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Home Culture Top 10: Best Documentaries of 2019
Shane Slater
A scene from 'Black Mother'.
A daring mission to the spoon, a nerve-wracking war story, a devious political conspiracy. For mainstream audiences, these premises bring to mind some of the year's most popular blockbuster films. But they also represent the true stories behind some of the year's best documentaries. Far from the traditional "talking heads" style of yesteryear, non-fiction filmmaking continues to thrive, delivering cinematic thrills and artistry on par with that of narrative features. Indeed, the following list of the Top 10 Documentaries of 2019 includes several films that would hardly feel out of place on awards ballots for cinematography, directing, editing, screenwriting, and sound.
1010. "Apollo 11"
dir. Todd Douglas Miller
Where were you when man first walked on the moon? Many Americans – and people all over the world – who were alive for that momentous occasion on July 20, 1969, would have a vivid recollection of that day. But for those of less fortunate to have lived through that experience, Todd Douglas Miller's "Apollo 11" is perhaps the next best thing. Through beautifully preserved archival footage, this awe-inspiring documentary allows us to relive the anticipation and awe surrounding that eponymous spaceflight, capturing not only the mission itself but the social atmosphere surrounding it. Indeed, the finer details (such as the images of onlookers camped out tailgate-style) and award-winning editing will surely evoke the inspiring feeling of this "one mall step for man, one giant leap for mankind."
99. "Midnight Family"
dir. Luke Lorentzen
One of the best attributes of non-fiction filmmaking is its ability to shine a spotlight on unsung heroes. Such is the case with "Midnight Family," directed by Luke Lorentzen. Set in Mexico City, where the government's fleet of ambulances is insufficient to provide for its sizable population, an informal industry of private ambulance services has emerged. One such service is provided by the Ochoa family, comprising a father and his two young sons. With his intimate, observational approach, Lorentzen invites us into their lives to bear witness to both the lighter moments and life or death situations they face. As the Ochoas dedicate themselves to their work for little or no compensation, "Midnight Family" reminds us of the power of volunteerism to benefit the greater good.
88. "Black Mother"
dir. Khalik Allah
Aptly described as a marriage of the sacred and the profane, Khalik Allah's "Black Mother" is an essential cinematic reflection on Jamaican society. Using the symbolism of the black mother as the original giver of life – as well as a nod to Allah's own Jamaican mother – this meditative documentary explores the complex tapestry which constitutes modern Jamaican identity. As explained in the film, the island nation has more churches per square mile than any other country in the world. Yet while Christian rhetoric lays the foundation for this striking work of art, "Black Mother" blossoms into a study of the related conflicts between wealth and poverty, African pride and colorism and fervent spirituality and secularism. Using experimental camera techniques overlaid with voice-over excerpts spoken in the colorful Jamaican vernacular, Allah paints an authentic portrait of Jamaica rarely seen in tourism brochures.
77. "Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am"
dir. Timothy Greenfield-Sanders
The late Toni Morrison is well known today as a Nobel Laureate and Pulitzer Prize winner. But her journey towards that level of recognition was filled with many obstacles, as illuminated through Timothy Greenfield-Sanders' documentary "Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am." Poignantly recounting her life from a humble childhood to her breakthrough as a self-proclaimed "editor who writes," Greenfield-Sanders explores the harmful racism which emboldened her to be a champion for black identity and culture in her work. Amplified by fascinating insight from Morrison herself, "Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am" is intellectually stimulating and utterly refined.
66. "For Sama"
dir. Waad Al-Kataeb and Edward Watts
Framed as a letter to her baby daughter, Waad al-Kateab's "For Sama" chronicles the personal and societal events in the city of Aleppo during the early years of the Syrian civil war. Armed with a handheld camera, al-Kataeb captures the horrors of wartime with bracing immediacy. Yet the film also showcases the resilience and hope of the people through scenes of weddings, childbirth, and everyday acts of heroism. In doing so, "For Sama" resonates as a heartfelt love letter to Aleppo, its people and the power of goodness in the face of evil.
55. "The Cave"
dir. Feras Fayyad
Following up on his award-winning debut "Last Men in Aleppo," Feras Fayyad returns to the scene of the Syrian Civil War for another devastating documentary about its unsung heroes. In "The Cave," a team of doctors works tirelessly in a secret, underground hospital to treat the endless victims of the ongoing war above. Predominantly made up of female doctors, Fayyad takes us into their world through the perspective of Dr. Amani, their young but courageous leader. With its outstanding sound design, the film viscerally conveys the terrifying melee of bombs while never losing sight of the human story at its heart.
44. "The Edge of Democracy"
dir. Petra Costa
Blending personal insight with in-depth political analysis, Petra Costa's "The Edge of Democracy" is one of the most socially relevant films of the year. A rigorous examination of Brazilian history unfolds the rise and fall of democracy in the face of corruption, propaganda and a coup targeted against two of the country's most beloved leaders Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Dilma Rousseff. As Costa attempts to understand how her divided country became a hotbed for far-right ideology, this engrossing documentary serves as an unflattering mirror to American politics and other besieged democracies around the world.
33. "The Biggest Little Farm
dir. John Chester
For obvious reasons, many environmental documentaries today serve as cautionary tales of "doom and gloom" in the face of climate change, pollution and the associated loss of biodiversity. And indeed, such scenes of environmental catastrophe open John Chester's "The Biggest Little Farm" as wildfires threaten the lives and livelihoods of California residents. But for one optimistic and resilient couple, this incident is just part of a natural "circle of life," a philosophy they adopted when they embarked on a seemingly impossible task. "The Biggest Little Farm" tells the story of Chester and his wife's efforts to transform a desolate piece of land into a thriving farm, by cooperating with nature and allowing the land to self-regulate without undue human intervention. As it subsequently depicts a web of food chains in action, "The Biggest Little Farm" is an educational, heartwarming storybook tale that comes to life.
22. "American Factory"
dir. Julia Reichert and Steven Bognar
When General Motors closed its Ohio plant in 2008, an unexpected lifeline appeared a few years later for the 10,000 left jobless. "American Factory," tells the story of a Chinese company's reopening of that factory, signaling the dawn of a new era. Presenting surprisingly balanced perspectives, directors Steve Bognar and Julia Reichert deliver a fascinating look at the subsequent culture clash between American individualism and Chinese collectivism in the workforce. As this powerful new company seeks to quell a rising pro-union movement however, "American Factory" is a sobering reminder of the ruthless nature of capitalism, regardless of the source.
11. "Tell Me Who I Am"
dir. Ed Perkins
Though it may sound like a cliche, this year's best documentary definitively proved that truth is stranger than fiction. Indeed, even after seeing "Tell Me Who I Am" you still may not believe this traumatic story of brotherhood and family. Directed by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Ed Perkins, "Tell Me Who I Am" continues his penchant for exposing the dark side of humanity, as a young man loses his memory after an accident. Waking up to a strange world, he relies on his twin brother to restore his memories of a comfortable middle-class life. But a more sinister truth is gradually revealed through photos, reenactments, and heartrending confessions. Like Lulu Wang's narrative feature "The Farewell," this gut-punch of a film makes a strong argument that sometimes a lie could be the ultimate act of kindness.
What were your favorite documentaries of 2019? Let us know in the comments.
Black Mother
The Edge of Democracy
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Shane is a passionate cinephile and Tomatometer-approved film critic residing in Kingston, Jamaica. When he's not watching or writing about film, he spends much of his time wishing he lived in a big city. Shane is an avid world traveler and loves attending film festivals. He is a member of the African-American Film Critics Association.
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Expat Life – Singapore
Expat Life – Japan
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Asset Owner Guide
ExploreHousingLong Term Rentals
Finding the Best Singapore Apartment Rentals for Your Family
By naren2022-12-06 No Comments
TL;DR—There are only four things that you need to look out for. Though serviced apartments are just so much easier.
Moving your family to Singapore is a behemoth of a feat. Any parent who has done so deserves an award because the to-do list must seem like one sent from hell. And that doesn't include all the travel arrangements you have to make. But finding the best Singapore apartment rental for your family is definitely one of the first steps you have to take before you even book a ticket. If not, you'd be slogging through the streets with your family and luggage in tow. Finding 'the one' is, thankfully, much easier than the modern dating scene in Singapore.
Here are the 4 things you must consider as you go apartment hunting.
1. Apartment Location
2. Nearby Amenities
3. Apartment Size
4. Apartment Space Allocation
Focus on Your Family's Needs
Why Go with MetroResidences Singapore Serviced Apartments
This goes without saying. The postcode is a pretty good indication of how comfortable your life will be in Singapore. There are 28 districts in Singapore, each with its own unique collection of amenities and attractions. Pinpointing where to live will help you sift through the plethora of available Singapore serviced apartments and condo rentals.
Most of the time, you'd be checking how to get between your workplace and your home away from home. That is, unless you're a digital nomad. And it's just too bad that there isn't a wide range of options for work-live housing in Singapore.
By the grace of robust urban planning and the Land Transport Authority (LTA), you'll have hassle-free access to public transportation. With LTA's Land Transport Master Plan 2040, all your commutes will soon be even shorter. It'll only take 20 minutes to reach your nearest neighbourhood centre and 45 minutes to reach your workplace.
A new extension of the Thomson-East Coast Line of Singapore's subway system has just opened. Now, you'll have access to even more of Singapore's hidden gems. There will be new lines and stations coming online in the coming years, along with all the bus stops littered across the island too.
Besides convenient access to public transportation, the right location can bring you all the amenities you need. If you're staying at a Singapore condo rental in a larger residential development, you can simply enjoy all the fitness and wellness facilities in-house. However, most boutique developments will be further away from the main thoroughfares.
So as you're looking at the apartment location on Google Maps, keep an eye out for these couple of things:
Schools and Education Institutions
International students can seek admission to public education institutions like primary schools and junior colleges, though they are required to take the Admissions Exercise for International Students (AEIS). While every school is a good school, as they say, there are the more prestigious ones. The ones whom you've probably heard of—Raffles Institution, Nanyang Girl's School, and Hwa Chong Institution. Besides that, there are international schools in Singapore that also cater to the unique needs of international students.
Wet Markets and Supermarkets
While you can easily get your groceries online, there's nothing like finding fresh ingredients when you walk down the aisle. With a nearby wet market or supermarket, you can simply stop by and get what you need. You'd get a little exercise too. Some NTUC Fairprice outlets even operate 24/7 too.
The last thing you want to do is cram your family of two kids and your partner into a studio for rent in Singapore, given the exorbitant prices now. Apartment sizes depend on the type of Singapore apartment rental you're going for. Most of the time, public housing in Singapore by the Housing and Development Board is more spacious.
HDB 4-room flats, the more common flat type for families, are usually as big as 95 sqm (around 1022 sq ft). That's just enough for a family of 3 children. 5 at the most, though it'll be a bit cramped. These flats usually feature:
Kitchen and dining area
Service yard
Storeroom-cum-apartment shelter
Apartment sizes can go up to 214 sqm (around 2303 sq ft), that is if you're lucky enough to find a HDB executive maisonette. Those come with two floors, at least three bathrooms, and even a balcony.
Private apartments and private condominiums are usually smaller compared to HDB housing, though they are usually the more affordable sector of Singapore's private housing market. The sizes for a 3-bedroom condo unit usually range from 83 sqm to 120 sqm (900 sq ft to 1300 sq ft). It all depends on the age of the development and its location. Most of the time, older developments and projects further from Singapore's city centre and prime locations will be more spacious, though they are not always space-efficient.
Are you a family that loves to dine in? Then perhaps you can find four-bedroom apartments with a bigger kitchen. If you're a family that prefers more quality time together, then you might need an apartment with a larger living area, or a residential development with more communal facilities.
For those who are lucky enough to work from home, you should be looking at apartments with at least a proper study. That way you can Zoom in peace and avoid a total gaffe over an important meeting.
Bigger isn't always better. With economic uncertainties brewing and elevated rental prices, you need to find the harmony between the quality of life you aspire to and the monthly rental costs on your balance sheet. Going with the cheapest option means you might need to deal with longer commute times, but you could be enjoying more spacious living spaces. If you still want to live the high-rolling expat life, then by all means, find the swankiest condominium development with the widest range of facilities.
Finding a place for your family in a new place is daunting. With MetroResidences, you can select from a wide range of serviced apartments across Singapore, from Bukit Timah to River Valley.
All of our apartments adhere to our strict Property Standards that account for the comfort and cleanliness of all our listed serviced apartments. Our fully-furnished apartments come with amenities such as wi-fi, air conditioners, and a fully-equipped kitchen.
How to be a Conscious Traveller When You're in Singapore
naren2023-01-18
Is Telehealth Actually a Thing in Singapore?
2023 Travel Essentials for the Newly-Minted Solo Traveller
© 2023 Expat Life Singapore | MetroResidences.
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Da Vinci By Design
September 23, 2010 By Layne Simpson
This new autoloader may be the first-ever modular shotgun.
By Layne Simpson
How many rounds of 12-gauge shotshells do you fire each year? If you are a typical wingshooter, less than a case will probably get you through a busy season. On the other hand, if you are fortunate enough to occasionally enjoy the incredible dove shooting offered south of the border in Argentina, your annual shell count will most definitely increase by leaps and bounds. The doves there never migrate, and since breeding is virtually continuous, they nest five or more times each year. That, along with a mild climate, an abundance of food available from thousands of acres of cultivated crops, and the almost total absence of predators, causes year-round numbers that have to be seen to be believed.
The Cordoba province is an excellent example. Less than one-third the size of California, it contains somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 to 40 million birds, with some of the vast farms there called home by as many as 1,000 doves per acre.
Equally incredible is the fact that for several decades thousands of Americans have traveled to Argentina each year to shoot thousands of doves, and no study I'm aware of has shown any impact whatsoever on their population. Whereas we American hunters consider the dove to be a valuable game bird, some Argentine farmers classify them as pests capable of severe crop damage. As one farm owner put it to me sometime back, "The dove is to us what the prairie dog is to ranchers in the American West."
There is, I must add, one big difference. Whereas prairie dogs are seldom if ever eaten by humans, many of the doves harvested by shotgunners in Argentina are consumed by villagers who are happy to add a bit more protein to their diets.
With this information in mind, it should be easier for those who have never been to Argentina to understand how it is quite common to shoot more rounds of ammo in a few days there than in several years or perhaps even a lifetime here at home. Our shoot in March of this year was a good example. We were there to wring out the Vinci shotgun from Benelli and were in fact, the first people outside the company to see the new gun.
When it comes to torture-testing a shotgun, no other place on earth equals the high-volume shooting of Argentina, so we were in the right place to see what the Vinci was made of. And we decided to make it as tough on the gun as possible.
As is usually the case in Argentina, a staff member of the outfitter was assigned the task of cleaning and lubricating all shotguns at the end of each day's shoot, but we asked that our guns not be touched in order to see how they would hold up to not only a tremendous amount of shooting in a very short time but to neglect as well. On top of that, it was a bit windy each day, and dust managed to find its way into every crack and crevice of our guns.
So how did the Vinci hold up to all that abuse? Read on.
I shot for around six hours on each of three consecutive days, and at the end of all the excitement, my fired shell count was exactly 6,375 rounds. On the first day out, I fired 2,200 rounds with not a single malfunction of the gun. That's 88 boxes of shells without a single bobble!
About two hours into the second day, I experienced two failures to eject, at which point I applied a drop of oil to the rotating locking lugs of the bolt and another drop into the locking lug recesses of the barrel. From there on I repeated the lube job every 50 boxes of shells, and it was clear sailing for the rest of that day and on through the next.
I am totally convinced that had I also applied those two drops of oil on the first day, I would have gotten through the entire shoot without a single malfunction. Anyone who does not consider such performance from a shotgun truly remarkable has yet to shoot doves in Argentina, has no experience with autoloading shotguns, or both.
The design of the Vinci allows it to be quickly and easily taken down into three modules.
Beyond The Basic Shotgun
When designing the Vinci, Benelli engineers strayed far from basic shotgun design that goes all the way back to the beginning of the 20th century. For starters, the barrel cannot be easily detached from the receiver.
If you think about it, the universal adoption of the screw-in choke made the need for switching from one barrel to another on a repeating shotgun pretty much obsolete, but out of the tradition as much as anything else, the concept continues to live on with most shotgun manufacturers.
One option not possible with a fixed-barrel design is outfitting a bird gun with a rifled slug barrel for hunting big game, but several manufacturers have told me that few shotgun owners do so anyhow. Most either shoot suitable slug loads in their smoothbores, or they buy a dedicated shotgun with a rifled barrel, equip it with a scope, and use it exclusively for hunting deer and other four-legged game.
It is a proven fact that the fit between the receiver and the barrel of a shotgun has great influence on slug load accuracy, and guns that have proven to be the most accurate either have their barrels rigidly fixed to their receivers or a gunsmith has pinned them in place. The fact that the barrel and receiver of the Vinci are fitted so tightly together that they appear to be one piece leaves little doubt in my mind that it will be capable of delivering excellent accuracy with the right slug loads. In fact, it may prove to be so accurate with some loads--the Remington Buckhammer and Federal's TruBall loading of the old Foster slug come to mind--that a rifled barrel may not actually be needed. And since the receiver of the Vinci is drilled and tapped for scope mounting, it will be easy to find out just how accurate it can be.
Only slightly larger in diameter than the breech end of the barrel, the receiver is cylindrical in shape. Whereas most autoloading shotguns have a recoil spring either around their magazine tube inside the forearm or in the buttstock, the spring of the Vinci is located totally within the receiver and attached directly to the bolt. This in-line, Inertia-Driven system, we were told, cycles faster than more conventional designs and in doing so, it all but eliminates muzzle rise during firing.
As we discovered in Argentina, the statement contained far more truth than brag. As flocks of doves streamed by within range, I found shooting doubles to be easy, and anytime I kept the gun swinging smoothly and did not lose my conc
entration, dropping three doves with three shots was not only well within the realm of possibility, it happened frequently.
A peek inside the Vinci reveals its simplicity of design.
Occasionally, it got even better than that. On more than one occasion my bird boy would shout "cuatro" with great excitement in his voice as I killed a fourth bird before the first one had hit the ground. That's how quickly you can get on multiple targets with the Vinci.
But there is more to the story than an in-line bolt. The Comfor-Tech synthetic stock plays a key role not only in the reduction of muzzle jump but in reducing perceived recoil as well.
Cutouts in the buttstock virtually make it a two-piece design, with the two pieces connected by rubber cushions called chevrons. Each time the gun is fired, the stock flexes, allowing recoil to be absorbed by the chevrons.
The bolt and its parts, including its attached recoil spring and rotating bolt head with locking lugs.
A big part of what we describe as recoil is actually the blow delivered to the shooter's cheek by the comb of the stock as a shotgun recoils upward and into the face. Minimal muzzle rise, a cushion of soft rubber imbedded into the comb of the stock, and the ComforTech design practically eliminate that. Add an ergonomically designed buttpad, and you have a shotgun that can be fired comfortably all day long for days on end. This makes the Vinci not only a great hunting gun but one that should have clay target shooters standing in line with money in hand as well.
A shim kit included with the gun allows its owner to adjust drop and cast of the stock to his or her liking. Available at extra cost are recoil pads of different thicknesses that can be used to adjust length of pull, and they are available for both right- and left-handed shooters. Replacement combs of different heights can also be purchased. It all adds up to a near-custom fit at production price.
More good news for deer hunters, turkey hunters, and especially duck hunters -- who have to walk a long way across the marshes with a load of gear--are quick-detachable sling-swivel posts molded into the buttstock and forearm.
Among the advantages I see in the modular stock is the option of easily switching it out for a stock of another style. The so-called tactical stock, with the extended grip preferred by some turkey hunters and by those in law enforcement, comes to mind.
Modular designs have become popular in other industries, and it is also seen in other types of firearms, but I believe the Vinci represents a first in shotguns. As I have already described, one module consists of the barrel and receiver. Another is made up of the forearm, which houses the entire trigger group and the magazine tube. The forearm has molded-in grasping grooves and an integral trigger guard. Add the buttstock to the ensemble, and you have a very unusual shotgun that makes a lot of sense in many ways.
The loading port at the bottom of the gun is beveled for smooth insertion of shells into the magazine. Located just behind the loading port, a metal indicator with red dot indicates by sight and feel whether or not the internal hammer is cocked. The Vinci comes with five screw-in chokes (four shown) and a shim kit for adjusting drop and cast of the stock. One end of the choke wrench is used to clean fouling from the choke threads of the barrel.
Field-stripping the Vinci for cleaning is a snap. Twist the exposed end of the magazine tube counterclockwise while holding down its latch at the bottom of the forearm with a finger, and the forearm module releases from the barrel and receiver. Turning the magazine tube in the opposite direction releases it for removal from the forearm. A twist of the wrist separates the barrel-receiver module from the buttstock. The bolt assembly and its recoil spring are just as easily removed from the receiver.
Reverse the order, and the gun is back together in no time flat. Best of all, it's easily done by someone without a lot of experience with the gun. I may never get invited on another Benelli hunt for telling this, but in a timed disassemble-reassemble race between one of the Benelli guys and a bird boy who had seen the Vinci for the first time just the day before, the bird boy won--but only by a couple of seconds.
A two-way lever located on the side of the forearm just below the ejection port serves double-duty. Push it forward, and it releases the locked-back bolt. Pulling it to the rear allows shells to be removed from the magazine without cycling them through the chamber. The trigger is as smooth and crisp as you will find on any autoloader (another plus when shooting slugs), and the transverse safety button is just forward of the trigger where it should be. The loading port on the bottom of the gun is beveled for smooth insertion of shells into the magazine. A bit further back, a metal indicator with a red dot tells you whether or not the internal hammer is cocked.
The standard finish is black, but the new Vinci can also be had in Realtree APG (shown) and Mossy Oak Max-4 HD camo finishes.
Another feature I really like about the Vinci: When loading the chamber of some autoloaders, their bolts must be allowed to slam forward with a great deal of speed, and if eased forward on a chambered round--as a hunter might do when trying to be as quiet as possible--the bolt will fail to lock into battery, and the gun will refuse to fire when the trigger is squeezed. No doubt, this single characteristic can be credited with saving the lives of quite a few deer each year.
The Vinci autoloaders I hunted with would fully lock up even when their bolts were eased forward. That feature came in especially handy one morning before daylight when--during a turkey hunt--I forgot to chamber a round before sneaking in and setting up about 60 yards from of a flock of roosting birds.
The hammer-forged barrel is available in 26- or 28-inch lengths and is cryogenically treated, the primary benefit being a smoother bore surfac
e for minimal fouling buildup.
The gun is designed to function with all ammunition ranging from 2¾-inch target loads to the heaviest 3-inch loads. Up top, a steel ventilated rib wears two sights--a red bar at the muzzle and a gold bead in the middle. It comes with five screw-in chokes, ranging from Cylinder to Full, all designed to withstand the ravages of steel shot. Another great idea is a really good choke wrench, one end of which was designed for removing propellant fouling and other gunk from the choke threads of the barrel.
Everything comes in a plastic carrying case, and like the Vinci, inside it looks like nothing else you have seen. Tucked away inside the case is a supply of lubricant, and considering the small amount required by the gun I shot in Argentina, I'd say that little bottle of oil will last you just short of forever.
For now, the Vinci is available only in 12 gauge, in black or either Mossy Oak Max-4 HD or Realtree APG camo. Nominal weight is an ounce or two shy of 7 pounds.
As a traditionalist at heart and a lover of figured walnut and blued steel, I'll have to admit that "homely" was the first word that came to my mind when I first saw the Vinci. Then I shot it, and the more I shot it, the prettier it became. The fact that I shot it darned well did not hurt anything either. By the time our dove shoot was over, the ugly duckling had somehow transformed itself into a work of art that its Italian namesake, Leonardo Da Vinci, would likely be proud to claim if he were still with us.
And how did my shoulder feel after being subjected to the recoil of those 6,375 shells I mentioned at the beginning of this report? Well, I did fudge a bit by wearing a thin, strap-on PAST recoil pad, but I'd used it before, and while it does help, it does not totally prevent bruising if enough rounds are fired, even when using a 20-gauge gun. After three solid days of shooting the new 12-gauge Benelli, the edge of the PAST pad had lightly abraded my shoulder, but there was no bruising whatsoever. Other than a slight tenderness in my right cheek, I suffered no ill effects.
But don't try shooting so many rounds in so short a time unless you own a Vinci--or you have a chiropractor in your immediate family.
I'll close by saying that various models of Benelli shotguns are favored by many outfitters in Argentina who rent shotguns to their clients. They are popular because of their durability and their ability to withstand the punishment of a tremendous amount of shooting with minimal parts breakage and maintenance. It is quite common to hear an Argentinian outfitter speak with awe about a particular Benelli in his rental battery that has been fired thousands upon thousands of rounds over the years and is still going strong. I expect to see the Vinci carry on that tradition for decades to come.
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Gun Dog


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Home » Visiting the Blackhawk Museum Danville
Visiting the Blackhawk Museum Danville
When we visited the Tri-Valley I immediately loved it. Everything about Livermore, Pleasanton and Danville were a combination of artistic, adorable and quaint, and I could see why you'd want to live here, let alone visit. Whilst on our short stay in the Tri-Valley, we visited the Blackhawk Museum in Danville
We'd shortly had some food at Harvest, Danville (which I'd highly recommend) before heading over to the Black Hawk Museum. Based amongst some shops at the Blackhawk Plaza Shopping centre, next to a gorgeous foundation and a somewhat epically grand statue of an Elephant was the Blackhawk Museum. We'd been invited by the manager who was so kind to have opened the museum especially for Nick and me to explore. I'd had no prior knowledge of the museum or what it contained, so this was going to be a complete surprise.
Blackhawk Museum History
The Blackhawk Museum was founded back in 1988, as the Behring Auto Museum, and it has been standing proud in sunny California ever since. It was set up by the partnership of Ken Behring and Don Williams, who opened it up as an automobile museum with cars dating back to 120 years. This was something both Nick and I were super excited about, as we both thoroughly enjoy attending classic car shows, and this museum was bursting with them!
Although the non-profit museum began just as an exhibition for vintage and famous cars, it began to expand into other areas from 1991, and introduced a permanent collection upstairs in 2015, Spirit of the Old West. Another part of American history I'm absolutely fascinated by, and so I was incredibly excited to see all the artifacts.
One major area this museum is renowned for is their epic and might I add, spectacular, selection of automobiles. There are so many from celebrity cars from films and a clear evolution from the first cars on the road to today. One of my favourites was the Harrods green car we saw, it had a somewhat British feel to it and you could almost envisage someone of higher status riding the streets of London for a spontaneous shop at Harrods! Unfortunately, I'm no major expert in cars but all I can say is that even if you aren't, this is still a must see just to have a look at these incredible models. As you can see from the mere snippet of photos of them above, they were incredible.
Spirit of the Old West
I've been somewhat fascinated by American history, so I was thrilled to discover Blackhawk Museum had a collection of artefacts stemming the length to explore how the west was won. A mind-boggling extensive range of history spread out across a vast room, with clothing to weapons and a very impressive, 10,000 piece model sized journey through history. You don't really know where to begin when you enter, but I assure you, this will keep you mentally stimulated for a good hour.
Into China & Art of Africa
We only got a glimpse into the next two exhibitions, because I spent so much time exploring the Wild West! I will say this though, Into China is quite spectacular in the sense of creations. There was a huge piece of art carved with a wave of horses galloping across the length. There was all sorts, and to be honest, I wish we'd had more time to explore.
Should you visit Blackhawk Museum?
Yes! Not only will can you enjoy the museum in this area, but there are also shops and places for coffee in the complex. Nick and I both said how easy it would be to spend your morning or afternoon here. Blackhawk Museum is closed every Monday & Tuesday, but open the rest of the week 10 am – 5 pm. The prices start from $15 for adult admission then concessions. Visit Blackhawk Museum to find out more.
A huge thank you to Blackhawk Museum for not only hosting us, but opening especially for us to have a look around.
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How does gastrulation occur in frogs?
What are the different movements involved in gastrulation of frogs?
What does the gastrulation accomplish?
Why is it called gastrulation?
What is the difference between a blastula and gastrula?
What happens during cleavage and during gastrulation?
What is gastrulation with diagram?
What is the embryo called at the end of gastrulation?
What marks the end of gastrulation?
What is after gastrulation?
What is gastrulation in frog embryo?
What is the difference between gastrulation in frog and sea urchin?
Gastrulation in frog embryos is initiated on the future dorsal side of the embryo, just below the equator in the region of the gray crescent (Figure 10.7). Here, the cells invaginate to form a slitlike blastopore. These cells change their shape dramatically.
Four major modes of movement contribute to the rearrangement of cell groups during gastrulation: bending of epithelial cell sheets, rearrangement of cells within the plane of epithelial or pseudo-epithelial sheets, dissociation of cells from epithelial structures (this includes delamination of single cells as well as …
How does frog gastrulation differ from chick gastrulation?
The key difference between frog and chick gastrulation is that the frog gastrulation results in a hollow ball gastrula while chick gastrulation results in a gastrula with flat sheets of cells. Furthermore, the frog gastrulation starts with epiboly while chick gastrulation starts through blastoderm.
The result of gastrulation is the formation of the three embryonic tissue layers, or germ layers. Over the course of development, these cells will proliferate, migrate, and differentiate into the four primary adult tissues: epithelial tissue, connective tissue, muscle tissue, and nervous tissue.
Gastrulation is the process during embryonic development that changes the embryo from a blastula with a single layer of cells to a gastrula containing multiple layers of cells.
How do cells move during gastrulation?
Abstract. During gastrulation in amniotes, epiblast cells ingress through the primitive streak and migrate away to form endodermal, mesodermal, and extraembryonic structures.
Blastula is the early embryonic stage that precedes gastrula. The blastula is a hollow ball of single-layered cells, whereas gastrula comprises an embryo with two or more germinal layers, which is formed due to the movement of cells with respect to each other.
The process of fertilization is tightly controlled to ensure that only one sperm fuses with one egg. After fertilization, the zygote undergoes cleavage to form the blastula. The blastula, which in some species is a hollow ball of cells, undergoes a process called gastrulation, in which the three germ layers form.
What causes cellular movements in gastrulation?
The movements of gastrulation are triggered by chemical signals from the vegetal blastomeres. Several proteins of the TGFβ superfamily are secreted by these cells and act on the blastomeres above them. If these signals are blocked, gastrulation is disrupted and no mesodermal cell types are generated.
Gastrulation. Gastrulation occurs when a blastula, made up of one layer, folds inward and enlarges to create a gastrula. This diagram is color-coded: ectoderm, blue; endoderm, green; blastocoel (the yolk sac), yellow; and archenteron (the primary gut), purple.
The final phase of gastrulation is the formation of the primitive gut that will eventually develop into the gastrointestinal tract. A tiny hole, called a blastopore, develops in one side of the embryo. The blastopore deepens and becomes the anus.
What is gastrulation in early embryonic phase of development in a frog?
Gastrulation is a phase in the embryonic development of animals where the blastula reorganizes itself into a gastrula. It does this by folding itself inward as shown in Figure 1.
At first, the archenteron is a narrow slit, but it gradually expands at the anterior end of the embryo. As a result, the blastocoel progressively shrinks and eventually disappears, which marks the end of gastrulation.
Following gastrulation, the next major development in the embryo is neurulation, which occurs during weeks three and four after fertilization. This is a process in which the embryo develops structures that will eventually become the nervous system.
What is the first step of gastrulation?
In amniotes, gastrulation occurs in the following sequence: (1) the embryo becomes asymmetric; (2) the primitive streak forms; (3) cells from the epiblast at the primitive streak undergo an epithelial to mesenchymal transition and ingress at the primitive streak to form the germ layers.
Gastrulation in frog embryo. The process of gastrulation is a continuous activity succeeding, cleav-age. During this process the blastodermal cells begin to move. They wander and occupy their prospective organ forming zones. During this movement at one region on the blastula, the cells wander inside and occupy the blastocoelic cavity.
Gastrulation in the frog is similar to the sea urchin, but it's more complicated. One of the main differences is that the blastula is not hollow but is filled with yolk cells.
What happens during neurulation and post-neurular development of frog?
During neurulation, the tubulation of chorda-mesoderm and tubulation of endoderm also happen. The post-neurular development of frog involves the formation of all body organs.


Many Las Vegas homes are found via the MLS system. Real estate agents use it to match sellers and buyers and many real estate buyers use it online to scan through potential properties. The Las Vegas MLS search tool is very helpful in finding a great property that fits a buyer's needs.
One thing to keep in mind while using online MLS searches is that real estate agents have access to a very powerful version of the MLS. They pay a good deal of money for it. Online web sites use a simplified version and can only show a small amount of the actual home information that's available. The GLVAR intentionally does not provide all of the data necessary to purchase a particular property because of the costs they incur to provide it. We hope you will use online searches to get an idea of what is available. Once you have an idea or if you find a property you think may work for you it's important to contact an agent because they will help you be sure the property is what you seek. Here are some tips to help you get started.
Select Your Property Type - Choose the type of property you are interested in from the first set of options.
Narrow Your Search - Using the criteria fields fill out as much detail as you can so the properties that are returned fit your desired result. Public GLVAR search tools typically only generate 50 results per search. The more narrow you make the search the better the properties will fit what you are looking for.
Note MLS Numbers - Make note of the properties you like by jotting down the MLS numbers. That way regardless of how many other houses may fit the same criteria as that particular property you won't loose it in the shuffle.
Select an Agent - A competent Las Vegas real estate agent will help you ask the right questions to narrow down your search. They will put you in the right property.
Have Fun! - Once you have selected a property the escrow process can be a crazy time. The initial search for a property is the most enjoyable time during the adventure.
Return to the Las Vegas MLS Search Tool.
The MLS is a powerful service. Use it's power to investigate the market you are looking in and then work with your agent to find the right property.


Hovland was impressive during his Augusta debut.
Viktor Hovland will go from sitting in Butler Cabin with Tiger Woods to returning to his academic duties in the span of 24 hours.
Hovland was the low-scoring amateur of the 2019 Masters, holding off Alvaro Ortiz to earn the honor by a stroke. Hovland finished the tournament with a 3-under 285, finishing a stoke under par each of the final three days. Hovland started before Ortiz on Sunday and both started on the back nine. Hovland bogeyed his final hole, leaving an opening for Ortiz to tie with a par, but Ortiz also bogeyed the hole.
Hovland finished the tournament tied for 32nd. When asked what he plans to do now, Hovland said his eyes are on becoming a back-to-back national champion.
Rickie Fowler was the highest-placing former Poke. He finished tied for ninth with a 10-under 278, three strokes behind Woods.
Fowler's low round came Saturday, where he shot a 4-under 68. One of the highlights on the round was this eagle on 13. The 13th hole was good to the OSU contingent, as Hovland hit an eagle there Friday.
Charles Howell III finished tied with Hovland at 3-under for the tournament. Howell too hit an eagle on the 13th hole, with his coming on Friday.
Kevin Tway finished tied for 36th with his 2-under 286. Tway had a rough go of it Sunday and sat at 4-over for the round through 12 holes. After a pair of pars, Tway made three straight birdies and parred the 18th to finished with his weekend-high 1-over 73.
Alex Noren completed the Cowboy field at the Masters. After making the cut, making Hovland and the former Pokes five for five, Noren finished tied in 62nd with his 8-over 296.


text:
An Expert Explains: Missed chances on India-China border
The boundary dispute that led to the 1962 war with China remains unresolved 60 years on. Nehru made a series of mistakes that governments after him continued to repeat. A historian of India-China relations takes stock.
Written by A S Bhasin
(From left) Prime Minister Nehru, Vice President S Radhakrishnan, Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai, and President Rajendra Prasad in New Delhi. (Express Archive)
Sixty years ago on this day — October 20, 1962 — Chinese troops came down from the Himalayan heights all along the India-China border and confronted an unprepared India, shredding Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's faith in the Himalayan shield.
But relations with China, whether on the borders or in the political sphere, had long been a cause for concern, Nehru's benign view notwithstanding. As would be seen, there were infirmities in India's boundary with China, both in the east and the west.
Uncertainty in east & west
Back in 1950, Nehru had declared in Parliament that in the east, "McMahon Line was our border, map or no map". In the west, the border in Aksai Chin was marked "undefined" in the Survey of India maps that India inherited on Independence — but Nehru said it was known by custom and usage.
On March 13, 1949, with the civil war in China at its peak, India had rejected a suggestion to demarcate the Aksai Chin border: "In the present disturbed conditions, it is not possible to demarcate undefined frontier between Kashmir and Sinking (Xinjiang)."
Also in Explained |Two years after Galwan clash, where India-China relations stand today
Subsequently in 1954, the border along Aksai Chin was defined by Nehru's fiat, dispensing with the mandatory requirement of consulting the other stakeholder, China. The new, unilaterally defined boundary included Aksai Chin within India; however, no effort was made to occupy it or to even plant the Indian flag there as a mark of sovereignty.
India remained unaware that this area was already in use by China. It came to know that the Chinese had built a 220-km-long road there only after the completion of the project was announced in 1957.
In the eastern sector, the McMahon Line had been drawn in 1914 without even a survey. Henry McMahon admitted in 1935 that the "want of local accurate knowledge and absence of detailed surveys rendered it impossible to define large portion of it, except in a general term".
While negotiating the Tibet agreement in 1954, India consciously avoided discussions about the border, leaving the boundary question open while giving up all the facilities it had inherited from the British. By the end of 1959 there were enough straws in the wind to suggest an impending escalation, since the dialogue between the two countries had by then become polemical.
The April 1960 discussions between Nehru and Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai in New Delhi failed to bridge their differences. The major stumbling block was in the western sector, involving Aksai Chin. Nehru stonewalled repeated suggestions from China on the need to negotiate and demarcate the boundary through joint surveys. Having unilaterally defined the western boundary, he contradicted himself repeatedly — maintaining that even if there had been no demarcation, the border was known by usage and custom, and by the watershed principle.
At the same time, Nehru remained unsure of India's position. On December 9, 1959 he told Rajya Sabha that "a lingering doubt remained in my mind and in my ministry's mind" as to the future, but insisted that "we should hold our position and lapse of time and events would confirm it and by the time challenge came, we would be in a much stronger position to face it".
China, on the other hand, had accepted that its maps were old, and its borders — not only with India but with other neighbours — needed surveys and discussions before new maps were printed. Zhou specifically told Nehru in Beijing in October 1954 that China "would undertake surveys and hold discussions with the other stakeholders before finalising its international boundaries".
Nehru had acquiesced with that position. Yet, he expected that China should accept the delineations as on the Indian maps and replicate them in its own maps, which was unrealistic.
War and no settlement
With the Panchsheel agreement (1954) having squeezed India out of Tibet, China found the time right to enforce its territorial claims along the Indian border. Its initial intrusions were dismissed by the PM as minor incidents, which used to occur "long before Chinese came to Tibet (and) conceded that the frontier was not clearly demarcated". While the intrusions continued, and became worrying, no serious view was taken until it was too late.
The unfortunate part of Nehru's China's policy was that the differences on borders were kept wrapped in a false veneer, and an uninformed but mesmerised public went hoarse shouting "Hindi-China bhai bhai". After the Kongka pass incident (1959), in which nine Indian policemen were killed, tore apart the veneer of friendship, the government held China responsible, creating a sense of betrayal in the public. The border problem snowballed into armed conflict in 1962.
Even after the ceasefire, Nehru did not respond positively to Zhou's suggestion to create a demilitarised zone to avoid future conflicts. The two countries were left without an agreed line separating them. A couple of unsuccessful attempts were made at reaching a settlement, including one by a group of non-aligned countries led by Sri Lanka.
Prisoners of the past
After Nehru's death, successive governments remained prisoners of the past and stuck to the position taken by him, failing to respond positively to the Chinese offer made in 1960 for a swap between the western and eastern sectors, which was available until the mid-eighties, when that offer was withdrawn. China now claims the eastern sector too as part of any settlement, while holding on to the western sector.
In an interview in 2016, Dai Bingguo, State Councillor and China's Special Representative at 15 rounds of talks with his Indian counterparts between 2003 and 2013, described the eastern sector as "inalienable from China's Tibet in terms of cultural background and administrative jurisdiction", and called for "meaningful and mutually acceptable adjustment" to reach a "package settlement".
The "package" that Dai demanded: India must "take care of China's concern in the eastern sector", which is Arunachal Pradesh, a state of the Indian Union, with a population of 1.4 million.
In for the long haul
Nehru's failure to react positively to Zhou's suggestion for a demilitarised zone after the ceasefire in 1962 has become a bane in relations, with both countries batting on their own perceptions of the Line of Actual Control (LAC). Rajiv Gandhi's visit to China in 1988, the first by an Indian prime minister since Nehru's visit in 1954, froze the border in China's favour in return for relationships in various other domains such as trade, science and technology, and culture. It is open to question whether freezing the borders and promoting relations in other domains benefitted India. The Chinese remain in all the territories they had occupied in 1962.
It has created a stalemate in China's favour with little urgency for a settlement. The several agreements between the countries since then — on 'Maintenance of Peace and Tranquillity' (1993), military CBMs (1996), 'Political Parameters and Guiding Principles' for the settlement of boundary question (2005), and border defence cooperation (2012) — have failed to lead to a settlement of the border question.
This has primarily been on account of the failure to find a mutually acceptable LAC. It needs to be noted that Dai Bingguo's claim on the eastern sector violated the agreement on political parameters. His demand for adjustment in the east violated Article VII, which called on the two countries to "safeguard due interests of their settled populations in the border areas".
Since the appointment of the Special Representatives in 2003, 22 meetings at their level and more at higher levels, have not helped to resolve the border issue. If the stand Dai took remains China's final position, the two countries are stuck for the long haul.
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On Sunday last Mrs. George Airhart died at Iowa Falls in a hospital in which she had been operated upon. She was formerly Miss Kate Pool, daughter of Wm. Pool of Richland township and married Mr. Airhart as number of years ago whom she now leaves with a family of three children, namely Clyde, Edna and Emma to mourn her loss. Thos. Pool, Joe Pool and Mr. L. VanHorn and B. Pool are the members of the family here at this time, all the others living at various parts of the state.


text:
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by Sidney Lumet (2015)
This Film On
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Peter Canavese 2008-04-21 01:13:11 -0700
117 min. ThinkFilm. Director: Sidney Lumet. Cast: Ethan Hawke, Albert Finney, Marisa Tomei, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Aleksa Palladino.
"The world is an evil place," or so says a compromised diamond dealer in the crime melodrama Before the Devil Knows You're Dead. "Some of us make money off of that, and others get destroyed." Dark but immensely satisfying, the 45th feature from still-spry 83-year-old Sidney Lumet finds the great American filmmaker—already responsible for Dog Day Afternoon, Network, The Pawnbroker, and 12 Angry Men, among others—delivering once again.
Lumet casts Philip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke as Andy and Hank Hanson, two financially desperate brothers who collude to rob a jewelry store. Naturally, it's much more complicated than it sounds, thanks to past and present family history involving their parents (Albert Finney and Rosemary Harris) and Andy's wife Gina (Marisa Tomei). Crime doesn't pay in Kelly Masterson's diabolically structured script, as he piles layer upon layer onto an initial armed robbery scene.
The reasons why two brothers rob a jewelry store have a lot to do with personal desperation but as much to do with broken marriages and dysfunctional family dynamics. Fraternal power games and jealousies play out under the shadow of Freudian implications, culminating in a horrifying one-two punch of scenes involving Hoffman and Finney having it out. While the film is a pleasingly sour study in sweaty anxiety—underpinned by Carter Burwell's insinuating score—Masterson, Lumet and the actors also tease mordant humor out of the extreme situations.
That's especially true for Hawke, as the gaping semi-innocent despairingly on the way to becoming a deadbeat dad, and therefore easily led by the nose by his overbearing, bluff brother. Both men are at wit's end, but Hoffman gets the more viscerally intense role. First, he nails an old-fashioned theatrical monologue about Andy's longing to fill an existential void. As he explains essentially to himself, "My life doesn't add up. I'm not the sum of my parts. All my parts don't add up to one me." Soon, Andy has a full-fledged meltdown behind the wheel of the car. It's an astonishing, full-bodied performance, with crucially natural reactive acting by Tomei.
As anyone closely watching the realistically edited scene will immediately suspect, Lumet captured it with two cameras, one on each actor. It's one of a whole film's worth of confident camera placements and patient long takes as Lumet masterfully turns the screws on the characters (the ideal, stage-trained cast also includes Brian F. O'Byrne, Amy Ryan, Michael Shannon and Leonardo Cimino). This would be a vigorous film for a man of any age, but it's a special treat from our favorite octogenarian. Though it's an unlikely play for Hank's grade-school aged daughter to be performing, King Lear provides a quatrain keenly appropriate to the film:
The weight of this sad time we must obey;
Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say.
The oldest hath borne most: we that are young
Shall never see so much, nor live so long.
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Aspect ratios: 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround
Distributor: Image Entertainment
On DVD and particularly on a most impressive Blu-Ray, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead shines. The Blu-Ray picture looks better to me than the film did in the theatre, no doubt owing to the carefully cultivated film-like look that Lumet got out of (surprise!) an HD-CAM. Low-light scenes have a bit of extra grain to deal with, but this is an excellent transfer, with a killer DTS track to match.
The film is contextualized by Directed by Sidney Lumet: How The Devil was Made" (24:28, HD), a documentary tantamount to a master class with Lumet, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Marisa Tomei, and producers Michael Cirenze and Brian Linse. Lumet's collaborators speak in awed tones of their maestro, who matter-of-factly explains the nature of melodrama, the theatre's influence and his use of rehearsals, and the joys of shooting in HD. (We also learn from the producers that it was Lumet's idea, on reading the original script, to make Andy and Hank brothers!)
We also get a spirited commentary with Lumet, Hoffman, and Hawke, which gets into the ins and outs of making the film, delightfully esoteric actor talk (intent and action, internalizing dialogue, specificity, and the philosophy of Sandy Meisner), as well as more accessible topics, such as Katherine Hepburn, the women in the picture, and sexual dysfunctions of the stars. This one's a must-listen. Lastly, Image sees fit to include the "Theatrical Trailer" (2:00, SD). Lovers of great acting and, well, American film, owe it to themselves to pick up one of the finest films of 2007.
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text:
Bello: Peace talks with communist rebels likely to resume next year
Published Dec 11, 2019 6:44:46 PM
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 11) — Peace talks with communist rebels are likely to resume next year, a former government peace negotiatior said Wednesday.
Labor Secretary and former peace negotiator Silvestre Bello said during his discussion with communist leaders earlier this month, they were amenable to almost all of the conditions laid down by President Rodrigo Duterte.
"They agreed to the resumption. Ninety percent of what President asked was positively reacted to, (the) 10 percent under consideration pa (still)," Bello added,
He said that he had a 21-hour meeting with Communist Party of the Philippines founder Jose Maria "Joma" Sison, National Democratic Front of the Philippines senior adviser Luis Jalandoni and NDFP chief negotiator Fidel Agcaoili earlier this month.
He added that he would discuss details further with Duterte in a meeting Wednesday evening.
In a speech last week, the President said that he will send Bello, along with the rest of the government peace panel, to negotiate with Sison in March.
READ: Duterte to send ex-negotiator Bello to speak to Joma Sison
Bello said discussions are still ongoing on where the talks may be held. The government wants these to be conducted in the Philippines.
In a statement posted on Facebook, Sison said that they want the peace talks to be held in a "foreign neutral venue."
"The NDFP cannot trust any 'no arrest' declaration from the (government) side unless the repressive issuances and campaigns of Duterte are ended, the political prisoners are amnestied and released, the Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms (CASER) and a bilateral ceasefire are already in place," Sison said.
He added that it is hard to trust that the Duterte regime is not trying to lay out a trap, claiming that government forces planted evidence in order to arrest other NDFP consultants.
READ: NDFP consultant Vic Ladlad arrested
"The NDFP is under no obligation to negotiate with a regime that is already discredited and is running out of time," Sison said.
CNN Philippines' senior correspondent Ina Andolong and digital producer Luchi de Guzman contributed to this story.


Presentation summary: This presentation provides a local perspective on recent developments in the medical technology and pharmaceutical landscape, and the future of the TGA in a global context.
Slide 1 - What's trending in medicines regulation?
Many more than FDA !!!
Praluent (alirocumab) - patients who are unable to control their low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol in addition to diet, exercise and other cholesterol-lowering drugs. Targets pro-protein convertase subtilisin kexin 9 (PCSK9) that otherwise reduces the number of receptors on the liver that remove LDL cholesterol from the blood.
Orkambi - for cystic fibrosis in people with two copies of the F508del mutation in the gene encoding the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) protein. Lumacaftor increases the number of CFTR proteins trafficked to the cell surface, while Ivacaftor increases the probability the defective channel will open and allow chloride ions to pass through.
Histology-based diagnosis and chemotherapy - becoming redundant?
EMA also updating policies e.g.
Is a bespoke evaluation pathway needed?
Post Registration - what do switching data tell us?
Slide 21 - Can regulators manage uncertainty well enough?
Use of social media posts for pharmacovigilance?
Methodological challenges exist as MBS may not capture all health services provided, or in sufficient granularity.
Are health records detailed enough to determine specified outcomes?
Major changes in community expectations of government over the last 20 years e.g.
Have regulators been slow to act here?


The fertility specialists at SCRC have committed their professional lives to teaching the next generation of doctors to insure that they will achieve the greatest strides in reproductive health, and go on to teach others. Through clinical practice, research, teaching, administration and advocacy, each of our doctors strives to become the best fertility doctor possible, changing the field and making contributions that will be felt for generations, as well as in the daily lives of hundreds of thousands of families.
Teaching is a privilege, a responsibility and an endeavor that uplifts and inspires both the SCRC doctors and their students. So as you take a close look at our physicians, ask yourself one question: What kind of fertility specialist do you want to help you build your family? You'll learn what our family of current and former patients already know: Only the physicians at the SCRC fertility clinic measure up to SCRC's standard of care.


Among the solitary most important principles in service is the sales funnel. Sales funnels can increase your revenue online by automating your business. They use a course of the very least resistance to growing and scaling your organisation on auto-pilot. However after spending time with several of the world's ideal online marketers, I can inform you with near certainty, not just exactly how sales funnels will certainly permit you to make more loan online, but which specific funnels you ought to apply.
Now, if you're anything like me, you could be averse to particular funnels. For instance, I'm not at all an e-commerce individual, however I do recognize that free-plus-shipping funnels are definitely crushing it. As a matter of fact, just this past week, while going to the Closing Table Mastermind with Perry Belcher and also Roland Frasier, I obtained extra insight into the attractive "tripwire" funnel, allegedly coined by Perry Belcher.
However, Belcher didn't design the idea. He drew that from an old Columbia House ad that sold 13 CDs or tapes for the huge cost of $1.00. Remember it? But all of us understand that this tempting deal (also known as tripwire) had way more to it than just the $1.00 price tag. Behind-the-scenes, there was a continuity program at the workplace. In Columbia House's' model, this was called negative alternative billing. That implies, you automatically get normal month-to-month deliveries (along with an expense) unless you specifically specify otherwise.
So why is this so effective and also what does it concern sales funnels? In fact, what you'll see is that Columbia House's sales funnel was fairly basic. You just selected the CDs or tapes you wanted for a dollar, then obtained a normal monthly shipment every month at a pre-defined price. They would continuously bill you for those CDs or tapes each and every single month. There were variants of this offer too where you might grab 11 CDs or tapes for one cent after that obtain the 12th cost-free.
Either way you look at it, these were all tempting deals. This was too good to pass up. Yet what Columbia House and also other companies understood was that, although they would certainly shed money out of the gate, they would, typically, gradually, earn money hand over initially. Which is the power of the sales funnel. Prior to automation, this is how sales funnels functioned. And, if you called in, you would certainly get a real-time individual effectively walking you via the funnel.
The Columbia House example provides deep understanding right into the psychology of a deal that's irresistible. By initial figuring out the lifetime worth of a consumer and also their retention rate, Columbia House identified that it can invest a certain quantity of money getting clients and still be very rewarding. That's basically what's finished with sales funnels today. And also what actually makes those sales funnels so effective are tripwires.
Today, it's the tripwire that creates the tempting offer. Although Columbia House really did not fairly have major up-sells or down-sells in their funnels, they created a basic two step funnel that worked. It worked since the tripwire was so alluring. It appealed deeply to the customer. Besides, how can you withstand a deal like that for 12 or 13 CDs or tapes for $1 or 1 cent when they were retailing at around $10 each at the time.
An additional effective instance of this was with Sports Illustrated. Actually, Sports Illustrated was properly on the decline at the time it presented its revolutionary tripwire. There's something about tangible items that individuals just get in touch with. Also when you're supplying a digital information product on the back end, by sweetening the manage a tangible excellent, you can quite actually send your conversions with the roof.
In the instance of Sports Illustrated, take on your own back to 1990 when publication subscription prices were starting to drop off. In that duration, Sports Illustrated suffered a 7% decline in their circulation in the very first half of the year. Currently, no matter what they did, they were unable to get the membership prices up. Also by offering deep price cuts on registrations, consumers weren't ordering it. And also, if they marked down as well considerably, it would certainly impact their capability to get advertisers paying costs rates without revealing that customers were paying close to the full cover cost of the magazine.
Sports Illustrated, owned by Time, Inc., wasn't the only publication that was enduring under the firm's umbrella. People publication had actually likewise experienced an extreme decline of 5%. Time, Inc., recognized that it needed to do something quickly. So it began to provide a tripwire that included sports bungles on VHS. Nevertheless, the price was excessively high and there were just numerous mistakes it could use. So, they counted on the football phone as the brand-new tripwire.
Why the football phone? First, it attracted the target audience. And, it was special and exciting. Much more amazing than a boring publication registration. The football-shaped phone idea was developed by Sports Illustrated's director of circulation at the time, Michael Loeb. At that time, marketing on cord was likewise really affordable. Plus, the phone, which was sourced from China, just cost a few dollars "landed". So it all made good sense.
Loeb dealt with the logistics of this deal for lots of months. Nonetheless, that had not been the only offer. They also concocted a deal that consisted of a tennis shoe phone. If you'll reflect to 1990-1991, it was both supplies that were running almost simultaneously. Speak about an early-on split-test, right?
So, what were the outcomes of all this? Over 1 million new customers. That's right. And those deals just competed a minimal time. However it efficiently conserved the business. That's the power of a tripwire deal. It's a tangible item that gets people excited regarding whatever else the core offer is. As a matter of fact, some people will only purchase what you're marketing exclusively for the novelty of the substantial tripwire offer.
Sales funnels are among the solitary most effective principles in business today for an extremely specific reason. It's not simply the instance of the tripwire that's powerful. It's the entire kitty bunch, in a manner of speaking. There are a lot of components and elements to what make a sales funnel work so well that I intended to simplify and also provide some more instances to supply a much deeper understanding to exactly how you can utilize them to boost your earnings online.
Now, if you're not utilizing a sales funnel right now, or if you're just uncovering what a sales funnel is, after that there are a few ways you can rapidly leverage this effective principle in your service to develop eruptive results. First and foremost, if you don't have a ClickFunnels account, go here and sign up for the 14-day cost-free trial. Once you have actually setup your account, get hold of a custom domain and also start developing your funnel. If you need help, see a few of the on-boarding video clips consisted of with ClickFunnels.
It doesn't matter if you have an existing company or you're working to arrangement a brand-new service, funnels are the trick to expanding and scaling no matter where you're beginning with. However, there are 5 particular ways you can utilize sales funnels to enhance your earnings now. It does not matter what organisation you remain in or what you're marketing, you can take advantage of these today, today, to produce explosive results.
At the Inner Circle mastermind today, Russell Brunson studied the hook-story-offer technique that comes before developing the funnel. Can you develop a sales funnel prior to you have a hook and also a story? Yes. Yet you could have difficulty obtaining grip, especially if you're contending in a red sea. Red seas are entrepreneur-infested waters completing for the very same pool of consumers, whereas blue oceans are a place where few entrepreneurs are swimming in.
What does that inform you? Invest the time on the hook and the story. Yes, the deal is also important. Yet it's the hook and the story that's going to reel prospects in. As an example, Brunson used the story of fit-to-fat-to-fat founder, Drew Manning. Manning, who was in wonderful shape, headed out there and also gained a number of weight over a 6 month duration to better comprehend what it feels like to be fat. Yet then he headed out there and also shed all the weight.
That right there is an incredible hook and also tale. It's special. As well as, due to that, Manning has experienced a meteoric rise, even though his offer isn't that excellent. Yet when the hook and also the tale is so excellent, the offer is practically useless. Effectively, you can offer nearly anything when the hook and the story just crush it. An additional instance is the tale of Robert Allen that would constantly state he can be dropped in any kind of city in the nation as well as acquire a home no loan down within 60 days. And that's specifically what he did. His brand has actually corrected a billion dollars in sales as a result of it.
Those are all great hooks and also stories. Without that, your offer will certainly struggle. If you can generate an one-of-a-kind method to develop your hook and tale, the remainder will certainly form. Since there is a lot red sea out there, this is probably among one of the most crucial indicate make prior to you release any type of sales funnel.
Tripwires are great low-barrier-of-entry items that make prospects take out their bank card. Often, these are too-good-to-pass-up items that are provided at an unbelievable rate. Simply think of the tripwire supplied by Columbia House or Sports Illustrated, as an example. Tripwires assist make it less complicated to get new consumers, and then to ascend them up your value ladder.
Anything that makes consumer procurement more difficult, such as an expensive services or product out of the gate, is going to make growing and also scaling your service more difficult. The fact is that it costs 5 times as a lot to bring in a new customer as it does to maintain an existing one. That's why tripwires are so effective. They lower the barrier-of-entry into your service. And anything that can lower the obstacle of access is always perfect.
An additional great method to introduce a sales funnel as well as quickly increase your revenue no matter what company you're in is via a lead magnet. The lead magnet requires to add actual value. But it can be in different formats such as a PDF ebook, checklist, cheat sheet and more. After the download, you can offer a single deal. This means a three-step funnel. You could additionally develop an up-sell if they take the one-time deal and even a payment-plan down-sell if they decline it.
Why do a lead magnet with lots of worth? Initially, you're establishing on your own up as a specialist. If that web content is absolutely workable, as well as it includes a huge amount of value to the prospect's life, then they're mosting likely to perceive you as the authority. However it does something far more than that. It refers micro-commitments. The theory? Get somebody to concur to do three tiny things for you and also the 4th one is immediately an of course.
One of the most effective sales funnels you can develop is based around the webinar. In fact, it was the webinar that conserved Brunson's service from personal bankruptcy a couple of times. It was a combination and also end result of knowledge that lead to the best webinar script, which develops the basis for the best sales funnel. Several of it came from Jason Fladlien, while other items came from somewhere else in Brunson's trip.
Nonetheless, all that info combined right into the layout of a perfect webinar and funnel, has actually essentially changed the businesses of numerous entrepreneurs that've taken their expertise as well as monetized it through the rapid pressure of webinars. Building a webinar is among the best courses to success with a sales funnel. Actually, the webinar funnel is quite possibly one of the most transformative funnel you can release for any kind of company, new or old.
An additional method to raise your revenue with a sales funnel is to construct a high-ticket training funnel that goes from application to call to close.
The application enables you to extract those who aren't severe. And also, on the telephone call, you can seal the deal. Currently, this kind of sales funnel works if you have actually already had outcomes with customers. Otherwise, benefit cost-free up until you obtain results for individuals. Then, gather reviews and also make use of those as component of the pitch for the training.
Most likely among the largest and most prominent sales funnels nowadays is the free-plus-shipping offer funnel. It makes a great access factor into any kind of funnel by developing an one-time deal or up-sell after the offer, similar to a tripwire funnel. Nevertheless, the distinction right here is the power of words totally free. Yes, tripwires, which are really low-priced products or services, function well. But there is actual power in words complimentary.
In fact, individuals will jump up as well as down for a totally free offer, even if they have to cover the delivery as well as handling, in contrast to taking an offer that they also have to pay a tiny quantity of cash for.


Lucky Air Plant + Crystals currently does not ship internationally. We do not ship to multiple addresses for the same order. If you want to ship items to separate addresses, a separate order per location will need to be placed.
Lucky Air Plant + Crystals charges applicable sales tax for merchandise ordered on this web site for orders shipped to Arizona.


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2019 Lincoln Navigator Best Buy Review
The Lincoln Navigator offers a cavernous, lavishly finished interior; a muscular turbocharged engine; a long list of coddling available features; and wonderfully polished road manners for a full-size luxury SUV.
Top-line models crest the $100K mark, fuel economy isn't great, and the extra-large dimensions make close-quarters maneuvering difficult.
Like its Cadillac Escalade and Range Rover rivals, the Navigator comes in two body lengths—the extended-length Navigator L is about nine inches longer in wheelbase and almost a foot longer overall than the regular-length version.
The Navigator is Lincoln's flagship full-size SUV; it offers seating for up to eight people and can tow up to 8700 pounds. The Navigator's basic underbody architecture is shared with the Ford Expedition, but the Lincoln boasts distinctive upscale styling and an especially luxurious cabin with several exclusive features. Trim levels ascend through Premiere, Select, Reserve, and ultra-luxury Black Label models in regular and extended-length "L" body styles.
The sole powertrain is a turbocharged 3.5-liter Ecoboost V6 that makes 450 horsepower and is paired with a 10-speed automatic transmission. Rear-wheel drive or 4-wheel-drive is available on Premiere and Select models; the Reserve and Black Label are offered only with 4WD.
Available comfort and convenience features include a hands-free power liftgate, illuminated seat-belt buckles, 20-speaker Revel Ultima audio system, 30-way "Perfect Position" heated/ventilated/massaging front seats, rear-seat entertainment system with headrest-mounted screens, adaptive suspension, a WiFi hotspot, self-parking system, and a panoramic sunroof. Available safety features include forward collision warning and mitigation with pedestrian detection, 360-degree surround-view monitor, lane-keep assist, blind-spot monitor, rear cross-traffic alert, and adaptive cruise control.
After its complete redesign for 2018, the Navigator sees no major changes for 2019. The Lincoln Co-Pilot360 suite of safety features is standard on all trim levels, and base prices are higher across the model lineup.
The Navigator is rated at 16 mpg city/23 mpg highway with 2WD and 16/21 with 4WD. The Navigator L is rated at 16/22 with 2WD and 16/21 with 4WD. In Consumer Guide® testing, a regular-length Reserve 4×4 averaged 15.8 mpg in 60-percent city driving.
In many ways, the Premium Large SUV class is the most decadent of all the categories we cover. These vehicles are extra-spacious, extra-powerful, extra-luxurious, and extra-capable, but also extra-hard-to-park and extra-thirsty at the fuel pump. The Lincoln Navigator doesn't fully transcend the inherent downsides of an extra-large luxury SUV, but it nonetheless offers outstanding opulence, passenger and cargo room, power, and driving dynamics for its class.
AVAILABLE ENGINES 450-HP, Turbocharged 3.5-Liter V6
DRIVE WHEELS Rear or Four-Wheel Drive
Crossovers/SUVs, Lincoln, Luxury


What is another word for he?
challenges, Duties, calls, looks, TBS.
Existed, required, Served, sustained, needed, Scored, makes, trying, calls.
" Yes, I heard," he said.
Well, he is just like what she was.
ha-ha, ho, hawaii, hie, hay, howe, H, hue, hee-haw, hoe, ha, haw-haw, hi, Hee, hoo-ha, haw, h2o, hawai'i, hoy, hooey, hoya, HUA, hew, hao, hoo-hah.
Hebraic Alphabet, Hebrew script, Hebrew Alphabet.
alphabetic character, letter of the alphabet, letter.


The SuperFast Thermapen is ideal for taking the temperature of cooked, reheated and cooled food such as meat, fish, soups, stews and pies. It contains a clear, easy-to-read display, with an accurate temperature reading in the range of -49.9 to 299.9 ° C.
• Temperature reading in just 3 seconds!
Looking awesome. And also has a brain.
The Thermapen thermometer is equipped with a stainless steel lowered probe that can easily be turned 180 degrees in the side of the instrument when not in use. The response time of each thermometer depends on many factors: the mass of the sensor tip, heat transfer and, more importantly, the condition of the substance to be measured. With both air and liquid, agitation is crucial for rapid response. The calibration laboratory has tested the Thermapen in a stirred water bath with amazing results. Each Thermapen® reaches the temperature 100% of the test in an amazing 3 seconds. The Thermapen is available in a range of 10 vibrant colors, so you can buy one that suits you.
The housing is made of the new washable "Biomaster" material that reduces bacterial growth and the ergonomic rubber seal reduces the risk of water or dust penetration. Both water resistant, it is also probably "the fastest contact thermometer on the market today." The true temperature of a product can be tested in just three seconds.
Biomaster additives are a strong broad-spectrum inorganic, silver-based biocides for use in plastics, thereby reducing hygienic risks. The concentration of silver, in the patented antimicrobial active substance in Biomaster, gives a release of silver ions if necessary, thereby safely inhibiting microbial growth.
If you really love to cook and want the satisfaction of serving the perfect dish; then buy a Thermapen. The Thermapen can be seen in numerous cookbooks, food blogs, cooking schools and TV programs, including "How to cook well", "Britain's Best Dish", "The Great British Bake Off" and many more programs. The American magazine "Cook's Illustrated" rated Thermapen® as the "best thermometer" and said: "our favorite instant reading thermometer ensures perfectly cooked turkey every time." Each Thermapen® comes with a FREE traceable calibration certificate.


The title says it all and what you cannot do is convince a person not interested in this type to own it. It is not for a regular person, it is for the one passionate about driving a different looking car that has lightweight and can make you travel with an enjoyable time.
It is there in 2-door, 5-door and Convertible styles giving a lot of choice to the buyer for their specific need. For 2018 there have not been many changes, the exterior has some tweaks and added gadgets with new colours.
These are enough to make the car feel modern but does it make a vehicle fit to compete in the present market? The fast pace with which things change in the automobile industry beats even a retro-like Mini Cooper.
But as long as there are BMW devotees and they are loyal, this one is not going anywhere from the line-up of capable driving machines. The latest updates are for the hatchback and the Convertible.
BMW Mini Cooper is always on the look of adventure and the engines are always there to react when you press the paddle. The base engine is a turbocharged 3-cylinder engine which creates a good enough 124 hp.
The S-cars have more power under the bonnet with a turbo-4 engine which is good for 189 hp. Then there is a John Cooper Works edition which is a hardtop two-door convertible and it gets a turbo-4 giving off 228 hp.
You may think that these are not enough but believe us with a small body and lesser weight you will zoom around effortlessly in a straight or curved road.
As this car is designed the ride is compact but this does not mean that it becomes uneasy on the course or journey. The customizable drive modes give you the choice of selecting what way you want your ride to behave.
Sports mode gives you a firm speed while the Green slows things down. Mini Cooper loves to cover turns and curves and performs the task with ease. There is accuracy in the steering and a fine suspension which allows such functions to be performed with flawless actions.
And its charm is in turns, the more you adopt such a route the more you adore how capable it is on curves.
You might expect that the fuel consumption is as good as its small size but this is not the case. It does offer good fuel economy but not as much as it should do according to the area it covers.
Its 3-cylinder engine offers 28 mpg in city and 38 mpg on the highway. This is a good figure but when you go up the fuel economy goes down. 23 in city and 32 on the highway is what you get out of a Cooper S model and the convertible automatic gives a 24 in city and 34 on the highway.
But this is still a very attractive scenario as if you are getting such figures from a BMW to make then this is really good weather your car is small or big.


Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg have not formally announced they are running for president, but both are sucking up a lot of political oxygen. Can the 76 year old Biden get past his gaffes? Can a 37 year old gay mayor of a medium size city be a viable candidate? Meanwhile, NYC Mayor de Blasio is making all the moves you'd expect from a presidential candidate. But with only a 43% job approval rating in NYC, is he a realistic candidate? Plus, a look at The Fresh Air Fund, a non-profit that's been sending low income NYC kids for some summer fun in the country for over 100 years.


Fuller House star Jodie Sweetin is blogging about her experience on Dancing with the Stars's 22nd season exclusively for PEOPLE.com. Follow Sweetin and her partner Keo Motsepe on Twitter!
Last week could definitely have gone better.
I just lost my place and never really found my way back to the dance. I panicked a bit, and that's never good.
Friends told me that they couldn't see the missed steps – and my daughters had a blast at the show because it was Disney Week – but I'm my toughest critic and I was so bummed about my performance.
But Keo could not have been a better partner.
Keo and I have an amazing bond, and I am so glad we've gotten to go through this experience together.
Of course, this week is Switch-Up Week, which means we've been split up and I'm working with Val Chmerkovskiy.
And working with Val is a lot different than working with Keo. They're both great teachers, but Val is a lot quicker to point out something needs to be improved. He doesn't sugarcoat things. If he thinks something was good but could have been better, he's going to let you know.
It's been an adjustment to working with someone new, but I've been enjoying the challenge. Val is pushing me, but I'd like to think I'm rising to the challenge.
This week, we're dancing a paso doble. It's a fighting dance, so Val has spent a lot of time trying to get me to embrace an aggressiveness that I usually don't have in my daily life.
Tapping into that side of me hasn't been easy, but it's been a good reminder that we're not just dancing out on that ballroom floor – we're also acting.
And just because we aren't dancing together tonight doesn't mean Keo and I haven't been talking. We FaceTime and talk every day. It's been great kind of having two teachers this week and knowing that Keo still has my back when I need a familiar friend.
I can't wait to get out on that dance floor tonight with Val, but I'm also looking forward to having Keo back with me in the rehearsal room after.
No one goes home this week, so that's a great relief knowing that I'll get at least one more chance to dance. But that doesn't mean any of us will be taking it easy. The scores still count, so we're fighting for every point we can get.
Season 22 of Dancing with the Stars airs Mondays (8 p.m. ET) on ABC. To vote for Jodie and Keo, dial 1-800-868-3405.


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De ő (hoofdletter Ő, kleine letter ő) is een letter gebruikt in het Hongaarse alfabet. Het dubbel accent aigu op de o is een combinatie van het umlautteken en het accent aigu.

Net als in onder andere het Duits geeft de umlaut het verschil aan tussen de /o/ en de /ø/ (Nederlands equivalent: "eu"). Het accent aigu geeft in het Hongaars de lengte van een klinker aan: alle klinkers zonder accent aigu (a, e, i, o, ö, u, ü) zijn kort, alle klinkers met enkel of dubbel accent aigu (á, é, í, ó, ő, ú, ű) zijn lang. De ő wordt beschouwd als langere versie van de ö en dus als aparte letter, evenals alle andere lange klinkers. In alfabetische lijsten komt de ö/ő tussen de o/ó en de p.

In het Hongaars heeft Ő als woord ook de betekenis hij of zij.

O
O

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Evan Mactavish
Equatorial Guinea? Some background
Equatorial Guinea is comprised of three independent landmasses. The mainland is sandwiched between Gabon to the south and Cameroon to the North and the Gulf of Guinea to the west. It's approximately the size of Rhode Island. The other to parts of the county are two islands, Annobon and Bioko. The second of which is where the capital, Malabo, is located. The Ethiopian Airlines flight attendant announces we'll be departing Douala for Malabo. Flight time, 22 minutes. I have enough time to nod off to sleep before the plane starts to descend over the water.
Equatoria Guinea is the only previous colony of Spain in sub-Saharan Africa. In the late 1960s, the small country gained it's independence from Spain and held their first democratic elections. Unfortunately, as John Ghazvinian writes in Untapped: The Scramble for Africa's Oil, "the wrong man won." Francisco Macias Nguema, a clinically diagnosed schizophrenic sociopath claimed victory and announced himself "President for Life, Immaculate Apostle of Steel and Unique Miracle of Equatorial Guinea." His policies were disastrous. Macias declared the word "intellectual" illegal and banned the use of lubricant to be used at the power plant, claiming that magic was to be counted upon to operate the machinery. He banned western medicine and relied solely upon African black magic and herbal remedies. And when people started fleeing Malabo by sea, he disbanded the fishing industry and made boats illegal. Moreover, as Ghazvinian writes, "in 1975…Macias celebrated Christmas Day by lining up 150 of his political opponents in a soccer stadium and shooting them dead while a brass band played Mary Hopkin's 1960s anthem, 'Those Were the Days, My Friend.'" It's not surprising then that one-third of the entire population died during Macias' rule.
On August 3, 1979, Macias was disposed in a military coup led by his nephew, Brigadier General Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, and was executed. Obiang has ruled Equatorial Guinea ever since. When oil was discovered in he mid-1990s, Western governments pressured Obiang to allow opposition parties to participate in elections. In 1996, Obiang won with 99.2% of all ballots, in 2003 with 97% and was reelected just last year. The government in Malabo is a known violator of human rights and Obiang himself is often referred to as a thug as he leads a tightly controlled military state.
For further reading about Equatorial Guinea (as I've referenced it multiple times on this trip), turn to John Ghazvinian's Untapped: The Scramble for Africa's Oil, pp. 170-206. Disturbing and entertaining reading.
February 26, 2010 March 23, 2010 evanmactavish
← Douala
Malabo →