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Front Page Titles (by Subject) OF GIVING THE LIE - Essays of Montaigne, vol. 6
The Online Library of Liberty
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OF GIVING THE LIE - Michel de Montaigne, Essays of Montaigne, vol. 6
Essays of Montaigne, vol. 6, trans. Charles Cotton, revised by William Carew Hazlett (New York: Edwin C. Hill, 1910).
Part of: Essays of Montaigne, in 10 vols.
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OF GIVING THE LIE
WELL, BUT some one will say to me, this design of making a man’s self the subject of his writing, were indeed excusable in rare and famous men, who by their reputation had given others a curiosity to be fully informed of them. It is most true, I confess and know very well, that a mechanic will scarce lift his eyes from his work to look at an ordinary man, whereas a man will forsake his business and his shop to stare at an eminent person when he comes into a town. It misbecomes any other to give his own character, but him who has qualities worthy of imitation, and whose life and opinions may serve for example: Caesar and Xenophon had a just and solid foundation whereon to found their narrations, in the greatness of their own performances; and it were to be wished that we had the journals of Alexander the Great, the commentaries that Augustus, Cato, Sylla, Brutus, and others left of their actions; of such persons men love and contemplate the very statues even in copper and marble.
This remonstrance is very true; but it very little concerns me:—
“I repeat my poems only to my friends, and when bound to do so; not before every one and everywhere; there are plenty of reciters in the open market-place and at the baths.”
I do not here form a statue to erect in the great square of a city, in a church, or any public place:—
“I study not to make my pages swell with empty trifles; you and I are talking in private:”
’tis for some corner of a library, or to entertain a neighbor, a kinsman, a friend, who has a mind to renew his acquaintance and familiarity with me in this image of myself. Others have been encouraged to speak of themselves, because they found the subject worthy and rich; I, on the contrary, am the bolder, by reason the subject is so poor and sterile that I cannot be suspected of ostentation. I judge freely of the actions of others; I give little of my own to judge of, because they are nothing: I do not find so much good in myself, that I cannot tell it without blushing.
What contentment would it not be to me to hear any one thus relate to me the manners, faces, countenances, the ordinary words and fortunes of my ancestors? how attentively should I listen to it! In earnest, it would be evil nature to despise so much as the pictures of our friends and predecessors, the fashion of their clothes and arms. I preserve their writing, seal, and a particular sword they wore, and have not thrown the long staves my father used to carry in his hand, out of my closet:—
“A father’s garment and ring is by so much dearer to his posterity, as there is the greater affection towards parents.”
If my posterity, nevertheless, shall be of another mind, I shall be avenged on them; for they cannot care less for me than I shall then do for them. All the traffic that I have in this with the public is, that I borrow their utensils of writing, which are more easy and most at hand; and in recompense shall, peradventure, keep a pound of butter in the market from melting in the sun:—
“Let not wrappers be wanting to tunnyfish, nor olives; . . . and I shall supply loose coverings to mackerel.”
And though nobody should read me, have I wasted time in entertaining myself so many idle hours in so pleasing and useful thoughts? In moulding this figure upon myself, I have been so often constrained to temper and compose myself in a right posture, that the copy is truly taken, and has in some sort formed itself; painting myself for others, I represent myself in a better coloring than my own natural complexion. I have no more made my book than my book has made me: ’tis a book consubstantial with the author, of a peculiar design, a parcel of my life, and whose business is not designed for others, as that of all other books is. In giving myself so continual and so exact an account of myself, have I lost my time? For they who sometimes cursorily survey themselves only, do not so strictly examine themselves, nor penetrate so deep, as he who makes it his business, his study, and his employment, who intends a lasting record, with all his fidelity, and with all his force. The most delicious pleasures digested within, avoid leaving any trace of themselves, and avoid the sight not only of the people, but of any other person. How often has this work diverted me from troublesome thoughts? and all that are frivolous should be reputed so. Nature has presented us with a large faculty of entertaining ourselves alone; and often calls us to it, to teach us that we owe ourselves in part to society, but chiefly and mostly to ourselves. That I may habituate my fancy even to meditate in some method and to some end, and to keep it from losing itself and roving at random, ’tis but to give to body and to record all the little thoughts that present themselves to it. I give ear to my whimsies, because I am to record them. It often falls out, that being displeased at some action that civility and reason will not permit me openly to reprove, I here disgorge myself, not without design of public instruction: and also these poetical lashes:—
“A slap on his eye, a slap on his snout, a slap on Sagoin’s back,”
imprint themselves better upon paper than upon the flesh. What if I listen to books a little more attentively than ordinary, since I watch if I can purloin anything that may adorn or support my own? I have not at all studied to make a book, but I have in some sort studied because I had made it; if it be studying to scratch and pinch now one author, and then another, either by the head or foot, not with any design to form opinions from them, but to assist, second, and fortify those I already have embraced.
But whom shall we believe in the report he makes of himself in so corrupt an age? considering there are so few, if any at all, whom we can believe when speaking of others, where there is less interest to lie. The first thing done in the corruption of manners is banishing truth; for, as Pindar says, to be true is the beginning of a great virtue, and the first article that Plato requires in the governor of his Republic. The truth of these days is not that which really is, but what every man persuades another man to believe; as we generally give the name of money not only to pieces of the just alloy, but even to the false also, if they will pass. Our nation has long been reproached with this vice; for Salvianus of Marseilles, who lived in the time of the Emperor Valentinian, says that lying and forswearing themselves is with the French not a vice, but a way of speaking. He who would enhance this testimony, might say that it is now a virtue in them; men form and fashion themselves to it as to an exercise of honor; for dissimulation is one of the most notable qualities of this age.
I have often considered whence this custom that we so religiously observe should spring, of being more highly offended with the reproach of a vice so familiar to us than with any other, and that it should be the highest insult that can in words be done us to reproach us with a lie. Upon examination, I find that it is natural most to defend the defects with which we are most tainted. It seems as if by resenting and being moved at the accusation, we in some sort acquit ourselves of the fault; though we have it in effect, we condemn it in outward appearance. May it not also be that this reproach seems to imply cowardice and feebleness of heart? of which can there be a more manifest sign than to eat a man’s own words—nay, to lie against a man’s own knowledge? Lying is a base vice; a vice that one of the ancients portrays in the most odious colors when he says, “that it is to manifest a contempt of God, and withal a fear of men.” It is not possible more fully to represent the horror, baseness, and irregularity of it; for what can a man imagine more hateful and contemptible than to be a coward towards men, and valiant against his Maker? Our intelligence being by no other way communicable to one another but by a particular word, he who falsifies that betrays public society. ’Tis the only way by which we communicate our thoughts and wills; ’tis the interpreter of the soul, and if it deceive us, we no longer know nor have further tie upon one another; if that deceive us, it breaks all our correspondence, and dissolves all the ties of government. Certain nations of the newly discovered Indies (I need not give them names, seeing they are no more; for, by wonderful and unheard-of example, the desolation of that conquest has extended to the utter abolition of names and the ancient knowledge of places) offered to their gods human blood, but only such as was drawn from the tongue and ears, to expiate for the sin of lying, as well heard as pronounced. That good fellow of Greece said that children are amused with toys and men with words.
As to our diverse usages of giving the lie, and the laws of honor in that case, and the alteration they have received, I defer saying what I know of them to another time, and shall learn, if I can, in the meanwhile, at what time the custom took beginning of so exactly weighing and measuring words, and of making our honor interested in them; for it is easy to judge that it was not anciently amongst the Romans and Greeks. And it has often seemed to me strange to see them rail at and give one another the lie without any quarrel. Their laws of duty steered some other course than ours. Caesar is sometimes called thief, and sometimes drunkard, to his teeth. We see the liberty of invective they practised upon one another, I mean the greatest chiefs of war of both nations, where words are only revenged with words, and do not proceed any farther. | <urn:uuid:c49a59d2-e707-47d7-9c0e-006cae733e6c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://oll.libertyfund.org/?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=1747&chapter=91264&layout=html&Itemid=27 | 2013-05-18T06:34:27Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97343 | 2,423 |
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Tags - sukkoth
‘Lets walk the Mikvah in the city of the King' - City of David and Hezekiah's tunnel
Walking in tunnels are exhilarating story reads and with a flashlight in hand, it feels like a Discovery or National Geographic. City of David and the Hezekiah's tunnel became a physical as well as a non-physical reality, for reasons, I learnt eventually.
Then again, the reason had a season. And this was during my fourth visit to Israel. Past three visits, I have walked past the City of David admiring its entrance and even taking photographs with the golden harp, but never ventured within. This time with the group I was with had Ir David in the itinerary. Being the last day of the Sukkoth holiday and there was also a planned prophetic Wedding Feast to attend on return to the hotel.
King David has been one of my heroes and his war strategies have never ceased to amaze me, beginning with knocking down Goliath. And now, here we were in the King's city considered to have been the original Jerusalem. According to our guide the story is as old as 3,000 years ago, when King David left the city of Hebron for a small hilltop city known as Jerusalem, establishing it as the unified capital of the tribes of Israel.
Our visit began at the observation point overlooking Jerusalem. As I stood there overlooking the excavated site, I felt transported in the timeline, way back to the days of Abraham when the foundations of the city were first laid to present days excavations that made me relive King David's conquest of the Jebusite city. The tour-walk moved down the hillside stone stairs heading underground to some of the newer archeological excavations.
As we walked down the steps to an area marked ‘G' - The Royal Acropolis Water System (Warren's Shaft), we were reminded of Charles Warren's discovery of the ancient underground water tunnel outside the walls of the old city from the Western Wall. Apparently, this was recognized to be similar to the underground water tunnel or ‘gutter' as described in 2nd book of Samuel 5. The stepped wall on this hill in the area is believed to be the retaining wall that many archeologists believe to be the ‘Citadel of Zion' mentioned as King David's conquest of the city (2 Samuel 5:9)
The walking down tour ended at the Gihon Spring. This was the major water source of Jerusalem for over 1,000 years and where, according to the Bible, King David's son, Solomon was anointed king.
Somewhere in between the walk down Pat tugged me impatiently, ‘I have to go to the mikvah. Please come?' I looked at her and shook my head. How did she know that I too was curious about the ‘bath'? I had seen the baths in nearly every excavation site I visited, but a real one? How would one experience that? Still baffled, she tugged me along to the ticket counter for the Hezekiah's tunnel walk. That was the mikvah she wanted to walk and I complied, immediately. As with every ‘planned' visit, we were the last ones, after which the ticket counter shut!
There is an interesting fact about this tunnel, mentioned in the 2nd Book of Chronicles 32:30 of how the city was defended from the Assyrian army. King Hezekiah protected the water system by diverting its flow deeper into the city with a tunnel system. This tunnel was built by digging a 1,750 foot tunnel into the mountain. An ancient stone describes this incredible operation.
This stone reminded me of David Van Koevering's key to Quantum Leap ‘All matter has memory - your words are recorded', in which he narrates Joshua 24:27, ‘And Joshua said unto all the people, ‘Behold this stone shall be a witness unto us; for it hath heard all the words often LORD which He spake unto us. It shall therefore be a witness unto you, lest you deny your God.'' And then there was Habakuk (2:11) and Yeshua (Luke 19:40) who said the same thing of stones witnessing. So, were the stones listening at the time? Every word, action and deed done in flesh has been recorded, according to the quantum theory.
Trekking this tunnel has today become a highlight for visitors and for Pat, Shalin, Gabriele and me a sense of duty - the Mikvah. How timely was this? After this we had the Wedding Feast of the Lamb to attend.... I enjoy half-planned last minute head-on programs! ADONAI perfectly plans HIS surprises...
The entrance was more like a cave that was well lit and gave the place a golden glow. We bought our little key-chain torches. I was a little disappointed, thought they would be flashlights, like the days of yore. But the excitement didn't wane. We arrived at to our destination - the 2,700 year old water tunnel one of the wonders of early engineering.
The water was cool and rose knee-high as we walked in, barefoot. The air within was cool; it was very dark; the space between shoulders narrowed as we walked forward, bending in some places. How so natural!.. And so well preserved! There was something about these walls -white lime portion of the wall - that seemed to reflect a golden color and it seemed to say something. It was instant - I allowed Quantum physics to let me hear and the Holy Spirit to pave the way of my thoughts. I allowed my left hand to run through the wall and impulsively pressed my ears, as if to hear something.
The walk was a silent one, with only sound of our feet splashing the water, everyone ‘soaked' in their own thoughts. I wonder if anyone thought as loud as I did... In time, we reached the end that opened into the Pool of Shiloach. Fragments of pillars are seen in the pool, which are remains of the Shiloach Church that was built here. We waited for a while watching children play in this pool and decided to do the same, wondering when would this happen again.
As we were leaving, we were self-introduced to a man who took us around to an ongoing excavation from here that showed us a huge wall painting - an artist's impression of the temple steps; shared Baron Edmond de Rothschild leading philanthropic role in acquiring property in the Land of Israel for rebuilding the Jewish Yishuv (Community); and took us to a nearby area where excavation of steps is yet underway, which he said, may probably have been the way that the Holy Priest would have taken during Sukkoth from the Pool to the Holy Temple for the water libation.
We were curious. Who was this man? He says that he was part of the excavation team.. and he too, wasn't sure why he was there. Looks like he owned a shop there, but there was no forceful sales made.
This was more than I had ever imagined or expected from being obedient to my call from my Abba for this Sukkot trip! History, experience and learning for real are a package deal that only Israel could give me till date in my life! Today when I go through challenges and feel blocked in a dark tunnel, I know now that there is a healing Pool of Shiloach at the other end.
‘Let's walk the Old City Ramparts..
Walk about Zion, go round about her,
number her towers, consider well her ramparts,
go through her citadels;that you may tell the next generation that this is God,
our God for ever and ever.
He will be our guide for ever.(Psalm 48:12-14)
.. and see where King David's soldiers stood and what they saw from their vantage points', is what we - Pat, Gabriele, Shalin and I - wanted to do following the ‘water-walking' experience at the Hezekiah's tunnel, all immersed, even in our own memories.
We walked up and down the road from the City of David to the Jaffa Gates and got our tickets. It was a tiny Entrance fee. There seemed to be just a handful of visitors at the time with our little group of four. Adventurous and prepared, were we, all with walking shoes and some water - there was this guide tip - Be prepared for a lot of stone-stairs in varying levels.
One part of the Ramparts Walk begins just outside Jaffa Gate. The entrance is a bit hard to find. Before going through the gate into the Old City, head to the enclosure to the right of Jaffa Gate, as you face the Old City. You'll be walking between two stone walls on a stone path. Follow the signs or ask someone - the entrance is a bit of way down, around a corner to the left. This section takes you from Jaffa Gate to Zion Gate and lets you off near Dung Gate, not far from the Western Wall Plaza and the Jewish Quarter. It offers a stunning view of Old City rooftops, Sultan's Pool, Yemin Moshe, Mt. Zion and the Mt. of Olives. You can also access the ramparts from Damascus Gate follow them to Lion's Gate.
Near the Entrance, there is a stone sit-out. While sitting there, waiting for Shalin to finish her sandwich, I looked around and a thought crossed my mind ‘we are about to walk another piece of Bible history!' What a fun way to get the overview of Jerusalem in the 21st Century, by climbing the olden ramparts (the watch-points, I say) of the Old City and circle the city above. There were moments I wondered what must have passed by the minds of the soldiers standing guard in the varying time periods. Walking on top of the Old City is exhilarating and gives you wonderful view over the new city of Jerusalem through the arrow slits on the turret walls and/or over them.
There are places that I had never seen in my earlier visits, like the cloistered Armenian compound, an old hospital... from each vantage point; we could see the day-to-day Old city life and the exuberance of Sukkoth. The hubbub of city life in this holiday season was worth capturing on film and just drinking in the sight from where each of us stood - bustling markets, sheets hanging on washing lines, a vendor frying falafels, festive dancing on temporary platforms....
The walls of Jerusalem that we see today were built by Suleiman the Magnificent in the 16th century when he restored the ancient city walls that served as military fortifications. During 1948-1967, the Jordanian snipers used the ramparts as a vantage point. Multiple bullet holes stand witness to this shooting position on old buildings facing the Old City. Today, the ramparts serve a more peaceful purpose as a choice destination for school field trips, tourists and Jerusalem enthusiasts, I understand.
The walk is about 4 kilometres. You can't circumnavigate the entire Old City in one shot, since access to the ramparts of the Temple Mount is closed off, and the road bisects the walls at Jaffa Gate. We had to descend at the Lion's or Dung Gate and resumed from the Damascus Gate.
It is not advised to walk alone or after dark. Should you wish to experience the Rampart Walk, go for it! And again, the tip to heed: the walk requires a lot of stair climbing and descending. Make sure you're wearing comfortable walking shoes, and that you have enough water with you - once you're on the ramparts, there's no getting off until the end and no refreshment kiosk or bathroom along the way. While this is fun for adults and older kids, avoid taking little children, those fearful of heights and people who have trouble walking.
I have visited and traveled the Holy Land, no better description, for pilgrimage, a tour and even for a Bible feast and have yet not had enough. It is so true when people say, 'The Bible comes alive' - every stone talks here! | <urn:uuid:974a355c-1605-48a6-83d3-68a019d193d4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.travelujah.com/blogs/posts/Irene/tag/sukkoth | 2013-05-21T10:07:52Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971733 | 2,564 |
"Kissine offers a new theory of speech acts which is philosophically sophisticated and builds on work in cognitive science, formal semantics, and linguistic typology. This highly readable, brilliant essay is a major contribution to the field."
Date: Mon, 23 Feb 2004 12:02:10 +0100 From: Cornelia Tschichold <[email protected]> Subject: World Englishes
AUTHORS: Melchers, Gunnel; Shaw, Philip TITLE: World Englishes SERIES: The English Language Series PUBLISHER: Arnold YEAR: 2003
Cornelia Tschichold, Institute of English, University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland
INTRODUCTION This book is a recent addition to the growing number of textbooks on varieties of English around the world. In the preface, the two authors, both from Stockholm University, describe the intended audience of the book as readers familiar with the basics of linguistics and phonetics, thus typically undergraduate students after their first year at a department of English, with English either as their native or a second or foreign language. The book has an accompanying CD, which is sold separately and therefore does not figure in this review.
SYNOPSIS Chapter 1 is a very short chapter on the history of English from 450 to the beginnings of Modern English. The development of the language is illustrated mainly through the most accessible aspect, its loanwords.
Chapter 2 covers the more recent history of English, when the language spread around the globe, first to the so- called 'inner circle' countries, later to the 'outer circle' and finally to the 'expanding circle'. This three- circle model by Kachru is adopted as the organizing principle for the book. The chapter also introduces the distinction often made between English as a second and English as a foreign language, while drawing attention to the problems of terminology and those of differing political viewpoints involved.
Chapter 3 discusses basic terms in language variation and provides the framework for the classification and description of the many varieties discussed in chapters 4 to 6. The authors divide variation into the areas of spelling, phonology, grammar and lexicon, and give a brief overview of the main types of variation in each area. For the description of phonology, Wells' standard lexical sets are introduced. The section on rhythm and intonation explains the concept of stress-times vs. syllable-timed rhythm and mentions high-rising terminals as the most striking phenomena in the area of intonation. The sections on lexis and on the historical origin of varieties introduce a large number of technical terms such as 'heteronymy' or 'substratum'. Other dimensions of classification mentioned include the political stance of some of the more prominent authors in the field, the degree of standardization for varieties and for texts, and the position of a country in the three-circle model.
Chapter 4 portrays the inner circle varieties of England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Liberia and the Caribbean. With some exceptions, each of these sections follows the pattern of first giving a brief overview of geography and population, then an account of the general linguistic situation, before the variety itself is described in terms of spelling, phonology, grammar and lexicon. Where appropriate, important internal varieties are briefly touched on as well, such as the main differences between Southern and Northern dialects in England, the two ethnic varieties African American Vernacular English (AAVE) and Chicano English in the USA, and Aboriginal English in Australia.
Chapter 5 opens with a discussion of the political questions of language prestige and then tries to identify some common linguistic features of the varieties spoken in these countries. Among the features mentioned are consonant cluster and vowel system simplifications, a trend away from clearly stress-timed rhythm, and more syntactic variety. The countries in this chapter are then discussed in geographical groups, following a similar pattern to that in chapter 4, but giving rather more historical background and extra sections on style and pragmatics. The first variety is South Asian English, with India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka as its main countries. The second major variety is African English, with South Africa making a second appearance due to its higher number of speakers who have English as a second language. Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore are dealt with in the group of countries where South East Asian English is spoken. The last section in this chapter very briefly deals with a number of countries with a colonial past: Gibraltar, Malta, and Cyprus in the Mediterranean, Puerto Rico in the Caribbean, the Seychelles and Mauritius in the Indian Ocean, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Fiji, and Guam in the Pacific, without however giving linguistic descriptions of the English spoken there.
Chapter 6 abandons the geographical perspective in favour of the functions English can be seen to have taken over in the expanding circle from the 18th century onwards. Among the domains where English is making inroads the authors mention global politics and economy, tourism, the education system, the mass media and popular culture, advertising and subcultures. On the more strictly linguistic level, the authors see no trend toward standardization, and argue instead that speakers of lingua franca English need a high communicative competence for dealing with the mixture of non-standard features and the large amount of pragmatic variation found in much intercultural communication. The authors then briefly consider the influence of English on the local languages and the choices involved in choosing a variety of English for education.
In Chapter 7, Melchers and Shaw take a look at the likely developments in the near future and identify US power, globalization and information technology as the most important factors favouring the further spread of English across the globe. They posit that the high visibility of unedited English found in computer-mediated communication could have a destandardizing effect on international English, but that the still considerable influence of the school systems might counterbalance this trend.
Finally, Appendix 1 gives a list of the speakers on the accompanying CD, and Appendix 2 contains a number of pre- and post-reading questions for each chapter.
CRITICAL EVALUATION Everyone teaching a course on the varieties of English around the world probably has their own idea of what the ideal textbook for such a course should cover. One of the authors has taught just such a course for many years, and the book under review is proof of this. Many sections read more like lightly edited lecture notes than a textbook meant to be studied by undergraduate students. The authors include a number of anecdotes in the text, a feature that often works well in class, but much less well in a textbook, and they have the rather irritating habit of writing one-sentence paragraphs, something which many university teachers try to eradicate from their students' essays.
It is clear that balancing the content of such a short book is a difficult task, and the authors should be praised for trying to combine most of the relevant sociolinguistic aspects with a large number of linguistic descriptions of individual varieties in a relatively small book. Apart from the style, most of my criticism therefore relates to details of content. A number of sections in the book seem to be the result of compromises of various kinds: One might argue, for example, about the usefulness of a very short chapter on the roots of English, or whether such a a book is the best place for contemplating the influence of English on other languages via borrowing. Possibly these pages might have been put to better use.
One of my quibbles concerns the notoriously difficult problem of the translations or glosses, which have not received the necessary attention to detail. Dialectal variation is illustrated with a Geordie poem ("A hev gorra bairn / an a hev gorra wife / an a cannit see me bairn or wife / workin in the night"), where the word 'gorra' is claimed to stand for the local pronunciation of 'got to' (p.13).
Generally, the maps in the book are often not very useful as they do not show all areas mentioned in the text and do not distinguish between cities and provinces. To give just one example, among the dialects of England discussed in the text are those of Leeds, Derby, West Wirral and Norwich, but only Leeds can be found on one of the maps. One might also wonder about the necessity of listing statistics on area, population and capital for the countries discussed, given that such data can easily be found elsewhere and is of questionable relevance in this context.
Within the descriptions of the individual varieties, spelling, a very accessible aspect, is not systematically commented on, e.g. South Asian English is said to be "spelt in the British style", but British English does not have a section on spelling. In the more extensive section on phonology most of the comparisons of the lexical sets are clearly useful and could have been extended, e.g. it would have been interesting to see the Australian vowels compared not just to RP, but also to American English vowels. In addition to the concept of lexical sets, much of the data used by the authors comes from Wells as well, which often seems a needless repetition, especially where even the examples are taken straight from Wells (1982), a study in three volumes based on data which is now more than a generation old. On the other hand, a number of sections (Liberian English and AAVE, Caribbean English) are so short, they seem more like appetizers than any kind of solid information. In the sections on the lexicon, the authors' use of the word 'tautonym' to refer to words having different meanings in different varieties seems somewhat idiosyncratic.
The references given in the book are not consistently placed in the further-reading sections, but appear either there (sometimes with comment, sometimes without; sometimes with full bibliographic details, sometimes as author plus year only) or embedded in the text. Sharp (2001) is referred to, but missing in the references. Appendix 2 contains a number of pre- and post-reading questions, which - according to the preface - are meant to remind readers of what they know and to check their new knowledge. This generally is a good idea, but one would expect the pre- reading questions to be clearly easier than the post- reading questions. Some questions sound more like activation questions for a seminar group than questions meant to check on the reader's knowledge.
Comparing the book under review to other books on the market that might be considered as textbooks for courses on world Englishes, one could mention Trudgill and Hannah (1994), a book that gives considerably more linguistic detail on the varieties discussed, but devotes only very little room to varieties in the expanding circle (an aspect which is of much interest to students in potentially expanding-circle countries in Europe) and does not cover the sociolinguistic and political perspectives. The latter aspect can be found in Crystal (1997) to a certain extent, or more thoroughly in Brutt-Griffler (2002). Crystal (1995) provides an widely available source for maps, statistics and historical background. Bauer (2002) is mostly limited to varieties of the inner circle. Jenkins (2003) is very useful as an overview for the debate on the sociolinguistic and political aspects, but does not give linguistic descriptions. Cheshire (1991) and Allerton et al (2002) finally are edited collections of papers that provide accessible further reading on a range of subtopics on world Englishes.
Writing a relatively short textbook of such a scope is a very big bite to chew, and while I would like to congratulate the authors on their choice of content, I wish they had chosen a different style for the book and spent more time on revision and ensuring internal consistency.
REFERENCES Allerton, D.J., Skandera, P. and Tschichold, C., eds. (2002). Perspectives on English as a World Language. Basel: Schwabe.
Bauer, L. (2002). An Introduction to International Varieties of English. Edinburgh University Press.
Brutt-Griffler, J. (2002). World English: A Study of its Development. Multilingual Matters.
Cheshire, J., ed. (1991). English around the world: Sociolinguistic perspectives. Cambridge UP.
Crystal, D. (1995). The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language. Cambridge UP.
Crystal, D. (1997). English as a Global Language. Cambridge University Press.
Jenkins, J. (2003). World Englishes: A resource book for students. Routledge.
Trudgill, P. & J. Hannah (1994, 3rd ed.). International English: A guide to the varieties of standard English. Arnold.
Wells, J.C. (1982). Accents of English, vols I - III. Cambridge University Press.
ABOUT THE REVIEWER:
ABOUT THE REVIEWER
Cornelia Tschichold teaches English linguistics at
Neuchâtel University. While her research interests focus on
English phraseology, computational lexicography and
computer-assisted language learning, she teaches a wide
range of courses in English linguistics, including courses
on sociolinguistics, the history of English, and varieties
of English around the world. | <urn:uuid:eb43ea76-2540-45c2-ae23-dc27a6a5300d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://linguistlist.org/pubs/reviews/get-review.cfm?SubID=20284 | 2013-05-23T18:31:54Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930054 | 2,754 |
|Navigation » Global Information Technology (UK) Ltd. » download EarthMediaCenter online music radio free|
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EarthMediaCenter online music radio 1.0
EarthMediaCenter: 150 music radio stations in over 30 languages worldwide.
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EarthMediaCenter online music radio manufacturer description
EarthMediaCenter: 150 music radio stations in over 30 languages worldwide.
Includes a variety of radio genres (pop, rock, rap, jazz, r'n'b, classical music, electronic music and many others).
The number of on-line-TV channels is by several orders bigger than any satellite television package can offer, even the most expensive one. Thousands of channels - from many countries, in many languages - are available online. And it is the viewer, not the provider of satellite TV service that makes up the list of channels. The same with internet radio – not a single radio receiver will pick up such a great number of channels, as it is possible to find online, and the sound in online radio is clear, without any radiointerference. And what's more, there is no additional license fee.
If you are going to watch on-line-TV regularly, you can download a very small file, and an icon will appear on the desktop. Just click on it and select a TV channel or radio station.
EarthMediaCenter - software for receiving on-line TV programs, Internet of radio, images from webcams - advantageously differs from other products of that kind, namely:
-No additional software is required
-No additional setting is required
-No additional hardware is required
-You needn't have administrator privilege to install and use it
-Automatic updates are provided
-Live TV broadcast is supported
-Full-screen mode is supported (double click on the screen)
-Unlimited number of virtual television and/or radio sets can be opened at the same time
-High-quality picture and sound
-You can switch between TV and radio mode
Free download EarthMediaCenter online music radio 1.0
Freeware is computer software that is available for use at no cost or for an optional fee.
EarthMediaCenter online music radio video tutorials
Tutorial not found. Let know us about any useful video tutorial.
EarthMediaCenter online music radio categories
radio music, web radio, on line radio, free music online, radio station, online radio, rock radio, free radio, live radio, internet radio, listen music online, streaming radio, fm online, free internet radio, internet radio stations
What is new in 1.0 changeinfo log
Given stickers for EarthMediaCenter online music radio & download buttons
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||This award means that EarthMediaCenter online music radio is an Editor's pick.
||DownloadAtlas.com guarantees that EarthMediaCenter online music radio was tested by antivirus program and is absolutely clean, which means it does not contain any form of malware, including computer viruses, adware, trojans, spyware, rootkits, badware and other malicious and unwanted software.
radio-music.zip - CLEAN
radio-music.zip » ZIP » License.txt - CLEAN
radio-music.zip » ZIP » Earth Media Center Mini 2.0.exe - CLEAN
Do you like EarthMediaCenter online music radio ? Move mouse cursor over the buttons and just copy one of those links, paste the code you copied right where you want on your blog or website.
EarthMediaCenter online music radio permissions
SOFTWARE DISTRIBUTION IS FREELY
End user agreement for EarthMediaCenter online music radio
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5. Advertising policy
EarthMediaCenter® will from time to time display third party
advertisements using an embedded web browser. Some of these
advertisers may use technology such as cookies and web beacons
when they advertise on our EarthMediaCenter®, which will also
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program) information including your IP address, your ISP, the
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you have Flash installed. This is generally used for geotargeting
purposes (showing New York ads to someone in New York, for
example) or showing certain ads based on specific sites visited
(such as showing cooking ads to someone who frequents cooking
sites). Users may opt out of the use of the DART cookie by
All rights of any kind in the Software which are not expressly
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maximum extent permissible and the remaining provisions of this
Agreement will remain in force and effect.
Installing and/or using EarthMediaCenter® signifies acceptance
of these terms and conditions of the license. If you do not
agree with the terms of this license you must uninstall and
remove EarthMediaCenter® files along with the setup package
from your storage devices and cease to use the product.
| || | | <urn:uuid:212fcd76-3138-490e-92ec-e20168786eda> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.downloadatlas.com/freeware-c642ac4c.html | 2013-05-26T02:56:44Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.768746 | 2,600 |
The Weekly Standard
January 7, 2013
by Lee Smith
An explosion in southern Lebanon last week destroyed what is believed to have been a Hezbollah weapons depot. This latest in a series of mysterious "accidents" in Hezbollah-controlled precincts proved, as one Israeli official wryly remarked, that those who "sleep with rockets and amass large stockpiles of weapons are in a very unsafe place." With the Party of God's overland supply route through Syria choked off by the 22-month-long uprising against Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, and Israel virtually in total control of the maritime route, Hezbollah's stockpile is being systematically degraded.
Yet the arsenal of Iran's other regional proxy force, Hamas, is growing. The Israeli Defense Forces' campaign against Hamas last month in Gaza targeted Iranian missiles, including the Fajr-5, capable of reaching Tel Aviv and other points north, and destroyed most of them within the first hours of the conflict. But Hamas is already rearming, and it's not clear that Israel or even Muslim Brotherhood-governed Egypt, which is ostensibly capable of controlling the Sinai tunnel networks through which Hamas receives its arms, can do much about it.
Israel's next war with Hamas—a further confrontation is almost inevitable—may well feature not only Iranian missiles smuggled through Sudan, but NATO-quality small arms and shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles that come by way of Hamas's most recent weapons supplier, post-Qaddafi Libya.
Israel's Operation Pillar of Defense also zeroed in on Hamas commanders, most notably Ahmed al-Jabari, Hamas's chief of staff, responsible for the group's military operations. It was Jabari who replaced Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, assassinated in a Dubai hotel room almost three years ago in an operation usually attributed to Israel. In a sense, then, Pillar of Defense began back in January 2010 in that most profligate of the United Arab Emirates—which is also a veritable weapons bazaar.
"It's the Casablanca of the Middle East, with all sorts of shady characters, money laundering, and arms deals," says Michael Ross, a former Mossad operations officer. "With the Mabhouh assassination, the UAE authorities had all this video feed of what were allegedly Mossad operatives moving in and out of Dubai, but what they didn't show was footage of Mabhouh meeting with a banker, then with his contact from the IRGC [Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps]." According to Ross, Mabhouh's briefcase was a treasure trove of information detailing what items Hamas procured from the Iranians and the logistics of getting them to Gaza.
Arms smuggling was a problem in Gaza long before Hamas took control, says Major (Res.) Aviv Oreg, formerly in charge of the al Qaeda and global jihad desk in Israel's military intelligence service and now head of a private consulting firm specializing in terrorism, CeifiT. "In the past, there was a maritime route via Syria or Lebanon, and when the smugglers approached the location they'd put the weapons in large flotation devices with the hope that the current would take it ashore," says Oreg. "Sometimes it got tangled up in fishermen's nets."
When the Israeli Navy interdicted the Karine A freighter in 2002 and stopped a large cache of Iranian-made weapons from reaching Gaza, it not only turned George W. Bush against Yasser Arafat for good, it also signaled that Israel had closed Iran's maritime route to Gaza once and for all. And yet as Israel's 2005 disengagement from Gaza cleared the way for Hamas's 2007 takeover, the outfit sought more sophisticated weapons, and Iran's support. The question for Tehran was how to get arms to their Palestinian clients.
"The ships usually start in the port of Bandar Abbas," says Oreg. "They come through the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea, around the Arabian Peninsula, and crossing through the Bab el-Mandeb strait, docking in Port Sudan." Occasionally the Iranians will dock in Eritrea, "just to mix things up," but their preferred point of entry is Sudan.
Sudan is critical, agrees Michael Ross. "This is where the parts for Iranian weapons are assembled. The guys in Gaza aren't too swift in putting together complicated systems like the Fajr-5. Some assembly may be required when it hits Gaza, but the more complicated, high-tech aspects of the weapons systems are assembled in Sudan by Iranians, who have a large presence in Khartoum, at places like the al-Yarmouk factory."
In October, an operation widely credited to Israel destroyed this key Iranian weapons depot. Other attacks on Sudanese soil attributed to Israel, such as the spring 2009 series of strikes on weapons convoys, have left some wondering what the government in Khartoum has to gain from painting a big target on its head for the IDF.
Money is part of it, says Matthew Levitt, director of the Stein Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, who points to extensive economic cooperation between Iran and Sudan. "But there are also ideological reasons. These are radical Islamists, they've been angry at the world since their president, Omar al-Bashir, was indicted for war crimes, and they don't like Israel."
Even if it were possible to convince Khartoum to sever ties with Tehran, says Oreg, "the Iranians would find a replacement without too much difficulty, Eritrea or Somalia, both places where the central government is incapable of extending control over its territory." In any case, the real problem is Egypt.
Sudanese smugglers, mostly from the Rashaida tribe, transport the weapons from Port Sudan in trucks across the Nubian Desert to the Egyptian border, all the way through Egypt's Eastern Desert along the Red Sea, and through the Suez Canal deep into the Sinai Peninsula. "The easiest way to cut off Hamas's weapons supply," says Ross, "would be to shut down the shipments coming out of Sudan, at the source, rather than in Sinai. The routes are limited, and this could easily be accomplished if the Egyptian military made an effort. But the army has always been the problem. While Mubarak was president, it was the intelligence service under Omar Suleiman that stopped shipments, kept radical elements at bay, and cooperated very closely with Israel. The military looks the other way and just doesn't care."
In fact, since the August jihadist attack in the Sinai that killed 16 Egyptian border guards, the army has been more vigilant, recognizing that its own security, and not merely Israel's, is at stake. The proliferation of foreign fighters in the Sinai, some of them aligned with Egypt's Salafist movement, moreover, poses a big political risk for Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi. Judging by his actions during Pillar of Defense, Morsi believes that keeping the peace with Israel is in the national interest. That still leaves plenty of room for him to be outflanked on his right by the Salafists and armed fighters whose prestige rests precisely on the fact that they are fighting Israel. The problem, then, is that if Morsi closes the tunnels, affecting both Hamas and the Sinai jihadists, the latter will turn on him; if he doesn't, the jihadists will eventually come for him anyway.
In any case, he has an excuse for the United States and Israel ready at hand: Practically speaking, it's almost impossible to shut down the entire network of tunnels between Sinai and Gaza—and for that, he can lay some of the blame at Mubarak's feet.
"The nomadic tribes in the Sinai were neglected by the government for years," says Oreg. "There are no roads, no employment, and their main source of income became smuggling—not only weapons into Gaza, but routes into Israel also, smuggling drugs and women." The Tarabin tribe, he explains, is the most dominant—and the wealthiest. "In Sinai, the biggest and most expensive houses belong to smugglers. For one AK-47, a smuggler gets $1,000."
Besides the profit motive for smuggling, there are also geographical issues that make it difficult to close the industry. "With the high mountains in the Sinai," says Oreg, "it's easy for the smugglers to move around, and not even the Egyptian Army can do much about it."
The Gaza side of the border is even more economically dependent on the tunnel networks that, since Hamas took over, have become highly regulated. "After the blockade of Gaza," says Oreg, "everything went through tunnels. All of Gaza's international trade is conducted through the tunnels, thousands of them. Hamas has basically institutionalized the tunnel industry, requiring registration for tunnels and imposing taxes on them. You can make up to $50,000 a month on a tunnel."
Not surprisingly, Libyan entrepreneurs now want a piece of the action. The supply line, according to Oreg, is the same—via Sudan. "But eventually," says Oreg, "they will likely build smuggling networks through the Libyan desert into Egypt." What's different, says Ross, is the materiel. "For instance, they've got FN F2000s, a Belgian-manufactured military assault rifle. The Europeans, in their infinite wisdom, treated Qaddafi like just another client. And so after Qaddafi, people found warehouses full of munitions, and if you're sitting on a stockpile, it's not too tough to make contacts with middlemen and facilitators. What a wild west that's become."
Israeli officials might be worried about the Sinai turning into an Afghanistan on their border, but with Hamas, they're looking at a garrison equipped with Iranian missiles and European small arms. "We saw how much Hamas had at its disposal with Operation Pillar of Defense," notes Ross. "There was no ground incursion this time around, but you'd have seen them breaking out all sorts of stuff, like NATO-quality small arms. We've come a long way from the First Intifada and 8-year-olds throwing rocks."
Lee Smith is a visiting fellow at Hudson Institute and is the author of The Strong Horse: Power, Politics and the Clash of Arab Civilizations (Doubleday, 2010).
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Washington apprised American security officers John Ford and Joe Bezjian of the situation at their base of operations at the American Embassy in Paris, France. Both gentlemen were security professionals but Joe was the technical expert. The embassy invited them to come to Moscow to see if they could solve the mystery. Like the allied search team, they turned up nothing and determined that the Soviets had removed the device. This occurrence added fuel to the concern that the Soviets possessed a new technology that could effectively evade western search equipment and techniques. This was further compounded when an American military attaché, Major Van Latham, stationed at the Mohkavaya building (the American Embassy Chancery building at that time) overheard the ambassador’s voice while monitoring his radio. A frantic search ensued but once again, nothing was found.
In September, Joe and John returned to Moscow to perform another search of U.S. facilities. They searched U.S. Embassy facilities thoroughly and turned up nothing. Joe suspected that his search may have been compromised but decided to make one last effort. As with Ambassador Kennan, he was aware that the renovation of Spaso House presented an opportunity for the KGB to introduce something technical – he just didn’t know what. Discussing the matter with the Ambassador they worked out a plan. The plan included surreptitious delivery of Joe’s search equipment to the house and a bogus classified dictation session by the Ambassador in his study. Joe moved all of his personal effects into a guest room at Spaso House and took up the life of a house guest for several days. He invited people over for dinner, played bridge in the evening, and quietly watched the normal routines of the house and its occupants.
On September 12, the embassy personnel officer, Sam Janey, brought Joe’s disguised search equipment to the house. The two men hid the equipment in a residence safe. According to plan, Ambassador Kennan called his longtime secretary, Ms. Dorothy Hessman, to perform dictation in the ambassador’s study. The ambassador dictated from an old embassy dispatch. The dispatch consisted of an unclassified portion of published diplomatic correspondence and to the uninformed ear could well sound worth collecting.
Soon after Ms. Hessman arrived, Joe and Sam carried the equipment from the safe to the attic. Almost as soon as the equipment warmed up Joe spun his dial and heard Ambassador Kennan’s voice and Ms. Hessman’s typing. Joe’s attentions snapped onto his receiver and a surge of adrenalin sharpened his focus, but he controlled his excitement and continued his quiet hunt using the radio strapped to his chest like a concessionaire at a ball game. Hearing the ambassador’s voice “on the air” Joe sent Sam down to the study with a note to the ambassador. Sam passed the note to Ambassador Kennan and then implored him, via sub-vocal whispers, to “keep on, keep on.” The room charged with an unknown presence lurking beyond the shadows.
Joe carried his equipment slowly down the stairs, entered the study, and started parsing the room, searching for the signal’s origin. He lowered his whip antenna, diminishing the receiver’s sensitivity, and quietly treaded from corner to corner. Ambassador Kennan continued dictating but held his eyes riveted on Joe as he fiddled with his dials and antenna. Using the meter on his receiver and the shifting audio in his headset, Joe tracked the signal to the study’s left rear corner. A corner table displayed many small things including a Zenith radio. Joe pointed to Sam to remove the radio and then in turn pointed at different items for him to remove from the table. Joe heard no effect on the device’s audio as the ambassador continued to read. Above the table hung a large wooden replica of the U.S. Great Seal. After Sam removed all the items from the table Joe’s eyes fixed on the Seal. He approached it delicately, suspecting that it might be covering up something planted in the wall.
Placing his receiver down, Joe picked the Great Seal off the wall gingerly and placed it on an overstuffed chair at the room’s center. The signal dropped off and just as suddenly returned. Joe returned to examine the wall. He slowly scanned back and forth with his eyes and ran his finger tips across the plaster surface seeing and feeling nothing. He slowly turned and fixed his gaze on the Great Seal. He went back to the chair where it sat and began examining it closely. He ran his receiver back and forth across where the Great Seal lay on the chair confirming that the signal emanated from behind the bald eagle’s head. In his excitement, he bumped the wooden Seal and the signal disappeared once again. Fearing that his search had been discovered, Joe told Ambassador Kennan that he had lost the signal but it undoubtedly came from inside the Great Seal. The signal suddenly returned a few moments later but then went off the air – forever.
The ambassador looked at Joe and quietly asked about leaving the device in place to feed prepared information back to the Soviets in a misinformation campaign. Joe assured the ambassador that the Russian operator undoubtedly knew that the search effort was compromised. He felt sure they were listening to his activities and quite probably knew of his discovery of their intelligence operation. Joe advised the ambassador that the device needed to be studied to determine its capabilities. Further, Joe contended, the considerable U.S. effort to discover the device required that it be secured to keep the Soviets from “recovering” it, denying western governments the opportunity to understand and protect themselves from the new technology.
Joe, eager to examine the device, remained uneasy because of the possibility that the device contained a booby trap that might explode and destroy its secrets as well as hurt the person opening the device or the people standing nearby. Joe instructed Ambassador Kennan, Sam, and Ms. Hessman to leave the study. But he was also driven by his curiosity to see what was inside of the wooden carving, enough curiosity to overrule his caution. He carefully examined the Seal and noted a seam in the edge. With a sharp-edged masonry hammer he slowly, deliberately cracked the seal open, splitting the plaster circumference ring and having the seal fall into its front and back pieces. Nothing self-destructed. Hidden within a large carved cavity inside the seal the disassembly revealed a cleverly hidden device called a cavity resonator. The device required no internal power source and uses the basic physical principles of resonance to steal audio from its surroundings. It had no electronic components, just a nonferrous microphone and an antenna crafted to resonate at the appropriate frequency. Much as a diva can explode a piece of glass with her voice resonating until the excess energy causes it to shatter, a cavity resonator can modulate (change) an externally supplied radio signal and use its clever combination of radio-frequency resonance and audio modulation to eavesdrop on nearby conversations. The resonator gave the Soviets a tactical and strategic edge in the battle for Cold War supremacy.
An anonymous Russian had given the wooden replica to Ambassador Averell Harriman as a personal gift sometime in 1945. Initially, Ambassador Harriman did nothing with the seal. It was during the war and his time was limited. After several months in storage, someone hung the seal in the Ambassador’s study. Ambassador Harriman did not remember when, nor who hung the seal. When asked some 15 years later, all Ambassador Harriman remembered was that when leaving his assignment in the USSR the large size of the seal prevented it from being packed into his personal effects. He left it hanging on the wall of the house’s study for his successor.
Following Ambassador Harriman was Ambassador Walter Bedell Smith, soon-to-be director of the Central Intelligence Agency. He remembered the seal quite well. The ambassador remembered only one time throughout his entire Moscow tenure when the seal did not hang in the study. He noticed that a crack had appeared in the Seal’s rim and ordered it repaired prior to the arrival of the Secretary of State, George Marshall, who used the study as his bedroom. Ambassador and Mrs. Smith wanted the room to be as tidy as possible for the Secretary. A Russian handyman took the seal and kept it for approximately a week. The seal reappeared in excellent shape with no indication of a crack on any of its edges, well before Secretary Marshall’s arrival to negotiate with the USSR.
The Seal, apparently, had hung in the study from 1945 until Joe discovered it on September 12, 1953. State Department Security Engineers had examined the Seal twice in 1951 with a metal detector. The detector indicated the presence of the obvious metal screws and studs on the reverse side but nothing in the middle – fooled by the nonferrous brass construction of the resonant cavity. After Joe’s successful technical search, he continued his inspection with hand tools. He and Sam performed a destructive search destroying the wall on which the Seal had hung for so long. They found nothing: no cables, no power source, no indications at all. After they demolished the wall and finished searching for any associated devices at 3 A.M., they posted a Marine Guard in the study.
Joe placed the cavity resonator under his pillow and placed the Great Seal under the bed and settled in for a couple of hours of restless sleep. The next morning he accompanied Ambassador Kennan in his limousine to the Chancery heading directly towards the Kremlin on the way to the embassy. At the chancery, Joe photographed multiple angles of the cavity resonator and the Seal. He carefully packed the seal and resonator in boxes and hand carried them to the communications vault and packaged them in a diplomatic pouch. The next pouch shipment sent them to the Department’s Regional Security headquarters in Paris. Once the pouch reached Paris, Security Engineer Fred Snyder repacked the pouch and hand carried the Seal and the resonator to Washington, D.C. In D.C., it rapidly made its way to Secretary Acheson’s office, who immediately arranged to show it to President Truman. The President ordered the Seal given to the FBI lab for reverse engineering. State Department Security Officer Robert Eckert hand carried the seal and device to the FBI lab for analysis.
President Truman tasked the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) to develop countermeasures for cavity resonators. The NRL developed several passive and active devices for revealing resonant cavity devices and sent them to Moscow to be used. Despite diligent searches, no further devices utilizing this technology were discovered. It’s likely the Soviets removed any other devices after Joe made his discovery in order to maintain operations security over their other successes. The U.S. made several copies of both the cavity resonator and the Great Seal for various briefings to Congress and other Agencies. | <urn:uuid:381783c9-a8f1-4889-a5e5-c123787d876f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.securitymanagement.com/article/a-trojan-seal-006971?page=0%2C1 | 2013-05-26T03:06:11Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97499 | 2,240 |
Republican Senators need more proof that the increase in super tornadoes and Level 5 hurricanes is caused by global warming, which they view as a myth (although the New York Times recently had a front page story listing the proof, and also the theory that human activity affects the weather.) So here’s a mantra for them to repeat in the shower before going on Fox News: “UFOs cause monster tornadoes. After all, one theory is as good as another, right? A theory is a theory is a…” Wait a minute, isn’t gravity a theory? Since they’ll never actually read a science book in their lifetime, someone should point out to them that some “theories” are never anything more than a “theory.” Like the theory that pollution accumulates. Oh wait, that’s a LAW, isn’t it? (The law of conservation of mass and energy. Thermodynamics also has a role.) In any event, maybe Wal Mart should acquire Warehouse 13, and get some help in fighting this stuff (as shown in the video below.) Since many Wal Mart shoppers and Fox News watchers believe in UFOs and alien beings from dying planets, (but don’t believe our planet is affected by anything WE do) it’s a marriage made in a hotter place—the Earth of the future. With Warehouse 13 as just another big box store, maybe then all the conspiracy nuts will be happy that the government isn’t hiding everything from them, and the NRA can use a new slogan: “From my bold red hands!”
Terminator 5: Family Die will be perhaps the most unique and original of the series, although Arnold is absent from the script. Inspired by Family Guy, the plot begins with the singularity (that moment when computers become sentient, often suggested as being 2045.) Instead of SkyNet, the entity is one massive ego—Sky Guy—who offers humans (and this means you) one year to either commit suicide with a katana (a la Tarantino) or download your consciousness into a machine to become a robot (with quantum help from Sky Guy, who figured out how in under an hour.) Meaning no one ever needs to eat or pollute or sleep again. Would you do it? Could you give up Coke and Pepsi, after so many billions spent in commercial brainwashing? What about French fries? Your party’s political views? In the movie, the Way family (in Shanghai) is the First Family, the test case family everyone is tweeting about. Because you can’t kill them, no matter how much you might want to. They are bullet and bomb proof. So…what’s it gonna be? Wanna be like them? Time is running out to decide. Humm. Do we hold onto our vices and delusions or live forever with a sky high I.Q.? Now there’s a plot.
Matrix 4: Evolutions will also hit the big screen on the same day, April 1, 2014, with all your favorites reprising their roles. Unfortunately, it’ll be a spoof with cheaper special effects. The plot revolves around people giving up on looking for work or risking more babies, and taking the red pill (instead of the little blue one), then staying in their alien cubicles to watch reality TV, particularly Duck Dynasty and Mob Wives. J.J. Abrams will direct, since his command of science is on the level of Daffy Duck.
Max Payne INTERVIEWS Max Brooks
And now an interview with World War Z writer Max Brooks, interviewed by video game gunman Max Payne.
Max Payne) So, dude, I see you were on Sons of Guns and The History Channel, talking about weapons to buy to use against zombies. And you’re not even a cartoon character like me. What gives?
Max Brooks) I love guns. Sue me.
MP) Okay, I just did on behalf of Marvel Comics and Rockstar Games.
MB) That was quick.
MP) Not really. Any twelve year old can change the clip of a Bushmaster quicker. …So, the Discovery Channel and History Channel believe in zombies, do they?
MB) Actually, I was talking about hordes. You know, crowds of young men attacking castles and caves and places like that throughout history. Hordes.
MP) Oh, I see. You mean like at soccer matches or monster truck rallies. But why are the examples shown all dead men come back to life? Where exactly has that happened lately?
MB) Congress, returned from recess? Just kidding. Okay, well…how about right now? You, for instance.
MP) I was never alive, Max.
MB) What about the other guy, Mark Wahlberg?
MP) He’s not here right now. I am. And I’m not a horde, looking to eat only very rare and never ever medium or well done meat for some nutjob reason no one has ever explained. It’s just me, here, right now, Max…with your weapon of choice.
MB) Stop aiming that thing at me!
MP) Why not? I’m not real. I’m just a character in a violent video game played by kids whose dads ignore them. So this gun can’t be real either, right? Stop sweating! You’ll be fine. Here, let me show you…
MP) Oh, I know what you’re thinking… Did he fire thirty shots or only twenty-nine. Tell the truth, in all this excitement I kinda lost track myself. But bein’ this is the most popular assault rifle in the world…
That’s right, the moon is destined to become a giant billboard in the sky. So look elsewhere for inspiration or romance. Who is behind this? The exclusive and shocking details are revealed in the video below…
The body of union boss Jimmy Hoffa, missing since 1975, has been found after an exhaustive search by the FBI costing taxpayers $69 million dollars. Apparently Hoffa had taken a boat ride with three mafia enforcers, and as in the Sopranos scene when Salvatore “Big Pussy” Bonpensiero got taken out by Tony, Pauli and Patsy, he was shot 18 times in the chest for whispering sweet nothings to the Feds (in this case, something about “the grassy knoll.”) The three hour boat tour then strayed out of Jersey into the Bermuda Triangle, and fate took it to Greenland from there. John Stossel is set to take up the case as soon as he finishes with the boondoggle known as the Mars Mission, first proposed by Bush, and set to cost taxpayers upwards of a Trillion dollars—and all to plant an American flag on the barren world (sponsored by Directv, ESPN, and Coca-Cola.) Stossel’s take on this? “Wow, there’s so much waste everywhere I can’t freaking cover it all! I’ll get to it, okay? Give me a break!” When we asked him about Mars, he said, “As Time magazine put it, going to Mars is ridiculous since money will have to be cut from other NASA projects to do it…stuff that’s actually producing real science, like probes and space telescopes, or working on better propulsion systems. Not to mention health research, education, and filling potholes in the economy the size of Rhode Island!” We at NEN agree, but for the record have found one reason in favor of the Kardashians going to Mars: to discover how the Martians managed to reverse their population boom, and what they did with all those plastic bottles.
Coke Formula Exposed!
The formula for Coke has been hacked by the Chinese, and they have sent the ingredients to WikiLeaks. Appears that there is no trace of cocaine in the formula anymore, presumably because cocaine is so expensive. The most astonishing fact about the formula is what it DOESN’T contain. Not only is there no sugar, (since that’s too expensive, and has been replaced by the addictive high fructose corn syrup, a cheaper manmade product that can lead to diabetes,) but there is no happiness either! That’s right: happiness is not part of this product, although it’s advertised as being the main product, with slogans like “Open Happiness.” For the full formula, go here.
In other news, celebrities gathered aboard the Celebrity Century to witness a rare South Pacific meteor shower consisting of debris from the Sandusky Comet. No one survived. The ship’s black box was recovered from 5400 feet by robot submersible. Luckily, the sports, music and film stars who perished were all C and D List. Celebrity Cruises reports that everyone who is anyone are still safe, and offers condolences to “those who is not.”
Two non-gay men in the suburbs of Boston didn’t watch the Superbowl. When reached via satellite phone by ESPN’s Rio office, Bob Stockwell said, “We went for a walk.” Authorities in America have been alerted, and the men will be rounded up for examination by psychiatrists. NEN has learned that ESPN found out about the men through its worldwide surveillance network, which monitors cable subscribers (wherever you see a little red light flicker, it has taken your x-ray.) The network has supercomputers in Rio, London, and 600 feet beneath Disneyland, funding provided by Coca-Cola and the fast food chains of PepsiCo (additional funding provided by Merck, Pfizer, and United Healthcare.) When asked if they didn’t realize that walking on deserted streets during the Superbowl was also a criminal act indicative of Anti-American sentiment, and punishable by waterboarding, Leonard Meade said, “No, are you thinking of deporting us? If so, we’ll be happy to show up at any of the top twenty airports, where we’ll sign anything you wish.” ESPN is considering asking for that, depending on what the strip-searches and other examinations turn up. Unknown to them, however, the men meant the top twenty airports in the world, not just in the U.S.. Of the World’s 20 Best Airports, not one is in the United States. Number one is South Korea, a country with a booming economy because the U.S. pays their defense bill. Number two is Shanghai, then Hong Kong, Amsterdam, and Beijing. Etc. Meanwhile, the U.S. needs to spend trillions to repair degrading infrastructure, but only seem to find money from taxpayers to build new stadiums. In related news, astronomer Frank Abagnale has released this statement, “Keep things in perspective, people. One mountain-sized rock among zillions casually straying into our path unnoticed, and it’s lights out for the human race. This puts the ‘glory’ of the greatest athlete or politician or movie star or prima donna on the same level as the lowest clerk sorting Washington’s swizzle sticks in China. And if your trust is in God, I hate to say it but He doesn’t watch Sports Central, either. You need to step back about 1500 light years to a star called Deneb, at the apex of Cygnus. Sports transmissions won’t start reaching it for another 1400 years, and yet it is within our own galaxy, which, by the way, is one of billions. Deneb doesn’t stand out too much because there are stars which look brighter only because they are closer. But the closer you got to Deneb the more impressed you would be. Come within a hundred million miles of Deneb and your spaceship would not survive, much less your ball team, even with the heaviest shielding NASA and Sports Illustrated could devise. How bright is it? Okay, sports fans. You love comparing things, and keeping scores about ‘star performers.’ Let’s give our Sun a score of 1 and Deneb a score of 200,000. That’s right. It is 200,000 times as bright as our Sun, a blue white supergiant that puts out 100,000 times the Sun’s energy. It has 20 times the mass, and 200 times the radius. And it is by no means the brightest star in the galaxy. If you want to stray to a nearby dwarf galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud, you would find R136a1. The score? Against our Sun’s ’1′ R136a1 has clocked a score of…wait for it… ’8,700,000.’ And you were worried about some comment made about Beyonce’s lip-syncing?” | <urn:uuid:8486138d-9810-407f-b712-ab9366159d90> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://notentertainmentnews.wordpress.com/tag/science/ | 2013-05-24T01:44:51Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948663 | 2,707 |
Joint Press Availability With Greek Foreign Minister Stavros Lambrinidis
Secretary of State
Madam Secretary, I think that we have had very good talks, so we have touched upon many issues. Let me highlight the most important one. Greece and the U.S. are natural friends and allies, and I am not only talking about mutual economic interests, which are, of course, important, but I’m talking about our joint passion for freedom and liberty. And this is something which comes – overcomes national borders. Friends prove themselves in difficult times, and as we know, Greece is doing through difficult times right now. The United States (inaudible) firm and steadfast manner, in a decisive manner. We have – we believe that we shall come out of this difficulty victorious. Many on both sides of the Atlantic have bet on the collapse of Greece, and they have been proven wrong. We will continue to prove them wrong, and this – and to this, our collaboration will be very important.
We have also discussed the opportunities which appear in this country for investment, for tourism, which we expect and we hope will interest – is of interest to everybody in this hall. We have also discussed issues relating to our normal job, the foreign affairs issues. We have reviewed the discussions, political discussions and the Contact Group for Libya. We will be in touch and we will be in touch in September in our efforts to revise the peace process.
We have also talked about the Balkans, which is a top priority for Greece, but this is a vision which we share with the U.S.. We want peace, stability, and security in our region. We want to do away with the nationalist feelings of the past and for all the countries in the region to build a relationship of cooperation under our joint European home. I have told the Secretary of State that instead of trying to rewrite history, this is a good opportunity for us to write history, to make history, and this is something we should all try to achieve.
Also, we have the 2014 agenda which we have also discussed. I also had the opportunity of informing the Secretary about the negotiations on the Cyprus issue. I believe that it is possible to make progress, but this, of course, mainly requires political will on the – on behalf of Ankara. We have also discussed the efforts to normalize Greek-Turkish relations, the progress achieved, the remaining difficulties. And I am especially happy in conclusion, my dear Hillary – I’m especially happy to say that later on today we will be signing an MOU to do away with the smuggling of antiquities. And with this opportunity, we will have – we will visit the Acropolis museum together with my friend, minister of culture of Greece.
Ladies and gentlemen, here beside me stands a lady who is a friend of Greece, a friend of Hellenism, a person who has forged strong bonds of trust with the Greek-American community, which is a permanent bond linking Greece to the United States. Welcome to Greece, Madam Secretary.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you very much, Stavros, and it is a great pleasure for me to be here for this meeting, and I am greatly honored that I am your first foreign minister visitor. But you are becoming quickly a veteran in just one month in office. And I am also pleased to be here during these challenging times to demonstrate unequivocally the strong support that the United States has for Greece. We know that we are your friend and we are your ally and we are proud to be both. We stand by the people and Government of Greece as you put your country back on a path to economic stability and prosperity.
It is, for us, essential because we have a lot riding on our relationship together. As a NATO ally, we appreciate Greece’s partnership on a shared agenda that spans the globe. The foreign minister and I have just completed a very productive conversation, not just about Greece’s immediate challenges but about the full range of issues that form the core of our enduring alliance. We discussed our ongoing efforts in the NATO coalition operations to protect civilians and help the Libyan people claim a better future. Our diplomatic and military efforts are gaining momentum, and we are grateful for Greece’s engagement and support, especially your willingness to host coalition military assets at Souda Bay and other sites close to Libya.
We also are concerned about what’s going on in Syria, and we have condemned the violence. And I appreciate Greece’s support in speaking strongly against the attack on our Embassy and the French Embassy in Damascus. We will work together as part of the international community to support a vision for a Syria with representative government, respect for civil liberties, equal protection for all citizens under the law.
We will also continue to work with Greece to support democratic transitions across the Middle East and North Africa. We commend the Greek Government for seeking a constructive approach in consultation with the United Nations to addressing the humanitarian needs of the people of Gaza and working to avoid the risks that come with attempts to sail directly to Gaza.
At a moment when domestic issues are rightly taking center stage here in Greece, we remain grateful for Greece’s continued engagement in meeting the shared challenges we confront. I appreciate the work that Prime Minister Papandreou and the government are doing to resolve many longstanding issues and integrate the Western Balkans into European and transatlantic institutions.
Now, of course, Greece and the United States are bound together by far more than our shared challenges. We are bound together by our shared values. In fact, we are grateful for Greece’s contribution to those values and their enduring legacy. Millions of Americans claim Greek ancestry, and last year President Obama was pleased to welcome Prime Minister Papandreou to the White House to celebrate Greece’s entry into our Visa Waiver Program. That makes it easier for Greeks to visit family and friends in the United States. And later today, as the minister said, we will be signing a cultural preservation agreement to make it more difficult for looters and smugglers to make that same trip carrying Greece’s historic treasures. That will protect tourism and ensure that the remarkable cultural heritage of this country remains in the hands of the Greek people.
And finally let me say just a few words about the economic situation in Greece. Americans know these are difficult days, and again, we stand with you as friends and allies. The United States strongly supports the Papandreou’s government’s determination to make the necessary reforms, to put Greece back on sound financial footing, and to make Greece more competitive economically. Committing to bring down the deficit and passing the medium-term fiscal strategy were vital first steps. We know these were not easy decisions. They were acts of leadership. And those acts of leadership will help to build a better economic future.
Now the challenge will be to keep moving forward with the same determination and commitment to make good on the fiscal targets and continue to deliver reform that drives future growth. Now, in many cases, these changes will require immediate and sustained implementation. And while the payoff for these sacrifices may not come quickly, it will come. We know that. We can look around the world and point to successful examples. And we also know that the price of inaction would have been far higher now and far into the future. The steps ahead will not, they cannot, be pain-free, but there is a path forward to resolve Greece’s economic stability and to restore Greece’s economic strength. I have faith in the resilience of the Greek people and I applaud the Greek Government on its willingness to take these difficult steps. Greece has inspired the world before, and I have every confidence that you are doing so again. And as you do what you must to bring your economy back to health, you will have the full support of the United States.
And so again, Minister, thank you for this opportunity to visit with you and thank you also for this chance to express from my heart our strong support for what Greece and particularly the Greek people are facing, but also to reiterate our confidence that this will be the path forward that will pay off, not only now but for generations to come.
QUESTION: Good morning, Madam Secretary. You have said that rising deficits are a national security issue for the United States, so it’s presumably also the case for Greece and parts of the EU. Are you concerned that the Europe crisis, the debt crisis, might undercut NATO’s ability to finance its missions? Thank you.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Christophe, I am not. I think the NATO alliance is undergoing some very important analysis about how we will continue to be the strongest military and operational alliance in the history of the world. The NATO allies know how important this alliance is to our own security and to those problems that are over the horizon but which affect the security and stability of the Euro-Atlantic community. So yes, will there be some changes that we will foresee in the future? Of course. What has made NATO such a strong, vibrant, enduring alliance is that we have had to evolve and reform our own internal processes from time to time. But the United States not only has great confidence in NATO, we are committed to the fulfillment of the strategic vision that was adopted unanimously at the Lisbon summit and which we think provides the foundation for what needs to be done in the future.
QUESTION: (Via interpreter) I have a question to both of you. You referred to the economic crisis. Both the U.S. and Europe are suffering because of an economic crisis. This – last year we were talking about Greek crisis. This year we’re talking about European crisis. You did mention some things, nevertheless society is feeling gloomy, and I would like to ask you politicians can you offer an optimistic message to society, tell people that what they are sacrificing will pay off?
FOREIGN MINISTER LAMBRINIDIS: (Via interpreter) There is no question that today’s Greece has nothing to do whatsoever with Greece of two years ago. There is no question that despite the doomsayers, we are proceeding and that we shall come out of this victorious. Of course, we have no magic solutions, but there is no question the sacrifices that the Greek people have made have not only done away with the very real past risk of default but will create a sound basis for recovery.
And of course, we need the Greek measures, but we also need European solidarity. The European solidarity, which we believe and hope will express itself in a key manner in the near future, is very important because in a united Europe, hope or the light at the end of the tunnel is not about each individual country, but it is about our immense economic power when we all stand together more than 500 million people in 27 countries. This message was a bit lost on – was almost lost in some member-states recently, but the fact that Greece has regained in credibility with the sacrifices and the important measures that we are taking has brought us back to the forefront of – to the center of discussion and has brought us, I believe, at the forefront of a Europe of growth which will offer jobs to our citizens, to their citizens.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, of course, I agree with what the minister said, and let me just put it into context from what we see looking from the United States toward Greece. We believe that the recent legislation that was passed will make Greece more competitive, will make Greece more business-friendly. We think that is essential for the kind of growth and recovery that is expected in the 21st century when businesses can go anywhere in the world and capital can follow. We think that will provide a firm financial footing on which Greece will be able increasingly to attract businesses and create the jobs that Stavros said are absolutely important for the Greek people. Because businesses seek consistent, predictable regulatory and taxation regimes. Investors seek a level playing field. They expect transparency, streamlined procedures, protection of commercial and intellectual property rights, effective contract enforcement, all of which was part of your reform package.
Therefore, I am not here to in any way downplay the immediate challenges, because they are real, but I am here to say that we believe strongly that this will give Greece a very strong economy going forward. There are lots of analogies – having to take the strong medicine that tastes terrible when it goes down and you wish you didn’t have to, or the chemotherapy to get rid of the cancer. There are all kinds of analogies. But the bottom line is this is the best approach and we strongly support it.
FOREIGN MINISTER LAMBRINIDIS: Thank you very much. Hillary, thank you so much. | <urn:uuid:880dd21f-cdd2-4bb0-802e-66a6aff84e4a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://m.state.gov/md168669.htm | 2013-05-19T02:07:28Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963944 | 2,611 |
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|Calling all fair-skinned beauties!|
|26-07-2004, 04:10 PM||#1|
In the make up polls and the Faces threads I have noticed that there are a number of girls who also seem to linger down the Ivory end of the foundation spectrum. While I have my base routine perfected (or close enough to) I have a fear of using colour on my face that is any more daring than a rosy lipgloss or a smoky grey eyeshadow - I just have no idea what would suit my colouring
So I'd like anyone else with pale skin to fess up what is your cosmetic collection and how you wear it (like if you find certain products go together nicely). It'd be nice if you could include your hair/eye colour to so I can compare it to me - I'm a golden blonde with blue eyes and annoyingly white skin with pink cheeks ops:
|26-07-2004, 04:14 PM||#2|
I'm a dark brunette with very dark brown eyes and similarly annoying pale skin.
I wear whatever takes my fancy
I think cool tones suit me more... so I often play with green and blue eyeshadows, as well as more neutral shades.
My preferance is always for pink cheeks and pink lips though, with occasional dalliances with plummy reds for my lips
Fav green shadows are:
Stila Irma La Douce (warm golden olive)
Stila Jade (true green)
Laura Mercier Mermaid (very light soft green)
A variety of Shu greens for more vivid looks
Bloom Lagoon (wild peacock green)
Stila Blue Confections Palette
Dior Denim Palette
All mentioned in the thread about which lipglosses brunettes wear
Don't be afraid to try colours because you're pale... I think a lot of colours actually help to brighten up a pale face
|26-07-2004, 04:17 PM||#5|
I am very very pale Im the lightest foundation colour in all brands ive tried, and even they seem to dark on me!
I have blue eyes and dark brown hair. I have a few freckles, but they have faded alot. Unlike you tho, i have very white cheeks!
I think your lucky to have a natural rosy sheeks-as i wear heaps of blush to avoid the pasty look hehe. I like pink and rose colours on my lips aswell
I avoid bright coloured eyeshadows ans i think they are to bright against the fair skin(even though it looks stunning on some people)Im not talented ebough to use them
I also prefer the smokey eyes look, as it seems to soften the dark eyeliner rather then leaving a harsh line
Im sorry im not much help - I would also be very interested in everyones ideas for fair skin
|26-07-2004, 04:50 PM||#6|
I'm very boring with make-up I'm afraid. Most days (well every day actually!) I just wear brown/beigy colours on my eyes, if I'm making an effort for a night out or whatever I'll wear purpley shades, but very muted ones. Always pink lipsticks and rarely wear blush - in fact I don't think I even own one any more, like you I can have quite rosy cheeks and always feel like a clown if I wear blush!
My skin is pale with fading freckles, hazel eyes and dark brown hair.
Sorry, that's probably not much help!
|26-07-2004, 04:51 PM||#7|
Miss-k from your description I think I have very similar colouring to you.
I also don't use a lot of different colours in my makeup though I have found that warm brown, aqua/greeny blues, soft pinks and soft grey work quite well on the eyes. I'm also a fan of smokey eyes, I think its very reliable and tends to suit any outfit.
|26-07-2004, 04:58 PM||#8|
This is great so keep the ideas coming! Also feel free to name names if you have a fave star product..
|26-07-2004, 05:07 PM||#9|
We sound to have very similar colouring, miss-k! I too have golden blonde hair, blue eyes, naturally rosy cheeks and a few freckles. I'm a MAC C2 or NC20 as a guide. In most other brands I am the palest foundation they have.
Until about 2 years ago I was VERY scared of colour on my eyes so only wore taupes. Then I branched out with a lilac, got heaps of compliments when I wore it and since then I have gradually built up a collection of about every colour under the sun! Along with the lilac I personally like a pale grass-green on my eyelids as it looks fresh and brings out the blue in my eyes.
I'm cool-toned so tend towards those and they seem to suit me better. Some eye shadows that suit me that I reach for regularly are:
* Stila kitten - a champagne sort of shimmer
* Stila heather - a shimmery pale pink
* MAC vex - a pearly grey/green with pink reflect
* MAC paint in canton candy - a fairy floss pink
* MAC fiction - a forest green frost
* MAC shroom - pearlescent beige
* MAC aquadisiac - shimmery aqua
* Bloom moss - a velvety green
* Bloom lagoon - a blue/green
* Bloom olive - a velvet khaki/olive
* Isa Dora quad of silvers and greys (can't remember the name)
* Clinique storm cloud - a blue/grey
* Clinique south beach - a beige shimmer
* David Jones sonny & Cher duo - shimmery silver and lilac/grey
* Several Red Earth light greens and blues (hurry, as the stores leave Australia very soon - sorry, can't remember all the shade numbers)
* Rimmel saucy mint - a pale green
The lilac I first started out with was a Revlon duo but I'm at work and don't have it on me to check the name. I'm not even sure if it's still around but you'd be able to find something similar in other brands. I think Stila and MAC have similar (their ranges are quite large in terms of eye shadow and the quality is good too).
In summary for eyes I really like:
* Light greens
* Silvers/shimmery greys
* Shimmery nudes
* Pale pinks (but be careful of application so as not to look tired, sick or as if you've been crying)
As for lipsticks and glosses, I love mostly pinky shades because my lips aren't very pigmented naturally. Some of the ones I use the most often include:
* Bloom wand lipgloss in cutie pie
* Bloom wand lipgloss in tint
* MAC lipglass in lovechild
* MAC lipstick in plum dandy
* Chanel lipgloss in praline
* JT in fraise
* Revlon superlustrous lipgloss in plum pearl
* L'Oreal glam shine gloss in muse
* Bobbi Brown lipgloss in ruby sugar
* Clinique almost lipstick in black honey
* Clinique almost lipstick in bronze lilac
* Clinique lipstick in blushing nude
* Clinique lipstick in nude splash
* Dior addict ultra gloss lipstick in ultra mauve #680
* Maybelline wear n go lipstick in go spice
* Chanel lipstick in calypso
* Laura Mercier sheer lipstick in healthy lips
If you have naturally rosy cheeks then I'd suggest a sheer blush. My current fave for this is Chanel irrellee blush in be-bop. It's a really light blue-based pink shot with silver shimmer and is very subtle but it can be layered. I also like Clinique's mocha pink. It's less sheer but an almost universally flattering shade.
If you want to bronze up a bit in the summer, I'd suggest MAC bronzing powder in golden. I only bought it yesterday but so far so good. Most bronzers I've tried either go too orange or look like dirt on my face but this gives a healthy glow with only a hint of shimmer.
I would advise you go to a counter that you feel comfortable with and get the sales assistants to try things on you and see what you like. Buy a few things and enjoy experimenting. Then, if you are on a tight budget you can look for similar shades in Priceline but I would suggest getting a few staples that you can always rely on.
Hope this helps and hope you have fun discovering all the goodies that await you!
A smile increases your face value!
|26-07-2004, 05:14 PM||#10|
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On Oct. 3, Gov. Terry Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds unveiled their blueprint for giving all Iowa children a world-class education. This fall, they will hold town hall meetings to seek Iowans’ feedback on how to improve the blueprint. They will issue final recommendations, with a price tag, before the 2012 Legislature convenes.
Below are some questions Iowans have asked about the blueprint. To read the entire blueprint, to comment on the proposal or to see the schedule of upcoming town hall meetings, please go to: https://governor.iowa.gov.
It’s worth noting that Iowans are not questioning the need to transform education. Iowans understand that our schools have slipped in national rankings in reading and math, and that our children must be able to compete in an increasingly demanding global economy. It will take Iowans working together to make the necessary changes.
Question: How much will the blueprint cost?
Answer: No price tag is attached yet. When Governor Branstad and Lt. Governor Reynolds release final recommendations before the start of the 2012 Legislature, the cost will be included. For now, they want to hear from Iowans about the right vision for our state.
Question: Master teachers would teach just 50 percent of the time and coach/evaluate/plan the other 50 percent. Why take the best teachers out of the classroom half the time?
Answer: By working outside their own classroom half-time, master teachers will improve the education of many more students. Master teachers will help other teachers improve instructional practices and pinpoint strategies for students struggling to learn. They likely will be co-teaching in other classrooms at various times.
It’s also important to realize master teachers will not be the only outstanding teachers in a school. Mentor teachers, many career teachers and some apprentice teachers also will be outstanding. Not all, however, will want to be master teachers – whose job description includes working a much longer school year, as well as setting achievement goals and collaborating on how to reach them.
Question: Is it fair that not all teachers can be master teachers?
Answer: About 5 percent of teachers would be master teachers, according to the blueprint. Approximately 15 to 20 percent would be mentor teachers, about 60 percent would be career teachers and about 20 percent would be apprentice teachers. This four-tiered system will build far greater support for teachers to do their jobs well. Teachers will work together more often to improve their practice rather than teaching largely in isolation.
All teachers can’t be master teachers, nor will that job appeal to everyone. Career teachers, however, would be able to earn additional income in numerous ways, including taking on additional academic responsibilities, teaching hard-to-fill subjects, such as math and science, or earning certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.
Question: How much will teacher pay be raised in the four-tier system?
Answer: No specific salary levels are listed in the blueprint, but the intention is to substantially boost the state minimum beginning teacher salary beyond the current $28,000 a year to attract more top talent. Increases for career, mentor and master teachers would be a percentage of apprentice teacher pay. Each district will set apprentice pay locally. Districts also will decide annual cost-of-living adjustments.
All newly-minted teachers will be part of the four-tier system. Current teachers will choose whether to be paid under the four-tier system that rewards performance, or stay in the existing system, based on years of experience and education credentials.
Question: How do the four tiers differ from the current schedule for paying teachers, which is based on years of experience and education credentials? Answer: Besides providing more professional support for teachers and paying higher salaries in the early years of teaching, the four-tiered system sets higher expectations for teachers based on a more sophisticated definition of performance.
It does this by strengthening the evaluation system for teachers. Currently, most teachers receive satisfactory evaluations, though they are not equally good at their jobs.
The new approach will focus more on differentiating effective from ineffective teaching. It will focus on counting student academic progress, though how much has yet to be determined. Under the new system, evaluations will be based on multiple observations throughout the year by master teachers and principals. Now, teacher evaluations are sometimes infrequent and superficial.
Evaluations and professional development will be strengthened for all teachers, whether they are part of the four-tier system or the existing salary schedule. The difference will be how they are paid.
Question: How is it reasonable to rate teachers based on student academic progress at schools where attendance is poor?
Answer: It’s critical that all parents make sure their children understand the value of education and get them to school on time every day. Some schools have a bigger challenge with attendance than others, and that will have to be factored into how school progress is measured. At the same time, research shows some teachers routinely make more academic progress with students year after year than other teachers. This can’t be ignored.
Question: Isn’t retaining third-graders who can’t read mean-spirited?
Answer: In the early grades, students learn to read. But from fourth grade on, they read to learn. It is crucial that third-graders finish that school year reading at a basic level, or better, so they can do well in math, science and other subjects.
Iowa’s proposed third-grade literacy plan is based on Florida’s highly successful program. In 2002, when Florida launched the program, its fourth-graders scored 214 in reading on the National Assessment of Educational Progress. In 2009, they scored 226, compared to the 221 that Iowa fourth-graders scored. Florida’s Hispanic fourth-graders scored 223, higher than fourth-graders in 31 states.
As Florida has done, Iowa would strengthen literacy instruction from early childhood on to avoid the need to hold children back at the end of third grade. If retention is necessary, however, children would have the opportunity to attend summer school after third grade, in an effort to start fourth grade on time. Children who still need to repeat third grade would receive a new, more intensive reading program from highly-qualified teachers. No one would be held back in third grade more than once.
It may seem mean-spirited to end social promotion if children aren’t reading, but not if you consider the repercussions of being illiterate for the rest of their lives.
It also will be critical to strengthen literacy instruction in upper elementary grades and in middle school so students continue to gain ground.
Question: Will Iowa’s school year be longer than the current 180 instructional days?
Answer: The blueprint does not establish a longer school year for all students. It does, however, ask teachers to work additional days: Five days each for apprentice and career teachers, 10 days for mentor teachers and 20 days for master teachers. Those days could be used to offer more instruction to students needing extra help to catch up, depending on local needs. Given the interest expressed so far in a longer school year for all students, we will take a look at that possibility.
Question: What about top students? Will the blueprint improve their education?
Answer: The blueprint calls for higher academic expectations for all students, including those who are the most advanced. This includes promoting competency-based learning. For example, if students can test out of geometry, they should be allowed to receive credit and move on to other math courses. That will make it possible to take college-level courses sooner while still in high school.
Question: How will the blueprint help students needing special-education services?
Answer: Getting a great teacher in every classroom and a great principal in every building will better serve all students, including children receiving special education services. Presently, Iowa has many first-rate teachers and school administrators, but we need all educators to fit that description.
Question: Why does the blueprint put so many new tests in place?
Answer: The blueprint adds only one new test, the Program for International Student Assessment. A representative sample of ninth graders would take that test every three years to see how Iowa stacks up against top school systems globally.
Otherwise, the proposed tests, for the most part, would replace tests already given.
A new kindergarten assessment would replace the kindergarten tests already used in some districts. Students in grades three through eight would still take an annual standardized test, but instead of paper and pencil, the goal is for the tests to be computer-based. Students who answer correctly then respond to progressively harder questions. These tests would reflect the Iowa Core/Common Core standards.
In addition to this annual standardized test, teachers need access to better information from tests given throughout the school year to pinpoint what students need help learning. These so-called formative tests would be aligned with the Iowa Core/Common Core standards.
All high school juniors would take a college entrance exam to measure college and career readiness and to give them one of the keys to four-year higher education. The state would pay for the exam. Sixty-one percent of Iowa students already take the ACT.
High school students would be required to pass end-of-course exams in certain subjects, such as English language arts, biology, algebra and U.S. history or government, in order to graduate. These measurements would set clear expectations for the solid foundation of knowledge and skills all students need to be successful.
High school teachers already typically require students to take exams, but the end-of-course tests would be the same in all high schools. That will assure more consistency statewide.
Students who fail end-of-course exams would receive intensive remedial help and would have multiple opportunities to retake the exams.
We’d like teachers to help set state policy on what constitutes proficiency on the end-of-course exams, which together would serve as a high school exit exam.
We will answer more frequently-asked questions as we move ahead through the fall to improve the blueprint. Thank you for your commitment to Iowa’s good schools and to ensuring our children receive the world-class education they deserve.
- Linda Fandel, special assistant for education in the Branstad-Reynolds Administration
- Jason Glass, Iowa Department of Education director | <urn:uuid:f63bcba8-f132-46dc-87df-a5a5f5c999d5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.educateiowa.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2525&Itemid=4423 | 2013-06-18T22:58:47Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959652 | 2,138 |
Lahair Club Not Just for Men
Bryan Lahair cranked a three-run homer to tie the game and then later doubled and scored, leading the Cubs to an 11-4 victory over the Cincinnati Reds in Cactus League action at sunnny and warm Dwight Patterson Field at HoHoKam Park in Mesa this afternoon, in what was the first-ever appearance by the Reds at HoHoKam Park. (The Reds relocated their Spring Training camp from Sarasota, FL to Goodyear, AZ this year).
Battling for a spot in the Cubs starting rotation, lefty Sean Marshall did nothing to hurt his chances, throwing three very solid innings (49 pitches - 33 strikes, 4/3 GO/FO). He allowed just a solo HR to Reds third-baseman Juan Francisco (a LH hitter, BTW) and a single to Wladimir Balentien. He struck out two (Jay Bruce and Paul Janish), and didn't walk anybody. Marshall threw strikes and got outs.
Meanwhile, Reds starter Homer Bailey shut out the Cubs through the first two innings, before the Cubs broke-through with a single run in the bottom of the 3rd. James Adduci sliced a double into the LF corner (he had three hits today, for a total of five over the last two games), advanced to third on a Starlin Castro ground out (three ground outs for Castro today), and scored when Darwin Barney grounded a single into RF that scooted just beyond the reach of Reds second-baseman Brandon Phillips.
Adduci has been working with new Cubs hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo on elevating his swing such that he might perhaps hit some HR (Adduci is a big guy, and looks like a 25+ HR hitter, except he hits mostly singles). But while he hasn't hit a HR yet, the extra work in the batting cage seems to have helped Adduci's overall approach to hitting. He has suddenly turned into an aggressive, ferocious hitter the last few days, after struggling at the plate early in camp. With his ability to play all three OF positions (and 1B), and with his plus-speed (he runs VERY well for a big guy, with 35 SB last year at AA Tennessee), he might actually be in the mix for the 4th OF gig, especially if Sam Fuld continues to struggle at the plate, and if the Cubs want Tyler Colvin and Brad Snyder to play every day at AAA. Piniella seems to really like Adduci. (BTW, Adduci's dad played in the big leagues with STL, MIL, and PHI back in the 1980's).
2009 Cubs Minor League Pitcher of the year (and NRI RHP) Casey Coleman entered the game in the top of the 4th, and really struggled with his control throughout his two innings of work (39 pitches - just 18 strikes, including a 25-pitch 4th inning where he threw just nine strikes). Coleman also struggled with his control in his last outing, and that's no way for a young pitcher to make a favorable impression on a manager who hates walks as much as Lou Piniella does.
Coleman walked Brandon Phillips leading off the 4th inning, before surrendering a long HR over the left-centerfield fence to Juan Francisco (the husky third-baseman's second round-tripper of the day), and then escaped what could have been a much-worse inning when Yonder Alonso hit a rope-liner right at shortstop Starlin Castro, allowing the Cubs to double Wladimir Balentien (who had walked with one out) off 1st base (Balentien was running on a 3-2 pitch). Then with one out in the 5th, Paul Janish homered over the LF fence, giving the Reds a 4-1 lead.
But that was the last time the Cubs trailed, as they rallied to tie the game in the bottom of the 5th, scoring all of the runs on one swing of the bat, the Bryan Lahir game-tying three-run tater off Reds RHP Micah Owings that the powerful ex-Mariners 1st baseman ripped over the RF fence with two outs, following an Adduci single and a Barney walk.
With Micah Hoffpauir having had a terrible Spring at the plate so far, Lahair may be passing Hoffpauir on the depth chart behind Derrek Lee. Barring an injury to D-Lee, neither Hoffpauir nor Lahair are going to make the Cubs Opening Day 25-man roster, but Lahair might get the call over Hoffpauir later in the season (like maybe on September 1st, when rosters expand) if the Cubs wish to add a LH power-hitting 1B at that time.
Rule 5 RHP Mike Parisi pitched the 6th and 7th for the Cubs, and was a perfect six up/six down (L-9, Ks, F-9, P-3, 3-U, and 6-3, on 21 pitches - 16 strikes), probably further solidifying his spot in the Cubs bullpen. Being a Rule 5 player, the Cubs are going to give Parisi a longer look than they might give to another pitcher who isn't subject to getting reclaimed by his former team (in this case, the division-rival St. Louis Cardinals), but he still has to perform well in Spring Training outings if he wants to make the Cubs 25-man roster. And so far, he has performed very well indeed.
While Parisi was holding-off the Reds, the Cubs scored five runs off Reds NRI RHRP Jon Adkins, and then two more off LOOGY Pedro Viola.
Chad Tracy led-off the Cubs 6th with a line-single to left-center, and then Alfonso Soriano pulled a line-drive double into the LF corner (Sori's second hit of the game). For some reason (brain fart, perhaps?), temporary 3rd base coach Ryne Sandberg (Mike Quade was with the split squad in Las Vegas) inexplicably decided to send Tracy home. But Tracy was obviously a dead duck, so much so that he turned around half-way home and tried to get back to 3rd base, where he was tagged out for the 1st out of the inning. But DH Bobby Scales picked-up Tracy (and Sandberg), following the gaffe with an RBI double, a sharply hit grounder down the 1st base line and into the RF corner that scored PR Ty Wright (up from Minor League Camp) from 2nd base with the go-ahead run. Koyie Hill followed with a line single to right, advancing Scales to 3rd, and then after Adduci struck out swinging, Hak-Ju Lee (also up from Minor League Camp) lined a two-run double into the LF corner, scoring Scales and Hill (and the speedy HJ Lee was standing on 2nd base before K. Hill even hit 3rd!). While Starlin Castro may be the Cubs top position-player prospect going into the 2010 season, Hak-Ju Lee (rated the #1 prospect in the Northwest League by Baseball America in 2009) is not far behind. Lee sprays line-drives from foul line to foul line.
Now up 7-4, the Cubs added four more in the 7th. Lahair almost decapitated Reds first-baseman Miguel Cairo with a lead-off low-flying line-drive double smoked down the first-base line, advanced to 3rd base on a Tyler Colvin single to left-center, and, after Chad Tracy struck out looking against Reds lefty reliever Pedro Viola (who had just entered the game), scored on a Ty Wright line-drive single to LF. Bobby Scales then hit into a FC (advancing Colvin to third), and Colvin and Scales both scored on a double off the top of the LF fence (a near HR) by catcher Chris Robinson. (With Uncle Lou having seen Robinson actually get a key two-out RBI extra-base hit, the Cubs might be more-willing to call-up Robinson if Geovany Soto or K. Hill get hurt, something they were not willing to do last year when Soto went on the DL in August). Adduci then plated Robinson with an RBI single to right to complete the Cubs scoring for the day.
RHRP Jeff Stevens (in contention for a job in the Cubs bullpen, but having a bad Spring) worked the 8th inning for the Cubs (18 pitches - 11 strikes, 1/2 GO/FO), allowing just a one-out double to NRI OF Josh Anderson (an outstanding diving-try near-miss by LF Ty Wright), but no runs.
RHP Esmailin Caridad worked an easy 1-2-3 16-pitch 9th (Kc, 5-3, F-8) to finish-off the Redlegs and send Cub fans home happy.
Besides Lahair's big day (he also made an outstanding catch in foul territory, reaching into the stands to grab a pop up), James Adduci and Tyler Colvin had three hits a piece, and Darwin Barney reached base three times on two singles and a walk. Barney also made a sterling defensive play in the top of the 2nd, ranging far to his left, diving to make the stop, and then nailing the base-runner at 2nd base with a throw from his knees.
While one Cubs squad trounced the Reds in Mesa, the other squad was in Las Vegas, edging the White Sox 8-7. Ryan Dempster threw three innings of one-hit ball in the hitter's paradise known as "Cashman Field," allowing just one unearned run, walking none, while striking out two.
The Cubs play the Angels tomorrow afternoon in Tempe. | <urn:uuid:a7aaa77f-feb0-46ef-a9e5-3eda76d21fe2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thecubreporter.com/comment/155559 | 2013-05-24T23:09:03Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966169 | 2,051 |
What can you do to create a healthier personal environment?
Assess your nest.
Working with a home inspector, public health professional, contractor, or other construction expert as a guide, ask yourself some questions to evaluate your current house or apartment's environmental health:
- Are you free of the "big three?" Radon, mold, and lead are all common home toxins. Radon testing is widely available, and best practices exist in new construction to minimize radon entry into the property. Check for moisture problems that act as hotbeds for mold growth, and look into mold testing if necessary. Finally, lead is present in many older homes' paint and pipes. Call your local public health department for information on testing for and eliminating lead in your home.
- How well-ventilated is your home? While solid construction decreases your home's energy loss, a home that is too airtight can seal in indoor air pollutants. Proper ventilation also helps control moisture and reduce risk of mold and other environmental health concerns. Simple fixes to increase ventilation include installing ceiling fans and operable skylights and windows.
- Does your landscaping contribute to your environmental health? Large lawns traditionally require greater pesticide use, and increase air and noise pollution generated from mowing. Consider planting perennial groundcovers, native foliage, or other low-maintenance landscaping. Even better, landscape with edible plants and devote a portion of your yard to organic vegetable gardening.
Before you rent or begin new construction, consider these additional questions:
- Will your new space support recycling/reuse with storage space for cans, bottles, paper, and other items?
- What is your potential home's proximity to major noisemakers like airports, railroad tracks, or highways?
- What will keep you warm? Although most mainstream commercial insulations are considered safe, check out some healthy alternative insulation, including those made with recycled denim and other cloth, wool, icynene and nanogel.
- How big is your planned home? Small is good. A well-planned home with less square footage uses fewer building and maintenance resources.
Clear the air.
Consider these steps toward improving indoor air quality:
- In your home, radon and mold tend to be the most serious barriers to indoor air quality. Relatively inexpensive tests exist to assess your home's mold and radon levels.
- The United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) offers guidelines about common workplace air quality complaints, which usually focus on temperature, humidity, lack of outside air ventilation or smoking. Find out more .
- For employees in farming and industrial fields, on-the-job outdoor air quality is also a concern. Each state has a department of environmental health within its main health department that can advise workers and employers on outdoor air quality regulations. To find your state's health department, visit the Centers for Disease Control site.
- If you smoke, stop. If you live with someone who smokes, insist on a strict outdoor smoking policy. Approximately 3,000 American adults die of lung cancer each year due to secondhand smoke exposure. In young children, secondhand smoke increases the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and asthma.
Know your H20.
Increase your water quality with these tips:
- The longer water has been sitting in pipes, the more lead it may contain. Run or "flush" your tap for up to two minutes, depending upon how long it's been between uses.
- Since hot water is more likely to contain lead, only drink, cook and make baby formula with cold water.
- The only way to be totally certain about your home's water quality is to have it tested. This is especially important for people in high-rise buildings, where "flushing" the pipes may not be as effective. Your local water supplier, health department or university can offer information about credible testing resources.
- Water filters have been shown to increase purity. Filters can range from simple pitcher-based systems to more elaborate reverse-osmosis home units.
- Remember that bottled water is not necessarily of higher quality than regular tap water. And according to the Natural Resources Defense Council, 60 million plastic bottles a day are manufactured, transported and then disposed of in U.S. landfills, compromising your community's environmental health.
Green your cleaning.
Are your cleaning products messing up your health? While we're far from knowing the health impact of all chemicals used in cleaning agents, you can easily (and very inexpensively) create your own house-healthy cleaners. Some tips:
- Mix either vinegar or baking soda with warm water in a spray bottle, and you've got an effective, all-purpose cleansing agent.
- Bypass commercial air deodorizers, many of which contain formaldehyde. Instead, add cinnamon, essential oils, cloves, or any herbs you like to a pan of boiling water, and let the sweet steam deodorize.
- On laundry day, reach for Borax (sodium borate). This natural mineral acts as a stain-remover, bleach alternative and detergent booster. Baking soda can remove stains and deodorizes, and cornstarch absorbs greasy stains and starches your clothing. Lemon juice can also double for bleach.
- Salt (sodium chloride) is a mild abrasive for cleaning bathrooms and kitchens.
- Consider hiring a "green" cleaning service, or ask your traditional housekeeper to use the methods and products you find healthiest.
Increase your chemical awareness.
While it's impractical to try to have no contact with chemicals, you can reduce your chemical exposure in relatively simple ways:
- Some beauty products contain chemicals that are anything but pretty. For example, nail polish, body lotions, and perfumes often contain phthalates, a controversial substance linked to birth defects in animals and possibly humans. Shampoos that attack dandruff might also play havoc on your health; the active ingredient selenium sulfide is a neurotoxin and possible carcinogen. Hair dyes often have coal tar, another chemical linked to cancer. So read labels, and choose a product that will be as lovely for your health as it is for your appearance.
- Don't create toxic trash. If you're tossing old medications, resist flushing them down the toilet, where they can invade water supplies. Also consider calling your local recycler, many of which accept old cleaning products, paint, oil and other chemicals that create even more treacherous landfills.
- Be sure to air out your garments after a trip to the drycleaners. Dry cleaning employs a chemical called perchloroethylene, which is actually toxic to humans. Some environmentally conscious cleaners use methods that do not contain "perc;" seek them out. Better yet, when possible choose clothing that only requires a trip to your laundry room, not a professional cleaner.
- Be mindful of plastic use. Some plastics contain bisphenol A (BPA), an estrogen-like chemical potentially linked to cancer. Experts also advise against microwaving food in plastic containers; although research is inconclusive, the heating process is thought to release chemicals from the plastic into your food. Reusing plastic bottles is another source of controversy. Some experts think reuse is safe if you carefully wash and dry the bottles between each use, while others feel that wear and tear on the plastic causes toxic chemical leakage. An always-safe alternative is glass. Finally, you can reduce the amount of plastic produced by recycling. Look at the bottom of your plastic container for a number from 1-7. Items labeled 1 or 2 (usually soft drink, jjuice, water, milk, and detergent containers) are eligible for curbside recycling. Numbers higher than 2 are either unrecyclable or require special drop-off at a recycling center.
Reduce the roar.
Decrease sound pollution at home and work with these simple suggestions:
- Employ low-tech solutions like earplugs and heavy curtains to block street noise.
- White noise machines and noise-cancelling headphones also create quiet.
- Double-paned windows reduce outdoor noise, including jet traffic.
- Before you begin new construction projects, communicate with your architect and/or contractor about noise reduction options. Some building materials and methods offer greater sound absorption or masking than others.
- When you are engaged in construction projects, or if you work in construction or another noisy trade, always wear hearing protection on the job.
- Be mindful about your personal noise production. For example, are you really watching your television, or is it simply on as "background noise?" Could you use a push mower instead of a power model, a shovel rather than a snow blower? Could you bike instead of drive? Select "vibrate" rather than the latest ringtone? Even small actions increase the peace.
Raise your EMF awareness.
It is important to note that research on EMF exposure is ongoing. But these easy actions just might improve your wellbeing:
- When possible, use a land line rather than your cell phone.
- Use a hands free device or speaker phone function if using a cell phone.
- Do not stand directly in front of your microwave oven while it's in use, or simply use your conventional oven.
- Limit your computer time.
- Use manual versions of personal care tools: an old-fashioned toothbrush rather than an electric model, or a razor instead of an electric shaver.
- Don't sleep under an electric blanket.
- Sit several feet from your television screen.
Enjoy local and organic foods.
The foods you choose not only impact your health from a nutritional standpoint, but from an environmental angle as well. Think about these fast facts:
- Eating locally grown produce means less transportation is required to get that apple from the tree to your table. This translates to reduced air and noise pollution in your community.
- Organic farming doesn't employ the pesticides often used in non-organic methods. That means that eating organic produce may reduce your ingestion of chemicals, and that pesticides will not leach into local water supplies. Joining a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) food plan might "cleanse" your diet and help your water supply.
- Research indicates that raising livestock increases greenhouse gas emissions, pollutes water supplies, and contributes to land degradation and deforestation. Food for thought next time you're choosing between a steak and a salad. | <urn:uuid:b14cf72c-25cd-4f12-b45a-f2431b43201b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.takingcharge.csh.umn.edu/print/770?quicktabs_2=1 | 2013-06-19T12:41:28Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926708 | 2,149 |
a TCAD Lab
Introduction to TCAD Simulation
The existing semiconductor industry is now fundamentally built on the assumption to design almost every aspect of a chip in software first.
Process simulation provides the ability to optimize and control the various processing steps such as implantation, oxidation, diffusion, etching, deposition etc. Prophet and TSuprem are tools of choice on nanoHUB.org for this endeavor. Learning about the basics of process simulation may be, however, daunting at first and there are 4 simplified process labs available in this tool set that guide students towards full blown process simulation.
Device simulation either takes in process simulation data or assumes certain device geometries, doping profiles etc. and simulates electrical device performances. PADRE and Schred are tools of choice on nanoHUB.org for this simulation step. PADRE is a full-fledged simulation environment for semiclassical device simulation. It has a complicated input language that may be inappropriate for usage in class room environments, when simple device modeling concepts need to be introduced. Drift-Diffusion Lab, PN junction Lab, MOScap, and MOSFET are simplified GUI-driven tools that enable students (and professionals) to easily configure PADRE without messing around with the PADRE input language.
Circuit simulation ultimately provides system level design capabilities. nanoHUB.org has a sinple interface to the Berkeley Spice3f4 for such usages.
This nanoHUB “topic page” provides an easy access to selected nanoHUB Semiconductor Device Education Material that is openly accessible and usable by everyone around the world.
We invite you to participate in this open source, interactive educational initiative:
- Contribute your content by uploading it to the nanoHUB. (See “Contribute Content”) on the nanoHUB mainpage.
- Provide feedback for the items you use on the nanoHUB through the review system. (Please be explicit and provide constructive feedback.)
- Let us know when things do not work for you – file a ticket through the nanoHUB “Help” feature on every page
- Finally, let us know what you are doing and your suggestions improving the nanoHUB by using the “Feedback” section, which you can find under “Support”
Thank you for using the nanoHUB, and be sure to share your nanoHUB success stories with us. We like to hear from you, and our sponsors need to know that the nanoHUB is having impact.
Semiconductor Process Modeling
Semiconductor process modeling is a vast field in which several commercial products are available and in use for production in industry and to some extent in education. nanoHUB is serving a few applications that are primarily geared towards education. The four tools entitled ‘Process Lab …’Oxidation, Oxidation Flux, Concentration Dependent Diffusion, and Point Defect Coupled Diffusion are all educational front-ends to the general Prophet tool in aTCADlab.
The Oxidation Lab in aTCADlab simulates the oxidation process in integrated circuit fabrication. It is supported by a supplemental document that describes the theory and potential experiments that can be conducted.
The Process Oxidation Flux Lab in aTCADlab simulates the oxidation flux in the oxide growth process in integrated circuit fabrication. It is supported by a supplemental document that describes the theory and potential experiments that can be conducted.
The Concentration Dependent Diffusion Lab in aTCADlab simulates the oxidation flux in the oxide growth process in integrated circuit fabrication.
The Point Defect Coupled Diffusion Lab in aTCADlab the point-defect-coupled diffusion process in integrated circuit fabrication.
PROPHET in aTCADlab was originally developed for semiconductor process simulation. Device simulation capabilities are currently under development. PROPHET solves sets of partial differential equations in one, two, or three spatial dimensions. All model coefficients and material parameters are contained in a database library which can be modified or added to by the user. Even the equations to be solved can be specified by the end user. It is supported by an extensive set of User Guide pages and a seminar on Nano-Scale Device Simulations Using PROPHET.
TSuprem4 simulates the processing steps used in the manufacture of silicon integrated circuits and discrete devices. The types of processing steps modeled by the current version of the program include ion implantation, inert ambient drive-in, silicon and polysilicon oxidation and silicidation, epitaxial growth, and low temperature deposition and etching of various materials.Because of the way TSUPREM-4 is licensed, it is available only to users on the West Lafayette campus of Purdue University. Note that you must use a network connection on campus, or else you will get an 'access denied' message.
The Drift Diffusion Lab in aTCADlab enables a user to understand the basic concepts of DRIFT and DIFFUSION of carriers inside a semiconductor slab using different kinds of experiments. Experiments like shining light on the semiconductor, applying bias and both can be performed. This tool provides important information about carrier densities, transient and steady state currents, fermi-levels and electrostatic potentials. It is supported by two related homework assignments #1 and #2 in which Students are asked to explore the concepts of drift, diffusion, quasi Fermi levels, and the response to light.
PN-Junction Lab in aTCADlab: Everything you need to explore and teach the basic concepts of P-N junction devices. Edit the doping concentrations, change the materials, tweak minority carrier lifetimes, and modify the ambient temperature. Then, see the effects in the energy band diagram, carrier densities, net charge distribution, I/V characteristic, etc.
There is a significant set of associated resources available for this tool.
- a demo of this tool
- a Primer on Semiconductor Device Simulation.
- a Learning Module entitled PN Junction Theory and Modeling which walks students through the PN junction theory and let’s them verify concepts through on-line simulation.
- Homework assignment on the depletion approximation (on the undergraduate level)
- Homework assignment on the depletion approximation (on the undergraduate level)
- PN Diode Exercise: Series Resistance
- Exercise: PIN Diode
- PN Diode Exercise: Graded Junction
- Basic operation of a PN diode - Theoretical exercise
- PN diode - Advanced theoretical exercises
- Schottky diode - Theoretical exercises
(Image(/resource_files/tools/bjt/5_BJTenergy_nonequil.gif, 120 class=align-right) failed - File not found)/www/nanohub/resource_files/tools/bjt/5_BJTenergy_nonequil.gif The Bipolar Junction Lab in aTCADlab allows Bipolar Junction Transistor (BJT) simulation using a 2D mesh. It allows user to simulate npn or pnp type of device. Users can specify the Emitter, Base and Collector region depths and doping densities. Also the material and minority carrier lifetimes can be specified by the user. It is supported by a homework assignment in which Students are asked to find the emitter efficiency, the base transport factor, current gains, and the Early voltage. Also a qualitative discussion is requested.
The MOScap Tool in aTCADlab tool enables a semi-classical analysis of MOS Capacitors. Simulates the capacitance of bulk and dual gate capacitors for a variety of different device sizes, geometries, temperature and doping profiles.
- Exercise: CV curves for MOS capacitors
- MOSCAP - Theoretical Exercises 1
- MOSCAP - Theoretical Exercises 2
- MOSCAP - Theoretical Exercises 3
- MOS Capacitors: Theory and Modeling
(Image(/images/tool/schred/schred.jpg, 120 class=align-right) failed - File not found)/www/nanohub/images/tool/schred/schred.jpg Schred Tool in aTCADlab calculates the envelope wavefunctions and the corresponding bound-state energies in a typical MOS (Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor) or SOS (Semiconductor-Oxide-Semiconductor) structure and a typical SOI structure by solving self-consistently the one-dimensional (1D) Poisson equation and the 1D Schrodinger equation.
- Schred: Exercise 1
- SCHRED: Exercise 2
- Schred: Exercise 3
- Quantum Size Effects and the Need for Schred
- Schred Tutorial Version 2.1
The MOSfet Lab in aTCADlab tool enables a semi-classical analysis of current-voltage characteristics for bulk and SOI Field Effect Transistors (FETs) for a variety of different device sizes, geometries, temperature and doping profiles.
- MOSFET Exercise
- Exercise: Basic Operation of n-Channel SOI Device
- MOSFET - Theoretical Exercises
- MOSFET Operation Description
PADRE in aTCADlab is a 2D/3D simulator for electronic devices, such as MOSFET transistors. It can simulate physical structures of arbitrary geometry—including heterostructures—with arbitrary doping profiles, which can be obtained using analytical functions or directly from multidimensional process simulators such as . A variety of supplemental documents are available that deal with the PADRE software and TCAD simulation:
- User Guide (HTML)
- Abbreviated First Time User Guide
- [tools/padre/faq/ FAQ]
- A set of course notes on Computational Electronics with detailed explanations on bandstructure, pseudopotentials, numerical issues, and drift diffusion.
- [resources/1516/ Introduction to DD Modeling with PADRE]
- [resources/1516/ MOS Capacitors: Description and Semiclassical Simulation With PADRE]
- A Primer on Semiconductor Device Simulation
SPICE3f4 in aTCADlab s a general-purpose circuit simulation program for nonlinear dc, nonlinear transient, and linear ac analysis. It was developed at the University of California, Berkeley. Version 3F4 was released in 1993. Circuits may contain resistors, capacitors, inductors, mutual inductors, independent voltage and current sources, four types of dependent sources, transmission lines, and the four most common semiconductor devices: diodes, BJT’s, JFET’s, and MOSFET’s. SPICE has built-in models for the semiconductor devices, and the user need specify only the pertinent model parameter values.
- [resource_files/tools/spice3f4/spice3f4.swf Demo: Getting Started]
- [tools/spice3f4/faq/ FAQ]
About aTCADlab Constituent Tools
The aTCADlab has been put together from individual disjoint tools to enable educators, students, and profesionals to have a one-stop-shop in TCAD tools education. It therefore benefits tremendously from the hard work that the contributors of the individual tool builders have put into their tools.
As a matter of credit, simulation runs that are performed in the aTCADlab tool are also credited to the individual tools, which help the ranking of the individual tools. We do also count the number of usages of the individual tools in the aTCADlab tool set, to measure the aTCADlab impact and possibly also improve the tool.
In the description above we do not refer to the individual tools since we want to guide the users to the composite aTCADlab tool. We cite the individual tools here explicitly so they are being given the appropriate credit and on their rspective tool pages are being linked to this aTCADlab topic page.
Process Lab: Oxidation, Process Lab: Oxidation Flux, Process Lab: Concentration Dependent Diffusion, Process Lab: Point Defect Coupled Diffusion, Prophet, tsuprem4, Drift-Diffusion Lab, PN Junction Lab, BJT Lab, MOSCap, Schred, MOSFet, Padre, and Spice3f4. | <urn:uuid:7eafd738-6c02-4120-903b-cf1120bcd152> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nanohub.org/topics/aTCADLab?version=4 | 2013-05-22T21:47:17Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.865863 | 2,620 |
Ruby Lee Fleming
Ruby Lee Fleming, age 76, of Forrest City, died Friday, Nov. 12, 1999, at St. Vincent Hospital in Memphis.
She was born Sept. 16, 1923, to Mark and Charity Smith in Palestine and she was a retired school teacher.
She is survived by four sons, Lawrence Fleming of Palestine, Walker Fleming III of Oklahoma City, Okla., Charles Fleming of Cordova, Tenn., and Everett Fleming of Denver, Colo.; four daughters, Helen Johnson of Leander, Texas, Charity Smith, of Sherwood, Ruby Bridgeforth of Cordova, Carolyn Hughley of Columbus, Ga.; and a sister, Artelure Gamble of Forrest City.
Visitation will be from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 17, 1999, at Clay Funeral Home. Services will be held at Salem Baptist Church on Thursday, Nov. 18, 1999, at 1 p.m. with burial to follow in Mark and Charity Smith Cemetery in Palestine with Rev. Robert Cowan officiating. Clay Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Davie Cal Ware
Davie Cal Ware of Hughes, age 17, died Wednesday, Nov. 10,1999, at Baptist Memorial Hospital in Forrest City.
Davie is survived by his parents, William and Johnetta Dobbins of Hughes and David Smith of Kentucky; three sisters, LaTonya Williams of Pine Bluff, and Glenda Dobbins and LaToya Dobbins of Hughes; a brother, D.C. Smith of Mississippi; his grandparents, James and Johnnie Mae Ware of Hughes, Mrs. Willie B. Sims of Hughes, Ethel Dobbins of Hughes; a great-grandmother, Otelia Porter of Hughes; a great-grandfather, Cal Smith of Hughes.
Visitation will be Saturday, Nov. 20 from 10 to 11 a.m. at the Hughes High School Gym in Hughes. Funeral services will follow at 11 a.m. at the gym with burial to follow in Paradise Garden under the direction of Anthony Funeral Home.
John A. Gauw
John A. Gauw, age 84, of Belmont, Mich., died Tuesday, Nov. 16, 1999.
Mr. Gauw had attended Alton Bible Church in Lowell, Mich.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Jean Gauw in 1996.
Mr. Gauw is survived by three sons, Rev. Daniel Gauw of Forrest City, James Gauw and John Gauw both of Lowell, Mich.; one brother, Richard Gauw of Florida; one sister, Jeanette Van Ostrom of Jenison, Mich., and eight grandchildren.
Services were held today, Nov. 19, 1999, at the Reyers North Valley Chapel. Burial was held in Alton Cemetery in Lowell, Mich., under direction of Reyers North Valley Chapel.
Memorials may be made to Raybrook Manor, 2121 Raybrook S.E., Grand Rapids, MI 49546.
Gladys Thomas Waters
Gladys Thomas Waters, age 94, died Thursday, Nov. 18, 1999, in Sidney, Ark.
She was born Feb. 7, 1905, in Haynes, to Phillip and Altha Matthews Long, and was a member of the Marvell Baptist Church.
She was preceded in death by her husband John Parsons Thomas in 1947.
She is survived by a son, Custer Thomas of Marianna; a granddaughter and two great grandchildren.
Services will be held at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 20, 1999, graveside at Marianna Memorial Park with Rev. Steve Walters officiating. Morgan Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements.
Elizabeth Louise "Betty" Carder
Ms. Elizabeth Louise "Betty" Carder, age 62, of Forrest City, died Sunday, Nov. 21, 1999, at the Regional Medical Center in Memphis.
Ms. Carder was born Dec. 27, 1936, in Earle. She was the daughter of Guy B. Carder and Mary Elizabeth Johnson Carder. Ms. Carder was a former employee of Pepsi-Cola Company and Baptist Memorial Hospital. She was a Methodist, a member of the Order of the Eastern Star and an Army Veteran.
Ms. Carder is survived by her father, Guy Carder of Kansas City, Mo.: a brother, B. Guy Carder of Kansas City, Mo., and a sister, Mary Carolyn Carder of Roeland Park, Kan.
Visitation will be tonight from 6 to 7 p.m. at Stevens Funeral Home. Funeral services will be held Tuesday, Nov. 23, at 10 a.m. at the Mt. Vernon Cemetery in Forrest City under the direction of Stevens Funeral Home.
Memorials may be made to the American Heart and Lung Associations or to the St. Francis County Humane Society.
Sammy N. Griffin
Sammy N. Griffin, 41, of Forrest City died Friday Nov. 19, 1999, at Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis.
Mr. Griffin was born June 20, 1958, in Hughes and was the son of LeRoy Griffin and Paralee Crawford Griffin.
He is survived by his wife, Fannie Fryar Griffin of Forrest City; his mother, Paralee Crawford Griffin of Forrest City; eight stepsons, Micheal Fryar, Eddie Fryar, Dennis Fryar and Melvin Fryar, all of Forrest City, Tony Fryar, Anthony Fryar, Gerald Fryar and Don Fryar all of Tulsa, Okla.; three sisters, Betty Green and Nancy Williams, both of Forrest City, Margaret Griffin of Hughes; a brother, LeRoy Griffin Jr. of West Memphis and seven grandchildren.
Visitation will be held Thursday, Nov. 25, at Woodhouse Mortuary from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Funeral services will be held Friday, Nov. 26, at 12 noon at New Light M.B. church with Rev. Jessie McClure officiating. Burial will follow at Casteel Cemetery under the direction of Woodhouse Mortuary.
Dale W. Horton
Dale W. Horton, age 70, of Newcastle died Tuesday, Nov. 23, 1999, at his home.
Mr. Horton was born Nov. 15, 1929, in Newcastle to Earl Eugene Horton and Dora Armstrong Horton. He was a member of Forrest Chapel Methodist Church, a retired farmer and businessman and a member of Crowley's Ridge Shooting Resort.
He is survived by his wife, Ann McLeod Horton of Newcastle; a daughter, Kim Hoffman of Little Rock; a son, Steve Horton of Forrest City and three grandchildren.
Graveside services will be held Friday, Nov. 26, at 10 a.m. at Loughridge Cemetery in Newcastle with Rev. Lisa Anderson officiating. Funeral serivces are under the direction of Stevens Funeral Home.
In lieu of flowers memorials may be made to Loughridge Cemetery or a charity of the donor's choice.
Imogene S. Couchman
Imogene S. Couchman, 91, of Kansas City died Monday, Nov. 22, 1999, at the Kingswood Health Center in Kansas City, Mo.
Mrs. Couchman was born Oct. 8, 1908, in Pikes City, Ark., and was the daughter of Ed and Blanch Slaughter. Mrs. Couchman was a school teacher and a member of First United Methodist Church where she served in the choir and was the wife of Rev. Herchalle J. Couchman.
She is survived by two sons, Henry Couchman of Kansas City, Mo. and Dwayne Couchman of Forrest City, four grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
Visitation will be Saturday, Nov. 27, at 10 a.m. at Thompson Wilson Funeral Home in McCrory, followed by a graveside service at 11 a.m. at Odd Fellow Cemetery also in McCrory.
Ernestine Henry, 48, of Forrest City died Saturday, Nov. 20, 1999, in her home.
Mrs. Henry was born Nov. 26, 1950, in Forrest City.
She is survived by her mother, Mildred McGaughy of Forrest City; two daughters, Sherea Henry and Marya Henry, both of Forrest City; seven brothers, Willie Cole of Detroit, Mich., Horace McGaughy Jr. of Ann Harbor, Mich., Roosevelt McGaughy and John McGaughy, both of Ypsilanti, Mich, Eugene McGaughy of Forrest City, Wallace McGaughy of Jonesboro, Calvin McGaughy of Lonoke; three sisters, Barbara McGaughy and Mable Futrell, both of Little Rock, Shirley McGaughy of Forrest City; and five grandchildren.
Visitation will be held Friday, Nov. 26, at Clay Funeral Home from 1 to 5 p.m. Services will be held Saturday, Nov. 27, at 2 p.m. at Rising Sun M B Church with Rev. B.T. Cooper officiating. Burial will be at Casteel Cemetery under the direction of Clay Funeral Home.
Rev. William Clyde Hankins Sr.
Rev. William Clyde Hankins Sr., 93, of Marshall Texas, died Tuesday, Nov. 23, 1999, at the Colonial Park Nursing Home in Marshall. He was born July 21, 1906, in Pine Bluff, the son of William Henry Hankins and Joana Isabelle Glover Hankins.
He was a retired missionary and minister. He was pastor of churches in Texas in the 1930s, went to Brazil in 1940 and served until his retirement in 1965. After retirement he pastored churches in Kentucky, Arkansas and Texas, one of them being First Baptist Church of Forrest City. At the time of his death he was a member of the Central Baptist Church of Marshall.
Rev. Hankins is survived by two sons, William Clyde (Bill) Hankins of Marshall and Jerry Otis Hanks of Indianapolis, Ind.; two daughters, Nona Goodman of Marshall and Nina Eunice Hankins of Campo Grande M.S., Brazil, S.A.; and 15 grandchildren.
Visitation was held Thursday, Nov. 25. Additional services will be held at 11 a.m. Monday, Nov. 29, in the Zion Baptist Church in Henderson, Ky., under the direction of the Benton-Glunt Funeral Home. Memorials may be made to the Hankins Fund at First Baptist Church, Forrest City. | <urn:uuid:f0700bf1-9461-4182-af4c-b5c5de74b0e6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.genealogybuff.com/ar/stfrancis/webbbs_config.pl/noframes/read/6 | 2013-05-22T21:44:34Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950883 | 2,183 |
Why Would Delta Airlines Buy a Refinery?
It will take years to determine whether the purchase was a coup or a serious miscalculation.
After deducting $30 million in subsidies from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania where the refinery is based, the cost of acquiring the 185,000 barrel per day (or bpd) Trainer refinery complex just south of Philadelphia will come to $150 million. Delta must spend another $100 million to convert Trainer’s existing infrastructure to increase jet fuel output, putting the total cost of the acquisition at $250 million.
Rising Jet Fuel Costs for Delta
The rationale behind Delta’s purchase is that it gives the airline greater control over its supply chain and allows it to better manage its biggest expense, jet fuel, which constitutes 37% of the company’s costs. In 2011, Delta spent $12 billion on jet fuel. That makes the refinery's purchase price just a hair over 2% of its yearly jet fuel spend.
“Our crude fuel costs are up 10% on a compounded growth rate over that two-year [2009-2011] period. But you can see the eye-popping number that’s out is the crack spread for jet fuel. That’s up a compounded growth rate of 73% over the last two years,” said Delta president Edward Bastian in a conference call."
[Editor's note: The crack spread measures the difference in cost between an unrefined barrel of crude oil and an equivalent amount of jet fuel. The jet fuel crack spread has risen 40% in 2012, pushing jet fuel above $140/barrel in comparison to a barrel of crude oil at $86.56 at today's spot prices.]
Also from Delta president Bastian on the same call: “And it is the part of the business that we have the most difficult time in managing, very difficult to hedge the crack spread. Jet fuel market is a thinly traded market and it’s by far and away the largest cost issue we have in the company.”
Despite the large crack spread, whether it's $20 or $50, only about $5 of that amount goes to the actual physical cost of distilling jet fuel from crude oil. The remaining amount is pure profit for refiners and that is what Delta wants to capture. In buying Trainer, Delta is trying to cut out the middle man.
Under the arrangements of the acquisition, BP (BP) will supply the crude to be refined at Trainer, and Delta will swap gasoline and other refined products from Trainer for jet fuel from Phillips 66 and BP elsewhere in the US through multi-year agreements.
Trainer Will Save Delta $300 Million a Year.
Delta has said that its new refinery will enable it to cut down fuel spending by $300 million and ensure the availability of jet fuel in the northeast. Production from the refinery, combined with the agreements with Phillips 66 and BP, will be able to provide 80% of Delta’s jet fuel demand in the US.
Because of the fuel cost savings Delta projects it will enjoy by owning an oil refinery, some industry experts assert that the company will be able to gain a leg up against its competitors in the east coast market.
Philip Verleger, Jr., a consultant on energy and commodity markets who publishes Petroleum Economics Monthly, said that by purchasing Trainer and thereby limiting the supply of jet fuel for its competitors, Delta could gain a $4,000-$5,000 advantage on every transatlantic New York to London flight. He compared Delta’s strategic advantage to that of Southwest’s (LUV) when the latter used hedging as a tool to gain a cost advantage for many years over competitors who did not hedge.
“Delta will be able to cover a large portion of its jet fuel needs at the major New York airports at a cost substantially below that of its competitors,” Verleger told Aviation Week. “This advantage would be particularly useful in the very competitive North Atlantic market, where Delta goes up against American [Airlines], British Airways, Lufthansa, Air France, United (UAL) and Virgin Atlantic, among others.
“With Trainer, Delta could match the competition's prices and pocket profits from lower-cost fuel,” he continues. “Alternatively, it could follow Southwest's example and initially pass the cost savings on to consumers. This would force larger losses on other airlines or cause them to exit the market.”
Analysts who cover the aviation industry seem to concur that this was a smart move by Delta, with a Deutsche Bank research note from April 30 saying that the deal results in a “new vertical with compelling economics.” Stern Agee and Maxim Group also reiterated Buy ratings on Delta after news of the acquisition broke.
However, not everyone is convinced that this is a game-changer in a good sense for Delta.
Making the Economics of a Refinery Work.
One obvious question comes to mind: If oil giant Phillips 66 couldn’t make the economics of Trainer work, why would Delta, even if it is tasking former Murphy Oil (MUR) refinery manager Jeffrey Warmann to run operations at Trainer?
“Plants shut for a reason, and it's not usually the incompetence of their owner," Kevin Waguespack, vice president of the energy consultancy Baker & O'Brien, opined to CNN. “How can Delta do any better than a large, sophisticated refiner like Conoco?”
Even though Delta said it will modify Trainer to more than double jet fuel output from 23,000 bpd to 52,000 bpd, jet fuel can at most make up 30%-35% of the crude output. The remainder of the crude it receives will be refined into non-jet fuel products, which Delta will then swap for more jet fuel in their agreement with counterparties, BP and Phillips 66.
So, if jet fuel spreads are as high as Delta says they are, it means that the airline will get a lower ratio of jet fuel in their exchange deal, since presumably, Phillips 66 and BP will not be willing to take a loss. In effect, Delta will still be paying market rate for jet fuel, except that it will be using refined products instead of money as payment.
Optimizing the Return on Capital.
Gregory Millman from the Dow Jones company also questions the less-than-optimal return of capital given that the refinery will be refurbished to maximize jet fuel output. As he points out, typically, refiners adjust outputs to maximize returns. For example, during the summer, gasoline is in greater demand and is more profitable, so refineries generally produce more gasoline in the summer, and more heating oil in the winter for the same reason.
However, Delta’s Trainer facility will be locked into producing a standard ratio of 30% jet fuel, even when it might offer a greater return than other products.
“Why is this a problem?" asked Millman. "Optimizing for refinery returns is better for shareholders than optimizing for airline returns. US refiners produced a return on capital of about 25% over the last 12 months, according to S&P Capital IQ, while US commercial airlines earned only a 11% return on capital. (Delta, by the way, produced a 12% return on capital.)”
Minyanville reached out to Delta, and a spokesperson asserted that the economics of the refinery deal were sound.
“When you think about Trainer's economics, remember that we're capturing refining costs that are pure mark-up and not actually related to the physical cost of producing the fuel,” said a Delta spokesperson.
“Jet fuel is the highest margin product any refinery can produce at the moment, and the fact that we're investing in Trainer's infrastructure to make the most jet fuel possible will immediately improve its performance financially. If crack spreads fall -- really only possible if crude oil prices plunge -- then as an airline, we will be saving billions of dollars annually because of that situation.”
Trainer's Working Capital.
Another aspect of the deal Millman cited was that working capital seemed to be missing from Delta’s plan for Trainer. According to him, a refinery like Trainer would need between $100 million and $200 million in working capital, especially since Conoco reported that it had liquidated $180 million in inventory, most of which came from Trainer.
“Using the $180 million inventory figure from Conoco as a rough approximation for the working capital requirements of Trainer, we can expect working capital will increase Delta’s real investment in Trainer by 72% -- over and above the airline’s $250 million investment. That’s $430 million, half of Delta’s 2011 bottom line,” Millman wrote.
Delta, however, said that the deals it wrangled with BP and Phillips 66 eliminated both front-end and back-end risks for the airline.
“We think the problem with some of the analyses on Trainer is that people are assuming we're running it as a standalone entity and facing the same market challenges that refineries are looking at. Through the agreement we have with BP to source, transport, and deliver crude oil to us -- they have the balance sheet risk of that -- we have no risk on the front end. We don't even own the oil until it gets into our refinery. On the back end, the swap agreements we have with BP and Phillips 66 remove any risk of us holding products we don't use -- also a huge piece of why this makes sense for us,” Delta told Minyanville.
“Delta is simply buying all the jet fuel produced by its subsidiary and faces no balance sheet risk. Indeed, in terms of working capital, we are optimistic that the windows of purchasing and swapping the products could make Trainer actually working capital positive for Monroe. All we've said is that our partner agreements supply us with the necessary working capital for Trainer.”
Of course, owning a refinery also comes with environmental liabilities. An energy banker at a midsized investment bank Minyanville spoke to who declined to be named said that refinery flares, which often emit toxic fumes, were a potential source of huge liabilities.
“If they ever want to sell Trainer, they have to clean the site, too, since they can’t just shut it down. How does Delta handle that?” he said.
Apparently, Delta has nothing to worry about on the environmental liability front, the airline told Minyanville.
“Our subsidiary Monroe Energy owns and operates the refinery. Delta has no risk as an entity to any claims: Monroe has reached agreements with BP and Phillips 66 that essentially say that we have zero environmental liability at Trainer going backward from the moment we take possession, and we have a very firm indemnification setup that minimizes our ongoing exposure by operating Trainer.”
Trainer Is an "Unbelievable Bargain."
In spite of the questions raised by some, Delta believes that its Trainer investment is “anything but” risky, since the $250 million it will spend on the acquisition is how much an airline would spend to buy a Boeing (BA) 777 at list price.
“We did a test to see what our savings would have been in the past six years had we bought this refinery six years ago. [We found that] we would have saved between $300 million and $500 million every year. The difference is that six years ago, refineries weren't for sale at rock-bottom prices. In fact, they cost billions of dollars,” Delta told Minyanville.
“The huge drop in US gasoline demand has made refineries such as Trainer unbelievable bargains; we feel we've spent $150 million on an asset with a book value well in excess of $1 billion.”
Will Delta’s bold move pay off? Only time will tell, said Robert Mann, an airline consultant in Port Washington, New York.
"It's clearly a very innovative approach, but I think it will be a number of years before we know whether it actually works out."
Copyright 2011 Minyanville Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. | <urn:uuid:3b588ca1-8a3e-4f51-b0e3-907cab544170> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.minyanville.com/sectors/transportation/articles/dal-cop-psx-luv-bp-mur/5/31/2012/id/41367?page=full | 2013-05-22T21:38:33Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950542 | 2,526 |
Top 25 'money' free agents
A look at potential free agents with a lot riding on the last few games
Updated: December 14, 2012, 2:28 PM ET
By Chris Sprow | ESPN Insider
NFL free agency has historically been a great example of lemon economics. Don't think citrus -- think used cars. The basic theory says that if the original owner would even allow the player (or car) to be purchased, it greatly diminishes the product. It's an information disconnect, and the original owner knows more. The eyes squint and the brow furrows after a look under the hood: "So -- why don't you want it?"
Same with the NFL, historically. Players have such a short shelf life because of injuries that to even get to free agency at all carries a stench. We know Mario Williams has had a great career, but surely Houston knew something the market didn't. In this league, it's always been that, if you like a player, you wrap him up. A change of system could be akin to dumping the new sports car for a minivan as the family changes, but everyone seems to agree: The original owner got the best years of the car, just as the Texans got the best years of Williams. Free agency is one part money, two parts hope.
At least, that used to be the case. Things might be shifting. The salary-cap reality after the last CBA should allow a few more players teams truly don't want to lose to hit free agency. And we're going to see dividends. You can knock Williams, but what about Vincent Jackson? What about Brandon Carr?
Below I've listed not a ranking of the top free agents but rather, a list of players who have perhaps the most on the line down the stretch in terms of their future market values; I've also added some possible fits for them. (So don't mistake this for a "top free agents" list. And the team fits for each player are possibilities, not predictions.)
1. Joe Flacco | QB | Current team: Baltimore Ravens
He has started 77 of 77 possible NFL games, carries a 53-24 record as a starter, has a 98-55 career TD-INT ratio and won't turn 28 until January. So how is Flacco going to become an unrestricted free agent at a position where even the Romo-coaster won't be subjected to such an indignity? How high his ceiling extends is clearly a question, and the rest of the regular season will dictate dollars. Baltimore dumped offensive coordinator Cam Cameron and has the worst defense of Flacco's tenure. It all points to: "It's on you, Joe."
Fit: Most would be shocked if he were anywhere but Baltimore next season.
2. Mike Wallace | WR | Current team: Pittsburgh Steelers
[+] EnlargeMike Wallace
Joe Robbins/Getty ImagesMike Wallace needs to impress in the remainder of the season to increase his market value.
He'll be an unrestricted free agent, and Wallace needs to finish strong. He's in the midst of his worst NFL season in terms of efficiency, has been the third-best WR on his own team a season after he was openly considered maybe the best in the game and has admitted he can "lose focus" at times. Not exactly the best selling points for his free-agency brochure. Wallace needs to treat the end of this season like an audition.
Fit: Mark Sanchez loses excuses if his numbers stay flat with Wallace around in 2013.
3. Ryan Clady | OT | Current team: Denver Broncos
He has never missed a start 77 games into his NFL career and is among the top five left tackles in the game, and the QB he protects, Peyton Manning, gets the ball out so quickly that he's a joy to block for. So what does Clady have to play for? He's an unrestricted free agent and the top left tackle available, which means he could be headed for about $50 million in guarantees if he's fully healthy. In a league of players paranoid about health, Clady could be excused for playing in bubble wrap.
Fit: Denver should make it work, but Arizona should offer stadium naming rights.
4. Greg Jennings | WR | Current team: Green Bay Packers
At 29, Jennings has never caught fewer than 45 passes in a season. So far in 2012, he has just 17 catches and has been sidelined for most of the season with an abdominal injury. With James Jones, Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb already around -- not to mention Jermichael Finley -- Green Bay likely won't beat out big offers for Jennings. But he needs to get back on the field and show something to draw interest. Now that he's practicing in full pads, we're about to gauge his market.
Fit: Miami makes a lot of sense, but keep an eye on Detroit, which suddenly has legit questions about who will be No. 2 behind Calvin Johnson. Jennings grew up a Lions fan in Michigan.
5. Wes Welker | WR | Current team: New England Patriots
You could argue that teammate Sebastian Vollmer has more cash to play for (and likely will land the bigger deal), and you could argue that Welker is a creation of the system, an extended handoff for Tom Brady. But that the New England offense lost Rob Gronkowski and hasn't skipped a beat is a credit to Welker, who will reach 120-plus catches this season for the third time in his career. And, as an unrestricted free agent, he might be ready to prove he's more than a system creation.
Fit: Clearly, it's New England, but Welker would be really interesting in Denver, Dallas or even Washington.
6. Cliff Avril | DE | Current team: Detroit Lions
He reportedly turned down three years and $30 million to accept the franchise tender of $10.6 and play for a bigger deal, but Avril needs to finish really strong if he wants big money. He has 9.5 sacks, but he benefits from great play elsewhere on the Detroit D-line, and he has just 18 hurries this season, per Pro Football Focus.
Fit: Even with Jason Babin, Jacksonville could use another 4-3 DE and could afford Avril.
7. Aqib Talib | CB | Current team: New England Patriots
He has a ton of talent and a history of off-field problems, but if Talib can finish strong for the Patriots, not only does he create a market for himself with New England but he could draw interest from all over the league. This is a guy who is quite literally playing for a job as an unrestricted free agent at age 26.
Fit: Even less total money might be more appealing if the offer is from the Patriots.
8. Jairus Byrd | S | Current team: Buffalo Bills
He's not a star, but maybe he should be. Byrd has a Pro Bowl under his belt, as well as a season when he led the NFL in interceptions. Plus, Pro Football Focus has him rated as the top cover safety in the NFL. He'll be an unrestricted free agent in a market that's short on impact at the safety position. Byrd also will have a history of good health; if he finishes this season, he'll have played in 48 consecutive games. If he stays healthy, he'll be in line for a huge deal.
Fit: Dallas could desperately use a safety who covers this well. But so could Detroit, New Orleans, the Jets and maybe even Pittsburgh.
9. Danny Amendola | WR | Current team: St. Louis Rams
Dangerously close to attaining the "fragile" label, Amendola could be back for the last few weeks, and he will want to be able to walk into unrestricted free agency with full health. He caught 85 passes in 2010 and profiles as an unbearded Wes Welker. If Amendola can stay healthy, St. Louis has every reason to keep him around. But, as lemon economics teaches us, if the Rams don't make a big push to retain him, it'll be instructive for the market as a whole. The last few games matter.
Fit: St. Louis is a great fit, but what if he becomes a cheaper replacement for Welker in New England?
[+] EnlargeSebastian Vollmer
Icon SMISebastian Vollmer has played well this season and could get major money -- from the Pats or others.
10. Sebastian Vollmer | OT | Current team: New England Patriots
The Patriots have their future at left tackle in Nate Solder and might not be willing to go big on a deal to keep Vollmer, a right tackle who missed the bulk of 2011 to injury. But if he finishes strong -- and New England opts to devote free-agency resources elsewhere -- Vollmer could get big money after what has been a very good season.
Fits: Indy, Chicago, Arizona and Dallas should all pick up the phone.
The next 10
11. Randy Starks | DT | Current team: Miami Dolphins
You don't find many good defensive tackles available in free agency, but Starks qualifies, and he has missed just one start since Week 1 in 2009. Carolina would be a good fit.
12. Michael Bennett | DE | Current team: Tampa Bay Buccaneers
He has 9.0 sacks, and cracking double digits could get this unrestricted free agent some extra scratch. New Orleans would be a good system fit.
13. Dashon Goldson | S | Current team: San Francisco 49ers
How much can the Niners spend to keep this defense together? They might let Goldson go, and the 2011 Pro Bowl participant will get looks. Carolina should call.
14. Reggie Bush | RB | Current team: Miami Dolphins
This isn't a ranking of best free agents, but Bush belongs here because, if he can stay healthy for a few more games, it'll be the difference between multiple bids versus just hoping to land somewhere. Almost any offense can use a player with his diversity of skills, and he's underrated as an inside runner. How about a change-of-pace complement to Trent Richardson in Cleveland?
15. Victor Cruz | WR | Current team: New York Giants
He's a restricted free agent, and the Giants won't let him go anywhere. But how he finishes, and his end-of-season health status, could help determine in what manner the Giants compensate him going forward.
16. Branden Albert | OT | Current team: Kansas City Chiefs
He's no star, but he might be the third- or fourth-best tackle on the market, and he's been healthy throughout his career, although recent back issues have slowed him down. A strong finish without questions about his back will improve his market.
AP Photo/AJ MastDwayne Bowe won't play this week, and his market value is very much up in the air.
17. Dwayne Bowe | WR | Current team: Kansas City Chiefs
He's way down on this list because he likely won't be back in the lineup this season. He has a lot on the line, however, because the play of Jon Baldwin could help determine how much K.C. is willing to offer to keep him around.
18. Jake Long | OT | Current team: Miami Dolphins
He might be headed for injured reserve, which is a shame because it could mean the end of his tenure in Miami. The development of rookie Jonathan Martin could make the perennial Pro Bowler expendable. If he's fully healthy, his phone will be ringing.
19. Steven Jackson | RB | Current team: St. Louis Rams
If he finishes the season healthy, there could be a market for Jackson and the Rams could bring him back. If he gets hurt, he might have to move on. How about working in with Doug Martin in Tampa when LeGarrette Blount moves on?
20. Chris Houston | CB | Current team: Detroit Lions
He might be the best available corner on the market, and the Lions could choose to franchise him, given the state of their secondary. But if they want to franchise elsewhere, if Houston can finish well (and healthy), he'll have a robust market.
21. Andy Levitre | G | Current team: Buffalo Bills
22. Henry Melton | DT | Current team: Chicago Bears
23. Brian Hartline | WR | Current team: Miami Dolphins
24. Erin Henderson | LB | Current team: Minnesota Vikings
25. Jermon Bushrod | OT |Current team: New Orleans Saints
"Vincere scis, Hannibal, victoria uti nescis" -- Maharbal, 216 B.C.E. | <urn:uuid:55044d4a-4dac-459c-b72b-1fd73e0f2a7a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.falcfans.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=17848 | 2013-05-25T06:06:34Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967838 | 2,642 |
DERAILING THE VOYAGE
by Michelle Erica Green
15 March 1998
A few weeks ago, as many of you know, I was completely and totally fed up with Voyager, with fandom, with fan clubs, with television, even with fan fiction. I posted an outline for a story with an introduction that's been building really for two years; I made a bitchy, misogynistic statement I am now ashamed of, expressing my current extreme dislike for Janeway and Chakotay, and I announced that I was never writing any more fan fiction. At around the same time, I made a necessary break with the fan club I founded, Now Voyager. I know that some of you have wondered whether my decision to leave had anything to do with my relationship with Kate Mulgrew, and the answer is no. I still like Kate and respect her as an actress. My leaving had more to do with fan politics and professional conflicts than anything else.
I have had an extraordinary thing happen since I decided to gafiate. (For those of you not familiar with that term, it's an anagram for Get Away From It All, which goes back to Classic Trek fandom and possibly before that.) I have received an unbelievable number of letters telling me not to go. I relate this not to brag, because while some of the letters were about my stories, most were about something more general: the J/C net community, the need for fanfic to counteract canon, the obligation we have as writers and as feminists to one another to challenge the claptrap put before us on the screen. It made me think about what I'm doing here, and why I'm going to risk exposing myself by linking my public and private fan personas.
I started reading a.s.c. and what was then known as a.s.f.s. a few weeks before Voyager went on the air. At the time, Christine Faltz was in the midst of posting her TNG opus "O Captain My Captain," and Janis Cortese and GG-MEE were in the midst of posting some terrific stories which made me appreciate Julian Bashir for the first time. The only fanfic I'd written since high school was a Kira/Odo story, on a dare from Kimberley Junius, the editor of Deep Spaces. I was a little uncomfortable about the idea of just plunging in and posting on the internet. But when the new series came on the air, and the only stories about it seemed to be either mindless smut or political epics, I decided I really wanted to know what Kathryn Janeway might be like when she wasn't acting as captain of Voyager. My first thought -- don't shoot me, folks -- was to write a Janeway/Paris story. I was intrigued by her backstory with his father and the obvious tension between them. Plus someone was posting dares to get Janeway laid before the end of the pilot. But during the week after "Caretaker," I couldn't quite get a handle on it, and then I saw "Parallax" and noticed what I hadn't noticed in Chakotay the week before. I wrote "Uniform" that night. I believe it was the first serious J/C story posted to a.s.c.
The feedback was amazing. I'd like to believe it was my writing that people enjoyed, but I know better; the PWP, sketchily characterized since we knew almost nothing about Janeway and Chakotay at that point, with lots of unreasonable assumptions (that Janeway never loved Mark, that Chakotay missed Starfleet), had virtually nothing to do with the people the characters had become even a few weeks later. Not that that mattered. People just wanted stories about these characters and the chemistry between them. The movement seemed already to have started; when, a few weeks later, Janet Coleman wrote "Remember Us" and Ruth Gifford came up with "Kathryn," it already seemed pretty much settled. J/C was going to be as big as P/C -- bigger even, because it had the net to power it all along.
I have never enjoyed any reading experience as much as I enjoyed the explosion of fanfic in those early months of Voyager, and I'm including graduate school in English literature in that experience. I don't just mean the J/C -- I mean all the love affairs with Voyager, C/P and J/B and even some of the P/T in those days. I also read stories which were not at all relationship-driven, but I'll confess that those didn't hold as much appeal for me. I've never watched Trek for the science fiction; I read Gibson and Kress and watch movies for that. I dig the character interaction, always have, I was a K/S fan before I knew there was a term for it (and boy was it a relief to attend my first con and discover that it was not merely my personal perversion but a full-blown phenomenon!) Nonetheless, I was a latecomer to TOS, and even though I belonged to a DS9 fan club from early on, I never had the emotional attachment to Kira that I had to Janeway. It was a lot like falling in love, except that in this case I could share the experience with a hundred other like-minded people who understood completely.
I should know by now never to say "never," particularly about writing; I suppose it is possible that on some later date, a Voyager story will sieze me by the throat and demand to be written, so that I can get no other writing done until I commit the words to print, and then I will feel guilty enough or egotistical enough to post them just to see if people are glad to see them. So I eat my words, I don't swear beyond a shadow of doubt that I will never write another Voyager story. But I wish I could.
It's interesting how many people have written the past few days to tell me that they are entirely down on the show, and only watching because of the fanfic. Do you all realize that if we had turned our television sets off at the beginning of this season, declared that we were NOT watching a show about an ineffectual captain and a babe in a catsuit, left the franchise and made a dent in the new, improved ratings (which were actually lower for the month of January this year than ever in the history of the franchise, but that is another rant entirely), TPTB might actually have done something to improve the show instead of taking it for granted they could put out whatever shit they wanted in the name of the young male demographic and we all would watch anyway, and rehash and rewrite if we felt compelled to do so? (If you need to know my opinion on Voyager's fourth season, check out my reviews; I have written up every single Voyager episode, so you can also read my extremely lengthy "Resolutions" review, my wishy-washy "Coda" review, and assorted columns, rants, and songs of praise.)
Of course I have read Henry Jenkins, Constance Penley, and Janet Murray -- Henry's a friend from ACAFEN-L, the Academic Study of Fandom list, and he introduced me to Janet -- so I know all the theories that fanfic is a process similar to the construction of oral collective myth, that we are writing legends which will resonate through the mass consciousness of our descendants, siezing our society's myths from the evil corporate minds which claim ownership and returning it to the hands of the consumer, etc. Sounds very progressive and Marxist and feminist and radical and all those good things, but I don't really think it happens. We write fanfic for a miniscule segment of the viewing audience. The rest of the audience members probably do some rewriting of their own, and talk about the show with their friends and complain and occasionally write to TPTB or to their local papers, but we're not really hooked up in an idealized net beyond the JetC groups and a handful of other interconnected fan groups, several of which have opposing goals anyway in terms of what we'd like to see in canon. The Chakotay/Paris Support Group, for instance, whose existence I support entirely in theory because I love anyone who tries to rewrite a show in her own mental image, nevertheless tends to promote the ongoing pairing of two characters I cannot abide together beyond the occasional PWP. I wouldn't complain if I heard that the producers were pairing up Chakotay and Paris in canon because I would be so damn delighted to see an ongoing gay relationship on Star Trek, but I wouldn't get excited about it in a visceral sense, either -- you see what I mean?
I wanted Janeway and Chakotay together for a number of reasons, most of which have been belabored in the essays which are linked at the bottom of this page. Some were ideological, and had to do with how I view female sexuality and women in power. Some were purely personal -- I like the way Kate Mulgrew and Robert Beltran look together, I like the chemistry between their characters. Some undoubtedly stem from the horrible backwards evil romance novelist in my subconscious who gets off on the idea of a Starfleet captain and a Maquis rebel getting it on, against all odds, an ingrained heterosexist stereotype that I'd love to get rid of but it's been in my head a lot longer than intellectual resistance to it. The problem is that that Janeway and Chakotay no longer exist. I'm not sure they've existed since early second season, though I was willing to rationalize a lot before and after "Resolutions." In truth, "Coda," the most J/C-filled episode of the third season, was dreadful writing, cliched, typical damsel in distress crap. If that's what it's going to mean to have J/C, then I don't think I want J/C. And if it's going to mean contrived, badly executed disagreements like the one in "Scorpion," or rationalizing Chakotay's alien-of-the-week amnesiac episodes like "Unity" and the upcoming "Unforgettable" -- well, forget it. Who needs this pairing? And, more to the point, who needs this half-baked, oft-boring show?
What we need are a new version of Janeway and Chakotay -- not Janeway and Chakotay, who are dead for me now, but different characters on a different show with producers who give a shit about relationships and characterization and depth. I'm inclined to suggest X Files, but Carter's universe is such a dark one, so antithecal to traditional optimistic Trek, that I understand why people don't see it as any sort of substitute. If we want better women characters on television, better romantic pairings, better relationships, we have to demand them by NOT settling for what we're given as if it's acceptable. We need to write our own for the screen, not just for one another, to try to create them someplace where EVERYONE can see them. I can't justify putting out for the system anymore; I feel like Benjamin Sisko in "Far Beyond the Stars" when his editor told him to self-publish his stories if no one wanted to read about a black captain in mainstream pulp fiction. If a tiny group of internet fans are really the only people in the world who believe that a female captain can have sexuality and humor and power at the same time, then something's really fucked up. The actress who plays Kathryn Janeway says she doesn't believe it. The executive producer who created the character seems not to believe it, if Mosaic and "Coda" are any indication. This is a pretty fundamental problem.
I wish we could choose whom we fell in love with: I wish I were infatuated enough with Xena to write about her, or with Scully (well, I have written about her, but nothing I would dare post, since I tend to write as darkly for her universe as her universe seems to call for). I wish the interior lives of men interested me so much that I could retreat happily into slash fandom and not worry about the way women are characterized on television. For some perverse reason, though I disavow Kate's fan club and all of Kate's stupid comments about feminism, and though I disavow Taylor's sniveling Kathryn with her crushes on father figures and her lack of confidence in her place in the universe, I haven't got my own ideal of Kathryn Janeway completely out of my system, or I wouldn't feel this upset, this betrayed, this compelled to do something to right the injustices of her universe.
Rewriting the fictional 24th century isn't going to accomplish that, though. It's what we do in the here and now that is going to count -- what we write for ourselves and for one another, how we raise our children, what we do with our work and volunteer efforts. Maybe television is the wrong medium to get the message across, or maybe it's just the Trek franchise, the optimism based on life in an ideal world where prejudices have miraculously been eradicated and suffering is no more. I don't have any answers. I just know that I'm not going to find them in Voyager.
Michelle, Your Cruise Director
Founder, Now Voyager
Oldest surviving member of the RBLS
Veteran of The J/C Clinic and The Janeway/Chakotay Fold on AOL
My Home Page | <urn:uuid:f330ee04-1408-4e25-ba83-d0aff0925e35> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.littlereview.com/getcritical/trek/rant1.htm | 2013-05-25T06:00:14Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982354 | 2,807 |
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