Hypolite "Hyp" Guinle, a boxing promoter, opened the Famous Door in the 1930s, naming the place after the swanky Manhattan night spot that New Orleanian Louis Prima had put on the map. Billed as the "Jazz Corner of America," Guinle's Famous Door at Bourbon and Conti played an important role in the midcentury traditional jazz revival.
Around 1948, Joseph "Sharkey" Bonano and his Kings of Dixieland took a residency here. Bonano, an Italian-American from Milneburg in New Orleans, had toured the world playing trumpet in the 1920s and 30s. Like Louis Prima, with whom he briefly led a band, he was a charismatic front man, joking and dancing in his signature bowler hat. Bonano found an enthusiastic audience at the Famous Door, which led to radio and television appearances that helped reignite interest in New Orleans-style jazz.
Among Bonano's admirers was a group of teenaged musicians led by brothers Fred and Frank Assunto. When their hero took his Kings of Dixieland on the road at the end of 1950, they filled his slot at the Famous Door as the Dukes of Dixieland. The group, which for a time featured a young Pete Fountain on clarinet, was so popular they kept the gig for nearly four years. Like Bonano, they parlayed the exposure into record deals and bookings around the country, including a long stint in Las Vegas and appearances from Carnegie Hall to the Ed Sullivan Show, further amplifying the New Orleans sound.
Though it has since fallen out of favor, in Hyp Guinle's time the term "Dixieland" often referred to white bands playing in a style built on traditional New Orleans jazz. At the Famous Door, the term's racial overtones were clear: The décor included a Confederate flag, and a postcard from the club depicted a black person sleeping on a bale of cotton. The Kings and the Dukes were white.
Sharkey Bonano often danced onstage with Bourbon Street fixtures Oliver Anderson and Isaac Mason, a duo known as Pork Chop (or Pork Chops) and Kidney Stew. While fellow black artists from Danny Barker to Lionel Batiste respected them as performers, their act included a gamut of racially stereotyped elements carried over from the vaudeville era.
The Famous Door employed some black musicians, including the blues singer Cousin Joe and the Smilin' Joe Blues Trio. In the 1970s, June Gardner, a first-call drummer who'd played behind Sam Cooke and Lee Dorsey, led a traditional jazz band here.
Another Dixieland bandleader, Murphy Campo, hired a youngster called Mac Rebennack to play upright bass at the Famous Door around 1961. Rebennack, who played up and down Bourbon Street before he became known as Dr. John, had recently been shot point-blank in his left ring finger. The wound opened as he played, and at the end of every night he had to clean blood off of the bass he borrowed to make the gig. He didn't care much for Campo's sound, and eventually split to Poodle's Patio down the street.
These days the Famous Door—under different ownership—presents cover bands.
In 1958, WNTA-TV filmed "New Orleans Jazz Party" at the WDSU-TV studio in New Orleans. Sharkey Bonano takes center stage at 1:27.
Video posted by Hoffmann Jazz.
In 1958, Ed Sullivan recounted meeting the Assunto Brothers at the Famous Door and introduced the Dukes of Dixieland as "the number one jazz combo in the country."
Video posted by Deano Assunto.
Exterior of Famous Door in 1945.
Exterior of Famous Door Bar in 1949.
Sharkey Bonano and Pork Chop on stage in 1950. This photo was taken by a twenty-one-year-old Stanley Kubrick, who was on assignment on Bourbon Street for Look magazine.
Mike Lala and His Band, with Mike Lala on trumpet, Joe Capraro on guitar, and Bill Bourgeois on clarinet, perform at the Famous Door.
Thelma Hecht Coleman Memorial Collection, Tulane University.	Photo by Howard Coleman.
Alonzo Stewart singing in front of Smilin' Joe on guitar at the Famous Door nightclub, circa 1954.
Members of the Smilin' Joe Blues Trio - Alonzo Stewart, Teddy Purnell, and Johnny Fernandez playing the piano - during a performance at the Famous Door nightclub, circa 1954.
Postcard showing the interior of the Famous Door nightclub on Bourbon Street after a renovation.
Oliver "Pork Chops" Anderson, Sharkey Bonano, and Isaac "Kidney Stew" Mason at Congo Square bandstand.
The Famous Door in 2010.


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California Tax Bills Asking for Trouble
By Todd Nesbit
Legislation permitting counties to increase the excise tax on cigarettes was approved by the California Senate Thursday, August 27. Another bill — introduced the day before — would hike the state excise tax by $2.00 per pack. The state legislature should prevent both bills from passing.
If the local excise tax option is adopted, the law will almost assuredly lead to higher excise tax burdens in some if not most counties. (Counties would need to have to submit an increase to a public vote.) This will increase price differentials between counties (and differentials with other states and nations) and invariably be followed by the lawlessness associated with cigarette tax avoidance and evasion, among other unintended consequences. Local excise taxes will only compound the damage done by a statewide hike. Worse, research shows that the health benefits of excise tax hikes are weak, and perhaps even counterproductive.
Local excise taxes on cigarettes are not a new invention. We see them used prominently in New York City ($1.50) and Chicago ($1.18) and by Cook County ($3.00), Illinois to name a few. Scholarly research on contraband smokes in these jurisdictions — and others — should serve as a warning to the California Legislature.
A 2013 study of cigarette consumers in South Bronx, New York by university scholars found that 76.2 percent of discarded cigarette packs there did not bear tax stamps from both New York state and New York City, suggesting massive local tax evasion.
A 2007 study of cigarette packs discarded around the Chicago area — this before recent excise tax hikes — indicated that many came from other jurisdictions, Indeed, the study's author notes that "Chicago littered packs were slightly more likely to have an Indiana stamp than a Chicago stamp."
In 2008 we looked at wholesale cigarette sales on a county-by-county basis in Michigan, Wisconsin and Indiana. With information we received from a major Midwestern wholesaler, we examined changes in purchases by Michigan retailers before and after cigarette excise tax increases in each state.
We found that sales to Michigan retailers increased by 53.2 percent when Indiana raised its excise tax by nearly $1.00 or 79 percent. This change in sales is explained by the fact that Michigan retailers understand customer sensitivity to tax-induced price changes. The incentive for Michigan smokers in border counties to smuggle cigarettes in from Indiana dropped when Indiana raised its taxes.
If SBX2–9 is adopted, many counties may vote for higher taxes and will be giving their local residents an incentive to cross into another county for cheaper cigarettes.
Lost in the debate is the cost of enforcing countywide excise tax hikes in the face of large-scale smuggling. The federal government can't prevent people from illegally crossing into California; how will government at any level keep illicit smokes from crossing the state's porous county borders and through its busy ports? Suppose Los Angeles County imposes a countywide excise-tax increase of $2.00 per pack but Orange County declines to lift its rate. Does anyone rationally believe that illicit cigarettes will not roll into LA en masse from Anaheim or another city?
We have also built a statistical model designed to estimate statewide cigarette smuggling rates. We estimate that California's state smuggling rate through 2013 was equal to 31.5 percent of the total market already. If a $2.00 statewide per-pack hike is adopted it will rocket to 63.0 percent of the total market, easily eclipsing New York as the state with the most smuggled cigarettes.
The irony of the excise tax hikes — sold as a way to improve health — is that the illicit behavior resulting from high cigarette taxes may actually undermine the health benefits lawmakers hope to achieve.
A 2008 study by economist Michael Lovenheim looked at casual smuggling of cigarettes and found that the percentage of cigarette consumers who smuggle is between 13 and 25 percent. He concludes that "the central implication of this study is cross-border smuggling confounds many of the potential health and revenue gains from cigarette taxation." He is not the only scholar to come to such a conclusion.
Lawmakers bent on raising excise taxes are well-intentioned but misguided. Raising excise tax rates will increase lawlessness without necessarily bringing meaningful public health benefits.
Michael D. LaFaive ([email protected]) is director of the Morey Fiscal Policy Initiative at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.
Todd Nesbit ([email protected]) is a senior lecturer in economics and competitive Markets at The Ohio State University and an adjunct scholar at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.
An earlier version of this story appeared at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy's website at http://www.mackinac.org/21678. Reprinted with permission.
Todd Nesbit
Todd Nesbit is assistant professor of economics at the College of Charleston.
Life, Liberty, Property #3: Debt Threats
The FTX Collapse
Wyoming Legislators Should Avoid Minimum Wage Hikes in 2023

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Besættelsesmuseet () er et museum i Riga, der viser historien om Sovjetunionen og Tysklands besættelse af Letland.

Museet ligger midt i den gamle bydel i Riga, overfor Sorthovedernes Hus. Bygningen er bygget som museum i sovjetisk arkitektur stil. Der er en vis uenighed om, hvorvidt bygningen bør blive stående som den er, som et minde om sovjettiden, eller om den bør rives ned og erstattes af en bygning, som passer mere til de historiske omgivelser.

Baggrundshistorie
Letland havde 60 års besættelse og en næsten lige så lang periode som sovjetrepublik bag sig, da landet igen blev selvstændigt den 4. maj 1990. 15. juni 1940 blev det selvstændige Letland okkuperet af Sovjetunionen og gjort til sovjetrepublik, Lettiske SSR. Præsidenten Kārlis Ulmanis blev deporteret først til Stavropol i Russiske SFSR og derefter till Gulag i Krasnovodsk i Turkmenske SSR, hvor han døde af dysenteri i 1942. Flere af regeringsmedlemmerne led samme skæbne. Et års tid senere blev Letland besat af Tyskland. Den tyske besættelse betød, at en stor del af Letlands jøder blev deporteret og henrettet. I efteråret 1944 generobrede Sovjetunionen Letland fra den tyske besættelsesmagt.

Mange letter blev deporteret til Gulag efter krigen. 25. marts 1949 var den store deportationsdag.

Se også
Sovjetunionens besættelse af de baltiske lande

Eksterne henvisninger

Besættelsesmuseets hjemmeside
Музей оккупации Латвии

Museer i Riga
Museer etableret i 1993

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Home » All Project topics and materials » PREDICTORS OF INFANT-SURVIVAL PRACTICES AMONG MOTHERS ATTENDING PAEDIATRIC CLINICS IN IJEBU-ODE, OGUN STATE, NIGERIA
PREDICTORS OF INFANT-SURVIVAL PRACTICES AMONG MOTHERS ATTENDING PAEDIATRIC CLINICS IN IJEBU-ODE, OGUN STATE, NIGERIA
Global deaths among infants recorded for a period of four years from 2012 to 2015 showed a marginal improvement towards achieving the target for the Millennium Development Goal-four with records of 35 to 32 deaths out of 1,000 live births (United Nations Inter-Agency Group, 2015). In spite of efforts made towards infant-survival all over the world, recent data on infant mortality shows a rate of 56 deaths for every 1,000 births in regions in Africa. This is in contrast to other regions such as East-Asia with 14 deaths per 1,000 live births and the Middle East with 20 deaths for every 1,000 live births (Bado & Appunni, 2015).
In 1990, the Millennium Development Goal-four was initiated as part of the eight millennium goals with the aim of reducing child and infant mortality by two-thirds between 1990 and 2015 (Adegboye, Kotze, Adegboye, 2014; Diallo, Meda, Sommerfelt, Traore, Cousens & Tylleskar, 2012). Reports have given the global percentage reduction in infant and child mortality to be 53% over the 15-year goal which was aimed at 75% reduction (Murray, Wang, Fullman, Lopez & Murray, 2015). Also, in 2015, countries in Sub-Saharan Africa recorded an achievement of 52% of the 75% target and remain major contributors to the global mortality burden of infants (Adedini, Odimegwu, Imasiku, Ononokpono & Ibisomi, 2015). This shows that the goal was not attained. Recent data on infant mortality in Nigeria shows a prevalence of 69 deaths per 1,000 live births which has ranked the country as one of the top ten nations in infant mortality (Ezeh, Agho, Dibley, Hall & Page, 2015).
Infant death lingers as a huge problem in developing countries (Fehling, Nelson, Ahn, Eckardt, Tiernan, Purcell et al, 2013). In June 2012, more than 80 countries represented by government officials, partners from private sectors, civil societies, and religious organizations gathered for the Child-Survival Call to Action. The forum was convened by the governments of Ethiopia, India, and the United States, in collaboration with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and challenged the world to lessen infant and child mortality to 20 or lesser deaths per 1,000 live births in every country by 2035 (Koffi, Mleme, Nsona, Banda, Amouzou & Kalter, 2015). Beyond the challenges of establishing infant-survival in developing countries are underlying reasons why these conditions continue to constitute the challenge (Chatterjee & Paily, 2011) and these are the essential issues of concern.
A vast number of studies have identified certain factors that put infants at risk of mortality. Infections, vaccine-preventable diseases, nutritional inadequacies, sanitation challenges and health status of the mother during pregnancy have been documented (Cheraghi, Poorolajal, Hazavehi & Rezapur-Shahkolai, 2014; Jarso, Workicho & Alemseged, 2015). Other factors contributory to infant mortality from investigations include poor antenatal planning of mothers, poor service provision by healthcare service providers, inadequate birthing practices of care-givers and poor health-information dissemination to mothers of infants (Atulomah & Atulomah, 2015). If these factors are not critically attended to, infant mortality will continue to be an issue without lasting solutions (Joshi, Sharma & Teijlingen, 2013).
Some of the requirements of mothers include skill-building in preparation for enhancing the survival of their infants, getting skills that will strengthen them to take their infants for immunisation (Oyo-Ita, Wiysonge, Oringanje, Nwachukwu, Oduwole & Meremikwu, 2016), practicing exclusive breastfeeding, imbibing positive sanitary habits and preventing cases of diarrhoea and malaria (Fadnes, Engebretsen, Moland, Nankunda, Tumwine & Tylleskär, 2010). These should be essential components of health-literacy instructions communicated to mothers of infants during antenatal care sessions.
Also, behaviour-change in mothers of infants to enhance their self-efficacy in ensuring that they carry-out activities that will ascertain the survival of their infants will be as a result of comprehensible health-instructions (Elder, Pequegnat, Ahmed, Bachman, Bullock, Carlo et al, 2014). Furthermore, programs with innovative approaches to engage key influencers such as fathers and other family members around the mother to provide positive social-support for her could be more successful in changing her behaviour to improve maternal and infant care (Altrena, Martin, Egondi, Bingham and Thuita,2016).
Infants are a group of individuals who have neither control over themselves nor the power to cater or care for themselves. They are delicate subgroup of a population. Their survival is a fundamental pointer to the level of maternal and child health, therefore, investigating their well-being is an investment for the development of any nation (Sathiyasusuman & Hamisi, 2012).
About 353,000 births are reported to occur daily around the world, yet, infants are exposed to the risk of mortality as these births occur (Ayele, Zewotir & Mwambi, 2016). One main challenge in attaining the target reduction in infant death is that most infant health programs do not get to the mothers through tangible programs (Lassi, Middleton, Crowther & Bhutta, 2015).
Few studies have recognised components leading to lack of infant care and poor survival of infants. Issues involving the personal-level predisposition of mothers stem from factors such as health-literacy instructions and counsels communicated to mothers at antenatal sessions. Most of these counsels have either not been strategically delivered to mothers or have not been adequately delivered to them in ways by which they are empowered, encouraged and willing to ensure the survival of their infants (Lu & Johnson, 2014; Owor, Matovu, Murokora, Wanyenze & Waiswa, 2010; Rosato, Lewycka, Mwansambo, Kazembe, Phiri & Chapota, 2014).
Also, environmental-level factors have posed a challenge in ensuring infant-survival. Such deficiencies come from lack of social-support from family members and significant others in the lives of nursing mothers. Nursing mothers should receive reinforcements in terms of encouragements to carry-out instructions received for infant care, positive advises and assistance from those around them in order to enable them carry-out activities that will strengthen the survival chances of their infants (Fry-Bowers, Maliski, Lewis, Connell & DiMatteo, 2014).
Mothers should receive health instructions and counsels during preconception and antenatal periods, and support in the many ways they will require assistance in order to practice skills that will prolong the lives of infants (Berglund & Lindmark, 2016; McInnes, Hoddinott, Britten, Darwent & Craig, 2013). If they are not adequately equipped with skills regarding what to do during the period preceding delivery, after delivery and how to respond to emerging situations that threaten the lives of their infants, they will be weak in ensuring the survival of their infants. It will therefore be of immense benefit to investigate into how these personal and environmental-level factors can collectively be predictors of infant-survival practices among mothers. The aim of this study was to consider the predictors of infant-survival practices among mothers whose infants attend paediatric clinics in Ijebu-ode, Ogun state, Nigeria.
The main objective of this study is to assess factors associated with self-reported infant-survival practices among mothers with infants attending paediatric clinics in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun state, Nigeria. The specific objectives are to:
assess the level of personal-level predisposing factors (health-literacy and demographic characteristics) of the respondents;
measure the level of environmental-level reinforcing factors in terms of social-support received by respondents from significant others in ensuring infant-survival;
assess the level of personal-level enabling factors in terms of self-efficacy to adhere to infant-survival instructions received among respondents;
measure the level of self-reported infant-survival practices among respondents;
determine if there is a relationship between personal-level predisposing factors (health-literacy and demographic characteristics) and self-reported infant-survival practices among respondents;
determine if there is a relationship between environmental-level reinforcing factors in terms of social-support received by respondents and their self-reported infant-survival practices;
determine if there will be an association between personal-level enabling factors in terms of self-efficacy to adhere to infant-survival instructions received and self-reported infant-survival practices among the respondents and
identify which of these personal and environmental-level factors will predict infant-survival practices most significantly among the respondents.
The questions for this research are as follows:
What is the level of personal-level predisposing factors (health-literacy and demographic characteristics) of the respondents?
What is the level of environmental-level reinforcing factors in terms of social-support received by respondents from significant others in ensuring infant-survival?
What is the level of personal-level enabling factors in terms of self-efficacy to adhere to infant-survival instructions received among respondents?
What is the level of self-reported infant-survival practices among respondents?
Is there a relationship between the personal-level predisposing factors (health-literacy and demographic characteristics) and self-reported infant-survival practices among respondents?
Is there a relationship between environmental-level reinforcing factors in terms of social-support received by respondents and their self-reported infant-survival practices?
Will there be an association between personal-level enabling factors in terms of self-efficacy to adhere to infant-survival instructions received and self-reported infant-survival practices among respondents?
Which of these personal and environmental-level factors will predict self-reported infant-survival practices most significantly among respondents?
To reduce infant mortality, previous investigations have recognized the need for effective behaviour-change interventions targeting mothers (Elder, Pequegnat, Ahmed, Bachman, Bullock, Carlo et al, 2014). Past studies have indicated that behaviour-change on the part of mothers is critical in averting infant death and improving child development (Fishbein, Bandura, Triandis, Kanfer, Becker, & Middlestadt, 1992; Sulzer-Azaroff & Mayer, 1992).
However, behaviour-change approaches should focus on improving information and comprehension of it towards mothers in order to enhance infant care (McInnes, Hoddinott, Britten, Darwent & Craig, 2013).
A number of studies have suggested that health-literacy, social-support and self-efficacy may play significant roles as personal and environmental-level predictors of infant-survival practices (Fry-Bowers, Maliski, Lewis, Connell & DiMatteo, 2014; Lars, Engebretsen, Moland, Nankunda, Tumwine & Tylleskär, 2010). However, these studies did not apply behaviour-change theories, hence, they did not provide the needed empirical evidence to support their claims. Most of these studies did not also link health-literacy, social-support and self-efficacy together as a combination of components that will improve and predict infant-survival practices of mothers.
In this study, an ecological model was adapted to assess the personal and environmental-level factors affecting infant-survival practices. The PRECEDE (Predisposing Reinforcing and Enabling Construct in Educational/Environmental Diagnosis and Evaluation) Model (Green, Kreuter, Deeds & Patridge, 1980) which suits the diagnosis of concern was used as the conceptual guide to give the study an ecological outlook. This study therefore investigated how health-literacy, social-support and self-efficacy serve as collective predictors of infant-survival. The outcomes derived will provide a conceptual understanding of determinants essential in predicting infant-survival practices among mothers in paediatric clinics. It may also lessen the rate of infant mortality in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State to rational extent and will therefore be extensively beneficial in enhancing the health of infants in Nigeria as a nation.
This study hypothesized the following:
There will be a significant relationship between personal-level predisposing factors (health-literacy and demographic characteristics) and self-reported infant-survival practices among respondents.
There will be a significant relationship between environmental-level reinforcing factors in terms of social-support received and self-reported infant-survival practices among respondents.
There will be a significant association between personal-level enabling factors in terms of self-efficacy to adhere to infant-survival instructions received and self-reported infant-survival practices among the respondents.
One of these personal and environmental-level factors will predict infant-survival practices most significantly among the respondents.
Health-Literacy
Nutbeam (2008), describes health-literacy as the cognitive and social skills that determine the motivation and ability of individuals to gain access to, comprehend and use information in ways which promote and maintain health. In this study, it involved the possession of health counsels and instructions by mothers of infants and their ability to understand and carry-out these instructions for the survival of their infants as received by healthcare providers.
Social-Support
Social-support is the perception and certainty that one is cared for and can be measured as the availability of assistance or degree to which a person is included into a social network (Nausheen, 2009). Support can be emotional (encouragement or affection), informational (advice or instruction) tangible (financial assistance, running errands), and companionship (sense of belonging, presence of companions). In this study, social-support included emotional-support, informational-support, tangible-support and companionship from family members of nursing mothers.
Self-efficacy is an individual impression that focuses on a person's absolute utilization of his or her cognitive skill to produce beneficial outcomes (Htay, 2010). For this study, self-efficacy was measured by self-responsibility, skills, abilities, self-determination, confidence and willingness of the mothers to adhere to infant-survival instructions and counsels.
Infant-Survival Practices
Infant-survival practices were described as actions to support the existence of infants to keep to them without disability, morbidity or anything that will lead to mortality beyond the age of infancy (zero to two years). It also the ability of the nursing mothers to carry-out practical actions regarding infant-survival.
DETERMINANTS OF RESPONSIVE EMERGENCY OBSTETRIC REFERRALS AND REFERRAL INTENTIONS AMONG TRADITIONAL BIRTH ATTENDANTS IN LAGELU LGA, OYO STATE, NIGERIA (October 21, 2021)
EVALUATION OF PREOPERATIVE NURSING INTERVENTION ON ANXIETY STATE AND POST OPERATIVE PAIN AMONG SURGICAL PATIENTS OF OBAFEMI AWOLOWO UNIVERSITY TEACHING HOSPITALS COMPLEX, ILE-IFE OSUN STATE (October 21, 2021)


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Home › Entertainment › 'NCIS: Los Angeles' Star Eric Christian Olsen Gives Sneak Peek from Season 13 Set: 'Deeks Comes in Shirtless'
'NCIS: Los Angeles' Star Eric Christian Olsen Gives Sneak Peek from Season 13 Set: 'Deeks Comes in Shirtless'
by Jacklyn Krol July 15, 2021
written by Jacklyn Krol July 15, 2021 7:25 pm
Paul Archuleta, FilmMagic
NCIS: Los Angeles star Eric Christian Olsen gave fans a taste of what's to come for Season 13.
The actor shared a video update from the set of the series with fans on the official CBS Twitter account. Olsen revealed in a separate video that it was the first day of shooting the next season.
He was donning a black face mask and talking to a crew member who revealed some secrets about the return of the show.
"You're going to love it but I can't say. It's going to be a dark and storming night," he teased. "There's chaos and things explode," he said before Olsen interjected.
"Deeks comes in shirtless," he exclaimed. And all of that action is just before the introduction and title sequence.
"I mean it doesn't get better than that. Season 13 baby, we doing it," Olsen concluded. The official production office opened on June 23 before letting the cast join the set.
Be sure to set your DVRs for NCIS: Los Angeles' return on October 10 at 9 PM ET.
We interrupt your feed to bring you breaking news from the Season 13 set of @NCISLA.
Take it away, @ericcolsen! Are you ready? pic.twitter.com/4g2wreZK8v
— CBS (@CBS) July 15, 2021
The Departure of 'NCIS: Los Angeles' Cast Shake Up
To the surprise of fans, two beloved cast members will not be returning for Season 13. Renée Felice Smith, who portrayed Intelligence Analyst Nell Jones, has departed the series. Her character's love interest Eric Beale, portrayed by Barrett Foa did not renew his contract.
Smith will be pursuing numerous creative endeavors. She recently released her first children's book, Hugo and the Impossible Thing, which was inspired by her dog's health battle.
TV Line asked the actress if she would like to participate in the show's 300th episode which is coming up. "Of course," Smith responded. So there is hope yet!
Meanwhile, Foa will be pursuing a career in theater.
Season 13 will welcome a new series regular. Gerald McRaney has signed on to the series. He has played Retired Navy Admiral Hollace Killbride for the last seven years. Fans have already begun to speculate what his new presence will mean for the storylines.
Will Hetty Return in Season 13?
Showrunner R. Scott Gemmill revealed that Linda Hunt (Hetty) will return for the next season. A big sigh of relief for fans. Since she is older, she had to quarantine. This meant that she couldn't film on the set with the cast and crew. The crew actually came to Hunt's home driveway to shoot the brief scenes that she was in last season.
"The minute I saw her, she's like, "Let's talk about next season,'" Gemmill told the outlet. "So I think that as tough as last year was, for a lot of reasons, she, like the rest of us, is starting to see a little light at the end of the tunnel and feels good about coming back to work."


NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART. PLEASE READ ALL REMARKS BEFORE INQUIRING. Property is being sold, 'as is'. Only cash offers will be considered. Buyers must provide proof of funds/verification of funds prior to any showings. Maximum 15 day inspection period. Property has been damaged by earth movement. Property is Red Tagged by Kitsap County and will require major repairs, permits and occupancy certification. All repairs shall be made after closing. Buyer to verify all info to their satisfaction.
Listing Courtesy of Properties Nw Of Gig Harbor.


Spanish banking giant BBVA has released a statement saying that their recent crypto tests involving Ripple have been successful.
BBVA is interested in innovation in cross-border payments, especially given our footprint in Europe, Mexico, USA and Latam. BBVA is an active participant in several initiatives in cross-border payments (and other areas where blockchain could be applicable) and in that context, did a project with Ripple last year in order to glean learnings on the efficacy of cross-border payments in various contexts using money, not cryptocurrency. We also have carried a series of tests with blockchain consortia R3, Hyperledger and Ethereum Entreprise Alliance in order to get insights into the use of blockchain in the financial services sector.
Please read this official BBVA article for more details.
Ripple has been making the headlines ever since asset transfer companies like Moneygram, Fleetcor, and Western Union publicly declared their affinity for Ripple's xRapid platform.
BBVA claims to have successfully tested XRP for facilitating cross-border transactions between various countries within Europe and Latin America — regions where the bank possesses a good economic presence.
In terms of the tests themselves, representatives from BBVA mentioned that the money transfers took place smoothly, and each transaction was completed within a matter of seconds. This news has been welcomed by many South American nations since many of them are still confined to using the same financial infrastructure that they have had since the early 70's.
As a result of this, bank transfers still take anywhere up to 3-4 days, leaving many people dissatisfied with the existing setup.
With many financial institutions either downplaying crypto or taking a negative stance, in general, it is refreshing to see a big economic player like BBVA step up and back Ripple.
Correction: The title has been modified to avoid confusion.


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Posts tagged 'Japan'
Short Lines Speak Volumes
Haiku: Natures Meditation by Nora D'Ecclesis.
This lovely book is the best description of haiku that I've come across in many years. Haiku: Natures Meditation is beautifully laid out, with accompanying photos. The term (Haiku) is described as, "Haiku is three short little lines in a small poem that speaks volumes about how we think when viewing nature." Ms. D'Ecclesis also provides a history of haiku, what "haiku" style means, and where it originated from (zen Buddhism, Taoism, and Shintoism).
The author includes historical, and popular masters of haiku, such as Basho.
Spring rain
Leaking through the roof
Dripping from the wats' nest
Haiku involves the what, where, and when, of a moment, as well as juxtaposition, crescendo, mystery, and realism. Here is one by the author that encompasses many of these traits.
Watching the white tail
The deer steps eloquently
Chunks of ice float by
There are are many famous ancestors, proponents, and writers, of haiku in Japan and around the world. Haiku: Natures Meditation is an excellent introduction to this poetry if you are unfamiliar with the style, and a welcome edition, if you are already well versed in the art. Here is another one of my favorites by Ms. D'Ecclesis.
Nor'easter brings ice –
Snow like a Russian novel
A single finch chirps
book, fiction, koan, poetry, Uncategorized
Basho
Compost Time Travel
Escape From Samsara: Prophecy Allocation Series Book One by Nicky Blue. Reviewed by Gabriel Constans.
This story is a corker! Without much ado, ifs, ands or buts, Mr. Blue brings readers' into the seemingly mild mannered life of Barry Harris, who appears to be a sedate gardener, living with his 82-year-old heavy metal loving mother, Molly. They both live with the aggrieving fact that Barry's father (Yamochi) and sister (Mindy) went missing twenty-two years earlier, in 1993. Barry has never given up hope that they will return.
Escape From Samsara is a hilarious combination of wit, wisdom, and nonsense. If you took the following films and TV shows, and put them in a blender (like what happens to a cat in the story), you'd have an inkling of the tale that is told. A Hitchhikers Guide to the Universe; Alice In Wonderland; Dr. Who; The Good Place; and clips from 1960's and 70s Kung Fu movies, come to mind.
Here's a brief example of the satirical new-age dialogue and shenanigans, that abound. Barry is trying to describe Buddhism and mindfulness to his mother's friend, Merrill.
Barry, "By observing our feelings and sensations, we can gain insight into true reality."
Merrill, "Ooh that sounds good. Doctor Harper gave me a relaxation tape once to help me sleep but the bleedin' seagulls outside my window were doing me nutin. I couldn't concentrate for toffee."
The cast of characters include an ethereal being (Terry Watkins), Barry's best friend (an Australian named Tom Carter), Barry's doctor (Dr. Harper), Brian (Barry's coworker, who discovers a compost pile that has turned into a time travel portal), Miss Miggles (an employer's son's cat), and Robbie Jarvis (a seemingly friendly hairdresser for all the older ladies in town). One of these delightful fellows dies by having there head impaled by a 12-inch steel vibrator.
If you're a fan of fantasy, ninja movies, or any of the films and TV shows I mentioned (or not), you'll find this adventure to be a hilarious kick in the butt. Humor is a hard nut to crack, and to write a story that contains so many cracking good lines, is even more difficult. With Escape From Samsara, Mr. Blue blesses this indescribable genre, by not giving a shit about what is, or isn't "supposed" to be, or what "should" happen.
book, fiction, Uncategorized
What Might Be
spirits at the dawn of day by simon boylan.
Spirits at the Dawn of Day isn't a light happy romance, or straight up suspense. It's more like a search for meaning in an internal mystery. If you want fluff, or continued conditioning for an unconscious life, don't read this. If, on the other hand (or two), you don't mind looking inside and at the world, with new perspectives and insights, then climb aboard. The story literally crashes itself into existence and takes readers' on an inner journey, by following the external travels of Josh, an Australian company CEO, who is leaving Japan after a business trip.
All Josh is thinking about is his usual drink, sex, money, and status. After a tragic incident turns his world inside out, Josh seeks out his old friend from college (Alex), and travels around the world looking for answers. He meets up with a philosophy professor on a New England farm (who is reminiscent of Dr. Richard Alpert, who left academia and became Baba Ram Dass); a Kundalini yoga teacher, at a retreat center in Sedona, Arizona; a doctor in Dalian, China; the doctor's martial arts instructing wife; and a man in Japan; whom he had a connection with from the beginning of the story.
There are in-depth and far-reaching conversations and debates that take place between Josh, and each of those he meets, which include science, philosophy, spirituality, suffering, meaning, love, the environment, business, society, and how they all do, or don't, intersect and effect one another. The dialogue is not stuffy, or the least bit boring. They contain many of the elements that exist within our lives when we talk personally with a friend, therapist, clergy, teacher, or relative. In many ways, these conversations remind me of the film My Dinner With Andre, in which two men sit down for dinner at a New York restaurant and talk about everything under the sun (and moon).
In Spirits at the Dawn of Day, Mr. Boylan has taken an honest and striking look at what might (or can) happen when the world (and our perceptions of it) becomes something different than we have previously known, or allowed ourselves to see. Perhaps, he may be asking, is it possible to awaken to our inner and outer environment without having to fall from the sky in order to do so? If so, how do we do that? If so, how can we use this story about Josh and his awakening in our own lives? The final question in this story says, "We are all creating the world of tomorrow… Are you consciously creating your part?"
book, fiction, koan, Uncategorized
I Carried Them With Me
Excerpt featuring Nicola Geiger. From Don't Just Sit There, Do Something! Grief's Wake Up Call.
Born and raised in Germany, Nicola Geiger lived in a young girl's dream world; a luxurious home, close friends, material goods and parties galore. By the end of World War II she was homeless, without possessions and absent her loving family. Her father, mother and one-year-old son died shortly after the war began. When she was eight months pregnant with her second child she was raped. The child died at birth as a result of the trauma. She was interrogated and tortured in Poland, lost many close friends, and her dear husband Rudolf disappeared, never to be heard from again.
Since her losses during the war, Nicola persisted in reaching out to others. Immediately after the war she worked with the International Red Cross and assisted refugees. After studying in England she moved to the U.S., met her second husband, fought against McCarthyism and became involved in the civil rights movement. When they moved on to Japan, she became active in visiting the atomic bomb survivors in Hiroshima, waged campaigns for world peace, and fought for the rights of Koreans who had been enslaved and abused by the Japanese. When her husband died she decided to move to the Philippines. There she fought for democracy and the overthrow of the Marcos regime.
Ms. Geiger:
First of all, my two children died. One was a baby and the other was when I was eight-and-a-half months pregnant and was raped by twelve Russians. The child didn't survive. It died right after birth. Fortunately, they found me in these ruins in Berlin. A lady heard me when I cried out for help and she took me to a Red Cross hospital. Then my husband disappeared and I never knew what happened to him. My father died a horrible death at the beginning of the war, which was said to be an accident, but it wasn't – his legs were cut off while he was visiting a factory. Friends died and the absolute, total destruction of everything from the bombing. It was an enormous amount of simply taking in the losses.
Such losses can never be replaced. You're totally wiped out . . . your associations and surroundings . . . furnishings that were two hundred years old, furniture, everything . . . so then you realize you are totally alone.
I was very active in helping refugees after the war. I moved to England where I studied theater. I came to America at the time of McCarthyism, where you were better dead than red. I was not going to stay in America one day longer with such attitudes and wouldn't have if I hadn't met my second husband. He was a scientist who'd worked on the Manhattan Project. He was really an extraordinary person.
I was very involved with anti-McCarthyism and the civil rights movement. I had never been told, "This is a Jew and this is a German." I grew up in a socialist family and my father was extremely enlightened, as was my mother. My father was a Buddhist. He sat in the room where I was born and had prepared a meditation mat next to him so I could be put beside him upon birth.
I was very involved in the civil rights movement during the fifties and sixties and I worked a great deal with children in theater in order to empower them. I find theater to be a tool that is very useful. During the Vietnam War I continued in the civil rights movement. We lived in Philadelphia. There were sit ins from Baltimore up to Washington, women strike for peace and Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. I was really involved with my whole heart then. When my husband went on sabbatical we went to Hiroshima Japan where he did research on atomic bomb victims, whom I worked with as well.
The Japanese had resettled two provinces in Korea and brought Koreans to Japan as slave laborers. In 1905 America and Japan made a treaty in which America took over the Philippines and Japan took over Korea. The Koreans were very badly treated, so I worked a great deal with Koreans in the Hiroshima area and in Kyoto after my husband died. I worked extensively with the Japanese peace movement and with the liberation people in Korea. For a couple years I moved to the Philippines because of my health. I lived with European journalists there and entered into the movement to oust the Marcos regime.
There was never a time when I wasn't involved. It hasn't been from an intellectual place. It really came from my own deep understanding of what life is about. The work I did was because I wanted to be in this world. I wanted to live in that light which takes away the occasion of all wars cruelty and control. I really understood, through my Buddhism, that I am the one that must work on myself . . . my ego. This is what I successfully did, in great part because of my experience with suffering.
Two of the major exercises which were brought to me when I was young, were to go over my day at night and decide what was harmonious and what was not. My parents did not speak of bad and good; they spoke of harmony and disharmony. They presented it in a way, because I was very small, that I was very much empowered. If I had done something, thrown a stone or fought with someone, I could go to that person and make it right or more accurately, harmonious.
My parents always used the bell. (She rings bell) The bell was used for settling down. My mother was not a Buddhist, but she saw how its values worked and she and father's parenting was always together. There was also an enormous group of friends with whom we'd celebrate the change of the year. People would come together. Every weekend there would be music and poetry. It was an extremely interesting and wonderful life I grew up in.
I don't really know how I managed to survive (the war), but I can tell you what happened. When I was fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, I thought, "I can change the world!" Don't we all think that? I was nineteen when my father died on September 6, 1939, just six days after the war began. Then there was the attack on Poland and a few of my friends were killed. Then began the registration of food and nobody could travel on trains. Everything was regulated. My father was against Hitler and had voted against him in the election. Did you know he came into power with only thirty-three percent of the vote? A year after Hitler became chancellor he assassinated five thousand people, many who were homosexuals, gypsies (and political opponents). Five thousand people in two days! They were all rounded up.
When these things happened I really understood that I had no power; that I had been living in a fantasy; thinking my life could make a difference. I really understood that I was quite powerless, even though I knew many important people. I could go to them but they could not help me. I couldn't say, "Let's stop the war." Then from my own view of the world, because of Buddhism, I really grasped, not so much understood, it really was a grasping, that I was responsible for myself and how I would live and what I would do in the midst of all that was going on. From 1943 on, when the totally destructive air raids came, I really lived day to day.
Why didn't I have any feeling of revenge? I think this is fascinating. I thought it was futile to do so. I felt that to have these emotions were only hurting me. They didn't give me any peace. I had feelings, not so much of revenge, but of anger and more anger. I wanted to lash back. But I began to understand very quickly, to grasp, that that would only hurt myself. I had to fight to really center down and my bell helped me with that. I centered down and did my Metta practice every day. Metta is a Buddhist meditation for loving-kindness. That was the thing to do. In many ways it's a great mystery that I could do it. I think it had something to do with all the wonderful people I'd encountered through the years. The German people were not bad people. The people I'd been born in to were fine people. In human kindness and helpfulness I encountered many wonderful people.
So, I did my Metta practice. I didn't deny my grief. Indeed, I felt it! I tried to commit suicide on my birthday on August 3rd, 1945. I took pills and my friends with whom I was staying came back home after I'd taken them. Luckily they'd forgotten something. I don't speak of it very often. I was tired. I was so tired of knowing about evil. I was so tired that I wanted to rest forever. It's really amazing all the things that went on around the world.
When I recovered, woke up and was back in the present, I was really grateful that I had lived! My time was not yet up. Indeed, I realized that I had a task. And each time someone died that was close to me; I carried them with me in their spirit. It's like they're marching with me. I've demonstrated and manifested in my life what most of the people who died would have done.
Post Script: Nicola Geiger died peacefully, after a long illness, on July 31, 2006.
More inspiring stories at Don't Just Sit There, Do Something! Grief's Wake Up Call
International Red Cross
Nicola Geiger
raped
Japanese Culture of Silence
End the Japanese "culture of Silence" toward crimes against women!
Stalker Zero
by Ikumi Yoshimatsu
As a victim of stalking and intimidation in Japan, I am asking Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to take action to change the culture of silence toward crimes against women in my country. To help encourage the Japanese government to address this issue, I'm also asking US Ambassador Caroline Kennedy to speak out and join these efforts.
I am the first Japanese woman to be crowned Miss International in the 52-year long history of the pageant. Since winning my crown in October 2012, I have been the victim of stalking, intimidation, threats, extortion and blackmail by a powerful Japanese talent agency executive known to have ties to organized crime. This man tried to abduct me from a TV studio, made threatening calls to my family, and hired private investigators to stalk me, peep into my windows and photograph my home.
The Japanese organizers of the Miss International 2013 world grand prix even asked me to "play sick" and "keep quiet" in order to appease my stalker after he made threatening phone calls to their sponsors. Because of this, I became the first Miss International titleholder in the 52-year history of the pageant prevented from passing my crown to my successor. I fear for my life and require 24hr security.
I went to the police with more than 30 exhibits of evidence including recordings and photographs. As is typically the case in Japan, the police did nothing more than offer to increase patrols in my area. They did nothing to assure my safety or to punish my stalker.
In an unprecedented move, I became the first Japanese women ever to publicly name her tormentor and went public with my story. In sharp contrast to strong global coverage in the foreign media, not a single Japanese newspaper or TV station has covered the story out of fear of reprisal from my stalker who is linked to organized crime. My blog has been read by millions of people and thousands have written messages of support and shared their own stories of fear, intimidation and violence.
SIGN IKUMI's PETITION
Japan is plagued by a "culture of silence" toward crimes against women that has been the standard for centuries. Out of all the industrialized nations, Japan is one of the lowest ranking countries on Gender Equality — a disgraceful 105 out of 136 countries.
At the same time, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been a strong and vocal supporter of women's rights. He has called time and time again for a "society in which women shine." His strong leadership on this issue would be a game-changer. As the first female US Ambassador to Japan — and a long-time supporter of human rights and women — Ambassador Kennedy can help encourage my government to do more by speaking out in support of my campaign.
As a first step, I'm asking that the Japanese government establish a task force to investigate stalking and violence against women with the objective of laying out an immediate national strategy to address these issues and offer real protection for women.
We need strict anti-stalking laws and strong punishment for perpetrators of crimes against women. We need a police force that will protect women and immediately act to prevent stalking and intimidation. We need restraining orders granted by the courts for any woman who has been threatened, BEFORE she is actually harmed, murdered, or forced to commit suicide. We need media that report on these issues without fear. Without protecting the women of Japan, our country will never enjoy the economic and moral benefits of a truly equal society.
Ikumi Yoshimatsu
Sent from Change.org
gobvernment
Ikumi
pagaent
Superb Story and Scribe
A Tale for the Time Being
by Ruth Ozeki
Reviewed by Gabriel Constans
"Ruth Ozeki's A Tale for the Time Being is one of the best novels of 2013—and will surely inhabit that position for years to come."
However you envision or conceptualize life, you will never see it quite the same once you've read this brilliant story. "Brilliant" is a strong and suggestive superlative, but it fits this story like the insistent tolling of a bell calling for one's attention.
Down to earth and intellectual. Filled with judgments and acceptance, separateness and interdependence. Complicated, yet simple. Ms. Ozeki's characters question their thoughts, feelings, and actions—even how they respond to suffering. They ask whether their choices and lives make a difference, what is the meaning of conscience, and how to explain the nature of existence—and they do so in the pages of a beautiful tale of families struggling to survive, understand, and share their love.
Ruth, a novelist who lives on an island in British Columbia with her husband Oliver, happens upon a diary she finds in a sealed lunchbox she discovers among some kelp that's washed to shore. The diary is that of a sixteen year old in Tokyo, Japan, named Nao.
As Ruth begins to read the diary—which describes Nao's family, her thoughts of suicide, and her close connection with her 104-year-old great grandmother Jiko (who is a Buddhist nun living in the area of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami)—we are pulled into Ruth's thoughts and feelings about what she is reading as well as its impact on her, her husband, and others living on the island.
Every person, animal, life form, building, city, town, and forest in this story feels real and congruent. You can almost reach into the book and pet the cat, yell at the bullies, shake Nao's father, hear the wind, see the crow take flight, and feel the ancient, chilly, wooden temple floor beneath your knees as you bow.
There are so many exquisite lines of prose within A Tale for the Time Being, that it is difficult to choose a few that will give readers' a taste of this sweet, caustic, entertaining, and captivating novel. Nonetheless, here are a few morsels.
When Ruth first reads the diary, she describes the letters. "They were round a little bit sloppy (as she now imagined the girl must be, too), but they stood more or less upright and marched gamely across the page at a good clip, not in a hurry, but not dawdling, either."
Nao writes of a moment when she is holding Jiko's hand. "I was still thinking about what she said about waves, and it made me sad because I knew that her little wave was not going to last much longer and soon she would join the sea again, and even though I know you can't hold on to water, still I gripped her fingers a little more tightly to keep her from leaking away."
Ruth speaks of time and how it interacts with attention. "At the other extreme, when her attention was disengaged and fractured, she experienced time at its most granular, wherein moments hung around like pixels, diffused and suspended in standing water."
It sounds like Haiku poetry when Jiko is telling Nao about her son (Nao's great uncle) who died in World War II. "A single frog croaked, and then another. Jiko's words dropped like stones into the silence in between." Jiko explains to Nao (who had told Jiko about it feeling like there were fish flopping around in her stomach when she felt grief or was being bullied) that the loss of her son was like a whale in her gut and she was learning to open her heart so the whale could swim away.
A Tale for the Time Being is more than a lovely piece of literature; it also explores science, philosophy, nature, history, psychology, biology, physics, Japanese culture, and the nature of consciousness. There is also a healthy dose of Buddhism and meditation thrown in with subtle precision integrated into the characters and storyline without dissemblance or force.
Read complete review and others, at New York Journal of Books.
captivating
NYJB
Ozeki
Ruth Ozeki
Whale Meat for Lunch
The world is finally getting wise to the serious ethical and environmental problems with consuming whale meat. You'd think with demand dropping, the Japanese would finally let go of their devotion to whaling.
Instead, Japan has introduced a host of measures to prop up the whaling industry and force more whale meat onto people's plates.
Japan's barely legal whaling industry continues under the auspices of "science." But the industry has operated at a loss for years, costing the government roughly $60 million every year to sustain. Instead of giving up, Japan is doubling down, loosening regulations on sales and increasing the amount of whale meat in school lunches, even though it would increase kids' risk of mercury poisoning.
It's time for Japan to get with the program and realize that the world doesn't want whale meat.
Tell Japanese officials to stop prolonging the long-awaited abandonment of whaling.
Thank you for taking action,
Care2 and ThePetitionSite Team
whale meat
whaling industry
Whale's Being Slaughtered
Japanese whaling ships are closing in on whales in the Southern Ocean right now. They call their mission "science," but no valid science is gathered from their hunts — it's just a cover for their bloody activities.
It's not science, it's senseless killing, and it must end.
Make an urgent gift today to protect whales, the oceans, and our planet.
We're only two days away from December 31 and so close to reaching our $125,000 goal. We need just 7 more donations from California to reach it and have the resources we need to save whales in the new year.
Whales are smart creatures — they know where they are and who they are. They feel loss and pain. They "talk" to each other. A growing body of evidence shows that whales are very similar to humans in intelligence and self-awareness. There is nothing scientific about killing nearly every whale you encounter and selling the meat for profit.
Commercial hunts by any name must end.
Please donate now to stop the killing and save whales from this deadly "science."
With your help we'll mobilize public support, run newspaper ads, lead a coalition of NGOs and pressure the Obama administration and the International Whaling Commission to close these deadly loopholes and put an end to commercial whaling once and for all.
We've already been successful in dramatically reducing the market for whale meat to the point where the industry is shutting down. But operations like Japan's are being propped up by government subsidies.
Right now is the time to tip the scales and completely end commercial whaling. Now's our chance, and Gabriel, there's not much time left.
Philip Radford
killing whales
Whaling Commission
Japan Win World Cup!
Who would have thought? Of all the teams in this year's Women World Cup, Japan is not the country I would have picked to win it all, let alone knock off powerhouse Germany and No. 1 ranked U.S. They sure did it though and they did it with style, cohesion and determination. A new found defense and superb goalkeeping were key.
Before the World Cup begin, I would have picked Brazil or Germany to win it all. The United States didn't look as solid as they have in the past and barely made into the tournament in the first place. The fact that they got to the final was somewhat of a surprise and once they were there, I hoped they'd win it all, but if they had to lose, losing to Japan was a sweet consolation.
Before every match they played, the Japanese team would unfurl a banner thanking everyone around the world for the support they had received and it seemed that they were playing not just a game, but for a countries sense of hope. Similarly (though not really an accurate comparison in the least), the Japanese women beat all the odds to hoist the cup, as the Japanese people are surviving despite being hit with 2 natural disasters (and one human made) all at once.
Another touching part of the story is that Japan's captain Homare Sawa (who was playing in her 5th World Cup!) scored the most goals in the tournament and brought her team back again and again.
The tournament overall was outstanding and couldn't have been more exciting. Three of the four quarterfinal matches went into overtime and two of those to penalty kicks (as did the final). The stands were filled and Germany completely embraced the Women's World Cup, even after their team took a shocking defeat at the hands of the excellent passing, possession and opportunistic Japanese.
Thank you Germany for hosting such a great Women's World Cup; all the teams for giving it their all; and to Japan for showing us once again that nothing is impossible.
Crazy Women's World Cup Quarterfinals!
What crazy, exciting games today and yesterday in the quarterfinals of the women's world cup! Three of the four games went into overtime and two ended up in penalty kicks.
Japan was amazing in their game against 2 time world champion (and hometown favorite) Germany. Their defense, passing and cohesion was awesome. The goal by their young 18-year-old 5 foot sub Maruyama in overtime was incredible and gave them the much deserved win and advance to the semi-finals for the first time in their history.
http://youtu.be/_Xeb3yD9eZc
Then there was the England and French match, which seemed to go on and on, even though France looked the much better team. When it came down to the penalty kicks however, the Brits fell just short.
To top it off was the U.S. vs. Brazil game today. On average, I'd have said the Brazil team is, in their present form, better than the U.S. and wouldn't have been surprised to see the U.S. lose. Instead, the U.S. scored in the first few minutes and later had one of their players sent off with a red card for a tackle in the box on Marta. It seemed like a fair call to me, but on the insuing penalty kick, which Hope Solo saved, Brazil was given a second try because of an unbelievable call by the Assistant Referee which said she came off her line. In fact, it is clear she made a totally legal and fantastic save of the ball and the game should have stayed 1-0 for the U.S. On the second try, Marta put it in the back of the net and the score was 1-1.
Then they went into a 30 minute overtime period and Marta scored within the first few minutes, giving Brazil the lead at 2-1. The U.S. was playing a woman down all this time, because of the red card during regular time. So, with only 10 players, compared to Brazil's 11, the US hung in their until Amy Wambach got on the end of a header just minutes before the end of the extended time, and scored. That took them to penalty kicks.
It was during the penalty kicks that my hero Hope Solo made another save and the U.S. won the game!
Talk about being on the edge of your seat! Regardless of what happens next, I don't see how the semi-finals on Wednesday or the final can be any more exciting than this weekend, but I'll definitely be watching.
Amy Wambach
Hope Solo
U. S. women's team
U.S. team