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Wedding Videos – Behind The Scenes with Tin Bird Productions | Tin Bird Productions Inc.
Weddings are great to work on, you get a lot of creative freedom and you make a product that your clients will keep and cherish forever. Each video means a lot to the people you film them for as well as their friends and families. When else do you have someone following you and your family around with a camera capturing a milestone in your lives when you are all celebrating together? That's essentially what I like most about filming weddings, how important they are to a client. When you work on bigger productions, there isn't much of a personal feel or connection to the film/commercial. Also, there are a lot of restrictions over what you can/can't do and also how things are done. Usually there are a lot of people you are working with (which can be a good thing) but it's just not the environment I prefer. I like deciding shots, filming real reactions of real people and being part of something that means so much to someone else.
Now that doesn't mean that weddings can't be stressful. They can be at times but at the end of the day, the couple is getting married surrounded by their loved ones and nothing can change that. Each wedding is different from the next and it shows in all the videos ( I couldn't do the same shots for each wedding if I tried). I like to keep it fairly simple with my camera movements and editing, I don't want my shots to look too trendy so that in 10 years I will look at them and think "…what was I thinking." I have made enough mistakes with my hair and clothes in my adolescent years to make up for that. Timeless videos are key for me!
This entry was posted in Latest Projects and tagged video, wedding by Tin Bird Productions. Bookmark the permalink.


By comparing two of the most iconic structures built for music performance over the last century, the exhibition at the Getty Research Institute illustrates some of the two cities' commonalities in a new and revealing way. The juxtaposition of Hans Scharoun's 1963 Philharmonic in Berlin and Frank Gehry's 2003 Disney Hall in L.A. brings to light strong similarities from architectural, acoustical, and musical, as well as social and urban, points of view.
Both projects can be seen as the culmination of each architect's development toward a perfect space for musical performance. Hans Scharoun had designed and built theaters before, incorporating elements that would reach their ultimate expression in the concert hall for the Berlin Philharmonic. During the long political hiatus that delayed the construction of Disney Hall by a decade, Frank Gehry had the opportunity to design the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. The formal language and expressive power of that project translated seamlessly to the Los Angeles concert hall.
Sketches and models by Scharoun and Gehry, as well as photographs of the two buildings, show a clear lineage between the two structures and their architects. To see a 1940s Scharoun watercolor sketch directly above a 2012 photograph of Disney Hall is a revelation. Further proof of a close connection is easy to find throughout the exhibition, in drawings and writings about the architecture, but also in the relationship of these firm yet fluid structures with their intended use as vessels dedicated to music.
Gehry's question "If architecture is frozen music, is music liquid architecture?" and Scharoun's statement "Music should be at the center, spatially as well as visually" sum up many of the ideas behind the two buildings.
As Scharoun continues: "Here the creation and the experience of music occur in a hall not motivated by formal aesthetics, but whose design was inspired by the very purpose it serves" (2). Although his exuberant expressionism was somewhat of an outlier within the orthodoxy of the time, Scharoun's design, completed at the height of the modern movement, is a pure expression of the shape of the main auditorium, with even the smallest ancillary space being greatly influenced by it. There are no shortcuts; the architectural form is determined by its function, artistically, acoustically, and socially.
Disney Hall, designed fifty years later, is freer in its approach. The exterior does not literally represent the auditorium, and acoustically the hall is more of a hybrid between the revolutionary vineyard concept Scharoun perfected, with terraced seating around the orchestra at center, and the traditional shoebox shape of more traditional halls.
The exhibition traces architectural history up to the present by spotlighting another concert hall by Frank Gehry, the newly completed Pierre Boulez Hall in Berlin. Another hybrid, this project places a smaller vineyard-type auditorium inside a rectangular box, all within an existing historic building, reminiscent of Gehry's DZ Bank building in Pariser Platz just down the street.
The inclusion of the Pierre Boulez Hall highlights the affinity between the two architectural main acts and reinforces the social agenda espoused by both Scharoun and Gehry. Serving the Barenboim-Said Academy, an institution that is meant to bring together Palestinian and Israeli musicians, the new Boulez Hall signifies much more than just a space for music.
A democratic, humanitarian, and utopian approach was at the core of Scharoun's work. He meant to design buildings for all people—not just the elite few. Similarly, Gehry's interpretation of donor Lilian B. Disney's wish for a garden resulted in a new public open space, and his insistence on allowing public access to walk up and around the hall has enriched the urban landscape around Disney Hall.
The dedication of Gehry's newest Berlin project to Pierre Boulez, a giant of modern classical music, is fitting as well. Scharoun's Philharmonic was meant as an experimental space, trying out new audience and stage configurations, and even orchestral arrangements, in the service of the music and its performance and experience. Likewise, Disney Hall is designed for new and contemporary music as much as for a traditional classical repertoire. Music director Esa-Pekka Salonen helped reinforce that mission, and the inclusionary approach fostered by his successor Gustavo Dudamel further expands its social relevance.
Despite all these progressive ideals, all three projects still represent the epitome of elite culture, rarified structures in a chaotic world. The concert halls represent a visionary ideal, but in both Berlin and LA countless other spaces for music exist in many other forms—more improvised, non-traditional, and open-ended, sometimes even scrappy and run-down.
Both metropolises are creative centers of film, home to the oldest large film studio in existence, Babelsberg Studio outside Berlin, and to the large-scale entertainment production complex known as Hollywood in and around Los Angeles. Film and music being closely related, the highly accomplished musicians in both cities often work on movie scores, in closed scoring stages, studio spaces, and production facilities. Away from the public eye, music is made in a multitude of different spaces.
Like the teenage addict protagonist in the movie We Children from Bahnhof Zoo (4) who looks forward to Bowie's concert, people in all circumstances are inspired and moved by music. The sound and the spaces in which it is made offer a temporary escape from sometimes-harsh reality.
Both Berlin and LA provide endless spatial opportunities for the making and production of music. The decommissioned factories used for techno dance parties in Berlin, the rock 'n' roll clubs along Sunset Strip, the thousands of garage and home studios in LA, the basement jazz clubs, the rap venues in South LA, the open-air festival grounds, the piers and squares and stadiums, are all part of a landscape of spaces for music that is less pristine and sophisticated, but maybe even more democratic than the shining temples of the concert hall.
While the three extraordinary projects featured in Space for Music represent the pinnacle of architecture and space for music and culture, they are just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.
1. Berlin/LA: Spaces for Music, Architecture and Film by Marissa Clifford and Emily Pugh.
2. Peter Blundell Jones, Hans Scharoun (London: Phaidon Press Ltd., 1995), pp. 35–36.
I'm the design and managing principal of studio bau:ton and nonzero\architecture. I received my master's of architecture degree from the Southern California Institute of Architecture and have taught and served as guest critic at SCI-Arc, USC, and UCLA, among others. My book Soundspace – Architecture for Sound and Vision offers a thematic overview of the field, incorporating architecture, art, and technology.


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Fear and Loafing in Manning Park – Fat Dog 70 Race Recap
Today my feet look almost normal. Since running the Fat Dog 70, they have been swollen and puffy like baby feet – especially the right one.
Now, a week after the race, I find myself sitting on the sofa with my baby feet elevated, wondering what is wrong with me. Why, not a week after running 70 miles in one day, do I find myself contemplating the logistics of running even farther? What's happening inside my mind (and body) that would cause such a clear defiance of logic?
When I made the decision to enter the 70-mile race I was definitely scared. The Fat Dog 120 has a reputation for being extremely tough, very remote, and a little unpredictable. Still, I had been seduced by the race reports, podcast interviews and Project Talaria's fabulous race films. Although I was signing up for the 70-mile version of the race, not the full 120, I'd never run more than 50. So when my pointer landed on the "Register" button on Ultrasignup I felt only one emotion: fear.
I registered in December of 2015, a full eight months before the race. I had completed my first 50-miler in September and, in a cloud of post-race euphoria, had immediately decided that it wasn't enough: I hadn't suffered enough; I hadn't gone to that mythical "dark place" that so many ultra-runners talk about. Not that I have a thing for suffering, but then again, do I?
Such is my conundrum with running ultra distances – I'm compelled to do it but I don't know why. When I consider the race on paper: "114 km, 16-20 hours, 4000 m of climbing, one day," it all seems totally insane. But when I mash it all together so it abstracts and put it in the context of my entire life: it's just one day. A day that could be spent at work, or relaxing by the ocean, or binge-watching House of Cards. "Just one day. How bad could it be?"
But back to the fear. The numbers are scary enough, but then there's the fact that the course winds through forest and over several peaks in the Cascade Mountains – I'd be out in remote wilderness with hours between aid stations; no teenagers handing out cups of Gatorade every couple of clicks. I would need to be ready for anything, which means gear, lots of gear. The mandatory equipment list included: two emergency blankets, two light sources, a full set of clothes, gloves, a rain jacket, food and a minimum of two litres of water. All told, 7-8 lbs that I would be required to carry for the duration of the race. Further, the course's level of difficulty guaranteed that I would be running the last leg in total darkness. And don't even get me started on the topic of bears.
The subtext of all of this is: don't die. No, really… don't.
Fat Dog 70 is a point-to-point race that starts at the top of Blackwell Peak, across the highway from Manning Park Resort. From there, you follow a trail called Heather through some alpine meadows and minor climbs before a long, long descent. It's an understatement to say that the scenery is spectacular. You are mostly exposed with a panorama of rocky peaks as far as the eye can see. You traverse grassy, wild-flower filled meadows and awe-inspiring scree fields that drop off for hundreds of feet beside the trail.
The first part of the race was casual and easy-going, with plenty of conversation and "tourist" moments. There were a few small climbs, in the 250 m range, and though I was trying to exercise my "no-effort-early" race strategy my legs felt like they'd never known a hill before. I kept a handy course elevation profile on a tiny piece of paper in my back pocket. Glancing at it periodically, I was concerned that these little peaks, the Three Brothers, barely warranted a squiggle compared to what was to come.
The 70-miler starts 50 miles into the 120 mile course. This results in what becomes a "token" aid station at the 4k mark. The first "real" aid, then, is at Nicomen Lake which at 20 km, is a long gap, even by ultra standards.
Fat Dog has two types of aid stations: Major ones, in parks and areas with easy road access, and Minor ones, which are literally out in the bush. These aid stations are only "minor" because they are remote, well away from any roads, and it takes a huge amount of dedication and effort to set up and work them. All supplies, including gallons and gallons of water must be hiked in, and at the end of the race, what isn't used must be hiked back out. Nicomen Lake was one such station and after almost a half-marathon it appeared, like an oasis in the trees.
In addition to food, aid stations offer many things: relief, support, mini-goals and opportunities to see friendly faces and family after what can be hours alone on the trail, but something that I discovered that day is that they are also like doorways. There is a phenomenon that I experience, more often than I prefer, that when I walk from one room into another I will lose the thought stream that I was just in the midst of. A team of researchers at the University of Notre Dame has done a study on this "doorway effect", which supports a theory that some memories have a useful shelf-life, after which they disappear to be replaced by something new. Perhaps there's some evolutionary basis to this: as you can't hold on to every single memory, the brain purges some short-term memories based on circumstances to make room for more current, relevant information.
Early in a long race like Fat Dog, you may not need the real goods that an aid station provides as much as you will later. Your own food and water supplies are still okay, your feet are still relatively fresh, and the suffering has not yet begun, but aid stations facilitate a form of mental reset. You can walk through that doorway and forget all the thought-patterns that were swirling around your head and replace them with something more useful. Or maybe a just a new ear-worm.
Leaving Nicomen, I knew that there was 18 km (another long way!) to the next station at Cayuse Flats. From there it was only another 8 km to my first major goal, the aid station at Cascade, where I would see my family. The voice in my head said: "It's a long way to Cayuse, but once I get there, a mere 8 km to my family, and lunch."
The rockier, exposed aspects of Heather Trail give way to a rooty and forested descent to Cayuse Flats. Though mostly runnable, you descend for a long time. When you think you've reached the bottom, it descends some more. You keep on descending before finally reaching a steep descent to a river crossing spanned by a couple of giant logs, the marker that you've reached Cayuse Flats aid station.
Heather Trail
Long downhills are a blessing and a curse. Run wisely, and you can save a lot of energy but because the impact forces are much greater than on the flats, you're always treading a fine line between free speed and pounding your legs into pudding. I also experience more foot abuse running downhills, with black toenails, corns and blisters to show for it. After about 10k of descent, my body was starting to object, and I could feel the spectre of doubt creeping into my consciousness. "Ooh, my hips and back are really tight, and is that a blister forming on my big toe? I am one-third into this race, if this gets worse and worse… if…if…if…" But it was only 8 more km to Cascade, where Elise and our kids would be waiting.
As I left Cayuse, I heard someone ask: "only 8 k?" To which someone else responded: "yeah, but it's deceiving." The course map showed the Cayuse-Cascade section running beside the Crowsnest Highway but what was not apparent was that the trail climbed up and down the side of the adjacent mountain. At times you could look to your left and see the highway hundreds of feet below you. As I hiked up yet another steep incline, I was starting to feel like Sisyphus, the disgraced king from Greek mythology whose punishment was to push a boulder up to the top of a hill, only to watch it roll back to the bottom – for all eternity. But it was only eight more kilometres.
I started to have difficulty fantasies: daydreaming about how difficult a task I was involved in. "This is the hardest thing I've ever done." Or more accurately, "if this gets harder and harder and I finish this thing, it will definitely be the hardest thing I have ever done." But then I realized it wasn't so much that it was the hardest thing that I had ever done, but that I was projecting forward to when I would meet Elise and I would tell her about how this was the hardest thing I had ever done, and how cathartic it would be to tell her this when in fact, in that isolated moment, it really wasn't.
When I stumbled into Cascade aid station at 46 km, predictably, I said to Elise: "this is the hardest thing I've ever done. I think I may need to recalibrate my goals." I was feeling rough and starting to give serious consideration to the question of whether I would make it to the finish line. I didn't know if the soles of my feet were going to hold out, or my hips. I chugged back some high fat yoghurt while Elise helped me prepare for the next leg. I wouldn't see her again until the 50 mile mark so I was concerned that I would not have enough food for the next 35 km. She stuffed most of what she had into various pockets on my pack and said "Remember, you are in the most beautiful place in the world!"
The next three kilometres were the lone stretch of course that was not on trail. It was 1 pm, we were closing in on peak heat and if you had asked me what I wanted to do at that precise moment, I would not have told you: "I want to put on an enormous, sweaty, fluorescent yellow safety vest and run 3 km down the side of the highway." But that's what I did. As my family drove by me screaming and hooting out the windows in encouragement, all I could muster was a slightly raised hand and a nausea-induced grimace. The highway was noisy, oncoming traffic was fast and aggressive and the day-glow vest was like a portable greenhouse. I pulled into Sumallo Aid Station and eagerly discarded the vest, grabbed some bacon (mmm, bacon) for the road and passed a fellow racer having a heart-felt conversation with an aid station volunteer about dropping out: "…but you've made it this far…" said the volunteer. At least I was still moving forward.
Another doorway.
All of sudden: buttery forest trail, a cool mountain creek and mildly undulating terrain. The 17 km stretch between Sumallo and Shawatum aid stations is a bit of a blur, but I found myself running again, feeling the soft, forgiving ground under my feet, marvelling at the giant, old-growth cedars and stopping occasionally to dip my hat into a cool creek. The rugged difficulty of the first 50 k had been replaced by much gentler terrain, and just in time.
My goals renewed: 17 km to aid, then 15 to Elise (at Skyline Aid Station). After that, I felt like if I had to hike the rest of the way, I could and would. Before the race, I had figured a finishing time of 17 to 18 hours, but as I ran, my perspective changed. I stopped fixating on the idea of finishing and started focusing on the reality of the 17 or 18 hours. This was not a running race, it was an endurance race. It was not a tidy little package that I could fit into a morning, and then be home in time for dinner and a movie. It was a messy, scrappy, scrabble to the finish, filled with mud and blood, sweat and mosquito bites, so I'd better just settle in for the ride.
Suddenly I had a keen sense of "just being out here" and strange comfort in the idea that all I needed to do was to keep moving forward and relax into the experience of it. Thinking about what came before, or what was ahead, except in the most practical terms, had no place here. Pressure and expectation melted away and with it, stress and suffering. I ran when I was able, and when I that became too much, I walked with purpose. It was all very surprising.
Shawatum aid station was lovely. The group of volunteers and runners that had congregated cheered everyone who came in. They had pizza, an outhouse labelled: the "Shawatty potty" and they just wanted to help. I left with spirits buoyed but unable to run, so I walked for a while. Just 15 more kilometres and then the "big hike."
The section from Shawatum to Skyline – more rolling forest single track – introduced a new motivating factor: bugs. If I didn't want to turn into a parasite buffet, I had to run. Though I cursed the little blood-suckers as I ran, I do owe them some gratitude for helping me pick up the pace.
At Skyline, Elise had gathered from the aid station volunteers that the average time for the final leg was 9 hours, and some runners were trying for five. Having had a lot of time to contemplate this in the last 30k, I estimated how long it would take me. By my calculations, hiking 13 km up a mountain to the next aid station would take me around 3 hours. Even if I did a moderate walk the rest of the way, at say 12-minute/km pace, I could finish the final 20 km in four hours. "I think seven hours," I told her. Here was further proof that my attitude had shifted. It was 6 pm and after 50 miles and eleven hours of running, I had just told my wife that I was going for a seven hour hike – and this DID NOT SEEM INSANE. It was merely a statement of fact.
As I started up Lone Goat Mountain, which offers about 1250 m of elevation over 10k, I immediately felt terrible. My normally iron gut was squishy and the tightness in my shoulders from years of computer work was turning my hydration pack into a monkey with a death grip. Each footfall seemed torturously slow.
An actual view along the Fat Dog course
Then I had a minor revelation, or at least something that seems like a revelation when you are strung out in the midst of running 100 km. "My shoulders are killing me, so what if I use some walking sticks to support my arms?" The sides of the trail were littered with fallen branches. I found two of suitable length, gripped them, and marched on. My kids, both boys, love finding sticks to play with, but as they are usually used as weapons, I've had little appreciation for them. But these sticks! On the fly, in the most caveman of ways, I had discovered the profound mechanical advantage of trekking poles.
The sticks relieved my shoulder pain and more than that, they helped me get into a rhythm. My legs felt lighter, my stride stronger. My upper body, which had been largely neglected for the last 12 hours, had fresh strength to give. Dana Krakaw, (3rd place woman), danced by me, poles delicately clicking. Then Chloe Gendron (second place woman) and her pacer marched steadily by me, poles swinging rhythmically. There was a trekking pole party going on and I had inadvertently crashed it.
By the time I reached the top of the first peak, I was running again and feeling stronger, and having something of a love affair with a pair of sticks. The sun was well down at this point and the drama and majesty of the moment was almost overwhelming. Under the light of the gibbous moon, sharp peaks silhouetted in the darkness all-around, I was moving through the cool air, alone, guided by a circle of light from my headlamp and the next reflective trail marker, shining like a beacon in the distance. I paused every now and again just to hear the silence (and distant whooping of a fellow runner).
Then, a cowbell: I was approaching Camp Mowich, a truly remote aid station where warm people and warm coffee awaited. Under the stars, the romance was not lost on me. They urged me to take food, as whatever wasn't eaten would need to be packed out, but strangely, I was not hungry, just eager to push on. My sticks carried me to the final aid station at Sky Junction, which appeared out of the inky blackness, literally on the side of a mountain. Just being there, finally cracking 100 km, being offered a slice of salami and a soft seat to rest for a moment, I felt immense gratitude – the aid station team was so welcoming and kind. Nearing midnight in the middle of nowhere, I passed through the final doorway onto the final leg home.
But more challenges lay ahead: three "small" summits to clear, the second of which was so steep it reduced me, cursing, to a hobble, before the final long descent to Lightning Lakes, and the finish. From the top of the mountain, the trail dropped off, steep and rocky. A man in a tent emerged to say: "Almost there! 7 km to go and it's all downhill." I picked away at the initial steep, technical section, before plunging below the tree line and onto long runnable switchbacks. I tucked in behind a 120-miler and her pacer, who still had legs at the end of their long journey, and we cruised down the final descent with what seemed like speed – it was the perfect grade to just roll. Now, holding my newfound stick friends in each hand, I fantasized about carrying them to the finish line and showing them to my boys, glowing with my new appreciation for dead wood. Then my foot caught a root and I crashed hard, breaking them both.
I picked myself up and carried on without my faithful sticks, our five-hour relationship coming to a painful end. At the bottom of the descent the course markers were replaced by glow sticks. I didn't know the exact distance remaining to the finish line, but I found myself running as fast as I could, feeling no pain. I didn't know how long I'd be able to keep up the pace and I did pause for a moment to wonder if I could. But if there was one resounding lesson I learned that day, it was: don't have doubts based on some possible future, what matters is how you feel right now. And now, I felt like running hard and running home.
So was it the hardest thing I've ever done? The answer is: it doesn't matter. It was difficult and spectacular and painful and joyful and an experience like nothing else I've had before. Yes it was hard, but it was so much more. At the beginning of the journey I was filled with expectation and a little dread. By the end, it had all been stripped away. The only way that I was going to get through it was to crowd out thoughts of what might be, and what had been, and just keep moving.
I haven't come any closer to answering the question "why?", but I think I've learned that sometimes you don't need to ask – that answers don't always come from questions, sometimes they just come from taking the next step.
And great swag too!
Post Script:
Fat Dog is an amazing and special race put on by passionate and dedicated people. Despite my fears, there was never a time during the race when I had any real reason to be scared. The course markings were excellent – it would have been difficult to get lost. And the volunteers were truly awesome. If you don't think you can run 40, 50, 70 or even 120 miles, don't be so sure.
A huge thanks and massive hat tip to Race Directors Heather MacDonald and Peter Watson of Mountain Madness for putting on a race that fulfills its promise of being one of the toughest and most scenic ultras in the country.
And thank you Elise for supporting my habit, wrangling our kids, and for putting in seven hours of driving that day to help me during the race.
fat dog 70
Previous Food Matters – Feeding the Central Governor
Next Random Learnings from Fat Dog 70
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Home/RubyMine/JetBrains TV: on Air with all RubyMine screenscasts
JetBrains TV: on Air with all RubyMine screenscasts
Eugene Toporov September 2, 2010
For some time now, we've had requests from the community to have a central point where people could have access to Screencasts and other Video related material that we provide. In response to that, we are happy to announce the availability of JetBrainsTV (Beta!).
The content is organized by Channels, currently one per product, although we will be expanding that to include other topics in the near future. Most of this content, if not all, is tagged with keywords, allowing you to easily locate topics you are interested in. In addition, the cross-cutting nature of the tags allow you to discover new things, for instance functionality that you knew existed in IntelliJ IDEA but weren't aware that RubyMine also provided.
Content can be voted and commented on, neither of which require you to create an account. Voting is anonymous and comments can be left as a Guest user or using other social media accounts such as Twitter, Disqus or OpenId (obviously based on level of Spam we might have to adjust this in the future).
JetBrains TV is not only a platform to offer centralized screencasts, but also a chance for community members to contribute. By signing in (click on the link in the top right-hand corner), you can upload your own videos, providing you a platform for other community members to see your work. The sign-up process is easy, in fact, you might not even need to create an account. Since it uses the consolidated JetBrains account, if you've contributed to the forums or the JetBrains developer community, you're good to go!
Although it is still in Beta, there's quite a lot of content on there already and we hope that by opening it up to the community early, we can improve things based on your valuable feedback.
PS. To support our love for dogfooding we've implemented the TV site with PHP and Drupal using PhpStorm IDE. PhpStorm team has received a good bunch of feedback they wanted.
RubyMine 2.5 EAP (96.1085): Spellchecker in VCS commit messages
RubyMine 2.5 EAP (96.886): PowerSave mode
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RubyMine 2020.3.1 is Available with Support for Apple Silicon
RubyMine 2020.3.1, the first bug-fix update for v2020.3, is now available! Starting with this update, Mac users with the new M1 chip can download builds made specifically for Apple Silicon. Please note that to switch to this version you'll have to install RubyMine either using the Toolbox app or by downloading it from our website. The JetBrains Runtime (JBR) has been updated to 11.0.9.1+11-b1145.63 with the following improvements and bug-fixes: Added support for the new Apple M1 chip: JBR-2526 Fixed IDE crashes: JBR-2562 In this update, you'll find these important fixes: Removed a false wa
December 30, 2020 by Nataliia Kudanova
RubyMine 2020.3 Released
RubyMine 2020.3 is now available! To learn about all the new features, please visit our What's New page. Here are some of the biggest highlights of this year's last major release. Git staging support The long-awaited support for Git staging is here! Now you will be able to stage changes directly from the IDE. Interactive hints in the debugger You can now click on interactive inline hints while debugging your application. These hints show all of a variable's fields, and you can even update their values. Improved user experience RubyMine 2020.3 comes with a load of improvements for the user ex
December 1, 2020 by Nataliia Kudanova


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Francisco Javier Nevárez Pulgarín (ur. 3 grudnia 2000 w Ciudad Juárez) – meksykański piłkarz występujący na pozycji prawego obrońcy, od 2018 roku zawodnik Juárez.

Bibliografia

Meksykańscy piłkarze
Piłkarze FC Juárez
Ludzie urodzeni w Ciudad Juárez
Urodzeni w 2000

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Q: Probability mass function similarity Consider this:
Five cards are individually drawn from a shuffled 52-card deck. The corresponding probability space is (Ω, F, ℙ). Define a random variable $X$: Ω → ℝ, which has the same probability mass function $f$, as the random variable representing the value of a single roll of a dice. I.e. $f(x)$ = ℙ{$X = x$} = 1/6, when $x$ ∈ {1,2,...,6}.
As a hint: 48 is divided by 6, and if we have a fixed a set of 48 cards, then at least one of them is included in a set of five cards.

A: As a fair die has the same chance of showing each face, you are asked to come up with a strategy that takes the set of five card draws from a standard pack and produces a random number from $1$ to $6$ with all numbers equally probable.  If we were given five flips of a coin we would note that there are $32$ possible results of flipping a coin five times.  We would choose five of those to represent $1$, five to represent $2$ and so on.  We would have two left over and if we got one of those we would have to flip again.
There are $52\cdot 51\cdot 50\cdot 49\cdot 48=311875200$ ordered five card draws from a deck.  As this is divisible by $6$ you can separate them into six equal groups and always have a result of a number $1$ to $6$.  The hint suggests one way that is easier to remember than others.

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Book Dipo
Dipo Adesina
From Being Jobless to Building A Multi Million Naira Tranportation Business With Uber
For the past decade I have been traveling to Nigeria to explore the business opportunities in the nation, and to also empower the young people in the largest country in Africa to take ownership of their lives, while relying less on the government to meet their needs. Once in a while, I come in contact with a vibrant entrepreneur that exemplifies what it means to take control of your life, and during my recent trip to Nigeria I was not surprised when I met Francis as he shared his remarkable story with me.
After graduating from the University, and completing his NYSC in 2014 Francis was fortunate to get a job with a real estate firm, a goal that millions of Nigerians struggle to reach after graduating. His long term goal was to one day own his own estate as he was already growing fast within the sector. However, two years later, that dream was shattered as there was a big administrative decision that led to the liquidation of the firm.
There were two options at this junction for Francis, to sit at home while waiting for the next opportunity to come by, or to think outside of the box and create an opportunity for himself. He chose the latter option. During our conversation, Francis narrated his story of how he went from being unemployed to becoming an employer within one year of leaving the real estate sector.
"I had always been interested in transportation even while I worked with the firm. But when they started owing salaries and retrenching staff, I was still expected to stick around with no pay or benefits. I guess it was because I played a very key role at the company. Nevertheless, as a result of the horrible working conditions though, I decided to quit my job in 2015 and pursue my passion. I spoke to my personal cab driver, who always took me to the airport when I wasn't driving, and he introduced me to an airport chauffeuring company." "I registered my personal vehicle as an airport taxi because I had bills to pay. 6 months down the line, business wasn't going well. Flights were coming in and going out with thousands of passengers everyday
and yet, we at the airport weren't getting trips. My curiosity kicked me in the back side, so I had to ask the management what was wrong. He told
me there was a new platform in town that's more flexible, customer friendly and convenient for riders. It's called Uber. Without missing a beat, I immediately downloaded the app and registered." "Here is the interesting part of my story. Through all this turmoil, I still somehow managed to keep my eyes on the big picture. I've never given up hope, on myself or my dreams. Life has its way of throwing you up and down like a roll coaster ride, but my key word has always been "focus", eyes on the goal." "When I went to the Uber office in Abuja to register, I saw partners (car owners) and many young men (drivers) coming to look for partners. The partners didn't know whom to entrust their vehicles, and the drivers didn't know how to get a partner to trust them with their vehicle. As I sat there with my thoughts, watching, an idea "Mobility Services Limited" jumped right at me. It was a eureka moment!" "Yes, I started my company from the existing Uber platform. The idea of Mobility Services is to solve transportation problems, bring lasting solutions and resolve the doubts and fears that always comes to every transport investors' mind. As a company, we take all the risks involved in finding a driver to trust, we also source for partners that want to invest in Uber business to make extra income for themselves on the side and help them manage their fleets. And all they had to do was sit back and receive their alerts weekly. My job is to monitor the drivers, follow-up on them regularly, ensure the cars were always in good condition etc. I basically take away all the hassle. I was charging 10% from their monthly funds that was remitted, for a start." "Now, the questions people often ask me is, "how did you get people to trust you with their cars? It's simple. I have three core values in this business: transparency, integrity, and referral. Let me explain, I pitch my idea clearly, open up to them about how everything works, no hidden agendas, no "corner-corner". Then I persuade them, letting them understand and trust that their money and their investment is safe with me. I convince them with the major selling points of the investment, telling them how lucrative it is. And when I finally get the cars, I keep to the terms of agreement, fulfilling my promise and so I get referrals. Simple." Someone might also ask, how did you get your first cars? My answer is good relationships. I kept good relationships with my clients at the real estate firm. So I leveraged on this one fact "everybody wants an extra source of income no matter how intermittently it comes." Someone bought four cars, which I started with, then I grew from there. In 6 months "with referrals", I grew to twenty and counting. The platform gave me an opportunity to expand and put my name on the map. As the future keeps looking bright, I have a clearer vision of what I really want: I'm going to own an airline. I'll call it "Delight Air". You should watch out for it!" "One major lesson I've learned through all of this is that : the Nigerian system has failed the youths. Yes, but would you rather stay back, cross your arms and legs and allow the government's policy affect your decisions, your dreams and your life. No, don't let that happen. Let me share this thought with you that keeps me going: do what you love and love what you do. It doesn't matter what people think or do, trust me, what they think about you can't pay your bills. But if you love what you do and are genuinely happy, all your hard work will definitely pay off." "I encourage everyone, especially youths in difficult systems that seem to be working against them: stay curious, stay teachable, always seek that thing you love and when you find it, work hard at it."
After hearing Francis' story, I was deeply moved mainly because he did not allow the obstacles that hinders many of his peers to hold him back.
One thing is for sure, anyone who desires to be successful must make it their aim to seek out opportunities and act on them, that is the only way to escape the world of lack and poverty.
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© 2023 by Dipo Inspires, all rights reserved


Ryan is a gifted professional graphic designer and the creative tech genius behind the new, much-improved ZekeFilm website. He and his wife live and work in St. Louis, MO with their four boys.
Sylwinn is the hard-working "woman behind the curtain" at ZekeFilm, tending to the day-to-day needs of the organization. She's lived in St. Louis most her life, and enjoys gardening, cooking, sewing and reading. Sylwinn is a certified birth doula serving the greater St. Louis area.


Seek student commitment early in the semester to take on Diplomacy Lab projects.
Develop clear expectations in terms of the respective roles of the supervising professor and the students who are working on Diplomacy Lab projects. For example, think about how frequently you will require status updates; and how frequently you will review drafts of student work.
Be prepared to engage in video and teleconferences throughout the semester to provide students with the opportunity to interact with State Department officials and to receive feedback. These meetings also help clarify any questions you may have on your project and ensure that you are on the right track. Try to set up the dates in advance to avoid scheduling conflicts.
Solicit initial feedback on the direction of research from the Department of State point of contact early.
Determine early in the semester what the final product that is submitted will look like, e.g., how many pages, format, etc. If several students will be researching and submitting contributions, who will coordinate submission of a final report? How will the various contributions be streamlined? Will students combine the submissions or professors?
Have a set timeline that builds in adequate time for review and editing prior to the submission of the final product to the Department of State.
Seek additional advice and in-class presentations. Contact Michael Hamburger or Nick Cullather.


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Songket is a Tenun fabric that belongs to the brocade family of textiles of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. It is hand-woven in silk or cotton, and intricately patterned with gold or silver threads. The metallic threads stand out against the background cloth to create a shimmering effect. In the weaving process the metallic threads are inserted in between the silk or cotton weft (latitudinal) threads in a technique called supplementary weft weaving technique.

Songket is often associated with the Srivijaya Empire as the origin of the songket tradition, several types of popular Songket can not be separated from locations that were once under Srivijaya rule, one of the dominant locations which is also believed to be the capital of the Srivijaya Empire in the past, namely Palembang, which located in South Sumatra, Indonesia. Besides Palembang, several areas in Sumatra are also the best-in-class Songket producing locations, which include areas in Minangkabau or West Sumatra such as Pandai Sikek, Silungkang, Koto Gadang, and Padang. Outside of Sumatra, songket is also produced by regions such as Bali, Lombok, Sambas, Sumba, Makassar, Sulawesi, and other areas in Indonesia.

Due to the historical factors of the Srivijaya Empire, trade, and mixed marriages, Songket has also become popular in the Maritime Southeast Asia region, especially in countries around Indonesia such as Brunei, Malaysia, and Singapore.

Based on the analysis conducted on the statues at the Bumiayu temple, South Sumatra, it can be seen that songket has been worn by the people of South Sumatra since the 8th century CE, when Srivijaya was based in Palembang. This statue was found at the Bumiayu Temple Archaeological Site which is located on the downstream bank of Lematang River which empties into Musi River, precisely in Tanah Abang District, Penukal Abab Lematang Ilir Regency approximately 120 km to the west of Palembang City.

In Indonesia, five songket traditions are recognised as Intangible Cultural Heritage by the Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture.
They are songket traditions of Palembang and Sambas, both appointed in 2013; Pandai Sikek songket of West Sumatra, appointed in 2014; songket tradition of Beratan, Bali appointed in 2018; and Silungkang songket tradition of West Sumatra, appointed in 2019. In 2021, UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) officially recognized Songket Malaysia as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.

Etymology

The term songket derived from the Malay word of sungkit, which means "to hook". It is referred to the method of songket making; to hook and pick a group of threads, and then slip the gold and silver threads in it. Another theory suggested that it was constructed from the combination of two terms; tusuk (prick) and cukit (pick) that combined as sukit, modified further as sukit and finally songket. Some says that the word songket was derived from songka, a Palembang cap in which gold threads was first woven.

The Malay word menyongket means 'to embroider with gold or silver threads'. Songket is a luxury product traditionally worn during ceremonial occasions as sarong, shoulder cloths or head ties and tanjak, a headdress songket. Songket were worn at the courts of Kingdoms in Sumatra especially the Srivijaya, as the source and the origin of Malay culture in Southeast Asia. In the early kingdom age, Songkets are also traditionally worn as an apparel by the Malay royal families in Sumatra such as the Deli Sultanate in Medan, Serdang Sultanate, Palembang Sultanate in Palembang and the recently restored royal house in Jambi and the Malay Peninsula such as the Pattani Sultanate, Sultanate of Kelantan, Terengganu Sultanate. Traditionally women are the weavers of songket, however in this modern time men also are known to weave it as well.

Songket is known in many names in vernacular Indonesian languages. Other than in Sumatra and Malay peninsula, it is also commonly known as songket in Bali and Java. While it is known as songke in Manggarai, Flores, and Bima in Sumbawa. The Karo Batak of North Sumatra, call it jongkit. People in Ternate, Maluku, call it suje, while the Buginese in South Sulawesi call it subbi' and arekare' and the Iban Dayak in West Kalimantan and Sarawak call it pilih or pileh.

History

Songket weaving traditions at first, historically associated with Srivijaya empire, a wealthy 7th to 13th-century maritime trading empire based on Sumatra. Palembang and Minangkabau Pandai Sikek area are the best and the most famous songket producers in Indonesia. According to a Palembang folk tradition that has been narrated for generations, the origin of songket came from the Chinese traders who brought silk threads, while the Indian or Middle Eastern traders brought gold threads. Subsequently, the woven combination has become the exquisitely shimmering golden songket. It associated with areas of Malay settlement in Sumatra, and the production techniques could have been introduced by Indian or Arab merchants.

Songket is a luxurious textile that required some amount of real gold leaves and gold threads to be hand-woven into exquisite fabrics, surely it has become a symbol of luxury and social status. Historically the gold mines are located in Sumatra hinterland; Jambi and Minangkabau Highlands. Although gold threads were found buried in the Srivijaya ruins in Sumatra, along with unpolished rubies and pieces of gold plate, there is no corroborating evidence that the local weavers used gold threads as early as 7th century to early 8th century.

Based on archaeological data, it can be seen that songket has been known by the people of South Sumatra since the 9th century CE, as seen in ancient statues cloths motifs from the site of the Bumiayu temple complex in Penukal Abab Lematang Ilir Regency, South Sumatra Province, Indonesia. At that time the use of songket was reserved only for the nobility, as seen from the statues which were probably the deified personification of a king. The evidence for the existence of songket can be seen on the lepus motifs found on the vest worn by Figure 1 at the Bumiayu temple complex. The use of lepus motif shows the continuity of that motif that has been around since the 9th century.

The description of textiles reminiscent of songket can be found in 10th century Chinese source form Song dynasty. In 992 the envoy from She-po (Java) arrived in Chinese court bearing a lot of gifts, consists of silk woven with floral motifs made of gold threads, ivories, pearls, silk of various colours, fragrant sandalwood, cotton clothes of various colours, turtle shells, betel nut preparation kit, kris dagger with exquisite hilt made of rhino horn and gold, rattan mat with the image of white cockatoo, and a small model of house made of sandalwood adorned with valuable ornaments.

Studies of Javanese statues dated from Indonesian Hindu-Buddhist period between 8th to 15th centuries provides a glimpse of the fashion during that period. These statues were decorated elaborately including textiles pattern. The details of kain lower garment of Durga Mahisasuramardini form the 13th-century Singhasari temple near Malang, shows elaborately carved tassels which suggests goldwork decoration. The costume is completed with two sashes draped over the legs carved with bunga bintang or "star flower" motifs, a pattern that continues today in songket design. The precision of stone carved textile suggests the designs are unlikely an invention of sculptor's imagination, and more likely to have replicated a cloth that existed at the time.

According to Kelantan tradition this weaving technique came from the north, somewhere in the Cambodia-Siam region and expanded south into Pattani, and finally reach the Malay court of Kelantan and Terengganu as early as the 16th century. The weaving of songket continues as a small cottage industry on the outskirts of Kota Bharu and Terengganu. However, Terengganu weavers believe that songket weaving technique was introduced to Malaysia from India through Sumatra's Palembang and Jambi where it probably originated during the time of Srivijaya (7th to 11th century).

Much documentation is sketchy about the origins of the songket but it is most likely that songket weaving was brought to Peninsular Malaysia through intermarriages between royal families. This was a common occurrence in the 15th century for sealing strategic alliances. Production was located in politically significant kingdoms because of the high cost of materials; the gold thread used was originally wound with  real gold leaf.

The use of songket vest with lepus motif as described in the statue of the Bumiayu temple, was also popular during the Islamic Palembang Sultanate period from the 16th to 19th centuries, and limited only for the upper class of the society. After the collapse of the sultanate, songket began to spread among non-aristocrats.

Songket as king's dress was also mentioned by Abdullah bin Abdul Kadir writings in 1849.

Tradition

Songket is traditionally considered an exquisite, luxurious and prestigious traditional fabric, only worn for special occasions, religious festivals, and traditional social functions. It has become a required garment for brides and grooms for their weddings, as in the traditional wedding costumes of Palembangese, Minangkabau and Balinese people.

In Indonesian tradition, songket has become a marker of social status. Traditionally a certain songket motif is reserved for particular social status. For example in Palembang songket tradition, the lepus motifs were originally reserved only for bangsawan (royalty, nobles or aristocrats). Indeed songket is employed as the social marker of the wearer, even as far as to inform the marital status of the wearer. In old Palembang, widows wore outstanding selendang (shoulder cloth) songket to disclose their social and marital status. There are two kinds of specific songket motifs for widows; those for widows eligible for remarriage is called songket janda berias (dress up widow songket), and those for widow brides is called songket janda pengantin (widow bride songket).

Today, songket are usually made from affordable materials, such as using artificial gold threads made of nylon instead of pure gold threads. Nevertheless, there are few rare songket that is actually made from real gold threads. These are precious textiles that are held as pusaka or heirloom passed down for generations within a family.

Today, songket is mostly worn in traditional settings as traditional costumes for weddings or any traditional ceremonies. Several efforts has been conducted to promote songket as a popular fabric for fashion, either locally and abroad. During the Dutch colonial era, West Sumatran songket were exhibited in the Netherlands. The Sawahlunto Songket Carnival was held in Sawahlunto, West Sumatra in August 2015. The songket carnival featured a parade and exhibition with participants from numbers of songket studios across West Sumatra. The carnival, held on 28 August 2015, was recorded in the Indonesian Museum of Records for the most people wearing songket at a same time, with 17,290 people wearing Silungkang songket during the event.

Several exhibitions has been held to preserve and promote the traditional art of songket making, such as the songket exhibition held in 2015 by Jakarta Textile Museum, which showcased around 100 pieces of songket from various Indonesian provinces.

Today, songket has become a source of inspiration for contemporary fashion designers who draw ideas from this traditional art.

Songket making

Equipments and materials
There are two categories of songket weaving equipments; the main weaving equipment made from wooden or bamboo frame; and the supporting equipment which includes thread stretching tool, motif making tool, thread inserting and picking tools. The materials for making songket consist of cotton or silk threads or other fibers as the base fabric and decoration threads made from golden, silver or silk threads. It is believed that in ancient times, real gold threads were used to create songket; the cotton threads were run along heated liquid gold, coating the cotton and creating gold thread. However today because the scarcity and the expensiveness of real gold threads, imitation gold or silver threads are commonly used instead.

Technique
The songket technique itself involves the insertion of decorative threads in between the wefts as they are woven into the warp, which is fixed to the loom. They are inserted as part of the weaving process, but not necessary in the making of the cloth. There are four types of supplementary weft weaving technique: continuous, discontinuous, inlaid and wrapped.

Songket weaving is done in two stages, weaving the basic cloth with even or plain weaving and weaving the decoration inserted into basic cloth, this method is called "inlay weaving system". The shining gold, silver or silk threads were inserted and woven into the plain weave base cloth in certain motifs, creating a shimmering effect of golden pattern against darker plain background. Songket weaving is traditionally done as a part-time job by young girls and older women in between their daily domestic chores. The complicated process of songket making is believed to cultivate virtues, as it reflects the values of diligence, carefulness and patience.

Patterns
There are hundreds of songket motifs. In Palembang tradition, songket is inseparable from the lives of the people who wear it during important events such as births, marriages, and death. Palembang songket recognises several types of songket patterns; they are lepus, tretes, limar, tawur, bungo, and rumpak songkets. Examples of Palembang songket motifs are naga besaung, pucuk rebung, biji pare, bintang berante, bintang kayu apuy, bungo mawar, bungo melati, bungo cino, bungo jepang, bungo intan, bungo pacik, cantik manis, lepus berakam, pulir, nampan perak, tabur limar and tigo negeri.

Production centers

In Indonesia, songket is produced in Sumatra, Kalimantan, Bali, Sulawesi, Lombok and Sumbawa. In Sumatra the famous songket production centers is in Minangkabau Pandai Sikek area, and Koto Gadang in Agam Regency, also Silungkang area in Sawahlunto, West Sumatra, Jambi City, Jambi and Palembang, South Sumatra. In Bali, songket production villages can be found in Klungkung regency, especially at Sidemen and Gelgel village. The Klungkung Market is a popular spot to shop Balinese songket, as it offers wide collection of this traditional fabrics.

While in the neighboring island of Lombok, the Sukarara village in Jonggat district, Central Lombok regency, is also famous for songket making. In this village, learning how to weave a good songket is an obligation for the Sasak women. Weaving songket is usually done by women during their spare time, and subsequently this traditional skill has enabled them to earn money for their family.

Further production areas include the east coast of the Malay Peninsula especially in Terengganu, Kelantan, and Brunei.

Gallery

See also

Batik
Ikat
Sarong
Tapis

References

Further reading

Figured fabrics
Bruneian culture
History of Asian clothing
Indonesian clothing
Malay clothing
Malaysian culture
National symbols of Indonesia
Supplementary weave
Indonesian inventions


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Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)Immigration Enforcement
The ICE Ruse: How Agents Impersonate Local Law Enforcement and Lie to Make Arrests
Advocates say these tactics erode trust in city agencies
BY Felipe De La Hoz Jun 18, 2018
This article was co-published with The Daily Beast.
It was early in the morning when Miguel found his Brooklyn apartment surrounded by people clad in vests emblazoned: "POLICE."
He had refused to open the door when they first knocked. One of the men had called his cellphone to say, in Spanish, that they had been sent by his probation officer. The voice on the other end of the line was calm, beckoning him out.
"We're police from probations," the man said, according to Miguel*. "We have some papers here that you need to come out and sign, and then you can go back in no problem, we'll leave. We only want to verify that you live here."
It didn't add up. Miguel had seen his probation officer the day before, and she hadn't mentioned anything about paperwork or sending anyone over.
He furrowed his brow as he recalled the incident on a recent Saturday afternoon, standing on the cracked pavement outside his building. He told the man over the phone, "I was there yesterday, and she never told me that anyone was going to come," Miguel recalled. The man then insisted that, given Miguel's English proficiency, he must have misunderstood what his probation officer had told him.
He didn't open the door, and after he hung up the phone, he watched from the window as most of the men packed into a couple SUVs and sped off. The woman he rented his room from later told him she noticed something else written on their vests: "ICE."
According to attorneys and advocates, field officers with Immigration and Customs Enforcement have for years been known to misrepresent themselves as members of local law enforcement agencies in an attempt detain immigrants, a practice known internally as "ruses." As municipal and state officials scale back cooperation with ICE, often in response to the agency's ever-more aggressive tactics under the Trump administration, agents have been regularly resorting to deceptions that go way beyond merely identifying as "police."
The tactic helps ICE gain access. "ICE is a law enforcement agency and they're bound by the same constitutional restrictions as any law enforcement agency," said Ghita Schwarz, senior staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights.
Nancy Morawetz, a professor of clinical law and an immigration expert at New York University School of Law, said that though existing case law allows federal law enforcement agents to use ruses, she doesn't believe it's clearly legal for a federal officer to masquerade as a local one. "What ICE is doing is saying 'Oh, it's all the same question. If law enforcement can use ruses, then any ruse is an option,'" she said. "There is a pretty strong argument, I think, that it is impersonating a police officer," a felony charge in New York state.
Fourth Amendment protections mean that even if agents know where a target lives, they cannot enter without either a judicial warrant or the occupant's consent. Posing as local law enforcement officials is one way to create that consent. "The use of ruses is a way to skirt the constitutional protections and get in the door," said Genia Blaser, senior staff attorney at the Immigrant Defense Project, which tracks ICE arrests.
According to Blaser, most of the cases Immigrant Defense Project hears about follow similar patterns: the agents call their target at a personal number, show up at their door, or both, and claim to be local officers of some type investigating a crime, executing a warrant, or responding to an accident.
That's how it went for Aida*, a refugee from Senegal. There was a loud knock on her door early in the morning; she opened it and came face-to-face with an unidentified officer. She says she quickly realized they were police – they had guns and badges – "but I didn't know what kind of police they were," she said recently from a couch in her Brooklyn walkup, as her young son watched television nearby.
The officer asked if she had a son who worked at a supermarket. When she said she didn't, the man told her that her oldest son's identity had been stolen and was being used at a supermarket, and he needed to speak to her son Omar, face to face. "When I looked at his face, he was acting a little funny, and I closed my door," Aida said.
Within minutes, agents called Omar*, on his cellphone and told him the same thing. By the time he left for work, the agents had gone to his wife's house, where his mother-in-law spoke with them. They told her they had a warrant for Omar's arrest but refused to tell her what it was for when she asked. "They said he had done something really bad," his mother-in-law said. "They were asking, does my daughter know what type of person he is, what kind of person she's dating?"
Eventually, the agents convinced Omar to leave work and meet them in front of his mother's apartment. He called Aida and reassured her that he only wanted to get to the bottom of his identity theft. "He doesn't even think about immigration. He thinks he is going with the local police," she said. Hours later, Omar finally got back in touch. He was at 26 Federal Plaza, where the ICE agents had taken him to be processed before sending him to a detention center in New Jersey.
Internal training materials the agency released through Freedom of Information Act requests refer to the use of ruses. A 2010 copy of the Fugitive Operations Handbook calls them "a tactic designed to control the time and location of a law enforcement encounter" that results in "improved safety for the officers and the public by reducing the opportunity for the target to flee." Both this handbook and guidance memos it draws on stipulate that "a ruse involving the impersonation of a federal, state, local, or private-sector employee is contingent on permission from the proposed cover employer." It's unclear whether this is currently ICE policy, but it appears no permission has been sought in New York.
Candace Sandy, a spokesperson for the New York City Department of Probations, said in an email that "any impersonation of a New York City Probation Officer would be of critical concern to this agency. We are not aware of, and have received no reports of any such activity taking place." Reached by phone, Dalvanie Powell, president of the United Probation Officers Association, said she hadn't heard of ICE impersonating her officers. "It is certainly a concern of mine," she said. "I don't know why anyone would go that far, and it disturbs me."
In response to questions, ICE spokesperson Emilio Dabul denied that the tactic is in use. "[Enforcement Removal Operations] Deportation Officers do not identify themselves as members of any other organization. Deportation Officers may use the universally recognized 'POLICE' when initially making contact with someone during a field operation," he wrote in an email.
NYPD leaders, including Commissioner James O'Neill, have maintained that they will not cooperate with ICE in order to preserve the public's ability to safely report crime. In February, legislative affairs director Oleg Chernyavsky told the City Council that "it's important for victims of crimes, irrespective of their immigration status, to trust their police and to come forward and inform their police."
Yet advocates say that, as immigrants feel the lines start to blur between who is local law enforcement and who is ICE, they're less likely to cooperate with anyone. "People still respect the police and they still want to help, but when the word is getting around that [ICE agents] are misidentifying themselves, we have no choice but to teach people not to open the door for any reason," said Ravi Ragbir, the executive director of the New Sanctuary Coalition of NYC. "If the NYPD wants to keep this space safe, they have to also work with us, and become involved in that process."
Ultimately, Morawetz, the NYU law professor, believes it's up to state and local governments and agencies to push back. "I think if local law enforcement protested to [the Department of Homeland Security], they would get results," she said. Neither the New York City Police Department nor its largest union, the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, responded to repeated requests for comment.
"[ICE's] scorch-earth raids on our immigrant neighbors undermine public safety, and the egregious examples of their unconstitutional conduct sow fear in our communities," said Governor Andrew Cuomo in a statement to Documented. "I urge all residents to come forward if they believe ICE violated their Constitutional rights and report incidents to the state." The executive office did not address whether it was planning specific actions on this issue beyond the legal threats the governor included in a letter to ICE Acting Director Thomas Homan in April.
Rosemary Boeglin, a spokesperson for the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs, said in an email, "We are deeply concerned about these reports and are actively monitoring the allegations. Any resident, regardless of immigration status, with concerns or information about the impersonation of City Officials is encouraged to contact the Department of Probation or the NYPD. Your call will be kept confidential." The mayor's office declined to answer further questions about whether it had communicated directly with the NYPD or ICE about the practice.
Schwarz, the attorney from CCR, pointed out that federal courts have ruled that federal agents have violated the Fourth Amendment by using ruses in previous cases.
In the spring, a mother of three was detained at her home in Brooklyn after ICE agents forcefully opened the door once her husband had opened it a crack. They initially described themselves as "detectives."
"He showed me a picture of a very dark-skinned woman, and he asked if I knew who that was. I said no," her husband Francisco* told Documented. Once inside, they switched out the picture of the unknown woman for one of his wife. Attorneys said that ICE agents pretending to be police officers looking for someone who doesn't live in the home is a common trick, and the use of decoy pictures is widespread.
The family's lawyer said that he is now filing a motion to suppress evidence with the immigration judge, alleging that the arrest was unlawful and the agents improperly gained access to the apartment.
"The one I've mostly seen over the years is the one about the picture being used, to suggest that someone else had committed a crime," said Sarah Deri Oshiro, managing director at the immigration practice of the Bronx Defenders. Sometimes, they claim they're looking for a person that committed a crime against a member of the family, and present themselves as cops only there to help. "They give you the kind of information that, in retrospect, doesn't make any sense, but if they're telling you that there's a crime involving someone you know, you're going to react out of emotion," she said.
In a case like Omar's, the Fourth Amendment questions become thornier, as the agents didn't enter his home but rather convinced him to meet them outside of it. The tactic of calling targets and convincing them to meet elsewhere, including outside of actual NYPD precincts, under the guise of investigating made-up local crimes is one that has been separately described to Documented by multiple attorneys.
Schwarz said factors that courts consider when determining consent include whether officers fabricate an imminent danger, such as a car accident, or threaten continuing legal action they're not actually allowed to follow through on.
For Miguel, the agents threatened that noncompliance would have an effect on his probation. "'If you don't come out, it's going to be worse for you,'" he remembers them saying. "Then the next time you go [to the probation office], that's when we're going to arrest you. It's going to be worse."
Ankle Monitors and GPS Apps: ICE's Alternatives to Detention, Explained
BY Giulia McDonnell Nieto del Rio Sep 20, 2021
Why I Led a Hunger Strike Against ICE in New Jersey
BY Ariel Goodman Feb 09, 2021
Advocates skeptical about ICE providing the COVID-19 vaccine to detainees
BY Sydney Kashiwagi Dec 21, 2020
* Names have been changed to protect sources.
Felipe De La Hoz
Reporter at Documented.
@FelipeDLH


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Don't Stop 'Til You Earn Enough: The Bullshit of the Posthumous Michael Jackson Album
By Jillian Mapes
A few days after Michael Jackson died in June 2009, I found myself up in Harlem at the Apollo Theater covering a wake of sorts, led by Reverend Al Sharpton and Spike Lee. I had never seen an entire neighborhood out in the streets, mourning their icon no less. By the time the memorial let out, it was raining. The crowd's homemade posters were slowly deteriorating, sort of like Jackson himself as time ticked away, but there is one I will never forget: "MJ, you will live on forever" in red glitter paint. At the time I didn't anticipate the lengths to which the music industry would go to make these words true.
In the nearly five years since Jackson died, popular culture has searched for answers — from the Jackson family, from AEG, from Dr. Conrad Murray — more than I think anyone could have anticipated. Murray's trials (yes, plural) dragged on until this past October.
All the while, Jackson's various business endeavors have pushed onward, with just the small caveat that he's no longer alive. Nostalgia is among the most reliable publicity strategies these days, right behind controversy, and Jackson covers both bases now. But the glut of posthumous releases makes me wonder: is it what the true fans want? And is it in any way damaging to Jackson's legacy to the larger public? Or will the posthumous releases just be forgotten, unlike his indelible hits, which will endure?
When Michael — perhaps the posthumous MJ album, in that it was comprised of unreleased material — was released in December 2010, it was the seventh Jackson release Sony had put out in the year and a half since his death. The rest of these releases were, for the most, pretty much the same: a combination of hits, puzzle-pieced into whatever angle, era, or fancy package Sony wanted to sell.
In the midst of late 2009's MJ greatest-hits brigade came the release of This Is It, the documentary concert film that showed Jackson preparing for the string of high-profile performance that Murray and AEG spent years in court arguing did not indirectly kill him (via intense medication). It was an illuminating film, comprised of practice footage that would have mortified Jackson, pop's biggest perfectionist.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_SLU3m6uCA]
There was the occasional project that showed Jackson's work in something of a new light: specifically, two officially-sanctioned Cirque du Soleil shows, One and The Immortal World Tour . The soundtrack for the latter — remixes, mash-ups, and alternate tacks of MJ's hits with and without his brothers — was called simply Immortal, which seems to be Epic Records' approach to Jackson these days. The Sony-owned label is responsible for distributing and promoting the bulk of the posthumous MJ material, along with Jackson's own Epic-distributed imprint, MJJ. (The estate-controlled MJJ reopened following Jackson's death, after eight years out of the biz, for the sake of reissuing his material.)
Today came the announcement that Epic and MJJ would release yet another "posthumous" Jackson album, titled Xscape, on May 13. It's a mere eight songs long and was supervised by the biggest cash register executive at Epic, infamous CEO L.A. Reid. Billboard says that Reid "took the lead in cultivating recordings from Jackson in which his vocals were completed, and went about 'contemporizing' each," alongside lead producer Timbaland, a '90s innovator fresh off hitching himself to Jay Z's Magna Carta wagon for a semi-successful comeback. Timbo has been discussing the project since last year, but it's only now that the project has come into full view.
Other producers tasked in this MJ "contemporization" include Rihanna right-hand men Stargate, Rodney Jerkins (the producer of choice among aging R&B-pop divas), Timbaland/Jay Z/Beyoncé associate Jerome "Jroc" Harmon, and John McClain (an A&M Records executive-turned-producer who most notably played a role in Janet Jackson's 1986 about-face, Control). As a press release notes, the group were given song assignments by Reid before they "retooled the production to add a fresh, contemporary sound that retains Jackson's essence and integrity."
"Michael left behind some musical performances that we take great pride in presenting through the vision of music producers that he either worked directly with or expressed strong desire to work with," Reid said in a statement. "We are extremely proud and honored to present this music to the world." But where were these songs when Michael came out? Were they the songs that weren't saucy enough at the time?
With its tracks titled "Breaking News," "Hollywood Tonight," and "Behind," Michael was an album aimed not only at big MJ fans, but also those curious about the controversy surrounding him. This strategy sort of worked as far as sales went: 228,000 copies moved in the album's first week of release, right in time for Christmas. But as EW reported at the time, Epic was hoping for figures more in the range of 400,000 copies sold. Debuting at No. 3, behind Taylor Swift and Susan Boyle, did not make matters better.
And so, Epic will try again with more current players: a revitalized Timbaland instead of Akon, Rodney Jerkins instead of his mentor Teddy Riley (neither of whom are terribly modern, despite immense talent), plus no 50 Cent or Lenny Kravitz cameos. Even the Xscape cover seems like a play at avant-garde coolness.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9bR8h78NSI]
I don't suspect this trend will stop, either. As the years go by, big-time R&B-pop producers will continue to take their shots at "producing" Jackson. At some point, there will be more Michael Jackson albums released after his death than there were released in his 27 years as a solo artist (ten). The Jackson estate certainly shows no sign of doing anything other than milking his legacy for all it's worth: "[Jackson's is] a pretty vibrant estate in the sense that it continues to generate not just catalog opportunities but plenty of other ideas," attorney Howard Weitzman, a co-manager of the Jackson estate, told Billboard in 2011.
There's very little Epic can do to diminish Jackson's spot in the musical canon, which has remained cemented despite MJ's personal dismantling. From Off the Wall to Thriller to Bad, much of his work is rightly regarded worldwide as among the best pop music of the 20th century. But to be as selective as Jackson was about his release schedule and yet so obsessive about his work, he clearly spent some amount of time experimenting in the studio, writing songs that he figured would never see the light of day in order to get the gems. It was Jackson's personal process — and it's a shame Epic can't respect that.


The following is a Company Announcement by Simonds Farsons Cisk plc pursuant to the Malta Financial Services Authority Listing Rule 5.13, 5.16, 5.20 and 5.21.
As from 1st June 2016, Charles Xuereb, currently Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the Farsons Group will be taking on the role of CEO Designate of Trident Developments Ltd, a fully owned subsidiary of the Farsons Group. To support Mr Xuereb in his new role, Dr Christopher Ciantar will be appointed Chief Operations Officer (COO) of Trident Developments Ltd with effect from the same date.
Mr Xuereb will be working closely with the Chairman of the Group, Mr Louis A Farrugia and the Board of Directors. The proposed spin-off is intended to benefit and enhance shareholder value through the focus of a separate Board of Directors and managed by a dedicated team of professionals led by Mr Xuereb. Dr Christopher Ciantar will be supporting Mr Charles Xuereb in the implementation of the significant infrastructural projects that will be assumed by the new plc including the rehabilitation and conversion of the old brewery building into an office business park with an accompanying car park and ancillary services, a visitors' attraction as well as food and beverage outlets.
Charles Xuereb, B.A. (Hons) Accty, CPA, FIA, MIM, graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Honours Degree in Accountancy from the University of Malta in 1991. He commenced his professional career with PricewaterhouseCoopers as an auditor and joined the Farsons Group in July 1995 as Chief Accountant of Food Chain Group, a post he occupied until 2003. Subsequently, he was appointed Group Financial Services Manager and in 2004, following the acquisition of Quintano Foods Ltd., he was also assigned the key task of integrating the newly acquired company's finance systems within the Group while managing the finance function of the company. In 2005, he was appointed Chief Financial Officer of the Farsons Group assuming responsibility for the Group's overall financial management, direction and governance as well as the Group's Credit Control, Information Technology and Business Services. He is also a member of the Group Executive Board and sits on the Boards of 10 companies within the Group.
Mr Xuereb is a Certified Public Accountant, a Fellow of the Malta Institute of Accountants, a member of the Malta Institute of Management and was elected President of the Malta Association of Credit Management (MACM) in 2013, a position he currently holds.
He is married to Alison, nee' Brincat and has a daughter, Amy.
Christopher Ciantar is a PhD graduate in engineering from Bournemouth University after having been awarded a UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) scholarship in 1997. Dr Ciantar has published a number of reviewed journal papers relevant to his research which focuses on environmental life cycle assessment of products and processes. He is also an MSc graduate in building services engineering from Brunel University and graduated as a Mechanical Engineer from the University of Malta in 1994. Dr Ciantar has over 15 years' experience in the public sector from which he gained experience by leading multidisciplinary approaches to policy making. He has had direct personal involvement in a number of projects involving clean technologies as well as energy and water conservation.
Currently Dr Ciantar chairs the Executive Committee of the Mriehel Enterprise Zone Foundation which is a public private partnership initiative for the improvement of Mriehel.
Dr Christopher Ciantar is married to Eleanor nee' Vassallo and has a daughter, Maria Pia.
No matter concerning Mr Xuereb and Dr Ciantar requires disclosure under Listing Rules 5.20.5 to 5.20.9.


Home Faqs What should I do if my Pump 'N Go sprayer won't hold/build pressure?
What should I do if my Pump 'N Go sprayer won't hold/build pressure?
Make sure the pump/lid is screwed on very tight. If it's not tight enough it will not hold pressure. Be sure to pump handle vertically up and down, off centre pumping motions will not build pressure efficiently. Pressure will decrease with storage.
Roundup Weed killer Pump 'N Go sprayer: what should I do if my Pump 'N Go sprayer won't hold/build pressure?


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Q: What date/month does each scene of Cursed Child take place in? Can someone make a table of when each scene Harry Potter and the Cursed Child takes place?
When a book or movie takes place in a specific time in the future, I try to keep track of when it takes place so I can read and watch it then. I understand that Cursed Child spans multiple years starting with Albus's first day of school in 2017 or so, and that a lot of the drama is in the 2020-2021 school year. I hope I didn't miss it.
In addition, I know that Cursed Child shows some scenes in the '80s and '90s, and I'd like to have an easy reference for when I want to reread a particular section.

A: Part 1
Act 1
Scene 1-3: (19 years later): Sep 1, 2017
Scene 4: Sep 1, 2017 - September 2017 - Sep 1, 2018 - September 2018 - Sep 1, 2019.
Scene 5: Sometime in 2020
Scene 6: August 2020
Scene 7: Aug 31, 2020
Scene 8: Dream from Jul 31, 1991
Scene 9-15: Sep 1, 2020
Scene 16-19: Sep 2, 2020
Act 2
Scene 1: Dream from sometime between 1984-1990
Scene 2-6: September 3, 2020
Scene 7: Going back in time to November 24, 1994, and then back to the present- September 3, 2020.
Scene 8-19: Sep 4/5, 2020
Scene 20: Going back in time to February 24, 1995, and then back to the present- September 5, 2020.
Part 2
Act 3
Scene 1: Sep 8, 2020
Scene 2-7: September 2020
Scene 8: Going back in time to November 24, 1994
Scene 9: Going back to the present: September 2020. Then back in time to February 24, 1995, Then back to the present September 2020.
Scene 10-11: Sep 2020
Scene 12: Dream of an event that didn't happen from 1984-1990
Scene 13-19: September 2020
Scene 20: Going back in time to June 24, 1995, and then back to October 1981
Scene 21: September 2020
Act 4
Scene 1: September 2020
Scene 2-3: October 30, 1981
Scene 4: September 2020
Scene 5: October 31, 1981
Scene 6: September 2020/October 31, 1981
Scene 7: September 2020, going back in time to October 31, 1981
Scene 8-13: October 31, 1981
Scene 14: October/November 2020


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HomeArticlesEurope Holds No Moral High Ground in Protecting Israeli Colonialism
Europe Holds No Moral High Ground in Protecting Israeli Colonialism
May 5, 2019 Articles, Commentary
Flag of the European Union. (Poto: File)
By Ramona Wadi
Discussions which frame Palestine's precarious future within the context of US President Donald Trump's so-called "deal of the century" versus the two-state compromise continue. Apparently, with just these two dangerous options on the table, Palestine is being pushed into oblivion.
In anticipation of Trump's deal, a group of former officials from European countries has sent a letter to EU Foreign Ministers and the EU High Representative for Foreign affairs and Security Policy. They call upon the EU to reject the US deal and affirm "the internationally agreed parameters for a two-state solution."
Their letter calls the Oslo Agreement "a milestone of transatlantic foreign policy cooperation" and describes Trump's decisions as "gambling with the security and stability of various countries located at Europe's doorstep." This is in the context of the US terminating its financial aid to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). If Europe does not reject Trump's deal, the letter warns, the result will "accelerate the demise of the two-state option and fatally damage the cause of durable peace for Palestinians and Israelis alike."
A close reading of the letter shows that there is more concern about the EU retaining the upper-hand when it comes to diplomatic negotiations, rather than what happens to Palestinians within the context of Trump's forthcoming deal. Indeed, in conclusion, the letter states that the current rift in policy is "a defining opportunity to reinforce our shared principles… and thereby manifest Europe's unique role as a point of reference for a rules-based global order."
All the concerns exhibited by such former this and former that people are alien to the Palestinian struggle for liberation; where were they when they were in positions of power and influence? What did they do or say then of any benefit to the Palestinians?
It is a fact that Palestine was changed, seemingly irrevocably, by European colonization and the US has now stepped in to hasten the process. The EU is merely vying for international influence when it comes to Israel and it does so at the expense of Palestinian territory and Palestinian lives; it holds no moral high ground when it comes to protecting Israeli colonialism.
Unlike the US on this occasion, though, it has the backing of the so-called international community due to the common factor which is the "two-state solution", a fatal compromise which rewards the state responsible for the ongoing ethnic cleansing of the people of Palestine. Since the international community has long since manipulated general consensus as being equivalent to fairness and legitimacy, the EU is diplomatically a step ahead in terms of international relations.
As far as Israel is concerned, both the US and the EU are serving the colonial agenda. The US is focusing on promoting overt normalization of relations with Israel and providing incentives, while the EU has normalized such relations and maintains the illusion of supporting Palestinian rights. However, the underlying premise remains the two-state imposition supported by the Oslo Accords, the milestone diplomatic endeavor which duped the Palestinians and deprived them of their land.
If the EU is measuring its success by Oslo, it should be clear about its underlying agenda and detriment to Palestinians. Telling the EU to reject Trump's plan in order to support an obsolete paradigm is just a matter of choosing which violation to uphold; of choosing the lesser of two evils: Trump's plan or the two-state compromise. Both prioritize Israel, normalize colonialism and render Palestinians as mere recipients of humanitarian aid given in compensation for stolen land and shattered lives.
The EU might well achieve its aim of being an international point of reference, but it is worth reminding Brussels that a "rules-based global order" is not tantamount to justice. Europe's position, though less belligerent than that of America's, is also based on the premise of protecting Israel's colonial project in Palestine at all costs, most of which are being paid by the indigenous Palestinians.
– Ramona Wadi is a staff writer for Middle East Monitor, where this article was originally published. She contributed this article to the Palestine Chronicle.
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Tearing down the Idols of Colonialism: Why Tunisia, Africa Must Demand French Apology
July 1, 2020 Articles, Commentary, Editorials
The visit by newly-elected Tunisian President Kais Saied to France on June 22 was intended to discuss bilateral relations, trade, etc. But it was also a missed opportunity, where Tunisia could have formally demanded an apology from […]
Palestine and Its People Will Pay the Price for the PA's Disloyalty
December 27, 2018 Articles, Commentary
We still don't know what US President Donald Trump's so-called deal of the century looks like. At the UN Security Council meeting last Tuesday, US Ambassador to the international organization, Nikki Haley, only hinted at […]
Canada-Israel Interparliamentary Group Supports Imperialism
Do New Democrat MPs who belong to the Canada-Israel Interparliamentary Group (CIIG) have carte blanche to flout party policy? Last week CIIG executive member Murray Rankin participated in a press conference calling for a new round […]


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England Having to Build from the Top Down
Dom Smith September 19, 2019 September 22, 2019 Feature Articles
Tough Decisions Ahead: England manager Gareth Southgate has a number of months left to pledge his allegiances to certain players ahead of the Euros, but time is fast running out [photo: NST.com.my]
What Gareth Southgate will have hoped for is two routine victories. What his side showed instead were two very different sides. England in September showed that they can be scintillating. But they also showed that they can be stupid.
It started on Saturday 7th, with a comfortable 4-0 victory over Bulgaria. The Eastern European nation finished fourth at USA '94, helped by a golden generation featuring Hristo Stoichkov, Krasimir Balakov and Yordan Letchkov. However, they've fallen on hard times in terms of talent, no longer able to rely on more recent stars like Dimitar Berbatov or Stiliyan Petrov.
Their team to face England included two naturalised-Brazilians, but they were to show no signs of samba football. Harry Kane scored a second England hat-trick, albeit two were penalties, adding an assist for the electric Raheem Sterling as England made easy work of a well-drilled but ultimately well beaten side. It's hard to win any game if you're going to concede two spot-kicks.
Goals Galore: Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling achieved a combined six goals and five assists over England's two September qualifiers [photo: SportingLife.com]
For England, the first half of the international break had gone extremely well. Another clean-sheet and four-goal haul was a fine result, even if the atmosphere on a sun-dozed Wembley afternoon was one of family-day-out and of general distraction. Watford sacked their manager halfway through the game.
Tougher tasks lay ahead; Southgate certainly thought so. Kosovo had been stirring up England's qualification group, just like any proud new nation would want to. The two group leaders met at Southampton. England had been flawless in their first three games, but it was Kosovo that held Europe's longest unbeaten record going into the game.
England escaped with a hard-fought victory, winning an un-English game by the very un-English scoreline of 5-3. It actually made for quite refreshing viewing, for the neutral anyway. It wasn't Portugal or France or Brazil. This was England, conceding three but scoring more. It was 1950s stuff.
Raheem Sterling was even more blistering than he had been against Bulgaria, outfoxing his marker every time he had one, turning every time he could. He assisted the exuberant Jadon Sancho for his first two England goals – one a smart counter and the other a tap in, all Sterling's hard work.
The turn in midfield that set him on his way to assisting Harry Kane had a touch of Maradona about it – an act that appeared so simple it begs the question "Why doesn't every player do this?".
Announcing Himself: Teenager Jadon Sancho scored twice and also earned an assist for England in their lively 5-3 victory over Kosovo [photo: FourFourTwo.com]
And all of those were happy moments for England. But they were only happy moments because Sterling himself had risen highest from a corner to equalise for England when St Mary's most needed something to cheer.
England led 5-1 at the break – a world-class turnaround from a side so embarrassingly behind in the game after just 34 seconds of play.
Marcus Rashford had played against Bulgaria, but it was Sancho who stepped up against Kosovo. Both played well, but Rashford may well have returned to Manchester United a frustrated figure. Kane and Sterling scored in both games. Sancho scored against Kosovo. But Rashford was unable to find the back of the net, despite playing nearly 100 minutes over the two games.
With Callum Hudson-Odoi to come in still, it remains unclear which individual will join Sterling and Kane to complete that key front-three for England. Rashford has had the more illustrious career but it may well end up being young Jadon Sancho that comes to the fore next summer.
Ross Barkley and Declan Rice were impressive performers in both fixtures, the former leading forays forward, whilst the latter intercepted robustly and fed the wings when the ball was won.
So Many Options: With England squads becoming more competitive, it becomes easy to forget about players not involved through injury. Where do Jesse Lingard (left) and Dele Alli (right) sit in Gareth Southgate's plans? [photo: Zimbio.com]
But those two were rare shining lights in an England team that has seemed top-heavy in recent games. The attack is more-than pulling its weight. The defence however appears all too reliant on England scoring four or five goals every game – something simply unfeasible come the European Championships.
Kosovo's first two of three goals, or their only goals other than a penalty, were totally gifted to them by dreadful misplaced passes. First Michael Keane was caught out with a no-look pass to Harry Maguire less than a minute in, and then Rice's underhit pass helped Valon Berisha score his and Kosovo's second.
Maguire's ridiculous challenge in the box gave Kosovo another chance, a penalty, which they converted to make it three.
Kosovo's manager Bernard Challandes really is a character. His press conferences are unorthodox; he states things profoundly and passionately.
That does seem to rub off onto his players, because their performance was one of courage, attacking intent and often such a desire to score that England found it all too easy to counter. Hence Sterling's sterling performance and Barkley's driving runs forward in an overall more tense and testing second half.
England came up against an exciting side with a ballsy philosophy and enough raw talent to pull it off. However, conceding three goals in any international fixture almost always spells bad trouble. Southgate's side and in particular the England defence got away with a number of amateur mistakes – able to thank that potent front-three for a flurry of five first-half goals.
Needless Challenge: Harry Maguire's flailing leg catches Vedat Muriqi and hands Kosovo an unnecessary penalty [photo: TheSun.co.uk]
Harry Kane did the unthinkable in the second half, missing a penalty. However, this has been taken rather out of context in the days since. There were three minutes between the awarding and the striking of the spot-kick, he was up against a classic penalty-saving goalkeeper in Manchester City's Ari Muric and he didn't miss but was rather denied by a top save.
Kane has since scored from the spot in the Champions League, but he will want to hit the back of the net for England again all the sooner now.
England never scored in the second half against Kosovo, conceding twice and winning 5-3 from a 5-1 half-time lead. This draws similarities to their win over Panama in the 2018 World Cup group-stage. They went into the break 5-0 up that day, eventually winning 6-1.
The intensity of the second-half is still important in a game like that, but it's already a won contest. Players will naturally be more revved up in the tunnel during the break if they're 1-0 up than if they lead 5-0 in what is a forgone conclusion.
But that offers England an excuse that they shouldn't be allowed to issue. They're an elite sports team, dreaming of and capable of winning Euro 2020.
Prior Knowledge: England know they must be watertight at the back in tournament football. Croatia and the Netherlands have benefited from poor defending in both of England's recent semi-finals [photo: Zimbio.com]
There was plenty of brilliance about the football they played in September. However, questions still need answering as to who best suits the midfield and defence. Inevitably, the two more settled positions – goalkeeper and attack – is where England have been performing most impressively.
Gareth Southgate seems to have limitless options in defence and in midfield. The time left to test and refine his shortlist though is rather more limited.
Previous England Edge Thriller on South Coast
Next Talking England: Russell Osborne


Mrs Collins, Mrs Hintner and Mrs Day would like to warmly welcome you to the year 6 class page. We hope that you will be regular visitors so we can keep you up to date with what we have been learning, any class news and other key activities or events that may be taking place.
Five members of Year 6 received book vouchers yesterday (11/03/2019) from Bellway Homes for designing safety posters to be used on the High Street site.
Linked to the topic of Ancient Greece, Year 6 have been making Greek urns in Design Technology. This has involved planning and sketching of designs before creating the models using papier mache. Next steps involve adding handles and painting Ancient Greek symbols.
Year 6 are very interested in current affairs; we regularly watch "Newsround" and discuss the events that are happening in the world. Following China's achievement of landing men on the far side of the moon this month, Year 6 have been researching the first moon landing in 1969.
Direct and reported speech was used to convey the atmosphere to newspaper readers almost 50 years ago. The pupils developed their ICT skills through using Publisher to present their work. The School Office currently has a display of the articles- when you are next in do take a look.
Year 6 pupils enjoyed making a Christingle each this afternoon for the forthcoming service. We discussed the symbolism of the Christingle- what the candle, sticks and red ribbon mean to Christians.
To commemorate the Centenary of the First World War, Year 6 have been writing in character as a soldier sending a letter home from the trenches. They have also looked at poems including "For the Fallen" by Laurence Binyon and discussed meaning and symbolism.
The children have moulded Poppies from clay and painted them. They have also baked and tasted a "Trench Cake".