I have a small microbial cell set up, its based on a demo from the journal of biological education. They use a bacteria that isnt so easy to source in the UK, so i decided to try a few others out.
The target voltage for a 1ltr cell is roughly 0.8V, the last batch i used bakers yeast. Looking at the numbers from the logger it seems Yeast can put out 1.2V, now i confess this was a test of the set up and not really intended as a run, both electrodes are bog standard graphite. The load was by resistor and roughly 60mA, the figure wasnt picked for any particular reason.
The cell ran for two weeks as i didnt get time to do much with it, but looking at the readings from the file, it seems the cell easily held its own over two weeks, but there is a sharp drop at the end, likely lack of food or polluted because i wasnt looking after it.
Anyone else played with Microbial cells? I notice in one journal they got a new membrane material that is said to match a hydrogen cell, but really scant info at the moment, i could only get the abstract.
One reason for the interest is a phenomenon seen on various electrodes in AD systems that give false readings due to microbes attaching to them. So i was looking at a solution to this and got interested in them. Not sure where it will lead but thinking about the size of some AD systems, there might be some merit in them. I am using a energy harvesting board (will link in a min) that runs a 32bit Arm Cortex 3 processor as the main data logger and control system for a small research AD system.
I am about to try and power it from a microbial cell, before people jump on this take a look at the following videos. In my own cell i have used a different set of home made electrodes, but same principle. The harvesting kit is exactly the same as one of the ones i am using for this (wurth one), not that one of the energy sources runs from as little as 20mV to power the micro dev kit that comes with it (same dev board i am using to run the AD system).
The vid on the actual microbe cell has an interesting bit at the end, they dont show you inside unfortunately, but an email to them got a reply saying look careful at end and you should see the cells inside. They wouldnt tell me how many cells is in the end container, but its got to be alot, having said that the room is about the same size as a normal mid size AD system. So it would be interesting to build a few simple cells and see what they can do.
The other videos are on the energy kit webpage, not great info but shows what the various sources can do and shows the micro board being powered by them, one thing however.... They say the solar cell on the board works in low light, TBH the one in my kit is exactly the same and dosnt work as well, but the other sources do work really well.
This one wasnt out when i got my kit! But man its some kit!! Maybe if i earn enough this summer i will get one, take a look at it as its really some bit of kit.
videos near page bottom. Anyone interested in long term field data loggers might find it useful, I will go dig out the datasheets for the chips, I know somewhere all the boards have full schematics, so making a battery free field logger shouldnt be too hard, the min voltage is 20mV, note a single small tub used as a microbe cell can produce 200mV+ easily, I have had over 1V from microbe cells but they are not really long term viable at the moment and need daily maintenance.
Well interesting find video wise, i am tracking down the papers at the moment. I doubt many are interested in this (fair enough) but it opens some very interesting avenues for continuous flow reactors.
Its a long thread and the focus isnt so much about the electric produced, but the figures given for sludge removal and especially heavy and precious metals recovery are pretty staggering. As a final free energy (almost) clean up stage, it would make a fantastic final chamber in a multi chamber system.
I am tempted to empty a couple of my reactors and look into this, oddly he gets best results using material thats structurally similar to what i use, he uses very high temps to get it, i use drift wood and lower temps for the bio char, but the pore sizes look about the same. I am trying to find contact details for him. Anyway maybe one day in the future as this tech takes off, a google lander will find all this and it might be useful, i appreciate its a highly specialized area.
I will also post some the details on the energy harvesting equipment from what was linear technology, anyone know what happened to all there app notes??
Note when using these cells you get CO2 not methane, hence being a end stage digester unit. CO2 is ot the bogey man its made out to be, in AD systems it has many uses, even at the very end of the process it can be used to great effect if dissolved in water and fed hydroponically to plant roots of high value crops.
Methane itself is from CO2 and H2 reactions, so the CO2 produced can be recycled back into the system if using a continuous cycle system. This is sort of the area i mess with in the lab, if it paid the bills its what i would do full time!
A rare beast! open access paper on MC's, i havnt read all of this one as i think its mainly a review, but might be of interest. Its certainly one way to desludge a AD in a continuous system.
Having read much of the above paper i would like to add some comments.
Despite its date (2015) alot of the information and data tables are woefully outdated, it is mentioned within the paper that some of the tables have been taken from X or Y paper, on checking dates and the figures given these are outdated by a wide margin.
Also the paper uses meter square often but dosnt always give the context, for example when talking about Anode surface area a square meter should in this context mean surface area of the entire substrate. So a square meter in this sense could be as small as 1cm when you consider the porosity of the material.
In other areas they are in fact speaking about the plate area! So i am sorry its a bit confusing, the main problem is its open access, meaning we can share and post it without a publisher going for your throat.
Oh one last grumble.....Platinum giving 6W per square meter does not take into account platinum poisons the substrate.
So what use are microbial cells? Well originally and to a greater extent even now, they were looked at as a way to generate electricity. But turns out they are most certainly not one trick ponies! Most research is still around energy production, most research is still in uni labs, the odd mad man shed and a few some scale companies.
lets start with the obvious, electric production.
On the face of it they dot produce much, but most people misread or dont make the mental leap from the figures to the potential. A good microbe cell is way more powerful and provide alot more energy than modern batteries! I will come back to that statement in a bit and back it up with the evidence. The thing is most cells are copies from old lab experiments, these used single anode plates to study the energy density. so you tube is full of microbe cells with a single Anode.
What the people who make these videos fail to understand is, in a two chamber cell (anaerobic/aerobic) there is no reason you cant use one cathode and as many anode layers as you like. The caveat being you have to have at least 3-6mm of 'mud' between each plate, so best done in a tube with the Anodes laid horizontal. The limit then becomes how much oxygen you can shove into the cathode side, doing this can give some very big energy potentials.
You will literally eat more of the sludge than is practical to supply, although various current studies are trying to address this.
I have been challenged to build a remote controlled car powered by a microbial cell!! Car might be stretching the definition somewhat with what i have in mind lol, but i will post an outline of an idea. To add to the fun, i excepted this challenge purely because i have no idea if it can be done on a tiny scale! We are talking balsa wood or similar and a brushed motor of around 1V. Remote control will be a very basic self built unit.
I will stick it in projects with some pics of the kind of thing i have in mind. The value in trying this however, is more in the discovery of actual energy densities in microbial cells, when your pushed to the limits space and weight wise. So useful data which ever way you look at it.
This is rather an interesting project.
I keep meaning to post a update with some pics, posting pics on here is PITA so i have put it off.
I have the Bethnoic sediment (unbelievably difficult to get in the end), currently its settling and hopefully going back to being completely Anerobic. I have the microbe anode cell but its too heavy!! I will post the pic of it and give the dimensions and weight.
Anodes are not constructed yet, the salt bridge is on hold as i am looking at a slightly different technique to what i was going to use. I have some micrographs of the bacteria i had done at the uni, i cant use them because if i do i cant then use in a write up as unpublished work, but i found a couple of similar ones on google. Trust me they are really interesting, something i have never seen before, as you will see these bacteria kind of self wire themselves together!
Electronic wise i am going to work on that while i wait for the sediment O2 content to drop more, its pretty anaerobic already, but once its in the cell i cant mess with it much, so before it goes in i have to be sure its not dying off.
Tricky bit might the voltage, the current density is good, but i dont know if multiple anodes in a single separated cell, will act as a single anode with more current, or as multiple anodes with a better voltage, if its single the voltage is going to be around 0.9V. Which is awkward to boost. I should have gone with a different cell construction, but you will see why i chose what i did when i post up next.
Sounds you are on the right track. Looking forward with the updates.
These are not the pics i wanted to post, i use adobe lightroom to catalog my pics, unfortunately i made a mistake and ended up scanning my entire network for pics!! So lightroom has a massive catalog of icons etc and is now useless to me!! I need to go through and delete the catalogs then rescan... or put another way i cant find them at the moment.
However the following picture isnt the same bacteria, but its a genetically modified one, what struck me however is the way the bacteria connect is exactly the same as you seen on the Anode of the cell. Whats curious with a microbe cell is the bacteria dont build up in a layer, they stay as a single layer. What you witness over time is the 'mud' is consumed, which is what interest me rather than electric generation, it is a really useful way to clear sediment from a AD digester and produce a useful waste product (electric).
The amount of electric on a full sized system is a reasonable amount to be useful, especially as the primary function is to get the sediment consumed so you dont need to empty the reactor. In a continuous flow system you want to avoid having to clean out the reactor as much as you can.
Weight has beaten me at the moment, the small cell i agreed to use is thick acrylic with a top that seals and micro port holes in the side, it would have been ideal for this, but its built for special high pressure reactions and considering its size its really heavy for what it is.
So i am negotiating to use something else a little bigger but alot lighter, its likely to be roughly the same volume of sediment, but the shap is a bit different and its harder to seal and attach a proton bridge too. I wont be using nafion for the proton film (way too expensive) but i am looking into using HCL treated Alginate for the bridge.
Often e.Coli in a broth is made into a agar bridge, but it takes ages and isnt going to be good enough for this, same with the terracotta type salt bridges, these tend to let oxygen into the Anode half of the cell. I got the alginate idea from doing microbe and yeast beads with it, if you treat them with a chloride then the outside forms a permeable skin. No ide if it will yet but i have one in the making.
Motors are down to a choice between one of two small 1V motors, no grunt at all in them, but with a toy plastic wind up helicopter gearbox, they should be able to make the car move, geriatric snail with a walking frame pace is fine . The micro and radio set up is all ultra low power and the board to get a decent voltage is a choice between two linear tech energy harvesting boards. I have a number of 2F super caps that are pretty small, so i will add some to the cap bank.
I dont think its cheating to store the microbe cell energy for boosting the transceiver etc when needed, seeing as all the power is from the cell itself. I gave all my balsa wood away the other week, so i am using a light stiff (ish) foam for the frame of the car. When i can be bothered i will go through the torture of taking pics and uploading them once i have messed around and screen shot so they fit the dismal upload limit.
Or i might stick the pics on my server and just link to them here. The sediment container was dropping the oxygen off nicely, then i got a small spike in Oxygen!! Small panic until i found out that apparently these types of sediments often have a spike in O2 just before the microbes we want start to take over, so with luck the cell might be ready to transfer the sediment soon.
The transfer is the worse part for me, i am going to use a glove box and because i am tight i will flush out with Butane and use that as my oxygen free atmosphere. Butane shouldnt harm the microbes (famous last words).


Once the location of four classrooms housing grades 1-8, the Grand Room is now an elegant yet comfortable place for guests to relax with friends, enjoy soft music, or settle down with a beverage and book selection. This spacious room is also available for receptions, seminars and gatherings.
Enjoy convenient access to first-floor amenities in this French impressionist garden room with wheelchair-accessible in-suite bathroom and shower. The Garden Room (as its name implies) looks out upon the front and side gardens. It is a small room with a large bathroom. Features a comfortable Queen bed with thick Tempur-Pedic memory foam topper, padded wicker chair & footrest, small side table, flat-panel TV, and easy access to the rolling-action massage recliner a few steps down the hall. Three stately windows with deep sills bathe this room in light. Blockout shades help you to sleep in. The room rate is: weekdays $130 including hot breakfast/ weekends $135 (Fri & Sat). Click on the "Availability" link (top of page-left side) to check room rate for your night/s or to reserve the room.
If you occasionally daydream of a country garden with hummingbirds, you'll enjoy this small yet comfortable room. It features a full bath, A/C, antique writing desk, flat panel TV, and a Shiatzu massaging recliner with leg massage, and a Queen bed with a 12" Tempur-Pedic memory foam mattress. For the benefit of family or friends traveling together, this suite adjoins the Music Room through a "lockout" door. A convenient kitchenette is just down the hall. The room rate is: weekdays $130 including hot breakfast; weekends $135 (Fri & Sat). Click on the "Availability" tab (top of page-left side) to check room rate for your night/s or to reserve the room.
If you have a book to finish, this room will inspire you. Reminiscent of an English tea garden, this room glows like a bouquet touched by the morning sun. This is a spacious room with full bath, A/C, spacious table-for-two, chaise lounge, Shiatzu massaging recliner, and writing desk with flat-panel TV, comfy Queen bed with 12" Tempur-Pedic memory foam mattress. Two large, deep-silled windows overlook our gardens and the town park. A kitchenette is located next door. The room rate is $143 including hot breakfast; $150 weekends (Fri & Sat). Click on the "Availability" tab (top of page-left side) to check room rate for your night/s or to reserve the room.
Forget Arithmetic! Instead, enjoy a taste of Botticelli's paradise in this romantic 2-room suite It's stately and elegant décor features comfortable Queen bed with BeautyRest foam-topped mattress, full bath and separate dressing room with extra vanity sink & mirror; A/C, desk, flat panel TV, full-length mirror, Shiatzu massaging recliner with leg massage, and a smaller room with a Standard double bed & a small rollaway with 1" memory foam topper, bureau, and a small VCR/DVD television. Seven stately windows with deep sills look out over the small pioneer town against a backdrop of Boulder Mountain's alpine peaks. A convenient kitchenette is just down the hall. The suite is ideal for three adults traveling together or for a small family. The standard 2-person occupancy rate is: weekdays $165* including hot breakfast; $170 weekends (Fri & Sat). Each additional guest is $35 extra.* *Note: we welcome children ages 12 and older; younger children only by special arrangement. When checking availability or booking this room, the Booking Center will ask "how many adults" which, for our B&B, means 'how many GUESTS'. Be sure to count ALL guests as "adults" (including children) when typing in the number in the booking.
Inspired by the opulence of the Italian Opera, you may want to burst into song when you enter this suite. Decorated with antique musical instruments and accoutrements, you may imagine yourself floating down a Venetian canal being serenaded by the rich tenor of a gondolier. The room features A/C, a full bath, a Shiatzu massaging recliner with leg massage, comfortable Queen bed with 12" Tempur-Pedic memory foam mattress. For the benefit of family or friends traveling together, this room adjoins to the Writing Room through a "lockout" door. A convenient kitchenette is just a few steps away. This room rate is: weekdays $130 including hot breakfast; $140 weekends (Fri & Sat). Click on the "Availability" tab (top of page-left side) to check room rate for your night/s or to reserve the room.
The Moenkopi Room (pronounced "Mo-en-coh-pee") has the most expansive views of redrock, with eight windows that wrap around three sides of the building. This spacious suite features a comfortable King bed and an overstuffed leather loveseat that folds out into a comfy Twin bed. Both the King & Twin have a thick memory foam topper for maximum comfort. The room also features a full bath, A/C, flat panel TV, Shiatzu massaging recliner with leg massage, and a versatile table-for-two. Its décor reflects the influence of ancient Fremont indian culture complimented by the color of sunlit Moenkopi redrock formations. A kitchenette is next door. The double-occupancy room rate is: weekdays $153* including hot breakfast/ $160 weekends (Fri & Sat). Additional guest is $35 extra (*note: we accommodate children over 12, and they are booked as "adults"). Click on the "Availability" tab (top of page-left side) to check room rate for your night/s or to reserve the room.
The ambience and decor of the Chinle Room (pronounced "Chin-lee") is reminiscent of our early pioneers that settled this area. This spacious suite features a comfortable King bed with thick Tempur-Pedic memory foam topper, a Shiatzu massaging recliner with leg massage, a full bath, A/C, and writing desk with flat-panel TV. It offers a spectacular view of Chinle and Moenkopi redrock formations. The kitchenette is just a few steps away. This room rate is: weekdays $145* including hot breakfast; $150 weekends (Fri & Sat). Click on the "Availability" tab (top of page-left side) to check room rate for your night/s or to reserve the room.
The spacious suite features a comfortable King bed with thick Tempur-Pedic memory foam topper, a Shiatzu massaging recliner with leg-massage, full bath, A/C, and writing desk and flat-panel TV. The ambience of Fremont and Anasazi Indian décor will complement your spectacular view of Windgate redrock formations. A convenient kitchenette is next door. Its room rate is: weekdays $145* including hot breakfast; $150 weekends (Fri & Sat). Click on the "Availability" link (top of page-left side) to check room rate for your night/s or to reserve the room.
Enjoy early pioneer decor in this spacious suite. Spectacular east view of windgate redrock formations behind the tree-lined park below will inspire your imagination, while southern views unfold from the Cottonwood-tree-shaded town in the distance, upwards to the alpine peaks of Boulder Mountain. This suite features a comfortable King bed with thick Temper-Pedic memory foam topper. It includes a full bath, A/C, writing desk, flat-panel TV, and Shiatzu massaging recliner with leg massage. A convenient kitchenette is just down the hall. Its room rate is: weekdays $153 including hot breakfast; $160 weekends (Fri & Sat). Click on the "Availability" link (top of page-left side) to check room rate for your night/s or to reserve the room.
The ambience of early fur-trappers and indigenous Fremont Indians echo throughout this spacious suite. Spectacular views of Moenkopi and Windgate red-rock formations to the Northwest and of alpine Boulder Mountain to the south inspire your imagination, while the Shiatzu massaging recliner with leg massage sends you into deep relaxation. The comfortable Queen-size bed has a 12" Tempur-Pedic memory foam mattress. It includes a full bath, A/C, writing desk and flat panel TV. A convenient kitchenette is just down the hall. The rate is: weekdays $145 including hot breakfast; $155 weekends (Fri & Sat). Click on the "Availability & Rates" link (top of page-left side) to check room rate for your night/s or to reserve the room.


An example of an LCU Mk. IV of the Indian Navy. Photo c/o Wikimedia Commons.
The Indian Navy has commissioned its sixth Mk. IV Landing Craft Utility (LCU) in ceremonies held in Kolkata on 30 March 2019.
The LCU will hull number L 56 is part of a INR21 billion (US$303 million) contract with Indian shipbuilder Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) to supply and build a fleet of eight (8) new Mk. IV landing crafts for the Indian Navy.
The commissioning of L 56 also coincides with GRSE delivering its 100th warship, the first Indian shipbuilder in reaching the milestone.
The Mk. IV LCU was designed by GRSE, and has a length of 62.8 meters, a maximum beam of 11 meters, and a draught of 2.2 meters. It displaces at 830 tons, is powered by two MTU 16V 4000M53 diesel engines with 2 fixed pitched propellers and attaining a maximum speed of 15 knots.
The ship is armed with two 30mm guns using the CRN 91 Sarath remote controlled weapon station, support by a Bharat Electronics EON-51 EO/IR fire control system.
Each LCU can carry up to 160 fully equipped soldiers.


Booking for the Moab Folk Festival is done on an invitation basis only. This means that our staff reviews promotional material received at our office and makes offers to those performers that fit a given year's booking goals. Currently, we only book 12 acts per Festival.
We have received hundreds of inquiries over the past several years. Please know that if you are not immediately selected, this does not mean that we have not considered you or that you will not receive an invitation for a future Festival. Having said that, please note that multiple calls or emails to our office are not encouraged unless you have updated information or material to provide to us.
Selecting performers for each year's Festival is always a challenging, albeit rewarding, process. There is so much talent to consider! We thank you for your understanding and your patience, in addition to your interest in performing at the Moab Folk Festival.


Dock. Drive. Discover. The QLK-150 wheelchair docking system is the next step in independent wheelchair securement (also known as powered lockdowns or tie-downs). It is the perfect solution for those looking to drive their own vehicle or want to quickly secure their own wheelchair using a single point system. Call Scott to get more information.


The B. Bus, owned by the YMCA of Barry County, is operated through a collaboration between the Y, Delton-Kellogg Schools, Hastings Area School System, Thornapple Kellogg Schools, Maple Valley Schools, Thornapple Credit Union and Hastings Public Library. Our team is on a mission to keep Barry County kids and families reading all summer. It is proven that students who do not read during the summer lose months of learning, and teachers spend several weeks in review at the beginning of each school year. Our goal is to reduce this learning loss by creating a fun, reading environment.
The B. Bus will visit neighborhoods throughout the county on specific days during the summer, Monday-Friday. At stops, participants will have the opportunity to checkout books, listen to stories, and engage in activities.
Mission Statement: To reach students throughout Barry County providing access to summer reading and active learning.
Now hiring B. Bus staff, aka "B. Keepers" We are looking for warm enthusiastic people wanting to engage youth, inspire reading and make an impact on our county.
Help keep the B. Bus rolling by considering an annual monetary gift. No gift is too small to keep Barry County reading strong!
Want to help more kids have a fun, active time reading? Join us at any stop to volunteer. Volunteer 3 or more time and earn an exclusive B. Bus t-shirt!
KickStart to Career is a new children's savings program brought to you by the Barry Community Foundation, Hastings City Bank and the Barry County schools. The program provides local kindergartners with a savings account seeded with $50.00, and is designed to help students start saving money for their future college or career training expenses.
Donor Spotlight Thank you to all who have donated!
Thank you to all who gave over $5000 towards our start up costs in years 2017-2018. Without these funds, we would not have been able to purchase, overhaul and get the B. Bus Mobile Library on the road.
As our first major donor, First Presbyterian gave our committee the boost we needed to get the bus project off to a great start.
Great Lakes Energy People Fund is a great way to give to your community. By simply having your bill rounded up monthly, your gift allows for GREAT changes through Michigan. Visit GLE website to learn more and sign up.
Thank you to our gifts from the Barry Community Foundation and it's partners.


The Atari Stripe Rug boasts an audacious solid army green background which supports three contrasting retro stripes. Recalling the stark design styles of the 70's this rug will score big with anyone who has nostalgic sensibilities. Great decor for a gamer's room, an urban loft, or any retro fit room in need of a bold statement. Made of the highest quality, hand-tufted soft mod-acrylic, and hand carved for added texture.


Bill Johnson has been appointed official pound master for the town of Richland. He gets 50c for each dog he licenses and 50c for killing unwanted canines. And Bill sure is busy. Female dogs are taxed $2 and males $1.


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HomeBlogsWho's Boss of Chile's Foreign Relations?
Who's Boss of Chile's Foreign Relations?
April 7, 2017 Web Editor 0
In March the High-level Dialogue on Integration Initiatives in the Asia-Pacific took place in Viña del Mar. Throughout, the spectre of Trump the enemy of free trade, made the rounds. Paradoxically, all parties committed to a trade approach that contributed to bringing Mr. Trump to power, Brexit about, and neo-fascist right-wing populism into the mainstream. For Chile holding on to the corpse of the TPP, a prime example of a "conspiracy against the public" Adam Smith already warned about, seems crazy.
Over-protected bureaucrats like Paulina Naval, head of the Directorate for Economic International Relations (DIRECON), prescribe as remedy for the social costs of economic globalisation easier small-business creation. This would leave the losers of global competition to confront even fiercer competition on their own, but it also would enable decision-makers to evade accountability.
Most small-business owners then had to compete in Chile's bogus free-market economy (the economist Fernando Leiva Letelier calculated that in 2013 twenty conglomerates controlled 53% of GDP), fighting to land contracts with the Paulmanns, Angelinis, Mattes, and/or Luksics, who'll save social security and administrative costs. Their conglomerates, on the other hand, win big from free trade as they can count on DIRECON, because according to the directorate foreign trade carries a positive image of Chile's economy into the world.
Therefore, Chile's moneyed class, in Leiva Letelier's words, could launch "an intensive effort to internationalise operations." This take-off was pushed by oligarchs doing statecraft and intensified under Chile's Faustian post-dictatorship democracy, as politicians promised to keep neoliberal capitalism and oligarchs somewhat agreed to the post-1989 regime.
The country's richest man, Andrónico Luksic, most successfully aligned policy-making with special interests. In 2014, he initiated a propaganda campaign to distract from his Antofagasta Minerals or Banco de Chile, whose business models involve depleting water resources or driving citizens into debt. On his initiative, intellectuals worked out 95 proposals, which mostly have served as the current government's programme, and many of which — sometimes implicitly — call for greater international engagement for economic sake.
Meanwhile, Mr. Luksic, the not so ordinary citizen, grows bolder and openly lectures Bolivia on Twitter. This smart-ass attitude potentially strengthens the Morales administration's strategy of aggressive diversion to present Chile — not without merit — as imperialist, dominated by unelected billionaires. Mr. Luksic and foreign-policy makers might be delusional about it, but a prominent super-rich lashing out against another country hurts Chile's national interest.
Oligarchic influence runs deeper yet. The former entrepreneur-president Sebastián Piñera entrenched in 2012 their power in ENSYD, Chile's defence strategy until 2024. ENSYD promotes pursuing national interests via international cooperation, and Mr. Piñera allowed to include a mechanism that enables special interests to execute such prerogative of the state through a public-private working group. In it public servants and entrepreneurs "debate…solution[s] to specific security problems," allowing private power to shape decisions around military deployment or alliance building. Worse, if the group still operates (no reports have emerged), it does so removed from scrutiny, making it impossible for the public to know who acts in its interest. The Piñera administration slyly circumvented public participation by creating an extra body of consultative character for members of civil society. Therefore, civil society is supposed to provide ideas for the 'public'-private group to either consider or dismiss.
In such a constellation diplomatic and academic expertise is pitched against private interest, but the silence from learned experts indicates that they are happier cheering a special interest government than speaking truth to power. Strategic blunders like the Falklands policy result, and one right, like the withdrawal of the ambassador to Venezuela, doesn't correct a thousand wrongs.
To be fair, the focus on trade is understandable. Ex-President Lagos, whatever his faults, brilliantly managed US threats before the Iraq war, while the UK was plotting from the shadows. Mr. Lagos deftly wielded the political power of trade deals, because he understood that the trade agreement with the EU would cushion a fallout with Washington. With a less skilled leader, Chile would have paid dearly for the US elite's megalomania. Given that experience, the current push into the global economy seems reckless, as leaders clearly know about the potential political implications of deals — and still, they allow Chile sleepwalking into a genocide in Myanmar.
Ex-President Eduardo Frei, personifying Chile's trade interests in the Asia-Pacific, is enthusiastically paving the way for Chilean capital into Myanmar, although he certainly knows that there 'A Genocide [is] in the Making.' The minority Rohingya are exterminated by the army, with silent approval of democratically elected President Aung San Suu Kyi and the majority of the country's inhabitants. The Rohingya are disparaged in the media and victims to systematic rape and killing. A trade deal wouldn't only funnel more resources into the genocide, it would also create a screen to cover up the corpses.
Neither Chile's entrepreneurial class nor their political enablers tackle the strategic, political, and philosophical questions economic globalisation raises, because oligarchic influence frames international relations to serve profit-making. Until it makes boom.
— The views expressed by this writer and commenters below do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Santiago Times.
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Chile prepares great mission to Guatemala to strengthen trade ties
August 12, 2017 Web Editor 0
SANTIAGO – Chile prepares a great business mission to Guatemala, oriented to make direct investments and joint production processes, revealed the Direction of International Economic Relations (Direcon). During a seminar 'Chile-Guatemala: Opportunities of Direct Investments […]
Chile Abroad
OBOR Summit 2017: Chile, China agree to deepen comprehensive strategic partnership
May 15, 2017 Web Editor 0
BEIJING – Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Chilean counterpart Michelle Bachelet have agreed to deepen the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries. Bachelet is in Beijing to attend the Belt and Road Forum […]
South Korea, Mercosur agree to begin formal negotiations for a free trade deal
SEOUL – South Korea and Mercosur agreed to begin formal negotiations for a trade deal in the latter half of this year to facilitate commerce and investment, the Seoul government said on Friday. South Korea […]

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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George Hudson
George Hudson 1860 - 1862
Little is known of some of the former Chiefs of the Choctaw Nation. George Hudson, the First principal Chief of the Choctaw Nation under the Doaksville Constitution, was born in Mississippi in 1808. Nothing is known of his father, a white man. His mother, a full blood Choctaw, appears on the 1831, Rolls as Widow Hudson.
The Hudson family departed from Mississippi for Indian Territory with the first removal party. George?s mother passed away en-route, one of the many who did not survive the long, sad journey of the Trail of Tears. George settled on lands about a mile west of Eagletown and became a farmer. This part of Indian Territory remained his home until his death.
Although he had very few educational advantages, he practiced law before the tribal courts, served as a member of the Choctaw Council, and served as presiding officer at the Constitutional Convention at Doaksville in 1860. In October 1860, George Hudson was elected Chief of the Choctaws and served until October 1862. After his attempt and failure to succeed himself as Chief he retired to his home on Mountain Fork River. Information from Thumbnail Sketches of Choctaw Chiefs, compiled by Mary C. Park.


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1As of the most recent prospectus, the expense ratios for the Selected American Shares were as follows: Class S, 0.98%; Class D, 0.66%. As of the most recent prospectus, the expense ratios for the Selected International Fund were as follows: Class S, 1.15%; Class D, 0.90%. (The Adviser is contractually committed to waive fees and/or reimburse the Fund's expenses to the extent necessary to cap total annual fund operating expenses of Class S shares at 1.15%. The expense cap expires May 1, 2021. The expense ratio prior to the cap was 1.50%.) The total annual operating expense ratios may vary in future years.
2Risk Disclosures. Some important risks of an investment in the Funds are: market risk: the market value of shares of common stock can change rapidly and unpredictably and have the potential for loss; company risk: equity securities represent ownership positions in companies. Over time, the market value of a common stock should reflect the success or failure of the company issuing the stock; financial services risk: investing a significant portion of assets in the financial services sector may cause a fund to be more volatile as securities within the financial services sector are more prone to regulatory action in the financial services industry, more sensitive to interest rate fluctuations, and are the target of increased competition; fees and expenses risk: fees and expenses reduce the return which a shareholder may earn by investing in a fund; under $10 billion market capitalization risk: small- and mid-size companies typically have more limited product lines, markets and financial resources than larger companies, and their securities may trade less frequently and in more limited volume than those of larger, more mature companies; foreign country risk: foreign companies may be subject to greater risk as foreign economies may not be as strong or diversified, foreign political systems may not be as stable, and foreign financial reporting standards may not be as rigorous as they are in the United States; and emerging market risk: the fund invests in emerging or developing markets. Securities of issuers in emerging and developing markets may offer special investment opportunities, but present risks not found in more mature markets. Please see the prospectus for a complete listing and a description of the principal risks.
Shares of the Selected Funds are not deposits or obligations of any bank, are not guaranteed by any bank, are not insured by the FDIC or any other agency, and involve investment risks, including possible loss of the principal amount invested.
Selected International Fund's performance benefited from an IPO purchase in 2010. After purchase, the IPO rapidly increased in value. Davis Advisors purchases shares intending to benefit from long-term growth of the underlying company; the rapid appreciation of the IPO was an unusual occurrence.
3Selected American Shares' investment objective is capital growth and income. In the current market environment, we expect that income will be low. There can be no assurance that the Fund will achieve its objective. Selected American Shares invests primarily in equity securities issued by large companies with market capitalizations of at least $10 billion. Some important risks of an investment in the Fund are: stock market risk: stock markets tend to move in cycles, with periods of rising prices and periods of falling prices, including the possibility of sharp declines; manager risk: poor security selection or focus on securities in a particular sector, category, or group of companies may cause the Fund to underperform relevant benchmarks or other funds with a similar investment objective; common stock risk: common stock represents an ownership position in a company. An adverse event may have a negative impact on a company and could result in a decline in the price of its common stock. Common stock are generally subordinate to an issuers' other securities including convertible and preferred securities; financial services risk: investing a significant portion of assets in the financial services sector may cause the Fund to be more sensitive to problems affecting financial companies; and foreign country risk: foreign companies may be subject to greater risk as foreign economies may not be as strong or diversified, foreign political systems may not be as stable, and foreign financial reporting standards may not be as rigorous as they are in the United States. As of September 30, 2020, the Fund had approximately 17.9% of assets invested in foreign companies. See the prospectus for a complete listing of the principal risks.
5Fund expense ratio is as of most recent prospectus. Lipper Category Average expense ratio is as of most recent quarter end. Fund turnover is as of most recent audited financial statement. Lipper Category Average turnover is as of most recent quarter end. Figures reported are net and may vary in future periods. Peer/category data is compiled using Lipper. As of September 30, 2020, Selected American Shares had been categorized by Lipper as Large Cap Core. The Lipper Average Large Cap peer group is a combined category including the Lipper Large Cap Growth, Core, and Value peer groups.
Lipper Large Cap peer groups are funds that, by portfolio practice, invest at least 75% of their equity assets in companies with market capitalizations (on a three-year weighted basis) above Lipper's USDE large-cap floor. Funds are categorized as Growth, Core, or Value based on their portfolio characteristics; price to earnings ratio; price to book ratio; and three year sales per share growth value. Growth funds typically have above-average characteristics, Core funds typically have average characteristics, and Value funds typically have below-average characteristics, compared to the S&P 500® Index.
5aOutperforming the Market. Selected American Shares average annual total returns for Class S shares were compared against the returns earned by the S&P 500® Index as of the end of each quarter for all time periods shown from July 1, 1993 through September 30, 2020. The Fund's returns assume an investment in Class S shares on the first day of each quarter with all dividends and capital gain distributions reinvested for the period. The returns are not adjusted for any sales charge that may be imposed. If a sales charge was imposed, the reported figures would be lower. The figures shown reflect past results; past performance is not a guarantee of future results. There can be no guarantee that the Fund will continue to deliver consistent investment performance. The performance presented includes periods of bear markets when performance was negative. Equity markets are volatile and an investor may lose money. Returns for other share classes will vary.
6The S&P 500® Index is an unmanaged index of 500 selected common stocks, most of which are listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The Index is adjusted for dividends, weighted towards stocks with large market capitalizations and represents approximately two-thirds of the total market value of all domestic common stocks.
The MSCI ACWI (All Country World Index) ex USA is a free float-adjusted market capitalization weighted index that is designed to measure the equity market performance of developed and emerging markets, excluding the United States. The index includes reinvestment of dividends, net of foreign withholding taxes.
Investments cannot be made directly in an index.
7Portfolio characteristics are subject to change. The holdings presented may not represent the entire portfolio. For a complete listing of portfolio holdings review the most recent Annual Report, Semi-Annual report, or Form N-Q.
The Fund generally uses Global Industry Classification Standard ("GICS") as developed by Morgan Stanley Capital International and Standard & Poor's Corporation to determine industry classification. GICS presents industry classification as a series of levels (i.e. sector, industry group, industry, and sub-industry). Allocations shown are at the Industry Group level except for the following industry groups which have been combined as indicated: Technology: Software & Services, Technology Hardware & Equipment, Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment; Pharmaceutical & Health Care: Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology & Life Sciences, Health Care Equipment & Services. The Advisor may reclassify a company into an entirely different industry if it believes that the GICS classification for a specific company does not accurately describe the company. Industry Group weightings are subject to change.
Broker-dealers and other financial intermediaries may charge Davis Advisors substantial fees for selling its products and providing continuing support to clients and shareholders. For example, broker-dealers and other financial intermediaries may charge: sales commissions; distribution and service fees; and record-keeping fees. In addition, payments or reimbursements may be requested for: marketing support concerning Davis Advisors' products; placement on a list of offered products; access to sales meetings, sales representatives and management representatives; and participation in conferences or seminars, sales or training programs for invited registered representatives and other employees, client and investor events and other dealer-sponsored events. Financial advisors should not consider Davis Advisors' payment(s) to a financial intermediary as a basis for recommending Davis Advisors.
Selected Funds has adopted a Portfolio Holdings Disclosure policy that governs the release of non-public portfolio holding information. This policy is described in the prospectus. Click here for the most current public portfolio holdings information.
8Selected International Fund's investment objective is capital growth. There can be no assurance that the Fund will achieve its objective. Some important risks of an investment in the Fund are: stock market risk: stock markets tend to move in cycles, with periods of rising prices and periods of falling prices, including the possibility of sharp declines; manager risk: poor security selection or focus on securities in a particular sector, category, or group of companies may cause the Fund to underperform relevant benchmarks or other funds with a similar investment objective; common stock risk: common stock represents an ownership position in a company. An adverse event may have a negative impact on a company and could result in a decline in the price of its common stock. Common stock are generally subordinate to an issuers' other securities including convertible and preferred securities. foreign country risk: Foreign companies may be subject to greater risk as foreign economies may not be as strong or diversified, foreign political systems may not be as stable, and foreign financial reporting standards may not be as rigorous as they are in the United States; foreign currency risk: securities issued by foreign companies are frequently denominated in foreign currencies. The change in value of a foreign currency against the U.S. dollar will result in a change in the U.S. dollar value of securities denominated in that foreign currency; emerging market risk: the fund invests in emerging or developing markets. Securities of issuers in emerging and developing markets may offer special investment opportunities, but present risks not found in more mature markets; trading markets and depositary receipts: foreign securities may trade in the form of depositary receipts, including American, European and Global Depositary Receipts. Although depositary receipts have risks similar to the securities that they represent, they may also involve higher expenses and may trade at a discount (or premium) to the underlying security. In addition, depositary receipts may not pass through voting and other shareholder rights, and may be less liquid than the underlying securities listed on an exchange; and under $10 billion market capitalization risk: small- and mid-size companies typically have more limited product lines, markets and financial resources than larger companies, and their securities may trade less frequently and in more limited volume than those of larger, more mature companies. As of September 30, 2020, the Fund had approximately 56.4% of assets invested in emerging markets. See the prospectus for a complete listing of the principal risks.
10Fund expense ratio is as of most recent prospectus. Lipper Category Average expense ratio is as of most recent quarter end. Fund turnover is as of most recent audited financial statement. Lipper Category Average turnover is as of most recent quarter end. Figures reported are net and may vary in future periods. Peer/category data is compiled using Lipper. As of September 30, 2020, Selected International Fund had been categorized by Lipper as International Multi-Cap Growth.
International Multi-Cap Growth funds invest in a variety of market capitalization ranges without concentrating 75% of their equity assets in any one market capitalization range over an extended period of time. International multi-cap growth funds typically have an above-average price-to-cash flow ratio, price-to-book ratio, and three year sales-per-share growth value compared to the S&P/ Citigroup World ex-U.S. BMI.
11Portfolio characteristics are subject to change. The holdings presented may not represent the entire portfolio. For a complete listing of portfolio holdings review the most recent Annual Report, Semi-Annual report, or Form N-Q.
Davis Advisors began active daily management of Selected International Fund on June 1, 2001. From May 1, 1993 until May 31, 2001, Davis Advisors had a subadvisor that handled the active daily management of the Fund.
Selected Funds has adopted a Portfolio Holdings Disclosure policy that governs the release of non-public portfolio holding information. This policy is described in the prospectus.


The Mzinyathi Valley is where the Qadi Chiefdom settled in the early 19th century after fleeing the wrath of King Dingane. The Qadi chief has his Royal homestead in the valley.
Sanibona Maqadi amahle, MY GRANDFATHER was born in eNanda in 1935. He is the son of the late Abram Ngcobo who was the son of Howard Sipho Ngcobo. I'm also trying to collect our history nina OMABIYA NGE NKOMO.


I am hooked on the PBS series, Downton Abbey and have been since it premiered last year. What's not to love? It has great drama, wonderful actors and it's shot in one of the great houses of England. For an hour on Sunday, the present fades away and it's 1914 (and if you've missed them, you can watch them all on PBS.org).
Downton Abbey flowed from the golden pen (keyboard?) of Julian Fellowes who also wrote the sparkling, Oscar-winning script for Gosford Park in 2001–– a deliciously detailed story about a house party murder mystery set in 1932, filmed mostly at real locations in Wrotham Park and Syon House, and directed by Robert Altman. After a long if quiet career as a character actor, Fellowes has hit his stride later in life as the consummate creator of dramas about the aristocracy and their servants in a changing cultural climate.
Fellowes said in a Daily Mail piece that he was approached in 2009 to do a series that would "revisit Gosford Park territory" after the film was such a hit. He wasn't keen on the idea at the beginning, worrying "it would be like trying to make lightning strike twice in the same place', but then embraced the challenge. Interestingly, he had been reading about American heiresses coming to England at the time and began by imagining a single character and her story ––a rich American heiress marrying into a title –– the rest of the script fell into place.
Downton Abbey is shot at the magnificent Highclere Castle in Hampshire England, home (since 1679) of the Carnarvon family. It currently houses the 8th Earl, George Herbert. Although there has been a structure there since the middle ages, the better part of the current house was completely remodeled in the 19th century in the Jacobean style.
The heiress that helped the Carnarvon family at the end of the 19th century was not American but rather a beautiful and diminutive Englishwoman, Almina Wombwell, referred to as a "pocket Venus", who married the 5th Earl. He was the famous Lord Carnarvon that financed Egyptologist Howard Carter's digging about in The Valley of Kings that led to the sensational discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922.
Almina was the illegitimate daughter of Alfred de Rothchild who brought a £500,000 dowry from her "godfather Alfred" to sweeten the pot for Carnarvon undertaking a socially dangerous union. She wasn't officially illegitimate ––she was christened Wombwell after the scamp her French mother had married –– but she was spurned by most of society. Lord Carnarvon was not deterred, he had his own demons to contend with, not the least of which were crushing sporting debts that the marriage erased. She showed her gratitude by underwriting his Egyptian digs. Although not American, she was certainly an outsider and you could say she was one of the more highly colored inspirations for the Wisconsin heiress that was to become Lady Cora (according to Fellowes there were 350 American heiresses that saved British royalty from ruin in the 19th Century –– the NYT's has a great story about Edith Wharton and this trend).
It seems that the series came just in time to save the current Lord Carnarvon from a distasteful sale of some of his land for a housing development to pay for £12 million in necessary repairs (I read that most of the upstairs rooms were in a terrible state of decay with mold and leaks undermining the structure of the house –– the photos were disturbing). Andrew Lloyd Webber also offered to buy the Highclere to house his massive art collection after hearing it was in tough straights ... an offer that mightily insulted Lord Carnavon.
Only the grand rooms downstairs have been well maintained. Downton Abbey has proved to be a windfall for the Earl who's not only reaped location fees, he's also seen an explosion in tourism at the house. Downton has saved Highclere. Bravo!
It's not just the Highclere Castle location that makes the series so richly textured. Fellowes has been a stickler on the use of correct props, dressing and service for the series –– he has a gimlet eye for the minutia of this stately, structured world. Production also had an historical expert on hand named Alistair Bruce to answer any questions about protocol that came up, from seating to eating –– like would asparagus be eaten with the fingers? Answer? Bruce was unavailable as cameras were about to roll so they chopped them to look like green beans so as not to make an incorrect choice. Even the menus were written out in French, as would have been the fashion (although, if one dish wasn't translatable then the whole menu would have been in English –– wonder who downstairs was writing the French?).
I think one of the reasons the show is so addictive is that not a hair is out of place in the recreation of WWI England so you feel as if you are truly there.
Most of the silver and glassware used are antiques from the period around the WWI or earlier… some things were borrowed from Highclere. The dishes are Spode and the fictional crest of Earl of Grantham was created by the art director Charmian Woods and applied to each and every plate by the art department.
The table settings and floral arrangements were created from historical images. The use of greens placed directly on the table rather that big tall arrangements must have made the film crew terribly happy… nothing to get in the way for shooting!
Still, there was much to be done by the crew with all the table service and matching and endless replacements of the food that was served and eaten over and over again during the course of filming.
Actors are always reminded not to eat too much in their first take. After 12 hours of shooting the same scene, they will have to eat the same food through all the takes ––singles, doubles, wides and reverses.
I remember as a kid being endlessly fascinated at the way servants held the silver trays and covered dishes and the guests helped themselves with such grace with double spoons or large forks and such… one waiter with the fish, another following with the sauce… remarkable man power involved in serving a meal!
Things were different for the downstairs scenes. The kitchen area is an impeccably outfitted set on a London stage and not at Highclere since the old kitchen didn't exist any longer (the remarkable call board was custom made by the last remaining craftsman specializing in this old fashioned contraption… and it actually worked). It was mentioned in a Daily Mail article that shooting would often involve an actor leaving the kitchen set holding a tray of food and delivering it to the dining room at Highclere 2 weeks later. It made for nerve-wracking continuity matching.
them from congealing (and keep wardrobe sleeves out of the sauce).
Fellowes said that recipes for all the food all came from Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management . Although published in the 1860's, the book was widely reprinted and altered to account for changes in style and equipment (gas stoves, for instance) and was still very popular in the early 20th century. It is entirely possible that Downton's cook, Mrs. Patmore, had this book as a reference on that shelf above the desk.
I was looking for things to make when I watched the first show of the second season. When a new maid told the downstairs staff she longed to try the Crêpes Suzette they were serving at a Grantham dinner that evening (very much an upstair's treat), it seemed an invitation to make the dish. What happened with the cheeky maid's request to have the Lord and Ladies' leftover crêpes made me smile –– the maid didn't get her wish because she had ticked off the cook, Mrs. Patmore.
Crêpes Suzette, at least according to one version of its history, was a favorite of soon to be King Edward VII of England (because Victoria lived so long, he was only king from 1902 to his death in 1910).
Henri Charpentier (1880-1961), in his very charming autobiography, Life a la Henri: Being the Memories of Henri Charpentier (a great favorite of Alice Waters) tells of the near disaster that created the dessert that earlier had just been crepes in orange sauce when he worked at the Café de Paris in Monte Carlo in 1895. While preparing the simpler dish for Edward, he mistakenly lit up the liquors while warming them. It made for a dramatic presentation and improved the flavor instead of ruining it. Charpentier recalled, "It was, I thought, the most delicious medley of sweet flavors I had ever tasted. I still think so. That accident of the flame was precisely what was needed to bring all those various instruments into one harmony of taste . . . He [Edward] ate the pancakes with a fork; but he used a spoon to capture the remaining syrup." His version of the legend has the dessert named in honor of Edward's niece, Princess Suzanne who accompanied him at this momentous luncheon. "Thus was born and baptized this confection, one taste of which, I really believe, would reform a cannibal into a civilized gentleman. The next day I received a present from the Prince, a jeweled ring, a panama hat and a cane." Priceless.
Although there is another candidate for the creator of the dish (an actress named Suzette had to serve pre-prepared crêpes on stage and lit them up for extra drama and to warm the cold crêpes for her fellow cast members who had to eat them), I like this story best.
It would only be right, given its connection to a recent English King, that it would be a favorite at Downton. The recipe is not in Mrs. Beeton's original book that I have (it was written 30 years before the dessert arrived on the scene) so I used Henri's original recipe.
The way Charpentier's version differs from modern versions is that he uses 3 liqueurs, Maraschino, Kirsch and Curaçao instead of today's standard Grand Marnier and no additional orange juice... it also uses buckets of butter! It does not use the citrus sugar method that I remember from the first time I had it, with the maître d' rubbing cubes of sugar on the lemons and oranges and using the cubes… it was almost as fun to watch as a kid as the flaming part. It is meant to impress.
It is quite easy to make most of it ahead and finish it a minute before serving. I thought a few orange suprêmes would be a welcome addition to this great classic and you can whip up a batch and share it with your friends watching the show together with a glass of bubbly!
These crêpes are very eggy... don't get me wrong, they are delicious in the sauce but not what many are used to. I enclose a less eggy recipe just in case. There is also a lot of sauce, so be generous with it! The dish is insanely luxurious with all the butter and liquor... you can see why someone would long to try it after catching the scent of it wafting from the dining room... it is intoxicating... the scent of aristocracy.
Stir to the consistency of thick olive oil and let rest for 30 minutes to an hour (modern change, I put all the ingredients in a blender and mix then strain the batter and use it after it rests 15 minutes).
For the first crepe, generously coat the pan with butter… but do not puddle it… too much butter makes bad crepes. After that, add a smear of butter for each crepe (I often use a stick of butter and paint the pan with it). Make crepes using all the batter and fold each one twice, forming a wedge shape and reserve.
Put everything in the blender and blend. Strain into a bowl and cover for 15 -30 minutes then continue with the instructions above.
Melt butter. When it bubbles, add 3 ponies of liqueur blend, light on fire –– there will be a LOT of fire (it will go up about 6") so pay attention, have a lid handy just in case. I didn't need it but good to have to be on the safe side… don't have anything flammable hanging around it!!!
As the fire goes out, add the vanilla sugar and stir till it is melted. Add the crepes and turn them 'deftly' in the hot sauce. Then add 2 more ponies of mixed liqueurs, flame again and serve. I had trouble with the second light. Might be good to light the alcohol in a small skillet and pour or at least warm the alcohol to get the vapors going. Place the crepes on the plate, toss the suprêmes and zest on top and pour the sauce over all.
**I want to mention I got most of my information from a series of articles in the Daily Mail and ITV… bravo for their great research. Also, if you want to learn more, Fellowes' niece Jessica has written a companion book to the series that has most of this information and much more in The World of Downton Abbey.
Deborah over at A Doctor's Kitchen has created Trufflehead, an iPhone/iPad healthy cooking app for cooks of all levels. It's packed with over 260 full-flavored recipes, as well as 170 step-specific technique demos, ingredient and equipment IDs, selection and storage info, and "Priority Organics" labeling of ingredients best purchase in organic form. Check out the Trufflehead video on YouTube. I gave it to a young friend who is just learning how to cook and she was crazy about it.. especially all the tutorials on how to prep things, chop things... well it's great. I like the shopping list you can make up and send out to whoever is running a shopping errand for you... check it out!


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Royal Mail workers' strike cancelled
Image caption The Royal Mail was privatised earlier this month, an act opposed by many workers
A Royal Mail workers' strike planned for Monday has been called off after progress was made in talks over pay and pensions.
The Royal Mail and the Communication Workers Union (CWU) said they were committed to "finalising an agreement" by 13 November.
The planned industrial action would have been the first national strike at Royal Mail in almost four years.
The Royal Mail was privatised earlier this month.
Staff were given free shares in the company in an attempt to improve labour relations, with staff not allowed to sell their shares for at least three years.
Royal Mail shares are trading well above the 330p sale price they launched at earlier this month.
An offer made by Royal Mail management in the summer also included an 8.6% pay rise over three years.
But CWU members voted for strike action earlier in October after unions leaders called the deal "misleading and unacceptable", and demanded a longer-term agreement to protect postal workers' job security, pay and pensions.
The original ballot involved 115,000 postal workers in Royal Mail and Parcelforce, but not the Post Office, which is a separate business.
According to a joint statement issued by Royal Mail and the CWU, a new agreement will include an improved pay offer and a separate agreement for pensions.
Both parties said they would "ensure all our efforts are focused on reaching an agreement" by 13 November.
Royal Mail: Vince Cable defends sale price as shares rise again
Royal Mail workers to go on strike in November
Royal Mail shares jump on first day of full trading
Royal Mail pay rise rejected by CWU


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Bugibba is more like a Mediterranean holiday destination rather than a local Maltese town. Adjacent to the shoreline, there's a nice pedestrian street for strolling around. The inner areas of the town contain plenty of British bubs, restaurants, hotels and apartments.
However, the real advantage of Bugibba is its location. The best beaches of Malta are only 7-12 kilometers away. In addition, The Cirkewwa port, which is the port to both Gozo and Comino, is also just 15 kilometers away.
Bugibba works well for those who appreciate the proximity of beaches and comfortable services of a vibrant holiday town.
Bugibba is a part of the larger St Paul's Bay area. The peninsula has two different areas, Qawra and Bugibba. Qawra is the eastern part, covering the tip of the peninsula.
Bugibba is the western part and the larger of the two. Its selection of hotels, pubs and restaurants is slightly better than in Qawra. The most central place of St Paul's Bay is Bugibba Square, which is situated between Qawra and Bugibba.
Water sports is always a fun way to spend a scorching hot day. Options are jet skis, paragliding, paddling boats, banana rides... You name it. One of the activity organizers is Flo-Jo's Watersports.
Bugibba beach
Bugibba beach is a man-made sand spot for sunbathing or taking a swim from. The picture below was taken in April (2018) when it was renovated. In the summer, there is also a beach club Nine Lives (link) and a couple of small jetties to make it easier to go swimming. There are also some rocky beaches in front of St Paul's Bay and a bigger beach club Café del Mar (link) at the northeastern tip of Qawra.
The beach was being renovated in April 2018
The best beaches in Malta are about 10-20-minute taxi ride away from Bugibba, depending on your accommodation and the beach are you heading to. Golden Bay, Ghajn Tuffieha and Gnejna Bay are the closest beaches. Mellieha Bay (the biggest beach in Malta) is not much farther away. You can also get there by bus of course. To get to Golden Bay and Ghan Tuffieha, check the lines 223 and 225. To Mellieha Bay, check the lines 41, 42, 49, 221, 222 and 250.
You can read more about those beaches here: Beaches in Malta.
Sightseeing Cruises
In Bubigga jetty, you'll find ferries for sightseeing cruises, taking you to the islands of Gozo & Comino (Blue Lagoon) and nearby areas. Fresh sea air is perfect to cool you off in the heat of the day. The following companies organize cruises: Sea and Adventures and Sea Horse Cruises Malta. The latter one offers tailor-made cruises as well.
Malta National Aquarium is situated in Qawra at the north-eastern tip of St Paul's Bay. More information: aquarium.com.mt
Wignacourt Tower Museum
The towers of Wignacourt are the oldest remaining watch towers in Malta. A total of six of them were built in the 17th century, and four of them have remained till today. The Wignacourt tower of St Paul's bay is the oldest of the towers. Via an exhibition, you can dive into the history of these towers and the defense of Malta in general. As a plus, the view from the top of the tower over St Paul's Bay is spectacular.
Wignacourt Tower is located on the western side of Bugibba
It's open for visitors three hours a day, between 10 a.m. and 13 p.m. from Monday to Saturday (in 2018).
The Malta Classic Car Collection
The collection contains classic cars and motorcycles on exhibition. It's located in Qawra. More information: classiccarsmalta.com
Below, there are some examples of restaurant and hotel prices in Bugibba. They are the median prices at Booking.com.
€9-13
From Malta Airport to Bugibba
Luqa airport, the only one in Malta, is located 18 kilometers away from Bugibba. There are no railroads, so the bus is the only option besides taxis or other private transportation.
The bus line X3 (timetables can be found here) goes from the airport to Bugibba and Qawra. The journey takes 1,5 hours.
The line X1 to Cirkewwa operates via Bugibba and takes only 40 minutes. However, it stops only at the big road south of Bugibba (Timetable: San Pawl il-Bahar/Kennedy). The distance from the Kennedy bus stop to Bugibba Square is 900 meters on foot.
It's possible to get a taxi for a fixed price by paying for it at the taxi booth at the arrivals-hall. Taxi prices for different destinations can be found here. An administrative fee of a few euros could be added to the price.
Bolt (former Taxify) operates in Malta, and it's cheaper than traditional taxi companies. You can pay the fare with their mobile app or directly to the driver.
Winter: Daytime temperatures vary between 13-19°C and drop to both sides of 10°C at night. The rainiest time of the year is between October and February.
Spring: Already in March, daytime temperatures may exceed 20°C. In April, daytime weather may resemble that of a hot summer day, but evenings are cool. Therefore, it's best to have appropriate clothing with you. It rains occasionally, but less than earlier in spring.
Summer: Summers are hot and dry. Daytime temperatures reach 30°C regularly and above that in July-August. While nighttime temperatures may drop to 20°C in June, they stay around 25°C later in summer.
Fall: It's warm until late in fall. Even in October, daily highs are around 25°C. In November, daytime temperatures begin to drop to about 20°C, and to 10-15°C at night. It starts raining more frequently towards winter, and in October, it rains every three days on average.
Text and images: Jussi Ryynänen
Translation: Janne Hietanummi
All destinations in Malta


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Dogs, drinks, racing, reveling: Cyclo-cross World Cup race director Meehan's must-sees
Andy Davis Zach Berg
Press Citizen
What: Jingle Cross /Telenet UCI Cyclo-Cross World Cup races
Where: Johnson County Fairgrounds, 3109 Old Highway 218 S., Iowa City
When: 11:15 a.m. Friday until 11 p.m. Sunday
Details: jinglecross2.com
Be prepared.
This weekend, for the second time, riders and visitors from around the world will descend on Iowa City for the Telenet UCI Cyclo-Cross World Cup and the long-entrenched Jingle Cross races.
John Meehan, race director and Jingle Cross co-founder, said there are new and can't-miss events planned this year during the three-day cyclo-cross extravaganza, all culminating in the World Cup races and an afterparty at Big Grove Brewery in Iowa City on Sunday.
"It's all going to be in a contained area, so it's tons of fun, really exciting and high-energy. It's going to be a huge party," Meehan said of the festival for which volunteers have been preparing the Johnson County Fairgrounds.
This year, Iowa City will kick off the nine-race international circuit, joining Waterloo, Wisconsin, as the only other U.S. race venue. Meehan said visitors can expect to see world champion cyclo-cross riders and "one of the biggest sporting events in the world."
The main event races were bumped to Sunday because of a last-minute conflict with the Iowa-North Texas football game, but organizers have announced that all 70,000 football game ticket holders will be given free entry on Sunday to the World Cup races. Admission for that day for all other spectators will be $5, but is free on Friday and Saturday, Meehan said.
"I'm looking forward to everyone coming out and seeing this incredible event," he said. "I know people may not know much about cyclo-cross, but they ought to come out and see it and watch it, and they'll see how cool and fun it is."
Meehan's must-sees
"Friday and Saturday nights are going to be incredible," Meehan said.
Both nights will be dedicated to a slew of amateur races for all ages, and both will feature a truly unique sight: nighttime cyclo-cross racing thanks to Musco Lighting.
At 7:15 p.m. Friday and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, professional women racers will compete in the Jingle Cross races. At 8:30 p.m. Friday and 8:45 p.m. Saturday, the men will compete. These races will feature some of the country's best cyclo-cross racers racing under the Musco floodlights.
"You're going to have the entire World Cup field also racing on Friday night. It won't be the televised event, but it'll be a nighttime party with a DJ from 6-10 p.m. under the lights," Meehan said. "We're also having a pro race Saturday night with a band and DJs, and a lot of the top U.S. athletes will be racing in that one, as well as many of the international stars."
On Sunday, before the World Cup races, the event's resident Grinch who stole Christmas will again get in on the Jingle Cross action at 11:45 a.m. during the annual kids' races.
READ MORE: Volunteers make Jingle Cross/Cyclo-Cross World Cup possible
The kids race will feature three waves of racers: one for children ages 18 months to 3, another for ages 3-5, and a third for ages 5-9. All of the young racers must be registered at bikereg.com/jinglecross.
"The kids' race is free for first 100 kids who sign up. I think we have about 70 kids signed up so far," Meehan said. "It's always a blast."
But the Grinch won't be done after that, Meehan said. At 12:05 p.m. Sunday, spectators will witness what has been described by Jingle Cross organizers as their most bizarre event, the Grinch's Single Speed Speedo Spectacular.
The annual race welcomes anyone sporting Speedos or creative undergarment costumes on any type of non-motorized bike. Meehan said the spirit of the race isn't so much about winning as it is about being wacky.
PREVIOUSLY:
Iowa City selected to host another cyclocross World Cup race
Iowa City cyclocross World Cup races moved back a day
"It's basically a big costume parade of people being crazy on their bikes. Guys in Speedos, girls in bikinis, people in crazy costumes riding around as a big parade at the middle of the day," he said.
Awards will be handed out for the coolest, funniest, sexiest and, well, least sexy, costumes, along with best group theme and coolest bike. The race is free and open to all.
Sunday afternoon will feature the main events that occupy the minds of millions of international TV viewers.
The races, which feature the best cyclo-cross riders in the world competing in the complete circuit that will bring them to Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark and France, start at 2 p.m. Sunday with the women's World Cup race.
The women's World Cup awards ceremony will be at 3 p.m. At 3:30 p.m. the men's race will begin. Those awards will be handed out at 4:40 p.m.
LAST YEAR:Belgium, USA dominate IC cyclocross World Cup
A full three-day schedule and spectator guide can be found on the Jingle Cross website.
New events include a relay race, gravel grinder and a race that's "for the dogs," Meehan said.
At 11 a.m. Sunday, racers will participate in relay-style races Meehan said will be high-speed and high-intensity.
"That's going to be something people really don't want to miss. They'll get to see how cyclo-cross really is," he said. "That's brand-new this year, along with the gravel grinder."
Said race will pit riders against rough terrain like dirt and mud, much like the other races, and will see them take on gravel.
Spectators also will see dogs on the Jingle Cross course for the first time in its now 13-year history with Maxx's Doggy Cross.
READ MORE:5 fun Jingle Cross/Cyclo-Cross World Cup events you have to see
Named after the Grinch's loyal dog, the race, at 12:30 p.m. Sunday, will see racers lead their dogs on leashes around a shortened portion of the track. The races will be divided into small, medium and large weight classes for the dogs.
According to the race rules, riders will have to periodically carry their dogs over hurdles, crawl through obstacles and clean up any droppings the canine-half of the team may leave during the race.
"There's a golden dog bowl up for grabs for the different size groups of dogs," Meehan said.
The races are free and open to the public, and dogs are allowed into Jingle Cross/ Cyclo-Cross World Cup for free.
For visitors with some spare time
Those new to the Iowa City area or visiting again for the cyclo-cross World Cup can also find plenty to do in the city.
Downtown Iowa City's pedestrian mall offers several eateries, stores and spots of interest.
Toward the city's south side, visitors can also find Big Grove Brewery, a relatively new addition to the city's bar scene and home of the World Cup afterparty.
Folks who may be spending more time in town the week before or the week after races also can find several places in the area to hike or ride, such as the Redbird Farm Wildlife Area, the Lake MacBride Trail and a host of others.
READ MORE:Five places to hike or ride in Iowa City
A trip out to Coralville's Iowa River Landing also offers drinks at breweries such as 30-hop and Backpocket Brewing, coffee at the new High Ground Cafe location and several shopping options.
What: Jingle Cross/Telenet UCI Cyclo-Cross World Cup races
Tickets: General admission tickets for Sunday are $5 and are available at Geoff's Bike and Ski, World of Bikes, Sugar Bottom Bikes, online at jinglecross2.com or at the fairgrounds on any of the three festival days.
Reach Andy Davis at 319-887-5404 or at aldavis@press-citizen.com, and follow him on Twitter as @BylineAndyDavis. Reach Zach Berg at 319-887-5412, zberg@press-citizen.com or follow him on Twitter at @ZacharyBerg.


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GOP governor's candidate Catherine Templeton cites ties to Nikki Haley while speaking to Upstate Republican Women at the Poinsett Club in Greenville.
Republican candidate for governor Catherine Templeton said during a campaign stop in Greenville Tuesday that she wants to follow in the footsteps of former Gov. Nikki Haley.
Templeton said the state's roads "are crumbling under our feet" and residents are struggling to make ends meet under Gov. Henry McMaster.
"In South Carolina we used to be able to afford a jon boat and a week at the beach, and now South Carolinians can't afford their groceries or their electric bill," she said.
McMaster's campaign spokeswoman, Caroline Anderegg, emailed a statement responding to Templeton's comment.
"Under Governor McMaster's leadership unemployment has gone down, and in 2017 alone South Carolina announced more than 17,000 new jobs — more than in the year prior," she said. "Once again the facts just don't support Catherine Templeton's lies."
A spokesman for Templeton's campaign took exception to Anderegg's statement.
"It is grossly unfair and completely inaccurate to smear Catherine Templeton as a liar," said Mark Powell, Templeton campaign communications director, in an email Tuesday night.
Templeton, who is among four Republicans challenging McMaster, said, "It is time that we have a conservative outsider" in the governor's mansion.
An attorney from Charleston, Templeton ran two state agencies while Haley was governor.
South Carolina Secretary of State Mark Hammond spoke before Templeton at Tuesday's luncheon. Three Republicans and one Democrat are running against Hammond, a former clerk of court from Spartanburg County who has been secretary of state since 2002.
Hammond said his office has streamlined its document-filing process for businesses. He also said he was worked to crack down on disreputable charities.
He talked about how his office filed an enforcement action earlier this year against a charity called Carolina Youth Club of America Inc.
"They were sending out children to sell candy and cookies and things," Hammond said. "The kids were getting $2 for every $10 that they sent."


An Air Canada flight had to be diverted due to bad weather earlier in the week.
We had no set plans besides visiting the close-by Legoland Discovery Center the following day.
Over Columbus Day Weekend (October 6 & 7), the 1st Annual New York Pizza Festival took place on Crescent Avenue in the Bronx.
The festival was a two- day event featuring pizza makers from the US and Italy. Some I had heard of while others were new to me.
Passengers on an American Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Dallas- Fort Worth had a difficult journey a couple of days back.
Paulie Gee's opened in Greenpoint, Brooklyn back in 2010. Long lines soon followed, with many wanting to try some of his great Brooklyn pizza.
I Finally Tried Una Pizza Napoletana And It Was Amazing!
Last summer, the Michael W Travels family was supposed to have a long layover in San Francisco on the way home from our trip around the Pacific.
I had plans for our short visit… We were going to go to a San Francisco Giants game and dine at Una Pizza Napoletana. Due to a delayed flight, we never made it to San Francisco.
JetBlue, New York's hometown airline wants to help share something great from the city with people across the country in LA.
For a very limited time, JetBlue will be flying pizza from Patsy's in Harlem to Los Angeles and then having it delivered to some very lucky customers.
A few weeks back, the Michael W Travels family attended the New York Times Travel Show.
Lombardi's claims to be the first and oldest pizzeria in America, having opened in 1905. The issue with Lombardi's claim is that it closed in 1984 and didn't open again until 10 years later, in a new location.
Lombardi's does make excellent pies and I definitely recommend a visit if you're in NYC.
Back in February I wrote how the top pizzaiolo in Naples, Gino Sorbillo was opening a pizzeria in NYC.
While there's lots of great pizza throughout NYC, the upcoming opening of Sorbillo NYC drew lots of attention. Kim, Lucas and I have been to Italy many times but haven't yet made it to Naples.


text:
The Heritage of Hope
23 September 2020 | Story Prof Theodore Petrus | Photo Supplied
Prof Theodore Petrus is Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of the Free State.
As we as a South African nation prepare to celebrate Heritage Day on 24 September, and as we reflect on our heritage during Heritage Month, what stands out clearly is that this year's heritage celebrations will be somewhat … different. It will not be like previous celebrations because as a country, we – along with our fellow continental and global citizens – have experienced what can be described as one of the greatest health, social, and economic challenges that we as a species have ever faced. The repercussions and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic will be felt for some time to come. And it is this realisation that may cast a little damper on our celebrations during this #Heritage Month.
But what can our shared heritage as South Africans teach us about who we are as a people, and how can this knowledge help us to adapt to and overcome the long-term challenges wrought not only by the pandemic, but also by the many other challenges facing us?
Heritage Day is a celebration of our cultural heritage and diversity as a nation. It presents us with an opportunity to reflect on our individual and collective heritage. It is also an opportunity for us to take stock of the cultural and other resources that enable and empower us to take ownership of what we want to be as a nation, as a country, as a people.
So, in view of the questions raised earlier, here are some ideas on what I think our shared heritage can teach us:
1.	The heritage of where we come from
Inasmuch as our past is a painful one – a past that still has lingering effects decades after the transition to a democratic dispensation – it still plays a fundamental role in shaping who we are now, and who we want to become.
Colonialism and apartheid sought to suppress our indigenous cultures and traditions, and had a negative impact on our psyche, self-confidence, and dignity as indigenous and African people. But one positive that came from this, is that if it was not for our shared heritage of colonialism and apartheid, we probably would not have become the nation we needed to become to bring it to an end.
Instead of destroying symbols of that painful past, we need to shift our perspective to re-interpret those symbols in a new way. The power of cultural symbols lies in their meanings. Symbolic anthropologist Victor Turner spoke about the 'multivocality of symbols', meaning that we can ascribe whatever meanings to our cultural symbols we choose. Let us reflect on how we can change the current meanings we ascribe to our cultural symbols that reflect an awareness of how the heritage of where we come from does not keep us trapped in negative and painful meanings of these symbols, but instead inspire us to create new positive meanings.
2.	The heritage of where we are now
After 1994, we began the process of creating a new contemporary heritage as a nation struggling to free itself of the burden of a painful past. And while it was difficult, we have made significant strides. Yes, we do still face challenges rooted in the past: institutional and structural violence; race and diversity-related issues; intercultural and intergroup conflicts; crime and violence against men, women, and children; corruption at various levels of governance; and others. We are also faced with 'newer' challenges as a country that is part of the globalised world. Poverty, inequality, unemployment, slow economic growth, and ailing infrastructure are all contemporary problems, some of them rooted in the past, others the product of the contemporary context.
What can we learn from our shared heritage of where we are now that can help us to overcome these contemporary challenges? We need to remind ourselves of what we are capable of as a nation. We have ended an oppressive regime, not once but twice. And, with all of the challenges, problems, and obstacles, we are still here.
3.	The heritage of where we are going
This might sound strange, because heritage usually refers to the past and present. Rarely do we speak of heritage in a future-oriented context. However, as a nation, given our past and given our present, where we come from and where we are now determines where we are going.
As South Africans, we need to ask the question: where do we want to go? Are we heading in that direction? If not, how do we change course so that we do go in the right direction? I have no simple answer. But what I can suggest is that it should start with critical self-reflection, both individually and collectively. We also need to ask ourselves what legacy we want to leave for future generations. Do we want them to still be struggling with the same problems and challenges that we are dealing with right now? Or do we want to leave them a legacy of a nation that stood up to its challenges, took ownership of them, and found a way to overcome them?
A globally devastating pandemic. A painful past. A present wrought with seemingly insurmountable obstacles. As a South African, as a child of the soil, I know that as a nation we can overcome, and we can emerge better and stronger. That is our heritage. The heritage of hope.
Opinion article by Prof Theodore Petrus,	Department of Anthropology, University of the Free State
Now is the right time to talk, says Njabulo
Njabulo Mabaso
Studying at a multicultural campus adds a lot of colour and spice towards every student's experience, and it also offers some necessary challenges.
This belief is held by the Qwaqwa Campus SRC member responsible for RAG, Community Service & Dialogue, Njabulo Mabaso.
"Our multi-culturalism should be our uniting force, especially at this time in our country. What started as a one-person protest against the Cecil Rhodes statue at UCT should be used to broaden our view in relation to challenges that we are still facing as students and as a country. We need to talk more", said Mabaso, a final-year BEd FET Languages student.
"Now is the right time for us to really talk about issues affecting us as young adults. Matters of collective interest like pregnancy rates, alcohol and substance abuse, sexism, crime, xenophobia, etc. need to be tackled", added Mabaso, a weightlifting fanatic.
"As the student leadership, we intend working closely with community structures as we come from the very same communities. We must not wait for Mandela Day to do good."
"My portfolio, together with Arts and Culture and Sports Affairs portfolios, can create that necessary social cohesion that we as students and our communities need so much."
Mabaso said that all perceived taboos should be dealt with.
"Our programme this year encourages open dialogue. Nothing should still be treated as a 'no-go area' if we are to survive the scourge of HIV. We must talk openly, despite the cultural challenges that might restrict us. We must talk about homophobia. We must talk about rape. In fact, how many students – male and female – really understand what rape is? Does culture even recognise the 'no' factor associated with rape? It is important that we should not leave it until it is too late. We must not wait until it is his word against hers. We must deal with these matters now. The right time to engage is now", he added.


text:
It seems a lot of families in the Robson Valley have been having reunions lately. Our friends Jim and Abbie, were having one and invited Joan and I over for the afternoon. Some of their relatives we had met before, but we were introduced to some new ones. We visited, ate wonderful tacos, played with the kids, and had a really enjoyable time. What was unexpected was the croquet tournament.
Jim had manicured the playing surface on the lawn and had all the posts and wickets laid out. The tournament consisted of two games, with the top three winners of each, meeting for a third contest which would decide the grand champion. It had all of the set up of a serious undertaking, complete with trophies (photo below)
In my youth we sometimes played croquet at with friends and relatives, but I very rarely played the game much over the intervening decades. Last year on one of our visits to Jim and Abbie's, Joan and I were coerced into a croquet match and I did pretty well, despite my lack of playing the game for so many years. I trusted that this year I would be able to maintain some un-embarrassing status during this tournament. Unfortunately that assessment did not stand up when my ball just wouldn't go where I wanted to hit it. I came in dead last.
Despite the trophies and mock-seriousness of the game, my lack of croquet prowess did not detour me from all the other enjoyable activities of the afternoon. Luckily, I hadn't spent much time considering where I would put the big trophy if I had won.
You can view my paintings: www.davidmarchant.ca


text:
THE TAINTED VINTAGE
GAME OF GENES
THE SECRET BLUEPRINT
Clare Blanchard
Welcome to Clare Blanchard books!
I am a crime fiction author published by Fahrenheit Press.
I write crime mystery books, crime fiction short stories and, perhaps less obviously, urban fantasy.
Click on the Books page of my website.
So who am I and why do I write?
I was born on the North Yorkshire coast in a town called Scarborough, a popular English seaside tourist town. My mother was a professional soprano, and my father was a local businessman who loved reading, music and travelling in Europe. He was chronically ill for most of my childhood, and died when I was fourteen. I got my love of reading from him, and used to read aloud to him when I was a child. Even in those days this was considered nerdy and a bit Dickensian! But there we are, when we are children, we accept everything as normal and wonderful at the same time. As I write I am sitting at my desk with a line of his hardback books looking down at me from the bookshelf.
It's a commonplace that writers are often people who grew up feeling like outsiders in the world they grew up in. I certainly fit the bill. Introverted and rather dated and out of place as a child, I lived in a world that other people could not see. One of the most powerful memories of my childhood is standing on the Esplanade in Scarborough, looking out across the North Sea and sensing that my future life lay on the other side of it.
I wasn't wrong. In 1984 I married a Czech and went to live in a small rural town called Kyjov in the wine-growing region of southern Moravia, which shares a border with the Austrian Weinviertel in Lower Austria.
What makes crime fiction so popular?
I'm a writer who reads crime fiction, and a couple of years ago I decided to take the NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) challenge and try to write a novel (well, the first draft of a novel!) in a month. A crime mystery, to be precise.
One of the things that makes crime fiction so popular, I think, is its particularly appealing kind of storytelling. We seem to have storytelling hard-wired into our brains. Life is drama, although sometimes comedy, but it's always about the story. And in my opinion, story is all about character. All the best dramas and comedies are character-driven – this is why we love sitcoms and soaps so much.
The special appeal of the murder mystery of the crime fiction novel, I think, is the added puzzle of solving the murder itself.
And we do this by deciphering the characters. The attraction of solving a character-driven crime drama is almost irresistible. This is doubly so with crime drama, because in addition to the drama that led to the crime itself, you also have the drama of character clashes among the investigating officers.
Another appeal of crime fiction is that the murder mystery allows us to sail in some very dangerous waters while staying completely safe. It's only a story, after all.
So what about my crime novels? The first in my series,
The Tainted Vintage, is set in the wine-growing region of my new home, in a fictitious town called Vinice, which means Vineyard in Czech. The mayor of the small town is found dead in his wine cellar (almost every family owns one in that part of the world) on his 57th birthday. He was a complex, powerful and not particularly likeable character, and the local authorities are not keen to delve too deep into the death.
As a lover of Nordic noir, I loved the way the landscape and climate of Scandinavia seemed to be part of the fabric of the storyline – almost as if they were non-human characters in the murder mystery. I try to achieve this in all my books by creating a strong sense of place in all of them. The layout of the towns, the cobbled streets, the forests, the hills, the food people eat and the wine and beer they drink, are all part of the substance of the story. I wanted readers who had never been there to live and breathe that substance.
Finally, because of the location of my murder mystery in the Czech lands, the history of the country is an inescapable part of any story based in it. The Czech lands were under direct Nazi rule from 1939-45, and then under Communist rule from 1948-1989. I lived through the transition of the Czech Republic to a democratic society in 1989, and my parents-in-law lived through the Nazi era, the Communist era and the Velvet Revolution of 1989. These are real events that happened in real people's lives, and they have to be part of the stories we tell about them.
My other novels, The Ring and Game of Genes, although not crime fiction, are also deeply concerned with the importance of history in our personal life dramas.
So welcome again to my blog, and do sign up for more info and special offers!
There's even a free novella!
Happy reading, and do join me for another blog post soon!
A Moravian wine village, made of wine cellars.
Murder in Vienna!
It's a crime.
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