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Power is an American crime drama television series created and produced by Courtney A. Kemp in collaboration with Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson. It aired on the Starz network from June 7, 2014, to February 9, 2020.

Upon release, Power gained positive reviews and it is one of Starz's most highly rated shows and one of cable's most watched shows. Prior to the premiere of the fifth season, Starz renewed the show for a sixth and final season, which premiered on August 25, 2019.

Overview
Power tells the story of James St. Patrick (Omari Hardwick), an intelligent, smooth, yet, ruthless drug dealer who goes by the alias of "Ghost." He wishes to leave the criminal world to pursue legitimate business interests as a nightclub owner. St. Patrick aims to balance those two lives, while also avoiding police capture, trying to navigate his crumbling marriage and manage shifting economic alliances.

The show also features James' family, which consists of his wife Tasha (Naturi Naughton), twins Tariq (Michael Rainey Jr.) and Raina(Donshea Hopkins) and baby Yasmine. Power also follows James' criminal partner and best friend Tommy Egan (Joseph Sikora), love interest and criminal prosecutor Angela Valdes (Lela Loren), friend-turned-rival Kanan Stark (50 Cent), protege and rival Andre Coleman (Rotimi Akinosho), and Angela's colleague, Cooper Saxe (Shane Johnson). Defense attorney Joe Proctor (Jerry Ferrara), district attorney John Mak (Sung Kang), and politician Rashad Tate (Larenz Tate) also appear in the show's later seasons.

Episodes

Cast and characters

Notes

Main
 Omari Hardwick as James "Ghost" St. Patrick , a high-level drug distributor and nightclub owner. He is married to Tasha, is the father of Tariq, Raina, and Yasmine St. Patrick, and is also romantically involved with AUSA Angela Valdes.
 Joseph Sikora as Thomas "Tommy" Egan, Ghost's partner,  best friend, and the godfather to his children. Egan is seen as an honorary member of his family.
 Lela Loren as Angela Valdes, an Assistant United States Attorney tasked with prosecuting Ghost unaware of his real identity. She went to the same high school as St. Patrick and Egan. She is St. Patrick's love interest and mistress.
 Naturi Naughton as Tasha St. Patrick, Ghost's wife and criminal accomplice. She has romantic affairs with Kanan's son Shawn and attorney Terry Silver.  She is also Q's new love interest.
 Curtis Jackson as Kanan Stark, a fellow drug dealer and Ghost's and Tommy's former mentor-turned rival. Prior to the events of the series, he was set up by Ghost and Tasha to go to prison for ten years.
 Michael Rainey Jr. as Tariq James St. Patrick, Tasha and James's son. An honor student, he has a strained relationship with James/Ghost because of his marriage-ending relationship with Angela and lying about being involved in the drug game and being mentored by Kanan. Tariq has two sisters: a twin, Raina St. Patrick, who is later murdered by a crooked police officer, named Raymond "Ray Ray" Jones, when Tariq was involved in pulling home invasion robberies with Kanan and Ray Ray; and a younger sister, Yasmine St. Patrick.
 La La Anthony as Lakeisha Grant, Tasha's friend and criminal accomplice. She is a hairstylist and business owner. She becomes Tommy's love interest in the later seasons.
 Rotimi Akinosho as Andre "Dre" Coleman, a low-profile and ambitious drug dealer. He works with both Ghost and Kanan and eventually becomes a major player under Alicia Jiménez.
 Shane Johnson as Cooper Saxe, a fellow attorney and Angela's colleague also assigned to the Ghost case.
 Jerry Ferrara as Joseph "Joe" Proctor, a criminal attorney who frequently represents Ghost and Tommy.
 Sinqua Walls as Shawn Stark, Kanan's son who is also the personal chauffeur and loyal bodyguard of Ghost. But he starts an affair with Tasha.
 Sung Kang as John Mak, an Assistant U.S. attorney who leads the case in the murder of FBI agent Greg Knox.
 Larenz Tate as Rashad Tate, a New York City councilman who is running for governor of New York. Tate uses James for PR for his campaign, as St. Patrick is viewed as an inspiration to potential urban voters. Tate is a former police officer and frequently participates in corruption.
 J.R. Ramirez as Julio Moreno, Ghost and Tommy's right-hand man and a former Toros Locos gang member.
 Matt Cedeno as Diego "Cristobal" Martinez, Dre's best friend and a head of the Hermanos Tainos.
 William Sadler as Anthony "Tony" Teresi, an incarcerated Italian-American gangster and caporegime in the Mosconi crime family. He is the father of Tommy Egan.
 Lucy Walters as Holly, a petty criminal and waitress at Truth and the love interest to Tommy.
 Andy Bean as Gregory "Greg" Knox, an FBI agent assigned to the Ghost/Lobos case and Angela's former love interest.
 David Fumero as Miguel "Mike" Sandoval, a corrupt FBI Assistant U.S. Attorney.
 Cynthia Addai-Robinson as Ramona Garrity, a political strategist for the DNC.
 Michael J. Ferguson as Francis "2-Bit" Johnson. Former accomplice of Dre/Kanan who runs with Tommy now
 Mike Dopud as Jason Micic, Tommy's Serbian connect.
 Evan Handler as Jacob Warner

Recurring

 Elizabeth Rodriguez as Paz Valdes, Angela's sister who maintains a dislike for James.
 Donshea Hopkins as Raina St. Patrick, James and Tasha's eldest daughter and twin sister to Tariq.
 Enrique Murciano as Felipe Lobos, an international drug supplier who works with Ghost and Tommy.
 Quincy Tyler Bernstine as Tameika Robinson, the leader of the United States Department of Justice.
 Victor Garber as Simon Stern, a rival nightclub owner.
 Ana de la Reguera as Alicia Jiménez, Diego's sister and one of the leaders of the Jiménez cartel.
 Patricia Kalember as Kate Egan, Tommy's mother.
 Bill Sage as Sammy, an Irish gangster who works with Tommy.
 Anika Noni Rose as Laverne "Jukebox" Ganner, a dirty cop and Kanan's cousin.
 Maurice Compte as Diego Jiménez, a rival drug supplier and one of the leaders of the Jiménez cartel.
 Avery Mason as Black "BG" Grimace, Tommy's right-hand man and valet.
 Amaya Carr as Yasmine St. Patrick, James and Tasha's daughter and sister to Tariq.
 Debbi Morgan as Estelle, Tasha's mother.
 Denim Roberson as Cash Grant, LaKeisha's son.
 Ty Jones as SAC Jerry Donovan, an FBI agent working on the Lobos and Jimenez cases.
 Mattea Conforti as Elisa Marie Proctor, Joey's daughter.
 Aleksandar Popovic as Petar, a member of the Serbian organization who worked with Tommy.
 Andrea-Rachel Parker as Destiny, Tariq's ex fling.
 Tyrone Marshall Brown as Quinton "Q" Wallace, Tasha's new love interest.
 Joseph Perrino as Vincent Ragni, a member of the mob, Tommy and Tony conflicted with.
 Franky G as Poncho, the new primera for the Soldados Family, after Ruiz.
 Gianni Paolo as Brayden Weston, Tariq's best friend and business partner.
 Alix Lapri as Effie, Tariq's new love interest.
 Omar Scroggins as Spottswood "Spanky" Richards, a childhood friend of Dre's and 2Bit's, who later works under Dre and Tommy.
 Glynn Turman as Gabriel, Ghost's uncle.
 Charlie Murphy as Marshal Clyde Williams, a violent guard in Ghost's cell block.
 Jim Norton as Father Callahan, a priest who sells drugs for Tommy.
 Lee Tergesen as Bailey Markham, a Homeland Security agent and Greg Knox's friend.
 Sonya Walger as Madeline Stern, Simon's wife.
 C. S. Lee as Jae Shin, Korean crime boss.
 Johnathan Park as Dylan, Jae Shin's son.
 Richard Ryker as Steve Tampio, a DEA agent Angela deals with.
 Ian Paola as Uriel Diaz, leader of the Toros Locos.
 Victor Almanzar as Arturo Magdaleno, Dre and Cristobal's right-hand man and a new leader of the Toros Locos.
 Darrell Britt-Gibson as Rolla, a close friend of Ghost's and leader of the RSK's.
 Danielle Thorpe as Lindsay Proctor, Joey's junkie ex-wife.
 Mercedes Ruehl as Connie Teresi, Tony's wife.
 Domenick Lombardozzi as Benny Civello, a member of the Civello crime family and Joey Proctor's cousin.
 Michael Gaston as Judge Tapper, the judge on Ghost's case.
 Sheena Sakai as Soo, Julio's girlfriend.
 Maria Rivera as Maria Suarez, a witness Ghost spared.
 Vinicius Zorin-Machado as Nomar Arcielo, a Soldado turned informant for Angela.
 Leslie Lopez as "Pink Sneakers", an assassin hired to target Ghost's operation.
 Ivica Marc as Drago, Jason's right-hand man.
 Cedric the Entertainer as Croop, a hitman Tate associates with.
 Audrey Esparza as Liliana, Julio's friend, became Tommy's right-hand woman on Power Book IV: Force.

Special guest appearances
 Kendrick Lamar as Laces, a Dominican drug addict who works with Kanan.
 Jesse Williams as Kadeem, Lakeisha's ex, and father of their son, Cash.

Broadcast
In Australia, all episodes are available to stream after their US airing on Stan. The show is available weekly after its US airing on Netflix in the United Kingdom and Ireland. In Scandinavia and Finland, all episodes are available to stream on HBO Nordic.

Accolades

Reception

Critical response

Season 1
Season 1 of Power received mixed reviews from critics. Review aggregator Metacritic gives the season a score of 57 out of 100, based on 15 reviews, indicating a mixed reaction to the series. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the season a score of 44%, based on 18 reviews, with an average rating of 5.7/10. The site's consensus states, "Power suffers from excessive plotting and the use of overly familiar by-the-numbers story elements."

Tim Goodman of The Hollywood Reporter observed in his review, "Power seemingly wants to be a show that tells a big, complicated, meaningful story about, well, the perils and problems of power and how one man deals with them." The New York Daily News staff writes in their review, "Power hits on all cylinders as it returns for its second season. Throw a couple of great women into Ghost's life—his wife, Tasha (Naturi Naughton), and his recently resurfaced lifelong flame Angela (Lela Loren)—and you have drama that's hard not to keep watching." Critic Brian Lowry of Variety states in his review, "The three previewed episodes of the show, created by The Good Wife alumna Courtney A. Kemp, move briskly enough, but they're still only moderately compelling. And while 50 Cent's participation provides some promotional heft (he has a cameo in a later episode), the allure of such behind-the-scenes marquee names is usually limited. Mostly, this is undemanding escapism with all the requisite pay-TV trappings, along the lines of what Cinemax is offering in episodic form. While that might be a formula to keep Ghost visible for some time to come, creatively speaking, it leaves Power a touch low on juice.

Season 2
Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the season a score of 100%, based on 9 reviews, with an average rating of 7.8/10. Review aggregator Metacritic gives the season a score of 75 out of 100, based on 4 reviews, indicating a generally favorable reaction to the series.

Season 3
Rotten Tomatoes gives the season a score of 78%, based on 9 reviews, with an average rating of 6.3/10.

Season 4
Rotten Tomatoes gives the season a score of 83%, based on 6 reviews, with an average rating of 8/10.

Season 5
Rotten Tomatoes gives the season a score of 100%, based on 6 reviews, with an average rating of 8.8/10.

Spin-offs

With the conclusion of the original series, it was announced that Starz had planned four upcoming spin-offs in the same universe as Power. These begin with Power Book II: Ghost, which, following shortly after the events of the original series, focuses on Ghost's son Tariq navigating his new criminal life and intending to shed his father's legacy while dealing with mounting pressure to protect his family, including his mother Tasha. The series co-stars Mary J. Blige and Method Man. The other spin-offs include: Power Book III: Raising Kanan, a prequel into the life of Kanan Stark (50 Cent); Power Book IV: Force, which follows Tommy Egan (Joseph Sikora) to Los Angeles, California and ending up in the city of Chicago; and Power Book V: Influence, a sequel set in the political world centring on Councilman Tate's (Larenz Tate) ruthless rise to power. The development of Power Book V: Influence was cancelled in August 2022 and the series would not be moving forward.

Power Book II: Ghost premiered on September 6, 2020, and has aired two seasons. In December 2021, the series was renewed for a third season which is set to premiere on March 17, 2023.

Power Book III: Raising Kanan premiered on July 18, 2021, and has aired two seasons. In August 2022, the series was renewed for a third season.

Power Book IV: Force premiered its first season on February 6, 2022. In March 2022, the series was renewed for a second season.

References

External links

2010s American black television series
2020s American black television series
2010s American crime drama television series
2014 American television series debuts
2020 American television series endings
2020s American crime drama television series
Television series by G-Unit Films and Television Inc.
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Television series by CBS Studios
Television shows filmed in New York (state)
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Television series about organized crime
Works about African-American organized crime
Works about gangs
Works about Mexican drug cartels
Works about the Serbian Mafia
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Born in Rotterdam, Jean-Marc van Tol studied Dutch language. During his studies he teamed up Bastiaan Geleijnse and John Reid, with whom he created the cartoon duck and canary 'Fokke en Sukke' for the student's paper Propria Cures in 1993. Van Tol's professional career in comics is closely lined to comics shop Lambiek in Amsterdam. It was on a night in November 1998, after a party at the Galerie in honor of the 80th anniversary of Don Lawrence, that Van Tol ended up in the pub across the street, together with comic artists Peter Pontiac, Gerrit de Jager and Windig & De Jong.
It was here that they, perhaps encouraged by the alcohol, persuaded Van Tol to try his luck as a professional in the harsh world of Dutch comics. This 'Historic Event' has been described, as a cartoon of course, in the booklet with the same title that appeared as part 10 of the 'Pincetreeks', published by De Plaatjesmakers. In the late 1990s, van Tol was present in Striparazzi with 'Ronnie en Sjonnie'.
Van Tol eventually gave up his job as a Dutch Literature Specialist and devoted all his time to the successful strip 'Fokke & Sukke', which he continued to write together with Geleijnse and Reid. These cartoons, starring a naked canary and duck commenting on current affairs and social phenomenons, are published throughout Holland in many newspapers and magazines, and have been collected in several albums, calendars and anthologies and gained such popularity that van Tol won the Stripschapprijs in 2003.
In addition to 'Fokke en Sukke', Van Tol makes the comic series 'Kort en Triest' in Kidsweek with scripts by Herman Roozen. This series of parodies of famous fairytales has also been collected in books.
Van Tol is one of the driving forces behind the Dutch comics scene. He introduced the annual 24 Hour Comics Day in Holland, which was first held in Lambiek in April 2005 with several other artists. In 2006 he launched the collective project 'Strips in Stereo' with Gerrit de Jager, a book in which Dutch artists portray a Dutch song in comics format. He began his own publishing firm, Catullus, in 2007, through which he publishes his own books, but also work by Hendrik J. Vos, Floor de Goede, Michiel van de Pol and Alex Turk, as well as the photo comics by Ype Driessen. Together with Hanco Kolk, he set up an official comics education in Zwolle and other initiatives, such as government grants for comic artists and a Dutch comics prize of 25,000 euros.


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Behind on rent? Here's what struggling Americans need to know | Business and Economy News
For the 8.8 million Americans who are behind on rent, a breakdown of what's available, who qualifies and where to get help.
An estimated 8.8 million Americans are behind on their rent, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. While relief efforts have staved off some of the housing crisis, rent is still going to come due.
The United States federal government has approved two rounds of rental assistance, worth more than $46bn total, that is slowly making its way to renters.
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If you are struggling, here is what you should know about how to access this help:
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Congress passed two different rental relief packages. The first, approved in December, provided $25bn for rental relief. The second, approved in March, provides more than $21bn.
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Renters who need help should reach out to their local housing authority to find out if they qualify for federal relief as well as any local aid.
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National Low Income Housing Coalition President and CEO Diane Yentel said the money from the first round has been distributed and about 60 percent of communities have programmes open, which increases daily. But the money for the second round will not go out until May.
"Help is on the way," Yentel said.
The National Low Income Housing Coalition keeps track of all the rental assistance programmes available on its website. Renters in need can start there to find a programme in their area. They can also reach out to the United Way or its 211 programme for assistance. People can also talk with a housing counselor with the US Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The Federal Trade Commission, US Department of the Treasury and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau all have information about rental assistance on their websites
There is some concern that demand for help may outstrip supply. So renters should act quickly or check back often if a programme is not immediately available in their area. If renters do not qualify for the federal relief money, they may be able to get help through other programmes available in their area.
"The number one thing renters can do is make a plan," said Susan Ifill, the chief operating officer at non-profit housing organisation NeighborWorks. "Accessing those resources is one thing, but make a plan."
That could include talking to a housing counselor or working with your landlord to develop a plan to repay rent or finding new housing.
If someone is worried about being evicted, remember that the national eviction moratorium is still in place until the end of June. Renters will have to complete the paperwork and give it to their landlords.
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In the spring of 1994, after decades of intermarrying and living in relative harmony with each other, Rwandan Hutus, en masse, went on a murderous rampage against their Tutsi neighbors. By the end of just three months, nearly three-quarters of the entire Tutsi population had been exterminated, mostly by ordinary people—farmers, teachers, active churchgoers. This swift, appalling genocide followed a relentless propaganda campaign that demonized Rwandan Tutsis and twisted genocide into a "vital" and "noble" cause.
What role do the media have in creating the conditions for atrocities such as those that occurred in Rwanda? Conversely, can the media be used to preserve democracy and safeguard the human rights of all citizens in a diverse society? How will the media, now global in scope, affect the fate of millions of people and possibly the planet itself?
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Armoudian first documents how media helped spread the contagion of hate in three deadly conflicts: Rwanda, Nazi Germany, and the former Yugoslavia. But fortunately, the destructive depths to which television, publications, radio, and other information sources have sunk is only half the story. She then turns to areas of the world where the media have played a powerful positive role—aiding the peace process in Burundi and Northern Ireland, helping to rebuild the post-coup democracy in Chile, bridging ethnic divides in South Africa, improving the lives of women and girls in Senegal, and boosting transparency and democratization in Mexico and Taiwan. Finally, in an analysis of media's framing of climate change, Armoudian shows media's constructive and destructive potential stretches beyond the lot of individual nations to affect the very fate of the world.
As illuminated by developments such as the "Arab Spring" and the WikiLeaks controversy, new communication technologies have both magnified and have both magnified and diffused media's power while giving rise to a new class of media mavens who are helping to shape the future by proliferating ideas, counter-frames information often neglected by traditional media.
Drawing from a rich scholarly literature in psychology, political science, and sociology, Armoudian demonstrates how media interact with social forces to shape beliefs, provoke emotions, instigate groupthink, and construct heroes and villains.
This wide-ranging, insightful book will make readers keenly aware of media's power, while underscoring the role that we all play in fostering a media climate that cultivates a greater sense of humanity, cooperation, responsibility, commitment to public welfare, and fulfillment of human potential.
The Scholars' Circle [ Listen to Recordings ] is a broadcast discussion that features a moderator and three top thinkers/scholars who tackle current events and systemic issues within the broader context of the deeper phenomena that drive and shape those events. For a half-hour, top scholars and practitioners try to make sense of what is occurring with humanity – politically, physically, economically, psychologically, sociologically, legally, communally and more. Where are we in the great scheme of things? How did we get here and what do these mean for the future of humanity?The Scholars' Circle goes beyond current events to look at deeper trends and their causes, systemic and structural forces, and to explore possible solutions to the many issues facing humanity.
How is The Scholars' Circle different from other broadcast programs? The Scholars' Circle brings to the airwaves material that the public rarely hears together – knowledge producers and practitioners thinking out loud with each other in areas of their expertise in order to try to shed greater understanding to the big issues and choices before us. It focuses on bridging, rather than dividing, and on larger contexts and questions that underlie current events. The host, Maria Armoudian, is an author, a fellow at the Center for International Studies, a journalist, and a Ph.D. candidate in political science and international relations. She has worked directly in politics for more than fifteen years as a high level staffer in the California Legislature, a Commissioner in the City of Los Angeles and a board member for several nonprofit organizations. Her forthcoming book, Kill the Messenger: The Media's Role in the Fate of the World (Prometheus Books) is a comprehensive look at how the media affect political outcomes such as genocide, war, peace, human rights, democratization, social change and environmental protection. As a journalist, she has written for a wide variety of publications, including the New York Times Syndicate, the Los Angeles Times Syndicate, The Los Angeles Daily News, Salon.Com, the Progressive, Inc., Alternet, Businessweek, Daily Variety, and many others.
Political Violence: What foments it? What quells it?
Transformations in the Middle East and what they mean for the region and the rest of the world.
Presidential power: Given the system and the constraints on presidents, how much should society expect from their president?
On the Insighters, What were the factors that led to Western dominance of the world and how are they changing the world? We discuss the book Why the West Rules For Now: The Patterns of History and What They Reveal About the Future. Historian Ian Morris joins us.
On the Scholars' Circle: At the 96th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, we look at what are the conditions for genocide and what are the means to prevent it. Professors Alex Hinton, Richard Dekmejian, and Vahakn Dadrian join us.
I hope you tune in on KPFK 90.7 FM, 98.7 FM in Santa Barbara, 93.7 San Diego. Or on www.kpfk.org or podcast us.
Welcome to our fledgling website. We will be posting updates here about the latest radio programs and other information. I am looking forward to dialoguing with you!


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Everyone living with celiac disease knows that the journey to a diagnosis is often long, complex, convoluted, and not fun. We all got here in a different way yet ironically many of our experiences are the same.
In this episode I interview Alicia Alvarez a regular feature writing on the gluten free chef blog. She discusses her celiac journey and how she overcame depression and anxiety to finally take control over her life.
Alicia is a renaissance woman, multitasker, and overall tour de force. She even brought her 11 month old son along for our discussion. We have a spirited discussion full of understanding, compassion, and energy from baby Gabe. This is just the first of a two part episode with Alicia.


In August, NCW's associate programme director Kate Griffin travelled to Lithuania for the Nordic Summer festival in Biržai.
On our first evening in Vilnius, my husband Fairless and I walked through the tourist-filled streets of the city with the Latvian translator Dāce Meiere on our way to the Library of Beer, which was as good as it sounds. This book-themed bar would be hard to find without someone who knows where they're going, located as it is in a quiet street up a flight of stairs. On the way back to our hotel, we took a different route, through the old Jewish district, past the museum and community centre, talking about Lithuania's difficult history. We have our own difficult history, of slavery, colonialism and empire, but our atrocities took place outside the UK, so they're easier for us to overlook.
My reading matter on the journey from Norwich to Vilnius had already set the mood for this first visit to Lithuania. I'd chosen Sigitas Parulskis's Darkness and Company, published by Peter Owen. Sigitas came to Worlds in Norwich in 2015 and spoke to us about why he wrote this bleak and disturbing novel.
Parulskis grew up in Obeliai, a small town in Lithuania. As a child, he would play in the Jewish cemetery on the outskirts of the town: 'Headstones decorated with large, incomprehensible, angular marks stood there, crooked, frozen in a variety of poses.' However, it was only when he was in the Imperial War Museum in London that he was shocked into acknowledging the history of his town, the site of a massacre of 1,160 Jews by the Nazis and local collaborators. During World War Two, the Nazis and Lithuanian collaborators killed almost the entire Jewish population of Lithuania. Very few contemporary novelists in Lithuania have written about the subject, but Sigitas decided to address this taboo.
Darkness and Company is written from the perspective of a Lithuanian photographer, Vincentas, who is coerced into taking artistic pictures of the mass killings for a somewhat perverted German officer; in return, the officer will protect Vincentas's Jewish lover Judita from the death squads. It's a painful exploration of the difference – if any – between observing and being complicit in such crimes.
On the three-hour bus trip from Vilnius to Biržai, a small town in the north, near the border with Latvia, Fairless and I did our research, reading a brief overview of the extremely complicated history of the country and its relationship with its neighbours, Poland and Russia. Lithuania gained independence in 1918, but during the Second World War it fell under German and then Soviet control, only regaining its independence in 1990.
We were headed for the Nordic Summer festival organised by Giedra Radvilavičiūtė and Rūta Elijošaitytė-Kaikarė that this year celebrated the centenary of independence, with a focus on writers and the state. The festival took place in Biržai Castle, reconstructed from ruins in 1978. Biržai is also known for its large artificial lake, ideal for swimming and floating around looking at the clouds, and its nearby brewery producing fine real ales.
The people of Biržai seem to welcome the festival's annual visit to their hometown; in particular, the deputy mayor spoke approvingly of the homemade jam auction run by Alvydas Šlepikas, who was the Lithuanian writer in residence at the BCLT Summer School in 2017. This year the auction raised 219 euros to buy books for disadvantaged families in the region.
Over the weekend there were a number of presentations by writers, critics and historians exploring various aspects of Lithuanian history from a literary perspective.
On the opening evening, the poet Rimvydas Stankevičius talked about his experience of growing up in Soviet times with rebellious grandparents who secretly taught him the Lithuanian anthem. His uncle told him tales about the Forest Brothers, partisans who continued fighting for Lithuanian independence after World War Two, while the local priest slipped him partisan literature to read. Only 17 when Lithuania regained independence in 1990, Stankevičius spoke of the excitement of those days, recalling the Polish-Lithuanian poet Czeslaw Milosz who said that a good poet should be a witness to such times for other generations. Our interpreter lost heart when Stankevičius started reciting poems, so I retired to the balcony and read some English translations of his poetry in the Vilnius Review.
The next morning started with a discussion of history and literature, which the historian Aurimas Svedas described as identical twins, transforming the path of history into literary form. He talked about how literary texts close the gap between the past and the present by evoking the feeling of the past, bringing it to life and turning it into something we can understand. Writers can produce literature about difficult and traumatic aspects of history, whereas historians may be constrained by the ideology of their times. History untold is non-existent history. During his presentation, Svedas referred to Silva Rerum, a blockbuster series of historical novels by Lithuania's answer to Hilary Mantel, the writer Kristina Sabaliauskaitė. One of her novels, which popularised the Baroque era in Lithuania, is set in Biržai Castle, but unfortunately is not yet translated into English.
Other topics included Ričardas Gavelis, author of Vilnius Poker, published in English by Open Letter Books, a writer remembered mostly for his novels criticising Soviet times through irony and satire; the theme of death in the poetry of Tomas Venclova; the destruction of buildings as part of the westernisation of Vilnius and the resulting loss of historical memory; Lithuanian society's attitude to war between 1918 and 1940 and the never-ending requisitions of civilians' land and resources in the lead-up to the Second World War; and Mission Siberia, a project to commemorate the deportation of over 300,000 Lithuanians to Siberia by the Soviet regime. Each year a group of young Lithuanians travel to Siberia to visit and tend Lithuanians' graves, and meet with survivors and their descendants. Although there is a move to bring back the remains of deportees to Lithuania, their aim is to keep alive the memories of Lithuanians' lives in the places where they lived in Siberia.
This theme of commemoration is an important part of There and Not There, a film shown at the festival by Lithuanian artist Paulina Pukytė about the 11th Biennale, which she curated in Lithuania's second largest city, Kaunas. She told us that the biennale opposed the populist practice of removing old monuments and replacing them with new ones that fit the current ideology. Instead, Pukytė asked artists to stimulate new forms of commemoration by imagining future monuments.
In the film it was noticeable that many of these monuments marked Jewish massacres that were otherwise uncommemorated. A number of the future monuments were located in Democrats Square, the site of the Kaunas ghetto from 1941 to 1944. Every day during the biennale, a singer stood in the empty square singing Yiddish songs. Shoppers in a small supermarket on the edge of the square found themselves using bags marked either 'to the left' or 'to the right'. These plastic bags commemorated 28th October 1942, when 30,000 Jews were lined up and sent to one side or the other. Those sent to the right went home that night; the 9,200 people on the left were shot.
A Murmuration was a video installation in an abandoned building that was once a Hassidic Jewish Synagogue, last used in 1940. Today the Jewish population of Kaunas is less than 500: a Murmuration is an evocation of that absence.
On our last morning in Biržai, Fairless and I visited the Jewish cemetery. We walked through quiet streets of small houses boasting impressive woodpiles, with gardens full of vegetables, tomatoes escaping from greenhouses, trees weighed down with apples and pears, and elderberry bushes laden with fruit. We found the Jewish cemetery in a wooded area on a small peninsula on the edge of town, by the lake. The old stones stood at all angles, rough, chipped, the Yiddish inscriptions covered in moss. Near the entrance were more modern stones, a little more orderly.
Although the Jewish cemetery is marked on the map, I found nothing in the Birzai tourist leaflets about the Jewish presence in Biržai, so I looked on the internet. According to the Jewish Virtual Library, Jews started to settle in Biržai in the seventeenth century, and by the turn of the 20th century they constituted over 50% of the population. In 1915 the Jews were expelled by the Russian military authorities, but in the period after independence the Jewish community grew again until by the mid-1930s they formed 36% of the population, around 3,000 people. Three of the twelve city councillors were Jewish and there were Hebrew and Yiddish schools and a talmud torah. Most Jews earned their living from trade in wood and flax; some families owned factories for weaving and spinning.
After the German occupation in 1940 a ghetto was established. The 30 Jews were shot in the Jewish cemetery in July 1941, then on 8th August 1941, Lithuanian nationalists executed 500 Jewish men. The remaining 2,400 or so people were shot in a mass grave in the forest around three kilometres from the town.
When Dāce Meiere commented on Facebook on this apparent historical amnesia by the tourism authorities in Biržai, a friend sent her the link to Jews on the Map of Lithuania: the Case of Biržai. Preserving Jewish Heritage and Historical Memory, which showed us that our impression was completely wrong. This study, published in Moscow in 2015, demonstrates the growing interest towards Jewish cultural and historical heritage in Biržai, where Rabbinical Jews and Karaite lived as neighbours.


text:
Zulfiqar Shah
works, activism and life
Can the NFC Award Solve the Issue of Resources?: By Amhed Yousaf
Debates related to provincial resources can be traced to the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award, which, in its turn, generates polar responses: the first is in terms of the demands of the provinces; the other seeks to prioritise the Federation as a symbol of the Pakistani State. Ahmed Yusuf writes about various Sindh-centric points of view regarding the NFC Award
Arguments related to the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award emanating from within Sindh seek to redress "structural imbalances" in the make-up of the State, with experts and activists both claiming that an Award based on multiple criteria is likely to benefit provincial coffers.
Some feel that problems arise due to the approach of separating economic factors from other phenomena, such as society and polity. "If the NFC Award is tabled before any talk of provincial autonomy, then any decision taken thereafter would not be a just one. The larger picture is that in Pakistan, the idea of federalism is rather skewed," South Asian Partnership-Pakistan (SAP-Pk) Provincial Coordinator (Sindh) Zulfiqar Shah told Indus Watch.
"Ideally, provinces should keep their income, and then decide for themselves how much they have to give to the Centre — that would be the true spirit of federalism; it requires natural liberty as a prerequisite. This is the basic contradiction in Pakistan in terms of federalism, and in the context of intra-State relations," Shah said.
Such apprehensions about the NFC Award from within the province are understandable: the Award was last adopted in 1997, after a gap of about six years, but proved to be a regressive step as compared to the 1991 Award. In comparison to the 80 per cent allocation for provinces in 1991, the 1997 Award reduced the proportion of the pooled taxes that were to be given to the provinces to a mere 37 per cent.
There was also the inclusion of five categories of taxation in the 1997 Award. Income taxes, general sales tax, wealth taxes, capital gains taxes, and custom duties (given under the Federal head in 1997) made their way into the new Award. With Karachi long serving as the country's political hub, an argument has been made that the returns given to Sindh through the NFC Award are not quite in relation to what the province provides to the Centre.
Wage expenditures and provincial quotas
Eminent economist and Collective for Social Science Research (CSSR) Director Dr Asad Sayeed explained that the federal government had a significant wage bill, because a chunk of the expenditure of the federal government is in terms of the number of public servants it employs. "Not only does the federal government have to cater to the bureaucracy, it also has to provide for those employed in the armed services," he said.
"Although there is a quota system in the civil service, but a large number of recruits belong to Punjab. Similar is the case with the Pakistan Army, where about 70 per cent of the force is Punjabi. Given this make-up, Punjab automatically becomes a beneficiary of a strong Centre, as financial flows increase towards Punjab," Sayeed added.
Shah believed, however, that the current set up in Pakistan encouraged this "financial imbalance" and termed the system as the continuation of the colonial viceregal legacy. He said that for a long time, the British maintained a strong Centre and kept their cronies in the provinces happy so that they would stay subservient to them, especially in terms of the financial aspect.
Pre-Partition understandings
Mohammad Ali Jinnah and Jawaharlal Nehru both understood this problem, Shah said. "They agreed, on behalf of the Muslim League and Indian National Congress respectively, that the provinces were not empowered enough, and agreed to decentralise power so that the provinces could get more autonomy," he said.
Politics from 1940 to 1947 in United India thus took place under the Government of India Act-1935, under which all subjects were categorised under three heads: federal list, provincial list, and concurrent list.
"Unfortunately, the provincial list was abolished when the Constitution of 1973 was enforced by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, and only the federal and concurrent list remained. While the majority of subjects were put into the federal list, the rest were placed in the concurrent list; disputes were to be resolved by the Centre. It is interesting to note that while provincial empowerment was a legitimate demand before Partition, what you see today is the enforcement of a Colonial method of federalism," Shah said.
What does the PPP think?
Taj Haider, a senior leader of the ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and member of the Sindh government's NFC advisory committee, disagreed with Shah's analysis, instead claiming that provincial autonomy always translates into a bigger expenditure bill.
"The 1973 Constitution is the social contract that the PPP believes in, and you can find just and fair legal answers to a lot of queries in the Constitution," Haider told Indus Watch, adding that subjects that fall under the domain of the province, under the provincial autonomy schema, will have to be decided. "If universities are provincialised, the federal government won't have many expenses. However, every subject that the province gets means extra expenditure for the province," he said. "The question is: how many additional resources can you commit to deal with the expenditure?"
Administrative 'interference'
Haider believed that the problems lay in terms of administration and bureaucratic wrangles. "The losses are less where the provinces are well managed; the responsibility of keeping a system of check-and-balance lies with the provincial government," he said.
He also alleged that overt interference into the affairs of the Sindh government, first by Nawaz Sharif and then by General (retd) Pervez Musharraf, meant that development schemes were purposely 'sabotaged'.
"We had planned on developing Keti Bunder; there were plans of developing a port there, a coastal development authority was also being formed. We had even planned to set up a power plant in Keti Bunder that would generate 5,000 megawatts. This project was sabotaged, first by Nawaz and then by Musharraf," he said. Haider claimed that new governmental authorities were formed to ensure the federation's involvement and red-tape-ism, in the process of developing Keti Bunder. "It took the government one-and-a-half-years to simply provincialise one of the crucial development authorities," he said.
Division of resources
Other critical legal matters are also yet to be resolved. "According to law, what grows above the ground level stays within the province, and what is found beneath the core of the earth is considered to be the asset(s) of the federal government," Shah said. "Similarly, seawater approximately 30 nautical miles is under the jurisdiction of the provincial government, but the Centre stakes claim to what lies beyond that."
Shah said that while the NFC Award is particularly concerned with sales and revenue, it also affects many other economic and financial issues. "Consider, for example, the phenomenon of internal migration into Sindh. While there is a significant number of Punjabis who have become naturalised and assimilated in Sindh, and can even be called Punjabi-speaking Sindhis, but the majority of Punjabis send their remittances back to their homes of origin in Punjab. This is just one example of what is actually a multi-dimensional and multi-layered imbalance in terms of financial flows," he said.
Taxation issues
Such division of natural resources is accompanied by the fact that NFC does not deal with royalties on a particular resource. Sayeed told Indus Watch that there are a number of obscurities surrounding the issue of taxation. Service tax is returned to the province everywhere in the world, but currently, this practice does not exist in Pakistan.
Sayeed explained that both gas and electricity have a certain degree of taxation associated with them, but the problem arises when one realises that taxation is in the realm of the NFC, but profits are not. Corporate taxation, which is a major part of the total taxes collected, also becomes tricky, as corporate agreements are often signed in Karachi, but the corporate entity in question exists across the country.
Provincial integration
Haider reiterated, however, that the PPP had committed in its manifesto that sales tax would be returned to the provinces. He maintained that the economic integration and inter-dependence of people across the four provinces meant that the current schema of the federal government setting up projects in various areas, and the project yielding profit to that particular province has good sense to it. "Profits on gas, for example, go to the province, and payment is made through direct transfers," he said.
The NFC advisory committee member claimed that profits from the Badin and Kandkot wells are given exclusively to Sindh. The point of contention, he explained, is on how to calculate profits. "Our argument is that you are earning more from our wells [in Sindh] than any other. This kind of thinking, however, passes over the finer details. "In Kandhkot, the drilling cost of wells was not very high, as gas was found at a depth of 1,200 metres. In Dodak, the same cost increased because gas was discovered at 4,500 metres," he said. "Every project is unique, and one has to realize that any two projects are not comparable. Profits should be calculated individually on every gas field, and then distributed."
Negotiations with nationalists
The NFC advisory committee of the Sindh government also met various nationalist parties in Sindh to garner their support for the province's official suggestions. Bashir Qureshi, leader of his own faction of Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaaz, told Indus Watch that support from nationalists is contingent on the fact that the rights of Sindh are protected. "We welcomed them, as is our custom, but also told them in clear terms that we will protest if the rights of Sindh are compromised," he said.
Not the complete solution
Any talk of provincial autonomy is inevitably tied to the notion of a new State-citizen contract, and eventually, to a disparate view of state craft in Pakistan. Sayeed explained though that such suggestions are not within the ambit of the NFC Award.
"The alteration of the federation, or an improvement of federal affairs, is contingent on issues beyond the NFC Award, as the NFC simply deals with the tax revenue generated from the federal government, and the distribution of such things," Sayeed said.
"Changing the structure is beyond the ambit of the NFC Award, and other measures would have to be taken to redress such imbalance. For instance, the Army Act could be altered and the quota system could be modified. Such moves would ultimately result in a situation where the share of Punjab is diluted, given that the final flow in terms of salaries and pensions would also be directed towards other provinces," he said.
Sayeed highlighted the fact that there are other issues that also did not fall strictly under the ambit of the NFC. The demands of the NWFP, for instance, about receiving profits on hydel power plants remain outside the ambit of the NFC. Similar is the case with gas, especially in Sindh, given that the southern province produces about 70 per cent gas. If the Thar coal project comes through, a large proportion of electricity will also be generated from Sindh. These are all critical issues, he said, and will need to be assessed at a policy level.
Changes in criteria
Shah added that lessons needed to be learnt before implementing anything new. The ideal form of federalism, he claimed, existed in Germany, while the most complex form of federalism existed in Nigeria. He argued that revenue and poverty should be considered the major criteria, and should account for 70 per cent of the total fund. "Revenue should account for 30 to 35 per cent, and a similar demarcation should be made for poverty and development. Population should be one of the criteria, but should not account for more than 10 to 15 per cent. About 15 per cent can be given on the basis of territory," he said.
Sayeed's assessment was that thus far, there seemed to be some advantages on the margins. He said that now that Punjab had been displaying a favourable attitude towards moving away from its previous position, and has even agreed to consider multiple criteria, the smaller provinces might get somewhat more.
The critical factor, he explained, remained the bloated expenses of the Federal government. If these expenses stayed the same, Sindh and Balochistan would end up as major losers. If the Federal government were to reduce its share, then all provinces stood to benefit. "The larger issue is that of ownership of resources, and this is bound to become a fiercely contested one in the future," he concluded.
Courtesy: The News Karachi http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/oct2009-weekly/nos-04-10-2009/kol.htm#3
Indus Delta needs 35 MAF water to survive: Zulfiqar Shah
Interview by Shahid Shah, Daily The News
KARACHI (October 20 2005): Pakistan Fisher-folk Forum Manager Programmes Zulfiqar Shah a young research scholar has warned that if enough water was not made available to the Indus Delta the mangrove forests would deplete inviting natural disasters like cyclones.
The Indus Delta is on the verge of destruction, the bio-diversity, ecosystem, and agronomy of the delta are threatened from the lack of water flowing dwn from Kotri barrage. The Indus Delta needs at least 35 maf (million acre feet) of water only to survive in present state, Zulfiqar said.
Zulfiqar Shah's study report on Indus Delta is under publication. After completing his masters in philosophy from Sindh University Jamshoro, Shah took to research on water and development issues.
Being a member of International Rivers Network, Society for South Asian Studies (UK) and International Society for Philosophers Sheffield University UK, he holds international repute in his fields.
Zulfiqar Shah maintains that when he realised that water was the major issue of Sindh, he decided to work over it and come up with the latest information. Whereas, the research on Indus Delta was simply inspired by the poetry and cultural history of Sindh, he quipped.
He revealed that historically the entire area of lower Sindh was a delta. "Actually, there were two major deltas, one was Sarsvati in Run of Kuch, and the second is the Indus Delta.
"Sarsvati has dried up long ago," he said adding, "There are only remnants of this delta while the Indus Delta is also dying gradually."
Referring to the degradation of the Indus Delta, he said disasters like earthquake and tsunami had immediate effects, but the Indus Delta was going through a slow and gradual death so it could not attract the public eye.
"The degradation started way before the partition of Pakistan and India when mega projects in the Punjab were constructed and the first urbanised port of Sindh Sokhi Bander Island was destroyed. Sokhi Bander existed near the mouth of Indus Delta, close to Malh and Mutni creeks and inhibited by more than 30,000 peoples," Shah said.
"Rice mills existed there. The sanitation system of Sokhi worked better than that of a medium-level city. It was the first victim of mega projects till the 1955," he added.
Pointing out towards other aspects of the degradation, he said according to the official figures of the Sindh Board of Revenue some 1.22 million acres of the fertile land went under sea intrusion until 2001. "But, the number has reached to around 2 million acres till the March 2005 in the eight Talukas of two districts of Thatta and Badin," he said that the data was collected from the local farmers and landowners.
He did not agree with the views of one official of the Board of Revenue that the sea intrusion was the cause of the cyclone. "Cyclone could not have such a large impact to change the hydrology of the local ponds and lakes from sweet water to saline," he stated.
"Cyclone could not be blamed for the sea intrusion, cyclones also hit other countries but there is no case of the sea intrusion," he said.
He said that construction of mega projects destroyed the topography of the Indus Delta. "At Sajawal Bridge (Thatta city) the ecology of the Indus River has changed to marine from sweet water composition, although Thatta is 40 kilometres away from the mouth of the Indus," the self styled scholar claimed.
Highlighting the gravity of the situation Zulfiqar said that drinking water available in Thatta has 15000 tds (total dissolved solvents) in it, whereas according to World Bank health standards nearly 5,000 tds is the maximum acceptable level for the human consumption and solvents above this level are disastrous leading to the severe diseases.
He attributed the high child mortality rate and pregnancy related deaths to rising tds ratio of Indus water, "The mortality rate among new born is 18 per cent, and mothers 15 per cent."
He lamented that in some areas of Sindh one gallon of irrigation water was being sold for Rs40, which was used for the drinking purpose by the thirsty masses.
Discussing the socio economic impacts of the degradation he said that the market value of 2 million acre fertile land facing sea intrusion is worth more than the benefits of the dams.
Referencing to the current three studies over sea intrusion, ecology and environmental impacts and water requirement in Pakistan, he criticised the Sindh Government saying that it had accepted the ToRs of the studies, which were harmful to the Sindh and the delta. "Sindh should not have agreed over the ToRs of the report titled 'Seawater Intrusion', which only covers sea intrusion in the river while ignoring the destruction of the whole delta."
He mentioned, "consultants were given the task to verify the water requirement downstream Kotri and not to suggest the alternatives, which is absolutely against the 1991 water accord."
Finally, he said that the Indus Delta should be provided at least 35 maf to 46.3 maf water for sustainability, "rehabilitation is addition to it, which needs more water," he concluded.
http://www.pakissan.com/english/news/newsDetail.php?newsid=7671
Over 120,000 cattle die of rains, floods
September 11, 2011, Daily The News
By Shahid Shah
KARACHI: More than 120,000 cattle have died owing to various diseases and flooding in rain-affected areas of Sindh, said an academic on Saturday.
Professor M Ismail Kumbhar of Agriculture University of Tandojam told The News that 64,000 cattle had died by September 4, which increased to 120,000 after the new spell of rain.
Lives of hundreds of thousands more livestock and poultry are at risk in rain-affected areas as water-borne diseases have emerged. Besides, the livestock that is not diseased yet might die of starvation because fodder has been washed away. Poultry farms have also suffered losses of tens of millions of rupees. Similar has been the fate of fish farms, sources told The News.
Rains have hit 21 districts of Sindh, but nine of them are highly affected: Badin, Mirpurkhas, Tharparkar, Tando Muhammad Khan, Tando Allahyar, Matiari, Umerkot, Sanghar and Benazirabad.
Chairman Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum Muhammad Ali Shah, who is involved in relief work, said that affected people were waiting for proper relief work. More than 500 villages of Badin alone have been affected. "All crops and fisheries have been washed away," he said.
Loss of livestock and poultry in rain-affected areas is likely to result in malnutrition of millions of people in these areas, he said. Head of Institute of Social Movements Pakistan Zulfiqar Shah said affected people were at risk of malnutrition as livestock was likely to be lost.
Livestock sector has emerged as a priority sector only recently. In the rural areas, livestock is considered as a secure source of income for small farmers and landless poor. According to the latest Economic Survey of Pakistan livestock is the best hope for poverty alleviation as it can improve the socioeconomic conditions of our rural masses. The livestock accounted for approximately 55.1 percent of the agriculture value added and 11.5 percent to GDP during 2010-11.
One official document says that the overall thrust of the government's livestock policy is to foster "private sector-led development with public sector providing enabling environment through policy interventions and capacity building for improved livestock husbandry practices".
The emphasis will be on improving per unit animal productivity and moving from subsistence to commercial livestock farming in the country to meet the domestic demand and export the surplus.
The objective is to exploit the potentials of livestock sector and use it as engine for economic growth and food security for the country leading to rural population empowerment and socioeconomic development.
Livestock sector's prospective role towards rural economic development may be recognised from the fact that 35-40 million are dependent on livestock in the country.
Poultry sector generates employment and income for about 1.5 million people. Its contribution in agriculture value addition is 4.8 percent and livestock's value addition is 9.8 percent.
Poultry meat contributes 24.8 percent to the total meat production in the country. The current investment in poultry industry is about Rs200 billion. Poultry sector has shown a robust growth of 8-10 percent annually, which reflects its potential.
Poultry Development Policy revolves around improving regulatory framework; disease control and genetic improvement in rural poultry; hi-tech poultry production under environmentally-controlled housing; processing and value addition; improving bio-security; need-based research and development and farmers' training and education. It envisages poultry sector's growth of 15-20 percent per annum.
http://www.geo.tv/important_events/2011/rains_flood/pages/english_news_11-09-2011.asp
Bringing the Thar and the Parkar together in a magical Nagar
Indus Watch reports on the fascinating remnants of the ancient Sindhu-Saraswati culture as they are manifested today in the breathtakingly-beautiful region of Nagarparkar
By Urooj Zia
The majestic Karunjhar Hills are the first sights that one sees the moment one enters Nagarparkar, at the south-eastern tip of Sindh, along the Indo-Pak border. Comprisong slab upon slab of pink granite, stacked precariously one on top of the other, the Karunjhar Hills are remnants of the days when the "Gulf de Sindhu Sea" (as a 17th century French map described the Arabian Sea) covered the entire area.
"These were underwater volcanoes hundreds of thousands of years ago. That is how a major portion of the Karunjhar Hills was formed," South Asia Partnership Pakistan (SAP-Pk) Provincial Coordinator (Sindh) Zulfiqar Shah said. "Even today, Sulphur deposits underneath the surface lead to muted volcanic activity here. People regularly hear sounds coming from these hills."
Active volcanoes or not, Nagarparkar continues to maintain its place as the cultural heart of Thar. Residents of the area proudly tell anyone who will listen that out of the 56 most popular folk songs of Sindh, 45 are in the Thari dialect.
Temple town
The sea eventually receded, leaving Nagar open to the air, with its deserts (Thar), granite hills (Parkar), and rare flora and fauna. Centuries ago when the Saraswati River flowed through the heart of the Thar desert, and joined the "Gulf de Sindhu Sea" at what is now the Runn of Kutch (India), Nagarparkar was an important trade and business hub with several sea ports.
Legend has it that the present day Ganga River gets its purifying qualities from the ancient Saraswati River. Eventually, on account of seismic activity, many of the tributaries which fed the mighty Saraswati River (including the Sutlej River) changed course, and the Saraswati lost much of its grandeur, became a trickle, and turned more inland, towards the Sindhu (Indus) River. The Runn of Kutch appeared, as the sea started receding further, and many of the trading towns of the region moved further South.
Meanwhile, Nagarparkar also became an important cultural point for Jainism and Hinduism. This is evident from the several Jain and Hindu temples that dot the region. Even today, Nagarparkar is said to be one of the two focal points of Hindu pilgrimage (the other point is Hingol, Balochistan), Shah says.
Several temples in the area are thousands of years old. Most of them are Jain temples, with some Hindu temples and Ashrams. Almost all of them, however, are in a pathetic condition. Domes are falling apart, statues are gone, art has been disfigured, and despite signboards set up outside these sites by the government, warning against vandalism, one wonders if the powers-that-be expect the gods to step down to earth to take care of these temples themselves — not a single government-appointed guard was visible at any temple, leaving these priceless pieces of history at the mercy of random vandals and vagaries of the weather.
Folklore galore!
Almost every house in the region is said to be haunted. Every person who Indus Watch spoke to either claimed to have encountered the supernatural themselves, or know someone close who has. "My house is haunted too," Anthony, an employee of the Participatory Village Development Programme in the region, said with a matter-of-fact shrug. "Lots of houses here are haunted. There's a scientific reason for that," another resident of the area said.
"You see," he continued. "The climate here is extremely harsh, and people go through a lot of hardship. There are droughts. Water is scarce, food becomes dear at times. In older days, it was even more difficult. People who die under such extreme circumstances leave behind some of their energy. That is what you see in the form of 'ghosts'."
Interestingly, most of the ghost stories that Indus Watch heard in the region were about women. Residents had a sociological reason for that as well. "Women are more oppressed than men, don't you agree," they asked. "Women are killed prematurely on one pretext or the other. Recently, for instance, one young woman was clubbed to death in a nearby village by her father-in-law and his friends, because he suspected that she was having an extramarital affair while her husband (his son) was away. Three days after the poor woman's death, people started hearing screams from that house. These were the same screams that they had heard while the woman was being clubbed to death. The situation got so bad, that first the woman's in-laws moved away. Eventually, the entire village had to move."
Present day socio-economic conditions
Most residents of the villages around Nagarparkar own their lands — around two to three acres each. Interestingly, however, even though capital (land) is owned privately in the region, labour ßis communal. Entire villages get together to work on a neighbour's land one day; then everyone (including the person whose land everyone worked on the previous day) gets together and works on another neighbour's land, and so on.
Annual drought, migration
The region goes through an annual drought on account of the severe shortage of water. Every year during the drought, families from the region "lock" their houses by placing prickly bushes against the openings, pick up their cattle and migrate to Amarkot and other nearby regions. There they work as farm labour on the property of larger land owners. Some even get bonded to these land owners via debt.
Two to three months before the monsoons, some of the migrants come back to clear up their lands and prepare them for sowing, and as soon as the first droplets of rain grace the region, the rest of the migrants come trudging back, bringing with them the cattle that the rest of the villagers left behind in "greener pastures." The sight of flocks of bulls, buffaloes and cows blocking the road to Nagarparkar every few kilometres is something that is unique to the region — and even in this region, it is particular to the season of the monsoons.
Loans, debt-bondage, economic problems
During the droughts, many families obtain loans from local "Banyas" (entrepreneurs) in order to make ends meet, and to have enough money to migrate to other regions. They are expected to pay this loan back after the harvest. "If they get a good harvest, they may be able to pay back their loans. Heaven help them if they can't, however. The Banyas come swooping in to take over their assets — a goat in lieau of one missed instalment, a bull next, land after that, until the poor family has nothing left," PVDP Executive Director Dominic Stephen told Indus Watch.
Eventually, after losing everything to the Banya, the family in question leaves the area, migrates to other places in Sindh or even as far as lower Punjab, and starts working on the property of larger land owners. Poverty forces many of them to obtain loans from these landowners as well, bonding them to their new employers via debt.
Market monopoly
Wholesalers from major markets in the country, especially Karachi, maintain strict monopoly over the agricultural produce from Tharparkar. "They pay us very little for our produce, and then take it to the bigger markets and sell it to retailers at high rates," one of the residents of a village near Nagarparkar told Indus Watch. "Once, we tried to take the produce to the retailers ourselves. We thought we'd get more money. So strong is their mafia, however, that they refused to pay us a paisa more than what the wholesalers pay us here. We incurred heavy losses due to transport costs, etc, and have never tried the experiment again. Instead of allowing wholesalers to make profits off of our hard labour, however ,we now sell our produce in the local market itself."
Surprising as it may sound, Nagarparkar is extremely fertile, post-monsoon of course — to the extent that no artificial fertilisers, etc, are needed. Food is grown using organic methods, and tastes heavenly. "There can be a large market for this, but it seems like the government is not interested in developing this region," PVDP Regional Coordinator Nagarparkar Matthew Walji said.
Is there a solution to the annual drought?
Drip irrigation is a must in regions such as Nagarparkar, where water is scarce, PVDP Executive Director Dominic Stephen said. "That, and alternate methods of revenue, such as tourism, etc, should be developed."
Nagarparkar can be an important hub of religious-tourism, SAP-Pk Provincial Coordinator Sindh Zulfiqar Shah said. "All of these ancient temples need to be restored. This region is important from a religious, as well as an academic (anthropological) perspective," he said.
Is Grameen-style micro-financing an option?
"Not really," Stephen says. "You see, for one, you have to realise that many of these residents already have loans from Banyas, etc. If you microfinance them, and give them, say, Rs25,000, the Banya is sure to hear of it. He will swoop down and try to make them use that money to pay back some of his loan. So instead of investing that money, the villager loses it in paying off the Banya's instalment. Asset-wise, he or she is exactly where he or she was, before this loan. Next month, you will go to them to demand the first instalment of your microfinance loan. So now, the poor villager is indebted to the Banya and to you. He or she starts selling off his or her assets — whatever little they have — in order to pay both parties off. Eventually, they are worse off than they were before you met them and gave them money."
Instead of being given money, therefore, villagers should be taught the art of "asset management" in the rural context, Stephen maintains.
Thar Coal prospects
The Thar Coal Project is another ray of hope for residents of this harsh desert. They have been promised by the powers-that-be that they will be given a priority when it comes to getting jobs at That Coal. The residents, however, remain apprehensive. "Their job is to make promises. They're going to give jobs to their cronies. Why would they care about us," one woman said.
"The powers-that-be, however, should not think that they will get away with cheating us out of what rightfully belongs to us. Thar Coal is the resource of our land. We deserve something in return. The least that the government can do is provide jobs in the project to our people. If they fail to do even that, they should be prepared for a severe backlash from us," residents of nearby villages said. "Crackdowns don't scare us. We are used to living in this desert, which is as harsh as it is beautiful. We can withstand a lot of hardships."
Coutesy: Daily The News Karachi http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/jul2009-weekly/nos-26-07-2009/kol.htm#5
shahindus@live.com
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Daily Times of India on Sindhi Refugees
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Decline of Pakistan
Politics of Afghan Future
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As fans eagerly await the opening, Atlas Shrugged launches big by counting down the seconds.
The Strike Productions announced today the release of its Official Atlas Shrugged Movie Web Site - http://www.AtlasShruggedPart1.com. The web site, and accompanying mobile web application, were designed and developed by Scott J. DeSapio - an objectivist and long time admirer of Ayn Rand who has been brought on as the head of the online marketing efforts for the movie.
"We are excited and thrilled to have Scott on the team. As if lifted from the pages of the book, his vision, drive and overall impact has been immeasurable. The site is beautiful and we can't wait for fans to see it." said Harmon Kaslow, producer of the Atlas Shrugged Movie.
The Atlas Shrugged Movie, a movie based on Ayn Rand's epic novel "Atlas Shrugged", opens in limited release April 15, 2011. For more information, visit http://www.AtlasShruggedPart1.com.


text:
Valentina Sydneyseer
About Valentina Papagna
Prayer, Notes, etc
Contact Valentina
Achived Messages
Achived Messages Select Month December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 March 2013 February 2013 December 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 January 2009 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 January 2002 December 2001 November 2001 September 2001 August 2001 July 2001 June 2001 May 2001 April 2001 March 2001 December 2000 November 2000 October 2000 September 2000 August 2000 July 2000 April 2000 February 2000 December 1999 November 1999 September 1999 August 1999 July 1999 June 1999 April 1999 March 1999 February 1999 January 1999 December 1998 October 1998 September 1998 August 1998 May 1998 April 1998 March 1998 January 1998 September 1997 July 1997 June 1997 May 1997 December 1996 November 1996 September 1996 August 1996 July 1996 May 1996 March 1996 January 1996 December 1995 November 1995 September 1995 July 1995 June 1995 May 1995 April 1995 March 1995 February 1995 January 1995 October 1994 September 1994 August 1994 May 1994 April 1994 March 1994 January 1994 August 1993 May 1993 April 1993 November 1992 October 1992 July 1992 June 1992 May 1992 April 1992 March 1992 February 1992 November 1991 July 1991 June 1991 April 1991 March 1991 August 1990 July 1990 June 1990 May 1990 April 1990 March 1990 January 1990 March 1989 July 1988
Valentina Papagna migrated to Sydney, Australia in 1955 from Slovenia after experiencing difficult times in her early years.
In 1988 two years after the sudden death of her husband, Valentina began to receive visions and messages from our Lord Jesus and Mary our Blessed Mother. From this time on her life changed from being an average Catholic to one more devout.
The Cenacle Rosary Prayer
After the Holy Mass
After the Holy Mass, we have the Cenacle Rosary prayers in the Church Chapel. For many, many years now, at least twenty years, every Friday after the noon Mass, we pray the Cenacle Rosary.
As usual, a white linen cloth covers the Chapel Altar. In preparation for the Cenacle, one of the ladies from our prayer group will bring out the Crucifix, a candle, and a vase of flowers to place on the edge of the altar, on the side facing the people. Firstly she would put a white linen napkin over the linen altar cloth, and only then set the silver Crucifix together with a lit candle and a small vase of fresh flowers. Just in front of the Altar on a small stand, is placed a blue cloth and then a white lace-trim cloth over the top. The Statue of the Blessed Mother is placed, on top of this together with a lit candle with some fresh flowers.
Today, after we finished praying the Rosary, something remarkable happened which has never happened before. The ladies went to remove the silver Crucifix, the flowers, the candles and the Statue of our Blessed Mother to place them back in the Sacristy. As they were doing so, one of the ladies, Eileen, lifted the spotless white napkin, and to her complete surprise, she could see what looked like a reddish mark on the main Altar cloth. When she looked at it, it looked like a dry wine stain. She called another lady and asked her what does she see? The lady also said that it looks like a wine stain.
Eileen then requested Jan, a member of the prayer group, if she could address this properly. She thought that if it's a wine stain, whether consecrated or not, they must take care of it in the correct manner. They were startled because something like this had never happened before. The Altar cloth was spotless before they started preparing for the Cenacle Rosary.
Eileen then asked me to take a look. We checked the bottom of the vase, thinking the mark may have been left behind from the flowers, but these were completely clean as was the napkin on which it sat.
Jan brought a purifier from the Sacristy, a napkin-like cloth with an embroidered cross which is usually placed on the Altar cloth if any Precious Blood is spilled during the Mass. She went to cover the mark, and as soon as she did this, I heard our Lord speak from the Tabernacle. He was firm when He said, "No! Tell Jan not to cover Me up. Uncover Me!"
Jesus said, "Being the Feast of My Sacred Heart, I give you a Gift and a Sign that I Am truly present with you and your whole prayer group."
I said, "Lord, we are not worthy of all of that."
He responded, "Yes, you are."
Jesus said, "Today, you receive a special blessing for being faithful to Me, and remain faithful to Me, My children."
I said, "Thank you, Lord Jesus, for being truly present with us, while we were praying."
Later that evening, at home, I was questioning what had happened earlier in the day in the Church and thought to myself, 'It could be from some kind of red-coloured flower.'
Immediately I heard our Lord say, "Why do you doubt Me? It is truly My gift that I give you that I Am really and truly present with you, My children."
When I first saw the image on the cloth, it looked like a little Cross, but then it changed into a Heart, a pierced Heart. Above the Heart is the image of a flame. The Flame of Love coming out of His Sacred Heart. At the base of the Heart, to the left, there is the image of blood gushing from His pierced Sacred Heart.
Lord Jesus, we thank you for this beautiful Gift of Your Sacred Heart.
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text:
namespace Google.Cloud.Compute.V1.Snippets
{
    // [START compute_v1_generated_Addresses_AggregatedList_async_flattened]
    using Google.Api.Gax;
    using Google.Cloud.Compute.V1;
    using System;
    using System.Collections.Generic;
    using System.Linq;
    using System.Threading.Tasks;

    public sealed partial class GeneratedAddressesClientSnippets
    {
        /// <summary>Snippet for AggregatedListAsync</summary>
        /// <remarks>
        /// This snippet has been automatically generated for illustrative purposes only.
        /// It may require modifications to work in your environment.
        /// </remarks>
        public async Task AggregatedListAsync()
        {
            // Create client
            AddressesClient addressesClient = await AddressesClient.CreateAsync();
            // Initialize request argument(s)
            string project = "";
            // Make the request
            PagedAsyncEnumerable<AddressAggregatedList, KeyValuePair<string, AddressesScopedList>> response = addressesClient.AggregatedListAsync(project);

            // Iterate over all response items, lazily performing RPCs as required
            await response.ForEachAsync((KeyValuePair<string, AddressesScopedList> item) =>
            {
                // Do something with each item
                Console.WriteLine(item);
            });

            // Or iterate over pages (of server-defined size), performing one RPC per page
            await response.AsRawResponses().ForEachAsync((AddressAggregatedList page) =>
            {
                // Do something with each page of items
                Console.WriteLine("A page of results:");
                foreach (KeyValuePair<string, AddressesScopedList> item in page)
                {
                    // Do something with each item
                    Console.WriteLine(item);
                }
            });

            // Or retrieve a single page of known size (unless it's the final page), performing as many RPCs as required
            int pageSize = 10;
            Page<KeyValuePair<string, AddressesScopedList>> singlePage = await response.ReadPageAsync(pageSize);
            // Do something with the page of items
            Console.WriteLine($"A page of {pageSize} results (unless it's the final page):");
            foreach (KeyValuePair<string, AddressesScopedList> item in singlePage)
            {
                // Do something with each item
                Console.WriteLine(item);
            }
            // Store the pageToken, for when the next page is required.
            string nextPageToken = singlePage.NextPageToken;
        }
    }
    // [END compute_v1_generated_Addresses_AggregatedList_async_flattened]
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Squeak, come out of the drawer robe!
It's been a funny old week. It started with Squeak's birthday. After a weekend of small celebrations with sisters, and then other family, we went out for tea with one of Squeak's schoolfriends. It was absolutely fabulous to see older sister Bubble looking after the schoolfriend. It is a side of her we rarely see.
Wednesday brought Bubble's second foray into Rainbows. She loved it, and returned clutching cards and daffodils for us. Wednesday was also the day I discovered that the Head Teacher of the girls' school did not know that the Pupil Premium Plus existed! The school is very good, and the Head, in particular, is fantastic. We were shocked she had no idea about the PP+. She invited us to a meeting on Friday.
Thursday was tricky. We had both had difficult days at work. H was awash in homeless issues, and I was drowning in paperwork. I returned home to a very grumpy and hyper Bubble. Calm approaches just didn't work. One early bedtime later, and we heaved sighs of relief into the merlot.
Friday was heralded by Bubble telling us she had her 'good head on'. Thank goodness. H and I met up with the Head Teacher and educated her about the PP+. She was mortified she didn't know about it. We agreed that Bubble would have an hours home tuition a week with a Teaching Assistant, and that Squeak's dance classes will be paid for by the PP+. Result! We've also asked that some of the funding is used to train staff in attachment issues.


text:
Queen's Speech promises legislation to tackle modern-day slavery
The Queen has today promised that new anti-slavery and anti-trafficking legislation will help to improve prosecutions of traffickers and will improve support for their victims.
In her final Queen's Speech before the General Election, the Queen announced that the new legislation, the Modern Slavery Bill, would improve 'support for victims of such crimes', signalling the Government has listened to the campaign calls of ECPAT UK and other experts: victim protection must be central to any legislation to tackle modern-day slavery.
In a briefing accompanying the Queen's Speech, the Government said it would 'create a statutory defence for victims of modern slavery so that those who are forced to commit an offence are not treated as criminals by the criminal justice system. The defence will not apply to serious sexual and violent offences'.
It also stated it would provide statutory guidance on victim identification and victim services, would provide an enabling power for child advocates to support child victims of trafficking and create an Anti-Slavery Commissioner – all things called for by ECPAT UK in its Modern Slavery Bill campaign, launched in December last year.
The campaign, so far supported by more than 70,000 signatures, urged the Home Secretary to ensure that the final legislation took into account the needs and vulnerability of trafficked children by introducing four key measures:
Measures to protect and assist all victims, including the creation of a system of legal guardianship to provide vulnerable children with an independent professional to fight for their rights
The establishment of an independent Anti-Trafficking Commissioner to monitor and improve the UK's response to human trafficking
The creation of a specific crime of child exploitation to reflect the severity of this abuse of children and convict more offenders
Protection for victims so they are not imprisoned for crimes they were forced to commit by their traffickers
Earlier this year, ECPAT UK used its experience of working with young victims and the issues they face to inform our written and oral evidence to the Joint Committee on the Draft Modern Slavery Bill, which was appointed to report to Parliament on the proposed legislation. Last month, the Committee backed all four of our campaign calls.
Chloe Setter, Head of Advocacy, Policy & Campaigns (Child Trafficking), ECPAT UK, said: "It is too early to say, without seeing the final text of the Bill, if this will be a robust piece of new legislation to tackle trafficking and slavery, but we are hopeful that the Government has listened to the expertise of those working in this area and heeded the clear recommendations of the Joint Committee to put victims and children at the heart of the Modern Slavery Bill. From what we've heard today, it looks very promising but the devil will be in the detail.
"We know that urgent measures are needed in this Bill to ensure child victims of trafficking are better protected and more traffickers are punished for the cruel and damaging abuse they inflict on some of the most vulnerable young people in the UK and abroad.
Published: 4th June, 2014
Updated: 3rd April, 2017


text:
New WhatsApp Message Reactions Feature – How To Get It
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Apple Headquarters is one of the final products pitched by the late CEO Steve Jobs to the company. It is the second campus built by the tech giant in Cupertino, California. The building has a massive-ring shape that shows Apple's dedication to its revolutionary design and future of technology. There is a lot more to…
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Author Not Found. [[འོད་གསལ་སྣང་བའི་རྒྱན་|]]. གདམས་ངག་རིན་པོ་ཆེའི་མཛོད།, པོད་ ༼ཁ་༽, 6-7. ཏེ་ལི་་་རྒྱ་གར་: ཞེ་ཆེན་དཔེ་མཛོད་ཁང་, ༡༩༩༩.
Author Not Found. [['od gsal snang ba'i rgyan|]]. In gdams ngag rin po che'i mdzod, Volume 2 (ཁ་), 6-7. New Delhi: Shechen Publications, 1999. Enlarged reprint of the 1979 edition published by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche from prints from the dpal spungs xylographs.


Shanklin Garage Conversions: If you only use your garage for storing rubbish and hardly ever park your car in there, why not convert it into a usable living space that you can enjoy and benefit from. You might have been put off by the need for planning permission, but this is not even be required in many cases. Just think of the benefits to be gained from transforming that cold, chaotic storage space into a beautiful, comfortable room.
If you are not sure about the possible uses to which such a room could be put, you should contact your local garage conversion specialists, who will be happy to offer their guidance and advice. Ideas could include adding a dining room, generating an extra bedroom or creating a new family bathroom. Whatever it is, your local garage conversion specialist in Shanklin will be able to make your dreams a reality.
A garage conversion can certainly increase the selling potential of your home, if you are planning to sell it. But keeping the garage as a feature may be an advantage in areas where off-road-parking is at a premium. Your property may have a higher price tag and be more attractive if you do not convert, and any well respected Shanklin garage conversion company will advise you of this.
An architect will be employed by your chosen Shanklin garage conversion specialist to help in drawing up plans and making sure that your garage has been constructed in a manner that is suitable for the proposed conversion. The reasoning behind this is that sometimes garages in Shanklin are not constructed in the same way as residential buildings and need adaption. To meet the current building regulations for residential structures, this may involve replacing the footings or strengthening the roof for instance.
Shanklin garage conversion specialists will likely help you with garage transformations, garage re-designs, garage conversion for a TV room, garage conversions for a playroom, conversion plans, interior fittings, half garage conversions, space planning, conversion drawings, garage conversions for a kitchen, garage conversions for a home cinema, structural calculations, garage alterations, garage extensions and other garage related stuff in Shanklin, Isle of Wight.
Also find: Winford garage conversions, Luccombe garage conversions, Adgestone garage conversions, Godshill garage conversions, Wroxall garage conversions, Lake garage conversions, Queens Bower garage conversions, Ventnor garage conversions, Newchurch garage conversions, Brading garage conversions, Sandown garage conversions, Arreton garage conversions, Apse Heath garage conversions, Ninham garage conversions, Whiteley Bank garage conversions, Merstone garage conversions, Alverstone garage conversions and more.
More Isle of Wight garage conversion specialists: Cowes, Ryde, Sandown and Shanklin.