As the crisis in the Western World deepens, and the growing reality sets in that business as usual simply can no longer continue nor solve our problems, our systems must change the way they view, deal with and hold onto power. The NHS is no exception. If we want a health and social care system that is of the highest quality, safe, sustainable and economically viable for the future, we need to understand the power of social movements, both within our systems and through the wider society. This is something we are really committed to in Morecambe Bay and so it was with great delight that I listened to the excellent Helen Bevan, talk about just how vital social movements are for the NHS and healthcare, worldwide at the recent IHI conference in London, Quality 2017. This blog will be an amalgamation of what Helen shared and my own thoughts about our early experiences with social movements.
A social movement in health and social care involves us all learning to connect, collaborate, cooperate, cocreate and coproduce at a level we have never done so, until now. But our circumstances are forcing us to reconsider the ways in which we work. We need the creative substance that is within our teams to be heard and harnessed so that we cut our waste and work more effectively together. The issues we face, need facing by us all, together; not by some board in an isolated room, making decisions based on diktats from on high, on behalf of us all. But even this will not be enough. Those of us stuck in the system have become too homogenized in our thinking for us to do this exclusively from within. We need our citizens to help us re-imagine what it means for us to be healthy and well. We must stop designing things for our communities or doing things to them, instead we must design and do things with them. We must analyse, create and enact together and to do this, we must learn to solve the issues of power.
Helen Bevan, with her background in social science, demonstrates the great debate about the interplay between our organisational structures (rules) and agency (freedom) when it comes to effecting change. Where does the "permission" come from to enact the change we need to see? Is it externally generated by those in positions of power, or is it internally generated by a personal motivation? Our experience in Carnforth and Morecambe in community conversations has been a bit of both. There are many people of incredible heart and goodness, waiting to do something new and good that will positively affect the health and wellbeing of society, but are perhaps waiting for that sense of community backing, support, encouragement or indeed permission. With a bit of coaching or spurring on, we have seen some amazing initiatives begin that are bringing transformational work into our area and causing us all think differently. We need both individual agency AND corporate agency. Helen describes individual agency as being when people get more power and control in their lives – we see this in patient activation, shared-decision making and self-care – a greater sense of autonomy and responsibility. Collective agency, on the other hand, is where we see people act together, united by a common cause, harnessing the power and influence of the group whilst building mutual trust.
We have seen this used powerfully, in just one example by our maternity liaison service committee, who together have challenged our system to think more carefully about how we communicate to women, especially at key or stressful moments of their obstetric care. These stories are now a compulsory part of training for all who work in our maternity service and have significantly improved both our skill mix and ability to provide excellent care.
What is absolutely vital to understand is that we do not become transformed alone. We are transformed when we are in relationship with others (Hahrie Han). The problem is that we don't really encounter the "other" enough to be changed. However, when we let go of the kind of power that is held by the few, pushes others down, uses command and control, that is closed and transactional, and instead embrace a power that is held by the many, shared, open and relational, then we can begin to see the change we need (Hirschman and Ganz).
David Holzmer says that we are witnessing the collapse of expertise and the rise of collaborative sense-making. I would suggest that this has been going on for some time, but our systems have been incredibly slow at catching onto the change around us.
Now, what is hugely encouraging is this: research by Kollectif shows that you only need 3% of people in an organisation/society to drive the conversations with 90% of other people. In other words, you don't have to get everyone on board from the word go. You find your passionate people with a sense of agency, infect them with the virus and watch it spread. These people need to be a mixture of 'lone wolves', mobilisers and organisers. Lone wolves are people who have been trying to help change happen for a long time but can sometimes feel like an annoyance to the system, so they are given tokenistic positions, patted on the head and patronised into exhaustion. Mobilisers build power by calling large numbers of people to contribute, engage in change and take action. Organisers build power by growing leaders in a distributed network, building a community and protecting its strength. We need all of them, though mobilisers and organisers will be the most effective in creating agency and bringing about lasting change (Hahrie Han).
Joe Simpson says that " great social movements get their energy by growing a distributed leadership." The cult of celebrity can be powerful, but is not effective. The beautiful thing about a social movement is that is depends not on money, materials and technology but on relationships, commitment and community, and as the movement grows, these resources increase, rather than diminish. The problem, as Don Berwick puts it, is that leaders in position of strategic influence, are simply not seeing the resources available to the biggest problems we are facing.
Jason Leitch and Derek Feeley have powerfully shown that performance management (keeping the power), based on targets, sanctions and inspections can only get us so far. Quality improvement (sharing the power) gets us a little further, but mobilising social action, or co-production (ceding power) has a far greater potential to bring lasting change and far better outcomes for all.
So, how do we catalyze a social movement and how would we know if the movement was being "successful"? Well, our experience in Morecambe Bay is that you start with the 3%. You start with those who are drawn to the conversation, who recognise the need for change and who want to be part of it. You start with transparency, with openness, honesty and vulnerability about the mess we find ourselves in and the truth that we no longer have what it takes to solve the problem. And you start with really good questions and then deeply listen to the conversation which is emerging so that we ourselves are changed and can therefore be part of the emergence of something new, which operates on an entirely different kind of power.
You might call this a re-humanisation of our systems based on love, trust and the hope of a positive peace for all. But this social movement is not aiming for some kind of hippy experience in which we are all sat round camp fires, singing kum-ba-yah! This social movement is looking to cause our communities to flourish with a sense of health and wellbeing, to have a health and social care movement that is safe, sustainable, socially just and truly excellent, serving the needs of the wider community to grow stronger with individuals learning, growing and developing in their capacity to live well. That is what we must measure!
And so we need disruptive co-creation, which breaks through the top-town/bottom-up approach and causes us to see and hear like we have never done before. It is hugely exciting and enables managers to stop feeling like they have to extract as much performance as possible from the system, flogging the workforce, blocking change and innovation and inadvertently driving down the quality of care in the process.
The invitation is instead to become part of the change that we all long for. If we're going to have an NHS in the future, we have to give it back to the people and work with them. In order to do this, we have to deal with and change our relationship with the very notion of power – something I will turn my attention to on the next blog!


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Over the past 15 years the company has expanded into a second factory unit and invested in new machinery to keep up to date with the ever changing double glazing market, this also included changing all our screw fixings to stainless steel. The company has an unrivalled reputation for manufacturing top quality products at very competitive prices.


Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan plan to strengthen their relations on trade and economy. The countries are currently working on intensifying cooperation in agriculture, petro chemistry, pharmacy and machine industry.
In lieu of the bilateral ties, Astana will host the first inter-regional Kazakhstan – Uzbekistan forum and Tashkent will host the regional economic congress of the Central Asia countries. The events were announced at a joint meeting of the intergovernmental commission on bilateral cooperation held in Tashkent.
Kazakh representatives initiated a discussion on establishing the Central Asia International Center for Cross-Border Cooperation at the Zhibek Zholy checkpoint in South Kazakhstan region with a capacity of up to 25, 000 people daily.
Meanwhile, the trade turnover between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan has increased by 50 per cent in the first quarter of 2018. Uzbekistan plans to increase the import of Kazakh oil to five million tons as well as exporting higher amount of gas to Kazakhstan.
- At the meeting, the parties discussed topics on bilateral economic cooperation in areas such as energy, transport and logistics. During the first three months, the trade grew by 50%. According to our plans, this year, we have achieved US$3 billion which was the goal of the presidents of our states.


As the 32 teams from five confederations compete for the 2018 FIFA World Cup currently being held in Russia, sports aficionados worldwide, with much excitement, patiently await the tournament's result. It has been dubbed the most expensive World Cup ever in FIFA and football fans expect no less than the most exhilarating football series this year.
This 2018 World Cup is the 11th tournament hosted by the continent of Europe since the first FIFA world football championships in 1930 staged in Uruguay. South America, North America, Europe, Africa, and Asia have taken turns hosting past world cups, with Europe hosting the games the most times. Brazil holds the world record with the most FIFA world championship titles won. Brazilian footballers remain strong contenders for this year's title along with players from Argentina, Germany, Spain, Portugal, France, Belgium, and Uruguay.
From the 32 competing teams which were divided into eight groups, Uruguay currently leads the standings. Not far behind are Russia, France, Croatia, Mexico, England, and Belgium with six points. The tournament promises an exciting series with games scheduled until the 15th of July. The 2022 Qatar FIFA World Cup is similarly a sports event to look forward to as the tournament is the first World Cup to be held in an Arab country.
No matter what sports event it is, world tournaments not only provide spectators with entertainment. More importantly, competitions such as this 2018 FIFA World Cup bring out the best in participating countries and provide them with opportunities to build and strengthen partnerships with other nations. Sports events are very potent tools for world peace and unification, bringing peoples and cultures together in the same playing field.


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10 Songs You Have to Listen to This Weekend 2022 (V. 11)
Post category:Canada / Hungary / Ireland / Netherlands / Sweden / United States
It's the weekend! Any plans? Any cool music to listen to? Well, here are ten songs that you should be listening to RIGHT NOW! They are from different parts of the world and have a variety of musical genres! Check them out and make sure to share this post and/or let me know which one is your favorite in the comments!
Weekend's Tunes Are…
"Falling Falling Down" by SAVEN
Swedish indie folk/alt-rock artist SAVEN is back with his newest single "Falling Falling Down". The song is about taking the wrong path without really fully understanding why. It is about being in an unhealthy situation and trying to bring the unconscious reasons for your decisions to your awareness. The artist does an amazing job of conveying the feelings of despair, fear, and avoidance in this honest track. It is one that features an acoustic guitar sliding down, earthen vocals, and mellow drum beats that match the song's sentiments. It is such a breath of fresh air that also makes you aware of your own feelings.
"Positive Attitiude" by John Gallen
"I thought it would be interesting to chuck 17th and 18th-century proverbs into a pop song. The idea is that everybody needs a positive attitude after the pandemic. Behind the simplicity, there's the depth that says: 'We've been here before, it'll all be okay."
Irish John Gallen releases his debut single "Positive Attitude" with a punch. Inspired by Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie, Mike Oldfield, and Rick Wakeman, Gallen takes the flavors of their music and makes it his own within "Positive Attitude" to create something funky and feel-good. Listeners cannot forget about the chorus with those dynamic energy levels in the vocals while being supported by majestic instrumentation. It is a show-stopping moment!
"Secret" by Michael Costantini
Canadian folk singer-songwriter Michael Costantini talks about tragic love in his newest single "Secret". The artist creates a bare soundscape with an acoustic guitar, timpani, and orchestral sounds. This down-to-earth, stripped-back atmosphere really displays the depth of emotions going in the lyrics very well. The listeners can feel the honesty and emotional toll the singer feels with each note in the instrumentation but also with the sober vocals. It is such a beautiful song to listen to!
"St John is my Friend" by Balthazar B
Balthazar B creates an alt-country track that will grab attention. "St John is my Friend" tells the story of a traveler, a drifter, through the America of the artist's imagination. The track features very catchy melodies and thumpy rhythms that will catch the listener's attention instantly. I just love the variety of vocal techniques Balthazar B employs in the song because it just fit the song so well. "St John is my Friend" by Balthazar B is an energic tune that is composed in such a way that will have you thumping along to its catchy vibes in no time.
"AWAKE" by SAMSARA.
American Indie Rock band SAMSARA. delivers a blazing rock soundscape in their newest track "AWAKE". A high-energy rock sounds that hum with voltaic vigor, "AWAKE" features unexpected twists and turns in the melody that turn these discoveries into something delightful. It's a rock track that features flaming guitar riffs, punchy drums, and emotional tracks. Listeners cannot miss out on the instrumental break as it features so many honest emotions in that guitar solo.
"Feel My Love" by Saint Misha
Get ready to dance this weekend with the hypnotic lulls of "Feel My Love" by Canadian Future House artist Saint Misha. This dancefloor track features a deep house sound that combines beautiful vocals and melodic synth toplines with bass undertones. It is the perfect track for your dance party with dance energy and catchy riffs in the vocal melody. Dance this weekend away with "Feel My Love".
"Slow Motion" by Limón Limón
American Indie Pop band Limón Limón is back with their newest track "Slow Motion". Listeners might think of think Fleetwood Mac's "Dreams" meets Rex Orange County when listening to this track. That is because it features a blend of classic rock with modern indie pop. Vintage piano, acoustic guitar, and live drums support this blend with their unique parts. "Slow Motion" is such a gorgeous tune with its indie-pop melodies and classic rock instrumentation that gives off mellow vibes. It is a perfect track to listen to this spring!
"Mirrors" by Creature Canyon
American Indie Rock band Creature Canyon reflects on their journey with the new track "Mirrors". The track deals with confrontation, self-reflection (or a lack thereof), and eventual acceptance. The band creates a glittery atmosphere inside Psychedelic Rock vibes with psychedelic R&B grooves, glassy guitars, and spacey synth tones. These dazzling, space-like musicality are supported by introspective lyrics. It is such a groovy song to listen to anywhere as such a glimmery soundscape that is impressive.
"The Tardigrade" by Thomas Craymer
Hungarian Indie Rock artist Thomas Craymer is back with his newest song "The Tardigrade". The lyrics take a humorous perspective about water bears in a way that is like childlike playfulness. These lyrics are supported by a soundscape that is both modern and nostalgic. It combines '60s style psychedelia with instruments like an oud and a kazoo. Listeners will really enjoy the sentimental vibes of '60s style psychedelia in the song as it takes you back to that era. Craymer does a fabulous capturing that are wistful but creates something modern with childlike playfulness.
"It's Only Rock N' Roll" by Peter Rogan
American Folk Rock artist Peter Rogan gives an interesting twist to a classic rock track. "It's Only Rock N' Roll" was originally done by The Rolling Stones. However, Rogan breathes new life into the song as his rendition features rock and Americana sounds. He describes this version as something "like a rock band playing at a Broadway bar." Rogan's version of "It's Only Rock N' Roll" is very well-done as it features big energy, melodies, and fun! Listeners can't miss this song!
Hot Off the Presses: January 2021 Hot Tracks Playlist
In "Belgium"
10 Songs You Have to Listen to This Weekend (V. 2)
In "Germany"
The Weekly for the Week of November 15 – November 21
In "Australia"
Tags: 2022, 20s, Acoustic, Alternative rock, Americana, Balthazar B, Country, Creature Canyon, Deep House, EDM, feature, Features, Folk, Folk Rock, Future House, Indie Pop, Indie Rock, John Gallen, Limón Limón, Michael Costantini, music, New Music, New Release, New Single, Peter Rogan, Pop Rock, Psychedelic rock, Review, Saint Misha, SAMSARA., SAVEN, Singersongwriter, Surf Rock, Thomas Craymer
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HomeReportsInternational Religious Freedom Reports...Custom Report - 8ec3c704f0
The constitution designates Islam as the state religion but upholds the principle of secularism. It prohibits religious discrimination and provides for equality for all religions. On November 27, a Special Tribunal convicted and sentenced to death seven of eight defendants accused in the 2016 killings of 22 mostly non-Muslim individuals at the Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka, while the eighth was acquitted. Defense attorneys indicated they would appeal all verdicts. The government continued to provide guidance to imams throughout the country on the content of their sermons in its stated effort to prevent militancy and monitor mosques for "provocative" messaging. Members of religious minorities, including Hindus, Buddhists, and Christians, who were sometimes also members of ethnic minorities, stated the government remained ineffective in preventing forced evictions and land seizures stemming from land disputes. The government continued to place law enforcement personnel at religious sites, festivals, and events considered possible targets for violence.
In October protesters clashed with police and attacked a Hindu temple in response to the October 20 arrests of two Muslims in Bhola, who were accused of hacking the Facebook account of a Hindu student in an extortion scheme. There were more than 100 injuries in the clash, and police killed four persons in what they stated was self-defense. In August, according to multiple press reports, police found the body of Buddhist monk Amrita Nanda, vice principal of Gyanaratna Buddhist Monastery, under a railway bridge in Comilla, approximately 100 kilometers (62 miles) from Dhaka. According to media accounts, Nanda's throat was slit. Buddhist community members said Nanda was returning to his hometown from Dhaka. The Christian Welfare Trust and other human rights nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) reported harassment, communal threats of physical violence, and social isolation for Christians who converted to Christianity from Hinduism and Islam. The Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council (BHCUC) said "atrocities" against minorities continued, but had slowed.
In meetings with government officials and in public statements, the Ambassador and other U.S. embassy representatives spoke out against acts of violence in the name of religion, and encouraged the government to uphold the rights of minority religious groups and foster a climate of tolerance. The embassy successfully urged government officials not to charge a Hindu activist with sedition. The Ambassador and other embassy staff met with local government officials, civil society members, NGOs, and religious leaders to continue to underscore the importance of religious tolerance and explore the link among religion, religious freedom, and violent extremism. Since 2017, the U.S. government has provided more than $669 million in humanitarian assistance to overwhelmingly Muslim ethnic Rohingya who fled, and continued to flee, Burma.
The U.S. government estimates the total population at 161.1 million (midyear 2019 estimate). According to the 2013 government census, Sunni Muslims constitute 89 percent of the population and Hindus 10 percent. The remainder of the population is predominantly Christian (mostly Roman Catholic) and Theravada-Hinayana Buddhist. The country also has small numbers of Shia Muslims, Baha'is, animists, Ahmadi Muslims, agnostics, and atheists. Leaders from religious minority communities estimate their respective numbers to be between a few thousand and 100,000 adherents.
Ethnic minorities concentrated in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) and northern districts generally practice a non-Islamic faith. The Garo in Mymensingh are predominantly Christian, as are some of the Santal in Gaibandha. Most Buddhists are members of the indigenous (non-Bengali) populations of the CHT. Bengali and ethnic minority Christians live in communities across the country, with relatively high concentrations in Barishal City and Gournadi in Barishal District, Baniarchar in Gopalganj District, Monipuripara and Christianpara in Dhaka City, and in the cities of Gazipur and Khulna.
The largest noncitizen population is Rohingya, nearly all Muslim. According to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), more than a million Rohingya refugees fled Burma in successive waves since the early 1990s. Most recently, in August 2017, approximately 740,000 Rohingya fleeing violence in Burma took refuge in Bangladesh. Nearly all who arrived during the 2017 influx sought shelter in and around the refugee settlements of Kutupalong and Nayapara in Cox's Bazar District. Approximately 450 Rohingya in the country are Hindu.
According to the constitution, "The state religion of the Republic is Islam, but the State shall ensure equal status and equal rights in the practice of the Hindu, Buddhist, Christian, and other religions." The constitution also stipulates the state should not grant political status in favor of any religion. It provides for the right to profess, practice, or propagate all religions "subject to law, public order, and morality" and states religious communities or denominations have the right to establish, maintain, and manage their religious institutions. The constitution states no one attending any educational institution shall be required to receive instruction in, or participate in ceremonies or worship pertaining to, a religion to which he or she does not belong.
Under the penal code, statements or acts made with a "deliberate and malicious" intent to insult religious sentiments are subject to fines or up to two years in prison. Although the code does not further define this prohibited intent, the courts have interpreted it to include insulting the Prophet Muhammad. The criminal code allows the government to confiscate all copies of any newspaper, magazine, or other publication containing language that "creates enmity and hatred among the citizens or denigrates religious beliefs." The law applies similar restrictions to online publications. While there is no specific blasphemy law, authorities use the penal code, as well as a section of the Information and Communication Technology Act, to charge individuals. The Digital Security Act criminalizes publication or broadcast of "any information that hurts religious values or sentiments," with penalties of up to 10 years in prison.
The constitution prohibits freedom of association if an association is formed for the purpose of destroying religious harmony or creating discrimination on religious grounds.
Individual houses of worship are not required to register with the government. Religious groups seeking to form associations with multiple houses of worship, however, must register as NGOs with either the NGO Affairs Bureau (NGOAB) if they receive foreign assistance for development projects or with the Ministry of Social Welfare if they do not. The law requires the NGOAB approve and monitor all foreign-funded projects. The NGOAB director general has the authority to impose sanctions on NGOs for violating the law, including fines of up to three times the amount of the foreign donation or closure of the NGO. NGOs are also subject to penalties for "derogatory" comments about the constitution or constitutional institutions (i.e., the government). Expatriate staff must receive a security clearance from the National Security Intelligence (NSI), Special Branch of Police, and Directorate General of Forces Intelligence, although the standards for this clearance are not transparent.
Registration requirements and procedures for religious groups are the same as for secular associations. Registration requirements with the Ministry of Social Welfare include certifying the name being registered is not taken; providing the bylaws/constitution of the organization; a security clearance for leaders of the organization from the NSI; minutes of the meeting appointing the executive committee; a list of all executive committee and general members and photographs of principal officers; work plan; copy of the deed or lease of the organization's office and a list of property owned; a budget; and a recommendation by a local government representative.
Requirements to register with the NGOAB are similar.
Family law concerning marriage, divorce, and adoption contains separate provisions for Muslims, Hindus, and Christians. These laws are enforced in the same secular courts. A separate civil family law applies to mixed-faith families or those of other faiths or no faith. The family law of the religion of the two parties concerned governs their marriage rituals and proceedings. A Muslim man may have as many as four wives, although he must obtain the written consent of his existing wife or wives before marrying again. A Christian man may marry only one woman.
Hindu men may have multiple wives. Officially, Hindus have no options for divorce, although informal divorces do occur. Hindu women may inherit property under the law. Buddhists are subject to the same laws as Hindus. Divorced Hindus and Buddhists may not legally remarry. Divorced men and women of other religions and widowed individuals of any religion may remarry. Marriage between members of different religious groups is allowed and occurs under civil law. To be legally recognized, Muslim marriages must be registered with the state by either the couple or the cleric performing the marriage; however, some marriages are not. Registration of marriages for Hindus and Christians is optional, and other faiths may determine their own guidelines.
Under the Muslim family ordinance, a Muslim man may marry women of any Abrahamic faith; however, a Muslim woman may not marry a non-Muslim. Under the ordinance, a widow receives one-eighth of her husband's estate if she is his only wife, and the remainder is divided among the children; each female child receives half the share of each male child. Wives have fewer divorce rights than husbands. Civil courts must approve divorces. The law requires a Muslim man to pay a former wife three months of alimony, but these protections generally apply only to registered marriages; unregistered marriages are by definition undocumented and difficult to substantiate. Authorities do not always enforce the alimony requirement even in cases involving registered marriages.
Alternative dispute resolution is available to all citizens, including Muslims, for settling out of court family arguments and other civil matters not related to land ownership. With the consent of both parties, lawyers may be identified to facilitate the arbitration, the results of which may be used in court.
Fatwas may be issued only by Muslim religious scholars, and not by local religious leaders, to settle matters of religious practice. Fatwas may neither be invoked to justify meting out punishment, nor may they supersede existing secular law.
Religious studies are compulsory and part of the curriculum for grades three through 10 in all public government-accredited schools. Private schools do not have this requirement. Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, and Christian students receive instruction in their own religious beliefs, although the teachers are not always adherents of the students' faith.
The code regulating prisons allows for observance of religious commemorations by prisoners, including access to extra food on feast days or permission to fast for religious reasons. The law does not guarantee prisoners regular access to clergy or regular religious services, but prison authorities may arrange special religious programs for them. Prison authorities are required to provide prisoners facing the death penalty access to a religious figure from a faith of their choice before execution.
The Restoration of Vested Property Act allows the government to return property confiscated from individuals, mostly Hindus, whom it formerly declared enemies of the state. In the past, authorities used the act to seize property abandoned by minority religious groups, especially Hindus, who fled the country, particularly following the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965.
On November 27, a Bangladesh Special Tribunal convicted and sentenced seven defendants to death for their role in the July 2016 killing of 22 mostly non-Muslim individuals at the Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka. An eighth defendant was acquitted. Both defense attorneys and prosecutors said they would appeal the verdicts, the government appealing only the one acquittal. According to numerous reports, the attackers, who claimed loyalty to ISIS, singled out non-Muslims and killed the victims with machetes and firearms. According to media, a police investigation found 22 persons were involved in the attack: the eight whose trial just concluded, including two who had fled the country; five who were killed during the security response to the attack; and nine who died in a series of security actions in the country following the incident.
Legal proceedings against suspects allegedly involved in the 2015 killing of atheist blogger Avijit Roy continued at year's end. In March a Dhaka court transferred the murder case to the Anti-Terrorism Tribunal for trial proceedings. The trial of six men accused in the killing began in April. Machete-wielding assailants hacked to death Roy, a U.S. citizen of Bangladeshi origin, while he accompanied his wife, who was also injured in the attack, as they returned home from a Dhaka book fair. The press reported police suspected the Ansarullah Bangla Team, a militant Islamic organization claiming association with Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent– accused of other acts of violence and banned by the government – was involved in Roy's killing. Four of the accused appeared before the court during the year; the other two remained at large.
Law enforcement concluded one of eight investigations into a 2016 attack on Hindu individuals, homes, and temples in Brahmanbaria District. In December 2017, 228 were charged with the attacks on the Hindu community, pending prosecution. However, according to media reports, all accused persons were since released on bail. According to media reports, in the three years since the attack, there was no further progress in this case following the completion of one of eight investigations, and no timeline was given for completing the other seven investigations or for scheduling hearings for the 228 charged. The courts held no hearings before the end of the year. The attackers injured more than 100 individuals and vandalized 52 Hindu homes and 15 temples following a Hindu resident's Facebook post showing a Hindu deity pasted over the Kaaba in Mecca. The National Human Rights Commission stated the attack was orchestrated to drive Hindus from the area and obtain their land.
According to media reports in November, the government filed charges against members of the Santal Christian community, which was the target of a violent attack in 2016 that allegedly involved local authorities and law enforcement personnel. These charges necessitate these members paying legal and administrative fees, even if the cases fail to progress. Among those charged was the brother of a man killed in the attack. At the same time, authorities dropped charges against police officers videotaped in the attack for lack of sufficient evidence. On July 28, the UN Committee Against Torture reported the Police Bureau of Investigation submitted a report stating no police officers were involved in the burning of homes and schools and looting of property, despite the visual evidence suggesting their involvement.
Human rights organizations did not report the use of extrajudicial fatwas by village community leaders and local religious leaders to punish individuals for perceived "moral transgressions" during the year, in contrast with previous years.
Although most mosques were independent of the state, the government continued to influence the appointment and removal of imams and to provide guidance to imams throughout the country through the Islamic Foundation on the content of their sermons. This included issuing written instructions highlighting certain Quranic verses and quotations of the Prophet Muhammad. Religious community leaders said imams in all mosques usually continued the practice of avoiding sermons that contradicted government policy. In April the government instructed mosques to denounce extremism.
The government continued to prohibit transmission of India-based Islamic televangelist Zakir Naik's Peace TV Bangla, stating the program spread extremist ideologies, and closed "peace schools," which the government said reflected his teachings.
In May police arrested Catholic poet Henry Sawpon for "offending the religious sentiments of Catholics" in his many social media posts criticizing and insulting members of the clergy. The arrest followed a complaint filed by Father Larence Gomes, a local priest in the town of Barisal, also the home of Sawpon. According to Gomes, Sawpon said young priests organized a seminar for youth where girls were raped. At year's end, Sawpon remained in jail.
According to the Ministry of Land, authorities adjudicated 15,224 of 118,173 property-restitution cases filed under the Restoration of Vested Property Act as of 2018, the most recent year figures were published. Of these judgments, the owners, primarily Hindus, won 7,733 of the cases, recovering 8,187.5 acres of land, while the government won the remaining 7,491 cases. Media reports, rights activists, and the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council attributed the slow return of land seized under relevant legislation from Hindus who had left for India to judicial inefficiency and general government indifference.
Religious minorities continued to state that religious minority students sometimes were unable to enroll in religion classes because of an insufficient number of religious minority teachers for mandatory religious education classes. In these cases, school officials generally allowed local religious institutions, parents, or others to hold religious studies classes for such students outside school hours and sometimes exempted students from the religious education requirement.
The Ministry of Religious Affairs had a budget of 11.68 billion taka ($137.4 million) for the 2018-19 fiscal year, which covers June 2018-July 2019, the most recent year for which figures were available. The budget included 9.21 billion taka ($108.4 million) allocated for development through various autonomous religious bodies. The government provided the Islamic Foundation, administered by the Ministry of Religious Affairs, 8.24 billion taka ($96.9 million). The Hindu Welfare Trust received 780.8 million taka ($9.2 million), and the Buddhist Welfare Trust received 37.5 million taka ($441,000) of the total development allocation. While the Christian Welfare Trust did not receive development funding from the 2018-19 budget, it received 2.8 million taka ($32,900) to run its office.
Hindus, Buddhists, Christians, and members of other minority religious communities, who are also sometimes members of ethnic minority groups, continued to report property and land ownership disputes and forced evictions, including by the government, which remained unresolved at year's end. The government continued construction projects on land traditionally owned by indigenous communities in the Moulvibazar and Modhupur forest areas. In July three CHT villages filed a report with the deputy commissioner accusing Jashim Uddin Montu, a businessman, of land grabbing. In an investigative report, The Daily Star discovered Montu falsified residency documents in Bandarban for the right to purchase CHT land to build a tourist property. Villagers said Montu donated money and some of the purchased land in CHT to build a two-story police camp in Bandarban. According to minority religious associations, such disputes occurred in areas near new roads or industrial development zones, where land prices had recently increased. They also stated local police, civil authorities, and political leaders enabled property appropriation for financial gain or shielded politically influential property appropriators from prosecution. Some human rights groups continued to attribute lack of resolution of some of these disputes to ineffective judicial and land registry systems and the targeted communities' insufficient political and financial clout, rather than to government policy disfavoring religious or ethnic minorities.
The government continued to place law enforcement personnel at religious sites, festivals, and events considered potential targets for violence, including the Hindu festival of Durga Puja, celebrations during the Christian holidays of Christmas and Easter, and the Buddhist festival of Buddha Purnima.
President Abdul Hamid continued to host receptions to commemorate each of the principal Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, and Christian holidays and emphasized the importance of religious freedom, tolerance, and respect for religious minorities. In October the prime minister's foreign policy advisor, Gowher Rizvi, said at an interreligious event the majority faith (Islam) had the responsibility to protect minority religious groups and urged all to work under a common umbrella and address common problems together.
In September according to press reports, unidentified individuals killed four members of a Buddhist family living in Cox's Bazar. The victims included two children under the age of 10. The family lived in a predominantly Buddhist village in Cox's Bazar, and the precise motive of the murder remained unclear at year's end.
In August, according to multiple press reports, police found the body of Buddhist monk Amrita Nanda, Vice Principal of Gyanaratna Buddhist Monastery, under a railway bridge in Comilla, approximately 100 kilometers (62 miles) from Dhaka. According to media accounts, Nanda's throat was slit, and Buddhist community members said he may have been killed and his body dumped from the train while returning to his hometown from Dhaka. Buddhists and human rights activists formed human chains and protest rallies throughout the country following Nanda's death. At year's end, however, no arrests were made.
In its Brief Yearly Report on the Minority Situation, the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council (BHBCUC) said atrocities against minorities continued, but slowed. Communal acts against religious minorities, including land grabbing, rapes, and arson, remained a "day to day affair" but BHBCUC did not provide specific numbers or give examples. In contrast with 2018, when BHBCUC documented 806 cases of religious persecution against minorities, the organization did not release any statistical data during the year.
The Christian Welfare Trust and other human rights NGOs reported harassment, communal threats of physical violence, and social isolation for converts to Christianity from Islam and Hinduism. The NGOs said individuals commonly associated a person's faith with his or her surname. In spite of constitutional guarantees protecting an individual's right to change faiths, according to the Christian Welfare Trust, when someone's professed faith deviated from the faith tradition commonly tied with his or her surname, particularly if the professed faith was Christianity, harassment, threats and social isolation could ensue.
In October rioters clad in Islamic garb and brandishing Islamist banners protested the arrest of two Muslims in Bhola accused of hacking a Hindu student's Facebook account to plant disparaging comments on Islam for extortion. The rioters demanded the incarceration of the Hindu student, ransacked a local Hindu temple, and incited local residents to join them. Police responded to the rioters, who they stated were armed with shotguns, and used lethal force in what they stated was self-defense, which resulted in four deaths. More than 100 people were injured in the riots. The two Muslims accused of the hacking remained under arrest, as did the Hindu student who reported to police the hacking and subsequent extortion attempt.
In November according to several media reports, unidentified persons broke into a Hindu Kali temple in Tangail and vandalized five idols. A local Hindu leader said the perpetrators acted in this manner to damage communal harmony between Hindus and Muslims in the area. Local authorities and law enforcement said they opened an investigation into the incident.
Actress Saba Kabir, according to media reports, was pressured to apologize after making remarks taken by some to be admitting to atheism. After heavy social media criticism, she apologized on her Facebook page for offending the religious beliefs of others.
The human rights organization Ain o Salish Kendra said at least 101 people were injured in violence against religious minorities in the first 10 months of 2019. Apart from this figure, said the group, at least 65 temples/monasteries or statues were attacked and 53 homes of religious minorities were attacked and set on fire. Some Buddhists continued to say they feared local Muslims would commit acts of vengeance against them in reaction to Buddhist mistreatment of the Muslim Rohingya in Burma.
NGOs continued to report tensions in the CHT between the predominantly Muslim Bengali settlers and members of indigenous groups, primarily Buddhist, Hindu, and Christian, largely over land ownership. The government continued its efforts to resolve land ownership disputes affecting indigenous non-Muslims, using a 2017 amendment to the law providing for more inclusive decision making and a harmonization of the law with the 1997 Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord. According to some members of the indigenous community, procedural issues had delayed resolution of many of their property disputes.
The Ambassador and other embassy officials met with officials from the Office of the Prime Minister, Ministry of Religious Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Social Welfare, and local government representatives to underscore the importance of religious freedom and tolerance. They discussed the interface among religions, religious freedom, and violent extremism, and the importance of integrating religious freedom and other human rights in security policy. Embassy officials stressed the importance of respecting religious minorities' viewpoints, minority religious inclusion within society, and protecting religious minorities from extremist attacks. The Ambassador's visits and remarks were broadly covered in the country's major national television networks and print media.
The embassy successfully urged government officials not to charge a Hindu activist with sedition.
The U.S. government has provided more than $669 million in humanitarian assistance to overwhelmingly Muslim ethnic Rohingya who fled Burma since August 2017. More than $553 million of that total has gone to assist Rohingya refugees and host communities in the country.
As part of U.S.-funded community policing training, the embassy encouraged law enforcement officials to protect the rights of religious minorities.
Public outreach programs encouraging interfaith tolerance among religious groups continued during the year, including one held on August 25. Embassy officials attended several religious festivals celebrated by the Buddhist, Hindu, and Muslim communities and emphasized in these events the importance of tolerance and respect for religious minorities. In October the Ambassador attended festivals and events for all three major religious communities. At these events, the Ambassador and other embassy officials emphasized the importance of religious tolerance and respect for diversity.
The embassy conducted a social media campaign throughout the year to promote religious freedom and tolerance. In July the embassy posted photographs on its social media platform of religious and civil society leaders at a meeting with the Ambassador before they left to attend the second Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom in Washington, DC. On August 23, the embassy released a public statement on Facebook and Twitter recognizing the UN's first International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief. In October the embassy published two Facebook posts highlighting the Ambassador's participation in Christian, Hindu, and Buddhist events, with text and photographs.
Embassy and other U.S. government officials expressed support for the rights of religious minorities and emphasized the importance of their protection. Embassy officials met regularly with a wide range of religious organizations and representatives, including the Islamic Foundation Bangladesh, Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council, Bangladesh Christian Association, Buddhist Religious Welfare Trust, Christian Religious Welfare Trust, World Buddhist Association Bangladesh, Bangladesh Buddhist Federation, International Buddhist Monastery of Dhaka, and the Aga Khan Foundation. In these meetings, embassy and other U.S. government officials and representatives from the various groups discussed the state of religious freedom in the country, identified challenges religious minorities encountered, and discussed the importance of religious tolerance.
Embassy officials met regularly with a working group of 11 foreign missions to discuss a broad range of human rights concerns, including religious freedom.
Abuses by Foreign Forces and Nonstate Actors (if applicable)


Kenneth Wirth works as CEO of First Financial Resources Ltd., in Greenwich, Connecticut. Outside of his professional endeavors, Kenneth Wirth serves on the Board of Directors of The Drama League.
The Drama League, located in New York City, exists to bring together artists and audiences through artistic development and audience education to build a richer overall stage experience for all involved. The League develops artists' abilities through several fellowship opportunities – among them the Fall Directing Fellowship, which allows four directors to immerse themselves in directorial opportunities available in New York City and throughout the region.
Mr Wirth in his second three year term as a member of the Board of Directors brought National Life Group to the Board as a sponsor for 100th Birthday of the Drama League.
Last Friday May 20th was the annual Drama League Awards Luncheon. The event was attended by more than 500 people as they handed out all the awards for the current season.
Mr Wirth, recently was awarded an MFA in Creative Writing from Manhattanville College in Purchase NY. He was awarded this degree with Honors.
Mr Wirth, a Producer of " Turn Me Loose " currently on Broadway is involved with two other plays headed for Broadway.


text:
"""Support for naming expressions

In order to use elastic search named query, we need to be able to assign names to expressions
and retrieve their positions in the query text.

This module adds support for that.

"""
from .utils import LuceneTreeVisitorV2

#: Names are added to tree items via an attribute named `_luqum_name`
NAME_ATTR = "_luqum_name"

def set_name(node, value):
    setattr(node, NAME_ATTR, value)

def get_name(node):
    return getattr(node, NAME_ATTR, None)

class TreeAutoNamer(LuceneTreeVisitorV2):
    # helper for :py:func:`tree_name_index`

    def visit_base_operation(self, node, parents=None, context=None):
        # operations are the splitting point, we name them and make children subnames
        names = context["names"]
        set_name(node, ("_".join(names)))
        for i, c in enumerate(node.children):
            self.visit(c, context={"names": names + [str(i)]})

    def visit_term(self, node, parents=None, context=None):
        names = context["names"]
        set_name(node, ("_".join(names)))

    def visit_range(self, node, parents=None, context=None):
        names = context["names"]
        set_name(node, ("_".join(names)))
        # no need to visit children

    def generic_visit(self, node, parents=None, context=None):
        # just propagate to children
        for c in node.children:
            self.visit(c, context=context)

    def visit(self, node, parents=None, context=None):
        # just initialise context
        if context is None:
            context = {"names": ["0"]}
        return super().visit(node, parents, context=context)

def auto_name(tree):
    """Automatically add names to nodes of a parse tree.

    We add them to terminal nodes : range, phrases and words, as this is where it is useful,
    but also on operations, to easily grab the group.
    """
    TreeAutoNamer().visit(tree)

class NameIndexer(LuceneTreeVisitorV2):
    # helper for :py:func:`tree_name_index`

    def generic_visit(self, node, parents=None, context=None):
        # visit children
        sub_names = []
        for child in node.children:
            sub_names.extend(self.visit(child, parents=True))
        name = get_name(node)
        root_node = not parents
        if name is not None or root_node:
            str_repr = str(node)
            # search for subnodes position
            subnodes_pos = []
            idx = 0
            for (subname, sub_repr, sub_subnodes_pos) in sub_names:
                pos = str_repr.find(sub_repr, idx)
                if pos >= 0:
                    l = len(sub_repr)
                    subnodes_pos.append((subname, pos, l, sub_subnodes_pos))
                    idx = pos + l
            sub_names = [(name, str_repr, subnodes_pos)]
        return sub_names

    def __call__(self, node):
        subnames = self.visit(node, parents=False)
        # by construction, root node, only return one entry
        name, str_repr, subnodes_pos = subnames[0]
        if name is not None:
            # resolve last level
            subnodes_pos = [(name, 0, len(str_repr), subnodes_pos)]
        return subnodes_pos

def _flatten_name_index(subnodes_pos, start_pos=0):
    for name, pos, length, children in subnodes_pos:
        yield name, start_pos + pos, length
        yield from _flatten_name_index(children, start_pos + pos)

def name_index(tree):
    """Given a tree with names, give the index of each group in the string representation.
    also gives the node type.

    .. warning:: this is not an efficient implementation,
        It will call str representation several times on each item, and seek for substrings.

        see :py:class:`TreeNameIndexer`

    :param tree: a luqum parse tree
    :return dict: mapping each name to a `(start position, length)` tuple
    """
    subnodes_pos = NameIndexer()(tree)
    # flatten the hierarchy
    result = {name: (pos, length) for name, pos, length in _flatten_name_index(subnodes_pos)}
    return result

def extract(expr, name, name_index):
    """extract named part of expression, using name_index

    :param str expr: the lucene expression
    :param str name: name of the part to extract
    :param dict name_index: the dict obtained from :py:func:`name_index`
    """
    return expr[name_index[name][0]: name_index[name][0] + name_index[name][1]]

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


After working on many of the colour palettes here at One Fab Day inspiring lots of brides and grooms over the years, today is the day I share the inspiration behind my own big day. The colours and style that I used throughout my planning to guide my Eclectic Vintage Wedding look and...today's the day it all comes to life! My overall idea was based on vintage but with an eclectic feel and rich olde world shades like viridian, robins egg, velvet rose, dusky and antique pink and lots of ivory tones. Old botanical prints where a huge influence from color to actual fabric choices as well as lots of other texture in the form of laces and plush velvet detailing. I have loved vintage for as long as I can remember and even though lots of vintage elements have come and gone at weddings over the years I wanted to stay true to our style as a couple.
Huge, huge congratulations to the amazing Karen Louise, our chief editorial and creative genius, who marries her best friend Michael today! Can't wait to celebrate with you!
The Stationery: Botanical prints were such a big inspiration behind this overall look that I made sure to incorporate them into all the elements of our stationery. Our invites were created on vintage-style handkerchiefs and featured a pretty vintage-style floral illustration. The ceremony booklet, menus, table plan and other stationery items all followed suit and featured dramatic, vintage-style florals.
The Style: To keep the vintage style consistant choose a vintage style wedding dress and accessories. Print bridesmaids dresses work so well with this look and has that wonderful eclectic feel. For the groom and his men, the more dapper the better!
The Decor and Flowers: The decor and flowers are the key to achieving the perfect eclectic vintage wedding look. For bouquets, dramatic overflowing bouquets were what I envisioned in bold and pretty pastel tones. Lots of roses, hydrangea and other vintage style blooms are perfect for creating these for the bride and bridesmaids. I choose various thrifted and collected silver and brass vessels and candle holders and as well as vintage glassware to hold the florals and to line the long tables. Collected, mix and match vintage furniture dotted around your venue for guest book tables, cake tables, food stations etc. all add to the eclectic feel. If you can, raid your granny and mum's attic for lots of vintage trinkets and pretty fine china.
The Cake: A dessert table reminiscent of a Victorian spread complete with pretty cakes and treats on vintage stands and in pretty glassware vessels is perfect to complete the look.


text:
PAC leader calls for a new land deal to benefit 'African people'
By QAANITAH HUNTER - 21 March 2019 - 12:59
TATTERS: A PAC supporter flies the flag
Image: MOELETSI MABE
PAC president Narius Moloto on Thursday called for a "new deal on land" so that the blood shed by the victims of the Sharpeville massacre would not be in vain.
Speaking at the National Human Rights Day commemoration in Sharpeville on Thursday, Moloto said South Africa could not be a normal nation while the majority were still landless.
"There must be a new deal on the land that will benefit African people," he said.
Moloto joined President Cyril Ramaphosa in commemorating the massacre that claimed the lives of 69 PAC supporters in 1960 when police opened fire on protesters.
He also joined Ramaphosa in laying a wreath at the memorial site before proceeding to the main event where he addressed the crowd.
"Codesa on the land did not do justice to the African people," Moloto said in reference to the negotiations held between 1990 and 1993 to end apartheid.
Moloto said the freedom and independence enjoyed today did not come for free.
"We are a nation where the majority is landless... we cannot be a normal nation," he said.
He said access to land would expand the economy to the benefit of African people.
"In that way the blood of the heroes and heroines of Sharpeville would not be in vain," Moloto said.
From 1 seat to 'no less than 50' - PAC sets an ambitious target
Election season generally breeds optimism, but even pastor Alph Lukau would admit that it's a bit of a stretch to expect the Pan Africanist Congress ...
JO-MANGALISO MDHLELA | It's sad that Sobukwe's vision has departed our leaders
Cosatu unhappy with slow pace of investigations into corruption in private ...
'Solving land question important national imperative but not election issue'


Mostly sunny, with a high near 78. South wind 7 to 16 mph, with gusts as high as 26 mph.
A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 5am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 57. South wind 13 to 16 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph.
A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms before 7am, then a slight chance of showers between 7am and 1pm. Cloudy, with a high near 66. West wind 10 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Mostly cloudy, with a low around 42. North wind 3 to 8 mph.
Mostly sunny, with a high near 67. Light and variable wind becoming east around 5 mph.
Partly cloudy, with a low around 47. Southeast wind 3 to 5 mph.
Partly sunny, with a high near 72. Calm wind becoming southwest around 5 mph in the afternoon.


For a girl from a "normal Indian upbringing" and graduating in Accounts, Hasselblad, soft box, high fashion was like cheese and chalk.
Today after say six months in the company and observing as to what all goes behind making such pictures and films, I understand that it is art. I want to put up one of my favorite pictures and one of the first films that I saw when I joined Vikram Bawa.
This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged Artist, Films, Photographer, the show, Vikram Bawa by Vikram Bawa. Bookmark the permalink.


text:
Monday, Oct 8, 2018
The Kavanaugh court is the one conservatives have worked decades to build
by Robert Barnes
We need careful, restrained justices on the Supreme Court
The Supreme Court's Legitimacy Crisis
by Michael Tomasky
Senators representing less than half the U.S. are about to confirm a nominee opposed by most Americans
by Philip Bump
Susan Collins swings back at Planned Parenthood over Supreme Court double-standard
by Valerie Richardson
It's Monday, October 8th, 2018. I'm Albert Mohler, and this is The Briefing, a daily analysis of news and events from a Christian worldview.
After unprecedented political hurricane, Judge Kavanaugh becomes Justice Kavanaugh
After an unprecedented political hurricane, Judge Brett Kavanaugh became the 114th individual in the entire history of the United States of America to be confirmed as a justice of the United States Supreme Court. He was sworn in as the 114th justice in a ceremony in Washington DC on Saturday evening. Earlier in that same day, he was confirmed by a vote of the United States Senate of 50 to 48. Now, you're looking at a very close margin, just a 50 to 48 margin, but what's most important is given the current rules of the United States Senate, this is quite enough for the Senate to have exercised its constitutional responsibility of advise and consent to the president's judicial nominations.
The past several weeks have been by twist and turns a unique story in American politics, a story that has revealed, as if we needed more revelation, of the deep ideological political, moral, and cultural divide in the United States. If anything, on the other side of the vote and the swearing in of Justice Kavanaugh on Saturday night, that chasm is now wider. It's even more undeniable, but it is also clear that we are watching America changing before our eyes and it is also very important that we recognize that every single appointment to the United States Supreme Court is of tremendous importance to the nature and destiny of this nation and to the survival of our constitutional order, so when you're looking at this hurricane, we need to understand it was not by any means much to do about nothing. It has to do with something that is very important to our constitutional order, but there have been some very interesting lessons learned just over the last couple of days.
First, look at the vote itself, 50 to 48. That was made possible by 50 senators, president of the chamber voting for the confirmation of Justice Kavanaugh, but it was also complicated by the fact that one republican was not present and another republican present voted present. She didn't vote against, she merely voted present.
Now, if this sounds complicated, it is, but this is a part of the rules of the Senate. Lisa Murkowski, a republican senator from Alaska, had indicated on Friday that she would vote against Judge Kavanaugh. That complicated the math, and it was further complicated by the fact that one of the republican senators who was a definite yes vote for Judge Kavanaugh, that is Senator Steve Danes of Montana, was not present in the chamber on Saturday because he was present at the wedding of his daughter back in Montana. But then given the way the Senate works, there was what's called a Senate pairing, and that came as Senator Murkowski agreed that she would not vote against Judge Kavanaugh, but she would not vote for him. She would instead vote present. Present was not a vote that counted against Judge Kavanaugh.
That then established 48 democratic senators voting against Judge Kavanaugh, one democratic senator, Joe Manchin of West Virginia voting for him. That gave the number of 50 versus 48, which again is enough, but it's really interesting to hear so many on the political left decrying the politicization of the courts because arguably over American history, it has been the left that is primarily responsible for making certain that the court has been politicized by assigning to the court or appealing to the court or taking to the court the issues that congress itself should handle through the normal legislative process.
That points especially to so many of the most hot button moral issues that the Senate and the House together would not dare to deal with on behalf of the American people, and so those who have been pressing for the legalization of abortion, for the legalization of same sex marriage, for so many other issues, they have gone repeatedly to the courts.
Then, it was also Senator Harry Reed, the then democratic majority leader of the Senate, who frustrated with the fact that republicans were blocking so many of President Obama's judicial nominees, he changed the rules of the Senate, removing the filibuster for federal judicial confirmations. Now, the democrats, when they took that move, stopped short of the Supreme Court, but that then set up republicans under now majority leader Mitch McConnell to take that one step further.
Now, as you're looking at this, there are charges and counter charges. Who's most responsible for the politicization of the court? But there's a bit of very important political historical background here that Christians need to keep in mind. We understand that in a sinful world, the political process is never less than political. That's simply, as we might say, baked into the cake.
So, politics has been a matter of supreme importance at the Supreme Court going all the way back to the earliest days of the court. Indeed, you could agree that it was the period under the third president of the United States, Thomas Jefferson, that saw the Supreme Court first becoming overtly politicized under then Chief Justice John Marshall.
That set up a series of conflicts between presidents and the Supreme Court that was also very apparent under the presidency of Andrew Jackson. At one point, the court under still Chief Justice John Marshall, had ruled a move by the president unconstitutional. President Jackson then responded or at least history records he was said to respond, "Let the Supreme Court then enforce this. The Supreme Court has no truce."
As you're looking at the great long tradition of the Supreme Court and constitutional interpretation going back to the founding era, it's really clear that much of the business of the court had to do with the interpretation of statutes rather than the constitution, and also with the relationship of the three different branches of government. There were huge arguments about the extent of the powers of the federal government. That set up a controversy that was settled only in the sense that it was settled constitutionally by the Civil War in the middle of the 19th century.
But it's also really clear that even in the earliest days of the republic, there were arguments about the limits of the power the federal government setting up some of the debates that are now hauntingly familiar to those observing the court in the 21st century. But as you go back to the late 19th and the early 20th centuries, especially in the early decades of the 20th century, there was a huge shift on the court towards what is called the philosophy of pragmatism. Pragmatism marked so many of the justices. Especially in the period before the second World War and continuing even afterwards, pragmatism sought to be bend the propositions and even the texts and sentences of the constitution towards what a majority of the justices at any given time thought was in the best national interest.
Thus, you had people like Oliver Wendell Holmes and a succession of other very famous justices who began to bring their own insights to the court and those insights and arguments often exhibited under the context of pragmatism began to supplant the words, the sentences, the grammar, and the syntax of the constitution itself.
But it wasn't just justices of the Supreme Court. Presidents of the United States followed similar reasoning. We've mentioned before that one of the seminal turning points in the history of the court was the constitutional interpretation of President Woodrow Wilson, both during the years that he was president and also in the years previous when he was the president of Princeton University and there taught political science and American history.
Wilson became a great exponent of a living constitution, the idea that the constitution had to grow with the people, but here's what's interesting. Most of that growth, as it was characterized by these proponents of the living constitution, didn't come by the honest route of amending the constitution. It came by what I would describe as a fairly intellectually dishonest route. That is, suggesting that the meaning of the constitution now with the same words, the same sentences, the same grammar, would be different and could be different than the meaning of the constitution when the constitution itself was ratified.
That pragmatism gave way to progressivism in a majority of justices of the United States Supreme Court after the second World War, and the progressives began to go even further in the direction of the pragmatists. The progressives decided to take what they considered to be the data offered by such inputs as social science in order to bring those arguments into their constitutional interpretation. This was a step even beyond pragmatism, a step towards saying there are certain social goals we want to achieve. The constitution should be read or reread in order to get us to those goals.
One of the interesting things in retrospect is to look at how many arguments offered before the United States Supreme Court quite successfully, arguments that were then translated into majority opinions on leading decisions of the court offered arguments that are in essence more sociological than constitutional.
The great conservative pushback on the pragmatists first and progressives second understanding of the reading of the constitution by the court began in the 1960s, but it didn't begin very effectively. It wasn't even very effective all the way through the 1980s.
Republican presidents beginning with President Richard M. Nixon, first elected in 1968, sought to appoint what even Richard Nixon called strict constructionist judges. Those were judges who would actually rule according to the text of the constitution of the United States, but it turns out that Richard Nixon wasn't really very effective in appointing strict constructionist justices or even lower court judges. It turns out that most other republicans weren't that much more competent at doing the very same thing.
Now, one of the reasons behind this is that federal judges and especially justices of the United States Supreme Court tend to come from a very well-established legal and judicial elite. Furthermore, by the time you come to justices nominated the court, you're talking about an elite within an elite within an elite. You're talking about a very small pond from which these very important fish are drawn.
Republican after republican would be elected pledging to appoint strict constructionist judges in order to correct to the court, and yet those justices when appointed would turn out to be something other than strict constructionists. So, you look at a line of justices appointed by conservative republican presidents who turned out to be a part of the court's so-called liberal or moderate wing.
There were some exceptions to this, most notably the nomination of William Rehnquist as an associate justice that was made by Richard Nixon, and then the elevation of Rehnquist to chief justice of the United States by Ronald Reagan.
Later, President Reagan would appoint some justices who turned out to be very much center left, not even center right, but he would also appoint Antonin Scalia, arguably the most effective and persuasive strict constructionist or originalist ever to sit on the United States Supreme Court.
By the time George W. Bush was elected president of the United States in the year 2000, conservatives had had enough of pledges about the nomination of strict constructionist judges. They wanted proof that justices who would be nominated by republicans would actually be strict constructionists. Thus, even going back to the first decade of the century, groups such as the Federalist Society committed to that very reading of the constitution began to grow in importance and influence.
Pragmatism, progressivism, and politics: How the trajectory of the Supreme Court led to this moment in American history
But then fast forward, not to 2000, not to 2008, but to 2016 when Donald Trump was running for the republican presidential nomination. In an effort to try to demonstrate to conservatives that he should be supported as their candidate, he indicated that he would go to the Federalist Society for a list of judges whom he might appoint as justices of the United States Supreme Court. It was a list of somewhere around 25 justices. It has been smaller and greater since then, but the point is that this list was to be made up of judges and legal scholars who had already demonstrated their commitment to originalism and strict constructionism.
Thus, then candidate Donald Trump, who had previously shown very little interest in the Supreme Court and had once even talked about nominating his sister, then a liberal federal judge, to the United States Supreme Court, it was then that Donald Trump indicated that he would follow exactly what he had said and he would nominate from that list and only from that list.
When President Trump was elected in November of 2016, he himself subsequent to that election made clear that he believed that the pledge that he had made concerning the Supreme Court was in large part the reason for his election, especially for conservative turnout.
The argument made by many evangelicals and others to support Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election, a move that was completely out of sync with the kind of candidate that conservative evangelicals had ever supported before, the argument was made that the Supreme Court is virtually everything and winning the Supreme Court and actually changing the direction of the Supreme Court was so important that it would justify supporting and voting for a candidate unlike any candidate that evangelicals had supported before, especially given the moral and character issues that were then involved.
But what's really important for the sake of history is to recognize that this past weekend is exactly what Donald Trump had promised when it comes to the Supreme Court of the United States, and it's not only the nominations of Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh to the court that are important. It's not only the fact that they were both thoroughly vetted in their constitutional interpretation. It has to do also with the fact that both of them were completely supported by a White House that made very clear that they would not back off of these nominations even under intense political pressure.
Oddly enough, the confirmation of Judge Kavanaugh is due to one of the most unique partnerships in the history of modern American politics, the partnership between the republican president, Donald Trump, and Senator Mitch McConnell, the republican senator from Kentucky who was the majority leader of the United States Senate. It took the absolute determination of both men to see the Kavanaugh nomination through. Sources close to both men were very clear that they both understood that it would be a political battle royal to confirm any nominee who would come to the seat that had been occupied by Anthony Kennedy. The understanding was that the cultural left would fight it with everything and that it would take an equal determination in order to gain a successful confirmation process.
Just moments after the Senate voted to confirm Judge Kavanaugh, Robert Barnes, writing for the courts and law column of The Washington Post, began his report with these words: "The Kavanaugh court will be the ones conservatives have worked for decades to construct, experts say, with velocity, the only question about the Supreme Court's advance to the right."
Now, here's where we need to understand that when The Washington Post in a column like this talks about the court advancing to the right, conservatives would come back and say, "No, it's not advancing to the right. It is just returning the court to a mode of constitutional interpretation that was implied and required by the constitution when it was ratified. They're not trying to take the court back to 1949," they would argue, "They're trying to take the court back to 1789."
But for so many of the important cases that will come before the Supreme Court, the magic number isn't five. Five would be a majority of justices for an opinion. It's rather the number four. That is the number of justices required for the Supreme Court to agree to take a case, to issue what in the language of the court is called a writ of certiorari. In granting that writ, all it takes is four justices to say, "I think the Supreme Court should take this case." The fact that Justice Kavanaugh is now in the court is likely to change the kinds of cases that will come before the court. It only takes again four. It doesn't even take five.
But it's really interesting to look to a newspaper like The Washington Post where the editorial board again after the vote on Saturday released an editorial entitled, "We Need Careful Restrained Justices on the Supreme Court." That's the title of the editorial, but a fair-minded person might ask, "Why exactly now does The Washington Post, which had championed judicial activism on the left for decades, decide that what the court needs in 2018 is careful restrained justices?" Well, it's because the tables have been turned and the editorial board of The Washington Post knows that very well.
After losing Kavanaugh battle, political left attacks the legitimacy of the Supreme Court and Constitution
But one of the more bizarre arguments heard in the aftermath of the confirmation battle came in articles that appeared in both the New York Times and The Washington Post. You can see both of these articles as offering new talking points in the cultural left. You're going to hear these talking points over and over again. In these articles, the argument is made that both Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, appointed by President Donald Trump, actually represent what Michael Tomasky called in The New York Times minority majority justices, "Part of a five vote majority on the bench but nominated and confirmed by a president and a senate who represent the will of a minority of the American people."
Now, how in the world is that argument made? Well, it's made in greater detail in The Washington Post by Philip Bump. He writes, "There have been five presidents who assumed the office after having lost the popular vote. Between them, they nominated 12 justices who ended up serving on the Supreme Court. On Saturday, with Brett Kavanaugh confirmed, the number climbed to 13," but then, Bump goes on to write, "Kavanaugh has a distinct honor. He will be the first justice nominated by someone who lost the popular vote to earn his seat on the bench with support from senators representing less than half the country while having his nomination opposed by a majority of the country."
Now, how do you do that math? Well, when you look at the last part of this, it's clearly just because of polling and it's the selective polling that Bump wanted to cite. More importantly are the electoral results indicated here. This is an argument we need to look at very carefully. The argument is that these two justices appointed by President Trump should actually be seen as representing only a minority of the American people because President Trump lost the popular vote, even as he won the presidency in the electoral college.
But then the math gets even more interesting, and this is where the talking points get a lot more revealing. The talking point is this. If you then go from the popular vote for president and you look at the math in the Senate, the 50 votes for Justice Kavanaugh represent a minority of the US population. Now, that's looking at every senatorial seat and assigning to every senatorial seat half of the population of the state that is represented.
It's clearly an effort to try to rob Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh of moral authority on the court by suggesting that they were eventually produced, that is, appointed by and confirmed by elected officials who represent less than half of the American people. Bump actually takes the argument further when he writes, "Nearly half of US residents over the age of 18 didn't vote. Of the entire over 18 population," Bump writes, "Trump got only about 25% of the possible votes. Clinton got about 26%."
Now, what's going on here? This is actually an attempted subversion of our entire constitutional order because President Trump was elected president of the United States by the electoral college, by our constitutional order, and the United States Senate from the very beginning of our constitutional order as a republic was established in order to equalize the states so that California, with 10s of millions of population, has the same number of senators as a state like Wyoming.
But here's where, as you're doing worldview analysis, this picture gets really, really interesting. It is because the states with the large populations that tend to be located along the coast tend to be far more liberal than the heartland of America, but those heartland states, states like Kansas and Oklahoma and Wyoming and Montana, as Alabama and Mississippi, they have the same two senators as Massachusetts and New York and California and Washington State.
What's really important from this is to see that the moral political cultural divide in the United States has now led to the point where the left is dissatisfied with our basic constitutional order. Thus, you see the attempts to try to subvert or eliminate the electoral college. Thus, you see what is now a basic accusation that the Senate of the United States is not representative of the American people.
But here's where you also have to understand that the framers of the US constitution understood exactly what they were doing and if we did not have the electoral college and we did not have the United States Senate but had something like a British parliamentary system, then whoever got the most votes in states like California, Massachusetts, and New York can simply ignore the rest of the country.
So, we come to understand that one of the most basic arguments we're going to hear is that the court's not legitimate, so any decision by this court is illegitimate, especially a five four decision isn't legitimate. But we need to remind those on the cultural left that it was the left making the very same argument for the Supreme Court and for five four decisions going back just a few decades ago.
Susan Collins fires back at Planned Parenthood after pro-abortion group reveals partisan double-standard
There's so many other aspects of this big story on this Monday after the confirmation vote that will demand our attention. Here's a headline from The Washington Times, "Susan Collins swings back at Planned Parenthood over Supreme Court double standard." Now, that just promises to be an interesting story from the headline alone.
But as Valerie Richardson, reporting for the Times tells us, "Senator Susan Collins, Maine republican, accused Planned Parenthood of a Supreme Court double standard Sunday, arguing that the organization has never supported a pro-choice justice nominated by a republican president."
Now, never as they say is a very long time, but to understand exactly what Senator Collins is talking about, Senator Collins has made the center of the target of the cultural left and specifically by Planned Parenthood because of her speech that was given in support of Judge Kavanaugh and her crucial vote, as well.
At 3:52 PM on October the 5th, Planned Parenthood Action tweeted and I quote, "This isn't just another vote. Senator Collins has made it clear that she can no longer call herself a woman's rights champion. She has sided with those who disbelieve, disrespected, and even mock survivors. We deserve better. Women won't forget."
Now, what makes that incredibly interesting is that just a few months ago in the fall of 2017, Planned Parenthood awarded to none other than Senator Susan Collins their 2017 Barry Goldwater Award, which as The Times tell us, is given to republicans who, "Champion reproductive healthcare issues." In other words, abortion.
So, Senator Collins represents one of the very few republicans left who is pro-choice and we wouldn't allow that for others, so we'll simply say she is genuinely essentially pro-abortion, and she made very clear her support for abortion even as she indicated she would vote for the confirmation of Justice Kavanaugh. Planned Parenthood loved her so much that just a few months ago, they gave her the award for being exactly the kind of republican they want, but then they turned on her in this tweet, claiming that she had even sided with those who assault women rather than those who support them.
But that was a bridge too far for Senator Collins, who responded on CNN's State of the Union yesterday by saying, "First of all, I have never disregarded, disrespected, or mocked survivors. That is just plain untrue." But then she leveled the guns back on Planned Parenthood, and this is what's really important as we think in worldview analysis. "I would note that Planned Parenthood opposed three pro-choice justices just because they were nominated by republican presidents, David Souter, Sandra Day O'Connor, and Justice Kennedy. They said the same thing," said Senator Collins, "Women will die. This is just outrageous."
Well, indeed it is outrageous. It's outrageous also that Senator Collins would hold to a pro-abortion position. It's outrageous that Planned Parenthood would love her so much that they gave her what amounts to their republican of all time award just a few months ago. But it tells you how the left and groups such as Planned Parenthood have now staked everything on the US Supreme Court and they staked everything on preventing the nomination of Justice Kavanaugh.
But here's where Senator Collins is perplexed, because it had already been reported years ago that Brett Kavanaugh would be a likely nominee from a hypothetical president Mitt Romney, as in the 2012 presidential election, or a possible nominee by a president John McCain going back to the 2008 presidential election, or a nominee, a likely nominee of a hypothetical president Marco Rubio or a president Jeb Bush.
But Senator Collins' point is that it wouldn't matter which of those candidates was elected president of the United States, and in the end, it wouldn't matter which individual they nominated to the court. Groups such as Planned Parenthood are going to oppose them anyway.
So, in sum, as we finally are able as a society to move on from this thing to the next big thing, we can note that there are some significant lessons to be learned and there are some very important signals that have been sent to the future, the signal that groups such as Planned Parenthood, if this is even imaginable, are going to be moving even further to the left and increasing the stridency of their demands.
We're going to see continued efforts to question the legitimacy of the United States Supreme Court over and over and over again. As these articles in the New York Times and The Washington Post indicate just yesterday, even an effort to question the legitimacy, if we understand the claims, the legitimacy of the constitution of the United States of America.
Sometimes from the right in American history but now resoundingly from the left is a basic frustration with our constitutional republic, our constitutional system of government. At least we understand now in the year 2018 that's what's at stake, and for Christians that means we're just going to have to observe and we're going to have to think even harder.


Corflor | All in that one special day…in Puglia.. Corflor flower design and venues.
All in that one special day…in Puglia.. Corflor flower design and venues.
Home Blog Corflor All in that one special day…in Puglia.. Corflor flower design and venues.
Fatti e spediti! Rose rosse a casa vostra in 24h…………..
6 Locations for Destinations Weddings in Puglia Italy!
A trip to Puglia, Italy can knock you back when the other choice locations around the world create such overwhelm for a bride. The locale photos are typically pasted up in your own personal bride journals with feelings of wedding inspiration. Spanning across the globe, brides everywhere already know that Italy is gorgeous and beautiful, yet when you use your imagination it whips you over to that gorgeous olive-green ocean, and delicious all natural Pugliese cuisine.
Luckily we make it easy for you and help provide a quality experience for you. You don't have to stress about it we will work with you to put it all together. You can feel good about it as it is happening. Can you imagine how relaxed you'll be when things are taken care of? You're invited to work with us and and as you do you will come to find out how exciting it is.
A destination wedding can be anywhere and Puglia Italy is a great place where we take care of it all for you! A trip to Puglia is the ultimate wedding inspiration. We create a great experience prepared with quality floral arrangements that a bride could only dream about!
After all that is said and done the stress of all the wedding prep makes the process difficult. The stress and the planning can be tough for any bride. You might want to do a destination wedding for the good reason of reducing your own guest list, or us do all the work, so you can enjoy quality time as a couple. Out of town weddings are less expensive for lots of reasons; because, you are combining the added value of honeymoon and wedding packaged together so you can enjoy yourself stress free without any drama.
You pay for just you and that is also cheaper at the end of the day. You get to put your energy toward a quality experience and time that is well spent. There won't be many guests as some can't always travel and this allows less stress on you, and more joy for the experience. After all it is the biggest day of your life. Why not go big?
You don't need to get so stressed with your plans as most of it gets taken care of by us. You get to experience the beach, excitement, and Puglia night life. The dress code could be casual when the weather is gorgeous, and this allows for a comfortable and relaxed wedding. The shoes are an option on the local beaches and that takes the aches off of those tight uncomfortable shoes. The family will meet up on common ground, and often enough will be mesmerized from the local sights, and of course this will leave you for the real romantic quality time that you sneak in. Think of how romantic you'll feel when you visit Puglia Italy.
Your guests will pay for the own flight and expenses and often can get travel deals and get to experience the (distractions) fun, and when they leave you will visit all the gorgeous places listed below. All of the meals, drinks, activities and lodging is often enough found as an inclusive package through a variety of online travel services. This allows you to focus your energy on not only the quality of your experience, but the cost as well!
Imagine your wedding dress draped over gray marble with gold trim along the ancient cobble stone streets. What else could a bride want? Well, Puglia is not only historic it is exciting! Plenty of night life available for that romantic getaway. Maybe you'll take a trip there and find out that it is more than exciting it is exhilarating. The brides that visit will have many exciting memories to share with their friends. The ones who don't go to the wedding will wish they did.
A bride is never bored or worn down by the crowds of Gargano beach where you lie back and relax in the Sun. When you are unsure of where to go for your destination wedding just google Gargano beach. Then picture yourself relaxing on that beach as a couple.
1. Gargano Beach is a gorgeous place for any bride to experience. The amazing fishing villages along with the forest nearby will add value to your trip. You will love to soak your feet in the fine sand of Gargano after a long wedding night. The rugged cliffs and caves of Gargano provide an amazing picture for all of your friends on instagram, or facebook. You might fall in love with it, and feel the true essence of Gargano. Gargano pictures will add to your wedding inspiration. The first reason is getting some Sun and having fun at Gargano beach.
2. Salento is in the lower area of Puglia and its beautiful with its olive trees and dry stone walls laced with oleander and other flowers. Salento's cuisine, tradition, and people will weave magic through the mind of any new bride. Don't act too quickly as Salento is a popular place to visit and gets very busy. You may want to reserve your next trip with us. These Italian villages are a sight a bride may never see in life, and why not visit Salento to take home the memories? Salento is a an amazing place and will fill your heart with joy and wedding inspiration. The second reason is the magical breath taking sights of Salento along with the delicious Italian cuisine that is native to that area.
3. Valle d'Itria is a place that everywhere you look there is a "selfie moment" or where a "couple's photo" can be snapped! You could easily snap your picturesque shots that you can only be imagined or pictured in magazines. Valle d'atria is also known as "Trulli village", and it spans across the valley with a gorgeous bride-like fairytale landscape filled by round traditional houses with cone shaped roofs known as the Trulli. The third reason to go to Puglia is it's picturesque romantic locales of Valle d'Itria that will take your breath away.
4. Ostuni is that gorgeous city that any bride will want to get romantically lost in. The traditional winding streets and age old cafes along with the cosy shopping areas, and aperitif stops make it fun. The restaurants that will deliciously seal the deal to your perfect Puglia destination wedding. The fourth reason to have a wedding in Puglia is its shopping in Ostuni! When you have downtime as a bride you may want to check out the Italian clothing brands in Ostuni. Photos of Ostuni is a great place to put in your wedding journal for wedding inspiration.
5. Brindisi (pronounced Brind-easy) is that lovely harbor in the area of Puglia that is magical and enchanting. It has a beautiful waterfront area that charms the heart of any bride. This is for that cozy and slow moving day when you need to just relax and taken in the sights. The local marketplace will catch your eye, and the restaurants serve fresh food from the local shops. Brindisi is incredible and adding the locale to your wedding inspiration which can make your heart melt with joy. The fifth reason to visit Puglia is relaxing romantic town of Brindisi this is where you can get-a-way from the hustle and bustle of the other locations and be a couple and chillax.
6. Bari the ancient city is a stone wall city on the edge of Puglia spreading toward the sea. The stone walkways will make you relaxed as you pace through the city enjoying cuisine, culture, and welcoming people. Bari is that big city that has many walking tours that will get your bride mind engaged and excited for what's next. Bari is a place of stimulation and fun, and if you are looking for excitement then this is for you! Sixth reason: Bari is the big city with food, wine, night life, and private sight seeing tours that will keep you going! From San Nicola all the way to Porto Vecchio these landmarks will keep you wanting mofloralre.
There you have it! Our floral arrangements are special and are symbolic everywhere throughout Italy and will blossom in your heart when you arrange your destination wedding with us. The flower is a symbol that is rich in our history and show up in many Italian classical paintings as they contain impressive floral arrangements. It is a symbol of love and beauty that we express in every thing we do. Flowers, destinations, love — all part of Cor Flor and the wonderful destination wedding experience that we provide. What if you were to work with us? You are probably already aware of the fact that others have already worked with us and they have had quality experiences. As you sit here reading this you might come to the conclusion that Puglia is an enchanting place that you will want to visit.


We have some history with the Dutch death metal band Apophys, whose line-up includes a lot of talented musicians with impressive resumes, including members of God Dethroned and Toxocara. We published no fewer than six posts surrounding the 2015 release of their debut album Prime Incursion, including an interview and a track premiere. Now they have a new album coming out, a sci-fi concept record named Devoratis, which will be released on January 22 by Ultimate Massacre Productions.
On Halloween Day, Apophys released the new album's first single, "Retaliate", and today we're helping to premiere the second one — "Deadlock" — which arrives via a play-through video that features some blazing fretwork by the band's two guitarists, Sanne van Dijk and Dave Meester.
It's a sprawling saga that involves the unlikely alliance between a sentient planet and an engineer sent to destroy the planet, the two of them ultimately merging to form a single entity of unparalleled power — power they will need if they are to survive an assault by the in-bound fleet of the intergalactic civilization that sent the engineer on his original mission, and is now infuriated at his failure to accomplish it.
"'Deadlock' is one of the most powerful songs on the album. This one definitely packs a punch!
Serious riffing, indeed. "Deadlock" flies like a bat out of hell, and so do the band's two guitarists, peppering their insectile riff flurries with eruptions of tremolo-picked hornet-swarm buzzing and lacing the attack with filaments of grim, eerie melody. Meanwhile, the rhythm section hammers like a big turbocharged nail-gun and Quilligan maniacally growls, howls, roars, and shrieks the lyrics at an equally blistering pace. It's enough to take your breath away. And as breathtaking rampages go, this one is damned catchy, too.
Devoratis was produced by Stefano Morabito and Yuma van Eekelen and was mixed and mastered by Stefano Morabito at 16th Cellar Studio in Rome.