text:
The first Jewish settlements in Białowieża
The first Jewish settlements in Białowieża (half of 19th century to 1914)
Map of the gouvernate and the Pruzhany county 1820 (www.radzima.org.pl)
The first Jewish families settled in Białowieża in the first half of 19th century, before 1856, when Białowieża was a part of Russia – the Grodno Gouvernate, Pruzhany county (right now Grodno and Prużana are part of Belarus). For the Białowieża community, the main points of reference were the cities situated east of the city (currently in Belarus) – Shereshevo (35 km away) and the county city of Pruzhany (45 km away) which was connected with Białowieża by a forest route, called the "Prużański Route" until this very day (however, disused due to leading across the international border). The other trail through the forest, called the "Kamieniecki trail", connected Białowieża and Kamieniuki (25 km away), and also Kamieniec Litewski (45 km away) and Kobryń (95 km away).The first Jewish migrants to Białowieża came from the Grodno Gouvernate, which Białowieża was part of in these times. They were coming from the nearby Shereshevo [Szereszewo, Szereszów, Szereszowa] (in the end of the XIXth century, 4800 out of 9200 citizens were Jewish), Pruzhany, as well as Kobryń and Grodno. Most settled in the Stoczek village, which was in those days comprised of Waszkiewicz street (currently Białowieża's town centre) from the Osocznicy alley up to the Bartnicy alley. The village was closed from both sides with wooden gates, guarded in shifts by all of the adult members of the village (the men in the winter, the women in the summer) [14]. They lived in straw thatch cottages. [18].
First families
1895, Studnia z żurawiem w jednym z białowieskich gospodarstw, zdjęcie z albumu Царская охота в Беловежской пуще.
The earliest information about Jews in Białowieża is found in the Memorial Book of Sokółka. From its pages we discover that prior to 1856, Jacob Mejer Halperin was the rabbi in Białowieża [1] . This means that one of the Jewish families had to settle in Białowieża at least few years before 1856 – to create the necessity of hiring a rabbi. In the Yad Vashem documents [13] and some testimonies of families [12] we find the surnames of several people born in Białowieża between 1865 and 1890, which means that their parents had to arrive some time before. Most of them were lumber traders– this is one of the professions mentioned by Wiszniakow, which in 1894 documents that Jews mainly dealt in small-scale trading, including the manufacture and selling of "bread wine", and that there was no transaction concerning wood without their mediation as they were known to be excellent assessors (appraisers valuing the price of wood) [11].
The oldest Jewish families in Białowieża from this time are:
The Burnsteins - Avraham Burnstein was born in Białowieża in 1865, he became a lumber trader, and his family is present in the further history of Białowieża.
The Tenenbaums -Beiła Tenenbaum, the daughter of Meier Tenenenbaum was born in 1865 in Białowieża. She married Avraham Burnstein. There are no records of the family in the midwar period.
The Salmans - Yakov Salman, the son of David Shlomo and Dora Chana Salman is born in 1870 in Białowieża. He became a lumber trader.
The Sztejnbergers (Steinbergs) - Yakov, the son of Chana and Elijahu Sztejnberg is born in 1878 in Białowieża.
Z prawej Szejna Halperin w Białowieży
The Halperins (the Galperns) - Jeszua Halperin came to Białowieża in the II half of the XIXth century from Grodno. We know for certain that his children were born in Białowieża – daughter before 1892 and son, Lazar in 1892. Jeszua was an owner of a wood sorting department. The descendants of Halperin currently live in Israel – two of them had visited Białowieża in 2016 [12].
The Feldbaums – a young married couple, Aaron and Judith Feldbaum come to Białowieża from Szereszewo (Shereshev) in 1875. They buy a house on the main street Stoczek (at that time, in the village of Stoczek). Aaron will soon become a very important member of the society, which we can see in the farewell letter that the Jewish Community of Białowieża prepared when Aaron was immigrating to the USA in 1921. Aaron was one of the prime initiators and founders of the synagogue in Białowieża. The numerous Feldbaum family immigrated between 1900 and 1920 to USA and Canada, where their descendants live to this today.
The Talmuds – Israel Talmud was born in Białowieża in 1884.
The Klejnermans (the Kleinermans) – Nachman, the son of Szlomo and Dora Klejnerman was born in Białowieża in 1890. He became the owner of a grocery store.
Nr 53 - dom rodziny Feldbaumów
The Poczynkos – Bracha Poczynko, the daughter of Izaak and Szoszana Poczynko, was born in Białowieża in 1898.
The Grodno archives contain documents mentioning Jews who had insured their buildings in Białowieża in the years between 1895 to 1898. El Leibow Steinberg insured two houses and a pigpen in Zastawa – the first house for 60 roubles, the second house for 300 roubles and the pigpen for 10 roubles; Szmul Ratowiecki insured his house for 80 roubles and his pigpen for 10 roubles. In Stoczek, Berko Krugman insured his house for 8 roubles, his pigpen for 5 roubles; and Icko Lerenkind insured the house for 100 roubles and the pigpen for 8 roubles [3].
The county office for industrial tax in Pruzhany mentions Naftaly Lipkowski and Abram Burnstein among the taxpayers united in the merchant guild, recording them as citizens of Białowieża handling the production and sales of poultry feed [4].
Uliczka w Białowieży, lata 1900-1910, zdjęcie ze strony FotoPolska
Towards the end of the 19th century, Białowieża started to expand intensively as a result of the adjunction of Białowieża Forest to the tsar's appanages in 1888. In between 1889 and 1894, the tsar of Russia Alexander the Third ordered the erection of the Hunting Palace in Białowieża and its premises, a brick Orthodox Church (preserved to this day); and a housing settlement for the officers of the Appanage Administration in the Dyrekcyjny Park. [t/n: landscape park in the Białowieża Forest]. The movement of migrant workers resulted in the settling of Jews in Białowieża, who would very soon be opening their first stores. "The Jewish nation would arrive here in the 1880s, during the construction works on the tsar's palace and the buildings in the Dyrekcyjny Park. Most of them weren't working at the construction site itself, but came to trade, as Białowieża was at this time a gathering of the nation, there were so many workers. A number of private buildings were erected in Stoczek, before they did not reach past the Osocznicy alley, and by the end of the 19th century they began to build even further (…). There were three lumber mills. Stock was brought by the Białowieża cart drivers. There were plenty of people, and plenty of work in the forest to build such a house – disposal, logging, preparation of the wood, transporting, processing and woodwork" [24].
Mężczyzna z rodziny Lerenkindów pod Pałacem Carskim w Białowieży, zdjęcie ze zbiorów rodzinny
In the 1890s, Białowieża was the headquarters of the administrator of the Białowieża Forest and the head of the municipality (voyt). There were two folk schools in the city, a clinic and a post office. Piotr Bajko relates that Białowieża at that time had 121 houses, including the villages of Stoczek (56 houses), Podolany (28 houses), Zastawa (32 houses) and Krzyże (5 houses), with around 600 citizens [5] – the sources for this data are not mentioned, however, and the numbers seem severely underestimated.
The Geographic Dictionary of the Kingdom of Poland and other Slavic Countries published in 1895 states that Białowieża already boasted of 56 houses at the reign of king August the Third, so about a hundred years earlier [25]. As for the villages – Zastawa is mentioned with 38 houses and 181 villagers [25], while Stoczek and Podolany are noted without any data and Krzyże (figuring in the dictionary as "Kryże") is called a "wilderness next to the village Zastawa" [29]. The dictionary had various editors, its contents often based on material sent straight from the place of interest, therefore having different levels of substantial value – which the editors themselves admit in the preface.
Another source from that time is the Russian Census held in 1897. The census gives us the information about 886 people living in Stoczek, of which 749 belonged to the Orthodox faith; Zastawa – 596 inhabitants of which 544 belonged to the Orthodox faith. In total, Białowieża was inhabited by at least 1482 people, of which 1293 belonged to the Orthodox faith [30]. The census only considers villages with at least 500 residents, which explains the absence of Podolany and Krzyże. The group which interests us the most are the 189 inhabitants with no stated religion – we can suspect that most of them held to the Jewish tradition, as Catholics began to arrive in Białowieża en masse only after the First World War. In these times, Catholics were a group small enough that they belonged to the parish in Szereszewo – a Catholic parish in Białowieża was founded only in 1926, with the church being consecrated in 1934 [31].
From the testimonies of the Feldbaum family we learn that when they were living in Białowieża (1875-1920) there were around 30 other Jewish families there as well – so, close to 100 people; although we are not sure of the exact years out of the 40 [2]. Georgij Karcow writes in 1903 that "more than 3/4 of the inhabitants of the Forest [Ed.: with that word he refers to the whole territory, not just Białowieża] are Orthodox, around 12% of them are Catholic, and about just as many of them are Jewish" [10].
Carski dworzec kolejowy "Białowieża Pałac" pobrane ze strony Wirtualny Sztetl Podpis pod zdjęciem "Przybycie cara do Białowieży, gwiazda Dawida wskazuje na udział żydowskich rzemieślników w budowie dworca"
Stacja kolejowa Białowieża Pałac 1895, Carski pawilon w dzień przyjazdu cara Mikołaja II i jego świty [fot. z albumu Царская охота в Беловежской пуще]
The construction of the Palace was the reason to build a railway connecting Białowieża with Hajnówka (built between 1897-98) and from 1907 with Siedlce and Warszawa. The railway had two stations – Białowieża Towarowa and Białowieża Pałac. Contrary to the reports of Jan Sawicki, Jewish workers took part in the construction of the Białowieża Pałac station, an act which was commemorated by embedding two Stars of David in the main gate's architecture. The current reconstruction of the Białowieża Pałac station doesn't include this element; whereas the Białowieża Towarowa building has been fully preserved and currently holds a restaurant venue.
In 1903, a modern highway was built, connecting Białowieża with Hajnówka and Bielsk on one side, and on the other side with Pruzhany [9]. Białowieża's new accessibility resulted in many Jewish families coming from the west – we know for sure about two families which moved there from Warsaw at the beginning of the 20th century – Sznabel and Cynamon, and the family Skałka which moved from Siedlce.
It is unknown when exactly, but the first synagogue was built before the First World War – it was a wooden synagogue in Stoczek. After WW1, a private prayer house in a brick building was built on the same street [6]. There was also a school for boys – a cheder [7]. It is uncertain which cemetery was used for the burial ceremonies – Piotr Bajko claims (probably based on testimonies of the oldest inhabitants) that there was a cemetery in Szereszewo before the First World War , but in Pinkas haKehilot we find information about a cemetery in Narewka [7]. There are no sources concluding which of the cemeteries was in use. It is also not known which religious group of Jews the inhabitants of Białowieża belonged to – though there are some clues indicating they may have been Misnagdim.
In addition to selling and pricing the wood in the middle of the 19th century, Jews took the positions of tradesmen, craftsmen. They also bought out honey and wax from the beekeepers, up until 1897 when the tsar prohibited beekeeping. Jan Karpiński, based on the interviews he held with the last beekeepers in the '30s of the 20th century writes: "Jews were buying out the honey and the wax in the villages. For a full wooden jug they paid from 2 roubles upwards, and in outstanding situations, the price of good linden honey could go up to 15 roubles for a pot. Wax in honeycombs was 5 zlotys (75 kapiejkas) per pound. They also bought the after-wax production remains" [17].
An inhabitant of Białowieża, Borys Rusko, recounts two families noted in Białowieża "at the time of the Tsar" which his father, Emillian Rusko, mentioned in his stories. Kuszel Lubietkin lived in a forester's lodge in Podolany before the First World War: "Kuszel lived for some time next to the Terebenthen, or the tar-house [Ed.: more likely next to the tar-house as the Terebenthen was founded by Germans in the 1915]. It was on the crossroad of this way which goes from Podolany to the border and the Pruzhany road, the road that leads from Białowieża. On the crossroad of these two roads before the war, [Ed: before the First World War] at the time ot the Tsar, there were buildings where the workers who carried the wood could live. Kuszel probably had a job transporting turpentine, or something like that. From there, from that place, he came to Podolany" [19]. In 1922 Kuszel moved to Podolany. The other family that Rusko remembers are the Słonimskis: "Słonimski was also living there [Ed: in the forester's lodge in Podolany]. Before the First World War, his son was studying in Petersburg, at the mathematical and astronomical institute. My father told me about that, because he was often visiting his sister, flirting with her. They were very open and friendly, he said they were a very nice family" [19]. The Słonimski family moved then to Białowieża, to the Zastawa district [20].
Pierwszy z prawej - Aaron Feldabum, z matką Zeldą i bratem Nachmanem, 1875, prawdopodbnie przed wyjazdem Aarona w tym samym roku do Białowieży. Zdj. ze zbiorów rodziny
For a period of about 20 years, wood trading ceased to be good business in Białowieża. In 1888, the Białowieża Forest became attached to the Tsar's private property, and was designated as a hunting territory for him and other dignitaries. Exploitation of the forest had to be limited, and finally halted in 1897 – the very same year in which beekeeping was prohibited. [15; 16; 17].
At the beginning of the 20th century more Jewish families moved to Białowieża, some from Siedlce and Warsaw. However, part of the settled families decided to emigrate just like many Jews living in Russia due to the unfavourable politics of Tsars Alexander the Third and Nicolas the Second. From 1882 till 1917 many restrictive bans were imposed on Jews, such as the prohibition of settling and buying land, as well limitations in choice of career and education opportunities and visible discrimination in the army. The bureaucracy and the nobility were also hostile towards Jews, blaming them for the destructive fallout of modernisation and industrialisation. After tsar Alexander the Third was assassinated in 1881 by a group of revolutionaries, a wave of anti-Jewish pogroms committed by peasants rippled across Russia and the Polish Kingdom (1881-1906). In the Grodno Gouvernorate, which Białowieża was a part of, ten pogroms were noted, in which 365 people died. The biggest pogroms took place in Białystok (1906) and Brześć (1905) [32].
This whole situation caused a mass emigration of Jews from the Russian Empire territory. Most fled to the United States, but also to Great Britain, Argentina, Canada, Palestine, France and Southern Africa (place of emigration of the Kiszyszki community, likely the family of the Białowieża rabbi Kopel Kahana).
There are also records of pogroms in Narewka, a mere 18 kilometres from Białowieża. Leon Leyson from Narewka, a Holocaust Survivor from Schindler's list writes in his book: "Protected by the love and care of my family, I didn't know much about the oppressions which fell on the Jews in Narewka. My parents survived the pogroms at the beginning of the 20th century, when this part of Poland belonged to Tsarist Russia. After these incidents, many Jews from our surroundings left for America (...)"[33].
There is no information about a pogrom happening in that time in Białowieża. Nevertheless, the harsh conditions of life in the end of the 19th and at the beginning of the 20th century together with the unsettling news coming from the neighbour villages became reason enough for most of the Białowieża families to emigrate. Certainly this was the case of the numerous family of Aaron and Judith Feldbaum. The first member of the family to move to the USA was the husband of Małka Feldbaum, Chaim Aaron Schneider, a soldier of the Tsar's army in 1901. His family wanted to save him from being sent to the front line of the upcoming Russian-Japanese war. By the outbreak of the First World War, four more Feldbaums moved to the USA. We do not have data concerning other families, but we can suspect that the families of Tannenbaum, Ratowicki and Lipkowski made similar escapes, as their surnames, present in the end of the 19th century, do not appear in any sources concerning the interwar times in Białowieża.
Rabbis of Sokółka, Translated by Selwyn Rose [in:] Memorial Book of Sokolka, Encyclopedia of Jewish Diaspora, (Jerusalem, 1968) http://www.jewishgen.org/Yizkor/sokolka/Sok055.html;
The Feldbaum Family Chronicles, http://www.feldbaumfamily.net/Home.ae;
NPAH [The National Historical Archive in Grodno], Archives 780/1/1;
NPAH, Archives 1014/1/3;
Piotr Bajko, Encyclopedia of the Białowieża Forest, Białowieża, http://www.encyklopedia.puszcza-bialowieska.eu/index.php?dzial=haslo&id=188;
Tomasz Wiśniewski, Bóżnice Białostocczyzny, (Białystok 1992), 133;
Pinkas HaKehilot, Poland, Vol. 8 (2005), Yad Vashem, 139-140: "Bialowieza";
Pinkas HaKehilot, Poland, Vol. 8 (2005), Yad Vashem, "Narewka Mała";
Piotr Bajko, Białowieża, której już nie ma, (Białowieża 2015), 123;
Georgij Karcow, Puszcza Białowieska. Zarys historii, współczesne gospodarstwo łowieckie i polowania Panujących w Puszczy, (S. Petersburg 1903);
E.P. Wiszniakow, Białowieżskaja Puszcza, (S. Petersburg 1894), 21-22 [in:] Piotr Bajko, Białowieża zarys dziejów, Białowieża 2001, 55;
Memories and documents of Tatiana Halperin gathered by Mila Malitz, letters to Katarzyna Winiarska from 3rd of February, 3rd of March, 6th of March 2016;
Yad Vashem Testimonies, The Central Database Of Shoah Victims' Names http://yvng.yadvashem.org/index.html?language=en&s_lastName=&s_firstName=&s_place=bialowieza;
Piotr Bajko, Encyclopedia of the Białowieża Forest, Stoczek http://www.encyklopedia.puszcza-bialowieska.eu/index.php?dzial=haslo&id=347
Janusz Korbel, Krótka historia ostatniej puszczy Europy, [in:] Latarnia Morska, (June 2012); http://latarnia-morska.eu/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=927%3Akrotka-historia-ostatniej-puszczy-europy&catid=37%3Aeseje-i-szkice&Itemid=62&lang=pl;
E. Więcko, Puszcza Białowieska, (OBN Białystok 1984), 190 -195;
J.J. Karpiński, Ślady dawnego bartnictwa puszczańskiego na terenie BPN, (Instytut Badawczy Leśnictwa, seria A nr 49, Cracow, 1948), 54;
J.J. Karpiński, M. Orłowicz, Krótki przewodnik po Puszczy Białowieskiej, (Białystok 1937), 29; http://www.wbc.poznan.pl/Content/186083/index.djvu;
Borys Russko, interview by Katarzyna Winiarska, 10th of March 2016;
Włodzimierz Dackiewicz, interview by Katarzyna Winiarska, 9th of June 2015;
Piotr Bajko, Białowieża zarys dziejów, (Białowieża 2001), 91;
Piotr Bajko, Białowieża pod rządami Georga Eschericha, Czasopis 9/2014;
Jan Sawicki, interview by Katarzyna Winiarska, 10th of March 2016;
Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich [The geographical dictionary of the Polish Kingdom and other slavic countries], t.I-XV, Warszawa 1880-1902, t. XV, 130-131; http://dir.icm.edu.pl/Slownik_geograficzny/Tom_XV_cz.1/130
Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich, t.I-XV, Warszawa 1880-1902, t. XIV, 451; http://dir.icm.edu.pl/pl/Slownik_geograficzny/Tom_XIV/451
Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich, [The geographical dictionary of the Polish Kingdom and other slavic countries] t.I-XV, Warszawa 1880-1902, t. XI, 349; http://dir.icm.edu.pl/pl/Slownik_geograficzny/Tom_XI/349
Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich, [The geographical dictionary of the Polish Kingdom and other slavic countries]t.I-XV, Warszawa 1880-1902, t. XV, 471; http://dir.icm.edu.pl/Slownik_geograficzny/Tom_XV_cz.2/471
Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich, [The geographical dictionary of the Polish Kingdom and other slavic countries] t.I-XV, Warszawa 1880-1902, t. XV, 178; http://dir.icm.edu.pl/Slownik_geograficzny/Tom_XV_cz.2/178
Pierwaja wsieobszczaja pierepis nasilenija Rossijskoj Imperii 1897 goda, (St. Petersburg 1905), 7;
Rys historyczny Parafii Rzymskokatolickiej pw. św. Teresy w Białowieży, http://www.sw.teresa.bialowieza.pl/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=47&Itemid=54;
Antony Polonsky, Dzieje Żydów w Polsce i Rosji, (PWN, Warsaw 2014);
Leon Leyson with Marilyn J. Harran and Elisabeth B. Leyson, The Boy on the Wooden Box. How the Impossible Became Possible... on Schindler's List, Atheneum Books for Young Readers, Aug 18, 2015;
Mitnagdzi – ruch mitnagdów, zwanych potem Litwakami, rozwinął się wśród Żydów zamieszkujących ziemie litewskie, zgromadzonych wokół Gaona z Wilna, którzy w związku z ucieczką przed represjami po zamachu na cara w końcu XIX wieku rozprzestrzenili się na terenach Królestwa Polskiego i szybko stali się dominującą siłą wśród Żydów w Polsce.


NDAA invites prosecutors and other lawyers from all levels of government and all jurisdictions, as well as members of tasks forces or sexual assault coalitions, paralegals, investigators, and law enforcement officers to attend. Title IX compliance officers, victim advocates, victim-witness professionals, judges and other members of the criminal justice system, community stakeholders and health care professionals are also welcome.
Offices that register more than one attendee at a time are eligible for a $50 discount of their total registration fee. Use promo code Group-PaISA-19.
All active military members will receive a 10% discount on the course registration. Use promo code Military-PaISA-19.
Anticipated CLE credits will be 20 hours including 1 hour of ethics. All attendees will receive a Uniform CLE Certificate at the end of the course. Attorneys seeking CLE credit should contact their state bar for more information. Attendees representing other disciplines should contact their reporting agencies for more information.
Questions regarding CLE can be directed to Course Director Candace Mosley or Project Coordinator Cierra Jenkins.
Rooms will be guaranteed by the guests' major credit card for first night's deposit. The deposit becomes non-refundable or the credit card will be charged if the guest does not arrive or cancels after 6pm local time on the date of arrival.
Book hotel reservations by Thursday, July 21, 2019 to secure the group rate.
There's a lot to see and do in and around Minneapolis. Check out the city's official tourism website for more information.


text:
Nosey Charlie Comes to Town (The Adventures of Nosey Charlie) (Volume 1)
Publication Date: Apr 19, 2017
Meet Nosey Charlie, a spunky little squirrel who grew up in the country. He became an orphan and moved to the city to live with his aunt, uncle, and his cousin, Pete. Charlie desperately wants to know everything about the people and strange objects in the city, but he doesn't understand that he can't always go wherever he likes. Mama Leticia (his aunt) tries to teach Charlie to be careful, and asks Cousin Pete to keep on eye on him. But Charlie is too nosey, and curiosity gets the better of him. He goes where he shouldn't—checking out garbage bags in the park—and this time poor Cousin Pete gets hurt. The Nosey Charlie adventures will make you laugh and cry, and sometimes cheer Charlie along as he explores his new environment and finds himself in desperate situations.
Books similiar to Nosey Charlie Comes to Town (The Adventures of Nosey Charlie) (Volume 1) may be found in the categories below:

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Communities tighten their measures to deal with the third wave of the pandemic
The autonomous communities they have tightened their measures to try to stop the third wave of coronavirus that leads the country to "tough weeks", as the Executive recognized this Friday, which has valued the strength of the regions in the face of the increase in infections.
With the latest data published by the Ministry of Health there are eight autonomies with a cumulative incidence of more than 300 cases for every 100,000 inhabitants -the national average is 321- and four of them exceed 400 infections: Extremadura (716.58), Balearic Islands (529.29), Madrid (452.19) and Catalonia (411.47).
The rest of the communities with an incidence greater than 300 cases per 100,000 inhabitants are Castilla-La Mancha (397.62), Valencian Community (343.74), La Rioja (385.73) and Melilla (305.25).
Faced with this situation, heThe autonomies have announced and adopted new restrictions to be able to stop a third wave before which the Executive has asked to reduce to the maximum the mobility and the contacts.
Main measures of the communities:
It returns to the perimeter closure of the community and the curfew from ten at night and until six in the morning from the next morning from Sunday to Monday and will be in force until January 25.
The mobility between the eight Andalusian provinces will be maintained "for now" and will be reviewed on an ongoing basis.
It fell back from midnight on Monday to alert level 3 aggravated. All non-essential establishments must close at 8:00 p.m., which affects commerce and the hotel industry, and the maximum capacity for consumption is reduced to 30 percent inside the establishments and 50 percent on the terraces.
He bars closing time is at 23:00 and the perimeter confinement of the community continues.
The community assured this Thursday that would take "really strong" action in the next few days If the increase in covid-19 continued, so this Friday it has decided to close for two weeks starting next Tuesday of bars, restaurants, department stores and gyms in Mallorca, an average that will not affect the rest of the Balearic Islands for now.
Tenerife maintains level 3 and the same restrictions and limitations that he had until time, both in relation to the entry and exit of the island, the curfew and the rest of the measures already adopted.
Level 2 of La Gomera, Gran Canaria and Lanzarote supposes a curfew from 11:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m., a reduction in the capacity of non-cohabitants from the current 6 to 4 people, a figure that is maintained in the hospitality industry and in group sports, while the capacity of public transport is 50 percent.
Level 1 of El Hierro, La Palma and Fuerteventura has a curfew from 24:00 to 6:00 and a capacity of six people in the aforementioned cases.
The president of the Xunta, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, has advanced that "probably" it will be chosen to "shield the residences of the third age As long as it is not possible to vaccinate "the elderly and workers, which means that no visits can be made.
This afternoon they will announce the new measures.
Currently and until January 15 the interior of the hospitality premises is closed, in addition to the curfew between 10 pm and 6 am and the maximum number of people in meetings is six.
CASTILLA AND LEÓN
The community has taken new restrictive measures in the face of the advance of the covid, which include the perimeter closure while the state of alarm and limitations lasts, since Sunday and for 14 days, in the hotel industry in the provinces of Ávila, Segovia and Palencia.
As of January 10, the premises in the interior of these three provinces must be closed, except for home delivery or on terraces -the fish tanks are not included-, as well as large shopping areas, sports facilities and betting and bingo halls, that will be closed for the next two weeks.
From this Thursday has returned to the perimeter confinement of the entire autonomous community, which can only be entered and exited for any of the reasons provided in the decree of the state of alarm.
The curfew will be in force between twelve at night and six in the morning and the permanence of groups in public and private spaces is also limited to a maximum of six people, except cohabitants.
The Ministry of Health has decreed level 3 special measures in Ontur (Albacete) and has extended, for 10 days, the measures of this same level that are being applied in the Albacete municipalities of La Roda and Caudete.
On Monday he decided to establish a municipal confinement from this Thursday until January 18, as well as closing shopping centers and gyms.
Non-essential shops are closed on weekends and, during the week, those with less than 400 square meters of surface can open.
The restoration remains as before -with time slots to serve only during meals and breakfasts-, as well as culture -with capacity restrictions-.
MADRID'S COMMUNITY
It has limited mobility for 14 days in 23 new basic health areas and nine localities as of next Monday, in addition to the 18 areas and 5 municipalities that already had restrictions since the beginning of the week.
So, expand to 41 basic health areas and 14 localities restrictions on mobility to stop the expansion of the coronavirus, which will leave more than 1.2 million Madrilenians confined, 18.3% of the population where 25% of the infections by covid-19 in the region are concentrated.
The municipalities of Alcobendas, San Sebastián de los Reyes and the Barajas district in the capital Madrid will be completely confined with the new restrictions.
Further, will begin next Tuesday, January 12, with the antigen test campaign for young people between 18 and 29 years old (university and non-university) without symptoms of coronavirus in seven points of the campuses of public universities in the region.
From this Thursday the curfew at 10:00 p.m. and the hotel business has been closed after five in the afternoon.
The perimeter confinement of the region has been extended until the end of the month and 26 municipalities have been isolated for 14 days.
The new measures against the pandemic, which will be in force until at least January 31, include the limitation to a maximum of four people at the tables of the hotel and catering establishments and six people who do not live together in public spaces.
ESTREMADURA
The Extremadura Government has decreed the closure of the hotel and retail trade in 16 municipalities in the region, among them Cáceres and Badajoz, measures that entered into force yesterday and the perimeter closure of four towns, as well as the reincorporation of Secondary Education students to the telematic mode for seven days.
The closure of the hospitality and retail trade until January 14 affects the towns of Cáceres, Badajoz, Castuera, Don Benito, Fuente del Maestre, Navalmoral de la Mata, Villanueva de la Serena, Calamonte, Aceuchal, Olivenza, Montijo, Villafranca de los Barros, Puebla de la Calzada, Almendralejo, Azuaga and Coria.
In these municipalities the betting shops have also been closed, bullfighting shows, leisure parks and free time activities for children and young people.
In addition, non-regulated amateur sports activities and visits to nursing homes during vaccination have been prohibited at the regional level.
22 municipalities are closed, including the capital and the other three towns with more than 50,000 inhabitants (Cartagena, Lorca and Molina de Segura) due to the situation of "extreme risk" due to the level of contagion.
As well It is brought forward from 11:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. of the curfew in the entire community, and the interior of bars and restaurants will be closed and the capacity of the stores in the 22 affected municipalities will be reduced to 50 percent.
Along with Murcia, Cartagena, Lorca and Molina de Segura, the towns of Albudeite, Los Alcázares, Alguazas, Archena, Ceutí, Cieza, Fortuna, Jumilla, Lorquí, Moratalla, Mula, San Pedro del Pinatar, Santomera, Las Torres de Cotillas, La Unión, Villanueva del Segura and Yecla.
Maintains the Community borders closed, curfew set at 11:00 p.m. and groups limited to six people.
Has decided, for the moment, continue with the restrictions in force by not seeing "signs of extraordinary alarm", although it will review them this Friday to assess the evolution of the pandemic.
In this way, curfew is maintained at 22:00, the meetings remain limited to six people and the community perimeter closure continues with the right to move between municipalities and Basque provinces.
THE RIOJA
Perimeter closure of the region until at least until January 15 and has an hour advance the curfew until January 31, so that nighttime mobility is limited from ten at night to five in the morning.
In addition, until the end of the month the meetings can only be of four people who are not cohabitants.
Measures have also been taken such as determining that the common areas of shopping centers are only for transit, restricting the capacity in gyms and swimming pools to 30 percent, prohibiting the activity of bookmakers and closing the changing rooms of all sports facilities.
It continues with the restrictions set until January 10, with limitations to travel to the peninsula.
With similar travel restrictions as in Ceuta, in this city groups are limited to a maximum of four people.
www.informacion.es
Eddie Corp
Eddie is an Australian news reporter with over 9 years in the industry and has published on Forbes and tech crunch.
PrevJosh Allen says he'll jump across the burning table if the Bills win the Super Bowl
NextTommy Docherty, once upon a time England


Seakale can be forced in just the same way as rhubarb, and will produce lots of tender, creamy-white stems but unlike Rhubarb it can be forced in the first season.
You won't find this unusual vegetable in supermarkets but growing your own is so simple - it is actually a UK native hardy perennial which can be found growing above the high-tide mark along many of our coastlines.
Seakale is quite a pretty plant in its own right, with fleshy, glaucous leaves and abundant white flowers, so it has good ornamental value too! Once forced the tender, blanched stems can be cooked and served like asparagus.


, we choices the very best selections with greatest quality just for you all, and this images is one among graphics choices in our finest graphics gallery regarding Frisch Kräuselband Gardinen Richtig Aufhängen. I am hoping you may as it.
placed simply by Nancy Fields at 2018-10-09 01:45:30. To find out almost all photos in Frisch Kräuselband Gardinen Richtig Aufhängen graphics gallery you should abide by that link.


*(a) Undergraduate students of fine arts are required to pay additional ¥90,000 for an ancient art reserch trip.
*(b) Undergraduate students of Japanese painting are required to pay additional ¥175,000 ( i.e. ¥90,000 for an ancient art research trip and ¥85,000 for a sketching trip to Tohoku).
*(c) Annual tuition for students enrolling in undergraduate programs or Practical Music Course at Tokyo University of the Arts from the 2019 academic year and for graduate students enrolling in master's or doctoral courses from the 2020 academic year will increase by 20% from the current rate of 535,800 yen to 642,960 yen (increase of 107,160 yen).
* Annual tuition for students already enrolled in undergraduate programs or Practical Music Course in the 2018 academic year or before and for graduate students who will have started their master's or doctoral courses by the 2019 academic year will remain at the current level even after the 2019 academic year for the duration of their courses.
*(d) Annual tuition for students enrolling in Reserch Course at Tokyo University of the Arts from the 2019 academic year will increase by 20% from the current rate of 356,400 yen to 427,680 yen (increase of 71,280 yen).
*A different timing of payment applies to new research students starting Semester 2.
For details, check the admission documents mailed to successful applicants after the result announcement.


text:
Fotofest 2018, E.Dan Klepper: The West Texas Mystique
From April 14 – May 5, Reaves | Foltz Fine Art presents two concurrent solo exhibitions—Lee Jamison: Ode to East Texas and E. Dan Klepper: The West Texas Mystique—a splendid pairing of exhibitions underscoring the yin and yang of both East and West Texas. Demonstrating the fact that Texas is a "state of contrast," and just in time for Fotofest 2018, photographer E. Dan Klepper employs his dynamic lens to bring the expanses of West Texas to life in grand art form. Klepper's contemporary photographs were taken while living off the grid in Marathon, Texas, just outside Big Bend National Park, and many of the works included in his show come from his recently published book Why the Raven Calls the Canyon, which documents nearly a decade of living in one of the most secluded areas of the state. During that time the artist photographed lightning storms, moonrises, and abandoned man-made structures to study themes including time, space, and perception. "Sometimes I look for simple forms in the landscape that are natural or products of chance, and then I study how light, darkness, and the passage of time define their meanings," Klepper says. The show includes singular photos as well as photo mosaics and images paired together to tell a story. His minimalist aesthetic gives a sense of majesty and grandness to the landscape. E. Dan Klepper is a fine art photographer and writer based in the west Texas town of Marathon, fifty miles north of Big Bend National Park, where he exhibits his art and photography at Klepper Gallery. Klepper's photographs have been featured in numerous books and magazines including "In Sight", the online photography magazine for The Washington Post, and his large-scale works of photo-based art can be found in collections across the state. Klepper's experimental videos, produced throughout the 1980's, have been showcased in festivals and exhibitions in the U.S., Canada, and Europe. His book of fine art photography and essays titled Why the Raven Calls the Canyon, is available from Texas A&M University Press. In his first solo exhibition at Reaves |Foltz Fine Art, we are honored to present the work of this incredible photographer to Houston and to our gallery patrons as part of our Fotofest 2018 programming.
Exhibition Dates and Special Events at Reaves | Foltz
On view April 13 - May 5, 2018
Opening Reception: Saturday, April 14th, 6-8:30pm
Artist Talk & Book Signing—E. Dan Klepper: Saturday, April 14th, 4-6pm
E. Dan Klepper
archival ink on paper
Raincurtain
Photographic mosaic-archival ink print on paper
One Hundred Moons
photographic sequence-archival ink print on paper
Long Transit
Photograph on Hahnemuhle Photo Rag paper
Cowbird Looking
Ocotillo Forest
Full Cold Moon, 2018
One Hundred Moons - Small, 2015
17.50 x 17.50 in
Apache Road
Jimson
Skew Moon
Red Ladder
Contours and Limits
Chisos Portrait with Dog in Marigolds
Two Devils, 2012
Purchase Inquire
https://foltzgallery.com/art/comanche-moon-by-e-dan-klepper
https://foltzgallery.com/art/renegade-by-e-dan-klepper
https://foltzgallery.com/art/apache-road-by-e-dan-klepper
https://foltzgallery.com/art/companion-by-e-dan-klepper
https://foltzgallery.com/art/raincurtain-by-e-dan-klepper
https://foltzgallery.com/art/cowbird-looking-by-e-dan-klepper
https://foltzgallery.com/art/jimson-by-e-dan-klepper
https://foltzgallery.com/art/chisos-portrait-with-dog-in-ma-by-e-dan-klepper
https://foltzgallery.com/art/cottonwood-by-e-dan-klepper
https://foltzgallery.com/art/ocotillo-forest-by-e-dan-klepper
https://foltzgallery.com/art/brushwood-by-e-dan-klepper
https://foltzgallery.com/art/flood-by-e-dan-klepper
https://foltzgallery.com/art/one-hundred-moons-by-e-dan-klepper
https://foltzgallery.com/art/backbone-by-e-dan-klepper
https://foltzgallery.com/art/skew-moon-by-e-dan-klepper
https://foltzgallery.com/art/two-devils-by-e-dan-klepper
https://foltzgallery.com/art/blood-moon-by-e-dan-klepper
https://foltzgallery.com/art/full-cold-moon-by-e-dan-klepper
https://foltzgallery.com/art/red-ladder-by-e-dan-klepper
https://foltzgallery.com/art/doppleganger-by-e-dan-klepper
https://foltzgallery.com/art/long-transit-by-e-dan-klepper
https://foltzgallery.com/art/one-hundred-moons---small-by-e-dan-klepper
https://foltzgallery.com/art/contours-and-limits-by-e-dan-klepper
https://foltzgallery.com/art/mesquite-by-e-dan-klepper
https://foltzgallery.com/art/one-hundred-moons-by-e-dan-klepper-i
https://foltzgallery.com/art/transit-by-e-dan-klepper
From April 14 – May 5, Reaves | Foltz Fine Art presents two concurrent solo exhibitions—Lee Jamison: Ode to East Texas and E. Dan Klepper: The West Texas Mystique—a splendid pairing of exhibitions underscoring the yin and yang of both East and West Texas. Demonstrating the fact that Texas is a "state of contrast," and just in time for Fotofest 2018, photographer E. Dan Klepper employs his dynamic lens to bring the expanses of West Texas to life in grand art form. Klepper's contemporary photographs were taken while living off the grid in Marathon, Texas, just outside Big Bend National Park, and many of the works included in his show come from his recently published book Why the Raven Calls the Canyon, which documents nearly a decade of living in one of the most secluded areas of the state. During that time the artist photographed lightning storms, moonrises, and abandoned man-made structures to study themes including time, space, and perception. "Sometimes I look for simple forms in the landscape that are natural or products of chance, and then I study how light, darkness, and the passage of time define their meanings," Klepper says. The show includes singular photos as well as photo mosaics and images paired together to tell a story. His minimalist aesthetic gives a sense of majesty and grandness to the landscape. E. Dan Klepper is a fine art photographer and writer based in the west Texas town of Marathon, fifty miles north of Big Bend National Park, where he exhibits his art and photography at Klepper Gallery. Klepper's photographs have been featured in numerous books and magazines including "In Sight", the online photography magazine for The Washington Post, and his large-scale works of photo-based art can be found in collections across the state. Klepper's experimental videos, produced throughout the 1980's, have been showcased in festivals and exhibitions in the U.S., Canada, and Europe. His book of fine art photography and essays titled Why the Raven Calls the Canyon, is available from Texas A&M University Press. In his first solo exhibition at Reaves |Foltz Fine Art, we are honored to present the work of this incredible photographer to Houston and to our gallery patrons as part of our Fotofest 2018 programming. Exhibition Dates and Special Events at Reaves | Foltz On view April 13 - May 5, 2018 Opening Reception: Saturday, April 14th, 6-8:30pm Artist Talk & Book Signing—E. Dan Klepper: Saturday, April 14th, 4-6pm
https://cdn.artcld.com/img/w_400,h_400,c_fit/3821s5gexggcorpjxqpj.jpg
Foltz Fine Art
2018-04-14T00:00:00.0000000+00:00


Austin Brown may be a new name to you, but chances are you're more familiar with him than you realize. The R&B singer had a hand in JoJo's excellent Agápē mixtape and he's the son of Rebbie Jackson, so yes, that means he's the nephew of Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson. But we can promise you, this post has nothing to do with nepotism; dude's music speaks for itself.
Ahead of the release of Brown's Highway 85 mixtape (available for free at his website on December 24), we're happy to premiere standout track "Highway To The Sky," which finds Austin putting that incredible musical bloodline to good use. Vocally, you can hear hints of his legendary relatives, mixed in with the swagger of Justin Timberlake and the crate-digging sensibilities of Bruno Mars. The classic sounds here have a modern vitality, and it all comes together as a breezy blast of neo-soul. Check it out below and grab a free download.


text:
Spotlight Events
McDowell Mountain Music Festival (M3F Fest) 2021
Isle of Wight festival 2021
Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival 2021
The Beethovenfest Bonn 2021
Monterey Jazz Festival 2021
Bucuresti • Cinema • Festival • Romania
Where: Cinema Scala hall, Bucharest, Bucuresti, Romania
When: No information was found for this event.
Next Festival is held, every year, in Cinema Scala, one of the biggest cinema halls in Bucharest. The prize awarding festival lasts for six days and focused on medium and short movies.
Movies created by Romanian and other countries creators participate in the festival.
The festival program is displayed on the festival's website.
For accommodations, check the most recommended hotels in Bucuresti and around, most of them suggest FREE CANCELLATION option or NO PREPAYMENT NEEDED – PAY AT THE PROPERTY:
Most recommended hotels
Lowest price hotels
Accommodations around Bucuresti:
For your attention – COVID-19 !
Due to the Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19), the details of the event are subject to change. We strongly recommended that you check with the organizers before making any travel arrangements.
Event Related Information
Societatea Culturală NexT
Strada Traian 179, 024043
Phone / fax: + 40 21 252 48 66
contact@nextproject.ro
Bukarest ( Bucureşti)
Voltage and Frequency:
Dialing country code:
UTC+2 (Summer UTC+3)
Romanian 91% (official), Hungarian 6.7%, Romany (Gypsy) 1.1%, other 1.2%
Southeastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between Bulgaria and Ukraine
Temperate; cold, cloudy winters with frequent snow and fog; sunny summers with frequent showers and thunderstorms
Information email:
info@RomaniaTourism.com
Tourist website:
www.romaniatourism.com
Romania background and overview
The principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia - for centuries under the suzerainty of the Turkish Ottoman Empire - secured their autonomy in 1856; they united in 1859 and a few years later adopted the new name of Romania. The country gained recognition of its independence in 1878. It joined the Allied Powers in World War I and acquired new territories - most notably Transylvania - following the conflict. In 1940, Romania allied with the Axis powers and participated in the 1941 German invasion of the USSR. Three years later, overrun by the Soviets, Romania signed an armistice. The post-war Soviet occupation led to the formation of a Communist "people's republic" in 1947 and the abdication of the king. The decades-long rule of dictator Nicolae CEAUSESCU, who took power in 1965, and his Securitate police state became increasingly oppressive and draconian through the 1980s. CEAUSESCU was overthrown and executed in late 1989. Former Communists dominated the government until 1996 when they were swept from power. Romania joined NATO in 2004 and the EU in 2007.
[Courtesy of The World Factbook]
In-country dialing code:
44.43333°
You may consider also
Rokolectiv festival 2021
BucurestiRomania
Bucharest International Jazz Competition & Festival 2021
Bucharest International Film Festival 2021
Jeunesses International Music Competition Dinu Lipatti 2022
George Enescu Festival 2021
EUROPAfest 2021- Jazz Blues Pop Classic
Skip the line buy tickets online
Copyright 2009 - 2021 © "Carnifest Online" - All rights reserved
Our website uses cookies in order to give you a better user experience, by continuing to use our website, you agree to the use of cookies as described in our cookies policy.


text:
WW2Talk
Home Forums > Other Stuff > Books, Films, TV, Radio >
Prisoners of the Castle - by Ben MacIntyre
Discussion in 'Books, Films, TV, Radio' started by Ramiles, Nov 7, 2022.
colditz castle
oflag iv c
Ramiles Researching 9th Lancers, 24th L and SRY
BBC Radio 4 - Colditz: Prisoners of the Castle by Ben MacIntyre
Book of the Week. Colditz is synonymous with daring escapes by stiff-upper-lipped British POWs. Samuel West reads the incredible true story of the most infamous prison in history.
BBC Radio 4 - Colditz: Prisoners of the Castle by Ben MacIntyre - Next on
From 14th November 2022 - BBC Radio 4 - Colditz: Prisoners of the Castle by Ben MacIntyre, 1: 'A sight to make the bravest quail'
1: 'A sight to make the bravest quail'
Colditz: Prisoners of the Castle by Ben MacIntyre
Episode 1 of 10
Samuel West reads Ben MacIntyre's incredible true story of the most infamous prison in history.
Colditz has become synonymous with daring escapes by stiff upper-lipped British soldiers, in a cat-and-mouse game against their ruthless but foolish German captors. But this is only part of the story. Here Ben MacIntyre reveals the real story of Colditz - one not only of bravery, ingenuity and resilience, but also of snobbery, racism, homosexuality, bullying, treachery, insanity and farce.
Today: November 1940: as the first British officers arrive at the forbidding Colditz Castle, they realise escape will be a formidable task...
Writer: Ben MacIntyre is the bestselling author of Agent Sonya, SAS: Rogue Heroes, The Spy and the Traitor, Agent Zigzag, Operation Mincemeat and A Spy Among Friends.
Reader: Samuel West is an acclaimed stage, film and theatre actor and director.
Producer: Justine Willett
Abridger: Richard Hamilton
Ramiles, Nov 7, 2022
Cee likes this.
Prisoners of the Castle
Prisoners of the Castle: An Epic Story of Survival and Escape from Colditz, the Nazis' Fortress Prison
Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group, 25 Oct 2022 - History
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The "entertaining yet objective and often-moving account" (The Wall Street Journal) of one of history's most notorious prisons—and the remarkable cast of POWs who tried relentlessly to escape their captors, from the author of The Spy and the Traitor
In this gripping narrative, Ben Macintyre tackles one of the most famous prison stories in history and makes it utterly his own. During World War II, the German army used the towering Colditz Castle to hold the most defiant Allied prisoners. For four years, these prisoners of the castle tested its walls and its guards with ingenious escape attempts that would become legend.
But as Macintyre shows, the story of Colditz was about much more than escape. Its population represented a society in miniature, full of heroes and traitors, class conflicts and secret alliances, and the full range of human joy and despair. In Macintyre's telling, Colditz's most famous names—like the indomitable Pat Reid—share glory with lesser known but equally remarkable characters like Indian doctor Birendranath Mazumdar whose ill treatment, hunger strike, and eventual escape read like fiction; Florimond Duke, America's oldest paratrooper and least successful secret agent; and Christopher Clayton Hutton, the brilliant inventor employed by British intelligence to manufacture covert escape aids for POWs.
Prisoners of the Castle traces the war's arc from within Colditz's stone walls, where the stakes rose as Hitler's war machine faltered and the men feared that liberation would not come soon enough to spare them a grisly fate at the hands of the Nazis. Bringing together the wartime intrigue of his acclaimed Operation Mincemeat and keen psychological portraits of his bestselling true-life spy stories, Macintyre has breathed new life into one of the greatest war stories ever told.
Uncle Target All life is precious
So many new stories from different angles by modern authors, it makes one wonder what Shakespeare actually wrote.
What was the Real Mac Beth really like even worse, King Alfred of Wessex, in view of the Two Emperors coins.
History it seems, is not only written in the eyes of the Victors
but in the eyes of the publishers and scriptwriters over each generation.
A good story can last a thousand years.
Look at Homers Odyssey/Helen of Troy.
Uncle Target, Nov 7, 2022
trentaleng New Member
Ramiles said: ↑
Prisoners of the Castle traces the war's arc from within Colditz's stone walls, where the stakes rose as Hitler's war machine faltered and the men feared that liberation would not come soon enough to spare them a grisly fate at the hands of the Nazis. Bringing together the wartime intrigue of his acclaimed Operation Mincemeat and keen psychological portraits of his bestselling true-life spy stories, Macintyre has breathed new life into one of the greatest war stories ever told. With help of FASTPANEL I wrote a review of that book, and it was something very interesting. Writing on it is not that easy, but it's for sure worth reading
It's for sure worth reading
trentaleng, Nov 23, 2022
Chris C Canadian Patron
Uncle Target said: ↑
Errmmmm well, yes? Although it will seem more charitable if we say "in the eyes of the historians of each generation". The way even the First or Second World War has been understood has changed over time.
Although with the popular subjects sometimes it does just seem to be a repeat of the same stuff by someone else.
Chris C, Nov 24, 2022
Saw the whole Colditz thing in black & white on the telly years and years ago. Must look to see if it's on YT.
Similarly, "This is your life" was full of wartime heroes.
"War in the Air was Great". As was a series presented by Brian Horrocks about Montgomery.
I watched these from under a table next door, in the 1950's.
Then came World at War.
Who needs book when you have the good old Beeb.
So now we await a "Peaky Blinders" treatment of Colditz to raise public interest.
Looking forward to it now, the music and repetitive signature sounds will add to the atmosphere.
Wonder what they will use.
Will everyone begin walking round dressed like the Commandant or the Escapers.
Peaky Blinders caps are still in vogue.
Uncle Target, Nov 24, 2022
Chris C likes this.
Wg Cdr Luddite Well-Known Member
I was wearing mine decades before Peaky Blinders. The buggers copied my style.
Wg Cdr Luddite, Nov 24, 2022
A working class hero is something to be.......
Problem with The Story of Colditz on YT
davidbfpo Patron Patron
I caught part of the broadcast last week. I had not heard of the presence of Batmen, for the officers, being there too and being forbidden from attempting to escape. my interest are elsewhere, so not pursued - including whether a thread here refers.
davidbfpo, Nov 25, 2022
Reminder about this R4 series landed earlier. Checking the web link I see it is only available for eight more days. The BBC precis states:
Link: Colditz: Prisoners of the Castle by Ben MacIntyre - 5: 'I have given my word' - BBC Sounds
A series of tweets by an Indian Army historian popped up on Twitter by @GheeBowman on the three, if not more Indian Army POWs there and some did escape.
The book has an excellent, detailed two page review in The Spectator, 17/9/2022; which ends with:
MacIntyre has thrown fresh light on Colditz and aligned the scratches left its walls into another compelling narrative.
davidbfpo, Dec 17, 2022
Ramiles, Jan 11, 2023
davidbfpo likes this.


text:
My Survivor Story: Joe Torre, Prostate Cancer Survivor
Joe Torre, former manager of the New York Yankees, talks with Robert Wittes, Physician-in-Chief of Memorial Hospital, about getting back to normal after his treatment for prostate cancer. Torre says that employers should be sensitive to the physical and psychological demands of cancer, both during and after treatment. During his recuperation from prostate surgery, Torre sometimes felt that his own life-and-death battle with prostate cancer was more important than whether the team won the game. Torre knew he had turned the corner in his recovery when his desire to win returned.
Joe Torre


text:
Chesa Boudin with his dad, David Gilbert, in an undated photo. (Photo/San Francisco District Attorney's Office)
San Francisco DA Chesa Boudin's dad to be freed from prison after 40 years
By Gabe Stutman | October 28, 2021
David Gilbert, the 77-year-old Jewish father of San Francisco's chief prosecutor Chesa Boudin, was granted parole this week and will be released Nov. 30 after spending 40 years in prison for participating in a politically motivated armed robbery.
Boudin, the progressive district attorney profiled in J. two years ago, described in a public message his relief and gratitude, as well as his concern for the victims of his father's crime, which left three people dead in a shootout in upstate New York. Gilbert was unarmed during the incident, according to multiple media reports.
"My father was granted release on parole today, after more than 40 years in prison!" Boudin wrote in a tweet on Tuesday next to a crying emoji and a heart.
"I am so grateful to the Parole Board. I'm also grateful to everyone who has supported my father during his more than 4 decades behind bars," he wrote, adding: "I'm thinking about the other children affected by my father's crime, and want to make sure that nothing I do or say further upsets the victims' families. Their loved ones will never be forgotten."
In 1981, Boudin's father and mother, Kathy Boudin, both members of the left-wing militant group the Weather Underground, took part in an ambush of an armored truck carrying more than $1 million in cash in Rockland County, New York. The robbery, which was planned by the Black Liberation Army and the May 19th Communist Organization, according to the New York Times, led to a shootout that resulted in the deaths of Sgt. Edward O'Grady and Officer Waverly Brown of the Nyack Police Department and Brink's guard Peter Paige.
Chesa Boudin celebrates his win, Nov. 9, 2019. (Photo/Natasha Florentino-Courtesy Boudin campaign)
Gilbert was sentenced to 75-years-to-life for felony murder. But in August, in the waning hours of a gubernatorial term curtailed by allegations of sexual harassment, Gov. Andrew Cuomo commuted Gilbert's sentence, citing his contributions to AIDS education and prevention while in prison, and his work teaching and serving in the law library.
"He has served 40 years of a 75-year sentence, related to an incident in which he was the driver, not the murderer," Cuomo wrote on Twitter.
Gilbert grew up in a Jewish family in the Boston area where he celebrated his bar mitzvah, Boudin told J. in the 2019 interview. Boudin's mother is also Jewish and grew up "more secular" in New York, he said. Her connection to Judaism intensified in prison, where she served for 22 years before her release in 2003.
Boudin has said that his identity as a Jew and his experience having two incarcerated parents have each informed his approach to the criminal justice system.
He said Judaism has been a "constant theme in my life," symbolizing to him the "fight for survival in the face of adversity" and discrimination.
During Passover he often visited his mother at her maximum security prison, he said, where they held a seder with other inmates.
A Rhodes scholar and former public defender turned progressive criminal justice reformer — he has pledged to tackle mass incarceration in San Francisco — Boudin has proven a controversial figure in a city struggling with drug use and overdoses, as well as highly publicized, often brazen property crime. A recall effort against him has gained steam and appears likely to make the ballot next year.
Two years ago Boudin beat an experienced field of prosecutors en route to the district attorney's seat, even though he had never prosecuted a case. His campaign centered in part on reducing racial inequalities in the city's criminal justice system, in which Black people were four times more likely to be arrested than whites, according to a 2018 study. His office stopped charging gang enhancements, which he said exacerbated racial inequities, and limited "pretextual" stops for minor traffic violations leading to drug arrests, which he said contributed to racial profiling.
Gabe Stutman
Gabe Stutman is the news editor of J. Follow him on Twitter @jnewsgabe.
Tags: prison, Chesa Boudin, Weather Underground
S.F.'s D.A.-elect on homelessness, Jewishness and the establishment
One year in, Chesa Boudin cheers progress, counters critics
Jewish son of jailed radicals elected District Attorney of S.F.
Wide-open S.F. district attorney race comes to Jewish community


Panasonic has launched Eluga i3 Mega smartphone in India, at a price of Rs. 11,490.
Eluga i3 Mega has a 5.5 inch 2.5D curved IPS display with a resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels (267 ppi) and comes with Android 6.0 Marshmellow out of the box.
It has a 13-megapixel rear autofocus camera with LED flash, capable of shooting 1080p videos at 30fps, while the front of the phone supports a 5-megapixel camera.
Panasonic i3 Mega supports Dual SIM (Micro-SIM/Nano-SIM), 4G and VoLTE and has a 4000mAh battery.
Panasonic Eluga i3 Mega will be available at Panasonic authorized retailers across India in Champagne Gold and Silver colors.


text:
Artists' Books
C Photo
LiberArs
Oxford lectures
Essay and literature
TurnOnArt TV
HOME | MCHAP 1. Las Américas. Premio Mies Crown Hall de las Américas
MCHAP 1. Las Américas. Premio Mies Crown Hall de las Américas
Gallanti, Fabrizio
Publisher: Editorial Gustavo Gili S.L.
Measurements: 20.00 x 27.00 cm
Part of the selection for The Best Dutch Book Design 2016 (spanish version).
MCHAP: The Americas brings together leading architects and academics in a dialogue exploring the current state of architecture throughout the Americas and explores themes raised by the seven finalist projects (designed by Herzog & de Meuron, Álvaro Siza, Steven Holl Architects, OMA/ LMN – Rem Koolhaas and Joshua Prince-Ramus, Smiljan Radic, Cristián Undurraga, Rafael Iglesia) from the inaugural Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize cycle recognizing the best built work in the Amercas from 2000 through 2013.
As part of the Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize (MHCAP) program, established by Dean Wiel Arets at IIT Architecture Chicago, recognizing the best built work in the Americas from 2000 through 2013, MCHAP is publishing MCHAP BOOK ONE, as well as publications by the authors of MCHAP 2000-2008 winner, Álvaro Siza, the MCHAP 2009-2013 winner, Herzog & de Meuron, and the MCHAP.emerge 2000-2013 winner, Pezo von Ellrichshausen.
Within this editorial program, MCHAP BOOK ONE will critically explore themes raised by the jury process and the selected finalists projects (designed by Herzog & de Meuron, Álvaro Siza, Steven Holl Architects, OMA/ LMN – Rem Koolhaas and Joshua Prince-Ramus, Smiljan Radic, Cristián Undurraga, Rafael Iglesia) including the two inaugural winners: Iberé Camargo Foundation in Porto Alegre, Brazil, designed by Álvaro Siza, the 1111 Lincoln Road mixed use parking structure in Miami Beach, Florida, USA, designed by Herzog & de Meuron. MCHAP BOOK ONE uses the seven finalist projects to identify broad, thematic reflections on the American condition. In that frame, "American" necessarily refers to the entirety of the American continents, from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego. MCHAP BOOK ONE includes contributions from the inaugural MCHAP jury (Dean Wiel Arets, Kenneth Frampton, Jorge Francisco Liernur, Dominique Perrault, Sarah Whiting) as well as essays by Fabrizio Gallanti, Pedro Alonso, Luis Castañeda, Felipe Correa, Pier Paolo Tamburelli, Horacio Torrent, Molly Wright Steenson, Mimi Zeiger.
Buckminster Fuller. Dymaxion Car
Fuller, R. Buckminster
Contemporary Architecture in China "Buildings and Projects 2000-2020"
Dubrau, Christian
Hatakeyama, Naoya
Aviador Zorita, 46-48, 28020 Madrid Spain
bookshop@ivorypress.com
Sign up to receive our news:
About Ivorypress
Ivorypress was founded in 1996 by Elena Ochoa Foster as a publishing house specialising in artists' books. The project currently encompasses a wide range of areas and activities within the framework of contemporary art, including its own exhibition space and bookshop, art consultancy and art exhibitions curatorship, editorial services, audio-visual productions and education.
© 2021 Ivorypress


Hampton Inn and Suites by Hilton McKinney is set in McKinney, 23 km from Plano and 19 km from Frisco. Guests can enjoy the on-site snack bar. Every room at this hotel is air conditioned and is equipped with a flat-screen TV with cable channels. Certain rooms feature a seating area where you can relax. You will find a coffee machine in the room. Every room has a private bathroom. For your comfort, you will find free toiletries and a hair dryer. You will find a 24-hour front desk at the property. Denton is 46 km from Hampton Inn and Suites McKinney, while Richardson is 31 km away. Love Field Airport is 46 km from the property.
the hotel Hampton Inn and Suites by Hilton McKinney so we can give you detailed rates for the rooms in the desired period.


Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital is excited to announce that Dr. Sally Lindsay – senior scientist in the Bloorview Research Institute and associate professor in the Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy at the University of Toronto – has been elected to the College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists of the Royal Society of Canada. Dr. Lindsay is the second Holland Bloorview scientist to be appointed, joining Dr. Barbara Gibson who was elected in 2016.
Launched in 2014, Members of the College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists reflect Canadians who, at an early stage in their career, have demonstrated a high level of achievement and excellence. The College is Canada's first national system of multidisciplinary recognition for the emerging generation of Canadian intellectual leadership.
"Dr. Lindsay's contributions to the field of childhood disability have been impactful and diverse," says Dr. Tom Chau, Vice-President, Holland Bloorview's research institute. "Her research engages the community, schools, employers, and many others to study inclusion for youth with disability. Her research is rooted in the vision of a future of no boundaries. As a new member of the College, Dr. Lindsay will continue to champion the perspectives of young people with disabilities on the national stage. I have no doubt that her scientific efforts will have lasting impact on the Canadian society."
The Royal Society of Canada (RSC) was established in 1882 as the senior Canadian collegium of distinguished scholars, artists and scientists. As Canada's senior National Academy, the RSC exists to promote Canadian research and scholarly accomplishment in both of Canada's official languages, mentor young scholars and artists, recognize academic and artistic excellence, and to advise governments, non-governmental organizations, and Canadians generally on matters of public interest.
This year, the College received 279 nominations for candidates from 49 different institutions across Canada. Fifty-two individuals were elected who will join the 288 current Members of the College. Dr. Lindsay's nomination was selected by an internal RSC peer-review competition comprised of Fellows and Members of the College. Dr. Lindsay will hold her membership for seven years.


Now even mainstream media and mainstream analysts regularly speak of the sub-prime "meltdown" or "carnage" and refer to these sub-prime mortgages as "garbage" or "trash". Since most of these sub-prime mortgages were junk that should have never been originated in the first place, now the new spin in financial markets is to minimize the nature of the problem by making two arguments: first, sub-prime loans are only a very small fraction of the housing market, specifically only 6% of it; second, sub-prime problems are a niche problem that is not affecting other parts of the mortgage market. Both arguments are utter spin without any basis. Let us see why.
Where did the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) get the "sub-prime is only 6%" figure that it is spinning around in every possible media? Their trick is to consider all homeowners, even the 35% of homeowners who do not have any mortgage and then argue that only 6% of homeowners are sub-prime borrowers. Why is this spin and why is the actual figure for "garbage" mortgages actually closer to 50% of the flow of new mortgages in 2005-2006 rather than the "6%" being spinned around? Several reasons.
Sub-prime are now 13% of the stock of mortgages, not 6%.
Sub-prime mortgages were at least 20% of mortgage originations in 2005 and 2006.
The same "monster" lending practices used for subprime mortgages were also used for most "near-prime" and "prime" mortgages.
What is defined as sub-prime is subject to highly cosmetic accounting by banks: the rule that FICO scores of 660 or below are sub-prime is often diluted down to 630 or even 620 to exclude many mortgages from a sub-prime classification.
Counting all of the categories above, subprime-like mortgages accounted for almost 50% of all originations in 2005 and 2006 not the 6% figure spinned by the industry lobbies.
Instead, let me now go into some more detail about each of the above monstrosities on how "sub-prime" mortgages are measured and why the "garbage" in mortgages is closer to 50% of recent mortgages rather than 6%.
I have been arguing since last summer that, given the glut of housing and durable goods, we would observe a sharp contraction in real investment (i.e. investment in new capital goods) as the economy slows down and then has a hard landing.
We also have an investment recession as almost all components of investment are falling: housing falling at a likely rate of 18% in Q1; corporate investment in software and equipment falling in Q4 and capital goods durable orders down for months now; inventory investment falling sharply; and now non-residential investment in structures (the only strong investment in 2006) is also on the verge of falling as its rapid growth earlier in 2006 (20% SAAR in Q2) slowed to a near stall crawl rate of 2% in Q4 with more weakness ahead.
The data on durable goods orders today (falling much more than expected, for headline, core, and capital goods orders) confirm what has been obvious for months: in spite of "record" earrnings corporations are pessimistic about the future and they have stopped investing into new capital goods. No wonder: given the glut of capacity and of unsold goods, why to invest?
And now earnings growth is decelerating at a very rapid rate: even Greenspan yesterday pointed out that this slowdown in corporate profits is a crucial signal in his call that a recession is possible by year end. And given these data the consensus that was putting real investment in software and equipment at an annual growth of 6% in Q1 looks increasingly meaningless. After falling at an annual rate of over 2% in Q4 (to be revised downwards tomorrow) it looks like equipment investment may be falling at an annual rate of 10% in Q1 rather than increase. Given the weakness in other components of aggregate demand (residential investment, inventories, consumption) a growth rate of GDP in Q1 close to a stall rate of 0% (something in the 0% to 1% range) is now possible if the current data on investment and consumption continue throughout the rest of Q1. So the risk of a hard landing of the economy is rising.
At the Morgan Stanley house Steve Roach is the long-time bear while Richard Berner is the long-time bull. Given the wise ecumenical approach of Morgan Stanley to macro debates the two of them respectfully spar and disagree on most issues.
Berner is one of the most thoughtful analysts in the soft landing camp. Two weeks ago Berner argued that the subprime "meltdown" and "carnage" (his words) would not lead to a widespread credit crunch. Today instead he says that he still believes that a general credit crunch will not occur but when you read his report he is actually changing his tone, hedging his views and presenting a laundry list of risks that may lead to a generalized credit crunch in the economy that would have serious consequences. The title of his piece "Credit Crunch Watch" says it all.
It is good to hear that, after the WSJ editorial page and Greenspan warned about credit crunches and recession risks, now even the wise Berner is telling us why we may want to worry about contagion from subprime to other credit risks.
The subprime loan meltdown is still in full swing, and fears persist that it will usher in a broader credit crunch, spreading first to prime mortgages and ultimately to corporate credit. Two weeks ago, I opined that the subprime crash is an idiosyncratic event unlikely to morph into a systemic crunch (see "Will the Subprime Meltdown Trigger a Credit Crunch?" Global Economic Forum, February 12, 2007). I haven't changed my view. But I also believe that investors should watch indicators of credit quality and credit availability to assess the coming deterioration in credit quality, the reactions of lenders, investors, and policymakers, and the potential implications for financial markets. A guide follows.
The carnage in the subprime mortgage market seemed to intensify late last week, promoting a flight-to-safety bid for Treasuries as investors began to worry about spillover and contagion into prime loans and other asset classes. According to Markit, the source for quotes on the ABX indices (the synthetic asset-backed benchmark indices referencing US sub-prime residential mortgages), the price of the lowest-rated on-the-run ABX 07-1 BBB- index plunged to as low as 68 on Friday, representing a 30% collapse in the last five weeks and roughly consistent with spreads of 1300-1400 bp over Libor. This slide began to pressure the highest-rated ABX 07-01 AAA index, which lost about a point in price on Friday afternoon; previously that index had been essentially immune. Likewise, while subprime lender bankruptcies triggered a bloodbath in the share prices of even the better subprime lenders beginning in November, only last week did concerns begin to spill over into the share prices of prime lenders.
Those worries are understandable, given soaring subprime defaults and the widely-publicized explosion in mortgage lending over the past few years. But there's no evidence yet of a broader deterioration in consumer credit quality or of spreading lender restraint. Given healthy income growth, as I see it, aggregate consumer debt-servicing capacity remains healthy.
Nonetheless, the tails of the credit quality distribution are getting fatter, and consumer delinquencies and chargeoffs are rising. According to Federal Reserve data, delinquency rates on residential mortgage loans have drifted up by 30 basis points since the end of 2004 to a still-low 1.71% at the end of the third quarter of 2006. In addition to the deterioration in lower-rated mortgages, some of that increase likely is traceable to the shock to many borrowers from the Gulf Coast hurricanes in 2005 and to the seasoning of mortgage portfolios as footings slow from growth in the mid-teens to mid single digits. Mortgage chargeoffs have edged up 4 bp to 11 bp. By comparison, they rose as high as 44 bp in the 2000 recession.
Fed data indicate that delinquencies on non-mortgage consumer loans at commercial banks have risen about 15 bp from their record lows at the end of 2005; most of this is traceable to a rise in credit-card delinquencies of about 60 bp to 4.11% over the same period. S&P data for securitized card portfolios show virtually identical results. This is hardly surprising, given the "adverse selection" in cards resulting from better-quality borrowers switching from credit card into mortgage credit over the past several years. Seasoning of card portfolios as lending growth slowed also unmasked the underlying delinquency characteristics in such credit. New bankruptcy laws effective in October, 2005 triggered a rush to file before more stringent criteria took hold, distorting the credit card chargeoff statistics, but it appears that chargeoffs will rise in line with delinquencies.
So far, lender restraint seems limited to mortgages. Banks aren't the primary originators of subprime loans, but the deterioration in subprime mortgage credit quality may have already triggered sharply tighter bank lending standards to individuals, judging by the Fed's January Senior Loan Officer survey. Sixteen percent of responding banks on net reported tightening lending standards for residential mortgages — the biggest surge since 1990. There's no question that some would-be subprime borrowers will not get access to credit in coming months or years, and indicators of credit availability bear close scrutiny. Small wonder: That tightening move followed three years of easing lending standards at a time when regulators have been warning banks about risky lending. In contrast, bank lenders have merely stopped loosening standards for non-mortgage loans, and a diffusion index of willingness to lend has dropped sharply but remains positive.
Meanwhile, corporate credit fundamentals are extremely favorable, although earnings growth is slowing sharply. Nonfinancial corporate balance sheets were pristine at the end of Q3 2006: Credit-market debt in relation to net worth stood at 34-year lows, while long-term debt in relation to the total and "quick ratios" stand close to record levels. Earnings growth, according to consensus estimates, is slowing from the double-digit clip of the past four years to mid single digits in the first half of 2007, but interest coverage ratios are still close to record high levels. And delinquencies and chargeoffs at banks are still close to record lows despite a deceleration in lending, while junk and leveraged-loan default rates are at eight-year lows. CDS, loan and bond spreads continue to tighten and lending standards remain loose. The CDX default swap index of 125 investment-grade names narrowed to just 32 basis points last week, while BB/BB- leveraged loan and high-yield spreads have narrowed to record tights.
Lenders, understandably against that backdrop, have stopped loosening their lending standards to corporate borrowers, according to the Fed's Senior Loan Officer Survey. Morgan Stanley bank analyst Betsy Graseck and I agree that corporate credit quality is as good as it gets, and there are some signs of weakness. She reports that in 4Q 2006 the share of commercial and industrial loans 90 days past due rose 10% year over year. She is expecting chargeoffs to remain flat this year, but loan provisions to rise 30% as falling recoveries spell the end to the long improvement in credit quality.
seem to be watching credit quality issues intently. They've been warning against lax underwriting for several years, but unaccompanied by penalties or sanctions, those warnings haven't deterred lenders from extending credit. In part, that's because liquid capital markets are enabling banks to sell down any positions in stressed loans. That may now change. The intensity of those warnings may rise as the subprime meltdown continues. Even a slight reduction in market liquidity will make it more difficult efficiently to lay off risk, so lending standards will likely tighten further. And while I think a regulatory overreaction to the abusive lending practices sometimes accompanying subprime lending is unlikely, regulators will press lenders to find the right balance.
The financial market implications of these developments are straightforward. Driven by performance imperatives, market participants may worry about spillovers from subprime woes into other asset classes, but they probably will take comfort from the resilience of markets to past shocks and continue to invest as if spillovers are unlikely. The reality is that with still-favorable fundamentals, credit quality should deteriorate only slowly. But the tails of the distribution are getting fatter, and investors should use the metrics just described to assess those increasing risks and move up the quality scale.
Likewise, there is an important dichotomy between the risks to markets and those to the economy from a deterioration in credit quality. Financial innovation such as the structured credit and ABS markets have dispersed risk more broadly, thus increasing the resilience of the financial system and increasing the apparent resilience of markets to shocks. The risk is that if liquidity ebbs, that apparent market resilience will also dwindle. So while the subprime meltdown is likely to remain idiosyncratic, it should remind investors to carefully reassess lender credit quality and monitor risk-free spreads closely for any signs of distress selling or inability to roll over maturing paper, as well as the tone of rating-agency commentary that may affect ability to finance.
The BBB- rated portions of ABX contracts are "going to zero," said Peter Schiff, president of Euro Pacific Capital, a securities brokerage in Darien, Connecticut. "It's a self- perpetuating spiral, where as subprime companies tighten lending standards they create even more defaults" by removing demand from the housing market and hurting home prices, he said.
Taken literally the statement above is an obvious and clear exaggeration as ABX prices are nowehere close to zero. But from a substantial point of view – and as a metaphor of that ABX market – the statement is actually correct as prices of ABX BBB- indices are literally in a free fall. At the current asymptotic rate of fall (see charts here) they could in principle reach zero in a short time. For example the price of the ABX-HE-BBB- 06-2 – that was trading close to par (100) between August and Nobember 2006 – is now down to 72.71. The price fall since November could be well described by an exponential hyperbolic function (a "free fall of the cliff" in the layman's language of those who do not have a Ph.D. in finance). And at this rate of price fall of course – as argued by Mr. Schiff – prices are "going to zero".
Feb. 22 (Bloomberg) — The perceived risk of owning low- rated subprime mortgage bonds rose to a record for a fifth day after Moody's Investors Service said it may cut the loan servicing ratings of five lenders.
An index of credit-default swaps linked to 20 securities rated BBB-, the lowest investment grade, and sold in the second half of 2006 today fell 5.6 percent to 74.2, according to Markit Group Ltd. It's down 24 percent since being introduced Jan. 18, meaning an investor would pay more than $1.12 million a year to protect $10 million of bonds against default, up from $389,000.
Moody's said late yesterday that it may cut the so-called servicer ratings for affiliates or units of lenders including Irvine, California-based New Century Financial Corp., the second- largest lender to subprime borrowers. Declines in the ABX-HE-BBB- 07-1 and similar indexes accelerated this month as New Century and HSBC Holdings PLC, the biggest lender, said more of their loans were going bad than they expected. London-based HSBC today said the head of its North American unit stepped down.
The level of delinquencies and defaults on subprime mortgages made last year is the highest ever for such loans at a similar age, according to New York-based Bear Stearns Cos.
Concern about low-rated subprime mortgage bonds have caused yield premiums to rise on low-rated bonds of so-called collateralized debt obligations backed by the debt. Yields on typical BBB bonds from such CDOs widened 1 percentage point relative to benchmarks in the week ended Feb. 15 to 5.50 percentage points, according to JPMorgan Securities Inc.
Low-rated subprime bond prices are getting to the point where Kirby said he may need to "reassess" whether the yields are high enough to cover the risks.
New series of ABX indexes are created every six months by securities firms including Bear Stearns, and Goldman Sachs Group Inc., and London-based Markit. They indicate prices for default swaps linked to 20 bonds, not prices for swaps on each.
Besides bondholders, stock investors have used ABX contracts as a way to bet on the declining fortunes of subprime mortgage companies or the housing market.
The Wall Street Journal editorial (op-ed) page is not used to expressing economic alarmism and worrying about hard landings and recessions. Its respectable – if debatable – economic conservative philosophy is that, as long tax rates are kept low (supply side economics), regulation and government interference kept at a minimum, and government spending kept as low needed, the economy will grow at a sustained rate. For years now this WSJ page has criticized those who worry about fiscal deficits, current account deficits, financial risks and hard landings of the economy.
So it was something of a surprise that, on Saturday, the WSJ op-ed page – under the title "How Expansions Die: Credit Cracks in the Economic Foundation" made the argument – as in my Friday blog – that the sub-prime mess may lead to a broader credit crunch that may cause a recession. This alarmed analysis of the usually sober WSJ op-ed page is in stark contrast to most research and analysis on Wall Street where the conventional wisdom is still that this is still a niche problem and that there is little risk of contagion or of a wider credit crunch.
"… we finally have a threat that really does bear watching — namely, a potential credit crunch precipitated by the housing downturn and rising default rates. As Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke noted in his Senate testimony this week, the economic damage from the real-estate slide has so far been contained to housing. But in addition to the pain that homebuilders have experienced, banks and mortgage brokers are increasingly feeling the pinch, especially in the sub-prime sector. And in a perverse sort of populism, lawmakers are making noises about reducing access to credit for the riskiest borrowers, which would only exacerbate the crunch and could help take the economy down into recession.
The delinquency rate on sub-prime mortgages, now above 10%, is near record levels. Banks that bought up those loans for securitization are now demanding to be repaid, meaning that smaller institutions who thought they'd sold off their exposure are finding themselves on the hook, in some cases forcing them into bankruptcy.This accumulation of bad loans represents a crack in the foundations of the recovery. Typically, a housing downturn and the credit problems that accompany it are a result of underlying economic weakness, rather than their cause. The economy slows, people lose their jobs and are forced to sell under duress lest they default. The distressed selling drives prices down. But in this case, it may work the other way around.
The Fed's remarkably easy monetary policy helped goose house prices over several years. In turn, a large number of first-time buyers took advantage of low mortgage rates, especially on adjustable-rate loans, to stretch their buying power in the hopes of leveraging their way up the home-buying ladder. But someone finally blew the dog whistle in late 2005, and the buying dried up.Now the housing market is flat to down across most of the country and loans with adjustable rates are adjusting upward. So even with unemployment low and the economy still humming, marginal buyers can suddenly find themselves forced to sell. And if they had little equity to begin with, they may not have much money left after they sell — if they can sell at all. If they can't, they fall behind on their payments and the banks have to book the loans as delinquent.Thus does a virtuous circle caused by easy money turn vicious, and interest rates aren't even all that high — at least not yet. The Fed's concern over housing's potential effect on the broader economy is no doubt one reason it has kept short-term rates at 5.25% for several months, despite signs that inflation risks remain.
The unknown is how far the credit contagion will spread. While rising, overall delinquency rates are still fairly low. But if banks continue to be hit by defaults, it may constrain their lending in other areas. Credit spreads, which have remained remarkably narrow, could widen. Meanwhile, Congress's newfound preoccupation with "predatory lending" could, if it leads to changes in the law or in tough lending standards, increase the credit squeeze currently beginning to be felt. Decreasing consumer access to credit would in turn cast a pall over consumer spending and add another drag on the economy.We aren't joining the partisans at certain newspapers who have predicted recession each of the last four years. The labor market remains healthy, the consumer resilient, business investment robust and equity markets buoyant. But this certainly is no time for Congress to add to the risks of a credit crunch by committing such policy blunders as raising taxes, imposing trade barriers or punishing foreign investment in the U.S. Secretary Hank Paulson has prudently been adding financial plumbing capacity at Treasury, and he will need it to limit any credit fallout.As for the Fed, we hope the tale Mr. Bernanke told Congress this week about perfect "soft landings" was right. But we also suspect that the Fed chief has his fingers crossed that the rest of the economy, at home and abroad, is strong enough to withstand the housing credit woes that the Fed did more than its share to inspire.
So if the cautious, optimistic, generally Goldilocks-biased editorial page of the Wall Street Journal starts to worry about a credit crunch coming even before the economy has slowed down, worsening housing and mortgage problems, and about the risks of a recession other folks in financial markets may want to reconsider the tired arguments about sub-prime problems being a niche problem, about housing having bottomed out (can they still say that with a straight face when housing starts fell another 14% in January alone?), and about the risks of a credit crunch being "dramatically overblown". It is time for a reality check: a credit crunch causing a hard landing of the economy is not a far fetched argument any more. The WSJ op-ed page worries about it. Maybe Wall Street will also start worrying about it.
Risk of the ABX "carnage" leading to more serious losses and implications for credit markets.
Of course last week many investment banks had conference calls to reassure their clients with the message that the subprime meltdown is contained, that other credit spreads are holding in spite of the free fall of the ABX (BBB-) indices, and that there is very little risk of a broader credit crunch.
That optimistic scenario is of course possible and we do not know yet how these credit markets will behave over the next few months. But the same cycle of minimizing the potential risks from the housing fallout has occurred all along since last year: the housing recession was first defined as "housing slowdown" and is now argued to be "bottoming out" based on relatively little evidence; today's subprime "meltdown" was yesterday's subprime "correction"; and today's worries of a "credit crunch" are widely dismissed as unlikely.
But consider the following issues. Normally when a sector like housing or real estate or tech goes into a boom and bust cycle, the "real cycle" precedes the "credit cycle". In other terms we would have expected that weakness in housing would lead first to large job losses, lower income generation, higher unemployment first (the "real" cycle). Only when the "real" cycle is underway one would usually expect – as in the 1980s S&L fiasco – that a "credit" cycle would be triggered and emerge leading to further real and financial distress.
Instead the most surprising thing about this housing bust and subprime meltdown is how the "credit" cycle started much earlier than the "real" cycle and much more rapidly than anyone would have ever suspected. Now in an economy with still high growth, still high job creation, still very low unemployment rate, still high income generation we are already observing massive increases in subprime defaults and foreclosures, 20 subprime lenders going out of business in two months, the ABX going into free fall and the cost of insuring against the BBB- tranche of the ABX index going to a spread relative to LIBOR of over 1000bps. So, if all this happening in what the consensus terms as a "Goldilocks economy" what would happen if the economy – as likely – will start to slow down more in 2007? How much more carnage can we expect in many sectors and markets when the economy is weaker than in recent months?
The fact that the downward "credit" cycle has emerged so fast and so sharply in a still "strong" economy is the most important signal that this sub-prime mess cannot be easily dismissed as a niche problem that will have no contagious effects on the rest of the economy and of financial markets.


text:
David Brown gets green light for Mirfield research complex
ENGINEERING company bosses were celebrating after their plans for a cutting-edge research centre were approved.
Dave HimelfieldReporter
Artist's impression of new David Brown factory
Kirklees Council Planning and Highways Committee yesterday granted permission for David Brown Gears to build a Centre For Excellence and wind engineering research facility off Leeds Road, at Mirfield.
The plan was approved unanimously by a panel of councillors at Dewsbury Town Hall.
The centre, which is expected to create up to 150 jobs, will be used to develop offshore wind turbines and other innovations.
The Centre for Excellence will also be used as a training and educational facility.
Browns had stated that its current base at Lockwood Park had limited the scope of the company's projects.
But now the company will be able to work on a major project developing wind turbines for a company in the Far East.
Some 270 of the firm's 450 current employees will be moved to the new facility, while 180 will stay at Lockwood Park.
The firm has agreed to make improvements to Leeds Road as part of the application.
Neighbours and Mirfield Town Councillors had expressed concern that the plant would create noise and traffic problems.
Others said they were worried that the site would end up being used for storage and distribution, thereby cutting the number of jobs.
But councillors were satisfied that neighbours off Slipper Lane would be adequately shielded from the centre and that the centre would remain a research facility for at least 25 years.
Approving the application, panel member Clr Adrian Murphy commented: "No conceivable position could work with the situation at the Lockwood Park Works. It must be very hard to work there with all the limitations."
Welcoming the decision Browns director Wayne Ball said: "We are delighted that planning permission has been granted for our new facility in Mirfield.
"Since our foundation in Huddersfield more than 150 years ago, David Brown has become an integral part of the local landscape and community.
"Given the current global economic challenges we have a crucial business need to move to new premises that will help us accommodate both the future growth plans and ensure we deliver the efficiencies necessary to safeguard our future in the UK.
"Now part of a global organisation, we are still committed to developing David Brown in the region and are working hard to build and re-position ourselves to ensure a stronger future in a growing and competitive global market place.
"The new facility will provide specialist research, development and manufacturing capabilities and enable a step-change in productivity and operational effectiveness for David Brown. This is the only site available within Kirklees that is able to meet our exacting requirements and we are very much looking forward to working with and becoming part of the local Mirfield community."
Dewsbury Town Hall
Kirklees Council


All Our Worldly Goods includes a lot more war – the story moves like a family saga from prior to World War I through the beginning of WWII. This is Nemirovsky's last completed novel, written prior to Suite Francaise but not published in France in book form until 1947.
All Our Worldly Goods is also about the French class structure and love which were still huge issues in French ca. WWI, as reported so well by Proust. It's about all sorts of different kinds of love and loss and loyalty.
The setting is the fictional town of Sainte Elme in northern France – not too far from the Belgian border.
The plot – Agnes Florent, a lovely girl from the merchant middle class, and Pierre Hardelot, from the bourgeois "middle" class, are lifelong friends and lovers – they want to marry but his family objects – they have their own woman picked out for him and he is engaged to her. In fact, the whole community would object if they knew because that kind of cross-class marriage was NOT done. But following the discovery of the romance by Agnes's mother and Agnes' fiancé (it destroyed Agnes' marriage prospects), they marry anyway. A few years and one son later the Great War breaks out. Pierre, who has now been disinherited by his grandfather, Julian Hardelot, the ultimate patriarch and total control freak, is called to battle. The Germans march through the town.
The families are not friends but they try to get along for the sake of the children. Pierre's mother dotes on her son while his father is totally out of Julian's good graces. He gets the woman Pierre was supposed to have married (the one with lots of money) and her husband (an older man) to run the factory. Life happens in the next couple decades, children grow up, but the years do not lessen the underlying animosity between the families.
And then its the turn of the next generation and WWII. All this in the space of 260+ pages – and Nemirovsky hits the emotional nail on the head – she whacks it.