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Tag: Woes
Best Tracks Of The Week (8th-14th Jan)
Contributions from Sean Hannah(@shun_handsome), Will Sexton (@willshesleeps), Gregor Farquharson (@grgratlntc) & Liam Menzies (@blnkclyr)
Shame – The Lick
Despite making repeated appearances on the band's setlists, The Lick serves as the embodiment of this band's ability to send a message with attitude and authority.
Appearing on their wittingly titled debut Songs of Praise, Shame don't so much take shots at the current state of British lad rock as much as they spray their entire catalog of reserve but rage tinged lyrics at the unnamed culprits – along with a colossal hook that most bands would give their right arm to be able to pull off, The Lick serves as a highlight to what is sure to be an underrated gem of a record in 2018.
Woes – Real World
On the back of a huge 2017, Woes are ready to throw everything at 2018. Catchy chorus and huge riffs, Real World is a modern pop-punk classic. It shows what Woes can do, and how serious about the genre the boys are.
Car Seat Headrest – Nervous Young Inhumans
Dissatisfied with his 2011 lo-fi masterpiece Twin Fantasy, Will Toledo sought to update his internet-famous juvenilia after signing with Matador Records in 2015. This week saw the release of a reworked Nervous Young Inhumans, in which CSH retrofit the track's muffled din into a hi-fi dance-punk mini-crisis.
Touching on Toledo's formerly maladroit cursive, a tryst in the uncanny valley, and the great axiom "Art gets what it wants and gets what it deserves," the updated Inhumans finds new verve in an old fan favorite.
Lil Peep & Marshmello – Spotlight
Released posthumously, Lil Peep and Marshmello recorded a song before his tragic passing. Two fast up and coming artists sound incredibly bittersweet on this track and it's a reminder that Lil Peep was someone to watch. It's excellent that it was released as it serves as a solid reminder of how Lil Peep was progressing. RIP Lil Peep.
David Byrne – Everybody's Coming To My House
Co-written with long-time collaborator Brian Eno as well as features from the likes of Sampha, the first cut off Talking Heads frontman David Byrne's upcoming solo LP is enough to have you drooling at the mouth: with a seductive saxophone acting as the foundations for his vocals to bounce and pounce around, Everybody's Coming to My House is a tasty sample of what's to come.
Soccer Mommy – Your Dog
After a delightful LP last year, American singer-songwriter soccer mommy stays true to her "chill but kinda sad" mantra with new single Your Dog. Appearing on new album Clean, this track is anything but with some warped guitars leading the song alongside some disdain heavy lyrics from Sophie herself. We were left optimistic about her future after Collection and if this single is any indication, Clean will be another solid effort from the up and comer.
Posted on January 14, 2018 Author blinkclyroCategories Feature, Music, TracksTags Car Seat Headrest, David Byrne, Gregor Farquharson, Liam Menzies, Lil Peep, Sean Hannah, Shame, Soccer Mommy, Will Sexton, WoesLeave a comment on Best Tracks Of The Week (8th-14th Jan)
Gig Review: Seaway W/ Woes, Lizzy Farrall & Remind Me Of Home @ Stereo
photos + words by gregor farquharson (@grgratlntc)
Love it or lump it, there's no denying that pop punk is one of the most fun genres out there. Seaway hadn't been over to Glasgow in a year so tonight felt like a kinda big deal. Bringing along three top-notch acts in the form of Remind Me Of Home, Lizzy Farrall, and Scotland's pop-punk heavyweights, Woes, everything was in order for the night to be a rip-roaring success.
Remind Me Of Home
First on the bill was the local support Remind Me Of Home. Being hit with what is often regarded as the graveyard shift for gigs (15 mins after doors), it was amazing to see the number of people that had turned up early to catch the set. The young band did well enough to make an impression, making them an act that is definitely worth keeping an eye on in the future.
Lizzy Farrall
Lizzy Farrall was next, a different act to the rest of the bill, but certainly one of interest. Singing sad acoustic songs, the emotion captured on stage from the Manchester singer was something of beauty – truly a change of pace, it helped to keep the night varied but no less amazing.
It's no secret that Woes have made an impression on pop-punk fans both in Scotland as well as the rest of the UK. Known for their lively shows and raw passion for what they do, the band put on a headline-worthy performance. New song Real World sparked mosh pits in the crowd and the cover of Last Resort went down a treat. Charismatic both on and off the stage, 2018 is going to be a colossal year for an act that truly deserves it.
After an exceptional bill, the crowd were 100% ready to see the headliner in Seaway. As soon as first song Best Mistake played, it unleashed what can only be described as utter mayhem throughout Stereo. Crowd surfs and stage dives galore, the set was a beautiful example of how fun the genre is. New songs London and Apartment proved to be just as good live as on record. Even playing older songs such as Your Best Friend and Shy Guys, the set tore the venue apart. Closing the set with the utterly beautiful Slam and Seaway classic Sabrina The Teenage Bitch, tonight's gig was over.
While there's no ignoring the bad stuff that is still prevalent in the genre, tonight served as a reminder of what pop-punk can achieve when it focusses on everyone having a good time. Fun as all hell, every act tonight put on an incredible show that was enough to reinforce why people who love pop-punk, well, love it.
Posted on January 14, 2018 January 14, 2018 Author gregoratlanticCategories Gig, MusicTags gig review, glasgow music, Gregor Farquharson, live music, Lizzy Farrall, Remind Me Of Home, Seaway, WoesLeave a comment on Gig Review: Seaway W/ Woes, Lizzy Farrall & Remind Me Of Home @ Stereo
We've been fairly negative this week, what with the moaning behemoth that was our ten worst tracks of the year list, but let us assure you that music in 2017 hasn't been terrible: in fact, it's arguably the strongest it has been since the glory year of 2015. There's still another week to go before we give you the round up of the records we couldn't get enough of but until then, the BLINKCLYRO team have a treat for you.
This year's Top 50 Songs list marks the first year where it isn't just Liam compiling his favourite tunes: all the writers for the site have submitted their top 10 tracks of the year and after compiling them, tallying the points and laying them out, this post before you is the end result of that. So strap yourself in, relax and prepare yourself for a bucket load of great tunes that'll make you feel blessed to have ears.
50. Blaenavon – Orthodox Man
First heard in 2015 when played to a crowd of under twenty, Orthodox Man has remained very much the same between then and now. However, now played to sell out crowds it has become somewhat of a fan favourite and it is clear to see why. It is fun, it is exciting, it gets the crowd going. What more could you want from a debut record single?
49. The Xcerts – Daydream
What sets The Xcerts out from others is the vocal style, and Daydream is no exception. Murray Macleod's Aberdonian accent beams through the track and the catchy riff and drums make it a dance along track. Throw in that beautifully constructed bridge and you have yourself an upbeat pop rock song, that is sure to send the Xcerts flying into 2018.
48. The War On Drugs – Holding On
Holding On is a highlight pick from the new War on Drugs album and makes for easy listening with a dreamy feel across the instrumentals and vocals. The fact that this song stands out on A Deeper Understanding, which is an already amazing album, testifies to the quality of the track. The winding journey that the track takes you on is definitely one to remember.
47. The Mountain Goats – Unicorn Tolerance
This funky pop track off this year's Mountain Goats album is remarkable in both its familiarity, in terms of lyricism from Darnielle, and harmonised chorus, taken straight out of the bands previous works; it is notable too for its difference, with a very chill melodic pop beat going through, and an almost dreamlike feel, making something that old fans, as well as Mountain Goats VLs, will get.
46. Pip Blom – Babies Are A Lie
Hailing from Amsterdam, Pip Blom have been around for around half a decade now yet continue the evolution from, as they put it, the girl with little guitar to a full-on band that hit their stride on this tune; a chill track that eases in with a simple introduction and lets its hair loose on its earworm of a chorus.
45. Benjamin Clementine – Phantom of Aleppoville
From this year's I Tell A Fly, delivered by the avant-garde maestro Benjamin Clementine, this is very much a high point experimentally for the album, with a lon sweeping intro, blending in classical music, after an anxiety inducing chant early on with the track's lyrics really shining as the song reaches its end.
44. The Smiths Street Band – Birthdays
"I feel overwhelmed so I wanna be alone but then when I'm alone I feel lonely" were the words shared on the Australian rock outfit'Instagramam about Birthdays, a romance heavy tune that features on the band's frankly underrated LP More Scared Of You Than You Are Of Me. Transparent and deeply emotive, The Smiths Street Band manage to effortlessly discuss issues of mental health and desire over this tight 3-minute odd track.
43. Idles – Mother
2017 was a fantastic year for Bristol outfit Idles, and their single Mother punched and kicked straight into the music communities consciousness. With scathing, growling lyrics from frontman Joe Talbot, the song was a perfect shot of heavy guitar music arrived with aplomb this year. This track stands out on their excellent album Brutalism for its much-needed commentary on the social fabric of our country.
42. Woes – Losing Time
Opening with an excellent sounding pop punk riff, Losing Time doesn't hesitate to go huge. The vocals are reminiscent of the bands' self-titled EP released last year, and both singers vocals blend brilliantly to create a beautiful harmony. The bridge of the track slows right down, with lead vocalist David Jess passionately shouting, before getting back to business: Woes are definitely one to watch in 2018.
41. Tommy Genesis – Tommy
While there's a solid bit of production in the form of a Charlie Heat beat, Tommy's main draw is the display and establishment of herself as an aggressive and hyper-sexual rapper who can stand her own ground. With the bravado and confidence that Tommy Genesis holms, we wouldn't be surprised to see her come out with something major in the near future.
40. Dua Lipa – New Rules (Initial Talk Remix)
It's no secret that Dua Lipa seemingly came out of nowhere to deliver one of the biggest pop tunes of the year, one with a great sense of empowerment. Initial Talk thought that New Rules was missing something and decided to give it a dollop of 80's gloss, an odd decision but one that works very well for a song that could have easily found itself sang by the pop juggernauts from that decade.
39. Enter Shikari – Undercover Agents
Easily one of the best tracks off The Spark & one of the most accessible Shikari songs, Undercover Agents is a bouncy number that'll get the whole floor howling at the moon. Is it a song about Facebook or Instagram, or is "I want to see your body" covering for something else?
38. N.E.R.D – Lemon
Though it could be argued to be more the "Pharrell and Rihanna show" rather than a full-blown N.E.R.D comeback, this song is still a bonafide club banger. Just like the lyrics, the production bounces along with deep 808 bass kicks and a high popping synth, while in the latter part of the song, Rihanna raps with a swagger that is seldom heard.
37. Rostam – Bike Dream
Aeronautical oranges, continental paintings, an uxorious pair of boys. These are some of the images that populate Rostam's Bike Dream, the fanciful second track of his excellent debut Half-Light. Atop the synth-drum dynamo powering the song is the exultation of Rostam seeing himself in the myriad New Yorkers ambulating around 14th Street. Amid the chaos, Rostam reaches the bittersweet summation of his many romances: "Telling me something or nothing, never the one thing I wanna hear".
36. St Vincent – Slow Disco
Near the culmination of Annie Clark's neon pop masterclass, Masseduction, sits one of her finest songs yet. An emotionally affecting powerhouse, Slow Disco stands out as a work of stripped back beauty amidst the sea of oddball experiments. On first listen it may just seem a welcome variation from the robotic and futuristic sounds of the rest of the record, but with time it reveals itself as the albums powerfully vulnerable highlight.
35. Vistas – Retrospect
Latest single Retrospective is everything we know and love this Edinburgh pop-rock outfit for. Opening up with the catchiest of riffs, the nod-along melody kicks in with frontman Prentice Robertsons' spectacular vocals create a happy, feel-good vibe. The band has worked tirelessly the past two years and it is now all beginning to pay off with this tune being evident of the progress they've made.
34. Protomartyr – My Children
The second single to be released from their latest album and one of the most complete songs they've recorded yet, Protomartyr have managed to distill almost every aspect of their music into a deeply satisfying 3 minutes and 42 seconds. An ominous, mumbled intro gives way to angular guitars as anti-frontman Joe Casey delivers a caustic take on issues of growing old, remaining childless and the implications that might have on his legacy.
33. Alex Cameron – Runnin' Outta Luck
Who would have thought that a satirical concept album based around the trials and tribulations of toxic masculinity and fragile egotism could be so catchy? The third single from 2017's delightfully playful Forced Witness epitomises the thematic musical and lyrical consistences that run deep through the record via a bombastic, synth-embellished sound that recalls the classic rock and pop of the 1980s with an unrelentingly ear-worming chorus.
32. Harry Styles – Sign Of The Times
2017 marked the year that the members of One Direction stepped out on their own and released their debut solo material, and unarguably the best track born of the hiatus has come from unofficial band leader Harry Styles, who boldly emerged with Sign of the Times, a 5-minute epic which channels heroes Prince and David Bowie, effortlessly building from a solemn piano into to a rock opera without breaking sweat. Styles vocal performance is enthralling throughout, growing with the track from a brooding opening before howling "WE"VE GOT TO GET AWAYYY" in the epic climax, the track's escapism aided by a choir and a glam-rock guitar tone elevating Styles' already huge vocal into the stratosphere.
31. Clairo – Pretty Girl
Clairo seems to be fitting in remarkably well to her newfound position as a self-aware, bedroom pop artist. As you may expect, Pretty Girl is a relationship influenced song but one that finds pleasure in pointing out the flaws of superficially lead ones with a simple music video only exasperating the simplistic charm that she delivers in bucketloads.
30. Phoebe Bridgers – Funeral
A cut from her debut album, this track from Phoebe Bridgers is a real story of Bruce Springsteen proportions, delivering a thought-provoking, heartfelt and genuinely sad song, involving the artiste singing at a funeral: just as morbid and depressing as you would expect but with a glimmer of beauty.
29. Peach Pit – Being So Normal
Described as being "chewed bubblegum pop" by, well, themselves, Peach Pit manage to leave a muffled indent with this eponymously titled track off their debut LP; the lead smooth vocals may sound exhausted but when backed up by warm guitars and an undeniable crisp production, it's hard not to feel yourself mellowed out and enthralled.
28. The Vegan Leather – Shake It
This paisley disco-pop outfit's debut single was one of the hottest Scottish indie hits of the year, almost anthemic in its delivery; with a fantastic dance beat to accompany it. One of the most notable elements of the track is the harmonies between male and female fronts of the band, Gian and Marie respectively, working together to deliver a positively electric track.
27. King Krule – Dum Surfer
Dum Surfer, from King Krule's album The Ooz, amplifies the very darkest aspects of his music. The lyrics are aggressive and unsettling. Krule's deep and brooding voice matches the violent imagery which contrasts starkly with the jazzy saxophone and abundance of percussion. It sounds like nothing else but manages to stand by itself as one of the best tracks of the year.26. Young Fathers – Only God Knows
Young Fathers provided the backbone to the Trainspotting 2 soundtrack. Included was the beautifully layered track, Only God Knows. Accompanied by Leith Congregational Choir, the trio from Edinburgh create three and a half minutes heart pounding, distorted bliss: it's impossible to not find yourself smiling when this song comes on. Not only does it undeniably bring the other songs from T2 together but also establishes the versatility of Scottish hip-hop.
25. Lil Peep – Save That Shit
The "Pt. 1" affixed to Lil Peep's debut album Come Over When You're Sober will forever serve as a reminder of what Gustav Åhr's career might have been. A sense of death's rapid encroachment pervaded much of Peep's music, and last month, a fatal overdose granted his self-fulfilling prophecy.
Standing out among Åhr's robust oeuvre is Save That Shit, a maudlin breakup song featuring spidery post-grunge guitars, tightly-wound trap drums, and Lil Peep's trademark gruff whine. The details of the couple's relationship are in constant flux: "All she want is payback," "You ain't getting nothing I'm saying, don't tell me you is," "Do I make you scared? Baby, won't you take me back?"
The optimist in him wants to salvage the relationship, but the realist in him knows he can't save that shit.
24. Corbin – Giving Up
When Corbin dropped his album Mourn earlier this year, it showcased his soulful vocal talents over moody and mournful cloud rap and RnB beats which have stuck out in our minds over this year though Giving Up is the track that has remained at the forefront of our minds.
The synths create a very downtrodden atmosphere to begin with and bring you into a state of melancholy where you can then be lulled by Corbin's silky smooth voice. The drums kick in about 2:30 into the song which lifts the track considerably but the depressive quality of this track just gets stronger as Corbin's vocals become more powerful and desperate near the end.
Taking into account the song's lyrics' focus on suicide makes this track a total emotional barrage, but a fucking good one.
23. Sorority Noise – A Portrait Of
Although Sorority Noise have teased listeners with lyrics and themes meaningful enough to rip your heart from your chest, 2017's A Portrait Of is when the depth of the band really hit home. All of YNA_AYT is a journey into the deepest crevices of your conscience, but when the sophomore track opens with "I've been feeling suicidal.." you know you're going to be in for an emotional ride.
Roaring a mid-section poetical giving reference to living his life as a continuation of theirs, Cameron Boucher truly opens up here and by the end of the track you're left speechless, in tears or both.
The instrumentation is not ghoulish, nor is it an overly slow ballad to emphasise the lyrics, it is standard Sorority Noise in-your-face riff-topia with cutting hooks, dominant drums and quite frankly an elegant yet boisterous glue holding everything in place.
22. SZA – Drew Barrymore
Throughout her debut album CTRL, SZA discusses both relationships with others and herself with remarkable honesty and this is most evident on Drew Barrymore.
An ode to SZA's favourite actress, the song's themes are reminiscent of Barrymore's iconic roles of women finding their identities. Similarly, on the track, SZA admits her insecurities and instead of being embarrassed by them, she sees a piece of herself in one of her biggest idols.
It is rare to see such difficult emotions towards relationships expressed so directly and with that comes sincerity that makes this track resonate so deeply; anyone that's ever felt inadequate will both appreciate those feelings described so accurately and also a reminder that even people as talented as SZA feel the same way.
21. Mount Eerie – Real Death
Artistic expressions of death and grief are rarely ever as direct as they are on A Crow Looked At Me, an album dealing with the of passing Mount Eerie mastermind Phil Elverum's wife Geneviève Castrée at the age of thirty-five. Yet in the opening track, Elverum insists that his record is exactly not that: "Death is real… it's not for singing about, it's not for making into art".
With every word his cracked and pained voice utters, the listener gains only a minute sense of what it must be like to have been put through such a traumatic ordeal, and then shift through the aftermath. It's a song so heartbreakingly beautiful that I struggle sometimes to listen to it in full – but I'm still glad that such a succinct statement of personal loss exists in today's world.
20. Everything Everything – Desire
Desire feverishly builds, reaching a chorus featuring so many layered vocals, it sounds like an entire choir made up of Josh Higgs' indulgent falsetto. The guitar riff at times rings like early naughties math rock in the best possible way and topping it all off are some very on brand Everything Everything lyrics "I am a pencil pusher with the pencil pusher blues".
The beat stomps on through from the start, breaking at times into a delicate two-step instantly transporting you to a sweaty dancehall. It's a song that makes it near impossible not to dance; some of the best indie pop we've had all year.
19. Kirin J. Callinan – Big Enough (Ft. Alex Cameron, Molly Lewis & Jimmy Barnes)
This is one of the rare songs on this list that has to be heard to be believed, especially in conjunction with its fabulously grandiose music video. Country twangs, EDM drops, heavy metal screams and a fist-pumping, chest-burstingly triumphant list of arbitrary countries, continents and states for a conclusion that, similar to marmite or self-immolation, will change your life for the better or the worse.
The reason it works and not devolve into the aural equivalent of a thirteen-way pile up on the M8 is the strength of the songwriting and the dynamics of the production, both of which create an addictive cocktail of a serotonin rush that never fails to lift your spirits. That, or make your face cringe so hard it cracks in two, but if it does that then you probably hate fun.
18. LCD Soundsystem – tonite
If James Murphy and co.'s first two comeback singles were intriguing yet divisive, then tonite firmly solidified the validation for their return to the stage, whilst simultaneously setting the scene for the album upon which it settles into snuggly in the middle third.
Lyrically, Murphy rearms his iconically ironic New York cool stance but with an updated penchant for the self-aware, allowing himself to deprecate the stagnant state of the charts without ever falling into the "Old Man Yells At Cloud!" trap that haunts many of rock music's elder statesmen.
Pounding behind the words is a groovy instrumental that takes its cues from Daft Punk and The Human League, and reaffirms LCD Soundsystem's place on the dancefloor, and indeed our hearts. We've missed you, Murphy.
17. The Menzingers – Thick As Thieves
With February's After the Party, Scranton natives The Menzingers reached a career peak. A wonderful record bursting at the seams with shout-a-long slices of life, it establishes the band as a bonafide grade-A rock outfit. An ode to reckless abandon, Thick as Thieves encapsulates all that is great about the album.
The whole track just drips with an endearing sense of nostalgia and sincerity, with vocalist Greg Barnett gleefully yelling of 'building castles of cans and bottles' without a trace of cynicism or irony. The chorus, perhaps the best the band has ever come up with, seems tailor-made for crowds to scream back at the stage; it's just joyous.
If you can get it out of your head, you're not human.
16. Remo Drive – Yer Killin' Me
What a belter this track is. A slice of raucous, driving, almost poppy emo from the Minnesota 3-piece Remo Drive's beauty of a debut album Greatest Hits (killer title).
There's such an infectious venom in frontman Erik Paulson's vocals and lyrics that you almost can't help but be subconsciously pissed off at whoever's wronged him.
The mathy breakdown towards the end of the track is delicious as well. Yer Killin' Me is a perfect introduction to the world of Remo Drive, and one that would easily fit into your running playlist or your moody playlist. Brilliant.
15. Lil Uzi Vert – XO Tour Llif3
The king of emo rap's magnum opus. XO TOUR LIiF3 by Philadelphia's own Lil Uzi Vert manages to walk the tightrope between depressing as fuck and club banger with aplomb. Flexing about his car one minute and lamenting a failing relationship in the next, this is a deceptively complex slice of hip-hop from one of the most exciting MCs of 2017.
Mr. Vert explores concepts that most modern rappers wouldn't dare touch, the likes of how maybe drug abuse isn't that good and suicide. On a surface level it's a cracking trap track, but if you listen to the lyrics it's a sad portrait of a man who's a bit lost in the world of hip-hop. And that's what makes it so good.
14. King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – Open Water
Choosing a highlight from King Gizzard's extensive set of 2017 releases is no mean feat. From tightly wound prog to loosely held together jazz pop, the range this band have displayed this year trumps what most bands achieve across their whole career.
Way back in February, the group released the finest of these efforts, Flying Microtonal Banana, and with it, Open Water, the seven-minute colossus that stands as the jewel in the crown.
Bursting with pitch black imagery and fluid, winding licks, it sees the band really push themselves to their limit. Their drums had never been quite so ferocious before, the atmosphere never quite so delightfully disorientating, and the end result rarely quite so brilliant.
13. Carly Rae Jepsen – Cut To The Feeling
Carly Rae Jepsen's transition from early 2010's meme to critically applauded pop artist has been one of the most interesting moments over the past few years and this cut for animated flick Leap continues the trend.
We could easily discuss the effortlessly ascending and descending bits of production that tie into the Canadian singer's wonderful pipes or her delivery from hushful whispering to ambitious proclamations; the hook, line, and sinker of Cut To The Feeling is just how bloody fun it is and in another dark and dreary year, we need more of these than ever.
12. The National – Day I Die
Bryan Devendorf herein stakes his claim as one of indie's pre-eminent percussionists, kicking off one of the highlights of Sleep Well Beast with a frenetic drum intro. Relentlessly uptempo and featuring guitar licks reminiscent of The Cure, themes of marital affairs are navigated with reference-laden lyrics.
Matt Berninger boasts that, "Young mothers love me, even ghosts of / Girlfriends call from Cleveland", although he's clearly still more concerned about the no-mans land his current relationship occupies, struggling to understand where exactly things stand.
During the bridge, further context is given to "great uncle Valentine Jester", a character visited previously and, as it happens, someone who Berninger shares a lot in common with, particularly when he gets "a little punchy with the vodka".
11. Lorde – Green Light
Fresh from a break-up, Lorde's second album, Melodrama, explores dealing with losing someone for the first time and all the thoughts that come with it. The first single, Green Light, starts desperate and heart wrenching.
The song opens with her raw, slow vocals and simple piano, but builds quickly to a fast dance anthem, flinging her reputation as a moody teenage songstress into the mainstream. The sincerity in her vocals mixed with the constant change of pace creates a warmth inside your stomach. It's a song to cry but also to move on to. Lorde is showing us how to dance through the pain.10. Frank Ocean – Chanel
Frank Ocean is famed as one of modern music's lyricists for his complexity and deft storytelling talents. However, Ocean throws this subtlety out of the window in the mic-drop of an opening couplet to surprise single Chanel – "My guy pretty like a girl / and he got fight stories to tell".
This sets the tone for Chanel's lyrical tone – it's part bashful, part confessional, varying as Ocean drifts between singing and rapping – displaying a mastery of each. The dreary beat is the perfect bed for Ocean's varied delivery, and transitions into perhaps Ocean's most iconic hook yet – "I see both sides like Chanel" – another lyrical masterstroke as he flips hip-hop's obsession with brands into an expression of sexuality.
9. Stormzy – Big For Your Boots
Stormzy seems like one of the nicest guys in music, but Big For Your Boots is a definite warning to anyone tries stopping his rise. His flow is incredible throughout the whole song, and some of the lines are solid gold.
"Had a peng ting named Amy telling me to come round hers on a Valerie ting". Sublime. The whole of GSAP was one of the standout albums of 2017, but this was the biggest diamond in the jewelers.
8. Paramore – Hard Times
Where do you start with the summery, pop anthem that is Hard Times?! The emo, pop-punk icons of yesteryear seemingly flipped their iconic style on its head and replaced it with a neon light complementing, almost sickly pink doused, upbeat classic.
Hayley Williams' voice sounds as good, if not better, as their Riot! days and the re-addition of founding drummer Zac Farro adds a warming, sentimental value for the old-skool Paramore fans.
What we have is effectively an infectiously catchy piece of pop elegance from someone who was the antithesis of Hard Times. A fluorescent burst of colourful chaos, synths galore and a something that is a simple yet strangely complex arrangement of upbeat fun.
7. Father John Misty – Pure Comedy
Father John Misty's third LP is comfortably the most lyrically ambitious release this year – providing social commentary on the grandest scale imaginable. This is best executed on the record's stunning title track where Josh Tillman gives his perspective on "the comedy of man" – beginning with the birth process and arriving at religion with a lot in between – on the most grandiose score Tillman's voice has ever graced.
The lyrics are the star of the show here, however, with Tillman addressing the human race at large with observations like "their illusions they have no choice but to believe", however, the lyrics never take themselves too seriously, especially as he smirks "how's this for irony?" in a subtle nod to his Father John Misty persona.
6. Brockhampton – Star
In a year where BROCKHAMPTON dropped three albums, there were several stand-out tracks that defined their year but none more memorable than STAR.
This track has a unique theme with its constant pop culture references. From Dom McLennon's rapid-fire name dropping from Matthew McConaughey to Liam Neeson to Ameer Van's bragging about being "the black Tom Hanks" and being "kingpin like Jay Z, dance moves like JT". The track finishes on perhaps their strongest verse of the year as Kevin Abstract pronounced himself "Heath Ledger with some dreads" in a hilarious yet vicious verse that mixes references to pop culture and his own sexuality with ease.
America's newest boyband have been on fire this year and that's no more evident than on STAR.
5. Gorillaz – Ascension (Ft. Vince Staples)
When Vince Staples strutted onto the stage unannounced midway through Gorillaz' sold out Hydro show, it was clear that the already fantastic gig was about to reach a new level. Staples' stage presence was electric, his short frame covering almost every inch of the arena's huge stage.
Somehow, the Long Beach MC manages to convey that energy as well on record as he does live on apocalyptic banger Ascension. Beginning with a quick-fire Staples verse atop a wartime air horn which soon gives way to Staples' nonchalant attitude to the end of the world with the lyrics "the sky's falling baby / drop that ass 'fore it crash".Gorillaz latest record Humanz was criticised for being too guest-heavy, but with Staples in such electrifying form, you can't blame Damon Albarn for giving him the spotlight across his 2 lightning-quick verses.
As much as Staples is on fire, this still feels like a Gorillaz track. An Albarn verse is interspersed between Staples' and is the perfect foil: Albarn sounds his age in contrast with Staples' youthful exuberance: his verse darker, gloomier and more measured. He is happy to give the spotlight back to Staples who trivialises the apocalypse once more; with Staples on the mic, the apocalypse has never seemed so exciting.
4. Vince Staples – Yeah Right (Ft. Kendrick Lamar & Kucka)
Wouldn't you know it – two tracks featuring Vince Staples back to back and boy, does the man deserve the high rankings on this list; anyone with a vague knowledge of Odd Future will have been made aware of the rapper's potential and while he's released some solid solo material, this track off Big Fish Theory certifies that there's gold in them there hills.
Packing in the stellar production that can be found over the course of the entirety of Vince's sophomore LP, Yeah Right teases the listener with his trademark delivery and a subdued instrumental before it's released like a pack of lions with Detroit techno coursing through their blood. The sheer velocity of the bass borderlines on untenable at moments which adds to not only the power this song possesses but how closely this album walks the line between experimental and excruciating.
Then there's that Kendrick verse which may possibly be the best guest bars to have been spat all year with an abundance of meta, serious, humourous and braggadocious lines that'll etch themselves into your cranium. Tie in that bridge by Kucka which has a reminiscent tinge of old school UK Grime and you're left with one of the greatest hip-hop tunes of the year.
3. Wolf Alice – Don't Delete The Kisses
Already known for being able to essentially do anything, Wolf Alice proved that once again when they defined the modern love song with Don't Delete The Kisses.
Ellie Rowsell's lyrics have never been better even though they are the most sentimental she's ever written. "I might as well write all over my notebook that you 'rock my world!'" she admits in one of two verses Rowsell delivers in an almost talkative tone that mimics the thoughts going through her head; it somehow encapsulates these thoughts that everyone experiences in a creative way.
Don't Delete The Kisses is unashamedly lovesick and cliché, and it's confidence forces a massive smile onto your face as Rowsell's closing words "I see the signs of a lifetime, you til I die" would manage to touch even the most cynical of hearts. The second single from sophomore album Visions of a Life, such an instant classic was unprecedented and will be hard for Wolf Alice to top but for now, they can revel in the success of creating a song that will undoubtedly remind a whole generation of fans of the person that they love.
2. Tyler The Creator – 911 / Mr. Lonely
True to form, the 10th track of Tyler's widely acclaimed comeback project Flower Boy is a two-parter – a reoccurring theme across each of his albums. It's a perfect synopsis of the dichotomy between the two different personalities of the record – one side is airy, melodic and full of summery optimism; the other, introspective and brooding.
The beauty of this track and, indeed, the rest of the album is the way Tyler reconciles these aspects and lays them bare so candidly. Perhaps one of the most apparent throwbacks to earlier, darker material such as Goblin, he alludes to his erstwhile depression throughout – in 911 he takes a philosophical approach, realising his own experiences can help him relate to others. Portraying a soothing voice on the other end of the phone, perhaps an emergency call handler, he introduces himself: "My name is Lonely, nice to meet you".
Soon, though, he finds himself the one most in need of reassurance as he lapses back into despair in Mr. Lonely. The beat becomes dark and snare-heavy as he condemns his outwardly loud and brash personality, also questioning whether materialistic pursuits have ever really helped to alleviate that omnipresent feeling of loneliness. The last line cuts the deepest of all: reaching for a friend "so I never have to press that 911".
1. Kendrick Lamar – DNA.
Regardless of your opinion on DAMN., light 7 or not, there's no denying that 2017 has very much been the year of Kung Fu Kenny himself. From the teaser track The Heart Part IV tearing apart America's newly elected toddler/President to his comeback single Humble, along with its subsequent meme value, to the hotly discussed topic of how his fourth LP should be played, there are very few artists who managed to stay relevant for all the right reasons in 2017.
A constantly evolving artist, think back to K Dot on Good Kid, m.A.A.d City or the existential, jazz poet on To Pimp A Butterfly, Kendrick Lamar is the most important figure in hip-hop at the moment and certifies this perfectly with D.N.A. An introspective and aggressive behemoth, this track serves not only as a reflection of himself as an idolised and sought after celebrity (Only Lord knows I've been goin' hammer / dodgin' paparazzi, freakin' through the cameras) but it's so much more than that.
True to his roots and heritage, D.N.A is primarily about Kendrick as a black man and in a year where race was the focus of some of the most despicable moments of the year in America, its message is more important than ever: the feature of a Fox News anchor stating that his music "has done more damage than racism ever has" only provokes him into becoming the passion-driven, bar spitting activist that music needs more of.
As he ends on some vicious lines, the inclusion of "peace to the world" could be taken literally or be a homophone for the slang for a gun; either way, the intentions are made clear on a song that seems to sum up this year into a claustrophobically tight 3 minutes, six seconds.
https://open.spotify.com/embed/user/111518578/playlist/4T1V1dcSEhkDsZcyny9CWY
So there you have it, our definitive list of the best songs we've heard all year. I'd like to thank the following people for contributing not only their rankings which helped make the list but also the little write-ups they did for each track:
Andrew Barr (@weeandreww)
Callum Thornhill (@cal_thornhill)
Charlie Leach (@yungbuchan)
Dominic Cassidy (@lyre_of_apollo)
Ethan Woodford (@human_dis4ster)
Ewan Blacklaw (@EwanBlacklaw)
Gregor Farquharson (@grgratlntc)
Isabella McHardy (@isabellamchardy)
Jake Cordiner (@jjjjaketh)
Josh Adams (@jxshadams)
Liam Menzies (@blnkclyr)
Liam Toner (@tonerliam)
Oliver Butler (@notoliverbutler)
Rory McArthur (@rorymeep)
Sean Hannah (@shun_handsome)
Tilly O'Connor (@tilly_oconnor)
Posted on December 15, 2017 December 15, 2017 Author blinkclyroCategories Feature, Music, TracksTags A Portrait Of, Alex Cameron, Andrew Barr, Ascension, Babies Are A Lie, Being So Normal, benjamin clementine, Big Enough, Big For Your Boots, Bike Dream, Birthdays, Blaenavon, Brockhampton, Callum Thornhill, Carly Rae Jepsen, Chanel, Charlie Leach, Clairo, Corbin, Cut To The Feeling, D.N.A, Day I Die, Daydream, Desire, Dominic Cassidy, Don't Delete The Kisses, Drew Barrymore, Dua Lipa, Dum Surfer, Enter Shikari, Ethan Woodford, Everything Everything, Ewan Blacklaw, father john misty, Featured, Frank Ocean, Funeral, Giving Up, Gorillaz, Green Light, Gregor Farquharson, Hard Times, Harry Styles, Holding On, Idles, Isabella McHardy, Jake Cordiner, Jimmy Barnes, Josh Adams, Kendrick Lamar, Kieran Cannon, King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard, King Krule, Kirin J. Callinan, LCD Soundsystem, Lemon, Liam Menzies, Liam Toner, Lil Peep, Lorde, losing time, Molly Lewis, Mother, Mount Eerie, Mr Lonely, My Children, N.E.R.D, New Rules, Oliver Butler, Only God Knows, Open Water, Orthodox Man, Paramore, Peach Pit, Phantom of Aleppoville, Phoebe Bridgers, Pip Blom, Pretty Girl, Protomartyr, Pure Comedy, Real Death, Remo Drive, Retrospect, Rory McArthur, Rostam, Runnin' Outta Luck, Save That Shit, Sean Hannah, Shake It, Sign Of The Times, Slow Disco, Sorority Noise, St. Vincent, Star, Stormzy, SZA, The Menzingers, The Mountain Goats, The National, The Smiths Street Band, The Vegan Leather, the war on drugs, The XCerts, Thick As Thieves, Tilly O'Connor, Tommy, Tommy Genesis, tonite, Tyler The Creator, undercover agents, Unicorn Tolerance, Vince Staples, Vistas, Woes, Wolf Alice, XO Tour Llif3, Yeah Right, Yer Killin' Me, Young Fathers7 Comments on Top 50 Songs of 2017
Woes & The Future of Scottish Pop Punk
By Gregor Farquharson (@grgratlntc)
The uprising has begun. Gathering UK wide attention and supporting the biggest band in the scene, Woes are the front men for this new breed of Scottish pop-punk.
Before their massive opening spot on Neck Deep's Peace and the Panic tour, I was sitting in a tour van, drinking cheap vodka with two of the members of Edinburgh band Woes. I sat down with the guys and we had a chat about all things pop-punk and where they fall into the grand scale of things.
The guys have achieved so much in the past year and have almost created a scene within the country. Their self titled EP has done wonders, and with latest single Losing Time circulating around fans of the genre, they are only set to rise.
With the new EP set to be released very soon (the band assure me) they are undoubtedly looking to progress further. Singer DJ speaks very openly about this, with an almost go big or go home attitude towards it.
"We can't stay the same, we have to move forward. If we aren't moving forward there is no point. To pretend that anything other than a move up the ladder would be considered anything other than a disappointment, well that's just a lie"
It's no lie that the pop-punk scene in Scotland is rubbish. Yet, there are always packed out crowds of thousands of fans at gigs. What is the reason for this? Sean (bass, vocals) speaks on this, saying there is a lack of bands in the country, which leads onto a lack of competition. The lack of pop-punk bands in Scotland is shocking. Many fans wouldn't even be able to name one band from the country, and this is a huge problem. The genre itself is something huge in Scotland, and a favourite of many fans of the alt-scene (myself included).
"Competition is never a bad thing, it means bands are always trying to be the best in the local scene, something I feel Scotland lacks"
But the future of our scene looks hopeful, especially with Woes leading the way. They talk about the future very positively, and see a bright future ahead. They hope for more bands, and more fans to jump on the bandwagon, and say all that is needed is a number one album from heavyweights Neck Deep to set the UK scene alight. With the band being the opener for the biggest band in the UK scene, it looks hopeful for Scotland as well and the atmosphere during the bands immense set in the O2 Academy was just proof.
The scene in general is at an ultimate high. Bands are playing the biggest shows they ever have. Lots of small bands are gaining fans all over the world and listens for the genre are through the roof. We are in what DJ described to us as a "resurgence" moment for the genre.
"We had the resurgence in 2006 with the likes of Four Year Strong and that's when we picked up again. There was a small break but now we are at a good point. Bands like The Story So Far and Real Friends lead the way, even Neck Deep have played a huge role in re-popularising the genre"
When asked about how it was getting noticed, both members again had slightly differing opinions. The band have worked heavily with producer Seb Barlow (Neck Deep, Roam) and recorded their first EP with him. With him being the brother of the biggest name in UK Pop Punk, Ben Barlow (Neck Deep) it's obviously been a huge helping for the band, as DJ explained.
"I feel if it wasn't for us going down to England and working with Seb and getting his support and support from the Neck Deep guys, we wouldn't be on this tour and wouldn't be doing this well"
And with the band being from Scotland, we have already covered how rubbish the scene is up here. But can you really blame not being noticed on your location? Sean thinks not.
"We as a band have worked really fucking hard to be where we are. The time and effort we put in is unreal, and yeah we have received help and given unreal opportunities. But would we have gotten these by not working hard? Absolutely not, I believe that"
With the band on the Neck Deep tour and an EP round the corner they, truly doing great things for our amazing scene. They can capture a crowd and their unique live show is enough to grab the attention of any pop-punk fan. I mean, who doesn't love a cover of All Star at a gig? Be sure to jump on the Woes band wagon early, you will 100% regret not in the future.
Posted on October 10, 2017 October 10, 2017 Author gregoratlanticCategories Interview, MusicTags all star by smashmouth, Featured, jon sudano, losing time, Neck Deep, pop punk, Scottish Music, Woes, woes epLeave a comment on Woes & The Future of Scottish Pop Punk
Gig Review: Woes + Campfires @ Glasgow Garage
By Gregor Farquharson (@gregoratlantic)
Scotland and pop-punk are words that are rarely spoken in the same sentence positively, but Edinburgh band Woes are here to change that stigma. Being a relatively new band to the scene, the four-piece have gained a relatively small, but loyal fan base in Scotland. They've got a full EP under their belt and in all its pop punk glory, it really is an absolute joy to listen to. I recently got to see the band play a headline show in the tiny garage attic, along side some amazing support.
Campfires were the aforementioned fantastic main support, hailing from Aberdeen to back up the headliners in an underrepresented genre. Playing songs from their debut EP, they showed promise that they are ready to give their all to reach the summit of angsty alt-rock. Songs such as Like a Cancer and Same Streets really went off with the crowd, and the effort they put into each and every second of their performance showed throughout, getting the crowd ready and raring for the main event.
While the preceding band were great, Woes still packed a punch and certainly knew how to put on a show. Opening with fan favourite Tight Af, the bar was set high for the rest of the set. With catchy riffs and chorus, the crowd were loving it from the opening bar. Other songs from the self titled EP Be Alone and Winter Sun were equally as good, showcasing energy and passion from the young Edinburgh pop punks. As well as playing the songs people knew and loved, the band debuted new music which they said will be on their upcoming album (yet to be announced). Ending the set with Worst Friend was definitely the highlight of the set. True passion for music was shown, and it was easy to see the heart and soul the band poured into making the show memorable for the fans who have came to see them from all over the place.
With huge opportunities being given to the band, including opening for Neck Deep on their massive U.K. Tour, the band are certainly not slowing down. If they continue to show us the passion they have thus far, Woes will be a name brought up in every conversation about Scottish music and pop punk.
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Posted on August 21, 2017 Author gregoratlanticCategories Gigs, Music, ReviewTags Campfires, gig review, Gregor Farquharson, music blog, pop punk, WoesLeave a comment on Gig Review: Woes + Campfires @ Glasgow Garage


This is one of my first trips out west to Northern Saskatchewan. This is unedited for your entertainment. I won't tag anyone in it for that reason.
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Meeting point > Search Interesting Projects > XF-ACTORS "Xylella Fastidiosa Active Containment Through a multidisciplinary-Oriented Research"
XF-ACTORS "Xylella Fastidiosa Active Containment Through a multidisciplinary-Oriented Research"
XF-ACTORS "Xylella Fastidiosa Active Containment Through a multidisciplinary-Oriented Research.
XF-ACTORS aims to establish a multidisciplinary research program to answer the urgent need to improve prevention, early detection and control of Xylella fastidiosa (Xf), while maximizing its impact through a multifactor approach, based on a seamless integration amongst the 29 partners involved. The overall goal is to assess Xf potential to spread throughout EU territory. The objectives are: preventing Xf introduction into pest-free areas; the establishment of successful eradication strategies in infected zones; developing a comprehensive integrated management strategy for diseases associated with Xf to prevent Xf spread and control its economic, environmental and social impact.
XF-ACTORS is the first international research project in Europe entirely devoted to develop a multidisciplinary research program on the bacterium Xylella fastidiosa. The project is funded by the European Commission as part of the Horizon 2020 program. XF-ACTORS involves a large consortium: 29 Partners and Research Institutions, including 4 non-European research centers from USA, Brazil, Costa Rica and Taiwan, countries where the pathogen is known to be present since a long time. The project wants to address the urgent need to improve prevention strategies, early detection and control of Xylella fastidiosa. XF-ACTORS aims to implement a multidisciplinary research program to fill the research gaps and strengthen the EU research capabilities with a global strategy for the integrated management of the outbreaks, so as to prevent the further spread of the bacterium in the EU territories and to mitigate the economic, environmental and social effects of the epidemics. The stakeholders' interests are an important driver of XF-ACTORS. Therefore, a Stakeholder Board has been settled, with the participation of representatives of international and national Plant Protection and quarantine services, policy makers at the EU level, growers, producers and nurserymen organizations and extension services. The knowledge generated by XF-ACTORS research aims to a number of objectives, such as improving capacity of farmers to manage the disease and prevent further economic losses in crops; enhancing capacity and competence of plant health authorities to strengthen the EU plant health regime; generating positive impact towards the improvement of EU prevention measures (legislative provisions, technical procedures, means of disease control, etc.).


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Q: F12 key not working in asp.net Visual Studio 2019 F12 or F10 shortcut keys are not working in Visual Studio 2019.
I have tried to reset keyboard in Tools -> Options ... also tried to change the Resharper schema from "none" to "Visual Studio" - but nothing worked!
On right click, I can go to definition, but shortcut keys are not working! Set brightness every time I press F12 instead of going to definition!

A: If you are using a laptop, you might consider one of the following options:

*

*Press FN+F10 or FN+F12, instead of F10 and F12;

*Acessing your laptop BIOS settings and switching FN default behavior.

For further details on FN key, check https://www.computerhope.com/jargon/f/fn.htm

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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The Anti-Imperialist United Front
Towards the end of the International Perspectives we established the global hegemonic position of the USA, its great finance capital institutions in Wall Street and its allied transnational corporations with corresponding military might to defend the dollar as the world's trading and reserve currency. For all British workers and those in the metropolitan centres of global imperialism and primarily their vanguard who aspire to lead them in revolution or struggle for radical change opposition we must take as our guiding principle the following quotes from Trotsky:
"The struggle against war and its social source, capitalism, presupposes direct, active, unequivocal support to the oppressed colonial peoples in their struggles and wars against imperialism. A 'neutral' position is tantamount to support of imperialism."
"The struggle against war, properly understood and executed, presupposes the uncompromising hostility of the proletariat and its organizations, always and everywhere, toward its own and every other imperialist bourgeoisie."
Both from Resolution on the Antiwar Congress of the London Bureau (July 1936).
Morally Assad, Gadhafi and Saddam were no better than imperialism, although their crimes were but a tiny fraction of the crimes of imperialism. US-dominated global imperialism is still the main, central enemy of all humanity. Stalin slaughtered the entire generation that fought and won the Russian Revolution to appease imperialism, he allied with Britain, France and the USA up to August 1939 on the class collaborationist policy of the Popular Front, then with Adolph Hitler until 22 June 1941, when he invaded the USSR and then again with Roosevelt and Churchill, but Trotsky never wavered in his defence of the USSR.
Imperialism attacked semi-colonies and workers states then and now not because of their alleged 'crimes' – only the very naive or the politically pro-imperialist would swallow all that lying propaganda about 'peace, justice and democracy' offensive by the imperialist mass media that accompanies all invasion and attempts at regime change directly or by proxy – that has always been the hall mark of imperialism both in its pre-imperialist colonial phase and in its present imperialist neo-colonial phase.
No, it is the economies of these countries they wish to capture and dominate by their finance capitalists and transnational corporations to extract the surplus values directly to imperial9ism and deny it to the national bourgeoisie in the semi-colonies. The bourgeois nationalists collaborate with imperialists, become their agents when they can but when imperialism directly attacks them they are obliged to fight for their lives and therefore for what remains of the sovereignty of the nation they rule. Ans as with the Nazis in 1939: "Who marches in with the first German tank? / Herr Director Rasche from the Dresden Bank"
Therefore, support for Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria necessarily means support for the rulers of these lands against imperialism when and in so far as they fight imperialism. It does contradict those who say you must make a political and uncritical defence of these rulers and their politics. Trotsky defended the USSR against imperialist attack despite the crime of Stalin because he defended the remaining gains of the Russian Revolution in its nationalised property relations.
The same principle applies to semi-colonial world – against US imperialism, still the global hegemon and its subordinate EU/Japanese etc. imperialisms always, with the semi-colonial bourgeois in defence of the remaining sovereignty of the nation and with the petty bourgeois nationalists only when they fight imperialism – NOT with the 'peace-process' ones who sell out and betray their own people with the lie that this will stop the imperialist offensive. We are not afraid of exposing the vacillations of Gerry Adams, Nelson Mandela, Abdullah Öcalan, Assad, Gaddafi, Saddam, Chavez, Castro or Kim Jong-un, just as Trotsky before us was not afraid of exposing the crimes of Stalin. That is the principle of the United Front and the Anti-Imperialist United Front (AIUF).
Many amongst the populations of these lands are well aware of the crimes of their leaders. Assad is relatively popular because the Syrian masses do not want to fall victim to a far worse fate; there was never any kind of a 'democratic revolution' on offer in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya or Syria. The majority of the population of Syria knew that, and they correctly chose the best option. Those that demand the overthrow of Assad are, in reality, demanding the victory of barbaric Sharia law. If the US/UK bombing had gone ahead in 2013, and it nearly did, thwarted only by 13 votes in the House of Commons and the opposition of the House of Representatives in the US because of the mass popular opposition, ISIS would then have conquered the whole of Syria and have moved on from there.
Only by the truth can we make any appeal to the working class in the region and internationally and begin to forge the international that can unite the global working class in all lands to overthrow imperialism internationally. [i]
It is important to abstract the lessons of this struggle over Libya. This defensive concept has a wide application to other similar situations. A defeat of the remaining workers states of North Korea and Cuba, of any other oppressed semi-colonial nations or of any of the guerrilla organisations military fighting Imperialism; Irish Republicans, Colombian FARC, the Taliban, the Iraqi fighters, Maoists in India and Nepal, etc. is a defeat for the global working class in their fight against their own ruling classes; the anti-imperialist struggle is an absolutely essential part of the class struggle.
At the same time, we cannot be identified with those fake Trotskyists like Michel Pablo, Ernest Mandel, Guillermo Lora, Nahuel Moreno, James Cannon, Joseph Hansen, Pierre Lambert, Pierre Frank, Alain Krivine, Gerry Healy etc. who ideologically and politically capitulated to Stalinism and to semi-colonial petty-bourgeois nationalists like Tito, Mao, Ben Bella in Algeria, Peron, Ho Chi Minh, Castro, Gaddafi, Saddam Hussein, Yasser Arafat, Ayatollah Khomeini, etc. and many others. The 1964 entry of the Trotskyist Lanka Sama Samaja Party into the Sri Lanka Freedom Party of Sirimavo Bandaranaike on the false basis that this was a petty bourgeois and not a bourgeois party was a rejection of revolutionary Trotskyism and they were correctly expelled from the 'Pabloite' USFI for this betrayal. We must make the class differences in the orientation of our fight against the Imperialism. But we demand critical but unconditional defence of the bureaucratised workers' states, all oppressed nations and all the guerrilla organizations fighting against Imperialism. This is the touchstone by which we judge all international movements; for or against global finance capitalism, i.e. Imperialism, the prime enemy of all progressive humanity.
Like the early Comintern we regard this as the natural extension of the United Front (UF) tactic in the domestic class struggle; with the trade union and labour movement leaders in struggle against the bosses where possible, without and against them where necessary to carry the struggle to victory. This is the UF from both above and below; demands on the existing misleaders of the working class, independently mobilising their base to set it against the leadership in struggle. As the Fourth Congress of the Comintern in 1922 said:
"Just as in the West the slogan of the workers' united front has helped and is still helping to expose the social democrats' sell-out of proletarian interests, so the slogan of an anti-imperialist united front will help to expose the vacillations of the various bourgeois-nationalist groups. This slogan will also help the working masses to develop their revolutionary will and to increase their class consciousness; it will place them in the front ranks of those fighting not only imperialism, but the remnants of feudalism." [ii]
The capitulation of former leftists to imperialism
The new balance of class forces that the overthrow and murder of Gadhafi revealed saw the wholesale more pronounced capitulation of former leftists to imperialism. We will take but a few which we fought against at the time. And time has vindicated the position of Socialist Fight, the LCFI and the International Socialist League opposition, the ISL (R) and revealed the political stances of the pro-imperialist left as completely false and reactionary.[iii] For instance:
French president Nicolas Sarkozy, NTC head Mustafa Abdel Jalil and British PM David Cameron in Benghazi in September 2011 celebrating the great victory of the Libyan people with the bogus pro-imperialist leftists below.
The IWL (LIT), the South American political followers of the late Nahuel Moreno, produced a statement by the International Secretariat of the IWL-FI, on 24th of August 2011 which proudly headlined:
"Great victory of Libyan people and of the Arab revolution. People in arms demolish the Gaddafi regime!"
And it goes on in nauseating fashion to support this grovelling capitulation to the masters of life until we come to this purple passage explaining in 'dialectical' terms how a victory for world Imperialism is, in reality, a victory for the forces of the world revolution, a 'win-win' phenomenon:
"…Consequently, Imperialism staked directly on his fall. This is the great contradiction of the process. In the middle of a civil war – an element that did not occur in either Tunisia or in Egypt – Imperialism was compelled to intervene militarily in order to defeat Gaddafi… The contradiction is that, within military scope, there was a United Front between but with directly opposite ultimate aims: the masses wanted to free the country from oppression and Imperialism wanted to stop the revolution so as to be able to keep on looting the wealth of Libya and the Middle East."
We examined the political shades of differences between the capitulations of the pro-imperialist left; Workers Power, Socialist Resistance, The Humanist Workers for Revolutionary Socialism (USA), (now the Communist Workers Group, USA), the Communist Workers Group (Aotearoa/NZ), Revolutionary Workers Group (Zimbabwe), Revolutionary Communist Organisation for Liberation (RKOB, Austria, now leading the RCIT), the AWL, SWP, the IMT and CWI (Grantites).
CWI/SPEW did not avoid the bitter truth but even so reached the same ridiculous conclusion 'win-win', hilarious in their absolutely contradictory 'dialectics':
"While many Libyans are celebrating, socialists have to be clear that, unlike the ousting of Ben Ali in Tunisia and Mubarak in Egypt, the way in which Gaddafi has been removed means that a victory for the Libyan people was also a success for Imperialism. Without NATO acting as the rebels' air force or the soldiers, weapons, organisation and training that NATO and some other countries like the feudal Qatar autocracy supplied, Tripoli would not have fallen to the rebels in the way that it has." (our emphasis)
FLTI, LOI-Argentina, (then allied with the WIVL-SA), was perhaps the most farcical of all in outright lying:
"With the help of the intelligence and logistics for the U.S. Fifth Fleet and the Yankee imperialist army (????) Gadaffi tries to crush the heroic revolutionary upsurge of the masses … These teachers of red Qina Msebenzi, Socialist Fight and the Communist League, want us to believe that imperialism wanted to overthrow their strong man in Libya (!!!!)" (reference Qina Msebenzi, Socialist Fight and Communist League of Brazil march with the imperialist agent Gaddafi against the Libyan masses). "The masses smashed the state Institutions in the East (something which caught imperialism by surprise) and when they were marching on imperialism sent mercenaries from Chad and Niger to prevent Gaddafi from falling."
[i] The Anti-Imperialist United Front 26-12-2015, https://socialistfight.com/2016/12/26/the-anti-imperialist-united-front-26-12-2015/
[ii] Fourth Congress of the Communist International, Theses on the Eastern Question, 5 December 1922, https://www.marxists.org/history/international/comintern/4th-congress/eastern-question.htm
[iii] See The Methodology of the Anti-Imperialist United Front, https://socialistfight.com/2018/06/25/the-methodology-of-the-anti-imperialist-united-front/ Military United Front but no political support for Gaddafi, Socialist Fight 18/3/2011, https://socialistfight.com/2017/11/21/military-united-front-but-no-political-support-for-gaddafi-socialist-fight-18-3-2011/
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4 thoughts on "The Anti-Imperialist United Front"
Viriato says:
A very good piece.
This elementary recall of the most evident Principled Thesis of Marxism and Leninism should be propagated everywhere. Trotsky is very right and SF honors itself publishing and defending it.
Here, there are still some tiny groups defending more or less the same position even if on other matters are still wrong.
I'll try to translate in french even if it is lacking to mention that both "trotskists" main groups here adopted pro-imperialists positions on Lybia, Ukrania and Syria. Perhaps with your authorisation I will add something to fill the gap?
NPA went as fas as asking french imperialism to bombard Kadahfi and Assad. They are absolute pro-imperialists and rightists.
Lutte Ouvrière (Worker's Fight) take the 'neutral' position that Trotsky critizise on this article. LO as it is known, in every ocasion adopts the same position: they talk some generalities and made some "historical recalls" ('to drown the fish' as frenchs say) and positioned themselves as Poncious Pïlatus.
Neutral, always neutral "both are to blame" statements are made and no action of any sort to denounce the imperialists crimes.
More to the left has been the Communist Youth (fully stalinists and pro Kim Yong Un)
that has picketed in front of the US consulat when they bombarded Syria.
NPA approuved of course the missile attack on Syria, and even one of their speakers, Besancennot, said that it was not enough (!). They accsued the Us imperialism of collaboring with "Assad"…. It is difficult to choose if they are idiots or canailles.
LO just doesn't bother because "we cannot choose between Assad and the rebels" (yes, they call the proxy troups of imperialism "rebels"). A position that is in fact a real support to imperialism.
Of course, add in the pieces about the NPA and Lo etc. Pleased you like it.
Good article, I don't agree with every single word but it is a good read so I am going to reblog this for you.
Reblogged this on Truth Troubles.
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Why is there a difference in price of GOLD ETF and the MCX value to GOLD?
Also some times the price of Gold drops but the price of GOLD ETF has increased, why does this happen?
Is there any place where we can compare the GOLD Vs GOLD ETF values.
I did a lot of research on how ETF's work and I can confirm that Santosh is right. It is basically due to the way ETF structure is created and operates. I have written a very detailed article on this http://insight.banyanfa.com/?p=635.
And this is true for all ETFs, not only Gold ETFs. There is a small table at the bottom of the article mentioned in the link above where you would see the difference between the NAV of the ETF and it's quoted value.
Dear Santosh, I feel you are comparing the future price of gold on MCX with the current price of Gold ETF.
i think , the etf gold unit value will diminish at rate of @1% p.a. till you hold it due to expense ratio by the AMC. SO i think, the price of etf unit would be lower compared to mcx gold price on long run.
I am really surprised to read that you spotted that ETF prices were not in correlation with the MCX Gold prices. ETFs are positively correlated with Gold prices quoted on MCX. If they were negatively correlated as you have mentioned, then there would be an opportunity to take advantage by arbitrage.
I am not sure if I am comparing the right numbers, and not comparing apples to oranges.
May like Ashal jauhari mentioned it might be due to mis match in demand vs supply.
My doubt was in case in future if I was to sell the GOLD EFT units to purchase physical gold what is the kind of price different between GOLD EFT price and Physical gold that we can expect.
Thank your for sharing your thoughts.
Dear Santosh, please do understand, GOLD ETFs are traded just like any other stock in the market. So there may be a situation due to mis match in demand & supply that the price of GOLD ETF is more or less than the physical Gold.


G-Shock splashed out the Rubles at the launch of their latest global flagship store in the heart of Mother Russia. With G-Shock's Japanese top brass in tow, the night brought together some of the country's most talented breakers, BMX riders, skaters, artists and DJs to showcase the world's #1 lifestyle watch. Check out the party pics below courtesy of our fam over at Sneaker Freaker Russia.


On Sunday, January 10 our congregation approved the extension of a call to Rev. John Hierlinger as our senior pastor. Pastor John has accepted and looks forward to beginning his ministry with our congregation and joining us in our Gateway of Faith mission.
Pastor John is a graduate of Luther College (B.A. in elementary education and teaching, '00) and Luther Seminary (M.Div, '08). He served as Director of Middle School Youth and Young Adult Ministries at St. Philip's Lutheran Church in Fridley, MN ('01-'06) and then received a call from St. Philip's to serve as their associate pastor ('08-'12). Pastor John has been serving at his current congregation, St. Timothy's Lutheran Church of Columbia Heights, MN since 2012 as a solo pastor.
Pastor John is married to his wife Jen and they have three children – Maddie, Sam and Will. As he begins his ministry with us, we will have many opportunities to learn more about him, his family and his many pastoral gifts.
Pastor John's first Sunday in worship at GA will be February 28th. Please mark your calendars for this Sunday as our faith community warmly welcomes John and his family into our GA family.


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Ark-Pine Bluff
Southern U
4:00 PM PT5:00 PM MT6:00 PM CT7:00 PM ET11:00 PM GMT7:00 AM 北京时间4:00 PM MST6:00 PM EST, Oct. 1, 2022
A.W. Mumford Stadium, Baton Rouge, Louisiana Attendance: 15,792
McCray propels Southern to 59-3 romp over UAPB
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) Besean McCray three four touchdown passes and Southern used a five-touchdown second quarter to rout Arkansas-Pine Bluff 59-3 on Saturday.
Southern (2-2, 1-1 Southwestern Athletic Conference) used McCray's 4-yard scoring toss to freshman Kendric Rhymes to grab a 7-3 lead after one quarter.
In the Jaguars' big second quarter, Rhymes scored on runs of 8 and 29 yards. McCray hooked up with Cornelius Dyson for a 35-yard score and added a 36-yard touchdown run. Corione Harris returned a Jalen Macon pass 62 yards for a score to give Southern a 42-3 lead at halftime.
McCray stretched the Southern lead to 56-3 after three quarters with touchdown throws to Gregory Perkins covering 14 yards and a 10-yarder to Cassius Allen.
McCray completed 14 of 18 passes for 241 yards with one interception for the Jaguars. Rhymes finished with 80 yards on 10 carries.
Macon completed 12 of 21 passes for 134 yards with three interceptions for the Golden Lions. UAPB rushed for three yards on 20 carries.
Southern piled up 550 yards of offense, while yielding just 190.


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Tahoe ski resort expansion plan raises concerns
HOMEWOOD, Calif. (AP) - An expansion project proposed by Homewood Moun-tain Ski Resort on Lake Tahoe's west shore has raised concerns from residents and conservationists.
Opponents say the redevelopment plan unveiled by the resort's owner - San Francisco-based real estate firm JMA Ventures - would cause major traffic congestion and disturb the community's quality of life.
But Art Chapman, president of JMA Ventures, told the Tahoe Daily Tribune that the multi-million-dollar project would be a major asset to the community.
Plans call for a base lodge that includes a 75-room boutique hotel; a new state-of-the-art base mountain facility; up to 25,000 square feet of retail space; and as many as 99 multi-family condominium units.
JMA Ventures planned to present a draft environmental impact statement of the project at a Feb. 23 meeting of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency's governing board.
Mason Overstreet, of Friends of the West Shore, praised developers for environmental improvements incorporated into the redevelopment project. "They have most definitely gone the extra mile," he said.
But Overstreet said he thinks the scale of the project is too large and incompatible with the community.
Carl Young, program director for the League to Save Lake Tahoe, joined Overstreet in expressing concern over the project's impact on traffic. The resort expansion and anticipated increase in tourism will create more traffic jams on Highway 89, he said.
"This project will increase traffic in the summer, and I question the scale of development in an area that is already vulnerable to traffic," Young told the Tribune.
David Tirman, executive vice president of JMA Ventures, said incorporating lodging facilities into the resort will help Homewood evolve from a ski destination exclusively for day commuters to one that can accommodate overnight guests, a plan that would reduce day traffic during the winter.
Homewood is committed to providing alternative forms of transportation such as bicycles, shuttles and hybrid electric cars to offset the anticipated increase in summer traffic, Tirman added.


We said in the previous message, in Part 1, that Jesus Christ is the wisdom and power of God to those that are being saved. Those that are perishing, stumbling block or foolishness. Paul challenged the wise and intelligent of this world and showed that God chose what was considered foolish by the world, to be the very thing that brought the knowledge of God to those that beleived and that was through the preaching.
Now Paul here is saying, God at his maximum foolishness, is still wiser than men. Paul also says that God at his maximum weakness, he is still stronger than men. This simply shows that no matter how wise a person thinks he is or no matter how strong a person thinks he is, he does not even come close to God's maximum weakness and foolishness. So, this simply means that any person who thinks that they can outsmart or out muscle God, are completely foolish.
Paul then addressed the Christians in Corinth and told them to look at themselves. He told them that they were not the most wise according to worldy standard, they were not the most powerful and many were not of noble birth meaning sons and daughter of kings. Paul tells them, look at yourself as an example of how God chooses the so called nobodies to save and to preach to others.
As foolish and as weak as this world might think that you all are, God chose you to shame the wise and the strong.
28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.
Paul then continued to say, God chose even things that are low and despised by this world and their standards, and he chose things that are considered nothing by this world and brough to nothing that which is considered something by this world. God simply stripped this world of their pride and self righteousness and did this so that no one may boast in his presence. This was to prevent anyone from claiming that it is because of their own effort that they have been saved. This was to prevent anyone from thinking that they can do anything or something to earn their salvation. God simply looked at the rich, the wise, the strong and the self righteous and said, I don't need your wisdom, I don't need your richness, your intelligence and your self righteousness, I need your humility. I need you to be as humble as children.
Now since we could not rely on our own wisdom but on the wisdom of God, Jesus Christ became our wisdom from God. His death and resurrection gave us the right standing in God's eyes, made us holy and saved us form eternal destruction. We did nothing and could not do what Jesus did and did nothing to deserve what he did and therefore, we cannot boast in ourselves but rather we can only boast in The Lord. Amen.


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Creta et Cyrene (auch Creta et Cyrenae) war eine Provinz des Römischen Reiches. Sie wurde 67 v. Chr. aus der bereits seit 74 v. Chr. bestehenden Provinz Cyrene (Kyrenaika) und dem neu hinzugewonnenen Creta (Kreta) gegründet, nachdem Quintus Caecilius Metellus Creticus 69–67 v. Chr. die Piraten von Kreta vertrieben hatte.

Im Jahre 36 v. Chr. fiel die Provinz als Geschenk des Marcus Antonius in die Hand von Kleopatra Selene, obwohl er den Kretern 43 v. Chr. die Freiheit versprochen hatte, sollten sie sich Marcus Iunius Brutus, in diesem Jahr Statthalter auf Kreta, widersetzen.

Spätestens 27 v. Chr. wurde die Provinz unter Augustus erneut eingerichtet und umfasste die Insel Kreta sowie die Landschaft Kyrenaika um die alte griechische Kolonie Kyrene auf dem nordafrikanischen Festland.

Die Provinz wurde von einem Prokonsul verwaltet, den der Senat aus den Reihen der ehemaligen Praetoren bestimmte. Sein Hauptsitz war Gortyn auf Kreta.

Bei der Provinzreform des Kaisers Diokletian wurde Creta et Cyrene in die drei eigenständigen Provinzen Creta, Libya superior und Libya inferior aufgeteilt.

Statthalter

Literatur

Anmerkungen

Creta et Cyrene

Geschichte Kretas
Geschichte (Libyen)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Acenta Bright Bar is the number one independent bright/cold finished bar producer in the UK. We specialise in the manufacture of high quality products in a comprehensive range of sizes in engineering steels.
Acenta has a proud history originating from businesses established independently in the late 19th and early 20th century. Hot Rolled can be traced back to George Gadd in Tipton, 1865 whilst Bright Bar was established across four businesses pre and post the Second World War. The Distribution division was established in 1923 under the Macreadys brand. Successive corporate acquisitions culminated in the rebranding of the name to ACENTA and the Management taking ultimate ownership in March 2013. A new trading division, Acenta Steel Services, commenced operation in January 2014.


A real estate report prepared by (ITEC) the Institut de Tecnologia de la Construccio de Catalunya (ITEC) has predicted the housing market boom will continue until the year 2021. The document states that "housing promotion" is likely to grow by 11 percent as of the end of the year 2019. This forecast reflects a decrease from the 16.3 percent growth rate recorded in the year 2017. Current research predicts the decrease is likely to continue through a 3 percent drop in 2021.
Josep Ramon Fontana who is responsible for ITEC market reports stated that there are no problems in the sector at this time. The market enjoys a positive flow projects, but factors such as the slow down in property construction and the longevity of financial investors may have a negative future influence.


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Metalwerx, Inc.
School for Jewelry | Metal Arts | Community Studio
Onsite Weekly Classes
Onsite Workshops
Summer with the Masters
Registration and Refund Policies
Studiomates
Spring Symposium
Tricks of the Trade
Basic Tool Recommendations
Materials, Services, & Suppliers
Glossary of Jewelry Terms
COVID-19 Onsite Updates
View our courses and events calendar
Kelly has a wonderful way of making students feel comfortable trying new techniques. She helped us develop an attitude of experimentation and of learning from mistakes or surprises. This was extremely helpful for me.
Anonymous, Summer 2014
Beyond Basic Lapidary: Designing with Stone
Lapidary is more than just cutting and polishing gems. Learn how to integrate stone and metal as a whole, rather than as separate objects. Michael will demonstrate how to shape rough stones, drill through them, make perfect bezels for unique shapes, set stones on top of stones, add decorative rivets, and much more.
During this intensive four-day workshop, students can choose to cut numerous stones, apply unique setting methods to finished stones, and/or focus on completing pieces as time allows.
Michael is an internationally recognized lapidary artist and master of bezel setting who has worked in the field full time since 1990. "The stone is as important as the metal. I am looking for an integration of the media, a manipulation and blending of the two: Using stone as a medium, not as an accessory." - Michael Boyd. If you'd like to see more of Michael's work, visit his website www.michaelboyd.com
NOTE: This class is for students with metalsmithing skills and previous lapidary experience, who wish to further explore incorporating unique stones into finished work.
Michael Boyd
Michael Boyd is a nationally renowned jewelry designer, metalsmith, and lapidary artist based in Pueblo, Colorado. Below is a blog article written by Yleana Martinez, that Metalwerx published in 2013.
Michael Boyd made his first piece of jewelry at age twelve. Classes in lapidary at a recreation center in his hometown west of Denver, Colorado, reinforced his love of color and design, but, in college, painting and ceramics became his primary focus. He continued making jewelry, and then, he says, "Metalsmithing just sort of took over."
More than two decades later, Michael is internationally recognized for his stunning, elaborate jewelry and objects that combine hand-cut stones with a mix of metals. Each piece is a distinctive work of art. Stones the general public wouldn't easily recognize are often the focus of Michael's jewelry. Smaller precious gems take a back seat and highlight the surprising beauty of agates, jaspers, and rarer rocks such as mookaite and petrified woods.
Michael recently placed second in two categories of the prestigious 2013 Saul Bell Awards, a necklace in the gold/platinum category and a letter knife in hollowware/art objects. It was his first attempt to apply to a competition—not bad results for a first timer. "It just sounded like fun and I had a few pieces around," he said
Lapidary became an important aspect of his jewelry when he realized he wanted to make pieces that did not include traditionally-cut stones. "I wanted shapes and forms that fit the metalsmithing I was doing," he said. Part of the fun of doing lapidary is that he goes prospecting, sometimes taking along pack goats to carry back his stash. He has traveled throughout the country in search of rough: Montana for sapphires, Wyoming for jade, and all over the west for agate and jasper. Early next year he is joining a group of gemologists in Tanzania to mine sapphires and search for other rough gem material.
Michael is always part of Metalwerx' Summer with the Masters series. There is typically a flurry of anticipation at the studio as volunteers prepare the studio for his return. Scaffolding is erected for the lapidary work stations, plastic sheeting is tacked to walls to protect tools and the big-screen TV, and steps are taken to ensure there is a fresh and plentiful supply of towels for cleanup.
The biggest excitement happens when Michael empties his suitcases of rough. There can be as many as 60 paper plates filled with a rainbow of rough gems for students to work with, including topaz, aquamarine, jade, rubies, tourmaline, crystal, quartz, and more. One can only drool at the selection and dream of the transformation from rough to sparkling beauty.
Students will benefit from learning how to use stone as a means of enhancing jewelry design. Michael has many tips and tricks to share about how to make perfect bezels, to set stones on top of stones, and to add embellishments. "You can buy manufactured findings—and stones– and stick them on your piece of jewelry," he said. "I'd rather make my own findings and cut my own stones. These [skills] will make your jewelry entirely your own."
Over the years Michael has taught hundreds of students the joys of cutting, shaping, and polishing stone. He looks forward to each workshop because inevitably, someone will ask a question that he's never before had to answer, or he'll discover some new and better way to present information. "It's a constant learning process for me," he said. "It makes you think." But the best part of hauling equipment and pounds of rocks to set up shop for a week? "It's fun."
Lapidary supplies (diamond bits, high grade epoxy, etc.) will be available for students to purchase as needed for individual work. If students wish to get a kit, it is estimated at $85. Rough stones will be available for sale as well, and are priced per gram or carat.
Students should bring
their own bezel wire in the metal they want to use (fine silver, sterling silver, and gold are recomended)
Don't hesitate to call us if you have questions (781-891-3854).
Payable to instructor in class.
August 13 -16, 2022
Basic and above
Jewelry 1 and basic lapidary skills required
Metalwerx
Cindy is likely one of the best teachers I've ever experienced. She not only knew her own field exceptionally well but had empathy for the student's abilities, pace, style of learning, etc. She seemed to be constantly able to register the situation for each individual student - sometimes while she was actively teaching to the group. She is an OUTSTANDING instructor.
Michael L., Santa Fe, NM
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A team led by Dr. Hermann Ali Hinderer advised Photonics Systems Holding GmbH on the acquisition of LS Laser Systems, a specialist in laser trimming. Photonics aims to expand its status as a leading laser machine manufacturer. The acquisition also serves as a succession solution for the previous owners of LS Laser Systems, who intend to withdraw from the company in the medium term.
Photonics Systems group around InnoLas Solutions GmbH is a leader in laser micro material processing. The Krailling-based group develops and produces machine and process solutions for laser applications in the photovoltaic, electronics, and semiconductor sectors and has been part of the portfolio of companies managed by CGS Management AG, Pfäffikon since last year. The group employs more than 80 people worldwide and supplies customers in Europe, the U.S., and Asia.
Headquartered in Munich, LS Laser Systems is a medium-sized company with more than 25 years of experience in laser technology. Its core business comprises the development, production, and sale of systems for active and passive laser trimming and laser micro processing systems.


Once again the zero carbon homes initiative grinds to a halt ("Government scraps zero carbon target", www.building.co.uk, 10 July 2015). No such thing as zero carbon anyway. The "carbon neutral" concept at least allows degrees of "success" each side of neutral. Zero as a concept imposes such intractability. And legally binding CO2 budgets?
Putting emissions into perspective (data a little dated but you'll get the picture) in 2007 the top five countries (China, USA, Russia, Japan, India) were estimated to have emitted 16.05 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide, so a 2 million tonnes savings loss is not really a loss at all. And if all other 191 (or thereabouts) countries in the world (totalling some 12 billion or so tonnes of CO2 emissions) also reduced their emissions by 2 million each, that's another 382 million tonnes saved.
The key to success in the UK is not the reduction of CO2 but the reduction of energy bills. A saving in your pocket has tangible meaning. The simplest way to achieve that is to use highly insulated frame construction together with heat recovery ventilation, which also enables dispensing with a central heating system and the need for plumbed in radiators. Small, removable electric ones could be added but which could be taken off and popped in a cupboard when not required – quite frequently.
And how many boiler manufacturers now have heat recovery ventilation systems as part of their product range? And with pollen filters, dusting as a household chore becomes a thing of the past (just imagine), not to mention relief from suffering for anyone with a pollen allergy. Trust me, it works (although sadly it doesn't address the issue of existing housing stock). But housebuilders seem reluctant to embrace the concept. It will also work with affordable housing. Sell the benefits and homeowners will not only "get it", they will save money, energy consumption will be reduced and what follows? Hey presto, reduction in carbon dioxide emissions. Provided, that is, that those household cost savings are not then spent on taking foreign holidays travelling by air. What was that I heard mentioned somewhere about personal carbon dioxide passports?


How's everyone going? It's been pretty intense over the past couple of weeks with loads of assignments and the weather not making up its mind.
But have no fear… here's some qual tips. Remember that our counselling services are free, but to get in quick as there is a processing time. The doctor and counselling services can be found three floors above Tussock, which means one floor above us here at MAWSA.
I've found that making time for sleep and unwinding helps with the stress levels and makes assignments easier to submit. The importance of sleep is largely slept on….get it? So, make sure to get your zzz's and take a wee nap when you need it.


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The biodiversity of Great Britain and Ireland is one of the most well-studied geographical areas of its size in the world. This biota work  has resulted in the publication of distribution atlases for many taxonomic groups. This page lists these publications.

A full atlas is generally regarded as a definitive work on distribution, whereas a provisional atlas is typically produced as an interim stage to show survey progress.

One of the bodies responsible for publishing a great number of distribution atlases is the Institute of Terrestrial Ecology. Each atlas presents 10 km² distribution maps for the species within its scope. Maps typically use different symbols to signify records from differing time-periods - solid symbols for 10-km squares (hectads) that have recent records, and unfilled symbols for 10-km squares for which only older records exist, according to a defined cut-off date.

The atlases are produced by the Biological Records Centre (BRC), which is run by the Institute of Terrestrial Ecology, part of the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology based at CEH Wallingford, Crowmarsh Gifford, Oxfordshire. The data used to produce the maps is gathered by volunteer biological recorders and collated by the BRC Recording Schemes.

The atlases fall into two groups:

 Main Atlases are commercially published books, presenting the current state of knowledge for well-recorded groups. They typically include text information about the species, and other supporting material such as analyses of trends. They are usually produced only where a well-established recording scheme has been in operation for a significant period of time, and the scheme organisers believe that the data represent a comprehensive picture of the distribution of each species.
 Provisional Atlases give recorders an indication of progress and illustrate early results. Some of the later ones are quite detailed and less "provisional" - for example the Hoverfly Atlas, which provides charts of flight-period as well as text, and the Atlas of Aquatic Bugs, which has biological information and identification aids for some of the animals.

Flora

Fauna

References

External links
 Biological Records Centre website

Biological literature
Florae (publication)
Biota of the British Isles
Natural history of Ireland
Natural history of the United Kingdom
Atlases


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Red Velvet Returns With Their Sweet and Bubbly Song "Red Flavor"!
Date5 years and 6 months ago Views 6611By Sunlight Beauty | K-POP AYISYEN
Recently, Red Velvet has returned with their new bubbly and sweet song, "Red Flavor"! The lyrics describe a young girl falling in love during the summer and the song gives off a fresh summer vibe and brightens up your summer with a catchy beat and the member's superb vocals and raps.
In the music video, the members are interviewing fruits and having having a party. The music video was vibrant and colorful with fruit displayed in the background as the girls are dancing to the music.
Both the song and the video have similarities to "Dumb Dumb" and "Rookie", being that they all have a catchy beat, addicting chorus, and quirky cinematography that is unique to Red Velvet's image and style.
"Red Flavor" is the title track of their brand new album, "The Red Summer". The album contains five tracks, all of which showcase Red Velvet's style and give off good vibes for the summer.
The Red Summer, including it's title track has received much love both from the Korean and international audience and hopefully it will continue to receive a lot of love!
Contributor: Sunlight Beauty


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The Jarmels waren eine US-amerikanische Doo-Wop- / Rhythm-and-Blues-Gesangsgruppe, die ihren Namen nach einer Straße in Harlem wählten.

Geschichte
Die fünf Mitglieder stammen aus Richmond (Virginia). Sie sangen dort seit einigen Jahren bereits im selben Kirchenchor zusammen, bevor sie die Band gründeten. 1961 unterzeichneten sie einen Plattenvertrag bei Laurie Records und nahmen mit geringem Erfolg Little Lonely One auf. Im Sommer 1961 hatten sie ihren einzigen größeren Hit mit A Little Bit of Soap, der unter anderem 1978 erfolgreich von der Gruppe Showaddywaddy gecovert wurde.

Singles
 1961: Little Lonely One,
 1961: A Little Bit of Soap, Platz 12 der US-Charts
 1961: I'll Follow You
 1963: Come On Girl,

Literatur
 Julia Edenhofer: Das Große Oldie Lexikon. Bastei-Lübbe 1991, ISBN 3-404-60288-9.
 Günter Ehnert: Hit Guide, US Chart Singles 1950-1963. Taurus Press 1992, ISBN 3-922-54247-6, S. 124.

Weblinks
 The Jarmels bei discogs, abgerufen am 27. Juni 2013

Einzelnachweise

Doo-Wop-Gruppe
US-amerikanische Band


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Firefox 8 for Windows x64: Has 64-bit browsing finally come of age?
By Sebastian Anthony on July 20, 2011 at 2:42 pm
Over the last couple of weeks, Mozilla has finally stepped up its 64-bit testing process. There are now five slaves dedicated to building Firefox for Windows x64, which means that from Firefox 8 and onwards, you'll be able to pick up 64-bit builds that are functionally identical to its 32-bit cousins but operating in native 64-bit CPU and memory space.
Update 25/11/2011: It seems the 64-bit build of Firefox 8 for Windows never came to fruition — and we're not sure why. You can grab a 64-bit build of the current Nightly, and it works very well, but there's no word of when Windows x64 will be officially supported. One day, perhaps.
When I first took 64-bit Firefox for a workout last year, it wasn't the best of experiences: it crashed, JavaScript performance was abysmal, and it was generally sub-par compared to the stable, 32-bit branch. Today, however, Firefox 8 64-bit is stable and it's fast; it's really, really fast. Even more importantly, though, there are now stable 64-bit browser plug-ins for Flash and Java. In other words, there's very little reason to not use Firefox 8 x64; you can download a copy from the Nightly site (it won't interfere with your stable install), grab Flash 11 beta for Windows x64 and Java 6 for Windows x64, and start surfing. It's that simple.
Just how fast is the 64-bit version of Firefox 8? About 10% faster than the 32-bit version — but instead of taking our word for it, take a look at the comparative results from the Peacekeeper suite, the most comprehensive browser benchmark. The following results are from the ExtremeTech test rig which houses an Intel i7 930 with 6GB of RAM and an Nvidia GTX 460.
Firefox 8 32-bit (left) vs. Firefox 8 64-bit (right) Click either image to zoom in slightly
The results speak for themselves: Firefox 8 64-bit is about 10% faster than Firefox 8 32-bit. The 64-bit build beats the 32-bit build in every regard except for the Data benchmark, which tests the JavaScript engine's alacrity with arrays. The Social Networking benchmark is also JavaScript-intensive, but it tests encryption and filtering functions, which the 64-bit build seems to be better at. The most evident and important improvement is in the 64-bit build's handling of the DOM Operations benchmark; it's almost 25% faster, which results in almost every dynamic website loading faster and feeling more responsive.
In other benchmarks, the difference between 32- and 64-bit builds is less noticeable. Most IE Test Drive benchmarks resulted in similar scores, with the 64-bit build sometimes creeping ahead by a few percent. With the slightly-dated SunSpider JavaScript benchmark, Firefox 8 32-bit was about 5% faster than its 64-bit brother: 171ms vs 180ms. With the Kraken JavaScript benchmark, however, the 64-bit build destroys the 32-bit version by a good 10%. In almost every regard, then, the 64-bit build seems to be faster than the 32-bit build — and while it might be entirely objective, the 64-bit build really does feel faster too.
Firefox 8 32-bit (left) vs. Firefox 8 64-bit (right) Click the image to zoom in slightly
Memory-wise, the story isn't quite so happy: the 64-bit build of Firefox definitely uses more memory. With the same set of tabs, Firefox 64-bit had a memory footprint of 320MB, compared to just 230MB for Firefox 32-bit. The plugin-container was also twice the size under Firefox x64: 100MB when playing a YouTube video compared to 50MB for Firefox 32-bit. This could be due to the 64-bit build of Flash Player, however — or it could be that the new memory management features in Firefox 8 have not yet been turned on in the 64-bit build.
It's important to note that Mozilla doesn't yet support 64-bit Firefox, but with an army of Windows 64-bit build bots now churning out test and Nightly builds, the wheels have certainly been set in motion. The earliest we'll see an official 64-bit build of Firefox for Windows is with Firefox 8, which is due in November. Still, if you're not using your computer for mission-critical work, download a 64-bit Nightly build of Firefox for Windows and give it a spin. You will be pleasantly surprised.
It's crazy: almost every modern computer now has a 64-bit processor under the hood, but only Firefox on Linux and Safari on Mac are 64-bit applications; 64-bit Chrome and Opera simply don't exist, and the 64-bit version of Internet Explorer 9 has a broken JavaScript engine. Some 90% of desktop and laptop users are still using Windows machines, and the bulk of their time is spent in a 32-bit version of Internet Explorer, Firefox, or Chrome. With 64-bit Firefox it looks like the vast majority of computer users might finally start using the full potential of their hardware, which is certainly a good thing.