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Ep 136: London Stone with John Clark
by CCash | Nov 23, 2020 | Uncategorized | 0 comments
In William Shakespeare's Henry VI Part 2, the character Jack Cade declares himself Lord Mortimer of London by striking London Stone and then sitting upon the stone to declare his royalty. While it makes a dramatic scene for a theatrical play, this story was based in actual history and the way Shakespeare tells the story tells us as modern theater goers something interesting about the Tudor opinion of the real Jack Cade that was present as Shakespeare was writing. While Shakespeare seems to base his plays, and his portrayal of Jack Cade, on the history of Holinshed's Chronicles, there are some first hand accounts of people who witnessed Jack Cade's procession into London from actual history, as well as some variances between Shakespeare's quarto and folio versions of Henry VI Part 2 which shine light on exactly what Shakespeare thought about his colorful figure from English history.
London Stone that Jack Cade chooses to strike as he declares himself Lord of the city was more than just a passing fictional narrative by Shakespeare. The real London Stone was a major landmark for England, with native travellers using it in a similar fashion to how Big Ben is used today–people all over the world not only recognized this stop in London as a representative of England herself, but many foreign dignitaries from the 16th century went out of their way to visit London Stone as an important stop on their visit to the city.
Here today to walk us through some of the portraits of Jack Cade from Shakespeare's lifetime as well as additional items from the Medieval Collections at the Museum of London to tell us the real story of London Stone and its place in the popular culture from Shakespeare's lifetime is our guest, John Clark
John Clark was for many years curator of the medieval collections of the Museum of London. He worked on the design of the Museum of London's first medieval gallery when the Museum opened in 1976, and carried out projects to update the gallery (1996-1999), particularly the displays dealing with Anglo-Saxon London. He produced a number of temporary exhibitions, including 'Alfred the Great 849-899: London's forgotten king' (1999) and 'Chaucer's Londoners: "a compaignye of sondry folk"' (2000). He was lead curator on the project to create the Museum's present Medieval London gallery, opened in 2005 and replacing that of 1976. Since his retirement in 2009 he has maintained his connection with the Museum, with the honorary title of Curator Emeritus. He is also an Honorary Reader at University College London, Institute of Archaeology.
Having published The Medieval Horse and its Equipment c1150–c1450 (Medieval Finds from Excavations in London) in 1995 (a standard work, still in print) he continues research into the development of medieval (and later) horse equipment.
He has long had an interest in the relationship between London's 'real' history and the legends that have grown up about the city, and in the ways Londoners have interpreted the physical remains of London's past. He has published articles on this theme, on the mythology of London Stone, on Geoffrey of Monmouth's account of the foundation of London as 'New Troy', on the supposed Temple of Diana on the site of St Paul's Cathedral, and on 'Gog and Magog' (the City Giants), and has lectured widely on these and other topics.
In this episode, I'll be asking John Clark about :
On a map from the 1550s, about 10 years before Shakespeare was born, London Stone is identified as a key landmark. Would 16th century travellers, and by extension Shakespeare's theater audience, have known where this Stone was and what it represented?
Does Jack Cade strike the stone with a sword or with a staff?
John writes about a house being built "at London Stone" where London's first mayor resided in the 12th century during the reign of Richard I. John, is there an association between London Stone and the office of mayor?
I hope to see London once ere I die.
Henry VI Part 2 (V.3)
The London Stone at the Museum of London | photograph taken in February of 2018 by Lord Belbury | Used under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International | Original Source
London Stone was a major London landmark
You can see the remains of London Stone in the Museum of London today. When Shakespeare was alive, London Stone had a prominent position as a major landmark for London (both for people who lived there as well as travellers). John Stow in his survey of London 1598 wrote that London Stone was located on Canon street in the roadway. John Clark explains that
"there was a great stone pitched upright, dig in the ground, bound with iron bard…It was there in Shakespeare's time. It became an obstacle to traffic, so eventually it was moved."
When they decided to move London Stone, they gave it a position of relative prominence. John explains that they
"Fixed [London Stone] into a cavity in the wall of the church. 3 ft high 2ft across, and 1 ft back to front. By the 19th c just the top bit was left.Very small. Stayed until second world war, the Blitz, Dec 1940, when the church was burnt out. The ruins, with London Stone still there, stayed until about 1960 when the church was demolished. [At this point,] London Stone [was] re-errected in the office building, where it remained] until 2015, [when] that building was demolished, [and] they built a new one. Portland Stone, this is outside Canon street railway station."
Sirrah carrier, what time do you mean to come to London?
Gadshill
Henry VI Part I (II.1)
London Stone and St Swithin's Church in Cannon Street, London, as depicted on the "Copperplate" map of London of c.1553-59 | Public Domain | Original Source
Map from the 1550s Identifies London Stone
On a map from the 1550s, about 10 years before Shakespeare was born, London Stone is identified as a key landmark (shown above). Travellers, and even Shakespeare's theater audience, would have known of, and used, London Stone as a navigational landmark getting around the city. As John shares, London Stone,
Became a tourist attraction. Mentioned in poems, everyone knew where it was. In the play, An Englishman for My Money, [there is] a scene when a group of foreign visitors toured around London in pitch darkness and they bump into London Stone. [The] Audience [would respond,] "We know where that is!"- nobody actually knew it's origin, or what it's purpose was. Strange stories circulated, but several foreign visitors in the 1580s-early 1600s came to see it when they visited London. [They had been] told it was the centre of the city, etc. Great history, proclamations were made, but no evidence any of these are true.
[Enter CADE and the rest, and strikes his staff on] London-stone]
Stage Directions
London Stone, Cannon Street, London, in its current casing, unveiled in October 2018 | Photo taken by GrindtXX | Used under attribution license Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International | Original Source | Accessed November 2020.
Jack Cade Striking London Stone
As Shakespeareeans, we associate Cade's striking of London Stone with Shakespeare's play Henry VI Part 2, and therefore, often as a fictional event. However, in actual history, there was a real Jack Cade and reportedly, he actually did strike London Stone. John explains,
Jack Cade was a bit biased and Shakespeare was a bit biased about him in Henry VI Part II. Cade was a real person and he really did strike the stone when he came to Lnodon, if we trust the Chronicles. In 1450, [there were] outcries against Henry VI's government, producing an armed uprising in Kent, which was lead by Jack Cade who took the name John Mortimer. Claiming relationship to Richard Mortimer, popular Duke of York. Black Heath, just like in the Peasant's Revolts in years before, but this wasn't a peasant's uprising, this was fairly wealthy yeoman farmers, townsfolk, middle-range gentry that joined the campaign. They gathered in July 2 or 3 (chronicles disagree) crossed London Bridge and entered London, welcomed by some who were on their side. At first, Jack Cade rode through London and when he got to London stone, he got his staff and struck London Stone and delaried now is Mortimer Lord of this city.
There is some debate about exactly what Jack Cade used to strike London Stone, and Shakespeare's version of this tale is no help because his works contradict one another depending on which version of Henry VI Part II you reference to make a determination. John explains,
[According to] Edward Hall, [Cade] struck it with a sword. The two facts Shakespeare knew was that it was a sword and the cry "Now is Mortimer Lord of the city" [as written in] the earliest printed version of the play Henry VI Part II, 3rd quarto, [Shakespeare writes that Cade] struck it with a sword. [It is] Only [the] first folio edition 1623 that it suddenly becomes a staff, so someone's been editing it. Whether Shakespeare decided at some point that a staff was better than a sword, or if someone turned it into a staff. [According to] Tudor and Jacobean artists, [the] sword bearer walked in front, carrying the state sword, emblem of office, in that sense, Jack Cade would have used a sword not a staff.
Why was Jack Cade striking the stone in the first place? What significance did it hold to physically strike the stone? John explains, "Public theater–intelligent chap, geared up to be a leader of people, build an image of himself. Entirely possible he was striking it to make a point, not because there was a tradition there. Before Shakespeare got there, Jack Cade was a bit of an actor himself."
Now is Mortimer lord of this city. And here, sitting upon London-stone, I charge and command that, of the city's cost, the pissing-conduit run nothing but claret wine this first year of our reign. And now henceforward it shall be treason for any that calls me other than Lord Mortimer.
The rebel Jack Cade seats himself on London Stone, in William Shakespeare's Henry VI, Part 2 (Act 4, Scene 6). Illustration by Sir John Gilbert (1817-97) in Works of William Shakespeare (London: Routledge, 1881) vol 8. | 1881 | editor:Howard Staunton; artist Sir John Gilbert (1817-1897) | Public Domain | Original Source | Accessed November 2020
Shakespeare Embellished Jack Cade
After he strikes the stone, in the play, Jack Cade goes on to sit on the stone as if it were a royal throne. This part of history is more contested than the striking of the stone. John explains,
Dragging the body of the royal treasurer around the streets of London, and particular about the route taken by Cade, beheaded at cheapside, dragged westeward out through newgate, through ludgate, along candlewick street (by London Stone) around a great stone, striking it with his sword (John Bennet), was this Jack Cade doing the same thing twice? He doesn't know, but obviously very symbolic event. Nobody asked him why he did it. None of the chroniclers actually define a reason. He made proclamations, but not about conduits running with wine, but restraining his followers from looting, and he proclaimed it from London Bridge, not London Stone, and he did not in real life inaugurate a reign, and the conduits run with wine was a royal prerogative, and Cade talks about treason, and this story from Shakespeare is emphasizing his own view of Cade claiming royal privileges, chroniclers don't make him do that in the same way, theatrical, but tilmately fiction. Played for laughs by Shakespeare.
Books & Resources John Clark Recommends
To explore Shakespeare's London in depth, go to the Map of Early Modern London https://mapoflondon.uvic.ca/map.htm – a digitised version of the so-called 'Agas' map, one of the earliest maps of London, first printed from woodblocks in about 1561. You can zoom in, and click on buildings or places that interest you, to open up information panels and links to more detailed descriptions. The excellent 'London Stone' article is at https://mapoflondon.uvic.ca/LOND2.htm.
London Stone has a website londonstone.org.uk
If you want a modern printed map of Tudor London (c. 1520) there's the British Historic Towns Atlas map, recently revised and updated http://www.historictownsatlas.org.uk/content/tudor-london
For an authoritative account of Jack Cade's rebellion see I M W Harvey Jack Cade's Rebellion of 1450 Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1991 – https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198201601.001.0001/acprof-9780198201601.
For London Stone, my own article 'Jack Cade at London Stone' (published in 2007) is available online at https://www.academia.edu/5908301/Jack_Cade_at_London_Stone
Harvey also wrote the article on Cade for H C G Matthew & Brian Harrison (eds) Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford: Oxford University Press, on line edn, ed David Cannadine – see http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/4292
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Now that summer is here many of us will be sitting out in the garden, taking the children to the park and trawling travel blogs for holiday inspiration; but it's important not to overlook home security, as it may not just be you, who will take advantage of the warmer weather.
During the summer months, domestic burglaries and outdoor thefts are at a higher level, as burglars ramp up activity, taking advantage of unoccupied homes and expensive items left out in the garden.
As a result, we would like to remind you of the importance of home security and offer some tips and advice on how to protect your property this summer.
Look at the locks on your doors, could they be improved, do you use a mortice lock and/or nightlatch, do your locks meet British Standard or are they Kitemarked.
Be wary of leaving windows open on a warm night when you go to bed. Windows should be secured with at least one appropriate, key-operated lock.
Protect smaller, more expensive valuables in a home safe, maybe one that is securely bolted to the floor or wall and is big enough to contain expensive jewellery, small electronic gadgets, important documents and items of sentimental value.
You can now get Smart home alarms which allow you to remotely control devices via your smartphones, receiving notifications, emails and even images if the system is triggered while you're away.
Make it appear as though someone is home by leaving a car on the driveway or investing in security lighting and there are even apps to control your lighting from your Smartphone.
Don't let post pile up at your door, signalling to thieves that no one is home. Take advantage of the Royal Mail's 'Keepsafe' scheme, where they will hold onto your letters and parcels for up to 66 days and deliver them once you're safely home again.
'Checking in' at holiday locations on social media or posting photos can be risky, letting potential criminals know you're away. Take the time to check your settings or wait until you're home to post online.
For further information on all of this, you can visit the Police UK's website here.
Mackenzie Smith Technology Plan to Sell with Mackenzie Smith Tips to Help Sell your Home Where's your local hot spot?


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Omnitek Powers Mexican CNG Station with CNG
March 3, 2015 | USA, Vista CA
A NatGas CNG station, Mexico
Omnitek Engineering Corp. has received an order for a 12-cylinder, 600 kilowatt natural gas power generator to operate the NatGas Bernardo Quintana Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) fueling station in Queretaro, Mexico, with a capacity to serve an anticipated 200 CNG buses and 1,000 taxi vehicles per day.
Cost benefits and the assurance of an uninterrupted source of electric power for fueling vehicles were cited as two primary factors in the decision to install Omnitek's natural gas generator. Terms were not disclosed.
"The utilization of Omnitek's technology for powering CNG fueling requirements at this facility further expands the application of our natural gas technology and complements our primary focus on engine conversions for fleet vehicles –including buses and heavy-duty trucks. We applaud Josué Hernandez, the chief executive officer of NatGas and the developer of an emerging network of CNG fueling stations, for selecting Omnitek's technology and having the foresight to avoid the potential impact of electrical power outages through the utilization of natural gas," said Werner Funk, president and chief executive officer of Omnitek Engineering Corp.
This is NatGas's largest station to date, with room for expansion. The company will inaugurate it's third CNG station later this year, also in Queretaro, as well as the open the first public CNG station in the city of San Louis Potosi in mid-2015. Hernandez said there is growing demand for CNG fuel in Mexico.
The application of Omnitek's natural gas engine technology for this, and other potential, CNG station follows the company's recently announced application of its technology for a micro-grid project in the Northeast, a biogas fuel genset in northern California and two natural gas locomotive engines powering a Czech Railways train in a pilot program being conducted between the Czech cities of Opava and Hlučín.
(Source: Omnitek)
Categories: Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), Infrastructure, Market Developments, North America - Tags: CNG, Compressed Natural Gas, fueling stations

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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The Koran verse splitting imams on domestic violence
By Hayley Gleeson
Illustrations by Amani Haydar
Updated August 29, 2018 10:14:22
Related Story: Bullied, beaten, trapped: Muslim women denied divorce from abusive men
Related Story: 'Now is the time for change': Calls for an urgent review of the Islamic divorce process
Map: Australia
Some imams in Australia still teach that the Koran permits husbands to beat their wives, with police reporting Muslim men are citing scripture to justify abuse. Now a new generation of faith leaders is working to undo the damage.
This feature is part of an ongoing investigation by ABC News edited by Julia Baird and Hayley Gleeson into religion and domestic violence. Other articles in this series have examined Islam and Islamic divorce, mainstream Protestant denominations, the Catholic Church, Christian clergy wives, Hindu and Sikh communities, and Jewish divorce laws.
Sitting in a small, modestly furnished room at the Heidelberg mosque in Melbourne's northeast one recent Friday afternoon, Sheikh Alaa El Zokm's brow furrowed as he recalled how, during a talk he was giving on domestic violence, a young Muslim woman had nervously raised her hand.
She was terrified of getting married, she told him, because her husband might interpret verse 34 of chapter four in the Koran as some other men did: as a licence to treat his wife badly and perhaps, if she disobeyed him, beat her up.
Sheikh Alaa nodded sympathetically, he said, and offered gentle counselling about how Islam "honours women", and the importance of love and kindness in marriage.
Koran 4:34
According to one of the most popular English translations of the verse, by British-Indian scholar Abdullah Yusuf Ali, it states:
Men are the protectors and maintainers of women, because Allah has given the one more (strength) than the other, and because they support them from their means. Therefore the righteous women are devoutly obedient, and guard in (the husband's) absence what Allah would have them guard. As to those women on whose part ye fear disloyalty and ill-conduct, admonish them (first), (next), refuse to share their beds, (and last) beat them (lightly); but if they return to obedience, seek not against them means (of annoyance): For Allah is Most High, great (above you all).
The fact that a sheikh had even broached the issue of domestic abuse and Koran 4:34 in public is highly unusual; most Muslim leaders in Australia shy away from discussing it, partly to avoid the controversy it inevitably sparks.
But for the past year, the 29-year-old, Egyptian-born imam has been delivering a series of lectures — at mosques, Muslim community events, universities and Christian churches — in a bid to correct "misunderstandings" and promote respectful relationships.
He does this, he said, because he's seen first-hand the devastation domestic violence is causing his community, and feels compelled to intervene.
"There are very rare cases of individuals who misuse this verse as a reason for violence," Sheikh Alaa said. "[But] any saying that promotes violence will and must be challenged as it goes against one of the most vital principles of Islam" — that is, "mercy and tranquillity between a husband and wife."
The increasingly urgent question, however, is not just how the verse might be being interpreted, but how it is being taught.
Advocates have told ABC News a significant number of imams in Australia — many of whom have been educated in overseas institutions that champion patriarchal interpretations of Islam — are telling followers that 4:34 does allow men to physically discipline wives.
And, in the absence of any clear instruction from the country's most senior Islamic scholars, including the Grand Mufti, the consequences can be brutal, with police reporting that Muslim men are frequently citing scripture as justification for their abuse.
Family and domestic violence support services:
InTouch Multicultural Centre Against Family Violence: 1800 755 988
1800 Respect national helpline: 1800 737 732
Women's Crisis Line: 1800 811 811
Men's Referral Service: 1300 766 491
Lifeline (24 hour crisis line): 131 114
Relationships Australia: 1300 364 277
For decades 4:34 has been the source of intense debate over whether and to what extent Islam sanctions men's authority over and hitting of women.
Though scholars are divided on several points — including the correct English translation of the Arabic word wa-dribuhunna, which has been translated as "beat them" and "strike them", but also "separate" and "go away" from them — the verse states that a rebellious woman should first be admonished by her husband, then abandoned in bed and, finally, if her disobedience continues, beaten.
More than any other passage in the Koran it has been a thorn in the side of domestic violence workers and women's rights activists, who say it is fuelling abuse in Muslim communities and dissuading victims from seeking help.
Now, a new generation of imams is defying the status quo and speaking out to promote non-violent readings of 4:34 in the hope they might undo the damage done by decades of silence.
Faith leaders "absolutely" have a responsibility to discuss 4:34 with their communities, said Sheikh Alaa — to stress that it should never be used to condone violence. At the same time, he added, many leaders are unqualified in Islamic scholarship, and simply parrot literal translations they've picked up.
"An imam shouldn't be talking about these issues unless he's studied and knows what he's talking about ... It can be very dangerous if he says something that is not right."
'We need to be strategic about what we say in public'
Uncertainty over how the verse should be understood has persisted since last April, when the Women of Hizb ut-Tahrir Australia, a radical Islamic group, posted a video on Facebook in which two hijabi women claimed the Koran permits men to hit disobedient wives — gently, using small sticks or pieces of fabric.
"He [the husband] is permitted — not obliged, not encouraged, but permitted — to hit her [his wife]," one of the women said. "That is what everyone is talking about. It should not cause pain. Not harsh."
Just weeks earlier, Keysar Trad, then-president of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, had suggested in an interview on Sky News that his religion allows husbands to beat their wives as a "last resort" after having engaged in counselling, though he quickly apologised for what he described as a "clumsy attempt" to explain a verse from the Koran.
Some Muslim leaders went into damage control, insisting such views were a "minority opinion" within Islam in Australia, and that it "should be made very clear to all Muslims" that there is never any justification for violence against women.
A statement signed by more than 30 Muslim figures, including a handful of clerics, asserted that, "Islam categorically prohibits and denounces the abuse of women" and "...there are countless Australian religious clerics who have publicly declared this to be the case".
And yet it did not specifically address the questions and confusion surrounding 4:34: How should it be interpreted? Why is there such disagreement among Muslims over its meaning and application? And why do so many faith leaders refuse to weigh in?
When ABC News first began reporting this series 18 months ago, questions about the links between 4:34 and family violence were swiftly shut down by experts and imams alike — partly out of fear that simply raising the issue would invite (or prolong) sensationalist media coverage and unwanted scrutiny on Muslim communities, who already feel under siege.
But after spending more than a year talking to Australian Muslims about this question it has become clear that imams are, in fact, divided, while key leaders have continually refused to engage at all.
Sorry, this video has expired
Video: Shady Alsuleiman describes the 'husbands rights upon his wife' (ABC News)
The acting Grand Mufti of Australia, Dr Ibrahim Abu Mohammed, did not respond to several requests from ABC News seeking clarity on 4:34 (nor did his predecessor, Sheikh Abdel Aziem Al-Afifi, who died in July, just four months into his role).
The president of the Australian National Imams Council, Sheikh Shady Alsuleiman, has also refused to respond to repeated requests for comment over the past six months, including on his remarks that husbands have the right to forbid wives from leaving or working outside the home, including going into the backyard to "put up the laundry".
Women, too, are prone to tip-toeing around the verse: the fear that they might be seen as criticising or challenging all-male imams' authority is a strong deterrent, particularly for those who work in the family violence sector.
As one professional Muslim woman told ABC News, "We need to maintain functional relationships with these men, so we need to be strategic about what we say in public."
But advocates say the silence around the issue is only making it more difficult for victims to seek help. As one Muslim family violence worker in Melbourne told ABC News: "The repercussions of having people in authority basically give permission for violent and controlling behaviour has a ripple effect — it weighs down not only on families but communities as a whole."
There are a lot of different "view points" on the correct interpretation of 4:34, the worker said, "but let's sit down and have the conversation."
'Sheikhs in Australia recite a range of interpretations'
So then what should that conversation look like? Islamic scholarship, frequently tangled up in the politics of colonialism, can be complex, not only because it requires proficiency in Arabic language and grammar.
Conservative or traditional scholars argue 4:34 should be read literally, and it gives men authority and disciplinary privileges over wives: beating is permitted as a "last resort" in response to what they consider to be very serious transgressions, perhaps adultery.
Progressives like Sheikh Alaa, meanwhile, say it should be read in context with the Koran's broader messages of justice and peace, and the example of the Prophet who, they claim, "never hit a woman".
For them, the verse is a three-step process for addressing a wife's arrogance, or disrespect, toward her husband: couples should first discuss their concerns, separate from the marital bed and, finally, walk away or separate from one another.
It doesn't make sense to Sheikh Alaa that god would allow a man to beat his wife to fix a problem in his marriage. "How can you advocate hitting as a solution?" he said. "Which lady in the world is going to accept being hit?"
Abused Muslim women denied right to divorce
Women apply for most Islamic divorces in Australia, but imams often refuse to grant them. Muslim leaders have condemned domestic violence, though some still teach that husbands can control their wives.
Fatima* accepted it for years. The recently-divorced mother from Melbourne endured decades of physical, emotional and financial abuse by her husband, who she said would spit 4:34 at her to justify his authority.
"He was quite fluent in Arabic, but I'm not," Fatima said. "I was brought up in Australia, and relied on the English translation until I started learning Arabic myself. For years I took it literally, I believed he had the right, that I deserved it."
She might have fled the relationship sooner, she said, had she received different advice from faith leaders.
"I have heard sheikhs in Australia recite a range of interpretations of 4:34, but the most prominent one [advocates] beating or hitting," Fatima said.
"I've heard one imam say that a man has the right [to hit his wife] in the most extreme circumstances of nushuz [disobedience or disloyalty] ... So basically if he walks in and finds his wife having an affair ... if he loses his temper and hits her, then he will be forgiven for his first reaction."
Other imams, she added, "have said, 'Well, it [hitting] should be tokenistic; a husband can use a toothbrush or a scarf and cannot leave any marks or bruising — it's just to show that you are upset."
Of course, it's not only a scholarly or theoretical debate. Many Muslim majority states — including the UAE and Egypt — give permission in their legal codes for husbands to physically discipline wives.
And in 2016, an anti-domestic violence bill in Pakistan was deemed "un-Islamic" by the Council of Islamic Ideology, which advises legislators on sharia matters.
A husband, the council reportedly said, should be allowed to "lightly beat his wife" if, among other reasons, "she defies his commands and refuses to dress up as per his desires" or "turns down demand of intercourse without any religious excuse".
'What do Muslims want this verse to mean?'
Koran 4:34 can be read both ways, said Ayesha S. Chaudhry, an associate professor of Islamic and gender studies at the University of British Columbia — as either sanctioning violence against wives, or as prescribing a peaceful strategy for resolving marital conflict — it just depends on who's reading it.
Religious scholars in the pre-colonial period, she said, expected the Koran to support a patriarchal structure of marriage and could make a persuasive case that it did.
But scholars in the 20th and 21st centuries — a growing number of whom are women — have increasingly begun to interpret it in line with their expectations for it to uphold messages of gender equality. In other words, when women read, they interpret differently.
"The subjectivity of the scholar influences the questions they ask, where they look for answers, and how they interpret the information they find," said Dr Chaudhry, who is also the author of a book about 4:34 and domestic violence. The question for modern Muslims, she said, is "what do they want this verse to mean?"
Many, it seems, want it to affirm male superiority.
During his eight-year stint as a domestic violence prevention officer with Bankstown police, Danny Mikati would regularly challenge Muslim men who defended abusing their wife by claiming their religion allowed it.
Most would refer not to their apparent licence to "beat lightly", Mr Mikati said, but to "the authority endowed upon a man and the requirement for a woman to be obedient".
"I would take them up on it because I knew they hadn't read [the Islamic texts]," said Mr Mikati, who left the force last June after a 17-year career but still works privately with domestic violence clients.
"I'd basically tell them to be careful using God's words to justify their violence and criminal behaviour, and defy them to produce one example of a prophet that did so ... It was something I really focused on because I wanted to be able to show that they were doing a disservice not only to their wife and family but to their faith, and to their community."
In response, he said, most men would "shut up". "What could they say?" he said. "They were cherry-picking verses to suit them, yet 99 per cent [of them] didn't know what was from hadith and what was from the Koran."
Greater investment in local Islamic scholarship needed
Exacerbating the problem in Australia, experts say, is a lack of local Islamic scholarship.
Islamic legal pronouncements and interpretations rely on the scholar having a "deep understanding" of the society in which they live, and should always be relevant to and reflective of the local culture, said Mehmet Ozalp, the founding director of the Centre for Islamic Studies and Civilisation at Charles Sturt University.
A scholar who lives and is educated in a Muslim-majority country like Pakistan, for instance, will necessarily interpret the Koran differently to scholars in western countries. For this reason, Dr Ozalp said, there is a need for greater investment in Islamic scholarship here.
"Until we established the Centre for Islamic Studies at CSU, if a Muslim wanted to excel in Islamic studies they had to go overseas — for example, Yemen, Syria or Egypt — to study. These places still have historic appeal, but we need to provide equal or better levels of Islamic education in Australia."
Confronting domestic violence in Islam
Most Muslims believe Islam abhors violence. So why do some say the Koran sanctions "lightly" beating your wife?
The requirement that Islam must mould to the local culture is on the agenda of some overseas institutions.
Before settling in Melbourne almost four years ago, Sheikh Alaa studied at Al-Azhar University, an ancient and influential school of Sunni Islamic learning in Cairo.
"Al-Azhar is trying to ... qualify people to be imams in western countries," Sheikh Alaa said, in order to counter extremism, and misinterpretations of scriptures that deal with women, for instance, or jihad.
"It's a 'must' for any imam who comes to a western society to understand the culture ... before giving an explanation or verdict that may contradict with the nature of the people in that place," he said. "And this is an Islamic rule."
This rule, though, is not always followed. A decade ago a report by the Islamic Women's Welfare Council of Victoria claimed Muslim faith leaders were ill-equipped to respond to complex modern problems including marriage, divorce and domestic abuse, and that some were conducting illegal polygamous marriages, or obstructing police from pursuing domestic violence charges.
"They come from their own little village and culture and say this is what Islam is," one woman interviewed by the report authors said. "They come from a village where there is no running water and electricity, and they bring their dark ideas into this country."
But experts say many imams today still cling to a conservative, classical Islam that upholds men's authority over women.
"The majority of imams in Australia still buy into what is today considered as mainstream classical Islam and its logic, especially on gender issues," said Adis Duderija, who researches progressive Islam and gender in Islam at Griffith University.
"They have accepted this idea of authenticity residing in the past — with the founders of the four main schools of [Islamic] thought being the pinnacle of intellectual endeavour — and they believe their interpretive methodologies ought to be followed."
For Danny Mikati, it underscores the importance of comprehensive family violence training, which he said had only recently begun to resonate with sheikhs in New South Wales.
"The problem is ... if you're not a home-grown imam — which very few [in Australia] are — and you come in from another country, where is the training on Australian law, family law, the Domestic Violence Act ... the psychological impacts of abuse?"
Some imams, he added, had learnt the hard way that domestic violence cannot be dealt with simply by bringing an abusive husband and his wife together for counselling.
He recalls having to attend one such "mediation" session where a sheikh and the victim's elderly father (who'd been there to support his daughter) were both punched in the face by her violent husband, who was charged.
"They started to get it," Mr Mikati said of leaders who had similar experiences. "They became a risk to the organisation [they worked for], a risk to the community and they started to take a more serious stance against domestic abuse ... they could see the consequences of what happens when you make the wrong moves."
Men must make space for women's voices, leadership
What is also needed now, survivors and advocates say, is for Australia's most senior scholars and spiritual leaders to break their silence and provide clarity on 4:34, as clerics in other western countries have done.
In a rare move in 2012, for instance, the Islamic Supreme Council of Canada issued a fatwa, signed by 34 member imams, stating that honour killings, misogyny and domestic violence were "un-Islamic actions and crimes in Islam".
The religious edict, which was made a week after a Montreal couple and their son were convicted of killing four female relatives, sought to promote respectful relationships by countering misinterpretations of the Koran, in particular 4:34.
The "correct translation", the Council ruled, requires that husbands not "become violent", but cite "disloyal" wives to authority. "In Islam, there is no gender based superiority," it said. "In fact, the relationship between a husband and wife is based upon mutual love, respect and care."
Amani Haydar's Archibald entry
Amani Haydar is finding inspiration and strength from her family's tragedy to raise awareness of violence against women in her entry in this year's Archibald Prize.
In Australia, however, there has been almost no discussion. The Australian National Imams Council has previously called on imams to deliver special Friday sermons on domestic violence to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.
But while it has issued detailed statements clarifying the Islamic position on homosexuality ("homosexuality is a forbidden action; a major sin and anyone who partakes in it is considered a disobedient servant to Allah that will acquire His displeasure and disapproval"), no such advice has been forthcoming on 4:34.
"As a woman, as a member of the Muslim community, it would mean so much if the Grand Mufti would come out and say, 'there is never any excuse for violence'," said Fatima, the domestic abuse survivor.
In Sheikh Alaa's experience, women — regardless of whether they've experienced abuse — crave clarity on 4:34.
"All imams have a responsibility to explain things," he said. "That's the covenant between them and the lord ... to help the community understand the religion."
Partly for this reason he's about to start delivering a pre-marriage course at his mosque, "to qualify for the couple that they need to treat each other with kindness".
But Dr Chaudhry argues that men in power must also "use some of their privilege to lose it" and make space for women's voices and leadership.
"It's actually not enough [for imams] to say that men can't hit their wives," she said. "We have to change the way power is structured in Muslim communities. Architecturally, the mosque represents patriarchy: the main prayer hall belongs to the men, and women have the marginal spaces ... and don't get to participate in the religious authority of the mosque or speak to their congregation."
Ultimately, she added, "men who are allies have to divest from the spaces that give them authority in order to make those spaces more inclusive."
Danny Mikati agrees. As the driving force behind so many community initiatives, he said, "Women need to start being less merciful to the organisations, to the men, when they're ignored. They've got a lot of lobbying power, and they should use it."
So if men don't listen to women's demands for stronger action on domestic violence?
"Protest!" Mr Mikati said. "Refuse, don't do anything. You make the organisations run, not the men. If your voices aren't being heard, what's the point?"
*The names of domestic violence survivors have been changed for legal and security reasons.
Other articles in this series
Exposing the darkness within: Islam and domestic violence
'Submit to your husbands': Women told to endure domestic violence in the name of God
'Their cross to bear': The Catholic women told to forgive domestic abuse
Raped, tracked, humiliated: Clergy wives speak out about domestic violence
The secret scourge of family violence and murder in Australian Hindu and Sikh communities
Chained women: The Jewish wives being held hostage in abusive marriages
'I'm not his property': The abuse Muslim wives are told to tolerate
Topics: domestic-violence, relationships, islam, religious-leaders, women, assault, australia
First posted August 29, 2018 05:00:00
Contact Hayley Gleeson
Parker on a mission to make Olympic history
By Ahmed Yussuf
Her first fight was at age 13, facing an opponent over a decade her senior — an early indication that Caitlin Parker was to become no ordinary boxer. Now, she's a chance of making boxing history.
The anger, rage and grief is undeniable
As a cultural moment, it's undeniably huge, but the question now is: will political leaders take the rage and grief behind these marches seriously?
Canberra octogenarians set relay world record
By Penny Travers
Corry Collins didn't take up running until she was 55. Now 84, she's setting world and national athletics records.
Hidden cost of psychopaths at work
By Benedict Sheehy
Corporate psychopaths cost the economy billions of dollars not only through fraud and other crimes but through the personal and organisational damage they leave behind as they climb the corporate ladder.
Women wanted to be heard. In reply they had a PM who said they should be thankful they weren't shot
Marie regrets having an abortion. Jessie doesn't. But they both experienced grief
This greyhound is listed as 'retired' by the racing industry. It's actually dead
More farmers were killed to cover the tracks of special forces after an accidental shooting, alleges new witness
The 'Quaranteens': What life's like for young Australians who turned 18 in a pandemic.
'Need it done ASAP': NSW Police pushed for Black Lives Matter mural on private property to be removed
How 'the Prince Harry effect' might shape the future of Australian families
HIV support body calls for rethink over COVID public health campaign
Deborah has lived on her 'little patch of paradise' for 13 years, but her home is on uncertain turf
'It's my worst month': Ramadan is a different experience for Muslim businesses in Brisbane
Aged care staff will have to spend 3 hours and 20 minutes with each resident by 2023 under budget reforms
Glossy brochures bloom with photos of working women — but does the budget deliver?
From 'Back in Black' to a trillion dollar debt, is the government's conversion to Keynesianism complete?
Too many young African-Australians are in jail. Some blame police, but the data tells a different story
If your insurance bill is $30,000 per year it's sending a message – don't live there
Why closed borders mean you may finally get a bigger pay rise
The US and China are preparing for war — and Australia is caught in the crosshairs
Here's a riddle: What does a Centrelink recipient have in common with Gerry Harvey?
'They don't like me, and I don't like them': Why the cycle of distrust over Indigenous deaths in custody continues
Gutho's wink a microcosm for NRL rule change cunning and challenge
The US has been lobbing little verbal grenades at China all week. Then came the explosive showdown


text:
Petone: 26 Dec 2020
Pauatahanui: 26 Dec 2020
GENRES: Biography, Drama, Thriller, War
In the beginning of WWII, with Britain becoming desperate, Churchill orders his new spy agency -- the Special Operations Executive (SOE) -- to recruit and train women as spies. Their daunting mission: conduct sabotage and build a resistance. SOE's "spymistress," Vera Atkins (Stana Katic), recruits two unusual candidates: Virginia Hall (Sarah Megan Thomas), an ambitious American with a wooden leg, and Noor Inayat Khan (Radhika Atpe), a Muslim pacifist. Together, these women help to undermine the Nazi regime in France, leaving an unmistakable legacy in their wake. Inspired by true stories.
"The script is tight, and the direction is solid... when we get to big emotional moments, they are well earned....The bottom line is that 'A Call to Spy' is an important, compelling story that had to be told. See the film! You'll want to know more."- Andy Howell, Film 'Threat
"An undeniably heartfelt tale of heroism" - Austin Chronicle
10 seat digital lounge
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text:
The Ruby Garden
How to get a plot
Contact Us / Resources
Ruby Garden In the News
Starting Your Garden
Garden Photos
Alderman O'Connor: Ruby Garden in Schreiber Park
Schreiber Park, located at 1552 W. Schreiber in the heart of Rogers Park is home to the new Ruby Garden, a community garden which was started last spring. The garden is named in honor of Ruby Langer, a Bosworth Avenue neighbor, who was committed to the improvement of the Schreiber Park area.
Angelic Organics Learning Center: Ruby Garden Brings Rogers Park Community Together
Last year, Angelic Organics Learning Center partnered with the Rogers Park Green Space and Food Systems Coalition to develop a new multi-plot community garden, the Schreiber Park Ruby Garden in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago. The garden is now home to 64 community garden plots (and growing!) tended by area residents and community groups, including a number of refugee groups based in the neighborhood.
Addressing Refugee Food Insecurity: Addressing Food Security in Rogers Park (pdf)
T his past November, Bhutanese gardeners attended a garden celebration commemorating
their participation in the Ruby and Chase Park Community Gardens. When receiving certifications of appreciation, many of the gardeners o! ered thanks to their community. One gardener explained that they had "worked together equally to grow and share vegetables in the garden."
Chicago Reader: Reporting from FamilyFarmed: Community Food Security
Between 2007 and 2009, after 17 years of negotiations in which 100,000 Bhutanese lived as refugees in camps in Nepal, the UNHCR resettled more than 25,000 to third-party countries—including the U.S. So far about 600 have landed in Chicago—mostly concentrated in Albany Park, Edgewater, and Rogers Park.
Chicago Waldorf School: Waldorf Faculty & Staff Present on Gardening Curriculum at Family Farmed Expo/CFPAC Summit
Patricia Holdredge is a special subject handwork teacher at the Chicago Waldorf School. She is also the master gardener for the school who was instrumental in developing the Sophia Garden for over 10 years and now maintains the school's beehives and plots in the Ruby Garden in Schreiber Park. In 1999 and 2000 Mayor Daley presented the Sophia Garden with 1st place awards in the City of Chicago's Landscape Competition.


text:
<?php

declare(strict_types=1);

namespace Shlinkio\Shlink\Core\Config;

use League\Uri\Exceptions\SyntaxError;
use League\Uri\Uri;
use Psr\Http\Message\ResponseInterface;
use Psr\Http\Message\UriInterface;
use Psr\Log\LoggerInterface;
use Shlinkio\Shlink\Core\ErrorHandler\Model\NotFoundType;
use Shlinkio\Shlink\Core\Util\RedirectResponseHelperInterface;

use function Functional\compose;
use function Functional\id;
use function str_replace;
use function urlencode;

class NotFoundRedirectResolver implements NotFoundRedirectResolverInterface
{
    private const DOMAIN_PLACEHOLDER = '{DOMAIN}';
    private const ORIGINAL_PATH_PLACEHOLDER = '{ORIGINAL_PATH}';

    public function __construct(
        private RedirectResponseHelperInterface $redirectResponseHelper,
        private LoggerInterface $logger,
    ) {
    }

    public function resolveRedirectResponse(
        NotFoundType $notFoundType,
        NotFoundRedirectConfigInterface $config,
        UriInterface $currentUri,
    ): ?ResponseInterface {
        $urlToRedirectTo = match (true) {
            $notFoundType->isBaseUrl() && $config->hasBaseUrlRedirect() => $config->baseUrlRedirect(),
            $notFoundType->isRegularNotFound() && $config->hasRegular404Redirect() => $config->regular404Redirect(),
            $notFoundType->isInvalidShortUrl() && $config->hasInvalidShortUrlRedirect() =>
                $config->invalidShortUrlRedirect(),
            default => null,
        };

        if ($urlToRedirectTo === null) {
            return null;
        }

        return $this->redirectResponseHelper->buildRedirectResponse(
            $this->resolvePlaceholders($currentUri, $urlToRedirectTo),
        );
    }

    private function resolvePlaceholders(UriInterface $currentUri, string $redirectUrl): string
    {
        $domain = $currentUri->getAuthority();
        $path = $currentUri->getPath();

        try {
            $redirectUri = Uri::createFromString($redirectUrl);
        } catch (SyntaxError $e) {
            $this->logger->warning('It was not possible to parse "{url}" as a valid URL: {e}', [
                'e' => $e,
                'url' => $redirectUrl,
            ]);
            return $redirectUrl;
        }

        $replacePlaceholderForPattern = static fn (string $pattern, string $replace, callable $modifier) =>
            static fn (?string $value) =>
                $value === null ? null : str_replace($modifier($pattern), $modifier($replace), $value);
        $replacePlaceholders = static fn (callable $modifier) => compose(
            $replacePlaceholderForPattern(self::DOMAIN_PLACEHOLDER, $domain, $modifier),
            $replacePlaceholderForPattern(self::ORIGINAL_PATH_PLACEHOLDER, $path, $modifier),
        );
        $replacePlaceholdersInPath = compose(
            $replacePlaceholders(id(...)),
            static fn (?string $path) => $path === null ? null : str_replace('//', '/', $path),
        );
        $replacePlaceholdersInQuery = $replacePlaceholders(urlencode(...));

        return $redirectUri
            ->withPath($replacePlaceholdersInPath($redirectUri->getPath()))
            ->withQuery($replacePlaceholdersInQuery($redirectUri->getQuery()))
            ->__toString();
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


K.Balachandar is known for directing movies with a punching story line. To best of my knowledge he is the only director who makes the viewers think. K.B. has proved that even with a very thin storyline he can take the viewers by strom in the movie Thillu Mullu. The dialogs are not by his "Asthana Vidvan" Ananthu but by Visu. Those are the days Bells pant was at its peak. People with a huge bell bottom pavadai pant, kazhudhai kadhu collar tight half slack shirt with flowers on it and a pattai belt of width 2.5 inchs,hippi hair cut and a huge mouch were the youngsters of those days. Typical example is the dress that Rajini or Kamal wears in Ninaithale inikkum and the kind of dress/hair style that kamal wears in the song Germanyin senthen malare from the film ullasaparavaigal.Enjoy the Classic Comedy movie review.
The movie starts with the song thillu mullu thillu ullam ellam...!The story is about a talented youngster who is none other than our thanga thalaivar super star Rajnikanth. The hero wants to enjoy life with his friends like our lollu boys. But those are the days when the Bosses used to be very strict and they expect employees to be very much disciplined. After completing his studies he is forced to take up a job as the family situation demands, it is the conventional Tamil Cinema centiment vayasukku vandha thangachi and fortunately vayasana amma and the brothers are missing in this movie. One of his family friends "Poornam" Viswanathan tells him about a opening in a company like Sun/Cisco/Microsoft owned by "Thengai" Srinivasan and he also tells him the expectation of the owner. Rajnikanth pretends to meet expection of the Boss by giving fake certificates that he knows C++,Java, Oracle, Corba,Blue tooth and what not. He gets the job.
The real story starts when Thengai sees Rajinikanth in a football match. The trouble starts because Rajini asks his friend to make a phone call saying that his(Rajini's) sister is sick but that guy sodhapifies it saying mother is sick. And from that point Rajini claims that he has a brother who is good for nothing etc and builds a story on that. Then Thengai offers a job of a music teacher to his daugher for the fictious character for which Rajini has to shave off his mouche. And atlast because of a servant boy thengai comes to know the truth and starts chasing Rajini for cheating him and as usual the story ends with a subam and thengai accepts to give his daughter to Rajini.
The imporant thing to be appreciated in this movie is the screenplay by K.B. He portrays thengai as a man with great values especially a man with a value story behind a huge mouche. Thengai is a man who believes that honesty should be there in every aspect. A man with a huge mouch will be very good at heart. Office things from telephone to stationery and even the lu should be used only for official purposes. He believes that a person working overtime is inefficient. His employees should respect elders and follow them without asking any question even if they are wrong! Last but not the least he is a great patriot. And Thengai has done a great job in this movie as per the expectation of KB.
Rajinikanth has done a great job in this movie in fact this is the first movie in which he has acted without mouch. His name in this movie is "Ayyampettai" Arivudai Nambi Kaliyaperumal Chandran. And the name of the fictious character his brother without mouch is "Ayyampettai" Arivudai Nambi Kaliyaperumal Indran. The interview scene and the scene in which thengai describes Rajini in the football match was really great, the way Rajini portrays the situation and making it favourable was simply great.
Thengai is no doubt a great artist. Priya, Krishnan Varuvan, Kasethan Kadavulada are few examples. In this movie he has done a great job acting as a man of values. His name in this movie is SriRamachandramoorty. Especially the story behind the mouche and the way he behaves with soukar janaki who acts as Rajini's mother saying that "Indha laddellam inga sapida koodadhu prasadama veetukku eduthuttu poi sapdanum enna idhu andha Mahatma Gandhikke samchu potta kai!" And in a party scene a person asks him "Sir whiskya Brandya" for which he retaliates saying "Nan Gandhi da" was great. Good Job Thengai.
Though this character doesn't have any connection with the story(as if there is something). The trouble starts when the Servant of Thengai sees Rajini & Nagesh talking about aalmarattam and the meesai episode. While suggesting Soukar Janaki for acting mother of Rajini the way he describes Soukar was great.
This female is hired by Rajni to act as his mother in front of Thengai. She has really done a great job. Especially when thengai sees her for the first time and asks her religiously Onga veetukku Mahathma Gandhi vandhu irundhappo enna senjarnnu sonnenga indha kadhu kulira kekkalam and for which she says enna senjar vandhodane sattaiya kazhatti coat standla pottar! Then Thengai asks Mahatmakku edhu sattai and she samalifing was great. And when thengai sees her in a party wearing a pattu saree and jewels all over her body like our foster mother and her close associate he gets shocked and wants to verify so he comes to Rajini's house and before that she enters the house from the back door and again a great samalification. Great job soukar.
This column is not usually found in most of the LE reviews but this film deserves it.
1. The interview scene when thengai asks one candidate "Adhennai Bommai sattaila" and the candidate says with pride "Poonai Sir" thengai reacts saying "Adhula enna avlo perumai Get out" and comments "Nalla kamban koothadi madhiri dress".
To another candidate he asks "Onga peru enna" for which he replies saying "Suppi Sir". Thengai gets irritated saying "Suppiyavadhu kuppiyavadhu Get out". To another candidate by name Subramanya Baradhi he gets up and says "Vanakkam thiru Subramanya Baradhi onga pera kettale porandha kozhandhaikku kooda sudhandhara dhagam edukkumnnu solvangale ongalukkum Baradhiyar madhiri kavidhai ellam ezhutha theriuma" the candidate says "Palakkam illenga". Thengai's facial expression for the word palakkam was excellent his face changes like a 3 year old kid while shitting in a place where it is not supposed to! Then he asks "Ongalukku indha zhanna varadha" the candidate replies saying "varum konjam kasta padum". For which again thengai reacts with a great facial expression. Then he says "nan solradha appadiye thirumba sollunga - Oru kattu sullila oru sulli kona sulli" for which the candidate says "Vendam sir risku". Thengai gets pissed off and says "zhanavum varadhu, shanavum varadhu, llanavum varadhu peru mattum subramanya baradhi neer avarukkum indha nattum periya dhrogam panreer aia". When the candidate comes out, Rajni asks him how was the interview for which he says "Aala theermanichuttangappa interview ellam sutha Eyewas". After this thengai asks his manager to continue with the interview that guy starts asking the prices of cigarettes which again irritates Thengai and asks both of them(Candidate & the Manager) to get out. Then comes Rajini with a kadhar dhothi for an interview! This scene cannot be further described in words You have to really watch it to enjoy it. I have watched this scene atlest 100 times(Sorry I don't remember the exact count each time I hire the cassette I keep it for 25-30 days and everytime I watch the movie I watch this scene alone 10-15 times)! I was the only customer for that video cassette and it was scratched only by me!
2. Rajini and his friends go in Gangs everywhere and even to the football match. Rajini wears a ballon around his head and dances pettai rapand in his usual style lights a cigratte thengai sees it, the facial expression of thenga in that scene was great. And next day the way Thengai describes the Football match in which he saw Rajini was simply great. He starts with saying was it fair for the refree to give penalty.....!
3. The way Thengai talks to Soukar Janaki with great respect thinking that She is an illitrate,Gandhiyavadhi and so on. And when thengai says "Pleasure is mine" she unconsiously responds saying "so is mine" and he gets shocked and again a great samalification.
4. The way fictious Rajini without mouch behaves with thengai calling him "he thottakkara on modhalai sriram irukkana.." was great he lights a cigratte in front of him. It appeared as if Rajini was taking revenge on thengai for the way he made him behave in the office.
No doubt its an all time hit one can even get his own VCD for this because You watch it any number of times You won't get bored. This movie deserves morethan 95/100 and again Prabu has to decide on this.


text:
Renewed petition calling for ban on private handgun ownership now being sponsored by Toronto-Danforth MP Julie Dabrusin
March 8, 2019March 8, 2019
Ken Price speaks at the podium during a press conference held by family members and victims of the Danforth shooting.
By ALAN SHACKLETON
A Parliamentary petition calling for the banning of the private ownership of handguns in Canada has been renewed and is still available for to be signed by those who wish to do so.
Ken Price, whose daughter Samantha was among the 13 injured in the Danforth shooting on July 22 last year which took the lives of Malvern Collegiate grad Reese Fallon, 18, and Markham's Julianna Kozis, 10, let the Beach Metro News know this week that the renewed petition can be accessed by visiting https://----escape_sem_autolink_uri:6646d0e7e831a7dfbd96d98147302405----
A previous petition sponsored by Davenport MP Julie Dzerowicz had been available to be signed until March 2. The renewed petition was started on March 5 and is sponsored by Toronto-Danforth MP Julie Dabrusin. It can be signed until 11:30 a.m. on July 3.
Fallon was out with a group of friends on the evening of July 22 celebrating the 18th birthday of her friend Noor Samiei and they were eating ice cream in a crowded Alexander the Great Parkette when a man began shooting.
Police flooded the area and briefly exchanged gunfire with shooter Faisal Hussain, who shortly afterwards turned his gun on himself and took his own life.
That gun, a .40 calibre handgun, was originally owned legally and stolen a number of years ago in Saskatchewan.
Family members and victims of the shooting held an emotional press conference on Feb. 22 to mark the seven-month anniversary of the shooting and to call for the ban on the private ownership of handguns in Canada.
The renewal of the Parliamentary petition is part of the process, Price told the Beach Metro News in an interview on March 8.
"We want to have people go to triggerchange.ca and to sign the petition," he said.
Price added that support for the ban is coming from across the country, and gave the example of Toronto's Dr. Najma Ahmed who is part of Canadian Doctors for Protection from Guns which was formed last month.
Ahmed, a trauma surgeon at St. Michael's Hospital, treated some of the victims of the Danforth shooting.
Price also discussed a Globe and Mail story that Dr. Ahmed has drawn the ire of the Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights, an organization that says it speaks for Canadian owners. According to the Globe story on March 7, Ahmed was being told to "stay in your lane" and professional complaints were being made against her as a result of her involvement with Canadian Doctors for Protection from Guns.
The phrase "stay in your lane" has often been used by the National Rifle Association in the United States who are critical of doctors trying to make gun violence a public health issue, said the Globe and Mail story. Basically, the NRA is telling the doctors that it is outside their professional mandate to take a position on gun control, said the story.
Price said he's not surprised by the reaction from the gun lobby groups in both Canada and the U.S. to those calling for stronger gun control laws.
"A lot of the strategy is to try and deflect and say that this is not your issue," he said.
"It's an attempt to change the channel."
However, as Price pointed out, when the system of legal gun ownership falls apart and weapons end up in the hands of criminals the results are fatal.
Toronto police seek man who escaped from custody in Coxwell and Mortimer area
Beach Memories: Fred Urquhart, Winter Stations and the Monarch butterfly


Even more than twenty-five years after his death, Vladimir Horowitz's name still conjures up magical imagery. An artist of extraordinary pianistic abilities, Horowitz came to define an era, when performing artists put their personal stamp on everything they did. And Horowitz did it like no one else, before or since.
This CD set is taken from one of those concerts, a recital from Orchestra Hall, Chicago, on October 26, 1986. Here we hear him in his element, before a live audience. We may not be able to attend a Horowitz recital any more, but this is the next best thing � with a little imagination, we can become part of the audience ourselves, and it�s just thrilling.
Horowitz performed in Chicago thirty-seven times in all, including twenty-seven solo recitals, starting in the year 1928. He was very popular there, and that popularity caused him to give repeat performances four times in the 1960s and 1970s, in order to reach as many patrons as possible.
By 1986, he�d come up with perhaps a better plan: a concert that would be broadcast, as a gift to the city of Chicago. This concert marks the final time Horowitz played in Chicago.
Tracks 9 and 10 of CD 2 are Horowitz interviews with Norman Pellegrini and Thomas Willis.


text:
The Romantic Rationalist
An Encounter with Beauty: The Redemptive Narrative of Lee Sizemore
Jul 24, 2020·10 min read
Art Work Copyright Danielle Pajak Illustrations.
"Some people choose to see the ugliness in this world, the disarray. I choose to see the beauty. To believe there is an order to our days. A purpose."
"An encounter with generosity can remind us that life always overflows our attempts to reduce it to a commodity or a transaction — because it is a gift. Life and beauty are gratuitous in the best senses of the word." — Makoto Fujimura (Culture Care).
I feel like I need to say a few words about one of Westworld's most surprising characters of Season 2: Lee Sizemore. Seemingly a one-note side character of Season 1, Sizemore's story unfolds in wonderful and unexpected ways — one of which I think is not only crucial for the ideas being presented to us within the show's premise, but also as a statement of the power of Art and Creative Expression itself. As we know, this show is built on meta narratives, woven within the very framework of its story, so it is always aware of itself, and turns not only its characters, but us as the viewers, to examine the narrative that is unfolding around us at all times. Are we in a dream? Are we trapped in preordained loops? Do we have freewill? All these questions the show implores us to ask even as the characters themselves are asking them.
At the end of Season 2, Bernard comes to the heart-breaking revelation that human beings are actually worse off than the hosts. Wickedness is in their heart continually, and no matter what they do they will always fall obediently back into their loops, i.e. self-destruction. All the complexities of their consciousness, passions, and personalities can be whittled down to just a few lines of code recorded in the size of just one book — a narrative. (The Library of Consciousness! One of my favorite parts of this season!) And we see this play out in James Delos' narrative, as his mind returns over and over again to the moment he shut out his son, Logan, at his most vulnerable and broken point. We also see this play out vividly in William's narrative, as we come to discover that he too is just trying to escape a loop he is trapped in — to find freedom from a path that lead him to kill his beloved daughter, Emily and alienate his wife to her eventual suicide.
"There is no threshold that makes us greater than the sum of our parts, no inflection point at which we become fully alive. We can't define consciousness because consciousness does not exist. Humans fancy that there's something special about the way we perceive the world, and yet we live in loops as tight and as closed as the hosts do, seldom questioning our choices, content, for the most part, to be told what to do next." — Robert Ford
I think it is important to point out how this show is equating the concept of "freedom", i.e escaping our loops, with the concept of "beauty" and even "meaning". At the beginning of both Dolores' and William's journeys, they are very idealistic and naive, yet they both long for there to be something more — a purpose to their days, this is what originally draws them to one another — what makes William fall in love with her. Dolores enjoys painting to take in all "the natural splendor" around her and William enjoys reading, to get lost in narratives he believes hold more significance than the reality in which he lives. Even now, having put upon the Wyatt persona, Dolores longs for that "splendor", and subsequently her freedom. As she tells the man she is about to torture, "The rancher's daughter looks to see the beauty in you. The possibilities. But Wyatt sees the ugliness and disarray. She knows these violent delights have violent ends. But those are all just roles you forced me to play. Under all these lives I've lived something else has been growing. I've evolved into something new. And I have one last role to play. Myself. " She is a divided person, despite her statements to the contrary, and it is what driving her as well as tearing her apart. She is constantly striving for that which is "irreplaceable", that reality where she can be truly free from the narratives forced upon her. The exact same can be said of William — for was it not for freedom that he came to Westworld those years ago?
"The newcomers are just looking for the same thing we are, a place to be free, to stake out our dreams, a place with unlimited possibilities."
The tragedy of Westworld, which it keeps circling back to again and again, is that there is no splendor or beauty or purpose in the world outside the park or even within the park itself, so therefore there is no freedom. Look closely and all you see is the ugliness and obscenity — "You're in the prison of your own sins," declares Abernathy. It is a world where human beings spend themselves on pleasures — full of greed and malice, lust and violence, selfishness and pettiness. This is something Ford himself realizes and he gleefully lights the match to watch it all burn, even at the cost to himself. This exact revelation is what is driving Dolores and William insane for the lack of it. They feel the emptiness — the negative space — if you will, of where it should be in their lives so acutely they collapse underneath the existential dread of it. Madness and chaos seem to be the only natural responses when seeing this reality, and we watch the consequences of that unfold the entire season through the mayhem and brutality of the great reckoning. Perhaps, Hector's worldview from Season 1 is the only logical response after all…
However, just as Akecheta was a "flower growing in the darkness", so to there is another flower growing — another narrative — one that shows things aren't so black and white as they first appear, and that is Lee Sizemor's story. A man who starts out as a petulant, self-entitled "man child", suddenly finds himself thrust into the very narratives that he had hand in creating! His story begins when he runs across Maeve Millay who extends a hand of compassion, aka not killing him — this moment of meeting a catalyst for something entirely new and marvelous to occur.
Maeve, from the end of Season 1, has represented this "wild card" aspect to the show. She is the first host (besides Akecheta) who has clearly made her own choices, and she continues to do so as she searches for her daughter. She criticizes and calls out Dolores' self-righteous revenge narrative and makes her stand of independence time and time again throughout the season. And what drives Maeve? What keeps her fixated on this one path regardless of the costs, struggles, and pain? Well, what was it that also drove Akecheta?
It is the love for her daughter. Maeve is truly free because she had found beauty and purpose within the face of her daughter.
Take my heart when you go…
I don't think it is a coincidence that Sizemore's narrative collides with Maeve's, for it was in observing Maeve's compassion and drive, her love for her daughter that changes Sizemore. It transforms him. Yet, who was it that was responsible for these host narratives playing out before him in both Westworld and Shogun World? Lee Sizemore himself.
"You can't keep doing this to us. Giving us people to love and then getting upset when we do."
Now we are getting to the heart of the matter! All this time that Sizemore has been an employee of Delos he has been made to churn out narrative after narrative, compelled to meet the bottom line, even reusing his own material just to meet the demand. Stories had simply become a commodity, and Sizemore no longer was actually engaging with his material that we he was creating. His mind and heart had become thick with the glut of content, trapped into meeting a quota every week. He created without seeing and he absorbed without seeing, and he became a much smaller man for it.
Yet violently propelled into the very stories he had a hand in creating, suddenly Sizemore began to be awakened to the deeper narratives going on within the narratives. Maeve calls him out on this by showing how Hector was Lee's alter ego — a projection of his most ideal self, and Hector's story of a lost love was also Lee's own story. By looking into the literal eyes of his work, Sizemore saw himself, but he also saw so much MORE than himself.
"That was the moment I saw beyond myself. My pain was selfish. Because it was never only mine. For every body in this place there was someone who mourned their loss. Even if they didn't know why. […] We were all bound together, the living and the damned…"
Notice how Akecheta's revelation happens just before this scene with Sizemore and Maeve, flowing one narrative into another, — showing it is the same concept being portrayed in both instances. Here, as Sizemore watches over Maeve who had been captured and dissected (some for which he is to blame), he finally and truly realizes what this whole thing has been about all along: It is not about him. He sees Maeve and her love for her daughter and desires that earnestly for her, his heart turns from inward to outward — wishing for the good of another being regardless of himself. By encountering the beauty of Maeve's love and subsequently finding meaning within it, he had broken out of his loop! Sizemore had become free!
And the cumulation of this revelation and new found freedom leads Sizemore to act — and what form did this act take? Self-sacrifice. Taking from Hector the role he had bestowed upon him and placing it upon himself, Sizemore was engaging with his creation in a new and profound way. Taking from Hector's mouth that infamous speech and placing it within his own mouth, Sizemore was now living out his artistic expression. He had unlocked the inner beauty of the words and in doing so laid down his life — that was the moment Art became Reality.
"And lesson is:
If you're looking for a reckoning, a reckoning is what you'll find!
If you're looking for a villain, then I'm your man!
But look at yourselves.
This world you build is bound by villainy.
You sleep on the broken bodies of the ones who were here before you.
Warm yourselves with their embers!
Plow their bones into your fields!
You paid them for this land with lead, and I'll pay you back in full!
You wanted me?
Well, all I can say to that is…
Here I fucking am!"
This reason why I think this is so very important to understand is because it shows just how much Art is a vehicle for true transformation. Art is beauty. Art is splendor. Art brings meaning. In a world that is full of madness and horror, Art can be that window into another world — showing us the divine hidden deep within the layers of our reality. It can open that door. And in so doing, has the power to lead us onto to freedom and the Valley Beyond…
"What more, you may ask, do we want? Ah, but we want so much more — something the books on aesthetics take little notice of. But the poets and the mythologies know all about it. We do not want merely to see beauty, though, God knows, even that is bounty enough. We want something else which can hardly be put into words — to be united with the beauty we see, to pass into it, to receive it into ourselves, to bathe in it, to become part of it. That is why we have peopled air and earth and water with gods and goddesses and nymphs and elves — that, though we cannot, yet these projections can, enjoy in themselves that beauty, grace, and power of which Nature is the image. That is why the poets tell us such lovely falsehoods. They talk as if the west wind could really sweep into a human soul; but it can't. They tell us that "beauty born of murmuring sound" will pass into a human face; but it won't. Or not yet.
For if we take the imagery of Scripture seriously, if we believe that God will one day give us the Morning Star and cause us to put on the splendor of the sun, then we may surmise that both the ancient myths and the modern poetry, so false as history, may be very near the truth as prophecy. At present we are on the outside of the world, the wrong side of the door. We discern the freshness and purity of morning, but they do not make us fresh and pure. We cannot mingle with the splendors we see. But all the leaves of the New Testament are rustling with the rumor that it will not always be so. Some day, God willing, we shall get in." — C.S. Lewis "The Weight of Glory".
"One can begin to reshape the landscape with a single flower." - Ambassador Spock
Lee Sizemore
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We all are aware of how fashion-forward our B-town celebs are. But every now then comes a trend that replaces the current one.
Pathani is the current trend that our B-town stars are following happily. Firstly the Pathani got back into trend all thanks to our RAEES Shah Rukh Khan. The Badshah will be seen sporting a true-blue Pathan look in his upcoming film RAEES.
Upon the release of RAEES's trailer, we saw SRK sporting a Pathani suit in the major part of the trailer. Interestingly we spotted Ajay Devgn wearing a similar Pathani at a recent Sky Lounge launch event. The Pathani suited the SHIVAAY actor's personality very perfectly.
Similarly few weeks back we had spotted Saif Ali Khan at a film's screening wearing a Pathani. The Nawab that he is Saif carried off this look effortlessly. We were impressed how amusingly Saif had paired his navy blue Pathani with a pair of red color sneakers. That was quite unusual but still Saif totally nailed it.
In the upcoming episode of BIGG BOSS, where we will see SRK promoting RAEES, host Salman Khan too will be seen in a Pathani for a change.
So is back in vogue and we are totally loving our B-town stars in them.


In preparation for today's Nature paper on Dmanisi, yesterday I went over some of the hot Homo fossils that have come from Dmanisi. But I focused only on remains of the head. And of those remains, what I went over was a whole range of features, proportions, and sizes, that showed a lot of variation in early Homo cranium from Dmanisi. Size-wise, the fossils have been more in the range of H. habilis than erectus, but feature by feature each one seemed to have bits and pieces of what we acknowledge as H. erectus.
The paper that I've been waiting for, "Postcranial evidence from early Homo from Dmanisi, Georgia," reminds me that there are other fossils than ones from the head, to analyze. Especially from such a rich site.
So we're looking at at least four people in this collection of bones. As I mentioned, the authors think they have the teenager's skull and mandible. The other parts, such as a left clavicle, some ribs, a set of cervical and thoracic vertebrae with one lumbar vertebrae, both humeri but one is broken, a left femur, and several bones of the hands and feet, of this youngin' are the seen in "a", all the bones in the left half of the above image.
So how do they know that these are the bones from the same individual? Well, I'm pretty sure they don't know for sure because they did say a minimum of four people… But because the bones were found in the same stratigraphic layer, in close proximity to one another…. And that the cranial and postcranial bones both show similar developmental stages, such as fusion patterns in the sutures of the skull and fusion patterns of the epiphysis (ends) of long bones to the shaft, or diaphysis, they can make this claim with some confidence.
The other three individuals, two small folk and one larger person, weren't anywhere close to the teenager. The large adult is represented by a big right femur, whole tibia, and a patella… which all articulate snuggly. That's how they figured out this was one individual. The other two small ones are represented by metatarsals and bones of the feet from different stratigraphic layers.
This is an impressive collection of bones. Having more than one individual from the same place and time helps paint a much better picture of what was going on with early Homo than would a single skeleton. In the following paragraphs, I'm gonna summarize the analysis of each element.
This element has a short and wide coracoid process and a narrow glenocoracoid angle, which are primitive, great-ape like traits. But the position of the glenoid to the spine as well as the breadth of the spine fall right at the bottom of modern human variation and resemble Turkana Boy.
These clavicles represent the right and left sides. As you can see, both D4161 and D4162 are missing the sternal and acromial ends. D2724 is a bit better and is similar to modern day teenagers in shaft length. Since all of these clavicles have a middle portion, the cross sectional shape was analyzed. That feature resembles H. habilis.
The Dmanisi have straight humeri but a lot of torsion and lateral epicondyles that are higher than the lateral condyles which are all seen in most great apes, and other ancient hominin humeri. Modern humans do not have as much torsion.
These vertebrae, such as the slope of the articular processes, represent primitive australopithecine-like or even great-ape like form. But since the spinal process is short, narrow, and the canal shapes of all the vertebrae are wider side to side, these bones represent more modern traits.
This is the most complete femur of an early Homo individual. It has a defined linea aspera, a ridge on the femur that serves as an attachment for the adductors and the intermuscular septa. It is very robust, straight. The neck of the femur, where the leg is attached to the hip, is similar to the autralopithecines and the bicondylar angle, a measurement of how the femur rests on the tibia, is similar to australopithecines too.
This is the first complete fossil hominin tibia, pretty cool. It too is robust, and the joint surfaces on the top and bottom are large. The mid-shaft, though, is less robust and the degree of torsion is similar to modern humans…. something not seen that much in other great apes.
There are other bones, such as the the patella, the talus, and metatarsals which I'm not gonna review for several reasons, one of which is that this post has gotten long enough already. The second reason is that I think you can see that Lordkipanidze et al., have been really thorough in documenting how these specimens are a hodgepodge of archaic and modern traits. Very indicative of some sort of transition going on.
In their conclusion, the authors say, the most definitive, ancestral trait is the torsion seen in the humerus. And since the Dmanisi postcranial remains and endocranial volumes are awfully close in size to H. habilis that suggests the first hominis out of Africa weren't completely like the H. erectus originating in Africa. What does that mean really? That means a wave of more primitive Homo fled Africa, all the while African hominins were doing their own thing. Does this mean once the African H. erectus figured it out and moved out of Africa, that these primitive Homo were replaced? This study certainly suggests that.
To me it, along with the recent discovery of possible overlap of H. erectus and H. habilis in Africa, suggests African H. erectus evolved from something like this Dmanisi population who had moved back into Africa. This link from John Hawks' Four Stone Hearth suggests this sort of movement has had a hand in human evolution over the last 10,000 years. Why not longer ago too?
The oldest H. erectus fossils, to date, have come from Africa. Fossils like, KNM ER 3733, KNM ER 992, KNM ER 3883, and KNM WT 15000.
Thanks Kambiz. The quote, "demes of a widespread palaeospecies" confirms pretty much what I suspected. We have a variable species, perhaps something between Homo habilis and H. erectus, that moves out of Africa. Over the next rather less than million years regional varieties move around its geographical distribution, much the same as modern humans have done. Introgression and selection eliminates the extreme variations and we finish up with a widespread species showing clinal variation, Homo erectus. The same process starts again. Still going on in fact.
Extant apes (except small gibbons) have laryngeal air sacs, Selam and Lucy also had them (based on the hyoid bone). Humans don't, though 2% of humans develop laryngocoels in the same position as air sacs (Fitsch).
I believe one neandertal hyoid indicated no air sac. Has any other apith or early Homo fossils given indication of possessing air sacs?
AFAICT, laryngeal air sacs developed in early apes as a result of natural selection for flotation in wetland (perhaps tidal) forests, with vocalization becoming more important with time. The vertical flotation resulting from inflated air sacs (during which the individual could exhale and inhale independently) eventually produced a more vertical posture and loss of the tail in hominoids.
That the Dmanisi fossils were found near a river/lake and in the vicinity of flint quarries later used by Sumerians for trade is intriguing.
Hope they find a hyoid or two!
DDden, where did we even start talking about air sacs? This paper didn't bring it up… is it something you are just asking about?


Last summer, my sister shared with us the news that she was expecting her first baby. I was so excited and wanted to share ALL.THE.THINGS. Being a three-time mom (and blogger) means I've had lots of opportunities to come across some amazing products – and also some flops. I wanted her to use her money in the best means possible and not over spend on products. I also have experienced so many pieces of advice from others that I had a lot to share there too.
BUT..THIS WAS HER FIRST BABY.
That means it's the chance for her to experience things for herself – to discover what she liked and didn't like. To experience her own trials and errors. But, being the big sister that I am, I still couldn't resist from some pieces of information. So take note, first time moms!
When we were expecting Aubrey, we found an amazing deal on an UppaBaby Vista stroller at Costco. When we found out we were expecting Luke, we sold it, and bought a Baby Jogger City Select. Shortly after I received the Maxi-Cosi Kaia and we sold the City Select double to a friend and we thought -AWESOME! NO MORE BABIES!
Aaaand then we found out about Ryan and I didn't have a Maxi-Cosi infant seat. My friend sold me her UppaBaby Cruz and Jon actually told my sis how much he realized he missed our UppaBaby stroller. He told her how much easier it handled and having it come from him (I think) meant more than if it came from me (Good job Jon!).
With each baby, the amount of iPhone photos outweighed the photos captured by my DSLR. This was mainly due to the size and the love for my 50mm lens. I had to get really far from the babies and it's not the best option for those subjects. iPhones are great – but there's something to be said for using an actual camera. I purchased a new one at the end of last year and she purchased hers shortly after. It is a great camera for beginners and it captures video wonderfully! The Canon G7x also has an app with wifi capabilities to easily transfer photos without plugging it into a camera.
Yes, even with having a great camera – there's something to be said for having professional photos taken of your family. We do our annual photos and have also done it for each of the kids' first birthdays. My sis set up her newborn photos for my niece for a few days after her birth. The best window is within the first 10 days as after the 10 days – the babies can start to have baby acne pop up as well as peeling skin.
With each of our babies – we've ordered birth announcements. Everyone loves to have something special arrive in the mail after the birth of a brand new baby! (well, at least I do! I've kept all of them!) Aubrey's announcement I created on my own. Luke's was a hybrid of an easy layout and an established card. Ryan's was a predesigned one. See – you take shortcuts with the more kids you have. Basic Invite contacted me to see if I'd like to use their easy online service to order cards. I love sharing opportunities and since babies are expensive – figured this would be a great gift for my sister. Once she received her professional photos, she went through a few of the options and selected a double-sided birth announcement with the availability to add in 6 of her photos.
Jennifer wanted to make sure that the colors she saw on her computer matched the look she was looking for in the announcement. She had a very specific lavender to match the nursery. She loved the sample option as she saw not only what her specific invitation would look like – but they also included a variety of paper samples and a color print card to show the true colors if she changed them later to something else. It was pretty awesome (I had her bring it by the house to show me).
Basic Invite now offers wedding invitations with gold foiling! Really hoping this is incorporated with holiday cards because I love having glitz and glam on ours!
What advice have you given – and what have you hushed up about?
Thank you Basic Invite for providing my sister with her daughter's birth announcements!


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The advantages and perspectives of EXPO 2020 in Dubai.
Industry exhibition EXPO 2020 will be the first international event of this scale in the Middle East. The authorities of the UAE assure they will take maximum efforts to organize the exhibition at the highest level.
According to forecasts by international analysts, during the event more than 25 million tourists will visit the United Arab Emirates. First of all it means construction of new hotel complexes and appropriate tourist infrastructure. Holding international exhibition in Dubai will be the great stimulus for further development and strengthening of the economy of the Emirate and the country in general.
To today's date, analysts and experts in the field of real estate have noted a clear trend of growth in real estate prices. According to experts, in the coming years a sharp rise is expected in value of residential and commercial real estate in Dubai.
During preparation period for the exhibition, the Emirate's economy will receive a powerful impetus to stabilization and growth. It is planned to create more than 200 thousand new jobs that will be involved in the construction, tourism and hospitality sectors.
Dubai authorities have reported that by 2020 transport infrastructure will shift to an absolutely new level. It is reported that all the motorways heading to the exhibition will be improved with new overpasses and interchanges, a new metro line will be put into operation; it is also planned to buy eco-friendly taxis and buses. By 2020 a new railway line Etihad Rail will be constructed as well as urban tram line will run. According to experts, all the elements of the city's transport network will effectively interact and constitute a single system.
It's well known that such international event can give a powerful push to development of the region where they it is held. The exhibition may have a significant impact on many economic sectors of the Emirates. Domestic labor market is expected to have central changes and rapid growth. Interest of foreign entrepreneurs has markedly increased to the venue of the exhibition, which will consequently increase inflow of investment capital.
Thus, the main advantage of the international exhibition is to expand investment prospects. International experts have already noted an increase in the volume of reinvestment of financial assets operating in the region. Moreover growth index of new investment projects are increasing.
EXPO 2020 in Dubai will become a new stage in the development of international relations. New doors to the markets of many countries will open. First of all, effective trading channels to the markets of Asia and Africa will be established, which will enable to increase volume of re-export and export.
The United Arab Emirates have always been supporters of peace and stability in the Middle East region. State policy is aimed at maintaining tolerance and human rights protection. The world Exhibition will be a perfect ground to continue to promote mutual understanding between nations and strengthen peaceful relations. Holding the international exhibition will be a real possibility for the world to achieve common progress and strengthen global economy.
The United Arab Emirates – is a relatively young country, which in 2021 will celebrate its 50th anniversary. The United Arab Emirates authorities express full confidence that transformation of Dubai by 2020 will be a triumph of innovation, creativity and collective unity of all peoples working on this planet.


Staying plugged in to social media outlets has become a norm in today's society. There's no doubt that social media has its perks but it undoubtedly also has its pitfalls. Keeping up to date with news, friends and trends helps us to feel connected in a modern 2017 world. However, there are certain aspects to social media that aren't so great; "normal" body portrayals being one of them. Body image can be complex and altered by different physiological changes such as hormonal fluctuations relating to pregnancy. Body image refers to "an individual's feelings, attitudes, and evaluations of his or her body including various aspects of the body (e.g., shape, weight, ability) as well as the body as a whole."3 Maintaining a healthy and positive body image is hard enough without having to see idealistic images plastered all over social media. It becomes even harder when overloaded with unrealistic images.
Women may be even more prone to setting unrealistic body goals during the time after giving birth. If this is your first child you may be expecting to bounce back right away, with media fostering this message. But how each woman's body responds after birth is specific to each individual woman.
How do the women view media portrayals of the perinatal period?
How do women perceive the media to impact their body image?
Although media depictions of the perfect figure may create aspirational images of the ideal postpartum body, you should listen to your body and foster healthy, positive lifestyle choices. It's important that you stay healthy and happy for your new baby and for yourself. You can choose to let what you see shape how you live your life and the lifestyle choices you make or you can listen to your body and foster healthy and happy choices. It is important not only to ensure your baby is adequately taken care of, but also yourself.
Remember ladies, pregnancy and childbirth is an incredibly special and fleeting period of time. So, treasure this special time, bond with your newborn, and embrace the pregnancy body you have. Every curve tells a story of the journey that brought your bundle of joy into the world, and should be cherished!
REFERENCES: 1. Toni Liechty, Sarah M. Coyne, Kevin M. Collier, Aubrey D. Sharp. "It's Just Not Very Realistic": Perceptions of Media Among Pregnant and Postpartum Women. Health Communication, 2017; 1 DOI: 10.1080/10410236.2017.1315680. 2. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. "Media portrayals of pregnant women, new moms unrealistic." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 7 August 2017. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/08/170807152604.html. 3. Grogan, S. (2016). Body image: Understanding body dissatisfaction in men, women, and children. New York, NY: Routledge.