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Euro Area Reform Cannot Ignore the Monetary Realm
Jérémie Cohen-Setton (PIIE) and Shahin Vallee
This column is a lead commentary in the VoxEU Debate "Euro Area Reform."
© Voxeu.org
The authors of CEPR Policy Insight 91 (Bénassy-Quéré et al. 2018) are right to argue that the euro area needs an alternative anchor than the current system of fiscal rules and financial penalties to discipline fiscally wayward members. But by refusing to complement their proposals with recommendations in the monetary realm, they miss an opportunity to provide a balanced reform package that would not only increase fiscal discipline and risk sharing but also enhance liquidity provision. The responsibilities and operating procedures of the Eurosystem cannot stay outside of debates about the future architecture of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU).
The view that the proposals in Bénassy-Quéré et al. (2018) would increase rather than decrease "redenomination risks connected to acute liquidity and credibility crises" (Buti et al. 2018) results in part from the authors' silence on the role of the European Central Bank (ECB) and national central banks in the provision of liquidity when needed. That 14 economists would have different views on the appropriate stance of monetary policy and their preferred choice of instruments is not surprising (Farhi and Martin 2018). But there should be broad agreement on some basic principles about ways to improve the lender of last resort function in a reformed EMU.
Principles for Improving the Eurosystem
In our view, the following four principles should guide such rethinking:
The central bank of a monetary union should be able to backstop financial markets in sovereign bonds if it considers that panicked investors are threatening the integrity of the single currency (Eichengreen 2016). Being an unconditional lender of last resort for solvent governments (Mody 2014)—instead of making the activation of Outright Monetary Transactions (OMT) conditional on a European Stability Mechanism (ESM) program—necessarily requires drawing a difficult line between liquidity and solvency. If this judgement is completely left to governments, it creates a risk of fiscal dominance. If it is completely left to the ECB, it creates a risk of monetary dominance. If it is shared between several institutions, it creates risks of indecision, delays and uncertainty. Claeys and Goncalves Raposo (2018) recently proposed relying on a debt sustainability analysis, which would be done by the ESM, to determine eligibility of government bonds in refinancing operations. Under the current intergovernmental structure of the ESM with unanimity, this approach seems unsuitable for OMT. But options along these lines should be explored to improve predictability of the sovereign backstop and to remove the ECB from a position where its actions can be interpreted as attempts to discipline governments.[1]
Monetary policy and liquidity operations should be fully centralized and mutualized. That "remnant[s] of national sovereignty in monetary policy" (Draghi 2018) still exist in the risk-sharing arrangements of the Eurosystem governing the provision of emergency liquidity (Emergency Liquidity Assistance), some aspects of its collateral framework (Additional Credit Claims), and its most important asset purchases program (the Public-Sector Purchase Program) is troubling and should be removed. The renationalization of these policies has limited their effectiveness and increased redenomination risks by suggesting that there could be "conditions […] in which one [national central bank] would be reluctant to build up claims indefinitely on some other national central bank" (Kenen 1999).
Balance sheet considerations should not constrain a central bank's ability to perform its monetary and lender of last resort functions. The current ECB doctrine on financial independence should be revised and replaced by a Fiscal Carveout, as suggested by Tucker (2018), which would specify how losses would be covered by the fiscal authority. Alternatively, it could be replaced by a more blanket statement of support from European governments for ECB actions and the potential risks associated with them. This would make clear that recapitalization arrangements matter not because the notion of central bank solvency makes sense, but because they reveal the sovereign's political support of the monetary authority.
The operational framework should not reinforce doom loops. Since 2005, the ECB has relied on ratings made by private credit-rating agencies to determine eligibility and haircuts. This reliance has led to abrupt swings in haircuts that have been destabilizing (Claeys and Goncalves Raposo 2018). To counter some of the built-in procyclicality of its collateral framework, the ECB has often relaxed these constraints ex post by introducing waivers, lowering haircuts, and expanding the collateral pool (Cohen-Setton et al. 2013, Wolff 2014). A more robust, predictable and countercyclical framework could, however, be designed to deal with these problems ex ante rather than ex post. It would also help avoid the risk of the ECB appearing politicized in its eligibility decisions.
How the Great Depression Changed the Federal Reserve System
As we argue in a recent paper (Cohen-Setton and Vallée 2018), these principles draw on important lessons from the history of the US Federal Reserve System, whose initial design was also problematic and was only corrected after its failures became obvious during the Great Depression.
Because the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 created a decentralized system of 12 regional Federal Reserve Banks (FRBs) owned by commercial banks in their respective districts, risk-sharing of profits and losses linked to monetary operations did not occur automatically. In fact, what was still a decentralized system of regional central banks with 12 individual balance sheets only became de facto unified when the federal government eventually clarified in 1933 that FRBs—if faced with important losses—would not have to be recapitalized by the member banks of their respective districts but by the US Treasury.
In the words of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, "it [was] inevitable that some losses may be made by the FRBs in loans to their member banks […] [but] there is definitely an obligation on the Federal Government to reimburse the 12 regional FRBs for losses which they may make on loans made under these emergency powers. I do not hesitate to assure you that I shall ask the Congress to indemnify any of the 12 FRBs for such losses" (Silber 2009).
In fact, the preceding weeks had illustrated the extent to which autonomous regional FRBs could behave in uncooperative manners to protect their own reserves leading (Eichengreen 1992). In early 1933, a speculative attack against the New York Fed's gold reserves had led to a reduction of its gold ratio towards the statutory limit. In refusing the New York Fed's request to rediscount government securities, the Chicago Fed precipitated a cascade of state bank holidays that culminated with the National Banking Holiday (Wigmore 1987).
Only when regional monetary autonomy was eliminated,[2] and when the compact between the central bank and its sovereign was clarified, did regional considerations eventually became subordinated to national ones. Together with these institutional changes, technical improvements in its operational framework were also critical in transforming the Federal Reserve into a full-fledged lender of last resort. Recognizing, for example, the procyclical bias of a collateral framework that "require[ed] substantial amounts of excess collateral" (McKinney 1960) against the deterioration of economic activity, the Federal Reserve Board adopted a new regulation specifying that credit be instead extended liberally "at times when the value of assets held by banks may be decreasing because of a downward turn in the nation's business and a decrease in the national income" (Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System 1937).
The initial design of the Eurosystem is stronger than that of the initial Federal Reserve System. The ECB has also clearly moved some distance to complement its framework and enhance its lender-of-last-resort function and to provide some level of backstop to the sovereign bond market. Yet this remains incomplete and the renationalization of some aspects of its operational framework have generated new institutional risks that need to be addressed in the context of reforms of the architecture of the euro area. There can be no such thing as the completion of the monetary union without profound reforms in the conduct of monetary operations and its interactions with fiscal and political authorities.
Authors' note: The authors thank Madona Devasahayam, Adam Posen, and Jeromin Zettelmeyer for useful feedback.
Bénassy-Quéré, A, M Brunnermeier, H Enderlein, E Farhi, M Fratzscher, C Fuest, P-O Gourinchas, P Martin, J Pisani-Ferry, H Rey, I Schnabel, N Véron, B Weder di Mauro, and J Zettelmeyer (2018), "Reconciling risk sharing with market discipline: A constructive approach to euro area reform," CEPR Policy Insight No. 91. Centre for Economic Policy Research.
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (1937), "Regulation on Discounts, by Federal Reserve Banks," Federal Reserve Bulletin, October: 15-17.
Buti, M, G Giudice, and J Leandro (2018), "Deepening EMU Requires a Coherent and Well Sequenced Package," VoxEU.org, 25 April.
Claeys, G and I Goncalves Raposo (2018), "Is the ECB Collateral Framework Compromising the Safe-Asset Status of Euro-Area Sovereign Bonds?," Bruegel Blog, June 8.
Cohen-Setton, J, and S Vallée (2018), "Federalizing a Central Bank: A Comparative Study of the Early Years of the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank," in J F Kirkegaard and A S Posen (eds), Lessons for EU Integration from US History, Report to the European Commission.
Cohen-Setton, J, E Monnet and S Vallée (2013), "Deconstructing the ECB collateral framework: assessment and outlook," ECB Watchers, July 24.
DeGrauwe, P (2011), "The European Central Bank as a Lender of Last Resort," VoxEU.org, August 18.
Draghi, M (2018), Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs Monetary Dialogue, European Parliament, February 26.
Mody, A (2014), "The ECB's Bridge Too Far," Project Syndicate, February 11.
Eichengreen, B (1992), "Designing a Central Bank for Europe: A Cautionary Tale from The Early Years of the Federal Reserve System," in M B Canzoneri, V Grilli, and P R Masson (eds), Establishing a Central Bank: Issues in Europe and Lessons from the U.S., Cambridge University Press.
Eichengreen, B (2016), "The European Central Bank: From Problem to Solution," in The Search for Europe: Contrasting Approaches, BBVA Group.
Farhi, E, and P Martin (2018), "The Role of the ECB in the Reform Proposals in CEPR Policy Insight 91," VoxEU, April 19.
Kenen, P B (1999), "The Outlook for EMU. Eastern Economic Journal," Eastern Economic Association 25(1): 109-115.
McKinney, G W (1960), The Federal Reserve Discount Window: Administration in the Fifth District, Rutgers University Press.
Silber, W S (2009), "Why Did FDR's Bank Holiday Succeed?," Economic Policy Review 15(1).
Tucker, P (2018), Unelected Power, Princeton University Press.
Tucker, P (2016), "The political economic of the central bank balance sheet management," Speech at Columbia University, May.
Wigmore, B A (1987), "Was the Bank Holiday of 1933 Caused by a Run on the Dollar?," Journal of Economic History 47(3): 739–55.
Wolff, G B (2014), "Eurosystem Collateral Policy and Framework: Was it Unduly Changed?," Bruegel Policy Contribution 204/14.
1. For this same reason, we think that the ECB should no longer participate in Troika programs.
2. Between 1913 and the New Deal reforms of the Fed, regional Feds enjoyed autonomy in setting discount rates, in participating in open market operations, and in their lender of last resort policies.
Jérémie Cohen-Setton
Real and Imagined Constraints on Euro Area Monetary Policy
Review of the EU Financial Regulatory Framework
Unconventional Monetary Policies-Recent Experiences, Impact, and Lessons


7th Pay Commission Latest News: The salary hike for the government employees of this state is confirmed even as over 50 lakh Central Government employees and an equivalent number of retirees wait for a hike in minimum pay and fitment factor beyond 7th Pay Commission recommendations.
7th Pay Commission Latest News: The salary hike for the government employees of this state is confirmed even as over 50 lakh Central Government employees and an equivalent number of retirees wait for a hike in minimum pay and fitment factor beyond 7th Pay Commission recommendations. The news about the increase in the salary of the government employees of this state comes a few days before Diwali, the festival of lights. The announcement, meanwhile, has raised the hopes of the CG employees of getting a hike in their salaries beyond 7th Central Pay Commission or 7th CPC recommendations.
The state which has given the government employees festive cheer before Diwali is Bihar. The Nitish Kumar Cabinet has announced a hike of 2 per cent in the dearness allowance (DA) of state government employees, pensioners and family pensioners, which means that they would now get a total DA of nine per cent in place of the existing seven per cent.
The enhanced DA would be given to the employees with effect from July 1 this year. It would be applicable to those employees, pensioners and family pensioners who are getting revised pay scales. The revision of DA would have an additional burden of Rs 419 crore on the state exchequer annually.
As far as the Central Government employees are concerned, reports are doing rounds in the media that the Centre has finalised the minimum pay and fitment factor hike for them. The announcement is likely after the Assembly polls in five states and before the Lok Sabha Elections 2019, probably in December. It may be noted that the CG employees are demanding an increase in the fitment factor and minimum pay beyond the 7th Central Pay Commission or 7th CPC recommendations.
The Central Government employees, who are currently getting a minimum pay of Rs 18,000, are demanding a hike of Rs 8,000 which will take up their salaries to Rs 26,000. Furthermore, they are also seeking a hike in the fitment factor, from 2.57 times to 3.68 times. The demands made by them are beyond 7th Pay Commission recommendations.
In March, Minister of Finance (MoS) P Radhakrishnan had declared that the Centre is not considering a raise the minimum pay and fitment factor of 50 lakh Central Government beyond 7th Pay Commission recommendations.


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Not Your Grandfather's Black Freedom Movement: An Interview with BYP100's Charlene Carruthers
Written by	Salim Muwakkil | In These Times
Charlene Carruthers, 30, has helped bring youth front and center in Chicago's anti-police-violence movement. (Sarah Jane Rhee)
There is little doubt that the Black Lives Matter era of protests will be branded as a millennial moment. But Black women are so prominent in the movement's leadership, the era might also be characterized as a matriarchal moment. For example, in the outrage following the release of the Laquan McDonald video depicting a 17-year old being shot by a Chicago cop 16 times, four of the most prominent groups that spoke out—Black Lives Matter, Black Youth Project 100 (BYP100), We Charge Genocide and Fearless Leading by the Youth (FLY)— were led by Black women.
This gender alignment marks a stark deviation from a deep tradition of patriarchal leadership. This is not your grandfather's black freedom movement. Charlene Carruthers, the 30-year-old national director of BYP100, makes clear that this female ascendancy, as it were, has scholarly roots in the sterling work of feminist public intellectuals such as Cathy Cohen of the University of Chicago and Barbara Ransby of the University of Illinois at Chicago. BYP100, for example, is an offshoot of the Black Youth Project, a venture launched by Cohen in 2004. A well-known theorist of Black queer feminism, Cohen's views have strongly shaped the agenda of BYP100. In These Times sat down with Carruthers to talk about the role of BYP100 in Chicago's anti−police-violence movement and why the group thinks it's crucial to "fully incorporate" a Black queer feminist perspective.
How did BYP100 begin?
In 2012, a group of young Black people who were part of an advisory council for the Black Youth Project said to Cathy Cohen, "We want to have a national convening with other Black activists from across the country." And so Cohen secured the resources, and 100 young Black folk were invited to attend a convening called the "Beyond November Movement" in 2013. What we intended was to discuss movement-building for Black liberation beyond electoral politics, in the aftermath of the election of President Barack Obama. That Saturday night, the George Zimmerman verdict was announced. We gathered in the circle and listened. There were all kinds of reactions to the "not guilty" verdict: Some people cried, some people screamed, some people left the room. And we stood in a circle processing that moment.
But you had gathered for something completely different.
Right. And I fully believe if we were not gathered that particular weekend, on that particular night, BYP100 wouldn't exist. There were many things that happened immediately, but we all committed to going to the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, in Washington, D.C. It was there that we actually drafted a mission and core value statement and began to think of ourselves as an organization.
So the Zimmerman verdict is what shaped BYP100's focus on institutional violence and mass criminalization of Black youth?
Folks who attended that initial convening come from various parts of movements: There were artists, elected officials, folks who did LGBTQ rights organizing, gender justice organizers, folks from labor unions—all kinds of folks were in that room. It was out of that moment that we decided to focus on mass criminalization and, really at the core of it, looking at anti-Blackness and its role in the oppression of Black folks, particularly in this country, but also worldwide.
You said "anti-Blackness." Was that an attempt to be more specific than the general term "white supremacy"?
We weren't doing that level of analysis collectively at that particular moment. But we named anti-Blackness, white supremacy, patriarchy, homophobia, transphobia as the things that we needed to fight against, and recognized that many of those things contributed to the killing of Trayvon Martin.
You mention homophobia; that's a new dimension to the Black freedom struggle. Was there any resistance?
Well, Cathy [Cohen] is known for her scholarship in both queer studies and Black feminism. And so at any convening that she was involved in, people came with that consciousness.
So Cathy's ideological perspective is really BYP100's guiding light.
I would say that it guides what we do in significant ways. Cathy, and other Black women and feminists, too, like Barbara Ransby, Barbara Smith, the late poet Audre Lorde, the late Ella Baker.
How are older, more established groups responding to your efforts?
There have been mixed responses. Our membership is 18 to 35, but our organizing work has always been intergenerational. We are under no perception that we can do this alone. We do believe young people's leadership should be valued—and in many ways, prioritized—in movement building and organizing, in order to ensure that it persists. I've also found that many of the disagreements are along the lines of ideology and not necessarily age.
How did BYP100 get so deeply involved in this current struggle against the Chicago Police Department in response to cases like the killings of Rekia Boyd and Laquan McDonald?
The analysis that we have—our worldview, as a collective—and folks' understanding of what's at stake this particular moment: not just the lives of some hypothetical person, but our lives. The struggle against CPD is one aspect of the long-term struggle of abolishing anti-Blackness. Taking up the struggle for the sake of accountability in the killing of Black people like Laquan and Rekia is essential.
Do you have particular goals? For example, do you want the resignation of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel or Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez, who are accused of suppressing the Laquan McDonald video?
We're calling for the resignation of both. We do not believe that they have the capacity to be in positions where they have decision-making power over so many lives. They've demonstrated over and over again that they are not effective at making good decisions when it comes to our lives. We also want the Chicago Police Department, which receives nearly 40 percent of the city's budget for public services, to be defunded, and for those dollars to be invested in quality public schools, affordable housing and job creation. And we see that happening through a participatory budgeting process.
What about electoral politics?
Electoral and civic participation is the third rung of our overall theory of social change—part of the set of tools we have to create transformative change. The other two rungs are direct action organizing and public policy advocacy.
Many of us older activists have been waiting a long time for something like this. What fired up your passion for this kind of engagement?
I grew up on the South Side of Chicago. My family could be best described as working-class. Some of my earliest experiences with power and beginning to understand the kind of world we live in were at the welfare office with my mother, or hearing my father tell stories about people he'd trained receiving promotions over him. I first got involved in activism in a real way when I went to college at Illinois Wesleyan University. At the end of my very first year I had the opportunity to go study politics in South Africa. We were there 10 years after the end of apartheid. Going to South Africa was perhaps the closest I could get to what it could look like if I was around in America in 1978. I was 18 and coming from a city that is still very segregated. That trip expanded my consciousness around what it meant to be Black on a global level or outside of Chicago, really, and got me interested in politics. I didn't decide to be an organizer until after I finished graduate school, in 2008.
What's next for BYP100?
BYP100 is committed to training this generation and future generations of young Black activists to organize and mobilize in order to create transformative change for all Black people. We do this work through what we call a "Black queer feminist lens" because we believe that in order to achieve liberation for all Black folks we have to be radically inclusive—not just in our analysis, but also in our practice, in how we go about leadership. We believe that a Black Freedom Movement in our lifetime is possible.
Link to original article from In These Times
More in this category: « 'Badge to Kill'? Two More Police Shootings in Chicago Raise Public Ire "New Jim Crow" Author Michelle Alexander on Hillary Clinton's Embrace of Mass Incarceration »

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搜狗MT: –》Sorry teacher, I didn't sleep well yesterday because the coffee I drank was too strong.
"我不要穿这个帽子" –》I don't want to wear this hat.
"我穿的眼镜 不好看" –》The glasses I wear don't look good.
she body tall, face beautiful, head smart –》 她身材高大,面容美丽,头脑聪明 –》He is tall, beautiful in face and intelligent in mind.
==》We apologize for the inconvenience.


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Lewy Body Dementia: How Symptoms Can Resemble Alzheimer's, Parkinson's
Everyone's heard of Alzheimer's disease, often used loosely to describe all levels and types of forgetfulness. But the lesser-known dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB), according to epidemiological studies, is the second-most common disease causing dementia and can be equally debilitating. October is DLB Awareness Month and the clinicians at the Hartford HealthCare Ayer Neuroscience Institute Memory Care Center hope to educate people about this form of dementia, which affects 1.4 million people a year. Robin Williams, Bill Buckner of the Red Sox, media mogul Ted Turner and Casey Kasem of American Top 40 fame are among the famous names who have had DLB. "DLB is widely underdiagnosed because its symptoms closely resemble those of Alzheimer's and even Parkinson's disease," said Dr. Amy Sanders, director of the Memory Care Center at the Hartford HealthCare Ayer Neuroscience Institute. "DLB is actually the second-most common of the diseases that cause dementia, second only to Alzheimer's." Further complicating the understanding and diagnosis of DLB is the fact that people will experience symptoms that can occur in both Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. These include:
Trouble paying attention.
Vivid visual hallucinations.
Sleep disturbances, including REM sleep behavior disorder, so named because people lose the normal muscle paralysis during REM sleep and appear to act out their dreams.
Memory problems.
Rigidity.
Slow and small movements, and trouble walking.
Mood changes, depression.
Because the body's autonomic nervous system is also affected by DLB, people might experience changes in blood pressure, heart function and even gastrointestinal function, with constipation being a concern. "The order in which patients experience these symptoms is different from Alzheimer's," Dr. Sanders said. "Early on, DLB patients will report fluctuations in attention, problem solving and spatial awareness. Significant memory loss comes much later than for patients with Alzheimer's." At the same time, some symptoms are more pronounced in DLB, including the tendency to swing from alertness to confusion and to experience muscle stiffness. The exact cause of DLB is not known, but Dr. Sanders said patients are affected by widespread deposits of a protein called alpha-synuclein in neurons in the brain. These inclusions are known as "Lewy bodies," after Dr. Fritz Heinrich Lewy, who first described them in 1912. To diagnose the disease, a doctor considers symptoms and biomarkers that can be obtained through blood tests, neuropsychological tests, medical imaging and polysomnography, a type of sleep study used to detect REM sleep disorder. Like Alzheimer's disease, there is currently no cure for DLB, although there are medications that can help slow its progression. Patients can be prescribed medication and lifestyle changes, similar to those recommended for Alzheimer's, to relieve symptoms. "We have noticed that some of the medications and lifestyle changes like adhering to a daily routine and adding physical activity if possible have a more positive effect on people with DLB, which is some good news," Dr. Sanders said. "We do need to tailor treatment to each patient, though because some people with DLB can be highly sensitive to certain medications, such as ones often used to control hallucinations." For help with the diagnosis and treatment of DLB or Alzheimer's, click here.


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As Idlib offensive looms, Syrians flee to border villages
Khalil Ashawi
IDLIB, Syria (Reuters) - Syrians escaping violence in Idlib have arrived in villages near the Turkish border in droves, fearing Damascus will launch a full-blown assault on the rebel stronghold.
More than 30,000 people have fled their homes in northwest Syria since the army and allied forces resumed bombardment last week, the U.N. humanitarian affairs office (OCHA) said on Monday. It said a military offensive could trigger the worst humanitarian catastrophe of the 21st century.
"What happened was destruction all over, burning, something you can't describe," said Ali al-Mheymid, 50, who escaped the village of Sarjah in Idlib province with his family last week.
"They did not differentiate between civilians and others," he told Reuters from a village near the Bab al-Hawa crossing with Turkey. He has moved into a tent there with 13 relatives in a makeshift settlement after paying the landowner rent.
Mheymid, who has five children, said people fled in the hundreds, some bringing only blankets and kitchen supplies. "People are hoping that right now, here is safer than there, but God knows what's coming."
U.N. chief pushes for protection of civilians in Syria's Idlib
If government forces advance further towards them, they would have no choice but to move to the Turkish frontier, he added. "There is no escape."
Damascus and Moscow say they only target armed factions and seek to end the rule of al Qaeda-linked militants over the Idlib region. Idlib makes up a major chunk of Syria's northwest corner, the last bastion of opposition to President Bashar al-Assad.
The presidents of Turkey, Iran and Russia met in Tehran last week but did not agree a ceasefire that would prevent an expected offensive.
Ankara, which hosts some 3.5 million refugees, has said it could not take any more if an attack on Idlib drove a new surge of people towards its border. President Tayyip Erdogan wrote on Tuesday that an offensive would spark humanitarian and security risks for Turkey, Europe and beyond.
The Turkish military, which is deployed across an arc of northwest Syria near Idlib with its rebel allies, has also set up 12 observation posts around Idlib this year.
Newly displaced Syrian children arrive to a refugee camp in Atimah village, Idlib province, Syria September 11, 2018. REUTERS/ Khalil Ashawi
About half of those displaced so far have moved to camps, while others went to informal settlements, stayed with families or rented housing, OCHA spokesman David Swanson said on Monday.
Mamdouh Abu al-Saoud, who fled with his wife and three daughters, said he worried the fighting would only get worse.
"What will we do? Every time it follows us, we escape a metre to the north and leave it up to God, where will we go?" he said. His family, along with brothers and cousins, arrived in the informal camp near Bab al-Hawa three days ago.
Saoud said years of war had already forced them to flee many times before, first from their hometown in Hama province, then to live as refugees in neighbouring Jordan. They later went to southern Syria, only to move again in a withdrawal deal when government forces defeated rebels there around two months ago.
"We had come (to Idlib) without anything," he said.
An influx of displaced people has roughly doubled the Idlib region's population to around 2.9 million people in recent years. Civilians and fighters have poured in, shuttled out of towns and cities where Assad's military crushed rebels with the help of Russia and Iran.
"The first day of the bombing, we said it might dwindle down. The next day, there was more," said Hussein al-Okab, 43, who came to the informal settlement with his wife and seven kids. "A warplane struck my uncle's sheep."
He said entire villages were emptied.
Editing by William Maclean


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← AND SO, UNTIL NEXT SEASON
Who's going to lead the horse racing out of the darkness? →
PETER MIERS AND HIS TRAIL BLAZING ROLE IN HK RACING
Posted on July 7, 2014 by RacingB*tch
It was a very different time when Peter Miers landed in Hong Kong in the early Seventies and horse racing, caught between staying an amateur sport and turning professional, could have zig-zagged its way around the Mercedes Bends and ended up a million lengths away from the powerful, all-conquering industry it is today.
Now, 71 and with a memory as sharp as a tact- names, dates, blinkers first time- and having been part of the many faces and facets of racing in the UK, France- and where he almost rode for George Moore- Australian-born Peter Miers has an international perspective of the sport which very few probably knew he has.
He's paid his dues, he's played the game, he's also changed the game, and he's no one's fool- instead, pragmatic, realistic and open.
He talks candidly about those days when a jockey in Hong Kong did what they were told- and how these orders didn't come from trainers.
Jockeys were "bought" like hired guns, and brought to Hong Kong where they failed and succeeded depending on how well their bosses fared on the punt.
Peter Miers, aka "Ma petah", was one of the best operators around- an astute horseman who knew more about the horses he rode than any figurehead trainer.
Though vilified every week about many of his rides by outspoken Chinese racing personality Tung Biu, below, on the post-race Turf Talk television show produced, I was reminded, by one Circle Ho, the jockey survived the slings and arrows of outrage and conspiracy theories where most others would have failed- or thrown in the towel and sang, Vaya Con Dios.
Asked about Tung Biu, Miers shrugs him off as a "bigot" who saw what he wanted to see and shared his thoughts with his huge following of local racing fans. No big deal to him.
Tung Biu was adamant- and obsessed- that an "Aussie Gang" was controlling Hong Kong racing with Miers being the captain of the team and deciding who did what in a race at a time when most of the jockeys riding here were, well, Australian.
The "internationalism" of the sport in Hong Kong had yet to happen and become the United Colors of Benetton poster that it is today.
He keeps names to himself, but is open about his relationship with what was then the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club and his sometimes volatile dealings with an "untouchable" like Major Bernard Penfold, the General Manager, below, whom he enjoyed calling "Bernie" to "bring him down a peg or two", and then "wiped off a few stripes from his uniform by demoting him and calling him Captain."
Though when the Club refused him a riding license in 1994 and Miers took his case to High Court, flew in a QC from the UK, and has some revealing facts about the judge who presided over his case, the former jockey bears no ill-feeling towards Hong Kong racing. Far from it.
He follows it, he knows who the new players are, he tries to visit whenever he can and seems proud to have played whatever role he might have done in shaping it.
What many forget are Peter Miers' accomplishments in Hong Kong as his reputation as "The Organizer" of the "Aussie Gang" is a more colorful story to hear about and "adorn".
Was he "The Organizer"?
In any business, someone needs to keep things ticking away, and if this means "organizing" things, maybe.
But his five wins outta six rides on a seven-race card in Shatin is a phenomenal achievement- all the horses being under the care of "his" trainer Bob Burns, son of Perth racing's famous Robert Burns Snr, and with their sixth runner coming second.
When he talks about one of his winners being "pole-axed" by Irish jockey Christy Roche seventeen days earlier when ridden by Kevin Moses, and how he told the trainer to slap on blinkers and had it go off at 40s, but backed in the quinellas, "The Organiser", or just a very smart jockey comes to the fore. Riveting stuff.
Listening to Peter Miers is a history lesson and with everything said being an entertaining buffet where one can choose the best dishes to dig deeper into and keep the others fresh and on ice for another day.
Looking back about those plans for a second racecourse, he's open about how the jockeys riding in Hong Kong at that time felt it: "Never in a million years did we ever think that piece of reclaimed land would become the Shatin racecourse, let alone how quickly it opened for racing."
As for the quality of riders in Hong Kong at the time, he's modest: "We were all about the same- Eddie Cracknell, Peter Gumbleton, Ray Setches, Christy Roche, and Geoff Lane, who always thought the crowds of 48,000 had all come to see him". He laughs thinking about Lane.
He remembers the Terry Hore episode when the Sydney-born amateur jockey disappeared on a race day before being found in a bar in Wanchai saying he was suffering from amnesia.
"That was triad related, wasn't it?" he asks to someone who wouldn't ever go there.
He talks about winning on Scotch Mist for owner Sir Sydney Gordon on that first day of racing at Shatin and those days when John Moore was a jockey- he is a huge fan of Moore as a trainer and targeting the Group 1 races- and when the season ended in May and there were around only 34 race meetings.
He mentions racing journalist Matthew Oram writing an unflattering piece about him for a Club magazine naming all the high-priced winners he had ridden compared to the favourites on which he had been rolled, his final winner in Hong Kong- Hidoon Fashion for owner Lamson Kwok- and his thoughts about the best Chinese jockey at the time- Cheng Tai-chee, below- Irish jockey Wally Hood ("Wally was no idiot"), trainer Eric Collingwood ("He had no idea what he was doing") and just how much they tried to give Johnny Cruz, the late father of Tony Cruz, a winner, but how, "He just couldn't win!"
Where I heard a different side to Peter Miers was when we talked about his fellow rider Ray Setches, below, who took his own life in 1999 after running into debt and which led to the free-fall into depression that has seen us also lose Neil Williams, Sethi Katsidis and too many others.
"If we'd known what Ray was going through, we could have easily taken the hat around and bailed him out of his troubles. Ray helped many whom I see on television these days being big men to the public- but they are not. They never repaid Ray, they turned their back on him- and are not for me".
"The Organizer", a great jockey- a hugely underrated one and trail blazer to many Aussie jockeys who have made Hong Kong their home at one time or another- and a great friend to those who have remained friends with him over the good and not-so-good times- Brent Thomson immediately comes to mind and who put me in touch with him- Peter Miers is a gentleman- straight-forward, perhaps a little misunderstood, and, I am tipping, with far more fascinating racing stories than Dick Francis could ever write.
© Racing Bitch 2014
No part of this website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied, modified or adapted, without the prior written consent of the author, unless otherwise indicated for stand-alone materials.
This entry was posted in Hong Kong Jockey Club, Hong Kong Racing, Horse Racing, The horse racing industry and tagged Christy Roche, General Bernard Penfold, geoff lane, horse trainer Bob Burns, John Moore, KEVIN MOSES, Peter Gumbleton, Peter Miers, Shatin racecourse, the hkjc, the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club. Bookmark the permalink.
2 Responses to PETER MIERS AND HIS TRAIL BLAZING ROLE IN HK RACING
Lawrence Wadey says:
Hans – very good piece on Peter Miers. When we won the Aussie Derby had the good fortune to spend an hour or two with him, listening to his stories. We were the last men standing in a bar somewhere.
Lovely man.
Have a good summer break. I'm off to Brighton for two months, Lawrence.
RR Sanders says:
Good piece Hans,he was one of the great characters and fun with it too with a lovely wife. Give him my best . Captain Midnight


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Content / Production
CANAL+, QUEBECOR CONTENT AND STUDIOCANAL JOIN FORCES FOR XAVIER DOLAN'S FIRST DRAMA SERIES
This premium, five-episode television event, which starts production in March 2021, will air as a Quebecor Content and Canal+ Creation Originale in 2022.
Studiocanal has joined forces with Canal+ and Quebecor Content for Xavier Dolan's first drama series, "The Night Logan Woke Up". This premium, five-episode television event, which starts production in March 2021, will air as a Quebecor Content and Canal+ Creation Originale in 2022. Studiocanal has secured international distribution rights. Javi Hernandez and Harry Grivakis of VVS Films brokered the deals on behalf of the filmmakers and will serve as executive producers.
"We are truly honoured to be able to offer our partners the very first drama series by Xavier Dolan, one of the world's best modern filmmakers. Xavier Dolan tells deeply human stories with a unique voice and has the ability to create real relationships on screen. Alongside Quebecor Content and CANAL+ Creation Originale, we are very proud to bring this new, prestigious series to viewers throughout the world," Francoise Guyonnet, Executive Managing Director TV Series at Studiocanal said.
Dolan has won a slew of prestigious awards for his work as a director, screenwriter, actor and editor, including the Jury Prize at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival for Mommy and the Grand Prix at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival for It's Only the End of the World. He has also won several Canadian Screen and César Awards. His first drama series, "The Night Logan Woke Up" is a psychological thriller adapted from Michel Marc Bouchard's eponymous hit theatre production. Dolan will both write and direct the series which he will also produce along with Nanoby's Nancy Grant and Jasmyrh Lemoine.
The series will star original cast members from the 2019 play including Julie Le Breton, Magalie Lépine-Blondeau, Éric Bruneau and Patrick Hivon, along with Xavier Dolan and Julianne Côté, in a poignant thriller that combines horror, humor, drama and suspense, based on the realities and tragedies of life. In the early 1990s, Mimi and her brother Jules are best friends with Logan. Together, they form an inseparable trio. The boys are on the baseball team and just won the regional championship and Mimi dreams of a life in the theatre; maybe the three will end up living in the United States one day and "get the hell outta here" … Who knows what the future holds?
But in October 1991, Logan rapes Mimi; he's nearing his 17th birthday and she's 14. The two families are shattered. The entire village knows. Nothing will ever be the same. 30 years later, Mimi has become a reputable thanatologist and travels home to take care of her mother's corpse, as requested by the latter in her will. She's reunited with her estranged brothers, left behind decades back. Soon after, secrets and spite buried deep in the past resurface, sending them on an unstoppable pursuit of reconciliation.
STUDIOCANAL Canal+ Quebecor Content Xavier Dolan The Night Logan Woke Up Francoise Guyonnet
SKY AND STUDIOCANAL SIGN DEAL TO BRING CONTENT TO SKY CINEMA CUSTOMERS
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← Jason Mraz Live in KL!
Take some time and watch this clip. It summarizes the amazing Penang!
I am so proud to be penangite and share it with the world! Not only that, New York Times has nominated Penang as one of the 44 Destinations in the world to visit for 2009.
Based on New York Times own recommendation, Penang is currently ranked at 22nd.
This is open for the world population to vote their recommendation!
Please help to spread the words around!
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I'm not related to Atupele –Chapola
February 1, 2014 Nyasa Times Reporter 48 Comments
Experienced agriculturist Dr Godfrey Chapola who on Saturday was picked as United Democratic Front (UDF) youthful Presidential candidate Atupele Mucus's running mate in this year's May 20, tripartite elections has dismissed rumour mongering on the alleged family relations between himself and Atupele.
UDF competitors in the elections in a panic attack mode after Chapola's was announced as running mate spread rumours to smear his name that he was appointed on account of his relations with Atupele.
But both Chapola and Atupele denied any relationship.
Atupele and Chapola: UDF presidential ticket, no relationship,
Chapola, who comes from the central region district of Lilongwe, and has worked in the agriculture field his entire professional life described rumours of being a relation to Atupele as untruth.
He was suspected to be a relation to Atupele through his mother who also comes from Lilongwe.
But a cross check to the Chapola relations and Masula village where Atupele's mother comes from, indicated there were no family ties.
Atupele, who made the announcement during a news conference in Lilongwe of Chapola as a running mate after being endorsed by the party politburo, said that he has picked experience and an agriculturist, which are the missing ingredients that Malawi needs
Chapola, a devout Catholic, worked with the government parastatal Tobacco Control Commission from 1996 to 2009. President Bingu WA Mutharika fired him from that position on March 12 in 2009 after he was being linked to be UDF sympathiser.
He was also General Manager of the then Tobacco Research Institute of Malawi (predecessors to ARET), former General Manager of the Tobacco Control Commission and is now the Managing Director of an NGO Rural Agricultural Market Development Trust, RUMARK, where he has been since October, 2009.
Chapola's experience in agriculture is his major strength as he now seeks to become Malawi's Vice President. Malawi remains an agro-based economy, as tobacco remains the major forex earner.
Despite his inexperience in politics, Chapola successfully organized and chaired his party's Policy Conference which took place on 31 October, 2013.
Atupele MuluziDr Godfrey ChapolaUDF
Malawi church body speaks on cashgate, demands transparency
Maulidi blasts losing PP aspirants as Kajumo joins MCP
The Evangelical Association of Malawi (EAM) has said government must handle the issue of 'Cash gate' with transparency and also...


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Motorcycle Lists
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RideApart Review: Honda CTX700
RideApart Review: Honda CTX700Every motorcycle manufacturer would like to sell more bikes. So Honda is going down a route to actively try and...
May 09, 2013 at 4:57pm ET
By: Tim Watson
Every motorcycle manufacturer would like to sell more bikes. So Honda is going down a route to actively try and encourage novice riders into the motorcycle world with the launch of its Honda CTX700 range. But are low prices, automatic transmissions and easy riding positions enough to bring a new generation of motorcyclists beating a path to Honda's door?
Photos: Kevin Wing
It was at the 2013 Chicago International Motorcycle Show in February, Honda unveiled four versions of the CTX700 with its rubber-mounted, liquid-cooled 670cc parallel twin engine. Included in the line-up is a pair of naked versions CTX700N and CTX700ND and then fairing-equipped CTX700 and CTX700D. The 'D' stands for Dual Clutch Transmission and is offered along with ABS as standard fit on just two of the four CTX models.
Essentially the CTX is a variation of the Honda NC700X platform, but has been designed as a reliable, starter bike and specifically aimed at getting new riders on to motorcycles for the first time at an affordable price in a cruiser-style package.
At first glance it's a blend of cruiser and sport bike while the stripped down version has what Honda describes as an 'urban roadster' look and feel. It's not a head turning sort of a motorcycle but the CTX has some nice lines and we liked the overall look and feel of the naked version.
From the outset Honda's game plan was to make the CTX range non-intimidating for novices while still presenting an attractive proposition as a practical every day ride for more experienced riders.
The CTX700 use Honda's proven fuel-injected, four valves per cylinder, parallel-twin engine. Like the NC700X, this has been mounted into the CTX frame at a 62-degree forward slant to lower the centre of gravity and make the bike more agile and responsive, particularly at low speeds. Power is delivered through a six-speed gearbox to the rear wheel by chain drive.
Honda makes no performance claims for the CTX but the same motor in the NC makes 51bhp at 6,250rpm and a fairly flat torque curve peaking at 44lb/ft at 4,750rpm. That's not a lot of power when you consider the lightest CTX version, the CTX700N, weighs in 478lbs right up to 516lbs for the CTX700D with fairing, but that's still more than sufficient for a novice rider or for daily use around town.
Honda also believes the clutch lever on motorcycles maybe coming to an end. So it has spent some considerable time and investment in developing its own Automatic Dual Clutch Transmission (DCT) specifically for bikes and the CTX is the first in the range to use the latest generation of the Honda system.
On the DCT model, you can manually shift via these buttons or a prehensile foot shift lever.
Ease of use for the CTX was a priority for Honda, which is why DCT is offered as a model option. That might immediately make you think of scooters and less rider involvement and therefore it has no place on a motorcycle. But that's not really the case with the CTX.
Honda refers to its DCT as automatic, which is a little confusing as there are still conventional clutches used on the CTX and not torque converters that you would expect to find in an automatic transmission. What's actually changed is they way you operate the clutch – you can choose automatic or electronically manual mode at a flick of a switch.
For the CTX700D and CTX700ND there is no clutch lever or gear lever. At a press of a button you select your transmission setting either 'Normal' or 'Sport' and then just twist the throttle and go.
Honda's DCT uses a pair of clutches – one for start-up, first, third and fifth gear and another for second, fourth and sixth. By pre-selecting the next gear the system delivers a smooth seamless gearshift both up and down. On the move you can opt for 'Normal' riding, or 'Sport', which shortens the shift and increases the engine's revs. If you want a more sporting ride you can also shift up and down with buttons mounted on the left side of the handlebars.
The DCT's technology means it's also capable of adapting to a rider's style of riding and selects the best gear and preferred shift pattern when cruising along in either mode.
All four versions of the CTX have the same 320mm single front disc with two-piston caliper and there's a single 240mm disc and single piston on the rear. They work well but as this bike is aimed at the novice rider we would have liked to see more confidence inspiring twin discs on the front particularly for a bike that weighs in around 500lbs. There is though Honda's dual-channel ABS for the 'D' specification models as part of the DCT package.
Honda's designers have come up with a new riding position too and although the CTX shares the same 17-inch wheels and steel tube frame of the NC700X to maintain a sporting ride, it has been slightly modified to give a comfortable and low 28.3-inch seat height (the NC's is a still-accesible 31 inches). The rear of the CTX frame has been altered too, allowing Honda's quick release accessory hard bags to be fitted.
That lower seat rail makes the bike easy to mount and maneuver and the seating position is more upright with forward pegs positioned in front of the pulled-back handlebars.
The CTX's wheelbase is 60.2 inches, a fraction shorter than the NC700X, and it has a rake of 27.7 degrees and a trail of 4.4 inches. The front suspension is a 41 mm fork combined with a single shock giving 4.2 inches of travel, while the rear suspension is a Pro-Link single shock suspension with 4.3 inches of travel that is nonadjustable.
You get some easy choices in the styling department too. The naked version of the CTX looks mildly sporting, while the faired in version offers better rider protection, a small screen and stereo speaker grilles fitted if you want to upgrade your bike at a later date. Engine and transmission casing are all flat black and CTX colors are limited to Candy Red, Black and Pearl White.
Convenient 'Do Rag storage above the tank.
Instrumentation is clear and precise with a simple digital readout that is easy to see even in bright sunlight. There is a small storage area on the top of the tank under a pop-up lid that is handy for a cell phone and wallet but it unlike the NC700X, which stores some of the fuel under its seat, the CTX keeps it all in the tank. That drops fuel capacity from 3.7 to 3.2 gallons, which still maintains a practical 200-mile range.
Honda has hit the nail firmly on the head by offering the CTX as a non-threatening, fun motorcycle for a novice rider. Often when we test bikes it takes a bit of time to get used to a new motorcycle's layout and discover where everything is.
In conventional form with the clutch lever, the CTX is simple to ride and it took just a matter of minutes to get to grips with it. The low ride height makes it easy to maneuver at low speed and it's evident that Honda has spent some time trying to find the optimum riding position on the CTX.
Some people may find that it's too upright for them but for a novice rider just starting out this cruiser style set-up is a good compromise that allows you to see well ahead down the road whilst feeling in control of the bike at all times.
It would be unfair to unduly criticize the CTX for being underpowered. It's at best peppy and revs well but it's definitely no street racer. You can still do unkind things to it and it won't flinch at all but lopes along feeling reassuringly well planted on the road. Out on the freeway it's composed and comfortable too and the faired-in version of the CTX is definitely the model to consider if you're planning to do a lot of touring or using the bike as a daily commute.
We raised a question mark over the CTX's weight as it's not exactly lean but it changes direction nicely and far better than you would expect and when you come to a stop no matter how small you are you should always be able get two feet on the ground with that low seating position.
At all speeds the CTX gives a sensation of being solid and secure. You can lean it over in the corners and even attempt to drag the pegs and whilst its performance won't make the hairs stand up on the back of your neck it's still a fun ride.
The limited suspension travel is probably the best compromise on a bike of this size and type, but it would be nice to adjust it and personalize the CTX's set-up for your own riding style just a little bit more. Something that Honda admitted it looked at but decided against as it would have made the CTX a little more expensive.
Honda's DCT option on the CTX is an interesting proposition. For a few years now, the auto industry has been offering paddle shift and dual clutches but the early systems were jerky and were forever hunting for the correct gear to match the engine speed.
Honda has clearly learned from the automobile companies' mistakes and its second-generation system makes riding the CTX even easier and faster than the conventional clutch CTX version. It does take a bit of time to understand what DCT is capable of and for the first few miles of riding a DCT-equipped CTX we were not entirely sure what to do with our now redundant left leg.
For experienced riders it's still not going to be that involving. There are two modes – 'Normal' and 'Sport' and you can switch between automatic sport and manual sport and change gears yourself at a press of a button on the handlebars. In the car world by opting for the sport mode you can also adapt the suspension to suit a more aggressive driving style. You can't do this on the CTX. Nor can you turn off the ABS.
However, from a rookie's point of view the Honda automatic clutch system makes a lot of sense. No more fumbling for gear changes and once you understand how it works it's really not that difficult. From our perspective it removes some of the riding experience but for a new rider it's hassle free and an asset if the CTX is your first bike.
Honda is firmly committed to its DCT program and has said the CTX is just the first of many of its motorcycles that will have this system. It maybe early days but potentially Honda thinks the clutch lever could soon be a thing of the past. We're not sure where we stand yet on that argument.
The CTX700N adds a fairing, screen and optional panniers.
What's Good:
If you have wanted to take up motorcycling but were unsure where to start Honda may well have the simplest and most straight forward answer for you currently available in the market. In conventional transmission form the CTX is a sprightly, easy to ride non-dramatic motorcycle. It does exactly what it says on the box.
With the DCT option you can also have a bike that has some clever technology that is confidence inspiring, ABS as standard and a set-up that make even the most nervous rider quickly feel at home in the saddle. And if you want to slip a bit of fun into the bargain put it into 'sport' manual mode and enjoy the ride.
What's Bad:
This is not the bike for the experienced rider. It simply doesn't have enough power or flat out sport performance and ability. Some would say it's simply not involving enough. But they are not the customers whom Honda is after. That small 3.27-gallon gas tank compromises the CTX's long-range touring ability and we would have liked to see twin front disc brakes fitted as standard.
Compare Motorcycles
The Price:
For an entry-level price of $6,999 a novice rider can get on the naked CTX 700N and that's good value. For $1,000 more you can opt for the same bike but with DCT and ABS. If you plan on going touring the CTX 700 fairing version with conventional clutch starts at $7799 or splash out $8,799 for the CTX700D and go for the automatic clutch and ABS. You pays your money you takes your choice.
"Perhaps predictably, many in the motorcycle community are less than excited at what some term bland, unexciting bikes. Still, there seems near universal agreement that the CTX700s have a place in the market and it will be certainly be interesting to see if Honda heads into sportier territory with additional models in the CTX range." — Gizmag
"Sitting on the CTX, the low seat height is extremely inviting and non-intimidating. Ergonomics feel very cruiser-like, with the hand controls placed directly in front of the rider. Reach to the pegs is natural too, even for my stubby 30-inch inseam. The seat is broad and the cockpit roomy, meaning riders of various body types should find their comfort zone quickly and easily on the CTX." — Motorcycle.com
Honda makes no excuses with the CTX. It has made a concerted effort to offer a bike that will appeal to new riders but who were unsure of exactly where to begin. As a first step into the motorcycle world, on a cruiser-style bike, the CTX is a sensible, no nonsense approach. And, with a starting price of $6,999, Honda may be onto something here. And if that means more people will get on a bike and join the motorcycling community because of the CTX then we're all for it. And this is just one bike in a multi-faceted pursuit of that goal. CRF250L, CBR250R, the new 500 range, the NC700X and now this CTX. Getting started riding on a truly great, appealing, capable, friendly motorcycle has never been easier.
RideApart Rating: 8/10
Helmet: Bell Custom 500 ($100)
Jacket: Alpinestars Viper Air ($200)
Gloves: Alpinestars Scheme Kevlar ($60)
Tim Watson is RideApart's new Cruiser Editor. A veteran of the auto industry, Tim also writes motorcycle travel books. There and Back Again to See How Far It Is tells the story of his travels around small town America on a Harley-Davidson.
Got a tip for us? Email: tips@rideapart.com
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text:
World Daily News24 – English
How can birth control pills affect this part of women?
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Sugale8
Often women take birth control pills to avoid unwanted pregnancy. But let us tell you that women using contraceptive pills may have problems in seeing their faces and understanding their feelings. This claim has been made by German scientists in their latest research. Some of the side effects of these pills were already known, such as mood fluctuations, nausea, headaches and breasts, etc. Recent studies are focusing on the side effects of these pills on mental health.
Germany's University of Greifswald conducted research on 95 healthy women between 18 and 35 years of age. The results have also appeared in the science journal Frontiers in Neuroscience. Researchers believe that these results will help in setting guidelines for future birth control pills.
Photo of faces shown to women
42 women involved in this research said that they take pills, while another 53 denied it. After this, these women were shown 37 black and white photos of people's faces. These showed the area around the eyes. Each photo was accompanied by four labels that wrote the names of complex emotions such as "pride" and "hatred" and asked which of these sentiments accurately interpreted the related photos. Three of these labels were incorrect and only one was correct.
Then these women were asked to reveal the button attached to the label as quickly as possible. Research results showed that women who were taking birth control pills did not understand the sentiment shown in the photo better than women who did not take the pill.
Change comes at a very micro level
Doctor Alexander Lischke, who played an important role in this research, said, 'This change has come to a very small level in these women. That's why an experiment was conducted in which we could test women's ability to recognize complex emotions. All the women involved in the research easily identified easy feelings but the women who took the pill had difficulty in understanding complex emotions.
Dr. Alexander said, "These pills affect women's estrogen and progesterone hormones." That is why they have problems recognizing complex emotions. But more research is needed in this direction so that the effect of all these factors can also be examined, to find out the type of pill, the duration of taking it and at what time of day.
Related Topics:breaking newsbreaking news in hindiheadlines in hindihindi newshindi news headlineshindi news livehindi samacharLatest newslatest news in hindinews in hindi
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text:
package httpcaddyfile

import (
	"strconv"

	"github.com/caddyserver/caddy/v2"
	"github.com/caddyserver/caddy/v2/caddyconfig"
	"github.com/caddyserver/caddy/v2/caddyconfig/caddyfile"
	"github.com/caddyserver/caddy/v2/modules/caddytls"
	"github.com/caddyserver/certmagic"
	"github.com/mholt/acmez/acme"
)

func init() {
	RegisterGlobalOption("debug", parseOptTrue)
	RegisterGlobalOption("http_port", parseOptHTTPPort)
	RegisterGlobalOption("https_port", parseOptHTTPSPort)
	RegisterGlobalOption("default_bind", parseOptStringList)
	RegisterGlobalOption("grace_period", parseOptDuration)
	RegisterGlobalOption("shutdown_delay", parseOptDuration)
	RegisterGlobalOption("default_sni", parseOptSingleString)
	RegisterGlobalOption("order", parseOptOrder)
	RegisterGlobalOption("storage", parseOptStorage)
	RegisterGlobalOption("storage_clean_interval", parseOptDuration)
	RegisterGlobalOption("renew_interval", parseOptDuration)
	RegisterGlobalOption("ocsp_interval", parseOptDuration)
	RegisterGlobalOption("acme_ca", parseOptSingleString)
	RegisterGlobalOption("acme_ca_root", parseOptSingleString)
	RegisterGlobalOption("acme_dns", parseOptACMEDNS)
	RegisterGlobalOption("acme_eab", parseOptACMEEAB)
	RegisterGlobalOption("cert_issuer", parseOptCertIssuer)
	RegisterGlobalOption("skip_install_trust", parseOptTrue)
	RegisterGlobalOption("email", parseOptSingleString)
	RegisterGlobalOption("admin", parseOptAdmin)
	RegisterGlobalOption("on_demand_tls", parseOptOnDemand)
	RegisterGlobalOption("local_certs", parseOptTrue)
	RegisterGlobalOption("key_type", parseOptSingleString)
	RegisterGlobalOption("auto_https", parseOptAutoHTTPS)
	RegisterGlobalOption("servers", parseServerOptions)
	RegisterGlobalOption("ocsp_stapling", parseOCSPStaplingOptions)
	RegisterGlobalOption("log", parseLogOptions)
	RegisterGlobalOption("preferred_chains", parseOptPreferredChains)
}

func parseOptTrue(d *caddyfile.Dispenser, _ any) (any, error) { return true, nil }

func parseOptHTTPPort(d *caddyfile.Dispenser, _ any) (any, error) {
	var httpPort int
	for d.Next() {
		var httpPortStr string
		if !d.AllArgs(&httpPortStr) {
			return 0, d.ArgErr()
		}
		var err error
		httpPort, err = strconv.Atoi(httpPortStr)
		if err != nil {
			return 0, d.Errf("converting port '%s' to integer value: %v", httpPortStr, err)
		}
	}
	return httpPort, nil
}

func parseOptHTTPSPort(d *caddyfile.Dispenser, _ any) (any, error) {
	var httpsPort int
	for d.Next() {
		var httpsPortStr string
		if !d.AllArgs(&httpsPortStr) {
			return 0, d.ArgErr()
		}
		var err error
		httpsPort, err = strconv.Atoi(httpsPortStr)
		if err != nil {
			return 0, d.Errf("converting port '%s' to integer value: %v", httpsPortStr, err)
		}
	}
	return httpsPort, nil
}

func parseOptOrder(d *caddyfile.Dispenser, _ any) (any, error) {
	newOrder := directiveOrder

	for d.Next() {
		// get directive name
		if !d.Next() {
			return nil, d.ArgErr()
		}
		dirName := d.Val()
		if _, ok := registeredDirectives[dirName]; !ok {
			return nil, d.Errf("%s is not a registered directive", dirName)
		}

		// get positional token
		if !d.Next() {
			return nil, d.ArgErr()
		}
		pos := d.Val()

		// if directive exists, first remove it
		for i, d := range newOrder {
			if d == dirName {
				newOrder = append(newOrder[:i], newOrder[i+1:]...)
				break
			}
		}

		// act on the positional
		switch pos {
		case "first":
			newOrder = append([]string{dirName}, newOrder...)
			if d.NextArg() {
				return nil, d.ArgErr()
			}
			directiveOrder = newOrder
			return newOrder, nil
		case "last":
			newOrder = append(newOrder, dirName)
			if d.NextArg() {
				return nil, d.ArgErr()
			}
			directiveOrder = newOrder
			return newOrder, nil
		case "before":
		case "after":
		default:
			return nil, d.Errf("unknown positional '%s'", pos)
		}

		// get name of other directive
		if !d.NextArg() {
			return nil, d.ArgErr()
		}
		otherDir := d.Val()
		if d.NextArg() {
			return nil, d.ArgErr()
		}

		// insert directive into proper position
		for i, d := range newOrder {
			if d == otherDir {
				if pos == "before" {
					newOrder = append(newOrder[:i], append([]string{dirName}, newOrder[i:]...)...)
				} else if pos == "after" {
					newOrder = append(newOrder[:i+1], append([]string{dirName}, newOrder[i+1:]...)...)
				}
				break
			}
		}
	}

	directiveOrder = newOrder

	return newOrder, nil
}

func parseOptStorage(d *caddyfile.Dispenser, _ any) (any, error) {
	if !d.Next() { // consume option name
		return nil, d.ArgErr()
	}
	if !d.Next() { // get storage module name
		return nil, d.ArgErr()
	}
	modID := "caddy.storage." + d.Val()
	unm, err := caddyfile.UnmarshalModule(d, modID)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, err
	}
	storage, ok := unm.(caddy.StorageConverter)
	if !ok {
		return nil, d.Errf("module %s is not a caddy.StorageConverter", modID)
	}
	return storage, nil
}

func parseOptDuration(d *caddyfile.Dispenser, _ any) (any, error) {
	if !d.Next() { // consume option name
		return nil, d.ArgErr()
	}
	if !d.Next() { // get duration value
		return nil, d.ArgErr()
	}
	dur, err := caddy.ParseDuration(d.Val())
	if err != nil {
		return nil, err
	}
	return caddy.Duration(dur), nil
}

func parseOptACMEDNS(d *caddyfile.Dispenser, _ any) (any, error) {
	if !d.Next() { // consume option name
		return nil, d.ArgErr()
	}
	if !d.Next() { // get DNS module name
		return nil, d.ArgErr()
	}
	modID := "dns.providers." + d.Val()
	unm, err := caddyfile.UnmarshalModule(d, modID)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, err
	}
	prov, ok := unm.(certmagic.ACMEDNSProvider)
	if !ok {
		return nil, d.Errf("module %s (%T) is not a certmagic.ACMEDNSProvider", modID, unm)
	}
	return prov, nil
}

func parseOptACMEEAB(d *caddyfile.Dispenser, _ any) (any, error) {
	eab := new(acme.EAB)
	for d.Next() {
		if d.NextArg() {
			return nil, d.ArgErr()
		}
		for nesting := d.Nesting(); d.NextBlock(nesting); {
			switch d.Val() {
			case "key_id":
				if !d.NextArg() {
					return nil, d.ArgErr()
				}
				eab.KeyID = d.Val()

			case "mac_key":
				if !d.NextArg() {
					return nil, d.ArgErr()
				}
				eab.MACKey = d.Val()

			default:
				return nil, d.Errf("unrecognized parameter '%s'", d.Val())
			}
		}
	}
	return eab, nil
}

func parseOptCertIssuer(d *caddyfile.Dispenser, existing any) (any, error) {
	var issuers []certmagic.Issuer
	if existing != nil {
		issuers = existing.([]certmagic.Issuer)
	}
	for d.Next() { // consume option name
		if !d.Next() { // get issuer module name
			return nil, d.ArgErr()
		}
		modID := "tls.issuance." + d.Val()
		unm, err := caddyfile.UnmarshalModule(d, modID)
		if err != nil {
			return nil, err
		}
		iss, ok := unm.(certmagic.Issuer)
		if !ok {
			return nil, d.Errf("module %s (%T) is not a certmagic.Issuer", modID, unm)
		}
		issuers = append(issuers, iss)
	}
	return issuers, nil
}

func parseOptSingleString(d *caddyfile.Dispenser, _ any) (any, error) {
	d.Next() // consume parameter name
	if !d.Next() {
		return "", d.ArgErr()
	}
	val := d.Val()
	if d.Next() {
		return "", d.ArgErr()
	}
	return val, nil
}

func parseOptStringList(d *caddyfile.Dispenser, _ any) (any, error) {
	d.Next() // consume parameter name
	val := d.RemainingArgs()
	if len(val) == 0 {
		return "", d.ArgErr()
	}
	return val, nil
}

func parseOptAdmin(d *caddyfile.Dispenser, _ any) (any, error) {
	adminCfg := new(caddy.AdminConfig)
	for d.Next() {
		if d.NextArg() {
			listenAddress := d.Val()
			if listenAddress == "off" {
				adminCfg.Disabled = true
				if d.Next() { // Do not accept any remaining options including block
					return nil, d.Err("No more option is allowed after turning off admin config")
				}
			} else {
				adminCfg.Listen = listenAddress
				if d.NextArg() { // At most 1 arg is allowed
					return nil, d.ArgErr()
				}
			}
		}
		for nesting := d.Nesting(); d.NextBlock(nesting); {
			switch d.Val() {
			case "enforce_origin":
				adminCfg.EnforceOrigin = true

			case "origins":
				adminCfg.Origins = d.RemainingArgs()

			default:
				return nil, d.Errf("unrecognized parameter '%s'", d.Val())
			}
		}
	}
	if adminCfg.Listen == "" && !adminCfg.Disabled {
		adminCfg.Listen = caddy.DefaultAdminListen
	}
	return adminCfg, nil
}

func parseOptOnDemand(d *caddyfile.Dispenser, _ any) (any, error) {
	var ond *caddytls.OnDemandConfig
	for d.Next() {
		if d.NextArg() {
			return nil, d.ArgErr()
		}
		for nesting := d.Nesting(); d.NextBlock(nesting); {
			switch d.Val() {
			case "ask":
				if !d.NextArg() {
					return nil, d.ArgErr()
				}
				if ond == nil {
					ond = new(caddytls.OnDemandConfig)
				}
				ond.Ask = d.Val()

			case "interval":
				if !d.NextArg() {
					return nil, d.ArgErr()
				}
				dur, err := caddy.ParseDuration(d.Val())
				if err != nil {
					return nil, err
				}
				if ond == nil {
					ond = new(caddytls.OnDemandConfig)
				}
				if ond.RateLimit == nil {
					ond.RateLimit = new(caddytls.RateLimit)
				}
				ond.RateLimit.Interval = caddy.Duration(dur)

			case "burst":
				if !d.NextArg() {
					return nil, d.ArgErr()
				}
				burst, err := strconv.Atoi(d.Val())
				if err != nil {
					return nil, err
				}
				if ond == nil {
					ond = new(caddytls.OnDemandConfig)
				}
				if ond.RateLimit == nil {
					ond.RateLimit = new(caddytls.RateLimit)
				}
				ond.RateLimit.Burst = burst

			default:
				return nil, d.Errf("unrecognized parameter '%s'", d.Val())
			}
		}
	}
	if ond == nil {
		return nil, d.Err("expected at least one config parameter for on_demand_tls")
	}
	return ond, nil
}

func parseOptAutoHTTPS(d *caddyfile.Dispenser, _ any) (any, error) {
	d.Next() // consume parameter name
	if !d.Next() {
		return "", d.ArgErr()
	}
	val := d.Val()
	if d.Next() {
		return "", d.ArgErr()
	}
	if val != "off" && val != "disable_redirects" && val != "disable_certs" && val != "ignore_loaded_certs" {
		return "", d.Errf("auto_https must be one of 'off', 'disable_redirects', 'disable_certs', or 'ignore_loaded_certs'")
	}
	return val, nil
}

func parseServerOptions(d *caddyfile.Dispenser, _ any) (any, error) {
	return unmarshalCaddyfileServerOptions(d)
}

func parseOCSPStaplingOptions(d *caddyfile.Dispenser, _ any) (any, error) {
	d.Next() // consume option name
	var val string
	if !d.AllArgs(&val) {
		return nil, d.ArgErr()
	}
	if val != "off" {
		return nil, d.Errf("invalid argument '%s'", val)
	}
	return certmagic.OCSPConfig{
		DisableStapling: val == "off",
	}, nil
}

// parseLogOptions parses the global log option. Syntax:
//
//	log [name] {
//	    output  <writer_module> ...
//	    format  <encoder_module> ...
//	    level   <level>
//	    include <namespaces...>
//	    exclude <namespaces...>
//	}
//
// When the name argument is unspecified, this directive modifies the default
// logger.
func parseLogOptions(d *caddyfile.Dispenser, existingVal any) (any, error) {
	currentNames := make(map[string]struct{})
	if existingVal != nil {
		innerVals, ok := existingVal.([]ConfigValue)
		if !ok {
			return nil, d.Errf("existing log values of unexpected type: %T", existingVal)
		}
		for _, rawVal := range innerVals {
			val, ok := rawVal.Value.(namedCustomLog)
			if !ok {
				return nil, d.Errf("existing log value of unexpected type: %T", existingVal)
			}
			currentNames[val.name] = struct{}{}
		}
	}

	var warnings []caddyconfig.Warning
	// Call out the same parser that handles server-specific log configuration.
	configValues, err := parseLogHelper(
		Helper{
			Dispenser: d,
			warnings:  &warnings,
		},
		currentNames,
	)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, err
	}
	if len(warnings) > 0 {
		return nil, d.Errf("warnings found in parsing global log options: %+v", warnings)
	}

	return configValues, nil
}

func parseOptPreferredChains(d *caddyfile.Dispenser, _ any) (any, error) {
	d.Next()
	return caddytls.ParseCaddyfilePreferredChainsOptions(d)
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Due to the weather forecast we will be closed on Thursday March 1st 2018. Art is our passion but so is our customer service. The way Stellar Studios is designed, it is difficult to keep the place warm after it rains and the temperature goes below 40 degrees. Also, it is equally difficult to keep the space cool once the temperature goes above 95 degrees. The forecast for Thursday will be a high of 51 and a low of 38.


Jane Lynch and Glee have lasted for five seasons over on FOX. How long will her Hollywood Game Night series survive on NBC? As long or longer? Or, will it be cancelled after two seasons? We'll have to watch the ratings.
7/25 update: You can see the rest of the latest night's ratings.
For comparisons: The first season of Hollywood Game Night (which aired in the summer) averaged a 1.2 rating in the demo and 3.70 million viewers.
What do you think? Do you like the Hollywood Game Night TV series? Would you like to see it cancelled or renewed for a third season?
Hollywood Game Night: Cancelled or Renewed for Season Six on NBC?
I enjoy the show.. please bring it back!
Cancel it …celebrity name game is about premiere. It's basically the same show but with a better host.
I love this show Dont cancel it!!! Im missing it bring it back….
I don't want Holly wood game night canceled that's a fun show to watch ,very entertaining,please put it back!
Love the show! NBC, do not cancel it.
This show is a family favorite. We play along and look forward to it. Please do not cancel it. We love all the jokes and games and even Jane Lynch.
as game shows are inexpensive to produce. I hope it gets another season this summer, as it was intended for summers.HGN is the only NBC show I currently watch and TiVO.
One of the few shows I watch each week. Don't cancel it!
Jane Lynch is DREADFUL. How this dreck ever got on a major TV network is beyond belief.
Wife and I both like the show, one of our favorites.
I don't wanna see this show cancelled!!! It's too entertaining!!!


text:
Economía / Teoría Económica / Macroeconomía / Fluctuaciónes, ciclos y crisis económicas /
Exorbitant privilege
the rise and fall of the dollar
Eichengreen, Barry
Lugar de la edición: Oxford. Reino Unido
Idiomas: Inglés
Papel: Cartoné
Economía / Teoría Económica / Macroeconomía / Política económica /
For more than half a century, the dollar has been not just America>'s currency but the world>'s. It is used globally by importers, exporters, investors, governments and central banks alike. This singular role of the dollar is a source of strength for the United States. It is, as a critic of U.S. policies once put it, America>'s "exorbitant privilege." But now, with U.S. budget deficits extending as far as the eye can see, holding dollars is viewed as a losing proposition. Some say that the dollar may soon cease to be the world>'s standard currency DS which would depress U.S. living standards and weaken the country>'s international influence. In Exorbitant Privilege, one of our foremost economists, Barry Eichengreen, traces the rise of the dollar to international prominence. He shows how the greenback dominated internationally in the second half of the 20th century for the same reasons that the United States dominated the global economy. But now, with the rise of China, India, Brazil and other emerging economies, America no longer towers over the global economy. It follows, Eichengreen argues, that the dollar will not be as dominant. But this does not mean that coming changes need be sudden and dire DL or that the dollar is doomed to lose its international status. Challenging the presumption that there is room for only one true global currency, Eichengreen shows that several currencies have regularly shared this role. What was true in the distant past will be true, once again, in the not-too-distant future. The dollar will lose its international currency status, Eichengreen warns, only if the United States repeats the mistakes that led to the financial crisis and only if it fails to put its fiscal and financial house in order. Incisive, challenging and iconoclastic, Exorbitant Privilege, is a fascinating analysis of the changes that lie ahead. It is a challenge, equally, to those who warn that the dollar is doomed and to those who regard its continuing dominance as i
Otros libros de Eichengreen, Barry
Capital flows and crises
Reconstructing Europe's trade and payments.
Global imbalances and the lessons of Bretton Woods


Michael Halfacre submitted his resignation as Director of the New Jersey Division of Alcohol Beverage Control to Acting Attorney General John Hoffman yesterday, effective June 30,2015.
Under Halfacre's leadership since March of 2012, the ABC is credited with cracking down on underage drinking, the sale of alcohol to the already intoxicated, and penalizing establishments that were scamming consumers by "drink substitution," i.e. charging customers for the "top shelf" drinks they ordered while actually serving cheaper booze.
During Halfacre's tenure, new laws were implemented for the brewing and distilling industry which have lead to an emerging micro brewing industry. Additionally, new rules were written to regulate the direct sale of wine to consumers by out-of-state wineries.
The former mayor of Fair Haven, Halfacre is returning to the private practice of law with a prestigious New Jersey based firm.
Halfacre is wise to get off the sinking ship of the USS Christie. It remains to see how many other "Christie Republicans" throughout Monmouth County will suffer at the hands of the electorate this November.
And when the Senators come up for re-election in two-years, it will be interesting to see how it impacts their chances as well.
Remember, it was the "Christie Republicans" in the senate that refused to override the governor in his veto for reform at the Port Authority. Those that refused to overturn the veto to support their original votes–will undoubtedly come back to haunt them!
I guess the "Christie Republicans" support patronage, and corruption.


FOX Throwback Thursday: Remember Terrence Romeo's jaw-dropping 83 points?
In just his third year in the PBA, GlobalPort shooting guard Terrence Romeo has emerged as one of the most recognizable figures in the pro league.
The Batang Pier, a four-year-old franchise, has a growing fan base in the PBA, largely because of the flamboyant guard's rising popularity and all-out approach to the game.
As far as the game is concerned, the 24-year-old Romeo is enjoying his finest season ever with career-high averages of 24.74 points, 3.76 assists and 3.74 rebounds in 35 minutes of play in the ongoing 2015-16 PBA season.
In three seasons, the sweet-shooting guard out of Far Eastern University is already a two-time PBA All Star, won the MVP in last year's annual mid-year spectacle in Puerto Princesa, Palawan, a two-time Three-Point Shootout champion, while capping the 2015 season as the Most Improved Player.
Last year, Romeo also made a grand introduction in the Asian level with Gilas Pilipinas, which earned silver medals in the 2015 William Jones Cup and the FIBA-Asia men's championships in Changsa, China.
He was a fan favorite in Taiwan during last year's Jones Cup, showing his ability to score against bigger, heftier defenders in Asia.
His improved plays also saw him make the final cut in this year's Gilas roster that made a gallant stand before losing to France and New Zealand in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament last July.
But in all his pro basketball achievements since becoming the fifth overall pick of GlobalPort in the 2013 PBA Rookie Draft, Romeo will never forget the day he torched the University of the Philippines Integrated School on August 18, 2009 with a mind-boggling 83 points.
As a 17-year-old lad, who made his transition from Letran to FEU, Romeo peppered his defenders with an array of shots–three-pointers, baskets from mid-range and driving layup.
His penchant to dazzle the fans with his dribbling skills was also in full display.
And by the time the final buzzer sounded, Romeo, who had 30 points by halftime, surpassed the previous UAAP juniors scoring record of 69 points held incidentally by former UP high school gunner Paolo Mendoza in 1994.
Romeo converted 34-of-64 field goal attempts, went 5-for-22 from the three-point zone and sank 10 of his 13 foul shots.
The FEU Baby Tamaraws coach Horacio Lim was credited for toying on the idea of letting Romeo go for the record against the hapless UPIS.
"Isa yun (UAAP new junior scoring record of 83 points) sa sobrang memorable na nangyari sa basketball career ko sa juniors kasi di pa nabe-break yung record ko," Romeo said, looking back proudly on an individual scoring feat that may take years again before it can be erased.
Romeo actually outscored the entire UPIS team, which could only muster 55 points in the one-sided match.
But the shifty Romeo isn't claiming sole credit for such a remarkable achievement.
"Masaya ako na nakagawa ako ng record, sa tulong ng mga teammates ko at tulong ng coaches ko," he said.
Although a known scorer, who will get his points by hook or by crook, Romeo saw his game mature little by little through the influences he has had in the next seen years when he moved over to the seniors level and through the PBA.
Romeo brought his scorer's mentality when he became the central figure of the FEU Tamaraws in the seniors level.
In his sophomore year in the UAAP, Romeo helped FEU reach the Finals in 2011 season, though the Tamaraws were the swept by the Ateneo Blue Eagles, 2-0 in the best-of-three championship setto.
He capped his collegiate career with an MVP in the 2014 season under the guidance of Nash Racela.
During his first three years in the PBA, he had he chance to learn from veteran guards like Sol Mercado and Alex Cabagnot, who became his teammates for a while at GlobalPort.
But there's no doubt that his inclusion at Gilas made him a better, deadlier player because of the inputs he acquired from the likes of national coach Tab Baldwin, Ginebra playmaker LA Tenorio and even TNT combo guard Jayson Castro, who was named Best Point Guard in Asia in 2013 and 2015.
Among the many people who influenced his game, Romeo cited Castro as the yardstick in terms of shooting.
"Para sa akin, si kuya Jayson na yun sa mga guards na best shooter ngayon. Kasi on the dribble saka kumbaga maganda yung shooting ni kuya Jayson," noted Romeo.
Tenorio said it is understandable for Romeo to struggle transitioning into a playmaker at Gilas since the latter was used to being the go-to-guy since high school.
"Converted to one siya eh kaya mahirap. All throughout his career, scorer siya eh, pero sinasabi ko sa kanya, (scoring) threat ka na eh and once na nakita mo na threat ka na, make sure na if there's an opportunity, go," Tenorio shared.
"Pero pag wala (opportunity to score), sige, i-distribute mo muna yung bola kasi in any given time, kaya mo kunin yung bola saka puwede mo kunin or itira kasi point guard ka," he added.
Home Basketball PBA FOX Throwback Thursday: Remember Terrence Romeo's jaw-dropping 83 points?


text:
Friends of Historic Hotels Worldwide
Hacienda Labor de Rivera
DestinationsNorth AmericaMexico
Historic Hotels Worldwide is a prestigious collection of historic treasures, including historic hotels, castles, chateaus, palaces, academies, haciendas, villas, monasteries, and other historical lodging properties. These global members with their inspired architecture, cultural traditions, and authentic cuisine provide legendary travel experiences that will endure for generations.
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These historic hotels are the perfect setting for the celebration of a lifetime.
Experience an international culinary journey at a historic hotel.
These historic hotels are a great place to immerse in this international pastime.
• Discover the grand historical architecture of the Hacienda Labor de Rivera. Constructed during the mid 16th century as a self-contained country estate, this magnificent holiday destination displays a brilliant blend of Spanish Colonial and Colonial Revival-style architecture.
• See the inherent beauty of the Cerro Cuauhtépetl. Come view the majestic rolling hills of this verdant nature preserve from the Mirador Piedras Bolas Bicicletas.
• Journey over to the Guachimontones just moments away from the resort. This spectacular archeological site is filled with ancient circular step pyramids that date back to 300 B.C. It is a contributing part of the region's UNESCO-recognized Agave Landscape and Ancient Industrial Facilities of Tequila. "
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Book the Best Available Rate at this property on HistoricHotelsWorldwide.com and receive a complimentary one-year family membership (a $30 value) to the National Trust for Historic Preservation in the United States, a member of the International Nat
Historic Hotels Worldwide® is dedicated to promoting heritage and cultural travel to prestigious
historic treasures.
Copyright © 2021 Historic Hotels Worldwide®


One of the strengths of Promemoria is the process of internationalization, a challenge that the company has taken to respond to the needs of its customers. Today, Promemoria boasts monobrand showrooms in the most prestigious international cities - Milan, Moscow, Paris, New York, London, Hamburg, Munich and Hong Kong - and a dense network of collaborators. Promemoria products have learned to travel, reaching distant countries, always shining with their original beauty and interpreting the values of the company: love for detail, passion and innovation.


text:
Sony Classical Releases Debut Album from Cellist Pablo Ferrández - Reflections - on March 26, 2021
First Single Available Now: Rachmaninoff's Zdes' khorosho (How Fair This Spot) | Listen Here: https://pabloferrandez.lnk.to/reflectionsPR
One of the most charismatic and exciting talents of his generation, Tchaikovsky Prize-winning Spanish cellist Pablo Ferrández has been hailed across the globe for his "pop-idol magnetism, superb technique and exhilarating musicality" (LA Times), as a performer who "has everything: technique, mettle, spirit … and charm" (El País). He has quickly built a reputation as a performer both hugely admired by fellow musicians, Anne-Sophie Mutter and Gidon Kremer among them and loved by audiences, also on social media, where Ferrández's charm and immediacy of his performances and personality reaches an audience of millions.
Ferrández's debut album on Sony Classical, Reflections, provides a perfect introduction to this exceptional artist: With a romantic spirit, it reflects his musical roots and unexpected parallels in the music of Russia and Spain at the start of the 20th century. With Rachmaninoff and his Spanish contemporaries Casals, Granados and De Falla it presents an evocative mixture of nostalgia, melodic warmth including Rachmaninoff's ardently melodic Cello Sonata and his haunting Vocalise, De Falla's touching lullaby Nana and Granados' "Oriental" from his Danzas españolas.
Pablo Ferrández was born into a musical family in 1991 and christened after Pablo "Pau" Casals – the iconic cellist and one of the most influential classical musicians Spain has ever produced. He has always felt an affinity with Russia, since he started his studies, at age 13, with the legendary Natalia Shakhovskaya (1925–2017), a former pupil of Rostropovich, at the Reina Sofia Music School in his native Madrid. "She was an incredible musician and human being," he recalls, "and she made me love and understand the language of Russian music."
Reflections therefore represents both the music of Ferrández homeland and the music of the country that would become so important to him: "I wanted to record pieces I can see myself in, that reflect something of me and my roots. It contains some of the most beautiful and touching music I know." Such a personal project needed a well-chosen partner, and Ferrández found the ideal pianist in Denis Kozhukhin. Their friendship dates back to their studies at the Reina Sofía Music School. Central to the programme is Rachmaninoff's ardently melodic Cello Sonata, composed in 1901.
The discovery that Casals and Rachmaninoff had performed the sonata together inspired Ferrández to build his programme to highlight further musical parallels and reflections between Spain and Russia. The album features cello and piano arrangements of three shorter Rachmaninoff works (including the haunting Vocalise), plus favourite shorter works by De Falla and Granados, two key figures of Spanish music in the early 20th century, and contemporaries of Rachmaninoff and Casals. Ferrández pays tribute to his great musical predecessor with the final track of the album: Casals's famous arrangement of the Catalan Christmas song, "El cant dels ocells" (The Song of the Birds).
Ferrández has performed in the world's major concert halls with conductors such as Zubin Mehta, Gustavo Dudamel, Christoph Eschenbach and Daniele Gatti, and has appeared in chamber concerts with artists of the stature of Martha Argerich, Gidon Kremer, Vadim Repin, Yuja Wang and Khatia Buniatishvili. Orchestras with which he has worked include the London Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic (at the Hollywood Bowl), Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic and the Rotterdam Philharmonic.
Sergei Rachmaninoff 1873–1943 1 "How Fair This Spot!" No. 7 from 12 Romances op. 21 Moderato
Manuel De Falla 1876–1946 2 Nana Lullaby No. 2 from Suite populaire espagnole after No. 5 from Siete Canciones populares Españolas Calmo e sostenuto Arrangement: Maurice Maréchal
Sergei Rachmaninoff 3 Élégie No. 1 from Morceaux de fantaisie op. 3 Moderato Arrangement: A. Vlasov
Sergei Rachmaninoff Sonata for Piano and Cello in G minor op. 19 g-Moll · en sol menor
4 I Lento – Allegro moderato 5 II Allegro scherzando 6 III Andante 7 IV Allegro mosso 8 Melody No. 9 from 12 Romances op. 21 Non allegro
Manuel De Falla 9 Asturiana No. 5 from Suite populaire espagnole After No. 3 from Siete Canciones populares Españolas Andante tranquillo Arrangement: Maurice Maréchal
Sergei Rachmaninoff 10 Vocalise No. 14 from 12 Romances op. 34 Lentamente. Molto cantabile Arrangement: Shin-Itchiro Yokoyama
Enrique Granados 1867–1916 11 Orientale No. 2 from Danzas españolas op. 37 Andante – Più mosso ed agitato – Tempo I Arrangement: Gregor Piatigorsky
Traditional 12 El cant dels ocells The Song of the Birds Arrangement: Pablo Casals