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Do Indigenous concepts help or hinder in fighting the World's Climate Crisis?
A Debate between Pablo Stefanoni and Hugo Blanco
Translated and introduced by Richard Fidler
[This exchange was first published in Socialist Voice, May 24, 2010]
The World People's Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth1, held in Cochabamba, Bolivia in April, has fueled a growing debate in Latin America over the validity and usefulness of traditional Indigenous value systems and forms of organization in resolving the pressing social problems of the region, not least the challenges posed by the climate crisis. We publish here two differing assessments.
Pablo Stefanoni is the editor of the Bolivian edition of Le Monde Diplomatique.
Hugo Blanco is a longstanding indigenous leader of the peasant movement in Peru and editor of the newspaper La Lucha Indígena.
The Cochabamba conference was called by Bolivian President Evo Morales in the wake of the disastrous United Nations climate change conference in Copenhagen last December. It was attended by more than 30,000 activists from over 100 countries. They adopted a People's Agreement2 that assigns responsibility for the climate crisis to the capitalist system and rejects the use of market mechanisms in combating climate change.
Conference participants were critical of the dependency of most semicolonial "Third World" countries on resource-based export strategies that devastate local environments while frustrating attempts at endogenous development in the interests of local and national communities. However, they identified the main culprit as the uneven development intrinsic to imperialism, a system "that has led the richest countries to have an ecological footprint five times bigger than what the planet is able to support." And they concluded:
"It is imperative that we forge a new system that restores harmony with nature and among human beings. And in order for there to be balance with nature, there must first be equity among human beings. We propose to the peoples of the world the recovery, revalorization, and strengthening of the knowledge, wisdom, and ancestral practices of Indigenous Peoples, which are affirmed in the thought and practices of 'Living Well,' recognizing Mother Earth as a living being with which we have an indivisible, interdependent, complementary and spiritual relationship."
Mother Earth, in the Indigenous languages of Latin America, is known as Pachamama. Prominent among the conference participants were Indigenous peoples, and their thinking and influence were clear in its decisions.
Evo Morales followed up the Cochabamba Conference by presenting its proposals in a major speech at the United Nations3 before the G77 + China, a group of the world's poorest countries (plus China) that (as he put it) "are the least responsible for climate change and, nonetheless, the most affected by the dire impacts of global warming." The other South American heads of state, gathered at the UNASUR conference in Buenos Aires on May 4, endorsed the Cochabamba People's Agreement4, urged other member governments to join the effort "to open spaces on the subject of climate change," and agreed to discuss further such actions at their scheduled meeting in Cancún, Mexico later this year.
The Bolivian government, along with its partners in UNASUR and the anti-imperialist Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA), has sought to use tribunes like Cochabamba's as a means to enhance consciousness and build international support that can help provide these oppressed and exploited countries with greater latitude to resist imperialism and develop their own people-oriented alternative development strategies. The Cochabamba Conference marked an important step forward in this process.
However, that is not the view of Pablo Stefanoni, whose newspaper is the Bolivian edition of Le Monde Dipomatique, the Paris monthly magazine that is influential in the broad left, including in the milieus that organize the World Social Forums. Stefanoni saw the Cochabamba Conference as a diversion from the pressing tasks facing Bolivia. In his opinion, its dominant Indigenous discourse, which he scornfully dismisses as pachamamismo, is an obstacle to efforts to free Bolivia from dependency on resource exports and "prevents Bolivia from being a serious player in the big international leagues."
Hugo Blanco, responding to Stefanoni, offers a very different, positive assessment of the contribution of Indigenous thinking to the world struggle against the climate crisis.
Related reading: Ian Angus, "Cochabamba: Climate Justice Has a New Program and New Hope for Victory,"5 Socialist Voice, April 29, 2010
WHERE IS PACHAMAMISMO TAKING US?
by Pablo Stefanioni
Rebelión, April 28, 20106
The Tiquipaya summit[1] — over and above the chickens, gays and bald men that were given such extensive media coverage, over what could be interpreted as a presidential slip[2] — revealed something of relevance to the future: The process of change is too important to be left in the hands of the pachamámicos. The affectation of ancestral authenticity may be useful for seducing revolutionary tourists in search of Latin America's "familiar exoticism" and even more so Bolivia's (according to Marc Saint-Upéry[3]) but it does not seem capable of contributing anything significant in terms of building a new State, instituting a new model of development, discussing a viable productive model or new forms of democracy and mass participation.
What is more, pachamamismo — a sort of stylish newspeak — serves to dissolve Bolivians' profound yearnings for change in the deaf ear of a supposed alternative to Western philosophy, even though it is learned in such global spaces as NGO workshops, in the calm of Duke University or in the courses supervised by Catherine Walsh in the Universidad Andina[4] or the FLACSO Ecuador. In the last analysis, as becomes more obvious each time, we are presented with a global new-age Indigenous discourse with scant capacity to reflect the actually existing ethnicities. And, as in the countries of actually existing socialism, this "newspeak" can infinitely expand the hiatus between discourse and reality (why do they say nothing about extractivism and the reprimarización of the economy,[5] for example?), weakening the transformative energies of the society.
So, instead of discussing how to combine developmental expectations with an intelligent eco-environmentalism, the pachamámico discourse offers us a cataract of words in Aymara, pronounced with an enigmatic tone, and a naïve reading of the crisis of capitalism and western civilization. Or directly, in interpretative broadsides like that of Fernando Huanacuni, a foreign office official, who told an Argentine newspaper that the earthquake in Haiti was a small warning of the economic-global-cosmic-telluric-educational impetuousness of the Pacha Mama.
Do the politics of Edgar Patana [the elected mayor of El Alto and disputed labour leader] reflect a new spirituality? Does Isaac Ávalos [the senator and peasant leader] intervene in the Senate asking leave of Grandmother Cosmos? Or does Gustavo Torrico [the deputy interior minister] base his management of the police on the criterion that the rights of Pacha Mama (and ants) are more important than human rights?
In Europe there is much greater awareness of the recycling of garbage (including plastic products) than there is in our country, where in many ways everything remains to be done, and an informed and technically solid environmentalism seems much more effective than managing climate change on the basis of a supposed First Nations' philosophy, often an excuse of some urban intellectuals for not addressing the urgent problems facing the country. Many of the official mistakes in the summit are not unrelated to its having handed over the theme of climate change to the pachamámicos, whose irresponsibility prevents Bolivia from being a serious player in the big international leagues. For many intellectuals, the Bolivian laboratory may provide enormous material for their own investigations, and many NGOs are delighted to fund all kinds of social experiments. But for Bolivians the cost of a new lost opportunity could not be covered by all the cooperation projects combined.
INDIANISMO AND PACHAMAMISMO
by Pablo Stefanoni
Rebelión7, May 05, 20107
My previous column in this newspaper provoked an irate reply from some comrades who (without saying so) consider themselves part of the pachamámica current, which — without any evidence — they seek to transform into a synonym for Indigenous and the sole ideological basis of the current process of change. In reality, indianismo did not exist in the Chapare, and in the Altiplano, Felipe Quispe talked less of Pacha Mama and Pacha Tata[6] than he did of tractors, the Internet, and rural development projects for the commune residents, in the framework of an Aymara nationalist project. Kataristas and Indianistas engage in politics; the pachamamicos the cult of the esoteric. I have never seen a blockade for vivir bien [to live well], although I could be mistaken.
Nor was pachamamismo the discursive basis of the Indigenous rebellions of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, as Forrest Hylton shows in relation to Chayanta (1927),[7] where the representative chiefs were demanding education and recognition of their authorities and lands in alliance with sectors of the urban left, their pleas laden with modern/western anti-slavery discourse. And in the Forties and Fifties the unions in many regions broke with the conservative role of the traditional authorities in the preservation of a neocolonial status quo.
Many of their categories, such as the chacha-warmi to mention only one,[8] do not stand up to historical investigation, and according to Milton Eyzaguirre have more to do with the imposition of the Catholic vision of marriage than they do with ancestral customs. Does decolonization mean returning to the two republics of the Viceroy Toledo?[9] In the last analysis, there are non-Indigenous pachamámicos and non-pachamámicos Indigenous — possibly the majority — so there is no basis for labelling just any criticism as racist. While it seems profoundly radical, its "philosophical" generality provides no clue to overcoming dependent capitalism, extractivism and rentismo,[10] nor to the construction of a new State or the need for "post-clientelist" forms of politics. While it has little impact in the Government, pachamamismo is a useful discourse for turning any serious debate into hollow "philosophical" rhetoric.
The debate over decolonization cannot overlook the tension between the survival of the ghetto (in the form of preservation of "ancestral" identity and culture or theories of the "good farmer" Indian or, directly, the good Avatar-like ecological savage) and assimilation: access to "universal" culture. Possibly, intermediate between both extremes, there might arise a successful road to decolonization and social and cultural mobility. (In some haciendas the landlords, not exactly supporters of pluriculturalism or multiculturalism, would only allow entrance to priests who would speak Aymara with their Indian tenants; otherwise the latter would learn Castellano and leave.)
Pachamamismo inhibits any serious discussion, for example, of what it is to be Indigenous in the 21st century. How can the Aymara owner of a fleet of minibuses in El Alto and convert to Pentacostalism be compared simply with the resident of a commune in the north of Potosí who continues to produce in the context of an ethnic economy? How is it possible to apply the communitarian model in a country that is majority urban and criss-crossed by all types of hybridization/migration/insertion in global markets, and the rise of an Indigenous/mestizo commercial bourgeoisie? And finally, who elected the globalized pachamámico intellectuals to speak on behalf of the Indigenous of Bolivia and the world? Yes, these are the words of a "mono-thinker", but they may be worth a response.
REPLY TO PABLO STEFANONI'S
'INDIANISMO AND PACHAMAMISMO'
by Hugo Blanco
Lucha Indígena, May 11, 20108
Pablo Stefanoni begins his article "Where is pachamamismo taking us?" by taking his distance from the stupid assessment that the right wing made of the Cochabamba Summit. It seemed that he would analyse the meeting, but apparently anti-Indigenous racism has blinded him and there is no serious assessment.
Let us see what Silvia Ribeiro, a researcher, journalist and coordinator of environmental campaigns in Uruguay, Brazil and Sweden, has to say about this meeting. She is an international lecturer on those subjects and has followed the negotiation of various United Nations environmental treaties:
"The response to the official call for this summit exceeded all expectations, both in numbers attending (35,000) and in content, making it an historic landmark in the international debate on the climate crisis. Faced with the maneuvers of the powerful governments in Copenhagen, Bolivia appealed to the grassroots of the world's societies to demonstrate their positions and present them to the governments. In both respects it was an overwhelming success. And it strengthened the networks and interactions among the movements….
"A common basis was created for developing understanding, critical analysis and strategies in relation to the climate crisis, enriched by various perspectives from many cultures, peoples, and interest groups on the continent and around the world. The Cochabamba People's Agreement reflects this." (http://tinyurl.com/266zcgc9)
A serious analysis would have begun by specifically evaluating the conclusions of the meeting, the People's Agreement mentioned by Ribeiro. Stefanoni does not do that; the only comment he makes of the meeting in another article of his is that "the summit would be of little advantage if it served only to confirm the (deserved) international popularity of our President and to engage in emotional anticapitalism in a tumultuous collective catharsis."[11]
Stefanoni says "Many of the official mistakes in the summit are not unrelated to its having handed over the theme of climate change to the pachamámicos…."
Who handed it over? Morales, following his correct intervention in Copenhagen, which precisely corresponded to the sentiment of the 100,000 persons who were protesting the inaction of the governments, was the only president who called the summit, not only for the Indigenous but for the people of the world.
No one has handed over the subject of climate change to the Indigenous. They are the ones who day after day are fighting and dying, as they have in Bagua, Peru, in defence of Mother Earth and against the environmental pollution resulting from the action of the big multinational corporations. Currently, the Indigenous peoples of Ecuador have shifted towards opposing Correa's "Socialism of the 21st Century" because of his resource extraction policy. But these ecological battles are of no importance for Stefanoni; they do not amount to civilized ecology. "In Europe there is much greater awareness of the recycling of garbage (including plastic products) than there is in our country, where in many ways everything remains to be done, and an informed and technically solid environmentalism seems much more effective than managing climate change on the basis of a supposed First Nations' philosophy…."
We agree with the criticisms by the compañeros of Mesa 18 [Working Group 18][12] of the continued resource extraction practices of the Bolivian government. They criticized the government specifically for not being, as Stefanoni puts it, consistently "pachamamista".
Stefanoni says, among other things, "I have never seen a blockade for 'vivir bien', although I could be mistaken." In Peru, the environmental battles I mentioned are waged on behalf of "buen vivir" in opposition to capitalism's teaching that we should "earn more money in the least possible time." As a woman in those battles recently stated, "I am not going to eat gold."
"The pachamámico discourse, on this and other points, simply takes the debates onto the terrain of philosophy, a discipline worthy of the greatest respect, except when used as an excuse not to address the burning issues that we must confront."[13]
We agree that it should not be used as an excuse, but we are entitled to use it to defend Mother Earth, which is not what Stefanoni does when he demands that we abandon our Indigenous way of viewing the world — which, of course, is not his. We are entitled to maintain and develop our identity just as he has the right to maintain his vision of the world.
"The debate over decolonization cannot overlook the tension between the survival of the ghetto (in the form of preservation of 'ancestral' identity and culture or theories of the 'good farmer' Indian…."
First, let's talk about the ghetto. The great majority of Indigenous are not and do not want to be a ghetto. (Of course there are exceptions who do have that reverse racist spirit, such as Felipe Quispe, who is respectfully mentioned by Stefanoni.) The Pachacuti party in Ecuador accepts gringos as members, provided they agree with its program. In Peru, we consider ourselves part of the broader mass movement. Morales invited everyone to come to the Cochabamba meeting (unfortunately, many of the Europeans who were in Copenhagen could not attend because their flights were cancelled due to ashes from the volcano in Iceland).
The best example are the Mayas of Chiapas [in Mexico], who have said "We are Indigenous, we are proud of it, we want to be respected as Indigenous. We consider ourselves brothers of all the poor people in Mexico and the world." Bear in mind that the first international meeting to debate the theme "Against neoliberalism, for humanity," much before the World Social Forums, was held in the mud of Chiapas in response to the call of the Zapatista Indigenous, and it was attended by representatives from 70 countries.
As to "the good farmer Indian," of course this is true, we have an age-old heritage of farming that safeguards the soil. Indigenous agriculture does not engage in monoculture, which destroys the soil, nor does it use agrochemicals that likewise destroy the soil as does modern agro-industry which also uses genetically modified organisms and has discovered the wonders of the terminator seed, which cannot be used for reproduction. Indigenous agriculture, among other things, mixes crops and practices crop rotation, which conserves the soil.
"The process of change is too important to be left in the hands of the pachamámicos."
Who wants to do that? The Indigenous movement, which is fighting for change, appeals to all the people to join in that struggle.
"The affectation of ancestral authenticity may be useful for seducing revolutionary tourists in search of Latin America's 'familiar exoticism' … but it does not seem capable of contributing anything significant in terms of building a new State, instituting a new model of development, discussing a viable productive model or new forms of democracy and mass participation…. its 'philosophical' generality provides no clue to overcoming dependent capitalism, extractivism and rentismo, nor to the construction of a new State…."
The Indigenous community exists in any country in America with an Indigenous population: Bolivia, Chile, Honduras, Mexico, the United States, Canada. This community holds that it is the collectivity that is in charge (which does not mean there are no communities deformed by the capitalist environment surrounding them). It is, on a small scale, an organism of political power, struggling and coexisting alongside the power of the system.
Struggles against the system strengthen the community as an organism of power. I experienced this personally in the valley of La Convención, in Cusco, Peru, during the struggle for the land. We experienced it last year after the massacre in Bagua, when the police were afraid to enter many forest communities being ruled by the communal government.
We are seeing this strengthening now in Ecuador, as a result of the tension that exists between the Indigenous and "socialism of the 21st century." In Cauca, Colombia, notwithstanding attacks by the government, the paramilitaries and the FARC,[14] the Indigenous organization is taken to higher levels of the community, and the communities are organized and are joining together.
The best example are the Indigenous of Chiapas, where the Indigenous have been governing themselves for more than 16 years in a collective, truly democratic form through "Juntas de Buen Gobierno" [Councils of Good Government], the members of which serve in rotation and are unpaid. The Zapatista National Liberation Army, which is also Indigenous in composition, does not participate in the government; its members are prohibited from being members of the councils. Its role is to protect the Indigenous communities from the attacks of the "bad government".
The Indigenous do not "take" power, they build it from below in an authentically democratic form. They do not call it "socialism" because the "socialist" government in Chile has been jailing the Mapuche using Pinochet's laws, and in Ecuador, as we said, they are struggling against "Socialism of the 21st century."
Sooner or later, in Bolivia they will be confronting the government of the "Movement toward Socialism", which is still not the Indigenous democratic government but an anti-imperialist government midway between the oligarchy and the Indigenous and Bolivian population in general, similar to the governments of Ecuador and Venezuela.
We hope that the non-Indigenous population will also participate in building the new society. We are excited by the existence of the "fábricas recuperadas" [occupied and worker-run factories] in Argentina. Probably there are other examples.
The use of the pachamámico language by government agencies and NGOs, which use it to hold back the movement and for other purposes, does not invalidate the Indigenous spirit, the Indigenous cosmovision, the Indigenous language, the Indigenous struggle. "Marxism-Leninism" was also used in the Soviet Union to massacre the workers' vanguard, which does not invalidate Marxism or Leninism. The so-called democratic neoliberal governments do not invalidate democracy.
[1] The World People's Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth was held April 20-22 in Tiquipaya, a town in Cochabamba Department, Bolivia.
[2] A comment by Evo Morales when addressing the summit was widely misinterpreted internationally. See http://www.misna.org/news.asp?a=1&IDLingua=1&id=27094310.
[3] See http://lists.econ.utah.edu/pipermail/marxism/2009-February/044800.htm11l.
[4] Catherine E. Walsh is director of the Doctoral Program in Latin American Cultural Studies, Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar, Quito, Ecuador. See http://tinyurl.com/2dpgby412. FLACSO Ecuador is the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences, Ecuador section.
[5] Reprimarización, a Spanish neoligism sometimes translated as "re-primarization," means forcing the economy to produce those low value-added items where it has an absolute competitive advantage — in Bolivia, for example, hydrocarbons extraction for export with little development of refining capacity or endogenous manufacturing.
[6] Respectively, Quechua for Mother Earth and Earth Father. Felipe Quispe heads the Pachakuti Indigenous Movement (MIP) and has also been general secretary of the United Union Confederation of Working Peasants of Bolivia (CSUTCB). See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felipe_Quispe13. The Chapare district of Bolivia is the heartland of the Indigenous coca growers, whose union is headed even now by Evo Morales.
[7] See Forrest Hylton, "The Bolivian Blockades in Historical Context", http://www.counterpunch.org/hylton02012003.html14.
[8] Chacha Warmi: the Quechua principle of two sexes, working together to attain equilibrium in the cosmos. Evo Morales describes his cabinet, which is composed equally of men and women, as an example. Three of the 10 female members are Indigenous social activists.
[9] The Viceroyalty of Peru was one of the two Spanish Viceroyalties in America from the sixteenth to the seventeenth centuries. Viceroy Francisco de Toledo laid the basis for Spanish rule in Peru from 1569 to 1582. He executed Túpac Amaru, the last Indigenous leader of the Inca state in Peru.
[10] Rentismo refers to economic dependency on royalties and taxes from natural resource extraction.
[11] See "Bolivia Avatar," http://www.surysur.net/?q=node/1339115.
[12] Mesa 18 was an informal working group at the Cochabamba summit, in addition to the 17 official working groups, comprised of people from social movements opposed to mining and hydrocarbon policies of the Morales government.
[13] "Bolivia Avatar", op. cit.
[14] Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia – Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the oldest and largest insurgent grouping in that country. FARC guerrillas have been known to attack Indigenous communities.
Posted by Richard Fidler at Monday, May 24, 2010 No comments:
Preparing a new International: 'Anti-imperialism should be the common element that brings us all together'
From Socialist Voice, May 1, 2010
A LeftViews interview with Julio Chávez
Julio Chávez is a member of the international committee of the congress of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), which is charged with drafting a specific plan of action to form a new socialist international. He was interviewed by Kiraz Janicke and Federico Fuentes.
The interview was originally published in Venezuelanalysis.com under the title "The First Socialist International of the 21st Century." It has been edited for Socialist Voice by Richard Fidler.
The proposal that President Hugo Chávez made regarding the formation of a Fifth Socialist International has attracted a lot of attention at a global level. We're interested in your point of view, as a delegate and member of the International Committee of the Congress of the PSUV: Why propose a Fifth International and what is the importance of this proposal?
I believe that the proposal launched by President Hugo Chávez – to raise at this time a global debate on the historical relevance of the need; to call on all parties, movements and leftist and anti-imperialist currents in the world to have a full discussion – is based on the characterization and in-depth analysis of the crisis of global capitalism. This leads unquestionably to the conclusion that the only way to overcome the cyclical crisis of world capitalism is, in fact, by proposing a model or a path that is completely different from the neoliberal model, the predatory model, of capitalism. There is no alternative other than the path of transition to socialism.
We believe that discussion of a transitional program – a great debate – should be happening this year in Caracas due to the role that Venezuela is playing as the epicentre of the great transformations that have occurred since the beginning of this century, and which have motivated and enthused the peoples of our America, and also because of the leading role that Venezuela and President Hugo Chávez are playing at the global level.
We think it is necessary as well because of the aggressive policy of U.S. imperialism toward Venezuela: the installation of military bases, reactivation of the Fourth Fleet, and the media campaign of attacks and insults against both the revolutionary process and the leader of this process. For all these reasons, we believe it is appropriate to call for an organization which would have Caracas as the epicentre; for a great global debate about the need to advance on a proposal to overcome the contradiction between capital and labour.
The only option, the only alternative we see as viable, feasible as a historical project of life, is precisely the path towards socialism.
We believe, therefore – drawing on the experiences and our assessments of the four previous internationals, which had Europe as their epicentre precisely because of the industrial revolution and the great contradictions expressed in the context of rapidly growing capitalism, and which led to its highest stage, imperialism – that all these contradictions have been transferred to Latin America, and have created in Venezuela the conditions, the features, to make a call of this nature.
I repeat, it must become an organization that is permanent in nature, that is able to summon all the parties of the Left, social movements, prominent individuals and historical currents of thought. And not just specifically those raising the historical project of socialism; anti-imperialism should be the common element that brings us all together.
Of course we don't just want one more event, one more conference. We're making this call not just in order to open a discussion, a debate, to produce a document, but to actually set minimum agreements, to adopt a minimum transitional program, a policy of developing in all the five continents, based on the analysis of the current situation, a characterization of each particular region. We want to consider expeditiously the transition towards a model that overcomes the contradictions of capital and labour.
Why is anti-imperialism being proposed as the common element and not just socialism?
We say that this call has to have a broad character. It is possible that in some countries, such as in the Middle East, there are organizations and movements fighting against some expressions of imperialism and international Zionism as such but that are not socialist in essence, in the programmatic sense. But, undoubtedly, they are fighting imperialism.
That's why we say that it could be that in some Islamic countries that do not have socialism as an ideological element – for example the case of the Islamic Revolution of Iran, which is anti-imperialist – that this element will be an element that will summon as many parties, organizations, movements in the world to join the battle, the confrontation with imperialism.
As well as all those who defend a model based on the world view of indigenous people, and the principles and approaches of scientific socialism, elements of regional and Bolivarian thought, the ideas of Mariátegui, of Martí, the tree of the three roots in Venezuela,[see note - editor] and all those who are part of a historical, philosophical current that defends the claims accumulated through many years of struggle by the peoples in this part of the world.
From this anti-imperialist perspective, this vision informed by the experience of the historical struggles of indigenous peoples, it is possible to summon as many parties, movements, and currents in the world, let us repeat, for a wide-ranging debate, a full discussion, and to agree on a plan, a minimum transitional program, to move concretely towards a socialist project at a world level.
An anti-imperialist project is the only way at this juncture, faced with the cyclical crisis of capitalism. Capitalism is not going to collapse by itself, but is in a process of readjustment, of realignment, of looking for the possibility of a second wind. We believe that at this juncture it is possible to consider an alternative, but it must be global and anti-imperialist.
There is a core document that we have been discussing within the congress, in the international committee of the PSUV congress. A document in which we have assessed and taken stock of what the four previous socialist internationals signified, the context in which they were called, of the proposals, the achievements that they made. And in view of the historical relevance, the policy of aggression against the Bolivarian revolution, and the processes of transformation that have been occurring in other countries, we believe it is possible to produce a document that contains all those elements.
We have even talked about the definition of the historical subject – those who are making the call, and the social movements, currents and parties in different continents and different countries who are engaged in a common struggle with us, which is the struggle against imperialism.
Therefore, we believe that through this approach and, of course, discussing the objectives of this call for a Fifth International – or as we also call it, the First Socialist International of the 21st Century, because there are some discussions with the Communist Party comrades who do not recognize the Fourth International, but we say it is not a question of numbers, but in any case it would be the first Socialist International of this century. And under these assumptions, by seeking to broaden the programmatic base, the doctrinal principles, with an agenda of topics to discuss, a program to develop, it will be possible to go beyond simply producing a document, and to produce an agreement that is expressed in very concrete policies, recognizing the reality of each continent, of each country, and this effort should lead to the articulation of a powerful global movement to allow us to move forward.
We can move forward on a debate, a discussion about what things we can agree on, opening the possibility that within the meeting there will also be a debate on the whole mechanism of coordination, of integration, beyond governments, because this is not a government event, we are talking about parties, movements, to develop an international policy which has internationalism as a spearhead of counter-hegemonic confrontation.
I think it is possible to discuss all these aspects in Venezuela, and we can then come out of it with a minimum program, a minimum plan of work, again, respecting differences, allowing us to develop a policy around different continents that would have a permanent basis, so that we have the possibility of regular meetings at a continental or regional level, to evaluate the progress of things, but it should also be binding for all organizations, movements and parties that make this call.
Here you have touched on a subject that historically has always been complicated, that is, the difference between diplomatic relations of governments and the relations of parties, particularly when some of these parties are also in government, like the PSUV, which was created following the call made by a head of state. This issue has been raised, for example, in relation to other governments with which Venezuela maintains good diplomatic relations but that are far from being socialist, where one understands that the State should have diplomatic relations, but where left-wing forces who may be interested in participating [in the Fifth International] are part of the opposition to these governments.
I think that right now we are having a very interesting debate in the ideological congress of the party. Remember that, three years ago, we had a founding congress and this is the first ideological congress. Coincidentally, we are right now finishing the discussion and debate about the programmatic basis for a party which is conceived for the transition to socialism. We are discussing the values, principles, statutes, and clearly we have been discussing and distinguishing that one thing is the government's foreign policy and another thing is the international politics of the PSUV.
I think we're making a clear conceptualization of these two positions where, undoubtedly, there are levels of convergence because we believe that the PSUV should be a space, a scenario where policy is discussed in order to be executed precisely at the level of government, in this case in ministries to which international issues apply, of course with the participation, the approval of President Chávez, who is leading the State's foreign policy and is at the same time the party president.
There are things the government and our embassies cannot say, but the PSUV is more likely to express positions from an ideological point of view and this has been a large part of the discussion that has occurred in the national congress.
So I think we're making good progress in differentiating the foreign policy of the government and the party, understanding the peculiarity that in this case the president is the president of the nation and, at the same time, the party president.
We have been careful not to get involved in discussions within other countries, to not take positions on issues which are up to the peoples of those countries and their governments to take.
But in any case, the PSUV is proposing to design, to elaborate a policy, an offensive that allows us to establish contacts at the global level with those organizations and social movements that have been doing solidarity work with Venezuela, which have been supportive of the efforts and initiatives taken by the Bolivarian revolution, with the achievements of the Bolivarian Revolution, and this is giving us a chance to come together and network with many movements, with many parties and organizations in the world that share the historical project of socialism, the historical project to overcome the contradiction between capital and labour.
We believe we have made great strides in this need to differentiate what is the government's foreign policy and what is the party's international politics. Internationalism is enshrined in the statutes in the values and principles, because this is not a party that is thinking only about the transition that is happening in Venezuela.
We are talking about a party that has to assume internationalism, solidarity and to develop the necessary initiatives in terms of confronting imperialism and strengthening policy coordination with those parties, movements and organizations that defend anti-imperialist struggle.
I think we have made significant progress there. We do not believe that at this moment, just as we are finishing the first ideological congress of the party, that we have the party that we want, but undoubtedly, we have advanced, we have taken very strong steps towards building this powerful instrument within which we can discuss and debate the major issues, major policies, major decisions to advance the transition to socialism.
Has the document drafted by the commission been approved already or is it still under discussion?
The international commission was charged with the responsibility of drawing up a document. The document is circulating internally within the party; it is in the hands of the national leadership and, of course, has been raised for the consideration of the president of the party.
The document is circulating and there have been some comments, and when the president authorizes it, that is the basic document that will be released to encourage and motivate the discussion on the historical relevance and the need to summon all the parties and movements across the world that struggle against imperialism and for the construction of a socialist project.
Obviously, in a revolutionary situation, things cannot simply be determined by a calendar, particularly in the context of the offensive that imperialism has launched in recent months, but is there an idea, at least, of when the founding of the Fifth International will be?
Indeed there is a whole plan of different phases that has been submitted for consideration, where it has been proposed to call meetings at a regional or continental level, to create promotional teams, with a strategy for disseminating information so that it can be built from the bottom up.
It is anticipated that all these elements, the creation of an information system, making all the communicational elements that the revolution has been using, all these tools, all these resources, available to the revolution and parties worldwide, will be part of this plan by phases.
There is also the idea of holding various meetings, where there is even the possibility that our delegations will travel to other continents, other countries to discuss, to motivate, to create the conditions for starting to debate the issue.
Editor's note: "The tree of the three roots in Venezuela" is expression peculiar to Chavismo. This appears to be a reference to Simón Bolívar, Simón Rodriguez and Ezequiel Zamora, respectively the founding indendence leader of Venezuela, a 19th century educator, and the liberal leader of the Federalists in the Federal War of 1859-1863.
Posted by Richard Fidler at Saturday, May 01, 2010 No comments:
Do Indigenous concepts help or hinder in fighting ...
Preparing a new International: 'Anti-imperialism s...


text:
Q: How can I tell if a given Linq-to-Sql object is attached to a datacontext? I use linq 2 sql for my ORM.
For performance reasons, I serialize some of them, and throw them into memcached.
When they're deserialized, they're of course not attached to a datacontext, which is 100% fine, as they're only used for reading from in those scenarios.
For sanity reasons however, I'd like to be able to tell whether a given object is attached to a datacontext (fetched from the db), or not (fetched from memcached).
Any ideas?
Thanks.

A: Use GetOriginalEntityState. Here's a test.

Customer cust = new Customer();
ctx.Customers.Attach(cust);

Customer orig = ctx.Customers.GetOriginalEntityState(cust);

//test if orig is null

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


I have loggged on after a very looooooong time ...so please cooperate!
I am making a game of PacMan (in 2D graphics) for my school project.
Its almost complete but i am stuck in one place.
I CAN'T DEVISE A STRATEGY TO PROGRAM THE 'EATERS'(i hope you know 'eaters' in Pacman) ....i.e.
How they Chase Them????How They Move Automatically on their own to chase pacman????
How I program its AI??
: I have loggged on after a very looooooong time ...so please cooperate!
: I am making a game of PacMan (in 2D graphics) for my school project.
: Its almost complete but i am stuck in one place.
: I CAN'T DEVISE A STRATEGY TO PROGRAM THE 'EATERS'(i hope you know 'eaters' in Pacman) ....i.e.
: How they Chase Them????How They Move Automatically on their own to chase pacman????
: How I program its AI??
Really stupid eaters: Pick a direction, keep walking untill you hit a wall, then choose another direction.
Create an empty queue that can contain (cell, number) pairs.
Push the cell that PacMan is on to the back of the queue, along with the number 1.
assign the number 1 to the cell PacMan is on.
pop a (cell Q, number N) from the front of the queue.


text:
namespace StarboardWinRT {
// Provides an interface for an application that owns DeviceResources to be notified of the device being lost or
// created.
interface IDeviceNotify {
    virtual void OnDeviceLost() = 0;
    virtual void OnDeviceRestored() = 0;
};

// Controls all the DirectX device resources.
class DeviceResources {
public:
    DeviceResources();
    void SetLogicalSize(Windows::Foundation::Size logicalSize);
    void SetCurrentOrientation(Windows::Graphics::Display::DisplayOrientations currentOrientation);
    virtual void SetDpi(float dpi) = 0;
    void ValidateDevice();
    void HandleDeviceLost();
    void RegisterDeviceNotify(IDeviceNotify* deviceNotify);
    void Trim();
    void Present();

    // Device Accessors.
    Windows::Foundation::Size GetOutputSize() const {
        return m_outputSize;
    }
    Windows::Foundation::Size GetLogicalSize() const {
        return m_logicalSize;
    }

    // D3D Accessors.
    ID3D11Device2* GetD3DDevice() const {
        return m_d3dDevice.Get();
    }
    ID3D11DeviceContext2* GetD3DDeviceContext() const {
        return m_d3dContext.Get();
    }
    IDXGISwapChain1* GetSwapChain() const {
        return m_swapChain.Get();
    }
    D3D_FEATURE_LEVEL GetDeviceFeatureLevel() const {
        return m_d3dFeatureLevel;
    }
    ID3D11RenderTargetView* GetBackBufferRenderTargetView() const {
        return m_d3dRenderTargetView.Get();
    }
    D3D11_VIEWPORT GetScreenViewport() const {
        return m_screenViewport;
    }
    DirectX::XMFLOAT4X4 GetOrientationTransform3D() const {
        return m_orientationTransform3D;
    }

protected:
    void CreateDeviceIndependentResources();
    void CreateDeviceResources();
    virtual void CreateWindowSizeDependentResources() = 0;
    DXGI_MODE_ROTATION ComputeDisplayRotation();

    // Direct3D objects.
    Microsoft::WRL::ComPtr<ID3D11Device2> m_d3dDevice;
    Microsoft::WRL::ComPtr<ID3D11DeviceContext2> m_d3dContext;
    Microsoft::WRL::ComPtr<IDXGISwapChain1> m_swapChain;

    // Direct3D rendering objects. Required for 3D.
    Microsoft::WRL::ComPtr<ID3D11RenderTargetView> m_d3dRenderTargetView;
    D3D11_VIEWPORT m_screenViewport;

    // Cached device properties.
    D3D_FEATURE_LEVEL m_d3dFeatureLevel;
    Windows::Foundation::Size m_d3dRenderTargetSize;
    Windows::Foundation::Size m_outputSize;
    Windows::Foundation::Size m_logicalSize;
    Windows::Graphics::Display::DisplayOrientations m_nativeOrientation;
    Windows::Graphics::Display::DisplayOrientations m_currentOrientation;
    float m_dpi;

    // Transforms used for display orientation.
    DirectX::XMFLOAT4X4 m_orientationTransform3D;

    // The IDeviceNotify can be held directly as it owns the DeviceResources.
    IDeviceNotify* m_deviceNotify;
};
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
How to Use Social Media to Find a Job
by Aliah WrightOn March 2, 2012
A 67-year-old man was worried that his age would hurt his job search. So, says Jessica Miller-Merrell, SPHR, "he sent out a simple e-mail to five people and attached his resume. [The e-mail] read, 'Hey, I'm looking for a job and here are four companies I'm interested in. If you have a relationship or connection there that could help me in my search, I'd really appreciate it.' That one e-mail sent to five people led to an interview and a job," she recalls.
HR consultant Joey Price, PHR, likes to tell the story of a friend who went to a Red Lobster at happy hour to mingle with employees of the company where he wanted to work.
He, too, got a job.
Today's job search may involve e-mailing corporations your resume, complete with links to your social media presence; uploading your curriculum vitae (CV) to job boards like jobs.jobs and indeed.com; or polishing your social networking profiles on LinkedIn, BeKnown or elsewhere. Regardless of the specific actions taken, HR professionals and recruiters say the best and fastest way to find a job is to use an old-fashioned approach: network.
What's more, those same experts say, using social media channels to engage people who are in a position to help you find work is one of the most effective ways to find a job.
Why? Because experts say they are more likely to notice relevant skills and competencies by sifting through a candidate's publicly available social media presence than they are by only considering a resume that's been filtered through an applicant tracking system (ATS). Social media presence includes, among other things, candidates' blogs; their comments on blogs; and their Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Quora and other accounts.
"We look at the summary of your LinkedIn profile and look for a summary of career history, connections and recommendations," says Matthew Ogston, founder and CEO of the U.K.-based jobpage.com, a social recruiting software firm. "We try to bring the best of a user's profile into the jobpage ATS. And if we manage to identify their Twitter account, we bring in a summary of the last handful of tweets [to] see if that demonstrates stuff related to their work," Ogston told SHRM Online via Skype from London. "The CV is not an afterthought, but it becomes secondary to all of that information."
"The resume is going to be dead," predicts career expert and best-selling author Nicole Williams, who wrote Girl on Top (Hachette Book Group, 2009). She is founder of the careers website WORKS.
Williams, also LinkedIn's connection director and a frequent contributor to "The Today Show," told SHRM Online that social media can help individuals "have a voice." She and other experts suggest that job seekers regularly blog and tweet, and participate in LinkedIn's groups or use the answer boards.
"Become recognized in your area of expertise, and you will be found," she says.
Ask: You Shall Receive
Experts agree that there's still a stigma to being unemployed. So, "if you're really worried about how your resume is going to be perceived, stop relying on your resume to get you a job," says marketing coach and career strategist Tim Tyrell-Smith.
Over at jobs.jobs, co-founded by Monster.com creator Bill Warren, job seekers will eventually be able to use the site to create a profile that includes their social media presence. They'll be able to add their Twitter and LinkedIn information, as well as blogs, to create a "Klout-like" persona. There, employers sifting through resumes can see a candidate's virtual footprint from across the web, says Nancy Holland, vice president of marketing for the Direct Employers Association, which operates the jobs.jobs domain.
Networking online and self-promotion through social media channels are slowly becoming two critical components to landing a job.
Go Where Recruiters Go
When it comes to marketing yourself, "the No. 1 tool you should use is LinkedIn," says Tyrell-Smith. "It's the place where you can most effectively use your time."
According to Jobvite, 89 percent of U.S. companies are now using social networking to recruit. And LinkedIn, with 135 million members worldwide, accounts for 73 percent of hires through social media. LinkedIn's Communications Manager Richard George says more than 7,400 companies use LinkedIn Recruiter to find "passive candidates."
But experts say you shouldn't just build a profile, hoping recruiters will find you. Engage them in the neighborhoods where they live by:
Participating in relevant discussions on LinkedIn and tweet chats.
Reading and responding to the blogs of those companies you're interested in.
"Liking" and posting comments on their Facebook pages.
Tweeting about and tagging companies that are relevant to the type of position or experience you have.
Retweeting relevant items from Twitter conversations.
"You cannot just go out on social media and follow people," Tyrell-Smith says. "You actually have to talk to people—especially on Twitter."
He suggests that job seekers pick 10 target companies, follow them, retweet their "stuff, add them to lists, and send followers direct messages and notes of encouragement. Become a part of their lives by communicating with the company. Even if all you're doing is talking to the social media manager, you're becoming someone that they're aware of. You're not just another number floating on the desk. That kind of stuff matters."
What Can You Contribute?
"It's not what you know, and it's not who you know; it's who knows what you can do," says Price, CEO of Jumpstart: HR and author of Never Miss the Mark: Career Search Strategies Provided by HR Pros (Bookbaby, 2011).
"The tools have changed, but it's an old-fashioned" concept, Tyrell-Smith adds.
"We have a lot of networks that we don't take advantage of—people we know at the gym, at church," Price says. "They know you, but they may not know the ways in which you can add value" to a job.
Having a clearly defined "value proposition"—which job seekers can put on the back of a business card, on their websites or in their LinkedIn profiles—is important, says Nadia Nassif, principal at Springboards.
"If you're an HR leader in the nonprofit world, you want to articulate the value you bring" in that role within the industry you're in, she says. "Be able to explain how to solve people's pain and problems, and try to be specific.
"There [are] a lot of people—particularly in HR—who are in transition and … there isn't a clear value proposition" in their resumes or on their LinkedIn profiles, Nassif adds. "They need a clear description about what they offer, who they offer it to and what tangible benefits they can bring" to their next role.
Williams adds that "The more active skills you have, the better. Describe, as much as possible, what you've done and what you've produced. Volunteer activities are helping people find work, too. I have heard so many people say their passion helped them get a job in a different area."
But "there's still a stigma for people out of work," Tyrell-Smith says. Remember, "whether you're working or not, you are still a qualified professional. You're just out of work."
Aliah D. Wright is an online editor/manager for SHRM. Follow her @1SHRMScribe for employment news and links to social media insights.
How Will HR Technology Change Human Resources?
The Future of AI-Powered HR
Coping with Technology Fatigue

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Fundraising appeal for Saint Peter's Denial by Antoine or Louis Le Nain
Antoine (c. 1600/1610-1648) or
Louis Le Nain (c. 1600/1610-1648)
Saint Peter's Denial
AXA Collection
17/8/08 — Fundraising appeal — Paris, Musee du Louvre — Will Saint Peter's Denial by Antoine or Louis Le Nain (ill.) [1] finally find a home at the Louvre ? The ongoing serial first started when the painting "was found in an attic in Luneville" [2] and sold at auction in Nancy on 19 March 2000 with an attribution to the 17th century Lorraine School. Estimated at 200,000 francs, it was acquired by the Parisian dealer Charles Bailly for 9.2 million francs (including charges), despite the presence of French museums representatives who had not been able to come up with the funds at the time. End of the first installment.
In the second episode, the work had its export certificate denied on 21 July 2000 provoking Bailly's ire, who had probably acted on behalf of an American client [3]. The work was finally sold to an insurance company (AXA).
The third installment is just starting and we hope it will have a fortunate outcome. An appeal for fundraising has been launched in the Journal Officiel dated 14 August 2008 for its acquisition by the Louvre. The price has been established at 11,500,000 euros (in comparison, it was auctioned off in 2000 for 1,500,000 euros [4]…).
This canvas is undoubtedly, although one must remain cautious, the same one donated by the Academy to Mazarin in 1656 : "a Saint Peter by the late M. Le Nain" [5]. Since Mathieu Le Nain was still alive at the time, the painting can thus be attributed to either Louis or Antoine. According to the text of the evaluation : "Saint Peter's Denial, attributed to Antoine or Louis Le Nain, constitutes an essential link in the understanding of the respective division of work by each of the three Le Nain brothers, both for the works signed with their last name as well as those attributed to them by archival documents or tradition."
In concluding, let us point out that in the same Journal Officiel another fundraising appeal has also been launched for the acquisition by Versailles, for 2 million euros, of one of the central compartments of the large rug from the nave in the Versailles chapel commissioned by Louis XV from the Savonnerie factory. According to the evaluation : "This compartment was commissioned from the Manufacture de la Savonnerie with four other woven pieces between 1723 and 1728 and was supposed to cover the tiled floor of the chapel in the chateau which was consecrated in 1710. This is an exceptional example of work produced by the Savonnerie in the 18th century, by the high quality of its execution, particularly the fine weave. At the same time, its state of conservation is rare as it has kept its very vibrant coulours."
Didier Rykner, dimanche 17 août 2008
[1] We were not able to find a better photograph than the one above which appeared in the press at the time.
[2] Gazette de l"Hotel Drouot, 24 March 2008.
[3] See Le Monde dated 20 October 2000, Monique Raux, L'Etat retient en France un tableau des frères Le Nain.
[4] See Pierre Rosenberg, Tout l'œuvre peint des Le Nain, Paris, 1993, p. 70.
[5] The last religious painting by the Le Nain brothers sold at auction, a Mary Magdalene, (oil on canvas – 55 x 62,5 cm) was sold for 120,000 euros with charges at Drouot in Paris on 16 December 2005.
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Abstract painter. Born 14 September 1925 in London. Studied at St Martin's School of Art under Ruskin Spear 1941–6 and the R.A. Schools 1946–7; Accademia delle Belle Arte, Rome, 1947–8. Exhibited at the R.A. 1946–7. Travelled in Spain and France; returned to London 1950. First one-man show at Gimpel Fils 1951. Worked in Cornwall 1957–8. Joined the teaching staff of the R.C.A. in 1960. Awarded the Second Prize for Painting at the John Moores Liverpool Exhibition 1961.


text:
Q: How to figure out the intercept of a xgboost model with gblinear I used the xgboost library in R to build a model; gblinear was used as the booster.
The coefficient (weight) of each variable can be pulled using xgb.importance(); however, I could not find the intercept of the final linear equation. Could anyone tell me where it is, please?
Thank you.

A: As you mentioned, only if model uses gblinear:
Try this:
model.fit(X_train,y_train)

print(model.coef_)
print(model.intercept_)


Macanudo Maduro cigars are one of the premier maduros available today. They are hand crafted in the Dominican Republic; rolled with the finest Connecticut Broadleaf wrappers and filled with beautifully aged tobacco blends. Making them some of the richest and most intriguing mild to medium bodied smokes in the world. All the Macanudo Maduro cigars will leave a deliciously tasteful smoke on your palate and the 'Diplomat' showcases that praise with a 90 rating from Cigar Aficionado.


French clothing brand A.P.C. has joined Italian eyewear brand L.G.R to produce a Spring/Summer 2012 model of exclusive, completely hand made sunglasses in black or tortoise.
Made with with photochromic lenses, which means the colour of the glass adapts to the brightness, the sunglasses will be available on May 10.
This entry was posted in Sunglasses and tagged A.P.C., L.G.R., Sunglasses. Bookmark the permalink.


text:
Hoping to land in Green Bay
By Tom Silverstein of the Journal Sentinel
If his number isn't called this weekend, former University of Wisconsin offensive lineman Bill Nagy could see himself signing as an undrafted free agent with the Green Bay Packers.
In fact, it would be ideal.
"That would be awesome," Nagy said. "I know how great Wisconsin fans are and how cool it is to play in Wisconsin. The people love their football. It would be a cool opportunity to get that chance."
Nagy is one of what is believed to be about 20 players who made visits to the Packers in the weeks leading up to Thursday's draft. The Packers usually only bring in players they're going to draft in the late rounds or are going to try to sign in free agency after the seven rounds are over.
The post-draft operation has been given as much attention as the draft itself under general manager Ted Thompson, whose scouts have shown a tremendous ability to flush talent out of the bushes. Last year was the zenith of their success, pulling two major contributors (Sam Shields and Frank Zombo) as well as a budding prospect (Nick McDonald) out of the group of draft leftovers.
The 6-2 7/8, 302-pound Nagy, a native of Hudson, Ohio, isn't sure if he'll be drafted, which is normal for a player of his stature. But by virtue of his visit to the Packers and the Chicago Bears, he knows there's interest in him being part of the NFL in 2011.
The difficult part of it all is that free agency remains up in the air even after U.S. District Judge Susan Nelson on Wednesday night rejected the NFL's request to stay her injunction on the lockout. Technically, the lockout is over, but Nelson said that while the NFL seeks a stay with the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis, it does not have to sign free agents.
According to various reports, she told the league it will have to accept the consequences of how it chooses to move forward. Essentially, Nelson was warning that if owners choose not to sign players, it could be interpreted negatively by the courts should the players' antitrust case move forward.
From all indications, the NFL will take its chances and wait until the appellate court rules on whether to stay the injunction. Since the court might not rule on the stay until next week, it's likely teams will not sign undrafted free agents after the final round of the draft Saturday night.
Under normal circumstances, teams hit the phones the second the draft is over to start recruiting undrafted free agents to their teams. Usually, they offer signing bonuses of $2,500 to $5,000, but as was the case with Shields last year, it can reach $7,500 or more.
This year, should teams choose not to sign players, the undrafted market will stand cold. If Nagy isn't drafted, he would have to wait around until the NFL and the players get their act together to know where his future lies.
"Honestly, it's not in my hands," Nagy said. "My workouts and visits, those are already done. Now, I just sit back and see how it plays out. I'm going to be pretty open-minded and just see what happens."
For some agents, the secondary phase of the draft is going to be more nerve-racking than the draft itself. If the NFL operates in lockout mode, many of them would be forced to sit on their hands and wonder what will become of the players they represent.
Most agents haven't even been able to get general managers to speak to them during the draft process and don't expect that any handshake deals will be done after the draft. Even if they are, once free agency is open again, there's nothing to stop players from picking a different spot.
"If the CBA is not in place and we're approaching the regular season, you'll see more movement (signings) with veteran free agents," said agent Mark Lemire, who represents a half-dozen players in this year's draft. "I might advise my guys to keep their visibility up by playing in the UFL or CFL.
"If you can't get with an NFL team, stay involved in football. That's really the best anyone can do for guys who are not draftable. It's tough situation for all of them."
Though there is so much uncertainty, the Packers didn't hesitate to bring in some intriguing prospects such as Nagy, Colorado School of Mines linebacker Marc Schiechl, North Carolina tight end Ryan Taylor, Utah receiver / returner Shaky Smithson and Delaware cornerback Anthony Walters.
With all the uncertainty regarding free agency, teams may seek to pile up seventh-round picks so they can draft some of the players they might normally sign. It would be one way to make sure those players would be on the team when the labor situation finally clears up.


text:
Commercial Court delivers judgment on close-out valuations
LBI EHF. v Raiffeisen Zentralbank Österreich AG & Raiffeisen Bank International AG [2017] EWHC 522 (Comm)
The English High Court (Knowles J) has today ruled on issues arising out of a close-out under the Global Master Repurchase Agreement (2000 version) ("GMRA") and the Global Master Securities Lending Agreement (2000 version) ("GMSLA"). It addresses, in particular, matters relating to service of default notices by fax and valuation issues.
This claim was brought by LBI ehf (formerly Landsbanki Islands hf) ("LBI") against the Defendants arising out of the close-out in October 2008 of repo and securities lending transactions entered into by Raiffeisen Zentralbank Österreich AG ("RZB") and LBI.
On 7 October 2008, following the collapse of the Icelandic banking system the Financial Supervisory Authority of Iceland appointed a Resolution Committee to manage the affairs of LBI. That was an event which RZB was entitled to declare an Event of Default under both the GMRA and the GMSLA.
Service by fax
On 8 October 2008, RZB sent Default Notices to LBI by fax. LBI denied that either notice was received by a responsible employee of LBI, and hence contended that neither notice was effective.
Paragraph 14(b)(iii) of the GMRA and paragraph 21.1(iii) of the GMSLA both provide that a notice sent by fax will be deemed effective when:
"the transmission is received by a responsible employee of the respondent in legible form (it being agreed that the burden of proving receipt will be on the sender and will not be met by a transmission report generated by the sender's facsimile machine)."
Knowles J therefore assessed whether, on the balance of probabilities, RZB's faxes were received by a responsible employee of LBI in legible form. On the basis of the factual evidence of the parties, the judge concluded that (a) the faxes were sent by RZB to the relevant fax number; (b) there was a greater likelihood of the faxes being received in legible form rather than in illegible form; and (c) the faxes were collected by an employee with responsibility for collecting them.
LBI contended that "responsible employee" meant "an employee with responsibilities relevant to the default, i.e. someone who will recognise a … notice for what it is, and what steps will be taken as a result". Knowles J concluded that LBI's interpretation of the clause read "far too much into the phrase" as it would allow the quality of the recipient's systems and procedures to affect the position considerably and it was not accepted that the parties would intend such uncertainty.
Since an Event of Default had occurred under the GMRA and the GMSLA on 8 October 2008, the remaining issue was the subsequent close-out valuations in relation to the GMRA trades (there was no valuation issue in relation to the GMSLA trades).
No Default Valuation Notice (as defined by the GMRA) was served by RZB by the Default Valuation Time (of 15 October 2008). In those circumstances the GMRA provided, by paragraph 10(e)(ii) that:
"…the Default Market Value of the relevant Equivalent Securities … shall be an amount equal to their Net Value at the Default Valuation Time; provided that, if at the Default Valuation Time the non-Defaulting Party reasonably determines that, owing to circumstances affecting the market in the Equivalent Securities … in question, it is not possible for the non-Defaulting Party to determine a Net Value of such Equivalent Securities … which is commercially reasonable, the Default Market Value of such Equivalent Securities … shall be an amount equal to their Net Value as determined by the non-Defaulting Party as soon as reasonably practicable after the Default Valuation Time."
Paragraph 10(d)(iv) of the GMRA defines "Net Value" as:
"…the amount which, in the reasonable opinion of the non-Defaulting Party, represents their fair market value, having regard to such pricing sources and methods (which may include, without limitation, available prices for Securities with similar maturities, terms and credit characteristics as the relevant Equivalent Securities or Equivalent Margin Securities) as the non-Defaulting Party considers appropriate" (emphasis added).
In the event, as soon as the GMRA Default Notice had been dispatched to LBI, RZB asked for bids from 10 institutional counterparties. It also enlisted its own traders and sales people to help sell the positions. The response RZB received supported a decision by RZB to place orders to sell, setting a price or limit. At the time and in the (distressed market) circumstances prevailing, RZB did not consider the prices shown on Bloomberg to represent a practical and commercial realisable value. This view was based on its experience following the Lehman default in September 2008. LBI however argued that RZB should not have carried out a determination of value based on prices obtained/obtainable in a distressed market. Knowles J did not accept this.
Knowles J considered that the task for the court (citing the leading cases of Socimer Bank Ltd v Standard Bank Ltd [2008] EWCA Civ 116 and Lehman Brothers International (Europe) v Exxonmobil Financial Services BV [2016] EWHC 2699 (Comm)) was to put itself into the shoes of the decision maker (i.e. RZB, the non-Defaulting party) and ask what decision RZB would have reached, acting rationally and not arbitrarily or perversely.
Knowles J considered RZB's submissions as to fair market value based on the information actually available to it on 15 October 2008 regarding the valuation of the securities. The judge was prepared to accept that RZB's figures (including the adjustments it applied for the positions closed out after 15 October 2008) met the requirement for a rational, honest determination of fair market value as at 15 October 2008.
It was common ground that on those figures LBI's claim was bound to fail, so the claim was dismissed.
The case reaffirms that the non-defaulting party, particularly in a distressed market, is afforded a wide amount of contractual discretion in reaching a determination on "fair market value" subject to it acting rationally and not arbitrarily or perversely.
Stephenson Harwood LLP (Richard Gwynne, Stephen Davis and Jeremy Livingston) represented RZB in these proceedings.
Richard Gwynne
T: +44 20 7809 2321 M: +44 7789 873 908 Email Richard | Vcard Office: London
Jeremy Livingston
T: +44 20 7809 2086 M: +44 7825 528 217 Email Jeremy | Vcard Office: London
T: +44 20 7809 2309 M: +44 7785 552 041 Email Stephen | Vcard Office: London


text:
Władysław Łukasiuk (February 16, 1906 - June 27, 1949) (nom de guerre "Młot" or "Młot II" - "The Hammer" or "Hammer II") was a captain of the Polish Army, of the Home Army (AK), and the anti-communist underground.

Early life
He was born in Tokary to a peasant family where he finished elementary and high school. In 1929 he joined the military where he quickly advanced to the rank of platoon commander. However his official military career was cut short by an accident incurred when he was riding a horse. His left leg was paralyzed and he was released from the army.

He married Jadwiga Oksiutówna and settled in Mężenin on the Bug River where he had three children. Until the outbreak of World War II he served as the deputy Wójt (mayor) of Sarnaki and ran the village store. Some historians have speculated that he was involved in Polish military intelligence services at the time, in particular, gathering intelligence on the Polish communist Wanda Wasilewska, whom he knew personally.

Against the Nazis
Because of his injury he did not take part in the Invasion of Poland; however, he soon joined the anti-Nazi underground as part of the ZWZ and AK. He took part in the recovery of the German V2 rockets which were being tested in Poland, and their shipment to Great Britain. His unit also took part in several skirmishes with the Germans and other military actions, including the blowing up of the rail bridge on the Siedlce-Czeremha rail line However, as far as it is known, Łukasiuk did not participate in Operation Tempest because the front moved past the region he was operating in. Subsequently a plan was formed to unite all the local AK groupings and march to Warsaw to help in the Warsaw Uprising. Due to arrests and persecution of AK members by the Soviets however, the plan was not realized. After the NKVD carried out arrests and repression against the local population (including the arrest and deportation to the gulags of Władysław's brother-in-law) he decided to join the anti-communist resistance and formed a partisan unit.

Against the communists
During the first few months in the new underground, Młot's unit included four or five regular members, as well as part-time demobilized AK soldiers who remained under his orders. Few specifics are known about his actions during this period but it is known that the unit managed to stock pile an impressive arsenal of weapons out of what they brought with them from AK, from Allies' drops to the partisans and from arms left over after the front passed. In the Winter of 1944/45, still as a corporal he established contact with the Bialystok region AK command. In January 1945 he enlarged his partisan unit to a few dozen soldiers. Soon after, his group in their first skirmish with the Soviets defeated and broke up a NKVD operational group near Mężenin. Subsequently his partisans were incorporated into the much larger partisan unit of Teodor Śmiałkowski, "Szumny". His platoon distinguished itself with its battle readiness and courage. During this time, Łukasiuk took part in an underground military courses and was advanced to the rank of first lieutenant, and eventually captain.

In September 1945 "Szumny" was killed and his unit disbanded. The platoon headed by Łukasiuk decided to continue fighting against the new communist authority joined the 5th Vilnian Home Army brigade and fought several skirmishes at Skiory, Zalesie, and Miodusy Pokrzywne. After the demobilization of the brigade, still wishing to continue fighting, he came under the command of Zygmunt Szendzielarz "Łupaszka". Soon the Szendzielarz brigade moved from the left bank of the Bug river to the region of Sokołów Podlaski where, in October 1945 "Młot" was made the commander of the 6th Vilnian Brigade. He was to lead it for the next three years, ably leading it in the field, escaping numerous attempts at capture by the communists authorities and carrying it through even the most difficult of circumstances. At one point a reward of 100,000 zlotych was established by the UB for information leading to his capture.

During this time the UB arrested Łukasiuk's sister, Maria Sobolewska, after she was reported to the communist authorities by a neighbor. While arrested, she was tortured and beaten for three months but did not reveal any information about the whereabouts of her brother and refused to cooperate with the communist secret police. In 1945 she was tried for "treason against the People's Republic of Poland" and sentenced to ten years in prison, of which she served six. Because the UB knew that Łukasiuk was lame in the left leg, they resorted to arresting and torturing random people with the same handicap in the region in the hopes of catching him by accident.

Death
The official version of the communist government was that Władysław Łukasiuk "Młot" died during a short vacation from fighting in the village of Czaje-Wólka in June 1947. He was shot by one of his deputies, Czesław Dybowski, "Rejtan", because Łukasiuk had just executed Czesław's younger brother Leopold for disobeying orders (Leopold did not carry out the execution of an alleged member of the communists Polish secret police). After Czesław shot Lukasiuk he took his younger brother to the doctor. Leopold died soon, due to gangrene. The communist secret police dug up Lukasiuk's and Leopold's body and moved them to an unknown location.

Character and legacy
Władysław Łukasiuk was respected by his men for his personal courage and partisan skills. Even though he had trouble moving about due of his paralyzed leg, he would always march at the head of his unit, using his SWT-40 carbine as a crutch (even though the unit possessed several wagons for transport). He was characterized by his careful and respectful approach to the civilian population of the area, regardless of their ethnicity, class or religion and on many occasions responded to appeals from locals to combat common bandits and thieves who were plentiful in the post-war chaos. This, in addition to his continued struggle against first the Nazis and then the repressive communist authorities, made "Młot" a legend of Podlasie in his lifetime. During the communist era in Poland, however, he was officially vilified and defamed.

On 11 November 2007, the President of Poland Lech Kaczyński posthumously awarded Władysław Łukasiuk the Grand Cross of Polonia Restituta.

References

1906 births
1949 deaths
Home Army members
Cursed soldiers
Grand Crosses of the Order of Polonia Restituta

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


If you cannot find what the answer to a question in the list of frequently asked questions below, please refer to the YDSA Marine Surveyors Services website.
If there are problems your only recourse is pursuit of the vendor through the courts; which can be a long and costly procedure with unknown results.
Almost everyone you will deal with in choosing and selecting your boat will be working for the vendor. Brokers, advertisers, agents, agencies are all paid buy the vendor.
If you use a broker make sure they are professional, use a recognized form of contract (for example RYA/BMIF/ABYA if in the UK) and that your deposit is secure and returnable. In the United Kingdom, look for membership of the ABYA (the Professional Association of Yacht Brokers) and or the BMIF Boat Retailers/Brokers Scheme, which ensures a high ethical standard and established code of practice, correct paperwork and indemnity insurance.
You need to have trust and confidence in your surveyor.
How do I find a professional surveyor?
Surveyors can be found advertising in the yachting press; listed at the professional association's web sites, broker's "local or favourite" lists. Ask around in the yard, yacht club or marina or web forums for a personal recommendation.
Alarmingly there is no legislation, qualification or requisite standard to set up as a yacht surveyor. In the UK, look for a surveyor who is a fully accredited member of an established and tangible, professional body such as the YDSA, Yacht Designers and Surveyors Association, IMarEST, the Institute of Marine Science and Technology, MECAL, or the IIMS, the International Institute of Marine Surveyors (small craft section).
This ensures that the surveyor is fully accredited, scrutinized, and follows a recognized code of practice, but remember that an affiliate, student or technician grade member may have limited experience and knowledge of your type of vessel.
What points do I need to check, and and what questions do I ask, when selecting a surveyor?
Membership and Grade of Professional Association.
Is he a full time or part-time (hobby) surveyor?
Third Party Insurance. Cover for the boat/vendor/yard.
Fees. Compare Quotes - beware too cheap, you will only get what you pay for.
Ask for a sample survey; see what you might get for your money, and a reference from a previous client.
The Surveyor should be flexible to suit your needs or any special requirements and should explain and discuss the types and benefits of different surveys. The surveyor should be receptive to your enquiries, positive, helpful, willing and enthusiastic, never casual or dismissive.
Remember the Surveyor is working for you. It's your Survey.
What do I need to prepare before my survey?
Remember that it is important that the vessel is properly prepared and presented for survey. This not only ensures a good survey but ensures that you get the most benefit and value from your survey in avoiding missed items, wasted time and trips.
These simple essentials are often forgotten.
Make sure that we have full boat details and location. Confirm lift out arrangements. Confirm sea trial arrangements. Permission must be given by the owner for the removal of sample areas of bottom coatings in order to make a visual inspection for osmotic conditions.
Ensure that the yard/broker/owner know when we are coming and that all preliminary paperwork i.e. sales contract and deposit are taken care of.
The boat must be in a safe and accessible practicable location otherwise we reserve the right not to go aboard.
Remember if the weather is foul or extreme and if there is a risk that this may limit or impede your survey we may suggest that we reschedule on a better day.
Are all keys available. inc batteries, lockers and engine keys.
Batteries to be on board connected & charged. Instruments and systems to be connected. Engines should be in commission and ready to run up.
Have loose gear and sails available for inspection. Unnecessary gear and equipment and personal items should be removed from the boat. Remember we need to get into every space, under the floorboards, to the bottom of every locker and under every berth.
All yard, repair service, engineering and re-rigging invoices to be available for inspection. Title documentation to be available for inspection. Manuals to be available for inspection. Brokers/manufacturers specifications available.
Make sure that you have confirmed your booking and advised us of any specific requirements or concerns and have returned your instruction and payment.
You are welcome and encouraged to attend your survey if possible. This will give you a greater understanding of the boat and a detailed knowledge of the findings and recommendations per the survey report.
What should I expect during the survey?
If at all possible attend the survey, after all it's your survey. Ask questions and talk to your surveyor, but don't stop him doing his job.
The surveyor should explain what he is looking at and why and what it means. This is invaluable when you need to understand and quantify a technical report.
Digest your report, make notes and discuss it with your surveyor. Ask questions. It is important to understand the findings and implications of the survey report and the advice of your surveyor. You will get more meaningful information from a frank discussion than a formal report.
If you are satisfied that you can make an informed decision, renegotiate, buy the boat, or pull out. Remember that your surveyor should still be willing and available for help or advice on an ongoing basis.


You've Applied to a UC Campus! Now What?
While students have spent years working tirelessly to earn good grades and the last few months agonizing over their college applications, once those applications are finally submitted, one might argue that an equally difficult part of the process emerges . . . waiting for those admissions decisions!
Although there is little students can do while playing this waiting game, the University of California has suggested several steps students can and should take once they've submitted their applications.
"1. Print a copy of your application.
You'll want to keep a record of your application ID and a summary of your application for reference.
2. Order test score reports.
If you're a freshman or sophomore applicant, be sure to have your ACT and SAT scores reported by the testing agency. If you have your official score report sent to one campus, it will be available to all campuses to which you applied.
You can log in to your application to review and, if necessary, change your telephone number, e-mail, mailing address or SAT, ACT, TOEFL, or International Exam Scores. You can also apply to additional campuses if they're still open.
If you're a transfer student, about five weeks after the filing period has ended, you are required to update your grades and course records.
Freshmen: If you change schools, add or drop a course, or fail to earn a C or better in a course after you submit your application, you must notify the UC Application Center by email or postal mail. Your correspondence must include your name, UC Application ID number and your signature (if you mail a letter), and will be available to all the campuses to which you applied.
Transfers: If you add or drop a course, fail to earn a C or better in a course or enroll in a new college after you submit your application, log back in and update your information online.
Minor changes to your activities, awards, volunteer work, employment or personal statement are unlikely to have an impact on your admission decision. However, if you have significant updates in any of these areas, you may notify the UC Application Center (see contact information above).
Each UC campus will notify you of its admission decision, generally by March 31 if you're a fall freshman applicant or in April if you're a transfer student.
5. Submit transcripts, if admitted.
If you are admitted to UC, you must have final transcripts sent to your campus admissions office."


text:
By Meagan Simpson Canadian Startup News October 22, 2019
ModiFace, Shoppers Drug Mart partnering on virtual makeup service
Shoppers Drug Mart has a new virtual try-on beauty service thanks to a partnership with augmented reality technology company ModiFace.
ModiFace, focused on the beauty industry, came out of more than a decade of advanced facial recognition research at Stanford University and the University of Toronto. Founded in 2006, is technology has powered augmented reality experience for companies like Armani, Samsung, and L'Oréal.
Following its partnership with ModiFace, which led to a hair-styling app, L'Oréal acquired ModiFace in early 2018.
L'Oréal is also involved in the partnership with Shoppers, which will see the launch of a new digital virtual try on beauty service for online consumers in Canada. The virtual service rolled out on Monday and allows consumers to virtually try different makeup products and shades, connecting them between L'Oréal Canada, ModiFace, and Shoppers' online platforms. Consumers will be able to try makeup from Maybelline, L'Oréal Paris, NYX Professional Makeup, Lancôme, Yves Saint Laurent, and Urban Decay.
RELATED: ModiFace launches first app after L'Oreal acquisition
"We are always looking to improve the shopping experience for Canadians, both in our stores and online," said Deon Alhadeff, vice president of marketing at Shoppers. "We know how important it is to have the ability to try on products like lipsticks in-store, and now we can offer a similar experience through our website."
Parham Aarabi, CEO of ModiFace, added that the company is thrilled to partner with Shoppers, helping it towards its goal of reinventing the beauty shopping experience.
"Thanks to a precise colour rendering, enabled by our unique AI-powered technology, shoppers can easily try-on different makeup products on the Shoppers Drug Mart website and purchase the shades that fit them best," Aarabi said.
Meagan Simpson
Meagan is the Senior Editor for BetaKit. A tech writer that is super proud to showcase the Canadian tech scene. Background in almost every type of journalism from sports to politics. Podcast and Harry Potter nerd, photographer and crazy cat lady.
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