text:
A podcast covering the chaotic New Zealand media industry, hosted by The Spinoff managing editor Duncan Greive.
The wildfire that was 2020 for NZ media, reviewed
The pandemic put unbearable pressure on New Zealand's media this year, but also saw it gain larger and more engaged audiences than ever before. In a year-ending monopod, Duncan Greive wraps his head around what it all means.
The pandemic put unbearable pressure on New Zealand's media this year, but also saw it gain larger and more engaged audiences than ever before. In a year-ending monopod, Duncan Greive wraps his head around what it all means. I've tried to capture the sweep of this incredible year by drilling…
The pandemic put unbearable pressure on New Zealand's media this year, but also saw it gain larger and more engaged audiences than ever before. In a year-ending monopod, Duncan Greive wraps his head around what it all means. I've tried to capture the sweep of this incredible year by drilling into the news organisations, journalists and other players in the ecosystem. Broadly it felt like a year in which, under some of the most extreme duress imaginable, journalism rediscovered its purpose, and both the public and government felt that too. So for an hour I went solo, taking the monopod format and going deep on the following topics:
Google and Facebook's epic battle with Australian regulators, and what that means for New Zealand.
Sinead Boucher and Stuff's triumphant year, from buying the company for $1 to the historic apology and everything in between – while still having questions over its future.
The contrasting strategy of NZME, which is clearly more focussed on business than editorial at this point.
The continued rollercoaster that is Sky, which started the year by buying Lightbox and ended it by losing its CEO (while gaining a very promising new one).
A holding pattern for RNZ, which tried to change and found New Zealand's most powerful NIMBYs camped on its lawn.
TVNZ deftly using its dominance to huge advantage – owning the local space, becoming the unquestioned winner of the free VOD platforms and positioning itself to be the main player in the suddenly-back-on RNZ/TVNZ merger.
A series of coups for Mediaworks, selling the TV arm to Discovery and installing Air NZ's Cam Wallace as CEO of the new radio and outdoor company.
The unexpected vitality of the indie media space after the collapse of Bauer.
It's all hyper-nerdy, but if you are, tragically for you, into this sort of thing, then there's a solid hour of me talking at you about this heart attack year for our media. Merry Christmas, I guess? The Fold is proudly supported by Vodafone. With innovation made simple and world-class network technology, Vodafone will help maximise the potential of you and your business. Find out more at vodafone.co.nz Subscribe and listen via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or via your favourite podcast provider.
The Spinoff presents SUPERPOD 2020
Pour yourself some eggnog and join the hosts of The Spinoff's podcast network for our annual Superpod round up of the year that was.
Pour yourself some eggnog and join the hosts of The Spinoff's podcast network for our annual Superpod round up of the year that was. Representing Gone By Lunchtime, Dietary Requirements, The Real Pod, Papercuts, The Fold and On The Rag our hosts dive into the key events, issues, heroes and…
Pour yourself some eggnog and join the hosts of The Spinoff's podcast network for our annual Superpod round up of the year that was. Representing Gone By Lunchtime, Dietary Requirements, The Real Pod, Papercuts, The Fold and On The Rag our hosts dive into the key events, issues, heroes and villains of 2020. From National's botched election campaign to Ben Thomas' take on TikTok, via the collapse of Bauer, the rise of oat milk, with a detour through controversial frozen grapes and Simon's Sausage Spot, there's something for everyone in this year's Superpod. Featuring special guests producer T and Covid-19.
Turning words into action, with Laura O'Connell Rapira
The outgoing director of grassroots community campaigning organisation ActionStation joins Duncan Greive to talk about a busy few years in the job.
The outgoing director of grassroots community campaigning organisation ActionStation joins Duncan Greive to talk about a busy few years in the job. ActionStation was formed in 2014, but it feels like it's been around much longer than that. The independent, crowdfunded community organisation has led a number of highly visible…
The outgoing director of grassroots community campaigning organisation ActionStation joins Duncan Greive to talk about a busy few years in the job. ActionStation was formed in 2014, but it feels like it's been around much longer than that. The independent, crowdfunded community organisation has led a number of highly visible and successful campaigns across a wide range of issues during the last six years, thanks in no small part to the energy and forward thinking of its outgoing director Laura O'Connell Rapira. In her time the group has carried the conversation on everything from mental health to making Matariki a public holiday in a way that feels distinctly modern, online and media-savvy. To talk about what's worked, what hasn't, the highlights of the role and what's next, Laura O'Connell Rapira joined host Duncan Greive on this week's episode of The Fold. The Fold is proudly supported by Vodafone. With innovation made simple and world-class network technology, Vodafone will help maximise the potential of you and your business. Find out more at vodafone.co.nz Listen here, or download this episode (right click and save). Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, RSS or via your favourite podcast provider.
The boss of all rugby, with Mark Robinson
NZ Rugby is in a fascinating situation at the moment, with some big calls to be made over the coming years. The man in charge of making them joins Duncan Greive on this week's episode of The Fold.
NZ Rugby is in a fascinating situation at the moment, with some big calls to be made over the coming years. The man in charge of making them joins Duncan Greive on this week's episode of The Fold. Mark Robinson probably has one of the most complex jobs in the…
NZ Rugby is in a fascinating situation at the moment, with some big calls to be made over the coming years. The man in charge of making them joins Duncan Greive on this week's episode of The Fold. Mark Robinson probably has one of the most complex jobs in the country. As CEO of NZ Rugby he's effectively the boss of everything from the All Blacks and Black Ferns to the clubs, the head of an organisation that has many, many different stakeholders. He only came into the job about nine months ago, which meant he was just getting his feet under the desk when Covid hit and threw the whole rugby season a massive dummy. The pandemic didn't just disrupt the match schedule – it seemed to bring a lot of the sport's underlying issues to the surface as well. This obviously makes the CEO's job a much harder one than it would have been even a few years ago. NZ Rugby is in a fascinating situation, and decisions made under Mark Robinson's tenure could make or break the sport's future in New Zealand. To discuss this situation, as well as talking about Match Fit and what he admires about the NBA's marketing model, he joined Duncan Greive for this week's episode of The Fold. Listen here, or download this episode (right click and save). Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, RSS or via your favourite podcast provider.
Media, money and the government, with Bernard Hickey
This week on The Fold, journalist Bernard Hickey joins host Duncan Greive for a wide-ranging chat about the challenges faced by New Zealand media and why he's launched a new subscription-only daily email.
This week on The Fold, journalist Bernard Hickey joins host Duncan Greive for a wide-ranging chat about the challenges faced by New Zealand media and why he's launched a new subscription-only daily email. Working at the intersection of politics and economics, Bernard Hickey is one of the most interesting and…
This week on The Fold, journalist Bernard Hickey joins host Duncan Greive for a wide-ranging chat about the challenges faced by New Zealand media and why he's launched a new subscription-only daily email. Working at the intersection of politics and economics, Bernard Hickey is one of the most interesting and unique journalists in New Zealand today. As you'll hear in this episode, he possesses a rare ability to make even the most mysterious or boring-sounding topics within these areas feel urgent, exciting and accessible. His latest venture in a long career (he's one of the founders of Interest.co.nz, has held senior roles in the Fairfax/Stuff Business team and was one of the founders of Newsroom, and that's just the tip of the iceberg) is The Kākā, a daily email which allows him to respond to unfolding stories in close to real time. To talk about why, as well as get stuck into government policy toward the media and the New Zealand media market, the wage subsidy, Stuff's recent acquisition and more, he joined Duncan Greive in the studio for a no-holds-barred, boots'n'all episode of The Fold. Listen here, or download this episode (right click and save). Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, RSS or via your favourite podcast provider.
Melodie Robinson on the future of NZ sports broadcasting
From winning two world cups with the Black Ferns to heading up TVNZ's sports and events department, Melodie Robinson's career has been one full of remarkable firsts. She joins host Duncan Greive to talk about it on this week's episode of The Fold.
From winning two world cups with the Black Ferns to heading up TVNZ's sports and events department, Melodie Robinson's career has been one full of remarkable firsts. She joins host Duncan Greive to talk about it on this week's episode of The Fold. When the Ministry of Education decided to…
From winning two world cups with the Black Ferns to heading up TVNZ's sports and events department, Melodie Robinson's career has been one full of remarkable firsts. She joins host Duncan Greive to talk about it on this week's episode of The Fold. When the Ministry of Education decided to start a children's educational channel during the first lockdown earlier this year, the job fell to the TVNZ department that had just found itself with not a lot of work on – sports and events. General manager Melodie Robinson and her team threw together the prop, got the contract and ended up setting up the entire channel in about 10 days. That's just one remarkable story in a career full of them. Robinson started out in journalism as a press gallery reporter for Mana News, before moving into sports production at XtraMSN. She broke barriers as a rugby commentator presenter during a long career at Sky Sports, before moving into a new role at TVNZ. It'd be fair to say Robinson has seen some things and faced some challenges in her time at these institutions – and has some of the best stories in the business to show for it. She's been a dream guest for The Fold since the podcast began, and we're delighted to finally get her on for a chat this week. Listen here, or download this episode (right click and save). Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, RSS or via your favourite podcast provider.
A newcomer's view from the press gallery, with Justin Giovannetti
The Spinoff's new(ish) political editor Justin Giovannetti joins Duncan Greive to share his impressions from a hectic first six months on the job – and in New Zealand.
The Spinoff's new(ish) political editor Justin Giovannetti joins Duncan Greive to share his impressions from a hectic first six months on the job – and in New Zealand. When Justin Giovannetti interviewed for the job of political editor at The Spinoff, from Canada, the world was quite a different place.…
The Spinoff's new(ish) political editor Justin Giovannetti joins Duncan Greive to share his impressions from a hectic first six months on the job – and in New Zealand. When Justin Giovannetti interviewed for the job of political editor at The Spinoff, from Canada, the world was quite a different place. In the time it took for him to work out his notice with national newspaper The Globe and Mail, a global pandemic shut borders, grounded flights and threw everyone's plans for the year into disarray. How Justin made it to New Zealand at all is a story for another podcast. This week on The Fold he joins Duncan Greive to talk about the baptism under fire that has been reporting on New Zealand politics for the first time in the middle of an election year, in the middle of a pandemic. New Zealand's press gallery and political reporting style is pretty different to Canada's – so what have been the weirdest things he's had to get his head around, and what are his main impressions, as a newcomer, of this punishingly long election campaign? Listen here, or download this episode (right click and save). Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, RSS or via your favourite podcast provider.
Sido Kitchin is launching not one but four new magazine titles this year
Former NZ Women's Weekly editor Sido Kitchin joins The Fold's Duncan Greive to talk about starting School Road Publishing and launching a whole new stable of magazines following the collapse of Bauer Media.
Former NZ Women's Weekly editor Sido Kitchin joins The Fold's Duncan Greive to talk about starting School Road Publishing and launching a whole new stable of magazines following the collapse of Bauer Media. Sido Kitchin loves telling New Zealand women's stories. An important figure in the magazine industry, she edited…
Former NZ Women's Weekly editor Sido Kitchin joins The Fold's Duncan Greive to talk about starting School Road Publishing and launching a whole new stable of magazines following the collapse of Bauer Media. Sido Kitchin loves telling New Zealand women's stories. An important figure in the magazine industry, she edited the New Zealand Women's Weekly until earlier this year, when the collapse of Bauer Media brought it and a lot of other popular titles to an abrupt end. The six months since have been a period of regeneration for the magazine industry, with a number of new independent publishers, titles and websites blooming. Perhaps no one has moved as hard and fast as Sido Kitchin, who has set up School Road Publishing and established not just one but four new titles – Woman, Haven, Thrive and Scout. She joined The Fold host Duncan Greive in the studio this week for a chat about this tumultuous year, what it was like starting with a blank canvas and why the first issue of Woman is more true to her vision than any magazine she's ever edited before – plus what it was like being a TV publicist in the golden era of big budget broadcast television. Listen here, or download this episode (right click and save). Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, RSS or via your favourite podcast provider.
Where are the Audiences? with NZ On Air's Cameron Harland
The Fold host Duncan Greive speaks to NZ On Air's new chief executive Cameron Harland about his first six months in the job and the findings of the recent Where Are the Audiences? report.
The Fold host Duncan Greive speaks to NZ On Air's new chief executive Cameron Harland about his first six months in the job and the findings of the recent Where Are the Audiences? report. Cameron Harland started his new job as the chief executive of NZ On Air in March,…
The Fold host Duncan Greive speaks to NZ On Air's new chief executive Cameron Harland about his first six months in the job and the findings of the recent Where Are the Audiences? report. Cameron Harland started his new job as the chief executive of NZ On Air in March, the week before the country went into level four lockdown. Duncan has wanted to get him on The Fold to pick his brain about the ins and outs of NZ On Air's unique funding model ever since. In a follow-up to the previous episode of The Fold, which looked at the highlights of NZ On Air's recent Where Are the Audiences? survey, Cameron Harland joined The Fold via Skype from Wellington this week to talk through the findings of the survey, how NZ On Air is adapting to serve increasingly fragmented audiences, and the challenges of operating through Covid-19. Listen here, or download this episode (right click and save). Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, RSS or via your favourite podcast provider.
The most eye-opening bits from NZ On Air's new Where are the Audiences? report
Christmas has arrived early for The Fold host Duncan Greive – this week NZ On Air released Where are the Audiences?, a biannual survey of audience behaviour in New Zealand media.The report is unique in the way it attempts to measure the behaviour of such a diverse set of audiences across all media consumption. This […]
Christmas has arrived early for The Fold host Duncan Greive – this week NZ On Air released Where are the Audiences?, a biannual survey of audience behaviour in New Zealand media. The report is unique in the way it attempts to measure the behaviour of such a diverse set of…
Christmas has arrived early for The Fold host Duncan Greive – this week NZ On Air released Where are the Audiences?, a biannual survey of audience behaviour in New Zealand media. The report is unique in the way it attempts to measure the behaviour of such a diverse set of audiences across all media consumption. This year's edition shows New Zealand at a crossroads, with digital media overtaking traditional media in largest daily audiences for the first time. It goes without saying that Duncan has already read the whole report from cover to cover. In this monopod edition of The Fold he picks out the most interesting data points, and discusses the seismic change it represent for the New Zealand media landscape. Listen here, or download this episode (right click and save). Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, RSS or via your favourite podcast provider.
How The Bulletin gets made, with Alex Braae
The man behind The Spinoff's popular morning newsletter joins Duncan Greive to reveal the secrets of how he manages to consume so much news.Most days Alex Braae starts work at approximately the same time as a dairy farmer. But instead of hopping on a quad bike to go and milk a shed full of cows, […]
The man behind The Spinoff's popular morning newsletter joins Duncan Greive to reveal the secrets of how he manages to consume so much news. Most days Alex Braae starts work at approximately the same time as a dairy farmer. But instead of hopping on a quad bike to go and…
The man behind The Spinoff's popular morning newsletter joins Duncan Greive to reveal the secrets of how he manages to consume so much news. Most days Alex Braae starts work at approximately the same time as a dairy farmer. But instead of hopping on a quad bike to go and milk a shed full of cows, he sits down at his computer to read a figurative shed full of news. The end product is just as important to a lot of people's morning routines as a cold bottle of blue top milk – it's The Spinoff's daily newsletter The Bulletin. Since it started in 2018, The Bulletin has developed a loyal following among its more than 25,000 subscribers by collecting and distilling all the most important stories from across the New Zealand news landscape into a single email that hits inboxes at 7am every morning. But exactly how Alex does it remains a mystery to even his closest colleagues. He joins The Fold host (and his boss) Duncan Greive on this month's edition of The Fold to explain the process behind the curation and creation of The Bulletin, discuss the state of New Zealand journalism (as someone who consumes more of it than most) and delve into the obsession with local democracy and minor parties which led him to embark on a Jucy campervan tour of the regions before Lockdown 2.0 hit. Listen here, or download this episode (right click and save). Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, RSS or via your favourite podcast provider.
Gaurav Sharma on the communities NZ's media doesn't serve
The associate editor of The Indian News joins host Duncan Greive to discuss his belief that New Zealand's media ignores the quarter of our population not born here – and why both parties lose as a result.I first met Gaurav Sharma in the aftermath of March 15. New Zealand and the world has gone through […]
The associate editor of The Indian News joins host Duncan Greive to discuss his belief that New Zealand's media ignores the quarter of our population not born here – and why both parties lose as a result. I first met Gaurav Sharma in the aftermath of March 15. New Zealand…
The associate editor of The Indian News joins host Duncan Greive to discuss his belief that New Zealand's media ignores the quarter of our population not born here – and why both parties lose as a result.
I first met Gaurav Sharma in the aftermath of March 15. New Zealand and the world has gone through so much trauma since then that it feels much further away than the 15 months which have elapsed since. He was there for another meeting, but afterwards a colleague said we had to meet, and we spoke for a half hour or so, and he talked to me about the impact of the attacks on the migrant community. Sharma edits the Multicultural Times, which grew out of the Migrant Times, each one a newspaper dedicated to telling stories about and for a community which he argues persuasively for being underrepresented in New Zealand's media.
His own story is a microcosm of that – an engineer by training, he switched to journalism 12 years ago in India. He arrived in New Zealand five years ago, and found its society and his chosen profession entirely closed off to him. Hence starting two businesses.
He's now associate editor of The Indian News, a weekly newspaper which he has broadened to include coverage of other immigrant communities within New Zealand. I asked him up to The Fold, my monthly podcast covering media within New Zealand, to talk about his own journey within New Zealand journalism, March 15, and his considered and powerful critique of New Zealand media. It's a confronting conversation at times, but I think one which Pākehā like me within the New Zealand media need to hear to help us understand who we're creating journalism for, and who we're missing out.
Listen here, or download this episode (right click and save). Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, RSS or via your favourite podcast provider.
Stuff's CEO and owner Sinead Boucher on how she bought the company for $1
It will justifiably be lost the tumult of Covid-19, but the chaotic couple of weeks which finally saw the end of the Stuff-NZME saga were riveting and strange, replete with stock exchange announcements, legal challenges and finally the acquisition of New Zealand's mosy-viewed news platform by its CEO for just $1.Six months after she appeared […]
It will justifiably be lost the tumult of Covid-19, but the chaotic couple of weeks which finally saw the end of the Stuff-NZME saga were riveting and strange, replete with stock exchange announcements, legal challenges and finally the acquisition of New Zealand's mosy-viewed news platform by its CEO for just…
It will justifiably be lost the tumult of Covid-19, but the chaotic couple of weeks which finally saw the end of the Stuff-NZME saga were riveting and strange, replete with stock exchange announcements, legal challenges and finally the acquisition of New Zealand's mosy-viewed news platform by its CEO for just $1. Six months after she appeared on the very first episode of The Spinoff's media podcast, The Fold, I had Stuff CEO – and now Stuff's sole owner – Sinead Boucher back to the show. She recounts those extraordinary few weeks, from the collapse of Bauer NZ, to just how brutalised ad revenues got in lockdown, the bailout package and the strange forces impacting journalism during level four. Sinead casually reveals what happened behind the scenes during those hectic times, and plots out the future for Stuff – New Zealand's biggest employer of journalists, and the closest thing to a truly national news network that exists in this country. For those in and around the media, who watched the maneuvering of our two print media giants with awe and popcorn, it's a pretty fascinating hour. Listen here, or download this episode (right click and save). Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, RSS or via your favourite podcast provider.
Bailey Mackey takes Māori storytelling to the world
He started as a journalist, became a producer, and is now one of NZ's most successful TV creators. Bailey Mackey joins Duncan Greive on The Fold.This month's episode of The Fold, The Spinoff's media podcast, features host Duncan Greive in conversation with Bailey Mackey, a TV producer with one of the most interesting CVs in […]
He started as a journalist, became a producer, and is now one of NZ's most successful TV creators. Bailey Mackey joins Duncan Greive on The Fold. This month's episode of The Fold, The Spinoff's media podcast, features host Duncan Greive in conversation with Bailey Mackey, a TV producer with one…
He started as a journalist, became a producer, and is now one of NZ's most successful TV creators. Bailey Mackey joins Duncan Greive on The Fold. This month's episode of The Fold, The Spinoff's media podcast, features host Duncan Greive in conversation with Bailey Mackey, a TV producer with one of the most interesting CVs in the entertainment industry. Mackey grew up in and around Gisborne, and got his start in broadcasting on Radio Ngāti Porou, before hitching to Auckland to audition for Te Karere. When he arrived he wore a suit two sizes too small, and saw Julian Wilcox auditioning for the same job. They both got the job, with Wilcox becoming an on-screen legend, while Mackey gravitated towards production, and eventually to reality TV, where he learned from the master – Julie Christie. Mackey was then a highly successful head of sport at Māori TV before launching his own businesses, first Black Inc and latterly Pango, which aims to take Māori storytelling to the world. His career has been stunningly successful, with the creation of hit shows in New Zealand like the huge but unjustly maligned The GC and Sidewalk Karaoke, a format sold to Fremantle, along with a slew of other shows created here and watched globally. Greive spoke with him about how you sell a show, what New Zealand does right and wrong in the screen trade, and the business as it is right now, decimated by Covid-19, but boiling with opportunity too. Download this episode or have a listen here. Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, RSS or via your favourite podcast provider.
How will Covid-19 impact NZ's TV, radio and online news?
The Fold podcast returns for March into a media world transformed by the impact of Covid-19. Host Duncan Greive records a monopod to assess its impact.In last month's edition of this podcast, The Spinoff editor Toby Manhire and I discussed RNZ's Concert debacle. At the time, it was the biggest story in media; now it […]
The Fold podcast returns for March into a media world transformed by the impact of Covid-19. Host Duncan Greive records a monopod to assess its impact. In last month's edition of this podcast, The Spinoff editor Toby Manhire and I discussed RNZ's Concert debacle. At the time, it was the…
The Fold podcast returns for March into a media world transformed by the impact of Covid-19. Host Duncan Greive records a monopod to assess its impact. In last month's edition of this podcast, The Spinoff editor Toby Manhire and I discussed RNZ's Concert debacle. At the time, it was the biggest story in media; now it seems, like so many things, a quaint concern from a different time. The impact of Covid-19 has been so vast that there is no other news agenda – simply 'how the virus is impacting X'. Even Thursday's decision by the Christchurch mosque terrorist to change his plea to guilty had a notable Covid-19 dimension, as his victims were largely unable to face him in court – and thus what would have been the biggest story of any other month felt like it flashed by. Yet for all the global pandemic's power as an engulfing news story, it's the impact on the media business I discuss on March's The Fold. There's a huge paradox in its relationship to the media, in that all of us are seeing record ratings, which in normal times would lead to big revenue spikes – but because almost no client is advertising, the opposite is happening. Journalists are working harder than ever, serving bigger audiences than ever, but the bottom is falling out of the business in a completely unprecedented way. It's also making our work different: instead of being in our podcast studio in Morningside, I recorded it under a towel at home. And instead of a guest, I simply relayed my own thoughts. Literally everything has changed in our society now, and the media has had a supply, demand and operational shock up there with the best of them. Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, RSS or via your favourite podcast provider.
RNZ special: Toby Manhire on the Concert fiasco, the case for a youth channel and the TVNZ maybe-merger
The Spinoff editor Toby Manhire joins Duncan Greive to discuss the RNZ Concert saga, the potential merger with TVNZ and Winston Peters' new photography hobby on this month's episode of The Fold.Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, RSS or via your favourite podcast provider.
The Spinoff editor Toby Manhire joins Duncan Greive to discuss the RNZ Concert saga, the potential merger with TVNZ and Winston Peters' new photography hobby on this month's episode of The Fold. Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, RSS or via your favourite podcast provider.
Exit interview: Newshub's Hal Crawford on Weldon, Paul Henry and the truth about TV ratings
In episode two of The Spinoff newish media podcast The Fold, host Duncan Greive conducts an exit interview with Hal Crawford, the departing head of Newshub.
Hal Crawford landed into a TV3 newsroom in crisis in 2016, just after Campbell Live…
In episode two of The Spinoff newish media podcast The Fold, host Duncan Greive conducts an exit interview with Hal Crawford, the departing head of Newshub. Hal Crawford landed into a TV3 newsroom in crisis in 2016, just after Campbell Live had been axed, and Hilary Barry had resigned. He…
In episode two of The Spinoff newish media podcast The Fold, host Duncan Greive conducts an exit interview with Hal Crawford, the departing head of Newshub. Hal Crawford landed into a TV3 newsroom in crisis in 2016, just after Campbell Live had been axed, and Hilary Barry had resigned. He had been hired by Mark Weldon, the much-maligned CEO who oversaw a transformation at MediaWorks, from a news-first organisation, to one whose schedule was increasingly dominated by reality TV – but Weldon himself resigned before Crawford even started. He was born and raised in Perth, cutting his teeth in print before going on to lead 9MSN, at onc ethe most-read news site in Australia, and one away from the swaggering centre of Australia news media. At TV3 he had a brutal learning curve, coming from a purely digital newsroom out of the public eye, to lead a TV-centred team with big stars and personalities. He oversaw the creation of the Newshub brand, the launch of The Project and The AM Show and an increasingly desperate atmosphere as he and his CEO Michael Anderson pleaded for government intervention to save the channel and newsroom. So far, no dice – the channel is officially for sale, and while there are rumoured to be a number of strong bidders, no announcement has been forthcoming. Crawford describes his time there was essentially a long series of crises, but almost grew to enjoy the adrenalin of it. Beyond MediaWorks, we discuss the rise and evolution of Facebook, whether ad-funded media has a future and what has happened to TV ratings over the past ten years. Few people in our media are smarter, or speak more freely – listen below or through your favourite podcast provider. Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, RSS or via your favourite podcast provider.
Sinead Boucher on reinventing Stuff – and why they are conscientious objectors to Facebook
Host Duncan Greive is joined by Stuff CEO Sinead Boucher to discuss the media monster's growth from an experimental website, to its queasy peak and the current more purpose-driven iteration. Along the way she revealed a number of fascinating insig…
Host Duncan Greive is joined by Stuff CEO Sinead Boucher to discuss the media monster's growth from an experimental website, to its queasy peak and the current more purpose-driven iteration. Along the way she revealed a number of fascinating insights into the reality of running a news organisation at scale…
Host Duncan Greive is joined by Stuff CEO Sinead Boucher to discuss the media monster's growth from an experimental website, to its queasy peak and the current more purpose-driven iteration. Along the way she revealed a number of fascinating insights into the reality of running a news organisation at scale in 2019, including the fact that of the 150,000 comments readers attempt to post each month, a full third are rejected for violations. This brutal task is accomplished by human moderators – in striking contrast to the laissez faire attitude of Facebook. Plus her thoughts on the sale of Three, the ComCom decisions and the proposed RNZ/TVNZ merger. Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, RSS or via your favourite podcast provider.


text:
In the end, Donnie Brasco didn't show - Macleans.ca
In the end, Donnie Brasco didn't show
Charbonneau commission, fall session: All eyes on Laval's Gilles Vaillancourt and Montreal's Gérald Tremblay
by Martin Patriquin
(Ryan Remiorz/CP; Graham Hughes/CP)
In the end, Donnie Brasco didn't show up.
For days now, Montreal media has been salivating at the prospect that one of the FBI's most famous agents would be testifying at the opening day of the commission investigating corruption in Quebec's construction industry. For good reason: under the moniker Donnie Brasco, Joe Pistone infiltrated New York's Bonanno clan, and for six years gathered intelligence that would drive a stake through the heart of one of America's biggest crime families. Also, Johnny Depp played him in a movie. You decide which is more impressive.
Pistone might well still show up at the so-called Charbonneau Commission, whose 18-month mandate includes the examination of the industry's ties with organized crime. When I asked if Brasco was showing up, as Radio-Canada reported last week, commissioner spokesperson Richard Bourbon smiled. "We never said he was coming in the first place," he said, winking.
Instead, the first day of the commission's fall proceedings—Maclean's wrote about the spring/summer session here—with Judge France Charbonneau essentially pleading with journalists to behave themselves. "The imperative is on the security of the witness, we can't have them put in danger," Charbonneau said in her opening remarks. "We are asking the media, with respect, to not publish the names of witnesses before they appear."
Charbonneau's quaintly appropriate request, which will no doubt be ignored, is a reminder of the stakes of the fall session. The first installment of the Commission, while certainly damning to the construction industry, dealt largely in generalities. For all his accusations and impressive noise, star witness Jacques Duchesneau studiously avoided naming names; he said people within the industry wouldn't talk to him unless it was under a cloak of anonymity.
Duchesneau has since parlayed his crime-fighting reputation into a political career, having just been elected the newest MNA for the St-Jerome riding outside of Montreal. The Charbonneau commission, meanwhile, promises to get into the specifics he might have left out. As Charbonneau said in her opening remarks, witnesses will speak about the granting of contracts for the construction "of sidewalks, sewers and asphalt in Montreal. These witnesses will indicate how businesses within the industry divided contracts, how city civil servants were bribed and how some money was diverted towards municipal political parties. Some of the witnesses will speak to us about certain cities, notably Laval and Montreal."
This last bit is very interesting. Though she didn't name names (yet), it's hard to see how anyone would speak about municipal-level corruption without mentioning the reign of Laval mayor Gilles Vaillancourt and Montreal mayor Gérald Tremblay. Both mayors have been mired in scandal allegations as of late, and both have withstood them fairly well—for vastly different reasons.
Vaillancourt, who I wrote about here, is what you might call a one-man political dynasty. He has ruled over Laval, Quebec's third largest city, for some 23 years. His party, PRO Lavallois, holds all of the sprawling city's 21 seats. His critics, when they aren't busy losing elections against him, call him a supreme tactician who doesn't much care what people say about him.
He has shrugged off his alleged ties to construction magnate Tony Accurso, recently indicted on fraud, conspiracy, influence-peddling, breach of trust and two counts of defrauding the government. It's probably why he shrugged again when I asked him about how it looked that he was chummy with several construction engineering firms mired in conflict-of-interest charges stemming from the financing of political parties. "You have two very important engineering firms based here in Laval, Dessau [and] CIMA+. If I didn't know these people I'd be the last of the idiots."
Montreal mayor Gérald Tremblay is a different political animal. First elected to his current position in 2005, Tremblay is known as a bland, perpetually smiling technocrat whose success in municipal politics is due largely to the fact that he wasn't full of either himself (like his predecessor Pierre Bourque) or of bold, expensive ideas (see Drapeau, Jean.)
Yet scandal has caught up to his administration as well. After defending it for months, Tremblay was forced to cancel a $355-million water metre contract after a city auditor's report said it would actually cost taxpayers close to $600 million. And then there's Frank Zampino, former head of Montreal's executive committee and Tremblay's former second-in-command. He is the alleged architect of a bid-rigging scheme that cost the city millions and is currently awaiting trial on fraud, conspiracy and breach of trust charges.
Through sheer obstinacy, Vaillancourt has proven himself impervious to the scandals swirling around him; Tremblay, meanwhile, has managed the same by being the incarnation of the grey suits he always seems to be wearing. Yet the Charbonneau commission offers an interesting possibility in the months to come: that we'll finally be able to see behind the curtain cloaking Montreal and Laval—where the vast majority of Quebec's, if not Canada's, organized crime syndicates ply their trade. It's not quite Donnie Brasco, but we'll take it.
Charbonneau commission
Gérald Tremblay
Gilles Vaillancourt
Joe Pistone
Pierre Duchesne
Why Bixi ran into trouble
Marois says there was no deal with major union to thwart corruption inquiry
Why the PQ won't back down
PQ values charter to be tabled Thursday
Fire at Montreal airport sends five to hospital

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Today's tribute to baseball food falls on the 85th birthday of Yogi Berra, the colorful player and manager whose propensity for malapropisms has made him the Sam Goldwyn of Baseball.
My favorite, of course, is food related: "When you come to a fork in the road, take it." Happy Birthday, Mr. Berra!
Historians make much of the fact that neither the lyricist, Jack Norworth, nor the composer, Albert Von Tilzer, had ever attended a baseball game when they came up with the song.
I've never seen a professional baseball game in person, but I still understand the place of the sport in American culture—and clearly so did Norworth and Von Tilzer.
Nowadays few Americans recall that the song has verses. Here they are as they appeared in the 1908 sheet music (along with the more famous chorus, of course!) in an early Edison cylinder recording.
I love caramel corn—and CJ is nothing but caramel corn with a hint of molasses.
I'm afraid you'll have to provide your own prizes……..
Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Mix together the popcorn and peanuts and place them on a large jelly-roll pan (a cookie sheet with sides) in the preheated oven.
In a small saucepan combine the remaining ingredients. Over medium heat, bring the mixture to a boil, stirring. Cook, stirring frequently, until the liquid reaches about 260 degrees. It should form a definite but pliable ball when inserted into cold water.
Remove the popcorn and peanuts from the oven. Quickly but gently pour the caramel mixture over them and stir. Return the pan to the oven.
Cook for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes and making sure that all of the solid material is covered with the coating. If it starts to stick to the pan earlier, remove it from the oven; you're aiming for Cracker Jack, not peanut/popcorn brittle!
When you remove the pan from the oven, transfer the Cracker Jack to sheets covered with waxed paper to cool. Store in an airtight container.
Makes about 2 quarts of candy-coated popcorn with peanuts. Don't forget to add a prize or two!
I mentioned in my last post that hot dogs are the top-selling concession item at Fenway Park in Boston. I suspect that they dominate the menu in ballparks all over the country.
I'm still enough of a kid to love hot dogs, and I have a feeling I'll never outgrow my fondness for these warm, portable meals.
Fenway Park is pretty specific about what it calls the Fenway Frank. The offical Red Sox hot dog features brown mustard–not yellow!–with a little relish on a New England-style bun. Feel free to vary this recipe by using your own favorite condiments.
I didn't make relish for this post since the ingredients aren't yet in season. I did bake hot-dog buns, however, with the help of my mother and sister-in-law. A New England-style hot-dog bun has soft sides. If you'd like your sides more crispy, just place your rising buns a little farther apart.
Split the bun in the middle. Insert the hot dog into the bun, and cover it with mustard and relish. Makes 1 frank. Be sure to spill mustard and relish all over yourself as you cheer for your favorite team!
King Arthur Flour notes that this dough should be very relaxed so the buns will be soft and tender. When you're adding the flour, don't overdo it; just add enough after the first 3 cups to make the bread kneadable and to keep it from sticking to you or the board.
In a large bowl, dissolve the sugar and then the yeast in the warm water. Add the milk, the butter, the salt, and 1-1/2 cups of flour to the yeast mixture. Beat vigorously for 2 minutes.
Gradually add more flour, 1/4 cup at a time, until the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl. Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface.
Knead until you have a smooth, elastic dough.
Place the dough in an oiled bowl. Turn once to coat the entire ball of dough with oil. Cover with a tightly-woven dampened towel and let rise until doubled. King Arthur Flour says this will take about an hour; in my house it took quite a bit longer.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly oiled work surface. Divide it into thirds, and divide each of those into thirds again so that you have nine pieces. Roll them into little balls.
Roll the balls into cylinders, 4 1/2-inches long. Flatten the cylinders slightly and place them on a well-seasoned baking sheet 1/2 inch apart so they'll grow together as they rise.
Cover with a towel and let rise until almost doubled—an hour or so. Keep an eye on the buns; if they rise too fast, they'll stick to the towel and make a mess. (Can you tell I'm writing from experience?) If you can find a way to lightly cover the buns with a box or something do that instead to avoid the danger of sticking.
Fifteen minutes before you want to bake your buns, preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Bake the buns for 20 minutes or until they are a nice golden brown.
When the buns are done, remove them from the baking sheet to cool on a wire rack.
Makes 9 buns. This recipe may be doubled.


text:
Q: For Facebook 'share' button inside an iFrame, where does it get opengraph tags? I have a site that shows a video in a popup layer... which works great, and lets me keep the videos all on one page without reloading the page. Except, if someone wants to share the video they're watching to Facebook, I can only have one thumbnail specified in the og: tags (and I can't change them on the fly with the video).
So I had an idea to show the video inside an iFrame, and then the page in the iFrame would have its og: tags set up with the right thumbnail for that video. Will Facebook use the og: tags from the iFrame, or from the parent page?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
EU Palm Oil Use And Imports Seen Plummeting By 2032
December 12, 2022 11:28 AM By Dayeeta Das
The share of palm oil in biodiesel and in food in the European Union is expected to fall significantly within the next 10 years, leading to a sharp drop in imports, the European Commission has said.
In its 2022-2032 Agricultural Outlook, the Commission projected palm oil would account for 9% of total biodiesel output by 2032, down from an average 23% for 2019/2021.
Under the EU's renewable energy directive, palm oil-based fuels, accused to be linked to deforestation, are to be phased out progressively by 2030. The move raised outcry from the world's two largest palm oil producers Malaysia and Indonesia.
In contrast the share of advanced biodiesels was expected to grow to 42% by 2032 from 29% in 2019/2021. Of this biodiesel from waste oils and fats would account for 26%, up from 23%, and other advanced biodiesels for 16%, up from 6%.
'This increase is mainly driven by specific fuel blending targets for advanced biofuels and the fact that they can be double counted towards the overall mandatory blending targets,' it said.
Other Vegetable Oils
The use of other vegetable oils, primarily rapeseed oil, in biodiesel was expected to remain relatively stable at around 50% of biodiesel feedstock.
In food, the use of vegetable oils was expected to rise by 2.9% compared with the 2020/2022 average to 10.6 million tonnes in 2032.
But efforts to cut the use of palm and soybean oil in the EU would lead to a significant change in balance between the different types of vegetable oils, the Commission forecast.
Palm oil use in food would fall by 35.7% and soybean oil by 23.5% while rapeseed oil would gain 12.6% and sunflower oil would rise 27.5%, the Commission said.
This would eventually lead palm oil imports into the bloc to fall to 3.3 million tonnes in 2032 from 6.0 million tonnes in 2020/2022, it said.
Why Malaysia Is Considering A Ban On Palm Oil Exports To The European Union
Indonesia Palm Oil Export Curbs, Biodiesel Plans To Hit World Vegoil Supplies
Embracing A Sustainable Choice At SPOD 2022 Event


Valentine's Day is not only a red letter day for lovers all across the globe, but it is also a great time for online casino players. There are plenty of bonuses and promotions on offer and players grab the opportunity of making that extra cash for buying a richer Valentine's Day gift. Software providers have developed several online slots games based on Valentine's Day theme. Microgaming is the largest software provider and offers some excellent slots on this theme.
Love Potion is a romantically crafted video slot with red roses scattered all over the reels. The Love Potion Logo is the wild symbol. The lady love and her beau are also symbols. They are from the 19th century when romance had been perfected to a fine art. Cupid is the other thematic symbol. The delicate symbols suddenly become alive when they form winning combinations on active paylines. The love potion is the bonus symbol. When two or more appear from left to right players are awarded scatter payouts and the Love Struck bonus game is activated. It is a "pick an object" type bonus game in which the number of picks is equal to the number of bonus symbols.
Secret Admirer is another Microgaming Valentine's Day themed online slot game. The introductory clip depicts a masque ball in which the secret admirer makes an appearance with roses for his lady love. The symbols are crafted with the same delicate exquisiteness and create the romantic mood. The thematic symbols include the Secret Admirer logo, the brooch, the heart shaped wreath, the perfume and the rose. The mask is the wild symbol and offers the largest fixed jackpot payout of 5,000 coins. The diamond ring offers scatter payouts and also triggers the free spins. Secret Admirer also offers the Microgaming gamble game.
Doctor Love is a slot game that has not been developed by Microgaming, but is now available at all Microgaming online casinos through a special arrangement. It is set in a hospital and takes a comic look at the romance between the doctor and the nurse. The suave Dr Love is the wild symbol and gets really charming during the animations. The other symbols include the nurse and the patient and items associated with a hospital. The thermometer has been appropriately designated as the love meter. It is a scatter symbol and offers scatter payouts. It also triggers up to 20 free spins with all payouts tripled.
Burning Desire is generally classified as a Valentine's Day slot game because of its name and because it was released by Microgaming on the occasion of Valentine's Day. But apart from the red rose symbol it has little to offer towards the theme. The other symbols are taken from classic three reel slots and include diamond, seven, bell and bar. The Burning Desire logo is the wild symbol and the gold coin is the scatter symbol. The claim to fame of this online slot game lies in the fact that it was the first one to do away with defined paylines. All 243 combinations on the reels can result in payouts.
All these Valentine's Day themed slot games can be played at Microgaming online casinos. TopCasinos recommends 32 Red Casino, All Slots Casino, Platinum Play Casino and Spin Palace Casino.


What they say: "The Cocoa Brown tanning range was launched in November 2012 and has had unprecedented success ever since. Marissa, founder of Cocoa Brown has developed the brand to include a 'wardrobe of tans' including eight sister products to suit different types of tanners and non-tanners alike!"
Thoughts: I have to say, this is 100% the absolute best self tanner I've ever tried. It dries so quickly; the color is perfect and the scent also very subtle with a slight floral scent to it.
I found to have it work the best I did my normal shower routine, shaved and then used the Tough Stuff exfoliator. After I got out of the shower I applied the 1 Hour Tan with the Applicator Mit and sat with it on for an hour. I read that if you wanted a deeper tan to leave it on longer, but I decided to keep it simple and see how the 1-hour did. I waited the hour and showered and used just body wash. I didn't see much of a tan form at all it just gave me an overall glow. The next night I decided to shower, shave and apply the1-hour tan again. This time I waited and let it sit overnight. And let me tell you, I woke up with such a gorgeous glowing tan like I've been to a tropical island for a month. I found the best result was to keep the tan on overnight and wake up and do a quick shower with just body wash.
Recommendation: This is an ABSOLUTE MUST HAVE for anyone who is either wanting a nice tan or trying to even out there skin tone. I cannot say enough good things about Cocoa Brown!


Learn about the unique charm of Cahagnolles with a stay in a holiday home rental. This city has something for everyone. Museum of the Battle of Normandy and Cathedrale Notre-Dame Bayeux are just a couple of the must-see attractions in the area. Whether you're planning a family holiday, a trip with friends or a romantic retreat, HomeAway has a great selection of holiday homes. Many rentals come with a full kitchen and separate dining area, perfect if you need a space for entertaining.
Fly into Caen (CFR-Carpiquet), the closest airport, located 14.4 mi (23.2 km) from the city centre.
Where to stay near Cahagnolles?
Our 2019 accommodation listings offer a large selection of 259 holiday rentals near Cahagnolles. From 86 Houses to 45 Bungalows, find unique holiday homes for you to enjoy a memorable stay with your family and friends. The best place to stay near Cahagnolles for a long holiday or a weekend break is on HomeAway.
Can I rent Houses in Cahagnolles?
Can I find a holiday accommodation with pool in Cahagnolles?
Yes, you can select your preferred holiday accommodation with pool among our 45 holiday homes with pool available in Cahagnolles. Please use our search bar to access the selection of holiday rentals available.


text:
Ethiopia, SDG target 15.3, finance, land resources, landscape assessment, security threats, social science, water and food nexus
(-) SDG target 15.3 (80)
(-) finance (20)
(-) water and food nexus (15)
(-) security threats (10)
(-) land resources (6)
(-) Ethiopia (6)
(-) landscape assessment (1)
Assessing opportunities for sustainable land management in Africa: A cost-benefit approach in eight countries
Under the umbrella of the EU funded project Reversing Land Degradation in Africa through Scaling-up EverGreen Agriculture
Sustainable Finance: High-Level Expert Group delivers roadmap for greener and cleaner economy
Today's final report by the High-Level Expert Group maps out the challenges and opportunities that the EU faces in developing a sustainable finance policy. It identifies ways in which the financial sector can re-connect with the real economy to support the transition to a more resource-efficient and…
EU auditors to examine desertification risk in Cyprus
"The situation is most serious in a large part of Spain, southern Portugal, southern Italy, south-eastern Greece, Cyprus and areas of Bulgaria and Romania bordering the Black Sea." It added that research indicates that up to 44 per cent of Spain, 33 per cent of Portugal, and nearly 20 per cent of…
EUROSTAT- Your key to European Statistics and the SDGs- SDG 15 Life on Land
Monitoring SDG 15 in an EU context focuses on progress made in improving the status of ecosystems, in decelerating land degradation and in preserving biodiversity.
Knowledge Hub for Landscape Practices-Map cultural landscapes and visualise landscapes dynamics and practices
Map cultural landscapes and visualise landscapes dynamics and practices
TODAY: Consultation Workshop: Responsible Land Governance for Land Degradation Neutrality
Healthy and productive land resources form the basis of societal livelihood systems. Entire populations are directly dependent on the ecosystem services provided by land resources for their well-being. It was estimated in 2011 that up to 25% of the world's land and soil resources can be classified…
Future Policy Org- Your online database of sustainable policy solutions
FuturePolicy.org is an online database designed for forward-thinking policy-makers, to simplify the sharing of existing and proven policy solutions to tackle the world's most fundamental and urgent problems. Grown from the conviction that solutions exist for the most essential challenges to humanity…
Restoration and repair of Earth's damaged ecosystems
In a study published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, reviewed more than 400 studies of large-scale disturbances — logging, agriculture, oil spills, dam-building, mining, and aquatic nutrient pollution — and their aftermath. It's the most comprehensive such review to date. The takeaways…
Foodsource-A free and evolving resource to empower informed discussion on sustainable food systems.
A free and evolving resource to empower informed discussion on sustainable food systems.
GLF summit: Leveraging investment portfolios to manage sustainable landscapes
"Land degradation is estimated to cost the global economy from $2 to $4.5 trillion a year, while economic benefits of restoration efforts are an estimated $84 billion a year, according to a report in Environmental Research Letters, and statistics from World Resources Institute. The purpose of the…
Multi-objective land use allocation modelling for prioritizing climate-smart agricultural interventions
Climate-smart interventions in agriculture have varying costs and environmental and economic impacts. Their implementation requires appropriate investment decisions by policy makers that are relevant for current as well as future scenarios of agro-ecology, climate and economic development. Decision…
Implementing SDG target 15.3 on "Land Degradation Neutrality". Development of an indicator based on land use changes and soil values
Given that land and soils are increasingly threatened by degradation, this project investigated how SDG target 15.3, which strives to achieve a land degradation neutral world by 2030, can be implemented. The report suggests necessary steps towards the implementation of Land Degradation Neutrality…
The 2018 Atlas of Sustainable Development Goals: an all-new visual guide to data and development
The World Bank is pleased to release the 2018 Atlas of Sustainable Development Goals. With over 180 maps and charts, the new publication shows the progress societies are making towards the 17 SDGs. It's filled with annotated data visualizations, which can be reproducibly built from source code and…
Managing the global land resource
With a growing population with changing demands, competition for the global land resource is increasing. We need to feed a projected population of 9–10 billion by 2050, rising to approximately 12 billion by 2100. At the same time, we need to reduce the climate impact of agriculture, forestry and…
Dust Disregards Political Boundaries, Let's Act Together
In March this year, an unusual sand and dust storm nicknamed 'Mars on Earth or Orange Snow[1]' transported and deposited dust that transformed European landscapes into a surreal orange-tinted scenery. An even more drastic dust storm swept over India recently and left behind a trail of casualties.[2]…
The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2018
The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2018 highlights progress being made in many areas of the 2030 Agenda. Since the turn of the century, the maternal mortality ratio in sub-Saharan Africa has declined by 35 per cent and the under-five mortality rate has dropped by 50 per cent. In South Asia, a…
The German Federal Foreign Office and adelphi co-organize the side event "Global Resilience Agenda: A Foreign Policy Perspective on the SDGs" on 17 July 2018 at the High Level Political Forum 2018, taking place in the German Permanent Mission in New York. The event seeks to deepen the understanding…


text:
Two Youngsters Take A Tentative Step Towards Dispersal
02 Aug 2020 Leave a comment
by yipps:janetkessler in coyote behavior, dispersal, sibling rivalry, siblings
[Note: This posting has been revised! After revisiting my photos, I realized I had mistaken a coyote's identity. This is so easy to do among siblings who very often look very much alike, and whose facial bone structures continue to grow and therefore alter their appearance, even if ever so slightly, even after a year of age. The change is that Sparks did NOT return home with his sister, which is what I had written, but continued his dispersing "walkabout" to the north of the city. I have edited this post to reflect this].
These two siblings — a brother and a sister — left home together in March when they were just about a year old. I assumed they were leaving for good — dispersing. A couple of months into their absence, I was thrilled to recognize the male when he showed up in another park about two miles away: I'm always exhilarated when I find dispersing youngsters who I've watched grow up because most, of course, I never see again after they leave. This male comes from an exceptionally large litter, most of whom I was seeing very irregularly and sporadically recently, so now I had to figure out which sibling was accompanying him, or was it someone he had met and hooked up with from a different family?
That second one remained too distant and seldom appeared in daylight; it was always at the darker end of twilight when I saw them, and this one always seemed to be moving away from me, so it took me a while longer to figure out which individual it was: I have to see their faces to know who each one is. To help me (though it didn't help) I put out a trap camera on a narrow path close to one of the entrances to the park where I had seen them, not really expecting anything to show up on it.
Apparently I placed the camera well, because I caught these few seconds which, although they didn't help me identify the second coyote, they did tell me how much fun these guys were having in their newfound freedom! In the video below you'll see the two youngster coyotes who had been running along a narrow, sandy path. They've just jumped over a bush where the camera is hidden, and this is where the short video starts.. They stop to communicate their joy through eye contacting, touching and joyful jumping before continuing on. It's only a few seconds long, but long enough to tell this part of their story.
People noticed them and told me about them: not only were they spotted in the fragmented parks of the area and on the streets in-between, but they were also seen in several backyards, where they were seen successfully hunting, once even with prey — a white cat — in their mouths. They seem to have learned to navigate this new area well. Finally I was able to see her — the second coyote's –face: these photos below have been substantially lightened to make the individuals visible — they were essentially taken in the dark. Even so, the coyotes are very identifiable.
Male sibling adventurer
Male to the right, female to the left
Finally a face-on shot of the female
Far and away from home (above)
I pondered if these two would move on or become entrenched in this newfound location. The area has served as a sort of temporary "stopping off place" for several coyotes I've kept track of as they traversed the city, so would it be the same for these, or would it become a more permanent home — even though highly fragmented — since available territories within the city have been dwindling. I checked up on them only a few times as I continued to hear reports of them, and then, one day, suddenly, they no longer were being spotted. Where had they gone?
WELL, as of mid-July, the female, at 16-months of age, was back at her birthplace, after four months of absence! I guess she wasn't quite ready to disperse lock-stock-and-barrel yet, even though she seemed to have a lot of fun and excitement during her AWOL adventure. And certainly the two of them escaped family tensions during that time "abroad" due to coming-of-age relationships which were beginning to show strain among the brothers.
Rivalry between siblings escalates over time, especially between brothers, and that seems to be kicking in and growing between these two stay-at-home brothers.One is more dominant and he's displaying a lot of bullying these days. "Underling" brother kowtows towards him, and it's precisely this kind of behavior that may have driven out Sparks, the dispersed brother this posting is about.
Back to family politics: the two remaining brothers vie for the affection of their sister
PostSript: The information in this article was gained by simple recognition of individual coyotes and from a vast knowledge about them gained through first-hand direct observation — without the use of radio-collars or identifying tags which are intrusive and harmful. My direct observations engender a much deeper and more expansive knowledge and understanding of coyotes than can be provided by simply mechanically tracking their movements. "Look, Ma, no hands". Try it! My "hard" facts include both photos and DNA from scat.
Previous Death — Not By A Car Next Fed Up


text:
import Control.Applicative
import Control.Monad
import Data.Bits
import Data.Word
import Foreign.Marshal.Alloc
import Foreign.Ptr
import Foreign.Storable
import Hypervisor.Control
import Hypervisor.DomainInfo
import Hypervisor.Hypercalls
import Hypervisor.Memory
import Hypervisor.OtherDomain
import Hypervisor.Structures.CPUMap
import Hypervisor.Structures.DomainInfo
import Hypervisor.Structures.PhysicalInfo
import Hypervisor.Structures.VCPUContext
import Test.QuickCheck hiding ((.&.))
import Test.QuickCheck.Arbitrary
import Test.QuickCheck.Monadic

#include <ghcplatform.h>

instance Arbitrary HostPhysicalInfo where
  arbitrary = HostPhysicalInfo <$> arbitrary
                               <*> arbitrary
                               <*> arbitrary
                               <*> arbitrary
                               <*> arbitrary
                               <*> arbitrary
                               <*> arbitrary
                               <*> arbitrary
                               <*> arbitrary
                               <*> arbitrary
                               <*> arbitrary
                               <*> arbitrary

instance Arbitrary XenCapability where
  arbitrary = elements [PlatformSupportsHVM,PlatformSupportsDirectIO]

instance Arbitrary X86Capability where
  arbitrary = elements (map fst featureMap)

prop_pokePeekInvertsPhysInfo :: HostPhysicalInfo -> Property
prop_pokePeekInvertsPhysInfo hpi = monadicIO $ do
  hpi' <- run (do ptr <- mallocBytes (sizeOf hpi)
                  poke ptr hpi
                  res <- peek ptr
                  free ptr
                  return res)
  return (hpi == hpi')

instance Arbitrary TLBEffect where
  arbitrary = oneof [ return NoFlush
                    , InvPage <$> arbitrary
                    , FlushTLB <$> arbitrary
                    ]

instance Arbitrary TLBTarget where
  arbitrary = oneof [ return AllTLBs
                    , return LocalTLB
                    , do off <- arbitrary
                         let off' = off .&. 0xFFFFFFF8
                         if off' == 0
                           then return LocalTLB
                           else return (MultipleTLBs (nullPtr `plusPtr` off'))
                    ]

prop_rendParseInvertsTLBEffect :: TLBEffect -> Bool
prop_rendParseInvertsTLBEffect x = x == (parseTLBEffect (renderTLBEffect x))

instance Arbitrary CPUMap where
  arbitrary = do size <- elements [8..4096]
                 cpus <- listOf (elements [0..size-1])
                 return (foldl addCPU (emptyCPUMap size) cpus)

prop_clearClears :: CPUMap -> Bool
prop_clearClears map = all (not . (elemCPUMap clearedMap)) [0..maxCPU]
 where
  clearedMap = clearCPUMap map
  maxCPU     = maxPossibleCPUNumInMap map

prop_addWorks :: CPUMap -> Int -> Bool
prop_addWorks map b = elemCPUMap (addCPU map b') b'
 where b' = b `mod` (maxPossibleCPUNumInMap map + 1)

prop_remWorks :: CPUMap -> Int -> Bool
prop_remWorks map b = not $ elemCPUMap (removeCPU map b') b'
 where b' = b `mod` (maxPossibleCPUNumInMap map + 1)

prop_cpumapSerializationInverts :: CPUMap -> Property
prop_cpumapSerializationInverts map = monadicIO $ do
  map' <- run $ do ptr <- mallocBytes sizeOfSerializedCPUMap
                   res <- withCPUMapWriter map $ \ writer -> do
                            writer ptr
                            readSerializedCPUMap ptr
                   free ptr
                   return res
  return (map == map')

instance Arbitrary DomainHandle where
  arbitrary = newDomainHandle `fmap` replicateM 16 arbitrary

prop_domainHandleInverts :: DomainHandle -> Property
prop_domainHandleInverts hndl = monadicIO $ do
  hndl' <- run $ do ptr <- malloc
                    poke ptr hndl
                    res <- peek ptr
                    free ptr
                    return res
  return (hndl' == hndl)

instance Arbitrary DomId where
  arbitrary = toDomId <$> (arbitrary :: Gen Word16)

instance Arbitrary MFN where
  arbitrary = toMFN <$> (arbitrary :: Gen Word)

instance Arbitrary DomainInfoFlag where
  arbitrary = elements [DomainDying, DomainHVM, DomainShutdown, DomainPaused,
                        DomainBlocked, DomainRunning, DomainDebugged]

instance Arbitrary SID where
  arbitrary = toSID <$> arbitrary

instance Arbitrary DomainInfo  where
  arbitrary = DomainInfo <$> arbitrary <*> arbitrary <*> arbitrary
                         <*> arbitrary <*> arbitrary <*> arbitrary
                         <*> arbitrary <*> arbitrary <*> arbitrary
                         <*> arbitrary <*> arbitrary <*> arbitrary
                         <*> arbitrary

prop_storablePeekPokeInverts :: (Storable a, Eq a) => a -> a -> Property
prop_storablePeekPokeInverts _ val = monadicIO $ do
  val' <- run $ do ptr <- malloc
                   poke ptr val
                   res <- peek ptr
                   free ptr
                   return res
  return (val == val')

prop_domainInfoInverts :: DomainInfo -> Property
prop_domainInfoInverts info = monadicIO $ do
  info' <- run $ do ptr <- malloc
                    poke ptr info
                    res <- peek ptr
                    free ptr
                    return res
  return (info' == info)

instance Arbitrary FPUContext where
  arbitrary = FPUContext <$> arbitrary <*> arbitrary <*> arbitrary
                         <*> arbitrary <*> arbitrary <*> arbitrary
                         <*> arbitrary <*> arbitrary
#ifndef x86_64_TARGET_ARCH
                         <*> arbitrary <*> arbitrary
#endif
                         <*> replicateM 8 (replicateM 10 arbitrary)
                         <*> replicateM 8 (replicateM 16 arbitrary)

instance Arbitrary ProcessorFlag where
  arbitrary = elements [ProcessorI387, ProcessorInKernel,
                        ProcessorFailsafeDisablesEvents,
                        ProcessorSyscallDisablesEvents,
                        ProcessorOnline]

instance Arbitrary ProcessorUserRegs where
  arbitrary = ProcessorUserRegs <$> arbitrary <*> arbitrary <*> arbitrary
                                <*> arbitrary <*> arbitrary <*> arbitrary
                                <*> arbitrary <*> arbitrary <*> arbitrary
                                <*> arbitrary <*> arbitrary <*> arbitrary
                                <*> arbitrary <*> arbitrary <*> arbitrary
                                <*> arbitrary <*> arbitrary <*> arbitrary
#ifdef x86_64_TARGET_ARCH
                                <*> arbitrary <*> arbitrary <*> arbitrary
                                <*> arbitrary <*> arbitrary <*> arbitrary
                                <*> arbitrary <*> arbitrary <*> arbitrary
#else
                                <*> arbitrary
#endif

instance Arbitrary TrapInfo where
  arbitrary = TrapInfo <$> arbitrary <*> arbitrary <*> arbitrary <*> arbitrary

instance Arbitrary VMAssistFlag where
  arbitrary = elements [VMAssist4GBSegments,VMAssist4GBSegmentsNotify,
                        VMAssistWritablePageTables,
                        VMAssistPAEExtendedCR3]

instance Arbitrary ProcessorContext where
  arbitrary = ProcessorContext <$> arbitrary <*> arbitrary <*> arbitrary
                               <*> arbitrary <*> arbitrary <*> arbitrary
                               <*> replicateM 16 arbitrary
                               <*> arbitrary <*> arbitrary <*> arbitrary
                               <*> replicateM 8 arbitrary
                               <*> replicateM 8 arbitrary
                               <*> arbitrary <*> arbitrary <*> arbitrary
                               <*> arbitrary <*> arbitrary <*> arbitrary
#ifdef x86_64_TARGET_ARCH
                               <*> arbitrary
#endif

instance Arbitrary CreateFlag where
  arbitrary = elements [CreateHVM, CreateWithHAP,
                        CreateWithS3Integ, CreateNoOOSPageTables]

main = do
  let count = 1000
  putStrLn "Testing that HostedPhysInfo poke/peek inverts."
  quickCheckWith stdArgs{maxSuccess=count} prop_pokePeekInvertsPhysInfo
  putStrLn "Testing going back and forth between TLBEffect and Word."
  quickCheckWith stdArgs{maxSuccess=count} prop_rendParseInvertsTLBEffect
  putStrLn "Testing CPUMap clear works."
  quickCheckWith stdArgs{maxSuccess=count} prop_clearClears
  putStrLn "Testing CPUMap add works."
  quickCheckWith stdArgs{maxSuccess=count} prop_addWorks
  putStrLn "Testing CPUMap remove works."
  quickCheckWith stdArgs{maxSuccess=count} prop_remWorks
  putStrLn "Testing CPUMap serialization."
  quickCheckWith stdArgs{maxSuccess=count} prop_cpumapSerializationInverts
  putStrLn "Testing DomainHandle serialization."
  quickCheckWith stdArgs{maxSuccess=count} prop_domainHandleInverts
  putStrLn "Testing DomainInfo serialization."
  quickCheckWith stdArgs{maxSuccess=count}
                 (prop_storablePeekPokeInverts (undefined :: DomainInfo))
  putStrLn "Testing FPUContext serialization."
  quickCheckWith stdArgs{maxSuccess=count}
                 (prop_storablePeekPokeInverts (undefined :: FPUContext))
  putStrLn "Testing VCPU flag serialization."
  quickCheckWith stdArgs{maxSuccess=count}
                 (prop_storablePeekPokeInverts (undefined :: [ProcessorFlag]))
  putStrLn "Testing VCPU user register serialization."
  quickCheckWith stdArgs{maxSuccess=count}
                 (prop_storablePeekPokeInverts (undefined :: ProcessorUserRegs))
  putStrLn "Testing VCPU trap table serialization."
  quickCheckWith stdArgs{maxSuccess=count}
                 (prop_storablePeekPokeInverts (undefined :: TrapInfo))
  putStrLn "Testing VM assist flag serialization."
  quickCheckWith stdArgs{maxSuccess=count}
                 (prop_storablePeekPokeInverts (undefined :: [VMAssistFlag]))
  putStrLn "Testing full VCPU context serialization."
  quickCheckWith stdArgs{maxSuccess=count}
                 (prop_storablePeekPokeInverts (undefined :: ProcessorContext))
  putStrLn "Testing create flag serialization."
  quickCheckWith stdArgs{maxSuccess=count}
                 (prop_storablePeekPokeInverts (undefined :: [CreateFlag]))

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
You are here: Home / Music / ESCAPE THE FATE NEW TRACK "EMPIRE" HEAR IT EXCLUSIVELY ON SIRIUSXM'S OCTANE; THE FORTHCOMING ALBUM I AM HUMAN TO BE RELEASED FEBRUARY 16TH 2018 on BETTER NOISE RECORDS
ESCAPE THE FATE NEW TRACK "EMPIRE" HEAR IT EXCLUSIVELY ON SIRIUSXM'S OCTANE; THE FORTHCOMING ALBUM I AM HUMAN TO BE RELEASED FEBRUARY 16TH 2018 on BETTER NOISE RECORDS
November 2, 2017 Comment Off 18 Views
NEW TRACK "EMPIRE"
HEAR IT EXCLUSIVELY ON SIRIUSXM'S OCTANE TODAY
THE FORTHCOMING ALBUM
I AM HUMAN
TO BE RELEASED FEBRUARY 16TH 2018 on BETTER NOISE RECORDS
ON TOUR NOW WITH I PREVAIL, WE CAME AS ROMANS & THE WORD ALIVE
UK & EUROPEAN HEADLINE TOUR BEGINS JANUARY 2018
Escape the Fate have announced that their sixth full length album, I Am Human, to be released via Better Noise Records on February 16th, 2018. The new track, "Empire" can be heard exclusively on SiriusXM's Octane, (Channel 37) today and will be available on Spotify, Apple Music and all digital music providers on Friday, November 3rd.
"Empire" is what guitarist Kevin Thrasher describes as "their own party anthem with a dark undertone". A thick bombastic riff and handclap rises from airy electronics as Craig croons, "One more time doing one more line, one more shot till we all ignite." Soon, the groove snaps from a haunting pre-chorus into a chantable toast, "Cheers to the top, cheers to the middle, cheers to us all getting a little."
I Am Human sees Escape the Fate at their most raw, real, and relatable. Produced by GRAMMY® Award-nominated super producer Howard Benson [My Chemical Romance, Adam Lambert], this record sees an evolution of Escape the Fate's sound that brings the band back to the excitement of their roots. "We're getting older, and we're changing—so our music should change with us," singer Craig Mabbitt says, "At the same time, we rediscovered what made us who we are. I felt like I was 17-years-old again. I haven't been this excited to release something since I first joined the band and we put out This War Is Ours." The album will be released on February 16th, 2018 on Better Noise Records.
Escape the Fate are currently on the road with I Prevail on the Rage On The Stage Tour and will be touring throughout Europe and the UK in January and February 2018. Tickets and VIP packages are available here.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON ESCAPE THE FATE VISIT:
About ELEVEN SEVEN MUSIC
In 2006, Eleven Seven emerged as the preeminent 21st century rock label. As the vision of Tenth Street Entertainment C.E.O. Allen Kovac, the roster includes Five Finger Death Punch (ex-North America), HELLYEAH, In Flames, Papa Roach, and Sixx:A.M.. This full-service independent powerhouse has achieved an unprecedented string of successes, including FMQB's 2008 "Rock Label of the Year" and Billboard's 2010 "Rock Label of the Year." Year after year, Eleven Seven Music has been a dominant label at rock radio. According to Mediabase, Eleven Seven was 2015's top independent label in rock radio market share (#3 overall). In 2015, Papa Roach's F.E.A.R. bowed at #15 on the Billboard Top 200 and in 2016 alone, Eleven Seven launched successful campaigns for HELLYEAH's UNDEN!ABLE and Sixx:A.M.'s Prayers for the Damned, Vol. 1, achieving Top 25 debuts on the Billboard Top 200, while In Flames' Battles galvanized the veteran act's career. From radio and licensing, to publicity and marketing, Eleven Seven continues to set the pace for the rock vanguard.
In : Music
Previous article LIL PUMP KICKS OFF HEADLINE TOUR WITH SOLD OUT LOS ANGELES SHOW
Next article On Friday, December 1st, 2017 BMG will be releasing Gary Moore's 'Blues and Beyond' – a collection of his powerful and emotive blues studio recordings
"Baggage" by Sam Bobrick, has been chosen by The Island Players for the second play of our 70th Season
The Kilbourn Concert Series, presents Grammy-award winning vocalist together with pianist Gilbert Kalish, Tuesday, October 9, at 7:30 p.m., in Kilbourn Hall at the Eastman School of Music
Drone Tech is Helping Solar Companies Scale Even Faster
Eric Church and Paul McCartney repeat for a second consecutive week atop the LIVE75 with ticket sales averages of more than 20,000
16 yr Old Singer/Songwriter/Producer Angelo David On the Rise as Next Big Pop/Alternative Star
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY ORCHESTRA IN CONCERT & PRESENTING THE ORCHESTRA ACCADEMIA TEATRO ALLA SCALA, CONDUCTED BY IVAN FISCHER
AT&T announced today the second round of speakers for AT&T* SHAPE, a two-day immersive event exploring the convergence of technology and entertainment on June 22-23, 2019 at Warner Bros. in Los Angeles, CA.
Minneapolis Hip-Hop duo Atmosphere announces dozens of new tour stops added to their current North American headlining tour, in support of their new album, Mi Vida Local
USF Sarasota-Manatee to host Bloomberg Certified Talent Recruitment Luncheon


text:
Newly launched phones to look for while purchasing budget smartphones
The mid-range smartphone market has taken huge strides, with manufacturers bringing expensive flagship features to more accessible price points. Now, settling for an affordable handset no longer means losing out on the latest features and specifications. The best budget smartphones offer a great 120Hz display, a speedy and reliable processor, quad rear cameras, and a long-lasting battery. So, if you're also on a budget and looking for the best mobiles under Rs. 15,000, you're at the right place.
Samsung Galaxy F41: While flagship Samsung devices may appear superior and steal all the headlines, this mid-range handset from the South Korean firm offers the most lucrative and attractive deal. Launched in October last year, the Galaxy F41 is among the top-selling best mobiles under 15000 till date. It sports a massive 6.4-inch screen that extends nearly to the top, bottom and sides, leaving no room whatsoever on the front panel. The display is extremely bright and produces vibrant colours, thanks to the Super AMOLED display and Full HD+ resolution. The camera capabilities of the Galaxy F41 are also exceptional. It comes with a 64MP triple-rear camera setup, offering a flagship-level photography experience, and a 32MP front shooter. Also, the handset is placed among the best 6000mAh battery mobiles, as it houses a massive 6000mAh battery that lasts for almost two days on a single charge.
click here – Best VPN for RARBG torrents
Moto G40 Fusion: Launched along with its sibling Moto G60 in May 2021, the G40 Fusion is Motorola's topmost offering under Rs. 15,000. It flaunts a massive 6.8-inch screen, one of the largest displays ever seen in a mobile phone, with a 120Hz refresh rate and Full HD+ resolution. Its best-in-class screen accounts for smooth graphics, better gaming experience, and superior multimedia experience. Like other Moto phones, the major highlight of the G40 Fusion is its 64MP quad-rear camera setup. The Moto G40 Fusion, one of the best mobiles under Rs. 15,000, captures amazing pictures even in challenging conditions and low light. You also get an incredibly capable front shooter in its 16MP selfie camera. Powered by the gaming-centric Snapdragon 732G chipset, the G40 is considered as one of the best 6000mAh battery mobiles currently available.
Poco M3: This model from Poco boasts an intuitive design at the back with a luxurious finish and solid build quality. Offered in three colours — Black, Blue and Yellow, it looks quite premium for its price. It is one of the best mobiles under Rs. 15,000 when it comes to design language, looks and in-hand feel. The Poco M3 features a captivating 6.53-inch display with Full HD+ resolution to offer an incredibly immersive visual experience that is pleasing to the eyes. Also, it flaunts a powerful 48MP triple-camera setup at the back that captures some of the most stunning shots with ease. You get well-detailed and colourful photos no matter what the conditions are. Additionally, Qualcomm's super-efficient Snapdragon 662 chipset offers a smooth and lag-free experience during everyday usage. The smartphone also does a decent job when it comes to extended gaming sessions and multitasking.
Redmi 9 Power: This is a sheer value for money product from the house of Redmi that excels in every department. Upfront, the 9 Power model flaunts a colourful 6.53-inch edge-to-edge screen with Full HD+ resolution, and a waterdrop notch. The display is sharp and vibrant, and offers natural colours in all lighting conditions, including bright sunlight. The viewing angles are also wide and accurate without any tint. Its 48MP quad-rear camera setup gets the job done every time, and is able to bring up the minutest details while preserving the colour information. You get well-lit photos in daylight, with great exposure levels, vibrant colours and sharpness. The Redmi 9 Power, one of the best mobiles under Rs. 15,000, runs on Qualcomm's Snapdragon 662 SoC, a capable budget chipset.
click here – AO Full Form: What Is The Full Form Of AO?
Samsung Galaxy M31: Coming from the battery-centric M-series of Samsung, the Galaxy M31 is one of the most powerful 6000mAh battery mobiles available in the market. Charge the phone once and it can last for over two days on heavy to moderate usage. Complementing its monster battery backup is a 6.4-inch Super AMOLED display that makes multimedia content you play on it look extremely impressive, and rich in contrast. The handset is no slouch when it comes to camera performance. It has a 64MP quad-rear camera setup which delivers highly detailed shots every time. For selfies, this smartphone relies on a 32MP shooter.The Indian smartphone market is flooded with mid-range smartphones, with almost every brand offering feature-packed handsets with cutting-edge technology under Rs. 15,000. Now that you know that mid-rangers these days have enough firepower to deliver flagship-level performance, and compete with premium models, get your favourite smartphone without paying anything upfront by using the Bajaj Finserv EMI Network Card. It is a one-stop solution for all your smartphone needs. You can take your pick from the options available, and you can purchase it at no-cost EMIs. You can also choose to repay the amount in EMI tenors ranging from 3 to 24 months.
Previous articleAO Full Form: What Is The Full Form Of AO?
Next articleBest VPN for RARBG torrents


text:
← Question
Yellowstone Do-Over Part 1: Getting There →
Simmering Down Now
Yesterday I just accepted all comments without replying to each one. I was venting, not looking for a conversation with people who have never been emigrants themselves. I thought I'd leave that for after I'd calmed down a bit.
God, I get tired of having to explain this, but here I go again: I don't hate Americans. But every now and then the country as a whole is too much for me. And at those times I do feel conflicted. Because there are things about this country that I do really, really hate, and they are situations that ultimately have come about because Americans have let them happen.
And some of the things that infuriate me are represented—if sideways, with lots of smiley faces—in the comments to yesterday's post.
I was pulled over by a traffic cop yesterday, and I got a ticket for having an expired registration sticker. This in itself is no big deal; I should've had my sticker updated.
But here's the thing: he was driving behind me. He had been driving behind me for at least five minutes. So when he was done giving me the ticket, I asked him how he could tell from behind that the sticker on my windshield was expired. He told me he ran my license plate. I asked him what had made him do that. He said that that's what he does all day, run people's license plates, if they "get in front of [him], or change lanes in front of [him]. [He's] a traffic cop and [he] deal[s] with traffic violations".
I had indeed just changed lanes in front of him. He didn't have his sirens or his flashers on and I wasn't speeding. He was behind me as I came up on a slower car, and we both put our blinkers on to change lanes and pass by. I changed lanes just as the cop behind me changed lanes. So he was then still behind me, though, as I changed lanes, it was clear that he had hoped to pass me by as well. Something that happens all the time, something that at most deserves and "ugh" if it means you have to break and reset your cruise control. But because this guy was a cop, he ran my license number and pulled me over. For changing lanes in front of him!
This is a small thing, you say? So minor that you're laughing right now? Cracking up, perhaps, because that's all yesterday's post was about??? Well, then you've just proved my point. A cop has every right to arrest me if I've murdered someone. A cop has every right to pull me over if I'm speeding. A cop has every right to pull me over if he sees my expired registration sticker on my windshield. But he abused his power because it annoyed him that I didn't change my mind when I saw that he wanted to pass me, too. It irked him that I didn't cower and let him go first, so he decided to put me in my place.
He pulled my license plate because I changed lanes in front of him. That's not a traffic violation. I didn't change lanes in any hazardous way; I wasn't speeding; I didn't forget to use my blinker and he didn't have to slam on his breaks. But he pulled my license plate. And it's exactly because a cop gets away with doing that that makes me lose it.
The NSA is all over the news; senators are shocked at its abuse of power. Really? That flabbergasts me. Don't they ever look around? Exactly why are the NSA's doings news? They're nothing more than the logical next step in a country that doesn't pay attention to the small stuff.
So here we are, in a police state. One of my Facebook friends responded with, "Try living in Saudi Arabia". That's typical response number one. Am I supposed to feel better because it's not as bad here as in Saudi Arabia? When someone brings up American poverty, someone else will unfailingly point out that people in Bangladesh are still coming here for a better life. Are these countries the bar? Should we just shrug apathetically because, hey, it could always be worse? With that attitude, sooner or later it will be.
Typical reaction number two: If you don't like it, why don't you just leave? This kind of question is directly related to the idea—and typical comment number three: You can do anything you want if you just put your mind to it. Whoever came up with this infantile notion was simultaneously insane and brilliant. It's at the root of a lot of problems in this country, in my opinion.
But as for myself, why don't I leave? Don't be silly. Why is anyone in the situation they're in? Do you really believe that people who complain about things per definition must not want their situations to change hard enough, or they would "make it happen"? Can you seriously say that about everything in your own life?
In the eighties in the Netherlands, there was a lot of attention for the plight of what were supposed to be "temporary foreign workers"–in Holland's case mostly Turkish and Moroccan families. The men came to the Netherlands in the seventies, with the idea of making some money and then going home to their families. But they ended up settling and eventually bringing their families over, and a decade or so later they found themselves falling between two cultures. Their kids were Dutch, so any considerate parents didn't realistically feel they could uproot them. They themselves felt they'd never be fully Dutch, but they also no longer felt fully Turkish. It sounded like an awful scenario to me. I never imagined being in their shoes.
I didn't come here to have a better life, or to make more money. I had an excellent job and did just fine, thank you very much. I moved for love of T. Our teenage children are both American and there's no way I could insist on uprooting T and them and dragging them to a country they wouldn't understand any more than I understand America half the time. Not to mention the thousand other reasons why it would be practically impossible.
So yeah, I live here now, but with one foot in the past. By now I have good American friends and I'm losing touch with my Dutch friends. Most of whom probably see me more as an acquaintance by now, because let's face it, liking someone's Facebook status cannot replace a good conversation over a glass of wine or a beer or a cup of tea.
I pay taxes here, and yeah, that gives me the right to criticize America. And its fricking cops, who occasionally trigger in me a gut-wrenching homesickness. Although I've gotten pretty good at the "being positive" thing and not "whining" too much, every now and then I just don't give a rip about any of that, because the authority-questioning part of my Dutch self is never going to change.
This entry was posted in Emigration / Immigration, Police and tagged abuse of discretionary powers police, abuse of police powers, America, American police, emigrants, emigration, immigrants, immigration, Opinion, Police, police state, society. Bookmark the permalink.
4 responses to "Simmering Down Now"
Alison | June 14, 2013 at 4:13 am | Reply
I'm very careful to make sure I have my ID with me when I leave the house here, although my boyfriend teases me about my obsessiveness, especially if we're just going down the street. I've never come close to being asked for it, but I think my obsessiveness stems from the paranoia developed over a lifetime living in the US. I always HATED seeing cops coming up behind me, knowing that no matter how closely I was following the rules, they'd find a reason to stop me. I'd never had it happen to me, but I was still paranoid about it, because I'd seen it happen all too often to others.
Barbara Backer-Gray | June 14, 2013 at 9:24 am | Reply
Yeah. And I refuse to be scared or paranoid. But then they'll get you for that. Ugh!
Expat | June 14, 2013 at 4:27 am | Reply
Sadly it sounds about normal for there. I've only had a run in once and was pulled over for using an on ramp at night that had an orange cone on the very edge of it in the dirt. The police were sitting in the dark with their lights off waiting for people to take the on ramp. Apparently they closed it on New Years Eve. No signage saying so, no cones lined across the road, nothing. It was pretty much a trap set waiting to issue tickets. I was thankfully not issued a ticket.
But yes, it is irritating when people say x is worse than y. The logic is stupid… wait there is no logic to it.
Barbara Backer-Gray | June 14, 2013 at 6:47 pm | Reply
No, it's not logical, it's complacent. Because you can keep saying it as long as there's one country out there that's worse.