you love. You’re a real poster child for that idea and concept, that you can combine what you enjoy and find a way to monetize it.
So if we look back to 2008, you’re posting your teacher tips and lessons, you’ve then started building that audience. What happens from that to when you’re now travelling the world? You’ve got a process. Why don’t we go through that process?
Jarrod: Well, I mean for me, it was all about content creation and in 2008, I wasn’t building an email list, I wasn’t doing anything to sort of own the racecourse, as you would say, and it wasn’t until about 4 years after that that I realized that you needed to be formulating and building something, where you could communicate regularly to people and build a relationship. So once I got that, I basically leveraged all of the opportunities from that one point.
So at the moment, my content was all about providing as much value as I possibly can, and still is, in the form of podcasts and e-books and blog posts and so on. But now when people come onto my list, I use ActiveCampaign and I’m heavily tagging them through a series of identifiers about where they live, what city they work in, what area of school they teach, and then I can use that information to then take it to the next step where I go and find people who would be interested in hosting the workshops.
James: Right, so you’ve got this segmentation happening. And how do you predominantly capture people’s details and how do you communicate with them?
Jarrod: OK, so obviously from the website itself, through LeadBoxes, big proponent of using those, for all sorts of opt-ins, as well as the top above-the-fold opt-in to my site, a lot of my IOS apps as well, also have an ability to capture contacts and put them in. But I’m also capturing like cold traffic from webinars that I’m doing on automatic through Facebook ads.
So I’ve been using evergreen business systems to run continuous automated webinar, which I recorded once, and then literally running traffic to those. And then having them convert and sort of, people are really enjoying them, and then they go through the process of me further gathering that information, which I can then use to promote upcoming workshops in places all over the planet. Does that sort of make sense?
James: It does. So just to recap, you’ve got, on your site, places that people can opt in, and you’re also running paid Facebook ads driving people to a webinar registration, which will automatically be run and then it will segment those people and it knows where they are in the world, and then you’re using a broadcast, when you’re going to go somewhere?
Jarrod: Yeah. Exactly. So the first step in the process is me thinking, I might like to go to X country, or I haven’t been to that country yet and you know, there’s an audience there. So I’ll then put out some sort of social media type post and say, you know, “Phys Ed teachers…” use a hashtag that collectively gets all those people together, “…I’m looking for a school in Vancouver.” And you know, come and do a workshop at that place.
And because of the engagement that you build, you always get people who respond, and then I get a free venue, because I always leverage the opportunity that they get, in that they get to come to the event for free, and then from there, put it up onto Eventbrite, and then start flowing traffic through it through the tags that I’ve set up. So it’s quite nice to know that I can pick a location, find people in my audience who are there, and then fill that place with people who are from those places.
James: And the important point is here, you decided in the beginning how you want to paint this canvas. You’ve got a blank canvas and you’re saying, I want to paint with red and blue here. You’re in charge, instead of the business being in charge of you, you’re dictating where you want to work, what you want to focus on, and then you’re putting it out there and you’re literally crowdsourcing from your own audience and getting that community and network aspect and leveraging resources that are just sitting there.
It’s such a good example of what Eli Goldratt would suggest, and that’s utilizing untapped resources. So most of your students are going to have access to school facilities or venues, and you’re just leveraging that.
Jarrod: And they seriously throw them at you. They throw them at us, for sure.
James: Well, I think a lot of schools want some PR and exposure and they want other visitors to come and see what they’re all about as well. I know that when I was on the school trivia committee, which is probably a whole podcast episode in the future, the local high school was very keen to host our primary school parents, because they wanted to show off and let let them know where the next stop in the journey was when they get to choose schools.
Jarrod: Yeah, for sure. I mean, that’s what I found out, and obviously professional development is pretty heavily entrenched in teachers, they have to do it, it’s something that they need to do for their accreditation and so forth. So I tap into all those sort of language, with my promotion, but most importantly they’re already interested in the topic. And when the two match up, the tickets just sell like crazy.
James: Well, you’re one of them, aren’t you, Jarrod?
Jarrod: I use the language that, yeah, I know exactly what they need, and what they have to sort of try and improve. And that was the difficult thing, that if I went away from being an expert, that I wouldn’t have that. But I think now I can have more impact, like we’ve discussed, because I can do more workshops, and I can still talk with people and still get everything that I thought I was going to lose.
James: What would you say to someone who says, “Yeah, I’m good at what I do, and other people are interested, but I feel a bit sales-ey if I’m going to start selling tickets to an event to share it.” They might have a bit of a complex about that. What would be your advice to them?
Jarrod: I think I initially felt a little bit like that. I realized that when it was all about the value, when it was all about helping them reach from one point to the other, then the sales part was pretty easy, because I was putting out a solution to a problem that they absolutely had. And that was, you need to get so many hours of training, you’ve been given technology in your classroom, you have no idea how to use it, I can get you to this point. I don’t even need to sell you on how much the ticket costs or whatever. They want that outcome, so they were flocking to it for that reason.
James: And are your teachers paying for this out of their own pocket, or are you dealing with schools or administrative bodies to pay for it?
Jarrod: Mostly schools. I mean there’s the occasional teacher who’ll pay for it and come on their own terms, but most of the time it will be the school who provides it. So quite literally, lots of schools have pretty big resources, so you know, they’ll send along 5 or 6 teachers. So rather than just selling to one person, you’ve sold multiple spots to multiple people at one school, which creates a really good relationship, which then leads to potential upsells following the workshops, where I’ll focus in on helping those 6 people take the stuff even further along the journey.
So it’s got positives when you’re working with school groups, because obviously it’s not the teachers’ personal finances, but then there’s also opportunities where it becomes more difficult because of the fact that I’m overseas and I’m selling tickets to another country overseas and banking and all that sort of stuff can be a bit of an issue.
James: How do you handle the shopping cart aspect of it? How do people pay?
Jarrod: At the moment, they use Eventbrite, which I’ve found to be the easiest platform to instantly create tickets in multiple different currencies. I could sell tickets directly from my site, but a lot of the shopping carts limit you to just having one currency, but I tend to charge in the local currency of that place. So if I’m in Europe, I’ll charge in Euro and in New Zealand, obviously in New Zealand dollars, which schools like, because it makes it easy for them to manage.
So Eventbrite lets me do that. It does have some shortfalls, but for the most part it’s a positive, and a lot of schools still take up the option of using the offline payment. And I initially sort of hesitated with that, because I didn’t want to have to send invoices and so forth. But when I enabled it, my sales increased, and I think it’s like understanding your customers. Like my customers often don’t have access to credit cards, they’ve got access to this channel.
James: It’s very important, yeah. I mean, getting paid is a fundamental part of doing business.
James: A lot of discussions that I have with students revolves around what currency to charge in, what method of payment that’s going to suit their customer. It’s good that you’ve got a blend between automated and manual. But the most important thing is you know who your customer actually is, and once you know that, it will inform you as to how they need to pay.
So tell me about some of the challenges you’ve had with events. Have you ever had a situation where you’ve booked an event and turned up and it wasn’t quite as described, or it was a different date or something else happened?
Jarrod: I have dreams about that, obviously. Running events, you can probably imagine. But I mean, I’ve had situations where the room hasn’t been as described, like all I really ask of the venue is that it can fit 30 people, adults, comfortably. And a few people have sort of made that not quite the case, and it’s a little bit squishy and a little bit less comfortable for the people there. And a couple of other times we’ve had people who’ve just turned up, like their school said that they had booked them onto the venue, and I’m like, well, technically we’re overbooked and those sorts of things.
But for the most part, it’s such an easy process of finding a venue, and then the school is pretty much set out perfectly to how we want it, because that’s the environment that we’re trying to showcase this learning in. So everything tends to run really smooth, we get lots of good feedback.
And then through all the automation sequences I’ve been able to do something very different to what most professional learning people do, people providing training in the teaching space, is I’ve got like an automation sequence that takes them from the start of the event right through to months after. Which is, you know, that continuous transformation lets me know that I’ve actually helped them, whereas some other bodies, you come for a day, you learn, and you never hear from them again. And that’s sort of been something that I’ve felt has been a differentiator for me.
Jarrod: You can measure it, too.
James: They do. They have accountability threads, they have a success thread, where they’re posting results to inspire others, and to inspire themselves. And also, they have the network effect of all the other people who were at the event, and they’ve become a big crew who know each other over the years. Coming up to my 11th event, which you’re speaking at, and we’re going to be talking about how you, basically what happened to Jarrod pre-James and post-James.
We’ll talk about what you brought to the table as a starting project for me, and what you’re doing now in your business as at the date of the event in March. And I think what will come through is some very strong themes in terms of how you can take the raw materials of a great business and tune it up and simplify it and make it even more powerful.
So I’m really looking forward to what you’re going to deliver at that event, and the emotional connection here is that my first event was actually devised when I was in Mexico, so there’s a real connection there as to where you are right now and how this event came about a long time ago.
Jarrod: Yeah, that’s great. I’m really looking forward to it for sure, and to credit you on the journey as far as being incredibly insightful in everything that I’ve done, actioning everything that you’ve pointed out, and just sort of stopping doing everything, to the point of… I’d wake up with 25 different ideas every morning, but I would do all of them, and a lot of people would never do any, but I would do all, and the thing is not all of them had impact. Not all of them really improved the outcome.
James: Well, you’re not really suffering the same obstacles as many other people. You have no issue with idea creation, with implementation. A lot of people get stuck on those few hurdles. You’re an execution machine. Would it be fair to say, though, that when you structure things differently, that it can actually get easier and more rewarding by doing less things, it’s not really just a volume game?
Jarrod: It’s absolutely not a volume game. I mean, when I was building apps, and I still have apps, like they’re still part of my revenue, but I don’t build any new ones since realizing that it’s not about the volume. I wanted to increase my income, so what I kept doing was building more and more apps, which of course cost more and more money to build, and more and more money to maintain.
But since stopping them, the actual thing that used to drive all my income, my workshops, and my training surrounding the niche, has increased. And I haven’t had to focus on projects like they are, heavily time-intensive and I’ve been able to enjoy what I started with and take my content even further.
James: Well, and if you’re not doing a 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. shift most days, you now have a tremendous amount of capacity to serve new groups all around the world. Where are some of the places you’re going on this trip?
Jarrod: All through Europe, pretty much every country in Europe is on the list. We’ve got workshops in most of them. Overall, there’s 20 different workshops that we’re doing. Immediately from Mexico I head to Canada, to start the whole journey off of completing my workshops and then eventually finishing off with the Middle East and maybe tapping into Asia. The end of it’s still a little bit unknown, but looking forward to it.
The good part about this is that I’ve actually been forced to work less, and therefore had to have my team working really well. And I mean, based on your recommendations, I jumped on Slack, banned all other communication like email and Skype and so on, and that’s been great to see finally the team’s come together. Is that what you’ve noticed as well?
James: The main thing is that when you get everyone off Skype, and off email, the interruptions stop. So it’s like all the noise is gone, and now you just have serenity and focus, and it’s so much easier. I’ve got a virtual team, there’s 45 or 46-odd people in there. I don’t mean the people are odd, I’m just saying rough numbers. And we’re a family, you know, we know each other very well, we communicate, you can have segmented conversations. And I think this is really a theme that’s come through in this call. If you’re going to travel around the world, you definitely need to segment your customers, and in your business you can segment your activities.
And what we did by turning off your teaching channel is segment your activities from, in terms of the Pareto Principle, the place where you spent a fair bit of your time for the smallest contribution to your income, has disappeared, which means now you spend most of your time on the place where you get most of your revenue and life has just transformed.
And it’s not only that. Just having access to one good idea can be incredible. I remember not that long ago, I received a message from you which almost seemed urgent, but you were extremely excited because I’d shared with you one tip that I thought you could really get a maximum benefit from. You don’t have to say what it is, but I’d love you to tell me what it means to you in terms of financial reward and how excited you were about that one idea, which took probably an hour to implement.
Jarrod: Boy, that’s what I mean. It is a testament to how one idea can be transformative. But it is. It’s the whole idea of the export marketing grants and being able to tap into something that I already had access to but was completely unaware of. So thankfully, you’ve made me aware of it, connected me with people who bring that to life, and it’s going to be enormous for me, helping bring the message even further to people outside of Australia, but most importantly returning a lot of the money that I’ve spent to make it happen up until this point. So that one thing alone changed the game completely.
Jarrod: Which is what I’ve done, for the last 4 years.
James: What I had done as well.
Jarrod: Completely oblivious, completely oblivious until you mentioned it.
James: What does it mean to you in dollar terms?
James: Every day you’re away from the country on business, to market. So the real point here is, over the 7 years or so, provided that the scheme stays alive, it could really bring you back around a million dollars. So that’s not unsubstantial.
And also, the other thing is, from today onwards, whenever you’re doing these events, you can structure the documentation in the right way and you’ll make sure that it lines up exactly with the idea behind this situation.
So that’s an example of one idea, but when you come along to SuperFastBusiness Live, I know you’ll be sharing a few of the other things we talked about that have transformed the way that you’re managing and structuring your business. I think one of the things that will more than likely come through is the way that you’ve approached your membership versus the way that you were doing it before. Think that’ll pop up?
Jarrod: Oh, yeah. I sometimes feel like the content you created is being absolutely positioned directly as a message for me, about the whole selling one-time items, I was like the king of that, selling a one-time membership to PE teachers and then having to do an ongoing monthly service, because of that as well, that was the worst part.
But yeah, completely stopped all that, completely moved to an idea of farming, because I was like a complete hunter that missed hunting, and then would go out and hunt again and not be so successful, but yeah, moving into as much farming as I possibly can, through this new community, which is based on the things that are happening in SuperFastBusiness. It uses Xenforo, it uses Intercom, to help me be more helpful for the people who are floating into it.
James: Fantastic. Well, Jarrod, as we part, just give me a couple of tips for someone who might be listening to this, they’re an expert in their field, they’ve been told that by other people, maybe someone else has given them a nickname like you, and they’ve got an inkling they would like to travel somewhere and run an event overseas. What would be your main advice to them?
Jarrod: I think you need to definitely start curating some sort of relationship with people who could be in the audience. Whether that’s with an email list, or it’s with some other mechanism, you definitely need to do that. Because for me, that’s how it started. I mean the first opportunity I had was with one person who learned as much as possible from me, and then I put an event on in their place, and he helped me bring people to it. And it was in one of the big hub cities in Singapore.
So yeah, find a way to build up a real relationship with someone in an area where you’d like to go, and see if they can be on the ground to help you do it. That’s how it began for me, and after that it’s been all about doing that on scale with content marketing and smartly tagging them so that I can use that information to find people who can help me run events.
James: That’s perfect. I totally agree. Create the relationships, curate them, segment them, be real in all your communications, be genuinely caring for their results, and if you want to go somewhere, put it in a diary and go there. I’ve done this too, Jarrod. I went to Hawaii, I wanted to do a business mastermind retreat with Ezra, who was my podcast partner with ThinkActGet, and we put on a little workshop, and we did yoga, we ate healthy food, we went surfing, and that’s where I got the bug. Two years ago now, actually.
And I can honestly say that Hawaii business mastermind retreat changed my life, because I surf every day now, and that’s where it started. So going to another country, dealing with new customers, is the best way to expand your awareness of the world and to really appreciate and lock in all the good stuff you’re doing.
So I hope this podcast is encouraging someone, and thank you, Jarrod for sharing your story. You’ve got a site ThePEGeek.com, so if you’re interested in technology or gadgets or health or fitness or you’re a teacher, you’re going to love that site. If you’re a marketer like me, you’ll just appreciate the beauty of the business model.
Now, Jarrod, you’re going to be speaking at SuperFastBusiness Live, so I look forward to your presentation there and thanks for coming along to the show today.
Jarrod: Welcome, James, thanks for having me and thanks for everything that you’ve done thus far. I look forward to the next goals that you help me achieve.
James: It just gets better, Jarrod.
Great info. I(like many probably) struggle with the “what am I am expert at” question. It has been a big struggle online.
Always look forward to your podcasts Sensei James :) This one really made a connection. Great story! – thanks!
ha ha! Glad you remember. Made a substantial pivot since the ‘Beep’ thing, with great success (thanks to you) :) http://www.primemotiontraining.com.au/ Cheers, Russ.
I really enjoyed this podcast, nice work James and Jarrod! The takeway for me was to “spend most of your time on the place where you get most of your revenue”.
This sounds logical, but I’ve found it can be easy to get into bad habits, where you feel like you’re working hard, but you’ve been spending time on tasks that don’t add value. Something I’m trying to improve on!
Thanks for the tip James – the podcast with Greg McKeown was another super relevant and insightful podcast!
Good to hear Jarrod – its great to see you doing so well … and finding time to travel and enjoy life too!
Great to hear what you are getting up to Jarrod. Well done! | 2019-04-21T16:44:22Z | https://www.superfastbusiness.com/business/get-paid-to-travel-the-world/ |
Environmental activities of PJSC RusHydro are carried out in accordance with the Company’s approved Environmental Policy, which is based on the provisions of the state policy in the field of environmental development, the Constitution of the Russian Federation, federal laws and other normative legal acts, international treaties of the Russian Federation in the field of environmental protection and a rational use of natural resources.
The Company also respects the requirements of international standards in the field of environmental safety and the best foreign experience of the hydropower industry.
The RusHydro's activities are aimed at minimizing the negative environmental impact and preserving the environment in a favourable condition for present and future generations. This principle is enshrined in the PJSC RusHydro’s Environmental Policy, which is the basis for planning and implementing majority of business activities. The document was revised and adopted in 2016. Its goal is to identify challenges of ecological safety, together with objectives, tasks and mechanisms to improve the environmental safety level of the existing and projected hydro generation facilities. The Policy applies to all structural divisions of the Company (excluding RAO ES of the East), and its provisions are included in the PJSC RusHydro’s business relations with partners.
It is planned to develop the Environmental Policy of RusHydro Group in the context of adoption of the Environmental Safety Strategy of the Russian Federation for the period until 2025 , that determined the main directions for improvement of the environmental safety level, and integration of the executive offices of PJSC RusHydro and RAO ES of the East.
minimization of adverse man-made impact on the environment.
Read more about the PJSC RAO ES of the East Environmental Policy on the website.
As part of the Program of technical re-equipment and reconstruction implemented in the Company, the measures are being taken to modernize and replace hydroelectric generating set of HPPs, as well as repair the hydro turbine equipment in order to eliminate the environmental pollution during the operation of hydroturbine equipment. In 2016, new types of hydro turbines with total capacity of 376.5 MW were installed at the Volzhskaya HPP and new hydro turbines with total capacity of 115 MW were installed at the Votkinskaya HPP. Modernization and repair of hydroturbine equipment took place at the Zhigulevskaya HPP, the Zeyskaya HPP, the Saratovskaya HPP and at the Cascade of Verkhnevolzhskiye HPPs.
In addition, in order to maintain the proper condition of the water protection zones, the Company regularly implements shore protection measures, as well as repairs and reconstruction of the hydraulic structures. In 2016, such works were carried out at the Volzhskaya HPP, the Zhigulevskaya HPP, the Votkinskaya HPP, the Nizhegorodskaya HPP, the Kamskaya HPP, the Saratovskaya HPP, at the Cascade of Verkhnevolzhskiye HPPs and at the Karachay-Cherkessia branch.
RusHydro Group replaces the oil-filled electrical equipment with vacuum or SF6 gas equipment, which does not contain oils, or with equipment that contains less oil. Works were done at the Volzhskaya HPP, the Zhigulevskaya HPP, the Kamskaya HPP, the Cheboksarskaya HPP, the Nizhegorodskaya HPP, the Novosibirskaya HPP, at the Cascade of Verkhnevolzhskiye HPPs, in the subsidiary PJSC Kolymaenergo, and at the Karachay-Cherkessia branch.
Also, the reconstruction of existing treatment facilities and installation of new treatment plants are being implemented at hydro generating facilities. In 2016, the works were carried out at the Cheboksarskaya HPP, the Pauzhetskaya GeoPP and at Dagestan, Northern Ossetian, Karachay-Cherkessia branches.
Such works were implemented at the Volzhskaya HPP, the Votkinskaya HPP, the Zhigulevskaya HPP, the Kamskaya HPP, the Cheboksarskaya HPP, the Zagorskaya PSHPP, and at the Karachay-Cherkessia branch.
As part of technical regulation, PJSC RusHydro has applied a number of environmental safety standards.
The Company has approved a corporate standard for the environmental impact assessment: "Hydro power plants. Environmental protection. Assessment of impact on the environment. Procedural Guidelines".
The corporate standard "Hydroelectric Power Plants. Industrial environmental control. Norms and requirements" has been introduced in PJSC RusHydro in order to organize a unified system of production control aimed at ensuring compliance with the requirements and norms established by the current legislation in the field of environmental protection, nature management and environmental protection measures.
For the purposes of administrative use and state supervision, the Company has developed National Standard PNST 15-2014 "Environment protection. Standards for the oil products losses in hydro turbine equipment in operation. Method for calculation of turbine oil losses while operating the hydro turbine equipment". Based on this standard, another standard GOST R (Russian National Standard) with the same name is developed.
See the texts of the standards of PJSC RusHydro at the website.
PJSC RusHydro ensures environmental safety of production activities at all stages of industrial facilities lifecycle. The measures to assess the projects’ impact on the environment (EIA) are conducted prior to the implementation of a new project or before the modification of existing facilities (at the initiation and design stages).
In accordance with the Russian law, the conduct of the EIA procedure is a prerequisite at the stage of the decision-making about the project’s implementation.
At the stage of initiating RusHydro projects, all EIA procedures are organized and conducted, including public hearings of EIA materials.
RusHydro carries out its activities in compliance with the planning documentation. During the construction and operation of the facilities, the draft standards for permissible emissions and discharges of pollutants into the environment, draft regulations on waste production and limits on waste disposal, sections of planning documentation with justification of measures for biodiversity conservation are developed.
Federal Supervision Agency for Customer Protection and Human Welfare On the basis of the agreed projects, permits for environmental protection required for the performance of production activities are obtained.
In PJSC RusHydro, there is a permanent expert collegiate body of the Company – the Scientific and Technical Council (STC), which ensures, within its competence, development and implementation of the unified system of technical expertise for research and technology decisions, projects, programs to be complied with the Technical Policy and the applicable technical standard documents.
In order to ensure environmental safety while creating new technical solutions, the Reservoirs and Environmental Protection Section has been created and started functioning as part of STC.
The section includes representatives of research and design institutes, the University of Environmental Engineering, the Institute of Water Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Department of Land Hydrology of the Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosov, the Federal Agency for Water Resources.
The projects are aimed at improving the technical condition of the equipment, but these measures not only increase the basic production performance indicators, but also mitigate the Company's negative impact on the environment.
Reduction of emission of ash from burning coal, sulphur dioxide.
In 2016, PJSC RAO ES of the East continued work for the introduction of Integrated Management System (IMS) – environmental management and occupational health and safety management.
The company carried out works to introduce IMS in the energy companies managed by the Group and in the companies, that provide generation, dispatch, distribution, transfer and sale of electric and heat energy at the territory of the Far East and Ural Federal Districts: JSC Chukotenergo, PJSC Magadanenergo, PJSC Kamchatskenergo, JSC KSEN, JSC Sakhaenergo, PJSC Mobile energy (Peredvizhnaya energetika).
RAO ES of the East is implementing various investment projects for the construction and reconstruction of energy facilities aimed at minimizing the negative impact on the environment. Initiatives are aimed at using environmentally efficient gas turbine equipment, as well as low-waste, resource-saving technologies, for example, the use of natural gas as a fuel with innovative technology for preparation and supply.
improvement of the environmental impact management system.
In 2016, the Holding adopted the Program of Innovative Development of the RAO ES of the East for 2016-2020 with a perspective for up to 2025.
One of the priorities of the Holding's innovative development for the medium term is the increase in the efficiency and reliability of the traditional generation process, including the improvement of the ecological compatibility of plants operating on non-renewable energy sources. To achieve this goal, the Holding is planning to introduce waste gas cleaning technologies, as well as to reuse coal generation waste.
Also in 2016, the Khabarovskaya CHPP-1 was reconstructed with transferring to the burning of natural gas using high-tech gas equipment for reducing emissions to the atmosphere.
There is regular monitoring of emissions of pollutants into the atmosphere at production facilities of RusHydro Group. In 2016, the amount of emissions did not exceed the threshold criteria.
PJSC RusHydro uses renewable energy sources while implementing its activities. In the operation of reservoirs, there are no significant carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, thereby the greenhouse effect is not exacerbated.
Emissions of greenhouse gases are calculated in accordance with the Decree of the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia No.300 of 30.06.2015 and using RD 153-34.0-02.318-2001 “Methodical guidelines for calculation of gross emissions of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere from TPP boilers and boiler houses” and inventory data of the Carbon Trust. The amounts of emissions of greenhouse gases are determined on the basis of the data from specific facility, taking into account the facility’s fuel balance.
CO2 intensity linked with electricity generation, in tons of CO2-eq.
The RusHydro Group is one of the primary water consumers in the system of water management complex of the Russian Federation, most of the Company's activities are carried out at water bodies.
RusHydro Group operates water facilities in a strict compliance with the requirements of the legislation. The company receives timely permits for water use and protection of water bodies in the relevant executive authorities. Water intake from the water bodies by PJSC RusHydro does not impact significantly the water sources.
In 2016, the total amount of water extracted by RusHydro Group decreased by 0.97% and amounted to 756,261 thousand m3 (in 2015, the amount was 763,646 thousand m3).
Surface water bodies, including wetlands, rivers, lakes, etc.
Clearing of river beds, canals, etc.
Subsidiaries of PJSC RAO ES of the East also use water bodies for the purpose of withdrawal of water and wastewater disposal. Most of Holding’s companies do not impact significantly the water sources as total amount of water taken by the affiliates is less than 5% of the water body amount.
RAO ES of the East does not take water from water bodies classified as natural area of preferential protection. The sources providing water are not valuable from the point of view of biological diversity. An exception is water intake by JC Chukotenergo at water reservoir on Kazachka river in Anadyr – water intake amounts to 1,602.82 thousand m3 or 20.5% of the total amount of water body – 7.8 million m3.
An important project on reduction of the negative impact on water bodies is the construction of a chemical-biological treatment and sanification station for wastewater of the Khabarovskaya CHPP-2.
In 2016, the amount of repeatedly used water by RAO ES of the East increased by 7.1%.
Production and consumer wastes are generated during the operating activities of the RusHydro Group enterprises. Primarily, there are wastes of hazard class IV and V, they are generated during reconstruction, repair works and maintenance of the equipment at facilities. The RusHydro Group companies do not transport wastes by their own efforts. Generated wastes are transferred on a contractual basis to specialized organizations that have licenses to collect and handle the wastes.
RusHydro Group implements biodiversity conservation activities in five areas.
PJSC RusHydro develops international cooperation in the field of environmental protection in regard of biodiversity conservation. In 2016, the second edition of "Compendium of innovative biodiversity solutions for the hydropower sector" was prepared with the participation of PJSC RusHydro within the project of the United Nations Development Program/Global Environment Facility and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation (UNDP Project). The Compendium is a practical guide for designing engineers, environmental specialists, authorities and other stakeholders for the planning of environmentally-oriented activities. The second edition of the Compendium includes the experience of PJSC RusHydro on biodiversity conservation.
Also in 2016, a specialized portal (gisamur.ru) was developed with the participation of PJSC RusHydro to ensure the solution of geo-ecological tasks for planning the development of hydropower potential in the Amur Region. This is a complex geoinformation system that allows analysing the possibilities of hydropower development taking into account environmental risks and issues of biodiversity conservation. This system can be widely used for creation of strategies and plans for the Amur region development, territorial planning, preparation of environmental passports of the subjects of the Russian Federation. The data collected on the geoportal can be used to solve many issues of state-management orientation, as well as those of industrial, scientific and educational significance.
Four years ago, the UNDP Project initiated the environmental project "Bureysky Compromise" as part of the construction of the Nizhne-Bureyskaya HPP in the Amur Region. It is implemented by the Amur Region state-financed institution "Directorate for the Protection and Exploitation of Wildlife and Specially Protected Natural Territories", JSC Nizhne-Bureyskaya HPP, scientific and environmental organizations of the region, mass media. The project is intended to demonstrate the advanced domestic and world principles of conservation of biological diversity in the implementation of large industrial facilities. In addition, the product serves as example of an effective interaction with government bodies, business and society on issues of nature conservation. The "Bureysky Compromise" project is comprehensive and includes many activities for each factor of possible negative impact of the reservoir creation on flora and fauna.
The network of feeding stations was arranged in the depth of the Natural Park "Bureysky" in order to concentrate the animals in the centre of the Park and remove them from the construction site.
More than 25 feeding stations have been arranged in the entire territory of the Natural Park. The complexes are equipped with surveillance cameras for photo and video recording, which allows receiving information about the attendance of feeding stations by animals.
Five rare and endemic plant species were found in the flood zone of the reservoir of the Nizhne-Bureyskaya HPP. In order to conserve the rare plant species their transfer to new habitats was arranged. This operation was carried out in two stages: one part of the plants was moved in 2015, an additional transfer was carried out in 2016. As a result, specialists managed to move more than 400 specimens to places suitable for growing.
An additional measure of plant support was the "ex-situ" measure in regard of the fern "Alevritopteris Kuna" listed in the Red Book, its main habitats located in the flood zone of the Nizhne-Bureya Reservoir. A specialized climatic chamber was created in the Botanical Garden of Blagoveshchensk, where from the rare fern spores the plants are grown for subsequent introduction into places suitable for growth. Bedding of plants grown in a climatic chamber will be carried out until 2019.
Measures to minimize the impact on the bird fauna are aimed at the two most vulnerable species: the mandarin duck and the oriental white stork.
The habitat of the mandarin duck happened to be directly into the flood zone in the area of the reservoir of the Nizhne-Bureyskaya HPP in the Amur Region.
The key habitats and natural nesting of this species were threatened with extinction. To conserve the population of the mandarin duck, about 100 artificial nest boxes have been built above the level of the reservoir design marks, mainly on tributaries. According to the monitoring results, it was established that the nest boxes began to be populated with mandarin ducks before the reservoir was filled, which confirmed the efficiency of this measure and determined the necessity to install additional artificial nest boxes. In 2016, installation of additional artificial nest boxes and the monitoring of the effectiveness of this solution was continued in order to maintain the Mandarin population in the process of a water body creation.
The south of the Amur Region is the nesting place for most of the world population of the oriental white stork. The distribution of the population of this species is in the downstream of the Nizhne-Bureyskaya HPP. In order to minimize the possible negative impact on the population of the oriental white stork, the artificial nest supports were installed with the support from UNDP Project.
The nests can hold up the weight of the stork. In 2017, it is planned to install artificial nest supports for the oriental white storks in the Muravievsky Nature Reserve, as the Amur regional public environmental organization "AmurSoES" and the regional "Directorate for the Protection and Exploitation of Wildlife and Specially Protected Natural Territories" filed a request to the energy sector.
Moreover, according to the information of the Amur regional public ecological organization "AmurSoES", in 2016, there were about 100 inhabited nests of oriental white storks in the southern regions of the Amur Region, and more than 40% of them were located on the supports of overhead transmission lines.
The PJSC Yakutskenergo (subsidiary of RAO ES of the East) equips the high-voltage power transmission lines passing through a specially protected natural territory in Ust-Maysky ulus in Yakutia with special bird protection devices. 24 species of birds are protected there.
Also, PJSC Yakutskenergo provides isolation of the power transmission lines with a special cable SIP in the territory of the Natural Park "Living Diamonds of Yakutia", where the high-voltage transmission line 6-10 kW passes through. In addition, the company equips transformer substations on transmission lines with fences and covers to prevent animals from entering into the substation and into the mechanisms of the substation.
Due to the specifics of the Company's activity, the RusHydro pays a special attention at the conservation and restoration of fish resources of rivers. For this purpose, since 2003, the annual voluntary planting of fish actions has been taking place at the rivers and reservoirs of HPPs.
In 2016, the Kabardino-Balkarian branch of PJSC RusHydro together with the West Caspian Territorial Administration of the Federal Agency for Fishery released 43 thousand fries of the Russian sturgeon and 71 thousand fries of the Caspian salmon into the Terek River and its tributaries on the territory of the Republic of Dagestan and the Cherek River and the White River in Kabardino-Balkaria.
The companies of RAO ES of the East also implement measures for the artificial reproduction of aquatic biological resources. For example, the Bystrinskaya Small HPP produces an annual release of fry in the rivers of the Kamchatka Region.
In 2009, an active work to preserve the population of the Caucasian bison listed in the Red Book of the Russian Federation and IUCN began in the North Caucasus.
In 2016, with the support of PJSC RusHydro, a specialized open-air cage with an area of 5 hectares for individuals of the Caucasian bison was built on the territory of the Tourmonsky Nature Reserve in the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania. Open-air cage allows to perform the primary acclimatization of animals grown in captivity for subsequent release into the natural habitat in the territory of the North Ossetian State Nature Reserve.
PJSC RusHydro became sponsor of the international program to restore the population of this endangered species. The cost of financial assistance of PJSC RusHydro in the opening of the open-air cage was about 300 thousand roubles. | 2019-04-20T22:15:32Z | http://www.eng.rushydro.ru/Sustainability/environment/ |
Should UTF-8 literals continue to be referred to as narrow literals?
What should be the underlying type of char8_t?
C++11 introduced support for UTF-8, UTF-16, and UTF-32 encoded string literals via N2249 [N2249]. New char16_t and char32_t types were added to hold values of code units for the UTF-16 and UTF-32 variants, but a new type was not added for the UTF-8 variants. Instead, UTF-8 character literals (added in C++17 via N4197 [N4197]) and string literals were defined in terms of the char type used for the code unit type of ordinary character and string literals. UTF-8 is the only text encoding mandated to be supported by the C++ standard for which there is no distinct code unit type. Lack of a distinct type for UTF-8 encoded character and string literals prevents the use of overloading and template specialization in interfaces designed for interoperability with encoded text. The inability to infer an encoding for narrow characters and strings limits design possibilities and hinders the production of elegant interfaces that work seemlessly in generic code. Library authors must choose to limit encoding support, design interfaces that require users to explicitly specify encodings, or provide distinct interfaces for, at least, the implementation defined execution and UTF-8 encodings.
Whether char is a signed or unsigned type is implementation defined and implementations that use an 8-bit signed char are at a disadvantage with respect to working with UTF-8 encoded text due to the necessity of having to rely on conversions to unsigned types in order to correctly process leading and continuation code units of multi-byte encoded code points.
The lack of a distinct type and the use of a code unit type with a range that does not portably include the full unsigned range of UTF-8 code units presents challenges for working with UTF-8 encoded text that are not present when working with UTF-16 or UTF-32 encoded text. Enclosed is a proposal for a new char8_t fundamental type and related library enhancements intended to remove barriers to working with UTF-8 encoded text and to enable generic interfaces that work with all five of the standard mandated text encodings in a consistent manner.
This proposal is incomplete as the author ran out of time preparing it for the Issaquah mailing deadline. The following are known deficiencies that are expected to be addressed in a future revision of this proposal.
Backward compatibility is not adequately addressed. There is some discussion in the design considerations section, but no provisions addressing backward compatibility are currently present in the wording. The proposed changes effectively bring the standard to the state the author feels it would likely be in had char8_t been added at the same time as char16_t and char32_t were.
An implementation of the proposed changes is not yet available for assessing the impact to backward compatibility.
The claim that a new type may allow compilers to better optimize code that works with UTF-8 strings is unsubstantiated.
Wording updates for clauses C and D have not yet been provided.
Impact to other proposals such as P0353R0 [P0353R0] is not discussed.
"\u0123" // ???: const char: ???
L"\u0123" // ???: const wchar_t: ???
make_text_view("text") // defaults to execution_character_encoding.
make_text_view(L"text") // defaults to execution_wide_character_encoding.
make_text_view(u8"text") // defaults to utf8_encoding.
make_text_view(u"text") // defaults to utf16_encoding.
make_text_view(U"text") // defaults to utf32_encoding.
The inability to infer an encoding for narrow strings doesn't just limit the interfaces of new features under consideration. Compromised interfaces are already present in the standard library.
Consider the design of the codecvt class template. The standard specifies the following specializations of codecvt be provided to enable transcoding text from one encoding to another.
#1 performs no conversions. #2 converts between strings encoded in the implementation defined wide and narrow encodings. #3 and #4 convert between either the UTF-16 or UTF-32 encoding and the UTF-8 encoding. Specializations are not currently specified for conversion between the implementation defined narrow and wide encodings and any of the UTF-8, UTF-16, or UTF-32 encodings. However, if support for such conversions were to be added, the desired interfaces are already taken by #1, #3 and #4.
The file system interface adopted for C++17 via P0218R1 [P0218R1] provides an example of a feature that supports all five of the standard mandated encodings, but does so with an asymetric interface due to the inability to overload functions for UTF-8 encoded strings. Class std::filesystem::path provides the following constructors to initialize a path object based on a range of code unit values where the encoding is inferred based on the value type of the range.
§ 27.10.8.2.2 [path.type.cvt] describes how the source encoding is determined based on whether the source range value type is char, wchar_t, char16_t, or char32_t. A range with value type char is interpreted using the implementation defined narrow execution encoding. It is not possible to construct a path object from UTF-8 encoded text using these constructors.
To accommodate UTF-8 encoded text, the file system library specifies the following factory functions. Matching factory functions are not provided for other encodings.
The requirement to construct path objects using one interface for UTF-8 strings vs another interface for all other supported encodings creates unnecessary difficulties for portable code. Consider an application that uses UTF-8 as its internal encoding on POSIX systems, but uses UTF-16 on Windows. Conditional compilation or other abstractions must be implemented and used in otherwise platform neutral code to construct path objects.
The inability to infer an encoding based on string type is not the only challenge posed by use of char as the UTF-8 code unit type. The following code exhibits implementation defined behavior.
UTF-8 leading and continuation code units have values in the range 128 (0x80) to 255 (0xFF). In the common case where char is implemented as a signed 8-bit type with a two's complement representation and a range of -128 (-0x80) to 127 (0x7F), these values exceed the unsigned range of the char type. Such implementations typically encode such code units as unsigned values which are then reinterpreted as signed values when read. In the code above, integral promotion rules result in c being promoted to type int for comparison to the 0x80 operand. if c holds a value corresponding to a leading or continuation code unit value, then its value will be interpreted as negative and the promoted value of type int will likewise be negative. The result is that the comparison is always false for these implementations.
Finally, processing of UTF-8 strings is currently subject to an optimization pessimization due to glvalue expressions of type char potentially aliasing objects of other types. Use of a distinct type that does not share this aliasing behavior may allow for further compiler optimizations.
This proposal does not specify any backward compatibility features other than to retain interfaces that it deprecates. The lack of such features is not due to a belief that backward compatibility features are not necessary. The author believes such features are necessary, but time constraints prevented adequately researching what issues must be addressed, to what degree they must be addressed, and how those features should be specified. The author intends to address these concerns in a future revision of this document. In the meantime, the following sections discuss some of the backward compatibility impact and possible solution directions.
f(u8"text"); // Ok, calls f(const char*).
char u8a = u8"text"; // Ok.
const char (&u8r) = u8"text"; // Ok.
const char *u8s = u8"text"; // Ok.
const auto *u8s = u8"text"; // C++14: Ok, type deduced to const char*.
// This proposal: Ok, type deduced to const char8_t*.
const char *s = u8s; // C++14: Ok, u8s has type const char*.
If such implicit conversions are found to be necessary, specifying them may present a small challenge. The standard conversion sequence might have to be modified to allow a data representation conversion prior to an lvalue transformation in order for an argument of, for example, array of char8_t to match a parameter of type char*. However, the standard conversion sequence, as described in § 13.3.3.1.1 [over.ics.scs], states that lvalue transformations, including the array-to-pointer conversion, are performed before promotions and conversions that might change the data representation. It may be feasible to avoid such a change by stating that a candidate function that involves such an implicit conversion is only a viable function if no other viable non-template functions are identified, but the author has not yet convinced himself of this possibility.
If such implicit conversions are found to be necessary, providing them as deprecated features would enable a transition period and eventual removal.
This proposal includes a new specialization of std::basic_string for the new char8_t type, the associated typedef std::u8string, and changes to several functions to now return std::u8string instead of std::string. This change renders ill-formed the following code that is currently well-formed.
std::string s = p.u8string(); // C++14: Ok.
Implicit conversions from std::u8string to std::string would be undesirable in general. If they are found to be necessary, providing them as a deprecated feature seems warranted.
Under this proposal, UTF-8 string and character literals have type const char8_t and char8_t respectively. This affects the types deduced for placeholder types and template parameter types.
ft(u8"text", u8'c'); // C++14: T1 deduced to const char*, T2 deduced to char.
// This proposal: T1 deduced to const char8_t*, T2 deduced to char8_t.
auto u8s = u8"text"; // C++14: Type deduced to const char*.
// This proposal: Type deduced to const char8_t*.
auto u8c = u8'c'; // C++14: Type deduced to char.
// This proposal: Type deduced to char8_t.
ft(u8"text"); // C++14: Returns 1.
// This proposal: Returns 0.
UTF-8 literals are maintained as narrow literals in this proposal.
There are several choices for the underlying type of char8_t. Use of unsigned char closely aligns with historical use. Use of uint_least8_t would maintain consistency with how the underlying types of char16_t and char32_t are specified.
This proposal specifies unsigned char as the underlying type as noted in the changes to § 3.9.1 [basic.fundamental] paragraph 5.
This proposal introduces new codecvt and codecvt_byname specializations that use char8_t for conversion to and from UTF-8 and deprecates the existing ones specified in terms of char. The new specializations are functionally identical to the deprecated ones.
Filesystem path objects may now be constructed with UTF-8 strings using the existing path constructors used for construction with other encodings as specified in § 27.10.8.2.2 [path.type.cvt] and § 27.10.8.4.1 [path.construct]. This proposal deprecates the existing u8path path factory functions specified in § 27.10.8.6.2 [path.factory].
None yet, but the author intends to prototype an implementation in gcc/libstdc++ and/or Clang/libc++.
Add char8_t to the list of keywords in table 3 in 2.11 [lex.key] paragraph 1.
Ordinary string literals and UTF-8 string literals are also referred to as narrow string literals. A narrow string literal has type “array of n const char”, where n is the size of the string as defined below, and has static storage duration (3.7).
An ordinary string literal has type "array of n const char", where n is the size of the string as defined below, and has static storage duration (3.7).
For a UTF-8 string literal, each successive element of the object representation (3.9) has the value of the corresponding code unit of the UTF-8 encoding of the string. A string-literal that begins with u8, such as u8"asdf", is a UTF-8 string literal, also referred to as a char8_t string literal. A char8_t string literal has type "array of n const char8_t", where n is the size of the string as defined below; each successive element of the object representation (3.9) has the value of the corresponding code unit of the UTF-8 encoding of the s-char-sequence. A single s-char may produce more than one char8_t code unit.
Objects declared as characterswith type (char) shall be large enough to store any member of the implementation’s basic character set. If a character from this set is stored in a character object, the integral value of that character object is equal to the value of the single character literal form of that character. It is implementation-defined whether a char object can hold negative values. Characters declared with type char can be explicitly declared unsigned or signed. Plain char, signed char, and unsigned char are three distinct types, collectively called narrowordinary character types. The ordinary character types and char8_t are collectively called narrow character types. A char, a signed char, and an unsigned char, and a char8_t occupy the same amount of storage and have the same alignment requirements (3.11); that is, they have the same object representation. For narrow character types, all bits of the object representation participate in the value representation. [ Note: A bit-field of narrow character type whose length is larger than the number of bits in the object representation of that type has padding bits; see 9.2.4. — end note ] For unsigned narrow character types, including char8_t, each possible bit pattern of the value representation represents a distinct number. These requirements do not hold for other types. In any particular implementation, a plain char object can shall take on either the same values as a signed char or an unsigned char; which one is implementation-defined. For each value i of type unsigned char, or char8_t in the range 0 to 255 inclusive, there exists a value j of type char such that the result of an integral conversion (4.8) from i to char is j, and the result of an integral conversion from j to unsigned char or char8_t is i.
[…] Type wchar_t shall have the same size, signedness, and alignment requirements (3.11) as one of the other integral types, called its underlying type. Type char8_t denotes a distinct type with the same size, signedness, and alignment as unsigned char, called its underlying type. Types char16_t and char32_t denote distinct types with the same size, signedness, and alignment as uint_least16_t and uint_least32_t, respectively, in <cstdint>, called the underlying types.
Types bool, char, char8_t, char16_t, char32_t, wchar_t, and the signed and unsigned integer types are collectively called integral types.
(1.8) — The ranks of char8_t, char16_t, char32_t, and wchar_t shall equal the ranks of their underlying types (3.9.1).
As a consequence, operands of type bool, char8_t, char16_t, char32_t, wchar_t, or an enumerated type are converted to some integral type.
(4.5) — otherwise, decltype(e) is the type of e.
(17.3) — If the destination type is an array of characters, an array of char8_t, an array of char16_t, an array of char32_t, or an array of wchar_t, and the initializer is a string literal, see 8.6.2.
Drafting note: It is intentional that an array of ordinary character type can be initialized by a narrow string literal, including UTF-8 string literals. This is a backward compatibility feature.
The strings library (Clause 21) provides support for manipulating text represented as sequences of type char, sequences of type char8_t, sequences of type char16_t, sequences of type char32_t, sequences of type wchar_t, and sequences of any other character-like type.
This subclause defines requirements on classes representing character traits, and defines a class template char_traits<charT>, along with fourfive specializations, char_traits<char>, char_traits<char8_t>, char_traits<char16_t>, char_traits<char32_t>, and char_traits<wchar_t>, that satisfy those requirements.
This subclause specifies a class template, char_traits<charT>, and fourfive explicit specializations of it, char_traits<char>, char_traits<char8_t>, char_traits<char16_t>, char_traits<char32_t>, and char_traits<wchar_t>, all of which appear in the header <string> and satisfy the requirements below.
Drafting note: 21.2p4 appears to unnecessarily duplicate information previously presented in 21.2p1.
The header <string> shall define fourfive specializations of the class template char_traits: char_traits<char>, char_traits<char8_t>, char_traits<char16_t>, char_traits<char32_t>, and char_traits<wchar_t>.
The type u8streampos shall be an implementation-defined type that satisfies the requirements for pos_type in 27.2.2 and 27.3.
The two-argument members assign, eq, and lt shall be defined identically to the built-in operators =, ==, and < respectively.
The member eof() shall return an implementation-defined constant that cannot appear as a valid UTF-8 code unit.
The header <string> defines the basic_string class template for manipulating varying-length sequences of char-like objects and fourfive typedef-names, string, u8string, u16string, u32string, and wstring, that name the specializations basic_string<char>, basic_string<char8_t>, basic_string<char16_t>, basic_string<char32_t>, and basic_string<wchar_t>, respectively.
The specializations required in Table 65 (22.3.1.1.1) convert the implementation-defined native character set. codecvt<char, char, mbstate_t> implements a degenerate conversion; it does not convert at all. The specializations codecvt<char16_t, char, mbstate_t> (deprecated) and codecvt<char16_t, char8_t, mbstate_t> converts between the UTF-16 and UTF-8 encoding forms, and the specializations codecvt<char32_t, char, mbstate_t> (deprecated) and codecvt<char32_t, char8_t, mbstate_t> converts between the UTF-32 and UTF-8 encoding forms. codecvt<wchar_t,char,mbstate_t> converts between the native character sets for narrowordinary and wide character. Specializations on mbstate_t perform conversion between encodings known to the library implementer. Other encodings can be converted by specializing on a user-defined stateT type. Objects of type stateT can contain any state that is useful to communicate to or from the specialized do_in or do_out members.
For narrowordinary character strings, the operating system dependent current encoding for pathnames (27.10.4.18).
For wide character strings, the implementation defined execution wide-character set encoding (2.3).
Throughout this sub-clause, char, wchar_t, char8_t, char16_t, and char32_t are collectively called encoded character types.
— char8_t: The encoding is UTF-8. The method of conversion method is unspecified.
Remarks: Conversion, if any, is performed as specified by 27.10.8.2. The encoding of the strings returned by u8string(), u16string(), and u32string isare always UTF-8, UTF-16, and UTF-32 respectively.
Returns: pathname, reformatted according to the generic pathname format (27.10.8.1).
Remarks: Conversion, if any, is performed as specified by 27.10.8.2. The encoding of the strings returned by generic_u8string(), generic_u16string(), and generic_u16string isare always UTF-8, UTF-16, and UTF-32 respectively.
Requires: The source and [first, last) sequences are UTF-8 encoded. The value type of Source and InputIterator is char or char8_t.
Drafting note: It is intentional that the deprecated factory functions accept ranges with value types of either char or char8_t. This is a backward compatibility feature.
Drafting note: The u8path factory functions are deprecated.
Michael Spencer and Davide C. C. Italiano first proposed adding a new char8_t fundamental type in P0372R0 [P0372R0].
[N4197] Richard Smith, "Adding u8 character literals", N4197, 2014.
[N4606] "Working Draft, Standard for Programming Language C++", N4606, 2016.
[P0353R0] Beman Dawes, "Unicode Encoding Conversions for the Standard Library", P0353R0, 2016.
[P0372R0] Michael Spencer and Davide C. C. Italiano, "A type for utf-8 data", P0372R0, 2016.
[P0244R1] Tom Honermann, "Text_view: A C++ concepts and range based character encoding and code point enumeration library", P0244R1, 2016.
[P0218R1] Beman Dawes, "Adopt the File System TS for C++17", P0218R1, 2016. | 2019-04-25T22:50:02Z | http://www.open-std.org/jtc1/sc22/wg21/docs/papers/2016/p0482r0.html |
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I get asked very often what resources we use on Inspiring Innovation for creating our episodes, editing and post production, social media, and for managing all of our tasks and projects.
I feel it’s time for a behind-the-scenes look – where I will walk you step by step through all the steps included in our episode creation process. Basically, you’re about to see everything that happens from the second an Inspiring Innovation Podcast episode is created, to it being released, downloaded, and being played in your earbuds.
The first step, when we set up a podcast episode, is obviously to get an interviewee.
I often get pitched by people who want to be on the Inspiring Innovation Show. We also work with several media agents that pitch interviewees to us.
We use resources like HARO (Help A Reporter Out), where people can pitch themselves to the Inspiring Innovation Show. But let’s pretend that for this episode that we’re talking about – I wanna get a real big name on the show.
While most people have a contact form on their website (and that’ll be the first place I would go to pitch for an interview), there are plenty who don’t.
So how do you contact these people?
And let’s say they do have a contact form on the site, but it goest to their VA or their gatekeeper…and you can’t get past them?
In these occasions, I will retreat to one of my secret weapons, which is called Rapportive.
Rapportive is an add-on (or an extension) that you install for Gmail.
Where do they live? What state? What country? What is their Twitter account? What is their LinkedIn account? What is their Facebook account? What do they look like?
Yes, it even pulls up a photo. It’s that cool!
Now, it doesn’t work for all emails in the world, but it works for a great percentage of them.
When I write a reply to an email, Rapportive will pull up their photo and personal details.
This allows me to reply with a much more personal touch – because now I know what the person I’m emailing looks like, where they work, and where are they from.
But much more jedi-like, I’ve used this to find the emails of some really big entrepreneurs.
In any case, wether I pitch someone, or someone pitches himself to me – the next step is to schedule the interview.
I was first introduced to this by Antonio Centeno from Real Men Real Style. It was love on first sight, and I since referred many of my friends to this service (including John Dumas, who now uses this tool to schedule all of his interviews!).
With ScheduleOnce, you define your blocks of availability – which times of which days are you willing to have interviews on. Then it integrates with your actual Google calendar. So everything that is already scheduled in your calendar is blocked out.
The available times that are left in the intersection between the times that you defined and the times when you don’t have any meetings in your calendars, are the times that ScheduleOnce will show to your guest when he comes to schedule an interview.
The cool thing is, that no matter where you are and where they are around the world – ScheduleOnce will only show them your actual availability in THEIR Timezone.
wasted! Your interviewee will just select the time that they want and — BAM — an appointment is added in their Google calendar to your Google calendar and you’re all set for an interview.
Previously discussed last week on my episode with Erin Smith, IFTTT (which stands for “If This Then That”) is a tool that allows you to define that if a specific trigger happens (example: you receive an email confirming an interview), then a specific action is automatically taken.
The name of the interviewee.
This task is very simple: Create a project for this episode.
Now, as I said, Asana is the project management system that we use. Once IFTTT creates a task in Asana, the next day – when I wake up and check out my “to-do” for the day – I will see this task saying “Create a Project for this interview”.
So I will click on my template “IIP episode” project, that has all the tasks that need to happen from the second the interview is scheduled to the second it released on iTunes or Stitcher (or whatever app you’re using to tune in with), including who’s in charge of each step — is it me, is it Rose (my VA) or is it the interviewee — and deadlines.
In one click I duplicate our template project, copy the details IFTTT forwarded, update the deadlines according to the actual interview date and the planned release date — and the project is ready to go.
From this moment on, me and my team will basically follow the Asana project, one task after the other, until the episode is ready. We don’t need to think about anything. We don’t need to plan anything. It’s all there, pre-planned and actionable.
If you think about it, the only manual action I needed to take to make all this possible, was pitching for the interview – because once the pitch was accepted, I send my ScheduleOnce link, they schedule, IFTTT automatically creates a task to set up the project in Asana, and from there onwards – everything is streamlined.
So my VA will see this task and send my interviewee an interview briefing (based on a template that we have), that explains the format of the interview, what kind of questions are you gonna be asked, and some legal stuff.
The next day, again – as you can see in the screenshot above – she will send an email requesting them for a high resolution profile photo that we can use in the Inspiring Innovation Magazine and in the podcast show notes.
Then, she will conduct background research about the interviewee. We have a complete checklist for how we research an interviewee before he comes on the show, and she will simply start working through that.
Once she’s done with the background research, I will be triggered with a task of outlining the interview.
Once I read the background research, I go ahead and outline the interview.
These days, I use two frameworks for my outlining, both recommended to my by James Schramko.
First, I outline the interview using the 4MAT framework – breaking the interview down to 4 sections WHY (are we talking about this), WHAT (is the story / are we talking about), HOW (will you do it) and WHAT IF (answering questions).
For the WHY section, I actually dig deeper using another framework James has recommended, called SPIN. SPIN stands for Situation, Problem, Implication and Need, and was developed by Neil Rackham.
I use SPIN to describe (at the beginning of the episode) today’s subject – why we are talking about it, and why should you listen.
Then, next to each letter, I add some bullet points that I want to remember to talk about.
A step by step plan on how to take an idea and turn it into a prosperous business.
This is for the stage in the interview where I try to get a step by step action plan from my interviewee once we covered their background story. I write down all the points that are important for me to make sure my interviewee covers.
This entire outlining process takes me 15 minutes or less, can be done on a post-it notes, and makes the interview well structured and effective. Implementing this outline step has saved my 2-4 editing hours per episode!
When the day of the interview comes, I prepare all my gear. And yes, I have a task in Asana called “Prepare Gear” which has a checklist of all the knobs I need to turn!
Then, I conduct the interview, following the SPIN and 4MAT outline that I’ve made.
Even though we use professional podcasting gear, I still have (on my Mac) installed eCamm Call Recorder for Skype that records the Skype call on the computer itself – just in case our digital recorder fails, and gives me an extra backup.
eCamm Call Recorder is what I recommend all of my students who are getting started as the best Skype recording software. If you are on Windows, you might want to be looking into Pamela Skype Recorder.
Once the interview has been recorded, I will take the raw file as it is and upload it into a task in Asana called “Upload Raw Interview.” (pretty self descriptive, huh?).
Once I upload the file, Asana will notify Rose automatically, and she in turn will listen to the entire raw episode, making a list of all the resources that were mentioned. That’s the “mentioned resources” list that you will find in all of my episodes.
Once Rose completes the mentioned resources section, the next task she has in our template is keyword research. She uses Google Keyword Planner and Market Samurai for that.
We use Market Samurai to find and choose the keywords that we actually have a good shot of ranking highly for.
If you don’t want to splurge on Market Samurai, you can do some of the research for free using a tool called Moonsy Domain Authority. It will let you know how authoritative are other websites that you are going to compete against for a given keyword.
At the end of this process, Rose will post on Asana the results of her keyword research – the main keyword we will be targeting with this episode, as well as the long-tail or satellite keywords that are relevant.
All this is done so we can maximize the organic traffic that Google will give us for this podcast episode.
While Rose does her part, I will start editing the interview itself, using Audacity.
I used to use Adobe Audition, and I would say that it is a much better piece of software and it’s a lot more fun to use than Audacity. But Adobe wanted me to pay over $2400 for using it (instead of the US price which is $19 a month), so I went back to Audacity.
Once I edit the interview, I sit down and define two episode titles.
First title is the title that will show on the podcast feed (in iTunes, Stitcher, etc.). This title has to be intriguing and make you want to listen to the show.
Second title is the title that will show on our WordPress site. This title has to be optimized for SEO in order to increase the organic reach of the show.
I will define my sections, titles, subtitles, and add some bullet points for the key points I want to cover. I write this outline in Evernote, and you’ll see why in a second!
In fact, when I have a task like “sit down and write”, I procrastinate on it like it’s nobody’s business.
When Srini Rao challenged me to write every day for 15 minutes first thing in the morning, those were the most un-productive days I have ever… ever had. It turns out that not liking to write poses a real problem for a blogger.
I would write the outline and then try to record in front of the computer. The whole situation was so awkward that I would just get stuck and quit.
Then, Julie pointed out that when my mobile phone rings, I start walking with it while on the call – whether it’s around the house, outside the garden or a 5-mile walk.
And THAT works BEAUTIFULLY for me!
So I outline on Evernote, take my iPhone (remember to charge it!) walk outside, open up the note, tap on the first section, click the record icon, and just start talking. Not from a dictation state of mind, but from a conversation one.
Then I finish a section, click stop, scroll down the note, read the key points, click on the next sub-section, and record again. Rinse and repeat… and 45 minutes later – I have a 2,500 words post done!
I get back home, click on share button, send the link it generates to Rose, my VA, and For me, the writing is DONE.
Rose will take the audio notes, transcribe them, patch them up, and convert them into show notes. She will fix my grammar, break stuff into shorter paragraphs, adds bolds and italics and make everything look nice and sharp.
The first one is Unsplash. It’s a website that has beautiful photos that you can use 100% free. It doesn’t have search functionality; it’s not perfect, but it has beautiful photos that you can use right away without any Signup or anything.
If we can’t find suitable photos on Unsplash, we try DepositPhotos and Fotolia.
So far, we have an episode recorded and edited, we have show notes done, and all that’s left is uploading the MP3 file.
I export the file from Audcity, convert it to MP3 and add the tagging (the title, the description, the artwork — all of that) using iTunes and then upload it to our podcast hosting, which is Libsyn. There I copy in the show notes that Rose has created, and voilà – the episode is ready!
In order to great sharable artwork to promote the episode on social media, I go to Canva.com.
Canva is my graphic design tool of choice. It’s free and amazing. It comes with great templates for any type of graphics you’ll need online and allows literally anybody to become a genius graphic designer.
I also use Canva for episodes that include a lead magnet (like the one we had last week). I create both the download image and the graphic for the pop-up window (the opt-in window) within minutes with this tool.
I often have downloadable PDFs as part of my episodes, and they double as lead magnets for my list.
I create these lead magnets the same way I’d create the show notes; I outline in Evernote, go for a walk , record it, get it transcribed and edited, and then create a PDF out of it.
To create the PDF, I will either throw copy the text into Google Drive and export as PDF, or if I’m feeling artistic, I’ll use iBooks Author (Mac only, sorry Windows people!), which creates a drop-dead-gorgeous-looking PDF document for me to give away.
I use MailChimp as our mailing list provider.
The good thing about MailChimp is that you can start for 100% free. We used to use AWeber and I don’t have enough words how much a despise it. I strongly recommend that you start with MailChimp.
To deliver the lead magnet itself, as well as the opt-in form that works from within the show notes, I use LeadPages, and more specifically, a feature called LeadBoxes.
LeadBoxes are that pop-up box that pops up and asks for your email address when you click on a link to download one of our PDF resources.
When you fill-in the email and click “Download now”, LeadBoxes will add your email to the Inspiring Innovation mailing list on MailChimp, and then deliver the PDF you requested right away to your inbox.
After all this, Rose goes through all the information we have (keywords, final show notes, etc.) and creates a suggested social media swipe file — basically create a list of suggested tweets and Facebook status messages.
I will go over them (again, there’s a task in Asana reminding me to do that!), tweak them, and approve for scheduling.
Once I do that, she will take that swipe file and schedule it via dlvr.it – our social media scheduling tool.
The good thing about dlvr.it (and what made me pick it in the first place), besides allowing us to schedule all of our outgoing tweets, is that it also allows us to automatically tweet about new blog posts and new podcast episodes of anybody we want.
Automatically tweeting about new episodes of market leaders and friends is a great way to keep yourself on the top of their mind as someone who’s always looking to support their brand.
With all the social media scheduled on dlvr.it, we are almost done with an episode. The only thing left is to let my interviewee know that the episode is live.
While I want them to get an email from me once the episodes is live, I actually write the email to the interviewee ahead of time.
I have a template that I wrote and use through Gmail Canned Response and then I use another add-on called Boomerang, which allows me to schedule an email to be sent from Gmail on a later date. I simply set it and forget it!
Finally, Rose will do social bookmarking on sites like Bibsonomy, Bitly, Delicious, Digg, Diigo, Reddit, StumbleUpon, Folkd, Jumptags, Newsvine and Technorati.
And that’s how we make an Inspiring Innovation Podcast episode!
I would truly appreciate if you could leave me a comment, letting me know if this was helpful or if you’d like me to review in the future some of other tools that I use on a day-to-day basis.
Meron, another show, and you absolutely CRUSHED it! Great information, and all of it immediately useful, almost regardless of the stage of a person’s blog or podcast. I love the idea of the Google Canned Response (never knew about that!) I already use MailChimp, but DLVR.it is new to me as is Unsplash and Ginger. Great episode! Thanks!
Woohoo! Glad you found it useful, Trevor! 🙂 DLVR.IT has some room to improvement but I’m excited about where it’s going!
For me – this process doesn’t take much… as long as I stick to my interview outline! Otherwise, editing can be quite time consuming.
For my VA, it’s probably 10-16 hours per episode (and being honest, she does the work that many people split to two VA’s – gVA and SEOVA)… because she rocks!
Thanks for your answer! It makes sense that you don’t have to have all these steps in place at first, because I think it could seem overwhelming that way, but rather that it’s more of something to strive for. Of course everyone should do what works best for them. Again, I’m really glad you showed us how you do things so that we can take away the things that will work best for us.
I’m looking forward for YOU to share how you got a content plan for the blog that seems to run like a Swiss watch! 🙂 What’s YOUR secrets, Melissa?
Haha, no secrets! I just commit to a schedule and make myself stick to it. Thanks for the compliment!
Wondering – is managing an online business with Asana, with all the different project types etc. something that could interest you, Mark?
Previous Previous post: IIP076: These 3 Steps Created A 6 Figure Business In 9 Months! | 2019-04-25T05:51:34Z | http://www.meronbareket.com/making-a-podcast/ |
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If not gotten rid of at an early stage, termites can cause a lot of damage to woodwork as well as the furnishings in your home. Research has shown that in some countries a loss of up to 10% the cost of buildings may be caused by termite destruction. For this reason as a homeowner you need to prevent termites from invading your property and in case they have already invaded your home, you will need to get rid of them in the most effective method.
So how can you identify presence of termites in your home or property? In case you suspect there is presence of termites in your home, there are a number of methods you can use to detect them.
Use of well-trained sniffer dogs to locate the existence of termites.
Using a special gas detector to detect the gas expelled by termites of a specific composition.
Using special instruments to listen for the distinct sound of termites that are feeding on your home.
Getting rid of all the stumps, roots and other debris that may attract termites from your home. This is especially very effective when getting rid of subterranean termites. Getting rid of these materials will interfere with the normal functions of the termites since they will have nothing to feed on. The materials that have been removed should also be destroyed so as to completely get rid of the termites that may still be there.
Another thing you may consider doing is deep digging. This can make it possible to destroy the termite colonies that may be in the underground. You will also need to destroy any wooden mulch that may be in your compound. This is because mulch is normally infested with termites within a very short time especially in termite prone areas. Therefore the only way of getting rid of such termites is to destroy them. It is also recommended that you avoid using any other type of wooden mulch if you cannot obtain cedar mulch. If you have identified a region in your compound infested with termites you can also flood that region so as to get rid of them. This can be one of the most effective methods of killing the termites because the flooding will drown them.
Other ways of getting rid of termites includes use of bio-blast. This methods involves using a fungus to infects and kill those with fungal spores. It is however very important to note that use of chemicals to get rid of termites should be undertaken with extra care. This is why it is best to contact a pest control expert. At A1 Pest Control we have a team of experts who are always ready to help our clients. Call us today and we will come to your rescue.
If you are from Australia you must be aware that the Australian bush is a very dynamic. Every day there are trees that die and there are new ones that regenerate. In addition to these fallen trees and dropped limbs, a number of places are filled with shed barks and leaves which end up creating a layer of litter on the woodland floor. All this litter is attracts a common pest in Australia, the termite, which feeds on this cellular material. This has also led to these termites invading Australian homes and destroying property worth a lot. Some of the gardens in our homes have recreated the bush, and this makes a perfect termite habitat. Since the damage caused by termites can be tremendous, it is very necessary to protect your home from these destructive pests.
A pest control expert that you would need to contact is one who specialise in termite detection and control. What is surprising about these pests is the fact that a king and queen are able to live for around 70 years and the colony is able to be well established even before it is detected. One way that may be used to eradicate an unwanted nest of termites is by pumping a controlling agent into the nest and sealing the hole. It can also be a good idea to have a pest control expert lay termite traps on your property if by any chance you suspect there is termite activity in the area. These are inspected regularly for any activity, and as soon as termites are detected a large bait box is installed to concentrate the termite numbers. the contents of the bait box contains can be cells of wood, and this can be kept in place for up to eight weeks, after which the whole colony may be treated with a range of contact insecticides. This should be carried out only by an authorised pest controller. Even though you may be very vigilant in termite detection in the garden, it is still possible for them to enter your house. The first and easiest indicator to spot may be some slight discolouration of the surface of a wall, mostly followed by warping in case the wood panelling is used to line the wall.
There is a specials meter that can be used to show if there is high moisture content behind the wall. If that is the case, this is enough indication that there is termite activity in that location. Since termites are tropical insects, they normally create their own high humidity in the places they live. There is a simple way of monitoring whether you have termites in your home. This is done by burying toilet rolls in the ground in various places in the garden. Each one is marked and since they are made from good cellulose material which is highly absorbent, they are attractive to termites. You will need to dig them up from time to time, and if there are termites then you may have cause for concern. There is no denying that termites are a great natural part of the Australian landscape, but they become problematic when they are in close proximity to your house. It is however rash to get treatment for a problem before it exists. The first step should be setting up the baits so as to establish whether there are termites in the vicinity. The expert is the one who need to properly identify them and establish a control program.
At A1 Pest Control we have well trained experts who are always quick to respond to termite problems. The best solution for your termite problem would be to call us today and we will act as soon as possible.
Even though buying a home is normally one of the biggest investments to most people, the worst thing about it is that it could be going on right now without your even knowing it. It can even be possible that it has been going on for a number of years right under your feet. This is because termites can be very sneaky.Termites have been known to be the silent killer of countless houses all over the world. One thing that makes a termite infestation scary is the fact that it can sometimes take up to five years before the termite damage is even noticeable. Generally, the most visible sign of a termite damage are the holes in wood and/or sagging floors.
When the damage gets to this point, the cost in terms of damage will start accumulating very fast. You may be lucky if you were clever enough to perform termite inspections or if you realized early enough that were maybe just lucky enough to realize what was going on before that sort of serious damage had been inflicted. But whatever the extent of your termite problem, this article can help you.
The first and most important thing you need to do to control termites is to look for evidence of their presence. Even though the termite damage can be a bit difficult to find, looking in the right places can give you an idea of any termite infestation in your property. You can try tapping on floor beams, support beams, pillars, wall boards, etc. In case it is wooden, you need to tap it, and in case you find a hole in the wood, try sticking something like the tip of the screwdriver in it. If the screw driver easily goes in, you could very well have a termite problem. You can also try looking for mud tubes, termite droppings, and insect wings. Termite problems always require fast action and it is advisable that if you can’t tell whether or not you have termites, you need to get an inspector in there.
This is the reason why a very simple phone call could really save you a lot of money. In case you are very sure you have termites, avoid wasting any time. Even though it is easily possible to get rid of termites from your home, a very important step in termite control is to make sure they can’t re-invade your home once you’ve gotten rid of them to begin with. The first step would be to make their food unavailable. Termites eat wood and if you can get rid of any wood debris out in the yard, or random logs laying around, you can be on your way to getting rid of them.
Since the best way of getting rid of termites from your property once and for all is by the help of pest control professionals, you should contact them as soon as you suspect you have termites. At A1 Pest control, we have a dedicated team of well-trained experts who are always ready to come to your rescue. We will come and inspect your entire home for these destructive pests and if they are there, we will use the best method that will not be harmful to your family and to your pets to eliminate them completely. Contact us today and we will get to you as soon as possible.
Almost every home owner who encounters possums in their compound finds them a great nuisance. Possums are known to rummage through garbage cans and steal the food you leave for your pets. Even though it can be a bit tricky to get rid of possums, with a little perseverance you can be able to convince the backyard possum to move elsewhere.In order to effectively get rid of opossums, it is always important to first understand their habits. Even though they prefer wooded areas or open fields near streams, opossums will easily create a home in abandoned burrows; tree crevices; brush piles; or areas beneath steps, decks, and outbuildings.
Being nocturnal animals, possums will be very active at night and sleep throughout the day. This is why they can be difficult to spot when they are attacking your garden. If you are keen you will be able to spot signs of their presence such as their droppings, tracks, over turned pet food dishes or garbage cans and damaged plants. Backyard possums are also considered to be omnivores since they feed on fruits, nuts, insects, eggs and small animals such as frogs and mice.
The most common control methods that are used for backyard possums include opossum repellents, trapping and fencing.There are very many products that are available on the market which target repelling these wild animals. The problem with these products is that they only provide a short time solution. Apart from these methods, other possum control methods include using motion-activated sprinkler systems. These will startle the creatures and frighten them off.Use of traps on opossum is also another commonly used method employed for possum control. Even though it is challenging to know how to trap a possum, getting to know what to do with one after you have captured it is the biggest challenge. This is because a captured possum needs to be relocated by an authorized wildlife expert in most areas.
It is illegal to kill these animals in most states and hence it should be the last resort. Trapping them in a box or cage-like trap can be easy and the trap should measure approximately 10 by 12 by 32 inches. The best places to place the traps includes along trails and known travel routes. A bait should be included and a trap can be baited with fruit such as over ripe melons, grapes, or bananas.Use of fences such as putting up woven wire or electric fences is also a great possum control method. The fence that is put up around garden areas needs to be approximately four feet high, with the top foot or so facing outward and away from the garden. This is to prevent the possums from climbing over. You can also add an electric fence that is about 3-4 inches over the top so as to keep the possums away.
In general, the best method to ensure your home is free of possums is making sure the area is less appealing to opossum. If there are any overgrown trees and shrubs in your compound, make sure you have them pruned. Any fallen fruit from trees should be removed from the compound. In case you have any garbage cans in your compound, ensure they have tight-fitting lids. Any pet food that remains should not be left out at night. Finally ensure that you close or block off any entrances or openings that may be under or near the home such as porches, decks, buildings, etc.
Once you suspect your home has been invaded by possums, it is recommended that you immediately contact a pest control company. Something that a lot of people don’t know is that possums travel with their mate. You therefore need to get the help of a pest control company whose price will include trappings for 2 possums. At A1 Pest control we are a registered pest control service and our possum control cost includes trappings for 2 possums. Contact us today and we will act immediately.
In Australia, one of the most commonly found pests on commercial and domestic buildings are ants. Even though there are hundreds of ant species that are known to man, they are broadly divided into two main groups, Black Ants and Brown Ants.
The food preferences of these pests are varying, and they are constantly scavenging for something to feed on. In order to control an ant infestation in your home or commercial premises, there are a number of contributing factors that should be considered, including; species of ants, seasonal conditions, life cycle stage and colony requirements.
The main places where ants like to build their nests are inside cavities between building levels, inside walls, roof voids and moisture affected timber. They may however be difficult to get rid of since they like to track great distances from a colony in a neighboring property. There are a lot of cases where people find carpenter ants in their home and mistake them for termites. This is because unlike other species of ants, the carpenter ant is large and mostly lives in rotting and damp wood.
Most Australian home owners have had experience with these ants in some way, whether it’s outside in the garden or inside of the house. They are normally spotted eating at night, and for this reason they may be a bit difficult to see them. There are a lot of things that these ants feed on, including insects, sweets, and even meat that may be found in a kitchen.
A good sign of their presence is piles of sawdust near wood. The main objective of any ant control in your home or commercial premises is to locate and treat the nest. In most cases this can be a very tedious and time consuming task that may involve drilling holes into walls and voids, such as inaccessible ceiling cavities, to reach the nest.
In case you discover presence of ants in your home, you should consult a professional pest control expert. There are a number of ways that a pest control expert can help you get rid of ants, depending on the severity of the infestation, the amount of ants, and the location of the nest. There are also a number of different treatments that can be used, including baiting, dusting, aerosol pesticide spray or a barrier insecticide outdoors.
There are a number of things you can do to prevent carpenter ants from entering your home, and this includes repairing tap and pipe leaks quickly, sealing spaces that allow ants to enter your home, and making sure that shrubs are away from the outside walls of your home. In case you are not sure whether you have carpenter ants or termites, you should seek the help of a professional pest control company to help classify and appropriately treat the insects.
At A1 pest control, we have a team of well-trained pest control experts that can help you get rid of carpenter ants. Feel free to contact us for questions or interest in pest control services for ants and we will be happy to assist you.
For professional pest control use in external and internal situations around buildings, and other domestic and commercial environments.
Biflex AquaMax was the origninal professional strength insecticide and termiticide. This pesticide is effective on all common household and commercial pests, as well as all termite species in Australia.
This unique water-based formulation is non-staining & odourless, without sacrificing efficacy or residual longevity. Biflex aqua has the highest active ingredient (100g/L bifenthrin) and yet is extremely safe when applied according to the label.
Biflex repels termites for at least 10 years in good soil conditions. Its a long-term residual insecticide, binds to soil and organic matter, is UV stable, non-soluble, and non-systemic (doesn’t get drawn out of soil by plants).
Looking for information about Bi-Flex, a powerful termiticide? If you’re concerned about the damage that can be wrought on your home or property by large termite populations, then you might be interested in the benefits of this product in terms of destroying and discouraging termite colonies.
Because termites are capable of causing large amounts of damage to a property and its contents by destroying structures such as wooden supports or valuables such as books and storage boxes, it’s essential that home and property owners take action to ensure that a termite infestation does not go unchecked.
As most home owners do not have a thorough understanding of the behaviour of termite colonies, arranging for a professional pest controller to manage a termite infestation is recommended.
One product often used by professional pest controllers in helping to control termite populations, as well as other home-dwelling pests, is Bi-Flex.
This product is designed to create effective termite barriers around the home and other nearby structures. It is often applied to termite-prone areas such as building foundations, chimney areas, the slab perimeter, crawl spaces and other openings such as ducts and pipes, and also nearby trees and stumps. This helps stop the existing infestation, and to discourage the termites from returning.
Bi-Flex is widely used by professional pest controllers, and has a number of benefits in terms of keeping termite infestations under control.
One advantage of using this product is that it is highly effective even when applied at relatively low concentrations.
Research has indicated that even a small amount of the product may help to destroy termite infestations. This makes it both cost-effective and more environmentally friendly because less of the product needs to be used.
In addition to helping stop termite infestations in their tracks, Bi-Flex continues to do so for extended periods of time, meaning that not only are termite colonies wiped out, but they’re discouraged from returning.
Perhaps one of the biggest selling points of this product is that its active ingredient is known for being stable.
This means that residents in the home or property won’t be exposed to harmful chemicals or residues, and won’t be subject to strong chemical smells.
In fact, the product is safe enough that it can be used in the garden – including around vegetables or fruit trees.
If you’re concerned about the damage being done to your Canberra home by a termite colony, then it’s worth speaking to a professional pest controller about the methods available to help deal with pest infestations.
Our company is experienced in using products such as Bi-Flex, so feel free to contact us for more information about the application process.
Termite Baiting do you know what this is? Let me tell you what it is and how it is used. As termites are a significant issue for Canberra home and properties, and are in fact one of the most common causes behind property damage in the country. As termite colonies can often go undetected until they have caused visible problems with a property, they can be a serious problem for property owners and what most people are unaware of is that home insurance doesn’t cover termite damage.
There is 1 popular way of dealing with termite infestations is termite baiting. This process involves attracting termites to a particular area, and then treating them with a specially designed insecticide. The process works as the affected termites do not die immediately, but return to their colonies. In doing so, they infect the other members of their colony with the toxin they have ingested.
Over time, this results in the death of the termite colony. Baiting is one of several solutions to dealing with termites, and is often used when other treatments are not viable. For example, baiting can be a good option where using standard termiticides may pose a threat to the environment, such as in areas near water, when pesticides cannot be used, or when barrier treatments, treatments designed to stop termite infestations occurring, have been unsuccessful.
Termite baiting should only be performed by a licensed pest controller, as termite dusting often involves the application of chemicals and toxins that may not be used by other individuals. In fact, many over-the-counter processes for baiting termites are designed only to determine whether termite colonies are present on the property, rather than to destroy these colonies. Professional pest controllers are able to oversee the entire process of identifying, assessing, and dealing with a termite infestation, so it’s in your interest to invest in a pest control inspection the sooner the better.
There are currently several different types of termite baits available on the market. These vary in their application process, their toxins and active ingredients, their effectiveness, and how environmentally friendly they are.
Not all termite baits are appropriate to a given property, and a professional pest controller will be able to advise about which product are best suited and to be most effective for your household’s needs. For example, factors such as whether you own pets, or whether the infestation is within the home or outside the home may affect the type of termite bait chosen.
Termite baiting can be an effective solution to dealing with a termite infestation, but is best discussed with a professional pest controller who can advise you about whether it is the most appropriate method of dealing with your termite problem.
Rats as well as mice are alongside mankind, essentially the most effective creatures on the planet when it comes to selection as well as range.
Mankind has unknowingly assisted their distribution through the entire word through exploration. Nevertheless, they’ve in certain conditions turn out to be his worst type of adversary.
Large amounts of money annually is sacrificed through contamination of foodstuff through rodent excrement, urine as well as fur. Rats ruin a lot more foodstuff compared to they might possibly consume, and also their eating routines via gnawing have been to blame for producing fires in roofs and walls.
They are prolific breeders that inside a calendar year a rat may have between 30 -80 young, depending on species whereas one couple might produce 15,000 rats in their life span.
Rodents may press via a opening the dimensions of a twenty cent piece, drop twenty metres without injuries, tread water for three days, consume a variety of foods and endure an atomic bomb blast. How’s that for constitution.
AKA scientific name of Rattusrattus or common name of black rat or the ship rat is accountable for the Black Plague and the death of millions of people from its flea. Its capability to clamber distributed it all through the planet by clambering boats hawsers. It prefers to reside in trees and shrubs and roofs of buildings.
AKA scientific name of Rattusnorvegicus or Brown rat prefers to dig unlike the roof rat and also favours to dwell in close proximity to drinking water and damp areas. The Norway Rat carries a stouter frame and has a tail that is not as long. Is ears are also not as big when in comparison to the roof rat.
AKA scientific name Musdomesticus. Having a mouse problem tends to be a very much bigger monetary issue compared to rats in Australia, with population densities achieving 32,500 per hectare in plagues. They demand significantly less water than rats, with a shorter pregnancy period plus from 42 days, are at nearly 1/2 the proliferation maturity of the Roof rat.
Baits and Lures -Since the 1940’s blood thinner chemicals were mainly used as they were anti-coagulant and worked well at the time, this was then superseded by other poisonous lures. Since the previous 10 or so years, rodents have become largely immune to blood thinning chemicals.
Strains of rats can make it through a dosage that is several times more powerful only 10 years ago. Some strains of mice appear typically untouched by it at all.
Mousetraps: Snap boards and tacky traps need to be applied as a backup for lures, or for basic safety reasons. They need to be placed just out from skirting boards, with the bait on the trap close to the walls.
The trap lure has had success for customers is the use of cocoa powder sprinkled on some fresh bread. The advantage of setting the trap with this concoction is It may be smelled some distance away and mice seem to love it. Tie the bread on to the metal tab that holds the bait with some cotton thread. Pulling will set off the trap.
Is used for outdoor burrows, in boats and grain silos by the usage of fumigants.
Prevention: In pest control this means the stopping of entry locations by mechanics means such as bird wire, aluminum sheeting, steel wool or door closes.
Contact Dusts and Gel: Tracking powder or gel may be used where the activity is situated. You can see where they travel and determine this by using a well known D.Y.I. household tip by the usage of talc as a tracking dust.
Prevention: Good cleanliness and confining resource of food and water is the advisable for preventing rodent contaminations.
Rodents actually are repelled by the odour of mint, camphor and pine-tar. Cats and dogs particularly fox terriers are the experts in hunting down small amounts of rodents in the formative reproduction stages.
Is YOUR home protected? Remember A1 Pest Control Canberra for your home’s complete rodent Rats and Mice and pest protection systems.
Call us today on 0407 065 413 or [email protected] for advice or free quotes on rodents, rats and mice!
As you may or not be aware mosquitoes are pests that can spread harmful disease along with the after effect of the bite being itchy and uncomfortable. To get rid of mosquitoes in a small area is easier than you might think, here are a few tips to assist you to win the battle against the dreaded mossie.
If you’re inundated by mosquitoes or gnats due to standing water from street curbs, drainage ditches or other pools you can’t really control you could toss in a couple of toilet bowl tablets. This seems to work quiet well.
By producing CO2, the Black Hole lures and traps mosquitoes and sandflies, but may also catch other flying insects such as flies and moths which are attracted by the black light.
Black Hole Mosquito Traps are a safe and effective alternative to pesticide treatments and are placed inside or outside homes, offices, gardens, swimming pools and all outdoor eating areas.
They are especially effective in areas where mosquito population is very high.
Best area coverage: 66 square meters to 165 square metres.
The light globes lasts for over three hundred hours, and are available from most lighting shops.
The Black Hole is available in Canberra, just ring us on 0407 065 413 and order one over the phone.
….”I tried this on my deck and around all of my doors. It works – in fact, it killed them instantly. I bought my bottle from Target and it doesn’t cost much. It really doesn’t take much, and it is a big bottle, too; so it is not as expensive to use as the can of bug-spray you buy that doesn’t last 30 minutes.
Q: If I try this service and it doesn’t work, how much will it cost me?
A:The cost varies upon your needs and situations. Call us to ascertain exactly which plan suits your needs and you will talk to a non-pushy, informed technician or office staff who will guide you to your best solution.
Send Bob and email [email protected] a free quote and advice.
If you live anywhere in Canberra, Northside, Southside or surrounding areas such as Braidwood, Bungendore, Goulburn or Yass, effective and safe pest control and pest Exterminators will be needed more than ever before.
Due to the diverse weather in Canberra you may find creeping and crawling bugs that you would normally find in your yard have now found a way into your home and are now unwanted house guests.
These pest and vermin need to be safely exterminated with systematic regular pest control services so that they don’t cause germs and disease to you and your family.
Whatever you do, don’t give up! If they’re not controlled, they can continue to infest your home and cause health major issues, or just be plain annoying.
Readily available DYI solutions for spraying insects, which might seem to work in the interim but if you are searching for the best pest control solutions to your problem permanently you really need to call in the experts.
Our firm has been successfully eradicating various pests in Canberra for many years now and we know how to treat the problem permanently.
Call today to find out more information or to order our services on 0407 065 413.
Or feel free to email [email protected] for a free quote and friendly advice.
We are bed bugs exterminators who have the skills and expertise to solve your problems with bed bugs using only safe and fast control strategies. We have different plans of attack for the type of infestation you have.
If you have silverfish infestations, or need to get rid of mouse or rat problems, just let us know.
We are available most times of the day for all types of other pest control treatments.
Looking for friendly pest control services in your area? We service most areas of Canberra, using only environmentally friendly insecticides & non-toxic products that are also Eco-friendly.
We find pantries in kitchens are hot spots and magnets for pests where sugar, flour and other foodstuffs may attract moths, ants and cockroaches.
These areas need to be protected from not only vermin, but also they need to be protected against harmful and smelly chemical treatments. To eliminate bugs in these locations, only non-fuming and non-toxic treatments should be used.
Ring Bob on 0407 065 413 or send a [email protected] if you have a pest extermination problem and need a safe, effective, treatment that won’t break the bank. We are the ones you are after.
Safe Environmental Solutions For You and Your Family.
Looking for a reliable and safe pest control firm that doesn’t charge the earth for its services? Our pest exterminators have been successfully treating Cockroaches, Ants, Spiders, Bees, and Bed Bugs within Canberra metro area now for a long time now.
The reasons for our success are great services backed up by rock solid warranties, and good old-fashioned customer satisfaction that seems to be lacking now a days.
Our Pest Technicians also give you protection against bees, Fleas, rats, mice Rodents, bird lice often called mites or other garden pests.
Call us today up to 6pm on 0407 065 413, or email Bob at [email protected] for a free quote and advice.
The funnel webs are mainly occur along the coast and mountain regions from Gladstone in the north to southern Tasmania. Isolated species occur in the Mount Lofty Ranges and Eyre Peninsula of South Australia, and in the mountains of North Queensland.
Although the Sydney funnel-web spider is found within about 100 km of the city.
In tropical and subtropical regions, spider prefer to thrive in rainforests and areas of higher altitudes. However, in southern states, they also live in drier eucalypt forests and woodlands, as well as snow country.
Funnel-web spiders are probably the most venomous aggressive spiders in the world.
All funnel web species are lethal to humans, not just the Sydney or Northern tree dweller. If they bite you it is usually a pretty deep injection but even a small grazing bite means get to hospital immediately.
The Sydney Funnel-web constructs its own burrow, which may be over a foot deep or uses a suitable crevice in rocks or round house foundations. Sometimes, Funnel-webs may be found in colonies of over a hundred.
The webs are white and often tubular rather than funnel-like with supporting lines running out to surrounding rocks and debris.
The spiders may take several years to reach maturity and live for perhaps 8 years or longer. When mature, the males leave their webs and lead a homeless existence.
They tend to roam and often enter homes particularly during summer after a heavy downpour of rain. They mate with a female for only one season and if not killed shortly after mating, die within a few months.
This spider is one of Australia’s largest and most easily identified. The body of a female Sydney Funnel-web spider measures about 35mm in length and the male about 25mm.
The paired spinnerets at the end of the abdomen are particularly long, much longer than those of other large dark spiders.
The male is of a more delicate build than the female and has 2 features, which help identification. One is a little spur half way along its second leg on each side and the other is a finely pointed feeler to transfer sperm to the female.
Both sexes are very aggressive and when approached, will rear up into a ready to strike position. Their massive fangs can penetrate a child’s fingernail.
However, most people bitten by them are not injected with sufficient venom to cause any illness.
Often it falls off the tips of the spider’s fangs as it makes a preliminary downward thrust. People bitten by the female may at the most suffer pain around the bitten area.
The venom of the male is 5 times more toxic than the female. Man and monkeys seem to be especially susceptible to the venom.
For example, rabbits can be given very large doses of the venom with no apparent effect but a small dose injected into a monkey produces the terrifying symptoms seen in humans.
In all cases where the victim has died, and in which the spider has been positively identified, it has been a male spider.
The venom contains a low molecular weight toxin called atraxtoxin, which attacks the nerves of the body causing thousands of electrical impulses to be fired down them. The muscles twitch and there is a profuse flow of perspiration, tears and saliva.
The venom also causes changes to blood vessels, which can lead to shock and coma due to brain damage. All the evidence suggests that the effects wear off after a few hours.
Provided the victim reaches hospital before serious illness has developed, he or she has an excellent chance of recovery. An antivenom to the venom of the Sydney Funnel-web spider became available in 1980.
Funnel-web spider venom is highly toxic, and all species should be considered potentially dangerous. Males wander at night, especially during or after rain, and may enter houses.
Bites by males of two large species, the Sydney funnel-web and northern tree funnel-web, have resulted in death. You need to follow the advice below.
carefully shake out shoes before use, any footwear, clothes and sleeping bags left on the ground overnight, as the spiders hide during the day. | 2019-04-21T03:19:20Z | https://www.a1pestcontrolcanberra.com.au/tag/australian-pest-control/ |
So many toys, so little time! Here’s your annual holiday helper – THE Holiday Hot Toys for your kids this Christmas. And we’re playing Santa too – with some big giveaways!
Hey, don’t kid yourself, even Santa had help even if this poem doesn’t give any credit to the elves.
So consider us your elves and we aren’t looking for any credit either. Here’s your list of hot holiday toys – just in time for you to get them under tree, along with those stockings stuffed. But here at mamachallenge.com have taken it one step further…these gifts are made to make kids play and may even remind you of toys you had growing up. We’ve done some work to find toys that are fun and educate kids while also making them use their imagination. Most of these you won’t see an device needed to make them work or a screen to keep them on for hours. These toys are meant for play, activity, thinking and good ole family time.
TreeMendous Ornament, Treemendous fun! This patent pending design to let children ages 6 and up to personalize their own ornament. Treemendous is a perfect present because it is an ideal activity to do with grandparents, friends, siblings and parents alike. Boys and Girls alike will embrace the holidays season by making their very own handmade ornament. Sure, to become a family treasure for years to come.
Endless Games sleepover party game break out the sleeping bags and leave the lights on. It’s a sleepover party and wear staying up late! Spin the spinner and attempt to complete one of over 200 act It, work it, or party challenges. Be the human mirror and copy everything another player does! Take part in the “Funny sound competition” and make the most ridiculous noise you can!! Try to lick your own elbow!!! Being silly and having fun is The name of the game at this sleepover, so be prepared to sing, laugh, perform, and make a general fool of yourself! Don’t fall asleep early, or you’ll miss out on earning the most cards and staying up all night!
It’s a family game that is really for the whole family! Roadtrip could be played in the car, but you can play it for any great game night. This is a well-made game that has won all the toy awards including the Sterling Fun Award Winner, The Toy Man Seal of Approval, The National Parenting Center Seal of Approval and many more.
Welcome to Tiki Island, home to nine colorful carvings all competing to be the top Polynesian Idol! In this fast-paced strategy game, try to maneuver your secret tikis to the top of the line by playing the right combination of action cards. Use a Tiki Up card to move a tiki ahead in line. Tiki Topple sends opponents’ tikis tumbling to the back of the pack. But watch out for the sneaky Tiki Toast cards, which knock your tikis off the board! Score the most points and call yourself the Tiki Master.For 2 – 4 players, ages 10 and up.Contents: 55 cards, 9 custom tiki pieces, 4 playing pawns, 1 game board and instructions.
One of America’s oldest doll companies and have delighted parents and children for over 102 years with our wonderful dolls. Baby’s First Kisses can be easily cleaned and always ready for play – they are Hypoallergenic and MACHINE WASHABLE! The adorable baby doll kisses pleasantly when her soft tummy is squeezed. Helps children develop large motor skills, while stimulating their senses of sight, sound and touch. Great size for babies 1+, toddlers – easy to hold, carry, squeeze and love. Remove the Kisses mechanism from the smart “sanity” pocket and she is ready for the washing machine!
Kenya Dolls is the oldest and most loved ethnic brand in the toy market celebrating 25 years of growing up proud. Kenya’s roots trace back to Dallas, there are several versions to love, but the stand out of this toy is her authentic hair. Whether curly and short, long and natural, or braided and beaded, Kenya truly represents every black girl’s stylish locks.
Watching the butterfly life cycle up close is more fun than ever with the Butterfly Garden Gift Set with live cup of caterpillars. Exciting butterfly-themed bonus items make this butterfly-raising kit the perfect gift! feed and observe your very own beautiful butterflies for a few days before releasing them into the wild! the entire transformation takes about three weeks, depending on the temperature and humidity in your area. There is no need to feed your caterpillars; all the nutritious food they require to become beautiful butterflies is included in their cozy cup.
Project Mc2 is a team of super-smart and seriously cool girls who use their love of science and their spy skills as they go on missions for secret organization, NOV8 (that’s “innovate”!). They’re real girls with real skills ready to take on anything. Watch new episodes of the Project Mc2 original series, only on Netflix!
Adrienne Attoms’ next mission is to use her cosmetic chemistry skills to formulate the perfect look for saving the world. Formulate your own perfumes with Project Mc2 Perfume Maker. Now you can perform this same cool S.T.E.A.M. experiment at home using just household items again and again. Pretty brilliant!
An award-winning educational toy, Orboot is a no-borders globe that connects with the fun and interactive Orboot app. Explore the world with 400+ highlights and 1000+ cool facts across 6 categories – cultures, cuisines, monuments, inventions, animals and maps (national and state boundaries of countries). A STEM toy that sparks the imagination and creativity, Orboot encourages the little ones to explore and discover on their own. It builds knowledge as well as develops linguistic and cognitive abilities in the process.
Enjoy imaginative pirate adventures with this LEGO® Creator 3-in-1 Treehouse Treasures set, featuring a 3-level pirate ship treehouse with a ship deck, ship’s wheel, treasure chest hideaway function, bowsprit with flag and teddy bear, crow’s nest, tire swing and an upper-level den. Pirate accessories include a hat, telescope and 2 swords. This 3in1 model rebuilds into a Pirate Ship or a Skull Cave for more pirating fun, and includes 2 minifigures rigged out for pirate adventures, plus a scary spider figure.
These LEGO® BrickHeadz™ Luke Skywalker™ & Yoda™ construction characters are fun to build using LEGO bricks that recreate all their iconic details, including Luke’s Lightsaber™ and Yoda’s pointy ears and cane. The master and apprentice each stand on a buildable collector’s baseplate for easy display in your home, office or any planet you like. Buildable Luke Skywalker™ & Yoda™ LEGO® BrickHeadz™ construction characters feature decorated eyes and authentic details from the original blockbuster Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back movie, including Luke’s Lightsaber™ and Yoda’s pointy ears and cane.
Combine SNAP CIRCUITS with ordinary building bricks and make endless combinations of construction and circuitry. With Bric-2-Snap technology, kids can wire up their brick builds with SNAP CIRCUITS lights, sounds, moving parts and 3-D circuits to invent almost anything and make it go! Instead of just building a structure, learn how to build the circuit that makes the lights in a skyscraper illuminate or that makes the gears on a drawbridge move! There’s no limit to what kids can create.
It’s robot fighting time! Modeled after television’s hit series BattleBots, comes the HEXBUG BattleBots Arena Pro. With over 100 possible configurations, BattleBots fans can experience the excitement that comes with engineering your very own fighting robot. This set includes one arena and two customizable Build Your Own BattleBots.
Set your plays and watch your teams do battle on this 32″ x 16″ SpeedTurf metal vibrating NFL gridiron with the Deluxe Electric Football Game! The PlayAction remote control places the fate of your offense in the palm of your hand, with its on-board variable speed control. Both offensive and defensive players are outfitted with all new Invisibase Cleat technology, sending your players where you want them to go. The all new PlayAction remote control places the fate of your offense in the palm of your hand, with its on-board variable speed control. Offense? Set! Defense? Set! Slow down the play with your PlayAction remote to see your blockers in action as the play develops. Got a man wide open downfield? Gaping hole in the defensive line? Shift into high speed and accelerate your team to victory!
Your little one will love zipping around the neighborhood on this Dynacraft Realtree 24 V UTV, which features working headlights and suspension springs for a smooth ride. The dual seats make it easy to bring a friend along, and a built-in rack offers convenient storage space. A working steering wheel and foot pedal allow realistic use, and an MP3 input makes it easy to enjoy songs and music during the ride.
Enter now for this Realtree UTV today! Enter to win more of the MAMACHALLENGE HOT HOT HOLIDAY TOY LIST!
WIN a Stocking Full of Fort Worth’s Camp Bowie Christmas Goodies!
Great gift suggestions! Just added the butterfly kit to the Amazon cart!
Thank you so much for all your help with awesome toys this holiday season!!!
That real tree UTV looks amazing!
Such amazing toys! They all are really great gift ideas.!
My Barbie Jeep was my favorite toy as a little girl.
As a child I loved Barbies!! Even played willingly with my daughter.
My favorite toy as a child was always my bike! To this day it is still one of my favorite activities to do with my kids. Family bikes rides are the best!
My favorite holiday movie is definitely Elf. Always watched a few times each season!
Our family has. a favorite Holiday song… Feliz Navidad. When my two boys were younger they sand it as “Feliz Navi-DOG” and years later it still sticks!
Yep, my easy bake oven when I was 5.
Jingle Bell Rock is my favorite Holiday song!
My favorite toy as a child was probably Cabbage Patch kids.
My favorite Christmas treat is peanut butter balls.
My favorite holiday movie is definitely Christmas with the Kranks! I am a huge Tim Allen fan so this is the perfect movie to get me in the holiday mood!
My favorite Christmas treat is definitely my grandmothers Christmas sugar cookies! Even though I try to make them on my own, they never come as good as hers do!
I love making Christmas cookies to share with everyone.
I love pumpkin cake rolls and french silk pie.
Christmas Canon – Trans Siberian Orchestra.
I used o love LiteBrite and Legos.
My favorite holiday song is definitely Jingle Bells! It’s perfect to sing out loud to as well!
My favorite Christmas treat is sugar cookies.
My favorite toy as a child was Baby Alive! Nothing as advanced as the ones that are out now, but it was the first doll I ever had that ate and drank!
As a child we didn’t have much money so my favorite present was a squeaky doll.
My bike was my favorite toy as a child. Miles and miles of riding.
My fave holiday movie is Miracle on 34th Street!
My favorite toy as a child was my American Girl doll. I love that she is high quality and that I can give her to my daughters now.
My favorite holiday movie is National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.
Peppermint/Candy Cane ice cream! I look forward to it all year long!
We have the tradition of opening pjs on Christmas Eve and driving around looking at lights together before bed.
My favorite holiday movie is It’s A Wonderful Life.
My fav movie is the elf!!
My Jeep was my favorite toy.
My favorite toy was my Barbie!
My favorite movie is Home ALone.
I like baking big batches of cookies.
My favorite toy was a stuffie that I loved.
These are awesome gift suggestions. I finished my shopping weeks ago & I hope the kids are happy.
My favorite tradition is church service on Christmas Eve and giving the kids one gift to open that evening while also eating Christmas cookies.
There are so many awesome picks here! I have some shopping left to do, so this is perfect timing for me.
How cute is that ornament maker! I don’t know why we don’t have one of these! These are all wonderful gift ideas.
We love all the Hallmark movies each week. So many Christmas movies I can’t pick just one favorite! I would love to decorate Christmas ornaments with the kids.
So many fun toy options for the kiddos! It makes me miss being young and being able to play all day!
My granddaughter loves Hexbugs. I am always finding them scattered around the house these days.
These gift suggestions are wonderful. I was looking for some inspiration and you just gave it to me. Thanks.
These are really great picks! Thanks for the ideas!
Such amazing toys! They all are really great gifts! Entering the giveaways!
You have some keepers here! The family road trip game and sleepover game look so fun! We love board games!
How many wonderful toys gift ideas. I think my kid will prefer the sleepover party game. Seems to be a lot of fun!
I truly can’t remember my favorite childhood toy. Now at Christmastime, I only remember a handful of gifts I received each year. The board game Mall Madness is sticking out because it’s a gift from my parents and I really did play it often with friends. I’d love to get that same nostalgic game for my daughter!
These are some great gift ideas for the kiddos! Too bad mine are older now. They would love some of these toys on this list.
One of my favorite movies is Miracle on 34th Street..
One of our favorite traditions is a full day of Christmas cookie baking with my mom, sister and daughters.
My favorite toy was definitely Barbie.
My favorite song is O Holy Night.
My favorite cookie is Chocolate Chip.
A Hot Wheels Car Washer with Cars included.
My favorite holiday movie was A Christmas Story! It never gets old. I love these toy ideas, thanks so much!
My favorite toy as a child was something called Fashion Plates where you design different outfits!
Those are great gift ideas for kids! I will definitely write down all of it, my niece would surely love those.
My favorite Christmas movie is national lampoons Christmas vacation.
My favorite toys, Hmm I would say it was my sega console.
My favorite Christmas song is Snoopy’s Christmas: Snoopy vs. The Red Baron.
MY favorite holiday movie would have to be Elf. It is so hilarious and full of Christmas spirit.
My family likes to get together on Christmas Eve. We eat party foods, visit with each other and exchange gifts with each other before Santa comes for the kids.
My favorite holiday song is Silver Bells. It is so pretty.
When I was little I loved playing with my lego blocks.
My daughter would love the butterfly collector. She is constantly collecting her treasures in the yard.
My favorite Christmas movie is Prancer. We watch it together every year.
We celebrate Christmas Eve with the whole family and spend Christmas Day in our pj’s playing with new toys and watching Christmas movies.
We love A Christmas Story.
My favorite Christmas song is Christmas shoes.
My favorite holiday movie is Elf!
My favorite holiday tradition is getting the entire family together on Christmas Eve at my wife’s Grandmother’s house.
My favorite toy as a child was my G.I. Joe big wheel!
I would spend hours using my LiteBrite!
My favorite holiday movie is A Mixed up Christmas.
My favorite holiday song is Santa Tell Me.
My favorite toy as a child was my orange bike. This was followed close by my Raggedy Ann doll. Funny how they stick out so clear in my mind. I think I really loved my orange bike more because it used tohave one of those tall flags off it.
My favorite Christmas movie is Christmas Movie.
My fave holiday song is Ill be Home for Christmas.
My favorite holiday movie is ELF with Will Ferrell! We saw it as a Broadway show and LOVED it that way too!
My favorite tradition is decorating the Christmas tree while we play Christmas music. it is always so fun.
My favorite toy as a child was a stuffed elephant I won at a church bazaar.
My favorite holiday movie is Elf. I laugh everytime I watch it .
My favorite holiday song is White Christmas. I love that song.
My favorite holiday song is Jingle Bells lol. We love to sing it around the holidays.
My favorite toy was my Green Machine. I don’t even know if they still make them. I’ll have to look for one. I haven’t thought about that thing in years! It was the best! So much better than a Big Wheel IMHO.
We pick out new ornaments every year as a tradition.
It’s a Wonderful Life is my favorite holiday movie. | 2019-04-20T10:28:05Z | https://www.mamachallenge.com/hot-toys-2018/?replytocom=363172 |
This book, published in 1925, remains the definitive description of the Catholic Evidence Guild. Although the history is not up-to-date, and references to “today” refer to the situation over 70 years ago, this remains the best source for information about the Catholic Evidence Guild.
The Catholic Evidence Guild was founded in the Diocese of Westminster, England towards the end of 1918. For the first couple of years its hold on life was precarious. Gradually, however, it took firm root in its birthplace, and began to spread to other parts of England. In Hyde Park meetings are held every night except Tuesday, and on Sunday the meeting lasts for eleven hours, during which time the crowd averages about 500. In the rest of England there are between 20 & 30 guilds, some very strong, some just emerging from that two years heartbreak without which no guild can be founded, some not yet emerged from it. No member of any guild receives any payment for the work.
It is to be noted that there is no central governing body for the whole of the movement in England. As the Church is constituted, the control of the teaching of Catholicism in any diocese is vested absolutely in the Bishop, and cannot therefore be exercised by any outside body. Thus the Guilds are a series of independent groups, each free to choose its own methods (subject of course , to the bishop, whose control is absolute) without reference to any other. But for all this apparent diversity, the guilds are one in fact. All realize that if the title Catholic Evidence Guild is to have any meaning, the platforms must have a common aim. The tendency, born of isolation and preoccupation with one’s troubles, to develop in one direction or another and thus lose identity, is countered in a multitude of ways-notably by an annual conference, interchange of speakers and an annual retreat. Thus there are certain common principles whose infraction is a moral impossibility; and although there is no one who can speak with authority for the whole guild movement, yet the writer is confident that, while in details Guilds may differ, he states no principle that is not common to all.
Their preparation for the platform.
Their work on the platform.
Fortunately there is a great reservoir on which the Guild may draw; for experience has shown that there is no one who cannot hope to reach the platform. On most other platforms the speakers run to type; whether it is the type that loves revivalism and recital of a past that grows more lurid with every recital; or the type that drops its H’s and attacks the Church for ignorance and hates Catholics because Christians should love one another; or the earnest religionist with no sense of humor. But it cannot be said that there is a guild type, save in the sense that every Catholic is a Guild type. And the lesson which, after six years of surprises, the Guild has learnt is that no one may be safely be dismissed in advance as hopeless; every week the miracle of dumb speaking is reenacted. Every Catholic then must try his vocation – secure in the knowledge that if he is fit, he will be thoroughly equipped before being sent into action; if he is unfit the Guild will very definitely tell him so–since the Guild is more determined even than the speaker that he shall not make a fool of himself on its platforms.
The way of recruiting is probably more difficult and obscure than any other part of the Guild’s work. Much is done by direct appeals at meetings convened for the purpose. Many a man who has thrilled to read of the work done at the boundaries of the world by the Church’s Missionaries is brought to realize that the Guild points the way to a vmissionary work as real, if not as picturesque–and none the less necessary for being carried out in surroundings where danger and discomfort scarcely exist. But the Guild is an outdoor organization, and the greater part of the recruiting is done–as is fitting–at the pitches themselves. Catholics in the crowd are variously affected; and while some feel that they are serving the Church by boxing Protestant ears, and regards the Guild as a very milk and watery organization of somewhat poor-spirited Catholics, others are inevitably drawn Guildwards. One feels that the speaker on the platform is doing the work so badly that he himself must join the Guild to put the guild things right; another feels with shame that men less equipped than he are manfully striving to pay their debt to the Church: more, probably, realize for the first time the splendid quality of those outside the Church and their desperate need. There are those too, other motives more dubious–a mere passion for controversy, or that very human failing, the love of one’s own voice!
But whatever the motive, and whatever the channel, they come–some with the fire of a vocation but newly realized; others to whom the public platform is utterly repellant, who, with no feeling of vocation yet see a pressing duty and force themselves to do it. That the recruits form a fantastic mixture goes without saying–male and female, learned and unlearned, and the vast mass who are neither, of all professions and none, at all stages of doctrinal vagueness and oratorical awkwardness. And if the Guild is not yet as Catholic as the Church, it is undoubtedly as various as Noah’s ark.
This then is the jumble of people that the Guild has collected and is trying to make into a weapon fit for the hand of truth. A superficial critic could see only the inadequacy of the means to the end proposed; but the story of our Faith is the story of the strong things of the earth confounded by the weak. If the Guild way is not the ideal way of teaching Catholicism to England (and the rest of the world), at least it is the only way; and hope is never so much a virtue as when it is forlorn hope.
We are sometimes warned that in talking so freely of our training system, we are foolishly making a complete exposure of Guild strategy to the enemy. But we cannot regard the non-Catholic as an enemy, and the Guild is not trying anything in the nature of strategy in its lower sense. This is no case of a conjuror explaining his tricks; for the Guild has no tricks to explain. There are no shortcuts; no clever ideas for getting the better of an antagonist; no suggestion of the conversions-made-easy method. The only “trick” is the thorough knowledge, only to be acquired by honest industry, of the whole Catholic position and of how to explain that position to the man on the street.
There is always a tendency for any discussion of training methods to become little more than a mass of principles surrounded by fog. Yet it is difficult to do more than lay down the principles. Their detailed application cannot be stated so absolutely. Every Guild is faced with the hard necessity of adapting actually existing resources to actually existing conditions–this indeed being the great Guild tragedy. It seems then most practical to discuss principles only in the body of this paper and indicate in footnotes the application of them made in the Guild that the writer happens to know best–Westminster.
To some extent the Guild must take a great deal for granted in its members. It cannot set out laboriously to instruct them as though they were non-Catholics. It assumes ordinary Catholic knowledge, and–since that may be assuming too much–it provides a library and suggests courses of reading, while new speakers can always count on individual guidance from seniors.
It is impossible for a speaker to have too much book work, provided that the street corner audience is his companion at every page; but mere book work is fatal, and the speaker trained on book work only is speaking in the air, and will soon find himself speaking to the air. It is only when the Guildsman–knowing the Catholic teaching on any doctrine–knows also what the crowd think the Church teaches, and what they have in its place, and why they prefer their own substitute, and how best they may be shown the superiority of the Church’s teaching to their own substitute, that he may be said to understand the doctrine for Guild purposes. Find out more additional topics on catholic news websites.
The general current of Guild life.
The classes are in a sense only an attempt to organize this “pooling,” and the whole training system is an instrument powerfully designed to make available to all the resources of each. If we are to bring the Church to the street-corner, we must begin by bringing the street-corner to the classroom. Whatever may be local variations, there can be no progress if that cardinal maxim is ignored. The class must be the common ground where church and street-corner meet, so that its members may bring every item of knowledge, old and new, into relation with what the crowd is thinking and saying.
The Guild mind is always on the crowd, studying the problems it presents. A Guildsman must try first one line and then another, until a solution can be reached which can be put at the disposal of all the other speakers. It is found that only those can do the training who are in constant touch with the crowd, and even a short absence is sufficient to put a man out of touch. For the crowd is always alive, always changing, absorbing influences of all sorts, including ourselves. Above all the crowd mentality is so different from anything inside the church, that it is impossible to keep it in mind if it is long out of sight.
doctrinal–though, as has been indicated, the instruction is not so much on the subject as on how to lecture on the subject at the street corner.
technical–how to prepare lectures, deliver them, handle crowds, etc.
In all this section of Guild activity, the dominant mode is the thoroughness–amounting in some cases to ferocity–of the criticism given not only by teachers to taught but by all speakers to one another.
But there is no way of learning a crowd quite so effective as meeting it, and it is only by outdoor speaking that one can become an outdoor speaker. It is a definite part of the training scheme to get people on to the platform as soon as possible, since experience has shown, not only that otherwise they lose interest and drop out of the Guild, but also that the study is rendered far more efficient by actual contact with the crowd.
In this matter the Guild has two interests to consider–the training of the speaker and the good of the crowd; and though ultimately these are one and the same, there is a stage at which they appear to be in conflict. The speaker must have outdoor work if he is to improve; yet the crowd do not learn so well from the newcomer as they would from a more experienced lecturer. The difficulty had to be faced frankly; and a solution was found by which the new speaker gets his practice and the crowd take no harm.
Before outlining this solution, we may add one word more; and that as to the need of taking long views. England has been Protestant now for 400 years, and the work of 400 years cannot be undone in four weeks. For the moment the principal activity of every Guild is training; even the outdoor platform is part of the training scheme. The Guild’s objective is not so much the crowd of today as the crowd of five or ten years hence; so that the crowd of today is training us to be more efficient instructors of the crowds that are to come.
The new speaker shall choose one subject; know it thoroughly, practice it before the class, and be tested (4) on it by priests. The test is a real test, and there is an unsparing rejection of those who cannot be made fit, that they may not waste their time in the Guild but be set free to work on one of the many other roads to Rome.
He shall speak and answer questions only on the subject on which he has been tested, until such time as he may qualify in another.
He shall start on easy subjects. Many a man can make an admirable speech on the use of Images who will never be able to begin explaining the doctrine of the Immortality of the Soul.
He shall start with easy crowds.
He shall be under the charge of a senior speaker (5) who is Chairman of the meeting and can take questions on which the junior has not been tested. It is the Chairman’s duty to see that a novice comes to no harm and does no harm to the crowd.
It must not be imagined that all this is a determined attempt to force all speakers into the one mould. As the people who come to me Guild are varied, so are those whom the Guild sends out to speak in public. Men vary enormously in their choice of subject; no two men will handle the one subject alike. In whatever style, there is an indispensable minimum of equipment but, given this, there must be a natural development of the whole man. All that the technical traning attempts is the freeing of each speakers’ personality by the removal of the ignorance and the awkwardness which are bars to its natural development.
The guild needs complete men and women, and its method is reasonable guidance, not a chopping and chiseling and squeezing and stretching to make each speaker like every other–and like no other being in the world.
In any discussion of the outdoor work of the Guild, the temptation is to describe incidents or perhaps to attempt to reproduce an actual meeting. Here again detail must be avoided, and certain broad principles stated; although this may appear difficult, since superficially the Guild in action would seem to be a very heterogeneous Guild. One speaker will be found to pound his crowd for their greater good, another is given to a certain humility of address; one lets the crowd do all the talking, and another does it all himself; one prefers simple explanation, and another moral appeal; and so on endlessly. But though all this looks chaotic enough, there is a great unifying principle involved in the Guild’s conception of its mission.
The immediate aim of the outdoor work is not conversions; or at least these are not the measure of our success. We long for, and work for, the conversion of England, like any other Catholic society; but we have no secret of whole-sale conversions. We have simply faced a big task and decided on a common-sense method.
We have proposed to ourselves a long job: to spread a knowledge of the truth and to kill lies; a steady humdrum sort of job that has to be done–whether as a vocation or a duty. Big results will come in time, but we sow with no expectation of seeing the harvest. A ready analogy is to be found in the great cathedrals which took centuries to build, and yet each man did his part of the work none the less earnestly and lovingly. The Guild is no place for those who cannot keep on without the stimulus of great results, and the cheaper sort of optimist will find the work wearying. As we are not unduly elated by conversions, so we are not unduly depressed by the lack of them.
To put it in one word we are teachers. This is emphasized in our official title “Diocesan Cathechists.” The teaching itself is conditioned by the needs of the crowd, and therefore some attempt must be made to analyze the religious condition of the people among whom we are working. Protestantism in England, contrary to widespread belief, is not dead. Protestantism as an organization is dead, but then from the beginning the organization was an anomaly in a religion of private judgement. It lasted because old habits die hard; and it did not simply break up in one catastrophe, but proceeded by the way of more and more (and therefore smaller and smaller) groups toward the natural unit of Protestantism–the individual. (6) The essential thing in it as a religion has always been Private Judgement; that principle has reached its ultimate stage of development, and is at last completely triumphant in England.
It must be stressed that the Protestant really believes that he is doing the will of God; but in practice private judgment means that he interprets the will of God by his own will, and that his rule of faith is to do what he thinks right–that is to say, he uses his own judgment to decide what God’s judgment will be, and then follows the result as God’s judgment. Thus while he thinks he is agreeing with God, he is really making God agree with him. (7) Gradually he comes (usually unconsciously) to leave out this middle step and no longer thinks of God in each individual case, but only as a kind of general approver of his actions. Then rejecting alike Atheism and Deism, he has reached the practical position of believing in God’s existence and God’s will for us, but of acting exactly as though there were no God but his own will.
Thus it would seem that our crowds have a belief in God and in the next life–atheists in the crowd are usually isolated and can count on no support–and therefore little time need be devoted to proving those things. (8) But they scarcely have a notion of the supernatural (9) or of institutional religion; hence these must form the staple of our teaching; so we must teach about Christ, His twin gifts of Truth and Life, and the Church He founded to guard those gifts. Follow Catholic Evidence Guild of Guam and always stay updated about the best catholic talks.
All the time we must hammer home what religion is; not–as many of them view it–a symposium of our own opinions and feelings , leading us to be pleased at good things and dislike bad things–or even a general preference for Heaven rather than Hell–or even a kind of decent gratitude to God (if there be any God) for having made us, and to Christ for having died for us (if indeed he did die for us). We must show them that real religion includes a great mass of belief and rules of conduct given to us by God (so that our approval or otherwise is not particularly relevant). We must be disciples not critics. There is one true religion given by God and every one must search for it.
Always we must insist that Christianity is not merely a philosophy of life, thought it has its philosophy; nor a code of laws, though the laws be there. It is a life, and if our Christianity is real, then every single thing in our life is part of it. Of that life the guiding principle is the will of God, and that will is not simply to be found in our own feelings. In short we must bring home to the crowd that while they are creatures, that is “created,” God is not merely a superior creature, but the source of all created things; a Being Who demands our service, and Whose religion means believing (even if we do not see the necessity) and doing (even things we do not like).
Our attitude toward the Crowd.
Certain guiding principles in our teaching.
It always takes some time fully to realize that the unit that we meet is not the individual but the crowd; which is a whole and must be handled as such. But a collection of individuals is not a crowd; and the people who come to hear us are a thoroughly mixed lot.
Anyone looking over the top of a platform at the hundreds of upturned faces could enumerate a dozen reasons for their presence; some are drawn by a kind of shuddering curiosity (the type who dream of the Pope, and wake up in the night screaming “Rome”); some are there to see that Rome does not have it all her own way; and these have their jackals who come to back them up simply out of a natural human love of a row. Many are there because they find it cheaper than the pictures and on the whole more entertaining. There is, too, an occasional pious Christian of uncertain denomination who hopes to convert the lecturer; because he is young and has a good face; also a not so occasional drunkard; a very frequent gentleman too of the cuckoo type, who, having no chance of an audience of his own, comes to use ours; while here and there a lapsed Catholic is watching the issue of the contest as it seems to sway from one side to the other with a stirring of a feeling dead and buried for many a year. The invariable background consists of a great number of silent men and women–the people for whom mainly we come–who say nothing (as though they had been there when the meeting started, and were too lazy to move away), who give no sign of interest, whose presence might seem an odd accident–if they did not return again and again.
To make a rabble of this kind into that very personal thing, a crowd, which can be handled as such, some unifying force is needed. Truth, unfortunately, is able, not only to bind, but to sunder, and truth alone therefore is not the unifying force needed. We must find some common interest–not an interest merely: the Mormons inspire that–but some interest that we can persuade them to share with us. Tet thinking over the elements that go to the composition of a crowd we might be led to despair; for, as the crowd began with individuals, so into individuals is it resolved; and though the crowd must be treated as one, yet the effect is multiplex. The result of one speech may be to send away a section raging, another thinking still another praying, and perhaps one man convinced. But this experience should never lead to a promiscuous hurling round of pious remarks in the hope that some of them may, on the law of averages, affect someone. Every crowd has its own physiognomy due, not to any peculiarity of its elements, but to their proportion and arrangement; and a kind of common interest is needed to hold them and what kind of teaching may be expected to have an effect.
Our attitude to the crowd should be very clear to ourselves, because it will always be very clear to them, for they sense character and they sense attitude. Whatever may be thought of the possibility of effecting necessary repairs in our character, at least we can see to it that our attitude is right.
(a) That we are not doing anything particularly virtuous in working for the Guild, rather that, far from deserving any special treatment, we should regard the unpleasantness as the price we pray for a great privilege.
(b) That the crowd are under no real obligation to behave decently. Why should they? They don’t ask us to come, on the contrary we ask them. Hence to complain if they, having accepted our very pressing invitation, find us dull and nasty, is against the reason of things. Since we ask them to listen they have a right to do so on their own terms; it is for us to treat them as a host might treat an eccentric guest whom he has not only invited once, but intends to invite again.
It is necessary to impress the crowd in our two-fold capacity as individuals and as representatives. They must, first of all, come to respect the speaker personally, and, that accomplished, the more they regard him as a typical Catholic, the better. In the due balancing of these capacities lies a certain danger. Since there is, in the beginning at least, a prejudice against the Church, the speaker’s personality must be strong enough and good enough to win a hearing–but his personality must never be so far stressed that the crowd lose sight of his representative quality. We are not out to talk about our own souls–their goodness, or badness, or history–but about Catholic doctrine; it is by the speaker’s character alone, without his own testimonial thereto, that he must make an impression. The anonymity of the work is more than an accident due to the obscurity of us who do it, it is an essential factor; one may measure a man’s understanding of the work by his understanding of that principle. It involves that not only all praise, but also all blame, shall go to the Church, and while the absence of personal praise should induce unselfishness, the possibility of harm to the Church should make us the more determined to do our best.
Never be personal: we are for the most part extremely in the appearance of our hecklers, as in their grammar and manners; but we must under no circumstances mention it.
Make sure that the crowds see the justice of your action, otherwise they will feel that they themselves have been assaulted.
If you hit, hit hard: don’t merely scratch. But we should never deal out justice of this sort when we are ourselves out of temper–in this case charity begins at home. The golden rule in the treatment of a heckler is to make the crowd see that it is not a personal matter between him and us; but that he, a solitary individual, armed with his nine days’ doctrine, is attacking the three hundred million whose belief has stood the test of many centuries.
Thus our attitude to the crowd at large must be that of men who are very conscious of their responsibility to the Church and to the crowd; anxious only that their audience should see the Church as she is, and absolutely honest both as to the doctrines of the Church and as to their own knowledge of them; so that they neither modify her teaching to make it easier of acceptance, nor pretend to any knowledge that they do not possess.
Here there is only one entirely indispensable quality: simplicity. The shining gifts of the orator must yield precedence to the homely virtue of the teacher. The Bible tells us that at the first Evidence Guild meeting, the speakers had a most mixed audience, yet every man understood them; and we, with a much simpler assemblage, must aim at the same result. By sheer force of personality it is possible to hold a vast crowd for hours–yet give them nothing at all, and in the end send them away with a pleasant thrill–and a quite empty mind. Unless they understand, the time is wasted: that they may understand a degree of simplicity and clearness is called for such as the non-guildsman can scarcely conceive. This simplicity involves: (a) treating one point at a time; (b) arranging the subject matter clearly; (c) keeping the lecture to 20 minutes at most; (d) using very simple words. Such words as “finite,” “creatures,” “impeccability,” and a thousand more mean nothing to a crowd. Words of one syllable (if very common) are desirable!
There is an old lady who frequents a certain pitch whose picture should be in every Guild class-room. Having listened intently to one of our speakers lucidly explaining the doctrine of Infallibility, she shook her head sadly and said, “it’s no use, young man: you can talk till you are black in the face, but you will never persuade me that your Pope is God.” When speaking to a crowd never forget that old lady.
So long as it does not interfere with simplicity, eloquence is a valuable but by no means indispensable asset. For the most part we are not orators or preachers, but teachers simply. Still at every meeting a moment will come that calls for something more, and at such a moment real eloquence may be of profoundest effect. But so surely as eloquence takes the first place (and the sense of power it brings is very pleasant) so surely have we fallen from grace as Guildsmen.
Given these two qualities in due proportion, there is no fear of obscurity, but there is a grave danger of another sort: that by our manner we may seem to be forcing our ideas on the crowd. There is nothing gained by the smashing dogmatism of a speaker who tramples on heckler and sincere questioner alike, who sneers at great difficulties as though they were merely childish and who attempts to drive souls into the Church by main force. Such methods are amazingly easy, but either ruse the crowd to very justifiable fury (so that he who takes the sword perishes by it) or leave them silent indeed, but with a resentful feeling (as one victim expressed it) of “having been kicked all over.” We must be careful to avoid any suggestion of forcible feeding as though we were thrusting a privilege on them or insisting on their capitulation. As men offering to men a free gift, we must strive to convey, as far as we are able, the ineffable beauty of the birthright of the Children of God so that they may feel how much they lack and may freely choose the teaching which we, as members of the Catholic Church in the news, come to offer.
It is very easy to show a crowd without offending them why we believe that the Church is the one true Church, and we may be as dogmatic as we please so long as we seem to be leaving them some freedom of choice. But we should not get into the way of so striking at every red herring drawn across our trail that the whole thing becomes a wraangle. If sinx people in the crowd are attacking, it is for us to see that the crowd does not get a confused impression of seven combatants, but of two opposing forces of which the speaker is one, the six hecklers the other. The speaker must try to bear the same relations to the audience as the Church bears to all other churches–not one in a crowd, but one and a crowd. This can never be accomplished by meeting violence with violence. Catholicism versus Protestantism means universality versus protest; and we must help the crowd to see it.
We would sum up then the ideal platform qualifications as simplicity and clearness to the utmost degree; eloquence on the leash; gentleness without weakness; and an unswerving determination to maintain the moral ascendancy which belongs to the Catholic Church.
3. The system adopted in Westminster is based on two classes per week. In one class a course of lectures is gone through on the lines above indicated. The class hears a short leacture, is then heckled mercilessly (from the non-Catholic point of view) by the speaker, heckles him equally without mercy, and findally each member gives a two minute speech on the subject. In the other, speakers deliver a lecture they have prepared on some simple point to the rest of the class who behave exactly like a street corner crowd, interjecting and heckling. The speaker is criticized by the senior in charge of the class, and tries again next week; and so on, week after week, until he is considered fit for his test on that subject. In the junior course the training is mainly done by lay speakers. This might at first seem rather dangerous; but the safeguard is that every speaker must be tested by priests. The training of seniors is somewhat different and includes a course of lectures on advanced subjects given by priests. On all this section, the Handbook should be read carefully.
4. In Westminster the examining board consists of two priests and a senior layman. The latter is known as the Devil’s Advocate, and represents especially the outdoor crowd.
5. In Westminster senior speakers are of two sorts; holders of a chairman’s license, who may lecture only on subjects in which they have been tested ,but may take general questions; and holders of a general license, who may both lecture and answer questions without restriction. Both licenses are awarded, after examination, to speakers of considerable outdoor experience.
7. It is not simply that every man is his own Pope, but that every man is his own God. For the Pope’s authority is limited by God who gives it, but the individuals authority, being wrong ab initio, is limited in no way.
8. This is fortunate having regard to the limitations of the majority of the speakers. Most Guilds have mirthful memories of attempts made by ambitious speakers to handle philosophical subjects on the platform.
9. This is one (thought not the sole) explanation of the exclusion of social and political topics. The crows hear sufficient of these things elsewhere, and need desperately to learn of the supernatural. That they are, dimly at any rate, conscious of their need is shown by the striking fact that the Guild, rigidly as it excludes the topics that are supposed to be man’s first concern, can usually count on a larger crowd than political platforms in the same locality. | 2019-04-26T14:41:43Z | http://cegguam.org/cegpamphlet1.htm |
So there was something that the fans said before starting development that changed what I thought.
There was a fan that said he really, really loved Zelda. But while playing Skyward Sword, he missed experiencing this huge world where he could just ride Epona around, and somewhere within myself I felt the same way; for Breath of the Wild, it's something that I definitely thought about.
After Skyward Sword we really needed to develop a bigger world, but we've actually never done that. So a lot of it was trial and error, and we had to feel things out.
A lot of Zelda fans are the type of people that really like to explore those hidden elements. I realized that creating this bigger world and letting them freely play may be the solution to all of that.
I’ve always thought that when creating a 3D game where it’s easy for users to get lost, it’s really important to tell the users what they need to do. But then, after creating this larger world, I realized that getting lost isn’t that bad. Having the option to do whatever you want and get lost is actually kind of fun. I think fans that enjoy a more linear type of gameplay will also enjoy this type of gameplay.
We got a lot of feedback from the people that played Skyward Sword. There were these pockets of worlds that players were able to dive into, but they really wanted to see what was in between those worlds – all the hidden elements they weren’t able to see. I thought that was really natural for Zelda fans, who like to explore, to uncover little secrets. We realised that we needed to make this free, open-air world.
After working on Skyward Sword, we took in a lot of the feedback from fans, as well as what [producer Eiji Aonuma] had been thinking, along with myself. And then we came up with this concept of really breaking conventions, and also we were looking to create the next iteration of Zelda. It all kind of lined up to create this new direction.
One thing that I knew we didn’t want to change was the aspect of discovery and exploration, and the joy that you get from discovering something new. There’s also the idea of puzzle solving. You think about it, you try some ideas, and when you’re finally able to solve a puzzle, that joy and sense of accomplishment is something that I think speaks really truly to the Zelda franchise. And I wanted to make sure that that was still intact in the game.
From a planning perspective, you look at Skyward Sword and it’s kind of an extension of the Zelda conventions that we’d established in the past. So it was easy to explain what the concept was to the rest of the team. However, with [Breath of the Wild] it’s a completely new idea, and we’re trying to show the staff, to explain to the staff, something that hasn’t existed before. That was a challenge and was difficult to do.
I've been noticing that every time they mention Breath of the Wild with any game in the past they focus on distinguishing it from them, rather than focussing on the similarities. This to me is the exact mindset they're in, not necessarily finding what worked in past games but rather finding what did not work in those games and doing pretty-much the exact opposite.
Its not only Skyward Sword they compare it to, however. Aonuma and Miyamoto also have said a few things around the time Breath of the Wild launched about Twilight Princess and the things they wanted to change from that experience.
Way back in the day, dungeons weren’t all that big. They were rather small. But around Twilight Princess, they started getting bigger. We tried to cram in a lot of surprises for the player, or a lot of emotions, meeting other characters, or injecting story elements into it. But then we kind of realized, do dungeons really need to be that big? Do we have to cram that much stuff into it? We quickly realized that a lot of the fun was actually in getting to the dungeon, and so we focused on getting to the dungeon in this game. We wanted to create an environment where it is fun to find the dungeon in this large world.
At first, we were planning to include more large, labyrinth-style dungeons, the sort of things you'd expect in a Zelda title. But the reason we decided to include the smaller shrines, which isn't to say there aren't some larger dungeons in Breath of the Wild was to strike a balance, between this extremely large (over)world that you're exploring, and these goals and objectives to explore within that. So by dotting these shrines around a larger number of them, but with each smaller in size than the older-style dungeons it helped bring up balance, and break up the huge world into smaller, explore-able chunks. Now, that is something that we hit upon midway through the development process, but it wasn't as a result of us beginning development for the Nintendo Switch. It was purely something to do from a game design point of view.
So in the past Zelda games, one dungeon was very, very long and because this game had a very wide field to explore and one of the themes we had was finding things, we were thinking about what the ratio is for finding Shrines while players are wandering around the field. And when we calculated that, we kind of ended up with 100 or more Shrines. And as for size, we thought about perhaps making long, big dungeons, but that would take long, and players would dedicate their time too long in the dungeons, so we thought perhaps one Shrine is maybe 10 minutes. We’re thinking play would be a good amount.
It mostly has to do with the reconsideration on the dungeon convention in this case. But Twilight Princess seems to also have come into their minds when considering what to change about the newest title and the future of the series. Again, not much can be found of these two explaining Twilight Princess' similarities to Breath of the Wild, but they sure do shed light on the contrast between how each was developed. Although, this isn't the first time either of these two have expressed their regrets about the development of Twilight Princess.
For Twilight Princess we used the adult Link and one of the interesting things about that was how we considered the precise proportions of Link and the world. The scale is because we aimed for a more realistic quality in the size of the environments of Hyrule and what that Link faced, but the question is whether or not we were able to incorporate any and all of the interesting game ideas that were able to take advantage of that kind of sheer grand scale within the Zelda universe. I am afraid that definitely no, we were not able to do all the things that perhaps with hindsight we had the capabilities to do.
In the past we've worked with some outside development houses on titles like F-Zero and Starfox - and let me just say that we were disappointed with the results. Consumers got very excited about the idea of those games, but the games themselves did not deliver. And, well, to be honest with you, Zelda: Twilight Princess is not doing very well at all in Japan. It is very disappointing.
So, of course, now the team is looking forward in the series. Aonuma's already confirmed the development of the next game. But what has he said about his mindset as they start this new project?
I think while we were working on both the main game and the DLC, it was a process of constantly getting lots of different, new ideas as we refined the game, and finding new things we wanted to do. Even in situations like this, talking to people and finding out that people want to pet dogs gives me a lot of motivation, a lot of ideas for things we could put into the game.
You know, I can’t speak to what other people, other companies will do in their own games, but I think for me, especially just in terms of the Zelda series, the incredible freedom that this game offers you and how well that’s been received…to me, it means that freedom, that level of freedom is something that needs to be maintained in Zelda games going forward. My eyes have been opened to how important that is.
Do you think your next work will be difficult, and will it be 'open-air' or will it be a 'clear-the-dungeon' type of game?
"In the future, I think this [open-air] will become the standard."
Obviously, he hasn't elaborated much on what aspects of the open-air experience he intends to keep in the series. But it sounds to me like they've been seeing the acclaim the game has been getting and have been getting very excited about that as they go into development on the new project. And so far I haven't heard them talking about wanting to "outdo" Breath of the Wild, only that they intend to keep riding this wave of inspiration they've been on since development began in 2013/2014. Only the dev team knows what the next step for the franchise will be. So here I figured we could talk about what the dev team might be thinking as they work on the next Zelda and what the next game could turn into. We don't have a whole lot of ramp on, but we do have these and perhaps other quotes that some of you know about. Either way, I think we can all agree this is a very interesting time for the Zelda series!
"[T]o me, it means that freedom, that level of freedom is something that needs to be maintained in Zelda games going forward."
As someone who rather quickly lost interest in said "level of freedom" and has been put off from future BotW playthroughs by that exact open-endedness, this is making me mildly anxious.
I think that the sky had potential to be immersive if it didn't have empty islands and had more things to do and explore in it. It was boring, I wanted to see all the cool things that could be up in the heavens. So, riding a loftwing instead of epona would've been a good experience.
Though, I do not like loftwings and prefer epona over them.
The post was edited 1 time, last by PurpleandRed ( Nov 6th 2018, 12:16am ).
Great thread, and I would be pleased if we could gather more and especially future quotes from especially Aonuma when it comes to the next console title specifically. I remember the time during BotW's development where he said stuff almost all the time, so this thread could be very useful to gather everything as soon as he says something new, and incorporate in the first post so it gets easy to find.
The last DLC ended at around the end of 2017, and I think they confirmed that they had started development of the next game around the same time. That means that they should have worked on the next title for at least one year now. That to say, it doesn't mean that much, since we have no idea what they have been working on. It can easily be 100 % concept work or experiments with the controls (like the HD-rumble).
From all the excitement that Aonuma has expressed, especially when Nintendo won the game of the year-prize (Game Awards) it sounded like he had a lot of motivation to start on the next one, so I don't think they will lay on the lazy side.
I don't like however how they seem to make distance to the eariler titles. Yes there are a lot of complaints about Skyward Sword and Twilight Princess, but they are not all bad. These games have a lot of good qualities too, just like BotW has a lot of flaws. There is a reason why Twilight Princess is one of the best selling Zelda titles so far, and why many Wii U-owners bought the HD-versions of Wind Waker and Twilight Princess. They should just stop to look at the past with gloomy eyes and instead take inspiration from what those past titles did good.
For the next title, I just don't want a "BotW 2.0", but rather a mix of BotW and the past titles. Now they have proven that they are capable to do open world-games, now they can focus a tiny bit less on that and instead focusing on to strike a great balance between freedom and depth.
The post was edited 1 time, last by MVS ( Nov 6th 2018, 8:44am ).
Another BotW might work, but personally I'd rather see them try something different. I think it'll still most likely be an open-world game but they can still, for example, focus more on a single big town (or several) like MM, or maybe once again change how the shrines or dungeons work, add different biomes, etc.
The post was edited 1 time, last by ich Will ( Nov 6th 2018, 9:40am ).
When BotW was about to be revealed, I also did some research like this. I had quotes like "the motion controlled sword fighting in SS is so great, I don't think we'll ever make a Zelda game without it."
I learned that half of their quotes are about hyping up their latest games.
But nice thread, I'll have to read more later.
But that quote was very close to the release of SS. Not soon after, we got new quotes from him where he pretty much stated that motion controls are not for everyone, and this was before the reveal of BotW. A lot of stuff Aonuma stated before BotW turned out to be spot on, like his quote that he wanted a very short tutorial for "Zelda Wii U", and that was precisely what we got.
One of the most interesting quotes so far for the next game, was a quote where he wanted to mix the open world-experience from BotW with some kind of multiplayer... which can turn out both good and terrible depending on how they do it. If they ever seriously consider multiplayer for a true console Zelda title, it HAS to be a very good singleplayer-option where the other characters are controlled by good AI. I have been interested in a party system, but that may not be right for Zelda, but it COULD be. But this is a very early quote, so it is very possible that it just was a thought that later got or will be scrapped altogether. Multiplayer for Zelda sounds very risky.
The post was edited 1 time, last by MVS ( Nov 6th 2018, 10:31am ).
One thing I'm noticing more specifically is the inspiration to add in new ideas and world details they're thinking up. That's probably the most exciting part to me. That's a big part of what made BotW so great and would love to see more creative ideas make their way into the series.
Well, while we can say they did include the better ideas from games like TP and SS, its true they don't talk about that much. And I think that's just them showing us they've delivered regarding the complaints of those games. The selling point was how the conventions were broken and what better way to convey that message than by distinguishing BotW apart from those conventions?
It seems like those they are gonna keep away from conventions and continue their efforts to evolve the series given their quotes thus far. This is something I personally am gonna keep an eye out for when new interviews occur. Like how Aonuma specifically stated he intends to keep the open-air style as opposed to a "clear-the-dungeon" style; and as he said with BotW this doesn't mean there won't be dungeons but they won't exist in the conventional form.
The Shrines and the Divine beasts are not the right direction. Period.
At least not in the way they are done in BotW anyway.
I think Zelda's characterization, Zelink, and the theme of loss aren't the right direction.
Either way, I think we can all agree this is a very interesting time for the Zelda series!
If you would consider watching how quickly someone can absolutely destroy the thing you the loved the most to be an “interesting time”, then yes, I suppose it’s an interesting time for the series.
Honestly I’m just too tired to even break this apart piece by piece and point out everything wrong with this in my opinion, so instead I’ll just say they utterly missed the point of what Zelda was about and even failed at part of what they were going for according to their own words. Long story short, they decided to fix what wasn’t broken and as a result created a visually beautiful trainwreck that although aesthetically pleasing in a general sense quickly lost all of its appeal exactly because they took out all of the surprises that would have been worth finding, abandoned the actually good plans they had (such as the huge dungeons that you could get lost in that were each unique), went too non-linear for a Zelda game for the story and feeling of progression to be any good, made 98% of the characters either forgettable or utterly unlikeable, and copy/pasted basically every dungeon, shrine, korok puzzle, and all of the ruins you can find. Meanwhile, the only thing they think about is the important issue of making dogs pettable.
News flash, Aonuma-san and everyone else on the Zelda team: There are a lot more important things in a game than having “complete freedom”. But you wouldn’t know anything about that, would you? Of course not. Because this game is being praised as perfect, that’s all that matters.
I don’t consider myself a difficult person to move with a story, and BotW was the first Zelda game that I found the story of to be utterly unmoving and uninteresting as a whole.
I’m done. I’m completely done with the future “Zelda.” You all can keep it.
I've been playing Zelda since 1992. I'm not old enough to have been there when the series officially first kicked off, but I was there to enjoy Zelda as it was before OoT. And as someone who has been playing this long, I can say without a doubt they got it right what Zelda is all about in BotW, and its far more than just the freedom of play. As a matter of fact, somewhere between OoT & SS they had forgotten what Zelda was all about; and part of that has to do with Miyamoto passing the series down to Aonuma. Also, I believe focussing on making the game itself better and worrying about the superficial aspects later is a big part of this change in direction with BotW. Its how Miyamoto did things back in the day, and he even openly admitted it often. That is the most interesting part, to me, about their direction going forward. And I have to say, BotW was very enjoyable and fun for me personally so I am intrigued at how they will handle the next title since they're most likely gonna do something different from that and different from the earlier conventions.
The series was very broken before BotW. It was apparent not only in sales but in general reception as well. There were so many people who didn't like the direction the series was in at the time of SS that Aonuma heard and made changes accordingly. And its not like freedom was the whole of the issue, though it was the biggest complaint they heard. I for one did not think it was fun to complete a whole adventure and end up with a cutscene as a reward. I actually find cutscenes in video games annoying. I thought ALttP was bad with that back in the day, but then I played OoT. Also, never liked all the "secrets" being relegated to mere dungeons. If you put them all in one place, where you know you're gonna find em, that takes the "surprise" aspect out of it entirely. Finding secrets and other things along your adventure is much more fun and not to mention far more surprising than finding them in dungeons.
I agree with Baton. I think wuth those that had been playing before OOT came out, there was a bit of the 'magic' that got lost. To those that had OOT and it's games as part of their childhood it might feel like a travesty, but it was a necessary move, because Zelda WAS losing fans. Judging by the response that BOTW got, it seemed to be the right one.
You cannot destroy me. For I am... nothing.
BotW is a step in the right direction. I don't want them to go back to the tired OoT formula, especially after the travesty that was Twilight Princess.
Definitely. Many of the 3D games had become OOT-lite with a gimmick or two thrown in. What was worse, was that people had come to expect Zelda to be that, you see a lot of the folks who had grown up with OOT being their first game and being used to having everything emulate that one game, you see them complaining that BOTW doesn't 'feel' like Zelda. Unfortunately OOT ended up being the 'standard' far too long, each game becoming a rote checklist and a mostly-linear affair that really didn't allow you to actually explore on your own.
I just want a game similar to BOTW but with More old school like dungeons and more of a story.
I completely recognize and accept that to everyone else that is the truth, and I’m glad for all of you that you got the Zelda you wanted, but as someone who sees OoT, TP, and SS as some of the happiest times I ever had playing games and the most enjoyable, I can’t say I understand or that I will ever agree. I must respectfully disagree and shake my head at what Zelda has become.
I’ve played the old games; I’ve played all of them, and I didn’t see what you all are cheering for now that was in pre-OoT games as being anything other than the best they could do with the technology they had, and I personally think OoT was the best thing that ever happened to the series in regards to a turning point, even though I don’t see it as the best game in the series.
You know, it’s funny — until BotW came out, all I ever heard was praise for OoT and hailing it as the best game that hadn’t yet been topped by any Zelda game after, and now suddenly it’s being demonized and called stale and boring. Yes yes, bring on the comments of how that was all just nostalgia and you all saw the light when the savior to mankind that is BotW came out, but I still have to disagree that that’s what it was. See, I had an advantage most people didn’t; when I got into the series, I was never at a point where OoT was my first game. I had them all and played them all within the space of a few meager years, so none of it was nostalgia for me, it was based on what I personally enjoyed the most out of all that the series had to offer, so don’t come at me saying those things because they aren’t true.
Oh well, but what do I know? All I know is that I only have a few series that I love — a handful — across media and in the last year I’ve lost all but one to these outcries of the public that everything should be about “complete freedom” and “to heck with traditions/conventions”.
Look, I don’t mean to be bitter, and I’m sorry if I am, it’s not that I don’t care how others feel; I’d be happy if we could have both kinds of Zelda games so we could both have what we love, but it’s clear that’s not what they want and when I only have around 5 things I truly loved at the absolute most, I don’t think it’s unreasonable for me to have the right to feel upset that these “popular opinions” have taken almost all of them away from me.
The post was edited 1 time, last by Linkle ( Nov 24th 2018, 10:33pm ).
That still counts as being introduced to the series after OoT existed. What I meant by "I started before OoT" is that OoT didn't even exist yet when I was introduced to the series, it probably wasn't even an idea yet in 1992. We didn't know anything other than what Zelda is all about. Modern gaming is what it is, but Zelda was founded and built upon far different fundamentals and as the series evolved into the modern era the dev team forgot about many of these fundamentals more and more slowly over time. BotW gets back to these fundamentals and builds upon them while also taking down some of the things that were replacing them OoT onward.
And really, they were unable to do what they wanted on the N64 and even the GCN because of hardware limitations. Miyamoto has said before that when they were making the OoT overworld, they wanted to give the player a feeling they were in a big world. But just look at it, its so empty and lacks a lot of monsters. In the older games, there were lots of little secrets and it was hard to get around without running into monsters. And at E3 2014, Aonuma said that when creating TWW they wanted to actually create a vast world with lots of secrets. Now TWW has a lot of secrets, and introduced other collectables for the series, but Aonuma specifically said on more than one occaision that they were unable to make the world the way they wanted because of hardware limitations. They wanted bigger islands, more than one entrypoint in each island, but could not.
And that's the thing. Without the capabilities to do what they originally wanted to do, they opted to make up for it by shoving a bunch of long, unskipable cutscenes in our faces and making dungeons longer while making the explorable world smaller and moving all the secrets and most of the monsters to the dungeons themselves. And that isn't what Zelda is all about, not at all... Not to mention, handholding became a thing which - in collaberation with dungeon-heavy content - takes away the surprise and the discovery aspects of the adventure itself; as well as making the game tedious to play and instead making it more of a cinematic game to just watch and simply follow the prompts as opposed to beating the game in your own fashion. I mean, its one thing to have an objective like "go find the pendant of courage" but its a whole different ball game to have a backseat companion constantly chiding the player along a beaten path.
The thing of it is though, BotW can be both kinds of Zelda games. There are prompts that tell you where to go at all times so you can make your journey as linear and storydriven as you want. There are cutscenes, and even with voice acting. The thing of it is, the prompts are optional; and the cutscenes are skippable. There is a ton of optional content/features in BotW. This is exactly how to meet the two sides in the middle. Those of us who are more bothered by these things and just wanna play don't have to be forced to endure them, and the people who want them got them.
Yes, they have moved a majority of the content out of the dungeons and into the overworld, but that's just how it used to be. The dungeons were quite short back in the day, as Aonuma has pointed out, and really they were there to serve the purpose as an end to a main quest objective, as opposed to being the whole of the main quest objective. And that is simply what they've done with BotW. Basically, they are breaking conventions started by OoT and subsequent games while bringing back pre-OoT conventions like those mentioned above. And honestly, they shouldn't have to make everyone else suffer because some were disappointed with the new product. When making anything ever, there are going to be people who don't like it. That's just business. But give the people what they want. People wanted more freedom, were getting tired of having their hands held, and tired of the same old thing.
Funny enough, I was introduced at ALttP(Well before OoT came out), and the series' narrative, story, and atmosphere are some of the absolute most important things in the series to me. I can still remember watching ALttP's intro over and over, even when I could barely read, because it captivated me and created a sense I was playing some kind of legendary epic. Cutscenes, exposition, lore, all of that intrinsically makes the series more fun to me. The concept of your actions in-game affecting the course of the series' history adds a lot of gravity to everything you do. To me, a good story doesn't take away from the game, it drives it, and gives weight and meaning to it.
I don't think I have anything new to suggest as to where the series should go from here. They wanted to correct the wrongs of past games, and they succeeded. But they also threw the baby out with the bathwater narrative/lorewise, and they need to hospitalize the child and bring it back in. Anyone who doesn't like the baby can continue not to look at it. The lead devs clearly don't like the baby, but it's too late now, they've gotta take care of it.
To play an advocate for the side that dislikes BotW (I say this as someone that actually enjoyed BotW but has nostalgia for OoT as well), sales and critical reception aren't necessarily an indication that most things with a product is inherently correct. For example, TP for the Wii also sold a lot of copies and got pretty good scores, correct me if I'm wrong.
The dislike for BotW from some people is in my opinion kind of because Nintendo have been focusing on other aspects of the series ever since OoT. It's just the way it goes when a fanbase has such different priorities, some people just won't like such drastic change.
I do agree that the old formula had its problems though, but I also agree with those that say that some parts of it may have been thrown out unnecessarily.
And regarding the matter of going back to the roots of LoZ... I think it makes sense in a way, but it also feels rather convenient considering today's trend of open-world games. How can one determine what Zelda is really all about anyway? I'd say it's a subjective thing (within the confines of what the series has offered so far of course).
The post was edited 3 times, last by ich Will ( Nov 26th 2018, 9:33am ). | 2019-04-22T10:41:29Z | https://zeldauniverse.net/forums/Thread/203747-What-are-They-Thinking-Discussion-on-the-Direction-of-the-Series/ |
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It’s safe to say that if you are reading this article, you are dedicated to changing your life for the better. If that description fits you then you can skip the fluff and go straight to one of the following pages which detail how you can take advantage of this incredible opportunity. Though very few will earn 7 or 8 figures, for many of my students, the realistic chance to make an extra couple thousand a month can be impactful. (It is important to note that there is no guarantee of earnings made by this author or the owner of any training program. As with any education program, how the information is applied upon learning has a critical bearing on the outcome. But, if you follow the road map that is carefully laid out in Tecademics Digital Publishers Academy program, you can do much much better. Still, mileage will vary. So why not bet on massive success?
As the cost of education has become unaffordable for many, and with the average student forced to take on thousands in student loan debt, parents, students and those looking for retraining are weighing the advantages of standard higher education versus more practical and budget-friendly online alternatives.
You may be thinking, “What’s an alternative to a higher learning program?
Before we check out the Digital Publishers Academy let’s examine how anyone can get a piece of the online training industry which is poised to go beyond $240 Billion in the next 5 years.
Who will those billions flow to and how will you get your piece?
Answer: A big portion of the windfall goes directly to the instructors who produce the academic material around their unique and specialcompetence in subjects that interest them.
We all have interests that drive us. In fact, the actual definition of a guru is not a genius as some assume, instead, it’s a person who has more understanding than the typical student who is interested in the same topic. This fact is how everyday people are making money with digital courses. The secret to generating passive income on the Internet is with something called digital publishing.
As an internet marketer seeking out information on how to launch Facebook advertising campaigns, Chris Record (Co-founder Tecademics) found that there was a lack of quality instructional materials on the topic. Frustrated by this, Chris felt if he would buy a program, others would too, and thus he built his first training program called Dark Post Profits.
Leveraging Facebook’s own training materials and tutorials, Chris simply repackaged the information into a set of over the shoulder tutorial videos that walked students through the process of setting up a successful Facebook advertising campaign.
What’s amazing about this story is that Chris would not have been thought to be a Facebook advertising guru at the time that he published his course.
But what Chris did have, which made it possible for him to publish a course and have people pay him for it, all while not being an expert on the subject, was a bit more knowledge than the desperate entrepreneurs who were having trouble understanding how to properly configure their Facebook advertising account and navigate the complexities of configuring a Facebook ads account. Chris walked those who bought his course through the entire process of establishing an account, writing content, creating graphics, and everything required to run a successful campaign.
Remember, Chris didn’t need to a sufficiently large percentage were interested so that the course began to attract sales from complete strangers.
Regardless of the niche that you are versed in, there is a set of people who share your interest level but have not grown at the same level in their knowledge. And this is why, online course creation is perhaps the best way to making money online.
This brings us to an intriguing point regarding niche knowledge, and that is the person who holds the knowledge is so familiar with it that they do not see how unique the information they possess is.
Online courses cover a wide array of subjects.
Courses with distinct outcomes that might assist the course taker to make more money or achieve a common objective that is shared by a wind number of people, such as how to find the perfect boyfriend, or land the ideal job, tend to gain the widest support. When it comes to online learning and education people are amazingly diverse, as are the topics that they are interested in, and willing to pay for.
Test your idea and do not hesitate to fail.
After hearing about some of these insane success stories, one student wanted to attempt her hand at developing a course and being especially motivated she got started after just a few weeks of training, this is her story.
The very first course that she developed was constructed on the topic of employing virtual assistants in a SEO company, regretfully, it was a complete flop earning just $400 in the first year that it was made available.
After reaching some success with an e-book launch, a great deal of peers emailed requesting for guidance on their upcoming book launches.
It was a non-technical subject, however one that remained in high need. Of interest, launching books is a subject that is very well covered online. With just a little time on Google, anyone could have found the same information, and for free. But the point is, they didn’t do this, and instead were happy to buy her program because of her perceived expert status having launched a book herself.
This is another secret you will learn in the Digital Publishers Academy, that you do not need to break new ground with the information you present, you only need to present it in a way that fits the needs of your audience. In some cases, you don’t even need to repackage the information, perhaps just the style it is delivered in. Alex Becker is famous for his irreverent style in how he presents his digital marketing and SEO training. Though he may not connect with everyone, Alex has a loyal following who has helped him make more than eight figures online. The point is, the information Alex presents can be gained dozens if not hundreds of other places, but his unique presentation style and no nonsense method of communicating has allowed him to build a small fortune.
After you decide on a subject for your course, the next concern is where to host it. How will clients learn about it?
John and Eliot hosted their iOS programs courses on their own site, implying they needed to configure the video hosting, payment processing and general technical structure. They’re developers, though, so it wasn’t an issue.
Rob chose to host his course on Udemy, among the biggest markets for offering online courses with more than 5 million registered trainees. Udemy makes it extremely simple for instructors to obtain started, and they handle all the payment processing and video hosting.
But, earnings share is where it gets challenging, and this is why the Tecademics Marketplace is the perfect platform to host and sell your programs.
Naturally, Udemy needs to make a profit, but they also count on outstanding instructors like Rob to construct courses for their website.
The existing royalty structure is established so if Udemy provides the trainee to your course through their own natural discovery or through a promotion they run, they’re going to keep the bulk of the earnings– approximately 75% in some cases.
Your course won’t sell itself, unless you are publishing in the Tecademics Marketplace. For this reason I think the greatest error individuals make when developing an online course is having a “develop it and they will come” mindset.
Whether you host the course yourself, or publish it to an elearning platform like the Tecademics Marketplace, you will be responsible for sustaining the initial traction and registrations.
In the 7 figure success stories above, there is a unified theme and that is, they had large email lists of possible consumers who were interested in their niche that they could connect with. That suggests if you’re thinking of launching a course this year, you have to begin thinking now about how you’re going to let people understand about it.
One tactic that is working right now extremely well is to recruit prominent affiliate partners. These should be individuals with sizable e-mail lists of their own which they sell your program or course to.
This is why I like the Digital Publishers Academy. DPA is operated by parent company Tecademics, and with two hundred and fifty thousand members, the possibility of connecting with a larger and broader audience is exponentially more than if you “go it alone.” Plus, you not only gain access to highly targeted sales prospects, but you will be able to engage the tens of thousands of affiliates who will sell for you.
In summary, I want you to consider what skills you have which you could teach in this rapidly expanding Internet based action movies.
If you are curious how Chris Record, Tai Lopez, Adrian Morrison, Anik Singal and pretty much every other big time online entrepreneurs make their money — well, the answer is easy. Though without exception they have multiple revenue streams from various partnerships and joint ventures, the one universal theme to all of their business models is something called digital publishing.
Earn Up to 80% Commission by Promoting and Publishing Digital Courses in the Tecademics Marketplace!
As a Publisher, when you sell courses in the Tecademics Marketplace you keep 40% Publisher Commissions on every program that you produce. In addition, Tecademics Affiliates make 40% commissions when they promote courses featured in the marketplace. This is how you can make 80% of the sales price when you create (40%) and sell (40%) your own training programs!
Hurry, this deal won’t last long, those who join at the Publisher level will receive 50% off the regular price! YOU PAY JUST $997!
Since the chances are high that if you are reading this article, you are serious about achieving success. If that description fits you then you can skip the fluff and go straight to one of the following pages which explain how anyone can participate in this ideal opportunity. Though few will make seven or eight figures, for many of my students, the realistic chance to make three or four thousand dollars a month can be impactful. (It is important to note that there is no guarantee of earnings made by this author or the owner of any training program. As with any school, how the information is applied upon learning has a critical bearing on the outcome. Though, if you follow the blueprint that is carefully laid out in Tecademics Digital Publishers Academy program, you will likely do much much better. Even still, mileage will vary. So why not bet on massive success?
As the cost of education has become unaffordable for many, and with the average student forced to take on thousands in student loan debt, parents, students and those looking for retraining are weighing the benefits of standard college versus more practical and budget-friendly online alternatives.
Before we look at Digital Publishers Academy let’s examine how you can get a piece of the online education industry which is poised to surpass $240 Billion in the next 5 years.
Answer: A large portion of the windfall goes directly to the people who develop the educational material around their unique and specialknow-how in topics that interest them.
A lot of people have knowledge in subjects that can be shared with others who are interested in the same things. Amazingly, the literal definition of a guru is not a genius as some assume, instead, it’s a person who has more knowledge than the average student who is interested in the same topic. This fact is how everyday people are making money with digital courses. The magic to making passive income on the Internet is with something called digital publishing.
As an internet marketer looking for information on how to run Facebook advertising campaigns, Chris Record (Co-founder Tecademics) found that there was a need for quality training materials on the subject. Frustrated by this, Chris knew that if he would buy a program, so would many others, and thus he built his first training program called Dark Post Profits.
Leveraging Facebook’s own training materials and tutorials, Chris simply repackaged the information into a set of over the shoulder screen capture videos that walked course attendees through the process of setting up a successful Facebook advertising campaign.
What’s amazing about this story is that Chris would not have been thought to be a Facebook advertising expert at the time of his training programs release.
But what Chris did possess, which is the reason he could publish a program and have people pay him for it, all while not being an expert on the subject, was slightly more knowledge than the desperate entrepreneurs who were having difficulties understanding how to properly configure their Facebook advertising account and navigate the complexities of configuring a Facebook ads account. Chris walked those who bought his program through the entire process of setting up an account, creating copy, creating images, and everything required to run a successful campaign.
Remember, Chris didn’t need to become an expert number were interested so that the course began to attract sales from strangers.
Everyone has a wealth of unique experiences and information just waiting to be shared with those who can appreciate it. Leveraging the Internet, the ease of publishing using free or very low cost tools, enables literally everyone to assemble their content into a form that will be seen as professional and worthy of being charged a reasonable fee for.
Regardless of the niche that you are versed in, there is a set of people who share your interest level but have not grown at the same level in their understanding. And this is why, digital publishing is perhaps the best method for building wealth online.
This brings us to an intriguing point regarding niche knowledge, and that is the person who holds the knowledge is so familiar with it that they fail to see how special the information in their head is.
Online courses cover a wide variety of subjects.
Naturally, courses with distinct results that may help the course taker to earn more money or achieve a common objective that is shared by a wind number of people, such as how to find the perfect boyfriend, or land the ideal job, tend to gain the widest support. When it comes to online learning and education people are amazingly diverse, as are the topics that they are interested in, and willing to pay for.
Test your concept and do not be afraid to fail.
After checking out some of these insane success stories, one student wished to attempt her hand at creating a course and being especially motivated she jumped in after just a few weeks of training, this is her story.
Her first course that she developed was constructed on the topic of using virtual assistants in a small company, regretfully, it was a total flop earning just $400 in the first year that it was made available.
After achieving some success with a Kindle book launch, a great deal of peers emailed requesting for suggestions on their approaching book launches.
It was a non-technical subject, but one that remained in high need. And interestingly enough, launching books is very well covered online. With just a little time on Google, anyone could have found the same information, and for free. But the point is, they didn’t do this, and instead were happy to buy her course because of her perceived expert status having launched a book herself.
This is another secret you will learn in the Digital Publishers Academy, that you do not need to break new ground with the information you present, you only need to package it in a way that fits the needs of your audience. In some cases, you don’t even need to repackage the information, perhaps just the style it is delivered in. Alex Becker is famous for his irreverent style in how he presents his digital marketing and SEO training. Though it may not be for everyone, Alex has a loyal following who has propelled him to making more than eight figures online. The point is, the information Alex presents can be gained dozens if not hundreds of other places, but his unique presentation style and no nonsense method of communicating has allowed him to build a small fortune.
After you select a subject for your course, the next concern is where to host it. How will clients learn about it?
John and Eliot hosted their iOS programs courses by themselves site, indicating they needed to set up the video hosting, payment processing and general technical structure. They’re programmers, however, so it wasn’t a problem.
Rob decided to host his course on Udemy, one of the largest markets for selling online courses with more than 5 million signed up trainees. Udemy makes it extremely easy for instructors to get started, and they deal with all the payment processing and video hosting.
Naturally, Udemy needs to earn a profit, however they also depend on excellent trainers like Rob to build courses for their website.
The existing royalty structure is established so if Udemy provides the trainee to your course through their own organic discovery or through a promotion they run, they’re going to keep the bulk of the earnings– approximately 75% in some cases.
Your course won’t sell itself, unless you are publishing in the Tecademics Marketplace. For this reason I believe the greatest error people make when producing an online course is having a “construct it and they will come” mentality.
Whether you host the course yourself, or publish it to an elearning platform such as the Tecademics Marketplace, you will be responsible for fueling the preliminary traction and registrations.
In the seven figure success stories above, there is a unified theme and that is, they had big e-mail lists of potential customers who were interested in their niche that they could connect with. That suggests if you’re thinking of launching a course this year, you need to begin thinking now about how you’re going to let individuals understand about it.
One method that is working right now extremely well is to recruit prominent affiliate partners. These should be people with large email lists of their own which they sell your program or course to.
This is why I like the Digital Publishers Academy. DPA is operated by parent company Tecademics, and with 250k members, the possibility of connecting with a larger and broader audience is exponentially more than if you “go it alone.” Plus, you not only gain access to highly targeted sales prospects, but you will be able to engage the tens of thousands of affiliates who will sell for you.
In summary, I want you to ponder what skills you have which you could teach in this quickly growing online training.
Grab your free tickets to the TEC Talks 2017 Scottsdale entrepreneur event with Chris Record and Cole Hatter powered by Tecademics. This is the super bowl of online money getting events and you do not want to miss out on the launch of the Digital Publishers Academy.
$1,000 dollar value! Grab 2 FREE tickets to TEC Talks 2017 in Scottsdale. August 25th to 27th, 2017 at the JW Marriott. Seats are very limited. Don’t miss out!
Grab your FREE passes to the TEC Talks 2017 Scottsdale entrepreneur conference with Chris Record and Billy Gene is marketing powered by Tecademics. This is the super bowl of online money getting events and you do not want to miss out on the launch of the Digital Publishers Academy.
$1,000 dollar value! Grab 2 free passes to TEC Talks 2017 in Scottsdale. August 25th to 27th, 2017 at the JW Marriott. Seats are very limited. Do not miss out!
$1,000 dollar value! Get 2 FREE passes to TEC Talks 2017 in Scottsdale. August 25th to 27th, 2017 at the JW Marriott. Tickets are extremely limited. Do not miss out!
This article covers three search engine optimization tips for generating more traffic to your local business website. Many business owners don’t realize that it can take up to a year to see the results of SEO. Do not think there is a problem just because the ranking movement hasn’t happened in the first three months. The best practice is to not stop linking. Don’t let your impatience or lack of trust, stop what will be a very positive result. Google does not want site search rankings to be easily manipulated, so it makes sense that if you hang in there, you’ll see very good results. But quit early, and your competitor will regain whatever lead you had and then some.
Having a well-designed website with a clear call to action is vital for your business to improve its online presence. SEO is an essential activity for all local businesses, but SEO alone will not drive more leads if your site is not structured well, or your offer not competitive. Many small business owners do not know the number of leads their site generates. In fact, many owners consider their site to be an expense instead of a marketing tool. This is a wrong perspective since a quality website will generate leads (and even sales) while you and your team are sleeping – 24/7. One of the challenging questions is where to start if your site isn’t working for you. Let’s take a look at three aspects to consider for better online performance.
Traffic is about balance and tracking. With PPC, SEO, and print media, you should know which advertising channel performs the best and returns the maximum ROI. Be sure to track each source to minimize unneeded expenses so that you can optimize your impact in the market. Of all traffic driving approaches for your website, SEO always will return the highest ROI for the smallest investment.
Do your visitors take action when they come to your site? Do people have an easy way to contact you? It is vital that you make it as simple and painless as possible for someone to take action. If you want them to buy, there should be a very clear ‘buy button’ or if you want them to call or complete a form, make sure it’s very easy for them to do these things. To improve conversion you may need a new landing page with better messages. Less is more and make it simple to act.
Not everyone will be ready to call or visit when they first come to your site. You should have an email newsletter where those who want to keep in touch with your business can be notified about upcoming special events, etc. One of the most underutilized marketing tools is the email newsletter. A highly converting website must have a way to track who has visited your website and to help you understand your traffic, be sure to have Google Analytics installed on the website.
Enhancing your site for greater search engine exposure is a process. As for improving your search ranking, regretfully there is not a single secret, but with the assistance of an expert search engine optimization company, your site can be a much more effective marketing tool. With consumers telling Google that 8 out of 10 of their search queries are starting in a search engine, and 4 out of 10 are a mobile search query, it is likely that when someone is looking for what you provide, they will start by asking Google on their phone. Isn’t it time to move your business to the next level with free traffic from Google?
To learn more about local SEO, watch the following video.
Tucson area business owners will benefit from having a highly professional expert search engine optimization consultant. Tucson SEO is a top rated company whose services stand out as being among the best. To learn more visit their website Tucson SEO.
Watch this video for more information on how SEO Tucson can 10x your organization or business. | 2019-04-21T06:05:39Z | https://www.wtc11.org/ |
Below is a more complete, yet still partial, list of my skills and experience. Because I have been been so passionate about, and involved so long, in computing it is difficult to fully iterate the depth and breadth of my background. While there is some overlap with my resume, each document contains a significant amount of unique content and an neither should be considered “definitive” (in part because I literally can’t remember everything I’ve done!).
Director with over 15 years of management experience.
Regularly coordinate with top level IT leadership and senior business management in project delivery.
Regularly manage projects and directives of enterprise scope.
Crafted/executed numerous business cases for large network, systems, and security projects encompassing millions of dollars.
Written numerous RFPs for professional services, auditing engagements, and product purchases.
Responsible for forecasting and managing a CAPEX/OPEX budget of over $1 million annually.
Experienced running highly successful teams across diverse locations, using tools such as Atlassian Confluence/JIRA, WebEx, Jabber, JoinMe, Meetingplace, conference calls, email, and regular travel.
Negotiated numerous RFPs, contracts, and SOWs including coordinating between IT management, legal, procurement, and vendors.
Highly experienced in contracts involving the use sensitive data.
Have managed and driven to resolution many enterprise scope outages whether system, network, or 3rd party both on and off hours as well as on holidays.
Experienced with Change Control requirements, off-hours scheduling, and limiting user visibility with both minor and enterprise scope changes.
Directly and indirectly involved in the evaluation and hiring of numerous IT candidates.
Oversaw creation of Network and Security teams.
Managed a standalone office, coordinating with corporate headquarters, including the ultimate execution of all steps for the final dissolution of the office.
Excellent communication skills. Often used as the “go to” resource for crafting written messages to large sets of recipients, messages on sensitive topics, or messages to higher level management.
Experienced using Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Visio/OmniGraffle, XMind, and similar tools to create business documents and technical briefs.
Experienced with Markdown documentation creation and formatting.
Experienced with Atlassian JIRA and Confluence.
Experienced with fleshing out projects and tasks with Microsoft Project and ProjectLibre.
Executed hundreds of hands on bare-metal OS installs of Linux and Unix systems, including configuration of disk, OS parameters, authentication parameters, and local customizations.
Designed and built RPM build infrastructure used to create all internal RPMs including for stores and corporate systems. The RPM build structure provides a generic infrastructure to build repeatable installs for our cookie cutter environments.
Designed and build Solaris SVR4 package infrastructure used to create all packages for maintenance of Sun and Solaris systems.
Numerous LAMP stack based installs both for business projects and personal installs. Installations have included performance optimization and secure configuration.
Experience creating and managing ESXi hosts both directly and through vCenter including sizing, OS installation, VLAN assignment, disk assignment, etc.
Built Xen hypervisor based virtualization server to evaluate Xen vs. VMware. Installed a number of hosts and OSes to compare complexity and manageability.
Co-designed and implemented highly available Linux retail store install where any Linux system could take the identity of another Linux system on failure simply by a DNS renaming. As all systems were synchronized and personalization was automated, a store could restore its back office server in minutes, rather than potentially requiring days for a ship. Installs spanned 10’s of thousands of systems.
Co-built scripted “one button” upgrade for mass conversion of store RedHat Linux systems to SuSE SLES Linux. Script executed all phases of the conversion, including required DNS updates.
Built script that allows secure execution of any command or script on some or all store systems based on passed parameters. This allows expedited store-wide data collection and application of patches/fixes.
Designed, managed, and executed multiple large scale filesystem migrations from legacy NFS and CIFS systems to newer hardware including Hitachi BlueArc HNAS devices as well as multiple Linux and Solaris servers. These migrations comprised thousands of clients and were executed using least-intrusive methods.
Management of multiple NFS servers including the design of an architecture independent automount infrastructure that allows transparent moves of data from filesystem to filesystem, but also allows concurrent shared and OS/release/CPU specific objects transparently interwoven.
Multiple distributed “cron” solutions allowing job scheduling automation and data collection across all corporate Linux systems. Automated single occurrence or repeating jobs can be added on the fly at any time to facilitate the management of all corporate Linux systems.
“go to” resource for “quick and dirty” script solutions for time sensitive requirements. Extensive experience with Python, Perl, “bourne” shell (sh, bash), csh, sed, awk, grep, regular expressions, and many, many, other Unix utilities.
Many Windows based installations including Windows 2012 Server, Windows 10, and Windows 7.
Built shared portable “skeleton” environment to support a large heterogeneous host installation. The “skeleton” setup ensured a consistent login environment both for business and developers while allowing role based customization.
Created shared X11, X windowing system, environment that ensured consistent X Windows login environment for all users.
Created/modified DHCP scripts to manage DHCP both under ISC DHCP and Cisco IOS based DHCP.
Experience solving low level boot issues, such as “initrd” repair, custom module insertion, module customization (including code updates/compilation), handling firmware loads, etc.
Experience with custom kernel configuration and tuning.
Built numerous “rsync” based synchronization setups to keep systems in sync across both LANs and WANs.
Co-developed RedHat Kickstart installation for stores and corporate for repeatable cookie-cutter installs.
Co-developed Sun/Solaris Jumpstart installation for repeatable corporate cookie-cutter installs.
Implemented Google Docs for enterprise in a small auditor office environment.
Experience installing, configuring, managing, and backing up MySQL databases.
Experience with with volume management including LVM, RAID, SCSI, and disk arrays.
Crafted and implemented enterprise timezone configuration solution for legacy systems when new Congressional DST time changes were mandated.
Critical resource in Y2K initiative including identifying risk areas and remediating programs, scripts, and OS concerns.
Expertise in printer configuration and support including CUPS, SVR4 lp, Berkley lpr, SAMBA interaction, and Windows printer setup.
Physically designed and built x86 PCs from the ground up (CPU, motherboard, RAID controllers, disk, networking, peripherals, etc.).
Experienced in maintenance of network and system devices (eg: upgrading memory, hard drives, replacing failed components, etc.).
Implemented iSCSI initiator/target setup with FreeNAS and VMware to supply additional VMware datastore space.
Created script to auto-generate Cisco ASA “object-groups” IP location blocks based on MaxMind geoip location data.
Design of large scale networks and their IP addressing across many hundreds of sites, both LAN and WAN, and including Internet connectivity.
Designed multiple scripted interfaces for repeatable mass rollout of wireless configuration changes to Cisco APs effecting over 3,000 wireless access points. The latest iteration allowing flexible configuration using M4 macros.
Core router configuration including VLANs, interface configuration, VTP setup, route protocol conversion, route weighting, EIGRP, IGRP, RIP, BGP, etc.
Deep dive customization of wireless configuration to support VLANs, WPA2 enterprise authentication (EAP/802.1x), wireless optimization, and extended authentication methodology.
Have a strong knowledge of subnet masking, CIDR, and route aggregation and the pitfalls of getting it wrong.
Drove resolution of many high visibility circuit issues including handling escalations required from the inevitable “passing of the buck” between local LEC(s) and the WAN carrier(s).
Extensive hands on experience setting up Cisco routers, switches, and firewalls, (IOS, NX-OS, ASA) including base configuration, updating IOS, etc.
Experienced with migrations of enterprise Internet connectivity from ISP to ISP.
Experience utilizing BGP ASN weighted prefixing to provide load balancing with diverse (multi-homed) Internet connections.
Multiple WAN carrier transitions including satellite to frame-relay and frame-relay to MPLS.
Manage all DNS domain registrations and interactions with DNS registrars. This includes the handling of “sunrise” pre-registrations within the Trademark Clearinghouse. Work regularly with marketing and legal teams to resolve trademark disputes.
Primary resource on all DNS configuration, both in terms of Infoblox and ISC BIND configurations. Handle all domain and subdomain delegations.
Critical resource in our conversion from ISC BIND for DNS to Infoblox DNS and DHCP. Defined much of the architecture and wrote many scripts to reconcile etc. to ensure the transition was transparent.
Wrote multiple scripts (mostly Perl) to manage our DNS space and allow for cookie-cutter management of our complete body of stores. Hosts can be added at any time across the entire chain with no special effort. Originally written for ISC BIND, the latest script uses the Infoblox Perl API and allow large scale templated zone creation and updates without GUI interactions.
Researched 3rd party SOA solutions for offsite DNS management and reducing potential eCommerce latency issues.
Registered with ARIN all initial IP address space including a class B and 8, class C address blocks.
Designed, co-managed, and co-implemented multiple IP renumbering projects spanning many hundreds of stores, moving both from public to private addressing, but also renumbering within the private space. These renumbering projects were critical in removing growth limitations.
Wrote Perl Cisco management script using Perl Expect to allow easy automation of data collection tasks and on-the-fly updates of configuration on a mass basis.
Implemented VPN, ISDN, and dial backup solutions both client and server side with numerous platforms, particularly Cisco based.
Built and implemented a generic NTP infrastructure to simplify time management as required by such standards as PCI, including the use of secure broadcast NTP.
Experience with multi-site Apache configurations including virtualization and hardening.
Strong understanding of “sendmail” constructs including reading both “sendmail.mc” and “sendmail.cf” file syntax. Able to add custom mail rules as required.
Managed the infrastructure wiring and network requirements for multiple satellite sites including a modern large scale warehouse. Involved in much hands on wiring and layout.
Extensive experience debugging LAN/WAN issues including use of multiple tools such as WireShark, “tcpdump”, “snoop”, “ethereal”, “ping”, “traceroute”, “netstat”, “ifconfig”, LAN shooters (TDRs), interface statistics, SNMP, Scrutinizer, NetFlow, and custom self-written tools.
Experienced in configuration of ISC BIND, Cisco “ip helper” setups, and resolving DHCP issues.
Hacked RedHat kickstart “initrd” image to support not-yet-supported Cisco Aironet wireless cards. Similarly hacked kickstart, making kernel module changes and adding firmware loading to support new Intel based wireless cards.
Co-built one of the first local Internet Service Providers (ISP).
Significant experience sizing networks for applications and users.
Built tools to do large scale analysis of Access Point (AP) signal strength and identify wireless clients that may be impacted by signal issues.
Ordered, installed, and configured Burlington’s first Internet connections, including firewall. Burlington was very early in the adoption of Internet technologies and one of the first retailers connected to the Internet.
Wrote Perl script that used SNMP to recursively iterate switch hosts, allowing the Network team to identify the actual switch port of a given IP or MAC – useful for network debugging and security issues.
Wrote nightly “cron” Expect (TCL) script that based on a configuration file would automatically dump and archive the running configuration of Cisco routers and switches.
Wrote Perl discovery script to scan all address ranges and find all hosts on the network, named or not, and then use network heuristics to discover their likely functionality and OS.
Well versed in the SMTP protocol and debugging SMTP delivery issues.
Wrote Perl Expect (Perl::Expect) SMTP check script to verify SMTP services still running and responding correctly.
Wrote script to integrate post conversion Exchange/AD mail aliasing with Linux/Unix services allowing Unix based applications to query Exchange/AD for user aliases and distribution groups.
Evaluated SaltStack, installing from scratch and creating virtualized lab environment and executing multi-host updates.
Experienced configuring RS-232 and resolving serial connectivity issues.
Selected and implemented of video conferencing solutions (Polycom).
Wrote Perl DNS (Perl::DNS) script to pull existing DNS, compare to a past state, and send an hourly report of any DNS changes for notification/tracking purposes.
Primary driver of corporate Information Security program including governance structure, interaction with executive teams, policy development, guidelines and standards development, multiple 3rd party audits, awareness programs, incident response program, retention, and compliance efforts.
Expert knowledge on PCI security requirements and how they apply to a large tier PCI “level 1” merchants. Experienced addressing internal compliance requirements, generating policy, enforcing policy, and ensuring PCI compliance extends to 3rd party vendor relationships.
Driven PCI audit end-to-end, both brick-and-mortar and eCommerce.
Experienced in payment P2PE and E2EE payment transitions for POS (Point of Sale) devices and eCommerce realms along with strong understanding of scope reduction benefits and caveats.
Experienced in hardening systems, including eliminating unnecessary services, using Nessus scans to baseline, adding local firewalls, limiting user access, configuring network protocols securely (SSH, FTP, sendmail, Apache, NTP), configuring file monitoring, utilizing centralized logging, patching, following best practice guidelines, etc.
High level resource on multiple SOX (Sarbanes-Oxley) audits including having to drive timely reconciliation and/or mediating controls on issue areas.
Expert knowledge of MA201 and strong understanding of other state and federal privacy initiatives.
Experience with the research and mitigation of large scale DDoS attacks, including understanding the availability of external tools and resources, web server constructs, and application firewall (F5 ASM, FORTINET) mitigation.
Evaluation and selection of multiple security products including firewalls, IPS/IDS, DLP, anti-virus/anti-malware, WIDS, VPN servers, disk encryption, database monitoring, file integrity monitoring (FIM), anti-spam, email encryption, web application firewalls (WAF), and log management.
Selected and implemented key management platform to replace current in-house home grown key management and encryption infrastructure.
Evaluated Dropbox alternatives leading to the purchase and install Accellion MDM secure mobile device storage solution.
Co-implemented multiple iterations of an Oracle OID LDAP databases, including heavy scripting to reconcile discrepancies and ensure the data was clean. Also drove and implemented the associated networking requirements including firewalling and DMZs.
Maintain all SSL certificate authority (CA) contracts, relations, and configuration. Have significant experience with both Verisign (Symantec) and Entrust managed PKI solutions.
Built internal certificate authority (CA) utilizing “openssl” and designed to sign any number of internally trusted certificates.
Created numerous internal and external DMZs to protect both Internet facing systems and systems holding sensitive information. Extensive experience creating firewall rules using stateful and non-stateful firewall rules, including ASA, PIX, IOS zone, IOS ACL, and Linux “iptables”.
Created complex “iptables” firewall rules for protection of production web sites and other services.
Well experienced in end-user malware and virus disinfections. Strong understanding of how viruses/malware works and spreads and how to prevent and clear those infections.
Multiple Perl LDAP scripts to synchronize records from divergent LDAP stores, including from LDAP to local password files, and from LDAP to NIS.
Build Perl based LDAP script that automatically creates new local Linux users based on role when provisioned into the LDAP identity store.
In depth work on PAM (Pluggable Authentication Module) for both Linux and Solaris. Built customized PAM configuration to support centralized LDAP logins. Configured and installed PADL LDAP PAM modules on Solaris systems to make them integrate into the new LDAP environment.
Wrote Perl LDAP script to detect aging users and notify, and nag them, to change their password in a timely fashion.
Executed highly complex reconciliation process using advanced scripting and fuzzy matching to reconcile multiple diverse identity stores into a single monolithic identity store, including HR records, Oracle OID records, OpenLDAP records, Active Directory (AD) records, Unix password stores, Exchange aliases, NIS/YP records, and application user stores. This was used to ultimately build a common Oracle OIM identity store to allow a single point of identity management (IdM).
Co-designed, planned, and implemented corporate-wide conversion from NIS/YP authentication to LDAP authentication.
Experienced in recovering failed LDAP databases.
Evaluated two-factor solutions for PCI compliance.
Co-designed Oracle Portal systems infrastructure design and secure firewalling.
Research, selected, and drove the implementation of a Symantec eVault solution to address retention, FRCP requirements, and Legal/HR research. Experienced in retention requirements and concerns.
Experience managing AIDE and Tripwire FIM (File Integrity Monitoring) tools.
Configured VPN services including integrating with Radius servers.
Wrote login script to add extra layer of protection by denying or allowing users access based on network security level information.
Evaluation and selection of a wide variety of networking solutions including routers, switches, firewalls, hubs, cabling products, terminal concentrators, carriers, WAN compression, and satellite connectivity.
Go to resource for Infrastructure design/architecture questions across all subject areas – networking, systems, security.
Worked directly under CIO, Mike Prince, one of the earliest adopters and evangelists of Open Source technologies including being one of the first major customers of Cisco, Oracle, and Sun. I and others worked hand in-hand with Mike, augmenting and facilitating his vision, with our teams winning numerous industry awards in the process.
Extensive experience in the design of enterprise scope networks, systems infrastructure, and applications.
Designed, coordinated, and co-executed multiple sensitive large volume payment switch installations, including supervising system installation, hardening, networking, firewalling, processor coordination, and certifications. These include both in-house written authorization switches and third party products such as ACI/ISD switches. All installs were driven under strict PCI adherence requirements.
In depth experience in implementing VISA, MasterCard, AMEX, Discover, Stored Value, eFunds, and EBT transaction setups, including a strong understanding of the underlying protocols used implementation, particularly ISO 8583 and VISA VIP protocol.
High level technical and architectural involvement in multiple DR projects including primary lead on initial design implementation and regular subject expert consultation on current Sungard DR development.
Core member of the IT Architecture Team.
Heavily involved in the design and implementation (and maintenance) of our eCommerce infrastructure.
Extensive experience writing client and server socket code, including using TLI vs. Berkley based sockets, socket options, keepalives, network vs. host order, “inet_addr()” functions, “gethostbyX()” functions, and use of “poll()” and “select()” to multiplex sessions.
Extensive experience writing low level systems code utilizing system calls such as “fork()”, “exec()”,”wait()”, “pipe()”, “dup()”, “fcntl()”, “signal()”, “stat()”, “lockf()”, “flock()”, “readdir()”, “chmod()”, “umask()”, unbuffered I/O (eg: “read()”, “write()”, “send()”, “recv()”), asynchronous I/O, etc.
Experienced in threaded programming in C, C++, and Java including avoiding traps like deadlocks and livelocks. Well versed in the various IPC structures such as mutexes, semaphores, and conditions.
Experienced writing multi-process code handling fork()ing, reaping (wait()), delegation of transaction processing, status collection, multi-directional pipes, shared memory, interrupt handling (signal()), etc.
Wrote Python code to do streaming backups and restores to/from Dropbox using the Dropbox API. Code parses configuration and backup lists from flat file, opens a chunked file session to Dropbox, and runs “tar” in a pipe writing its output to the target Dropbox file.
Wrote Python script to handle aging out of OpenLDAP origined VPN password entries. Scans LDAP for matching records, locking records that have either aged out or unlocking records that had previously aged out and have now been changed.
Wrote multi-threaded C++ credit card authorization daemon using Sun RPCs and VISA VIP/ISO format messaging to service enterprise-wide authorization requirements. Serviced over 3000 registers with an average response time of less than 2 seconds. Designed to work over unstable networks – gracefully handled timeouts, retries, backoffs, WAN/LAN failures, and transaction reversals. Wrote both client and server code, including Unix and MS-DOS support.
Wrote C mail (MBOX) parsing libraries for handling programmatic mail input.
Wrote C printcap parsing libraries to enable the management of Unix printer parameters from C programs.
Wrote C SunRPC based “rotate number” daemon to support unique network based tokens.
Significant ETL experience converting data formats including credit card settlement, printed ticket generation, various identity store formats, etc.
Built pipe and PTY based printer daemon that simulates Unix “/dev” devices to allow lpr/CUPS to print to networked printers without needing to understand the underlying network protocols.
Wrote blue book based secure encryption routines to be used in transmittal and storage of sensitive data.
Extensive experience with “make”, “Makefile”s, and Makefile customizations. Created numerous hierarchical Makefile configurations to support complex projects.
Built substitute Unix “shell” using PTYs that surreptitiously and transparently catches keystrokes of unauthorized users.
Wrote program used in login scripts to send TTY polling sequences with timeouts to determine the terminal type being used for access (prior to all terminals being VT100 compatible).
Wrote Perl based DNS templating parser to generate per store DNS records. DNS RR (resource records) are read from a template file and then converted to DNS forward and reverse files. Templating is hierarchical allowing for per store overrides of generic templates. Later updated code to push to InfoBlox API.
Wrote numerous Perl scripts to manage Oracle OID and OpenLDAP LDAP stores, including comparing LDAP directories, syncing directories, sending account aging warnings, global changes of attributes, and reports on non-compliant accounts.
Wrote numerous configuration parsers to support various programs, scripts, and servers.
Wrote Discover and AMEX settlement tape creation programs.
Extensive experience writing portable code (compiled) and scripts to support a large heterogeneous environment. Handled endians, word sizes, unions/structs, compiler differences, link paths, and pre-processor requirements.
Co-designed and implemented numerous shell settings and tools to hide the complexity of the heterogeneous environments from users and developers.
Created low level C library to properly daemon-ize code, closing descriptors, cleaning up environment, fork()ing properly, etc.
Created low level C library to create TCP/IP session by hostname/IP and port to abstract socket creation for developers.
Provided C programming consulting for DoD helicopter component status monitoring executing on an embedded RPX using MPC823 based ARM processor running Linux.
Wrote bourne shell based tools to manage edits of DNS and NIS edits, handling source code control, automatic notification of changes, checking of file formats (lint-ing), and pushing updates.
Strong debugging skills even when access to underlying code base is unavailable. Have successfully identified bugs and their locations on multiple occasions in 3rd party “black box” compiled code using tools like “strace”, “trace”, “truss”, “tcpdump/ethereal”, “lsof”, “fuser”, “strings”, log correlation, etc.
Numerous C programs to handle developer issues around real vs. effective user ID, resource limits, and other miscellaneous “gotchas” inherent to running code on Unix systems.
Significant experience with SunRPC, NIS/YP, and NFS programming.
Wrote SunRPC based PLU (Price LookUp) services that allow real-time querying of SKU/class price data for POS registers and other applications. Interface also allowed a timed based synchronization process to update PLU information as it reached stale data, including remote delivery and insertion.
Experience with writing (now defunct) Sun Net Manager agents.
Wrote C based authorization server utilizing X.25 and multi-processing to service credit card authorization on a satellite network. Code was designed to be self-limiting due to memory/CPU consextremely robust given instability of satellite network.
Wrote C program utilizing “DND” (Dartmouth Name Daemon”) to allow fuzzy email address matching. Integrated into “sendmail” using “sendmail.cf” language. Designed, coded, and implemented generic “sendmail.cf” rules to be applied to all systems for consistent mail delivery.
Wrote C based SMTP based client and server setup that gatewayed from TCP/IP to X.25 to allow automated delivery of data from modern Unix systems to (now defunct) Honeywell DPS8 mainframe.
Wrote fully functional graphical Java “CD player” for Solaris using “native methods”.
Wrote extensive code in PL/I for Honeywell DPS8 to support standard retail operations including handling SKU management, inventory control, transfers, etc. As code was prior to RDBMs and lacked widely available reusable code bases, all data structures algorithms had to be self- implemented, including custom databases, queuing, sorting, etc.
Wrote code in PL/I for Honeywell DPS8 to mimic Unix functionality such as “cp”, “mv”, “ls”, argument handling, wildcarding, etc. This provided a consistent environment for our operations teams and simplified many of their efforts.
Significant experience optimizing code for small memory and/or limited CPU.
Willing to travel both domestically and internationally.
“go to” resource for “last resort” debugging for systems, network, and application issues.
Automatic access to EU and Swiss work permits via marriage to Swiss/Italian national.
(Very) advanced amateur photographer, with experience shooting 35mm, medium format, large format, and digital. Experienced both with digital and physical darkroom, lighting, composition, DoF, etc., etc. | 2019-04-23T03:54:30Z | https://mattfahrner.com/skills/ |
While there shouldn't be an embarrassingly bad team in the West this year, age and offseason personnel movement may have left the East as the stronger conference, which would result in an even more dominating showing by a now ridiculously talented Golden State team. Still, improving young teams moving up and traditional powers that could fall mean that, beyond the Warriors, almost anything could happen out west.
Kevin Durant wants to be like - Toni?
Adding a top 5 player to a team that is one year removed from a title and won an NBA record 73 regular season games a year ago is fascinating on several fronts, not the least of which will be Kevin Durant's role on the team; as good as he is, it will be hard to view him as essential to the Warrior's success. Durant is basically set to fill the role of Toni Kukoc on the Bulls second threepeat: he's a nice additional offensive weapon as a long, lanky shooter, but the team has already proven it can win without him. His signing, along with the departure of three of their four centers, means that the team is buying in even more completely to their small ball lineups. While those lineups were solved to a certain extent during the Finals, it is hard to imagine anyone being able to score with this group. Steve Kerr will have two respectable new options when he chooses to use a traditional big man, as Zaza Pachulia is coming off one of his best seasons and Damian Jones is a taller, more athletic version of a young Festus Ezeli in terms of a project with loads of potential. The Warriors may have also gotten a steal in second round pick Patrick McCaw, who was outstanding in summer league play, so the bench may not have actually taken much of a hit at all. It will somehow be even harder to knock the Warriors off in a standalone regular season game, and seemingly impossible to beat them in a playoff series, so much so that they currently favored 2/3 to win the title – better than the odds for all other teams to win combined. The Warriors are about to be Goliath to everyone else's David, so they will definitely be getting everyone's best all season long.
Allen Crabbe's a solid young player that's important to the Blazers, but as a bench player he benefited from the salary cap bump more than anyone.
The Trailblazers made some questionable contract decisions during the offseason, but they were able to keep together an improving young core and add pieces that will make them better at both ends of the court. While Evan Turner isn't a great shooter, he does help the team more at the offensive end than Mo Harkless (who was inexplicably given $10.5 million a year anyway), while Festus Ezeli will allow the Blazers to stop bulky post scorers better than they did a season ago. Damian Lillard, C.J. McCullum, Allen Crabbe, and stretch 4's Al Forouq Aminu and Meyers Leonard will allow Portland to stretch the floor and score from the perimeter as well as anyone other than the Warriors, while inside Mason Plumlee came into his own in the playoffs as a rebounder and passer out of the post. Portland should be better, and because of some offseason changes to the rest of the Western Conference elite should emerge as the closest thing to an actual contender to the Warriors.
Kawhi Leonard may have picked up a few things from Tim Duncan.
The addition of a still imposing Pau Gasol to LaMarcus Aldridge and legitimate MVP candidate Kawhi Leonard should briefly give the Spurs the best frontcourt in basketball. However, in what is now a guard dominated league, 34 year old Tony Parker suddenly seems very average, 3 and D shooting guard Danny Green dropped to 33.2% from 3 last year (although he did shoot 50.0% from deep in the playoffs), and 39 year old Manu Ginobili is a shadow of his former self after putting up just 12.6 points per 36 minutes in the playoffs (and of course he didn't play nearly that many minutes). After a strong showing in limited minutes last year and an impressive summer league performance there is the possibility that Jonathan Simmons is ready for a breakout season, but his offensive game doesn't appear to be as well rounded as Ginobili's. In addition, Kyle Anderson will have to provide what the Spurs lost with Boris Diaw's departure, but, while he has been dominant in summer league, there have been indications he won't be athletic enough to do those things in actual NBA games. The Spurs still have the best coach in the league in Greg Popovic, and the frontcourt is loaded, but their aging backcourt could temporarily make them vulnerable to younger teams, and they seem far from being a thread to the Warriors.
Parsons could see the most scoring opportunities he's ever had in Memphis.
The Grizzlies were one of several teams that made a confusing coaching change in the offseason. They were overachieving relative to their talent level to begin with, and that was compounded by being one of the most injury riddled teams in the league, yet Memphis still managed to make it into the playoffs (where they were doomed to failure without their two best players). Moving from Dave Joerger to first time coach David Fizdale is a risk, but this is a veteran team that knows how to play, so that shouldn't be too much of an issue. Chandler Parsons is a huge addition, and could immediately become the team's leading scorer. While Zach Randolph and to a lesser extent Marc Gasol are aging, Jamychal Green is being moved into the starting lineup to provide more energy while Randolph and a hopefully healthy Brandon Wright will be part of what should be an above average bench. Finally, James Ennis and perhaps Troy Daniels will combine with Parsons to give the Grizzlies more perimeter shooting than they have had in years. Coaching question aside, there is a lot to like about the Grizzlies' offseason, and they should move up in the West.
Gordon Hayward's passing ability becomes much more important with a combo guard running the point.
The Jazz have been getting better inch by inch over the last few years as they've waited for a young roster to mature, and that patience may pay off this year thanks in part to the addition of some much needed veteran leadership to supplement their young talent. Although he's a combo guard, George Hill should provide the most dependable point guard play the Jazz have had in years; he'll combine with Rodney Hood to form a strong defensive backcourt that can shoot, and Gordon Hayward will complement the pair well with his passing ability. Joe Johnson is a still dangerous shooter that has developed into a solid stretch four, and both he and Boris Diaw will complement traditional big men Rudy Gobert and Derrick Favors perfectly. With Alec Burks and Trey Lyles in the mix as well, the bench is loaded, and, led by Gobert and their strong perimeter defenders, Quin Snyder's Jazz also happen to be one of the league's premiere defensive teams. There's a lot to like about Utah, and they should be ready compete with the better teams in the league.
Blake Griffin is just 27 and could still be getting better.
Doc Rivers is an excellent basketball coach, but perhaps he shouldn't be this team's general manager. Despite having an opportunity to significantly overhaul a questionable supporting cast, Rivers chose to essentially punt and stay with the same group that has left his big four to bear a ridiculously heavy burden for the team to have any success. Chris Paul is now 31 and J.J. Redick, who still somehow seems to be getting better, is 32 and is asked to sprint around the court constantly on offense; their load needs to be reduced at some point. Instead, 36 year old Jamal Crawford was given 14 million a year despite shooting just 34.0% from 3 as the team's best offensive weapon off the bench, while Austin Rivers, who is a very average player that the team likely wasn't competing with anyone to sign, was given nearly 12 million. The Clippers needed to surround the Chris Paul-Deandre Jordan pick and roll with shooters, but the only shooter Rivers added was Marreese Speights, who obviously can't play with Jordan. The team also needed a 3 and D small forward, but it appears a resigned Wesley Johnson or Luc Richard Mbah a Moute will be given the role. With the exception of adding first rounder Bryce Johnson, the only thing that the Clippers did in the offseason was watch their roster get older, and this isn't the type of young, still improving roster they can do that with anymore. The Clippers will still be in the playoffs because of their top 4 players and a watered down Western Conference, but their days of being a contender in the West appear over for now.
I was honestly shocked when he started knocking down 3's at a respectable rate as a rookie.
Tom Thibideau is stepping into a prime situation in Minnesota with a team stocked with just the kind of players he values – the kind that defends. Karl-Anthony Towns walked through the door as an all star caliber player, and his ability to stretch the floor means that he can play with Gorgui Dieng; combined with Ricky Rubio, Zach Lavine, and Andrew Wiggins, the Timberwolves could have the best defensive starting lineup in the league under Thibideau. Offense will be the primary limiting factor, but with Lavine, Wiggins, and Towns still improving, and Tyus Jones and Kris Dunn giving indications in summer league that they will be able to help at that end, Minnesota should be able to score enough to give a still very young team their first taste of the playoffs.
He's going to be good.
Because of the Mavericks approach to teambuilding through free agency, Rick Carlisle has become accustomed to making the best of what appears to be a randomly assembled roster, and this year's addition of two new starters actually seems stable by comparison. The starting frontcourt will be a little plodding with Andrew Bogut and Dirk Nowitzki, but Dwight Powell and Quincy Acy will bring more athleticism off the bench, and Harrison Barnes has proved to be a more than adequate defender when asked to defend larger players in small lineups. That could be particularly important because Justin Anderson appears ready for a breakout year as a 3 and D wing good for the occasional spectacular dunk. With the possibility that Barnes will blossom with more opportunities and Wesley Matthews will return to form a year after achilles surgery, Dallas should have a strong group of wing players that can make things happen at both ends of the floor. Point guard will again be largely by committee, but Carlisle does have four of them to choose from. The Mavericks whiffed again in free agency, but they were able to capitalize on Kevin Durant's move to the Warriors well enough that Carlisle should be able to keep them in the playoff picture.
Westbrook may actually receive ovations before road games.
It will be virtually impossible for anyone to root against Russell Westbrook this year. Unfortunately, Kevin Durant's departure seemed to shock the Thunder's front office to the point that they stopped paying attention in free agency, and there were still pieces available that could have helped their recovery; still, there should be enough talent around Westbrook for the Thunder to at least contend for a playoff spot and give Westbrook his first MVP. They should still defend well with Victor Oladipo an improvement over Dion Waiters, although Irsan Ilyasova won't defend quite as well as Ibaka against traditional lineups or Durant against smaller lineups. Ilyasova will, however, be a better spot up shooter than Ibaka, and with Oladipo, Enes Kanter, Anthony Morrow, Kyle Singler, and possibly Alex Abrines the Thunder will still have plenty of those around for Westbrook's drives. Oladipo will also be able to help Westbrook facilitate offense, so Westbrook shouldn't have to feel like he has to do everything himself (although he probably will anyway). Billy Donavan is certainly about to face a very different challenge, but the Thunder shouldn't drop to the Western Conference basement.
Mudiay should have a much better understanding of what's going on this year.
Since reaching 57 wins in 2012-2013 and subsequently firing George Karl and dismantling the young roster that got them there, the Nuggets have spent the last few years making frequent, largely lateral moves, and it has gotten them nowhere until now. While they did just add three first round picks, Denver may have finally let a group stay around long enough to at least begin to develop into what they inexplicably broke up four years ago. Emmanuel Mudiay is still a work in progress, but he did average 16.5 points and shot 37.4% from 3 over the last two months of the season. Gary Harris and Nikola Jokic are also still in the rapidly improving stage, while Danillo Gallinari and Kenneth Faried are entering the prime of their careers. If Jameer Nelson and Wilson Chandler can stay healthy enough to provide veteran contributions from the bench, the Nuggets could push for a playoff spot, but even if that doesn't happen Denver should be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel and finish near .500 in the West.
Clint Capela is about to emerge from what was at one point a very crowded frontcourt.
All indications are that Clint Capela will be able to pick up for Dwight Howard defensively and on the boards (although he may get pushed off the block by bulkier centers), and Howard wasn't getting the ball that much at the offensive end anyway, so that change shouldn't make a huge difference for the Rockets. What likely will make a difference is that the Rockets took the Eric Gordon and Derek Anderson bait to surround James Harden with shooters; while that will help at the offensive end as long as Anderson's back holds up, with Mike D'Antoni taking over as coach the combination of Harden and Anderson at the defensive end will likely provide its own form of entertainment. The only real NBA success D'Antoni has had was when Steve Nash was making his offense look like magic, but Nash kept the ball moving and that simply isn't what Harden does. There is still plenty of talent in Houston without Howard, but this may not be the best marriage of coaching style and player, and the result could be a step back for the Rockets.
Deng will be an excellent influence for the young Lakers, and he developed into a strong 4 against smaller lineups in Miami.
The Lakers made several substantial improvements in the offseason, not the least of which should be the coaching change from Byron Scott, who was making some very interesting decisions with his young roster, to Luke Walton. The team also added some solid veteran leadership in Luol Deng, Jose Calderon, and Timofey Mozgov, and, frankly, is likely to benefit by not having Kobe Bryant shooting horribly (35.8% overall and 28.5% from 3) and generally not caring how poorly they were playing. The young core has a year under its belt playing together, and will add a fourth piece in the number 2 overall pick in Brandon Ingram, while Larry Nance Jr. gave indications in summer league that he has spent his offseason developing into a respectable stretch 4. This team should be substantially more competitive, and there's a very real possibility that they could surprise with 30 or more wins.
Devin Booker seems to have come a long way very quickly.
The Suns have put together a young roster not entirely unlike what they had when Jeff Hornacek took over and shocked everyone by almost making the playoffs in a then-loaded Western Conference. Whether they've hired that sort of coach again is anyone's guess, as Earl Watson had all of a year and a half of experience as an assistant before being handed the reigns and leading the team to a 9-24 record as an interim coach last year. What they definitely do have is an overabundance of talent at point guard, which would have fit perfectly into Hornacek's offense. Eric Bledsoe will still be the best of the group if he's healthy, but that's a big if at this point. Devin Booker is developing and learning a new position quickly, and was clearly the most dominant player in summer league, where Tyler Ulis impressed as well. The frontcourt is more of a question mark, with Tyson Chandler apparently on the downside of his career and no indication of how well Dragan Bender will be as a rookie. The Suns are young and were heavily beset with injuries a year ago, and Earl Watson is a huge unknown, so they could conceivably be much better, but it's hard to make that sort of projection at this point.
Terrence Jones is only 24 and could still help somebody win.
The overall talent around Anthony Davis may have improved marginally in the offseason, but the Pelicans stand to have a major problem shooting the basketball. Anderson and Gordon were the team's primary weapons from beyond the arc, and it's debatable how well they were replaced. In his attempt to become the next Steph Curry, Buddy Hield did his best Dajuan Wagner impersonation in the summer league, which is likely what you should expect when you encourage someone to take shots like Steph Curry. Otherwise, Jrue Holliday may always need to be on a minutes restriction, but he played well and stayed healthy a year ago before facial surgery shortened his season, Tyreke Evans should return from knee surgery to help out eventually, and there is a chance that Terrence Jones could have a resurgent year playing with Davis at times, so Davis at the very least shouldn't feel as though he has no help. Still, it will be hard to succeed without better shooting, and Davis hanging around the 3 point line is not an optimal solution.
It's possible that there's still only 1 big man that's good at his job in Sacramento.
Demarcus Cousins is right to be incredulous about the Kings' offseason decisions; Vlade Divac doesn't appear to be very good at this. With Cousins and a still promising Willie Cauley-Stein already in the fold, Divac converted the number 8 pick in the draft into a 7-2 foreign project that no one else was going to touch until the second round and Skal Labissiere, who was far from imposing in his one year at Kentucky. This comes a year after the Kings gave Kosta Koufos a four year, $32 million deal, and was followed by giving Anthony Tolliver a two year, $16 million deal. Divac also made it clear that he isn't particularly high on Rudy Gay and would like to trade him away and then addressed the percieved problem by signing players that are a step down in Arron Afflalo and Matt Barnes. He has also allowed the point guard position to slide to solid backup but questionable starter Darren Collison, which is particularly important because the Kings shot the ball relatively well a year ago (10th in the league in 3pt.%) and Rondo's passing was an important reason for it. Divac was able to flip Marco Belinelli for more promising rookie Malachi Richardson, but overall the Kings roster is now left overloaded with overpaid, questionable frontcourt talent and includes a perimeter that lacks creators and that likely won't shoot the ball very well. Cousins has to hope the Divac experiment will end soon, but if not he only has two more years of Kings misery to suffer through. | 2019-04-20T10:29:49Z | https://howtheyplay.com/team-sports/2016-NBA-Preseason-Rankings-Western-Conference |
January 18 (Proactive Investors) The AIM quoted exploration group intends to drill two wells in Mongolia during 2017, and it is pursuing a fresh farm-out to bring in a new partner.
Petro Matad Limited (LON:MATD) shares rose in Wednesday's early deals as it revealed that an awaited payment from Royal Dutch Shell is now expected in a matter of days.
The AIM quoted explorer is due cash following Shell's decision to back out of a partnership entered into by BG Group before it was scooped up by the Anglo-Dutch.
Today Petro Matad told investors that the 'protocols of reassignment' document had now been signed by all parties.
"Payment by Shell is therefore expected to be received within the next ten days," it said in a statement.
Petro Matad will retain 100% of the exploration blocks following Shell's decision to withdraw (78% stakes were previously entered into by BG Group) as it rationalised its portfolio of assets after the merger.
1. The designation and securities to which this report relates and the name and address of the head office of the issuer of the securities.
Common shares of the capital of SouthGobi Resources Ltd. ("SouthGobi"), whose head office is located at 1100 - 355 Burrard Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, V6C 2G8.
2. The name of the market in which the transaction or other occurrence that triggered the requirement to file this report took place.
3. The name and address of the acquiror.
4. The date of the transaction or other occurrence that triggered the requirement to file this report.
China Investment Corporation previously filed early warning reports in respect to a US$500 million convertible debenture (the "Debenture") LB purchased from SouthGobi and in respect to the exercise on March 29, 2010 of SouthGobi's right to call for the conversion of up to US$250 million of the Debenture, in respect to the receiving of paid in kind interest on November 21, 2013, and in respect of the receiving of paid in kind interest on November 21, 2014, and in respect of the receiving of paid in kind interest on November 27, 2015. China Investment Corporation is a sovereign wealth fund of the People's Republic of China.
Pursuant to the Debenture, since March 29, 2010, LB has acquired ownership of 40,123,980 common shares of SouthGobi, which includes 25,232,419 common shares previously issued and reported upon and 14,891,561 common shares issued on January 11, 2017, in each case, in satisfaction of the paid in kind component of the interest accrued on the Debenture.
7. The designation and number or principal amount of securities and the acquiror's securityholding percentage in the class of securities, immediately before and after the transaction or other occurrence that triggered the requirement to file this report.
Immediately prior to the issuances noted in item 2.2 above, LB held 49,875,030 Shares representing approximately 19.35% of the Issued Shares.
After giving effect to the issuances noted in item 2.2 above, LB owns and controls 64,766,591 common shares of SouthGobi, representing approximately 23.76% of the issued and outstanding common shares of SouthGobi as of January 11, 2017. LB also continues to own US$250 million of principal amount under the Debenture which, if converted at the current conversion price of Cdn$8.88 (and the currency exchange rate of 0.7397) would represent approximately 38.1 million additional common shares. If the Debenture in the principal amount of US$250 million that remains outstanding after the issuances noted in item 2 above is fully converted into SouthGobi common shares at the current conversion price of Cdn$8.88 and the currency exchange rate of 0.7397 then, together with the actual common shares owned or controlled by LB as of the date hereof, LB would own or control a total of approximately 102.9 million common shares or approximately 37.75% of the common shares of SouthGobi.
8. The value, in Canadian dollars, of any consideration paid or received per security and in total.
The amount of interest in respect of the 14,891,561 common shares issued on January 11, 2017 was US$ 4 million, and the price of the common shares was Cdn$ 0.36 per share.
Announcement made after Wednesday close.
The Board is pleased to announce that on 18 January 2017 (after trading hours), the Company and Minghua Group entered into the Exclusive Services Agreement under which the Company has been granted by Minghua Group the exclusive right to the provision of the Logistics Services.
The Company has agreed to pay to Minghua Group the Exclusive Right Fee in the amount of RMB100 million, which shall be satisfied by the Company through the issue of approximately 93,016,667 Consideration Shares at an issue price of HK$1.2 per Share to Minghua Group within 20 Business Days after the date of the Exclusive Services Agreement. The Consideration Shares will represent (i) approximately 3.08% of the total number of issued shares of the Company as at the date of this announcement; and (ii) approximately 2.99% of the total number of issued shares of the Company as enlarged by the allotment and issue of the Consideration Shares.
As the applicable percentage ratio in respect of the transaction contemplated under the Exclusive Services Agreement is less than 5% and the Exclusive Right Fee will be satisfied by the Company allotting and issuing the Consideration Shares under General Mandate, the Exclusive Services Agreement constitutes a share transaction of the Company under Chapter 14 of the Listing Rules.
TORONTO, ON--(Marketwired - January 18, 2017) - Centerra Gold Inc. (TSX: CG) will host a conference call and webcast of its 2016 fourth quarter and year-end financial and operating results at 11:00 a.m. (Eastern Time) on Friday, February 24, 2017. The results are scheduled to be released after the market closes on Thursday, February 23, 2017.
January 18 (MSE) Mongolian Stock Exchange established on 18 January 1991 by the Resolution No.: 22 of Mongolian Government in goal of developing securities market and starting privatization process.
It has been 26 years since the MSE's establishment. During this period, Mongolian Stock Exchange has been contributing development of national economy by creating the classical securities market with the purpose of mediating the accumulation of assets in the financial market by providing lowest possible cost with the long term. Mongolian Securities Market has adapted a favorable legal and efficient market infrastructure which level up with international standard and total amount of MNT2.1 trillion financial service were provided.
We would like to express our greetings and best wishes to all our investors, professional organizations and securities issuers on occasion of 26thanniversary of the establishment of Mongolian Stock Exchange and Mongolian securities market.
May the Mongolian securities market become a gateway to development!
The population of the Mongolia preliminary estimated 3120.9 thous.persons at the end of 2016, a growth of 63.2 thous.persons (2.1%) from the previous year.
In 2016, there were 79382 live births at national level, of which 78194 live births (98.5%) were born in Mongolia and 1188 live births (1.5%) were born in overseas.
At the end of 2016, birth rate of 25.4 per 1000 population and death rate of 5.2 per 1000 population.
This equates to a natural increase rate of 20.2 per 1000 population.
Compared to the previous year, there were decreases in birth rate by 1.9 percentage points, in death rate by 0.3 percentage points and in natural increase by 1.6 percentage points.
According to the Government Implementing Agency General Office of Labor and Welfare Service, there were 46.8 thous.persons seeking to work, of which 34.4 thous.persons (73.5%) are registered unemployed and 12.4 thous.persons (26.5%) are looking for a job.
The number of registered unemployed persons is 34.4 thous.persons which increased by 1.6 thous. persons (5.0%) from the same period of the previous year and by 1.0 thous.persons (3.0%) from the last month. There were 17.8 thous.persons (51.7%) thousand unemployed women.
The Government Implementing Agency General Authority for Health and Social Insurance of Mongolia reported that total revenue of Social Insurance Fund reached 1875.7 bln.tog in 2016. It was 375.4 bln.tog (25.0%) higher than last year. Total expenditure of Social Insurance Fund was 1786.2 bln. tog, an increase of 225.8 bln.tog (14.5%) compared with the previous year.
The Government Implementing Agency General office of Labor and Welfare Service reported that in 2016, total of 154.8 bln.tog was allocated from the Social Welfare Fund to 277 thous.persons for pensions and welfare benefits. The number of pensioners and welfare receivers increased by 77.3 thous.persons (38.7%) and the amount of pensions and allowances rose by 990.2 mln.tog (0.6%) compared with the previous year.
In 2016, 197.9 bln.tog as granted from the Human Development Fund to 1021.1 thousand children aged 18 and below in cash within the scope of the children program. (including 12.8 bln.tog were granted to 617.4 thousand children who are 60.4 percent of the total number of children in December 2016.
There were 552.0 thousand pupils of 778 general educational schools, increases of 10 general educational schools (1.3%) and of 16.9 thousand pupils (3.2%) compared with the preceding year.
There were 40.1 thousand students of technical and vocational schools, a decrease of 2.6 thousand students (6.1%) from the previous year.
There were 157.1 thousand students of colleges and universities, a decrease of by 5.5 thousand students (3.4%). Of which, 133.2 thousand Students (84.8%) were studied with bachelor degree.
In 2016, there 77803 women gave birth to 78194 live births across the country, number of maternity decreased by 2631 (3.3%) and live births by 2681 (3.3%) compared with the previous year. In December of 2016, there were 5960 maternities and 5994 live births, decreases of 302 maternities (4.8%) and 331 live births (4.9%) from the previous month.
There were 1315 infants and 1628 under-five mortalities recorded in 2016. Compared with 2015, infant and under-five mortality increased by 81 (6.6%) and by 152 (10.3%) respectively. The main causes of the infant mortality were diseases of the respiratory system and measles.
In December 2016, 93 and 120 cases of infant and under-five mortalities were registered. Compared with the previous month, infant mortality has increased by 13 cases (16.3%) and under-five mortality rose by 18 cases (17.6%).
According to the report of the Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology, a maximum precipitation was registered at 11.4 mm in Tosontsengel soum of Zavkhan aimag. Dalanzadgad soum of Omnogovi aimag had a maximum air temperature at 8.0°C, while Otgon soum of Zavkhan aimag had a minimum air temperature at minus 43.0°C in December 2016.
A maximum wind speed reached temporarily between 22 m/sec and 24 m/sec in Bulgan soum of Omnogovi aimag, Tonkhil soum and Bugat soum of Govi-Altai aimag.
In December 2016, as measured by over 15 air quality monitoring stations, the average daily concentration of nitrogen dioxide NO2 exceeded the acceptable level by 31 times in Zuragt, by 30 times in West crossroad, by 29 times in Tolgoit and Zuun-Ail, by 27 times in Kharkhorin market and 13th micro district, by 22 times in Urgakh naran micro district, by 16 times in Amgalan, by 6 times in Dambadarjaa, by 5 times in 1st micro district, by 4 times in nearby the Institute of Physics and Technique and by twice in Khailaast.
The average daily concentration of sulphur dioxide SO2 exceeded the acceptable level by 31 times in Zuragt and Tolgoit, by 30 times in Zuun-Ail, by 27 times in Amgalan, by 25 times in Bayankhoshuu, by 20 times in West crossroad, by 19 times in 13rd micro district, by 12 times in Urgakh naran micro-district, 9 times in Dambadarjaa and nearby the Institute of Physics and Technique, 8 times in 1st district, by 5 times in Kharkhorin market and by 4 times in Khailaast.
Dust content with less than 10 micron in the atmosphere of Ulaanbaatar exceeded the acceptable level by 31 times in Zuragt and Tolgoit, by 30 times in Zuun-Ail, by 29 times in Kharkhorin market, by 26 times 13th micro district and Amgalan, by 25 times in West cross road and Bayankhoshuu, by 22 times in Nisekh, by 17 times in 1st micro district, by 14 times Misheel expo and Urgakh naran district.
Dust content with less than 2.5 micron in the atmosphere of Ulaanbaatar exceeded the maximum acceptable level by 31 times in Zuragt and Tolgoit, by 30 times in west cross road and 13th micro district, by 28 times in Amgalan, by 25 times in Bayankhoshuu, by 22 times in Nisekh, and also the average daily concentration of carbon monoxide CO exceeded the acceptable level by 4 times in Zuragt and by once in Tolgoit respectively.
In 2016, 4381 disasters and accidents occurred, a decrease of 1041 disasters and accidents (19.2%) compared to the 2015. There were 3710 construction fires, a drop of 851 construction fires (18.7%) from the last year. In addition there were 81 animal madness diseases and 126 sheep small pox. As a result of disasters and accidents, 230 people died and 1059.4 thous.heads livestock and animals were lost.
Estimated damage caused by the construction fires amounted to 43.1 bln.tog and totally 1.4 bln.tog expended for disasters and accidents.
There were 27167 crimes recorded in 2016, a decrease of 590 offences (2.1%) compared with previous year at national level. This decrease was driven by falls in economic crimes by 293 (56.3%), in crimes against the rules of safety of traffic and use of motor vehicle by 227 (11.3%), in crimes against public security by 151 (9.3%) and in crimes against environmental protection rules by 63 (27.6%).
In December 2016, 2072 crimes were registered. This is decreases by 518 crimes (20.0%) from the same period of the previous year and by 413 crimes (16.6%) from the previous month.
As a result of crimes occurred in 2016, a total amount of damages was 162.9 bln.tog an increase of 18.6 bln.tog (12.9%) and amount of restituted payment damages was 44.0 bln.tog a decrease of 5.0 bln.tog (10.3%).
As a result of crimes occurred in 2016, 11257 persons were injured and 880 died. The number of injured persons decreased by 30 persons (0.3%) while the number of deaths increased by 33 deaths (3.9%) compared with the last year.
There were 805 thefts of livestock recorded which accounts for 3.0 percent of total reported offences.
It is a decrease of 375 thefts of livestock (31.8%) from the same period of the previous year.
In December 2016, total thefts of livestock were 57, a decrease of 20 thefts of livestock (26.0%) from the previous month.
According to a report of the Bank of Mongolia, money supply (broad money or M2) reached 12.0 trill.tog at the end of December in 2016, which increased by 361.9 bln.tog (3.1%) from the previous month and by 1927.0 bln.tog (19.2 %) compared with the same period in 2015.
At the end of December 2016, the currency issued in circulation reached 823.6 bln.tog which increased by 54.9 bln.tog (7.1%) from the previous month and by 117.0 bln.tog (16.6%) compared with the same period in 2015.
Loans outstanding amounted to 12.4 trill.tog at the end of December 2016, which decreased by 295.9 bln.tog (2.3%) from the previous month and increased by 716.1 bln.tog (6.1%) compared to the same period in 2015.
Principals in arrears reached 912.8 bln.tog at the end of December 2016, which decreased by 49.0 bln.tog (5.1%) from the previous month and increased by 58.8 bln.tog (6.9%) compared to the same period in 2015.
At the end of December 2016, the non-performing loans over the banking system reached 1082.8 bln.tog, which decreased by 84.2 bln.tog (7.2%) from the previous month and increased by 213.0 bln.tog (24.5%) compared to the same period in 2015.
In 2016, 97.1 mln.pcs were securities traded are valued at 462.9 bln.tog in the stock market.
The securities trading was decreased by 435.6 bln.tog (48.5%) and shares increased by 55.4 mln.pcs (2.3 times) compared to the same period in 2015.
In December of 2016, 38.3 mln.pcs were securities traded are valued at 150.2 bln.tog in the stock market, which increased by 104.0 bln.tog (3.3 times) of 35.1 mln.pcs (11.8 times) compared with the previous month.
In 2016, total equilibrated revenue and grants of the General Government Budget preliminary amounted 5852.1 bln.tog and total expenditure and net lending amounted to 9519.9 bln. tog, representing a deficit of 3667.8 bln.tog in the equilibrated balance.
Total expenditure and net lending of the General Government Budget reached 1783.2 bln. tog in December 2016, which indicates an increase by 861.2 bln.tog (93.4%) from the previous month.
Tax revenue reached 4996.8 bln.tog which showed a decrease of 122.1 bln.tog (2.4%) from the previous year. This fall was mainly due to drops in other taxes and fees by 283.1 bln.tog (32.6%) and in income tax by 149.8 bln.tog (12.8%) even there were increases in social contributions by 157.8 bln.tog (15.5%), in value added tax by 93.5 bln.tog (8.9%), and in excise taxes 34.6 bln.tog (5.8%).
In 2016, Mongolia traded with 157 countries from all over the world and total external trade turnover reached 8275.3 mln.US dollars, of which 4917.3 mln.US dollars were made up by exports and 3357.9 US dollars by imports.
Total external trade turnover decreased 191.5 mln.US dollars (2.3%), of which imports decreased by 439.6 mln.US dollars (11.6%) and exports increased by 248.1 mln. US dollars (5.3%) compared with the previous year.
In 2016, surplus of external trade balance reached 1559.4 mln.US dollars it has risen by 687.6 mln.US dollars from 871.8 mln.US dollar in 2015.
In December 2016, surplus of external trade balance reached 362.3 mln.US dollar, an increase of 123.0 mln.US dollar (1.5 times) from the previous month.
In December 2016, the national consumer price index for across the country increased by 0.7 percent from the previous month and by 1.1 percent from the end of the previous year.
This slight increase of 1.1 percent from the end of the previous year was mainly due to increases of 0.3 units (29.4%) in prices for food and non-alcoholic beverages group, of 0.3 units (25.2%) in prices for clothing, footwear and cloth group and of 0.2 units (16.4%) in prices for health group.
The national consumer price index for capital city consumers increased by 0.5 percent from the end of the previous year, which was mainly due to increases of 1.4 percent in prices for food and non-alcoholic beverages group and of 7.8 percent in prices for health group.
A slight increase of 0.9 percent from the previous month was mainly due to increase of 3.0 percent in prices for food and non-alcoholic beverages group, of which increases of 7.0 percent in prices for potato and vegetables subgroup and of 5.8 percent in prices for meat and meat products subgroup.
In 2016, number of livestock reached 61549.2 thousand heads, of which horse was 3635.5 thousand heads, cattle was 4080.9 thousand heads, camel was 401.3 thousand heads, sheep was 27856.6 thousand heads and goat was 25574.9 heads.
As a report of harvesting in 2016, 483.5 thous.tons of cereals, 165.3 thous.tons of potatoes, 94.4 thous.tons of vegetable were harvested and 1275.4 thous.tons of gross hay harvest, 45.8 thous.tons of handmade fodder were produced. It reveals that harvest of cereals increased by 267.2 thous.tons (2.2 times) potatoes by 1.6 thous.tons (1.0%), vegetables by 22.1 thous.tons (30.5%), gross hay harvest by 246.7 thous.tons (24%), and handmade fodder by 5.9 thous.tons (14.8%) from the previous year respectively.
The industrial production index (seasonally adjusted) was 154.2 (2010=100) in December 2016 which increased by 18.8 percent from the same period of the previous year, by 1.9 percent the previous month.
In the mining and quarrying sectors the mining of products such as copper concentrate, zincum concentrate, iron ore, concentrate, gold, coal increased by 8.3-46.7 percent and in the manufacturing sector the production of products, such as copper, pure water, beer, cement, milk, soft drinks, alcoholic beverage, kind of sausage, printing plastic cards, railway sleeper increased by 0.1-75.8 percent compared to the same period of the previous year.
But in the mining and quarrying sectors the mining of products such as molybdenum with concentrate, crude oil, fluor spar, concentrate, broken or crashed stone decreased by 0.6-28.1 percent and in the manufacturing sector production of major commodities such as spirit, bakery products, steel casting, lime, sawn wood, building door and windows, articles of iron concrete, vacuum windows and doors, metal steel, metal foundries decreased by 0.2-66.5 percent compared to the same period of the previous year.
In 2016, the total carried freight by all type of transport reached 40.3 million tonnes, a rose of 4.5 million tonnes (12.6%), the number of passengers reached 264.0 million passengers (double counting), reflecting an increase of 4.0 million passengers (1.5%) compared with the same period of the previous year.
January 18 (news.mn) Mongolia is to reconstruct some old parts of building of the Government Palace due to the risk of earthquakes. As reported by working group of inspectors, a total of MNT 42.4 billion in investment is needed for rebuilding of some parts of the structure. Rebuilding process will begin from 2018.
The 'Saaral Ordon' or 'Grey Palace', as it is known locally, was built in 1947-1951 and is home to the State Great Khural (parliament) and the Presidential Administration. A minor earthquake hit the Mongolian capital in 2015, which triggered discussion on what damage a larger quake could cause.
Ulaanbaatar, January 18 (MONTSAME) Arkhangai aimag, one of central provinces of Mongolia has a population of 93.5 thousand by the end of 2016. With number of population, Khovsgol ranks first among provinces, following Uvurkhangai and Arkhangai.
However, density in Arkhangai is 1.7 persons per square kilometer, which is 15 per cent lower than national average. 21.500 citizens of the province live in the aimag center, 17.900 in soum centers and remaining 20 per cent sparsely reside in countryside.
Population density is the highest in Ulaanbaatar, Erdenet and Darkhan cities, while Bayan-Ulgii, Selenge, Gobisumber, Uvurkhangai and Arkhangai are considered sparsely populated.
Ulaanbaatar, January 18 (MONTSAME) A project to build logistics center in Zamiin-Uud soum of Dornogobi aimag, where the predominant border point for container transport by railway locates, is underway.
The logistics center aimed at developing the region is significant to increase exports, imports and transit transportation and influence positively to the economy. The Government of Mongolia established an agreement with the Asian Development Bank on financing the project and 60 per cent of the estimated cost or USD45 million is covered by the bank's grant aid and soft loans.
The logistics center is planned to cover 128 ha of land, consisting of zones for terminal, customs and other facilities, and for truck waiting area. The Project design includes a road connection with an overpass (bridge) above the UB Railways mainline, providing easy direct connection between the border post and the logistics center. The proposed intermodal or multimodal logistics facility will enhance trade between the two countries and will reduce times for cargo transfers and reduce costs for shipping goods.
Currently, the construction and installation works of 3.6 km of drinking water line, the overpass (bridge), 1.6 km paved road, 4.15 km of exterior fiber-cable line, power plant substation and 110 KW electricity line have been executed by 9 national contract companies. The construction works are scheduled to be completed in 2018-2019.
Ulaanbaatar, January 18 (MONTSAME) An official opening ceremony of Mongolia's largest solar power plant will be held on January 20. The solar power plant located in Khongor soum of Darkhan-Uul aimag was built by Mongolian Solar Power International LLC and Japan's Sharp Corporation and Shigemitsu Shoji Co.,Ltd.
It has a 10 MWt capacity to generate 15.2 million KWT/h energy annually, supplying them to the central energy system and preventing from 14.746 tons of greenhouse gas emission.
The plant is equipped with 32 274 high-performance solar panels from Sharp Corporation of Japan. It was introduced with the latest technology and know-hows and was supplied by low and high voltage electrical facilities and other equipment from CMA Group of Germany and ABB Company of Sweden.
It's electrical wires meet requirements to work effectively and reliably during extreme weather conditions that reach -30 to -40 C.
This first mega solar power plant has been operating since December 2016 to generate energy to the central energy system of Mongolia.
Ulaanbaatar, January 18 (MONTSAME) The Mongolian biggest cashmere brand Gobi opened its new factory store branch at the Department Store of Erenhot city, China last Friday.
All 100-percent cashmere products such as coats, dresses and sweaters will be sold at the store. Other branch stores of the "Gobi" brand were opened in Berlin, Germany in November and at the "Haneda" airport of Japan in December 2016.
The Gobi Corporation has exported 40 percent of its total coat products to foreign countries in 2016 and now they are aiming to bring the number up to 80 percent. The company is also planning to launch new retail stores in Belgium, Great Britain, Switzerland and another three countries in 2017 with a view to increase their sales on foreign markets.
January 18 (UB Post) Member of Parliament M.Oyunchimeg received the Asia Foundation's Country Representative in Mongolia, Meloney Lindberg, to discuss the promotion of the businesses of female entrepreneurs.
MP Oyunchimeg noted that whenever she meets with her electorate, women entrepreneurs always ask her to help them find ways to connect to business networks to sell their products.
She said that they have faced challenges in reaching customers. MP Oyunchimeg asked Lindberg to help women participate in the Women's Business Center (WBC) project being funded by Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and implemented by the Asia Foundation.
Meloney Lindberg stated that 829 women have taken part in the WBC since it was launched in 2016, and that the project will be implemented until 2018. She noted that the project's resources are available to women entrepreneurs who are interested in taking part in the business incubator.
The center helps women entrepreneurs learn how to write a business plan, offers business advice, helps its members improve their marketing skills, and teaches women how to access financial resources.
January 16 (Mongolian Mining Journal) In recent years, Kazakhstan has become one of the world's leading countries in exploiting its radioactive mineral resources such as uranium, beryllium, tantalum, niobium, lithium, and rare metals and rare earth elements, reaching a high level of excellence in their exploration and extraction, and in using modern production technology.
State-owned Kazatomprom is the world's largest producer of uranium, the most important of these minerals. The country's 14 deposits hold the world's second largest reserves of natural uranium, and its 22 uranium mines employ 26,000 workers. Kazakhstan's trade partners include the US, China, India, South Korea, Japan, the European Union and Russia.
Several of Kazakhstan's uranium deposits were identified and the basis of their future intensive extraction laid when the country was part of the Soviet Union. At present there are 129 recorded deposits, most of them roll front, as in Mongolia. Most of the 22 active mines are owned by Kazatomprom, which does everything from exploring to extracting to exporting.
Most of these mines are in the Syr Darya river's basin in Kyzylorda State, the two major ones being Harasan–1 and Harasan– 2. With its annual output of 2,000 tons, the expected life of the latter is 40 years. Its uranium grade is 0.021%-1.016%.
Location map of uranium deposits in Kyzylorda State.
I recently spoke with Mukhtarkhanovich Baurzhan Ibraev, Chief Director of Production at Kazatomprom to learn more about Kazakhstan's uranium industry. He had once worked in Mongolia. I also made a study tour of Harasan-2, Baiken-U in Kyzylorda. Ibraev and I spent a very busy and interesting two days together on a road trip. Among the topics we discussed was possible cooperation between Mongolia and Kazakhstan in the uranium sector.
As a senior mining professional and the first President of democratic Mongolia, I felt sad to see how far Kazakhstan had gone ahead of Mongolia, even though the state of the uranium sector in our two countries was more or less the same in the early 1990s. We are yet to leave the starting block, as Kazakhstan races on. After 20 years of "Stop Mardai", "Close this", "Drive out Khan Resources", "Delay Areva".... we should realise enough is enough.
The number of nuclear plants is set to increase and the demand for nuclear fuel will rise radically. If we wish to benefit from this, we have to take two quick decisions.
First, we should build a pilot plant based on Areva's uranium deposit.
Second, we should seek the cooperation of Kazakhstan in developing our radioactive minerals resources. From what I saw, Kazakhstan has the professional resources, equipment and technology. Investments also can be attracted from there and from those already working there.
We can begin with producing the "yellow powder" that is not hazardous for people, livestock and environment.
(Your Amazing Places) Mongolia is a country located in Central Asia and borders with Russia and China. Mongolia is a sparsely populated country. The capital city is Ulaanbaatar with 1.5 million inhabitants.
Ulaanbaatar is located at 1350 meters above sea level, in the center of Mongolia on the River Tull. Ulaanbaatar was a mobile town that moved several times to different location. The city as a permanent location becomes in the 18th century and was originally a nomadic Buddhist center. Over the next century, over half the population of the Ulaanbaatar city consisted of Buddhist monks, who among other things founded many monasteries. Some of them now are the target of tourists. Square monasteries are a combination of the Mongolian and Chinese style construction. So, the most popular are monasteries Choijin Lama Temple. Their importance is not only a religious and cultural, but also belong to the rare Buddhist objects that survived the socialist overturn and the Russian intervention in the 20th century.
Due to the high altitude and because of the distance from the sea, the city of Ulaanbaatar applies to the coldest capital in the world. Throughout the year there are short a very cold winters and long hot summers. Average temperature is -1,3 ° C, while in January the temperature reaches to -16° C.
Ulaanbaatar has several museums dedicated to Mongolian culture and history. Natural History Museum has many fossil remains and meteorites found in Mongolia. National Museum of Mongolian History includes samples from prehistoric times.
If you want to try something new, to see something extraordinary and if you want to feel the coldest capital of the world, we recommended visiting Ulaanbaatar city. It is the "eye" of Mongolia, city with its own charm and magic.
Ulaanbaatar, January 18 (MONTSAME) Today, Prime Minister J.Erdenebat received U.S. Ambassador Jennifer Zimdahl Galt and some US business representatives from Polaris Asset Corporation, General Electric and J.P. Morgan. The Ambassador expressed her readiness to help the Government of Mongolia in all aspects during the period of economic difficulties.
Ambassador Jennifer Zimdahl Galt wished success in ongoing talks between the Government of Mongolia and the International Monetary Fund and stated that the embassy would cooperate to successfully implement the second compact of US Millennium Challenge Corporation in Mongolia.
General Electric is working together with 'Erdenes Mongol' company to implement a liquefied coal project (producing petroleum and other byproducts through liquefying coal), financed by J.P.Morgan. The project will bring positive impacts to the citizens and the economy, ensuring energy independence of Mongolia, reducing air pollution of Ulaanbaatar, lowering dependence on imported oil and reducing outflow of money, underlined the project team member. After the project completion, the coal liquefaction plant will be transferred to the ownership of Mongolia.
PM J.Erdenebat said the government would support this kind of project that the project implementer had found financial source or the investor. PM also underlined the project should be realized without delay. "Although Mongolia now faces economic difficulties, it is a country with very high promising future and our economic growth will achieve high. Therefore, considering the market, the main raw material reserves and future of Mongolia, you can be confident that you are implementing prudent and non-risky project.
January 18 (gogo.mn) 10th annual Japanese film days are now held in Tengis cinema until Jan 20th. Embassy of Japan in cooperation with Japan Fund are organising the event.
Synopsis: Takao, who is training to become a shoemaker, skipped school and is sketching shoes in a Japanese-style garden. He meets a mysterious woman, Yukino, who is older than him. Then, without arranging the times, the two start to see each other again and again, but only on rainy days.
Synopsis: Eikichi, having trained at an established tofu maker in Kyo, comes to a traditional town of Fukagawa Hamaguri-cho in Edo to open his own shop, where he meets Ofumi, a true-born Fukagawa girl full of life. With the help of Ofumi's father, Eikichi finds accommodation at the same tenement as Ofumi. Eikichi finally opens "Kyo-ya", his long-planned Tofu shop of his own. Eikichi and Ofumi get married before long and build a home together. The business thrives, but their eldest son, who becomes tired of Tofu making, gets involved with gambling. The shop is taken over by another tofu maker as payment for debts, and the family is on the brink of disintegration. To make matters worse, Eikichi suddenly dies in an accident. Remembering that Tofu making was Eikichi's life, Ofumi and the children decide to protect Kyo-ya.
January 16 (VietMaz.com) The Vietnamese embassy in Mongolia has co-ordinated with the Vietnamese Association there and held a get-together for more than 160 overseas Vietnamese in the country.
Addressing the meeting, Vietnamese ambassador to Mongolia Hoang Tuan Thinh reviewed Vietnam's socio-economic achievements, the country's important events in 2010 and the success of the 11th National Party Congress. Mr Tuan also highlighted the fine relationship between Vietnam and Mongolia through the exchange of high-level delegations as well as contributions by Vietnamese community in Mongolia for raising funds for flood victims in Vietnam.
Mr Thinh wished the embassy staff, overseas Vietnamese and students a successful year and hoped the association will serve as a bridge of friendship between the peoples of both nations.
President of the Vietnamese Association in Mongolia, Nguyen Huy Tuan, also expressed hope that the embassy staff and overseas Vietnamese will continue to promote last year's achievements and that the Vietnamese community in Mongolia will continue to work hard and respect their resident country's customs and traditions.
HMA Catherine Arnold talks about what to expect in 2017.
2016 has been a significant year.
Here in Mongolia you hosted a very successful ASEM conference. I would like to congratulate Mongolia on its global success. You also held parliamentary elections and invited the OSCE to monitor them, for the first time. Democracy is something that our two countries share. Our governments and our people share the importance of democracy and the wider values it brings, such as freedom to express ourselves and increasing transparency.
In the UK we held a referendum on the UK's membership of the European Union. The UK is and will remain an outward looking and engaged global player and here in Mongolia I look forward to building our strong relationship even further.
2016 has been a busy year for UK and Mongolia partnership. We have worked together to strengthen democracy and transparency. We have worked together to strengthen global peace and security through peacekeeping and human rights. We have worked together to help counter the illegal trade in wildlife. I would like to thank all our many partners for making this possible.
The UK continues to work with Mongolia to support the sustainable development of your economy – through education, innovation and technology. I recently went to the UK with a mining delegation led by the Vice Minister of Mining to promote investment into Mongolia. And I want to continue to work with you to show the world what Mongolia has to offer.
Open is the word I use most about Mongolia. You are an open people with an open democracy. You are open to business and open to tourism.
You have continued to show this openness and warmth to me and my embassy this year, here in UB and as we have travelled around this extraordinary country. You have taught me to play Polo in UB, sing Mongolian folksongs in Gobi Altai, and to make aruul in Khuvsgul.
May 2017 and the years that follow bring you and your country blessings and opportunities.
January 18 (UB Post) Rates of tuberculosis in Mongolian school-aged children are up to five times higher than previous estimations by the World Health Organization (WHO), according to new findings from Mongolia's first clinical study of tuberculosis in children.
Preliminary results show there are 1,479 active cases of tuberculosis (TB) in 100,000 school-aged children, putting it in line with South Africa, where the TB epidemic is the country's number one cause of death.
The study, by the Mongolian Health Initiative in conjunction with the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in the United States, also found that 10 percent of school-aged children had latent (inactive) TB.
Mongolian Health Initiative (MHI) research fellow Dr. T.Mendsaikhan, who was on the study team, said the early results were alarming.
"The results of our study show it's very high- much higher than the predictions by the World Health Organization, which predicted 500 to 1,000 cases in 100,000," Dr. T.Mendsaikhan said.
"The cases of latent TB were at 10 percent, and previous figures showed it was only two percent, so there's been a huge increase in latent TB in children.
"This shows that we have to take more action on TB."
The study's other results revealed that passive smoking increased the TB rate in children by a worrying 22 percent. And the risk of contracting the disease is four times higher when there is a TB-infected person living in the household.
A 2015 study revealed that Mongolia is the fourth highest tuberculosis-burden country in the Western Pacific Region. It is the sixth leading cause of death amongst the population and the first leading cause of death from communicable diseases.
TB is an infectious disease caused by the Mycobacterium tuberculosis which is spread by airborne transmission from person to person. It spreads when someone with the untreated, active form of tuberculosis coughs, speaks, sneezes or spits.
In latent TB, which is usually acquired in childhood, people still have the TB infection, but the bacteria remains in the body in an inactive state and causes no symptoms. While it is not contagious, latent TB can turn into active TB, so treatment is important.
Despite wide access to TB drugs, people still die from TB. In Mongolia, even though babies are vaccinated within 24 hours of being born, the disease is being spread in later life due to more cases of drug-resistant TB, symptoms being ignored and incorrect diagnosis of the disease.
The next stage of the trial by MHI is determining if vitamin D can reduce the prevalence of latent TB in school-aged children.
More than 8,000 students aged six to 13 years from 15 schools in six districts of Ulaanbaatar are taking part in the trial, which will conclude by 2019. The students take a vitamin D gel tablet once a week.
International studies have shown that vitamin D pills are proving effective when the body cannot produce enough of the vitamin from radiation by the sun. The low-cost pill has been used in countries to prevent tuberculosis with some promising results.
Dr. T.Mendsaikhan, who works as a pediatrician at a private clinic, SOS Medica Mongolia, said many Mongolians suffer from vitamin D deficiency as a result of the dark winter months and not enough sunlight, along with a lack of vitamin D rich food.
"Vitamin D tablets are becoming more popular in Mongolia and are readily available at pharmacies. Children should be taking these especially in the winter months," she said.
Vitamin D is also found in oily fish, cow liver, eggs, yeast and some dairy products.
In 2016, Mongolia began fortifying some brands of milk with vitamin D in an effort to combat deficiencies from inadequate sun exposure and poor vitamin D dietary intake.
Dr. T.Mendsaikhan also warned of the dangers of ignoring latent TB.
"In Mongolia, people with latent TB don't take medicine but they should be," she said.
"The medicine is available but it's not being prescribed. There needs to be a health directive or policy that says people with latent TB must take medicine to suppress the bacteria. At the moment, that's not happening, it's being ignored."
In Mongolia, 74 percent of overall TB cases are among poorer people living below the poverty line, according to WHO.
Dr. T.Mendsaikhan said one of the most important messages is spreading the word to parents about the risks of TB.
"We encourage parents to keep their children's immune system strong and healthy with good sleep and diet,'' she said.
"The other message is that tuberculosis can still affect anyone, whether your child is at a school in the ger district or at one of the best private international schools."
While Mongolia has one of the largest numbers of TB cases in the world, the impact of the disease on children has not been widely acknowledged. But Dr. T.Mendsaikhan said that attitude is slowly changing.
"Tuberculosis in children is becoming a more popular issue right now due to our study and other studies," she said.
"A lot of TB cases in children are not being diagnosed and treated properly and that's something that has to change."
January 18 (Western Washington University) The Karen W. Morse Institute for Leadership is excited to announce that we will leading a second global studies program to Mongolia in Summer 2017! Issues in Global Leadership will explore the rich, ancient history of Mongolia as well as the newly democratic Mongolia of 27 years. Students will be living in a developing country, learning about Mongolian leadership practices through interviews with leaders from a variety of sectors and visiting organizations aimed at supporting inclusive leadership development.
Throughout the course, we will explore the roles and identities of leaders in education, social services, journalism, politics and government, environmental social change, business and entrepreneurship, and the arts. In addition, we will visit several museums, temples, cultural monuments and performances. The program will spend two weeks in the capital city, Ulaanbaatar, and six days travelling the country side (or the "steppe"), spending time in the historical city of Kharkhorum and Hustai National Park.
The program is six weeks: the first week on campus, three weeks abroad and two weeks back on campus. The cost is $5,800, all-inclusive (airfare, lodging, meals and cultural excursions).
For more information, visit our website, take a look at our video from last summer's trip to Mongolia and join our Mongolia 2017 Facebook page to start conversations, ask questions and receive up-to-date information about trip details, application deadlines and more!
January 17 (Voice of Mongolia) Severe winter continues in Mongolia. According to the last Asia and the Pacific Weekly Regional Humanitarian Snapshot, an estimated 157,000 people or 37,000 herder households across 17 out of 21 provinces in Mongolia are affected by severe winter condition Dzud. A drought during the summer of 2016 has depleted herders' reserves of hay and fodder in the eastern part of the country putting at risk livestock which are a vital source of food, transport and income for thousands of people. Multipurpose cash grants to support life-saving basic needs, emergency agricultural inputs and veterinary first aid kits have been identified as priority needs. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has established a task force to coordinate the response to the harsh winter conditions.
Ulaanbaatar, January 18 (MONTSAME) A group led by U.Khurelsukh, Deputy Prime Minister and Chief of National Emergency Management Commission of Mongolia has worked in Chinggis Khaan, Dadal, Bayan-Adarga and Norovlin soums of Khentii province, the regions faced with harsh winter conditions.
Snow depth has reached 30 cm and even 50-60 cm in some soums of Khentii province. The Deputy Prime Minister rendered 210 tons of grass, fodder and other assistances to herders and three ambulances to the authorities of Bayanmunkh, Dadal and Bayan-Adarga soums.
According to the report of governors and the Emergency Management Office of Khentii province, winter conditions have worsened not only in three soums, but also in all northern soums of the province. Due to heavy snowfall in late 2016, Bayan-Ovoo, Batnorov, Dadal, Binder, Batshireet, Umnudelger, Tsenkhermandal, Jargaltkhaan and Kherlen soums have been encountered with difficulties and the snow depth has reached 5-30 cm and 40-60 cm in some areas, posing a danger to livestock grazing.
Therefore, Deputy PM U.Khurelsukh obliged the governors of soums and province to oversee the spending of assets and money rendered from the Government of Mongolia, pay attention to people's health, support herders in every possible way after conducting surveys on herder families living in areas confronted with wintering troubles. They were also ordered to request an assistance from the National Emergency Management Commission, if the budget runs short to carry out the activities.
On January 19, the Deputy Prime Minister will be working in Dornod province.
January 18 (Catster) Snow leopards in Mongolia recently received a "land grant" that will help the rare big cats thrive. Last spring, Mongolian government declared the Tost Mountains a nature reserve, one of four categories of state-protected areas. The new park will comprise approximately 5,072 square miles.
Located between the Great Gobi and the Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park, which are already protected areas, the Tost Tosonbumba Nature Reserve is home to 14 to 16 adult snow leopards and their cubs, not to mention the ibex and argali that are the staples of their diet. They can now safely roam what is one of the world's largest continuous protected snow leopard habitats, according to the Snow Leopard Trust, based in Seattle.
Mongolia is home to some 1,000 snow leopards, a population second only to that of China. The ability of the cats to move freely throughout the region will help to promote genetic diversity.
The new designation means that only traditional economic activities, such as herding, will be permitted in the area. Mining, construction, and hunting will be banned.
Before the area was set aside, approximately a dozen licenses for mining exploration had been issued, and two mining sites are active. That means the licenses must either be revoked, with the affected companies being compensated for the loss, or the licensed land must be kept out of the reserve.
Bariushaa Munkhtsog, a senior researcher in the mammalian ecology laboratory of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences Institute of Biology, said what will probably happen is that licenses — which are typically issued for a two-year period — simply won't be renewed when they expire.
Ulaanbaatar, January 18 (MONTSAME) The 40th Men's, 25th Women's and 5th Team National Judo Championships took place on January 16-17 to conclude with interesting results.
On the first day of the championships, the announcement of retirement made by 2012 London Olympic bronze medalist S.Nyam-Ochir was a big news to Mongolian judo fans. "I have been associated with judo for more than 20 years. I am truly grateful to my peers, coaches and family for being there for me all this time. Although I am ending my career as a sportsman today, I am officially transferring to the duty of a coach. I will do my best to train good judokas in Mongolia", he said. The judoka has earned Mongolia numerous medals from international judo competitions , including a bronze medal from the 2015 World Judo Championships, two silver medals from the 2009 and 2013 Asian Judo Championships.
Proving his skills once again, 2008 Olympic gold medalist and 2012 Olympic silver medalist N.Tuvshinbayar challenged himself in +100 kg weight category for first time, and took the first place. The Olympic champion usually competes in -100 kg.
Judoka O.Uuganbaatar won his fifth gold medal at the national championships in men's -81 kg category.
A new national champion was born in men's -60 kg, the most competitive category of the championships. J.Amarbold, judoka of 'Suld' sport committee won a gold medal at the age 20.
In women's -57 kg, Rio Olympic silver medalist D.Sumiya claimed the title of national champion after defeating all of her opponents.
In women's -48 kg, world champion, Tokyo Grand Slam winner M.Urantsetseg won her second gold medal.
National champions D.Sumiya and G.Altanbagana who won a gold medal in men's -90 kg became the best judokas of the national championships.
January 18 (gogo.mn) State Philharmonic Theatre will host classical music concert on Jan 26th at 7 PM.
The Symphony No. 5 of Ludwig van Beethoven and symphonic suite "Shekherazada" of N. Rimsky-Korsakov to be performed at the concert.
Tickets are available now at the ticket office of State Philharmonic Theatre and www.ticket.mn.
January 18 (gogo.mn) Tsetserleg soum, Arkhangai aimag to host Winter festival 2017 on Jan 21st, aiming to to develop winter tourism in Mongolia. Governor's office of Arkhangai aimag is organising the event.
Location: Tsetserleg, the capital of Arkhangai aimag in Mongolia, which locates 600 km southwest of Ulaanbaatar.
January 18 (Great Falls Tribune) One thing Greg Schatz noticed during his trip to Mongolia was just how tough the Mongolian people are.
"You really don't understand just how soft Westerners are," Schatz said.
Schatz traveled to Mongolia with his wife for a three-week horse packing trip. Now, they're being sponsored by the Island Chapter of the Montana Wilderness Association to tell their stories and share a travel slideshow.
"The Mongolians are harder than nails," Schatz said. "They sit on the bare ground to eat their meals, and when it's time to sleep, they lay down where they are and use their elbow as a pillow."
"Where we went was one of the last places in the country with little to no Western influence," Schatz said. "The Mongolians wanted to learn about guiding, packing and outfitting so they could run an outfitting business without hiring Westerners."
Ten Western packers, including Schatz and his wife, Deborah, joined 10 Mongolian herders to learn each culture's equestrian customs.
Schatz describes the Mongolian people as overtly open people who are friendly and willing to listen — even if they don't always understand.
"They get up and ride their horses from the morning until they're done around midnight or two in the morning," Schatz said. "They couldn't wrap their heads around the way Westerners start their day at nine, break for lunch and typically like to be off their horses by three in the afternoon. They found it funny. They would never consider stopping so early because they never get sore. They've been riding before they could walk."
"All of Mongolia is public land — no one says this is mine, this land is mine," Schatz said. "I remember one day there was a terrible storm. It was windy and the rain was coming down. The Mongolians turned their horses' rears to the wind and got down under their chests. Well, I'm 6'4". I don't fit under a horse — especially a Mongolian horse."
"We stayed with strangers," Schatz said. "The herders had never met these people before. Can you imagine inviting strangers into your home and feeding them?"
Schatz said he learned about the Mongolian sense of community and how rare it is for a Mongolian to say "mine."
When a person leaves their ger for the day, they don't secure their home. Instead, they leave food out on the table should a hungry traveler pass by and need a meal and a place to take a break.
January 18 (Gold Coast Bulletin) Intrigued by Belize? Curious about Costa Rica? Dreaming about Vanuatu?
Now here's a really good reason to visit in 2017 - they're all on a new hot list of destinations where you can be sure your trip won't be guilt trip.
Holidaying in developing countries can often raise a complex set of questions and concerns - like, "Is tourism really helping the local people?" or "Am I damaging the environment by visiting?".
Thankfully, the folk at Ethical Traveler have answered these questions and come up with a list of stunning emerging destinations around the world where you can be confident you're doing the right thing by visiting.
Each year, the organisation researches the policies and practices of the world's developing nations, using data from groups such as Amnesty International and the UN to find the 10 most ethical destinations.
Criteria include forward-thinking policies, tourism infrastructure, natural beauty and welcoming cultures.
From tropical islands to quirky cultural gems, these up-and-coming holiday spots are making a big impression for all the right reasons. Take a look at the list - and get booking.
It's famous for its yurts, mountains, desert and nomadic culture but Mongolia isn't without its modern conveniences. A new airport and Shangri-La hotel complex - including IMAX cinema and Hard Rock Cafe - are scheduled to open this year, earning the country a gong as one of Lonely Planet's most exciting destinations for 2017. The country's major investment in education and environmental policies helped its standing as one of the world's most ethical destinations.
For current Mongolia's visa requirements for 193 nationalities, visit Indy Guide's Visa-Check.
Looking for local guides, tours, drivers or accommodations in Mongolia? | 2019-04-18T19:16:02Z | http://covermongolia.blogspot.com/2017/01/matd-jumps-on-shell-money-cic-gets-paid.html |
Paid Ads v Organic Search SEO v Paid Social – Which Is More Sustainable?
PPC has become a major player in online advertising. It gives online businesses more visibility, drives traffic and increases conversions.
But is it more sustainable than organic search?
It’s no secret that search engines like Google et al make huge profits from paid ads. To give you some idea, Google is hitting around $10bn a quarter on AdWord spend.
Search engines will always try and drive companies down the path of paid advertising, but this method of online marketing is not sustainable for every company.
For small businesses in competitive fields for example, it becomes expensive, with some clicks costing in excess of £100 each. You don’t necessarily get more visitors if you pay more, and when you stop your paid ads campaign, the amount of traffic you receive suffers.
For start-ups and other online businesses that have low visibility online, paid ads does offer a solution to increase your earnings.
By bidding on targeted keywords and purchasing advertising space, you will be guaranteed visibility on the first page. Furthermore, you are only charged when somebody clicks on your ad.
You can therefore be assured of lead generation. Your advertising budget is not being totally wasted. What does matter however, is that your landing page and sales pages do a good job of converting browsers into buyers. Reach without action and conversion is expensive and if the user experience on visiting your site for the first time is not as good as your ad led them to believe, you’ll have a hard job of luring them back again.
So what about organic search?
The growth of paid advertising has led to doomsayers in the digital marketing community to announce SEO is dead.
But SEO is far from a thing of the past and is arguably going from strength to strength. As search engines improve their algorithms, websites producing top quality content and high value UX will be rewarded with better page rankings over time.
The downside to SEO is that achieving results is a slow process. It takes time for webmasters to build up trust and authority with search engines. Firms also have to be consistently producing useful, high-quality content that offers value to readers, and marketing team members specialising in digital PR need time to begin to develop relationships with the ‘Linkerati’ (those with the power or ‘where-with-all’ to share and link to the optimised content). SEO takes time and it’s also not sensible to say that it is ‘free traffic’. Some of the best campaigns for SEO likely have been undertaken with considerable investment in both ideation, creative assets and human resources.
Organic search results may take time, but they do offer long-term benefits. Once you hit the upper echelons of search results, click through rates improve dramatically and profits could potentially soar.
But SEO is a game of patience and consistency. In the meantime you have to find alternative ways of promoting your products and services online. PPC is a good place to start. For many firms, it’s the only place to start.
Social media networks will also give you exposure to followers, but followers are not necessarily buyers. Search engines on the other hand drive customers to your website that have an intention to buy.
For firms with low visibility, the solution to modern online marketing is to venture into PPC and gradually build up SEO results by creating and becoming know to search engines as a site with relevant authority on a vertical / niche. Once you start attracting traffic through organic sources, you can lower your marketing budget over time (if you wish to (you may be receiving a positive ROI already via PPC)), whilst increasing conversions.
Consider PPC being akin to ‘renting the search results positions’, whilst SEO is an investment akin to ‘a mortgage in the search results positions’. One is immediate and can be turned on almost instantaneously (rented), but the minute you stop paying for PPC you’ll find you don’t have any place to stay in paid search. With SEO it’s very much like long-term mortgage payments which are an investment in your website and the website’s reputation as it grows in the eyes of both search engines and users.
Is Google Replacing Organic Results With Paid Ads?
When Google announced they were removing the right menu bar of paid ads, it raised a few eyebrows amongst marketers. The official reason was so the search engine could add an extra paid ad at the top of the screen.
Given most clickthroughs come from the first three paid ads above the fold, there is justification for the change. But removing the entire right-side menu means fewer paid ads appear on page one of Google.
There is clearly more to this story.
Removing the clutter of paid ads from the right-hand side of search results does create a better-user experience. The results page is now much cleaner and less busy to look at – especially on mobile handsets.
But by removing the number of Adwords from the first page of Google means there is less primary ad space for businesses paying for a PPC campaign to occupy.
Could reduced visibility have a negative impact on PPC campaigns or Google’s ad revenue?
It is unlikely the search engine giant is likely to allow either of those scenarios to happen. That can only mean the Big G has a contingency plan.
How will Paid Ads impact searches?
Research shows that the top three paid ads above the fold receive the most clicks – 41.4%. Google has now added a fourth paid ad box to fill this space which typically takes all the space above the fold.
It will be interesting to see how results pan out in the coming months, but there is a real threat that pushing organic results down the page will result in less traffic for websites that have worked hard to rank highly for competitive keywords.
Whatever the reason for Google’s decision to push organic ads off-screen, there is a concern throughout the industry that organic results are being challenged to compete with paid ads.
Furthermore, this idea goes against Google’s determination to enforce companies to publish high-quality content.
Companies can rank well for AdWords and dominate space they have paid for, but may not be producing better content than a company that has worked tirelessly and earned the right to rank on page one.
So will Google compromise quality content for paid ads? Does the search engine giant really care about delivering the best results to end users or are they only interested in fleecing online businesses to pay for advertising space?
It will be interesting to see how this story develops. Will Google add any more paid ads above the fold and is the company on a mission to make AdWords dominate the first page?
When Google first launched Adwords it was used solely as a tactic to accompany SEO. But as paid search has evolved, online companies are recognising the value of using PPC as a branding strategy.
The fact of the matter is paid search is a powerful marketing tool. It gives you visibility in search engine listings, drives traffic and helps to increase conversions. Brands can begin to receive the benefit of ‘the Halo effect’ in marketing terms.
Paid search is not for everyone of course, but as online shopping goes mobile-centric, the need for visibility in search engines becomes more critical.
Furthermore, the added follow-on reach of ‘re-marketing and retargeting’ via the Google Display Network to past visitors based on their behaviour on your website continues to keep your brand front of mind in readiness for the moment the user or prospect customer is likely to want to take the next step and actually buy your product, book that holiday or take a test drive.
Users do not usually convert on their first visit to your site and therefore it makes sense to ensure you go where they go after they’ve received their initial introduction to your services or products on site. This is primarily achievable through paid search supporting organic search (SEO). It’s all part of a more joined up cross-channel strategy. Without it you have a very clear gap.
To build your brand online, you need to connect with consumers. But the only way you can do that is by being seen. There is social media of course, but attracting new customers that want to engage with your brand is a slow process.
Search on the other hand attracts customers with intent. They are actively looking for your products and services. Not only does Google et al work for brands, it works for consumers as well.
But you have to find a way to connect with consumers actively looking for your products and services and that are ready to purchase. And paid advertising is the only strategy that makes that possible unless you have had a dedicated SEO strategy for years and have not been punished with Google penalties.
So your brand is now on the first page of search engines. But so are a score of other competing firms. Half the battle is won, but you still have to attract users to click on your ads.
And that means getting into the mind of your audience. Consumers want solutions. This is where brands come into their own. What solutions can your company provide that your competitors don’t?
If you do not have one already, create a unique selling point. What gaps are there in the marketing that nobody is filling? Research statistics, developments and trends in your industry to identify problems you can solve.
Google has developed its paid search platform into a powerful marketing tool by adding new services that allow brands to improve their campaign strategies.
Launching ads is quicker and easier to do since the launch of the shopping campaigns feature which allows marketers to feature attributes such as images alongside the price and promotional message.
You can also attach ad extensions to make your promotion stand out with additional information. Including location, phone numbers or auto-reservations are highly effective for local searches.
Adwords is not only transforming the way in which brands can attract new customers, it is providing marketers with rich signals that hone in on user intent across multiple channels.
Not only that, but with the data analytics in your Adwords account, companies can learn more about market trends, user behaviour and the competition which is vital for devising effective marketing strategies.
Paid Search, Paid Social or Both?
Google, Facebook and other ad publishers provide powerful platforms for marketers. Paid search is achieving incredible results for online businesses, but which PPC campaign will most benefit your business?
The introduction between paid social and paid search has developed push and pull marketing options. Whilst search pulls in prospects actively searching for merchandise, social media can be used to push product awareness.
There is of course a strong claim for companies to utilise both strategies, but for many small businesses, a split budget is not an option. So if you had to choose between paid search and social advertising, what is the best choice?
PPC is a powerful marketing tool in that ads are displayed against an end-users search. This gives the ads relevance. And given the user-intent is focused on the advertised product, the chances of prospects clicking on your ad are increased.
When an end-user keys a search term into the engine, they are also given a list of organic results. And users will typically opt for an organic result over a paid ad.
However, attitudes are changing as organic search results do not always take the user to the page they actually want, but are directed to the Homepage instead.
PPC campaigns give marketers the option to link to landing pages which take searchers directly to the product or service page they are looking for to get further information.
Paid search also guarantees your ad will be displayed on page one of Google, and although there is still a lot of competition, enticing ad copy will increase your chances of a click-through.
Now that social media networks have pulled the plug on free advertising and limit the number of users that have access to your content, paid advertising is the only way for you to place you content in front of followers.
Social ads appear in news feeds of followers and flagged as paid ads. As with Google Adwords, advertisers are only charged when users click on the ads.
Although social ads will be seen by more people than search advertising, the user-intent is not there. Thus there are no guarantees anybody will be interested in your ad.
However, impulse purchasing is a common behaviour and with powerful ad copy, there is the possibility of attracting as much traffic as you would through search engines – if not more.
Having a budget big enough to tackle both search and social advertising is the best option – and arguably an ideal world.
But if you do have to make a choice between search and social, the most sensible thing to do is try them both and see which offers the best ROI. This will take time however as you have to test ads to find the right balance.
Whilst both paid search and social media advertising offers great benefits to companies, the difference in pull and push marketing could make a critical difference for your business.
Unless you are already ranking in the top half of page one Google, or at the very least the top 20, or operate to an extensive long tailed strategy, SEO alone will not earn you the visibility you need to make a significant impression online.
The same can be said for a lone social media strategy. Facebook limits the number of “friends” that receive your posts to just six per cent and Twitter tweets fall off the radar in less than a minute.
Linkedin and Google Plus mostly tailor for B2B contacts and the rest are just looking for work. That doesn’t mean unemployed readers will not engage with your content, but they hardly represent a boost to your profits.
Online marketing used to be a cost-effective means of promoting your company, its services and products. But now social media networks have snared almost half the global population – many of which are businesses – the whoremongers have a levitated position to force companies to pay for their advertising.
And if companies want to make a profit by using online resources, they do not have many options others than forking out for paid advertising. The good news is that statistics show that integrating social ads and search ads generate a higher click-through rate and most importantly improve conversions. There is also the benefit of the ‘halo effect’ which can be derived from building a brand recognition and a type of synergy (the sum of the parts is greater than the whole).
For example, when a user clicks an ad in Linkedin – a social ad – they are redirected to a landing page. Cookies on the landing page flag the user as an interested enquirer thus they become a target for search ads.
You can also identify prospects by allowing them the opportunity to login to your website and create an account using their social network login details. This tactic also gives you access to consumer data.
When you integrate two strategies, you should also integrate teams. A social media team should be aware of what the paid ad team are promoting that month so they can look for social signals and act on them.
If you also have a content marketing team that publish articles, the focus should be on the promoted products or services in the paid ads. The social media team should have a schedule of when articles are published so they can track social engagement.
With limited opportunities to make an impression through organic search, online businesses have little option other than to opt for paid advertising. However, to make the most of your investment, you can still use existing platforms to spread your promotion wider across a targeted audience.
Could Paid Ads Ruin Social Media Marketing Channels?
As far as we know, social media was never designed to become a marketing platform. But inevitably it has. Perhaps that was the plan to make social networks money in the first place. But maybe not.
Either way, we are faced with the reality that social media networks are an easy way for companies to connect with customers and push their products and services on to them.
It’s only a matter of time before social networkers get fed up with receiving irrelevant content and promotional videos. They only joined to hang out with their friends and share news and interests!
Social networks have not done anything to smooth over a growing problem. If anything, they are making it worse. For marketers to get their content seen by more than a handful of prospects, paid advertising is the only way to go.
As a result, unwanted content is appearing newsfeeds of social media users. You have probably seen plenty already. It’s a nuisance isn’t it? And if you think it’s a pain, then so will your audience.
So now, companies are faced with a Catch-22. You either have to shell out for paid advertising or have a limited presence on social media. For the time being, paid advertising on social media may be working for some companies, but how long will it last?
It won’t be long until social networkers are flooded with content companies have paid to sync with their newsfeeds. It is often the case that the recipients have no interest whatsoever in the advert and they inevitably get in the way.
Essentially, paid social media ads are the new pop-up banners. Surveys show that intrusive ads like this are more likely to give your brand a poor reputation with consumers and ruin your chances of acquiring their services through any channel, online or offline.
Marketers got wise to content creation targeting social users. Content should not be advertising, it should be informative, or entertaining. Otherwise you do not get any engagement.
The same can be said for paid advertising. So now companies are having to pay extra to produce the content they were posting before. And it’s not really advertising. Social networks have you by the curlies.
Back to the Catch-22. Do you take advantage of social selling while the grape is ripe, or do you hold off and protect your online reputation and brand name without upsetting anybody?
Whilst social networks will not collapse altogether, it would seem that effective social media marketing is a short-term game. How do you want to come out of it in the long-term?
The human element of engaging with customers on social media has a key role to play, now and in the future, so you need to take the decision what advertising you are prepared to pay for via this channel – lead generation or a sales pitch?
The other option is to quit producing content in the popular networks and use Twitter, Facebook et al for smooching prospects, building an online reputation as an expert and learning about the needs of your audience.
Emerging social media networks are better designed for producing content and have a ready-made audience of readers that are genuinely interested in the topics you are posting.
By all means, reserve content for emerging social sites such as Quora, Medium and Bubblews to drive traffic, but do not expect these sites to generate conversions. Search is still better than social. | 2019-04-20T18:14:31Z | https://www.move-it-marketing.co.uk/paid-ads-v-organic-search-sustainable/ |
Once installed, this small “Hello World” example, inspired by this tutorial but updated for Qt 5, will verify that everything is setup correctly.
Notice that it is important that this file has the extension .cpp, e.g. helloworld.cpp.
Once this file is in place, a Qt .pro project must be generated. (This should only be executed once, to generate the file).
It should generate a Makefile, make or compile the source code, and start the binary. If everything works out, a new application window with a small button like below will appear.
You’d think that there would be a sizable market for a Linux based laptop, but Microsoft maintains its stronghold, and if anything it’s getting harder to buy random hardware and expect it to just work. Due to the UEFI bootloader; Secure Boot; various proprietary buttons solutions; touch screens; and no or little support from the hardware vendors. After doing a bit of research in small and mid-range notebooks and laptops that works with Linux, here’s a brief summary.
Most of the newer devices were evaluated with a USB live version of Ubuntu 16.10 64-bit.
(Disclaimer: This is not meant to be an exhaustive list of all available brands or Linux compatible devices. Please take it as a snapshot in time of the laptops which happened to be available in my local market. Also note, beyond being a consumer of some of the mentioned laptops, I’m not affiliated with any of them).
The Lenovo Thinkpad is still top of the line when it comes to business laptops. After using the Carbon X1 2016 4th generation edition for about half a year, it’s a sure all-time favorite. It’s available with Intel’s 7th generation Skylake CPU at various speeds, it does not get warm and uses little battery, which again makes for long battery life. A full working day without carrying a charger is usually not a problem.
Any Lenovo Thinkpad you’ll pick up will support Linux easily. It has a huge community and following, which means drivers, special buttons, sensors etc. get support quickly. The exception might be some of the more exotic variants of the Yoga Book (which run Android). In general, booting and installing any version of any GNU/Linux distribution is not a problem.
The downside is of course the price. At 1500 to 2500 Euros, it can be a tough pill to swallow if you’re buying new. However, there is also a healthy used-marked, so if you’re willing to wait a bit longer to get the latest tech, it’s a good compromise.
In hardware circles, ASUS is perhaps more famous for their high quality motherboards, but they also have a healthy range of laptops, many of which support Linux. I looked at a few models, with the ZenBook as the clear winner.
These are nice! In fact, there’s a wide range of configurations colors and prices, most with 13.30″ full 1080HD screens, some with touch screens or larger screens. The cheapest version is now around €750 for an Intel m3-7Y30 dual core (4 threads). At only 4.5 W TDP, it does not get warm and is fan-less. It comes with 8 GB RAM and 128 GB SSD which is decent. Best of all, it’s only 1.3 kg, so just as light as the Lenovo Carbon.
There seems to be a few different BIOS versions on these models. The traditional text-based BIOS had no problems booting the Live USB. However, with the UEFI version, a bit of fiddling with Secure Boot and Boot Priority was required. Turning off Secure Boot and making sure USB partition was marked with a “boot” flag fixed it. (Spoiler alert: I’ll get back to this in a another post, as I already bought this machine).
Furthermore, on Ubuntu 16.10, everything works out of the box: Wifi; suspend; all function buttons: volume; screen dimming; flight mode; touch pad enable/disable. Battery life looks promising at around 10 hours.
The higher end versions, with i7 CPUs; 16 GB RAM; 256/512 GB SSD are probably the closest competitors to Lenovo’s light weight laptops at the moment. At about 25% lower price, they might certainly be worth considering.
The Eee line from a few years back were nice super-small “ultrabooks”, albeit somewhat under-powered by today’s standards. A more recent edition, the R105HA is a €240 2-in-1 11″ detachable table and keyboard. It has a USB A slot; it booted to the GRUB menu, but failed to load the Live UI. It could be that it’s not a x64 based CPU at all; not sure.
A bit further up the range, but at similar price there’s the E402SA. It’s a 14″ laptop, with full sized keyboard, but only 2 GB RAM and 32 GB SSD. Still not bad for €280. It booted the Ubuntu live stick fine. Wifi; volume buttons; suspend works. Screen dimming works, but not through the function-buttons. The main downside is the cheap keyboard, where the SPACE-key is hinged in the middle, so it might not register a thumb-click in its corners.
I’m not familiar with this brand, and it could be only a label on generic OEM devices of some kind. However, I thought it was worth including, since they had the cheapest smallest notebook I came across.
This is an 11″ but full 1080HD laptop with a tiny keyboard; think early Asus Eee. The €180 version comes with an Intel Celeron N3060 CPU; 2 GB RAM; 32 GB SSD. It is light, but feels plasticy. And as mentioned, the keyboard is cramped, even for small fingers.
It booted the Ubuntu 16.10 64-bit live image fine, and wifi; volume function keys and suspend all work out of the box. Screen dimming also works, but not through the function buttons (this seems to be a common problem).
There were a few HP and Dell laptops in the shops I went to, but where I tried, none of them would boot the USB image. This could be down to bad luck; the Asus Zenbook was also difficult in UEFI mode, however, I’m not sure they are good options at higher prices than the Zenbook range.
This is one of the long time dedicated Ubuntu Linux hardware retailers. They don’t make their own hardware though, and instead merely put their name on OEM devices. The problem is, as much as I’d like to support a Linux hardware vendor, it comes at a very high price for mid-tier hardware. Of course, they put extra effort into making sure the drives are all available for their products, including keeping their own driver package repository running, but I’m not sure it’s worth it.
The version I have experience with and bought was the “Gazelle Professional” for some $1300. (New edition here). It works and has been running for five years, it’s nice, but extremely heavy even for its time. At some 4 kg with the charger, it can no longer be considered portable. The newer version in the picture above is the Lemur, at 1.6 kg and starting price of $700.
Linus had an interesting observation last week, after it was announced that collisions could be found for the SHA1 hash algorithm. On the “Shattered” page, they declare that everything is broken, from cryptographic signatures to backup systems, and git. Linus however, refutes this, noting that the use of SHA1 in git is not for security, but rather as an identifier for the commit.
In fact, as is pointed out in the comments section of Linus’ post, git could probably have gone with a CRC 160-bit function (the default SHA1 is 160 bits). Or, if there was no need to relate the ID directly to the submitted code, an UUID would also have been fine.
The point is, security does not exist for itself, but rather as a reaction or mitigation to a threat. If the threat is cosmic rays or disk corruption, assuming no other intentional attack, and all that is required is to detect when there is a bit-flip, CRC, MD5, SHA1 are all fine alternatives. However, for dealing with encrypted messages, keys and signatures, other algorithms are needed. As for git, the biggest threat there is not bit-flips, accidental or malicious. Rather, it is the incorrect behaviour and functioning of the code in the repository. And for that, the solution is not hash functions, but unit tests. As Linus points out, you will definitely notice if characters and code is flipped around.
The Linux Foundation is offering a credit card as a way to donate to their cause. There’s an initial $50 price, and then the points which normally gather dust on other credit cards will automatically benefit them. And the card features Tux!
Upgrading from Debian 7 to 8 is reasonably straight forward, following the official instructions. These shorter summaries are also useful references.
Very briefly then, make sure you have backup.
Update /etc/apt/sources.list, and replace all occurrences of wheezy with jessie.
Then comes the upgrade dance, with a few prompts, warnings, questions.
Finally, cross your fingers and reboot.
On the heels of the QNAP NAS setup notes, here’s a fun integration with my home automation system for living room lights.
The idea is to send the same commands from the Kodi app as the custom Android app does to the Arduino controlled relays. Before the movie starts, the lights go off. I’ll skip the details of that code, but point to a few useful pages to get started. It’s simple.
The Kodi Add-on documentation is good. To get started, you need at least two files: The addon.xml configuration, and your Python script, e.g. myaddon.py. These have to be in a directory on the format script.name (more in the linked documentation) and zip-ed in a ZIP file which does not use use compression, as seen below. This zip-file can now be copied to the NAS, and installed from Kodi.
One gottcha is that the addon.xml file cannot contain a final new-line. At least some people have reported that causing a install error.
For an easy way to get started, look at the Hello World add-on example, as well as its source code. It doesn’t get easier than that.
I previously discussed SPF and DKIM setup for the Postfix mail server. Here’s some notes on TLS transport encryption. (Although, maybe those articles should have come in opposite order).
Using a self-signed certificate (which should be fine for small scale usage), setup is rather easy and straight forward. Creating the keys and certificats boils down to these instructions, copied from here. (Similar instructions here).
Modifying /etc/postfix/main.cf, you might end up with something like this, assuming you’ve copied the keys as indicated by the linked article.
Another way to confirm the setup is to send an email to a gmail.com account, and observe the lock status icon on the header field drop-down, explained in detail here.
Finally, the official Postfix documentation and notes on authentication (older doc) might come in handy.
Linux based 32-bit OS, with most common tools and network services available, including SSHD, NFS, SMB, FTPS, rsync.
Setting up NFS shares on the NAS side is straight forward through the web based UI under “Control Panel”. You probably want to create one or more users which match your own client (e.g. laptop) user, and possibly also related group. All this can be achieved through the UI, however, for setting specific user IDs, SSH into the NAS (using the admin account) and edit /etc/passwd and /etc/group. If the IDs are changed, you’ll also have to update /mnt/HDA_ROOT/.config/nfssetting.
The reason for changing the user or group IDs manually might be to match existing IDs on the client machines. In that case, you might also have to provide this option, to make those IDs are actually used by the NAS. This setting is not permanent, so if the NAS is restarted frequently, you might consider a start-up script solution.
The two relevant configuration files for the NFS setup on the NAS are /etc/exports and /mnt/HDA_ROOT/.config/nfssetting. They will be automatically configured by the UI, however some manual tweaking might be needed. I ended up with something like this, for two machines (with DNS names”laptop”, “desktop” – you can also use IP address) and two shares (“pictures”, “video”). The user (UID) and group (GID) ids will match what’s seen in the /etc/passwd and /etc/group files above.
On the client, e.g. laptop or desktop, you’d want to point your NFS mount configuration to the shares created above. However, since either NAS or more likely personal machine will be rebooted, it is useful to configure this through autofs instead of the traditional /etc/fstab config. That way, the shares will be mounted and re-mounted on demand. It will also avoid long waits at boot and shutdown of the client machines.
Edit /etc/auto.master and add the following line, which specify local mount point, and specific configuration files. Note that that has to match with your setup, so you might want to change the names here. As long as the /mnt directory and config file match, you can use whatever names you like.
The share specific configuration is then added in the file referenced above. It assumes you’ve named the shares on the NAS “pictures” and “video”. It also assumes the DNS name of the NAS is “qnap” (or you can use an IP here). Finally, it assumes that the shared group is called “foobar”, which should match the GID 8008 above. That GID should also be present on the client machine.
Through Let’s Encrypt, anybody can now easily obtain and install a free TSL (or SSL) certificate on their web site. The basic use case for a single host is very simple and straight forward to set up as seen here. For multiple virtual hosts, it is simply a case of rinse and repeat.
On older distributions, a bit more effort is required. E.g. on Debian 7 (Wheezy), the required version of the Augeas library (libaugeas0, augeas-lenses) is not available, so the edits to the Apache config files have to be managed by hand. Furthermore, for transitioning from an old HTTP based server, you need to configure the redirects for any old links which still might hard code “http” in the URL. Finally, there’s some security decisions to consider when selecting which encryption protocols and ciphers to support.
Because the installer has only been packaged for newer distributions so far, a manual download is required. The initial execution of the letsencrypt-auto binary will install further dependencies.
To acquire the certificates independently of the running Apache web server, first shut it down, and use the stand-alone option for letsencrypt-auto. Replace the email and domain name options with the correct values.
If you don’t have automated regular backup of /etc, now is a good time to at least backup /etc/letsencrypt and /etc/apache2.
In the Apache config for the virtual host, add a new section (or a new file) for the TSL/SSL port 443. The important new lines in the HTTPS section use the files created above. Please note, this example is for an older Apache version, typically available on Debian 7 Wheezy. See these notes for newer versions.
To automatically redirect links which have hard coded http, add something like this to the old port *.80 section.
To finish, optionally edit /etc/apache2/ports.conf, and add the following line to the SSL section. It enables multiple named virtual hosts over SSL, but will not work on old Windows XP systems. Tough luck.
Finally, restart Apache to activate all the changes.
SSL Labs has an excellent and comprehensive online tool to verify your certificate setup. Fill in the domain name field there, or replace your site name in the following URL, and wait a couple of minutes for the report to generate. It will give you a detailed overview of your setup, what works, and what is recommended to change.
Ideally, you’ll get a grade A as shown in the image below. However, a few more adjustments might be required to get there. It typically has to do with the protocols and ciphers the web server is configured to accept and use. This is of course a moving target as security and cryptography research and attacks evolve. Right now, there are two main considerations to make: All the old SSL protocol versions are broken and obsolete, so should be disabled. Secondly, there’s an attack on the RC4 cipher, but disabling that is a compromise, albeit old, between its insecurity and the “BEAST” attack. Thus, disabling RC4 now seems to be preferred.
Taking all this into account, the recommended configuration for Apache and OpenSSL as it stands excludes all SSL versions, as well as RC4 versions. This should result in a forward secrecy configuration. Again, this is a moving target, so this will have to be updated in the future.
To make these changes, edit the Apache SSL mod file /etc/apache2/mods-available/ssl.conf directly, or update the relevant virtual host site config file with the following lines.
SSLCipherSuite "EECDH+ECDSA+AESGCM EECDH+aRSA+AESGCM EECDH+ECDSA+SHA384 EECDH+ECDSA+SHA256 EECDH+aRSA+SHA384 EECDH+aRSA+SHA256 EECDH+aRSA+RC4 EECDH EDH+aRSA RC4 !aNULL !eNULL !LOW !3DES !MD5 !EXP !PSK !SRP !DSS !RC4 !ECDHE-RSA-RC4-SHA"
Restart Apache, and regenerate the SSL Labs report. Hopefully, it will give you a grade A.
On a blog like this, it certainly makes sense to put in some effort to update static pages, and make sure that new articles are formatted correctly. However, going through all the hundreds of old articles might not be worth it. When they roll off the main page, the green icon will also show here.
Make sure the server is not an open mail relay.
Verify that the sender and server IP addresses are not blacklisted.
Apply a Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) and the same host name as the PTR record.
Set a Sender Policy Framework (SPF) DNS record.
Configure DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) on the sending server and DNS.
“Sender Policy Framework (SPF) is a simple email-validation system designed to detect email spoofing by providing a mechanism to allow receiving mail exchangers to check that incoming mail from a domain comes from a host authorized by that domain’s administrators”. [Wikipedia]. It is configured through a special TXT DNS record, and further setup on the sending part is not required.
This guide outlines the parameters, and the easiest way to get started is actually this Microsoft provided online wizard. Given a domain, it will guide you through the settings and present you with the DNS record to add at the end. If the domain already has a SPF record, it will verify it, and also take the current settings into account through the steps.
Configuration is quite straight forward on Postfix, and this guide shows a typical setup and some common pitfalls. If the same email server caters for multiple domains, an alternative configuration is required. This guide covers those details. Another DNS TXT record on the domain is also required. Finally, once the setup is complete, this tool can be used to verify the DNS record.
For both SPF and DKIM, the setup can also be verified by sending an email to [email protected]. In addition, an email can be sent to any Gmail account, and by viewing the original message and headers, an extra Authentication-Results header can be seen. See the last guide for further details. | 2019-04-20T12:53:41Z | https://hblok.net/blog/posts/category/linux/ |
In this commentary, the Gospel of Mark is presented as a dramatic narrative, which means not simply that the content is dramatic, but that Mark has constructed a Gospel which is in essence a play, divine and cosmic in its implications. Mark functions as a natural dramatist in how he presents material and how he structures the events in Jesus' life. As the first written Gospel, and with the oral tradition more apparent on the surface, Mark is sometimes seen as simplistic and even shapeless, but the Gospel of Mark is formed with great care. Martens argues that the Gospel can be divided into six Acts, each with many scenes. Each Act is at the service of Mark's overall purpose, to explain and unfold not only the identity of the Messiah, but the destiny of the Messiah and his followers. In addition, Mark draws the reader into his narrative, so that the reader becomes one of the disciples following along the journey with Jesus, a point that will become more apparent as read this commentary on the Gospel of Mark.
The Gospel of Mark Commentary is the first of the Bible Junkies Commentaries which will ultimately cover the entire New Testament. The commentaries will emerge, like the Gospel of Mark Commentary, on the Bible Junkies website in a series of weekly installments which will then be revised and crafted for book form. The goal is to bring solid biblical scholarship to as broad a readership as possible and to make this scholarship accessible to anyone who is interested in exploring the Bible. The goal of Bible Junkies is not to create controversy and rancor, but to create meaning and to provide readers with comprehensive insights into each book of the New Testament. The ultimate goal is to addict you to the truth, to make you a Bible Junkie.
All rights reserved. With the exception of short passages quoted in a review, no part of this book may be reproduced without the prior permission of the author and Red Maple Press.
complete online commentary / John W. Martens.
1. Bible. N.T. Mark--Commentaries. I. Title.
Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
High praise for John W. Martens’ The Gospel of Mark . . .
"John Martens reminds us that the Gospel of Mark is a dramatic book—with an energetic Jesus moving rapidly from one exciting moment to the next. Martens’ book is a terrific invitation to encounter Jesus of Nazareth in all his immediacy and excitement. Bringing together deep learning with his trademark flair for clean, clear, direct prose, Martens offers us one of the most creative and innovative books on the Gospel that I've read in years."
What the author wants you to know . . .
"The Gospel of Mark Commentary is the first of the Bible Junkies Commentaries which will ultimately cover the entire New Testament. The commentaries will emerge, like the Gospel of Mark Commentary, on the website www.biblejunkies.com in a series of weekly installments which will then be revised and crafted for book form. The goal is to bring solid biblical scholarship to as broad a readership as possible and to make this scholarship accessible to anyone who is interested in exploring the Bible. The goal of Bible Junkies is not to create controversy and rancor, but to create meaning and to provide readers with comprehensive insights into each book of the New Testament. The ultimate goal is to addict you to the truth, to make you a Bible Junkie."
I want to thank my readers for following the Bible Junkies blog, for using the blog posts in Bible studies, for commenting on the posts, and for encouraging me to put the posts together in book form. I appreciate your engagement and investment in this product. I hope you find pleasure and insight in the book. I also must thank Eric Larson of the University of St. Thomas who helped me with all technical aspects of the blog and who continues to help me today. I could not have started the blog without him. Apart from his technical help, we have great discussions about the Bible. It is almost a treat to have a problem with the blog because then Eric drops by to help me out! I also need to thank Isaac Alderman and Fr. Juan Miguel Betancourt who joined the blog in 2013 and have made it better than it was before with their writing, their insight and their ideas. I hope someday you see Bible Junkies commentaries written by them.
I want also to thank Fr. Jim Martin from America Magazine for agreeing to read the manuscript for me. He has supported me in numerous ways and his constant trust and belief in me has been a source of genuine spiritual comfort. I need to thank also Janelle Peters for reading the manuscript for me and giving me feedback on the text. It is much appreciated. I need as well to thank Gabriella Galvez for what I consider stunning book art. She read the posts and grasped exactly what I was attempting to do in this book. I still remember looking at her original watercolors and being blown away by her artistic gifts.
Many more thanks go to Red Maple Press for agreeing to publish this book for me. My brother Jim Martens started the press a few years ago and he knew what I was looking for in this book: a book designed and geared for a broad readership and e-book formats to reach as many people as cheaply as possible. We want this book to be accessible in every way and Red Maple Press and Jim have made that a reality, working every step of the way with the project from inception to completion. I thank him for his diligent work, commitment to the book and constant support. And while most people do not necessarily love the press for whom they are writing, I love this one, not because of the careful attention to the book, though that does not hurt, but because I love my brother! His love for me and my work shine through in all of his labors. This book would not have happened without him. You will be hearing more from Red Maple Press and the Bible Junkies in the future.
Finally, this is a different book than I have ever written before, not because it was written for an online forum, but because it was written in increments, week by week, blog post by post, first at Bible Junkies and then cross-posted at the America Magazine blog The Good Word. As a result, it did not seem like an onerous task, but a part of my life. It also became a part of my family’s life as they could find me at the desk or in the dining room, tapping out my words, slowly but persistently, as I finished my posts morning after morning. Much of my writing was done in the early mornings of the weekend after Hunter the dog and I would come back from our morning walks. This book, then, emerged out of a normal family life and routine. Apart from Hunter the dog, who curls up near me while I write, I want to thank my family, my son Sam, my wife Tabitha (and my son Jake when he visits us) for putting up with my routine and allowing me to put in the ear buds and zone out while I wrote. I also appreciate Tabitha’s constant support, her faith in me, and her advice on my writing when needed. She read many of the original blog posts for me and then read the final draft at the end of the project, making the final suggestions and edits. I feel lucky and blessed to spend my days writing about the Bible and to have a family who loves me, supports me and understands my need to write. I love my family. I am not sure I deserve them, as I am the least of the husbands and fathers, unfit to be called a father or husband many days, but I am what I am by the grace of God. So, I thank God for my family and the ability to carry out my work. It’s all grace at the end of the day.
I think that the Gospel of Mark is a dramatic narrative, by which I mean not simply that the content is dramatic, which it is, but that Mark has constructed a Gospel which is in essence a play, a drama, albeit divine and cosmic in its implications. This does not mean that I think that Mark is ahistorical, only that each Gospel author had to make choices in how their Gospels were constructed and Mark functions as a natural dramatist in how he presents material and how he structures the events in Jesus’ life.
As the first written Gospel, and with the oral tradition more apparent on the surface, Mark is sometimes seen as simplistic and even shapeless, but I will argue that the Gospel of Mark is formed with great care, shaped by a series of six Acts, with many scenes, naturally, comprising each Act. Each Act is at the service of Mark’s overall purpose, to explain and unfold not only the identity of the Messiah, but the destiny of the Messiah and his followers.
Mark draws the reader into his narrative, so that the reader himself becomes one of the disciples following along the journey with Jesus, a point that will become more apparent as we move deeper into our study of the Gospel.
This study, however, is not a traditional academic study of the Gospel of Mark, though it draws on my own academic training, research and teaching, but an online study that emerged from my blog Bible Junkies. My goal in beginning this commentary was to present a study of Mark on the internet that was influenced by serious research on the Gospel but that was presented in such a way as to make it accessible to general readers with little or no formal study in the Bible. A part of that goal was to demystify the process of studying the Bible and allow people the freedom and opportunity to read the biblical texts with the same sort of questions they would bring to literature of any kind. Related to this was the aim of presenting the Gospel without recourse to rancor, controversy, apologetics or polemics. It is not that I do not have a point of view about Mark—I do, I consider it Scripture, the word of God—but so much about religion, biblical studies and theology on the web is presented in diatribes, attacks and defenses. I wanted to avoid that and let people ask their own questions, guided by reflection and thoughtfulness.
This stance was driven by my concerns that the Bible is too often seen as a place of internecine fighting amongst Christians when it should be a source of unity, or a weapon used to hurt people who disagree with one’s particular reading of the Bible instead of a means to create understanding. I have been guided in this by my own writing on the internet, both at www.biblejunkies.com and at www.americamagazine.org, where I have seen attacks and counterattacks on pieces I have written with little consideration for what I have actually said. I want to take the Apostle Paul’s exhortation as my own: Let your gentleness be known to everyone (Phil. 4:5). This attitude should drive all engagement with biblical study, even when essential disagreements take place, and authors and readers should always ask themselves, Could I be wrong? Differences in understanding are normal and they should be a way to engage questions more deeply not cut off conversation.
I have also been influenced by Antonio Spadaro, S.J., author of the book Cybertheology, who challenges biblical scholars and theologians on the internet to think about how the World Wide Web ought to change our discourse about the Bible. I was able to meet with him in Rome in January 2013, and he asked me whether the internet should change the way in which the Bible is communicated and whether the internet needed a specific form of writing on the Bible. I have thought about these questions a lot and I have no final answers, but I do think that the internet should influence writing on the Bible in these ways, which I hope come through in my writing: accessibility; caution; and engagement.
Accessibility is meant in two ways: the Bible should be made available to as many people as possible, which by virtue of being on the web it is; and the writing should be thoughtful and measured, but not soaked in academic language or sources. This is why the The Gospel of Mark: A Bible Junkies Complete Online Commentary has so few footnotes. Many people turn off when they see scholars at play, feeling that the text is being distanced from them, and although this sort of technical writing has its place, even on the web, my purpose is to bring people into conversation with a serious study of the Bible without academic accoutrements and then let them track these sources down if they become engaged or interested with more technical study. At the end of this book I supply a Bibliography of academic studies on the Gospel of Mark that have influenced me and that I think would be helpful for further and deeper reading.
By caution I mean that the web is notoriously unforgiving of what is written for it and once placed online the words live on, perhaps not for eternity, but for long enough to last the writer’s lifetime. As a result, when writing about the Bible, one must be careful about what one says and how one says it. Since one can have a thought, write it and post it to the world in a period of minutes, it puts an increased burden on writers on the Bible. In academic circles, peer review takes place in a number of ways, at conferences, in seminars, and when one sends an article or book for publication, and this process allows for sober second thoughts, clarification and the time to smooth over errors and rhetorical excesses. The rapidity of publication on the net places the writer in the position of being able to reach readers quickly but also sometimes to forgo caution before sending out one’s thoughts to the world. An author, therefore, writing on the Bible for the web needs to have a constant attitude of restraint and attentiveness, especially because the material can reach everyone and anyone so rapidly.
There is one final way, though, in which I think the Bible needs a specific form of writing for the net: it must be engaging. Some academic writing will be complex, in depth and technical; some issues are difficult and require specific expertise. When writing on the Bible for the web, one must be aware of keeping the writing engaging and open to interested readers of all levels. This means that when difficult issues are faced, the readers should be alerted to the problems, but not made to drown in technicalities. They should be pointed to trustworthy sources for further study if it interests them. For me, engaging writing on the Bible is direct, clear and connected to the life experiences of both the figures in the biblical text and current readers. Writing on the Bible should not distance us from the Bible, but draw us closer to its characters, its world and its ideas. Engagement, though, does not mean dumbing down writing or ideas, just keeping it free from jargon and insiders language. In practice, this often just means letting readers in on what the issues are in the academic context and then moving on with the narrative.
These are the goals of The Gospel of Mark: A Bible Junkies Complete Online Commentary: to be accessible, cautious, and engaging, but never to speak down to readers. It is a process in which I hope to clear away those things which might keep people from having an encounter with the Gospel and allow people to read the Gospel with new eyes or in a new way. And if, in this process, they become Bible Junkies, so much the better. But these are not just the goals of The Gospel of Mark: A Bible Junkies Complete Online Commentary; these are the goals of the Bible Junkies Complete Online Commentary Series. I hope over the next years to write a Bible Junkies Complete Online Commentary for the web on every book of the New Testament. There are 27 texts in the New Testament, some short, some long, but this will be a long, ongoing project, taking many years to complete. If you have any thoughts on the project, such as ideas regarding which texts to write on next, or if you want to join in on the project in some way, please contact me at [email protected] or www.biblejunkies.com.
I consider that the first 13 verses of chapter one function as a Prologue to the drama, to set the scene for what is about to take place, the story of the Messiah who once lived in the midst of the people, largely unrecognized and rejected, and why his story has implications for every reader. In these 13 verses, the whole notion of the coming Messiah is established, first in terms of language, identifying the story of the Messiah as good news and the Messiah as son of God and Christ, and second from the promise of the Scriptures that a Messenger would prepare the way of the coming Messiah, drawing from an amalgam of Malachi and Isaiah (1:1-3). Once the premise is established, Mark quickly presents the Messenger, John the Baptist, and the Messenger’s baptism of Jesus (1:4-10), who is identified by God as my son, the beloved (1:11). Following the short and direct Temptation narrative in Mark (1:12-13), the Gospel proper begins.
14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, 15 and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news. 16 As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. 17 And Jesus said to them, Follow me and I will make you fish for people. 18 And immediately they left their nets and followed him. 19 As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. 20 Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.
In the Act 1, Scene 1, Jesus begins his ministry only after John was arrested (1:14), subtly announcing that this is now Jesus’ time, the time for which John at least partially has prepared him and the people who had been going to John for baptism. According to Mark, John’s baptism was for repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins (1:4b-5). John’s baptism and message were necessary to prepare the people and to prepare Jesus, but his time, too, is fulfilled. Mark then begins to create the dramatic tension, as Jesus proclaims the Kingdom of God: The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news (1:15).
While many since the earliest 20th century, beginning with Alfred Loisy, have stated that Jesus pronounced the Kingdom, but what he received was the Church, this quip does not make proper sense of Jesus’ understanding of kingdom or the reality of Church. The whole notion of the basileia, the Greek word for Kingdom, is that of the reign of God. Most of Jesus’ counterintuitive proclamation, and Mark’s counterintuitive writing, is still to be unfolded in the Gospel, but if you expected a Kingdom with towers, parapets, moats and armies, a King lording it over his enemies, your expectations will soon crumble. Nevertheless, a reign of God needs one thing, as does a Kingdom, and that is people. The Church, ekklêsia, a word which is not used in Mark at all, is simply the gathered people of God. Loisy and others have made the same mistake as many who propound a high ecclesiology and that is to think that the nature of the institutionalized Church as structured through buildings and hierarchies is the necessary and essential structure of the Church. This is not an argument against the Church, or the authority of the Church, but a return to the bedrock nature of the Church: those who hear the call of Christ and follow him. Jesus is calling people to belong to the reign of God. What the reign of God is and what it means for those who follow, as well as those who do not, is yet to be unfolded, but for Jesus to proclaim the Kingdom is to expect that people will hear the call and respond to the call and enter the Kingdom, however ill-defined it is to the initial hearers of the word.
This is Jesus’ first task, creating the Church, and so he calls four men, two pairs of brothers, from their livelihoods and families. Simon and Andrew, James and John, immediately follow Jesus. Here we have the oral style of Mark, the spartan, pared down narrative, in which actions speak louder than words, at least for those of us reading. Mark would certainly know that more was present in the call of Jesus to his first disciples, but what matters to Mark is that they hear the call, respond and follow. Mark’s use of euthus, immediately, gives the Gospel its narrative push all throughout the Gospel: it speaks of orality, the fast paced plot does not stop for needless description, but also builds dynamic tension: why do they follow? How could you leave your family business to follow this teacher? What draws them to this man immediately ? Rarely does Mark draw us into the inner life of his characters, with the significant exception of Jesus, and so we must derive intent from their actions and the unfolding plot. What will happen next?
21 They went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught. 22 They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. 23 Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, 24 and he cried out, What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God. 25 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, Be silent, and come out of him! 26 And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. 27 They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, What is this? A new teaching—with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him. 28 At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee. | 2019-04-19T04:37:17Z | https://ar.scribd.com/book/280059867/The-Gospel-of-Mark |
Many promise, but we deliver!
This page will discuss the three employment-based immigration options: first preference, or EB-1, for priority workers, second preference, or EB-2, for members of professions holding advanced degrees or individuals of exceptional ability, and third preference, or EB-3, for professionals and skilled workers.
The law on employment-based immigration is codified in INA of 1952. To obtain any of the above-mentioned immigrant statuses, the petitioner must demonstrate that the foreign worker is one of the best in his field of expertise or that there are no American workers who are able, willing, available and qualified to fill the position.
Statutory Authority. Section 203(b)(1)of the INA allocates 28.6 percent of the total number of employment-based immigrant visas per year to priority workers in the three EB-1 subcategories: workers of extraordinary ability, outstanding professors and researchers and multinational executives and managers.
When evaluating whether a worker qualifies for any of the EB-1 subcategories, the EB-2 category, which is for individuals of exceptional ability in the sciences, arts or business under INA §203(b)(2); and workers of exceptional ability in the sciences, visual or performing arts under Schedule A, Group II, codified at INA §212(a)(5)(A)(ii)(II) should also be considered. These alternatives are discussed below.
Per Section 8 CFR § 204.5(h)(2), extraordinary ability signifies that the individual has risen to the very top of his field of endeavor, whether it be in the sciences, arts, education or business. In addition, his extraordinary ability has been recognized through extensive documentation. A single achievement, such as receipt of a major, internationally recognized award like a Nobel or Pulitzer Prize satisfies the requirement set forth in 8 CFR § 204.5(h)(3). If the applicant utilizes less notable awards as proof of eligibility, he must provide documentation evincing that it compares favorably to more prestigious ones.
If the above criteria do not apply, 8 CFR § 204.5(h)(4) allows for “other comparable evidence”. In preparing this type of application, our office always considers the applicant’s background and work in the United States to select either the category of extraordinary ability or that of outstanding researcher or professor since they require similar evidence. Sometimes, it is recommended to file petitions for all available categories. Section 203(b)(1)(A)(iii) of the INA requires that the applicant’s work will “…substantially benefit prospectively the United States.” Furthermore, the applicant’s profession must be in the arts, sciences, business, education or athletics.
Filing Procedure. The alien or petitioning employer must file an immigrant petition for alien worker on Form I-140 with USCIS service center having jurisdiction over the alien’s place of future employment. Each service center lists detailed documentary requirements for this petition. At the very minimum, the petition should contain the evidence in support of extraordinary ability discussed above. It is important to note that aliens of extraordinary ability are not required to have a job offer or obtain a labor certification from the DOL.
To qualify as an outstanding professor or researcher, INA § 203(b)(1)(B) requires the foreign national to be internationally recognized as outstanding in his academic field; have a minimum of three years of experience in teaching or research in that field; and enter the United States in a tenured or tenure-track teaching position at a university or other institution of higher education. The alien may also work in a comparable research a university or other such institution as well as with a private employer under certain circumstances that can be determined on a case-by-case basis.
To qualify for the status of outstanding professor or researcher, the position must be permanent, as defined at 8 CFR §204.5(i)(2). This definition comprises tenured and tenure-track positions for indefinite or unlimited duration with the expectation of continued employment. Please note that an offer of employment of indefinite duration, but terminable at will, likely will satisfy the requirement of permanent employment.
As noted above, the employer need not be a university or educational institution; it can be a private company. However, to apply for this visa category, the company must employ at least three full-time researchers. The private employer also must have documented accomplishments in an academic field.
Required Experience. The outstanding professor or researcher must have at least three years of experience in pre-advanced-degree research gained. However, any combination of teaching or research totaling three years will serve to meet the experience requirement. The law does not require a doctorate degree in order to qualify for the position. Both the degree and research must be recognized as outstanding. In addition, pre-degree teaching experience is acceptable if the individual acquired the degree and had full responsibility for the course. Also, any experience gained with the petitioning employer will qualify. .
Authorship of scholarly books or articles in journals with international circulation.
Section 8 CFR §204.5(i)(3)(i) requires that the petitioning employer provide evidence that the beneficiary is internationally recognized in his academic field. USCIS accepts that the beneficiary may well be stronger in one evidentiary area than another, but the evidence must indicate that the applicant fits the overall classification. The employer must petition on Form I-140 since the applicant cannot submit a petition on his own. If the applicant changes employment, the new employer must file another petition on Form I-140.
Qualifying Multinational Relationship. The petitioner must be an American employer that is an affiliate or subsidiary of the firm, corporation or other legal entity that employed the alien abroad, as required 8 CFR § 204.5(j)(3)(i)(C). Further, 8 CFR § 204.5(j)(2) defines an affiliate as one of two subsidiaries that is owned or controlled by the same parent, individual or group of individuals, as long as each owns and controls approximately the same share. The term “affiliate” also includes certain international accounting firms that market their services under an internationally recognized name.
Managerial or Executive Capacity. The beneficiary must possess qualifying experience and be offered a managerial or executive position in the United States.
exercise of discretion over the day-to-day operations of the activity or function for which the employee has authority.
The beneficiary does not need to manage staff. Management of one of the key functions of the company is sufficient. Further, 8 CFR § 204.5(j)(4)(i) states that first-line supervisors, even if directly managing the work of subordinate employees, do not meet the definition of managerial capacity unless those supervised are professionals.
general guidance or direction from high-level executives, the board of directors or stockholders of the organization.
Statutory Authority. Section § 203(b)(2)(A) of the INA allocates a certain percentage of employment-based immigrant visas to EB-2, second-preference workers category. Two categories comprise the EB-2 classification, specifically, workers who are members of the professions holding advanced degrees or their equivalent, and those who, because of their exceptional ability in the sciences, arts or business, will substantially benefit prospectively the national economy, cultural or educational interests or welfare of the United States.
Pursuant to 8 CFR § 204.5(k)(4)(i), any American employer can file a petition in this category when the job requires an advanced degree and the alien possesses such a degree. Further, 8 CFR § 204.5(k)(2) defines an advanced degree as beyond the baccalaureate. Professions include, but are not limited to, the occupations listed in INA §101(a)(32) as well as any occupation for which a baccalaureate degree, American or foreign equivalent, is the minimum requirement for entry into the occupation.
If a beneficiary has a baccalaureate degree plus five years of progressive experience in the field, the degree and experience may serve as the equivalent of a master’s degree. If the beneficiary does not possess baccalaureate or master’s degree, then he may not qualify for this status on his experience. Furthermore, the beneficiary may not substitute experience for a doctorate degree. INS’ Memorandum, “Educational and Experience Requirements for Employment Based Second Preference (EB-2) Immigrants”, March 20, 2000, defines progressive experience as an increasingly advanced level of responsibility and knowledge.
recognition for achievements and significant contributions to the industry or field by peers, governmental entities or professional or business organizations.
USCIS might accept other comparable evidence which is based on a case-by-case basis, specifically the position sought and the beneficiary’s educational and professional experience.
Filing Procedure. The petitioning employer must first obtain a labor certification submitted by the employer on Form ETA-9089 from DOL. The petitioner does not need to provide a certified labor certification if he will serve the national interest or is a worker under one of DOL’s Schedule A categories found at 20 CFR § 656.5 and 656.15. Schedule A categories are not limited to those of second preference.
The national-interest waiver (the “NIW”) is a job-offer requirement for an individual who wants to immigrate to the United States in the second-preference category. This option is available to professionals holding advanced degrees or of exceptional ability in the arts, sciences or business. The INA or other applicable regulations do not provide for the definition of “the national interest”. Currently, USCIS uses the criteria discussed in Matter of New York State Department of Transportation (the “NYSDOT”), the Administrative Appeals Office’s (AAO) decision of August 7, 1998.
Petitioner must show that he seeks employment in an “area of substantial intrinsic merit”. Although USCIS has not explained in detail what constitutes such an area, it determined that, in the NYSDOT case, the petitioner satisfied this part of the test.
Petitioner must show that the proposed benefit is national in scope. In NYSDOT, the AAO found that the alien’s work was national in scope because he worked on New York’s roads and bridges which, in turn, connected to the state and national transportation system. AAO also found that the proper maintenance and operation of these bridges and roads served the interest of other regions of the United States.
Our office will carefully evaluate your eligibility under the current NIW standards, as well as regional differences inherent in USCIS when determining the viability of a petition for this waiver.
Generally, a petitioner must file an EB-2 petition together with an approved individual labor certification. Exceptions to the labor-certification requirement (referred to as precertification) are available for positions under Schedule A, Group I and Group II occupations.
display of the alien’s work at artistic exhibitions in more than one country.
documents attesting to the outstanding reputation of theaters or repertory companies, ballet troupes, orchestras or other organizations in or with which the alien has performed during the past year in a starring capacity.
other workers (fewer than two years’ experience required for the position).
Skilled workers are those in positions that require a minimum of two years of training or experience. Relevant post-secondary education counts as training. The requirements of the job offer as stated on the application for permanent employment certification, Form ETA-9089, determine whether a job is skilled. In drafting labor certifications, the employer should determine whether a job matches a position on the O*NET Occupations site, available online at www.flcdatacenter.com, and the job zone is at least a 3 (corresponding to a specific vocational preparation code of greater than 6 but less than 7 from the old Dictionary of Occupational Titles (two to four years’ experience required) so that the position will be classified as skilled. Pursuant to 8 CFR § 204.5(1)(4), if the position is precertified under Schedule A, then the petitioner must show, either by industry standards or its own practice, that the job requires at least two years of experience.
According to 8 CFR § 204.5(1)(3)(C), professionals must possess a baccalaureate degree or foreign equivalent, and the petitioner must demonstrate that such a degree is a normal requirement for entry into the occupation.
Other workers include those whose positions require fewer than two years of higher education, training or experience. Please note that this visa category has been traditionally backlogged and for some countries the waiting period ranges from six to ten years. Therefore, our office works closely with the petitioner and his sponsoring employer to determine whether there are alternative routes to permanent residence.
Filing Procedures. Petitioner must file an immigrant petition for alien worker on I-140 with USCIS service center having jurisdiction over the place of employment. For an EB-3 visa, the petitioner must attach a labor certification or Schedule A application attesting that the beneficiary is exempt from the labor certification requirement as well as a letter for a permanent, full-time job offer. The petition should also include evidence that the individual meets the requirements for the job set forth in the labor certification.
Concurrent Filing. Currently, in certain circumstances, USCIS allows concurrent filing of Forms I-140 and I-485, Application for Adjustment of Status. This is permitted when an immigrant visa is immediately available to the alien, or would be immediately available if the I-140 petition were approved on the date of filing.
Filings in Multiple EB Categories. It is sometimes an appropriate strategy to file two immigrant petitions, such as an EB-1 worker of extraordinary ability and an EB-2 for a national-interest petition. In some cases, the sponsoring employer may wish to proceed with a labor certification while an EB-1 or EB-2 petition is pending. The regulations do not limit the number of immigrant petitions that may be filed on behalf of a foreign-national worker. Similarly, if there are visas available under the third preference, but not under the second, our office often considers filing the petition under the third preference.
Priority Date. If a labor certification is required, then the priority date is that when the labor certification is accepted for processing at www.plc.DOLeta.gov. Otherwise, the priority date is that when the Form I-140 visa petition is properly filed with USCIS. The priority date attaches to the foreign national upon approval of the I-140 petition. These petitions are valid indefinitely unless revoked. Sometimes, priority dates may be lost due to failure to respond timely to DOL or USCIS’ requests for evidence during processing, the employer’s notice of withdrawal due to lack of intent to employ the alien following approval of the adjustment of status or the automatic revocation of Form I-140 petition due to the employer’s liquidation or sale.
Ability to Pay Wage. The petitioning employer must also provide evidence that the employer is able to pay the offered wage as of the alien’s priority date. USCIS accepts copies of financial statements, federal tax returns and payroll reports as evidence of the petitioner’s ability to pay. To determine whether the employer is able to pay the wage, USCIS will ensure that the employer currently pays the proffered wage and that the employer’s balance sheet and income statement are solid. If the alien works for the employer, copies of payroll checks, W-2 forms or the beneficiary’s tax returns provide evidence of his ability to pay the petitioner such wages.
Portability. AC21 §106(c) permits employment-based adjustment of status applicants, whose I-485 applications have been pending for more than 180 days and which remain unadjudicated, to change jobs and employers as long as they remain in the same or similar occupational classification. In addition, USCIS will consult O*Net to determine whether an alien transfers or “ports” to the same or similar occupation. The geographic location of the new employment and, thus, a difference in the wage offered are not relevant unless the difference is significant, which suggests that the position may not be similar. The portability provisions of AC21 are available to multinational managers and executives who might be porting to unrelated businesses. Furthermore, the ability to pay is not relevant with regard to the new employer except to determine the legitimacy of the job offer. An alien can also port to self-employment. This, however, might raise questions about the intent of the parties at the time of filing the application for labor certification.
Porting is not possible if the I-140 is withdrawn before the I-485 has been pending fewer than 180 days or when it is denied or revoked (unless the revocation was based on a withdrawal made after the I-485 had been pending 180 days or more). A new job offer is required in the same or similar occupation at the time the I-485 is being adjudicated under the adjustment-portability previsions.
Labor-certification Substitutions. Under certain circumstances, an employer may substitute an alien beneficiary into a labor certification previously approved for another foreign worker provided that the substituted beneficiary met all of the required qualifications set forth on Form ETA-9089 on the date that the labor certification was originally filed.
The three preferences discussed above provide a wide range of employment-based immigration alternatives. Contact our office to determine whether you might qualify under any categories discussed above.
After meeting with 6-8 other immigration lawyers located all over the country, I found more than what i was looking for in Evita. She is honest, knowledgeable, ethical and hard working. | 2019-04-24T12:44:49Z | https://toluimmigration.com/green-card/employment-immigration/employment-based |
On December 23rd Herriman makes his final plea of the season for the Salvation Army, and then on the 24th gives a play at the Belasco the equivalent of a lump of coal in their stocking.
Out in Minot, North Dakota, a little woman is teaching a district school. The teacher is well satisfied with her work, but, when the school day is over and the necessary hours have been given to the task set for her by the district board, this little woman takes up her drawing board and her pencils and sitting alone in her little room looks out across the wide expanse of a snow-covered country and dreams.
The district school house fades away and she is in a newspaper office hard at work on a cartoon that with each stroke of the pen shapes itself into a direct appeal to the women of the new day. Men may not understand it, but the women will, for it is a message from a woman to the women.
It is only a dream now, but Miss Emma M. Gordon, district school teacher in Minot, N. D., is sure that the dream is to come true. School takes up many hours of her day and the planning of future work takes many hours of her evenings, but still she finds time to work at her drawing board training herself for the future.
Already she is a cartoonist, and her drawings are appearing regularly, but she is not satisfied with her work, and so she continues with her school and devotes her spare hours to her cartoons.
Miss Gordon is a socialist, and she believes that when she has had an opportunity to speak to the women through the medium of her cartoons she will have many converts to her cause. She believes that the woman of today is a thinking being, not a stolid household drudge, and she is convinced that women cartoonists alone will be able to appeal to the women.
"Women," she says, "are today entering fields which for centuries have been occupied mainly by men. In many branches women, yea, children, are taking the places formerly held by men. Look at our factories, our mills!
"Can we not in this field show up by cartoons our present industrial system which takes the lives of men, women and children, and grinds them up into so much profit?
"Cannot the cartoon show the CAUSE of the social evil? When we do away with the cause, won't we do away with the social evil? As a socialist, I, of course, believe we can't do away with the social evil until you first change the system that is the direct cause of it. Why not show it from a socialist standpoint? Why not educate women by cartoons how to use their vote properly when they do finally attain their right to vote? When once women understand Socialism Capitalism is doomed.
"Women are home-lovers. Capitalistic newspapers have given them the impression that Socialism will destroy the home. That's an old bogey, used by Capitalism to frighten men and women away from Socialism. The way to treat 'bogeys' is to walk right up to them and investigate them.
"The pen of the cartoonist is the weapon that should be used in ripping open these shams and a woman cartoonist working for the cause of Socialism could be able to present the woman's point of view in regards to our industrial, social and political questions.
"Of all the women I have ever talked with about Socialism these four objections—free love, against religion, destroying the home, and "dividing up"—seemed to be the only objections women have to Socialism. Can not some cartoonist—a woman—educate them to a knowledge of Socialism by destroying these bogeys? For they are but bogeys continually brought forward by the enemies of Socialism and bogeys that I could make short work of if space permitted.
"We need these women cartoonists to depict the woman's point of view as well as the world needs the men cartoonists who look at everything from the man's point of view."
Miss Gordon was born in Visnaes, a little town in Norway. When she was still a child her father died and the family removed to Haugesund on the west coast of Norway. There she lived an open air life, learned to love the sea and the mountains and the independent spirit of the natives. She was nine years old when the family left Norway for Minnesota. She lived in Glenville, Minn., until she was eighteen years old, when she accepted a position as teacher in a North Dakota district school.
Her first cartoon to be published appeared in the Minnesota Socialist, the organ of the Minnesota Socialist party, one year ago, and since that time she has contributed many strong picture editorials to that and other papers.
More ammunition for the argument that women can't draw. Our little commie here sure can't. Best lady cartoonists i(n my opinion);Grace Weiderseim and Rose O'Neill.
But ain't she just the cutest li'l Commie?
Emma Marie Gordon was born in Visnaes, Norway on January 29, 1889, according to her U.S. Naturalization Record which was processed on December 14, 1945. At the time she lived at 2005 Hillside Avenue, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
In the 1900 U.S. Federal census she lived with her mother, Bertha, and older brother, Amos, on Main Street in Glenville Village in Shell Rock Township, Freeborn County, Minnesota. According to this census the family immigrated in 1897 but in subsequent census records the date is 1898. The "Cartoon" article said Gordon was 18 years old when she moved to North Dakota to teach; the year would have been 1907.
Gordon lived in Soo, North Dakota, near the Canadian border, in 1910. Her occupation was "Teacher" at a "Public School". According to the book, Minnesota Prints and Printmakers, 1900-1945, "Gordon was a student at the Minneapolis School of Arts in 1913 and 1914. She won a scholarship and several awards there."
The 1920 census has Gordon and her mother in Minneapolis at 2440 13th Avenue. The census enumerator recorded Gordon's occupation as "Art Girl" employed at an "Art Shop". Minnesota Prints and Printmakers, 1900-1945 said, "In 1921 she entered the Annual Exhibition of the Work of Local Artists at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts; three of her submissions were accepted." Also in 1921 she copyrighted five prints.
Catalog of Copyright Entries. Part 4. Works of Art, Etc.
page 335: Gordon (Emma Marie) Minneapolis.
Christmas greetings. [Girl with Christmas packages] — Merry Christmas.
against holly to cry, etc., old English carol. [Noel with a mandolin] © Oct.
24, 1921 ; 2 c. each Oct. 27, 1921 ; K 159754-159758.
Mother and daughter were at the same address in 1930. Gordon was an "Artist" in the "Commercial" industry. "In the 1930s and 1940s she is listed in the Minneapolis City Directory as an artist or commercial artist. (The one exception is 1941, when she is listed as 'Artist, Walker Art Center.')", according to Minnesota Prints and Printmakers, 1900-1945.
The date of Gordon's passing is not known.
I can't let Cole Johnson's blanket putdown of women artists pass without comment. Many talented and skilled women have made successful careers both in illustration and cartooning.
Part of the reason there weren't more of them was the patronizing attitude expressed in this article about the "little woman" and her cartoons.
Having said that, this sample still isn't a very good drawing. Gordon was still young; maybe she improved over time. Or maybe she didn't.
What surprises me is how non-judgmental the article is about the little lady's politics. Even in 1913 socialists seldom got a pass in the mainstream media.
An interesting sidelight is the heavily retouched photo. I have an old commercial art instruction book with a section about retouching photos for newspaper reproduction. It essentially tells you to paint out everything but the head, then go back and paint in "better-looking" clothes and background. To me the results always looked lousy, no matter how poor newspaper reproduction was Gordon's portrait is no exception.
Calling her a 'commie' is cute, but she's listed as a Socialist, not a communist. Potentially a big difference- especially back then when each of those parties hd large numbers of adherents compared to today. Remember that the Communists collaborated with the Nazis to bring down the Socialists in thirties Germany.
Thanks for posting this interesting story. I had noticed that Cartoons Magazine featured a number of women cartoonists during those years.
There have been quite a few comic series carrying the title of Home Sweet Home, here's one of the more obscure ones from the late-teens. Jack Wilson, who spent a few years at NEA in Cleveland in the mid-teens, was at World Color Printing in 1919 and produced for a very short while a revival of their old Handy Andy strip. It appears that this Home Sweet Home feature was probably produced for them at the same time, though I've never seen these strips with syndicate stamps attached.
Home Sweet Home was a quasi-daily strip. I say quasi-daily because it was obviously sold in batches to subscribing newspapers. In every one of the (few) papers where I've seen it the strip runs ROP on no consistent schedule. Earliest I've seen is in November 1918, the latest in November 1920. However, the latest I've seen it running even semi-consistently is mid-1920, so that was probably shortly after the final batch went out.
This was put out by the Autocaster company, which supplied small town weeklies with editorial cartoons, column headers and type sets.
Do you have a sample with a syndicate stamp or did you come by this info some other way?
I have seen this strip as late as February 1924, by then drawn by Terry Gillikson, in the WIEMAR MERCURY, a weekly from Texas. "Autocaster" usually put their name at the bottom of the title panel.
As an artist the shortcomings of Bernhard Gillam were many, but he was a brilliant cartoonist nevertheless, and, despite his artistic failings, he hit the nail on the head, when driving home a cartoon idea, more often than many of his technically clever brothers in the work.
Gillam knew of his failings and he was extremely sensitive to criticism. He resented being told that any of his work was out of drawing. He was once mortally offended by one of his fellow artists on the staff of Puck, who, being a new arrival and unaware of Gillam's feeling on the subject, remarked to the cartoonist, "Gillam, if your salary ever gets as much out of drawing as some of your pictures do, even with the assistance of the cashier, you will never be able to gain anything like a fair idea of how your account stands with Puck."
No hatter in the world would ever be able to secure designs for new models from the hats that Gillam drew, for the pictured hats were impossible, and never appeared to fit the wearer, and very often conveyed the idea that the owner had made the purchase of his headpiece in a place where they sold liquid refreshment and as much as one cared to carry away.
But with Gillam it was not so much the perfect drawing as it was the idea, and he was gifted when it came to selecting the telling picture that would convey a lesson on the subject to be exploited in a cartoon. His pictures were always the drawings of original ideas and his admirers always waited to see how Gillam would handle the next big question.
His "Puck's Dime Museum" might be cited as an instance. In the boom days of the dime museum period one of the greatest of the freak attractions was the "Tattooed Greek." In the tattooed man Gillam found the inspiration for one of his best ideas.
President Arthur's term was drawing to an end and the Republican party was discussing its presidential possibilities. There were many statesmen in the party ready to step forward and accept the nomination. Lightning rods designed to attract the convention's bolt were being insulated in all political camps and the presidential bee buzzed merrily.
John A. Logan, Roscoe Conklin, and James G. Blaine were the leading candidates for the nomination, and, turning the entire collection into a dime museum list of attractions, Gillam turned them into bearded ladies, ossified men, jugglers, and other freaks. He scored his triumph when he hit upon Blaine as the tattooed man.
There were certain scandals brought out when Blaine was pushed forward as a presidential possibility, and Gillam pictured him with the scandals interwoven with the many tattoo marks.
The "Tattooed Man" cartoon scored with its first appearance and became one of the features of the campaign.
Gillam was born in England in 1858. His parents brought him to New York ten years later. He studied for three years in the schools of New York and Brooklyn, and then, though still a child, he decided that he would become a lawyer, and took up the study of Blackstone.
He became interested in drawing about this time and found that art work appealed to him far more than did the study of law, and, as he improved in his art work, he finally decided to abandon the law books and turn to an illustrator's work.
He began by taking up the study of wood engraving, and in a short time was able to secure employment as an illustrator of some of the serial stories being printed in many of the weekly story papers. This work alone did not bring him enough for his support, so he filled in the spare time by making crayon and oil portraits, designing show cards, and doing whatever wood engraving jobs that he was able to pick up.
He found that he was meeting with remarkable success in his portrait work, although his pictures were bringing him but little, and he decided to make the work worth while by devoting his entire attention to it. He sought out an instructor and his improvement soon became marked. A painting of the Rev. Dr. Ward Beecher, the famous Brooklyn minister, brought him local fame as a painter and orders for pictures poured in.
Gillam, however, soon tired of the color tubes and brushes and again turned his attention to newspaper illustrating. He secured a position on the art staff of Leslie's Pictorial, a paper owned by one of Frank Leslie's sons, and here he did general illustrating work. Later he was put to doing caricature and comic work.
His caricatures and his apt illustrations of the humorous stories attracted the attention of other editors and he was offered a position on the Graphic. The inducement was enough to win him from Leslie's Pictorial and he made the change, but he had not been on the Graphic long before Frank Leslie saw a promising cartoonist in young Gillam and secured him for Leslie's Weekly.
On Leslie's Weekly his work steadily improved and his cartoons compelled attention. Nast was the cartoonist for Harper's Weekly at this time, and there was considerable rivalry between the followers of the two men. Gillam's friends always insisted that he was doing work as attractive and effective as that of Nast.
Gillam's work on Leslie's Weekly did not escape the attention of Joseph Keppler, the editor of Puck, who was constantly reaching out and securing new talent for his comic weekly, and overtures were made to Gillam by the publisher of Puck. Gillam finally accepted a flattering offer and in 1881 went from Leslie's to Puck.
On Puck Gillam worked but a few months before he had made a national reputation. He became known as one of the most forcible and, at the same time, mirthful political cartoonists of the country, but at the crest of his success Joseph Keppler died and Gillam's work fell off. Keppler had been his good friend and confidant, and the cartoonist was deeply affected by his death.
About this time James A. Wales and several others organized a company for the purpose of beginning the publication of another comic weekly—Judge—and Gillam was asked to become a member of the company. With Keppler dead, he found nothing to bind him to Puck, so he accepted the invitation and cast his lot with the new publication.
Bernhard Gillam was a gifted man in many ways. He was a great student of Shakespeare and, blessed with a remarkable memory, he was able to read whole plays of the immortal bard.
In the 1870 U.S. Federal Census, Bernhard Gillam was the fifth of eight children born to Sewell and Lucy. Bernhard was his middle name, William being the first. They lived in Williamsburgh, Brooklyn. In 1880 the Gillams lived in Brooklyn at 239 Sackett Street (the Cobble Hill neighborhood). Gillam's occupation was "Portrait Artist", which was the same as his younger brother, Fred Victor, who was on staff at Judge, for 20 years, according to the New York TImes. Munsey's Magazine, February 1894, wrote this, "Victor Gillam is a better draughtsman than his brother, although not nearly so prolific in ideas."
Bernhard Gillam...died this morning at the home of his father-in-law, ex-Senator James Arkell, of Canajoharie [N.Y.]. His death was the result of typhoid fever….
…He was always drawing things—the faces of people he passed on the street, the teachers, and his companions at school. He had great ideas of doing wonderful pictures of tragedy, but no one admired his attempts at such high work, although everyone laughed at his caricatures….
…About seven years ago he married the youngest sister [Bertelle] of his business partner, W.J. Arkell. There is one child [a girl] of this marriage, now two and a half years old.
…He was the first man at the editorial rooms of Judge every morning, and the last to leave at night. When he was not bending over his own work, he was advising, encouraging, directing. He read until far into the morning, and was easily astir.
…In personal appearance he was slight, dark and very pale. His eyes were clear and penetrating, his hair and moustache almost black. His quick, nervous movements indicated the restless energy of his character.
A conference between W.J. Arkell and the leading artists of Judge…was held last night, and plans for the future conduct of the weekly were arranged. Mr. Arkell…said: "You may say that the policy of Gillam in connection with Judge will follow as closely as possible, and the artists of his own selection will carry on his work. His cartoon assistants, who have been scattered, will be brought to the home office. Gillam received a salary of $25,000 a year and a percentage of the profits from the paper. I have decided to divide this equally among the staff artists who have been on the paper ten years." Mr. Gillam willed all his property to his wife. His estate is valued at $250,000.
This is one of those reprint books that has been overdue for, oh, about fifty years or so. Chic Young's Blondie, which became staggeringly popular after a rough patch at the start, has long been one of the world's favorite newspaper strips. And the mythology of those early years, years in which the strip ran in very few papers, has long been whispered about not only among serious comics fans but by casual readers as well. We've all heard that Dagwood came from an ultra-rich family, of his infamous hunger strike to win Blondie, and of him turning his back on the Bumstead millions in favor of an air-headed flapper named Blondie Boopadoop.
Yet never during all these years have we seen more than just a fleeting taste of those years, a week's worth of strips reprinted here or there. Rumor had it that the Young estate bore some ill-will to the publication of these early strips, though it seems hard to imagine why. Or perhaps they were holding out for a lucrative publishing deal. Not being on the inside, I don't know what kept these strips out of sight all those years.
But finally Dean Mullaney and IDW have issued the complete story (well, sans Sundays, which oddly follow a different continuity and are therefore sort of beside the point). After facing all the stumbling blocks to the publication, including simply finding all these ridiculously rare strips, the obvious question is whether it was all worth it. In my opinion, a very mildly qualified 'yes'! On the down side, these early years of Blondie are rather repetitive -- Dagwood is blocked over and over from marrying Blondie in plot lines that can become monotonous in their similarity. Evidently Young, knowing how few papers were running the feature, and that he was being picked up and canceled with regularity, had a tendency to dog it a little in the originality of his stories. However, the same can be said of many humor strips, and if you put this book aside occasionally and come back to it fresh a week or two later, the repetitiveness is far less noticeable.
On the plus side, the stories really are pretty darn funny. There's a lot of slapstick, a lot of airhead flapper humor, and no shortage of punch lines that can still elicit a smile or a guffaw nearly four score years later. And of course there's the allure of Blondie herself, deliciously illustrated by Young as a supremely delectable dish. Blondie still has the 'hot mom' thing goin' on today, but in 1930 she was more like Frank Godwin's Connie, a waif-like vision dressed in translucent chiffons and figure-hugging satins. And speaking of the artwork, we mustn't forget that the great Alex Raymond was honing his cartooning chops assisting during this period. Though undetectable most of the time, it's great fun to discover Raymond's sensibilities popping up occasionally. Nowhere is he more evident than in a sequence with uber-hunk Gil, a car mechanic who threatens to steal Blondie's heart forever in one of the odder stories (Dagwood disappears for several months, signaling that perhaps Young had cold feet over the durability of his Dagwood character).
As is usual with Mullaney-edited reprint volumes, the reproduction is excellent, the strips printed reasonably large (reduced only about 15% from their original printed 6-column size) and the restoration sensitive and thorough. Add to that an interesting Brian Walker intro illustrated with some rare ephemera of the strip, and you have quite an attractive package. Hopefully a second volume will appear so that we can see just how the scatterbrained, head-over heels in love pair adapt to married life and the loss of the Bumstead fortune.
Ah, the lost ark of comics continuity. I look forward to seeing this one, thanks for the heads up!
J. Carver Pusey, marginally famous for his 1930s Sunday and daily comic strip Benny, still has a small coterie of fans who admire his deft cartooning style and knack for pantomime. Benny was a strip about a little mute vagabond who wore an oversize coat. Before Benny, though, Pusey had a long run with another pantomime strip about a put-upon cat. The earlier strip was titled Cat Tales.
Cat Tales is a bit of an enigma, as is just about everything about the publicity-shunning Pusey and his creations. It started out in or before 1917 as a seldom seen offering of the Associated Newspaper co-op syndicate. Being with Associated means that the strip was almost certainly done for one of its member papers, but Pusey is only known to have worked at the New York World and supposedly the Philadelphia Inquirer (I say supposedly because I've never seen any evidence of his working there myself), neither of which were members. Cat Tales does show up at the Associated-member Philadelphia Bulletin, but not with enough regularity that I'm ready to place him in their bullpen.
Anyhow, the strip goes back at least to September 1917, the earliest I've seen, and perhaps farther. Although the strip was undeniably clever and attractive, Associated Newspapers co-op members sure didn't seem to think much of it. It is seen rarely in those days and continues that way well into the 1920s. It's so seldom seen that it would not surprise me at all to find that the strip went through periods, perhaps long ones, when production was ceased.
Sometime in the 1920s, though, Cat Tales switched to the nascent United Feature Syndicate, and thereafter isn't quite as stealthy about its mere existence. However, the daily strip was dropped sometime in 1929 shortly after Benny began its syndication through Press Publishing, the syndicate of the New York World. With the aid of a more energetic syndicate, Benny became a modest success. Between the success of Benny, and a short stint of Pusey writing for the Marx Brothers, evidently the always barely above water Cat Tales was considered expendable.
That's not the end of the story though. Sometime in 1930 (or perhaps even in 1929) the Benny strip gained a Sunday color adjunct, and Cat Tales was revived as the topper strip for it. This second (or maybe third or fourth?) chance for Cat Tales lasted until December 1932 or early 1933 when it was phased out of the topper spot in favor of a new Benny companion strip, Opportunity Knox.
In 1918,"Cat tales" was also a small strip done by Pop Momand that was always put below Keeping Up with The Jonses like early Krazy Kats were stuck to the bottom of the Dingbat Family.
James Carver Pusey (Jr.) was born in Avondale, Pennsylvania on February 18, 1901 as recorded on page 288 in "The Ancestry and Posterity of John Lea, of Christian Malford, Wiltshire, England, and of Pennsylvania in America 1503-1906". In the 1910 U.S. Federal Census, Pusey was the oldest of three children born to James and Susan. The family lived in Norristown, Pennsylvania. In the 1920 census James Sr. was no longer with the family. In 1930 Pusey was married and lived in Greenwich Village, Manhattan. He married Margaret around 1927. Pusey was working as a cartoonist for a newspaper according to the census.
Pusey with his silent character the inimitable Benny.
World notified him of Benny's acceptance.
later married, began drawing in earnest.
at night because he never manages to get started until then.
The date of Pusey's passing is not known.
Ha! Alex, you did it again. Fantastic stuff, a nice little portrait of a very shadowy character. Pew-zey indeed!
This is almost becoming a game. Can I come up with someone so obscure that you can't run 'im down? Got one coming up Thursday that will be a challenge. The bane of the researcher -- a guy with a very common name!
Hello, All---J.Carver Pusey died on July 16, 1953 at his apartment in Philadelphia. He left behind a widow, Doris, and two daughters from his first marriage, Polly and Susan. ----CJ.
page 131: Pusey, J. Carver—cartoonist—Rimes with newsy, unless you pronounce that noozy; if so, call him pew'zy. | 2019-04-19T12:50:42Z | http://strippersguide.blogspot.com/2010_11_28_archive.html |
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Skerrit (SCARE-it) is the patron and protector of centaurs and embodies the guiding force that maintains the natural balance of the land and forests in particular. He protects the balance of the land so each creature can fulfill its allotted niche; as such, he provides prey for the hunters and predators and food for the hunted. He also represents the benefits of community and cooperation of beasts and intelligent creatures that live in harmony with nature.
As a member of the Outer Circle of the Seelie Court, he spends about half his time wandering the upper planes with them, and the rest of his time in his own domain on the Beastlands. The Hoofed Lord is one of the stronger warriors amongst the Seelie Court, and wastes no time rushing to their defense when they are threatened. In return, the other members assist the Forester’s folk with their magic when centaur lands are in danger from marauding beasts and goblinoid hordes. On some worlds, Skerrit is the head of a small pantheon of centaur gods and demigods, including Naharra, goddess of fertility and love, Fanthros, god of the sky and weather, Kheiron, god of learning and medicine, and Brilros and his sister Linroth, twin demigods of strength and speed. Skerrit’s closest allies outside of the Seelie Court and the centaur pantheon are the Seldarine, in particular Rillifane Rallathil, as many wood elves are often drawn to the Forester’s service. In addition, the Hoofed Lord maintains close ties with other gods who protect the natural environment, such as Silvanus and Obad-Hai, as well as hunting deities who oversee skill and excellence and teach their followers to take no more than is needed. Amongst these he is very close to Ehlonna and Mielikki, occasionally serving as a mount for them when they confront evil powers intent on destruction of nature. The Forester is also known to cavort and carouse with Pan and Dionysus, and he shares their love of intoxicating beverages.
Skerrit strongly opposes evil gods of hunting and destruction, especially Daragor and Malar. Their disregard for the balance of nature and preference to kill for the sake of killing is abhorrent to the Hoofed Lord. In addition, he opposes the gods of natural destruction, such as Auril and Talos, because they disregard the natural balance of creation and destruction. As with all the other members of the Seelie Court, Skerrit opposes the Queen of Air and Darkness and her Unseelie Court from wresting control of the faerie races from Titania. He also has a special enmity for Chitza-Atlan, an interloper god in the small centaur pantheon, for corrupting some centaur tribes into death cults.
The Forester is very active on worlds where he has a large number of followers. He is likely to send an avatar to help sylvan communities threatened by unnatural disasters or servants of an evil deity. He also has been known to send an avatar to the woodland edges to spy out danger. In such a capacity, he typically does not confront the dangers directly, but instead warns centaurs and faeries of the looming threats. He occasionally will send an avatar to woo a pretty young centaur maid, and it is rumored he has a fostered not a small number of powerful lineages.
Skerrit typically appears as a powerful male centaur with thick chestnut hair, and his head is adorned with a wreath of oak leaves and acorns. He wears a chain mail vest which can change to any color he wishes instantaneously. He uses spells from the spheres of all, animal, divination, elemental, healing, plant, protection, sun, time, travelers, wards, and weather.
Special Att/Def: Skerrit wields a golden-tipped spear +3 known as Oakthorn that causes double damage against any evil intelligent beasts (werewolves, manticores, chimeras, etc.). He also carries a longbow +3 and a quiver of 24 arrows +1. If he runs out of arrows, he can summon a new quiver-full in one turn.
At will, the Forester can polymorph self into any natural forest creature or plant. While in centaur form, he can gallop at triple normal movement rate of one turn, but he must rest for 2 turns thereafter.
The Hoofed Lord is immune to harmful effects from any priest spells of the plant and animal spheres. He is immune to poison, disease, caused wounds, death magic, and polymorph attacks. No faerie creature, natural woodland animal, or non-evil sentient plant will attack Skerrit, even if magically controlled. He can only be struck by +1 or better magical weapons. He always wears a chain mail vest +2, but never wears barding or uses a shield.
The Forester is known to manifest frequently to his followers. His most common appearance is through odd behavior of animals during a mock hunt. The specific behavior the creature exhibits indicates different types of dangers present nearby; priests are all trained to recognize these omens on sight. Other times, when a sylvan creature is alone and in danger, Skerrit will appear as a magical path through the forest that will lead the creature to safety. Any foes who attempt to follow the path will quickly become lost and confused and wind up in areas of great danger to themselves. He will sometimes warn of impending danger by causing a single tree to rustle and sway as if in a strong wind that is not there and does not affect any other trees. He can also manifest directly through the actions of any individual normal animal, and can animate any plant to act in a specific manner. These appearances will always serve to warn of specific threats and will not join combat or act directly against a foe.
Skerrit is served by aasimon, alaghi, amber dragons, asuras, atomies, bariaur, black and brown bears, buraqs, chevalls, coure eladrins, dryads, einheriar, faerie dragons, feystags, firbolg, hippogriffs, hsing-sing, hybsils, kercpa, korreds, leprechauns, moon-horses, normal forest animals of all types, nymphs, pegasi, pegataurs, pixies, pseudodragons, satyrs, shargugh, shatjan, sprites, treants, unicorns, voadkyn, werebears, and wild horses. He demonstrates his favor through the discovery of amber, emeralds, peridots, petrified wood, the blooming of a single flower on a tree, the budding and rapid growth of a new tree limb, or the appearance of a normal sylvan animal that approaches to be petted. The Hoofed Lord indicates his displeasure by the sudden withering of an entire tree limb, the appearance of a large number of squirrels who pelt an offending individual with acorns and other nuts, and the breakage of all hunting weapons owned by an offending individual.
All clerics (including multiclassed fighter/clerics), specialty priests (including multiclassed ranger/specialty priests), crusaders, druids, mystics, shamans, and rangers of Skerrit receive religion (Seelie Court) and religion (centaur) as bonus nonweapon proficiencies. All of the Hoofed Lord’s priests may use spears, lances, and bows, regardless of class, and shamans are required to become proficient in the use of the spear.
The Forester’s church is well regarded and his priests highly respected throughout those sylvan communities that try to live in harmony with nature. Elven settlements in particular are very welcoming to centaur guests, and many often have permanent centaur residents. Many sylvan races pay homage to Skerrit, and his church rarely turns away any who wish to join his service. Shamans of the Hoofed Lord tend to be leaders of their tribes, while other types of priests tend to be advisors to the secular leaders and moral guides for the people. The Forester’s followers work with rangers, druids, elves, and faeries to protect the wild places from marauding beasts and humanoids, especially those that follow deities of wanton destruction such as Malar or Daragor. Skerrit’s priests tend to distrust most humans; this is primarily because they are far more likely to encounter human-run logging operations than any other human endeavor. These encounters often lead to skirmishes, although outright warfare is rare. They usually grudgingly accept those operations that include replanting efforts to mitigate the loss of woodlands.
Skerrit’s followers do not typically build temples; instead he is most often worshipped in well-maintained oak groves that allow large groups to gather and feast together. These groves are always tended throughout the year by at least one priest, even if the tribe it servers is nomadic. The groves are at a minimum 40 feet wide, and can get much larger if located near a substantial settled community. A large unworked stone with a flat surface is placed at one end of the grove to act as an altar; it is left undecorated or decorated very simply with hand-crafted artistic goods given as gifts by worshippers and visitors. The holiest of these sites are naturally occurring; however there is no prohibition against creating one artificially, so long as it is created with care. If the shrine is in an area threatened by evil humanoids or other enemies of the Forester, the grove will be protected on three sides by tall, thorny bushes, forcing most attackers through a well-guarded entrance. In the rare circumstances that the Hoofed Lord’s clergy build temples, it is usually due to the influence of more urbanized creatures friendly to Skerrit’s followers located nearby. Such temples are usually open to the sky and feature tall spiral-fluted stone columns carved to look like they are covered in vines. These columns support lintels designed to look like the spreading branches of oak trees. Any green-hued stone, such as green marble or green granite, is the preferred construction material, but the columns will usually be painted if stone of another color is all that is available. As with the sacred groves, a simple unworked stone with a flat top serves as the altar. These temples are particularly popular amongst satyrs and elves.
Novices in the service of Skerrit are known as Yearlings. Full priests are known as Balancekeepers. Specialty priests are called forest guardians. The church is not organized in a strict hierarchy, although younger priests always defer to elder priests in all things. Most priests serve their tribe or shrine exclusively, or wander through all the sylvan lands inhabited by their allies. When there are multiple full priests in a community, the eldest is known by the title Balancelord. The Forester’s clergy is composed primarily of centaurs (75%), with much smaller numbers of wood elves (7%), hybsils (5%), pegataurs (3%), satyrs (3%), alaghi (2%), voadkyn (2%), chevalls (1%), korreds (1%), and other sylvan races (1%). Males make up the overwhelming majority (80%) of the priesthood. Skerrit’s clergy is comprised of about even numbers of clerics (20%), forest guardians (20%), druids (20%), and shamans (20%), as well as smaller numbers of rangers (10%), crusaders (3%), mystics (3%), fighter/clerics (2%), ranger/forest guardians (1%), and ranger/shamans (1%).
Dogma: Maintain the balance of the land, which is the balance between life and death and the balance between predator and prey. Educate those who disrupt this balance through ignorance. Hunt down those who intentionally disrupt this delicate balance. The bounty of the land is there for all; take no more than you need. Maintain community balance through understanding and cooperation. Sooth hurts and disagreements in the community with wisdom and just decisions. A community in balance is a strong community. A strong community is the best protection against the unbalancing forces arrayed against the sylvan races.
Day-to-Day Activities: Priests of the Forester that are part of a large community most often function as teachers, advisors, and judges. They instruct youngsters on how to properly care for their lands and all the resources contained therein, as well as the nature of the balance between predator, prey, and plant. Chiefs and other leaders look to the priests for advice and divinations; the priests typically determine whether there are good or bad omens for any particular major undertaking. In their role as judges, they aim to resolve disputes fairly and in such a way that soothes anger and tension and keeps the community structurally sound. Shamans, unlike their more organized brethren, are more often found as members of much smaller communities, and they are almost always the political as well as spiritual leader. Shamanistic position is most often passed father to first-born son (and, rarely, passed to daughters); this practice is far less common amongst regular priests. The clergy are also charged with monitoring the area around them, regardless of where they are, and keeping track of any dangers or potential dangers that could disrupt the natural balances and cycles of the land. The Hoofed Lord’s priests willingly help and protect any hunters or adventurers who seek to rid the area of dangerous evil beasts, as well.
Important Ceremonies/Holy Days: Once a month, during the nights of the full moon, priests lead all members of their community, as well as any friendly sylvan creatures that may be visiting or living nearby, in a great festival to celebrate Skerrit’s protection and guidance. The festivals are joyous occasions marked by music and intricate dancing, feasting, drinking and carousing, athletic competitions including archery and racing, and mock hunts. The mock hunts are the primary focus of these events, and are often viewed as predictors of short-term prosperity. In addition to these monthly festivals, each year on the equinoxes, the Forester’s followers hold a weeklong celebration that is very similar in outward appearance, but emphasize the music, dance, and athletic aspects. The celebration during the spring equinox, called the Festival of Return, represents the bringing of new life and the return of migratory creatures. The most detailed and complex dances are saved for this festival, and many visitors are mesmerized by the subtle moves of the dancers, which are always in male-female pairs. The autumnal equinox festival is called the Gift of Life, and marks the beginning of winter preparations for all plants and animals and celebrates the creatures and plants that give their lives to allow everything else to survive. Mock hunts are especially important during this festival.
Major Centers of Worship: Followers of the Hoofed Lord do not make pilgrimages very often, and as such, most of his temples and shrines are regional affairs and do not gain the level of renown of many temples of the human and elven gods. However, some few become well known beyond their nearest neighbors. Of those, the largest is the sacred grove on the world of Torus known as the Grove of the Unstrung Bow. This holy site functions as neutral ground where the centaur tribes and nations can meet and work out their differences diplomatically. Drawing weapons and fighting for non-ceremonial purposes is strictly forbidden, and violating this edict causes all priests of Skerrit to shun the offender’s entire tribe for a year and a day. On a more regional level, there are two well-known sacred sites located on the world of Toril that have become known beyond their local followers; one has since been abandoned within the last century, however. The grove located near the headwaters of the Unicorn Run in the High Forest, known as the Shading Oak, serves the local centaur tribe, as well as many of the satyrs and korreds in the forest. It is a common destination for the wandering priestesses of the demigoddess Shiallia, and is known as a place of sanctuary for anyone fleeing the agents of Malar. Within the Vale of Lost Voices in Cormanthor, a once-great grove, known as the Mistful Grove, is now overgrown and abandoned due to a plague that caused birth defects in most of the local centaur population about a century ago. This plague made the centaurs easy prey for green dragons, and they were nearly wiped out. With no new acolytes to train, the last priest of the Mistful Grove was unable to pass along the caretaking duties to anyone, and the grove is now filled with thick overgrown brush. There are rumors that a new priest, either a satyr or korred, has taken up residence and is working to return the grove to what it was in the past.
Affiliated Orders: The Lances of the Hoofed Lord are a far flung group of centaurs known on many worlds that aggressively defend forests and holy sites from depredations by evil beasts and unscrupulous exploitation by humans and other races. The Lances are made up mostly of rangers, crusaders, fighter/clerics, and ranger/forest guardians, and they generally operate in independent groups of four to twelve individuals. Their primary duties are to patrol all the sylvan lands inhabited by followers of the Forester and track down any who violate the natural balance of predator and prey, as well as those who exploit the forestlands for selfish gain. Lances of the Hoofed Lord also guard many holy sites, especially those in danger of humanoid warbands. Spears and lances are preferred over bows and other weapons, and the crusaders and fighter/clerics will wear heavier armor than chain if they can get their hands on it. The Lances are also the only clergy members allowed to wear barding, helms, and shields, although many choose not to.
Priestly Vestments: Skerrit’s clergy keeps their ceremonial garb simple, as fancy clothing is generally seen as a waste of resources. Their heads are kept bare, except for a simple wreath made of oak leaves, and they wear a simple vest made of blessed oak leaves that prevents them from turning brown and decaying. Oftentimes, geometric patterns will be made with leaves that have already turned to autumnal colors. Making one of these ceremonial vests is one of the final tasks an acolyte must complete before becoming a full priest. Centaur and centaur-kin priests often braid their tails around an oak branch, while bipedal priests wear a simple leather or cloth kilt. All priests use a heavily carved and brightly decorated staff or spear in their ceremonies. Unlike the other priests, shamans typically wear leathers or furs, and are either tattooed or painted with symbols to indicate their rank within the tribe.
Adventuring Garb: When adventuring, the Forester’s priests prefer practical garments. They prefer to wear a chain vest, or leather armor if that is not available. They prefer spears and bows as weapons.
Some of the specialty priests of Skerrit are druids. Their abilities and restrictions, aside from changes noted above, are detailed in full in the Player’s Handbook.
Skerrit’s druids are almost exclusively centaurs and centaur-kin, although there are some alaghi and wood elves amongst their ranks.
Druids in the service of Skerrit are not allowed to multiclass.
Most forest guardians are centaurs and centaur-kin, although satyrs, korreds, alaghi, voadkyn, and wood elves are found within their ranks.
Forest guardians are allowed to multiclass as ranger/forest guardians if their race allows it.
Forest guardians can cast whisperleaf or natural attunement (as the 2nd-level priest spells) once per day.
At 3rd level, forest guardians can identify plants, natural animals, and pure water as druids.
At 5th level, forest guardians can cast commune with nature (as the 5th-level priest spell) once per week. However, they can only learn the approximate location of a single powerful unnatural creature (werewolves, Leucrotta, etc.) per casting; they do not have to know the specific creature before casting the spell. At 13th level, this spell operates normally.
At 7th-level, forest guardians can cast wall of thorns (as the 6th-level priest spell) once per day.
At 9th-level, forest guardians can cast call woodland beings (as the 4th-level priest spell) once per day, and all percentage chances of success are doubled.
At 15th level, forest guardians can cast changestaff (as the 7th-level priest spell) once per week. The forest guardian may use a specially prepared spear instead of the staff in the spell description, but the basic preparation method is the same.
Priests of the Forester may cast the 2nd-level priest spells stalk and wood sword (which is known as wood spear amongst the clergy of Skerrit, and creates a spear rather than a sword), detailed in Faiths & Avatars in the entry for Mielikki, the 2nd-level priest spell natural attunement, detailed in Powers & Pantheons in the entry for Gwaeron Windstrom, the 2nd-level priest spell whisperleaf, detailed in Demihuman Deities in the entry for Baervan Wildwanderer, and the 4th-level priest spells briartangle, thorn spray and oakheart, detailed in Faiths & Avatars in the entry for Silvanus.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 15th, 2011 at 10:58 pm and is filed under Classes/Kits, Deities, F&A Format. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. | 2019-04-19T17:09:07Z | http://blog.aulddragon.com/2011/02/skerrit-the-hoofed-lord/ |
Associate Professor in the School of Aeronautics & Astronautics at Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Honorary Research Fellow at Imperial College London. Before I joined Shanghai Jiao Tong University, I was a Rolls-Royce researcher in the Department of Aeronautics and a researcher in the Department of Mathematics at Imperial College London. My research interests span applied/computational mathematics and fluid mechanics: hydrodynamic instability (laminar-turbulent transition), aeroacoustics, turbulence, kinetic theory-based modelling/method, numerical analysis and methods. I am currently working on broadband noise modelling and prediction, laminar-turbulent transition. Especially, I have been working on spectral/hp element methods and am a developer of the opensource software Nektar++. I was also one of the pioneering porotype designers of ProLB (LaBS) and a developer of Palabos. My researches are being/were supported by NSF, EPSRC, Rolls-Royce, Airbus, Bombardier, McLaren, Renault and so on. My research papers were mainly published in Journal of Fluid Mechanics, SIAM Journal on Scientific Computing, Journal of Computational Physics and so on.
SANTANA is a collaborative programme focused on the development of aerodynamic technologies for the design of advanced, Ultra High Bypass Ratio (UHBR) power plant nacelles. The nacelle on a modern high bypass ratio engine is a significant contributor to power weight, and owing to its size, can also have a marked impact on aircraft fuel burn performance. Targeting nacelle components for next generation aircraft, this programme exploits new lower weight structural designs, to reduce performance losses associated with installed nacelle systems. The programme also develops advanced aerodynamic testing methods, improvements to laminar-turbulence modelling and improves testing facilities within the UK. These advancements are essential to achieve the global ACARE (Advisory Council for Aeronautics Research in Europe) 2020 and 2030 entry-into-service emissions targets for noise and fuel burn. SANTANA’s partners comprise UK industrial organisations: Bombardier, Belfast; Aircraft Research Association Ltd (ARA), Bedford; and S&C Thermofluids Ltd, Bath; and aerodynamics research teams at City University, London and Imperial College, London.
The above challenges are huge and can only be overcome by innovative research based on the mathematical, computational and experimental excellence of a team like the one we have assembled. The solution of these problems will lead to a giant leap in our understanding of transition prediction and enable LFC to be deployed. The programme is based around a unique team of researchers covering all theoretical, computational, and experimental aspects of the problem together with the necessary expertise to make sure the work can be deployed by industry. Indeed our partnership with most notably EADS and Airbus UK will put the UK aeronautics industry in the lead to develop the new generation of LFC wings.
Development of a numerical tool for computational fluid dynamics based on Lattice Boltzmann Method and optimized for massively parallel computing.
Target applications: aerodynamic simulations (calculation and optimization of aerodynamic drag and lift coefficients), aeroacoustic simulations (aerodynamic noise sources reduction) and acoustic simulations (porous materials modeling).
Application fields: automotive, railway and aeronautic industries.
My research interests are in the area of Applied/Computational Mathematics & Fluid Mechanics. Specifically, I have been working on asymptotic theories, high precision numerical computations, instabilities/transition in a laminar boundary layer, multiscale methods/modelling, kinetic theory and parallel computations in disciplines of fluid mechanics and numerical analysis/computations of partial differential equations.
During the past several years, my research target has been aiming at hydrodynamic instability ( laminar-turbulent transition ) for understanding influence of surface imperfection on instability of a boundary layer and exploring optimal paths to turbulence. One of the key focuses is to see how asymptotic theory and computational modelling can be used to address this challenge. The task is in bridging this challenging interface of asymptotic theory and direct numerical modelling. Whilst another task is to understand effect of a 3D surface localised/random imperfection on the primary mode in a boundary layer and address global instability induced by the imperfection. I am now working on laminar-turbulent transition, turbulence and broadband noise mechanisms in both fundamental and applied aspects.
If you have any interest in these aspects, please don't hesitate to contact me for either pursuing degrees or collaborations (or discussions).
I have been and will be working with world-leading experts in the fields of applied/computational mathematics and fluid mechanics.
A continuous development task in Nektar++ for stabilisation of implementing calculations of compressible flows.
I here show my selected papers which are published in Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Journal of computational Physics, SIAM Journal on Scientific Computing and so on, with selected conference presentations.
A topic of fundamental interest from the viewpoint of flow destabilisation, in that a localised surface imperfection generally leads to flow destabilisation; if the surface imperfection is significantly large enough bypass transitional mechanisms arise. The interest in the aeronautical industry is significant, from viewpoint of developing robust engineered surfaces which can maintain laminarity, due to steps, gaps and changes to surface quality due to impact damage. The role of a smooth isolated three-dimensional (3D) bump on laminar-turbulent transition in a flat-plate boundary layer is numerically studied. The main concern lies with the recent discovery of the significant difference between a surface indentation and a bump intruding into the main boundary layer. The study aims at comprehensively elucidating the observed differences, which is a follow-up to Xu et. al. (2017, doi.org/10.1017/jfm.2017.193) where the role of a localised 3D dimple intruding into the surface was investigated numerically by linear and nonlinear analysis, together with complementary experiments. Here, it is shown that if only modification and destabilisation of Tollmien-Schlichting disturbances are assessed in a similar parameter regime as used by Xu et. al. (2017), the transition induced by an isolated bump is more catastrophic than that induced by a surface indentation. In both cases, with deep (or high) enough indentations (or bumps), fully 3D laminar separation bubbles arise, which lead to strongly destabilising behaviour. Based on concepts of the critical Reynolds number and global linear stability theory (LST), in the parameter regime, capturing the transition pathway behind an isolated bump depends on the mechanism of both convective and absolute instabilities -- our findings will be presented in the conference paper. Results from an equivalent PSE3D will also be discussed, in relation to its ability to deal with localised 3D separation bubbles formed by the surface feature. Comparisons of the PSE3D derived analysis with more higher fidelity direct numerical simulations will also be covered.
We are concerned about the role of a smooth localised three-dimensional (3D) roughness on instability of an incompressible boundary layer by linear and nonlinear analysis. Widths of roughness elements are comparable to wavelength of instability waves and depths/heights are less than the 99% local boundary layer thickness. We are interested in the roughness element which gives rise to a local thin separation bubble. Accordingly, two problems are numerically investigated, one of which is complemented by an experimental study. The first concerns the interaction between the local thin separation bubbles and oncoming instability waves, by which spanwise-uniform Tollmien-Schlichting (TS) waves are destabilised and the TS modes’ shapes are modified by a gradual switchover into an inviscid inflectional instability mechanism. The second problem concerns the nonlinear effect induced by a localised roughness element by which laminar-turbulent transition is prompted. Direct numerical simulations are employed to address the process of disturbance breakdown to turbulence. The traditional N-factors are used to assess instability of 3D disturbances, which is a general indication of development of strongly nonlinear behaviour, although N-factor, based on linear models, can only be used to provide indications and severity of the destabilisation. As an extension, we finally discuss the likelihood of generating absolute instabilities in the thin separation bubble.
The spectral/hp element method combines the geometric flexibility of the classical h-type finite element technique with the desirable numerical properties of spectral methods, employing high-degree piecewise polynomial basis functions on coarse finite element-type meshes. The spatial approximation is based upon orthogonal polynomials, such as Legendre or Chebychev polynomials, modified to accommodate a C0 - continuous expansion. Computationally and theoretically, by increasing the polynomial order p, high-precision solutions and fast convergence can be obtained and, in particular, under certain regularity assumptions an exponential reduction in approximation error between numerical and exact solutions can be achieved. This method has now been applied in many simulation studies of both fundamental and practical engineering flows. This paper briefly describes the formulation of the spectral/hp element method and provides an overview of its application to computational fluid dynamics. In particular, it focuses on the use of the spectral/hp element method in transitional flows and ocean engineering. Finally, some of the major challenges to be overcome in order to use the spectral/hp element method in more complex science and engineering applications are discussed.
We consider the influence of a smooth three-dimensional (3-D) indentation on the instability of an incompressible boundary layer by linear and nonlinear analyses. The numerical work was complemented by an experimental study to investigate indentations of approximately 𝛿 and 𝛿 width at depths of 45 %, 52 % and 60 % of 𝛿, where 𝛿 indicates 99% boundary layer thickness. For these indentations a separation bubble confined within the indentation arises. Upstream of the indentation, spanwise-uniform Tollmien–Schlichting (TS) waves are assumed to exist, with the objective to investigate how the 3-D surface indentation modifies the 2-D TS disturbance. Numerical corroboration against experimental data reveals good quantitative agreement. Comparing the structure of the 3-D separation bubble to that created by a purely 2-D indentation, there are a number of topological changes particularly in the case of the widest indentation; more rapid amplification and modification of the upstream TS waves along the symmetry plane of the indentation is observed. For the shortest indentations, beyond a certain depth there are then no distinct topological changes of the separation bubbles and hence on flow instability. The destabilising mechanism is found to be due to the confined separation bubble and is attributed to the inflectional instability of the separated shear layer. Finally for the widest width indentation investigated ( 𝛿 ), results of the linear analysis are compared with direct numerical simulations. A comparison with the traditional criteria of using -factors to assess instability of properly 3-D disturbances reveals that a general indication of flow destabilisation and development of strongly nonlinear behaviour is indicated as values are attained. However -factors, based on linear models, can only be used to provide indications and severity of the destabilisation, since the process of disturbance breakdown to turbulence is inherently nonlinear and dependent on the magnitude and scope of the initial forcing.
We consider a smooth, spanwise-uniform forward-facing step defined by a Gauss error function of height 4 %–30 % and four times the width of the local boundary layer thickness 𝛿. The boundary layer flow over a smooth forward-facing stepped plate is studied with particular emphasis on stabilisation and destabilisation of the two-dimensional Tollmien–Schlichting (TS) waves and subsequently on three-dimensional disturbances at transition. The interaction between TS waves at a range of frequencies and a base flow over a single or two forward-facing smooth steps is conducted by linear analysis. The results indicate that for a TS wave with a frequency (𝜔 𝜈, where 𝜔 and denote the perturbation angle frequency and free-stream velocity magnitude, respectively, and 𝜈 denotes kinematic viscosity), the amplitude of the TS wave is attenuated in the unstable regime of the neutral stability curve corresponding to a flat plate boundary layer. Furthermore, it is observed that two smooth forward-facing steps lead to a more acute reduction of the amplitude of the TS wave. When the height of a step is increased to more than 20 % of the local boundary layer thickness for a fixed width parameter, the TS wave is amplified, and thereby a destabilisation effect is introduced. Therefore, the stabilisation or destabilisation effect of a smooth step is typically dependent on its shape parameters. To validate the results of the linear stability analysis, where a TS wave is damped by the forward-facing smooth steps direct numerical simulation (DNS) is performed. The results of the DNS correlate favourably with the linear analysis and show that for the investigated frequency of the TS wave, the K-type transition process is altered whereas the onset of the H-type transition is delayed. The results of the DNS suggest that for the perturbation with the non-dimensional frequency parameter and in the absence of other external perturbations, two forward-facing smooth steps of height 5 % and 12 % of the boundary layer thickness delayed the H-type transition scenario and completely suppressed for the K-type transition. By considering Gaussian white noise with both fixed and random phase shifts, it is demonstrated by DNS that transition is postponed in time and space by two forward-facing smooth steps.
This paper is concerned with the behaviour of Tollmien–Schlichting (TS) waves experiencing small localised distortions within an incompressible boundary layer developing over a flat plate. In particular, the distortion is produced by an isolated roughness element located at . We considered the amplification of an incoming TS wave governed by the two-dimensional linearised Navier–Stokes equations, where the base flow is obtained from the two-dimensional nonlinear Navier–Stokes equations. We compare these solutions with asymptotic analyses which assume a linearised triple-deck theory for the base flow and determine the validity of this theory in terms of the height of the small-scale humps/indentations taken into account. The height of the humps/indentations is denoted by , which is considered to be less than or equal to (corresponding to for our choice of ). The rescaled width of the distortion is of order and the width is shorter than the TS wavelength ( ). We observe that, for distortions which are smaller than 0.1 of the inner deck height ( ), the numerical simulations confirm the asymptotic theory in the vicinity of the distortion. For larger distortions which are still within the inner deck ( $0.4\,\% ) and where the flow is still attached, the numerical solutions show that both humps and indentations are destabilising and deviate from the linear theory even in the vicinity of the distortion. We numerically determine the transmission coefficient which provides the relative amplification of the TS wave over the distortion as compared to the flat plate. We observe that for small distortions, , where the width of the distortion is of the order of the boundary layer, a maximum amplification of only 2 % is achieved. This amplification can however be increased as the width of the distortion is increased or if multiple distortions are present. Increasing the height of the distortion so that the flow separates ( $7.2\,\% ) leads to a substantial increase in the transmission coefficient of the hump up to 350 %.
It has been demonstrated that Lattice Boltzmann methods (LBMs) are very efficient for Computational Aeroacoustics (CAA). In order to address the issue of absorbing acoustic boundary conditions for LBM, three kinds of damping terms are proposed and added to the right hand side of the LBM governing equations. According to the classical theory, these terms play an important role to damp and minimize the acoustic wave reflections from computational boundaries. The corresponding macroscopic equations with the damping terms are recovered for analyzing the macroscopic behaviors of the these damping terms and determining the critical absorbing strength. The dissipative and dispersive properties of the proposed absorbing layer terms are then further analyzed considering the linearized LBM equations. They are explored in the wave-number spaces via the Von Neumann analysis. The related damping strength critical values and the optimal absorbing term are discussed. Finally, some benchmark problems are implemented to assess the theoretical results.
Lattice Boltzmann methods (LBMs) are very efficient for computational fluid dynamics, and for capturing the dynamics of weak acoustic fluctuations. It is known that multi-relaxation-time lattice Boltzmann method (MRT–LBM) appears as a very robust scheme with high precision. There exist several free relaxation parameters in the MRT–LBM. Although these parameters have been tuned via linear analysis, the sensitivity analysis of these parameters and other related parameters is still not sufficient for describing the behavior of the dispersion and dissipation relations of the MRT–LBM. Previous researches have shown that the bulk dissipation in the MRT–LBM induces a significant over-damping of acoustic disturbances. This indicates that the classical MRT–LBM is not best suited to recover the correct behavior of pressure fluctuations. In wave-number space, the first/second-order sensitivity analyses of matrix eigenvalues are used to address the sensitivity of the wavenumber magnitudes to the dispersion-dissipation relations. By the first-order sensitivity analysis, the numerical behaviors of the group velocity of the MRT–LBM are first obtained. Afterwards, the distribution sensitivities of the matrix eigenvalues corresponding to the linearized form of the MRT–LBM are investigated in the complex plane. Based on the sensitivity analysis and an effective algorithm of recovering linearized Navier–Stokes equations (L-NSEs) from linearized MRT–LBM (L-MRT–LBM), we propose some simplified optimization strategies to determine the free relaxation parameters of the MRT–LBM. Meanwhile, the dispersion and dissipation relations of the optimal MRT–LBM are quantitatively compared with the exact dispersion and dissipation relations. At last, some numerical validations on classical acoustic benchmark problems are shown to assess the new optimal MRT–LBM.
Lattice Boltmzann Methods (LBM) have been proved to be very effective methods for computational aeroacoustics (CAA), which have been used to capture the dynamics of weak acoustic fluctuations. In this paper, we propose a strategy to reduce the dispersive and disspative errors of the two-dimensional (2D) multi-relaxation-time lattice Boltzmann method (MRT-LBM). By presenting an effective algorithm, we obtain a uniform form of the linearized Navier–Stokes equations corresponding to the MRT-LBM in wave-number space. Using the matrix perturbation theory and the equivalent modified equation approach for finite difference methods, we propose a class of minimization problems to optimize the free-parameters in the MRT-LBM. We obtain this way a dispersion-relation-preserving LBM (DRP-LBM) to circumvent the minimized dispersion error of the MRT-LBM. The dissipation relation precision is also improved. And the stability of the MRT-LBM with the small bulk viscosity is guaranteed. Von Neuman analysis of the linearized MRT-LBM is performed to validate the optimized dispersion/dissipation relations considering monochromatic wave solutions. Meanwhile, dispersion and dissipation errors of the optimized MRT-LBM are quantitatively compared with the original MRT-LBM. Finally, some numerical simulations are carried out to assess the new optimized MRT-LBM schemes.
Numerical solution of partial differential equations, numerical analysis, numerical mathematics/computational methods and so on.
Mathematical analysis, functional analysis, real analysis, applied partial differential equations, probability theory & mathematical statistics and so on.
Fundamentals of fluid mechanics, fundamentals of heat & mass transfer, computational fluid mechanics & heat transfer, fundamentals of turbulence, theoretical fluid mechanics and so on.
I am also exploring possibilities in teaching interdisciplinary courses.
This course is offered to postgraduates for single term and give them an introduction of the formulation, methodology, and techniques used in obtaining numerical solution of engineering problems. Topics covered include: fundamental principles of digital computing and the implications for algorithm accuracy and stability, error propagation and stability, the solution of systems of linear equations, including direct and iterative techniques, roots of equations and systems of equations, numerical interpolation, differentiation and integration, fundamentals of finite-difference solutions to ordinary differential equations, and error and convergence analysis.
I would be happy to talk to you if you need my assistance in your research or your learning no matter where you are from. Though I have limited time, I will try my best to get in touch with you.
You can find me at my office located at School of Aeronautics & Astronautics at Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
I am at my office every day from 7:00 until 10:00 am, but you may consider a call or an email to fix an appointment. | 2019-04-24T00:10:36Z | https://drxulab.com/ |
Everyone goes online to find information, do their research and pick out products or services to buy. That's why your own website should be the best it can be, helping to attract and retain visitors while turning them in to paying customers.
How you make your website a success depends on a number of key things. From its usability and content to its design and marketing – there are lots of ways to ensure your online presence is working as it should.
1. Know thy customer: To get started, find out who your customers are by carrying out some initial research. Who are they? How old are they? Where do they live? Are you targeting men only? Or just women? There's no point in building a targeted website if you don't know who your audience is.
2. User research: Once you've established who you're targeting, do some user research. Find out what people need. Ask people direct and see what they look for the most when browsing other websites. Understanding people's needs will help you to create the right design, focus and content for your site.
3. Understand what you want to learn: Before you start learning about the people you're targeting, think about what you actually want to learn and why you want to learn it. User research can reveal everything from shopping behaviour to getting a broader understanding of people's web browsing habits. Don't go around in confusing circles, actually think about what you want to learn about your target audience.
4. Go out there and ask questions: Now you understand what you want to learn about people, you should think about carrying out some proper market research. But remember, you really need to ask the right questions. Consider why people will go to your website, what they'll learn there and what they'll need to achieve their objectives.
5. Find out who to research: Are you going to research existing customers or potential new ones? Once you've identified who you want to research, you'll have to find them. You can do this via formal or informal market research. If you go formal, you can hire a market research company and get them to speak to people themselves. But as the formal approach can be expensive, why not do things yourself and ask people via social media or even just speak to family and friends?
6. Go beyond user needs: So you've found out what people need and you're planning to structure your website to satisfy those needs. But you also have to consider – what do people do after they've found the information they've been looking for? Do they want to find out more? Do they want to purchase something? Consider the next steps.
7. Where do they view your website?: Next, consider how people will access your website. Will they be viewing it via their laptops or their smartphones? It might be that you need to consider how your website is presented to suit different contexts.
8. How much information?: When planning your website's content, you have to think about how much your target audience already knows. If it's a topic they're very familiar with then you won't have to go in to too much detail. But if it's something they'll need help with, you have to consider ways to quickly bring them up to speed.
9. Consider the technology: Never make the assumption that everyone knows how to use technology. They don't. So consider this aspect when planning your own website. For example, don't assume everyone knows that you can scroll a web page – because many won't know how to.
10. Pull together a plan: Once you've carried out the above research, you can start to understand how your website should be designed and structured with the right content. Put together a plan and stick to it. This research phase is only just the beginning but it's crucial if you want to create a successful website.
Now you've carried out your research and you've got a good understanding of your target audience, you can start to look at the usability and accessibility aspects of your website.
1. Navigation: Using all of your user research, create a navigation that is easy to use and satisfies the needs of your audience. Don't make people second-guess. Just keep the navigation really simple, clean and consistent.
2. Search: Make sure your website has a search box to allow easy navigation. Sometimes you're own navigation isn't good enough, so create a search box to allow happy browsing.
3. Alt Attributes for Images: If a web browser can't open an image, make sure there's an Alt attribute to describe what's there and even consider adding a caption.
4. Meaningful hyperlinks: Good anchor text is a short summary that describes where a hyperlink will take a user once they click on it, so make sure you use anchor text that makes sense.
5. Consistent content: Every web page on a successful website is meaningful and stays consistent to its message. Don't waffle and forget the focus of each web page. Stay on topic and present your content clearly and concisely.
6. Provide text versions of all audio and video content: Not everyone has super fast broadband, so provide text versions of any audio or video content – even if it's just a brief description about what the content is about. Also consider providing different formats for video and audio to give people options if they've got different bandwidths or software.
7. Organise pages consistently: Keep your content, design and structure consistent throughout your entire website. Allow easy access to every other web page within your site at all times.
8. Avoid distractive features: Pop-up windows, music and animation can be extremely annoying and off-putting. Keep usability focused by avoiding any irritating distractions that could just send your audience elsewhere.
9. Give users control: A happy web visitor likes to be in control, so make sure your website helps people to feel in charge of your web pages. How you do this is by giving people the power to easily find things. If they come across something that's not there, make sure you have an error page to direct them back to where they want to be. If your website sells products online, allow your users to cancel, confirm or reverse an important action.
10. Create a site map: Site maps organise information, outlining the main topics covered in each web page. They allow people to quickly find what they're looking for. Create a site map and make sure all page titles link to the right pages.
1. Consider the audience: At this stage, you'll know who your target market is, whether it's young or old, female or male. Bear this in mind when you come up with a design theme.
2. Ask yourself to describe your website: If you could describe your website with three adjectives, what would it be? Corporate, professional and clean... or fun, funky and youthful? Think about these adjectives when designing your own site.
3. Consider usability: Don't forget to keep usability in mind. Take all that initial research and information architecture you carried out, and let it shine through the visual elements.
4. Colours and branding: When thinking about actual colours and themes, always consider your logo and branding. If you don't like your branding, perhaps it's time for a re-think? Get your look and feel right now and you'll save yourself any hassle in future.
5. Put together a wire frame: To really get to grips with the layout and design, pull together a wire frame using something like Balsamiq. This will help you to see where the design is going. And if you're working with a web designer, you'll be able to show exactly what you want.
6. Don't forget a mobile design: Everyone accesses the web on the move these days, so don't forget to create a 'mobile design' – one that will work well with smartphones. Create something that's responsive if possible.
7. Get your typography right: Clean, attractive typography is a must for any web design. Make sure your content is easy to read and appealing by using clear typography. Make sure your text is the right size as well.
8. Beautiful and bold headings: Headings are important, so make sure they're bold and beautiful on your website. You want to make it obvious the difference between body text and headings.
9. Keep things simple silly: Don't fill every available space on your website with design features. It will only complicate things and turn web visitors off. Keep things simple and clean. Don't be afraid of white space and allowing content to breathe.
10. Remember, content is king: No matter how much you get caught up in the web design process, always remember that content is king. People want information on the web, so bear this in mind when constructing pretty pictures.
1. Structure your content: When you first sit down and start to pull together the content for your website, it's best to write down a solid structure. You should already know what's going to be included, so create a document where you can easily write the content. For example, what's going on the home page? Are you including an 'about us' page? You should. Also consider if you're including any images and pick out the ones you want to use.
2. Write for your audience: When writing your content, always keep your audience in mind. Are they corporate? Write copy that suits a more professional audience by using formal language. Is your audience young and trendy? Write informal, conversational copy that holds their attention.
3. Keep your values in mind: Some people end up writing content that shows no value. Remember, websites should build trust and credibility. Keep your company values in mind and get them across in all your copy.
4. Talk about what you love, not what you do: People don't want to know what you do, they want to know what you're passionate about. Actually sit back and think about why you run your own business. What makes you happy? Tell people why you love what you do and they'll buy in to your passion.
5. Throw in some SEO-friendly copy: Never forget the search engines by writing copy that's SEO-friendly. What do I mean by this? Don't discount your keywords and write quality content that relates to those keywords. Give the crawler bots lots of juicy words to chew up. Just make sure your spelling and grammar is impeccable as search engines don't like sloppy language – and neither do your customers.
6. Don't boast too much: A successful website gets across the company's values and achievements without boasting too much. Learn how to convey the right message so you don't over-boast, but still show what you're good at.
7. Stay on topic: It's easy to forget what you're writing about when you start drafting content for any particular web page. Stay on topic by writing a title and always reminding yourself about that title. So if you find yourself losing focus, go back to your title to stay on track.
8. Show some personality: Don't come across all stiff and boring by being too 'corporate'. Do show your personality because people are just people. Show that you're human by adding some personality to your web copy wherever possible.
9. Add testimonials: Nothing adds credibility like a recommendation from one of your existing customers. Add testimonials to your website to reassure new visitors.
10. Show off your work: Your website is the perfect opportunity to show people what you're good at. Add a portfolio or some case studies to show where you've helped others and really made a difference.
1. Consider your keywords: Keywords are those words that help search engines to establish what your website is about. They're the words and phrases that people might type into Google or Bing to land on your site. Research your keywords and then structure your site and its content around them. Sometimes keywords are obvious, for example – 'Web Designer Leicester'. But sometimes, they're not so easy to figure out. A good way to find your own is to take out a Google Adwords campaign or look at what your competition is doing.
2. Meta Titles: Meta Titles are those titles you see come up in the search engine results pages. Add your own Meta Titles to your website and ensure you include your keywords. A top tip with Meta Titles is to put your most important keyword at the very start. And keep the entire title less than 70 characters long – the shorter, the better. Also, make sure your titles are different on every single page of your site – optimised for the content there.
3. Meta Descriptions: Meta Descriptions help to describe what your web page is about. Add no more than 155 characters and don't forget to repeat your keywords. Don't just write something the search engines will like; consider your target audience first and foremost. Nine times out of 10 you will naturally write something Google will love.
4. Meta Keywords: These aren't considered to be important anymore, especially for Google. But it's worth adding them – just in case. Add your keywords along with anything else that helps to describe your website. Just don't add more than 10.
5. Headers: Add your keywords to the most important header tag or 'H1' tag on your web page. Use headings in a semantic, logical manner and both humans and search engines will love you for it.
6. SEO-friendly copy: When you draft your content, keep your keywords in mind at all times and write copy that relates to those keywords. So if you're a photographer, talk about cameras and studios as well as portraits and models. An additional tip is to keep your spelling and grammar correct – search engines don't like bad copy.
7. Image Alt Tags: Google can't crawl and index images, so make sure you add 'Alt Tags' to images using your keywords or something to describe that image. Preferably include the keyword or image description, as well as the size of the image, in the file name.
8. Bold & Italic: Highlight some keywords and phrases by adding bold or italic styling to them. Google will see these highlighted words as important. Use sparingly though. You only need to do this three-four times on each web page.
9. Fresh content: Search engines love fresh content. Keep your website fresh by writing a regular blog. The more you update your website, the more Google or Bing will come back to index your website. The more they do that, the more your SEO will be boosted.
10. Don't go mad: When optimising your website, it's easy to forget the design and litter pages with bolded and italic copy. This can end up looking messy and off-putting. Always keep a good balance to avoid alienating your audience, as well as the search engines.
1. Get social: Go on forums, message boards and other people's blogs to raise your profile and attract people back to your website. Offer advice and share your expertise. You'll find that doing this for half an hour a day will really benefit.
2. Utilise Twitter: Twitter is by far the best social media platform to network and share your website's content. In my humble opinion, anyway. Sign up, create an account and start tweeting. Don't self-broadcast too much. Just build relationships, as that's what it's all about.
3. Get blogging elsewhere: Don't just blog on your own site, guest blog on other people's. Share your expertise by caring and sharing. You'll find that people will want to discover more about you.
4. Share your expertise: Write blog posts on your website that offer tips and advice. Share links on Twitter back to your blog and you'll attract lots of traffic while turning potential visitors into customers.
5. Meaningful comments: When visiting other people's websites, leave comments that are meaningful rather than the usual 'Great Article!' type thing. Share some expertise and wisdom. Add your own useful ideas. And don't forget to provide a link back to your own website through your profile or comment.
6. Encourage viral promotion: Get people naturally sharing your website address by creating something viral. That's whether you create a downloadable, useful document on your website or create a free tool that people can access and use.
7. Show the real you: Be friendly and warm – and, most importantly, show the real you. People don't want to talk to logos. They want to talk to real people. When marketing off-site, bear this in mind and be yourself.
8. Don't self-broadcast: When carrying out off-site marketing, don't self-broadcast by saying 'We've just done this!' or 'We've just done that!' all the time. Understand that the web is all about sharing and communicating with actual people. Talk to people, share their concerns, find out who they are. Don't self-broadcast because it's not all 'me, me, me'.
9. Don't spam people: Don't throw one-way marketing messages at people, constantly shouting about yourself and your website. Spam is the one thing people hate the most, so avoid spamming people and over-selling.
10. Leave the old marketing rules at home: The web has changed the rules of marketing. Today, it's about building relationships with customers. Ok – so it involves more effort than traditional advertising. But it actually works. Learn the new rules of marketing by building relationships that last. | 2019-04-23T15:06:04Z | https://www.creativeboom.com/tips/60-ways-to-create-a-successful-website/ |
Foreign investors in Turkey may start a new company, make a portfolio investment, participate in a joint venture, purchase part of an existing business or establish a branch subsidiary or liaison office with no greater restriction than a Turkish national. Business activities are regulated by the Turkish Commercial Code No. 6762 dated June 29, 1956 in Turkey (‘TCC'). To establish a new business, most common type of entities are the Business Corporation (Joint Stock Company) or the Partnership with Limited Liability (Limited Liability Company).
In accordance with needs of the business and the European Union (EU) accession procedures, a new TCC draft is has been considered by the Parliament of Turkey for some time and is expected to be adopted in 2007. Accordingly all company procedures are subject to change. The information provided in this chapter is based on the current regime.
According to relevant legislation, a company is a business association formed by two or more parties who bring together their labor and/or capital to achieve common purpose of making profit and sharing profit. The company establishing parties enter into a contract titled "Articles of Association".
TCC defines five different company structures and they are classified in a restrictive manner: 1) Ordinary Partnership 2) Collective Company 3) Commanded Company 4) Joint Stock Company and 5) Limited Liability Company. The first three types are very rarely used by regular businesses and especially by foreign investors with the exception of Collective Companies which are generally used for residence construction projects. Therefore we will be explaining the details of the most commonly used types of companies which are ‘Joint Stock' and ‘Limited Liability' companies below.
"A Joint Stock Company is the company possessing a trade name, whose capital is determined and divided into shares, being liable for its debts only up to the amount of its estate.
The liability of partners is limited by the shares of capital subscribed by them."
Minimum of five (5) shareholders and TRL 50,000 (approximately €29,218) of capital is required to establish a JSC. Articles 277 and 272 of TCC regulate such requirements.
The commercial title is the name distinguishing ‘the merchant' (tradesman) from others while he/she is doing business through his/her commercial enterprise. The corporate title is similar and it comprises two parts: the core and the annexes. The core is the mandatory wording indicating the type of the company and the subject matter (e.g. Tourism, Construction, Trade Joint Stock Company, Limited Liable Company). Annexes are additional words and expressions subject to discretion of a merchant and/or shareholder (e.g. Blue Voyage Tourism Joint Stock Company).
Exclusive right to use the registered and published corporate title belongs to the owner of that title (shareholders).
The use of some words such as Turkey, Turkish, Turkish Republic etc. is subject to the consent of Council of Ministers.
Pursuant to TCC, the commercial title must be different than any other registered commercial title. If there are two matching words with a registered title, the Trade Registry will not register the second one. Title inquiry must be made through the Trade Registry title database before submitting an application for incorporation.
A JSC shall be established by a contract among the shareholders. The contract must be in a written form and signatures shall be authenticated by public notary. The contract used for the incorporation of JSC's is called "Articles of Association" (‘AoA'). The AoA must contain the following information.
(x) Portion of the capital each shareholder has subscribed for.
The above listed subjects are the compulsory minimum of the content of AoA. The shareholders are free to insert any other provision/s they may think appropriate for the operation of the company as long as they comply with the mandatory rules.
It is permitted under Turkish law for the shareholders to sign and execute individual agreements between themselves and/or regulate all aspects of shareholder relations such as in the form of a ‘Shareholders Agreement'. It is agreed that the JSC itself could become a party to those kinds of individual contracts.
After the verification of the AoA through the Public Notary, the company shall be registered to the Register of Chamber of Commerce at the district of its headquarters. The company acquires legal personality (entity status) at the completion of such registration. Following the registration, JSC must apply to the tax office to register and to obtain a tax number in order to operate commercially.
Pursuant to the relevant Articles of TCC, a JSC must have three organs to function: 1) Shareholders General Assembly; 2) Board of Directors 3) Statutory Auditors.
The highest decision making organ of a JSC is the Shareholders General Assembly (‘SGA'). Each shareholder is entitled to participate in the SGA meetings and cast his vote either personally or through proxy and meetings are conveyed either ordinarily or extra-ordinarily. Ordinary SGA meetings are convened at least once a year (therefore they are also called "annual meetings") and within the first three (3) months of the fiscal year (January 1 - December 31). Extraordinary SGA meetings could be held whenever it is deemed necessary.
The Board of Directors (‘BoD'), the statutory auditors, shareholders having at least 10% of the capital, and the liquidation officers (if the company is under liquidation) may request for a SGA to be held.
The form of the announcements (notifications) for SGA to the shareholders must comply with the standards designated at the AoA and shall be realized through the Trade Registration Gazette published by the Chamber of Commerce where the JSC is registered. On the other hand a SGA may lawfully convene at any time, without going through all of these formalities with the attendance of all (100%) the shareholders directly or with proxy.
The representative of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce (‘Government Commissar') must also attend to the SGA and sign the minutes of the resolutions adopted. The lack of the signature of the Government Commissar deems the SGA resolutions null and void.
(v) All other questions that need to be discussed among the shareholders.
Besides the above items, any other relevant issue that the assembly should debate and resolve may be included in the agenda. However, such subjects that require a special quorum for discussion may not be debated without the necessary quorum.
(iv) To approve, reject or amend the proposal for allocation of the profit.
Each share of capital gives one vote to the shareholder, but provided that the AoA of the company defines any privileged shares, the numbers of votes must be calculated according to such rules.
The resolutions of the SGA are effective and binding on all of the shareholders including the ones who did not participate in the actual meeting.
Other than the designated exceptions (see below), SGA's can be held with the presence of 50 per cent of the shares and pursuant to Article 378 of the TCC, the resolutions of SGA are taken by the majority of the present votes.
(ii) To increase the capital commitments of the shareholders.
The BoD is the managing and representing organ of the JSC. BoD's are formed with a minimum of three (3) members pursuant to Article 312 of TCC. The BoD members must be real persons and shall be shareholders of the company. Individuals representing legal entity shareholders could be elected as BoD members. The members are appointed by SGA or the AoA and the term of office can not exceed three (3) years. BoD members could be re-elected by the SGA if the AoA has no opposing reservation on the subject.
TCC Article 317: "A joint stock company is administered and represented by the Board of Directors."
The above stated power is exclusive to BoD, however, any additional power can be allocated by the AoA.
Generally the members of BoD exercise their powers collectively but it is possible to distribute to powers between the members. Furthermore, it is also possible, provided that it is regulated by AoA, to appoint one or more members of the BoD as managing directors and to delegate to them all or some portion of the powers of the BoD. The AoA may also provide a possibility to appoint a non-shareholder and non-member as managing director making the managing director powerful and liable for the area left for his authority.
(viii) Implementing the resolutions adopted by the SGA, registering and announcing JSC's resolutions.
The members of the BoD are liable towards the company, the shareholders and the creditors of the JSC, in case they do not properly discharge the duties and the obligations imposed upon them by the relevant laws and the AoA. The liability of BoD members is collective and is exercised jointly.
5. If the other duties incumbent on them in accordance with the law or the articles of association are not fulfilled intentionally or though neglect.
If one of the duties indicated in paragraph (5) has been entrusted to one of the directors in accordance with Section 319, he/she will be responsible alone and there will be no joint liability in connection with the operation in question."
The auditing of the JSC is carried out both internally and externally. External audit is performed primarily by the Ministry of Industry and Trade. The tax offices also have the absolute authority to audit the company accounts.
There are two types of internal auditing. Voluntarily the companies may subject their accounts to auditing through auditing individuals or firms (sworn financial accountants such as the big four auditing companies). Separate from this outsourced internal auditing, the TCC makes auditing mandatory in a different regime. It is realized by minimum of one (1) maximum of five (5) statutory auditors appointed by SGA. If more than one, the statutory auditors act as a board. They could be appointed to office for three (3) years and be re-elected provided that AoA of the JSC has no other reservation.
The statutory auditors are real persons appointed to audit the activities of the JSC. They need not to be accountants or hold any similar title however they can not be elected among persons with family relation to BoD members and more than half of the statutory auditors shall be Turkish Citizens (if only one auditor is appointed he/she shall again be a Turkish Citizen).
The statutory auditors audit the activities of the BoD and report to SGA or the Courts when required.
In practice, statutory auditors of the JSCs are appointed from independent accountants or shareholders.
Shareholder is a legal or real person who owns shares in a JSC. Shareholding may be original or derivative (with new shares issued or assignment and transfer of existing shares). Original shareholders are persons who have contributed to the capital of the company during its foundation, and therefore the founders are deemed as original shareholders.
Shareholders are under obligation to pay the amount of the shares that they have committed to purchase into the JSC's capital. Such payment is allowed to be made in installments. The first quarter (¼) of the commitment shall be paid in within the first three (3) months following the incorporation for original shareholders' and the remaining commitment shall be deposited to the company accounts within three (3) years. Once they pay all their commitments their liabilities are lifted. Liability of the shareholders is only towards the legal personality of the company.
The capital of JSC is divided into shares, the nominal value of the shares (which cannot be less than TRL 0,01(approximately €.8) must be determined by AoA. Each share represents a portion of the main capital and a status of shareholding. Pursuant to Article 373 of the TCC each share gives one vote to the holder but AoA may allocate more than one vote to certain shares.
3.7.3.1 Registered Shares: The owner of those type of shares are personally determined. The certificates attached to those shares have the name of the holder.
3.7.3.2 Bearer Shares: Those shares do not have any name on the share certificate thus the holder of the certificate is deemed the owner of the shares attached to the certificate.
3.7.4.1 All types of shares of JSCs are transferred pursuant to articles of the Code of Obligations No. 818 dated April 22, 1926. Pursuant to related articles the transfer must be made in writing, if the share certificates were issued then (a) registered shares are transferred by both endorsement and delivery of the certificate and the share book must be incorporated accordingly; and (b) bearer shares are transferred by delivery only and the keepers of the shares may apply for share book registration to execute their shareholding rights accordingly.
The capital of a JSC must be a fixed amount determined by the AoA which is divided into shares. The minimum capital requirement is TRL 50,000(approximately €29,218). As stated earlier the ¼ of the capital shall be paid into the company accounts during or within three months after the establishment, the remaining portion could be paid to the company in installments within three years by the shareholders.
The SGA is entitled to increase or decrease the capital.
Reserves are the net assets besides the capital. The principle source of the reserves are revaluation of assets and profits, the funds retained from the profits that may be used to cover the future losses or extraordinary expenses, to finance the company or to secure the distribution of dividends in a regular basis.
"Article 466. It is compulsory to set out each year one twentieth (1/20) of the net profits as a general reserve fund, until it reaches one fifth of the basic capital.
1. The portion which has not been expended for amortization, assistance or charity, out of revenues obtained in excess of the nominal value after deducting issuing, expenses, when issuing shares.
2. The balance remaining on payments made on account of the price of canceled shares, after having closed the deficit resulting from the shares which have replaced the same.
3. After having set aside on the net profits a portion of 5% for shareholders, in addition to the reserve fund mentioned in the first paragraph, one tenth of the portion that has been decided to distribute among shareholders and other persons having a share in the profits.
As long as the general reserves have not exceeded one half of the basic capital they may be expended exclusively for covering losses, for taking the proper measures for maintaining the undertaking in times where business is not good for preventing unemployment or for reducing the consequences thereof.
The provisions of sub-paragraph (3) of the second Paragraph and of third paragraph shall not apply to holding companies whose principal object is to take interests in other undertakings."
(vi) Any other reason stated as a matter of termination at AoA.
(v) Merger with another company.
Following the termination the JSC is liquidated by liquidation officers determined either by the AoA or by an SGA resolution. After the liquidation JSC record is erased and this is announced at Trade Registry Gazette.
For issues that are not specifically designated by the TCC under the LLC section or hereinafter, the rules above mentioned for JSCs are identically applicable to LLC.
A limited liable company (‘LLC' or ‘LTD' as referred in Turkey) is a company formed by two (2) or more real or legal persons, having a corporate title and a predetermined (fixed) capital and with a liability limited to the corporate assets. The liability of the shareholders is towards the company and is limited with their share of the capital.
An LLC can be formed by minimum of two (2) and maximum of fifty (50) real or legal person shareholders with a minimum capital of TRL 5,000 (equivalent of approximately $3570.-). Statutory auditors shall be appointed to LLC's having more than 20 shareholders in accordance with Article 548/I of the TCC.
(vii) Appointment of the company officers.
Along with AoA and other relevant documentation of the shareholders, the LLC shall be registered to the Register of Chamber of Commerce at the district of its headquarters. The company acquires legal personality (entity status) at the completion of such registration. Following the registration, LLC must apply to the tax office to register and to obtain a tax number in order to operate commercially.
Shares are not represented by share certificates in LLCs however shareholders may transfer their shares to third parties accordingly with agreements and registration at the Trade Registry Chamber of Commerce or may pledge those freely.
Shareholders are under obligation to pay the amount of the capital stated in the AoA to the LLC's accounts. Such payment is allowed to be made in installments. The first quarter (¼) of the commitment shall be paid in within the first three (3) months following the incorporation for original shareholders and the remaining commitment shall be deposited to the company accounts within three (3) years.
The share value of each shareholder in LLCs may not be less than TRL 25 (approximately €.5) per share.
First, the LLC may take over the share of a shareholder who has not fully paid in his commitment, or may expel such a shareholder to cover the debts owned by that shareholder and then sell this share to a third party afterwards. In this case, if the subsequent owner can not also pay his portion of commitment, the original shareholder is obligated to compensate for the outstanding amount. The liability of the previous and current shareholder would still be towards the company but it will be a joint liability in accordance with Articles 531 and 532 of the TCC.
Secondly, the shareholders of an LLC are jointly liable for the payment of the due tax related debts and social security premiums owed to the relevant government institutions with their personal assets not limited with the capital of the LLC but proportional to their shares in the capital.
TCC requires two bodies for management and representation of the LLCs: 1) Shareholders General Assembly and 2) Directors of LLC.
The SGA of LLCs is similar but less formal compared to the SGA of JSCs. An ordinary SGA shall convene once each year, within three (3) months following the end of the fiscal year.
The call for the ordinary SGA meeting shall be made in accordance with the relevant provisions of the AoA. If no provision in his regard exists in AoA, the notice of an SGA meeting shall be sent by a registered mail, including the agenda, five (5) days prior to the date of such meeting. The duty to realize such necessary procedures and formalities are on the Directors of the LLC.
Extraordinary SGA meetings are held when the Directors deem necessary and call the shareholders accordingly. The shareholder/s who hold 10% or more of the company capital (i.e. the minority) may also demand for an extraordinary meeting. If the Directors do not accept this demand, the shareholders have the right to request the meeting to be ordered by the Court.
The SGAs, in LLCs with more than twenty (20) shareholders shall convene to debate the items in the agenda and adopt resolutions; where as the LLC's with less than twenty (20) shareholders may adopt resolutions by written correspondence in accordance with Article 536 of TCC.
An absolute majority (more than half) of the shares and shareholders is necessary to meet and resolve matters in accordance with Article 536 of TCC. The calculation of the quorum is subject to both share proportions and the number of shareholders (51% of the shares and 51% of the shareholders).
Power to administer and represent the company is vested with the Directors of the LLC. To a great extend, the Directors (representative and liable managers) in the LLCs occupy a similar position to the members of the BoDs in JSCs.
One significant feature of the LLCs is that, in a similar way to collective companies and in principle, all shareholders have both the right and duty to administer and represent the limited company in accordance with Article 540 of TCC. Based on this rule all shareholders, in their capacity as Directors of the company, are eligible to management and representation of the LLC. Therefore, if real person individuals are incorporators of an LLC and no other designation of Directors is made the shareholders automatically act as Directors of the LLC.
However, by the AoA or pursuant to a resolution of the SGA, one or more of the shareholders or third party individuals could be appointed as Directors of the LLC in accordance with the Articles 540 and 541 of TCC.
(v) Loss of 2/3 of the capital.
Upon termination, a limited company is liquidated and deregistered. | 2019-04-23T01:10:02Z | http://yavuzmavioglu.av.tr/turkey-forms-of-doing-business/ |
We know now that all those paper profits that puffed our portfolios were as solid as tsarist rubles and that the “compassion” which briefly infused conservatism was a bribe to get a few thousand seniors to vote Republican once—in return for leaving their grandchildren eyeball-deep in debt. But wasn’t it fun while it lasted? Who could have possibly predicted that all the experts who carefully managed the investment boom, and the technocrats in academia and government who enabled and cheered them on, would wind up as deeply discredited as Bernie Madoff’s word of honor?
Harry Veryser’s lively and readable new book has the answer: the Austrian economists, that’s who. In It Didn’t Have to Be This Way, this economist and entrepreneur shows how the current morass was the unavoidable outcome of specific policy decisions, some of which reach back decades—and how thinkers of the Austrian school of economics, exiled from academia and ignored by policymakers, accurately predicted how the crisis would come.
The basic narrative is not in dispute: banks, under pressure for short-term profits and goaded by regulators who wanted to enforce racial equality in home ownership, made hundreds of thousands of loans to people who… had never checked their credit ratings. Some of them had gone bankrupt. Others earned less in a month than the monthly mortgage payments they’d soon have to make. Many were middle-class people who’d already mortgaged the homes they actually lived in; they bought additional properties they could never pay for but hoped to “flip,” on the theory that real estate prices never go down. Such loans, which any sane accounting would tally as worthless, were sliced up, repackaged, and granted AAA ratings, then sold as securities—and our retirement plans duly purchased them, which is why you and I will be working until we are 80. We all know this much.
What in fact tanked our economy was something quite simple that Veryser explains in satisfying detail: politicians eager to win votes tried to keep the economy hyperstimulated by feeding it with ever more money. As a result, there was too much money floating around with no good place to go, so banks lowered their standards and made ever riskier loans. Such “mal-investments” were doomed from the get-go, and the longer government policies tried to keep the pyramid scheme standing, the higher the tab would get. What happened in 2008, Austrians know, was nothing new; in fact, such artificial booms pervade our history, from the ultra-low interest rates Alan Greenspan gave President Clinton—which puffed up share prices for the dotcoms of the 1990s—to the stock and real estate bubbles of 1927-28. Because they direct resources to places where they don’t belong, investment bubbles amount to little more than paying people on your credit card to dig a bunch of holes, then borrowing still more to have them all filled in. Yes, this does boost employment, for a while. But what are you left with in the end?
Veryser points to such key Austrian theorists as Ludwig von Mises, Friedrich Hayek, and Wilhelm Röpke, who predicted that bubbles and subsequent crashes were the unavoidable result of politicizing the currency—of cutting the last ties between the money supply and tangible assets such as gold. It should sober boosters of the Republican Party that the last such link to gold—and hence to real-world discipline on politicians—was severed by Richard Nixon in 1971. Veryser also shows how economic, political, and international turmoil can be traced, in part, to the meddling of politicians in the otherwise self-correcting mechanism of the market: it is no accident, he says, echoing Röpke, that the collapse of international trade in the wake of the Great Depression coincided with the rise of aggressive nationalism. Either goods will cross borders or armies will; the golden age of free trade in the 19th century made possible the “long peace” that ended in 1914.
There is much more in this book than a stark diagnosis of economic crashes and a solid case for restoring some kind of gold standard; Veryser shows how most of the key principles that mainstream academics use to understand microeconomics were lifted—often without giving credit—from Austrian theorists, whose faithful disciples are frozen out of universities as “cranks.” We see how the Austrians predicted the implosion of the Soviet Union even as Harvard professors issued textbooks explaining how the Soviet model “worked.” Best of all, Veryser shows how the insights of Austrian economics can be uncoupled from the “anarcho-capitalist” politics with which they are often bundled. Ludwig von Mises didn’t favor restoring medieval Icelandic anarchy, but rather the Habsburg monarchy. There is plenty of room, in other words, for social and religious conservatives to learn from the sober analyses of the Austrians—the only school of empirical economic thought that takes seriously human dignity, personal responsibility, and the role of the natural virtues in promoting the common good.
John Zmirak is author of Wilhelm Röpke and The Bad Catholic’s Guide to the Catechism.
My comments as they are. I am still a huge fan of the gold standard — without a doubt, in my mind, Pres. Nixon’s mistake.
Austrians understand the immense complexity and heterogeneity of intertemporal capital structure. The injection effect of central bank credit expansion causes the newly created money to enter through capital markets.
It does not only have to flood exclusively into housing, but rather long-term interest sensitive production processes such as durable goods like autos, stocks (see current stock boom and the Nasdaq and dotcom bubble), bonds (see now), and yes housing (see now). The suppression of the interest rate below natural market determined level, realigns the production structure in a manner that is inconsonant with consumer preferences. The pattern of this malivestment depends on innumerable uncontrollable factors and subjective evaluations of market participants.
How could we see housing come back and stocks flying through the roof with nonexistent saving by Americans and investment 10 percent lower than its pre-recession peak?
Thanks for the response. I agree that there are limits to a purely aggregate notion of the economy. This is why micro-economics are important too.
But the story of distorted interest rate signals is just not plausible though. If entrepeneurs are so good (heuristically) at guessing or rapidly adapting to consumer preferences in the future, they should then be equally attuned to guessing the future moves of central bankers. But they strangely are not. Austrians never really explain this one. Are businessmen and entrepeneurs who live in interventionist economies really unaware of the phenomenon of inflation/deflation and how these affect the value of money. commodities and fixed assets and that interest rates changes are possible? implausible in the extreme!!
Think about what you are saying. You’re claiming that the artificially low rates led bankers and house builders and so forth to systematically overinvest in mortgages and housing. There’s no question that low rates can be a stimulant for this in the short term. But are bankers and builders really so dumb to behave as though low rates will last forever as some immutable law of the cosmos? Do they not rather look at the price and availability of money and interest rates in exactly the same way that copper miners look at the price of copper or oil drillers look at the price of crude. They all know that reversals are possible and to plan accordingly, slow to ramp up production and quick to unwind, always monitoring changes in the market . Builders do this too ordinarily.
No, what happened in this case was that all over the world (after the dot.com bubble) liquidity flooded into bundled mortgages–not just in the US where rates were low but in Spain, Ireland and many other places. They threw caution to the wind not because they thought low rates would persist forever but because banks bundled junk mortgages into large packages and used sophisticated portfolio theory to convince themselves that individual default rates did not matter. They had figured a way to make money on mortgages that no one hitherto had thought profitable. They had turned lead into gold. And for several years it worked and because it worked businesses and consumers began planning around its continued working as buyers and builders all tried to get in on the action too.
But the underlying problem was there was tons of money in the world chasing after high returns that seemed safe. Equities could no longer provide those returns. And so financial engineers came to the rescue. We know how that ended. Now all that money has nowhere to go but into sovereign debt since the growth of the worldwide economy has slowed so much. It’s not clear what we do from here. But it is clear that the recommendations of the “Austrian school” has little to offer on this score.
You can’t lay this one at the feet of central bankers. The problem is much larger than them.
petebrown asserts that the causal link between falling home prices and recession is the exact reverse of the story I told. Actually I think we are both oversimplifying.
In the real economy there is no single, clear cause linking one event to another. Both pete’s story and mine can be true at the same time — falling house prices and a preference for saving over spending probably fed upon one another in a cycle.
At the risk of being tarred as an “austerian” I claim that this cycle of lower house prices was not obviously a vicious one. Something — some combination of forces — needed to bring house prices back down to a realistic level reflecting their actual utility compared to other economic goods. The hundreds of billions in paper values that vanished in 2008 was not actually wealth being destroyed — it was illusory wealth that never really existed in the first place. The Keynesian “fake it ’til you make it” recipe is simply not capable of arranging labor and capital in ways that can actually bring that level of real, tangible wealth into existence. The only thing it can do is drive malinvestment from one sector to another, in a succession of speculative bubbles. Which is exactly what we are seeing today.
I dont think any financial/economic model is perfect given the human instinct toward murmuration.
A big problem not mentioned here is that some 80% of all loans go to real estate purchases and not productive job creating businesses. Wall street no longer funds creation of industry.
I think I answered the part about the distortion of interest rates in another post.
me: Well companies are profitable, despite the fact that there are 16 million out of work. There are enough paying customers to report good earnings which is the main reason stock prices have come back from their 2009 depths. One reason is that companies have trimmed their work force to the bone. With housing prices–where the have rebounded you will see that unemployment has fallen. That and the normal churn has cleared alot of the surplus including us who just bought a condo as a short sale.
But there is little or no inflation which is what you seem to be arguing. Long term spreads for TIPS bonds which are set by the market are only around 2% for the ten year. So the folks with billions on the line are not expecting much in the way of inflation in the medium to long term. Same thing with corporate bonds also set by the market.
And the absence of inflation despite monetary expansion has been one of the things that has convinced be that the gold standard folks and Austrians are seriously wrong with the way they view things. At some point their prediction of runaway inflation has to confront reality that expectations general price level rises remains very low.
I reluctantly have had to admit that Krugman was right that there would be no inflation when we were in a zero bound. Facts are stubborn things.
Well you have to confront the fact that wealth is accrued by society exchanging goods and services for little green pieces of paper that have no intrinsic value at all but are treated as “money” because, well, people expect that they will be valuable to them to buy other goods and services. There is no “real tangible wealth” at all in the sense you seem to mean and has not been for a very long time, if there even has been. Truth is gold in the ancient world functioned just as dollars do today.
So we lost in 2007-current not “paper wealth” but wealth as real as any. When people feel the value of their assets dropping they tend to feel poorer and thus don’t spend and invest as they did. If a whole society does this or a big part of it does, the nation as a whole cannot help but get poorer.
Seen micro economically your salary is dependent on others consumption. If they stop spending your salary must fall too, which means that your consumption will fall too which causes the earnings of others to fall. Then when others get wind of what’s happening they spend less and save more for fear it will happen to them and it does because the people whom they are buying less from were also the source of their earnings. Vicious cycle. It’s not really that complicated.
This is how you reach an equilibrium with idle factories, laid off workers and customers not buying…no one has any money because hardly anyone is buying anything. You have customers who would like to buy, businesses who would like to produce, and workers who would like jobs–all who are idle simply because of a lack of flowing money in the system. No good comes from this…none at all. It is a deadweight loss of not of “wealth” but of “real tangible resources”–people, goods, factories etc.
The most straightforward way of combating this is by putting more money into the system. If customers have money again they will spend, businesses will ramp up production and start hiring and then their employees will have money to spend again. Virtuous cycle.
All this bizarre fixation on “real tangible wealth” (gold coins? hard money??) obscures the fact that money is a necessary lubricant to commerce. If there is too little in the system moving too slowly the economy will become artificially depressed. And this is bad all around.
@petebrown — Sorry if I confused you by using the terms “real” and “tangible” as modifiers to “wealth.” By “wealth” I was referring to things like automobiles, Ipads, and bottles of wine — not gold coins. In my lexicon, “wealth” consists of consumer goods and capital goods while “money” is something that can be exchanged for wealth. I can understand why you might see some kind of fixation on hard money in those comments, since Austrians are associated with those ideas, but that’s a discussion for another time.
I am aware of the conventional wisdom that injecting more money into the system will stimulate the production of wealth. This is what I call the “fake it ’til you make it” recipe, and in my opinion it is a recipe for malinvestment.
I disagree that “wealth” (using my definition) is accrued by the process of people buying things — regardless of whether they use gold coins or paper. I believe that wealth is created by production — Japanese assembly lines making automobiles, Chinese sweatshops making Ipads, Sonoma county illegal immigrants picking wine grapes, etc. And yes, I am aware of the Keynesian idea that “stimulating demand” will have a salubrious effect on these processes of production. I just don’t think it’s a very good way to stimulate those processes over the long run, because of its indiscriminate nature. Putting it simply, some kinds of production are more important than others, and stimulating aggregate demand does not recognize that fact.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but weren’t there frequent panics and bubbles in the “golden age of free trade” that was the 19th century? Quite a few more that there were in the “over-regulated” 3/4 century between the Great Depression and the Great Recession?
Actually they do explain this phenomenon. Entrepreneurs are not omniscient eunuchs that are lightning calculators of pleasure and pain. They rely on relative price adjustments and differentials in prices of complementary factors and anticipated prices of future products. They are not infallible but respond to relative price signals and profit-loss accounting. If these are subverted and manipulated then they are prone to errors.
The rational expectations theory has become an aggregate variable describing all entrepreneurs as a homogenous blob of superhuman policy wonks. They are postulated as encompassing all the knowledge of Monetarist economists and armed with intellectual tool kit of the quantity theory of money.
This has led to implausible theory of perfect markets as wrongheaded as the extreme theory of constant market failure. The reality is somewhere in between and economic actors rely on many institutional arrangements (private property, relative prices, and profit-loss wealth calculus) that filter the decisions in a sound direction and coordinate economic activity. When the interest rate is falsified and arbitrarily pegged by a monetary politburo, systemic dis-coordination is engendered throughout the capital structure.
They cannot be in the head of monetary central planners like Greenspan and Bernanke.
Inflation is not absent and is significantly underreported. Commodities, producer goods index, stocks, houses and bonds are inflated and deeply manipulated by the Fed’s money printing bonanza.
Besides, Austrians believe there is a kernel of truth in the quantity theory of money, but they do not believe in the mechanistic Monetarist version where the general price level corresponds uniformly to the expansion of the money supply.
Austrians and “gold standard folks” have predicted the patterns of these boom-bust cycles and asset bubbles and have gotten much more right than Monetarists or Keynesians.
Yes because central bankers and politicians tell them so. The interest rate and yield curve is being manipulated by the wizards at the Fed so investors follow their moves instead of responding to market prices that convey real information. Remember the so-called Great Moderation where central bankers and economists claimed they tamed the vaunted business cycle? That’s the signal the unsustainable boom is near its peak.
Thanks for your thoughtful reply. i would reckon wealth somewhat differently. It’s more the aggregation of real resources—human beings with skills and talents, a society that can cultivate talent and cooperation, factories that can make things, land that can yield useful crops, the natural environment, and yes money too. in fact in a modern economy there has to be money for people for the other thing to function.
Creating the right amount of money to prevent economic activity from falling artificially is not “fake it till you make it.” It’s what a central bank is necessary to do. Most of the time it can go on relative auto-pilot as long as inflation stays low and deflationary pressures are absent. But it is absolutely necessary to provide extra liquidity in times of financial panics. Because so much of our money in a modern economy is in various forms of fractional reserve accounts, things can collapse very quickly if people start demanding money very quickly and the fed doesn’t provide it. Then you have far worse problems than (hypothetical) asset bubbles: depression, war, civil unrest. It’s happened before and it will happen again. Then were going to need far more difficult interventions by the government.
Saying you won’t create more money in a panic because it might produce asset bubbles is like saying you won’t administer penicillin when someone has a life threatening infection on the grounds that in the long run the medicine itself might make the patient sick.
Austrianism is the triumph of ideology over common sense.
me: you provide no evidence for this contention at all and ignore mountains of evidence that cut against it. Commodities go up and down because of supply and demand too; increases in price are not necessarily indicative of inflation. You have in China 90 times as many cars as in 1990 and a similar story in Brazil and India. So is it any surprise that with many more people eating and driving more that prices for oil and food have tended to rise? There is no bubble in housing?!?! Check Case-Schiller.
In the stock market today the PE ratio is 17.5. Since 1890when the PE ratio was 26.5 the ratio has usually hovered in the 20’s though it has dropped as low as 5-6 . By contrast in the tech bubble the ratio was 35-46 and in 2007 the ratio got up to over 120. That’s what a bubble looks like. I’m sorry but you’re just seeing ghosts if you see a bubble today. No evidence for it at all despite that nutty fact free David Stockman op ed over the weekend. Its not to say the market cannot fall. But its prices today are not out of historic norms. Please John check historic price levels so that you don’t make assertions that are demonstrably untrue!!!
And if we are having all this inflation why is this not reflected in soaring interest rates. Forget “price indices” TIPS bonds explicitly price in expected future inflation. You can compare their rates to normal treasuries. The spread is a measly 2%. You simply can’t explain this on a hypothesis of run away inflation. And I can tell that you wisely haven’t even tried.
I don’t mean to be rude. But how is it Austrians see what people and institutions with literally trillions on the line don’t see. At some point this ideology needs to touch ground and examine some empirical facts.
And when you do you’ll stop being an Austrian.
This can’t possibly work when labor has been so devalued that the newly printed money goes directly into the stock market and gets used to create new asset bubbles in commodities, as opposed to funding new businesses. The average American can’t benefit from a virtuous cycle if he has no part in it. If you said this somewhere earlier, then apologies, I must have missed it.
You know how some left-leaning folks might look at the title of this website and reflexively assume its readers share every opinion of Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter? Some critics do a similar thing with the label “Austrian” — as if it were an all-encompassing philosophical worldview, rather than a perspective on certain economic problems.
Statements like “Austrianism is the triumph of ideology over common sense” and “examine some empirical facts… when you do you’ll stop being an Austrian” would be more appropriate in a forum like alt.politics.
Well the relative share of labor in the total national income is kind of another issue. And yes…you’re right in the sense that maintaining enough money in circulation to keep nominal growth on a set trajectory does not solve all economic ills.
But the average worker is hurt immensely by monetary contraction. There is a broad consensus among economists across the spectrum that contraction is what caused the Great Depression and could have been combated much more effectively if we had not been on the gold standard or even if we had abandoned it earlier.
And I think if you read a good market monetarist blog like http://www.moneyillusion.com you will find that workers have been hurt immensely in this recession by the slowdown in money velocity too, that has come because of the financial crisis. All this money that has been created is not causing bubbles. It has been sterilized. Banks are holding it on their balance sheet and are actually being paid interest to hold onto it. They’ve been given money and then paid rent to hold onto it…nice work if you can get it. If that money gets flowing in the real economy you’ll see the unemployment rate drop pretty quickly. No, it wont solve all the problems of low wages but its better than sitting on the couch everyday looking for jobs on Craigslist.
I don’t mean to be offensive I really don’t. I shouldn’t demonize the term “austrian”. Hayek is an Austrian who has had a great deal to contribute to pricing theory for instance and of helping remind the dinosaur Keynesians of the importance of expectations feedback loops and so forth.
But “internet Austrianism” is simply toxic for the GOP, conservatism and the country as a whole on many different levels.
Adherents to Keynesian dogma are fond of asserting, with an air of dismissive superiority, that their economic theory is rigorously scientific, and thoroughly grounded in hard empirical data. You can hardly slog through one of Krugman’s columns these days without running into some form of that claim.
On the other hand, Austrian praxeology is said to be a bunch of superstitious knuckle-draggers, ignorantly scrawling magic incantations on cave walls, utterly divorced from the rigorous scientific method of Keynes.
Now the hallmark of a scientific theory is making falsifiable predictions, and testing those predictions against experiment. No theory can ever be proven absolutely true, but if a theory makes a whole lot of falsifiable predictions and fails to be proven wrong each and every time, then it can be said to be “empirically verified” in proportion to the number of times it’s stuck its neck out there and survived the trial.
Exactly what falsifiable predictions does my theory make? How many times has my theory made a truly falsifiable prediction, gone head-to-head with the evidence, and survived the trial?
What evidence can I imagine that would shake my own faith in this theory?
We need less “internet monetarism”. You have not responded substantively to any of my critiques of your interpretation of data i.e. economic theory.
You have just thrown around a bunch of useless aggregates and price levels.
I never even mentioned runaway inflation. I said that inflation is underreported because the CPI does not include very relevant prices of food and oil. It also has changed the formula with a substitution method that conceals actual price increases of goods that have utility to consumers. We also export a lot of dollars and hence inflation, as well as recent interest payments by the Fed on excess reserves of banks.
Also, bond prices and yields run inversely and my point is that treasury yields are too low because of the Fed being the main purchaser and manipulator and hence inflated prices of treasuries and a bond market boom!
How is this not a distorted market?
How come people like you have not thoroughly investigated the Austrian Theory of the Business Cycle. It has predictive and empirical validity, albeit in looking at patterns of phenomena. When was the last time the Monetarist or Keynesians (do I repeat myself) predicted or diagnosed a speculative bubble? Milton Friedman’s monetary theory was wrong about the Depression and he missed the most recent boom in Housing and on Wall Street.
Again, how did be people get with “trillions” of dollars engage in speculative mania in the Housing bubble, Nasdaq Bubble, the gyrations on Wall Street in the 90s with Long-Term Capital Management and Mexican bailout, Stock market crash of 1987, stagflation of the 1970s and Fed generated credit and stock market boom of 1921-29?
The interest rate is extremely crucial price and when it is fixed artificially low by the Fed it generates excessive consumption, debt, leveraging, malinvestment, distortions of relative prices, falsification of profit-loss and wealth calculation. People respond to prices and incentives and are not omniscient like you assume.
Do you really believe the interest rate determined by the Fed does not filter out and influence the complex array of interest rates on the market?
At some point you need come to grips with reality, but let us agree to disagree.
One caveat. Some Keynesians actually call for a strong inflation and housing bubbles. So I guess they inadvertently diagnose and encourage the business cycles (see Paul Krugman).
me: well, what about the part about constantly asserting either that we have high inflation (that strangely none of the market indices measure) or were are about to get runaway inflation. Yes, the gold crowd has been on that one since back to the second Bush term in fact and the chorus has only grown louder since the financial panic How long before the statute of limitations runs out on that prediction? Inflation is at a postwar low. This whole thing is like yelling fire during day 27 of Noah’s flood.
The ABC cycle theory fails on its own terms. It’s predicated on the assumption that guys like you have figured out that the “spiked punch bowl” will one day be taken away but that all the actors in the field somehow are too blind or stupid to realize this.
Hint: beware of esoteric theories that purport to contain secrets that are outside the ken of the rest of the world.
Markets are now forecasting very anemic growth and very low inflation. (you also ignore the fact that i refuted your assertion that the stock market is a “bubble.”) Folks buying trillions of treasuries know better than you that the fed is buying some of these on the secondary market and have already factored in the implications of this for the value of the nominal dollars with which they will be repaid. You know nothing that these guys don’t. (And frankly I think you should entertain the possibility that they know things that you don’t.) And right now they are willing to lend at practically zero real interest rates because they don’t see much growth or inflation and just need a safe place to park money.
Is it possible that they are drunk again from all the “spiked punch”? I suppose. Markets can be wrong. Indeed maybe they will change tomorrow to call for higher nominal growth and higher inflation. The trouble with your theory is that for it to work they not only have to be wrong this time but have had to be wrong consistently over decades and you have to be in possession of secrets of the temple that ought to have made you famously wealthy by now.
Put your money on the [email protected] John [email protected] Skoobie. If US treasuries are really the mother of all bubbles waiting to burst as you seem to think or as ABC theory seems to tell you, go way way short on them!!! Then when investors from all over the world figure out that you were right all along and yields soar and you both become sultans of brunei, I’ll become an Austrian.
But beware….contrarianism has a few who’ve made great riches…but a cellar full of many corpses.
And if we roll back through the 1800’s, with less and less government intervention, we still find booms, busts and crashes.
For the USA, at least, the post-New Deal situation was far better than the pre-New Deal situation.
Still the market might collapse to close to its historic lows at say 5-7 PE ratios that we last had in the early 80’s.
But what will be conclude from that? Nothing really. It does not prove that it was a bubble before the crash and neither does it prove that it now at its correct levels post crash.
The moral of the story is that 1) not only is it hard to know when assets are increasing in price because of fundamentals (better earnings, long term growth prospects etc.) or because of speculative mania fueled by too much money, or too many animal spirits or whatever 2)conversely it is hard to know when falling assets are falling because of fundamentals (bad earnings and prospects) or because undue pessimism has befallen investors.
In short Skoobie before you go around touting past “bubbles” as vindication for the ABC theory ask yourself (as an empirical control)”how do I know what a “bubble” really looks like in the first place? How do I know that many of the alleged “bubbles” were not simply 1) large bad business decisions that soured quickly once new information became available (which is the market working not a “bubble” bursting) or 2) an undue bout of panic that ignores salutary long term conditions (the 1987 crash which had no lasting effect is a good example of this one as is the “flash crash” in 2011) and not a “bubble” at all.
krugman, dean baker and others repeatedly warned greenspan in 2006 that a housing bubble might be looming. they noticed that house prices had gone up much more than incomes but that rents hadn’t. so it was obvious to them that demand for houses was largely speculative. greenspan replied that you only know if you’ve got a bubble after it has burst and that, in any case, raising interest rates was a blunt instrument which would harm other parts of economy. krugman et al responded that there were many ways of taking heat out of housing market without raising rates eg: lowering loan to values. greenspan didn’t respond. it’s of note that greenspan got his job because he was willing to go along with derugalation. volker wasn’t , and lost his.
If bubble and crash were caused by too much money slushing around how come inflation was so low, and still is?
tying dollar to gold was not particularly effective in preventing bubbles/bursts but Glass-Steagal Act was, for about 30 years; separating bank lending from speculation is the only tried and tested way of minimising this problem. breaking up banks which are too big to fail would also help, or at least making them pay an insurance premium for luxury of being too big too fail. economists estimate this premium should be about $ 60B pa. in a free market system the tax payer should not have to gift $ 60B to Wall Street, every year. the problem is Wall Street doesn’t like free markets because it impacts on their profits and with their lobbying power they will be able to continue distorting markets indefinitely.
Actually it’s a matter of record that in 2005 Krugman was predicting a major housing bust. He may not have understood at that time the extent to which securitization of real estate debt and speculation in it would extend the crisis throughout the financial system but by early 2007 he and several others certainly had and were warning of the dangers. Heck even I’d figured it out and was acting accordingly. By contrast most conservatives and Republicans were engaged in happy talk for the entire period 2004-2008 and amazingly some were still bullish in the spring of 2008. Unfortunately, this commentary is filled with similar questionable assertions. From my personal experience I visited the Soviet Union for commercial reasons several times in the 70’s and it was obviously moribund. Alas the entire Austrian theorem is undermined by the simple fact that since the dawn of modern capitalism at the start of the 18th century “perfect” markets have never existed and it’s a pipe dream that they ever could. I also find unpersuasive the assertion that looser regulatory regimes and adherence to the gold standard would magically smooth economic cycles. Didn’t seem to work in the case of the Jay Cooke crash of 1873 which ushered in a slump that lasted for 20 years; the 1907 panic; or the mother of them all in 1929.
Until we get rid of the illegal and immoral Federal Reserve, we will continue to have these boom-bust cycles, which keep stealing money from the poor and middle-class and give it to the rich and super-rich.
There’s no sane reason why Americans should pay around 400 BILLION a year in interest to the private banking families that own the FED, interest paid to borrow OUR OWN MONEY.
Some argue against QE because “the markets know best” and so the FED shouldn’t lower bond rates – only the rational market should decide on bond rates The very same people also claim that the 20% drop in bond rates between 2000 and 2006 caused the 100% rise in house prices over the same period, and so caused the crash. But if that’s true, then the markets were very irrational (a 20% rate drop can’t justify a 100% house price increase). So the markets didn’t know best at least during this period. In which case what’s wrong with QE?
Lese Majeste: you are righter than you think. When the Fed prints money to buy bonds, the coupons the Fed receives on these bonds are paid largely by people earning around the median income, including people not working and on benefits who don’t pay income tax but pay other taxes. Their income is their total benefit package. So we are talking about people earning about $ 20K pa. Because the Fed is privately owned, this means that a lot of poor people are paying money to fewer very rich people and they have no choice about doing it and get nothing in return. What kind of “free and fair” transaction is that? Doesn’t sound like capitalism to me – more like legalised theft and, what’s worse, from poor to rich. God help the American people. I hope we in Britain never end up like you.
before someone thinks my last 2 posts contradict each other, i should add that there is nothing wrong with QE as long as the Fed is not privately owned. It’s a useful tool . But if Fed is privately owned , then QE is theft.
Pete at least deserves credit for doing something that Krugman has been unwilling to do: he has given a specific, concrete real-world condition that would cause him to change his mind about theory.
So if interest rates on US Treasuries ever “spike” above zero again — from now until the end of time — Pete has agreed that he will become an Austrian.
Clint: Mr. Wallison was the General Counsel in the Treasury from 1981-1985 under Ronal Reagan. Ironically, the Father of Reaganomics was an Assistant Secretary of the Treasury named Dr. Paul Craig Roberts. He is an actual economist, Phd holder, former editor of the Wall Street Journal editorial page, and professor. He was actually instrumental in helping to solve the problem of ‘stagflation’ through a correction of Keynesian demand side economics by balancing the supply side. At any rate, he often describes the 2007 Recession (which officially started in December of that year) as being caused, at least in party, by the collapse of the housing bubble which, in turn, owed much to deregulatory capture by mega banks and other elites. He describes the world economic crisis today as the 1% stealing as much as they can from everybody else. Though formerly a Republican and a conservative, this narrative agrees with many, many other economists including Michael Hudson and especially Dean Baker both of whom Dr. Roberts has made mention on several occasions.
And for more info, How The Economy Was Lost and The Failure of Laissez-faire are Dr. Roberts’ most recent books. Anyone on this site is highly encouraged to check out this important figure in American history. | 2019-04-18T17:00:27Z | https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/austrians-dont-blow-bubbles/ |
*Multiple instance of birth registration.
Multiple instance of birth registration.
Apologies in advance if I have missed a previous answer to this, but I could not find it.
There is a person called Drusilla, a Norfolk girl born in Bungay and baptised in November 1843, who's mother and ancestors were called various forms of Late, Laight, Lighton, Lighting, etc., due to illiteracy, inarticulate speech, heavy Norfolk accents, and so on. Eventually, it seems that they were all called Leighton by 1900.
Drusilla has four entries in the Oct-Dec 1843 Wangford registry, Vol 13 Page 498 viz: Drusilla Tar Leait, Drusilla Tar Hawes, Drusilla Tar Leail , and Drusilla Jane Hawes.
The last two are transcription errors of the first two, it is obvious when you see the writing on the original list. That leaves two registrations and I know that one is for Drusilla's mother's surname phonetically "Late" and the other for the man who was the father that she never married, a Samuel Hawes (who has also been wrongly transcribed as Haines just to make life even more difficult).
Firstly, was it even possible or legal for someone to register a birth twice? Secondly, will I have to send off for both surnames in separate requests to GRO in order to be able to uncover the birth certificate(s)?
Or is there only one certificate possible? If so, which surname should I enter in the submission form?
Many thanks in advance for any help on this.
Re: Multiple instance of birth registration.
I have just looked on the GRO Index pages where you would normally order a certificate (https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/indexes_search.asp) and could only find Drusilla Tar Hawes listed in the last quarter of 1843 in Wangford. Where did you get the other details from?
I think it is possible the birth was first registered with no father, and later the father was prepared to have his name added.
That will probbaly become apparent when you order the GRO Index entry that Bian mentions.
So should I be entering HAWES in the GRO space for surname, or LEAIT? Because I can enter either, or both on separate requests.
Do they have two birth certificates or registration sets that differ, do you think?
I have tried a "dummy run" ordering the birth certificate and I have discovered that Drusilla Laite or Lait, etc leads to "NO RESULTS".
Therefore, I presume that there must be just one entry with GRO, and one certificate. That in the name of HAWES.
It is a pity that registry searches come up with such confusing duplicity.
I now realise that if I'd tried to order the certificate under Drusilla Leait I would have discovered all this.
Well anyway, thank you very much for your very quick and knowledgeable replies, I am very grateful.
If you found multiple GRO Index entries in the 'old original' GRO Indexes with the same Volume and Page numbers then it's probable that the Registrar's staff were simply trying to cover all bases, i.e. different interpretations of the child's forename(s) and/or surname. In contrast, re-registration with genuinely differing details, such as a child's birth being re-registered after marriage would normally have resulted in the cross-indexing of the old and new entries and only the newer registration being valid for ordering certificates. In contrast, I've found many marriages where there are multiple index entries, usually where one or both parties had been known by multiple names, e.g. Mary 'A', formerly 'B', previously 'C' whose father's name was given as John 'D'. I would guess that it's all down to how diligent the individual Superintendent Registrar's staff were with their indexing in pre-computerised days, i.e. anytime earlier than the 1990s!
I've only come across one 'genuine' double birth registration through my own research where all key details were identical; and that involved the same child being registered in two different Registration Districts about ten miles apart, probably first where the child was actually born (the mother presumably having returned 'home' for the birth of her first child) and then slightly later where the family actually lived.
Many thanks for your insight, Mervyn, much appreciated.
Leaving aside fantastic coincidences, this means that there is one certificate only, with four index entries.
Certainly I have seen multiple indexes where the clerks were not sure of the correct reading - a marriage certificate that I recently got was indexed under both "Roya" and "Roza" because the clerk couldn't decide whether the letter was a "y" or a curly "z".
Also, the Drusilla's parents were not married at the time of the registration - the original GRO indexing system recorded such children under both parents' surnames. (The child does not have a surname on the birth certificate until 1969).
Births to unmarried parents in the old indexes would normally be indexed under both parents names.
Where a father is named on the entry (regardless of marital status) the new GRO index seems to only index under the that name.
So that explains why only the Leait, etc, variants don't bring up a result on the new GRO site - that's the mother's name, while Hawes is the father's, so is now the only one indexed. I consider this to be a right royal PITA as such children (of unmarried parents) were usually known by the mother's surname and you might have no idea of the father's name. (There is no Mother's Maiden Name in such a case, as she is not married and the MMN is the surname immediately before marriage.) (I cynically wonder whether the GRO realise that they changed the rules of the indexing game. I suspect not).
Many thanks for that insight, Adrian, now I can see things a lot clearer. It does seem to be a bit of a pain, as you say, especially as the job of finding the correct registration is already difficult enough due to difficult to read or illegible original writing, poor transcription, illiteracy and very broad dialects.
It also seems to be the case that birth outside of marriage was more common in the earlier 19th century than later.
There is a church in Heckingham, Norfolk, called St Gregory's (a Grade 1 listed building) where apparently women from many outlying districts took their newborn to be baptised if they were not married. The baptism record shown in the Norfolk Bishops Transcripts in the mid 1840s shows page after page filled with the entry "Single Woman" and from many (other) places in the "Abode" column. The "Single Woman" entries outnumber the others, local and married, by about five to one, so I guess it must have been a sort of refuge for unmarried women wanting to avoid local baptism.
In the case of my own search for Priscilla "Lightning", the sister of Drusilla mentioned in this post, the Banns were read three times in Ditchingham church Jan 23 1848 to Feb 6 1848 for the marriage of Sarah Ann Light or Lighting and Samuel Hawes (transcribed as "Haines" due to an ink spot), a widower, but no marriage was ever recorded, although one is recorded erroneously in English Marriages dated 6 Feb, which is obviously based on the reading of the banns.
.....yet 7 years later Sarah, still unmarried, bore a son called Samuel.
I've moved this thread to the Research Forum, which is where it belongs.
I find this confusing history difficult to resist a little research.
There are some misleading details given earlier regarding where places are.
Bungay and Wangford are in Suffolk and NOT Norfolk.
I have found entries for Sarah Ann, Drusilla, Priscilla & Samuel in the 1851 and 1861 Census records.
Hi, Mike, how are you doing?
Many thanks for the information, but nothing that I have not already recorded.
I have all those records already safely sourced in my FH6. I just didn't have the Drusilla birth certificate to uphold my findings for the man I am researching for, my friend of 21 years John Piper, along the coast in Worthing.
Yes, the River Waveney, which runs around the northern part of Bungay, is the Suffolk-Norfolk border.
However, Sarah Ann, Drusilla's mother, was born in Shelton, and all her parent's family and relatives records are in Ditchingham Dam, Ditchingham, and Shelton which are in Norfolk. Ditchingham Dam consists of a few houses on the road to Ditchingham just over the river bridge and hence in Norfolk. Ditchingham is less than a mile from Bungay, but a separate community in 1840 with its own Inn, due to the flood plain, and the river.
Sarah Ann, Drusilla's mother, was the last child, (of at least eight) born in 1815, of William and Mary Lighton (nee Toward) in Shelton (Lightning, light,etc) before Mary died. No record survives, apparently of that event.
William then married Susan Kett of Ditchingham in 1819 , who was the daughter of Jonathan Kett and Sarah Harwood, and Susan bore several children several of whom died.
By 1851 William had died, Susan was 55 and living in Ditchingham with her two daughters Hepzebal (the third one called that), and Charlotte. Also living in the house was Sarah Ann and her two daughters Drusilla and Priscilla. She is described as daughter in law and unmarried. This alludes to the fact that in 1851 "daughter in law"=step daughter and so Susan was Sarah Ann's step mother.
By this logic, we can separate Sarah from the two possible Sarah Lighton births in Shelton, in 1815, 13th July to Charles and Mary Lighton and 21st July to William and Mary Lighton. Reading "unmarried daughter in law" as "unmarried step daughter", which is what is meant in 1851 terms of reference, Sarah Ann Lighton was born to Wm and Mary on 21st July 1815.
By 1861 Sarah was living in Bungay with Drusilla aged 17 and Priscilla aged 12 and son Samuel aged 6. We can assume Sam was the son of Samuel Hawes, alluded to in the earlier post, father of Drusilla and Priscilla and deserter of marriage vows.
Anyway, in 1861, next door to unmarried Sarah and her children, in Nethergate Street, Bungay, lived George and Mary Plumb (nee Woor) and their 11 year old son Edward.
By 1866 Sarah Ann, and both of Edward Plumb's parents had died and Edward moved into next door as a lodger, the house now being run by Drusilla.
He was 17 and she 23, Samuel was 11 and Priscilla was working as a servant elsewhere. Add 5 to the ages for the 1871 census.
Hence in 1898 when Ages Elizabeth married John Piper, whose grandson I am now researching for, Agnes Elizabeth recorded her name on the marriage certificate as Agnes Elizabeth Leighton Plumb.
An interesting family history, Paula.
Perhaps what I should have said is the registraton district Wangford is registered in Suffolk.
It is important to make that distinction when searching for records, even if Bungay is mostly in Norfolk.
I now understand why Sarah was recorded as daughter-in-law of Susan in 1851 Census.
But that does not explain why Sarah's daughters are recorded as daughters of Head of house Susan, when they should be grand-daughters-in-law.
I found Samuel Hawes windower in 1851 Census at Beloy Bridge, Ditchingham, Loddon, Norfolk.
I think I found his son Samuel married in the 1861 Census, but cannot find Samuel senior.
1851 HO107 Piece 1820 Folio 512 Page 15 at Belsy Bridge, Ditchingham, Loddon, Norfolk.
Samuel Hawes widower (b.1813 St Andrews) with son Samuel (b.1830) and daughters Mary (b.1833) & Alice (b.1847).
1859 (8th May) Samuel Hawes (age 43, father James) married Emily Greengrass (age 33) at Ditchingham, Norfolk.
Samuel Haws widower & Emily Greengrass Banns 27th Mar, 3rd & 10th Apr 1859 at Ditchingham.
1859 Q2 Civil Reg at Loddon Volume 4b Page 385 Samuel Hames and Samuel Greengrass must be an error!
1861 RG09 Piece 1230 Folio 71 Page 12 at Radford (Belford?) Bridge, Ditchingham, Loddon, Norfolk.
Samuel Haws (b.1815 St Andrews) married to Emily (b.1828 Beccles) with three children Mary A (b.1850 Beccles), Walter (b.1855 Beccles) & George (b.1860 Ditchingham).
Have not found an entry for childen Mary and George.
1861 RG09 Piece 1230 Folio 77 Page 1 at Green, Ditchingham, Loddon, Norfolk.
Samuel Haws (b.1830) married to Mary with two children.
1863 Q2 (19th Apr age 35) Emily Hawes died at Loddon, Norfolk Volume 4b Page 149 (registerd twice).
1866 Q3 (9th Sep) Samuel Hawes (father James) married Mary A Dunnett at Loddon, Norfolk Volume 4b Page 351.
Samuel Hawes widower & Mary Ann Dunnet Banns 5th, 12th, 19th August 1866 at Ditchingham.
1871 RG10 Piece 1832 Folio 71 Page 8 at Belford Bridge Road, Ditchingham, Loddon, Norfolk.
Samuel Hawes (b.1813 St Andrews) married to Mary A (b.1819 Broome) with two children Walter (b.1855 Beccles) & George (b.1860 Ditchingham) and granddaughter Anna Durrant (Dunnet?).
1881 RG11 Piece 1964 Folio 74 Page 16 at Belsey Bridge, Ditchingham, Loddon, Norfolk.
Samuel Hawes (b.1815 St Margarets) married to Mary Ann (b.1821 Broome).
The dates & places of birth for Samuel and his sons Walter & George match well.
He has had relationships with at least four women (1st wife Maria?, Sara Ann, Emily & Mary Ann).
Emily Greengrass - May 8th 1859 in Ditchingham.
Mary Dunnet - Sep 9th 1866 in Ditchingham.
Both Emily and Mary Ann are spinsters upon their Marriage to Samuel.
Both entries can be found in Norfolk Marriages on FMP.
My, you have been busy!! I have just got back from doctors, shopping, seeing friends, so have not had a chance to look at your findings properly, but I can tell you that at first glance I think I have seen all those records, but I was unable to convince myself that it was the right guy.
The question still remains whether he was married when he fathered Drusilla in 1843, (also, there was a Marion Tar Leait buried in 1839 in Bungay, and I don't do coincidences. Hawes again? ) and then mystery of why he didn't turn up for the wedding after the Banns when Priscilla was just about to be born in February 1848. An objection, perhaps? Or scared sh**less?
I am waiting for the Drusilla birth cert, which should arrive by Wednesday. I am playing snooker tomorrow with John, and at the doctors and the hospital on Wednesday, so I won't be around to get stuck in again until Thursday. I will let you know what turns up in the birth cert.
Many, many thanks for your efforts, Mike, I am very grateful to you.
I think it worth posting that I have always found the individuals at the GRO Help are very experienced at sorting out problem entries.
One is never isolated with the index books.
Once again, thank you for doing all that research into Samuel Hawes. I am going to be spending the weekend looking into all that and anything else I can dig up this weekend.
The Drusilla Tar Hawes birth certificate (pdf) has been downloaded, and it states that Samuel Hawes is the father. She was born October 21st 1843, at Bungay Holy Trinity, registered on 1st November.
She was baptised on 1st November 1843 as Drusilla Lait. The father's name is left blank and to confuse matters further, some idiot has transcribed the mother as Drusilla, which was obviously Sarah Ann Leighton. (Using the correct family name).
There was also a birth of Marion Tar Haws in Q2 of 1839 and subsequent death of Marion Tar Leait and burial recorded as Marian Tar Leait on 2nd October 1839. Note the different spelling of the Christian name. We can assume that Samuel Hawes was the father of that child.
Whatever happened with the Banns of Marriage nine years later, at St Mary's in Bungay in February 1848, between Samuel and Sarah is anyone's guess, but Sarah took new baby Priscilla in the summer of that year to St Gregory's in Heckingham to be baptised, as a single woman. No father.
Then, in 1855 she bore Samuel who was baptised as Samuel Lait, to Sarah Ann, no father and in the notes we have pb/sw which I read as private baptism, single mother.
I cannot imagine that she would call her newborn boy Samuel if Mr Hawes had not been the father.
Sarah died in Bungay in 1865 aged 50, as Sarah Ann Lait.
She never entered herself onto any census as married, and no marriage record exists except the erroneous 6th February 1848 which actually refers to the aforementioned Banns.
The research that you have done about Samuel Hawes is very interesting, and I will be checking it all out, so once again, many thanks.
Last edited by Paulamoulton on 23 Mar 2019 17:39, edited 1 time in total.
I too have encountered this 'double recording' of births in the Scottish Borders, with my wifes paternal family. Also, with my paternal mother's family in North Devon, in Parish records going back to the mid 1700's. It can be a bit disconcerting, but I attach both PR entry documents when making the entry into FH using AS, using the date of the initial baptism ceremony. | 2019-04-24T02:24:18Z | https://www.fhug.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?p=91362& |
Throughout the 1990s, South Ossetians aggressively pushed for independence from the Republic of Georgia, ultimately seeking reunification with North Ossetia in Russia. Then on 12 November 2006, South Ossetia held a referendum which resulted in an overwhelming “yes” vote for independence from Georgia. In response both the Republic of Georgia, and the international community in the West, ignored the voting results. Why? Because a fairly large oil pipeline ran through the region of South Ossetia and the United States was courting Georgia with NATO membership in exchange for access to that pipeline. Then in August of 2008, Russian forces responded to military clashes between Georgia and South Ossetians in what came to be called the Russo-Georgian War. Most Americans were oblivious to the circumstances leading up to the conflict which led to the common (albeit false) perception that Russia simply invaded Georgia and took a section of their territory against the will of the people who lived in South Ossetia. The 12 November 2006 referendum tells a different story. South Ossetia wanted this, voted for it, and welcomed the Russians as “liberators.” Why? This seems to go against all of our assumptions in the West.
The current conflict in Ukraine also has echoes of familiarity. The most recent general election in Ukraine saw the victory of the ethnically Russian half of the country. It wasn’t long before protests and rioting erupted in the capital, mainly sponsored by ethnic Ukrainians, who were supported by the West. After the Ukrainian president was ousted, and the constitution voided in favour of returning to a previous constitution, Russia stepped in to “help maintain security” in the heavily Russian-speaking region of Crimea. While the West considered this an “unlawful act,” Ukraine apparently signed a security pact with Russia years prior that permitted the movement of Russian troops inside Ukraine. Ethnic Russians in the southern peninsula of Crimea overwhelmingly voted “yes” in a referendum to break with Ukraine and rejoin Russia. In what the Ukrainian government and NATO allies termed an “invasion,” Russian forces consolidated control to secure the region and uphold the results of the referendum. Crimeans immediately celebrated. Why? Weren’t they just “invaded?” Again, this seems to go against all Western assumptions.
It is reasonable to assume that more heavily Russian regions of Ukraine will soon follow Crimea’s example. Ukraine is filled with oil and gas pipelines that provide a large portion of energy to Europe. If half (or all) of Ukraine eventually falls under Russian control, that would make Russia a primary supplier of gas energy to Europe.
So what’s happening here? In short, Vladimir Putin is very cleverly rebuilding the Russian Empire. This is not the Soviet Union, mind you. This is not a godless communist regime. This is different. Baptised in secret by his parents during the Cold War, Putin is cleverly playing his cards as an alleged “Christian” leader. On the one hand, he has used his training in the KGB to rise to the top of the criminal food-chain in the post-Soviet Russia that descended into organised crime after the fall of the iron curtain. Putin now keeps the Russian mafia contained and squarely under his thumb as the master kingpin. At the same time he works toward restoring Russia’s once Orthodox Christian heritage by building new churches, teaching Russian Orthodoxy in public schools, and giving considerable policy influence to the Russian Orthodox Church. No, this isn’t communism. Whatever Putin is building (or rebuilding), he’s using Christianity as a social foundation, not the failed atheism of the past. Call it what you like, but you can’t call it communism, because by definition, it simply is not.
What seems repugnant to Westerners, is rather inviting to some Easterners, particularly those with Russian ancestry. So what is drawing people back under Russia’s sphere of influence? It would appear that it’s not just attraction to Russia alone. Rather, a significant aversion to the West seems to be playing a role. So what’s so bad about the West? It doesn’t take much to understand once you look at it from an ethnically Russian point of view. Remember, under the Soviet Union, the Russians were essentially sheltered from the social upheavals that transpired in the West during the 1960s through 1990s. There was never a “sexual revolution” to speak of in the Soviet East. While most Russians do not practise Christianity, the basic Christian moral framework is still present in Russian culture. For the most part, people still believe the best way to live is to work hard, get married, have babies and remain peaceful. So when Russians look to the West, with all of our sexual liberation, and rioting as a form of “protest,” it scares them. They see it as chaos, lawlessness, and downright perversion. Western military excursions into the Middle East, along with US and EU sponsoring of Arab uprisings (which has resulted in the massacre of many Orthodox Christians), hasn’t helped the West’s image much. Throw in the NATO bombing of Orthodox Christian regions in the former Yugoslavia, and the West gets a very bad reputation. Compound this with Europe’s policy of allowing massive Islamic migration into the mainland continent, and Eastern Europeans are terrified. Facing a future of being completely surrounded by Islam both in the south and on the west, Eastern Europeans are looking for real political and military protection of their Christian heritage and culture. Even if they don’t believe or practice Christianity, Eastern Europeans see a society based on Christian morality more appealing than a society based on Islam.
Russia doesn’t have a whole lot to offer people in the way of money and material goods, but it can offer military security, along with plenty of churches, decency laws and Orthodox Christian religious instruction in public schools. Putin is shrewdly offering all this, and Eastern people find it attractive, especially in the face of Western expansion, moral relativism, and the rise of Islam in western European countries. That’s why they love him, and that’s why regions of various Eastern countries are voting to join with Vladimir Putin and his rebirth of the Russian Empire. It’s probably safe to assume this trend will not end with South Ossetia and Crimea. In the process the West is losing control of pipelines, and with that the flow of oil and natural gas — particularly into Europe. Yes, Putin is playing his cards very well, and why shouldn’t he? The West unwittingly helped stack the deck in his favour.
The years to come will be hard for the West as the ascendency of Russia is impossible to stop at this point. The US and EU have spent all their political capital on reckless finances, sexual liberation, wars and uprisings, along with unkept promises to those Eastern nations foolish enough to believe them (Georgia & Ukraine). Even a recent opinion poll in the UK shows that the majority of Britons have a more favourable view of Russia than the EU. A paradigm shift is occurring right before the world’s eyes, and the West is seemingly powerless to stop it. The Russian Empire is reborn, and every attempt to frame it in the old Cold War motif has failed. This isn’t communism, it’s something else, and the West has no idea what to do. In the years to come Russia will continue to grab more land, and more pipelines in the process. Before long, Putin will control most of the flow of oil and gas across the Eurasian continent. Europe and America will be nearly powerless to stop it, you see, because these land grabs will come by the will of the people who live there.
It’s easy to villainise Vladimir Putin for this, and certainly he does deserve it to some degree. He’s been cold and uncooperative with the West, but then the West has tried to control him, ignore him and even bypass him. We can lament the mistakes of the past all we want, but that won’t bring back South Ossetia and Crimea. Opportunities have been lost and they’re not coming back. So where do we go from here?
Maybe it’s time for the West to do a little soul searching. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the West has spent a great deal of time and energy manipulating the Middle East in such a way that has been catastrophic to the Christians living therein. NATO has bombed Orthodox Christian regions in the former Yugoslavia, in part, for the purpose of liberating a Muslim region (Kosovo) that has a history of training terrorists. We haven’t done nearly enough to conserve energy resources and discover new forms of energy. We have allowed (even encouraged) our banks to become insolvent and put the West into the longest recession since the 1930s. Finally, when one would think we would have more important things to look after, we have become obsessed with sexual liberation, in the form of “marriage” for homosexuals, along with artificial contraception and abortion-on-demand for everyone else. The West, and by that I mean primarily Europe and North America, has become decadent, and it is this very thing that has made us weak and pitiful in the eyes of the East.
Do you believe in Divine providence? I do. Because for now anyway, it would seem that God is using Russia to chastise the West for its sins and hopefully chide it into reform. The vision Putin offers to Easterners is a narrow one. He offers them a form of godliness but denies its power. He says, “here is a Christian state,” but he enforces it using the ways of the devil — which is power and coercion. Nevertheless, people are falling for it. They fell for it in South Ossetia and in Crimea. More Ukrainian regions will likely follow. The people will vote in favour of turning to Russia, and then Russia will move in to “accommodate” them. In truth, what Putin offers them is not much, but when faced with Western decadence as their only alternative, many Easterners would rather move toward something more familiar and seemingly “safe.” That trend is not going away. Expect it to spread in the years to come.
The West has all the tools it needs to beat the Russian bear at his own game, but we’re not likely to use them anytime soon. For now the West is steeped in materialism, secularism and moral relativism. Of course such ideologies lead not only to sexual license, but also to financial malfeasance and international treachery. So as Russia begins to block the international advance of Western decadence, we can expect to see the West begin to “pick at itself” for a while. Conservative and traditional Christians will bear the brunt of this trend with the loss of freedoms and social ostracism. (Of course that will only lend more credence to Russia’s argument.) In time however, there is hope that the West may eventually begin to understand that the key to defeating Russia at its own game is to up the ante. If Russia thinks it can offer people wholesome Christian living backed by the state’s support of the Orthodox Church, then the West can offer it too, but more Christian in nature and far more wholesome, backed not by the state’s support of a particular religion, but by the state’s support of religious freedom (something we’re losing even here in America).
The West has the Bishop of Rome, the Pope, who could potentially unite Christians in the West (if they are willing) and someday reach a reunification with the Orthodox churches (including the Russian Orthodox Church). In other words, the Fisherman holds the Keys to the future of Western civilisation. The Catholic Church remains the West’s strongest advocate for traditional Christian morality. If Western governments would recognise this, and back it as a means for survival, then that changes the whole game. If Putin can use the Russian Orthodox Church to rebuild a Russian Christian Empire, then the same can be done (but much better and with more freedom) through Western moral backing of the Roman Catholic Church and those churches that morally stand with her. It’s not hard. We’ve done it before. Back during the 1950s it was common to see Hollywood movies in which the Catholic Church, and all churches, were portrayed positively. Governments respected churches and even allowed religious symbols on public property. Laws were generally structured in such a way to respect the religious sensibilities of the people. etc. Again, in 1950s America, the FCC made sure that nothing was broadcast over the television and radio airwaves that might insult or attack Christianity. That can happen again.
Simultaneously, the West can begin utilising the natural resources of North America (oil and gas) far more effectively, while also exploring alternative forms of energy more vigorously. Between the geothermal energy of Iceland and Yosemite, the West could conceivably produce enough hydrogen to fuel automobiles with zero air pollution. Then of course, maybe we can start implementing a little charity into foreign relations and stop pursuing policies that result in the slaughter of Orthodox Christians. When these ideas are realised and implemented by Western leaders, some future Russian leader will be forced to come to the table with the West and broker an energy deal that benefits everyone. Until that day comes however, the West can expect to be clobbered by Russia — not militarily — but socially, morally and in the realm of international influence, especially the Middle East and Eastern Europe.
Rather than deal with our internal problems, the West has decided instead to vilify Russia and Vladimir Putin in particular. Look, I’m no fan of Putin, and I know he’s not our favourite person right now, but I also know he’s not Joseph Stalin, and the United States had no problem striking a military alliance with that murderous dictator (who was worse than Hitler) during World War II. As much as the West hates Putin, with all his KGB history and mafia dealings, the man is a boy scout compared to Stalin. We allied with Stalin, we were friendly with Stalin, and we gave half of Europe to Stalin after the war. I’m not saying that was a good thing. It wasn’t. But it does put Vladimir Putin into a better historical perspective. Putin may be many things, but he’s no Stalin.
He’s also not going away. Like it or not, Putin has sealed his position in government for a very long time. Yes, I know. We can gripe about how he’s a dictator, and doesn’t follow true democratic processes, until the cows come home, but it doesn’t matter. The man is there. The man’s position is secure. The man controls half of the world’s nuclear weapons, and has the second-largest military budget in the world, second only to the United States. (We outspend him by over 10 to 1 by the way.) So we have to deal with him. We have no choice. The only alternative is to resurrect the Cold War narrative and put ourselves on perpetual war-footing with Russia for eternity. That appears to be something a growing number of American politicians, both Democrats and Republicans, are fully prepared to do, and some of them actually seem eager to do it. The same goes for many within our Leftist mainstream media too, as well as some Right-wing talk radio show hosts.
Trump and Putin meet in Helsinki, Finland for a summit on 16 July 2018.
In the midst of all this, we have the recent summit with President Trump and Vladimir Putin on 16 July 2018. It would seem that following this summit, many in the media are calling any talk of peace with Russia “treason,” and seem to be coaxing the public into a literal coup d’é·tat against the sitting American president. The last time I looked at the president’s constitutional powers, international diplomacy was part of the job description. The last time I looked up the definition of the word “treason,” it described activity closer to what the Leftist mainstream press is doing. Who are the real traitors here? Are they those who support the idea of letting the president perform his constitutional duties? Or are they those who want to unseat this president, by any means necessary, for doing so?
Over the last two years, I have heard the most insane and unstable theories coming from the political Left and the mainstream media. These are theories that question the president’s patriotism, and the legitimacy of his election, because of an alleged collusion between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russian agents. It’s a conspiracy that nobody has yet been able to prove, but the investigation did prove (or seem to prove) that Russian operatives did hack into the Democratic Party’s computer servers during the 2016 campaign. These were servers unsecured by even the most minimal standards, which released very embarrassing information about the Hillary Clinton campaign. Let’s get this straight. It was the Democratic Party that was hacked, not the election, and far too many people seem to believe the Democratic Party (and nothing else) IS America. So in their minds, if the Democratic Party got hacked, then America got hacked!
Actually, what really happened was this. The Democratic Party (a privately run entity) didn’t think data security was important enough to protect, and so it left gaping holes on its servers that any skilled hacker could peer through. This negligence came at a time when Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton also didn’t think data security was important enough to protect when she served as Secretary of State and used her private email address for official government correspondence. So the DNC paid for this negligence by getting hacked during an election. They lost the election, not because they were hacked, but rather because they had a terrible presidential candidate and a terrible party chairman whom the American people couldn’t stand. Once they lost the election, they blamed the Russians ad nauseum and engaged in what is now clearly a witch hunt to connect Trump to the Russians. That in turn has proved to be false by the testimony of the former FBI investigator behind the Trump investigation, who clearly had an anti-Trump bias (in writing) even before he was elected.
And it’s making America the laughing stock of the world!
We can do better than this, and we should. The West has problems — significant problems — and what’s currently going on in America is a good example of them. Rather than blaming Russia for everything, including our own problems, maybe it’s time we do a little soul searching. We should begin by looking at why East Europeans are getting cosy with Russia, and why Russian-speaking people are politically voting to return to Russia. This means we should look at why the West is no longer appealing to them, and then maybe what we could do to correct this problem. This might involve some things like stopping Islamic migration into the EU. It might involve stopping NATO from bombing areas were Eastern Orthodox live. It might involve getting America to stop funding “regime change” in areas that adversely affect Orthodox Christians. It might involve returning to our Christian roots and culture. It might involve cutting back on all this sexual liberation. In short, it might involve change amongst ourselves, and that is something very few Americans and Europeans are willing to do. Instead, it’s easier to blame the Russians. So that’s what we see on the evening news, night after night, after night.
What Will Happen When Roe v Wade is Overturned?
Much truth – but the Russian Orthodox use the Russian government and troops to take Greek Catholic churches and property in the areas they are moving into.
MEWE is an ideal private network, similar to Facebook, but with much stronger privacy rights, no political or religious censorship, and no advertisements. This is where you can share family photos and personal status updates without fear of your privacy being sold to the highest bidder, or being kept in the dark about political or religious issues important to you. This platform also has an excellent smartphone app, with an all-in-one, private messaging system built in. It's the perfect replacement for Facebook and Facebook-Messenger.
MINDS is an ideal public network, like Twitter, but with no character limit. There is no political or religious censorship on Minds, so you can post whatever you want. Likewise, however, there is no privacy either, so you wouldn't want to share family photos there, but it is perfect for getting non-personal ideas out into the public realm. This platform is also connected to crypto-currency and rewards you with free advertisement tokens when you generate content and interact. Minds is the perfect replacement for Twitter.
The contents of this blog are not necessarily the opinions of any Catholic parish, diocese, jurisdiction, priest, bishop, cardinal, pope or King Jesus himself. They are solely the opinions of the blogger, who is a faithful and orthodox Catholic.
If you like what you see here, please consider making a donation to help offset the cost of blogging. Benefactors who give a recurring donation of $5/month (or more) will receive a complementary electronic copy of each of Shane’s books.
All written contents on this blog are copyrighted by Shane Schaetzel. Permission to copy and redistribute can be obtained simply by contacting the blogger. He’s usually very generous. Often the only thing he asks for is a link back to this blog. | 2019-04-25T11:13:11Z | https://completechristianity.blog/2018/07/17/rebirth-of-the-russian-empire/ |
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Whether patient is below influence at a time is easily the screening. Cosmetic surgeons have been invited to show their expertise. Team-up Cosmetic surgeons never find the job done. Dental Practice An dental surgeon will be allowed to be hired after a number of many years of learning and training. Dentists are usually able to terrify since they will be fearful of their annoyance women and lots of men and even grownups avoid therapy. Kept exactly precisely the similar patients after the dental practitioner, and treated lots of the same patients for 25 decades retired. Luckily, obtaining a correct dental hygienist resume or CV will execute alot that will help you to nab your dream project.
Equally options might be rewarding if you have the ability to find the opportunities. It’s essential to be working on your own postsecondary career options. It’s likely to also mention special dental procedures you have special experience with.2. Such steps will have the ability to assist you to really be attentive to the things to include within job app. The task description can be the buddy. It may be beneficial to execute a SWOT analysis of the company.
Greatest CV for cleanliness might be stated in many methods. Our resume builder makes it easy to make a high-value resume in a couple of minutes. It’s rather tough to get in order, once tooth decay starts at a youthful age. Taking the dentist in a young age your pet become acquainted with the apparatus and will possess them accustomed to this procedure.
Just comprise in the event. At times, you also only wish to find that amount and start operating ASAP. So you’ve got that level, it’s time and energy to locate the position that is right. You benefit a couple years before going back for college and may receive your degree.
That you really don’t should do all your school at the same period . For me, it wasn’t just school that allowed me to get my own way. You’re going to likely be well-prepared right after attending an excellent faculty.
Considering all of the skills you will have to get some time management skill. It’s mandatory that you know you have acquired the skills, experience, and education essential for your amount for. Make certain your experience aligns with everything which is being sought afterwards. So do not neglect to say a few expertise and abilities, if you are in a position to. The area, your work experience should be added the following.
You can find several techniques to explore specific clinics. In case , you believe you’re aggressively somewhere, take the compulsory training in order for it to force you to get first attempt of asking a job a one. You may rather create a section for your certifications, As you may possibly have certificates for a career. The sort of test and exam’s degree could be the thing that things to decide exactly the groundwork process.
Contemplating the affliction of the economy, lots folks are anxious about their jobs. As you are able to be that you simply will keep to continue to maintain the occupation when you receive it you prefer to make sure. Work and internships are an exemplary means to acquire encounter in your region. You may take pleasure in the job and it’ll demonstrate fruitful in a run.
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Your resume should demonstrate the extra value it’s likely to bring to role or a company, maybe perhaps not only reiterate your accomplishments. You can opt to design resumes. Resumes adhere to two formats that are standard. Creating a resume for the first time might be challenging because it is catchy to discover.
An nursing resume objective would be an opening announcement that begins with all the fact which you want to procure function. Nursing resumes comprise experiences and abilities that lots of ATS methods overlook. Nursing is one of the very pursued professions in the 21st century. Additionally, your nursing resume will probably need to be tailored to the job advertisement. The above nursing resume bills deliver cases that you are able to apply for earning yours along with strengthening the ability of one’s resume.
Firstly, you are going to need to devote your nurse resume the obligations you’ve got experience with and also therefore so are mentioned close as possible. The healthcare provider might not be present once the change comes about, or some period the shares precisely the advice, while nurses aren’t typically accountable for identification. Entry-level nurses create the error of list each of their adventures in their resumes simply to raise the specifics of their experience.
No thing in that you might opt to work as a nurse, patients having a extensive variety of physical or psychological difficulties will be encountered by you. Nurses must help you to evaluate a situation and make conclusions . They have to earn a bachelor’s degree and gain licensure as a registered nurse. Whether you are a university student nurse or a nurse that is skilled, there’s definitely. Nurses would concur totally that adaptability is one of many essential nursing talents. Finding occupations as a nurse requires a mixture of also a specific set of work hunting abilities and also the mindset.
Each coverletter has to be customized into your facility, not usage generic phrases. You should also compose an astonishing short resume cover letter which can introduce one to this operator. Please remember you’ll demand a companion resume cover letter to seal the offer.
Don’t make the sound like you are currently speaking . A superb description functions as an potential all-natural advertisement and motivates the audience to browse to your site. The outline needs to become short and concise, but the grad should fill space on the page, developing lots of lines of experience descriptors could be wise. The job description can be the friend. Do not don’t highlight abilities you have which are associated along with achievements you have accomplished, with the task description and tasks you’ve handled. Instances comprise the requirement for training programs that are greater and also high priced employee turnover numbers. Make sure that you have a minimum of just one instance of a time that you exhibited every one of many top five capabilities recorded here.
Typically someone using a diploma or A.S. in Nursing is going to become at a position to earn their particular Bachelor’s, possibly on the web or by a conventional campus based program. The newest graduate enrolled nurse with no medical expertise must not be concerned in their deficiency of experience for a nurse. You may be employing to your variety of postitions if you’re a student searching for your nursing occupation.
Successful communication abilities will soon be crucial for each of those situations. The issue todo is always to commence reinforcing. You might already use a number of the nursing skills that are transferable necessary to be successful.
Furthermore, it can be an best chance to network together from your area. Regardless, it is sti have to put in your knowledge to reveal some of the specific regions you need functioned in. Someone may also provide work experience perhaps not entirely regarding the position.
Then a task may possibly perhaps not be done punctually even when you are just a number of minutes late for a job. As procuring that occupation will likely be dependent upon your soft capabilities and personality along with your experience nursing is of a distinctive niche. All tasks fluctuate, and it is better if you get a health professional resume which emphasizes your talents and expertise . Research the firm’s culture . For instance, in the event you are chasing work in gerontology, then you may possibly pay attention to skills like psychiatric encounter stress management, along with cardiovascular rehabilitation. Each and every endeavor therefore be certain you go through the job description, will call for abilities and adventures and concentrate on the abilities. The ideal method is to find on the web for an suitable location.
Don’t Skimp on excellent layout To not be disregarded, your suggestion should seem skilled and of premium quality. It should soon be persuasive when you summarize every one of the benefits you may supply the firm. Just later knowing your sponsor well, that you simply are able to think about preparing a suggestion. Establishing a successful occasion sponsorship suggestion calls for a tough work, however in the long run, it’s well worth doing. Writing a sponsorship proposal to attract sponsors for the event or company might look like an endeavor. Bottom lineremember your sponsor agenda is visibility.
Now you have to follow up which they’d go back for your requirements . You have got to be sure you understand what it is you might be attempting to find when creating a property suggestion. Since it may sound, developing a sponsorship business proposition is less intimidating. Planning business proposal to get an occasion diversification can be complicated as you want to satisfy also the necessities of the feasible host as an easy method to obtain, although certain necessities of the provider entity.
Patrons the method that you intend to market the function are told by An extensive media approach on your proposal. Producing a proposal may be a crucial task. In earning your suggestion, First, the first stage needs to be to get information regarding the main topic of the possible company which means that you may introduce. There is one solution which is to compose a sponsorship proposal. You can find a number of kinds of property ideas in accord with this essence of the event. The most typical sponsorship proposals that are absolute are during sporting occasions and company proposal. When you’re aiming to make the perfect sponsorship proposal, be aware the principle that is simplest.
There is A sponsorship correspondence actually a quite essential section of virtually any fund raising event. Writing a sponsorship letter may occasionally become a catchy affair. Now you learn how exactly to compose a sponsorship letter, let us take a look at an example that’ll enable one to fully grasp the arrangement to precisely the same. You need to know just how to write a specialist sponsorship letter for your host is well versed and also how exactly to host the event.
Make sure not to compromise your schedule goals that you set up to detect patrons. Apart from income, be certain that sponsors are prepared to publicize your team some way. You ‘ve approached each possible host and whittled it down several celebrations that were interested. Offer a club a sponsorship audit and determine precisely what it can give to some host. Like a way to compose event sponsorship ideas, you want to be mindful with correspondence writing approach to your own patrons.
Why you’re looking for sponsorship in detail, you want to describe. Sponsorship can possibly be in cash or on physical services and things which a potential host may offer. In the event that you are able to bring in a major participant you may provide exclusive diversification, or deals that enable more compact sized sponsors have various advantages and also to donate at a variety of levels are provided by you.
Communicate it is that you’re doing exactly what you have and you will need sponsorship. That which you ought to be sure that your sponsorship sails can be your own Proposal. Sponsorship doesn’t indicate that you merely get some thing for nothing. It is not a donation. Getting individual in your small business proposal letters is a means to safeguard closer to profitable a home.
Don’t forget to explain what it really is that you’re currently doing, why you’re doing this, the type of property you need and what the other party will escape the sponsorship arrangement. the job is required by you, you have to mention. Explain you are getting married and want sponsorship to pay for the costs. It’s mandatory that you just keep on providing updates to your host in regards to the way in, Once you’ve gotten the sponsorship.
Producing your Sponsorship account As you know, they’re not committing sponsorships away at no cost, you need to just work in thembut you will find particular things that you can do as a way to turn your career a bit easier and lift your probability of locating the service you want. Supply a quotation regarding this precise amount you anticipate as exemptions and guide them in the direction of the part of the proposition for info. Sponsorship sponsors the possiblity to participate in a positive way, and provides critical funds and support for event organizers. Vehicle sponsorship is extremely much like acquiring advertising as you don’t know whether the cash spent ridding some one will increase a firm’s sales (or market place advantage ) the direction you hope it will.
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There’s perhaps not a list of threats using a related risk rating and if you’ve finished a risk evaluation, that you never possess an suitable risk investigation. A hazard analysis contains alist of vulnerabilities and possible dangers that may be utilized contrary to the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the PHI that you’ve assessed. Moreover, it’s important to do a risk assessment also to re-evaluate your risk management prepare once you finish every single phase of the undertaking. Together with the hazard management procedure goes to be run through the project life span defines as so on because the risk assessment is going to be completed.
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The template captures all of the of mandatory info in a web page. Much like additional invoices an statement templates have a header part and also a structure in its system. You’re ready to get into the most invoice templates that are online at a very nominal price by reputed sites. | 2019-04-22T06:44:23Z | http://hotelaquaeflaviae.com/15-darmowy-wzor-cv/ |
THIS AGREEMENT is made this [Date] (the “Effective Date”) by and between [Website Developer], a [Type of Organization] with offices at [Address] (the “Website Developer”), and [Business Method Patent Co.], a [Type of Organization] with offices at [Address] (the “Business Method Patent Co.”).
Business Method Patent Co. hereby retains the services of Website Developer to develop and host an Internet Web Site and Intranet named and located at [Site] (collectively the Web Site) for Business Method Patent Co. subject to the terms and conditions herein.
A. Website Developer agrees to maintain Business Method Patent Co.’s Web Site on Website Developer’s Web Server on a month to month basis, and to make maintenance modifications to Business Method Patent Co.’s Web Site from time to time in accordance with Business Method Patent Co.’s directions. Such modifications shall be implemented within five (5) business days of Website Developer’s receipt of Business Method Patent Co.’s changes if the changes are easily implemented, and within ten (10) business days of Website Developer’s receipt of Business Method Patent Co.’s changes if the changes are not easily implemented. As part of this service, Website Developer agrees to make Business Method Patent Co.’s Web Site available to Internet users approximately twenty-four hours per day, to back up Business Method Patent Co.’s Web Site at least once every two weeks, and to store said back up materials in a safe and secure environment, fit for the back up media, and not located at the same location as Website Developer’s Web Server. Also as part of this service, Website Developer agrees to use its best efforts to ensure reasonable response times for users accessing Business Method Patent Co.’s Web Site.
B. Upon notice from Business Method Patent Co. not more often than once each month, and also in the event of Business Method Patent Co.’s termination of its use of Website Developer’s Web Server as the host for Business Method Patent Co.’s Web Site, Website Developer agrees to transfer a complete copy of Business Method Patent Co.’s then current Web Site, including all Code therefor, to Business Method Patent Co., said transfer to occur by either copying them to floppy disks, 100 megabyte ZIP cartridges, or via FTP. Files will be provided in HTML format, standard word processing Text format, or, if images, as TIFF’s, GIF’s, JPEG’s, or Photoshop files. The transfer method will be selected by Business Method Patent Co. in its discretion no later than twenty-four hours before the time the transfer is to take place. In the event such transfer results from Business Method Patent Co.’s termination of its use of Website Developer’s Web Server as the host for Business Method Patent Co.’s Web Site, Website Developer shall maintain one complete electronic version of Business Method Patent Co.’s Web Site, including all Code therefor (and shall “wipe” all other versions thereof off of its computers and media, including back up copies), until Business Method Patent Co. informs Website Developer in writing that the transferred files appear to be complete, at which time Website Developer shall “wipe” its final copy of Business Method Patent Co.’s Web Site off of its computers and media.
C. During the time that Business Method Patent Co.’s Web Site is located on Website Developer’s Web Server, Website Developer will make available on a monthly basis and free of charge an analysis of Business Method Patent Co. Web Site traffic, including source IP address, most commonly viewed pages, and any other such data reasonably requested by Business Method Patent Co.. Website Developer shall set aside a portion of its server, such portion only accessible by designated Business Method Patent Co. staff or members, in which such analysis resides. The analysis may be viewed or printed out by Business Method Patent Co. at its option.
This Agreement shall commence on the Effective Date and shall expire on [Date], unless sooner terminated as provided herein, and will automatically continue on a month to month basis thereafter unless either party provides thirty (30) days written notice of its intent to terminate or cancel. The term of any right or license or proprietary rights granted to Business Method Patent Co. under this Agreement shall run concurrently with this agreement or be for the full term of such proprietary rights.
A. As compensation for the hosting of [Site] on the World Wide Web, as further described in Schedule A, Business Method Patent Co. will pay to Website Developer a fee of [Price] per month (the “Hosting Fee”). Charges for post-approval modifications to Business Method Patent Co.’s Web Site or changes or additions to the material on the Web Site (including the database) shall be free if submitted to Website Developer by Business Method Patent Co. as “ready to implement” HTML pages. The cost of Server Hosting shall not increase for a period of one year from the date of Business Method Patent Co.’s acceptance of its final Web Site. The Hosting Fee shall commence on the date the final Web Site is fully operational and accepted by Business Method Patent Co. and future Hosting Fees shall be due and payable on subsequent monthly anniversary dates of such operational date.
B. Thereafter, Website Developer shall invoice Business Method Patent Co. on a bi weekly basis for the amount of work done on all future updates, edits, changes, and content development during the applicable two-week period, as per the pricing policy of Website Developer as shown in Schedule B. All payments are due fifteen (15) days after receipt of a properly payable invoice. If there is a dispute with regard to whether work was actually completed or whether an invoice is properly payable, the amount of the invoice in dispute shall not be due until the dispute is resolved.
C. The prices set forth above are inclusive of expenses. Except as expressly agreed otherwise in writing by Business Method Patent Co., Website Developer shall bear all of its own expenses arising from its performance of its obligations under this Agreement, including (without limitation) expenses for facilities, work spaces, utilities, management, clerical and reproduction services, supplies, and the like. Business Method Patent Co. shall have no obligation to provide office space, work facilities, equipment, clerical services, programming services, or the like.
D. Website Developer may, with the prior express written approval of Business Method Patent Co., provide a link from the members-only section of Business Method Patent Co. Web Site to a Marketplace area designated by Website Developer and acceptable to Business Method Patent Co.. The purpose of the Marketplace area is to sell products or generate other on-line transactions. Revenues generated from Business Method Patent Co. members in this area will be divided between Website Developer and Business Method Patent Co. as mutually agreed to between the parties.
A. It is understood that in performing its services, Website Developer may have occasion to develop new and unique work product for use in conjunction with the Site. The parties agree that all such work is being developed by Website Developer for the sole and exclusive use of Business Method Patent Co., and Business Method Patent Co. shall be deemed the sole and exclusive owner of all right, title, and interest therein, including all copyright and proprietary rights relating thereto. All such work performed by Website Developer and any supporting documentation therefor shall be considered as “Works Made for Hire” (as such are defined under the U.S. Copyright Laws) and, as such, shall be owned by and for the benefit of Business Method Patent Co.. For the purpose of this Agreement “work product(s)” shall mean all data, documentation, software, ideas, concepts, materials, and information, in whatever form, first produced or created by or for Website Developer, which relate solely and exclusively to the performance of work or the rendition of services under this Agreement in the development and hosting of [Site] (hereinafter “Work Product(s)”).
B. In the event that it should be determined that any of the Work Products do not qualify as a “Work Made for Hire,” Website Developer will and hereby does assign to Business Method Patent Co. for no additional consideration, all right, title, and interest that it may possess in such Work Products including, but not limited to, all Website Developer and proprietary rights relating thereto. Upon request, Website Developer will take such steps as are reasonably necessary to enable Business Method Patent Co. to record such assignment. Business Method Patent Co. shall reimburse Website Developer for all reasonable out of pocket expenses incurred at the specific request of Business Method Patent Co. in recording such assignments.
C. It is understood that Website Developer may use its own previously developed data, documentation, software, ideas, concepts, materials, or information, in whatever form, in performing its services hereunder (collectively referred to as “Preexisting Works”). Insofar as such Preexisting Works were not first produced or created by or for Website Developer solely and exclusively to the performance of work or the rendition of services under this Agreement, but are necessary or useful for, or are used in connection with,http://www.whizzer.com, any and all right, title, and interest in such Preexisting Works shall remain the sole and exclusive property of Website Developer. Website Developer hereby grants to Business Method Patent Co. a nonexclusive license to use such Preexisting Works when used solely and exclusively in combination with the Work Product on the Web Site. Business Method Patent Co. shall have no other rights, whatsoever, with respect to its use of the Preexisting Works.
C. Nondisclosure. Website Developer agrees that it will not disclose any Confidential Information to any third party and will not use the Business Method Patent Co.’s Confidential Information for any purpose other than for the performance of the rights and obligations hereunder during the term of this Agreement and for a period of [number] ([#]) years thereafter, without the prior written consent of the Business Method Patent Co., which may be withheld for any reason or for no reason. Website Developer further agrees that Confidential Information shall remain the sole property of the Business Method Patent Co. and that it will take all reasonable precautions to prevent any unauthorized disclosure of Confidential Information by its employees. No license shall be granted by the Business Method Patent Co. to Website Developer with respect to Confidential Information disclosed hereunder unless otherwise expressly provided herein.
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E. Sanctioned Public Disclosure. After Business Method Patent Co. has approved its final Web Site, Website Developer may list Business Method Patent Co. as a client of Website Developer and may include a link to the Web Site on Website Developer’s Web Site. Website Developer may not issue any press release that refers to Website Developer’s work for Business Method Patent Co. without Business Method Patent Co.’s prior written approval, which may be withheld for any reason or for no reason at all.
F. Return of Confidential Information. Upon the request of the Business Method Patent Co., Website Developer will promptly return all Confidential information furnished hereunder and all copies thereof.
G. Remedy for Breach of Confidentiality. If Website Developer breaches any of its obligations with respect to confidentiality and unauthorized use of Confidential information hereunder, the Business Method Patent Co. shall be entitled to equitable relief to protect its interest therein, including but not limited to, injunctive relief, as well as money damages notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained herein.
A. Website Developer represents and warrants that it is under no obligation or restriction that would in any way interfere or conflict with the work to be performed by Website Developer under this Agreement. Business Method Patent Co. understands that Website Developer is currently working on one or more similar projects for other clients. Provided that those projects do not interfere or conflict with Website Developer’s obligations under this Agreement, those projects shall not constitute a violation of this provision of the Agreement.
B. Website Developer represents and warrants that (1) it is and will be the sole author of all works employed by Website Developer in preparing any and all Work Product other than Preexisting Works; (2) it has and will have full and sufficient right to assign or grant the rights and/or licenses granted in the Work Products pursuant to this Agreement; (3) all Work Products other than Preexisting Works have not been and will not be published under circumstances that would cause a loss of copyright therein; and (4) all Work Products, including all Preexisting Works, do not and will not infringe any patents, copyrights, trademarks, or other intellectual property rights (including trade secrets), privacy, or similar rights of any person or entity, nor has any claim (whether or not embodied in an action, past or present) of such infringement been threatened or asserted, nor is such a claim pending against Website Developer or, insofar as Website Developer is aware, against any entity from which Website Developer has obtained such rights.
C. Website Developer represents and warrants that (1) all Work Product shall be prepared in a workmanlike manner and with professional diligence and skill; (2) all Work Product will function under standard HTML conventions; (3) all Work Product will conform to the specifications and functions set forth in this Agreement; and (4) Website Developer will perform all work called for by this Agreement in compliance with applicable laws. Website Developer will repair any Deliverable that does not meet this warranty within a reasonable period of time if the defect affects the usability of Business Method Patent Co.’s Web Site, and otherwise will repair the defect within 24 hours, said repairs to be free of charge to Business Method Patent Co.. This warranty shall extend for the life of this Agreement. This warranty does not cover links that change over time, pages that become obsolete over time, content that becomes outdated over time, or other changes that do not result from any error on the part of Website Developer.
D. Website Developer possesses Internet-related technology that will enable it to competently perform services contemplated by this Agreement.
E. Website Developer will take every step to ensure that [Site] is available to users 365 days per year, 24 hours per day. Notwithstanding same, Website Developer is not liable for loss of service, access, or data for any reason including, but not limited to, any unforeseen or preventable failure related to changes in the infrastructure or traffic capabilities, failure or breakdown of the Internet, the World Wide Web, any related telecommunications equipment or systems, or any computer hardware or software.
1. If restricted access to the Site is found to be directly related to a failure of the Website Developer server or Website Developer owned equipment, Website Developer shall have five (5) working days per event to correct the problem, after such time Business Method Patent Co. will be refunded Fifty Dollars ($50.00) for each day access is unavailable.
2. After the third such event, Business Method Patent Co. may elect to terminate/cancel this Agreement. In such event Business Method Patent Co. is entitled to a percentage of the monthly service fee paid to Website Developer that represents a pro rata share of the remaining days in the period.
3. Under no conditions shall Website Developer be liable for any damages caused to any party’s equipment as a result of access to the Web Site. Website Developer expressly disclaims any liability for consequential, incidental, or punitive damages based on the use of the Web Site.
E. Website Developer will take reasonable precautions to scan all software supplied to Business Method Patent Co. to verify it is free from viruses or disabling devices; however, the nature of these problems is such that Website Developer will not guarantee or warrant against the occurrence of such problems.
A. Website Developer hereby agrees to defend, indemnify, and hold Business Method Patent Co., its officers, directors, agents, and employees, harmless, against all costs, expenses, and losses (including reasonable attorney fees and costs) incurred through claims of infringement by [Site]or any portion thereof of any patent, copyright, trade secret, or other proprietary right, with the exception of any materials or content provided to Website Developer by Business Method Patent Co. or its representative(s).
B. Website Developer hereby agrees to defend, indemnify, and hold Business Method Patent Co., its officers, directors, agents, and employees, harmless, against all costs, expenses, and losses (including reasonable attorney fees and costs) or liability to person or property arising out of the performance of Website Developer under this Agreement relating to [Site], with the exception of any materials or content provided to Website Developer by Business Method Patent Co. or its representative(s). Website Developer shall maintain liability insurance sufficient to fulfill its obligations to Business Method Patent Co..
A. Business Method Patent Co. may, at its sole option, terminate any or all work outstanding, or any portion thereof, immediately upon written notice. Upon receipt of notice of such termination, Website Developer shall inform Business Method Patent Co. of the extent to which performance has been completed through such date and collect and deliver to Business Method Patent Co. whatever Work Product then exists in a manner prescribed by Business Method Patent Co.. Website Developer shall be paid for all work performed through the date of receipt of notice of termination as specified herein. Website Developer may not terminate any work under this Agreement without the prior written consent of Business Method Patent Co..
B. Either party may terminate this Agreement on thirty (30) days’ written notice to the other party in the event of a breach of any material provision of this Agreement by the other party, provided that, during the thirty-day period, the breaching party fails to cure such breach or, should the breach not be curable within said thirty-day period, the breaching party has not initiated steps to cure such breach.
C. In the event of any termination of this Agreement, all obligations and responsibilities of Website Developer shall survive and continue in effect and shall inure to the benefit of and be binding upon the parties and their legal representatives, heirs, successors, and assigns. The termination of any provision of this Agreement shall not excuse a prior breach of that provision.
D. Upon termination/cancellation of this Agreement, Website Developer shall return to Business Method Patent Co., at no cost, all materials and information Business Method Patent Co. or its representative(s) have provided to Website Developer for the purpose of implementing this Agreement, including the total contents of the Site.
A. Independent Contractor. Website Developer, in rendering performance under this Agreement, shall be deemed an independent contractor and nothing contained herein shall constitute this arrangement to be employment, a joint venture, or a partnership. Website Developer shall be solely responsible for and shall hold Business Method Patent Co. harmless for any and all claims for taxes, fees, or costs, including but not limited to withholding, income tax, FICA, and workmen’s compensation.
B. No Agency. Business Method Patent Co. does not undertake by this Agreement or otherwise to perform any obligation of Website Developer, whether by regulation or contract. In no way is Website Developer to be construed as the agent or to be acting as the agent of Business Method Patent Co. in any respect, any other provisions of this Agreement notwithstanding.
Website Developer shall host the Internet Site [Site].
1. Provide space for the Site on a World Wide Web server and provide telecommunications from said server to the World Wide Web; security; tracking, analysis, reports; and software and coding to ensure the Site is fully operational.
2. Furnish up to ten (10) e-mail accounts and access.
3. Back-up data nightly, ensuring safe storage and access.
4. Review the Site once per month for evaluation of functionality and obvious alterations of content by unauthorized personnel.
5. Provide updates, edits, alterations, and additions to the Site as requested by Business Method Patent Co.. | 2019-04-24T18:58:32Z | https://www.patentek.com/web-site-hosting-agreement/ |
The Coming of Christ at the End of the World to the People of the Nations.
The present season of preparation will include four comings of Christ. These comings will not be visible to the world, only to those believers who are obeying the commands of Christ.
The coming of Christ to separate the wise from the foolish; to take away our sins; to teach His people to live by His Life; and to examine what we have done with His treasures; have as their purpose to prepare and qualify us for His coming to catch up His prepared people to Himself.
There may be two facts presented here that may arrest the attention of most Christian believers.
First, that preparation is needed if we are to be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. It probably is true that the general idea today is that if we once accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, no further preparation is needed.
This idea is based on the idea that the purpose of the catching up is to bring us to Heaven so we will not be harmed by Antichrist or the Great Tribulation.
The purpose of the catching up is not to bring us to Heaven. This is not accurate. Rather, the shout, the voice of the Archangel, and the trumpet of God, will announce the beginning of the Battle of Armageddon.
Those Christian believers who have taken full advantage of the present season of preparation, will be caught up so they can become part of the great army of saints and angels that is ready to descend and install the Kingdom of God, the doing of God’s will, on the earth.
This is not a “secret rapture.” Hardly that! I is the beginning of the Day of the Lord.
This is a secret rapture? This is the attack of Armageddon!
One can see that if the catching up of the believers is so they can join the army of saints and army of angels and proceed to attack the forces of wickedness in the earth, they will need to participate in the Divine interventions that are taking place in the present hour and will continue until the Lord Jesus is satisfied that each participant is fully prepared for their role in this great invasion.
The purpose of Christ’s six comings is to create a Kingdom that will prevent another rebellion of His creatures. Everything that has occurred throughout the history of the world has been a reaction to the original rebellion of Satan and his angels, and Eve and Adam.
There have been numerous sub-purposes, such as the creation of an unblemished Bride for the Lamb, brothers for God’s Son, and sons in God’s image. I have listed these sub-purposes in other writings.
The first coming is sort of a screening. Its purpose is to separate the wise from the foolish. Since Christ is coming to set up His Kingdom is at hand, and He will bring His army of believers with Him, this is no place for lazy, foolish, Christian people.
This separation is pointed out in the parable of the virgins. Five of whom were wise. The remaining five were foolish. Their foolishness was revealed in their lack of foresight in storing oil for their lamp.
It is one matter for us to say we know the Lord. It is a different matter for the Lord Jesus to know us. The parable of the virgins reveals that everyone who has “accepted Christ” may not actually have come to Christ but merely believed in a religious formula.
Christ will receive everyone who comes to Him, if they actually come to Him with the intention of setting aside their own life that they might obey Him.
Much of today’s Christian teaching is preventing the believers from making preparation for the soon coming of Jesus. They are not storing up the prayer and Bible reading that will keep their light shining in the dark hours that are ahead of us in America.
One of the worst offenders is the doctrine of the “rapture.” Christians are being taught that there is no need for them to be concerned about the future because they will be in Heaven. This is a lie.
Noah and his family went through the flood safely because they had spent many years obeying the Lord by building an ark. If they had been careless, as so many believers are today, they all would have drowned along with the animals.
Another doctrine that contributes to the carelessness of today’s believers is the concept that grace is preventing God from seeing their behavior. We ought to know better than to believe God would make it possible for us to please Him and at the same time to be committing sin.
The “grace” teaching of today is a destructive lie.
Another lie that contributes to the foolishness of today’s Christian people is the concept that once we have made a profession of faith in Christ we cannot be lost. But the Apostle Paul wrote to the Christians of Galatia that if they continued in the sins of the flesh they would not inherit the Kingdom of God.
Did you ever hear the above passage emphasized by a preacher?
Of the ten virgins, five were foolish. When they wanted to go in to the wedding, the door was shut in their face.
The fact that they were “virgins” indicates that they were believers in Christ. At one time they had the light of eternal life. But they lived carelessly from day to day, giving no thought to the fact that the time might come when they would run out of oil.
Did Christ love and forgive them, have mercy on them while they were screaming in their terror? No, He did not. And He will do the same to you and me if we behave foolishly.
Today is a season of preparation before violent Christian persecution arrives. Do you and I have enough “oil” of the Holy Spirit to stand in the darkness that is approaching America?
Little boys and girls in Iraq are being decapitated because they will not deny Christ. What will you and I do if this takes place in America?
Jesus may call to us in a time of tremendous spiritual darkness. If we have not prepared ourselves beforehand, carrying our cross of deferred desires patiently behind Christ, the door may be shut before we can gain enough spiritual strength to obey Christ.
I sincerely believe this period of preparation is taking place today.
In the Jewish Day of Atonement, a goat is slain and its blood sprinkled upon and in front of the Ark of the Covenant. This action portrays our sins being forgiven by the atonement made by the Lord Jesus on the cross of Calvary.
However, the forgiving of our sins is only one-half of the atonement. The other half is the removing of the cravings and practices of sin. Can you see the sense of this? If our sins are forgiven, but we then keep on sinning, what has been accomplished? The goal is to make us in God’s image, and God does not sin!
The second half of the atonement was portrayed as a live goat was presented before the Lord, the High Priest laid both hands on the head of the living goat and confessed the sins of the people, and then the goat was led away into the wilderness. One can see in this dramatization not the forgiving of the sins but the taking away of the sins.
I am not certain to what extent the taking away of the cravings and practices of our sins has been preached, but it is certain that the forgiveness of our sins has been preached to a much greater extent.
All aspects of the program of redemption are announced and emphasized in God’s time. In previous centuries the forgiveness of the cross has been announced and emphasized. Now the taking away of our sins is being announced and emphasized.
We are to be praying and looking to Jesus throughout the day and night, as we continue with our responsibilities. As we do, the Spirit of God points out to us the sins dwelling in our flesh that cause us to act in an ungodly manner.
We are to confess to Christ each sin pointed out to us, just as the High Priest of Israel confessed the sins of the people and placed them on the head of the scapegoat.
Christ then will forgive the sin and lessen its power over us. Then, as He leads us and gives us strength, we are to turn away from that behavior and never practice it again. This is an eternal judgment. Unless we choose to return to that sin, it is gone from us forever.
Try it and see? We cannot receive resurrection life when Jesus next appears if we are walking in the sins of the flesh.
As far as our sins of behavior are concerned, that are not sins dwelling in our flesh but are part of our personality, such as pride, or arrogance, or sullenness, or stubbornness, God will send afflictions upon us until they are driven from our personality. During this season of chastisement, we must keep trusting in Christ and not blame people or God for our suffering.
If we hold steady during our suffering, we will become a new creation.
The above is what it means to be “in Christ.” So much depends on our being “in Christ.” The dead “in Christ” shall rise, the Bible says.
Perhaps we believe that once we have gone through the religious exercise and have “accepted Christ,” from now on we are “in Christ.” This may or may not be the case!
There is a simple practice of mine that will reveal to us whether or not we are living in Christ and He in us.
Frequently throughout the day and night I ask Jesus two questions: “Right now am I doing what I am supposed to be doing?”; and “Right now am I where I am supposed to be?
Christ may or may not say yes or no. But you can sure that God will see your sincere determination to do His will. If you are not doing what Christ desires, or you are not where you should be, God will guide you into His perfect, complete will if you keep praying.
I believe we Americans all realize that fearful times are coming to our nation. We are saturated with abortion, drunkenness, weird sexual practices, the love of entertainment, and the worship of money. No nation of the past has lived in this manner and survived.
God is seeking a house, a place of rest, and a place where He can establish His Throne. We have been created to satisfy these three needs. Christ, and the members of His Body, are God’s house, place of rest, and the location of His Throne.
The four Divine interventions I am emphasizing are occurring during the present dreadful hour of spiritual darkness. No power can prevent the four preparations coming to pass in us except our unbelief and occupation with the distractions of the American culture.
That should be our goal these days. We should be pressing into it every moment, asking the Lord Jesus to be our life.
Christ has given us so much: forgiveness, deliverance, and His own life lived in us. In addition there may be natural talents, such as music, and spiritual talents, such as a gift of wisdom or knowledge.
What have we done with the gifts and abilities we have? Have we used them to build the Kingdom of God, or have we gone about our business in whatever manner pleases us?
It is incumbent on every sincere Christian to seek the Lord until they know what their treasures are—especially which ministry or gift they are to be emphasizing or utilizing.
Some Christians have many gifts. Some have only one. And it is the person with only one gift who is apt to ignore what they have and occupy themselves solely with the task of making a living.
We would think that not seeking and using what Christ has given us would not be a grievous sin, like adultery or murder. But look how Christ addressed the person who had buried their one gift!
How would you like that to happen to you?
Tell me. Do you know what Kingdom treasures have been given to you? Why not? Have you gone to Jesus about this? Are you earnestly asking Christ for the best gifts? Are you faithfully putting to use what He has given you? If not, you may be a good person in other respects, but you are in danger of being thrown into the Land of Darkness.
Then Paul goes on to talk about several areas of responsibility that are to be fulfilled faithfully and consistently if we are to hear the “well done” of Jesus Christ when we stand before Him.
We American people are overstimulated by the things of our materialistic culture. There are numerous Christian believers who expect to be praised by the Lord when they appear before Him, or to be caught up to a mansion any moment now in an unscriptural “rapture.” Yet, it hardly could be said of them that they are patiently bearing their cross of deferred desires behind the Master!
They are living in deception. They have not been taught what the Bible says about using our talents, about seeking earnestly the best gifts that we may help with the task of building each member of the Body of Christ to the full stature of Christ.
Honestly, the spiritual blindness of our American believers is astounding. I believe this blindness is largely true also of some of the other Western nations, the so-called Christian nations.
Thankfully, the Lord has given us a period of time in which to prepare ourselves for the coming of Christ to catch up the prepared believers to His staging area in the air above us.
The purpose of Christ’s next appearing is to give resurrection life to prepared believers and to catch them up to His staging area in the air, from which He will descend and establish His Kingdom on the earth.
The popular teaching of the “rapture,” in which all who have “accepted Christ” are caught up to Heaven to escape the Great Tribulation, is not scriptural. It has succeeded in disarming God’s people so they do not pay anywhere near enough attention to the several passages of the New Testament that warn them if they continue in the sins of the flesh they shall not inherit the Kingdom; they shall destroy their own resurrection.
There shall be a shout, the voice of the Archangel, and the trumpet of God. This is not a secret “rapture.” It is the beginning of the Battle of Armageddon, in which the forces of Satan shall be destroyed. Antichrist and the False Prophet shall be thrown into the Lake of Fire.
Satan Himself shall be confined in the Bottomless Pit for a thousand years.
Then Christ shall lead His two armies of saints and angels throughout the earth, destroying all the institutions of Antichrist.
What a marvelous scene indeed!
But we can see at once that the believers who are caught up to the staging area in the air, in preparation for their descent with Christ, will have to be wise; will have to be free from the sins of the flesh and from self-will; will have to be living by the Life of Christ; will have to be faithful with His treasures given to them.
They will not be the, casual church-goers of our day who treat the church as some sort of social institution to which they belong and give some of their money.
They, and the warrior angels with them, form a great and mighty army. They will strike terror into all the forces of Satan. They will prepare the “sheep” of the earth for the government of Christ and His saints; for the rule of the rod of iron.
We of today have been given a period of time to prepare ourselves, should we be lacking in any of the areas I have mentioned. Let us not be like the foolish virgins who were looking forward to attendance at a festive affair, only to have the door slammed shut in their face.
How about you and me? If we were in the middle of our business in the office, or school, or down town shopping, and there was a terrific trumpet blast, what would we do? We would know it was the Lord calling us to join Him in the attack of Armageddon.
What if it was at the crucial moment of some sports event on television? Would we wait to see the outcome?
If we were away from home, would we join the panic-stricken people as they ran to their cars and then jammed the highways, as we were shaking with fear as to the fate of our children?
A little reflection will point out that out of the millions of church-goers of our day, there may not be five thousand who are living in such close fellowship with the Lord Jesus that they would drop everything and look to see where they were supposed to go as the trumpet blasts continued.
Would they be selfish if they did not stop and try to bring someone with them? Would they really? Did the wise virgins assist the foolish at the critical moment? Lot’s beautiful wife was turned into a pillar of salt because of her concern for her neighbors. A pillar of salt!
Perhaps some mother reading these words would say to herself, “I could never leave my toddlers at home with a babysitter if I were downtown and heard the trumpet blast announcing the coming of Christ.
If a mother is living close to Jesus, He will speak to her about the time of His coming so she will keep her children close to her. Then, when the trumpet sounds, she and her children will go to where the Lord Jesus is gathering His people.
We are not allowed to look back, and so the Lord will tell us when He is coming. We then can journey straightforwardly to the place nearest to us as the trumpets direct.
So the people of the world, and most of the professing Christians, will remain behind while the prepared believers go to wherever Christ directs them. Then the prepared believers will be filled with incorruptible resurrection life, “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.” This is the first resurrection.
Now, all those who have received incorruptible bodies, the saints who have come with the Lord Jesus plus the newly transformed people living on the earth at the time, will enjoy the greatest and most joyous fellowship of all time.
God will set a table full of good things in the very presence of our enemies.
When Jesus deems it to be time, to the sound of glorious, heavenly music, the prepared believers of the earth and those who came from Heaven with the Lord Jesus will slowly begin to arise from the earth—and this in the sight of those remaining on the earth.
They all will be caught up to meet Christ at His staging area in the air.
There they will be helped to mount a white war stallion and directed to their place in the army of saints. They will look about in amazement at the army of mighty warrior angels, holding their spears in readiness for the charge.
There is nothing those left behind can do other than rage and fume in their anger.
As soon as the Lord’s prepared saints leave the earth to go to be with the Lord, terrible judgments will fall on those who remain.
These are the bowls of wrath, spoken of in the Book of Revelation.
The bowls of wrath are to prepare the world for the coming of Christ and His two armies. Believe it or not, it will require this much Divine fury to deal with the sinful behavior and self-centeredness that characterize so many people of today; to prepare them for the thousand-year reign of Jesus Christ and His saints.
As soon as the bowls have been emptied on the earth, the Lord Jesus will appear at the head of the saints and angels.
I wonder if most of us really understand the severity of God. God is exceedingly distressed because of homosexual behavior, a behavior that prevents the reproduction of God’s image as portrayed in man from the beginning of time. The Bible states that homosexuals shall not inherit the Kingdom of God.
Down through the clouds will hurtle the invincible saints in their incorruptible bodies, along with the army of warrior angels led by Michael the Archangel.
At the head of the charge will be He whom evil, jealous men crucified, now on His great white war-stallion.
The armies of Antichrist will be destroyed, Antichrist and the False Prophet will be thrown into the Lake of Fire. One angel will wrap Satan in chains and throw him into the Bottomless Pit.
After this the Lord Jesus and His armies will go through every city, town, and village on the earth and destroy all the works of Antichrist.
The wicked will be slain. Those whom God has chosen to save will be kept safe in their homes until it is time for them to go to Jerusalem to be directed to the area assigned to them.
After the Lord Jesus has told them where to go, they then will be sent out from Jerusalem to various areas of the earth. Accompanying them will be their king and other officers, and holy angels, whom the Lord Jesus Christ has selected for them.
This is somewhat different from reclining on a couch in Paradise. But these Christians are more excited about bringing God’s will into the earth, and their inheritance of people, than they are at the thought of dawdling about in Heaven, doing nothing of significance for eternity.
How about you and me? What sort of future would we prefer? God will look to see what it is and will cause it to happen. He will give us the desire of our heart.
The purpose of Christ’s appearing to the people of the nations is to separate the people who have shown a positive attitude toward Christ’s disciples, His brothers, from those who have scorned the disciples and refused to assist them in any manner.
It is interesting, isn’t it, that the Kingdom of God, from the creation of the world, was prepared for the “sheep” of the nations.
It may be true that numerous Christians believe that God’s plan of redemption is for their benefit, so they can go to Paradise and enjoy their mansion.
But the Kingdom of God, from the creation of the world, was prepared for the people of the nations, who are not members of the Royal Priesthood.
“God so loved the world”!
The Royal Priesthood, the brothers and sisters of Christ, have been in the world to prepare them to receive the saved people of the world. The Royal Priesthood is the Kingdom that is being prepared for the “sheep” of the nations.
The inheritance of the Lord Jesus Christ is the nations and the farthest reaches of the earth. We are co-heirs with Christ. Our inheritance is not a mansion in the spirit Paradise. It is people and the earth. In the future it will be a new earth, but still the earth, not Heaven.
So we see the things that happen to us are getting us ready to bring the blessings of God to the saved people of the nations. God is so great, I believe it is true that God already knows what people will be assigned to you and to me.
I have spent a large portion of my adult life working with children in a public-school setting. I still hold three life credentials in the State of California: Elementary, Secondary, and General Administration. However my age disqualifies me from further work in the public schools.
I never was so happy as I was at that time. I hated to see the summer vacation come around, because I had no children to love and teach.
But the God of Heaven gave me those children to love, and I did, and enjoyed teaching them.
I enjoy also being a pastor and Bible teacher. I genuinely care for the people and appreciate their love for me. I am hoping that many of them will be able to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom after I am gone. I feel certain that they will. They have made it possible for me to spread the revelation that God gave me in 1948. They have encouraged and supported me.
So who knows what is ahead. Perhaps some work with children. Perhaps some opportunities to help believers in the spirit world come to a closer walk with Jesus, who has been my closest friend for seventy years.
So the great separation shall come at the end. The sheep shall be separated from the goats. The goats will go to be with Satan, whom they have served. The sheep will enter the Kingdom of God and a new earth, and be blessed by the New Jerusalem, that is to say, by the members of the Royal Priesthood.
Since you to whom I am writing are members of the Royal Priesthood, use this time of preparation wisely. Jesus has great things for you if you will endure to the end. | 2019-04-23T05:04:44Z | http://wor.org/book/3860/a-season-of-preparation |
There are many personal injury law firms located here in Jupiter, Palm Beach County, south Florida, and throughout the entire country. What you need to figure out is who are the best personal injury attorneys to handle your case and give you the best chance of getting what you think you deserve out of your case.
The first important thing for you to know: most personal injury law firms like ours at Slinkman, Slinkman & Wynne, P.A. will sit down with you and have a free initial consultation with you. So the first thing we would advise you is to cut out most if not all of the law firms who want to charge you for that initial consultation. There are enough quality firms and lawyers that will look at your case and give you an honest assessment for no charge that you need not consider paying for that meeting.
Do I have a legitimate case?
Practically everyone who walks into a personal injury law firm believes they have a case that could get them money… often, a lot of money. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Be willing to listen to what feedback the lawyer is giving you. If you do not agree with the feedback, you can always go and get a second and even third opinion. But also be open to the fact that maybe you do not have as easy a case to win as you think.
Who will be working on my case on what are their resources?
Will a lawyer be working on your case, or paralegals and legal assistants? Yes, you should expect that the paralegals and assistants will do some of the work, but one of the firm’s lawyers should be involved every step of the way as well.
What types of cases has the firm worked in the past?
This is an important question as most people do not realize that there are many types of personal injury cases. Make sure to find out if the firm has a positive history in working cases in the area which your case would fall under – including Slip & Fall, accidents, malpractice, workers compensation, defective products just to name a few.
What is the firm’s reputation?
This can be found by doing some research on google. Look for industry recognition and accolades. And definitely check on their website, and through social media to view testimonials from clients and others who have worked with the firm and the attorneys in the firm.
How does the law firm get compensated for working your case?
Arm yourself with these questions and you will give yourself the best chance at winning a personal injury lawsuit.
You often here personal injury attorneys and many other types of attorneys say that they give the best service, have the most experience, and will do what it takes to help you win your case, and get you a lot of money in the process. You can see it in the ads on television, hear it on the radio driving to and from work, or see it on the multiple billboards along I-95 that you pass on a daily basis.
But you will never see Slinkman, Slinkman & Wynne, P.A. on a television ad, or on a billboard along the highway? Why? Because we believe that our best sources for new business always come from our current and former clients. We pride ourselves on delivering on our promise – to help you get the compensation that you deserve for the injuries you have suffered: physical, mental and psychological.
While a television advertisement or a billboard may make an attorney appear knowledgeable and trustworthy, that is not always the case. Slinkman, Slinkman & Wynne has stayed away from big advertising and relies on word of mouth referrals from prior clients which is the true test of a law firm’s service to a client. Relying on referrals can only be accomplished when past clients are happy with the dedication and services provided by Slinkman, Slinkman & Wynne.
Contingent fee contracts – No Fees or Costs unless we prevail on your injury case.
We are proud to offer home, hospital and nursing home visits to you in the event that you are unable to meet with us in our office. Let us travel to you.
If you are in an automobile, motorcycle or boating accident; or a Slip and Fall accident, Wrongful Death & Serious Injury situation, Medical Malpractice, Defective Products, or many other types of legal situations where injury or death has occurred, contact us immediately.
You can contact us by phone at (561) 686-3400, via email at [email protected], via fax at (561) 686-5683, or by filling out the contact form on our website at http://www.sswlawfl.com/contact/.
We look forward to helping you obtain payment to cover hospital and other medical expenses, pain and suffering, and more, if the situation warrants it. Slinkman, Slinkman & Wynne, P.A., where we have been devoted to protecting south Florida families for over 40 years!
At Slinkman, Slinkman & Wynne, P.A. we realize that most of our neighbors here in Jupiter, Palm Beach Gardens, West Palm Beach and the Treasure Coast of Florida go through life hoping they never need the services of a personal injury law firm like ours. Honestly, we wish that for all of you as well.
The fact is; the average automobile driver will be in between 3 and 4 accidents during your life, according to recent car insurance industry estimates as stated in this Forbes magazine article. http://www.forbes.com/sites/moneybuilder/2011/07/27/how-many-times-will-you-crash-your-car/#1e1ddcb050f9. A sobering statistic for all American drivers, to be sure.
Although not all of those automobile accidents require the use of a personal injury attorney, some of them obviously do. So how do you find the best law firm to represent you in your case when you need one?
One way is to find attorneys who have distinguished their ability to be successful enough for their clients to belong to a group that less than 1% of all personal injury law firms across the United States are a part of. In the case of personal injury attorneys, that select group is called the “Million Dollar Advocates Forum®”.
As stated on the forum’s website: “Established in 1993, the Million Dollar Advocates Forum (which includes the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum) is one of the most prestigious groups of trial lawyers in the United States. Membership is limited to attorneys who have won million and multi-million dollar verdicts and settlements. There are over 4000 members throughout the country. Fewer than 1% of U.S. lawyers are members.
Slinkman, Slinkman & Wynne, P.A. is a proud member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum. We practice in Jupiter, Palm Beach County, the Treasure Coast and throughout the great state of Florida. We have been devoted to protecting South Florida families for over 40 years, and getting you the results that you deserve.
Contact our Palm Beach law firm at any time with questions about your legal issue. Provide as much information as possible regarding your inquiry. While this contact does not serve to establish an attorney/client relationship, it will allow our legal team to begin an assessment of your case even before you come in for your initial consultation.
At Slinkman, Slinkman, & Wynne, we understand that an accident, serious injury and wrongful death can occur without warning. Whatever happened, we also know that it is tragic for all of the loved ones left behind. We help our clients obtain payment to cover funeral expenses, pain and suffering, and more, if the situation warrants it. If you want to learn more about how to go about hiring the right attorneys for you in a situation where someone you love has been injured or died in an accident or some other situation caused by negligence, then go to http://www.sswlawfl.com/areas-of-practice/. We specialize in Auto Accident & Serious Injury, Motorcycle Accidents, Boating Accidents, Wrongful Death, Medical Malpractice, Defective Products and many other types of legal situations where injury or death has occurred.
Our main office is located in Jupiter, Florida at 1015 W. Indiantown Road, Suite 101A. Contact us directly at (561) 686-3400, or via email at [email protected].
Easy-to-follow guide for safe and stress-free holiday light hanging from Slinkman, Slinkman & Wynne, P.A.
Thanksgiving is in the rearview mirror and we are now officially in the middle of the holiday season. Across Jupiter just like the rest of Florida and the United States people of all ages are decorating their houses with trees, candles, ornaments and of course, lights. Stringing up the lights around your home can be one of the most entertaining activities of your holiday prep work. Particularly here in Florida, where we can sit outside all night and enjoy the light show without freezing half to death.
Unfortunately, it can also be one of the most dangerous.
In order to help you string up your lights as stress-free and safe as possible, here is a step-by-step guide for hanging your holiday lights by Yourself (or with a helper). Make special note that THE FIRST 5 STEPS happen BEFORE you begin the actual work of stringing!
Preparation: Make sure you have assembled the proper tools and materials. Whether you are putting up lights only, or adding in all kinds of extra decorations, having the proper tools to do the job is important. Unfurl the lights and check them to ensure each and every bulb is working. Have extension cords, your hanging tools (clips, adhesive hooks and light-hanging pole) and ladder (if needed) laid out for easy access. We also recommend that you have some sort of timer so that you do not have to worry about turning the lights on and then off yourself every day and night.
Figure out the best lights for your job: better to do this before you start. There are many different types of holiday lighting out there, and it is a good idea if you evaluate the different types and pick the best ones for your home before you start stringing.
Measure: Always measure the areas where you are putting up your lights. You will find it virtually impossible to know how many strands of lights you will need to adequately complete the job without measuring your surface area first.
Evaluate the surfaces you will be securing the lights to: When you think about it, rarely will you be securing the lights to just one surface. There are the roof tiles, gutters, siding/shingles, porches, poles, doors, windows and other surfaces. All of them can have different types of clips. Be forearmed with this knowledge when you are going to purchase the lights so the expert in the hardware store can tell you exactly which type of clip is best for which surface.
Power: How will the lights be connected to your power source, and how much power will they need: This one seems simple enough, but can turn what looks like a straight-forward job into a complicated mess. You want to calculate the power usage because you want to prevent overloading your circuits or blowing a fuse. Just ask Clark Griswold what can happen when you “wing it”.
Stringing: If you have correctly and patiently gone through the first 5 steps, this step should be relatively straight-forward. Of course if you are having to go up high enough that there will be ladders involved, then you should have a spotter if at all possible. Even the most secure ladder can slip or tip over. And chances are you will get injured, maybe quite seriously, if you fall. It is not worth not asking for help.
Turn on the lights and Enjoy (hopefully)! Now comes the time to enjoy the fruits of your labor. If there are any lights not working, re-checking them to make sure they are screwed in correctly. If they are and still not working, then replace them. Put the lights on the timer, and now you get to enjoy your beautiful display every night during the holiday season!
Holiday safety is important to us here at Slinkman, Slinkman & Wynne, P.A. We hope that all of our friends and neighbors here in south Florida are able to enjoy a Happy, Healthy & Safe Holiday Season.
If you need more information for yourself or a loved one regarding a potential personal injury case at any time during the year please contact us at http://www.sswlawfl.com. At Slinkman, Slinkman & Wynne we offer a free initial consultation, and our phone number is (561) 686-3400.
Our main office is in Jupiter and we serve Palm Beach Gardens, Jupiter, Stuart, West Palm Beach or any other city in the state of Florida. We specialize in cases involving Defective Products including toys, Wrongful Death & Serious Injury, Medical Malpractice, Slip and Fall, and many other types of situations where injury or death has occurred.
Since its release 4 weeks ago, the Pokémon Go App has taken our country by storm. Downloads of the app broke records after its first week, and have continued since (according to Apple). By mid -July estimates were that the app was generating $1.6 million in revenue PER DAY, a number also sure to continue a meteoric rise. There is no doubt that Pokémon Go has been very positive (and lucrative) for everyone involved in its release.
Distracted driving already causes thousands of accidents, injuries and deaths in our country each year. Unfortunately this app is going to only add to those numbers.
Be aware of your surroundings when walking and do not stare down at your phone not knowing hazards around you, like roadways, drop-offs, waterways, etc.
Stories of people breaking their ankles, legs and arms are coming in from all over the country already.
Other stories talk of people getting robbed while playing the game.
We will continue to share information and stories related to issues that arise from the growing craze that is the Pokemon Go App. At Slinkman, Slinkman & Wynne, P.A. we believe if we can help save one life, stop one accident, it will be more than worth it.
If you are injured in an accident because the other driver was distracted playing Pokemon Go, you may have a right to bring a claim for various damages, injuries incurred, lost wages and more. Call us at Slinkman, Slinkman & Wynne, P.A. We offer a free initial consultation, and our phone number is (561) 686-3400. Our main office is located in Jupiter, Florida. We have been devoted to protecting South Florida families for over 40 years.
If you want to learn more about how we can help you in a situation where someone you love has been in an automobile accident involving Pokemon Go or other distracted driving, then go to this page on our website: http://www.sswlawfl.com/areas-of-practice/auto-accident/. We also specialize in Slip and Fall accidents, Wrongful Death & Serious Injury, Medical Malpractice, Defective Products, and many other types of legal situations where injury or death has occurred.
Summer has long been known as a time when automobile accidents involving teenage drivers increase. Teenagers are on summer break from either high school or college, so they tend to be out on the roadways more, and more often at night, then during the rest of the year.
Unfortunately, the problem with teenage driver accidents has been exacerbated with the introduction of cell phones and other devices into the mix. Distracted driving has led to a significant increase in accidents, injuries and deaths for all driver, but particularly those in the 15 to 20 age group. In previous blogs we discussed the statistics compiled by the National Safety Council, AAA and other organizations dedicated to stemming the tide of teenager distracted driving accidents, injuries and deaths.
And just last year the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety concluded an extensive study of recorded data from the last six seconds before 1,700 crashes found an astonishing 58% of “moderate to severe teen crashes” are the result of the driver being distracted. At Slinkman, Slinkman & Wynne, P.A. we believe there has to be a concerted effort by all Americans to help all drivers understand the risk of distracted driving – with an even larger focused message to teenage drivers.
We will continue to share information and stories related to this extremely important topic. At Slinkman, Slinkman & Wynne we believe if we can help save one life, stop one accident, it will be more than worth it.
If you are injured in an auto accident because the other driver was distracted or otherwise impaired in Florida, you may have a right to bring a claim for various damages and injuries incurred. Call us at Slinkman, Slinkman & Wynne, P.A. We offer a free initial consultation, and our phone number is (561) 686-3400. Our main office is located in Jupiter, Florida. We have been devoted to protecting South Florida families for over 40 years.
If you want to learn more about how we can help you in a situation where someone you love has been in an automobile accident caused by distracted driving, then go to this page on our website: http://www.sswlawfl.com/areas-of-practice/auto-accident/. We also specialize in Slip and Fall accidents, Wrongful Death & Serious Injury, Medical Malpractice, Defective Products, and many other types of legal situations where injury or death has occurred in Jupiter, Palm Beach Gardens, West Palm Beach, Delray Beach and throughout Palm Beach, the Treasure Coast and all of Florida. | 2019-04-21T18:04:44Z | https://slinkmanslinkmanandwynnepa.wordpress.com/category/personal-injury-attorneys-west-palm-beach/ |
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Title of Regulation: 12VAC5-610. Sewage Handling and Disposal Regulations (amending 12VAC5-610-30, 12VAC5-610-920 through 12VAC5-610-950; adding 12VAC5-610-955).
Statutory Authority: §§ 32.1-12, 32.1-164, and 32.1-164.9 of the Code of Virginia.
Public Comment Deadline: October 26, 2015.
Agency Contact: Dwayne Roadcap, Director, Division of Onsite Sewage and Water, Department of Health, 109 Governor Street, Richmond, VA 23219, telephone (804) 864-7458, FAX (804) 864-7475, or email [email protected].
Basis: Section 32.1-164.9 of the Code of Virginia mandates the Board of Health to promulgate regulations for physical construction, design, and installation of chamber and bundled expanded polystyrene systems. Additionally, the board is authorized pursuant to § 32.1-12 of the Code of Virginia to promulgate and enforce regulations. Section 32.1-164 of the Code of Virginia authorizes the board to promulgate regulations governing the collection, conveyance, transportation, treatment, and disposal of sewage by onsite sewage systems to protect public health, surface water, and groundwater.
Purpose: The need for the proposed regulation is to implement § 32.1-164.9 of the Code of Virginia and incorporate requirements for gravelless material and drip dispersal. The amendments include construction, design, and installation requirements for gravelless material and drip dispersal systems. Since 2002, the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) has recognized, through policies, that gravelless material is an acceptable means of dispersing effluent. VDH has recognized, through policies, that drip dispersal is an acceptable means of transmitting effluent. The goal of the proposed regulation is to permanently add the construction, design, and installation standards for gravelless material and drip dispersal. The regulations are essential in order to comply with the provisions of the Code of Virginia and protect the health, welfare, and safety of the public.
8. Minimum installation requirements for drip dispersal systems.
Minor clarifying changes to the proposed amendments from the emergency regulation, published in 30:11 VA.R. 1576 January 27, 2014, are made, including the following: (i) the term "soil gravel or sand interface" used in 12VAC5-610-920 and 12VAC5-610-950 A is modified to ensure inclusion of gravelless material and drip dispersal, and (ii) the proposed regulation establishes minimum physical construction, design, and installation requirements for gravelless material and drip dispersal.
Issues: The proposed regulation poses no disadvantage to the public or the Commonwealth. The proposed revisions permanently incorporate the emergency regulations for gravelless material and drip dispersal. The proposed regulations provide a benefit to the public by providing a clear regulation for use of gravelless material and drip dispersal.
Summary of the Proposed Amendments to Regulation.
vi) Such other requirements pertaining to the promulgation of chamber and bundled expanded polystyrene effluent distribution system regulations for onsite sewage systems as may be deemed necessary by the Board.
The Board's proposed regulatory amendments include these requirements and criteria.
Result of Analysis. The benefits likely exceed the costs for all proposed changes.
Estimated Economic Impact. Since 2002, the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) has approved through policies gravelless material as an acceptable means of dispersing effluent. VDH has also approved through policies drip dispersal as an acceptable means of transmitting effluent. The Board's proposed requirements, specifications, and criteria are similar to those set by VDH in practice; although there are some differences. Placing the requirements, specifications, and criteria in regulation will be beneficial in that it will increase clarity for the public.
In practice VDH has required a $100,000 letter of credit and a 5-year limited warranty from manufacturers for approval of use of their gravelless (i.e., plastic) systems. VDH believes that the 5-year limited warranty has not been a binding constraint. In other words, it is consistent with what the manufacturers offer anyway. In the 15 plus years that this program has existed, there have been no instances where there has been a need to access any of these letters of credit to pay for failed manufactured product.
Under the proposed regulations, neither the letter of credit nor the warranty will be required. There are currently five manufacturers who have approved gravelless systems, and consequently each hold a $100,000 letter of credit. Manufacturers will save the cost of maintaining the letter of credit, approximately $3,250 per year per firm, under the proposed regulations.
In practice VDH has allowed up to 50% reduction in drainage field while using gravelless system, but required an informed consent form signed by homeowner. Under the proposed regulation the drainage field can be reduced by at most 25%, but no signature from the homeowner is required.
Businesses and Entities Affected. The proposed amendments may affect applicants for onsite sewage system construction permits and businesses providing services related to onsite sewage systems; onsite soil evaluators, professional engineers, onsite sewage system installers, and product manufacturers. Applicants and service providers are only affected when gravelless material or drip dispersal components are selected.
In calendar year 2013, VDH processed approximately 13,000 applications. The agency estimates that there are approximately 400 licensed individuals providing site evaluation and design services for onsite sewage systems. Additionally, there are approximately 215 individuals licensed to install onsite sewage systems. The vast majority of these service providers are small businesses. There are also 5 potentially affected manufacturers.
Localities Particularly Affected. The proposed amendment does not disproportionately affect particular localities.
Projected Impact on Employment. The proposed amendments are unlikely to significantly affect employment.
Effects on the Use and Value of Private Property. The proposed elimination of the letter of credit requirement will save manufacturers approximately $3,250 per year.
Small Businesses: Costs and Other Effects. The proposed elimination of the letter of credit requirement will reduce costs for small manufacturers of products used to disperse effluent within the absorption trench of an onsite sewage system without the use of gravel.
Small Businesses: Alternative Method that Minimizes Adverse Impact. The proposed amendments will not adversely affect small businesses.
Real Estate Development Costs. The proposed amendments are unlikely to significantly affect real estate development costs.
• the impact on the use and value of private property.
• a description of any less intrusive or less costly alternative methods of achieving the purpose of the proposed regulation.
Additionally, pursuant to § 2.2-4007.1, if there is a finding that a proposed regulation may have an adverse impact on small business, the Joint Commission on Administrative Rules is notified at the time the proposed regulation is submitted to the Virginia Register of Regulations for publication. This analysis shall represent DPB's best estimate for the purposes of public review and comment on the proposed regulation.
1Gravelless Material means a proprietary product specifically manufactured to disperse effluent within the absorption trench of an onsite sewage system without the use of gravel. Gravelless material may include chamber, bundled expanded polystyrene, and multi-pipe systems.
2Drip Dispersal means an onsite sewage system that applies wastewater in an even and controlled manner over an absorption area. Drip dispersal components may include treatment components, a flow equalization pump tank, a filtration system, a flow measurement method, supply and return piping, small diameter pipe with emitters, air/vacuum release valves, redistribution controls, and electromechanical components or controls.
Agency's Response to Economic Impact Analysis: The Virginia Department of Health concurs with the Department of Planning and Budget's economic impact analysis. The benefits of the regulations likely exceed the costs for all of the proposed changes.
Minor revisions for clarification, based on public comment, were made to the emergency regulation for the proposed amendments. In 12VAC5-610-955 B 6 a requirement that the system design protect from siphoning or backflow was added. In 12VAC5-610-995 C 3, general parameters for loading rates for sloping absorption areas were made specific requirements.
12VAC5-610-30. Relationship to Virginia Joint Sewerage Regulations other regulations.
This chapter is supplemental to the current Virginia Sewerage Regulations, or their successor, which were adopted jointly by the State Board of Health and the Department of Environmental Quality pursuant to § 62.1-44.19 of the Code of Virginia. This chapter addresses the handling and disposal of sewage not regulated by a Virginia Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (VPDES) Permit.
A. This chapter addresses the handling and disposal of those portions of sewage flows not regulated by a Virginia Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (VPDES) Permit or a Virginia Pollutant Abatement (VPA) Permit issued in accordance with 9VAC25-31 or 9VAC25-32, respectively.
B. Reclamation and reuse of sewage may be subject to permitting by the Department of Environmental Quality under 9VAC25-740.
Gravity distribution is the conveyance of effluent from a distribution box through the percolation lines at less than full flow conditions. Flow to the initial distribution box may be initiated by pump, siphon or gravity.
A. Enhanced flow distribution. Enhanced flow distribution is the initiation of the effluent flow to the distribution box by pump or siphon for the purpose of assuring more uniform flow splitting to the percolation lines. Enhanced flow distribution shall be provided on systems where the flow is split more than 12 times or the system contains more than 1200 linear feet of percolation lines. For the purpose of this chapter, enhanced flow distribution is considered to produce unsaturated soil conditions.
B. System size. Distribution systems containing 1800 or more linear feet of percolation piping shall be split into multiple systems containing a maximum of 1200 linear feet of percolation piping per system.
C. Distribution boxes. The distribution box is a device for splitting flow equally by gravity to points in the system. Improperly installed distribution boxes are a cause for absorption field malfunction.
1. Materials. The preferred material for use in constructing distribution boxes is concrete (3000 psi). Other materials may be considered on a case-by-case basis. All materials must be resistant to both chemical and electrolytic corrosion and must have sufficient structural strength to contain sewage and resist lateral compressive and bearing loads.
2. Design. Each distribution box shall be designed to split the influent flow equally among the multiple effluent ports. All effluent ports shall be at the same elevation and be of the same diameter. The elevation of the effluent ports shall be at a lower elevation than the influent port. The placement of the influent ports shall be such as to prevent short circuiting unless baffling is provided to prevent short circuiting. The minimum inside width of a gravity flow distribution box shall be equal to or greater than 12 inches. The inside bottom shall be at least four inches below the invert of the effluent ports and at least five inches below the invert of the influent port. A minimum of eight inches freeboard above the invert of the effluent piping shall be provided. The distribution box shall be fitted with a watertight, removable lid for access.
3. Installation. The hole for placement of the distribution box shall be excavated to undisturbed soil. The distribution box shall be placed in the excavation and stabilized. The preferred method of stabilizing the distribution box is to bond the distribution box to a four inch poured in place Portland cement concrete pad with dimensions six inches greater than the length and width dimensions of the distribution box. The box shall be permanently leveled and checked by water testing. Conduits passing through the walls of a distribution box shall be provided with a water stop.
D. Lead or header lines. Header or lead lines are watertight, semirigid or rigid lines that convey effluent from a distribution box to another box or to the percolation piping.
1. Size. The lead or header lines shall have an internal diameter of four inches.
2. Slope. Minimum slope shall be two inches per 100 feet.
3. Materials. The lead or header lines shall have a minimum crush strength of 1500 pounds per foot and may be constructed of cast iron, plastic, vitrified clay or other material resistant to the corrosive action of sewage.
a. Joints. Lead or header lines shall have joints of the compressions type with the exception of plastic lead or header lines which may be welded sleeve, chemically fused or clamped (noncorrosive) flexible sleeve.
b. Adapters. Joining of lead or header lines of different size and/or material shall be accomplished by use of a manufactured adapter specifically designed for the purpose.
c. Valves. Valves shall be constructed of materials resistant to the corrosive action of sewage. Valves placed below ground level shall be provided with a valve box and a suitable valve stem so that it may be operated from the ground surface.
a. Bedding. All lead or header lines shall be bedded to supply uniform support and maintain grade and alignment along the length of the lead or header lines. Special care shall be taken when using semirigid pipe.
b. Backfilling and tamping. Lead and header lines shall be backfilled and tamped as soon as possible after the installation of the lead or header lines has been approved. Material for backfilling shall be free of large stones and debris.
6. Termination. Header or lead lines shall extend for a minimum distance of two feet into the absorption trenches.
E. Gravity percolation lines. Gravity percolation lines are perforated or open joint pipes that are utilized to distribute the effluent along the length of the absorption trenches.
1. Size. All gravity percolation lines shall have an internal diameter of four inches.
2. Slope. The slope of the lines shall be uniform and shall not be less than two inches or more than four inches per 100 feet.
3. Design. Effluent shall be split by the distribution system so that all gravity percolation lines installed shall receive an equal volume of the total design effluent load per square foot of trench, i.e., the fraction of the flow received by each percolation line divided by the length of the gravity percolation lines shall be equal for all gravity percolation lines in a system.
4. Length. No individual gravity percolation line shall exceed 100 feet in length.
a. Clay. Clay tile shall be extra-strength and meet current ASTM standards for clay tile.
b. Perforated plastic drainage tubing. Perforated plastic drainage tubing shall meet ASTM standards. At not greater than 10 feet intervals the pipe shall be plainly marked, embossed or engraved thereby showing the manufacturer's name or hallmark and showing that the product meets a bearing load of 1,000 lb. per foot. In addition, a painted or other clearly marked line or spot shall be marked at not greater than 10 feet intervals to denote the top of the pipe.
The tubing shall have three holes, 1/2 to 3/4 inch in diameter evenly spaced and placed within an arc of 130 degrees, the center hole being directly opposite the top marking.
Spacing of each set of three holes shall be at four inch intervals along the tube. If there is any break in the continuity of the tubing, an appropriate connection shall be used to join the tubing.
a. Crushed stone or gravel. Clean gravel or crushed stone having a size range from 1/2 inch to 1-1/2 inches shall be utilized to bed the gravity percolation lines.
Minimum depth of gravel or crushed stone beneath the percolation lines shall be six inches. Clean course silica sand (does not effervesce in presence of dilute hydrochloric acid) may be substituted for the first two inches (soil interface) of the require required six inches of gravel beneath the percolation lines. The absorption trench shall be backfilled to a depth of two inches over the gravity percolation lines with the same gravel or crushed stone. Clean sand, gravel or crushed stone shall be free of fines, clay and organic materials.
b. Grade boards and/or stakes. Grade boards and/or stakes placed in the bottom or sidewalls of the absorption trench shall be utilized to maintain the grade on the gravel for placement of the gravity percolation lines. Grade stakes shall not be placed on centers greater than 10 feet.
c. Placement and alignment. Perforated gravity percolation piping shall be placed so that the center hole is in the horizontal plane and interfaces with the minimum six inches of graded gravel. When open joint piping is utilized the upper half of the top of the 1/4-inch open space shall be covered with tar paper or building paper to block the entrance of fines into the pipe during the backfilling operation. All gravity percolating piping shall be placed in the horizontal center of the absorption trench and shall maintain a straight alignment and uniform grade.
d. Backfilling. After the placement of the gravity percolation piping the absorption trench shall be backfilled evenly with crushed stone or gravel to a depth of two inches over the piping. Untreated building paper, or other suitable material shall be placed at the interface of the gravel and soil to prevent migration of fines to the trench bottom. The remainder of the trench shall be backfilled with soil to the ground surface.
F. Gravelless material is a proprietary product specifically manufactured to disperse effluent within the absorption trench of an onsite sewage system without the use of gravel. Gravelless material may include chamber, bundled expanded polystyrene, and multi-pipe systems. The division shall maintain a list of all generally approved gravelless material. Gravelless material on the generally approved list may be used in accordance with Table 5.4 of 12VAC5-610-950.
1. Gravelless material that received general approval as of December 12, 2013, shall retain such status when used in accordance with the requirements of this chapter. After December 12, 2013, the division shall review and evaluate new applications for general approval pursuant to the requirements of this chapter.
a. Any manufacturer of gravelless material may submit an application for general approval to the division using a form provided by the division. A complete application shall include the manufacturer's contact information, product specifications, product approvals in other states or territories, installation manual, and other information deemed necessary by the division to determine compliance with this chapter.
b. The manufacturer of gravelless material shall identify in the application for general approval any recommendation that deviates from the requirements of this chapter. If the recommendation is approved by the division, then the manufacturer shall include the deviation in the gravelless material's installation manual.
a. The minimum exterior width shall be at least 90% of the total width of the absorption trench. The exterior width of a chamber system shall be measured at the edge or outer limit of the product's contact with the trench bottom unless the division determines a different measurement is required based on the gravelless material's design. The exterior width of bundled expanded polystyrene and multi-pipe systems shall be measured using the outside diameter of the bundled gravelless material unless the division determines a different measurement is required based on the gravelless material's design. The division shall establish the exterior width of any gravelless material that is not considered a chamber, bundled expanded polystyrene, or multi-pipe system.
b. Gravelless material shall have a minimum height of eight inches to provide a continuous exchange of air through a permeable interface.
c. Gravelless material shall have a permeable interface that shall be located along the trench bottom and trench sidewalls within the absorption trench.
d. Gravelless material shall provide a minimum storage capacity of 1.3 gallons per square foot of trench bottom area.
e. Gravelless material shall pose no greater risk to surface water and groundwater quality than gravel in absorption trenches. Gravelless material shall be constructed to maintain structural integrity such that it does not decay or corrode when exposed to effluent.
f. Gravelless material shall have a minimum load rating of H-10 or H-20 from the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials or equivalent when installed in accordance with the manufacturer's specifications and minimum specified depth of cover in non-traffic or traffic areas, respectively.
3. For designs using gravelless material, the absorption trenches shall receive an equal volume of effluent per square foot of trench. Trench bottom area shall be equal to or greater than the minimum area requirements contained in Table 5.4 of 12VAC5-610-950. Trench sidewall shall not be included when determining minimum area requirements. When open-bottom gravelless material is utilized, it shall provide a splash plate at the inlet of the trench or other suitable method approved by the manufacturer to reduce effluent velocity.
4. Installation of gravelless material shall comply with this chapter unless the department grants a deviation pursuant to 12VAC5-610-660 or the division has granted a deviation identified in the installation manual.
5. Gravelless material shall contain a pressure percolation line along the entire length of the trench when low pressure distribution is utilized pursuant to 12VAC5-610-940 D.
6. When pumping effluent to overcome gravity, any open-bottom gravelless material shall provide a high-flow splash plate at the inlet of the trench or other suitable method approved by the manufacturer to reduce effluent velocity.
7. When enhanced flow distribution is used, open-bottom gravelless material shall contain a percolation pipe that extends a minimum of 10 feet from the trench's intersection with the header line. The percolation pipe shall be installed in accordance with the manufacturer's approved installation manual. The dosing volume shall be a minimum 39 gallons per 100 linear feet of absorption trench.
8. Gravelless material may be substituted for gravel in accordance with this chapter, provided that the certifying licensed professional engineer or onsite soil evaluator approves the substitution. The certifying licensed professional engineer or onsite soil evaluator shall identify the substitution on the inspection report submitted in accordance with 12VAC5-610-330. A new construction permit pursuant to 12VAC5-610-310 is not required for the substitution.
Low pressure distribution is the conveyance of effluent through the pressure percolation lines at full flow conditions into the absorption area with the prime motive force being a pump or siphon. Low pressure systems are limited to a working pressure of from one to four feet of head at the distal end of the pressure percolation lines. For the purpose of this chapter low pressure distribution is considered to provide unsaturated soil conditions.
A. Dosing cycle. Systems shall be designed so that the effluent volume applied to the absorption area per dosing cycle is from seven to 10 times the volume of the distribution piping, however, the volume per dosing cycle should not result in a liquid depth in the absorption trench greater than two inches.
B. Manifold lines. Manifold lines are watertight lines that convey effluent from the initial point of flow splitting to the pressure percolation lines.
1. Size. The manifold line shall be sized to provide a minimum velocity of two feet per second and a maximum velocity of eight feet per second.
2. Materials. All pipe used for manifolds shall be of the pressure type with pressure type joints.
3. Bedding. All manifolds shall be bedded to supply uniform support along its length.
4. Backfilling and tamping. Manifold trenches shall be backfilled and tamped as soon as possible after the installation of the manifold has been approved. Material for backfilling shall be free of large stones and debris.
5. Valves. Valves for throttling and check valves to prevent backflow are required wherever necessary. Each valve shall be supplied with a valve box terminating at the surface.
C. Pressure percolation lines. Pressure percolation lines are perforated pipes utilized to distribute the flow evenly along the length of the absorption trench.
1. Size. Pressure percolation lines should normally have a 1-1/4 inch inside diameter.
2. Hole size. Normal hole size shall be 3/16 inch to 1/4 inch.
3. Hole placement. Center to center hole separation shall be between three and five feet.
4. Line length. Maximum line length from manifold should not exceed 50 feet.
5. Percent flow variation. Actual line size, hole size and hole separation shall be determined on a case-by-case basis based on a maximum flow variation of 10% along the length of the pressure percolation lines.
6. Materials and construction. The preferred material is plastic, either PVC or ABS, designed for pressure service. The lines shall have burr free and counter sunk holes (where possible) placed in a straight line along the longitudinal axis of the pipe. Joining of pipes shall be accomplished with manufactured pressure type joints.
a. Crushed stone or gravel. Clean gravel or crushed stone having a size range from 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch shall be utilized to bed the pressure percolation lines. Minimum depth of gravel or crushed stone beneath the percolation lines shall be 8-1/2 inches. Clean course silica sand (does not effervesce in the presence of dilute hydrochloric acid) may be substituted for the first two inches (soil interface) of the required 8-1/2 inches of gravel beneath the pressure percolation lines. The absorption trench shall be backfilled to a depth of two inches over the pressure percolation lines with the same gravel or crushed stone. Clean sand, gravel or crushed stone shall be free of fines, clay and organic materials.
b. Grade boards and/or stakes. Grade boards and/or stakes placed in the bottom or sidewalls of the absorption trench shall be utilized to maintain the gravel level for placement of the pressure percolation lines. Grade stakes shall not be placed on centers greater than 10 feet.
c. Placement and alignment. Pressure percolation lines shall be placed so that the holes face vertically downward. All pressure percolation piping shall be placed at the same elevation, unless throttling valves are utilized, and shall be level. The piping shall be placed in the horizontal center of the trench and shall maintain a straight alignment. Normally the invert of the pressure percolation lines shall be placed 8-1/2 inches above the trench bottom. However, under no circumstance shall the invert of the pressure percolation lines be placed closer than 16-1/2 inches to the seasonal water table as defined in 12VAC5-610-950 A 3 12VAC5-610-470 D. When the invert of the pressure percolation lines must be placed at an elevation greater than 8-1/2 inches above the trench bottom, landscaping over the absorption area may be required to provide the two inches of gravel and six inches of fill over the pressure percolation lines required in subdivision 7 a of this subsection.
d. Backfilling. After the placement of the pressure percolation piping the absorption trench shall be backfilled evenly with crushed stone or gravel to a depth of two inches over the opening. Untreated building paper or other suitable material shall be placed at the interface of the gravel and soil to prevent migration of fines to the trench bottom. The remainder of the trench shall be backfilled with soil to the ground surface.
8. Appurtenances. The distal (terminal) end of each pressure percolation lines shall be fitted with a vertical riser and threaded cap extending to the ground surface. Systems requiring throttling valves will be supplied with couplings and threaded riser extensions at least four feet long so that the flow may be adjusted in each line.
D. Gravelless material with general approval may be used for low pressure distribution in accordance with the manufacturer's approved installation manual, Table 5.4 of 12VAC5-610-950, and the applicable requirements of this chapter.
A. The absorption area is the undisturbed soil medium beginning at the soil gravel or sand interface which is utilized for absorption of the effluent. The absorption area includes the infiltrative surface in the absorption trench and the soil between and around the trenches when trenches are used.
1. It shall have an estimated or measured percolation rate equal to or less than 120 minutes per inch.
3. If no single horizon meets the conditions in subdivision 2 of this subsection, a combination of adjacent horizons may be utilized to provide the required 12-inch sidewall infiltrative surface. However, no horizon utilized shall have an estimated or measured percolation rate greater than 120 minutes/inch.
1. The soil horizon into which the absorption trench bottom is placed shall be a Texture Group I, II or III soil or have an estimated or measured percolation rate of less than 91 minutes per inch.
2. The soil horizon shall be a minimum of three feet thick and shall exhibit no characteristics that indicate wetness on restriction of water movement. The absorption trench bottom shall be placed so that at least two feet of the soil horizon separates the trench bottom from the water table and/or rock. At least one foot of the absorption trench side wall shall penetrate the soil horizon.
3. A lateral ground water movement interceptor (LGMI) shall be placed upslope of the absorption area. The LGMI shall be placed perpendicular to the general slope of the land. The invert of the LGMI shall extend into, but not through, the restriction and shall extend for a distance of 10 feet on either side of the absorption area (See 12VAC5-610-700 D 3).
4. Pits shall be constructed to facilitate soil evaluations as necessary.
D. Sizing of absorption trench area.
Notwithstanding the above, the minimum absorption area for single family residential dwellings shall be 400 square feet.
2. Area reduction. See Table 5.4 for percent area reduction when gravelless material or low pressure distribution is utilized. A reduction in area shall not be permitted when flow diversion is utilized with low pressure distribution. When gravelless material is utilized, the design width of the trench shall be used to calculate minimum area requirements for absorption trenches.
E. Minimum cross section dimensions for absorption trenches.
1. Depth. The minimum trench sidewall depth as measured from the surface of the mineral soil shall be 12 inches when placed in a landscape with a slope less than 10%. The installation depth shall be measured on the downhill side of the absorption trench. When the installation depth is less than 18 inches, the depth shall be measured from the lowest elevation in the microtopography. All systems shall be provided with at least 12 inches of cover to prevent frost penetration and provide physical protection to the absorption trench; however, this requirement for additional cover shall not apply to systems installed on slopes of 30% or greater. Where additional soil cover must be provided to meet this minimum, it must be added prior to construction of the absorption field, and it must be crowned to provide positive drainage away from the absorption field. The minimum trench depth shall be increased by at least five inches for every 10% increase in slope. Sidewall depth is measured from the ground surface on the downhill side of the trench.
2. Width. All absorption trenches utilized with gravity distribution shall have a width of from 18 inches to 36 inches. All absorption trenches utilized with low pressure distribution shall have a width of eight inches to 24 inches.
F. Lateral separation of absorption trenches. The absorption trenches shall be separated by a center to center distance no less than three times the width of the trench for slopes up to 10%. However, where trench bottoms are two feet or more above rock, pans and impervious strata, the absorption trenches shall be separated by a center to center distance no less than three times the width of the trench for slopes up to 20%. The minimum horizontal separation distance shall be increased by one foot for every 10% increase in slope. In no case shall the center to center distance be less than 30 inches.
G. Slope of absorption trench bottoms.
1. Gravity distribution. The bottom of each absorption trench shall have a uniform slope not less than two inches or more than four inches per 100 feet.
2. Low pressure distribution. The bottom of each absorption trench shall be uniformly level to prevent ponding of effluent.
H. Placement of absorption trenches in the landscape.
1. The absorption trenches shall be placed on contour.
2. When the ground surface in the area over the absorption trenches is at a higher elevation than any plumbing fixture or fixtures, sewage from the plumbing fixture or fixtures shall be pumped.
I. Lateral ground water movement interceptors. Where subsurface, laterally moving water is expected to adversely affect an absorption system, a lateral ground water movement interceptor (LGMI) shall be placed upslope of the absorption area. The LGMI shall be placed perpendicular to the general slope of the land. The invert of the LGMI shall extend into, but not through, the restriction and shall extend for a distance of 10 feet on either side of the absorption area.
Area Requirements for Absorption Trenches.
J. Controlled blasting. When rock or rock outcroppings are encountered during construction of absorption trenches the rock may be removed by blasting in a sequential manner from the top to remove the rock. Percolation piping and sewer lines shall be placed so that at least one foot of compacted clay soil lies beneath and on each side of the pipe where the pipe passes through the area blasted. The area blasted shall not be considered as part of the required absorption area.
A. Drip dispersal applies wastewater in an even and controlled manner over an absorption area. Drip dispersal system components may include treatment components, a flow equalization pump tank, a filtration system, a flow measurement method, supply and return piping, small diameter pipe with emitters, air/vacuum release valves, redistribution control, and electromechanical components or controls.
B. Drip dispersal system tubing shall be color coded and certified by the manufacturer as designed and manufactured for the dispersal of wastewater. All drip dispersal system tubing shall be equipped with emitters approved for use with wastewater. For the application of septic tank effluent, the tubing must have self-cleaning emitters.
1. The minimum linear feet of tubing in the system shall be one-half of the minimum soil absorption area in square feet.
2. All tubing shall be placed on contour.
3. Except as provided by 12VAC5-613, drip systems dispersing septic tank effluent shall comply with the requirements of 12VAC5-610-594. Drip systems dispersing secondary effluent or better require a minimum of six inches of cover over the tubing. Cover may be achieved by a combination of installation depth and Group II or Group III soil cover or other approved material over the drip field.
4. The discharge rate of any two emitters shall not vary by more than 10% in order to ensure that the effluent is uniformly distributed over the entire drip field or zone.
5. The emitters shall be evenly spaced along the length of the drip tubing at not less than six inches or more than 24 inches apart.
6. The system design shall protect the drip emitters and system from the effects of siphoning or backflow through the emitters.
1. For the dispersal of septic tank effluent, the minimum soil absorption area for a drip system shall be calculated by multiplying the trench bottom area required for a low pressure distribution system in Table 5.4 of 12VAC5-610-950 by three.
2. For the dispersal of secondary or better effluent, the minimum soil absorption area shall be calculated by multiplying the trench bottom area for pressure distribution systems in accordance with subdivision 10 of 12VAC5-613-80 by three.
3. Landscape linear loading rates shall be considered for sloping absorption areas. For sites where effluent flow is primarily horizontal, linear loading rates shall be less than four gallons per day per linear foot. For sites where the flow is primarily vertical, the linear loading rates shall be less than 10 gallons per day per linear foot.
4. Air/vacuum release valves shall be located at the high points of the supply and return manifolds to each zone.
D. All drip dispersal systems shall be equipped with devices or methods to restrict effluent from draining by gravity to portions of a zone or laterals lower in elevation. Variable distribution due to gravity drainage shall be 10% or less within a zone.
E. A minimum of six hours of emergency storage above the high water alarm in the pump chamber shall be provided. The equalization volume shall be equal to 18 hours of storage. The equalization volume shall be measured from the pump off level to the high water alarm level. An audio/visual alarm meeting the requirements of 12VAC5-610-880 B 8 shall be provided for the pump chamber.
F. Each drip dispersal zone shall be time-dosed over a 24-hour period. The dose volume and interval shall be set to provide unsaturated flow conditions. Demand dosing is prohibited. Minimum dose volume per zone shall be 3.5 times the liquid capacity of the drip laterals in the zone plus the liquid capacity of the supply and return manifold lines (which drain between doses) accounting for instantaneous loading and drain back.
1. At each dosing cycle, the system design shall only allow a full dose volume to be delivered.
2. For design flows greater than 1,000 gallons per day, a means to take each zone off line separately shall be provided. The system shall have the capability to bypass each zone that is taken out of service such that each subsequent dose is dispersed to the next available zone in sequence.
G. Filtration shall be provided to remove suspended solids and prevent clogging of emitters. The filtration design shall meet the drip tubing manufacturer's particle size requirements for protection of the emitters at a flow rate equal to or greater than the rate of forward flushing. Filter flush water shall be returned to the treatment system at a point where the residuals and volume of the flush water do not negatively impact the effluent quality or exceed the hydraulic design capacity of the treatment system.
H. A means for measuring or estimating total flow dispersed to the soil absorption area and to verify field dosing and field flushing rates shall be provided.
I. The system shall provide forward field flushing to achieve scouring velocity as specified by the drip tubing manufacturer. Field flushing shall occur on a routine schedule to prevent excessive solids accumulation and clogging. Flush water shall be returned to the treatment system at a point where the residuals and volume of the flush water do not negatively impact the effluent quality or exceed the hydraulic design capacity of the treatment system.
J. Electrical components shall be Underwriters Laboratory (UL) listed for the intended purpose. The designer shall provide a description with a schematic diagram of the electrical and control functions in the operation and maintenance manual. The electrical control equipment shall be mounted within a National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) 4X rated enclosure with a rigid latching door. All switches shall be clearly identified, and all internal wiring shall be factory installed. All wiring shall be installed according to applicable electrical safety codes and the manufacturer's installation schematic.
K. All components in a drip dispersal system shall be rated to withstand contact with wastewater and recommended for this application by the manufacturer. All components shall be protected from freezing.
L. The designer of the drip dispersal system shall verify the dosing rates, the flushing rates, and other parameters critical to the proper operation of the system at the startup inspection. A summary of the startup inspection shall be included in the operation and maintenance manual and shall include, at a minimum, the dosing volume, the forward flow flushing rate, the pressure head of the system, and verification of proper cycling between zones.
NOTICE: The following form used in administering the regulation was filed by the agency. The form is not being published; however, online users of this issue of the Virginia Register of Regulations may click on the name of a form with a hyperlink to access it. The form is also available from the agency contact or may be viewed at the Office of the Registrar of Regulations, General Assembly Building, 2nd Floor, Richmond, Virginia 23219.
VA.R. Doc. No. R14-3665; Filed August 3, 2015, 1:47 p.m. | 2019-04-23T16:38:56Z | http://register.dls.virginia.gov/details.aspx?id=5109 |
A joint meeting of The Empire Club of Canada and The Canadian Club.
Reasons for Mr. Bennett's move to England. Canadian concern for the British Empire. The British Empire as the bulwark of Christian civilization. Some words about the history of civilizations, and civilization. Why the British Empire has been so successful. The challenge today from Russia and Germany to our civilization, to our Christian civilization. Accepting the challenge. The defence of Poland and of our own civilization coinciding. Fighting for freedom and liberty. Britain building her sea strength by one war vessel a week now. The extent to which the British Isles are dependent on transport for their existence. The necessity to keep the sea routes open and safe. The appreciation in Britain for those who go down to the sea in ships and do business among the great waters. Activities of the British Army. The Military Service Act in Great Britain and the way in which men were called up. Equality of service and of sacrifice that the speaker has witnessed in Britain. The question of the "Conscription of wealth" and what that means. The British air force. The question of supply of machines. The plan for training pilots in Canada. The importance of a continuous flow of trained men. The effect on the German mentality of this training plan. Contributions by Canadians. Canadians joining the Royal Air Force. Some facts and figures to show what is needed for the war effort. Sources of funding. The need to buy British goods to the fullest extent possible, in order that they will have the money to buy supplies from us. The non-existence of international trade in the broad sense now. The role to be played by business men. The speaker's response to those who say that because we live on the North American Continent we should not be engaged in this conflict. Answering the challenge to our civilization.
RIGHT HONOURABLE R. B. BENNETT, P. C., K. C., LL. D., D.C.L.
A Joint Meeting of The Canadian Club and the Empire Club of Canada was held in the Royal York Hotel, Toronto, on Thursday, December 21, 1939. Professor Norman A. M. MacKenzie, President of the Canadian Club, presided.
PROFESSOR MACKENZIE: Mr. Bennett's presence with us today is in the nature of an unexpected Christmas gift for which we are duly thankful. (Applause) When Mr. Bennett announced, not so long ago that he was leaving Canada, a great many of us were somewhat disappointed and even regretful, because Mr. Bennett is a great Canadian. (Applause) There are all too few Great Canadians for us to spare even one. When I say "great Canadian" I mean it, not only in the sense of his distinguished record, but in the sense that I know no other Canadian in public life who has made such personal sacrifices for Canada, without regard to his own welfare or interest, as Mr. Bennett has done. (Applause) I wondered at the time he left why he left. True, I did not see the report that he was kissed by all of the Co-Eds in my old College, Dalhousie University, and I can assure you, Gentlemen, that that prospect would tempt the strongest among us to come back again. I suspect, however, that it was because Mr. Bennett believes in and loves the Empire so much, the Empire of which Canada is a part, and he believed that he could best make his contribution to that Empire and to Canada that he decided he would reside in the United Kingdom. My regrets were tempered, too, by my conviction that Mr. Bennett couldn't stay away from Canada very long, particularly if there was work to do. The war has brought that work and Mr. Bennett, as in the last war, is giving to that work all his very distinguished talents. For that, too, we are grateful.
RIGHT HONOURABLE R. B. BENNETT, P.C., K.C., LL.D., D.C.L.: Mr. President, Your Honour, Distinguished Guests, and Gentlemen: Your Chairman has made some references to the causes that induced me to take up my residence in the United Kingdom. I think perhaps I should relieve you of any further curiosity in that regard. I use the word curiosity, as distinguished from interest, for the manifestations of your interest were all too clear. The truth is that I had a bit of trouble with my heart and I had to retire from very active work and, to be very truthful with you, found it impossible to remain in this country and not be worried to death, so I had to seek some other place to live. I found it incompatible with my general viewpoint to remain on this continent, so I decided to go to England. That is the story.
It is very fitting that we should meet here today with the Empire Club and the Canadian Club for, after all, there has never been a moment, in my judgment, from the days of Elizabeth when Canadians were more concerned about the British Empire, or when its fate and destiny were more in the balance than at this time. That is a strong statement and yet I believe it to be a true statement.
The fact is that the people of the Motherland number about 44 million, and that the white population of the British Empire is about 70 millions of people. We govern a quarter of the world's population, inhabiting a quarter of its area, and I trust I might not be guilty of exaggeration when I say we are and have been the bulwark of Christian civilization. Gentlemen, our civilization has been built up slowly, patiently, laboriously.
If you young men desire to interest yourselves in something that will really interest you during the long winter evenings, read something of the course of the development of civilization, of the forces, at least, of ancient countries, of Babylon, of Egypt, of Greece, and Rome, and then realize that they reached the summit of their greatness and disappeared, leaving behind them the legacies to all mankind that we so much enjoy. We have survived. The British Empire has survived, and why? Shall we become one with Ninevah and Tyre, in the words of Kipling, or shall we continue to survive and continue to pay, or, shall I say, make our contribution to the history of the world? We are a Christian civilization, although the non-Christians outnumber Christians in the world and in the British Empire, it is needless for me to say to you, there are more non-Christians than Christians. Yet, the Christian thought or concept has dominated the civilization of the world and that has not been by reason of force being applied to compel people to accept it.
You remember that 250 years ago, the King of Poland swept down to Vienna to save the Christian civilization of that area against the onslaught of the alien. Prussia was too busy about something else, too concerned about something else, and it remained for the Poles of that day, 250 years ago, to make that contribution to Christian civilization. That doesn't explain why our civilization, our Christian civilization has survived. If I am right in believing that this Empire is the bulwark of that civilization I look for something further. I look for the reason why we have survived in the justice that we have given to the peoples that we have governed; acquired great territory, whether by settlement or conquest, or by discovery, wherever we have gone, we have done one thing. We have always treated the people as trustees. Our obligations have been obligations of trustees and we have endeavoured to lead them up to the time when they would govern themselves.
Look back upon your history of our own country, and the great nations where our flag flies. They are nations now-and the great Crown Colonies, the vast Dominions. You will find in every instance it is because we have endeavoured to create conditions under which people by discipline and self-restraint would govern themselves and make their own institutions and their own laws. That is the proud history of those who left the shores of the little island in the North Sea and planted colonies in remote parts of the world, and today have reaped and are reaping the reward of their confidence and their faith and their courage when their sons and daughters come back home to give their help and assistance to the descendents of those pioneers.
Hence it was you had yesterday and the day before, and every day this week, rejoicing at the arrival of the Canadian Contingent. That arrival signifies something more-than the mere arrival of troops to assist in a great war. It indicates that the great principles of justice, liberty, and the rule of law and reason have dominated the thoughts of men in this part of the world, and when the moment came that civilization was threatened, they responded with all the power and strength in their command, to do their bit for the descendents of the pioneers who left those shores and planted their institutions in the far-off parts of the world. That is the reason.
So, today, we have been challenged-challenged as never before. The challenge has come from the great powers, Russia and Germany, a challenge to our civilization, to our Christian civilization. The challenge has come to us in terms that we cannot disregard, and the test of any civilization or any conviction is always found in the response that men give when they accept that challenge. We have accepted the challenge. We, the British Empire, have accepted the challenge because there was nothing for us to do or abandon the civilization we have built. That is the real issue. That is the reason why I am so deeply concerned, and you are, about all that has to do with the conduct of this great war.
I shall never forget that Sunday morning when Mr. Chamberlain made the declaration of war. There are many people who say, "Why should we fight for Poland? What interest have we in Poland?" Poland is but an incident. The issue, as I have said, is the challenge to a Christian civilization and the defence of Poland and of our own civilization happily coincide. That is the real reason. When on that Sunday morning Mr. Chamberlain made the declaration of war it was a sober people that received it. It was a serious people that received it for they realized-by some strange process that one cannot describe the change came over them during the last week of August and it was quite clear to everyone that war was inevitable. Serious minded young men and elderly men, going about their work realized that this was a conflict, a conflict of all the ages, so far as civilization was concerned. The non-Christian Russia and the Germany endeavouring to destroy Christianity, these two forces were forces which if they prevailed would spell the end of that civilization.
Men, no more serious matter ever engaged the attention of a free people. Freedom is something that men and nations little realize until they have lost it, and liberty we in Canada enjoy to such an extent that sometimes it degenerates into license, and we have little appreciation of the restraints that are necessary to maintain liberty, because restraints are the price you pay for liberty. There can be no real liberty without restraint. That, I think, we must all keep in mind. You saw the evidence that morning and the succeeding days among these people. Serious, determined, realizing the magnitude of the task which they had undertaken, they at once devoted all their energies to the defence of the civilization which was at issue-in the navy, the army, the air.
Of the navy, it is only necessary to say that the slackening of effort that came about when we endeavoured to disarm left Britain short of four or five capital ships. It is no secret, it has been said frequently by Admirals of the Fleet, and those able to speak in the last few weeks, that we were short of capital ships. We were short of cruisers. Britain is adding to her sea strength one war vessel a week now. It may be a destroyer, it may be a cruiser, it may be the reconditioning of a great battle ship. This navy that has protected us and enabled us to sell our products in the markets of the world, keep the great sea routes open that we might sail in safety on the seven seas, this fleet has cost millions and hundreds of millions of pounds. When the call came as it did on that Sunday morning, they had all arranged the places that would be taken up .as their battle stations, and from that moment until this, their supreme purpose has been to make safe the sea routes, to protect the island from attack, and to see to it that the enemy is located. That in itself is a great task. Imagine what it means for a ship to cross the Atlantic Ocean. Four great liners with the first great Division went from here, there was the defence of it with the enemy ever watchful, desiring to destroy it.
What is true of this is true of every part of the Kingdom, the East Coast, the Channel. There are the submarines, the mine sweepers and added to that, the merchant marine. We have lost 400,000 tons of shipping since the war began. Yet, with the new ships consequently 'launched, some being acquired by force from the enemy, today there are 21 million tons of British shipping on the sea, just as there was 21 million tons the day the war began.
I would like to say that no word of mine can adequately express the appreciation that is held by every man, woman and child with whom you come in contact in the Old Land for those who go down to the sea in ships and do business among the great waters. Their courage is beyond all words and it is not the navy alone that has given such a magnificent report of itself during the last week, but the merchant marine, the people enduring the hardships of mine-sweeping, patiently trying to make the channels safe. All these men should have from us our warmest commendation and support and anything we in this far-off country can do to improve their lot we should do, gladly and proudly, because they make it possible for us to be solvent at a time such as this.
About the army I have only to say this. They moved 158,000 men across the channel without the loss of a single person, or an injury to a man, and all the mechan ized machinery, the heavy artillery and guns. It was quietly done, no one knew it was being done until it had been done, quietly and calmly. The number has been increased greatly. Aeroplanes have been flown, as I shall presently indicate, and the Commander-in-Chief of the British Forces is of the opinion, which is shared by those well able to speak with authority, that this is as fine an army as ever left the shores of England. I can only say this to you, Gentlemen, when you look upon the faces of these younger men, see their fine bearing, see there the evidences of their grim determination, you realize it is not an adventure, but the performance of a sacred duty they believe rests upon them, the children of the children's children that made equal sacrifices in days long since past. That spirit is so fine.
As a Canadian I was struck with one thing more than all others. That was the method of calling men to the colours. England has never believed in standing armies since the days of Cromwell, and it is a word I dislike-the word Conscription, because it is a nasty word, connected with conscription in the days of Imperial Lords, but for lack of a better one we sometimes use it. They passed a Military Service Act in Great Britain, by which men could be called up in time of peace to serve in the army, for the first time since the days of Cromwell. When that was done, the orderly manner in which these men were called up would have met with your warm approval.
What happened? A proclamation was issued that a class of men between given ages would be called to the colours, and that they would register on a given date, and they registered. They didn't seek excuses not to, but they registered because they were within that age. They obeyed the proclamation with pleasure and pride and made no apologies in an endeavour to escape. There were conscientious objectors, of course. They set up tribunals to deal with them. Some were conscientious when they started and before the hearing had finished they had concluded that conscience bade them attach themselves to a regiment, and they did. They went into uniform, quietly and calmly, rich and poor, peer and peasant. I said the other day, and one of the newspapers commented on the fact, the richest Earl of England found himself going to the depot with the village barber. Equality of service and of sacrifice--that is all.
And the choice of classes was done with great care so as not to disrupt industry, if at all possible, and if it could be done, insure the continuance of the supply of munitions.
Now, that struck me as a most remarkable thing in this great effort-equality of service and of sacrifice. I need hardly say to you, my fellow-Canadians, on the Statute Books of this country, since the days of Confederation, there is a provision for the calling, en masse, of men of 19 to 45. It was placed there by the genius of Sir George Cartier, and continued on our Statute Books, and in the days of Sir Wilfrid Laurier, the Minister of Justice, Sir Charles Fitzpatrick was in charge of the measure, so we have not been unmindful of the fact that there might be a time when it would be necessary for us to share equality of sacrifice and service.
I remember one of the richest men in England saying to me that he didn't think he would have more than something like fifty cents, converted into our money, left out of his income after paying his taxes that year. Now, that gives an idea of what I have in mind.
So much for preparation with respect to navy and with respect to our army. Then you come to the new arm with which the people are defending themselves, and that has never been used to the same extent in days gone by-the air. Well, there is one thing about it, Britons have demonstrated, as have men from Canada, Australia and New Zealand, that in the air they have no peer, and today they feel completely masters of their enemies in the air.
I was told by one who had recently been in Germany that when that was published it had as profound an effect upon the German mentality as anything that had happened in the early days of the war.
I do not know when the flow will begin but all I can say is that nothing must stand in the way of it, in order that we may secure victory by a continuous flow of trained men from this country, not from Canada alone, but from every part of the British Empire, and probably in the end fly the machines across the Atlantic Ocean. You can see how important that might be if the enemy attacked with thousands of machines. It would be a great thing to have a reserve behind in Canada to fly across the Atlantic and take the appropriate action.
Gentlemen, some of our Canadians have made great contributions. I think perhaps you little realize what magnificent pilots our Canadians have been. We had Bishop and Barker in the last war, of course and all their magnificent achievements, but the men who quietly have been joining the Royal Air Force during the last six months, and in the last year, have made a magnificent contribution. You go and ask anyone connected with the British Air Force and they will tell you how magnificent Canadians have been, and out of compliment to them and to their number the British Government have recently created a Canadian Squadron. It is a Canadian Squadron, paid for by the British taxpayer. That is only incidental. They have done that out of compliment to what Canadians have done in that Air Force and the Canadian Squadron are Canadians who have enlisted with the Royal Air Force, Britain providing the machines and uniforms and the pay, as they did in the Boer War. So much for that, without going into details.
Gentlemen, it is essential that there should be no shortage of machines as well as of men. It is not for me to say how many machines the enemy has. A distinguished American three weeks after finishing his tour in Germany, estimated a very vast number--I will not mention it to you because it seems so large--at the beginning of the struggle. I can say to you in perfect frankness that the production of machines in France in August was very small. It has now gone up to a considerable number. In Great Britain the production was very limited. That is the reason they were looking overseas for supplies and machines, but today, I think I could say, without being regarded as having violated any censorship or any Act regarding secrecy, that there is no doubt in the month of November they were making over a thousand machines in Great Britain. That number is going up so rapidly that it is almost incredible what will be produced in the next few months and they are the best machines in the world. (Applause) The facilities with which they have been operated and flown and the victories that they have achieved are best illustrated by the false statements made by the enemy as to the result of those conflicts.
The Navy, too, has its own Air Force now. The Navy for many years has been struggling to get its own Air Force and it now has its own Air Force, as distinguished from the Royal Air Force and that has, of course, contributed greatly to the defence operations of the fleet. Now, Gentlemen, how much do you think is involved in this? I have indicated just roughly some of these things, because I would like you to get something in your mind about it.
About munitions. Never since Britain has been engaged in a war has she been as well supplied with munitions as today. Never. At the peak of her production in the great war it wasn't equal to what it now is. That is what has been going on. Factories everywhere are manufacturing munitions--a munition plant here, another there. Industry is turned into the production of munitions of all kinds. That has been going on steadily and continuously, and the zeal and enthusiasm with which men work! What do they care for overtime as long as they may save their beloved land from attack, and defend their rights and liberties! They ask nothing better than the chance to do it. So they are taken from the army-skilled men are not allowed to enlist. Everything is being done by methods suggested for the purpose of securing the production of munitions.
I can only tell you this, in great guns, in the air defence guns, in rifles, in Bren guns, in everything that is to enable men to fight, the supplies are beyond all description. But, Men, it all costs money. How much do you think Britain is spending a day? For the last two weeks before I left (there is no relation to the two things) the expenditure was £6,000,000 an incredible thing that such a sum as that could be spent, but it is being done and the result, of course, is what I have indicated. So much for that, and that phase of it.
But, Gentlemen, taxation alone will not do it. Money must be borrowed and the British people are not as wealthy as they were at the beginning of the war of 1914.
They had a dead weight then of £620,000,000 and they now have one of £8,000,000,000. They have taxed themselves to an extent that you little understand over here. Then, they have resorted necessarily to one other means of defence, and that is to do what I have described in the economic situation. They have blockaded the enemy's ports. They have prevented supplies reaching the enemy. Now, and then you find some snivelling person going around saying, "Why deny women and children the right to get enough to eat? You might just as well kill them." Ever since civilization began blockade has been one of the means of bringing defeat to the enemy, and it is essential that we should maintain blockades against the enemy. But there has been resistance against the people blockading them and it has been a great task. It is 400 miles across from Kirkwall to Norway in the North Sea, and there is the narrow Channel. All these ships must be there to blockade and prevent essential supplies reaching the enemy. Don't for a moment be misled. Germany is well supplied with many things. She has food for a year, rationed as it is. She has supplies of copper and of zinc and of lead, beyond reasonable computation. These things were laid away long months and months ago, but we are blockading and will continue to blockade. If the declaration of the Government can be taken as meaning exactly what they have said, we will blockade these things for the purpose of preventing them being able to produce the kind of materials that are essential for the purposes of maintaining war.
Recently, owing to the strewing of mines heedlessly among the seas, we had two hundred mines thrown up against the shores of England, floating loosely, the week I came away. These things we have met with the reprisal that international law accepts, namely, the attack against the exports of the warring country. That enables me to say something I wish to say to you very clearly. How can you help England in this situation? England can only get money with which to carry on by taxation, and she can only pay Canadians in Canadian dollars, and Americans in American dollars, if she is able to sell to Canadians and to Americans, goods which she produces, in order that she may have the dollars with which to pay, for international trade, as we understand it, is a thing of the past. When we had a balance cheque, one against the other, on Japan and Canada, the United States and Canada, and so on, it was a simple thing. Now, there is no such thing as international trade in the broad sense, and if we buy British to the fullest extent possible, we have made it possible for Britain to buy supplies from us.
British who have their investments in Argentine is by their selling their products there and producing the money to do it. That is the reason, and I say to you, in all sincerity, that it is of the utmost importance that we should, whenever we can, when we are buying abroad, buy British goods, in order that we may be able to supply them with what they want from us and they can pay for them.
Now, one step more. This is a very delicate thing I am going to touch upon. Many of you gentlemen here are business men. You are business men of great reputation. We are living side by side with 140 millions of people and the commodity balance against us has always been very great. But the civilization we are endeavouring to preserve . is. the same civilization as they enjoy and they are deeply interested, Gentlemen, in my judgment, in our being able to succeed in this great conflict. Well, the other day I was in New York, and I have a habit sometimes, of going into large offices for the purposes of seeing how Canadian securities are regarded. I picked up the daily issue of one of their financial papers and I looked up International Nickel. Well, it is not the kind of security to buy down in the United States. They say, owing to taxation and exchange difficulties, though this Canadian company is well managed and has got some money, we cannot recommend this either for investment or speculation to Americans. And I could give the names of three or four more, one after another.
Go and look at them, some of you newspaper men, and see what they say about your country's credit, and what they say about the kind of securities we are creating in this country.
Now, I hope my voice will reach some of you business men. Suppose you get a bit busy here and ask yourselves this question. The paper mill is Wisconsin, that is living on the pulpwood sent from Ontario is a fine investment, but if it is up here producing newsprint from Canadian wood, you had better look out about it. Are you going to stand that? I just leave that thought with you. If they didn't have the 400,000 cords of wood from this Province, there wouldn't be any industry down in Wisconsin, and if there is going to be an industry in Wisconsin in Canadian wood, suppose you say a kind word about what Canadians are doing in defence of civilization you are interested in. Business men, this is a crisis in which you ought to make yourselves felt, and make your influence felt and make it known to our great friends. The credit of this country should not be lightly attacked and destroyed. An insurance company should not be compelled to make all its investments in securities of a particular country because they do business there. We have not been that kind of people. Neither has Great Britain, and in our time of peril, when the things we hold most dear are threatened, and they are common to you and you enjoy them as well as we, you are as interested as we are-give us a hand, give us a hand. (Applause) In making that observation, I wish to say that I do it in no censorious spirit. I do it as a Canadian. I do it as a Britisher. I do it because I believe with all my heart that unless we win this great conflict, that Christian civilization, for which we have stood, is no safer on this continent than it is in Europe.
I want you to get that clearly in your mind. I know that a ship off Halifax in the last war was destroyed by a German mine. It is not so far across the Atlantic Ocean now, as aeroplanes fly, and I wouldn't be surprised if within the next few months you may have reason to believe that the Atlantic Ocean can easily be crossed-by enemies.
Now, my friends, Canadians have discharged and performed great tasks. There is nothing that they have been asked to do that they have ever failed to do. There is nothing they will ever fail to do that they are asked to do that involves the defence of the Christian civilization. We have to decide-we have decided. There used to be three avenues down which we could walk. They are now narrowed into two, and we have chosen of our own free will that we will march with our own people within our own Empire, and we have chosen so to do, and every Canadian is proud of the fact that our Parliament unanimously adopted that view. It was a very great thing indeed to see that Parliament unanimously decide that we should walk with the other Dominions of the Empire in the great struggle in which we are engaged.
Men, the struggle will be long, according to present indications. Beware of the people who tell you that a peace is not far off. That is German propaganda. I could tell you something of where it originated. There are those who think that because we live on the North American Continent we should not be engaged in this conflict. There are men of that type and there are men who wish we were out of the conflict and who desire to get this country out of the conflict because we are on the North American Continent. Men, what is life worth if it is life without self-respect? What is life worth if, when we are challenged in our dearest beliefs, we are such cowards that we will not accept the challenge? What is it worth? What has it ever been worth? | 2019-04-22T00:49:57Z | http://speeches.empireclub.org/60851/data?n=14 |
Acquiring a ruby involvement ring is fairly a deserving acquisition every man must be lucky sufficient to make. Some that do not truly recognize way too much about precious jewelry and rubies may feel as if they should simply most likely to a shop as well as select out a ring which looks appealing to them. Although this might suffice, there are much better ways to selecting the finest feasible sort of ruby interaction ring for your loved one. The complying with will certainly note the leading 10 secrets to getting a ruby engagement ring.
Possibly among the most effective keys to remember if you bear in mind absolutely nothing else from this checklist is to search. Getting a ring of this type on a whim will certainly more than likely not lead you to the best offer or the most effective diamond. Consequently, take your time when looking for an involvement ring, search and also see exactly what is out there to be bought.
You should also know that you have the ability to discover a charming diamond involvement ring with a beneficial price connected to it. This is not to state that you ought to limit your selections only to sale things yet always do not hesitate to peruse the sale counter when looking for an interaction ring to provide to your future fiancée. Do ensure that it is a legit sale as well as not one that runs all the time.
An additional key when it pertains to getting an involvement diamond ring is that the carat size of the diamond is not really just what matters when all is stated and also done. Although some could assume that a bigger diamond equals a far better ruby this is usually not the case as cut, shade and also quality all need to be taken into consideration in addition to the carat weight of the rock.
With today's modern technology, you can buy nearly anything online and the exact same is real for ruby involvement rings. For those who like the concept of an on-line purchase, there are lots of websites which supply diamond rings available and also could supply fairly a good deal too. Simply be particular to obtain documents mentioning real quality of the ring. The on-line company ought to have a 30 day refund guaranty without questions asked.
You could likewise discover that if you remain in the market for not just an involvement ring but wedding celebration bands too, buying all of these things with each other could save you money. Certain ring developers will certainly generate engagement rings with matching wedding bands which you can purchase as a set.
If your liked one likes silver-tone jewelry but you are unable to afford a platinum diamond interaction ring, consider buying one constructed from white gold. White gold is a great alternative as it appears like platinum yet is a lot cheaper.
An additional trick to getting a diamond involvement ring is that several fashion jewelry retailers use sales throughout the year. Some are holiday sales whereas others are a way for the fashion jewelry shop to obtain eliminate the old inventory making space for new items entering into the store.
You might likewise discover that purchasing the ruby as well as establishing different from one an additional can conserve you some money. It additionally allows you to choose specifically the kind of ring that you desire as well as have the ability to see it before the rock is established.
If you are looking for a ruby engagement ring with a great deal of shimmer yet you are incapable to manage a huge carat ruby, think about purchasing a smaller diamond however include baguettes to the ring. This will certainly add sparkle and also shine as well as not set you back as much as a bigger ruby could set you back.
For those who are looking for a fashion jewelry shop which will certainly provide tailored solution, you could want to purchase the ruby interaction ring for your enjoyed one at a small precious jewelry shop. These jewelry boutiques are typically run by the individual proprietor who will certainly do everything feasible making your involvement ring shopping journey stunning.
Diamonds are normally readily available in an extremely vast range of colors. The majority of people find out about anemic diamonds and GIA's shade grading system that is used to categorize a ruby's body color ... you know D, E, F, etc. This color grading system is only used to classify one of the most common ruby body shade of yellow however anytime a diamond is found in an additional shade like pink, blue, environment-friendly, etc.; then this diamond is described as a "" fancy ruby"".
All-natural Fancy rubies can be extremely costly as well as lot of times much more expensive than a comparable dimension anemic ruby. An excellent example of a Fancy diamond is the well known 45.52 carat fancy deep blue diamond, the Hope Ruby, which gets on screen in the Smithsonian Nature Gallery in Washington, DC.
A color boosted diamond is a 100% natural diamond that has actually had its shade transformed. And also ideal of all, shade enhanced diamonds come in a very large option of shades at extremely affordable rates!
A little bit of background- For several, several years it has been popular that a diamond's shade could be "" boosted"" by placing a bit of tinted compound on the surface of a ruby and also simply like magic ... a ruby that had an obvious yellowish color would alter to a much more attractive near colorless diamond. Unfortunately, this type of shade improved diamond can alter back to its initial body shade if this tinted compound was unintentionally gotten rid of. In more recent years, the modern technology of color improved rubies has actually gone incredibly high technology. It is currently possible to completely transform the shade of a diamond! These procedures are thought about long-term because it does remain stable when revealed to everyday normal conditions. The shade will not fade if subjected to sunlight or be washed off by severe chemicals.
Exactly how is it done? The desired result of any one of these treatments is to have a much more valuable diamond. A much less valuable diamond would be a ruby that has a reduced body color or occasionally a reduced quality. The shade improved diamond therapy business recognize if they begin off with a particular kind of ruby and procedure it for a certain amount of time that they need to wind up with a particular color however it does not constantly work this way. This is a scientific research that does need some art in their procedures ... the only process that provides constant results is the finish process.
The 3 procedures are as complies with- Refine # 1- HPHT Shade Improved Diamonds- High Stress/ Heat (HPHT) treatment can enhance the color of certain sorts of brownish diamonds and also thus boost their worth. General Electric has actually established a procedure that very much is a mechanical simulation of a ruby's production in nature. The shade enhanced diamond will be heated up to a really high temperature under an extremely high, supported stress. Mistakes in the crystal structure are after that repositioned resulting in a change of the ruby's color. Due to the fact that the problems of HPHT are really much like ruby's original development, just a well furnished lab will have the ability to favorably determine this sort of shade improved diamond. HPHT wased initially made use of to turn yellow-colored diamonds right into more marketable fancy tinted improved diamonds, now it is additionally made use of to transform some unpopular brown diamonds right into more desirable colorless colored improved diamonds.
Process # 2- Irradiated Shade Boosted Diamonds- OK ... do not start getting all delighted because you saw the word irradiated! This is a 100% risk-free procedure that is very just like just what is made use of to preserve food by subjecting it to a stream of Gamma rays. The color boosted diamond procedure is performed in a number of various ways however the results are just the same. You begin with a low color (P, Q, R, etc.) 100% natural diamond that has already been cut and also polished, after that it is exposed to a stream of quick electrons. During this component of the process the diamond will certainly resort to an extremely dark shade since some of the atoms in the diamond's crystal framework have currently been disjointed as well as this consequently has actually impacted the method light go through the diamond. Next the diamond goes with a regulated heating (annealing) procedure, this permits a few of those atoms to relocate (partly repaired) in order to obtain a wanted color.
Process # 3- Coated Color Enhanced Diamonds- The layer on sleek diamonds refers to a thin fabricated layer that modifies the shade of the ruby. The finish could either be of the wanted color or could cause a colored interference-effect. Sadly occasionally this procedure is done to trick a purchaser. It is a relatively easy process to carry out, it has actually been around for numerous years (although the finishes products are far better now), and it does not call for a great deal of costly advanced tools. Just recently, I've seen some pink covered rubies on the market, they are very appealing ... and also certainly you would need to acquire them knowing that they have been layered and also follow your jewelry expert's standards about owning and taking care of these color enhanced rubies. The covering can be put on the whole of a ruby's surface area, just the base of the ruby, or to a narrow area near the band. A well-applied finishing could change the color by several color quality. Some layers can be gotten rid of with steaming in acid, strong cleaning solutions, or perhaps house chemicals. Occasionally dots or larger locations of purple or blue ink are repainted on the ruby in order to help counteract a yellowish color. The diamond's setting will usually cover the dots, so they are tough to see in a mounted rock.
So, is a color improved diamond right for you? Maybe ... natural elegant shade rubies can be beautiful but they are expensive! Shade improved rubies are cost effective and also enable numerous individuals to own a brightly colored diamond. Ask your local jeweler if they have any type of Fancy diamonds ... either all-natural or color improved diamonds. It is always intriguing, and also enjoyable, to look at something different!
Under typical wear the irradiated as well as HPHT shade boosted rubies will have no issues of the shade fading away. The only factor to consider will be when you have to have any kind of kind of service done on the piece of precious jewelry. If this kind of color boosted ruby is revealed to extreme quantities of heat it might affect the color. The jewelry expert will certainly should recognize that the ruby is a shade enhanced ruby before any job is done then the jewelry expert will have the ability to choose the very best strategy. Shade boosted rubies are now also utilized as the tiny accent rubies around a larger anemic diamond. There are several exciting items of precious jewelry available with little blue, yellow, black, or environment-friendly color improved diamonds.
Not all vendors provide ruby grading laboratory reports (aka ruby top quality reports) to their customers. So my general advice to you is to maintain your cash in your pocket when handling such jewelry experts.
Just acquire a diamond involvement ring if it includes the original ruby high quality record.
A laboratory report is an independent examination of the 4Cs of a loosened diamond and consists of an outlined representation of the rock's clearness features as well as a graphic depiction of the stone's percentages. Having such a report permits you to contrast rubies of various high qualities and also ultimately aids you make an even more notified buying choice.
A seller might reduce corners and also not supply a laboratory record or a dishonest vendor may supply a phony one due to the fact that of the moment, difficulty and also expenditure he'll bear to obtaining a stone rated.
Yeah - there is a rate for rating a diamond (though that expense is ultimately paid by the customer), plus the shipping and also insurance coverage charges for sending out the diamond to the lab. As well as let us not forget the possibility price of a jewelry expert not having the diamond in his shop offer for sale for a couple of weeks while the grading occurs.
Yes, all diamond quality records are not developed equal. Within the industry, it is an agreement that both top labs are GIA-GTL (Gemological Institute of The U.S.A.'s Gem Trade Laboratory) and the AGS (American Treasure Society Laboratories).
The GCAL (Treasure Qualification and also Assurance Laboratory) also provides highly regarded records or "ruby certificates" as they are described by GCAL. The GIA has the best worldwide reputation for independence and also uniformity. As a result of their constant shade as well as clearness strictness guidelines, the world's biggest and also most expensive diamonds have been sent there for rating decades. In 2006, GIA-GTL included a two-dimensional cut grading system for rounded great rubies.
AGS uses the strictest cut requirements in the sector. It makes use of a three-dimensional light performance metric that can grade a number of diamond shapes. Actually, it is the only cut grading system that is recognized by the clinical area.
Just what is even more, its Ruby Top quality Record makes use of a distinct as well as proprietary 0 to 10 grading system to evaluate the 4 Cs - a system which is easier to comprehend than GIA's grading system. Actually, AGS even goes the additional step by relating their 0-10 score range to various other forms of score. For example, the traditional VS1 ruby clearness rating is a 3 on the AGS Diamond Quality Document.
1. Ruby grading is not standardized or regulated and also for this reason you may stumble upon tier 2 labs that utilize looser standards to the tier 1 grading labs mentioned above. If you purchase a diamond that has been rated by a rate 2 laboratory, you may wind up paying more for a lower top quality ruby. So for instance, a diamond ranked a "F" in color at a tier 2 laboratory may obtain a G, H, or lower shade rating at a much more trusted lab. The sector also marks down diamonds rated by lower recognized labs by about 15-30% or even more. So either you only purchase a diamond rated by a rate 1 lab or you accept that you may be acquiring a lower top quality ruby compared to just what is stated on the report if that ruby is graded by a minimal recognized lab.
2. Several big chain shops have substantial agreements with lower well-known labs with "softer" ruby grading guidelines. Some of these softer labs put "recommended substitute values" on the laboratory reports - values which are above exactly what shops plans market the rubies for. So a salesman in a chain store may say to you, "Take a look at the terrific offer you are getting here. We are selling you this ruby involvement ring for $2500 but the report claims that the recommended replacement value is $4000." Wow - what an offer - NOT! This is why it is better that you trust just independent rate 1 labs.
Additionally remember that credible ruby grading records are not assessments and also don't supply evaluation figures. Ruby appraisals are commonly blatantly filled with air as well as are not something you'll desire to count on.
"It is wrong to state that pupils, grads, their companies, or particular gemstones are "licensed" by GIA. The Gemological Institute of America does not license anybody or anything. Neither a student nor a grad who has actually been granted a certificate or diploma, neither a treasure which has actually been rated or determined by GIA has actually been certified by GIA".
So it is possible that you the consumer is left holding the bag needs to an error in a record is later discovered. Courts have often ruled that sellers, not laboratories, are accountable for such errors. Why? Since the labs suggested in advance that their reports couldn't be held accountable.
A. You could fly to India where jewelers provide a lifetime buyback plan to their customers. As well costly to fly?
B. You could discover among the 20% of United States jewelry experts who sell fully bonded diamonds. These are rubies that are marketed with life time damage, lifetime trade-in as well as lifetime buyback policies.
C. Not as excellent a solution as acquiring a fully bound diamond but you could get a diamond that has a real "certification" and also not a report. "Qualified diamonds do have guaranties" albeit for much shorter durations.
Certification Some vendors describe a "diamond record" as a "qualified diamond" yet technically this is not deal with. From a legal viewpoint, a diamond record is a merely an expert point of view though in reality, facets of a ruby grading record are not just point of views.
As an example, a diamond's carat (weight) could be properly established as well as its cut quality by determining its optical performance or by describing a computer model. A certification on the other hand is a declaration of fact - a paper for which the issuer approves lawful duty and also will certainly make restitution to the consumer for errors.
Some leading diamond grading labs use both reports as well as certificates. AGS offers Ruby Quality Papers (non-certified records) as well as likewise Diamond Quality Certificates. Ruby High quality Certifications are ready exclusively for AGS retail jewelers as well as offers warranties from participating American Treasure Society member shops.
GCAL licenses it's diamond grading additionally. Its 100% money-back warranty plan is valid for a period of two years from the day on the suitable certification. This plan makes sure the precision of the cut, shade and clarity qualities as well as the carat weight.
A record or certificate ought to will certainly have a number on it that could or may not be inscribed on a diamond. You will have the ability to get in that number on the site of the licensing lab to inspect a report's credibility.
The Record #. This number is offered as well as taped in a laboratory's document as well as might or could not be etched on a ruby's girdle. You could get in the report number on a grading laboratory's site to examine the authenticity of the diamond quality report or to obtain even more information concerning the diamond. Shape & Element Style: This is the synopsis and the cutting design made use of for the facet arrangement. There are 3 fundamental element styles - "dazzling cut, step cut and also blended cutting design" as well as 12 fundamental shapes which consist of notables such as rounded great and also princess cut" diamonds.
Measurements: This refers to dimension (not weight) of a diamond. Dimension includes dimensions such as size, width, weight as well as diameter. A measurement is commonly provided to the hundredth of a millimeter. Dimensions play a substantial duty in just how a ruby sparkles.
Carat Weight: The weight of a ruby is determined to the hundredth of a carat weight as well as some even provide such step to the thousandth of a carat (1.123 ct.). Carat is one of the most objective and the most convenient to comprehend of the 4Cs since all one needs to do is weight the stone. Color Quality: This tells you the degree of color lack in the ruby. The less color the higher the grade.
Diamonds are generally graded from D-Z; the closer to "D" the whiter the ruby. You must never ever see ruby shade range such as (G-H, I-J-K, and also so on) on a ruby record. You should just see shade varieties on appraisals for stones that are mounted.
Clearness Grade: Essentially every ruby has inner blemishes called inclusions as well as exterior flaws called blemishes. A diamond is graded inning accordance with the size, type, location as well as amount of these imperfections.
Clarity grades vary from Flawless (FL) - Consisted Of. Labs use a couple specialists to grade the clearness of a ruby in order to develop an extra precise reading.
Cut Quality: Extra current ruby reports consist of a cut grade for typical round brilliant rubies. Cut takes right into consideration the luster, fire and also scintillation of the ruby. Cut quality ranges from Exceptional - Poor.
Various other components you might find on a diamond report consist of the gloss, balance, fluorescence as well as percentage. Equipped with this information, you are better able making an assessment of the quality of diamond that is installed in an interaction ring.
Rubies are normally offered in a really variety of colors. The majority of people understand about anemic diamonds and GIA's color grading system that is utilized to identify a diamond's body shade ... you understand D, E, F, etc. This shade grading system is just used to categorize the most typical ruby body color of yellow nevertheless anytime a diamond is found in one more shade like pink, blue, green, etc.; after that this diamond is referred to as a "" expensive ruby"".
Natural Fancy rubies could be very pricey as well as several times much more pricey than a comparable dimension colorless ruby. A great example of a Fancy ruby is the well known 45.52 carat elegant deep blue diamond, the Hope Diamond, which gets on display in the Smithsonian Nature Museum in Washington, DC.
A color improved diamond is a 100% natural diamond that has had its shade altered. As well as ideal of all, shade boosted rubies been available in a very large selection of colors at very affordable prices!
A little bit of background- For lots of, several years it has been popular that a ruby's color might be "" boosted"" by putting a little bit of colored material externally of a diamond and much like magic ... a ruby that had an obvious yellow-colored shade would certainly change to a more appealing near anemic diamond. However, this sort of shade improved ruby might change back to its initial body shade if this tinted material was unintentionally eliminated. In more recent years, the innovation of color boosted diamonds has gone exceptionally advanced. It is now feasible to completely transform the color of a diamond! These processes are thought about irreversible since it does stay secure when subjected to daily typical conditions. The shade will certainly not fade if revealed to sunshine or be cleaned off by severe chemicals.
Just how is it done? The wanted outcome of any one of these therapies is to have a much more marketable diamond. A less valuable diamond would be a diamond that has a low body color or occasionally a reduced clarity. The shade boosted ruby treatment firms know if they begin with a particular sort of diamond and also process it for a specific amount of time that they need to finish up with a specific color however it does not constantly work that method. This is a science that does require some art in their procedures ... the only process that gives constant outcomes is the finishing process.
The 3 processes are as adheres to- Refine # 1- HPHT Shade Boosted Diamonds- High Pressure/ Heat (HPHT) therapy could enhance the shade of particular types of brownish rubies as well as therefore increase their worth. General Electric has actually developed a procedure that virtually is a mechanical simulation of a ruby's production in nature. The color improved diamond will be warmed up to a very heat under a really high, supported pressure. Faults in the crystal structure are after that reorganized causing a modification of the diamond's color. Due to the fact that the conditions of HPHT are really just like diamond's original formation, just a well furnished laboratory will have the ability to positively identify this kind of color boosted ruby. HPHT was first utilized to transform yellowish diamonds into more valuable fancy tinted boosted diamonds, today it is likewise used to transform some undesirable brownish diamonds into even more preferable anemic tinted boosted rubies.
Refine # 2- Irradiated Shade Enhanced Diamonds- OK ... do not start obtaining all excited because you saw words irradiated! This is a 100% secure process that is very much like what is made use of to maintain food by subjecting it to a stream of Gamma rays. The color enhanced diamond process is done in numerous different means yet the outcomes are just the same. You begin with a low color (P, Q, R, and so on) 100% all-natural diamond that has currently been cut as well as polished, then it is subjected to a stream of quick electrons. During this component of the process the diamond will rely on an extremely dark color since several of the atoms in the diamond's crystal framework have actually now been dislocated and also this in turn has actually impacted the means light go through the ruby. Next the diamond goes through a controlled heating (annealing) process, this allows some of those atoms to relocate (partly fixed) in order to obtain a desired shade.
Refine # 3- Covered Shade Enhanced Diamonds- The layer on sleek rubies describes a slim artificial layer that modifies the color of the ruby. The finish can either be of the desired color or could create a colored interference-effect. Sadly in some cases this procedure is done to trick a buyer. It is a relatively simple process to do, it has been around for years (although the coverings materials are far better currently), as well as it does not need a whole lot of expensive advanced devices. Recently, I have actually seen some pink coated diamonds on the marketplace, they are very eye-catching ... and also of program you would certainly have to purchase them recognizing that they have been coated as well as follow your jewelry expert's standards about having as well as caring for these shade boosted diamonds. The layer could be related to the entire of a ruby's surface area, just all-time low of the diamond, or to a slim zone near the band. A well-applied finish can change the color by one or more color quality. Some layers can be gotten rid of with boiling in acid, solid cleaning options, and even home chemicals. Often dots or bigger areas of purple or blue ink are paintinged on the ruby in order to help counteract a yellowish shade. The diamond's setting will typically cover the dots, so they are challenging to see in a mounted rock.
So, is a shade boosted diamond right for you? Perhaps ... all-natural expensive color diamonds could be beautiful however they are costly! Color improved diamonds are economical and also enable several people to possess a vibrantly tinted ruby. Ask your neighborhood jewelry expert if they have any type of Fancy diamonds ... either all-natural or shade enhanced diamonds. It is constantly interesting, and enjoyable, to consider something different!
Under typical wear the irradiated and also HPHT color boosted diamonds will have no worry of the shade fading away. The only factor to consider will certainly be when you should have any kind of service done on the item of precious jewelry. If this kind of shade boosted ruby is subjected to extreme amounts of warmth it may affect the shade. The jewelry expert will certainly require to understand that the ruby is a shade enhanced ruby prior to any type of work is done then the jeweler will certainly be able to choose the very best program of activity. Shade enhanced diamonds are now also used as the little accent diamonds around a bigger colorless diamond. There are numerous exciting items of fashion jewelry offered with tiny blue, yellow, black, or green shade improved rubies.
You have been dating the person of your desires for rather a long time currently. You might or could not be staying with each other as a pair, either of the 2 has its own partnership troubles; if you do not live as a couple, the sensation of loneliness that rises via your heart each time your companion says the words "good bye" after a beautiful day well invested with each other inspires you to do even more and each time you turn erroneously to show to them your feelings, the void that welcomes you, swiftly transforms your ideas to do even more right into a willpower to do more currently! For those who have actually taken their connections a step further by relocating in together.
Due to the solitude really felt each time a companion says excellent bye, different types of pressures and also sensations established in they could be the need to make your love official for the entire world to see or you both wish to start a stable family. Whatever motivates you into ultimately making the initial action to the most important dedication you would ever before make in your entire life may not be off value however the sign which you need to give while taking this action is of the utmost importance - "The Engagement Ring".
Today buying an involvement ring has currently come to be the status quo of determining yourself as one who is currently taken and ready for marriage yet have you ever played with the rock or band on your hand and also assumed about its history? Since it's not defined in the scriptures or the oldest papers that offer in-depth accounts of methods prior to marital relationship in time passed.
The preferred interaction ring of the modern-day age had its start as recent as the 19th century and also wasn't constantly a sign of undying affection, it was a lot more or less the very first part settlement of the bride cost to be paid to the bride-to-be's family yet turned over and also used by the bride-to-be. It was a kind of insurance coverage attended to the woman, in instance the potential companion which was constantly the man at that time disbands the marriage therefore compromising the lady's virtue and also attract various other guys.
Real definition and also icon of the involvement ring started beaming through in the 20th century, when guys gave their fiancées a band that symbolized their love as well as purposes for a marital relationship union, the interaction ring symbolized that she had been taken, from limitations as well as prepared to be wed to her true love as well as it was positioned on the 4th finger of the left hand, for that finger was thought to have a blood vessel running via it which came straight from the heart for that reason symbolizing the finger as a "heart finger". Earlier rings could simply be a piece of silver or an iron band without any type of adornment, which the female inserts right into her 4th finger on her left hand, this was the technique for a brief time till business rings as well as the media took control of the involvement scene. The Adverts revealed on interaction rings in the center of the 19th century suggested that men ought to invest no less compared to 2 months of their regular monthly earnings to acquire the best ring for his precious bride to be and simply with an advert the meaning and design of the involvement ring took a brand-new direction. The contemporary engagement ring is an icon that reveals that a person is engaged to be married snappy. The cut, rates and also make from the engagement ring although not all crucial, includes a certain flavour to your involvement day or event and also has actually spurned a brand-new jewelry market all on its own. The Engagement ring now comes in various designs; maybe a band made of valuable materials such as Gold, Platinum or Silver or maybe a band laced with gem rocks to give a tempting charm to the ring. The different major designs of interaction rings shall be reviewed listed below.
Solitaire rings; these are the ultimate timeless interaction rings, the jewelry ring contains a band and also a gem stone; the band might be made from any material of your option ranging from gold to platinum while the gems need to likewise be preferred to fit your peculiar attributes, it might be rubies or sapphire cut in various manner ins which would be explained listed below.
Involvement Rings with Side rocks: These charming rings are made with gems placed into the sides of the band, which could be constructed from any type of steel product depending on your preference. Some side stones call additionally come with a central stone at the center. The popular gemstones made use of for this style of rings are generally diamonds however you could directly customize your gemstone to the taste of your love.
The Three Rock Bands or the Trinity ring: this is a ring style with its very own enchanting background, it is thought that each rock in the 3 rock ring symbolizes the past, present as well as future of the moment where a couple has actually spent with each other and also the ring would bind them with each other for all eternity. The ring design is that of a spotless platinum band with three splendid gemstones; one at the middle with two area tactically by the sides. The gems are usually crazy of rubies yet you are permitted to customize yours right into three different kinds of gems if you so need.
The Matching Bridal Establish: this is a stunning mix of both the engagement ring and also the actual wedding celebration band, there is no collection layout on just how a matching wedding collection must appear like but it is generally excellent to have either the involvement ring or the wedding celebration ring emphasizing the other and also vice versa I.e. a charming platinum interaction ring with a gemstone must be coupled with a simple Gold classic wedding celebration band, giving the new bride with a touch of colour. Stress Rings: let the name not act as an obstacle to you when thinking about the stress ring for it is one of those designs we call straightforward but indefinitely stylish, it contains a band made from any product of your choice, firmly holding a gems in its grasp with pressure i.e. the gemstone is not held by prongs however squeezed in between both sides of the band material you selected. The band material functions as its holding assistance. It is extremely advised you go with 2 contrasting colours for the band and the gems to bring out the true appeal of the tension ring.
The Pillow cut: this method of cutting a gemstone, gives the rock a timeless form that is in between a rectangle and also an oval, it is among one of the most popular jewellery cuts as well as it's also called the antique cut.
The Marquise cut: the technique used in cutting the shape of the marquise cut provides the gemstone an oblong shape between with ends. This ring has a traditional elven or must I state natural appearance that brings out the mythological elegance in your new bride.
The Emerald cut: the emerald treasure naturally has its own specified shape and this cut technique plainly mirrors it, the emerald cut is a rectangular cut with chopped edges protruding at its four ends.
The Asscher cut: this method of cutting the gemstone provides it a shape people say is comparable to the emerald rectangle however it is extra octagonal in shape compared to rectangular shape, the octagonal shape aids it catch light as well as mirror it in different directions. It's a flawlessly attractive cut for a rings gems.
The Princess cut: this is one of one of the most used cuts on gems, it is square fit and also assists draw out the appeal of the gems utilized quite demurely. The Round cut: this cut basic looks round but its even more compared to that for it has different spikes added to its surface areas making it among, if not one of the most radiating gems cut of the great deal, it is understood amongst women for its ability to blind the eye (sparkle).
The Heart cut: perfect for the romantics in mind and also formed to tummy their hearts, it is a basic and also classy cut that is rather prominent amongst ladies. After giving a general expose on interaction ring layouts as well as cuts, the next action is to bring to your notification the leaders in the industry that offers you with the most effective as well as most expensive rings- in many cases- around.
Bill Barnes: the producers of several of the most beautiful and also pricey engagement bands available. Tiffany: everybody recognizes the name Tiffany this developer residence additionally gives clients with top of the array rings as well as costs defer. Tacori: the Tacori design is also one of one of the most searched for involvement rings in the jewelry market the cut and setup of its styles are constantly a delight to behold.
In choosing a ring your budget plan must additionally enter into play so either you purchase Tiffany's or an ordinary engagement ring, it's the thought that counts.
Not all sellers offer diamond grading laboratory reports (aka ruby quality records) to their customers. So my general suggestions to you is to maintain your loan in your pocket when managing such jewelry experts.
A lab report is an independent assessment of the 4Cs of a loose ruby as well as consists of an outlined layout of the stone's quality features and a visuals depiction of the stone's percentages. Having such a record allows you to contrast diamonds of various top qualities and also inevitably assists you make an even more educated purchasing decision.
A retailer may cut corners and also not give a lab record or an unscrupulous seller might provide a phony one as a result of the time, problem and expenditure he'll birth to getting a rock graded.
Yeah - there is a rate for grading a diamond (though that expense is at some point paid by the consumer), plus the shipping and insurance policy costs for sending the ruby to the laboratory. As well as let us not forget the chance cost of a jewelry expert not having the diamond in his shop offer for sale for a few weeks while the grading occurs.
Yes, all ruby top quality records are not produced equivalent. Within the industry, it is an agreement that the 2 premier labs are GIA-GTL (Gemological Institute of The U.S.A.'s Gem Profession Laboratory) and also the AGS (American Gem Society Laboratories).
The GCAL (Treasure Accreditation and Assurance Lab) additionally provides extremely concerned reports or "ruby certificates" as they are referred to by GCAL. The GIA has the toughest global reputation for independence as well as consistency. As a result of their consistent shade and also quality strictness guidelines, the globe's biggest and also most pricey diamonds have actually been sent out there for grading years. In 2006, GIA-GTL included a two-dimensional cut grading system for round great diamonds.
AGS makes use of the most strict cut standards in the market. It uses a three-dimensional light efficiency metric that can quality a number of diamond shapes. Actually, it is the only cut grading system that is recognized by the clinical community.
Just what is even more, its Ruby Top quality Record uses a distinct and also proprietary 0 to 10 grading system to examine the 4 Cs - a system which is much easier to understand than GIA's grading system. In reality, AGS also goes the extra step by equating their 0-10 score range to other kinds of rating. As an example, the traditional VS1 ruby clearness ranking is a 3 on the AGS Diamond High Quality Document.
1. Ruby grading is not standard or regulated as well as therefore you might find tier 2 laboratories that employ looser guidelines to the rate 1 grading labs discussed over. If you acquire a diamond that has actually been rated by a tier 2 lab, you might end up paying more for a minimal top quality diamond. So for example, a ruby rated a "F" in color at a tier 2 laboratory might get a G, H, or reduced shade score at a much more trusted lab. The sector likewise discounts rubies graded by lesser known labs by concerning 15-30% or more. So either you just acquire a diamond rated by a rate 1 laboratory or you accept that you might be buying a minimal high quality diamond compared to just what is stated on the record if that ruby is graded by a lower recognized lab.
2. Numerous large chain shops have huge agreements with minimal well-known laboratories with "softer" diamond grading guidelines. A few of these softer labs placed "recommended replacement worths" on the lab records - worths which are more than what shops plans sell the rubies for. So a salesperson in a store could say to you, "Check out the wonderful offer you are getting right here. We are selling you this diamond involvement ring for $2500 yet the record states that the suggested replacement value is $4000." Wow - what an offer - NOT! This is why it is better that you rely on only independent rate 1 labs.
Also remember that trustworthy diamond grading records are not assessments and also don't use appraisal numbers. Ruby assessments are commonly grossly inflated as well as are not something you'll desire to rely upon.
"It is incorrect to state that pupils, grads, their services, or specific gemstones are "certified" by GIA. The Gemological Institute of The U.S.A. does not license any individual or anything. Neither a trainee neither a graduate that has been awarded a certification or diploma, neither a treasure which has been rated or determined by GIA has been accredited by GIA".
So it is feasible that you the customer is left holding the bag must an error in a report is later on discovered. Courts have often ruled that vendors, not laboratories, are in charge of such mistakes. Why? Because the labs showed in advance that their records couldn't be held accountable.
B. You can discover one of the 20% people jewelry experts that sell totally bound rubies. These are diamonds that are marketed with life time damage, life time trade-in and life time buyback plans.
C. Not as good a remedy as acquiring a completely adhered diamond but you might purchase a diamond that comes with a real "certification" and not a record. "Licensed rubies do have warranties" albeit for much shorter periods.
Certification Some vendors refer to a "diamond report" as a "certified diamond" but technically this is not fix. From a lawful standpoint, a ruby record is a simply a skilled point of view though in reality, elements of a diamond grading record are not just opinions.
As an example, a diamond's carat weight (weight) could be precisely determined as well as its cut grade by determining its optical efficiency or by describing a computer system model. A certificate on the various other hand is a statement of fact - a paper for which the issuer approves lawful responsibility and also will make restitution to the customer for mistakes.
Some top diamond grading laboratories use both records and certificates. AGS supplies Diamond Quality Papers (non-certified reports) as well as Diamond High quality Certificates. Ruby Top quality Certificates are prepared exclusively for AGS retail jewelry experts and uses warranties from taking part American Gem Society participant stores.
GCAL certifies it's diamond grading also. Its 100% money-back assurance policy stands for a duration of two years from the date on the applicable certificate. This policy guarantees the accuracy of the cut, color and also quality qualities and the carat weight.
A record or certificate must will certainly have a number on it that may or might not be engraved on a diamond. You will have the ability to get in that number on the website of the accrediting laboratory to check a report's credibility.
The Record #. This number is provided as well as taped in a lab's document and also might or might not be engraved on a ruby's band. You can enter the record number on a rating laboratory's web site to inspect the authenticity of the ruby top quality report or to obtain more information about the diamond. Shape & Aspect Design: This is the outline and also the cutting design used for the element plan. There are 3 standard aspect designs - "fantastic cut, action cut and combined cutting style" and 12 basic forms which include notables such as rounded dazzling and princess cut" diamonds.
Measurements: This describes dimension (not weight) of a diamond. Size consists of dimensions such as length, width, weight and also size. A measurement is commonly noted to the hundredth of a millimeter. Dimensions play a significant duty in exactly how a diamond glows.
Carat Weight: The weight of a diamond is determined to the hundredth of a carat weight and also some also offer such procedure to the thousandth of a carat weight (1.123 ct.). Carat weight is one of the most objective as well as the most convenient to recognize of the 4Cs due to the fact that all one needs to do is weight the rock. Color Quality: This tells you the level of color absence in the diamond. The much less color the greater the quality.
Rubies are usually graded from D-Z; the closer to "D" the whiter the ruby. You must never ever see diamond shade variety such as (G-H, I-J-K, and more) on a ruby report. You should just see shade varieties on appraisals for rocks that are placed.
Clarity Quality: Virtually every diamond has actually inner imperfections called additions and outside flaws called blemishes. A diamond is rated inning accordance with the size, type, area and quantity of these flaws.
Clarity grades range from Perfect (FL) - Included. Labs make use of a couple specialists to quality the clarity of a ruby in order to generate an extra exact reading.
Cut Quality: Much more recent diamond reports consist of a cut quality for common round brilliant diamonds. Cut thinks about the luster, fire and scintillation of the diamond. Cut grade varies from Superb - Poor.
Other aspects you could stumble upon on a ruby report include the gloss, proportion, fluorescence as well as proportion. Equipped with this details, you are better able to earn an assessment of the quality of ruby that is placed in an involvement ring.
Involvement rings are readily available in a selection of styles, rocks, cuts and shapes. Amongst all the kinds of rocks made use of in interaction rings, diamonds are the most precious as well as proper ones. Their sparkle genuinely has the ability to win a female's heart. There is an incredible collection of ruby interaction rings available on the market. A few of the rings are designer creations, which are created based on the consumer's option. They could likewise be called personalized ruby involvement rings. Several of the jewelers supply the consumers with the ability of knowledgeable developers to bring magic to the otherwise normal functions as well as forms.
Developer ruby involvement rings are not just designed according to the selection of customer however additionally fit their spending plan. These rings are economical, as contrasted to the various other diamond involvement rings. The buyers can choose their own ring setups and match the diamonds, to develop an unique item of jewelry for loved ones. A lot of the developer diamond engagement rings are made in white gold, yellow gold as well as platinum. Aside from the setups as well as diamond option, there are a number of other details that play a crucial role in developing a ring. Apart from selecting a particular design, it is essential for the buyers to bear in mind the different mixes of layouts. The size, density and precise size of the rings are likewise crucial and also need to be taken right into consideration while designing a ruby interaction ring. Many of these rings take around 6 to 8 weeks to be made.
Developer ruby interaction rings are really good options, as compared to the readymade rings conveniently offered. These rings offer more fulfillment to the purchasers and also are special, owing to the personal touch. They give the buyer to service the layout as well as option of rock and customize the creation.
To begin our attribute on various sorts of gemstones, we will certainly start with the very best and most well recognized gems of them all the ruby. The diamond is the supreme gems. It has few weaknesses and also many staminas. It shines with its amazing worth and also nostalgic worth. It is used in wedding event rings to stand for unlimited love or utilized as gifts/jewelry to be provided to enjoyed ones. But the diamond is so a lot even more compared to its timeless elegance.
The diamond obtains its name from the Greek work adamas indicating unequalled. In solidity, there is no comparison. The diamond prices in the Mohs range a 10 which is the hardest material on Planet. Its cutting resistance is 140 times that of the ruby and sapphire, the gems(Diamond) that are following in the Mohs range in hardness. The ruby's optical homes such as luster and rigidity make it unique and also easily identified from various other imitations. Enjoy!
The first videotaped ruby go back around 800 B.C. in India. Some think it also went back 6,000 years back. The rubies were utilized as attractive objectives as well as as talismans to fend off evil as well as offer protection in fight. Throughout the Dark Ages, rubies were also specified to be utilized as a medical aid. Spiritual medical professionals also informed people that if they hold a diamond in a hand as well as make the sign of the cross would, it would certainly treat and also health problem as well as heal wounds.
Diamonds ended up being extra prominent throughout the 19th century as a result of exploration of diamond down payments in South Africa. This discovery leads to increased supply, improved reducing as well as polishing techniques, and also growth in economic situation. In 1979, rock hounds found the Argyle pipe in Australia which to this date is the wealthiest ruby down payment worldwide. Argyle, ever since, alone is accountable for supplying over one third of the globe's rubies every year.
Diamonds consists of an allotrope of carbons that are created in high-pressure, high-temperature conditions. Diamonds are generated 90 miles under the Planet's surface at temperatures of concerning 2200 degrees Fahrenheit. Diamonds are formed deep within the planet and eventually, over exceptionally lengthy durations of time, push their means to the earth's surface, normally through volcanic eruptions.
The age of these rubies from beneath the surface area of the earth are from 1 to 3.3 billion years old! When rubies are formed and also begin their climb to the earth's surface area, they go through networks where the lava from the volcano increases to the surface, picking up diamonds in the process and eventually depositing them on the surface, where they are at some point discovered and mined.
There are four distinct attributes that figure out the worth and also quality of a diamond. These are the shade, cut, clearness as well as carat. Or else called the 4 C's of a ruby. In the adhering to, we will certainly chat regarding these attributes in detail.
The cut a diamond is determined by the ruby's percentage such as its shape, size and also depth. The cut determines what is called the diamond's "luster". Even if the diamond itself has perfect shade as well as clarity, with a poor cut the diamond will have a boring radiance. This is due to the fact that the cut determines how light travels within the ruby. The Gemological Institute of The U.S.A. has actually likewise developed a clearness grading system to rank ruby clearness. This grading system includes Perfect (Fl), Internally Perfect (IF), Very Very Slightly Consisted Of (VV1 or VV2), Very A Little Included(VS1 or VS2), Somewhat Included(SI1 or SI2), as well as Included(I1, I2, as well as I3). Although this system had actually been added to the diamond sector, it is not commonly made use of. This is due to the fact that it took a great deal of method and training to incorporate it.
The cut a ruby is determined by the diamond's percentage such as its form, size and deepness. The cut identifies exactly what is called the diamond's "sparkle". Also if the ruby itself has ideal color and also clearness, with an inadequate cut the ruby will certainly have a boring brilliance. This is because the cut establishes exactly how light journeys within the ruby.
There are 3 sorts of cuts that can establish the ruby's luster. These are a superficial cut, a cut that is also deep as well as perfect cut. A superficial cut is a cut of a diamond that is as well reduced, that light traveling via it is shed on the base of the stone and does not return right into sight. This cut makes a diamond appear drab as well as plain. A cut that is also deep is a cut that is too expensive, that light traveling with it gets away via the sides and darkens the stone. A suitable cut is an ideal cut on a ruby that mirrors light to the top of the rock, providing it ideal radiance.
As mentioned on the last e-newsletter, a solitary carat weight(ct) evaluates regarding 200 milligrams or.2 grams. For smaller sized carat rubies that weigh much less compared to a carat, it is shared as factors (pt). Points are 1/100 of a carat. Carat weight of a diamond is important because of the reality that larger rubies are rarer than smaller sized ones, so essentially the larger the ruby the extra costly it is. There is no basic grading system or representation that can reveal different carat weight. This is due to the fact that there are so many variations of diamonds fit and also cut, makings stones of similar weight, look various.
Considering that rubies are the most important and also rarest of all the gems, efforts have been made to duplicate and even enhance diamonds making use of more economical alternatives. A great deal of times, sincere mistakes have been made as well as these choices or other gemstones such as spinel were often confused with actual rubies. In many cases, some dishonest individuals attempt to market these choices to misfortunate purchasers in order to earnings. Listed below we will discuss concerning these options as well as means to determine them.
Synthetic rubies are diamonds that are grown made in a laboratory. The first well-known instances of ruby synthesis were claimed to be recorded in between 1879 - 1928, yet this was never confirmed. It wasn't up until the 1940's where study started in the USA, Sweden, Soviet Union began looking into. Synthetic rubies are or else recognized as High Pressure High Temperature Level (HPHT) diamonds or Chemical Vapor Down Payment (CVD) diamonds. The name of both these synthetic rubies originates from the procedures used to create them. Several of these artificial rubies can either have greater, minimal or comparable qualities than that of a diamond. As a result, these artificial rubies are utilized for abrasives, cutting as well as polishing devices, and also changes in power plant.
Simulants are non-diamond materials that are used to duplicate the appearance as well as also the form of a ruby. The most basic as well as well understood simulant is cubic zirconia (CZ). CZ at ordinary view could shimmer even more compared to a ruby and it is less thick, meaning that a 1 carat CZ will certainly be a lot bigger than a 1 carat weight ruby. Nowadays, a much more preferred simulant is moissanite, which has all the very same qualities of a diamond. These qualities consist of hardness (Moissanite-9.25 as well as diamond-10 in Mohs range), refractive index(Moissanite -2.65 as well as diamond -2.42) and diffusion (Moissanite -.104 as well as ruby -.044). This makes it hard to differentiate both at simple sight and would certainly frequently require testers to inform the distinction. In the next section we will discuss how you can recognize moissanites and also various other imitations.
An old technique of recognizing rubies is to do a scratch examination. This requires scraping a diamond with an additional diamond which is damaging as well as is seldom made use of nowadays. The most effective as well as most trustworthy way to evaluate for rubies is to make use of testers that use thermal conductivity. These testers include battery powered thermistors mounted with a retracting copper idea. This tester functions by injecting the warmth onto the tested rock then the gadget determines the quantity of warm that it conducts. However thermal conductivity testers functions best to distinguish diamonds and also its other simulants, it will certainly not assist differentiate lab developed or artificial rocks. To be able to determine these, certain optical strategies are required. Laboratories utilize techniques such as spectroscopy, microscopy and luminescence in order to establish a specific stones beginning. The typical individual can utilize loupes and also microscopes to differentiate artificial rocks. All-natural rubies generally have minor imperfections and defects such as additions or some sort of foreign product, which will certainly not be located in synthetics. | 2019-04-19T03:07:25Z | http://udcnyc.com/tag/1-kt-diamond-stud-earrings-online-centreville/ |
Bob Clearmountain Interview - Sound Design, production et conception audio, prise de son en studio multipistes, sonorisation et captation sonore de spectacles, composition et mixage de musique à l'image et en ligne.
Q2 : So you became an assistant ?
Q3 : How long does it take to be a sound engineer ?
Q4 : You were twenty years old ?
Q5 : What is the main difference between work as an engineer and work as a producer ?
Q6 : Do you think your work as a producer is a natural extension of your work as a sound engineer ?
Q7 : When you’re producing, you always engineered ?
Q8 : Do you prefer the recording part of an album or the mixing part, because you’re very well-known for your work on mixing ?
Q9 : You use a sampling machine a lot. What is your favorite sampling machine ?
Q10 : And do you have, don’t you have any trouble with the timing ?
Q11 : Since you’ve been doing a big samples’ library and you’ve been recording a lot of drums. could you tell us what kind of mics you use ?
Q12 : What kind of microphones do you use for ambiance ?
Q13 : What do you think about this 3d sound ? ..?what is your position about that ?
Q14 : Is there a special gear you carry with you in studios, do you know what I mean, do you have a special instrument ?
Q15 :Do you use pro tools ?
Q16 : What is your position about this whole discussion about analogue and digital, I mean some people say analogue is much better and some say digital is so fantastic ?
Q17 : What is your philosophy about the use of effects in music, there’s more and more effects in the studios, do you use them quite a lot ?
Q18 : What are you trying to reach with your work ?
Q19 : You would like to be invisible ?
Q20 : What is your opinion about the development of home studio ?
Q21 : Do you think that you will have a studio of your own one day ?
Q22 : Do you think you will be able to work on a new sort of digital desk ?
Q23 :I didn’t ask too many questions about your work with singers and stuff like that because it seems to me you don’t want to speak too much about the people you’re working with.
Q27 : So you have a lot and after you decide,..just to have a consequent album. you mixed the two last albums of springsteen and the sound is quite different. you wanted to achieve two different tasks ?one year.
Q1 What made you a sound engineer and a producer?
Well, I think it’s something I was probably born with, one of my earliest memories before is my father bringing home a tape recorder, he bought a tape, it must have been in 1959 or 1960 something like that, and er maybe a little later than that actually because my mother was an english grammar teacher and she wanted something, someway of recording her students and playing back how badly they spoke so that they could work on their speech and I saw that thing, you know, and was intrigued immediatly and I started recording my friends ? And myself and anything I could, I could record and it just became a fascinating toy for me. and then my brother was a, my older brother, eight years older, was a musician he played guitar and sang. And so I always enjoyed listening to him singing and playing and I eventually learn to play the guitar a little bit. I became a bass player, that’s what happened when I was about thirteen years old, fourteen, my dad bought me a bass guitar and so I was always into music, and into recording, electronic, I used to be, play around, I used to take things apart and build electronic circuits and things, I got very basic things when I was young. And so I think the obvious progression when I was a senior in high school, or a junior in high school, I discovered the professional recording engineer and I think my girl friend’s dad had a copy of db magazine, I don’t know why, I think he sold parts to audio manufactures. and they just fascinated me, you know, multI track recording I just thought this is the greatest thing I ever heard of, absolutely fascinating. Besides the fact that I was a big record fan I was into Jimmy Hendrix’ records and Led Zeppelin and things like that. And I figured to do is there must be someone responsible for creating these sounds, you know, other than the musicians er, and so I thought yeah this is what I want to do, so the last rock band that I was in, we were doing a demo at a studio called media sound in New York, it was the first studio that i’d ever been in. And immediatly when Iwalked in into this place I thought yes I could spend the rest of my life in a place like this. And shortly after the band split up for various reasons and I started hanging around the, the studio until they hired me, and then that was that.
Q2 So you became an assistant?
Became an assistant, yeah, they originaly hired me as a delivery boy. And I did two deliveries and it turned out that, there was a mix-up and they actually didn’t need a delivery boy, they needed an assistant right away and so they sent me into, into the studio and the first session I assisted I was, was for Duke Ellington, I was nineteen years old and I had never met anyone famous before, you know, and I thought waoh this is really something.
Q3 How long does it take to be a sound engineer?
Well, the first session I ever did was actually about three or four months after I started, I was working with an engineer whose specialty was doing commercials and it was a recording date session with er, it was a mixing session with a band called "Kool and the Gang" and he didn’t like to do records, that it took too long, it was too slow, and so he preffered to sit in a corner and read the paper and he said why don’t you just do the session and Ron Bell the leader of "Kool and the Gang" was such a nice guy, so easy going that he didn’t mind working with me at all, you know, he accepted me right away and I sat down and I did some synthetizers overdubs and we did two, two or three mixes in one night.
Q4 You were twenty years old?
I was twenty, yeah and then about six months later, I was working with another engineer who got sick and it was the same band kool and the gang, and they were doing, they were working on their next album, they were doing basic rhythm tracks for two songs called, I don’t know if anyone will remember this, you’re older, you would remember a song called "highly swinging" and another song called "funky stuff" and I recorded, he didn’t show up and so I recorded those two songs and it went really well, I never got any credit for it but I didn’t mind, I was just thrilled when they came, the songs came on the radio, they were pretty big hits... in the states anyway. and it was a big thrill for me, I hadn’t even been doing it for a year. but then, I mean, I often had assisted, did some engineering for the next two or three years and then, and then after about three or four years I became an engineer full-time.
Q5 What is the main difference between work as an engineer and work as a producer ?
Well, the way I produce, I mean. Different producers have different approaches towards producing, I mean people come out from different points of view. I was always coming from the engineering so, there’s people that come out from people that are involved in radio, people from a&r, arrangers, probably the best producers are musicians and arrangers, I would think.
For myself I felt that I had an advantage cos I was a musician, so I did know quite a bit of music, I’had, I’ve a very musical ear, I think anyway. and so I was able to get good sounds like with engineering my own sessions, I was able to deal with all that and didn’t have to depend on an engineer to get sounds for me, plus I could, I could give the musicians a fair amount of direction and suggestions as far as their music went. So, not only that way but I spent so much time in the studio, I mean every day for years and years that I knew a lot about what went on in a studio, and how to pace the session and how to make musicians and the artists feel comfortable cos I’d seen it done many times working with other producers, I’d seen the good ways to do it, and ways that worked and ways that didn’t work. You know I’ve worked with a lot of producers that, that could really upset the artists and the musicians, you know, and I knew what not to do so I think I was, it was an advantage that way.
Q6 Do you think your work as a producer is a natural extension of your work as a sound engineer?
Q7 When you’re producing, you always engineered?
I always, always have, except for one album the pretender’s "get close" album, were the guy that engineered it Bruce Lambcock was an assistant of mine for about a year and a half previous to that. And I decided that I wanted to step back from engineering. I still made the album but I had him engineering it, I thought he did a wonderful job too. You see it’s a little easier, I found if I could find someone that could engineer the way I do and thought the way I do, it was easier cos I don’t have to think about that part of it. But most of the time, if I have to tell somebody, constantly tell somebody what to do on that side of it, I found it easier just to do it myself, it’s faster.
Q8 Do you prefer the recording part of an album or the mixing part, because you’re very well-known for your work on mixing?
I prefer the mixing part. In fact, I mean I don’t engineer, I don’t record for, for anyone else, I only engineer for products, projects that I produced. and I haven’t really produced anything in a few years because I’ve been so busy mixing that I haven’t really had a chance to produce and I really prefer mixing to producing.
Q9 You use a sampling machine a lot. What is your favorite sampling machine?
There’s a few that I use, I use the eventide h3000 with the sampling card, I use the ams, and er there’s a delay made by roland the sde 3000 that er, you can get a, a sampling modification for it and makes it, turns it into a sampler. all these samplers that are...none, none of them are midI based at all, you know, they’re all audio samplers that trigger off tape. So I have a lot of techniques that involve the SSL quite a bit for a... maintaining dynamics and so what I do is I replay sounds on a tape or augment sounds very often with, with samples for my cd and for my personal sample library.
Q10 And do you have, don’t you have any trouble with the timing?
That’s right. Well,there’s different ways to get around that, on an analogue tape machine you can tape the, the trigger signal off the record head and that advances it by sixty nano seconds and then redelayed it to get it in time. On the 3348, the Sony 3348 which I use most of the time now, it has an option to be able to bounce a track to another track and at seconds ahead. it’s called an advance features. It’s, it’s really designed for using digital consoles which you can be using for that. and that gives you enough five, seconds gives you enough time to get the samplers in time.
Q11 Since you’ve been doing a big samples’ library and you’ve been recording a lot of drums. could you tell us what kind of mics you use?
Oh sure! Well, it depends, I mean I change it around a lot. I don’t always use the same mics but generaly I use a girl fashion shure sm 57 on snare drum, and a akg 451 but like a combination of those two...both on the top. Because the 451 is very bright, has a very crisp bright top end and the 57 has kind of, like a mid-ranging attack sound and they combine, they tend to complement each other. I usually use er, sennheiser 421 and tom-toms, akg 460’s and cymbals and akg D12 on bass drum. Yeah, or sometimes a neumann U47 sometimes on bass drum or a sennheiser.
Q12 What kind of microphones do you use for ambiance?
Well it depends, I’ve used a lot of different mics, you know, Neuman, u87s, u47s, sometimes I’ve used a c24 stereo mic akg, you know, lots of different mics, I’m doing a new sample cd where I used a, I don’t even know what it was called but it was a, it’s sort of an ambisonic type of mic, it’s one of those dummy head mics. I don’t think it actually was ambisonic but it was made by some other company, but it was quite interesting.
Q13 What do you think about this 3D sound? ..? What is your position about that?
Well, i’ve used the Q sound system quite a bit. And I enjoy using a lot, I haven’t used the roland system or any of the other ones but er, I really do enjoy using the q sound system. The problem I found with it and with all those systems is that for any of them to work properly, the playback system has to be set up properly, the speakers have to be in a certain position, you have to kind of be in the sweets spot between the speakers. and when you do that, it’s a tremondous addition I think, you know, I mean you actually get the illusion of, of sounds coming out from other places besides the speakers or between the speakers, from outside of the field of speakers and I enjoy it quite a bit; in a way I usually use it fairly thoroughly where most of the mix will be stereo and then just there’ll be an occasional thing that will appear in an other place, and so it doesn’t sound like it’s been washed and I think it works quite well that way, the latest Michael Paton record I used it a few times, I think three or four tracks and I think it’s quite effective actually.
Q14 Is there a special gear you carry with you in studios, do you know what I mean, do you have a special instrument?
Yeah, well I have a, I have a rack equipment that I bring in the studio with me and it has three of the roland sde 3000 delays with the sample, sampling modification, it’s got an se 3000, er eventide, an ams, it’s got a thing called the spanner which is an auto-made by a company that went out of business years ago in england, electro space technologies, it’s pretty rare, I mean they didn’t make many of them, it wasn’t very popular... I have a thing made by bss in london called dynamic equalizer which is very good for problem vocal tracks cos it, you can, it will smooth out harshness and...it does all kind of interesting things. er, I also got a very old cheesy piece of digital equipment called a ursa major space station which is...it was part...it came out around 1979 or 1980, it was one of the first digital reverbs, I mean it’s a horrible sounding thing on its own. but used suddenly combined with other effects is quite effective, and the springsteen’s "tunnel of love" album i’ve used it quite a bit on vocals and guitars. I have two modified er, ureI la3a limitors or compressors actually that I use on vocals quite a bit, I have a bank of four mxr flangers and phasers, two flangers and two phasers which are all from the seventies and you can’t, you can’t really find them anymore. And,plus I have a rack with a macintosh quadra 700 with pro tools digidesign ?
Q15 Do you use ProTools?
Oh yeah, I use it just to do edits, you know when somebody wants to cut something down. And then the most important thing is that I have apogee digital converters cos I always mix to dat and i, I always use the apogee converters because they, because of their consistency and they, they just, they sound, there’s no coloration, you know it really makes digital sound like analogue.
Q16 What is your position about this whole discussion about analogue and digital, I mean some people say analogue is much better and some say digital is so fantastic?
I use a lot of digital, I only use sony3348, and 3324 and I prefer digital because of the creative aspects, because of the digital editing and...er, the fact that it always comes back the way you recorded it, i, I really enjoy that. I was always frustrated with analogue, I know there’s a lot of people nowadays that enjoy what analogue does to their sound that they record on it and it comes back and sounds a little warmer, pushes the bottom together a bit. er, I don’t like that, i’m always disappointed if it comes back different than the way it went down. the digital machine is very acurate nowadays. The sonys, the new sonys are, are excellent, the converters are really good. I found that it comes back a lot surer and it doesn’t degrade over time, you know analogue tape the more you play the tape then you start to lose the top end a little bit. And that always was a big frustration for me so I certainly like digital.
Q17 What is your philosophy about the use of effects in music, there’s more and more effects in the studios, do you use them quite a lot?
I think it all depends on the program material and the music that you’re dealing with, I think some music requires more effects and can take that and other, other types of music don’t. you know, I don’t have a solid opinion either way about that, you know, cos I mean I’ll find some mixes, I’ll have racks and racks of delays and reverbs, and you know, and everything you can think of, every fader on the board, having some kind of thing going on and then there’s other, other records that I mix where, you know, I hardly, just practically nothing, nothing’s going on, you know, it’s just the sound on the tape.
Q18 What are you trying to reach with your work?
Well, basically what I’m trying to do is just, to the mix interpret the song and the character and the space that the artist’s invisions, you know, or maybe not necessarely what he inventions but something that makes the artist feels that it’s, the sound is representative of what he’s trying to g et across in his music, you know I mean, I’m not trying to, I don’t want people to listen to the mix, I don’t want people to sit there and go, go waoh! this is, what an interesting mix! you know, I want them to think, I like this song, you know I want them to, to remember the song or the artist or the performance, you know, I don’t... you know, I don’t think it’s a...showcase for what I do you know. I’m just trying to help... what, what the artist does, really, you know. I wanna be really invisible.
Q19 You would like to be invisible?
Q20 What is your opinion about the development of home studio?
Well...I think it’s inevitable, home studios. I think people spend, are spending more and more time on their records and budgets are getting smaller and smaller and I think it’s a shame that. Artists want to spend more time because they want to give people their money’s worth, they want to be as good as they can be and if they were forced to use commercial studios as think nowadays, I mean not for all music but for a lot of music. and...so this gives them the opportunity to really spend time without having to look at the clock all the time. And the thing is that to record a band...you know drums and guitars and things like that, it’s usually easier to do basic tracks, it saves the all band from playing live, it’s going to be easier for them to go into a commercial studio than take it home and do their over-dubs in their home studio and bring it back to the commercial studio to mix. because the amount of equipment that’s necessary to do a proper mix, it’s a, you know, it’s too expensive to have in a home studio and it’s, it’s just a waste cos they’ll only use it once every album and so I think, I think the home studio and the commercial studio, there’s room for both, you know, and I don’t think that the home studios are a threat to the commercial studios, you know, I don’t think there’s a problem.
Q21 Do you think that you will have a studio of your own one day?
I think I will. yeah I think probably just a mixing room. I hope to someday, I mean not in the near future but...yeah I would like to do that.
Q22 Do you think you will be able to work on a new sort of digital desk?
Yeah, I wouldn’t have a problem with it. you know I mean I think that you’d have to have a limited number of channel strips because it’s nice to be able just re? and grab something, you know, when you hear, oh that guitar looks ? you just want reach it, you know when I have to scrawl through menus and things like that but I think you can get away with a twenty-four channel, physically 24 channels that actually controls a lot more channels you know, which you can do in a digital, digital format.
Q23 I didn’t ask too many questions about your work with singers and stuff like that because it seems to me you don’t want to speak too much about the people you’re working with.
Well you try me, i’ll tell you what I want to say.
Well, Bruce definetely, yeah. I really enjoy working with bruce. I enjoy his songs, his lyrics and his attitude about his music, he’s very serious about it and he’s very...emotional, his music is very emotional, that appeals to me. I enjoy working with brian adams because he’s a very close friend and we have a great, just a good time together you know, I mean we’re friends outside the studio too. er..I was really fascinated working with david bowie, I think he’s probably the best singer i’ve ever worked with, david and chrissie hynde are the best singers i’ve ever worked with. yeah, yeah...and brian is pretty up there too, brian adams, you know. david is pretty, is very unique because of all his characters that he draws from. when we were... I recorded and mixed, the last, it was actually the last record I ever engineered and produced was "let’s dance". and I was pretty amazed, he came in the studio to do the song "modern love", I don’t know if people remember that but he started singing it and he sang it like, down, down the octave in that sort of awful newly voice of his, you know, and he sang a verse and chorus chorus and he stopped and said let me listen to that he listened back and goes oh no that’s not it at all, he says give me a minute and he stood there for a few seconds and thought about it, and goes ok let’s try it again and then he sang it just the way you hear it on the record now which is completely different, totally different character, different... as if somebody else walked in the room you know. he did it amazingly, you know he didn’t even, he just did one take and then that was it.
Yeah! and I was just, I was in awe, you know I was just amazed, how versatile this man was, you know.
Q26 It looks like bruce springsteen takes a longer time in the studio... takes sometime one year.
That’s right. well, what that is.... He doesn’t spend a lot of time on each thing like he wants to be there and do a guitar over-dub for four days like some people would do... He writes a lot of songs and so what takes him so much time is to figure out exactly what the album is about, you know when he is doing an album like he zooms in on which, first of all, which songs he’s going to record and you know just what the overall attitude is gonna be. And so... it’s different than a lot of people that get their group of songs and then just work on each part for ever, you know, bruce doesn’t do that at all. he does things very spontaneously actually.
Q27 So you have a lot and after you decide,..just to have a consequent album. you mixed the two last albums of springsteen and the sound is quite different. you wanted to achieve two different tasks?
Right! well the first one which was "human touch" which we recorded before he did " lucky towns" it was more a sort of normal springsteen album, you know, there’s a big variety, there’s actually quite a variety of sounds in that record and of environments and...you know some, some of the songs are very basic, some of the songs are full-band and when he did "lucky town" he wrote all those songs in a very small amount of time and recorded them in a very...other about two weeks I think. and when I came out to mix that, I went over to his house and he played me rough mixes of the whole album and he said listen i, I really want this to be very raw sounding and very demo like, and I don’t want it to sound polished and I said great, I said I mean maybe...he didn’t have to say that, that’s the vib I got from listening to the music, this the way it should be. so we agreed on it totally, so yeah it was consciously different you know, and it was meant to be that way, you know they’re two completely different albums. not completely different, but two kinds of feeling...the other one is an early morning record. well, thank you very much. | 2019-04-18T15:34:52Z | http://pieralessandri.com/Bob-Clearmountain-Interview |
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MX-Defender is the brand name of OnlyMyEmail's Business Spam Filtering service.
The name is derived from the fact that our service is enabled when you change the MX (mail exchanger) records for your domain to direct all all incoming email to our mail servers. This allows us to be the first line defense against Spam, "Dictionary" and "Directory Harvesting" attacks for your domain.
In other words, MX-Defender "defends" the servers that are pointed to by your DNS MX records.
Somebody says they sent me a message but I didn't get it. What should I do now?
Don't panic, with the proper information it's usually pretty easy to find a missing message.
The most common causes of missing mail are as follows The message never made it to our servers and may even still be waiting for outbound delivery on the sending server. The message made it to us and was marked as spam. We delivered the message but it was marked as spam by either your server, or your mail client software.
The first place to look is in your deleted items (spam), although it's rare we do occasionally make a mistake and flag legitimate mail as spam.
OK, so you've checked your deleted items, and it's not there. Not a problem, what we need to do now is confirm that the message has left the sender's server. Email is in many ways like snail mail. You're mail program is like you're local postal carrier, it's responsible for getting the message from your computer to the server. Think of the server like it's the local post office in your town, it's responsible for getting your message to the local post office (server) of the recipient. Occasionally things can go wrong at the senders server, so we start our search there. Have the sender, or senders admin as appropriate check the logs of their server. They'll probably need some details to locate the correct logs, things like the sender's address, recipient's address, subject, and approximate time. Their logs should show 1 of 3 possible outcomes.
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Two, the message was rejected by our servers, our rejection messages are pretty straight forward, and the sender's Admin should be able to use the information provided to correct the issue. A rejection in this manner normally produces a bounce message to the sender informing them of the issue.
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If the message was delivered to our servers and wasn't flagged as spam, but you still can't find it, then open a ticket with our support department. Be sure to provide us with as much information as possible. Sender's logs if you have them. Sending address, recipient address, subject, date, and time if you don't. We'll take it from here and reply shortly with whatever we find.
Are there domains OnlyMyEmail cannot filter?
Are there domains OnlyMyEmail can't filter?
Technically speaking, as long as you are the registered owner of the domain and can modify DNS MX records to point to our mail servers then we can filter your mail. However, to be effective our mail servers must be listed exclusively in the DNS MX records for your domain. This is not an issue for most "Dedicated" or "Virtual Dedicated" hosting plans and is obviously not a problem if you run your own email servers.
However, many hosts that specialize in "economy-priced" shared hosting plans provide very limited technical capability. The inbound email servers at these types of operations often do not actually know what domains they are hosting. In these cases, if the host's mail server doesn't "see itself" listed in the MX records it will incorrectly assume that it is not hosting your email and will then reject your inbound emails after we've filtered them. Examples of hosts with this type of simplistic management include the "shared hosting" plans at SBC Global, XO and NoMonthlyFees.com, among others.
You can tell whether this will be a potential issue by reviewing your own MX records. If you find your domain listed then you can be confident that we can filter and deliver your email. On the other hand, if your MX records only reference your host's domains, then you should contact your host to verify whether or not their system will support outside MX filtering services.
You can host your email with our Business Email Hosting Service so that we both filter and host your email. This is independent of web site hosting, which we do not offer.
The better hosts (Pair.com being an example) can configure their servers to accept email for your domain, even when their servers are not listed in the DNS MX records. A simple request to your host's Support department is all that should be required.
You may need to upgrade to a "Dedicated" or "Virtual Dedicated" plan with your host before they'll allow you to manage your own MX records.
You could have the host register DNS "A" records for "yourdomain.yourhost.tld"
Create a "CNAME" records for the above that point to our mail filtering systems .
Have the host restrict the mail-server (if they're capable) so that it will only accept messages for your domain when the connection is from our outbound servers.
Whether we host your email or you apply the above work-around solutions, as long as your host will accept your mail, then OnlyMyEmail can provide you with award-winning, world-class spam filtering.
Keep in mind, however, that hosts with mail-servers that rely on the DNS system to tell them who their clients are will very often lack the technical competence to understand and/or implement changes to their own email servers. Others may intentionally prevent you from using outside email filtering solutions in order to sell you add-on filtering they offer themselves.
What type of servers and software can we use?
All of OnlyMyEmail's filtering systems run exclusively on our servers. Because of this, there are no compatibility issues with any known email server or client software programs.
What is OnlyMyEmail's Outbound Mail-Server IP Range?
What email protocols are supported?
This answer only applies to those filtering clients that have also chosen to use our Email Hosting.
OnlyMyEmail supports all standard protocols and methods for sending and retrieving email and can be used with the email software or hardware of your choice.
For receiving email the most common protocol is POP3 and our mail servers can be reached at mail.onlymyemail.com.
A more advanced option for keeping multiple devices in synch with one another is the IMAP protocol which also uses: mail.onlymyemail.com.
IMAP allows all of your computers/devices to access your mailbox on our servers. Actions performed on one device will be synchronized with the others. This includes sending or deleting messages, saving drafts, and moving emails with your folders. Unlike POP3, the IMAP protocol does not automatically delete downloaded messages from our server. As a result, if you don't manually delete old messages then you can quickly exceed your disk storage quota on our servers.
In all cases we require that you enable "SMTP Authentication" within your email hardware or software device.
If you're on the go, and have access to a public computer, or some other computer you don't want to configure with your credentials you can use our webmail service at webmail.onlymyemail.com. Just be sure to log-out when you're done so the next person who uses that computer can't access your email.
Can OnlyMyEmail host my email accounts?
Yes, you can consolidate your email hosting and spam filtering with OnlyMyEmail.
We do not provide web hosting but using our email hosting service in conjunction with our filtering service means that you do not need to reconfigure your email accounts if you decide to change web hosting providers.
How do I set up email hosting?
Our email hosting service is only available to customers using our Business Spam Filtering service (MX-Defender).
Are there any storage limits or filtering quotas?
Because we deliver your filtered email to your existing mail servers, your messages are not stored on our system. As a result, there is no "disk quota" or any other limits on the amount of email passing through our filters for your account.
What happens to our email if our servers are down?
In the event that your email servers (or your host) cannot be reached for any reason, OnlyMyEmail will continue to accept and filter your email, and will hold your email for delivery until your systems can be reached. There is no action required on your part to enable this feature; the spooling and subsequent delivery will occur automatically.
Senders will not receive bounce notifications, so they will never know that your servers were unavailable. Additionally, you may provide us with the names & addresses of any other servers where you would like your messages delivered when your primary systems cannot accept mail.
How do end-users allow or block specific addresses?
In addition to the "global" allow and block lists that the administrator can maintain, the system also remembers sender preferences on a "per-user" basis.
Individual sender preferences are developed based on the emails each end-user chooses to either "Resend" or "Report as Spam" and thus require no manual administration.
How much delay does the filtering add?
After the first week or two of use (during which the system is learning and adapting to your domain's unique mix of email) OnlyMyEmail's Spam Filtering for Businesses service will create an average latency of between 12 to 20 seconds. If you are experiencing delays greater than this, then visit the Problems & Solutions menu within the Support site for troubleshooting advice.
How do we retrieve messages OnlyMyEmail has removed?
Email that is deleted as Spam (or any other category you've chosen to block) is placed in a deleted mail folder and held on our servers for 14 days.
Administrators can review these messages through the "View Deleted Email" menu in the Support site. You can (and really should) enable the automatic sending of daily "SpamReports" to each of your email addresses so that your end-users may receive these reports directly.
Your end-users can also generate SpamReports in real-time by submitting their email address through the "On-Demand" page at: https://www.onlymyemail.com/spamreport/.
Regardless of which method is being used the "Subject:" of each message displayed is a hyper-link that can be used to open a copy of the original. Included in the display of this copy is a "Resend" button which will re-deliver the original email to original destination address.
Once the resend is confirmed, users will be presented with the option of specifying whether future emails from that sender should be delivered.
This functionality means that while you may review and resend emails for any user, each user may also review the deleted email for just their address. More importantly, when an end-user specifies that certain senders should be allowed to deliver email to them in the future, this will not directly affect other users within your account.
Do we have to filter all Accounts and Aliases?
With our Spam Filtering for Businesses service, you create two separate lists of addresses for each of your domains.
Filtered - The list of your addresses that you want us to filter.
Not Filtered - Addresses for which you want us to accept mail, and to then deliver to your servers without passing through our content filtering.
You can manage both lists from the Email Accounts menu within the Support site. The two lists combined must total all of your valid and deliverable addresses, whether they resolve to unique mailboxes or are aliases and/or forwarders.
Note, the distribution of addresses between the two lists does not affect your billing, which is based on the total number of addresses for which we must carry traffic.
Additionally, because our Directory Harvest, Dictionary Attack and Zombie Machine defenses operate at the SMTP level, all addresses (whether content filtered or not) will benefit by a substantial reduction in spam.
What are the Daily Report emails?
What are the Daily Spam Report emails?
When enabled, our system creates and delivers a Daily Spam Report email for each email address.
The report provides a summary list of all the emails that we blocked for that email address the previous day.
The owner of the address can then use the links in the report to view and, if needed, retrieve any emails listed in the report.
How do we report spam that still reaches our end-users?
There are two options for reporting spam email that has penetrated through our filters.
The preferred option is to simply enable the "Spam Submission" option from within the Preferences menu for your account. This will authorize us to insert a "spam reporting" hyper-link into your inbound messages enabling end-users to "point and click" for reporting spam.
This feature not only provides real-time feedback to our filtering systems, but it also relieves your IT staff from the burden of having to manage spam submission complaints.
Alternatively, you may always make spam submissions to us via email, as long as you include the entire Internet Delivery Headers along with the offending email.
Can we forward external addresses to our domain?
Only if it's a non-filtered email address, otherwise no; Forwarding an external email account into an address that is protected by OnlyMyEmail will almost always result in severely reduced filtering accuracy and an increased rate of false-positives.
There is even the chance that the auto-forwarding server could become blocked by our firewall, resulting in all messages (spam and otherwise) being refused by our server and returned to the original sender as undeliverable.
This diminished accuracy occurs because, in these cases, it is always the relaying server that connects to our SMTP servers. The result of this is that our filters will only collect SMTP data from the forwarding server instead of being able to make filtering decisions based on a connection from the original sending server.
The end result (especially in the case of spam being auto forwarded) is that the relaying/forwarding server can ultimately can be inaccurately determined to be the spamming server.
Importantly, this does not only effect the person who has forwarded their email. Instead, the data collection and filtering decisions impact all mail sent by the relaying server (whether forwarded or not) and for every recipient within our system.
For these reasons, we prohibit users from forwarding external email addresses into accounts that are filtered and protected by our system. We will not filter such forwarded messages, and may refuse to accept them as well.
Add the original destination domain to our filtering system so that we can receive emails from the actual sender, instead of being relayed/forwarded.
Remove forwarding entirely and instead configure your email client software to pick up messaged directly from the receiving mail server.
How does OnlyMyEmail protect our email privacy?
We understand that the privacy and security of your email is of the highest importance to our clients and there are a number of features and security practices in place to protect the privacy of your correspondence.
The only emails we retain on our systems are those that are Spam or viruses and other categories you have specifically chosen to block. Otherwise, we simply filter your inbound email and then deliver the legitimate messages to your existing email servers.
Filtered emails kept on our servers are only held so that you may resend any emails that we should not have blocked, and these are purged after 14 days (336 hours).
All of our mail servers use TLS during SMTP communications.
The internal servers that analyze email (and that store your Spam) are not accessible from the Internet or exposed to external access in any way.
All emails we receive are decomposed into objects that cannot be readily viewed as email, but only interpreted through database access, and none of our databases servers are exposed to the Internet.
We do not have access to any of your outbound emails, as we only filter inbound messages.
As for the potential of an OnlyMyEmail employee reviewing your messages, we're only as secure as the people we hire. That said, even if an employee were interested, motivated and technically proficient it would still be nearly impossible to review your mail.
Realize that currently less than 5% of our inbound email traffic is deliverable (meaning the rest is spam, directory harvest and dictionary attacks) so finding any legitimate mail as it passes through our systems would be exceptionally difficult. This is especially true as there is no one fixed path or one specific server that would have to be accessed as many servers operate in parallel.
Picking out one specific domain or address from the 5% of legitimate traffic while it flows across multiple servers in real-time would likely exceed the capabilities of anyone inside or outside of our network.
Combined with the database model of managing our decomposed email objects, the chance of anyone inside or outside of our systems accessing your email is improbable, to say the very least.
However, if you are not comfortable with our standard policies and reputation, we do offer data-encryption service that will encrypt all of your communications (including spam) though every part of our system. The surcharge for this option is rather significant as it is based on a per message cost (including spam) of $0.0075 cents.
Do we still need anti-virus software on our systems?
While OnlyMyEmail will prevent viruses from reaching your servers through email, there are still several other vectors for infection including: web sites, instant messaging, Wi-Fi and LAN connections and/or intrusion through open ports.
This being the case, you should consider OnlyMyEmail's services as a first-step in virus protection, and not a replacement for running anti-virus applications on your network.
Does OnlyMyEmail provide email auto-responders?
Unfortunately, "auto-responders" are responsible for a great deal of unwanted email on the Internet. Spammers seldom use their real address when sending email and when they send to an account that will "auto-respond" this reply ends up being sent to an innocent bystander whose address was "spoofed" as the sender of the spam message.
It's not unheard of for such a person to receive tens of thousands of "auto-replies" to emails they never sent. Because of the great inconvenience this creates for people victimized in this manner, OnlyMyEmail does not provide any auto-response services to it's clients, nor do we use them ourselves.
Are there VAR or Reseller opportunities?
Yes. If your firm is involved in technology sales or consulting, then please visit the VAR Opportunities page for more information. | 2019-04-18T17:20:30Z | http://www.onlymyemail.com/faqs/display/spam-filtering.html |
In order to become more whole and healed on all levels of our being we need to improve ourselves on all of these levels. Complete healing is not possible by working on just one level. As an example, assume that you are badly overweight. Mustering a lot of willpower you start a diet and are quite successful in losing a sizeable amount of weight. The problem is that after some months it slowly creeps back up again and after a year your weight is again where it started.
Eventually you come across some emotional release workshops and find that these, together with a sensible diet, are more effective to lose weight and keep it off. Nevertheless, you may find it difficult to keep your emotions under control because you still continue to react in undesirable ways. Now you discover that you are influenced by various negative beliefs that make life difficult for you.
You realize that you need an appropriate belief system in order to manage your emotions in an appropriate way. You start looking for a philosophy of life that helps you to become and remain healthy, happy and fit. This is where the spiritual dimension comes in. You will find that the more you adopt spiritual principles in your life, the more life will become an adventure or a pleasure rather than a struggle.
More than any other level, our emotions determine how we feel about ourselves and life in general. Our emotions are not only a result of our social interactions, but also of so-called higher and lower levels of energy and consciousness. On the lower level we have the influences of nutrition, exercise and other lifestyle factors, while from the higher level there is a strong effect from our belief system.
To give an example we may look at the perception of death. If someone believes that after death he is likely to end up in something like hell as described in some religions, he may inwardly panic at the thought of impending death. Even for an atheist the thought of total annihilation may be frightening. On the other hand someone who believes that life after death is more pleasant than that on earth may look forward to the time of death with eager anticipation. The fact of death remains the same for all but our emotional response to it is conditioned by our belief.
Most of us have developed our belief systems haphazardly from our parents, school and social contacts as well as books and mass media. These beliefs are often irrational and detrimental for us.
In order to heal our emotions, as well as all other levels of our being it is essential to adopt a suitable philosophy of life to guide us in this quest. I call this a spiritual philosophy. The various religions appear to have different spiritual philosophies. These differences are most pronounced at the mental level of dogmas and doctrines, while they tend to disappear at the level of the highest ideals of each religion.
In all major religions some followers have aimed for these highest ideals. They are the mystics who left us in their writings a spiritual philosophy that transcends and unites all religions.
The concept of spirituality obviously means different things to different people. In this book it means deliberately manifesting or aspiring to manifest a higher and purer consciousness. We do this by consciously developing the attributes of true spirituality such as compassion, discernment, faith, high ideals, harmony, joy, inner knowledge, intuition, kindness, openness, patience, self-responsibility, serenity, tolerance, wisdom and a gentle love for All That Is.
Being spiritual is not the same as being religious, which involves following the creed of a proclaimed religion. Someone may be spiritual without being religious and vice versa. Those who are religious become spiritual by following the highest ideals of their religion, while those without a religion follow their own highest ideals and their higher guidance. On the higher levels of consciousness true religion and spirituality merge.
In Christian terms, for instance, we are advised to 'seek first the kingdom of heaven' and all else will be given onto us. In spiritual terms this means to seek first and follow our higher guidance to manifest the signs of true spirituality. Then we can expect health and happiness to result as a natural by-product.
Spiritual development should not be confused with psychic development. Psychic abilities are no measure of spirituality. However, psychic abilities will develop on their own and in a natural way during spiritual awakening according to the need for their use. While neither good nor bad in themselves, psychic abilities without spirituality are like nuclear power without morality; both can lead to disaster.
Neither is spiritual development a quest for altered states of consciousness, though these may occur as natural by-products of deep relaxation and meditation. They can be useful and may provide us with insights as well as beautiful and uplifting inner experiences. However, our main task is at the level of our normal consciousness, and such inner experiences at elevated levels need to be transformed into improved daily living habits.
We become more spiritual by living according to our highest ideals, and by consciously improving our attitudes and feelings. Every moment in our day-to-day interactions provides an opportunity to become more spiritual. We are aided in this endeavor by asking for help from the highest guiding part of our consciousness, which we may call the Higher Self or in Christian terms the Holy Spirit.
In the following I like to show an outline of the theoretical basis of our spirituality as I see it. Starting at the most fundamental level, I regard consciousness as the basic ingredient of everything in existence. We may compare consciousness to air, which may be compressed to varying degrees of density in containers of different shapes and sizes. In a similar way, consciousness becomes compressed and may then aggregate to form more complex structures.
Different densities accumulate at separate levels to form an additional dimension based on density of consciousness. I call this the dimension of space-density. A certain density produces atomic and subatomic particles, while lesser and lesser degrees of density manifest as etheric energy, bio-energy or prana, as feelings and emotional energy, as mental energy and thought forms and finally as spiritual awareness. All of these represent different space-densities that may interpenetrate each other to occupy the same three-dimensional space.
Therefore, there is no fundamental difference between the consciousness of an atom and that of a human it is only a difference in complexity and range of densities. With this, the universe is basically a structure of consciousness acting on itself. Less dense fields of consciousness build, change, discard and rebuild forms from denser fields of consciousness in order to experience and express themselves. The main activity of consciousness is creativity; its highest manifestation on our planet is unconditional love.
We may assume two streams of consciousness. The 'stream of creation' leads towards greater density and less complexity to form atomic particles and the physical universe, while the 'stream of evolution' flows from dense towards less dense structures with greater complexity towards the spiritual universe.
As part of the stream of evolution, consciousness uses the various life forms like water is using a riverbed to flow to the ocean. A life form, be it a species or an individual form is useful only as long as it allows the consciousness to flow through freely and expand. If rigidity develops and consciousness becomes stagnant, then the form has reached old age and will soon disintegrate.
Physics cannot adequately and logically answer the question how all the energy and mass of our universe could have been concentrated in a single point at the start of the 'Big Bang' and what was before. A spiritual theory of creation would say that originally there was no energy at the physical level, that it emerged instead from the etheric level, not so much as an explosion but rather like the crystallization of a super-saturated liquid starting from a seed point. Likewise, it answers also the question of the origin of consciousness that biology cannot answer.
According to this model, our physical universe is a condensation of a less dense etheric universe. Atomic particles are the centers of etheric vortexes, comparable to atmospheric high and low pressure areas. For a more detailed explanation see: The Science of Spirituality.
I see the evolution of consciousness on our planet as a multi-dimensional cooperative venture. Consciousness in the form of the growth force is most active in the plant kingdom and works to transform the mineral kingdom.
In the animal kingdom consciousness becomes dominant at the level of feelings and emotions, it is at this level where most of the experimentation and creativity is present. The emotional level channels the growth force into more individualized forms than those in the plant kingdom. A price for this individualization is a more solidified growth force with less regenerative capacity.
Insects are close to plants with only rudimentary feelings, while primates and possibly dolphins are closest to the humans with highly evolved complex feelings. Similar to the evolution in the plant kingdom, which leads to the beginning of feelings in the highest plant species, so the higher animal species acquire a rudimentary capacity for thinking.
By having their emotional energies guided with the help of the emerging mental level, the animal kingdom culminates with the primates channeling their life-force into a nearly perfect form for our planetary conditions. With this, the planetary evolution of the growth force has been further completed and humanity works now on the perfection of the emotional level with the help of the mental level. We use beliefs to experiment with our emotions.
The animal kingdom required a rudimentary mental level in order for the growth force to be channeled into a perfect form by the emotional level. In a similar way, we humans need a level of consciousness beyond the mental level to perfect our emotions. We call this next higher level 'spiritual consciousness'. It evolves through the programming of our higher mentality by the incarnated soul. We may regard our different and evolving group belief systems as the human equivalent of different animal species.
The concept of God can be defined in two ways. We may equate God with consciousness and say God is everything. The consciousness manifested in the various universes, the physical, etheric and so forth up to the spiritual universe are the energy bodies of God, while the non-manifested part might be called the mind of God.
Alternatively, we may only regard the non-manifested universal consciousness as God and this may or may not be focused into what we may regard as a personified being at certain levels of consciousness. For the evolution of our own consciousness the details of what we believe is God do not matter very much at this stage. As part of a spiritual philosophy we may simply assume that the more consciousness becomes condensed, the less it is aware, especially of being a part of God or All That Is.
I see the Oversoul as the creator of our soul and as our personal God or God Self, our individualized representative of the universal aspect of God. Any communication from this more or less divine level can reach our normal human consciousness only by penetrating our mental and emotional levels. These, however, act as filters that will distort and interpret any messages according to our beliefs and emotions.
Therefore, a devout Catholic will receive messages clothed in Catholic symbols, while a Hindu will experience divine revelations according to his religious beliefs. The less strong and structured our beliefs are the less will any higher communication be distorted. The more we expand our consciousness, the closer we are to this higher guidance and the easier it will be to communicate. Disbelief, on the other hand, will block any communication.
A spiritual philosophy is our basic belief system about the nature of our existence, about its purpose and goal. From this we try to understand our role in society as well as our relationship with any higher or guiding forces, and it gives us the inner strength to follow the spiritual path. Everyone has a philosophy of life, even if they are not consciously aware of it. For some this is just the notion to get as much pleasure as possible out of life while trying to avoid suffering. Others, like various Christian saints and yogi, have deliberately self-inflicted suffering and denied themselves pleasures as part of their philosophy and as a path to their God.
To have a spiritual philosophy means to see ourselves as part of a higher purpose, of a universal blueprint, and we consciously try to cooperate with its unfolding and manifestation. A good spiritual philosophy needs to give us guidance and support on the spiritual path and in our daily interactions and relationships.
In the same way that we can deliberately choose to believe in and follow a certain religion or political party, we can also deliberately adopt a spiritual philosophy that exactly suits our purpose. Normally, this adopted philosophy can be in harmony with our present religion or political views. Just look for the highest ideals and replace any negative aspects with positive beliefs.
The center point of any philosophy of life is the question of meaning or purpose. If we see no specific purpose in life and especially in our own life, then it is quite natural to live for the sake of sense and ego gratification, but we also may easily become depressed by the apparent lack of deeper meaning of it all. In a spiritual philosophy we believe in a higher purpose. We may not know the exact nature of this purpose and it may not even matter. We may say we just want to manifest our own blueprint, or fulfill the purpose for which we incarnated, or just trying to do God's will, or becoming one with God. It may all be the same anyway.
By now you may be rather apprehensive. Basically all you want is to be healthy, have a good life, some fun and generally feel fulfilled and satisfied. You do not want to become a mystic or a saint to achieve this. Luckily, you do not need to. I just painted the big picture to show in which direction we generally have to move. How fast you want to move is entirely up to you.
The important part is to move in the right direction, however slowly. Suffering comes from moving in the wrong direction, no matter how far advanced we are spiritually. The saint will suffer if he moves in the wrong direction, and the sinner will feel good if he moves in the right direction. That is what it is all about, the right direction.
Indeed, this is a middle path between pleasure-seeking and intentional or unintentional self-inflicted suffering. In this it is like the path of the Buddha. For a long time, the Buddha tried to reach enlightenment through extreme asceticism. He fasted until where he had been sitting he left a mark like the footprint of a camel. Finally, he realized that he was on the wrong path, that he needed his body as a partner and, therefore, had to fulfill its legitimate biological needs, he had to be firm but kind to it. He called this the middle path, and many seekers after him found it to be the right path for them.
In the same way, our spiritual philosophy should help us to feel good in body as well as in mind and spirit. Suffering is only for the ego. If instead we identify more and more with the spirit or our higher self, then life will be correspondingly easier and more fun - at least that is what we start out believing and wonder whether it will turn out to be true.
Our basic premise is that we attract or become what we believe in. Assuming that the universe contains all possibilities, all shades of good and bad, right and wrong, desirable and undesirable, it is so much more attractive to believe in a benevolent universe than in a vindictive one, in a God of love rather than a God to fear. This spiritual philosophy of the middle path says that we can choose and have what we want, we just must firmly believe in what we want and act accordingly.
However, there is a catch. We must be careful what we choose and from which level of our consciousness we choose. If we let our ego choose, we generally choose wrong. This means we choose something selfish for which we have to pay later. If the ego chooses pleasure now, we will suffer later to pay for it.
If, on the other hand, we let ourselves be guided by our highest ideals and the inner voice of our higher guidance, then we will choose a path that leads us to gradually increasing and lasting happiness, without having to pay for it with later suffering.
The simplest and safest choice is that we want to fulfill the purpose for which we incarnated and just want to do the will of God. Of course, we do not really know our purpose or the will of God; at least not consciously with our mind. The good thing is that we do not need to know, we just can let ourselves be guided step by step, one step at a time, by listening to our spiritual guidance or by following our highest ideals. This is called 'living by faith' or 'going with the flow'.
Gradually, this living by faith will allow an inner seed of the divine to awaken and grow within us. Like a hologram, this seed is a miniature reflection of God and the universe. Fully developed, this seed will become the risen Christ. We will then live in the Christ and the Christ within us. This is the promise of those who know.
Expressed somewhat differently, we may say that we, as a living soul, now have become the perfect vehicle for our High Self or Christ Self. The Christ Self can then begin to manifest the will of the God Self, the 'Father'. Like Jesus, who became the Christ, we can then say: "I and the Father are one."
We may actually see the life of Jesus as a symbolic enactment of the inner journey that we are all sooner or later called to perform. The crucifixion symbolizes the death of our ego, and the resurrection, the birth and ascendancy of the inner Christ. By becoming the Christ we have finally redeemed our original sin - our separation from God.
I also have a different interpretation to religious doctrines that regard the human aspect of Jesus as the Son of God. Instead I regard the Christ who arose in Jesus as 'the only Son of God'. I understand that Jesus generally referred to himself as 'the Son of Man' rather than 'the Son of God'.
We awaken and nourish the Christ within by building a spiritual body composed of a higher emotional body and a higher mental body. This we do in a similar way to building a biological body from the food we eat, by building an emotional body from our feelings and emotions or a mental body by constructing belief systems with thoughts and ideas.
The nutrients we need for our spiritual body are spiritual feelings and spiritual thinking. With spiritual feelings, such as devotion, unselfish love, compassion, inner peace and divine bliss we build a higher emotional body. This combines with a higher mental body that we build through spiritual thinking with high ideals, pure motives, a spiritual philosophy, discernment and spiritual knowledge. This spiritual body or light body allows our High Self or Christ Self to fuse more and more with the soul so that the soul eventually becomes an expression of the Christ. This is the same principle that previously caused the personality to become an expression of the soul.
Stated in a different way, we may also regard the Christ Self as the Inner Master. With this fusion of soul and Christ Self, the personality of the soul can now be expressed as a spiritual master. However, this expression is still limited by being channeled through a biological brain. After discarding the biological body, the Christ consciousness is then able to express itself much more freely as an Ascended Master.
If we look much further into the future, then we may assume that the Christ Self will eventually merge with the God Self. With this, the 'I AM' that originally started out building itself a personality to become a living soul and eventually an Ascended Master, will now have returned to its source and become a God.
In this process we see the two opposing forces that keep the Wheel of Life turning. One is the individualizing tendency of the I AM, its ego, which prompts it to build a body and acquire its separate identity, while the other is the unifying tendency or the Christ principle, which compels it to return to its source.
You may sometimes wonder how all the different spiritual and religious beliefs, often contradicting each other, can possibly lead to the same goal. Surely, only one can be true. But then consider the following parable.
Imagine that different points of the compass represent different beliefs. There is a high mountain with a brightly shining light on top, marking the goal for countless climbers on all sides of the mountain. Those who are on opposite sides of the mountain actually walk and climb in opposite directions of the compass needle and yet they all progress towards the same light.
Below the climbers there are an even greater number of seekers who do not see the light itself, but believe in its existence because of what some of the temporarily returned climbers have told them. Groups of seekers follow some of the more experienced climbers back up the mountain. These are those who seriously follow a particular religion or spiritual leader.
Finally, the great majority of people live in the jungle surrounding the mountain without even seeing the mountain itself. Those living close to it know of it but generally do not move much closer to it. These are the uncommitted followers of various religious beliefs. Those far away from the mountain do not even know of it or believe in its existence.
The active climbers who actually see the light are those well advanced on the spiritual path. They all start from different positions. They may be on different levels and proceed in different directions but they all move closer to the light.
Expressed in Christian terms we may say God, as the Father or Parent aspect of Divinity, created powerful spiritual beings, the 'Children of God', as co-creators on the denser levels of consciousness. In Christian terminology they are the 'Son' aspect of Divinity. Collectively they created our own world. Some of these Children of God, also called Monads or Oversouls, projected parts of their consciousness into denser forms, to create Soul Families. Because of the great difference in the levels of consciousness between an Oversoul and its Souls, the High Self or Christ Self was created as a mediator between both. The Souls eventually created even denser forms at the etheric level, which gradually became the human races. They did this in order to experience more closely the interactions of the various forms of life on earth.
However, Souls gradually became entangled in the lower consciousness of their dense forms. In mystical understanding this is the 'original sin', the 'fallen angel', the 'lost paradise'. In order to free itself from this entanglement of part of its consciousness, the Soul, guided by the High Self and the Oversoul, sends out successive projections with improved programming in a chain of 'reincarnations'.
With each projection a new and different personality is programmed, taking the experiences of the preceding personalities into account. Therefore, from the point of view of a personality, we cannot really say that we are reincarnations with former lives. This would be as if a picture, painted by an artist, assumes that it has previously been another picture, painted by the same artist. Instead, each picture is a unique new creation.
With this, reincarnation as a general principle applies to the Soul but not to the personality. There are, however, exceptions. The American psychiatrist Ian Stevenson investigated and published a series of cases that show conclusively a reincarnation of the same personality with memories, birthmarks and injury marks directly from a preceding life.
However, these cases involved violent death at the prime of life before the programmed life task was accomplished and immediate rebirth in a baby born at the time of death. According to Tibetan tradition the Dalai Lama and some other important lamas reincarnate in the same exceptional way.
After the separation from the physical body that we call death, the personality remains individualized for a further period, clothed in its astral or mental and emotional bodies. Finally it is reabsorbed or reintegrated into the consciousness of its Soul as part of our overall life-stream, and the Soul forms another projection.
Hypnotic regressions seem to indicate that the incarnating Soul projection becomes only gradually attached to the fetus. While it may be close to the mother already before conception and guide the earliest development of the fetus, commonly it starts entering it only during the second half of pregnancy. Even after birth it still continues to fuse more closely with the baby.
The entanglement that keeps this process going and from which the Soul tries to free itself, is called 'karma'. This means a personality or its followers reap the consequences of its actions, and even of thoughts and feelings. We reap what we as well as those before us have sown. The deliberate attempt of a personality to free its Soul from karma or entanglement of consciousness is called 'the spiritual path'.
The ideal of vegetarianism especially in its relationship to spirituality originated in India. Presently, this idea appeals to many sensitive individuals in Western society, who do not want to contribute to cruelty against animals. Others become vegetarians because of the advice of their spiritual teachers or because of what is written in books on this subject.
However, our metabolism and food requirements have evolved according to our genetic background. Those who originate from cold climates or have blood group O, or have inherited or acquired a weak sugar metabolism, have non-vegetarian requirements for optimal health. Often this involves quiet, sensitive individuals with low blood pressure and a lack of energy. These may experience a conflict between their body needs and their ideals. With the following explanations I want to show that this conflict is not necessary.
Indians have predominantly vegetarian body requirements. They must pacify mind and emotions with plant food and may have great difficulties progressing spiritually on a non-vegetarian diet. Most Christian mystics and saints, on the other hand, were not vegetarians and neither was Jesus according to the Bible. As stated in some scriptures, even the Buddha did not insist on a meatless diet, only to abstain from the meat of carnivorous animals. Due to their cold climate, Tibetan Buddhist monks were often non-vegetarians. All of this may indicate that vegetarianism is not a prerequisite for spirituality.
However, there is a relationship between vegetarianism and spirituality. Meat makes body and feelings less sensitive, and meat-eaters with a slow metabolism become more insensitive to higher energies and spiritual influences. Fruit, on the other hand, has a beneficial cleansing and sensitizing influence on these people. Nevertheless, those who are already too sensitive may become ungrounded and open to unfavorable psychic influences on a fruitarian diet and even lose touch with physical reality. Some flesh food will help these individuals to 'come back down to earth'.
For those who aim mainly at dwelling in altered states of consciousness, preferably under competent guidance, a fruit-rich vegetarian diet will be of great assistance in loosening the ties between the physical body and its higher vehicles. It may also make it easier to receive messages from the higher self in the form of visions or voices.
However, on the spiritual path greater psychic sensitivity is desirable only in the context of a balanced development on all levels. Our main aim is to become more spiritual in our daily interactions and in our normal state of consciousness. The exploration of altered states of consciousness is only secondary.
A vegetarian diet is pacifying and, therefore, conducive to meditation and contemplation, but it may leave some of us unable to work efficiently in this world. Therefore, we must strike a balance in our diet selection between our goals and our body condition. Generally speaking, the diet best suited for our spiritual development is one that leads us towards optimal health.
We do not become more spiritual, that means more loving, understanding and wiser simply by being vegetarians, although compassion with the plight of farm animals is a step in the right direction. However, our body requirements will gradually change on the spiritual path as the body is transformed and we learn to utilize higher forms of energy.
In this way, even those of the non-vegetarian body type will eventually be able to maintain good health on a more or less vegetarian diet. The proper path in this direction, however, is a diet that is in harmony with present body requirements.
Gopi KRISHNA in his book 'Kundalini' gave a vivid account of his long-time suffering, because his body was not strong enough for the tremendous energy streams raging through his system. He finally realized that he could only save his body and become well again by starting temporarily to eat some meat.
Rolling Thunder, a Red-Indian spiritual leader is a meat-eater and so was Edgar CAYCE who said in essence: "Spiritualize these influences rather than abstain from meat (for this particular body of the questioner). Not what goes into the mouth but what comes out of it may defile the spiritual body."
While cruelty to animals is often cited as a reason in favor of vegetarianism, those who consume milk or eggs contribute to cruelty if they use eggs from battery hens or milk from cows or goats that have been prematurely separated from their offspring.
Now I want to consider the animals' side of the problem. That the animal eventually will be killed obviously does not trouble it during its lifetime. If it were not for human consumption, most farm animals would not have a chance to live in the first place. If these animals had a free choice, most of them would probably prefer to live and eventually being killed rather than not to live at all. Actually, I am sure even many humans would prefer a quick death like that of a humanely slaughtered farm animal as compared to the slow disintegration that may await them with some of our degenerative diseases.
However, what is decidedly wrong with our present system is that animals are commonly raised under unnatural and degrading conditions and may meet their death in fear and even terror. This is not necessary and only due to commercial interests and the general indifference to the plight of farm animals. But this often applies also to the production of milk and eggs that many vegetarians use.
Therefore, if animals are reared with loving care and in a natural way as it befits their species, and then killed in a humane way, there does not need to be any suffering for the animal. As Rolling Thunder explained it in essence: "When I am going to shoot a deer, I know beforehand where I will find it and also the animal knows that I am coming. But it is not afraid, it is waiting for me and it does not suffer when I shoot it."
With this, the animal actually sacrifices itself for a 'higher need'. We may regard the killing of animals for human consumption as a sacrifice by the animal world, as also we humans may sacrifice ourselves for some higher purpose, or as the vegetable kingdom sacrifices part of itself for consumption by animals and humans. Each kingdom evolves through this close contact with the next higher one and by nourishing it.
Furthermore, killing does not only pertain to animals. Also plants are living beings, responding to love and hate. Therefore, the difference between killing a cabbage, a fish or fowl, is only one of degree in the evolutionary chain.
Of course, most people would be happier to kill a cabbage than an animal (with the exception of insects and rodents). But I suggest that those who cannot function very well as vegetarians should accept this sacrifice gracefully and without guilt and in return work for a better deal for our animals. Nevertheless, it may be in the best interest of spiritually minded individuals to minimize the use of meat, especially from mammals, in preference to seafood. As our race becomes more spiritual in the future and bodies change, vegetarianism will become universal.
Living spiritually is our day-to-day, minute-to minute effort to live according to our spiritual beliefs. Our body with all of its problems is an important partner in this quest. It shows us where to start and what to do, helping us to become ever more conscious of all aspects of ourselves.
Healing our body, mind and emotions is in itself part of our spiritual evolution. Even if you do not otherwise intend to live spiritually, you do so anyway by healing yourself on these levels. There are many different definitions of what it means to live spiritually or following the spiritual path, as you may have already noticed. One of them sees it as our effort to develop our full potential of health and happiness, starting with the body and the problems that we have right now.
I am convinced that by living in total harmony with the biological, emotional, mental and spiritual laws that govern us, we would be close to perfect; we would personify the risen Christ. Therefore, all imperfections, usually manifesting as problems, show us what to do to become more spiritual and, with this, more happy and fulfilled.
Starting at the biological level, we may have a health problem, possibly a specific disease. This disease has one or more causes, usually on several levels. Just trying to ease symptoms with palliative care is not a spiritual solution, although we can use the disease to practice cheerfulness in adversity.
With our spiritual quest we try to discover and overcome the causes for the disease. We experiment with nutrition, cleansing and other natural healing methods, we improve energy flows by softening armored muscle structures, release suppressed negative emotions, and we may use regression and reprogramming, guided imagery and meditation. Chances are that the disease will more or less disappear and at the same time we have substantially progressed on the spiritual path.
The same is true for any of our other imperfections and problems, be it a rigid and aging body, lack of meaning in our life, unsatisfactory relationships, worry and resentments. Just keep part of your mind in observer mode and be aware of whatever you are doing. If you catch yourself worrying about something, that is your problem to work on, worry is a negative attitude and you need to change your approach. Do what you can to get the problem fixed and then leave it to faith, use prayer and meditation to strengthen your faith.
If you catch yourself having an unkind thought about someone, immediately make an effort to send a kind thought to that person. If you believe someone has harmed you, realize that this person is just a weak human and needs your help. Be angry if you feel that way but let it out in a suitable manner, and when you have calmed down, perform a deliberate mental exercise to forgive and send love. That is the spiritual way; you can do it all the time.
Learn to laugh about yourself when you make a silly mistake or break something. You would laugh if it happened to someone else, try it for yourself, it makes life much easier. Taking ourselves too seriously shows that we are dominated by our ego.
It is said that no one is an island; we all are in it together. We interact all the time, and helping our brothers and sisters is the most important part of interacting. We cannot help by preaching or trying to convince somebody. The most effective way is to be a living example of your spiritual beliefs. Try to live as an example. Be forgiving, be kind, try to do the right thing at the right time but if you mess up, do not worry, you are not expected to be perfect, try again.
As your consciousness expands, you may realize that your job or your partner is no longer in harmony with your beliefs. Visualize and pray for a suitable solution and keep your eyes open. You do not need to go out of your way to look for opportunities to help others. Just be aware and do your best whenever you come across something, your guidance will arrange the opportunities for you to learn and help. Do not blame yourself or anyone else if something goes wrong, making mistakes is the best way to learn. We need to make mistakes, learn from them, that is the spiritual path.
Specific ways of life have been devised through the ages to facilitate the growth of a spiritual body. Foremost in this are prayer and meditation, especially as part of monastic life. In a related form we have the yoga of devotion or bakthi yoga and the yoga of action or karma yoga in which we dedicate our life to unselfish social work or healing. Also rituals, such as performed by the Orthodox or Catholic Church and by secret societies and New Age groups, can provide spiritual food. When we deliberately set out to awaken and build a body for the inner Christ, we are said to be on the spiritual path.
If you have different ideas about spirituality, the meaning and purpose of life and the nature of God, just follow your own beliefs. In order to heal yourself with the methods on this website it is not necessary to accept my particular philosophy. I only offer it as a possibility for those who are still searching.
Disclaimer: The aim of this web site is to provide information on using natural healing methods to aid in the treatment of illness and health improvement.
or if you are unsure about a particular course of action, seek the help of a competent health professional. | 2019-04-21T01:16:42Z | http://healing-yourself.com/Spirituality/The-Spiritual-Dimension.html |
Well again, this morning, we have the opportunity to open our Bibles to the gospel of Luke. We are taking our time as we begin this gospel because there are so many foundational things. There are so many nuances, so many wonderfully rich things that Luke is doing in this opening as he begins this great history of redemption, that I want to take the time to make sure that we understand those. Since every word of God is pure by the testimony of Scripture and since all Scripture is given to be profitable for us, we want to take our time to really understand the very gripping nature of Luke's beginning of this tremendous gospel.
So we're looking at Luke chapter 1. We finished the first four verses which is the prologue in which we met Luke the physician and Luke the historian and Luke the theologian and then Luke the pastor. We got a little bit acquainted with the man. And starting in verse 5, this morning, the story begins. As we introduce this message let me just say a few things that will provide for us a context.
In this chapter in verse 78, toward the end of the chapter, the comment is made that "The sunrise from on high shall visit us.” The sunrise from on high shall visit us. That is a reference to the Jewish Messiah. So borrowing those words, “the sunrise from on High,” which refer to the birth of Christ, we could conclude then that the account of chapter 1 covers the final hours of darkness before that sunrise arrives, before Messiah comes. And the night, frankly, for Israel had been long and dark, not only for Israel but for the world, waiting for the Savior. Through all of Israel's history, a history of calling that began with Abraham, a history of exile 400 years in Egypt, of wanderings forty years in the wilderness, of the conquest of the land of Canaan, of the occupation of the land of Canaan, of captivity, the northern kingdom taken captive in 722 B.C., the southern kingdom taken into Babylon in 586 B.C., the northern kingdom never returning, the southern kingdom returning seventy years later. Israel's long history of coming back out of captivity and trying to rebuild, and then only to be oppressed as Greeks invaded and controlled the land, and then Romans came and further oppressed them; the long night of Israel's history of blessing and cursing mixed, the long night of Israel's history of faithfulness and apostasy. And what sustained those who really looked toward God through all those long, long years of darkness was the hope that the sunrise would break.
The last book of the Old Testament...the last Old Testament prophet was named Malachi. And Malachi promised in the last chapter of the last Old Testament book that the sun, s-u-n, of righteousness would arise with healing in its beams. And he was really saying exactly what was said in verse 78, "Sunrise is coming.” Sunrise is coming. The darkness is not permanent, but it's usually true that the darkness is the deepest just before the dawn. And for the 400 years since Malachi said that, since the last prophet said, “The sun of righteousness will rise,” for 400 years since that God never spoke. There was no prophet in Israel. There was no prophet in Judah. There was no revelation from God. Therefore it was the darkest time of all.
For 400 years heaven was silent. Prayers went up but it seemed as though they hit brass and bounced back. And Israel sunk deeper and deeper into depression, oppressed by the Greeks whose ruler Antiochus Epiphanes actually had the unmitigated gall to step into the sacred Holy of Holies, the holy place of the temple, and desecrate those places, even sacrificing a pig on the altar; a time when the Gentile Greeks came in and brought their pagan gods and their pagan theology and mingled it in that sacred land with the people of Israel. They were followed by the Romans, also with all their idolatries. This made the depression all the greater. And as much as the Jewish people cried out to God, God didn't speak and no prophet appeared.
Where was the sun of righteousness? No one dreamed it would be 400 years from the prophecy to its fulfillment. Where was the day of which Malachi also said, "You will tread down the wicked and they'll be like ashes under the souls of your feet on the day which I'm preparing, says the Lord of hosts." Where was the day when righteousness triumphed over evil? The prophet said it will come. The light will break. The dawn will come. The sun will rise. He was referring, of course, to the Messiah, the Christ, the Savior of Israel and the world. And Malachi, that last prophet, also said that that Savior, that Deliverer, that sun of righteousness that will rise, that One who will bring righteousness to prevail over evil will in fact be the Lord Himself because Malachi wrote in chapter 3 of his prophecy in verse 1, "And the Lord whom you seek shall suddenly come to His temple and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold He is coming, says the Lord of hosts." So the Lord of hosts says the Lord is coming. We know then that the One who comes, the Messiah, will in fact be God Himself.
So that's how the Old Testament ends. It ends with the promise of light, the promise of the sun of righteousness, the sunrise on high, the light of the world, Messiah, the Lord Savior will come and shatter the deepening darkness. But as I said, 400 years have gone by since Malachi's words were uttered in about 430 B.C. No prophet appeared, no word from God at all, and no light.
Israel not only sunk deeper into depression because of oppressing nations occupying her land, but sank deeper into sin and apostasy until by the time the gospel of Luke begins, Judaism as we know it existing in the land of Israel was apostate. It had abandoned the true message of the Old Testament for a false one, engaging itself in works-righteousness, self-righteousness, all those things which God hates. Israel had suffered then from sin and apostasy as well as the oppression of foreign nations desecrating its holy ground.
Where was the light? Where was the sun? Where was the dawn of redemption? Where was the hope of every Jewish heart?
It's important to realize there is a critical element of the predictions that Malachi made that can't be overlooked. Yes he said the sun of righteousness is coming, but he also said this, before He comes, before the sun rises, before the Messiah, Lord Savior comes there will come a prophet to announce His arrival, a herald, an announcer. He's often called a forerunner. Malachi said this, "Behold, I'm going to send My messenger and he will clear the way for Me." There's... There’s coming a messenger to announce the arrival of the sun of righteousness, to announce the dawn.
In fact, Isaiah spoke of him. Isaiah said he will be a voice in the wilderness, crying out to clear the way for the Lord, make smooth a highway for my God. Both Isaiah and Malachi then said that before the sun arises, before the Messiah comes will come a prophet pointing toward Him. When the Messiah's forerunner arrives, when that prophet comes, the silence of heaven will be broken with the voice of God and the darkness of earth will be shattered with the light of the Savior and Redeemer.
Now the world will know when the Messiah arrives. How will they know? Because he will be preceded by His forerunner. Before the sun of righteousness, before the sun rising from on high will come this prophet, this forerunner, and he will announce the arrival of the Messiah.
The silence then will be broken when the forerunner arrives. And then will come the Messiah and the saga of salvation. Because Luke is such a careful historian and because he is so comprehensive in what he wants to cover, he therefore has to begin his story with the arrival of that forerunner. And that's precisely what he does.
Look at verse 5. "In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a certain priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord. And they had no child because Elizabeth was barren and they were both advanced in years. Now it came about while he was performing his priestly service before God in the appointed order of his division, according to the custom of the priestly office, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And the whole multitude of the people were in prayer outside at the hour of the incense offering. An angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense." And with that the silence of God was broken.
"Zacharias was troubled when he saw him and fear gripped him. But the angel said to him, ‘Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your petition has been heard and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son and you will give him the name John.’" And we'll stop at that point.
This is where the story begins. It begins with the birth of John, John who would be the forerunner to the Messiah. At this point, before we can go further in the story, I have to cover some things that are very critical and fascinating. It is essential to begin the saga of salvation with the story of John the Baptist for several reasons. Let me give them to you and make note of them.
Reason number one, it connects the Old Testament with the New Testament. That is critical. Mark it. The Old Testament and the New Testament do not propose two different religions. There is not the religion of Judaism and the religion of Christianity. Rather, the Old and the New Testament are one revelation from God with continuity telling the story of redemption, of only one religion, one faith and that is faith in the true and living God which involves His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. It is one complete revelation from God. And either the Old or the New is incomplete without the other.
Secondly, Luke begins the story of salvation with John the Baptist because that links John the Baptist as the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies and that shows the accuracy of Scripture's prophecies, the accuracy of Scripture's predictions. Therefore we understand that the Old Testament, which is Scripture, makes predictions which the New Testament fulfills. Therefore the New Testament is the Scripture as well.
Beginning the story with John the Baptist also is important because John the Baptist's birth was the first point at which God spoke. It is the initial appearance of angels. You saw that in verse 11. "An angel of the Lord appeared." And with that the silence was broken, with that the 400 years with no word from God ended, with that the saga of salvation began.
And so, Luke wants to take us right back to the first place where God acted decisively, supernaturally and immediately in history and he has to go back to John. Not only is that the first place where angels appear and they will continue to appear through the two birth narratives, the birth of John and the birth of Jesus. As we know, the angels play a very important role in the annunciation to Mary as well as in the time of Christ's birth. This is the first of those angelic appearances.
It is also true that the birth of John was a miracle. His birth was miraculous, and so was that of Jesus Christ. And so by telling us the full story of the birth of John, the miracle of his birth, and the involvement of angels with a message from God, Luke is careful to begin the story where the story really begins, where God first initiates supernatural activity.
Furthermore, and this is critical, the story of John the Baptist establishes that he is the prophesied forerunner of Messiah. I'll say that again. The story of John the Baptist, as you will see, establishes beyond argument that he is the forerunner of Messiah. If we know that to be true, then we can therefore know who the Messiah is; it is whoever John identifies, right? Very important to know that. And there was a day, as we shall see, when Jesus came down to the Jordan River where John was baptizing and John turned toward Him and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." John pointed to Jesus Christ as the Messiah of which he was the forerunner, very important. If you establish who the forerunner is and it's John the Baptist, then you know who the Messiah is; it's whoever he points to.
Now this is a major concern of Luke's, to link John the Baptist and Jesus. And, in fact, the stories of the angelic annunciation of John's birth, the miracle of his birth, the story of the annunciation of Jesus' birth, the miracle of Jesus' birth are woven together in chapters 1 and 2 of Luke's gospel. They're woven together because they're inseparable. You...you...you have the inseparable, convincing argument that Jesus is the Messiah because of His connection to the one who clearly is the forerunner who came to identify the Messiah.
Now there are all kinds of nuances in the way these are laid out in Luke's literary style which I'm not going to get into. We'll leave that for some other time. But, there are so many incredibly and marvelous insights expressive of the inspired brilliance of Luke as a historian that I can't resist taking you into some of them.
Luke doesn't begin his story like fiction. He doesn't say, "Once upon a time." Rather, he gives us history. So he begins in verse 5, "In the days of Herod, king of Judea." Now the argument among the elders this morning was whether I would get past that and I will get past that, you'll be glad to know. But that's where we have to start because that's the setting, that's the timing. “In the days of Herod, king of Judah,” he's not a fictional character, he's a very real character and history has left us an immense amount of information regarding this man. Luke places us in the accurate moment in history where the story begins to unfold. Herod... He was known as Herod I in terms of the fact that he was the first of a long list of Herods who ruled in one way or another in the land of Palestine. But he commonly called himself Herod the Great, Herod the Great, king of Judea.
Let me give you a little background so you kind of know this man a little bit. Herod the Great was the first of several Herods mentioned in the New Testament. One of the things that a New Testament student must do is sort out all the Herods, and this is where it all begins. This is sort of the patriarch of the Herodian dynasty.
Julius Caesar had appointed Herod's father, a man named Antipater, to be procurator, or to be governor of Judea under the Roman occupation. What the Romans did in the development of the great Roman Empire was they just took over all kinds of nations and when they established their control militarily of those nations they then placed someone in power there who was a representative of the Roman government so they would have control. Antipater was selected to do that in the land of Judea under the Roman occupation. He was the Roman-appointed governor in that land.
Antipater then managed to have his son, Herod, appointed prefect of Galilee. The northern part of Palestine is an area of Galilee and he managed to get his son the position of ruling and representing the Roman government in Galilee. Now in that office Herod was quite successful. He knew where he was going. He was a smart guy. He planned his strategy very well to achieve his goals. One of the problems that the Romans had to deal with in the land of Palestine was terrorism, nothing new under the sun, folks. Terrorism in the Middle East didn't just start in this century. There were all kinds of Jewish terrorists. There were some of them known as the sicarii, because that was the term for “little sword.” They were dagger carriers who went around in the crowds and when they found a Roman soldier or Roman citizen, they would assassinate them. There were terrorist activities going on in Galilee as well. Herod was very successful in bringing those guerilla bands of terrorists to accounting, to imprisonment, and really did away with them. He was very successful in that so he garnered an awful lot of...of goodwill from the Romans toward him.
The Parthians, another group of people, came into that area, actually invaded Palestine rather formidably while Herod was in that northern area, so he fled to Rome. He was in Rome. The Romans liked him because of what he was able to do. The Romans wanted him to go back and they wanted him to fight the Parthians and get them back out of the land of Palestine, so they gave him an army. He was declared by Octavian and Antony, with the concurrence of the Roman Senate, to be king of the Jews. That happened in Rome and they gave him an army and sent him back.
He invaded Palestine the next year and after several years of fighting, drove out the Parthians and established himself as the king of the Jews throughout Palestine. The year was 37 B.C.
Now he had a problem; he was not Jewish. Worse than that, he was an Edomite. And Edom had been cursed by God. He was an Edomite, often called an Idumaean. He worried about that. He was very concerned about his reputation, so he married a Jewish girl by the name of Mariamne. She was not just any Jewish girl; she was an heiress to the Jewish Hasmonaean house, a very, very well-established and noble family. He did it in order to make himself more acceptable to the Jews that he now ruled. He was a clever man. He was a very capable warrior. History tells us he was an immensely gifted orator and he was a diplomat. In times, for example, of severe economic hardship he had a surplus from taxation. He actually took the surplus and gave it back to the people, something that all of us are longing to experience.
There was in 25 B.C. a great famine in the land of Palestine and Herod, being the diplomat that he was, melted down some of the most beautiful objects in his palace to buy food for the poor, and thus in some way endeared himself to the people. He built theaters and he built racetracks and he built other athletic and entertainment structures in the land of Palestine, the ruins of which you can even see today if you go there. He revived Samaria, which had kind of fallen into...into a waste place. He built the most beautiful port city of Caesarea which you can still visit and...and see elements of his buildings there. He named it in honor of his benefactor, Caesar Augustus, which was the title of Octavian.
He embellished the cities of Beirut, and Damascus, and Tyre and Sidon and even the city of Rhodes. And he even contributed to the rebuilding of the great city of Athens, very successful as a leader and a ruler. He built the remarkable and frankly almost impregnable fortress of Masada; Masada down in the desert, down by the Dead Sea, elevated high up on a mountain top, Masada where in A.D. 73 nearly a thousand Jewish defenders committed suicide rather than be captured by the Roman general, Flavius Silva, who had besieged Masada. It was the summer home of Herod, actually.
Those are his achievements, but personally he was cruel and merciless and vicious beyond description. He was incredibly jealous, completely suspicious of everybody and afraid that someone was going to take his position and power. He feared every potential threat and every threat that was just manufactured in his own mind.
For example, he had the high priest, the Jewish high priest Aristobulus, drowned. That was bad enough, but it was his wife's brother, which made it worse. His wife wasn't happy about that. By the way, he attended the funeral of the brother-in-law he had drowned and wept in a pretense of affection, and then, to silence his wife about what had happened, he killed her. And then knowing, that mother-in-laws can be a problem, he killed her mother. Fearing that his sons might tell the truth about him, he killed two of them. Five days before his death, which is about a year after Jesus was born, he had a third son executed. One of the greatest evidences of his blood-thirstiness and his insane cruelty was having the most distinguished citizens of Jerusalem all rounded up and imprisoned just before his death. He knew he was dying. He got all of these nobles and put them all in prison. He knew that no one would mourn his death because everyone knew him as a slaughtering, massacring, serial killer, I guess you could say. He knew no one would mourn his death so he ordered that at the moment of his death all of those nobles who were in prison be instantly executed so at least there would be mourning in Jerusalem when he died, even if it wasn't for him. The press could put a spin on it.
That barbaric act, along with all the others, really pales in the light of the most horrifying thing that he ever did. When he heard that a king had been born in Bethlehem, in order to kill that king he slaughtered all the male Jewish children in Bethlehem and its surroundings from two years old and under in the hope of killing someone who might someday be a threat to his throne. How paranoid he must have been at his age to fear a child under the age of two. That's Herod.
"In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a certain priest named Zacharias." Now we go from Herod to Zacharias. From the king to the humblest of men, just a certain priest, not anything but a certain priest, common guy. That name, Zacharias, appears on behalf of thirty different people in Scripture, a very common name. It means "God remembers" in Hebrew. It's a wonderful name, “God remembers.” One of the things the Jews liked to celebrate was the fact that God remembered everything about them and that was a part of His care over them.
So now we meet the first character in the story. Not particularly notable, there were eighteen thousand priests in Palestine at the time, or about eighteen thousand. He was just a certain one of them, just one priest who lived somewhere out in a village somewhere and carried on his priestly duties like his eighteen thousand other priestly compatriots. But he becomes such an important character in the story, it's really remarkable. And actually we're going to look at five things about him, flowing all the way down to verse 25. Now we won't get through all of that today but by the time we get to 25 we will have seen five things about him, his personal righteousness, his priestly responsibility, his prophetic revelation, his perfidious response, and his punishing reproof, and you'll be able to hang your thoughts on those five hooks as we go.
Let's start with the first one, his personal righteousness. This is quite a remarkable guy. He was a priest and nothing more notable than just to say "just a certain priest." Judea was under Roman occupation, to be sure. It was under the fearful leadership of Herod. The Jews, however, even though it was under Roman occupation had the right to practice their religion freely so the priesthood was in full force and there were eighteen thousand or so priests actually functioning within the Jewish religion.
Now let me tell you a little bit about how priests function. The nation of Israel is a theocratic kingdom. That is, it's ruled by God. It basically was a kingdom ruled by God. And God mediated that rule for the officers of the kingdom who were priests. And all the priests were sons of Aaron. They call came through Aaron's loins and he had two sons, Eleazar and Ithamar in particular, and out of their loins came...came others who are identified with the priestly orders and he had other sons and they were priests. Everybody who came out of Aaron, every male child who came from the family of Aaron was considered a part of the priesthood. They were the agents of God. They basically operated the theocratic kingdom. They took care of the public issues and the public events and the teaching of Scripture, etc., etc.
To be a priest then was to be honored. It was to be a representative of God. It was to be a son of Aaron, if you will. It was to be a descendant of the one who was the originally high priest who was to be set apart by God for holy service. It was to be able to go...to go into the temple and offer sacrifice on behalf of the people. It was a very noble and respected position. They were pronouncers of blessing also. They were servants of the temple. It was... It was the priests who were the butchers who actually did all of the sacrificing of the animals for the people. It was the priests who interpreted the Scriptures. It was the priests who taught the Scriptures and who counseled people out in their villages where they lived. Zachariah was one of them. His name can be with an H or an S, either way. And now there were many of these, as I said, there were about eighteen thousand. In fact there were so many of them throughout all of the history of Israel that they had to be divided into twenty-four orders. Back in 1 Chronicles twenty-four, David, before the kingdom even divided into the northern and southern kingdom, in the reign of David he divided the priesthood into twenty-four orders because Eleazar and Ithamar, two of Aaron's sons, combined had twenty-four sons, so they just made those sons, all twenty-four of them, the head of an order of priests and their sons and their sons and their sons and all the way down the line would belong to those orders. There were twenty-four orders of priests. The eighth order, by the way, was named for the eighth son of Eleazar, Abijah. And it happened that that was the division, it says there, in which Zacharias did his priestly service.
Now why was it divided down into twenty-four orders? Because there were so many priests they couldn't all serve in the temple all the time and they had to be divided down. And they were divided down and here's how it worked. Any priest would serve in the temple two different weeks a year, two separate weeks a year. That was it. During the whole year you would only serve one week at one time of the year and another week at another time of the year, and that was how you were brought into temple service. Because there were so many you only were able to serve two different weeks a year in the temple.
Now all the priests came to the temple for Passover. It wasn't uncommon to slaughter as many as a quarter of a million lambs, a quarter of a million animals at Passover. If eighteen thousand priests went about to slaughter a quarter of a million lambs just in a week's period, that would be a pretty great undertaking. And remember, they were butchers. They were covered with blood to the top of their head all the way to the toe of their feet. They were butchers, they slaughtered all day long. That's what they did when they were there. But in the normal course of things they served in the temple just two different weeks a year. And that's where we find Zacharias at this particular time.
It's also interesting to note that it says Zacharias was of the division of Abijah. Just a note about that; it doesn't mean that he was a descendant of Abijah, and I'll tell you why. There were twenty-four orders of the priests until a great event occurred and that was the Babylonian captivity in 586 B.C. Up to that point those twenty-four orders, you know, basically were made up of the descendants of whoever the order was named for. They were all the sons of those twenty-four sons of Aaron. But what happened in the Babylonian captivity was all of Israel was taken captive. In three deportments, 605, 597, and 586 B.C. they're all carried into Babylon. Seventy years later they straggled back, you remember, they straggled back. Only four of those orders of priests came back and Abijah wasn't one of the four that came back. Only four of the twenty-four came back under Zerubbabel, and that's in the second chapter of Ezra. For the sake of tradition, however, they wanted back the twenty-four so they divided those four families of priests back into twenty-four and restored the old names, even though they actually weren't descendants of those people. They restored the original names for the sake of restoration and the sake of tradition. So Abijah was not one of the four that returned, but the name Abijah was brought back into the priesthood so that they might have those same twenty-four. So we can say then that Zacharias, while not in the line of Abijah necessarily, served in the division of Abijah and did his duty when that division was called to serve in the temple those two weeks a year.
Now it also tells us about him that he had a wife. I might just say he was... He was a priest and that would fill his life with religion all the time. He also had a wife who knew about that. He had a wife, look at this, from the daughters of Aaron. He married the daughter of a priest. And since all male descendants of Aaron were priests, her father was a priest, her brothers were priests, her uncles were priests, her grandfather, great-grandfather, she was in a world of priests. She grew up immersed in Jewish priestly function. He chose the best. I think this tells us a little bit about his devotion to the priesthood, his devotion to God, to his priestly duty. He married a girl who was most exposed to the devout involvement in the religion of Judaism.
And, you know, she must have come from a pretty good family, a pretty serious family of priests because they named her Elizabeth. Elizabeth is a beautiful name but did you know that Elizabeth, according to Exodus 6:23, is the very name of Aaron's wife? She was named after the wife of the original high priest Aaron. That tells you something else about this family that she came from. These are people who are serious about their religion. These are people who are serious about priestly function. And by the way, Elizabeth is a beautiful name. It means "My God is an oath," or "My God is faithful," or some variant of that. It celebrates the faithfulness of God. It extols God.
So here is this man, just a common ordinary garden-variety, vanilla priest out in some village somewhere, serious enough about his priesthood that he finds a woman to marry who has all her life filled with priests, who will understand his life and his love for the priesthood and for God. And one who so comes from such a devoted family as to have been named after the wife of the original high priest, Aaron. This is a remarkable couple. And this certainly provided tremendous heritage for John, didn't it? In a time of Jewish apostasy and a time of Jewish defection from true worship of God, a time of hypocrisy, a time of self-righteousness, this couple was devout. And we know that specifically because of verse 6, look at this, "And they were both righteous in the sight of God."
I have to stop you there. Oh, there's so much to say about this. They were both righteous in the sight of God. Now they weren't like the hypocrites. The hypocrites were righteous in the sight of men. You've got the distinction. They were very concerned about how they looked. That's why Jesus said about them in Matthew 23 that you're like painted graves, inside you have the stench of death but you're whitewashed on the outside. You're dirty on the inside. But that was the way Judaistic religion at the time was. They... They were involved in being righteous before men. That was the scribes and that was the Pharisees. And Jesus said to them in Matthew 23, "You hypocrites, you hypocrites, you hypocrites." He said it over and over and over and over again and told them they were going to get cast into eternal hell for their hypocrisy. These two were not righteous in the sight of men, they were righteous in the sight of whom? God, they were righteous in the sight of God. That's very different. As far as God was concerned they were right with Him and God doesn't look on the outward appearance, God looks in the heart.
You know, God said they're righteous. That couple down there, that Zacharias and that Elizabeth, they're righteous before Me. What does that mean? That means their sins were covered, doesn't it? It must. The only way God could declare someone righteous was if He didn't impute their sins to them. They were right with Him. Their sins were covered. Now how did that happened? The same way it happens all the time. Same way it happened in Genesis with Abraham, the first of all the Jewish line. It says in Genesis 15:6, "And he believed God and it was counted as righteousness unto him." God literally gives righteousness as a covering to those who believe Him. They believed in God. They believed in the true and living God. They believed the Word of God. They believed the revelation of the Old Testament. They believed God's holy law was right and true and just and good. They believed that they couldn't keep His law. They knew they were sinners who fell short of the law of God and they knew that the law of God called for penitence and repentance and they also knew that God was a God of mercy and grace and loving-kindness. They believed all that and so they saw the law of God, they saw its holy standard. They realized they fell short of it. They went to God with a penitent heart and they asked Him for grace and mercy. That's what the Old Testament reveals. That was what God said, here's My law, you can't keep it but I am a God of mercy and I am a God of compassion and I am a God of loving-kindness and grace and all you have to do is ask. They believed that.
I'm sure Zachariah and Elizabeth both knew Isaiah 61:10. They knew what Isaiah the prophet had said. This is what he wrote, "I will rejoice greatly in the Lord, my soul will exult in my God: and here's why “for He has clothed me with garments of salvation. He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness." They knew that. They knew that even though they were sinful they could be covered with righteousness; that God would be merciful and gracious to them and cover them with a robe of righteousness so that when God looked at them He saw righteousness, not sin. He covered up their sins.
The question is, how could God do that? How could God do that and still be holy? How can a holy God be just and the justifier of sinners? How can God just cover up sin and still be holy? I think Zachariah and Elizabeth both knew how. I'll tell you, there's one other statement made by Isaiah that I'm sure they knew and it's the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah. Isaiah said, "There's One who's coming who will be despised and forsaken by men, a man of sorrows acquainted with grief.” Listen to this, verses 4 through 6. “Surely our griefs He Himself bore, our sorrows He carried, yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. He was pierced through for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him and by His scourgings we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way, but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him."
They knew. They knew there was coming someone who would bear their sins, someone who would be bearing their griefs, carrying their sorrows, who would be pierced for their transgressions, crushed for their iniquities. Their iniquity would fall on Him. That's how God could cover them with righteousness. How? Because someone else would bear their sin. Who was that someone else? Whoever fulfilled Isaiah 53. And who was it to be? The Messiah. And that's why when John first saw Jesus, when John was down at the river in his ministry and Jesus showed up for the first time, John didn't say, "There's the Messiah, there's the King." John said, "Behold the Lamb." John spent his life head deep in blood in the sacrificial system over and over and over and over day after day after day all through the year these orders of priests just slaughtered animals, slaughtered animals. And never ever did it take away sin. The people had to come back make another one, another one, another one, another one all their life long. He was looking for the final sacrifice, the one who would bear his sin. He was believing that God would provide a sacrifice. Doesn't that sound like Abraham, who took his son up on Mount Moriah way back in Genesis and believed that God would provide a sacrifice?
They were believing people, this couple. They believed in God, they believed in the true and living God, they believed in His law. They knew they fell short of it. They were penitent in their hearts. They cried out to God for mercy and they knew that God would have some provision for their sin. Someone would bear their sin. He of all people, Zacharias, and Elizabeth of all ladies would know their hopeless incompletion of the sacrificial system. Butchering, butchering, slaughtering day after day after day after day after day; same people over and over and over and over and never was sin taken away, never was the price finally paid, never were the souls of people truly ransomed. You can imagine the exhilaration in John the day he pointed to Jesus and said, "Behold the Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world." Wow!
There would come one, Zacharias knew it, who would die the death for sin which fully satisfied the holy justice of God. God knew that that sin would be covered so He could take care of the sinner by covering him with a robe of righteousness based upon what Christ would do. This is justification by imputation.
We aren't righteous, but God looks at us and we're righteous in His sight because He covers us with righteousness because we believe. And by our faith our sins are placed on Christ. When Christ died on the cross He...He was bearing the sins of Zacharias and of Abraham and of Elizabeth and of Sarah and of everybody else who ever believed. He was the sacrifice.
Luke tells the story later in chapter 18 about a Pharisee who went to the temple and he said, "I thank You that I'm not like other men," and he goes on parading all of his external virtue. And there's this other guy beating his chest. He won't look up and he says, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner." And Luke records that Jesus said, "That man went home righteous and not the Pharisee."
Well that's the kind of person Zacharias was, the kind of person Elizabeth was. They were righteous because God had covered them with righteousness because they believed Him and they believed that God would provide a sacrifice for their sin. In the mean time, they cried out for His mercy.
They were really part of a remnant, true godly Jews in the midst of a nation of apostates. There were more. And we're going to meet more: Joseph, Mary, Anna, that old lady in the temple, Simeon, that old man. They were part of the remnant. They were part of the remnant who probably were hanging on to Malachi's words that the sun of righteousness is going to rise and hoping it would be in their lifetime.
They weren't just justified — justification and righteousness the same thing — they were also sanctified. Look at the rest of verse 6. They were walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord. When God imputes righteousness to you, He also imparts righteousness to you. In other words, they weren't the same after they believed. They were declared righteous based upon Christ's carrying their...bearing their sin. They were covered with a robe of righteousness, which God did for them. But they also transformed. So we always say that justification, which is being declared righteous on the merits of Christ's substitutionary death, is never separated from sanctification, which is God making you different. They were different. They walked blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord. That doesn't mean they were sinless. It doesn't mean they were perfect. It just means they were obedient. They had a reputation for walking according to the will of God, the law of God. They were like Job, of whom essentially the very same thing is said. Job was a faithful, obedient man. He was blameless, upright, fearing God, and turning away from evil, Job 1:1. This means that salvation is justification, being declared righteous because Christ cares for your sins, and it is also sanctification and they...they have to occur together. Holiness was imputed to them, that is, put to their account. It was also imparted to them. They were regenerated. They were converted. They were transformed. Psalm 19 says that, "The law of the Lord is perfect, totally transforming the whole inner man." They were made different people so that they could live a different way. They were able to live life as previously impossible.
They understood the Mosaic Law. They grasped its perfections. They knew they fell short. They came to God, they got His mercy and His grace. They then loved the law of God. They wanted to keep it, they wanted to do it. And God gave them the capability of doing that by changing them. They were then able to obey Joshua 1:8, a great verse, "This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, you shall meditate on it day and night so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it, then you'll make your way prosperous, then you'll have success." They were Psalm 119 people, Psalm 119:97, "Oh how I love Thy law."
Now, you say, "John, why are you...why are you into all this stuff?" Because I think this is what Luke's trying to tell us and we have to have this foundation. We'll... We’ll get the speed going as we start going downhill here, but you have to understand this. Luke is giving us something here that is critical to the gospel, it's critical to the whole message of the Bible. He is... He is showing us, listen, folks, in describing Zacharias and Elizabeth he is laying an essential foundation for the story of salvation. What he's telling you is the gospel is not in conflict with true faith in Israel. It is in harmony with true faith in Israel. You understand that? These people would accept the gospel gladly because it's the next reasonable step because they're looking for their sacrifice. Contrast that with the apostle Paul, who was a...who was a Pharisee who was going around trying to establish his own righteousness and had to say about his entire life before Christ it was manure.
These people...these people evidenced for Luke the fact that the New Testament message is not in conflict with true faith in Old Testament Israel. It's not a new religion. It's not a new way of salvation. It's not a different way to God. And Jesus did not come to oppose the Old Testament law or to oppose the Old Testament sacrifice, He came to affirm them and fulfill them. Everything the Old Testament taught about salvation, being right with God, confession of sin, repentance, faith, the substitutionary death of a sacrifice for sin, obedience to God's law, that's all taught in the New Testament. Jesus said, "I'm not going to remove one jot or tittle,” not one little breathing mark and not one little tiny little mark till it's all complete.
God's law, man's sin, faith in God, repentance for sin, justification, which is imputed righteousness, sanctification, which is imparted righteousness which changes you, obedience to God's law, worship of the true and living God, that's all carried from the Old into the New intact. Continuity is there.
So Zachariah and Elizabeth were Psalm 119: 1 people. It says, "How blessed are those who walk in the law of the Lord, whose way is blameless." Two very righteous people, righteous in the sight of God.
But listen to this, this is fascinating. Probably, probably they weren't righteous in the sight of men. You know why? Verse 7, "They had (no what?) no child because Elizabeth was barren and they were both advanced in years." You want to know the most severe shame that a Jewish woman would ever bear was to be what? Childless. You know what the conclusion of people might be? "Well, you know what the Bible says, you know what the Scripture says, ‘Children are an heritage from God,’ Psalm 127, "they are a blessing from the Lord. And you know what Scripture says, that if you sin God can shut your womb and you will pay, Deuteronomy 28, there are curses, and when God curses you it can show up in barrenness." This dear couple, this dear woman lived, it says, into her old age, they were both advanced in years. That puts them over 60. And since there was no retirement age for a Jewish priest, they could be 80 or more. All their life, and they were probably married in their teens typically, all their life, all their life they bore the stigma, no child, no child, no child. And all the questions, I wonder what's wrong. I wonder what sin is in their life. The rabbis used to say seven people are excommunicated from God. Here's how they begin: A Jew who has no wife, or a Jew whose wife has no child. That was a terrible burden in that society.
You remember the story back in Genesis chapter 30. I'll just read it briefly. It's right there in the first verse. "Rachel saw that she had no children; Jacob, her husband. But his other wife did. She became jealous of her sister and she said to Jacob, “Give me children.” How serious was this? Or I what? “I'll die.'" Hannah, 1 Samuel 1, barren, weeping and weeping and weeping and weeping. To be barren was grounds for divorce. If your wife couldn't have a child, boot her out. She's probably accursed by God.
So here's this couple, righteous in the sight of God, maybe unrighteous in the sight of men. As godly as they were they bore the stigma. But Luke wants us to know that her barrenness had nothing to do with sin in their life. That's why verse 6 is there. But it had everything to do with something God was planning. Better you should have a bunch of unknowns, or worse, I should say, you should have a bunch of unknown kids than to have just one John the Baptist. God had something planned for them that was so much beyond their wildest dreams. To them was to be given the forerunner, the first prophet in 400 years, the last prophet of the Old Testament, and, listen to this, the greatest man who ever lived up until that time. They would have only one son. He would be the greatest human who had ever walked the earth, and that is from the words of Jesus Himself. This is not divine punishment, their barrenness, this is divine planning.
You know, their situation humanly was hopeless. And that's exactly where God often prefers it. And then you know what happened? Come back next week and find out. But I'll give you a hint, verse 11, "An angel of the Lord appeared." Wow, here God breaks in, this is really exciting. We'll have to wait till next time. And as I said, this foundational truth we need to take our time getting through and then we get into the flow of the teaching of the book. Let's pray together.
What a great time this morning, Father, to worship You and praise You and to just see the richness of this treasure of truth. We're just so thrilled to see the clarity with which the message of Scripture is opened to us and the power with which it comes to our hearts. We thank You that You are the God of history, You are the God of the universe and You are unfolding history in these most marvelous ways. We thank You for the reminder this morning that these two simple, humble people who had nothing about them that was distinguished, except they were righteous in Your eyes. Can anything more wonderful be said than that about someone? Thank You, that that righteousness, that robe of righteousness, can cover any of us who will believe and embrace the reality that Jesus Christ was the substitute for our sins. Embracing Him as Savior we are then covered with that same robe of righteousness for He has removed our sins. We thank You that they remind us of sanctification, the fact that when we are justified we are also regenerated, converted, transformed, born again so that we now have a new life and what we couldn't do we now can do and we can walk in Your ways and love Your truth and obey Your Word. We thank You for the example of this couple and with great anticipation we await the remainder of the story as You break through the silence to announce the birth of the forerunner of the Savior of the world.
Father, we just pray for every person here to be in the same situation that was true of these two folks, righteous in the sight of God and blameless, and walking in the commandments and requirements of the Lord. To that end we pray for our Savior's sake. Amen. | 2019-04-20T04:53:02Z | https://www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/42-3/zacharias-the-righteous-priest |
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Coleman 8-Person Tenaya Lake Fast Pitch Cabin Tent with Closet. Built-in closet with shelves and a hanger bar. Pre-attached, color-coded top poles. Bring all the luxuries from home. You’ll have a place to store them without taking up precious tent space in a Coleman Tenaya Lake Fast Pitch Eight-Person Cabin with Closet. A built-in closet with shelves and hanger bar makes it easy to keep clothes and gear organized, so you can skip digging through a pack. The Fast Pitch system uses pre-attached, color-coded top poles and hub, fast-fit feet and snag-free Insta-Clip suspension to let you set up your tent 55 percent faster than a tent with conventional setup. If it rains, the tent is 75 percent more water-resistant, and the WeatherTec system with its patented welded floors and inverted seams helps you stay dry. Illumiline reflective guy lines are more visible at night so you don’t get tripped up. A room divider provides extra privacy for your entire group as they relax in a space large enough for up to two queen airbeds. When it’s time to head home, the tent fits into an included wheeled carry bag for easy storage and transport. Pre-attached, color-coded top poles and hub, fast-fit feet and snag-free Insta-Clip suspension. Set up your tent 55 percent faster. 75 percent more water-resistant. Illumiline reflective guy lines are more visible at night. Room divider provides extra privacy. Large enough for up to 2 queen airbeds. Included wheeled carry bag for easy storage and transport. Boxes, APO, or FPO addresses. Items must be undamaged and still in new condition. The item “Coleman 8-Person Tenaya Lake Fast Pitch Cabin Tent with Closet” is in sale since Monday, June 6, 2016. This item is in the category “Sporting Goods\Outdoor Sports\Camping & Hiking\Tents & Canopies\Tents”. The seller is “shoppersbay.xio” and is located in United States. This item can be shipped to United States.
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Tools & Home Improvement. Patio, Lawn & Garden. Beauty & Personal Care. Pro Audio & Sound. Car Audio & Electronics. Coleman Tenaya Lake 8 Person Fast Pitch Camping Tent w/ WeatherTec (Open Box). Up to 55% faster setup than a comparable standard tents. Built in closet with shelves and hanger bar for gear and clothing organization. Fast Pitch system with pre attached, color coded top poles and hub, fast fit feet, and snag free Insta Clip suspension. Illumiline reflective guy lines for greater visibility at night. WeatherTec system patented welded floors and inverted seams help keep water out. Item is open box, unharmed and in very good condition. All accessories or parts are included with the item. Hinged door for easy entry and exit. Room divider for extra privacy. E Port makes it easy to bring electrical power inside your tent. Included rainfly for extra weather protection. Wheeled carry bag for easy storage and transport. Easy 9 minute setup. Spacious interior has room for 2 queen size airbeds. 13 x 9 foot with 2 x 2 foot closet. 6 foot 8 inch center height. Product Condition: Open Box Like new. Coleman could see the light for the darkness. This new light burned with a strong, steady white flame and was fueled by gasoline. The standard lamp of the era burned kerosene and produced a smoky, flickering, yellowish light. Was stricken with very poor eyesight, and was very interested in this new, steady white light that enabled him to read even the smallest print in books and on medicine bottles. Coleman saw potential in the new light, and through his vision a new company was born that would put Americas farms and ranches in a new light, and would eventually make his name synonymous with outdoor fun. Cancelling Your Order: Your order is important to us and will be processed immediately. Select the reason for the return. View more great items! This listing is currently undergoing maintenance, we apologise for any inconvenience caused. The item “Coleman Tenaya Lake 8 Person Fast Pitch Camping Tent with WeatherTec (Open Box)” is in sale since Tuesday, May 29, 2018. This item is in the category “Sporting Goods\Outdoor Sports\Camping & Hiking\Tents & Canopies\Tents”. The seller is “vminnovations-deals” and is located in Lincoln, Nebraska. This item can be shipped to United States. | 2019-04-20T18:25:26Z | http://smallcampingtents.biz/tag/fast/ |
Piero della Francesca | Art in Tuscany and Umbria | Casa Santa Pia, Holiday house in the south of Tuscany.
Piero della Francesca (c. 1415 – October 12, 1492) is certainly one of the most important Italian painters of the XV century. His art was ample, monumental and rational, and represents one of the highest artistic ideals of the early Renaissance. The absolute mathematical rigour of his creations emphasises the abstract and iconic traits of his paintings and adds a powerful religious feeling to his masterpieces.
To contemporaries, he was known as a mathematician and geometer as well as an artist, though now he is chiefly appreciated for his art. His painting was characterized by its serene humanism and its use of geometric forms, particularly in relation to perspective and foreshortening. In this work Piero enriches his knowledge of Florentine painting with a meditation on Flemish art. The court of Ferrara, where he stayed around 1448-50, offered a number of examples, notably a triptych by Roger Van der Weyden (1399/1400-1464).
Piero della Francesca was born in the town of Sansepolcro (former Borgo Santo Sepolcro), where he also died.
After his death, Piero was remembered mainly as a mathematician rather than as a painter. Even Vasari, who as a native of Arezzo must have known the frescoes in San Francesco well, is lukewarm in his enthusiasm for his work. However, he had considerable influence, notably on Signorelli (in the weighty solemnity of his figures) and Perugino (in the spatial clarity of his compositions). Both are said to have been. Piero's pupils.
He may have learned his trade from one of several Sienese artists working in San Sepolcro during his youth. We hear of him also at various times in Ferrara, Rimini, Arezzo, Rome, and Urbino. But he found the origins of his style in Florence, and he probably lived there as a young man for some time during the 1430s, although he is documented there only once, in 1439 (the first known reference to him), when he was assisting Domenico Veneziano on frescoes (now lost) in S. Egidio.
In 1442 Piero della Francesca returned to San Sepolcro where, three years later, he received the commission for altarpiece of the church of the Misericordia (including the Madonna della Misericordia), which he was to complete only in the early 1460s. In 1449 he executed several frescoes in the Castello Estense and the church of Sant'Andrea of Ferrara, also lost.
The polyptych of the Madonna della Misericordia was his first documented work, and shows that he had studied and absorbed the artistic discoveries of his great Florentine predecessors and contemporaries — Masaccio, Donatello, Domenico Veneziano, Filippo Lippi, Uccello, and even Masolino, who anticipated something of Piero's use of broad masses of colour.
Two years later he was in Rimini, working for Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta. In this sojourn he executed the famous fresco of Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta Praying in Front of St. Sigismund as well as the portrait of the condottiero. There he also met another famous Renaissance mathematician and architect, Leon Battista Alberti. Later he moved to Ancona, Pesaro and Bologna.
n 1452, Piero della Francesca was called to Arezzo to replace Bicci di Lorenzo in painting the frescoes of the basilica of San Francesco. The work was finished before 1466, probably between 1452-1456.
His cycle of frescoes depicting the Legend of the True Cross is generally considered among his masterworks and those of Renaissance painting in general.
In 1453, he returned to San Sepolcro where, the following year, he signed a contract for the polyptych in the church of Sant'Agostino. A few years later, summoned by Pope Nicholas V, he moved to Rome: here he executed frescoes in the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, of which only fragments remain. Two years later he was again in the Papal capital, for frescoes in Vatican Palace which have also been destroyed.
Much of Piero's later career was spent working at the humanist court of Federico da Montefeltro at Urbino. There he painted the famous double portrait of Federico and his wife Battista Sforza, now in the Uffizi, the Madonna of Senigallia and the Nativity, and the celebrated Flagellation (still at Urbino, in the Ducal Palace). The Flagellation is his most enigmatic work, and it has called forth varied interpretations. Gombrich has suggested that the subject is rather The Repentance of Judas and Pope-Hennessy that it is The Dream of St Jerome.
To this period belongs The Flagellation (c. 1460), one of the most famous and controversial pictures of the early Renaissance.
Other notable works of Piero della Francesca's maturity include the Baptism of Fire, The Resurrection and the Madonna del parto.
Piero is last mentioned as a painter in 1478 (in connection with a lost work) and his two final works are probably The Madonna and Child with Federigo da Montefeltro (Brera, Milan, c. 1475) and the unfinished Nativity (National Gallery, London). Thereafter he seems to have devoted himself to mathematics and perspective, writing treatises on both subjects.
In his later years, painters such as Perugino and Luca Signorelli frequently visited his workshop. According to Vasari, he went blind in old age. Failing eyesight may have been his reason for giving up painting, but his will of 1487 declares him to be 'sound in mind, in intellect and in body' and is written in his own clear hand. Piero della Francesca died on 12th October 1492, the day when Columbus discovered America.
His deep interest in the theoretical study of perspective and his contemplative approach to his paintings are apparent in all his work, including the panels of the S. Agostino altarpiece.
Three treatises written by Piero are known to modern mathematicians. The subjects covered in these writings include arithmetic, algebra, geometry and innovative work in both solid geometry and perspective.
* Paired portraits (c. 1472) of Federico da Montefeltro and Battista Sforza, respectively the Duke and Duchess of Urbino.
The last record we have of him painting was in 1478 but he lived on until 1492 - tragically, blindness seems to have blighted his last years.
Sansepolcro (former Borgo Santo Sepolcro), is a town and comune in Tuscany, Italy, in the province of Arezzo. Situated on the Tiber river, it was the birthplace of the painters Piero della Francesca, Raffaellino del Colle (a pupil of Raphael) and Angiolo Tricca. According to the tradition, the town was founded around 1000 AD by two pilgrims (Arcanus and Aegidius), who founded here an oratory (where now is the Cathedral) during their homecoming from the Holy Land. The historical centre Sansepolcro reached its current size around 1400, and in 1500 received its walls by Giuliano da Sangallo.
The Civic Museum of Sansepolcro (Palazzo della Residenza, constructed in the 13 C and 14 C) houses four works by Piero della Francesca, nd many other treasures including paintings by Santi di Tito, Raffaellino del Colle and Luca Signorelli. Its highlights are two of Piero della Francesca's main works: “La Resurrezione” and “La Madonna della Misecordia”.
English writer Aldous Huxley described the Resurrection by Piero della Francesca, which is in the Museo Civico, as "the greatest painting in the world".
Piero was commissioned the Polyptych by Sansepolcro’s Confraternity of Mercy in 1445.
The commission entailed extensive negotiations, which led to a contract with particularly precise and engaging clauses for the painter. The contract did not refer to the subject to be painted, though required the painter to reproduce the model of the existing painting (to be replaced); moreover, the artist was obliged to perform any necessary upkeep and restoration works for ten years after completion of the work.
As known, the contractual term (1448) was completely ignored due to Piero’s constant engagements in Arezzo and throughout Italy, where he worked for wealthier, more learned and refined Courts. Hence, the Polyptich took more than fifteen years to complete.
The iconography follows a traditional scheme: the Virgin Mary protects a group of believers, among whom also the artist (the first on her right). Despite the conventional golden background, Piero’s figures are given a significant plastic relief. The Virgin Mary’s pose, amplified by the wide drapery of her black cloak, is counterpointed by the precise representation of anatomic details.
One of the first paintings to be made was, quite likely, the one on the left, with San Sebastiano and San Giovanni Battista, formed by two joined axes: San Sebastiano probably reflects Piero’s first approach to Roman sculpture, while San Giovanni Battista is the most Masaccio-inspired figure ever painted by Piero. In any event, the most evident result of Piero’s direct and meditated study of Masaccio is the beautiful and touching Crucifixion, which may be compared with that currently held at Museum of Capodimonte.
The paintings originally composing the Polyptych, now kept at the Museum, are Our Lady of Mercy, San Sebastiano, San Giovanni Battista, Sant’Andrea, San Bernardino da Siena. Crucifixion, San Benedetto da Norcia, Announcing Angel, Our Lady of the Annunciation, and San Francesco da Assisi.
The foot-paces were clearly made by a modest painter, though a good miniaturist, possibly Giuliano Amedei. The two pilaster strips with the three Santi are of higher quality, and must thus have been made by a collaborator of Piero della Francesca.
The Baptism of Christ is a good introduction to Piero della Francesca's style. Within an arched frame the baptism is taking place in a landscape strikingly similar to the countryside around San Sepolcro. In 1442 Piero della Francesca was recorded as town councillor in Borgo San Sepolcro. The Baptism of Christ portrays Christ being baptised by John, his head surmounted by a doverepresenting the Holy Spirit. Christ, John's hand, the bird and the bowl form an axis which divides the painting in two symmetrical parts. A second division is created by the tree on the left, which instead divides it according to the golden ratio.
The three angels wear different clothes and, different from the traditional iconography, are not supporting Christ's garments, but are holding each other's hands. This would be an allusion to the contemporary council of Florence (1439), whose goal was the unification of the Western and Eastern Churches.
In 1451 Piero was in Rimini. Before that he painted two small panels, St Jerome and a Donor (in Venice) and Penance in St Jerome (in the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin). We do not know exactly for whom these were painted, but they are probably to be included amongst the "many of small figures" mentioned by Vasari as being commissioned by several rulers during the artist's journeys in the Marches and Emilia-Romagna. St. Jerome in Penitence is one of the two paintings by Piero that is dated. Recently it has been restored, and all the later additions have been removed from the background and the sky. We can now see, in the crystal-clear lighting, behind the hermit saint, a receding background with the perfectly straight tree trunks reflected in the winding river. The clear sky is barely dotted with little white pointed clouds.
In this small panel we can see for the first time Piero's signature, on the tree trunk that forms the base of the Crucifix in the left-hand corner. On the ground, in the foreground, there is also an inscription indicating that the panel was commissioned by Gerolamo Amadi "veneziano" who is shown kneeling in prayer before the saint. The donor and his protecting saint appear to be conversing as equals, for it was obviously Piero's intention to exalt the human dignity of his patron, as he was to do again in the case of Sigismondo Malatesta in Rimini. The bright hues of colour are similar to the clear sunlit atmosphere of the London Baptism of Christ, and even the background, with its rolling hills and steep country paths, confirms a vision of landscape that was first anticipated in the London painting.
Compared to Paolo Uccelo's nighttime, rather abstract and fairytale landscapes, or Fra Angelico's gentle and precious ones, Piero's are closer to Veneziano's, or even Masaccio's, with bare hills, partially covered with vegetation. And Piero makes his landscapes even more real and alive, for the vegetation is burnt out by a Mediterranean sun, the city walls are made of white lime and the water of the river is transparent.
Piero was favoured by some of the smaller city-states like Urbino and Rimini in central Italy. In 1449 Piero della Francesca executed several frescoes in the Castello Estense and the church of Sant’Andrea of Ferrara, also lost.
Two years later Piero della Francesca was in Rimini, and executed the famous fresco of Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta Praying in Front of St. Sigismund. For Sigismondo Malatesta, the lord of Rimini, he painted this devotional subject in the family's church known as the Tempio Malatestiano. He also painted the portrait of the condottiero. The painting portrays the condottiero and lord of Rimini and Fano Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta, and is housed in the Musée du Louvre of Paris.
The portrait depicts the condottiero by profile and, according to some sources, was based on a medal executed in 1445 by Pisanello, or to one by Matteo de' Pasti from 1450.
Despite the choice of the profile representation, typical of the portraits of eminent figures of the type, Piero della Francesca showed his attention for naturalist details in the fine execution of the texture and the hair of the committent. This is a proof of his good knowledge of Flemish masters such as Rogier van der Weyden.
In Rimini, he met another famous Renaissance mathematician and architect, Leon Battista Alberti.
In 1452, Piero della Francesca was called to Arezzo to replace Bicci di Lorenzo in painting the frescoes of the basilica of San Francesco.
Piero della Francesca’s major work is a series of frescos on the Legend of the True Cross in the choir of San Francesco at Arezzo (c. l452-c. l465). The subject was a medieval legend of great complexity, but Piero made from its fanciful details some of the most solemn and serene images in western art — even the two battle scenes have a feeling of grim deliberation rather than violent movement.
Piero della Francesca’s fresco cycle of the Story of the True Cross is considered to be Piero della Francesca’s greatest masterpiece and narrates a medieval story about the cross on which Jesus was crucified. The theme of the fresco cycle derived from the popular 13th century book on the lives of saints by Jacopo da Varagine, the Golden Legend, is the triumph of the True Cross – the wood from the Garden of Eden that became the Cross on which Christ was crucified. The frescoes occupy three levels on the side walls and the eastern wall, surrounding a large window. Piero della Francesca did not follow a chronological order, preferring to concentrate himself in the creation of symmetrical correspondences between the various scenes.
In 1455, Piero was in Rome, painting frescoes in the Vatican for Nicholas V and continued to work in the Vatican Palace also under Pius II. Piero della Francesca worked under Pope Pius II (Aeneus Sylvius Piccolomini) from 1458 to 1459, leaving some lost frescoes in the Apostolic Palace, probably destroyed to make room for the Raphael's Rooms. . In 1467, Piero della Francesca returned to Sansepolcro where he held new public offices. He was commissioned to paint a Resurrection which is now one of his most famous works.
In 1453, Piero della Francesca returned to Sansepolcro where, the following year, he signed a contract for the polyptych in the church of Sant'Agostino. St. Julian is the only fragment that has survived of Piero's fresco decoration of the church of Sant'Agostino in Borgo San Sepolcro.
A few years later, summoned by Pope Nicholas V, he moved to Rome: here he executed frescoes in the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, of which only fragments remain. Two years later he was again in the Papal capital, for frescoes in Vatican Palace which have also been destroyed. To this period belongs The Flagellation (c. 1460), one of the most famous and controversial pictures of the early Renaissance.
The Flagellation was executed by Piero during his first visit to Urbino. rom the point of view of composition and perspective the painting is very rigorously planned. The composition appears to be divided into two scenes, separated by the column supporting the temple in which the Flagellation of Christ is taking place. Even though he is working in a unitary space, Piero does not give up his interest in detail, such as the ceiling of the temple or the bronze sculpture on the column with its splendid reflection of the light.
Piero della Francesca, The Resurrection of Christ (detail) (c.1420 - 1492), mural in fresco and tempera, 225 x 200 cm, Museo Civico, Sansepolcro.
The fresco was probably painted in 1467-68, in the Meeting Hall of Palazzo dei Conservatori di Sansepolcro (the current Civic Museum).
It is one of the greatest works by Piero della Francesca: an emblematic work, symbol of the artist’s native town which, so goes the legend, was founded as a result of worshipping the relics of Saint Sepolcro brought by two pilgrims, Egidio and Arcano.
Under the sign of the resurrected Christ, the town, which passed under the rule of Florence for a few years (1441), regained its identity and dignity in 1456 when the Florentines returned the use of the Palazzo to the Conservatori and to two Councils, in order for them to regain their official use: restoration thus began, during which the realization of the work was probably planned. The painting shows Christ in a strong and authoritative pose; what is impressive is his fixed look: not a sign of transcendental detachment, but rather a strong human trait, a divine “presence”. On the left, there is a barren, winter-like and abandoned landscape; on the right, instead, the landscape is spring-like, peaceful and pleasant. A number of soldiers sleep at Christ’s feet, forming the basis of a pyramid with Christ and thus defining the space on two separate levels (the space under the banner is thought to be Piero’s self-portrait).
The composition is divided in two parts, each with its own separate perspective. The lower part, where the guards are sleeping, has a very low point of view which gives the scene monumental stability. Above them, Piero portrayed Jesus Christ, who is not seen from below, but has a perfectly frontal point of view. The Resurrected is a perfect representation of Piero's ideal man: practical and measured, but at the same time solemn. The splendid landscape also belongs to the folklore: Piero symbolically painted it half in winter and half coming back to life, i.e. resurrecting, in spring.
Among the many works that, according to Vasari, Piero painted in Perugia, the historian describes with great admiration the polyptych commissioned by the nuns of the convent of Sant'Antonio da Padova. This complex painting, today in the Pinacoteca Nazionale in Perugia, was begun shortly after Piero's return from Rome, but was not completed for several years.
Carlo Bertelli, Piero della Francesca, New Haven & London, Yale University Press, 1992, p. 79. | 2019-04-22T20:40:47Z | http://www.travelingintuscany.com/art/pierodellafrancesca1.htm |
Custom pencil portraits up on Daily Candy Kids today!
Hello friends! So we all know it's helpful to drop a few hints before Mother's Day to let our loved ones know what would be extra special for us, right? And Daily Candy Kids is here to help us out! Today they were so kind to mention my individual pencil portraits, found in my shop here, as a great suggestion for Mother's Day. And I couldn't agree more!
For more information on how the ordering process takes place hop on over to my illustration blog to read more and see some great before photos and after portraits. And don't delay because slots for Mother's Day portraits will fill up fast, so order yours today!
I wasn't kidding when I mentioned that this quilted herringbone comforter was my new go-to baby gift. It seriously is the best. So simple and the pay off is great. I recently made another one for my little sister Lorajean, who just had another baby girl, Evangeline (don't you just love the name!). Only this time instead of going for a quilted herringbone stitch, I simplified and went with a free style chevron quilting pattern. It was SO easy and there was really no way to mess up (I personally love that some of the zigzags are closer together and some are farther apart). Just find some great great fabric for the front and back, sandwich some batting in the middle of the two sheets, baste, and then quilt away! And you'll notice that I used the same binding from Eleanor's quilt (I'm kind of in love with it and, well I had a bunch left over) and went with Heather Bailey's tried and true continuous binding technique.
This is also great project for littles ones who are learning to sew and would love to start quilting. You could even do a mini version for a little doll or softie. Wouldn't that just be so cute?! And I promise you, you could do the entire thing in one afternoon (I did! but we won't get into my tendency to procrastinate...).
The boys and I had a fun weekend enjoying the most lovely weather outdoors as well as putting together a few impromptu projects, such as this tea box animal circus train. There's something really rewarding about creating something magical out of simple leftover pantry items, like these herbal tea boxes. And on Earth Day weekend, well I couldn't think of a better re-purpose project.
Basically we grabbed a few herbal tea boxes from the pantry and threw on some fun colorful duct tape. This helped reinforce the strength of the boxes/train cars as well as add pops of color and design. Duct tape is a little difficult to cut (super sticky) so I would suggest doing this alongside your Littles. We started with just three fun cars decorated in a simple, bright color scheme.
And then A had the brilliant idea of creating an additional car (he didn't feel like it was a true train with only three cars) that could carry his aquatic animals. On his own, he came up with the idea of using blue duct tape to line the inside of the 4th car to suggest water. He then picked the color and design of the car exterior himself. I helped him cut up the tape and he placed it on. For the wheels we cut the tops of the boxes into circles, covered them in tape and secured onto the box cars with colorful brads.
We then used neon pink lanyard, and by punching small holes in the ends of cars, attached the cars together. So now we had 4 cars but no engine. And Little O and A would have none of that.
Happy Friday friends! A big thanks to all of you who entered the Hand in Hand: Crafting with Kids Giveaway! You had some wonderful things to say about crafting and creating with kids. I was inspired!
"I would love this book, want to try the geometric tiles!!"
Congratulations Hayley! Please contact me at merrileeliddiard [at] hotmail dot com and I'll ship your book off to you!
And I couldn't help but share a few inspiring comments from you readers to get us all crafting with our Littles this weekend!
"Lately Creed's favorite is when I draw a mystery picture in white crayon and he watercolors over it to find out what it is."
"My oldest likes to use his chalkboard easel to tell stories with pictures before bedtime...one of my favorite things."
"The best project I did with my students was making button yo-yos...that was by far their favorite, a button on a loop of string. Some of them were still pulling out their backpacks to play with three months later."
"My daughter is 22 months old and one of her current favorite creative activities is "painting" on coffee filters. She draws on the filters with washable markers and then "paints" using water and small paintbrushes. After the filters are dried, we cut them into shapes, make flowers, mobiels, etc."
And there are so many more in the Hand in Hand Giveaway comment suggestion. Great reading to start your weekend off! And if you didn't win, be sure to pick up your copy of Hand in Hand: Crafting with Kids at your local bookstore or Amazon. You'll love it!
Wishing you all a creative and crafty weekend!
*Winner was selected randomly. If there was one more than one comment from the same person, it was considered as one comment total.
Friends, I've been dying to share this gem of a book with all of you! Hand in Hand: Crafting with Kids, by Jenny Doh, hit the shelves on April 3rd and I've been waiting until after all the Easter holiday fun was over to introduce this book you. If you are not already familiar with this new title, you are in a for a treat! It consists of 20 craft bloggers who focus on creating with kids and share one project each that you can do with your little ones. I feel so honored to have been selected to be amongst this great group and know you will love the book as much as I do.
If you follow this blog at all you'll know that I'm just a bit passionate about creating art and crafting with your kids. It has added so much to my life, and to the life of my kids. And what a treat it is to read all of the wonderful thoughts and experiences about creating with your kids from the many other bloggers in this book. I really was inspired to work hand in hand :) with my Littles, all over again!
I was lucky enough to meat a few of these ladies in person at ALT, such as Dana Willard of MADE and Rachel Faucett of Handmade Charlotte and they are just as inspiring in person as you will find them in this book and on their blogs. Many of these other bloggers have inspired me and my kids in days past and many others have been a treat to discover and explore for the first time.
Here are a few spreads from our chapter. It was so fun to really explore and express how I feel about creativity and cultivating it in the home.
There are some fun shots from our South Pasadena home that I miss from time to time. (I especially miss all that space in the kids room!).
And there is a shot of how we ended up storing our geometric floor puzzle. (We adhered it to the wall with Velcro which made for some great movable wall art! And then when we wanted to have more free reign and play with it on the floor, we simply removed the tiles from the wall and placed them on the floor in fun and interesting patterns).
And for our craft contribution, Little A and I show you how you and your kids can make a personalized keepsake pillow from an original drawing, fabric and a bit of embroidery floss.
We loved working on this together and still treasure this pillow!
If you are interested in perusing the many creative activities found in this book (which of course you are!) just leave a comment and I'll enter you into the drawing for a free book! And I'd LOVE to hear something creative (big or small) that you and your little one(s) love to do together.
You have until the end of Wed. April 18th to comment and enter the Hand in Hand book giveaway! From there I will randomly select a number from the comments and reveal who has won the book a week from today, Friday, April 20th.
I hope all of you had a most lovely holiday weekend. We are stuffed to the gills with delicious chocolates, candies and...well, more chocolate, and more candy! Every year I try to go for less candy and it seems like every year we end up with just a bit more than the year before (I think it's all those extra egg hunts that I wasn't calculating into my candy consumtion ratio). I'm definitely going to have to figure out the formula for the perfect balance one of these years. Well at least I did have a slew of stickers in the mix to help things out a bit.
And remember when I mentioned that I had no idea what my Littles would be wearing this year? Well, that was no lie. And I can't deny, that made me a little sad. I love to sew for my children and feel like I haven't been able to do so as much as I'd like to as of late. So I was really counting on Easter to sink my teeth into a great project, such as a pair vintage inspired suits or something equally inspiring.
Well, I didn't manage to sneak in enough time to sew any suits this year...but I did at least get a little sewing in. Thanks to Leisel of Oliver & S, I managed to sew two bunny hoods adapted from her Cozy Winter Hood pattern found in her Little Things to Sew book. (And I can't help but give a shout out to two friends involved in the identity of the Oliver & S brand; designer friend, Brooke Reynolds, and illustrator friend Dan Andreasen [he illustrates their paper dolls]. OK and my own little shout out and teeny, tiny, contribution: I helped Brooke find Dan for the job back when I worked in NY as an illustration agent. And he's just so perfect, don't you think?! So needless to say, I'm pretty much in love with all things Oliver & S - and that's not even getting into how utterly darling Liesel's patterns are!).
So back to the hoods. To make these I used the Cozy Winter Hood pattern from the book and changed up the ears to be two long and floppy bunny ears - to fit the festive occasion of course. I really wanted use fabric I had on hand so I used some of Jon's old pants and blue fleece for Little O's bunny hood and some brown velvet and leftover tan fabric for Little A's. And once I was finished with these, and placed them on their little heads, I couldn't hold back my motherly squeals of delight. The boys just looked too darn cute. (And something tells me that this is the last year I'm going to get away with such "cute" items of clothing for Little A. In fact, it took him realizing that these looked like their hooded bath towels [something I hadn't even thought of] to help him feel like they were cool enough to wear. That and a Belgium chocolate bunny).
As for the rest of their Easter ensemble, well if you follow my blog at all, you'll quickly see that it ended up being an mix-n-match amalgamation of clothing from the past. And you know what, I really couldn't be more pleased with how it all came together. I might even like how it turned out better than if I had planned the whole look out from the beginning.
-"Force yourself to try new things with your wardrobe. Take some items from your own closet that you never thought you'd wear together and try new ways to put together an outfit."
-"Mistakes and Lack of Finances often make for the best style ideas!"
I believe that this holds true not only for our own closets, but for our little ones as well! So when I was up against a wall this Easter, I went scrounging through my Littles closets to see what sort of magic I could muster up. And if you care to take a look at a few of these posts from the past, you'll see where just about everything came from (OK, and you'll be forced to go down memory lane with me, realizing just how little my Littles once were and wonder with me "where did those chunky cheeks and legs go to anyway?"). Take a look here: 1, 2, 3, 4.
I really love the eclectic, "Mexican wedding shirt, meets little story book French boy, meets a hint of something Scandinavian", look to the final overall ensemble. Again, something I couldn't have planned if I hadn't been forced to get creative.
And if you are wanting to do something similar, I think it helps to have slowly built up an arsenal of items that you are fond of and can work with. Here are just a few tips I would share with you on how to build up your child's wardrobe so that you can make some mix-n-match magic any time, and for any occasion.
Buy just a few unique, statement pieces from some of your favorite kids designers. They don't have to be outrageously expensive (I love to buy from Etsy) but don't be afraid to stretch just a bit on one or two unique shirts, that one-of-a-kind sweater, a stand out colorful skirt or those bright yellow pants that are sure to make any outfit pop. (And I confess, if you know another kid will be wearing it down the road, it makes more sense to buy a few pieces that stand the test of time both in design and quality). Read more about my thoughts on mixing hi+low here.
Don't be afraid to play with sizing. I know that this might sound odd, but I'm telling you, don't feel like you have to stick with what the tag says. I know a number of t-shirts and jackets that look better a bit more snug than the tag suggests. And when you are working with skirts, capris and gauchos, well there is quite a range of sizes you can work with (adjusting the waist to fit of course). Just don't be afraid to try it. You never know what might end up creating the perfect balance. That slightly snug sweater from 2 years ago, slung over that boxy blouse, paired with a tutu and tiara must might be the right ticket. And if you don't like it, well just go back to what you were doing before. No harm done.
Just try it and don't over think it. Kids fashion should be fun, easy, unexpected, and a reflection of them! Sometimes it might look silly and others might not appreciate it. Buy hey, they are kids! you can get away with it. And fashion should be fun and just a little unexpected. I once had a friend tell me that "If I didn't feel just a little silly at first when trying something new, then I wasn't approaching fashion right".
Well anyway, we had fun. The boys enjoyed seeing their old clothes brought out again and were right there with me in deciding which boy would wear what and found it rather humorous that both of them got to wear elements of the same suit at the same time.
And I was pleased with how Little O's look continued to surprise and delight even when deconstructed. I was afraid that this Gap Kids embroidered guayabera shirt would not pair well with the rest of things but ended up loving the element of the unexpected.
And my two little bunnies? Well if nothing else, in the end they were happy to have devoured an entire chocolate bunny and then happily hop onto other things such shredding apart those much anticipated surprise balls. And me, well I couldn't have been more pleased with how things serendipitously turned out.
So what about you? What are some of your favorite staples or tricks to styling your kids wardrobes? Any favorite places to shop? I always love to hear new ideas and great resources!
Are you running around crazy realizing that you have yet to purchase Easter candy, egg dye and various other Easter hunt amenities, and have absolutely no idea what your Littles will be wearing on Easter Sunday? If so, you're not alone. I'm right there with you. But I can help...at least just a little bit. Forget some of that candy and fill up those plastic eggs with some free downloadable Easter stickers that I illustrated. Your kids will love it and you'll enjoy forgoing some of that after-sugar shock.
To get started you just download the free printable stickers and print them out on full sheet label paper (found at your local office supply store).
You can then cut them up and place them in plastic eggs or have fun with it and hide them in a crepe paper surprise ball! (or surprise "lemon" as mine turned out to be).
A group of us got together last night to make some of these for our Littles and it was so fun! Read more about it here on Sarah Jane's darling blog (and be sure to download her adorable little bunny puppet while you're at it). Surprise balls are so fun and not as much work as I would have originally thought. It's an endeavor I'd highly recommend (especially amongst friends).
And as for the stickers, well my Littles have really enjoyed playing with them and have created identities for each character. I just gave them some paper, crayons and the stickers and let them go at it. And for about 15-20 min they were happily self-entertained. I'd say that's a success. | 2019-04-19T22:35:01Z | http://mermag.blogspot.com/2012/04/ |
In learning about salvation there are different terms involved which basically mean the same thing. To avoid confusion let us briefly consider some of those terms.
1. SAVED. To be saved means to be saved from some thing. If a person is drowning and the lifeguard jumps in and saves them from drowning we know what they have been saved from. Spiritually many people are also drowning. They may or may not realize the danger of their situation.
May those in Heaven and hell visit with each other?
The rich man died and woke up where?
Is the rich man having fun in hell?
Is the rich man aware of having lost his opportunity of being saved?
Is the rich man aware of having lost blessings?
Is the rich man’s confinement to hell permanent?
Note: In verse 31 of this passage Jesus says, “If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead.” Moses and the prophets is a reference to the Scriptures.
Obviously there is something to be saved from, a real place where those without salvation go when they die to suffer eternal torment forever. They are forever separated from God and from the saved. They know they have missed out on the blessings of God.
2. BORN AGAIN. “Born again” means essentially the same thing as being “saved.” However the phrase carries additional meaning and information about what happens when you are saved. Jesus tells Nicodemus that he must be “born again” in the third chapter of the Gospel of John. Let us examine this passage of Scripture about being “born again.” The passage is found in John 3:1-21.
Who will be in the Kingdom of God?
Is Jesus talking about being born physically a second time or being born for a first time spiritually?
At what point do you have eternal life?
Once you have been “born again” and have eternal life can you lose that eternal life and become unborn?
How do we condemn ourselves?
Being saved is like a birth. We are birthed into the Kingdom of God by the Holy Spirit. Only those who have experienced this spiritual birth will be in Heaven.
We receive eternal life at the moment that we believe on Jesus as our Savior. Once we have eternal life how can it be taken away? If it could be taken away it would not be eternal life. Eternal life cannot become uneternal life.
For assurance of your salvation, that eternal life cannot become uneternal life and that even you cannot discard eternal life by your actions or nonactions please look at John 6:37-40.
What is the Father’s will?
Will Jesus lose any that come to Him?
Who will have everlasting life?
If you believed on Jesus it is not the Father’s will that you should be lost and Jesus will not lose any that believes on Him. Did you believe on Jesus for your salvation? If so it cannot be lost, you have eternal life and it cannot become uneternal life no matter what you or anyone else may do.
Paul describes the new life of a born again believer in 2 Corinthians 5:17 when he says, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” According to Paul things are changed at the moment that we are born again. Let us consider what this new life is like and how it has changed.
Have we received the spirit of the world or the Spirit of God?
What is one thing in this passage that clearly is freely given to us?
Does the natural man (the lost) understand the things of God?
Those who are saved can understand the things of God because of what?
Obviously if we are saved we received not the spirit of the world but the Spirit of God and because of that some things have been freely given to us that makes us different than we were before salvation was received. Before we were saved, according to this passage, we could not understand the things of God. This is why there are so many interpretations of the Bible. It is why some read and read and study and study the Bible but never seem to get anything out of it. It is also why it is many times pointless to argue with the lost because for the most part they will only be able to understand clearly the Holy Spirit calling them to salvation.
A little ten year old girl was saved at a summer camp and she shared with my wife that it was just different now when she heard someone preaching. When I was saved the Word of God changed for me and a hunger for God’s Word suddenly seemed to have been implanted into my heart that had never been there before.
We will know that we have “passed from death unto life” because we do what?
If you do not have love for other Christians and don’t want to be around them what most likely is the cause of that?
If we have been saved we will have a supernatural love implanted in us causing us to love other Christians. This love will cause us to want to be around other Christians and to have fellowship with them. We will have a desire to be in church, for that is where God’s power is most focused. Matthew 18:20 says what? Also, consider Hebrews 10:24-25. It has been said that if our religion is not strong enough to take us to church most likely it will not be enough to take us to Heaven. I believe there is an element of truth in that statement. It does not, however, mean that just because you are not in church that you are not saved or have lost your salvation. It is though a definite indicator of spiritual problems when we have no desire to be in church with other believers to worship our God.
Does the apostle Paul live a life without struggle with the old nature?
Is the apostle bothered by his failure to do good when he knows to do it?
Is there something hindering the apostle from doing good?
The apostle Paul did battle every day with the old nature just as do other Christians. Sin is not just what we do but as Paul reveals in verse 19 it is also the failure to do good when we know to do good.
What are some ways that you can give attention to the good nature?
What are some ways that you can give attention to the old/bad nature?
You might want to write out beside each verse how God spoke to you as you meditate upon it. These are excellent verses to memorize.
It is important to know that it is impossible to live the Christian life in your own strength. Only by abiding in Christ can we succeed in living the Christian life. Only through supernatural empowerment can a supernatural life be lived.
“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; and they did not love their lives to the death.” - Revelation 12:11.
The evangelist Kim Schmidt has a tremendous testimony. Kim tells of waking up one morning with a desire to go to church after a several day binge of drugs, alcohol, and huffing. He was frightened that he would return to a mental institution. He had imagined that a baby was being birthed in the palm of his hand. It was enough to get him to a church. He didn’t clean up and you can imagine what he looked and smelled like when he arrived at a nearby church. He didn’t know what time the services started so he arrived in time for Sunday school. Once in the class the Sunday School teacher did not condemn him. No, he just shared with Kim his own testimony of how God had saved him and taken the alcohol out of his own life.
When the worship service started Kim was sitting on a back pew and a 70 year old deacon came and asked if he could sit by him. Before the service had ended Kim had given his life to Christ. Wasn’t long before his wife had given her life to Christ as well. Why did Kim go to church that day? Maybe it was because a friend sometime before had gotten saved and shared his testimony with Kim. When it had gotten bad enough Kim remembered that God had changed his friend.
Do you have a testimony? Why not share it with someone?
“For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” - Romans 8:5-6.
Stuart Briscoe tells a story about the cuckoo bird. Now the European cuckoo bird is much larger than the cuckoo birds in the United States. The mother European cuckoo bird has forgotten how to build a nest. It flies around until it sees another nest with eggs in it and no mother bird around. The cuckoo quickly lands, lays an egg there, and flies away.
The mother thrush, whose nest has been invaded, comes back and gets to work hatching the eggs. It apparently does not bother her that there is an extra egg in the nest. What happens? Four little thrushes hatch, but one large cuckoo hatches. The cuckoo is two or three times the size of the thrushes. When Mother Thrush brings to the nest one large, juicy worm, she finds four tiny thrush mouths, and one huge cuckoo mouth.
Guess, which bird, gets the worm? A full-sized thrush ends up feeding a baby cuckoo that is three times as big as it is. Over time, the bigger cuckoo gets bigger and bigger, and the smaller thrushes get smaller and smaller. Stuart says that when he was a kid he could always find a baby cuckoo’s nest. You just walked along a hedgerow until you found dead little thrushes, which the cuckoo throws out one at a time.
Spiritually we are similar to the thrushes and the cuckoo. We have two natures in one nest (i.e.: in one body). James says in James 5:19, “Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth....” I would submit to you that the primary cause of wanderers from the truth is the feeding of the sinful nature and not the spiritual nature. If we would grow spiritually then the spiritual nature must be fed. At the same time we must stop feeding the sinful nature. The sinful nature is just like the baby cuckoo. If we keep on feeding it the sinful nature will destroy us.
Which nature have you been feeding?
“Now the king of Syria was making war against Israel; and he consulted with his servants, saying, ‘My camp will be in such and such a place.’ And the man of God sent to the king of Israel, saying, ‘Beware that you do not pass this place, for the Syrians are coming down there.’” - II Kings 6:8-10.
Researchers at the University of California at Berkeley are building a tiny robot. Known affectionately as ``robofly,'' the gadget is a flying robot about the size of a housefly. It even looks a like a fly, although it will have four wings instead of two and one eye instead of two. The US government is funding the project with $2.5 million and they want to see robofly dodging flyswatters by 2004. Teresa McMullen of the Office of Naval Research said, ``the potential application of a robot based on a fly might be, in an urban environment, clandestine surveillance and reconnaissance.'' We would never have guessed Teresa! In other words, that fly might be a spy. Just the thing for keeping tabs on terrorists or citizens.
“And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment. Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him, And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.” - I John 3:23-24.
We have to wonder if it had been a human being would there have been the same amount of concern? Now God is concerned about cattle (Jonah 4:11) but they are not made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27). Our concern for animals and disdain for humans may come from our experience with them. There is usually a good reason when an animal attacks and few of us have been on the receiving end. I have been chased by a cow but most people in Florida have probably not had the experience. However, nearly all of us have been on the receiving end of verbal or physical attacks from other humans. I believe there is something in us that wants to show concern, that wants be kind, that wants to love. It is because we were made in the image of God and God is love (I John 4:8).
It may be difficult (It was difficult for Jonah.) but it is God’s will and His command for us to be kind to each other and to love each other. We will never really be able to experience love until we begin to love each other. The next time we see someone stuck in the mud let us give them some help and demonstrate that we are truly made in the image of God (I John 3:18).
“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think (imagine), according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” - Ephesians 3:20-21.
How true Dr. Kulichev’s observation is! Prayer does not just happen. There must be a conscious effort on the individual’s part to pray. Usually, in order to pray something else must be given up to make time for prayer. For us to have a “Sweet Hour of Prayer,” as the hymn describes prayer, what would we have to give up? What would be necessary in our lives for us to have an hour of prayer? What priorities would need to be rearranged?
I read a story in Reader’s Digest (I think the year was around 1984.) written by a woman who began to pray for an hour a day. She had to begin her day an hour earlier to spend the hour in prayer. Her testimony was that it had completely changed her life and the life of her family for the better.
“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.” - I Peter 5:8-9.
There was a new Christian scandal, which surfaced in the United States a few years ago. The president of conservative Hillsdale College in Michigan resigned. He resigned after his daughter-in-law confessed a 19 year long affair. She has since committed suicide. It is shocking and at the same time so very sad for this family and for this college. This scandal is only the most recent of a continuing saga of well-known Christians to have their immoralities publicly exposed.
Billy Graham has done some research, which reportedly shows at least 90 percent of Christians in the US are living defeated spiritual lives. The scandal at Hillsdale is shocking but does it really surprise us? It should serve as a warning of our own human weakness and fallibility. 90 percent living defeated spiritual lives? Most likely this includes some of us and if so how long before we crash and burn as well?
“This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” - John 15:12.
It always warms my heart when I hear of how love overcomes. The title of a newspaper article I read that tells of that kind of love is “Daughter’s love unites husband, father.” The daughter fell in love and married, Sean, who is a paraplegic because of a motorcycle accident. She says he reminded her of her father who has health problems as a result of a wound received in Vietnam. Chanda’s parents initially resisted the relationship but now there is an increasing bond of love between them. It may have something to with Sean and Chanda’s Dad both being new Christians.
Have a relationship problem? Try filling up with the Love of God.
“A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.” - Matthew 12:35.
The National Security Agency in the US reportedly is using technology to monitor keywords contained in emails. Of course, it has been believed for many years that telephone conversations are also monitored for keywords, which would indicate threats against the country or president. We see the progression: telephone conversations, email communications and next? It may be that spy satellites can nearly read the lips of those in its sights but how long before they can listen in? Or are they already? We can only hope and pray that they can listen in on Osama Bin Ladin and his leadership team!
We fear the ability of government to intrude on our most private moments. Sometimes we think out loud and don’t really mean what we say. Or, maybe we do and we wouldn’t want others to hear! Sometimes we click the send button when we haven’t really thought carefully through every word we have written.
“When a man’s ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.” - Proverbs 16:6-7.
“But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you.” - Luke 6:27-28.
What do you do when you have an enemy? Keep on living for the Lord, pray for your enemy, and do good things to your enemy (Luke 6:29-36). I have had few enemies in my life, however, I know when I have retaliated it simply escalated the problem to a new level of hostility. But when I have refused to respond to evil with evil but instead responded with good my enemies have been neutralized. God has a way of redirecting the attention of our enemies. Some people just enjoy causing trouble and problems for others. It makes them feel powerful and in control. When we fail to react as they had hoped over time they grow tired of their game and look for others to trouble.
Praying for your enemy is a powerful weapon. It was through prayer that Jacob knew it was time to return to the land of his fathers (Genesis 31:1-13). As a result of obedience to God’s direction Laban was neutralized. Laban it seems had a dream warning him not to harm Jacob (Genesis 31:24). We know Jacob had left his homeland because Esau his brother was planning to kill him. However, after Jacob had wrestled with the Lord all night (Genesis 32:24-32) Esau was neutralized (Genesis 33).
God says, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay (Romans 12:19).” We should let God take care of it. Pray for our enemies and do good to them. God may appear to them in a dream telling them to leave us alone. Or, God may give them a change of heart toward us. Or, God may give them some other things to occupy their attention. When your enemy comes to destroy send God to the door. Your enemy will be surprised and God will overcome him.
“...if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.” - Ephesians 4:21-24.
Harry Truman while president of the United States in 1948 made a shocking discovery of the condition of the White House. When the honor guard marched him to a state dinner the crystal chandelier in his study swayed. When the butler walked in with breakfast Truman could feel the whole floor wobble. He called for engineers to examine the structure. The chief engineer reported the ceiling in the state dining room was only staying up from force of habit. Truman made a tough decision. He had the entire inside of the White House gutted. It was all torn out and rebuilt with only the shell remaining. When it was rebuilt it was with a steel framework which makes it as strong as any modern building.
There are many of us who wonder about the history that must have been lost in such a drastic reconstruction. Many were attached to the well worn floors with the smells of decades of momentous occasions. In much the same way we grow attached to our old lives, our old sins, our old circumstances, and habits. So when we are born again (John 3:3), becoming a new creature in Christ with old things passing away and all things becoming new (II Corinthians 5:17) it is a drastic change! Our old lives have been gutted and a complete reconstruction has taken place.
Have you been living in a tent? Why not get out of there and try out the new place!?
“My times are in your hands.” - Psalm 31:15.
So, what is the solution or is there one? I don’t have it but there is One who does. Who invented time? In whose hands are the times of our lives? God! How can God possibly do anything to improve my schedule or organize my life? God is the master scheduler, the master organizer. Why do I say that? He created the universe, world, all creation on a schedule that would be a nightmare for anyone else. Six days and rested on day seven. Right on schedule and everything worked! How can God do anything with our lives? You may be thinking it would take a miracle but you have to remember our God is a God of miracles. He is used to making the impossible into the possible. How? I don’t know He just does.
The bottom line is that if we trust God with our time by investing in prayer, bible reading/study, church attendance, and service the time will not be lost. Instead, God will add time back to our lives by organizing and improving our lives. Quality will be increased. God was an expert at quality time long before it became popular. Our energy level will be increased and our health will improve from what it would have been without God. When you are too busy to pray, too busy to read His Word, too busy to go to church some would say you are too busy. The truth is those are the times when you need to pray even more, read His Word more, be even more faithful in church attendance. Try it. He will not disappoint you!!
Commitments by themselves do not a Christian make. But can there really be a Christian without any commitments?
My mother for a short period of time had a pet snake. She had caught it and put it in a cage outside. Whenever she fed the snake she would always have to wear leather gloves because the snake would try to bite her. It didn’t matter how long my mother kept the snake or how much time she spent with the snake it would still try to bite her.
We are told in Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death.” Sin is much like my mother’s pet snake. It doesn’t matter how much time we spend with our pet sin it is still going to give us death. Actually the more time we expend upon our sin the more death that we will receive.
“The mind of sinful man is death.” We have a choice each day. Let us choose life and peace!
“So Moses went into the midst of the cloud and went up into the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.” - Exodus 24:18.
Isn’t it interesting how we usually find time to do the things we want to do? Not only do we find the time but we also find the energy to do those things. One of the things many of us have a desire to do but seem unable to accomplish is the spending of more time with our Lord. We have a desire to have the quiet time, to pray and to study His Word more but we don’t seem to be able to fit it into our schedule. There are so many things we have to do. We have to work; there are the family responsibilities, church responsibilities, and community responsibilities. By the time we finish with everything else we have little energy for a quiet time unless it includes sleep.
How was it that Moses was able to spend forty days and forty nights on the top of Mount Sinai? How was Jesus able to spend forty days and nights fasting in the wilderness? Moses and Jesus were supernaturally empowered by God. God provides supernatural energy for seeking Him and serving Him. Reorganize your priorities. Wake up thirty minutes earlier and spend that time with God. God will then provide the energy you need for everything else during the day. It is a matter of faith. Do you believe God has the power? If so do you believe He can and will do it in your life?
In Romans 3:23 the Bible says, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” Before we can have salvation we must first realize our need for a Savior. Before we can be forgiven of our sins we must first realize that we have sinned.
One of my first experiences with sin that I remember was when I was four or five years old. My mother had brought us with her to do the shopping and I noticed a large glass bowl full of small knives. These knives were shiny and glittery. The green one was the one that I wanted. But it cost five cents and I didn’t have five cents and I knew my mother wouldn’t give me the money. So I reached into the bowl and took the green knife. I was a thief. I knew it was wrong but I did it anyway. It was definitely sin.
Usually I can tell that story to a group of people and ask them if they have ever stolen anything and most will hold up their hand. I can then ask if they have ever disobeyed their parents and usually the rest will hold up their hands. Or have they ever cheated, or lied, or deceived anyone?
I was a Christian but I still remember having a discussion with a man working with me. In this discussion I came to realize that it wasn’t just the things that I did or didn’t do that could be sin. I suddenly realized that I could sin through my thoughts. Taking those thoughts captive (2 Corinthians 10:5) was not an easy thing to do. At that point there was definitely a war raging between my old nature and my new nature.
Have you sinned? Have you called upon the name of the Lord? Do you know someone else that needs a Savior? Why not let them in on the Good News? I wish I had heard about it when I was a little boy with a green knife in my pocket.
“These things I write to you though I hope to come to you shortly; but if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.” - I Timothy 3:14-15.
There are so many wonderful benefits from church attendance that it would be difficult to list them all. So many people that I talk to say that they just do not have time for church because of the busy lives they lead. However, if they could somehow comprehend the benefits church provides for them they would never miss a service. Taking a few hours a week to attend church services will when done faithfully bring order and coherence to every area of our lives. Instead of taking away time from us church attendance brings quality to every hour we live.
One of the more recent studies demonstrating the importance of church attendance is a Canadian psychiatric study. The study measured the impact of religious commitment with psychiatric patients. The results demonstrated that those patients “who worshipped more often also benefited more.” The study was published in the March 28, 2002 issue of the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry.
The apostle Paul writing to Timothy also describes the importance of the church. The church is “the pillar and ground of the truth.” To take the church out of your life or to leave the church out is to leave out the “truth.” In many ways leaving the church out is to leave out the spiritual reality or truth of every situation and circumstance. However, when we include truth, the church we can sense a “meaning” and “coherence” in every area of our lives.
Once you establish the habit of church attendance you will never want to abandon it because you will know the difference that it makes for you and your family. Let us not forsake the assembling of ourselves together (Hebrews 10:25) as the church of the Living God.
“Indeed, we put bits in horses’ mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body. Look also at ships: although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires. Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell.” - James 3:3-6.
“Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so.” - James 3:10.
A survey conducted by Public Agenda found that 79% believe that the lack of respect and courtesy in the United States is a serious problem and most believed it was becoming worse. Surprisingly many people admitted during the survey that they were rude themselves and more than a third admitted to using foul language in public. Those surveyed blamed their rudeness on a variety of things from overcrowding in public places to busy lives. Some researchers such as Harvard University professor Robert D. Putnam say that rudeness is a result of increasing social isolation in our society.
Being a pastor I live in a somewhat sheltered environment rarely hearing a rude or unkind word because people are careful what they say when they are around me. I have heard the argument from some people that they cannot control their speech but this is not true. We can control what we say if we have a desire to do so. No, it will not be without effort but we can do it just as people usually control what they say when they are at church or visiting with their pastor.
While I was a parole officer a young man was brought into the city jail on several offenses. At first I didn’t know who it was uttering the foulest most offensive language I had ever heard. When I asked the jailer I found out it was a son of a couple that went to our church and I knew the young man. When I walked up to the cell and said “hello” the tirade instantly ended and he said “Mr. Wrather.” He began speaking in a completely different way including phrases such as “yes, sir,” and “no, sir.” Since that time he has gone from bad to worse and has been in prison for several years. I still have hope, however, that this young man will turn to God.
Our social isolation will end as we become fully functioning members of the body of Christ (Hebrews 10:24-25).
“A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” - Luke 6:45.
The Fire Department in Denver, Colorado received a strange emergency call from the nearby city of Montbello. The woman who called claimed to be trapped in her home by tumbleweeds that had filled up her yard jamming against the house. Not only did they fill up her yard they had risen to a height of 16 feet. A spokesman for the Fire Department said there were “thousands” in the woman’s yard.
We have to wonder at what point did the woman in Montbello decide to call for help. Most likely the tumbleweeds piled up over a period of several hours or even days. She apparently waited until the situation was completely out of control. But the important thing to note is that she did finally ask for help.
When the weeds of bad thoughts, evil thoughts, impure thoughts are piling up in our heart at what point do we ask for help? At what point do we decide that instead of constantly imputing thoughts that are damaging we instead store up thoughts that are good? Do we wait until they have piled up to such a point that we are trapped? Do we wait until out of our mouths are coming hateful evil relationship damaging words? Do we wait until we are unable to make a good decision because our hearts are so polluted with evil?
We must be aggressive in controlling those weeds of evil thoughts or they will quickly overrun and ruin our lives. In Proverbs 4:23 we are told to “keep” our hearts or “guard” our hearts. We must filter or bring into subjection every thought, everything that enters our lives. The Bible tells us how to do that in II Corinthians 10:4-5, “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strong holds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” In the Name of Jesus we must take captive, take control of every thought, everything that enters our lives. If those thoughts are evil we must take them captive in the Name of Jesus protecting out hearts from those evil weeds.
We must not wait until we are trapped and even destroyed by the weeds of the world. Guard your heart, take captive the evil in the Name of Jesus, and fill your heart with all the good things of God.
“To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled.” - Titus 1:15.
In Albuquerque, New Mexico Amadeo Salguero was arrested for the carjacking of an Acura at the point of a gun from three people. The Acura had an excellent stereo system which most likely was what Salguero was after. Salguero was having difficulty operating the system and so he called one of his victims and asked, “I don't want there to be hard feelings, but, hey, how do you hook up your amp?" The call was traced to Salguero’s cell phone who lived just across the street from where the carjacking occurred.
One translation of Titus 1:15 instead of “defiled” says “corrupted” and both words could be used. With Amadeo Salguero we see a corruption of his conscience. His conscience is so corrupted that he sees little wrong with robbing someone at gunpoint. I’m sure he was quite shocked when the police arrived to arrest him after his call for help about operating the stereo system.
The solution for uncorrupting a corrupted conscience is found in Hebrews 9:14 which says, “How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” Once our conscience has been cleansed we should strive to keep it that way as we see in the example of the apostle Paul who says, “I have hope in God, which they themselves also accept, that there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust. This being so, I myself always strive to have a conscience without offense toward and men (Acts 24:16).” In other words Paul strived always to keep his conscience clear or pure. We must do the same!
“Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea.” - Revelation 21:1.
Even before 1990 there had already been 59 or so failed end of the world predictions. Others say there have been 200 or more failed predictions and it may be there have been many more, which were not widely recorded. Would it make any difference in the way we live if we had a date as to when the end would occur? As Christians we will never know the precise date but we do know the end is coming.
He who is slow to wrath has great understanding, but he who is impulsive exalts folly. A sound heart is life to the body, but envy is rottenness to the bones. - Proverbs 14:29-30.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. - Galatians 5:22-23.
The good news, the great news, the wonderful news today is that Jennifer Wilbanks is alive and well!! The sad news is that Jennifer is a runaway. She is a runaway from at the very least the stress of a huge wedding that kept growing and growing. For a week, Jennifer Wilbanks of Duluth, Georgia was thought to have been kidnapped. As it is now known, she went out for a run and took a bus to Albuquerque, New Mexico. Jennifer is 32 years old and was to be married today in a huge wedding with some 600 guests expected. No one except the police gave any consideration to the possibility that Jennifer had skipped out on the biggest event of her life.
The actions of Jennifer Wilbanks may seem strange for some and for others of us they may be understandable. I think most of us have been under such stress at times that it would have been wonderful to have that stress removed from our lives. Very few would have taken the actions that Jennifer has taken but many have taken similar actions. Because every day across this world, there are people who have had all that they can take and they simply drop out. They drop out of their careers, lives, families and they leave it all behind. Some, most, tell others what they are doing and some do not. Stress works havoc on our emotions and can lead to making major mistakes. In fact, it can lead to destruction of most everything that is good in our lives when we let our emotions take control.
You can prevent a runaway in your life by having more and more of Jesus in your life. The more of Jesus that you have in your life the more of the “fruit of the Spirit” that you will have in your life. Continuing to grow day by day as a child of God will protect you from self-destruction. To grow you must take advantage of the resources of God. The three primary resources of God are the Bible, prayer, and the church. Are you reading the Bible? Are you praying? Are you faithful in attending church if you are physically able? If not you are just asking for trouble and heading for a…runaway.
(Please note: The Training Manual is a work in progress. There are many subjects that need to be touched upon in a work such as this. So if you have questions feel free to contact me and I will try to answer your questions. If I cannot hopefully I can point you toward someone or some work that can.
Copyright 1996 - 2002. Ed Wrather. Permission is given for use of this material on a non-profit basis with source credited. | 2019-04-25T20:44:04Z | http://fbc-chataignier.org/resources/New_Christian_Manual.htm |
This might be the last comparison I can make depending on how the Korean drama version continues. It’s been awhile, but they did not play a President game in the 3rd round of the competition in the Japanese drama and I’m not certain they ever played such a game in the course of the series and movies.
One thing to note. I said in my last post that it seemed like Akiyama was much nicer to Nao than Woo Jin is to Da Jung. Oh, Woo Jin isn’t horrible to Da Jung, but he’s definitely a lot rougher in his treatments in trying to shove her out of the game. This round actually has him being better than Akiyama believe it or not! While a good portion of the drama does focus on the game, the Korean drama shows a lot happening outside of it and that brings a richer meaning and more depth at times.
In this version of the game, the game is altered a bit, so I’ll explain both versions. In this version, anyone who lost in the second round was eligible to participate. You could bring whatever personal items you wanted in hopes of trading and bargaining. Everyone was given a checkbook full of coupons they could use to make trades. Once the trade had been approved, you get penalized if you break the contract in any way. You get a voting slip with 5 blanks. You are not allowed to write down your own name and you are not allowed to leave any spot blank. If you do you are disqualified from the game. At the end of the game, whoever has the lowest amount of votes will be kicked out and saddled with even more debt.
Like the Japanese drama, yes you can bring whatever personal items you want. Yes, you can make trades with game money in a special app on the smartphone they provide you and you are penalized if you break the rules of that contract. That’s all the same. The difference just comes in how they are allowed to vote. In this game each player is given three stars in each round and again cannot vote for themselves. The person with the least amount of starts is restructured, aka laid off. And we all know due to the contract they signed when entering the show that means more and more debt.
At the end of the previous game when Nao was freed from her obligation to play, Cop came and revealed Akiyama’s tragic past. He’s a young man studying psychology whose mother became seriously ill. A friend of hers came to her with a job opportunity that would allow her to work only when she was well enough to do so. Mrs. Akiyama later tried to leave the organization, but that involved paying a huge penalty and her debts spiraled out of control until she kills herself to end the debts and secure her son is able to financially finish school. After that, Akiyama set out to avenge his mother and that landed him in jail. Because Nao is like his mother, that is why he could not refuse her request. Thus Nao is guilted into continuing to the revival game as her goal has now become to save Akiyama.
She arrives at what looks to be an old arcade and meets several other players from the previous round including Mushroom icon of betrayal Fukunaga. Since the remaining 8 players cannot afford to pay back their debt, they are there to stay in the game in hopes of finally earning enough money to break free. Everyone is given a chance to leave without incurring more debt…of course the LGT offices will immediately send someone to collect the rest of the money they still owe and that’s what keeps anybody from leaving. Only after they are locked in is it revealed the winner gets a special bonus while the loser’s game money is split between the remaining safe players and the debt increases even more.
Compared to round two, everyone is calm and relaxed from the start as they all know he is about to be restructured and sent home—Fukunaga. This is their payback for his betrayal in round two. Fukunaga comes over and asks about a game of ice breaker. He gets everyone to talk about their debts and how much money they owe. Nao is slated to go last and Fukunaga points out when it’s her turn that she presently has no debt because she won money in the last round, right? True. Then why is she there when she doesn’t need to be? Knowing Nao is debt-free has everyone else turn their backs on the young woman. They won’t talk to her or look at her. I guess they don’t care that if she is restructured, what money she has left is NOT enough to save her from taking on a huge debt she cannot afford to pay.
There is exactly one hour between each round of voting. Fukunaga does approach Nao at this time before the first vote session to tell her that what he did was an attempt to save both himself and her. Given what he pulled, no one would vote for him, so he had to shine the light on Nao being in the black and not the red. Fukunaga then genuinely (by this I mean his acting is really so good that he does appear very genuine and earnest) offers a plan to save them both. All they need to do is vote solely for each other in every round and they will come out on top. Fukunaga also tells her that whoever falls behind in the first round will be the ultimate loser. Nao doesn’t like thinking of anyone as losing the game, but is happy to have a way to stay in it to save Akiyama.
The game begins and after the first round Nao is startled to see she has gotten no votes. Fukunaga gloats over his betrayal. I know Nao is a trusting person and she really is made out to be rather stupid, more so than Da Jung, but how on earth can she trust that man after everything he has already pulled. He really is the original icon of betrayal in a game. The rounds speed by and Nao continues to not receive a single vote and people continue to avoid and ignore her. Eto, whom she protected from Fukunaga’s violence in the second round hands over a drink free of charge and then explains that Fukunaga came to them after making a deal with her. He then offers to sell them his betrayal to ensure that Nao is the one who leaves, sparing the others from incurring more debt. Of course they take this chance to save themselves. Eto really regrets that he cannot help her at all, because Fukunaga had them all right out M Tickets stating who they were voting for in each round. This means they have contracts and will forfeit everything if they break them.
Fukunaga scolds Eto for talking to now and shoves him into lockers. Eto picks himself up and runs out as Nao tries to keep Fukunaga from hurting him again. Fukunaga does offer a deal. He shows her a deck of cards, one has two backs—a misprint. He then asks if she likes light or darkness. Nao says light and Fukunaga tells her the joker card is hers while the double back card is his. If Nao draw the Joker card face down, she wins. If she draws the double back card, Fukunaga wins. Whoever has the most wins at the end of round 10 is the winner overall. Fukunaga will hand over several votes if loses and Nao will hand over half of her game money if she loses. The game commences and she does lose. Fukunaga congratulates her on being both stupid and horribly unlucky. Nao is at a loss and Eri wonders what she will do as she will lose at this rate. Nao knows this, but what can she do?
Meanwhile outside of the game, Cop finds Akiyama and reveals something shocking—the CEO that died after Akiyama destroyed MLM is NOT the ultimate person behind that organization. This means Akiyama’s revenge is not complete yet. Of course Cop doesn’t go into details and disappears. Akiyama then gets a call that has him running like madman. Who called? We can all assume it was probably Eri telling him about Nao’s grand losing streak.
Nao is all depressed in the darkened locker room when Akiyama comes in. He isn’t horribly gentle, but he’s not horribly rude either. He’s just stating the facts and has Nao tell him everything. After hearing about Fukunaga’s game, Akiyama tells her it wasn’t bad luck, but a trick. It may seem like a 50/50 chance, but the odds were more in Fukunaga’s favor since his card always counted while Nao’s wouldn’t if it was pulled face up. Akiyama then tells Nao how to proceed to get back at Fukunaga.
Nao approaches Fukunaga and he’s sweating bullets that she has discovered the truth behind his trick. He is immensely relieved that she wants to play again and not accuse him of cheating. The rules are essentially the same. Fukunaga will give up a smaller portion of his stars and Nao will have to give up all of her remaining money. Fukunaga keeps the double-sided card while Nao keeps the Joker. Nao surreptitiously makes a thumbnail mark on Fukunaga’s card before the game begins. Nao plays the game normally until the score is 5 to 9. She does make comments about it being strange that with a 50/50 chance her card does not come out more. This makes Fukunaga hurry through the rounds. Nao then uses this time to change her luck. She feels for the double-sided card and pulls out the opposite one consecutively. Fukunaga accuses her of cheating, but Nao reiterates its 50/50, so how is that so? Fukunaga clams up and in the final round, Nao wins! Fukunaga explodes and accuses her of cheating, but finds no mark on the Joker and Nao wonders why his winning is fair, but hers is cheating. Fukunaga runs away angry.
During the next voting round, everyone is shocked to see several of Fukunaga’s stars transfer to Nao. They didn’t even know that was possible. Afterward, Fukunaga tells Nao it doesn’t matter as she still can’t win. He walks away and Nao says she is only pretending to be weak in front of Fukunaga. During the next break, she slowly begins to make her moves. Akiyama has instructed her to lie and she goes around from player to player telling them all the same story. She has just learned that a player in another game has dropped out so that means that one loser will be allowed to re-enter the game. Currently the lowest scoring loser has 19 votes. Nao needs 20 to pass. In exchange for the votes needed, Nao will give up all of her remaining money.
When the 9th round commences, everyone is startled to see Nao’s starts jump to over 70! What just happened. Nao apologizes for conning them and Akiyama makes his grand entrance. What’s he doing there? Eri confirms that Akiyama is simply Nao’s personal belonging that she can utilize however she wants. Akiyama is arrogant and ruthless and says that Nao controls the game and everyone’s life and death. If they don’t want to lose, buy her stars to stay in the game!
Nao is really displeased with Akiyama’s plan, but he does not care. His goal is to make Nao the supreme winner with ALL the game money. You reward loyalty, punish betrayal. Those 8 need to be punished and Akiyama will see to it that they are. Nao’s only job is to choose the loser in the end—the person she hates most. Once she’s done that, she must retire from the game completely with her astronomical winnings.
We see everyone come to Nao for stars as well as Fukunaga. Since she has until the beginning of the 10th round to pay everyone the money she promised, her contracts aren’t invalid yet. Akiyama brokers deals to ensure that each player breaks even with Nao’s debt. This means that she is not in breach of any earlier contract. Towards the end, Nao is really getting frustrated with Akiyama’s coldness and demands he let her do things her way. Akiyama does eventually agree to this, but I don’t think he realizes just what Nao’s grand scheme really is. She complained that in the second game there was a way to save people and she sees one, too, in this game. She will put her happy ending in place.
During the final round, everyone is on tenterhooks and pleading with Nao who calmly and coldly says she has made her choice and won’t change her mind. Fukunaga takes this to mean he’s getting restructured. The votes are shown. Nao is the winner! Not shocking. What is shocking is that she chose ETO to be in last place! This astounds the others. Wasn’t Eto the one who was nice to her from the beginning? Nao agrees to this and says that his kindness really made her happy. Then why? Now comes a grand speech from Nao. She saw this as an opportunity not to hurt one person, but to save them. Since Eto was good to her, she is saving him by making him lose. She has all the money in her hands now, plus she gets a bonus and part of Eto’s game money. She hands over the money to clear his debts and get himself out of the game. Eto is very touched by this.
Nao then explains that if they just work together instead of fighting each other, then they can all win with no debt. From the start of round 1, LGT incurs a huge debt for each pair of players. The winner returns half the money, but LGT is still in debt. By collecting the amount from the loser, they break even. When the winner withdraws, they are now in the good with extra money. And it works that way for each round. The others are amazed and think back…that’s right! Turns out Nao isn’t as stupid as we necessarily think. She explains it is the same for the second game. All they had to do was agree to split everything evenly among themselves, back out of the game and then LGT will not get any profit and no one will incur debt.
After giving Eto the money to clear his debts and save himself, Nao divides the winnings between the members so she does not have enough to withdraw. Akiyama is not happy with this…but he isn’t yelling at her or washing his hands of her. He simply tells her it’s time to go home. Just as he will not be withdrawing from the next round, he knows Nao will stubbornly insist on staying in to not only help save him, but all the other players. Just at they are about to leave, men come in and drag the winning players out and Eto is forced to the ground to keep him from following. He does yell out Nao’s name. Straight from this round, the Contraband Game will start and a new and formidable opponent connected to Akiyama will surface.
Before we even enter into the resurrection round, we get lots of scenes revolving around Dal Goo, Woo Jin, Da Jung, and Do Young. I already said in my last post that Woo Jin catches Dal Goo in the act of stealing Da Jung’s winnings from round 2. Woo Jin is so blasé about Da Jung remaining in the game and this incites our loan shark who is essentially Da Jung’s stand-in father/uncle in a way. He tries to fight Woo Jin after yelling at him for not paying Da Jung’s debt as promised. After he fails he yells about L Company being the downfall of Da Jung’s father. Woo Jin then learns that when he manipulated the stocks of L Company, he essentially destroyed Da Jung’s life. Sure, her dad was at fault, too. But still. I think between revenge and guilt, he’ll help Da Jung even though he says they are now enemies.
So what about Da Jung? She’s supposed to go to work when she gets a call from Do Young. She refuses to meet him outside of the game and he cancels her work schedule and asks how much time she needs. Da Jung is going to a photo shoot! An actress dropped out and they called up Do Young. There apparently is a clause in the Liar Game contract that members are expected to do such things now. Da Jung is dressed up prettily and does a semi-awkward photo shoot before being taken to a hotel for dinner. She balks at this and Do Young gets her to come up to his room with him by stating Woo Jin is also invited. Riiiight. But the girl is gullible, so she believes him.
No, Woo Jin is investigating things with his female reporter buddy. Ja Young or something like that. He’s floored when he gets Da Jung’s call and hurries to the hotel. Before he gets there, Do Young lays out his whole sordid past and explains that Da Jung is just like his deceased mother. Enter Woo Jin. Are they talking badly about him? Woo Jin also does not like the idea of this dinner. Do Young replies he will take all participants out to dinner and started with their ratings champs first.
The next day Woo Jin continues his investigations into the losing players, L Company, and Do Young while Da Jung goes to participate. Unlike in the Japanese drama, Da Jung, from the get go, asks to work together with everyone just like before. The others agree, but not in the revival round. When they make it to round three, then they will consider it. Like in the original series, our players start out relaxed because they all believe Betrayer X Jamie will be getting laid off. Even though Bulldog was saved by her, he still wants her out for her bigger betrayal. Jamie approaches and asks for them to hear her story as well as tell their own. Jamie talks about how she’s not the perfect daughter, but she’d like to do her family somewhat proud. The other members talk about their own lives and what drove them to debt and thus why they need to stay in the game. When it’s Da Jung’s turn, Jamie cuts her off since they already know her story, right? Jamie then throws pictures on the floor of a dressed up Da Jung with Do Young. Immediately the others turn on Da Jung. I don’t understand how they think that naïve girl could be as manipulative as Jamie says, but they quickly freeze Da Jung out.
After this Jamie proposes her deal to Da Jung. They will give each other their full stars in every round thus to ensure they don’t get restructured. I feel here that Fukunaga’s offer was more natural and believable as he did express what looked like genuine concern whereas Jamie expressed it coldly as the only way they can possibly survive. I would actually have been more willing to trust Fukunaga than Jamie for some reason. Anywho, Da Jung, who stupidly trusts before being suspicious of motives (remember Woo Jin constantly tells her to doubt in order to trust).
The first round voting takes place and Da Jung is shocked when Jamie does not keep her end of the deal. Dal Goo has watched everything from the audience and even goes to the mall where the players were transported. He reports everything to Woo Jin who is in the middle of his investigation. When he sees Da Jung getting trapped, he urges Woo Jin to hurry. Woo Jin promises to go to the mall as soon as he possibly can. He and the reporter are trying to locate the female player from the final four of round two, but she’s gone. It looks to be a run away job, but why would she leave her precious dog. No, she was abducted. Why? Woo Jin then manages to track her possible abductors back to an office in which he finds papers emblazoned with L Company in a shredder. He’s then hit from behind. He wakes up tied to a chair hanging off the edge of a building. Looks like this was the same thing he did to the CEO of L Company. Needless to say he’s struggling to get free while Da Jung is still being ostracized and keeps getting closer and closer to losing.
He breaks free and heads to the mall to meet with Dal Goo. Meanwhile, Da Jung is panicking, she tries to plead with people, but they ignore her. Finally Director Jang pities her and tells her what Jamie did. She sold her betrayal and then made everyone right contracts on their phones about who they will give their stars to. Since they all did that, they can’t renege or they will be in deep doo doo. Jamie scolds him for spilling the beans. He skedaddles and Jamie then offers her card game to Da Jung who takes up this last shot at possible survival. She chooses light and thus she gets the face card while Jamie gets the double-sided card. Da Jung’s first draw is her card so she is happy, but as the game commences, she becomes depressed and anxious. Needless to say Jamie wins and she dubs Da Jung both stupid and unlucky.
There are linebackers in suits guarding the mall. What to do? Dal Goo gets in a car and speeds around the place allowing Woo Jin to sneak in. He breaks into the employee section and cuts the power. He quickly dresses like a Liar Game staff member VJ and goes to find Da Jung. The two go to a place where there are no show cameras right after the lights come back on. Woo Jin explains he knows she’s losing astronomically and has her explain things. Da Jung does and Woo Jin explains that Jamie had a 50% chance while Da Jung in reality only had 25%. He then tells her what to do to keep her foot in the door and Da Jung listens closely.
PD-nim is watching the cameras with Do Young and is astounded to see Da Jung stupidly asking Jamie for another round. She didn’t learn her lesson did she? Do Young, meanwhile, is eagerly awaiting what comes next. Da Jung doesn’t disappoint. She turns the game around when Jamie is one hand away from winning and takes the win. Jamie is livid, but what can she do? She does assert to Da Jung that the stars she exchanged still won’t be enough to save her and stalks off.
After the voting reveal and the transfer of stars, Da Jung goes back downstairs where Woo Jin tells her what to do. Da Jung isn’t 100% sold on the plan, but she will listen as long as she gets what she wants—her game, not the Liar Game. Woo Jin actually readily agrees to this unlike Akiyama who was adamantly against Nao doing her own thing. Of course, Woo Jin does echo that people should be rewarded for loyalty and punished for betrayal. Anywho, Da Jung starts her plot by starting with our Congressional Assistant. She explains Jamie’s second duplicity and money and this gets the assistant on her side. He agrees to trade X amount of stars for the rest of Da Jung’s money. This shocks PD-nim who wonders how Da Jung could have come up with such a plan. Do Young is rather happy. Things are getting interesting.
The next vote happens and Do Young is there announcing that there was so many transfers that they are just going to show the final results. Da Jung shocking has a far lead over everyone. The other players are unhappy about her betrayal. Why would she do such a thing. Da Jung also tells Jamie that she’s the only reason that Jamie is not dead last, but tied for last with everyone else. Enter Woo Jin. He tells them all that Da Jung is now in control of the game. Of course Jamie is making a fuss over the identical contracts and Woo Jin assures everyone that Da Jung will have the money to pay everyone as promised. When they then complain about Woo Jin even being there, he himself claims to be Da Jung’s personal property. Absurd! He points to Pippi’s bird and says she has that while he is Da Jung’s angry and vicious guard dog who will stay by mistress’s side. Do Young is all for allowing this since the rules could be interpreted that way. Director doesn’t like it, but PD-nim takes the battery out of her phone and goes along with Do Young.
Ah, I forgot to mention this earlier, but when Jamie reveals the pictures before the first round to destroy Da Jung’s credibility, PD-nim questions Do Young who says that he did ultimately leak the pictures to make the game more fun. Sure, they will get the ratings, but at what cost are we getting them? This being a televised game show and this having hugely successful ratings tells you something about the kind of world we live in today, doesn’t it? It’s not good commentary at all.
Woo Jin announces an auction. Eventually all players start buying Da Jung’s stars. Like in the Japanese drama, Woo Jin makes it so the two contracts cancel each other out and any additional stars take all the players’ remaining earnings. When the hour is up, the players are transported back to the studio for the final reveal. They plead with Da Jung who says her mind is made up and the final voting is done and results revealed. One by one, our players are relieved to hear they are safe. Finally it’s down to Jamie and the fired company director who talked to Da Jung and revealed Jamie’s huge betrayal. Who do you think loses? The director. He breaks down and cries and yells about how he gave his life for his company, but he got fired when he had to care for his sick mother which sunk him deeply into debt.
Da Jung responds by saying she was really happy when he talked to her when no one else did. So then why? She then expresses how she saw a way to save him. With her bonus prize and other money, she will give it to him to repay his debt and rejoin his family. This makes everyone tear up. Da Jung also says she will share all of her winnings equally with the remaining members. She then expresses that this is what should be done, etc. Do Young even tears up. He struggles to hold back his emotions (I’m kind of being sarcastic hear as with him it’s hard to believe it’s not just plain acting) and then asks Da Jung what her future holds. She doesn’t know as she hasn’t thought about it. Do Young then says he could see her running a charity foundation…Woo Jin storms off the set.
They do NOT immediately go into round three. Da Jung goes home with Woo Jin where she reveals she’s hate the person who ruined her father. Then there are the after-game interviews. Do Young tries to get Woo Jin to announces his official relationship with Dad Jung. Woo Jin fakes being nervous and calls for a break. He’s given five minutes and both he and Do Young turn off their mikes. Woo Jin grills Do Young about L Company, but the man never gives up any information, although Woo Jin has a pretty good guess going on, but still doesn’t know everything.
Ah…and we get to see Da Jung be with Woo Jin during his mother’s death anniversary and we get to learn about Woo Jin’s past. It’s kind of funny and I never thought about this before, but here we have a girl who doesn’t know what it’s like to have a mother and only a father and here we have a man who only knows what it’s like to have a mother and not a father. Go figure.
Scenes for the next game show things going in a different direction than the contraband game, so I don’t know if I will do a Round Three comparison or not since it’s hard to compare rounds when they are completely different games, isn’t it?
Thank you! I’ve really enjoyed these comparison posts on both shows. It’s interesting to see what the kdrama decided to keep from the original, and where they decided to go their own route. As we get down to less eps I wonder how they will decide to wrap the storyline. I have know seen several kdrama remakes but in most cases never felt a big urge to see the drama they were originally based on, but this is the exception. I def want to watch the Japanese version.
I actually tend to watch the originals first. Not because I wanted to see the original before the remake, but because it came first and I ended up watching it and a few years down the road came remakes. I’m actually sometimes very reluctant to even bother watching a remake—especially if I’ve seen and enjoyed the original. Like with HanDan (which granted wasn’t the first…but still…) versus BoF and You’re Beautiful versus Ikemen desu ne.
American TV started rebooting old dramas that I loved. Meh. Talk about majorly disappointing turns of beloved shows. Oh…and they started making TV series out of favorite books of mine and completely destroyed them…tho Vampire Diaries is still very popular for whatever reason even though it bears no resemblance whatsoever to the actual book series its based on. And Secret Circle? What a horrible bust. Glad that was cancelled. | 2019-04-26T08:40:37Z | https://asianaddictsanonymous.com/2014/11/06/liar-game-resurrection-round/ |
You probably last saw Benj Pasek and Justin Paul bouncing with sheer joy on stage at the Oscars, having won—along with Justin Hurwitz—the Original Song award for “City of Stars” from La La Land.
The composers and lyricists were also on stage when that film, having just been announced as Best Picture, was just as suddenly not: Moonlight had in fact won. Cue much drama, tumult, mortification, celebration, and a thousand more think pieces. The pair talk about the moment in this interview.
We meet at Broadway theatrical haunt Sardi’s a week or so away from the Tony Awards on June 11, where the duo—known professionally as Pasek & Paul—are hoping their musical, Dear Evan Hansen, which is nominated for nine Tonys including Best Musical, will also do well but perhaps with less drama.
They themselves are nominated for the Tony for “Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre” for the musical, which focuses on the complex fallout of a teen suicide on a confused and misguided Evan, played by the Tony-nominated Ben Platt. He will soon materialize at Sardi’s this very afternoon for the unveiling of the caricature of his face, an honor bestowed on Broadway’s brightest.
Pasek and Paul are handsome, eloquent, young (31 and 32, respectively), and already being compared to other legendary, ampersand-linked composer-lyricists like Rodgers & Hammerstein and Kander & Ebb. Pasek grew up in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, the son of renowned developmental psychologist Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, while Paul, originally from Missouri, grew up from the age of 6 in Westport, Connecticut, where his father was a pastor. Pasek is gay and single; Paul is straight, married, and the father of a 14-month-old daughter.
The two became collaborators after attending the University of Michigan, where they studied musical theater and where they conceived their first piece, Edges. Their works include the multi award-winning and nominated A Christmas Story: The Musical (2010), James and the Giant Peach (2010), and Dogfight (2012). If they win for Dear Evan Hansen, it will be their first Tony Award, having been nominated for A Christmas Story in 2013. Their musical heroes include Stephen Sondheim, Stephen Schwartz, and Jeff Marx.
They have contributed music to TV series Smash and The Flash, and have composed many songs for The Greatest Showman, the big-screen P.T. Barnum biopic starring Hugh Jackman, set for a Christmas Day release later this year.
Pasek & Paul spoke to The Daily Beast about their childhoods, how they met, how they work, success, fame, the pressure to attain an “EGOT,” what’s coming next… and that controversy-streaked Oscars night. This is an edited distillation of the conversation.
After the drama of the Oscars, are you ready for the Tonys?
Pasek: I think so, it’s pretty exciting.
Paul: We don’t think of the Tonys in terms of the Oscars. We’re pretty excited. This is the Super Bowl of the musical theater world. The Tonys are something we grew up watching, and there were Tony-watching parties in college. That’s what everyone lived for. I’m very excited for the honor and the show of it, all together, with this extraordinary group of theater artists we consider our family—all in a room watching performances of all the shows. If we weren’t involved, I’d beg, borrow, steal to claw myself in.
Pasek: It’s such a robust season. It’s really exciting to be part of a season of so many musicals and shows featuring new writers and new scores. It feels like a really exciting time to be working in the Broadway community right now.
The Tonys is still a competition. Do you want to win desperately? Do you care about not winning?
Paul: It’s definitely a funny thing, shows being pitted against one another. One of the things we love about the world of writers is that there is no competition.
As an actor you might feel that way: We once tried to be actors in college and it was like, “That person got that part over me.” As writers, it’s such a giving and generous community, you never feel as if you’re in competition.
I guess it’s that one time of year that people are, but it’s hard to feel that way because what everyone has done is so different and everyone has such unique voices. It’s apples and oranges. What we do is so different to Dave Malloy on The Great Comet, Irene [Sankoff] and David [Hein] on Come From Away, and Tim [Minchin for Groundhog Day].
Pasek: A dinner is planned for all the other nominees next week.
Pasek: There’s a good saying that musicals are never finished, they’re just abandoned. And so we all feel we have abandoned children, things that you wanted to fix or work on. It’s good to have people around who understand that.
Are either of you frustrated actors in any way?
Paul: Thankfully no. We went to school to study performance because when you’re in high school there isn’t a major in writing musicals. There also isn’t a degree in it. The closest we could get was a performance degree. At college we realized there were so many different vocations and jobs in this sphere. You get to be part of this community. You get to work with these incredible, creative people.
What were you like as young boys?
Pasek: I was always writing songs as a little kid, and I started to write more formally at 11, when I would come up with things I could call a song. I really liked creating a musical diary entry, especially when going through adolescence. It was a great way to capture emotion: Music has emotion built into it. However limited my skills were or are, I liked that a diary entry could capture a moment in time.
Paul: I didn’t grow up writing music. I grew up playing a lot of music. I remember when in sixth or seventh grade my parents got me The Ultimate Broadway Fake Book, which had Broadway songs across eras and generations. I listened to cast recordings, played the piano parts, learned to accompany. I always thought I could be a musician or conductor, to be in “the pit” somehow. Then we started writing songs together in college, and so I took a new path.
Did you have early or formative inspirations?
Paul: I was lucky to go to school in a system where the arts was really valued. We had great theater programs growing up. Our high school did several Sondheim shows, which required you to think of music and text in a way you wouldn’t otherwise. Being in Into the Woods, and really coming to understand what had been written and why certain characters were saying those words, showed me there was a craft I just wasn’t aware of. That got me thinking about the craft of songwriting and the intention of it. That started to resonate a bit. Later we started to write. It clicked.
Did you come to Broadway as kids?
Did you have more conventional ambitions than entering theater?
Paul: I thought I wanted to go to law school. In my junior year of high school, I made my parents take me on a college tour which had nothing to do with music and musical theater. I was originally brought up in Missouri and had decided for some reason to go to the South. We went to Duke, Emory, Vanderbilt. In my senior year, someone convinced me to go to music school. My parents were fine. I don’t know what sane parent, if a kid is not begging to go to music school, would say, “You should go to music school and try to be a musician,” but they knew that’s what was really in my heart. They were fully on board.
Pasek: In high school, I didn’t know what to be or do at all, but theater always provided a really great community which I felt part of, a safe, wonderful space to be in, and to be part of that community was exciting to me. Mom was a developmental psychologist, so psychology was always very interesting to me: why we think what we think, and why we act how we act. All those interests got to congeal when we got to write. I loved making songs and making theater from a young age.
So when you met, did you know immediately you should work together?
Pasek: No, we didn’t have the ambition to be songwriters. We became songwriters because we got cast in really small roles in a school musical, and we felt like to really matter at this school, we really needed to do something unique.
We had written four songs in our freshman year for fun. And that was the thing we enjoyed doing. It was a passion thing. No one was telling us to do it or pushing us. We gravitated to it naturally. When we met, we were friends fooling around, and out of that came a very natural creativity and some sort of creative spark. We enjoyed it, being in a room together coming up with lyrics.
Paul: I feel like the nature of being in a music school, being in practice rooms and class together—all those struggling actors, singers, dancers, trying to find themselves—was important. Those basements of buildings at all hours playing clarinets and organs. It was a petri dish of general creativity.
Pasek: That’s what’s great about college: When collisions happen, they can be inspirational. There’s great joy in doing it, and in being silly and making up songs.
Paul: I mean this in a loving way: We were imitating songs we were singing in class. It was like, “What if we wrote songs like the songs we were learning in class?” We had amazing singers at our disposal. All our classmates were incredibly talented. Part of the creative spark was being able to write something, then call a friend at midnight and ask them to sing it. You got to throw all this creativity into a big pot and make something together.
Pasek: That’s when the best thing happens: When people are making something they love.
Your name rolls off the tongue very pleasingly, like Rodgers & Hammerstein, who you have been compared to.
How do you work together? Do you row? Work quietly?
Pasek: It changes every day.
Paul: We’ve been working together 12, 13 years. You establish a routine and rhythms. On any given day, it’s both of us sitting in a room both blankly staring at our computers or notebooks with no idea of what to write or do—one feeling passionate about it, the other not. There is an argument. Or commiserating. It really runs the gamut. “There can’t be a song here. “Why?” “Do you have to write that?” Anything and everything. We don’t usually face each other. I’m at an instrument, and he’s at a computer or notebook.
Because the basic division of labor is you, Justin, do the music, and Benj the lyrics and words?
Paul: It really does vary depending on the song. We can be together in the room for most of it, or very little, just part of it. We always start and finish together, and in between we can be remotely doing things. Or on the phone hashing it out or in the room. Or grinding through something that isn’t coming easily, line by line, writing it together. It’s certainly not a science.
Pasek: Every time you are writing a song, it feels like you’re starting anew, with a blank page and a question, and the tremendous insecurity that you won’t be able to figure it out.
There are high highs and low lows in collaboration. You fight, and you have those creative conflicts, but I also think writing can be an incredibly lonely experience. We go off into our own worlds, letting inspiration strike and being conduits for that.
I think it’s really wonderful to have somebody to bounce ideas off, whose opinions you trust and whose taste at least most of the time you respect. It makes it a little less lonely to go through the hard, dark, lonely bits of this if you are with somebody else.
Paul: That’s why it’s always comforting to be in a dark theater surrounded by colleagues and collaborators. I like being out of town working on something. People always find their way to the bar or restaurant at the end of the night where you find comfort when you’re feeling so vulnerable and insecure, and that you’re creating total garbage at any given moment.
Benj, Dear Evan Hansen has such an un-Broadway-like story of teen suicide and internet madness. It was based on something that happened at your high school, Benj. Did you know it could become a show?
Pasek: It was something Justin and I would speak about in college: how our high school classmates responded to loss and tragedy.
Paul: And how they communicated their desire to process that communally.
Pasek: There was also a real sense of how we are the most connected society we have ever been, and yet with that comes real loneliness and real isolation.
Part of the reason Justin and I became friends, I think, is that we love and are interested in observing people. We had similar observations about why people do things, and why you cover up sadness or make jokes at a certain time, and in having that common ground we were struck by it. This wasn’t something we ever thought was going to be a commercial success.
Paul: No, we vowed that it wouldn’t be.
Pasek: So we could write it as truthfully as possible.
Paul: We went into it saying, “We’re not doing this for any reason other than to write it on the page.” When the show went to Arena Stage [in Washington], we felt insecure because this was a high-profile local theater. If the show went there, people would talk about it.
Still, there are many shows like that that never come to Broadway, and we were very content to think that would be the life of the show. This play, those plays, are not written to be in a commercial space. We knew the world we wanted to write about. Our only thought was, “Wouldn’t it be interesting to write about that?” We didn’t have any sense of production or success, or anything in our heads at that time.
And now, given all the success it has accrued?
Paul: Every step has been a huge surprise, a really happy surprise. Without saying the show is “important” or super-meaningful, I will say that it’s really neat that there is a mainstream audience for a musical that tells a story like this that is not traditional in certain senses—in content or the way the story is told through lyrics, music, and dialog.
I don’t know if there are other times in history that this musical would have even gotten traction, because people back then were coming to Broadway looking for something else, so I’m really encouraged not just by our show but other shows that you wouldn’t think sound like big hits yet having really healthy audiences coming to see them.
It speaks really well of audiences and our society right now. A lot of people come to the theater looking for fun and entertainment, certainly, but also for a cathartic experience or an exercise in empathy, or being challenged in their beliefs.
Pasek: We’re finding a community of people who want to experience feeling together, and that’s really a beautiful thing.
Given the material, was this the toughest show you’ve worked on to date?
Pasek: Absolutely. We were very lucky to find Steven Levenson [who wrote the book] and Michael Greif [director], who has a lot of experience helming new shows.
Paul: This show wouldn’t have been any show without the two of them.
Pasek: Rent [which Greif directed] was a very influential show for me especially.
Paul [laughing]: He [Greif] would be a name in our tests in college. We were flies on wall watching him direct Next to Normal at Second Stage [Theatre]. Steven and Michael helped make Dear Evan Hansen more appealing and accessible in a human way.
Pasek: It was like Jenga. Every time we removed one of the pieces, which we did a lot, the show fell apart. We were constantly having to restructure, create new moments and new characters, new ends of Act I. Everything was up for grabs, everything up for conversation. We, as neurotic, relatively insecure writers, felt a little scared making decisions. Steven and Michael allowed us to build on something.
Are you both ruthless about your writing and work?
Paul: We say we are. We hope other people think we are.
Pasek: We got accused of being too ruthless.
Paul: I’m happy to be that. Some will say we’re rigorous, some ruthless.
Paul: Like most writers, we’ve had the experience of things falling flat. We’ve had the experience of a lot of “egg” on the stage because something isn’t working, or it’s not telling the story it needs to. We’re pretty willing to do away with whatever we’ve written. We never want to get in the way of the story.
Pasek: We definitely edit each other. We hopefully are good collaborators open to others’ ideas. We are always trying to serve characters and story. It doesn’t matter if he or I come up with the idea.
Paul: For Evan Hansen pretty much at every moment in the score there is another song that got tossed aside. When the plot shifts, that song suddenly didn’t fit.
Is composing for film different?
Paul: The writing isn’t different, the process is different. You don’t get a tryout like you do on stage. People talk in general terms of theater as a writer’s medium and film as a director’s medium. To some degree that’s true. We are serving the vision of the director and what they see in their heads. The song we see they may not, depending on how they cut it.
Pasek: The point of view is dictated by the director. But in a musical you dive into someone’s head. We approached La La Land like a stage musical, approaching songs through character and how to tell a story through song.
Did you think that particular song would win the Oscar?
Pasek: We are not conscious of that thing at all. We’re responding to what comes out of the character’s mouth, and what feels authentic and believable. We try to write the thing that is most real.
Paul: There’s no point predicting what is awards-worthy and what’s not.
Pasek: If you were to ask me what projects would have commercial success, I would never have thought Dear Evan Hansen and La La Land would. To butcher a Ryan Gosling line from La La Land: People become passionate about what you’re passionate about. If you feel passionate about something and put all your love into it, that’s the closest recipe we know to make something people enjoy.
Paul: That’s the contagious thing.
What was it like accepting the Oscar?
Pasek: I don’t remember it, it was like blacking out.
Paul: I don’t think we took a breath the whole time we were up there. It was very surreal.
How did you feel about the rest of the night, when Moonlight—not La La Land as initially announced—turned out to be Best Picture?
Paul: It was obviously a very intense moment. We were on stage when that happened. Look, at the end of the day, the voting was what it was. It was just unfortunate the way it went down. Without trying to point fingers, it was hard on our colleagues who we love very much and who had to go through this really crummy scenario. It was tough to experience. It definitely colored the night, but at the end of the day everyone involved feels very proud of what the movie was, and especially thinking of the audacity it took to make that movie and to make it the way they made it.
Pasek: In hindsight it doesn’t seem so audacious, but really when the film was being conceived, no one thought it would appeal to anyone.
Paul: I think all the awards for bravery and for pioneering go to the producers and the studio: That’s the way we think about it.
So you’re also on the EGOT path [those people who win an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony]. How do you feel about that?
Paul: It’s something that we don’t think about, intentionally so. It’s not something we want to engage ourselves in, or engage in conversation in. It’s obviously not the reason to do anything or to write anything.
As artists and writers, it’s not something we pursue or think about. Someone we know who talked about it said that you can tell when artists are writing something that they think could be award-worthy. I wouldn’t begin trying to predict what that is and what it isn’t, because we’ve seen things we never thought would be award-worthy that are and things we thought would be that aren’t.
Pasek: We’ll feel like that we’ve won if we get to keep writing.
Paul: In this moment we feel grateful. We’re aware this is a time people are interested in musicals. They want to go see Broadway shows. They want to see musical films like La La Land. Will they want to see another one? We’ll find out.
We grew up in a renaissance of Disney animated films, and that felt like an “Oh my gosh, what an amazing time.” Howard Ashman and Alan Menken were writing what they wanted in their voice.
Now shows like Hamilton have blown the field open. People want to come to see musicals in any form. We feel very excited to be writing at a time like that, but know that the window might close at some point. So we do what we can do in that time.
Has fame and success affected how you work, or brought new pressures to the work you’re doing?
Pasek: One of the great things is that writers are not famous in any way.
Paul: Let’s nix the fame part. It’s that thing that you’re only as successful as your last thing. Nothing will ever change the fact that whenever you have to write a new song, you have to sit down and stare at a blank page.
Paul: And ask: Are we going to be able to come up with something for this?
Pasek: There’s truly a tremendous insecurity. But I felt that insecurity at 19 when we started writing. And I feel that as a 31-year-old.
With what we do you can still sit for days and not come up with an idea. The muse does not strike you. Sitting and thinking of what to say or how something will sound does not change, and I don’t envision it changing.
We want to keep writing things we’re proud of, but we don’t feel burdened by what the world expects of us. There are things that we’re going to do that are going to fail. That’s statistically true. Looking at our writer heroes, they had shows that failed and flopped, and movies that nobody wanted to go and see.
We know how certain things depend on timing and factors that have nothing to do with the work. It can be dependent on the season or what people are hungry for at that moment. We’ve accepted that anything we do could be a total failure, and that’s fine.
Pasek: At the end of the day, we’re trying to hold each other accountable for being the best writers, best people, best creators we can be. He’ll call me out if I do a terrible job. I’ll call him out, and hopefully we’ll continue to build something we’re very proud of.
Paul: A Christmas Story is going to be the live Christmas special telecast on Fox. It will be fun to revisit that. We may write new songs if the story calls for it.
Pasek: We wrote that show a little while ago. It was pencils down maybe when we were 26. This is our chance to revisit it and make it as good as we can make it.
Paul: We’re in the very, very early stages of our next stage musical. I’m really excited about it and who we’re potentially collaborating with. I can’t talk about it yet, sorry.
Pasek: We love playing in the sandbox with people who inspire us creatively, and with this we feel like we’re back in the sandbox that’s very exciting to be in with people we want to be with to make something hopefully special. Beyond the subject matter, that’s the thing that’s thrilling us most at the moment.
Benj, you’re gay and single. Justin, you’re straight, married, and a Christian. What’s your dynamic like?
Pasek: We have very similar senses of what we like and taste and all that. We come from different backgrounds, and we consider that hopefully a strength.
Paul: We have different-looking lives in some ways. Hopefully that helps us cover more emotional ground.
Pasek: He’s a father of a 14-month-old. I don’t understand what it’s like to be a dad, but I might understand something else based on the experiences I’ve had.
Having friction is a very helpful thing to be your most creative self. If someone tells you that what you’re doing the first time is good, you never push yourself to see how much further you can go.
If he disagrees with me, if he comes with different angles and perspective, I go back and be more rigorous, more relentless and critical. It brings out the better writer and creative mind in me.
Paul: My favorite dinner conversations are ones with people with different points of view, little bits of argument, different backgrounds, and everyone still getting along. Hopefully my writing is more rich because of his different experiences and feelings.
Pasek [laughs]: How boring it would be if we agreed about everything all the time.
Dear Evan Hansen is at the Music Box Theatre, 239 West 45th Street, New York City. Book tickets through April 29, 2018, here. | 2019-04-19T22:32:35Z | http://www.thedailybeast.com/pasek-and-paul-got-the-oscar-now-will-they-win-the-tony |
This User Agreement ("Agreement") defines the terms under which Blue Gravity Hosting provides a user account. This Agreement is a binding contract between Blue Gravity Hosting ("Blue Gravity") and the individual or company ("User") defined when creating a user account on the order form.
BY COMPLETING THE FORM TO CREATE A USER ACCOUNT, USER AGREES TO BE BOUND BY THE TERMS OF THIS AGREEMENT, OUR ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY ("AUP") AND ALL AGREEMENTS, RULES AND POLICIES INCORPORATED HEREIN OR INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE. BLUE GRAVITY RESERVES THE RIGHT TO REVISE THIS AGREEMENT AT ANY TIME. USER'S CONTINUED USE OF SERVICE CONSTITUTES CONTINUED ACCEPTANCE OF THIS AGREEMENT.
For the management of services provided by Blue Gravity, a user account is used. A stand-alone user account can be created or a user account will be created as part of the process when ordering service.
User acknowledges that the contact information supplied when creating a user account or when modifying the contact information in the Account Manager will be the only information used by Blue Gravity to communicate with User. User agrees to immediately validate and update the contact information for the user account when necessary or upon notification from Blue Gravity to do so. User acknowledges that willfully providing false contact information may result in the suspension of the user account and some or all of the services associated with the user account.
User agrees that Blue Gravity is not responsible and will not be liable for disruption to any service as a result of User not able to receive notices of any kind because of invalid or out-of-date contact information.
A user account has an associated username and password. The username and password is used to gain access to tools necessary to manage services attached to the user account. Absolutely NO access will be provided without the user account's username and password. Blue Gravity is not responsible and will not be liable for unauthorized cancellations, modifications, or purchases made with the proper username and password combination. User acknowledges that the username and password should be guarded and not disseminated unless necessary.
In the event that User can not remember the username and password combination, Blue Gravity will provide the information provided the User can receive an email to the email address provided in the user account contact information, can validate an active credit card on the user account or provide details about a recent check or PayPal payment, or can provide proof of identity for the individual or company provided in the user account contact information. Blue Gravity will not provide the username and password under any other circumstances, no exceptions.
A user account can have a combination of accounts and services associated with it. When new service is ordered, the user account supplied on the order form is the user account to which the new service is associated. Existing accounts and services can be moved among user accounts provided the username and password of the user account to which the account or service is currently attached is supplied.
User acknowledges that the user account to which accounts and services is associated is the user account used to manage those accounts and services. User acknowledges that with the username and password of the user account, any account or service attached to the user account can be canceled or modified. Blue Gravity is not responsible and will not be liable for unauthorized changes made to accounts or services attached to a user account made with the proper username and password combination.
Blue Gravity will send notices concerning accounts and services attached to a user account via email to the email address provided with the user contact information. User agrees that notice to this address via email is sufficient for all notifications for all accounts and services. User agrees that Blue Gravity is not responsible and will not be liable for any outcome related to a notice not being received.
Blue Gravity will periodically send email messages to the email address provided with the user contact information containing promotions, specials or reminders about services offered. User acknowledges that the periodic messages contain information pertaining to an account or service User has with Blue Gravity. Blue Gravity will provide the User the option to opt-out of receiving promotional email messages only. Messages sent to User pertaining to an account or service already provided are not promotional and no option to opt-out of receiving them will be allowed.
Blue Gravity respects the privacy of every user. Blue Gravity will never disclose contact information of user accounts to any third parties other than the disclosure required for public contact information on domain name registrations if the contact information on a domain name is the same as that on the user account. Blue Gravity will never willfully sell, lease, or rent any personal information about user to any third party without permission.
User acknowledges that Blue Gravity will disclose any information requested by subpoena or court order. User acknowledges that Blue Gravity will fully cooperate with and will disclose any information requested pursuant to criminal or civil investigation by any Federal government or law enforcement agency.
User acknowledges that all agreements shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of California. User agrees that any dispute under any agreement may only be brought in a court in Los Angeles County, California. Any provision of this Agreement which is prohibited or unenforceable in any jurisdiction shall, as to such jurisdiction, be ineffective to the extent of such prohibition or unenforceability without invalidating the remaining provisions hereof.
User agrees to indemnify, defend and hold harmless Blue Gravity and its parent, subsidiary and affiliated companies, and each of their respective officers, directors, employees, shareholders, attorneys and agents (each an "indemnified party" and, collectively, "indemnified parties") from and against any and all claims, damages, losses, liabilities, suits, actions, demands, proceedings (whether legal or administrative), and expenses including, but not limited to, reasonable attorney's fees threatened, asserted, or filed by a third party against any of the indemnified parties arising out of or relating to User's use of Blue Gravity's services, any violation by User of the AUP, any violation by User of the Web Hosting Service agreement, if applicable, any breach of any representation, warranty or covenant of User contained in this Agreement or any acts or omissions of User. The terms of this section shall survive any termination of this Agreement.
This Acceptable Use Policy ("AUP") sets forth the principles that govern the use by customers of services provided by Blue Gravity Hosting ("Blue Gravity").
Services provided by Blue Gravity can be used to host any web site, send or receive any email communication, or forward or point through the Domain Name System ("DNS") or other means to any location provided the service, content, or products offered, displayed, or transmitted do not violate the laws of the United States or the State of California, any part of this AUP, and all rules, policies, and agreements incorporated herein or incorporated by reference.
BLUE GRAVITY RESERVES THE RIGHT TO REVISE THE ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY AT ANY TIME. CUSTOMER'S CONTINUED USE OF SERVICE CONSTITUTES CONTINUED ACCEPTANCE OF THIS ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY.
The sending of unsolicited bulk email ("Spam") or aiding, in any way, the sending of unsolicited bulk email including but not limited to promoting the sale or use of software or services to facilitate the sending of bulk email using any service provided by Blue Gravity is strictly prohibited. The sending of unsolicited bulk email using or referring to an email address or web site provided by Blue Gravity or a domain name using the DNS service of Blue Gravity, regardless of whether Blue Gravity's service was used to send the email, is prohibited.
Cross-posting messages to a large number of Usenet groups, posting unsolicited advertisements to web-based bulletin boards, or posting obscene or threatening messages anywhere while using or referring to an email address or web site provided by Blue Gravity or a domain name using the DNS service of Blue Gravity is prohibited.
The use of servers provided by Blue Gravity as a mail or message drop for responses to activities described above is prohibited. Linking from a web site provided by Blue Gravity under the hosting service or a web site using a domain name that uses the DNS service of Blue Gravity to providers of the activities listed above is also prohibited.
A web site or email address provided by Blue Gravity or a web site or email address using a domain name that uses the DNS service of Blue Gravity can not to be used to distribute "cracked" versions of copyrighted software (a.k.a. warez), serial numbers for copyrighted software or copyrighted multimedia files (i.e. music files or MP3s). Linking from a web site provided by Blue Gravity or linking from a web site using a domain name that uses the DNS service of Blue Gravity to pirated software or illegal contraband or to other locations providing pirated software or illegal contraband is also prohibited.
Web sites containing adult material, adult-oriented merchandise or links to adult material or adult-oriented merchandise may only be provided to individuals that can provide proof, upon request, that he or she is over 18 years of age. Blue Gravity, at its sole discretion, will determine what constitutes adult material or adult-oriented merchandise.
Any attempt to circumvent system security, including but not limited to, trying to access another customer's files or database or trying to gain shell access to an Blue Gravity server is prohibited. Attempting to manipulate any server or another customer's content is prohibited.
System Abuse, including but not limited to, excessive server CPU use, excessive server RAM use, excessive server disk I/O, or any thing that may affect other customers is prohibited. The installation of bots, or scripts or applications shared with a web site hosted by an outside provider is not permitted. Blue Gravity, at its sole discretion, will determine what constitutes system abuse.
Disk space provided in association with the hosting service may only be used for files and content linked from or in direct support of the hosted web site. The provided disk space may not be used at any time as a location to archive or backup files not directly related to the hosted web site.
The terms "affiliate", "you", and "your" refer to, whether as an individual or entity, to you as the one applying to Blue Gravity Hosting's affiliate program. The terms "we" and "our" refer to Blue Gravity Hosting.
IMPORTANT-READ CAREFULLY: THIS AFFILIATE PROGRAM AGREEMENT IS A LEGAL AGREEMENT BETWEEN YOU AND BLUE GRAVITY HOSTING FOR PARTICIPATION IN BLUE GRAVITY HOSTING'S AFFILIATE PROGRAM AS MANAGED BY BLUE GRAVITY HOSTING'S INTERNAL PROGRAM. BY REGISTERING FOR AND PARTICIPATING IN OUR PROGRAM, YOU AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THE TERMS OF THIS AGREEMENT. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THE TERMS OF THIS AGREEMENT, DO NOT SIGNUP FOR OR PARTICIPATE IN THE PROGRAM. IF YOU ARE ALREADY AN BLUE GRAVITY HOSTING AFFILIATE AND DO NOT AGREE TO THE ENTIRE AFFILIATE AGREEMENT, THEN IMMEDIATELY TERMINATE ALL USES OF BLUE GRAVITY HOSTING'S MATERIALS AND ANY LINKS TO BLUE GRAVITY HOSTING'S WEBSITE.
· Promotion of any unlawful behavior or conduct.
· Any other material deemed inappropriate or offensive by Blue Gravity Hosting.
Blue Gravity Hosting reserves the right to make changes to the affiliate agreement at anytime and solely at our discretion. Continued participation in our affiliate program constitutes your agreement to any and all changes made to this agreement.
Affiliates earn $75 for every new 12 month (or greater) hosting account, $50 for every new VPS and $100 for a new dedicated server sale generated.
· Each new sale must be by a new and unique visitor to Blue Gravity Hosting.
· All web hosting sales must remain active for 30 days before credit will be given. VPS and Dedicated Server sales must remain active for 90 days before credit is given.
· Each new sale must remain in good standing. Commissions will not be credited for sales that have been cancelled, terminated, charged back, refunded, or have outstanding balances within the 30 - 90 day activation period.
All sales must originate from the affiliates unique tracking URL. The tracking URL we provide must not be altered. It is unique to each affiliate and any changes could result in inaccurate statistics generated and for commissions not to be credited for a sale. Please test your unique tracking URL each time you use it. Blue Gravity Hosting will not be responsible for, nor give credit for, sales that does not have your unique tracking URL attached to it.
Affiliate generated sales that do not meet these requirements, will not be eligible for commission credit.
Commissions are paid when affiliates reach a $75 commission balance. Commission balances that have not yet reached $75 will carry over to the next month until the $75 minimum has been reached. Commissions are processed at the end of each month and paid by check. Checks will be made payable to the "name" you provided in your affiliate account. All funds are paid in U.S. dollars.
The following restrictions apply to all affiliates. If at anytime these restrictions are not adhered to, this agreement will be terminated and any unpaid commissions will no longer be valid.
· Commissions earned through our affiliate program cannot be transferred to another user, hosting account, or Blue Gravity Hosting program.
· Affiliates cannot earn commissions on their own hosting accounts or domain registrations.
· Affiliates are prohibited in utilizing our protected keyword "Blue Gravity Hosting" or any variation, misspelling or combination of words with our keyword, in advertising and search engine sites.
· Affiliates are prohibited in making a representation, either expressed or implied, that visitors to your site are visiting Blue Gravity Hosting's site.
· Affiliates are prohibited in using spam or any other unsolicited mass email campaigns.
Blue Gravity Hosting does not express or imply any warranties or representations in respect to our affiliate program or an affiliate's potential to earn income from our affiliate program. We make no representation that either our site or that of the affiliate program will be uninterrupted or error-free and we will not be liable for any consequences of interruptions or server down time. Determination of compliance with all terms and conditions will be solely up to the discretion of Blue Gravity Hosting.
This Domain Name Registration Agreement ("Agreement") sets forth the terms and conditions of your use of Blue Gravity Hosting to register an Internet domain name and/or to transfer a domain name from another registrar to Blue Gravity Hosting. To complete the registration process, you must read and agree to be bound by all terms and conditions of this Agreement and any rules or policies that are or may be published by Blue Gravity Hosting. By submitting your registration and service request, you agree to be bound by all terms and conditions of this Agreement. You acknowledge that Blue Gravity Hosting may modify or amend this Agreement at anytime.
Blue Gravity Hosting is a reseller for an accredited registrar with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers ("ICANN") for Top Level Domain Names (TLDs), currently .com, .net, .org, .biz, and .info. ICANN oversees registrations and other aspects of the TLDs. As an accredited domain name registrar, Omnis Network, LLC is, upon accepting your domain name registration application, your sponsor for that application.
All domain name registrations we register for TLDs are not effective until we have delivered the domain name registration information you provide us to the registry administrator for the TLDs, as applicable, and the registry administrator puts into effect your domain name registration. Currently, the registry administrator for the .com and .net TLDs is VeriSign Global Registry Services. The registry administrator for the .info TLD is Afilias Limited ("Afilias"). The registry administrator for the .biz TLD is Neulevel.
You agree and acknowledge that Blue Gravity Hosting is not liable or responsible in any way for any errors, omissions or any other actions by the registry administrator arising out of or related to your application and receipt of, or failure to receive, a domain name registration.
You further agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless the registry administrator and their directors, officers, employees, and agents from and against any and all claims, damages, liabilities, costs, and expenses (including any direct, indirect, incidental, special or consequential damages and reasonable legal fees and expenses) arising out of, or related to, your domain name registration.
Blue Gravity Hosting uses a user name/password protection system to identify individuals authorized to maintain domain names. This user name/password combination will be absolutely required to make any modifications and renewals to the domain name registration. This information will be emailed upon request to the email address on record for the user account associated with the domain name registration. It is the responsibility of the user to keep the contact information on record up to date. You agree and acknowledge that Blue Gravity Hosting is not liable or responsible in any way for domain name cancellations or related actions resulting from incorrect contact information.
As consideration for the domain name registration services provided by Blue Gravity Hosting, you agree to pay Blue Gravity Hosting, prior to the effectiveness of the desired domain name registration, all applicable initial registration and renewal fees. All fees are nonrefundable, in whole or in part, even if your domain name registration is suspended, cancelled or transferred prior to the end of your then current registration term. Blue Gravity Hosting reserves the right to change fees, surcharges, and renewal fees or to institute new fees at anytime, for any reason, at its sole discretion.
Your requested domain name will not be registered until Blue Gravity Hosting receives actual payment of the registration, renewal and reinstatement fees as applicable. In the event of a chargeback by a credit card company or similar action by any payment provider allowed by Blue Gravity Hosting in connection with the payment of the registration fee for your domain name registration, you agree and acknowledge that the domain name registration shall be transferred to Blue Gravity Hosting as the paying entity for that registration to the registry and that we reserve all rights regarding such domain name including, without limitation, the right to make the domain name available to other parties for purchase. We will reinstate your domain name registration solely at our discretion and subject to our receipt of the initial registration or renewal fee and any reinstatement fees we may charge.
You will be notified via email to the email address on record as the billing contact at regular intervals beginning sixty (60) days before the registered domain name expiration. Payment must be made by credit card or such other method as we may indicate in the registration application or renewal form. Should renewal fees go unpaid beyond the domain name's expiration date or within the time specified in a notice or reminder regarding renewal, your registration will be cancelled.
Cancelled registration will result in the deletion of the registered domain name from the applicable registry. Deleted domain names may enter a Redemption Grace Period status. The Redemption Grace Period provides an opportunity to restore the domain name and retain ownership. Restoration from the Redemption Grace Period may require a fee in addition to the registration and renewal fee and must be paid prior to a domain name being restored from Redemption Grace Period.
You agree and acknowledge that Blue Gravity Hosting is not liable or responsible in any way for domain name cancellations or related actions resulting from our inability to notify you of the domain name renewal because of incorrect contact information or your failure to renew a domain name registration before the expiration date for any reason.
You agree to submit to proceedings under ICANN's Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy that is incorporated herein and made a part of this Agreement by reference. The current version of the dispute policy may be found at ICANN's website: http://www.icann.org/udrp/. This policy has been developed by ICANN and/or the specific Registration Administrator and is a required component of every registration agreement. Please take the time to familiarize yourself with this policy.
You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless ICANN, Blue Gravity Hosting, Registry Administrators and their respective directors, officers, employees and agents from and against any and all claims, damages, liabilities, costs and expenses, including reasonable legal fees and expenses arising out of or related to your domain name registration and any disputes regarding same.
You acknowledge that the domain name system and the practice of registering and administering domain names are evolving and, therefore, you agree that Blue Gravity Hosting may modify this Agreement and the Dispute Policy if necessary to comply with its ICANN Agreement, and any other Agreements that Blue Gravity Hosting is currently bound by or will be bound by in the future, as well as to adjust to changing business circumstances. Such modifications will be at the sole discretion of Blue Gravity Hosting. Your continued use of the domain name registered to you shall constitute your acceptance of this Agreement and the Dispute Policy with the new modifications. If you do not agree to any of such changes, you may request that your domain name registration be cancelled or transferred to a different domain name registrar. You agree that such cancellation or request for transfer will be your exclusive remedy if you do not wish to abide by any changes to this Agreement or the Dispute Policy.
You agree to submit all contact information requested during the domain name registration process. Blue Gravity Hosting's agreement with ICANN and the registry administrators, requires the collection of this contact information. You further agree to immediately validate and update the registration information for the domain name during the registration term of the domain name when changes are made or upon notification from Blue Gravity Hosting to do so. Willful provision of inaccurate or unreliable information, failure to update registration information or respond within fifteen (15) calendar days to a request to validate registration information shall constitute a breach of this Agreement and will result in the cancellation or suspension of the domain name registration.
You agree and acknowledge that Blue Gravity Hosting will make available domain name registration information you provide or that we otherwise maintain to ICANN, to the registry administrators, and to other third parties as ICANN and applicable laws may require. You further agree and acknowledge that Blue Gravity Hosting may make publicly available, or directly available to third party vendors, some, or all, of the domain name registration information you provide, for purposes of inspection (such as through our WHOIS service) or for targeted marketing and other purposes as required or permitted by ICANN and applicable laws.
When registering a domain name under the .info TLD, you consent to the use, copying, distribution, publication, modification, and other processing of registration information you provide by Afilias and it designees and agents in a manner consistent with the purposes specified pursuant in its contract.
Blue Gravity Hosting will not process data about any identified or identifiable natural person that we obtain from you in a way incompatible with the purposes and other limitations that we describe in this Agreement. Blue Gravity Hosting will take reasonable precautions to protect the information it obtains from you from our loss, misuse, unauthorized access or disclosure, alteration or destruction of that information.
You agree that, if you are registering a domain name for someone else, you represent that you have the authority to nonetheless bind that person as a principal to all terms and conditions provided herein, including the Dispute Policy.
You further agree that you will furnish the requested information to identify the appropriate person as domain owner.
You agree that if you license the use of the domain name registered to you to a third party, you nonetheless remain the domain name holder of record and remain responsible for all obligations under this Agreement including, but not limited to, payment obligations and providing and updating, as necessary, both your own full contact information and accurate technical, billing, and zone contact information adequate to facilitate timely resolution of any problems that arise in connection with the domain name and domain name registration.
Blue Gravity Hosting, at its sole discretion, reserves the right to refuse to register your domain name or to enroll you in any services. In the event Blue Gravity Hosting does not register your domain name or enroll you in any services, no fees applicable to the rejected services will be collected. Furthermore, Blue Gravity Hosting, at its sole discretion, reserves the right to delete or suspend your domain name registration or cancel access to any services at any time if the domain name is used in any manner in unsolicited email (spam), if the domain name is used in any activity prohibited by United States law or if the domain name is used in any activity deemed unacceptable by Blue Gravity Hosting. After five (5) calendar days all applicable fees associated with deleted or cancelled registrations or services are non-refundable.
You agree that the registration of your domain name is subject to suspension, cancellation, or transfer pursuant to any ICANN adopted specification or policy, or pursuant to any registrar or registry procedure not inconsistent with an ICANN adopted specification or policy to correct mistakes by Blue Gravity Hosting or a registry administrator in registering the domain name or for the resolution of disputes concerning the registered domain name.
You agree that Blue Gravity Hosting shall not be liable to you for loss or damages that may result from our refusal to register your domain name or enroll you in any service, the suspension of your domain name registration or service or the deletion or cancellation of your registered domain name or service.
You agree that you will be prohibited from changing the registrar of your domain name for sixty (60) calendar days following the initial registration of the domain name with Blue Gravity Hosting. Beginning on the sixty-first (61st) calendar day following initial registration, Blue Gravity Hosting will notify the owner of the Omnis Network user account responsible for the domain name in question via the email address on file whenever we receive a request to transfer the domain to another registrar. The user may then access the Account Manager to authorize or deny the transfer. If a rejection or authorization is not explicitly provided via the Account Manager within five (5) days of the initial request, the request to change registrars will be automatically granted by the registry. Your request to change registrars may be denied in situations described in the Dispute Policy, your pending bankruptcy, a dispute over the identity of the domain name holder, and default in the payment of any fees due.
Although Blue Gravity Hosting will accept changes to domain name contact and name server information through the Domain Name Control Panel, Blue Gravity Hosting's record of the domain "owner" can only be changed via the following procedure. To transfer ownership of the domain to another party, the customer must pay all outstanding registration fees and submit through the Domain Name Control Panel the applicable form that describes the intent to relinquish ownership of the domain to a specific party. The new domain owner, who must be the specific party designated by the old domain owner, must then follow the online procedures for obtaining ownership of the previously relinquished domain name. The new domain owner must also pay a transfer of registration fee.
You represent and warrant that all information provided by you in connection with your registration is complete and accurate. Furthermore, you represent and warrant that the domain name registration or the manner in which it is directly or indirectly used will not infringe the legal rights of any third party and will not violate United States law.
Blue Gravity Hosting makes no representation or warranties of any kind in connection with this Agreement. Blue Gravity Hosting does not represent or warrant that registration of your domain name will immunize you from challenges to your domain name.
This agreement shall be governed by the laws of the United States of America and the State of California. For the adjudication of disputes concerning or arising from use of the domain name registered with Blue Gravity Hosting, you shall submit, without prejudice to other potentially applicable jurisdictions, to the jurisdiction of the courts of your home or business and where Blue Gravity Hosting is located.
YOU AGREE THAT BLUE GRAVITY HOSTING WILL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANY OTHER PERSON FOR ANY LOSS THAT MAY OCCUR DUE TO (A) ANY LOSS OF REGISTRATION OF A DOMAIN NAME, (B) THE USE OF YOUR DOMAIN NAME, (C) ACCESS DELAYS OR ACCESS INTERRUPTIONS TO BLUE GRAVITY HOSTING'S REGISTRATION SYSTEM, (D) THE NON-DELIVERY OR MISDELIVERY OF DATA BETWEEN YOU AND BLUE GRAVITY HOSTING, (E) EVENTS BEYOND BLUE GRAVITY HOSTING'S REASONABLE CONTROL, (F) THE PROCESSING OF YOUR APPLICATION, (G) THE PROCESSING OF ANY MODIFICATION TO THE RECORD ASSOCIATED WITH YOUR DOMAIN NAME, (H) THE FAILURE OF YOU OR YOUR AGENT TO PAY ANY FEES HEREUNDER, OR (I) THE APPLICATION OF THE DISPUTE POLICY. FURTHER, BLUE GRAVITY HOSTING WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY KIND (INCLUDING LOST PROFITS) REGARDLESS OF THE FORM OF ACTION, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), OR OTHERWISE, EVEN IF BLUE GRAVITY HOSTING HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. YOU AGREE THAT BLUE GRAVITY HOSTING'S ENTIRE LIABILITY, AND YOUR EXCLUSIVE REMEDY, WITH RESPECT TO ANY SERVICES PROVIDED BY BLUE GRAVITY HOSTING UNDER THIS AGREEMENT AND ANY BREACH OF THIS AGREEMENT IS SOLELY LIMITED TO THE AMOUNT YOU PAID FOR SUCH SERVICES. IN NO EVENT SHALL BLUE GRAVITY HOSTING'S MAXIMUM AGGREGATE LIABILITY EXCEED THE TOTAL AMOUNT PAID BY YOU FOR INITIAL REGISTRATION OF THE DOMAIN NAME AND ANY RENEWALS THEREOF IN THE PAST THREE YEARS. BECAUSE SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, IN SUCH STATES, OUR LIABILITY IS LIMITED TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.
This Web Hosting Service Agreement ("Agreement") defines the terms under which Blue Gravity Hosting provides web hosting service ("Service"). This Agreement is a binding contract between Blue Gravity Hosting ("Blue Gravity") and the individual or company ("Customer") defined on the order form when an order for service is submitted.
BY COMPLETING AN ORDER FOR SERVICE, CUSTOMER AGREES TO BE BOUND BY THE TERMS OF THIS AGREEMENT, OUR ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY ("AUP"), AND ALL AGREEMENTS, RULES AND POLICIES INCORPORATED HEREIN OR INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE. BLUE GRAVITY RESERVES THE RIGHT TO REVISE THIS AGREEMENT AT ANY TIME. CUSTOMER'S CONTINUED USE OF SERVICE CONSTITUTES CONTINUED ACCEPTANCE OF THIS AGREEMENT.
The term of service is determined by Customer's selection on the order form during the order process or by Customer's request to Blue Gravity's Customer Service Department ("Customer Service") to change to a different currently offered term. The term shall begin upon the processing of Customer's order, which may not necessarily coincide with the commencement of service, or upon completion of requested changes by Customer Service.
Upon completion of the term, Customer acknowledges and agrees that the term will renew automatically for successive terms of length equal to the prior term.
Blue Gravity may refuse to accept an order for service at its sole and exclusive discretion. Blue Gravity provides no guarantee or assurance to the time in which a new order will be processed. Any fees charged to Customer for an order that was refused will be returned in full.
Customer authorizes Blue Gravity to automatically bill and charge the credit card provided, if applicable, for each term unless service is terminated or cancelled by either party prior to the term's expiration. Customer acknowledges if using a payment method other than credit card, payment must be received prior to term's expiration to ensure uninterrupted service. Blue Gravity may, at its sole discretion, suspend or terminate service without notice if Customer fails to provide payment for the new term.
If Customer initiates a chargeback with the provider of a credit card or initiates a similar action to a payment provider allowed by Blue Gravity for charges billed by Blue Gravity for service, service will be immediately cancelled without notice. Reestablishment of service following a chargeback or similar action will require sufficient explanation for the action and payment of the disputed charge and Blue Gravity's bank dispute fee. Blue Gravity, at its sole discretion, will determine whether any explanation provided for a chargeback or similar action is sufficient.
Blue Gravity may offer a money back guarantee for select new hosting service. If a money back guarantee is available for service, Customer must request cancellation of service within the time frame permitted by the guarantee and refund must be explicitly requested. If cancelling service in accordance with a Money Back Guarantee, any promotions received in combination with the service will not be fulfilled.This includes but is not limited to any domain name registration provided free of charge with hosting service. If cancelling an account in accordance with a Money Back Guarantee, the refund applicable will be reduced by any discounted or rebated domain name registration fees. If necessary to recoup the discount or rebate provided for a domain name registation, the credit card provided for the service may be charged.
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Here's my piece defending New Year's Eve from today's Daily Express.
Can anyone guess who the old misery guts was who wrote 'I am proud that I hate New Year's Eve'- and who assures us he'll be tucked in his bed by 10.30pm tonight?. Here's a clue- he also hates Christmas Day- but does get pleasure from cheering on illegal wars of aggression, (from a safe distance of course).
Yes, it’s that time of the year again when gloomy and misanthropic social commentators dip their pens in acid and explain why they just can’t stand New Year’s Eve. Here’s one in suitably wrist-slitting mood. “To me, there is always an element of sorrow and pity involved, possibly at the idea of a load of idiots celebrating another year wasted, another load of opportunities passed by, another year of life gone”. Another writes: 'I am proud that I hate New Year’s Eve. Every year it serves up the same combination of discomfort, expense and misery…it is quite beyond me how any sentient human being could actually enjoy it’. The author of these words, who claims that his ‘proudest moment’ was going to bed at 10.30pm on December 31st 1999, and who assures us he will be doing the same this year, would no doubt heartily concur with the sentiments expressed in Woody Allen’s 1987 film Radio Days that ‘only creeps and crazy people go out on New Year’s Eve’. Expressing a hatred of New Year’s Eve and everything it stands for seems to have become fashionable in recent years-and there are no doubt millions of Britons who tonight will be long before Big Ben rings in 2006. I, however, will not be one of them. The saying ‘Youth is when you’re allowed to stay up on New Year’s Eve, middle aged is when you’re forced to‘- may hold true for some- but for me- New Year’s Eve is simply the most wonderful night of the year. I have loved New Year‘s Eve ever since, as a seven-year-old, I was allowed to stay up to watch Big Ben chime on television. More than thirty years later, I am just as excited about the coming of this most unique of evenings as I was then. In common with thousands of other ‘creeps and crazy people’, my wife and I will be spending tonight, not in bed with mugs of Horlicks, or in our living room watching Jools Holland and Natasha Kaplinsky usher in 2006 on t.v.- but celebrating New Year’s Eve in the best possible way: in the company of other members of the human race. The idea of celebrating with people you have never met before in your life-is repugnant to our misanthropic New Year’s Eve haters but the genuine camaraderie the night engenders is for me its great attraction. On 31st December 1999, while the gloom-mongers were tucked away in his bed, my wife and I were at a party in an ex-servicemen’s club in central London. Having enjoyed a few dances with the other couples and families present, we started talking with a family group at an adjoining tabel, who on hearing that our son was away in Hungary, insisted on giving us money to phone him to wish him a happy New Year we didn’t own a mobile then). As midnight approached, we made our way across to Trafalgar Square to see Big Ben chime in the millenium and to enjoy twenty minutes of greeting, kissing, and embracing total strangers. The atmosphere in central London that night was quite remarkable and the memories of it will remain with my wife and I for as long as we live. It’s true that for some, the coming of New Year’s Eve is a genuine cause of sadness. The loss of a loved one in the year which is just about to pass is heightened at the very moment the calendar changes. We all know, too, that calls to the Samaritans increase around Christmas and New Year’s Eve and that anyone who is in a bad way is going to feel worse if everyone else in the world appears to be enjoying themselves. Melancholic as the passing of the old year may be, there is every reason to accentuate the positive on New Year’s Eve. However disappointing 2005 was, here’s the perfect opportunity to start afresh. And if 2005 was a good one, let’s try to make the next year, even better. The New Year’s Eve Haters say that it’s all so arbitrary- why should one pay more attention to midnight on the 31st December than 3.47am on 15th April? What utter nonsense! New Year’s Eve denial is a sad business and the pretence that it is ‘just another night’ masks the fact that New Year spooks an awful lot of people. It forces us to take stock, to look back at the year just gone, to think about where we’re going and what we can do to make things better. Could it be that it is this process of self-analysis which the hater really wants to avoid?Whether its taking more exercise, not drinking so much, not being so grumpy in the mornings, or remembering Auntie Maud’s birthday, is there anyone who can say, in all honesty, that there is no aspect of their livesor their behaviour, which they could not improve? But before we can overcome our failings, we must first own up to them, which is why // making New Year‘s resolutions is a good idea. Even if we only keep a couple on our list -the important thing is that we at least have sat down to think about ourselves and our lives in an objective and critical manner. New Year’s Eve may indeed mark the end of one chapter but it also marks the start of another. T.S. Eliot put it beautifully: ‘For last year‘s words belong to last year‘s language/And next year‘s words await another voice/And to make an end is to make a beginning’. Far from being a night on which to take to our beds early, the passing of the old Year- and the coming of the new- really is cause for celebration.
Here's my review on the books 'Neo-Conservatism and Why We Need It' by Douglas Murray and 'Anti-Totalitarianism: the left-wing case for a Neo-Conservative foreign policy' by Oliver Kamm from today's Daily Telegraph.
Did neo-conservatism meet its end in 2005? The collapse of the levees in New Orleans and its exposure of President Bush's policy of paying for wars of intervention abroad, by cutting back on public provision back home, led many thinkers to believe that it had. Douglas Murray and Oliver Kamm are not among them. For these two young British writers, neo-conservatism is not only still alive and kicking- its finest hour is yet to come. Murray, described by historian Andrew Roberts as 'the Right's answer to Michael Moore', believes that the creed of Leo Strauss, Paul Wolfowitz and Irving Kristol should not only be the ideology of a rejuvenated Conservative Party, but of 'any political party committed to the ideals of freedom at home and abroad'. For Murray, neo-conservatism can provide the 'moral and practical answers' to the political and societal malaise of our country. As to the extent of that malaise there can be no dispute: Britain has the highest level of violent crime, drug abuse, teenage pregnancies and one parent families in Europe. But would the neo-con domestic agenda which Murray advocates make things any better? His attacks on welfare dependency, the glorification of misanthropic rap culture and other examples of multicultural idiocy are justified, and his call for 'broken windows' policing, an increase in church schools and for the state to withdraw from its life-long support of single mothers makes plenty of sense. Yet on what is arguably the main cause of 'societal defects' in Britain today- the pernicious effect of uncontrolled consumer capitalism, Murray is strangely silent. The problem for Murray is that economic liberalism -which he likes- fuels social liberalism which he doesn't. If we really want to see happy families promenading together again on Sunday afternoons, we need to erect “Keep Out” signs to stop the encroachment of market forces into areas they have no right to go. This is something which Murray, in his enthusiasm for a low-tax, deregulated economy, is unwilling to do. And when it comes to our political malaise- most visibly demonstrated by our leaders' failure to tell us the truth over Iraq- Murray once again falls short. Murray would have us believe that the government really did think Iraq possessed WMDs, and incredibly castigates Blair, Campbell and co for 'telling the public too much'. But if our leaders did think Iraq possessed the stockpile of chemical and biological weapons the various dossiers claimed- why on earth would they do the one thing which would provoke Saddam to use them? History tells us that countries attack others only when they are sure of their opponent's relative weakness- something one might have expected Murray to have learnt during his years at Oxford. In trying to put the case for “Left-wing” case for war against Iraq, Oliver Kamm is equally unconvincing. Having told us how the principle of deterrence worked so well during the Cold War, he fails to explain adequately why the deterrence of Saddam, which Secretary of State Powell had been lauding only months before 9/11, could not have continued. Kamm has fun baiting the woolly minded peace activists of the 1930s, and the supporters of unilateral nuclear disarmament in the 1980s, but is on much shakier ground when trying to portray those who opposed the invasion of secular, Ba’athist Iraq as apologists for Islamo-fascism. In fact, it is the neo-cons themselves who have a track record of siding with Islamic extremists- either in Afghanistan in the 1980s or in the Balkans a decade later. Similarly, while lambasting the “amoral quietism” of the Major government for its non-intervention policy in Bosnia, Kamm fails to inform readers that the Bosnian leader Alija Izetbegovic- whose separatist cause neo-conservatives enthusiastically championed- not only wrote “the first and most important lesson from the Koran is the impossibility of any connection between Islamic and non-Islamic systems”, but also recruited for an SS division in the Second World War. It is difficult to think of a man for whom the term “Islamo-fascist” could be more appropriate - yet that didn't stop arch the neo-con Richard Perle acting as an adviser to Izetbegovic's delegation at the Dayton Peace Conference in 1995. On the issue of terrorism, there are double standards too. Terrorists, according to Murray and Kamm, should be always be condemned wherever they are found- but not it seems if they are the gun-runners, drug-smugglers and civilian-murderers of the Kosovan Liberation Army, on whose side NATO acted, with strong neo-cons approval- as an armed proxy in the war against Yugoslavia in 1999. And amid all their words of praise for Israel, there is nothing from either Murray or Kamm on the role that Zionist terrorism played in that state's foundation. If neo-cons really want us to take their ideas more seriously, a little more consistency- and honesty- is surely called for.
Before we all settle down to watch Scrooge- let's hope that all the self-serving politicians- the warmongers and those journalists who peddle their lies- are visited tonight by the ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present and Christmas Yet to Come. And that we wake up tomorrow to read that George Bush and Tony Blair publicly acknowledge their lies over Iraq, that Harry's Place has decided to advocate a left-right anti-war alliance and that Stephen Pollard has joined the campaign to release Slobodan Milosevic.
'At least he died enjoying what he did best' -the words of trainer Philip Hobbs on his Champion Hurdle winner Rooster Booster, who collapsed and died while exercising on the gallops.
Am I the only one to feel that on this occasion the oft-repeated words we hear on a racehorse's death somehow have a hollow ring to them? Those of us who defend horse-racing against its many critics don't have our job made any easier by the decision to keep in training a former Champion Hurdler- a horse who had achieved all there was to achieve- up to just days away from his 12th birthday. Amid the tributes to a wonderful horse we should not shy away from asking some awkward questions.
Here's my piece on the merits of cigar clubs from The First Post. These clubs, which are widespread in Europe and the US- but sadly not in Britain- don't have to be exclusive- membership of La Cape D'Epicure is not much more than £100 a year.
France has over 70, Switzerland has 20 and in Berlin there are two for women alone. Yet London, home to eight million people, has none.
While anti-smoking campaigners will no doubt be rejoicing that Britain has missed out on the cigar club culture sweeping Europe and the US, there is, I believe, a good reason to hope that cigar clubs will eventually spring up here too.
The point about these clubs is not so much the smoking, but their underlying philosophy. "Networking" and the exchange of business cards may sometimes play a part, but it is the spirit of epicureanism which predominates. Nowhere more so than at La Cape D'Epicure, a club for les amateurs de cigares, based in northern France.
its members meet not only to smoke and compare notes on cigars, but to enjoy the pleasures of friendship, conversation and good food.
Sadly, the spirit behind La Cape seems to be woefully lacking in modern Britain. Although Epicurus taught that "pleasure is the beginning and end of a happy life", he also emphasised moderation in all things, for the simple reason that excess leads to pain instead of pleasure.
Anyone doubting how far Britain is away from the Greek philosopher's ideal only needs to spend a night out in any of our towns and cities. Binge drinking, and the manic shrieking and undercurrent of violence which usually accompanies it, are not the signs of a society that knows how to enjoy itself - quite the opposite.
Cigar clubs, by contrast, represent cultures that still understand that having a good time does not mean indulging in excess but calmly savouring the things which really make us happy.
Where have all the chickhawks gone?
One week after I issued my challenge to seven prominent pro-war writers and the bloggers at Harry's Place to enlist in the Territorial Army, I have had my first reply, from Mr David Aaronovitch.
Come on you others!- please explain why you will not be answering the T.A.'s call for more recruits.
Here's a great piece on the important of a good night's sleep from today's First Post by William Leith.
For anyone who doubts the thesis, I have just two words: Margaret Thatcher.
I know what you're thinking, because I'm thinking the same thing, too. I'll set the alarm an hour early. Six hours sleep - possibly six and a half, if I can get off immediately - should just about do it. That way, I'll be able to finish everything tonight. I pick up the alarm clock and wind the nasty stumpy little hand a few degrees backwards. And then I lie there for a few seconds, feeling smug.
More and more of us are doing this. We have to work harder, and stay later, and the rush hour is longer. And everybody's solution is the same: reach for the alarm clock. Take the extra hour from the unconscious part of our lives. And of course, it's a vicious circle - when one person works a 10-hour day, everybody else must work a 10-hour day, too, just to keep up. And then the first person winds the stumpy little hand a smidgen further.
So you get more tired. So you drink more coffee. So what's the problem?
Actually, the problem is huge, and extremely sinister. Sleep is not just a chunk of time that you can't remember. It's amazingly complex. Left to sleep naturally, you would typically have five distinct dream sequences, the final one acting as a summing-up of the whole narrative. And dreams, as we know, counteract depression - they wash our minds clean, if you like, of negative feelings.
So that last hour of sleep is the most important bit. It's what keeps us human. It's the bit that keeps you calm when you get stuck in traffic.
If you're thinking of activating that nasty little thing on your bedside table, do us all a favour - don't go there.
They really are quite insatiable. Not content to have hijacked our two main parties- pro-war neo-liberals now want the Liberal Democrats to fall into line. The neo-conservative induced smearing of Charles Kennedy has nothing to do with Kennedy's perceived failings- but the fact that Kennedy stood at the last election on a programme of opposition to the Iraq war, renationalisation of the railways and higher taxes for the wealthy. The pro-war neo-liberals can never forgive him for that- and now want 'regime change' within the Liberal Democrats too. Stephen Pollard in particular seems to be obsessed with the removal of Kennedy- see his piece in yesterday's Daily Mail and in today's Times. Pro-war neo-liberals like Pollard purport to be great believers in 'democracy'- but what they really want is our three main political parties to be saying the same thing on the economy and foreign policy. What kind of democracy is that?
Another year, and still no call from Sue Lawley.
As it's Christmas, time for a little self-indulgence. Here's the twelve records I would take with me to the desert island (I know you're only allowed eight, but it's Christmas!).
Below is my selection ( in no particular order).
What about yours? The Exile, Holocaust Child, Bob, and all our other regular readers-I'd like to hear from you!
The Territorial Army announced today it needs another 7000 volunteer recruits to stem the flow of people leaving the organisation (currently running at 600 a month). The T.A. denies that the Iraq war is having an effect, but it's hard to believe otherwise.
To bolster the numbers of Britain's reservists, I would like to make an open challenge.
ps the challenge is open to Melanie Phillips and Andrew Roberts too.
I wonder how many British readers watched the first episode of BBC2's new series 'The Oligarchs', last night? The sight of robber baron Boris Berezovsky strolling around Riga with Neil Bush, brother of the U.S. President will have shocked many. But the links between Russia's oligarchs and Washington's neo-conservatives go back a long way. Here's a piece I wrote for the NS in 2003 on the unholy alliance between the oligarchs, the neo-cons and Israel's Likud party.
It is well documented that a cabal of Likud-supporting American neoconservatives played an important role in bringing about this year's illegal war against Iraq. What is less well known is the link the group has with the billionaire oligarchs in Russia and how theyare trying to use the arrest of Mikhail Khodorkovsky to harden USpolicy towards Moscow. Richard Perle's gang of regime-changers andadvocates of total war are taking advantage of their disproportionate influence in the western media to portray the arrest of the billionaire businessman as a major international scandal and evidence thatVladimir Putin, a man whose elevation to power they largely welcomedthree years ago, is now the new Stalin. Perle's interest in Russiagoes back a long way. As for most Likudniks of his generation, the Soviet Union was the "evil empire" - not so much for its clampdowns on western-style freedoms, but for the support it gave to secular Arab regimes and its sponsorship of Palestinian liberation movements. Perle helped draft the 1974 Jackson-Vanik amendment which, to the chagrinof supporters of detente, made US-Soviet trade deals dependent onthe Soviets facilitating Jewish emigration. In the 20 years that followed, more than a million Russian Jews left for Israel, boostingthe electoral prospects of Likud and the far right. This also produced new settlements in the occupied territories, which did much to provoketoday's troubles.
The eventual disintegration of the Soviet Union and the shock therapyof Russia's road to a "market" economy were widely welcomed by Perle and his supporters, even though this led to the impoverishment ofswathes of the population. With the rapid transition to capitalism came the emergence of the oligarchs - seven businessmen who usedtheir connections with the corrupt Yeltsin administration to seize valuable state assets at knockdown prices. In the oligarchs, Perleand his fellow hawks saw a way in which the US and Israel could, by proxy, gain political and economic power in Russia and, by doing so,eventually gain control of enormous energy resources.
But seven years on from the heady days of 1996, when the intervention of the oligarchs and their backers in the west guaranteed re-electionfor the "reformer" Boris Yeltsin, things have gone very wrong. BorisBerezovsky, the "Godfather of the Kremlin", and his fellow oligarchVladimir Gusinsky are both in exile. Earlier this year, Russia'sstubborn holding of its line on Iraq infuriated the neoconservativesand increased their determination to work towards regime change atthe next presidential elections in 2004 - and to accelerate theirplans to secure Russia's energy resources.
Before his arrest, Khodorkovsky had been in talks with US oil companies over a merger with Yukos. Now, with their man in Moscow behind bars,it is time for the neoconservative propaganda war against Putin to go into overdrive. Perle was first out of the blocks, calling for Russia's expulsion from the G8 and its exclusion from any postwarIraq oil contracts, and accusing it of collusion with Iran's nuclearpower programme.
Bruce P Jackson - like Perle a member of the Project for the NewAmerican Century and president of the hawkish Project on Transitional Democracies - used his column in the Washington Post to arguethat Putin had established a "de facto cold war administration inMoscow" and that the Russian president's actions were motivated by anti-Semitism (a claim echoed by Ariel Sharon). "In dollar terms weare witnessing the largest illegal appropriation of Jewish property since the Nazi seizures during the 1930s."
For Jackson, Putin is not just a new tsar and a new Stalin, but a newHitler, too. In Britain, the Daily Telegraph, a paper not known forhanding its comment pages to refugees wanted for criminal activities in their own country, did just that. Boris Berezovsky condemned the"increasing totalitarianism" of the Putin regime.
In the unrelenting pro-Khodorkovsky, anti-Putin propaganda we have beensubjected to, much has been made of the oligarchs' role in buildingRussian "democracy" - as opposed to the crude attempts of the Russianpresident to shunt his country back to the days of Peter the Great. Butthe "democracy" that Berezovsky and Khodorkovsky stand for is the"democracy" of an elite of billionaire businessmen to buy themselves not just political power, but immunity from the laws of the land.
"We hired First Deputy Chubais," Berezovsky boasted in 1997. "Weinvested huge sums of money. We guaranteed Yeltsin's re-election. Now we have the right to occupy government posts and use the fruits ofour victory."
True democracy in Russia would mean not only the return of propertyheld by the oligarchs to their rightful owners - the Russian people -but the formation of a government that puts the needs and interestsof Russia first, rather than those of the US or Israel.
For all their lip-service to the democratic ideal, that is the last thing Richard Perle, the oligarchs and their supporters in the west really want.
believe that 'Islam will dominate the world' and are trying to make it so.
-and, if they get the chance, recruit for divisions of the SS in the Balkans in the 1940s.
ps the answer is not a or b.
Here's my piece from today's Times on why the last thing we want is more consensus politics. We already have far too much!
DAVID CAMERON says he wants an end to “Punch and Judy politics”. But the problem is not that we have too much Punch and Judy politics, but that we don’t have anywhere near enough.
On the biggest issues of the day — from Iraq to globalisation, from law and order to our economic system — both HM Government and HM Opposition have, for the past few years, been singing from the same hymn sheet. And it is this mind-numbing, anti-democratic consensus that is alienating voters; not that there are too many verbal brickbats at PMQs.
It wasn’t always like this. As recently as 1983, voters could still enjoy thrilling Punch and Judy politics and the cut-and-thrust of a real ideological debate. The choice was between the undiluted socialism of Michael Foot’s Labour, with its pledges to remove nuclear missiles from British soil and pull out of the EEC, and the full-blooded neo-liberalism of Margaret Thatcher’s Conservatives. During the campaign Denis Healey (a wonderful Mr Punch if ever there was one) accused Mrs Thatcher of “glorying in slaughter”; Mr Foot accused Lord Hailsham of “licking Hitler’s jackboots” and Kenny Everett called for Mr Foot’s stick to be kicked away.
The result of the rudest and most knockabout election since 1945 was a turnout of 72 per cent. Contrast that with the last two general elections, in which only 60 per cent voted in sleep-inducing contests between a pro-war, pro-privatisation government and a pro-war, pro- privatisation opposition.
With the election of Mr Cameron, things look like getting a whole lot worse. He not only dislikes Punch and Judy politics, he also thinks the Tories ought to stop “grumbling” about modern Britain. This narrows the debate still further — millions of people feel they have perfectly good reasons to grumble about modern Britain. With a “modernised” Tory party embracing Cool Britannia, who will there be left to speak for the Victor Meldrews?
Rather than extending consensus politics, here’s a better idea. Let’s have Mr Cameron call the Prime Minister a liar who led the country into an illegal and disastrous war. And let’s have Mr Blair retaliate by calling Mr Cameron an out-of-touch Hooray Henry. If it’s democracy we want, that’s the way to do it.
David Cameron, new Tory leader, says he wants an end to 'Punch and Judy' politics. But the problem is not too much 'Punch and Judy' politics in Britain, but not enough. On the biggest issues of the day, both H.M. Government and H.M. Opposition are singing from the same hymn sheet. Both are enthusiastic supporters of the global capitalist system, which puts a price tag on every human value. And both are enthusiastic supporters of the policy of perpetual war-and the use of B52s to make the world safe for western multinationals. This is the reality of 'democracy' in the New World Order- you can have any government or opposition you like, so long as it's neo-liberal and likes cluster bombs.
Here's a brilliant piece from today's Guardian by the consistently excellent Madeline Bunting. A couple of years ago my wife Zsuzsanna wrote a piece for the Guardian entitled 'Goulash and Solidarity' on how much better things were for the majority of people under 'goulash communism' than they are under capitalism.
We're not talking here only about real wages and living standards- but about the feeling of solidarity and warmth between fellow human beings. In the absence of religion or other value systems, capitalism destroys solidarity as sure as night follows day. The aim of the game is to turn us into selfish, acquisitive consumers- spending our whole lives trying to keep up with the Jones. But there is another way. It's called being human.
Consumer capitalism is making us ill - we need a therapy state Britain is becoming unhappier as depression, crime and alcoholism grow.
Having done so much damage to the self-image of Slough in The Office, the BBC had to make amends. So they made a series about trying to make Slough happy. Tomorrow, in the final episode, we get to hear if they succeeded. It has been a cheerful but loopy series that left happiness to be defined by a collection of endearing "experts" indulging their own idiosyncrasies, from dancing in woodland to launching a choir. They didn't achieve their aim (although it didn't stop them from claiming they had) but along the way, they made a fair bid at introducing a mainstream audience to a fascinating emerging territory of public debate.
The funny thing was that, while the series may not have been gripping TV, it ended up making you feel, well, rather happy. It's heart-warming to see a woman who has always hated her voice singing lustily on stage, and to see the 50 volunteers for the project making new friendships and enjoying themselves. It generated the kind of feelgood factor you get from the school summer fete: not a thrill, but a gentle glow.
The hunt for happiness is an ancient human preoccupation, so there is nothing new in all this, but it is being reframed in order to challenge our prevailing political assumptions. The argument starts from the fact that Britain may have got very much richer in the past 40 years but it has not got happier. In fact, by measures such as depression, crime, obesity and alcoholism, we have got very much unhappier. So isn't the preoccupation with rising GDP misplaced? Shouldn't politics be focused around more than just economic growth? Shouldn't politics be as concerned with measures of human happiness?
Second, research has established more clearly than ever what the most likely predictors of happiness are, and there are now proven methods to treat unhappiness - particularly cognitive behavioural therapy which aims to break cycles of negative thinking. Happiness is no longer an elusive fuzzy feeling; a body of data gives us the tools to analyse what it is and what causes it. Happiness has gone respectable, and it's been tagged to intellectual disciplines - the science of happiness, happiness economics - so it will be taken more seriously.
But neuroscientists and psychologists apart, there is an even more pressing reason to take happiness seriously and this is what is grabbing the attention of Whitehall - unhappiness is an expensive business. Most striking is the huge chunk of claimants who are on incapacity benefit because of mental health problems: a whopping 900,000 or 38% of the 2 million total. Mental ill-health is the biggest single cause of incapacity and costs the country an estimated £9bn in lost productivity and benefits. The weight on the NHS is enormous: GPs spend a third of their time on mental health and the prescription cost of drugs is rising.
Plus, there is a whole range of political issues which have roots in mental ill-health, from obesity and alcoholism, to parenting, the respect agenda and antisocial behaviour among children and young people. The combination of incapacity-benefit reform and this "behaviour" politics is giving unprecedented impetus to mental health, the long-time Cinderella of the NHS.
The most dramatic development of the "therapy state" will come with the announcement, expected later this week, of a big increase in the availability of cognitive behavioural therapy on the NHS. But there has been a rash of smaller initiatives as government departments grapple with how to integrate this new dimension into policy. The Department for Education and Skills launched new guidelines earlier this year on the social and emotional aspects of learning (Seal). The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is now proposing to introduce indices of welfare and life satisfaction and how they relate to sustainability.
Most of it is piecemeal and still relatively small-scale, but the old liberal concept that the emotional life of citizens is no business of the state is crumbling. It raises the prospect of a future politics where emotional wellbeing could be as important a remit of state public health policy as our physical wellbeing. In 10 years' time, alongside "five fruit and veg a day", our kids could be chanting comparable mantras for daily emotional wellbeing: do some exercise, do someone a good turn, count your blessings, laugh, savour beauty.
We might also be discussing how to regulate emotional pollution in much the way we now discuss environmental pollution. Top of the list would be advertising, which is bad for our emotional health. It induces dissatisfaction with its invidious comparisons with an affluent elite. Television is not much better for us with its disproportionate volume of violence and fraught relationships. It makes people unhappy, less creative and cuts them off from emotionally healthy activities such as sport or seeing friends. Meanwhile, there would be a strong rationale to increase subsidies for festivals, parks, theatres, community groups, amateur dramatics, choirs, sports clubs and lots of other lovely things.
To some, these kinds of interventions represent a nightmare scenario of a nanny state, an unacceptable interference in personal freedom. If people want to pursue their own unhappiness, then the state has no right to stop them. Critics conjure up the nightmare prospect of Brave New World and its soma-imbibing placid citizens.
But the problem is, as Richard Layard argues in his book Happiness: Lessons From a New Science, that the decline of both religious belief (which is a strong predictor of happiness) and the social solidarity movements of the 20th century has left a vacuum of understanding about what constitutes a good life and how to be happy.
The church has lost sway, and the state has retreated behind the single rationale of promoting economic competitiveness with its overtones of Darwinian selection (a major source of unhappiness in itself with its vision of life as a competitive struggle). That leaves the market a free rein to describe happiness - the new car, new sofa, new holiday - and to manipulate our insecurities around status.
Leave things as they are and the state will increasingly have to pick up the bill for how consumer capitalism effectively produces emotional ill-health - depression, stress, anxiety. Leave things as they are and the state is part of the problem, promoting a set of market values that produce emotional pollution. Take education for example, where the needs of the labour market have been the driving influence for more than a generation. Has the regime of testing, league tables and competitiveness had a cost in emotional health? Layard cites an international study of schoolchildren in which the 11-15 age group were asked whether they agreed that "most students in my class are kind and helpful". England came last of eight developed countries, below Russia.
The huge ambition of the small but growing happiness lobby is that the state resumes a role in promoting the good life, not just to chivvy us along in the global rat race, anxious and insecure. | 2019-04-24T14:32:23Z | https://neilclark66.blogspot.com/2005/12/ |
(a) “Body piercing jewelry” means any part of jewelry that is manufactured or sold for placement in a new piercing or a mucous membrane, but does not include any part of that jewelry that is not placed within a new piercing or a mucous membrane.
(b) “Children” means children six years of age and younger.
(1) Represented in its packaging, display, or advertising, as appropriate for use by children.
(2) Sold in conjunction with, attached to, or packaged together with other products that are packaged, displayed, or advertised as appropriate for use by children.
(3) Sized for children and not intended for use by adults.
(B) Retail store, catalog, or online Internet Web site, in which a person exclusively offers for sale products that are packaged, displayed, or advertised as appropriate for use by children.
(C) A discrete portion of a retail store, catalog, or online Internet Web site, in which a person offers for sale products that are packaged, displayed, or advertised as appropriate for use by children.
(A) Stainless or surgical steel.
(D) Platinum, palladium, iridium, ruthenium, rhodium, or osmium.
(E) Natural or cultured pearls.
(F) Glass, ceramic, or crystal decorative components, including cat’s eye, cubic zirconia, including cubic zirconium or CZ, rhinestones, and cloisonne.
(G) A gemstone that is cut and polished for ornamental purposes, except as provided in paragraph (2).
(H) Elastic, fabric, ribbon, rope, or string, unless it contains intentionally added lead and is listed as a class 2 material.
(I) All natural decorative material, including amber, bone, coral, feathers, fur, horn, leather, shell, or wood, that is in its natural state and is not treated in a way that adds lead.
(2) The following gemstones are not class 1 materials: aragonite, bayldonite, boleite, cerussite, crocoite, ekanite, linarite, mimetite, phosgenite, samarskite, vanadinite, and wulfenite.
(A) On and before August 30, 2009, a metal alloy with less than 10 percent lead by weight that is electroplated with suitable under and finish coats.
(B) On and after August 31, 2009, a metal alloy with less than 6 percent lead by weight that is electroplated with suitable under and finish coats.
(2) Unplated metal with less than 1.5 percent lead that is not otherwise listed as a class 1 material.
(A) On and before August 30, 2009, less than 0.06 percent (600 parts per million) lead by weight.
(B) On and after August 31, 2009, less than 0.02 percent (200 parts per million) lead by weight.
(4) A dye or surface coating containing less than 0.06 percent (600 parts per million) lead by weight.
(1) Is not a class 1 or class 2 material.
(2) Contains less than 0.06 percent (600 parts per million) lead by weight.
(g) “Component” means any part of jewelry.
(O) Jewelry placed in the mouth for display or ornament.
(2) Any bead, chain, link, pendant, or other component of an ornament specified in paragraph (1).
(3) A charm, bead, chain, link, pendant, or other attachment to shoes or clothing that can be removed and may be used as a component of an ornament specified in paragraph (1).
(4) A watch in which a timepiece is a component of an ornament specified in paragraph (1), excluding the timepiece itself if the timepiece can be removed from the ornament.
(i) (1) “Surface coating” means a fluid, semifluid, or other material, with or without a suspension of finely divided coloring matter, that changes to a solid film when a thin layer is applied to a metal, wood, stone, paper, leather, cloth, plastic, or other surface.
(2) “Surface coating” does not include a printing ink or a material that actually becomes a part of the substrate, including, but not limited to, pigment in a plastic article, or a material that is actually bonded to the substrate, such as by electroplating or ceramic glazing.
(1) Affect a duty or other requirement otherwise imposed under federal or state law.
(2) Alter or diminish a legal obligation otherwise required in common law, by statute, or by regulation.
(3) Create or enlarge a defense to an action to enforce a legal obligation otherwise required in common law, by statute, or by regulation.
(b) The Legislature finds and declares that the addition of this section during the 2007–08 Regular Session of the Legislature is declaratory of existing law.
(a) A person shall not manufacture, ship, sell, offer for sale, or offer for promotional purposes jewelry for retail sale or promotional purposes in the state, unless the jewelry is made entirely from a class 1, class 2, or class 3 material, or any combination of those materials.
(1) A nonmetallic material that is a class 1 material and that does not otherwise violate the requirements of paragraph (4).
(2) A nonmetallic material that is a class 2 material.
(3) A metallic material that is either a class 1 material or contains less than 0.06 percent (600 parts per million) lead by weight.
(4) Glass or crystal decorative components that weigh in total no more than one gram, excluding any glass or crystal decorative component that contains less than 0.02 percent (200 parts per million) lead by weight and has no intentionally added lead.
(5) Printing ink or ceramic glaze that contains less than 0.06 percent (600 parts per million) lead by weight.
(6) Class 3 material that contains less than 0.02 percent (200 parts per million) lead by weight.
(1) Surgical implant stainless steel.
(2) Surgical implant grade of titanium.
(4) Solid 14 karat or higher white or yellow nickel-free gold.
(6) A dense low-porosity plastic, including, but not limited to, Tygon or Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), if the plastic contains no intentionally added lead.
(d) Notwithstanding subdivision (d) of Section 25214.3, as of January 1, 2012, a person shall not manufacture, ship, sell, offer for sale, or offer for promotional purposes children’s jewelry that contains any component or is made of any material that is more than 0.03 percent cadmium (300 parts per million) by weight. This subdivision shall not apply to any toy regulated for cadmium exposure under the federal Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-314).
(e) The department may establish a standard for children’s jewelry or for a component of children’s jewelry that is more protective of public health, of sensitive subpopulations, or of the environment than the standard established pursuant to subdivision (d).
(a) Except as provided in Sections 25214.3.3 and 25214.3.4, a person who violates this article shall not be subject to criminal penalties imposed pursuant to this chapter and shall only be subject to the administrative or civil penalty specified in subdivision (b).
(b) (1) A person who violates this article shall be liable for an administrative or a civil penalty not to exceed two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) per day for each violation. That administrative or civil penalty may be assessed and recovered in an administrative action filed with the Office of Administrative Hearings or in a civil action brought in any court of competent jurisdiction.
(D) Whether the violator took good faith measures to comply with this article and the time these measures were taken.
(c) Administrative and civil penalties collected pursuant to this article shall be deposited in the Toxic Substances Control Account, for expenditure by the department, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to implement and enforce this article, except as provided in Section 25192.
(A) Enter a factory, warehouse, or establishment where jewelry is manufactured, packed, held, or sold; enter a vehicle that is being used to transport, hold, or sell jewelry; or enter a place where jewelry is being held or sold.
(B) Inspect a factory, warehouse, establishment, vehicle, or place described in subparagraph (A), and all pertinent equipment, raw material, finished and unfinished materials, containers, and labeling in the factory, warehouse, establishment, vehicle, or place. In the case of a factory, warehouse, or establishment where jewelry is manufactured, packed, held, or sold, this inspection shall include any record, file, paper, process, control, and facility that has a bearing on whether the jewelry is being manufactured, packed, held, transported, sold, or offered for sale or for promotional purposes in violation of this article.
(2) (A) An authorized representative of the department may secure a sample of jewelry when taking an action authorized pursuant to this subdivision. If the representative obtains a sample prior to leaving the premises, he or she shall leave a receipt describing the sample obtained.
(B) The department shall return, upon request, a sample that is not destroyed during testing when the department no longer has any purpose for retaining the sample.
(C) A sample that is secured in compliance with this section and found to be in compliance with this article that is destroyed during testing shall be subject to a claim for reimbursement.
(3) An authorized representative of the department shall have access to all records of a carrier in commerce relating to the movement in commerce of jewelry, or the holding of that jewelry during or after the movement, and the quantity, shipper, and consignee of the jewelry. A carrier shall not be subject to the other provisions of this article by reason of its receipt, carriage, holding, or delivery of jewelry in the usual course of business as a carrier.
(4) An authorized representative of the department shall be deemed to have received implied consent to enter a retail establishment, for purposes of this section, if the authorized representative enters the location of that retail establishment where the public is generally granted access.
(a) A manufacturer or supplier of jewelry that is sold, offered for sale, or offered for promotional purposes shall prepare and, at the request of the department, submit to the department no more than 28 days after the date of the request, technical documentation or other information showing that the jewelry is in compliance with the requirements of this article.
(b) A manufacturer or supplier of jewelry that is sold, offered for sale, or offered for promotional purposes shall prepare a certification. This certification shall attest that the jewelry does not contain a level of lead or cadmium that prohibits the jewelry from being sold or offered for sale pursuant to this article.
(1) Provide the certification required by subdivision (b) to a person who sells or offers for sale that manufacturer’s or supplier’s jewelry.
(2) Display the certification required by subdivision (b) prominently on the shipping container or on the packaging of jewelry.
(1) The person received a certificate of compliance for the jewelry from the manufacturer or supplier.
(2) The certificate of compliance received pursuant to paragraph (1) stated that the jewelry is in compliance with the requirements of this article.
(3) The person relied on the certificate of compliance and did not know, and had no reason to know, that the jewelry was in violation of this article.
(4) Upon receiving a notice of violation from the department, the person took corrective action by immediately removing the jewelry from commerce.
(b) The affirmative defense specified in subdivision (a) does not apply to, and may not be raised by, a person who has been found in violation of this article on at least two prior occasions in the preceding three years from the filing date of the current action.
A manufacturer or supplier of jewelry who knowingly and intentionally manufactures, ships, sells, offers for sale, or offers for promotional purposes jewelry containing lead or cadmium in violation of this article is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not less than five thousand dollars ($5,000) nor more than one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000), by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than one year, or by both that fine and imprisonment.
A manufacturer or supplier of jewelry who knowingly and with intent to deceive, falsifies any document or certificate required to be kept or produced pursuant to this article is subject to a fine of not more than fifty thousand dollars ($50,000), by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than one year, or by both that fine and imprisonment.
(a) This article does not limit, supersede, duplicate, or otherwise conflict with the authority of the department to fully implement Article 14 (commencing with Section 25251), including the authority of the department to include products in its product registry.
(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (c) of Section 25257.1, cadmium-containing jewelry shall not be considered as a product category already regulated or subject to pending regulation for purposes of Article 14 (commencing with Section 25251).
(a) When preparing a sample, the laboratory shall make every effort to ensure that the sample removed from a jewelry piece is representative of the component to be tested, and is free of contamination from extraneous dirt and material not related to the jewelry component to be tested.
(b) All jewelry component samples shall be washed prior to testing using standard laboratory detergent, rinsed with laboratory reagent grade deionized water, and dried in a clean ambient environment.
(c) If a component is required to be cut or scraped to obtain a sample, the metal snips, scissors, or other cutting tools used for the cutting or scraping shall be made of stainless steel and washed and rinsed before each use and between samples.
(d) A sample shall be digested in a container that is known to be free of lead and cadmium and with the use of an acid that is not contaminated by lead or cadmium, including analytical reagent grade digestion acids and reagent grade deionized water.
(e) Method blanks, consisting of all reagents used in sample preparation handled, digested, and made to volume in the same exact manner and in the same container type as samples, shall be tested with each group of 20 or fewer samples tested.
(f) The results for the method blanks shall be reported with each group of sample results, and shall be below the stated reporting limit for sample results to be considered valid.
(g) Test methods selected shall be those that best demonstrate they can achieve total digestion of the sample material being analyzed. Test methods shall not be used if they are inconsistent with the specified application of the test method or do not demonstrate the best performance or proficiency for achieving total digestion of the sample material.
(1) Digestion shall be conducted using hot concentrated nitric acid with the option of using hydrochloric acid or hydrogen peroxide.
(2) The sample size shall be 0.050 gram to one gram.
(3) The digested sample may require dilution prior to analysis.
(4) The digestion and analysis shall achieve a reported detection limit no greater than 0.1 percent for samples.
(5) All necessary dilutions shall be made to ensure that measurements are made within the calibrated range of the analytical instrument.
(4) The digestion and analysis shall achieve a reported detection limit no greater than 0.01 percent for samples.
(1) The digestion shall be conducted using hot concentrated nitric acid with the option of using hydrochloric acid or hydrogen peroxide.
(2) The sample size shall be a minimum of 0.05 gram if using microwave digestion or 0.5 gram if using hotplate digestion, and shall be chopped or comminuted prior to digestion.
(3) Digested samples may require dilution prior to analysis.
(4) Digestion and analysis shall achieve a reported detection limit no greater than 0.001 percent (10 parts per million) for samples.
(3) Plastic beads or stones shall be crushed prior to digestion.
(4) Digested samples may require dilution prior to analysis.
(5) Digestion and analysis shall achieve a reported detection limit no greater than 0.001 percent (10 parts per million) for samples.
(6) All necessary dilutions shall be made to ensure that measurements are made within the calibrated range of the analytical instrument.
(1) The coating of glass or plastic beads shall be scraped onto a surface free of dust, including a clean weighing paper or pan, using a clean stainless steel razor blade or other clean sharp instrument that will not contaminate the sample with lead or cadmium. The substrate pearl material shall not be included in the scrapings.
(2) The razor blade or sharp instrument shall be rinsed with deionized water, wiped to remove particulate matter, rinsed again, and dried between samples.
(3) The scrapings shall be weighed and not less than 50 micrograms of scraped coating shall be used for analysis. If less than 50 micrograms of scraped coating is obtained from an individual pearl, multiple pearls from that sample shall be scraped and composited to obtain a sufficient sample amount.
(4) The number of pearls used to make the composite shall be noted.
(5) The scrapings shall be digested according to EPA reference method 3050B or 3051 or an equivalent procedure for hot acid digestion in preparation for trace lead or cadmium analysis.
(6) The digestate shall be diluted in the minimum volume practical for analysis.
(7) The digested sample shall be analyzed according to specification of an approved and validated methodology for inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry.
(8) A reporting limit of 0.001 percent (10 parts per million) in the coating shall be obtained for the analysis.
(9) The sample result shall be reported within the calibrated range of the instrument. If the initial test of the sample is above the highest calibration standard, the sample shall be diluted and reanalyzed within the calibrated range of the instrument.
(1) The digestion shall use hot concentrated nitric acid with the option of using hydrochloric acid or hydrogen peroxide.
(2) The sample size shall be not less than 0.050 gram, and shall be chopped or comminuted prior to digestion.
(4) The digestion and analysis shall achieve a reported detection limit no greater than 0.001 percent (10 parts per million) for samples.
(1) A component shall be free of any extraneous material, including adhesive, before it is weighed.
(2) The scale used to weigh a component shall be calibrated immediately before the components are weighed using S-class weights of one and two grams, as certified by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) of the Department of Commerce.
(3) The calibration of the scale shall be accurate to within 0.01 gram.
The department may adopt regulations to implement this article, including, but not limited to, adopting regulations that modify the testing protocols specified in Sections 25214.4 and 25214.4.1, as it deems necessary to further the purposes of this article. | 2019-04-23T15:27:24Z | https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=HSC&division=20.&title=&part=&chapter=6.5.&article=10.1.1 |
This call is now closed for applications and is only available for reference purposes.
A joint initiative between the Medical Research Council (MRC), the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) as part of the Living With Environmental Change programme. Up to £10m is available to fund high quality proposals.
Our world is changing at an unprecedented rate resulting in changing patterns of infectious diseases. As recently exemplified by H1N1(Mex), the emergence of a pandemic strain of influenza or other virulent pathogen remains an ongoing threat to human health. As identified by the Foresight Detection and Identification of Infectious Diseases (DIID) Project, we need to respond to the threat from new and emerging pathogens so that we are better able to anticipate, prepare for, and control future outbreaks.
This ground-breaking initiative aims to establish novel inter-disciplinary approaches to studying the ecology of infectious diseases. The ESRC, MRC, NERC, and BBSRC recognise that important new insights into the drivers and control of infectious diseases in human populations can only be achieved by taking a holistic systems approach which takes into account the ways in which the natural and social environments affect the emergence (emergence, re-emergence, and development of drug resistance) and spread of infectious disease. This new paradigm will enable us to respond proactively to the threat from novel pathogens and emerging infections. Since most emerging infections are zoonotic, we are particularly keen to better understand the animal reservoir as a source of infectious diseases and how animal pathogens spill-over into human populations and spread through communities in the UK or other parts of the world.
This initiative is launched under the umbrella of the Living with Environmental Change (LWEC) partnership (www.lwec.org.uk) and is a partial contribution to the LWEC strategic objective on protecting human, plant and animal health from diseases, pests and environmental hazards.
The vision for this initiative is the establishment of truly interdisciplinary teams of researchers, conducting high quality state-of-the-art innovative research, addressing national/international research priorities that will inform and impact on policy and practice. The intention is to foster the development of a new paradigm, transcending discipline boundaries, and to build capability in this important area of research. The goal is to fund research that is broad and inter-disciplinary in nature, aimed at pathogens that are considered a significant threat to public health now or in the future. The aim would be to establish a balanced portfolio within this initiative, not dominated by any one particular pathogen.
This initiative also aligns with the concept of ‘one medicine’, which seeks to link medical and veterinary science by drawing on a common pool of knowledge between the two sectors in order to exploit the potential of animal disease research to provide insights into human health.
Phase I – Catalyst Grants – funds to enable the development of new interdisciplinary partnerships and development of research ideas.
Phase II – Research Consortia Grants - aims to fund interdisciplinary teams of researchers conducting high quality innovative interdisciplinary research, that would not usually be supported through existing funding schemes.
Below we specify the principles that Research Consortia would be expected to fulfil. These principles are not expected to necessarily be achieved by all applicants from the outset, in Phase I of the initiative, but are the desired goals to aim for by the submission of final Research Consortia proposals. To this end, catalyst grants are an important formative element.
The research will be interdisciplinary, encompassing and integrating Environmental Sciences, Health Sciences, Social Sciences, and Biological Sciences approaches.
The research will address either a currently important Public Health problem, or demonstrably applicable to a potential future Public Health threat.
Proposals addressing the systems giving rise to zoonotic infections and their drivers into human populations are particularly encouraged.
Research Consortia are expected to be innovative, break the mould of current thinking, and integrate Environmental, Social, Biological and Health Sciences. The following examples are intended to give a flavour of the type of research topics, methodologies and categories of pathogens that could be included in Research Consortia. They are intended to be illustrative, not prescriptive or exclusive, nor are they in order of preference. These also do not attempt to provide examples of fully integrated interdisciplinary approaches.
The environment will play a critical role in the emergence of zoonotic pathogens and the impact of selection in polluted sites may have a dramatic effect by increasing the rate at which such pathogens emerge. Bacteria from diverse sources such as hospital, sewage and animal wastes can become mixed and enter natural habitats through a variety of routes. The subsequent gene pool is exposed to the selective effects of pollutants such as heavy metals, pharmaceuticals and bulk chemicals which can offer unprecedented opportunities for horizontal gene transfer. A number of drug-resistant pathogens may have developed in this way and preliminary studies are now proving that gene transfer can be enhanced by stress factors such as the presence of pollutants. What are the major environmental and social risk factors for this mixing and how should we reduce the risk in future?
Most new and emerging diseases occur in developing countries and a high proportion of these infections are zoonoses and rodent-borne, such as haemorrhagic fever viruses. Such infections can spread rapidly in highly populated areas and there is a great risk of infections spreading to other urban areas in different parts of the world. A case study may provide valuable insights into the dynamics of infection. What pathogens are being carried by rodents in this setting? How and when do pathogens spread within rodent populations from the hinterland to urban areas? How close is the match between patterns of infection and exposure between hinterland rodents, urban rodents and humans? What are the effects of settlement structures, how people live, their proximity to each other and levels of poverty on the dynamics of infection? What are the risk factors, especially the cultural and socio-economic risk factors, for rodent infections amongst the human community and how do rodent infections spread within human communities?
Faecal-oral zoonoses frequently occur as high-profile outbreaks of food poisoning in the UK. They represent the single most important group of UK zoonoses, including regular fatalities. Understanding how outbreaks occur would be of public health importance and could emerge from a study of a high risk rural community. What occupations and life styles are risk factors for pathogen carriage? How does human behaviour affect pathogen carriage and how could behaviour best be modified to reduce the risk? Where are the pathogens in the environment? Are they in domesticated animals or wildlife or their environs? Do they move through different compartments (e.g. soil, water, air, host)? This study could consider a ‘community’ of infections, including but not limited to verotoxic E. coli, Salmonella and Campylobacter, monitored to determine rates of current infection but also, if possible, exposure.
Many new and emerging infections are vector-borne e.g. West Nile virus, Chikungunya virus etc. However, relatively little is known about the ecology of these pathogens and their vectors in the tropics and how, when and where they spill-over into human populations. Environmental change will lead to vegetation change, and also changes in water quality and quantity, affecting vector habitats. Remote-sensing data and climate-landscape models can be used to predict patterns of future change, and the potential consequences for vector populations. What will be the next emerging pathogen transmitted by vectors? How will environmental change affect the controls on vector populations and risk of vector-borne diseases acquired from animals? Do certain human cultural practises and individual behaviours such as responses to public health advice, health seeking behaviour and responses to controls of disease spread in agricultural systems, increase the likelihood of transmission and if so, can these risks be mitigated? What are the consequences of human settlement and farming practices on vector-bourne infections? What are the impacts of globalisation and mobility e.g. through rapid air travel and mass tourism, on the spread of pathogens?
A better appreciation of human behaviour and how it influences the risk of infection and the passage of pathogens between individuals is fundamentally important for understanding how zoonotic infections emerge and spread within communities. What are the interactions between humans and other animals that increase risk of infection? How, psychologically do people react to infectious disease outbreaks of different forms (e.g. vCJD versus Avian/Swine Influenza)? What is the economic impact of a zoonotic illness on trade, the agricultural and food industry, or the health service? What are the consequences of modern farming practices on zoonotic infections? How is the public understanding of risk and behaviour produced, circulated and reproduced in the public sphere? What role does information, and form in which the information is communicated (e.g. through traditional and new media sources), play in the development of a disease outbreak? What can phylogeography of pathogens on a global scale tell us about the role of people in spreading disease and how it evolves as an epidemic? What new insights could be gained by linking phylogeographies to models of human demography and land-use change?
The emergence of a pandemic strain of influenza or other virulent airborne pathogen is a threat to human health and livestock agriculture. Pandemics arise when human-transmissible airborne pathogens transfer from animals and this is frequently preceded by genetic reassortment. Such pathogens circulate in wild and domestic animals, though their population structure outside humans is still poorly understood. How might modern phylogenetics combined with field and theoretical epidemiology help understand the distribution, maintenance and abundance of wild pathogens? How might this knowledge be translated into effective public health and agricultural biosecurity measures? How might modern network theory as well as considerations of the physical spread of airborne pathogens in the environment help in pandemic planning? Although it is widely recognised that the properties of the pathogen, the physical environment and the patterns of animal and human contact are crucial to how that pathogen spreads and its impact, the importance and nature of each of these may vary in different parts of the world. Climate, density of human and animal populations, cultural differences, public health infrastructure and resources are all involved in the evolution of epidemics, but the relative contribution of each may differ. How much is transmission of respiratory pathogens affected by environmental factors and global change? Is it the same for all airborne pathogens and what is the effect of climate change on transmission of respiratory pathogens? What are the cultural attitudes to infections which affect the spread and control of these infections? How do different models of public health systems influence infectious disease transmission? How is infectious disease transmission influenced by changes in population structure and the spatial distribution of populations including the ways people mix within society, urbanization and migration, household size, travel and social activities? An integrated approach around one or two exemplar respiratory pathogens, which allowed modelling of the interactions between pathogen biology through to the individual behaviour in influencing spread of a pandemic pathogen would allow fine tuning of plans for pandemic control.
Mathematical models that capture the dynamics of infectious diseases are vital tools for preventing and controlling future disease outbreaks, and could be an integral component of a research proposal. Here we are suggesting the development of models that consider how natural and social factors affect the transmission of pathogens from animals to humans, and how the infection spreads through communities. Such modelling may be at a global, regional or local level or operate at a range of spatial scales. What information do we need to develop models that can help inform the control of zoonotic infections? How can multiple models from different disciplinary backgrounds be effectively integrated?
This will be a managed initiative. Funds will be available through two consecutive and linked modes of support.
Catalyst Grants are aimed at enabling researchers to develop realistic and relevant research partnerships (networks) and research strategies with the potential for significant national/international impact. These grants will allow researchers to build partnerships and to develop proposals. Catalyst Grants are not intended to support research projects, but may support some preliminary research activity.
At the catalyst grant stage good interdisciplinary research ideas are more important than having whole interdisciplinary groups in place, or even identified. At the catalyst grant stage applicants are eligible to submit proposals that do not have all interdisciplinary collaborations in place at the outset, provided that applicants demonstrate how they will address this. Furthermore applicants would receive feedback guidance on their proposals, which could include recommendations to join up with other research groups.
It is anticipated that around 10 Catalyst Grants will be awarded in this call. As a condition of funding, applicants must be able to commence activities within one month of an award offer. Up to a further 6 applicants may be invited to submit an application for Research Consortia Grants without being awarded a catalyst grant, if there is sufficient potential for high quality proposals in the Research Consortia round.
Applicants can request up to £50k (80% FEC) for a maximum period of 9 months.
For further details see Catalyst Grant guidance and evaluation notes.
ESEI Research Consortia Grants will support high quality innovative research conducted by inter-disciplinary teams of researchers. Research Consortia will add value by contributing to the overall strategic aims of the ESEI initiative and addressing key research challenges within the specific priority areas highlighted in the call.
Research Consortia will be truly inter-disciplinary and will involve strategic partnerships with other sectors such as practitioners, policy makers, industry and the public, as appropriate. In addition to carrying out high quality research, Research Consortia will build research capability and capacity by attracting existing expertise into the area.
Funds in the region of £10 million (80 per cent FEC) will be available over a five year period, subject to quality. It is anticipated that up to five Research Consortia Grant awards will be made in this call.
Eligibility for application for a Research Consortia Grant is restricted to researchers that either (a) held a Catalyst Grant, or (b) were invited to apply for a Research Consortia Grant even though their application for a catalyst Grant was not funded.
This Phase of the initiative will take place soon after expiry of the catalyst grants – further details will be provided at the appropriate time.
A one day interactive workshop will be held in London on 9th October, to both launch the initiative, and to facilitate developing contacts and building inter-disciplinary, and cross-sector collaborations for potential participation in this call. Expressions of interest will be invited ahead of the launch workshop to further facilitate developing contacts. For more information, see ESEI launch workshop details. | 2019-04-24T15:48:27Z | https://mrc.ukri.org/funding/browse/esei-specification/environmental-and-social-ecology-of-human-infectious-diseases-esei-specification/ |
Where do I start. Ajita is an angel! With her help I could pass the tunnel which had no light. My son at 11 months was waking up every 1.5 hour and used to take close to 45 mins to go back to sleep. It was exhausting, tiring and I felt it was never ending. Then i thought of consulting Ajita. How I wish I would have done that earlier. She made a customised Sleep Right Plan. She encouraged me that you can help your son for his betterment and your own sanity. She was there at every point to help and guide. She is a magician who knows how to turn things around with her knowledge, expertise, care and empathy. In a months time my son who used to wake up 4-5 times a night started sleeping through the night and that too on his own. It was nothing less of a miracle for us. Now even after one year since the training, my son sleeps on his own and sleeps through the night. I recommend every parent who is going through sleepless nights to consult Ajita immediately. I can never thank you enough, Ajita. Forever indebted!!!
Ajita's a magician! At 9 months my son used to wake up every 1.5-2 hrs and wouldn't go back to sleep unless he was fed. Also, he would only sleep for a total of 8 hrs through the night. After following the program for a month he now sleeps for 11 hrs in the night and wakes up only once for a feed and at times he just sleeps through the entire 11 hrs. Even putting him to sleep is a pleasure now because he is happy to go to bed unlike before the program where putting him to sleep was such a dreaded task!!! Ajita has helped me understand my baby so much better. My husband and I have got our evenings back and after a good night's sleep I can give my baby more quality time during the day and for this I am so grateful to Ajita!! Thanks for all the help!
I enlisted Ajita's help because our 1.5 year old had fallen into a habit of waking up every 45-90 minutes and ONLY I needed to settle him back to sleep - sometimes with the help of a bottle, sometimes by patting and lying close to him! This was a pattern since almost when he was 6-7 months old. It was slowly beginning to get to me and also worrying me as I could not see any end to this situation! Ajita with her sleep plan, reined things back in with a definite plan that I felt comfortable with and it worked within DAYS. I couldn't believe I was soon sending her updates that he slept on his own and for almost 10-11 hours at night!
Ajita has a very confident and calming presence and a sense of humour that gets you through that first rough part! I would recommend Ajita to any mom who is at their wit's end and ready to make a change! Thank so much !!!
We were having a tough time getting our 9-month old daughter to fall asleep on her own and stay asleep for more than an hour or two at a stretch. At wits end, we desperately sought out solutions and were most fortunate to stumble upon Ajita online. We decided to give the Sleep Right Program a shot and we could not have been happier. Ajita spent a lot of time with us to understand our concerns and came up with a wonderful, systematic and detailed plan to help our daughter sleep better. And it worked fabulously. In all the follow up sessions, Ajita was an amazing support and kept reassuring us whenever we felt a little lost. It was only with her support and guidance that we have gotten the confidence we need, and reached this far. Our daughter is a far far better sleeper, and only wakes up when she needs to be nursed. I’m sure soon enough she’ll be sleeping through the night. Having learned to sleep better, we have also seen her grow leaps an bounds, mentally and physically, and suddenly does so many new things. Thank you so much Ajita, we will never forget your support!
Firstly I would like to thank you for giving our family so many peaceful and blissful nights without having to wake every two hours not knowing what to do.
When I first heard of sleep training I wasn't sure. How can I sleep train my son? Isn't it normal for children not to sleep through the nights till two years of age? These were the thoughts constantly running through my mind.
I am so so glad I made that call to you. I can't thank you enough for all your patience, guidance and support that helped me overcome my fears and help my son become an independent sleeper. Thank you once again Ajita for making me achieve my goal and bringing some meaning to my everyday phrase, "good night baby, sleep well!"
Our baby was 8 months when we started the programme and he’d gone from sleeping through the night at 3 months, to waking up every hour again by 6 months. The quickest way to get him back to sleep was by bringing him into bed with us and feeding him, so we were all exhausted. When Ajita first gave us our plan, I was very nervous to make the changes and worried we would all end up in tears! However, in just 3 nights he was sleeping through again in his own bed. He now falls asleep by himself very happily at both bedtime and nap time and sleeps through every night for 11 hours, which feels like nothing short of a miracle. We all wake up refreshed and happy in the mornings, ready to play! Huge thanks to Ajita for all her help and support - my only regret is that we didn’t find her a couple of months earlier!
Ajita's help with sleep training our 13 month old has been nothing short of a miracle.
My husband and I were always aware of the sleep training concept, but I was a little unsure about it since I felt that we would have to torture a 'helpless' baby in order to sleep peacefully ourselves. However little Kabir seemed to have a mind of his own viz a viz sleep - An angel during the day, it would be a nightmare to try and get him to sleep at night. And even after he slept, he would wake up every hour and a half throughout the night and would go back to sleep only after a feed. Everyone around us told us with a sigh that that was how it was going to be for the next 3 years of our lives! The turning point came when I started realizing that I was doing the poor baby NO favour by stubbornly carrying on with this schedule or lack of it rather. He was not getting adequate sleep at night and over time it started effecting his personality during the day as well - he would be constantly cranky due to this accumulated sleep deprivation. Thats when out of desperation we reached out to Ajita.
I have to be honest - when I first read her schedule for Kabir, I was like 'Yeah right.. there's no way this baby is going to follow this schedule'!! It seemed counter intuitive as well - how could we give dinner to a 13 month old and put him to sleep at 7pm and expect him to last out till 6 in the morning?!! Added to that was the fact that I wanted to wean him off breast feeding AND put him in his cot in his own room - It all seemed like too big a mountain for us as a family to cross. I have to admit the first couple of nights were tough - but the only reason I didn't throw in the towel then and there, was that Ajita was constantly hand holding us via whatsapp - she would be messaging us even till late in the evening.. telling us what to do and giving constant words of wisdom. The entire 'ordeal' lasted all of 3 days - after which Kabir started sleeping the nights - just like that!!
Our lives have not been the same since - He's tucked in and asleep by 8 -8.15 every night leaving the evenings for us to do as we like. Our social lives are back and all of us are so much happier as a result. Best of all, little Kabir is his normal smiling angelic self again.
I would recommend Ajita to every parent - just stick it out and don't lose hope - you'll reach the light at the end of the tunnel before you know it!
By the time my son Raj turned 9 months, I was exhausted and depressed. We introduced our baby to a pacifier at 2 months because of sleep troubles. The paci helped for a month or so and after that we suffered again. My cousin was repeatedly asking me to contact Ajita ji for months but I was actually scared that she would tell me off. Everyone I spoke to kept telling me I am not trying hard enough. Months of bad sleep had made Raj very cranky all the time, he would not eat his food properly and I was totally fed up. I didn’t realise this then but I was also quite depressed at that time. My husband noticed it but I didn’t. The day I called Ajita for an appointment (very nervously), within the first few minutes, I broke down into bits. She is the kindest, sweetest person and extremely knowledgeable person you will talk to. Mind you she is very strict when it comes to correct implementation of the plan 😊. My son got sleep trained in 12 days. I also want to mention that she counselled me for my PPD and as mothers we are very important members of our families so I highly recommend mothers to seek help for themselves too. The counselling really helped me with my confidence as a parent and an individual. Today my son is 1 year old and I want to express my deepest gratitude to Ajitaji for bringing back sleep, happiness and peace in our lives. Thank you!
We started the Sleep Right program for our baby at 10 months. She'd always been a terrible sleeper and was becoming increasingly difficult as she grew older. The physical strain was bad enough: I had to breastfeed her almost on the hour and one of us had rock her to sleep till our shoulders hurt. Plus, I was stressing because her total sleep was coming up way too short. I'd been ready to sleep train at 6 months, had read all the books and knew what we had in theory. Putting it into practice was another story though. I was worried that my baby was too old, especially because she was becoming more mobile. From our very first session with Ajita, we felt that she'd see us through. And she did. Having Ajita tailor-make a plan is what gave us the confidence. And the fact that you can troubleshoot whenever. We were shocked at how soon she slept on her own! Now my baby is clocking a very healthy 14-15 hours. It's truly the best thing in the world.
Ajita was wonderful! We contacted her when our second child, Maia, was around 7 months old. Ajita was super patient over the phone consultation, really listened to our problems, and was very flexible around our slightly unique needs. We were traveling across continents this past summer when we consulted her and with changing time zones along with a challenging baby, our situation posed quite a problem. But Ajita totally based her plan according to our needs and accounted for jet lags and other such situations. Also, she structured the plan according to Maia's age, which was wonderful! Several months on, Maia is now 15 months old, and she wakes up maximum of once a night, usually when she is ill. Other than that she sleeps well, sleeps in her cot, and we really have Ajita to thank for this unimaginable situation. Thanks Ajita!
Ajita has really helped us in sleepy training our daughter. She customizes the program for every child and sets up a desirable routine which has to be strictly followed. She is also very responsive during the sleep training program and suggested effective modification based on child's response to the sleep training. We did it and we are very happy with the results.I am glad that we have such professional's help and guidance that makes our and our baby's life much better. Thank you so much.
Our baby was 8 months when we started the sleep solution and its changed our lives. Armaan sleeps through the nite and naps like a baby! He would wake up 4-5 times a nite and I had to either rock him or put him in bed with me. He now sleeps on his own, in his bed, and throughout the night. For me, this is a miracle. We are all sleeping at last.
Thank You so much. You really put in great effort to develop a plan for my daughter Rhea. Your system is well explained and obviously well researched and has worked wonders in our house. Getting Rhea to change her sleep habits and patterns was not as difficult as we imagined it might be. Thanks again for your help. Many thumbs up to you!
Wish I had tried this sooner!!!!!! As we speak, my little Rahul is fast asleep in his crib - and has been sleeping since 8 pm. My husband and I are so pleased to get the evenings back to ourselves again...thanks for making that happen for us. And most important Rahul seems happier now that he is getting a good night’s sleep!! Like you say Happy baby, happy family.
You listened to the challenges we were having getting our daughter to sleep, and patiently answered our many many questions! The reality is that we were skeptical at first, but once we implemented your Sleep plan there was no looking back. What I was most impressed about is how you designed your strategies specifically for us keeping all our requirements in place...and we did have a few of them. The best part is we saw positive results within a week! That was a real surprise! Thank you Ajita!!
We are now into the 2nd month and right from the very beginning he is sleeping 11-12 hours without any trouble through the night! Occasionally when he wakes up crying at night, it doesn't even last 10 seconds and he puts himself back to sleep. This to me is simply amazing. It was so difficult for me to get a good night sleep the first 6 months...but now I am able to get 8 hours of sleep every night, and feel fresh and energetic in the morning and can actually perform at the office. Thank you! Thank you!
Getting him to bed is so much fun now and definitely easy. No fuss, no crying, no waking up in the middle of the night. Your plan and suggested routine was so helpful and I was able to start to see results within one week. Great job!
I’ve been really impressed with Ajita. She has been very professional, responsible, and reliable with her recommendations and service. I never thought my 13 month daughter would be able to sleep for longer than an hour without me by her side. After working with Ajita, my daughter falls asleep on her own. I couldn’t be happier to see results so quickly especially after so many months of struggle.
My 4 year old was still not sleeping through the night, crying, getting scared at nights...and I was exhausted and expecting our 3rd child, so I had to do something because everything I had tried didn't work...Ajita gave me a detailed, step by step approach for what to do. The first few nights were tough, but my son responded within 3 nights. He is now sleeping through the night and he and I are so much more rested. I feel as long as you are committed to the process, it will work. I wish I had done this so much earlier.
Ajita's effort is commendable in terms of the specific plan she developed for my husband and I, the time she spent to explain things to us, follow up regularly, and encourage us to stay committed. We are glad we stuck with things because our daughter (15 months old) is now joy to be with at bed time. She sleeps on her own and throughout the night. Thank you Ajita.
Thank you so much for your support and for replying to my every distress messages. I wish I had learnt about you earlier. Never too late, it was my pleasure to have known you. I would definitely recommend you to every mother struggling to get some sleep :). Hope I can still contact you in future whenever I face unsolved challenges of my daughter.
Ajita is amazing! Working with her has been the best thing I have done for my son. She helped to work out the best plan for my son and was incredibly supportive, kind and responsive throughout. My 8 month old was waking up every two hours at night and naps were too short . By the fourth night of the plan my son had started to settle himself, goes down easily and without any reliance on sleep props. He's now sleeping 10-11 hours with 1-2 short wake ups and takes two long naps. He's a happy and well rested baby . I'm so thankful to have found her and would highly recommend her services & sleep solutionto any parent in need of sleep. Ajita you're awesome. Thank you, thank you, we love you !!!
It was almost 11 months our baby "Aahana" was not sleeping throughout the night. She used to wake up after every 2 hours. And all she wanted is bottle with milk. We were exhausted, almost tried every stupid thing suggested by everyone to make her sleep. We came to know about Ajita from internet and were really impressed by reading testimonials. We approached her hoping that this miracle would happen to us. Ajita gave us really nice Child Sleep Solution program, wasn't that difficult to implement. Ajita is not only thoroughly professional but she will keep you motivated when u start thinking that you could not do more. After implementing her program, Aahana has regained her sleep. Moreover we all are having a good sleep. Every morning Aahana wakes up with a big smile and that smile makes us feel that Ajita isn't lesser that god for us.
My nearly 3 year old son hated eating. I felt he was surviving on air. I did everything you can imagine including force feeding, iPad, lots of shouting and threats. I hated feeding him. I would be angry and in tears after every meal. When I heard of Ajita, I had low expectations because I had read so many books and articles, been to so many doctors, and nutritionists but nobody had given me any results. But when his playgroup teacher told me Ajita had helped her 4 years ago with her daughters food problem and she is a very good eater , I had to try.
I will admit I was very uncomfortable to try some of Ajitas methods initially, and I wanted to give up many times because it was really not easy. But every time I wrote to Ajita she would motivate me to stay on track. She is really amazing! After 15 really tough days, I slowly started to see small changes. In 1.5 months my son was eating on his own, no iPad, no forcefeeding, no shouting, no threats.
Smileys, fries, chips, biscuits and juice...No problem!!! Neel would eat them without any fuss. But dal, roti and sabzi was a constant battle. We knew that chips and biscuits were bad for him, but we would give them to him anyway just to get him to take some food...and we always felt guilty after. Thankfully, a friend introduced us to Ajita. Now a meal of roti, subzi, dal, and dahi is eaten up with no fuss. Even my mother is surprised with how quickly Neel changed for the better.
There was not a single day when my son used to eat without watching videos and it would take as much as one hour for him to finish his lunch.. Now thanks to you he finishes his meals without watching any videos and all by himself, and that too in less than 20 minutes. The meal time now has become so wonderful. He is trying new stuff and completely enjoying his meals. Thank you so much Ajita. I wish I had consulted you earlier .
I was spending up to 1.5 hours chasing Neel each meal to get him to eat. Everyone I spoke to said that is just the way it is....but I couldn't handle it. It was taking a toll and time away for me to do other things. Ajita's plan required me to be committed at the start, but it has worked!! I am amazed Neel eats without much of a fuss, sits at the dining table, and is trying new foods and vegetables. I am much happier because I have time to do other things.
My son was always fussy right from when he was a baby. At two years old, there were only a few items he would eat. Roti, chicken, and cheese...and milk. Sometimes, he wouldn’t even touch these. Any fruits or vegetables, rice etc. would be impossible. He wouldn’t even try them. This made me so angry. After speaking to you , I was able to calm down. After implementing your plan, in less than 2 weeks, he now eats every meal I put in front of him now. Thank you very much and god bless!!
Thanks for your plan and insights regarding my daughter’s diet and eating habits. You were so right with your recommendation to ration milk. That simple change made a big difference. Now she is much more open about trying new dishes and generally finishes her whole meal.
I want to share with you that your eat right program has done wonders with Aanya. Meal times are no longer a struggle. She is enjoying her food now. She sits down and finishes her food on her own now without fuss. All the best for all your endeavors and may god give all the heights in your efforts.
I used to feel like pulling my hair out whenever I was trying to get my son (Raghav) to eat. Every meal was a challenge. While I was motivated by motherly love to put something healthy into his body, he clearly was not interested in my plan. Meals are such a pleasant experience now. Raghav sits down, eats what is on his plate by himself, and does not fuss. I am soooo happy with him now at meal times. Thanks for all your good advice!
For the longest time, whenever I spoke to other mothers, we would talk about how our children don’t eat well and how difficult it is to feed them. We all just assumed that there was nothing we could do about it. Thank you Ajita for sitting down to understand my daughter’s behaviour patterns and developing a plan to help her start eating better. I can’t believe how easy it has been to implement the plan. We started seeing improvements within 2 days. We think of you every meal time ;) Highly recommend you to all parents with picky eaters!!!
When I first heard about you, my daughters were driving me crazy with their constant food demands. I would have to make 2 different breakfasts and dinners every day, since they didn't like to eat the same things. Life has become a lot simpler now and my daughters are so sweet and cooperative.
When I put their meals in front of my kids, they would pick away at their plates and tell me that they "didn't like this food" and throw tantrums. And then 10 minutes later they would start begging for all kinds of snacks! We tried everything everybody told us would work but nothing ever did...at least not in the long run. Ajita's methods worked like magic... amazingly simple, and great results!
Thanks for your guidance. It worked wonder for me.After following just a few of the things you recommended, I'm thrilled to report that Rishav and Pranav are like two new children... There is no more whining for milk and snacks all day long. Mealtimes are so much better... and as civilized as meals can be with a 2 and 5 year old. Thanks again for your advice and support through the process! | 2019-04-23T04:29:51Z | http://www.kidscenter.in/love-letters.php |
This article surveys the recent Supreme Court judgments with regard to the analytical framework for sentencing: (a) harm, (b) culpability, (c) aggravating factors and (d) mitigating factors. It navigates the contours of the two-step sentencing bands framework in Ng Kean Meng Terence v Public Prosecutor SGCA 37. Next, it explores three models of the two-step sentencing bands framework.Finally, it examines the differences between “culpability-increasing factors” and “general aggravating factors”.
At its heart, the interplay of (a) harm, (b) culpability, (c) aggravating factors and (d) mitigating factors (the analytical framework) lends itself well to sentencing. Harm and culpability are the pillars on which we place the cross-beams of aggravating and mitigating factors.
This article surveys the recent Supreme Court judgments with regard to the analytical framework.1 See also The Honourable Attorney-General’s Speech, Opening of the Legal Year 2018 (Singapore, 8 January 2018) at (25). It navigates the contours of the two-step sentencing bands framework in Ng Kean Meng Terence v Public Prosecutor SGCA 37.2 See also the five-step sentencing framework in Logachev Vladislav v Public Prosecutor (2018) SGHC 12 at (71)–(84), which is broadly similar to the two-step sentencing bands framework in Ng Kean Meng Terence v Public Prosecutor (2017) SGCA 37 at (73(a), (c) and (d)). Next, it explores three models of the two-step sentencing bands framework. Finally, it examines the differences between “culpability-increasing factors” and “general aggravating factors”.
The analytical framework enables a systematic evaluation of the relevant considerations in fashioning an appropriate sentence. The contours of the analytical framework were explored in Public Prosecutor v Koh Thiam Huat SGHC 123, Public Prosecutor v Aw Tai Hock SGHC 240, and Stansilas Fabian Kester v Public Prosecutor SGHC 185.3Public Prosecutor v Koh Thiam Huat (2017) SGHC 123 at (41)–(49). Public Prosecutor v Aw Tai Hock (2017) SGHC 240 at (29)–(40). Stansilas Fabian Kester v Public Prosecutor (2017) SGHC 185 at (47)–(48), (74) and (91). See Mohamed Faizal, Wong Woon Kwong and Sarah Shi, Criminal Procedure, Evidence and Sentencing (2017) 18 Singapore Academy of Law Annual Review 415 at (14.71)–(14.76).
By way of example, for the sentencing of drink-driving cases, the analytical framework may be presented graphically as follows:4Public Prosecutor v Koh Thiam Huat (2017) SGHC 123 at (41)–(49). Public Prosecutor v Aw Tai Hock (2017) SGHC 240 at (29)–(40). Stansilas Fabian Kester v Public Prosecutor (2017) SGHC 185 at (47)–(48), (74), (75), (78) and (91).
Section 44(1)(a) of the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act: Huang Ying-Chun v Public Prosecutor SGHC 269.
Professional misconduct under Section 53(1)(d) of the Medical Registration Act: Wong Meng Hang v Singapore Medical Council and Other Matters SGHC 253.
Section 17(1) of the Medical Registration Act: Neo Ah Luan v Public Prosecutor SGHC 188.
Maid abuse under Section 323 read with Section 73(2) of the Penal Code: Tay Wee Kiat and Another v Public Prosecutor and Another Appeal SGHC 42.
Cheating at play under Section 172A(2) of the Casino Control Act: Logachev Vladislav v Public Prosecutor SGHC 12.
Causing grievous hurt by negligent act which endangered human life under Section 338(b) of the Penal Code: Tang Ling Lee v Public Prosecutor SGHC 18.
Voluntarily causing grievous hurt under Section 325 of the Penal Code: Public Prosecutor v BDB SGCA 69.
Voluntarily causing hurt under Section 323 of the Penal Code: Public Prosecutor v Lim Yee Hua SGHC 308.
Aggravated outrage of modesty under Section 354(2) of the Penal Code: GBR v Public Prosecutor SGHC 296.
Section 28(b) read with Section 29(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act: Seng Hwee Kwang v Public Prosecutor.5Seng Hwee Kwang v Public Prosecutor (Oral Judgment, 15 February 2017, Magistrate’s Appeal No 9114/2016).
Offences under the Workplace Safety and Health Act: Nurun Novi Saydur Rahman v Public Prosecutor v SGHC 236, and Public Prosecutor v GS Engineering and Construction Corp SGHC 276.
Section 182 of the Penal Code: Koh Yong Chiah v Public Prosecutor 3 SLR 447.
Drug trafficking under Section 5 of the Misuse of Drugs Act: Vasentha d/o Joseph v Public Prosecutor SGHC 197, Public Prosecutor v Lai Teck Guan SGHC 151, and Soh Qiu Xia Katty v Public Prosecutor SGHC 260.
Sections 140, 146, and 148 of the Women’s Charter: Poh Boon Kiat v Public Prosecutor SGHC 186.6 For completeness, see also Ding Si Yang v Public Prosecutor (2015) SGHC 8 (Sentencing Guideline Framework of Annex A at (28)).
This is perhaps unsurprising as the two principal parameters which a sentencing court would generally have regard to in evaluating the seriousness of a crime are: (a) the harm caused by the offence, and (b) the offender’s culpability.7 Lim Ying Luciana v Public Prosecutor and Another Appeal (2016) 4 SLR 1220 at (28), Public Prosecutor v Tan Thian Earn (2016) 3 SLR 269 at (19), Public Prosecutor v Koh Thiam Huat (2017) SGHC 123 at (41), and Public Prosecutor v Ganesan Sivasankar (2017) SGHC 176 at (33) and (53)–(56). See also Public Prosecutor v Law Aik Meng (2007) 2 SLR(R) 814 at (33).
“Harm” is a measure of the injury which has been caused to society by the commission of the offence.8Public Prosecutor v Koh Thiam Huat (2017) SGHC 123 at (41). Public Prosecutor v Aw Tai Hock (2017) SGHC 240 at (33). Public Prosecutor v Yeo Ek Boon Jeffrey (2017) SGHC 306 at (57). Harm may comprise “physical harm” and “psychological harm” for maid abuse cases under Section 323 read with Section 73(2) of the Penal Code.9Tay Wee Kiat and Another v Public Prosecutor and Another Appeal (2018) SGHC 42 at (70)–(72). Harm may also include serious economic loss to the victim under Section 17(1) of the Medical Registration Act.10Neo Ah Luan v Public Prosecutor (2018) SGHC 188 at (69).
In assessing the level of harm or potential harm, the sentencing court should be careful not to double-count any factors which may already have been taken into account in assessing the level of culpability: Neo Ah Luan v Public Prosecutor SGHC 188 at .11 See also Public Prosecutor v Raveen Balakrishnan (2018) SGHC 148 at (87).
“Culpability” is a measure of the degree of relative blameworthiness disclosed by an offender’s actions and is measured chiefly in relation to the extent and manner of the offender’s involvement in the criminal act.12Public Prosecutor v Koh Thiam Huat (2017) SGHC 123 at (41). Public Prosecutor v Aw Tai Hock (2017) SGHC 240 at (35). Public Prosecutor v Yeo Ek Boon Jeffrey (2017) SGHC 306 at (57). See also Andrew Ashworth, Sentencing and Criminal Justice (6th Edition, 2015, Cambridge University Press) at (4.5).
The two-step sentencing bands framework is found in Ng Kean Meng Terence v Public Prosecutor SGCA 37 at [73(a), (c) and (d)].13 See also the five-step sentencing framework in Logachev Vladislav v Public Prosecutor (2018) SGHC 12 at (71)–(84), which is broadly similar to the two-step sentencing bands framework in Ng Kean Meng Terence v Public Prosecutor (2017) SGCA 37 at (73(a), (c) and (d)).
At the first step, the Court should have regard to the offence-specific factors in deciding which band the offence in question falls under. Offence-specific factors comprise factors going towards: (a) the harm caused by the offence; and (b) the offender’s culpability. The categories may not always be watertight. For instance, the degree of planning and premeditation and the level of sophistication, were categorised as offence-specific factors going towards the offender’s culpability in Logachev Vladislav; yet, the High Court observed that they may also relate to the harm caused by the offence in so far as they affect the likelihood of harm: Logachev Vladislav v Public Prosecutor SGHC 12 at .
Once the sentencing band, which defines the range of sentences that may usually be imposed for an offence with those features, is identified, the Court has to go on to identify precisely where within that range the present offence falls in order to derive an “indicative starting point”.
At the second step, the Court should have regard to the aggravating and mitigating factors which are personal to the offender to calibrate the sentence. These offender-specific factors comprise other aggravating and mitigating factors which do not directly relate to the commission of the offence.14Logachev Vladislav v Public Prosecutor (2018) SGHC 12 at (34). Ng Kean Meng Terence v Public Prosecutor (2017) SGCA 37 at (39(b)).
One model of the two-step sentencing bands framework can be found in drug trafficking and importation cases where the quantity of the drugs indicates the potential harm to society. In this regard, the indicative starting sentence — based on the quantity of the drugs (viz potential harm) — may be adjusted upward or downward to take into account the offenders’ culpability and other aggravating and mitigating factors. Essentially, harm is the central element for such cases.
Examples of these cases include Vasentha d/o Joseph v Public Prosecutor SGHC 197 at – (drug trafficking)15 The sentencing guidelines for the trafficking of diamorphine are found in Vasentha d/o Joseph v Public Prosecutor (2015) SGHC 197 at (47). The High Court — in Loo Pei Xiang Alan v Public Prosecutor (2015) SGHC 217 at (17) and Public Prosecutor v Tan Lye Heng (2017) SGHC 146 at (125) — considered the conversion scale or exchange rate for drug trafficking between diamorphine and methamphetamine/ cannabis respectively. See also Lee Jwee Nguan and Mohamed Faizal, Criminal Procedure, Evidence and Sentencing (2015) 16 Singapore Academy of Law Annual Review 396 at (14.110). and Suventher Shanmugam v Public Prosecutor SGCA 25 at – (drug importation).16 See also the Court of Appeal decisions in Pham Duyen Quyen vPublic Prosecutor (2017) SGCA 39 at (56), and Suventher Shanmugam v Public Prosecutor (2017) SGCA 25 at (31). For completeness, see Public Prosecutor v Nimalan Ananda Jothi (2018) SGHC 97 at (33)–(37), and Public Prosecutor v Adri Anton Kalangie (2017) SGHC 217 (and CCA 34/2017).
In similar vein, for voluntarily causing grievous hurt under Section 325 of the Penal Code, the seriousness of the injury caused (viz harm) is a good indicator of the gravity of the offence and guides the court in determining the indicative starting point for sentencing. The indicative starting sentence may then be adjusted upward or downward to take into account the offenders’ culpability and other aggravating and mitigating factors: Public Prosecutor v BDB SGCA 69 at .17 See Mohamed Faizal, Wong Woon Kwong and Sarah Shi, Criminal Procedure, Evidence and Sentencing (2017) 18 Singapore Academy of Law Annual Review 415 at (14.128)–(14.129).
Another model of the two-step sentencing bands framework can be found in fatal accident cases under Section 304A(a) of the Penal Code. For such cases, as the harm is the death of the victim, the harm is generally uniform. Accordingly, what sets such cases apart is, in the vast majority of cases, determined primarily by the accused’s culpability.18 “(T)here will be exceptional cases where the harm caused by the offence can also be used to determine both the applicable category and where the particular case falls within the applicable presumptive sentencing range. One example of this would be where more than one death is caused, as in the present case”: Public Prosecutor v Ganesan Sivasankar (2017) SGHC 176 at (56). After considering the accused’s culpability, a sentencing court takes into account other aggravating and mitigating factors: Public Prosecutor v Ganesan Sivasankar SGHC 176 at .19 See Mohamed Faizal, Wong Woon Kwong and Sarah Shi, Criminal Procedure, Evidence and Sentencing (2017) 18 Singapore Academy of Law Annual Review 415 at (14.103)–(14.106).
“offence-specific and offender-specific aggravating and mitigating factors are necessarily factored into the analysis within the harm and culpability considerations themselves”.21 See Mohamed Faizal, Wong Woon Kwong and Sarah Shi, Criminal Procedure, Evidence and Sentencing (2017) 18 Singapore Academy of Law Annual Review 415 at (14.122)–(14.125).
An example of this approach22 See Public Prosecutor v Yeo Ek Boon Jeffrey (2017) SGHC 306 at (57). may be found in Public Prosecutor v Sakthikanesh s/o Chidambaram and Ors SGHC 178 at –, where the High Court held that exceptional performance during National Service was not a mitigating factor, as it reduces neither the defaulter’s culpability nor the harm he had caused by his offence.
Next, we segue to examine the differences between “culpability-increasing factors” and “general aggravating factors”.
Culpability-increasing factors directly relate to the commission of the offence per se. They are offence-specific.
For example, for outrage of modesty cases (both aggravated and simpliciter), the offence-specific factors that increase the accused’s culpability include the degree of sexual exploitation and the circumstances of the offence: GBR v Public Prosecutor SGHC 296 and Kunasekaran s/o Kalimuthu Somasundara v Public Prosecutor SGHC 9.23Kunasekaran s/o Kalimuthu Somasundara v Public Prosecutor (2018) SGHC 9 at (48). GBR v Public Prosecutor (2017) SGHC 296 at (27)–(29). The circumstances of the offence include (a) the presence of premeditation, (b) the use of force or violence, (c) the abuse of a position of trust, (d) the use of deception, (e) other aggravating acts accompanying the outrage of modesty (e.g. showing the victim a pornographic film before outraging her modesty or using sedating drugs), and (f) the exploitation of a vulnerable victim: GBR v Public Prosecutor (2017) SGHC 296 at (29).
For the offence of dangerous driving under Section 64(1) of the Road Traffic Act, the factors increasing the accused’s culpability would include a particularly dangerous manner of driving. As illustrations, the aggravating factors identified in Public Prosecutor v Hue An Li SGHC 171, ie speeding, drink-driving and sleepy driving, would clearly contribute to this, as would driving while using a mobile phone.24Public Prosecutor v Koh Thiam Huat (2017) SGHC 123 at (41). See also Public Prosecutor v Ganesan Sivasankar (2017) SGHC 176 at (54). Finally, see Mohamed Faizal, Wong Woon Kwong and Sarah Shi, Criminal Procedure, Evidence and Sentencing (2017) 18 Singapore Academy of Law Annual Review 415 at (14.103)–(14.106). In addition, if the dangerous driving was deliberate (for instance, in “hell riding” cases), this would also indicate a higher level of culpability.25Public Prosecutor v Koh Thiam Huat (2017) SGHC 123 at (41). See also Public Prosecutor v Ganesan Sivasankar (2017) SGHC 176 at (54).
General aggravating factors do not directly relate to the commission of the offence per se. They are offender-specific. These factors include the number of charges taken into consideration, relevant antecedents demonstrating recalcitrance, and the evident lack of remorse.26GBR v Public Prosecutor (2017) SGHC 296 at (39). Logachev Vladislav v Public Prosecutor (2018) SGHC 12 at (37) and (64)–(66).
Mitigating factors include a timeous plea of guilt, voluntary restitution, cooperation with the authorities, and the presence of a mental disorder or intellectual disability on the offender’s part that relates to the offence.27GBR v Public Prosecutor (2017) SGHC 296 at (39). Logachev Vladislav v Public Prosecutor (2018) SGHC 12 at (37) and (67)–(70). For completeness, see Amardeep Singh s/o Gurcharan Singh, Sentencing Reform in Singapore: Are the Guidelines in England and Wales a Useful Model?, (2018) 30 SAcLJ 175 at (36)–(38). For completeness, in Stansilas Fabian Kester v Public Prosecutor SGHC 185, the High Court stated the need to justify the mitigating value of public service and contributions by reference to the four principles of sentencing — retribution, rehabilitation, deterrence, and prevention.28Stansilas Fabian Kester v Public Prosecutor (2017) SGHC 185 at (94)–(101). See Mohamed Faizal, Wong Woon Kwong and Sarah Shi, Criminal Procedure, Evidence and Sentencing (2017) 18 Singapore Academy of Law Annual Review 415 at (14.47)–(14.48).
In the final analysis, the analytical framework lends itself well to a systematic evaluation of the relevant considerations in fashioning a condign sentence.
The author would like to thank DJ Ronald Gwee and DJ John Ng for their helpful comments and suggestions. All errors remain the author’s alone. All views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent the views of his organisation.
1. ↑ See also The Honourable Attorney-General’s Speech, Opening of the Legal Year 2018 (Singapore, 8 January 2018) at (25).
2. ↑ See also the five-step sentencing framework in Logachev Vladislav v Public Prosecutor (2018) SGHC 12 at (71)–(84), which is broadly similar to the two-step sentencing bands framework in Ng Kean Meng Terence v Public Prosecutor (2017) SGCA 37 at (73(a), (c) and (d)).
3. ↑ Public Prosecutor v Koh Thiam Huat (2017) SGHC 123 at (41)–(49). Public Prosecutor v Aw Tai Hock (2017) SGHC 240 at (29)–(40). Stansilas Fabian Kester v Public Prosecutor (2017) SGHC 185 at (47)–(48), (74) and (91). See Mohamed Faizal, Wong Woon Kwong and Sarah Shi, Criminal Procedure, Evidence and Sentencing (2017) 18 Singapore Academy of Law Annual Review 415 at (14.71)–(14.76).
4. ↑ Public Prosecutor v Koh Thiam Huat (2017) SGHC 123 at (41)–(49). Public Prosecutor v Aw Tai Hock (2017) SGHC 240 at (29)–(40). Stansilas Fabian Kester v Public Prosecutor (2017) SGHC 185 at (47)–(48), (74), (75), (78) and (91).
5. ↑ Seng Hwee Kwang v Public Prosecutor (Oral Judgment, 15 February 2017, Magistrate’s Appeal No 9114/2016).
6. ↑ For completeness, see also Ding Si Yang v Public Prosecutor (2015) SGHC 8 (Sentencing Guideline Framework of Annex A at (28)).
7. ↑ Lim Ying Luciana v Public Prosecutor and Another Appeal (2016) 4 SLR 1220 at (28), Public Prosecutor v Tan Thian Earn (2016) 3 SLR 269 at (19), Public Prosecutor v Koh Thiam Huat (2017) SGHC 123 at (41), and Public Prosecutor v Ganesan Sivasankar (2017) SGHC 176 at (33) and (53)–(56). See also Public Prosecutor v Law Aik Meng (2007) 2 SLR(R) 814 at (33).
8. ↑ Public Prosecutor v Koh Thiam Huat (2017) SGHC 123 at (41). Public Prosecutor v Aw Tai Hock (2017) SGHC 240 at (33). Public Prosecutor v Yeo Ek Boon Jeffrey (2017) SGHC 306 at (57).
9. ↑ Tay Wee Kiat and Another v Public Prosecutor and Another Appeal (2018) SGHC 42 at (70)–(72).
10. ↑ Neo Ah Luan v Public Prosecutor (2018) SGHC 188 at (69).
11. ↑ See also Public Prosecutor v Raveen Balakrishnan (2018) SGHC 148 at (87).
12. ↑ Public Prosecutor v Koh Thiam Huat (2017) SGHC 123 at (41). Public Prosecutor v Aw Tai Hock (2017) SGHC 240 at (35). Public Prosecutor v Yeo Ek Boon Jeffrey (2017) SGHC 306 at (57). See also Andrew Ashworth, Sentencing and Criminal Justice (6th Edition, 2015, Cambridge University Press) at (4.5).
13. ↑ See also the five-step sentencing framework in Logachev Vladislav v Public Prosecutor (2018) SGHC 12 at (71)–(84), which is broadly similar to the two-step sentencing bands framework in Ng Kean Meng Terence v Public Prosecutor (2017) SGCA 37 at (73(a), (c) and (d)).
14. ↑ Logachev Vladislav v Public Prosecutor (2018) SGHC 12 at (34). Ng Kean Meng Terence v Public Prosecutor (2017) SGCA 37 at (39(b)).
15. ↑ The sentencing guidelines for the trafficking of diamorphine are found in Vasentha d/o Joseph v Public Prosecutor (2015) SGHC 197 at (47). The High Court — in Loo Pei Xiang Alan v Public Prosecutor (2015) SGHC 217 at (17) and Public Prosecutor v Tan Lye Heng (2017) SGHC 146 at (125) — considered the conversion scale or exchange rate for drug trafficking between diamorphine and methamphetamine/ cannabis respectively. See also Lee Jwee Nguan and Mohamed Faizal, Criminal Procedure, Evidence and Sentencing (2015) 16 Singapore Academy of Law Annual Review 396 at (14.110).
16. ↑ See also the Court of Appeal decisions in Pham Duyen Quyen vPublic Prosecutor (2017) SGCA 39 at (56), and Suventher Shanmugam v Public Prosecutor (2017) SGCA 25 at (31). For completeness, see Public Prosecutor v Nimalan Ananda Jothi (2018) SGHC 97 at (33)–(37), and Public Prosecutor v Adri Anton Kalangie (2017) SGHC 217 (and CCA 34/2017).
17. ↑ See Mohamed Faizal, Wong Woon Kwong and Sarah Shi, Criminal Procedure, Evidence and Sentencing (2017) 18 Singapore Academy of Law Annual Review 415 at (14.128)–(14.129).
18. ↑ “(T)here will be exceptional cases where the harm caused by the offence can also be used to determine both the applicable category and where the particular case falls within the applicable presumptive sentencing range. One example of this would be where more than one death is caused, as in the present case”: Public Prosecutor v Ganesan Sivasankar (2017) SGHC 176 at (56).
19. ↑ See Mohamed Faizal, Wong Woon Kwong and Sarah Shi, Criminal Procedure, Evidence and Sentencing (2017) 18 Singapore Academy of Law Annual Review 415 at (14.103)–(14.106).
20. ↑ This case dealt with the offence of voluntarily causing hurt to a public servant (police officers and public servants who are performing duties akin to police duties at the material time) under Section 332 of the Penal Code.
21. ↑ See Mohamed Faizal, Wong Woon Kwong and Sarah Shi, Criminal Procedure, Evidence and Sentencing (2017) 18 Singapore Academy of Law Annual Review 415 at (14.122)–(14.125).
22. ↑ See Public Prosecutor v Yeo Ek Boon Jeffrey (2017) SGHC 306 at (57).
23. ↑ Kunasekaran s/o Kalimuthu Somasundara v Public Prosecutor (2018) SGHC 9 at (48). GBR v Public Prosecutor (2017) SGHC 296 at (27)–(29). The circumstances of the offence include (a) the presence of premeditation, (b) the use of force or violence, (c) the abuse of a position of trust, (d) the use of deception, (e) other aggravating acts accompanying the outrage of modesty (e.g. showing the victim a pornographic film before outraging her modesty or using sedating drugs), and (f) the exploitation of a vulnerable victim: GBR v Public Prosecutor (2017) SGHC 296 at (29).
24. ↑ Public Prosecutor v Koh Thiam Huat (2017) SGHC 123 at (41). See also Public Prosecutor v Ganesan Sivasankar (2017) SGHC 176 at (54). Finally, see Mohamed Faizal, Wong Woon Kwong and Sarah Shi, Criminal Procedure, Evidence and Sentencing (2017) 18 Singapore Academy of Law Annual Review 415 at (14.103)–(14.106).
25. ↑ Public Prosecutor v Koh Thiam Huat (2017) SGHC 123 at (41). See also Public Prosecutor v Ganesan Sivasankar (2017) SGHC 176 at (54).
26. ↑ GBR v Public Prosecutor (2017) SGHC 296 at (39). Logachev Vladislav v Public Prosecutor (2018) SGHC 12 at (37) and (64)–(66).
27. ↑ GBR v Public Prosecutor (2017) SGHC 296 at (39). Logachev Vladislav v Public Prosecutor (2018) SGHC 12 at (37) and (67)–(70). For completeness, see Amardeep Singh s/o Gurcharan Singh, Sentencing Reform in Singapore: Are the Guidelines in England and Wales a Useful Model?, (2018) 30 SAcLJ 175 at (36)–(38).
28. ↑ Stansilas Fabian Kester v Public Prosecutor (2017) SGHC 185 at (94)–(101). See Mohamed Faizal, Wong Woon Kwong and Sarah Shi, Criminal Procedure, Evidence and Sentencing (2017) 18 Singapore Academy of Law Annual Review 415 at (14.47)–(14.48). | 2019-04-24T00:05:51Z | https://lawgazette.com.sg/feature/analytical-framework-for-sentencing/ |
An intrepid world traveler most likely won’t find a tour of central Asia daunting, but others just might. Unless you are accustomed to dealing with border crossing that require schlepping all your personal baggage across long no-man’s land—barbed wire fences, check points manned by steely-eyed soldiers carrying rifle, some with fixed bayonets, that speak no English—this would be the lowlight of the tour you don’t need.
Ironically, central Asia used to be a vast, open but loosely defined region that separated the European kingdoms in the west and the mysterious Cathay in the east. Today, this region is artificially divided into countries, all ending in “-stan:” Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. (Afghanistan is also part of Central Asia, but not presently recommended for even the intrepid traveler.) The Stans became independent countries upon the dissolution of Soviet Union in 1991 and they apparently took the borders created for them by Stalin in the 1920’s very seriously. Crossing from one Stan to another is strictly monitored and controlled.
Before spending three weeks visiting the “5 Stans,” I thought of central Asia as a place of camel caravans trekking over endless deserts. I was to find the image off the mark. While the western part of central Asia is arid and dominated by deserts, the eastern part contains snow-capped mountain ranges, tree-ringed alpine lakes, lush valleys and rivers nurturing vast grasslands. Mother nature made sure I revised my understanding of central Asia by drenching my travel companions and me in sudden torrential downpour while we were in Tashkent, Samarkand and Ashgabat, about 1000 miles apart.
This part of the world was home to fabled empires at different times and overlapping territories that belonged to such ancient people as Scythians, Parthians, Sogdians, Bactrians and Kushans. Much of their cultures have been lost over time abetted periodically by total massacre and destruction in the hands of ruthless invaders resulting in a consequent loss of historical continuity. It shouldn’t be surprising—though I was initially—that we found frequent mention of Chinese sources to establish and authenticate the archeological finds on display in the museums we visited. Neighboring China, after all, has uninterrupted historical records that kept track of the interactions China had with various peoples in the west.
One of the museums attributed “the ambassador from China in 109 BC” as the beginning of trading on the Silk Road between China through central Asia and the West. I was thrilled by this apparent reference to Zhang Qian, the emissary sent by Han Wudi to form alliances with the kingdoms in central Asia. Zhang Qian is an important historical figure well known to school children in China. At first I thought the reference was an independent validation of the years he spent in central Asia, but upon further reflection, I asked myself, was it merely another citation of the same Chinese historical source?
Invasion by Alexander from Macedon around 330 BC became the first major defining event for this region. In his campaign against the Persian Empire, he ran over most of central Asia in part because his opponents didn’t know how to overcome soldiers marching in phalanx formation, the leading warfare technology in its day. When he got to the capital of Sogdiana, near today’s Khujand in Tajikistan—as the local guide related to us—he met fierce resistance, which he solved by marrying Roxanne, the princess of the local king. Thus a romantic story from the ancient era was born. The influence of Greek culture to central Asia and beyond to India and China can be attributed to Alexander’s conquest.
The Arabs invaded this region in the 7th century and conversion of the people to Islam began. The Arabs also introduced great Islamic architecture and science and mathematics, the former such as the invention of the double dome structure found in mosques, mausoleums and madrassas. The many structures we saw were ancestors to the Taj Mahal built in India many hundred years later. Khiva proudly displays a stature of al-Khwarizmi, who wrote the definitive book on algebra, as their native son. The word algorithm in computer science was derived from his name.
The Mongolian invasion led by Genghis Khan in the 12th century was the next cataclysmic disaster to strike this region. He left a wake of annihilation and destruction in his path as he swept through on his way to Europe. Much the memory of the people and evidence of their culture were erased by the Mongols. Our guide in Kunya Urgench explained that the tragic outcome could have been averted save for a grievous misunderstanding. Genghis Khan had sent emissaries to the emir then seated near Kunya Urgench to establish trade relations. The emir got bad counsel and looked down on the unwashed horsemen and beheaded them. A furious Genghis then mounted a fierce assault that eventually overcame the fortress.
Annihilation of the population and leveling of the city was a customary practice to intimidate the next opponent and convince them that surrender to avoid slaughter was a wiser alternative. Genghis was not the first to use this practice. Alexander did the same some 1500 years earlier when he invaded southern parts of Greece.
The next ruthless ruler to dominate central Asia was Timur, whose detractors derisively called Timur the lame, which in the West became Tamerlane. Timur was home grown from a village outside of Samarkand who rose to conquer much of this region roughly a century and a half after Genghis Khan. He made Samarkand his capitol and built a great city for posterity. He also destroyed other cities and kingdoms that rivaled his power, such as the kingdom of Khorezm based in Khiva. At its peak, Timur’s empire rival in size to that of Genghis Khan and Alexander. In 1405, nearing 70, he died on the road as he was preparing to invade China. The threat of his invasion was said to lead to Cheng Ho’s sailing the seven seas as the Ming Emperor sought alliances that might mitigate the threat of Timur.
Peter the Great had designs on this region as early as 1717 but took the Russian military another 150 years to conquer and incorporate central Asia into its empire. After the Bolshevik Revolution, central Asia became part of USSR. To discourage insurrection and large-scale rebellion, Stalin somewhat arbitrarily divided this region into the aforementioned 5 Stans. At the time, each autonomous region had to have a minimum 1 million population and over 50% belonging to one ethnic group, such as Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tajik, Turkmen and Uzbek. Some of the borders, reminiscent of the fine art of gerrymandering in the US, reflect the need to meet the criteria.
Central Asia was the prize Russia won in the Great Game over Great Britain. There were pluses and minuses attributable to their occupation. Under Tsarist Russia, there weren’t much respect paid to the cultural artifacts and madrassas, for example, were converted from being religious schools to stables and warehouses. The Soviets began to paid attention to the artifacts buried in the many ruins in central Asia and excavate some of these sites. Much of World Heritage sites and other archeological gems that we can see today owe their existence to the recovery and restoration efforts by Soviet archeologists. On the other hand, just as some of the finest art found in British colonial past are in the British Museum in London, so it is that some of the best finds in central Asia are on display in the Hermitage in St. Petersburg. The ivory rhyton at right was found from the Nisa ruins outside of Ashgabat, now on display at the Hermitage, similar ones are also on display at the National Museum of History in Ashgabat.
The preceding sketch of the history of this region is no where comprehensive and perhaps not even precise but is, I believe, a minimum framework necessary to understand today’s central Asia.
On the tour, the most striking thing I noticed was the people of central Asia. They come in all sizes, shapes and coloration and as non-homogeneous as one can imagine. Some are blond and pale and some look Asian, but most seem to fall in gradations somewhere in between. They could be easily mistaken for someone from Mexico, or Morocco or Iran or Egypt or India or Italy. Remarkably, they mix and mingle and seem oblivious to differences between themselves. I could not detect any ethnic sensitivity or tension as we mingle with them on the streets and bazaars. In various times, nomads from Siberia, Mongolia, Manchuria and western China have migrated or passed through from the east, as have people from Russia and Ukraine from the north and Turks and Greeks from the west and Persians from the south. With such a long period of intermingling, perhaps it’s natural that they stopped noticing the differences among themselves.
Even though the dominant religion is Islam, the people’s attitude is quite secular. Few pray five times a day, most consider themselves devout if they regularly pray on Fridays. During the three weeks we were there, we did not hear the call to prayer even once, unlike our experience in other Islamic countries. Perhaps this is a legacy from the Soviet era when practice of religion was actively discouraged.
The sudden dissolution of the Soviet Union seemed to have left the Stans poorly prepared for nationhood. All gravitated to some form of strong man government, and, except for Kyrgyzstan, have enjoyed the support of the population to varying degrees. In the case of Kyrgyzstan, the first two presidents were thrown out of office, the third, a woman, accepted the emergency appointment for one year and voluntarily stepped down for the next elected president.
Economic development among the 5 Stans seems uneven, largely dependent on whether or not the particular country possesses deposits of oil and gas to subsidize the economy. Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan have plenty of oil and gas and thus have stable economies. Uzbekistan does not and is wrestling with ongoing inflation. The official exchange rate is 1800 som to a dollar. At restaurants, if you offer to pay in dollars, they offer a black market rate as high as 2850 to a dollar. Kyrgyzstan is rich in water and natural scenery and Tajikistan is the least economically developed of the five.
Uzbekistan’s attempt to control inflation is apparently to exert tight monetary control. We were told that the daily receipts of enterprises, large and small, are collected by the state at the end of the day and deposited in the state-owned banks. This would allow the state to monitor and control the circulation of their currency but apparently the state can’t help resorting to printing more currencies as their remedy. The consequence is that everybody carry wads of 1,000 som bills and are experts at counting stacks of bills quickly and accurately. On a flight from Urgench to Tashkent, I happened to stand next the interpreter for a World Bank team visiting the country. I asked her if the World Bank was recommending an open economy that welcomes foreign direct investment, she agreed that would be a step forward.
China’s influence in the local economies is readily evident. The bathroom amenities as well as the sinks and toilet bowls in many hotels are from China. In the bazaars, used fertilizer bags from China are popular for holding whatever commodities the stall operator is selling. In Bishkek, I bought an electrical plug converter for the equivalent of $1.10, made in China of course. That little purchase was essential to power my iPad, mobile phone and camera for the rest of my trip.
The roads in 5 Stans are extremely uneven. New roads are excellent. A JV, we were told, built the toll road from the border to Khujand in Tajikistan, with a Chinese company. While driving from Bishkek to Lake Issyk-Kye, we were mostly on a road still under construction. When completed, it was going to be a major arterial highway from Kyrgyzstan to China. At a roadside restaurant, I was delighted to take over from our guide and ordered a Chinese meal from a menu with dishes written in Chinese.
This part of the world has not seen many tourists from America. When they asked and found out that we were from the US, we were invariably greeted with warm, welcoming smiles. In Uzbekistan, especially the young people loved to have their photos taken with us, the American tourists, and they would frequently approach the women of our group and ask for group photos with us. We felt like celebrities. The people in Tajikistan loved to have their photos taken by our camera and were pleased to see their images on our camera. The people of Turkmenistan were more formal and distant and did not encourage taking of photos.
Driving into Ashgabat, we saw gleaming white marble office buildings, white marble apartment towers, spectacular monuments, broad boulevards and fountains everywhere. Being the capitol of Turkmenistan, Ashgabat was probably the most ostentatious, but the other major cities that we drove through also contained spectacularly looking edifices. On the other hand, the highways between the cities are not in good condition and rather than drive, it was quite inexpensive to fly, under $20 per person from Mary to Ashgabat and from Ashgabat to Dashogus. Fuel in oil-rich Turkmenistan must be quite cheap.
When we got to Samarkand, one of the first stops was to visit a family still making paper from the fibers of the mulberry tree in the traditional way, i.e., by manual labor. I found an interesting historical footnote related to this stop. I discovered that Samarkand was the first place to make paper outside of China and they learned papermaking from the Chinese prisoners of war because of a pivotal battle that took place in 751 AD. Taking place in the valley of Talas in today’s Kyrgyzstan, a force of soldiers from Tang court fought a force led by the Arabs. The Chinese suffered a devastating defeat as some 2000 soldiers were taken prisoner; among them were skilled craftsmen who knew how to make paper and pottery. Thus was how the papermaking technology was transferred to the west.
While largely forgotten, it has been argued that this battle had a major impact on history. After this battle, the Tang court turned away from central Asia and lost interest in advancing its sphere of influence westward. Even though the Arabs won the battle, the logistical challenge of supporting their army over great distances may have also discourage their expansionary ambitions. They too turned away to consolidate their control in central Asia. I recently came across an article that discussed this historic battle more fully here.
All the electrical outlets use the two round pin configuration. If you don’t have an adapter at home, you can easily buy one in bazaars and street-side stalls upon arrival.
Most of the major stops on the Silk Road are in Uzbekistan. So if you would rather not deal with the hassle of crossing borders by foot, just book your tour for Uzbekistan.
As you enter Uzbekistan be ready to accurately complete the customs form and declare the amount of currency you are bringing in. Avoid hassle by making sure that you report no increase in the amount of currency you are taking out on departure.
Travel as light as you can and make sure your luggage has sturdy wheels. Perhaps because of perceived threat to airport security, cars and buses are not allowed to drive up to the terminal door. Instead, you are dropped off some distance away and have to haul your luggage to the terminal.
Bring plenty of US currency in small denominations, which will be handy to make purchases and as gratuity. The bills should be in good condition free from tears and unsightly wrinkles.
Hygiene standards are quite high everywhere we went. We ate fresh fruits, cucumbers and tomatoes and none of us got sick.
Do bring along an umbrella.
We booked our tour with East Site Travel, based in New Jersey with offices in the 5 Stans. You will find their website interesting and informative.
For those of you interested in more photos and less verbiage, I have produced a photo book on Shutterfly that you are welcome to access and view.
Great blog. I remember that when we were on the silk road trip that there were indication of much Chinese construction linking Stans to China. What percentage is the Chinese trade related to these Stans GDP now?
WoooW!!! Want to visit such incredible place ... love your blog. | 2019-04-26T01:51:24Z | http://www.georgekoo.com/2012/05/reflections-from-travel-through-central.html |
The past seventy-five years have witnessed an extraordinary growth of scientific knowledge related to oral health and the development of evidence-based dentistry. The centrality of prevention to the control of oral diseases and the maintenance of good oral health has become increasingly recognized by the scientific community, dental educators, dental practitioners, and the public at large. Yet, despite significant improvements in the overall oral health of Americans, important disparities exist, and large segments of the population are disproportionately burdened by oral diseases. Despite the proven effectiveness of various preventive modalities, such as fluoridation and dental sealants, these have not been universally disseminated and implemented. This review will highlight the challenges remaining in completing the decades-long paradigm shift to prevention and the important role to be played by the dental education community in this process.
The concept of a paradigm shift first gained popular attention fifty years ago with the publication of Thomas Kuhn’s classic work The Structure of Scientific Revolutions.1 In his treatise, Kuhn disputed the generally accepted model of scientific progress being represented by the steady and cumulative growth of evidence. Rather, he proposed that the history of science was characterized by dramatic and disruptive “revolutions” in which new models or “paradigms” are replaced by others. In this context, a “paradigm” has been defined as “a set of assumptions, concepts, values, and practices that constitutes a way of viewing reality for the community that shares them, especially in an intellectual discipline.”2 As applied to dentistry, one may consider whether the changing emphasis over the course of the twentieth century from a surgical model of corrective and reparative interventions to a medical model focused more on diagnosis, early intervention, and prevention represents a true paradigm shift in the sense meant by Kuhn.
However, despite the explosive growth in high-quality scientific evidence, it may be surprising to recognize the extent to which evidence-based preventive practices have yet to be successfully disseminated and fully implemented. Two salient examples, among others, of such proven preventive modalities that we will explore in greater detail in this review are community water fluoridation and dental sealants. Thus, our aim in this contribution to the seventy-fifth anniversary issue of the Journal of Dental Education (JDE) is to briefly review the origins of the paradigm shift to prevention in dentistry and the science base in support of it, while also noting the extent to which this shift may be viewed as still being incomplete. That is to say, while the paradigm may be shifting, there has yet to occur the widespread transition to a true prevention-based practice of dentistry. We will thus make some recommendations regarding ways that dental education can contribute to driving the needed change to complete the paradigm shift. This may require a greater role for the dental education community in technology transfer and in the dissemination and implementation of new practice models. Given our recent experience in the promotion of lifelong learning and application of evidence-based approaches, the dental education community is ideally poised to take a leadership role in shifting the practice paradigm to prevention.
It is remarkable to recognize that, from the earliest years of our Republic, the value of prevention appears to have been widely recognized and promoted. In his 1819 treatise, “A Practical Guide to the Management of the Teeth,” Levi Spear Parmly (1790–1859) emphasized the importance of daily preventive oral health behaviors to keep the teeth and gingiva free from oral disease. A New Orleans dentist, Parmly has also been credited as the “father of floss,” having advised his patients to use a silk thread to clean between their teeth.4 Many of the concepts and specific prevention practices he promulgated remain valid to the modern day. The value of prevention and oral self-care appears to have been widely recognized by the U.S. dental profession, if not universally promoted, for over 150 years.
Two other key pioneers in prevention in the twentieth century deserve special mention. Charles Edwin Bentley, D.D.S. (1859–1929), has been referred to as the “Father of the Oral Hygiene Movement in the United States.”11 A leading African American dentist based in Chicago, Bentley established a new model for dental care delivery based on a public health perspective and community-based needs. It is not an exaggeration to say that our current growth in community-based dental education has its origins in the work of Bentley, begun a hundred years earlier. Arising from a deep interest in the oral health of the disadvantaged, he launched school-based oral health programs in Chicago. These efforts went beyond the goal of treating disease but also encompassed a focus on community-based needs assessments, education in oral hygiene, and disease prevention. Dummett has written that Bentley also called for the “awakening of the dental profession to its social and public responsibilities.”11 However, Bentley’s views were not universally shared by his dental colleagues, and his public health programs met with some resistance.
Another great American leader in prevention and education, and a major force in the dental hygiene movement, was Alfred C. Fones (1869–1938).16 Fones led the development of professional dental hygiene care and education in the early years of the twentieth century. The term “dental hygiene” itself is attributed to Fones, who founded the world’s first School of Dental Hygiene in Bridgeport, Connecticut, in 1913 (now at the University of Bridgeport). As with Bentley, Fones’s ideas met with resistance from many dental professionals. His vision for the important role of dental hygienists in the promotion of oral health and prevention of disease was not universally shared. If there is a common thread to these historical examples that we have briefly reviewed, it may be that while prevention in dentistry has long been recognized to play an important if not central role, such a perspective has not been one universally adopted by practitioners nor universally incorporated into patient care.
The past seventy-five years since the founding of the JDE have seen a dramatic growth in the scientific basis of dentistry.17 The rise of modern biological science and the development of epidemiology over the twentieth century have greatly enhanced our understanding of disease causality and have built the evidence base that dental educators now use to train future generations of practitioners. Yet, to this day, there has been a gap in the transfer of such knowledge into practice, despite what appear to be the best efforts of the dental education community. However, this should be no surprise given the historical record summarized above. What this gap does highlight is that it is likely to be a major challenge to create a true paradigm shift to prevention in dental practice and that while efforts by dental educators may be essential, they may by themselves be insufficient to achieve the desired results.
The Pew National Dental Education Program,20 from 1984 to 1989, aimed to bring about such long-term change in U.S. dental education. It sought to affect the basic delivery model of dental care, historically grounded in the solo private practice model, as well as to understand the effects of epidemiologic trends in the U.S. population’s dental disease burden and anticipated shifts in treatment needs. A key contribution was to highlight dental schools’ critical role in serving as innovation leaders. The program validated the need for innovation in the predoctoral dental curriculum and in continuing professional education and the important role of research in dental schools. Subsequently, in 1995, the Institute of Medicine report Dental Education at the Crossroads: Challenges and Change21 identified similar needs and opportunities. Most recently, the Macy Study report, New Models of Dental Education,22 refocused national attention on the critical value of community-based approaches to education and care delivery, reflecting a prevention-oriented and public health perspective that had heretofore received somewhat limited attention in most dental school curricula.
Over the past several decades, the JDE has brought increased attention to the role of prevention in dental education. Examples include assessments of the prevention content of the dental curriculum,23–27 proposals for curricular innovation and continuing professional education,28–30 and evidence-based critical reviews on prevention.31–33 A key question that remains unanswered is whether there is sufficient time and attention given to prevention in the curriculum. In a survey of dental students’ opinions and knowledge regarding caries management and prevention, Autio-Gold and Tomar34 found that the majority of respondents felt that training and practice on caries prevention should be increased.
In their 1989 review of U.S. dental school curricula, Solomon and Brown24 categorized the area of “preventative dentistry” within the major curricular area of Behavioral Sciences. In addition to prevention, other components of the Behavioral Sciences area that they included were “behavioral principles, community dentistry, DAU [Dental Auxiliary Utilization], practice administration and public health.” They reported that, in 1987, the percentage of curricular time devoted to the area of Behavioral Sciences was 5.9 percent. This represented approximately 250 clock hours (of the total 4,689). Despite fluctuations in the intervening decades, this proportion was similar to what it had been fifty years earlier, when in 1934 a total of 5 percent of curricular time was devoted to Behavioral Sciences (approximately 218 hours of the total 4,367).
In 1995, Tedesco26 reviewed dental school curricula and reported that a mean of sixty-six hours was devoted to “prevention” in the 1991–92 survey of dental schools, with a range from four to 218 hours across fifty-five U.S. schools. These figures had grown somewhat over time, with a mean of fifty-five hours in 1981–82 and sixty-eight hours in 1985–86. Tedesco also noted the impact of the earlier Pew National Dental Education Program on dental school curricula.
More recent data suggest the curricular time devoted to prevention and related areas has remained quite modest and a small percentage of the total educational effort. An important but unanswered question is whether this amount of time is sufficient to educate the prevention-oriented practitioner the profession needs? And if it is not, then how does the dental curriculum provide the requisite time given the many competing demands? Given the increased focus on the merits of curricular reform35 and the importance of the accreditation process in influencing the curriculum,36 a critical step towards ensuring the necessary balance may be to construct new Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA) accreditation standards for the appropriate inclusion of prevention in the dental curriculum (Figure 1).
The improvement in the oral health of Americans over the past fifty years is a public health success story, founded on discovery and evolution of the scientific basis of prevention in dentistry. However, despite the great progress made in the scientific understanding of oral disease causality and prevention, as Slavkin has summarized,17 there remain important challenges in translating science into practice. In this section, we will briefly discuss two examples, water fluoridation37 and dental sealants,38 and consider the role of dental education in promoting prevention in practice.
Since its early days, community water fluoridation has faced various challenges. However, its efficacy, effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, and safety have endured the challenges and test of time.46,47 Yet, to this day, almost one-third of all Americans who could benefit from CWF (i.e., Americans who use public water systems) still lack the benefits.37 Is dental education doing enough to ensure that the future dentists of America are fully conversant with the science underlying the effectiveness and safety of CWF and aware of the scientific rationale supporting the most recent federal recommendations for CWF?48 And are our students fully capable of countering the often specious arguments being made against CWF?
In order to provide evidence-based care, practitioners need to be able to critically assess current best scientific evidence and incorporate it into their clinical decision making. Since EBD is not about providing a standard of care as in a “cookbook” approach,63 it is crucial for practitioners to become lifelong learners and active self-learning consumers of information (including current best scientific evidence). The foundational knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary for this lifelong learning endeavor need to be developed during students’ dental education.
In 2011, the ADEA Section on Community and Preventive Dentistry had more than 1,360 members.71 This section has developed and disseminated innovative prevention education programs, including its recent development of a “Smoking Cessation Training Program in Dental School Settings” for which they received ADEA Council of Sections Project Pool funds. The section has conducted productive collaborations with other health professions through the Association of Teachers of Preventive Medicine and other groups. Clearly, the intellectual, organizational, and financial resources are in place to truly achieve a paradigm shift to prevention in dental education. Perhaps a harder challenge remains the translation of what we teach and inculcate in our students to their eventual professional practice.
One approach that bears crucial attention is to apply evidence-based health policy as a lever for changes in the ways that health professionals are educated and health care is delivered. It is becoming evident that the current model of dental practice is insufficient to meet all the oral health care needs of an increasingly diverse U.S. population with worsening oral health inequities leading to high-risk underserved population groups bearing a disproportionate burden of disease.72 In addition, with the increasing focus on the nation’s need to contain health care costs, it is also becoming evident that efforts aimed at preventing disease are likely to be the most cost-efficient approaches we can take.
One example of the related recent work of the ADEA Section on Community and Preventive Dentistry is its role on the Healthy People Curriculum Task Force, formed to promote the Healthy People 2010 objective of increasing the preventive content of clinical health professional education within the broader national goals of achieving better health outcomes.73,74 The Healthy People Curriculum Task Force, founded in 2002, was convened by the Association for Prevention Teaching and Research (APTR) and represents eight national health professions education associations including ADEA. The task force developed the Clinical Prevention and Population Health Curriculum Framework. This framework provides recommendations for curricula to integrate clinical prevention and population health into the education of students across the health profession disciplines.75 The academic community is encouraged to apply this framework to curriculum design, evaluation, and accreditation efforts. The Healthy People Curriculum Task Force has continued to work collaboratively to implement the educational objectives of Healthy People 2020. A key component, Education for Health, is an educational roadmap to achieve the Healthy People 2020 goals. One could view this as a good example of how the predoctoral dental curriculum is being used as a basis for creating changes in dental practice and eventually in oral health outcomes.
Another leverage point at which dental education institutions and ADEA are ideally positioned is in the design and implementation of innovative programs to produce new types of dental practitioners, or the so-called “mid-level providers.” It is clear that new dental workforce models and related reforms in the delivery of oral health services are needed in order to achieve equity in health care access and to eliminate oral health disparities.76–78 The dental education community can provide the expertise to develop and deliver new curricula and to conduct the science needed to evaluate new models, as well as providing the venues for testing and demonstration and the integrated settings to educate future dentists within a team of diverse providers. We already had similar successes in dental education several decades ago. However, without the committed leadership of an organization like ADEA, its members, and its journal, we will not be able to complete the paradigm shift to prevention that remains urgently needed.
We have benefited from decades of scientific advances in building the evidence base for prevention-oriented oral health care. However, it is doubtful that, by itself, additional science will lead to a true paradigm shift. Rather, any major shift will likely result from an externality, such as societal change in how health care is organized and paid for.79 In large part, such change may be driven by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA).80 Once fully implemented, the ACA is expected to result in major reform in payment methodologies for medical and dental care (at least, of all persons up to age twenty-one) through the creation of accountable care organizations, use of global payments, and payment for outcomes-based performance rather than payment for procedures. Prevention-oriented, evidence-based care is likely to be prioritized and rewarded. New dental workforce models and related reforms in the delivery of oral health services may also be a consequence.81,82 With oral health recently included as one of the twelve major topics of the U.S. Leading Health Indicators for the coming decade,83 it is increasingly evident that national health reform will significantly affect oral health care.
The authors are in part supported by National Institutes of Health grant U54 DE019275.
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. Changes in the dental hygiene profession. RDH 2003;23(7). At: www.rdhmag.com/index/display/article-display/183231/articles/rdh/volume-23/issue-7/feature/changes-in-the-dental-hygiene-profession.html. Accessed: November 14, 2011.
. Charles Edwin Bentley: a model for all times. St. Paul, MN: North Central Publishing Co., 1982.
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. Scientific autobiography and other papers. New York: Greenwood Press, 1968:192. | 2019-04-23T00:19:27Z | http://www.jdentaled.org/content/76/1/36 |
What factors determined the use of film as a television technology in the development of aesthetics in the action-adventure television genre of the 1960s? The use of film on television, instead of in the cinema, led to a debate about ‘technical quality’. Celluloid’s superiority to video gave rise to a cultural understanding of TV aesthetics that could be built on notions of fashion, art, and conspicuous consumption. The action-adventure genre of the 1960s deployed these pop aesthetics and a comic strategy to appeal to an audience fascinated by glamour and youth, and amused by the ideological eccentricity of The Avengers and The Prisoner . The absurd narratives of both of these series refused to different degrees to engage with the real world, but The Prisoner represented an attempt to produce entertainment that relied more on notions of ‘seriousness’. The two series reflect the way television, with its endless dialectic of variation/replication, continued to produce new developments in the action-adventure genre.
Inherently like film, yet antithetical to it. Contradictory theories abound regarding what television can and cannot do, about what it does best. In the early years British television was governed by Reithian values of 'public service' and 'high culture'. But the emergence of a transatlantic market in television programmes in the 1950s — together with the use of celluloid — opened up the televisual in Britain. This process will be examined by focusing on two examples of the action adventure genre, The Avengers and The Prisoner. The article will explore the material industrial processes involved in the creation of a new set of conventions in the genre.
When Radio City Music Hall in New York was opened with a seating capacity of 6200 by RKO in December 1932, it became the world's largest motion picture house and marked the acme of film's development as a big screen theatrical presentation.
By the mid-1950s, corporate interests in Hollywood had their eyes on the potential of filmed drama on the small screen. By now, the contrast between the relative poverty of the studio-based 'live' image and the potential of film was readily apparent. Live plays were often characterised by disaster striking in many forms, from the leading man falling sick to the side of the camera falling off and hitting the floor during a whispered love scene.7 In the U.S., shows were sponsored by advertisers and each live play typically had three acts interrupted by the sponsor's 'message'. The advertisement was often in the form of a slickly-edited piece of film and the quality of the image and the pace of the editing reflected badly on the studio-bound play that contained it. The new television industry was slowly being positioned in relation to its significant economic 'others' – the advertising industry, and later, the motion-picture industry. The dominant interests in television's commercial development had succeeded in producing a synthesis of old radio's programming and merchandising goals with the persuasive tools of Hollywood's film-making, ensuring that the new television medium would not ignore sales-making opportunities by ignoring the value of 'entertainment'. The major Hollywood studios, encouraged by the advertising industry, turned over much of their spare studio capacity to making the filmed action adventure series to meet the networks' seemingly insatiable demand.
A report by Philip Mackie on the widespread use of film on American television appeared in Sight and Sound in 1954. Mackie made a useful distinction between two styles of TV film. One school of producers tried to reproduce on film the virtues and limitations of the 'live' show, perhaps best exemplified in Groucho Marx's comedy. The other school 'made their film look like films, with chases and running fights shot against location exteriors'.9 Such films would continue to proliferate and the mid-1950s saw a big expansion of filmed western series, the entry of Alfred Hitchcock into telefilm production, and in Britain, the opening up of ITV, whose sharpest entrepreneurs quickly recognised the economic possibilities of using film. ABC's Robin Hood was an early British example of the quickly-filmed action series that copied the American technique of industrial television production using film: repeatable and exportable, it became a profitable commodity.
The use of celluloid in television opened out the televisual experience and helped to rescue television drama from its theatrical affiliations (where it would have continued to be a relay device for a pre-existing, live performance). The popularity of the western in America, and even more so the action adventure genre in Britain — in series such as ITC's Danger Man, The Prisoner, and ABC/Thames Television's The Avengers — suggests that film medium gave to early television audiences a sense of the 'epic' and a feeling of the width of cinema that was in sharp contrast to the confined world of the 'live' studio drama. The sense of scale was achieved because it was inscribed into the iconography of the genre as it developed. Patrick McGoohan's protagonist, John Drake, in Danger Man was frequently called upon to intervene in the internal politics of islands in the Caribbean, and in the episode Colonel Rodriguez (1960), he facilitates the release of an American from the island of Montique. The settings and place names could carry resonances of the genre's epic space. However, what was evoked was an imaginative rather than an actual geography. The imaginative space was evoked through every aspect of costume, set design and mise-en-scene, no matter the budget restrictions.
To understand how the debate on celluloid aesthetics on television in Britain took on a particular character, it is necessary to consider the relationship between the technology of film and the technicians using it. Although television is an electronic medium, it has often relied heavily on the film for a large proportion of its programme origination. Throughout the 1970s and 80s, with the ascendancy of video, a variety of questions around an implicit hierarchy of mediums appeared. Film began to look like a messy, outdated mode. It is reasonable to ask why it had not disappeared altogether. However, film appears to have fulfilled the needs of the programme makers, and it continued to be used, not only for technical and economic reasons, but also for aesthetic and cultural ones. Frank Watts, cameraman on television's Hammer House of Horrors, has stated that atmospheric shadows, silhouettes, movement of both camera and cast, and lighting levels, are largely responsible for the success of a good horror movie. Shooting on video, on the other hand, appeared as a real limit to creative potential.
Much has been said and written about the look of images on film. Attempts have been made not only to define it, but also to reproduce it by using videotape. It is doubtful that there is any one factor that produces the 'film look'; rather, it is the product of techniques and technology that have evolved over a period of more than one hundred years.
Stuart Hall in the 1970s asked whether there was a formal aesthetic which could embrace the heterogeneous contents and occasions of television within a single coherent language. 'Despite its massive heterogeneity, there does seem to us a single, coherent language of television to which all its different practices can be referred. The language is, for all practical purposes, indistinguishable from the cinema.'11 Although television continually cannibalises and hybridises the content and presentational forms of other media and events or occasions, the universal set of practices by which this heterogeneous raw material was transformed into television was a set of conventions that, according to Hall, derived from the cinema.
For Hall, there was the danger of regarding television as unmediated, because it appeared that what made television distinctive was the relatively low level transformation of the bulk of its contents, and the very high proportion of television's raw material that was itself the content of another medium, e.g. live theatre or a cinema film. He blamed this on the lack of a 'social aesthetic' on television because of the institution's often innate conservatism. He believed that television did not lack an intrinsic form, but that its powers to transform its content were subjected to a sort of collective repression by the staff involved in the creation of television programmes. For Hall, television's use of a set of conventions taken from the cinema was on one level an acknowledgement that they shared many similarities, but also a condemnation of what he believed was television's formal underdevelopment.
However, it can be argued that television does not represent a different medium, but should be understood rather as a continuum with cinema. As such, it can be best described as a single medium that has undergone a constant process of renewal since the invention of moving pictures. The modes of transmission may have changed from the theatrical to the domestic, but the cinema viewer has become a television viewer as programmes have been reduced in terms of size and scope but expanded in terms of information and activity. Instead of assuming cinema's pre-eminence, as the bearer of a greater cultural capital, it can be argued that false distinctions are often made between cinema and television, and that there has often been a convergence in their development. The latter has involved a two-way process in which the existing modes of representation were updated in both cinema and television to secure further relevance within moving images.
The creation of a specifically televisual rhetoric using celluloid for a domestic rather than a theatrical cinema can be assessed by examining how far the issue of 'technical quality' — the degree of control over the visual style — took second place to the scripting of action and narration in a show such as The Avengers. In 1967, The Avengers was at the point when it ceased to be shot on video and in black and white and was updated by the 'new medium' of colour and 35mm film. The decision to shoot on film led to a more frequent use of exterior shots, and production teams coming to the series sought to create a 'film look' that was more artistically pleasing in the quality entertainment/drama field.
The 'hard work' of making a genre series shot on film needs to be understood in relation to the industrial and economic context of the series. An examination of the conditions of production of the series (rather than, say, an analysis of the role of professional ideologies in the organisation of a television production) will help to clarify the situation here. Firstly, it will tell us about the existing ideologies with which the production team were concerned, and secondly, it can also expose the contradictions between an ideological project conceived by the programme makers and the final programme as it is read and consumed by audiences.
This operates against the notion of literary works conceived of as 'created' and 'finished' products and towards the analysis of literary texts as they are re-inscribed in a variety of different institutional and ideological contexts. Studying a particular text does not require elevating it and isolating it from its history of productive consumption, but looking at everything about it, 'everything which has collected on it, become attached to it – like shells on a rock by the seashore forming a whole incrustation.'13 In other words, the production of a fictional work is a process, and the labour involved in that process can transform the ideology held by its producers and may be symbolised within the finished text. The ideological is given a visible form within a programme and the conditions of production reformulate its particular articulation.
A fictional work is a process, and the collaborative nature of film-making can allow a solution to a technical problem that can lead unexpectedly to the creation of a scene content that is artistically more interesting than that envisaged by the script. Of course, the degree of difference could amount to a complete break from the script, but Hume makes it clear that a crew's overriding purpose was to maintain the integrity of the script, and to serve it rather than alter or replace it. Nevertheless, the diligence of the 'professional' crew should be seen as opening out the televisual experience as much as the use of film as a technology. One reason for setting up a film company in the 1960s to produce for television was the degree of flexibility in working practices that it made possible. For the producers of The Avengers the experience, first at ABC and later Thames Television, demonstrated that freelance working could produce a change in the social relations of production, which can affect the final textual meanings that are being offered in a programme. Instead of the often alienated workforce of permanently staffed technicians in the television studios who were unlikely to work consistently on a long-running drama series, Thames' employees producing The Avengers had the chance of a closer involvement with the programme as a whole and crew members were rarely unwilling to work overtime because they were more actively involved in a production.
By the end of the third season in 1964, The Avengers was on the verge of a major technological change. Until that point , the series had been recorded on videotape, which was difficult to edit, and so the performance had often to be done in a single take with only a handful of exterior scenes shot on film. These technical limitations were overcome by the use of interior sets, close shots and a visual style that used low-key lighting and expressionist angles to create an unreal world that was marked off as different from the realism of a near-documentary series like Z Cars. For the fourth series in 1965, however, The Avengers moved onto film, which was more expensive, but allowed a greater use of location filming, exterior sequences and a more expressive use of visual style. The reason for the change was in large measure due to the desire to sell the series in America where filmed entertainment had been established much more firmly than in Britain.
The move to film necessitated changes in the production base of the series and its personnel. If there was a moment when The Avengers can be said to have changed decisively, this was it. The production base of The Avengers moved to British National Studios at Elstree. Julian Wintle, a former film editor turned producer who had co-founded Independent Artists in 1958 and whose credits included Tiger Bay (1959) and This Sporting Life (1963), was brought in as supervising producer. Yet the credos of actual personalities such as Wintle and Thomas were not as important as a set of complex 'signature' codes that suggests both authorial and cultural importance. From the critical tradition of authorship came the still-dominant popular view that individual, artistic directives were at the heart of the creative enterprise in film. However, the personalities of each studio in the classical era of Hollywood were not a priori to the film, but added in because of the controlling oversight of the studio bosses.15 This worked because specific production modes distinguished each studio. Similarly, ITC and ABC/Thames utilised a 'house' mode of production; they also shared 'house styles' with other filmed entertainment on the lot.
Television programmes are industrial products produced for a mass audience, and therefore the study of popular TV demands that the critic recognises that programmes do not stand alone, but are produced and consumed in runs and sets, groupings that may be understood in terms of generic qualities, or the casting of stars, or shared iconographic elements. Rather than the discrete programmes, it is the continuities across groups of films that the audience recognises, and that become the principal focus of critical attention. The primary object of study is not the single programme, but the series that was shaped by several factors; occupational ideologies that influenced the use of film on television; the cultural understanding of television aesthetics and technology. Steve Neale has argued that 'genres cannot be systematically characterised and differentiated from one another' on the basis of abstracted formal properties — a set of codes and conventions — as if such properties 'constituted specific generic essences'.16 Rather, he argues, genres can more usefully be viewed as sets of expectations through which the possibilities of understanding a text are organised. Such expectations are neither lodged within nor produced by the properties of individual texts or even groups of texts viewed in isolation. The determination as to which genre rules will be operative in organising the possibilities of reading is thus linked to a production culture, rather than a fixed set of conventions within a text.
As television production moved to involve an international market, there was a growing Americanization of the action adventure genre. This relied on the industrialization of the aesthetics of film that had happened in America. In The Avengers the comic strategy of the series also operated to recruit new audiences. The parodying of some aspects of post-imperial ideologies such as consumerism and fashion, combined with the buttressing of others, was not only endorsed by British audiences, but also allowed The Avengers to engage with international audiences. This, in turn, fed into American views of the British class system as an outdated anachronism, and served as an amusing ideological eccentricity when used in the service of the West (i.e. the United States). In this way The Avengers can be understood as linking together American and British audiences.
The importation of the American filmed television series whetted British audiences' appetites for this style of entertainment, and the imposition of quotas on foreign material that could be shown on British television stimulated the production of the filmed series in the UK. It was Lew Grade who first began to finance the production of the TV film series under the BFPA (British Film Producers Association) agreements, after convincing the unions that this would not affect the production of television programmes within ATV (Associated Television), but would allow him to break into the American market, and provide an additional source of employment. After his TV series Danger Man was shown successfully in the US, but not networked, Grade sold his first TV series to America in 1965. The Saint, which had cost ATV £50,000 a show to make, was bought by NBC, and was the first British-made TV series to be shown on the American network. It ran in the US for 117 episodes. Meanwhile, in 1965, Howard Thomas, at ABC, switched The Avengers from tape to film and scored a notable success, including an American network sale.
The main aesthetic that appeared in the new filmed version of The Avengers was the pop ethic. By then the action adventure genre had become the dominant fictional form of the 1960s pop ethic, because the genre had become additionally coded with discourses related to tourism, conspicuous consumption and sexual pleasure. In particular, the action adventure successfully appropriated the new pop aesthetic of the designer gadget. The use of the gadget, omnipresent in The Avengers, Danger Man and The Prisoner marks a radical break with previous conceptions of modern technology and instead, the micro-electronics of the gadget foreshadowed a future in which advanced technologies were to be consumer products on a mass market. Pop art became the freeing of the art of technology from its military-industrial connotations. The gadget was deployed without brute force, but coolly in the hands of a professional individual.
The gadget is designed for a precise, functional use and plays an important role in the accomplishment of the mission of the protagonist. The use of miniaturised, concealed cameras, listening devices, tape recorders and closed-circuit video enabled Drake, the main character in Danger Man, to gather information that would otherwise be beyond the resources of a lone agent. The deployment of gadgets allowed the secret agent to overcome the passivity of his fellow lone operator, the private eye. In Danger Man, the information giving role is transferred to the gadget, freeing encounters with others for ideological rather than narrative ends, and enabling the planting and monitoring of electronic bugs to become an 'active' process which slows down the narrative to the strains of cool bass lines and jagged harpsichord notes. The series testifies to an art/technology combination.
In the episode Parallel Lines Sometimes Meet, there is a condensation of the pop alliance between the worlds of fashion and advanced technology. Drake is always impeccably dressed, his clothes barely ruffled even after fights and chases: most episodes could also be read, at least in part, as a prolonged demonstration by a male model. At the same time, he is also a skilled manipulator of gadgets and instruments. As well as his technical skills, his missions also demand a vast general cultural understanding in order to appear convincing in his various impersonations. Drake thus assembles within his character, the roles of technician, artist and intellectual that form different aspects of the new middle class. The art/technology mix is also a blend of the old and the new. Drake is a carefully crafted design of the new, modern person, running a line of continuity between yesteryear's spy of morality and patriotism, and the ironic view of the old that is receptive to the new. He is emblematic of the modern individual, the spy of technical and social skills that can avoid having his cover blown by not making mistakes.
Pop irony and moral seriousness are constantly in tension, the signs of consumption and technology straining against older values. The positioning shots of London and other capitals are a sign of pop's cosmopolitanism in which the foreign is able to signify the modern and the progressive. Continental values are similarly marked as signs of stylish consumption in Danger Man. Drake's presence in foreign cities, rather than reinforcing his Britishness, is a chance for him to show off his cosmopolitanism and his ease in another culture. By the end of the 1960s, the action adventure genre had fissured into two distinct forms. On the one hand, filmed entertainment of playboys who carried out vague missions in tourist playgrounds against mysterious international organisations; on the other, the ultra-realist genre and the return to a 'live' studio-bound mode in Callan (1967-74), in which unglamorous, shadowy characters went about their way in a morally ambiguous world.
The Avengers and The Prisoner were both nominally espionage-related dramas, and both deconstruct the spy genre, though in different ways and with different intentions. They incorporated sci-fi elements, helped to create the hybrid genre, spy-fi, to feature strange robotic menaces, and strayed from the standards of their genre as they became politically charged and consistently satirical.
The achievement of The Avengers was to contain within itself the pendulum swing from realist aesthetics based on a 'live' mode of television to surrealism based on notions of entertainment associated with film. This demonstrated the flexibility of the television series as a form and the centrality of its style to the way it was marketed. So, for example, a series like The Avengers could reach a key demographic for advertisers — 18 to 35 year olds — by offering entertainment that was sensitive to all these different demands, and which exploited television as a medium and film as a technology within television.
During the 1960s the primary point of cultural reference for a television programme remained the first moment of transmission. Unlike cinema, television programming was heavily tied to specific times that were used to construct a sense of intimacy with a domestic audience. Consequently, regardless of the genre or the fact that it was 'popular' or 'serious', programmes usually made reference to a common present moment and involved programme makers and audiences with shared assumptions. For example, the representation of fashion in The Avengers, which became more evident in series four, was manifestly of the moment. The Emma Peel outfit was the first publicly available clothing collection designed for TV and the retail sales it inspired followed a show at the Courtaulds Fashion Theatre in August 1965. Diana Rigg would soon be associated with her iconic target beret, and the signs and images that denoted conspicuous consumption were used to place the characters of Emma Peel and Steed and enable the audience to relate to them as being emblematic of pop style, youth and glamour. It is worth stressing that this everydayness of TV, where references are constantly being made to a common present moment, can present additional problems of textual and generic interpretation that may not exist to the same degree in cinema.
One of the pop elements deployed by The Avengers was a series of inter-textual references and quotations from other media, often referred to as 'bricolage'. The show was more rigorously 'pop' than Danger Man, which presented 'pop' style within a framework of political dilemmas. Foregrounding the pop obsession with designed surfaces, later episodes of The Avengers eliminated all trace of psychologically realistic characters from its content. These features were an integral part of another style of series that began in America at the beginning of the 1960s, exemplified by The Man From Uncle, which eschewed the 'realistic' illustration of social and psychological truths in favour of glamour and consumption. The focus on surface appeared thematically and we see 'speed' and 'modernity' revealed in a number of forms. Certain clothes become 'as fast and slick as a jet plane'.17 The reduction or flattening out of the idea into real objects was integral to pop style, for instance, in the episode, The Interrogators, an undercover informant is shot dead while kicking a football (bucket).
Psychological identification with characters was dismissed as unsophisticated. The pop gaze established a new regime for the television series, no longer based on the outside world but on the higher reality of design. The development of modern consumerism meant learning to pay attention to detail. This type of fetishism invested objects with systems of signification, and the inability to read surfaces correctly amounted to a lack of 'sophistication' on the part of the audience.
With The Avengers, the enjoyment for some people is tied to the fact that less sophisticated viewers will view it as alien. The quality of the text worked as a social marker rather than providing an objective basis. The pure gaze of the cultivated, sophisticated arbiters of culture defined itself by its opposition to the simplicities of the popular. The analysis of television drama as both a quality and popular form opened up a means of linking the aesthetics of television drama to the dialectics of sense-making and taste-making. In Britain, Stuart Hall argued that the general rule is that the more serious or 'high culture' a dramatic production is, the less it will be conceived for television and the more television will borrow forms from other media. Television will either transmit a 'serious' play as a piece of theatre or else transmit a popular piece of drama as a piece of cinema instead of finding a form more appropriate to television. However, The Avengers challenges this simple dichotomy. The distinction between a popular and the high aesthetic was bound up with the struggle between a populist, and classless American television that came to be associated with filmed entertainment, and a much more class-based British form of television with aspirations to art and seriousness more associated with 'liveness' and the single play on television. It is precisely because The Avengers exemplifies technological changes in the television industry, moving from 'live' performance to film and from black and white to colour in 1965-67, that it also exemplifies stylistic changes that occurred in the action adventure genre in television from a low-key, realist mode of representation to a more colourful, fantastic style strongly influenced by pop art and fashions of the time. It is as a product of the 'high sixties' that The Avengers is most celebrated. As such, it made visible the ideologies of consumerism, in the process 'opening out' the televisual experience on celluloid.
With film recording, television programmes began to acquire the definitiveness and fixity that is normally associated with a separate text, and repeats of viewers' favourite programmes came to occupy a significant part of the schedule. With repetition, recorded programmes also acquired the status of commodities or 'tradeable goods'.19 Filmed drama, and eventually, the new technology of magnetic recording after 1958 meant an enormous expansion of television's programme base. Stockpiled recordings could be used not only for delayed or repeated transmission but as goods that could be traded among broadcasters.
With its foregrounding of signs of expensive consumerism and conspicuous consumption — the cars, clothes and champagne drinking — The Avengers was well placed to become a highly commodified text, taking full advantage of the new market in programmes. Not only could the series be traded among broadcasters; it was also the first television series to employ an 'exploitation manager' to sell product placement to companies anxious to have their commodities showcased. Props such as Emma Peel's sporty Lotus Elan were signifiers of modernity, just as Steed's vintage green Bentley reinforced the character's links with other fictional agents and advertising totems such as James Bond. The prominence accorded to designer clothes and other consumer items was an integral element of the series' production strategy. The Avengers was 'packaged' to present an image of England as a place of high-living and sophistication that would appeal to affluent overseas audiences who might wish to invest in British consumer culture.
In the mid-1960s, at the time of programmes such as The Avengers and The Prisoner, popular culture was enjoying unprecedented prestige and influence. 'The characters often had elaborate biographies, couched in a weirdly serio-comic style, the fruit of earnest script conferences,' records one contemporary journalist.20 Meanwhile, on television, programmes like Armchair Theatre, and the Wednesday Play, and topical magazine programmes such as Panorama and Huw Wheldon's Monitor continued to be shaped by social realism — and the still prevalent Reithian patrician principle of public service broadcasting. The popular genre of the action adventure series with its various sub-categories was all too often dismissed as imitative of American television, and lacking the social realist import or the literary pedigree seen as the hallmark of the 'best' (meaning the most critically respectable), British television. When a popular genre did receive some critical acclaim, it was not done on the basis of its own generic characteristics, but through its perceived relation to the realist tradition (as in the case of Doctor Who).
The cultural status of the action adventure genre is controlled by attitudes to high and popular culture, and what constitutes art and quality. The Avengers, like many popular shows, was not taken seriously by most television critics of the 1960s, and was believed to be ephemeral because it privileged style over content and refused to engage with the 'real' world. However, Kingsley Amis suggested a different way of appreciating The Avengers that was not determined by conventional notions of narrative logic. For Amis, the absurd narrative was a sign of a sophisticated production strategy.21 In fact, the desire to avoid social reality was a deliberate production strategy of the series from 1965 onwards. Bruce Merry argues that while 'espionage fiction trips over itself to play the game of culture', it does so only to debunk the game, to deflate the signs of culture and knowledge which the text displays precisely by foregrounding them as a 'paraded literariness'.22 According to this view, a show such as The Avengers could be read as a subtle anti-literalising device, a parading of signs of value which reveals them as valueless, and furthermore calls into question the making of signs.
The Prisoner was broadcast in 1967-68 and ran for only seventeen episodes. It centres on a secret agent who resigns from his job and is then abducted and held in a mysterious 'village' where the authorities try and make him reveal the reason for his resignation.
Contemporaries did not know what to make of The Prisoner. When it began it was welcomed as a bold and innovative experiment that offered a different entertainment pattern from the formulaic norms of popular television. However, the appeal to aesthetic value was linked to a strong emphasis on the generic elements of The Prisoner as an action adventure series.
It adopted in many ways the generic conventions of the 1960s television spy series found in earlier series such as Danger Man and The Avengers. These series pitted their spy protagonists against villainous individuals and organisations, combining elements of the detective and thriller genres in the use of intriguing narratives and action-packed denouements. In the first episode, The Prisoner promised to fulfil all of these generic expectations. The opening credits showed McGoohan driving into London, entering a building and resigning. The central London setting, the costuming of McGoohan as Number Six, and the man he resigns to in a dark suit suggested a government agency. A shot of a vast underground filing system confirms this is a powerful and large, secret organisation. The exotic location to which Number Six is kidnapped to is also in keeping with the conventional use of exotic locations in Danger Man. However, although The Prisoner sets up these generic expectations, they are consistently undercut and unfulfilled. The identity of the organisation from which Number Six resigned is never revealed, and references to the spy genre are only implied rather than asserted. The Village that the prisoner is taken to may be run by a villainous organisation or by a government. Number Six may be a spy concealing information. The Village may be set in a foreign locale, but this is never confirmed.
In the 1960s, television was still a relatively new form of mass entertainment. Although it had become a force in its own right, the medium had not yet become self-reflexive. Few programmes addressed the nature and effects of television itself. The Prisoner was the first television series to be about television. It explored the technical and expressive possibilities of the medium, and probed the viewer's status as watcher. The portrayal of technology was anything but attractive and consumer-oriented – a condemnation of technology-oriented Western materialism. The essential purpose of The Prisoner was to raise questions about the relationship between self and society in the technocracy of the global village.
In Danger Man, and particularly The Prisoner, McGoohan's professional identification with the television industry was evident in his very 'visual signature' and use of the latest television technology. The earlier classic realism of Danger Man had been overwhelmed by the over-proliferation of authorship. However, the institutional rather than the personal or biographical logic of authorship in production became the key factors here. Television needs to be viewed as an industrial — rather than artistic — practice and a television production could demonstrate authorship to be unavoidably collective, and contested.
In some ways, The Avengers and The Prisoner both used an aesthetics that occupied a space beyond ideology, that of pure pleasure. The extreme self-conscious use of style attributed to both these series in the late 1960s, is explained not only through reference to individual aesthetic or cultural influences, but through attention to the transformation of the TV industry into a new transatlantic form of entertainment that depended on celluloid television. Television is a process that brings the social and technological together. The notion of ideology as the chief mediator between the televisual and the non-televisual which implies that television technology is ideologically complicit assumes that there is such a thing as a neutral technology. Although technology is not ideological in itself, it is ideological in its use in specific historical situations, and therefore, an historical examination of a technological development is required.25 Television's specificity cannot simply be defined in terms of the 'film look' and the similarity of the television genre to film genre, but must be seen in terms of the ideologies used to create such cult shows as The Avengers and The Prisoner, a combination of imperial decline, notions of Britishness, and conspicuous consumption represented by the worlds of fashion and art.
1. John Hill and Martin McLoone (eds), Big Picture, Small Screen (London: John Libbey Media, 1995), p. 62n. Desilu is a production company formed by Lucille Ball (of I Love Lucy fame) and her husband Desi Arnaz – their most famous and recognisable show was Star Trek.
2. Thomas Edison, in 'The World's Columbian Exposition Illustrated', May 1893, quoted in Gordon Hendricks, The Edison Motion Picture Myth (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1961), p. 104.
3. Peter Kramer, 'The Lure of the Big Picture: Film, Television and Hollywood' in Hill and McLoone (eds), Big Picture, Small Screen, p. 16.
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Telephonoscope.jpg> [accessed 19 May 2010].
5. Roy Armes, On Video (London: Routledge, 1988) p.34.
6. William Boddy, 'The Shining Centre of the Home: Ontologies of Television in the Golden Age', in Television in Transition, ed. by Phillip Drummond and Richard Paterson (London: BFI, 1986), p.131.
7. Nigel Kneale,' Not Quite So Intimate', Sight and Sound, 28 (1959), 86-88 (p.87).
8. Richard Patterson, 'Introduction', in Television: An International History, ed. By Richard Patterson and Anthony Smith, 2nd edn (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1998), pp. 1–6; p. 3.
9. Philip Mackie, 'Six Hundred Hours a Week', Sight and Sound, 24 (1954), 45–48 (p. 48).
10. Quoted in D. J. Kimbley, 'Survival of celluloid in the age of the microelectronic in television', The Journal of the Royal Television Society (September–October 1981), 21–24 (p. 21).
11. Stuart Hall, 'Television and Culture', Sight and Sound, 45 (1976), 246–252 (p. 249).
12. Pierre Macherey, A Theory of Literary Production, (London: Routledge, 1978), p.49.
13. 'An interview with Pierre Macherey', Red Letters, 5 (1977), 3–9 (p. 7).
14. Alan Hume, 'Filming for Colour Television Series', British Kinematograph Sound and Television, 50 (1968), 3–5 (p. 3, 5).
15. Thomas Schatz, Hollywood Genres: Formulas, Filmmaking, and the Studio System (New York: Random House, 1981).
16. Steve Neale, Genre (London: British Film Institute, 1980), p. 48.
18. Harry Craig, as quoted in Buxton, p. 98.
19. John Caughie, Television Drama: Realism, Modernism and British Culture (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000), p. 54.
20. Peter Black, 'Undercover and out of mind except for that Mrs Gale', Daily Mail, 13 October 1962, p. 4.
21. As quoted in TV Times, 9–15 February 1964, p. 7.
22. Bruce Merry, Anatomy of the Spy Thriller (Dublin: Gill and Macmillan, 1977), pp. 162–3.
23. 'New on Southern This Week', TV Times, 30 September – 6 October 1967, p. 4.
24. Alain Carraze and Helene Oswald, The Prisoner (London: Virgin, 1990), p. 53.
25. James Spellerberg, Technology and the Film Industry: The Adoption of Cinemascope (Ann Arbor, MI: University Microfilms International, 1980), n.p.
Armes, Roy, On Video (London: Routledge, 1988).
Black, Peter, 'Undercover and Out Of Mind Except for That Mrs Gale', Daily Mail, 13 October 1962, p. 4.
Carraze, Alain, and Oswald, Helene, The Prisoner (London: Virgin, 1990).
Caughie, John, Television Drama: Realism, Modernism and British Culture (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000).
Drummond, Phillip, and Patterson, Richard, Television in Transition (London: BFI, 1986).
Hall, Stuart, 'Television and Culture', Sight and Sound, 45 (1976), 246–52.
Nigel Kneale, 'Not Quite So Intimate', Sight and Sound, 28 (1959), 86–88.
Hendricks, Gordon, The Edison Motion Picture Myth (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1961).
Hill, John, and McLoone, Martin (eds), Big Picture, Small Screen (London: John Libbey Media, 1995).
Hume, Alan, 'Filming for Colour Television Series', British Kinematograph Sound and Television, 50 (1968), 3–5.
D. J. Kimbley, 'Survival of celluloid in the age of the microelectronic in television', The Journal of the Royal Television Society (September–October 1981), 21–24 (p. 21).
Mackie, Philip, 'Six Hundred Hours a Week', Sight and Sound, 24 (1954), 45–48.
Macherey, Pierre, A Theory of Literary Production (London: Routledge, 1978).
—— 'An interview with Pierre Macherey', Red Letters, 5 (1977), 3–9.
Merry, Bruce, Anatomy of the Spy Thriller (Dublin: Gill and Macmillan, 1977).
Neale, Steve, Genre (London: British Film Institute, 1980).
Patterson, Richard, 'Introduction', in Television: An International History, ed. by Richard Patterson and Anthony Smith, 2nd edn (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1998).
Schatz, Thomas, Hollywood Genres: Formulas, Filmmaking, and the Studio System (New York: Random House, 1981).
Spellerberg, James, Technology and the Film Industry: The Adoption of Cinemascope (Ann Arbor, MI: University Microfilms International, 1980), n.p. | 2019-04-25T07:59:13Z | https://dandelionjournal.org/article/id/224/ |
Wong Sun Yue and Ella May Clemmons; Wong Sun Yue's business was wiped out by the San Francisco earthquake of 1906. It was as a refugee from the destruction that he met and married Ella May Clemmons, a wealthy Californian missionary who spoke several Chinese dialects. Ella worked hard and effectively for the Chinese community, living happily enough with Sun Yue until 1922, when she discovered he had another wife in China.
Although marriage is a very private affair for the individuals who participate in it, it also reflects and connects with many complex factors such as economic development, culture differences, political backgrounds and transition of traditions, in both China and the Western world. As a result, an ordinary marriage between a Chinese person and a Westerner is actually an episode in a sociological grand narrative.
Charles Yip Quong & Nellie Towers; Charles Yip was a Vancouver businessman and a nephew of Yip Sang, the dominant figure in Vancouver's Chinatown in the 1890s-1900s. Nellie Towers was a teacher from Nova Scotia.The two married in Boston in1900 and moved to Vancouver in 1900. There, Nellie, an accomplished linguist, served as a midwife to much of the local Chinese population and as an articulate advocate for Chinese Canadian rights.
The marriages occurring between the people of China and those from other countries at the period of time from 1840 – 1949 were the result of free choice on both sides. Compared with the prevailing marriages arranged by parents in China at that time, they could be regarded as the earliest models of free marriages. The Chinese people who married foreigners at that time were those who had the chance to make contact with foreigners. Besides this factor, they usually had special experiences and statuses which dissociated them from mainstream Chinese culture, and, consequently, these transnational marriages were tolerated by public opinion of society in general.
There were four types of intercultural marriage between Chinese and foreigners in modern China.
1.The first type of intercultural marriage between Chinese and foreigners in this period was the overseas marriage of Chinese diplomatic envoys and Chinese students who were studying abroad.
Between the Late Qing dynasty and the First World War, following several defeats in wars with Western countries, the Qing government tried to seek a way to save its regime, and sending students to study abroad formed a major component of its plan. Many Chinese students that went abroad to Europe and the USA married Western women.
Those students dispatched abroad were mostly male. When they reached western countries, as the first batch of Chinese to make contact with western land at that time, which entailed a totally different culture, society, set of customs and conceptualization for male and female compared to China, they experienced an unprecedented ideological shock. Chinese students abroad were attracted by the liveliness and romance of the Western female. One of the first Chinese students studying abroad to marry a Western wife was Yung Wing (Wing probably was the first Chinese to go to study in the USA during the Qing dynasty, and he obtained a degree from Yale University), who studied in the USA, and married an American woman, Miss Kellogg, of Hartford, who died in 1886.
Another case was Kai Ho, who married a British woman. Kai Ho (1859–1914) was a Hong Kong Chinese barrister, physician and essayist in Colonial Hong Kong. He played a key role in the relationship between the Hong Kong Chinese community and the British colonial government. He is mostly remembered as one of the main supporters and teachers of student Sun Yat-sen. He married his British wife, Alice Walkden, in England in 1881 and returned to Hong Kong after his studies. Alice gave birth to a daughter, but died of typhoid fever in Hong Kong in 1884. He later established Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital in her memory.
During the two Opium Wars, China had been sending students to study overseas. After the Sino -Japanese War, China continued to send students to Western countries, and more to Japan. More Chinese students also married foreigners. At the transition between Qing and the Republic of China, especially after the loss of the Sino-Japanese War in 1984, China began to learn from Japan. Many young men went there including Yang Erhe, Wu Dingchang, Jiang Baili, Fang Zong’ao, Yin Rugeng, Guo Muoruo, Tian Han, Tao Jingsun, Su Buqing and Lu Xun whose two bothers both married Japanese women.
Lai Mayi and Empress Dowager CiXi –the left first is wife of Chen Jitong, He had been councillor of legation in Germany, France, Belgium and Denmark, and deputy envoy of legation in France, living in Paris and elsewhere in Europe for nearly 20 years. He was one of the first modern Chinese people to venture into the greater world.
Historical records show that many famous Chinese men including scholars and scientists who had studied and worked in Western countries married Western women and, according to these, more Chinese men married Western women than the converse.
Chinese male intellectuals who married Western wives, were: Dr. Xu Zhongnian (1904-1981, French linguist, writer); Wang Linyi (Sculptor); Zhang Fengju (1895-1996), a great Translator and Professor in Peking University, and Chang Shuhong (1904-1994), Chinese painter.
2. Foreigners in China marrying Chinese, including intercultural marriages in 租界 zū jiè (foreign concessions).
The earliest formal interracial marriage between a local Chinese individual and a Westerner in modern China occurred in March 1862. An American Huaer (Frederick Townsend Ward) married Yang Zhangmei, daughter of Comprador Yang in Shanghai.
The second representative case of interracial marriage was between the American F.L. Hawks Pott, principal of Saint John’s University and Huang Su’e. They married in 1888. Huang Su’e was the daughter of Huang Guangcai, a Chinese priest of the Church of England, who later became the chief principal of Shanghai St. Mary’s Hall.
The most famous interracial marriage in Shanghai was between the Jewish merchant Silas Hardoon and Luo Jialin, in the Autumn of 1886. Luo Jialin herself was mixed race and was born in Jiumudi, Shanghai (between Street Luxiangyuan and Street Dajing). Her father Louis Luo was French while her mother, Shen, was from Minxian, Fujian Province.
The third representative case was that of Cheng Xiuqi. In 1903, it was reported in the newpaper, Zhong Wai Daily, that a female missionary from Norway was doing missionary work round HuoZhou, Shanxi Province. She went on to marry Cheng Xiuqi, one of her believers, based on free courtship and changed her name to Yu Ying.
In the modern leased territories where Chinese and foreigners lived together, there were some interracial marriages, a few of which were formal but many were informal (not registered but existed as de facto-marriages).
According to the population records of the American consulate in Shanghai, during the three decades from 1879 to 1909, there were 34 cases of interracial marriages between American husbands and Asian wives, among whom were 8 Japanese women and the rest comprised 26 Chinese women. There was no case of a Western wife married to an Asian husband.
According to Bruner, John King Fairbank, and Richard J. Smith, one of the necessary conditions of high-class life for Westerners in China was to have a Chinese woman. This kind of woman was actually a walking commodity, which could be bought or sold by any foreign merchants. “At that time, the price for a foreigner to have a Chinese concubine was about 40 silver dollars” according to Herder. Powell, an American who lived in Shanghai temporarily, described the situation of formal or informal interracial marriages in Shanghai as “Shanghai could be considered as a city of men”. Nine out of ten foreigners in Shanghai were bachelors, and therefore many friendly relationships developed and resulted in numerous international marriages, which even the American Marine Corps quartered at Shanghai took part in. “Once I asked a chaplain of the Marine Corps whether these marriages were happy or not. He answered ‘just like other marriages’.
According to Bruner, foreign businessmen could easily buy Chinese women in China, and therefore many of them were registered single on the household registration form.
Yet, in general, there were not many interracial marriages between the Chinese and the Westerners in modern Shanghai. According to Xiong, it was estimated that after being opened as a commercial port between 1843 and 1949, there were no more than 100 cases of formal marriage between the Chinese and Westerners in Shanghai over 106 years.
For a long time, English settlers in Shanghai resolutely were opposed to marriage with the Chinese. In 1908, the English envoy in China sent out a confidential document, harshly condemning marriages with the Chinese and threatening to expel the violators of this rule from the English circle forever.
The community of English residents in Shanghai had a harsher restriction upon English women as they believed it was treacherous for noble English women to marry humble Chinese men. One English man wrote in his letter to his sister that “if you dared to have an affair with Asian men in Shanghai, you would never stay here well.” In the middle of the 1930s, the Department of the Far East under the English Foreign Ministry tried its best to persuade those English women who had an intention to marry Chinese men not to do so. In the official book, it warned that marrying Chinese men may cause loss of British nationality, which meant that those British women who married Chinese men would no longer be protected by British law in China.
Compared with the upper-class British residents, the restrictions upon the lower classes on marriage were looser, and there were some instances of marriage between lower-class British and Chinese. In 1927, policeman Parker in Shanghai Municipal Council applied to marry a Chinese woman. After the committee’s examination, the woman’s parents were believed to have high status, and the marriage was permitted. However this policeman lost any prospect of future promotion. In 1934, relevant departments in Shanghai issued martial certificates to 6 Chinese women all of whom had British husbands.
In Shanghai, intercultural marriages were between Western men and Chinese women, while in America such marriages were between Chinese men and Western women. Although the trends seemed diametric opposites, they reflected the same truth that if the migrants only took a tiny proportion in comparison with the natives it was men who first broke through interracial marriage restrictions. It mirrored the situation at the end of the Qing Dynasty when it was mostly Chinese men, especially those who had experience of staying in Western countries, who married western wives.
3. Chinese labor workers who were sent to Western countries on a large scale in modern China.
At the demise of the federal dynasties in Chinese history, the common people and the fallen nobles of the previous dynasties started to drift abroad to Southeast Asia to escape the conflict. Due to its geological closeness, Southeast Asia became the migration destination and shelter of Chinese migrants. The drifting population would come to Southeast Asia despite the long distance to strive to make a living, this period was called “Sailing to Southeast Asia” in Chinese history.
In the 1840s and 1850s, a large amount of Chinese migrants began to travel to the American West to seek gold, where they also assisted in building railways. Chinese migrants first appeared in 1848 when they found gold in California prompting others to join the Gold Rush.
According to historical records, in February, 1848, that is, two months after the discovery of gold mines in California, two Chinese men and a woman sailed across the Pacific Ocean from Canton to San Francisco in California in the ship, the American Eagle, becoming the earliest Chinese migrants to land and stay at “Gold Mountain”.
In 1865, the number of Chinese migrants amounted to 50,000, 90% of whom were young men. They then came to the “Gold Mountain” to build railways instead of seeking gold. Many Chinese men could not find Chinese wives in the USA at that time, so it prompted some of them to find local wives; many of them married African American women.
Lotty Barbery Kubska & family, 1924 (or Lotty Kopski), born in Germany , Remarried in 1911 to George Der Wing, restaurant owner in Chicago (came to US in 1879, born in Seung/Shung Keow Village, Sun Ning. Also a remarriage: 1st marriage to Wong Shee in 1895; she died.
A similar movement of Chinese laborers happened in Europe, albeit with some differences. In 1914, World War I had taken place, resulting in the deaths of tens of millions of European laborers. Consequently, during the War, a great number of Chinese laborers were sent to Europe to supplement the work force of these countries. In respect of France some margin studies found that many Chinese male laborers married French women at that time. Dr. Xu Guoqi showed that many French women married Chinese laborers during the First World War. During the War, 140,000 Chinese laborers came to Europe to help the Allied war effort, 96,000 of them were allocated to the British army, and 37,000 were dispatched to France. Many French men had died at war, so the French women welcomed Chinese men, and more than 3,000 Chinese laborers married French women at that time.
With regard to Russia, as early as the 1860s, it had speeded up developing its territories in the Far East, and built cities, roads, ports, railways and communication lines, in the process recruiting many foreign laborers, of which Chinese labors made up the greatest number. From 1891 onwards, Russia recruited Chinese laborers to build the Siberian Railway. Russia suffered great losses in the War, and lacked laborers as a result, so it continued its policy of recruiting the Chinese.
At that time, there were 230,000 Chinese labor workers in Russia, who participated in the revolution to “protect soviet” as Chinese labor troops. Many Chinese labor workers in Russia at the time married Russian women, and this became commonplace.
Besides those working as laborers, the Chinese also did business in Western countries. For example, in America, in 1870, the Chinese prospered in business although Chinese vegetable vendors still sold their goods on the San Francisco streets carrying a horizontal stick on their shoulders. The laundries in downtown areas were mainly occupied by Chinese laundrettes. Many Chinese began to work in industries of quantity production, mainly in the four industries of shoemaking, fur textile, tobacco, and clothes-making. Until 1870, the number of Chinese workers amounted to half of the total numbers working in the key four industries in this city. Their employers were mostly Chinese as well. Until the 1970s, there were about 5000 Chinese businessmen in San Francisco. Among them many achieved great success in their business, surprising the Westerners around them and changing their perception of them. In Australia, many Chinese men also came to settle there for business reasons. These Chinese stayed there because of their businesses, and some of them married local people.
4.Intercultural marriages and migration caused by the Chinese Civil War.
Civil wars create refugees who flee across international borders to safer havens. The Chinese Civil War (CCW), from 1945 to 1949, was fought between the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). It was one of the bloodiest and most violent wars in the modern world, and 6 million soldiers and civilians were killed. The end of the CCW produced a large wave of refugees from China to Western countries, such as the USA. Of all the Chinese migrants that moved to foreign countries, the refugees created by the CCW were the greatest in number. It was a very intense and sudden event in modern Chinese history. These departing groups were quite different from the peasant laborers who had pioneered the initial Chinese migration to the USA. These refugees included members of the intelligentsia, the upper classes, and families of wealth. There were also a number of Chinese students studying in the USA who were afraid of returning to China because of the changes in the political system. Many of them were subsequently granted immigrant status. These sudden and numerous fleeing Chinese people became the protagonists of CWIM in this period. These groups of Chinese people had opportunities to marry Americans, resulting in some CWIMs during this period.
Historic changes occurred through the opening-up of China at the end of the 19th century. The opening-up was the result of the advances made by Western powers in terms of guns and boats, and it brought closer contacts between the Chinese and Westerners for the first time after thousands of years. From the perspective of and the two nations, various battles between the two sides were mostly temporarily ended with compromises and concessions by the Chinese. It could be said that the Chinese endured much abuse and hardship during these years. It was against this major background that the earliest transnational marriages between Chinese and Westerners took place. Were they better or happier than any other types of marriages? | 2019-04-23T06:18:12Z | http://www.culture-shock-tours.com/blog/the-history-context-of-chinese-western-marriages |
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M’ch 17: Boots & saddles sounded at 7 a.m. & Regiment soon on the road to Kelly’s ford via Brandy Station, 3rd squadron, under Cap’t Chappell, being in front & 1st under Cap’t Field in the rear. Moved at a brisk trot as far as Miller’s house & here formed in order of battle, 1 ½ miles below Brandy Station. Col. Owen called around his company commanders & asked them to do their duty & to see that their men did the same. Remaining here a few moments the Brigade moved off down the road at a brisk gallop; the 3rd Regiment being in front preceded by the sharpshooters. Soon came in sight of the enemy with their right wing resting on the river at Wheatley’s ford & their left extending a short distance beyond Brook’s house. They had a large number of dismounted sharpshooters posted behind a stone fence connecting these two places & a heavy mounted reserve drawn up in the fields & woods, on both sides of the road, branching off from Wheatley’s to Kelly’s ford. Our sharpshooters were soon engaged with theirs, and throwing down the fence about 100 yards below Brandon’s house, the Regiment came into the field & fell back to Brown’s house & in Wheatley’s field to form. Here all were met by Gen. Lee, who ordered Col. Owen to charge the enemy. This was doen in gallant style, Regiment sweeping down the fence along the road & passing through an opening between the rail fence, running at right angles across the field from Brook’s house, and the rock fence. We found it impossible to get through the stone fence to them & so the Regiment turned across the field to our left, to some straw shacks & wheeled down towards Wheatley’s ice house, hoping to be able to get at their right flank. But observing this, the enemy’s sharpshooters, who had fled from the approach of the column, returned to their posts & poured a hot fire into it as it passed & crowded into Wheatley’s houses & garden. Several of our number were wounded. On our left was the 5th Regiment, under Col. Roper, advancing to charge the enemy’s right flank. But getting to the house of G.T Wheatley, they were unable to advance because of obstructions placed in the outlet by the enemy. Blocked up here all remained a considerable time under a galling fire from the enemy posted in & around Wheatley’s houses at a range of not more than 75 yd’s. Here S’g’t G.M. Betts, company C., fell, and moving out from this position a few hundred yards, Maj. Puller of the 5th Regiment was killed. The 1st, 2nd & 4th Regiments charged the enemy as they advanced through Wheatley’s field from behind the stone wall. Here Maj. Breckenridge of the 2nd was captured — this was the first charge. We moved through Wheatley’s field into a field of Miss Wheatley (place occupied by Lampkin) & the 3rd charged again through the triangular lot in front of Lampkin’s house. But owing to the narrowness of the gate & the confusion produced by the 5th attempting to pass out at the same time, not more than 15 or 20 men followed the Col. Into the lot, who charged up to within 50 y’d’s of the fence on the west of Wheatley’s field. Finding it impossible to dislodge the enemy’s sharpshooters from behind the fence, this party retired through another gate by Lampkin’s sable. The enemy’s fire was concentrated upon these gates & they wounded several & killed J.T. Wilkins, company C, & W.W. Young, company B at this place. Maj. Pelham of the artillery fell in this field, shot in the head by a shell. This was the second charge.
Many of these were very slightly wounded. Those in the 3rd Regiment who were sufficiently wounded to go to Hospital & the killed are as follows: Company A.— Private J.E. Reynolds wounded seriously. Company B.— W.W. Young killed; L’t G.C. Mellen, J.B. Herbert & private A.W. West wounded. Company C.— S’g’t G.M. Betts & private J.T. Wilkins killed; Lt Jas. W. Hall wounded very seriously. Company D.— Privates Jas. E. Adams, L.A. Marston & F. Mountcastle wounded. Company E.— Corpl. Jno. R. Foster wounded in the arm. Company F.— L’t B.W. Lacy & Se’g’t Apperson wounded. Company G.-Private J.W. Bryant, H.F. Goodman wounded & private I.S. Fowler killed. Company H.— L’t Jas. V. Garner, Private Jas. Green, E. Cage & Thos. Walker wounded. Company I.—Corp’l A.A. Dance wounded. Company K.— Private Henry W. Edmonds, J.R. Cunningham, L. Scott, & C.A. Bondurant wounded. Thus ended this day. While the loss on our side was heavy, in men & horses, the enemy, in attempting to cross the river, lost more in killed than our own; and which we had to mourn the loss of some of our best men, are succeeded in preventing the enemy from accomplishing their purpose of making a raid through the country & destroying the rail road Bridge across the Rapidan. Our men with vastly inferior numbers & with horses which had not been fed in some time, held the insolent foe in check.
No feed tonight for horses or men. Wagons left for Orange C.H. at 10 a.m.
M’ch 18: Remained in same place & this evening got some corn for our horses. Wounded treated at Brandy Station & sent off to Gordonsville.
Carter, LtCol William R., CSA. Sabers, Saddles and Spurs. Shippensburg: Burd Street Press, 1998. Pages 49-54.
The continued successful Confederate cavalry raids behind Union lines brought a vengeful response. General William W. Averell led a 3,000-man force of Federal cavalry against Fitz Lee’s small brigade. Averell sent his troopers swarming across Kelly’s Ford on the morning of March 17. Dismounted Confederate cavalrymen in the rifle pits put up a gallant defense, but they were overwhelmed and captured or driven off. When word of the Federal advance reached Culpeper Court House, Fitz Lee ordered out every available man from the four regiments, about 800 men. The reserve in support of the pickets at the ford contested the Union advance for an hour and a half before help arrived. Major William A. Morgan, with the sharpshooters from the 1st, led the advance of the brigade.
Fitz Lee committed his regiments as they arrived, each making a mounted charge across an open field, toward the Union position behind a high stone and rail fence. The Federal dismounted men with their carbines and the artillery took a heavy toll of the Confederates, who charged up to the fence, emptying their carbines and revolvers before retiring. Each time the enemy attempted to advance, Lee sent a regiment to drive them back. In one of the mounted charges, Major John Pelham of the Stuart Horse Artillery was killed. When the Confederate artillery arrived and opened on the Federals, Lee led the mounted portion of his brigade in a charge. Averell was forced to retreat across the river.
Lee singled out Colonel Drake for praise, sating that he was “always ready at the right time and place.” Major Morgan was cited for his handling of the 1st‘s sharpshooters in the battle. Lee wrote that Captain Charles F. Jordan of the Rockbridge Dragoons and Lieutenant Rudolphus W. Cecil of the Howard Dragoons deserved to be “especially commanded for reckless daring without parallel.” He went on to laud Captain Connally T. Litchfield of the Washington Mounted Rifles and Lieutenant Gustavus W. Dorsey of the Maryland troop. All of the couriers praised for their good conduct were from the 1st: Privates John H. Owings and Otho Scott Lee of Company K, John A.K. Nightingale of Company A, and Henry Shackleford of Company G. The 1st was fortunate, losing only one man killed and seven wounded, the smallest loss in the brigade. Twebty-one horses were killed or wounded.
The Federal cavalry had served notice that they were a force to be reckoned with. Confederate valor could not always overcomethe enemy superiority in men, horses, arms, and equipment.
Driver, Robert J. 1st Virginia Cavalry, 2nd Edition. Lynchburg: H.E Howard, Inc., 1991. Pages 55-56.
SIR: I have the honor to submit the following report of an encounter on the 17th instant between my brigade and a division of enemy’s cavalry, certainly not less than 3,000 mounted men, with a battery of artillery. My first intimation of their approach was in a telegram received at 11 a.m. on 16th, from headquarters Army of Northern Virginia. At 6 p.m. scouts reported them at Morrisville, a little place 6 miles from Kelly’s Ford. At 1 a.m. another report informed me that the enemy had encamped at that place, coming from three different directions.
I that night re-enforced my picket of 20 sharpshooters by 40 more. I regret to say that only about 11 or 12 of them got into the rifle-pits in time for the attack of the enemy (owing to an unnecessary delay in carrying their horses to the rear), which commenced about 5 a.m. The force in the pits, under Capt. James Breckinridge, of the Second, behaved very gallantly, holding in check a large force of the enemy, mounted and dismounted, for an hour and a half, killing and wounding 30 or 40 of them. I also ordered the remaining sharpshooters of the brigade, under that very efficient officer, Major [W. A.] Morgan, First Virginia, to move from their camps by daybreak to a point on the railroad where the road turns to Kelly’s, half a mile from the railroad bridge and 3½ from Kelly’s, and the rest of the command was ordered to be in readiness to move at the shortest notice. At that time a force was reported to be at Bealeton, supposed to be their advance guard, and it was uncertain whether they would attempt to cross at Kelly’s, the railroad bridge, or move on toward Warrenton.
The report that enemy’s attack was made at Kelly’s never reached me; and the first intimation I received from that point was at 7.30 a.m., to the effect that they had succeeded in crossing, capturing 25 of my sharpshooters, who were unable to reach their horses. I moved my command at once down the railroad, taking up a position to await their approach, ordering my baggage wagons and disabled horses to the rear, toward Rapidan Station. Some time elapsing, and they not advancing, I determined to move upon them, and marched immediately for Kelly’s. First met the enemy half a mile this side of ford, and at once charged them. Their position was a very strong one, sheltered by woods and a long, high stone fence running perpendicular to my advance. My men, unable to cross the fence and ditch in their front, wheeled about, delivering their fire almost in the faces of the enemy, and reformed again, facing about under a heavy fire from their artillery and small-arms. The Third in this charge was in front, and First Lieut. [Bernard] Hill Carter, jr., was very conspicuous in his behavior. From that time it was a succession of gallant charges by the various regiments, and once by the whole brigade in line, whenever the enemy would show their mounted men, they invariably falling back upon their artillery and sheltered dismounted skirmishers. Their total advance was 2 miles from the ford. At that time my artillery arrived, and they were driven back, recrossing the river about 7.30 p.m., with us in close pursuit.
My whole command acted nobly; sabers were frequently crossed and fences charged up to, the leading men dismounting and pulling them down, under a heavy fire of canister, grape, and carbine balls. Had I my command in the order it arrived in this enervating section of country, and not weakened by the absence of four squadrons on picket, guarding a line stretching from Griffinsburg, on the Sperryville turnpike, to Richard’s Ford, and by the large number of horses unfit for duty by exposure to the severe winter, with a very limited supply of forage, I feel confident the defeat of the enemy would have been changed into a disorderly rout, and the whole brigade resupplied with horses, saddles, and bridles.
In the Fifth: Private William J. Haynes, Company F (badly wounded); Private A. R. Harwood, Company E; Private Henry Wooding, Company C (especially commended; seized the colors when the horse of the color-bearer was shot, and carried them bravely through the fight); Sergeants [John W.] Morecocke and [George B.] Ratcliffe, and Private George [W. E.] James, Company H. In the Fourth: Captains [W. B.] Newton and [Charles] Old, Lieutenant [J. D.] Hobson, and Adjutant [Peter] Fontaine (seriously wounded). Sergeant [W. J.] Kimborough, of Company G, deserves particular notice; wounded early in the day, he refused to leave the field. In the last charge he was the first to spring to the ground to open the fence; then dashing on at the head of the column, he was twice sabered over the head, his arm shattered by a bullet, captured and carried over the river, when he escaped, and walked back 12 miles to his camp. Lieutenant-Colonel [William H.] Payne, commanding, also mentions Privates Joseph Gilman, J. R. Gilman, Poindexter, Redd, Sydnor, Terry, and N. Priddy.
In the Third: Captain [William] Collins, Company H; Lieuts. [Bernard] Hill Carter, jr., and John Lamb, of Company D; Lieutenant [H. W.] Stamper, of Company F; Lieut. R. T. Hubbard, jr., Company G, and First Lieutenant [J. W.] Hall, of Company C (was twice wounded before he desisted from the charge, and when retiring received a third and still more severe wound, and was unable to leave the field). Adjt. H. B. McClellan is also particularly commended for his gallantry; also Acting Sergt. Maj. E. W. Price, Company K; Private [C. A.] Keech, Company I, and Bugler Drilling. Sergeant [G. M.] Betts, of Company C; Privates [W. W.] Young, Company B; [F. S.] Fowler, Company G, and [J. T.] Wilkins, of Company C, died as became brave men–in the front of the charge, at the head of the column.
In the Second, the commanding officer reports that where so many behaved themselves with so much gallantry he does not like to discriminate.
In the First: Captain [C. F.] Jordan, Company C, and Lieutenant [R.] Cecil, Company K, specially commended for reckless daring without a parallel.
As coming under my own observation, I particularly noticed Col. T. L. Rosser, of the Fifth, with his habitual coolness and daring, charging at the head of his regiment; Col. James [H.] Drake, of the First, always ready at the right time and place; Col. T. H. Owen, of the Third, begging to be allowed to charge again and again; Lieut. Col. W. H. Payne, of the Fourth, unmindful of his former dreadful wound, using his saber with effect in a hand-to-hand conflict, and the imperturbable, self-possessed Major Breckinridge, of the Second, whose boldness led him so far that he was captured, his horse being shot. Col. T. T. Munford, of the Second, I regret to say, was president of a court-martial in Culpeper Court-House, and did not know of the action in time to join his command until the fight was nearly over. I also commend for their behavior Captain [W. W.] Tebbs, of the Second, and Captain [C. T.] Litchfield and Lieutenant [G. W.] Dorsey, of the First; also Maj. W. A. Morgan, of the First.
My personal staff–Major [R. F.] Mason, Captains [J. D.] Ferguson and [S.] Bolling, Dr. J. B. Fontaine, and Lieutenants [H C]Lee, [G. M.] Ryals, and [Charles] Minnigerode–rendered great service by their accurate and quick transmission of orders and by their conduct under fire. Surgeon Fontaine’s horse was killed under him, and my own was also shot, but through the generosity of Private John H. Owings, Company K, First Virginia Cavalry, attached to my headquarters, was quickly replaced by his.
The conduct of Couriers Owings, Lee, Nightengale, and Henry Shackelford deserves the highest praise.
The enemy’s loss was heavy. Besides leaving a number of his dead and wounded on the field, he carried off a large number on horses and in ambulances. We captured 29 prisoners–1 captain, 2 lieutenants, and 26 privates. My own loss was 11 killed, 88 wounded, and 34 taken prisoners, making an aggregate of 133. In horses, 71 killed, 87 wounded, 12 captured, making aggregate loss of horses 170.
Among the killed I deeply regret to report Major [J. W.] Puller, of the Fifth, and Lieutenant [C. S.] Harris, of the Fourth, both gallant and highly efficient officers–a heavy loss to their regiments and country.
In conclusion, I desire especially to state that Maj. Gen. J. E. B. Stuart joined me before the fight commenced; was on the field the whole day; assisted immensely by his sagacious counsels, large experience, and by his usual daring and conspicuous example in turning the fortunes of the day in our favor. We share with him the anguish and deep grief felt at the loss of the noble Pelham, of his staff, an officer of the brightest promise for the future.
Major [Lewis F.] Terrell, of General Stuart’s staff, beside being active on the field, assisted the gallant [Captain James] Breathed in the management of the artillery. Captain [Harry W.] Gilmer, Twelfth Virginia Cavalry, a volunteer for the occasion on the major general’s staff, I also commend for his marked bravery and cool courage. I append a recapitulation of my loss.
Asst. Adjt. and Insp. Gen., Army of Northern Virginia.
Recapitulation of the loss of Brig. Gen. Fitz. Lee’s Cavalry Brigade in the engagement near Kellysville, Va., March 17, 1863.
M Men. D Taken by enemy.
A Aggregate loss E Aggregate loss of horses.
B Killed. F Taken prisoners.
Battery …. …. …. …. …. …. …. …. …. …. ….
Near Culpeper Court-House, Va., March 26, 1863.
Respectfully forwarded to General Cooper, with the request that he will cause the desired alterations to be made. The papers alluded to were forwarded yesterday and to-day.
The general commanding the brigade announces to his command his high gratification and proud appreciation of their heroic achievements upon the ever-memorable 17th instant. The enemy crossed the Rappahannock at Kelly’s Ford with a force of certainly not less than 3,000 cavalry and a battery of artillery. Confident in numbers and equipments, it was their purpose to penetrate the interior, to destroy our railroads, to burn, rob, and devastate, and to commit their customary depredations upon the property of our peaceful citizens. Soldiers of the brigade! you have been taught a lesson, and the enemy have also profited. Rebel cavalry have been taught that Yankee (would-be) horsemen, notwithstanding their numbers, can be confronted and hurled back, and their infamous purposes, however well planned in security, in the open, fair field frustrated. Rebel cavalry have been taught that a determined rush upon the foe is the part of sound policy as it is the part of true courage. Rebel cavalry have taught an insolent enemy that, notwithstanding they may possess advantages of chosen position, superiority in numbers and weapons, they cannot overwhelm soldiers fighting for the holiest cause that ever nerved the arm of a freeman or fired the breast of a patriot. You have taught certain sneerers in our army that placing a Southern soldier on horseback does not convert him into a coward; and, last and not least, you have confirmed Abolition cavalry in their notions of running. You have repeatedly charged an enemy sheltered by stone fences and impassable ditches, in the face of his artillery and volleys from thousands of his carbines. You checked his triumphant advance, and caused a precipitate retreat, with the legacy of his dead and wounded. Captain Breathed and his brave artillerists have my sincere thanks. They behaved, as they always do, with great gallantry. To the noble spirits who have fallen we pay the mournful homage of silent grief. The blood of such men as Pelham, Puller, Harris, and other kindred souls is a libation to our liberty. Virginia witnesses their sacrifice upon the holy altar of her independence. | 2019-04-22T00:48:38Z | https://kellysford63.wordpress.com/category/order-of-battle/confederate-forces-order-of-battle/ |
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Bangladesh today is the only nation-state in the Indian subcontinent with levels of ethnic homogeneity similar to Western or Central Europe. It does have some minority communities – ‘tribal’ people, Urdu or Bihari speakers, and in religious terms Hindus, Buddhists and Christians – but with more than 90 per cent of the population being Bengali-speaking Muslims there is far more uniformity than in India, Pakistan and Nepal with their hundreds of languages and multitude of religious identities. Bangladesh’s homogeneity has been the result of successive waves of marginalization and exclusion, often associated with extreme discrimination and violence: first, over the 19th and first half of the 20th century the exclusion of Muslims from a dominant high-caste and Hindu notion of what it meant to be ‘properly’ Bengali (and ‘Indian’), then after the creation of Pakistan in 1947 (which then encompassed Bangladesh as ‘East Pakistan’), the exclusion of a strong sense of Bengali identity from what it meant to be properly Muslim and Pakistani; and finally, after the Bangladeshi nation attained statehood in an exceptionally bloody liberation struggle, the exclusion from the national body politick of non-Bengali speakers, as well as violence and persecution against anybody who is either not Muslim enough or too Islamic to fit into a hotly contested national ‘mainstream’.
To its many detractors along the way, Bengali Muslim identity has often appeared as fickle, contradictory and ill-developed. How could anybody who professed such love for the Bengali language then refuse the leadership of a Hindu elite that included the greats of Bengali literature and culture – men like Rabindranath Tagore or Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay? And how could a population that was more than any other in the region in favour of Jinnah’s demand for a seperate Pakistan then go on to reject Pakistani ideas of national culture after Partition had been achieved? Such apparent paradoxes were in fact products of political circumstance, not matters of cultural substance. As Neilesh Bose demonstrates in this encyclopedic and important study, there was a remarkably stable and intellectually well-developed identity at the heart of what it meant to be Muslim Bengali which just happened not to fit into the hegemonic identity models of either India or Pakistan. It was developed not so much in the realm of politics and through the language of nationalism but in conversations about language, literature and culture spanning a number of civil society institutions and journals over the early 20th century. Abul Mansur Ahmed, a writer-activist whom Bose quotes often in the book, was a typical protagonist of this debate. He first opposed then became a stalwart of the Pakistan movement, and soon after found himself in a Pakistani jail for his support for Bengali language rights. Or take Abu Jafr Shamsuddin, who is quoted in programmatic fashion right at the outset of the book. Only two years after the horrors of the war against Pakistan in which Bangladesh was born, he could declare without qualification or irony that support for Pakistan earlier in his life had been the only truly correct ‘revolutionary’ position to take.
For Shamsuddin, Abul Mansur Ahmed and the many other poets, writers, polemicists and academics discussed in Bose’s book, Muslim Bengali identity was held up, as it were, by three conceptual anchor points around which ongoing and increasingly sophisticated debates revolved. They were class, language and religion, all inextricably linked to each other.
The idea that a single vernacular language could be the bedrock of one’s political identity was the direct result of colonial modernity (a point insufficiently developed by Bose). The Bengali comprador elite – mostly Hindu – were the first to realize that in the age of mass education, modern bureaucracy and print, proficiency in a modern ‘national’ language was needed to benefit from new opportunities. They largely ditched the exclusivity of Sanskrit as a literary and ritual language and developed modern ‘high’ Bengali into a literary medium capable of taking on English in most aspects of life. Literary sensibility and socio-economic change combined to produce a new ‘middle-class’ stratum, usually referred to in the wider literature on Bengal as Bhadralok (‘respectable people’). Muslims were almost immediately excluded from this development, even though – or rather precisely because – they had played a prominent part in vernacular literary production in pre-colonial times. Before the British came, Bengal had been under the overlordship of a Muslim aristocracy who, as Bose points out in a substantial section at the beginning of his book, were the first to sponsor literary activity in the regional language, often without much religious prejudice or preference. Patronage for Bengali went side by side with patronage for Urdu, Arabic and Persian, and covered specifically Hindu as well as Muslim literary forms and traditions.
For the Bhadralok this old Muslim Bengali culture quickly became the primary ‘other’ to define oneself against. The Bengali Hindu high-caste elite was both a beneficiary of colonial rule, and one of the earliest and most outspoken proponent of an emerging Indian nationalist movement against the British. Demonization of the old Muslim culture worked very well to express the somewhat schizophrenic character of their position. The world of the Muslim Nawabs of old could be identified with effete aestheticism and religious ignorance as well as with an unwillingness or inability to stand up against colonial incursions. As one of Bose’s Muslim Bengali writers recalls, the name of Siraj ud-Daula, the Sultan who lost Bengal to the East India Company at the battle of Plassey in 1757, became a common term of abuse that middle-class Hindus used against Bengali Muslims who dared to raise their head above the parapet. The new Bengali literary culture called for a cleansing of written Bengali of Persian and Arabic influences and often took on a virulently anti-Muslim tone in its subject matter. The most famous and well-studied example of this tendency was Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay (d. 1894), author of many famous novels in modern Bengali, and creator of one of India’s most iconic nationalist songs – Vande Mataram – which has often been seen as deeply offensive to Indian Muslims both inside and outside of Bengal. Others were less overtly communal, for instance Nobel laureate, poet and philosopher Rabindranath Tagore, but even his work would be seen by many Bengali Muslims as entangled in an inextricably Hindu sensibility and literary agenda.
Of crucial importance for the story of Muslim Bengali identity formation was the fact that class differences coincided almost perfectly with religious differences not only at the top but also at the bottom of the social divide. The majority of Bengal’s impoverished peasantry was also Muslim, particularly in the East of the region, a vast mass of people to be both controlled and feared by Hindu commercial middlemen and absentee landowners. For much of the late 20th and early 20th centuries this antagonism translated into a pervasive sense of sexualized dread in Hindu elite consciousness which in many ways resembled racist stereotypes elsewhere; the Bengali Muslim peasant was a creature irredeemably backward and ignorant but also more ‘manly’ and more violent than the Bhadralok Hindu. Unease turned into acute fear as the political game of late colonialism moved towards a system of electoral representation. In a fully democratic world, the Bhadralok would always constitute a minority and have to accept the political predominance of the more numerous Muslims who would naturally seek to get their own back against their established class enemy. As Joya Chatterji has argued, such calculations led the provincial Hindu-dominated Bengal Congress movement to go against Gandhi’s often stated belief in a united India, and to support the partition of the subcontinent and their province. Letting Pakistan have the Eastern half of Bengal may have been painful but also meant that the Western half could be a Hindu majority province where elite interests seemed more secure.
From the point of view of the Muslim Bengali literati keen to develop a strong cultural identity of their own, class profoundly shaped their thinking about language and religion. It was inconceivable to think about Muslim Bengali self-determination without also immediately thinking about peasant politics. This gave Muslim Bengali cultural discourse a strikingly ‘left-wing’ flavour from the start. There was to be no viable Muslim Bengal without a massive rural uplift and education campaign, and without substantial change to rural property relations. Many (but by no means all) of the writers discussed by Bose flirted with the Communist Party of India, a newly emerging force in the 1930s and 1940s, and for a long time the only space where Hindu and Muslim cadres could work together with a clear appreciation of each other’s identity needs. Most others had at least some connection with Fazlul Huq’s Krishak Praja Party, a Muslim-dominated but not expressively anti-Hindu agriculturalist party that dominated electoral politics in the late 1930s and early 1940s.
The close association between Muslim Bengaliness and peasant life also imposed a certain logic on language politics (which is often described by Bose but not consistently turned into a larger argument): because Bengali Muslim self-determination entailed massive social reform for the masses it had to operate in a vernacular language that the masses could understand. Following (often very simplistic and Western) pedagogic ideas of ‘mother tongue’ and education, this had to be some form of Bengali. Pakistani nationalists from the East could not live with Urdu – which the Muslim League movement pushed as India’s only authentically ‘Muslim’ language –with the same ease as their counterparts in the West. Over there, the peasantry also did not speak Urdu but other vernacular languages like Punjabi, Sindhi or Pushto. But because the Pakistan movement was much more strongly rooted in new middle-class and landowner interests who could easily operate in several languages simultaneously, this was of no great bother for many of the activists involved. (The most elite sections of the Muslim League in Bengal – men like Khwaja Nazimuddin or the Ispahani industrial family – were similarly comfortable with Urdu and nonchalant about Bengali language rights, but they remained isolated and never represented the movement as a whole.) Bose takes characteristic care not to overstate the hostility to Urdu amongst an emerging Bengali Muslim cultural movement – many voices in the debate in fact advocated a dialogue and were quite happy to borrow ideas from Urdu writers such as Iqbal and Hali. But – and that is an important distinction that could have been brought out more explicitly – these activists no longer possessed the same easy multilingualism of a time when it was perfectly normal to operate in two or three languages according to context. Muslim Bengal had entered the modern age where concerns over mass culture and mass education made such subtleties impossible to sustain. ‘Mother-tongue’ and ‘official’ language recognition became overriding concerns.
The Muslim aspect of Muslim Bengali identity was present right from the start, even if this did not necessarily mean that Islam had to be discussed in narrowly ‘religious’ terms. It was an integral part of cultural life as highlighted in the very name of the first literary bodies under review in Bose’ book: the Bangiya Muslim Sahitya Samiti of 1911 or the Muslim Sahitya Samaj of 1926 never had to spend much thought on why they were constituted as specifically Muslim bodies. The demarcation work had already been done for them by Hindu Bhadralok literati and their project of excluding Muslim cultural traces from Bengali high culture. The main imperative for the Muslim Bengali intelligentsia was not to prove that they were really different from Hindus but that they too could develop a literary culture in their Bengali ‘mother tongue’ that could compare with what the Bhadralok had achieved for their community. This means that – at least as far as the protagonists of Bose’s account are concerned – the theme of ‘cleansing’ Islam from ‘Hindu’ accretions was far less dominant in Bengal than in other parts of India. Several of Bose’s protagonists claimed orthodox religious expertise as ‘calim’ or ‘maulana’, while others advocated decidedly daring and heterodox interpretations of Islam in the pages of Bengali literary magazines. But by and large, Islam and what it meant to Bengali peasant culture was considered as a given, as a positive resource, as a vehicle of revolutionary energy and of a radical ideal of egalitarianism.
Bose’s account is driven by a highly sympathetic understanding of the people and ideas presented in his book. He is patently keen to show the reader with a marathon roll call of writers, magazines, literary organizations and individual texts how much creative thinking and cultural energy both the Bhadralok elite of early 20th-century Bengal and the Pakistani leadership of the 1950s and 1960s had misunderstood, denigrated and suppressed. He is clearly right in doing so, especially as even contemporary scholarship on Bengal – one of the most prominent, well-established and advanced in all of South Asian historiography – has managed to fill entire libraries on the Bhadralok and the ‘Bengal Renaissance’ but rarely has had anything much to say about Muslim Bengalis beyond of what Hindu elite thinkers thought of them. Similarly, much debate on the Pakistan movement today skirts round the issue of East Pakistan, as from a nationalist Pakistani perspective this is a part of the national history that is embarrassing and better forgotten. Bose adds substantially to what we know about the Pakistan movement in the East. Its politics have been studied in classic accounts like Taj ul-Islam Hashmi’s Pakistan as ‘Peasant Utopia’, but nobody so far (with the partial exception of Andrew Sartori) has explored the solid and extensive intellectual and literary foundations of Muslim Bengali identity of the period in comparable depth to Bose. The widespread notion that somehow Pakistan as an idea was cooked up by Urdu-writing intellectuals and only received its manpower and cannon fodder from the East has to be thoroughly revised. While Venkat Dhulipala claims in a recent intervention that Pakistan was really a vision of an Islamicist state right from the start, Bose’s account will immediately prove that such statements don’t really survive impact with evidence from Bengal.
Bose’s aim is to reconstruct and to give a voice, and only with lesser urgency to analyze and make sense of, and hardly ever at all to critique. When Bose speaks of ‘Recasting the Region’ he simply means to say that the interweaving of religious and regional identities in emerging Muslim Bengali thought does not fit in with the standard ideas expressed by Indian and Pakistani nationalist positions. This is an interesting and important point in itself, but a thorough critique and problematization of Bengal as a region of Indian historiography it is decidedly not – let alone an intervention into the long over-due debate about what ‘region’ as an analytical category should mean for the historiography of South Asia.
Bengaliness itself is not something that ever needs to be constructed or delineated in Bose’s account: it simply is. None of the writers discussed could ever be anything other than Bengali, when in fact the boundaries of the province of Bengal towards Bihar in the West, Orissa in the South and Assam in the North were always contested and porous, and its main urban centres always cosmopolitan. How is it, for instance, that the Calcuttan Muslim intellectual Abul Kalam Azad, is dismissed as an ‘up-country, Urdu speaking, non-Bengali’ (p. 48) without further discussion of his ideas or why? Or that ‘Urdu-speaking’ Bengali aristocrats such as Nazimuddin do not seem to fit into the subject matter? It seems to be taken as a given that only the off-spring of Bengali ‘mother-tongue’ families can count truly as a part of Bengal intellectual life. This is the end-product of a process of Muslim Bengali identity formation projected back to its beginning.
Throughout the book, we mostly hear the voices of Muslim Bengali intellectuals and occasionally their detractors, and see the outside world only through their eyes. What lies beyond this gaze does not seem to matter, be it other parts of India or the wider world. Again, little details point to larger problems. It is revealing, for instance, how Bose quotes the great poet Nazrul Islam speaking of one ‘Anwar Pasha’ as the more conservative and reactionary ‘brother’ and counterfoil to one ‘Kamal Pasha’. Bose identifies the latter with Ataturk to give the reader some sense of what is going on, but does not even attempt to identify with the former. He was of course the Young Turk dictator of World War One vintage, Enver Pasha, who was neither Ataturk’s brother nor, as it happens, really fits Nazrul’s description as a religious conservative and pro-British toady. This does not seem to bother Bose, after all his topic is Nazrul Islam and not Turkish history. In a similar vein, a few pages later, we hear that Muslim Bengali intellectuals discussed various leaders of the Muslim world, as well as European nationalists such as Garibaldi and Mazzini. One of them is a person called ‘Jaglul Pasha’. This may well be an approximation of how he would be spelt in Bengali, but why is it not worth identifying him as Sacd Zaghlul, and explaining that he was the leader of the Egyptian Wafd Party? Later on the book, Muslim Bengali intellectuals are reported to have engaged with Ernest Renan, French proto-anthropologist and thinker on religion. Not a word is devoted to the fact that Renan, who was long dead at that point, may have been of relevance because he had a series of well-publicized debates with the Iranian pan-Islamicist radical Jamal ud-Din Al-Afghani (who also visited Calcutta) who in turn had some heated exchanges with Sir Sayid Ahmad Khan the founding father of Muslim reformism in North India. For Bose, Renan simply emerges, almost as a new discovery ex nihilo, when his name is mentioned in one of the publications under consideration in his book.
Although Bose frequently states that Muslim Bengalis engaged with debates elsewhere such lines of connection are never followed up in detail or pursued beyond the boundary line of the Bengali language itself. This is particularly grating in discussions of Islamic theology, which lacks any awareness of the specialist literature both with reference to South Asia and the wider Muslim world, almost as if Bengali Islam was a case apart, entirely unconnected to the classical literature of Islamic theology and jurisprudence, or, for that matter, to scholarly networks that transcended not only region but also nation-state and Empire. Bengali nationalists themselves may have claimed that their religious tradition was special and self-contained, and that ‘high’ Islam was either elitist or a Pakistani imposition, but there is no reason to accept such claims at face value. This also leads us back to the unaddressed problem of multilingualism, that people could read and write Arabic and Urdu as well as Bengali.
This book has unquestionable merits and will be read by students of Indian history for some time to come, but it could have gone much further to satisfy its own stated objective of ‘recasting the region’. A lack of critical distance from the subject matter means that Bose’s account remains confined in the same cultural-nationalist parameters that for better or worse confined the discussions of the Bengali Muslim intellectuals. This is a pity: this may be a book about Bengal, written by a Bengali (judging by the name of the author) but it should not be a book written only for Bengalis. Just as students of nationalist self-formation in other parts of India must never ignore the case of Bengal, they should not be left to fend for themselves when it comes to piecing together a larger picture of the cultural politics of region and nationalism in South Asia as a whole. | 2019-04-23T20:21:09Z | https://reviews.history.ac.uk/print/review/1871 |
30:15 Does consuming fat in the morning get in the way of intermittent fasting?
51:17 Does hypothyroidism cause dry eyes?
Steve Wright: Hey everyone, and welcome to another episode of the Revolution Health Radio Show. I’m Steve Wright from SCDLifestyle.com and with me is Chris Kresser, health detective and creator of ChrisKresser.com. How are you doing, Chris?
Steve Wright: I’m doing well, I’m doing well. You’ve been off for a little while, and we’re back on the show, so how have you been?
Chris Kresser: I’ve been well. It was nice to have some time off, you know, just to rest and be out in the sun for a little while, we had some really nice weather here, and catch up on a few projects I’ve been wanting to work on but haven’t had the chance to, and spend lots and lots of time with my family, so it was a great break.
Steve Wright: Awesome. Well, before we get started, I want to let you know that this radio show is brought to you by ChrisKresser.com and if you’re new to the paleo diet or you’re just interested in optimizing your health, check out Beyond Paleo. It’s a free 13-part email series on burning fat, boosting energy, and preventing and reversing disease without drugs. To sign up, just go over to ChrisKresser.com and look for the big red box.
All right, Chris, well, today we’re gonna do a mixed bag of things, so you want to kick it off?
Chris Kresser: Sure. Yeah, we’re gonna answer some questions again today, but I wanted to begin by talking a little bit about the article on raw milk safety that I wrote earlier this week and just some of the discussion that’s happened around it, because I think it’s an interesting topic both specifically in terms of raw milk safety itself and also generally in terms of risk/benefit analysis for any health-related activity or choice that we might make, and just how we go about making those choices, because I get a lot questions through my blog and from my patients and just in general about, you know, do you recommend raw milk? Or do you recommend eating eat seafood and raw oysters? Or do you recommend vaccination? Or do you recommend home birth versus hospital birth? And these are all questions that are on a lot of people’s minds, and they’re important questions, and I think it’s helpful to talk a little bit about how to answer those questions, because I never will respond just by saying: Yes, I recommend this, or yes, I recommend that, because it’s not that simple. There are a lot of factors that go into a decision like that, and some of them are data-driven. You know, we can look at the scientific literature, and we can determine from that what the relative risks and benefits are for a particular choice. And then some of them are values-driven, and in all of the cases that I mentioned, they’re both. You know, so values might include our particular worldview, what’s important to us, other non-measurable factors like, for example, in the case of home birth, there are a number of considerations like skin-to-skin contact with the baby after the baby is born, the type of environment a woman might want to give birth in, like in her home, in a place that she feels comfortable versus in a hospital, the type of people that she might like to have around her during the birth. These are things that won’t be covered in scientific studies, and yet they’re very important factors that go into how that decision is made.
So, I wrote an article this week, as I’m sure many of you are aware by now, about raw milk safety, and my purpose in writing that article wasn’t to make a “recommendation” for whether someone should drink raw milk or not, because I think that’s a choice that everybody needs to make on their own, based on their evaluation of the data, the risk, the possible benefits, and their own value system. But my purpose in writing that article, though, was to clarify what the data actually says about the risk of drinking raw milk, because that is fairly objective. There are data available, and we can interpret those data, and then we can decide what to do about that data. In other words, we can make a choice weighing the potential benefits versus the potential risks. Now that’s something that I don’t think we can argue about. If somebody evaluates the data and then determines that they don’t want to drink raw milk even if the risk is relatively low, then I’m not gonna argue with that. You know, that’s someone’s personal choice, but what I do take issue with is the distortion of the data or exaggeration of the risk of drinking raw milk, which is what I see all the time in the mainstream media. And it’s unfortunate that this issue has become so highly politicized, and it’s really become a lightning-rod or hot-button issue, and when that happens, the victims are people like you and me who just want to know what the facts are so that we can make our own informed decision, but those facts are being obscured by a tremendous amount of hype and propaganda, and in an issue like this, it tends to happen on both sides. So you get really entrenched viewpoints, and then it just, in my experience on issues like this, it just becomes kind of an “I’m right, you’re wrong” type of argument, and it’s not very productive, and the facts and the data are what get obscured, and it becomes more of just a battle of will or belief system.
So, the CDC and the FDA — I’m not going to go into all of the details because those are available in this article, and there’s a lot of data there for people who want that, but the summary is that the CDC and the FDA have been making a lot of noise about dangerous raw milk is, and it’s true that there is a risk with raw milk, and it’s true that there’s about a nine times greater risk of becoming ill from drinking raw milk than pasteurized milk, but what’s also true is that the absolute risk of becoming ill from either raw or pasteurized milk is incredibly low. In the case of raw milk, it’s about 1 in 94,000, and in the case of pasteurized milk, it’s about 1 in 880,000. So, this is a good time to talk about the difference between relative and absolute risk, which is really important to understand. We’ve talked about this before in the context of evaluating other scientific studies. If you talk about a nine times greater risk of something, it sounds really significant and scary, and that’s true if you’re talking about the risk going from 5% to 45%. That’s a gigantic leap, and it would have huge implications in terms of safety, but if you’re talking about the risk going from, you know, one ten-thousandth of a percent to one one-thousandth of a percent, then that’s a much less significant jump, and the absolute risk, even though it’s nine times greater in that example, is still very minute. So, this is an important thing to understand in this whole decision on raw milk, and you see these headlines, you know, “Raw Milk Much More Dangerous Than Pasteurized Milk,” and for someone who doesn’t look any deeper, that might be enough to turn them off to it, but it’s really important to understand that the absolute risk of getting sick from drinking raw milk is really low, and the absolute risk of getting sick to the point where you would need hospitalization is even lower. In the period that I looked at from 2000 to 2007, the absolute risk was about 1 in 6 million, and I used some comparisons in the article to just give people a kind of rough idea of how that risk compares to other risks that people take on a regular basis, and it’s not an exact comparison, of course, because they’re just generalizations. They don’t take into account the frequency with which people engage in these activities, but according to the US Department of Transportation, the risk of dying on a plane crash is about 1 in 2 million, you know, for the person who flies an average amount. So, the risk of dying in a plane crash is greater than the risk of becoming hospitalized from drinking raw milk during the period of 2000 to 2007.
So, really it’s a small risk, but it really boils down to risk tolerance. So if somebody reads the article that I wrote and they understand what the facts actually say, and they still decide after reading that: Hey, you know what? I understand that the risk is small, and I just don’t want to take that risk. I don’t want to take it myself or I don’t want to take it for my children. That’s fine. I completely respect that. But it’s just important to me that the facts are clear, and that was my purpose in writing that article. And, in fact, that’s my purpose when I wrote about home birth. I wanted to set the record straight on what the relative risks were for home birth versus hospital birth, because that’s something that there’s also a lot of hysteria and misinformation around that issue. And when we talked about vaccinations, my point was not that there’s no risk in not vaccinating. I think that’s untrue, there is a risk, but there’s also a risk in vaccinating. So these are all decisions that really can’t be made just based on the data alone, and you have to consider your values and your priorities and your world view and what you’re comfortable with, and that’s why I think that the “debate” will never end with these types of issues, because a lot of the factors are subjective. And as long as we’re thinking and unique individual human beings, there are going to be these differences.
Steve Wright: Well, I appreciate you writing that article because I, for one, was getting mixed up between the two sides of propaganda. There are just so many YouTube videos one side and so many articles on the other that it’s very helpful to see that in this light, so I appreciate it.
Chris Kresser: Yeah, sure. And there are a couple more articles coming in the series. The next one we’re gonna talk about what the potential advantages of unpasteurized milk are versus pasteurized milk, and again, there are some things that are more clear than others there. There’s some epidemiological research that suggests that raw milk might help prevent allergic diseases and asthma and other immune-mediated conditions, but as we know, epidemiological data don’t prove causation, so we can’t know for certain that raw milk is the deciding factor in those studies. And then there are other claims that are made about the nutritional differences, some of which are more easily substantiated than others, but the truth is there’s just not a lot of high quality research on the differences between raw and pasteurized milk. So, for the people who say that hasn’t been proven, yes, that’s true, but lack of proof is not proof against. And for a lot of people, just experientially or the experiential difference, you know, they drink pasteurized milk, they notice how they feel, and then they drink unpasteurized milk, and they notice the difference in how they feel, frankly that’s gonna be enough for a lot of people. And for most people who are drinking raw milk now, that is enough because the average person doesn’t dig into the scientific literature and read every study there is on the differences, and they don’t wait for scientists to do that kind of research before making up their mind. Again, there are a lot of things to consider, but I think the main point I want to get across here is that a lot of the decisions that we make about health and wellness are not just driven by data alone. They’re driven by our value system and our priorities and our world view, and that’s perfectly valid, and they’re important criteria in the decisions that we make.
Steve Wright: Well, I’m looking forward to the rest of the series, and I hope that you also do a piece on homogenization because I’m interested in that.
Chris Kresser: Yeah, we’ll talk a little bit about that, I think. It’s hard to keep these articles short enough so that people will actually read them! The first article was almost 3000 words, and I felt like it could have been a lot longer than that. So, we’ll be as thorough as we can without being overwhelming.
Chris Kresser: So, we can move on to the questions now. That’s all I have to say about that.
Chris Kresser: Not for the average person. So, we have mechanisms where the cells in the stomach can sense how much iron we have in our body stores, and when the body stores are low those cells will absorb more iron from our gut, and when our body stores are sufficient they won’t absorb as much iron. They won’t absorb any iron, and we’ll just excrete it. That’s the way normal iron metabolism works. But some people have mutations in the genes that code for some of these proteins, and then that whole system gets messed up. For example, in hereditary hemochromatosis, which is one of the most common genetic mutations in people of European descent, which causes pretty aggressive iron overload, that regulatory mechanism is broken, so the body can’t communicate how much iron that it actually has, and so the cells in the gut just keep absorbing more and more iron inappropriately, and more iron gets stored up in the body. So, for someone with a genetic mechanism like that, like a genetic mutation like that, it’s possible that cast iron might have an effect, especially if the pan is old and hasn’t been well seasoned over time to protect it. Eating liver regularly definitely would be a risk factor for people who have an iron storage mutation like that. It’s not for people who don’t, because as I said, in normal physiology you just excrete any additional iron that you take in, but as I said, it’s one of the most common mutations in people of European descent. In fact, about 1 in 200 to 1 in 300 people in the US have hemochromatosis, so it’s actually not that rare, and that’s one of the reasons that I always run iron panels on my patients, particularly men, because it’s a pretty common thing, and it’s often not diagnosed. Almost every patient that I’ve diagnosed with iron overload, it was the first news they had ever heard of it. It’s something that just seems to fall through the cracks a lot. So in summary, if you don’t have one of these mutations, you don’t generally have to worry about how much iron you’re eating in food or cooking in cast iron, but if you do have one of these mutations or you’ve tested high in iron previously, than it’s something you probably should pay attention to.
Steve Wright: Great. So do you use cast iron, or do you recommend it?
Chris Kresser: Yeah, I use cast iron, but we mostly use ceramic cookware, like the Le Creuset. We use some stainless steel for applications when we just want to heat something up quickly, you know, boil some water or whatever, and then we have one cast iron skillet that we use. So it’s kind of a combination of things.
Steve Wright: Gotcha. OK. Great, well, let’s roll on to the next question. This one’s from Josh, and he’s wondering what you thought the best science to major in before he goes to naturopathic school would be.
Chris Kresser: Yeah, that’s a good question. I get that one a lot. I think it really depends on your interests. There are a number of potentially good choices. Like, biochemistry would be one. Physiology would be another one. And I don’t think it matters all that much. What I do think matters is that you’re interested in the subject matter and you’re engaged in it, and that’s probably the most important factor of all, because as you progress through your medical education, whatever route that you choose to do, if it’s naturopathy or medical school or something else, you’re gonna be exposed to all of the other disciplines and everything from anatomy to physiology to pharmacology to biochemistry. You’re gonna cover it all, so I think early on it’s just important to do something that interests you and that you can get excited about and you feel engaged by. I don’t think it matters too much within those basic sciences what you do.
Steve Wright: Is there anything that you should be doing on the side while you’re going to school, because I know school can be demanding, but a lot of times there’s some free time?
Chris Kresser: Yeah. Well, when I was in graduate school, I did a lot on the side. I did a lot of continuing education programs. I did some mentorships with other practitioners and teachers, and I did have some spare time, and I was at a point in my life because I went back to school fairly late in my life, I was very focused on my career and getting the ball rolling, so I actually started my blog, which was formerly The Healthy Skeptic, while I was still in school, and that was primarily a way for me to just keep track of my own research. I don’t know if I’ve told this story before, but when I started my blog, I had absolutely no idea that anybody else would ever read it. It was just that that format seemed to be the easiest way for me to kind of keep a record of what I was interested in and the kind of research that I was doing, and I’m the sort of person that learns well by doing. You know, I’m a kinesthetic learner, so if I read something and then I take notes on it and then I write something about it, then it’s imprinted in my brain in a way that it never gets imprinted if I just listen or read. So, I started The Healthy Skeptic, and then I was surprised to find out that people were actually reading it and leaving comments, and one thing led to another. So, that can be really useful. If you’re in grad school or even as an undergrad, just start writing because it’s a really good way to test your knowledge of the material. When you read something and then you write, you’re taking it through your own filters, and if you’re able to write about it in your own language, you’re gonna be much more likely to retain that information and be able to talk about it with other people. So, I think that’s something you can get started with right away, and then looking around and seeing what’s available in terms of…I think this person is interested in functional medicine even though he is going to study naturopathy, so you can look around for some functional medicine courses that might be available. Usually they have student rates. I mean, I really took advantage of that when I was a student. Many of the companies that teach these seminars, and some of them are nutritional supplement companies or some of them are lab testing companies, like Metametrix does some seminars. Almost all of the lab testing companies have seminars where they talk about their lab tests but also just functional medicine topics in general, and some of them have just amazing student discounts. One company, Apex Energetics, I did some seminars with Datis Kharrazian and some other people. You know, their normal weekend seminar rate was something like $450 or $500. I could be misquoting that, but something like that, and for students it was $50. So, I mean, I just took every single course that they offered while I was a student so I could take advantage of that discount. Those are all good options, and then of course, make sure you save some time and have fun and manage your stress because graduate school and even undergrad when you’re doing pre-med type of stuff can be, like you said, Steve, really stressful, and I see a lot of people graduate from school being totally burnt out and wrecked, so it’s a good idea to protect your health and make sure to take care of yourself while you’re doing all of this stuff.
Steve Wright: Yeah, that’s all good. I’m glad you shared that story, and I think there have been a lot of masters that have said you don’t necessarily truly learn something until you teach someone else.
Chris Kresser: That’s right. There’s an old Daoist saying: True knowledge is action.
Steve Wright: Yeah, and that’s a great point. You know, I hate to hear about people who have the best of intentions when they go into undergrad for pre-med and then end up burning out before they ever finish, so have a lot of fun, people!
Chris Kresser: Yeah, and you know, along those lines, I know I already said this, but you have to find a way to make it interesting for yourself, and that’s the biggest piece of advice that I have to anyone who is pursuing that kind of path. I got really interested in cholesterol and heart disease and that whole myth and debunking that, and that’s how I started writing my blog, and I just kind of went from one topic to the next like that while I was in school, and that kind of became primary while I was in school. Like, the research I was doing outside of school and the writing for my blog was my main fascination, and then school was a way of sort of fueling that and helping to learn about research methodology and some of the other things. Like, when I was in school, a lot of the people that I was studying with, like in my research methodology class, just hated it. They were bored out of their minds, and I think part of it’s because a lot of people who go to study acupuncture they don’t really care about that. They’re more interested in Chinese medicine, not Western medicine, but for me that was such an amazing resource. The guy who taught it was a researcher at Stanford at the Cancer Center at Stanford, a really knowledgeable guy, and it was just so cool to be able to learn about that, learn how to evaluate studies, and I had a context, you know, a reason to learn it because I was reading all of these studies and it was on a topic that I was passionate about. So, yeah, finding a way to make it really interesting is important. I think that’s what makes a difference between people who burn out and either don’t make it through or just are miserable the whole time and people that end up really enjoying it and getting a lot out of it.
Steve Wright: Do you have anything to say to the people out there who are in any of these disciplines and they think along the paleo, evolutionary health perspective, but they’re stuck with professors in classes that are of the previous paradigm?
Chris Kresser: Yeah, I guess that’s a similar evaluation that we were talking about before. I mean, it’s a question of how you want to spend your energy. I mean, in some cases I think making a lot of noise about it is equivalent to beating your head up against a brick wall. You know, you just kinda have to look at the situation and evaluate how much energy you want to spend trying to change other people’s minds in that situation, how likely you think it is that that will even happen, you know, how open are they to hearing the information that you have to share. So for me, it varied from situation to situation. Like, I was already doing presentations and talks when I was a student in graduate school at the school, so when I was working on my heart disease and cholesterol research, I started giving presentations, and that was a good way for me to kinda get this information out there without spending all of my time being that guy in class who was always, like, contradicting everything that the professor says. And a lot of times it was hard because I’d have to sit there and listen to stuff that I knew was not true and not accurate, but in the end, in some cases I would raise my hand and say: Well, what about this? Or have you heard about that? But in a lot of cases during that time I would just be sitting there thinking about my other research or taking notes on something else, so I think that’s kind of a personal decision and it depends a lot on someone’s personality and how much energy they have for that kind of stuff and choosing your battles. Like, I choose to spend the vast majority of my energy helping people that really want my help. That’s just me. There are some people whose vision is to get out there and change everybody and change everybody’s mind, and I think that’s great, and ultimately, of course, I’d like everybody to know the facts about all of these things that we talk about and to follow a lifestyle and a diet that makes them healthy and feel good, but I’m not generally the kind of person that will…I choose my battles. Let’s put it that way, and you know, there’s a limited amount of time in the day. There’s a limited number of days in the week. You know, I don’t have unlimited energy, so I choose to spend that writing my blog and doing this radio show and making this information available to people who want to come find it. I’m not the guy who will go to a vegan blog and leave a bunch of comments that are trying to convince them that eating a paleo diet is the best choice. That just doesn’t make any sense to me. To me, that’s a complete waste of energy and time. But to each his own.
Steve Wright: Yeah, I think that’s really wise, and I’m glad you covered it, and I think the sum there is if you’re really angry and you pick and choose your battles, write your words on a blog somewhere, and we’ll probably all be reading it someday.
Does consuming fat in the morning get in the way of intermittent fasting?
Steve Wright: All right. Well, let’s move on to the next question. This one comes from Yoshi, and it’s about Dave Asprey and his blog, The Bulletproof Executive, and his question is: Dave recommends bulletproof coffee in the morning with your first meal. And he wants to know if you’re having fat in your coffee, which bulletproof coffee is grass-fed butter, MCT oil, and coffee, I believe. So, if you’re doing that in the morning, are you actually intermittent fasting?
Chris Kresser: Yes. I mean, probably opinions will differ on this, but the idea behind intermittent fasting or one of the main things is to promote autophagy, which is the cellular garbage recycling process basically, and fat will not get in the way of that. Eating protein or carbohydrates will. So, if you are intermittent fasting and you have some coconut oil or, in this case, coffee, which has no carbohydrate or protein, and you add some fat to it, that doesn’t technically, in my opinion, get in the way of the potential benefits of intermittent fasting. If you’re doing intermittent fasting for weight loss, depending on what your beliefs are about weight loss, that may or may not interfere. If you’re just doing a very low carb, intermittent fasting type of approach, then eating fat wouldn’t interfere. If you’re doing a caloric-restricted kind of program, then adding a whole bunch of fat to your coffee, you’d have to obviously consider that in your overall calorie intake. But if it’s more of a question of health and autophagy, then it’s not gonna interfere.
Steve Wright: OK. Well, that’s good to know because I know some of the more popular intermittent fasting routines such as Martin Berkhan’s at Leangains.com and Brad Pilon’s Eat Stop Eat, those are more around losing weight, not necessarily lifelong health.
Steve Wright: And I have been trying the Bulletproof Exec coffee, and it’s very delicious.
Chris Kresser: Yeah? You like the MCT oil in it?
Steve Wright: I do! The only thing that I don’t like about it is it’s almost like a latte, and I like my coffee black.
Steve Wright: So, you actually throw the MCT oil in there and some grass-fed butter and you spin it up in a blender like he recommends, it really turns all frothy.
Chris Kresser: Yeah, I tried that, and I mean, nutritionally I think it’s great, but coffee and cream, to me, is the best combination ever. Especially raw cream that I get from our local farmer here. It’s like heavenly.
Steve Wright: Do you blend it?
Chris Kresser: I don’t blend it. No.
Chris Kresser: Just adding cream. And the ratio for me is like one-third cream, two-thirds coffee, so it’s very, very creamy.
Steve Wright: Do you do a couple cups of that?
Chris Kresser: No, and I don’t do it every day, because I don’t do that well with a lot of caffeine. I’m one of those really caffeine-sensitive people.
Chris Kresser: Just maybe three to four mornings a week, and even then, it’s probably weaker than some coffee aficionados would like.
Steve Wright: Yeah, the one thing I did notice just switching to Dave’s brand, believe it or not, I’ve been trying a lot of different organic brands, and the phlegm that I was getting some mornings from various coffees, I kinda actually ended up tracking it down to the coffee. You know, I’m not sure how much science there is to the mycotoxins and what he does over there, but I’ll tell you, when I switched to that coffee, the problems that I was having with your high-end, big-box coffee store stopped.
Chris Kresser: Right. Yeah, I think when it’s roasted is really important, and there aren’t that many places that you can buy coffee that are really, really fresh roasted.
Steve Wright: Great. Well, I’m gonna have to get my hands on some raw cream because I don’t have any sources for that over here.
Chris Kresser: Well, I mean, even pasteurized cream can be pretty good, but the raw cream here that we can get is even thicker than the cream that you can typically buy in stores. It’s la crème de la crème. Yeah, very, very good.
Steve Wright: All right, well, we’re all coming over to your house for coffee next week.
Chris Kresser: Yeah. It’s actually making me want some coffee right now. Hang on a sec.
Steve Wright: Pause for the cause!
Chris Kresser: I’m just kidding.
Steve Wright: And we’re back!
Chris Kresser: Now I’m bouncing off the walls. Let’s go! Let’s go!
Steve Wright: Ha, ha. OK, well, the next question, after our coffee break here, is from Ryan. And this one’s a bit of a long one, but we’ll get it all in because it’s important. So, Ryan says: “First, I just want to say thanks for all the great information you provide. I really appreciate it, and I know a lot of others listeners do too. I have been attempting to lower my fasting blood glucose for the past year or so. It had been steadily rising over the past year and a half, so it was routinely now around 110 when I was first waking up. My total cholesterol has been rising at the same time to where at last check it was around 300 (HDL was 80, and triglycerides were 80). So, first I tried supplementing with magnesium citrate and had no effect. I just recently heard on your podcast about glycinate and malate forms, which are better,” or he heard that they were better. “Next I tried increasing my overall carbohydrate intake, which hasn’t helped. Then I came across a post on your site from 2010 describing the negative effect that intermittent fasting can have in certain cases. I had been doing intermittent fasting daily 16 to 20 hours” total, I’m guessing there, “along with heavy weight training in the fasted state four times a week for about a year, so your post hit home with me. For the past week and a half, I’ve been eating throughout the day, but so far my morning glucose is still around 110. I have not been eating breakfast right after waking and usually two to three hours later,” so it sounds like he’s eating breakfast two to three hours after he wakes up, and then after that he tries to eat a meal every three hours or so. It’s been two weeks now on this new eating schedule, and he was hoping to see some improvement, but nothing’s happened. He wants to know how long patients who switch from intermittent fasting to regular meals have taken to see improvement.
Chris Kresser: It can take a couple of weeks usually, but there may be something else going on here. One thing to consider is latent adult autoimmune diabetes. Most people probably know there are two main types of diabetes. There’s type 1 diabetes, which is usually an early onset during childhood, autoimmune diabetes, and then there’s type 2 diabetes, which usually comes on later in life and has certainly a genetic predisposition but is also triggered by a lot of environmental factors. Recent research suggests that the lines between those two might not be as clear as we previously thought and that there’s another type of diabetes. Sometimes it’s called type 1.5, or sometimes it’s called LADA, latent adult autoimmune diabetes, and it’s kind of a combination. It has an autoimmune component, but it manifests more like type 2 diabetes than it does like type 1. And I’ve forgotten the exact numbers, but I think one estimate that I saw suggested that as many as 15% of people who are incorrectly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes actually have type 1.5. So, it’s possible something like that might be happening, and in that case, diet would certainly be important, but you’d also have to take steps to address the immune dysregulation to make some progress with it. Another thing to consider is iron overload, which we were just talking about earlier in the show. Iron overload can damage the beta cells of the pancreas and cause insulin deficiency and insulin resistance, and there’s a type of hemochromatosis that is earlier onset called juvenile hemochromatosis. It’s fairly rare. I wouldn’t guess that’s what’s happening, but the main form of hemochromatosis can start to come on in the late 20s and early 30s. That’s a possibility. You know, I originally was thinking that a very low carb diet can cause this dawn effect where you can have high fasting blood sugar and then your blood sugar will come down to normal levels after you eat a meal.
I think that the next step here would be, if you haven’t already done this, to measure your post-meal blood sugars. So you get a glucometer, and I have some posts on my blog that describe how to do this. We can put it in the show notes. And you measure your blood sugar in the morning. I assume he already has one if he’s taking his blood sugar all the time, but you measure just before lunch, then you eat lunch, and then you measure at one hour, two hours, and three hours after. The targets that you want to be under are 140 at one hour and 120 at two hours, and if you’re under those targets and well under those targets but your fasting blood sugar is still high in the morning, that indicates a few different possibilities. Number one, fasting blood sugar is more of an indicator of liver insulin sensitivity, and post-meal blood sugars are more of an indicator of muscle and fat cell insulin sensitivity. So, it’s possible in that situation that there’s a liver insulin resistance issue, and again, that could be mediated by iron, that could be an autoimmune mechanism, or possibly a genetic mechanism because there’s a really strong family history there that he mentioned. If the post-meal blood sugars are elevated, you know, above 140 at one hour or above 120 at two hours, and the fasting blood sugar is elevated, then I would pretty strongly suspect some kind of autoimmune mechanism at that point in light of how much exercising and, you know, it sounds like the diet is pretty clean, so in that circumstance I think getting some help from someone who can help figure it out would be a good idea.
Steve Wright: OK, well, hopefully that helps him out. OK, the next question is from Anonymous or we lost his name, so sorry. “Chris, could you address strategies for controlling sympathetic nervous response when facing a pressure-filled situation like an interview, presentation, or audition? My wife is an actress and is looking for ways to go into auditions more relaxed. At times, her sympathetic nervous system gets going too fast, and she shakes and gets dry throat. On the other hand, the times when she feels at ease and relaxes, she knocks auditions out of the park. She would like to be able to control her nerves consistently.” And he wants to mention one strategy that has seemed to help is taking magnesium glycinate and calcium AEP before the audition. Also simply doing more auditions helps. What else could it be?
Chris Kresser: Yeah, so there are a number of ways to approach this, of course. One is nutritionally, which he discussed. The way that I would tend to think about this, though, is more from a behavioral perspective, and there are a number of things that can be done to help manage stress and dampen the sympathetic nervous system response before an audition or a speech, public talk, anything like that. One of those is mindfulness practice, and we’ve talked a lot about this on the show and on the blog. Just bringing your awareness into the present moment can be really, really helpful in reducing that stress response, and that can be done in a variety of ways. The simplest way of doing it is just bringing your attention to your breath, and importantly because I think a lot of people when they talk about this, they talk about doing deep breathing. That can be helpful, for sure, but I’m not a big fan of that technique because that involves manipulating your breath, and for some people, trying to control their breathing, which is really one of the most natural processes there is, can actually add stress and can be stressful in its own right. So, when I say bring your attention to your breathing, what I mean is just that. Just be aware of how your breathing is without trying to intervene and control it or make it deeper or shallower or anything else, just bringing your attention to your breath, watching what it’s doing kind of just like you’d watch clouds moving through the sky. That’s one way. Another way is what’s called a body scan or a progressive relaxation exercise or a body sweep, and this where, for example, if you’re sitting in a chair outside the audition room waiting or in your car when you’re waiting, you just sweep your attention through your body. You start maybe with the toes on your left foot, and you gradually sweep your attention from the toes of your left foot into the ball of your foot and the top of your left foot, then to your heel, and you just move through the body that way, all the while just letting your breathing be easy, and any time your mind wanders, which it almost certainly will, just bring your attention right back to where it was before. There’s no need to start over. There’s no need to beat yourself up for your mind wandering. Just bring your attention right back to where it is, and just doing that, getting all the way through the body, by the end of that, I can almost guarantee you you’ll be significantly more relaxed. There are some MP3s that are available for free online that guide you through these body scans and similar techniques, and we’ll put a link in the show notes. So, doing that can be really helpful, and I really recommend that because it’s something that you can teach yourself to do, and it’s something that will always be available to you. It doesn’t involve taking any supplements or making any changes as far as that goes. And there’s nothing wrong with taking supplements, but I always believe that less is more, so if you can accomplish something without adding something new just by working with your own awareness, then that’s probably a better choice.
Another thing along those same lines that can be really effective in reducing stress and optimizing performance is visualization. There is a lot of research behind the positive effects of visualization on all kinds of performance-based activity from athletics to public speaking. I’m not sure if there are any studies on acting specifically, but I’m sure that whatever the studies are for public speaking would apply there. So, getting a good book on visualization or some tapes on visualization techniques would be another good choice. And something that I used to use before a big exam like the state board examinations or a final exam or something like that is tai chi and qigong, which is something that I learned years and years ago in college and then have studied pretty consistently on and off for about 20 years with various teachers. You could think of them both as moving meditations, and qigong, in particular, focuses on the breath and various breathing techniques coordinated with movement, and tai chi also does, although to a lesser degree. But for some people who have trouble just doing seated meditation techniques or visualization or mindfulness because their mind is so busy or if they’re so triggered, like they’re really nervous about an audition, doing some kind of moving meditation like tai chi or qigong might be even more beneficial because when you’re waiting for an audition, some of that nervousness is probably…it’s just energy. I mean, we can label it as fear or nervousness, but it’s energy, and a lot of the best performers find a way to channel that energy into the performance. The idea isn’t to get rid of that energy because that’s what’s gonna fuel the performance. The idea is to learn to work with it and channel it in positive ways. So, I think doing a moving type of meditation might be even more helpful in that regard, and just recognizing that some amount of nervousness is probably a sign that you’re in the right place. You know, it’s still an activity that’s really alive for you. There’s a quote from Sammy Davis, Jr., that I’ve always really liked, where he said: The day I stop getting nervous before I perform will be the day that I stop performing. And I think that just kinda gets at the juice there was for him in performing. So, all of those are good options, and I think they can probably be helpful.
Steve Wright: Yeah, I guarantee that it can be, and speaking from someone who is more of the…I get real amped up, a couple things that I’ve done in the past was actually, like, if you get really worked up and you’re not about to do a physical performance-based thing is just to drop down and just do push-ups until you’re exhausted. That’s one to way to get out of your head and kinda get into your body.
Chris Kresser: That’s right, that’s right. Get a heavy bag!
Steve Wright: Yeah! Basically just figure out a way to dissipate some of the energy so you can calm things down a little bit.
Chris Kresser: Yeah. Another thing, and this is maybe not so much for an audition, although I think it would apply there too, but for tests it’s a really bad idea to be studying right before a test. From a neurological standpoint and how memory works, the best way to do it is to get all the studying done the day before, and on the day of the test to wake up, do some exercise, do some mindfulness practice or meditation, something relaxing, you know, something to actually take your mind off of the test, and just make sure you’re really prepared the day before. And I’ve seen some interesting research that people who do that tend to be perform a lot better than people who are, like, standing outside, reading all their notes just before they go in the test or, in this case, studying the lines.
Steve Wright: Yeah, and I’m sure sleep has a big to-do there as well.
Chris Kresser: Yeah, absolutely. OK, so I think we have time for one more short one. How about the dry eyes question?
Does hypothyroidism cause dry eyes?
Steve Wright: OK. All right, here we go. This comes from Grace, and she says: “Hi, Chris. Recently I went to a new optometrist, and on my new patient forms I indicated that I had hypothyroidism. I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism about five years ago, and I’ve been on various medications since. During my appointment, the optometrist explained that the reason I have dry eyes is due to my hypothyroidism. I had never heard of this before. Could you explain the mechanisms of how this works? Are there any foods or supplements you would recommend to reduce the dryness in my eyes?” And she notes that she recently started the 30-Day Paleo Challenge, and she is hoping to see some change in her symptoms. Thanks.
Chris Kresser: Yeah, well, there’s a condition called thyroid eye disease, and that is potentially what we’re talking about here, and the majority of thyroid eye disease cases are associated with hyperthyroidism more than hypothyroidism, but about 10% are associated with either euthyroid, which is normal thyroid, numbers or hypothyroidism. And in most cases, whether it is hyperthyroidism or euthyroid or hypothyroidism, it’s caused by autoimmune thyroid disease, which involves specifically a cross-reactivity against shared antigens in the thyroid and eye tissue. So, the immune system is attacking antigens in the thyroid tissue that are similar to antigens in the orbital tissue, so you get a cross-reactivity there. So, the first thing that I would do if I were her would be to get thyroid antibodies tested, thyroid peroxidase (TPO) and thyroglobulin (Tg) antibodies, to see if you have Hashimoto’s, which since you mentioned hypothyroidism, that’s much more likely than Graves’, which causes hyperthyroidism. And if you have autoimmune thyroid disease, then the key, as I have said before, is going to be addressing the immune dysregulation, so taking steps to balance and regulate the immune system. That involves optimizing vitamin D levels, optimizing glutathione status, removing food toxins from the diet, which it sounds like you’re already doing with the Paleo Challenge. Low-dose naltrexone can be really effective in stimulating T regulatory cell function. So, that would be addressing the root of the problem if it is autoimmune in origin. Fermented cod liver oil. I’ve seen some benefits and success with fermented cod liver oil / butter oil blend from Green Pasture with dry eyes and dry skin, for that matter, dry scalp. Vitamin A is really important for the eyes, and vitamin A is in the fermented cod liver oil, preformed vitamin A. And then the EPA and DHA, the omega-3 fats, can be helpful as well. So, first step, see if it’s autoimmune in origin, and if it is, address that. And in the meantime, if you’re not already doing it, try the fermented cod liver oil / butter oil blend.
Steve Wright: Is it bad in the meantime to be using any of those eye drops that remove the red and kinda lubricate things?
Chris Kresser: I don’t actually know a lot about those eye drops. It’s just not something that I’ve come across very frequently in my practice, and I don’t really know, to be honest, what the downside of those drops might be, if any.
Chris Kresser: And I don’t have any eye problems myself, so I’ve never had any reason to look into it, so I’ll have to put that on my list of topics to learn about.
Steve Wright: Yeah, I’ve had them in the past, not so much lately, but I know back pre-SCD, pre-paleo, I did have a lot of eye problems.
Chris Kresser: OK, well, that’s gonna do it for today. We’re never able to get through quite as many questions as I think we’ll be able to, but we’ve got some great questions on deck that we’ll get to soon, and keep sending us your questions. We’re gonna get to them eventually.
Steve Wright: Yep, we keep them on the list, and maybe next time if we don’t take such a long coffee break we’ll get through more questions.
Chris Kresser: If I’m not so long winded, you mean!
Steve Wright: No, that’s not what I said! All right, well, thanks everyone for listening today. Please keep sending your questions at Chriskresser.com using the podcast submission link. And if you enjoyed listening to today’s show, please head over to iTunes and leave us a review.
Hi Chris, not sure if this is the submissions link referred to by Steve, to ask questions for future show?
Re high ferritin levels and inflammation.
You say that there can also be a link between inflammation and high ferritin levels. The hormone hepcidin can prevent release of ferritin (stored iron) and so cells can be short of iron, even though have high storage levels of iron.
My question is, does the high ferritin level not pose the same risk to the body/organs that you mentioned because it is not getting to the cells or is there the same risk and so should I reduce dietry iron even though cells may be short of it?
Obviously the quest is to get inflammation down, am trying with some success but have RA but not sure what to do about iron in the meantime. I am through menopause, weigh approx 98 pounds – my natural weight presumeably as stableised following Paleo/PHDiet but ferritin levels have increased over 12months from 99 to 141, fibrinogen is also connected then, mine is worryingly in abnormal high range 5.5 and yet clotting time (APTT) is 30.8 seconds. (I had tested as take curcumin and eat a lot of ginger) and was shocked to see fibrinogen level.
So for us folks with inflammatory conditions, could you please elaborate on what we should be doing or taking note of.
Many thanks Chris, will you possibly be addressing in your book?
We know that pathogenic bacteria in the gut consume iron. I wonder if paleolithic people’s intestinal flora had more of these iron consuming bacteria, thus keeping iron levels in a safe range. Thoughts??
Just wondering if high ferritin (272) would be indicative of iron overload, even if hemoglobin is normal. And what does high ferritin have to do with insulin resistance?
Hey Chris not sure if you will get this since this podcast is a bit dated but you bring up Naturopathy school which is something Im seriously considering over the next couple months. So far I’ve only gotten my associates degree in a non science/medical field. How much schooling or college did you do for Naturopathy and before for pre med? Any colleges or resources that you could link to or help out? Im up in the northwest, a little north of Vancouver, Washington and Portland, Oregon, I know there are a few naturopathy schools up here I believe. Any help or tips on getting some good loans or grants as well since I am tight on money as it is. When I got my associates degree I got a scholarship and a loan to help pay for it.
For sympathetic nervous system response for the actress wife – nothing I found works bettervthan EFT or Energy Psychology. (her leg shakes and mouth is dry – a phobic response). Based on Chinese medicine, involves tapping on the first meridian points. (bladder, stomach, central, governing, K21, spleen, then the triple warmer point at top of hand). A 10th degree black belt in Kung fu and Qi Qong I know uses it to increase the performance of himsel and his students. My shrink friend uses it for her extreme trauma clients. I use it myself. Wish I knew these techniques when Ii was a singer with stage fright! Check out Donna Eden and her husband Dr David Fienstein. Brilliant.
To anyone who has ever suffered from panic disorder or generalized anxiety please listen to Chris’ advice here regarding mindfulness. Learning just the basic mindful breathing techniques literally changed my life three years ago. Jon Kabat-Zinn’s writings are a good place to start.
In regards to school — I want to help people in the way that you help people. Is getting a degree from something like the Acupuncture and Integrative Medicine College in Berkeley the way to do it (is that a masters?)? With maybe additional education from the Institute of Functional Medicine at some point?
I’m looking for a place to start, a way for me to stuff myself with science-based, evidence driven data that I can use to point people in the right direction. I want to help, but I feel untrained and really at a loss for ‘next steps’ when people go full-out paleo and still run into road blocks. The problem is I don’t know enough. I can read all the articles I can find and frequent websites from all of the paleo gurus I trust, but it’s too little too slow and I want to be able to make more change in people’s lives (starting with myself, friends, and family!). I’ve looked at Reed Davis’s Functional Diagnostic Nutrition, I’ve read through Robb Wolf’s Evolutionary Science/Nutrition Certification info…I’m trying to find the best source.
Any recommendations or comments you can provide?
Chris: Thank you very much for the iron overload info. Greatly appreciated.
Raw heavy cream is quite amazing. We buy from a place in PA called Miller’s Organic Farm. The cream is so thick, it is like paint.
@ Robby – Thanks man this is a whole new level to explore (insert evil laugh). Didn’t even know it was possible. Where do you source your green beans from?
As mentioned, SweetMarias.com. They are used by many. It seems daunting, but aside from the initial up front cost of around $200, is absurdly easy.
Sickness ratio of 1:94,000 for raw milk, 1:880,000 for pastuerized. Chances are you’ll get sick from raw milk long before getting sick from pastuerized. Relative or absolute, this is significant.. I’ll stick with pastuerized, thanks.
Chris, as a transitioning-to-Paleo optometrist, I can add a bit of info about the drops that “get the red out”.
Those contain vasoconstrictors, for cosmetic constriction of the dilated small arteries and veins within the conjunctiva (movable, clear covering on the white) of the eye. The drug used is usually something like the drug in nasal sprays like Afrin. In eye care, we prefer to eliminate the reason for the vasodilation rather than use vasoconstrictor drops — much like eliminating the reason for GERD rather than perpetually drugging the symptoms.
There are many non-preserved lubricating drops available OTC in drugstores, which are more highly recommended–all of them are in some way just mimicking the components of natural tears: mucus, lipid, and saline. I am in a surgical practice so we often deal with dry eye of all origins– hormonal, chemical, allergic, and often, caused by combinations of oral pharmaceuticals especially decongestant allergy meds, oral contraceptives and so on. Our standard recommendation is to add good fish oil, work to balance the diet ( it’s hard to take enough time to fully educate folks about nutrition!), avoid environmental triggers, hydrate, and use only non-preserved lubricating drops. I tell patients only to use drops that get the red out if they’re going for a job interview or having a portrait made!
The whole thyroid eye disease issue is too huge for a small comment, and I am by no means an expert in treatment of autoimmune thyroid disregulation, so I won’t address that at all.
Thanks for all the accessible, accurate, and thoughtful info you provide!
@ Nancy – Thanks! do you have a favorite brand of the natural stuff? I get the problem after flying and usually just try to use saline solution but I’m always looking to upgrade.
Steven, flying is the worst for most people! Like being in the high desert. The screw top bottles all contain a preservative like EDTA or similar, which is not only unpleasant to the bugs but also to the corneal epithelium, when used repeatedly. There used to be a great preservative free one called Lens Plus drops, in vials that were about 0.5 ml of balanced saline solution, but I’m afraid they’ve been discontinued. Otherwise,I’m pretty sure the preservative-free ones are all manufactured so none are naturally sourced, at all. Similasan http://www.similasanusa.com/ may be the only widely available one that is. They advertise that their ingredients are all natural, and they have TSA compliant bottles!
Hi Chris. I just wanted to say thanks for taking the time to address my question.
I do indeed have a glucometer and usually my post-meal glucose is below 100 an hour and two hours post-prandial. Then it seems to rise after that. Unless I really load up on the rice and other carbs, then it can be somewhat higher, but still usually below 100 (sometimes significantly so) by 2 hours. I will look into all the info you suggested and keep you posted on what I discover. Thanks so much!
Chris, your podcast is the single most brilliant public discussion of raw milk I’ve seen yet. Thank you for having the courage to address the issue. I’ve never consumed raw milk and currently consider the default “Paleo”/ancestral position to be one of skepticism and caution re: dairy products as staple foods, but the anti-raw-milk hysteria has reached ridiculous and even fascist proportions and the plus side of the issue is rarely discussed. Modern Western society has largely become obsessed with trying to avoid all “germs,” often failing to recognize that most microbiota are beneficial, and generally disregarding the evidence for the robustifying, antifragile benefits of probiotics, aka the “Old Friends.” Thank you for your efforts and keep up the good work.
While I understand there are differing opinions on the risk of raw milk, to me, its seems like an unnecessary risk. I am curious what method you used to come up with 1 in 6 million for the raw milk risk.
Based on CDC data, literature, and state and local reports, FDA compiled a list of outbreaks that occurred in the U.S. from 1987 to September 2010. During this period, there were at least 133 outbreaks due to the consumption of raw milk and raw milk products. These outbreaks caused 2,659 cases of illnesses, 269 hospitalizations, 3 deaths, 6 stillbirths and 2 miscarriages. Because not all cases of foodborne illness are recognized and reported, the actual number of illnesses associated with raw milk likely is greater.
I explained how I came up with the 1 in 6 million number. It refers to the risk of hospitalizations from raw milk illness during the period I examined, 2000 – 2007. I also addressed issues with the CDC data that make it misleading – such as combining outbreaks from homemade Queso Fresco style cheese with outbreaks from fluid raw milk.
For those of us who are having trouble finding someone who can help, can you give a sense of what, in general, the next few diagnostic steps might be? I know that these problems are complicated; I’m just wondering if you can go a few steps further than what you said here. Are you talking tests like islet and GAD antibodies?
What dosage of the fermented CLO/butter oil blend do you recommend? I’m waiting for my order of it to come in and funnily enough have dry eyes. Thanks for the podcast.
i’d like to express my appreciation for your providing the transcript for your talks! i’m one of those who would rather read than listen to information like this (i’m a visual learner)…. thanks, Chris!
Thank you Josh! That is so helpful!
Are you aware that they recalled our raw milk again! I drove out to Lunardis for my raw milk for the week and there was none. I thought it was legal in Ca. what is up with this constant harrassment?
Hi Chris, you mentioned some free online MP3s for body scans and such. Can you post the link to those? Thanks for your help!
Also can you elaborate a bit on what you mean by optimizing glutathione status? I’ve read that taking a glutathione supplement won’t help, but that using it in a transdermal form is better. I haven’t taken either, but I have a TPO of 9 IU/ml, and my Vitamin D is at 28ng/mL, even though my Vitamin D 125 is at 65pg/mL. My diet is clean and I take the FCLO/butter capsules, but I know I need to do more to balance my immune system. I also take Cytomel currently (45mcg).
Would really love a link to MP3s for minfullness meditation and body scans on the web. I would be interested in the ones that you rate as good.
http://www.buddhanet.net/audio-meditation.htm has some good free recordings.
I have just listened to the body scans and feel very relaxed.
Chris, the advice on calming anxiety in tense moments is so helpful. I recently discovered I have very low cortisol, so whenever I perceive a threat or conflict (even a co-worker having a bad day and biting my head off), I get a SERIOUS fight-or-flight response, total adrenaline rush, red face, and inability to think very clearly. My physiological response is very overwhelming, full on panic mode. I know there is likely a psychological component as well, and am worried that even as I support my adrenals my neural pathway to go to panic mode is so ingrained I won’t be able to have a more appropriate, cortisol related reaction. Even though I’m trying to practice mindfulness and breathing through my heart throughout the day, when I get into fight-or-flight mode it doesn’t occur to me. Sometimes it feels like things are happening so quickly that stopping to think about my breath doesn’t even seem possible (imagine a customer service agent being yelled at by a customer and asking for a moment to breathe…. ain’t gonna happen!). Any advice on how to deal with this more dramatic version of the topic you covered in this show? What can I do about the psychological component? Thanks Chris!!!! | 2019-04-19T04:50:23Z | https://chriskresser.com/raw-milk-safety-iron-overload-and-finding-calm-in-stressful-situations/ |
The mingw32 port is particularly interesting. Its a hosted port to Windows, and in essence uses the OS threading system to implement a minimal virtual machine, all within kernel.resource. It has a small bootloader that loads an ELF kernel, making it so that stock AROS i386 code can be used even on Windows which doesn't use ELF itself. The other thing it does is neatly split modules into host-side and AROS-side parts. The AROS parts are handled as normal modules, but in their initialisation they call into hostlib.resource (which is now contained within kernel.resource) to load and link the host-side part. These are standard shared libraries (ie DLLs) which can bring in any library dependencies they need, neatly avoiding the problem contained within the X11 and SDL drivers in that its kinda painful to find the needed libraries at runtime. This way, you just find what you need at link time.
Confirmed working with Windows XP SP2 (2010), ?
x86 32bit discussion thread here.
Experimental x86_64 bit build discussed here.
how do you build a Win7 hosted AROS (not inclined to screw up my laptop's factory installment of partitions etc. to get AROS running from SVN). Mingw32 - how to? Or if possible, VS 2010, how to?
There is a readme in arch/mingw32 directory of aros sources that might be of some help.
Got into compiling, but then came across couple other problems (a.k.a. Netpbm and such, which is required, and which in turn requires zlib, libjpeg, libpng, and something else... of which none (aside zlib) I've managed to get to compile without a ton of errors - seems Mingw's gcc 4.5.x is rather broken in a way).
You don't need to compile netpbm. MinGW really lacks it, but you can download it from another project, GNUWin32. They cooperate perfectly. I use it. Windows version of Python is also needed, get it from python.org.
And after this the thing should go! BTW Win64-hosted port should be that simple as well.
Did you use—with-kernel-tool-prefix=... for the kernel tools?
And note that—disable-crosstools will not work for Windows. You will need to let AROS build its own crosstools for now.
Open HDToolBox, press "Add" in the devices list and add hostdisk.device.
Browse the device in the same way as you browse hard drives on native AROS.
Save the mountlist. By default it has the name of physical device (e. g. DH0) and will be placed into SYS:Storage/DOSDrivers.
Execute 'Mount DH0:' in the command line.
Hanging One idea i have is some deadlock between GDI window service thread and main AROS thread, when they simultaneously hit GDI context with certain conditions. It's very hard to track down. If i add any debug output to GDI thread, the problem goes away. I tried to interrupt frozen AROS with MSVC. Seen all 3 threads waiting in a syscall. But backtrace from that point is quite not trivial task. MSVC won't understand AROS code. Can you examine global variables with debugger after freeze? If so instead of debug output you could have some variables which you set in various places to values which later allow you to identify the place the threads were last executing before freeze.
If a freeze happens somewhere inside this code, my_debug_var gives hint where it happened.
Thought about writing some special extension module which creates one more window with separate service thread and dumps some things there, with possibility to run SAD in that thread. So i would be able to enter SAD after AROS is frozen and examine task scheduler state. This could shed some light on the phenomena.
One thing - deadlock doesn't happen for window service thread. It works fine. It started locking up only after i added confirmation of keyboard events reception, so that keypresses aren't lost or duplicated. When service thread posts a keypress to main AROS thread it waits back for a signal (event in Windows terms). AROS is expected to trigger this event when it picks up a keypress in an interrupt. Since AROS doesn't respond to interrupts, it never posts back this event. So, likely some flaw in interrupts, causing "All tasks waiting" state with disabled interrupts. The described module is needed to verify this hypothesis.
Windows-hosted and native use the same NewStackSwap(), written in asm. Linux (except ARM) uses generic implementation in C, utilizing swapcontext(). On ARM this function is not implemented in libc, so all ARM ports use the same NewStackSwap() written in asm. StackSwap() is always the same. It's written in asm for every CPU. BTW, in fact, Linux-hosted port can use asm implementation. Just it doesn't for historical reasons.
AFAIK you can theoretically even get rid of lock/unlock of inputbuffer, with some atomic instruction tricks.
See arch/all-mingw32/host_scheduler.c, task exception handling. I have to pass argument to exception handler via register because i can't modify stack inside Windows exception since Windows exception handler is running on the same stack as main code. Also note that i moved some code back to exec.library/Switch() and exec.library/Dispatch(). Now kernel.resource does not have to #include exec's private stuff (etask.h).
It spreads the scheduler among several modules. Part of scheduling is done by kernel.resoruce, part by exec.library. The only win is getting rid of etask.h include.
But it's not scheduling itself, It's some internal exec state maintenance, which is always the same. This idea came to be after examining UNIX-hosted code. I know it is old, but it uses Dispatch() for state change, and i liked the idea. I am working on fully functional kernel.resource for UNIX. I believe this follows AmigaOS philosophy to have these entry points patchable in order to be able to install some kind of CPU usage monitor. Switch() is called when some task loses CPU and Dispatch() is called when another task gets CPU. The moved code is always the same, it resets exec state. It's up to kernel.resource when to call them (and it's a matter of task scheduling).
Currently we support only RR scheduler. What, if we will need to add some more? Having Switch() and Dispatch() back in exec means, we need to implement different schedulers in exec, too.
you do in that case? Doesn't different schedulers mean only core_Schedule() replacement? It can also be moved to exec. This will automatically make it working on all architectures. Of course if we provide some kind of access to CPU time. BTW, may be it can be based on timer.device's EClock? kernel.resource then will just call Switch() and Dispatch() in order to notify exec about task switching (note that kernel.resource still does the actual switching itself, so there is no arch-specific code in exec). Exec would do status update and accounting then.
If this file is mingw32 specific I think the path should be aros/mingw32/irq.h (or aros/windows/irq.h). This will allow to still cross-compile from anywhere and have in the end one SDK for all CPUs and archs.
Well, i can do it. But here is my last argument for this location... In fact the location is $prefix/i386-mingw32/include/aros/irq.h. If you are working on AROS and you are installing a mingw cross-compiler, the crosscompiler's default paths will also end up in $prefix/i386-mingw32/include and $prefix/i386-mingw32/lib. This way the file appears right where it is expected to be.
And yes, there is libaroskernel.a which goes to i386-mingw32/lib, but it needs mingw32 compiler to be build, so it is built only during windows-hosted build. It just can't be built when doing e.g. Linux-hosted build.
Previously we always had a serial port. Currently we don't. And this is a pain. Theoretically we could substitute it with some other device (Ethernet, USB, etc.). These things are much more complex and require drivers to function. I leave out necessary protocols since with for example Ethernet we could use some simple raw protocol, just to be able to read messages.
So comes the first idea: we should have something that can be called "debug channels". Every debug channel can be identified for example by name, supplied by the device driver.
This device driver needs: 1. Early initialization (while booting up the system) 2. Some way to supply its output channel to the system.
Where name is channel name and function is callback function like MyCallback(char c).
a) Driver should install a reset callback where it should reset the card back into text mode.
b) Driver could have some another callback which would return VESA-alike description of current state, so that existing display can be picked up during reboot.
By the way, the same thing would let us to display friendly guru screens instead of simple rebooting. Just this routine in the display driver should be crash-proof (it may not rely on interrupts, other libraries, etc., even on exec itself). And again we need some way to register this routine.
a) Display drivers can be unloaded in some situations.
b) There can be several displays, how to select the correct one (some displays may be not physically connected, for example unused connector on dual-headed card).
Now let's remember about KrnMayGetChar(). Currently AROS features built-in SAD debugger. I picked it up from i386-native version and adapted a little bit to the new environment. Now it perfectly runs on Windows-hosted, i can run it using C:Debug command. In fact on other ports you also may run it, you'll see a prompt in debug output but won't be able to talk to it - KrnMayGetChar() is implemented only in Windows version.
The current SAD doesn't do much, but it just needs some attention from developers. It can become a useful tool. Especially if we invent some way to run it when guru happens (like it was on classic Amiga(tm)).
So, back to the topic. First, not all devices can be bidirectional. Second, why not for example use own machine's keyboard? The driver then needs the following functions: InitCallback, InputCallback, ReleaseCallback. Release function could be called when for example you leave the SAD, to give the device back to normal OS usage.
So far, we already have five functions (assuming that debug output is never released). If it somehow is, then we have six functions. May be we should not have two registration functions, and have just one, taglist-based?
How to pair input and output channels? Assuming that devices are not bidirectional? Or may be we should not pair them at all, just allowing the user to specify the second argument, like "debuginput=ps2kbd"?
Then, you can use ./configure to set up your cross complication environment.
1) Modify bin/darwin-x86_64/AROS/S/Startup-Sequence to run 'NewCLI' instead of 'WANDERER:WANDERER' - that will at least get you a full-screen text console.
| Your X Server seems to have backing store disabled!
You can safely ignore this warning. Been running in this mode for the last 2 years. Confirmed it works with x86 10.5.8 Leopard 10.6.2 and 10.6.4 Snow Leopard. Don't forget to install x11 XQuartz), it's on the installation dvd. There should be an X11.app in /Applications/Utilities. If not, there's your problem.
When the bounty was created the mac was still PPC only, from recent svn logs it looks like it should also run hosted on Darwin PPC.
You don't need SDL, but you do need a X-Server for graphics. Newer versions of OSX usually have one installed already. Dunno if SDL would also be possible, on iOS it won't. Cocoa SDL needs special preparations in program's main() to work.
Please check arch/all-darwin/README.txt for build instructions. Don't try to build contrib, some packages will fail, SDL_mixer and gmake IRC. Perhaps you forgot to add—target=darwin-i386 to configure? But, really strange, it doesn't need it on my machine.
Yep, the darwin 32 bit set. I had to move the binaries by hand into the path with names like i386-aros-gcc to make configure happy.
Isn't /usr/local/bin in your path already? The toolchain was built with—prefix=/usr/local. It should work fine if you extract these two archives into your /usr/local.
There has been no time to complete GPT partition table handling (it's currently read-only, you can install AROS on a GPT partition but you have to use 3rd party tools to partition the drive). Writing GPT is currently enabled, but DO NOT TRY THIS. It WILL destroy your partition table!!! CRC and backup table are not updated!!!
1. If you get hangups, perhaps AROS crashes behind the scenes. If you use VESA mode, you can see the debug log if you add 'vesahack' to the command line. This will set up split-screen mode. In the upper half you'll see AROS screen, in the bottom - debug log.
2. If you get crashes at early boot, try adding 'NOACPI' to the command line. ACPI stuff is very poorly tested because discovery fails on Mac (different ROM).
If it succeeds... then any build errors 'make -s' generates.
If *that* succeeds... then any fatal errors 'cd bin/darwin-ppc/AROS; boot/AROSBootstrap' generates.
If *that* succeeds... it works!
If 'gcc -v' and 'make -v' work, you are 90% of the way there.
If you get a build error for missing libpng and netpnm, you can resolve that with Fink. Even better, go with Homebrew, there's a PPC fork which works fine on my old PowerBook :).
Building darwin hosted port try to follow the guide in arch/all-darwin/README.txt. There's no need to build cross-tools with—enable-crosstools switch (which may not work at all), because you should install Sonics prebuilt cross compilers.
Build binutils, they don't have any prerequisites.
Build collect-aros. Its env.h.cross file contains instructions how.
Unpack gcc, configure it and execute 'make all-gcc' and 'make target-libgcc'. This will produce barebone C compiler.
Using this compiler, build AROS linklibs.
After this complete building gcc using 'make'. It will build also g++ with its libraries.
Of course AROS includes should be made too before building gcc, but gcc itself isn't needed for this.
The same with Windows. I guess similar issue affects Android (there it uses Android crosscompiler as $KERNEL_CC and wrapper as $TARGET_CC. It's impossible to compile Android binaries using Linux gcc, their ABIs are a bit different!
specify—with-kernel-toolchain-prefix=i386-aros- make query still prints /usr/bin/gcc for the kernel cc.
If you're compiling for darwin-hosted on darwin, you *don't* use—with-kernel-toolchain-prefix at all.
Remember that 'kernel' is used to compile the darwin side of the AROS Bootstrap.
And everything that has compiler=kernel specified in the build macros like arch/all-unix/kernel.
Host-side DLLs (intensively used in Windows-hosted).
AROS modules directly interfacing with host OS now use another trick. It's still $TARGET_CC, but with -nostdinc -isystem $GENINGDIR. This allows to produce AROS ELF objects which still adhere to correct host-side ABIs. If we want to know what will be our underlying host, we explicitly add -DAROS_HOST_$(AROS_HOST_OS) flags. This is because there's no __linux__ (__darwin__, __win32, whatever) in AROS code, it's always __AROS__.
This can't be elf-wrapper for hosted. In order to build something that runs under an OS, you need an SDK for that OS. In fact elf-wrapper is the same aros-gcc, but produces statically linked (ET_EXEC) binaries. This is suitable only for building native bootstraps (which are running on naked hardware and self-contained).
Building Darwin-hosted under Darwin? configure's bug. Actually these architectures are Darwin, Windows and Android. Their KERNEL_CC can't be used for building AROS code even with wrapper. So these three arches must enforce AROS crosstools, either built or preinstalled.
How to substitute rmb with keyboard on laptop? CTRL doesn't do the trick. Go to System Preferences -> Trackpad. Check the "Secondary Click" box and select "Bottom right corner" from the drop down. Then you can press in the bottom right corner of track pad for right click.
For hosted systems we have driver that wraps AHI to the open sound system, see arch/all-unix/libs/oss. Probably it is possible to write a similar thing for darwin hosted.
In order to resolve the async I/O issue wonder why AROS can't handle this by means of AROS internal threading. This is exactly how asyncio.library does it as well. Threading could be inside 68k AROS or outside, i.e. Linux host threads.
From host's point of view AROS is just one thread. So if some of AROS processes calls blocking I/O, it blocks the whole AROS. No task switching will be done since no signals will be delivered. So this is related. AROS would have to be sub-threaded, with those threads being mapped to native threads (this is by the way something that is sometimes done in JVMs, also under Linux).
As to host threads, there's another large problem. Tried this with Android-hosted port and it failed. When SIGARLM arrives, you can't tell which thread is interrupted. This completely screws up AROS' task switcher. Maybe it's worth checking how this is solved in common JVM implementations.
There is already a solution in the form of unixio.hidd. However it operates only on file descriptor. AFAIK eSounD provides only library-based API with blocking functions. There's no some form of a UNIX socket/pipe/whatever. You might want to try eSound: There's one problem with esound. It lacks asynchronous I/O capabilities, providing only blocking calls. You can not use blocking I/O from within AROS. This will cause blocking of the whole AROS, including interrupts, and will provide very negative user experience.
Of course it's possible to implement oss.library which would work on top Core Audio. But i think it would be much cleaner solution to write self-contained AHI driver without any extra API wrappers. It would better use CoreAudio possibilities and would not be restricted only to what oss.library has. Not saying that oss.library is a quickly hacked crappy thing.
to favour PortAudio over eSound - I don't know if the mentioned I/O issues reflect on that one as well or not. In general however direct OSS access does not seem to be the best solution, as eSound - and probably also PortAudio - as additional abstraction layer does ensure that in turn AROS is not blocking the host audio but proper mixing is done. In order to resolve the async I/O issue wonder why AROS can't handle this by means of AROS internal threading. This is exactly how asyncio.library does it as well. Threading could be inside 68k AROS or outside, i.e. Linux host threads.
Of course it gets more complex if you want it connection based, with more reliability and upfront negotiation of audio settings - possibly could be done using TCP instead, with an appropriate header.
Several days before i ran it on Linux PPC (where i wrote initial version of emul_dir.c), worked fine too. Is it a new build? It was a complete rebuild. The problem only happened with—enable-debug because the ASSERT_VALID_PTR was called during AllocateExt which was called during PrepareExecBase.
PrepareExecBase() is really tricky. If you want to debug it, you can temporarily add statically linked calls to KrnBug() (copy the stub from kernel_debug.h and use it). Exec debugging is really not up there yet. However this routine should be simple enough to not require any debug.
Reverted this and now link against libgcc.a. The problem with the missing symbol did not happen on Rosetta but was able to test it works now on a 10.3 G4 ppc ibook.
Now some debug output from Rosetta with my latest commits, without them you'll get only garbage. As you can see the value of klo is trashed after HostLib_Open. Trashing may differ depending on were you place debug output.
All hosted ports. On non-Linux OSes it's impossible to acquire address 4 at all. After hitting problem with entry point introduced a new macro, AROS_ENTRY, to mitigate this.
Don't know if GNU binutils support i386-darwin target for cross compiling and how difficult it is to set it up. When compiling Mac OS X hosted AROS, I had to make the following patch, otherwise the compiler couldn't find some includes (e.g. sys/_types). Is this a problem with my build environment or something more general? Have you installed my crosstoolchain from aros-archives, or you use some hacks, or—with-crosstools? I did install your cross-tool-chain, and followed your build instructions, but I also have generic i386 cross-compilers from MacPorts (used for building native).
BTW, should it not be possible to use—with-crosstools? (And isn't that the default for most other archs now?). AFAIK—with-crosstools works incorrectly. Most archs currently use wrapper script around host's gcc. Crosstools are built only for MESA and only g++ is used then. Yes, it's really incorrect.
In fact thinking about changing this. I think that real crosscompiler should be enforced on a host basis, not on a target basis. I. e. if we compile on non-ELF host (for example on Windows or Darwin), $cpu-aros-gcc is used. Otherwise wrapper script it used. This will make cross-compiling any port on any build machine quite an easy task.
1. Stackswap tests crashes in NewStackSwap(), the reason is under investigation. However executables are ran flawlessly. I suggest the problem happens because of swapcontext() nesting.
2. X11 driver has somewhat bad performance. Also there are some small problems with it. I suggest they happen because of missing backingstore. It's possible to enable it, but it's somewhat tricky.
In fact X11 driver needs to be seriously rewritten, so that it will support screen composition and will work without backingstore. Also there are several obvious coding faults in it. Unfortunately i don't know X11 programming well, so i won't take this task for now.
ppc-Darwin build (with someone's help to test).
During testing of parts of Darwin-hosted build i came up to this again. Currently we have AROS.boot file where we put name of architecture. Is it really needed to have the full name there?
This actually prevents to have one boot disk for different machines using the same CPU. For example ppc-chrp-efika partition will not boot on ppc-sam440, despite they are the same! Personally i hit this issue when i build aros-base and aros-strap kernel modules on Darwin and then tried to boot them up on my existing Windows-hosted installation (since there's no aros-bsp-darwin yet).
2. Check only CPU with this file (e.g. 'i386' or 'x86-64'). This way we solve both problems. Additionally in future we can be able to add more data to this file (like boot priority). This is the reason why we should keep the file.
A possibility to run AROS hosted on x86-64 MacOS. There's a problem.
Current AROS executables use small code model, so they need to be loaded into lower 2GB on address space. This is no problem on native AROS and on Linux we can use MAP_32BIT flag. However there's no such flag in BSD, and, consequently, on Darwin. Additionally Darwin reserves the whole low address space for own needs. Userspace begins at 0x1000000000. This means there's no way to get into lower 2 GB. The problem can be solved only by changing code model. This is so for the small code model for x86_64 right? Does there also exists a 'big' code model ? I also would like to get an idea of the implications on code size, stack usage, speed etc. of the different code models. Yes, of course. It imposes no limitations, but has negative impact on the binary size (all references are 64-bit). Small code model uses special form of CPU instructions where all references are still 32-bit. Reference for models.
Darwin itself uses small PIC model for its executables (-fpic option is forced to always on). This allows to override this problem there. I can suggest to use the same on 64-bit AROS. However this means that -fpic option needs to become working on AROS in general. In order to do this, we need to change linking process a bit. Instead of -r, -q needs to be supplied to ld. This will instruct it to link a final executable (ET_EXEC) file, but keep relocs in it. Linking final executable involves additional magic like creating global offset table. I think it does not hurt to support different code models in the executables. And I also think that the default one to use for code should be able to run on all ports of AROS. I also think the default code model could be different on different CPUs, e.g. absolute on m68k, i386, PPC; relative in x86_64, PPC64, etc. Of course. On i386 the default is small, it still has some differences, i don't know which ones. I suggest to make small PIC a default code model on x86-64 AROS. However, for this, PIC should be made working in general. Currently it doesn't (try to compile hello world with -fpic and see what happens).
I think we should look at how many people have a current x86_64 installation they want to run newer programs. Also how involved would it be to upgrade an existing installation. It's not a real problem as the first set of changes is fully backwards compatible. AROS will still load existing executables. I even can add one #ifdef to collect-aros and the change will affect only 64-bit AROS. 32-bit executables will still have old format. Just i don't like code pollution with #ifdef's, and additionally if i implement the change for all CPUs, all of them will get working -fpic option. This will not change default code model for anything other than x86-64. Just ELFs will become real executables (it's quite simple to modify our InternalLoadSeg() to support them. I thought we had broken x86_64 binary compatibility several times in the past without a second thought (e.g. changing ULONGs to IPTRs in system structures). IMO it doesn't matter if we do the same with this change.
Anyway I am now quite advanced in the implementation of the split of clib the split is fully done and contrib-gnu compiles and runs mostly. BTW, are you aware of the fact that current arosc.library stores its thread-local data in private field of exec's ETask structure? I hope you changed this to something that uses only public API (like using AVL trees to associate thread data with process)? I just have a bug left in setenv/getenv and then mostly. So I don't think the waiting for ABI_V1 implementation to start this work would delay it for several months. We also need to align with the m68k people. This was one of the big things I have done in the ABI_V1 branch. The data is stored in an AVL tree. Is this soft of "handled in shared module per caller task storage". If so, could you point me to the codes in SVN?
It can be implemented right now. There will be only one problem: new executables will not run on older AROS. Old executables will still run on new AROS, i'll take care about it. Implementing this will allow to move further and implement special support for -fPIC which would enable nice things like moving global variables into library base. Is it okay to go for this change? This implementation should not be the final implementation but keep the possibility to adapt the code model for AROS during the ABI_V1 implementation phase. Code model can be specified using -mcmodel gcc switch. Without any changes we can use all code models in non-PIC mode. My change's goal is to make it possible to build PIC binaries. PIC changes x86-64 small model in such a way that it will work with any address range, limiting only size but not position of the code.
Work on x86-64-Darwin hosted AROS continues. It already boots up into Wanderer, but lots of components crash. This happens because there are still many places where pointers are truncated by conversion to ULONG. On Linux-x86-64 you won't notice this because AROS memory is allocated in low region (below 2GB limit).
On Darwin (like any other BSD) you don't have such a possibility. Darwin reserves the whole low memory for OS use, and application's memory starts from 0x001000000000. This puts some restrictions on what you can do in AROS. For example AROS can't load bitmap fonts and diskfont.library crashes. This happens because diskfont.library hits wrong addresses when it tries to process AmigaDOS hunk file loaded a high addresses. In order to prevent loading these files at high addresses i introduced MEMF_31BIT flag. This flag is set for memory regions whose end address is not larger than 0x7FFFFFFF. This flag is effective only on 64-bit machines. On 32-bit architectures exec.library ignores it, so there's no need to set it there. If someone is working on x86-64-pc port (Alain ?), he should take this into account. Memory initialization routine should make use of this flag and mark the approproate region with it. On x86-64-Linux hosted port this flag is set, so this port can load AmigaDOS hunk files (and use bitmap fonts). This is because bootstrap supplies MAP_32BIT flag to mmap() calls. Currently only InternalLoadSeg_AOS() routine supplies this flag to AllocMem(). However i would say that there are more places where it should be used (for example, drivers for devices with 32-bit PCI DMA). I have problems with implementing PIC support, so currently i use large code model to compile Darwin-hosted AROS. I will implement PIC later, this ends up in implementing own BFD backend in binutils. I don't know yet what code model should be used by default for gcc, but it's definitely not small one. ELFs with small model create problem, because code model is not recorded anywhere in ELF, and i don't know yet if it's possible to use some heuristics to guess it (for example detect specific relocation types). Currently program using small code model will simply crash on Darwin-hosted AROS. Programs compiled with large code model (and PIC in future) will run on any x86-64 port. Even if i succeed in auto detection, this will not make small code magically run on all ports. Attempting to load it will end up in "File is not executable", nothing more.
An additional feature I would like is that you could decide which variables would go in libbase and which would be global to all libbases; implemented maybe with some AROS_xxx() macro around the variable definition.
Additionally i can make use of ELFOSABI_AROS definition (ELF ABI number reserved for AROS). However this will impose a requirement to use AROS version of binutils for linking, Linux ld will not do any more. I always would have liked to make AROS programs real ELF programs (with relocation info still present though) but I also think this should be something for ABI V1. Ok, i go for #ifdef in collect-aros then.
Currently AROS build system does not support having different .conf files for different arch/cpu. If this is implemented, this is possible. Anyway binary compatibility with PPC is a proposal for future. Perhaps it will even be a separate AROS version. This is open to the discussion. Some of our leaders dislike MorphOS ABI and would not like to make it a default ABI for PPC AROS.
Anyway i think that LVOs should be as similar as possible. In fact this place should be the only place where LVO swapping takes place. There seem to be no other conflicting extensions between AmigaOS3.9 and MorphOS.
Will the ABI V1 C library allow to malloc memory in one task and free it in another? Not at the moment; I did not reimplement this feature yet as I did not find any code that seemed to use it. This is required at least by MPlayer - I had to add an ugly sharecontextwithchild function to current arosc.library to have this behaviour. So if I would be able to get the source code I can think of the best way to implement it. It does seem to be thread related.
If you talk about PIC and GOT, will this also mean we can have shared objects? We may be able to, but please please don't. Don't copy bad design decisions from OS4. OS4 programs using shared objects have the same startup slowness as on other OSes (Linux, Windows, ...). In fact we can have them right now. Shared objects in AROS does not have to be PIC because every binary is relocatable by definition. However, yes, i agree that load-time linking is not good.
Find PPC Darwin ABI documentation, and compare with Linux ABI. If you carefully check the layout of stack frames you'll notice the differences and what causes the trashing. On ppc darwin called functions are allowed to write into a parameter area of the callers stack frame. I think this can be worked around by some C or Asm stubs around each host os call.
So i should be in search of graphic drivers and sound and keyboard etc.Am i right to assume that i should search them in the linux version of ps3 ports? There is another problem,linux used to have the otheros option,and now that is no longer present in the PlayStation 3 firmwares upper than 3.21.So i can't use a custom otheros.bld file to do the boot.
Remember the first one is GPL and even Sony copyrighted, do not copy and paste code from there. I seem to remember that even the last one did use GPL code for display at some point. Not sure if drivers of the projects I've linked might be of help, some of them maybe.
I am not certain how this could be done on the present firmwares.Although we have the advantage of running homebrew code on the gameos. So i guess i need a pkg application file to act as a boot loader for aros.Maybe i should try to find out more about petitboot ?that was a boot loader for ps3 try to make a pkg file out of it? I know that linux boot loaders on ps3 needed the other os function,but since this is for jailbroken machines that have the lv2 peek hack of geohot we have access to anypart of the memory region of ps3 so in theory the lack of otheros option would not prohibit the execution of other os (asbestos comes to mind).
I am trying to see what is needed to port aros to ps3 gameos.What would i need?I know of the ppc linux port,i am trying to make a new configure file to use.
As far as I understand the sdk uses cross compilers so it might be possible to add sections to configure similar to those of the MacOS X hosted ported which also uses prebuilt tool chains or check other native port which are usually cross compiled like sam440 or ppc-efika port.
I would suppose the sdk should provide a lot of the things needed, maybe not yet but over time. To sum it up.We need a boot application that initializes gfx,sound,usb,keyboard,blue ray and opens screen?Is that how aros works on linux?
Not exactly, a hosted port like on linux starts as a normal host program (arch/all-hosted/main.c) which acts as the boot loader then it jumps to the starting address (arch/all-unix/kernel/kernel_startup.c). A native port is similar, but it has to do a lot more work to take control over the whole machine. One part of this are device drivers but there is more. For example the sam440 port has to init some registers, the interrupt controller and mmu very early in startup. You can learn about all this by studying AROS source, after all device drivers have to be done the AROS way, the sdk examples and other gameos hackers code and maybe it's also a good idea to search for some Cell chip documentations at places in the net.
Then you need to set up things in the arch directory so it contains the parts specific to the ps3. Then make the sdk produce a binary that is loaded and started on the ps3. This usually is the boot loader that loads all the needed modules from boot media and then jumps into a starting address of one of those. Probably the boot loader will already have to set up some of the hardware so it can do its job, the rest can be done at a later stage. Additionally, you will need hardware drivers for the display, usb at least for keybord and mouse, harddisk and blue ray drive.
It is possible? What problems will present? I think it is possible, but it's not an easy task, the biggest problem might be not to give up at some point.
Btw. AROS does not need SDL, but we have an SDL display driver for hosted ports.
So i should be in search of graphic drivers and sound and keyboard etc.Am i right to assume that i should search them in the linux version of ps3 ports?
There is another problem,linux used to have the otheros option,and now that is no longer present in the PlayStation 3 firmwares upper than 3.21.So i can't use a custom otheros.bld file to do the boot.
I am not certain how this could be done on the present firmwares.Although we have the advantage of running homebrew code on the gameos.So i guess i need a pkg application file to act as a boot loader for aros.Maybe i should try to find out more about petitboot ?that was a boot loader for ps3 try to make a pkg file out of it?
I know that linux boot loaders on ps3 needed the otheros function,but since this is for jailbroken machines that have the lv2 peek hack of geohot we have access to anypart of the memory region of ps3 so in theory the lack of otheros option would not prohibit the execution of other os (asbestos comes to mind).
To sum it up.We need a boot application that initializes gfx,sound,usb,keyboard,blue ray and opens screen?Is that how aros works on linux?
This page was last edited on 18 August 2017, at 02:43. | 2019-04-26T15:38:07Z | https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Aros/Platforms/Support_for_*nix |
Upon the death of Edward VI in 1553, Mary Tudor brought back the Roman religion to England; and a number of influential Protestants found it expedient to flee the realm. Two hundred of those exiles took refuge in the German city of Frankfort-on-the-Main in June of 1554. They were a divided company. Some were “prayer book men” or “Anglicans”, who, while thoroughly evangelical in their sympathies, were deeply attached to the English Prayer Book of 1552. If a further revision of worship had to be made, they wanted it to be along Anglican lines, and no mere translation of Calvin.
At first the Frankfort congregation used an “interim” service which was Calvinistic. Soon the proposal was made that William Huycke’s English translation of Calvin’s Genevan liturgy should be introduced for permanent use, since it was “moste godly and fardeste off from superstition.” When that suggestion did not meet with swift approval, still another was proposed: that both the English Prayer Book and the Genevan order should be set aside, and an entirely new liturgy devised.
Thus, in January of 1555, Knox and four associates—all of whom were of the “Calvinist” persuasion—commenced to work, using Huycke’s translation and, we may be sure, the sober Genevan edition of Calvin’s own liturgy. Out of the labors of these men came the first version of the service being used in this celebration. But inasmuch as it savored of Geneva and therefore displeased the “Anglicans”, the manuscript was not well received; indeed it was left quite unused. The troubles at Frankfort grew daily more vexing.
Finally, Knox and Whittingham (“Calvinists”) and Parry and Lever (“Anglicans”) succeeded in bringing out a “Liturgy of Compromise” which was modeled after the English Prayer Book and accepted by the whole congregation in February of 1555. Peace endured for a short season. But in March a fresh contingent of Anglicans arrived from England; and in no time they accomplished the downfall of John Knox.
Knox repaired to Geneva. In October, he was joined there by certain of his collaborators from Frankfort. That little group, augmented by some twenty of their countrymen already in the city, proceeded to organize an English congregation at the Church of Marie la Nove. They drew their liturgy almost entirely from the unused manuscript which the committee of “Calvinists” had prepared at Frankfort, adding a collection of fifty metrical psalms and a translation of Calvin’s catechism. On February 10, 1556, The Forme of Prayers appeared from John Crespin’s press.
The English congregation at Geneva, which was the inspiration of the Scottish reform after 1560, existed four years, enrolled 180 souls, and provided Knox the happiest days of his ministry. But Mary Tudor succumbed, and as early as 1559 the exiles at Geneva began to return to Elizabethan England; they carried along their liturgy which was soon taken up by Englishmen of “puritan” leanings. Knox alone was unwelcome there, on account of his ill-timed tract, First Blast of the Trumpet against the Monstrous Regiment of Women, which was aimed, of course, against Catholic Mary, but landed instead upon Elizabeth.
So he returned to Scotland, full of zeal to reform the Kirk according to the measure of Geneva, which he pronounced “the maist perfyt schoole of Chryst that ever was in the erth since the dayis of the Apostillis.” Among his first accomplishments was the introduction of Genevan worship in place of the English Prayer Book, which the Protestants of Scotland had been accustomed to use. Thus, The Forme of Prayers (or The Book of Common Order, as it came to be called) was required for the administration of the sacraments in 1562, and for all other liturgical purposes in 1564. It served the Scottish Kirk for some eighty years, till the appearance of the Westminster Directory in 1645.
The spirit of the liturgy was wholly Reformed. The Scottish minister enjoyed a large measure of freedom, that “as Gods holy spirite moveth his harte,” he might now and then frame his own prayers. Nevertheless he was expected to honor the liturgy, which belonged, after all, to the whole people and was specifically called the “common order”. Schools were founded for literacy, that the Bible might be opened to everyman and the liturgy enjoyed by all. Moreover, every means was taken to make worship itself a corporate action. The vernacular was used and loudly spoken, so that everyone could participate by the direct medium of speech. And inasmuch as the people were no longer dependent upon the ceremonial to follow the service, only the simplest and most useful forms were retained. Even those symbols which had been hallowed by time and usage were cast out of the churches if they were apt to mislead the people. It was wrong to preach one thing and symbolize another; it was right to say plainly what one meant.
The ministers diminished the distinction between clergy and laity by discarding the priestly vestments and wearing none but the preaching habit. The Scriptures were also translated; and every church was admonished to “have a Bibill in Inglische,” which was expounded daily in the large towns, that even those who did not read could benefit. Psalms were cast into metrical forms and set to common tunes in order to give the people themselves a voice in worship. A complete Scottish Psalter appeared in The Book of Common Order of 1564.
Calvin conducted the Sunday service from the Communion table, entering the pulpit only to preach the sermon. He followed that procedure because of his staunch belief that the proclamation of God’s Word ought normally to be followed by the administration of the Lord’s Supper. In Scotland, however, the Sunday service seems to have been read from the pulpit, perhaps for acoustical reasons. Nevertheless, the pulpit and “the holy table”—together—were the most prominent furnishings in the Scottish churches. What did they mean? They were the instruments of the gracious heavenly Father who speaks and gives to His people, and invites them, before all else, to hear His Word of judgment and reconciliation, and to receive His gifts of forgiveness and sonship. In that, chiefly, lies the meaning of worship according to the Reformed tradition.
That principle also governed the manner in which the minister used the Scriptures in preaching. Knox doubted that anything was less appropriate of a Christian minister than he presume to control God’s way among men by parceling out the Scriptures in bits and snatches, or by preaching a sermon in which God’s own Word was buried beneath a heap of human commentary. He insisted therefore that, in preaching, the Scriptures should be expounded book by book, chapter by chapter, in a continuous and orderly fashion. And all of this, in turn, rested finally upon Knox’s conception of preaching, which was rather unlike the one to which we have become accustomed.
The sermon was not the preacher’s prerogative, to be used by him alone for winning souls or for promoting right-living through the oncoming week. It was most of all the Word of God, made real, alive and effective in the hearts of men through the presence and action of the Holy Spirit. It is this Word which awakens our faith. And when we give expression to our faith, true worship occurs.
When we hear the message of God’s judgment and mercy, we are convicted on our sins and desire to make confession of the same. When, through the same Word, the forgiveness of God becomes real to us, we cannot but express our praise and thanks. And when the Word draws us into relationship with all sorts and conditions of men, we are bound to make prayers for our brethren in need. It is this continuous relationship between hearing and response which gives the Reformed liturgy its basic character.
A rubric (direction) in Knox’s Genevan liturgy called for a monthly celebration of the Holy Communion. Although that rubric remained unchanged in the Scottish editions of the liturgy, it was soon overcome by the first Book of Discipline (1560) which declared that “four tymes in the year” was “sufficient” for the Lord’s Supper. And since care was to be taken to avoid “the superstition of tymes” (that is, the church year), the first Sundays in March, June, September and December were arbitrarily appointed.
The first part of the Communion Exhortation was not taken from Calvin, but from Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, who prepared it for the English Prayer Book. Nevertheless, the distinctive features of Calvin’s practice prevailed even in this section of The Forme of Prayers. According to the warning of St. Paul, all who worshiped were exhorted to examine themselves before they presumed to approach the Lord’s table, and the unworthy were told to refrain entirely. The liturgy was built upon the promise that a true Christian congregation would be a disciplined congregation which lived in obedience to the will of God.
Accordingly, the Holy Communion was reserved for those who were distinguished by sincerity of faith and holiness of life. The unfaithful, who were strangers to Christ, and the callous sinners, whose conduct made it plain that they did not belong to Him either, had no place at His Communion; they were to be excommunicated, “fenced from the table,” lest the sacrament be soiled and they be guilty of the Lord’s body and blood. The critical issue of the Christian life was precisely one’s fitness to receive the sacrament.
Knox administered the Communion after a fashion which he deemed to be consonant with the New Testament. The table was never prepared before worship, apart from the Word, which (as Calvin said) “ought to resound in our ears as soon as the elements meet our eyes.” Therefore the bread and wine were not brought to the table until the sermon had been preached and it came time for the Words of Institution to be read; for by these means the commands and promises, which our Lord made concerning His Supper, could be added to the elements, giving them, their proper meaning and their reality.
It was the practice in some parts of Scotland to lock the church doors after the sermon, so that none might receive the sacrament apart from the Word. That custom underscores the point that we the people, rather than the elements, are thereby “consecrated”. The Word is not addressed to the bread and wine, as if to change them; it is addressed to us, that (as Knox put it) “Christe might witnes unto owr faithe … with His owne mowthe,” promising us the Communion of His body and blood.
The communicants came forward and sat down around the table, which was ample in size and usually arranged in a U or T shape in the chancel or on the floor of the nave. First the minister broke the bread—a symbolic action, called the Fraction, which the Scots deemed to be a quite distinct feature of the Lord’s Supper. Then he passed the bread and wine to the communicants on either side of him, and they in turn “divided” the elements among themselves.
Thus, the holy table was appointed for the whole family of God. By sitting down together and by serving the elements to one another, the people were able to realize their fellowship and mutual priesthood in the Body of Christ. Pew Communion was the way of the English Nonconformists; and the Scots did not hesitate to brand it a “mangling of the sacrament”—until, alas, a Glasgow divine introduced it to the Scottish Kirk in the first quarter of the nineteenth century.
Editor: This short treatise on the liturgy of John Knox was published at the fourth centenary of the Church of Scotland celebrated at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Nashville, Tennessee on October 27, 1960. For a detailed treatment of Knox’s liturgy, see Bard Thompson, Liturgies of the Western Church (Philadelphia, PA: Fortress Press, 1980), pp. 285–307.
Editor: Bard Thompson received his Ph.D. in church history from Columbia University in 1953 and was ordained as a minister in the Evangelical Reformed Church, which later merged with the Congregational Christian Churches forming the United Church of Christ. At the time this article was written, Thompson was Professor of Church History at Vanderbilt University. He was also preparing a book on Reformed worship, which he published under the title Liturgies of the Western Church (1961). In 1965, he joined Drew University as professor of church history and served as dean of the graduate school from 1969–1986. Bard Thompson passed away in 1987 at 62 years of age.
For the source of this quote, see The Works of John Knox, 41.
See The Works of John Knox, 20.
See See British Reformers: Writings of John Knox, 454.
See British Reformers: Writings of John Knox, 454.
Editor: As far as I know, Calvin never states that this is the reason he led the service from the communion table.
Editor: Since the Scottish Presbyterians practiced table communion—in which the members of the church actually sat at a table to receive the elements—they did not ordinary have communion tables set up in the worship assembly except for those Sundays when they were observing communion.
Editor: I have not been able to find the source of this quote. Thompson also cites it here and in Liturgies of the Western Church (p. 192), but he does not provide the source.
Editor: Thompson is referring to Thomas Chalmers. On the history of table communion versus pew communion, see Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield’s article “The Posture of the Recipients at the Lord’s Supper: A Footnote to the History of Reformed Usages” in Journal of the Presbyterian Historical Society (1901–1930) Vol. 11, No. 6 (June, 1922), pp. 217–34.
The first Reformer to arrive on the Genevan scene was the fiery Frenchman, William Farel, a fearless campaigner for the Word of God. As soon as he had gotten the Reformation underway (c. 1534), Farel replaced the Roman Mass by a liturgy, called La Maniere et fasson, which he had written some years before.3 His simple, wordy, but ardent services constituted the first evangelical book of worship in the French language. It was Farel who persuaded the retiring young Calvin to quit the scholar’s cell and get his hands into the difficult business of transforming Geneva into an evangelical community. Working side by side, they used the plain services of La Maniere when they conducted worship.
In April of 1538, the two ministers were expelled from Geneva, having exceeded the patience of the magistrates by their program for a disciplined community. Calvin spent his exile in Strassburg, where he enjoyed the Christian wisdom of Martin Bucer, the Reformer of that city, whose influence upon the Reformed churches has never been fully appreciated. While he lived among the Germans of Strassburg, Calvin was pastor of a congregation of French refugees. For their sake, he appropriated Bucer’s German liturgy; and when he had gotten it cast into French, he revised it measurably and used it to lead his people in worship. That was the original edition of The Form of Prayers. We ought not say, as many scholars do, that it was a mere copy of the German rite of Strassburg. Actually, Calvin kept the best of Farel’s primitive liturgy and contributed much of his own spirit as he refashioned the words of Bucer.
Calvin was recalled to Geneva in 1541. In place of Farel’s liturgy, he introduced The Form of Prayers, which he had brought along from Strassburg. Though the magistrates were glad enough to have him back, they could not accept some of the liturgical ideas which were written deeply into that liturgy. Chief of these was Calvin’s lifelong insistence upon having the Lord’s Supper every Sunday: “It was not instituted by Jesus for making a commemoration two or three times a year … Christians should use it as often as they are assembled.” The magistrates feared of such an innovation; they would not even entertain Calvin’s concession of having the Supper once a month, but insisted upon the schedule of quarterly Communion which had been proposed by Zwingli, the Reformer of Zurich. Even by the end of the sixteenth century, the Zwinglian method prevailed over a large segment of Protestantism and brought about the flattening-out of Reformed worship, which came more and more to be dominated by the sermon. The Genevan liturgy stood opposed to that drift. Despite the scruples of the magistrates, it remained a unified service of Word and Sacrament; on those days when the Lord’s Supper was not celebrated, the portions of the liturgy pertaining to the Supper were simply omitted. But Communion Sunday or not, the whole service was conducted from the Lord’s Table, except when the Minister mounted the pulpit to proclaim the Word of God. The two great symbols of Reformed worship—pulpit and Table—were thereby drawn together in common expression of the God who speaks and gives to His people. The essential response of those who worshiped was to bear and receive His gracious gifts.
The Form of Prayers was the most authentic expression of the way of worship among the early Calvinists. Indeed, it was the inspiration for all the great Reformed liturgies of the Reformation age. Therefore it drew together in a fellowship of worship the Huguenots of France, the Presbyterians of Scotland, the Dutch Reformed congregations, and the German Reformed people (whose modern American representative is the United Church of Christ, through the Evangelical and Reformed branch). We should not assume, however, that all of these services were exactly alike. The Calvinists placed no particular premium upon a similarity of forms. What they really held in common was a body of ideas about the meaning of Christian worship.
What were some of those ideas? First, the Calvinists agreed with Luther that a true Reformation could never be brought about by sheer human power, least of all by sudden and drastic changes in the life of the churches. It could only be accomplished by the proclamation of God’s Word among men. Luther, in fact, was very reluctant to impose a program of radical reforms upon the people, lest they become confused and bitter. He preferred to purify and reinterpret many of the old practices which Christians had been accustomed to see, hear and do in church. At just that point, the Reformed theologians tended to exceed Luther’s prudence. They argued that if the Gospel were to be given a really clear and authentic expression in worship, then it would be necessary to abandon the Mass, without attempting to fix it up, and to find new forms which would express the Gospel with the utmost simplicity, precision and power. Therefore, the Reformed liturgies had something of a radical character. They were meant to be profoundly simple. They did a lot of teaching, explaining and exhorting in an effort to edify and be precise. They rejected all things which were deemed unscriptural, ambiguous, or sentimental. They permitted no bric-a-brac to confuse the Gospel or complicate the essential need of the worshiper to meet God in His Word. Theological integrity was their hall mark. Calvin believed that his liturgy conformed “to the custom of the ancient church,” not to the custom of the Medieval church.
The second idea has been alluded to several times. Our spiritual forebears went to church not to rush into words or to give God gifts, but to hear the Good News of forgiveness and sonship, and to receive that great gift with thanksgiving and joy. They conceived it to be God who spoke in worship, provided His Holy Spirit was in the midst of the congregation, making His Word real, alive and effective in the hearts of men. Therefore, in essence, a Reformed liturgy was the fervent prayer of the people to hear the Word of God and to participate in the Communion of His Son, and a heartfelt response of praise and supplication by those who had heard and received, whose faith became articulate so that they could not contain the joy and wonder of it all.
Now, by modern practice, some things may seem strange about Calvin’s liturgy. What, for instance, is the meaning of that grisly list of sinners (on p. 7) who are told to stay away from the Lord’s Table? Calvin’s whole liturgy rested on the assumption that a true Christian community would be a disciplined community. And that idea, in turn, arose from his conviction that the Christian life was one of profound obedience to the will of God. Therefore, the Lord’s Supper was reserved for those “people who are distinguished by sincerity of faith and holiness of life.” Our Lord did not intend to give the benefits of His Table to any except His disciples, to any “except they belong to His household of faith.” The unfaithful, who were strangers to Christ, and the sinners, whose conduct made it plain that they did not belong to Him either, had no place at the fellowship meal; they must be excommunicated, excluded from the communion, fenced from the Table, lest the holy sacrament of our union with Christ and with one another become soiled and meaningless. Thus, the critical issue of the Christian life was precisely one’s fitness to go to the Lord’s Table.
Calvin also handled the elements of bread and wine differently. He much preferred the use of common household bread, because it was more primitive and less likely to foster superstition. Grape juice, had it been invented, would scarcely have been the vogue in Geneva. Never was it the custom in the Reformed churches to prepare the Communion Table before worship or apart from the Word which “ought to resound in our ears as soon as the elements meet our eyes.” Fearful of idolatry, Calvin did not have the bread and wine brought to the Table until it was time for the Words of Institution and the Communion Exhortation, through which the very commands and promises of Christ could be added to the elements, giving them their true meaning. That, said Calvin, is the “Word which seasons the elements” and makes the sacrament valid. But we ought not suppose that the elements are thereby changed. We, the people, are the ones who are consecrated by this “lively preaching of the promises of Christ.” He does not address the bread, commanding it to become His body; He speaks to us, calling upon our faith and promising us the communion of His body and blood.
Neither did Calvin believe that the ministers should be the last to receive the elements, as a gracious host would do at his own banquet. Christ Himself is both, the Host and the Food of this spiritual feast; and the ministers, who are leaders of Christians, should be the first to partake of it.
This short treatise on the Genevan Liturgy was published at the celebration of the four-hundredth anniversary of the Presbyterian Church held on November 18, 1959 at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Nashville, Tennessee.
Bard Thompson received his Ph.D. in church history from Columbia University in 1953 and was ordained as a minister in the Evangelical Reformed Church, which later merged with the Congregational Christian Churches forming the United Church of Christ. At the time this article was written, Thompson was Professor of Church History at Vanderbilt University. He was also preparing a book on Reformed worship, which he published under the title Liturgies of the Western Church (1961). In 1965, he joined Drew University as professor of church history and served as dean of the graduate school from 1969–1986. Bard Thompson passed away in 1987 at 62 years of age.
For a detailed history of the Genevan liturgies, see Thompson, Liturgies of the Western Church, pp. 183–224.
In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul compares and contrasts Adam and Christ. “In Adam all die … in Christ all will be made alive” (v. 22). Paul also refers to Christ as “the second man” and “the last Adam” (vv. 45, 47). The first Adam is the first man of God’s first creation. The last Adam is the beginning of God’s new creation. The first man was “of the earth, a man of dust”; the second man is “of heaven” (v. 47).
To the first Adam, God gave a special day, the Sabbath day (Gen. 2:2–3). To the last Adam, God gave a special day, the Lord’s Day (Rev. 1:10). The relationship between the Sabbath and the Lord’s Day is like the relationship between Adam and Christ. The relationship between them is one of shadow and reality or type and fulfillment. As Adam is a type of Christ, so too, the Sabbath is a type that points forward to and is fulfilled in the Lord’s Day. But the Lord’s Day is only a partial fulfillment of the Sabbath; its ultimate fulfillment is the consummate Sabbath of the eschaton.
When God created Adam, he gave him the Sabbath day to remind him of his identity and of his destination. As the image of God, he imitated God by working six days and resting on the seventh. Thus, the Sabbath day reminded him of his identity. It also reminded him of where he was going. It pointed forward to his destination: the eternal Sabbath; that is, the heavenly, unceasing rest in the age to come.
The weekly day of rest was the earthly counterpart or type of the heavenly rest that Adam would have entered had he been obedient to God. The earthly Sabbath was a temporary ordinance that would end at the consummation, when the shadow would give way to the reality. The weekly Sabbath would give way to the ultimate Sabbath. It would end because the reality of what it represented would be possessed.
When Christ, the new Adam, rose from the dead, he entered into that eternal, heavenly rest. By his personal, exact, and entire obedience, he attained what the first Adam would have attained had he been obedient. Christ, in his resurrection from the dead, received eternal life and glorification, which the first Adam never had. He entered a state of glory, the same state that we will enter when Christ returns.
However, believers are already “a new creation” because we have been united to the risen Christ, the beginning of God’s new creation. “The old [what we were in Adam] has passed away; behold the new [what we are in Christ] has come” (2 Cor. 5:17). We are no longer dead in our sins; we have been made alive together with Christ (Eph. 2:1–10). Hence, we no longer live according to the old, sinful nature, but according to the resurrection life of the new nature.
And that’s why the Lord’s Day is so significant for the Christian. It’s the day of resurrection; it’s the day of new creation. The saints in the Old Testament worshiped on Saturday because the new creation had not dawned. They worshiped on the Sabbath of the first creation, the Sabbath of the first Adam. We, however, worship on the first day of the week because it’s the day of the new creation, which emerged with the resurrection of Christ, the last Adam.
The Lord’s Day reminds us of our new identity in Christ, and worshiping on the Lord’s Day reorders our life in light of our new identity. It also points us forward to what we will become when Christ returns and gathers us to himself. When we gather for worship on the Lord’s Day, we experience a foretaste of what’s going to happen at the end of the world. Thus, the Lord’s Day orients our life toward the world to come. It teaches us to live as strangers and aliens on earth, to live as pilgrims seeking a better country, a heavenly one. It teaches us not to set our hopes on attaining paradise on earth but to fix our eyes on the risen and ascended Christ (cf. Col. 3:1–4).
Thus, worship on the Lord’s Day is absolutely essential to the spiritual health and well-being of the church and of every believer. It reorders our life in light of your union to Christ. It reorients our life away from earthly and temporary things toward the heavenly and eternal. And it redirects our steps away from the old order and toward the new order, the age of Christ and the Holy Spirit by whom and in whom we live.
On the night before his crucifixion, Jesus shared a meal with his disciples. Since this was the last in a series of meals he shared with them during his ministry, it’s known as the last supper. The disciples were discouraged when Christ said he would not eat with them again until the kingdom comes (Luke 22:18). The thought of their intimate fellowship with him coming to an abrupt end filled them with sadness.
At the time, they failed to realize that even though Christ was about to depart from this world and return to his Father, they were not going to be completely cut off from fellowship with him. To the contrary, it was better for them that Christ should depart because, after his departure, he would send the Holy Spirit to abide with them forever (John 16:7).
Christ assured them that through the Holy Spirit, they would continue to enjoy the most intimate kind of fellowship with him. In the person of the Spirit, Christ himself would come to them and commune with them. That’s why, before he ascended into heaven, he said to them, “Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:20).
Christ not only promised to give the disciples the Holy Spirit, he also instituted a sacred meal through which they could continue to enjoy table fellowship with him, even after his departure. This meal, which is known as the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor. 11:20), was given to the church as a perpetual, sacred ordinance of public worship. Christ commanded his church to “do this”; that is, “eat this bread and drink the cup” as a regular part of public worship “until he returns” (1 Cor. 11:24–26).
Hence, on the night in which he was betrayed, Jesus not only shared a meal with his disciples (the last supper), he instituted a meal (the Lord’s Supper) as a sacrament through which he would continue to have table fellowship and communion with the saints by his Spirit.
In the Gospels, Jesus is frequently criticized by his enemies for eating with sinners. For example, Luke tells us that when “tax collectors and sinners” were drawing near to hear Jesus, “the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, ‘This man receives sinners and eats with them’” (Luke 15:1–2). By making this statement, they were attempting to prove that Jesus was not a prophet.
The theological significance of Jesus eating with sinners, however, was far more profound than they realized. Jesus was not merely a prophet but was and is, in fact, the eternal Son of God. Sinners were having fellowship in the form of a meal with the one in whom the whole fullness of deity dwelt bodily (Col. 2:9). They were eating and drinking with God himself.
The simple fact that Jesus shared a meal with those who, because of sin, had been cut off from fellowship with God signified that salvation had come to sinners. When Adam and Eve sinned, they were driven out of the Garden of Eden away from the presence of the LORD. They were cut off from the intimate communion with God, which they had once enjoyed.
But the Lord Jesus Christ, the new Adam, came to restore and perfect the fellowship with God that was lost in the fall. Christ came to end the hostility between God and man and to reconcile them in a covenant bond of communion and fellowship. By eating with sinners, Christ heralded the good news that in him, “God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them” (2 Cor. 5:19). His table fellowship with sinners was a visible gospel. It visibly proclaimed the good news of salvation for the lost.
In Luke 15, when Jesus was criticized for eating with sinners (vv. 1–2), he told three parables in response to the criticism: the parables of the lost sheep (vv. 3–7), the lost coin (vv. 8–10), and the prodigal son (vv. 11–32). These parables explain the significance of Jesus receiving sinners and eating with them. Eating with sinners was a sign that the lost sheep had been found, the lost coin had been recovered, and the prodigal son had returned to his father’s house and was feasting at his table. Thus, by eating with sinners, Christ visibly proclaimed the good news of salvation to the lost; his actions symbolized and confirmed the message he preached.
This is why Jesus characterized evangelism as an invitation to attend a feast in the Father’s house. In the parable of the great banquet, for example, the master of the feast orders his servants, “Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame” that they may partake of the feast (Luke 14:21). When the master discovers that there is still room, he sends his servants out again saying, “Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled” (v. 23). Thus, evangelism may be characterized as an invitation to all people without exception to come to the Father’s house and sit as welcome guests at his table and enjoy loving fellowship and communion with him by his Spirit through the merit and mediation of Jesus Christ.
By the simple act of eating with sinners, our Lord Jesus Christ was visibly proclaiming the good news of salvation for the lost.
Paul’s aim in 1 Cor. 11:17–34 is to correct an error in the church at Corinth. In vv. 17–22, he states the error, and in vv. 23–34, he provides the solution. To rightly interpret the verses that state Paul’s solution to the error, one needs to know exactly what the error is that he’s addressing.
Paul describes the error as eating and drinking the Lord’s Supper in “an unworthy manner” (v. 27). So the error had to do with their manner of observing the Lord’s Supper. The solution to this error is briefly stated in v. 28, “Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup.” To understand what Paul means by self-examination, one needs to interpret this statement in light of the error in the church that Paul is seeking to correct.
How exactly were the Corinthians eating and drinking the Lord’s Supper in “an unworthy manner”? They were observing the Lord’s Supper in a way that created divisions or factions among them (v. 18). As a result, the church was divided into two groups: one group which had plenty of food to eat and drink (the haves), and the other group which had nothing to eat and drink (the have nots). The haves were selfishly feeding themselves until they were completely full, while the have nots were left with empty stomachs. “One goes hungry, another gets drunk” (v. 21).
The haves were sinning against the church. They were treating their brothers and sisters in the Lord with contempt. So Paul sternly rebukes them, “Do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not” (v. 22).
By their selfish behavior, the haves were depriving their brothers and sisters not only of ordinary food that would nourish their bodies (note: the Lord’s Supper was an actual meal at that time) but of the sacred food that would nourish their souls. By selfishly feeding themselves and leaving nothing of this sacred meal for others, they were cutting them off from the blessed communion in the body and blood of Christ that they would have received by participating in the meal (10:16).
Their division of the church into factions and deprival of one group of saints of these spiritual benefits was an outrageous sin against the church, against the sacrament, and against Jesus Christ himself, who died for all the saints and who gives his body and blood through the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper as spiritual nourishment for the soul of every believer. Thus, the haves were sinning against the spiritual realities signified by the bread and wine, namely, the body and blood of Christ. By eating the bread and drinking the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, they were “guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord” (11:27).
Consequently, they were being disciplined by God with infirmities, illnesses and even death (v. 30). It is important to note that those who were punished by God in this way were genuine believers. Their punishment was not eternal condemnation. To the contrary, they were being disciplined by their heavenly Father, so that they would not be condemned along with the world. The divine punishments that they incurred were temporal judgments not eternal (v. 32).
If the error at Corinth was that they were observing the Lord’s Supper in a manner that created divisions among the church, and the solution to that error was self-examination, then what exactly does self-examination mean?
If the problem that Paul is correcting is division, then the solution to the problem is don’t create these divisions when you eat the Lord’s Supper. Instead of feeding yourself to satisfaction and leaving nothing left for your brothers and sisters, wait for them and make sure they also have food to eat. That’s essentially what Paul says in v. 33, “So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another.” But what if someone is starving and he can’t wait for the other Christians to arrive? Well, he should eat something at home before coming to church. “If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home—so that when you come together, it will not be for judgment” (v. 34).
In context, therefore, self-examination means to examine your conduct with respect to the unity of the church and with respect to the other members of the body of Christ. If your conduct is such that you have eaten more than enough to satisfy your hunger and have left others with nothing to eat or drink, then you have partaken in an unworthy manner.
Reformed theologians have regularly underscored the relationship between Word and sacraments.
The sacraments are appended to the Word for the purpose of confirming or sealing it.
The sacraments do not exist independently of the Word. It’s the Word that throws life into the sacraments.
Moreover, there is no grace that is unique to the sacraments. The same grace that is received through the Word is also received through the sacraments.
So Word and sacraments belong together as “two sides of the same divinely instituted instrumentality,” as Geerhardus Vos put it.
Even though Vos did not produce a lengthy treatise on the sacraments, he occasionally addressed the subject in his writings.
In a sermon entitled “The Gracious Provision,” Vos has the following to say about the relationship between Word and sacrament.
The word and the sacrament as means of grace belong together: they are two sides of the same divinely instituted instrumentality. While addressing themselves to different organs of perception, they are intended to bear the identical message of the grace of God—to interpret and mutually enforce one another….
Let us therefore be careful to key our preaching to such a note that when we stand as ministrants behind the table of our Lord to distribute the bread of life, our congregation shall feel that what we are doing then is only the sum and culmination of what we have been doing every Sabbath from the pulpit.
If you’ve ever studied the letters of Paul, you know how difficult they are to understand. Christians in the New Testament era and apparently even the apostle Peter found Paul’s letters “hard to understand” (2 Pet. 3:16).
Perhaps, the most difficult letter of Paul is 1 Corinthians. I’ve been preaching through the letter for several months, and nearly every text is a challenge.
Lately, I’ve spent a lot of time studying what Paul says about the Lord’s Supper in 1 Cor. 10 and 11.
The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. — 1 Cor. 10:16–17.
For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. — 1 Cor. 11:23–29.
These passages are rather difficult to interpret, partly because Paul’s use of the word “body” is ambiguous. He uses the word to refer to (1) the historical body of Christ that was sacrificed for our sins, (2) the sacramental sign of that body in the eucharistic bread, and (3) the ecclesiological body of Christ, namely, the church.
There seems to be a deliberate play on words when Paul abruptly shifts from using “body” in one sense to using it in another sense. For example, in 1 Cor. 10:16, “body” refers to the historical body of Jesus; in 10:17, it refers to the church. And the link between these two uses of the word “body” is the eucharistic bread (i.e. the sacramental body).
This play on words continues in 1 Cor. 11, and it creates some uncertainty (apparently by design) with regard to the meaning of the word “body.” Before eating the eucharistic bread, we must discern the “body,” says Paul, but what is the referent of the word “body” here? Is it the historical body of Christ given in the sacramental sign or is it his ecclesiological body, the church?
The context of the passage suggests that Paul has both ideas in view. One Reformed scholar has offered the following helpful summary of Paul’s use of the word “body” in 1 Cor. 10 and 11.
Dealing with the problem of food sacrificed to idols, Paul compares the idol feasts and the Lord’s Supper. If idols were real, eating sacrifices offered to an idol would result in κοινωνία [communion or participation] with these idols (10:19–20). Similarly, eating the bread and drinking the cup at the Lord’s Table is (somehow) a participation with Christ; more specifically, it is a κοινωνία [participation] in the blood and the body of Christ (10:16). In addition Paul relates the one bread with the ecclesiological community as one body (10:17).
Some exegetes have suggested an identification of the sacramental body of Christ and the ecclesiological body of Christ, implying that the church is literally the body of the resurrected Christ. I see no reasons to do so. The bread as κοινωνία τοῦ σώματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ [participation in the body of Christ] is primarily combined with the cup of thanksgiving as κοινωνία τοῦ αἵματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ [participation in the blood of Christ]. Consequently, Paul refers in 10:16 to the body as the historical body of Christ, given in the death for us. However, in 10:17 ‘body’ denotes the communion of the church. Note that Paul does not say that the church is the body of Christ, he only emphasizes their unity as ἓν σῶμα [one body].
Nevertheless, it is still remarkable that Paul, playing around with words, uses both the sacramental and the communal concept of body. At least he suggests a relationship between communion with Christ and his (historical) body and the communion of the church as one body. The corporate communion of the believers, participating in Christ, is connected with a moment of (Eucharistic) union with Christ. This suggests the importance of a concept of union to refer to this moment. The ecclesiological use of the body-metaphor however says more about the corporate nature of the church than about union with Christ, although this corporate nature results from union with Christ.
In 1 Corinthians 11 Paul returns to the theme of the Lord’s Supper. It is used in an unworthy manner: some remain hungry while others get drunk. The Corinthians did not eat together and despised the church of God. The problem is clear: a malfunctioning community. Within this context referring to the Lord’s Supper, Paul emphasizes that we should διακρίνων τὸ σῶμα [discern the body] (11:29). In 11:23–28, Paul refers to eating the bread and drinking the cup. As a consequence, it is reasonable that διακρίνων τὸ σῶμα [discerning the body] refers to the bread in the preceding verses as sacramental body of Christ.
However, the logic of the entire passage 11:17–34 necessitates that διακρίνων τὸ σῶμα [discerning the body] refers also to the ecclesiological body. It is undeniable here that Paul again plays with words and uses διακρίνων τὸ σῶμα [discerning the body] deliberately in an ambiguous way, hence relating the historical or sacramental body of Christ with the ecclesiological body. He sticks these two concepts of the body of Christ together on purpose. Laying this semantic relation by deliberate wordplay, he makes clear that those having communion with Christ by eating his body form together at the same time the body of Christ. Again we find a moment of union with Christ. Now the corporate union of the church and the union with Christ are related more explicitly.
In 1975, Hughes Oliphant Old published his dissertation entitled The Patristic Roots of Reformed Worship. Old persuasively argues that we have every reason to take Calvin and his colleagues seriously when they claim patristic support for their liturgical ideas.
The Reformers deliberately developed their approach to worship by returning, first and foremost, to the scriptures but also to the fathers of the church, whom they regarded as fallible, though generally reliable, interpreters of the bible.
Unfortunately, the Reformers did not have at their disposal one of the earliest Christian documents that describes various liturgical customs in the ancient church, namely, the Didache.
With the fortuitous rediscovery of the Didache at the end of the 19th century, we have access to a critical resource for doing precisely what the Reformers aspired to do, namely, to reform the church’s worship in light of holy scripture and the customs of the ancient church.
My dissertation entitled The Eucharist in the Didache, which you can read here, is a modest attempt at continuing the important work of reforming the church’s worship in light of patristic customs.
Oscar Cullmann wrote several treatises on the subject of Christian worship. His treatise entitled Baptism in the New Testament was originally published in 1950 and was intended as a rebuttal of Karl Barth’s infamous rejection of infant baptism (see Barth and McMaken).
Cullmann treats the subject under the following four heads: The Foundation of Baptism in the Death and Resurrection of Christ; Baptism as Acceptance into the Body of Christ; Baptism and Faith; Baptism and Circumcision. | 2019-04-25T16:30:50Z | https://reformedforum.org/worship/ |
With a sign that inviting, you can't help but get excited about what new project awaits you when entering the threshold into Mrs. Engelking's elementary art room! Come peek with me into the project we created and the time I spent in south-eastern Wisconsin April 9-10th, 2018.
What are some themes or ideas you'd like to see incorporated? A: We're in North Prairie, WI so.... prairie?
Typically when approached by elementary schools, I go straight away to wet felting. She wanted to do some needle felting, as her older kids had gotten lucky and been doing some in their classes already. I told her I would work on a proposal and a sketch.
When I start brainstorming, all those factors from the questions and their answers will be building blocks in how we put together a fun, successful and inspiring cooperative fiber art project. Each one I've done is different than the other. I LOVE the challenge of that and the more I've done, the more I've learned and been able to apply to the next project.
I broke down the design into components for each grades with a wet day (did I say wet! I mean WET!) followed by a blissful dry day of needle felting.
We arranged to have each grade rotate through the art room, divided into three, 12-minute stations. One station the kids got to watch our dvd about the animals, shearing and art made with the fiber. Then, they traveled to the teacher's station where they made an individual component for the art piece. Last, they came to my station, where we put those pieces on, did agitation, and talked about my art. It all ran very smoothly, thanks to engaged teacher support and assistance, and some wonderful volunteers and terrific kids.
By the end of the wet day, we had used a BUNCH of towels which our awesome, helpful volunteer offered to take home and wash and we were wiped out! Despite it being very cold, I decided to trek around downtown Delafield, WI where I found some treasures...mostly window shopping...which I find equally enjoyable and far less dangerous! I also enjoyed a quiet dinner at The Seven Seas overlooking Lake Nagawicka.
The second day began with a wonderful breakfast at the lovely B&B I stayed at, Ped'lars Inn in Wales, WI . The owners were very accommodating to my crazy schedule of arriving late and leaving early and it was very charming. I highly recommend it!
The whole experience was terrific; wonderful people, beautiful creativity and breathtaking results! Here is the finished piece and a fabulous video about the entire project that Mrs. Engelking put together. Thank you Prairie Elementary for having me and for making beautiful art together!
On the snowiest week of the season, I had the fabulous adventure of teaching and presenting at this lively guild based in the Northbrook, IL area. All the snow from the season decided to fall on those couple of days, or so it seems. My poor husband does snow plowing and it was a pretty long shift, so he didn't have much time to miss me being away. Funny how things work out! Everyday we woke up to more snow, until I felt like I was watching the movie "Groundhog Day" play out before my eyes.
That didn't stop us from having a great time! I presented a brand new program to the guild, one that I titled "Inside the Mind of the Artist". I was thrilled they enjoyed as much as I do, the stories behind the art pieces and the inspiration that brought them to life. It was like a walk down memory lane for me! Ahhh, the attachment an artist has to their work is a bittersweet one- you love making and basking in your creations but you need to make room for new pieces and new inspiration by letting them go. Though I'm not a mother, there is a bit of that concept I think we experience in every piece of art we make.
The guild hosted a mask class, which they invited me to join in on. I admit masks are not my thing but I LOVED this! It was so fun to just let go and create and let the materials take me away. I called my mask "Spring in Disguise" which is ironic because here it is, April, and sweet spring is definitely surprising us with snow showers and plummeting temperatures. It's certainly in disguise.
I took off and explored the downtown Winnetka area, where I discovered some unique artisan galleries and shops. Vivid Gallery had a fabulous fiber art exhibit and I thoroughly enjoyed chatting with the owner and gallery curator. We talked art, fiber, business, image, marketing and a thousand other threads. It's terrific connecting with other business owners as passionate about their work as I am! The exhibit of Marianne Burr was breathtakingly stunning. Her bold shapes and colors were terrific, and I loved talking with Cynthia about the stories behind each one.
My vest workshop was off to a great start with that perfect amount of creative fuel, and Tuesday we started on two days of design, felting and construction. I was very excited to bring the concept of making a nuno felted piece of fabric and then using draping techniques to craft it into a low or no-sew vest. The vests require bit of specific shaping, so we work right on student's bodies to custom create a vest as unique as them. No two are the same.
We started out laying out layers of silk fabric, then two of wool. By the end of Tuesday, everyone had designed and wet down the surface. That was a big job! There was a lot of water but everyone was a good sport and we put those towels to good use. We were creating 2.5 yards of felt fabric, so my students were like felting warriors training for battle... this was boot camp for sure! Watch the surface transform through the day!
I hope this workshop inspired, as did the presentation. I love bringing the concept of wool as wearable art into the world, and sharing my skills and inspiration with others. I find it invigorating! I did end up getting home in between snow storms that Thursday and spent some quality time with hubby... riding in the plow truck and being his little sidewalk shovel-er...Fun times!
This past week I had the exciting privilege of designing and coordinating a HUGE project at Central Elementary School in Riverside, IL. I was approached by the PTO in the fall, and asked to come up with a proposal to involve all the kids participating in an fiber arts enrichment. As always, I had to put on my thinking cap and come up with a custom design.
"Beside the River", a 3' x 9' nuno felted mural was perfect. I broke down the design into three grade levels: first, second and third. Each grade would design a component of the piece. In this case, the first graders did the background colors, second grade did the trees and third grade did flowers, ripples in the stream and grasses.
This part I worked with the kids on. We had classes about 50 minutes long, and after an intro, split the time into two stations, where they swapped half way through the class. You should have seen their eye light up when, to their surprise, they came into the art room and discovered this special project!
Now one of the challenges was the fact that we had to do this one class at a time, over the course of four days. Typically, in nuno felting, one designs, wets and rolls to fuse the fibers right away. When I do projects like this, I might do a span of two days and we work back to front, just like a painting.
My solution was that we work from one side to the other, essentially creating four panels that fused seamlessly into each other as we worked each day. And it worked! Now I know this is a solution and option for future projects. I just love how challenges can help us to grow and discover new bits of wisdom!
The other component was for the kids to make wet felted balls and then with adult's help, to glue them into a real acorn top. This project went beautifully for all grades and we got a great teaching system down for this! I might have to do a video tutorial for it in the future because it is an amazingly successful, cheap and fun mess-minimal project! Woot! Woot!
I loved the comments I heard from kids... one little boy who was having an especially hard week said this was the best day ever, and left with a huge smile from ear to ear. His teacher noticed a difference right away! I had another girl show me the piece of wool she stretched out to place on the sky and she said, "Isn't this wool lovely?" How precious is that!
The older kids got a real treat.... 4th graders made needle felted owls and fifth grade made foxes, keeping with the woodland theme. To make it easier (and to keep Mrs. V's art room our wet-felting headquarters), we traveled to their classrooms and taught there. I had prepared a PowerPoint with step-by-step pictures which helped me a LOT, saving my voice from repeating the same thing 10,000 times over! They kids did an awesome job staying on task and getting their creatures made, having fun the whole time.
Mrs.Natasha: "Check out our video tutorials if you want to learn more about this art"
Boy 1: "Do you have a YouTube channel?"
Boy 2: "How many subs do you have?"
Mrs. Natasha: "I have over 14,000 views on one of my videos."
One especially rewarding story was how one of the girls went home and discovered she had a felting kit laying around and went to work right away making things. She was so excited to show me, I had to take pictures of course, of her Kermit finger puppet and baby fox. Another classroom spent all their free lunch time adding to their foxes and embellishing them. It captured the hearts and creativity of everyone it touched.
Central Elementary's staff was so kind, so close-knit, that it really felt like a family. I appreciated my time there with them, and even got a chance to explore the area a little. I went to Brookfield Zoo one afternoon and enjoyed some great dining in downtown La Grange, IL.
Their piece will be hanging in the school and I know the kids are going to be so proud of it, because they each have a little bit of themselves in it. These sorts of projects are the kind I get really passionate about, because there are challenges to meet, building on the skills and creativity I already have and stretching me just a little beyond myself. When I come back from these artist-in-residencies, I am energized and exhausted and glowing with the feeling of joy. Joy in their little hands and huge hearts, and how we can all make the world more beautiful together. That's big-time creativity my friends!!!
I was approached to teach at the Mississippi Art's Commission's Winter Institute where 160 educators would gather for art enrichment. I was thrilled! Their theme was Elvis Presley, as it was held in Tupelo, MS, his birthplace.
The experience was incredible, with a stunning nuno felt piece created by the educators themselves, great food and people and sweet Southern hospitality. What a privilege and joy to share my passion for fiber art with the folks down South!
I've put together memoirs of the trip along with my reflections. It shows the preparation and thought process behind the piece, the place I went and people I met, and stories galore. Check out the photo album and memoirs!
Baby chicks ....who doesn't want cuddly, fuzzy, chirpy, adorable baby chicks?
Eggs! Quiche, scrambled, over easy, poached, angel food cake, egg salad, all this home grown goodness!
So the chicks come and live in a box for a few weeks. Then a bigger box. Then a dog crate. Then into their custom built "a" frame structure Jonathan built for them. Our nine little chickens get named, loved, adored and petted by all. They grow up to be pretty friendly little critters. Jonathan is their main caretaker, so they like to follow him around the yard when he does chores, which is adorable.
Well summer lived on a very long time this year, but it doesn't live on forever, and soon it got cold. Their little summer home got covered with a quilt and a tarp and we installed a heat lamp. They were now happy as can be. But then they started laying! Beautiful brown eggs in a communal nest in the corner. It was then we knew it could wait no longer. A real chicken coop must be built. The little ladies had to have a winter home where they could be snug and safe, and must have nest boxes where they could lay their golden eggs.
Would you know, that he listened to me? And he is building me the most amazing coop for our little hens. He is building it with so many little details, all right out of his creativity, imagination and construction knowledge. All of this means so much, yet what really means the most is the fact he is doing it out of love.
Ladies, sometimes it might take more time, effort, money or patience than you have or would have used. If someone is doing something special for you, stand back and appreciate it. Compliment them on their progress, their ingenuity, their strengths. Tell them how it makes you feel to see their efforts. Ask if they need your help or even just your company. Pinterest might inspire but love is the motivator. See through it all, and cherish the actions taken to demonstrate that love. It might not even be something lasting and it might not make it to Pinterest, but it makes a relationship stronger and that is the stuff that lasts.
I love my husband for embracing this whole backyard chicken dream, but most of all I love him for listening to me and cherishing me. It was worth bringing nine fluffballs into our flock for that alone! Next blog post.... the unveiling!!!
Having a shop and being an artist can be challenging at times. But there are other moments that just blow your mind at the impact you have in the world and the lives you touch. I had a moment like this just recently that was amazing!
Chris is a very talented artist who does needle and wet felting, making all kinds of things with a focus on felted mittens. She came in a few months ago and told me about a project she was going to do with her staff. I suggested she nuno felt the project, a larger landscape wall hanging. She picked out a navy/gray prefelt and some pretty, vibrantly dyed merino top and she was on her way.
Well she came in with show and tell and let me tell you, I was blown away! Her team of about 6 or 7 was skeptical at first at her creative team building activity. Several people confessed a lack of skill and creativity. She made it very approachable for them, laying out the background for them. They then designed the colors and created the sky and the river. The prefelt was cut into the buildings of the skyline and laid on top. This was then wet felted and everyone got involved in the rolling process. Laughs and smiles were shared as they bonded in this creative process. When it was unrolled for the last time and unveiled, the feeling of pride and amazement was shared by all. Chris added the stitching and dozens and dozens of hot-fix crystals to the piece. It really makes the little details pop and gives those Chicago architectural highlights definition.
What makes this piece even more intricately involved is the fact that Chris works for a department of the USDA, in Chicago, and Esther's Place was born out of a USDA Rural Development grant back in 2016. Ten years ago we dreamed of merging the worlds of art, agriculture and education. Ten years later, fiber art has found its way into the lives and hearts of so many, and now, the staff of the USDA itself! Local wool will be decorating the walls of the USDA office in Chicago, and they are even talking about doing another project. This next project would have a more agricultural bend to it.
How inspirational is that? There is nothing that drives a point home like being able to actually experience something for yourself. Here I got to observe it in action, and see a full circle come around. It's been ten years of hard work and dedication to the cause, but I am so thrilled be a part in change. It all begins with a sheep, some skylines and ends with smiles.
Meet Cassie Stephens , art teacher extraordinaire. I first learned about her, literally a few days before the National Art Educator's Conference. I was meandering around the internet, as that happens far to often to us, and I came across her picture.
I stopped in my tracks and I was like, who is this? She looks fun! And she is WEARING FELT!!!! I totally have to meet her now. In the hubbub of the next 72 hours of packing and prepping, getting to the show, setting up, dealing with the Union Teamsters and such, I kind of placed it in the back of my mind.
Well, lo and behold, I was talking to the vendor coordinator of the Illinois Art Educator's Conference, and who should come walking up across the aisle but Ms. Cassie Stephens herself? In her wonderful, colorful glory, she definitely had the aura of a superstar. So the gal I was chatting with, casually glances over and says, "Have you met Cassie Stephens yet? She loves to felt too! I'll introduce you to her".
So that's how it happened. Cassie is one of the nicest, most genuine people and crazy creative. An elementary art teacher and blogger, she really makes art come alive for not only her students, but a whole cyber world of her devoted fans- many of whom are teachers drawing ideas for their own classrooms.
We chatted, and I learned that she had taught a needle felting embellishment class a day earlier at the conference. She said everyone in class was asking her if she had heard of Esther's Place! We laughed and said "where have y'all been my whole life" (well she said it that way in her charming Nashville accent). I really felt like I met a kindred spirit.
The lesson I learned from Cassie? If you love something, love it with abandon! Go after it in a big way. Forget what people will think. The right people will love it. You will be a star, one that illuminates and lights the way for others. A superstar!
I taught a brand new class this last fall at the Illinois Art Educator's Conference titled "Think Big- Fiber Art Installations". Turns out it was a big hit! We had about 20 teachers in the class and what a team-building experience it was!
I divided the group into three. Each group had a station. They were given about 10 minutes at each station, then rotated. One station was creating the background, laying wisps of merino wool on the silk gauze background. Another station made prefelts- merino wool that is wet felted only enough to hold up as a fabric, but still fuzzy enough to attach to the base. These were to be made into circles. The last station created a large sphere of colors with fun bits of sparkles, bamboo and yarn incorporated in.
When we got all the components made, we arranged it together on the background. The entire design, along with colors and shapes, was decided by the group on the spot. I provided expertise and supplies, the rest was them!
Then it got messy. In a fun kind of way. Water. Soap. Bubble wrap. You can guess what happened next. Laughter ensued. Sleeves got rolled up. We rubba-dubbed and splish-splashed our way through the wet felting process of fusing the fibers to the silk fabric base. Nuno felting as it is called, it makes a splendid fabric that is lightweight yet solid. It is the technique I use for all my art wearables. This time, we were using it to make a large 4' x 7' wall hanging.
We were so giddy from the fun and creativity, that the rolling process went by quickly. Before long, the fibers were fused and we has a wonderful piece of art. Oooos and ahhhhs were exchanged among the group. We decided such a fabulous piece could only have one purpose: to become a donation back to the organization.
Well, as happenstance would have it, I saw the President and Vice President of IAEA a few weeks before the National Conference, and I casually mentioned that we wanted to give the piece to them. They were ecstatic, as they were looking for something really eye catching for their display and raffle at the National Art Educator's Conference.
So how about that for the right time and place? Our art got to not only touch the 20 teachers who created it, but thousands of teachers who saw it at the NAEA conference. A noble cause I'd say! Giving back always results in something more in return. Generosity has a way of sowing sparingly the seeds to reap a bountiful harvest!
Acorns, acorns and more acorns!
At every show we do, we try to offer a make-and-take so people can try out felting. I have the fun challenge of coming up with easy, quick ideas... and lots of them! I strive to have a different project each year, so folks can collect the "souvenir" button of the year. It's a fun way to spread the love of felting, and everyone enjoys it.
At the National Art Educator's Conference, we made acorns. Since it was St. Patty's Day, we made green ones the first day, using my hand blended Cheviot batts, which are full of color and sparkles. As I sat at the demo table in the first few minutes of the show opening, people began to wander over. Before long, there was a table of teachers laughing, felting and comparing notes on how stress-relieving this was. People strolling by peeked through masses to try and see what they were doing.
What I love about art teachers is that they are always eager to try something new. They don't hold back! At other shows, lookie loo's might gaze in at the felting. I'll lure them in and ask if they want to make a cute acorn too, and there's a 50/50 chance they'll say no thank you. But here? I barely got the words "do you want to make" out of my mouth and they were nodding enthusiastically. Didn't matter what we were making, they were in. They'd elbow in to find a little space on the table and the rest would gladly scoot a little closer so they'd fit. I'd turn to help get another person started and at the other end of the table, new recruits were getting taught by "veteran" felters almost done making their first acorn.
It's a giving spirit, and so refreshing to see. People helping people! Strangers connected by community; connected by this drive to create, to learn, to make art. What I get to see, as I am at that demo table, warms my heart and sends joy to my spirit. We laugh together, we share our stresses and the candid conversation that flows as we create together is priceless. My face hurts from all the smiling, but it's a great feeling.
That is art; in it's truest sense, art imparts beauty to the viewer. But when we participate in art, it beautifies us from the inside out. It brings out a smile that lights up our face. It lifts burdened shoulders and we radiate with strength. It refines our character and lets our joy shine through.
It might be just an acorn, but I believe it is a whole lot more than that. A person leaves with more than just an acorn. They carry that transforming beauty into the world, as they paint the canvas of their life.
Have you ever been someplace where you felt instantly at home? Where you looked around and said to yourself, these are my people? I experienced that recently at the National Art Educator's Conference at McCormick Place in Chicago, and let me tell you... it was awesome!
We've been working with art educators since we first met a local high school teacher at a local show seven or eight years ago. She was intrigued by the needle felting, and wondered if she could do it in her classroom. She decided she would do pictorial needle felting, first having the kids pick out their photo for inspiration and then felting it on a "canvas" made of an old t-shirt! It took off, and before long, that teacher was not only felting in one class, but now in multiple schools. She and her colleagues invited me to my first Illinois Art Educator's Conference as a guest presenter in their class on needle felting. We had a booth with all our wool roving. It was a huge hit, and I began to meet some fabulously inspiring teachers from all across the state.
As each year grew, we kept infusing more schools with the creativity of fiber and our booth became a favorite mainstay at the Illinois conference. We developed some wonderful relationships with these teachers, and I even have done some artist-in-residency programs in their schools.
Their creative vision for fiber arts has energized me, and I knew this was a place I belonged. There was such enthusiasm, it was just contagious! So when a little bird told me nearly two years ago that the national conference was going to be in Chicago, I knew we had to be there. It was big; bigger than anything we'd done before. But as they say, "go big or go home"!
So we sent in the application, wrote the check, crossed our fingers and sent up prayers. Yet deep in my heart, I felt we were taking a big step in the right direction. Big changes are not easy, and not without some trepidation about the unknown. Though sometimes you get a gut feeling and you just have to go with it. It's a little thing called blind faith. A lot of amazing people did amazing things this way. A lot of things in this world were changed this way. A lot of the future was forever transformed by this belief.
It was energizing, invigorating, fulfilling and encouraging, and I'll be sharing more in upcoming posts. So..... am I glad to have taken the plunge? I can truly, wholeheartedly, say YES! So what ever is in your dreams but beyond your bravery, be encouraged to jump into that place of change, growth and uncertainty. You never know what awaits you! | 2019-04-22T08:44:26Z | http://www.natashalehrerlewis.com/blog/?category=education |
It’s not often that there’s a meeting with one’s old English master after more years than one cares to remember. I use the word ‘old’ meaning ‘former teacher’ when I was at school. Naturally, we are both older now but there’s less than ten years’ difference between Brian and me.
A disciple, at Downing College Cambridge, of one of the most formidable twentieth century critics, F. R. Leavis, Brian has had a distinguished teaching career starting with London’s Dulwich College (where he had me as one of his pupils) and ending with Bristol’s Clifton College. Brian Worthington remains the chair of the Clifton and Hotwells Improvement Society who benefit greatly from his fine prose style in their monthly magazine.
It would be quite correct to say that Brian has helped me perceive what is truly worth reading and what isn’t. My critical judgement, however, differs from his in a few instances. For example, at school, when gaining a form prize I opted for the complete poetical works of Percy Bysshe Shelley who isn’t exactly Brian’s cup of tea. I remember Brian devastating, for example, Shelley’s ‘Love’s Philosophy’, one of the poet’s less successful lyrics, it must be admitted.
At King’s I became friends with E. M. Forster whose ‘Passage to India’ remains one of those few novels I have to re-read at regular intervals. Again, as a representative of the Bloomsbury school, anathema to Leavisites, this might have been a questionable activity.
I sometimes have had lapses in good taste when, for instance, I overpraised Restoration heroic drama which is just a poor mirror of the great French seventeenth century dramatic tradition and I do enjoy reading some of Edith Sitwell’s poems and listening to them too – as in Walton’s ‘Façade’. Which brings me to music. For an English master to lend his Bernstein recording of Mahler’s Sixth (it was vinyl then) to a messy schoolboy was some risk but clearly Brian trusted me and the symphony was listened to (for the first time) and the two discs returned in unscratched condition.
Mahler unites Brian, my wife and me in a special way. For it was at a London Royal Festival Hall concert where Deryck Cooke’s performing version of Mahler’s Tenth was heard that I had my first date with Alexandra. Brian complemented me on choosing such a beautiful girl for that date the following morning during my English lesson. To me she ever remains beautiful, of course.
darkly overlaid like the death-bird’s wing.
as we shiver before the feared unknown.
like the ethereal song of heaven’s bird.
beyond our loves transcendent sound survives.
Brian was also the first teacher to take us out to visit the then Dulwich College Picture Gallery, now simply the Dulwich Gallery, and help us appreciate the value of good and great art.
Again, some years later I wrote this about the visit to the Gallery – a jewel-like collection in the world’s first purpose-built gallery. I’ve inserted a few of the pictures alluded to in my poem.
and thoughts that lie unknown.
new ice age fountain tears.
as bees drone round their sweets.
on what has never been?
The pictures inserted are, of course, by that supreme French Classicist, Nicolas Poussin.of whose works the gallery possesses a dozen examples).
It was a particular pleasure, indeed a privilege, to have Brian and another of his Dulwich pupils with his wife for lunch a week ago. In a sense it was like an unofficial Old Alleynian lunch (old Alleynians are what former pupils at the school founded by Shakespearian actor Edward Alleyn in 1616 are called).
Which brings me to Shakespeare himself. No bard of Avon will do for Brian. There were real hints from this pointedly charming and erudite teacher that Shakespeare hailed from the part of the world I am now residing in. In that sense my piece on the man himself at https://longoio2.wordpress.com/2016/04/23/heres-to-will/ may have greater resonance than I first imagined.
How wonderful it is that I met my English master again in the romantic wilds of the Apennines. Surely I fulfilled the tenet that Brian had of me at school, that I was a hopeless Italianate aesthete.
(In the last photograph Brian is holding a print featuring the Surrey railway network in 1856. Included in the print is a drawing of the old college at Dulwich. Surprisingly, I found the print at Lucca’s antiques market).
But then I also met another of my unforgettable English masters in the exotic orientality of Saigon not that long ago….
PS Incidentally there’s a good Shakespeare festival at nearby Capannori. See my post at https://longoio2.wordpress.com/2015/07/26/shakespeare-festival-at-capannori/ for more on that.
Camaiore has many points of interest and could be combined with a day at the beach which is less crowded than the one at Viareggio (hopefully!). At this moment, however, I doubt there’s anyone swimming. Snow is actually forecast on our mountains. Is May by any chance near?
To get to Camaiore the easiest way is to head towards Lucca, turning right just before reaching the EsseLunga roundabout.
and the now disused Henraux marble quarry.
The first part of the former route is along a beautifully wooded valley road which then rises to reach the heights of Montemagno before descending into the Versiliana plain, approaching Camaiore via a handsome tree-lined avenue.
Stile Liberty (Italian Art Nouveau) devotees shouldn’t miss out on the church of San Martino in Freddana which dates from 1904.
Camaiore was originally an Etruscan and, subsequently, Ligurian settlement as archaeological finds in the area show. (There’s an archaeological museum in the town but it always seems closed. Its site is at http://www.comune.camaiore.lu.it/page/uffici/index.asp?IdUfficio=18 but the opening hours are stated as ‘still to be defined’. The museum was originally opened in 1986 but has been ‘under restoration – an ominous phrase in this country – for some years.).
Camaiore was then colonised by the Romans who established a castrum or camp with a typical grid pattern which still exists to this day.
It was the Middle Ages however which truly brought glory to Camaiore. The town became an important hospitality point on the Via Francigena, the great pilgrim route which links Canterbury to Rome.
In fact, Sigeric the Serious (ordained as priest at Glastonbury and subsequently archbishop of Canterbury from 990 to 994) in his description of the itinerary to Rome to receive his ordination from the Pope mentions Camaiore as stage 27 on the journey. He called it ‘Campmaior’ (major camping ground…). Sigeric stayed at Saint Peter’s monastery just outside Camaiore.
In the thirteenth century Camaiore came under the definitive control of Lucca which strongly fortified it, (parts of the defensive wall still exist), as it led to the City’s secure route to the seaport of Motrone.
When we first visited this delightful town the monument outside Saint Peter’s monastery now known as the Badia (abbey) di Camaiore had recently been unveiled. It commemorates all the pilgrims who ventured (and still happily venture) on the Via Francigena to reach their Papal destination, the basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican City.
This notice states that ‘with the Papal Bull of 21 June 1505 Pope Julius II communicated to the Holy Roman Empire to have given the charge to Canon Peter Von Hertenstein to lead two hundred Swiss soldiers with their captain Kaspar von Silenen ‘to protect our territories’’. The recruits entered Rome on 22 January 1506. Blessed by the Pope the guards began their duties on the same day. Thus were the Swiss Guards of the Pontifical state born.
The church itself presents a characteristic Romanesque basilican plan with nave, two aisles and a semi-circular apse.
However, the first monument to grab one’s attention when entering is the baroque tabernacle to the Madonna of Piety to the left.
There is a copy of a painting by Francesco d’Andrea Anguilla on the left wall. (The original is in Camaiore’s ‘Museo d’arte sacra’).
The atmosphere is wonderfully calm and meditative. We have returned to this beautiful building a number of times. On one occasion there was a wedding being celebrated. What a perfect location to have one!
Camaiore’s town centre streets are full of character and there is a very convivial square on which the Collegiata di Santa Maria Assunta is to be found. It’s Camaiore’s main place of worship. I love the fishy fountain in the square.
The Collegiata is, again, of Romanesque architecture. The church was ‘baroquized’ in the seventeenth century but was largely restored to its original appearance last century. By its entrance are a beautiful mediaeval font and a marble water tank.
The Pieve di Santo Stefano is Camaiore’s original church and one of the oldest in the whole Lucchesia, dating back to around 700. Its main feature is the Roman sarcophagus intelligently recycled as a baptismal font. From Death to Life it seems to state!
Do be sure to visit Camaiore if you’re on your way to Marina di Camaiore. It’s not to be missed!
‘The mysterious Etruscans’ is an almost tautological phrase. They were a truly mysterious people from the doubts as to where they came from to their almost impossible language, more difficult to decipher than Cretan Linear B, to their thoughts on the universe to their presumed demise.
In fact, Tuscany derives its name from ‘Tuscia’ which is the ancient word for Etruscans and, in a subtle way, the Etruscans are still with us in the Tuscan people themselves. Their cult of the dead, their dexterity, their love of beauty, their philosophy, their physiognomy and character are all derivations of Etruscanicity, if such a word can be made up.
Prato, a very beautiful city and the ideal spot to escape from the tourist crowds now beginning to besiege Florence is a place I’ve already described in my post at : https://longoio.wordpress.com/2014/01/15/prato-tuscanys-manchester/ . It has a truly picturesque historic centre and is easily explored in a day.
The cathedral’s well-organised museum and beautiful cloister is a must-see.
If you are intrigued by these people then visit the palazzo before the end of June when the exhibition ends. It will save you a lot of wandering around difficult-to-reach places in Tuscany for the museum has collected some of the most stunning cippi and stele belonging to this enigmatic civilization. What is a stele anyway? It’s a slab usually of stone taller than it is wide used for a commemorative or funerary purpose. And what is a cippus? It’s a sort of column, in Etruscan times, more of an onion shape, which holds an altar.
Many of these strange objects were found stuck in the stone walls of houses built much later and used as building material so they’ve been retrieved by chance.
The objects on display cover the whole area of Tuscany from north of the Arno river, along the Arno plain to Pistoia, the Mugello area, the Val di Sieve.Here are some votive statuettes followed by some of the stele and cippi on display.
The exhibition also centres on Prato and Gonfienti, an Etruscan city close to Prato and only re-discovered in 1997, by accident, by Silvio Biagini when a motorway service centre was being built. The Etruscan town of Gonfienti has the distinction of having the largest house ever discovered among these people (1460 sq. metres) in which was found an incredibly valuable object, the kylix (cup) of Douris, an artist of whose production very little remains.
Only a small fraction of Gonfienti has been excavated. Who knows what other treasures will be discovered there….
The exhibition is run in conjunction with one in Cortona (see http://www.cortonamaec.org/novita/scheda_evento.php?cod=437) and is also covered by an article in this month’s ‘Grapevine’ magazine.
In Italy, the first Sunday of every month allows free entry to the country’s state museums and art galleries. Unlike the UK there are entrance charges for all the national collections so this first Sunday is a good occasion, for families especially, to save money.
We were in Florence on the Sunday and, realising that even on admission charge days places like the Uffizi and the Pitti palace would be over-crowded, decided instead to visit one of Florence’s lesser-known wonders, the archaeological museum, which has its entrance by that most beautiful of squares, the Piazza degli Innocenti.
The museum was founded at the start of the nineteenth century and suffered severe damage in the infamous 1966 Florence floods. Despite this, there are some wonderful things on show. For me it’s worth going there just to see the fabulous chimera which was discovered in renaissance times at Arezzo.
The Arezzo Chimera is now displayed in a separate room together with that other fine bronze statue of the orator which is the only surviving example of an Etruscan metal sculpture using the cire-perdue method..
There are many other fascinating things to see in Florence’s archaeological museum. Its Egyptian section, for example, is second only to that of Turin’s amazing collection.
Perhaps the finest part, however, is that displaying Etruscan artefacts collected in that former stronghold of Etruscan civilization, the southern part of Tuscany.
By the way, how do I explain the weird title of this post? Simple. Chimera’s dad was Typhon, the father of all monsters, and his mum was Echidna half-woman and half-snake, the mother of all monsters. Her name is now applied to the Australian spiny ant-eater since the little animal has features which make it seem half a reptile and half a mammal. On the other hand, it looks a lot cuter than that chimera.
Roselle is an abandoned city between Paganico and Grosseto. Within its confines are Etruscan walls, a Roman amphitheatre and forum, villas with beautiful mosaics and marble intarsioed floors and much else.
We had the site virtually to ourselves. We walked for about a mile around the cyclopean walls only to discover that we’d only covered a fifth of their circuit. It’s not surprising that, once, people used to think that these walls were built by giants!
The statuary in the forum area seemed at first to be part of a modernist exhibition, so clean and white it was. Then we discovered that these were the original statues of the Bassi family who were top people in the city around 100 AD.
The site of Roselle was spectacular with extensive views all around to the Maremman mountains and the broad valley of the area’s main river the Ombrone.
Cicadas racketed, wild flowers bloomed and the sun did not shine so fiercely.
At the top of the hill were two Roman cisterns and an artisan area with remains of pottery kilns.
We found out that Roselle was founded in pre-Etruscan times and that there are remains dating back to the prehistoric Villafrancan period (the same era that produced the steles we saw at Pontremoli). Roselle survived well into mediaeval times when it was finally abandoned because of encroaching malaria from the plains surrounding it: the old Roman irrigation system had broken down and the anopheles mosquito started to breed ever more furiously. Strangely, we didn’t come across any remains later than Roman. Perhaps they are still to be discovered beneath all that undergrowth.
The sea now awaited us: the unspoilt coast of the regional park of the Maremma with its miles and miles of umbrella pine-fringed natural beaches. We had intended to reach Marina di Alberese but the car park there was full, so one of the girls directing motorists suggested that we head towards Fonteblanda and a special secret beach whose name translates as “enjoy yourself”.
With its mixture of rocks and sand it was the perfect haven to relax after our morning’s archaeological walk. The views stretched to Monte Argentario, the Isola del Giglio and Talamone.
We had a quick look at Talamone which, apart from its choc-a-block full marina, still presents the appearance of an old fishing village dominated by the castle and its walls.
If only more of Tuscany’s (and Italy’s coastline) were like this! The umbrella pines almost came from a lost world and formed a wonderfully cool natural canopy under which to walk. The beach stretched for miles: it wasn’t at all crowded, even in this holiday period, and romantic strolls into the sunset could truly be taken on it.
The au naturel feel stretched to the bivvies beach combers had built. We felt transported to some exotic island in a Pacific Ocean and not the usually crowded summer Mediterranean coastline. | 2019-04-23T18:23:18Z | https://longoio2.wordpress.com/category/etruscan/ |
There's not much that can compare to coming home on a Friday night after a long week of work and curling up on the couch to watch some Netflix. Whether you're watching the latest season of Orange is the New Black or catching up on an old show like Friends that you still love, you can't think of a more perfect and more relaxing activity. While you could definitely binge watch before Netflix (you could tape a bunch of shows on your PVR or buy some DVDs), it's safe to say that Netflix made binge watching a popular, beloved and mainstream thing.
While you maybe 100 percent confident that you're pretty knowledgeable when it comes to the original programming that Netflix has produced, is that really the truth? Do you know everything that there is to know about the sitcoms, dramas and non-fiction content that the streaming service has been steadily putting out for the past few years? It's time to find out! And then you can brag to your best friends that you're an expert in Netflix, which is all that you have ever wanted to be, of course.
Go ahead and take this quiz to find out how well you know Netflix shows!
Orange is the New Black was the first original TV show that Netflix produced.
In the past few years, Netflix has been getting into the original programming game, instead of simply putting television shows and movies onto the service that are available for streaming. Do you know the show that was the very first one that Netflix originally produced? It's a pretty important question, right? Would you say that it's Orange is the New Black, the prison drama that you absolutely love, and that everyone that you know from your friends to relatives to coworkers loves too?
The fifth season of House of Cards is premiering on May 30th, 2017.
A new season of House of Cards has been available on Netflix annually for the past few years, and it's always an exciting day when the new season is here. The political drama is all about how far a group of people will go to achieve the power that they have always wanted. It's equal parts fascinating and fun to watch. So when does the new season premiere? Do you agree that the fifth season will start streaming on May 30th, 2017?
Kevin Costner stars as Frank Underwood on House of Cards.
House of Cards focuses on the lives of two political players, married couple Frank and Claire Underwood. While they definitely have an unconventional relationship that sometimes veers on the disturbing, you still enjoy watching them. You never know what they're going to do or say next and that's a pretty fascinating thing. This couple makes this show the very definition of binge watching and you can't imagine the show without them. Do you know who plays Frank Underwood? Do you think that it is Kevin Costner?
House of Cards is based on a U.K. show of the same name.
There have been several shows over the years that have originated in the U.K. and have then had American versions. Some of those include the sitcom The Office, the mysterious drama Broadchurch, and reality shows such as Who Do You Think You Are? and What Not To Wear and The X Factor. Do you think that House of Cards is based on a U.K. show of the same name, or do you think that it's only an American, Netflix produced show?
Season one of House of Cards started streaming in 2010.
There have been several seasons of the Netflix drama... and you have enjoyed each and every one of them, of course. You're not the only one and that's an understatement. If you go onto your social media accounts when the new season starts streaming, everyone that you know will say that they're super excited to start watching the new episodes. So what year did the show start streaming on the popular service? Did it start streaming back in 2010 or in another year?
Orange is the New Black is based on a memoir of the same name.
Sometimes TV shows and movies are based on memoirs, and that really just goes to show that the saying "truth is stranger than fiction" can be true. It's always interesting to think about what was changed and what has stayed the same when a book is adapted into a television series. Do you think that Orange is the New Black is based on a memoir of the same name, or do you think that it's only a television show on Netflix?
The fifth season of House of Cards was leaked online recently.
When a TV show is super popular, sometimes the cast and crew have to work really hard to keep things under wraps. They tell the actors to not say a single word about the storylines in an upcoming season and they don't give the actors the scripts until the very last second. Sometimes, spoilers get released online, but other times, the very show gets leaked. Do you think that the fifth season of House of Cards was leaked online recently?
In February 2016, Netflix renewed Orange is the New Black for three entire seasons... at once.
Every year in the winter and spring, you eagerly await the news that your favorite shows will be renewed. You can't even think about a TV show that you love being cancelled. It's a pretty sad day when that happens. Sometimes, you get lucky and your fave show is recognized so much that several seasons are renewed at once. Do you think that has ever happened at Netflix? Did Netflix renew Orange is the New Black for three entire seasons at once?
Aziz Ansari has a Netflix show called Love.
Aziz Ansari is one of several comedians who have created, written, and starred in a television show loosely based on their life. And his show happens to be on Netflix. His show follows in the tradition of favorites such as Seinfeld and Louie. And Aziz's show is both absolutely hilarious and also very smart. Have you watched it yet? Do you know its name? Do you think that Aziz Ansari has a Netflix show called Love, or is it called something else?
The second season of Master of None features the main character, Dev, in Rome.
The second season of Master of None has recently begun streaming on Netflix, and critics and fans alike have agreed that the new episodes are definitely worth watching. The first season focused on Dev's professional and dating life in New York City, but the first episodes of season two are set in another location, and that would be Italy. People are loving the change of scenery. So what city does Dev live in when he's in Italy? Is it Rome?
There is an episode of Master of None that takes a humorous look at Tinder.
It's no secret that most people are meeting on dating apps these days, and it's no longer a weird or rare thing. You have probably gone at least a few online dates and you definitely have some friends who have met their partners this way. It's always awesome when a sitcom will feature something that is super relevant to the culture, and these days, not much is more relevant than the fact that more and more people are dating via apps these days. Is there an episode on Master of None that takes a humorous look at Tinder?
Aziz Ansari's very own parents play his parents on Master of None.
One of the most beloved and famous episodes of Master of None is called "Parents." This first season episode features Dev learning about his parents' background and how tough it was for them when they first moved to the U.S. He realizes that his parents have sacrificed a lot in order for him to live the American dream, and he realizes that he should appreciate them a lot more. So who plays his parents? Is it true that Aziz Ansari's very own mom and dad play the parts?
Aziz Ansari and his brother co-wrote an episode of Master of None called "Religion."
Aziz Ansari has been praised for his Netflix show Master of None since he not only has created a funny show, but every single one of the episodes has something intelligent to say. He talks about everything from dating to following your dreams to figuring out who you are... and he also talks about coming to terms with your family background and how you grew up. Is it true that he and his brother co-wrote an episode of the show called "Religion"?
Tina Fey has never had a TV show on Netflix.
Tina Fey is, of course, a comedy legend. She's well known for her sitcom 30 Rock, which she not only created but also starred in as Liz Lemon, as well as roles in movies like Sisters, Mean Girls, and This Is Where I Leave You. Tina also wrote an amazing memoir called Bossypants about her childhood, her early years in the comedy industry, and her life so far. She's also well known for her friendship with the equally hilarious and lovely Amy Poehler. Do you agree that Tina Fey has never had a TV show on Netflix?
The second season of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt is now streaming.
It's safe to say that Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt is a seriously popular Netflix show. The sitcom revolves around Kimmy, who is both innocent and unique. She has been living with a cult forever and has had no knowledge of the actual world around her... until the pilot, when she is recused. Now she's living in none other than New York City and trying to learn about everything that she has missed. What season of this show is now streaming on Netflix? Is it the second season?
There was a short-lived horror show on Netflix called Hemlock Haven.
Not every show on Netflix ends up lasting for several seasons. Sometimes that's okay with you because you can't love everything and other times, you're pretty bummed that you can't watch your favorite new show forever. While horror is not the most popular genre when it comes to Netflix shows -- there are definitely more dramas and comedies on the streaming service in terms of original programming -- That said, Netflix streamed a short-lived show called Hemlock Haven, true or false?
The Crown is based on both a movie and a play.
The Crown is a historical drama that started streaming on Netflix on November 4th, 2016. The show is about Queen Elizabeth II and her relationship with her husband Philip, who was the Duke of Edinburgh. The first season is about a specific period of time in the Queen's life and the second season is going to focus on the next few decades. So what do you think? Is The Crown based on not only a movie but also a play?
The Crown is NOT a popular Netflix show.
You know that Downton Abbey was an incredibly popular historical drama, so do you think that The Crown is as well? It's safe to say that people really love becoming invested in a series that is set in a different time and place. It's like you really can escape your usual reality and think about things from a different perspective. Do you agree that The Crown is a popular show, or do you think that it hasn't gotten the audience that the streaming service hoped for?
The OA is a comedy.
One of the most interesting and original shows that has been produced by Netflix is definitely The OA. Created by Zal Batmanglij and Brit Marling, this show took the pop culture world by storm when it started streaming on the platform, and no one could believe how cool and unique it is. If you're one of those fans, then you agree that it's a show that is the definition of unforgettable. So what genre is this show? Is The OA a comedy?
There have been two seasons of The OA so far.
If you've seen The OA, then you know that this supernatural/science fiction/mysterious show is definitely worth checking out. Every episode will confuse you, sure, but you won't even mind because you will be so invested and so completely fascinated. You have probably told your friends and family that they absolutely have to start watching this show... because at the very least, you need people to discuss it with. Do you know how many seasons Netflix has produced of this show yet? Do you think that there have been two seasons of The OA?
Bloodline is ending this year.
If you're a serious TV fan, then Netflix is your coach potato dream because there are always new sitcoms and dramas for your streaming pleasure. You can check out Master of None, a whole bunch of revivals, and there are always classic favorites like House of Cards and Orange is the New Black. Have you checked out Bloodline yet? The Netflix show has been around for a few years now, but do you know how long it will continue? Is Bloodline ending this year?
Bloodline is a drama about a family who own a hotel in the Florida Keys.
The first season of the Netflix produced drama Bloodline started streaming in 2015. The second season premiered last year and the third and final season will stream in the spring of 2017. This show is super dramatic (and that's an understatement). You might be pretty sad that it's ending if you're a fan. So what is this Netflix show actually about? Does this drama follow a family who own a hotel in the Florida Keys? Or is this show about something entirely different?
When you're a pop culture fan, there's really nothing better than when you sit down to watch a show and there are tons of pop culture references. This is one reason why shows like Riverdale and Gilmore Girls have been so popular. It's really fun to see what references you understand and which ones you have to look up. Sometimes you even discover new musicians or movies that you never would have known about. Is it true or false that there are no pop culture references on Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt?
Judd Apatow is co-creator of Master Of None.
Judd Apatow is a super popular writer, director and producer. He's known for his hilarious movies starring actors such as Seth Rogen and Jason Segel. Just a handful of his most beloved and popular films are Knocked Up, Superbad, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Bridesmaids, and This Is 40. Judd Apatow also works in television and he produced and wrote the HBO hit Girls. Is it true that Judd Apatow is co-creator of Aziz Ansari's hilarious, sweet and smart show Master of None?
Love is about a couple in a long-term relationship.
Love is about, well, love, as the title definitely suggests. It proves how tough dating can be and how everyone has secrets and parts of themselves that it can be hard to show someone else. This Netflix show is not only funny but also smart and introspective and it will make you think a lot about who you are and what kind of partner you want to be. Is the Netflix show Love about a couple in a long-term relationship?
Love has already been renewed for a third season by Netflix.
When you love a television show and have finished watching whatever episodes are available, you immediately start freaking out. Because no matter how happy you are that you have discovered a great new show, you automatically start getting nervous that the show won't be coming back for another season. There is nothing worse or more soul-crushing than learning that your fave new show has been cancelled. You want to cry and you don't care how dramatic that might seem. Is it true or false that Love has been renewed for a season three by Netflix?
The main characters in Love are named Mickey and Gus.
When Love premiered on Netflix in February 2016, it was obvious that this was no ordinary show. It's an absolutely hilarious and intelligent series about what it's like to date in this modern world. The two main characters are in their thirties but even though they seem like they're old enough to know what they want and where they're going, they're still figuring their lives out. It's basically a coming-of-age story. Is it true or false that the main characters on this show are called Mickey and Gus?
There are NO revivals on Netflix.
In the past few years, revivals of popular television shows from the past have become incredibly trendy. Fans are always ready to say hello to their favorite characters and settings again, and it's always good news when your all-time fave show from childhood or your high school years comes back to life. There's honestly nothing better and you would love as many new episodes as the creators, writers and producers want to give you. Has Netflix gotten into the revival game? Is it true or false that there are absolutely no revivals on the streaming service?
Netflix has renewed Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life for a second season.
When Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life started streaming on November 25th, 2016, you were definitely excited about it. You probably watched the whole thing in one sitting and couldn't wait to talk to your best friends about it. Of course, as soon as the episodes dropped, everyone started talking about the possibility of getting more episodes. Fans are super greedy when it comes to their favorite television shows and it's often not enough to just get a single season of a revival. Is it true that Netflix has renewed this show for a second season?
Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life is four 90-minute episodes.
When it was announced that Netflix would be producing a revival of the beloved mom/daughter show Gilmore Girls, fans were super thrilled and excited. You're definitely one of those fans and so you were jumping around for joy as well. You could barely handle the news. What's the format of these new episodes? Is it true that Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life contains four 90-minute episodes (aka movie-length episodes) instead of the regular, more traditional format for a television show?
Judd Apatow's daughter Maude has a role on Love.
Judd Apatow has an absolutely adorable family. His wife is successful actress Leslie Mann, who has starred in some of his movies, like This Is 40. The couple have two daughters named Maude and Iris. Actually, Leslie, Maude and Iris were all in This Is 40, which made the whole thing an amazing family affair. It makes sense that Judd would want to work with the people closest to him in the world. Is it true that Judd Apatow's daughter Maude has a role on Love?
The Netflix revival of Full House is called A Very Full House.
The first season of the Netflix revival of Full House started streaming in February 2016, and the second season started streaming in December 2016. Yes, you were very happy to be able to watch all of these new episodes in the same calendar year, since of course you grew up watching Full House and you have very fond memories. Do you know what the new show is called? Is the Netflix revival of Full House called A Very Full House?
The original cast members all returned for Fuller House.
When it was announced that there would be a revival of Full House -- and when you learned that it would be on your beloved streaming service, Netflix -- you were definitely thrilled. And maybe a tiny bit nervous. After all, not every revival is super good, and sometimes you wonder if these TV shows should have been left in the past. Of course, Fuller House has been a roaring success. Did all of the original cast members return for the new episodes?
The Olsen twins are in Fuller House.
Chances are, you grew up loving Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen and you never missed one of their movies or specials. You knew every word to the popular song "Brother For Sale" and you and your best friend probably pretended to be them (and fought over who was going to be who). Of course, you also loved watching the twins on Full House. So was the whole gang back together again for the Netflix revival? Is it true that the Olsen twins are in Fuller House?
Fuller House has been renewed for a third season.
Fuller House is, of course, the incredibly popular Netflix revival of Full House, the 1990s sitcom that you associate with your childhood. The first two seasons were as popular as you would expect and you probably really enjoyed watching them and getting in touch with your nostalgic side. It's hard not to smile even thinking about this charming and adorable sitcom. Is it true that the show is coming back and that Fuller House has been renewed for a third season?
The Netflix series One Day at a Time is based on the 70s/80s Norman Lear show of the same name.
On January 6, 2017, the hilarious and sweet show One Day at a Time started streaming on Netflix. The show follows the Alvarez family and how they are coping with life. Penelope is living in an apartment with her two adorable kids, Elena and Alex, and her mom/their grandma, Lydia. But is this an original series? Is it true that One Day at a Time is based on the Normal Lear show of the same name that was on in the 1970s and 1980s?
Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life features those infamous "final four words."
When Amy Sherman-Palladino, the creator of Gilmore Girls, was not able to return for the final and seventh season, she told everyone that she wouldn't be able to write the "final four words" into the finale as she had been planning to. These four words became the stuff of legend and for years, fans tried to guess what those words would be. There were tons of theories and ideas floating around. Is it true that these final four words are in the Netflix revival?
There is only one Marvel show on Netflix.
It's safe to say that superhero are a thing and this trend isn't going away anytime soon. From Hollywood blockbusters to television shows, these stories are capturing and enthralling people of all ages. It makes sense that Netflix would get into the superhero game and that they would start producing Marvel television shows. Do you know how many Marvel shows the platform has taken on? Do you think that it's true or false that there is only one Marvel show on Netflix?
Making A Murderer premiered in the winter of 2016.
Sometimes there is a lot of press and fanfare about a new Netflix original show. You read about it absolutely everywhere and you and your friends eagerly await the moment when it is available for streaming. Other times, a show is released on the platform and you haven't even heard about it. You decide to take a chance and then find that you absolutely love it. This happened to a lot of people with The OA and it also happened with Making A Murderer. Is it true that the show premiered in the winter of 2016?
Making A Murderer is a documentary series about a man falsely accused of a crime who is freed... and then winds up back in jail.
When Making A Murderer came out in December 2015, you heard about it everywhere and read about it on every social media platform and in every publication, so it was difficult not to know what it was about. You were most likely enthralled by the very first episode and couldn't stop watching, and it's safe to say that this show was binge-worthy. Is it true that this show is a documentary series about a man falsely accused of a crime who is freed... and then winds up back in jail?
Making A Murderer has been cancelled by Netflix.
When Making A Murderer was released by Netflix on December 18th, 2015, it was a huge success. People couldn't believe how unfair the criminal justice system seemed and everyone was obsessed with this show. It was impossible to hang out with anyone or go to the office without hearing someone mention the show, so you knew that you had to check it out. Do you think that it's true or false that this true crime series has been cancelled by Netflix?
13 Reasons Why is a Netflix drama based on a young adult novel.
When 13 Reasons Why premiered on Netflix on March 31st, 2017, it was a seriously big deal. Fans and critics watched it super quickly and still couldn't stop talking about it. They still can't. You probably binged this series as soon as you could and told everyone that you know that they needed to check it out too. It's definitely a powerful and moving series. Is it true or false that the show is based on a young adult novel?
Selena Gomez is a producer on 13 Reasons Why.
It's becoming more and more of a trend for celebrities to become involved with projects outside of their chosen field. That means that singers are becoming actors and actors are becoming singers. There are even famous figures who are doing things that are totally new for them, such as Jessica Alba and her company the Honest Company, or Gwyneth Paltrow and her lifestyle brand Goop. Is it true or false that the singer Selena Gomez is a producer on 13 Reasons Why?
Netflix hasn't decided on a season 2 of 13 Reasons Why yet.
As soon as 13 Reasons Why started streaming, people started speculating about the possibility of more episodes. After all, while there were 13 episodes, they were under the umbrella of "season one" and so that seemed like it might suggest a second season. Then there was the fact that this show has become super popular and there are so many fans that want to see what the characters are up to next. A lot of people don't believe that the story is over. Is it true that Netflix hasn't decided on a season 2 yet?
After some controversy, Netflix put additional warnings on a few 13 Reasons Why episodes.
It's impossible to talk about 13 Reasons Why without discussing the controversial parts of the show that have been taking the social media and pop culture worlds by storm. Some people are unsure if the show should have been so brave and bold in its portrayal and discussion of teenage suicide and there has been a lot of criticism directed at the series. Whether that criticism is fair or not really depends on your perspective. But is it true that Netflix has added some new warnings to a few episodes after the controversy?
13 Reasons Why is the most tweeted show of 2017.
When 13 Reasons Why premiered, people started tweeting... and tweeting... and tweeting. You probably couldn't log onto your own account without seeing someone that you know (and someone that you didn't know) talking about the show. There are a ton of television shows that people love to tweet about, whether it's the latest episode of Grey's Anatomy or a beloved drama that is full of mystery like Pretty Little Liars. Is it true that 13 Reasons Why is the most tweeted show of the year?
Grace and Frankie stars Jane Fonda and Blythe Danner.
Grace and Frankie is a sweet and funny Netflix show that first started streaming in 2015. There have been three seasons so far and it has also been renewed for a forth season. The show is about the main characters, Grace and Frankie, who become friends after learning that their husbands are in love... with each other. Talk about a life-changing revelation. The show is also beloved since it's about older people who are in a different stage of their life. Are the stars Jane Fonda and Blythe Danner?
Drew Barrymore has a Netflix show called Santa Barbara Diet.
When Drew Barrymore's Netflix show premiered earlier this year, reviews were pretty mixed. Some fans of the actress thought it was pretty fun and even kind of adorable in its own way... but some critics didn't love the show at all. You might have checked it out and been a bit grossed out because let's face it, this show is part of the horror genre and it's not for the faint of heart. Or hey, maybe you loved it. That works too. So what is this show called? Is it called Santa Barbara Diet?
There is a prequel on Netflix to Wet Hot American Summer.
Wet Hot American Summer came out in 2001 and since then, the film has been incredibly popular. The movie is about a group of camp counsellors in 1981 and it's equal parts hilarious and raunchy. The movie stars favorites like Paul Rudd, Janeane Garofalo, Molly Shannon and Amy Poehler. If you haven't seen the movie, you've been told by your friends that you definitely need to get on that and soon. Is it true or false that Netflix has a prequel series based on this movie?
Season two of Stranger Things has already dropped.
When Stranger Things came out on Netflix in the summer of 2016, it was a massive hit... and that's an understatement. People couldn't believe how enjoyable this show was and how well-crafted it was. The show follows a group of pre-teens who discover that their best friend has disappeared... and their seemingly perfect small town might have something more sinister going on. Oh yeah, and the show is set in the 1980s, so there's that. Is it true that season two of the show has already dropped on Netflix? | 2019-04-19T23:08:55Z | https://www.thequiz.com/how-well-do-you-know-netflix-shows/ |
As you probably noticed, a number of my recent posts contain information related to the issue of transgenderism. I hope the general population actually gets caught up on what is going on. Unfortunately, various sectors of our professional community is pushing this confusion with little real concern about the children involved. At least that is my opinion based on what I'm reading.
"I am a mother whose daughter has identified as transgender since the age of 14. I love her, and I care deeply about her and other kids who identify as transgender.
The current standard of treatment promoted by medical and psychological associations is called “affirmative care.” While this sounds nice, affirmative care leads directly to putting children on the path to medical transition with little chance of turning back."
What this mother goes on to explain is cause for deep concern. Professionals are not focused on guiding a child away from confusion, rather they are bent on promoting transgenderism to the detriment of both the child and the family involved.
This article really helps the average person understand what is going on. I highly recommend you read it and perhaps bookmark it for future reference. Also, please be diligent with your children and grandchildren. The indiscriminate consumption of today's culture is devastating many young lives. Fill the life of your family with the Spirit of the Lord and instruction in the Word of God. Separate unto the Lord and focus on living as a family dedicated to the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the path to producing well-adjusted youth who are established in righteous living.
I suspect you are seeing an increasing number of articles concerning the growth of robotics in the work place. This is a very interesting reality and it is changing things already. At this point it is hard to say how much robots will change the work place, but the impact is growing.
This interesting article spotlights the development of a robot named Harv capable of picking strawberries with a growing efficiency. You will find this quite interesting and in light of the difficulty finding workers to get the harvest out of the fields before they perish, this technology is solving a problem.
With that said, the day is quickly approaching however when these robots do eliminate the jobs of those willing to work. If the Lord tarries, robotics has the potential to touch just about every area of life, including how we fight our wars! This subject is interesting because it ultimately is going to touch us all. Check out this amazing strawberry picker!
Here is an article every parent and grandparent should read. Great harm is now perpetrated upon a growing number of children in our country by the ungodly in this country.
And yes, I said ungodly. Any professional adult guilty of complicity with the transgender movement in America is ungodly. How can any rational adult enable this moral confusion and help perpetrate it upon confused young people who need compassion and clear guidance from those in positions to help them?
Our society continues its slid into debauchery because adults who know better are determined to push God out of the consciousness of the nation. Many simple do not fear God and are willing to rebel against the natural order He established in the beginning.
I believe we need to hold politicians, doctors, psychiatrists, school counselors, and other professionals accountable for complicity with an evil now perpetrated on vulnerable youth who need stable adults guiding them away from this destructive confusion.
This article will certainly open your eyes to the realities surrounding this heart breaking situation. Be informed and I certainly trust you can discern the evil surrounding this issue. Shall we be salt and light, or shall we "go with the flow" as so many seem willing to do?
I think you should read this article and weep. Somehow we think such things only go on in California. Whether parents in our immediate communities want to come to grips with it or not, children in the public system are immersed in a school culture devoid of godliness when it comes to sexuality. There is no appropriate correction in the system guiding students away from immorality, gender confusion, or unnatural behaviors.
I am sure the problem of STDs is addressed, but it is done so in a moral vacuum. Again I appeal to the Christian community (including Pastors, elders, and other spiritual leaders) to take the steps necessary to separate your children from a godless system where appropriate training in moral virtue simply does not exist.
- Class rooms with teachers required to maintain appropriate examples before the student body avoiding fornication, adultery, and any form of unnatural sexual behavior.
- Daily Bible instruction to instruct, guide, and correct students. The authoritative source on sexuality is God's Word and just normal interaction with the ten commandments and the rest of the Bible serves sufficiently to prepare students to avoid sin and pursue godly behavior.
- A school culture that supports the God given gender identities of male and female. While some students may well struggle with various temptations, the school culture aims at clear moral guidance and loving support as needed to overcome misguided thinking and ungodliness.
A lot more could be said, but the question remains: in the current climate with the culture of the public system spiraling ever downward, will you leave your children at risk?
The Scripture says, "And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep." Indeed, while we delay generations of young people from our own Christian homes are assimilating the ungodly culture around them.
Next: pursue the career the Holy Spirit inevitably opens to a young person as they seek first the kingdom of God.
Well, maybe this philosophy will come to dominate the Christian community again one day. Perhaps the time will come when Christians once again are just plain "Christian enough" concerning education to say good-bye to the world.
"There is a disastrous epidemic eating away at America's families that stems from heightened cultural, legal and legislative attacks on the family structure itself. Radical groups want to redefine marriage and the family . . .
. . . Right now, there is an unprecedented onslaught targeting our families through cultural immersion, government mandates and extreme propaganda taught in our public schools.
The Liberty Counsel is one of the leading legal groups in America fighting for religious freedom in our courts. They fight many battles connected to our public school system. Since they are in the trenches they see first hand what is going on. If a group like the Liberty Counsel says there is "extreme propaganda taught in our public schools" as "Christian principles are being systematically rooted out of our schools," then Christian parents need to make a change.
1. The entire education experience is built upon the sandy foundation of humanism. Said another way: our public school system does not build education upon a knowledge of God, Christ, and His word.
While this may not be a concern for the world, I would remind the Christian community (including Pastors, elders, and spiritual leaders in the church) WE ARE NOT THE WORLD. How did it every become acceptable to the greater Christian community to engage in so-called education while leaving out God, Christ, and the source of all truth--the Holy Scriptures?
2. Next, we are disobeying the Lord's command to avoid an "uneven yoke" (Please read and apply 2 Corinthians 6:14-18 to this situation). It is obvious the educational priorities of the Christian community is NOT in line with that of the world. Today our public school system has degenerated into moral chaos and spiritual darkness. Today there is no Christian philosophy of education permitted in the public system. On the contrary, the system is dominated by the ungodly.
My advice to parents who have a fervent desire their children serve the Lord is very straight forward: remove them from a system devoid of Christianity and build upon the solid rock of godly instruction based upon the Lordship of Christ and the unchanging Word of God.
I can only offer advice, but surely Christian parents can discern the spiritual well-being of their children is more important than anything else in this world. Surely Christian parents have the ability to open their eyes and heed the advice of godly pastors and others who have been sounding the alarm for decades.
Be wise. Separate your children unto the Lord. Don't allow the ungodly to have direct influence upon their hearts and minds. Yes, we are in the world and your children will come of age soon enough. However, as they do so it should be under the godly tutorage of Christian education manifested in the home, the church, AND the school.
"Experts in the field are. . .citing studies that show minors often change their minds about transitioning when they're adults. . .
Studies show that anywhere from 63 to 94 percent of self-identified transgender children and teens change their minds, KQED reported. . .
[Dr. Jack] Descher [a Columbia University professor] urges caution on the use of surgery, which can be difficult to "undo." Surgery isn't available until age 18 for transgender teens.
In 2013, Amsterdam researcher Thomas Steensma released a study showing that 63 percent of transgender teens he studied had desisted by the ages of 15-16."
This information reveals the obvious. Young people need clear guidance when confused about their sexual identity. Of course, such guidance must come from godly adults who refuse to accept the misguided idea that a man is trapped in a woman's body, or a woman is trapped in a man's body.
Those who are experiencing such confusion need to be affirmed as males if they are men, or females if they are women. No one should encourage the confusion by suggesting otherwise.
Of course, the ungodly have no real moral ground to build upon once Scripture is rejected and God is pushed out of the equation. While we certainly need to show patience and compassion toward any young man or young lady going through a tough time in their teen years, we should NOT show patience with the adults who are unwilling to embrace the natural order created by God.
The bigger problem in the nation related to these issues as I discern it, is the problem of ungodly elites who dominate our schools from their perches of power in government, on university campuses, and as administrators and/or teachers in the public school system. What can be said about any adult who argues for transgender confusion??
Pray for the nation. It is later than we think.
Do you think revival is possible in America today? Of course, the word revival has to do with the church, not the world. Our churches need a deep work of God in which a new obedience to the Word of God is birthed in the lives of every genuine believer. Without revival in the authentic church no standard against wickedness will be raised by the Spirit of the Lord.
"The LGBTQ socio-political agenda seeks to replace God’s truth about human sexuality with perversion as the societal norm. It has overtaken virtually every major American institution. The entertainment world, corporate America, education, and government have all been infiltrated by this rebellion against God. While they have been wildly successful in these institutions, they will not be satisfied until they have conquered the last one, the church.
Though they have penetrated many mainline churches, their objective is not yet complete. In many churches we have seen church discipline become a thing of the past. We have watched churches — though some with good intentions to evangelize — totally ignore the biblical mandate to equip the saints for ministry and God's unchanging call to holiness for Christ followers. The love of God has been twisted to manipulate the church into embracing all manner of wickedness. Yet, the Scripture tells us that God's love does not delight in evil, but He rejoices in the Truth.
Along with other groups, AFA is working to restrain the perversion of sexuality pushed by the LGBTQ agenda. We are grateful for the remnant of churches that have maintained biblical fidelity concerning human sexuality with courage and compassion. We applaud those which have resisted the assault of ungodly values on biblical truths. But we can only play defense for so long.
We desperately need a miracle, a Holy Spirit revival in America.
As the body of Christ, let's be transparent. Let's take time to examine the log in our own eye so we can effectively help our brother remove the spec from his eye. To restore biblical morality in sexuality in the entertainment world, education, government, and society at large, we must begin with the church repenting for its rejection of God’s Word and returning to the proclamation of the whole counsel of God with both grace and truth.
We, that is AFA and you, must be ready to overcome Satan's continued efforts to deceive by anticipating his tactics. We must study God's Word to show our selves approved, we become workmen who have no need to be ashamed but who correctly handle and share the Word of Truth. We need to be prepared to give a compassionate biblical response when we are verbally persecuted for using the Bible as our guide for life.
"But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander" (1 Peter 3:15-16).
In addition to this, we must pray, pray, pray! We urge you to examine yourself and pray about how you may be more involved in this critical crossroad in our culture."
Here is a word of encouragement on how we can be more involved in the spiritual battle facing our nation today: 1) get involved first and foremost with actual prayer--seek the Lord that great grace might be upon the authentic church in such a way He empowers us to hold back the onslaught of evil threatening to engulf our nation 2) PUT BIBLE READING AND PRAYER BACK IN YOUR FAMILY LIFE WITH AN AIM ON TEACHING CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN TO FEAR GOD AS THEY LEARN WHAT THE LORD SAYS ABOUT RIGHT AND WRONG 3) with grace, but firm conviction, engage the political debate where moral issues are at stake.
Unfortunately, our politicians have turned every moral issue into a political football to be tossed about as it might be advantageous to them while the church cowers away from the debate because they don't want to get involved in politics. Excuse me, but clarity concerning moral issues is the domain of the church. Pastors and Christians in general MUST be involved and take a clear stand on moral issues.
Our victory is in the Lord's hand, but don't expect Him to push back the tide of wickedness in our country if we don't get right and actually obey him to be light and salt in our culture. Indeed, judgment must begin at the house of God.
If you are a Christian, then obey Christ and live righteously. Perhaps it is high time for you to experience personal revival and stop being a Christian in name only. One thing is for sure, revival cannot come to America with the church in the low state she currently is in.
Pray this way: "Lord, please send revival and let it begin with me!"
What Are Parents to do with Santa?
I was reading a news article today with the headline: "Teacher who told kids Santa isn't real let go." The article says a substitute teacher who recently told first-graders that Santa Claus is not real is no longer working for a New Jersey school district.
The problem is when the children came home telling parents what the teacher said it caused a social media outcry from the parental community.
My impression from the reaction of parents is they no doubt preferred to tell their children about Santa in their own time as compared to the teacher bursting the imaginary bubble of six and seven year old children.
Be that as it may, this brings up some things worth talking about--especially for the Christian community.
When my wife and I raised our two children we chose never to pretend Santa was real. As my children became old enough I simply told them Santa was a cartoon figure. While it was fun for them to use their imaginations as they might like at their young age, they nonetheless knew Santa was not real.
We proceeded to tell them the truth about the tradition of St. Nick and how the idea of Santa became associated with Christmas (here is a good article on a Biblical view of Santa).
One thing I never wanted to do was to sow any seed of doubt in the minds of my children concerning the real meaning of Christmas. I wanted them to know the modern idea of Santa was a myth while the history of the Bible concerning the birth of Christ was real.
One thing we must do as Christian parents is never grieve the Holy Spirit. If we are going to celebrate Christmas at all, then the only appropriate way to do so is to exalt the Lord Jesus Christ.
He must be front and center in our celebrations. Indeed, enjoy the season as you make much a do about the birth of the most important person in history. Carefully take the time to teach the history of his birth to your children. Guide them into the awe and wonder not of an imaginary fellow in a red suit, but of the miracle that is Christmas--God came to us at Christmas as a helpless little babe lying in a manger!
As J.I. Packard said it, "The Almighty appeared on earth as a helpless human baby, needing to be fed and changed and taught to talk like any other child. The more you think about it, the more staggering it gets. Nothing in fiction is so fantastic as this truth of the Incarnation."
You will never make a mistake teaching your children the truth and when it comes to Christmas they need to know the real reason for the season in all its purity and wonder.
Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.
As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.
Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.
Children are a blessing from the Lord. He gives them to parents entrusting them to their care. They are not a burden, but a blessing. Indeed, every parent should view children as such with a heart determined to raise them in the fear and admonition of the Lord (Eph. 6:4).
The greatest gift you can give to your children is a stable home life. Husbands and wives need to love one another and honor the marriage covenant made before God.
And this have ye done again, covering the altar of the LORD with tears, with weeping, and with crying out, insomuch that he regardeth not the offering any more, or receiveth it with good will at your hand.
In this passage the Lord says he hates putting away (divorce). Much could be said about this, but one of the reasons God hates divorce is the effect it has upon children.
The Lord's intention is for parents to raise godly children (v15). Often divorce is a great hindrance to accomplishing this goal. Certainly Scripture counsels couples to avoid adultery and other problems that destroy the home. With a focus on serving Christ and serving one another by love, couples can maintain stable homes that serve as the foundation for children to grow and flourish.
Next, please take seriously your responsibility to diligently teach your children the Word of God.
No parent is walking in the fear of the Lord when this responsibility is neglected or simply ignored. Training children to fear and obey the Lord is your top priority as a parent. This responsibility comes before the pursuit of anything else in the child's life.
Failure on this point is the reason so many children are never converted and won to Christ. While I am aware any family can have a Cain who choses rebellion against the Lord, the fact is we are not producing enough Abels.
What I mean is simple enough. Most children can be trained to fear God and their hearts won to Christ. However, faith doesn't come by accident. Children left to themselves will most certainly go the way of the world as they are by nature lost and in spirit already a part of the world!
Parents must maintain a walk with the Lord in the home life. Dad and Mom's walk with the Lord makes the Bible a daily part of home life in two ways. First, their children see them with an open Bible reading it themselves. Next, parents see to it the family reads the Bible together.
This is not hard. DO IT! No excuses please. Parents are either obeying the Lord in this matter or tragically sowing seeds of neglect that will bear an ugly fruit in the lives of their children in time.
Next, talk of the scriptures in the course of your day. Deliberately bring the Lord into your conversations through-out the day. No child should grow up in a home where the Lord is a stranger! Only parents can set the tone regarding this matter. As the passage in Deuteronomy instructs, TALK the word as you go through your day.
Such a home life constantly places the Lord front and center in the heart and mind of a child as they grow and come of age. This kind of diligence bears wonderful fruit.
Next, if you choose a tutor for your children (education outside the home), then you are required by the Lord to choose a godly one. Remember, the education of your children is your God given responsibility. Be very diligent in this matter.
The Lord must remain at the center of a child's education, otherwise the influence of an ungodly world will most certainly lead them astray. Failure to obey the Lord's command to separate from the ungodly (Psalm 1; 2 Cor. 6:14-18) is corrupting the youth from professed Christian homes at an alarming rate in our nation today.
Remember, obedience to the Lord in the matter of raising children to his glory is the pathway to winning them to Christ and training them in the faith. Such obedience flows out of the deep desire to give your children Christ above all else.
May the Lord stir passionate obedience in the life of every professed Christian parent is my prayer.
It is unfortunate that most of our children are growing up in schools that are increasingly secular in nature. While that is dangerous enough from a spiritual point of view couple with it the increasing use of state schools as vehicles for progressive politics!
The "day of silence" is a blatant example of this. Parents with children in a public school should check to see if their school is allowing this activity. Follow this link for more information. | 2019-04-22T00:22:18Z | http://www.pastorrusty.com/family |
Innovative Results realizes that part of improving the quality of life for our community means we have to spend some time, money, and energy.
The way the IR team and clients can participate in this purpose is to come to Innovative Results every Saturday morning for a charity training session at 10am. 100% of the ten dollar suggested donation is given to programs of our partners at The Crossing Church’s Local GO Ministry.
Sharing Your English is just one of the many community improvement programs and opportunities developed at Local GO Ministries.
Did you know that English as a Second Language classes are in extremely high demand?
There are many people in our community eager to learn and improve their English, so they can experience an improved quality of life just like the Innovative Results’ client.
This provides an amazing ministry opportunity: Share your English!
Both easy and fun, providing a teacher to lead the class, The Crossing’s Local GO Ministry members work one on one with a student to help them practice their English.
We invite you to serve your community and make new friends.
In addition to the ESL class, Local GO Ministries offer story-time and homework assistance for school-age children in other classrooms.
Volunteers are available to read stories out loud, perform educational activities, and offer limited homework assistance.
This takes place in a fun, but purposeful environment for children in Grades K – 6th to work on their reading and literacy skills for the Costa Mesa community schools.
If you are interested in volunteering to help in the Reading Room, contact Marsha Dopler.
Looking forward to seeing you at the next Innovative Results charity training session every Saturday at 10am.
Meet Terrilee Stevenson, the Executive Assistant supporting the Lead Pastor and Executive team at The Crossing.
Fristers (Teen Pregnancy Ministry) is a nonprofit founded and operated on Christian principles that is dedicated to breaking the cycle of poverty and abuse within the teen mom population by providing education, access to resources, role models and support to teen age mothers and their children. To accomplish our mission, Fristers offers the LifeCoach weekly program for teen moms, pregnant or parenting, within the ages of 13-24, and the Kidsters Childcare and School Readiness program for their children, ages 0-7.
LifeCoach addresses the unique needs of teen mothers and provides them with education, access to resources, role models and support. Participants attend a 32 week program that includes classroom teaching, relationship-building activities, one-to-one coaching, and group projects and field trips.The Kidsters Childcare and School Readiness Program is designed to nurture and teach the children, while giving teen mothers a safe childcare option so that they can fully devote themselves to learning and growing during the LifeCoach program.
Well, Fristers will just be coming to The Crossing for the first time in September 2014, so right now we are in the process of recruiting volunteers for the program and teen moms to attend. Biggest success would have to be that we have had 3 pregnant teen moms come into the office to sign up for the program starting in September.
I feel called to Fristers, in part, because I feel like I have been given much: grew up in a healthy, Christian family with good role models in my parents, an amazing husband and 3 incredible kids. I have a heart to help these girls to move past their circumstances and succeed in life, to be more than what most people expect of them, to help them see that they matter and that God loves them more than they know.
Support Fristers, and many other GO Ministries & Community Programs by attending IR’s Charity Training Session every Saturday at 10am!
With a suggested $10 donation to attend, this is by far the most mutually beneficial hour of your week!!
“Who? Denise Dew-Bennett: Member at the Crossing since 2007. Lay leader, chaplain, women’s bible leader and ministry leader of Divine Lights at The Crossing Human Trafficking Team.
What: Divine Lights is about bringing awareness to our community on the condition of slavery in the 21st century. How the church is becoming increasingly active in the movement and how we as a church body can be that LIGHT at the end of a victim’s long dark journey in any way possible.
How: To date Divine Lights is a very new ministry but we are now a part of a new larger community known as the Christian Coalition Against Human Trafficking (CCAHT). Divine Lights biggest accomplishment has been to partner with established church ministries and other community organizations that are fighting on the front lines of this intense war to save women, men & especially children from the grips of modern day traffickers.
Why: Because God called me to. At first I thought that this was a singular call, but when I started this ministry, it occurred to me that God had been tapping on the shoulders of many others as well! None of us, individually, could figure out what we were to do as we all thought God wanted us to do something all on our own, but we felt extremely powerless. What I found when I started the group was that God wanted us to join our calls and group together to do the work that He had layed before us. I can tell you, not one of us WANTED to accept this call! But we all could not stop hearing or seeing the abuses going on around us, that is what caused us/me to go on no matter what I/ we saw as daunting!
Innovative Results is amazed at what is being done to transform our community and the lives of the people being trafficked in Orange County. Come to Innovative Results’ charity fitness training sessions on Saturday at 10am and bring a suggested donation of $10 to help eradicate Human Trafficking in Orange County.
“My name is Jeff Costa, and I lead The Crossing’s Street Team ministry.
Street Team is a group of people that meet to help the people on the street that are invisible and needy. While we go out to serve and help the city’s people, we pray for the streets, businesses, and civil services.
The biggest success story is the fact I am on a team that has helped 19 people get off the streets!!
The reason why I do this is because now I know these are people just like you and me. They just might be going through a really tough time, and need some love and a chance.
I believe that God puts certain people in your life.
Innovative Results is proud to be a part of helping Jeff Costa get people off the street through our donations and awareness created through our Saturday charity training session every Saturday at 10am. Bring a suggested $10 donation, experience the best personal training in Orange County, and help GO Ministries improve the quality of life of the homeless…even getting people off of the street!
Innovative Results partners with GO Ministries to give back to our local community in Costa Mesa and Orange County through fitness and training.
Come to Innovative Results, 2925 Airway Ave, Suite J, Costa Mesa, CA 92626, every Saturday at 10am, and donate $10 to the community, while experiencing the best fitness training in Orange County.
Innovative Results cares about the Costa Mesa and greater Newport Mesa community, and they consistently back up those words by giving generously with their actions, service, money, and time. For over two years, Innovative Results serves the community by opening up its doors to anyone looking to get in shape, feel better, move better, or look better on Saturday morning at 10am. They ask for a very small, suggested donation of $10 per person, and deliver their always dynamic and very valuable training sessions. After the dust settles they donate 100% of the proceeds to GO Ministries at The Crossing Church, where there are incredible things being done for the local Costa Mesa and Newport Mesa community.
GO Ministries at The Crossing Church helps the Costa Mesa and Newport Mesa community in eight incredible ways. First they are building a bridge across the different cultures of Costa Mesa. Second they are partnering with schools to improve children’s education and development. Third they are partnered with other churches and city officials to improve the quality of life of our homeless and helping them into situations that get them into homes and better situations. Fourth, they partner with other churches and organizations to feed the hungry of Costa Mesa and Newport Mesa. Fifth, they partner with other people and churches to set up care packages for the troops overseas. Sixth, they have a Street Team that goes out to offer a helping hand and a loving heart to the homeless and distraught. Seventh, they partner with other people, churches, organizations, and the local cities to reduce and eradicate trafficking of humans. Finally, they partner with other churches, people, and organizations to help improve the lives of teen mothers.
When someone shows up on Saturday and donates $10, their money is really improving the quality of life for the Costa Mesa and Newport Mesa community, while they get to improve their own quality of life through an Innovative Results training session. These training sessions provide practical advice and take action toward improving mobility, increasing stability, improving endurance, improving strength, and increasing power, which helps all participants look better, feel better, and move better. Innovative Results also helps coach and consult people’s nutrition choices to help people feel, look, and move their best. Not to mention the ancillary effects these training session provide (improved finances, better budgeting, increased productivity, and improved attitude are all researched effects from daily exercise).
If you are looking for the most valuable way to spend an hour on Saturday, come to Innovative Results, and for just $10 you can experience personal improvement, while improving the Costa Mesa and Newport Mesa community.
Innovative Results loves partnering with The Crossing Church’s GO Ministries for the charity training session on Saturdays at 10am, because we get to improve the quality of life for our clients and our community directly at the same time! Not only does everyone in Costa Mesa get the opportunity to improve their quality of life through an incredible training hour with the best trainers and coaches in the industry, but the $10 suggested donation goes to impact Costa Mesa in awesome ways, too! Below is one of the many reasons IR partners with GO for our community.
GO Ministries at The Crossing Church wants to show and share God’s love to our local schools! The schools play an essential role in the community and in the development of the next generation of leaders. We focusing our resources of time, people, and energy to the schools in our community.
LITERACY: one hour a week to read with a group of 1st, 2nd or 3rd graders.
FACILITIES: help provide a better learning environment at under-resourced schools.
STAFF: help support and encourage teachers and administrators.
PARENTS: help encourage, educate and support parents with various classes and events.
The Crossing is partnering with a local elementary school that has the most challenges in terms of literacy, to help change this negative trend.
If you would like to take the next step and learn how you can get involved in this important local outreach program, please contact Jorge Moscoso today.
Innovative Results is looking forward to seeing you, your family, friends, and coworkers at the next charity training session, Saturdays at 10am.
In speaking with the two The Crossing Español pastors, I experienced two people with a heart for Costa Mesa. According to suburbanstats.org, Hispanic/Latino makes up 35% of the Costa Mesa population, and the way they see it if we are not about helping one third of our community we should not be called a church. The Crossing Church with Go Ministries is about creating a bridge between the different cultures within our great community of Costa Mesa.
Innovative Results agrees wholeheartedly. Innovative Results is about serving our community. Co-owners, Aaron Guyett and Corey Beasley believe in improving the quality of life for their clients and their community, so it just made sense to partner with the Hispanic Bridge that is happening at The Crossing Church and Go Ministries. Below is what the Crossing is announcing about its weekend services.
The Crossing Church is proud to announce the creation of a new venture, The Crossing en Español, as we expand to offer services in Spanish. We believe so much in reaching the un-churched that we remove as many obstacles as possible so that people can hear the message of Jesus. Over the years, the population in Costa Mesa has changed, but the mission and the vision of The Crossing remains the same — we are a church for ALL PEOPLE. We have the opportunity to reach other nations right here in our country and in our city. What a privilege we have. Contact Jorge Moscoso to sign up now and be part of the Core Team as we prepare to launch in October. Join us on the ground floor of this exciting new venture.
UPCOMING SERVICES: As we lead up to our official launch date we are proud to present a select few services along the way. Please join us and be part of this exciting new venture.
Come join Innovative Results on Saturday morning as they continue to reach out to their community through these Charity Training Sessions on Saturday at 10am for a suggested donation of $10.
One of Innovative Results top three values is serving our community. We have an amazing opportunity to partner with a church that truly cares for our community. Below are all of the areas this church, The Crossing, reaches out to the local community in Costa Mesa. We are honored to dedicate one hour to our community, not only with an amazing training session, but also to donate all the proceeds from the suggested $10 donation to these amazing community causes.
GO Ministries at The Crossing Church wants to show and share God’s love to our local schools! The schools play an essential role in the community and in the development of the next generation of leaders. We are focusing our resources of time, people and energy to the schools in our community.
This is a ministry that helps those experiencing homelessness in our community. Our focus is helping retain and maintain their dignity by providing showers, laundry, mending and support. We work to establish intentional relationships with the ultimate goal of demonstrating Christ’s love and helping them to reconnect with their families and society.
This all takes place on The Crossing Church campus every Saturday morning from 8:00am – 11:00am and you can be a part of it. Contact Andy Cox to volunteer today!
The Crossing is proud to host a “check-in center” for homeless people to “check in” their belongings for the day – located on the bottom level of The Crossing Church parking structure. This is a ministry for those experiencing homelessness in our community, providing them with a safe place to “check-in” their belongings, allowing them to travel, attend interviews or appointments, prevent theft or damage to personal belongings and ease health issues from transporting belongings.
If you are ready to take the next step in serving your community sign up for volunteer training today!
Come join us the second Saturday of every month as we distribute food to the needy in our local community. Since 1988, this ministry has been committed to feeding the hungry in body, mind and spirit.
Feed The Hungry is a FREE FOOD program for seniors, singles, and low-income families in the cities of Newport Beach and Costa Mesa. We distribute a variety of items from canned food, produce, bread, clothes, furniture and the word of Jesus Christ. Every month we deliver over 40,000 pounds of food and provide meals for around 2,000 people.
Did you know that ESL (English as a Second Language) classes are in extremely high demand? People in our community are eager to learn and/or improve their English. This provides an amazing ministry opportunity for you: Share your English! It’s easy and fun. We provide a teacher to lead the class, and as a tutor, you work one on one with a student to help them practice their English. Students in the class are Intermediate and Advanced levels.
Classes will start on Wednesday, September 10th and will run through November 29th.
In addition to the ESL class, we will be offering storytime/homework assistance for school-age children in another classroom. Volunteers will be available to read stories out loud, perform educational activities, and offer limited homework assistance. This will take place in a fun, but purposeful environment for children in Grades K – 6th to work on their reading and literacy skills.
If you are interested in volunteering to help in the Reading Room, contact Marsha Dopler. This class will be held at the same time as the Share Your English Class.
“The Street Team” works to equip as many people as possible to P.R.A.I. as they walk through life by engaging them in 4 weeks of training and experience walking the streets.
You can jump in during any week and experience “The Street Team.” Each session runs from 6:30-8:30 p.m. on Wednesday nights departing from The Crossing, The Street Team is off during the month of August and will start again in the month of September.
The hope is that after spending 4 weeks not only learning about how to P.R.A.I. but actually doing it, people will develop some habits that will carry over into how they “walk” through their everyday life.
We will have different guests join us to train and enlighten us to what’s really going on out there on the streets of our community.
Contact Jeff Costa today to register.
We have partnered with Go Ministries at The Crossing for over two years now, raising tens of thousands of dollars, by donating hundreds of free training sessions doing what we love to do—improve the quality of life for our clients and our community. | 2019-04-22T02:16:38Z | https://innovative-results.com/tag/charity/ |
Items where Author is "Jackson, P"
Francombe, Jon, Woodcock, James, Hughes, Richard J., Mason, Russell, Franck, Andreas, Pike, Chris, Brookes, Tim, Davies, William J., Jackson, Philip J.B., Cox, Trevor J., Fazi, Filippo M. and Hilton, Adrian (2018) Qualitative evaluation of media device orchestration for immersive spatial audio reproduction Journal of the Audio Engineering Society, 66 (6). pp. 414-429.
Coleman, Philip, Franck, A, Francombe, Jon, Liu, Qingju, de Campos, Teofilo, Hughes, R, Menzies, D, Simon Galvez,, M, Tang, Y, Woodcock, J, Jackson, Philip, Melchior, F, Pike, C, Fazi, F, Cox, T and Hilton, Adrian (2018) An Audio-Visual System for Object-Based Audio: From Recording to Listening IEEE Transactions on Multimedia, 20 (8). pp. 1919-1931.
Liu, Qingju, Wang, Wenwu, de Campos, Teofilo, Jackson, Philip and Hilton, Adrian (2017) Multiple Speaker Tracking in Spatial Audio via PHD Filtering and Depth-Audio Fusion IEEE Transactions on Multimedia, 20 (7). pp. 1767-1780.
Xu, Yong, Huang, Qiang, Wang, Wenwu, Foster, Peter, Sigtia, S, Jackson, Philip and Plumbley, Mark (2017) Unsupervised Feature Learning Based on Deep Models for Environmental Audio Tagging IEEE-ACM TRANSACTIONS ON AUDIO SPEECH AND LANGUAGE PROCESSING, 25 (6). pp. 1230-1241.
Remaggi, Luca, Jackson, Philip, Coleman, Philip and Wang, Wenwu (2017) Acoustic Reflector Localization: Novel Image Source Reversion and Direct Localization Methods IEEE Transactions on Audio, Speech and Language Processing, 25 (2). pp. 296-309.
Coleman, P, Franck, A, Jackson, P, Hughes, R, Remaggi, L and Melchior, F (2017) Object-Based Reverberation for Spatial Audio Journal of the Audio Engineering Society, 65 (1/2). pp. 66-77.
Milner, T, de Lusignan, S, Jones, S, Jackson, P and Irvine, T (2015) Breast cancer metastasis burden in sentinel nodes analysed using one-step nucleic acid amplification predicts axillary nodal status The Breast.
Conetta, R, Brookes, Tim, Rumsey, F, Zielinski, S, Dewhirst, M, Jackson, P, Bech, S, Meares, D and George, S (2015) Spatial Audio Quality Perception (Part 1): Impact of Commonly Encountered Processes JOURNAL OF THE AUDIO ENGINEERING SOCIETY, 62 (12). pp. 831-846.
Conetta, R, Brookes, Tim, Rumsey, F, Zielinski, S, Dewhirst, M, Jackson, P, Bech, S, Meares, D and George, S (2015) Spatial Audio Quality Perception (Part 2): A Linear Regression Model JOURNAL OF THE AUDIO ENGINEERING SOCIETY, 62 (12). pp. 847-860.
Olik, M, Jackson, PJB, Coleman, P and Pedersen, JA (2014) Optimal source placement for sound zone reproduction with first order reflections JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA, 136 (6). pp. 3085-3096.
Coleman, P, Jackson, P, Olik, M and Pedersen, JA (2014) Personal audio with a planar bright zone Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 136 (4). pp. 1725-1735.
Alinaghi, A, Jackson, PJB, Liu, Q and Wang, W (2014) Joint Mixing Vector and Binaural Model Based Stereo Source Separation IEEE Transactions on Audio, Speech, & Language Processing, 22, 9. pp. 1434-1448.
Kundegorski, M, Jackson, PJB and Ziolko, B (2014) Two-Microphone Dereverberation for Automatic Speech Recognition of Polish Archives of Acoustics, 39 (3). pp. 411-420.
Alinaghi, A, Jackson, PJB and Wang, W (2013) Comparison between the statistical cues in BSS techniques and Binaural cues in CASA approaches for reverberant speech separation IET Conference Publications, 2013 (619 CP).
Liu, Q, Wang, W, Jackson, PJB, Barnard, M, Kittler, J and Chambers, J (2013) Source separation of convolutive and noisy mixtures using audio-visual dictionary learning and probabilistic time-frequency masking IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing, 61 (22), 99. pp. 5520-5535.
Olik, M, Jackson, PJ and Coleman, P (2013) Influence of low-order room reflections on sound zone system performance Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics, 19.
Jackson, PJ, Jacobsen, F, Coleman, P and Pedersen, JA (2013) Sound field planarity characterized by superdirective beamforming Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics, 19.
Olik, M, Jackson, P, Coleman, P, Olsen, M, Mo̸ller, M and Bech, S (2013) Influence of low-order room reflections on sound zone system performance. J Acoust Soc Am, 133 (5).
Jackson, PJ, Jacobsen, F, Coleman, PD and Abildgaard Pedersen, J (2013) Sound field planarity characterized by superdirective beamforming. J Acoust Soc Am, 133 (5).
Coleman, P, Jackson, P, Olik, M, Olsen, M, Mo̸ller, M and Pedersen, JA (2013) The influence of regularization on anechoic performance and robustness of sound zone methods. J Acoust Soc Am, 133 (5).
Jackson, PJB and Desiraju, NK (2013) Use of 3d head shape for personalized binaural audio Proceedings of the AES International Conference. pp. 81-86.
Coleman, P, Jackson, PJ, Olik, M, Olsen, M, Møller, M and Pedersen, JA (2013) The influence of regularization on anechoic performance and robustness of sound zone methods Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics, 19.
Liu, Q, Wang, W and Jackson, P (2012) Use of bimodal coherence to resolve the permutation problem in convolutive BSS Signal Processing, 92 (8). pp. 1916-1927.
Litwic, Ł and Jackson, PJB (2011) Source localization and separation using random sample consensus with phase cues IEEE Workshop on Applications of Signal Processing to Audio and Acoustics. pp. 337-340.
Alinaghi, A, Wang, W and Jackson, PJB (2011) Integrating binaural cues and blind source separation method for separating reverberant speech mixtures IEEE International Conference on Acoustics, Speech and Signal Processing - Proceedings. pp. 209-212.
George, S, Zielinski, S, Rumsey, F, Jackson, PJB, Conetta, R, Dewhirst, M, Meares, D and Bech, S (2010) Development and Validation of an Unintrusive Model for Predicting the Sensation of Envelopment Arising from Surround Sound Recordings Journal of the Audio Engineering Society, 58 (12). pp. 1013-1031.
Haq, S and Jackson, PJB (2010) Multimodal emotion recognition pp. 398-423.
Edge, JD, Hilton, A and Jackson, PJB (2009) Model-based synthesis of visual speech movements from 3D video EURASIP Journal on Audio, Speech, and Music Processing, 2009, 597267. p. 12.
Jackson, PJB and Singampalli, VD (2009) Statistical identification of articulation constraints in the production of speech SPEECH COMMUNICATION, 51 (8). pp. 695-710.
Shiga, Y and Jackson, PJB (2008) Start- and end-node segmental-HMM pruning ELECTRON LETT, 44 (1). 60-U77.
Jesus, LMT and Jackson, PJB (2008) Frication and voicing classification Lecture Notes in Computer Science: Computational Processing of the Portuguese Language, 5190. pp. 11-20.
Russell, MJ, Zheng, X and Jackson, PJB (2007) Modelling speech signals using formant frequencies as an intermediate representation IET SIGNAL PROCESSING, 1 (1). pp. 43-50.
Pincas, J and Jackson, PJB (2006) Amplitude modulation of turbulence noise by voicing in fricatives JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA, 120 (6). pp. 3966-3977.
Russell, MJ and Jackson, PJB (2005) A multiple-level linear/linear segmental HMM with a formant-based intermediate layer COMPUTER SPEECH AND LANGUAGE, 19 (2). pp. 205-225.
Pincas, J and Jackson, PJB (2005) Amplitude modulation of frication noise by voicing saturates 9th European Conference on Speech Communication and Technology. pp. 349-352.
Jackson, PJB, Lo, BH and Russell, MJ (2002) Data-driven, nonlinear, formant-to-acoustic mapping for ASR ELECTRONICS LETTERS, 38 (13). pp. 667-669.
Jackson, PJB and Shadle, CH (2001) Pitch-scaled estimation of simultaneous voiced and turbulence-noise components in speech IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON SPEECH AND AUDIO PROCESSING, 9 (7). pp. 713-726.
Jackson, PJB and Shadle, CH (2000) Frication noise modulated by voicing, as revealed by pitch-scaled decomposition Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 108 (4). pp. 1421-1434.
Brownleader, MD, Hopkins, J, Mobasheri, A, Dey, PM, Jackson, P and Trevan, M (2000) Role of extensin peroxidase in tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) seedling growth PLANTA, 210 (4). pp. 668-676.
Brownleader, MD, Jackson, P, Mobasheri, A, Pantelides, AT, Sumar, S, Trevan, M and Dey, PM (1999) Molecular aspects of cell wall modifications during fruit ripening CRITICAL REVIEWS IN FOOD SCIENCE AND NUTRITION, 39 (2). pp. 149-164.
Kroos, Christian, Bones, Oliver, Cao, Yin, Harris, Lara, Jackson, Philip J. B., Davies, William J., Wang, Wenwu, Cox, Trevor J. and Plumbley, Mark D. (2019) Generalisation in environmental sound classification: the ‘making sense of sounds’ data set and challenge In: 44th International Conference on Acoustics, Speech, and Signal Processing (ICASSP 2019), 12-17 May 2019, Brighton, UK.
Remaggi, Luca, Kim, Hansung, Jackson, Philip J. B. and Hilton, Adrian (2019) Reproducing Real World Acoustics in Virtual Reality Using Spherical Cameras In: 2019 AES International Conference on Immersive and Interactive Audio, 27-29 Mar 2019, York, UK.
Blanco Galindo, Miguel, Coleman, Philip and Jackson, Philip (2019) Robust hypercardioid synthesis for spatial audio capture: microphone geometry, directivity and robustness In: 2019 AES International Conference on Immersive and Interactive Audio, 2019-03-27-2019-03-29, York, UK.
Kim, Hansung, Remaggi, Luca, Jackson, Philip and Hilton, Adrian (2019) Spatial Audio Reproduction System for VR Using 360 degree Cameras In: The 12th Asia Pacific Workshop on Mixed and Augmented Reality (APMAR 2019), 28 - 29 March, 2019, Nara Institute of Science and Technology, Osaka, Japan.
Kim, Hansung, Remaggi, Luca, Jackson, Philip and Hilton, Adrian (2019) Immersive Spatial Audio Reproduction for VR/AR Using Room Acoustic Modelling from 360° Images In: IEEE VR 2019, 2019-03-23 - 2019-03-27, Osaka, Japan.
Huang, Qiang, Jackson, Philip, Plumbley, Mark D. and Wang, Wenwu (2018) Synthesis of images by two-stage generative adversarial networks In: 2018 IEEE International Conference on Acoustics, Speech and Signal Processing (ICASSP), 15–20 Apr 2018, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Duel, Tijs, Frohlich, David M., Kroos, Christian, Xu, Yong, Jackson, Philip J. B. and Plumbley, Mark D. (2018) Supporting audiography: Design of a system for sentimental sound recording, classification and playback In: HCI International: 20th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, 15-20 Jul 2018, Caesar's Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada.
Coleman, Philip, Liu, Qingju, Francombe, Jon and Jackson, Philip (2018) Perceptual evaluation of blind source separation in object-based audio production In: 14th International Conference on Latent Variable Analysis and Signal Separation, 02-06 Jul 2018, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK.
Remaggi, Luca, Jackson, Philip, Coleman, Philip and Parnell, T (2018) Estimation of Object-based Reverberation using an Ad-hoc Microphone Arrangement for Live Performance In: 144th Convention of the Audio Engineering Society, 23 - 26 May 2018, Milan, Italy.
Remaggi, Luca, Kim, Hansung, Jackson, Philip, Fazi, Filippo Maria and Hilton, Adrian (2018) Acoustic reflector localization and classification In: ICASSP 2018 - 2018 IEEE International Conference on Acoustics, Speech and Signal Processing (ICASSP), 15 - 20 Apr 2018, Calgary, Canada.
Remaggi, Luca, Jackson, Philip J. B., Kim, Hansung and Hilton, Adrian (2018) An Audio-Visual Method for Room Boundary Estimation and Material Recognition In: 2018 Workshop on Audio-Visual Scene Understanding for Immersive Multimedia (AVSU’18), 22-26 Oct 2018, Seoul, Korea.
Liu, Qingju, Xu, Yong, Jackson, Philip, Wang, Wenwu and Coleman, Philip (2018) Iterative deep neural networks for speaker-independent binaural blind speech separation In: 2018 IEEE International Conference on Acoustics, Speech and Signal Processing, 15 - 20 April 2018, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Liu, Qingju, Wang, Wenwu, Jackson, Philip and Safavi, Saeid (2018) A Performance Evaluation of Several Deep Neural Networks for Reverberant Speech Separation In: 52nd Asilomar Conference on Signals, Systems and Computers, 28 - 31 October 2018, Pacific Grove, CA.
Hammond, Benjamin and Jackson, Philip (2018) Robust Full-Sphere Binaural Sound Source Localization In: IEEE International Conference on Acoustics, Speech and Signal Processing (ICASSP 2018), 15 - 20 April 2018, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Jackson, Philip, Plumbley, Mark D, Wang, Wenwu, Brookes, Tim, Coleman, Philip, Mason, Russell, Frohlich, David, Bonina, Carla and Plans, David (2017) Signal Processing, Psychoacoustic Engineering and Digital Worlds: Interdisciplinary Audio Research at the University of Surrey In: Speech and Audio in the North East (SANE 2017), 19 October 2017, New York.
Kim, Hansung, Remaggi, Luca, Jackson, Philip, Fazi, F and Hilton, Adrian (2017) 3D Room Geometry Reconstruction Using Audio-Visual Sensors In: International Conference on 3D Vision (3DV 2017), 10 - 12 October 2017, Qingdao, China.
Liu, Qingju, Wang, Wenwu, Jackson, Philip and Tang, Yan (2017) A Perceptually-Weighted Deep Neural Network for Monaural Speech Enhancement in Various Background Noise Conditions In: 2017 25th European Signal Processing Conference (EUSIPCO), 28 Aug - 2 Sep 2017, Kos Island, Greece.
Francombe, Jon, Mason, Russell, Jackson, Philip, Brookes, Timothy, Hughes, R, Woodcock, J, Franck, A, Melchior, F and Pike, C (2017) Media Device Orchestration for Immersive Spatial Audio Reproduction In: Audio Mostly conference on Augmented and Participatory Sound and Music Experiences (AM '17), August 23 - 26 2017, London,UK.
Blanco Galindo, Miguel, Jackson, Philip, Coleman, Philip and Remaggi, Luca (2017) Microphone array design for spatial audio object early reflection parametrisation from room impulse responses In: 24th International Congress on Sound and Vibration (ICSV24), 23 - 27 July 2017, London, UK.
Coleman, Philip, Blanco Galindo, Miguel and Jackson, Philip (2017) Comparison of microphone array geometries for multi-point sound field reproduction In: 24th International Congress on Sound and Vibration (ICSV24), 23 – 27 July 2017, London, UK.
Huang, Qiang, Xu, Yong, Jackson, Philip, Wang, Wenwu and Plumbley, Mark (2017) Fast Tagging of Natural Sounds Using Marginal Co-regularization In: ICASSP2017, The 42nd IEEE International Conference on Acoustics, Speech and Signal Processing, 2017-03-05 - 2017-03-09, New Orleans, USA.
Kim, Hansung, Hughes, RJ, Remaggi, Luca, Jackson, Philip, Hilton, Adrian, Cox, TJ and Shirley, B (2017) Acoustic Room Modelling using a Spherical Camera for Reverberant Spatial Audio Objects In: 142nd Convention of the Audio Engineering Society, 2017-05-20 - 2017-05-23, Berlin, Germany.
Hammond, Benjamin and Jackson, Philip (2017) Full-Sphere Binaural Sound Source Localization by Maximum-Likelihood Estimation of Interaural Parameters In: AES 142nd Convention, May 20–23 2017, Berlin, Germany.
Jackson, Philip, Stenzel, Hanne and Francombe, Jon (2017) Modeling horizontal audio-visual coherence with the psychometric function In: AES 142nd Convention, 2017-05-20 - 2017-05-23, Berlin, Germany.
Coleman, Philip, Franck, A, Menzies, D and Jackson, Philip (2017) Object-based reverberation encoding from first-order Ambisonic RIRs In: 142nd International Convention; AES Berlin 2017, 20 - 23 May 2017, Berlin, Germany.
Coleman, Philip and Jackson, Philip (2017) Planarity analysis of room acoustics for object-based reverberation In: 24th International Congress on Sound and Vibration, 23 - 27 July 2017, London, UK.
Liu, Qingju, Tang, Yan, Jackson, Philip and Wang, Wenwu (2016) Predicting binaural speech intelligibility from signals estimated by a blind source separation algorithm In: INTERSPEECH 2016, 17th Annual Conference of the International Speech Communication Association, 2016-09-08 - 2016-09-12, San Francisco, US.
Xu, Y, Huang, Q, Wang, W, Jackson, PJB and Plumbley, MD (2016) Fully DNN-based Multi-label regression for audio tagging In: DCASE2016 Workshop (Workshop on Detection and Classification of Acoustic Scenes and Events), 2016-09-03 - 2016-09-03, Budapest, Hungary.
Coleman, Philip and Jackson, Philip (2016) Planarity-based sound field optimization for multi-listener spatial audio In: AES Sound Field Control Conference., 2016-07-18 - 2016-07-20, Guildford, UK.
Liu, Qingju, deCampos, T, Wang, Wenwu, Jackson, Philip and Hilton, Adrian (2016) Person tracking using audio and depth cues In: International Conference on Computer Vision (ICCV) Workshop on 3D Reconstruction and Understanding with Video and Sound, 2015-12-11 - 2015-12-15, Santiago, Chile.
Coleman, P, Franck, A, Jackson, PJB, Hughes, R, Remaggi, L and Melchior, F (2016) On object based audio with reverberation In: AES 60th International Conference, 2016-02-03 - 2016-02-05, Leuven, Belgium.
Remaggi, L, Jackson, PJB, Coleman, P and Francombe, F (2015) Visualization of compact microphone array room impulse responses In: AES 139th Int. Conv. (e-Brief), New York NY, 2015-10-29 - 2015-11-01, New York, USA.
Liu, Q, Wang, W, Jackson, PJB and Cox, TJ (2015) A source separation evaluation method in object-based spatial audio In: 23rd European Signal Processing Conference (EUSIPCO), Nice, France.
Remaggi, L, Jackson, PJB and Coleman, P (2015) Source, sensor and reflector position estimation from acoustical room impulse responses In: 22nd International Congress on Sound and Vibration, 2015-07-12 - 2015-07-16, Florence, Italy.
Coleman, P, Jackson, PJB and Francombe, J (2015) Audio Object Separation Using Microphone Array Beamforming In: 138th Convention of the Audio Engineering Society, 2015-05-07 - 2015-05-10, Warsaw, Poland.
Remaggi, Luca, Jackson, PJB and Coleman, Philip (2015) Estimation of Room Reflection Parameters for a Reverberant Spatial Audio Object In: 138th Convention of the Audio Engineering Society, 2015-05-07 - 2015-05-10, Warsaw.
Francombe, J, Brookes, T, Mason, R, Flindt, R, Coleman, P, Liu, Q and Jackson, PJB (2015) Production and reproduction of programme material for a variety of spatial audio formats In: 138th Audio Engineering Society Convention.
Remaggi, L, Jackson, PJB, Wang, W and Chambers, J (2015) A 3D model for room boundary estimation In: ICASSP 2015, Brisbane, Australia.
Rafique, W, Naqvi, SM, Jackson, PJB and Chambers, JA (2015) IVA algorithms using a multivariate student’s t source prior for speech source separation in real room environments In: ICASSP 2015, Brisbane, Australia.
Rafique, W, Naqvi, SM, Jackson, PJB and Chambers, JA (2015) IVA ALGORITHMS USING A MULTIVARIATE STUDENT'S T SOURCE PRIOR FOR SPEECH SOURCE SEPARATION IN REAL ROOM ENVIRONMENTS In: 40th IEEE International Conference on Acoustics, Speech, and Signal Processing (ICASSP), 2014-04-19 - 2014-04-24, Brisbane, AUSTRALIA.
Remaggi, L, Jackson, PJB, Coleman, P and Wang, W (2014) Room boundary estimation from acoustic room impulse responses In: Sensor Signal Processing for Defence (SSPD 2014), 2014-09-08 - 2014-09-09, Edinburgh.
Jackson, PJB and Desiraju, NK (2013) Use of 3D Head Shape for Personalized Binaural Audio In: 49th AES Audio for Games Conference, 2013-02-06 - 2013-02-08, London.
Liu, Q, Wang, W, Jackson, PJB and Barnard, M (2012) Reverberant Speech Separation Based on Audio-visual Dictionary Learning and Binaural Cues In: IEEE Statistical Signal Processing Workshop (SSP), 2012-08-05 - 2012-08-08, Ann Abor, USA.
Liu, Q, Naqvi, SM, Wang, W, Jackson, PJB and Chambers, J (2011) Robust feature selection for scaling ambiguity reduction in audio-visual convolutive BSS In: 19th European Signal Processing Conference 2011 (EUSIPCO 2011), 2011-08-29 - 2011-09-02, Barcelona, Spain.
Liu, Q, Wang, W and Jackson, PJB (2011) A visual voice activity detection method with adaboosting In: Sensor Signal Processing for Defence (SSPD 2011), 2011-09-27 - 2011-09-29, London, UK.
Liu, Q, Wang, W and Jackson, P (2010) Audio-visual Convolutive Blind Source Separation In: Sensor Signal Processing for Defence, 2010-09-29 - 2010-09-30, London, UK.
Liu, Q, Wang, W and Jackson, PJB (2010) Use of Bimodal Coherence to Resolve Spectral Indeterminacy in Convolutive BSS In: 9th International Conference on Latent Variable Analysis and Signal Separation (formerly the International Conference on Independent Component Analysis and Signal Separation), 2010-09-27 - 2010-09-30, St. Malo, France.
Liu, Q, Wang, W and Jackson, PJB (2010) Bimodal Coherence based Scale Ambiguity Cancellation for Target Speech Extraction and Enhancement In: 11th Annual Conference of the International Speech Communication Association 2010, 2010-09-26 - 2010-09-30, Makuhari, Japan.
Jackson, PJB, Dewhirst, M, Conetta, R and Zielinski, S (2010) Estimates of perceived spatial quality across the listening area In: AES 38th International Conference: Sound Quality Evaluation, 2010-06-13 - 2010-06-15, Piteå, Sweden.
Soltuz, SM, Wang, W and Jackson, PJB (2009) A HYBRID ITERATIVE ALGORITHM FOR NONNEGATIVE MATRIX FACTORIZATION In: 15th IEEE/SP Workshop on Statistical Signal Processing, 2009-08-31 - 2009-09-03, Cardiff, WALES.
Edge, JD, Hilton, A and Jackson, PJB (2009) Model-based synthesis of visual speech movements from 3D video In: SIGGRAPH '09, 2009-08-03 - 2009-08-07, Louisiana, USA.
Jackson, PJB, Dewhirst, M, Conetta, R, Zielinski, S, Rumsey, F, Meares, D, Bech, S and George, S (2008) QESTRAL (Part 3): system and metrics for spatial quality prediction In: 125th Audio Engineering Society Convention, 2008-10-02 - ?, San Francisco CA.
Dewhirst, M, Conetta, R, Rumsey, F, Jackson, PJB, Zielinski, S, George, S, Bech, S and Meares, D (2008) QESTRAL (Part 4): Test signals, combining metrics and the prediction of overall spatial quality In: 125th Audio Engineering Society Convention, 2008-10-02 - ?, San Francisco CA.
Conetta, R, Rumsey, F, Zielinski, S, Jackson, PJB, Dewhirst, M, Bech, S, Meares, D and George, S (2008) QESTRAL (Part 2): Calibrating the QESTRAL model using listening test data In: 125th AES Convention, 2008-10-02 - 2008-10-04, San Francisco USA.
Edge, J, Hilton, A and Jackson, P (2008) Parameterisation of Speech Lip Movements In: AVSP, 2008-09-26 - 2008-09-29, Tangalooma, Australia.
Conetta, R, Dewhirst, M, Rumsey, F, Zielinski, S, Jackson, PJB, Bech, S, Meares, D and George, S (2008) Calibration of the qestral model for the prediction of spatial quality In: 24th Reproduced Sound Conference: Reproduced Sound 24: Immersive Audio, 2008-11-20 - 2008-11-21, Brighton, UK.
Longton, JH and Jackson, PJB (2008) Parallel model combination and word recognition in soccer audio In: IEEE International Conference on Multimedia and Expo (ICME 2008), 2008-06-23 - 2008-06-26, Hannover, Germany.
Jackson, PJB (2007) Time-frequency-modulation representation of stochastic signals In: 15th International Conference on Digital Signal Processing, 2007-07-01 - 2007-07-04, Cardiff.
Turkmani, A, Hilton, A, Jackson, PJB and Edge, J (2007) Visual analysis of lip coarticulation in VCV utterances In: INTERSPEECH 2007, 2007-08-27 - 2007-08-31, Antwerp, Belgium.
Every, MR and Jackson, PJB (2006) Enhancement of harmonic content of speech based on a dynamic programming pitch tracking algorithm In: 9th International Conference on Spoken Language Processing/INTERSPEECH 2006, 2006 - ?, Pittsburgh, PA.
Dewhirst, M, Zielinski, SK, Jackson, PJB and Rumsey, F (2005) Objective assessment of spatial localisation attributes of surround-sound reproduction systems In: 108th AES Convention, 2005-05-28 - 2005-05-31, Sound.
Ypsilos, IA, Hilton, A, Turkmani, A and Jackson, PJB (2004) Speech Driven Face Synthesis from 3D Video In: 2nd International Symposium on 3D Data Processing, Visualization and Transmission, 2004-09-06 - 2004-09-09, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Jackson, PJB, Moreno, DM, Russell, MJ and Hernando, J (2003) Covariation and weighting of harmonically decomposed streams for ASR In: 8th European Conference on Speech Communication and Technology. Eurospeech 2003, 2003-09-01 - 2003-09-04, Geneva.
Jackson, PJB and Shadle, CH (2000) Frication noise modulated by voicing, as revealed by pitch-scaled decomposition In: 2nd International Conference on Voice Physiology and Biomechanics (ICVPB), 1999-03-12 - 1999-03-14, BERLIN, GERMANY.
Jackson, PJB and Shadle, CH (2000) Performance of the pitch-scaled harmonic filter and applications in speech analysis In: IEEE International Conference on Acoustics, Speech, and Signal Processing, 2000-06-05 - 2000-06-09, ISTANBUL, TURKEY.
Shadle, CH, Mohammad, M, Carter, JN and Jackson, PJB (1999) Dynamic Magnetic Resonance Imaging: new tools for speech research In: 14th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences, 1999-08-01 - 1999-08-07, San Francisco, CA.
Coleman, P, Jackson, PJB, Olik, M and Pedersen, JA Numerical optimization of loudspeaker configuration for sound zone reproduction In: International Congress on Sound and Vibration, 2014-07-13 - 2014-07-17, Beijing, China.
Coleman, P, Jackson, PJB, Olik, M and Pedersen, JA Stereophonic personal audio reproduction using planarity control optimization In: International Congress on Sound and Vibration, 2014-07-13 - 2014-07-17, Beijing, China.
Jackson, PJB Characterisation of plosive, fricative and aspiration components in speech production Doctoral thesis, University of Southampton.
UNSPECIFIED (2014) Zonal sound distribution .
UNSPECIFIED (2012) System, devices and methods for predicting the perceived spatial quality of sound processing and reproducing equipment .
UNSPECIFIED A sound-field control method using a planarity measure .
Conetta, R, Jackson, PJB, Zielinski, S and Rumsey, F (2007) Envelopment: What is it? A definition for multichannel audio .
This list was generated on Thu Apr 18 10:34:12 2019 UTC. | 2019-04-19T10:26:44Z | http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/view/creators/Jackson,_P.html |
Objectivity, Subjectivity. Fear and a New Year.
Most of the time, I try to live as objectively as possible. Of course, actual objectivity is impossible, but I generally try. I want to be fair to others, and most of all I want to invite the Spirit, which testifies of truth.
But this isn't a post about what is objectively true, it's a post about feelings. Pure, unadulterated, vulnerable subjectivity. Sharing what I subjectively experience makes it very easy for me to be attacked, but I'm tired of holding myself back so that I won't be vulnerable.
When I was no more than seven, I remember gently removing the shed skin of cicadas from the slat-wood fence in my parents' backyard. We would gather roly poly bugs and watch them curl and uncurl. One of my greatest ambitions was to find a queen fire ant, so I could have my own colony. I kept a careful eye on the date tree in our front yard, finding out that coconut trees and date trees were very different things.
I asked millions of questions, and stored the answers in the back of my mind. I climbed olive trees and dreamt of dinosaurs flying overhead. I read every book I could get my hands on, immersing myself in the stars, in the layers of the earth, in learning about peach trees and honey bees.
When we visited my grandparents, I followed one around and fed his calves and goats. The other taught me about herbs and roses. I learned that spiders love grape arbors, and that dog food doesn't taste good.
Later, I looked into the maw of a dormant volcano, smelled the sulfur pits, watched humpbacks dive on the horizon. I gathered and preserved sea urchin, learned about man o' war jellyfish, and how to pick blackberries with minimal scratches. Everywhere I lived, there were new explorations and always, always more to learn. What I could not learn by experience, I learned from books. Sometimes, I feel as though I have lived dozens of lives in my short years here.
This is not my typical feel-good, soft post. I'm going to say something very harsh here. I am truly sorry to further wound those who are already in pain. But I have been wrapped up in a cycle of pain regarding the Church myself, and from that position I feel that I need to speak up, say what I need to say, even if I'm not loved for it.
You're looking for justification for women not having the priesthood. You think that, if the Church doesn't ordain women, there has to be a reason, even if that reason is just because God says so. You are frustrated and upset because you haven't gotten a "clear answer" that satisfied you. You don't feel valuable in the Church because you're not getting the answer you want.
And that is why you are missing the entire point. Because you assume that the prophets and/or God have to answer to you, give you what you want how you want it, you are causing yourself nearly unbearable pain. The justification, the only answer that you're going to get is that the leadership hasn't implemented it. Full stop.
The reason you don't understand the prophets' actions, or the stance of those who follow them is because your underlying assumptions have already taken you to a mode of thinking that is incapable of comprehending them. Take a step back from your assumptions for a moment—I know it is very, very painful and difficult, but try.
How does it fit into an LDS view of eternal marriage?
What recourse does a Mormon woman (or man) have in an abusive marriage?
What can we do to change our understanding of marriage?
I'll post my thoughts in the future, but first I want to hear what you think. Email me if your comments are too personal to post publicly. I promise I won't reproduce or quote them without your permission.
Everyone is mourning the loss of Robin Williams. Through his gift of acting, he has inspired, blessed, and cheered us. In Dead Poet's Society he taught us to be more than what we are. In Mrs. Doubtfire and Hook, he taught us to love our families. His smile is iconic. His soft voice makes us feel love.
And yet, he was bipolar. His family life was chaotic, and he may have finally committed suicide.
We all love Robin Williams for what he gave us, but there was a cost. His life was turbulent, his internal emotions intense and swinging. I relate to that somewhat. Though I'm not bipolar, I am very passionate. But it is from that very place of pain that genius is born.
I think, when we tell people they can "choose to be happy" or "positive outcomes only," we invalidate their pain. We medicate sorrow as if it's a disease, and we tell ourselves to avoid people in pain as if it is communicable. We are increasingly unable to deal with sorrow, to mourn with others who mourn and to comfort them. We are unable to reach out to make the very connections that make our burdens light.
I am in the awkward position of not knowing my position. Increasingly, I find myself disagreeing with almost all the ideology of both the liberal and conservative bloggers' side, and ideology of the mainstream members. It leaves me with the very real possibility that I am the one going wrong.
Increasingly, the things said over the pulpit do not resonate with me. But neither do any of the things from other perspectives. Maybe I'm just overstressed and finding myself incontrovertibly rooted in the right-now, physical world. Maybe having lived in survival mode, in fear for so long makes me utterly unlike the rest of the world, without the capacity to gnaw over the past, politics or religion. But maybe my constant tension means I'm losing touch with the Spirit.
I find myself hungry for doctrines that resonate with me, thirsty for the Waters of Life. And, as in prophecy, I do not know where to find them. My prayers consist mostly of "I don't know what to ask for, but please help." My list of Things I Need to Repent From grows longer daily, and I still haven't the least clue how to change any of them. Repentance is easier when you know what you are doing wrong, or know how to change it when you do.
It breaks my heart to see so many people struggling in the wake of excommunication. It is like a sea of disquiet. I know I can help one soul at a time, but right now the pain is overwashing anything I could do, so I'm mostly just listening.
There is so much discourse about women's terrible temple experiences, how the endowment ceremony hurts them, how it keeps them unable to understand their place and who they are as women. Right now all the stories seem to be about how unequal and terrible it is. But I believe in the power of stories. Parts of my story can only be shared one-on-one, in person, when moved by the Spirit. But right now I feel constrained to share something publicly. Maybe seeing how I process my temple experience can help someone else who is trying to understand.
"...Ye must repent, and be baptized in my name, and become as a little child, or ye can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God."
I think Satan rejoices just as much over smug self-satisfaction as he does about those who error in doctrine. Contention is not just about asking questions, it's also about condemning those with different paradigms than ours. Not all who subscribe to OW are in open rebellion, and I think those of us who don't believe in liberal principles or female ordination need to guard our borders against pride just as much.
It is so easy for us to look at those who perceive the world differently and think we are somehow better and more righteous. But I think that when we become comfortable in our service to God to the point that we believe we are right and others have nothing to teach us, we run the real risk of pride.
Pride is not only the enemy of humility, it is the opposite of charity. Charity is more important even than faith, for faith fails. If we are earnest disciples to Christ, we will inevitably reach some moment in our lives when our faith is not enough to pull us through. But when those times come, we can cleave to the Savior by emulating His charity. Charity is more important than knowledge. Though we are to gain as much knowledge as we can in this life, we will not likely gain it all. There will come a time when our own understanding and knowledge will fail us. But we can fill the gaps of our understanding with a love for God and His children.
No one is entirely lost, no one is entirely saved. None of us are safe, even if we accomplish our Church service, support our leaders with silence and compliance, and do all that we are asked in this volunteer church. We can still fall prey to pride, to vain ambition, to the idols of the world. The Church of Christ is not made up only of members, nor is it only those who have been baptized. The Church is all those who repent: those who repent of misunderstanding doctrine, and those who repent of a lack of charity and compassion. Both errors I see just as much in "faithful members" of the Church as in those who are considered less faithful.
"Satan doth stir up the hearts of the people to contention concerning the points of my doctrine; and in these things they do err, for they do wrest the scriptures and do not understand them.
"Therefore, I will unfold unto them this great mystery; For, behold, I will gather them as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, if they will not harden their hearts; Yea, if they will come, they may, and partake of the waters of life freely. Behold, this is my doctrine—whosoever repenteth and cometh unto me, the same is my church. Whosoever declareth more or less than this, the same is not of me, but is against me; therefore he is not of my church."
All the repentant will have a chance to be baptized. All will be able to make those covenants. But not all who are baptized are repentant. I challenge any of you who disagree with people like the OW movement to humble yourself in prayer and pray for that charity which is the end of all pride, all fear, and all death. That charity is the most powerful gift God can bestow.
Like everyone, I just heard of Kate Kelly's excommunication. I expected to feel somber at the news. I didn't expect the tears.
I do not agree with Sister Kelly's actions in any way. Yet, I had still hoped there would be a way for her to repent before excommunication happened. I imagine to myself what it would feel like to be cut off from the Church. That it would be devastating is without doubt. I imagine her family, her children, her husband and herself. This has to be a sobering experience.
While I would probably have chosen no differently, had I had to make that terrible decision, still it cuts me. I may not entirely understand it, but I mourn. I mourn any time I hear of someone leaving the Church for any reason. I wish that she had not felt that she had to give up her covenants in order to "be authentic."
I hope and pray that she finds a place in her heart to make those covenants again.
I have never been called before a disciplinary council. But on my mission, I experienced something similar. Near the end of my mission, my mission president was released and a new one was called. My first mission president had incredible perception by the Spirit. He allowed me to be the kind of missionary I was drawn to be, even though it caused considerable upheaval and confusion among the ranks of the elders called to lead me in my work.
I remember going to interviews with him, which happened once every six weeks, nervous that I was going to be called on the carpet for the disagreements about how to conduct missionary work I had been having with my leaders. Every new set of leaders in every place I was moved (and it was frequent, at the beginning of my mission) was a new battle. They were called to report numbers of baptisms and lessons taught. I was inclined more to concentrating on the people I came in contact with, feeling strongly that counting numbers was not going to be effective in the area I served.
Like everyone who wants to do better, be better, I sometimes struggle with my relationship with divinity. I have been amply blessed in a myriad little ways. Nothing major, until recently, but repeated small nudges to say something or check on something that ended up saving me just enough to keep me sane. Some days, it has felt like I'm barely holding on with torn and bloody fingernails, but have been touched with just enough extra energy to keep holding on. It is like I'm part of a vast chorus where, hoarse and broken, my voice does far more to create dissonance than beauty.
Recently, the hand of the Lord has been much more obvious. For the last month or so, I have been attending a ward temporarily while I am in transition from one house to another. This ward has several women who are going through divorce. As I've learned of them, and heard some of them speak, I felt prompted to bear my testimony in Fast and Testimony meeting.
This was a difficult proposition because my testimony, as I have said before, is not smooth and pretty, cut to show light and sparkle. It is cracked, crazed, with deep inclusions. It's a bit off-color. The deliverance I've prayed for over the last several years has been slow in coming. Most days are beautiful, but I still sometimes crack under certain types of pressure which I feel ought to be long gone. I'm still triggered, sometimes, over silly things.
I've been in a liminal state for some time, but it is a liminal state where I feel unseen things are happening, that I am being pruned and developed for some specific purpose. I am changing in ways I can't quite see, let alone quantify. I have started several drafts for blog posts but never finished them. I find myself with few comments to make on others' posts. Whatever changes I'm going through don't fit labels easily. I am becoming, but I'm not becoming anything.
Last Sunday, for the first time in several months, I had to get up and leave Relief Society. It wasn't because I was upset, it was because I was angry. The well-meaning woman in the front of the room, addressing the concept of woman's ordination, chose to mock the entire idea. Met with laughter from other sisters in the room, she declared, "Who wants the priesthood? I have enough to do!" She went on to suggest that the OW movement was stupid, faithless, and foolish. I finally left when she started listing all the "access" that single women have to the priesthood.
It would probably take some who only know me online by surprise that it bothered me as much as it did. Others are probably convinced I'm a sympathizer and agree with Ordain Women, though previous posts of mine should make it clear that I'm not. But while I am no sympathizer to the Ordain Women movement, I am an empathizer. Many of the same things that have led these women to "supplication" at the doors of the Tabernacle are things that I have felt.
As a single woman, I've experienced cradling a sick child in the middle of the night with no one to ask to give her a blessing. As a married woman, I experienced asking someone to offer a blessing only to be refused. I've been summarily overridden, my perspective and revelation in my stewardship discounted because I was not one of the ultimate decision makers. As a sister missionary, I've been subjected to ever-increasingly creative verses of "Sisters are Stupid," a song set to the tune of "I Often Go Walking" because the prevailing opinion was that sisters shouldn't bother themselves with priesthood duties such as sharing the Gospel. I've been judged and rejected for not being enough of an appendage. While none of these things SHOULD have happened under a priesthood organized as it is, they all did at least partly BECAUSE of how it is organized, giving those so inclined to interpret women as less-than.
I know the sting of possessing no organized authority in the Church of my Savior.
Recently, I listened to Kate Kelly's podcast where people were invited to "ask her anything." Listening to it, I changed some of my opinions about Kate Kelly and the movement, and others were confirmed. I may have nothing more to add to the discussion that has been going on around her and the Ordain Women movement. But I have felt the Spirit prompting me to write. Even as I type these words, I'm not sure what exactly I'm going to say.
I am one who has struggled mightily with female roles in the Church and in eternity, yet I have a VERY hard time being sympathetic to Ordain Women as a movement. Most individuals who have aligned themselves with that group, I sympathize and even empathize with. I have gone to the mattresses on many of those same issues many times. I am not known for my reticence in speaking up.
There is nothing new about Ordain Women. They have organized together in direct, open, and unapologetic opposition to the Church. I'm not going to pick apart their claims to faithfulness and belief in priesthood authority while publicly opposing that authority. There is really no need, it's obvious enough. I also have no doubt that there are well-meaning people caught up in the smoke and mirrors. But I personally don't have a very long rope when it comes to that brand of deception, conscious or not. I'm all too well acquainted with it.
Public demonstrations and forceful activism are exactly contrary to the principles upon which the priesthood is built. How can they ever expect to wield the power of God when they so clearly don't understand even the most basic aspect of it?
My daughter is preparing for baptism. One of the things I encouraged her to do was to go up in front of the ward and bear testimony. She is seven years old, and very concerned about what other people think of her. Though she used to bear testimony regularly as a small child, she hasn't for some time after developing excruciating shyness in front of an audience.
I told her that bearing her testimony in Church on Fast Sunday might be a good thing to do before making the covenant to stand as God's witness. She agreed to do it, but her fears soon overtook her.
"But I don't know what to say," she said.
"You say what you believe in. What the gospel of Jesus Christ means to you."
"I'm going to be nervous."
"Most people are nervous, sweetheart. If you want me to, I'll go up with you."
She nodded, but still looked doubtful. "That would be good, mommy."
"I will stand up with you and hold your hand, if you like."
"Will you whisper what to say?"
Sometimes it is worthwhile to call out bullies, even relatively harmless internet bullies. So, since this particular bully finds himself unable to allow the entirety of this exchange to post on By Common Consent, I post it here, if for no other reason than to show that he doesn't intimidate me. In fact, I find the whole thing pretty funny.
My comment was made on a thread unfavorably comparing Mormon service to Pentecostal service. Normally, I skim over those kinds of posts but don't bother commenting because they are all too common and all too typical. But this one had a really good message, I thought, behind the dig at the Mormons and how we aren't good enough. It was contrasting service as a duty and ministry, which I feel is a powerful and poignant lesson. Unfortunately, because of the way it was framed, it almost immediately devolved to the plebeian and predictable critique of Mormons and how we're not charitable enough. Because of the good message, I thought I might say as much and counteract the trend by mentioning that Utah is known for generosity.
And yet, despite my disappointment in the outcome, there are a few places that the glorious potential of the storyline peeks out, just to show us what we're missing. I don't want to harp on the disappointing parts, I want to explore that great part, and maybe contradict some of the concerns.
This is my daughter's newest favorite song. It has long been one of mine as well. I think it has one of the tenderest aspects of doctrine in the Gospel. This year, that same daughter is making the decision to be baptized. It is something filled with mixed emotions for me, most of which I don't want to get into. But on this day, when we celebrate love, I want to celebrate both loves which changed my life: the love of God and the love of my children.
I am far from perfect, especially right now. It has seemed, especially lately, that the church is leaving me behind. I don't feel a part of it. I don't feel a part of the Lord's Kingdom. And that hurts. If I could put my finger on one thing I want more than anything else, it is to feel like I belong, like I'm part of accomplishing something good. And I don't.
But as I wrote some time ago, I feel as if the Lord wants me here. Nearly four years later, I still don't know why. Not much has changed. I have a burning testimony that the Gospel is true, I just don't know how I fit into it. And I'm watching my precious child, with many of the same self-critical personality traits that I have, prepare to make this huge covenant. I'm proud of her, and terrified for her.
When reading others' discussions on gospel topics, especially those that people struggle with, I find it fascinating to see just how much our internal biases affect how we can listen to the Spirit. Most of those common issues are not problems for me. I've prayed about it and received answers that satisfy me, ways of looking at mortality, the Church, and God's dealings with His people which give me patience and a bit of a sense of humor about the whole thing. But many people struggle perennially.
While those aren't problems, I've been struggling in the same way with personal answers. It's as if I feel that an answer is out there, I'm just incapable of hearing it, no matter how I wrack my mind and heart. As a silly example, it is as if I hate breakfast cereal and am praying over breakfast to know what is healthier to eat, a doughnut or Cheerios. The whole time, the Spirit is trying to tell me to eat oatmeal, but I just don't have a paradigm for it.
Watching others makes me wonder how often I do this, and how to get around it.
For what sorts of problems are you waiting for an "oatmeal answer"?
Imagine you are swimming in a deep and turbulent ocean. Nearby is a good-sized boat, and on the boat are people cheering you on. It will be over soon, they cry. The shore is only a few hundred feet away! This is such a rough sea, the captain of the boat hollers. Aren't we glad we're in this together? You'll get there, I know you will!
Meanwhile, your arms are somewhere past exhaustion. Your mind is shutting down, and all you can think is to keep moving. You've lost all sense of trying to move somewhere, all you know is you need to keep paddling your arms and legs because the alternative is stopping. And while part of you thinks stopping sounds pretty restful, and maybe not that bad, you know in your deepest heart that stopping is giving up. You're not going to give up.
The people on the boat are rocked with the same waves that are swamping you. They are nice people. They are cheering you still, telling you what a great swimmer you are, how they don't think they could swim as well as you are. Every once in awhile, one will express the wish that they were able to throw you a lifesaver. Unfortunately, they are struggling to hold on to the railings so they won't be washed overboard. You get it, you're not upset by it. But you still kind of wish they'd stop cheering you on and let you concentrate.
"Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends: but as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf."
This parable of the prodigal son has long troubled me. Partly for the same reasons it troubled the elder son. The younger was lazy, wasteful. He didn't care about his father's example, teachings, or entreaties. While the older son labored diligently to honor his father, it was the younger son who received honor simply for coming home.
With the recently released study topic on race and the priesthood in the LDS Church, there is predictably a flurry of praise for the Church's efforts and criticism that it wasn't enough. And, naturally, questions are being raised about the significance of the Church disavowing past explanations for the Priesthood ban and discussion of the racism that caused it, and what that means for following current leaders now. The racial ban could not have been any part of God's will, an argument often runs, because God would never cause so many people so much pain. Therefore, policies which currently cause pain cannot be of God's will, either, so there is no obligation to follow the prophets in matters which cause people pain.
While I am not black, I have been a victim of others' bad choices before. I know what it is to feel pain from the perspective and opinions of Church leadership, as well. It is from that experience and the things I have learned about the nature of God that I now address some of my feelings on this topic. It isn't meant to tell other people how to think or feel, but only to share my personal reaction to fallacy in my priesthood leaders which affects me. I, obviously, have no right to demand the Church leaders repent on the issue of blacks and the priesthood. I am not the injured party. But what I can do is liken the situation to myself, and what I have experienced, so that I can learn from it. With that in mind, although blacks and the priesthood is a parallel, it is not the whole point.
I hadn't thought about it for years...decades, even. I was pondering something completely unrelated, and this image flashed before my eyes of an old, wrinkled Portuguese man sitting in front of a basket of wicker reeds smiling at me. I know who he was. He was the man my mother purchased wicker from. This was back in the mid-eighties and we were living on a tiny island called Terceira in the Açores, Portugal.
I was only a child, somewhere between eight and ten. My memories are not crystal clear, and of course I'm interpreting them now through an adult lens. I don't even know how accurate my memories are. But I remember his brown, wrinkled skin contorted into a smile. I remember his hands, callused from hours of working the tough reeds, softened by hours of soaking in water. All you had to do was take a picture of something made from wicker, give him dimensions, and he would make it for you. He was smiling because I had tried to speak to him in Portuguese, a language of which I remember practically nothing, now.
There is a point at which argument is futile. When two sides of a disagreement are so firmly rooted in their own perceptions, and those perceptions are coming from intrinsically different structures, there is not enough common ground for discussion.
This is, perhaps, why I haven’t really addressed the gay marriage battles going on in the United States of America since they started. I have listened to both sides, found fault and good with both, and made my conclusions. And most of the time, when I try to share why I believe the way I do, I only invite attack.
I do wish to state, perhaps for my own benefit alone, that I do not support gay marriage. I used to, before I started blogging. Getting involved in blogs certainly catalyzed some of my change of mind. I’m sure there are many out there who discount my opinions because they assume they are solely religiously based, or because they come from a place of ignorance and fear. I can protest as much as I like, but I’m not likely to change the minds of people so unapologetically closed-minded. I’m not even going to bother.
There is much I could say about gaining respect for differing moral stances. The arguments for gay marriage are generally based on the moral structure of secularism, the arguments against gay marriage are generally based on a moral structure espoused by many religions of the world. I believe that “separation of Church and State” in our country was never meant to restrict moral opinions from the public sphere. In fact, I believe that creating a space where individuals can act according to their morality in a public sphere without fear of losing employment, housing, physical safety, the ability to reasonably conduct business according to their conscience, and relative peace in their private lives was a core point of our government.
And, like it or not, the bulk of efforts to remove that freedom from fear is coming from those who think secularly. Many believe that individuals should have no right to exercise religiously-based morality in a public sphere, but ought to be forced to behave according to secular morality.
I would fight—have fought—equally hard to defend a gay person’s right to behave according to their beliefs in a public sphere as I now defend my own. I would shop at a store owned by a gay person. I'm as likely to design a gay friend's wedding invitations as those for a straight friend, were one to ask me. But I believe that the right to behave a certain way is not the same as a right to be publicly supported for it.
Determination of the lines of law—deciding what the public should pay for, support, and condone by law—should only be legally determined by a slow and cautious approach to lawmaking, including ALL the branches of government. Rushing headlong, deliberately bypassing checks and balances in the legal system, will inevitably reap consequences in unexpected directions.
I am afraid, watching the way law is happening now. And even if you support gay marriage, you should be afraid, too. The rate at which individual freedom to act according to personal moral conscience is being denied is frightening. When legal paths have been opened, they are very difficult to close. Almost overnight, changes are being made that alter the way people are allowed to live their lives. Though that may work in your favor today, there are no guarantees for tomorrow.
I do not know if my feelings on gay marriage will soon rob me of my ability to act according to my conscience in my employment. My line of work makes me one of those who could easily be forced to participate in things I find reprehensible. I wish, even if gay marriage wins wholesale, that those of religious moral conscience will be able to win a space for themselves. Not only to protect religious institutions, but to protect religious people.
Make no mistake. This war is not just about gay marriage. It is much more fundamental than that. It is a war between religion and secularism, a clash of whether or not people will be allowed to act according to a religious source of morality. Whether or not their votes will be taken away. Whether or not they can choose to conduct their business as they believe they should. Whether or not they are allowed to raise their children in the faith they hold dear. Whether or not they are allowed to speak their hearts, or must remain silent for fear of dire consequence.
There are many voices of empty reassurance, claiming that such things could never happen. But they are already happening. People claimed that welfare for single moms wouldn't result in more single moms, that loosening divorce laws wouldn't result in more divorces. They are blind to the lessons of history, and ignorant to human nature.
Some rights cannot be granted without robbing the rights of another. You can't give the right to drink and drive without potentially robbing a drunk driver's victim of the right to life. You can't give gay people the right to demand the services they want from whom they want them without robbing the service provider of the right to sell their services to whomever they wish to sell them. There is always a price. Some ideals cannot be legislated without sacrificing other ideals.
I mourn for our country. Not because gay marriage is becoming legal, but because of the way that victory is being won and the intentions in the hearts of those who are winning it. Such desire to silence opposition exists everywhere, male and female, gay and straight, religious and secular, but when it is popular and celebrated—when it is in power—there is no one who will escape the price.
Yet, despite my sorrow for the sins of this world, I know in whom I trust. The Book of Mormon is now more than ever before an obvious warning to the righteous, a chance to prepare. We may be called to lay down our lives as so many before us have. But if we keep the love of God in our hearts even as the mobs mock and ridicule, we will have a rock of faith through the trials to come.
“O, ye nations of the earth, how often would I have gathered you together as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, but ye would not!
Though it feels rather uncomfortable and egotistical, I've created a Facebook Page for myself. There, I will post thoughts that don't make it into a post, links, and comments I make in other blogs. Hopefully, it will be used wisely.
This post on pain and choosing happiness is beautiful. Choosing to be happy rather than bitter often takes work. But it's worth it.
"A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead."
Have you ever noticed that not many of Jesus' parables have an ending? We don't know what ultimately happened to the good Samaritan. Was he rewarded for his deed? Did the wounded man heal? What about the five virgins who were turned away? And the man with the one talent? Did he learn from his mistake?
Contrasted with the stories we tend to tell each other today, where sacrifice is rewarded and sorrow is always temporary, we are left wanting to know what's next. There is some primal part of us, deep in our psyches, that yearns to know that the good guys "lived happily ever after." Walt Disney built an empire on it.
My life isn't an "okay in the end" kind of life right now. I'm being held in a liminal state, where I know where I want to be, I think I know where God wants me to be, but I have no idea how to get there. It is sheer agony for someone who has always worked for a goal, tried to become something.
That happy ending seems impossible from this end of the very long, dark tunnel. So I've been digging deeply into my heart, learning to let go of tomorrow's ending so that I can dive into today's opportunities to minister. I'm not very good at it yet, but the seeds of true charity are starting to sprout.
This year, I also created one made from the titles of the posts I did not publish. Not all of them were fully written, but it does give a glimpse into things that were on my mind, but didn't make it to a full post.
May this year be one of growth and joy, just as last year was. | 2019-04-19T07:15:43Z | http://rainscamedown.blogspot.com/2014/ |
A hydrothermal vent is a giant tube worms, clams, limpets and shrimp. Active hydrothermal vents are believed to exist on Jupiter's moon Europa, and Saturn's moon Enceladus, and ancient hydrothermal vents have been speculated to exist on Mars.
Hydrothermal vents in the deep ocean typically form along the mid-ocean ridges, such as the East Pacific Rise and the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. These are locations where two tectonic plates are diverging and new crust is being formed.
The water that issues from seafloor hydrothermal vents consists mostly of sea water drawn into the hydrothermal system close to the volcanic edifice through faults and porous sediments or volcanic strata, plus some magmatic water released by the upwelling magma. In terrestrial hydrothermal systems, the majority of water circulated within the fumarole and geyser systems is meteoric water plus ground water that has percolated down into the thermal system from the surface, but it also commonly contains some portion of metamorphic water, magmatic water, and sedimentary formational brine that is released by the magma. The proportion of each varies from location to location.
In contrast to the approximately 2 °C ambient water temperature at these depths, water emerges from these vents at temperatures ranging from 60 to as high as 464 °C. Due to the high hydrostatic pressure at these depths, water may exist in either its liquid form or as a supercritical fluid at such temperatures. The critical point of (pure) water is 375 °C at a pressure of 218 atmospheres. However, introducing salinity into the fluid raises the critical point to higher temperatures and pressures. The critical point of seawater (3.2 wt. % NaCl) is 407 °C and 298.5 bars, corresponding to a depth of ~2960 m below sea level. Accordingly, if a hydrothermal fluid with a salinity of 3.2 wt. % NaCl vents above 407 °C and 298.5 bars, it is supercritical. Furthermore, the salinity of vent fluids have been shown to vary widely due to phase separation in the crust. The critical point for lower salinity fluids is at lower temperature and pressure conditions than that for seawater, but higher than that for pure water. For example, a vent fluid with a 2.24 wt. % NaCl salinity has the critical point at 400 °C and 280.5 bars. Thus, water emerging from the hottest parts of some hydrothermal vents can be a supercritical fluid, possessing physical properties between those of a gas and those of a liquid.
Examples of supercritical venting are found at several sites. Sister Peak (Comfortless Cove Hydrothermal Field, , elevation -2996 m), vents low salinity phase-separated, vapor-type fluids. Sustained venting was not found to be supercritical but a brief injection of 464 °C was well above supercritical conditions. A nearby site, Turtle Pits, was found to vent low salinity fluid at 407 °C, which is above the critical point of the fluid at that salinity. A vent site in the Cayman Trough named Beebe, which is the world's deepest known hydrothermal site at ~5000 m below sea level, has shown sustained supercritical venting at 401 °C and 2.3 wt% NaCl.
Although supercritical conditions have been observed at several sites, it is not yet known what significance, if any, supercritical venting has in terms of hydrothermal circulation, mineral deposit formation, geochemical fluxes or biological activity.
The initial stages of a vent chimney begin with the deposition of the mineral anhydrite. Sulfides of copper, iron, and zinc then precipitate in the chimney gaps, making it less porous over the course of time. Vent growths on the order of 30 cm per day have been recorded. An April 2007 exploration of the deep-sea vents off the coast of Fiji found those vents to be a significant source of dissolved iron.
Sound recording from a black smoker.
Some hydrothermal vents form roughly cylindrical chimney structures. These form from minerals that are dissolved in the vent fluid. When the superheated water contacts the near-freezing sea water, the minerals precipitate out to form particles which add to the height of the stacks. Some of these chimney structures can reach heights of 60 m. An example of such a towering vent was "Godzilla", a structure in the Pacific Ocean near Oregon that rose to 40 m before it fell over.
A black smoker or sea vent is a type of hydrothermal vent found on the seabed, typically in the abyssal and hadal zones. They appear as black, chimney-like structures that emit a cloud of black material. Black smokers typically emit particles with high levels of sulfur-bearing minerals, or sulfides. Black smokers are formed in fields hundreds of meters wide when superheated water from below Earth's crust comes through the ocean floor. This water is rich in dissolved minerals from the crust, most notably sulfides. When it comes in contact with cold ocean water, many minerals precipitate, forming a black, chimney-like structure around each vent. The deposited metal sulfides can become massive sulfide ore deposits in time.
Black smokers were first discovered in 1977 on the East Pacific Rise by scientists from Scripps Institution of Oceanography. They were observed using a deep submergence vehicle called ALVIN belonging to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Now, black smokers are known to exist in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, at an average depth of 2100 metres. The most northerly black smokers are a cluster of five named Loki's Castle, discovered in 2008 by scientists from the University of Bergen at 73°N, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between Greenland and Norway. These black smokers are of interest as they are in a more stable area of the Earth's crust, where tectonic forces are less and consequently fields of hydrothermal vents are less common. The world's deepest known black smokers are located in the Cayman Trough, 5,000 m (3.1 miles) below the ocean's surface.
White smoker vents emit lighter-hued minerals, such as those containing barium, calcium and silicon. These vents also tend to have lower temperature plumes.
Some vents are surrounded by a dense fauna.
Hydrothermal vent communities are able to sustain such vast amounts of life because vent organisms depend on chemosynthetic bacteria for food. The water from the hydrothermal vent is rich in dissolved minerals and supports a large population of chemoautotrophic bacteria. These bacteria use sulfur compounds, particularly chemosynthesis.
The ecosystem so formed is reliant upon the continued existence of the hydrothermal vent field as the primary source of energy, which differs from most surface life on Earth, which is based on anaerobic.
The chemosynthetic bacteria grow into a thick mat which attracts other organisms, such as annelids, pogonophorans, gastropods, and crustaceans, with large bivalves, vestimentiferan worms, and "eyeless" shrimp making up the bulk of nonmicrobial organisms.
Siboglinid tube worms, which may grow to over 2 m (6.6 ft) tall in the largest species, often form an important part of the community around a hydrothermal vent. They have no mouth or digestive tract, and like parasitic worms, absorb nutrients produced by the bacteria in their tissues. About 285 billion bacteria are found per ounce of tubeworm tissue. Tubeworms have red plumes which contain hemoglobin. Hemoglobin combines with hydrogen sulfide and transfers it to the bacteria living inside the worm. In return, the bacteria nourish the worm with carbon compounds. Two of the species that inhabit a hydrothermal vent are Tevnia jerichonana, and Riftia pachyptila. One discovered community, dubbed "Eel City", consists predominantly of the eel Dysommina rugosa. Though eels are not uncommon, invertebrates typically dominate hydrothermal vents. Eel City is located near Nafanua volcanic cone, American Samoa.
Other examples of the unique Pompeii worm Alvinella pompejana, which is capable of withstanding temperatures up to 80 °C (176 °F).
In 1993, already more than 100 gastropod species were known to occur in hydrothermal vents. Over 300 new species have been discovered at hydrothermal vents, many of them "sister species" to others found in geographically separated vent areas. It has been proposed that before the North American plate overrode the mid-ocean ridge, there was a single biogeographic vent region found in the eastern Pacific. The subsequent barrier to travel began the evolutionary divergence of species in different locations. The examples of convergent evolution seen between distinct hydrothermal vents is seen as major support for the theory of natural selection and of evolution as a whole.
Although life is very sparse at these depths, black smokers are the centers of entire food chain also deposit minerals into the base of the black smoker, therefore completing the life cycle.
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^ Van Dover, C. L. "Hot Topics: Biogeography of deep-sea hydrothermal vent faunas".
^ Beatty, J.T.; et al. (2005). "An obligately photosynthetic bacterial anaerobe from a deep-sea hydrothermal vent".
^ Gold, T. (1992). "The Deep Hot Biosphere".
^ Proskurowski, G.; et al. (2008). "Abiogenic Hydrocarbon Production at Lost City Hydrothermal Field".
^ Wächtershäuser, G. (1990). "Evolution of the First Metabolic Cycles" (PDF).
^ Tunnicliffe, V. (1991). "The Biology of Hydrothermal Vents: Ecology and Evolution".
^ Chemistry of seabed’s hot vents could explain emergence of life. Astrobiology Magazine 27 April 2015.
^ "Bio-inspired CO2 conversion by iron sulfide catalysts under sustainable conditions. (PDF) Nora H. de Leeuw, et. al. Chemical Communications, 2015, 51, 7501-7504. DOI: 10.1039/C5CC02078F. 24 March 2015.
^ Degens, E. T. (1969). Hot Brines and Recent Heavy Metal Deposits in the Red Sea.
^ Lonsdale, P. (1977). "Clustering of suspension-feeding macrobenthos near abyssal hydrothermal vents at oceanic spreading centers".
^ "New undersea vent suggests snake-headed mythology" (Press release).
^ "Beebe". Interridge Vents Database.
^ German, C. R.; et al. (2010). "Diverse styles of submarine venting on the ultraslow spreading Mid-Cayman Rise" (PDF).
^ "Deepest undersea vents discovered by UK team". BBC. 21 February 2013. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
^ Beaulieu, S. E.; Baker, E. T.; German, C. R.; Maffei, A. R. (2013). "An authoritative global database for active submarine hydrothermal vent fields".
^ Perkins, W. G. (1984). "Mount Isa silica dolomite and copper orebodies; the result of a syntectonic hydrothermal alteration system".
^ a b We Are About to Start Mining Hydrothermal Vents on the Ocean Floor. Nautilus; Brandon Keim. 12 September 2015.
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^ "Nautilus Outlines High Grade Au - Cu Seabed Sulphide Zone" (Press release).
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The conservation of hydrothermal vents has been the subject of sometimes heated discussion in the Oceanographic Community for the last 20 years. It has been pointed out that it may be that those causing the most damage to these fairly rare habitats are scientists. There have been attempts to forge agreements over the behaviour of scientists investigating vent sites but although there is an agreed code of practice there is as yet no formal international and legally binding agreement.
Attempts have been made in the past to exploit minerals from the seafloor. The 1960s and 70s saw a great deal of activity (and expenditure) in the recovery of manganese nodules from the abyssal plains, with varying degrees of success. This does demonstrate however that recovery of minerals from the seafloor is possible, and has been possible for some time. Interestingly, mining of manganese nodules served as a cover story for the elaborate attempt by the CIA to raise the sunken Soviet submarine K-129, using the Glomar Explorer, a ship purpose built for the task by Howard Hughes. The operation was known as Project Azorian, and the cover story of seafloor mining of manganese nodules may have served as the impetus to propel other companies to make the attempt.
Potential seafloor mining has environmental impacts including dust plumes from mining machinery affecting filter feeding organisms, collapsing or reopening vents, methane clathrate release, or even sub-oceanic land slides. A large amount of work is currently being engaged in by both the above-mentioned companies to ensure that potential environmental impacts of seafloor mining are well understood and control measures are implemented, before exploitation commences.
Two companies are currently engaged in the late stages of commencing to mine seafloor massive sulfides. Nautilus Minerals is in the advanced stages of commencing extraction from its Solwarra deposit, in the Bismarck Archipelago, and Neptune Minerals is at an earlier stage with its Rumble II West deposit, located on the Kermadec Arc, near the Kermadec Islands. Both companies are proposing using modified existing technology. Nautilus Minerals, in partnership with Placer Dome (now part of Barrick Gold), succeeded in 2006 in returning over 10 metric tons of mined SMS to the surface using modified drum cutters mounted on an ROV, a world first. Neptune Minerals in 2007 succeeded in recovering SMS sediment samples using a modified oil industry suction pump mounted on an ROV, also a world first.
Recently, mineral exploration companies, driven by the elevated price activity in the base metals sector during the mid-2000s, have turned their attention to extraction of mineral resources from hydrothermal fields on the seafloor. Significant cost reductions are, in theory, possible.
Hydrothermal vents, in some instances, have led to the formation of exploitable mineral resources via deposition of seafloor massive sulfide deposits. The Mount Isa orebody located in Queensland, Australia, is an excellent example. Many hydrothermal vents are rich in cobalt, gold, copper, and rare earth metals essential for electronic components.
Hydrothermal vents tend to be distributed along the Earth's plate boundaries, although they may also be found at intra-plate locations such as hotspot volcanoes. As of 2009 there were approximately 500 known active submarine hydrothermal vent fields, with about half visually observed at the seafloor and the other half suspected from water column indicators and/or seafloor deposits. The InterRidge program office hosts a global database for the locations of known active submarine hydrothermal vent fields.
In 2005, Neptune Resources NL, a mineral exploration company, applied for and was granted 35,000 km² of exploration rights over the Kermadec Arc in New Zealand's Exclusive Economic Zone to explore for seafloor massive sulfide deposits, a potential new source of lead-zinc-copper sulfides formed from modern hydrothermal vent fields. The discovery of a vent in the Pacific Ocean offshore of Costa Rica, named the Medusa hydrothermal vent field (after the serpent-haired Medusa of Greek mythology), was announced in April 2007. The Ashadze hydrothermal field (13°N on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, elevation -4200 m) was the deepest known high-temperature hydrothermal field until 2010, when a hydrothermal plume emanating from the Beebe site (, elevation -5000 m) was detected by a group of scientists from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. This site is located on the 110 km long, ultraslow spreading Mid-Cayman Rise within the Cayman Trough. On February 21 the deepest known hydrothermal vents were discovered in the Caribbean at a depth of almost 5,000 metres (16,000 ft).
The chemosynthetic ecosystem surrounding submarine hydrothermal vents were discovered along the Galapagos Rift, a spur of the East Pacific Rise, in 1977 by a group of marine geologists led by Jack Corliss of Oregon State University. In 1979, biologists returned to the rift and used DSV Alvin, an ONR research submersible from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, to see the hydrothermal vent communities with their own eyes. In that same year, Peter Lonsdale published the first scientific paper on hydrothermal vent life.
It has been proposed that extremophiles and other organisms currently living immediately around deep-sea vents, suggesting that this is indeed a possible scenario.
Günter Wächtershäuser proposed the iron-sulfur world theory and suggested that life might have originated at hydrothermal vents. Wächtershäuser proposed that an early form of metabolism predated genetics. By metabolism he meant a cycle of chemical reactions that release energy in a form that can be harnessed by other processes.
An article on abiogenic hydrocarbon production in the February 2008 issue of Science journal used data from experiments at the Lost City hydrothermal field to report how the abiotic synthesis of low molecular mass hydrocarbons from mantle derived carbon dioxide may occur in the presence of ultramafic rocks, water, and moderate amounts of heat.
At the beginning of his 1992 paper The Deep Hot Biosphere, Thomas Gold referred to ocean vents in support of his theory that the lower levels of the earth are rich in living biological material that finds its way to the surface. He further expanded his ideas in the book The Deep Hot Biosphere.
Although the discovery of hydrothermal vents is a relatively recent event in the history of science, the importance of this discovery has given rise to, and supported, new biological and bio-atmospheric theories.
New and unusual species are constantly being discovered in the neighborhood of black smokers. The Pompeii worm was found in the 1980s, and a scaly-foot gastropod in 2001 during an expedition to the Indian Ocean's Kairei hydrothermal vent field. The latter uses iron sulfides (pyrite and greigite) for the structure of its dermal sclerites (hardened body parts), instead of calcium carbonate. The extreme pressure of 2500 m of water (approximately 25 megapascals or 250 atmospheres) is thought to play a role in stabilizing iron sulfide for biological purposes. This armor plating probably serves as a defense against the venomous radula (teeth) of predatory snails in that community. | 2019-04-24T22:00:37Z | http://worldheritage.org/articles/eng/Hydrothermal_vent |
(1) These General Terms and Conditions of Purchase apply to all business relationships with our business partners and suppliers (hereinafter, “Sellers”), insofar as, pursuant to Section 310, para. 1 of the German Civil Code (Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch, BGB), the Seller is an entrepreneur (Unternehmer) (Section 14 BGB), a legal person under public law (juristische Person des öffentlichen Rechts), or a special fund under public law (öffentlich-rechtliches Sondervermögen).
(2) These General Terms and Conditions of Purchase apply in particular to contracts for the sale and/or delivery of moveable proper- ty (hereinafter, “Goods”), irrespective of whether the Seller manufactures the Goods itself or acquires same from suppliers (Sections 433, 651 BGB). The General Terms and Conditions of Purchase, in the version currently in effect, apply as a framework agreement that also covers future contracts entered into with the same Seller for the sale and/or delivery of moveable property, obviating the need for us to make reference to them in each individual instance.
(3) Our General Terms and Conditions of Purchase apply exclusively. General terms and conditions of the Seller that deviate from, stand in opposition to, or supplement our General Terms and Conditions of Purchase may be made part of the contract with the Seller only and insofar as we have given our express written consent to their applicability. This requirement of consent applies in every instance, including in particular where, despite our awareness of the Seller’s general terms and conditions, we accept deliveries from it without reservation.
(4) Legally relevant declarations and notices that the Seller is required to make or provide to us following conclusion of contract (e.g. setting of deadlines, payment default notices, declaration of rescission) must be given in writing in order to be effective.
(5) If reference is made to the applicability of statutory provisions, this has merely a clarifying significance. For this reason, even absent such clarification, statutory provisions are applicable unless modified or expressly precluded by these General Terms and Conditions of Purchase.
(1) All of our orders are non-binding and subject to confirmation, unless they are expressly designated as binding or set forth a specific deadline for acceptance.
(2) We reserve our rights of ownership and copyrights in and to all drawings, images, calculations, brochures, catalogues, models, tools, and other documents and resources. The Seller may not, without our express consent, make such materials available to third parties, nor may it disclose same or use or copy same, either itself or through third parties and either as such or with respect to the contents thereof. If the Seller no longer requires such materials in the normal course of its business, or if negotiations do not lead to the conclusion of a contract, the Seller must, at our request, return all such materials to us and, if applicable, destroy all copies thereof.
(3) The foregoing provision applies mutatis mutandis to other items (e.g. software, finished products, semi-finished products), as well as to tools, templates, samples, and other objects, that we provide to the Seller for the purposes of manufacturing. To the extent they are not processed, such objects must be held in separate safekeeping at the expense of the Seller and insured to the customary extent against destruction and loss.
(4) Our order cannot be considered binding until it has been submitted or confirmed in writing. In the event the order, including order documentation, contains obvious errors (e.g. mathematical or spelling mistakes) or is incomplete, the Seller must make us aware of this fact prior to acceptance so that the order to be corrected or made complete; otherwise, the contract is deemed not concluded.
(5) The Seller is required to confirm our order in writing within five business days or carry it out without reservation by such deadline, in particular, through dispatch of the Goods (acceptance). Untimely acceptance constitutes a new offer by the Seller, which requires acceptance by us.
(6) The legal relationships between us and the Seller are governed exclusively by a written, executed purchase contract, which in- cludes these General Terms and Conditions of Purchase. The purchase contract sets forth in full all agreements between the parties with regard to the subject of the contract. The purchase of certain products and product types covers, on account of their nature and quality, also the provision of additional documentation (e.g. data sheets, safety data sheets, laboratory reports, and/or inspection certificates in the area of the chemicals industry). Oral commitments made by us prior to conclusion of this contract are not legally binding, and oral agreements between the parties are deemed to have been superseded by the written contract, unless it is expressly apparent from them that they are to continue to have binding effect.
(7) To the extent that we provide technical information or act in an advisory capacity, and such information or advice does not form part of the contractually agreed scope of services that we are obligated to render, same is provided at no charge and under exclusion of all liability.
(8) Individual arrangements made with the Seller in specific cases (including side agreements, additions, and amendments) always have priority over these General Terms and Conditions of Purchase. The content of such arrangements is subject to a written contract or our written confirmation.
(9) With the exception of general managers and/or Prokuristen (i.e. holders of a general commercial power of attorney), our emp- loyees are not authorised to enter into oral agreements that deviate from the purchase contract.
(10) The requirement of written form is satisfied with transmission by fax; electronic transmission, particularly by email, is not sufficient.
(1) The price stipulated in the order is binding. All prices are net of applicable value-added tax.
(2) Prices agreed to in confirmed orders (order confirmations) are binding and are not subject to any price fluctuations whatsoever.
(3) Unless a different arrangement was agreed upon in a particular case, the price includes all services and related efforts by the Seller (e.g. assembly, installation), as well as all ancillary costs (e.g. proper packaging and transport costs, including possible trans- port and liability insurance). The Seller must take back all packaging materials when we so require.
(4) The agreed price is payable not later than 30 calendar days following complete delivery and contractual performance (including any agreed acceptance inspection) and receipt by us of a proper invoice. Our payment obligations are deemed satisfied in timely fa- shion by submission to our bank of our order for payment by bank transfer. The parties may on a case-by-case basis agree informally on an early-payment discount on the net amount of the invoice.
(5) All order confirmations, delivery documents, and invoices must set forth our order number, the article number, delivery amount, and delivery address. Should one or more of these indications be missing, resulting in a delay in processing by us in connection with our normal day-to-day business, the payment deadlines stipulated in paragraph (3) are extended by the period of the delay.
(6) We are not liable for late interest. The Seller’s claim to payment of default interest remains unaffected. Statutory provisions govern when we are deemed to be in default. In the event of default in payment, we owe default interest in the amount of five percentage points over the statutory base interest rate pursuant to Section 247 BGB. In any case, however, the Seller must give notice of default.
(7) We are entitled to rights of set off and retention, as well as to the defence of non-performance of the contract, to the extent provided by law. We are, in particular, entitled to retain payments due in cases where we have claims against the Seller for incomplete or defective performance of services.
(8) The Seller has a right of set off or retention only for legally adjudicated or uncontested counterclaims.
(1) The delivery time stipulated by us in the order is binding. Early deliveries are not permitted. If the delivery time was not stipulated in the order, it is considered to be two weeks following conclusion of contract, unless agreed to otherwise. The Seller is obligated to give us prompt written notice if, for whatever reason, it anticipates that it will be unable to comply with agreed delivery times.
(2) The Seller is not entitled to make partial deliveries without our prior written consent.
(3) If the latest date on which delivery is to be made is determined on the basis of the contract, the Seller is deemed to be in default upon expiry of such date without our needing to send a corresponding notice of default. If the Seller fails to perform, fails to perform by the agreed delivery time, or is in default, then our rights – in particular, to rescission and damages – are determined in accordance with statutory provisions. The arrangements in paragraph (4) remain unaffected.
(4) If the Seller is in default, we are entitled to demand a contractual penalty in the amount of 1% of the net price per full calendar week, but not more than 5% of the net price of the Goods that have not been delivered on time. We are entitled to demand the contractual penalty over and above performance, with the former constituting damages owed by the Seller pursuant to statutory provisions; the assertion of greater damages remains unaffected. If we accept delayed delivery, we must assert the contractual penalty not later than upon final payment.
(1) Absent our prior written consent, the Seller is not entitled to have third parties undertake the contractual performance owed by it (e.g. by subcontractors). The Seller bears the procurement risk for its contractual performance, unless a one-off production is involved.
(2) Early deliveries are not permitted.
(3) Delivery is to take place within Germany, freight prepaid, to the location stipulated in the order. If the place of delivery has not been stipulated and no other agreement has been reached, then delivery is to be made to our place of business. For the purposes of debt collection, the respective place of delivery is also the place of performance.
(4) Delivery is to be accompanied by a delivery order specifying the date (consignment and shipping), contents of the delivery (article numbers and amounts), and our order identifier (date and number). If the delivery note is missing or incomplete, we are not responsible for resulting delays in processing or payment.
(5) Delivery of the Goods is deemed to have been made properly only if, depending on the nature and quality of the product or product type, the requisite additional documentation is attached (e.g. data sheets, safety data sheets, laboratory reports, and inspection certificates for chemical products).
(6) The risk of loss and deterioration of the Goods passes to us upon transfer at the place of performance. If an acceptance inspec- tion has been agreed upon, this is controlling with respect to transfer of risk. In addition, the statutory provisions of the law on goods delivered in exchange for payment (Werkvertragsrecht) apply analogously to an acceptance inspection. It is equivalent to transfer or acceptance if we are in default in acceptance.
(7) Statutory provisions govern when we are deemed to be in default in acceptance. The Seller must, however, expressly offer to give us contractual performance when a specific or specifiable calendar date has been agreed upon for action or cooperation on our part (e.g. provision of materials). If we are in default in acceptance, the Seller may demand compensation for its added efforts and expenses in accordance with statutory provisions (Section 304 BGB). If the contract relates to individualised goods to be manufac- tured by it (one-off production), the Seller is entitled to more extensive rights only if we agreed to an obligation of cooperation and are responsible for the failure of such cooperation.
(1) Unless stipulated otherwise below, statutory provisions are applicable to our rights for material and legal defects in the Goods (including incorrect or incomplete delivery, as well as improper assembly and defective instructions regarding assembly, operation, or use) and to other breaches of duty by the Seller.
(2) The Seller is liable under statutory provisions, in particular, for the Goods having the agreed nature and quality upon transfer of risk to us. In particular, such product descriptions as form part of the respective contract – in particular, through their being designated or referred to in our order – or are included in the contract in the same manner as these General Terms and Conditions of Purchase are considered to constitute agreement as to nature and quality. In this regard, it makes no difference whether the product description originated from us, the Seller, or the manufacturer.
(3) In deviation from Section 442, para. 1, second sentence BGB, we are also entitled without limitation to claims for defects even where the fact that the defect remained unknown to us at the time of conclusion of contract was due to gross negligence.
(4) With regard to the duty to investigate and object, the provisions of Sections 377 and 381 of the German Commercial Code (Handelsgesetzbuch) apply with the following proviso: Our duty to investigate is limited to defects that come to light during external assessment as part of our incoming goods inspection, including review of delivery documentation, as well as during random-sample quality control (e.g. transport damages, incorrect or incomplete delivery). If an acceptance inspection has been agreed upon, there is no duty to investigate. Furthermore, the duty depends on the extent to which an investigation is feasible in the ordinary course of business given the circumstances of the particular case. Our duty to object to defects discovered at a later date remains unaf- fected. In any event, our objection (notice of defects) is considered to be prompt and timely if it was received by the Seller within 12 business days.
(5) We do not waive our warranty claims by way of acceptance or through approval of samples or specimens.
(6) The Seller bears the costs incurred with testing and repair, even if it turns out to be the case that there was in fact no defect. Our liability for damages due to an unjustified demand for elimination of defects remains unaffected. However, we are liable only if we recognised that no defect existed or if we were grossly negligent in failing to so recognise.
(7) If the Seller fails to comply with its obligation to cure – at our discretion, by eliminating the defect (repair) or by delivering defect- free goods (replacement delivery) – by a reasonable deadline set by us, then we may eliminate the defect ourselves and demand compensation from the Seller for the necessary expenses of this or require a corresponding advance payment. If the Seller’s cure fails, or if it is unreasonable for us to accept it (e.g. due to special urgency, risk to operational safety, or threat of unreasonable damage), a deadline need not be set; the Seller is to be informed of same without delay, where possible, in advance.
(8) In addition, in the event of material or legal defects, we are entitled under statutory provisions to reduce the purchase price or rescind the contract. Furthermore, we are entitled under statutory provisions to claim damages and expenses.
(1) In addition to claims for defects, we are entitled without limitation to our statutory claims to recourse within a supplier chain (recourse to suppliers pursuant to Sections 478-479 BGB). In particular, we are entitled to demand from the Seller the exact type of cure (repair or replacement delivery) that we owe to our customer in a given instance. Our statutory right of choice (Section 439, para. 1 BGB) is not limited by the foregoing.
(2) Prior to recognising or satisfying a claim for defects asserted by one of our customers (including compensation for expenses pursuant to Sections 478, para. 3, and 439, para. 2 BGB), we will so inform the Seller and, after briefly explaining the matter, request a written statement. If a statement is not given by a reasonable deadline, and if a mutual solution is not reached, then the claim for defects actually conceded by us is deemed owed to our customer; in this case, the Seller is obligated to prove the contrary.
(3) Our claims under recourse to suppliers apply also to situations where the Goods were subject to further processing, e.g. through inclusion in another product, prior to their being sold by us or one of our customers to a consumer.
(1) If the Seller is responsible for product injuries, it must indemnify us against claims by third parties to the extent that the cause is rooted in its area of control and organisation and it itself is liable to third parties.
(2) In connection with its indemnification obligation, the Seller must, pursuant to Sections 683 and 670 BGB, reimburse expenses that result from or are related to our making use of a third party, including for recall actions undertaken by us. To the extent possible and reasonable, we will inform the Seller as to the content and scope of recall measures and give it an opportunity to make a state- ment. More extensive statutory claims remain unaffected.
(3) The Seller must obtain and maintain product liability insurance having a blanket coverage amount of at least EUR 5 million for each event of personal injury or property damage, whereby such insurance need not cover recall risk or criminal or other damages, unless agreed otherwise in a particular case. The Seller agrees to send us a copy of the insurance policy at any time upon request.
The Seller is not entitled to assign to third parties its claims under the contract. The foregoing does not apply to the extent that monetary claims are involved.
(1) The Seller warrants that its performance will not infringe upon any third-party intellectual property rights in countries of the European Union, North America, Asia, or other countries in which it manufactures products or has same manufactured.
(2) The Seller is obligated to indemnify us against claims asserted against us by third parties due infringement of industrial property rights set forth in paragraph (1) and to reimburse us for all necessary expenses incurred in connection with such claims. We are entitled to this claim irrespective of fault on the part of the Seller.
(1) The Seller is obligated to maintain spare parts for the products delivered to us for a period of at least two years following delivery.
(2) If the Seller intends to discontinue producing spare parts for products delivered to us, it must inform us of this fact promptly following the decision to discontinue production. Subject to the provisions of paragraph (1), such decision must be made at least six months prior to discontinuation of production.
(1) For a period of five years following conclusion of contract, the Seller is obligated to maintain in confidence the terms of the order and all information and documentation provided for this purpose (other than publicly available information) and to use same only for carrying out the order. Following its having taken care of requests or processed orders, it must promptly return the foregoing to us upon request.
(2) Absent our prior written consent, the Seller may not make reference to the business relationship in its advertising materials, brochures, etc. and may not display or even depict items manufactured for us.
(3) The Seller must obligate its sub-suppliers in a manner corresponding to this Section 12.
(1) On our behalf, the Seller is to carry out the processing, mixing, or combining of provided objects. If following processing, mixing, or combining with third-party items, such third party continues to have a right of ownership, then we acquire co-ownership of the new item in the relation of the value of our provided item to that of the other items.
(2) Transfer of the Goods to us takes place unconditionally and without regard to payment of the price. In particular, all forms of expanded or extended retention of title are precluded, such that any retention of title that the Seller may have effectively declared is applicable only to, and until payment of, the Goods delivered to us.
(1) Unless stipulated otherwise below, the parties’ respective claims are prescribed in accordance with statutory provisions.
(2) In deviation from Section 438, para. 1, no. 3 BGB, the general prescription period for claims for defects is three years, beginning with transfer of risk. If an acceptance inspection has been agreed upon, the prescription period begins to run upon acceptance. The three-year prescription period applies analogously to legal defects, whereby the statutory prescription period for a third party’s in rem claims for return (Section 438, para. 1, no. 1 BGB) remains unaffected; furthermore, claims for legal defects are in no event prescribed as long as the third party may continue to assert the right against us, particularly when the latter is not prescribed.
(3) The prescription periods under the law of the sale of goods, including the aforementioned extension, apply to all contractual claims for defects to the extent provided by law. Insofar as we are also entitled to extra-contractual claims for damages due to a de- fect, the normal statutory prescription period (Sections 195 and 199 BGB) are applicable here, unless application of the prescription periods under the law of the sale of goods leads in an individual case to a longer prescription period.
(4) The prescription period for warranty claims stops running upon receipt by the Seller of our written notice of defects. With regard to replacement delivery and elimination of defects, the warranty period for replaced and repaired parts begins to run anew, unless we had to assume, based on the Seller’s conduct, that it did not feel obligated to take such action but rather undertook replacement delivery or elimination of defects as courtesy or for other reasons.
(1) The law of the Federal Republic of Germany applies to these General Terms and Conditions of Purchase and to all legal rela- tionships between us and the Seller, under exclusion of international and supranational legal systems (governing contracts), in particular, the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods. The prerequisites for and effects of retention of title are subject to the law of the place where the goods are stored, provided that under such law, the choice of German law is impermissible or ineffective.
(2) If the Seller is a merchant within the meaning of the Commercial Code, a legal person under public law, or a special fund under public law, the sole place of jurisdiction – including internationally – for all disputes arising directly or indirectly out of the contractual relationship is our place of business where the respective company ist located. However, if the ordering party is a branch, from which location transactions are entered into directly, the sole place of jurisdiction in the place where our branch is located. However, we are also entitled to initiate legal proceedings at the place of performance for the delivery obligation. | 2019-04-24T10:06:53Z | http://bosig.de/index.php/en/contact/gtc-purchase |
Understanding each one is the key to proper care.
By Douglas Tassi, O.D., and Gary VanderZee, O.D.
1. The optic nerve will be edematous in about 35% of optic neuritis cases.
Most likely you have encountered cases of optic neuropathy in your practice over the years, especially considering that it is one of the more common causes of acute vision loss or majorly impaired vision. While optic neuropathy refers to optic nerve damage from any cause, it has many specific subtypes—and they are not all created equal.
In this article, we focus on acute optic neuropathies, which typically present with a very sudden decrease and/or loss of vision in one eye secondary to unilateral optic nerve swelling with a defined afferent pupillary defect (APD). There will be an associated unilateral visual field defect, and the onset typically is very dramatic to the patient.
Perhaps the most common neuropathy presentation is optic neuritis. Optic neuritis must be considered in cases presenting with visual disturbances and a unilateral swollen optic nerve in patients younger than age 45. Time is on your side in the diagnosis and treatment of optic neuritis and NAION, but it is your enemy in AAION.
Patients with GCA potentially can go blind in a matter of days—not to mention their increased risk for stroke or myocardial infarction. It is preventable with timely diagnosis and treatment, and for that reason, AAION is considered an ophthalmic emergency. This is why it is critical to clinically differentiate between AAION and NAION (the differential diagnosis of NAION is made via the exclusion of AAION).
In some instances, cost-effective laboratory testing and clinical observation can be used to properly diagnose these optic nerve diseases, without the need for radiology in typical, acute presentations. In atypical presentations, neuroimaging will be indicated. Neuroimaging also will be required in the differential diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS) in cases of optic neuritis.
The classic presentation of optic neuritis is a sudden, unilateral loss of vision, with the distinct symptom of pain on eye movement. Typically, the patient is less than 45 years of age. The patient usually has a relative APD, color desaturation, brightness reduction and a unilateral central visual field defect.
Because the risk of demyelinating disease is high in cases presenting as optic neuritis, patients should receive an MRI with gadolinium. If the MRI is positive for multiple plaque lesions (unidentified bright objects and “railroad tracking”), the patient most likely has MS and can be advised to consult a neurologist regarding treatment options. Image manipulation with fluid attenuated inversion recovery will assist in improved lesion isolation.
Patients with an atypical presentation of optic neuritis, unusual age, chronic occurrences as opposed to acute onset, lack of pain upon extraocular muscle movement and lack of improvement in three weeks potentially have an intracranial mass and should undergo appropriate consultation and neuroimaging.
NAION is caused by a lack of optic nerve profusion or embolic disease that affects the arteries/arterioles that are supplying the optic nerve. Typically, NAION presents as a sudden, unilateral, painless loss of vision in patients age 50 or older. The patient usually has associated vasculopathic risk factors, including—but not limited to—hypertension, arteriosclerotic diseases, diabetes and nocturnal hypotension.
The patient often wakes up with a profound visual disturbance in one eye. Ophthalmoscopically, the patient presents with either segmental or total disc edema ( figure 2). Splinter hemorrhages of the optic nerve are common. Pupillary testing will show a frank APD in the affected eye. There will be a unilateral visual field defect, which can be superior or inferior, with a classic altitudinal hemianopsia ( figure 3). Some patients will have an inferior nasal visual field defect in the affected eye.
2. Ophthalmoscopically, the patient presents with either segmental or total disc edema.
Patients with NAION will have a normal C-reactive protein and erythrocyte sedimentation rate. They also lack the typical constitutional symptoms that are often associated with GCA. Atypical clinical findings include: younger age, lack of acute onset, visual field defect that does fit with typical AION, proptosis, ocular motor paralysis, bilateral findings, and many of the other systemic signs and symptoms of occult neurologic disease. These patients will require consultation with neuroimaging of the brain and orbits with gadolinium enhancement. Bilateral disc edema is papilledema, until proven otherwise with neuroimaging for an intracranial mass. A patient with a swollen optic nerve in one eye and a visual field defect in the other eye is also a brain tumor, until proven otherwise.
Fortunately, NAION usually is unilateral. But, there are some cases of bilateral disease, which imparts a devastating visual outcome. In the case of bilateral disease, it will usually affect one eye at a time.
There are reported cases of bilateral simultaneous NAION. However, a national study in 1995 found optic nerve fenestration surgery—which once held promise in NAION—to have profound complications with little benefit, so the study was halted.5 Currently, the National Institutes of Health has begun a study utilizing neuro-protective agents in the treatment of NAION.
Patients with AION in association with GCA are classified as having AAION. GCA is the leading cause of AAION; less common causes of arteritis are polyarteritis nodosa, lupus erythematosus and herpes zoster.4 GCA represents a vasculitis of the large- and medium-sized arteries of the head and neck. It has a special predilection to affect the posterior ciliary artery, which is the main blood supply to the optic nerve head. Artery involvement below the aortic arch is rare. Microscopically, there is inflammation of the arterial wall, which is patchy or segmental. This infiltration of giant cells causes a closure of the artery lumen by disruption of the internal elastic lamina.
GCA sometimes presents with classic symptoms, which makes the diagnosis more straightforward. But often, however, the diagnosis is difficult to confirm until the patient has lost vision in one eye. The ocular presentation of AAION in GCA is very similar to NAION. Usually the depth of vision loss is greater and the optic nerve shows a chalky ( figure 5) or yellow, waxy appearance ( figure 6).
Splinter hemorrhages of the optic nerve are common. There will be a visual field defect in just one eye that is altitudinal or inferior nasal. Pupillary testing will show an APD of the involved eye. After the optic nerve edema clears, the patient will develop optic atrophy either in a segmental or diffuse pattern. As the optic atrophy progresses, some of these patients will develop optic nerve cupping that looks just like glaucoma—except that the optic nerve pallor is greater than the cupping.6 Most of these patients end up with very poor vision in the affected eye.
GCA patients can have episodes of amaurosis fugax prior to the acute loss of vision. Other less common ocular findings in GCA include retinal artery occlusion, cilio-retinal artery occlusion and sixth nerve palsy. The patient may or may not have a palpable, hard or tender temporal artery. Sohan Singh Hayreh, M.D., M.S., Ph.D., D.Sc., has reported a delay or loss of filling of the short posterior ciliary arteries with fluorescein angiography.4 The more critical issue will be an index of suspicion from constitutional symptoms, including temporal pain, pain with chewing (jaw claudication), scalp tenderness, headache, neck pain, malaise, weight loss, migratory arthropathy and nocturnal sweating. These patients usually will have only some of these symptoms, and different symptoms will occur at different times in their disease. GCA patients have an increased risk of stroke, cardiovascular disease and aortic aneurysm.
Patients who are diagnosed with polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) have a 15% to 30% probability of developing GCA.6 Some studies report that PMR occurs in about 50% of patients with GCA.7,8 Both conditions exhibit similarities, and many experts believe them to be manifestations of the same disease; others believe GCA and PMR represent two different diseases, supported by human leukocyte antigen typing.9 There is a clinical sub-group in GCA that will not have constitutional symptoms. These patients usually will not present for medical evaluation until they have lost vision in one eye, and must be evaluated for GCA before they potentially lose vision in both eyes from AAION.
• Foster-Kennedy syndrome. If symptoms are ignored or the diagnosis for GCA is overlooked, the patient may later present with pseudo-Foster-Kennedy syndrome.10 This has the clinical appearance of optic atrophy in one eye and papillitis in the fellow eye in the absence of cranial mass. In this presentation, neuroimaging may be needed to rule out Foster-Kennedy syndrome. This presentation also can occur in the infrequent case of bilateral NAION.
4. NAION often progresses to optic atrophy with a poor visual outcome.
In Foster-Kennedy syndrome, optic atrophy is observed in one eye and disc edema in the fellow eye from an intracranial mass lesion.11 The mass most typically is located in the basal frontal area or a sphenoid wing meningioma. Two simple clinical facts can help clarify the diagnosis. First, the visual field defects relating to ION usually will present with an altitudinal defect in the more recent eye. Second, there will be a clear separation of the visual episodes between the two eyes in ION. In Foster-Kennedy syndrome, the vision loss is—to some degree—bilateral with asymmetry. The visual field defects usually are bizarre or respect the vertical midline.
• PION. Like the anterior portion of the optic nerve, the posterior portion of the optic nerve can have an acute infarction—but it occurs less frequently. Just as GCA can induce AION, it less frequently can cause PION. Patients with PION present with a sudden loss of vision in one or both eyes.
APION is managed just like AAION; however, there is no effective treatment for NAPION. Surgical PION occurs most often in patients who have had non-ocular surgery of longer duration, or have had significant blood loss. PION also occurs in patients who have had a major hemorrhagic event from trauma or a ruptured blood vessel, producing a shock-induced neuropathy. There are no effective treatments for surgical PION, only preventative measures.
Prior to the Controlled High-Risk Subjects Avonex MS Prevention Study (CHAMPS), the recommended treatment was derived from ONTT—an initially high dosage of intravenous methylprednisolone followed by oral prednisone.1 The CHAMPS study showed significant treatment benefits with the use of Avonex (interferon beta-1a, Biogen Inc.) following initial IV methylprednisolone.17 Avonex is delivered intramuscularly on a weekly basis.
On Sept. 22, 2010, the FDA approved Gilenya (fingolimod, Novartis) capsules for the oral treatment of MS. It is used in MS to reduce relapses and delay disability progression in patients with relapsing forms of MS. It falls within a new class of drugs used in MS treatment that block some blood cells in the lymph nodes, reducing their migration in the brain and spinal cord, which can reduce the severity of MS.
Ophthalmic consultation has been advised with this medication due to reported cases of decreased vision from macular edema. Macular edema typically presents three months after the initiation of treatment with Gilenya.
Among many others, differential diagnoses might include central nervous system disease from cerebral mass, cerebral vascular accident, cerebral aneurysm, subdural hemorrhage and meningitis. Ocular etiologies also would need to be ruled out including central retinal artery occlusion, central retinal vein occlusion, retinal detachment and other visible causes of potential eye disease determined by a comprehensive ye examination. The diagnosis of surgical PION is usually more straightforward as the patient recovers from surgery with profound vision loss.
All patients with AION will require a GCA work-up for diagnosis, or diagnosis by exclusion in NAION. All patients suspected of having AION should have blood work done. The work up for GCA should include complete blood count with differential and platelets, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP). CRP has gained significant respect as a more specific predictor of GCA; however, at this time, both ESR and CRP should be included in the blood work. All patients with an abnormal ESR and/or elevated CRP also should have a temporal artery biopsy. Some patients with GCA can have normal or only mildly elevated ESR in the earlier stage of their disease. If the patient is anemic, the ESR can show a false negative value, which is the reason these patient should also have a complete blood count with the lab work.
In reality, the surgeon performing the biopsy will dictate the protocol based on what seems best for each individual patient and the surgeon’s individual philosophies. Temporal artery biopsy should be performed within two weeks of starting steroid treatment.16 It is important to note that some patients with GCA can have a negative temporal artery biopsy, because the temporal arteries are not always involved in GCA. For this reason, some patients will be managed for GCA even with a negative temporal artery biopsy. This would be based on at-risk clinical findings, including constitutional symptoms, age, abnormal ESR, abnormal CRP and the presentation of an acute AION.
5, 6. Usually the depth of vision loss in AAION is greater and the optic nerve shows a chalky (left) or yellow, waxy appearance (right).
The treatment of AAION requires systemic steroids. Patients with AION who are highly suspect of GCA should be started on high-dosage oral steroids (60mg to 100mg) immediately, until a decision can be made in the differential diagnosis. Some clinicians prefer IV steroids initially in the treatment of GCA. These patients are hospitalized and treated with 250mg of methylprednisolone every six hours, for a total of 12 doses. After that, they are treated with oral steroids on a tapering schedule.
A delay in high-dose steroid treatment can result in bilateral blindness in a patient with GCA. If the patient has GCA, long-term oral steroids will be required. The oral steroid dosage will be reduced gradually and titrated based on ESR and CRP levels. Oral steroids never should be adjusted based on the patient’s symptoms or a standard timetable—the rate of reduction must be patient specific. The patient’s internist will be the one to best manage this disease in most cases. Rheumatology consultation and management can be very beneficial in these cases of GCA. Certainly, periodic follow-up with the patient’s eye doctor is important.
There is a definite need for improved objective testing in GCA. Currently, several imaging techniques are under investigation to aid in the diagnosis of GCA. These tests include magnetic resonance imaging with contrast media of the vessels, duplex ultrasound and positron emission tomography scanning. A more specific, objective test would be very beneficial in evaluating GCA, because current testing can leave questions about how to manage patients who have a negative temporal artery biopsy but remain highly suspect of having GCA. Similarly, current lab tests can fall short of reaching a definitive diagnosis in patients who are suspected of having GCA. Therefore, laboratory testing that is more specific for GCA also would be very beneficial.
This article should help you better understand the diagnosis and management of the unilateral, acute swollen optic nerve. Some of these neuropathies require no treatment, while others require possible treatment but are not considered an ophthalmic emergency. Most importantly, one subtype of acute optic neuropathy is a true ophthalmic emergency requiring immediate treatment to prevent blindness—which in most cases is avoidable with timely diagnosis and treatment.
Optometrists must be prepared to manage patients with acute optic neuropathies. Some patients will require a team approach of different specialists working together for a timely diagnosis and appropriate treatment. When you encounter a case relating to optic nerve diseases in which the diagnosis remains a mystery, cover yourself and the patient with neuroimaging.
Dr. Tassi practices hospital-based optometry at the VA Medical Center in Sioux Falls, S.D. Dr. VanderZee practices hospital-based optometry at the same facility, where he serves as chief of optometry, and also is a fellow of the American Academy of Optometry.
1. Hayreh SS. Ischemic optic neuropathy. Prog Retin Eye Res. 2009 Jan;28(1):34-62.
2. The clinical profile of optic neuritis. Experience of the Optic Nerve Treatment Trial. Optic Neuritis Study Group. Arch Ophthalmol. 1991 Dec;109(12):1673-8.
3. Desai N, Patel MR, Prisant LM, Thomas DA. Nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy, J Clin Hypertens (Greenwich). 2005 Feb;(7)2:130-3.
4. Hayreh SS. Management of ischemic optic neuropathies. Indian J Ophthalmol. 2011 Mar-Apr;59(2):123-36.
5. Ischemic Optic Neuropathy Decompression Trial Research Group. Optic nerve decompression surgery for nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION) is not effective and may be harmful. JAMA. 1995 Feb 22;273(8):625-32.
6. Gonzalez-Gay MA, Garcia-Porrua C, Salvarani C, Hunder GG. Diagnostic approach in a patient presenting with polymyalgia. Clin Exp Rheumatol. 1999 May-Jun;17(3):276-8.
7. Salvarani C, Cantini F, Hunder GG. Polymyalgia rheumatica and giant-cell arteritis. Lancet. 2008;372(9634):234-45.
8. Brooks RC, McGee SR. Diagnostic dilemmas in polymyalgia rheumatica. Arch Intern Med. 1997 Jan 27;157(2):162-8.
9. Cantini F, Niccoli L, Storri L, et al. Are polymyalgia rheumatica and giant cell arteritis the same disease? Semin Arthritis Rheum. 2004 Apr;33(5);294-301.
10. Shatz NJ, Smith JL. Non-tumor causes of the Foster Kennedy syndrome. J Neurosurg. 1967 Jul;27(1):37-44.
11. Watnick RL, Trobe JD. Bilateral optic nerve compression as a mechanism for the Foster Kennedy syndrome. Ophthalmology. 1989 Dec;96(12):1793-8.
12. Hayreh SS. Posterior ischemic optic neuropathy. Ophthalmologica.1981;182(1):29-41.
13. Louisiana State University Health Shreveport. Outpatient management manual: laboratory tests. Available at: www.sh.LSUHSC.edu/fanmed/outpatientmanual/content.html (accessed March 24, 2012).
14. Boyev LR, Miller NR, Green WR. Efficacy of unilateral versus bilateral temporal artery biopsies for the diagnosis of giant cell arteritis. Am J Ophthalmol. 1999 Aug;128(2):211-5.
15. Breuer GS, Nesher G, Nesher R. Rate of discordant findings in bilateral temporal artery biopsy to diagnose giant cell arteritis. J Rheumatol. 2009 Apr;36(4):794-6.
16. Achkar AA, Lie JT, Hunder GG, et al. How does previous corticosteroid treatment affect the biopsy findings in giant cell (temporal) arteritis? Ann Intern Med 1994 Jun;120(12):987-92.
17. CHAMPS Study Group. Interferon beta-1a for optic neuritis patients at high risk for multiple sclerosis. Am J Ophthalmol. 2001 Oct;132(4):463-71.
18. Jacobs LD, Beck RW, Simon JH. Intramuscular interferon beta-1a therapy initiated during a first demyelinating event in multiple sclerosis. CHAMPS Study Group. N Engl J Med. 2000 Sep 28;343(13):898-904.
19. Miller NR, Newman NJ, Biousse V, Kerrison JB. Walsh & Hoyt’s Clinical Neuro-Ophthalmology: The Essentials. 2nd ed. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2007. | 2019-04-20T17:04:17Z | https://www.reviewofoptometry.com/article/the-many-paths-of-acute-optic-neuropathy |
The official record of the hearing consists of documents submitted by the Parent marked P1- P32 , as well as documents from the Tewksbury Public Schools marked S1-14, and approximately four hours of recorded oral testimony. The record closed on April 2, 2008 after oral closing arguments were received from both parties.
If so, is reimbursement for math tutoring services at Kumon an appropriate remedy for this procedural violation?
II. Are the math tutoring services reflected on the IEP appropriate?
If not, is reimbursement for math tutoring services at Kumon an appropriate remedy?
III. If so, has the School District implemented the math tutoring?
IV. If not, are there any facts that excuse the School District from implementation or any facts that bear on a remedy if noncompliance is found? See 603 C.M.R. 28.08 (6) (b).
3. Mother asked the TEAM to include the Kumon math tutoring on Luke’s IEP (S4, Mother, Murray, Sinclair, Deveau).8 Mother asserts that the TEAM chairperson, Ms. Sinclair, told Mother that she would need to speak to the Systemwide Team Chairperson, Cheryl Porcaro, before she could approve Kumon tutoring (Mother). The other TEAM members do not recall whether this was said (Murray, Sinclair). Mother asked Ms. Sinclair why she had to check with Ms. Porcaro when she was not a member of the TEAM. Ms. Sinclair did not answer Mother’s question (Mother, Sinclair). At the end of the meeting Mother knew that Tewksbury would not be offering Kumon in the IEP (Mother, Murray).9 Ms. Murray indicated in the Team meeting notes: “Mother accepts the IEP however she rejects the placement of the tutoring.” (S2, Murray).
4. Tewksbury proposed an IEP that calls for: daily consultation with staff, inclusion support in math; preferential seating in the classroom with extra time to complete tasks and tests if needed; the use of study guides, word banks, graphic organizers and homework agendas, and reference sheets and a calculator for math in the classroom and during the MCAS (S4). The IEP also calls for a tutorial in math for two sixty-minute sessions per week by a tutor (S4). The TEAM determined that Luke required tutorial services at the end of the day for two sixty minutes sessions per week, and through an extended year period, to prevent substantial regression and to remediate deficits in math (S4). The IEP also designates that Luke will be provided with regular transportation and indicates that if Luke is placed away from the local school, transportation will be provided (S4).
5. Tewksbury sent Luke home with the IEP on December 19, 2007 and Mother received it on that day (Mother, Sinclair, see S4). Mother rejected the IEP because she felt that if it did not specify Kumon, Luke would not be offered appropriate services. Mother based this conclusion on the fact that in December 2006, Tewksbury had offered Luke a math tutor from a high school student that was not appropriate because the student did not know how to deal with Luke’s processing issues (Mother). Mother knew that at the time that she received the IEP that Tewksbury was not offering math tutoring at Kumon. However Mother did not know what Tewksbury was offering and did not know what to do (Mother). Under the Parent Options/Responses section of the Placement Consent Form (PL1) of the IEP, Mother checked the box that said: “I consent to the placement” (S4, p. 11). Under the Parent Option/Response section on p.10 Mother checked the box that said: “I reject the following portions of the IEP with the understanding that any portion(s) that I don not reject will be considered accepted and implemented immediately. Rejected portions are as follows”: Then Mother wrote: “pg. 6 Tutorial Services” and signed and dated the IEP that day.10 She also included the following comments under the comments section of the IEP “Luke is falling behind in math due to his lack of basic math skills. Luke was participating in the Kumon math program and is slowly making progress. He needs to continue with this program at least until his math skills are up to grade level. Luke receives Kumon at the Kumon Center of Tewksbury, and is tutored at home throughout the week using Kumon materials. This tutoring should be included in his IEP” (S4. p. 10).
6. On December 28, 2008 Cheryl Porcaro, the Systemwide Team Chairperson, sent Parents a letter that indicated that it was required to notify the Bureau of Special Education Appeals (BSEA) when an educational program is rejected in full or in part and informed Parents that it would be sending a copy of the rejected IEP to the BSEA (S5). In this letter Ms. Porcaro wrote: “ It is my understanding that you are accepting the services listed on Luke’s IEP but are rejecting the district’s refusal to fund the tutorial services at Kumon. Please know that the district has available certified regular education and certified special education teachers who can tutor Luke twice a week after school should you accept the district’s services”11 (S5, see also Porcaro, Sinclair).
7. On January 22, 2008 Ms. Porcaro again wrote to Parents in response to a letter that they sent on January 3, 2008 requesting that the District fund tutoring at Kumon (S6). Ms. Porcaro indicated that “Luke’s IEP does stipulate that he receive math tutoring (2) hours per week provided by the District. The statement on p. 8 of the IEP that states;” Luke attends the Kuman (sic) Center once a week and practices the skill daily and is successful, Mother wants this to continue” is recorded under the Additional Information section of the IEP and is not a statement of intent to fund the service but rather a statement to provide the reader of the IEP information that is not recorded elsewhere on the IEP. As you know, the district has certified regular education teachers and certified special education teachers who can provide this service. The instructors at Kumon are not certified teachers.” (S7, see also Porcaro). The letter goes on to say: “The district stands ready to provide the math tutoring but cannot support tutoring by another agency whose instructors are not certified teachers” (S7, see also Tewksbury’s response, Porcaro).
6. Parents filed a hearing request with the BSEA on January 22, 2008. In that hearing request Parents stated that the TEAM had made a decision to include tutoring at Kumon but that the decision was overruled by a town administrator that was not at the meeting. Parent requested that the town pay for tutoring at Kumon ( see Parents’ hearing request).
7. A resolution session occurred on February 6, 2008. It was not successful (Mother, Porcaro). A Hearing Officer initiated conference call with Mother and School Counsel occurred on February 13, 2008. At that time the Parties joint motion to convert the February 26, 2008 hearing date to a further conference call was granted so that Tewksbury could provide Mother information regarding the details of the math tutoring program. Tewksbury provided the information by status report on February 27, 2008.12 The status report listed the work that the tutor would be doing in addition, subtraction, multiplication and division ( see Tewksbury’s status report February 27, 2008). The report indicated that tutors would be provided after school from 2:05 p.m. until early evening; that the tutoring schedule would be mutually agreeable by the parent and the tutor; that tutoring was typically provided at the public library and that transportation would be the responsibility of the Parent ( Id, see also Porcaro).
8. Another conference call occurred on February 28, 2008. At that time Mother indicated that she would be willing to explore a tutor from the district but that she currently would not be accepting the tutoring proposed by the District because the tutor would be teaching Luke information that he already knew (Mother).
9. The TEAM reconvened on March 13, 2008. Mother informed the TEAM that Luke was working on fractions in Kumon math tutoring and will be moving on to decimals13 (S10, see also P3). The TEAM also reviewed progress sheets from Kumon and discussed where tutoring should occur. Mother agreed to meet the District’s proposed tutor (S10). The TEAM amended the math goals of the IEP eliminating the addition and subtraction goals and detailing benchmarks concerning fractions (S12).
10. Mother rejected the tutor that Tewksbury offered because the tutor14 was only available from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. and that the tutoring would be inappropriate because Luke refuses to stay after school and had no transportation home (Mother).15 Tewksbury agreed to continue to look for a tutor that could provide the math services on the IEP (Porcaro). Hearing dates were set for April 2, 2008 at 1:30 p.m. to continue on April 7, 2008 if needed.
11. Ms. Porcaro sent Mother a letter by overnight mail dated March 31, 2008. This letter indicated that it would continue to offer the original tutor and could also offer a tutor who could tutor Luke after 4:00 p.m. in accordance with his IEP (S14, Porcaro). Mother received Ms. Porcaro’s letter at approximately noon on April 2, 2008 (Mother). In the letter Ms. Porcaro indicated that this tutor was a certified special education teacher and could begin as soon as Mother accepted the services (S14, Porcaro). Tutoring would be provided at a mutually agreeable location usually at the town library (Porcaro). Parent would be responsible for the transportation (Porcaro).
12. Luke has been receiving Kumon tutoring since August 2007 (Mother). During the summer Luke attends on Mondays and Thursdays and can go anytime between 3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. He usually only goes once per week during the school year; however regardless of whether Luke attends once or twice a week the fee is still $90.00 per month. While Luke is attending Kumon he is required to do math packets that address fractions and division (Mother). Assessments at Kumon show that Luke has made progress and has been able to move from work on long digit multiplication and division to fractions and has progressed from Level B to Level E in the program (P2, P4, Mother). Luke is more comfortable in math class than he was at the beginning of the year and has been able to move on from working on slope16 to work with fractions (Malatesta). Luke’s math teacher believes that tutoring is beneficial because it gives Luke extra practice with the concepts (Malatesta).
13. Luke’s Kumon tutor has received training in the Kumon method; however the tutor is not a certified teacher and the Kumon program, is a tutoring program and is not an approved special education or regular education school (Mother, Porcaro). Tewksbury does not believe that it can be ordered to provide services at Kumon because the program is unapproved and unaccredited ( see Tewksbury’s March 26, 2008 motion to dismiss, but see Ruling on Motion, March 27, 2008, Beron).
At issue is whether Parent should be reimbursed for math tutoring at Kumon. Here, if Parent can show by the preponderance of the evidence that Luke was denied a FAPE due to any procedural violations by Tewksbury, or that the School District has offered inappropriate services, and/or has not implemented the services, and also show that the services offered at Kumon were appropriately responsive to her child’s needs so that he can benefit educationally, she will be reimbursed for math tutoring services at Kumon.
Here the Parties agree that Luke requires math tutoring for two sixty-minute sessions per week in order to receive a free appropriate public education (FAPE).
Parents may be reimbursed for the costs of providing special education and related services for their eligible children if they demonstrate that the program and services offered by the school district are inappropriate, and that the program and services that they obtain privately are appropriate. School Committee of Town of Burlington , Mass. v. Dept. of Education of Mass ., 471 U.S. 359, 369-70 (1985). To be deemed appropriate, so as to qualify parents for reimbursement, the parents’ chosen program need not be a state approved special education school, so long as it is does meet the federal FAPE standard. 34 CFR 300.403(c), Matthew J. v. Mass. Dept. of Education , 989 F. Supp. at 387, 27 IDELR 339 at 343-344 (1998), citing Florence County School District Four v. Carter , 510 US 7, 13 (1993). Thus, a parent may be reimbursed for the costs of a unilateral placement if that placement is “appropriately responsive to [a student’s] special needs;” i.e., so that the student can benefit educationally. Matthew J. , 27 IDELR at 344. Reimbursement is an equitable remedy. The amount of reimbursement to be awarded is determined by balancing the equities; see e.g. Burlington (supra).
FAPE also entails complying with the procedural requirements of the IDEA. A school district that violates a student’s procedural rights under federal or state law may be liable where “procedural inadequacies [have] compromised the pupil’s right to an appropriate education…or caused a deprivation of educational benefits.” Roland M. v Concord Public Schools , 910 F. 2d at 994 (1 st Cir. 1990). A Hearing Officer may also find that a denial of a FAPE has occurred if a School District has significantly impeded the parent(s)’ opportunity to participate in the decision making process regarding the provision of a FAPE to the parent(s)’ child, 20 USC s. 1415 (f)(E) ii)(II).
The record shows by a preponderance of the evidence that Parent should be reimbursed for services at Kumon and transportation from school to the tutoring at state rates. Both Parties agree that the TEAM discussed Luke’s need for math tutoring, agreed that tutoring he was doing at Kumon was benefiting him and determined the amount of math tutoring that Luke needed by calculating the amount of tutoring Luke was receiving at Kumon. The Parties do dispute whether the District’s case manager who ran the meeting, Ms. Sinclair, stated that she had to ask Ms. Porcaro (the District’s Systemwide Team Chairperson) whether she could include Kumon on Luke’s IEP. However, Ms. Sinclair and the other school district team members do not dispute that when Mother asked her why she had to check with Ms. Porcaro, Ms. Sinclair said nothing. It is illogical that Mother would ask this question and that Ms. Sinclair would choose not to answer Mother’s question unless Ms. Sinclair had stated at the TEAM meeting that she could not offer Luke math tutoring at Kumon unless she first checked with an administrator.
In addition, the TEAM did not discuss any aspects of the math tutoring that it was proposing, including, who would deliver the tutoring, what the tutor would do or the qualifications of any tutor. (Mother, Sinclair, Murray, Deveau, see S2). Mother partially rejected the IEP because the IEP she received did not offer Kumon but also because the IEP did not specify any information about the math services Luke would be receiving.
The preponderance of the evidence shows that the TEAM members agreed that Luke should receive math tutoring at Kumon but were prevented from including their recommendation on Luke’s IEP because they were not allowed to make TEAM decisions for outside services without approval from the administration. Tewksbury’s actions significantly impeded Mother’s opportunity to participate in the decision making process regarding the provision of a FAPE to Luke and as such Tewksbury’s actions have denied Luke a FAPE; ( see 20 USC s. 1415 (f)(E) ii)(II). Therefore Parents will be entitled to reimbursement for Kumon because here, the services that Tewksbury offered in its IEP did not reflect the recommendations of the TEAM and were inappropriate because the IEP was incomplete. Mother has also shown that the Kumon math tutoring that Luke receives is appropriately responsive to his special needs and that he has benefited educationally; ( see Finding 12, Matthew J. , 27 IDELR at 344).
Parents shall be reimbursed for Kumon math tutoring from December 2007 to the present Parents will also be reimbursed for transportation from Luke’s school to Kumon-Tewksbury for this time period. Tewksbury will amend the IEP to reflect that math tutoring will be provided by Kumon Center in Tewksbury.
Luke is a pseudonym used for confidentiality and classification purposes in publicly available documents.
Tewksbury’s motion to exclude P4 was allowed, as the exhibit was not directly relevant to the issues concerning Luke.
The two procedural violations that Parent has identified were that the IEP did not reflect the decision of the TEAM and that the School District gave Parent incorrect information that may have led to her not accepting services on the IEP.
Mother asserts that Kumon’s testing shows that Luke is at a third grade level in math. Tewksbury believes that Luke is at grade level. However both Parties acknowledge that Luke has weaknesses in math and would benefit from math tutoring. (Mother, Murray). Luke’s math teacher and the members of Luke’s TEAM do not dispute that math tutoring should be on his IEP (Murray, Porcaro, Malatesta).
The TEAM members were Elaine Sinclair, case manager/team chairperson, Mother, Kara Murray, Luke’s 8 th grade liaison, and Katherine Deveau, Luke’s regular education science teacher ( see S1, Deveau, Sinclair, Murray).
Tutoring at Kumon is $90.00 per month (Mother).
Luke began tutoring at Kumon in August 2007. Mother is only asking for reimbursement for math tutoring beginning from December 2007 (Mother).
Ms. Murray indicates that she told Mother that Tewksbury would not be offering Kumon services. Luke’s science teacher (Ms. Deveau) does not recall anyone saying that Kumon services would be included in the IEP (Deveau).
The date Mother signed was 12/19/08 (S4). The date should have been December 19, 2007 (Mother). The TEAM meeting occurred on December 19, 2007.
This section of Ms. Porcaro’s letter was in bold print.
An extension was granted to the School District.
The math goals and objectives indicate that Luke would use whole numbers involving addition and subtraction with 80% accuracy and that Luke would solve problems that involve multiplication and division with 80% accuracy (S7).
The tutor is a certified math teacher (Porcaro). Mother objected to the tutor not because of her qualifications, but because of the timing of the tutor’s availability and the content of the tutoring proposed (Mother).
Luke’s house is approximately five miles away from the school (Mother).
Tewksbury’s Counsel’s motion to obtain the definition of slope is granted. Slope is the steepness or incline of a straight line that is drawn on a rectangular coordinate system graph. The slope of a line is defined as the vertical change (the “rise”) over the horizontal change (the “run”) as one travels along the line. The formula of a straight line is y=mx+b where m is the slope. (Mother). The formula to determine slope can be explained by Luke’s math teacher and by Mother but is not relevant to the issues in dispute and will not be explained further here.
It may be that the tutor that Tewksbury has identified could meet Luke’s needs or that a tutor could adequately service Luke during the school day, as it is unclear why the IEP indicates a longer school day. When the TEAM reconvenes in December 2008 to develop a new IEP for Luke, the TEAM may decide, and Mother, as a member of the TEAM may agree, to a change in services or the service delivery. However, unless Parents otherwise agree the stay-put placement is Kumon math tutoring.
The current state rate is 40 cents per mile; ( see 603 C.M.R. 28.07 (6), DOE memorandum Change in Mileage Reimbursement for Parents, November 29, 2005). If Mother chooses to continue to transport Luke to Kumon, Tewksbury will continue to reimburse her at the current state rate. If not, Tewksbury will provide the transportation from Luke’s school to the Kumon Center in Tewksbury. This mileage is about four miles ( see Google maps). | 2019-04-24T13:50:59Z | https://www.specialedlaw.com/database/luke-v-tewksbury-public-schools-bsea-08-3766/ |
I’ve been working on explaining pictures like the one below, trying to understand why middle-class incomes so dramatically stopped tracking productivity growth. Productivity gains are society’s main path to improved living standards, but if those gains elude the middle class, it’s not a reach to say that the glue holding our society together starts to weaken.
There are many reasons for this split and I’ll try to get to all the ones I can think of in coming days, but here’s one of my favorite, presented in a slightly complex, but hopefully intelligible way.
The figure below plots the unemployment rate since the 1950s against a construct called the NAIRU—it’s the flat line, and it’s an acronym that stands for the lowest unemployment can go without triggering runaway inflation. You don’t have to buy the concept to agree with the analysis, though you should know that the NAIRU, as calculated by the Congressional Budget Office, moves around over time a bit to adjust for things like an older workforce.
Typically, unemployment will wiggle around the full employment level, below it for a while in periods of strong growth and visa-versa. When unemployment hugs the line, we’re close to full employment, a very good place to be. The last time we hung out there for a while, in the latter 1990s (actually, we were below the line for a while) wages and incomes of the middle class actually tracked productivity, at least for a New York minute (and, for the record, inflation did not accelerate—but that’s another story).
But here’s the problem: we used to spend a lot more time below the line and a lot less above it, and in those days, middle-class incomes tracked productivity.
This figure simply sums up the percentage points above or below the line over the periods when middle-class income rose along with growth and when they did not. Over the period when growth and incomes were linked, we were 60 percentage points below the line, meaning labor markets were generally very tight. When growth and income became delinked, we spent over 100 points above the line, signaling weak job markets, high unemployment, jobless recoveries, and therefore much diminished bargaining power for middle- and lower-income workers.
There’s a lot more to this story and I’ll try to stick with it. But the moral of the story, as the latter 1990s showed (that NY minute I referred to above), in today’s global, low-union world, the working man and woman really have no better friend than full employment. It’s one of the only and best ways I know to relink growth and middle-class prosperity. And we’re currently nowhere near it.
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29 comments in reply to "Slack Attack!"
I’ve long argued that high unemployment is a useful feature for the corporate world, as it lowers labor costs due to employees’ reduced bargaining power. The attacks on the social safety net, unions, etc. serve this purpose.
High unemployment may reduce demand and weaken the economy, but lower labor costs are cash today, while the benefits of a stronger economy are speculative. Business profits, and equity markets, are doing very well, seemingly validating this approach.
Given the political power of big business, it’s no wonder the political agenda is entirely focused on cutting spending rather than doing anything to increase employment.
Interested in your response to this new right-wing meme going around that suggests the President blames the slow recovery on ATMs and the replacement of workers with automation and machines. It’s clearly a crude caricature of a quote taken out of context, right?
See Russell’s WJS op-ed (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304070104576399704275939640.html?KEYWORDS=milton+friedman) and some of the Fox News coverage of a snippet from the president’s Today Show interview (http://nation.foxnews.com/president-obama/2011/06/14/obama-blames-atms-high-unemployment).
Now to us with a brain, it’s a simple concept to understand. For a Conservative though, this is way too complex a concept.
I wonder if this isn’t one of the reasons to cut Social Security. If people can’t retire, they have to stay in the labor market, and the boomer retirements will reduce the number of potential workers a lot.
This is called the Lump of Labor fallacy. It is alternately used to argue for earlier retirement and tighter immigration policy. All the evidence suggests it is completely wrong; the fraction of older workers in the labor force is positively correlated with the fraction of younger workers in the labor force…in other words, when more old people work that improves job prospects for everyone else rather than “taking jobs from young people.” Same story with immigration; more immigrants working means more non-immigrants working, not the reverse.
This makes a lot of sense if you frame it slightly differently. Would you really argue that it is better for our country’s economy to have a person (ANY person) not do anything, vs. having them do productive work that grows our economy? No, you wouldn’t. But that’s what you’re saying when you suggest we’d be better off with more retirees or fewer immigrants.
I agree, as far as this goes.
But ask the question: does high unemployment “cause” lower wages, or are both only symptoms for which there is another cause?
The answer should be obvious. High unemployment doesn’t “cause” lower wages – they’re both symptoms. But of what?
High rates of foreclosures. Low household savings rates. Lack of demand. All symptoms, none of them causes.
When productivity has gone up 80% since 1979 but wages only 11%, there’s got to be some set (not at all necessarily just one) of causes. Symptoms are not causes.
Creative destruction. The factor of production IT replaces is human labor itself. It devalues labor. I’ll keep repeating it until someone takes it seriously.
I’m not a Luddite, but I am a socialist.
I feel like I go into Howard Beale mode every time that I come to this site.
I think the graphs tell part of the story of ‘globalization’. When capital has no constraints on its flow, when capital is given every tax code and accounting advantage, then humans become too messy and expensive to employ.
It’s simpler and easier to pay for voice mail in a digitized, networked world than it is to pay a human being to answer a phone. Plus, what kind of tax breaks do you get for employing a human (who requires health care benefits, retirement, etc)? Humans get too complicated and messy.
Also, American humans become too expensive in a digitized, networked world (unless they fit certain niches, like hair stylists or genome researchers).
Still, where did those productivity gains go?
What were the accounting and tax structures that made it simpler and easier to pay for voice mail, and then book those ‘productivity gains’ onto a manager’s bonus (or a cascade of them) while downsizing the phone receptionist?
In other words, why did ‘capital’ become valued so much more highly than humans?
Because post 1979, ‘capital’ had the advantages of tax code and accounting changes.
Then again, capital is much simpler and easier to work with than actual humans, who tend to be complicated, sometimes cranky, and often unpredictable.
How did the culture come to worship capital over every other criteria? To me, those graphs are simply the fallout of what happens when an abstract tool, like ‘capital’ that was originally created from the inventive minds of humans, comes to dominate its human creators and drive their methods of thinking.
Great post. Without tilting too much at a straw man, I think this is another example of how “the free market” really is influenced a lot by rules and institutions. As an oversimplification, rules and institutions which tilt the balance in favor of labor tend to be characterized as interference, while rules and institutions which tilt the balance in favor of capital are often glossed over, overlooked, or justified on economic grounds. GDP is a useful metric, it isn’t an end in itself.
Perhaps it would be insightful to have things broken down by sector. Someone at one of the Feds did a breakdown of the losses to different industries due to globalization, which mainly affected manufacturing, I believe. I’m sort of thinking along those lines.
This is not directly relevant to your argument, but it’s not completely off topic either, and you may like the link.
I don’t know if you read this blog. This post offers a sort of overarching view of things, but he uses global manufacturing PMI among other metrics to illustrate the point. Hugh is great, but I don’t entirely agree with this argument. He argues that the bumps, “twin peaks,” correspond to the timing of quantitative easing, which he argues has had an effect globally. One may see this as a good thing or a bad thing. From one perspective, that’s far reaching; from another perspective, that’s far too diffuse, which makes it potentially dangerous.
I guess I really don’t have too much faith in QE, and thus I’m not particularly disappointed in terms of the Fed’s substance. I do think the Fed could infuse a bit more urgency into the dialogue, but with the rabid Republicans barking at its door, it probably feels it’s better to keep silent or safe. I do think that all this emphasis on positive reinforcement, trying to get people to do what you want based on offering incentives, is too simplistic and doesn’t leverage policy tools in a balanced way.
and as I mentioned earlier, an increase in the capital gains tax. I think using taxes as a tool for getting the economy back on track has been under-appreciated because it’s often viewed as contractionary. I would argue that this is simplistic. I was all for the extension of the middle class tax cuts. However, there is little expansionary benefit in giving tax cuts to the wealthy. Taxes are a very useful way of directing people’s behavior, and yet they are generally used only as an incentive, lowering them, not enough as a disincentive.
I would also like to see more fiscal expansion. In fact, if someone gave me the choice between more QE or infrastructure and R&D spending, I would rather see the latter. I think it’s more beneficial and has less risks. And in this political environment, QE seems to inspire as much Republican (and public) ire as fiscal spending, which makes me think that waiting for the opportune moment to push for more fiscal spending might be a better strategy than exhausting any remaining political capital (we might actually be in deficit territory) for something that seems to offer marginal economic gain.
Hugh makes this extremely important point, “this whole situation has morphed in people’s heads into a public sector indebtedness problem.” People are conflating the solution with the problem. Congress is failing the American people because Republicans dominated the message and corrupted impressionable minds with their economic nonsense. I don’t think it’s fair to say that the Fed is spineless when it has tried two rounds of QE and rates are at the zero lower bound. The Fed has practically single-handedly propped up the western economy for the past two years. The ECB is almost working against the Fed. I know this is a contrarian perspective for the liberal blogosphere, but I don’t care. Frustrations are running high, but Bernanke has been the one saving grace for awhile (and yet he’s come under all kinds of criticism from the right and the left), and I don’t see how castigating the Fed right now helps.
It’s sort of how I felt after Obama got Osama. I realized that it’s very easy to complain, and although I do feel that many negotiations were terribly botched and that’s quite annoying (very annoying unforced errors), Obama has a lot more to deal with than just domestic policy, and he’s had some major domestic accomplishments. The event forced things into perspective for me. And I think the left could use to keep the Fed in perspective too and start looking for some creative solutions, especially ones that can sidestep political gridlock.
Anyways, there it is — a mess of thoughts on some issues of the day.
(Sorry for the piecemeal…. I just read the article) Or something like this too.
That’s a good way of reviving our manufacturing industry. It’s so frustrating to me that Republicans oppose good ideas. One may think they want the economy to fail just so they can win back the White House…. Hm.
Thanks for returning to this issue, Jared. A link to a BLS paper that I cited before showed that the gap was greater in years in which Republicans controlled the Administration and less in years in which Democrats did. I’m still trying to figure out what Republicans actually do to widen the gap while they’re in power. Knowing this could perhaps help develop countervailing policies to narrow the gap.
1) Automation: more is invested in automation than workers. I would guess a modern McDonalds if very productive but that stems from nearly idiot proof automation, not high skilled workers.
2) Outsourcing: If a company makes widgets and switches from one source of parts to a much lest costly Chinese source all of a sudden the workers are more productive without doing anything at all different.
It seems like, in very simple terms, we should, as a society, be willing to accept slightly higher inflation over the long term (and even the risk of brief accelerations, which can be easily stamped out by the Fed), in exchange for a stronger middle class and a weaker plutocratic rentier class. This seems obviously-good for the VAST majority of Americans. And yet we have lots of middle class people who fret about inflation, and demand replacement of the Fed with a brain-dead gold standard. It’s ridiculous.
Isn’t this a circular or trite answer?
You are trying to explain why increases in productivity did not lead to higher median family income, and the explanation is basically that unemployment was too high (relative to NAIRU, which is basically a straight line). This is the equivalent of saying that median income is going down because we are experiencing jobless recoveries. I think these numbers are interesting, but they do not explain what is going on.
You tip toe all around what you are looking for, yet you refuse to look at it.
Take the fortune 500 companies.
Create a spreadsheet showing how many employees they have in each country.
Or look at these two articles.
Whether you want to believe in the good of Corporate America or the Greed of Corporate America is a problem that I cannot help you with.
But I can guarantee you that if you go down this path, you will find the answers you seek.
I thought of a coulda that will appeal to both sides and have a very fast impact on jobs. Make a repatriation offer they can’t refuse. Allow foreign funds a tax free return to the United States at zero tax if that money is offset by the cost of hiring and keeping an employee for one year. They don’t pay back taxes on the money coming in, they don’t pay future taxes because the expense of the new worker. It’s like a 50% off offer. Hire one get one free.
Loss of bargaining power for workers due to high unemployment is certainly one factor. We don’t have to go back very far in the time machine to remember the hiring incentives for tech workers in the late ’90’s (BMW X3’s at a local company). Several comments have danced around this, but I would look closely at tax policy as another factor. High marginal rates on income and dividends discouraged corporate owners and stockholders from keeping the gains from productivity when investing back in their company may have a better return. I don’t know (obviously) but tax rates and disconnect between productivity and wages is clearly concurrent if not causal.
Is there any way you can post your dataset? I’d love to play, too.
Washington D.C. – With the unemployment rate at a painfully high 9.1 percent, the majority of Americans list jobs as their number one economic concern. A new report from the Center from Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) suggests that in the current economic climate work sharing may be the most effective way to avoid many layoffs and quickly return the economy to full employment with little additional spending.
The report, “Work Sharing: the Quick Route Back to Full Employment,” describes a system of work sharing that would give employers an incentive to keep workers on their payrolls with shorter hours as an alternative to laying them off. This would be attached to the current unemployment insurance system with short-time compensation as an alternative to unemployment compensation.
Work sharing is a practical, but underutilized, policy option here in the United States. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) plans to soon reintroduce legislation along these lines to incentivize work sharing domestically.
In addition to most nations in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) having some experience with work sharing, 21 states in the United States already have work sharing programs in place. While recognizing some implementation issues could be addressed to make it more attractive, the report presents hypothetical take-up rates and the likely impact of work sharing on productivity in the United States.
Perhaps due to a misplaced focus on deficits rather than jobs, the U.S. economy remains weak and growth is tepid at best. With threats of a possible double-dip recession and more rounds of layoffs looming, work sharing may very well be the most economically and politically viable means of lowering the unemployment rate.
When European countries thought they would have double digit unemployment forever in the 70’s, work sharing was one of the correctives tried. Unemployment rates did come down over time and we even got to where the French had a higher GDP per hour worked than the US in 2007. I don’t know the ins and outs of their experience, but if it worked there, I would certainly try it here.
As our natural resource wealth extraction per person has come more in line with European countries, our economies have become more similar. A wise man learns from others’ mistakes; a fool, not from his own.
From 1949 through 1974, the actual rate of unemployment was generally considerably below the NAIRU. How can it be called a “natural rate” when for 25 years it most decidedly was not the natural rate?
I’ve always suspected the NAIRU is bullcrap — sure, a theoretical construct that makes sense, but really a self-serving number dreamed up by economists for corporate interests and policy-makers who share an interest in suppressing labor.
Once again: how can it be a “natural rate” when it’s wrong over a 25 year period?
urban legend, your suspicions are borne out by Jamie Galbraith’s wonderful “Time to Ditch the NAIRU,” published in the Journal of Economic Perspectives in 1997.
This essay presents a brief for no-confidence, in four parts. First, the theoretical case for the natural rate is not compelling. Second, the empirical evidence for a vertical Phillips curve and the associated hypothesis that lowering unemployment past the NAIRU leads to unacceptable acceleration of inflation is weak, and has become much weaker in the past decade. Third, viewed collectively, attempts to estimate the location of the NAIRU have become a professional embarrassment; disagreements remain on too many basic issues. Fourth, adherence to the concept as a guide to policy has major costs and negligible benefits. Conversely, the risks of dropping the natural rate hypothesis are minor, while the benefits from a sustained pursuit of full employment could be substantial.
Given the projections for long-term, mass unemployment, does this mean it’s likely to keep getting even worse? Also, does it mean that business has a disincentive to end mass unemployment? Does this terrible economy not only help the creditors (and here I’m referring to Paul Krugman on Rentiers), but also business?
Another very significant factor is that families simply ran out of things to spend money on. Increasing productivity for products with a large base of users translated into higher profits, and one of the only ways for that money to leave the wealthy was more service occupations for things not deemed as essential as everyday life. With a lower utility to cost ratio for the average family they have seen less use by the middle class and more by the wealthy and corporations.
Furthermore, given that GDP is roughly linear to energy consumption in a given economy, there is no assurance even current median income levels will be sustainable in the future.
This is the appropriate blog for anybody who wants to find out about this topic. You understand a lot its virtually onerous to argue with you (not that I actually would need…HaHa). You definitely put a new spin on a subject thats been written about for years. Great stuff, simply great!
Wow, the rabid Douglas Eeeeeeeeeeeeek-n is still at it. I watched you and he on Rev AL’s show and was sadly less hopeful of anyone on the right having the brain cells to even learn the facts before they speak. I guess this is how it will be until 2012 elections. Well, not that I agree with everything our president has done and I too want to see some more fight in him I can tell you this. I will vote for President Obama again in 2012 and shove my proud vote up the behinds of whoever is running on the right. If we are forced to keep choking on a do-nothing republican congress then I will do my part and vote for the only guy who most of the time does care about this country. If I am to understand the dynamics of the right holding ALL of us their hostages to gain a win, I will not partake in that and cast my vote for Obama.
Thanks Jared for always keeping with the facts.
But how do marginal tax rates and wealth concentration map onto this chart? What is the mechanism by which higher incomes from increases in productivity get back to workers? Looks to me like the only routes back to workers are lower prices and the increased demand generated by redistribution through taxes. But why would a monopolist or an oligopoly reduce prices? If you increase monopoly profits and decrease taxes, all of the gains go to savings accounts of the wealthy. If they don’t spend it all and invest a lot overseas, increased income from productivity gains generates income in other countries and increased asset prices of things rentiers like to own.
I think this what Keynes was trying to tell us. The increased income has to get back somehow to those who will increase their spending and thereby increase the income of others. Wealth concentration works against this. It prevents the additional income from getting to those who will increase their spending. Overall income is lower & total capital is lower. But, if you’re a rentier, why should you care what everyone else’s income problems are?
Has anyone ever refuted Keyne’s explanation of how this works or do they just dislike it because it doesn’t serve their purpose? Maybe we need to change the name of the academic study of economics back to moral philosophy and leave the profitable business of economics called economics; like consulting or public relations, not so much an area of study as profit generating business. This way economists would have to choose which side of this divide they want operate on and the public wouldn’t be so confused. We could even have a separate SIC code for the Supply Side BS Industry. | 2019-04-24T14:59:34Z | http://jaredbernsteinblog.com/slack-attack/ |
Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis is the etiologic agent of caseous lymphadenitis (CLA), a chronic disease that affects goats and sheep, characterized by granuloma formation in subcutaneous and internal lymph nodes. CLA causes significant economic losses to commercial goat herds. In this study, we aimed to test secreted antigens secreted from T1 strain bacteria grown in brain heart infusion (BHI) broth in an indirect ELISA system to determine the presence of specific immunoglobulins against C. pseudotuberculosis. We analyzed the BHI antigen electrophoretic profile and the recognition pattern by infected sheep sera samples. The ELISA results were compared with multiplex PCR assay and IFN-gamma production. The ELISA was able to discriminate between negative and positive animals, with a sensitivity of 89% and a specificity of 99%, using microbiological isolation as gold standard. When this assay was compared with multiplex PCR and specific IFN-gamma quantification, six discrepant results were found among thirty-two samples. We concluded that the ELISA using antigens secreted from C. pseudotuberculosis T1 strain growth in BHI broth culture can be used for the serodiagnosis of CLA in sheep.
Index terms: Caseous lymphadenitis, Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis, sheep, ELISA.
Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis é o agente etiológico da linfadenite caseosa (LC) uma doença crônica que afeta ovinos e caprinos caracterizada pela formação de granulomas em linfonodos. A LC causa perdas econômicas significativas em criações de pequenos ruminantes. Este trabalho teve como objetivo testar antígenos secretados da cepa T1 da bactéria em um sistema de ELISA indireto para detecção de anticorpos específicos contra C. pseudotuberculosis. O perfil eletroforético do antígeno foi analisado, bem como o padrão de reconhecimento por soros de animais infectados. Os resultados do ELISA foram comparados com ensaio de multiplex PCR e com teste de indução de produção específica de IFN-gama. O ELISA foi capaz de discriminar animais positivos de animais negativos, com sensibilidade de 89% e especificidade de 99%, usando o isolamento microbiológico como padrão ouro. Quando o ensaio foi comparado com o multiplex PCR e a produção específica de IFN-gama, somente seis resultados discrepantes foram encontrados em trinta e duas amostras. Pode-se concluir que o ensaio de ELISA desenvolvido pode ser utilizado com alto grau de confiança para o diagnóstico da LC em ovinos.
Termos de indexação: Linfadenite caseosa, Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis, ovinos, ELISA.
Caseous lymphadenitis (CLA) is an infectious disease that affects goats and sheep (Pepin et al. 1999); it is caused by the facultative intracellular bacteria Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis and is characterized by granulomas in superficial lymph nodes, lungs, liver and spleen. The disease is endemic in northeastern Brazil and causes significant economic losses because of mortality and reduced weight gain and milk production (Unanian et al. 1985).
Currently, CLA diagnosis in small ruminants is based on characteristic clinical symptoms and on the microbiological identification of C. pseudotuberculosis in material taken from abscesses. However, efficient control requires serological diagnosis, because infected animals that have no apparent symptoms are a source of infection to healthy animals (Kaba et al. 2001).
Numerous serological tests have been developed to detect antibodies against C. pseudotuberculosis in small ruminants, but no test has been found to be satisfactory when applied alone (Paton et al. 1995). Various antigen preparations have been assayed in ELISA tests, including bacterial culture supernatants (Seyffert et al. 2010); cell wall antigens (Maky et al. 1985, Sutherland et al. 1987); phospholipase D exotoxin (Ter Laak et al. 1992, Dercksen et al. 2000); and recombinant exotoxins (Menzies et al. 1994).
Typically, tests work well for goats (Dercksen et al. 2000, Kaba et al. 2001, but they have reduced sensitivity in sheep, especially in subclinical infection that have only internal abscesses. These ELISA tests are not commercially available, and those that are available are relatively costly (Binns et al. 2007).
In this study, secreted antigens from C. pseudotuberculosis strain T1 grown in brain heart infusion (BHI) broth culture were tested in an indirect ELISA for the detection of C. pseudotuberculosis-specific antibodies in sheep. The standardization parameters and the humoral immune recognition of the antigen are also presented.
To test the ELISA assay and establish its parameters, 70 serum samples were obtained from sheep of commercial flocks, presenting external lesions typical of CLA. Caseous material was obtained through biopsy, and the etiologic agent was isolated by microbiological techniques, as described below. As negative controls, 112 serum samples were obtained from animals with no clinical history of CLA, from a non-endemic area where the disease has been controlled. Samples were stored at -20ºC until use.
With the objective to compare the developed ELISA with bacterial DNA identification and interferon-gamma (INF-y) quantification, we used samples from other 32 sheep with granulomatous lesions characteristic of CLA. Caseous material from these lesions was aseptically collected for bacterial DNA identification by multiplex PCR. Blood was collected in heparinized tubes for interferon-gamma (INF-y) quantification, and in tubes without anticoagulant for the ELISA assay.
Three serum samples from sheep presenting external lesions with C. pseudotuberculosis presence confirmed by microbiological identification (CLA clinically ill animals); three samples from sheep with no clinical sign of the disease, but with positive ELISA results (CLA subclinically infected animals); and two serum samples from animals from non-endemic areas with no clinical history of CLA (negative samples) were tested in a Western blotting system aiming to verify the pattern of antigen recognition.
Caseous samples were aseptically collected and plated onto Brain Heart Infusion (BHI) blood agar; the bacteria were identified based on colony morphology, Gram staining, catalase and urease activity, carbohydrate fermentation (glucose, lactose, sucrose and maltose), and synergistic hemolytic activity with Christie, Atkins, Munch-Peterson (CAMP) factor of Rhodococcus equi, as already described (Dercksen et al. 2000).
The antigen was produced as already described (Moura-Costa et al. 2008). Briefly, C. pseudotuberculosis T1 strain (INCQS 00512) was cultivated in BHI broth at 37ºC for 48h. The culture material was then centrifuged at 10,000g for 30 min and the supernatant was filtered through a 0.22 µm membrane filter. This supernatant was maintained at -20ºC until use. Protein concentration was determined using the RC DC Protein Assay kit (Bio-Rad Laboratories, Hercules, USA). This antigen was used in the ELISA.
The BHI antigen was concentrated using the TPP technique, as already described (Paule et al. 2004), with the objective to verify its composition in an electrophoresis system. It was analyzed by SDS-PAGE electrophoresis and employed in blood cell culture stimulation. Briefly, 15% ammonium sulfate was added to BHI culture supernatants obtained as previously described, and the mixture was gently stirred at room temperature. The pH was adjusted by adding a concentrated HCl solution; then the same volume of n-butanol was added. The mixture was vortexed for 1 min and allowed to rest for 1 h. This mixture was centrifuged at 1350xg for 10 min, and the interfacial precipitation was collected and dissolved in a small volume of Tris 20mM pH 7.4 buffer (500 µl buffer/5 ml culture supernatant). The extracts were dialyzed by ultra-filtration with a 10 KDa cut-off membrane (Millipore Corp., Billerica, USA) against Tris 20mM, pH 7.4. The protein content of the extracts was determined using the RC DC Protein Assay kit (Bio-Rad Laboratories, Hercules, USA).
C. pseudotuberculosis secreted antigens were concentrated by three-phase partitioning (TPP) technique and separated by one-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis under denaturing conditions. A discontinuous SDS-PAGE system with a 4% stacking gel and a 12% running gel was used. Electrophoresis was performed in 0.124M Tris, 0.96M glycine, and 0.5% SDS pH 8.3 migration buffer, at 100V for 3 h. Each well was loaded with 50 µg of protein. Proteins were observed by Coomassie Blue staining.
ELISA assay was developed based on a checkerboard procedure; the working dilution of the horseradish peroxidase-conjugated anti-sheep IgG immunoglobulin; the optimum protein concentration of antigen solution; and the serum sample dilutions were determined by previous checkerboard titrations in order to achieve suitable differentiation between positive and negative sera samples. Sera were tested at 1:25, 1:50, 1:100, 1:200, 1:400, and 1:800 dilutions; antigen at 1:400, 1:200, 1:100, 1:50, and 1:25 dilutions; and the secondary antibody was assayed at 1:5000, 1:10,000, 1:20,000, 1:40,000, and 1:80,000 dilutions (data not shown). The same C. pseudotuberculosis-positive (from animals with CLA confirmed by microbiological isolation) and negative (from non-endemic area animals) control serum samples were used as standards in all assays aiming to ensure reliability and reproducibility of results. The antigen, serum and anti-sheep IgG dilution chosen presented a positive/negative optical density (OD) ratio of 12.6.
High binding polystyrene microplates (Corning Life Sciences, Lowell, USA) were sensitized with BHI C. pseudotuberculosis T1 strain culture supernatant antigen diluted 1:100 in carbonate-bicarbonate pH 9.6 buffer and incubated at 4ºC for 12 h. The plates were then washed twice with PBS 0.05% Tween 20 (PBST), blocked with 5% skimmed milk in PBST, and incubated at 37ºC for 2 h. After two additional washes with PBST, 100 µl of serum samples diluted 1:100 in PBST 1% skimmed milk were added and the plates were incubated at 37ºC for 1h. Each serum was tested in duplicate. Plates were washed four times with PBST and a rabbit anti-ovine IgG antibody conjugated with horseradish peroxidase (Serotec, Raleigh, USA) diluted 1:20,000 was added and incubated at 37ºC for 45 min. After this incubation, the plates were washed and the reaction was developed with 100 µl/well of a solution containing H2O2 and tetramehtylbenzidine (Moss Inc., Pasadena, USA) for 15 minutes, and stopped with 4N H2SO4. Results were then read in an ELISA plate reader (Bio-Rad Laboratories, Hercules, USA) at 450nm.
The ELISA antigens were separated by SDS-PAGE electrophoresis and transferred to nitrocellulose membranes using 100V for 1 h; the membranes were temporarily stained with Ponceau's stain to ensure that the transference process was successful. The membranes were blocked with 5% dry skimmed milk in 0.05% PBS-Tween 20 overnight at 4ºC. They were then incubated with 1:50 sera from CLA clinically, subclinically ill or seronegative sheep, diluted in PBS-Tween buffer containing 1% dry skimmed milk, at 37ºC for 1 h, washed five times in 0.05% PBS-Tween buffer, and incubated for 1 h with horseradish-peroxidase conjugated rabbit anti-sheep immunoglobulins (Serotec, Raleigh, USA) diluted 1:200 in PBS-Tween. Membrane strips were washed five times in 0.05% PBS-Tween and revealed using substrate developer solution (4-chloro-1-naphthol 0.3%, hydrogen peroxide). The reaction was stopped with a final rinse in distilled water and the strips were dried and scanned.
A species-specific Multiplex-PCR based on the amplification of three different genomic regions, including a fraction of the gene responsible for the expression of the exotoxin phospholipase D, was performed as already described (Pacheco et al. 2007). Briefly, bacterial cultures from caseous material retrieved from animals with clinical CLA, as described in the previous item, were transferred to a liquid BHI culture medium and incubated at 37ºC for 48 h. The culture material was centrifuged and the pellet was subjected to DNA extraction using a commercial kit (Phoneutria, Belo Horizonte, Brazil). The DNA samples were then quantified in a spectrophotometer (Bio-Rad Laboratories, Hercules, USA) at 260 and 280 nm.
Multiplex PCRs were performed in a final reaction volume of 10 µl containing 1.5UI AccuPrime Taq DNA polymerase, PCR Buffer II [200 mM Tris/HCl, 500 mM KCl, 15 mM MgCl2, 2 mM dNTPs, 10% glycerol] (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, USA) and 2 mM of each of the 16S-F/16S-R, C2700F/C3130R, and PLD-F/PLDR2 primers. The template concentration was approximately 30ng of DNA extracted from cultured C. pseudotuberculosis. Reactions were carried out in a thermal cycler (MJ Research, Waltham, USA) under the following conditions: initial denaturation at 95ºC for 3 min; 40 cycles of 95ºC for 1 min, 58ºC for 40 s, and 68ºC for 1 min and 30 s; final extension at 68ºC for 7 min. The amplified products were resolved by electrophoresis on 1.0% (w/v) agarose gels and visualized by ethidium bromide staining.
Quantification of INF-gamma in blood cultures was performed for samples collected from thirty-two infected sheep, as already described (Paule et al. 2003, Meyer et al. 2004) with some modifications. Briefly, 2 h after collection, heparinized blood was incubated at 37ºC for 48 h in a humidified 5% CO2 atmosphere in a 24-well culture tray with 20 µg of antigen concentrated using TPP technique; 5 µl of pokeweed mitogen was used as a positive control and sterile PBS was used as a negative control. The blood was centrifuged and IFN-gamma was quantified using an Ovine IFN-gamma kit (MabTech AB, Nacka Strand, Sweden). Cut-off point was calculated using the mean of all not-stimulated cell results, plus three standard deviations. All results greater than this value (198 pg/ml) were considered significant.
The cut-off point was calculated as already described (Frey et al. 1998), with a confidence interval of 99.8%; it corresponded to the mean of all negative sera optical densities (OD) plus three standard deviations.
The sensitivity (S), specificity (E), and accuracy of the ELISA assay were calculated as follows: S = [TP/(TP + FP)] × 100; E = [TN/(TN + FN)] × 100; A= [(FN + FP/(TP+TN)] × 100. Where, TP = the number of truly positive samples, TN = the number of truly negative samples, FP = the number of false-positive samples, and FN = the number of false-negative samples (Seyffert et al. 2010). The microbiological isolation of C. pseudotuberculosis was used as the gold standard.
Repeatability (RP) was calculated testing each positive and negative controls 40 times within the same day and under the same conditions, employing the calculated variation coefficient (CV) found for optical density values as follows: RP = (1 - CV) × 100.
The levels of statistical agreement between diagnostic assays were detected using the Kappa coefficient. The concordance was classified as follows: <0 - no agreement; 0.19 - poor agreement; 0.20-0.39 - fair agreement; 0.40-0.59 - moderate agreement; 0.60-0.79 - substantial agreement; and 0.80-1.00 - almost perfect agreement (Landis & Koch 1977).
In the SDS-PAGE electrophoresis of the BHI antigen, concentrated by the TPP technique (Fig.1), the antigen solution presented a complex pattern with various molecules. Two antigens predominated (105 and 130 KDa). In the Western-blot, the BHI antigen was resolved on an SDS-PAGE gel, transferred to a nitrocellulose membrane, and incubated with sera from seronegative animals, from seropositive animals with no clinical manifestations of caseous lymphadenitis (CLA subclinically ill animals), and from seropositive animals with external granulomatous lesions with confirmed Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis (CLA clinically ill animals) (Fig.2). No reaction was observed in strips incubated with sera from negative animals. Sera from seropositve animals without clinical disease showed marked recognition of a 70KDa antigen and discrete recognition of a 32KDa antigen. Animals with clinical manifestations of disease also had antibodies specific for the 70 KDa antigens, but they manifested a stronger humoral reaction to the 32 Kda antigen.
Table 1 presents the validation criteria for the ELISA assay and the number of sera employed for this standardization. ELISA presented only one false-positive result, showing specificity of 99%. However, nine sera from animals with CLA confirmed by microbiological assays showed negative results; therefore the sensitivity was 89%. These results were calculated based on a cut-off point of OD 0.250. In addition, the method was quite stable, since repeatability was 93.2% for the higher values (positive control) and 97.3% for the lower values (negative control).
In the distribution of ELISA results based on OD ranges (Fig.3), the known positive sera showed normal distribution with peaks within the range of 0.400 to 0.500. Known negative samples were mostly (nearly 70%) below OD 0.100; a small percentage of these negative-sample ODs were near the cut-off point (0.250). The mean of the negative samples was 6.5 times lower than the mean of the positive samples. Figure 4 shows the distribution of optical densities individually for each animal. There was only one positive result above the cut-off point employed for a seronegative animal.
A comparison was made between immunological and molecular techniques for the diagnosis of CLA (Table 2). Multiplex-PCR, which was designed to amplify three different C. pseudotuberculosis genomic regions, including a fraction of the gene responsible for phospholipase D exotoxin expression, was able to identify 25 positive samples. Only two of these samples were negative in the ELISA assay, while three of them presented low and non-significant INF-gamma production by peripheral blood cells.
When we considered the results of the diagnostic methods altogether, only one sample was negative for all techniques. Four animals were negative for bacterial DNA identification, but showed positive results in ELISA and IFN-gamma. Two animals presented discrepant results in the ELISA, when compared with the other methodologies; one was positive in the ELISA, but negative in the other assays, and one was negative in the ELISA, but positive in the IFN-y quantification and bacterial DNA identification.
The Kappa correlation index results calculated in the comparison of the diagnostic assays are shown in Table 3. Only the correlations between IFN-gamma and PCR, and ELISA and IFN-gamma quantification showed fair agreement results; all the others were classified as correlations with poor or no agreement.
First, the antigenic composition of the antigen used in the ELISA was analyzed. The culture supernatant of T1 strain of Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis has already been analyzed (Paule et al. 2004), and it was found that serum antibodies of infected goats recognized several antigens, ranging from 16 to 125KDa. Several proteins were found in the C. pseudotuberculosis T1 strain culture supernatant, with prevalence of the 105 and 130KDa bands recognition (Fig.1). But when the humoral recognition of these antigens by Western blotting was examined, sera from animals with clinical disease (presenting caseous lesions caused by C. pseudotuberculosis) recognized antigens with molecular weights of 32 and 70KDa, while sera from animals with no clinical symptoms of CLA but presenting positive serological results (subclinically infected animals), reacted strongly to the 70KDa antigen, but weakly recognized the 32KDa protein (Fig.2). It is highly probable that this 32KDa antigen corresponds to the 31.5KDa fraction that has been characterized as the major secreted antigen of C. pseudotuberculosis, Phospholipase D (PLD) (Ellis et al. 1991, Costa et al. 1998). Phospholipase D is an exotoxin responsible for the dissemination of bacteria in infected animals, and it is a virulence factor related to the formation of caseous lesions (Hodgson et al. 1992). Consequently, the low level of specific antibodies against this enzyme in animals with no clinical signs of disease probably occurs because of the low production of exotoxin by the bacteria or poor humoral immune activation. The 70KDa antigen that was well recognized by both clinical and subclinical animals may be the 67KDa protein described by other authors (Sting et al. 1998, Paule et al. 2003, Moura-Costa et al. 2008); it is classified as a heat shock protein (Ellis et al. 1991).
We used a large number of ovine serum samples (112 negative samples and 70 positive samples) to establish these parameters, which showed 99% specificity and 89% sensitivity (Table 1). Similar values were already obtained (Seyffert et al. 2010) employing the same antigen material in the development of ELISA tests to identify specific antibodies against C. pseudotuberculosis in goats; they attained 98.5% specificity and 93.5% sensitivity. Our results demonstrate advance and improvement over the ELISA assays developed for ovine CLA so far, since the other scientific reports indicated lower sensitivity. A sonicated somatic antigen was already employed in an ELISA methodology (Binns et al. 2007), showing 100% specificity and 71% sensitivity. In an attempt to enhance the sensitivity of an ELISA that uses C. pseudotuberculosis exotoxin as antigen, Deckersen et al. (2000) developed four different types of ELISA; the highest values obtained for sensitivity and specificity were 79 and 99%, respectively. In this study, microbiological isolation and characterization of the bacteria was used as a gold standard for determining truly positive animals; but this methodology, besides demanding a long time, was not applied to subclinical infected animals that presented no external caseous lesions. Recently, Solanet et al. (2011) reported the development of an ELISA test to detect antibodies against C. pseudotuberculosis in vaccinated or infected sheep, presenting sensitivity and specificity of 98% and 100% respectively, but no evaluation of natural infected animals was conducted in this study.
The cut-off point established for the ELISA was calculated using a previously described methodology (Frey et al. 1998), which is a practical and reliable procedure that could be employed because numerous known negative sera samples were available. ROC curve was not applied, because the cut-off point calculated by the mentioned methodology (Frey et al. 1998) represents an intrinsic statistical and mathematical characteristic of the assay, not submitted to manipulations. We found repeatability of 93.2% for positive controls and 97.2% for negative controls, with high stability for the assay, since these numbers indicate the degree of concordance of results of a sample tested several times.
There were nine animals presenting symptoms of CLA with the bacteria confirmed by microbiological assays that presented negative results in the ELISA. These may be false-negative results, due to a problem with the sensitivity of this assay, but it must also be considered that some animals have very low production of antibodies against C. pseudotuberculosis, especially when the animal expresses a predominantly cellular response against the pathogen. Considering this situation, an IFN-gamma quantification after specific stimulation of peripheral blood leukocytes was already recommended (Prescott et al. 2002), in a test complementary to ELISA, in order to identify such animals. But even the IFN-gamma assay alone cannot be considered a reliable tool, since it was already reported that this test works well for goats, but lacks sensitivity when using sheep sera samples (Rebouças et al. 2011).
In order to validate our assay, ELISA results were compared with a highly sensitive multiplex PCR (Pacheco et al. 2007) and quantification of IFN-gamma after stimulation of peripheral blood leukocytes with secreted/excreted antigens of the bacteria. To this end, 32 samples from animals presenting caseous lesions, typical of CLA, were examined. The results were quite satisfactory (Table 2). Only one animal that was identified as positive in mPCR and IFN-gamma assays showed a negative ELISA result, and it may represent an ELISA lack of sensitivity. In addition, one animal that showed negative results in the molecular and cellular immune response assays presented a positive result in the ELISA. Only one animal showed negative results for all three assays; this may be because of caseous lesions induced by other microorganisms, such as Arcanobacterium pyogenes or Pasteurella multocida (Deckersen et al. 2000, Dorella et al. 2006). Four animals showed positive results based on ELISA and IFN-gamma quantification, but were negative for bacterial DNA identification in the granulomatous lesion. This situation could be explained by a previous infection with C. pseudotuberculosis and a remaining memory immune response, and in the same way that was presented above the lesion analyzed could be caused by a phillogenetically related bacteria, as already seen before when a double-antibody sandwich was developed (Ter Laak et al. 1992). One animal showed positive results for ELISA, PCR and mPCR, but had low production of IFN-y; this animal may be a low producer of this cytokine (Prescott et al. 2002). The poor agreement found for the correlation of the ELISA assay with PCR and microbiological DNA identification could be explained by the fact that some animals in which C. pseudotuberculosis was not identified could have had CLA previously, with development of humoral and cellular responses, identified by ELISA and IFN-gamma quantification.
These results, when analyzed together, show the importance of the developed ELISA in the diagnosis of C. pseudotuberculosis infection in sheep during the chronic phase of the disease, because this is the moment that the caseous lesions are more likely to develop. The development and standardization of an ELISA for the detection of C. pseudotuberculosis IgM would also be useful for the diagnosis of the acute phase of the disease.
These results demonstrate the reliability and feasibility of using an indirect ELISA, employing T1 strain secreted antigen from a brain heart infusion broth culture supernatant, as an affordable tool to identify sheep infected by Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis.
This immunodiagnostic assay could be employed in CLA control and eradication programs, with efficient detection of infected animals and reduced probability of elimination of false-positive animals.
Acknowledgments.- The authors are grateful to the Bahia State Agency for Animal Defense (ADAB) for the aid in the obtaining of serum samples; and to Francisca Soares and Danielle D. Lima (Labimuno-ICS/UFBA) for the technical assistance. This study was supported by Fapex, Fundece and Renorbio. R. Meyer and V. Azevedo are research fellows from CNPq. M.F. Rebouças and D.D. Lima are graduate students with scholarships granted by FAPEX, and D. Loureiro by CAPES.
Received on June 21, 2013.
Accepted for publication on September 12, 2013. | 2019-04-26T03:00:06Z | http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0100-736X2013001100002&lng=en&tlng=en |
To use any domestic remedy, specific knowledge and skills are required. Simple logic dictates that the use of wild plants in the context of limited interaction with nature requires prior identification, while in the case of non-plant remedies and cultivated plants this step can be omitted. This paper aims to document the current and past uses of non-plant remedies and cultivated plants in the study region for human/animal medication; to analyze the human medicinal and veterinary use areas in the context of the remedy groups; to qualitatively compare the results with relevant historical publications; and to compare the intensity and purpose of use between the remedy groups.
During field studies 134 semi-structured interviews were conducted with locals from 11 villages in the Liubań district of Belarus. Currently used home-remedies as well as those used in the past were documented by employing the folk history method. The subject was approached through health-related uses, not by way of remedies. Interview records were digitalized and structured in Detailed Use Records in order to ascertain local perceptions. An Informant Consensus Factor (FIC) was calculated for remedy groups as well as for different use categories.
In the human medication area the use of nearby remedies was neither very diverse nor numerous: 266 DUR for 45 taxa belonging to 27 families were recorded for cultivated plants along with 188 DUR for 58 different non-plant remedies. The FIC values for both remedy groups were lower than for wild plants. In the ethnoveterinary medicine use area there were 48 DUR referring to the use of 14 cultivated plant taxa from 12 families and 72 DUR referring to the use of 31 non-plant remedies. The FIC value for the whole veterinary use area of cultivated plants was relatively low, yet similar to the FIC of wild plants.
Differences between remedy groups were pronounced, indicating that in domestic human medicine cultivated plants and non-plant remedies are either remarkably less important than wild ones or not considered worth talking about. In ethnoveterinary medicine non-plant remedies are almost equally important as wild plants, while cultivated plants are the least used. People in study area seem to still more often rely on, or are more willing to talk to strangers about, wild plants, as promoted by both official medicine and popular literature.
Academic human and veterinary medicine has advanced rapidly during the last few centuries. Educated help has become very effective, widespread, and rather affordable (or even free) in most European countries, making academic medicine the first and often only choice for the majority of Europeans. Yet, complementary and alternative medicine remains popular and is used for treating specific alignments . Herbal medicines are often highlighted as the most popular among different treatments (for example ).
Quite logically, most researched remedies in the enthobotanical literature appear to be plants, leaving aside other possible means used for healing in the home setting. Research on the traditional or local medicinal (and very rarely veterinary) use of plants is quite often paired with the documentation of the food-use of (wild) plants [3, 4], while non-plant remedies are rarely documented, and if they are they concentrate on only a single remedy (such as ). Yet, recent ethnobotanical research has shown that in Eastern Europe a wide variety of non-plant remedies are still used for healing different human and (more rarely) animal health conditions .
In order to use any domestic remedy, specific knowledge and skills regarding what remedy to use to treat a specific disease and how to make it, as well as how to apply or preserve it, are required. For wild plants that grow outside of direct reach, an additional set of specific knowledge is needed, including where they can be found and how to recognize or differentiate them from similar taxa. Hence, the use of non-plant remedies requires a less detailed knowledge set compared to the one needed for the use of plants.
Cultivated plants fall somewhere in between wild plants and non-plant remedies in terms of availablity at home: they grow in close proximity to people, and hence are more or less at hand, yet one has to possess specific knowledge regarding their cultivation. Moreover, through cultivation the taxa are well known, and as a result the identificaton step needed for wild taxa can be omitted. A study examining changes in medicinal plant use in Estonia over the course of a century suggested that the use of plants tended by humans has increased over time as people have fewer encounters with nature and they feel more confident using plants they know for certain . This suggests that the use of cultivated plants could also now be preferred or at least as popular as the use of wild ones, as the historical legacy is quite similar to that in Estonia. Yet, in Belarus, no specific studies of medicinal plants cultivated in home gardens have been conducted. However, some additional data apart from a list of the most common cultivated plants can be found in the ethnographic literature. For example, the most diverse collection of archival data from the Polish-Lithuanian-Belarusian borderland was collected in the 1930s by a Polish ethnographer from Lviv, Adam Fischer. These data were originally gathered for publication in the first part of the Lexicon of Slavic beliefs and customs, dedicated to plant uses in traditional Slavonic culture, but this objective has not yet been realized. Modern Polish researchers have analyzed and published some archival data . In Fischer’s archival data home garden plants are represented by 18, mainly ornamental, species: peony (Peonia sp.), marigold (Calendula officinalis), Tagetes spp., mallow (Malva sp.), garden nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus), perennial phlox (Phlox paniculata), panicled aster (Symphyotrichum lanceolatum) and sneezewort (Achillea ptarmica). Two species were mentioned as potted plants, namely agave (Agave sp.) and surprisingly dwarf everlast (Helichrysum arenarium). Gourd (Lagenaria siceraria) was planted for its fruits, which then were used indoors – mounted on wardrobes and tile stoves for ornamental purposes. This group comprises valuable and useful plants which could simultaneously be treated as ornamental and medicinal: mint (Mentha spp.), rue (Ruta graveolens), poppy (Papaver sp.), elecampane (Inula helenium) and southernwood (Artemisia abrotanum) .
In the post-war period since the 1960s the use of cultivated medicinal plants has become the subject of study in pharmacology as well as agricultural and veterinary sciences, for example ([9, 10], etc). In the 1990s and 2000s, brochures and encyclopedias on the use of cultivated plants from home gardens for medicinal purposes gained in popularity, for instance ([11, 12], etc).
During ethnobotanical and ethnomedicinal fieldwork conducted in the Liubań (Любань) district of Belarus we documented, along with the use of wild plants (outlined in ), the use of all non-plant remedies pertaining to humans and animals as well as the medicinal and veterinary use of cultivated plants. Initial analysis of the results revealed that the uses of both remedy groups are quite limited, in both nomenclature and diversity of use, compared to wild food plants. However, the number of interviewees and depth of the interviews allow for deeper insight. Moreover, as the historical literature on Belarus covers non-plant remedies to a greater extent than the use of medicinal plants, it is a good opportunity to determine if recorded historical uses of non-plant remedies are still practiced or at least remembered.
As similar studies rarely assess the use of non-plant remedies, we decided to examine the subject and compare the intensity and diversity of use of different kinds of remedy groups – in this case non-plant remedies as well as cultivated and wild plants (the last group was covered in ) – to establish if there are any differences in use-patterns within or between the groups. With this information we aim to establish if virtual proximity to the domestic arena and diverse practical availability influence the importance of a remedy in domestic human and veterinary medicine.
The specific aims of this study are: 1) to document the current and past uses of non-plant remedies and cultivated plants in the Liubań district of Belarus for human/animal medication; 2) to analyze the human medicinal and veterinary use areas in the context of non-plant remedies and cultivated plants; 3) to qualitatively compare the results with relevant historical publications regarding non-plant remedies and cultivated plants in Belarus; and 4) to compare the intensity and purpose of use between three remedy groups: non-plant, cultivated plants and wild plants.
Cultivated plants: this encompassed all plants that were intentionally cultivated in order to be eaten (at least some part of them), even if they run wild (like many Lamiaceae species) or are native and grow wild, but are, for medicinal reasons, collected mainly from cultivated specimens (like two Ribes species). This group also included self-planted tobaco (Nicotiana spp.), bedding plants (like Paeonia spp.), potted plants (like Pelargonium spp. or Callisia fragrans), and plants obtained from outside the household (store-bought) and clearly of foreign origin (Piper nigrum, Camellia sinensis). The main criteria for identifying plant as “cultivated” was that it was either grown by the person themself or obtained in a “ready to use form” so that no special identification was needed.
Non-plant remedies: this comprised those parts of plants not permitting or not requiring, from the interviewee’s perspective, identification of the taxon (like chaff); products made from plants (such as bread, bread mold, vodka, food oil of any origin, etc.) given that the specific species used for their preparation are not mentioned by the interviewee; all animal parts (fat, meat) and products (milk, honey); as well as all other medicaments not purchased from a pharmacy for medicinal purposes nor prescribed by a doctor.
Belarus is located between Lithuania, Latvia, Russia, Ukraine and Poland, in Central and Eastern Europe. It covers a territory of 207.6 thousand sq. km. The climate is moderately continental, transitional between maritime and continental, as it is positioned in the temperate latitudes of the western part of the East European Plain . The Chernobyl disaster, which happened 30 years ago, affected Belarus more than any other country, causing high radioactivity and extensive relocation of people.
Temporal changes in home-gardening in Belarus.
Until the eighteenth century the main vegetable crops grown in the Belarusian lands were onions, cucumbers, cabbage, beets, turnips, carrots, poppy, garlic, parsley, parsnips, and hops, among others. During the second half of the eighteenth century on manor farms people began to plant potatoes, strawberries, beans, cauliflower, swede and spinach. Gardening was poorly developed and apples, plums, gooseberries, and currants were primarily grown. In aristocratic parks and greenhouses, however, rare species of fruit trees and shrubs, such as oranges, peaches, grapes, etc. , were planted. The lack of necessary data in the sources of the eighteenth century does not allow determining the place occupied by vegetable growing and gardening in the life of Belarusian peasants .
In the nineteenth century vast acres of land were occupied by the cultivation of lentils, beans, and peas . In the Minsk region hops, mustard, coriander, melons and pumpkins, mint, radishes, onion and garlic, lettuce, parsley, poppy, asparagus and tobacco were actively planted . During this period gardens occupied a peripheral place in the economic life of the peasantry . Home-gardens were located close to the house, merging it with housekeeping, and so the garden was almost under sole control of women . The small size of the yard limited the range of cultivated crops to only the most essential ones . At the end of the nineteenth century most of the yard was occupied by hemp and barley, which, according to peasants, were more useful than vegetables . Hemp was cultivated for its fiber, seeds and oil, as well as for medical purposes. At the end of the nineteenth century the cultivation of hemp was one of the basic sources of income of peasants in the provinces of Mahileu and, in part, Minsk . Barley was cultivated as a cereal crop for food, brewing material and animal fodder .The most common cultivated plants included cabbage, cucumbers, onion and beets. Occasionally pumpkins, radishes, turnips and beans were also grown . Kidney beans were largely unknown to peasants in the nineteenth century; and mixed crops were a distinctive feature of peasant gardens . Peasant women from suburban villages grew leafy vegetables, such as lettuce, green onion, dill, sorrel, parsley, spinach, etc., which were sold in nearby towns [24, 25]. But above all, people engaged in horticulture to provide for the needs of the family . The cultivation of early vegetables in greenhouses was still not widespread in the nineteenth century . The traditional fertilizer was cattle manure .
The twentieth century brought along changes in the structure of the workforce division in villages; however, home-gardening remained one of the primary means of acquiring food for local inhabitants, and even now horticulture remains one of the most important agricultural practices in Belarus (on farms and estates of burghers, village dwellers and even summer residents).
In the researched region literally everyone in the village able to hold a spade keeps a home-garden, which is a relatively small plot close to the house. Most of the space in such gardens is covered by vegetables and fruiting trees, while flower gardens are worth mentioning only when talking about bigger villages. This is quite understandable as the choice of food available in shops is rather limited and is not oriented toward vegetables or fresh food. However, retail shops are present in larger villages and inhabitants of smaller villages are supplied by mobile shops that visit twice a week. Moreover, food is relatively expensive and collective farm workers do not earn much money. For these reasons many villagers still keep domestic animals (pigs, goats, ducks, hens, cows and horses), although admittedly their numbers have diminished during the last several years.
The portion of the data contributing to this paper was obtained during a wider ethnomedicinal field study conducted in 11 villages of the village council of Asaviec, Liubań district (Fig. 1) in May 2016 as a practical part of a development cooperation project financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia. The same 134 interviews with locals (born in the villages where the interviews took place or elsewhere in the district of Lubań), as in , were selected for this analysis. About two-thirds of the interviewees were women and one-third men, which was due to the low representation of elderly men in the villages; the mean age of the interviewees was 63 years, while the oldest interviewee was 92 years old and the youngest was 27 years old. For more information on the researched area and further details of the study see .
This research documented currently used home-remedies as well as those used in the past by employing the folk history method, sensu (reconstruction of historical events through the memory of common people). The subject was approached through specific uses, not by way of remedies. The first part of the interview concerned the use of wild plants and local foods, and this may have introduced little bias as some people paid more attention to wild plants. Yet, in the second part of the interview the domestic sphere of healing was approached through specific illnesses, emphasizing that researchers were interested in all possible means used for healing. In the semistructured format, interviewees were asked to recall what remedies were used to treat most common disease categories using layperson terminology, such as respiratory and cold-related diseases (cold, sore throat, rhinitis, earache, etc.), neurological diseases (headache, nervousness, etc.), cardiovascular ailments (heart problems, blood pressure, etc.) gastrointestinal complaints (stomach ache, diarrhea), musculoskeletal disorders (foot ache, rheumatic diseases, etc.), dermatological conditions (wounds, burns, cuts, skin diseases, etc.), ophthalmological issues (improving vision, eye diseases), oral and dental care (aching tooth, mouth diseases), nephrological ailments (kidney diseases), infection and uses related to other health concerns and wellbeing (prophylactics, being healthy) as well as cosmetic issues (hair and skin care, disinfection, good scent, etc.). After the interviewee responded, a control question was asked, namely if he or she could recall any other specific diseases and their treatment. The veterinary question was addressed more broadly (when animals get ill or how to keep them healthy). Interviewees were allowed to elaborate on the subject as long as they stayed within the health-remedy framework. The interviewees were asked to state when they have used the named remedies and if they have used them personally.
Interviews were voice-recorded upon permission of the interviewee; field notes were also taken and in the majority of cases names recorded, according to the rules prescribed by the local institution. The purpose of the study was explained to each person and prior informed consent was obtained from all interviewees. The Code of Ethics of the International Society of Ethnobiology was followed. All interviews were then transcribed and anonymized before further analysis. The original voice-recorded interviews as well as their transcripts are stored at the The Center for Belarusian Culture, Language and Literature Research within the Archives of The Institute of Art, Ethnography and Folklore, named after K. Krapiva (AIAEF 23–16-2). Anonymized copies of interview transcripts are also stored at the Scientific Archive of the Estonian Folklore Institute (EFISA Valgevene2016) located in the Estonian Literary Museum.
General ethnobotanical practice does not recommend collecting cultivated plant vouchers, therefore all the plants were identified on the spot and only a limited number of voucher specimens were taken to ensure precise identification; in some cases, where people willingly shared their stores, dried plant samples were also archived. Collected voucher specimens were dried and identified with the help of Toomas Kukk (Curator of the Estonian University of Life Sciences herbaria); vouchers are deposited at the Estonian University of Life Sciences herbaria (TAA), assigned herbarium numbers within the range TAA0132555–0132710, and also bearing numbers LJUB001–152. Dried plant samples collected from respondents are deposited at the Scientific Archive of the Estonian Folklore Institute (EFISA Valgevene2016, bearing numbers LJUD001–085). Taxonomic identification, botanical nomenclature, and family assignments of cultivated plants followed the Flora Europaea , The Plant List database , and the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group IV .
Non-plant remedies were identified on the basis of the name used by the interviewees, which as a rule was sufficient for precise identification. Only in few cases were some additional clarification questions asked.
Anonymized records were entered into a Microsoft Excel spread sheet. As with wild plants , to follow emic categories, information was structured in Detailed Use Records (DUR adopted from ), where interviewees (i) mention a specific use (u, e.g. emic disease/illness category [cough, sore throat, heart disease, back pain, etc.], emic veterinary treatment) of a remedy or plant part (p, e.g. fruits, leaves, aerial parts, flowers, etc.) prepared in a certain way (w, e.g. topical application of the remedy, tea [plants macerated in hot water], decoction [plants boiled in water], tincture [plants or other substances macerated in alcohol – either applied or drunk], special preparation, etc.). Interviewee-defined emic categories were employed to ascertain local perceptions.
For every taxon, the number of Use Citations (UC – number of people who claimed the (specific) use of the remedy during the interview) and the number of DUR were calculated for the sum of all uses and separately for medicinal and veterinary areas. For general and emic disease/illness categories, Use Instance (UI), representing the attribution of one specific taxon to a disease category, regardless of the number of people mentioning the specific use, was calculated. Following the recommendation given in several recent publications [33, 34] and to illustrate the diversity of various uses, uses mentioned by only one person were also included.
An Informant Consensus Factor (FIC ) was calculated for both remedy groups (cultivated plants and non-plant remedies) as well as for different use categories within each of the groups.
FIC = nUC – nT / (Nuc – 1).
nT = number of taxa or species that are used for that plant use category.
FIC values range between 0 and 1, where ‘1’ indicates the highest level of informant consent.
The reliability criterion was also assessed to detect the proportion of remedies used by more than three people.
On a temporal scale all uses were divided into four blocks: 1) continuously used (reported to be used throughout life), 2) past uses (uses that were talked about in the past tense), 3) temporary uses (practiced for the limited period of time during adulthood), and 4) adulthood uses (practices that were not known to the person during childhood, but picked up at some point in adulthood and still practiced). The issue of the temporal scale bears some limitations as not all people responded to the question regarding the time in which a remedy was used in an unambiguously interpretable way (and at times the interviewers were too engrossed in the conversation to ask clarifying questions). For about one-third of the use reports, attribution to the temporal block was made on the basis of context (verb tense the person used, time period they were talking about, etc.) and, therefore, this scale reflects in part the approach of the researcher. However, as all researchers collecting data asked the same questions about the same diseases treated, even a slightly vague interpretation of the temporal scale deserves to be analyzed.
The peak of research on the ethnomedicine of Belarus occurred at the end of the nineteenth century .
In those publications special attention was paid to the causes of illnesses, their prevention, and ways of ritual treatment, but the comments were developed in accordance with the attitudes of the collectors - i.e. to show the “downtrodden” peasants or romanticize their “antiquity”. Representatives of the mythological school enthusiastically talked about the “ghosts and demons” of diseases and ways of communicating with them [18, 26, 37, 38]. By the middle of the nineteenth century, among the collectors and researchers of folk customs, there was already the idea of a separate sphere of national knowledge - “folk medicine”. Materials on folk medicine were systematically collected and discussed in publications [37–46]. Folk medicine can be understood from two different perspectives: 1) to reveal the reasons for the stability of folk techniques and 2) to enrich medical science with unknown medicines. The common tendency in evaluating traditional medicinal practices was to consider “superstitious” techniques (from the collectors’ point of view) as “age-old backwardness” and “useful” ones as “folk wisdom and experience”.
Special attention was also paid to the study of medicinal plants. At the end of nineteenth century ethnographers encouraged the creation of herbariums of local flora. For example, E. Orzeszkowa established a full herbarium of the vegetation of the Neman river region, in which the specimens were accompanied by a description of their uses in folk medicine, as well as related proverbs and beliefs . The historical sources also allow us to see a more diverse picture of the cultivated plants and non-plant remedies employed in ethnoveterinary medicine in the 19th and early 20th centuries [48–56].
The historical vicissitudes of the twentieth century and changes in the scholarly approach to ethnomedicine [57, 58] did not allow for the gathering of much comparative data from that period.
In Soviet times there were almost no folkloric or ethnographic studies on the subject of folk medicine, which seems to indicate the absence of official support for such documentation at that time. At the end of the twentieth century publicatons focused on the ethno-cultural component of folk healing and the mythology of diseases. The first volume of the “Polack Ethnographic Collection” (Issue 1, "Folk Medicine of Belarusians from Padzvinnie region") was dedicated to folk medicine. Summarizing the results of a study was the volume “Traditional medicine and ritual-magic practices” prepared by T.Valodzina from the series “Belarusian Folk Art” , which presents a chronologically blurred section of Belarusian magical healing. This volume is a complete compendium of folk medicinal ritual-magical practices, collected from a variety of printed sources and archives. A large part of the material was collected by the author during more than 100 expeditions between 1993 and 2010 to all regions of Belarus under a special program (more than 7000 folklore units were recorded).
As of today, Polish scientists have reviewed the unpublished sources of the late nineteenth century on ethnobotany, including the Belarusian lands: a questionnaire by Yu. Rostafinski (1883) and a manuscript by M. Federowski, who structured his data in accordance with the earlier questionnaire of Rostafinski .
Therefore, qualitative comparisons with the current collected data and historical records covering all of Belarus can be drawn for both human and animal medication, especially when it concerns non-plant remedies.
The results obtained for cultivated plants and remedies were compared with similar results for wild plants as in , and a few additional aspects (like the quantification of recently acquired uses) of the data regarding the use of wild food plants were further analyzed and added to the already published results. In this instance, wild plants consisted of all plants growing outside direct human cultivation, including domesticated local wild plants cultivated in home gardens, but not for food purposes (such as bedding plants and non-fruiting trees, which can also be encountered outside of human cultivation).
Interviewees used 45 cultivated plant taxa belonging to 27 families (Table 1). The most well represented families were Lamiaceae (six taxa), Rosaceae (five taxa), Poaceae (four taxa), Solanaceae and Asteraceae (three taxa each). The reliability criterion was met by 26 taxa (57%).
Two hundred twenty-six DUR of cultivated plants were recorded. The six most widely utilized taxa (and named by at least 10% of interviewees) included two Allium taxa (garlic A. sativum [26 DUR] and onion A. cepa [22 DUR]), followed by houseplant aloe Aloe spp. (24 DUR), potato Solanum tuberosum (20 DUR), aronia Aronia spp. (16 DUR), and cabbage Brassica oleracea (15 DUR).
Altogether 108 UI were detected in general disease categories. The reliability criterion (at least three users) was met by 30 general UI. This group contained 19 taxa, of which only seven were used in more than one wider disease category, including garlic Allium sativum and onion Allium cepa in four disease categories, three of which (respiratory, general health and infection) were shared, while the other two were oral and dental and dermatological, respectively. Potato Solanum tuberosum was used in three general categories (dermatological, respiratory and gastrointestinal). The remaining four taxa met the reliability criterion in two disease categories: blackcurrant Ribes nigrum and black pepper Piper nigrum (respiratory and gastrointestinal in both), aloe Aloe spp. (respiratory and dermatological) and aronia Aronia spp. (gastrointestinal and cardiovascular). Among the other twelve taxa, the most well represented included ophthalmalogical use of leaves of the tea plant Camellia sinensis, gastrointestinal use of dill Anethum graveolens and Beta vulgaris, neurological use of mint Mentha spp. and cardiovascular use of Leonurus quinquelobatus, all reported by at least five people.
Individual use of cultivated plants was not very diverse. Only one person claimed to have used one taxon, namely calendula (Calendula officinalis), to treat five different illness categories, while three more taxa (Anethum graveolens, Solanum tuberosum and Mentha spp.) were used by a single individual in three different illness categories.
The Informant Consensus Factor for the entire medicinal use area was relatively low at 0.82 (251 use citations for 45 taxa). All of the general categories in the medicinal use area had lower FIC values and only five general categories had a FIC greater than 0.6.
The disease category with the highest FIC was infection (FIC 0.79 for five taxa), which was dominated by two Allium taxa and Cucurbita pepo used to treat helminthic infection. Another small category with only three taxa used was ophthalmological (FIC = 0.77), which was dominated by Camellia sinensis (used only in this disease category to treat eye problems). The dermatological category (FIC 0.69, ten taxa) was clearly dominated by the taxon Aloe spp. (Figure 2), which was used to treat mainly wounds, but also burns, cuts and skin inflammation. Only a few other taxa in this diease category met the reliability criterion: Allium cepa (used to treat abscess, (rotten) wounds and skin diseases), Hippophae rhamnoides (oils for treating burns), and Solanum tuberosum (for treating burns and skin diseases).
Only two taxa in the cardiovascular category (FIC = 0.64, six taxa) met the reliability criterion: Aronia spp. to treat hypertension and Leonurus quinquelobatus to treat heart problems. The second most numerous in terms of represented taxa was the respiratory category (FIC = 0.63, 18 taxa), which consisted of six taxa, none of which were clearly dominate, that met the reliability criterion: Aloe spp. (eaten fresh against cold and macerated in alcohol or cooked to treat lung diseases or tuberculosis (in the past)), Solanum tuberosum (used as an inhalation against cold, cough and rhinitis), Allium sativum (eaten fresh, worn as a necklace to combat cold and cough, and applied topically to alleviate rhinitis), Allium cepa (boiled with milk or inhaled to treat cough and rhinitis), Ribes nigrum (used as a tea against cold) and Prunus cerasus (used as a tea to combat cold and sore throat).
The gastrointestinal category, while having a relatively low FIC value (0.59 for 25 taxa), contained seven taxa that met the reliability criterion: Anethum graveolens (to alleviate flatulence and stomach ache), Aronia spp. (to relieve stomach ache), Beta vulgaris (to cure constipation), Pyrus communis and Oryza sativa (to treat diarrhea), Piper nigrum (to treat diarrhea and stomach ache), Solanum tuberosum (to treat hemorrhoids). Within the other disease categories only a few individual taxa met the reliability criterion, among these: Allium sativum in the oral and dental category (to treat toothache); Mentha spp. (as a sedative and to relieve headache) and Brassica oleracea (against headache) in the neurological category; Brassica oleracea (to alleviate joint pain) in the musculoskeletal category; and Allium sativum and Ribes nigrum in the general health category.
The majority of the temporary, past and adulthood uses of cultivated plants overlap with uses that have been continuously practiced; however, some differences do exist. For example, some plants were reported to be used differently in the past than they are now, including the tea of cultivated Mentha species which in the past was drunk to treat hemorrhoids, but now is used in adulthood by many people as a sedative (also used continuously) and to treat respiratory illnesses. The use of Mentha leaves applied on wounds was also only practiced in the past. However, uses of cultivated plant taxa practiced only in the past were rather rare and included the freshly pressed oil of Cannabis sativa which was drunk to cure constipation and the tea of Nicotiana spp. which was gurgled to alleviate toothache. A few additional taxa were mentioned only when talking about uses acquired during adulthood; for example, Capsicum annuum macerated in alcohol to treat rheumatic diseases or raw jam of Chaenomeles japonica to promote wellbeing, roots of Helianthus tuberosus eaten raw to treat diabetes, and tea of the leaves of Hyssopus officinalis to combat cold and stomach problems – all of which are known from the widespread popular literature on home-medication and widely promoted in the media (for example, the most popular newspaper “Narodnyy Doktor”publishes readers’ recipes that are sent to the editorial office).
One temporary use also stood out, although the plant itself was continuously used: children were bathed in a decoction of twigs and leaves of Ribes nigrum against diathesis. The person describing the use mentioned that the wild plant (three-lobe beggarticks, Bidens tripartita L.) did not help her children, “but the leaves of blackcurrant did”.
Out of the 134 people interviewed, 73 mentioned using cultivated or store-bought plants for medication. Twenty-five people mentioned only one use, while the most knowledgeable person mentioned 16 taxa and three more individuals recalled 13 taxa. The mean number of used taxa was 3.6, which is relatively quite low, especially considering that almost all households had a vegetable garden, indicating that plants were cultivated.
While the historical data on the use of cultivated plants for healing is relatively limited, some comparisons can be drawn. For example, the use of intensely tasting plants have retained their popularity, even if the specific use indicated has changed considerably in nature: at the end of nineteenth century it was believed that onion and garlic would frighten off diseases, as well as protect children and pregnant women, and also newlyweds during their wedding [40, 43, 44, 62], whereas now only a few interviewees recalled the use of garlic (as a necklace) as a means of maintaining good health and protecting against cold, while the primary emphasis of the modern use of fresh onion and garlic is on respiratory diseases. In the nineteenth century garlic was used to relieve teething pain in infants [43, 62], while now it is used to treat toothache. The specific use of baked onions has also changed as now it is used mainly to treat dermatological problems, while according to nineteenth century sources mothers used to rub the new-born’s breast with baked onions to alleviate rhinitis .
There were 188 DUR referring to the use of 58 different remedies (Table 2). The six most popular remedies included vodka (19 DUR), pork fat and honey (both 14 DUR), salt (11 DUR), propolis (10 DUR), and goat milk (9 DUR); however, only vodka was named by more than 10% of interviewees.
salve made with root of Arctium spp.
Altogether 93 UI were recorded in general disease categories. The reliability criterion (at least three users) was met by 21 general UI. This group contained 16 different remedies, of which only five were used in two disease categories. The most popular was vodka, used in the respiratory and gastrointestinal categories, followed by goat milk in the general health and respiratory categories, propolis in the general health and respiratory categories, salt in the respiratory and nephrological and urological categories, and goose fat in the respiratory and dermatological categories. Among the remaining 11 remedies, only three were reported by at least five people: pork fat used to treat oral and dental diseases, honey in the case of respiratory diseases and oil in the gastrointestinal category.
The domestic use of non-plant remedies on the individual level was rather restricted, as only one person claimed using spirits in four different illness categories, while two more individuals used honey for treating three different ilnesses.
The informant consensus factor for the whole medicinal use area of other remedies was very low (FIC = 0.67, 175 use citations for 58 remedies). All but three general disease categories had lower FIC values.
The cardiovascular category contained only one remedy: dead honeybees (FIC = 1) (Figs. 3, 4). The oral and dental disease category had the next highest FIC value (0.85) and contained one dominant remedy (pork fat, either fresh or salted) and two less frequently used ones (topical applications of salt and vodka on an aching tooth). Another small general disease category with a FIC slightly lower than that for the whole use area (0.66) was nephrological and urological ailments, containing only two remedies (brandy drunk to treat kidney stones and salted hot water applied externally on cystitis). The respiratory disease category was the only extensive one that had a relatively high FIC value (0.68). Among a relatively wide variety of remedies (16), seven met the reliability criterion (having more than three users). Of these the most popular was honey, used mainly to treat cough but also sore throat, and vodka, which was drunk to relieve cold, cough and rhinitis, as well as applied topically to alleviate earache. Goat milk and cow milk with honey and/or soda were used mainly to relieve cough (in children), and heated salt was applied topically to treat sinusitis, sore throat, earache and cough (socks with hot salt). Also, goose fat was mixed with honey and applied or smeared on the chest to alleviate cough and rhinitis.
The gastrointestinal disease category (FIC = 0.52, 14 remedies) contained only four remedies that met the reliability criterion. The most popular of these was the use of oil to relieve constipation, vodka to treat stomach ache and diarrhea, kefir to allieviate constipation and starch to cure diarrhea. The general health category, containing seven remedies (FIC = 0.53), encompassed only two remedies that met the reliability criterion: the use of goat milk to treat allergies in children as well as to combat cancer, and propolis macerated in alcohol as a panacea. The infection disease category (FIC = 0.5, five remedies) contained only one remedy that met the reliability criterion: horse dung water used to treat helminthic infection.
Within the remaining general disease categories FIC values were very low (0–0.3), with only use in the dermatology category meeting the reliability criterion: goose fat smeared on burns and foot sores.
A few temporary uses were related to curing particular personal diseases encountered only once in life or during a specific period, such as treating sick children or having access to a remedy (like using fresh milk to treat eye inflammation while keeping a personal cow). Quite a number of recently acquired uses seem to have a traditional origin (e.g. the use of old snakeskins to treat pimples or rolling the soft part of the bread over the stomach, saying a few words and then giving the bread to dogs to alleviate fright), but they could also have been learned from books or journals promoting “traditions”, such as the myth of treating epilepsy with anthills . The popularity of honey and propolis as a medicine is now supported by popular literature (7 uses out of 10 for propolis and 7 out of 8 for honey were attributed to recent acquisition) and may also be due to the massive promotion of apicultural products as good for health [64–66]. Many past uses are spatially distributed among the most popular uses, except a few: burning dog hair to alleviate fright; sheep fat to treat cold and in a salve to alleviate joint pain; lice hidden in bread and given to eat to treat jaundice; hot milk with garlic as a bath to cure helminthic infection; rainwater for washing hair; sweat of horses or sand where chickens bathe to treat warts – all of these, however, were named by only one or two people.
Out of the 134 individuals participating in the study, 60 mentioned the use of other remedies for human medication and of these 23 mentioned only one remedy. The two most knowledgeable individuals recalled 19 and 10 DUR and 17 and 6 used remedies, respectively. The mean number of DUR was 3.3 and for remedies it was 2.7.
The historical legacy concerning non-plant remedies is much richer than that of cultivated plants which indicates that this remedy group has clearly decreased in number and also in use nomenclature. Historically, symbolic practices of the treatment of diseases were associated with the magical properties of water, fire and stones (soil), and water treatment was widespread [63, 67]. In Belarusian ethnomedicine water was considered a universal remedy in the treatment of almost all diseases, on the basis of both its basic potential to purify the body and the repetitive healing through sanctification, etc. . As common within all traditional medicines around the world, water had, in the opinion of Belarusians, specific powers to heal through bathing (flushing, pouring out). Belarusians treated with water “rosette” (acute pains in the stomach) , “evil eye” [43, 63, 68], and a variety of skin diseases [62, 63]; however, such uses could also have been influenced (or earlier local use supported) by widespread hydrotherapy ideas propagated by popular literature, for example the book on water treatment by German doctor Sebastian Kneip (1821–1897). Moreover, the addition of salt , metal products [43, 62], coins , and ash , among other things, was believed to add extra magical powers to water. The first time a child was bathed a coin was thrown into the water, which according to magical beliefs would provide health, skin purity and wealth to the child. One interviewee did recall such a treatment when asked specifically, but her reference was quite impersonal, “second hand” and therefore it is not referred to in the analyzed data, although in other regions of Belarus the use of different metals has been recorded (iron, silver , etc.).
Historically fire was an important factor in the process of the symbolic “overbaking” of a sick child in a furnace, a ritual common during the nineteenth century in Hrodna, Minsk and Vicebsk provinces [43, 45, 70]. Likewise, fumigation or smoke was used to cure a fever [39, 69]. Moreover, the historical widespread re-use of ritual objects for fumigation (for example, candles [41, 43, 62] and shells of Easter eggs ) was not mentioned by the participants in the current study.
The topical application of stones, widespread historically [45, 62, 63, 71], seems to be largely forgotten, as is the use of all naturally occuring substances apart from salt; for example, minerals (silica ), silver (coins [41, 45, 67]) and clay ([41, 45]). The only exceptions noted in this study were the recorded use of sand in which chickens bathed for treating warts, which was clearly indicated as a recalled past use, and the ingestion of clay associated with ethnoveterinary use.
Vodka, however, used historically to dilute some other substances [20, 39], has become a very popular remedy on its own and as a dissolving agent in combination with a variety of plants and, on occasion, non-plant remedies (tinctures for internal or external use).
The use of plant-based products unidentified on the species level, such as the earlier widespread use of tar , was only occasionally mentioned. Another plant-based product, bread, was historically attributed protective properties and used in the treatment of various diseases [41, 45, 63, 72]; however, this study recorded the use of bread for treatment only a few times, and in all cases it was used as a mediation substance, conveying words (mumbled on and fed to cows) or as a symbolic means of hiding healing substances (e.g. the remembered past use of hiding lice to treat jaundice). Interestingly, Vallejo and González showed that the use of bread with lice in Spain was encountered in the literature only between 1942 and 1972, although the researched literature extended from 1927 to 2012. The use of lice for the treatment of jaundice was widespread among Belarusians . One recent use (reported as practiced during adulthood, but not during childhood) was the use of bread as a medium for the transfer of fright from humans to dogs. The so-called “out-rolling” with the soft part of bread while still hot was a historically well known magical remedy among Belarusians and other Slavic peoples and used predominantly to remove “fright” from the body. The bread was rolled over the back or stomach and as a result it collected a lot of fur and hair – often used to diagnose the agent “responsible” for the disease. These “out-rolled” diseases were then carried outside human habitats (thrown into water, taken to the forest, left on crossroads) or, more often, fed to dogs. Other substances (such as ashes, wool or boiled eggs) were also sometimes used for the same purpose [74, 75].
Products of animal origin as well as their metabolic products were occasionally used or recalled as having been used in childhood; and all of these were used historically as well. The most common among these included fat [42, 43, 62], apiculture products , dairy products , and eggs [39, 41, 43, 45, 46, 62, 63, 67, 76], as well as urine and dung water of horse feces and bile [42, 43]. Yet the historical repertorie was much more diverse, containing many products not recalled during our interviews, such as horns and blood , feathers [63, 70], placenta , waste matter [43, 62, 63], wool and bones and some of the internal organs .
The list of the historically used domestic animals and birds is very long, and includes horse [63, 68], pig [45, 63], cow , chicken , goat , cat , bull , a variety of small mammals (rat , bats , hare , hedgehog ), wild birds (cuckoo ), reptiles (snake [43, 68], lizard ), amphibians (frog [42, 43, 63]), insects (bees [38, 63, 69]) and also fishes (burbot , pike [43, 77]). Although it is not always clear how exactly the animal was used in the past, the use of animals often relied on a basic principle - treating similar with similar, with the aim to “transmit” diseases to animals, both by means of direct contact as well as through charms and magical actions (fumigation of wool or feathers of an animal/bird that caused the consternation [63, 69]). Among the records of the present study, mainly practical and seemingly quite rational uses of animal (products) have continued to be used.
Among the human-originated substances, the historical data list such remedies as human placenta , hair [38, 41, 63], nails [41, 45, 63], and the urine of sick people [20, 43]. Items bearing symbolism of the underworld include, for example, objects belonging to the deceased or a cemetery [43, 45, 62], spider’s web [43, 45], moss (from the roof of the house) [43, 77] and a piece of cloth with menstrual blood . None of these were mentioned during the interviews in this study.
The recording of charms was not the purpose of the present study as healing with charms and healing with plants are usually perceived as separate categories of healing, considered independent. Yet in a few cases we encountered some elements of healing concerned with the use of charms that are related to the use of non-plant remedies, such as alleviating fright by rolling bread over the stomach. The use of plants both in magical practices and as accompainments to charms is based not only on their real biological characteristics, but also on the laws of mythological logic - the place of the plant in the traditional worldview . The use of plants in folk medicine is often based on the principle of signatura rerum, when people believe that the plant itself (by its color, shape, etc.) indicates which disease they need to treat. In magical practice in general, the correlation of the external manifestations of a disease, especially the cutaneous ones, with a particular plant is important. This is particularly evident in the example of the ritual removal of warts, for which comparably round potatoes, peas and apples were used: “People took potatoes and rubbed them on the warts. Potatoes cut in half, applied on the warts, and then pressed together and buried. As soon as the potato dries the warts should disappear” . All across the country this practice continues to use prickly, scalding or even poisonous plants as apotropes, for fumigating a patient with the magical intention of expelling the spirit of the disease. For example, children that had received a fright were fumigated with agrimony, among other things. Other features of the plant have become more relevant, such as the multiplicity of poppy and flax seeds, when sprinkled over a child afflicted by the evil eye, etc.
Treatment with words, which was embodied in the practice of medical charms, was historically considered an important way to get rid of disease along with remedies of plant, animal and mineral origin. Charms were mainly used as prophylactics and to treat children’s and women’s diseases, infectious diseases, skin diseases, neuropsychiatric conditions, dental issues and complaints related to the digestive system, head, eyes, ears, nose and throat, as well as fear, the evil eye, and health problems related to childbirth. This type of treatment was conducted by healers, although some proportion of the population had basic folk medical knowledge. The charms are accompanied by certain actions which reinforce the magical meaning of the act of treating.
Earlier folklore collectors noticed that "treatments with charms exist everywhere and belief in them was unusually high" . During fieldwork for this study many interviewees mentioned as a past phenomenon whispering old women (бабка-шаптуха, babka-šaptucha) who were consulted in the course of specific diseases (such as fright and evil eye). However, a few lay interviewees also recited some charms. One of the villages even had their own healer man, who was still practicing healing with charms. Today the practice of applying to healers is reserved for illnesses of the psycho-neurological sphere (fright, evil eye, insomnia) and certain skin diseases (for example, erysipelas).
There were 48 DUR referring to the use of 14 taxa from 12 families, of which only two families, Asteraceae and Cucurbitaceae, were represented by two taxa. The most commonly used taxa, and the only one named by 14 people, was Linum usitatissimum (18 DUR). Three additional taxa met the reliability criterion: Solanum tuberosum, Cucumis sativus and Anethum graveolens (three users and DUR for each). The diversity of uses on the individual level was very low: one person used two plants and five people used one plant for treating two different animal illnesses.
The informant consensus factor for the whole veterinary use area of cultivated plants was relatively low, yet similar to the FIC of wild plants (FIC = 0.69, 43 use citations for 14 taxa). The only individual general category with the same FIC value was the emic category rumination problems, for which six taxa were used; however, only one of them, Linum usitatissimum, met the reliability criterion (eight users). All other disease categories had low FIC values within the range of 0.2–0.56. The only two uses that met the reliability criterion within those categories consisted of Linum usitatissimum to treat diarrhea in both cows (seven users) and pigs (five users).
There were no extraordinary uses of cultivated plants that have been attributed only to past or present contexts, except for the recent adoption of the feeding seeds of Piper nigrum to chickens in order to strengthen them. The taxa Linum usitatisiiumum was temporally dynamic: two uses were claimed to have been acquired during adulthood (rumination problems and diarrhea in cows) and seven uses were attributed to the past, of which six were divided equally among diarrhea in cows, diarrhea in pigs and rumination problems in cows; however, the same uses were also continuously utililized.
Out of the 134 individuals participating in the study, 26 mentioned the use of cultivated plants for veterinary purposes. The most knowledgeable person mentioned four taxa (and six DUR), whereas 18 people mentioned only one taxon. The mean number of used cultivated taxa was 1.4 while the mean DUR for this group was 1.7.
Most popular or widespread cultivated plants noted in nineteenth century literature appear to be no longer used. Some of them (such as Nicotiana spp. which was indicated for the treatment of cow, horse and sheep diseases [48, 49, 52]; and Cannabis sativa [48–50] which was used to treat dogs, horses and sheep) have been officially banned for domesti cultivation in different periods of 20th century, whereas others (such as some cereals (Secale cereale, Hordeum vulgare, Avena sativa, Fagopyrum esculentum) used for cow, horse and pig healing) simply stopped being grown in home-gardens due to fundamental changes in the economic sphere occurring in the twentieth century. Other historically known cultivated plants include garlic which was used for the treatment of wounds (especially on the tongue of ruminants) as well as against sheep parasites (матыліцы) [48, 51, 52] and various vegetables (e.g. radish , horseradish, cabbage, carrot ) used to treat internal diseases of cows and horses. None of these was used by our interviewees.
In ethnoveterinary medicine, 72 DUR referring to the use of 31 non-plant remedies were identified. The most commonly used remedies were vodka (13 DUR) and laundry soap (eight DUR). Twenty remedies were used by one person only. Five additonal remedies met the reliability criterion: urine (five users), egg and vodka, beer, horse feces and clay (three users each). The diversity of uses was almost as low as for cultivated plants: one person used vodka for three different emic animal illnesses, while six more people used various remedies for treating two different emic animal illnesses.
The informant consensus factor for the whole veterinary use area of non-plant remedies was higher than for the human medication use area of non-plant remedies and similar to the FIC of cultivated and wild plants (FIC = 0.57, 70 use citations for 31 remedies). Only two of the individual general categories had FIC values higher than that for the whole use area.
Mastitis was the disease category with the highest FIC value (0.71); and in this category five different remedies were used, two of which, laundry soap and urine, met the reliability criterion. The category of helminthic infection had a FIC value of 0.66 and contained two remedies, of which the use of horse feces met the reliability criterion. All other disease categories had low FIC values within the range 0.18–0.5. Within these only a few uses met the reliability criterion: vodka and beer were force-fed to cows to treat rumination problems, a mixture of eggs and vodka was given to piglets to cure diarrhea and laundry soap was given to cows to alleviate constipation.
Over 40% of the DUR were described as used in the past; the majority of them were among the most widely used remedies, while some were uniquely used remedies, such as pouring salted water into the perforated side of a calf or giving soda to goats to drink to treat rumination problems, and the smearing of pigs with tar to cure red fever or scabs. Over 60% of the uses of vodka were also attributed to the past (when animals were still kept by many people). None of the uses in this remedy category were reported as recently acquired.
Out of the 134 individuals interviewed, 30 mentioned the use of non-plant remedies for veterinary purposes, and of these people 12 mentioned only one remedy. The most knowledgeable person mentioned eight remedies, and two other individuals mentioned five remedies and DUR. The mean number of non-plant remedies was 2.3 while the mean DUR of this group was 2.4.
Significant quantitative predominance of non-plant remedies over cultivated plants used for treating domestic animals seems also to be historically specific for Belarusian ethnoveterinary medicine. Some of these remedies were still in use or recalled as past uses. The universal non-plant remedies (stones [48, 52], water [48, 49, 53], fire [48, 50, 54], bread [48, 50, 52], salt [48, 50] etc.), which have already been discussed above in the context of ethnomedicine, were also widely used in veterinary medicine for both treating and preventing animal diseases (mastitis, rabies in dogs, snakebites, digestive disorders of cows and horses, cow placental retention (retentio placentae), skin diseases of cattle and horses, “the evil eye”, etc.). The most numerous and diverse group of non-plant remedies consisted of animal-based ones, such as different kinds of animals and parts of their bodies (insects [48, 49, 52, 53, 55], birds , mammals [48, 49, 52, 53], fishes [48, 52], amphibians [48, 48]] and reptiles ) or substances obtained from human and animal bodies (fat [49, 52], urine [48, 50, 52], feces [48, 49, 51, 52], placenta [49, 52]], bile [48, 49], blood [49, 52]) that were used to treat ungulates (horses, cows, sheep and pigs). Honey [48–51, 54] and the application of birch tar [48, 49, 56] played an important role in treating infectious diseases of horses, cows and pigs. Various milk products were used to treat ungulate skin diseases [49, 51], as well as urination and digestive [48, 50] problems in cattle. Eggs were considered to be a universal remedy for cow and horse diseases [49, 52].
While modern complimentary and alternative medicine has been perceived as a self-driven choice and possibility for caring for one’s self , the “remains” of traditional healing practices have a kind of ambivalent position, valued as traditional relicts, yet often perceived as something less effective, and even shameful (for example, the use of urine, and even the use of vodka). As many (especially wild) plants used in ethnomedicine belonged to the official repertoire of Soviet medicine, it seems that this group of home remedies had been silently given “use consent” in home-healing.
All human disease categories have been predominantly treated with wild plants and only two categories, namely culture bound and oral and dental, had more extensive use of non-plant remedies, although the nomenclature of the remedies for dental treatment was rather limited (Fig. 5, Table 3).
In ethnoveterinary medicine, non-plant remedies have been relatively more important than both wild and cultivated plant remedy groups. However, only one ethnoveterinary category, namely mastitis, has been treated solely with non-plant remedies, while another (rumination problems) boasts both the largest number of uses and the greatest diversity within the non-plant remedies (Table 4, Fig. 6). Cultivated plants have had modest application in ethnoveterinary medicine, slightly more prominent in the diversity of taxa used only in the category of gastrointestinal problems other than rumination.
The entire diversity in the use of both ethnomedicinal and ethnoveterinary remedies was created by only a limited number of people, providing many use records (Fig. 7). Even though there were a remarkable number of people (41) who named only wild plants used in human ethnomedicine, there were also six people who named only cultivated plants and/or non-plant remedies. The situation for ethnoveterinary medicine differs slightly as a similar proportion of individuals used only non-plant remedies (eight people), cultivated plants (seven people) or both (six people), and a relatively smaller proportion (compared to human medicine) of people (14 individuals) used only wild plants to attend animals. The occurrence of people in the sample who have used only non-plant remedies indicates that, even if asking about wild food plants first may have predisposed some respondents to concentrate on wild plants, it was not universal.
In human ethnomedicine wild plants constitute the most changeable group of remedies, with over 40% of uses adopted later in the life (Fig. 8). Other remedies contribute the highest proportion of continuous uses as well as the highest proportion of the past uses, while recently acquired uses represent the lowest proportion. Cultivated plants fall in between the other two remedy groups, contributing a very small proportion of past uses, while recent additions seem to be quite numerous, but still representing a smaller proportion than among wild plants. Among the remedy groups in the ethnoveterinary category the difference regarding the recently acquired uses is noteworthy: almost 30% of the uses of wild plants in contrast to none for non-plant remedies. The non-plant remedy group also boasts the greatest proportion (over 40%) of uses attributed to the past only. None of the uses in the ethnoeterinary use area were referred to as temporary.
Comparison of the overlap of remedies in the human medicinal and ethnoveterinary use areas shows an interesting anomaly in the non-plant remedies category. A vast majority (all but three taxa) of the wild plants and all but one cultivated plant used in ethnoveterinary medicine were also used for human medication. Among non-plant remedies the overlap is considerably less: 14 remedies out of 31 used for ethnoveterinary medicine did not have any other use in human medicine.
Therefore, non-plant remedies can be perceived as the remnants of traditional healing which is no longer evolving. As this group is not supported by official medicine, it has less new uses (acquired during adulthood) and more past uses, and the group may continue to diminish, as has already happened compared to the widespread historical use in Belarus. The more extensive use of non-plant remedies in the ethnoveterinary use area also supports this idea, as ethnoveterinary medicine in Belarus seems to be of marginal importance due to well-developed and accessible professional veterinary care and thus it is practiced by few enthusiasts only.
What supports sustainability of wild plants in human medicine and non-plant remedies in ethnoveterinary medicine?
Wild plants are more versatile because of their availability, diversity and sustainability with regard to the local climate. A significant number of uses of wild plants are associated with knowledge obtained from the media (such as Narodnaya gazeta , 7 dnej ) as well as from the older generation. For example, publications have promoted the use of twigs of trees and berry bushes for tea , berries for compresses, rinses and baths , and inflorescences for decoctions and ointments .
About 33% of the study area is covered by forests, 27.5% of which are man-made, mainly consisting of coniferous plantations. Coniferous, birch, and black-alder forests, as well as oak and fir trees can be encountered. In the mid-1920s, a large land reclamation initiative began in the territory of the district. The peak of melioration fell on 1960–1970s . In total, more than 70,000 ha of swamps were drained in the Liubań region alone. As a result of land reclamation, the area of agricultural land increased significantly (the total area of agricultural land is now 79.2 thousand hectares, of which 62.3 thousand ha are drained); however, due to a number of mistakes and miscalculations, some parts of this land began to be covered with sand dunes, on which nothing grew. Today, marshes cover 0.7% of the Liubań region .
In the territory of the Liubań district there are 3 hospitals, a polyclinic, 10 dispensaries, 14 first aid points, and 6 pharmacies. As a rule, pharmacies are located in towns. In villages, medicines can only be purchased at first aid stations . Veterinary help is provided by veterinarians who work in collective farms, as well as specialists who are retired . In spite of the well-organized professional assistance available, folk veterinary medicine, or a set of methods based on both natural science knowledge about animals and the traditional mythopoetic model of the world, continues to actively adhere to folk remedies, or the use of vegetable, animal, mineralogical, and magical medicinal products, including charms. The latter decreased, in comparison with the post-war period, by the 1980s (the time of active collection of material in the Paliessie region). This was due to urbanization and the decline of rural households as well as ideological changes in society, which brought about the decay of traditional culture. At the same time a vast store of traditional knowledge about animal treatment is preserved in the passive memory of rural residents. Also, their use may be encouraged by veterinarians, a significant portion of who are of rural origin themselves and thus they use “grandmother’s” remedies in their professional activities. Non-plant remedies may also still be important in veterinary practice due to the influence of popular literature (magazines, newspapers) and media.
Knowledge and skills from the field of folk medicine, apart from the use of plant and animal derived products, tend to be in the realm of the sacred. In regard to Soviet atheism they were painted in a negative light with the label “superstition” and pushed underground. This may also be the reason why the respondants in this study did not report them during the interviews, especially as the conversation started with plants and no leading questions were subsequently asked. Conducted interviews did not presume discussions about the healing properties of water, metal, fire or stones. The lack of comments pertaining to a number of folk magic rituals does not at all indicate their absence in the passive memory of the rural residents of the Liubań region or maybe even in their practical use; rather, it is not regarded as the type of knowledge to be willingly shared with a stranger, as is the use of plants for healing. As the use of non-plant remedies was quite recently considered superstition and the “remains of old times”, not suitable for the new social reality, it may well be that people are not willing to open up and speak freely so as not to sound unknowledgable. However, as non-plant uses are quite numerous for the ethnoveterinary use area, and some people reported only the use of non-plant remedies in either human or veterinary medicine, this assumption may not be entirely accurate.
This study examined the use of cultivated plants and non-plant remedies in human and ethnoveterinary mecidine and also tried to understand the importance of these groups of remedies compared with wild plants. While there may be a little bias in favor of wild plants due to the way information was collected (starting point of the interview was wild food plants), the differences among the three remedy groups were well pronounced, indicating that in domestic medicine cultivated plants and other means were remarkably less important than wild ones. In ethnoveterinary medicine non-plant remedies were nearly equally important as wild plants, while cultivated plants were the least utilized. However, being “at hand” does not necessarily mean being used or valued more, while remedies requiring more specific knowledge (such as wild-growing plants) are used more often and diversely. Even against the backdrop of the loss of unintentional contact with nature, people in Belarus more readily talk about using wild plants, supported by both official medicine and popular literature. While the use of non-plant remedies is somewhat promoted by popular literature, this alone does not seem to be sufficient to sustain local uses and/or open people up for sharing such uses. Therefore, even if our results indicate that proximity to the domestic arena does not influence the popularity of a remedy, we cannot say this with full certainty. Further research should develop more structured and detailed approaches and methods for evaluating the trends detected in the present study in order to better understand the mechanisms of the evolution of popular medicine.
Our special thanks go to all the study participants of the communities in the Asovets village council who generously shared their knowledge. The authors thank Margus Kiis, Lagle Aim and Laura Rachel Vesik for assistance in the field.
The field study was a part of an ethnobotany field school financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia through the Developmental Cooperation Program (projects 66–2015-A and 69–2016-A). Research was supported by an Estonian Science Foundation Grant IUT22–5 and by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund (Center of Excellence in Estonian Studies, CEES).
The voice-recorded interviews as well as their transcripts are stored at the The Center for Belarusian Culture, Language and Literature Research and are available for study by request. A structured and organized version of the data is available from the first author upon reasonable request.
RS developed the concept and drafted the manuscript. RS and RK designed the methodology and approach and also wrote the peer-reviewed project proposal that financed the field study. SV addressed organizational details during the fieldwork. All authors (except TV and AS) conducted field research. All authors (except RS, RK, MK, AS and TV) transcribed interviews and conducted initial systematization. RS and RK completed the data systematization and analyzed the data. YH, JPr, TV, IV, YK and AS contributed to the writing of the manuscript, as well as composing the historiography of the subject in Belarus and a description of the region. JPr and YH also contributed to the results section and discussion. JPa was responsible for verifying the correct phonetic spelling of local remedy names. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
As there is no special Ethics Committee for such research in Belarus, the ethical aspects of the study were approved by the The Center for Belarusian Culture, Language and Literature Research. The research adhered to the local traditions for such research and the Code of Ethics of the International Society of Ethnobiology . Prior oral informed consent was obtained from all study participants.
International Society of Ethnobiology. International Society of Ethnobiology Code of Ethics (with 2008 additions). http://ethnobiology.net/code-of-ethics/. Accessed 23 Sept 2017.
The Plant List. Version 1. 2010. Published on the Internet; http://www.theplantlist.org/. Accessed 1 June 2017.
Stevens PF. Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 14, July 2017. http://www.mobot.org/MOBOT/research/APweb/. Accessed 30 July 2017. | 2019-04-22T17:21:09Z | https://ethnobiomed.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13002-017-0183-6 |
All perversions and misrepresentations of names fully intentional. The story will be patterned after the Star Wars stories (the property of Lucas Films, and no challenge to such rights is here intended). However, there may be many inaccuracies and incongruous comparisons. Also, the story line may be changed to help provide variety and to give the game a life of its own within the Warhammer setting.
An evil Empire of Chaos, death and corruption holds nearly unchallenged control over the entire huge world. A massive ocean, or sea, covers the entire world, dotted with thousands upon thousands of islands, of all sorts of sizes, inhabitants, and climates. Many islands are one-isle nations, while many others are grouped together to form single nation states, but over them all is the mighty iron hand of the empire.
The evil empire reigns supreme having a chokehold on the freedoms of all the island peoples and literally enslaving many of the peoples of the "lessor races". The Mighty Imperial Naval Fleet dominates the sea, preventing free trade between the isles or greatly diminishing it through high taxes. Many self-motivated sea captains have taken to the lucrative though questionable employment of smuggling goods under the Empire's very nose.
The Empire has built a very powerful super weapon, the Death Island, a floating artificial island that is supposed to be capable of destroying entire islands and even island groupings with one mighty blast of its Death Cannon. A very degrading method was used to construct the weapon: thousands of dwarfs were forcibly subjugated to slave labor!
In the midst of this chaos, malevolence, and corruption, small forces of the formerly socalled "civilized races" have banded together to form an organized Rebellion. Though their resources are limited and numbers small compared to the Empire, they have fighting spirit and very skilful warriors. Even this though seems of negligible help when faced with the controlling, overpowering Dark Side of the Force on the side of the Empire, since the Jaedai, the once powerful champions of the Light Side of the Force, have all been hunted down and executed -- with the minor exception of a handful that are presumed dead (missing in action).
The evil Emperor, Impalpable, a most powerful Lord of Chaotic Change has commissioned his apprentice and executioner, the powerful Vampire Lord Dark Invader, to take care of a matter of some importance: the Rebellion has somehow obtained the plans for the construction of Death Island. This giving the remote possibility that they may discover a means by which it might be destroyed, Lord Invader must apprehend the perpetrators and recover the plans.
And, this is where the story begins: Near the out-of-the-way desert island called Tattleton, a diplomatic vessel, the ____ (name to be created), is making its steady progress across the great ocean world toward a distant island, when the flagship of Lord Invader, the Executioner a great Island Destroyer, hoves into view, more quickly traversing the great sea and closing upon the much smaller vessel.
The Island Destroyer's mighty guns are silent as Lord Invader desires personally to board the ship and apprehend the person he believes to be smuggling the illegally-gotten Death Island plans, her name, Princess Cita from the great artistic and peace-loving Ilse of Aldranean. Therefore, the great ship grapples with the much smaller ship and begins to reel it into one of its many small ship ports, for easy boarding.
When the game begins, the Sea Elf Princess shall have a battle aboard her vessel, having Rebellion NPCs as her allies. I will let the other players command some of the rebel forces (just for fun!). Those forces will surprisingly be orcs, goblins, and dark elves, showing that in this far-flung Warhammer world races are actually working at getting along with one another. They will have to defend against Lord Invader himself and countless numbers of his Skeletroopers.
Stay tuned! Return here for updated info on the game creation process and for the four custom characters' documentation.
Of the above four characters, the Jaedai will be the most complicated.
I just added the available beginning Force Powers for the Jaedai in this edit. Also, the detailed beginning Force Power Descriptions will appear in a reply to this post.
More editing will likely occur, but this should give the reader a good idea of what this warrior will be like. Note: the Jaedai should be failry good at healing, but have little or no actual Wizard's attack spells. Even the "steal the enemies wounds to heal the good guys" types of spells will be off limits to the Jaedai.
Not yet completed, but here is alot of the basic rules. The method and tables for beginning Force Powers (spells) is yet to be created, since the entire Force Powers list is still being developed (or spell book).
This allows the Jedi to "deflect" incoming missiles (projectiles) of a physical nature on a 6+ (5+ as Knight, 4+ as Master and Lord). Deflection is his ability to anticipate projectiles before they hit (while using Power Sabre only -- works against all solid projectiles -- not effective against area effect, fire or magic). This is not to be confused with the Parry skill (which only applies to melee attacks).
If a missile is successfully deflected there is also a chance that it will turn back to strike the one that fired it. Roll 1D6 for each deflected missile, on 5+ as Padawan (4+ as Knight and Master, and 3+ as Lord), the missile is returned and inflicts the same damage upon its shooter as it would have caused on its target.
Power Sabre Style (Choose your style.): The Jaedai must choose a beginning sabre style, either Aggressive or Defensive, which will remain with him for his entire career (mostly). Before choosing, it may be good to review the available Sabre Skills for leveling up. No less than six (3 for each style) of those skills will be enhanced by one style or the other.
If he chooses the Aggressive style, the Power Sabre cause +1 damage on a successful to hit roll AND on a natural 6 to hit, the damage ignores all non-magical armour.
If he chooses the Defensive style, he has the Parry 6+ skill versus all incoming melee attacks; meaning that if a melee attack actually hits him, he rolls 1D6 and on a roll of 6 the blow is parried by his Power Sabre doing no damage (improves to 5+ as Master, and 4+ as Lord).
Force powers work exactly like the Wizard's spells as regards the use of current and stored power. The Force powers have a casting cost just like spells. Some of the Jaedai's Sabre Skills also depend upon his use of Force power (magic power). The Jaedai may NOT use any spells or Force Powers listed under Dark Side Powers, and the Saedith may NOT use any spells or Force Powers listed under Light Side Powers. The Jaedai/Saedith begins with three Force Powers (see their separate descriptions below). These are all determined according to the method outlined below.
Two notes for clarification: 1. The Jaedai will get +1 to the Power roll at BL 2, +2 at BL 3, and so on until BL 10, when he will get the current power roll +9 (This is the same way I handle the Wizard's current power each turn. Of course, a roll of 1 is always only 1 current power.) 2. The Jaedai begins with 2D6 stored power (power tokens) as opposed to the Wizard's 1D6. And, like the Wizard, he may re-roll power tokens dice one time each if he rolls a 1, keeping the second result. Yes, this is an advantage, but so much of what the Jaedai does is dependent upon the Force power available to him and he is not quite as adept as the Wizard in various applications of magic. In fact, in many cases it might take both a Jaedai and a Saedith to equal a powerful wizard in pure magical abilities (Such comments are made only with the original Wizard of Warhammer Quest in mind.).
A further difference the Jaedai has is that each time the Winds of Magic surge (a natural roll of 6 for the Power Phase), he regains one point of stored Force power (power token) up to his starting value.
Jaedai (Light Side User -- a Dark Side User, the Saedith, will be available in the final documentation, but for this game only the Jaedai is available) begins with one Light Side Healing Power, one Defense, and one Special. The Force Powers are chosen from the tables below.
Beginning Healing Power (only one): Choose whether you will start with Cure Small Wounds* or Finger of Life. No other healing powers are available until you have one of these two.
Beginning Defense Power (only one): Roll 1D6 (re-rolling a 1 if desired, but you must keep the second roll). The result is the power of the beginning defense powers you may choose from. Below is a listing of all the beginning Defense Powers. If you roll a 6, you may choose from any of the powers listed in this table (1 through 5).
Beginning Special Power: (only one) Roll 1D6 (re-rolling a 1 if desired, but you must keep the second roll, unless it is a 3, which is also re-rolled). The result is the power of the beginning Special powers you may choose from. Below is a listing of all the beginning Special Powers. If you roll a 6, you may take the May the Force Be with You power or choose from any other powers listed in this table.
Due to his innate tendency to sense the Force (magical power in WHQ) and to channel its power for his protection, the Jaedai begins with Magic Resistance 6+. This improves when he gains titles (5+ as a Knight, 4+ as Master and Lord). This natural Magic Resistance rating may only be increased by +1 per spell or item no matter what magic resistance they are supposed to give (maximum adjusted magic resistance may never be better than 3+ to successfully resist).
Never wear armour, or helms or use shields. But, a cloak or other protection is fine -- anything a wizard can use to increase his defense.
He is able to use any items that can be used by at least TWO of the following: Wizard, Elf, Barbarian. Also, he may use certain wizard-only treasures to enhance his ability to tap into and channel the life force about him. A list of prohibited items should follow soon.
The Jaedai (only and not the Saedith) receives 5 gold (or experience) for each wound healed on another.
See one of my replies to this topic for the Power Sabre Skills. They may be learned when leveling up.
These custom characters are still being created, but I will post their latest rules here. Though, I may need to add one or more replies to this topic in order to get all their rules posted.
Note: Join with Elf Ranger Knight as the Sea Elf Princess in this story may have some interesting skills and/or spells to learn along the way. The spells may come into play if she learns that she may actually have some latent Jaedai ability.
Long Knife (Str 2). Whenever the Sea Elf Princess gets a natural 6 to hit using her Long Knife she causes an additional 2 wounds (modified as usual). Yes, she may cause a death-blow with her Long Knife.
One Healing Potion: obtained from her cousins, the wood elves, while visiting an Elf Quarter. The potion heals 1D6 wounds on a single warrior.
Sea Wafers (1D3+1): very similar to elf waybread, but are not as light and, according to the wood elves, not as tasty. Each Sea Wafer restores 1 wound to the warrior that eats it. These Wafers spoil by the end of an adventure on a 1D6 roll of 1 or 2.
Bandages (1D3+1): The Sea Elf Princess has some rudimentary knowledge of first aid. When she tries to apply a bandage to a fallen comrade, her attempt succeeds on a roll of 3+ (instead of 4+ for the common warrior).
Dodge 6+ Same as the Elf's Dodge skill.
First Shot Attack (ballistic only): at the beginning of each monster event (all inclusive -- UE, regular room, or even Objective Room --, but subject to GM's judgment) whenever monsters first appear, whether they ambush or not, the Sea Elf Princess gets to shoot off one arrow at any single monster at the start of the Monster Phase, even if adjacent to her. This represents her ability to spot the enemy at a distance and to hear them approaching before others do. Thus it is assumed that she has time to get in one shot while the monsters approach (so technically, she does not really shoot at an adjacent target, she just shoots at the monster before it takes the adjacent position. This attack is also assumed to be made before the monsters decide whom they will be attacking, though the Sea Elf Princess may determine her target with the knowledge of where the monsters will be standing once they make their attacks. To clarify, this skill only works at the begininning of each new monster event AND will not be allowed if the Sea Elf Princess is currently adjacent to monsters placed in a previous monster event.
Negotiator The Sea Elf Princess is an excellent negotiator. For events that involve communication and negotiation she gets +1 to any table rolls or tests (such as Initiative test for discerning the intent or motivation of an NPC). Also, any non-monster events, hazards, and etc. that are of a detrimental nature and that involve other people may be avoided (treated as uneventful) on a 1D6 roll of 6.
The Sea Elf Princess may wear any armour available to her wood elf cousins (normal Elf). She may generally use anything that the Elf can use with the following exceptions: She cannot make potions out of healing herbs. She may buy them and have a fellow Elf (normal wood elf) process the potions for her (perhaps sharing one for payment), if one is in her party; She may buy waybread, but it costs twice as much for her as it does for the normal Elf, because the wood elves feel it an insult that the Sea Elves would produce an inferior likeness to waybread and pass it off as of equal quality.
Modified Pistol Crossbow - Stregth 3; 3 shots every other turn (takes one turn to reload); Modified Range 6 (if fired beyond range the target is at -1 to hit per square beyond). All the normal ballistic rules apply. See also Enhance Ballistics skill.
Quick Reload Modification - During any of his turns (even during reloading), while NOT adjacent to monsters and while not shooting, the Dwarf Engineer may switch his Pistol Crossbow over from normal loading rate to a quick loading rate that allows two shots per turn at strength 2. This means that he is able to reload more quickly, reloading two quarrels immediately after shooting them off, but the technique causes the shots to lose a little of their power. Switching back again has the same requirement (not shooting and not adjacent to monsters, though moving is okay, because he is an engineer).
Axe - Does normal damage of 1D6+3 (strength of dwarf). Though it is a common axe, the Dwarf Engineer may visit the Dwarf's Guild and have runes inscribed upon it.
Rope - May be used to escape a pit. May have other uses. Roll 1D6 each time a warrior's weight or similar weight tests the rope's strength. On a 1 or 2 it has broken.
Enhance Ballistics This is an ability of the Dwarf Engineer to tinker with certain ballistic weapons (pistols, muskets, and crossbows). He may be able to enhance their usefulness by experimenting with them when they first come into the party's possession (more on this in his full documentation). Starting out, he has already successfully modified his Pistol Crossbow (see above).
General Engineering The Dwarf Engineer is an engineer. Therefore, he is good at engineering things. He gets a +1 to any dice rolls involving the use of ropes, lock picks, and tools of any type. Also, (especially important in roleplay) he gets an additional +1 to any initiative tests related to engineering (such as finding secret doors or passages, or disarming a trap, picking a lock, making a rope, and etc.). See page 166 in the RolePlay Book (dwarfs tend to be good at these things already, but the Dwarf Engineer is even better). This skill is specifically helpful, should the Dwarf Engineer find himself on a Sea-going vessel that needs extra machanical care to maintain its precarious balance between superior usefulness and being adrift at sea.
I would like to join.. im just about to create a new game, so I should have warrior slots enough..
I would like to join with a Jedi..
That's one player so far.
The Power Sabre is the Jaedai's weapon of choice. If he practices as he should and depends much upon the Force, he will become much more skilled and powerful while wielding it against his foes. Every time he levels up, roll 1D6. On a 3+ roll once on the following Power Sabre Skills Table. Luck may not be used to re-roll this dice (nor for that of the table roll), but if he has found a Jaedai Mentor that is of greater experience than he is, this roll will succeed on a 2+ (only failing on a roll of 1).
Roll 2D6 on the following table if the Jaedai gains a new Power Sabre Skill. If the Jeadai is being trained by one more experienced than he, he may choose the skill roll or the one just before or the one just after on the table (but see notes on results 2 and 12). If the result is a skill he has already received, roll again until a new Power Sabre Skill is rolled. The skills which require the spending of power to use must be voluntarily activated, while those that do not require power are automatic.
2 - Cut Through Obstacle (Cost 4 power per turn attempted) He may now use his Power Sabre to cut through a wall, a floor, a door or a ceiling. It takes one whole turn, in which time he may not attack, nor use his sabre to deflect or parry. At the end of the turn, roll 1D6. On 4+ (3+ as Master and Lord) his sabre cuts an opening (a way through or out). On a roll of 1, he cannot cut through the substance, for it is too difficult. Otherwise, a failed roll does not prevent further attempts in subsequent turns. If cut through ceiling (sometimes the floor, or an outside wall, depending upon the adventure and the depth of the current dungeon) the opening may then be used to escape the dungeon.
Note: if 2 is the natural dice roll result (two 1s), then the Jaedai may not choose another Power, even if he has a more experienced mentor. He may however re-roll on this table if he already has this skill. The original result of 2 will also prevent him from choosing this time on the re-roll -- must accept the first new skill rolled.
A number of times per adventure the Jedi may now double his attacks for one turn (Knight 1 time, Master 2 times, Lord 4 times) while using his Power Sabre and expending the Force power needed to sustain the flurry of attacks.
From now on the Jaedai may attempt to parry each incoming blow on 6+ (as Knight, 5+ as Master, and 4+ as Lord).
If the Jaedai has the Defensive Sabre Style his Parry skill is better yet: 5+ as Knight, 4+ as Master, and 3+ as Lord.
He gains a +1 to his Deflection skill (now 4+ as Knight and 3+ as Master and Lord, but only while spending 1 power per turn). Additionally, he may now defend himself and another (other) warrior(s) behind him or next to him (+1 other warrior as Knight, +2 others as Master, +3 others as Lord). Note on cost: for example, it costs 3 power per turn to defend three warriors in addition to himself. This greatly improves the original Deflection skill, but NOT the Parry skill. Also, it does NOT improve the likelihood that a deflected projectile will hit the shooter.
If the Jaedai has the Defensive Power Sabre style, this improvement costs him nothing when used only for himself (still costs 1 power per turn per other warrior protected).
This one attack takes the place of all his normal attacks, a one-shot ballistic attack. He must have LOS to his target. Roll to hit using ballistic skill, damage caused is the same as a melee attack but without the Jaedai's strength added. All his Sabre damage and effects are based upon the ballistic to hit roll for this attack.
The Sabre is recovered at no power cost if the Jaedai has Force Pull. If he does not yet have that Force ability, then he must physically be in the same or an adjacent square as the last target hit in order to recover his power sabre.
At higher titles (Master up to two total targets, Lord up to three), the sabre may then be guided to hit a second and third target (all with one attack) whether or not the first target was hit or killed. However, the Jaedai must guide the thrown Sabre in a straight line, a curve, or etc. (but the trajectory must make sense). A separate ballistic to hit roll must be made for each target.
This is a special designed attack that may be done instead of a normal attack versus one opponent once per attack . If attempted, the Jaedai must state he is using this skill and whether he is targeting his opponent's non-magical weapon or armour, and then must roll to hit as normal. If he hits, roll another 1D6. On 5+ (as Knight; 4+ as Master, 3+ as Lord) the attack actually does destroy the targeted item; whether the destroy roll is successful or not, the entire attack should be figured as usual based upon the original to hit roll, then after figuring actual wounds caused (after all modifiers that are allowed) subtract only 50% of the wounds from the target. Note: even though a weapon or armour may have been destroyed, their respective modifiers still apply for this attack.
If the Jaedai has chosen the Agressive Power Sabre style, he may also use this skill to target a monster's magical weapon or magical armour (at a total cost per attempt of 4 power). However, this task will prove a bit more difficult, only succeeding on a 6+ as Knight (5+ as Master, and 4+ as Lord).
+1D6 wounds on a natural 6 to hit (as Knight; 5+ as Master, and 4+ as Lord).
If the Jaedai adopted the Aggressive Sabre Style his attack now does +1D6+2 wounds in addition to the original +1 wound for a total of Damage Dice+1D6+3+Strength on a natural 6 to hit (5+ as Master, 4+ as Lord).
Much practicing has paid off in more accurate wielding of his Power Sabre. The Jaedai now has +1 to hit while using his Power Sabre.
If the Jaedai has the Defensive Power Sabre style, this skill also makes him at times harder to hit, granting +1 Weapon Skill for defense only (whenever a monster attacks him) while wielding his Power Sabre.
Ignore all non-magical Armour on every successful to hit roll while using the power sabre.
If the Jaedai uses the Aggressive style, this skill will also enable him to ignore magical armour on a natural 6 to hit.
Ignore all Monster Toughness while using Power Sabre.
Note: If the natural result of the dice roll is 12 (two 6s), the Jaedai may choose this skill or any other skill on this table that he does not already have. This is true regardless of how much experience his trainer has.
"LS" is Light Side; "N" is Neutral; "*" is Wizard spell modified for the Jaedai; a numeral before the name is the casting cost; "=" means that it works the same as the Wizard's spell; the name of a Wizard's spell after the Force power name shows that the name has been changed.
I will try to underline the aspects that are different.
Pick any Warrior on the board (including the Jaedai) and heal 1 of his Wounds. Each individual Warrior may only have this power used on him once per turn. However, there is a chance that this power may fail. Roll 1D6. On a roll of 1 it fails.
Pick any Warrior on the board (including the Jaedai) and roll 1D6. On a score of 1, 2 or 3 the power has no effect. On a score of 4. 5 or 6 the chosen Warrior has that many Wounds healed.
Pick any Monster on the same board section as the Jaedai and roll 1D6. On a score of 6 any one weapon that it is holding is forcefully ripped from its grasp. He cannot attack this turn as he retrieves it. This power may have other uses (RP).
May be used against any one monster (no more than once per monster) at the time of placement at the beginning of any non-Objective Room monster event (randomly generated for rooms and Unexpected Events). Roll 1D6. On 5+, that monster is distracted from the battle and is not place (or is immediately removed). No one gets the gold (or experience) for any monsters that are so distracted, although if more than one monster generated by the event actually participates in the combat, the party still gets any normally generated treasure.
This power puts the Jaedai into a trance state in a prone position on the floor. While in this state, he may do nothing. No Monster will attack him unless there are no other Warriors standing, in which case the Monster automatically hits. However, any monsters that successfully resist (Magic Resistance) may attack him (hitting automatically).
The Jaedai may Force push any monster (except Large Monsters), warrior, or moveable object within 6 squares range (requires LOS). The target is pushed backwards in a straight line away from the Jaedai Apprentice 1D6+1 (+2 as Knight, +3 as Master; +4 as Lord) squares. A monster or warrior that hits a wall may have the wind knocked out of them (be stunned and do nothing for one turn -- treat as prone -- not applicable to daemons and ethereal) if they fail a toughness test (at +1 to the difficulty per square short of the total rolled for the Force push). The push stops whenever the target hits a solid obstruction such as a wall, but the model passes through other models without disturbing them (assumed it is that other models are constantly in motion like the future). Any target that cannot fly (or is not levitating), will fall into a pit or fire chasm (flying or levitating targets will remain suspended over the pit or chasm) if it stops (at the end of the Force push) over an opening. The target may suffer from whatever it falls into (a monster or warrior will die if they fall into the Firechasm), but the push itself will not damage the monster, because the Jaedai is trying to avoid directly damaging the target with the Force. This may be used with Levitate to prevent the target from falling.
The Jaedai waggles his fingers and speaks words of assurance to the opposing target causing it to forget its role.
Roll 1D6 each time this is attempted. On 4+ as Knight (3+ as Master, 2+ as Lord) it is successful. Pick any Monster on the same board section as the Jaedai. This turn it loses 1 attack. This may not work versus main characters in designed adventures; nor does it work against any magic users, daemons, ethereal, or Large Monsters (except Giants -- they can sometimes be tricked -- a Giant gets 4+ to resist each Mind Trick attempt; and, yes it will work versus many of the undead in the ISLAND WARS adventure.).
The Mind Trick may have certain uses in roleplay.
This power creates a cloak of magical energy around the Jaedai that can absorbs up to 1D6 Wounds.
The Jedi warns the party of an ambush preventing its occurrence on a successful roll: 6+ as Knight, 5+ as Master, 4+ as Lord. This Force Power may only be used if the power points are spent immediately upon the placement of the new group of monsters. If used with a successful Force Vision (on the same event), it only costs 1 power point instead of 3 to attempt.
Pick any model that lies within the Jaedai's line of sight and roll 1D6. If the score is less than or equal to the target's Toughness the spell has no effect. If the score exceeds the target's Toughness it is restrained by invisible bands of the Force energies about it and may not move or fight. While thus helpless, the target cannot be attacked, because the Force barrier is impenetrable from either side.
Note that for every 2 extra points of power the Jaedai adds to cast this spell you may add +1 to the dice roll to see if the target is restrained. The target remains so immobile as long as the Jaedai continues to spend power points equal to the target's Toughness each turn.
Pick any Warrior within line of sight including the Jaedai. Each time he is physically attacked this turn roll 1D6. On a score of 6 all the Wounds that the attack inflicted are rebounded onto whoever caused them. Note that this power does not rebound spells or other Force Powers. To clarify: figure the total damage amount before modifiers that the warrior would have taken, then apply that to the attacker subtracting modifiers.
Roll 1D6; on 4+ as Knight (3+ as Master, 2+ as Lord) all attacks made against the Jaedai (only) are at -1 to their to hit roll for this turn.
The Jaedai calls upon the Force to increase his ability to shrug off physical pain.
This turn the Jaedai (only) is at +2 to his Toughness.
The Jaedai may open any non-magical lock on the same board section as himself. Any traps on the lock are set off as normal.
Pick any Warrior on the board (Including the Jaedai). This turn he is at +1 strength. Each individual Warrior may only have this spell cast on him once per turn. Note: the strength increase will apply for combat and for strength tests (such as for web or net breaking). Therefore, the class has been changed.
This power allows the Jaedai to understand anything said, or even thought (surface thoughts loudly thought), regardless of the language the words are spoken in. It does not allow the Jaedai to speak another language. When used to pick up on surface thoughts, this power may fail. Roll 1D6. The roll is successful on 5+ as Knight, 4+ as Master, and 3+ as Lord.
The Jaedai may use this power to communicate silently with others who understand his language by means of sending a mental message (a sending of thoughts, of reasonably short length per sending -- say one to three lines of information, or one to two short to average sentences). It requires also that the Jaedai has at least met the receiver of the message in person. No, this does not allow the Jaedai to hear the receiver's response to his message, unless the receiver is able to communicate in the same fashion and also sends a message back to the Jaedai. As a Knight the Jaedai may us Telepathy to communicate with the target up to three sections away. As Master this increases to six sections away, and as Lord there is no limit as long as enough power is spent to send the communication. It costs an additional power point for each board section beyond the same one. Beware, if this power is used in an attempt to communicate with powerful enemies, especially those strong in the Force.
The Jaedai calls upon the Force to create a pocket of silence than takes in the whole room.
Works only in the same board section. For the rest of the turn no sound can be heard on this board section, nor can any sound be heard to come from this board section. Any spells, chants and etc. requiring audible words be spoken cannot be used unless this Force power is dispelled or personally resisted (Magic Resistance). As the Jaedai gains experience this zone of silence may be expanded to adjacent board sections at +2 cost per section. He may expand the effects to one adjacent section as Master, and two adjacent sections as Lord. This zone of silence does not prevent the use of Force powers, since they do not rely upon the spoken word.
The Jaedai may leap over any one square (only one as Apprentice) provided that there is room between the obstruction and the ceiling and there is an empty space in which to land. He may jump farther by spending 1 more power per square beyond the first one to be jumped (these are all squares he is jumping over). There is a maximum number of squares that he can jump over:: Knight = 2, Master = 4, Lord = 6. If the Jaedai uses Force Jump in the same turn that he uses Force Speed or Advanced Force Speed, he may jump one additional square at no extra cost (provided he has spent the 4 power needed to be able to jump). So, while using the combined powers, he may jump over two squares before having to spend any additional power. The Jaedai may Force Jump out of a pit (landing next to it, or up to 2 squares away as Master, and up to 4 squares away as Lord).
On a successful roll (5+ as Knight, 4+ as Master, 3+ as Lord), this power allows the Jaedai to determine what is in a room before the Warriors enter it. Once used this power allows you to look at the next Event card in the Event deck just before the Warriors enter a room and reveal it, rolling on tables if necessary. Unlike the Wizard's spell, this power does not allow the Jaedai to change the event. Force Vision may only be cast once per room. When used with Sense Danger, Sense Danger will only cost 1 power point.
This power makes the Jaedai (only) seem to be invisible, while he is not actually invisible as the Wizard can be. While appearing invisible the Jaedai may carry out any action except attacking an opponent: moving, healing, defensive Force powers, and etc. are therefore valid actions, while throwing his Power Sabre at a monster, firing a bow, pushing a monster into a pit, and etc. are not. Magic resistance may enable a monster to see him. Roll Magic Resistance, because this power is directly applied to the minds of the Jaedai's enemies. If successful, only the model that has resisted may see and attack the invisible Jaedai. Roll any Magic Dispel also. If Magic Dispel is successful, the Jaedai's power to appear invisible has failed entirely, and all foes may see and attack him. Of course, he may then also attack them.
Pick any Warrior on the board (including the Jaedai). This turn he gets an increase in his Weapon skill: +1 if the Jaedai is an Apprentice, +2 if he if he is a Knight, +3 if he is a Master, and +4 if he is a Lord.
Heavy Leather Vest - Provides +1 Toughness. Roll 1D6 at the end of each adventure. On a 1 or 2, the vest has worn out and must be replaced in order to have proper protection.
Jagged Dagger - Causes 1D6+2 wounds (normal mods, unless a 6 to hit). If he rolls a natural 6 to hit, then roll on the Deadly Dagger Table (found in the Melee Fighting section).
Modified Pistol - (with enough powder & shot for one adv.). The pistol's accurate range is 6 sq. (+2 in normal load mode), & causes 1D6+6 Wounds. It takes one whole turn to reload the pistol, but he may not reload his pistol in normal mode while adjacent to a monster, nor if he attacks in any way. He may break pinning, move & reload in the same turn (but, see Quick Load Modification).
Accuracy Sight (attachment) - It helps make the pistol accurate at a longer range. While using the accuracy sight, he has an accurate range of 8 in normal load mode & +1 to hit if fired at a range of 4 or less (not cumulative with Pointblank skill). Targets beyond range 8 are at -1 to hit per square beyond.
Quick Load Modification - A dwarf engineer has modified this pistol with a quick loader device that blocks part of the loading chamber making for less shot and powder to fill and allowing for faster reloading, but at the expense of firing power. It takes one turn to switch the loading mode from normal to quick (or to switch back again) while not firing the weapon, not attacking monsters, and not being adjacent to a monster (though movement is okay). He may begin his turn next to a monster, but he must move away to switch the mode. This involves making sure that the loading chamber is empty beforehand and filled up again afterwards. While using the Quick Reload mode, the pistol is at Strength 3 for damage, accurate range of 6 with a -1 to hit for each square beyond 6. He does not get the +1 to hit for targets at 4 or less range, but he does get to use the Pointblank skill for adjacent monsters.
This mode allows the Rogue-smuggler to shoot and reload in the same turn, and even to reload while adjacent to a monster, provided that he first successfully breaks pinning (though he need not move). By this method, he may shoot monsters at point blank range a little more often. Clarification: he must break pinning before shooting or before reloading. He only needs to break pinning once per turn. If he cannot break pinning, then he cannot shoot (if loaded), nor can he reload, but he may switch to a melee weapon as usual.
Pistol Jamming - With the modifications the pistol may get jammed. On a natural 1 to hit, the pistol's mechanisms have jammed. It takes one turn (movement is okay) and the Rogue-smuggler must not be adjacent to a monster at the end of his turn (Warrior Phase) to get it unjammed. However, this only unjams the thing, & it will take another turn to reload before he can fire it no matter which loading method he is using.
Marksman - On a natural 6 to hit using any ballistic weapon, add +1D3 wounds (not modified for toughness or armour). This represents his excellent marksmanship learned while in military training, which enables him to shoot more precisely, thus finding a weak place in armour &/or monster hide.
Pointblank - While using any pistol, the Rogue-smuggler may shoot a monster at pointblank range (adjacent to him), but, only if he first breaks from pinning &/or ends his move next to his target. A pointblank shot is at +1 to hit & a successful hit does +1D3 wounds unmodified for toughness & armour. The Pointblank skill may be used with either loading mode of his modified pistol. Effects are combined with those of Marksman on a 6 to hit (total of 2D3 extra wounds).
Though the Rogue-Smuggler is generally better at shooting his enemy, he at times will need to pull out his dagger or roll up his sleeves and plunge into a good brawl. It is at times like this that his knowledge of less than fair fighting will come quite in handy.
Taunting Remarks Skill - This skill is quite suitable to a rogue. Whenever he actually hits his opponent in melee combat & that opponent survives the damage, roll 1D6 to see if he remembers a good taunt in time to get in a good jibe & maybe an extra jab. On a 5+ as a Scoundrel (and as Honourable Smuggler, and on 4+ as Hero of Rebellion and Rebel General), he taunts his opponent. If successful, roll 1D6 on the Taunting Remarks Table.
Taunting Remarks Table - Roll 1D6 on this table whenever you have a successful taunt roll after hitting a monster but not killing it.
2 - "Say, it looks like your leader is getting pounded by my buddy over there." = (If this taunt is used against the actual leader, use the Say Uncle result instead.) The monster is at -1 to hit warriors for the rest of the turn, at which time it finds out that you just fibbed to it. If it turns out to be true, this monster gets +1 attack for the rest of the combat, but all his attacks are at -1 to hit.
3 - "Hey, what's that on your face, part of your last meal or just plain ugliness?" = While the monster tries to figure out what you are talking about you stomp on its foot, toe, appendage, or whatever, causing 1 unmodified wound.
4 - "Did you know you might be able to hurt somebody if you actually got ahold of the right end of your weapon?" (properly extended your claws, or such like for non weapon-bearing monsters) = This monster is at +1 to be hit in melee combat for one whole turn (until the end of the Rogue-Smuggler's next turn) while it tries to regain its confidence.
5 - "Your momma is ugly and she dresses you funny." = The monster looks a little befuddled. Then if able to speak it repeats, "Momma? Ugly? Dresses? Funny? Oh, funny" and, whether able to speak or not, the monster laughs so hard that it doesn't attack anyone this turn and is at +1 to be hit in melee combat for one whole turn (until end of the Rogue-Smuggler's next turn).
6 - "Hey, did you know that you have GARMENTS on your back?" = The monster tries to look at its back to see what in the world kind of things are on its back. Meanwhile, you get one more immediate attack against it at +1 to hit. If you hit it and it doesn't die, you just might get to taunt it again (Roll to see if you taunt).
Deadly Dagger Table - Roll 1D6 on this table whenever you get a natural 6 to hit using any dagger or knife as a melee weapon.
1 = The dagger got stuck in or on part of the beast, armour, hide, whatever, and the Rogue-Smuggler is at +1 to be hit for the Monster Phase of this same turn AND he may not attack any more this turn (if he has more than 1 attack) while he works to retrieve his dagger -- taunting is allowed, but the garments taunt (#6) result counts as a "Say Uncle" (#1) result instead. At the end of the turn (after Monster Phase) the monster in which the dagger was stuck will receive an additional 1D3 wounds with no modifiers whatsoever, cannot be ignored, dodged, or anything, as it suffers from more cutting and bleeding caused by the dangerous weapon.
He may use any melee weapon that the Elf may use, including magical and magically enhanced melee weapons, but nothing designated as Elf only and nothing that is two-handed. He may also use singe-handed axes. However, anything larger than a dagger or a knife incurs a -1 to hit penalty, since he prefers ballistic weapons and knife fighting. He is right at home with knives and daggers of any type. They are well-suited to Alehouse brawls and alley fights, of which he seems to have more than his share.
The Rogue-Smuggler favors powder weapons, but may also use bows and crossbows. All Fletcher & Gunsmith items are available to him. He may shoot beyond the range of a weapon with range limit, but at -1 to hit per square beyond range. And, yes he may throw any throwing weapons available at the Weaponsmith's. Also, he may be able on occasion to obtain (for a price) certain attachments for missile weapons. If he has a Dwarf Engineer in his party, the engineer may be able to modify his ballistic weapons when they are first found or purchased.
The Rogue-Smuggler cannot wear as much armour as some more sturdy fighters, since he depends a bit more upon his resourcefulness in combat & heavier armour would hinder his fighting style. In addition to his leather vest, he may wear furs (at no penalty). He may wear leather armour or light armour instead of his leather vest. He may use a normal shield, but not a Great Shield. He also may wear a Leather Helm or an Open Helmet, but nothing heavier.
The Rogue-Smuggler may use any treasure (including armour, helms and shields) that an Elf may use as long as it is not an Elf only treasure.
That is looking great! I've had a long day full of death and destruction but will give it my full attention on a day off. Sometimes a 9 to 5 job looks so tempting! | 2019-04-21T10:41:35Z | http://bwarhammerquest.runboard.com/t90033 |
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2. Marx died in London on March 14, 1883 at the age of 64. By that time, he and Engels had placed utopian socialist aspirations on a scientific foundation and laid the basis for a revolutionary political movement of the international working class. Between 1843 and 1847, Marx carried out a revolution in theoretical thought that overcame both the limitations of the predominantly mechanical materialism of the eighteenth century and the idealist mystifications of Hegel’s dialectical logic.
4. Had Marx laid down his pen following the writing of The Communist Manifesto, his place in history would still have been assured. But what elevated him to the stature of a world historical figure was the writing of Das Kapital, which substantiated the materialist conception of history. In the 150 years that have passed since the publication of its first volume in 1867, several generations of bourgeois economists have devoted their professional lives to refuting Marx’s work. In vain! Their efforts are confounded not only by the force of Marx’s dialectical methodology and historical insight, but also, and even more, by the reality of capitalist crisis. However much the professors may protest, the capitalist world “moves” as Marx explained. Each assault on Das Kapital is invariably followed by a new practical demonstration of the insoluble economic and social contradictions of the capitalist system.
5. The last such lesson, which continues to this day, began with the global crash of 2008. The essential categories and concepts of Marxian political economy—such as labor power, constant and variable capital, surplus value, the declining rate of profit, exploitation, the fetishism of commodities, the industrial reserve army, and the relative and absolute impoverishment of the proletariat—are required not only for a scientific understanding of capitalism, but even for a basic understanding of daily political, economic and social developments.
6. One can be certain that the bicentenary of Marx’s birth will be marked by numerous academic seminars in which professors will poke around at Marx’s theories. Many of them will focus on what they claim to be his errors or omissions. There will be some, a small minority, who will praise Marx’s work. But the truest and most objective appraisal of Marx’s life will take place outside the classrooms.
7. This new year of 2018—the bicentenary of Marx’s birth—will be characterized, above all, by an immense intensification of social tensions and an escalation of class conflict around the world. For several decades, and especially since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the resistance of the working class to capitalist exploitation has been suppressed. But the essential contradictions of the capitalist system—between a globally interdependent economy and the archaic bourgeois nation-state system; between a worldwide network of social production, involving the labor of billions of human beings, and private ownership of the means of production; and between the essential needs of mass society and the selfish interests of individual capitalist money-making—are now rapidly approaching the point where the further suppression of mass working class opposition to capitalism is impossible.
8. The level of wealth concentration in a small layer of the population has reached historically unprecedented levels. This is a global process. The world’s richest one percent owns half the world’s wealth. The richest 500 individuals have, as of December 2017, a combined wealth of $5.3 trillion, up $1 trillion from 2016. In the United States, three people—Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett—have more money than the bottom half of the population. In China, 38 billionaires added $177 billion to their personal wealth in 2017. Despite economic sanctions imposed by the United States and Western Europe, Russia’s 27 billionaires added $29 billion to their collective wealth. Carlos Slim, the richest man in Mexico, increased his wealth to $62.8 billion, an increase of $12.9 billion over the previous year.
9. The distinctive feature of these massive fortunes is that they are bound up with the staggering rise on equity markets over the past 35 years, and especially since the 2008 Wall Street crash. The US Federal Reserve’s policy of “quantitative easing” and the low interest rate policies of global central banks have led to a nearly four-fold rise of the Dow Jones Average over the past decade. In 2017, the explosive rise in the value of US equities was bound up with the expectation—which has since been realized—of a massive tax cut for the rich.
11. This gross disparity in wealth is not merely an unfortunate and reparable blemish on the face of contemporary capitalism. The extreme inequality is the consummate expression of the bankruptcy of the existing social system. Amidst all the urgent social needs of modern-day mass society—for education, housing, care for the aged, universal and high-quality medical care, development of advanced mass transportation systems, protection of the endangered global ecosystem, etc.—incomprehensibly vast resources are being squandered to satisfy the obscene and brainless whims of the superrich and their progeny. Resources that should be deployed to build schools, affordable housing, water treatment plants and hospitals, or to fund museums, orchestras and other vital cultural institutions, are being wasted on mansions, yachts, jewelry and countless other vulgar extravagances.
13. It requires no great political insight to predict that the corporate and financial oligarchs will stop at nothing to defend their wealth. Accustomed to imposing their will upon society, they will respond to any sign of popular resistance with violent repression. Nevertheless, there are no major contemporary political and social issues—including mass unemployment, poverty, social inequality, escalating attacks on basic democratic rights, the mounting danger of an ecological catastrophe, unrestrained imperialist militarism and the threat of nuclear war—that can be solved within the framework of capitalism. Indeed, any serious attempt to implement desperately needed social reforms would require, at a minimum, the expropriation of massive private fortunes and a far-reaching redistribution of wealth. As long as the capitalist class holds state power, however, such reforms are impossible. Thus, the fight of the working class to defend its interests leads, as Marx foresaw, to social revolution.
14. The conquest of state power by the Russian working class in October 1917 substantiated the materialist conception of history and the political perspective elaborated by Marx and Engels in The Communist Manifesto. But the October Revolution was not simply the spontaneous outcome of an objective historical process. The victory of the working class depended upon the leadership of a Marxist political party that based itself on an international revolutionary strategy. Without such leadership, the socialist revolution cannot achieve victory, no matter how great the crisis of the capitalist system. At the Second Congress of the Communist International in 1920, Lenin warned the delegates that there were no “absolutely hopeless” situations for the ruling class.
15. Lenin’s warning was tragically confirmed. In the years and decades that followed the October Revolution, there was no shortage of revolutionary situations that raised the possibility of the working class taking power. Despite two devastating world wars, mass popular uprisings all over the globe, and numerous episodes of severe economic instability and total breakdown, the survival of capitalism in the twentieth century is attributable, in the final analysis, to the absence of the necessary revolutionary political leadership in the working class.
16. With the outbreak of World War I, the Social Democratic parties of the Second International passed over to the side of imperialism, accepted the program of “national defense,” and betrayed the post-war revolutionary upsurge of the working class. Within the Soviet Union, the growth of the Stalinist bureaucracy led to the destruction of the Third (Communist) International. The Stalinist program of “socialism in one country,” unveiled in 1924, led to the subordination of the Third International to the national interests of the Soviet state as determined by the ruling bureaucracy.
17. The transformation of the Social Democratic and Stalinist parties into political agencies of imperialism led to devastating defeats of the international working class in the 1920s and 1930s. The worst of these defeats were the destruction of the Chinese Communist Party in 1927, the victory of the Nazis in 1933 and the crushing of the socialist movement in Germany, and the betrayal of the Spanish Revolution and the coming to power of the fascist regime of Franco (1936–39).
18. In 1938, Leon Trotsky founded the Fourth International. This was the culmination of his political struggle, dating back to 1923, against the Stalinist regime’s nationalist perversion of socialism, suppression of workers’ democracy, and abandonment of the program of world socialist revolution. In the founding document of the new International, Trotsky identified “the crisis of revolutionary leadership” as the central problem of the transition from capitalism to socialism.
19. Eighty years later, in a new period of escalating global crisis of the capitalist system and increasing militancy of the working class, the question must be raised: What are the prospects for the resolution of the crisis of revolutionary leadership? Is it possible for the Fourth International to win the allegiance of the advanced sections of the working class, socially conscious youth and the most progressive elements among the intelligentsia, and lead the mass struggles of the working class to victory in the world socialist revolution?
20. The answer to this question requires that the study of the problem of leadership be placed in a broader historical context.
21. Yet another anniversary will be observed this year: the fiftieth anniversary of the events of May–June 1968, the mass general strike that brought capitalist France to the very brink of a socialist revolution. The events of 1968 still resonate in popular imagination: in addition to the mass protests and general strike in France, it was the year of the Tet Offensive in Vietnam, extreme instability in the United States (expressed in two political assassinations and the outbreak of riots in major American cities), and the anti-Stalinist Prague Spring in Czechoslovakia, which was suppressed in August by the armed intervention of the USSR and the Warsaw Pact.
22. The events of 1968 set into motion a process of international working class radicalization. The period between 1968 and 1975 was marked by the greatest international revolutionary movement of the post-World War II era, including strike waves in Italy, Germany, Britain, Argentina and the United States. The Social Democrats formed their first government in Germany since the victory of Hitler’s Nazis. The Allende government came to power in Chile in September 1970. A miners’ strike in Britain in the winter of 1973–74 forced the resignation of the right-wing Tory government. The Greek military junta was overthrown in July 1974. Facing impeachment, Richard Nixon resigned from the American presidency in August 1974. The fascist regime that had been in power in Portugal since 1926 collapsed in April 1975. The death of Franco in November 1975 exposed the fragility, not only of the old dictatorship, but of capitalist rule in Spain. Powerful anti-imperialist movements of national liberation swept through the Middle East and Africa.
23. And yet, despite the international scope of these mass struggles, the capitalist system not only survived the upheaval, it was able to inflict defeats (as in the overthrow of the Allende regime in Chile in 1973) and lay the basis for a counter-offensive against the working class. This was begun by the ruling class in the late 1970s with the coming to power of Margaret Thatcher (followed shortly thereafter by the election of Ronald Reagan).
24. The survival of capitalism amidst the global upheavals between 1968 and 1975 depended, above all, on the fact that the Stalinist and Social Democratic parties and trade unions were still the dominant forces in the mass workers’ movements of the time. With memberships that numbered in the millions, they employed their bureaucratic power to restrain, divert, undermine, and, where necessary, orchestrate the actual defeat of the struggles of the working class. The Stalinist regime in the Soviet Union and the Maoist regime in China systematically falsified Marxism and used all the resources at their disposal to subvert revolutionary movements that threatened their efforts to improve relations with the United States and other imperialist powers. Within the less developed countries, the Stalinist and Maoist regimes sought to maintain the influence of various bourgeois national movements over the working class, thus undermining the struggle against capitalism and imperialism.
25. During this critical period, the International Committee of the Fourth International fought against the political influence of Stalinism, Social Democracy and bourgeois nationalism. But it did so under conditions of extreme political isolation that were imposed upon the International Committee not only by the large bureaucratic organizations of the Social Democrats and Stalinists, but also by the insidious political role of the opportunist organizations that had broken with Trotskyism in the 1950s and early 1960s.
26. Named after the principal theoretician of anti-Trotskyist revisionism, the Pabloite organizations specifically rejected the necessity of building independent revolutionary parties of the working class based on the program of the Fourth International. Michel Pablo and his principal political associate, Ernest Mandel, rejected Trotsky’s characterization of the Stalinist bureaucracy as counterrevolutionary. They argued that the Soviet bureaucracy, under the pressure of objective events and the spontaneous movement of the masses, could be compelled to carry out revolutionary policies. Similarly, the pressure of objective events could compel the Social Democrats and bourgeois nationalists to play a revolutionary role.
28. Fifty years ago the Social Democrats, the Stalinists, the Maoists, and various forms of bourgeois nationalism exerted immense influence over the working class and mass anti-imperialist movements. But what remains of these organizations today?
29. The Soviet Union no longer exists, and the global network of Stalinist parties has largely disappeared. In China, the Communist Party is the political and state organization of the capitalist ruling elite. The Social Democratic parties are virtually indistinguishable from the most right-wing bourgeois parties. Nowhere do workers see them as defenders of their interests. To the extent that the Social Democrats attempt to preserve a shred of credibility by executing a feint to the left (i.e., Corbyn in Britain), this fraudulent exercise will be exposed as a sham as soon as they are elevated into a position of political power, as occurred in Greece.
30. As for the bourgeois nationalist movements, nothing remains of their anti-imperialist and anti-capitalist pretensions. The evolution of the African National Congress into the ruling party of South Africa—ruthlessly defending the interests of the rich and shooting down striking workers—is the quintessential expression of the historical trajectory and class essence of bourgeois nationalism.
31. Finally, the Pabloite organizations, along with the various movements that comprise the pseudo-left, have integrated themselves into the bourgeois political establishment—expressed most clearly in the rise to power of Syriza (The Coalition of the Radical Left) in Greece, where it enforces the austerity measures and anti-immigrant policies demanded by the European banks.
32. The explanation for the political decay and downfall of these organizations is to be found in the deep-rooted contradiction between their provincial national-reformist programs and the development of capitalism as a globally integrated economic system.
33. The common political element of the Stalinist, Maoist, Social Democratic, bourgeois nationalist and Pabloite opportunist organizations was the dependence of their programs on the possibility of achieving reforms within the economic framework of the national state. As the process of economic globalization accelerated in the 1980s, the perspective and program of these nationally grounded organizations lost all viability.
34. The potential for the successful resolution of the crisis of working class leadership resides in the alignment of the program of the International Committee of the Fourth International with the objective process of global economic development and the international development of the class struggle. This is the real basis for the vast change, since 1968, in the relationship of political forces between Trotskyism, as represented by the International Committee of the Fourth International, and all the political representatives of anti-Marxism and pseudo-leftism.
We are confident that the WSWS will become an unprecedented tool for the political education and unification of the working class on an international scale. It will help working people of different countries coordinate their struggles against capital, just as the transnational corporations organize their war against labor across national boundaries. It will facilitate discussion between workers of all nations, allowing them to compare their experiences and elaborate a common strategy.
39. The daily publication of the World Socialist Web Site over a period of 20 years is, by any objective measurement, an extraordinary political achievement. The ability of the cadre of the International Committee to sustain publication for such an extended period of time, without missing a single day of scheduled publication, testifies to its theoretical and political clarity and its considerable organizational unity and strength. There is not another publication in the world that even remotely resembles the World Socialist Web Site. It is not only the socialist publication of record, analyzing and commenting on the main events of the day. It is also the strategist and tribune of the working class in struggle.
40. During the past year, Google has sought to blacklist and censor the World Socialist Web Site. These efforts are failing. The readership of the WSWS continues to grow. It is drawing strength from the emerging movement of the working class and the youth. | 2019-04-21T00:58:27Z | https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2018/01/03/pers-j03.html |
A Little Song, a Little Dance : Matthew Broderick's immediate future is a bit of a blur: He's starring in his first musical, directing his first movie, and he'll see two more films open this fall. Doesn't this guy know how to stop.
"I don't know what I was thinking--I thought I could whip off a musical in between shooting and editing a film," Matthew Broderick says with a laugh during a break in the second week of rehearsals for the La Jolla Playhouse revival of "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying," which opens today.
"A roll, of course, can be a positive thing or a boulder going downhill," adds the 32-year-old actor, who also has featured roles in Alan Parker's "The Road to Wellville," which opened Friday, and Alan Rudolph's "Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle," out Dec. 21 in Los Angeles.
As if that weren't enough, Broderick is also making his directorial debut this year with "Infinity"--a film in which he also stars--about Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman, based on a script by Broderick's mother, Patricia Broderick. "Infinity," which also stars Patricia Arquette, wrapped in early September, leaving Broderick just enough time to catch a plane to San Diego to begin rehearsals for "How to Succeed." When the musical closes on Dec. 4, Broderick will race to Los Angeles to spend six weeks editing "Infinity," then it's off to Washington, where previews for "How to Succeed" begin Jan. 28. That will be followed by an engagement of the play on Broadway, where it is to open March 6.
"How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying," a scathing attack on corporate America based on the 1952 best-selling novel by Shepherd Mead, finds Broderick cast as J. Pierrepont Finch, an unctuous young man who approaches brown-nosing as an art form. The musical, with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser, opened on Broadway in 1961 and made a star of Robert Morse, who also starred in David Swift's 1967 movie of the play.
The part demands a lot of Broderick, who is called upon to sing and dance onstage for the first time as he portrays a character who could easily come off as repulsive if not given the proper shading.
The fact that he has a daunting year of work stretching ahead of him may account in part for Broderick's subdued demeanor at today's rehearsal. This isn't to say that Broderick isn't up to the job; when director Des McAnuff gives the signal and the cast springs into action, Broderick lights up like a Christmas tree.
He is, however, clearly a man who knows not to squander his energy, to speak softly, pay attention and give what is asked of him with as much precision as possible. He is, in short, a team player, and the team he's working with here seems quite fond of him.
"Matthew is a total delight, and I'm having a great time with him," says McAnuff, a director known for his ability to breathe new life into threadbare material. "I felt no trepidation at all about his ability to carry a musical, either, because he has a beautiful singing voice and he's a tremendous actor. The greatest performances in musicals have generally come from actors, not from singers who act, and he's done tremendously well so far.
"Bobby Morse gave one of the great performances of the time in the original production, but Matthew brings a different style of comedy to the role," McAnuff continues. "He has a truthful acting style that elevates the play, he's mercurial, impish and bold in his comedy choices, and he infuses the play with sophistication and charm. Without a lot of charm, this character wouldn't be interesting. Matthew has charm to burn, but he's also a man of substance, which the character he's playing definitely is not. . . . An actor needs some distance from his material, and the fact that Matthew is so unlike Finch is part of what makes him great for the part."
A fascination with Finch isn't what attracted Broderick to the play. He's here, he says, simply because "I've always wanted to do a musical and was attracted to this one because it's really funny and it has great songs."
"Bobby Morse got discovered with this play, and people keep saying to me, 'He was such a phenomenon in the part; aren't you afraid to try to follow him?' " adds the actor, nibbling at the tuna sandwich that will sustain him through five more hours of vigorous rehearsing. (One would imagine he'd be training like an athlete for this grueling role, but he says he's just relying on lots of coffee to get through the day.) "My career isn't gonna end or be made on this play, because I'm a known entity.
"I've always wanted to sing and took loads of voice lessons before we started because I had a lot of apprehension about it. I tried to do some singing for 'The Lion King' (Broderick was the voice of Simba), and after three attempts they fired me and got somebody who sounded like me to do the singing. That didn't do much for my confidence. Then my singing teacher, Keith Davis, died four days before we started rehearsing."
Though the play is obviously a creative risk for Broderick in many ways, the real risk it presents lies in the fact that the boyish, bubbly Finch has a lot in common with Ferris Bueller, the title character in the 1986 film "Ferris Bueller's Day Off."
"I think I've almost gotten past being typecast as Ferris Bueller, but this play isn't going to help that, because it's basically the same role. Nonetheless, if I have to put a gun to their heads, audiences will accept me in adult roles," he says with a laugh. "Actually, adult roles are the only thing I've done for the past few years--nobody's noticed though, because none of them have been too successful."
True, Broderick has been playing adults of late, but they've all been adults of a certain type. What type might that be? Nice is a word that comes to mind. . . .
"I haven't consciously avoided playing evil characters or being in violent films, but I tend to not like those scripts when I read them and don't like seeing those kinds of films," he says. "I think I could play evil characters, but the way this business works is, if you're successful at something, everybody wants you to keep doing it again--you know: 'Let's get that Ferris Bueller guy.' A couple of times I've been sent evil characters, but even then, they're usually lovable boyish types who happen to murder women."
Broderick does move in a slightly darker direction, though, in "Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle," Alan Rudolph's revisionist view of writer Dorothy Parker and the other legendary New York wits of the Algonquin Round Table. Broderick, cast as writer Charles MacArthur, a notorious rake who broke Parker's heart, employs his boyish charm here to suggest something dark and manipulative.
"Charles isn't evil, but he's weak; he's a cad basically and is an alcoholic, as everybody in the film is. This should be a winner--a bunch of suicidal alcoholics," Broderick says with a laugh. "Anyhow, getting the part was a nice break for me because I don't usually get these kinds of roles."
"He has it in him to be one of the most rounded acting talents of his generation; he has the depth and charm of the classic Hollywood legends. He was a huge star before he was 25 years old, and we've just seen the tip of the iceberg of what he's capable of."
Broderick's character in "The Road to Wellville"--the film based on the novel of the same name by T. C. Boyle--is more in keeping with parts he has played before. The fictionalized account of life at the San, a health clinic built in Battle Creek, Mich., at the turn of the century by corn flake magnate John Harvey Kellogg, finds Broderick cast as Will Lightbody, a sexually frustrated husband with a gullible, gorgeous wife played by Bridget Fonda, who leads him around by the nose.
"It's a reactive role, but it had so much to react to," Broderick says of Will Lightbody. "I envisioned the character as a whining 5-year-old who was always throwing tantrums. In fact, I have a picture of myself making a painting when I was 5 years old, and I have paint dripping all over my legs and look like a crazy man--I wanted some of that in this performance."
Parker wanted Broderick not so much for ability to telegraph craziness but because, he says, "Matthew's capable of great subtlety, and you never see the joints in his acting. He brought a gentleness to this part too that was better than how it was written, and I think that's a big part of why he's a movie star--there's a gentleness to Matthew that people simply like. I hate to gush, but he really is an extraordinary gentleman and is a delight to work with. He's extremely unspoiled considering that he's been doing this since he was very young."
Broderick was born in New York City in 1962, the youngest of three children. He essentially grew up in the theater: His father, James Broderick, was an actor, and his mother, Patricia (Biow) Broderick, a playwright and director.
"I had an arty upbringing," he says. "My mother is well read, so the conversation in the house was pretty cultured, and I went to the theater when my father was in it. We went to museums a lot; I spent time in Europe, and for a period I considered becoming an artist--I used to love drawing and still do.
"Initially I thought I might want to have some kind of backstage job because the first thing I fell in love with was the environment of the theater more than acting itself. I was a shy kid who didn't like being the center of attention. Well, actually, part of me loved it.
"The first movie that made an impression on me was Charlie Chaplin's 'Modern Times.' I thought it was hilarious and romantic and loved everything about it. I idolized Chaplin and loved the way he moved--in fact, I used to make paintings of him. I started out wanting to be a comedic actor, and it never occurred to me to also pursue directing, as Chaplin did. And now, having done it, I'd think twice before attempting it again. Making 'Infinity' was rough, and I barely got through it."
After he graduated from high school in 1980, Broderick auditioned for Uta Hagen at Herbert Berghof's H.B. Studio in New York City. He was accepted, and that year he made his theater debut in an Off-Broadway production of Horton Foote's "On Valentine's Day," playing opposite his father.
"I was terrified and wasn't very good. It was my first play, and I had trouble acting with my father--I couldn't get past the fact that my father was yelling at me in this Southern accent," he says.
Broderick must have been better than he remembers because things happened fast for him after that. In 1981 he was cast in Harvey Fierstein's "Torch Song Trilogy," and the year after that his career really took off.
"In 1982 I did Neil Simon's 'Brighton Beach Memoirs' on Broadway, and when it was opening, my first movie, 'Max Dugan Returns,' came out," he recalls. "That film wasn't too successful, but then 'WarGames,' which was successful, came out right when I won the Tony for 'Brighton Beach' in 1983.
"One would assume I look back on this as a great time, but this was all happening around the time my father died, so mostly it was a terrible time for me," he says softly. "I was very close to my father, and I found out he was dying the night of the first preview of 'Torch Song Trilogy.' Then when I was shooting 'WarGames' and 'Max Dugan Returns' in L.A., I was flying back weekends to be with him.
I guess I dealt with his death by staying busy, but I don't know. . . . Would it have been better not to work and to have been home all the time? I hoped he'd like seeing that his son was going to make a living, and he was very excited about 'Brighton.' This sounds like a movie, but he managed to live until I had the first reading of the play and called him from L.A. and told him it had gone well. He died the next night (Nov. 1, 1982).
"I don't know how it changed me, losing him. I've thought about that a lot, and I think it made me shut down for a long time. A big part of my life was just not dealt with because I couldn't deal with it, and it took a couple of years for me to even admit what had happened and get upset about it. It's funny what time does, though. It's been 12 years since my father died, and you kind of get over it even without knowing you are. It just sort of fades away, which is sad."
Broderick completed 10 films in the next eight years, all of which were successful enough to keep him in the game. His stock went up considerably in 1986 with the release of "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," and he got the co-star of his life in 1990 when he was cast opposite Marlon Brando in the Andrew Bergman comedy "The Freshman."
"When I met Marlon Brando, I was pretty shaken up for a while, but I got over that and just grew to adore him. He was great," says Broderick, who turned in what many consider the best performance of his career in that film.
Broderick made "The Freshman" after a serious automobile accident in Ireland in 1987. He suffered a severely broken leg and other injuries when the car he was driving collided with another, killing its two occupants. Broderick was charged with manslaughter and reckless driving but was cleared of both.
"I feel more like an adult now," he says, reflecting on how the accident affected him. "Obviously, it was extremely difficult coming to grips with what happened, but in time I felt better about that terrible experience. I went to a therapist, and he helped. Unfortunately, my therapist died of cancer about a year after the accident.
"I've experienced a lot of death," he adds, "but experiencing it doesn't make you any more comfortable with it. I wish I had some holy, accepting attitude about it, but I don't--I just wish it didn't happen. Yes, you get over it and move on, but you're not the same and they're not there. They're really not there."
O ne would assume that trau matic experiences of this sort are made doubly difficult by being in the public eye, however, Broderick appears to have made peace with the vagaries of life as a public figure. "Fame has a life of its own that has little to do with the person himself: We're like fictional characters that get into peoples' consciousness, and I don't see that as good or bad. That's just the way it is.
"People have been staring at me when I'm in public for about 10 years and I've learned to tune it out, but I have no idea how it's affected my personality. At first it was exciting, then for a while it pissed me off and I was nasty to people, and now I'm a blank--I'm polite but I don't connect to anybody. It's ironic, because when people approach me, they usually want to tell me they like my work, and that's exactly what you want. But something inside shuts down that prevents you from being engaged by those encounters.
"People who don't know me often assume I have a swollen head, and I find myself endlessly trying to prove I'm normal. The most widely held misconception about famous actors is that they're all in love with themselves--lots of actors are extremely self-conscious. My girlfriend (actress Sarah Jessica Parker) goes to the gym and comes home moaning that she's out of shape, and she has a beautiful body."
Speaking of Parker, how come she keeps talking to the media about her struggle to get the actor to marry her?
"I love it when she does that," he says wryly. "I don't know why she does that--want to call her? It's become a shtick almost. My love life is fine, but I'm not gonna blab about it. I'll leave that to Sarah."
In parting, one asks Broderick what he feels is the most rewarding part of all the work with which he is currently deluged. What's the payoff?
"There's a rush from being the new guy, which is what happened for me in '82 with 'Brighton Beach,' " he replies after a long, thoughtful pause. "I loved the part; I felt fully used and could sense myself flying into something. I'd get huge laughs and big applause--I just felt great. But after you've done this work for a while, you have to find your fun in a different place because you're no longer anybody's 'discovery' and you're probably gonna get your fair share of negative criticism.
"You have to love the work itself, and I do--it's my life really," he says. "I can remember the first play I did when I was 15. Nervous as I was onstage, I could feel I belonged there. This isn't to say I'm the best actor in the world, but I do know that I'm an actor." | 2019-04-22T16:38:44Z | https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-10-30-ca-56525-story.html |
Change of job could be a strategy in vocational rehabilitation when return to the original job is not possible, but research is very limited concerning the effects of job mobility on the future vocational situation. The aim of the study was to investigate whether job-to-job mobility affects the likelihood of remaining on the labour market over time among persons who are employed and have experienced long-term sick leave.
In a longitudinal register study, cohorts from three base years (1994, 1999 and 2004) were created, based on the Swedish population who were 20–60 years old, had sickness allowance insurance, and were employed in the base year and the following year (n > 3,000,000). The likelihood that individuals on long-term sick leave were employed later depending on whether or not they changed workplace during the present or next year of long-term sick leave was analyzed using logistic regression analysis. Age, sector, industry, children, marital status, education, income, rate of sick leave and earlier sick leave and earlier mobility were taken into consideration.
Women with more than 180 days’ sick leave who changed workplaces were more likely to have a job later compared with those who did not change jobs. For men, the association was statistically significant with 1994 and 2004 as base years, but not in the cohort from 1999.
The present study indicates that for those on long-term sick leave that changed workplaces, the opportunities to stay on the labour market might increase. However, the study has methodological limitations and the results for men are ambiguous. We do not therefore have enough evidence for recommending job change as a strategy for vocational rehabilitation.
In November 2010, 36,535 women and 20,232 men had 180 or more days of sick leave in Sweden, corresponding to approximately 1.7% and 0.9% of the employed population respectively (http://www.forsakringskassan.se/statistik/sjuk/sjuk_rehabiliteringspenning/sjukochrehabsjukpenning/ and http://www.ssd.scb.se/databaser/makro/Produkt.asp?produktid=am0207) and contributing to the majority of disbursed days of sick leave.
The costs of disbursed sickness allowance are high for the community. In 2010, the cost of sickness cash benefits was approximately EUR 2,071 million and the expenditure on sickness and disability amounted to just under 4% of GNP in Sweden . Lost competence that has to be replaced may also be costly for employers. For the individual, long-term sick leave may have a negative impact on health and finances [2–6]. Long-term sick leave increases the likelihood of losing affiliation with the labour market in subsequent years [7–10] and reduces the probability of gaining new employment [11, 12]. Poor health, measured as hospital admission, has been found to increase the probability of exit from employment by 48% among men and 43% among women .
According to the Swedish Social Insurance Administration, 62% of the individuals who were on long-term sick leave (60 days or more) in 2006 were assessed as having full working capacity 1 year later. Eighty-one percent of these were employed or self-employed 1 year later, and 15% were unemployed. In a study from 2009 of individuals on sick leave with chronic occupational back pain in Denmark, Germany, Israel, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United States, the degree of return to work after 2 years ranged from 22% in Germany to 62% in the Netherlands. In Sweden, the degree of return to work was 39% 2 years after the first day of sick leave .
Accommodation at work, such as changing the workplace, the equipment, the conditions or the environment with the purpose of removing barriers for return to work, seems to be effective in facilitating return to the same workplace after periods of sick leave [15–18]. However, such accommodation is not always feasible. An example could be an individual suffering from rheumatism with physically heavy work where no co-workers are available to allow changes to the work. Furthermore, many do not return to their original employment despite accommodation at work due, for example, to cooperation problems among key stakeholders, lack of motivation to return from being sick listed or negative reactions on return to work from supervisors or the work group [15, 19, 20].
Change of job is discussed as a central strategy in vocational rehabilitation when return to the original job is not possible . A change could mean improved ability to work through a better match between the individual’s capacity and the demands of the job. A change could also promote health when the individual is dissatisfied with his or her present job. According to the person–environment fit model, strain develops when the individual’s needs or abilities do not match the supplies or demands of the job. Such strain can lead to illness . A change to a job that better matches the individual's abilities and needs could relieve the strain . One type of mismatch between the individual and the job is being locked in; that is, being in an unwanted occupation and/or workplace and experiencing a real or perceived lack of alternatives [24, 25]. A locked-in situation is associated with having health problems and being on sick leave . Change of work in these situations is associated with increased job satisfaction and fewer conflicts at work .
Mobility on the labour market is a complex concept. One form of such mobility is job-to-job mobility. Job-to-job mobility may be characterized as change of employer/company, change of workplace, and/or change of profession/work tasks. This study concerns change of workplace.
A strong association between health and mobility and between employment and unemployment has been found, but there is a weak association between health and occupational mobility [11, 13]. According to a report from the European Union, 8.8% of the general Swedish population changed jobs during 2005. The United Kingdom had the highest proportion that had changed jobs at 22.9% and Greece had the lowest proportion of job changers at 5.6% . A report on job mobility in the Nordic counties in 2010 showed that Sweden has had a comparatively low rate of mobility compared to the other Nordic countries .
Mobility decreases with age [28–31]. Mobility also differs between occupations. For example, managers in Sweden change jobs to a greater extent than other occupational groups . Mobility also varies with branch code (see Methods section). In Sweden, individuals with a high level of education move to a greater extent than individuals with a low level of education [28, 32]. Married people are less mobile than those who are single or cohabiting. Women with children are in general less prone to change jobs than men. In the Nordic countries, the type of contract and the number of working hours per week have been found to have a strong effect on mobility. Being in temporary employment and/or working part time increases the probability of a job change . These conditions may also affect return to work and are therefore considered in this study. The association between mobility and employment may also be affected by health selection, that is, individuals with better health may have better opportunities to change jobs and better conditions to stay employed.
For employees on sick leave, a job change may thus lead to improved work ability, health and the possibility of remaining employed, but research is very limited concerning the effects of job mobility on the future vocational situation. To our knowledge, there are no previous studies on whether a change of job increases the possibility of remaining on the labour market for individuals who have been on long-term sick leave.
The aim of this study was to investigate whether job-to-job mobility affects the likelihood of remaining on the labour market among persons who have experienced long-term sick leave and whether this likelihood differs between men and women. In addition, this study explored how this association between job-to-job mobility and labour market situation differs with regard to job change among employees without or with fewer days of sick leave.
The study has been approved by the Ethical review board in Linköping, Dnr:169–09.
In this cohort study, data were collected from LISA, a longitudinal database of Swedish registers of social insurance and labour market studies established by Statistics Sweden, the National Insurance Administration and the Swedish Agency for Innovation Systems (VINNOVA). Permission to use the database was given by Statistics Sweden. The database is updated annually with a 3-year delay and includes all registered residents aged 16 years and older for the period 1990 to 2009.
In a first step, three cohorts were created based on the Swedish population who in 1994, 1999 and 2004 were between 20 and 60 years old, had sickness allowance insurance and were employed at the base year and the following year (see Figure 1). Those who were self-employed at the base years and the next year were excluded from the study as they differ from employed persons in having a significantly lower level of sickness absence and other conditions in the social security system such as a longer qualification period before getting sick pay . Based on these criteria, the total number of females varied between 1,448,972 (1994) and 1,503,397 (2004). Comparable figures for males were 1,482,668 (1994) and 1,568,961 (2004).
The individuals were followed for 4 years; emigrants, early retirees (<65 years), and deceased individuals were excluded.
The individuals in each cohort were divided in regard to sickness absence in the base year. In order to be able to investigate the specific research question of this paper, the long-term sick, defined as those having 181 days of sickness absence, is the group in focus. However, we have also analysed those having between 1 to 180 days of sickness absence and those lacking absence at each base year for comparison.
Only between 18.5% and 49.9% of long-term sick men and women matched our criteria of having employment both at the base year and at the year after (Table 1).
In the cohort from 1994, year 1 = 1996, year 2 = 1997 and year 3 = 1998. In the cohort from 1999, year 1 = 2001, year 2 = 2002 and year 3 = 2003. In the cohort from 2004, year 1 = 2006, year 2 = 2007 and year 3 = 2008.
In 2004, there was no maximum duration of sickness benefit in Sweden; in practice, it was possible to be on sick leave for several years. Also, there were no set time limits for getting sickness compensation. Sickness benefit is usually close to 80 percent of the calculated annual income and sickness compensation amounts to 64 per cent of the assumed income. An employee on sick leave could be fired under the same circumstances as an employee not on sick leave. In both cases, there must be objectively based reasons such as shortage of work. The employer has a responsibility to reassign the employee within the company if possible . In 2004, there was also a National Insurance Act stating that the employer shall ensure that actions are taken for active rehabilitation .
After the first 14 days of sick leave, the employer does not fund sickness benefit, thus it is possible to change jobs during sick leave. Traditionally in Sweden, employers can get temporary grants from the Swedish Public Employment Service to partly cover salary costs and work appliance as an incentive to hire disabled individuals.
Job-to-job mobility was defined as a change of workplace identity the year following the base year (Figure 1). Information on workplace identity was based on payment of salaries during a week in November and was collected from administrative registers at the Swedish Tax Agency. Employers in Sweden have a duty to report annually to the tax authorities the salaries paid and the workplace identification numbers for all employees. A workplace is any address, dwelling unit or group of dwelling units where some sort of economic activity is carried out, with at least one employee working at least 20 hours per week. A company can have several workplaces, but a workplace can only belong to one company.
Being employed or not being employed is the outcome variable and is based on being gainfully employed 4 years after the base year (Figure 1). Individuals were classified as gainfully employed if they had worked for at least 1 hour per week in November, and otherwise as non-employed. This is based on information that employers are obliged to provide to the Swedish Tax Agency. During 1998, 190 individuals were found to be classified as gainfully employed despite 12 months of full-time sickness compensation and they were treated as not being in active work and were reclassified as non-employed. In 2003, 945 individuals were classified as gainfully employed despite 12 months of sickness benefits and 1023 individuals were reclassified in 2008. This reclassification only applies to individuals with full time sickness compensation for the whole year, and not to those with part-time sickness compensation. The reclassified individuals most likely have no real attachment to the labour market; the fact that they still have an employment number might be due to retained holiday compensation. Some of those classified as employed also had other sources of income such as economic support, unemployment benefits or sickness benefits to some extent during the year or that they had participated in some form of labour market intervention. In an attempt to control the predictive validity of the outcome variable, the occurrence of alternative sources of incomes was compared between those classified as employed and those classified as non-employed. Individuals classified as non-employed had other income sources to a much greater extent, such as unemployment benefits. This implies that the measurement of employment is valid.
Data were stratified on sick leave and were collected from the Swedish Social Insurance Administration. In Sweden, the employer pays for the first 14 days of sick leave, apart from the first day, which is a qualifying day of sickness. The Swedish Social Insurance Administration pays from day 15. As information about days of sick leave is collected from the Swedish Social Insurance Administration, this means that one registered day of sick leave corresponds to 15 days of sick leave (14 + 1) in reality. In Sweden, sickness allowance can be given for a whole day or 0.25, 0.50, 0.75 of the working day. One way to describe sick leave based on sickness allowance is to ascribe 1 day of sick leave regardless of whether it is given for a whole or part of a day (gross days). An alternative way, which is used here, is to recalculate allowance for part of a day to full days (net days) so that 1 day of sick leave can mean e.g. 1 day of full sick allowance, 2 days of half-sickness allowance (0,50) or 4 days of 0,25 sickness allowance.
The population was stratified into three categories based on days of sick leave registered by The Swedish Social Insurance Administration in the base year: 0 days; 1–180 days; and 181–365 days. As pointed out above, the category ‘0 days’ encompasses days of sick leave lasting 14 days or less which are paid by the employer. The population was also stratified according to gender.
All confounders were collected from the base year (1994, 1999, 2004). Age, Sector and branch of employer, children, marital status, income, education, sick leave before the base year, job change before the base year and rate of sickness absence were considered as possible confounders. All confounders had a statistically significant univariate correlation with employment status 3 years later (p < 0.05). The variance inflation factor (VIF) scores in this study ranged between 1.01 and 1.37, which can be considered acceptable .
Age: Age was calculated from the year of birth based on the Social Security Number and was used as a continuous variable.
Sector of employer and branch of employer: Information about sector was collected from Statistics Sweden’s Business Register. Statistics Sweden is assigned by the Swedish parliament to maintain a register of enterprises, government offices and organizations and their workplaces. The sectors are divided according to the standard classification by institutional sector. The institutional sectors correspond to ESA sectors (European System of National and Regional Accounts) with one difference: the general government sector has been divided into three sectors. Which ESA sector a unit belongs to depends on the type of activity, its function and what is being produced. Based on the institutional sector code, each company is assigned a sector code. These sector codes are grouped in ten categories. In this study, these categories were merged into municipal (primary municipal administration, county councils and municipally-owned companies and organizations), public (public administration, public utility companies and government-owned companies and organizations), private (stock corporations and other non-public companies) and other (any other organization). Information about sector is connected to the company where the individual is employed. Information about company is collected during a week in November, so if the individual has several jobs during the year, it is the sector of the company from which the individual got the major part of his or her paid salary in November that is registered. Information on branch was collected from Statistics Sweden’s company register with information from the Swedish Tax Agency. Based on the activities carried out, every company is assigned one or several activity codes according to the Swedish Standard Industrial Classification. This classification is based on the EU’s recommended standard NACE (Nomenclature statistique des activités économiques dans la Communauté européenne) . The short, two-digit version was used.
Children and marital status: Information about number of children was collected from national registrations conducted by the Internal Revenue Service. In the register, children are connected to their family identity and are registered at the same property as the parents. Children with divorced parents are connected to the same family identity as the parent with whom they are nationally registered. The other parent is registered as childless unless he or she is living with another parent with children nationally registered at the same address. Family identities are created by the social security number of the oldest individual of a maximum of two generations who are connected to each other (married, registered partners, cohabitants with common children, parents or foster parents). Marital status is categorized as unmarried, married/registered partner, divorcee or widow/widower.
Income and education: Income and education were used as indicators of socioeconomic status. Income refers to disposable income and is the individual’s contribution to the household income. Disposable income is what is left of salaries and benefits from the state and local authorities after taxes and deductions. Income was used as a continuous variable. Information on education was collected from the Swedish Register of Education, which records the highest education registered from all formal education units in Sweden for each individual each year. Education is classified according to the Swedish Nomenclature of Education (SUN), which is adjusted to meet the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED).
Sick leave in the year before the base year: The study works with days of sick leave during the year before the base year (see section on stratification variables for description).
Mobility between the previous year and the base year: The study works with mobility between the previous year and the base year (see section on prediction variables for description) in order to check individuals with a pattern of frequent job changes.
Rate of sickness absence: The rate of sickness absence was calculated by dividing the sum of net days of sick leave at the base year with the sum of gross days. One gross day of absence could mean being absent 100%, 75% or 25% of the day (see description of net and gross day above under Stratification variables). With net days, one day of absence means 100% of a day, two days with 50% absence or four days with 25% absence. The rate between net days and gross days was used to check whether part-time or full-time sick leave affect the association between job change and future labourmarket situation.
Differences in being employed or not 3 years later with respect to job change were investigated using Pearson’s chi-squared test. Logistic regression analysis was used to calculate the likelihood (odds ratio (OR)) that individuals sick listed for more than 180 days were employed 2, 3 and 4 years later depending on whether or not they changed their job between the base year and the next year. The comparison group consisted of individuals that stayed at the same job both years. The likelihood for individuals with no sick leave or 1–180 days of sick leave being employed with regard to job-to-job mobility was also calculated for use as comparisons. Confounders were introduced additively in six models. In Model 1, adjustment was made for age. In Model 2, adjustments were also made for sector and industry. In Model 3, the number of children living at home and marital status were added to the previous confounders, and in Model 4, income and education were added. In Model 5, sick leave the year before the base year was added. Mobility in the year before the base year was added to the other confounders in Model 6. All analyses were conducted separately for men and women and for the various sick leave strata. A 95% confidence interval (CI) was computed for each OR. All analyses were performed using IBM SPSS software (version 20).
In all three cohorts, the proportions in employment 3 years after being mobile differed with regard to sickness absence. Men and women show similar patterns. A greater proportion of individuals with more than 180 days sick leave who changed job were employed 4 years later compared with individuals who did not change job (p < .05) (Table 2). Among individuals with 1–180 days sick leave, the proportion of non-employed and employed were similar among those who changed workplace and those who did not. Among individuals with no sick leave who changed workplace, a greater proportion were without employment 4 years later than among those that did not change (p < .05) (Table 2).
*p = <0.05. x2, comparing distributions between non-employed and employed among those who changed jobs and those that remained in the same jobs, within each level of sick leave.
In the cohort from 1994, 1998 is the outcome year. In the cohort from 1999, 2003 is the outcome year. In the cohort from 2004, 2008 is the outcome year.
Women with more than 180 days of sick leave in 1994, 1999 and 2004, and who had changed workplace, were less likely to be unemployed 4 years later compared with those who stayed at the same work place, based on crude data and in the full model. Adjustment for confounders did not affect the ORs. Therefore, only models 1 and 7 are shown (Table 3). Men with more than 180 days sick leave who changed workplace in 1994/1995 or in 2004/2005 were also more likely to be employed 4 years later, based on data adjusted for age and in the full model. However, men with more than 180 sick leave days in 1999 who changed job did not have a higher likelihood of remaining in work than men who did not change job.
Model 1, days of sick leave + age; model 7, model 1 + sector, industry;+ children, marital status + education, disposable income + sick leave year before base year + job change year before base year + rate of sickness absence.
Females and males with no sick leave or 1–180 days of sick leave in 1994, 1999 and 2004 who had changed workplace were, unlike those with the highest level of sick leave, less likely to be employed 4 years later compared with those who stayed in the same job. As in the analysis on individuals with more than 180 days of sick leave, adjustment for confounders did not affect the ORs (not shown) (Table 3).
The analyses (full model) were also done 2 and 3 years after the base years. With 1994 as the base year, both females and males with more than 180 days sick leave who had changed workplace had a decreased likelihood for unemployment in 1996 and 1997 compared with people who stayed at the same work place. With 1999 as the base year, females with more than 180 days sick leave who had changed workplace had a decreased likelihood for unemployment in 2001 and 2002. For males in the cohort from 1999, this was only true in outcome year 2001, in outcome year 2002 the association was not statistically significant. With 2004 as the base year, individuals with more than 180 days of sick leave who had changed workplaces had a decreased likelihood for unemployment in 2006 and 2007, except for males in outcome year 2006, when the association was not statistically significant.
The aim was to investigate whether job-to-job mobility affected the likelihood of men and women with a history of long-term sick leave remaining on the labour market. The results show that females had an increased probability of being in employment 2–4 four years later if they had changed jobs compared with if they had not. Among men with high sickness absence, job change was associated with the future vocational situation in the cohort from 1994 and in the cohort from 2004. Among individuals with a history of 1–180 days sick leave and among individuals without a history of sick leave, changing jobs was associated with a decreased probability of being in employment later.
There is a lack of previous studies on the association between job-to-job mobility and the future vocational situation for individuals with a history of long-term sick leave with which our results can be compared. Ekberg et al. suggested that job mobility could be a possible rehabilitation strategy and Sandmark et al. report in an interview study that mobility in working life could counteract sick leave and contribute to retained work ability.
A finding that was not the focus of this study but which is still noteworthy is that individuals with no history of sick leave had an increased probability of unemployment after a job change. One reason might be that job change is associated with fixed-term contracts and part-time work. Sixteen percent of all those employed in Sweden had temporary employment in 2008. Individuals with temporary employment are more likely to have experienced multiple workplace changes. Moreover, those with temporary employment contracts are more likely to move from employment to unemployment . In an attempt to take into account the type of employment contract, earlier mobility between 2003 and 2004 was introduced as a confounder. The correlation between mobility and not having employment for individuals with no history of sick leave weakened, but was still statistically significant. This indicates that some of the individuals who changed jobs and ended up non-employed could belong to a group of frequent job changers.
In Sweden, the purpose of the Employment Protection Act is to protect employees in cases of termination or dismissal. This law includes rules for turn-taking and states that employees with a longer length of service have priority over employees with a shorter length of service, if they are qualified enough. For individuals who have recently changed workplaces, this could be a disadvantage. For this reason, one possible explanation why mobility increases the likelihood of being out of work for individuals without a history of sick leave is that in the case of dismissals, the most recently employed is the first one to be dismissed owing to legislation. If this is correct, we could expect another result if the same study is performed in a place where the law is different. Another explanation could be that frequent job changes are associated with health risk behaviours such as smoking . Health risk behaviours could lead to worse health in the future and may increase the probability of unemployment. To take into account frequent job changes, mobility the year before the base year was introduced as a confounder. For individuals with between 1 and 180 days sick leave, introducing earlier mobility as a confounder reduced the probability of not having a job later for individuals who changed workplaces, but the association between job change and future unemployment was still statistically significant.
In the light of the possible explanations above, the results of the analysis of individuals with no history of sick leave seem plausible. However, these possible explanations do not seem to be valid for individuals with a history of long-term sick leave. Job change among those with many days of sickness absence and those with no such absence may represent different strategies. Among those with no sickness absence, job change may represent an unstable position on the labour market or attempts to seek better circumstances. For those with many days of sickness absence, job change is likely to represent a strategy to obtain a job situation that better matches the individual’s health in order to stay on the labour market.
Individuals with long-term sick leave who changed jobs may have better health than those who did not change jobs and therefore had better conditions not to be non-employed, which may explain why job change is associated with an increased likelihood of staying in employment. An attempt to take into account eventual differences in health between those who changed jobs and those who did not was made by adjusting for days of sick leave the year before the base year, assuming that those with worse health had a longer history of sick leave. However, adjustment for earlier days on sick leave did not affect the results.
It is possible that the increased probability of remaining on the labour market among individuals with long-term sick leave was underestimated. As described earlier, those with a temporary employment contract are more likely to change jobs. They are also more likely to move from employment to unemployment . Temporary employments are also associated with poor health . As those with a temporary employment contract are more likely to change jobs it is likely that a higher proportion of those who had changed jobs in this study had temporary jobs. Information about temporary employment contracts was not available. In an attempt to take into account the type of employment contract, earlier mobility was introduced as a confounder, but this had a marginal effect.
Among individuals classified as not mobile, there might be some who were internally mobile, that is, they changed tasks within the workplace. Information on internal mobility is lacking. If such mobility increases the likelihood of staying in work, our results on individuals with a history of long-term sick leave will be underestimated.
Adjustment latitude, that is, opportunities to adjust work to health, increases the likelihood of return to work for people on long-term sick leave . It is possible that the individuals who stayed in the same job had greater adjustment latitude or got more workplace interventions at the current workplace and therefore had no need to change workplaces. If those who did not change jobs had greater adjustment latitude, our results might be underestimated. It is also possible that moving to a new job with greater adjustment latitude is a reason for mobility, which could partly explain our findings. Future studies that include internal mobility and adjustment latitude are required. The probability of men with high levels of sick leave being employed for 1999 was not affected by whether they changed jobs or not. A possible explanation why job mobility affects future employment status differently among men and women may be that men have more opportunities to adjust work to health than women . Thus males in the control group who did not change workplace may be able to stay employed to a greater extent than females in a comparable situation due to better opportunities to adjust work to health.
The effect of job-to-job mobility on the likelihood of people with many days of sick leave staying on the labour market might differ in welfare systems with different rules and different incentives for mobility. However, in this study a similar pattern emerged over a time period of 15 years, despite variations in sick leave and unemployment levels.
The cohorts studied only comprise those having employment in each base year and the following year. To be able to identify job change, the individual has to be employed in both years. Job change is defined as a change of employment number. As there is only one employment number each year, it is not possible to use only one year; job change has to be defined as a change from one year to another. Another reason for setting up this criterion is to enable comparisons with individuals that are employed at the same work place both years, that is, the non-mobile. Owing to a selection of individuals with employment in both years in the mobile group but not in the comparison group, our results may have been overestimated. If this criterion was not set up, job change would have appeared more favourable as all individuals in the job change group had employment in both years, which could indicate, for example, better health, higher motivation or self-efficacy, factors that could predict remaining on the labour market. It is still possible that the results might be due to differences in the group that we were not able to take into account. We have tried to account for differences in health by using earlier days of sick leave as a confounder (see above under Individuals with more than 180 days sick leave). In future studies, the role of factors such as motivation and self-efficacy should be considered.
Long-term sick leave is associated with unemployment and disability pension [7–10]. As the study concerns job-to-job mobility and not mobility in and out of the labour market, the majority of the long-term sick are excluded from the cohorts. Males are excluded to a greater extent than women, especially in the cohorts from the 1990s. This might be due to that fact that the employment rate in the Swedish population in the latter half of the 1990s was comparatively low. The employment rate among men decreased more than the employment rate among women .
Gainfully employed was classified as working at least 1 hour a week in November. Although a test was conducted in which the proportions of other income sources were compared between those classified as gainfully employed and those not, showing that those classified as not gainfully employed had other income sources such as unemployment benefits during the year to a much higher degree, it is possible that some individuals have been classified as gainfully employed that worked only 1 hour a week in November. This could mean that our results are underestimated. November was chosen with the aim of minimizing the number of individuals engaged in seasonal work, which is more common in summertime.
The analyses were carried out separately for women and men. The difference between men and women is not statistically significant. We still choose to show the results separately as we believe that men and women have different life and working conditions and that different models may therefore affect their chances in working life.
One strength of this study is that the material allows a longitudinal design with identical data for several years. By choosing three cohorts from every fifth year, we were able to consider potential economic and market condition effects. We also wanted to increase the validity by avoiding an outcome caused by chance and certain specific condition in a particular year. In addition, sick leave has varied during these years, which can result in the composition of those listed as sick differing in the groups.
Another strength is the extensive material with information on almost the entire Swedish population. The annual gathering of information on sick leave and workplace is required by law and this is likely to increase reliability and contribute to the small attrition rate. The report on sick leave is also connected to payment of sickness benefits, which increases the reliability of the report. Information on income may have deficient validity as income data were collected for the same year as the sick leave data. Disposable income includes allowances and compensation, but the number of days of sick leave is still likely to affect income, which means that individuals with many days of sick leave were placed somewhat below their normal income level. As a test, income from the year before the base year was used as a confounder instead of income at the base year. This did not alter the results. In future studies, a more valid measurement of income level is desirable.
In the present study, mobility between workplaces was studied. Such mobility may involve moving to a similar job or to a different job and might be perceived as a change to a more or less preferable job. The individual may also have different incentives for changing jobs. Disabled workers are more likely to experience involuntary job changes than nondisabled workers . Such differences in mobility may affect the likelihood of remaining on the labour market. Thus these dimensions should be included in future studies.
The results of this study imply that job change might be a way of remaining on the labour market for individuals with a history of long-term sick leave, particularly women. The inclusion criterion in this study, however, limits the validity of the results for individuals with an attachment to the labour market (employment for two years in a row). Furthermore, there might be situations where a job change may not be viable. There might be obstacles that hinder mobility among people who have experienced long-term sick leave. In a Swedish study from 2008, six out of ten personnel managers had a negative attitude about hiring people on sick leave from another workplace . Individuals on long-term sick leave report that their sick leave negatively affects their career and opportunities to change to another job . The results of this study support the hypothesis that job change is a viable strategy for people with a history of long-term sick leave to remain on the labour market. If our results are correct, this would indicate that welfare and labour market policies should be designed to facilitate job change for people on sick leave. “Flexicurity”, which describes a balance between a flexible labour market with a high level of mobility and high levels of social security, has been adopted by the European Union as a strategy for mobility and integration on the labour market. By having flexible and reliable contractual arrangements, employers are supposed to be more willing to employ people with, for example, physical disabilities. By having an adequate and sustainable social protection system, individuals will be protected from job loss . However, as discussed above, the study has methodological limitations and the results for men are ambiguous. We do not therefore have enough evidence to be able to recommend job change as a strategy for vocational rehabilitation.
Research on the importance of job-to-job mobility among individuals with many days of sick leave is still scarce. The present study indicates that those on long-term sick leave who change workplaces, have better possibilities to stay on the labour market. Since this study is, to the best of our knowledge, the first one to investigate how job change affects the likelihood to remain on the labour market, more evidence is needed before any guidance can be given. In future studies, better measurements of differences in health, type of employment contract and other variables that might affect the conclusions in this study are desirable.
Financial support was provided by AFA Insurance.
Funding has been received from AFA Insurance. The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
KN participated in the design of the study, performed the statistical analyses, contributed to data interpretation and drafted the manuscript. KE contributed to the design of the study and the interpretation of data and participated in drafting the manuscript. TH contributed to the design of the study and the interpretation of data and participated in drafting the manuscript. GJ initiated the study, participated in the design, supervised KN in the statistical analyses and contributed to the interpretation of the data and drafting the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. | 2019-04-24T22:37:17Z | https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2458-14-305 |
1.1 Our offers, order confirmations, commercial letters of confirmation, deliveries and services are subject exclusively to these General Terms of Service and Delivery (hereinafter Terms of Business). The purchaser’s general terms and conditions do not apply.
1.2 Even when we provide deliveries and services unconditionally and are aware of the purchaser’s own general terms and conditions, our Terms of Business shall apply exclusively.
1.3 These Terms of Business only apply to entrepreneurs as defined in Section 14 BGB (German Civil Code), public corporations and special funds under public law.
1.4 We are entitled to revoke our offers without giving any reason up until the time we receive the purchaser’s declaration of acceptance (all offers are non-binding). If we do not send a separate confirmation of order, our acceptance of the purchaser’s order is implied by our delivery of the goods or services.
We accept orders on offers made (orders on offers made as defined in sections 145 et seq. BGB) for standard products within a period of two weeks, we accept orders on offers made for custom-made items within a period of three weeks.
2.1 Our prices are net prices ex works.
2.2 We charge for the cost of commissioning and installation based on the time and labour required at standard rates for highly skilled electrical fitters. We also charge for labour and travel times outside Furtwangen at appropriate hourly rates which are below those cited in Sentence 1 above and at standard kilometre rates (rate per kilometre driven). Currently applicable rates and kilometre rates are supplied on request.
2.3 All prices do not include value-added tax.
2.4 If we accept cancellations to accommodate the purchaser, we will invoice the purchaser the costs incurred and any additional costs incurred. The same applies to changes to the contract caused by the purchaser if we have agreed to these changes to accommodate the purchaser.
3.1 Payments shall be made for deliveries cash in advance and free of charges for Siedle.
3.2 Should we grant any reductions in payment, any reductions in payment will be granted subject to compliance with our terms of payment. We are entitled to offset reductions in payment against claims arising from future orders.
3.3 The purchaser is not entitled to retain payment or offset payments against counterclaims unless the counterclaim has become res judicata, is admitted or undisputed or a claim for defects has been raised which is clearly justified. This limitation of the purchaser’s rights does not apply to claims for damages to which the purchaser is entitled, insofar as these claims arise in the context of the contractual relationship for which we are demanding payment.
3.4 If the purchaser authorizes a SEPA Direct Debit or grants us a SEPA Direct Debit Mandate for his company and thereby authorizes us to collect payments from his account by direct debit, pre-notification (i.e., notification of the purchaser of the upcoming payment to be collected by us by direct debit) will be one day before the invoice falls due. Costs which arise from non-payment or from the assertion of a claim for reimbursement must be borne by the purchaser, unless we are the cause of the non-payment or reimbursement.
4.1 Partial deliveries are permissible insofar as these partial deliveries are reasonable for the purchaser. This also applies to technical modifications as long as they do not result in an increase in price and do not lead to any deterioration.
4.2 Deliveries are DAP to the specified place of delivery (Incoterms 2010).
As we supply high-quality, sophisticated goods which require technical explanations, the purchaser must either only resell these goods to specialist retailers/fitters or fit them himself.
6.1 Delivery times for our standard products are up to six weeks. For custom-made products we will give a delivery date when we confirm the order. The period within which the goods should be commissioned or installed must be agreed separately.
6.2 An agreed delivery time or time of performance will start when the purchaser receives the confirmation of order/letter of confirmation, however not before the purchaser has provided all documents, permits, approvals and free-issue parts where necessary and not before we have received an agreed down payment or advance payment.
6.3 We are entitled to withhold deliveries or services until we receive payment for deliveries or services for which the purchaser is in default. The defence of uncertainty under section 321 BGB is not affected by this nor are other legal rights to refuse performance or an agreed advance payment.
6.4 In cases of force majeure, the agreed delivery period will be extended as appropriate. Should the event of force majeure continue for longer than eight weeks, then both contracting parties will be entitled, after first agreeing on a deadline of a further two weeks, to withdraw from the contract. Force majeure are external events caused from outside by elemental forces of nature or by the actions of third persons which could not have been foreseen based on judgement or experience, which could not have been prevented or rendered harmless by economically acceptable means or by the most careful diligence to be reasonably expected in the circumstances and which do not need to be accepted because of their frequency of occurrence. Force majeure also includes interruptions to operations without any fault on our part such as, for example, strikes, lock-outs or delayed deliveries to us by suppliers for which we cannot be held responsible.
6.5 Upon our request, the purchaser is obligated to state within a reasonable period of time whether he wishes to withdraw from the contract because of delays in delivery or performance or whether he insists on delivery.
Electrical planning is, in principle, the purchaser’s responsibility. Insofar as we do electrical planning for the purchaser, we do this to accommodate the purchaser, i.e. without the intention of entering into a legal relationship and free of charge. The purchaser will ensure that any electrical planning we have carried out to accommodate him is checked by professionals. This also applies to any electrical planning we carry out to accommodate end-customers.
As regards the extent of rights and restrictions of use, in particular with regard to the necessity of carrying out backups of programs and data, please refer to the separate license terms which are available for download at www.siedle.de/impressum or, alternatively, are available from us in print form on request.
9.1.1 The purchaser must examine the delivered goods without delay and must immediately notify us of any obvious defects or deviations in quantity (hereinafter jointly: defects), at the latest within seven days of receiving the goods. We must also be immediately notified of any concealed defects after they have been detected, at the latest within seven days after their detection. The period for examination and notification of defects applies equally to any goods delivered directly to a third party nominated by the purchaser; in these cases the purchaser is also obliged to ensure that we are promptly notified of any defects.
9.1.2 Should customers of the purchaser notify the purchaser of defects, the purchaser must immediately pass on the notifications of defects to us. The purchaser undertakes to only remedy or rectify defects of which he was notified by his customers or by legitimate customers along his supply chain after he has first consulted with us and coordinated the technical and economic measures.
9.1.3 If the purchaser intends to install, mount or process the supplied goods, then he must examine the goods to ensure they are free from defects before installing, mounting or processing the goods. Should he fail to do so, then he is grossly negligent under section 439 para. 3 and section 442 para. 1 sentence 2 BGB. In this case, the purchaser will only be entitled to make warranty claims if the said defect was caused deliberately or maliciously concealed by us or we assumed a guarantee of quality.
9.1.4 Should the purchaser find defects in the supplied goods, then he undertakes not to sell on the goods or to process, install or mount them until we have come to an agreement about how to deal with the warranty claims or evidence has been secured judicially or extra-judicially. The purchaser must provide us with the faulty goods so that we can investigate whether the defects fall under warranty. If he culpably refuses to do so, then the warranty claims are void.
9.2.1 If the defects are negligible, then the purchaser cannot claim for damages instead of rectification of the defect and has no right to revoke the contract.
9.2.2 If the last customer in the supply chain is not the user, then the purchaser must give us a reasonable period of time in derogation from section 445 a para. 2 BGB if his customer wishes to assert defect-related rights, before the purchaser asserts the other rights referred to in section 437 BGB in lieu of supplementary performance (right of second delivery). The purchaser must retain the right of second delivery to his customer if the customer is not the final user. In cases where we have the right to second delivery, we are entitled and obliged to rectify the defect or resupply the goods up to three times free of charge (supplementary performance) at our discretion within a reasonable period of time, if the defect occurs within the warranty period and we were immediately notified after the defect was detected and provided the cause of the defect already existed at the time of passing of risk. The burden of proof for this lies with the purchaser. If the supplementary performance fails, then the purchaser will be entitled to withdraw from the contract or reduce the agreed remuneration, without this affecting the purchaser’s potential claims for compensation for damages under Item 10.
9.2.3 If the purchaser has installed defective goods in the correct manner and in accordance with their intended purpose or affixed them to something else, then: a) The purchaser must give us the opportunity to remove the defective goods and install or affix the repaired or resupplied goods. This does not apply if the purchaser’s customer rejects this, in which case the purchaser must prove to us that his customer has rejected it, or if the purchaser’s customer is the user. b) Insofar as we are obliged to bear the costs of dismantling and reinstalling the rectified defective goods under section 439 para. 3 BGB, we will only have to bear the costs of dismantling and installing or affixing the goods which are customary in the market and for which the purchaser provides proof by submitting supporting documentation or invoices. The purchaser is not entitled to receive advance payment for the costs of dismantling and installing or affixing identical goods, unless his customer is the final user and his customer demands advance payment from him.
9.2.4 Warranty rights become time-barred after one year, calculated from the date of delivery as defined in Item 4.2. This does not apply in cases where the law stipulates longer periods of warranty, as in section 438 para. 1 no. 2 BGB (buildings and things used for buildings), section 438 para. 3 BGB (fraudulent concealment), section 445b para. 1 BGB (claim for recourse), section 476 para. 2 BGB (shortened statute of limitations in cases when the end-customer is the user) and section 634a para. 1 no. 2 BGB (construction defects). The statutory regulations on the suspension of the statute of limitations and on interruptions and recommencing of the statutory period are not affected.
9.2.5 Item 10 applies to claims for damages arising from defects. The purchaser has no claims for warranty which go beyond the claims described in Items 9.1 and 9.2 in conjunction with Item 10.
9.2.6 Should the purchaser culpably and wrongly notify us of defects, we will be entitled to demand restitution from him for costs we incur and for other damages.
10.1 Purchaser’s claims for damages, irrespective of their legal basis, in particular for breach of duties arising from the contractual relationship or from tort, are excluded, with the exception of the circumstances described in the provisions below.
• following other actions which have made us legally liable.
10.3 In the event of liability for violations of material contractual obligations and the impossibility of performance for which we are responsible and in cases of mandatory liability for defects of title, we will only be liable for foreseeable average damages typical for this type of contract and insofar as we were slightly negligent. This does not apply to cases which also involved injury to life, limb or health or cases of product liability.
10.4 Our liability is – with the exception of injury to life, limb or health, intent, gross negligence or product liability and other mandatory regulations on liability – limited overall to the extent of coverage provided by our business liability insurance, provided the extent of our liability coverage amounts to what is customary in the industry.
10.5 We will only be liable for defects of any electrical planning services we provided to accommodate the purchaser or his customers in cases of intent or gross negligence.
10.6 The above disclaimers and limitations of liability apply equally to managerial and non-managerial employees as well as, in the event of liability, to our vicarious agents.
10.7 If we implement software as part of our commissioning or installation work, we first back up the data for protection. If the purchaser carries out changes to our systems, irrespective of the type of changes involved, then he is responsible for backing up the data and programs himself before implementing changes. If we are liable under Item 10.6 sentence 1 in conjunction with Items 10.1 to 10.6, then in cases of minor negligence our liability for loss of data is limited to the costs of data recovery when backup data are available.
10.8 The purchaser can only assert a claim for damages for a period of one year from the start of the statutory period of limitation. The limitation period for claims for damages arising from material defects (Item 9.1) is given in Item 9.2.4. The above limitation period and the reduction of the period of limitation do not apply in the event that we are liable for intent or gross negligence or for injury to life, limb or health, or we are liable under the German Product Liability Act or following other actions which have made us legally liable.
10.9 If the purchaser exports our goods and the goods are processed, installed, mounted or otherwise used abroad, we are not liable for ensuring they are exportable, in particular we are not liable for obstacles such as export controls, embargos, or ensuring the goods do not require state approval and can be freely imported into the purchaser’s export countries. The purchaser is responsible for monitoring and ensuring compliance with the national regulations of the respective export country.
10.10 The above disclaimers and limitations of liability apply equally to violations of data protection regulations, in particular violations of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) with the exception of violations of the prohibition of processing personal data as defined in Art. 9 GDPR, particularly biometric data.
10.11 The provisions of this Item 10 do not change the burden of proof to the detriment of the purchaser.
11.1 If we take back goods to accommodate the purchaser, then the purchaser must bear the costs and risk of the return shipment of the goods.
11.2 In some cases where we took back goods to accommodate the purchaser, we may issue a credit note and deduct 20% of the net invoice value for administrative costs, examination and repackaging; these cases are decided on a case-by-case basis. Custom-made products and products from the BGA, BG/KSF, BG/SR, KS, KSA, KSF, RGA, RG/KSF, RGT, RG/SR, Siedle Classic and Siedle Steel series are not returnable.
11.3 If the purchaser terminates existing contracts for work and materials for custom-made products, commissioning and installation without good cause (free right of cancellation under section 648 BGB), then the purchaser must pay us for goods and services rendered up until the time of cancellation and in addition pay a lump sum amounting to 10% of that part of the agreed total price which corresponds to the goods or services which we had not yet rendered at the time of cancellation. This does not affect the purchaser’s right to furnish proof that the incurred costs were lower.
12.1 Should a third party make a justified claim for infringement of industrial property rights, copyright or supplementary rights related to copyright under competition law (summarized hereinafter as: property rights) against the purchaser based on the contractual use of products supplied by us, then we will be liable within the period of warranty (Item 9.2.4) as follows: we shall either undertake, at our own discretion, to obtain a right of use for the respective products within a reasonable period of time at our own expense or we will amend the product in such a manner that it does not infringe any property rights and we will undertake to exchange it at the purchaser’s premises at our own expense.
12.2 The obligations listed under Item 12.1 only exist insofar as the purchaser informs us without delay, at the latest within eight working days after becoming aware of the claims asserted by the third party; the purchaser does not acknowledge any infringement; and we retain the right to undertake all defensive measures against the claims. If the purchaser stops using or selling the goods on hearing about the asserted claim of infringement of property rights, then the purchaser must undertake to inform the third party that the purchaser’s suspension of use does not imply any acknowledgement of any infringement of property rights. The purchaser has no claims against us if the purchaser himself is responsible for the infringement of property rights.
12.3 In the event of an infringement of property rights, the provisions of Items 9 and 10 apply correspondingly to the purchaser’s claims. Other claims of the purchaser are excluded.
13.1 The supplied goods remain our property until all our claims arising from our business relationship with the purchaser have been satisfied. The purchaser must undertake all measures necessary to ensure that any retention of title required under foreign law is registered.
13.2 The purchaser is authorized to sell on, process, affix, install or remove the goods (goods subject to retention of title) in the ordinary course of business but not to pledge or assign them to a third party by way of security.
13.3 The resale of the goods is only permissible on condition that the purchaser will only transfer ownership of the goods to his customer when the customer has met his payment obligations with respect to the goods subject to retention of title in full. The purchaser already hereby assigns to us all accounts receivable arising from the resale or the affixing or installation of the goods up to the value of our claims against the purchaser.
13.4 The purchaser is authorized to collect the assigned receivables. The purchaser’s authorization to collect the receivables ceases if the purchaser is in default of payment. In this case we are entitled to inform the purchaser’s customer that the purchaser has assigned the accounts receivable to us and we will be entitled to collect the accounts receivable ourselves. To enable us to assert our right to collect the assigned receivables, the purchaser must provide us with the necessary information and allow us to verify this information. In particular, the purchaser must on request provide us with a detailed statement of the receivables due to him including the name and address of the customer, the value of the individual receivables, the date of invoice, etc., and must grant us access to his business premises for the purposes of verification.
13.5 If the purchaser processes the goods to which we retain title and connects or combines them with a new product, then this is done on our behalf without us incurring any obligations therefrom. The purchaser does not acquire ownership of the new product under section 947 et seq. BGB by the connection, combination or processing. When the goods to which we retain title are connected, combined or processed with products which are not our property, we acquire co-ownership of the newly created item according to the proportion of the invoice value of our reserved goods to the overall value.
13.6 The purchaser undertakes to notify us immediately if he suspends payment or if there is a significant deterioration in his financial circumstances or if an attachment of the goods has occurred. The purchaser must make the name and address of the attaching creditor known to us. The purchaser will bear all expenses incurred with the aim of annulling the attachment and reacquiring the goods.
14.1 The place of jurisdiction for all disputes arising in connection with the contractual relationship is Furtwangen. We are also entitled to bring an action against the purchaser at his place of business.
14.2 The contractual relationship is subject to German substantive law and German procedural law to the exclusion of any conflict of laws. The application of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) is excluded. | 2019-04-25T02:11:44Z | https://www.siedle.de/App/WebObjects/XSeMIPS.woa/cms/page/locale.enGB/pid.221.244.438/General-Terms-and-Conditions.html |
Washington, D.C., August 12, 2011 – Fifty years ago, when leaders of the former East Germany (German Democratic Republic) implemented their dramatic decision to seal off East Berlin from the western part of the city, senior Kennedy administration officials publicly condemned them. Nevertheless, those same officials, including Secretary of State Dean Rusk, secretly saw the Wall as potentially contributing to the stability of East Germany and thereby easing the festering crisis over West Berlin. Indeed, U.S. ambassador to the Soviet Union Llewellyn Thompson had written that “both we and West Germans consider it to our long-range advantage that potential refugees remain [in] East Germany.” This surprising viewpoint from Thompson and Rusk, among others, is one of a number of points of interest in declassified documents posted today by the National Security Archive.
The previously secret documents also reveal new information about one of the remaining unknowns from the period—how well (or poorly) U.S. intelligence agencies carried out their responsibility. In one record, President John F. Kennedy’s frustration shows through over the fact that he did not receive adequate advance warning of the East German move.
Some of the documents posted today were released by the CIA through its CREST database at the National Archives, College Park. As a few of them are heavily excised, the National Security Archive has requested further declassification review. Other relevant documents–CIA daily reports to President Kennedy during the Wall crisis–remain classified because of agency insistence that sources and methods are at risk. The Archive has appealed these denials.
On 13 August 1961, East German security officials imposed harsh controls at the East-West borders in Berlin designed to stop the flow of thousands of refugees, mostly fleeing through West Berlin. Implausibly justifying the measures as a defense against West German aggression, the fundamental concern was the threat of economic disaster for the former German Democratic Republic (GDR). To stop its citizens from escaping, the GDR put up barbed-wire fences which soon turned into concrete barriers. A wall was being constructed (although it became a taboo in the GDR to call it a “Wall” (Note 1)). Declassified documents posted today by the National Security Archive shed light on how U.S. diplomats and intelligence analysts understood the East German refugee crisis and the sector border closings.
The decision taken in early July 1961 by Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev and East German president Walter Ulbricht to close the border was a deep secret. While no one on the U.S. side predicted a “wall”, diplomats and intelligence analysts saw the possibility of harsh steps to stop the refugee traffic. Nevertheless, East Germany’s draconian moves to close the sector borders came as a surprise to President Kennedy. Declassified documents shed light on what some saw as an intelligence failure or at least a failure by intelligence agencies to warn President Kennedy and his advisers of the possibility of GDR action.
According to a State Department report, the CIA Station in West Berlin attributed the GDR refugee crisis to the larger crisis over West Berlin. East German citizens worried that if Khrushchev and Ulbricht signed a treaty separating East from West Berlin, their “last chance to escape” would end.
During the weeks before the Wall crisis, U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union Llewellyn Thompson observed rather pitilessly that “except for the danger of building up pressure for explosion [in the GDR] both we and West Germans consider it to our long-range advantage that potential refugees remain [in] East Germany.” The implication was that the refugee crisis was destabilizing East Germany and that if East Germans stayed home this could ease Soviet pressure on West Berlin.
The CIA’s Office of Current Intelligence reported on 10 August that the regime is considering “harsher measures to reduce the flow” of refugees, although it did not list any possibilities.
In a speech on 10 August, Ulbricht declared that “We have discussed the (refugee) matter with our Soviet friends and with representatives of the Warsaw Pact states and we have agreed that the time has come when one must say ‘so far and no further.'” Several months later, the U.S. President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (PFIAB) saw this statement as the “best indicator” that action was about to take place.
Allied inaction and the shock of the border closing caused a significant morale problem in Germany, especially West Berlin, which the Kennedy administration tried to remedy. Within a few days, a U.S. Army combat brigade arrived in West Berlin and so did Vice President Lyndon Johnson.
As noted, one of the few remaining puzzles about the U.S. reaction to the Wall concerns the performance of U.S. intelligence during the lead-up to the sector border closing. The CIA provided Kennedy with a daily report, the “President’s Intelligence Checklist” [PICL] (the forerunner to the President’s Daily Brief), but what it had sent Kennedy during the previous several days remains a secret. So far the CIA has refused to declassify any of the PICLS produced during 10-14 August 1961 (and a PFIAB report on the CIA’s conduct remains heavily excised). But the National Security Archive’s mandatory review appeal for the PICLS is before the Interagency Security Classification Appeals Panel which may decide that CIA secrecy claims are inflated and declassify information.
The Khrushchev-Ulbricht decision was closely held, but the options available to Communist leaders could be deduced. Looking closely at developments in East Germany, John C. Ausland saw a highly unstable situation, with the refugee flow stemming directly, according to the CIA, from Moscow’s tough policy on West Berlin: What inspired East Germans to flee was their apprehension that if the Soviets signed a treaty with the GDR, a “last chance to escape” would end. While the odds for an internal revolt in East Germany were low at the moment, if the Ulbricht regime took harsh measures to stop the flow of refugees, a “deep deterioration” and a domestic explosion could transpire.
Ausland commented on a recent comment by U.S. Ambassador to West Germany John Dowling that if another revolt in East Germany broke out, the United States should not “stay on the sidelines” as it had during the 1953 uprising. (Note 4) Noting that the U.S. did not want to see another revolt in East Germany as in 1953 at “this time,” Ausland also argued that Washington did it want to exacerbate the situation. He may have been concerned about the anticipated violence of Soviet and East German repression and the risk that an uprising in East Germany could lead to wider conflict, even East-West warfare, in Central Europe. Yet if Moscow and East Berlin took action to halt the flow of refugees, Washington should “help advertise it to the world.” The U.S. could consider economic countermeasures if the GDR clamped down on the borders to stop refugees.
Responding to the Department’s cable (document 2) on the East German refugee crisis, West Berlin mission chief Allen Lightner did not pick up on the State Department’s references to the possibility of security measures to close the sector borders. Instead, he suggested that continued refugee flow or adverse East German internal reaction to an East German-Soviet peace treaty might hold back Khrushchev from initiating a “showdown” over West Berlin. Believing that more was needed than “advertising the facts,” Lightner suggested “intensifying doubts and fears” among Soviet leaders about the possibility of an East German uprising through a program of overt and covert political and diplomatic operations. Noting that so far West Germany had not encouraged refugees to head West, but had actually discouraged them (possibly to minimize East-West tensions and perhaps to minimize the costs of absorbing the refugees), Lightner suggested that Bonn and Washington could threaten to reverse that policy.
Commenting on the State Department cable (document 2), Ambassador Thompson argued that one of the chief Soviet objectives in the Berlin crisis was the “cessation of refugee flow” from East Germany. Noting that both Washington and Bonn believed it “to our long-range advantage that potential refugees remain in East Germany” (probably to reduce Soviet pressure on West Berlin), Thompson nevertheless conceded that unilateral GDR action would have “many advantages for us” by demonstrating the weaknesses of the Soviet and East German position. He advised against giving the impression that Washington would take “strong countermeasures” if the GDR “closed the hatch” to avoid possible threats to Western access to Berlin.
On July 30, 1961, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Sen. J. William Fulbright (D-Ark) made a television statement suggesting that closing the Berlin escape hatch could be a subject for negotiations over West Berlin. He said further that the “truth of the matter is that …the Russians have the power to close it in any case. I mean you are not giving up very much because I believe that next week if they chose to close their borders, they could without violating any treaty.” Further, the East Germans “have a right to close their borders.” (Note 5) As the U.S. Embassy in Bonn reported, Fulbright’s comments created a furor in West Germany and West Berlin. For example, at first West Berlin Mayor Willy Brandt could not believe that Fulbright had said it. Certainly, East German and Soviet authorities must have seen it as a signal that the West would tolerate the closing of the sector borders.
The U.S. mission in West Berlin provided a full account of the ins and outs of the “second Berlin access problem,” the right of entry into West Berlin of the 16 million residents of East Germany and East Berlin. While the “first Berlin access problem”—Allied and West German access to West Berlin—was in a “pre-crisis” or “potential crisis stage,” the “second access problem” was “nearer to a ‘crisis’ stage as a result of recent repressive actions by the Soviet Zone regime.” With over 1,100 refugees arriving in West Berlin and West Germany daily, a rate which had “unquestionably disastrous” implications for GDR, East German security police were tightening up controls on roads, railroads, commuter trains, and the Berlin subway. Receiving close scrutiny by police and courts were younger men and “border crossers,” East Berliners who worked in West Berlin and were fleeing in larger numbers. Sent by diplomatic pouch, this report did not reach the State Department Berlin Desk until 14 August, the day after the sector border closing.
Early in the morning of 13 August 1961, the East German regime enacted decrees mandating “drastic control measures” at the sector borders to prevent East Germans from going into West Berlin. The East Germans had planned to take this action early on a Sunday morning to catch East and West Berliners by surprise, when most were distracted by weekend holiday plans or were otherwise not up and about. (Note 8) Panic in East Berlin and shock in West Berlin and elsewhere quickly followed the border closing.
The mission provided the State Department with an update of the controls over the East German population. Subway cars heading into the West failed to show up and control measures were being implemented “everywhere” with East German police stringing up barbed wire at border points. The flow of refugees had not stopped entirely, because people were fleeing through the canals and fields. The mission interpreted Soviet troop deployments on the periphery of Berlin as a “show of strength” to “intimidate” East Berliners and disabuse them of any notion of initiating resistance as in 1953. So far East German officials had not interfered with the movement of Western observers.
The CIA kept the White House informed of current developments in Berlin with memoranda like this, but President Kennedy was not satisfied that he had been given adequate warning of the possibility of imminent GDR action to close the sector borders. Apparently, when the news reached Kennedy at Hyannisport at about 1 p.m., he reacted with some irritation, “How come we didn’t know anything about this?” (Note 11) As noted earlier, what the CIA had reported to President Kennedy in the PICL during the days before the Wall Crisis remains classified.
CIA had conflicting reports, but the indications were that the East Germans had extended the crackdown to West Berliners and West Germans, who now would be required to get a permit if they wished to enter (or drive into) East Berlin.
This report summarized the status of border controls, refugee movements, communications, Soviet and Eastern bloc positions, and reactions in West Berlin and West Germany. The report refers to concerns about a “crisis of confidence” in West Berlin, where the population is becoming “increasingly restive over the lack of prompt Western countermeasures.”` The unrest depicted in photo 2 conveys some of the agitation.
This CIA report provides an update on the new GDR controls at the sector border, the construction of concrete barriers to replace barbed-wire fences, tightened regulation of passage by West Berliners and West Germans into East Berlin, interference with Allied military traffic into the East, and security measures. Despite the controls, “significant” numbers were still escaping from the East. The morale problem cited in earlier reports and cables had become less severe owing to the deployment of a U.S. Army battle group and a visit by Vice President Lyndon Johnson. While the Soviets had protested the visits by Johnson and Chancellor Adenauer and accused the West of “provocative” activities” in Berlin, they “sought to minimize the prospect of an imminent crisis,” by playing down immediate threats to Western access to the city.
President Kennedy’s feeling that he was not adequately warned about the imminent East German action and a coup in Syria on 28 September led him to ask the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (PFIAB) for a report on what “advance information” the intelligence agencies had before the events and “what lessons might be learned.” According to PFIAB, in both incidents “indications of imminent significant developments were apparently lost sight of in the mass of intelligence reports.” With respect to Berlin, no one knew when the “Berlin Wall” was going up, but “our intelligence collectors did obtain information which pointed to the possible imminence of drastic action by the East German regime.” The problem was the intelligence agencies had not provided top policymakers with “adequate and timely appraisals of the advance information which had been collected.” Case studies of the incidents are heavily excised, but PFIAB declared that a comment by Ulbricht in a public speech on 10 August was the “best indicator” of imminent action. It would be interesting to know how the CIA responded to the PFIAB appraisal, but such information is not available.
During the late 1960s, Department of State historians produced a major study of the 1958-1962 Berlin Crisis, although they did not get the opportunity to complete it. This excerpt provides a useful overview of the refugee crisis and the Kennedy administration’s policy response, including countermeasures and steps to raise morale in West Berlin. Many of the documents cited and summarized were later published in the Department’s Foreign Relations of the United States volumes on the Berlin Crisis.
1. Patrick Major, Behind the Berlin Wall: East Germany and the Frontiers of Power (Oxford,: Oxford University Press, 2010), 143. The official term was “Anti-Fascist Defense Rampart” or antifaschistischer Shutzwall).
3. Harrison, Driving the Soviets Up the Wall. 184-187.
4. For a full account of the 1953 East German revolt, see Christian F. Ostermann, Uprising in East Germany 1953: The Cold War, the German Question, and the First Major Upheaval behind the Iron Curtain (Budapest; New York : Central European University Press, 2001).
5. “Senator’s Remarks on TV, “The New York Times, 3 August 1961.
6. Harrison, Driving the Soviets Up the Wall, 188-189. 7. Apparently a few intelligence officers in West Berlin predicted a “Wall”. See Peter Wyden, Wall: Inside Story of Divided Berlin (New York: Simon & Shuster, 1989), at 91-93.
10. See for example, Lawrence Freedman, Kennedy’s Wars: Berlin, Cuba, Laos, and Vietnam (New York: Oxford, 2000), 79-91, and Smyser, Kennedy and the Berlin Wall.
11. Peter Wyden, Wall: Inside Story of Divided Berlin (New York: Simon & Shuster, 1989), 26.
12. Martin Hillenbrand, Fragments of Our Time: Memoirs of a Diplomat (Athens: University of Georgia, 1998), 190. | 2019-04-22T07:19:10Z | https://www.globalresearch.ca/the-berlin-wall-fifty-years-ago-disturbed-by-lack-of-warning-jfk-asked-intelligence-advisers-to-review-cia-performance/26018 |
Dentilo is offering a discount of up to 50% on all dental websites. Dentilo websites are packed with many features and are a powerful medium to advertise the services of dentists. Professionally designed web sites for dentists are created by Dentilo for prices as low as $ 99. Powerful dental websites created by Dentilo are being offered at 50% discount and offer a dynamic tool for dentists to create a unique presence in online.
Talking about the features available on the website, Greg Parker, a senior executive at Dentilo commented, "We have contact forms, request forms, new patient forms, tons of lead generators, as well as a full design staff to help any dentist build an amazing website for their practice. Best of all, our services are a fraction of the price of our competitors. Demos of Dentilo websites are available on their website where viewers can see the many designs that people can choose from to begin customizing.
Domain name registration services are also offered by Dentilo and all the content on the website is search engine optimized automatically. Appropriate keywords are used on the website to ensure that the links are picked up by search engines. This also helps in getting a higher ranking for the dental website in search engine results and increases the traffic to the dental website.
Speaking about the practice identity services offered, a graphic designer at Dentilo stated, "We also offer logo design, creation of letterheads and envelopes, business cards for team members, and anything else dental offices may need to have their own unique identity. All items are designed around the marketing strategy of the dental practice to give a solid brand.
Exposure of dental practices can be increased through dentist website design by Dentilo. All web design for dentist services are offered by Dentilo at affordable prices. A Custom dental website created by Dentilo allows dentists to maintain a blog and talk about their dental expertise and various treatments all while showing a professional looking high caliber website that represents their practice.
Dentilo is a leading provider of website creation services for dental practices and offers an amazing marketing tool to enhance the reach of dentist Web design services offered by Dentilo built in online scheduling system which makes it easy to manage appointments. Search engine friendly websites created by Dentilo help in ensuring high placement for websites in search results. Link building and content optimization services are also offered by Dentilo.
Fort Worth Dental's Dr. Terry M. Zang, Dr. Arthur J. Mund, and Dr. Justin Mund provide patients with the solutions they are looking for to get straighter teeth. When a patient desires a discreet method for straightening teeth, the Invisalign procedure is often the dental procedure of choice. The dentist can offer the treatment to patients of practically any age who wish to forego the traditional metal braces. The process requires customized plastic trays that are worn daily and adjusted and replaced regularly.
Most people are not born with teeth that will remain perfectly straight throughout their lives. While many people choose the traditional metal braces, the Invisalign procedure gives patients another option for getting straight teeth. The plastic aligner trays are very discreet and many people do not even notice when someone is wearing them.
The Invisalign dental procedure begins by having the dentist or an assistant take x-rays and impressions of the teeth. From them, a three dimensional model is created on the computer and is used to determine a treatment plan for the patient. A set of clear plastic aligner trays is molded to fit the patient's teeth. The trays are designed to be worn night and day, but can easily be removed when the patients eats or needs to clean their teeth and the trays.
Every two weeks the patient returns for a new set of dental trays. These trays have been tweaked slightly from the previous set to help gently guide the teeth into the proper position. The patient meets with the dentist every six to eight weeks to make sure that the teeth are moving according to plan and to make any adjustments that are necessary. The entire treatment often takes about a year to complete, and should be overseen by a trained Invisalign dentist. More information on the procedure can be found by visiting http://www.fortworthdental.com.
Fort Worth Dental is a general practice offering patients personalized dental care for Fort Worth, TX. Dr. Terry M. Zang, Dr. Arthur J. Mund and Dr. Justin Mund are all dedicated to their dental practice, which offers the recent FDA cleared laser procedure for gum disease and periodontal treatment. Focused on preventative, restorative and cosmetic dentistry, they each have unique attributes for the practice. To learn more about Fort Worth Dental and their dental services visit their website at http://www.fortworthdental.com.
V.Com (http://www.virtualintercom.com) is re-introducing their cutting edge intra-office communication system with added features to increase practice efficiency and patient satisfaction. Their fully customizable system allows messages to be sent instantly between different chairs and rooms, enabling heightened communication of important information. With V.Com, all inbound messages and in office communication can be reliably and efficiently managed.
The latest addition to their virtual intercom system incorporates Web Forms, allowing patients to fill out a practices forms online. With V.Coms Automated Web Forms your practice can be truly paperless. Using immediate recognition system, all Web Forms are automatically filed into the respective patients virtual chart, within any integrated practice management program, completely bypassing tedious and time consuming filing.
V.Com is truly the future of intra-office communications. The powerful tools offered through the service include Tech Support. The V.Com service is offered in a Free Version, Standard ($ 49.95/mo), and Premium Version ($ 69.95/mo) Quick and efficient, V.Com is easily installed and integrated into your office. For more information on V.Coms service, please visit http://www.virtualintercom.com.
Perfect teeth, although coveted by millions across the nation, are an attribute that few people can attain without a little cosmetic dentistry work. Fillings, dental crowns and veneers are found in most peoples mouths. Research shows that in the next 10 years, 1.2 billion of these fillings will need to be completely replaced. Dr. Michael Marcus is using the innovative Chairside Economical Restorations Esthetic Ceramic to make fixing a cavity or a bad tooth a one-time event that lasts about as long as a regular appointment.
Normally, a visit to the dentist will result in a follow-up appointment due to the discovery of cavities or other problems that will need to be taken care. This involves taking more time out of the patients schedule and a possible, extra cost for the procedure, gas money, etc. Now, with the advanced techniques involved with CEREC, that may no longer be the case.
CEREC is not all that new to the field of cosmetic dentistry, but Marcus Dental Practice makes it something worth experiencing. With the help of specialized tools and machinery, an optical impression of the teeth in need of fillings or dental crowns is taken and processed. Because there is no need for a mold made of goop that you bite into, this image of your teeth is then converted by 3D software to create a virtual model on the computer screen.
Using a separate milling machine found on-site, Dr. Marcus designs the appropriate restoration to exactly fit your needs. This is then created out of a ceramic block that matches the shade of your tooth--all within one appointment, lasting perhaps 10-20 minutes. After a good polish, the needed dental crowns or restoration is securely bonded to the tooth of the patient, with a guarantee that a return trip will not be necessary.
For the dentists and staff at Marcus Dental Practice, cosmetic dentistry has never been easier, more accurate, and effective for their patients. Using CEREC has proven to be fast and economical for both dentist and patient, and the results are reported as overwhelmingly positive.
Marcus Dental Practice is a dental office providing patients personalized dental care and implant dentistry for Chicago, Illinois for over 50 years. As a father-son team, David and Michael Marcus strive to continue their dental education and are both members of the American Dental Association. They aim to provide dentistry in all dimensions as part of one percent of dental professionals providing the most recent FDA cleared laser procedure for gum disease and periodontal treatment. To learn more about Marcus Dental Practice and their dental services visit their website at http://www.marcuslaserdentistry.com and call (312) 241-1328.
At the reception, under a portrait of Abraham Lincoln, graduates from many years toasted each other, applauded awards and listened to speeches from the University of Pennsylvania Dental School Dean Denis F. Kinane, BDS, PhD, and other dignitaries. The commemorative gathering was set among the distinguished art collection, artifacts imbued with the heritage and culture of Philadelphia at the Union League which was founded in 1862.
Dental students enrolling in 1978 faced stiff competition for their place in one of the worlds most selective Schools of Dental Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, which has enjoyed a worldwide reputation for excellent training in the art and science of dentistry, and is the birthplace of many dental specialties.
After four years of rigorous study, the class of 1982 ventured into dental practice. Some graduates went on to specialize, some into private practice, some into the military, while others enrolled in an additional year of study in general dentistry. Dr. Korwin completed this additional year at the University and received an AEGD Certificate in General Practice from the School of Dental Medicine.
Robert Korwin DMD, MICOI, MAGD went on to study Implantology, orthodontics, temporomandibular joint disorders, esthetics, sedation, prosthodontics, and other dental areas, earning Mastership recognition by the Academy of General Dentistry and the International College of Oral Implantologists, as well as becoming a board member of the American Association of Sedation in Dentistry. He also received three patents for dental products, manufactured dental supplies, and launched dental software and training companies.
Since graduation, he has focused his efforts in general dental practice to help his patients become healthier and happier through efficient and cost effective methods of treatment and prevention. Dr. Korwin is a rare dentist who affords his patients the opportunity to have a one stop dental experience since he practices all facets of dentistry in one location.
For thirty years we have emphasized the importance of the link between oral bacteria and systemic disease. To diagnose this hidden problem, our family of patients has always been screened at every visit for the presence of periodontitis. Our aging patient population has kept their teeth longer than in the past. More evidence is being published about the correlation between periodontal inflammation and systemic disease, and it is even more important to bring this information to you. We have a long record of interceptive and preventive oral health care and we are pleased to help you control and prevent oral disease. Dr. Korwin promotes the good news is that by flossing daily, along with regular professional cleanings the public can protect their health and help prevent gum disease. For further information about flossing and health visit Flossing for Life.
Robert Korwin DMD, MICOI, MAGD is a renowned general dentist with 30 years of experience, teaching innovating, and practicing in Middletown and Red Bank, NJ. With extensive academic, clinical and didactic training, he is one of only a handful of dentists worldwide who have dual Mastership awards from The Academy of General Dentistry and The International College of Oral Implantologists. Dr. Korwin is a highest honors graduate of Progressive Orthodontic Seminars, awarded to only 2 of 4,000 students in 24 years. Dr. Korwin promotes excellence in preventing orally linked disease and provides highly cosmetic dental repair and reconstruction utilizing orthodontics, implants, surgery, prosthetics and sedation, with laser, digital and computer assisted diagnostics. The practice works with patients to maximize their dental health, ensure their comfort and minimize financial concerns.
Providing dental hygiene services at last year's RAM event at The Forum in Inglewood (Los Angeles). LADHS members Laurel Bleak, standing, and Sharie Mikolajczyk seated.
The California Dental Hygienists' Association (CDHA) is mobilizing its members to provide free dental care beginning tomorrow to thousands of the Los Angeles area’s indigent, uninsured and underserved at one of the city’s largest public health clinics.
The eight-day free medical and dental health care event – under the auspices of a program known as Remote Access Medical (RAM) – will be open to the public beginning Tuesday, April 27 through May 3 at the Los Angeles Sports Arena, For the uninsured, underinsured, all are welcome for no charge.
Participating dental hygienists will not only be doing teeth cleanings, but will also conduct a wide range of public health services, including oral screening for cancer, malnutrition, diabetes and other diseases.
In addition to providing the actual dental hygiene services, CDHA members are actively participating with doctors, dentists, non-profit clinics, and dental suppliers to make such a massive community health clinic a reality.
“We have been actively organizing the dental hygiene services, recruiting hygienists, obtaining donated supplies and instruments, and coordinating dental hygiene schools participation,” said Bleak of the LA Dental Hygienists Society.
ZenDental and Dr. Jay Khorsandi of downtown LA want to see you smile by offering all new patients “ Name Your Price” for a complete dental cleaning, set of x-rays and an exam – a $ 250 value at a price you can afford. From October 1st thru November 15th, new patients are encouraged to make an appointment for this special deal to come see what feels better– a clean fresh mouth or paying what you want for it!
Located in downtown LA’s fashionable California Mart, ZenDental boasts a stylish spa like environment and the most peaceful dentist experience imaginable. Perks include neck pillows, soft blankets and a variety of entertainment options including TV’s, DVD players, iPods and even noise canceling headphones. Comfort is key at ZenDental and you’ll notice the moment you walk in the door with the cushy décor and flowing aromatherapy.
Dr. Jay Khorsandi and ZenDental have been providing superior dental care for almost 7 years in the downtown LA area. After participating in the RAM (Remote Area Medical) event this year, Dr. Khorsandi witnessed the extremely limited amount of dental services available to the public. Because of this, he would like to offer his expertise and continue community outreach by offering the “Name Your Price” special to local LA residents.
“I would really like to help those in need of basic dental care and those who haven’t been seen by a dentist in some time”, says Dr. Khorsandi.
The 2010 Best Of Downtown Readers Choice recognized Dr. Khorsandi with the runner-up title for Best Dentist. ZenDental has joined forces with the new DTLA Resident Card program that gives downtowners great discounts http://www.dtlaresident.com/discounts. In addition, Dr. K continues to receive recognition and rave reviews on websites including http://www.yelp.com, http://www.topdocla.com and http://www.healthgrades.com.
Other services include Zoom Whitening, Invisalign, Periodontal Cleanings, Veneers, Grinding/Migraine/TMJ, Dental Implants, Bonding and Anti-snore devices and more.
“Name Your Price” special is offered by appointment only and subject to availability.
Phillip Hare, president and CEO of ByteWyze Computer Services, has announced that Lucy Reese and Quentin Tilman, account executives for the firm, gave a presentation to the North Carolina Dental Assistants Association (NCDAA) on Aug. 26 at Guilford Technical Community College in Jamestown, North Carolina. The presentation, entitled “The Dental Assistant’s Guide to Computer Networking,” discussed such topics as having Internet security, backing up data successfully, troubleshooting simple hardware problems and establishing HIPPA compliance for computers. Reese and Tilman were invited to give the presentation by Carolyn Newman, immediate past president of the NCDAA, and dental assistants who attended earned three credit hours of continuing education time.
Based in Cary, N.C., ByteWyze Computer Services is an expanding computer support consultancy. The skilled staff has extensive experience in providing computer support to small and medium-sized businesses. ByteWyze works hard to ensure a solid customer relationship and high quality of service. Workloads are carefully balanced to ensure that the client always receives the level of service it expects and deserves. More information about ByteWyze Computer Services can be found at http://www.bytewyze.com. | 2019-04-23T21:02:51Z | http://www.himyfamily.com/tag/dental/ |
This is a very long post.... I've just listed a lot of carols in alphabetical order, but within categories, so you can find the ones you want fairly easily. I hate labelling things as "kid's songs" because I find that kids really like the traditional carols if they get a chance to, so I've called one category "Child-focussed". These might be particularly helpful if you are planning a pageant! I've put the traditional carols at the end of the post, because you probably know which ones of those you want to sing.
*CoC03 All over creation (Shirley Murray) These words will wake up your congregation. Particularly good for Christmas Eve or a Christmas night service. Challenging words. Nice lilting tune. Lyrics.
StS025 / LBW074 / GtG160 / G(II)269 / GC356 / CP(E) 42 / W&R206 / Cha141 / 82Hml-104 A Stable Lamp Is Lighted (Richard Wilbur) Starting From the stable, ending on the cross. This has a nice celticish tune, which is simple to sing, and a refrain of "and every stone shall cry". I like it. Lyrics and links to youtube videos of two possible tunes. Sound sample and sheet music from Ana Hernández; this version is probably better for a soloist. It's lovely.
SP&P110 With one voice the angels sing / Love has come (Matt Maher) This is a very joyful new Christmas eve, or Christmas day song. I really think a choral arrangement of this would work. SP&P has more inclusive lyrics than the original, so seek that out. It also skips the bridge part, that doesn't work so well in my opinion. Nice choral version.
God Comes Tomorrow (Iona) Give us this year (Iona) Beautiful words seeking a more mature response to Christmas, sung to an old hymn tune (NEUMARK). The tune is not familiar to me, but is not difficult to sing, and if you have a choir, sounds particularly lovely. New words to old tunes. Lyrics.
*AA012 / CoC08 / STB141 Child of Christmas story (Shirley Murray) A lovely Christmas song; very focussed on the Christ child. Simple tune. Lyrics and sheet music.
StF211 Night of peace: hail the holy child (Daniel Damon) A simple and quite beautiful new carol. This would not be too hard to sing. It's pretty lovely.
*AA014 / CoC09 / STB144 / StF194 Child of joy and peace (Shirley Murray) Excellent words for Christmas and Epiphany; recognises the poverty of Christ and constrasts it with the greed of Christmas - without being too heavy handed. I like the Ian Render tune (JENNIFER'S GIFT) best, even though it's a little tricky. Lyrics and sheet music.
VU40 / WoV636 / GtG125 Before the marvel of this night (Jaroslav Vajda) Excellent, otherworldly words, and a beautiful tune. "Sing bliss, sing bliss, sing endless bliss!". Clunky sound sample.
*CoC15 Come now where we least expect you (Marnie Barrell) Challenging words and a tune that could be pretty groovy. "Christ is found far beyond our sacred ground". Indeed! Lyrics.
Online resource / MV047 Born in human likeness (Bruce Harding) A simple Christmas round. Good for kids. Sheet music.
*MV158 / FFS12 Dream a dream (Shirley Murray) Broad words of hope for the future of creation and the world's people. I think the first tune in Faith Forever Singing (by Nigel Eastgate) is the most intuitive and interesting. GIA music also have a tune by Lori True which fits together with Dona Nobis Pacem which could be really lovely if you have a choir, especially a children's choir (sound sample). Lyrics and the Nigel Eastgate tune Lori True version can be purchased online from GIA.
*Iona (M&G) / CH359 / MV033 / GtG137 / ZSS54 / StJ / ELW253 / GA293 / SFFS 2085 / G(II)276 / GC370 / GC(II)364 / G(3)429 / CP368 / W&R402 He came down that we may have love/ Jesus came bringing us hope (Traditional Cameroon) A lovely simple song - you can make up words and have a lot of fun with this if you also use some drums. Lyrics. Good for kids.
*Cha158 Her baby newly breathing (Brian Wren) Realistic words of Mary's motherhood of a real life type of infant, to the familiar tune MERLE'S TUNE. The final verse sings of creating Wisdom "constricted into maleness, and of a woman born". Lyrics (set to a different tune). New words to old tunes.
*CoC28 I didn't hear the angels sing (Iris McCoy) Lovely statement of faith despite not having witnessed the Christmas events. Simple tune.
*CH329 / AA108 / CoC33 O little Love who comes again (Shirley Murray) A lovely gentle and thoughtful Christmas song, which would also work for Epiphany. Lyrics and sheet music.
Online Resource Like a Child (Daniel Damon) A simple song about all that we can learn from children, and the Christ child. Lyrics and sheet music.
*MV149 / CoC35 Peace for our children (Doreen Lankshear-Smith) A simple and quite repetitive (in a nice way) song that prays for peace for children, women, men, families, nations… and the soul.
ELW292 / GtG110 Love Has Come (Ken Bible) Christmas A lovely song of love being born. A good song for kids to a simple French carol tune. Lyrics Good for kids. New words to old tunes.
AoV2-043 / ATFG520 / CoC40 / NCH538 / SFFS 2095 / GC(II)355 / G(3)449 / SP&P174 / W&R223 / ZSS63 / VF035 Star-Child (Shirley Murray) A lovely lovely carol. Very easy to sing. A big favourite! Lyrics and sample sheet music.
*TiS 287 / CH287 / StS011 / GC(II)768 / G(3)876 No wind at the window (John Bell) Wonderful words to the familiar Celtic tune COLUMCILLE that focus on Mary's decision to say "Yes" to God. Very easy to sing. Works well for Advent and Christmas. Lyrics. Sound sample. New words to old tunes.
VU97 / GC(II)376 / G(3)450 When a star is shining (Where the Promise Shines) (Sylvia Dunstan) would also be good for Epiphany. Sheet music.
*AA154 / CoC48 Where is the room? (Shirley Murray) More beautiful words of hope and peace and hospitality. Simple tune to sing. Lyrics.
Songs from the Still Strange Land The stillness of anticipation / Turning point of time (Neil Quintrell / Doug Simper) I really love this Australian carol. It's not easy for a congregation, so will need to be taught.
*AA159 / CoC50 Who is the child that is to be born? (Shirley Murray) Lovely lilting melody and beautiful words. Maybe more Adventy?
Unusual source When our God came to earth (Tim Spencer and Steve Vent) These words are to the same tune as “Long ago, prophets new” (THEODORIC). "Let the poor rejoice! Let the mute give voice! Love is shown, God is known, Christ is born of Mary". Lyrics. New words to old tunes.
*GtG120 Where shepherds lately knelt (Jaroslav Vajda) Excellent and quite personal reflective words recognising faith in the midst of doubt. The tune is lovely, but will need to be taught, or sung by your musicians. Lyrics and a youtube video.
*Iona / NCH153 / GtG138 / CH295 / G(II)267 / GC350 / SP022 / StF222 Who would think that what was needed (God's surprise) (John Bell) I love the challenge to our priorities in this song. The lyrics are to the traditional tune SCARLET RIBBONS. Lyrics and sample sheet music. Keyboard sound sample. New words to old tunes.
*Online Resource Within a stall a baby lies cradled (David Wood) Inspiring words for Christmas Eve full of hope for a better world. Free sheet music.
Online resource A babe was born a little one / Winter's child (Daniel Damon) A gentle storytelling song with the repeated line "in the dark'ning time of the year. Very simple to sing. Sheet music and lyrics. Jazz arrangement.
VU049 / CP129 No crowded eastern street (Frieda Major) This song is a good Christmas hymn for those who live in the plains or prairies in the Northern Hemisphere. Lovely words, and a simple tune.
*A&M185 / GC(II)362 / G(3)434 / SP69 Dark is the night / Sing Alleluia (Patrick O'Brien) Excellent and simple Christmas song which reflects the magnificat and the happiness of Jesus’ parents. I especially like the last verse “Hope for the poor, release for the captive, Love for the outcast, light for weary eyes; Word that brings life, embracing humanity, Jesus, companion be born into our lives”. It would be particularly good for a Christmas eve service. The chorus would also work very nicely on its own. Lyrics and sheet music sample. Mushy sound sample. Available for purchase online.
VU078 Sing till sundown hum your joy (Eileen Spinelli) A song for snowy places. This is a quite delightful song of hope "Now we're dancing through the snow"!
G(II)274 / GC365 / GC(II)360 / G(3)432 Silent in the Chill of Midnight (Francis Patrick O'Brien) Quite nice Christmas lullaby. Northern Hemisphere specific.
AA028 / CoC16 / STB145 Come to this Christmas singing (Shirley Murray) Joyous sheep-farming, beach-loving Christmas song. New Zealand specific because of the word "aroha", unless it fits your congregation. Lyrics and sheet music.
TiS 322 / AHB 246 The north wind is tossing the leaves (John Wheeler) Dusty Australian carol. Lyrics.
Online Resource Christmas in Australia (Heather Price) Good fun song about Australian Christmas traditions, including beaches, picnics and caring for the poor. Sheet music and recording.
Unknown Source The Silver Stars are in the Sky (John Wheeler) This is a lovely gentle nativity song with Australian birds and dust and animals. Youtube. Lyrics.
*ATOK 318 / Iona (SBL) / CH762 / MV036 / WoV788 / SFFS 2033 / SP&P078 / URW403 Glory to God / Gloria di dios (Peru) Good fun. Great for kids - call and response. SFFS has a good Trinitarian formula for it. Good for kids.
*TiS 773 / ATW 431 / NCH756 / CH760 / UMH072 / VU37 / WoV640 / GA291 / G(II)199 / GC(II)253 / G(3)426 / W&R240 / Cha034 / URW380 Glory to God / Gloria Gloria (Taize) The refrain is excellent - joyous, simple, a round. Everything. The verses are not great. Good for kids.
Iona (TI1AU) / MV038 Glory to God / Nzamuranza (Mozambique / Matsikenyiri) Simple African call and response song. Great harmonies.
CoC20 Gloria (Jillian Bray) A pretty majestic gloria in 4 part harmony.
CoC23 Gloria in excelsis (Colin Gibson) This is a pretty groovy gloria, with some modernised words "Peace be to all on this earth that we share. Peace the be vision and peace be our care".
CoC21 Gloria (Colin Gibson) This Latin gloria could be sung as a simple chant, a 3- part canon or a four part chorale!
GC(II)190 Glory to God in the highest (Beneath the Tree of Life) (Marty Haugen) Communion response A good joyful Gloria. Just needs a word substituion for "his people" to "God's people". The sound sample actually does that and it still works well.
*TiS 731 / SFFS 2017 / GtG155 / G(II)377 / GC557 / GC(II)535 / G(3)618 / W&R212 / PfAS100G / URW383 / Lau691 Raise a song of gladness / Jubilate Servite (Taize) Glorious, fun round. If your congregation balks at singing in Latin, it can be sung in English as "Raise a song of gladness, all the earth, Christ has come, bringing peace, joy to every heart, Alleluia Alleluia, Joy to every heart (x2)". This is not a Gloria, but it has the feel of one!
NCH154 / UMH251 / VU43 / LBW070 / ELW290 / HPP110 / PH029 / GtG136 / GC359 / GC(II)363 / G(3)428 / W&R218 / Cha167 / ZSS59 / 82Hml-099 / Lau164 / MP179 Go tell it on the mountain (John Work) Very simple and lots of fun. There are lots of versions of the lyrics. Good for kids.
CH310 / CP(E) 68 / W&R227 / StF216 See him lying on a bed of straw (Perry) This song (Calypso Carol) is cool, especially if you get some crazy bass singing action happening. I have a 3 part a capella arrangement that I did of this a very long time ago which uses that approach. Good for kids.
STB134 Sun has gone night has arrived / Bheri goth chharda ni chharda (Manaen) A pretty Christmas song from the Shepherds' point of view from Nepal. This would be best sung by a soloist at first.
STB136 Tonight We See The Light Of The World / Ai domma tubuh saborngin on (Saragih) Christmas A humble carol from Indonesia in English and Bahasa. "Behold! Born in straw-covered manger, the whole world's baby Lord".
STB137 In The Fields Of Efrata / Di ladang Efrata para gembala (Simamora) Christmas A good carol from the perspective of the Shepherds. In English and Bahasa. The tune will need to be taught, but it's really pretty.
STB140 Holy night blessed night (Zhu / Wu / Shi) Christmas I like the words of this. The melody is not easy for a Western congregation. Perhaps a soloist could sing it. Verses in Mandarin or English.
NCH137 / VU52 / PH052 Sheep fast asleep / Hitsuji Wa Nemure Ri (Miwa) Japanese carol. Very peaceful.
ATAR631 / NCH161 / SFFS 2072 / PH299 / W&R249 / ZSS207-d Amen Amen / See the little baby (African-American) This is not so well known in Australia, where it may be better sung by a choir, or as a call and response; the response will need to be taught. Good for kids.
*TiS 307 / AHB 232 / CH300 / VU73 / SFFS 2098 / G(II)264 / GC345 / GC(II)378 / G(3)454 / CP128 / ZSS60 The Virgin Mary had a baby boy (West Indian Traditional) Love it. Make sure you note the timing of the music - it's not quite what most people anticipate. Good for kids.
NCH151 / Iona (SBL) / UMH244 / VU071 / LBW072 / ELW284 / HPP119 / PH061 / GtG142 / G(II)272 / GC361 / CP146 / W&R213 / Cha166 / 82Hml-114 Twas in the moon of wintertime (de Brebeuf) I love this one, and it does a good job of making the Christmas story Native American.
FFS46 Lullaby sing lullaby (Peter Godfrey) This could work in a Christmas Pageant, or be used as a family lullaby during the Christmas season.
*Online Resource Are you ready? (Heather Price / Davies) This is a fun song for kids, which could be sung with actions, I reckon. With a chorus of "Are you ready? Christmas is here! Shake your hands and feet, dancing to the beat. Wiggle your toes and reach for the stars, open wide your heart 'cos now it's time to start. This is the Christmas story, we can sing and shout, [...a bit I can't work out...] There's animals and angels, a baby and a star, a message of peace that has travelled far". Would be a great start to a Christmas pageant, as it mentions each of the characters and their role in the story. Good for kids. Sheet music and recording.
Online Resource Gifts from the Stable (Heather Price / Davies) This would be a lot of fun for smaller kids, or for a Christmas Pageant if you want to focus on the animals that may have been present at the birth of Christ. Good for kids. Sheet music and recording.
CH302 / StF206 It was on a starry night when the hills were bright (Webb) This could work well in a Christmas Pageant.
Online Resource Christmas Letter (Heather Price / Davies) A quiet song, not a congregational song, but a nice solo bringing us reminders of the reason behind all the Christmas hustle and bustle. This could be sung by an adult, for the children, or taught to a children's choir. Based on the letters of C-h-r-i-s-t-m-a-s; ah, so you could use cut-outs of each letter if you want to do something fun! Sheet music and recording.
StF203 I had a dream that I was standing on a hillside (Piercy) This might be fun for shepherds to sing, with the congregation joining the chorus, in a Christmas Pageant.
*AoVK-60 / AA004 / CoC05 And did you see him little star? (Clyde / Gibson) Good words. Simple to sing and great for children. I like the idea of the star being the observer and the guide. Good for kids.
*?AoV2-168 / ATA 134 / GGives2 At Christmas time the birds all sing / Christmas in the scrub (Newton) Silly and fun Christmas song for Australian kids. Good for kids.
NCH141 / AA009/ CoC07 Carol our Christmas (Murray) A fun Southern Hemisphere Christmas song. Good for kids.
*ATAR683 Sleep, little baby (Mann) Christmas A good song about the Christ-child. Great for a Christmas Pageant. I like the final phrase "You are the end of fear". Good for kids.
Online resource Celebrate Emmanuel (MacGregor) This is a simple song, which you could use with the verses, or just sing the chorus. Sheet music. Good for kids.
*Online resource Christmas time - we celebrate! (MacGregor) A good song for kids. I don't think the sound sample shows how cool this song could be... use some imagination and have fun with it! Good for kids.
CoC12 Clippety-clop clippety clop (Wise) A fun kids' song about the donkey ride and the lack of room in the inn. Good for a pageant! Good for kids.
ATAR594 Donkey donkey (Newton) A fun song - we have used this for our Christmas Pageant. It's catchy! Good for kids.
CoC17 Don't tell anyone (SHHH! Not anyone) (Gibson) This song would be just perfect for a leader + kids to sing at the start of a Christmas Pageant. Good for kids.
*CoC19 Get up get up no time to yawn (Gibson) A very fun song for Christmas morning. I think it would be pretty straightforward to sing, but given the number of visitors on Christmas day, it might be good to get a group to sing it. "Come friend, come stranger, here's no danger, follow shepherds and kings to the manger where Christ, the Christ is born". Good for kids.
ATOK 338 In a dusty old place called Bethlehem / God in human shoes (Thiele) Good for kids.
NCH138 / UMH227 / VU056 / HPP98 Jesus our brother strong and good / kind and good (French carol) Good for kids especially. Good for kids.
*AoV2-043 / ATFG520 / CoC40 / NCH538 / SFFS 2095 / GC(II)355 / G(3)449 / SP&P174 / W&R223 / ZSS63 Star-Child (Murray) A lovely lovely carol. Very easy to sing. A big favourite! Lyrics and sample sheet music.
CoC42 The jersey cow came mooing (Gibson) Fun song for little kids with lots of animal sounds at the stable. Good for a pageant, too. Good for kids.
*CoC46 Two tired people asked for rest (Tayler / Sheehy) Good song for a Christmas Eve pageant. I suggest getting the congregation to just join in on the chorus "No room, no room, you can't stay here, we can't take any more, but in the stable you can make a bed upon the straw." Good for kids.
*CoC47 When Joseph and Mary (Gibson) Another good song for kids and adults too. The words are strong enough to shake adults up a bit, but fun enough for kids to enjoy as well. Good for kids.
*TiS 325 / G(II)277 / GC371 / GC(II)381 / G(3)456 / Lau153 Who is the baby an hour or two old? Good for kids.
Online resource Bethlehem Night (Taylor) A lovely song for a children's choir; would be great at the end of a pageant. Sound sample and sheet music. Good for kids.
VU068 / CP151 All poor ones and humble (Roberts) Lyrics.
*TiS 309 / AHB 235 / NCH126 / CH324 / UMH220 / VU036 / LBW050 / ELW275 / GtG143 / CP143 / G(3)438 / CP(E) 44 / W&R189 / Cha149 / Srce2-29 / 82Hml-093 / Lau131 / StF190 / MP035 Angels From the realms of glory (Montgomery) Lyrics. Oldy-but-a-goody.
AoV2-140 / NCH125 / UMH238 / VU038 / LBW071 / ELW289 / GA286 / HPP125 / PH022 / GtG113 / GC358 / GC(II)369 / G(3)430 / W&R188 / Cha155 / 82Hml-096 / Lau130 Angels we have heard on high (French traditional) Oldy-but-a-goody.
*TiS 318 / AHB 242 / NCH124 / CH312 / UMH217 / VU069 / WoV644 / LBW067 / ELW278 / GA289 / HPP132 / PH025 / GtG114 / GC353 / GC(II)365 / G(3)448 / CP126 / CP(E) 45 / W&R203 / W&R205 / Cha147 / Srce51 / 82Hml-101 / Lau137 / StF191 / MP047 Away in a Manger (Mueller) I'm not wild about this carol. A non-crying baby. Doesn't sound fully human to me. Oldy-but-a-goody.
*TiS 323 / AoV2-101 /ATA 141 / NCH152 / VU095 / PH030 / GtG158 / CP130 / W&R194 / StF193 / MP062 Born in the night Mary's child (Ainger) Oldy-but-a-goody.
*TiS 319 / AHB 241 / CH314 / Lau141 / MP071 Child in the manger infant of Mary (Macdonald) Words of the outcast, infant Christ who becomes the victorious Redeemer. Sung to the well known tune BUNESSAN. CH has the original Gaelic text. Oldy-but-a-goody.
TiS 306 / AHB 231 / CP(E)48 / Srce2-73 / 82Hml-106 / StF195 / MP080 Christians awake salute the happy morn Oldy-but-a-goody.
*TiS 321 / AHB 245 Coldly the night winds winging I think this is one of the most beautiful carols in existence.
AHB 233 / HPP140 / GC366 / GC(II)366 / 82Hml-105 God rest you merry gentlemen / people all Oldy-but-a-goody.
*TiS 313 / AHB 238 / NCH129 / CH322 / UMH224 / VU035 / LBW055 / ELW288 / HPP97 / PH028 / GtG132 / GC(II)367 / G(3)435 / CP153 / W&R198 / Cha164 / 82Hml-107 / Lau139 / MP196 Good Christian friends / Good Christians all rejoice (Latin) Some versions have that odd bar "News! News!" in the middle. I wonder where that came from? Oldy-but-a-goody.
*TiS 303 / AHB 227 / AoV1-171 / NCH144 / CH301 / UMH240 / VU048 / LBW060 / ELW270 / GA294 / HPP123 / PH031 / GtG119 / GC348 / GC(II)356 / G(3)424 / CP138 / CP(E) 53 / W&R185 / Cha150 / ZSS62 / Srce202 / 82Hml-087 / Lau155 / StF202 / MP211 Hark the herald angels sing (Wesley) One of those carols that we sing pretty much every year at Brunswick. Oldy-but-a-goody.
PH034 / CP580 In Bethlehem a Babe Was Born Joyful, and good words.
VU077 / PH035 / 82Hml-246 In Bethlehem a Newborn Boy (Herklots) Great words acknowledging the danger Christ was born into, the danger that still exists today, and Christ's redemptive power over it.
*TiS 292 / AHB 225 / UMH229 / VU58 / LBW044 / ELW276 / HPP130 / PH037 / GtG128 / GC354 / GC(II)377 / G(3)445 / CP125 / W&R221 / Cha163 / Lau138 / MP342 Infant holy Infant lowly (Polish carol) One of my favourites; I'm profoundly shocked that we have not sung this recently at Brunswick. Lyrics and sound sample.
*TiS 268 / AHB 224 / AoV1-170 / NCH132 / CH320 / UMH246 / VU59 / LBW039 / ELW267 / GA295 / HPP107 / PH040 / GtG134 / GC343 / GC(II)353 / G(3)437 / CP154 / CP(E) 57 / W&R179 / Cha143 / Srce399 / 82Hml-100 / Lau156 / MP393 Joy to the world The Lord is come (Watts) Oldy-but-a-goody.
*TiS 317 / AHB 243 / NCH165 / CH316 / UMH242 / HPP95 / CP131 / CP(E) 59 / W&R210 / 82Hml-084 / StF210 Love came down at Christmas (Rossetti) Needs one small change in AHB to make it gender inclusive for people. NCH does this by replacing "all men" with "neighbour" in the last verse. I prefer the tune in TiS / AHB. Lyrics and odd-looking angels. Oldy-but-a-goody.
*TiS 304 / AHB 228 / AoV1-167 / NCH135 / CH306 / UMH234 / VU060 / LBW045 / ELW722 / GA287 / HPP100 / PH041 / GtG133 / GC341 / GC(II)357 / G(3)439 / CP118 / / CP(E) 61/62 / W&R182 / Cha148 / Srce502 / 82Hml-083 / Lau159 / StF212 / MP490 O come all ye faithful (Oakeley) Oldy-but-a-goody.
*TiS 316 / AHB 240 / NCH133 / CH304 / UMH230 / VU064 / LBW041 / ELW563 / GA296 / HPP112 / PH043 / GtG121 / GC363 / GC(II)359 / G(3)446 / CP120 / CP(E) 63 / W&R180 / Cha144 / Srce518 82Hml-078 / Lau127 / StF213 / MP503 O little town of Bethlehem (Brooks / Redner) Oldy-but-a-goody.
*TiS 300 / NCH143 / CH294 / R112 / ELW274 / GtG112 / HPP118 / W&R222 / Lau134 / MP537 On Christmas night all Christians sing (Traditional English) Oldy-but-a-goody.
*TiS 312 / AHB 237 / NCH145 / CH315 / UMH250 / VU062 / WoV643 / LBW261 / ELW550 GA297 / HPP137 / PH049 / GtG140 / GC372 / GC(II)380 / G(3)455 / CP123 / CP(E) 66 / W&R183 / Cha165 / Srce530 / 82Hml-102 / Lau148 / StF214 / MP539 Once in royal David's city (Alexander) Oldy-but-a-goody.
*TiS 311 / AHB 236 / AoV1-168 / NCH134 / CH309 / UMH239 / VU067 / LBW065 / ELW821 GA290 / HPP135/ 136 / PH060 / GtG122 / G(II)262 / GC352 / GC(II)371 / G(3)441 / CP119 / CP(E) 69 / W&R186 / Cha145 / Srce610 / 82Hml-111 / Lau136 / StF217 / MP597 Silent night Holy night! (Gruber) Oldy-but-a-goody.
VU047 / HPP124 / PH047 / GtG124 / W&R214 Still Still Still (Austrian) Lovely mushy baby Jesus song.
*TiS 301 / AHB 221 / AoV1-169 / NCH139 / CH323 / UMH245 / VU90 / 91 LBW056 / ELW300 GA298 HPP108 / PH056 / GtG147 / GC377 / GC(II)388 / G(3)460 / CP139 / W&R229 / Cha151 / Srce2-550 / 82Hml-109 / Lau150 / MP644 The first Nowell the angel did say (English carol) Oldy-but-a-goody.
*TiS 293 / AHB 218 / CH331 / VU054 / CP(E) 73 / 82Hml-098 / StF218 Unto us a boy is born (German carol) Oldy-but-a-goody.
AoV1-165 / NCH148 / UMH219 / VU074 / LBW040 / ELW296 / HPP138 / PH053 / GtG145 / GC380 / GC(II)387 / G(3)466 / CP137 / CP(E) 74 / W&R184 / Cha162 / 82Hml-115 / Lau145 / MP749 What child is this? (Dix) Oldy-but-a-goody.
*TiS 299 / AHB 223 / AoV1-172 / CH296 / UMH236 / VU075 / GA288 / HPP114 / PH058 / GtG117 / CP136 / CP(E) 76 / W&R228 / Cha154 / Srce2-662 / 82Hml-094 / Lau133 / StF221 / MP764 While shepherds watched their flocks by night (Tate) I really like the CH translation. Oldy-but-a-goody.
Making great use of your suggestions (with acknowledgment, of course!), so many thanks.
thanks so much - again and again!
to all who are lost or afraid in the night.
as those who most need you, come bearing your face.
shared tables of comfort and wide open doors.
and whisper your wonder to our waiting ears.
so all of creation can breathe in your peace. | 2019-04-23T06:32:05Z | http://lectionarysong.blogspot.com/2010/12/big-list-of-christmas-carols.html?showComment=1482382359732 |
The research was carried out within the course of two years (2005–2006) in four countries from southern, southeast and eastern parts of Europe: Bulgaria, Italy, Macedonia and Romania. The data are collected mainly from Bulgaria and Italy and are compared with those from Macedonia and Romania.
The information was gathered largely from literature as well as field collected data and interviewed informants. A brief questionnaire, referring to the vernacular name, plant description, providing specimens from the plants and brooms, details on their use has been prepared and applied.
The total number of species as brooms in the study areas is about 108. The list includes two fungi taxa which caused the so-called "Witches' brooms". A high species diversity of 106 taxa of vascular plants, belonging to 37 families and 74 genera, is established in the research area. The investigation includes data about scientific name, family, vernacular name, life form, status (wild or cultivated), used parts and place of use. The relations between the plant characteristics and broom specific shape and working qualities, details of the traditionally broom planting and making, the broom as a part of folklore, traditions and religious rituals are discussed.
Collected data show how ecological, geographical features and different cultures are related with the variety of plants traditionally used as brooms as well as details for their uses. The data about the variety of plants traditionally used to make brooms and the ways in which they are used according to the specific characteristics of the areas are important for ethnobotanical knowledge.
The interest and knowledge of plants used by native people, called ethnobotany, have increased in recent years, and there is a lot of information throughout the world [1–4]. The field of study of plants used in household products is one of the most interesting ones and it is not always easy for species to be identified.
For centuries the brooms have been used for cleaning houses, ovens, fireplaces, yards, streets, as ritual tools as well as for some special functions. For a long period (before the 18th century), brooms were domestically produced and hand-made of tree branches, brushes, etc. The broom was an important tool in keeping the living area clean. Unfortunately, dust and ashes are part of life and perfect brooms do not exist. But since ancient times people's ambition to create better and better brooms has brought rich experience of used plants and brooms. This knowledge was passed on from generation to generation and so came to us.
For economic reasons, keeping cleanness in houses, areas around houses, farmyards, streets, etc. brooms are a daily necessity. Together with the use of technical instruments for cleaning streets and yards, brooms are still in use. Planting raw material and broom manufacture continue in present days.
A broom is a cleaning tool consisting of stiff fibres attached to (and roughly parallel to) a cylindrical handle – broomstick. Some shrubs (evergreen, semi-evergreen and deciduous) from the Fabaceae family – mainly Chamaecytisus, Cytisus and Genista species – are commonly referred to as brooms in Western Europe. The plants belonging to these genera show similar dense aerial parts, very small leaves and slender green stems.
The Latin specific name "scoparius' means broom-like . In different parts of the world, the plants used for brooms are called after the name of the relevant country or region: Spanish broom (Spartium junceum L., syn.Genista juncea (L.) Scop.), also known as Weaver's broom; Scotch broom (Cytisus scoparius (L.) Link); Atlas broom (or Moroccan broom or Pineapple broom) (Argyrocytisus battandieri (Maire) C. Raynaud, syn. Cytisus battandieri Maire); Provence broom or Spanish Gold Hardy Broom (Cytisus purgans (L.) Boiss.); Portuguese broom (Cytisus multiflorus (L'Hér.) Sweet), French broom (Genista monspessulana (L.) Johnson) etc. [1–4]. In each country or district the most frequently used plant for making brooms is called Common broom or Broom.
The known data on plants that are used as brooms is part of ethnobotanical research in different regions or countries [6–9] as well as some surveys concerning the plants traditionally used for brooms, basketry practices and plaited crafts [10–13].
The original idea that brooms from different parts of the world should be collected has been realized at Laurent's World Broom Collection since 2002 at UMMA (University of Michigan Museum of Anthropology), USA, where several samples from Europe are stored. The material used for brooms is referred mainly as "plant material" and it is not classified [14, 15].
The aim of this study is to determine and introduce the plants traditionally used as brooms – which are slowly dying out-in different cultures as well as in several European countries.
The research was carried out in four countries from southern, southeast and eastern parts of Europe. The study area range from the Italian Peninsula (that extends into the Mediterranean Sea) to the Balkan Peninsula as well as the continental parts located to the north (border on the Black Sea) (Fig. 1). Larger part of the study area includes neighbouring in geographic placement countries that have historical and cultural relations as well and mutually influence. They at one time have specific ecological conditions and national traditions. Since oldest time, their history and culture have been deeply influenced through contacts with the Mediterranean countries (as Italy). The data are collected mainly from Bulgaria and Italy and are compared with those from Macedonia and Romania. The study was carried out within the course of two years (2005–2006).
The information is gathered largely from literature (old and newest written sources) [16–45] as well as field collected data (authors' observations) and interviewed informants. Information is gathered using non-structured interviews from informants living mainly in villages, age range 38–75 years, most of them are retired farmers. A brief questionnaire, referring to the vernacular name, plant description, providing specimens from the plants and brooms, details on their use has been prepared and applied. The Bulgarian common names are given according to Field guide to the vascular plants in Bulgaria [46, 47]. The plant nomenclature is given according to Flora Europaea .
Voucher specimens of plants (original collected data) have been deposited in the Herbarium of Sofia University (SO), Bulgaria.
The total number of species used as brooms in study areas is about 108, as some of the taxa are referred to as "spp." species plural. The list includes two (2) fungi taxa: Melampsorella caryophyllacearum J. Schrot and Taphrina spp. which caused pathogen defense structures used as brooms. A high species diversity of 106 taxa of vascular plants in the research areas is established, belonging to 37 families and 74 genera.
Due to different level and state of ethnobotanical knowledge in the countries included in the research area, great difference among them regards the number of established taxa is registered: Bulgaria (28) (Table 1), Italy (74) (Table 2), Macedonia (1) and Romania (9) (Table 3). For this reason comparative analysis of species number and diversity is not appropriate.
Species established to be used as a broom in the study area: Bulgaria. Collected data – original data for current investigation.
Artemisia scoparia W. et K.
Cephalaria transylvanica (L.) Roem. & Schult.
Taphrina spp. infectious agent on Prunus, Betula, Carpinus spp.
Ampelodesmos mauritanicus (Poiret) T. Dur. et Sch.
Genista aetnensis (Raf. ex Biv.) DC.
Species established to be used as a broom in the study area: Macedonia and Romania. Collected data – original data for current investigation.
Most of the plants, with the exception of Pteridium aquilinum (Pteridophyta), are representative of Magnoliophyta. The participation of Gymnosperms (5.4%) is insignificant. Monocotyledonae are present with 5 families (13.5%) and Dicotyledonae with 29 families (78.4%). The predominant number of species is from Poaceae (10), Asteraceae (9), Fabaceae (8), Ericaceae (9), Apiaceae (7), Betulaceae (5), Chenopodiaceae (5) and Salicaceae (5). The rest of the families contain 1–4 species (Fig. 2).
Systematic structure of the established taxa [%].
Hemicryptophytes species prevail (34), followed by chamaephytes (33) (evergreen shrubs (17) and shrubs (16)), therophytes (16) and phanerophytes (13) (Fig. 3). The structure of the life forms of the established species is according to the research areas' specific conditions. On the other hand the life form's structure corresponds to the plant's diversity with features suitable for certain broom qualities – strength and flexibility.
Species life forms structure in different parts of the study area. Countries: Bu (Bulgaria), It (Italy), Ma (Macedonia) and Ro (Romania); Life forms: Ph: phanerophyte; Ch: chamaephyte; H: hemicriptophyte; T: therophyte.
Witches' brooms are a special case. They are deformities on trees or shrubs as a result of infections by different agents. The rates of plant growth, size and symmetry are disrupted. A certain part of the plant may look like a bird's nest (closely packed distorted twigs) (Figs. 4, 5). These formations are very suitable in terms of shape, strength and flexibility for broom material . In the past, mysterious and unexplainable occurrences were often blamed on witchcraft. Witches' brooms occur on many different woody plant species, including deciduous trees such as hackberry, maple, and willow, and conifers such as pine and spruce. At first, only the appearance of the shrub is affected, but continued feeding over a period of years often stunts the honeysuckle's growth, eventually weakening it and contributing to the shrub's death . Most of the species are wild plants (78.4%). Some of them are cultivated for different needs (10.8%) as food and ornamental, except Sorghum bicolor and Bassia scoparia which are cultivated only for making brooms. The main plant cultivated for brooms in the study area is Sorghum bicolor (on small areas). In Bulgaria the area for Sorghum cultivation never had exceeded thirty five thousand decare. One part of species is wild, but they meet together as well in a culture in the same area (9%). In Italy, the use of wild plants for making brooms is more common as a result of plant richness and national traditions. In other parts of study area the use of cultivated plants is wider.
Witches' broom on Picea abies, Kyustendil, Bulgaria.
Witches' broom on Prunus cerasifera, village Poletintzi, Bulgaria.
The most mentioned plants to be used as brooms in study area are Bassia scoparia, Sorghum bicolor, Betula pendula, Cornus mas and Salix spp. (Bu, It, Ma and Ro). The most common wild plants that are used for broom making in Bulgaria and Italy include: Erica spp. and Cytisus spp. Some plants used in Italy are similar to known data for Spain, Portugal and Turkey, according to Mediterranean ecological conditions, as well Erica scoparia, Cytisus scoparius, Marrubium vulgare, Olea europaea, Verbascum spp., Cistus spp., Genista spp., Phillyrea angustifolia, Osyris alba, and etc. [10–13].
The registered species Bassia prostrata, Spiraea media and witches' brooms (caused by Melampsorella caryophyllacearum and Taphrina spp.) have not been referred before for the Bulgaria, according to the references (Table 1).
"M е т Л а" (metla) is the Bulgarian name for broom. The diminutive name is "м е т Л и ч k а" (metlichka), often used for smaller ones and in folklore tales and folklore songs, this is a proof of its great importance in people's daily customs and its position in their life. "Metlar" is used for broom-maker or broom-seller. Many plants used as brooms are called "metla" in Bulgarian; so are plants whose shape is similar to that of a broom (Asparagus spp., Poa spp., Lactuca spp., etc.) .
In central-southern Italy peculiar brooms used for sweeping farmyards are called "granate", see e.g. Salix alba . In the National Museum of Arts and Folk Traditions a broom ("granata") from Apulia region, probably made of Thymus capitatus, is kept.
Several plants in Italy are called with vernacular names that mean "broom": e.g. Bassia scoparia, "skova de fòrru"; Asparagus spp. "skòvas de axròba, skovàtsus"; Cytisus scoparius, "scopa, scopìglio"; Erica arborea, "scopinello, iskòpa"; Erica scoparia, "scopuccio" etc.; Genista radiata, "spazzole"; Helichrysum italicum, "skòva de Santa Maria"; Helleborus foetidus, "scopacci"; Thapsia garganica, "skòva de forru" etc.
In some cases the vernacular name comes directly from Latin language, for example: "munda domos" in Sardinia (Stachys glutinosa), because in Latin language: mundare = to clean; domus = house.
In central Italy the little broom for cleaning ovens is called "mùnnulo": it is also made of some toxic plants, e.g. Helleborus foetidus and Sambucus ebulus .
Making a broom is more than a plain activity, it is an art. Broom makers are familiar with broomcorn (morphological features, phenology, phytopathology, etc.). The observations gained on a plant are subsequently used in the production of brooms.
Sorghum bicolor is used for industrial manufacture only (Figs. 6, 7, 8). The part used is the panicle. In Bulgaria, it is miscalled "metlov klas" (panicle ear) in practice. The same name is used in some official documents. The panicle branches are called "zhitzi" (wires). Some broom-makers break the panicle stem (axis) under the first internodes, this causes faster blossoming and seed maturing – which results in better quality panicles for brooms. The gathering of the panicles with mature seeds determines the typical colour of the glumes (in the first half of September). People know that reddish colour of panicles is caused by plant louses (Aphis sp.) or that it is the natural colour of some varieties, brownish is a result of fungi diseases, etc. .
Brooms from Sorghum bicolor in the street market in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Industrial manufactured brooms from Sorghum bicolor in the street market in Sofia.
Manufactured brooms from Sorghum bicolor in the street market in Kyustendil.
The panicles without seeds are dried in open, sunny places (commonly in yards). After drying, panicles are grouped and bound together in small sheaves with hemp cord, fiber, mulberry branches or metal wire.
The remaining stems are used for firewood and for making temporary roofs. Broomcorn produces a large amount of plant material. Stems and folia are used as forage for sheep and cattle. The seeds are good food for cattle and birds [19–21].
The making of broom crafts is a men prerogative (rarely women). Also gypsies are known as good broom makers.
The region with the oldest traditions in broom planting and making (more than 200 years) is the village of Michaltzi (Veliko Tarnovo district, Bulgaria). In the middle of last century people called the village "Metlen – burg" (Broom-castle) as an analogue to some German towns, with typical Bulgarian sense of humour. The field work-free time is used – especially in winter – for broom making. The prepared brooms are used for barter; so are eggs in other villages. Six kinds of brooms from this region are known – common house broom, parson's broom, double broom, bettered "mihalska" broom, broom for dresses, attic broom. Models from foreign countries – Russia, Italy and Philadelphia – are imported for trade .
Well branched shrubby plants with strong, sinewy fibers and flexible twigs are selected for broom making (Ericaceae, Betulaceae, Fabaceae, Asteraceae, Rosaceae, Chenopodiaceae, Betulaceae, etc.) . Making shrubby brooms is simple. The stems are bound together with sinewy wands, twisting plant stems or fiber around them while still fresh (Figs. 9, 10, 11). They are used after drying . But in many cases a raw plant is used for shrubby brooms, it is available, and its technical quality is of no importance. These brooms are for private use, not for trade. This kind of brooms is typical of very poor and remote villages and districts.
Broom of Bassia prostrata – Struma valley, village Lebnitsa, Bulgaria.
Broom from Bassia scoparia, Macedonia.
Brooms from Betula pendula, Romania.
Some kind of brooms for domestic and industrial use has different kinds of wooden handles (made of beech wood and linden, untreated beech wood or hornbeam wood).
In Sardinia, Italy, Arundo donax and Juniperus phoenicea stems are often used as handle respectively for Chamaerops humilis and Cistus monspeliensis brooms .
Some plants with strong fibres are locally used for binding: in Latium brooms made of Sorghum bicolor are bound with Rubus ulmifolius stem , while in Sicily Scabiosa atropurpurea stems are tied with Ampelodesmos mauritanicus leaves .
Brooms have a specific shape and working qualities. For these characteristics to be obtained different parts of the plants are used e.g.: stem (Genista radiata), branches (Salix alba), leaves (Chamaerops humilis), panicle (Sorghum bicolor) or aerial parts (Erica arborea).
In the past, plants of brooms have been growing at each house. Later, an one or several humans in the village or the region start to cultivate and make brooms, as a way to living. Small production workshops and manufactures are established gradually. Such more modern factories are present in nowadays. Their production comprises a wide range of straw brooms and brushes (for domestic and industrial use), different kinds of wooden broomsticks and details according to customers' wish. They export large quantities of the production (e.g. Greece) .
Local folk classifications (folk nomenclature) are result of daily experience of people using brooms. They called them soft and hard brooms, big and small brooms, depending on the type of plant they are made, their size and use. Names also are given according to their use (yard broom, home broom, threshing-floor broom, etc.) [16, 19–21, 46].
Some plants are used for making crude shrubby brooms, e.g. species of the Ericaceae, Betulaceae, Fabaceae etc. families, for cleaning streets and yards (including village square, farmyard, stack-yard and threshing yard, sheds, roads, all open areas, etc.).
Particular brooms were made of sticky plant parts: e.g. in Sardinia of Stachys glutinosa or of repellent and sticky materials: e.g. in Basilicata of Dittrichia viscosa to remove fleas . In order to eliminate thorns from Opuntia ficus-indica fruits were used Vitis vinifera shoots and Dittrichia viscosa leafy branches .
Ruscus aculeatus branches are commonly used for cleaning chimneys and walls from cobwebs .
Cleaning with brooms made from aromatic plants take the "burned food" odour away from ovens and stove burners, while oven and burners are still hot. In the research area are established 28 species used for special in ovens and fire places (all of them from Italy) – 9 of them are aromatic plants (Apium graveolens, Foeniculum vulgare, Ferula communis, Nicotiana glauca, Laurus nobilis, Myrtus communis, Pistacia lentiscus, Ballota nigra and Marrubium vulgare) as well some toxic plants as Conium maculatum and Daphne gnidium. For Ferula communis, Malva sylvestris and Nicotiana glauca is mentioned special use in ovens for bread [22, 26]. For the other studied countries such data was not found.
Many broom species are widely used as ornamental landscape plants (Calluna vulgaris, Erica arborea, Spiraea media, Spiraea salicifolia, Cytisus scoparius, Laurus nobilis etc.) as well as for wasteland reclamation and sand dune stabilizing. Others are popular in horticulture and many of them are cultivated hybrids like Kew broom (Cytisus × kewensis) and Warminster broom (Cytisus × praecox).
Some "common broom" species, introduced as ornamental plants or cultivated for broom-manufacturing, became naturalized and invasive weeds because of their aggressive dispersal seed.
Cleaning with a broom of some plant species is part of many folklore traditions and religious rituals. Brooms of Centaurea spp. are used at home and are objects of beliefs; they have a special place in the home [20, 21, 27, 28, 46, 49]. The plants are collect in special day of the summer named in Bulgarian traditions "Enyovden" (24 June). The made by them brooms, are guarded in the house until the next year. This broom is kept to the fire-side or behind the door, to protect the family and the family from illnesses and evils. Through the spring the older broom sets on fire and throws on the waste. The fleas, the snakes and the lizards from the house are chased so away. A broom is not to be jumped, it is sin. If a girl is beaten with a broom, she will not marry. A broom if a little child is being left gone merely in a room is put next to it to defend it against an evil spirits. The broom is used for human treatment by fear. Through the spring customs a broom from the fire-side is stolen. The more the hostess is anger, that more rains there are. Later, the same broom draped in rags, and the stick is formed as the head with the eyes, eyebrows and a mouth. The name of this human's figure is "German". But this one "German" is used in rituals for drought, against rain .
A Basil (Ocimum basilicum) broom plays a special role in folklore tales and songs [21, 28, 49]. In Italy (and other several European countries) people believed that a broom made with Sorghum bicolor or with other plants, put behind the door of the house, could take away the witches (witches, counting the stem, made mistakes; they were occupied along the entire night counting the stems, therefore they do not could entry in the house [21, 27, 28].
As a result high species diversity of vascular plants in the research areas is established. Collected data, no matter what the level of ethnobotanical knowledge in different parts of the study area, shows how ecological, geographical features and different cultures are related with the variety of plants traditionally used as brooms as well as details for their uses.
What are the historic roots of the use of plants for brooms and of broom making craft? This is one of the questions that cannot have only one correct answer. Studies, as presented here throw light on this field.
Nowadays, the use of home-made brooms and broom making craft are disappearing. The brooms have lost their necessity in our daily lives. The principal reasons are realities of the modern life: loss of the specific tasks and places which they were used, industrialization of traditional farming, the modern tools for cleaning, partial adoption of modern material, the reduced number of craftsman and etc. The skills transmission through generations is in danger and much more threatened with extinction.
The data about the variety of plants traditionally used to make brooms and the ways in which they are used according to the specific characteristics of the areas are important for ethnobotanical knowledge.
They contribute to preserving the world's human traditional experience as well as national identity.
Anely M Nedelcheva, Yunus Dogan and Paolo Maria Guarrera contributed equally to this work.
We would like to thank to Ioana Padure for her excellent assistance to collect information for Romania.
The work for data collection was carried out above all by research area as follow: Anely Nedelcheva by Bulgaria, Paolo Maria Guarrera by Italy and Yunus Dogan by Macedonia and Romania. Data analysis and manuscript preparation were conducted equally by authors. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. | 2019-04-22T17:22:15Z | https://ethnobiomed.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1746-4269-3-20 |
a. The parish has an active stewardship committee that nurtures a year-round stewardship education effort. Year round stewardship education effort is nurtured by hosting a yearly stewardship fair, which is currently held at the Parish Festival, dedicating one weekend per year to each of the four pillars of stewardship, i.e. Formation Sunday, promoting and attending international, regional and diocesan conferences and workshops, and incorporating lectio divina, Liturgy of the Hours, and forms of sustained prayer into our monthly meetings.
b. The pastor has an active role on the stewardship committee. It is through the leadership of our pastor that Blessed Sacrament has embraced the New Evangelization, which has revitalized the stewardship way of life at our parish. He attends the monthly meetings of the Stewardship Council, attends the ICSC conference with council members and recruits new members for the council when needed. Father Jirak is especially dedicated to deepening the personal formation and prayer life of the members of the stewardship council.
d. The parish stewardship committee has a detailed annual plan with responsibilities on an on-going basis that is formulated with the collaboration and buy-in of other major parish councils. We have developed a yearly pdf Stewardship Calendar (219 KB) that easily transitions from one year to the next. It captures the major tasks of the Stewardship Council in a concise and functional document while allowing for the details to be executed by the creative and passionate minds of the current council members. There is intentional crossover between the membership of the Stewardship Council and other major councils in the parish so as to facilitate communication and collaboration toward the same long-term goals. For example, the chair of the Stewardship Council serves on the Pastoral Council.
e. Parish produces an annual report that reflects Stewardship throughout every area of parish life. Attached are examples of the pdf annual report (7.96 MB) . We also have included a report that was created in conjunction with " pdf Our Challenge (778 KB) ". During Our Challenge we are raising funds to provide major infrastructure repairs to the church and school buildings, replace the aging school playground, and replenish the Reserve and Replacement account. Additionally during Our Challenge, Fr. Jirak is challenging us to take our prayer life to a deeper level and to discern a fuller response in our gifts of time and talent.
a. Pastor or parish administrator shows leadership and commitment to Stewardship as a way of life. Blessed Sacrament Parish and its former pastors have been dedicated to stewardship since the beginning of the parish in 1927. Since 2010, under the direction of Fr. John Jirak, our parish has developed a renewed vigor for living the stewardship way of life. In his homilies and at parish gatherings both large and small, Fr. Jirak constantly calls our attention to the connection between stewardship and the New Evangelization. It is through our personal encounter with the Lord and the resulting desire to be in relationship with Him that the Holy Spirit fuels our fervor to be generous stewards in our daily lives. Fr. Jirak shows leadership in stewardship by attending the monthly Stewardship Council meetings, completing his own stewardship commitment forms, as well as using personal stories of family, farm and fun to inspire and challenge his parish flock.
b. The parish shows signs of a long-term commitment to Stewardship. The Church of the Blessed Sacrament along with the Diocese of Wichita made a long-term commitment to stewardship in 1985 by converting the Catholic education system from tuition-based admission to stewardship-based sponsorship. Soon after the Diocese made this change, Blessed Sacrament Pastoral Council began the practice of an annual stewardship renewal which included a stewardship fair, lay witness speakers, annual parish resource directory, and stewardship forms. Blessed Sacrament formed a Stewardship Committee in 1997, which was elevated to a parish council in 2009 and has been increasingly active since that time. In February of 2012, the parish once again solidified its commitment to stewardship by hiring a Stewardship Coordinator. Due to our steadfast belief that the New Evangelization is absolutely critical to the enduring success of stewardship, a New Evangelization Coordinator was incorporated into the parish staff in 2013.
c. The parish shows signs of spiritual growth. Over the last few years Blessed Sacrament has embraced the New Evangelization and the ardor of the Holy Spirit has truly ignited our parish.
Perpetual Adoration: In 1983 the parish of Blessed Sacrament dedicated itself to Eucharistic adoration by starting the first perpetual adoration chapel in the Diocese of Wichita. We currently have 324 committed adorers of which 19 new adorers were added in 2011, 46 new adorers in 2012, 31 new adorers in 2013 and 28 new adorers in 2014. In addition to the adorers who have a weekly committed hour, the chapel has many drop-in visitors. Sometimes it is so crowded it is difficult to find a seat.
Sacrament of Reconciliation: There has been an increase from 5 to 8 priests at each of the three penance services held during the year and 2 priests hear voluntary confessions of school age youth for 3+ hours one day a month.
Dead Theologians Society (DTS): In the fall of 2012, DTS began with 8 high school students and now has a core of 20 attendees.
A Liturgy Coordinator was added to the staff in 2014.
In 2013, to enrich and better form our new Church members, a Mystagogy program was begun. It was further enhanced in 2015 when mentors were given to each new member in the program.
Scripture Study: Before school begins on Thursday mornings approximately thirty 7th and 8th graders attend lectio divina and study the upcoming Sunday scriptures.
Spiritual Literature: Each year the parish purchases and gives as a gift 2,800 books to the attendees of Christmas and Easter Mass. In the weeks following, book study groups are formed to study the text and grow in faith together. Since we began the Book Study Program almost 1,200 parishioners and non-parishioners, who are both Catholic and non-Catholic have participated together in the book study groups. In response to requests we added two more Lighthouse Catholic Media stands.
Vocations Traveling Statue: Families can sign up to take the traveling statue to their home for a week, to pray for an increase in vocations. This statue is transferred every week to a new home so there is constant prayer coverage for vocations.
In response to the desire of the faithful for more personal relationship with our Lord, ChristLife is being initiated in the Fall of 2015.
While Familia has been an active ministry for many years at Blessed Sacrament, in 2014, Men's Familia was added as prayer and formation opportunity for the men of the parish.
Mass Captains: In addition to regular ongoing liturgical training and service, the Mass captains meet on a regular basis for opportunities to work together on service projects and to experience virtuous leisure and fraternity through which they learn to be Catholic gentlemen and leaders.
d. The parish has grown in the area of community outreach and has made outreach a major priority. Blessed Sacrament has a long history of community outreach and in the last few years, community outreach has become a major priority and passion.
Lord’s Diner: One Sunday each month approximately 45 Blessed Sacrament parishioners prepare and serve dinner to approximately 425 people. This outreach has been active for many years and in the last four years 200 new stewards have signed up for this ministry.
pdf Youth Mission Trips (134 KB) : During spring break in 2011, 19 high school students participated in a youth mission trip where they worked at food banks, spruced up inner city churches, and performed street ministry to the homeless. The following year 40 students went on the trip and it has continued ever since. In 2015, the youth went to St. Joseph's Mission in San Fidel, New Mexico, the poorest parish in the country. They took supplies to help work on the church and the school and committed not only to return on subsequent trips but also to adopt this parish and support them throughout the year.
Oktoberfest Run for the Poor: Each year on the first Saturday of October in conjunction with our Men’s Club's Oktoberfest a 5k and youth fun run are held at Blessed Sacrament to raise money for various community outreach organizations that are chosen by the Pastor. Last year there were over 600 runners, more than 100 volunteers and over $6,000 raised.
Coordinated a program that gives other parishioners the opportunity to prepare and serve a hot breakfast at a local family shelter, St. Anthony Family Shelter.
The Men’s Club monetarily supports StepStone, Kairos Prison Ministry, Midwest Catholic Family Conference, and the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. One aspect of the Women's Altar Society fund-raiser is to create an art piece with the residents of the St. Anthony Family Shelter; it is auctioned and all the proceeds go directly to the shelter. Our parishioners support pro-life activities with Kansans for Life and the diocesan Respect Life office through Fill the Crib and Baby Bottle campaigns. Altar Society also supports pro-life organizations by hosting a Baby Jesus Shower each December to benefit local crisis pregnancy centers. Blessed Sacrament hosted a Final Friday Art event, featuring artists of the parish, at Interfaith Ministries. Many parishioners also serve the homeless through Warming Souls winter overflow shelter, an effort sponsored by Inter-faith Ministries.
e. The parish offertory has increased. The parishioners of Blessed Sacrament are generous in their gifts of treasure. We have seen a steady increase in dollars contributed to support the mission, ministries, and physical aspects of the parish. From 2010 to 2014 the gifts of treasure have increased more than 26%. We are blessed that our parish offertory remained stable while our parishioners also generously gave nearly 1.9 million dollars to the Diocesan Together Campaign.
f. Number of ministries and volunteers has grown. Since 2010 we have added 19 new ministries to meet the spiritual, social, and physical needs of the members of our parish and our community. We have added Knights of Columbus Council #15134, Military Ministry, Mystagogy, Compassionate Care Ministry, Bereavement Ministry, Little Flowers Girls Club, Familia for Men, Parish Book Program, People to People Ministry, Playgroup, Social Media, Meal Ministry for those in Need, and Junior St. Vincent de Paul (affectionately nicknamed Mini Vinnies). Additionally the following ministries have formed since 2010: 18-22 Group for young parishioners who are away at college, serving in the military, or in the workforce; Cana Couples to promote healthy and happy marriages for those married less than 15 years and Vintage Cana Couples for those married over 15 years; St. Gianna Guild for healthcare professionals and students to incorporate faith into their work; Encore to promote fellowship among parishioners 60 years of age and older; Financial Peace University to help parishioners manage their gift of treasure more effectively; and New Evangelization Task Force, to promote and encourage a personal and parish wide commitment to the New Evangelization.
St. Vincent de Paul - began with 9 members and 1 associate, now they have 35 members and 8 associates with over 100 contributing members.
g. Parish leadership attends regional, diocesan and/or ICSC offered Stewardship conferences, workshops, institutes, webinars, etc. Ongoing education and formation is essential to creating and maintaining a vibrant parish. In January 2015, Blessed Sacrament hired a part-time Faith Formation Coordinator, to provide a more robust faith formation program for adults. Each year Father Jirak and the New Evangelization Council host an annual leadership retreat for over 100 ministry leaders. The parish supports and encourages members of the parish councils to attend diocesan, regional and international conferences. 2012: 17 parishioners attended the Diocesan Stewardship Conference, 5 attended the ICSC in Chicago, and 3 attended the Parish Leadership Institute 2013: 6 parishioners attended the Regional Stewardship Conference in Kansas City, 8 attended the ICSC Conference in Dallas, 3 attended the New Evangelization Symposium at Benedictine College in Atchison, KS and 19 attended the Parish Leadership Institute 2014: 16 parishioners attended the Diocesan Stewardship Conference, 5 attended the ICSC in Orlando, 4 attended the Amazing Parish Conference in Denver, 6 attended the New Evangelization Symposium, and 8 attended the Parish Leadership Institute.
a. Describe how the parish weaves stewardship education throughout the following demographic groups. What are the elements of Stewardship education in each area below?
1) Children: Our parish provides a Catholic education to approximately 570 students in grades Kindergarten through 12th and operates a 3 and 4 year old preschool for approximately 50 students. Kindergarten through 8th grades are taught in the school that is adjacent to the church and 9th through 12th graders are sponsored at one of the diocesan Catholic high schools. We dedicate 80% of our yearly budget to education with the knowledge and intent that our Catholic schools are forming our students to be servants to the world and these young people are the stewards of the future. We use lesson plans on stewardship provided by the diocese in our school and in the Parish School of Religion (PSR) and the K-8 teachers are provided with monthly stewardship formation by the Stewardship Coordinator. While the children are preparing for service projects, the teachers and volunteers connect the project to the use and sharing of God's gifts. A visual reminder, a poster promoting stewardship, hangs in each classroom, the entry of the school, in the library and in the cafeteria. Additionally, Fr. Jirak meets with each 8th grade student during the interview process to receive sponsorship at our diocesan Catholic high school, which gives him the opportunity to tailor education and formation for each student in evangelization and the stewardship way of life.
2) Youth & Teens: Stewardship education continues through a monthly breakfast at the high school with Fr. Jirak where the 4 Pillars of Stewardship are often the basis for questions with cash prizes. Annually the Catholic high schools host a service fair where community organizations and parishes present the various opportunities for service. Preparation for the Sacrament of Confirmation is also a time when teens are taught about stewardship opportunities and commit to acts of service. Each year the Catholic high schools host a Pastor’s Day and on another occasion, the pastor meets with each Blessed Sacrament student to talk about deepening his or her relationship with Christ and living stewardship.
3) Young Adults: Graduating high school seniors write pdf letters of gratitude (181 KB) and appreciation to the parish for the opportunity to receive a Catholic education. These letters are printed in the bulletin and featured on the parish website and Facebook page. The 18-22 Group connects with parishioners who are away from home at college by sending prayers and care packages and asks for prayers for the parish in return.
4) Adults: We host annual meetings for all parents with children entering kindergarten and for parents with a child entering high school that has a portion dedicated to the history of stewardship and living stewardship in our daily lives. A dinner is held for families whose youngest child is graduating from high school, to thank and encourage them in the perpetuation of the stewardship way of life. Fr. Jirak hosts and invites leaders to attend conferences and workshops and annually our parish has a three day pdf Parish Mission (393 KB) and several one evening opportunities for spiritual growth and learning from recognized authors and speakers. The RCIA program also weaves the theme of stewardship through its learning and discernment process for those adults preparing to enter the Church. When a couple asks to be married at Blessed Sacrament, they receive one on one stewardship formation with our Stewardship Coordinator prior to meeting with a priest for marriage preparations.
5) Seniors: In addition to the other adult formation opportunities, a new ministry named Encore was launched in 2013 to provide formation and fellowship to parishioners who are 65 and older. They gather following Mass on Friday mornings for breakfast and plan a quarterly event. The group has planned a trip to Pilsen, Kansas, home of Father Emil Kapaun for September of 2015. The Encore team is in the process of providing the seniors with various needs in their homes and yards, as well as, preparing a mechanism through which the seniors can share their varied talents and skills. Another effort includes connecting the seniors of the parish with our diocesan ministry, Harvest House.
6) Various Parish Cultures: Our parish membership is limited in ethnic diversity so there is not a need to provide different or additional educational resources to accommodate various cultures. However, stewardship materials are always on hand in both Spanish and Vietnamese.
7) Overall: The love of Christ and living out stewardship is our primary focus. We use the 4 pillars of stewardship - Hospitality, Prayer, Formation, and Service - to organize our bulletin and parish resource directory, the pillars are incorporated into the ceiling of one of our gathering spaces and stewardship posters are displayed throughout our campus. Fr. Jirak writes about stewardship in his pastor’s column and reinforces stewardship as a way of life while preaching and teaching us about scripture continuously throughout the year.
a. Parish conducts an annual stewardship/commitment renewal. The annual stewardship renewal begins in June with a stewardship fair that is held in conjunction with our parish feast day, Feast of Corpus Christi, and our Parish Festival. In October we have four weekends of lay witness talks that culminate in the reception of the annual stewardship packet by mail. The forms are collected on a weekend in mid-November and brought up to the altar with the offertory gifts during Mass. Forms can be completed online, mailed, or dropped off at the parish office.
b. Samples of parish-created materials. See Samples here: pdf 2011-2012 Stewardship Packet (1.11 MB) , pdf 2012-2013 Stewardship Packet (3.23 MB) , pdf 2013-2014 Stewardship Packet, (1.49 MB) pdf 2014-2015 Stewardship Packet (727 KB) . The stewardship packet contains the Time & Talent forms, the Pledge of Tithe form, pastor's letter, prayer card, and the pdf Parish Resource Directory (6.14 MB) .
c. Review process for distributing and receiving pledge cards. Pledge cards are included with the other materials that are mailed out in late October and are collected with the Time and Talent forms.
d. Use of lay witness testimony. There are three to four weekends of lay witness talks in October/November. Each weekend focuses on a different aspect of stewardship and recounts for the parish family an individual experience of embracing Christ and living the stewardship way of life.
e. Review follow-up strategy including acknowledgements, bulletin or website updates, mid-year communication. In January, a letter is written to each parishioner who returned stewardship forms committing time, talent and treasure. This letter thanks them for their yearly commitment and lists each ministry in which they indicated interest. In addition, it encourages them to take initiative and make contact with the ministry leader or to seek out other ways they can use their gifts in the service to the Lord. Each ministry leader is given a list of parishioners who checked their ministry. The leaders are given directions on contacting the stewards, thanking them for their interest, and inviting them to participate in specific tasks and activities. Bulletin and website announcements, email communications, Facebook and Twitter posts, as well as individual meetings are all utilized in the area of follow-up. As new parishioners join the parish their gifts and areas of interest are identified after which contact information is passed along to respective ministry leaders.
f. Annual ministry fair or other ministry awareness activities conducted and ministry guidebook is produced and updated annually. The annual stewardship fair is held in conjunction with our parish feast day and Parish Festival. This event draws over 1,000 parishioners and visitors; it offers an ideal venue to celebrate our parish and to learn about all the ministries, organizations and activities the parish has to offer throughout the year. Each year a Resource Directory is updated, printed, and mailed with the stewardship renewal materials. This directory includes all the ministries, along with a description and a contact person for each ministry. It also includes the names, addresses, phone numbers, and emails for each registered parish family as well as general information on how to live the stewardship way of life.
a. Parish has dedicated Volunteer Coordinator or Stewardship Director to serve as gifts discernment leader, coach and ministry coordinator. Stewardship Coordinator has been on parish staff since February 2012 and has recently become full-time. In addition to her hours a staff member and a steward each dedicate one day a week to assist with stewardship. The position is comprised of three main components.
To meet with new parishioners and with families who seek school sponsorship. The meeting includes stewardship formation, encompassing time, talent, and treasure; listening to their “story”, assessing their gifts and helping them decide where to place those gifts at the service of the parish; helping them discern a fair tithe; and tour of the campus which concludes at the Perpetual Adoration Chapel.
To provide coaching to parishioners who are discerning their gifts or whose circumstances have changed allowing them to give their time, talent, and treasure in different amounts or capacity.
To serve as parish office liaison with all ministry leaders providing communication between the leaders and the office staff, providing training and tools, bridging the gifts of the parishioners with the needs of the ministries and connecting those parishioners with our 70+ ministry and organization leaders.
b. Parish offers a gifts discernment process to help parishioners identify their gifts and discern where best to use them for the benefit of the parish community and beyond. The process includes personal meetings with the Stewardship Coordinator, reviewing the Parish Resource Directory, completing the parish stewardship forms that include pledges of time, talent, and treasure. The Stewardship Council and Stewardship Coordinator follow up by connecting the parishioner with the ministry or organization in which he or she has indicated interest in serving.
c. Parishioners are aware of expectations of parish membership. Expectations are communicated through bulletin articles, pledge cards, covenant/stewardship prayers, challenging stewardship-themed homilies, welcome packet materials. We sincerely desire and hope that our parish is made up of disciples of Christ who yearn to be active stewards. But what is an active steward? We answer this question and communicate this to parish members in many different ways. Fr. Jirak incorporates the message of living a stewardship way of life in his homilies, letters and blog posts. We use “Stewardship by the Book” messages in the bulletin to reinforce the readings and the stewardship message. The Stewardship Coordinator sends a monthly stewardship message to all ministry leaders and parish and school staff; the message is posted in the bulletin, on the parish website and Facebook page, and in the school newsletter The Baron Buzz. The resource directory that is mailed with the renewal materials and given to new parishioners in the welcome packet defines an active steward. During pdf stewardship formation meetings (178 KB) with parishioners, the Stewardship Coordinator describes parishioners' responsibilities as active stewards.
d. Parishioners are regularly recongonized for using their gifts to serve the community. Each ministry recognizes its servants differently, some use the bulletin to offer thanks for its members, others use Facebook to add pictures and tag its ministers for the day, and others value a hand written thank you note. The Stewardship Coordinator offers an hour of Eucharistic adoration weekly for the intentions of a specific ministry leader and sends that person a thank you card. The Men's Club awards "Man of the Year" to one of its stewards each year and the Women's Altar Society hosts a Past Presidents and Volunteer Apprecaiation Dinner to honor and recognize its many stewards.
e. Ministry descriptions are used to effectively communicate expectations for serving in ministry and indicated term limits. Term limits are strongly encouraged to refresh ministries and ministers. Parish Pastoral Council, Finance Council, School Council, Men’s Club, Women’s Altar Society, and Stewardship Council practice regular rotation of leadership. Youth ministries, faith formation ministries, prayer groups, or those ministries that provide services may not have expressed term limits. We consider leaders’ gifts, energies, and strengths along with the needs of the ministry and the parish community; a defined term limit does not always serve the community best. The pastor and the Stewardship Coordinator review the ministries and organizations on a case-by-case basis to ascertain if there is a need for additional support, coaching or training, or whether new leadership is needed.
f. Leaders of ministry and formed in Stewardship and effectively follow-up and welcome parishioners as they indicate interest. The following efforts are tools which are used continuously to form ministry leaders in the stewardship way of life, as well as, to encourage evangelization and to increase prayer life.
Stewardship Conferences – all leaders are encouraged to attend the Diocesan Stewardship Conference. Stewardship Council members attend the Regional Stewardship Conference and the ICSC Conference.
Follow Up & Welcome: Leaders are given initial lists generated from the annual stewardship renewal. Instructions include contacting the stewards within 30 days. The Stewardship Council follows up with the leaders to ensure that contact has been made and to offer support. Outside the renewal period, new parishioner information is sent from the Parish Office Manager to the Welcoming Committee, Men’s Club, Women’s Altar Society, and Knights of Columbus. Representatives from these groups call and welcome the new parishioners. When new or newly-engaged parishioners indicate interest in a ministry, the Stewardship Coordinator sends that information to the leaders.
a. Describe what forms of media are used to permeate the Stewardship message throughout parish life. The stewardship message is powerful and we try to share it with everyone. We utilize all the traditional methods of communication (bulletin, mass announcements, email messages, website, mailings, posters, bulletin boards, events and telephone). More recently we have embraced the use of Social Media to broadcast messages and the response has been astonishing. The Church of the Blessed Sacrament Facebook page has gone from 308 friends in August of 2012 to 1,250 friends today. On average our pdf Facebook (519 KB) posts reach nearly 10,000 people a week. We generally begin the day with a prayer post: part of the daily readings, a quote from the Saint honored that day, or other inspirational quote. Then each day we try to also promote an upcoming event, post pictures of stewardship in action, introduce a new family, or feature a person/family receiving a Sacrament. The use of social media has made our parish family accessible, comfortable, and hospitable to people all around the world and we believe has spread the seeds of evangelization even further than we may ever know.
b. Describe any unconventional or unique communication means for reaching a higher percent of parishioners. We are reaching out to a higher percentage of the parishioners by meeting them where they are. We are now using monthly newsletters, blogs, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, and Tumblr as a means of communication and evangelization. Pastor emails are sent to parishioners every few weeks with relevant messages regarding parish life, stewardship and spirituality. We also post the weekend homilies on our website.
a. New parishioner orientation/official welcome/mentor families. We make every effort to be hospitable and welcoming to everyone; we realize that an impression is formed the first time the person has an interaction with a current or previous parishioner, a staff member, the website, the Facebook page, or printed materials. For our Parish Festival in 2013 we invited every household ( pdf see invite (1.89 MB) ) within our parish boundaries to join us for an outdoor Mass and an evening of food, fun and fellowship. It did not matter to us if they were members of our parish or not, we wanted everyone in the area to feel welcome at Blessed Sacrament. We made many new friends that day, some joined the parish as a result of the invitation and others became and remained our friends in Christ.
pdf Welcome Cards (375 KB) in Pews: This past Christmas and Easter we placed a welcome card in the pews inviting visitors to contact us if they would like more information about the Catholic faith, Blessed Sacrament's parish life and activities, or if they would like a call from a priest. The card is perforated so they can keep the portion with Mass and confession times along with parish contact information.
New Parishioners: Once an individual/family decides that Blessed Sacrament is the parish family they want to join, they can fill out a registration card on our website, by calling the parish office, or in person in the parish office. The Stewardship Coordinator meets with new parishioners to welcome them, give them orientation, and provide stewardship formation (See 5a above). The contact information for each new parishioner is then distributed to the Welcome Committee, and a representative of the Altar Society, Men’s Club and the Knights of Columbus. These members make phone calls, emails, or write personal notes to the new parishioners in order to invite them to an upcoming event or simply to answer a question. Quarterly dinners are held for new parishioners following the Saturday evening Mass (see invite) to serve as an opportunity for more personal interaction with Fr. Jirak and established parishioners.
b. Visitor guide/newcomer's package/gift. At the time the new parishioner registers, they are given printed materials such as the resource directory, a picture directory, a map of the campus, the parish annual report, the most recent bulletin and a card with Mass and Confession times.
c. Weekly hospitality/socialization after mass. Ushers are present at each Mass not only to assist individuals/families in finding a seat prior to Mass but also to greet people and open the doors as people enter our church. Ushers position themselves at the exits of the church at the conclusion of Mass to distribute bulletins, answer questions, and to offer well wishes for the upcoming week. Monthly there are members of the Altar Society at the exits to extend a themed Save the Date card and a personal invitation to all women to join in their next meeting or event. All parishioners are invited to coffee, donuts, bagels, and juice following the 6:30 and 9:00 AM Masses and following the 11:00 AM Mass on the first Sunday of the month. Childcare during Mass and other parish events has become of utmost importance. Adults, high school youth and middle school youth serve the parish by offering their time and talent to care for the small children of our parish family so that adults can attend meetings, bible studies, retreats, and formation opportunities.
d. Kiosk or table outside church for welcoming and ministry information distribution. For parish events such as the Parish Festival, the Parish Mission, large parish dinners, and Masses around Christmas, Easter, Confirmation and First Communion we have a group of parishioners who serve as Hospitality Hosts. They are available at these events to greet, serve, answer questions, direct traffic, open doors, carry plates or drinks, clear tables etc. At the Parish Festival the Hospitality Hosts wear bright green shirts with name tags so that they can be clearly and quickly identified as someone who can help.
e. Hospitality ministers greeting parishioners by name. Our Ushers and Hospitality Hosts understand the importance of a personal connection. They greet anyone they know by name and introduce themselves to everyone they may not recognize. Posting new parishioner pictures and information on social media allows for the entire parish to welcome newcomers by name.
f. Important days acknowledged. The Parish Christmas card, which pictures our parish priests, is one of the most anticipated mailings of the year, sometimes it is elegant, sometimes it is casual and other times it is downright funny. Every parishioner is mailed this card during the Christmas season and they are found displayed in parishioners' homes for weeks following. Ministries such as Altar Society and Men’s Club host volunteer appreciation events to thank stewards for the countless hours of time and immeasurable amount of talent given to the parish. At other times token of thanks are given by the parish staff, the ministry leaders or the priest himself (e.g. gift given to outgoing chairperson or mission speaker). Handwritten “Thank You” cards abound and lots of celebration of parish and personal successes are shared and encouraged at Blessed Sacrament.
a. Parish is an example to other parishes of similar size and is open to mentoring other parishes in the Diocese/Archdiocese. The Church of the Blessed Sacrament is filled with the Holy Spirit and its work is recognized throughout the Diocese of Wichita. The parish Stewardship Coordinator serves on the Diocesan Stewardship Advisory Council and the parish Business Manager is the chairman of the Diocesan Business Managers Association. Out of this association a parish bookkeepers group and a business manager mentoring program are being developed. Additionally, our parish has coached other parishes both within the diocese and outside of the diocese regarding the role and tasks of our Stewardship Coordinator, our welcoming process and hospitality efforts, our Parish Book Program, and our annual report. The Stewardship Council has exhibited at the Region IX Conference and the Stewardship Coordinator and New Evangelization Coordinator presented at the pdf Diocesan Stewardship Conference (2.97 MB) in April as well as at several other parishes.
b. What is unique about this parish? What lived lessons does the parish have to offer other parishes just starting to embrace Stewardship? Our parish is unique because we have discovered a way to sustain a stewardship way of life for the long term: stewardship inspired and shaped by the New Evangelization. Once a person is passionate about his relationship with Christ and strives to ever deepen this relationship, he has an unending and renewed vigor to respond to the love of Christ expressed in the life of an active steward. We would offer to other parishes that are beginning a stewardship journey to focus on developing the personal encounter with Christ and the interior life as a precursor to concentrating on time, talent, and treasure.
c. In what area does the parish have the greatest opportunity for growth in living Stewardship? Our greatest opportunity is to cooperate with the Holy Spirit and continue to integrate the new evangelization and stewardship way of life in order to reach out further to those who are not engaged in the Church. The challenge is to strengthen the infrastructure of the parish to ensure continuity & growth in all dimensions of the stewardship way of life. Accordingly, last year we began work with the Catholic Leadership Institute to create a parish priority plan. This work has included a parish-wide survey called the Disciple Maker Index and the creation of a pastoral planning team. The parish priority plan is scheduled to launch in December 2015.
1. Total offertory includes gifts of tithe and gifts designated to "Our Challenge". | 2019-04-24T12:19:14Z | https://blessedsacramentwichita.com/about/archbishop-thomas-j-murphy-award |
Powered wheelchair (PW) training involving combined navigation and reaching is often limited or unfeasible. Virtual reality (VR) simulators offer a feasible alternative for rehabilitation training either at home or in a clinical setting. This study evaluated a low-cost magnetic-based hand motion controller as an interface for reaching tasks within the McGill Immersive Wheelchair (miWe) simulator.
Twelve experienced PW users performed three navigation-reaching tasks in the real world (RW) and in VR: working at a desk, using an elevator, and opening a door. The sense of presence in VR was assessed using the iGroup Presence Questionnaire (IPQ). We determined concordance of task performance in VR with that in the RW. A video task analysis was performed to analyse task behaviours.
Compared to previous miWe data, IPQ scores were greater in the involvement domain (p < 0.05). Task analysis showed most of navigation and reaching behaviours as having moderate to excellent (K > 0.4, Cohen’s Kappa) agreement between the two environments, but greater (p < 0.05) risk of collisions and reaching errors in VR. VR performance demonstrated longer (p < 0.05) task times and more discreet movements for the elevator and desk tasks but not the door task.
Task performance showed poorer kinematic performance in VR than RW but similar strategies. Therefore, the reaching component represents a promising addition to the miWe training simulator, though some limitations must be addressed in future development.
Reaching for objects, along with manoeuvrability within confined spaces, is a key factor in powered wheelchair (PW) mobility, i.e. the ability to overcome the physical and social obstacles of daily activities . The ability to reach is necessary in a wide variety of common tasks: preparing food, working at an office, etc. Considering that PW users typically spend all their waking hours in their wheelchair [2, 3], learning how to best navigate their PW in order to reach for objects is crucial to their independence and quality of life. This advanced task-related training is often not possible in rehabilitation centers as access to training for PWs is already limited [4, 5].
Virtual reality (VR) simulators offer a highly feasible supplement for rehabilitation training either at home or in a clinical setting. Several simulators for PW are already in development [6–8]. Critical to the effectiveness of VR training is the transfer of skills to real-world scenarios [9–11]. To simulate reaching tasks for training, motion capture technology may be used to recreate the user’s manual movements in the VR environment, in real-time. In VR research, however, this usually requires large and expensive 3D cameras that are impractical for an at-home simulator [12–14]. Recent advancements in consumer-level motion-capture technology provide a low-cost and portable substitute. The focus of this study was to validate a six degree-of-freedom hand motion controller (Razer Hydra, Sixense, USA), as a training tool for reaching tasks in PW use. The Razer Hydra is a device that fits into one hand, similar in shape to a TV remote. The motion capture aspect of this device allows the user to physically control a virtual hand or cursor in 3D space with hand and arm movements. We chose this device for its low cost ($150 USD), portability, and ease of use (plug & play USB connection). This 3D hand motion controller was evaluated as an integrated tool in the miWe simulator.
An important consideration in VR research is the user’s sense of presence (SOP), i.e. the temporary suspension of disbelief such that users feel as if they were ‘in’ the VR environment . Accordingly, presence is thought to make tasks in the VR environment feel more natural and relevant to the user and therefore could enhance task training and transfer of task performance to the real world (RW) environment. The SOP can be enhanced through visual immersion in the virtual world via head mounted display or large projection screens . However, a greater degree of interactivity or the number of things that can be authentically performed in the virtual environment can also contribute to a greater SOP [15, 16]. Therefore, the addition of a 3D hand motion controller is expected to contribute to a greater SOP by providing a means of interacting with the VR environment using one’s hands.
The Hydra motion controller was integrated into the McGill Immersive Wheelchair (miWe) simulator, a VR training simulator for PW users. The miWe is a first-person perspective environment that runs on an ordinary computer. The virtual PW is controlled using a common PW joystick modified to connect to the simulator via USB. It can be used at home and is designed to teach PW users navigation and obstacle avoidance skills in the outside community. Manual tasks, such as opening doors, in the miWe were originally accomplished by keystroke. This project enabled users to physically perform such manual tasks in combination with manoeuvring their wheelchair in the simulator.
expound the way in which participants feel the combined navigation-reaching tasks, in context of the simulator, are appropriate for PW training.
This study was approved by the Institutional review board of the Interdisciplinary Research Center in Rehabilitation (CRIR), reference number CRIR-728-0412.
This study focused on the participation of experienced PW users, with a minimum of 2 years’ experience, as they were most likely to have stable behaviour and know how best to perform tasks; they were presumed to be familiar with scenarios encountered during activities of daily living. These users could provide expert opinions and feedback on the overall learning utility of the added reaching feature to the simulator from a standpoint of retrospective experience.
Participants were recruited from the Lucie Bruneau Rehabilitation Center (Canada). Participants needed to have a standard indoor/outdoor PW controlled by joystick. Other inclusion criteria consisted of: able to fully understand the tasks with a score of 13 or more on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment , have one able arm and hand for controlling the wheelchair, able to grasp at 40 cm forward and laterally, and normal or corrected vision. Potential participants were asked if they were able to perform the three tasks without assistance and only those who affirmed they could were recruited. Participants were excluded if they were unable to answer questions in French or English.
Participants provided informed consent to participate according to CRIR guidelines.
Participants provided informed consent to have their collected data published.
Participants performed three tasks in the RW and in the miWe simulator (VR). These tasks were designed to reflect a variety of hand-arm movements (pushing, pulling, turning, transporting an object) with different levels of difficulty and are illustrated in Fig. 1a.
For this task, participants began in front of the desk. On the opposite side of the desk from where the participant began were two chairs with enough space in between to fit the PW. On the left side of the desk was a desktop drawer and on the right side was a lightweight circular object. Participants were tasked with manoeuvring around the table, parking between the two chairs, opening the drawer (pulling), placing the object in the drawer (contralateral reaching, object transport), and finally closing the drawer (pushing).
Participants began diagonally away from the elevator’s door. They were tasked with manoeuvring into position to press the elevator’s call button (reaching forward or to the side), entering the elevator when the ‘door opened’ (6 s delay, indicated by auditory beep), and pressing the floor button (reaching forward or to the side).
For this task, participants began directly in front and oriented towards the door. Participants were tasked to approach the door, open the door outward (hand-arm rotation, pushing), and proceed through the doorway. The task ended when the wheelchair crossed through the doorway.
The starting environment was randomized, with 50 % of participants performing tasks in VR first. Participants performed each task 5 times in succession for each environment. After participants completed tasks in one environment, they proceeded to the second after a 5–10 min break. Instructions regarding how to perform the tasks in VR and RW were limited to the goals in the above task descriptions. Participants were encouraged to perform tasks ‘as they see fit’ and we avoided any instructions that suggested they perform tasks ‘as they normally would’ in VR.
The RW tasks took place in an open space facility with a table and doorway; for the elevator task, an elevator mock-up was used. Participants performed the RW tasks using their own PW, with maximal speed adjusted to their comfortable indoor speed. Since participants were compared to themselves, using their individually preferred speed was more accurate to their everyday performance than using a standard speed across participants. Participants were familiarized by verbal instruction and practice with each task, until they felt comfortable (approx. 15 min), before proceeding with data collection. The task order in RW was fixed to minimize time spent moving props and to keep total session time below three hours: Elevator, Desk, Door. Since these tasks are ordinary for experienced PW users, we reasoned that the order would minimally affect RW performance.
For VR, participants were seated in front of the computer monitor in their own PW (Fig. 1b). The user’s PW joystick was swivelled to the side and the simulator’s joystick was fixed, using an adjustable mounting arm, in the regular place of the PW joystick. The simulator joystick was similar to joysticks utilized by many PW models (Penny & Giles joystick, Traxsys, UK). The Hydra motion controllers (Sixense, USA) were modified with straps to be easily attached to the back of each hand. These are capable of one-to-one position and orientation tracking in 3D space. Each controller contains a magnetic sensor that interacts with a weak magnetic field produced by a base unit, providing tracking of the controller’s movement and orientation through space (accuracy of <1 mm and <1°). The advantage of this system is that it does not require line-of-sight between controller and sensor. Participants practiced navigating and interacting with objects in each virtual task (max 15 min).
For the VR tasks, environments developed for the miWe simulator included objects (doorway, desk, etc.) that were dimensional recreations of the objects used in RW; reaching and driving movements performed by the participant were translated 1:1 into the virtual world. The virtual PW was modeled as a generalized PW based on weight, acceleration, size, and directionality. We were interested in the reaching movement only and not in hand manipulations. Therefore, manual interaction in the simulator with objects was contextual and initiated by proximity, i.e. when the participant reached close enough to the object. For example, in the door task, the virtual hand would automatically grasp the door on proximity; however, the participant needed to supinate their forearm in order to rotate the handle 45°, then make a pushing gesture, which would cause the door to swing completely open.
In VR, participants generally performed the Door task first, followed by the Desk then Elevator tasks. We reasoned that while participants were given time to become familiar with the simulator, some learning effects were still likely to occur. Therefore, the Door task, as the most straight-forward task and least likely to see varied strategy, was presented first. However, the ultimate order depended on the participant; sometimes a participant had difficulty completing a given task at first—this task was revisited after completing the other tasks.
The iGroup Presence Questionnaire (IPQ) was used to determine the users’ SOP while using the miWe simulator. We used the IPQ to determine if the addition of the motion-controlled reaching interaction increased SOP for the miWe. The IPQ comprises of fourteen items in four subcategories: Spatial Presence, Involvement, Experienced Realism, and a general ‘sense of being there’ . All items are scored on a seven-point scale (0–6), with a higher score indicating a greater SOP. The IPQ has good internal consistency, with with Cronbach’s alpha of 0.87 for the complete scale and approximately 0.75 for each subscore . The IPQ was administered immediately after completing the all tasks in VR and RW.
For joystick position data in RW, we used a modified PW joystick connected to a data logging system , which sampled at 200Hz, that we mounted on the participant’s wheelchair. We also used a ceiling-mounted wide-lens Logitech HD Pro Webcam C920 (Morges, Switzerland) with an average sampling rate of 30 Hz at 1080p resolution and encoded in H.264/MPEG-4 to record video data.
For VR, the miWe simulator recorded joystick input, virtual PW position, and motion controller position and orientation at an average sampling rate of 50 Hz, corresponding to the simulator’s video frame rate.
Participant-reported data was collected from a task-specific and general questionnaire that prompted participants to provide feedback regarding usability, relevance, limitations, improvements, etc. for the simulator. The questionnaire was similar to the feedback form used in a previous miWe study . We emphasized feedback regarding the reaching component and the motion controller. The feedback form was administered immediately after the IPQ.
IPQ scores were compared to data gathered from a previous study on the miWe without the reaching component using an independent t-test . Questionnaire data were summarized with common trends.
Video and joystick data from the RW environment were time synchronized by the manual marking of the onset of first joystick movement—the task start. Task completion time was determined by task-specific criteria: closing the drawer, pressing the floor button of the elevator, and crossing through the doorway. Furthermore, time spent reaching was defined by the onset of a reaching movement towards a reaching objective to the end of returning the arm to rest or the end of task completion criteria.
In both the RW and VR environments, joystick excursion was calculated via the vector norm of x and y displacements. Joystick movements were defined as an excursion away from the neutral position (threshold of 10 %). Since the wheelchair brakes automatically engaged when the joystick was in neutral position, this definition provided a clear picture of go-stop driving patterns.
Number of reaching movements was counted by visual inspection of video data for RW tasks and from the hand position data collected from the simulator for VR (cross referenced with video data). A reaching movement was defined as ‘an effortful movement towards an object’; thus, pressing a button counted as 2 movements (reach to press and return to rest), while reaching to grasp with lateral drifting (searching behaviour) counted as one movement.
Quantitative measures were compared across participants in pairwise fashion. Data pairs (RW, VR) were the mean of the five trials per task per environment. Wilcoxon sign-rank tests were used to compare non-normally distributed continuous and count data and t-test was used for normally distributed data.
A video task analysis was performed to compare task errors and behaviours. For each task, two unblinded researchers identified and agreed on sub-tasks that comprised of a single goal, e.g. driving up to the door. Within each sub-task, two researchers independently identified (across all trials) on distinct behaviours that could vary from trial to trial. Any disagreement on these observations was solved by discussion until a consensus was reached. Each behaviour comprised of mutually exclusive options and both researchers agreed on strict contextual criteria for coding. One researcher coded all trials and a third blinded researcher verified the coding of 3 participants for consistency. Task behaviours included strategies (e.g. which hand was used for reaching) and performance characteristics (e.g. un/interrupted driving). Errors were evaluated similarly, but separately from task behaviours using relative risk assessment.
Concordance between RW and VR tasks was determined for each behaviour of each task. For a given behaviour, each participant’s dominant behaviour in RW was identified and compared to their corresponding dominant behaviour in VR. To illustrate, we may consider the behaviour, ‘drive forward or reverse into the elevator’, during the Elevator task. If the participant reversed in 5/5 times in RW and 3/5 times in VR, the dominant behaviour in both environments would be ‘reverse’. Therefore, behaviour, ‘forward/reverse in’, would be rated as concordant for the Elevator task of the participant. If, however, the participant reversed in 3/5 times in RW and 2/5 times in VR, the dominant behaviour in RW would be ‘reverse’ and the dominant behaviour in VR would be ‘forward’. Therefore, the dominant behaviour would be rated as discordant between the two environments.
Each behaviour for each participant was rated concordant/discordant (1/0); ‘dominant behaviour’ in this context was selected to describe the expert participants’ preferred behaviour and most likely reflects their ‘best practice’ for task performance in RW. We wanted to see how closely VR performance matched these behaviours. Furthermore, PW users do not always perform tasks in the same manner in RW. A VR simulator that elicits authentic behaviour should also reflect this.
where Pr(a) is the proportion of counted concordant cases and Pr(e) is the proportion of concordant cases due to ‘random chance’ behaviour, e.g. the Pr(e) of ‘used hand’ would be 0.5; for the purposes of this study, we assumed equal proportion of all identified behaviours for Pr(e). Kappa values were evaluated according to guidelines proposed by Fleiss .
Of fourteen people recruited, four women and eight men aged between 36 and 60 years (50.1 SD 9.1) participated in this study (Table 1). One person proved unable to perform our tasks independently on arrival and did not participate and another failed to appear due to prior injury. The participants had between 2 and 30 years (16.1 SD 9.7) experience using their PWs and an overall MOCA score of 20.1 SD 4.5. The right-handed to left-handed ratio was 1:1.
All participants completed all tasks for both RW and VR environments. In VR, 10 of 12 participants completed the door task first. Two participants needed to complete the session over 2 days, with one environment (VR/RW) completed on each day. In both cases, the session was delayed by difficulties adapting the PW joystick logger to the participant’s PW.
Measures of task completion time, reaching time, joystick movement count, and reaching movement count were averaged for each task for each participant. Distributions of these averages were found to be non-normal (Shapiro-Wilk, p < 0.05). Therefore, the Wilcoxon signed-rank test was appropriate for comparing paired data.
Presence was measured for the VR simulator using the IPQ; scores were normally distributed and are summarized with mean and standard deviation in Fig. 2. Overall, ‘general sense of presence’, ‘spatial presence’, and ‘realism’ averaged slightly below three; only ‘involvement’ averaged above three. In comparison with previous data collected on the miWe , without a reaching component, our results showed a significantly greater (independent t-test, p < 0.05) sense of ‘involvement’. However, scores in the remaining three categories were not significantly different.
The Elevator task took the longest total time with a median time of 24.9 s (interquartile range [IQR] 21.4—31.7 s) in RW and 57.6 s (IQR 42.6—69.2 s) in VR. The median time for the Desk task was 19.5 s (IQR 15.3—24.9 s) in RW and 52.6 s (IQR 39.4—77.4 s) in VR. The Door task took the least time overall with a median task time of 10.6 s (IQR 7.5—14.4 s) in RW and 13.4 s (IQR 42.6—69.2 s) in VR.
Only the Door task demonstrated similar task completion times with no significant difference between VR/RW (p = 0.3). For the Desk and Elevator tasks, the VR completion times were both significantly (p < 0.01) longer; the Desk task showed the greatest difference: median 33.0 s (IQR 15.4—53 s) longer to complete in VR than RW. A plot of task completion time differences is shown in Fig. 3a.
Within each task in the RW, participants spent time reaching for objects a median of 6.1 s (IQR 4.8—9.0 s) in the Desk task, 5.2 s (IQR 4.1—6.7 s) in the Elevator task, and 3.8 s (IQR 3.4—5.6 s) in the Door task. By comparison, participants spent significantly more time in VR for all three tasks (p = 0.02 for Desk, p < 0.01 for Elevator, p = 0.03 for Door). The greatest difference in reaching time was in the Desk task where participants took a median 14.2 s (IQR 4.0—19.7 s) longer for reaching in VR than in RW. A plot of reaching time differences is shown in Fig. 3b.
Figure 4a shows an example of the Elevator task performed by one participant in VR. Figure 4b shows example traces representing joystick excursion during the Elevator task in RW and in VR. The complexity of the navigation component of this task is demonstrated by the number of joystick movements. Moreover, the VR trace shows noticeably more joystick movements than in the RW counterpart.
Within each task in the RW, participants completed tasks with a median number of joystick movements of 2.7 (IQR 1.8—4.5) in the Desk task, 4.4 (IQR 3.4—6.0) in the Elevator task, and 3.6 (IQR 2.4—5.2) in the Door task. By comparison, participants utilized significantly more joystick movements in VR for the Desk task (p < 0.01) and Elevator task (p < 0.01). The greatest difference was in the Elevator task where the VR environment required a median of 8.4 (IQR 4.8—12.3) more joystick movements than in RW. However, joystick movement count was concordant between RW and VR in the Door task, with no significant difference between counts (p = 0.45). A plot of joystick movement differences is shown in Fig. 5a.
Similarly, the number of reaching movements utilized was concordant between RW and VR only for the Door task (p = 0.74). A significantly greater number of reaching movements were made in the VR environment for the Desk task (p < 0.01) and Elevator task (p = 0.04). The greatest difference was in the Desk task where the VR environment required a median of 1.9 (IQR 1.0—2.7) more reaching movements than in RW. For comparison, participants required a median count in RW of 6.3 (IQR 6.0—6.7) in the Desk task, 3.8 (IQR 3.4—4.1) in the Elevator task, and 4.1 (IQR 3.8—4.7) in the Door task. A plot of reaching movement differences is shown in Fig. 4b.
Two task errors and twenty-two behaviours were identified throughout all sub-tasks . The task errors were collisions (driving error) and errors in judgment of maximum reaching distance (reaching error). A collision was defined as any contact of the PW with an obstacle. An error in reaching distance occurred when the participant misjudged the distance required to reach a target (e.g. a button) and needed to adjust their PW position closer. Trials were divided into those where one or more driving errors occurred and those where no collisions occurred; the same procedure was done for reaching errors. For each task and across all participants, there was a significantly greater relative risk (RR, p < 0.05) of errors occurring during a trial performed in VR than in RW across all tasks: Desk (RR driving = 3.72, RR reaching = 2.93), Elevator (4.31, 5.86), Door (1.89, 1.5).
Table 2 describes all the sub-tasks identified and Table 3 describes all of the behaviours identified for each sub-task. These were developed from the task analysis for this study.
Performance in the Desk task showed fair (0.4 < K < 0.75) to excellent (K > 0.75) agreement for most reaching behaviours except for the ‘close drawer hand’. However, driving behaviours showed poor agreement. Of note, the ‘fluid drive-to-park’ behaviour showed a negative Kappa score (K = −0.17), indicating that participants tended towards the opposite behaviour in VR. Performance in the Elevator task showed generally fair agreement between RW and VR for driving and reaching behaviours. Only the ‘fluid drive-to-park’ and ‘waiting for door’ behaviours showed poor agreement. Finally, performance in the Door task showed generally fair agreement for driving and reaching behaviours except for the ‘advance straight’ and ‘fluid turn and push’ behaviours. All agreement statistics are listed in Table 4.
Participants answered additional task specific and general questions (Fig. 6) on a 5-point Likert scale (Not at all, Not very, Neutral, Somewhat, Very) and were prompted to make task specific and general suggestions and comments (Table 5) about the VR simulator.
When asked, ‘Does the task seem useful for learning to use a powered wheelchair’ in context of the VR simulator, 9/12 participants or more rated each of the tasks as somewhat or very useful. When asked, ‘Does this task seem realistic’, nearly all (10/12 or more) participants rated tasks as somewhat to very realistic. However, only 6/12 to 7/12 participants rated the difficulty of the simulator tasks as somewhat to very appropriate. Likewise, 5/12 to 6/12 participants rated the tasks as somewhat to very motivating. Finally, 10/12 participants rated the added realism due to the Hydra as somewhat to very much (Fig. 6b).
Participants’ comments regarding specific tasks and the simulator in general varied and included both positive and negative feedback. One participant commented, ‘Interesting. I like the word “success” in the end, it's motivating!’ Another participant commented, ‘I was a little stressed. I do not like playing with joysticks in a virtual environment’. Participants were also prompted to suggest other relevant tasks; one task was suggested more than once: ‘getting coffee’. A list of common comments is summarized in Table 5.
We anticipated that the inclusion of the navigate-to-reach component and the Razer Hydra 3D hand motion controller interface would increase the SOP in the miWe simulator. In the previous miWe study, where manual tasks were performed by keystroke, average scores were above three for general sense of presence and spatial presence, but below three for involvement and realism . In our study, involvement showed a significant increase in the involvement score; this likely reflects a positive effect from the added interactivity provided by the hand controllers and the increased complexity, both physically and cognitively, of combined navigation-reaching tasks. Interestingly, no significant changes were observed in the other categories. We believe that drawbacks in the implementation of the virtual environment and simulation may have counteracted potential gains from the implementation of the hand controller and reaching tasks in the general, spatial presence, and realism categories of the IPQ. Examination of participant feedback, task performance, and task strategies help elucidate how this is the case.
Participants responded positively with respect to training utility, realism, and graphical quality. The task difficulty and motivation were judged less positively, but were generally neutral or better. These results suggest that the overall design of the tasks and task environments were representative of tasks in RW. Participants’ comments also reflected frustration with the some aspects of the simulator; they indicated that VR tasks felt more difficult to accomplish than the corresponding RW tasks, particularly because controlling the PW was harder and noticeably different from what they were used to in RW. A previous study comparing PW driving in VR vs RW showed similar reactions from participants . However, several participants also commented that the reaching tasks were fun and engaging, indicating the potential for improving the motivational aspect of the simulator.
Overall, the feedback comments were ambivalent, with some participants responding very positively and others having severe difficulty with the simulator. One factor to consider in these responses is the novelty of the PW simulator, particularly with respect to the reaching component; since the study was cross-sectional, the novelty of the situation may have led to greater initial enthusiasm for those who already enjoyed VR experiences (e.g. videogames) and insufficient familiarization for those who were already anxious about VR environments. Furthermore, these data were from PW users recruited from one site in Montréal, which may limit generalizability. On the other hand, participants represented ages spanning a range of 23 years and experience ranging from 2 to 30 years; they were also providing feedback with respect to fairly rudimentary and universal tasks. In context of the participants’ SOP, their feedback regarding realism of task presentation reflects positively on their SOP. However, it seems the overall difficulty of performing the tasks in VR was likely a key factor in the lack of change in the IPQ realism score.
Participants also largely viewed the simulator as useful for learning to use a PW. It may have been some time since experienced users first learned to use their PW and may have forgotten what the specific challenges they had to go through. However, expert users will have likely experienced a wider range of situations and challenges, compared to beginners and therefore would have a more complete perspective on the learning utility of the simulator.
We compared task performance between RW and VR environments. We found that, in two of three tasks (Desk and Elevator), task completion time, time spent reaching, number of joystick movements, and number of reaching movements were all significantly greater when the task was performed in VR compared to RW. Only the Door task showed any concordant performance measures.
Joystick movements were represented by continuous deviation from the joystick neutral position and therefore reflect distinct PW manoeuvres. As such, concordant joystick movements in the Door task indicate that participants followed similar manoeuvring sequences in VR and PW; discordant joystick movements for the Desk and Elevator tasks indicate that participants navigated to objectives differently.
Few studies have directly compared PW task performance between VR and RW. Similar to our results, the study by Harrison and colleagues reported greater task completion times and a greater number of discrete manoeuvres in VR compared to RW when comparing several manoeuvring tasks and one route-finding task. However, the previous study involving the miWe simulator showed no significant difference in task completion times in 4/7 Wheelchair Skills Test type tasks and no significant difference in the number of joystick movements in 6/7 of these tasks. The authors noted that the tasks with significantly greater times and movements were the most difficult ones. Specifically, in their ‘Door (Push)’ task, participants lined up with the door, ‘pushed’ the door open, drove through, turned around, and closed the door. In comparison, our Door task required no turning and minimal manoeuvring through tight spaces. Therefore, as our simplest task, it is unsurprising that the Door task was the one that did show concordant performance in total task time and joystick control.
Our video task analysis showed a higher risk of collisions in VR compared to RW. Of note, collisions occurred in 100 % of Desk trials and 93 % of Elevator trials in VR. Similarly, Harrison and colleagues counted a total of 4 collisions over all their RW trials and 140 over all VR trials, in their manoeuvring and route-finding tasks. The authors noted that collision rates were greatest in tasks that required turning. Furthermore, Archambault and colleagues noted frequent collisions and adjustments in VR compared to RW for their most complex manoeuvring tasks. This is consistent with our results where the greatest relative risk of collisions in VR were with regard to the Desk and Elevator tasks, which required turning in tight spaces. Therefore, corrective and repeat movements for collisions likely contributed to greater task times. The poor agreement of the driving behaviours ‘advance straight’ (Door task) and ‘fluid drive-to-park’ further suggests that navigation was overall more efficient in RW than in VR.
The poorer navigation performance is reflective of the participants’ feedback regarding difficulty of control and may be explained by a number of simulator limitations. The miWe simulator has a fixed field of view (FOV) of the virtual world; the virtual camera is fixed in the forward position and participants cannot easily ‘look around’ their wheelchair to focus on obstacles. Moreover, the miWe system uses a 2D, monoscopic display instead of a 3D stereoscopic display, meaning participants lacked depth perception for judging distances to obstacles. Participants also responded on the questionnaire that the joystick control of the PW was unrealistic, e.g. wide turn radius and needing improvement in precision and accuracy. Together, these limitations make obstacle avoidance, especially in tight spaces, more challenging in VR than in RW and likely make a major contribution to the observed discordance in navigation performance.
For cognitive skills such as path finding and overall task planning, however, participants tended to adopt concordant (moderate to excellent agreement) strategies when making navigation choices in VR and RW: they generally parked in the same position relative to the reaching target and they approached the buttons on the elevator in the same relative orientation. Also, the majority of observed reaching behaviours and strategies were concordant (moderate to excellent agreement) for each task in VR and RW: participants tended to use the same hand for reaching a given object and had similar start-of-reach timing relative to parking. This suggests that, while participants may have driven less efficiently in VR compared to RW, they still performed both route finding and task planning (for navigation and reaching components) in similar ways.
Reaching movements were represented by distinct arm movements to a target. Similar to the joystick results, participants showed concordant reaching sequences in the Door task and discordant reaching sequences in the Desk and Elevator tasks.
To our knowledge, this study is the first to compare reaching performance between VR and RW in context of using a PW. However, there is much research on motor performance in VR with respect to upper-limb rehabilitation . Of note, Viau and colleagues compared motor performance and movement patterns between VR (2D display) and RW during a reach-grasp-release task. These authors reported similar overall movement strategies between the two environments, but different movement with respect to degree of elbow and wrist extension. However, other studies have demonstrated mixed results [12, 25–27]. Some of the differences in performance in VR (both 2D and 3D) have been attributed to the presence or absence of haptic feedback and display platforms .
The lack of haptic feedback and depth perception in our study likely contributed to the greater difficulty reported by participants and explain the greater number of reaching movements (Door and Elevator tasks) and reaching time (all tasks) observed in our study; one participant commented in the questionnaire that they had difficulty knowing if they had pressed the button in the Elevator task, even with the visual feedback (button lighting up). Additionally, the reaching tasks in our study differed from other studies in that the starting position of the user relative to the reaching objective was variable and dependent on the participant’s judgement; they decided where to park. As such, participants were required to accurately judge that the reaching objective was indeed within reach. Our results showed that, for all tasks, participants were more likely to misjudge this reaching distance in VR, i.e. higher relative risk of reaching errors.
Overall, the above mentioned limitations in the simulator may have contributed negatively to participants’ SOP and likely countered potential gains in the realism, spatial presence, and general sense of presence categories of the IPQ due to our implementation of the Hydra controller and combined navigation-reaching tasks. Unfortunately, it seems the greater complexity and number of features we have for a simulator, the more opportunities there are for participants to experience unrealism in some aspect of the simulator.
A potential solution for many of these issues may be the utilization of low cost consumer-level HMDs, e.g. the Oculus Rift (Oculus VR, Irvine, USA), featuring a 1080p resolution stereoscopic display, a physical 90° by 110° FOV, and head motion tracking capabilities. This would provide greater visual immersion, depth perception, and enable users to look around the virtual environment using head movements and may be implemented in future versions of the simulator.
Furthermore, the upcoming Sixense STEM system (Sixense, USA) is the next generation of the Hydra motion controller. The STEM system features small blocks that feature just the motion sensor and additional haptic feedback and could be readily implemented in the miWe. These blocks could more easily be attached to a user’s hands and the haptic feedback would increase the interactivity of reaching in the miWe.
In summary, this study on the Razer Hydra 3D motion controller provides evidence supporting its use as an interface for combined navigation-reaching tasks in the miWe simulator. SOP was increased in the involvement domain compared to the simulator without reaching; participants demonstrated concordant task behaviours and strategies and concordant kinematic performance on the least difficult task between VR and RW; and feedback from participants indicated that the combined navigation-reaching tasks were appropriate, useful for PW training, and engaging. Therefore, this device is a valid interface for training and familiarizing combined manual-navigation tasks from a task planning/strategy standpoint and may be utilized in future versions of the simulator. However, important limitations of the simulator explain discordant measures and ultimately the lackluster increases in participants’ SOP; therefore, future development of the simulator must address these issues through improved hardware and refinement of the virtual environment.
We believe that, in more complex tasks, fundamental differences between VR (e.g. PW steering characteristics, depth perception, multiple interfaces) and RW are more likely to be compounded, resulting in divergent task performances. However, it is this very capacity for complex tasks that marks a key advantage of VR simulators. It allows us to expand traditional training to include, in VR, a greater variety of stakeholder-relevant tasks, scenarios, and difficulty levels. In context of this study, we may consider any situation, at home or in the community, in which PW users would need to interact using their hands, i.e. capitalizing on the integration of a 3D had motion controller. Therefore, future development will need focus on minimizing the experiential differences, with an emphasis on difficulty optimization, from the real world. Some of these developments in the miWe are underway and reported by Archambault and colleagues .
The authors would like to thank all the participants who took part in this study. Helen Zhu and Elise Busilacchi assisted in data collection and processing. Christian Beaudoin, Frederic Bobohn, and Frederic Vicaire contributed to software development and Igor Sorokin constructed the props used in the experiment.
Gordon Tao was the recipient of a scholarship from the School of Physical and Occupational Therapy of McGill University. This project was funded in part by Le Projet Stratégique Innovant of CRIR.
GT carried out or was involved in every aspect of this project, including study design, integration of the motion controller into the simulator, design of the virtual environment, preparation of equipment and data collection space, recruitment, data collection, data processing and analysis, and manuscript preparation. PA acted in a supervisory role, providing critical feedback, assistance, and guidance at each stage of the project. He also reviewed, revised, and edited the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
University D. Wheelchair Skills Test (WST) Power WC - Wheelchair User, Version 4.2.2. Dalhousie University. 2013. http://www.wheelchairskillsprogram.ca/eng/. Accessed 01/08/2014 2014. | 2019-04-19T06:37:13Z | https://jneuroengrehab.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12984-016-0112-2 |
Belgium's port city of Ghent, self-described as the city of trust and love, sits at the confluence of the Scheldt and Lys rivers. The university town is a cultural hub that’s part artistic quarter and part historic center. The pedestrianized city center is a showcase of medieval architecture, including the fairy-tale-like 12th-century Gravensteen castle. For visitors who want to get to the heart of the city’s personality, take the Sorry, Not Sorry walking tour of Ghent’s graffiti.
The Ghent Belfry is the city’s symbol of independence. Built in 1313, it originally held the municipal privileges (similar to a town’s charter) in a secret room. The dragon symbol on the tower is symbolic of guarding the privileges. A single alarm bell, installed in 1325, became an hourly bell 50 years later. By 1442, the belfry served as the city’s watchtower, where trumpeters and bell ringers would warn of imminent danger – usually fire. Over time, more bells were added until a 54-bell carillon was completed in 1993. The belfry was placed on the World Heritage List in 1999. Visitors may choose self-guided tours or join a single daily guided tour.
Citadelpark is one of Ghent’s oldest, largest, and most popular parks. It was built for the 1913 World Exhibition on the site of a former Dutch citadel, hence the name. The expansive green space is within walking distance of Ghent’s historic center, near the Sint-Peiters train station. The lush grounds feature exotic tree species (labeled with their Latin names), flowers, ponds, a small waterfall, and numerous sculptures. There is an ornate cast-iron bandstand, which hosts the occasional music event. Two museums are also in the park, the Municipal Museum of Contemporary Art and the Museum of Fine Arts. Both museums charge a fee. Visitors are encouraged to explore the park during the daytime for safety reasons.
Design Museum Gent has a permanent collection of about 22,000 objects. Founded in 1903, the oldest part of the collection is the 18th-century French furniture. The bulk of the collection is mid-1970s art nouveau, art deco, and Italian postmodernism. The museum is based on a model of “good examples” of applied art, featuring several disciplines. Visitors will find the work of famous Belgian designers like Emiel Veranneman and Piet Stockmans, although some international designers are represented as well. There are often a number of exhibitions showing at the same time, like Karel Martens: Motion and the Alonso International Glass Collection.
Gent Free Walking Tour is for travelers who like to know the secrets of a travel destination that most tourists never learn from their guidebooks. This is an opportunity to learn to love Ghent like a local. Participants will visit and learn about significant historical must-see places in the city like Ghent Belfry, Graffiti Street, and Granvensteen Castle, but will also discover so much more. Guides share the history and legends of the city, urban myths, local inside jokes, and the university life for students. They’ll share the best places to grab lunch, have a cocktail, or enjoy a good dinner. Tours are 2 hours and meet outside the Uppelink Hostel.
Gent Watertoerist provides individual and group boat tours of Ghent. Standard boat tours are 40 minutes in length, and travelers will learn about Ghent from the Middle Ages to today. Visitors can choose open or glass-covered boats. The departure point for boat tours is the Graslei on the Lys River. Gent Watertoerist offers boat trips with Gulden Draak Beer, trips with catering, combination boat/walk daytrips, and combination culinary boat/walk trips. The Guided Boat Trip with Visit to Gruut Brewery includes three Belgium beers, while Nibble and Chat De Luxe stops at three places to dine on a combination boat/walking tour.
Stadsmuseum Gent is the Ghent City Museum, and aims to present the city’s story to travelers. This fascinating tour takes visitors on a circuit of exhibits in chronological order that trace the growth and development of Ghent. A local vision in 1833, the museum grew from a small donated collection to a municipal museum with significant objects in 1884, when its first curator was appointed. It grew to include examples from all art disciplines today, including stained glass, china, coins and medals, scale models, and items from trade guilds. Audio guides that tell the story of Ghent are available for a nominal fee.
Graslei is a magnificent medieval port in the heart of Ghent featuring a row of one-of-a-kind historical buildings that are beautifully reflected in the lengthy river on one side and the Korenlei on the other side. A meeting place for all who visit or live in the city, it boasts beautiful cobblestone walkways, majestic bridges, and quaint cafes. Visitors will learn of the area’s rich history and the story of Ghent’s burgeoning economy during the Middle Ages through the port’s ancient buildings. These include the Guildhall of the Free Boatmen, the house of the Grain Weighers, and Spikjer, among many others.
Gravensteen, the Castle of the Counts, is Ghent’s premier tourist attraction. This medieval fortress has a long and storied past dating back to the 10th century. It was home to Counts, then the Council of Flanders (the county’s high court), and a semi-subterranean prison and torture chamber during the 14th to 18th centuries. In the 18th century, it became an industrial complex, and by the 19th century was set for demolition. Today, it hosts visitors, cultural activities, and the occasional wedding. Visitors can expect to see instruments of torture and executioner’s tools in the museum of torture. There is also a museum of medieval weapons.
The History of Sciences Museum displays an evolving and extensive collection of historical scientific instruments that the University of Ghent has used in research and education over the last 200 years since the school’s beginning in 1817. Featured collections represent the science disciplines, including biology, chemistry, physics, botany, and mathematics. The collections tell the story of scientific research and modernization in Ghent and showcase the work of great scientific minds like Joseph Plateau, the father of film, and August Kekulé, the founder of aromatic chemistry. Collections of microscopes and surveying instruments as well as a history of electrical machines are also on display.
The House of Alijn depicts the evolution of daily life in the 20th century with examples of both ordinary objects and curiosities. The museum uses found objects, film, photos, and audio to tell the story of the century. The well-curated museum beautifully displays objects in the everyday environments in which they would be used, like a barber shop, a child’s room, or a living room. There is an interesting collection of private videos that Ghent citizens recorded to tell their stories, giving visitors a glimpse into the life and times of Ghent in the 1900s.
Korenmarkt is a busy square lying between the Lys River and St. Niklaas Church. One of the city’s most popular places to people watch, the expansive terrace area is home to cafés and eateries. Early risers may want to grab a coffee from Mokabon, a wildly popular coffee shop, before exploring the historic buildings surrounding the square. There are numerous bars, restaurants, and terraces that are often filled with students and tourists, especially during summer. Although cars are not allowed in the square, travelers should expect to see plenty of bikes, buses, and trams.
The Museum of Fine Arts (MSK) is an open concept museum and energetic meeting place where beauty, art, and knowledge intersect and are shared with everyone to evoke imagination, increase critical thinking, and reflect on the world. It is a place where both past and present can be considered while also shining a light on the future. MSK is home to collections of art from the Middle Ages to the present day, and leads in exhibiting modern art from the 19th and 20th centuries. While it has roughly 9,000 works, there are only about 450 pieces in their permanent collection with a focus on painting from the Southern Netherlands.
Patershol is a charmingly cozy neighborhood in Ghent lying in the shadow of the iconic Castle of the Counts. The cobblestone streets are just as they have been since medieval times, offering visitors the unique experience of walking along the pathways of the past. The prominent culture center of Caermersklooster resides within the town, showcasing spectacular permanent and traveling art exhibitions. Visitors will also find the House of Alijn, specialty shops, and various other art galleries in the area. Foodies will enjoy the several restaurants that have popped up over the years along the medieval alleyways, serving all types of food from French and Thai to traditional Flemish cooking.
The Provinciaal Cultuurcentrum Caermersklooster is a fully restored friary of the Calced Carmelites that currently serves as an exhibition space. Each year this monumental space features various exhibitions in a setting where the highly distinctive light creates an artistic atmosphere that’s hard to beat. Among the current displays are the Ghent Altarpiece, the restoration of the Lamb of God, and ROOTED, a fresh look at one of the prominent turning points in the art history of Flanders. The past exhibitions include A Miraculous Garden – Flora on the Ghent Altarpiece, and Movie Theaters, which was a double exhibition focusing on the past century’s vibrant cinema culture.
Saint Michael’s Church is a Roman Catholic Church that was built around 1440 and is dedicated to the Archangel Michael. It was originally designed to stand at a soaring height of 439 feet, but unfortunately it was only built to 78 feet with the unfinished tower receiving a closed roof in 1828. Its destiny changed due to religious conflicts, looting, and destruction between 1566 and 1579. Between 1623 and 1659, architect Lieven Cruyl rebuilt the church, creating a rich neo-Gothic interior featuring a pulpit and an altar. It is decorated with neoclassic and Rococo statues, and multiple baroque and 18th-century paintings, including the iconic Christ Dying on the Cross by Anthony Van Dyck.
St. Bavo's Cathedral was consecrated by Transmarus, bishop of Tournai and Noyon in 942, which dates the cathedral back to the chapel of Saint John the Baptist. Its imposing structure was consistently rebuilt from the 14th to the 16th century and it still remains relatively the same. For more than a thousand years, the cathedral has served as a place of Christian worship and prayer, and still provides Holy Mass. It also welcomes visitors to explore the magnificent structure and the various pieces of art and treasures that are housed within. Among the must-see sites is the chapel that features the famous painting The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb.
St. Michael’s Bridge is centrally located close to the Korenmarkt, crossing the Lys River. The neo-Gothic bridge was built in 1910 and boasts magnificent views of the three towers of Ghent, the belfry, St. Nicholas Church, and St. Bavo’s Cathedral. The guild houses on the enchanting Graslei and Korenlei, the renovated Old Fish Market, and the towers of the Castle of Counts can also be seen from the bridge. While the bridge allows visitors the chance to take some enviable pictures of the famous surroundings, its close proximity to prominent attractions such as the Brabant Gothic St. Michael’s Church and Het Pand also make it worth a visit.
The Society for the Museum of Contemporary Art (S.M.A.K) first opened its doors in 1957. Its founder Karel Geirlandt had the ambition to provide an independent museum focusing on modern trends in the art world. The S.M.A.K. presents itself as a place of renewal and experimentation, where they may see today what will be important tomorrow. It’s an open space that yearns to make its visitors think and question in order to see what the future may bring. Today, it houses 3,000 works of contemporary art from World War II until now, including works from prominent movements such as pop art, COBRA, arte povera, and minimal art.
The Universiteit Gent Botanical Garden sits on 2.75 hectares of land that are home to over 10,000 plant species reside. Adjacent to the Citadelpark, the garden features several greenhouses including the Victoria, Subtropical, Tropical, and Succulent House. The botanical garden offers 2-hour guided tours for adults as well as guided children’s tours, which include a complementary tasting of the fruits and other plant products grown here. Visitors to the garden will get the chance to learn about the various plants housed here and their relation to mankind, or they can simply enjoy a leisurely stroll through the picturesque setting. The garden also features various collections such as the herbarium and seed collection.
Belgium beer fans will adore Belgium Beer Days private beer tasting tours. Guide Liselot Caura takes visitors to the most interesting places to drink beer in Ghent. On the tour, Caura guides visitors through the charming streets of Ghent, all the while telling stories and interesting facts about world-famous Belgium beers. Visitors will learn about the history, popularity, and characteristics of Belgium Trappist, fruit, Gueuze, Old Brown, Saison, and amber blonde beers, as they have opportunities to taste each. They’ll also learn about local breweries and brewing processes. In July, Belgium Beer Days partners with Booot.be for beer boat tours during Ghent Fest.
Instead of walking tours, visitors can cover more ground faster by renting bikes and taking biking tours instead. It’s easy to navigate the carless streets of the historic center, exploring the medieval architecture, monuments, and museums. The Sorry, Not Sorry Ghent graffiti tour that spreads across the city is also easier by bike. The Chateau Route takes bikers out of the city into the lush countryside on a tour of castles and country houses, including Laarne Castle, a moated fortress from the Middle Ages. The Cycling Route follows the green belt around the outer edge of Ghent. Bike Gent offers a preferred bike rental list of vendors.
Boat in Ghent provides visitors with a number of services, including city boat trips, hop-on hop-off water tramway tours, and themed boat trips. Travelers might choose a 50-minute or a 1-hour tour of Ghent’s medieval center to get an overview of the city and decide on where to focus their time, or a more thorough 90-minute or 2-hour historical explanation by an onboard guide. Serious travelers may prefer the hop-on hop-off water tramway tours. They combine the historical guided tours with six stops, where visitors hop off and follow six fascinating walking routes, hopping back on and learning more from the boat guides between stops.
City Running Tours takes visitors Ghent on a “Stop & Go” running tour of between 6.5K and 10.5K, depending on what the group wants. Their mission is to show off the beautiful city of Ghent, but to do it in a fun way, so they explain the history, economics, and social life of the city on short frequent stops. Small groups are up to five runners, and runs are organized every day that there is demand. City Running Tours also offers expat and international student runs to help newcomers quickly become familiar with the city. Discreet VIP tours are available for recognizable people wanting to maintain privacy on runs. All but the VIP runs meet at the Backstay Hostel Ghent.
Ghent History Tour is a walking tour of the city’s historical center between the Lys and Scheldt rivers, led by Ghent Guides. The 2-hour tour meets at the tourist office and travels a distance of 2.5km. Guides will explain the history of Ghent along the way, answering curiosities like why the castle of the Count of Flanders wasn’t built inside the city’s historical center. The walk includes such Ghent highlights as the city hall and town hall, Castle of the Counts, Groentenmarkt and Vrijdagsmarkt, Patershol, and the Old Port. Tours are run daily during the summer months and weekends only the rest of the year. | 2019-04-24T20:42:24Z | https://vacationidea.com/destinations/ghent-belgium.html |
A Crypto Currency Boom is fuelling a new startup financing market - But can it help Save The News?
So How Then Is PressCoin Going to Change any of this?
A primer on Scoop’s "ethical Paywall"
For the past couple of weeks I’ve been working behind the scenes getting to know the team behind Presscoin.com, the latest participant in the remarkable Initial Coin Offering (ICO) boom which is rocking financial markets around the world, and which may well herald an inflection point in the history of money.
Scoop Co-editor Joseph Cederwall brought PressCoin to my attention initially. And after exploring the PressCoin website and reading the white-paper, my initial impression of PressCoin – just three weeks ago- was one of admiration for the audaciousness of their plans, mixed with a healthy dose of skepticism.
As I dug deeper, and got to know the crew, I embarked on a fairly steep learning curve. To understand their plans I needed to better understand the blockchain itself (which can perhaps be most easily thought of in the case of PressCoin as trust mediation technology which can be used to facilitate cooperation) as well as the extraordinary boom in Crypto Currencies (1500% growth over the past 12 months). One of the things I quickly stumbled upon is the fact that it is in all likelihood the ICO Boom which started in earnest in July this year – that has been driving the explosion in the broader Crypto Currency market - and most spectacularly and the value of Bitcoin (BTC) the oldest and, for now, most valuable crypto-currency in the market.
The report that follows (Part one of a two part series) outlines what I have discovered in my inquiries, about PressCoin and its plans and the people and businesses behind it. It also provides some context around recent developments in the #FutureOfNews debate, to assist those who might consider investing in PressCoin to better understand the business processes the PressCoin project is hoping to address and disrupt.
And I conclude by talking briefly about why I decided to join the team working on the project.
My Conclusion: The PressCoin ICO is certainly worth consideration, and if you are interested in the future of news like I am probably worth investing a few dollars in. Hence my deciding to join the effort to help it succeed.
From what I can see most ICOs tend to be based around traditional disruptive high risk technology plans – companies hoping to be disruptive, to achieve exponential growth, and which aspire to join the ranks of the unicorns - or failing that be bought out by one of them.
PressCoin by contrast is at its heart a collaborative play, a venture which plans to build its future around assisting an existing industry to better chart its path through troubled waters in a cooperative manner.
And in a sense therefore it is a blockchain venture that plays directly to the promise inherent in this remarkable new technology - and indeed into the promise that the internet showed in its early days.
Of course like everything at the bleeding edge of this technological maelstrom, it is a high risk investment. But at the same time it has - in my view a more credible plan than most, the possibility of systemic change - albeit a remote one, plus a great spirit.
And consequently I have become a supporter and joined the team.
20 years after I started working in the online news business back in 1997, it has become blindingly obvious in the past four years that an industry which looked to have such a bright future back in 1990s is now fundamentally broken.
And it’s not simply a question of Facebook and Google eating the old media world’s lunch.
The way the traditional news industry has responded to the threat has also been fundamentally mal-adaptive. The consolidated media giants have been for the most part closed-minded, combative and competitive. The industry has rejected opportunities to join forces and form industry responses to the challenge – and continues to ignore innovative ideas even when they presented to them on a plate.
Back in 1997, when a group of four Kiwis (Peter Fowler, Ian Llewellyn, Andrew McNaughton and myself) launched NewsRoom.co.nz immediately after the first MMP (proportional representation) election in NZ of 1996, we had hopes for a bright future for our venture.
It was only a short time after the World Wide Web and its foundational language HTML had been invented by Tim Berners-Lee. The prospect of being able to publish at very low cost to a worldwide readership looked certain to herald a new golden age of news publishing. And in political and readership terms the promise of our new form of up-to-the-minute internet publishing was immediately realised.
NewsRoom, like Scoop.co.nz, digitised the in-box of NZ’s Parliament, and revolutionised the manner in which political parties talked to each other, the media and the public. Within a few short months the quality of material being produced by the participants in the democratic process had dramatically improved and we had become an invaluable part of NZ’s political nervous system.
By providing participants in the political process - especially the smaller and less powerful ones - with the ability to flag to the world their views on what ought to be done, I think we helped facilitate the massive improvement in NZ’s Parliamentary process that arrived with MMP. Within months of our launch we would often see political parties trading releases about particular issues over the course of a day. In the past such discussion would have taken several days to work its way through, as the news cycle worked on a daily or perhaps twice daily update cycle at best.
But while we disrupted - and we think improved politics - we quickly found that translating this into revenue was also difficult. NewsRoom’s main initial source of revenue was a contract to provide a news service to one of NZ’s first ISPs, ClearNet, which was later merged into TelstraClear. And when this contract was lost, the loss of revenue precipitated the fall of Newsroom 1.0.
Scoop.co.nz arose out of that early foretaste of the precariousness of digital publishing. And in the years since, I have had the benefit of a ring-side view of the ever accelerating cycles of disruption of the old-order of journalism and news publishing.
The rise of blogging and forums, the empowerment of angry "commenting" personalities set free by anonymity to express their malice, market-eating algorithmic marketing systems, the invention of the smart-phone, the rise and rise of "the platforms", and most recently the commercialisation of fake news, the segregation of points of view on Facebook (and creation of echo-chambers) and the weaponisation of news information delivery systems to attack democracy - as seen in Fake News epidemic that took place during the US 2016 presidential election.
Today as we approach the end of 2017, seven election cycles later in NZ, I can only see a very bleak future for the so-called Fourth Estate. While journalism is a things which everybody seems to acknowledge as a vital component of our democratic systems, our economic and political system appears to be unable or unwilling to support it.
Confidence in the news industry both internally - among journalists and publishers - and externally, by readers, is at an all time low. The endless cycles of journalist headcount cutting which began in the 1990s continues at pace. The ubiquity of complete nonsense and click-bait masquerading as news is painful to experience.
Meanwhile the pace of technological innovation in marketing and news delivery systems continues to accelerate, making it impossible for small independent publishers to join the game – no matter how talented they are – unless they wish to do for several years as a hobby – happen to know a millionaire - or are willing to stake their house of the gamble that they might be able to achieve what nobody else has been able to.
These days globally only the very biggest of the biggest are even close to breaking even in their digital publishing divisions. Using a combination of advertising and paywall/membership revenues – global reach and viral content delivery channels, the New York Times, Washington Post, Guardian and Daily Mail are the leaders amongst a handful of publications making a go of commercialising news in the online space.
But the reality is that all four of those publications is also propped by old-school industrial news business models, namely print advertising and cover price revenue. And all of them also started this cycle of destruction with deep reservoirs of cash reserves - most of which are now gone.
There’s also a bit of irony in the fact that the three quality journalism publishers among this group are arguably doing better right now, precisely because they have - in a sense failed in their role of informing society? The twin trans-Atlantic democratic debacles, Brexit and Trump, have been a great boon for quality news media membership models (like the Guardian’s), and a fillip to paywall subscription sales at the NYT and Washington Post.
In the event that these crises are at some point resolved, public subscription and membership revenue for all three of these publications may well start to fall again.
Meanwhile for the new generation of digital publishers, Vox, Axios, Buzzfeed, Mashable, The Intercept and Vice, the news is also not so good – even though they are definitely doing great high quality journalistic work they are beginning to hit a ceiling, after having barely taken off.
After a fairly brief flirtation by venture capital firms with new media companies in 2015 and 2016, the interest of the disrupters in the media fizzled out around the time Gawker media was killed off by Peter Thiel and Hulk Hogan. Two years on their valuations are falling and revenue targets are being reset, downwards. Buzzfeed in particular has discovered the sponsored editorial model doesn’t scale well –it turns out becoming a digital agency in this day and age can be a relatively low margin high maintenance business.
The possible exception to this is Politico, a publication which like Scoop.co.nz reports on the core democratic processes - so far in the US and the EU. Politico’s highly valued news intelligence output has secured it a special place among partially paywalled websites, distinguishing itself from other paywalled sites which serve a deep pocketed elite with the information they require to function such as the The Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Bloomberg news.
None of all this has been much of a surprise to me. Over the decade since 2017 the direction of the "attention market" – wherein publishers decided they were in the business of selling the eyeballs of their readers - has been steady and remorseless - disrupting both the advertising and news industries in an equally inexorable fashion.
As technical solutions to the challenges of servicing e-commerce businesses, i.e. finding the right targeted audience were solved, the vast bulk of advertising inventory became nearly worthless.
Here in New Zealand, while the recent, and rather spectacular success of the Jennings/Murphy/Hickey NewsRoom.co.nz re-launch, and the rise and rise of TheSpinoff.co.nz are certainly bright spots in the history of digital media in NZ, their success is being achieved against the flow of the market, and will be hard to maintain.
In the end their futures will be decided by a group of perennially fickle corporate marketing managers, who will be constantly advised by their agencies that there are higher ROI [Return on Investment] options to help them deliver bottom line performance in selling widgets or whatever else they’re buying advertising to achieve.
Call me a cynic - and I hope I am wrong about this- but my experience strongly suggests that corporate organisations struggle to understand the value of association with excellence in content, no matter how well it is presented to them.
These days, news just seems so ubiquitous, so commodified. As consumers of information it almost seems oppressive at times.
And this is so in part because there is no concerted effort by the news industry to sell itself, to convince their advertising clients, corporations who rely on the success of democratic institutions and the rule of law, that the news industry is nothing more than a carrier signal for marketing messages.
Perhaps realising they are stuffed, Stuff (Formerly Fairfax) appears to have decided to continue its diversification strategy expanding its foray into the fibre-broadband market and the online video entertainment space.
This was my question when Scoop co-editor Joseph Cederwall sent me a link to the ambitious USD$100 million ICO plan a couple of weeks ago.
If the news market is so screwed, what could possibly make a difference?
Joseph lined up a call with Amit Rathore, the erstwhile leader of the PressCoin project, to explore the possibility of a collaboration between PressCoin and Scoop. Our Skype discussion - NZ/US/France - started with a brief explanation of Scoop.co.nz and its raw-news aggregation and ScoopPro business models.
Amit listened with interest and then explained his background as a founder of Quintype, a high-tech cloud based publishing platform provider which simplifies the deployment of state of the art news publishing systems.
We quickly established that Quintype may well be a good fit for the next stage of Scoop’s development.
Amit then explained that PressCoin’s vision of a way to fix the future of news was to grow a 100 million strong network of thinking and discerning readers to support a decentralised, platform based news eco-system that would serve the news needs of people who care about fate of the planet and democracy.
So far so good, but like a lot of people I was wondering how exactly this would work. How would this USD$100 million investment kick off this systemic change?
Amit was certainly saying all the right things when it came to defining the problem. But that has always been the easy part. My initial feeling was that on the solution side the story PressCoin was telling was still a bit fuzzy.
Nevertheless I was open to being convinced, and our discussion continued over the next few days.
The core business-model for PressCoin in its early stages will be Software As A Service (SaaS) subscription revenues paid by independent publishers for use of PressCoin built, shared, scalable, state of the art (data driven) publishing system. Systems which Amit is confident can be provided at a fraction of the cost publishers routinely pay when trying to build such systems via the traditional digital agency/developer model.
These services will be provided on top of the AWS (Amazon Web Services) news publisher developer-kit which Amit had previously built at Quintype. The company is now servicing a variety of different clients and serving 120 million pages of content a month. Perhaps most notable among these clients is The Quint, an Indian Huffington Post like publication in English. Fortune and Bloomberg also have deployed Quintype-powered publications.
Having spent years trying to keep up with the technology requirements in the industry, and failing, this part of the pitch made perfect business sense to me as a publisher.
And this shared data-driven technology platform approach immediately reminded me of Scandinavian news publisher Schibsted Group’s call in 2016 for the formation of a global alliance among news publishers.
In June 2016 , The Tinius Trust – which owns half of the Schibsted Group (Scandinavia’s largest newspaper publisher – and the owner of a large number of online classified market sites in the EU) – had assembled a cast of news luminaries including legendary Guardian Editor Alan Rusbridger to introduce their ideas.
They published a wonderful report dissecting both the ailments of the news industry, and proposing a solution.
Schibsted’s plan was to build a state of the art data-first publishing platform to personalise the news services provided to readers who would be, by virtue of the benefits of doing so, be encouraged to login to use the fully featured product. This would make news services functionally more like Facebook, and thereby give the news industry sufficient scale sufficiently to directly compete with Facebook and Google in advertising markets.
But Schibsted quickly discovered that asking News Companies to work together is a bit like trying to train cats to hunt mice together. The Tinius Trust’s call for a global media alliance wasn’t even reported on in Alan Rusbridger’s own newspaper.
PressCoin’s plans are more fluid than Schibsted’s but broadly similar, and focussed on a different tier in the publisher world. PressCoin hopes to help network the new and emerging publishers of the world keep up with the pace of change.
And while USD$100 million will only get you so far in developing such technology, using development teams based in India ought to make this sum of money go at least five times as far as it might go if invested in tech teams based in Stockholm.
However for me there remained a key unsolved challenge in this story.
In a market where revenue yields on advertising have been on a steady downward path for a decade – crippling every new entrant to the game before they even get started – SaaS revenue from publishers might also be difficult to grow, unless PressCoin was able to also bring to bear some other innovations to tilt the playing field in their direction.
If lowering the costs of news publishers by using shared digital infrastructure is leg one of the PressCoin vision, leg two involves enlisting the assistance of engaged readers to improve the quality of the product – and to help the network grow.
This idea also rang a few bells.
2. Dutch crowd-funded start-up De-Correspondent – which is set to launch soon in New York with what can be expected to be a fire-cracker crowd-funding campaign.
WikiTribune, which is presently operational in Beta – built on a modified WordPress platform, is providing its readers with the ability to participate in news creation by contributing articles, proposing ideas, and suggesting edits, additions and corrections to articles on the site. Article production is supervised by a staff of paid editors and journalists. It’s early days so far, but it is definitely an exciting project (which you can join here if you want to have a look inside the kitchen).
WikiTribune, like Wikipedia, presently has a reader donation funding model and the project already has a fairly large number of supporters who have committed to recurring monthly funding. This is the same business model which is powering De-Correspondent and Jeremy Scahill’s Intercepted podcast (on The Intercept, First Look Media’s investigative journalism powerhouse led by Glenn Greenwald, Jeremy Scahill and Laura Poitras and funded by billionaire Ebay founder Pierre Omidyar.
For its part De-Correspondent is a reporter’s dream, a publisher built by writers for readers who value quality thoughtful content from subject specialist reporters. Their model is also reader funded, and includes baked in opportunities for informed readers to help shape the news agenda via facilitated engagements with reporters and newsletters. There is much more to its very well thought out approach that can be explored here.
Given that PressCoin is a crypto-currency based project, it is unsurprising that Amit’s vision for facilitating reader assistance is blockchain based.
Amit’s plan is to provide for blockchain tools to be integrated into publishing platforms to reward engaged readers for their "mid-funnel" assistance with the news publishing and distribution process. This could range from submitting stories, and tips, to fact-checking, collecting source material from the scene of a news event, and sharing material on Social media.
Rewards would be securely and transparently tracked using the Blockchain and delivered in the form of PressCoin tokens.
While I have some skepticism about how well monetary incentives work in such circumstances, I can see very clear value in a cross publisher karma system to enable engaged and clever readers to move about a news universe and assist publishers in subjects they are expert in.
In addition, paying for assistance in crypto-currency is all very well, but will the PressCoin tokens be worth anything?
The facility of PressCoin for the purpose of making a new market for news will be backed up by provision of a real-money/PressCoin gateway via an associated project which lends quite a lot of credibility to the PressCoin project.
CointypeX is a brand new Cryptocurrency exchange with an integrated Swiss Bank, featuring super-low transaction fees on transfers, payments and even fiat foreign exchange. CointypeX was built by a team of Wall St. technologists with experience in high-frequency trading, and investors in PressCoin are being encouraged to open up their crypto wallets inside this new exchange.
In addition, PressCoin’s NEWS tokens are backed with share in ownership of the PressCoin platform company itself – PressCoin PLC - which makes it entirely different than most of the new ICOs presently being issued, some of which have no real asset lying behind them at all.
By providing an external market to price PressCoin, and encouraging PressCoin transactions within its eco-system, it should be possible for PressCoin network publishers and technology providers to start trading internally to build network connections – for example by building a web-traffic exchange to direct readers to related websites and content - and to pay writers, designers, technologists and sales commissions for referrals with PressCoin earned from the sale of advertising and subscriptions.
Crowd-funding will also be able to be carried out using PressCoin for finance, and if the PressCoin marketplace achieves sufficient liquidity the value of PressCoin could start to rise independently of the value of the underlying business that it sits on.
This aspect of the Initial Coin Offering method of funding a networked platform business is a fascinating aspect to the economics of crypto currencies and I plan to discuss this in part two of this report.
This was the part of PressCoin’s vision that initially had me excited, albeit for somewhat self-interested reasons, in relation to Scoop.co.nz.
As readers of Scoop.co.nz will know, we have developed a novel way to fund our public interest news services - our Ethical Paywall and our raw news publication model. These are approaches to news revenue generation that we are very keen to accelerate and see used for funding more quality public interest journalism.
A couple of months ago the Scoop team even began internal discussions around planning a crowd-equity raising - a project we called Scoop 3.0 - to provide us with funds to develop a new cloud based SaaS version of Scoop, one which could be deployed by small groups of entrepreneurial reporters and technologists in other jurisdictions.
PressCoin’s support and the Quintype technology suite - if it works as advertised - would enable us to massively accelerate this path. it was therefore very exciting to see the support of projects like this in their roadmap.
Scoop’s "Ethical Paywall" is so-named - using Fair/Ethical trade parlance - because it addresses the market failures for two groups in the news supply chain : a) journalists and publishers who can’t get paid; and b) readers who are increasingly finding themselves on the wrong-side of paywalls which prevent them from reading articles they need to access to fulfil their obligations as informed voters.
"help create a polis trained to participate generatively in the public sphere"
After our initial conversation I followed up to Amit with a written description of Scoop.co.nz’s "Ethical Paywall" and raw news publishing approach to news monetisation.
I pitched the idea as a good fit for PressCoin’s objectives – a business model which is neither advertising nor member funded, and one which is by its very nature decentralised and which results in an open website that can serve the public interest.
In May 2015, responding to a precipitous collapse in advertising revenue yields after NZ’s 2014 General Election Scoop.co.nz introduced a novel news monetisation model which we originally called an "invisible paywall". Invisible because we don’t actually have a paywall at all – and a paywall because we require professional users of Scoop to pay to access the site.
the ability to reach, through Scoop, a high quality audience of decision-makers with their news releases.
Our funding model incentivises us to produce content which is useful for our paying institutional and organisation readers – and this content is by default also useful for society as a whole, and is unlikely to be very click-bait like.
When we introduced the idea we thought we had a pretty marginal chance of success – I put our odds of succeeding at around 10% at the beginning of 2015. But thanks to the amazing support of our readers, who donated more than $150,000 in crowd-funding campaigns to enable us to make the transition over a two year period, by May 2017 we had grown our licensed professional user base to 180 organisations and were within sight of reaching our goal, advertising-free sustainability.
Amit sent off our proposal to his collaborators for their consideration and invited me to assist with the effort to put PressCoin together.
At which point I began to meet the PressCoin team.After a week of working with them I confess that I am growing rather fond of their way of doing business.
First of all Amit Rathore, the driving force behind the PressCoin project.
A technologist first and foremost – and a remarkably adept one on the basis of what I have seen – Amit is also a very open, down to earth, accessible and kind person. He seems to be very genuinely concerned for the future of the planet and of its people just as I am.
Based in San Mateo California Amit coordinates the work of the PressCoin ICO team, which at this point numbers about 20, and is and based in at least four countries, India, the UK, the UK and France (me).
Early on in my engagement with Amit I pushed him a little to help him prepare for what it will be like if an investigative journalist decides to have a go at him about the ICO funding model. Amit responded very naturally and confidently, albeit a little tersely. My impression at this point is that he comes more from the Tim O’Reilly/Craig Newmark mould of entrepreneurs, as opposed to the Mark Zuckerberg/Steve Jobs one.
My introduction to Amit’s team came shortly after we spoke, and initially via the online collaboration tool Slack. To get to know their community PressCoin had simply set up an open slack instance and invited all-comers to talk to them directly. A very open start-up approach. Inside Slack I soon met Amit’s cousin Manshu Rathore, an ex-Quintype engineer, who is based in India, very helpful, and as far as I can tell doesn’t sleep.
Next I met Andreas Stenzel, who lives near Amit and whose kids play together, Andreas is managing the paid marketing side of the launch using an impressive array of spreadsheets - another very down to earth, open and competent, experienced technology industry person.
I next met two more of the founders – Andrew Markell and Gunther Sonnenfeld, who are also partners of Amit’s in another related venture, HigherOrderVC, a VC company which is focussing on Blockchain technologies for "Enlightened Value Creation". Andrew and Gunther are busy working behind the scenes to line up high net-worth investors in the PressCoin ICO.
For some considerable time Gunther has been working closely with Journalist Dr Nafeez Ahmed, whose INSURGE Intelligence investigative journalism platform is the initial flagship platform for the PressCoin crypto-economy. A beta version of the platform is online and a working version is expected to be launched early in the new year.
Nafeez is an experienced investigative journalist whose work Scoop had the privilege of publishing as early as 2002.
Over a skype call from the Geneva waterfront I talked with Andrew and Gunther for some time about the amazing rise in the price of Bitcoin. I was quickly brought up to speed with various theories on the remarkable events of the past few months in the cryptocurrency world.
Finally I have conversed via IRC with, albeit not yet met by voice or video conference, another of PressCoin’s founders Amit Bansal, a web-wizard and entrepreneur and who is the CEO of PressCoin’s NextElection platform, a new digital townhall which plans to bring the best aspects of digital communications to bear during (and after) elections everywhere, to ensure voters are fully informed about what and for whom they are voting.
More importantly, NextElection will maintain a real-time collaborative spotlight on the incumbents, relevant issues, and challengers - 24/7 - to ensure elected officials are doing their job, and their ratings are transparent. After all, as Amit likes to say, "citizens should be like politicians, remembering at all times, that there’s always a next election coming up …"
And it’s worth mentioning that one of the team members I haven’t yet met is a leading fintech player and who is the genius behind Cointype and CointypeX.
So all in all a pretty impressive team.
But right now the pressure is coming on the PressCoin team, fast and hard. The next 28 days will be a baptism of fire.
To get to USD$100 million will be a remarkable feat, and this team has its work cut out for it. If successful this will be unquestionably the largest initial public fund-raise of any new-media venture ever.
The ICO proper opened today.
India was the first jurisdiction where investors are able invest directly using fiat currency – and the fiat investment gateway is now open. This allows. investors to purchase NEWS tokens directly in Indian Rupees (INR) without having to first create a crypto wallet and buy some other cryptocurrency. A fiat currency gateway for investors in US Dollars (USD) has now also been opened up.
In coming days pounds (GBP), Swiss Francs (CHF) and Euros (EUR) will also be able to be used to purchase NEWS tokens. In some jurisdictions in order to invest with regular fiat currencies, investors will need to prove that they are qualified investors in order to satisfy security laws.
Which highlights one of the most fascinating aspects of the ICO boom.
At its heart the PressCoin ICO is effectively an unregulated IPO, financed by the sale of a brand new currency. If it succeeds then in all likelihood investors will soon be able to purchase coffee directly from their phones with fractions of their investment – something which is hard to do with shares in Facebook or Appal and also with most other ICO tokens - most of which are not presently listed on crypto-exchanges.
The stated intention of PressCoin PLC. is to eventually seek a sharemarket listing for PressCoin, probably in the UK, with each NEWS Token mapping to a share in the new company on the London Stock Exchange.
So will PressCoin succeed in this crowd-sale?
Obviously time will tell. The ICO closes on January 8th, and if everything goes to plan PressCoin’s NEWS tokens will then be immediately tradeable on the CointypeX exchange.
While I have no idea whether it will succeed, I would certainly like it to do so, and not only because it may benefit Scoop.co.nz.
If there hadn’t been a bunch of recent ICOs for similar amount of money with significantly less substance behind them than this one I’d have thought this a true moon-shot.
But as it is I think this one has a chance – and with the Crypto Currency Boom exploding in the headlines PressCoin’s timing appears to be perfect. And for the reasons discussed in this article, right now, I think the PressCoin plan I have seen so far to save the news industry. And potentially our planet from the scourge of misinformation.
And for all these reasons I am greatly honoured to have been invited to join the team. | 2019-04-25T02:43:40Z | http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL1712/S00024/why-i-am-supporting-the-presscoin-ico-by-alastair-thompson.htm |
2008-01-31 Assigned to IGT reassignment IGT ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: DEWAAL, DANIEL J.
A gaming system where in one embodiment, as players play the primary games of the gaming devices, players are enabled to join one of a plurality of teams associated with a secondary team game. Each of the teams includes a plurality of players. The gaming system periodically monitors at least one factor or parameter of each player's gaming activity to determine a score for that player. In one embodiment, the scores for each of the players on each team are accumulated to determine that team's cumulative score. If a team's cumulative score reaches a winning value, the gaming system provides a prize to one or more of the players on that team. The gaming system enables players to switch from one team to another in attempt to be on a particular team when that team's cumulative score reaches a winning value.
A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains or may contain material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the photocopy reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure in exactly the form it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
Gaming machines which provide players awards in primary or base games are well known. Gaming machines generally require the player to place or make a wager to activate the primary or base game. In many of these gaming machines, the award is based on the player obtaining a winning symbol or symbol combination and based on the amount of the wager (e.g., the higher the wager, the higher the award). Symbols or symbol combinations which are less likely to occur usually provide higher awards.
Secondary or bonus games are also known in gaming machines. The secondary or bonus games usually provide an additional award to the player. Secondary or bonus games usually do not require an additional wager by the player to be activated. Secondary or bonus games are generally activated or triggered upon an occurrence of a designated triggering symbol or triggering symbol combination in the primary or base game. For instance, a bonus symbol occurring on the payline on the third reel of a three reel slot machine may trigger the secondary bonus game. When a secondary or bonus game is triggered, the gaming machines generally indicates this to the player through one or more visual and/or audio output devices, such as the reels, lights, speakers, video screens, etc. Part of the enjoyment and excitement of playing certain gaming machines is the occurrence of the secondary or bonus game (even before the player knows how much the bonus award will be). In other words, obtaining a bonus award is part of the enjoyment and excitement for players.
In recent years, gaming has become a more social leisure activity. Casinos often strive for ways to allow players to work together in gaming. Working together can create camaraderie among the players and provide an enhanced gaming experience.
It is contemplated to provide secondary games which include a group gaming aspect, wherein a plurality of players playing at linked gaming machines participate in a group event for one or more awards. In certain known gaming systems, groups of gaming machines are grouped into teams. The players playing at such gaming machines have the opportunity to participate in a shared bonus event, such as a communal bonus game provided to the players upon a triggering condition. Based upon the number of members on a team and the players' wagering history, the team can compete in the bonus event with little or no strategy. In such systems, it is often difficult for the players to understand their interest or involvement in the bonus event.
To increase player enjoyment and excitement with gaming devices, it is desirable to provide new and different games which promote interactivity among players on a team thereby enhancing the casino experience while giving players decision making ability which affects the team's eligibility for prizes.
One embodiment of the present disclosure provides a gaming system including a plurality of gaming devices which each include a primary game operable upon a wager by a player. The gaming system includes a secondary team game and enables players of the gaming devices to join one of a plurality of teams which each include a plurality of players. The gaming system monitors at least one factor or parameter of each player's gaming activity to determine a score or rank for that player. In one embodiment, the scores or ranks for each of the players are accumulated for each team. If a team's cumulative score or rank reaches a designated or winning value, the gaming system provides one or more of the players on that team a prize or designated awards. In various embodiments, the gaming system enables each of the players to switch from one team to another in attempt to be on a team when that team's cumulative score or rank reaches a winning value.
In various embodiments, each player may join a team or change teams in any suitable manner. In one embodiment, the gaming system enables the player to select their initial team. In another embodiment, the gaming system determines each player's initial team. In one embodiment, the gaming system enables the player to join a team or change teams while playing on a gaming machine of the gaming system. In another embodiment, the gaming system enables a player to join teams or change teams at another electronic device affiliated with the gaming establishment, such as a hand held device, a kiosk or a hotel room entertainment system. In another embodiment, the gaming system enables players to join or switch teams from an off-site location, such as via the Internet, as will be discussed in more detail below.
In one embodiment, the secondary game is associated with a community, group or team display device. The community, group or team display device includes a plurality of positions or locations wherein at least one of the positions or locations is associated with an award. In one such embodiment, the community or team display device is a game board which includes a plurality of positions. At least one of the positions on the game board is a winning position, and at least one of the positions is a non-winning position. In one embodiment, each of a plurality of teams associated with the secondary game is represented by a marker or symbol on the game board. The markers move to different positions on the game board based on move values which are determined by the gaming system for each of the teams. When a team's marker lands on a winning position of the game board, the gaming system provides the players of that team with an award or prize.
In one such embodiment, the gaming system provides each player playing at one of the gaming devices the opportunity to participate in or to qualify for the secondary team game. In one embodiment, if the player chooses or otherwise qualifies to participate in the secondary team game, the gaming system enables the player to join one of the teams associated with the secondary team game. Each of the teams includes or is capable of including a plurality of players. When selecting a team, the player tries to select a team when that team's marker is close to landing on a winning position on the game board. Thus, the player will have a better chance of winning an award in the secondary team game.
As the players play the primary games of their respective gaming devices, the gaming system monitors one or more factors of each player's gaming activity. For example, in various alternative embodiments, the gaming system monitors a player's wins, losses and/or the amount wagered by the player. The gaming system determines a score for each player based on the monitored factor. Based on the individual player scores determined for each of the players on a team, the gaming system determines a cumulative score for each team. The gaming system determines a move value for each team based on the determined cumulative score determined for that team. The gaming system causes the marker representing each team on the game board to move a number of positions on or around the game board based on the determined move value for that team.
In one such embodiment, the gaming system periodically determines the cumulative score for each team. In one embodiment, a time parameter is set for each team's gaming activity to be sampled. The game operator can establish the time parameter in any suitable manner. In different embodiments, the time parameter is random or is set to predetermined intervals. When the time parameter is met, the gaming system determines the cumulative score for each team and associates each team with a move value based on the determined cumulative score. The move value for each team is used to move that team's marker a number of spaces or positions on the game board. When a team's marker moves to a winning position on the game board, one or more prizes become available to the members of that team.
For example, to move one position on the game board, the gaming system requires a team to wager $1000. That is, the players on the team must collectively wager $1000 for their team to advance one position on the game board of the secondary team game. The gaming system evaluates the team's gaming activity (i.e., monitors the amounts wagered by each member of the team) at one hour intervals. The gaming system determines that, in a first hour, the members of the team have wagered $3000. Thus, the marker representing the team will move forward three positions on the game board for that one-hour interval.
In one embodiment, the gaming system enables players to change teams in an attempt to be on a team when that team's marker lands on one of the winning positions. That is, the gaming system enables players to switch teams to be on the team with the most advantageous board game position. In one such embodiment, players can change teams at any suitable or designated time. However, in various embodiments, changing teams does not guarantee a win. The players may not know which gaming activity factor or factors are being monitored to determine the players' scores. Thus, players can only guess where a particular team's marker will move next. The players estimate when and where a team's marker will move next based on how many people they think are on the team and which factors they believe are being monitored as each team member plays on his or her respective gaming device. From this estimation, a player tries to join the team she believes will land on a prize next or land on a specific prize that player wants. If the player is correct, the player has a chance to win a prize. If the player is incorrect (i.e., the marker did not move where the player thought it would), the player does not win a prize. The player can stay with the same team in attempt to win another prize, or the player can switch teams.
It should be appreciated that switching teams does not guarantee that a player will win a prize. For example, in one embodiment, the gaming system determines a move value for each team based on the total coin-in for that team within a designated time period. If too many players join a team, this could cause the move value determined for that team to dramatically increase which, in turn, could cause the team's marker to overshoot a winning position.
In this manner, the present disclosure provides an interactive game among players in which players can incorporate strategy and choice in determining which team they want to join. This enables players to have an active role while gaming and to make decisions which directly affect their ability to win an award or prize.
In different embodiments when a team marker reaches a winning position, one, a plurality, or each of the players of that team win an award. The number of awards or prizes available may be less than or equal to the number of members on the team. In one embodiment, the gaming establishment operator determines the number of awards for each winning position. In another embodiment, a player's status determines when the player can claim an award or how many awards are available to them. For example, if the team's marker lands on a winning position, the gaming system enables platinum players to claim the award first, while bronze players have to wait for a time period before claiming an award. In one embodiment, the gaming system only enables a certain number of team members to win an award. For example, the gaming system enables the first five members of the winning team that claim one of the awards to have the awards.
It should be appreciated that the awards may be any suitable types of awards including credits, gift certificates, or physical awards such as mobile telephones. In one embodiment, the gaming system queues the available awards and transfers or associates the awards with the winning positions in a first in first out manner. In this embodiment, the awards are rotated and change, resulting in the players having a degree of uncertainty as to which position a specific award is associated with. This embodiment enables players to strategize where the team's marker may land and to use strategy to change teams to try to align themselves with the team they feel has the greatest chance of winning the award the player wants.
In one alternative embodiment, the teams of the secondary game accumulate points based on the gaming activity of each team's players. In one such embodiment, when a team accumulates a winning number of points, the gaming system provides one or more players of that team with a designated award or prize. In one embodiment, the gaming system enables each of the players to switch from one team to another in attempt to be on a team when that team's accumulated number of points reaches a winning number of points. In one such embodiment, when a player switches teams, the player retains any points accumulated as a result of that player playing on the prior team. In another embodiment, the player does not keep the accumulated points when the player switches to a new team.
Accordingly, one advantage of the present disclosure is to provide an interactive team game in which players use strategy to determine which team to join and when to join such teams.
Another advantage of the present disclosure is to provide a game which enables players to make decisions which directly affect their ability to win a prize.
Additional features and advantages are described herein and will be apparent from the following Detailed Description and the figures.
FIGS. 1A and 1B are perspective views of example alternative embodiments of the gaming device of the present disclosure.
FIG. 2A is a schematic block diagram of one embodiment of an electronic configuration for one of the gaming devices disclosed herein.
FIG. 2B is a schematic block diagram of one embodiment of a network configuration for a plurality of gaming devices disclosed herein.
FIG. 3A is a flow chart illustrating one embodiment of the present disclosure.
FIG. 3B is a flow chart illustrating another embodiment of the present disclosure.
FIGS. 4A to 4G illustrate screen shots for one player who is participating in the secondary team game of one embodiment of the present disclosure.
FIG. 5 illustrates one example embodiment of the present disclosure where a plurality of gaming devices are associated with a common or shared display configured to display information relating to the secondary team game.
The present disclosure may be implemented in various configurations for gaming machines or gaming devices, including but not limited to: (1) a dedicated gaming machine or gaming device, wherein the computerized instructions for controlling any games (which are provided by the gaming machine or gaming device) are provided with the gaming machine or gaming device prior to delivery to a gaming establishment; and (2) a changeable gaming machine or gaming device, where the computerized instructions for controlling any games (which are provided by the gaming machine or gaming device) are downloadable to the gaming machine or gaming device through a data network when the gaming machine or gaming device is in a gaming establishment. In one embodiment, the computerized instructions for controlling any games are executed by at least one central server, central controller or remote host. In such a “thin client” embodiment, the central server remotely controls any games (or other suitable interfaces) and the gaming device is utilized to display such games (or suitable interfaces) and receive one or more inputs or commands from a player. In another embodiment, the computerized instructions for controlling any games are communicated from the central server, central controller or remote host to a gaming device local processor and memory devices. In such a “thick client” embodiment, the gaming device local processor executes the communicated computerized instructions to control any games (or other suitable interfaces) provided to a player.
In one embodiment, one or more gaming devices in a gaming system may be thin client gaming devices and one or more gaming devices in the gaming system may be thick client gaming devices. In another embodiment, certain functions of the gaming device are implemented in a thin client environment and certain other functions of the gaming device are implemented in a thick client environment. In one such embodiment, computerized instructions for controlling any primary games are communicated from the central server to the gaming device in a thick client configuration and computerized instructions for controlling any secondary games or bonus functions are executed by a central server in a thin client configuration.
Referring now to the drawings, two example alternative embodiments of the gaming device disclosed herein are illustrated in FIGS. 1A and 1B as gaming device 10 a and gaming device 10 b, respectively. Gaming device 10 a and/or gaming device 10 b are generally referred to herein as gaming device 10.
In the embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 1A and 1B, gaming device 10 has a support structure, housing or cabinet which provides support for a plurality of displays, inputs, controls and other features of a conventional gaming machine. It is configured so that a player can operate it while standing or sitting. The gaming device may be positioned on a base or stand or can be configured as a pub-style table-top game (not shown) which a player can operate preferably while sitting. As illustrated by the different configurations shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the gaming device may have varying cabinet and display configurations.
In one embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 2A, the gaming device preferably includes at least one processor 12, such as a microprocessor, a microcontroller-based platform, a suitable integrated circuit or one or more application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC's). The processor is in communication with or operable to access or to exchange signals with at least one data storage or memory device 14. In one embodiment, the processor and the memory device reside within the cabinet of the gaming device. The memory device stores program code and instructions, executable by the processor, to control the gaming device. The memory device also stores other data such as image data, event data, player input data, random or pseudo-random number generators, pay-table data or information and applicable game rules that relate to the play of the gaming device. In one embodiment, the memory device includes random access memory (RAM), which can include non-volatile RAM (NVRAM), magnetic RAM (MRAM), ferroelectric RAM (FeRAM) and other forms as commonly understood in the gaming industry. In one embodiment, the memory device includes read only memory (ROM). In one embodiment, the memory device includes flash memory and/or EEPROM (electrically erasable programmable read only memory). Any other suitable magnetic, optical and/or semiconductor memory may operate in conjunction with the gaming device disclosed herein.
In one embodiment, part or all of the program code and/or operating data described above can be stored in a detachable or removable memory device, including, but not limited to, a suitable cartridge, disk, CD ROM, DVD or USB memory device. In other embodiments, part or all of the program code and/or operating data described above can be downloaded to the memory device through a suitable network.
In one embodiment, as discussed in more detail below, the gaming device randomly generates awards and/or other game outcomes based on probability data. In one such embodiment, this random determination is provided through utilization of a random number generator (RNG), such as a true random number generator, a pseudo random number generator or other suitable randomization process. In one embodiment, each award or other game outcome is associated with a probability and the gaming device generates the award or other game outcome to be provided to the player based on the associated probabilities. In this embodiment, since the gaming device generates outcomes randomly or based upon one or more probability calculations, there is no certainty that the gaming device will ever provide the player with any specific award or other game outcome.
In another embodiment, as discussed in more detail below, the gaming device employs a predetermined or finite set or pool of awards or other game outcomes. In this embodiment, as each award or other game outcome is provided to the player, the gaming device flags or removes the provided award or other game outcome from the predetermined set or pool. Once flagged or removed from the set or pool, the specific provided award or other game outcome from that specific pool cannot be provided to the player again. This type of gaming device provides players with all of the available awards or other game outcomes over the course of the play cycle and guarantees the amount of actual wins and losses.
In another embodiment, as discussed below, upon a player initiating game play at the gaming device, the gaming device enrolls in a bingo game. In this embodiment, a bingo server calls the bingo balls that result in a specific bingo game outcome. The resultant game outcome is communicated to the individual gaming device to be provided to a player. In one embodiment, this bingo outcome is displayed to the player as a bingo game and/or in any form in accordance with the present disclosure.
In one embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 2A, the gaming device includes one or more display devices controlled by the processor. The display devices are preferably connected to or mounted to the cabinet of the gaming device. The embodiment shown in FIG. 1A includes a central display device 16 which displays a primary game. This display device may also display any suitable secondary game associated with the primary game as well as information relating to the primary or secondary game. The alternative embodiment shown in FIG. 1B includes a central display device 16 and an upper display device 18. The upper display device may display the primary game, any suitable secondary game associated or not associated with the primary game and/or information relating to the primary or secondary game. These display devices may also serve as digital glass operable to advertise games or other aspects of the gaming establishment. As seen in FIGS. 1A and 1B, in one embodiment, the gaming device includes a credit display 20 which displays a player's current number of credits, cash, account balance or the equivalent. In one embodiment, the gaming device includes a bet display 22 which displays a player's amount wagered. In one embodiment, as described in more detail below, the gaming device includes a player tracking display 40 which displays information regarding a player's playing tracking status.
In another embodiment, at least one display device may be a mobile display device, such as a PDA or tablet PC, that enables play of at least a portion of the primary or secondary game at a location remote from the gaming device.
The display devices may include, without limitation, a monitor, a television display, a plasma display, a liquid crystal display (LCD) a display based on light emitting diodes (LED), a display based on a plurality of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), a display based on polymer light-emitting diodes (PLEDs), a display based on a plurality of surface-conduction electron-emitters (SEDs), a display including a projected and/or reflected image or any other suitable electronic device or display mechanism. In one embodiment, as described in more detail below, the display device includes a touch-screen with an associated touch-screen controller. The display devices may be of any suitable size and configuration, such as a square, a rectangle or an elongated rectangle.
The display devices of the gaming device are configured to display at least one and preferably a plurality of game or other suitable images, symbols and indicia such as any visual representation or exhibition of the movement of objects such as mechanical, virtual or video reels and wheels, dynamic lighting, video images, images of people, characters, places, things and faces of cards, and the like.
In one alternative embodiment, the symbols, images and indicia displayed on or of the display device may be in mechanical form. That is, the display device may include any electromechanical device, such as one or more mechanical objects, such as one or more rotatable wheels, reels or dice, configured to display at least one or a plurality of game or other suitable images, symbols or indicia.
As illustrated in FIG. 2A, in one embodiment, the gaming device includes at least one payment device 24 in communication with the processor. As seen in FIGS. 1A and 1B, a payment device such as a payment acceptor includes a note, ticket or bill acceptor 28 wherein the player inserts paper money, a ticket or voucher and a coin slot 26 where the player inserts money, coins, or tokens. In other embodiments, payment devices such as readers or validators for credit cards, debit cards or credit slips may accept payment. In one embodiment, a player may insert an identification card into a card reader of the gaming device. In one embodiment, the identification card is a smart card having a programmed microchip or a magnetic strip coded with a player's identification, credit totals (or related data) and other relevant information. In another embodiment, a player may carry a portable device, such as a cell phone, a radio frequency identification tag or any other suitable wireless device, which communicates a player's identification, credit totals (or related data) and other relevant information to the gaming device. In one embodiment, money may be transferred to a gaming device through electronic funds transfer. When a player funds the gaming device, the processor determines the amount of funds entered and displays the corresponding amount on the credit or other suitable display as described above.
As seen in FIGS. 1A, 1B and 2A, in one embodiment the gaming device includes at least one and preferably a plurality of input devices 30 in communication with the processor. The input devices can include any suitable device which enables the player to produce an input signal which is received by the processor. In one embodiment, after appropriate funding of the gaming device, the input device is a game activation device, such as a play button 32 or a pull arm (not shown) which is used by the player to start any primary game or sequence of events in the gaming device. The play button can be any suitable play activator such as a bet one button, a max bet button or a repeat the bet button. In one embodiment, upon appropriate funding, the gaming device begins the game play automatically. In another embodiment, upon the player engaging one of the play buttons, the gaming device automatically activates game play.
In one embodiment, one input device is a bet one button. The player places a bet by pushing the bet one button. The player can increase the bet by one credit each time the player pushes the bet one button. When the player pushes the bet one button, the number of credits shown in the credit display preferably decreases by one, and the number of credits shown in the bet display preferably increases by one. In another embodiment, one input device is a bet max button (not shown) which enables the player to bet the maximum wager permitted for a game of the gaming device.
In one embodiment, one input device is a cash out button 34. The player may push the cash out button and cash out to receive a cash payment or other suitable form of payment corresponding to the number of remaining credits. In one embodiment, when the player cashes out, a payment device, such as a ticket, payment or note generator 36 prints or otherwise generates a ticket or credit slip to provide to the player. The player receives the ticket or credit slip and may redeem the value associated with the ticket or credit slip via a cashier (or other suitable redemption system). In another embodiment, when the player cashes out, the player receives the coins or tokens in a coin payout tray. It should be appreciated that any suitable payout mechanisms, such as funding to the player's electronically recordable identification card may be implemented in accordance with the gaming device disclosed herein.
In one embodiment, as mentioned above and seen in FIG. 2A, one input device is a touch-screen 42 coupled with a touch-screen controller 44, or some other touch-sensitive display overlay to allow for player interaction with the images on the display. The touch-screen and the touch-screen controller are connected to a video controller 46. A player can make decisions and input signals into the gaming device by touching the touch-screen at the appropriate places. One such input device is a conventional touch-screen button panel.
The gaming device may further include a plurality of communication ports for enabling communication of the processor with external peripherals, such as external video sources, expansion buses, game or other displays, an SCSI port or a key pad.
In one embodiment, as seen in FIG. 2A, the gaming device includes a sound generating device controlled by one or more sounds cards 48 which function in conjunction with the processor. In one embodiment, the sound generating device includes at least one and preferably a plurality of speakers 50 or other sound generating hardware and/or software for generating sounds, such as playing music for the primary and/or secondary game or for other modes of the gaming device, such as an attract mode. In one embodiment, the gaming device provides dynamic sounds coupled with attractive multimedia images displayed on one or more of the display devices to provide an audio-visual representation or to otherwise display full-motion video with sound to attract players to the gaming device. During idle periods, the gaming device may display a sequence of audio and/or visual attraction messages to attract potential players to the gaming device. The videos may also be customized for or to provide any appropriate information.
In one embodiment, the gaming machine may include a sensor, such as a camera in communication with the processor (and possibly controlled by the processor) that is selectively positioned to acquire an image of a player actively using the gaming device and/or the surrounding area of the gaming device. In one embodiment, the camera may be configured to selectively acquire still or moving (e.g., video) images and may be configured to acquire the images in either an analog, digital or other suitable format. The display devices may be configured to display the image acquired by the camera as well as display the visible manifestation of the game in split screen or picture-in-picture fashion. For example, the camera may acquire an image of the player and the processor may incorporate that image into the primary and/or secondary game as a game image, symbol or indicia.
Gaming device 10 can incorporate any suitable wagering primary or base game. The gaming machine or device may include some or all of the features of conventional gaming machines or devices. The primary or base game may comprise any suitable reel-type game, card game, cascading or falling symbol game, number game or other game of chance susceptible to representation in an electronic or electromechanical form, which in one embodiment produces a random outcome based on probability data at the time of or after placement of a wager. That is, different primary wagering games, such as video poker games, video blackjack games, video keno, video bingo or any other suitable primary or base game may be implemented.
In one embodiment, as illustrated in FIGS. 1A and 1B, a base or primary game may be a slot game with one or more paylines 52. The paylines may be horizontal, vertical, circular, diagonal, angled or any combination thereof. In this embodiment, the gaming device includes at least one and preferably a plurality of reels 54, such as three to five reels 54, in either electromechanical form with mechanical rotating reels or video form with simulated reels and movement thereof. In one embodiment, an electromechanical slot machine includes a plurality of adjacent, rotatable reels which may be combined and operably coupled with an electronic display of any suitable type. In another embodiment, if the reels 54 are in video form, one or more of the display devices, as described above, display the plurality of simulated video reels 54. Each reel 54 displays a plurality of indicia or symbols, such as bells, hearts, fruits, numbers, letters, bars or other images which preferably correspond to a theme associated with the gaming device. In another embodiment, one or more of the reels are independent reels or unisymbol reels. In this embodiment, each independent or unisymbol reel generates and displays one symbol to the player. In one embodiment, the gaming device awards prizes after the reels of the primary game stop spinning if specified types and/or configurations of indicia or symbols occur on an active payline or otherwise occur in a winning pattern, occur on the requisite number of adjacent reels and/or occur in a scatter pay arrangement.
In an alternative embodiment, rather than determining any outcome to provide to the player by analyzing the symbols generated on any wagered upon paylines as described above, the gaming device determines any outcome to provide to the player based on the number of associated symbols which are generated in active symbol positions on the requisite number of adjacent reels (i.e., not on paylines passing through any displayed winning symbol combinations). In this embodiment, if a winning symbol combination is generated on the reels, the gaming device provides the player one award for that occurrence of the generated winning symbol combination. For example, if one winning symbol combination is generated on the reels, the gaming device will provide a single award to the player for that winning symbol combination (i.e., not based on the number of paylines that would have passed through that winning symbol combination). It should be appreciated that because a gaming device with wagering on ways to win provides the player one award for a single occurrence of a winning symbol combination and a gaming device with paylines may provide the player more than one award for the same occurrence of a single winning symbol combination (i.e., if a plurality of paylines each pass through the same winning symbol combination), it is possible to provide a player at a ways to win gaming device with more ways to win for an equivalent bet or wager on a traditional slot gaming device with paylines.
In one embodiment, the total number of ways to win is determined by multiplying the number of symbols generated in active symbol positions on a first reel by the number of symbols generated in active symbol positions on a second reel by the number of symbols generated in active symbol positions on a third reel and so on for each reel of the gaming device with at least one symbol generated in an active symbol position. For example, a three reel gaming device with three symbols generated in active symbol positions on each reel includes 27 ways to win (i.e., 3 symbols on the first reel×3 symbols on the second reel×3 symbols on the third reel). A four reel gaming device with three symbols generated in active symbol positions on each reel includes 81 ways to win (i.e., 3 symbols on the first reel×3 symbols on the second reel×3 symbols on the third reel×3 symbols on the fourth reel). A five reel gaming device with three symbols generated in active symbol positions on each reel includes 243 ways to win (i.e., 3 symbols on the first reel×3 symbols on the second reel×3 symbols on the third reel×3 symbols on the fourth reel×3 symbols on the fifth reel). It should be appreciated that modifying the number of generated symbols by either modifying the number of reels or modifying the number of symbols generated in active symbol positions by one or more of the reels, modifies the number of ways to win.
In another embodiment, the gaming device enables a player to wager on and thus activate symbol positions. In one such embodiment, the symbol positions are on the reels. In this embodiment, if based on the player's wager, a reel is activated, then each of the symbol positions of that reel will be activated and each of the active symbol positions will be part of one or more of the ways to win. In one embodiment, if based on the player's wager, a reel is not activated, then a designated number of default symbol positions, such as a single symbol position of the middle row of the reel, will be activated and the default symbol position(s) will be part of one or more of the ways to win. This type of gaming machine enables a player to wager on one, more or each of the reels and the processor of the gaming device uses the number of wagered on reels to determine the active symbol positions and the number of possible ways to win. In alternative embodiments, (1) no symbols are displayed as generated at any of the inactive symbol positions, or (2) any symbols generated at any inactive symbol positions may be displayed to the player but suitably shaded or otherwise designated as inactive.
In one embodiment wherein a player wagers on one or more reels, a player's wager of one credit may activate each of the three symbol positions on a first reel, wherein one default symbol position is activated on each of the remaining four reels. In this example, as described above, the gaming device provides the player three ways to win (i.e., 3 symbols on the first reel×1 symbol on the second reel×1 symbol on the third reel×1 symbol on the fourth reel×1 symbol on the fifth reel). In another example, a player's wager of nine credits may activate each of the three symbol positions on a first reel, each of the three symbol positions on a second reel and each of the three symbol positions on a third reel wherein one default symbol position is activated on each of the remaining two reels. In this example, as described above, the gaming device provides the player twenty-seven ways to win (i.e., 3 symbols on the first reel×3 symbols on the second reel×3 symbols on the third reel×1 symbol on the fourth reel×1 symbol on the fifth reel).
In one embodiment, to determine any award(s) to provide to the player based on the generated symbols, the gaming device individually determines if a symbol generated in an active symbol position on a first reel forms part of a winning symbol combination with or is otherwise suitably related to a symbol generated in an active symbol position on a second reel. In this embodiment, the gaming device classifies each pair of symbols which form part of a winning symbol combination (i.e., each pair of related symbols) as a string of related symbols. For example, if active symbol positions include a first cherry symbol generated in the top row of a first reel and a second cherry symbol generated in the bottom row of a second reel, the gaming device classifies the two cherry symbols as a string of related symbols because the two cherry symbols form part of a winning symbol combination.
After determining if any strings of related symbols are formed between the symbols on the first reel and the symbols on the second reel, the gaming device determines if any of the symbols from the next adjacent reel should be added to any of the formed strings of related symbols. In this embodiment, for a first of the classified strings of related symbols, the gaming device determines if any of the symbols generated by the next adjacent reel form part of a winning symbol combination or are otherwise related to the symbols of the first string of related symbols. If the gaming device determines that a symbol generated on the next adjacent reel is related to the symbols of the first string of related symbols, that symbol is subsequently added to the first string of related symbols. For example, if the first string of related symbols is the string of related cherry symbols and a related cherry symbol is generated in the middle row of the third reel, the gaming device adds the related cherry symbol generated on the third reel to the previously classified string of cherry symbols.
On the other hand, if the gaming device determines that no symbols generated on the next adjacent reel are related to the symbols of the first string of related symbols, the gaming device marks or flags such string of related symbols as complete. For example, if the first string of related symbols is the string of related cherry symbols and none of the symbols of the third reel are related to the cherry symbols of the previously classified string of cherry symbols, the gaming device marks or flags the string of cherry symbols as complete.
After either adding a related symbol to the first string of related symbols or marking the first string of related symbols as complete, the gaming device proceeds as described above for each of the remaining classified strings of related symbols which were previously classified or formed from related symbols on the first and second reels.
After analyzing each of the remaining strings of related symbols, the gaming device determines, for each remaining pending or incomplete string of related symbols, if any of the symbols from the next adjacent reel, if any, should be added to any of the previously classified strings of related symbols. This process continues until either each string of related symbols is complete or there are no more adjacent reels of symbols to analyze. In this embodiment, where there are no more adjacent reels of symbols to analyze, the gaming device marks each of the remaining pending strings of related symbols as complete.
When each of the strings of related symbols is marked complete, the gaming device compares each of the strings of related symbols to an appropriate paytable and provides the player any award associated with each of the completed strings of symbols. It should be appreciated that the player is provided one award, if any, for each string of related symbols generated in active symbol positions (i.e., as opposed to being based on how many paylines that would have passed through each of the strings of related symbols in active symbol positions).
In one embodiment, a base or primary game may be a poker game wherein the gaming device enables the player to play a conventional game of video draw poker and initially deals five cards all face up from a virtual deck of fifty-two card deck. Cards may be dealt as in a traditional game of cards or in the case of the gaming device, may also include that the cards are randomly selected from a predetermined number of cards. If the player wishes to draw, the player selects the cards to hold via one or more input device, such as pressing related hold buttons or via the touch screen. The player then presses the deal button and the unwanted or discarded cards are removed from the display and the gaming machine deals the replacement cards from the remaining cards in the deck. This results in a final five-card hand. The gaming device compares the final five-card hand to a payout table which utilizes conventional poker hand rankings to determine the winning hands. The gaming device provides the player with an award based on a winning hand and the credits the player wagered.
In another embodiment, the base or primary game may be a multi-hand version of video poker. In this embodiment, the gaming device deals the player at least two hands of cards. In one such embodiment, the cards are the same cards. In one embodiment each hand of cards is associated with its own deck of cards. The player chooses the cards to hold in a primary hand. The held cards in the primary hand are also held in the other hands of cards. The remaining non-held cards are removed from each hand displayed and for each hand replacement cards are randomly dealt into that hand. Since the replacement cards are randomly dealt independently for each hand, the replacement cards for each hand will usually be different. The poker hand rankings are then determined hand by hand and awards are provided to the player.
In one embodiment, a base or primary game may be a keno game wherein the gaming device displays a plurality of selectable indicia or numbers on at least one of the display devices. In this embodiment, the player selects at least one or a plurality of the selectable indicia or numbers via an input device such as the touch screen. The gaming device then displays a series of drawn numbers to determine an amount of matches, if any, between the player's selected numbers and the gaming device's drawn numbers. The player is provided an award based on the amount of matches, if any, based on the amount of determined matches and the number of numbers drawn.
In one embodiment, in addition to winning credits or other awards in a base or primary game, the gaming device may also give players the opportunity to win credits in a bonus or secondary game or bonus or secondary round. The bonus or secondary game enables the player to obtain a prize or payout in addition to the prize or payout, if any, obtained from the base or primary game. In general, a bonus or secondary game produces a significantly higher level of player excitement than the base or primary game because it provides a greater expectation of winning than the base or primary game and is accompanied with more attractive or unusual features than the base or primary game. In one embodiment, the bonus or secondary game may be any type of suitable game, either similar to or completely different from the base or primary game.
In one embodiment, the triggering event or qualifying condition may be a selected outcome in the primary game or a particular arrangement of one or more indicia on a display device in the primary game, such as the number seven appearing on three adjacent reels along a payline in the primary slot game embodiment seen in FIGS. 1A and 1B. In other embodiments, the triggering event or qualifying condition may be by exceeding a certain amount of game play (such as number of games, number of credits, amount of time), or reaching a specified number of points earned during game play.
In another embodiment, the gaming device processor 12 or central server 56 randomly provides the player one or more plays of one or more secondary games. In one such embodiment, the gaming device does not provide any apparent reasons to the player for qualifying to play a secondary or bonus game. In this embodiment, qualifying for a bonus game is not triggered by an event in or based specifically on any of the plays of any primary game. That is, the gaming device may simply qualify a player to play a secondary game without any explanation or alternatively with simple explanations. In another embodiment, the gaming device (or central server) qualifies a player for a secondary game at least partially based on a game triggered or symbol triggered event, such as at least partially based on the play of a primary game.
In one embodiment, the gaming device includes a program which will automatically begin a bonus round after the player has achieved a triggering event or qualifying condition in the base or primary game. In another embodiment, after a player has qualified for a bonus game, the player may subsequently enhance his/her bonus game participation through continued play on the base or primary game. Thus, for each bonus qualifying event, such as a bonus symbol, that the player obtains, a given number of bonus game wagering points or credits may be accumulated in a “bonus meter” programmed to accrue the bonus wagering credits or entries toward eventual participation in a bonus game. The occurrence of multiple such bonus qualifying events in the primary game may result in an arithmetic or exponential increase in the number of bonus wagering credits awarded. In one embodiment, the player may redeem extra bonus wagering credits during the bonus game to extend play of the bonus game.
In one embodiment, no separate entry fee or buy in for a bonus game need be employed. That is, a player may not purchase an entry into a bonus game, rather they must win or earn entry through play of the primary game thus, encouraging play of the primary game. In another embodiment, qualification of the bonus or secondary game is accomplished through a simple “buy in” by the player, for example, if the player has been unsuccessful at qualifying through other specified activities. In another embodiment, the player must make a separate side-wager on the bonus game or wager a designated amount in the primary game to qualify for the secondary game. In this embodiment, the secondary game triggering event must occur and the side-wager (or designated primary game wager amount) must have been placed to trigger the secondary game.
In one embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 2B, one or more of the gaming devices 10 are in communication with each other and/or at least one central server, central controller or remote host 56 through a data network or remote communication link 58. In this embodiment, the central server, central controller or remote host is any suitable server or computing device which includes at least one processor and at least one memory or storage device. In different such embodiments, the central server is a progressive controller or a processor of one of the gaming devices in the gaming system. In these embodiments, the processor of each gaming device is designed to transmit and receive events, messages, commands or any other suitable data or signal between the individual gaming device and the central server. The gaming device processor is operable to execute such communicated events, messages or commands in conjunction with the operation of the gaming device. Moreover, the processor of the central server is designed to transmit and receive events, messages, commands or any other suitable data or signal between the central server and each of the individual gaming devices. The central server processor is operable to execute such communicated events, messages or commands in conjunction with the operation of the central server. It should be appreciated that one, more or each of the functions of the central controller as disclosed herein may be performed by one or more gaming device processors. It should be further appreciated that one, more or each of the functions of one or more gaming device processors as disclosed herein may be performed by the central controller.
In one embodiment, the game outcome provided to the player is determined by a central server or controller and provided to the player at the gaming device. In this embodiment, each of a plurality of such gaming devices are in communication with the central server or controller. Upon a player initiating game play at one of the gaming devices, the initiated gaming device communicates a game outcome request to the central server or controller.
In one embodiment, the central server or controller receives the game outcome request and randomly generates a game outcome for the primary game based on probability data. In another embodiment, the central server or controller randomly generates a game outcome for the secondary game based on probability data. In another embodiment, the central server or controller randomly generates a game outcome for both the primary game and the secondary game based on probability data. In this embodiment, the central server or controller is capable of storing and utilizing program code or other data similar to the processor and memory device of the gaming device.
In an alternative embodiment, the central server or controller maintains one or more predetermined pools or sets of predetermined game outcomes. In this embodiment, the central server or controller receives the game outcome request and independently selects a predetermined game outcome from a set or pool of game outcomes. The central server or controller flags or marks the selected game outcome as used. Once a game outcome is flagged as used, it is prevented from further selection from the set or pool and cannot be selected by the central controller or server upon another wager. The provided game outcome can include a primary game outcome, a secondary game outcome, primary and secondary game outcomes, or a series of game outcomes such as free games.
The central server or controller communicates the generated or selected game outcome to the initiated gaming device. The gaming device receives the generated or selected game outcome and provides the game outcome to the player. In an alternative embodiment, how the generated or selected game outcome is to be presented or displayed to the player, such as a reel symbol combination of a slot machine or a hand of cards dealt in a card game, is also determined by the central server or controller and communicated to the initiated gaming device to be presented or displayed to the player. Central production or control can assist a gaming establishment or other entity in maintaining appropriate records, controlling gaming, reducing and preventing cheating or electronic or other errors, reducing or eliminating win-loss volatility and the like.
In another embodiment, a predetermined game outcome value is determined for each of a plurality of linked or networked gaming devices based on the results of a bingo, keno or lottery game. In this embodiment, each individual gaming device utilizes one or more bingo, keno or lottery games to determine the predetermined game outcome value provided to the player for the interactive game played at that gaming device. In one embodiment, the bingo, keno or lottery game is displayed to the player. In another embodiment, the bingo, keno or lottery game is not displayed to the player, but the results of the bingo, keno or lottery game determine the predetermined game outcome value for the primary or secondary game.
In the various bingo embodiments, as each gaming device is enrolled in the bingo game, such as upon an appropriate wager or engaging an input device, the enrolled gaming device is provided or associated with a different bingo card. Each bingo card consists of a matrix or array of elements, wherein each element is designated with a separate indicia, such as a number. It should be appreciated that each different bingo card includes a different combination of elements. For example, if four bingo cards are provided to four enrolled gaming devices, the same element may be present on all four of the bingo cards while another element may solely be present on one of the bingo cards.
In operation of these embodiments, upon providing or associating a different bingo card to each of a plurality of enrolled gaming devices, the central controller randomly selects or draws, one at a time, a plurality of the elements. As each element is selected, a determination is made for each gaming device as to whether the selected element is present on the bingo card provided to that enrolled gaming device. This determination can be made by the central controller, the gaming device, a combination of the two, or in any other suitable manner. If the selected element is present on the bingo card provided to that enrolled gaming device, that selected element on the provided bingo card is marked or flagged. This process of selecting elements and marking any selected elements on the provided bingo cards continues until one or more predetermined patterns are marked on one or more of the provided bingo cards. It should be appreciated that in one embodiment, the gaming device requires the player to engage a daub button (not shown) to initiate the process of the gaming device marking or flagging any selected elements.
After one or more predetermined patterns are marked on one or more of the provided bingo cards, a game outcome is determined for each of the enrolled gaming devices based, at least in part, on the selected elements on the provided bingo cards. As described above, the game outcome determined for each gaming device enrolled in the bingo game is utilized by that gaming device to determine the predetermined game outcome provided to the player. For example, a first gaming device to have selected elements marked in a predetermined pattern is provided a first outcome of win $10 which will be provided to a first player regardless of how the first player plays in a first game and a second gaming device to have selected elements marked in a different predetermined pattern is provided a second outcome of win $2 which will be provided to a second player regardless of how the second player plays a second game. It should be appreciated that as the process of marking selected elements continues until one or more predetermined patterns are marked, this embodiment ensures that at least one bingo card will win the bingo game and thus at least one enrolled gaming device will provide a predetermined winning game outcome to a player. It should be appreciated that other suitable methods for selecting or determining one or more predetermined game outcomes may be employed.
In one example of the above-described embodiment, the predetermined game outcome may be based on a supplemental award in addition to any award provided for winning the bingo game as described above. In this embodiment, if one or more elements are marked in supplemental patterns within a designated number of drawn elements, a supplemental or intermittent award or value associated with the marked supplemental pattern is provided to the player as part of the predetermined game outcome. For example, if the four corners of a bingo card are marked within the first twenty selected elements, a supplemental award of $10 is provided to the player as part of the predetermined game outcome. It should be appreciated that in this embodiment, the player of a gaming device may be provided a supplemental or intermittent award regardless of if the enrolled gaming device's provided bingo card wins or does not win the bingo game as described above.
In another embodiment, one or more of the gaming devices are in communication with a central server or controller for monitoring purposes only. That is, each individual gaming device randomly generates the game outcomes to be provided to the player and the central server or controller monitors the activities and events occurring on the plurality of gaming devices. In one embodiment, the gaming network includes a real-time or on-line accounting and gaming information system operably coupled to the central server or controller. The accounting and gaming information system of this embodiment includes a player database for storing player profiles, a player tracking module for tracking players and a credit system for providing automated casino transactions.
In one embodiment, the gaming device disclosed herein is associated with or otherwise integrated with one or more player tracking systems. Player tracking systems enable gaming establishments to recognize the value of customer loyalty through identifying frequent customers and rewarding them for their patronage. In one embodiment, the gaming device and/or player tracking system tracks any players gaming activity at the gaming device. In one such embodiment, the gaming device includes at least one card reader 38 in communication with the processor. In this embodiment, a player is issued a player identification card which has an encoded player identification number that uniquely identifies the player. When a player inserts their playing tracking card into the card reader to begin a gaming session, the card reader reads the player identification number off the player tracking card to identify the player. The gaming device and/or associated player tracking system timely tracks any suitable information or data relating to the identified player's gaming session. Directly or via the central controller, the gaming device processor communicates such information to the player tracking system. The gaming device and/or associated player tracking system also timely tracks when a player removes their player tracking card when concluding play for that gaming session. In another embodiment, rather than requiring a player to insert a player tracking card, the gaming device utilizes one or more portable devices carried by a player, such as a cell phone, a radio frequency identification tag or any other suitable wireless device to track when a player begins and ends a gaming session. In another embodiment, the gaming device utilizes any suitable biometric technology or ticket technology to track when a player begins and ends a gaming session.
During one or more gaming sessions, the gaming device and/or player tracking system tracks any suitable information or data, such as any amounts wagered, average wager amounts and/or the time these wagers are placed. In different embodiments, for one or more players, the player tracking system includes the player's account number, the player's card number, the player's first name, the player's surname, the player's preferred name, the player's player tracking ranking, any promotion status associated with the player's player tracking card, the player's address, the player's birthday, the player's anniversary, the player's recent gaming sessions, or any other suitable data. In one embodiment, such tracked information and/or any suitable feature associated with the player tracking system is displayed on a player tracking display 40. In another embodiment, such tracked information and/or any suitable feature associated with the player tracking system is displayed via one or more service windows (not shown) which are displayed on the central display device and/or the upper display device.
In one embodiment, a plurality of the gaming devices are capable of being connected together through a data network. In one embodiment, the data network is a local area network (LAN), in which one or more of the gaming devices are substantially proximate to each other and an on-site central server or controller as in, for example, a gaming establishment or a portion of a gaming establishment. In another embodiment, the data network is a wide area network (WAN) in which one or more of the gaming devices are in communication with at least one off-site central server or controller. In this embodiment, the plurality of gaming devices may be located in a different part of the gaming establishment or within a different gaming establishment than the off-site central server or controller. Thus, the WAN may include an off-site central server or controller and an off-site gaming device located within gaming establishments in the same geographic area, such as a city or state. The WAN gaming system may be substantially identical to the LAN gaming system described above, although the number of gaming devices in each system may vary relative to each other.
In another embodiment, the data network is an internet or intranet. In this embodiment, the operation of the gaming device can be viewed at the gaming device with at least one internet browser. In this embodiment, operation of the gaming device and accumulation of credits may be accomplished with only a connection to the central server or controller (the internet/intranet server) through a conventional phone or other data transmission line, digital subscriber line (DSL), T-1 line, coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, or other suitable connection. In this embodiment, players may access an internet game page from any location where an internet connection and computer, or other internet facilitator is available. The expansion in the number of computers and number and speed of internet connections in recent years increases opportunities for players to play from an ever-increasing number of remote sites. It should be appreciated that enhanced bandwidth of digital wireless communications may render such technology suitable for some or all communications, particularly if such communications are encrypted. Higher data transmission speeds may be useful for enhancing the sophistication and response of the display and interaction with the player.
As mentioned above, in one embodiment, the present disclosure may be employed in a server based gaming system. In one such embodiment, as described above, one or more gaming devices are in communication with a central server or controller. The central server or controller may be any suitable server or computing device which includes at least one processor and a memory or storage device. In alternative embodiments, the central server is a progressive controller or another gaming machine in the gaming system. In one embodiment, the memory device of the central server stores different game programs and instructions, executable by a gaming device processor, to control the gaming device. Each executable game program represents a different game or type of game which may be played on one or more of the gaming devices in the gaming system. Such different games may include the same or substantially the same game play with different pay tables. In different embodiments, the executable game program is for a primary game, a secondary game or both. In another embodiment, the game program may be executable as a secondary game to be played simultaneous with the play of a primary game (which may be downloaded to or fixed on the gaming device) or vice versa.
In this embodiment, each gaming device at least includes one or more display devices and/or one or more input devices for interaction with a player. A local processor, such as the above-described gaming device processor or a processor of a local server, is operable with the display device(s) and/or the input device(s) of one or more of the gaming devices.
In operation, the central controller is operable to communicate one or more of the stored game programs to at least one local processor. In different embodiments, the stored game programs are communicated or delivered by embedding the communicated game program in a device or a component (e.g., a microchip to be inserted in a gaming device), writing the game program on a disc or other media, downloading or streaming the game program over a dedicated data network, internet or a telephone line. After the stored game programs are communicated from the central server, the local processor executes the communicated program to facilitate play of the communicated program by a player through the display device(s) and/or input device(s) of the gaming device. That is, when a game program is communicated to a local processor, the local processor changes the game or type of game played at the gaming device.
In another embodiment, a plurality of gaming devices at one or more gaming sites may be networked to the central server in a progressive configuration, as known in the art, wherein a portion of each wager to initiate a base or primary game may be allocated to one or more progressive awards. In one embodiment, a progressive gaming system host site computer is coupled to a plurality of the central servers at a variety of mutually remote gaming sites for providing a multi-site linked progressive automated gaming system. In one embodiment, a progressive gaming system host site computer may serve gaming devices distributed throughout a number of properties at different geographical locations including, for example, different locations within a city or different cities within a state.
In one embodiment, the progressive gaming system host site computer is maintained for the overall operation and control of the progressive gaming system. In this embodiment, a progressive gaming system host site computer oversees the entire progressive gaming system and is the master for computing all progressive jackpots. All participating gaming sites report to, and receive information from, the progressive gaming system host site computer. Each central server computer is responsible for all data communication between the gaming device hardware and software and the progressive gaming system host site computer. In one embodiment, an individual gaming machine may trigger a progressive award win. In another embodiment, a central server (or the progressive gaming system host site computer) determines when a progressive award win is triggered. In another embodiment, an individual gaming machine and a central controller (or progressive gaming system host site computer) work in conjunction with each other to determine when a progressive win is triggered, for example through an individual gaming machine meeting a predetermined requirement established by the central controller.
In one embodiment, a progressive award win is triggered based on one or more game play events, such as a symbol-driven trigger. In other embodiments, the progressive award triggering event or qualifying condition may be by exceeding a certain amount of game play (such as number of games, number of credits, or amount of time), or reaching a specified number of points earned during game play. In another embodiment, a gaming device is randomly or apparently randomly selected to provide a player of that gaming device one or more progressive awards. In one such embodiment, the gaming device does not provide any apparent reasons to the player for winning a progressive award, wherein winning the progressive award is not triggered by an event in or based specifically on any of the plays of any primary game. That is, a player is provided a progressive award without any explanation or alternatively with simple explanations. In another embodiment, a player is provided a progressive award at least partially based on a game triggered or symbol triggered event, such as at least partially based on the play of a primary game.
In one embodiment, one or more of the progressive awards are each funded via a side bet or side wager. In this embodiment, a player must place or wager a side bet to be eligible to win the progressive award associated with the side bet. In one embodiment, the player must place the maximum bet and the side bet to be eligible to win one of the progressive awards. In another embodiment, if the player places or wagers the required side bet, the player may wager at any credit amount during the primary game (i.e., the player need not place the maximum bet and the side bet to be eligible to win one of the progressive awards). In one such embodiment, the greater the player's wager (in addition to the placed side bet), the greater the odds or probability that the player will win one of the progressive awards. It should be appreciated that one or more of the progressive awards may each be funded, at least in part, based on the wagers placed on the primary games of the gaming machines in the gaming system, via a gaming establishment or via any suitable manner.
In another embodiment, one or more of the progressive awards are partially funded via a side-bet or side-wager which the player may make (and which may be tracked via a side-bet meter). In one embodiment, one or more of the progressive awards are funded with only side-bets or side-wagers placed. In another embodiment, one or more of the progressive awards are funded based on player's wagers as described above as well as any side-bets or side-wagers placed.
In one alternative embodiment, a minimum wager level is required for a gaming device to qualify to be selected to obtain one of the progressive awards. In one embodiment, this minimum wager level is the maximum wager level for the primary game in the gaming machine. In another embodiment, no minimum wager level is required for a gaming machine to qualify to be selected to obtain one of the progressive awards.
In another embodiment, a plurality of players at a plurality of linked gaming devices in a gaming system participate in a group gaming environment. In one embodiment, a plurality of players at a plurality of linked gaming devices work in conjunction with one another, such as playing together as a team or group, to win one or more awards. In one such embodiment, any award won by the group is shared, either equally or based on any suitable criteria, amongst the different players of the group. In another embodiment, a plurality of players at a plurality of linked gaming devices compete against one another for one or more awards. In one such embodiment, a plurality of players at a plurality of linked gaming devices participate in a gaming tournament for one or more awards. In another embodiment, a plurality of players at a plurality of linked gaming devices play for one or more awards wherein an outcome generated by one gaming device affects the outcomes generated by one or more linked gaming devices.
Referring now to FIG. 3A, one embodiment of the present disclosure operates according to sequence 100. In one embodiment, the gaming system of the present disclosure includes a central server or controller configured to communicate with or link to a plurality of gaming machines or gaming devices. Another embodiment of the present disclosure provides a gaming system having a plurality of linked gaming devices where one of the gaming devices functions as the central server or controller. Each of the gaming devices includes at least one primary or base game operable upon a wager by a player. In some embodiments, each gaming device has one or a plurality of different primary games. In various embodiments, the primary games of each gaming device or a plurality of the gaming devices are the same games or different games. The gaming system further includes at least one secondary team game. In one such embodiment, the secondary team game is associated with a plurality of positions, including at least one winning position and at least one non-winning position.
More specifically, as indicated by block 102, the gaming devices of the gaming system enable players to place wagers on plays of the primary games. In one embodiment, players playing the gaming devices in the gaming system have the opportunity to participate in the secondary team game, as indicated by block 104. In one such embodiment, for a player to participate in the secondary team game, the player must register for team play. In various embodiments, the player may self-register at his or her gaming device, at the customer service desk, at the player club desk, at a kiosk, or in any other suitable manner. In various embodiments, a gaming establishment employee may register one or more players for team play at the customer service desk, at the player club desk, at a kiosk, or in any other suitable manner. In these embodiments, once a player registers for team play, that player may be assigned ID information for security purposes. For example, the player may be assigned a user name and a PIN. Alternatively, the player may be required to swipe his or her player tracking card. Once logged in, the player can check status and other information related to team play.
In one embodiment, players must achieve one or more designated qualifying conditions to participate in the secondary team game. It should be appreciated that any suitable qualifier or qualification or combination of qualifications may be employed to determine a player's eligibility for team play. In one such embodiment, a method or characteristic of a player's game play or gaming activity qualifies the player for team play. In one such embodiment, the amount a player wagers determines whether the player is qualified to participate in the secondary team game. The wager qualification amount may be measured in any suitable manner.
In one embodiment, the wager qualification amount is determined by the amount a player wagers (i.e., a player's coin-in) on a single gaming device during uninterrupted game play. In another embodiment, the wager qualification amount is determined by the amount the player wagers at any gaming machine of the gaming system in an allotted time period, such as 24 hours. In another embodiment, the wager qualification amount is determined by the amount wagered on particular gaming devices or at particular gaming establishments. In another embodiment, the team play qualifier is based on the average wager per spin of the reels or play of the game.
In one embodiment, the amount a player wins determines whether the player qualifies to participate in the secondary team game. The qualification win amount may be measured in any suitable manner. In one such embodiment, the qualification win amount is determined by the amount a player wins on a single gaming device during game play. In another embodiment, the qualification win amount is determined by the amount the player wins in a designated time period, such as 24 hours. In another embodiment, the qualification win amount is determined by the amount the player wins in a certain type of game for a certain amount of time, such as the amount in slot games over a week.
In one embodiment, the amount of jackpot awards won by a player or winning a particular jackpot award determines whether the player qualifies to participate in the secondary team game. In one embodiment, winning a designated jackpot qualifies the player to participate in the secondary team game. In another embodiment, winning a certain amount from one or more jackpots qualifies the player to participate in the secondary team game. It should be appreciated that a jackpot qualifier may be determined in any suitable manner.
In one embodiment, the total amount lost by a player over a certain time period determines whether the player qualifies to participate in the secondary team game. In one embodiment, losing a designated amount qualifies the player for team play. In another type of tournament, losing a certain number of spins in a row qualifies the player for team play. This provides players with an incentive to continue playing after hitting a period of bad luck.
In various embodiments, certain game events qualify the player to participate in the secondary team game. In one embodiment, achieving a certain game score qualifies the player for team play. In another embodiment, playing a game for a certain amount of time qualifies the player for team play. In one embodiment, the gaming system enables the player to participate in the secondary team game as a bonus award. In another embodiment, a player may win entry into the secondary team game as an award in a primary or bonus game. It should be appreciated that the gaming system may determine qualification for the secondary team game based on any element or combinations of elements in any game.
In one embodiment, the qualifying condition for team play is determined based on one or more characteristics from a player tracking system or account. For example, all players of a certain rank or level may qualify for team play. In another embodiment, all new members to a player tracking system or gaming establishment receive an automatic entry into the secondary team game. In another embodiment, on a player's birthday, the gaming system enables the player to participate in the secondary team game. In another embodiment, on a player's anniversary in the player system, the gaming system enables the player to participate in the secondary team game. In one embodiment, a player tracking system includes point intervals and each time a player reaches a point interval, the player can participate the secondary team game.
In certain embodiments, the player is not required to pay an entry fee to participate in team play. In other embodiments, players must pay an entry fee to participate in the secondary team game. In one embodiment, the gaming system requires each player to pay a certain amount of money or credits to enter the secondary team game. It should be appreciated that the entry fee may be any suitable form of payment. In one embodiment, the gaming system requires the player to pay a certain amount of promotional credits which are gaming establishment funded wagering credits to enter the secondary team game. In another embodiment, the gaming system requires the player to pay a certain amount of coupons, which are redeemable and offered to the general public to enter the secondary team game. For example, in the hotel affiliated with the gaming establishment, players receive coupons or tickets to enter the secondary team game. In one such embodiment, players enter the coupons or tickets into their respective gaming devices to play the team game. In another embodiment, the gaming system requires the player to pay a certain amount of gift certificates to enter the secondary team game. In another embodiment, the gaming system requires the player to pay a certain amount in vouchers to enter the secondary team game. In another embodiment, instead of paying a fee, a player may use player tracking points to enter a secondary team game. In one embodiment, player tracking points are they only way to enter a secondary team game. It should be appreciated that the player may pay the entry fee for the secondary team game at one of the gaming machines directly, for example, by using a credit card.
It should be appreciated that the gaming system can implement any buy in or entry fee for the secondary team game in any suitable manner. It should also be appreciated that in one embodiment, some players must pay an entry fee but other players do not. In one embodiment, the amount of the secondary team game entry fee is based on the player's rank in a player tracking system. For example, a player of a platinum rank in a player tracking system does not have to pay an entry fee and a player of a gold rank must use 50 player points to enroll in the tournament.
In one embodiment, the fee is automatically deducted from the player's account once the player registers for the secondary team game. In one embodiment, this automated buy in is an option that a player may select when registering for the secondary team game.
The qualifications and entry fees of the secondary team game may be based any suitable elements and may be configured in any suitable manner.
It should be appreciated that the gaming system may require players to meet one or more designated qualifying conditions to join or switch into certain teams in the secondary game. Any suitable qualification or combination of qualifications may be employed to determine a player's eligibility to join certain teams. For example, in one embodiment, a player's eligibility to join certain teams of the secondary game is based on a wager amount placed by the player.
Referring again to FIG. 3A, as indicated by block 106, the gaming system enables each player participating in the secondary team game to join one of a plurality of teams associated with the secondary team game. Each of the teams associated with the secondary game includes or is capable of including a plurality of players at any given time. Players can join a team in a number of different ways. In one embodiment, a player can initially choose a team upon that player registering and/or qualifying for team play. In one such embodiment, the player's gaming device prompts the player to choose a team that the player wants to join. In one embodiment, the each team's current position or standing in the secondary team game is displayed to the player when the player is making the choice of which team to join. Thus, the gaming system enables a player to strategically choose which team the player wants to join based on the team's standing in the secondary game. In another embodiment, the player cannot see where each of the teams stands in the secondary team game when joining a team. In different embodiments, players may be invited to join a team or assigned to a default team upon choosing and/or qualifying to participate in team play.
In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the gaming system enables players to manage their team membership and compete in the secondary team game without having to be in the casino or gaming establishment. In one such embodiment, an Internet component is associated with the secondary team game. In one such embodiment, the gaming system enables players to manage their team membership and compete in the secondary team game by visiting a website. In such embodiments, the gaming system enables players to join teams or switch teams even if they are not in the casino. In one embodiment, the website may offer additional features to the player including, but not limited to, gaming, advertisements, shopping or any other desired feature. In certain embodiments, there may be participation requirements associated with using the website to participate in team play. For example, to remain an active member of the team, a player may be required to log in every so often, view a designated number of ads, make a designated number of purchases, or meet any another suitable requirement.
Referring again to FIG. 3A, as the players play the primary games of the gaming devices, the gaming system monitors at least one factor of each player's gaming activity to determine a score or rank for that player, as indicated by block 108. In one embodiment, the factors which may be monitored include: (1) a total amount of money wagered by the players on the team (i.e., coin in totals); (2) time; (3) player status; (4) events that occur during primary game play, such as but not limited to symbol combinations generated during game play, a designated number of wins obtained during game play, a designated number of losses obtained during game play, exceeding a certain amount of game play (e.g., number of games, number of credits, amount of time), and reaching a specified number of points earned during game play; (5) any other suitable factor; and (6) any combination of these. In various embodiments, the gaming system determines player scores based on various aspects of each player's game play, such that a player is not penalized for wagering in low denominations or wagering less frequently than other players.
As indicated by block 110, for each of the teams, the gaming system determines a cumulative score or rank based on the player scores or ranks for each player on that team. Each team's cumulative score or rank is periodically determined or sampled. In one embodiment, a time period is set for the cumulative score to be determined. The game operator has the ability to define the time period in any manner they choose. In various embodiments, the time period is determined randomly or is set to certain predetermined intervals. For example, in one embodiment, the cumulative score for each team is determined in one-hour time intervals. When the time period is met, the cumulative score for each team is determined.
After the gaming system determines the cumulative scores or ranks for the teams in the secondary game, the gaming system uses the cumulative score or rank for each team to determine how that team progresses in the secondary team game. More specifically, as indicated by block 112 of FIG. 3A, the gaming system associates a position of the secondary team game with each team based on the determined cumulative score for that team. If any of the teams are associated with a winning position, the gaming system awards prizes to one or more players on each team associated with one of the winning positions, as indicated by block 114.
Referring now to FIG. 3B, one embodiment of the present disclosure operates according to sequence 200. In one embodiment, the secondary game is associated with a community, group or team display device. The community, group or team display device includes a plurality of positions or locations wherein at least one of the positions or locations is associated with an award. In one such embodiment, the secondary team game is associated with a game board having a plurality of positions which include at least one winning position and at least one non-winning position. The winning positions are each associated with at least one prize.
As indicated by block 202, the gaming system operates with the gaming devices to enable the players to make wagers on plays of the primary games. The gaming system enables the players at the gaming devices to participate in the secondary team game, as indicated by block 204. For those players who wish to participate in the secondary team game, the gaming system enables the players to join one of a plurality of teams associated with the secondary team game, as indicated by block 206.
As indicated by block 208, the gaming system displays a game board having a plurality of positions to the players. Each team is represented by a marker on the game board. The game board monitors and displays each team's progress in the secondary team game. It should be appreciated that, in one embodiment, the secondary team game and any information relating to the secondary team game, such as the game board, is displayed to each player on his or her individual gaming device. In other embodiments, instead of or in addition to displaying the secondary team game on the individual gaming devices, the gaming system is associated with a shared display configured to display information relating to the secondary team game, as will be discussed below.
As the players play the primary games of the gaming devices, the gaming system monitors at least one factor of each player's gaming activity to determine a score for that player, as indicated by block 210. The gaming system determines a move value for each team based on the player scores for each player of that team, as indicated by block 212.
As indicated by block 214, the gaming system causes each team's marker to move a certain number of spaces or positions on the game board based on the move value determined for that team. For each team whose marker moves to a winning position on the game board, the gaming system provides one or more players on that team with a prize associated with the winning position on which the team's marker landed, as indicated by block 216. In one alternative embodiment, rather than requiring a team's marker to land directly on one of the winning positions of the game board, prizes become available to the members of a team when that team's marker passes a winning position.
It should be appreciated that, in such embodiments, the secondary team game may include any suitable type of game where markers representing different teams move to or accumulate positions on a game board. For example, the secondary team game could include: (a) a treasure map game or geographical map game, where teams accumulate or move to various points on the map; (b) a bingo game, where teams accumulate positions on a bingo card; (c) a lottery game, where teams accumulate symbols or numbers on a lottery card; (d) a racing game, where teams progress along a track; (e) a game in which teams advance along one or more paths; (f) a wheel game, where teams accumulate sections or indicators associated with the wheel; and (g) any other suitable type of game. In other embodiments, the secondary team game may include any other suitable type of game and is not limited to games which include game boards.
In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the gaming system enables players to change their team membership at any suitable or designated time during the secondary team game. In this manner, the gaming system enables players to use strategy to try to align themselves with the team they feel has the best chance of winning the prize they want. However, the change of teams does not guarantee a chance of winning, as other players' decisions can affect each individual player's strategy. Since the players may not know the factors being monitored to determine the players' scores, they can only guess where each team's marker will move next. For example, if too many players join a team thereby causing the total coin-in to increase for that team, the cumulative score for that particular team may suddenly and dramatically increase the next time it is sampled by the gaming system. This could cause the team's marker to overshoot or otherwise miss a winning position.
To estimate where a team's marker will move next, players formulate guesses based on how many people they think are on the team and how they believe the cumulative scores are being determined. Based on this estimation, a player joins the team that he feels will land on a prize or land on the prize he wants.
In one embodiment, when a team's marker lands on one of the winning positions, the individual members of that team must claim their prizes. The game operator determines how many prizes are available for each winning position. The number of prizes available may be less than or equal to the number of members on the team. In one embodiment, the prizes that are available are queued and transferred to winning positions to replace outgoing prizes in a first in-first out manner. Thus, players have a degree of uncertainty as to which positions are associated with which prizes.
In one embodiment, the players on a winning team claim prizes on a first-come, first serve basis. In another embodiment, a player's status determines when that player can claim prize or how many prizes are available to that player. For example, if the team's marker lands on a winning position, platinum players may be given the ability to claim the prize first while bronze players may have to wait 30 seconds before making a claim. Alternatively, if the team's marker lands on a winning position and fifteen prizes are available, seven may be available to platinum members, five may be available to gold players and three may be available to bronze players. In one embodiment, a player's gaming activity must sustain a predetermined level for that player to claim a prize.
In one embodiment, the gaming system pays out prizes to the player directly at the gaming device. In one example embodiment, instead of having to leave the gaming machine to redeem a prize, the gaming device and gaming system may credit the player's account for the win. Alternatively, gaming device and gaming system may provide the player a ticket to redeem the prize at a later point in time.
In one embodiment, each player who is on a winning team receives an award or prize. In one such embodiment, each player is provided with a minimum or default win amount. Any other prizes or awards associated with the winning position on which the team lands are provided to one or more players on the winning team in addition to the default win amount.
In one embodiment, points are given to each player who is a member of a prize-winning team. These points may be awarded to players who do not receive a prize or may be awarded to all team members. These points may have any number of applications, such as a running tournament (i.e., the player who accumulates the most points in a certain time period wins), player club points, cash-in value, or any other desired feature. In one embodiment, players who are controlling and tracking their progress from the Internet are awarded points only and are not eligible to claim prizes.
One embodiment of the present disclosure allows the player to interact with a service window. In one embodiment, players may check their team standing, performance, and any available and/or upcoming prizes in the service window on participating gaming devices or at kiosks. In one embodiment, players can claim any available prizes through the player service window. In one embodiment, players participating in team play will be notified by the service window if their team has landed on a winning position. The player is then able to make a claim for a prize immediately. If the player is successful, they must visit a prize kiosk to claim the prize. If the prize is a cash prize, points, game play or other suitable prize, the prize may be downloaded to the game for use or delivered directly to the player's account.
FIGS. 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E, 4F, and 4G illustrate one example of the secondary team game of the present disclosure which includes five teams—Teams A, B, C, D, and E—each represented by a team marker on a game board. Each of the teams is associated with a path on the game board. Each team's marker moves along its path during the secondary team game.
FIG. 4A illustrates the display device 16 of a first player 84 playing at one of the gaming devices in the gaming system. The display device 16 includes a primary game display 60 which includes a plurality of reels 54 associated with a plurality of paylines 52 a, 52 b, and 52 c. The display device 16 also includes a spin reels button 82 and an award meter 86. The award meter 86 shows the number zero, indicating that the player 84 has not yet won an award in the primary game. The display device 16 further includes a message box 80 for providing information regarding game play.
In addition to the primary game display 60, the display device 16 provides a separate display window 70 for displaying information relating to the secondary team game. More specifically, the display window 70 displays the game board 72 associated with the secondary team game for tracking the progress of each team during the secondary team game. The game board 72 includes a plurality of positions 74. Some of the positions are in Prize Zones 76 a, 76 b, and 76 c. The positions located in the Prize Zones 76 a, 76 b, and 76 c are associated with prizes or awards. If a team's marker lands on a position in one of the Prize Zones 76 a, 76 b, and 76 c, one or more of the players on that team become eligible to claim the prize associated with that position.
The game board 72 displays the prizes that are currently active and available for winning in the secondary game. For example, the positions in Prize Zone 1 76 a are currently associated with a prize of $50. The positions in Prize Zone 2 76 b are associated with a free buffet. The positions in Prize Zone 3 76 c are associated with a mobile telephone prize. The other positions on the game board (i.e., the prizes not located in one of the Prize Zones 76 a, 76 b, and 76 c) are not associated with prizes. In one embodiment, as the prizes are awarded to players on winning teams, new prizes appear on the game board 72 and become available. In one such embodiment, the game board 72 displays the prizes that will be available next in one or more of the Prize Zones 76 a, 76 b, and 76 c. As seen in FIG. 4A, the top of display window 70 indicates that a tool set will be the next available prize.
When the player sits down to play at the gaming device, or upon any other suitable triggering event, the gaming device enables the player to participate in the secondary team game. In FIG. 4A, the gaming device displays a message in the message box 80 asking the player if he wishes to participate in team play. The gaming device prompts the player to choose a team to join from the available teams in the secondary team game—Team A, Team B, Team C, Team D, or Team E.
As illustrated in FIG. 4B, the player selected team C, and gaming device displays a message in the message box 80 indicating that the player has elected to join team C. Information about the player's team membership, the number of players on team C, and the number of team C members who are currently playing is displayed to the player at the top of display area 70. The gaming device prompts the player 84 to begin making wagers on plays of the primary game. It should be appreciated that other players playing at the gaming devices of the gaming system are also playing their respective primary games. Some of these players may be on the same team as the player (i.e., team C), and some of the players may be on different teams.
As the players play the primary games of the gaming device, the gaming system monitors at least one factor of each player's gaming activity over a designated period of time. For example, each hour, the gaming system monitors the total amount wagered by a player. The gaming system combines the total amount wagered by the player with the total amounts wagered by each of the other team C players in that hour to determine a cumulative team value for team C. Each team's movement on the game board occurs in increments determined based on the cumulative team value determined for that team. That is, the team marker representing each team moves a designated number of positions on the game board based on the cumulative team value. For example, the gaming system may require the members of a team to collectively wager $1000 to move that team's marker one position on the game board. The gaming device evaluates the teams gaming activity each hour. The gaming device determines that, in the one hour time period, the members of the team have wagered a total of $2000. Thus, the team's marker will move two positions on the game board. It should be appreciated that, in different embodiments, the gaming system may monitor and determine the cumulative team values at random times, upon designated triggering events, at predetermined time intervals, or in any other suitable manner, as desired by the gaming system operator. It should also be appreciated that, once a team's cumulative team value is determined, the number of positions that the team's marker will move on the game board may be randomly determined, predetermined, or determined in any other suitable manner.
FIG. 4C illustrates the display device at a later point in the player's gaming session. As indicated by the award meter 86, the player has won a total of 50 credits through playing the primary game. In addition, team C's marker has moved onto one of the positions in Prize Zone 3 76 c. The positions in Prize Zone 3 76 c are associated with a mobile telephone prize. The gaming device displays a message in the message box 80 congratulating the player and prompting the player to press the claim prize input or button 90 to claim the mobile telephone. As indicated at the top of display window 70, the next prize that will enter Prize Zone 3 76 c is a tool set. Since Team C has won the mobile telephone prize, the tool set prize will take the place of the mobile telephone prize in Prize Zone 3 76 c. Thus, the players on the next team to land in a position located in with Prize Zone 3 76 c, will have the chance to win the tool set.
In FIG. 4C, the gaming device further notifies the player in the message box 80 that the player can switch teams at any time. The player's team, team C, has just landed on a prize winning position. Therefore, it may take a long time for team C's marker to move to another winning position. Accordingly, the gaming device is reminding the player that the player can use strategy to join another team that is closer to winning a prize.
As seen in FIG. 4D, the player has switched teams by activating the switch teams input or button 88. The gaming device displays a message in the message box 80, indicating that the player elected to switch from team C to team D. In certain embodiments, the player can choose the specific team he wants to join. In other embodiments, the player can choose to switch off of his current team, but the gaming system randomly assigns the player to a new team. The game board 72 shows that team D's marker is very close to landing on one of the positions in Prize Zone 1 76 a, which is associated with a prize of $50. At the top of display window 70, information regarding the player's new team membership, the number of players on team D, and the number of those players currently playing is displayed to the player. Team D includes 100 players, of which 650 are currently playing.
In FIG. 4E, the player continues to play and win awards in the primary game, as indicated by the award meter 86, which now shows the number 75. The game board 72 shows that the marker for team D has advanced to a position beyond Prize Zone 1 76 a. That is, the team D marker overshot the prize-winning position in Prize Zone 1 76 a. This may have been caused by the large number of players on team D who are currently playing on the gaming devices. Accordingly, the gaming device displays a message in the message box 80 informing the player that team D's marker just missed Prize Zone 1 76 a. The player can either stay on team D and go for the next prize in Prize Zone 2 76 b (i.e., the free buffet), or the player can switch teams again to try to join a team that is closer to landing on a prize-winning position.
In FIG. 4F, the player has switched teams for a second time by activating the switch teams button 88. The gaming device displays a message in the message box 80, indicating that the player elected to switch from team D to team E. The game board 72 shows that team E's marker is very close to landing on one of the positions in Prize Zone 1 76 a, which is still associated with a prize of $50 since no other team has landed on Prize Zone 1 76 a. At the top of display window 70, information regarding the player's new team membership, the number of players on team E, and the number of those players currently playing is displayed to the player. Team E includes 750 players, of which 250 are currently playing.
As seen in FIG. 4G, the player continues to play and win awards in the primary game, as indicated by the award meter 86, which now shows the number 100. In addition, the game board 72 shows that the marker for team E has moved along its path and landed on the position in Prize Zone 1 76 a. Accordingly, the gaming device displays a message in the message box 80 prompting the player to press the claim prize input or button 90 to claim the $50 prize associated with Prize Zone 1 76 a.
It should be appreciated that, just because team E was very close to winning the prize in Prize Zone 1 76 a when the player joined team E, there was no guarantee that team E's marker would actually land on the winning position in Prize Zone 176 a. If team E's marker had overshot Prize Zone 1 76 a, the player could have stayed on team E in hopes of team E's marker landing on the position associated with Prize Zone 2 76 b. If Team E's marker were to overshoot both Prize Zones 1 and 2, the player could still win the prize(s) associated with Prize Zone 3 76 c two times in a row.
The example of FIGS. 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E, 4F, and 4G demonstrates how a player can play the primary game of his or her gaming device while simultaneously participating in team play. As the player plays the primary game, the player can see information relating to a secondary team game on his or her individual gaming device.
It should be appreciated that in other embodiments, instead of or in addition to displaying information about the secondary team game on individual gaming devices, the gaming system is associated with a shared display configured to display information relating to the secondary team game, such as a game board and the team markers moving on the game board. In one such embodiment, the shared display is connected to or is adjacent to a plurality or all of the gaming devices of the gaming system. In one embodiment, the gaming devices are positioned and spaced apart substantially equally about the shared display.
As illustrated in FIG. 5, a plurality of gaming devices 10 a, 10 b, and 10 c are associated with a common or shared display 224 configured to display information relating to the secondary team game. Each of the gaming devices 10 a, 10 b, and 10 c includes a primary game 220 a, 220 b, and 220 c operable upon a wager by a player. In different embodiments, one or more of the primary games 220 a, 220 b, and 220 c may be the same games or different games. As seen in FIG. 5, gaming devices 10 a and 10 b each include a primary game of slot, while gaming device 10 c includes a card game. In this example, each of the players playing at the gaming devices 10 a, 10 b, and 10 c can see the game board of the secondary team game on the shared display 224. The player playing at gaming device 10 a is a member of team A, the player playing at gaming device 10 b is a member of team B, and the player playing at gaming device 10 c is a member of team C. The gaming devices 10 a, 10 b, and 10 c provide and display information to the individual players regarding their teams' progress and standing in the secondary team game. For example, gaming device 10 c displays a message indicating that Team C has landed on a prize-winning position on the game board.
In another embodiment, if the team marker lands on certain designated spaces, the members of the team associated with the team marker are provided awards. In one such embodiment, these designated spaces are specific to the team marker. For example, if a first team marker lands on a designated space associated with the first team, the members of that team are provided an award. In this example, if a second team marker lands on the designated space associated with the first team, the members of the second team are not provided an award.
In another embodiment, one or more positions on the board are associated with advances, wherein if a team marker lands on a position associated with an advance, the team marker is advanced a designated number of positions. In another embodiment, one or more positions on the board are associated with set-backs, wherein if a team marker lands on a position associated with a set-back, the team marker moves back a designated number of positions. In these embodiments, the designated number of positions the team marker is advanced or set-back is predetermined, randomly determined, determined based on one or more player statuses (such as determined through a player tracking system), determined based on a generated symbol or symbol combination, determined based on a random determination by the central controller, determined based on a random determination at the gaming machine, determined based on one or more side wagers placed, determined based on the player's primary game wager, determined based on time (such as the time of day), determined based on an amount of coin-in accumulated in one or more pools or determined based on any other suitable method or criteria.
In another embodiment, one or more positions on the board are switch positions, wherein if a team marker lands on such a position, the team marker switches position with another team marker on the board. For example, if a team in third-place lands on a switch-to-first-place position, the team marker switches position with the marker in first place. In different embodiments, if a first team marker lands on a switch position, which other team marker that first team marker switches positions with is predetermined, randomly determined, determined based on one or more player statuses (such as determined through a player tracking system), determined based on a generated symbol or symbol combination, determined based on a random determination by the central controller, determined based on a random determination at the gaming machine, determined based on one or more side wagers placed, determined based on the player's primary game wager, determined based on time (such as the time of day), determined based on an amount of coin-in accumulated in one or more pools or determined based on any other suitable method or criteria.
(v) for each team with a winning team rank, provide at least one player on said team with an award associated with said winning team rank.
2. The gaming system of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is programmed to display the secondary team game in associated with a secondary team game board.
3. The gaming system of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is programmed to enable each of the players to switch teams at a designated time before said play of the secondary team game ends.
4. The gaming system of claim 1, wherein the team gaming activity parameter includes: (i) a total amount wagered by the players of said team; (ii) a total number of plays of the primary games won by the players of said team; (iii) the total number of plays of the primary games lost by the players of said team; or (iv) a total number of plays of the primary games played by the players of said team.
5. The gaming system of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is programmed to determine the team rank for each team based on said at least one team gaming activity parameter determined in a designated time period.
6. The gaming system of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is programmed to enable each of the players to change teams a plurality of times during said play of the secondary team game.
7. The gaming device of claim 1, wherein each of said teams includes a plurality of players.
(g) for each team which is associated with said at least one winning position, provide at least one of the players of said team with an award associated with said at least one winning position.
9. The gaming system of claim 8, wherein said at least one processor is programmed to enable each of the players to change teams.
10. The gaming system of claim 9, wherein said at least one processor is programmed to enable each of the players to change teams at any designated time before said play of the secondary game ends.
11. The gaming system of claim 9, wherein said at least one processor is programmed to enable each of the players to change teams a plurality of times.
12. The gaming device of claim 8, wherein said at least one monitored factor includes one of: (i) an amount wagered by the player; (ii) a number of plays of the primary game won by the player; (iii) a number of plays of the primary game lost by the player; and (iv) a number of plays of the primary game played by the player.
13. The gaming device of claim 8, wherein the at least one processor is programmed to monitor said at least one factor of each player's gaming activity in a designated time period.
14. The gaming system of claim 8, wherein said plurality of positions include positions on a game board associated with the secondary game.
15. The gaming system of claim 14, wherein each of the teams of the secondary game is represented by a marker configured to traverse said game board.
16. The gaming system of claim 15, wherein said at least one processor is operable to cause the marker representing each team to move to the position on the game board with which said team is associated.
17. The gaming system of claim 8, wherein each of said teams includes a plurality of players.
(iii) if said team's marker moves to said at least one winning position on the game board, provide at least one of players on said team with an award associated with said at least one winning position.
19. The gaming device of claim 18, wherein said at least one monitored factor includes one of: (i) an amount wagered by the player; (ii) a number of plays of the primary game won by the player; (iii) a number of plays of the primary game lost by the player; and (iv) a number of plays of the primary game played by the player.
20. The gaming device of claim 18, wherein the at least one processor is programmed to monitor said at least one factor of each player's gaming activity in a designated time period.
21. The gaming system of claim 18, wherein said at least one processor is programmed to enable each of the players to change teams.
22. The gaming system of claim 21, wherein said at least one processor is programmed to enable each of the players to change teams at any designated time before said play of the secondary team game ends.
23. The gaming system of claim 21, wherein said at least one processor is programmed to enable each of the players to change teams a plurality of times.
24. The gaming system of claim 18, wherein each of said teams includes a plurality of players. | 2019-04-23T07:31:52Z | https://patents.google.com/patent/US20090124320A1/en |
1: What happens when a student doesn't have any interest in these specialized areas?
A student will still be assigned or placed in an academy based on their past elective choices.
2: Is a general 4-year college prep course being offered?
College preparatory courses will be offered in every academy.
3: How will a students aptitude for a particular course of study be determined?
Students have been engaging in surveys; discussions and inventories that help them judge their primary areas of interest and educational preference. They will continue to take part in activities that help them make this choice and then their final decisions will be made with their parents/guardians during registration.
4: What if I change my mind about my career choice?
A student that decides to change career academies once they have made their choice will be allowed to do that, although those changes may be restricted to the beginning of a semester or school year.
5: How quickly can a student change Academies if their interests change?
A student would be able to transfer between Career Academies either at the beginning of a school year or between semesters within a school year.
6: How do Academies impact 10th graders?
The transition to Career Academies affects 10th graders substantially because they will have two years in the program prior to graduating in 2010. It will affect their choices of both academic and elective courses. However, since they are last class to graduate under the old graduation rules, their requirements for graduation will not change.
7: If a student wants to accelerate the courses in which s/he is enrolled, can s/he graduate early? Is there anything being done for the high leveled students to help them graduate early?
A student at Camden County High has a choice from 18 current Advanced Placement classes, which allow them to earn college credit while they are still in high school. This means a student can leave high school and enter college, potentially as a sophomore, if they take advantage of these opportunities. This has the same effect as graduating early and allows a student the opportunity to gain valuable skills before entering the collegiate classroom.
8: Are students attending the NGC going to be determining which Academy they will enter?
When they first enter the NGC, students are placed in the Freshman Academy. At the end of their freshman year, they will make choices about their desired Career Academy.
9: Is there a specific GPA that must be maintained in order for students to remain in their academy?
10: Is there a plan if a parent doesn'tt want their child to participate in the academy program? Would this even be an option?
All Camden County High School students will participate in Career Academy programs.
11: What about the student who does not have the initiative to enroll in one of the Academies on their own? How will we recruit them - or will we make an intentional effort to do so?
Students will be enrolled in Academies as part of their registration for classes. They will be given several opportunities to do self-inventories that will help them choose an academy experience that suits their preferences and interests prior to making their choice.
12: Will the credit be the same as currently set for high school?
Currently Camden County requires a student to earn 28 credits for graduation. That is unlikely to change. Even though the state Board of Education has recently approved a set of diploma rule changes, those changes will only change how we name and identify our diplomas.
13: If you want to be a chemist, in which Academy would you enroll?
You would enroll in either the Engineering or Health/Environmental Science academy depending on ones interests beyond chemistry and on the particular aspect of chemistry in which one was interested.
14: Are the list of Academies and the offerings going to be placed online for parents to research? If so, when?
Yes, they will be place online. The final course selection guide is in process and will be published electronically as soon as it is finalized. Because the registration process involves more variables and substantial changes this year as a result of the proposed transition to Career Academies, it will happen later in the spring of 2008 than one would anticipate.
1: The success of this program could ultimately depend on partnerships with employers, community and higher education. How can we make sure from year to year that the community efforts continue?
Camden County schools partnerships with community institutions have been ongoing and sustained for many years. The high school is an active partner with our Chamber of Commerce, Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base and local businesses in their efforts to create and support economic growth through jobs, quality development, and a work ready employee force.
2: What businesses are participating?
All of the schools current business partners will be participating and additional business partnerships will be sought to further broaden student opportunities for interaction. We currently have a strong relationship with the Chamber of Commerce as well as Trident Refit Facility and the KBNSB command.
3: What will be the involvement of businesses and industry?
1: Are teachers prepared to put the additional time and effort in creating these new programs and changes that would occur?
The Career Academy transition is supported by the High Schools That Work school improvement initiative. This initiative is faculty driven, with decision-making and program development power resting with teachers and staff. This staff and school has a history of seeking what is best for Camdens students: implementation of block scheduling, meeting AYP standards through NCLB, implementing new AP courses each year, and supporting a strong system for extra help and credit recovery programs.
2: Do you have qualified instructors?
All Camden County High School teachers meet the states requirements to be Highly Qualified. This means that they are certified, by education and/or experience, to teach the classes they have been assigned to teach.
3: If not, how will they get their training?
All teachers receive ongoing training as a part of their certification and re-certification process. They are required to complete 10 hours of training every five years. Teachers have already received 24 hours of training in preparation for the SLC conversion.
4: How will teachers stay current to new techniques and processes in industry?
Teachers stay current through ongoing training offered in the district through its Professional Enhancement Conference, through seeking advanced degrees, and through attendance at professional conferences related to ongoing advances, research and action in the educational profession.
5: Why are Career Academies being instituted in the first place?
The research and data on schools that promote excellent performance have used Career Academies to help students find teachers and classes that help students feel more connected to their studies.
6: What will the students learn that is any different than they are currently being taught?
Students will still be required to meet state and local graduation requirements in order to graduate. The primary differences will come in that students will focus on course work that meets their interests and career preparation goals, as well as, over time, academic content will be adjusted in order to provide additional relevance to the career academy theme(s).
1: Is there reliable evidence that the Career Academy approach will affect the graduation rates or the transition to secondary education and employment outcomes?
There is considerable research and published data regarding the efficacy of schools that transition to Career Academies. On the whole, schools that implement smaller learning communities for their students demonstrate continued improvement in test scores, graduation rates and post-secondary employability and access to further education by graduates. Current data shows that Camden High as maxed its potential for improvement beyond incremental measures. Converting to SLCs can provide more concentrated improvement to smaller instructional groups.
2: What are the advantages to SLC?
Students have the advantage of working with a smaller group of core adults that share similar interests. Teachers have the advantage of being able to integrate instruction and linking their content to the content in another subject area.
3: What are disadvantages to SLC?
For students, it will be that all their friends may be in different academies. Extracurricular events however will be common to all students. For teachers, the initial process of collaboration with teachers in other content areas will be different from the traditional departmentalized organizational structure of the past.
4: Is there a certain class (age group) that the changes will affect more than others and why?
The change to Career Academies will affect current 10th and 11th grade students the most. It will affect next years ninth-graders and seniors the least.
5: Statistically, the schools that have academies, do the students tend to have higher SAT scores?
Yes, although it depends somewhat in what state they are in and whether that state requires the SAT for college or university admittance. They also graduate in higher numbers and pass graduation tests and end of course tests in higher percentages.
1: How does the concept work?
Essentially, students are allowed to choose an academy which fits their interests and career goals and take classes with teachers and administrators that are more personally invested in their academys students. The primary goal of Career Academies is to promote smaller learning communities within a larger educational institution, much as colleges and universities do on their campuses.
2: Does the student stay in the academy the entire day?
That will depend on a students classes. Some classes, in the arts, foreign language and physical education, will be offered to all students, regardless of their career academy assignment. Strengthening a students senior year will be more heavily promoted through joint and dual enrollment and the ACCEL college enrollment program. These programs along with options for work-based learning may reduce the school day at the high school but expand options off site for juniors and seniors.
3: Will the School Day change for the academies?
At this time, there are no plans to change the school day schedule. The Zero period was introduced this year and will still remain an option for those students who wish to enroll.
4: Is there a minimum number of students for each academy? A maximum?
There will not be minimum or maximum numbers of students for each academy, but efforts will be made to balance the student numbers between the five academies.
5: If I'm a senior, will I be able to take the classes I need to complete my planned course? Will I get first choice for the classes I need?
All students will be able to complete their four year educational plan. Seniors that need specific courses in order to graduate are always given preference for admittance to those classes. Seniors are encouraged to seek dual enrollment and work-based learning options.
6: Will I be restricted to only the classes in the academy I choose or can I cross between academies?
Students will be able to cross academies as necessary to take courses that are offered as umbrella courses.
7: Will there be AP and honor classes within the academies or will there be a common group of AP / honor classes that all academies share?
Depending on enrollment, students may have both options.
8: Will there be Honors/Gifted classes in all of the academies?
There will be Honors/Gifted classes in all academies. If a class is not offered that a student needs or wishes to take that is not offered in his/her academy, they will be able to do so in another academy.
9: Will any of the Academies effect the ACCEL Program?
No, the transition to Career Academies will not affect the ability of a qualifying student to enroll in the ACCEL program.
10: If you are a junior in the 11th grade and in the Engineering Academy, can you still go to band? Yes, any student that wants to play in the band may do so (based on the bands admission criterion); regardless of what academy they have chosen. Their participation in band will simply be one of their electives and will count toward graduation just as any other credit does.
11: Are you offering IB classes with more rigorous course offerings for free?
Georgia virtual school is offered as a school day option at no additional cost up to one class per semester for student that desire to take those courses. A student must be screened to see if they are a viable candidate to take a virtual course prior to enrollment. A student can enroll in additional Georgia Virtual School courses at their discretion for a cost of $600 per class per semester.
13: How will the Academies alleviate scheduling problems for those students who currently desire to take courses that are full?
Scheduling via the academies model will hopefully open more classes for students in each academy.
14: If a student takes 2 AP classes, a foreign language course and 4 academic core classes, will they still be placed in an Academy?
Yes, based on their preferences and prior electives.
15: Are core classes focused on the Academies?
Eventually, it is anticipated that all core classes will reflect the content and interest of the academy theme in which they are taught. This may not happen immediately but is expected to grow out of students and teachers common interests.
16: If a student is enrolled in the Academy do they get the first choice of the core classes? How does it affect them if they cross into another Academy; do they have to wait until those students select their classes?
A student in an Academy will get first choice of classes for that academy, whether they are academic or career tech. If a student is taking a class outside of their academy, they may have to wait until students in that academy have chosen their classes to see if there is room.
17: What will the cost be for updating the different career academies?
While there will be some additional costs for the transition to career academies, additional expense is not projected to exceed current spending for growth in student population.
18: Are there separate facilities for these academies?
While there will not be specific separate facilities for all academy classes, specialized labs and workshops already exist for many career and technical programs. In addition, more classroom, lab space, and technology are being planned for the school that will be used to enhance the experience of students in some classes and some academies.
19: How are these academies being funded?
The academy programs will be funded from traditional school funding sources, including federal, state and local funds. In addition, the school is actively seeking additional funding from potential state and federal grant programs.
20: What kind of equipment will be in these academies?
The equipment in all the academies will be typical of equipment found in most schools. Some of the equipment being added to the new addition will be highly technical and used in classes to provide extensive experiences with state of the art technology.
1: Will there be a need for more or less teachers with the restructuring?
The possibility exists that a small number of extra teachers might be required, but that issue will depend on the academy's enrollment and enrollment in umbrella courses.
2: When are the Academies going to be implemented?
The current plan is for the Career Academy plan to be completely implemented at the beginning of the 2008-09 school year. This means that planning for the transition is ongoing and will include aspects of this year's course registration and advisement.
3: Is the construction of the new Academy going to impact the start date of school?
At this time, those construction plans are not anticipated to impact the start of school. The transition will take place whether final construction on the addition is done or not.
4: If an ACCEL student wants to take summer classes, does it count toward their credits as those earned ACCEL credit during the school year?
A student cannot take an ACCEL class during the summer due to state regulations. A student could take a collegiate level class during the summer, but it would not count for high school credit. Only those credits earned during the school year in ACCEL or Dual enrollment count in both places.
5: Are there going to be provisions made for more career exploration in the middle school?
This is a desired curriculum decision that we will attempt to have included in the middle school program of study. The state has these types of programs in their middle and high school course guide and we have taught them before.
6: Where will the academies be located?
New classrooms are being added to the west side of the Ninth Grade Center. However, most academy classes will be located primarily within the confines of the existing building.
7: Who can I speak with regarding my specific questions? | 2019-04-23T03:58:45Z | http://www.camden.k12.ga.us/cms/One.aspx?portalId=319921&pageId=620777 |
The Evolution of Captive and Outsourced delivery models for business processes: what is the right option for your company?
We are privileged to showcase the following incisive article from my good long-time friend Graham Russell, who leads Global Transaction Processing for pharma giant AstraZeneca.
Once upon a time, global and pan regional companies operated as a collection of single country businesses. Their back-office financial support was organized in the same way, with processes and systems being developed at a local level in each country.
In the nineteen-eighties, new global companies such as Microsoft entered the scene and were able to quickly organize their businesses and their back-office support services in a different manner since they were able to start with a clean sheet of paper, making them appear very lean and nimble. By the late eighties, the more progressive companies, which were now often being challenged to compete with new market entrants, began to realize that they had been diluting the effectiveness of their Information Technology spend and perhaps more importantly, had become unable to respond consistently to their new, more global customers who were frustrated by different billing systems, account collection approaches and settlement methodologies. Similarly, on the supply side, these companies realized that they were struggling to take advantage of their global spend with global suppliers due to their inability to easily consolidate the information on their spend patterns. Meanwhile, they often had resale inventories stranded in countries, with each country business being unable to view that held by other countries leading to overall inefficiency in the supply chain. In addition, it became apparent that country based financial organization structures, required like pyramids, typically with sub-optimal spans of management and insufficient specialization due to the variety of tasks being performed by the relatively small country based staffs.
The pioneers in this area set about creating accounting centers usually at a regional level, which eventually grew up to become full-fledged Shared Service Centers, now referred to as captives. These centers operating with one support structure, quickly learned the value of standardizing processes, which offered one face to the internal and external customer. In time with the advancement of technology and introduction of networks, the islands of information quickly became the information readily available in one regional server, further enhancing the value to the business. The organization structures at these new centers, flattened out the structures of old, allowing specialization in the various functions and an improved management span due to the critical mass created. Over time, these centers began to move to locations often with lower cost and usually a pool of multi-lingual talent allowing them to serve broader geographies, for example Singapore, Poland, Ireland and Canada. With experience and maturity, it became clear that internal control was also being strengthened as a consequence of the one way of working, and after the passage of some time, the most forward thinking companies started to move their regional centers to global centers to further enjoy the benefits.
In the seventies, many companies realized that there was value in outsourcing functions, which were not core to their business and payroll, was usually the first of these functions to be performed outside of the business. Companies such as EDS applied the outsourcing approach to Information Technology support and so the models began to form.
In the early nineties, British Petroleum (BP) often labeled as the godfather of business process outsourcing (BPO), entered into an arrangement with the then Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) to outsource many of its back office financial functions from its quickly developing North Sea Operations Center in Aberdeen Scotland. BPO as we know it today, was born!
Outsourcing offered many if not all of the benefits identified under the captive models described above, but introduced the new notion of service performance levels being defined with the external provider. Moreover, the service provider would often have greater experience hiring and retaining local talent, the ability to offer round the clock support with its global delivery infrastructure, and could also take on the risks associated with running remote service centers, for example currency fluctuations, wage inflation and local political, legal and tax issues. Over the last decade, the outsourcing providers have expanded their BPO offerings, with finance as the “hub” function, offering HR, inbound customer support and industry-specific processes, such as insurance claims processing or clinical data management, in addition to finance support. The leading providers are also offering “hybrid” solutions that include the management of the software applications underpinning the business processes being outsourced, where they can help deliver the synergies of having IT and business processes tightly aligned in an outsourced model.
Many of the earlier BPO pioneers, such as BP, Unilever and Proctor and Gamble, saw outsourcing as an opportunity to out-task non-core back office processes, such as payroll, accounts receivable, accounts payable and reconciliations and re-focus their inhouse staff on managing service levels, higher-value controllership activities and other functions that had greater alignment with their core business. However, as several of the earlier BPO pioneers ventured into outsourcing relationships, they also found several challenges with the model, namely getting constant ongoing value, cost-reduction and innovation from their service provider, which would often provide a reactive service based solely on the contractually-agreed terms. BPO adopters quickly had to learn how to manage their outsourcing providers effectively, and acquire the right skills and experience to do so.
Over time as the outsourcing providers matured, and technology advanced, they were able to take their new-found critical mass into markets like India which had only previously been tested in a significant way by companies such as General Electric (GE) who were providing in-house support for some of their companies in their conglomerate business.
Markets like India and the Philippines offered significant cost advantages over the typical European locations like Dublin and Amsterdam which flourished in the early captive days. In time, GE became an outsourcing provider through the creation of its GECIS subsidiary (now Genpact), and there were new entrants to the market such as Hewlett Packard, ACS, Cap Gemini, IBM and more recently a number of more newly-established providers that have rapidly grown with outsourcing boom over the last decade, namely Indian owned companies operating the services from India, such as Infosys, Wipro and Tata Consultancy Services. We are even seeing a further wave of offshore outsourcing providers making attempts to enter the global BPO market, for example Satyam, Cognizant and Patni.
These models have grown up in parallel and can be the answer to many companies looking to improve their effectiveness, reduce their costs and improve internal control. Over time the functions being handled by these models have also moved up the value chain from simple accounting or transaction processing to most back and front office support functions.
For those companies not quite sure about outsourcing, hybrid or “virtual captive” models have been developed by the outsourcing providers allowing for a middle ground which selects from some of the benefits from either model.
It is not unusual for companies to start out with a captive model, and over time move to an outsourcing model. Other companies which started their transformation journey late, often skip the first step and go straight to outsourcing. However, those companies which have had significant experience with developing a captive model have clearly found the transition to a fully-outsourced model less complex and arduous, as they typically have some degree of standardization of their processes and technology already established. In many cases, moving from a captive model to a fully-outsourced scenario has proven to be a straightforward advancement in optimizing efficiencies, as outsourcing offers the logical next step for companies with captives to strip out further costs and find further efficiencies.
o Company size - is the company large enough to attract, retain and develop the best work force in a given location?
o University access - does the company have access to the best universities to attract the new graduate population in a given location?
o Retention programs - can the company offer sufficient career opportunities either in the Shared Service center environment or in the business in the given location? The outsourcing providers have in cases 10,000 seats and more and multiple clients, which almost guarantees an exciting career path for the successful young graduate.
• Given their size, the outsourcing provider usually had the advantage here in the most popular offshore or nearshore markets such as India and Eastern Europe, but the captive can usually hold its own in the onshore markets.
o Flexibility - many companies require a degree of flexibility, which may not be available in a strict outsourcing scenario, and so propensity for control and flexibility becomes a key selection factor.
• Degree of flexibility required will be the key determinant in this area.
o Lean/Six Sigma skills - this has become a core competency for outsourcing providers and been necessary to drive the productivity improvement s and consequent cost reductions which are designed into outsourcing contracts.
o Organizational culture around improvement - while many companies have a like appetite for continuous improvement, it is not the norm for all companies.
o Best practices across client base - the outsourcing provider has the advantage of being able to draw upon the best practices from multiple clients.
• The outsourcing provider usually has the advantage here.
o This is an ongoing requirement for the outsourcing provider in order to drive its productivity. Technologies such as scanning, OCR etc over a greater population are easier to justify and never suffer from the inevitable capital expenditure squeeze. The majority of today’s top-tier outsourcing providers now offer technology workflow tools that can help integrate financial data actoss disparate systems and grographies and provider dashboards for inhouse financial management to gain quicker access to data.
o Contingency planning and back up-many companies even with Shared Service Models do not invest filly in this area, while for the outsourcing provider, it is an imperative otherwise reputations can suffer and costly contract penalties ca trip in.
o The finance back office is the business of the outsourcing provider and since it represents its product or service, it has to be good or better to stay competitive.
o If the company decides that it does not want its employees, customers or suppliers dealing with a third party for back office support, then it will have deemed these functions as reasonably core and will most likely find the captive model more appropriate.
• Decision here depends on consideration of what is core.
o Capability to measure-as outsource contracts often have gain sharing or risk/reward clauses which represent compensation for the outsourcing provider, there is usually a robust set of service levels clearly defined and measured. While many companies are good at doing this internally it is still a luxury for many.
o Performance penalties/incentives-these usually help influence the right behaviors with the outsourcing provider, and may provide a stick or carrot not always available under the captive model.
o Benchmarking-although not offered or used by all outsourcing providers, the existence of such a clause in an outsourcing contract should allow the client company to stay abreast of market developments and take advantage of new practices such as pricing models or latest cost structures in a given location. This may be much less formal or appropriate in a captive model.
While I am not a spokesperson for outsourcing, I do believe that with the foregoing selection drivers, outsourcing offers a distinct advantage for many companies today seeking to take full advantage of lower-cost resources and the process acumen being offered by many of today’s maturing outsourcing providers. However, the captive model is still a preferential delivery model for a company deciding that the support function is core to the business, or whether it prefers the support function remain in the same onshore geography, or it does not have an appropriate plan for potentially displaced employees. Each of these factors will need to be considered by the company, along with the cost models and goals for productivity and efficiency improvement, internal control improvement and the service culture.
Thanks for featuring this article. Graham Russell hits the nail on the head with this issue. I am surprised that many companies persist with investing in their captives these days, despite the fact they are struggling to manage them with the cost-effectiveness of most service providers.
Most firms are struggling to retain good managers and junior staff within their captives, especially most service providers offering more attractive career opportunities. Many of the arguments that support maintaining captives for reasons of flexibility and security, simply do not hold up these days when you look at the willingness and flexibility of many service providers to provide a "captive experience" without many of the headaches of doing it yourself.
Nice summary of history and key criteria!
One other key driver of outsourcing vs. captive is flexibility of a different kind than discussed here: the ability to quickly ramp up/ramp down. It typically takes an outsourcing vendor 3 - 6 months to get a team fully staffed and functioning smoothly. Starting a captive center and getting to the same level of productivity can easily take 12 - 24 months. It may also be very difficult to shut down a captive, since many countries regulate both new business licensing and business closures.
Graham, nice comparison of the 2 models! Here's my stance on it.
Based on how things have changed and are continuously changing in this arena more and more companies will require the best of both the models.
Captives have some definite advantages such as control, speed of change management and less inter-organizational SLA barriers to cross. However the downsides are the lack of entrepreneurial ownership, innovation and MUST-WIN attitude in the remote company.
In case of an outsourcing provider, with the company ownership residing fully or majorly with the person running the show remotely, you get the MUST-WIN attitude which can offset the impedance caused by cultural conflicts and localized issues - this is where the outsourcing model looks much better.
Higher Attrition - Person heading the captive center at the end of the day is an employee (who can easily switch) as a result causing lower sense of ownership and higher attrition throughout the operation.
However, as I mentioned earlier, competition and other disruptive pressures will drive customers to ask for best from the both the worlds!
What’s the Solution? Agile Outsourcing!
A key component to enable ‘Agile Outsourcing’ is a team-structure which we call ‘Power Teams’ (for the sake of understanding you can call them ‘captive teams’ but we don’t like using the word ‘captive’ as it gives a connotation of reactive, restrictive and enslaved resources ,which in turn can limit innovation and energy required for success).
So an agile outsourcing model is where the customer works with the outsourcing provider on dedicated resource models outlining a very basic high-level SLA which is subject to change without change in the cost-structure or cash-flows. Wherever the changes do not impact the cost-structures, why fight on agreeing the SLA and commercials. The trust, partnership and long-term commitment to each other’s business success is what fuels and drives such a model.
Best of both the worlds! This gets closest of getting the benefits of both the worlds. With a dedicated team and a reasonable contract duration, 1 year plus you can negotiate a good monthly rate per resource. This relieves you from worrying about the over-head costs and local administrative issues of the outsourcing provider… and at the same time have stronger control and flexibility in how you would like to use the resources on multiple projects or processes.
Allows for Agile and Change-friendly Delivery Models Further, it allows you to utilize the more dynamic delivery models such as Agile to smooth out the frictions which are caused due to change management during the delivery. Outsourcing provider likes this model even at a lower price per resource, as it provides them firmer cash-flow projections… which in turn keeps them motivated to provide more flexibility to the customer.
Win-Win for Both! It’s almost always a win-win for the outsourcing provider and the customer… Ephlux has experienced working in almost all the 3 models (Fixed Price, Dedicated Resources, T&M)… and we’ve found this Agile Outsourcing model to be the best in terms of a good win-win balance between both the parties.
Finally, such Agile Outsourcing models in turn enable the much-sought after IT/BPO bundled service models which further add to the competitiveness and agility of the customer.
Nice to see these comments.
Failing to elect a good leadership. Most parent organisations keep searching for domain skills, team size handled,similar past backgrounds etc.I know when you keep leadership and management skills on top of domain skills, when you look for maturity and sincerity, a jeal to take challanges - you elect a leader.
Poor offshore-onsite management by leaders.
Failure to recognise that relationship management is as important in a Captive as it is in a Outsourced model.
For those who still feel captives are not good enough or they are looking to test the water or looking for a smal team size, a hybrid model of Managed Offshore model is a good choice, where you can leave all the worries except getting the services quality sucessfully to a providers. | 2019-04-19T04:24:14Z | https://www.horsesforsources.com/the-evolution-of-captive-and-outsourced-delivery-models-for-business-processes-what-is-the-right-option-for-your-company |
The expanding applications of vibratory feeders for controlling the flow of bulk materials, and their adaptation for processing requirements, have developed a considerable interest in stockpiling and reclaim systems. The general design of these units consists of a material transporting trough (or platform) driven by a vibratory force system. The flexibility and variety of designs are limited only by the ingenuity of design engineers. The basic motion of the vibratory trough, or work member, is a controlled directional linear vibration which produces a tossing or hopping action of the material. Material travel speeds vary from 0 to approximately 100 ft. per minute, depending on the combination of frequency, amplitude, and slope vibration angle.
The installation of vibrating feeders in over 300 power plants has proven the reliability and economical construction for these feeder units. System designers must apply improved designs for controlling the flow of coal or other bulk materials from storage including full consideration for dust control and pollution. Automated coal handling systems should include manpower and equipment maintenance requirements in the evaluation of any layout. Overall operating costs in a material handling system are passed on to the consumer in the price of energy. Minimizing the use of dozers and mobile equipment reduces the “fugitive” dust problems and improves the reliability of the system. The efficient and economical storage, movement, and control of large tonnage material handling installations – unit train loading and unloading, storage, blending, and reclaim systems – depend on the proper application and design of vibrating feeders.
Vibratory feeders are basically applied to a control function to meter or control the flow of material from a hopper, bin, or stockpile, much the same as an orifice or valve control flow in a hydraulic system. In a similar sense, feeders can be utilized as fixed rate, such as an orifice, or adjustable rate, as a valve. Feeders are supported by a structure or hung from hoppers by cables with soft springs to isolate the vibration of the deck from the supporting structure. Capacities range from a few pounds to 5000 tons per hour or more.
Vibratory feeders are basically applied to a control function to meter or control the flow of material from a hopper, bin, or stockpile, much the same as an orifice or valve control flow in a hydraulic system. In a similar sense, feeders can be utilized as fixed rate, such as an orifice, or adjustable rate, as a valve. Feeders are supported by a structure or hung from hoppers by cables with soft springs to isolate the vibration of the deck from the supporting structure. Capacities range from a few pounds to 5,000 tons per hour or more.
Some of the principal advantages of vibratory feeders over other types of bulk feeding devices are the opportunity for utilizing full sized hopper openings to reduce bridging and assure the free flow of material. This free flow comes via vibrating material in the hopper throat and eliminating the requirement for bin vibrators. In most cases, the vibratory feeder pan eliminates the requirements for rack and pinion gates and other shut-off devices above feeders since the feeder pan functions as a shut-off plate. The design of the unit permits replacement of the drive mechanism without removing the feeder trough. There is a reduction in headroom requirements and considerable savings in pit or tunnel construction and elimination of gates. Eliminating gates also promotes the free unobstructed flow of material. In process requirements, the ability to vary the feed control from absolute zero to maximum in response to instrumentation signals meets the design requirements for automated blending and reclaim systems. No return run such as belt feeders eliminates scrapers and spillage. They can be designed for dust-tight applications.
1. Direct-force type in which 100 percent of the vibratory forces are produced by heavy centrifugal counterweights. The forces developed are transmitted directly to the deck through heavy-duty bearings. Linear motion can be generated by the use of counter-rotating shafts with timing gears operating in an oil-bath housing and driven through a V-belt. Other designs utilize two synchronizing motors, with counterweights mounted on the motor shaft. In general, the direct-force type is applied as a constant-rate feeder. The feed rate can be adjusted by changing the slope of the pan, size of the hopper opening, or changing the amount of counterweight, and stroke. In some cases, mechanical or electrical variable-speed drives are applied to vary the frequency and feed rate, but the regulation and control range is limited. The stroke and capacity are affected by the hopper opening and the amount of material on the feeder pan.
2. Indirect-force types, better known as resonant or natural frequency units, generate the vibratory forces from a relatively small exciting force which is amplified through the application of a secondary spring-mass system. In most designs, natural frequency feeders are “tuned” at a mechanical natural frequency above the operating frequency of the drive in order to prevent excess dampening effect of the material head load, particularly in larger units with large hopper openings or high capabilities. The term “sub resonant” is used to describe these units.
The resonant or natural frequency vibratory feeder is designed to control the flow of bulk materials using the amplification principle of a two-mass spring system with a constant exciting force. The prime mover is a standard squirrel cage ac motor. Small eccentric counterweights mounted on the double-extended shaft of the squirrel-cage motor in the exciter assembly produce a constant rotating exciting force. This drive design completely eliminates the requirements for heavy bearings, V-belt drives, guards, electric plugging circuits, pressure switches, gears and lubrication problems. Other designs use an unbalanced eccentric shaft driven by belts from a separately supported motor designed for vibratory service. The component of the rotating exciting force, in line with the desired feeder stroke, is amplified by coil or polymer springs to produce a powerful straight line conveying action on the deck. The squirrel-cage motor speed varies less than 1-1/2% with +/- 10 percent fluctuation. The constant rotating exciting force results in accurate feed control regardless of normal voltage fluctuations.
The total spring system of the vibratory feeder is designed so that the amplitude-frequency response of the two-mass system is such that the greater the material effect, the greater the amplification of the spring-weight system. This results in an automatic increase of the amplified exciter force which naturally compensates for material head load and weight effect. This anti-dampening characteristic results in accurate volumetric feed-rate control regardless of material head load variations.
Electromagnetic feeders have been used extensively. These units are designed as Two-Mass spring systems in which the pan or deck is mounted on a bank of leaf springs which is rigidly attached to a relatively larger impulse mass. Alternating or pulsating direct current creates an exciting magnetic force between an armature and the field coils which are usually mounted on the impulse mass. Variable amplitude is obtained through a rheostat and rectifying equipment or variable-voltage transformers. Electromagnetic units are usually sensitive to material head loads and voltage fluctuations. In some applications electronic circuits and voltage-regulation equipment are employed.
Maximum feed rate can be “fixed” or set by adjusting the small eccentric weights located on the motor or vibrating shaft. Stroke can also be adjusted by the use of tuning springs to vary the resonance effect. Some designs attempt to control the feed rate by varying the RPM of a squirrel cage motor with SCR controls or variable voltage transformers. This method of adjusting the control is satisfactory for relatively limited ranges. Vibrating feeders, like those at General Kinematics, are suspended on coil springs to isolate the motion from the supporting structure. The natural frequency of the suspension system is generally 50% of the operating speed of the feeder motor. Reducing the RPM of the feeder motor approaches the natural frequency of the suspension system so that at some point the feeding becomes erratic or causes problems in the suspension system. Other designs may have internal drive constructions which also respond in an erratic fashion to variable speed drives. For applications requiring maximum adjustable control of feed rate, an infinitely variable, stepless feed rate is obtained by the use of a Variable Force counterweight wheel on each of the extended motor shafts.
This vibrating feeder design provides linear control from zero to maximum feed rate. Variable Force counterweight control alters the exciting force by varying only the counterweight effect rather than the motor speed. As air or hydraulic pressure signal varies from zero to maximum, the unbalanced forces vary proportionally. Motor speed remains constant. Since the NEMA design squirrel cage motor operates with full torque at all times, it can “stop and resume” feed at any capacity, even 5000 TPH. The control responds accurately and smoothly to any manual, pneumatic, hydraulic or electronic input signal-load cell, belt scale, computer – for fully automated operation.
Since most applications involve bulk materials, a typical layout consists of a hopper with a vibrating feeder mounted below to feed the material to a conveyor, scale, or processing unit.
Material characteristics and size distribution generally dictate the hopper or bin slopes as well as the hopper opening. In determining the size of hopper opening it is important to consider the largest size particles as well as the bridging effect of the material. The projected vertical opening should be two or three times the largest size pieces. Materials with high bridging characteristics require adequate openings to assure flowability. Larger openings save headroom but require feeders with the ability to operate under headloads. Another feature of large hopper openings is the transmission of feeder-pan vibration directly to the material to reduce bridging, eliminating the requirement for bin vibrators, and promoting smooth uniform flow of materials. These design factors require feeders that are able to operate under a material head-load with minimum “damping” or “muffling” effect. Para-Mount II Feeders are ideal as they are “tuned” to increase vibratory forces to compensate for the material mass effect.
The projected horizontal opening is determined by the particle size and capacity requirements. The minimum opening should be approximately 1-1/2 times the largest lump size. The maximum size opening is determined by the volumetric capacity consistent with feeder length. It is desirable to include a slide plate or gate to permit field adjustment.
Material velocities will range from 30 to 60 fpm with pan slopes from 0 to 20 deg. Feeder-pan trough length is determined by the material angle of repose and pan slope. The feeder pan must be of sufficient length to assure complete material shutoff when the feeder is at rest. A line drawn from the maximum opening at the material angle of repose should intersect the pan trough, leaving a margin of cutoff length to allow for variations in material characteristics.
Selection capacities shown in the table are guides for selecting the feeder size. Feed rates may vary widely with material characteristics such as density, particle size distribution, moisture content and angle of repose. Maximum feed rates are obtained by declining feeder pan consistent with hopper opening and feeder length. Minimum length of feeder may be determined by hopper opening, feeder slope and angle of repose. Select feeder with adequate length to prevent flushing. Hopper opening required to minimize hopper bridging effect may determine width and length of the feeder. In some cases, headroom or minimum tunnel depth consideration justify a size selection larger than required for volumetric flow.
Feeder troughs can be ruggedly built for heavy-duty service. Frames are heavily reinforced. Deck plates are bolted to husky channel side members and are readily replaceable. Decks are available in mild steel, abrasion-resistant steel, stainless steel or special alloys, thus providing a wide range of materials to suit application requirements. Thicknesses from 10 ga. to 1″ widths from 18″ to 144″. Liners are also available in the above materials, as well as rubber, plastics or ceramics. Dust-tight covers can be furnished where required.
As you think about the design of your vibrating feeder, the lining materials should be selected with consideration to the material being handled as well as the economic factors. For extremely abrasive materials, ceramic liners in the form of high-density aluminum oxide tiles can be installed on a flat deck with epoxy resins with a high degree of success. This has been very successful in applications involving coke, for example in the steel mills. Another type of material is a UHMW Polymer (ultra-high molecular weight) polyethylene plastic, used as a liner for abrasive, wet fine, material. This in many cases prevents the buildup encountered with metal decks.
A very common material as a liner is Type 304 stainless steel. This is particularly adaptable to materials which have a corrosive effect as well as wear. The stainless steel material is excellent for this application as the general action of the material on the feeder is a sliding action, which polishes the stainless to a very smooth finish preventing buildup and also resulting in longer life. Experience has shown that feeders in power plants have been operating for over 15 years with no appreciable wear on the 304 stainless steel material. Many alloy decks such as T-1 and Jalloy can also be used for abrasive service.
The conventional feeders that have been available consist of a flat pan trough with relatively low sides. This requires that stationary skirts be installed between the hopper or storage opening and the inside of the feeder trough to contain the material being conveyed by the vibrating feeder pan. Also, there has been a difficult design problem to provide dust or mud seals between the stationary skirts and the vibrating feeder pan. Another problem has been to provide a satisfactory seal between the feeder pan and any dust housing over the conveyor belt or receiving chute. A newer vibrating feeder design incorporates the side skirts as part of the feeder forming a totally-enclosed design. The feeder is shaped like a box structure with a flanged inlet and bottom flanged outlet cooperating with the inlet-chute and receiving chute or hopper. In this case, the seals are never in contact with the material and are much simpler to install and maintain. The feeding unit can now be made completely dust-tight (or watertight) and eliminates any spillage encountered with conventional feeders. Installation is simplified. This design also eliminates the problem encountered in trapping material between stationary skirts and the vibrating pan, which may cause reduced capacity or complete “locking” of the pan to the stationary skirts in the case of material that has a tendency to cake or cement when inactive.
Some installations use a combination of a vibrating bin bottom or pile activator with a vibrating feeder to control flow. The UN-COALER® combines the flow control characteristics of a totally enclosed vibrating feeder with the material activating action of a vibrating bin bottom to assure maximum material “drawdown” without the attendant problems of flushing or compacting. Until now, it has been necessary to select a circular bin activator sized to provide maximum material flow and the use a vibrating feeder to control the flow and prevent flushing. A single unit can do the job effectively and economically.
The construction consists of a square or rectangular box structure with two symmetrical “feeder” pans in combination with a center dome. The geometry of the material flow path is similar to the requirements for open pan feeders. The center dome is part of the box structure and functions as a pile activator or vibrating hopper bottom.
The entire assembly is vibrated horizontally by the natural frequency drive mechanism identical in design to a coil spring feeder drive. The bottom slot opening feeds the material to the belt to deposit the coal symmetrically and centrally to develop an ideal belt loading. The center dome produces a vibratory action on the material to reduce the arching and induce the flow in the storage pile. Sealing is simple and complete with installation of seals as shown in the diagrams.
When applied to any type of bulk material storage unit, the UN-COALER® activator / feeder will increase the amount of reclaimable live storage. It is especially advantageous when used with sluggish, hard to handle ores, lignite coal, and other materials with high particle friction or a poor natural angle of repose. Units are available up to 12′ x 12′ or larger openings, depending on your application. Large openings mean fewer units are required to achieve the same amount of live reclaim. Compact low profile reduces tunnel depth. Rectangular shape allows simple hopper design without the need for expensive circular transition piece between hopper and activator. The UN-COALER® mounts on a separate support. A curved arch breaker mounted above the material feeding troughs is designed to transmit vibrating forces into the storage pile without compacting the material. Its leading edges are provided with adjustable baffles which are set in accordance with the material’s angle of repose the same as a cut-off gate on feeder hoppers.
Each UN-COALER® is foot mounted on steel coil isolation springs, thus the tunnel roof does not have to be designed to withstand the weight of the unit or any dynamic forces. Automated control systems arranged to respond to belt scale, load cell or computer signals, allow individual or multiple unit control of the UN-COALER® for selective reclaiming from virtually any point or combination of points along the tunnel. The low profile design of the UN-COALER® reduces the cost of foundation excavation since the tunnel does not have to be as deep. Straight-line surfaces eliminate elaborate concrete forming. The few moving mechanical parts of the UN-COALER® are easily accessible from the tunnel to minimize maintenance procedures.
Large vibrating opening, up to 12′ x 12′, permits large hopper discharge openings for greater drawdown volume.
Compact, low profile design reduces tunnel depth for substantial savings in foundation costs.
Fixed or variable feed rate designs permit continuous operation to assure uniform feed to reclaim conveyor.
Unit mounts directly above belt conveyor and evenly distributes material to eliminate belt tracking problems.
Few moving mechanical parts are easily maintained from the tunnel.
The entire UN-COALER® is mounted below grade.
Rectangular shape with straight line surfaces greatly simplify hopper design, dust and connections and concrete work.
As unit trains deposit enormous quantities of material into large hoppers, a series of feeders can be called upon to uniformly distribute the material onto reclaim belt conveyors. The large, rectangular outlet opening of the feeders mounted directly over the conveyor assures maximum draw-down. Adjustable rate units equipped with the counterweight control respond accurately to belt scale, load cell or computer signals to allow precise proportioning or blending. UN-COALER®S can be applied with considerable savings in pit depth.
Vibrating feeders can be supplied to match the crusher openings to provide an ideal curtain feed with a uniform distribution to assure maximum crusher efficiency and uniform wear life on the hammer elements. Foot-mounted directly above a crusher, the UN-COALER®’s low profile, compact straight-line design simplifies hopper and dust seal installation. 100% linear feed rate adjustment can be controlled by the crusher amphere draw or feed hopper load cells.The long, narrow shape of the UN-COALER® discharge opening provides the perfect configuration for evenly distributing material across the crusher inlet.
The basic aim of any reclaim system is to activate the larges volume of stored material without resorting to manual manipulation to eliminate rat-holing or segregation. Feeders can be applied to obtain maximum live storage in either windrow or silo storage. the design of systems to reduce the use of dozers has proven to be advantageous in operating costs and eliminating much of the fugitive dust problem generated by the moving equipment.
The illustration below shows an arrangement of feeders which provides 100 percent reclaim of material and at the same time reduces the required storage area. In this system, the material is reclaimed from what are essentially live storage piles through a series of below-grade hoppers. These feeder hoppers are contiguous and arranged to permit pairs of opposed vibrating feeders to feed to a central belt conveyor. The feeder troughs are enclosed and the drive can be provided with explosion-proof motors thus reducing dust problems and the risk of fire. This arrangement makes it convenient to blend materials of various compositions or content by operating appropriate pairs of feeders along the pile. Material is 100% reclaimed from live storage area through a series of UN-COALER®s that are foot mounted directly below grade. The contiguous hoppers are arranged to permit the UN-COALER®S to feed to a central conveyor belt. Simple straight-line dust seals at the inlet and discharge openings, eliminate dust problems and reduce the risk of explosion. The UN-COALER® is mounted completely below grade, reducing hazards during dozing operations. Low profile reduces tunnel depth and concrete cost is cut even further since units are supported from tunnel floor and not suspended from overhead.
This type of bulk storage facility is a V-shaped slot with a bathtub shape having 55 degrees sloped concrete walls in some cases completely covered by a metal building. The upper-most portion of the structure houses a tripper conveyor which will deliver the incoming material to any point along the bunker. A series of UN-COALER® activator / feeders, with sizes up to 12′ x 12′ or larger, are housed in a rectangular concrete reclaim tunnel extending along the entire bottom of the bunker and are positioned to provide 100 percent reclaim. This is an ideal layout for reliable and controlled blending. Any percentage of material can be reclaimed simultaneously from any portion of the pile. The low profile design of the UN-COALER® reduces the cost of foundation excavation since the tunnel does not have to be as deep. Straight-line surfaces eliminate elaborate concrete forming and eliminate the requirement for “tepee” housing used with plow systems. The few moving mechanical parts of the UN-COALER® are easily accessible from the tunnel to minimize maintenance procedures. Discharge is directly on the belt thus eliminating belt tracking problems. Square or rectangular outline simplifies feed opening design, concrete work, and dust sealing.
The fast efficient, high-tonnage method of reclaiming coal from concrete storage silos is to use a series of feeders to extract uniformly across the entire bottom of the silo. For example, a 70 ft. diameter silo would use seven feeders located beneath 10 ft. square openings, three directly over a belt and two on either side, to provide mass-flow unloading while minimizing segregation problems. Two or more silos in tandem facilitate blending.
Several UN-COALER® units installed across the bottom of the silo, a 70′ diameter silo, for example, would require only four UN-COALER® units mounted in-line between the 60 degree inclined discharge chutes… compared to at least seven conventional activators and feeders. A significant cost savings occurs because of fewer pieces of equipment, simpler and less costly concrete work and installation procedures. | 2019-04-25T18:01:09Z | https://www.generalkinematics.com/vibrating-feeders-for-stockpile-and-reclaim-gk-feeders/ |
Mineralogical Magazine (2015) 79 (6): 1633-1640.
The UK has published a generic Disposal System Safety Case for a geological disposal facility (NDA, 2010) and is planning to update this in 2016. However, it is a challenge to present a meaningful safety case when the location and hence the design of a geological disposal facility are not known. Consequently, this paper describes our aim to present a narrative, explaining how we can have confidence in the long-term safety of a geological disposal facility. This narrative is based on an understanding of the environmental safety functions of a geological disposal facility and the features, events and processes (FEPs) that support them. The highest level environmental safety functions required for a geological disposal facility are isolation and containment. By isolation we mean removal of the wastes from people and the surface environment. By containment we mean retaining the radioactivity from the wastes within various parts of the disposal facility for as long as required to achieve safety. Beneath these top-level environmental safety functions we have identified generic environmental safety functions associated with each of the key safety barriers within a geological disposal facility, namely: the wasteform, the container, the local buffer or backfill, the mass backfill (in the access tunnels and service ways), the plugs and seals and the geosphere. This paper discusses the application of environmental safety functions and FEPs to building a safety narrative and explains how it is proposed to use such an approach to develop a generic environmental safety case for the UK to provide confidence in the longterm safety of a geological disposal facility after it has been sealed and closed.
The UK policy for the long-term management of higher activity radioactive wastes is deep geological disposal, and a new siting process has recently been launched (DECC, 2014) to identify a suitable site for the construction of a geological disposal facility (GDF) in the UK. As regards long-term safety, a suitable site will be one where the geology has appropriate properties to work with appropriately designed engineered barriers to keep the wastes safe. To identify potential sites for a GDF, the UK Government favours a voluntarist approach based on working with communities that are willing to participate in the siting process.
Of fundamental importance, is the demonstration that a GDF will be safe. The implementing organization, Radioactive Waste Management Limited (RWM) will present a series of safety cases during the development of a GDF, which will need to be scrutinized and accepted by the regulatory authorities before permission is given for the construction of the GDF and as the GDF is built and operated and eventually closed. The safety cases will set out plans for the safe transport of wastes to the GDF, the construction and operation of the GDF and will explain how the GDF uses multiple natural and engineered barriers to provide long-term environmental safety.
However, at the current time, as a potential site has not yet been identified for a GDF, UK safety case work is generic, i.e. not specific to any particular site or GDF design. This is because the design of a GDF will be very much influenced by its geological setting. It is a challenge to present a meaningful safety case when the location and design of a GDF are not known. Therefore, at this generic stage, it is proposed that the main focus of the long-term environmental safety case is a ‘narrative’, explaining how it is possible to have confidence in the long-term safety of a GDF. Where required, this narrative will be supported by illustrative calculations to provide confidence that it will be possible to satisfy the regulatory requirements for a suitably designed and sited GDF. Such a narrative will continue to be developed, including site-specific discussion, as the GDF development programme progresses. The supporting calculations will become more meaningful as the safety case becomes site-specific.
In siting and designing a GDF, it is important to consider those aspects of the site and design that contribute to its safety. The various ways in which components of a GDF may contribute to safety are termed ‘safety functions’; for example, a clay buffer around the disposal containers has the safety function of protecting the containers and also provides a diffusive barrier to limit the migration of radionuclides should a container fail as a separate safety function.
Long-term, post-closure environmental safety involves consideration of the evolution of a GDF and its geological setting over hundreds of thousands of years. This requires understanding and integration of research into engineered barrier materials, wasteforms and radionuclide behaviour under GDF conditions. It is necessary to show that a GDF will be safe for all credible environmental evolution scenarios. Demonstrating this at a generic stage involves building a ‘safety narrative’ that describes the safety functions provided by different geological settings and engineered barriers. Such a narrative may be conveniently structured by considering the safety functions and examining the timescales over which they are effective and the situations in which they may be challenged or compromised.
A generic post-closure safety narrative requires the identification and consideration of a range of scenarios. These scenarios will consider normal, planned operations and also potential accident situations or unexpected evolutions of a GDF, which test the robustness of the safety of a GDF under less desirable situations. Appropriate scenarios can be identified by considering the action of features, events and processes (FEPs) that may be detrimental to one or more of the safety functions.
The UK is fairly unique in developing a totally generic safety case. The UK has a diverse range of higher activity waste types for disposal as well as a wide range of different potential geological settings in the UK that could be considered suitable for hosting a GDF. Together, these facts mean a wide range of disposal concepts require consideration. In comparison, for example, both Sweden and Finland sought sites for the disposal of spent nuclear fuel in the crystalline bedrock of the Scandinavian Shield with a well-developed disposal concept (SKB, 2011; Posiva, 2012). France also has a diverse disposal inventory, but is focusing its search for a GDF location in clay host rocks and has produced a feasibility study for the disposal of high-level reprocessing wastes in a clay host rock (Andra, 2005). The US has a licensed facility for transuranic wastes (similar to UK intermediate-level waste) in a salt formation (USDoE, 1996) and is currently developing generic safety assessments for the disposal of spent nuclear fuel and high-level waste.
In its Guidance on Requirements for Authorisation (GRA) (Environment Agency and the Northern Ireland Environment Agency, 2009), the Environment Agency (the UK environmental regulator) defines environmental safety as “The safety of people and the environment both at the time of disposal and in the future”. It further defines ‘environmental safety functions’ as “the various ways in which components of the disposal system may contribute towards environmental safety, e.g. the host rock may provide a physical barrier function and may also have chemical properties that help to retard the migration of radionuclides”.
The highest level environmental safety functions required for a GDF are ‘isolation’ and ‘containment’. By isolation we mean the removal of the wastes from people and the surface environment. By containment we mean retaining the radioactivity from the wastes within various parts of the disposal facility for as long as required to achieve environmental safety. Features that contribute positively to providing isolation include the depth of the GDF, the stability of the surrounding geology and the lack of potentially exploitable mineral resources. Such features may be considered as desirable siting requirements.
Features and processes that contribute to containment tend to be those associated with the multiple barriers of the disposal concept, for example, the stability of the wasteform, the container integrity, the retentive properties of the buffer/backfill and the retardation properties of the geological barrier. It is helpful to consider the environmental safety functions provided by particular components of a GDF that contribute to the high-level environmental safety functions of isolation and containment. The various components of a generic geological disposal concept are illustrated in Fig. 1, together with an indication of the environmental safety functions they may provide.
The relative importance of different safety functions will vary between different disposal concepts; however, all are likely to have some combination of the following generic environmental safety functions.
The ability to limit the release of radionuclides (in gaseous or liquid form); this safety function may be achieved by retaining the radionuclides in a stable matrix (e.g. through retardation mechanisms such as sorption) and/or influencing the chemical environment to limit releases.
The ability to stabilize the structure and geometry of the engineered barriers, for example, by limiting void space.
The ability to protect the internal surface of the waste container, for example, by providing and controlling an appropriate chemical environment to limit container corrosion.
Preclusion of nuclear criticality within the waste package by ensuring that the package contents are and remain sub-critical.
Limitation of the release of radionuclides (in gaseous or liquid form); this safety function is achieved by physical containment and by the prevention of water ingress.
Prevention of failure through over-pressurization; this may be achieved by robust container design and/or container venting.
The ability to stabilize the structure and geometry of the engineered barriers, for example, by providing mechanical support.
Protection of the metallic container; this safety function may be achieved by limitation of the rate of groundwater ingress, and/or by establishing and buffering a favourable chemical environment.
The ability to stabilize the structure and geometry of the engineered barriers, for example, by filling space and having the appropriate mechanical properties.
Limitation of the release of radionuclides, for example, by establishing a favourable chemistry, providing sorption sites and/or limiting groundwater egress.
Limitation of over-pressurization, for example, by allowing gas to escape from the engineered barriers and/or reacting with the gas to form minerals.
Limitation of the release of radionuclides, for example, by limiting groundwater ingress and egress.
Prevention or limitation of the release of radionuclides, for example, by limiting groundwater movement and having appropriate physical properties.
Stabilization of the engineered barriers; this safety function is achieved by the appropriate location and mechanical properties of the plugs and seals.
Limitation of the release of radionuclides; this safety function is achieved by a combination of the groundwater return time and the retardation mechanisms in the geosphere.
Protection of the engineered barriers; this safety function is achieved by the mechanical stability of the geosphere and/or by its favourable chemical properties.
Illustration of components of generic disposal concepts for both ILWand HLW, indicating the safety functions of the wasteform, container, buffer/backfill, mass backfill, geosphere and seals. Figure published with the permission of the NDA.
Control of concentration of contaminants in the surface environment; this is achieved by the groundwater return time, retardation mechanisms in the geosphere and/or dispersion and dilution.
The environmental safety functions will each contribute to isolation and containment over different timescales, and the timescales over which particular environmental safety functions are most effective will depend on the specific disposal concept and its geological setting. For example, the containment function for a particular disposal concept may be provided in turn by the container, wasteform, buffer/backfill and geosphere. Highly durable containers (such as copper canisters for high-heat-generating wastes) may be expected to provide containment for hundreds of thousands of years, whereas containers for low-heat-generating wastes may be less durable or vented and the chemical containment provided by the backfill and the geosphere environmental safety functions will be relatively more important.
Isolation is provided by the geological setting and complemented by the plugs and seals used to close the access-ways to a GDF. A stable geological setting and well-constructed plugs and seals will ensure isolation for a very long period. During the period of total isolation, the majority of the radionuclide inventory will decay. However, as a GDF and its setting gradually evolve over time, some radioactivity from the GDF may return to the surface environment.
In describing and analysing the performance of a GDF, it is therefore helpful to consider three different ‘safety states’: (1) containment in the engineered barrier system; (2) containment in the geological barrier; and (3) return of residual materials to the environment.
The durations of the three safety states will vary for different disposal concepts and also for different radionuclides. For example, relatively insoluble actinides may be contained in the buffer/backfill for a significantly longer period than more soluble and mobile radionuclides, such as chlorine and iodine. The safety case base scenario can be discussed in terms of these safety states and the timescales over which they are applicable for different concepts and different radionuclides. It is important to emphasize that all three ‘safety states’ are safe, at whatever time they occur.
The return of residual materials to the environment is governed by regulatory discharge authorizations during the operational phase of the GDF, and beyond the period of authorization by demonstration that the risks associated with the return of any residual materials to the environment are consistent with the regulatory risk guidance level (Environment Agency and the Northern Ireland Environment Agency, 2009). These regulations ensure that any releases are at acceptable levels. Residual materials will be only non-radioactive materials and very long-lived radionuclides, for example after several hundred thousand years the remaining inventory will be similar to that of a natural uranium ore body.
It is recognized that gaseous releases have the potential to occur on much shorter timescales than releases via groundwater. Features and processes that contribute to limiting gaseous releases (e.g. by reducing gas generation, promoting the dissolution of gas and/or ‘trapping’ the migration of gas) may be discussed in terms of siting requirements. If gaseous releases cannot be prevented, the focus will be on demonstrating that the third safety state is met, i.e. demonstrating that any releases are within acceptable levels.
Features, events and processes that have a potentially negative impact on safety will be considered in relation to their potential impacts on the safety functions that provide isolation and containment. In general, it may be possible to mitigate against potentially negative features or processes by providing enhanced safety features, for example, by providing long-lived disposal containers if the geological setting does not provide a sufficiently long groundwater travel time. The overall requirements on the disposal concept will be that the highlevel safety functions of isolation and containment can be demonstrated to be achieved through an appropriate combination of safety functions of the specific components of the disposal concept. These safety functions may be provided by natural features or processes present in the system, or by specific safety features that are designed into the disposal concept. In some instances it may be appropriate to place quantitative requirements on certain safety features, but in general it will be the combination of (designed) safety features working together with natural safety features that provide safety.
There are some potential events and processes, whose likelihood and time of occurrence are unknown, but which could have a potentially negative impact on the performance of a GDF. Some such events and processes are naturally occurring, such as seismic or volcanic events or significant climate change (including glaciation) or the events and processes that could lead to a criticality; others are human-induced, such as future human intrusions. The GRA provides clear guidance on the treatment of human intrusion as a separate, variant scenario. Other ‘negative FEPs’ are assessed in terms of their likelihood of occurrence and their potential impact on the safety functions of a GDF should they occur. For example, RWM's criticality research programme has followed this approach and been able to demonstrate that a criticality is extremely unlikely to occur but even if it should, the consequences would be acceptable in terms of the continued provision of isolation and containment.
The above listed generic safety functions can be considered in more detail by identifying the FEPs that influence each of the environmental safetyfunctions. The OECD-NEA FEP database (NEA, 2012) provides a helpful checklist to ensure that all relevant FEPs are considered. RWM is using the NEA FEP database to build a safety narrative that links consideration of FEPs to the generic environmental safety functions for each of the components in a generic disposal concept. An example of how this is being developed for the wasteform is given in Fig. 2. The FEPs shown on Fig. 2 are high-level FEPs that may represent the effects of many sub-FEPs, as included in the NEA FEP database in more detail. This diagram can be developed and expanded as needed as the project progresses; for example, a version could be produced to highlight the FEPs relevant to a specific wasteform. The development of such figures provides a pictorial summary of the safety narrative that can be produced to explain the safety role of each of the main components of a GDF.
It is proposed that this generic safety narrative will be applied to specific disposal concepts and geological settings; for example, each of the six illustrative example concepts considered in RWM's published generic DSSC (NDA, 2010), tell the ‘safety story’, i.e. how safety is achieved for each of the illustrative concepts.
The safety narrative framework is also being trialled to support post-closure assessments of waste packaging proposals, thus linking the post-closure disposability assessments to the environmental safety functions by considering which FEPs present or absent in a specific packaging proposal may contribute to or potentially harm the safety functions. This will lead to safety narratives for specific waste packages, which will themselves become part of the overall safety narrative for a GDF.
The safety functions captured in the generic safety narrative can be used to identify generic safety requirements, which are in turn used to develop generic disposal concepts that are able to satisfy the safety requirements for the disposal inventory in different geological environments.
Moving forward, as RWM begins to develop a site-specific safety case, concept- and site-specific safety narratives will be iteratively developed. These will inform the development of GDF designs that can form the basis of safety assessment calculations. Figure 3 indicates the process by which a site-specific safety case may eventually be developed. This diagram highlights the important iteration between disposal system specification, design, safety assessments and needs-driven research to build understanding, identify and reduce uncertainties and control required changes in order to develop an optimized disposal system with a robust safety case. The safety narrative, which can be developed at this generic stage, provides an important role in capturing the qualitative understanding that will underpin the future iterative development of the safety case.
Generic environmental safety functions and pertinent FEPs associated with wasteforms. Figure published with the permission of the NDA.
The role of the safety narrative in iterative safety case development, indicating how a generic safety narrative can capture generic understanding based on safety functions; this leads to requirements for specific concepts and ultimately site-specific disposal facility designs that can be quantitatively assessed in the eventual site-specific safety case. Figure published with the permission of the NDA. | 2019-04-22T09:59:17Z | https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/minmag/article/79/6/1633/301186/development-of-a-generic-safety-narrative-for-a-uk |
I am excited to bring to life the many facets of our Social Studies program from 6th Grade Ancient Civilization, 7th Grade American History 1 and 8th Grade American History 2. We will continue to foster a love of learning and pursue a greater understanding of how societies began and continue to exist. Our 5th and 6th Grade World Languages program will coincide with the Social Studies curriculum in an effort to enhance the students understanding of regional languages from the past to the present.
UPDATED 4/15/19 (All recent homework is at the bottom of each grade list).
SS 6- Monday: 6th Grade Social Studies: Read Pp. 20-21. Answer 1-9 on Pg. 21 Due tomorrow.
SS 6- Tuesday: Read Pp. 21-22 Answer # 15-17 on Pg. 22 and 1-7 on Pg. 23 Due Thursday.
SS 6- Thursday: Complete Key Terms Pg. 28. Read Pg. 28-34. Answer #1B, 2A, 3A, 4AB. We will discuss Ice Man Friday and have Chapter 2 Section 1 Quiz on Monday.
SS 6- Friday: Review Study Ch.2 Section 1 for quiz Monday. We may have a test on Ch. 1 and Ch. 2 on Friday. Be safe and have a great weekend!
SS 6 Monday 9/17: Do Key Terms Pg. 36, Read Pp. 36-39 Answer # 1,2,3. Complete Section 2 Review Sheet for Thursday. Test Unit 1 Tue 9/25.
SS 6 Friday 9/21: HW Complete Section 3 Key Terms Pg. 40. Read Pg. 40-43. Answer 1AB, 2AB and #3 on pg. 43. START STUDY HERE: TONIGHT, Read Chapter 1 with your notes and put question marks where you need help understanding. Review your quizzes and notes from Chapter 1 and answer the Chapter 1 key terms and summary in the Unit 1 Study Guide I gave you. SATURDAY: Read Chapter 2. Review notes, write a question mark in your notebooks for something you don’t understand (ask Monday). Answer the Chapter 2 key terms and summary in the the Unit 1 Study Guide I gave you. Review Section 1-3 Study guides you completed. . SUNDAY after Mass, Study Section 3 Pg. 40-43 for quiz Monday. After Quiz 3, we will discuss questions you have and review the chapters. Test on Unit 1 is Tuesday 9/25.
SS 6- Wednesday 9/26: Review Timeline Pg 50-51. Do ALL Key Terms Pg. 54. Read Pp. 54-57. Answer 1ABC and 2ABC. Quiz Friday or Monday.
SS 6- Tuesday 10/2. Complete Section Review sheet and study for Quiz 1 tomorrow.
SS 6- Thursday 10/4 for TUESDAY 10/9- Review homework. Review Quiz Answer questions. Answer # 1ABC , 2 ABC and #3. WEEKEND Study Section 2 for Quiz on Tuesday.
SS 6- Tuesday 10/8: Study for Quiz on Chapter 3 Section 2 tomorrow. Complete homework if not already finished for credit.
SS 6 Wednesday 10/10: Quiz. Homework. Read Pp.65-69. Finish Section 3 Review Sheets. Answer #1ABC, 2AB, 3 AB. We will do #4 in class Thursday.
SS 6 Thursday 10/11: Complete #4 Pg. 69 and Read the Epic of Gilgamesh. Answer # 1 and #2.
SS 6 Friday 10/12:Read Pp. 65-69. Each student is assigned a sub-section. They are to read their subsection, write in any form they choose i.e. bullet points, a drawing etc. what they THINK are the three most important points of that subsection and then write a question to ask the class. They then need to read the entire Section 3 again, Pp. 65-69 to prepare to answer questions in class. Quiz on this section is Tuesday 10/16.
SS 6 Monday 10/15: Study for Quiz on Section 3 tomorrow.
SS 6 Tuesday 10/16: Section 3 Quiz. Complete Section review sheets and Read Pp. 72-77. Complete ALL Key Terms Pg. 72. Answer 1AB, 2AB and 3AB. We will do #4 in class tomorrow. Bring your Bible to class.
SS 6 Thursday 10/18: Finish #4 Pg. 77. Intro Bible. Complete Social Studies Skills 1-3 and Read Pp. 72-77 again. Complete assigned subsection homework (Pick 3 most important points in your assigned subsection and then create a question to ask the class).
SS 6 Friday 10/19: Finish Chapter Review Pg. 79 1-12.
SS 6 Monday 10/22: Study for Quiz Section 4 Tomorrow.
SS 6 Wednesday 10/24: Quiz Section 4. Do Ch. 3 Test Practice Pg. 81.. Read timeline Pp. 82-83. Read Pp. 85 and Do 1-4. Complete the Section 1 Review Sheet handout and read Pp. 86-89.
SS 6 Thursday 10/25: For Monday. Read Pp. 86-89. Do all Key Terms Pg. 86. Answer #1ABC, 2ABC, 3AB and #4. Take notes on your reading. I will check them. Come to class with any questions so we can clarify the information.
SS 6 Monday 10/29: Subsection assignment. Read each Section and write down 3-5 most important points and 1 question for class. Example. The Gift of the Nile: Location and Physical Features. 3-5 points and 1 question. The Floods of the Nile 3-5 points and 1 question, Civilzation Develops Along the Nile 3-5 and 1. Kings Unify Egypt. 3-5 and 1. We will review this Wednesday and have a quiz Thursday or Friday.
SS 6 Tuesday 10/30: Study for quiz Wednesday.
SS 6 Wednesday 10/31: No Homework Happy Halloween!
SS 6 Thursday 11/1: Review Quiz. Read Pp. 90-95. Do ALL Key Terms. Answer 1ABC, 2AB, 3AB. We will do Number 4 in class on Monday AND Complete subsection assignments for us to discuss on Monday. This is to build excellent note taking skills.
SS 6 Friday 11/2: RACING!
SS 6 Monday 11/5: Subsection assignments. Find no less than 5 important items in each subsection and create a question for the class. Plan on a quiz Wednesday.
SS 6 Tuesday 11/6: Study for Quiz.
SS 6 Wednesday 11/7: Quiz. Complete Subsection 3 Handout you received after the quiz.
SS 6 Thursday 11/8: Read Pp. 96-100. Do all Key Terms. Answer 1AB, 2AB and 3 AB and #4. Be ready to discuss in class ask questions.
SS 6 Friday 11/9: Complete subsection assignments.
SS 6 Tuesday 11/13: Review Section 3 again and do assignment over.
SS 6 Thursday 11/15: Complete Subsection assignment. We will review tomorrow for quiz Monday.
SS 6 Friday 11/16: Complete Cornell notes sheet to study for quiz Monday. Ask yourself the following for each subsection when you study: Who was involved, what happened, why did it happen, what were the results.
SS 6 Monday 11/19: Quiz. Complete Pg. 101 and answer the 4 questions. Look at Key Ideas in the top right of Pg. 101. This poem was translated from what language? Complete handout.
SS 6 Tuesday 11/20: Read Pp. 102-106. Use your good note taking method to begin notes. Write them like the handout Friday and do the notes for Egyptian Writing, Writing in Ancient Egypt, The Rosetta Stone and Egyptian Texts. We will discuss Monday. When writing ask who, what, why and where for each subsection. Be the S.M.E.!! Happy Thanksgiving!
SS 6 Monday 11/26: Complete Cornell notes on Temples, Tombs and Art, Egyptian Art. Be ready to explain your notes and details of the sections tomorrow 11/27. Be the S.M.E.!
SS 6 Tuesday 11/27: Do ALL Key Terms. Read Pp. 102-106 again. Answer #1ABC, 2ABC, 3. Take the online quiz. We will do # 4 tomorrow in Class.
SS 6 Friday 11/30: Study for Quiz Monday.
SS 6 Monday 12/3: QUIZ. Complete handout. Read Pp 107-113. Do Key Terms and answer 1AB, 2ABC, 3AB and 4AB. Due 12/4. We will answer the rest in class.
SS 6 Tuesday 12/4: CSPS tomorrow no homework.
SS 6 Thursday 12/6: Continue Cornell notes for Pp. 110 and 111. We will discuss tomorrow 12/7. Plan on another quiz Tuesday 12/11.
SS 6 Friday 12/7: Review the image on Pg. 112 and finish the notes on Pg. 113. Review notes for class. We will review them on Monday. BE THE S.M.E!! Study for Quiz Tuesday 12/11.
SS 6 Tuesday 12/11: Study for Quiz on Kush Thursday. We will then begin to prepare for our next Test.
SS 6 Thursday 12/13: QUIZ. Complete Study guide questions. Test next Tue. or Wed.
SS 6 Friday 12/14: Complete Chapter Review Sheet. Study for Test Tuesday.
SS 6 Monday 12/17: Review for Test. Complete in class #1-7 on Pg. 115 and 8-15 on Pg. 116. Test tomorrow.
SS 6 Tuesday 12/18: TEST Homework: Prepare you hearts for the coming of Christ and enjoy your time with your family this week.
Tuesday 12/18- Friday 12/21. Spend time with your family and be truly thankful for those who love you.
SS 6-Thursday 1/3/18: Read pp. 120-123. Answer #1 and #4 on page 123. Complete Key Terms on page 124. This is meant to shake off the cobwebs from break. We will continue our Section 3 introduction similarities and differences and begin our section review tomorrow. Due Fri. 1/4.
SS 6 Friday 1/4/18: Read Pp. 124-129. Answer 1ABC, 2ABC, 3AB. Complete the online quiz. Due Monday 1/7/19. We will check this homework and the homework due last Friday. We will also review our test.
SS 6 Monday 1/7/19: Complete Cornell subsection notes from class. Due Tuesday 1/8/19. We will review this information tomorrow. Come to class with questions so we can clarify our understanding. Again write good notes. Let’s hone this skill the rest of this year.
SS 6 Tuesday 1/8/19: Ancient India Worksheet due Thursday 1/9. Makeup work due for those absent.
SS 6 Thursday 1/10/19: Study for quiz tomorrow Friday 1/11/19.
SS 6 Friday 1/11/19: Quiz. Read Pp. 130-135. Do Key Terms. Answer 1AB, 2AB, 3AB and 4AB.
SS 6 Tuesday 1/15/19: Read Pp. 136-141. Do Key Terms. Answer #2B, 3AB. We will discuss Thursday. Due 1/17/19.
READ Carefully. SNOW DAY homework included. SS 6 Thursday 1/17/19: Read Pp. 160-165. Do Key Terms (There are two of them). Answer #1AB and 2 ABC. We will discuss tomorrow. Due 1/18/19. If we have a SNOW DAY tomorrow 1/18, the assignment above AND #3AB and #4. READ #5 ONLY (do not write). Will be due Tuesday. We will discuss Tuesday and plan on a quiz Thursday.
SS 6 Tuesday 1/22/19: Complete Ancient China Review Sheets Due Thursday 1/24 Quiz Thursday 1/24.
SS 6 Thursday 1/24/19: Read Pp. 166-171. Complete all Key Terms. Answer 1ABC, 2AB, 3ABC. Due Friday 1/25. We will do #4 for homework over the weekend with notes.
SS 6 Friday 1/25/19 due Monday 1/28/19: Complete assigned Cornell notes sections. Focus on the correct format and spelling. Also, write down any new words you come across. We will discuss on Monday.
SS 6 Monday 1/28/19: No Homework. Remember your sections. We will discuss tomorrow.
SS 6 Tuesday 1/29/19: Zhou China Homework sheet Due Wednesday 1/30/19.
SS 6 Friday 2/1/19: Study for Quiz Monday.
SS 6 Monday 2/4/19: QUIZ on Zhou Dynasty. Read Pp. 172-176. Do Key Terms on Pg. 172. Answer #1ABC, 2ABC AND #4. Complete Cornell Notes. We will review tomorrow.
SS 6 Tuesday 2/5/19: Section Review Sheet Qin Dynasty.
SS 6 Wednesday 2/6/19: #3 on page. 176.
SS 6 Thursday 2/7/19: Study for QUIZ tomorrow.
SS 6 Posted 2/11: Friday’s homework for 2/8 was Read Pp. 178-183 Do Key Terms Answer 1ABC, 2AB, 3 and #5.
SS 6 2/12/19: Han Dynasty Cornell Notes. Due Wednesday 2/13.
SS 6 2/19/19: Han Dynasty Quiz. Read Pp. 186-189. Do ALL Key Terms Pg. 186. Answer 1ABC, 2AB, 3AB (B uses generalizations. Make certain your generalizations are accurate based on facts and not “Hasty” and #5. ( I will ask if you have read your homework on this page).
SS 6 2/22/19: Subsections and the Silk Road. Details and questions for classmates. Quiz Tuesday or Wednesday.
SS 6 2/25/19: Review Notes. We will complete review in the first half of class and plan a quiz the second half.
SS 6 2/26 and 27/19: Chapter 6 Review Chapter Review questions on Pp. 193, 194 and the Standardized Test Practice on Page. 195.
SS 6 3/4/19: Chapter 6 Review Sheet Due Tuesday 3/5. Answer to study. Be the SME!!
SS 6 3/5/19: Study your quizzes and review sheets. We will discuss sections tomorrow for a planned test Thursday.
SS 6 3/6/19: Complete your section review questions and submit to me in email for homework. We will have our Test Tuesday. This assignment is a challenge. It is intended for you to think like the teacher would think. Do your best to ask good questions.
SS 6 3/12/19: Ancient China Test HW Read Timeline Pp. 198-199. Read Pp. 202-207. Do ALL Key Terms on page 202. Answer 1AB, 2AB, 3 and 4AB. We will discuss tomorrow.
SS 6 3/14/19: Early Hebrews. Complete assigned Cornell notes. Due Friday 3/15. If you are absent, pick a section and subsection. List three to five important details and create a question to ask classmates. We will review our test Friday and this information for a quiz Monday or Tuesday.
SS 6 Monday 3/18/19: Complete #5 and #6 from section and review notes. Quiz Wed.
SS 6 Tuesday 3/19/19: Review Section Sheet for Quiz Wed.
SS 6 Thursday 3/21/19: Read Pp. 208-213 Do ALL Key Terms. Answer 1AB, 2AB, 3AB, 4 and #5.
SS 6 Friday 3/22/19: Complete Cornell Notes assignment and be ready to ask questions to your classmates. Be the SME!
SS 6 Friday 3/29/19: Quiz. Read Pp. 214-219 Judaism over the Centuries. Do ALL Key Terms Pg. 214. Answer 1AB, 2AB and #3. Find out the the meaning of the following Yiddish expressions: chutzpah, futz, mazel tov, mensch, nosh, oy, schlemiel, schmoozing and schlep.
SS 6 Monday 4/1/19: Look up at the stars and our beautiful creation. Spend time with your family. Good work 6th Grade. No other homework this evening.
SS 6 Tuesday 4/2/19: Cornell note assignments. Write down three or more important points and create two questions on each of your subsections. Be the SME.
SS 6 Thursday 4/4/19: Study for Quiz tomorrow.
SS 6 Friday 4/5/19: Read Pp. 220 and 221. Answer #1 and #2 on Pg. 220. AND Answer 1-10, 11ABC, 12ABC on Pg. 221 DUE MONDAY 4/8.
SS 6 Monday 4/8/19: Continue Chapter Review #13,14,15,16,17,18, Review Section 1 and Section 2 Notes.
SS 6 Tuesday 4/9/19: Continue # 19,21,22,23 and Test Practice Page, 223. Review of Section 3 and 4.
SS 6 Thursday 4/11/19: Study for Test tomorrow.
SS 6 Monday 4/15/19: Do Key Terms Pg. 228. Answer 1ABC, 2AB, 3AB, 4 and 5 on page 233.
SS 7 – Monday: Study for Quiz tomorrow over the following: Vocabulary Pg. 16 and understand Key terms. Read Pp. 16-19 Do Reading Skill pg. 16 to help your notes. Answer questions 1AB, 2AB and #3 to help study. Complete Progress Monitoring online from pg. 19.
SS 7 Tuesday: Complete ALL Vocabulary words on Pg. 22. Read Pp 22-27 Answer # 1AB, 2AB, 4, 5, 6 and complete Progress Monitor. Quiz on Section 4 Friday.
SS 7 Wednesday: Study ICHTHUS for Quiz Thur. We then review Section 4. Quiz on Section 4 Friday.
SS 7 Thursday: Receive Chromebooks. Study for ICHTHUS quiz tomorrow.
SS 7 Friday: Review Section 4 for Quiz 4 Monday 9/17. Chapter 1 Test Monday 9/24.
SS 7 Friday 9/21: Study review sheets as we discussed in Class. TEST 1 is TUESDAY 9/25.
SS 7 Tuesday 9/25: Read Pg. 32 Look at Timeline. Do Vocabulary Builder on Pg. 36. Read Pp. 36-43. Answer: 1AB, 2AB, 3 and complete Progress Monitor online. We will discuss tomorrow and review homework..
SS 7 Wednesday 9/27: Read Pp. 32-33 Look at Timeline. Read Pp. 36-43 Do ALL Vocabulary Builder on Pg. 36. Answer 1AB, 2AB, #3 and Progress monitor online. Come to class with questions.
SS 7 Thursday 9/28. Study for Quiz 1 Tomorrow.
SS 7 Monday 10/1: Review Chapter 2 Section 1 Review Sheet for Quiz 1 tomorrow.
SS 7 Tuesday 10/2: Quiz on Sect. 1. HW Begin Section 2 Review Sheet. Complete for HW and ALL Vocabulary Builder on page 44.
SS 7 Wednesday. Review Quiz. Review Section 2 Review Sheet and review chapter. Complete Section 2 homework questions in class and study for Quiz Thur.
SS 7 Thursday for WEEKEND. Complete Section 3 Review Sheet. Read Pp 49-52. You were assigned a section. 1. Find the three most important points of that section and explain them as any of the following: A timeline, or a comic strip, tradtional notes with bullet points etc. You pick how you want to write the most important points. 2. Each of you create a question about the section to ask your other students Tuesday. Please ask if you have any questions. For the absent student, study for the quiz you were to have Thursday and then do the assignment above on the subsection Northern Voyages on Pg. 51 (Write 3 points you think are most important and create a question from your subsection for the class).
SS 7 Tuesday 10/9: Review the information above and complete for credit. We will finish our review of material tomorrow. Quiz Thursday.
SS 7 Thursday 10/11: Section 3 Quiz. Preview Section 4. Complete Section Review sheet begun in class and answer #1AB, 2AB, 4 and #5 and Progress Monitoring. We will do #6 in class tomorrow.
SS 7 Friday 10/12: Review Quiz and homework. Do subsection work assigned to each student. Write down 3 most important points and have a question ready to ask the class Monday. Study for Section 4 quiz Tuesday.
SS 7 Tuesday 10/16: Section 4 Quiz. Complete Chapter 2 Review # 1-9. Due tomorrow. We will continue the review of the chapter in class to prepare for a chapter test Friday or Monday.
SS 7 Thursday 10/18: Complete your assigned part of the Ch. 2 Study Guide and read Ch. 2 Section 1 Pp. 36-41.
SS 7 Friday 10/19: Read Chapter 2 Section 2 . Review notes and go over your Chapter Review Sheet we completed in class.
SS 7 Sunday 10/21: Read Chapter 2 Section 4 and notes after Mass. Review notes and enjoy the afternoon. After dinner, review Chapter 2 timeline Pg. 32 -33 and study the Chapter 2 Review Sheet for TEST 2 Tuesday..
SS 7 Monday 10/22: Complete Chapter review sheet and study for TEST tomorrow.
SS 7 Wednesday 10/24: Test Chapter 2. Begin Chapter 3 Colonies Take Root. Do ALL Vocabulary Builder Pg. 66. Read Pp. 66-70 Answer 1AB, 2AB, 3, 4 and 5.
SS 7 Thursday 10/25: Begin Chapter 3 Colonies Take Root. Complete your assigned subsection, no less than 5 important points and one question for the class. (If you are absent, pick one of the following sections England Seeks Colonies, Founding Jamestown Prospers, The Plymouth Colony.
SS 7 Monday 10/29: Complete Colonies Take Root homework packet. Review section 1 for discussion tomorrow. Quiz Wednesday.
SS 7 Tuesday 10/30: Study for quiz Wednesday.
SS 7 Wednesday 10/31: Happy Halloween No Homework.
SS 7 Thursday 11/1: Jamestown movie. DUE MONDAY. Read Pp. 71-76. Do ALL Vocab builder. Answer 1AB, 2AB, #3. We will do #5 in class on Monday. AND Subsection assignments this time 5 important points from the subsections and 1 question. This is to develop excellent note taking skills.
SS 7 Monday 11/5: Re-read Section 2 Pp. 71-76. We will discuss tomorrow to ready ourselves for the quiz Wednesday.
SS 7 Wednesday 11/7: Quiz. Read Section 3 and do all Vocabulary. Answer 1AB, 2AB, 3, 4 and 5. Complete progress monitor online.
SS 7 Tuesday 11/13: Complete study guide. Review section for discussion . Quiz Friday.
SS 7 Wednesday 11/14: Complete Subsection sheet #3. DO NOT COMPLETE #4.
SS 7 Thursday 11/15: Study section Middle Colonies.
SS 7 Friday 11/16: Complete Cornell notes sheet to study for quiz Monday. Ask yourself the following for each subsection when you study: Who was involved, what happened, why did it happen, what were the results.
SS 7 Monday 11/19: Quiz. Complete handout Read Pp. 82 and 83. Write a paragraph per the Analyze box on pg. 83. State at least two sentences for each region. Use this as a notes summary for the Northern and Middle Colonies but also an introduction to the Southern Colonies. Answer: Why was slavery established in the Southern Colonies?
SS 7 Tuesday 11/27: Begin your notes using the Cornell method. Use the handout from the Middle Colonies as an example for your work. Begin on page 84 Geography of the Southern Colonies and do them neatly. Stop at Colonies in the Carolinas and Georgia Who, why and what are the subsections talking about? Remember, be the S.M.E. We will discuss Due 11/28.
SS 7 Wednesday 11/28: Complete Cornell notes from Colonies in the Carolinas and Georgia and complete all subsections through The Backcountry on Pg. 89. Do Self Test online on pg. 89. Due 11/29.
SS 7 Thursday 11/29: LHS service work.
SS 7 Friday 11/30: Review for Quiz Monday.
SS 7 Monday 12/3: Quiz. Complete Handout. Read Pp. 90-93. Complete all Vocabulary Builder Pg. 90 and answer #1AB, 2AB, 3AB and #4 and #5. Have questions ready for tomorrow.
SS 7 Tuesday 12/4: Begin Cornell notes on Pg. 90 in class and complete all through Pg. 93 for homework. We will discuss details tomorrow. Prepare for a quiz on Thursday/Friday.
SS 7 Thursday 12/6: Complete notes Challenge and Study for Quiz tomorrow. BE THE S.M.E!
SS 7 Friday 12/7: Quiz. Read Pp. 94 and 95. Complete #1-12 on Pg. 96. Number 11 and 12 are writing assignments. This is review for an upcoming test. Take this time to answer the questions in an effort to get a head start on studying. I am planning to have your next Test Thursday over the Chapter.
SS 7 Tuesday 12/11: Complete 13-16 on page 96 and ALL of Pg. 97. Do Self Test online and worksheet assignment if I gave it to you.
SS 7 Monday 12/17: TEST. Homework: Prepare your hearts for Christ. Spend time with your family. They are the greatest gifts of all.
Tuesday 12/18- Friday 12/21. Class lessons. No Homework.
Wednesday 12/19: Spend time with your family and be truly thankful for those who love you.
SS 7 Thursday 1/3/19: Think of the movie we began to watch today. We will discuss tomorrow and complete the film. This will act as an introduction to the following section in Chapter 4.
SS 7 Friday 1/4/19: Read Pp. 102-106. Answer #1AB, 2AB, 3 4, 5, 6 and #7. Do the self test online and arrive to class Monday with Questions. Plan on a quiz Wednesday.
SS 7 Monday 1/7/19: Complete assigned Cornell Notes and be ready to teach classmates on subsections.
SS 7 Tuesday 1/8/19: English Bill of Rights worksheet due Wed. 1/9/18.
SS 7 Wednesday 1/9/19: Section Review Sheet due Friday 1/11/19.
SS 7 Friday 1/11/19: Quiz. Read Pp. 113-117 Do Vocab Builder. Answer 1AB, 2AB, 4,5 and 6.
SS 7 Tuesday 1/15/19: Cornell Subsection assignments.
SS 7 Wednesday 1/16/19: Complete History Review sheet. Due Friday 1/18/19. Quiz Tuesday.
SS 7 Tuesday 1/22/19: Complete Review Sheets Focus on Slave codes know details. Quiz tomorrow or Thursday.
SS 7 Wednesday 1/23/19: READ CAREFULLY. Homework due Friday 1/25/19: Read Pp. 118-123 Complete ALL Vocabulary Builder. Write down new words from the text so we can learn them. Example; Compulsory (Pg. 118). Answer the following on page 123: 1AB, 2AB, 3 and 4. We will discuss Friday and begin our notes.
SS 7 Friday 1/25/19: Complete assigned Cornell notes. If you were absent. I sent a details explanation to your parents. Due Monday 1/27/19. We will try to answer the focus question from the board on Monday. Quiz Tuesday or Wednesday.
SS 7 Read about Benjamin Franklin Pp. 124 -125. Answer the Checkpoint question at the bottom of the page and the Analyze question in Red on the right of the page. Write the letter from Analyze Literature at the bottom of page 125. Due 1/29/19.
SS 7 1/29/19: Quiz Monday. Review the sections and ask yourself Who? What? When? Why? Where? and How? If you can answer all for each subsection, you are ready. If not, review again.
SS 7 2/4/19: Quiz. Complete the Venn Diagram Compare and Contrast skill on page 126. Read Pg. 127 as a summary. Understand each section and the Key Concepts on pg. 127. Answer 1-11 and #13 on page 128. Complete Self Test on page 129 #1,2,3 and 4. TEST Friday.
SS 7 2/5/19: Section Review Sheet for Test study .
SS 7 2/7/19: Study for Test tomorrow.
SS 7 UPDATED 2/12/19: Read Timeline Pp. 136-137. Rd. Pp. 140-144 Do All Vocab Builder. Answer 1AB, 2AB, 3, and 4.
SS 7 2/13/19: Cornell Notes for entire Section 5 important points and 1 question from each subsection.
SS 7 2/15/19: Section 1 Study Guide. Use to study for the quiz Tuesday.
SS 7 2/19/19: Quiz. Read Pp. 145-149. Do ALL Vocabulary Builder. Answer Checkpoint questions on page 146, 147 and 149. Answer #1,2,3, 4,5 and 6. *Answer Number 7 for one Bonus point. We will discuss in class tomorrow.
SS 7 2/22/19: Science Squid Dissect. Homework: You will get 1 bonus point toward your next test or quiz. Look at the picture on page 148 and complete the Critical Thinking question from the left of the photo. This is a lesson in logic. Look up the word sensationalism. We will discuss in class Monday.
SS 7 2/25/19: Complete Cornell Notes. We will discuss in class tomorrow. Quiz Wednesday.
SS 7 2/27/19: Quiz. Read Pp. 150-153 Do ALL Vocabulary Builder. Answer 1AB, 2AB, 3AB, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8. Due Friday 3/1/19. Quiz Monday Begin your studies with the homework. Read and do the work intentionally for retention.
SS 7 3/4/19: Study for Quiz. Quiz Review Sheet.
SS 7 3/5/19: Quiz. Read Pg. 154 and 155. Write letter, be creative. Read Pp. 156-161. Do ALL Vocab Builder and answer: 1AB, 2AB, 3,4,5 and 6. Do self test online. Check your work. Quiz Monday.
SS 7 3/5/19: Student J.O. Study your review sheet you will complete for a quiz tomorrow. ALL OTHER STUDENTS Read Pp. 154-155. Write a letter per the bottom right of page 155. READ Pp. 156-161. Do ALL Vocabulary Builder. ANSWER 1AB, 2AB, 3,4,5 and 6. Complete the Self Test online and tell me how you did in class Tuesday. Also, CORNELL NOTES for the section. Lastly, look up Sybil… whom I wrote on the board and you all confirmed. Be able to explain briefly who she was in reference to the American Revolution.
SS 7 3/12/19: Complete Section 4 Review sheet. We will discuss this sheet and the section for review tomorrow. Quiz Thursday during CSPS.
SS 7 3/13/19: Study for Quiz on Section 4 tomorrow.
SS 7 3/14/19: Quiz Begin Chapter Study. Read Pp. 162 and learn the skill. This follows how we do our notes. Answer 1-4 on Pg. 162. Read Pp. 163. Read over a few times to understand the details of each section and Key Concepts. Go to Pg. 164. Answer 1-4 AND 5AB, 6AB, 7ABC, 8ABC and 9AB. We will discuss tomorrow and continue our Chapter review Friday for a test next week.
SS 7 3/15/19: Complete the rest of the Chapter Test Review on Pp. 164 and 165. 8ABC, 9AB, 10,11,13,14 and Self Test 1-3 on Pg. 165.
SS 7 3/18/19: Complete Chapter Review Sheet 1. Test Friday.
SS 7 3/19/19: Continue Review of Chapter. Finish Test Review Sheet for homework. Study for Test Friday.
SS 7 3/20/19: Final Review for Test Friday in class.
3/22/19: Test Homework Read Pp. 166-167 Timeline. Read Pg. 168 and Answer #1-4. Read Pp. 170-173. Do All Vocabulary Builder. Anwer 1AB, 2AB, 4, 5 and 6. We will do #3 and #7 in class Monday. Be ready to discuss.
3/26/19: Section review sheet AND Chronology of events sheet.
SS 7 Wednesday 3/27/19: Complete Common Sense sheet. Study for quiz Friday.
SS 7 Friday 3/29/19: Quiz. Read Pp. 174-178 Write in notebooks ALL bubbled notations in margins (more like parallelograms). Answer Critical Thinking question at the top of Page 174.
SS 7 Monday 4/1/19: Read Pp. 179-184. Do ALL Vocab Builder. Answer 1AB, 2AB, 4,5,6,7.
SS 7 Tuesday 4/2/19: Cornell Notes for assigned subsections and questions. Be the SME. Quiz Friday.
SS 7 Thursday 4/4/19: Study for Quiz Friday.
SS 7 Friday 4/5/19: Quiz. Read Pp. 186-190 Do ALL vocab Builder Answer 1AB, 2AB, 3,4,5 AND Answer Checkpoint Questions on Pp. 187,188, 189and 190. Quiz WED.
SS 7 Monday 4/8/19: Complete assigned Cornell Notes and review section reading for discussion tomorrow.
SS 7 Wednesday 4/10/19: Quiz. Read Pp. 191-195 ( Map and images as well) Do ALL Vocab Builder AND Answer 1AB, 2AB, 3,4,5 and 6.
SS 7 Monday 4/15/19: Finish one of the sections for Cornell Notes you did not complete over the weekend. We will discuss and review tomorrow.
SS 7 Tuesday 4/16/19: Review Sheets for Section double homework grade.
SS 8 – Monday: Quiz 2 on Section 2 on Monday. Monday Homework due Tuesday: Complete Section 3 Vocabulary Pg. 494, Read Pp. 494-498. Answer 1AB, 2AB, and 3AB. Complete Progress Monitoring on page 498. Quiz 3 on Wednesday.
SS 8 – Monday: Complete Vocabulary Builder Pg. 494. Read Pp. 494-498. Answer #1AB, 2AB, 3AB and Progress Monitoring.
SS 8 – Tuesday: Review Section 3 for Quiz 3 Wednesday 9/12.
SS 8-Monday 9/17: Rd. Pg. 505. Do #1-6 and #8 on Pg. 506 AND #1-3 on Pg 507.
SS 8 Tuesday 9/25: Ask about GLORY. Also, we will discuss a free question from the test. When reviewing, I was thinking of Lincoln in his early political career and gave guidance as such. The correct answer was in reference to his reaction after Dredd Scott when he debated Mr. Douglas. We will discuss tomorrow.
SS 8 Wednesday 9/26 and Friday 9/28. Read Pp. 508-509 Review Timeline. Read Pp. 512-517 Complete ALL Vocabulary Builder. Answer Critical Thinking Pg. 515. Answer 1AB, 2AB, 3, 4, 5. Movie Friday: We will check homework and notes from Monday and review for Quiz 1 Tuesday.
SS 8 Monday 10/1: Review Section 1 We will complere Section Review sheet and finish Civil War intro. intro movie. Quiz Wednesday.
SS 8 Tuesday 10/2: Complete Section Review Sheet.
SS 8 Wednesday 10/3 for Tuesday 10/8 Quiz 1 (TH), Section Review Handout Section 1 , Read Section 2, Complete Section Review Handout Section 2, Quiz 2 (TH), Battle of Bull Run Lesson. All due Tuesday. I am planning a trip to Manassas on Tuesday 10/16. Will advise details next week.
SS 8 Friday 10/12: Read Pp. 524-527. Do ALL Vocabulary Builder Pg. 524. Answer 1AB, 2AB, 3 and 4. Do Progress Monitor online. Arrive Monday with any questions.
SS 8 Monday 10/15: Review HW in class, try to finish GLORY. Makup Webquest due.
Tuesday 10/16: Field Trip to Manassas Battlefield.
Wednesday 10/17: Review Webquest in Class. Review Manassas questions. Finish GLORY Begin assignment we discussed. You each were assigned subsections, write down the three most important parts of your section in any form and create a question to ask the class Thursday.
SS 8 Thursday 10/18: Review Section 4 assignment and review for quiz Tomorrow.
SS 8 Friday 10/19: Quiz on Section 4. Read Pg. 528-532 Do ALL Vocabulary Builder Answer 1AB, 2AB, 3 and 4. We will review our previous quizzes and discuss the section Monday.
SS 8 Monday 10/22: Review Section 4 for Quiz.
SS 8 Wednesday 10/24: Quiz Section 4 Homework for MONDAY 10/29: Complete RRG. Read Pp. 533-537. Go over RRG and add new answers. You were assigned sections in class to read. Note 3 or more important points and create a question to ask the class. Read Section 5 again. Answer ALL questions #1-6 on page 537 and complete Progress Monitor online. If there is a battle or campaign you are most interested in for us to dig deeper, let me know Tuesday. We have limited time and there is so much information. Lets make certain to cover those things we want to delve into together.
SS 8 Tuesday 10/30: Review Quiz 4. Review all homework. Watch decisive battles and Sherman’s march. Begin to dissect the details and prepare for a quiz Wednesday.
SS 8 Thursday 11/1: Due Monday 11/5 Read Pg. 538 Answer 1, 2 and 3. Read P. 539 and review the Sections. Do you understand the summary information? Do you have any questions? Read the Key Concepts at the bottom of the page. Chapter Review. Answer #1-4, 5AB, 6AB, 7ABC, 8AB, 9AB and #10 and number 12. Be Creative! Use things you have learned in the films and in your reading.
SS 8 Friday 11/2: Racing!
SS 8 Monday 11/5: Complete homework sheets. Study Chapter 15 for Test Wednesday. We will review our homework and go over the chapter. Come to class tomorrow with questions.
SS 8 Friday 11/8: Finish test interrupted by precautionary egress. Assign Japan History lesson. Read assigned section. Pick one martyr and write at least three new things you learned of that martyr or martyrs. Do you see your own faith differently after reading about how dedicated the Japanese were to Christ. We will discuss Tuesday.
SS 8 Tuesday 11/13: Read Pg. 342 Timeline. Read Pg. 544. Answer #1-3. Complete Vocabulary Builder on Pg. 546 and read Pp. 546-549. Complete the Progress monitor online. Answer #1AB and #2AB.
SS 8 Wednesday 11/14: Complete worksheet, Answer #6, Complete questions missed. Re-read section. Come prepared to discuss Friday.
SS 8 Friday 11/16: Complete Cornell notes sheet to study for quiz Monday. Ask yourself the following for each subsection when you study: Who was involved, what happened, why did it happen, what were the results.
SS 8 Monday 11/19: Quiz. Read Pp. 550-551. Complete the Analyze section at the bottom right of pg. 551. Complete Handout.
SS 8 Tuesday 11/20: Read Pp. 552-557. Do Vocabulary Builder Pg. 552.Pg. 557 Answer 1AB, 2AB, 3, 4, 5 and #6. Begin Cornell notes from A Growing Conflict on page 552 and STOP at Radical Reconstruction on Pg. 554. For each subsection ask the questions; Who, why , what and where? Be the S.M.E. We will discuss Monday. Happy Thanksgiving!
SS 8 Tuesday 11/27: Complete Cornell notes for Pp. 554 Radical Reconstruction to the end of Pg. 557. Be prepared to discuss in class tomorrow.
SS 8 Thursday 11/29: Review notes for quiz Monday and be ready to ask question and test each other.
SS 8 Friday 11/30: Review section for Quiz Monday. Study notes answer who, what , when, where, why for each subsection.
SS 8 Monday 12/3: Finish Worksheet. Read Pp. 558-563. Answer 1AB, 2AB, 3,4,5 and 6. Due 12/4 Quiz Friday or Monday.
SS 8 Tuesday 12/4: Begin Cornell Notes Pg. 558-560.
SS 8 Wednesday 12/5: Reconstruction Movie. Continue Cornell Notes and finish all for Friday. We will review Friday and challenge.
SS 8 Friday 12/7: Review Cornell notes for section and challenge. Quiz Monday.
SS 8 Tuesday 12/11: Quiz. Do Pg. 564. Read Pg. 565. Answer #1-7 on Pg. 566. We will plan on a Test Friday or Monday.
SS 8 Wednesday 12/12: Complete #8-10 on pg. 566 and complete ALL of Pg. 567.
Friday 12/14: Complete Review Sheet If you did not answer on the sheet and checked them off, you must know it for the test. I will take off extra points if not. Study for Test Monday.
Tuesday 12/18- Friday 12/21. Homework: Spend time with your family and be truly thankful for those who love you.
Friday 1/4/19: Read Pp. 578-581 Do ALL Vocabulary Builder and answer 1AB and 2 AB. on page 581. Read this section and be the SME. Be ready to discuss Monday.
Monday 1/7/19: Read 578-581 again. Complete handout.
Tuesday 1/8/19: Do Cornell notes for assigned subsections. Prepare for quiz Friday.
Friday 1/11/19: Quiz. Read Page 584-589. Do Vocab Builder. Look at map on page 587. Be ready to discuss Monday. Answer 1AB and 2AB. Focus on: Dawes Act and Sand Creek Massacre. We will discuss Monday. Quiz on Wednesday.
Tuesday 1/15/19: Complete Subsection assignments we will review for quiz Thursday.
Wednesday 1/16/19: Complete section review sheet. Due Friday. Quiz Tuesday.
Tuesday 1/22/19: Complete Review sheets. Quiz Friday. Know the Dawes Act!
Wednesday 1/23/19: Study for Quiz Friday. Know my subsection, the Dawes Act.
Friday 1/25/19: Quiz. Read Pp. 595-599. Complete sheet as you read. Do ALL Vocabulary on page 595. Answer 1AB, 2AB(B has two parts), 3,4,5,6,7 and 8. Arrive to class with any questions and ready to discuss.
Monday 1/28/19: Complete Subsection assignments and be ready for questions from your classmates tomorrow.
Friday 2/1/19: Read and complete questions 1-3 on page 600. Read Section 4 on page 601 and Facts About Cowhands and Farmers on page 601. Study section 4 Pp. 595-599 for quiz Monday. We will then take a Test Friday 2/8.
Monday 2/4/19: Class Assembly Study for Quiz tomorrow.
Wednesday 2/6/19: Chapter Review Sheet.
Friday 2/8/19: Study for Test Monday.
Wednesday 2/6/19: Complete Chapter review sheet.
Tuesday 2/12/19: Read Pp. 608-613. Do ALL Vocabulary Builder. Answer 1AB, 2AB, 3,4,5 and 6. Plan on Quiz Friday or Monday.
Tuesday 2/19/19: Quiz. Read Pp. 614-619. Do ALL Vocab Builder. Answer 1AB, 2AB, 4 and 5. We will discuss this work tomorrow.
Friday 2/22/19: Subsection Cornell note assignments. Study your notes. Monday we will get the other sections from your classmates and have a battle on Tuesday. Quiz Wednesday.
Tuesday 2/26/19: Battle Notes. Know your stuff!
SS 8 Wednesday 2/27/19: Quiz. Read Pp. 620-624. Do All Vocabulary Builder. Do Checkpoint questions Pg. 621, 622 and 623. Answer 1AB, 2AB, 3, 4, 5, 6 and #7. Due Friday 3/1. WE will begin our notes in class Friday and plan on a quiz Monday.
SS 8 Monday 3/4/19: Study for Quiz. Complete Quiz Review sheet.
SS 8 Tuesday 3/5/19: For those who will make up a quiz tomorrow. This homework is due Friday. Read pp. 625-629. Do ALL Vocab. Builder. Answer ALL Checkpoint questions in the section. Answer 1AB, 2AB, 3-Have fun with this one, 4,5 and 6. Due Wednesday.
SS 8 Wednesday 3/6/19: Complete Cornell Notes for the section.
SS 8 Tuesday 3/12/19: Review notes and section in depth. Read Pp. 630-631 Complete Review Sheet and Self Test Quiz tomorrow.
SS 8 Wednesday 3/13/19 Quiz and Surprise. Read Pp. 798-799 Timeline. Read Pg. 800 Answer # 1 and 2 on page 800. Read Pp. 802-807. Do ALL Checkpoint Questions. Answer 1AB, 2AB, 3,4,5,6 and 7. Due Friday.
SS 8 Monday 3/18/19: REVIEW NOTES and questions Quiz Wednesday.
SS 8 Tuesday 3/19/19: Review Notes and HW for Quiz Tomorrow.
SS 8 Tuesday 3/26/19: Complete Section review sheet AND Pearl Harbor sheet.
SS 8 Friday 3/29/19: Read Dauntless Pp. 814-815. Be ready to discuss Monday. READ Pp. 816-820. Do ALL Vocab Builder. Answer 1AB, 2AB(B is a very good question. take some time to think and answer this question). 3, 4 #5 in class Monday. Review sheet Monday Quiz Tue/Wed.
SS 8 Monday 4/1/19: Webquest. We will discuss Dauntless tomorrow as I forgot to do so today.
SS 8 Tuesday 4/2/19: Finish worksheet. Quiz Fri.
SS 8 Friday 4/5/19: Read Pp. 821-827. Do ALL Vocab Builder. Answer 3 Checkpoint questions in sections and 1AB, 2AB, 3,4,5,6 and 7.
SS 8 Monday 4/8/19: Complete assigned Cornell Notes and review section for discussion tomorrow.
SS 8 Tuesday 4/9/19: Study for Quiz Tomorrow.
SS 8 Wednesday 4/10/19: Complete Learn the Skill and Practice the Skill on Pg. 828. Complete The two homework sheets. We will discuss Faulty Reasoning on Friday.
SS 8 Friday 4/12/19: Read Pg. 829 and 830. Complete 1-10 on page 830.
SS 8 Monday 4/15/19: Pg. 830-831. Complete 11-13 and Test Yourself 1-3. AND Document question 1 and Document question 2 on page 831.
SS 8 Tuesday 4/16/19: Homework sheets for Chapter.
WL 5 Latin 1. Anima Christi. Vestment prayers in the Orthodox Church explained.
WL 6 We will tour ski resorts in Hakkaido and take the train from Sapporo to Tokyo taking in the scenery and food along the way.
IMPORTANT: Parents, this week is a short week. I have an assignment I have given for each student over the break.
The assignment is for them to pick 3 of the 14 Spritual/Cardinal Works of Mercy and complete them. They will need the signature of parents or family member. Brothers and sisters do not count.
The premise is for them to pay attention to who we say we are and act. We are called to action not works. Acta Non Verba.
I ask you to consider taking the challenge and I too will follow suit. Please pray for me as I pray for you.
Have a safe and blessed Easter season. Laudate Dominum! Omnes gentes, Alleluia! | 2019-04-24T14:16:11Z | https://lintonhall.edu/parents/teacher-pages/mr-jeffrey-linton/ |
Abstract- The Revenue Reconciliation Act of 1993 (RRA '93) has not succeeded in simplifying the US tax system. The tax rate hike for higher-income taxpayers may give the appearance that equity was served, but even this is not entirely true. In addition, the 1.45% Medicare tax has no limit even if a taxpayer has reached the Social Security maximum ceiling. The only area where the new law has been beneficial was in estimated tax, although there are already rumors that these provisions may be amended. RRA '93 has made tax planning a necessity for every taxpayer. There several strategies that individual and corporate taxpayers can employ to minimize the adverse effects of the 1993 tax act. For individuals, these measures include using tax-exempt municipal bond, annual gift-tax exclusions and installment sale reporting. For businesses, recommended strategies include using the LIFO inventory method, providing group life insurance policies to employees and using targeted job credits.
Shortly after the tax return is filed for 1993 and the pain of higher taxes is still present, tax planning for 1994 should take place. The 1993 tax act has made the need for planning more crucial, and perhaps more beneficial than ever.
The Revenue Reconciliation Act of 1993 (RRA '93) did little for simplification. To some it may seem equity was served, since it increased the tax rates for those in higher brackets. Regular tax rates were raised to a maximum of 39.6%, but this is misleading. The 1.45% Medicare tax now has no cut-off point. Though a taxpayer may hit the Social Security maximum cap ($60,600 in 1994), the Medicare tax continues without limit.
RRA '93's only benefit was in the estimated tax area, and there is already talk of amending those provisions. It looks as if the taxpayer is last in the thoughts of Congress.
But there is no looking back. Tax planning and the use of strategies are more important than ever. The Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) may spoil some strategies with the new rate of 28%, so a good planning job must consider all alternatives.
Municipal Bonds. The increase in tax rates makes municipal and state bonds more popular than ever. In localities with both state and city income taxes, interest on local bonds may become triple tax exempt. In addition, not having to include tax-exempt income in taxable income helps in salvaging a portion of personal exemptions and itemized deductions. Tax-exempt bonds are still not applicable as an AMT add-back except for private activity bonds issued after August 7, 1986.
Series EE U.S. Savings Bonds. The new law still allows the use of Series EE U.S. Savings Bonds for educational expenses. If property structured as to ownership and purchase dates, the interest income never has to be reported. The U.S. Savings Bonds must be redeemed to pay for qualified higher education expenses and is subject to phaseout for middle and upper income taxpayers.
Life Insurance. A life insurance policy is still one of the best tax shelters available. The policy's cash surrender value may build up equity tax-free. Taxpayers may borrow against this equity paying low interest rates on the loan, and receive monies without any tax consequences. The strategy is improved if ownership of the policy is kept out of the taxpayer's estate.
Bonus Income. Bonuses paid after January 1, 1994, will be subject to the 1.45% Medicare tax rate. The 1.45% rate will apply to all earned income beginning in 1994 without a maximum cap. Thus, the taxpayers may be better off receiving some nontaxable fringe benefits, deferring the bonus, or negotiating for stock options that can lead to capital gains. It should be remembered the 1.45% is on top of the 39.6% regular income tax rate.
Qualified Tax Deferred Plans. Tax deferral plans are always popular. Postponing the receipt of income does have some drawbacks. It reduces cash flow to the employee, and the employer must be willing to cooperate. Also, the employee is relying on the continued solvency of the employer. Elective deferrals under all cash or deferred arrangements in which a taxpayer participates are subject to annual limitation amounts. These are subject to cost-of-living adjustments each year. The beneficial effect of the interest earned on taxes deferred can add up to big dollars.
Corporate officers who serve as directors of other companies can shield some of their earnings by setting up a Keogh plan. The plan, however, must be set up before December 31 of the tax year, though contributions don't have to be made until the tax return is due which can be the extended due date.
Flexible Spending Accounts. Flexible spending accounts allow employees, including corporate officers, to contribute pre-tax dollars for specific purposes, such as child-care or health-care costs. Thus, taxable income can be reduced, while paying for items usually paid by after tax dollars. Careful planning is necessary to not lost excess money left in the accounts.
Gain on Sale of Personal Residence. The tax deferral on the sale of a personal residence, under IRC Sec. 1034, should be utilized wherever possible. If the taxpayer is over 55, the $125,000 one-time exclusion of gain is a definite plus.
Like-Kind Exchanges. Under IRC Sec. 1031, the use of like-kind exchanges can also lead to tax deferral. To qualify, the property must be held for productive use in a trade or business or for investment. The property received in the exchange must be of a like kind; it must be of the same nature or character or the same class. Replacement property must be identified within 45 days of the transfer of the old property and must physically be received by the taxpayer within 180 days or, if earlier, the due date (including extensions) for the transferor's tax return for that year. Three replacement properties per year may be identified or an unlimited number of replacement properties, if their aggregate value is less than or equal to 200% of the aggregate value of the relinquished properties. Real property under construction also may qualify. Of course, if cash flow is important, an outright sale resulting in capital gain may be preferable. In addition, it might be more advantageous for the taxpayer to go for the sale of the property and thereby incur a long-term capital gain to offset capital losses.
Group Life Insurance. Group life insurance premiums paid by the employer are nontaxable to the employees for policies with coverage of under $50,000 of insurance. If the coverage is over $50,000, the employee is taxed. But the amount is minimal in relation to the protection offered to the family.
Long-term capital gains are popular again because of the spread between the 28% long-term capital gains rate and the top rate of 39.6% on other income. The 39.6% is really in excess of 40% when you factor in the 1.45% Medicare tax on all earned income and the loss of personal exemptions and itemized deductions. Timing of capital gains and losses can create a strategy whereby capital gains will be taxed at a maximum of 28% whereas net capital losses up to $3,000 each year can be deducted against ordinary income. This will work only if the gains and losses are recognized in separate tax years, which may not always be possible. Growth stocks are more attractive from a tax perspective over income- producing equities. Dividends are taxed at ordinary income rates whereas the gain on sale of growth stocks will trigger the 28% capital gains rate.
Puts. One example of how to convert short-term capital gains into long- term capital gains is with put options. Assume the taxpayer has a substantial short-term paper profit on 1,000 shares of ABC stock purchased on November 15, 1993. She feels this stock is likely to go down in price in the near future. Let's say the taxpayer has a holding period of 11 months and an unrealized capital gain of $100,000.
The taxpayer is in a marginal Federal tax bracket of 42.6% for a short- term capital gain. The tax cost would be $42,600 versus $28,000 for a long-term capital gain, a difference of $14,600. All that is needed is to hold the stock for an additional month and one day, provided the price does not decline.
* The period of time until expiration.
If the taxpayer sells 1,000 shares of ABC stock on November 18, 1994, she will recognize a long-term capital gain of $100,000. She will also have an offsetting short-term capital loss of $3,750 when the puts expire on November 19, 1994. In this example, if the market value of ABC stock falls to $108 per share on November 18, 1994, the taxpayer is clearly ahead.
The above scenario depends upon a judgment call by the taxpayer as to how much he feels the market price of the stock will drop in the near future. In addition, the taxpayer could defer the realization of the capital gain until 1995 by purchasing a put expiring in January, 1995. This put, however, would be more costly (maybe $5 3/4 or two extra points) because there would be more of a time premium.
Finally, if the stock does go up in value (over the $115 strike price of the put) the taxpayer can sell it at the higher price by not exercising his right to sell the stock via the options. Only the cost of the puts reduced by the tax break on the capital loss is lost.
Married Put. Another convention that may be utilized is the "married put." This is a conservative approach where the taxpayer buys a put on a stock the same day the stock is purchased. The stock should be identified as being intended to be used in exercising the put.
As mentioned before, the higher the put's strike price and the greater the length of time the put has before it expires, the greater the cost. However, the put will also provide more insurance for the taxpayer's long position. Puts with an expiration date over a year are a relatively new convention; they are called "leaps" and are available for only a few issues.
If the stock goes down in price and the put is sold within less than a year, the taxpayer may realize a short-term capital gain on the sale of the put. The taxpayer may wish to still hold the stock. The stock position is then free of the put. The taxpayer also has a second option of exercising the put by selling the stock at the put's stock price. In this case, the cost of the put reduces the amount realized upon the sale of the underlying stock. Finally, if the put expires worthless, the taxpayer has incurred capital loss. The stock position is then free of the put and on its own.
If in the above example, ABC stock is selling for less than $33.50 per share, the taxpayer is clearly ahead of the game. The taxpayer, however, as the writer of the call, does not have the right to exercise the option. This right belongs to the holder or buyer of the option.
IRC Sec. 1256 Contracts. IRC Sec. 1256 contracts have a holding period determined by statute, not the actual time held by the taxpayer. The capital gain is always 40% short term and 60% long term. These transactions are reported on Form 6781. They include regulated future contracts, foreign currency contracts, and nonequity options. The benefit here is that 60% of profits are considered long-term capital gains even though the taxpayer may close the transaction the next day.
Straddles. A straddle is created when a taxpayer has positions in personal property, including stock and stock options, that balance or offset each other. Under IRC Sec. 1258, transactions entered into after April 30, 1993, cannot convert ordinary income into capital gains with straddles. These rules do not apply to dealers of options in their normal trade or business. IRC Sec. 1092 goes further in stating loses incurred from actively traded personal property are deferred to the extent the taxpayer had gains in offsetting positions that were not closed out by year-end.
Sales of Businesses. When long-term capital gain rates are lower than ordinary income rates, buyers want to maximize and accelerate their deductions while sellers want to maximize their long-term capital gains. In such an environment, these transactions have been structured to reduce the sales price and pay the seller a consulting fee or a salary continuation. This is justifiable as the seller's services are needed during the transition period while the new owner takes over. Of course, the amount paid must meet the reasonable compensation test. By paying the seller over a number of years, the seller gets some deferral of income and the buyer gets deductions.
In addition to consulting agreements, covenants not to compete have typically been used. A major provision of RRA '93 changes the consequences of covenants not to compete. Under the tax act, certain assets, including covenants not to compete, are now treated as IRC Sec. 197 intangibles, subject to 15-year amortization, if they arise in connection with the acquisition of a business.
Also under these new IRC Sec. 197 provisions, the seller can now have more leverage in negotiating sale agreements stressing long-term capital gains, since the buyer can derive tax benefits from the 15-year amortization of goodwill. Previously, goodwill was not deductible for tax purposes. Buyers may, however, still stress consulting agreements in order to accelerate deductions over a period less than 15 years.
Adopting LIFO. Use of the LIFO inventory method has many advantages. During inflationary periods, the LIFO costing method results in closing inventory that is priced lower than FIFO. The increase in cost of goods sold results in a lower income, lower taxes, and increased cash flow.
Inventory Donated to Charity. Inventory exceeding customers' current needs should be considered as a candidate for a charitable deduction. The result can be much more advantageous than selling the inventory at temporarily depressed prices. Under IRC Sec. 170(e)(3), the taxpayer may take a deduction for the basis in the property plus one-half of the property's unrealized appreciation. However, the deductions may not exceed twice the taxpayer's basis in the property, and no deduction is permitted for property appreciation resulting from ordinary income recapture. The donation must be made to qualifying public charities or private operating foundations. The donee's use of the property should be for the care of the needy, the ill, or infants.
Qualified Research Contribution. In general, under IRC Sec. 170(e)(4), a qualified research contribution may also be made to an institution of higher education or to an exempt scientific research organization. The donor must have constructed the property for the donee's use and the property must be donated within two years of completed construction.
Gifts of Appreciated Property. Gifts of appreciated property to charity benefits both the charitable organization and the taxpayer. All gifts, which can include art, real estate, stocks, bonds, and other collectibles (capital-gain property), should be for the use and benefit of the charity. The taxpayer can deduct the fair market value of the gift. Thus, if the tax basis is $10,000, and the FMV is $100,000, the charitable deduction is $100,000. It does this without triggering the AMT.
If, however, a taxpayer wants to give to charity an asset that has decreased in value, better tax planning suggests the taxpayer sell the asset, take a tax loss, and then distribute the cash to charity.
IRC Sec. 179 Election. Effective January 1, 1993, an IRC Sec. 179 election may be made to expense $17,500 in tangible personal qualifying property placed in service for that year. Property placed in service should not exceed $200,000 and the amount expensed may not exceed the taxpayer's annual taxable income from compensation for services or the active conduct of any trade or business (determined without regard to this provision). There is a carryover to future tax years of any unused expense.
Executive Compensation. Effective January 1, 1994, there is a one million dollar deduction cap on top executive compensation for publicly traded companies. Executive pay over the one million dollar cap may be deductible if it is reasonable and based upon performance goals drafted by a committee of independent directors. It also must be approved by shareholders.
* Deferral of compensation: Executives may postpone annual bonuses to a year when their compensation falls below $1 million.
* Use of a two-tier bonus arrangement: One tier bases an executive's annual bonus on performance that must be determined objectively and approved by shareholders. A second tier is discretionary and maximizes at the $1 million cap.
* Use of stock option plans: The maximum number of options received annually must be predetermined.
Self-Employed Health Insurance Costs. RRA '93 retroactively reinstated some expired tax provisions. The 25% deduction for health-insurance costs by the self-employed and S corporation stockholders (owning more than 2%) is reinstated.
Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities. The Act also creates up to nine empowerment zones and 95 enterprise communities to be designated in 1994 and 1995. Qualified businesses can expense an additional $20,000 of IRC Sec. 179 property used in a zone or community. Also, employers receive an employer wage credit of 20% of the first $15,000 of wages to each employee who works and lives in the zone or community. Designated zones and communities are those that suffer from pervasive poverty, unemployment, and general distress. A similar type employee wage credit and accelerated depreciation will apply to businesses on or near Indian reservations. New businesses can be created to take advantage of these provisions, benefitting the community as well as the business owner.
Companies located in enterprise zones also will be able to finance property with a new category of exempt facility private activity bond.
Itemized Deductions. Itemized deductions in excess of the standard deduction are still valuable to the taxpayer, especially in the upper brackets. The strategy of bunching deductions subject to floors or limitations can still work to the taxpayers advantage. These include medical and dental expenses, investment interest expense, gambling losses, and nonbusiness casualty and theft losses.
Points. If a taxpayer takes out a loan to buy a main residence, the points paid from personal funds are fully deductible. If the taxpayer is refinancing a mortgage, however, the points paid have to be amortized over the term of the loan. If there is a second refinance, the points still not deducted from the first refinancing can be deducted in the year in which the second refinancing occurs.
Spreading Income. Taxpayers can lower their tax bills by spreading income among family members. Thus, if a spouse and children are active in the business, they are entitled to a reasonable salary. It should be noted that services performed by a child under 18 in the employ of a parent is exempt from FICA tax. Net income not paid out as salaries can be shared through the utilization of a S corporation as a pass-through entity.
It should be noted that the "kiddie tax" comes into play for income of a child under 14. Not to be overlooked is that a C corporation with taxable income of up to $50,000 only pays a 15% corporate tax rate and from $50,000-75,000 pays a 25% corporate tax rate.
Filing Status. A taxpayer who has been recently widowed or divorced tends to think they must file as single. The taxpayer may be eligible to file as a head of household or surviving spouse. Both allow the use of a better standard deduction and lower rates. Married couples may find filing separately increases the benefit of dependent and itemized deductions and also avoids the AMT.
Overcoming the Marriage Penalty. For taxpayers contemplating marriage, January 1, 1995, should be considered as the date to tie the knot. The "marriage penalty" has not been decreased by Congress. Instead, the new 39.6% (or higher) tax bracket increases this "penalty." A New Year's Eve wedding may be romantic, but a New Year's Day wedding has financial advantages.
* The exemption, from AMT of certain charitable gifts of appreciated tangible property including art work, antiques, collectibles, etc.
* Elimination of the luxury excise tax on jewelry, furs, boats, and aircraft.
* The deduction of 25% of self-employed health care costs (and greater than 2% shareholders in S corporations).
* Exclusion from income of employer-provided educational assistance (up to $5,250).
Net Investment Income. Long-term capital gains are no longer considered a component of net investment income for limitation purposes in the deductibility of investment interest expense, unless a special election is made. If this election is made, long-term capital gains are treated as ordinary income and subject to possibly higher income tax rates. However, the taxpayer making the election will receive a higher investment interest expense deduction.
"Net investment income" is defined as investment income less investment expenses. Investment expenses directly connected with the production of net long-term capital gains are excluded from investment income (under these new rules), and should not be included in investment expenses for purposes of this calculation. This is an important planning strategy as the net investment income limitation will be increased by not including these expenses. Therefore, the taxpayer can utilize a higher current investment interest expense deduction. Investment advisory fees are an example of such an expense, and their exclusion may lead to a much greater amount of tax savings.
Classification as a Trader. Using the classification "trader" rather than "investor" is an excellent strategy if it can apply. A "trader" is a very active securities investor, so active the securities transactions reach a volume and/or take so much time as to constitute a "trade or business" for tax purposes. The trader classification is purely judicial determined by court cases. It carries with it a number of tax advantages and few, if any, disadvantages.
A "trader" does not have investment interest subject to deduction limitations, but "trade or business" interest. A "trader" has no investment expenses subject to a "two percent floor" and a "three percent phaseout" provision, but ordinary and necessary business expenses. A "trader" has no personal casualty losses, but business casualty losses. In addition, a "trader" may qualify for "home office" deductions and may expense, rather than depreciate, office typewriters, calculators, computers, and other equipment. Despite all these tax advantages resulting from being a self-employed "trader," the taxpayer still generates capital gains and losses and is exempt from self employment (Social Security) taxes.
* Spending a substantial amount of time on securities transactions on a regular and continuous basis by engaging in almost daily trading.
2. Such material participation involving real property must comprise more than 750 hours of service.
These two requirements must be satisfied completely by one spouse if a joint return is filed. Planning can be used effectively here by having one spouse run all the rental properties while the other spouse pursues another occupation. Assuming the requirements for the exception are satisfied, the passive activity loss rules are applied as if each interest of the taxpayer in rental real estate is a separate activity, unless the taxpayer elects to treat all interest in rental real estate as one activity. The use of planning for this election is important since the substantial disposition of an activity frees up unused passive losses.
Limited Exception to Passive Loss Rules. The limited exception to the passive loss rules for taxpayers who actively participate in management decisions in a property is also available. Up to $25,000 of passive losses for rental real estate activities may be currently utilized to offset nonpassive income. The taxpayer must own at least a 10% interest in the activity and the $25,000 maximum is reduced 50% by the amount by which the taxpayer's modified adjusted gross income exceeds $100,000. For marrieds filing separately, the limitations are $12,500 and a $50,000 modified AGI.
Two checklists are presented that include the points covered in this discussion as well as others. These checklists are not all inclusive and are intended merely to jog the memory. Planning is dynamic and requires imagination that goes far beyond checklists.
* Use tax-exempt municipal bonds.
* Use qualified U.S. savings bonds for educational expenses.
* Consider investing in a life insurance policy.
* Since Medicare tax has no limit to the 1.45% rate, minimize salary income.
* Maximize contributions to retirement plans, and use IRA, Keogh, 401(k) plans.
* Take advantage of tax deferral of gain on sale of personal house-- also $125,000 exemption of primary residence if over 55.
* Use like-kind exchanges rather than sales.
* Maximize long-term capital gains by using puts, calls, and straddles.
* Stay under cut-off levels for earnings limits if collecting Social Security Benefits under age 70.
* Use installment sale reporting.
* Give appreciated property to charity.
* Use self-employed health insurance deduction where applicable.
* Bunch deductions not subject to two-percent floor.
* Consider if points are deductible in a refinancing.
* Use Schedules C, E, and F to avoid 2% reduction on miscellaneous itemized deductions.
* Consider if any home office expenses are deductible.
* Use home-equity loans for deductible interest.
* Shift income to parents and/or minor children while avoiding "kiddie tax."
* Check filing status if recently widowed or divorced.
* Consider effect of losing investment interest deduction when there are long-term capital gains.
* Determine if classification of trader is possible.
* Consider if classification as a real estate professional is appropriate.
* Determine if exceptions to passive loss rules for real estate apply.
* Base estimated tax payments on actual quarterly earnings.
* Request quick refund of overpaid estimated tax payments.
* Pay taxes on exact due date to earn interest as long as possible.
* If withholding is kept low for year, use additional withholding at end of year.
* Turn hobby into a business.
* Use annual gift tax exclusions.
* Consider if earned income tax credit is available.
* Use new rules for amortization of intangibles to justify higher sales price when selling a business.
* Provide group life insurance policies for employees.
* Use LIFO inventory method.
* Use excess inventory for charitable deduction.
* Use qualified research contribution.
* Take small business equipment expensing election under IRC Sec. 179.
* Consider methods to be used to preserve deduction for executive compensation subject to $1 million cap.
* Determine if business can take advantage of empowerment zones and enterprise communities.
* Use company dining room to avoid 50% reduction.
* Use two cars, one personal, one business, to substantiate deductions for car expenses.
* Use common paymaster--one corporation to handle payroll and payroll taxes.
* Weigh use of S corp vs. C corp. Also, consider possible use of LLC if allowed by state law.
* Use captive leasing company.
* Use targeted jobs credit.
* See if corporation can qualify as a small business corporation under IRC Sec. 1244.
* Use Rev. Rul. 93-12 when valuing a minority interest in a family corporation to save gift and estate taxes.
Philip Wolitzer, CPA, is Professor Emeritus at Long Island University and a Visiting Professor at Marymount Manhattan College. Robert Wolitzer, CPA, is tax supervisor and researcher with Lopez, Edwards, Frank & Co. He is a member of the AICPA and NYSSCPA and serves on several committees of the latter. | 2019-04-24T22:53:26Z | http://archives.cpajournal.com/old/16097608.htm |
Saskatoon police are taking a new approach to policing Eighth Street in an effort to eliminate illegal activity by a small number of cruisers along the strip.
"The vast majority of people that are involved are just kids out there enjoying the evening, but we get a few that are drinking and want to cause trouble and break bottles on private property and some of the business owners get upset," said Staff Sgt. Neal Wylie of Saskatoon Police Service.
Police have stepped up patrols of the parking lots commonly used by cruisers after receiving frequent complaints from property owners.
"It would be like somebody parking in your driveway. I don't think you'd appreciate (it) if they broke beer bottles and threw garbage on your lawn and left," Wylie said.
He said the goal is to teach cruisers respect and that officers will use their discretion and not crack down on parking lot gatherings as long as they stay friendly.
Richard Klassen, who recently settled a malicious prosecution lawsuit with the province in an unrelated matter, spoke to city officials and police Thursday on behalf of the cruisers.
A protest took place Tuesday evening with cruisers parking in a side lane on Eighth Street, but ended after Klassen informed them police plan to use discretion if cruisers act with respect.
Police did not crack down on the cruisers that evening and Klassen said he hopes that approach will continue.
"You can't paint all the teenagers with the same brush," he said. "They're better off to let them park and visit, and the ones that are getting rowdy, nab 'em."
Many young cruisers are upset with the increased illegal behaviour on the strip as well.
"We want Eighth Street back to the way it was, none of this beer everywhere and alcohol and baseball bats," said Stephanie Inglehart. "We park in the parking lots because it saves on gas," said the 23-year-old. "We've been doing it for at least five, 10 years."
Mayor Don Atchison said he used to participate in the decades-old practice himself.
"I don't think there'll be any rush in the future to ticket people that are on private property, (unless) they are drinking or doing any other illegal criminal acts," he said.
Cruisers should try to discourage illegal activity among themselves so that it isn't ruined for them all, said Wylie.
"The bottom line is the police cannot turn a blind eye to willful acts of violating provincial statutes, which include the illegal use of alcohol, vehicle act infractions and things along that line," he said. "We're obligated to act."
The Saskatoon and Regina areas have some of the highest rates of police officers per capita among Canadian cities, but police say the numbers are misleading.
The Saskatoon census metropolitan area (CMA), with its 436 police officers, ranked third among Canadian cities with 181 officers for every 100,000 people as of June 15, says a Statistics Canada report released Thursday. The Saskatoon area includes the city force as well as police working in Dalmeny, Langham, Warman, rural Warman and rural Saskatoon.
When the city police force is compared to other large municipal forces, Saskatoon drops to ninth place with 358 officers or 177 per 100,000 population. The national rate was 188.
Saskatoon police have complained about chronic understaffing for years.
"As (officers) become more involved in community services, then of course you need more officers involved in other areas. That's sort of a trend that's happening with policing now," said Saskatoon police acting Insp. Craig Nyirfa.
"We have the community liaison positions. We have school liaison positions. We have aboriginal liaison positions, cultural relations positions. Then at the same time, you're seeing the higher crime rate," he said.
Regina and its surrounding area had the highest rate of police officers per capita, according to the report.
The Regina CMA had 207 officers per 100,000 people, while the city's police force ranked sixth with 187 officers.
"Because we have (RCMP) F Division headquarters here and we have the Regina rural detachments here, those officers are included in the count," said Regina police Chief Cal Johnston.
"We have those additional officers and a sparse population so it looks like we are the largest census metropolitan area. We're not."
Statistics Canada also found that Saskatchewan had the highest rate of officers per capita among all Canadian provinces, with 202 officers for every 100,000 people.
Manitoba was second highest with 194 officers per 100,000 population and Quebec was third with 191.
Peter Prebble, minister of corrections and public safety, said the results are "very positive."
Prior to the 1999 election, the NDP promised to add 200 new officers to Saskatchewan's police services. Prebble admitted his government has 49 positions to go before the commitment is fulfilled.
"It is our intention to keep working to keep that promise. This will be a major topic of discussion in the budget deliberations that are coming up basically over the next two months.
"I can't tell you how long it will take for us to keep the commitment, but we'll keep working on it throughout the next couple of years," said Prebble.
The report noted Saskatchewan also had the largest increase in police strength, with the number of officers per capita rising 7.5 per cent during the last decade.
Johnston said the province has unique policing needs, making the number of officers a necessity.
"In Saskatchewan, you only have to visit our inner city or look at some of the social issues we face. We have a growing youth population emerging from very difficult conditions — poverty, incomplete education, some family dysfunction or breakdown — and the opportunity for those people to effectively join in our economy and our communities isn't as strong as it should be so that gives rise to crime," said Johnston.
The cost of policing in Saskatchewan was $186 per person in 2003, significantly less than the national price tag of $263 per person. In total, policing cost Canadians $8.3 billion in 2003.
The Saskatoon Police Service is asking for an expanded, $55-million police station as it copes with a severe space squeeze.
Work on the project would start next year with the leasing of temporary space for $1 million in the downtown post office building, allowing renovations to begin on the station for another $1.4 million.
Expansion, lasting four to five years and costing a further $52.9 million, would start in 2006. It would meet the police service's space needs for a decade, said Chief Russell Sabo.
The board of police commissioners will consider today approving the force's 2005 capital budget, including the leasing and renovation costs. The project would then face city council's scrutiny.
"We are at a point where we have staff with no desk, no place to sit," Sabo said. "We have turned what was our lunch room into office space, our old library into office space. We've taken a lounge area for senior executives and turned it into a lunch room because of insufficient office space."
Once 10 new recruits who are studying at police college arrive for duty at the end of the year, the station will have one spare locker left, Sabo said.
The project would extend the police station north over the existing police parking lot. Police vehicles would be housed in new underground parking stalls.
The police station was built 27 years ago and has since been renovated but never expanded. Some officers already work in the adjacent Saskatoon Tower, while the force houses its canine unit at Innovation Place and leases some storage space in the postal building.
Expansion would allow the police service to consolidate in one main building, as well as the Riversdale community station, Sabo said.
The expansion is the most costly project by far in the 2005 police capital budget. The force won't formally request the expansion funds for another year.
The project would dominate police capital spending for the next decade. Leasing and renovations eat up 83 per cent of the force's proposed 2005 capital budget and of its 10-year capital budget.
The cost estimate is more than double the $27-million working number city finance officials had been using for a smaller-scale expansion.
The project is based on the findings of a 2002 police facilities plan completed by architects Carruthers Shaw and Partners Ltd.
The report found that in 2004, the force would be operating with a space deficiency of 46,000 square feet. To accommodate growth during the next 10 years, the police service needs an additional 85,000 square feet, the firm reported.
"This isn't a luxury, it's a necessity," said Const. Stan Goertzen, president of the city police association.
The space crunch has over the years generated concerns about safety and the station's weight capacity, when files were stacked in hallways by a fire exit. Those files are now in leased space at the post office, but office supplies are still piled in hallways, Goertzen said.
During the last decade, files that later became critical were inadvertently shredded to save space, he said.
"There's a lot of inefficiencies," he said.
Mayor Don Atchison, who chairs the police commission, is convinced the police service is "bursting at the seams."
But he's unsure whether the city can afford such a costly expansion, which is smaller only than the $70-million completion of Circle Drive and the $100-million water treatment plant upgrade also included in capital budget spending proposals.
"My question is, 'Where's it all going to come from?' " Atchison said. "I sure don't see the taxpayers coming to the table for all that money. There's a lot more work to be done."
The city may have to examine the pros and cons of new financing options, such as spreading mortgages over more than 15 years, and needs support of senior governments, he said.
Atchison said it's no certainty that the board of police commissioners and city council will ante up for even the smaller leasing and renovation request for 2005.
Police commissioners will also need to consider the comparative cost of building a new police station and whether approving the expansion project will shortchange the force when it needs to replace cars and equipment.
Ultimately, approval may depend on how the public perceives the force in general, Atchison said.
"If they see a perceived improvement, I think the public will be more accepting to pay more."
A year in the mayor's chair has blurred the lines between policing philosophies for Mayor Don Atchison, who was elected on a promise to make Saskatoon safer.
Atchison pledged during last fall's campaign to rid police officers of "softer" responsibilities and flayed police commissioners who "don't understand policing."
He promised to trade the existing policing approach for the New York City "broken-window theory" model, involving a crackdown on relatively minor offences, such as vandalism, hoping the tough message would discourage more serious crimes.
Now an overhaul sounds less likely.
"In a lot of ways, I think broken-window and community policing are quite similar," Atchison said in an interview. "Broken-window theory also involves the community as a whole to report to the officers things that they see."
City council has approved a bylaw against spitting, urinating and defecating in public, but there have been no public discussions about a different police philosophy.
Atchison has not yet moved officers out of the Little Chief station in Riversdale, as promised, and has even endorsed the planning of a community centre in high-crime Pleasant Hill.
"I haven't seen a whole lot (of philosophical change)," said Coun. Myles Heidt, who has served on police commissions with both Atchison and former mayor Jim Maddin. "It's a hard thing to measure, I guess. There are eight murders already this year, so it's hard to believe you're winning."
Community liaison officers are still performing the same duties they did a year ago, Heidt noted.
The most public new police initiative in the last year was starting up a street-crime unit.
Despite keeping the status quo on policing approaches, police association president Const. Stan Goertzen gives Atchison and city council high marks.
"I'm encouraged with the leadership that's starting to show, (from) him and city council in general," said Goertzen. "What's different is some of the supports that we've needed are finally in place. This is going to take awhile."
City council approved a police budget earlier this year that authorizes hiring 20 more constables this year and additional civilian staff to clear a backlog of record-entering.
Atchison said he still wants to get Little Chief's officers on the street.
"We're still working on that."
Atchison is also eager to see more officers on evening and weekend patrol, which is subject to negotiations with the city police association. That move could be seen as either a broken-window theory or community policing initiative, he said.
"It's the public coming forward and telling us we have these problems, we need them solved right now. That's all part of it. When the community comes out and gives us feedback, that's all part and parcel of community policing."
Twelve months isn't long enough to make it all the way down a politician's list of promises to keep, Atchison has found.
One-third of the way through Atchison's mandate, the longstanding debate over the Gathercole building is over, smoking is illegal in most public places and big projects like retail development at Preston Crossing and a joint-use soccer centre in University Heights have been approved.
On the other hand, Atchison didn't come close to freezing taxes this year and hasn't noticeably sparked the unprecedented downtown population growth he targeted.
Atchison said his personal aim each year remains a tax freeze, but said he can't promise to hold the line in either of his two final budgets before the 2006 election.
Atchison has kept his promise in part to change how the mayor works with the public and senior administrators. The city is holding public meetings with each ward, with Atchison in attendance.
A job title change for city manager Phil Richards hasn't materialized. Atchison had said he wanted to switch to a city commissioner system that would allow the mayor to be more hands-on.
Atchison said he has been more directly involved anyway.
"We've changed more towards that (commissioner system). Still not as far as I had wanted to go. But I guess there are compromises that have to be made. Right now the system is working very well."
The second year for Atchison and city council will be just as eventful, he promises. Key decisions are ahead on building two new bridges, extending 25th Street to encourage development in the warehouse district and overhauling Saskatoon's transit department, following a consultant's report.
Saskatoon Police Service is investigating the actions of some of its officers amid allegations that they used excessive force.
"There was obviously a confrontation," said Saskatoon Police Inspector Jeff Bent in describing the incident which began just before 9 p.m. on Oct. 9.
Two officers were called to an apartment on the 3700 block of Eighth Street in response to a complaint that three young children weren't being cared for properly, he said in an interview.
When the officers arrived at the apartment, they spoke to a 37-year-old man who in turn assaulted one of the officers, according to Bent. He wouldn't say if the man was related to the children because the case is still before the courts.
Other officers were called to back up the first ones on the scene, although Bent didn't know how many officers were eventually involved.
The man, arrested for assaulting the officer, was taken from the building.
"Prior to being placed in a police vehicle, he smashed the back window of one of our patrol cars," said Bent.
The man was taken to Royal University Hospital so his injuries could be treated. While there, another incident occurred and the man damaged a doorway at the hospital, said Bent.
A television news story broadcast earlier this week included two people who said the officers used excessive force in restraining the man.
Saskatoon Police Service internal investigators have contacted the man who was arrested and are in the process of interviewing him and other witnesses, says Bent.
"We have also received a number of phone calls from individuals saying that the incident as described on CTV that particular night was not what took place. So, we have some contradictory accounts of what took place," he said.
After Saskatoon police finish the internal investigation, the report is reviewed by the provincial police commissioner who will decide if charges should be laid against the officers involved.
Bent didn't know how long it would take to complete the local investigation. The report will become public only if the officers are charged under the Police Act.
Bent says in addition to the internal investigation, the actions of the officers will come under scrutiny when the man who is facing one charge of assaulting a police officer and two charges of mischief causing damage under $5,000 goes through the court system. He will appear in provincial court next week. | 2019-04-19T16:21:35Z | https://injusticebusters.org/04/Saskatoon_police.shtml |
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Nico Anklam is a lecturer in art theory at the Institute of Art Research and Aesthetics of the University of the Arts in Berlin. He studied art history, cultural studies and aesthetics in Berlin, London and as a Fulbright Scholar in New York. At the Bologna.Lab of Humboldt University Berlin he taught art of the 20th century in Germany and Europe. His research interests lie in strategies of South African concept art around 1990 and Fluxus and Fluxus related practices in Northern and Northeastern Europe.
He has published catalogues and contributions for monographs in magazines such as African Arts (MIT Press) and SAVVY art.contemporary.african, including texts on artists such as Nevin Aladag, Sarkis, Timm Ulrichs and Kendell Geers.
He conceived exhibitions as a guest curator with institutions like Kunsthal 44 Møen (Denmark), The Rietveld Pavilion (The Netherlands), Bruch und Dallas (Germany), YEARS (Denmark), Malmö Art Academy (Sweden) and Velferden with Rogaland Kunstsenter (Norway). As part of the curatorial program for research network CPR he was as a research resident in Finland and Estonia in 2015.
Most recently he worked on a performance project around Fluxus composer Henning Christiansen that opened in Denmark and Norway in 2016 with further stops to come in Sweden in 2017.
Ellen Blumenstein, born in Witzenhausen, Germany, lives and works in Berlin. She has been chief curator of the KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin since January 2013. In her first year, she realised the exhibitions “Relaunch”, “Kader Attia: Repair. 5 Acts” and “Real Emotions: Thinking in Film”, as well as launching comprehensive public programmes and professional partnerships. In her second year she premiered the first solo exhibitions in Germany of artists Ryan Trecartin, Kate Cooper, Channa Horwitz and Elin Hansdóttir. Before KW, she was an independent curator, member of the curatorial collective THE OFFICE and founder of the project space Salon Populaire. Between 1998-2005 she worked as a curator for KW Institute for Contemporary Art, where she realised the exhibition project "Regarding Terror: The RAF-Exhibition" (with Klaus Biesenbach, Felix Ensslin, 2005). Since, she curated the exhibition "Between Two Deaths" at ZKM in Karlsruhe (with Felix Ensslin, 2007), and in 2011 she curated the Icelandic Pavilion at the Venice Biennial (Libia Castro and Ólafur Ólafsson).
Ricarda Ciontos was born in Hermannstadt, Romania, and moved to Heidelberg in 1978. She studied at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Saarbrücken. Ciontos has lived and worked as an actress in Vienna, Stuttgart, Frankfurt, Bochum and Bucharest. Since 2002, she has been based in Berlin. In 2006, she established the Nordwind Festival, which soon became one of the major platforms for the Nordic performing arts in Europe.
Nordwind, an interdisciplinary platform for the Nordic arts and culture, acts as a network, co-producer and discoverer. Nordwind’s aim is to raise the profile of Nordic and Baltic artists, theatre and culture-makers in Germany and to introduce them to an international audience, to embrace and share new artistic impulses as well as to promote a Europe-wide exchange between Germany and the Nordic and Baltic countries.
Power Ekroth (SWE/NO) is independent curator, critic, as well as an editor based in Berlin. She is founding editor of the recurrent publication SITE and an Art Consultant for KORO, Public Art Norway. She has published frequently in Artforum.com, Contemporary, Flash Art, Frieze and many other international magazines. During 2012 and 2013 she curated the Momentum Biennial, Moss, Norway, and in 2013-14 held an interim position as external curator at Telemark Kunstnersenter, Skien, Norway. Her curatorial vision is to initiate a change of mindset within the viewer: to mediate art that entails visions, ideas, dreams and phantasms, which thus formulate a meta-structure of reality.
Recent projects include High on Low-Life, Telemark Kunstnersenter, 2014, Skien, Norway; Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast, Momentum Biennial 2013, Moss, Norway; The Turku Biennial 2013; IDYLL (co-curated with Karolin Tampere, Ellen Friis, Æsa Sigurjónsdóttir and Laura Boxberg/Eeva Holkeri/Silja Lehtonen/Johanna Lehto-Vahtera); The Nordic Pavilion in the Dak'Art Biennial, Into the Rabbit Hole, Dakar, Senegal 2012 (a residency and exhibition, co-curated with Marita Muukkonen); Nordic Art Today: Conceptual Debts, Broken Dreams and New Horizons at Etagi, St Petersburg 2011 (co-curated by Kari Brandzæg, Birta Guðjónsdóttir, Simon Sheikh, Anna Bitkina and Aura Seikkula); FAMES: Family Vaudeville (2010/2011) at DARB 1718, Cairo, Egypt (a residency and exhibition co-curated by Juan-Pedro Fabra Guemberena).
www.powerekroth.netWith an interest in conceptualising the medium and history of exhibitions and the artistic and curatorial practice, she has conceived and conducted theoretical workshops, such as the 7th Berlin Biennial Young Curators' Workshop “Curating in Times of Need" (2012); moderated several artists’ talks; and lectured, such as the seminar “Contemporary Latin American Art through Exhibitions (1945-today): Questions, Debates, Politics and Aesthetics”, at the Universität Heidelberg (2015).
Born in Greenland in 1975, Ivalo Frank has lived in several countries and now resides in Berlin and Copenhagen. Holding a MA in Philosophy and Social Science from Lund University in Sweden, she works as an artist and festival director.
Frank has made films in various countries such as Bosnia, China and Greenland and the content range from post-war portraits and post-colonial perspectives to in-depth interviews with citizens from the former DDR. Her films are shown in academic, art and film contexts world-wide, e.g. at the Humboldt University of Berlin, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art and IMC gallery, New York.
Rike Frank is a curator and writer based in Berlin and Oslo. She is currently Associate Professor of Exhibition Studies at the Academy of Fine Art of the Oslo National Academy of the Arts (KHiO) where she recently co-organized with Beatrice von Bismarck the two-part public seminar ‘Of(f) Our Times: The Aftermath of the Ephemeral and other Curatorial Anachronics’. From 2010-12 she programmed the exhibition space at the Academy of Art Leipzig from 2010-2012, including a solo show by the Austrian filmmaker and photographer Friedl vom Gröller (2012); she was curator of ‘Textilities … and Roses, too’ (2015) for the Ratti Foundation and Curated by (Vienna, 2014); with Grant Watson she initiated the long-term research and exhibition project ‘Textiles: Open Letter’, exploring the seminal role of textiles in contemporary art and art history. Frank was member of the program team for the European Kunsthalle and Ludlow 38, New York; Head of the Curatorial Office for documenta 12, and curator at the Secession. Publication projects include, as author, editor and co-editor, Textiles: Open Letter (Berlin: Sternberg Press, 2015); Textile Theorien der Moderne: Alois Riegl in der Kunstkritik (Berlin: b_books, 2015); Timing—On the Temporal Dimension of Exhibiting (Berlin: Sternberg Press, 2014); Sketches of Universal History: Compiled from Several Authors by Sarah Pierce (London: Book Works, 2013), and Constanze Ruhm: ‘Coming Attractions’ (Vienna: Schlebrügge.Editor, 2012). Corresponding Member of the Secession, Vienna and an advisory board member of the Tromsø Kunstforening.
Kordula Fritze-Srbic is independent curator living and working in Berlin and artistic coordinator of GROSSES TREFFEN at the Nordic Embassies in Berlin since 2013.
She studied Performance Art and Contemporary Dance in Berlin and at ArtEZ art academy Arnhem, Netherlands, and Art History as well as Theatre, Film and Media Studies at the University of Vienna.
She was guest curator at Kunstverein Göttingen where she curated “Ring-Pass-Not, Lea Porsager” (2015); “Moment!”, 2015; “Cluster – Viktoria Binschtok”, 2015; “When You Light A Lantern In The Summer Night Many Strange Things Come Flying – Kirstine Roepstorff”, 2014; and “movement matters”, 2014. For the Berlin Art Week 2015 she was artistic coordinator of “XCHANGE - Project Space Festival Berlin”. In 2013 she was curator of the exhibition and performance series „Water– Nuno Vicente”, and assistant curator for “Enten-Eller /Either-Or” at Kunsthallen Nikolaj, Copenhagen, Haus am Waldsee Berlin. She co-curator the group exhibition “Faraway, So Close!” at Fichtebunker Berlin in 2012.
At Node Center for Curatorial Studies Berlin she was curator in residence 2012.
In Vienna she was project consultant for art institutions and festivals such as KÖR – art in public space, WUK – Theater/Tanz, Jaccuzzi – some days of performance, music and public, and WIEN MODERN – festival for contemporary music. She worked for the dance and performance festival ImPulsTanz, where she managed the first EU prize „Pris Jardin d'Europe“ for young choreographers, 2008, and was jury member for the Studio Grant District Berlin 2014 and Certamen Coreografico Madrid 2008.
Pierre Granoux (*1963, Gap, France) is a Berlin-based conceptual artist, curator and founder of the project space LAGE EGAL. He studied in Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Nîmes, France, before moving to Germany in 1996 and establishing his independent curatorial and artistic practice, situated between Dadaism, appropriationism and the tradition of text-based art. Besides co-founding LAGE EGAL project space in 2010 and serving as its artistic director and mediator since 2012, Pierre Granoux also actively participates in international solo and group exhibitions in Germany, France, Luxembourg and Brasil, amongst others. His works are also included in numerous private and public collections.
LAGE EGAL is an artist-run project space for production and exhibition, founded in May 2010. It works with the mechanisms of presentation and art market in an experimental and playful way, aiming to provoke and engage in discussion. LAGE EGAL houses a studio, an office, a workshop, a warehouse and various showrooms, in which production and mediation of art is characterized by a cohesion between critical irony and distance. LAGE EGAL also regularlv organizes off-site exhibitions and involves numerous guest curators, who are given complete creative freedom in their projects. The space is also focused on artist’s books, editions and multiples, constantly questioning the original, the copy, the duplicate and the series. As a non-market-oriented, experimental space, LAGE EGAL aims to give artists the opportunity to show their work outside the commercial and institutional mediations.
Christopher Hewitt has been involved in areas of performance art and interdisciplinary art for the past 20 years, working as a curator, teacher, facilitator and very occasionally as a performance artist himself. After nearly 10 years of being based in London, which included working as the Director of Live Art at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, he went on to set up the ‘Crossing Borders’ performance art degree programme at the Turku Academy of Art in Finland. He is currently based in Berlin where he organises the performance art publication project liveartwork.com, which includes the publication of the liveartwork DVD series and the ongoing video documentation of international performance art events.
Janke Klok is Henrik-Steffens-professor at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin sinve 2014. Her PhD dissertation Det norske litterære Feminapolis 1880-1980. Skram, Undset, Sandel og Haslunds byromaner – mot en ny modernistisk genre appeared in 2011. Her research interests include biographical, intercultural, urban and gender studies and literary representations of the Arctic. She has translated novels and poetry by classic and contemporary Norwegian authors, is editor of the academic journal TijdSchrift voor Skandinavistiek and the literary series Wilde Aardbeien [Wild Strawberries]. She participates in the networks Beyond Horizons in Cultural Transfer Studies and SocTat [= Studies on Cultural Transfer and Transmission] (University of Groningen), Helsinki Literature and the City Network (University Helsinki), Northern in Europe – Europe in the Northern (University Oslo);, Exploration, Exploitation, Exposition. The Gendered Heritage of the Arctic & Antarctic (University of Tromsø).
Some recent publications: Kalte Kulturen und die arktische Ewigkeit in Deutschland (2016); “Fra by til by. Den kvinnelige kulturformidlerens dynamikk. En linje fra Camilla Collett til Godelieve Laureys”. In: Nooit het Noorden kwijt. (2016); Battles and Borders. Perspectives on Cultural Transmission and Literature in Minor Language Areas (2015); Strindberg in Transition, Special Issue Tijdschrift voor Skandinavistiek (2015); “Ibsen in Dutch Theatres and the Sustainability of Nora”. In: Ibsen and World Drama(s). Nordlit Nr 34 (2015); Noorse auteurs in Nederlandse vertaling 1741-2012. Een bibliografie/Norske forfattere oversatt til nederlandsk 1741-2012. En bibliografi (2013).
Sigurd Larsen founded the design studio in 2009 and recently completed several single-family houses in Denmark and a series of loft rooms at Michelberger hotel in Berlin. His furniture is available in stores and galleries in Berlin, Copenhagen, London, Zürich, Helsinki, Porto, Istanbul and 12 other cities.
From 2016 Sigurd Larsen is Professor at BAU International University in Berlin where building design and visual communication is explored through teaching and research.
From 2011 till 2017 Sigurd Larsen is assistant professor at University of the Arts, Berlin where he teaches architectural design with Professor Enrique Sobejano, co-founder of Nieto Sobejano Arquitectos.
Is Senior Lecturer at School of Global Studies, University of Gothenburg and holds a PhD from the same university in History of ideas (an analysis of the negritude movement). Between 2013–2016 she hold a position as assistant professor Department for Arts and Cultural Studies, University of Copenhagen. During the years 2010-2012 she was coordinating Critical Heritage studies, University of Gothenburg. Earlier she has been teaching at University of Gothenburg (at dep. of history of ideas, fine arts, gender studies) and at University West (in cultural studies).
She is now engaged in a research project, funded by the Swedish research Council, The futures of genders and sexualities. Cultural products, transnational spaces and emerging communities, where she has been focusing on the role of secularity in current debates on nationhood, equality, civil society and progress. Her last project was Frictions, fractures and cultural resilience of Swahili coastal towns focusing on euroamerican aesthetic and social interventions in sites in the third world in the name of World Heritage, and its impact on the daily lives of the inhabitants of these sites.
Among earlier projects, museums, translation studies, critical perspectives on canon, gender, queer, postcolonial studies, the negritude movement has been in her focus.
She has published on African and migrant literature, fine arts, photography, postcolonial theory, critical heritage studies, museums, urban studies, gender and queer issues, race and ethnicity studies, whiteness, canon.
Gilles Neiens (b. 1985) is co-director and founder of the independent exhibition space insitu. Furthermore he is the advertising director - art market at German art magazine Monopol. Gilles Neiens studied New German Literature and Romance Languages and Literature at Albert Ludwigs Universität in Freiburg and at Universidad Complutense in Madrid. From 2010 -2013 Neiens was a gallery assistant for galleries such as Nosbaum Reding, Luxembourg, Galleri Opdahl, Berlin and Mehdi Chouakri Gallery, Berlin. In 2011, together with Nora Mayr, he co-currated his first contemporary art exhibition on the topic of love, shown in Vienna, Berlin and Luxembourg city. In the same year he founded the art space insitu with his colleagues Marie Graftieaux, Nora Mayr and Lauren Reid.
insitu is a non-profit space for contemporary art in Berlin. The two-room souterrain is located at Kurfürstenstrasse 21-22, in the middle of the gallery district of Berlin-Schöneberg. For its inaugural year insitu realized the exhibition Cycle I with seven episodes dealing with fundamental questions surrounding the production of art: from the blank wall of the studio, to the jungle of the art market. For its program Cycle II (2014) insitu aimed to be a catalyst to form relationships, networks and connections. For Cycle III (2015/16) insitu developed group exhibitions as fictional characters. Each exhibition provideded insitu’s visitors with an intimate encounter with the character, creating the feeling that one not only just met a new person but entered into their private world. With Cycle III (2016/17) insitu creates exhibitions as corridors to different moments in history. The last exhibition of its current cycle, Corridor 3: Valdemar Daa, opens on June 23rd at Viborg Kunsthal in Denmark in the framework of Aarhus, European Capital of Culture 2017.
Solvej Helweg Ovesen a curator and author, born in Hillerød, Denmark, 1974. She lives and works in Berlin and Copenhagen. She was educated at De Appel Curatorial Training Program, Amsterdam and holds a MA in Fine Arts, Cultural Studies and Communication from Copenhagen University and Humboldt University of Berlin.
Currently she is the artistic director of GROSSES TREFFEN, a yearly networking event where Nordic artist via an open call are selected to meet Berlin-based curators at the Nordic Embassies in Berlin. She is also working on a group exhibition at the Karen Blixen Museum in Nairobi, Kenya, and in Rungstedlund, Denmark, 2015.
She recently curated the wall painting project »How Far Away is the Horizon?« in public space in collaboration with CKU Images Festival, Copenhagen-Holbæk, 2013 DK, as well as the group exhibition »Enten-Eller / Entweder-Oder« on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of Danish Philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, at Kunsthallen Nikolaj, 2013 Copenhagen, and Haus am Waldsee, 2013 Berlin. She also co-curated »The Eye is a Lonely Hunter« – 4. Fotofestival Mannheim Ludwigshafen Heidelberg together with Katerina Gregos, 2011 DE, and the group exhibition »Never Odd or Even – a text spaced exhibition« at Grimmuseum in Berlin, 2011 DE, and at Museum of Contemporary Art in Roskilde, 2012 DK. She continuously collaborates with the Grimmuseum as an author and curatorial advisor.
Solvej Helweg Ovesen is board member of the festival organisation Golden Days in Copenhagen, a jury member of DZ Bank Künstler Stipendium 2013, selector of Van Bommel van Dam Price, Venlo, Van Bommel van Dam Museum 2013-2019 and selector of the Celeste Art prize 2014.
Sophie Prager was born in Rome and grew up in West Germany. She has been living and working in Berlin since 2005.
After studying Art History and the Science of Journalism and Communication at the Free University Berlin, Sophie Prager worked for seven years at the Guido W. Baudach contemporary art gallery in Berlin. There, as gallery director, she pushed the gallery’s development towards a more international alignment. She realized a variety of exhibitions, catalogs and represented the gallery at international art fairs.
Since 2015, Sophie Prager is director of the Salon Dahlmann exhibition space and the Miettinen Collection. She has organized and curated several exhibitions over the past year, among others with the Finland Institute Berlin and with various free curators. All exhibitions were accompanied by a fringe program and two publications were developed and released. Salon Dahlmann and the Miettinen Collection promote Finnish artists and provide a platform on which they can show their work in an international context.
Salon Dahlmann is named after Hildegard Dahlmann, the last owner of the house and was founded by Timo Miettinen a Finnish art collector. Timo Miettinen has established in Salon Dahlmann a link to Berlin’s tradition of salon culture, which originally emerged in the close vicinity of the gallery in the West Berlin district surrounding Kurfürstendamm. The Salon presents an eclectic program, presenting a range of different formats that include exhibitions, concerts, performances and workshops. One of the main focuses of Salon Dahlmann is to show Finnish artists in an international context. Salon Dahlmann curates its own shows out of the Miettinen Collection, but also works with external curators and invited artists.
Heiko Pfreundt is part of the team of artists that runs the weekly shows at Kreuzberg Pavillon in Berlin every Saturday. He originally created Kreuzberg Pavillon as an artistic script for self-institutionalization for everyone and to introduce a certain rhythm of collective decisions. He graduated as a designer and makes decisions in the artist-run project spaces Kreuzberg Pavillon in Berlin and Tor 13 in Bremen. During the week he teaches students of fine arts and media aesthetics at the University of Bremen, where he’s currently researching the origin of contemporary forms of exhibitions in terms of body politics and socialization.
With more than 80 exhibitions and 500 artists, Kreuzberg Pavillon has emerged since September 2010 to one of Berlin’s most active, independent non-profit project spaces with regular shows each Saturday. The team behind Kreuzberg Pavillon prosecutes active networking and sustainable exchange with artists, initiative persons, activists and further artistic and social projects in and outside Berlin. The open process in this field of interests complies with the desire of all participants to establish the pavilion as a model for an interesting, inclusive system of contemporary art. In 2013 Kreuzberg Pavillon won the prize for project spaces and initiatives from the General Administration for Cultural Affairs, Berlin.
Maria Veie has an iconological approach to curating, and has developed site specific projects in Norway, Germany, France, the Netherlands, USA and Hong Kong.
In 2008 she established Galleri Maria Veie as a test-ground of language and audience approach for commercial galleries. From 2009 - 2013 the project was connected to a permanent location in Oslo, developing solo shows by young Norwegian and Oslo-based artists. In 2016 the project opened a new permanent location in the rural branch in Skogn, with pop-up projects in other cities, eg. `Abegsang des Posthauses´ together with the Norwegian vocal ensemble Trondheim Voices and the Berlin-based artist Goro Tronsmo during Berlin Art Week.
Since 2013 she´s been in charge of the Photography workshop Oslokids and TOMROM, a collaboration between the arts associations in Vestfold County. Among the commissioned works were the wall painting `Black View from Above` by Anders Sletvold Moe, the street game `Horror vacui`, and `This is what creates the seasons and the passing of the year, and that rules over all visible things`, a performance by Marianne Heier. After the last Oslokids-workshops for the city of Oslo in 2014 she took on a project on behalf of Eidsvoll municipality, and presented a pilot artist residency at the hydropower plant Eidsvoll Verk in collaboration with Mathiesen Eidsvold Værk ANS, Akershus County, Cycle Music and Art Festival (IS) and the University of Toronto (CA).
In addition to her expertise as an art historian and entrepreneur she has a background from university politics. Sandvik was elected President of the Student Parliament at the University of Oslo (UiO) in 2005, and represented the students at the Research Council, Faculty of Humanities, UiO, Board of Advisors, BA and MA-programme of Archeology, Art History and Conservation, Chairwoman of Negotiations, and finally as board member of Baroniet Rosendal. Since 2007 she has been Art Editor of the journal Minerva.
Asia contemporary art platform NON Berlin's founder Ido Shin was born in Seoul, South Korea and graduated from the Department of Industrial Design in Seoul and after, Architecture of ‘Technical University in Berlin.’ He is a registered architect in the ‘Berlin Chamber of German Architects.’ Shin began his career at the ‘Hadi Teherani Architects’ and has carried out various projects including Suncity urban planing of Bangalore, India, domestic architecture projects and hotel projects both in Seoul, Korea and Berlin, Germany. He also extended his work in scenography and diversely participates in collaboration projects with artists. Since 2011, he has been establishing the network of Asian artists in Berlin to carry out various experimental projects. After founding NON Berlin in 2014, Shin has been actively engaged in organizing public discussions and discourses in the Asia-Europe contemporary art scene and has also directed various exhibitions and projects. The most notable exhibition Shin curated at NON Berlin is the Asian Art Show 2016, a 13-week consecutive exhibition project with 16 contemporary artists from 7 different Asian countries.
He is the co-founder and Artistic Director of Agora Collective and is the mind behind AFFECT, Agora’s flagship artistic residency. Agora is interested in investigating the development of relational artistic practices, experimental methods of group work and interdisciplinary processes. It is also known for its artistic approach to food. Part studio, part laboratory – Agora's kitchen has become a place where notions of collaboration, self-organisation and sustainability are put into practice.
Tizzi´s projects have received the support from Creative Europe, Nordic Culture Fund, Nordic Culture Point, Goethe Institut Kuala Lumpur and São Paulo.
He holds a Bachelor of Arts and Communication at University of São Paulo. | 2019-04-25T00:29:56Z | https://www.grossestreffen.org/reviewers |
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