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The High Priest : Chapter and Perverse (part 1 of 3)
Paul Hawkins - at last - comes home to outsideleft with a book length, feature film length interview with the high priest of the alternative comedy circuit, The High Priest
by Paul Hawkins
first published: September, 2011
Personally I do think politics and pornography are perfect bedfellows. They are both, in their own way grotesque and vile as they are interesting and beautiful.
The High Priest Kai Motta has just released his new album Chapter and Perverse and there is no better time like here and now to listen in to his confrontational, conflicting and provocative mesh of comedy that gets right to the G spot of what is going on in this world. Politics, consumerism, personal responsibility, pornography, war, immigration, media bullshit, racism and religion all feature heavily. How can a line like invade your labia like it was Libya (from A Little Something for the Ladies on Chapter and Perverse) not make you curious or pull you in? Nowadays taking his cue`s from Bill Hicks and Noam Chomsky, Kai has been releasing albums since 2001 and Chapter and Perverse is his latest stripped down stand-up. Following the comedy frequencies that he is tuning into far more now, The High Priest wants to touch you deep inside with this thought bomb of an album. It made me laugh and think hard. I hear some very serious issues being raised. It's taking me out of my comfort zone and it's engaging, defying and certainly confrontational; stamping from a very great height on taboos and pushing boundaries. That is healthy. Describing it as tongue in cheek wouldn't even hit the spot.
The bastard son of Bob Dylan, Bill Hicks and Eminem Mojo Magazine
This man knows no fear Steve Lamacq BBC Radio
It's the message that matters. Using comedy as a vehicle for bringing the current world order under the microscope, Chapter and Perverse is his most accessible album yet. It is challenging and very very funny, but more than anything his open, brutally honest and scathing critique of society by all means necessary spiels a sermon into the head that blows open the deceit and lies of the current state of world corporatist, political and cultural play.
I had the opportunity to chat with The High Priest Kai Motta about Chapter and Perverse, his past, the present and the future.
Kai how was your last gig?
I played this song from my first album that uses Martin Niemoller`s poem;
First they came for the Jews
and I did not speak out - because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the communists
and I did not speak out - because I was not a communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not speak out - because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for me -
and by then there was no one left to speak out for me.
By the German anti-Nazi activist Pastor Martin Niemoller.
I read it in a Book. It was perfect for a chorus. I just went simply Here's one for all you fascists in the crowd, obviously the fascists got the hump and they didn't realise I was being satirical.
That poem does set the tone. Does that kind of thing happen a lot?
Constantly. All the time. I'm banned from one in two clubs that I play.
I can tell you are very uncompromising.
It's a lot to do with language, not so much to do with the political content, its more to do with the swearing I think and the vile pornographic imagery. Personally I do think politics and pornography are perfect bedfellows. They are both, in their own way grotesque and vile as they are interesting and beautiful. The joke I've been doing lately is;
Have you ever noticed now when politicians are trying to be convincing about their love for the public it's like watching a blonde skank in a porn film taking it up the arse and pretending that she loves it, you know this woman really loves it. Vote for me next year, we wont be charging for University fee's, my name is Nick Clegg
When I was listening to Chapter and Perverse I found the way you use pornography challenging and it made me think about why that was. It's important to me to be challenged.
I like the shock of it. I like to shock people. I've been playing clubs, music clubs and comedy clubs for years. I'm a big fan of this guy called Doug Stanhope, have you heard of him?
Only very recently.
I saw him the other night, he did a lot of very good political jokes, but the minute he said, you know, and then a woman stuck two cocks in her mouth the crowd went whhaaaay, and you kind of understood the level possibly of his audience. I find by having quite a few political points and chunks of porn at the same time you grab `em and then you sink something in, you grab `em and then you sink something in. Some people say it gets in the way, but I disagree, I don't think they'd listen to someone just ranting relentlessly about politics and social issues without a bit of porn. It's like a sweetener.
A sort of Trojan horse? I like the idea.
To be honest I've held back on Chapter and Perverse. There's much more on my other albums. I wanted more comedy and more social issues on this one. I'm already halfway through writing the next one and it's full of social issues, I don't know how any songwriter or comedian can't come up with new material. Every day I try to post a joke-esque statement on facebook and for a lot of the new album I just downloaded my statements from the past year from facebook and put them all through the songs. Why not use them, you know?
Yeah, why not.
And also I don't see that many other people doing it on such an intense level.
So Kai, how did it all start for you? I know you released a solo album a good few years ago, but when did the comedy start?
The comedy came at a later stage. I began playing, well I was sort of rapping in my late teens and doing hip hop in a band that became Morcheeba. They went off to do Morcheeba. Then I was kind of sat around on my own. I was just living in a small town called Hythe in Kent, in my late teens, quite bored with going down the pub and I was a baker at the time. I walked out of that job and decided to educate myself. I got a guitar and I got into Bob Dylan. I went through my parent's records and just studied him back to front. I was obsessed with him.
That's a massive body of work.
I didn't learn them all back to front, I just listened to everything, listened to every word. I had a book that had all his songs from 1964 to 1989 or something and I could get anyone to open the book anywhere and I could tell them what verse, what song, what album it was from. He is without a shadow of a doubt one of the greatest songwriters of our generation, of the last century. I learn t the guitar and read everything I could physically get my hands on from Henry Miller to Kerouac, Chomsky to Bukowski, Orwell, you know, all the things you should read basically. I started to delve into stuff that was a bit more obscure. And I just thought fuck it and one day I jumped on a train and traveled up to London to play. I moved up there and met this guy who introduced me to the Head of A & R at Warner Brothers, who introduced me to a manager. I was just a bit of a Dylan clone if I'm perfectly honest and then I started digging back into my rap history and started playing the guitar but rapping over the top.
Ok.....
That was quite new at the time. I put a band together and we suddenly got this manager, Stevo Pearce, who managed Soft Cell and various other huge bands. We went through the whole fucking nightmare music industry thing trying to get a record deal. We got reviewed by every major music media outlet. I think I was quite non-compromising and I didn't help any situation at all because I knew just what I wanted to do. Eventually he put the album Picture This out himself on Some Bizarre in 2001 which wasn't such a bad thing because that label has got such a credible history.
Yeah, it has; bands like The The, Soft Cell, Cabaret Voltaire, Test Department, Einstürzende Neubauten….
It's like a good bedrock for what I do now. It got released through Pinnacle and it did really well. Stevo had other artists and you know, I just thought I'll go on my own. I went through a series of 6 or 7 other managers, agents and stuff. Eventually I just went back to playing on my own for a while and I thought how am I going to differentiate myself from everyone else? Looking at all my influences, I saw that Lenny Bruce used to dress as a priest years ages ago. He got busted for it! And I though fuck it, I preach on stage, why not just take the piss a bit and it won't be so harsh. So I started dressing up as a priest. I went and bought a shirt from Westminster Cathedral and I started doing it.
Is that when the idea for comedy started?
At that time I was really into Bill Hicks. While I was onstage I started talking to the crowd and it just changed the whole dynamic from going to clubs where hundreds of musicians just get on stage and say I wrote this on the train on the way here and it's just another Dylan-esque nightmare boring song and they're wearing jeans and a t-shirt. The minute I started doing that, which was a good 6 or 7 years ago at least, things just changed. I'd walk into a club and I'd got the crowd before I'd even stepped on the stage.
Ok, so that's the journey to the High Priest persona and the beginnings of your comedy act you have today?
Yeah. I had kids about 5 years ago so I took a much needed break from pretty much everything. I spent a couple of years bringing up kids and I became a web designer to make a living. In the last couple of years we moved back to Kent from London as I didn't want my kids growing up in London, which is where I grew up.
How did you find living back there?
It's a shithole. I was up there Friday and after an hour I was ready to riot, you know? I'd just had enough. So I've started doing loads of gigs over the last couple of years. I've got reams and reams of comedy and I've been doing it quite heavily live. A week ago I played this bar in Hastings, it was an hour show. I did about 8 songs and loads of comedy ranging from things like;
If you're a Christian you should be sinning everyday because Jesus died on the cross for your sins, because if I was nailed to the cross I'd want to see 6 year old's spitting out abortions on the corner, there is a logical point of being nailed to a cross, you know? I ain't going to get nailed to a cross because you looked at your neighbors' wife, I want to get on the cross because of the genocide on the corner of my street, make it worth my while.
What else do you include in your act?
Things like abortion, pedophilia, terrorism, all that nice easy-listening stuff. All those comedy chestnuts. I don't see the point of getting onstage without being fully confrontational. All my heroes are all confrontational.
And who would they be? You mentioned Lenny Bruce and Bill Hicks.
People like Woody Allen, who I think is extremely confrontational in his own way. In literary circles Henry Miller and Charles Bukowski to Bill Hicks, Doug Stanhope, Lenny Bruce and Richard Pryor. I think confrontation is the only way to do things. I'm not totalitarian with it, I'm not saying all other people have to do it but for me if I go and see an act, whatever the genre, it's got to make me think. It doesn't have to be intellectual, but I want something out of it. I don't want it to be just another bland, seamless fucking experience or I can just turn on the TV or buy the latest best seller.
Visit the High Priest online here
(Go to parts Two & Three)
Paul Hawkins has been interested in popular culture and music, protest and survival for as long as we can remember. He began writing about things, making music and other noise at an early age. Paul has interviewed musicians, writers, poets, protestors and artists.
about Paul Hawkins »»
THE RAKERS #5
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Jason Lewis' 2018 records of the year incoming...
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John Kilduff opens Kilduff motors - the worlds first cardboard car franchise
Lee Scratch Perry: Looney Orbiter in Dub
The Upsetter, circling the mortal plane, chuckling and grumbling, makes a pit stop on Earth with Scratch Came, Scratch Saw, Scratch Conquered
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King Creosote return with one of the brightest releases of the year so far
Wives & Lovers live - Shake it Loose and Let it Fall
Ssshhhhhhhed for eating our nachos too loudly during a particularly preposterous folkie at Highland Grounds, we headed for Taix, a reliable venue for great music - but don't tell anyone


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Fatau Makes Impressive Debut
Fatau Dauda
Ghana goalkeeper was, for the first time, handed the rare opportunity to keep the goal of his side Orlando Pirates last Saturday against the Mamelodi Sundowns in the Absa Premier League and he put up a brilliant performance.
Notwithstanding his display over the weekend, the former Ashgold goal stopper indicated that he would go the extra mile to cement his place for the South African side despite keeping a clean sheet.
Dauda, who joined Pirates last year, has been dormant, a situation which generated debates among the Ghanaian sporting fraternity, as to whether he would be on top form to man Ghana's posts at the Brazil 2014 World Cup in June.
But his time came when he started from the bench after regular keeper Senzo Meyiwa exited in the 67 th minute due to injury last Saturday, to mark his first competitive game for Orlando Pirates.
He said in a post-match interview that 'I don't know what will happen in the next game. I have got a taste today, but now I need to work harder to impress the coaches.'
By Kofi Owusu Aduonum

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Q: Quickblox 2.6.1 webrtc: missing org.webrtc.videocapturerandroid$nativeobserver I am getting a missing class error when trying to load libjingle_peerconnection_so.so. I am using Quickblox 2.6.1 video webrtc. Does anyone have any idea whats going on?
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Missing class error

A: did you put libjingle_peerconnection_so.so for all Jni folders??
like x86,armeabi etc.

A: I fixed the error. I updated the correct version of libjingle in the right path. thanks for your help.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


In re Discipline of Anderson, No. JD 14 (July 29, 1999).
Argued February 9, 1999.  Decided July 29, 1999.
Canon 6(C) of the Code of Judicial Conduct.
misconduct, the court is not bound by the recommendation.
JJ., did not participate in the disposition of this case.
Supreme Court on May 15, 1998.
Kurt M. Bulmer, for Judge Anderson.
MADSEN, J. --  Pierce County Superior Court Judge Grant L.
responsibility of personal representative of the estate.
Pierce County Superior Court Judge.
first draft of the Business Acquisition and Lease Agreement.
closing date from September 30, 1992 to September 1, 1992.
The parties did not sign the document.
second draft of the Business Acquisition and Lease Agreement.
management of the bowling alley.
Business Acquisition and Lease Agreement.
condition of the Business and Acquisition and Lease Agreement.
law partner, was appointed trustee.
Judge Anderson, Mr. Hamilton and his accountant, Mr. Iverson.
Tacoma in which he and Mr. Hamilton were shareholders.
told her Mr. Hamilton was making the payments on the car.
the car loan. Mr. Hamilton and Judge Anderson met in Mr.
they happened to discuss Judge Anderson's new Cadillac. Mr.
were friends. He's as good a male friend as I have.
So I said, "Let me pay you something for your services,"
can give you a gift, can I not?" and he said, "Yes."
something that he can live with.
Verbatim Report of Proceedings (RP) at 260-62.
According to Judge Anderson, he initially declined Mr.
Hamilton's offer of the car loan payments, but stated that Mr.
the monthly payments would continue.
on his company's tax returns.
the car loan payments to be a gift.
Pacific Lanes, Inc., and Surfside Inn, Inc.
president of the estate's corporations.
Hoffman-Stevenson, Inc. and Pacific Lanes, Inc.
payments for his car. Judge Anderson contested the charges.
made by Mr. Hamilton. Commission Decision at 9.
the existence of and basis for the initial proceeding.
probable cause, it shall notify the judge or justice of its conclusion.
which seriously interferes with the performance of judicial duties.
proceedings and findings against the judge or justice.
shall have a right of appeal de novo to the supreme court.
to the proceeding and the conduct of the judge or justice.
position until a final determination is made by the supreme court.
Const. art. IV, sec. 31 (amend. 77).
just that. The constitution's use of the word "recommend"
discipline in the Supreme Court. Deming, 108 Wn.2d at 88.
price reduction for bowling alley business.
payments during the negotiations surrounding that sale.
are to be construed and applied to further that objective.
the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary.
Commission on Judicial Conduct "Rules of Judicial Conduct"
being paid by William Hamilton.
were commissions paid in connection with the sale.
largely turns on the credibility of Judge Anderson and Mr.
Anderson, the agreement to sell the bowling alley to Mr.
to becoming a Superior Court Judge. RP at 261.
was receiving car loan payments from Mr. Hamilton.
adjustment, none of those documents suggest such an arrangement.
Again, documentary evidence does not support this testimony.
activity(ies)[,]" did not name Mr. Hamilton. RP at 53; Ex. 1.
receive a reduction of $92, 829 in the amount owing on the sale.
information on how to proceed.
the bowling alley business to Mr. Hamilton.
Mr. Hamilton acquired the estate's bowling alley business. Mr.
a way. RP at 289.
gifts, would overlook such an obvious error.
the sale of the Hoffman estate's bowling alley business.
receive over $31,000 from Hamilton.
Commission Decision at 6 (conclusion 5).
loan payments which Judge Anderson failed to disclose to Mr.
in Canons 1 and 2(A).
judicial and extra- judicial behavior of judges.
or employees of any business.
failure to resign was a mere administrative oversight.
and building which housed the bowling alley business.
seriously consider the inappropriate nature of his conduct.
his role as president of the estate's corporations.
Public Disclosure Commission Filings for 1993, 1994, 1995.
disclosures as required by law.
The acceptance of $31,185 in car loan payments from Mr.
Anderson challenges each of these sanctions.
that this court impose a sanction. See Const. art. IV, sec.
examined and due process is afforded the judge or justice.
reversing the Commission's recommended sanctions.
determination of the appropriate sanction.
Anderson from his judicial office.
Deming, 108 Wn.2d at 119-20. See also CJCRP 6(c).
years demonstrate an extended pattern of misconduct.
modify his conduct. Opening Br. of Resp't Judge at 48.
Canons are insignificant and do not warrant sanction.
government depends upon the public's confidence and respect.
the duties of office. See RCW 2.64.010(5).
factors sufficient to justify a sanction less than removal.
in his official and personal capacity, acted dishonestly.
Ritchie, 123 Wn.2d at 736.
removal from office is the appropriate sanction.
We hereby order Judge Anderson's removal from office.
and WINSOR, JJ., Pro Tem., concur.
public disclosure laws are provided for by statute.


Ask a Co-operators Insurance Advisor about insurance in Fredericton now!
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BURTON, MI – Police have identified the man killed in a fire over the weekend at a Burton mobile home park.
The fire began shortly before 7 a.m. Saturday, April 6 in the Maple Grove mobile home park at Fenton Road and Maple Avenue.
Steven Bryant, 55, was found inside one of the units.
Burton Assistant Fire Chief Kirk Wilkinson commented there was "visible smoke" when he arrived at the scene, but the windows and doors were all closed.
Firefighters removed Bryant from the home and medics treated him at the scene. He was later pronounced dead.
It appears the fire started inside the home's refrigerator, Wilkinson said.
The flames worked their way through a cord or tube on the refrigerator and caught one of the home's walls on fire, he added.
There were some initial issues with entering a back door at the home, Wilkinson noted, with plywood and drywall material on the floor as remodeling work was taking place.
The cause of the fire will be ruled undetermined by the state fire investigator. The home had no working smoke detectors, Wilkinson commented.
The Burton Fire Department offers free smoke/carbon monoxide detectors through a partnership with the American Red Cross. The department will also install the detectors.
Anyone in need of a free smoke/carbon monoxide detector should contact the fire department at 810-742-2158.


text:
balita.ph – Online Filipino News
Business/Economy
Sports/Entertainment
Health/LifeStyle
Lead Photo
Teodoro cites stronger RP-US defense, security cooperation
MANILA, Sept. 11 — The future of the Philippines-United States defense and security cooperation looks brighter and stronger following talks in Washington, D.C. on Thursday (Manila time) between visiting Defense Secretary Gilberto C. Teodoro Jr. and his U.S. counterpart, Secretary Robert Gates.
The Philippine defense chief, who is seeking the ruling Lakas-Kampi-CMD's nomination for president in next year's elections, said he and Gates reached an agreement to bring the RP-US defense engagement and cooperation to a high gear.
Teodoro emerged from the meeting — the high point of his five-day visit to Washington — assured by Gates of U.S. commitment to support efforts by the Department of National Defense and the Armed Forces of the Philippines to crush terrorists undermining the peace and stability of the country.
Following up on their meeting in Manila last June, Teodoro and Gates acknowledged the clear and present danger posed by the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG)-Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) and rogue Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) elements in Southern Philippines.
Teodoro emphasized that the Philippine government has significantly weakened the ASG following recent major clashes with the terrorist group in Southern Philippines that resulted in the capture by the AFP forces of a major ASG training camp.
Both officials also expressed pleasure over the progress of the security cooperation that has enhanced the Mutual Defense Treaty between the two countries.
During their talk, Teodoro and Gates also agreed to explore mutual strategic security interests, particularly in areas that are non-traditional security threats such as humanitarian assistance and disaster response (HADR), climate change, drug trafficking, and maritime security.
They also discussed the U.S. government's support to improve the capabilities of the Philippine defense establishment, particularly the AFP.
Teodoro pointed out the need to focus efforts on force build-up for internal security operations. He said that there is a need to enhance the Navy's Coast Watch South (CWS), in partnership with the U.S. and other countries, in order to deny use of the Sulu and Celebes Seas by non-traditional maritime threats for illegal activities.
He underscored the significance of the U.S. assistance in government's infrastructure projects such as construction of school facilities, water systems, and farm-to-market roads in Mindanao areas prone to conflict.
These projects, he said, have greatly improved the quality of lives of the people in Mindanao.
Gates lauded Teodoro especially for his efforts to institutionalize reforms in the DND and the AFP through the Philippine Defense Reform Program (PDR).
Reforms will take root in the organization, Teodoro assured the U.S. Defense chief while thanking him for Washington's financial assistance and technical support to the PDR.
Gates also praised Teodoro for the DND's successful hosting of the first ASEAN Regional Forum-Voluntary Disaster Response (ARF-VDR) event last May, which was a Humanitarian Assistance exercise held in Pampanga and Manila, and participated in by 26 countries.
He underscored the need to sustain the conduct of such activity as a means of improving multilateral coordination and interoperability, most particularly in addressing humanitarian assistance and disaster response situations. (PNA) scs/VR
Filed Under: National
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Oct. 10, 1977 Patikul massacre recalled (Feature)
DOH releases new 5-in-1 vaccine for babies in Western Visayas
Myanmar targets 7-M tourist arrivals in 2020
Pampanga to open up livelihood opportunities to boost tourism industry, says official
More Fun in the PHL campaign has failed to attract more tourists, says study
Expect influx of Israeli tourists in PHL
Government allocates PHP410-M to relocate about 2,000 Intramuros settlers
US $1 = PHP 46.9500
2013 Campaign Trail
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text:
Tag: The ones
brand values, branding
Brand Beckham and the end of flawless brands
David and Victoria Beckham in leather for the 1999 Versace party
This weekend was a milestone for brands everywhere. One of the strongest – Brand Beckham – admitted they had made a mistake when they wore their matching leather suits to a Versace party in 1999. According to Vogue David said "I look back on some stuff and think I can't believe I actually wore that," he said. "I have no regrets, though – I knew at the time it was good!"
This may not sound too significant at first glance, but I think it is. I really think it is.
In those days, long ago in the life of brands, when glossy and shiny was the norm over today's more matt black world, brands needed to be flawless. In 2001, this song by The Ones confirmed it.
So what can we learn?
Well, according to Trendwatching.com, brands now need to show their flaws for their fans to continue to love them. Flawless is no more and brands, flaws and all are where it's at.
So for me, this move by the Beckham's only serves to show what a brilliant brand strategy they have been running for years and that it's an early sign that brands with flaws win.
I'm not sure if I have seen such a seismic shift in brand thinking for years and I think it is so significant a change that it will affect every single brand in the developed world over the coming years.
It's a big subject, so i'll be adding more to it soon.
(Thankyou to HolyMoly for the use of the Beckham picture)
March 23, 2012 Absolutely Flawless, Brand Beckham, David Beckham, Flawless Brands, Holy Moly, http://trendwatching.com, The ones, Vogue3 Comments


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Sieke KG renews their Setra fleet
Home Mercedes-Benz Sieke KG renews their Setra fleet
Mercedes-Benz Buses
Five S 415 UL handed over at the Neu-Ulm Customer Centre
Management appreciates the versatility of the MultiClass 400
Sieke KG a partner of Daimler's Ulm-based bus brand since 1978
Stuttgart/Neu-Ulm – Touring and transport company Sieke continues the modernisation of their fleet by purchasing five S 415 UL vehicles. After having received six ComfortClass 400 touring coaches in December last year and a double-decker S 431 DT from the TopClass 400 model series in March of this year, the end of 2012 was seen to be the right time for renewing the fleet of inter-city buses.
In its successive replacement of the entire touring coach and regular service bus fleet, the company from Hessen places enormous emphasis on vehicle quality – a criteria which they feel is fulfilled by the Setra vehicles purchased. Wilhelm Sieke particularly praises the versatility of the new inter-city buses which besides serving regular service bus routes will also be used for school excursions or occasional chartered journeys: "The Setra brand has been a reliable partner for our tasks for many years. Since 1978, we've been impressed by the high quality and the ever advanced technology which the brand from Ulm employs", explained the company's director at the handover of the five new buses in Neu‑Ulm. The S 415 UL vehicles from the MultiClass 400 model series will soon be used on new routes in the Waldeck-Frankenberg area.
Sieke KG has been relying on Setra buses for over 30 years
Initially founded in 1811 as a small artisanal enterprise, Sieke KG established its bus company in Diemelstadt, Hessen in 1965 and their expertise lies in renting out high-quality touring coaches. Currently employing 35 members of staff, they support tour operators in the organisation and realisation of made-to-measure short-range and long-distance tours around Europe. What's more, the touring and transport company, now being run in its third generation, also operates a driving school, as well as serving regional regular service bus routes.
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Mercedes-Benz AMG powerboat
Mercedes-Benz S 400 4MATIC Coupé
Successful DTM test for second-generation of racing drivers from the Asch/Ludwig stable
Mercedes-Benz A-Class special edition Mercedes AMG Petronas
Mercedes-Benz Los Angeles Auto Show 2015
The new Mercedes-Benz SL: The legend – now even more dynamic


PRACTICAL BUILDING CONSTRUCTION A Handbook for Students Preparing for the Examinations of the Science & Art Department, The Royal Institute of British Architects, The Surveyors' Institution etc; Designed Also as a Book of Reference for Persons Engaged in Building. 6th Revised Edition .
By: BEEVERS , David , Keeper of the Royal Pavilion , Ed.
By: CLIFFORD MUSGRAVE , Dr.


text:
Chung Ha Portrays a Bullfighter in Vibrant 'Play' Video: Watch
On Monday (July 6), Chung Ha unveiled the music video for her latest Calypso-inspired single, "Play."
By Glenn Rowley
Glenn Rowley
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Chung Ha, "Play" Courtesy Photo
On Monday (July 6), Chung Ha unveiled the music video for her latest Calypso-inspired single, "Play."
In the visual, the former I.O.I member steps into the shoes of a matador to bullfight against a bright red sports car rather than a bull. "No one will know about you and me/ We gonna play, play, play/ Light up, Oh!/ That's my way, way, way/ Do it for me/ Uh that's my bae/ The dance is getting more dizzy/ I want more of your love/ Don't set me free/ I'mma play you on repeat," she sings on the frenetic chorus as she waves a giant red cloth around and grooves through choreography with her coterie of backup dancers. (English translation provided via lyricstranslate.com.)
The track also features a guest turn from rapper Changmo, who doesn't appear in the video, leaving the South Korean singer to wade through a milky pool of green water littered with flowers as he spits his verse.
Remarkably, "Play" serves as the K-pop idol's seventh single of 2020, following the rapid-fire release of tracks like "Be Yourself," the PH-1-assisted "My Friend," "Stay Tonight," "Everybody Has" and Paul Kim collab "Loveship." Her fourth EP, Flourishing, was released in June of 2019.
K-Pop Star Chung Ha Signs With ICM Partners: Exclusive
Watch the video for Chung Ha's "Play" below.
K-Town


text:
Posted on 16 November 2021 16 November 2021 by Mike Barton
Action stations!
The first bout of action in our USS and Four Fights disputes has been announced. UCU has called three days of strike action on 1st, 2nd and 3rd December for 58 branches which achieved a mandate for action in the recent ballots. At the same time, 64 branches will start a work-to-contract.
The Higher Education Committee has heard the opposition to decoupling the disputes expressed by branches at Friday's Branch Delegate Meetings (BDM). These strike days will be joint strikes for both disputes. This is the only way to unite pre-92 with post-92 branches, and branches with a mandate in one dispute with those with a mandate in the other.
HEC has also listened to branches on reballoting. As a result, there will be no aggregated reballot in the Four Fights dispute, but instead a disaggregated reballot of branches which failed to reach the threshold in either or both disputes. The BDMs also came out strongly in favour of opening these reballots in early December. Branch delegates argued that an immediate reballot was necessary to maintain momentum and to escalate the action before the USS deadline at the end of February.
Early reballots will provide the best chance to allow thousands more members to join the fight and maximise the leverage on the employers. HEC will also set up a body to draw up plans for serious, escalating action short of strike (ASOS) with a view to increasing the pressure in the New Year.
HEC had to respond to a wholesale rejection of the proposals set out by the General Secretary on 5th November. Jo Grady wanted to separate the action in the two disputes and reballot in each dispute individually in January. She recommended an aggregated ballot in the Four Fights, risking the mandates already achieved in the hope that we could reach 50% across the board and damaging the momentum of the dispute.
We now need to make December's strikes as big and successful as possible. We need the maximum involvement of members in organising and running the disputes. Since the last national disputes, we have pioneered methods of connecting branches and building solidarity with those taking action. UCU Solidarity Movement has organised virtual pickets, solidarity rallies and fundraising, and the sharing of ideas and experience to support disputes at Liverpool, RCA, Goldsmiths, Leicester, UEL, Brighton, Heriot-Watt and others,
These democratic, bottom-up organising methods will be crucial to our UK-wide disputes. They can be used to strengthen our action, support the reballots and formulate plans for the kinds of action we need to take to escalate the disputes in the New Year.
CategoriesIndustrial action, HE Tags#ucustrikesback, #FourFights, #Pensions, #USS, #Solidarity, #OneOfUsAllofUs, #StrikeForUSS, #NotTodayUUK
Previous PostPrevious Branches criticise the General Secretary's strategy for the HE disputes


Singer who released the song "Girls Need Love" in August 2018. She signed with the record label LVRN Records.
She was raised in Atlanta, Georgia.
Her first album Last Day of Summer was released in 2018.
She is popular on Instagram, where she promotes her music and posts pictures and video clips for her 500,000 followers.
Zonnique Pullins is another R&B singer out of Georgia.


text:
class CM2;
class CM2_Base_Instance;
// FORWARD END

class CM2_SkinSection
	: public GeometryProxie
{
public:
	CM2_SkinSection(IRenderDevice& RenderDevice, const CM2& M2Model, const uint16 SkinSectionIndex, const SM2_SkinSection& SkinSectionProto, const std::vector<SM2_Vertex>& Vertexes, const std::vector<uint16>& Indexes);
	virtual ~CM2_SkinSection();

	void UpdateGeometryProps(const RenderEventArgs& RenderEventArgs, const CM2_Base_Instance* M2Instance);
	const std::shared_ptr<IConstantBuffer>& GetGeometryPropsBuffer() const;
	const std::shared_ptr<IStructuredBuffer>& GetGeometryBonesBuffer() const;

	uint16                  getIndex() const { return m_SkinSectionIndex; }
	const SM2_SkinSection&  getProto() const { return m_SkinSectionProto; }

	bool operator<(const CM2_SkinSection& other) const
	{
		return getIndex() < other.getIndex();
	}
	bool operator<(const CM2_SkinSection* other) const
	{
		return getIndex() < other->getIndex();
	}

private:
	const uint16            m_SkinSectionIndex;
	const SM2_SkinSection   m_SkinSectionProto;

private:
	__declspec(align(16)) struct ShaderM2GeometryProperties
	{
		ShaderM2GeometryProperties()
			: gIsAnimated(0)
			, gBonesMaxInfluences(0)
		{}

		uint32 gIsAnimated;
		uint32 gStartBoneIndex;
		uint32 gBonesMaxInfluences;
		float __padding;
	};
	ShaderM2GeometryProperties* m_Properties;
	std::shared_ptr<IConstantBuffer> m_PropertiesBuffer;

	std::vector<glm::mat4> m_BonesList;
	std::shared_ptr<IStructuredBuffer> m_BonesBuffer;

private:
	IRenderDevice&          m_RenderDevice;
	const CM2&               m_M2Model;
};

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
María Alejandra Vento-Kabchi (Caracas, 24 de maio de 1974) é uma ex-tenista profissional venezuelana.

Foi campeã de simples de Tênis nos Jogos Pan-Americanos de 1999.

Tenistas da Venezuela
Tenistas olímpicos da Venezuela
Tenistas nos Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2000
Naturais de Caracas

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


ArrayComm delivers differentiating performance for LTE and LTE-A base stations, from small- to large-cell solutions. ArrayComm has leveraged its extensive real-world baseband software experience across a range of air interfaces, including LTE, LTE-A, PHS, and 802.20 (iBurst) wireless systems to develop powerful performance-enhancing features, yielding best-in-class broadband wireless performance. A-MAS modules can be quickly integrated into most base station architectures for rapid time to market and cost-effective performance.
Downlink Beamforming – ArrayComm's dynamically adaptive beamforming module is superior to simpler approaches such as beam switching or steering. Base station antenna signals are precisely weighted to optimize the combined signal-to-noise ratio at the target subscriber device. ArrayComm's beamforming can be combined with adaptive interference cancellation (AIC) and MIMO transmission for additional performance gains. Average gains range from 6 to 8 dB, with peak gains far above that.
Uplink Adaptive Interference Cancellation (AIC) Receivers – The ability to counteract undesired signals is a key benefit provided by ArrayComm. Dominant interfering signals are identified and "nulled" to produce a higher signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio in the base station receive path. ArrayComm's AIC can be combined with MIMO reception for additional performance gain. This A-MAS feature can enable overall link gains of 6 to 10 dB.
Advanced Control Channel Receivers – ArrayComm's extensive baseband software expertise enables us to provide a range of optimized (linear and non-linear) control receiver designs that are fine tuned for best-in-class performance. These include multi-antenna combining and message detectors.
RF Calibration – For downlink beamforming using uplink training on TDD networks, ArrayComm's baseband software can "calibrate" the base station electronics between the baseband PHY and the antennas for better performance. The uplink and/or downlink antenna signals are precisely weighted to create a "reciprocal" channel having a figure of merit (downlink pointing gain over nulling gain) of 30 dB or more.
These advanced 4G software modules are commercially available today. Contact us to see how ArrayComm can keep your wireless broadband base station designs on the leading edge of performance.
high-speed data in wireless networks. ArrayComm can deliver a superior user experience – while minimizing network loading – by employing efficient baseband processing software within the client device. Using ArrayComm's industry-leading adaptive interference cancelation software, bandwidth consumption by data-hungry smartphones can be decreased by up to 50%, while increasing user throughput.
have two receive antennas, which can also be used to support powerful, performance-enhancing Adaptive Interference Cancelation (AIC). The AIC algorithm cancels out the most dominant interferer (from another base station), producing remarkable performance gains. Field trials have averaged 50%–100% downlink throughput gains in cell edge conditions. CPEs with more than two receive antennas can achieve higher gains. As 4G networks inevitably evolve to N=1 frequency reuse patterns to maximize capacity, user equipment will be challenged to perform in higher interference environments an increasing proportion of the time. AIC will play a key role in optimizing the user experience while network operators optimize spectrum efficiency.
ArrayComm's AIC algorithm for user equipment is fully developed and tested in the field. This technology works equally well in FDD and TDD spectrum and delivers superior performance in both CDMA and OFDMA networks. Contact us to discuss how ArrayComm can apply this technology to help differentiate your device or chipset platform.


Hi, I have a piece of bluetooth hardware that uses serial communications to deliver data to and from the device.
I have googled this and it appears I may be missing a serial profile (SPP), but I can't find any concrete ways to enable this. Likewise I no longer have utilities such as RFCOMM. I have tried emerging with depreciated and extra-tools useflags, but I still am missing a lot of tools. I have enabled all kernel related bluetooth options.
How can I get bluez to connect to this device, as well as give me utilities such as RFCOMM.
Edit:: After a little more digging I edited `/etc/init.d/bluetooth` to run the bluetoothd command with -C compatibility mode, and It seems to connect, but after removing the bluetooth device (untrust, remove) and repairing and attempting to connect again, I get `Failed to connect: org.bluez.Error.NotAvailable` after pairing and attempting to connect.
Edit2:: I seem to be getting a lot of `[ 4323.138748] Bluetooth: hci0: last event is not cmd complete (0x0f)` in my dmesg. Not sure what it means.
Edit3:: I got the rfcomm tool installed, I must of typod the depreciated use flag. Although when trying to pair now via bluetoothctl I get `Failed to pair: org.bluez.Error.AuthenticationCanceled` after about 10 seconds of it being "connected"
Edit4:: After a bit of digging this piece of hardware uses the createInsecureRfcommSocket method in Android, Is there a way to mimic this connection standard? I am not positive, but I think I need to authenticate using a UUID? Might explain the reason for the AuthenticationCanceled error?
No idea why, but it seems to be working now.
Meanwhile `bluetoothctl` was running in the background and seemed to automatically pair and connect when the rfcomm command is ran.


Learn the history of Milwaukee with a new copy of Matthew J. Prigge's Book, Milwaukee Mayhem: Murder and Mystery in the Cream City's First Century. Know all there is to know about this great city and enjoy a copy of "The Dry Points" from Team Nerd Letterpress. This black and white poster features Milwaukee's City Hall surrounded by Team Nerd's signature letterpressings.


text:
Reaching 100 T20Is milestone was an emotional moment as her teammates made it special, says Sophie Devine
Sophie Devine celebrate a wicket with her teammates © Getty Images
New Zealand had a tough time at the start of the year with results not going their way with them getting whitewashed in ODI series against England and Australia. While their T20I performances were marginally better, they only had the rain-induced 1-1 result against the Trans-Tasman rivals to show in the balance sheet. Skipper Sophie Devine was fighting her own battle and had to take a break from the game in March.
32-year-old Devine returned to the game with the ongoing England tour but things didn't start well for her and New Zealand went down in the first T20I on her birthday on September 1. Another milestone was waiting for the big-hitting allrounder as she become the third New Zealand player to play 100 matches in the format when she took the field in the second match on Saturday (September 4).
Devine once again won the toss and opted to field for the second time in the series and she got off to a good start in the match with the ball taking the wickets of Natalie Sciver and Amy Jones in consecutive deliveries to leave England struggling at 25 for three inside the first five overs. The hosts did recover from the early blows but coud post only 127 for seven on the board. Devine capped off the landmark T20I with a match-winning fifty as New Zealand reached home with four wickets and ten balls to spare.
ALSO READ: Grandmaster Leigh Kasperek
"I felt good, especially with the ball. T20I can be a fickle game. You can feel a million bucks and still not get the rewards. For me, as long as I follow the process and doing what I need to do the results will come. It's nice to have contributed to a good team win," Devine said at the post match media interaction on Saturday.
Looking back, Devine feels she has come a long way from the struggles early this year with the break seemingly have rejuvenated her. But it wasn't easy for her back in March.
"It's hard to put into words how I was feeling at the start of the year. Mentally I was nowhere near and to try and play international cricket when mentally you're not at the top of your game, let alone 50 percent, it's always going to be bloody hard and looking back on it I was nowhere near my best with bat," Devine said. "Mentally I wasn't in a position to produce my best either. It's nice to have been able to step away and to put some things into place around that."
"It's nice to have been able to step away and put some play surround it. We all know the environment that we find ourselves in now is bloody challenging. I'm extremely grateful that we are able to continue to play cricket because I know people are doing it really tough around the world."
ALSO READ: What is Laura Wolvaardt?
Ahead of the milestone game, Devine had some wise words from her experienced teammates in Amy Satterthwaite and Suzie Bates – Other two players to play 100 T20Is for New Zealand - as they talked about how they care about everyone as a playing group and a team.
"That's a great thing about this group, I feel so well supported. Obviously, in my milestone game there were some beautiful words spoken by Amy and Suzie, who I've played a lot of cricket with," Devine added.
"It was quite tough to hold back the tears around that because it was quite emotional thinking about it but this group is so special, and the amount of care that is within this group is unbelievable and that's what going to hold us in good stead moving forward."
During the break as she was preparing for the comeback, Devine worked hard on many aspects of her cricket with head coach Bob Carter including some technical changes to get better at the game.
"I did a lot of work with Bob Carter, sort of made a few technical changes which is interesting thing at this stage of my career when I probably could have carried on status quo and kept going as I was. But I guess for me, it was always about challenging myself and get better. He saw an area I could get better, it's long work in progress and still a long way to go," Devine concluded.
#Suzie Bates #England #Amy Satterthwaite #New Zealand #England tour of New Zealand 2021 #Sophie Devine #Bob Carter


Healing Touch is practiced, governed and promoted using the highest professional standards.
The Healing Touch Program Code of Ethics and the Scope of Practice are two documents that are essential to the foundation, integrity and practice of Healing Touch. Healing Touch Program instructors, practitioners and students uphold the core concepts and values of Healing Touch through adhering to the principles and guidelines outlined in these documents.
The HTP Ethics Committee is the guardian of the Code of Ethics and Statement of Scope of Practice. The fundamental values of the Ethics Committee are quality, integrity, compassion, collaboration and commitment. The HTP Ethics Committee is a proactive resource supporting and promoting these five fundamental values, and the ethical conduct and decisions of HTP professionals, administrators, employees, and clients in the US and in all countries where HTP is adopted, taught and practiced.
The HTP Code of Ethics expresses clear guidelines for the teaching and practice of Healing Touch. In so doing, the Code exemplifies the ethical standards that are necessary to underpin Healing Touch practice and promote professional ideals, aspirations and a sense of safety and trusteeship for society.
The HTP Scope of Practice defines four levels of Healing Touch (HT) practice and outlines how Healing Touch providers may refer to themselves, how they can practice and what they must be mindful of when practicing.
To learn more about the HTP Ethics Committee policy, procedure and complaint process visit the following links.


text:
Q: unable to get xpath where parent and child node have different default namespaces I am here stuck with a situation wherein I have to resolve and transform the given XML using the xslt. I need to write the xpaths to do this.
Sample xml is given below. where in both ServiceProviderGroupPackage and SecondNode have Different namespaces. I need to get the namespace of IReference Node to get its value.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<ServiceProviderGroupPackage Version="1.2.0" xmlns="http://webconnectivity.co.uk/ServiceProviderGroupPackage"
                             xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
                             xmlns:wsa="http://www.w3.org/2005/08/addressing">
  <FirstNode Version="1.2.0" xmlns="http://www.MySite.org/Standards/MySiteMsgSvc/1"
                    xmlns:rlc="http://www.MySite.org/standards/SecondNode/1"
                    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
  </FirstNode>
  <SecondNode Version="2010-2" xmlns:ac="http://www.MySite.org/Standards/MySiteMsgSvc/1"
                      xmlns="http://www.MySite.org/standards/SecondNode/1"
                      xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
                      xmlns:lloyds="http://www.lloyds.com/The-Market/Operating-at-Lloyds/Resources/Risk_codes">
    <Movement Sender="Sender" Receiver="Receiver">
      <Contract>
        <Type>direct</Type>
        <Nature>lm_proportional_or_nonproportional</Nature>
        <Reference>B0509311011UMR</Reference>
        <IReference>P00000062MM/13A</IReference>
      </Contract>
    </Movement>
  </SecondNode>
</ServiceProviderGroupPackage>

A: Each element inherits the namespace of the parent element if not overwritten, so the IReference element has the same namespace like the SecondNode element, http://www.MySite.org/standards/SecondNode/1.

To retrieve the namespace of an arbitrary element, use the namespace-uri(...) function.
With XPath 2.0, you can use the wildcard-operator * instead of a namespace prefix:
namespace-uri(//*:IReference)

or also
//*:IReference/namespace-uri()

With XPath 1.0, you will have to check for the name in a predicate:
namespace-uri(//*[local-name() = "IReference"])


text:
MEDITERRANEAN cruise
MONTE CARLO To FORT LAUDERDALE (Florida)
Oct 30, 2020 To Duration 24 Days Silver Moon
Voyage Number : MO201030024
Oct 30 To Nov 23, 2020
Itinerary & excursions Itinerary Suites Suites & fares Ship Pre-post hotels
Itinerary & excursions
13 Ports 7 Countries
What better way to enter into autumn than with a technicolour transatlantic tour? Enjoy the hotspots of Malaga and Mallorca; then it's on to Gaudi's perfect city and Florida's fun in the sun. With plenty to keep you occupied on board, be the envy of your friends as you arrive relaxed and refreshed aboard Silver Moon's inaugural transatlantic crossing. Get ready to celebrate Silversea's 25th year during this exceptional cruise.
Take advantage of our special air benefits or savings and 10% Early Booking Bonus, available for a limited time only.
Voyage Number: MO201030024
Please note that the following excursions are provided as a sample of what may be offered on this voyage and are subject to change. We invite guests to visit https://my.silversea.com 120 days prior to sailing for the most updated information.
Silversea Luxury Cruises - Porto Mahon
Silversea Luxury Cruises - Malaga, Spain
Silversea Luxury Cruises - Cadiz, Spain
Silversea Luxury Cruises - Cartagena, Spain
Silversea Luxury Cruises - Palma de Mallorca
Silversea Luxury Cruises - Tangier, Morocco
Silversea Luxury Cruises - San Juan, Puerto Rico
Friday 30 Oct
On one of the best stretches of the Mediterranean, this classic luxury destination is one of the most sought-after addresses in the world. With all the high-rise towers you have to look hard to find the Belle Époque grace of yesteryear. But if you head to the town's great 1864 landmark Hôtel de Paris—still a veritable crossroads of the buffed and befurred Euro-gentry—or enjoy a grand bouffe at its famous Louis XV restaurant, or attend the opera, or visit the ballrooms of the casino, you may still be able to conjure up Monaco's elegant past. Prince Albert II, a political science graduate from Amherst College, traces his ancestry to Otto Canella, who was born in 1070. The Grimaldi dynasty began with Otto's great-great-great-grandson, Francesco Grimaldi, also known as Frank the Rogue. Expelled from Genoa, Frank and his cronies disguised themselves as monks and in 1297 seized the fortified medieval town known today as Le Rocher (the Rock). Read more Except for a short break under Napoléon, the Grimaldis have been here ever since, which makes them the oldest reigning family in Europe. In the 1850s a Grimaldi named Charles III made a decision that turned the Rock into a giant blue chip. Needing revenue but not wanting to impose additional taxes on his subjects, he contracted with a company to open a gambling facility. The first spin of the roulette wheel was on December 14, 1856. There was no easy way to reach Monaco then—no carriage roads or railroads—so no one came. Between March 15 and March 20, 1857, one person entered the casino—and won two francs. In 1868, however, the railroad reached Monaco, and it was filled with Englishmen who came to escape the London fog. The effects were immediate. Profits were so great that Charles eventually abolished all direct taxes. Almost overnight, a threadbare principality became an elegant watering hole for European society. Dukes (and their mistresses) and duchesses (and their gigolos) danced and dined their way through a world of spinning roulette wheels and bubbling champagne—preening themselves for nights at the opera, where such artists as Vaslav Nijinsky, Sarah Bernhardt, and Enrico Caruso came to perform. Along with the tax system, its sensational position on a broad, steep peninsula that bulges into the Mediterranean—its harbor sparkling with luxury cruisers, its posh mansions angling awnings toward the nearly perpetual sun—continues to draw the rich and famous. One of the latest French celebrities to declare himself "Monégasque," thus giving up his French passport, is superchef Alain Ducasse, who said that he made the choice out of affection for Monaco rather than tax reasons. Pleasure boats vie with luxury cruisers in their brash beauty and Titanic scale, and teams of handsome young men—themselves dyed blond and tanned to match—scour and polish every gleaming surface. As you might expect, all this glitz doesn't come cheap. Eating is expensive, and even the most modest hotels cost more here than in nearby Nice or Menton. As for taxis, they don't even have meters so you are completely at the driver's mercy (with prices skyrocketing during events such as the Grand Prix). For the frugal, Monaco is the ultimate day-trip, although parking is as coveted as a room with a view. At the very least you can afford a coffee at Starbucks. The harbor district, known as La Condamine, connects the new quarter, officially known as Monte Carlo with Monaco-Ville (or Le Rocher), a medieval town on the Rock, topped by the palace, the cathedral, and the Oceanography Museum. Have no fear that you'll need to climb countless steps to get to Monaco-Ville, as there are plenty of elevators and escalators climbing the steep cliffs. But shuttling between the lovely casino grounds of Monte Carlo and Old Monaco, separated by a vast port, is a daunting proposition for ordinary mortals without wings, so hop on the No. 1 bus from Saint Roman, or No. 2 from the Jardin Exotique - Both stop at Place du Casino and come up to Monaco Ville.
PORTO MAHON
Saturday 31 Oct
Established as the island's capital in 1722, when the British began their nearly 80-year occupation, Mahón still bears the stamp of its former rulers. The streets nearest the port are lined with four-story Georgian townhouses; the Mahónese drink gin and admire Chippendale furniture; English is widely spoken. The city is quiet for much of the year, but between June and September the waterfront pubs and restaurants swell with foreigners.
18-Hole Golf
9-Hole Golf
Biking in Cavalleria
Discover Menorca
Half Day Scuba Adventure
Highlights of Menorca
Kayak Menorca
North, South & Mahon
View all excursions View less
DAY AT SEA
Sunday 01 Nov
MALAGA (Costa del Sol)
Mon 02 Nov
Monday 02 Nov
Many tourists ignore the capital of the Costa del Sol entirely, heading straight for the beaches west of the city instead, although cruise-ship tourism now brings plenty of visitors to the city. Approaching Málaga from the airport, you'll be greeted by huge 1970s high-rises that march determinedly toward Torremolinos. But don't give up so soon: in its center and eastern suburbs, this city of about 550,000 people is a pleasant port, with ancient streets and lovely villas amid exotic foliage. Blessed with a subtropical climate, it's covered in lush vegetation and averages some 324 days of sunshine a year. Málaga has been spruced up with restored historic buildings and some great shops, bars, and restaurants. A new cruise-ship terminal and the opening of the prestigious Museo Carmen Thyssen in March 2011 have also boosted tourism, although there are still far fewer visitors here than in Seville, Córdoba, and Granada. Read more Arriving from Nerja, you'll enter Málaga through the suburbs of El Palo and Pedregalejo, once traditional fishing villages. Here you can eat fresh fish in the numerous chiringuitos and stroll Pedregalejos's seafront promenade or the tree-lined streets of El Limonar. At sunset, walk along the Paseo Marítimo and watch the lighthouse start its nightly vigil. A few blocks inland is Málaga's bullring, La Malagueta, built in 1874. Continuing west, stroll through the Muelle Uno (port-front commercial center). It's great for a drink and for soaking up views of the old quarter. From here, stroll along the Palmeral (Palm Walk), and you'll soon reach the city center and the inviting Plaza de la Marina. From here, walk through the shady, palm-lined gardens of the Paseo del Parque or browse on Calle Marqués de Larios, the elegant pedestrian-only main shopping street.
Captivating Cordoba
Kayaking the Maro Cliffs
Málaga Highlights
Picasso & Old Málaga
Silver Shore Privato: The Alhambra by Private Car
Meal Included Moderate Activity
Silver Shore Privato: The Alhambra by Private Van
Spectacular Historic Ronda
The Alhambra!
The Village of Mijas
Tue 03 Nov
Tuesday 03 Nov
More than a hundred watchtowers gaze out across the waves surrounding this ancient Andalusian city. Sprinkled with evocative cobbled side streets, you'll explore 3,000 years' worth of history, while stumbling across palm-tree lined plazas of shaded coffee sippers. Cadiz claims the mantle of Western Europe's oldest city, and every piece of architecture - and every wrong turn - offers a chance to discover fascinating new tales. Founded by the Phoenicians in 1100BC, Christopher Columbus used the city as a base for his exploratory, map-defining voyages of 1493 and 1502. The port grew in importance and wealth as Cadiz's strategic location close to Africa's northern tip helped it blossom into a centre for New World trade. Catedral de Cádiz, is a display of the city's wealth and importance, looming spectacularly over the Atlantic's waves, with cawing seagulls sweeping between its twin bell towers. Read more Inside, treasures from the city's trading exploits in the West Indies and beyond - which helped fuel the growth of this historically prosperous city – are on display. Enveloped by ocean on almost every side, Cadiz has something of an island feel, and you can cool off from southern Spain's unrelenting sunshine on the sweeping golden sand beach of Playa Victoria. The two towers of the new El Puente de la Constitución de 1812 mark a contemporary landmark in this most ancient of cities, in the form of a spectacular new road bridge. Torre Tavira, meanwhile, is the most famous of Cadiz's army of watchtowers, and the highest point in the city. Reach the top for a view of the ocean fringing the city's expanse, and to learn about the towers - constructed so trading merchants could survey the harbour from their lavish homes. The Central Market is a chaotic place of bartering, where flashing knives dissect fresh fish. Stop in at the orbiting bars to enjoy tapas, freshly prepared with the market's produce.
Coast of Light (Limited Mobility Friendly)
Exclusive wine tasting at Gonzalez Byass
Golf at Monte Castilo
Jerez & Cellars of Bodega Tradición
Royal Equestrian School & Show
Scenic Cádiz & Flamenco
Seville!
Viva La Pepa
7 Excursions
Wed 04 Nov
Wednesday 04 Nov
The Rock of today is a bizarre anomaly of Moorish, Spanish, and—especially—British influences. There are double-decker buses, "bobbies" in helmets, and red mailboxes. Millions of pounds have been spent in developing its tourist potential, and a steady flow of expat Brits comes here from Spain to shop at Morrisons supermarket and High Street shops. This tiny British colony—nicknamed "Gib" or simply "the Rock"—whose impressive silhouette dominates the strait between Spain and Morocco, was one of the two Pillars of Hercules in ancient times, marking the western limits of the known world and commanding the narrow pathway between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The Moors, headed by Tariq ibn Ziyad, seized the peninsula in 711, preliminary to the conquest of Spain. The Spaniards recaptured Tariq's Rock in 1462. Read more The English, heading an Anglo-Dutch fleet in the War of the Spanish Succession, gained control in 1704, and, after several years of local skirmishes, Gibraltar was finally ceded to Great Britain in 1713 by the Treaty of Utrecht. Spain has been trying to get it back ever since. In 1779 a combined French and Spanish force laid siege to the Rock for three years to no avail. During the Napoléonic Wars, Gibraltar served as Admiral Horatio Nelson's base for the decisive naval Battle of Trafalgar, and during the two world wars, it served the Allies well as a naval and air base. In 1967 Franco closed the land border with Spain to strengthen his claims over the colony, and it remained closed until 1985. Britain and Spain have been talking about joint Anglo-Spanish sovereignty, much to the ire of the majority of Gibraltarians, who remain fiercely patriotic to the Crown. There are likely few places in the world that you enter by walking or driving across an airport runway, but that's what happens in Gibraltar.
A Stroll Through Gibraltar
Gibraltar Panorama and Tea
WW ll Landmarks
Thu 05 Nov
Thursday 05 Nov
Don't be put off by Cartagena's outskirts, which house chemical plants and mining machinery; plunge straight into the Old Town near the port instead. Old Town is steeped in history and bustling with life. The Roman ruins here are among some of the best in the country and Cartagena's tapas are justly famed. Holy Week processions are as moving as those in Seville and Málaga, and music fans will enjoy the Mar de Músicas international music festival in July and the Jazz Festival in November. Flamenco aficionados shouldn't miss the Festival del Cante de las Minas in August, an annual flamenco contest plus concerts held in La Unión, 16 km (10 miles) to the east of the city (www.fundacioncantedelasminas.org).
Best of Murcia
Cartagena by Segway
Cartagena by Trolley Train
Cartagena!
Culinary Stroll Through Cartagena
Jumilla Wine Region
On the Light House Route
Roman Forum District with a Curator
The Andalusian-Spanish Horse
Friday 06 Nov
If you look north of the cathedral (La Seu, or the seat of the bishopric, to Mallorcans) on a map of the city of Palma, you can see around the Plaça Santa Eulàlia a jumble of tiny streets that made up the earliest settlement. Farther out, a ring of wide boulevards traces the fortifications built by the Moors to defend the larger city that emerged by the 12th century. The zigzags mark the bastions that jutted out at regular intervals. By the end of the 19th century, most of the walls had been demolished; the only place where you can still see the massive defenses is at Ses Voltes, along the seafront west of the cathedral.A torrent (streambed) used to run through the middle of the old city, dry for most of the year but often a raging flood in the rainy season. In the 17th century it was diverted to the east, along the moat that ran outside the city walls. Read more Two of Palma's main arteries, La Rambla and the Passeig d'es Born, now follow the stream's natural course. The traditional evening paseo (promenade) takes place on the Born.If you come to Palma by car, park in the garage beneath the Parc de la Mar (the ramp is just off the highway from the airport, as you reach the cathedral) and stroll along the park. Beside it run the huge bastions guarding the Almudaina Palace; the cathedral, golden and massive, rises beyond. Where you exit the garage, there's a ceramic mural by the late Catalan artist and Mallorca resident Joan Miró, facing the cathedral across the pool that runs the length of the park.If you begin early enough, a walk along the ramparts at Ses Voltes from the mirador beside the cathedral is spectacular. The first rays of the sun turn the upper pinnacles of La Seu bright gold and then begin to work their way down the sandstone walls. From the Parc de la Mar, follow Avinguda Antoni Maura past the steps to the palace. Just below the Plaça de la Reina, where the Passeig d'es Born begins, turn left on Carrer de la Boteria into the Plaça de la Llotja (if the Llotja itself is open, don't miss a chance to visit—it's the Mediterranean's finest Gothic-style civic building). From there stroll through the Plaça Drassana to the Museu d'Es Baluard, at the end of Carrer Sant Pere. Retrace your steps to Avinguda Antoni Maura. Walk up the Passeig d'es Born to Plaça Joan Carles I, then right on Avenida de La Unió.
Biking in Palma
Caves of Drach
Helicopter Flightseeing over Palma
Palma Highlights
Tapas Tasting in Palma
Valdemossa & Deiá
Valldemossa & La Granja
Vintage Train to Soller Village
Sat 07 Nov
Saturday 07 Nov
Valencia is a proud city. During the Civil War, it was the last seat of the Republican Loyalist government (1935–36), holding out against Franco's National forces until the country fell to 40 years of dictatorship. Today it represents the essence of contemporary Spain—daring design and architecture along with experimental cuisine—but remains deeply conservative and proud of its traditions. Though it faces the Mediterranean, Valencia's history and geography have been defined most significantly by the River Turia and the fertile floodplain (huerta) that surrounds it. The city has been fiercely contested ever since it was founded by the Greeks. El Cid captured Valencia from the Moors in 1094 and won his strangest victory here in 1099: he died in the battle, but his corpse was strapped into his saddle and so frightened the besieging Moors that it caused their complete defeat. Read more In 1102 his widow, Jimena, was forced to return the city to Moorish rule; Jaume I finally drove them out in 1238. Modern Valencia was best known for its frequent disastrous floods until the River Turia was diverted to the south in the late 1950s. Since then the city has been on a steady course of urban beautification. The lovely bridges that once spanned the Turia look equally graceful spanning a wandering municipal park, and the spectacularly futuristic Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències (City of Arts and Sciences), most of it designed by Valencia-born architect Santiago Calatrava, has at last created an exciting architectural link between this river town and the Mediterranean. If you're in Valencia, an excursion to Albufera Nature Park is a worthwhile day trip.
Art of Paella & Wine Tasting
Meal Included Minimal Activity
Cava & Caves
Lladró Porcelain
Torres de Serranos, La Lonja and Central Market (Limited Mobility Friendly)
UNESCO Valencia Silk Road Tour
Valencia Past & Present
Valencia by Bike
Valencia by Segway
Xátiva and Borgia Dynasty with Lunch
Barcelona City Sights
Barcelona Icons: Sagrada Familia & Liceu
Club de Golf de Barcelona
Flamenco Evening at Tablao de Carmen
Gothic Quarter & Public Markets
Helicopter over Barcelona
Sagrada Familia and Gothic Quarter (Limited Mobility Friendly)
Many first-time visitors may find the Tangier port such a rude awakening that they fail to see the beauty of the place. Simply walk quickly past these unsolicited assistants, pretend you know exactly where you're going, and show no sign that you're bewildered. Once you hit your stride and start going places with confidence, Tangier has a charm that this raucous undercurrent only enhances: crumbling Kasbah walls, intimate corners in the serpentine medina, piles of bougainvillea, French balconies, Spanish cafés, and other remnants of times gone by. Tangier is a melting pot—a place where it's not uncommon to see sophisticated Moroccans sharing sidewalks with rural Rifi Berbers. Travelers from around the world all converge on the African continent's nearest point eager for a look into a cultural potpourri that has taken thousands of years to blend.
Asilah, the Pearl of Morocco
Chefchaouen, the charming Blue City
Meal Included Extensive Activity New Tour Programme
Cooking Experience at the Blue Door
Religions of Morocco
Tangier Exploration
Tetouan - UNESCO Heritage
FUNCHAL MADEIRA
When colonists arrived in Madeira in July 1419, the valley they settled was a mass of bright yellow fennel, or funchal in Portuguese. Today the bucolic fields are gone, and the community that replaced them is the self-governing island's bustling business and political center. Funchal is the only town of any size on the island and the base for the the bulk of its tourism thanks to the plethora of hotels, restaurants, bars, cafés, phenomenal coastal and hillside views, and—of course—Madeira wine.Despite the tropical vegetation, Funchal's center feels decidedly Portuguese, though there's a heavy British influence, which is a holdover from the mid-16th-century marriage of the Portuguese princess Catherine of Bragança to England's King Charles II. The marriage contract gave the English the right to live on Madeira, plus valuable trade concessions. Charles in turn gave Madeirans an exclusive franchise to sell wine to England and its colonies. Read more The island's wine boom lured many British families to Funchal, and many blue-blooded Europeans and famous vacationers such as George Bernard Shaw and Winston Churchill followed the pack to enjoy the mild winters.
Cable Car & Toboggan Ride
Caves of São Vicente
Golf at Palheiro
Madeira & Wine Tasting
Monte & Botanical Gardens
Panoramic Madeira
Silver Shore Privato: Private Car & Driver/Guide (Full Day)
Silver Shore Privato: Private Car & Driver/Guide (Half Day)
Silver Shore Privato: Private Van & Driver/Guide (Full Day)
Silver Shore Privato: Private Van & Driver/Guide (Half Day)
Walking Madeira's Trails
Arrive 4:00 PM -
If you associate Puerto Rico's capital with the colonial streets of Old San Juan, then you know only part of the picture. San Juan is a major metropolis, radiating out from the bay on the Atlantic Ocean that was discovered by Juan Ponce de León. More than a third of the island's nearly 4 million citizens proudly call themselves sanjuaneros. The city may be rooted in the past, but it has its eye on the future. Locals go about their business surrounded by colonial architecture and towering modern structures.By 1508 the explorer Juan Ponce de León had established a colony in an area now known as Caparra, southeast of present-day San Juan. He later moved the settlement north to a more hospitable peninsular location. In 1521, after he became the first colonial governor, Ponce de León switched the name of the island—which was then called San Juan Bautista in honor of St. Read more John the Baptist—with that of the settlement of Puerto Rico ("rich port").Defended by the imposing Castillo San Felipe del Morro (El Morro) and Castillo San Cristóbal, Puerto Rico's administrative and population center remained firmly in Spain's hands until 1898, when it came under U.S. control after the Spanish-American War. Centuries of Spanish rule left an indelible imprint on the city, particularly in the walled area now known as Old San Juan. The area is filled with cobblestone streets and brightly painted, colonial-era structures, and its fortifications have been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.Old San Juan is a monument to the past, but most of the rest of the city is planted firmly in the 21st century and draws migrants island-wide and from farther afield to jobs in its businesses and industries. The city captivates residents and visitors alike with its vibrant lifestyle as well as its balmy beaches, pulsing nightclubs, globe-spanning restaurants, and world-class museums. Once you set foot in this city, you may never want to leave.
Bacardi Mixology Seminar
Cueva Ventana
Mofongo & Mojito
Nighttime Kayaking
Extensive Activity Evening Excursion New Tour Programme
Old San Juan Walking Tour
Extensive Activity Free Shorex
San Juan City Tour & Airport Transfer
San Juan Culinary Walking Tour
San Juan Highlights (Limited Mobility Friendly)
Wheelchair Accessible - Must Transfer from Chair New Tour Programme Free Shorex
Silver Shore Privato - Private Van with Driver/Guide - Full Day
Silver Shore Privato - Private Van with Driver/Guide - Half Day
FORT LAUDERDALE (Florida)
Like many southeast Florida neighbors, Fort Lauderdale has long been revitalizing. In a state where gaudy tourist zones often stand aloof from workaday downtowns, Fort Lauderdale exhibits consistency at both ends of the 2-mile Las Olas corridor. The sparkling look results from upgrades both downtown and on the beachfront. Matching the downtown's innovative arts district, cafés, and boutiques is an equally inventive beach area, with hotels, cafés, and shops facing an undeveloped shoreline, and new resort-style hotels replacing faded icons of yesteryear. Despite wariness of pretentious overdevelopment, city leaders have allowed a striking number of glittering high-rises. Nostalgic locals and frequent visitors fret over the diminishing vision of sailboats bobbing in waters near downtown; however, Fort Lauderdale remains the yachting capital of the world, and the water toys don't seem to be going anywhere.
Everglades Airboat Tour with Airport Transfer
Flamingo Gardens & Wildlife Sanctuary with Airport Transfer
Villa Vizcaya & Miami Highlight with Airport Transfer (MIA Airport only)
Up to 1389 ft² including veranda
Up to 1873 - 1970 ft² including veranda
Superior Veranda Suite
Spacious suites – over 80% with private verandas
Multiple restaurants, diverse cuisine, open-seating dining
24-hour dining service
Complimentary transportation into town in most ports
Ship - Silver Moon
Silver Moon Dining Options: 6 Restaurants
This elegant bar and grill incorporates the best that the sea has to offer. Created to temper your taste buds, designer dishes such as royal crab, blue lobster and Verbena infused red snapper in a sea salt crust are showcased alongside the best steaks offshore.
Silver Note
A sumptuous, intimate setting with a lively, joie de vivre ambience is the perfect place to dine, dance and dream the night away… Small plate tapas-style dishes of mouth-watering international cuisine perfectly compliment the rich, exciting entertainment as the smooth sounds of jazz and blues gently caress your ears.
Reflecting Silversea's Italian heritage, this emblematic street in Naples divides the city in two and is renowned for its pizzerias. Therefore it is unsurprising that Spaccanapoli reflects the true Italian way of life: the freshest ingredients, authentic dough and a perfect sense of the fabled Italian lust for life.
Kaiseki
The fine art of Kaiseki lies in its meticulous preparation and beautiful presentation. With teppanyaki available exclusively for evening diners, daytime menus feature a varied and balanced menu of sushi, sashimi and other raw Asian-inspired dishes. Per guest reservation fee of US$60.
six Restaurants
The Fitness Centre brings together elite design with programs that are specifically created for your body type and needs.
Observation Library
Arts Café
Hosting various, exciting exhibitions, the Arts Café will showcase painting and sculptures from a broad range of talent.
Pool Deck & Jacuzzi Area
Take a dip in the pool, relax in one of the whirlpools or simply soak up the view from one of the sunbeds, while your pool attendant anticipates your every whim.
Maintain your fresh look throughout your luxury cruise at the Beauty Salon. Services are available for men and women.
Venetian Lounge
Welcome to Venetian Lounge, a place where the arts of theatre and music meet with full-scale productions and feature films.
Pre & Post Cruise Extensions and Hotels
BARCELONA GRANDE HOTEL
BARCELONA SIMPLY HOTEL
FT. LAUDERDALE SIMPLY HOTEL
FT. LAUDERDALE GRANDE HOTEL
ATHENS (Piraeus) To MONTE CARLO
MONTE CARLO To BARCELONA


This timber framed 2 bedroom plus sleep-out cottage has covered outdoor living front and rear. The bathroom includes bath, shower and vanity with a separate wc. Situated in the popular Hilton community with cafes, public transport and shops in good proximity, at this price this property won't be available for long.
Located just minutes to local shopping, Fremantle, the beach, freeway, hospitals and universities.
Please call Sami 0430 970 409 to arrange a viewing. Alternatively refer to 'Open For Inspection' or email agent and choose a time that suits you. You can also register your details and we will notify you of any upcoming inspections, time changes or cancellations to inspections.


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Reflections on How to Fight Hindutva
The fight against Hindutva cannot be from the outside, it has to be from within. It has to get to the core structure of how it oscillates between the real and the unreal.
Representational image. | Image Courtesy: Scroll.in
Hindutva is a strange animal, quasi-real, and quasi-manufactured. Part of it is optics and part of it is organic. At one level it connects the social and the political, and at another level it disconnects the political from the social. It is partially based on fear, intimidation and violence, while partially it represents a growing social consent. It is both concrete and abstract, it is imagined, hysterical and delusional and therefore, unverifiable but also speaks to the everyday experiences and instituted 'lay morality'.
It grows with fake news, propaganda and falsification but links to a social reality that is based on real emotions, anxieties and grievances. It reifies existing social identities and the prejudices that come with them but also carves out new identities and undermines the very reality it connects to. Hindutva refers to the essence of a certain cultural ethos but is also deeply ideological in giving the essence a specific kind of majoritarian direction. The fight against Hindutva has to begin by correctly identifying these two separate but interconnected realms. Hindutva is about creating a majoritarian political system that is not just against the minorities (religious or otherwise), but in fact, is against the majority in the sense of bringing everything under control and into a monolithic order.
The fight against Hindutva is complex because it has to look for the correct kind of an entry point, which is not readily available but has to be created by political resistance that includes the majority – which has conflicting interests. Hindutva has `succeeded` by precisely doing this so far.
Also watch: Part 1 : Fake News is Being Used to Whip up Jingoism
To begin with, Hindutva is defined at its core by its anti-Muslim agenda. Though it is not clear as to what it `finally` wishes to do with millions of Muslims. It oscillates between making them secondary citizens, to their purging from India, including fantasising mass migrations, and may be, mass conversions. It has to create a consensus for this, which is not easy in any modern democracy. If one observes closely, Hindutva makes routine concessions about the Muslim we meet in the concrete everyday life. Adherents of Hindutva would say, 'not every Muslim is bad', 'there are many good Muslims', and 'there are also Muslims who are nationalists'. This concession is to relate with the everyday experience of knowing and interacting with Muslims. Average Hindu in the street does not suffer from Islamophobia as it is often made out to be. Many would concede they personally know Muslims who are compassionate, helpful and respectful but the problem is with the 'community' in the abstract sense. It shifts between a verifiable concrete and a manufactured abstract narrative that is unverifiable.
The abstract, wholesome dislike for the community or everyday communalism is backed by some random events, fake news, and manufactured hatred that needs to be kept up so as not to subside. Even the most hardened of Hindutva supporter would make routine concessions that there is no need to hate all the Muslims, no need to hate them as a community but it is a fight against 'some elements' within the Muslims – who are dangerous fundamentalists – which gives the sense of making it concrete. The discourse and political mobilisation oscillates between the concrete and the abstract and the imagined. What is verifiable in the concrete is subverted or negated by an abstract claim about the community, and abstract and wholesome hatred is countered by random but concrete examples, sometime real but most of it manufactured; the 'Hindu mind' is kept under suspended animation, never clear and certain about his or her own concrete experience.
Similarly, Hindutva is also about a certain authentic cultural subaltern represented by nativism that has been sidelined by the elite. It is about the authentic core as against a superfluous elite that lives by borrowed or by imitating and aping, mostly 'Western' cultural life. Here again, the idea of the elite and the authentic shifts and oscillates between the concrete and the imagined. We do not know who this superfluous elite actually is. It is certainly not the corporate, not the Multi National Corporations, not the political elite constituted by public representatives, and not the social elites constituted by caste Hindus. The empty idea of superfluous elite shifts as per the context, it could be the opposition parties, it could be the entitled Naamdars, it could be those who are corrupt with black money, it could be in effect anybody who opposes the Hindutva brigade. Elite is mostly an abstract and an imagined variable. It is therefore possible for a policy like demonetisation to claim to have cracked down on the corrupt elite we hear about regularly, but the majority has never actually seen them or knows how they look like or what they do. It therefore makes it plausible for Narendra Modi, in course of the campaign in Gujarat to claim that some higher ups met to conspire against him and India, sitting right in the heart of Delhi. It only feeds on the concrete distrust the majority has about the abstract elites. It further makes the imagined elites concrete by communicating in a cultural idiom that is local, everyday and subaltern in its social location. The majority identify the credibility of the claims through the cultural idioms that are familiar, and verifiable.
The fight against Hindutva cannot afford to merely fight the optics and falsity of the claims because it is backed by something verifiable in the concrete. In fact, the more we do that, the more the majority of cultural subaltern get convinced by the claims of the Hindutva, even if they are false. The fight against Hindutva cannot be from the outside, it has to be from within. It has to get to the core structure of how it oscillates between the real and the unreal. It has to be not about `refusal` but about reoccupying the sites that majority think and make sense of in their everyday life, which could include the idea of family, nation, religion, and community. This is not to accept what exists, because much of it includes prejudice and exclusions, but about resignifying what they mean. This cannot be a sanitised secular or a normative process that stands at a distance and self-enclosed but a politics that can carefully shift between the concrete that can subvert the manufactured reality, and an idealism that speaks to the existing reality.
The author teaches at the Centre for Political Studies, JNU. He recently published his book India after Modi: Populism and the Right. The views are personal.
Also read: 'Hindutva Is Waging a War Against Those Whom it Calls Others'
Ideology of Hindutva
Fight Against Hindutva
Communalisation


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Home > About WEL Networks > News and Media > Media Release: Sale of UFF Holdings Limited completed
Media Release: Sale of UFF Holdings Limited completed
Electricity distributors WEL Networks Limited (WEL) and Waipa Networks Limited (Waipa) today announced the completion of the sale of UFF Holdings Limited (UFFH), the holding company for Hamilton-based fibre business Ultrafast Fibre Limited, to First Sentier Investors (formerly First State Investments).
This follows the announcement on 12 May 2020 that First Sentier Investors has agreed to purchase WEL's 85% majority shareholding and Waipa Network's 15% shareholding in UFFH for $854 million, subject to completion adjustments, of which a consideration of $200 million payable to WEL is deferred for 18 months from completion. The $200 million deferred payment is supported by obligations enforceable against the Purchaser.
First Sentier Investors is pleased to have reached completion of the transaction for its managed funds, the Global Diversified Infrastructure Fund and the Wholesale Infrastructure Income Fund, and looks forward to supporting and growing the business.
WEL Group Chairman Rob Campbell says: "The UFF sale enables WEL Networks to strengthen the core electricity business balance sheet, allowing us to pursue new opportunities and invest in innovative energy solutions in accordance with our business strategy. The investment in fibre has both delivered valuable infrastructure to our communities and proved a very successful investment for WEL."
WEL acknowledges the effort of all parties involved in reaching this outcome and will use the proceeds of sale to pay down debt. However, the WEL Networks $150 million subordinated bond, which matures in August 2023, will remain in place.
For media enquiries:
Samantha McPherson, Communication Advisor, WEL Networks
samantha.mcpherson@wel.co.nz | 021 198 1093


1950's style classic plain satin panel suspender belt with 12 straps in sizes up to a UK 22. Exceptionally well made to the highest standards from experienced manufacturers and hand finished in the UK, the retro style has been adapted from original patterns and made up in a lovely stretch satin making them comfortable to wear as well as being flattering – and very reasonably priced.
The suspender belt sits on the waist and has flatteringly deep front and side panels, rising up over the bottom with a choice of 3 soft backed hook & eye fastenings to ensure a perfect fit. There are 12 x 19mm wide suspender straps and central satin bow, and strong metal clasps and adjusters. Belt is worn with satin cone bra.
All in all a top quality UK made suspender belt perfect for all day use.
High waisted lace waspie suspender belt with hook and eye fastening and 6 suspender straps in black or white.


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Homecoming in Sri Lanka
20,500 landmines destroyed so families can return home for the first time in over 25 years.
"Finally coming home and being in mine-free land after the conflict, brings me ultimate peace. Now I can see a better future for my grandchildren without worrying about landmines."
Muniyandi Madaththi, age 73, Muhamalai, Sri Lanka.
For almost a decade, Muhamalai was the active frontline between Government forces and the Tamil Tigers during Sri Lanka's devastating civil war. As the fighting consumed homes and villages, thousands of families were forced to flee, leaving their land and livelihoods behind.
The conflict ended in 2009 but Muhamalai had been transformed into one of the most densely laid minefields in the world—equivalent in size to three times the area of Central Park in New York and topped with tens of thousands of items of unexploded ordnance from relentless years of crossfire.
Like many residents from Muhamalai, Muniyandi Madaththi, had to abandon her home multiple times and was unable to return for many years because of the landmines.
"We left our land in Muhamalai two times. The first time was in 1995, and the second time was in 2009. After our first displacement, we rebuilt our house again in 2006. However, unfortunately, again, we had to leave in 2009. Our home and land were again destroyed as the conflict peaked. "
In 2012, HALO began work to clear the minefield, dividing it into sectors because it is so vast. Last week we celebrated clearing the latest two sectors where over 20,500 landmines, more than 3,500 items of unexploded ordnance and over 50,000 items of small arms ammunition have been carefully found and destroyed by our dedicated Sri Lankan team.
Landmines destroyed
Anti-tank mines destroyed
Unexploded ordnance destroyed
Small arms ammunition destroyed
Now the land is safe, families are finally able to return. Homes are being rebuilt, land is being cultivated, a school and some local shops have already opened and the mains electricity has been reconnected.
V. Saravanabavan was one of the people who attended the handover ceremony last week. His family had been forced to abandon their home in 1995 when the conflict was at its height. Over 25 years later it is finally safe for him to come home, to reclaim his land and livelihood and to be free from the fear of landmines.
"We heave a sigh of peace. We cannot possibly repay what The HALO Trust did for us. On behalf of all beneficiaries, I extend my deep gratitude to HALO for making this land liveable again."
V. Saravanabavan, age 55, Muhamalai, Sri Lanka
Since starting work in Sri Lanka, HALO has been able to support over 280,000 people to rebuild their lives. This has been made possible by the dedication of our 1,200-strong Sri Lankan workforce, the generous support of international donors, coordination by the National Mine Action Centre and valuable oversight of the Government of Sri Lanka.
This work is made possible thanks to the support of:
The Government of the United States
The Government of Canada
The German Government
The Government of Japan
The Government of Norway
The Government of Switzerland
The UK Government


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Malin Credit Societies 1901
The parish of Malin had the unusual distinction of having two agricultural credit societies in 1901. The Aughaclay Society was established on 21 July 1901 with a loan from the Department of Agriculture. By 1914, deposits amounted to £1,764. Most deposits were for sums of between £200 and £300. Loans were available to those living in the parish. The Chairman was Fr. James Morris, PP, a native of Greencastle in Co. Tyrone who was educated at the Irish College in Paris. Interest of 4% was paid on deposits and loans were charged at 5%. It was a prosperous time in north Inishowen and by 1910 there were 325 depositors. In 1911, 171 loans were given out and the average was around £6. A total of over £1,000 was paid out in loans that year.
The Malin Head Society was much smaller and had only a few hundred on deposit. Payments were not allowed by instalments and the full amount had to be paid at the end of the term. Typically £10 would buy a cow and £20 would be needed for a horse. Both societies were well managed which was fortunate as there was no state control. In fact the history of loan funds in Donegal is a sorry one usually ending in bankruptcy. Both Malin societies incurred no bad debts.
Malin Town had also a thriving post office savings bank which in 1901 had deposits of £4,579 so the parish had three financial institutions. There was also a bank in Carndonagh and some Malin people would have money on deposit but such banks catered mainly for strong farmers and landlords.
Fr. Morris admitted there was a substantial money-lending scheme in operation in the parish run by local shopkeepers but he was unable to quantify it, although he had suspicions. Fr. Morris attempted to stop people going into debt with local shopkeepers and suggested they stop buying tobacco and clear off shop debts instead. Tobacco was cheap in the area as bales were offloaded from sailing ships returning from America and these were usually transported to Derry. A lucrative tobacco smuggling trade was in existence and smoking was rife in the community even among the poor.
For further information on deposits in savings banks see Donegal Annual 2011. Statistics such as those given above are useful to historians who attempt to assess levels of poverty. It is clear from these figures that one hundred years ago there were hundreds of families living comfortably in Inishowen. To close, I find it hard to accept that all shopkeepers were gombeen men. My grandparents ran a pub and grocery store in the 1800s at Termacroragh, Culdaff and I never heard any stories about exploitation. On the contrary, Cardinal O'Donnell of Raphoe once said that shopkeepers were the mainstay against famine in Donegal because they were prepared to give credit when food was scarce and crops were being planted. Most people paid off their debts in harvest time. It was customary to give children a few sweets when they were sent on messages to local shops. I estimate that in my own area, there was a shop within walking distance of everyone, certainly within two miles. The last village shop was Mary O'Donnell's in Ballyharry.


Approx 30 seeds, suitable for sowing indoors or outdoors. Attractive variegated foliage.
Topaeolum majus (hardy annual) - the bright range of colours are complemented by the cream variegation of the leaves, which ensures plants are attractive even before the flowers appear. Unlike some nasturtiums, alaska carries it's blooms above it's foliage.
If you would like further information about Unwins 'Alaska Mix' Nasturtium Seeds, please contact our garden centre at Shawbury just outside Shrewsbury in Shropshire, by calling 01939 251315 or emailing.


I checked my phone 587 times today. Out of habit, probably. I've been checking it every day for 5 years, 11 months and 4 days.
But it never rang. Nor did any emails come through.
Hoping I'm better at this on Day 2.