I have made great progress on my in-depth project over the past two weeks. I met with my mentor for a second time and she taught me the rest of the Tranky Doo, which we chose to dance to the song "Gangbusters" by The Cat and Fiddle. Throughout the routine there are many basic solo jazz steps, as I mentioned in my last post, and now that I have learned the last part of the routine, I have an even larger repertoire of moves. Some of the new steps I learned were the boogie back, the boogie forward, apple jacks, drunken sailor, hallelujah, low down, Shorty George, Tacky Annie, opposites, and more.
After I finished learning the routine, I practiced it many times with my mentor so I could master the steps. Next, she taught me how to stylize and create variations in my dancing, so I can start creating my own style. She told me to "really try to play around with the different steps to make them your own". To help me understand this concept, my mentor created an exercise where we took turns taking a specific solo jazz move and creating variations on that move. In my lesson we used the mambo step to learn more about stylizing. This exercise helped me start to create my own style and I will apply this idea to several other steps on my own over the next few weeks.
During this meeting with my mentor I was able to practice many of the skills discussed in De Bono's book. I was able to practice "how to be interesting" by using many of the methods De Bono provides. Since solo jazz and tap dance are closely related, I was able to create interest when my mentor would mention something in solo jazz that is related to tap dance. There were many instances where the steps were similar, and sometimes even shared the same name. However, they both had their own unique styles and differences. In addition, when my mentor and I were creating variations of the steps through use of different arm moves, I had to use the "what if" statement many times to help me come up with new ideas using my creativity. For example, I might have said, "What if I moved my arms like this or what if I traveled this way instead?" and my mentor offered useful suggestions.
Throughout the meeting I was able to practice "how to respond" by asking for clarification. If I was unsure of anything, I made sure to ask for clarification on the details of the step. I clarified if I should put my weight on the heel or the toe of the foot during the apple jack step. I also asked if I should lift my heel up in a step called the hallelujah. Also, there were several times that I shared a personal story to show I understood what she was teaching me. This past weekend I went to Calgary for a tap dance festival, and I shared many stories to expand her points and show a different perspective. I mentioned an arm a learned in one of the tap dance classes and we were able to apply to some of the solo jazz moves. Lastly, I was able to modify many of the ideas/moves to fit my personal preferences, and stylize the dance so I could express myself comfortably.
Overall, I believe that I have made very good progress on my in-depth project, and I can't wait to continue to expand my knowledge and grow in what I am learning over the next few months!


text:
Top judge calls for ABS transparency amid "commercialisation" of PI
Irwin: Who has skin in the game?
A Court of Appeal judge has called on legal regulators to make public who owns alternative business structures (ABSs) to bring greater transparency to the personal injury (PI) market.
Lord Justice Irwin also called for research into whether under-settlement is as rife in PI as he suspected it was.
Giving the Personal Injuries Bar Association's annual lecture last week, the judge noted that ABS registers did not reveal who owned the entity.
"There is nothing to prevent, for example, a legal practice being owned by a claims handling company (a so-called claims farmer), or the claims handling company (or the indeed legal practice) being owned by an insurer.
"Nor, as far as I can see, is there any necessity for such ownership to be transparent.
"These are not ordinary businesses, but companies in control of professional practices, which require rigorous enforcement of professional rules and the avoidance of conflicts of interest. There is much more reason for transparency than in the ordinary commercial sphere."
"I wonder if there is not a need to make such information publicly available, in a clear and comprehensible form. Should we not see who is profiting from what? As the Americans say: who has skin in the game?"
He put this in the context of the "commercialisation of the system", suggesting that commercial or "producer" interests have become dominant, "and that at least to some extent the way personal injury litigation and compensation is managed reflects the interests of the producer more than those injured, or the public at large".
He added: "In cruder language, that this is often a sausage machine, processing large numbers of claims of small or moderate value in a very risk-averse and costs-responsive way."
One measure that this had happened would be if there were significant numbers of claims brought which would not have been brought in the past, and would not be pursued now, but for the combination of conditional fee agreements on the one hand, and marketing and advertising by the commercial parties on the other.
Irwin LJ said the broad picture was that, despite some decline in very recent years, there has been more personal injury litigation over the years despite a much safer environment. "We will see if recent costs changes alter that," he said.
Another measure of the impact of producer interests might be consistent under-settlement of claims, to limit exposure on the part of lawyers and insurers, he continued.
There was no reliable research or data on under-settlements, he said – suggesting it was an area "ripe" for academic study – but "intuitively my guess is that they are widespread. The costs risk now being primarily borne by lawyers, insurers and even potentially claims farmers, are a potent force towards under-settlement".
He added: "And what of the recent drive to establish fraud if at all possible, not for its own sake, but so as to avoid qualified one-way costs shifting?"
The judge suggested that all sides were to blame for any excess number of "not very worthwhile personal injury claims, arising from events which, in a former era, the aggrieved party would have ignored, or treated with stoicism".
"That change does not arise from a general spontaneous uprising in greed. The cases arise because people have been subjected to intensive and repeated marketing by claims handlers or law firms.
"And often the prime benefit for such claims, claims which would not otherwise be brought because not so serious as to demand action, is not to the claimants who receive modest and often standardised awards, but to those who process the claims, both for and against such claimants.
"We should not forget that, without claims, defendants' insurers would make no profit."
Irwin LJ concluded his address on a more reflective note, questioning whether the system of claiming and awarding damages has become too standardised: "Actual losses, past and future, should be computed as carefully, and with as much technical accuracy as possible."
He also suggested that it may be time to consider how acknowledgement, or recognition of fault, may be marked, "at least in more egregious cases of fault and in larger cases".
He explained: "That might be by greater use of claims for aggravated or exemplary damages, where appropriate. It might be by stipulating public acknowledgement of fault and apology as part of settlement.
"Should the Civil Procedure Rules address that? Should there be costs consequences of gross negligence, or of a failure to admit and acknowledge serious fault? Should aggravated and exemplary damages be recoverable by the insurer from the insured?
"I have no settled ideas on these questions, which will be for the professions to explore and develop, in any event. I do have the sense that justice requires the injured citizen, where possible, to receive satisfaction and acknowledgement of fault from our civil justice system, as well as strictly computed damages for his or her financial losses and attributable needs."

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Sir Cliff Richard "What's Love Got To Do With It" ......World tour 2003, This video was performed at Christchurch New Zealand.
What's Love Got To Do With It, Cliff Richard
Cliff Richard - The next time
Cliff Richard - O Come All Ye Faithful
Cliff Richard - A Little In Love
Cliff Richard & The Shadows - I could easily fall in love with you
Cliff Richard - Bachelor Boy
Cliff Richard - Angel
Cliff Richard - Dreamin
Cliff Richard - The Best Of Me
Cliff Richard & The Shadows
Cliff Richard - The Event
Sir Cliff Richard "What's Love Got To Do With It" ......World tour 2003, This video was performed at Christchurch New Zealand....


Anyone concerned with an animal's welfare or aware of non-compliance with the policies, rules, regulations, and laws regarding animal care and use for research and teaching should contact anyone in the IACUC administration, the IACUC Chair at 273-9537, or the Attending Veterinarian at 273-9246. Reporting an incident of suspected non-compliance or mistreatment of animals will initiate an investigation by the IACUC. You will not be harassed, discriminated against, or be subject to any reprisals or retaliations for reporting violations in good faith. You may provide the information anonymously. If you choose to reveal your identity, you will be protected to the extent possible by law. To report anonymously call 1-877-556-5356 or go to www.reportlineweb.com/uf .
Each IACUC member, alternate, consultant, and staff member is responsible for referring any complaints received to the IACUC Chair (or the Chair's delegate) for investigation. If the complaint is made in writing or via email it must be delivered/forwarded to the Chair with a note indicating the date of receipt by the IACUC member or office. If the complaint is made by telephone, the individual receiving the complaint shall make a note of the name and number of the caller, direct the caller to the Chair, and contact the Chair to make sure the complaint was received. All allegations of animal mistreatment will be taken seriously and investigated even if the complainant refuses/declines to disclose his or her identity.
The Chair may request the PAM coordinator to perform a preliminary investigation. If warranted the Chair will then assign a subcommittee of IACUC members to conduct an investigation of the allegation(s) and report its findings. The subcommittee may consist of consultants, veterinarians, or other experts as needed. The subcommittee will gather all relevant information and conduct interviews with the involved individual(s) and the complainant(s) (if not an anonymous complaint). Once the investigation is concluded a preliminary report will be prepared which outlines the essential details of the potential non-compliance, the findings of the subcommittee, and the recommendations concerning appropriate action for correction and prevention of future non-compliances.
The report is submitted to the IACUC for presentation and discussion at a convened full committee meeting. The IACUC will provide the preliminary report to the individual(s) involved and invite them to the convened meeting to respond to any questions of the committee. The IACUC will consider all information available and make a recommendation concerning appropriate action(s). The scope of the investigation and recommendations will be limited to all aspects of the welfare, care and use of animals. The Chair will notify the responsible individual(s) involved, the department chair or unit administrator for the responsible individual(s) involved and the appropriate administrators of the IACUC's decision.
The Institutional Official (UF Vice-President for Research) will be notified of the IACUC's actions and recommendations. If the IACUC determines this is a reportable incident, the Compliance Officer will report the details and the corrective actions taken to the Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare (OLAW) on behalf of the Institutional Official. If the incident involved an USDA covered species and resulted in a suspension of the protocol, the USDA and any Federal funding agency will also be notified. The University administration may take additional action in accordance with other pertinent University policies and/or regulations.


Michael J. McNulty, MD is a board certified orthopaedic surgeon who also possesses the prestigious certificate of added qualifications in orthopaedic sports medicine. He received his orthopaedic sports medicine training under the guidance of Dr. James Andrews at the American Sports Medicine Institute in Birmingham, Alabama. While there, he assisted in the orthopaedic care of the Washington Redskins, University of Alabama, Troy University, Alabama Ballet, and the Birmingham Barons and Montgomery Biscuits minor league baseball teams. He assisted in the care of the New Orleans Zephyrs baseball team previously and is currently the team physician for Newman High School. In addition he also underwent advanced orthopaedic trauma training through AO International in Auckland, New Zealand. He completed his orthopaedic training and attended medical school at the University of Texas-Southwestern in Dallas, Texas and is also a graduate of the University of Virginia. Dr. McNulty's orthopaedic interests include arthroscopic and minimally invasive treatment of shoulder, elbow, hip and knee disorders, as well as extremity fracture care. He is also at the forefront of biologic medicine providing cell therapy options including mesenchymal stem cell therapy as well as PRP (platelet rich plasma).


As a key member of this client company's IT Infrastructure team the Systems Engineer will be responsible for major stages of the systems life cycle. An ideal candidate will be a high performing individual who is able to handle large scale projects and work closely with teams throughout the organization. Soft-skills are a major component of this individual's toolkit along with their technical efficacy. This individual will be tasked with ensuring the day-to-day health, security and stability of our infrastructure. Monitoring system performance, backup cycles and preventative maintenance are among the daily tasks. They will be asked to participate in projects throughout the enterprise which would be in addition to daily duties and must be able to handle multiple timelines to complete tasks on time. Below is a list of responsibilities that are in addition to duties as assigned.
5+ years' experience supporting WinTel systems and virtualization platforms in the enterprise.
Expert knowledge of server clustering, cloud technologies and core infrastructure hardware.
Expert knowledge of Hyper-V, WinTel platforms, SQL, IIS, enterprise printing and faxing.
Expert knowledge of Exchange, Office 365, Skype for Business and other collaboration suites.
Expert knowledge of Active Directory, Group Policy, SCCM, SCOM and antivirus applications.
Experience in building large, scalable and highly available mission critical infrastructures.
Working knowledge of disaster recovery and backup technologies.
Excellent soft-skills and analytical skills.
A self-starter who can work independently as well as thrive in a team environment.
Build and test system platforms to document integration compatibility with our infrastructure.
Participate in Proof of Concept deployments which may benefit the organization.
Ensure Service Delivery for all application and their supporting system components.
Document, maintain and verify stability of production systems.
Make yourself available for knowledge transfer to all levels within the IT organizations.
Recognize variance from a deployed specification to maintain configuration management.
Monitor all system performance and identify bottlenecks.
Ensure system security by monitoring alerts and staying current with security bulletins.
Make sure system backups are functioning properly and test per policy.
New systems delivery must be done on-time and per specifications.
Make sure ticket queues are being handled in a timely manner.
Provide a solution, root cause analysis and preventative measures for system issues.
Author automation script for repetitive tasks.
Participate in network, storage and compute patch management.
Mentor teammates to increase the knowledge pool and foster technology adoption.


KippsDeSanto is pleased to share its first annual survey of mergers and acquisition (M&A) activity and sentiment in the Aerospace/Defense and Government Services sectors.
In this study, we asked key dealmakers from relevant sectors to share their predictions about M&A deal activity and valuations over the next year. We also asked them to share their insights on strategic drivers of M&A activity and the impact of recent events, including 2017's tax law changes and the Trump administration.
Respondents are very optimistic about the overall economy and M&A activity in the near- to medium-term. They expect activity levels and valuations to increase in 2018 due in part to the December 2017 tax law changes and greater budget visibility.
For media, please view the Press Release.


USA -- Last week, CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta grabbed headlines for coming out in support of the validity of the medical use of marijuana, something he had opposed in the past. What changed his mind? Science. Here's what he — and those studying the chemistry of marijuana — now understand.Marijuana makes chemical contact with human bodies through cannabinoids, which are chemical compounds in marijuana (cannabis). The human body also creates cannabinoids. The body creates cannabinoids on-demand, such as when they are produced to serve as neuroprotectants when the brain's nerve cells begin to fire too much, as in the case of stress, seizures or an impact to the brain. Our bodies also have cannabinoid receptors. Together, the cannabinoids and their receptors make up the human cannabinoid system.
When will those evil pot smokers quit pushing those equilibriums off on our kids?
thanks to NIDA and ilk, we still do not know the answer to this question in 2013 and counting.How about that for the advancement of science?NIDA is evil!http://rockefellerdrugwars.comMarijuana prohibition is a eugenics policy, pro-white and fascist, when will it end? Will we let it continue to hamper science and abuse our human rights?Why does pot make you feel good? Maybe because it very quickly brings your body in equilibrium.


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Where is my test? What format shall I give it?
The rain continues and my screen remains blank.
For the record, none of the above is really factual - I neither live in a big urban centre nor do I leave assessments to be written at the end of the day. Nonetheless, I do remember times, when, at the end of a busy day, I still had to write a test/quiz for that particular week. For that purpose I needed to set aside quiet time, revise what I had written, tweak, correct, consider the degree of learner achievement, the degree of challenge, purpose of the quiz, timing of the quiz and so forth.
Does any of that sound familiar to you? And if so, have you ever wished that you could sit at the screen and somewhat magically, a quiz would write itself? Enter Quillionz.
Quillionz is a tool to create quizzes with the aid of AI.
As with most digital tools you need to sign up and then simply begin "designing" your test or quiz.
For the sake of testing it out, I chose parts of a random text from Georgia O'Keeffe on the Art of Seeing and below I include images of the steps and the final result.
1 - Selecting content which pasted into the Quillionz interface (slide 1); you then have the choice of the pull down menu to indicate which field of study the test belongs to (i.e. science, history, humanities and so on); at the bottom of the screen you will have feedback on whether there are enough words to create the test and then the choice to proceed or not. After submitting the content, you are given the choice of key words taken from the content you provided.
2 - Once you have included a title to the content, Quillionz will indicate whether the content needs tweaking ; there will be a "content readiness meter" at the bottom of the page; there will also be suggestions on the right hand side, in regard to what needs or should be corrected; in this particular case, sentences were too lengthy and there were suggestions to replace pronouns.
3 - The "content readiness meter" of my content was only at 35%, and Quillionz proceeded by informing me with a pop up screen, that I needed at least 90% readiness. Nevertheless, as this was only a test, I continued.
4 - In the last image, you can see that 17 questions which were generated - this took a couple of minutes; 1 question was a short answer, 5 questions were based on a multiple choice format and the rest of the questions were recall questions. There is also the possibility of checking variations of some questions, should you want another type of question.
I have yet to test Quillionz further and see up to which point it may or not be of practical use (for my teaching contexts).
Nevertheless, I do find it interesting how digital tools are developing and the introduction of AI into educators' practices, in this particular case, the practice of writing quizzes for learners.
What has your experience with AI and testing been like?


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text:
«Оранжлав» () також відомий як «Помаранчеве кохання» () — українська мелодрама режисера Алана Бадоєва про СНІД та кохання двох молодих людей у дні Помаранчевої революції. Інвестором стрічки виступила компанія «Київ-Донбас», виробництвом займалися «CineCity Production» та «Radio Active» (США-Україна). Фільм входить до трійки так-званих фільмів «помаранчевої хвилі» до якої входять «Помаранчеве небо», Прорвемось та Оранжлав.

Фільм вийшов в український прокат 29 березня 2007 року.

Гасло фільму — «А що ти знаєш про кохання?»

Сюжет
Герої Катя і Роман замкнуті в дивній квартирі в самому центрі Києва. За умовами якоїсь містичної гри вони не повинні виходити з квартири до смерті її господаря, який знаходиться в інвалідному візку. Приз: ця квартира і близько 200 тисяч євро. Але осіння любов якось в одну мить змінюється думкою про… СНІД.

Диктуючий правила повинен померти саме від нього. За вікном революція, а Роман не може вийти з квартири і побачити через об'єктив, що відбувається. Єдиний зв'язок із зовнішнім світом — листи. Їх кидають під двері. В одному з них результати аналізів, які обидва герої здали на самому початку стрічки. Із розкриттям конверта романтика випаровується миттєво. Герої виявляються наодинці з проблемою в замкнутому просторі.

У ролях
 Олексій Чадов
 Ольга Макєєва
 Олексій Вертинський
 В'ячеслав Бурлачко
 Катерина Кантор
 Андрій Стрельцов
 Дмитро Малков
 Галина Боженко

Знімальна група
 Режисер-постановник: Алан Бадоєв
 Оператор-постановник: Ярослав Пілунський

Виробництво
Спочатку планувалося, що фільм буде любовною мелодрамою про американця українського походження, який приїхав до України у розпал виборів 2004 року. Головного героя мав зіграти якийсь доволі відомий голлівудський актор. Згодом, із невідомих причин, сценарій поміняли і замість американця протагоністом фільму став росіянин, на роль якого вибрали досить відомого російського актора Олексія Чадова, відомого за кількома російськими блокбастерами, зокрема фільмами «Нічна варта» та «9 рота».

У серпні 2005, за кілька місяців до початку зйомок, в інтерв'ю виданню KINO-КОЛО продюсерка стрічки Аліна Панова пообіцяли, що у стрічці дві третини реплік фільму буде українською, решта — російською та англійською, але в кінцевій версії фільму практично всі репліки були російською, і лише невелика частинка — українською та англійською. Зйомки розпочалися у жовтні 2005 року і тривали всього 45 днів.

Кошторис
У березні 2006 року журналісти УП у своєму огляді українських кінофільмів оцінили кошторис стрічки від $1 до $5 млн. Згодом у вересні 2006 року, стало відомо, що кошторис стрічки склав $3,6 млн і був наданий донецькими бізнесменами-братами Олександром та В'ячеславом Константиновськими.

Нагороди та номінації
Фільм брав участь у наступних фестивалях та кіноринках:
 20 та 22 травня 2006 року — у кінодистриб'юторських показах на Кіноринку у Каннах 2006 (Канни, Франція),
 5 вересня 2006 року — у конкурсній програмі КіноЯлта-2006 (Ялта, Україна),
 25 вересня 2006 року — у конкурсній програмі фестивалю СНД та Балтії «Кіношок-2006», де отримав приз «за кращого режисера» (Алтана, Росія),
 26-27 жовтня 2006 — у конкурсній програмі Molodist KIFF 2006 (Київ, Україна),
 16-25 листопада 2006 — позаконкурсний показ у секції «Міжнародні відкриття» на Mannheim-Heidelberg IFF 2006 (Маннгайм-Гайдельберґ, Німеччина)

Касові збори

Під час показу в Україні, що розпочався 27 березня 2007 року, фільм зібрав $59,8 тис. за три тижня прокату. Зі своїми загальними зборами у $59,8 тис. стрічка посіла 132 місце серед найбільш касових фільмів 2007 року.

У закордонному прокаті стрічка також була 3 тижня в прокаті Росії та СНД, де загалом зібрала $27,6 тис. та 4 тижня в Тайвані, де загалом зібрала $14,7 тис. Загальні закордонні касові збори стрічки — $42.4 тис.

Загальний світовий бокс-офіс стрічки склав $102 тис.

Відгуки кінокритиків
Фільм отримав негативні відгуки від українських кінокритиків. Зокрема кінокритик журналу «Кіно-театр» Лариса Іванишина зазначила, що стрічку «Оранжлав» досить «важко віднести до [кінопрокатного] кіно, настільки багато в ній від телевізійного продукту.» Після прем'єри фільму на київському кінофестивалі «Молодість» в листопаді 2006 року, кінокритик газети Хрещатик Ліліана Фесенко зазначила, що «режисер [Алан Бадоєв] не спромігся вийти з формату кліпу і просто розтягнув його на півтори години».

Контроверзи

Дистанціювання творців від Помаранчевої революції
Напередодні кінопрокату свого фільму, творці в різний спосіб намагалися відмежуватися від Помаранчевої революції. Так, наприкінці 2006 року режисер фільм Алан Бадоєв заявив, ніби сценарій фільму було написано ще 5 років тому, тобто задовго до подій Помаранчевої революції, хоча раніше Бадоєв заявляв, що основу сценарію було зроблено неназваним американським сценаристом під враженням від Помаранчевої революції.

Творці використовували різні методи уникнення появи у потенційного глядача будь-якої асоціації з Помаранчевою революцією. Спершу творці взялися за видозмінення назви фільму. На перших етапах процесу створення фільму його творці пояснювали, що назва фільму пишеться як «Orangelove» і є неперекладним словом, тобто українською так і пишеться — «Оранжлав» (дослівний переклад англійських слів «Orange» та «Love» українською буде «Помаранчеве» та «кохання»). Згодом творці повідомили, що назву фільму слід писати як «orANGELove», оскільки, як підкреслив режисер стрічки, головною героїнею стрічки є саме Ангел (англійською Angel) та й перший варіант сценарію називався «Ангели живуть навпроти». Деякі українські кінокритики охрестили фільм скандальним саме через «синтаксичні зміни в [його] назві», ймовірно не схвалюючи бажання авторів дистанціюватися від теми «Помаранчевої революції» і відповідно не використовувати слово «Помаранчевий» у назві стрічки.

Згодом творці також вирішили перенести дату фільму. Як підтвердив в одному з інтерв'ю режисер фільму Алан Бадоєв, творці спеціально перенесли прокат фільму з жовтня 2006 на березень 2007, аби відмежуватися від так званої «помаранчевої хвилі» в новому українському кіно.

Див. також
 Помаранчеве небо
 Прорвемось

Примітки

Посилання

 Оранжлав на сайті Кіно-Коло

Українські фільми 2006
Фільми російською мовою
Фільми-мелодрами України
Фільми про історію України

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
The buildsystem is ant + ivy. Running ant will try to resolve the dependencies
from the internet. If retrieving them fail, the dependencies are searched
in ext/, so if you are building offline (eg. rpm), symlink or copy the jars there.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Anaïs Reno est une chanteuse américaine de jazz, née en 2003 à Genève en Suisse.

Les critiques de jazz saluent en elle une jeune chanteuse qui , ,   qui possède une autorité naturelle et un phrasé superbe et qui .

Le chanteur, pianiste et musicologue Michael Feinstein, spécialiste du répertoire du Great American Songbook, dit d'elle qu'elle est .

Son premier album, enregistré en 2020 à l'âge de seize ans, reçoit un accueil très favorable : . .

Enfance
Anaïs Reno naît le  à Genève en Suisse et déménage à l'âge de deux ans à Manhattan à New York aux États-Unis.

Elle est la fille de deux musiciens professionnels. Son père, Camille Reno, est un ancien chanteur d'opéra canadien francophone qui a travaillé pendant seize ans comme chanteur d'opéra professionnel après des études d'architecture. Après deux années passées dans la troupe de l'Opéra de Montréal, il s'installe en Europe et se produit en Suisse, en Italie, en Allemagne, en Irlande et en France, interprétant des rôles de baryton dans des opéras de compositeurs classiques comme Mozart et Niccolò Piccinni, ou romantiques comme Puccini, Bizet et Verdi. Sa mère, Juliet Kurtzman, est une violoniste classique issue d'une famille qui compte de nombreux musiciens (dont Kathi, Jeffrey et Kenny Kurtzman, tous trois pianistes).

Les parents d'Anaïs prennent conscience de ses capacités musicales lorsqu'ils l'entendent chanter, à l'âge de cinq ans seulement, A Whole New World, sa chanson préférée d'Aladdin. .

Formation
Anaïs Reno étudie la musique dès l'âge de huit ans à la 92Y School of Music, dans l'Upper East Side à Manhattan, puis commence à étudier le chant avec son père, avec Sarah Tolar de la 92Y School of Music (à partir de 2013), ainsi qu'avec Joan Lader et l'Art Dramatique avec Lee Lobenhofer. Elle est alors la seule chanteuse de jazz à bénéficier d'une des bourses Recanati-Kaplan de la 92Y School of Music, destinées aux élèves exceptionnellement doués et talentueux. Son professeur de chant la présente à la chanteuse Etta James alors qu'elle n'a que huit ans.

Après avoir été diplômée en 2021 de la Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts à Manhattan, la chanteuse suit, à partir de l'automne 2021, des cours de jazz vocal en tant que « Ella Fitzgerald Scholar » à la State University of New York at Purchase (SUNY Purchase), une université publique située à Purchase dans l'État de New York, à une quarantaine de kilomètres au nord-est de Manhattan.

Passion pour le jazz
Son amour pour l'American Songbook et pour le jazz devient une réelle passion au début de son adolescence. Elle cite comme influences Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Mel Tormé, Sarah Vaughan, Johnny Hartman et Carmen McRae.

Anaïs aime collectionner les vieux disques et écouter ses musiciens préférés surtout en disque vinyle : elle possède, dans la chambre de son appartement à New York, de nombreux albums sur vinyle et Compact Disc de Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughan, Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, etc...

Selon Leigh Scheps . Dans le cadre d'une interview en 2021, parcourant les locaux du Birdland Jazz Club où elle a fait ses débuts à l'âge de douze ans, Anaïs montre les photos d'artistes qui ornent les murs : , lance-t-elle. Dans une autre pièce, elle désigne des prédécesseurs célèbres qui l'inspirent : Billie Holiday, Count Basie, Miles Davis, Sammy Davis Jr... . L'écran de veille de son iPhone est une photo de Frank Sinatra.

Carrière

Premières années

Anaïs Reno commence à se produire régulièrement à l'âge de 10 ans : elle a alors déjà l'occasion de se produire avec des professionnels de renom et dans des lieux de prestige.

À onze ans, elle fait partie du « Programme des très jeunes compositeurs de l'Orchestre philharmonique de New York » (New York Philharmonic's Very Young Composers program) et a l'occasion de se produire avec l'orchestre au David Geffen Hall pour interpréter deux de ses propres compositions.

À douze ans, elle se produit lors de séances à micro ouvert (open mic sessions) au Birdland Jazz Club, un club de jazz légendaire à Times Square, et fait une très forte impression au propriétaire du club, Gianni Valenti, qui l'aidera plus tard à réunir le groupe pour enregistrer son premier album.

À treize ans, elle joue son premier concert en tant qu'artiste solo dans un club de jazz de New York, le club Feinstein's/54 Below : les dirigeants du club sont tellement impressionnés par ses capacités vocales qu'ils la programment pour trois spectacles solo. Anaïs Reno suit en ceci les traces de sa mère, qui a commencé à jouer du violon à l'âge de 7 ans, a rapidement été considérée comme une enfant prodige, a gagné des concours dès l'âge de dix ans et a fait ses débuts en tant que violoniste avec le Houston Symphony à l'âge de douze ans.

Anaïs Reno remporte le Platinum Award 2016 du concours Forte International au Carnegie Hall, la deuxième place au concours Great American Songbook Academy du chanteur, pianiste et musicologue Michael Feinstein à Carmel (Indiana) en 2018, et la première place au concours de la Fondation Mabel Mercer pour les élèves de l'enseignement secondaire à New York en 2019.

Elle se produit dans de nombreuses salles de jazz et de cabaret, dont le Friar's Club, le National Arts Club, le Players Club, le Carnegie Hall et la convention annuelle de cabaret au Jazz at Lincoln Center, et elle donne des concerts sold-out au club Feinstein's 54 Below et au Birdland Jazz Club.

En 2019, Chris Struck, du site Cabaret Scenes, dit de cette jeune chanteuse de 16 ans qu'elle .

Pandémie et Quarantine Blues
En 2020, les salles de spectacle sont fermées en raison de la pandémie de covid-19 et Anaïs Reno en est réduite à se produire sur internet depuis sa chambre. Elle reconnaît avoir été déprimée par ces circonstances : . Selon sa mère, .

Elle admet qu'elle n'est pas habituée à se produire sans l'adrénaline d'un public, mais elle s'adapte en développant de nouvelles compétences en matière de diffusion sur internet. Durant ce confinement, elle diffuse deux concerts gratuits via internet sur la scène virtuelle de la 92Y School of Music. Le 27 juin 2020, accompagnée du pianiste Tedd Firth, elle donne, sur la scène virtuelle du 92Y, un concert en direct intitulé avec humour The Quarantine Blues, avec la musique de certains de ses compositeurs préférés comme Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn et Antônio Carlos Jobim. Le 30 septembre, elle revient sur la scène virtuelle du 92Y avec un concert gratuit en livestream, cette fois avec le directeur musical et pianiste Billy Stritch, lauréat d'un Grammy Award, avec lequel elle a ébloui le public au Birdland.

À l'automne 2020, elle remporte le prix Julie Wilson.

Durant cette période de confinement, Anaïs Reno déclare au New York Times : .

Premier album
Durant l'été 2020, à l'âge de 16 ans, en plein milieu de l'expérience du confinement, Anaïs Reno enregistre son premier album Lovesome Thing - Anaïs Reno Sings Ellington & Strayhorn, avec Emmet Cohen au piano, Russell Hall à la contrebasse, Kyle Poole à la batterie et Tivon Pennicott au saxophone. La violoniste Juliet Kurtzman, qui est la mère d'Anaïs Reno, joue sur plusieurs morceaux. L'album sort le  sous la référence HCD 3701 sur le label Harbinger Records distribué par Naxos of America.

L'album est consacré au répertoire de Duke Ellington et de Billy Strayhorn, qui ont collaboré pendant plusieurs décennies à partir de la fin des années 1930.

Il reçoit un accueil très favorable, certains critiques, comme Pierre Giroux du site All About Jazz, soulignant que cette jeune chanteuse prometteuse respire la confiance et  : pour Giroux . Pour la journaliste de jazz Dee Dee McNeil .  Richard J. Salvucci, du site All About Jazz est très enthousiaste : .

L'album a atteint la sixième place du classement iTunes Top 40 U.S. Jazz Albums.

Sortie de confinement
En août 2021, Anaïs Reno fait ses débuts à la salle de concert The Cutting Room à New York près de Madison Avenue avec le trio de Pete Malinverni, dont on notera qu'il est le directeur de la section jazz du conservatoire de musique de l'université de SUNY Purchase où elle commence ses études universitaires à l'automne de la même année.

Dans les mois qui suivent, elle se produit à nouveau avec le trio de Pete Malinverni, comme par exemple au JazzFest White Plains, un festival où se produisent depuis 2011 des artistes de jazz du comté de Westchester et de New York, ou au club Chelsea Table and Stage, à Chelsea (Manhattan).

Reno espère également pouvoir donner à nouveau des concerts au Birdland, qui a dû fermer un temps à cause de la pandémie et a été sauvé grâce à une collecte de fonds et à un concert de bienfaisance qui ont permis de récolter  en janvier 2021 : .

Vingtième anniversaire des attentats du 11 septembre 2001
En ouverture d'une rencontre de Subway Series, devant un public composé de sauveteurs, de membres de 2001 de l'équipe du club de baseball des Mets de New York, et avec les équipes actuelles des Mets et des Yankees se tenant côte à côte, Anaïs Reno chante l'hymne patriotique America the Beautiful le 11 septembre 2021 dans un stade comble au Citi Field dans le Queens à New York à l'occasion du vingtième anniversaire des attentats du 11 septembre 2001.

Quand la chanteuse de 17 ans termine l'hymne, le public qui emplit le stade se met à chanter USA.

Accueil critique
Dès 2019, Ron Forman, du Magazine of the American Songbook Association, souligne qu'. Après avoir souligné la qualité de son phrasé et de son jeu de scène, il conclut : .

Dick Metcalf, du site Contemporary Fusion Reviews, voit en Anaïs Reno  : .

Stephen Mosher, du site Broadway World, souligne que . .

Joe Ross rappelle qu'Anaïs Reno est annoncée par le New York Times comme l'une des  (the Next Generation of Cabaret Showstoppers) et souligne que  : il conclut .

Pour Suzanna Bowling, éditrice des Times Square Chronicles, .

Pour Marc Phillips, sur The Vinyl Anachronist : .

À la fin du mois de décembre 2021, Tony Zambito, du site Jazz Buffalo, cite l'album Lovesome Thing parmi ses 20 albums de jazz favoris de l'année 2021.

En juin 2022, Kevin Vavasseur, du site Stage and Cinema, commente de façon flatteuse la performance d'Anaïs Reno dans la revue Broadway By The Year : .

Discographie
 2021 : Lovesome Thing - Anaïs Reno Sings Ellington & Strayhorn, avec Emmet Cohen au piano, Russell Hall à la contrebasse, Kyle Poole à la batterie, Tivon Pennicott au saxophone et Juliet Kurtzman au violon.

Prix et distinctions
 2016 : deux awards de la Forte International Competition, au Carnegie Hall :
 Platinum Award dans la catégorie voix ;
 Most Expressive Performer Award ;
 2018 : deuxième place au concours « Great American Songbook Academy » de Michael Feinstein, Carmel (Indiana) ;
 2019 : première place au concours « Adela and Larry Elow American Songbook High School Competition » de la Fondation Mabel Mercer, New York ;
 2020 : prix Julie Wilson.

Références

Articles connexes
 Lovesome Thing

Chanteuse américaine de jazz
Chanteuse américaine du XXIe siècle
Naissance en novembre 2003
Naissance à Genève


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text:
Holiday happenings across the Midwest
Need to do some holiday shopping? The Osthoff Resort's Old World Christmas Market in Elkhart Lake, Wis., will take place Dec. 2-11.
(Benjamin Wideman / Osthoff Resort)
By Phil Marty
Here are some of the more interesting events, deals, websites and other travel tidbits that have come across our desk recently:
•The Osthoff Resort in Elkhart Lake, Wis., holds its annual Old World Christmas Market on Dec. 2-11. Reminiscent of Germany's popular Christkindlesmarkts, the event features handmade gifts, toys and ornaments. There's also an Old World Food Court with German dishes, and Father Christmas will be on hand. https://tinyurl.com/32wv5cu
•The Seiberling Mansion in Kokomo, Ind., is decorated for the holidays and the annual Christmas at the Seiberling event. Through Dec. 30, visitors will view special decorations that this year have a theme tied to favorite holiday songs. On several days, there also will be live music. https://tinyurl.com/z9apz38
RELATED: TRENDING LIFE & STYLE NEWS THIS HOUR
•A Christmas-themed arts and crafts show will be held Dec. 5-6 at the Wings Stadium in Kalamazoo, Mich. More than 300 exhibitors from across the country will offer handcrafted ceramics, fiber arts, jewelry, metalwork, photography and more. https://tinyurl.com/jvd35um
•Kenosha, Wis., has plenty of holiday action going on Dec. 3. The Kenosha Public Museum is hosting an International Holiday Faire that will show holidays and cultures of 12 countries and will include an International Bazaar for purchasing gifts. Next door to the museum, the Civil War Museum will present a Victorian Christmas that looks at Christmas traditions during and after the Civil War. https://tinyurl.com/p2fb75o
•The Missouri tourism folks have put together a list of holiday festivals in their state. Check it out at https://tinyurl.com/zxumrm4.
•FamilyVacationCritic.com lists 10 Polar Express trains rides for kids at https://tinyurl.com/j9zhq4u
•The Pfister Marketplace at the historic Pfister Hotel in Milwaukee features the work of more than 60 area artists during the holiday season. In addition to the artwork on sale, there will be artist demos and workshops. https://tinyurl.com/zb4lx23
•Gate 1 Travel has a Classic Russia tour priced from $2,519 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air from New York. The price also covers three nights' lodging in Moscow and four in St. Petersburg, some meals, internal transit by train, sightseeing by motor coach and an English-speaking tour manager. The price from Chicago is from $3,252. https://tinyurl.com/jfposgs
•Canada a la Carte offers tour packages to our neighbor to the north that can be searched by region or interest. www.canadaalacarte.com
•If you're traveling to Fort Worth, Texas, and you're a beer fan, you'll want to check out the Ale Trail, featuring nine microbreweries around the area. www.fortworth.com/aletrail
•Holiday Nights in Greenfield Village provides a taste of holidays past for visitors to The Henry Ford complex in Dearborn, Mich. Highlights include costumed presenters, caroling, horse-drawn wagons, Model T rides, Santa with live reindeer and much more. Dates are Dec. 2-4, 9-11, 16-18, 20-23 and 26-30. https://tinyurl.com/j4vmfxw
•For the holiday season, the University of Wisconsin at Madison Department of Theatre and Drama is presenting "It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play." Performances will be Dec. 1-11 at the Ronald F. Mitchell Theatre in Madison. 608-265-2787, https://tinyurl.com/gomyofl
Deals and websites have been checked for availability as of press time. Listings are not endorsements. Send tips at least a month in advance to ChicagoTribTravel@gmail.com.
Phil Marty is a freelancer.
TravelCruises
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text:
Q: MongoDB client join on multiple Collections My Collections
Bookings - id,unitId
Unit - id,title,courseId
Course - id,title
I want to get booking array with unit & course title, like following
Boking_id    Unit_title    course_title
xxxx         ABC           XYZ
My Current Code
const bookings   = await db.getDB().collection('bookings').aggregate([
  {
    $lookup:
    {
      from: 'courseUnit',
      localField: 'courseUnitId',
      foreignField: '_id',
      as: 'uu'
    }
  },
  {
      $unwind:"$uu"
  }
]).toArray();

A: The solution you are looking for is solved by using multiple time $lookup pipeline in the aggregation pipelines. e.g:
db.Bookings.aggregate([
    {
        "$lookup" :
            {"from":  "Unit", "localField": "unitId", "foreignField": "_id", as : "UnitDetails"   }
    },
    {
        "$unwind" : "$UnitDetails"
    },
    {
        $lookup:
            { "from": "Course", "localField": "UnitDetails.courseId", "foreignField": "_id", as: "CouserDetails"    }
    },
    {
        "$unwind" : "$CouserDetails"
    },
    {
        $project:  {_id:0, "Boking_id" : "$_id",  "Unit_title": "$UnitDetails.title", "course_title": "$CouserDetails.title" }
    }

]).pretty()

The output of the above query is as below:
{
    "Boking_id" : ObjectId("5dff07e4187da4c2b5ffc59f"),
    "Unit_title" : "unit title for course title 3",
    "course_title" : "Title of the Course collection 3"
}

My Initial collection datasets as below in all the three collections:
> db.Bookings.find()
{ "_id" : ObjectId("5dff07e4187da4c2b5ffc59f"), "unitId" : ObjectId("5dff06d6187da4c2b5ffc59e") }
> db.Unit.find()
{ "_id" : ObjectId("5dff06d6187da4c2b5ffc59e"), "title" : "unit title for course title 3", "courseId" : ObjectId("5dff010d187da4c2b5ffc59b") }
> db.Course.find()
{ "_id" : ObjectId("5dff0108187da4c2b5ffc599"), "title" : "Title of the Course collection" }
{ "_id" : ObjectId("5dff010b187da4c2b5ffc59a"), "title" : "Title of the Course collection 2" }
{ "_id" : ObjectId("5dff010d187da4c2b5ffc59b"), "title" : "Title of the Course collection 3" }
{ "_id" : ObjectId("5dff010f187da4c2b5ffc59c"), "title" : "Title of the Course collection 4" }
>

For details please go the through below references:

*

*How to join multiple collections with $lookup in mongodb

*Multiple join conditions using the $lookup operator

*Mongodb Join on _id field from String to ObjectId
If the values of unitId and courseId in Unit & Course collection is stored as simple string then you have to use the $toObjectId. I have created another set of collections and used the $toObjectId as below:
> db.Bookings2.find()
{ "_id" : ObjectId("5dff6c2a187da4c2b5ffc5a3"), "unitId" : "5dff66c9187da4c2b5ffc5a2" }
> db.Unit2.find()
{ "_id" : ObjectId("5dff66c9187da4c2b5ffc5a2"), "title" : "Unit title 1", "courseId" : "5dff6694187da4c2b5ffc5a0" }
> db.Course2.find()
{ "_id" : ObjectId("5dff6694187da4c2b5ffc5a0"), "title" : "Title of the Course collection 1" }
{ "_id" : ObjectId("5dff6694187da4c2b5ffc5a1"), "title" : "Title of the Course collection 2" }
>
> db.Bookings2.aggregate([ {$project: {"unitObjectId" : {$toObjectId: "$unitId"}} },  {$lookup:  {"from": "Unit2", "localField": "unitObjectId", "foreignField": "_id", as:  "UnitDetails" }  }, {$unwind: "$UnitDetails"}, {$project: {"courseObjectId":   {$toObjectId:  "$UnitDetails.courseId" }, "unitTitle": "$UnitDetails.title"  } }, {$lookup:  {"from": "Course2", "localField": "courseObjectId", "foreignField": "_id", as:  "Course2Details"  }  }, {$unwind: "$Course2Details"}, {$project: {_id: 0, "Boking_id": "$_id",  "Unit_title":  "$unitTitle", "course_title": "$Course2Details.title" }  }    ]).pretty()
{
    "Boking_id" : ObjectId("5dff6c2a187da4c2b5ffc5a3"),
    "Unit_title" : "Unit title 1",
    "course_title" : "Title of the Course collection 1"
}
>

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
One of the best parts I love about becoming his submissive is that he truly does care about my well-being and has my best interest at heart. When Monday afternoon rolled around, I received a message from him in my inbox.
WHAT TIME DO YOU LEAVE FOR SCHOOL? I JUST GOT DONE WITH MY TRAINING AND CAN PICK YOU UP AND TAKE YOU.
I looked at the time on my phone. It was 2:30. I messaged him back:
MY BUS LEAVES AT 3:00 SIR.
Normally, I would have to catch two buses and a train to get to class. His giving me a ride to school made my day.
When he pulled up into the parking lot of the library, I was already standing outside waiting. I jumped inside the passenger seat of his truck. He scanned my entire body with his eyes. I returned the favor and greeted him with a hello.
"So where to?" he asked.
I gave him the name of my school with step-by-step directions on how to get there. A calm silence filled the air, but as we approached the main entrance of my school, he broke it.
"What time did you go to bed last night?" My Dom prodded as if he was up to something.
I thought for a split second before giving him an answer. Is this a trick question? My bed time was 12:00 pm. But since he'd given me a free period over the weekend where I didn't have to adhere to my normal schedule, I didn't see any reason to lie.
"I went to bed at 3:00 a.m."
He shot me a side eye. I cringed and hoped for the best.
"Did you get any studying done?"
"I didn't have any homework?"
He paused and waited for me to correct myself.
"No sir. I didn't have any homework."
"Well you know you're in trouble right?"
I was struck by fear.
"Why am I in trouble?"
"You didn't go to bed at 12 o' clock like you're supposed to and you didn't study."
My Dom's eyes focused on the street signs we were approaching.
"Do I turn here?"
"Can we go somewhere else?" I pleaded. "I don't wanna get punished at my school."
I knew it was coming. If I didn't get it then, it would have been worse later.
"So where do you wanna get your spanking?"
"I don't know sir." My mind went blank.
My Dom looked over at me and noticed me twiddling my thumbs.
"What's wrong?"
"I'm scared sir and don't think I should be getting punished."
A viscious look came across his face.
"You're gonna have to learn that when I tell you to do something, it's not for my benefit. It's for you babygirl. I gave you a free period over the weekend to do whatever you wanted to do. That period ended at 12:00 midnight. You were supposed to be in bed. You stayed up til 3 am. What were you doing?'
"I was on facebook sir."
"Doing what?"
"Nothing. Just socializing."
"Who were you talking to?"
"I was just checking my facbook sir."
My Dom switched lanes and pulled his truck into the closest parking lot he could find.
...to be continued (keep reading)


text:
The story of the Kinston hangings of 1864
Bill Hand
Sun Journal
On October 19, 1865, General George Pickett was looking nervously over his shoulder.
For it was on that day that a court of inquiry was convened, seeking to charge him with war crimes for actions he had taken while occupying our own little city of Kinston in February of 1864.
If you're a local and a Civil War buff, then you've at least heard about the Kinston hangings, in which some 22 Yankee prisoners of war were declared deserters and traitors and hanged or shot – 13 of them from one gallows on one day – under orders of General Pickett.
Kinston used to have a sign commemorating the hangings at the location where they took place, but this past summer city council ordered it taken down.
I should mention, in quasi-fairness, that the sign was not destroyed but is currently stored away in the CSS Neuse museum. Site Manager Matt Young tells me it is now in the teaching collection, though not on display.
While the Kinston hangings are more trivia than well known today, in 1865, at the war's end, it was one of the best-known and nefarious events of the conflict.
At a glance, you wonder what the big deal was. The men who were hanged were declared deserters – and, in 1864, both sides of the conflict had an official policy of executing deserters. Worse, in Confederate eyes, was the fact that these declared deserters had not been picked up hiding in swamps or farming at home: they were official Union soldiers, former Rebels who had taken up the Yankee cause.
But the hangings were the culmination of a series of complicated personalities and events that you need to understand if you're going to realize why the whole thing became a controversial mess.
Let's start with the general.
You've heard of George Pickett, or at least of his famous charge (and, no, it had nothing to do with his credit or a bad Visa card) in which General Robert E. Lee disastrously ordered Pickett's brigade to storm the strong Union line on along Cemetery Ridge on the last day of the July, 1863 Battle of Gettysburg, costing Pickett alone 2,655 men.
History.net describes George Pickett as a "charming, foppishly vain Virginia aristocrat" who was not nearly as fine a soldier as he, himself, believed. The disaster at Gettysburg left him severely bitter and, historians generally agree, ruined him as an effective general.
Perhaps wanting to get away from his sniping, General Lee had Pickett assigned to run the Department of North Carolina. It wasn't a plum assignment. North Carolina was not exactly all in for the Confederacy – our state was the next to last to secede, and only after President Lincoln demanded it send him troops to fight her fellow southerners. The state was heavily divided by pro- and anti-unionists. While North Carolina fielded the most men of the 13 southern states in battle, she also had the largest number of deserters.
Not to mention the military situation: North Carolina was always poorly defended; also, the entire coast, except for Wilmington, was under Union control and, with New Bern as its base of operations, the union army was well placed to forage and raid the breadbasket of the state.
Finally, it didn't help that Pickett oversaw the state from the comfort of his home in Petersburg in Virginia.
Between all these things, he accomplished little. Pressed for supplies, Lee turned his eye upon well-stocked New Bern and decided to order Pickett to lead a force and capture it. With a force of around 13,000 men, he set up a three-pronged attack that, he hoped, would be aided by a fourth group of Confederates who aimed to capture the federal gunboat Underwriter and use it against its former side. Pickett arrived in Kinston to lead the fight.
The battle started well with a win by General Hoke at Batchelder's Creek, but then quickly collapsed against the heavy forts surrounding New Bern. In pouring rain, Pickett had to retreat to Kinston: another defeat under his belt and, as History.net points out, this time the blame was entirely his.
But this time he had a booby prize at least: the capture of some 500 Yankees and men. And it wasn't long before some of his officers began to recognize those prisoners as not only North Carolinians, but also former members of their own units. Pickett, smarting from his second humiliation, now had targets on which he could take revenge.
We'll continue next week.
Contact Bill at bill.hand@newbernsj.com or 252-229-4977.


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text:
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text:
Global Migration & the New Cosmopolitanism article
Catholics, Muslims and secularists in Quebec: Citizenships in tension in the aftermath of the Quiet Revolution
AZEDDINE HMIMSSA
The introduction of a proposed "Charter of Quebec values" by the Government of Quebec on September 10, 2013 was as a major event which can be considered part of a long process of secularization in Quebecois society, dating back to the so-called "Quiet Revolution" of the 1960s, which achieved its last success in the late 1990s by denominating schools based on languages (French versus English) rather than religion (Catholic versus Protestant). Throughout its history, Quebecois society has been strongly tied to the Catholic Church, which historically maintained a powerful presence in education, healthcare, and even political parties. In the wake of the "Quiet Revolution", French Canadians, who represent the majority of the province's Catholics, have become less religiously observant. At the same time, the Quebecois national movement that had its birth within a Catholic movement—"Action sociale catholique," which was active between 1905 and 1962—has itself become increasingly secular.
The proposed bill on a Charter of Quebec Values originated from a government led by the Parti Quebecois (PQ), an entity not particularly known for deep religiosity. The bill was criticized by many as a political manoeuvre by PQ to instrumentalize a religious issue—in particular, anxieties about Muslim migration—to reposition itself as a supporter of Quebecois culture and to win more votes in upcoming elections. In fact, for many observers, the PQ devised its strategy by learning from the example of the fast-growing popularity gains made by another political party, the ADQ (Action démocratique du Québec), which in 2006 made electoral headway by capitalizing on the controversy of "reasonable accommodations." The PQ used similar tactics to exploit fear of foreigners and present itself as the protector of the Quebec's identity, culture, and historical heritage. Just as the ADQ had harvested a record number of votes after capitalizing on the reasonable accommodation crisis, before disappearing thereafter, the PQ hoped to benefit from Charter of Values initiative to win the election and form a majority government.
The proposed law aimed, among other things, to prohibit the wearing of "ostentatious religious symbols" in public institutions and in private sector institutions financed even in part with public funds—institutions such as daycare centres, private clinics, private schools. The broad scope of the proposed law catalyzed great debates about citizenship equality, and quickly led to an outcry by some that the legislation was Islamophobic.
The Charter of Values is an important case to examine when considering pluralist coexistence because of the great tensions it generated—tensions which drove even the least interested citizens to participate and to express their opinions in the subsequent public debate. Amiraux and Koussens see in this kind of proposal the difficulties that liberal democracies in the West face in managing diversity in general, and especially religious pluralism. It is this confrontation among different visions of nation, and between those promoting a greater measure of cultural, linguistic, and religious homogeneity and those advocating for a more inclusive "interculturalism," (the preferred French phrase in Quebec for what in English is usually referred to as multiculturalism) that makes the Charter of Values debate so important. The commission on Reasonable Accommodation, held in 2008, proposed in its report the concept of interculturalism as an alternative to Canadian multiculturalism, justifying this choice by the fact that multiculturalism in its Canadian version is not well suited to the reality of Quebec. Indeed, the French Canadian Quebecois are a cultural minority in Canada and North America and fear for their cultural survival as a nation.
Needless to say, most religious communities did not welcome the Charter bill. While many nationalist politicians, artists, and intellectuals tried to position themselves as protectors of Catholicism, most Catholic clergy in Quebec denounced the bill. In addition to the clergy, represented by the Assemblée Nationale des Évêques du Québec, Dominicans and Jesuits played a leading role in opposing the proposed law. At the same time, however, other nationalists tried to use Quebec's Catholic heritage as a basis for excluding Islam and Muslims.
The official flyer detailing the proposed law was entitled: "parce que nos valeurs, on y croit "— "because we believe in our values". Phonetically, the French word "croit" (from the verb to believe) in the title is pronounced like "croix" (a cross). That fact did not escape the eye of critics, who circulated an image of the first page of the booklet with a red cross on the letter "t" transforming it to "x", thus changing the meaning from "believe' to "cross".
These critics pointed to inconsistencies within the charter's goal of banning ostentatious religious symbols from public institutions, including the cross, while intending to keep the large crucifix installed during the government of Maurice Duplessis in the main chamber of the National Assembly.
Public controversy as an accelerator of cultural change
Not surprisingly, Muslims perceived the law to be directed against them. Notwithstanding their internal diversity and organic decentralization, Muslims tried to organize themselves by creating a united coalition known by the acronym, QMDL (Québécois Musulmans pour les Droits et Libertés). The organization sponsored numerous press conferences, demonstrations, and rallies.
A few weeks after the official announcement of the proposed charter legislation, on Thursday, October 10, 2013, the "Centre Justice et Foi," a public affairs center linked to the Jesuit Order, organized a conference under the title "remettre l'égalité citoyenne au cœur du débat" (relocating citizen equality at the heart of the debate). I entered the main hall of the Centre the evening of the conference and was surprised to find people from the entire metropolitan Montreal region. For the majority of similar events, the room half full at best. That night, the room was filled beyond capacity and the organizers were forced to add chairs to accommodate the overflow.
The panel that evening brought together speakers from diverse backgrounds: Elisabeth Garant, a Catholic and director of the "Centre Justice et Foi"; Dominique Peschard, a largely secular figure and president of the "Ligue des droits et libertés," a provincial human rights NGO; Alexa Conradi, a feminist and president of the "Fédération des Femmes du Quebec"; Asmaa Ibnouzahir, a Muslim feminist; and Michel Seymour, a secular nationalist and well-known intellectual. The speaker forum thus included Catholics, Muslims, and secular-minded people. The diversity of the alliance was seen in other meetings and rallies, and showed that the Charter of Values legislation had touched a deep public nerve. One of the participants summarized the reality in an ironic way, thanking the Prime Minister of the government of the Parti Quebecois, Pauline Marois, because her project produced a large participation in dialogue and activities related to citizenship: "Je veux dire merci à Mme Pauline Marois. C'est grâce à ce projet qu'on est rassemblé là! — I want to say thank you to Pauline Marois. It is because of this project that we are together here!" (This sentence and similar sentences were repeated by several speakers at the conference of October 10, 2013 at Centre Justice et Foi and on other occasions).
We can thus ask, did the social tension generated by the Charter have a positive effect, unwittingly broadening citizen participation? At a dialogue with a representative of Bel Agir, a Muslim association that organized a rally against the charter in the Palais des Congrès de Montréal on December 14, 2014, one activist told me that 'to mobilize this large number of associations of civil society, would have required several years in a normal situation. But with the issue of the charter, we work under pressure and we saved a lot of time reaching people faster and seeking partnership with others in struggle against the charter."
When public engagement serves to protect private life
One of the reasons people reacted strongly to the Charter legislation was their feeling that their private lives, including how they dress and what they believe, were threatened. The following comment from social media was typical: "On ne donnera à personne le droit d'entrer aux garde-robes de nos femmes! — We will not give anyone the right to enter to our women's wardrobes". The "wardrobe" in this expression is what a Muslim woman I met called "mon éthique vestimentaire"—"my dress ethics", referring to the Charter's proposal to ban the hijab for Muslim women. In this instance, the state's ambition of entering into the protected circle of the individual's privacy did not weaken citizenship involvement, but activated it. For these actors, citizen participation sought to protect individual rights, freedom of conscience, and family values. Contrary to some critics' claims, the opposition was not the result of the Charter touching on something "sacred" and thus unquestionable. How else can we understand Quebecois Muslims' mobilization, notwithstanding an unemployment rate far in excess of the national average? The answer is that social marginalisation and discrimination were perceived by these actors as directly affecting their private and public lives.
Obviously, banning the hijab doesn't touch only the private life of individuals, but it would also greatly weaken women's public participation, a point raised by the Women's Federation of Quebec during their interventions in public debates. Also, very conservative circles inside the Muslim Community saw in the proposed law a way to serve their plans to bring back women to their homes and to keep them focusing on their "main purpose" by educating their kids. Accordingly, Muslim women were motivated to participate by the fear to lose their jobs and to be confined to housekeeping.
Pluralism in solitude
Although there is diversity in actors' religious tendencies and thoughts, it is interesting to discover that at some levels there nonetheless remains a wide isolation between different initiatives and a deep lack of representativeness of the antagonists' positions by both camps. Despite the diversity on display at the aforementioned Centre Justice et Foi event, Charter supporters were notably absent among the panel of speakers, something that the audience did not fail to notice. On the other side, at events sponsored by those in favor of the Charter, a similar situation occurred: there were almost no instances of multi-sided debate. It is true, then, that the controversy surrounding the Charter of Values bill deepened public interest in pluralism, but it also prevented the representation of the various parties in the debate in their full plurality. One reason for this is the difficulty of managing the intensity of interactions in real-and-existing public squares. Who can assume such a responsibility and ensure that the "civic" confrontational nature does not take precedence over the courtesy of the "civil" character of citizenship? Despite all this diversity produced by a focal event like the project of the charter of Quebec values, it was characterized by a measure of solitude in plurality.
On April 7th, 2014, the Parti Quebecois lost the vote in the provincial elections. One of the reasons behind its defeat was the controversy caused by the Charter of Values legislation. Religious and ethnic minorities, especially Muslims, felt relieved by the outcome of the vote. However, tensions related to Islam, as the religion of the "other," are still widespread and unresolved. The precise formula for religion, public ethics, and citizenship in a post-Quiet Revolution Quebec remains unclear. But the mobilization and social networking set in motion by the Charter of Values debate, in particular that between Muslim associations, Catholic institutions, and other groupings in civil society remains a genuine social presence. Future challenges may yet make these ties stronger and more sustainable.
Azeddine Hmimssa is a Ph.D. candidate in religious studies at the University of Montreal. Azeddine earned a master's degree in religious studies and sociology from the same university where he wrote his thesis on citizenship as seen by Muslims in Quebec. He also holds a M.Sc. from ETS in Montreal, and a diploma in Islamic traditional studies from Nouakchott, Mauritania. Azeddine has worked as a researcher for the Canada Research Chair on Islam, Pluralism, and Globalization at the University of Montreal, and is a contributor to Contending Modernities' Public Ethics And Citizenship In Plural Societies project. His research focuses on citizenship and pluralism in Islamic thought.


text:
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Shaun King: Trump Isn't Participating In Impeachment Hearings And An Update On Rodney Reed
Shaun King BAW Contributor
Black America Web Featured Video
Good Morning Everybody!
I have a few things that I wanna cover this morning so I'll jump right in.
Yesterday, Trump's attorneys announced that they are not going to participate in this week's new impeachment hearings. Now, on some level, that's not surprising, because they've refused to participate in almost all of the aspects of this process so far, even flat out demanding that their staff members break the law by ignoring subpoenas and refusing to testify.
So tomorrow, the hearings will continue, but again, without the Trump administration. And I just have to say again, something that I feel like I've said a hundred times before – it's hard to know a moment in history when you are in it, but what Trump is doing right now, flat out refusing to participate in his own impeachment, has never been done before in the entire history of this country. He continues to erode the most basic standards and norms in or government. What we are basically learning is that this nation was not at all prepared to have a President who simply refused to obey the law. And outside of impeachment, and the election, it appears that we don't really have any way to hold the president accountable.
So, the impeachment hearings will continue tomorrow, and my best guess is that Trump will be impeached in the House before Christmas. Now some people are basically framing this as nothing more than a technicality, because most experts say it's absolutely impossible that the Senate, which has a Republican majority, will do anything to uphold the impeachment. And I agree and disagree. Yes, it's highly unlikely that the Senate, which needs 67 Senators to remove Trump from office, would ever do such a thing, but the House of Representatives has absolutely done the right thing and it's foolish to think otherwise. The House can't stop doing their job just because they believe the Senate won't do their job.
I wanna transition for a minute and give a few quick updates on several different news stories.
First – a quick update on the Rodney Reed case. As you know, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles recommended that his execution be stopped, but before the Governor could ever respond, the Texas Criminal Court of Appeals stopped the execution and granted him an appeal. Right now, though, Rodney's lawyers from The Innocence Project are disputing the new judge that has been assigned to the case. And they are right to dispute it.
RELATED: Shaun King: Update On Rodney Reed
The judge that was on the case retired. And the law states that when a judge retires, that the locally elected judge will be appointed to the case, but instead, Texas has now brought a new judge out of retirement, a man that has not tried a case in 5 years, and is not even from Bastrop County, where the trial and crimes took place, and assigned him to it. It's some of the most backwards, country, legal BS I've ever seen in my life that Texas keeps bringing old white judges out of retirement to try this case. I've never seen anything like it. And it's indicative of just how problematic this case has been from the jump. So Rodney's lawyers are awaiting a decision on whether or not they will be forced to work with the new judge that was just brought out of retirement.
And lastly, I wanna give us an update on some horrible threats against Congresswoman Ilhan Omar. Last month a Trump supporter was sentenced to 10 years in prison for threatening to kill her, but last week, something happened that again, I think, is a sign of the times.
The Republican woman running against Ilhan Omar in Minnesota, Danielle Stella, was just permanently banned from Twitter for threatening to lynch Ilhan Omar. I kid you not. This is the actual Republican running against her.
And I say it's a sign of the times not because we've never seen such threats before in general, but because I don't know that we've seen them be made publicly, at least over the past 100 years, from a Republican running for Congress.
I've gotta run, but I'll be back on Thursday with some more updates. Love and appreciate you all.
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Donald Trump	, impeachment hearings	, Shaun King	, TJMS
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Supplier of fuel. The company is a supplier of LPG and propane fuel additives and exclusive distributor of Blue Moon propane filtration systems in Michigan.
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GPS's Time to Shine? – It's times like this when I'm glad I included the Yahoo! Shopping Blog in my aggregated Official Yahoo! Blogs feed. They provided the nifty tidbit of info that searches for "global positioning systems have doubled over the past 30 days". The Google Trends graph for 'GPS' within the U.S. also indicates that while there's been a surge of interest around the holidays every year, this is by far the largest.
We've come a long way from most websites using the height="" and width="" parameters of an <img> tag to load huge images, then squeeze them into a 200×100 box, leaving them looking more pixelated than a Pacman family portrait. High-speed internet enables higher-resolution images, people understand how to correctly resize an image now (or have help from photo sharing sites that do), and CSS gives designers more control than ever over placement of images.
But lately I've seen some really interesting examples of continued innovation in something as simple (and thus, ubiquitous) as how an image is displayed.
Better Know a Genius – Bill Gates, Susan Decker, and John Chambers.
"Valleywag will write *anything*":http://www.loiclemeur.com/english/2007/06/442_jason_calac.html – In this hilarious interview of Jason Calcanis, he explains how Valleywag's absolute "lack of journalism ethics":http://valleywag.com/ can be used to provide free marketing or a smokescreen for your new product launch. Oh, and by the way, he's launching "Mahalo":http://www.mahalo.com/Main_Page. It's obviously pretty one-sided, but you can't argue with the results he received.
"The Future of Newspapers: 10 Obvious Things":http://www.ryansholin.com/2007/06/02/10-obvious-things-about-the-future-of-newspapers-you-need-to-get-through-your-head/ – Ryan Sholin and I are clearly on the same page. His list tells newspapers who they need to stop *blaming* and what they need to start *doing* to get to a profitable future. Now I wish someone would write a list explaining to bloggers why newspapers *have* a future. Hmmm.. maybe I should do that?
"Google Face Search":http://www.searchengineherald.com/2007/05/31/google-tests-face-detection-technologies/ – The Search Engine Herald writes about Google adding "image types" to its image search, currently just two: "face", and "news". Earlier today I came across "this image[NSFW]":http://reddit.com/goto?id=1va8e from Google Maps street-view on "reddit":http://reddit.com, and in the comments users like FCI were asking how people found these images? While searching for "face"-type images wouldn't have found *that* particular photo, I do wonder what sort of location-based people-finding apps we could create using "face"-type search, the streetview data, Flickr, and other sites that integrate location data with their images.
"Cure to Age-Old Retail Woe Found Online":http://weblogs.hitwise.com/heather-hopkins/2007/05/bad_weather_drives_shoppers_on.html – As someone who used to work in retail, I can tell you from experience that nothing is worse for business than bad weather. But according to Hitwise, in the U.K. at least, bad weather isn't stopping people from shopping, it's just taking their shopping online. Yet another reason for every business to make sure their customers know they have a web presence.
Aaron White A founder of education startup BoundlessLearning, Aaron is a serious developer and insightful thinker.
Matt Mazur Creator of Preceden and LeanDomainSearch (an invaluable tool for webapp creators), Matt posts great data from A/B tests he runs and interesting thoughts on his blog.
Boston Startups Guide - Directory of Boston startups sortable by location, industry, etc.
What To Do Boston - A collection of guides on living in Boston, and tales from my own explorations.


Which flower should I work with?
Flower spirits can help us with healing and the development of spiritual wisdom. Each flower has unique healing energies and wisdom to share. You might choose a flower spirit helper for a specific purpose, and work with that spirit for a while before moving on to work with another helper. Just trust your intuition to guide you through the process.
Here are a few different ways to select which Australian wildflower spirit to work with, using the resources available on this site and in my books. Before selecting which flower spirit to work with, take a moment to centre yourself.
Centring yourself is the act of finding a calm peaceful place, deep inside yourself. Centre yourself by closing your eyes and focusing on your breathing. On every in-breath, repeat the words 'peace and calm', quietly inside your mind. Let go of any other thoughts and feelings on the exhalation. Picture yourself sitting or standing in the centre of a sphere of light. At the very core of your being is a spark of light. Focus on this light as you breathe in. Imagine the light expanding and growing brighter with every breath, until it fills your body and radiates out from you, making the light in the sphere grow brighter.
If you have a clear idea exactly what it is you need help with, visit the Repertory and choose the flower that seems best suited to your needs. For example, you might be struggling with finding the right words to express yourself clearly. Listed under Expression, Creative Expression, Voice and Writing you will find Cassia. It might be the flower you need to work with.
If you have a copy of my book Wildflower Spirit Journey through Central Australia, close the book and hold it in your hands while you centre yourself (see below). Say a prayer, naming an issue you need help with and then ask to be shown which flower can help you with this. Open the book at random. If you open to a text-only page, simply close the book and try again until you find your flower.
If you have a copy of my book Wildflower Spirit Journey through Central Australia, flip through the book, with your gaze oriented on the flower photographs. Notice which flower draws your attention. This is the flower you need to work with. If you don't have a copy of this book, you could work with the flowers in the flower gallery, flower photographs of your own, or real flowers out in nature.


Watch the newest episode of The Erb Garden as we explore rhythm another element of design you can apply to your own landscape. Rhythm isn't only in the latest Justin Bieber hit, it is all around us. Learn how to use the techniques of repetition, alternation, inversion and gradation in your own garden!


Maryland's SOAR Initiative is led by Maryland Department of Health's Behavioral Health Administration (BHA). It aims to increase access to the disability income benefit programs administered by the Social Security Administration (SSA) for eligible adults who are homeless or who are at risk of homelessness and have a mental illness and/or a co-occurring substance use disorder.
Strong partnerships are a crucial aspect of the SOAR process within Maryland and we are very fortunate to have such committed partnerships with SSA and Disability Determination Services (DDS), many community providers and other state agencies. Without these many partnerships, we would not be able to implement the SOAR Initiative so effectively.
Have approval from the local SOAR lead to attend the one day in-person SOAR training, SOAR Works!
Maryland's SOAR training consists of two components, namely the online curriculum and an in-person training workshop.
The online practice case study is optional as are modules 6 and 7.
The in-person SOAR Works! training will be held throughout the year in locations across the state. Please note that undertaking this in-person training is required even if an individual has successfully completed the online curriculum. The in-person training provides crucial state specific material, including forms and contact information, and gives details of policies and procedures that need to be followed when submitting SOAR claims.
Prior to commencing the online curriculum, it is strongly recommended that individuals first contact either their local SOAR lead or Caroline Bolas, Director: SOAR Initiative at caroline.bolas@maryland.gov or 410 402 8350 to discuss their training needs and expectations. To aid this process, PRA will forward the contact details of all providers based in Maryland who register for the online curriculum to the Maryland SOAR State TA team. A member of the TA team will contact providers to ensure they fully understand the training requirements.
For more information about participating in the SOAR Initiative in Maryland please contact Caroline Bolas, Director: SOAR Initiative, at caroline.bolas@maryland.gov or 410 402 8350.