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Guest Artist Master Class: Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano
Saturday, June 4, 2016 - 10:30am
Seattle Symphony's 2015-16 Artist in Residence, pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet, leads a master class with UW music students.
Jean-Yves Thibaudet
One of today's most sought-after soloists, Jean-Yves Thibaudet has the rare ability to combine poetic musical sensibilities and dazzling technical prowess. His talent at coaxing subtle and surprising colors and textures from each work he plays led The New York Times to write that "every note he fashions is a pearl…the joy, brilliance and musicality of his performance could not be missed." Thibaudet, who brings natural charisma and remarkable musical depth to his career, has performed around the world for more than 30 years and recorded more than 50 albums.
Jean-Yves Thibaudet's 2014-2015 season is an intriguing combination of a wide variety of music: a balance of orchestral appearances, chamber music, and recitals and a repertoire that includes familiar pieces, unfamiliar work by well-known composers, and new compositions. He also follows his passion for education and fostering the next generation of performers by becoming the first-ever resident artist at the Colburn School of Los Angeles this year and the following two. Summer 2014 sees him touring with Mariss Jansons and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Edinburgh International Festival, the Lucerne Festival, and the Ljubljana Festival. Mr. Thibaudet then travels to play Gershwin paired with a new piano concerto "Er Huang" by Quigang Chen with Long Yu conducting to open the China Philharmonic season in Beijing—a program both artists will repeat in Paris with the Orchestre de Paris. In October, with the Philadelphia Orchestra and its Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin, he performs the Khachaturian Piano Concerto, which he also plays in the spring with the Cincinnati Symphony and on tour in Germany and Austria with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin under the baton of Tugan Sohkiev. After concerts in Prague, Mr. Thibaudet embarks on a US tour with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra in November, reaching both East and West coasts with a grand finale at Carnegie Hall, where he performs Liszt's Piano Concerto No. 2. The end of the year is a whirlwind of Gershwin, Ravel, and Liszt with the Radio Symphony Orchestra Stuttgart, the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne.
In the new year, audiences can hear Mr. Thibaudet play MacMillan's Piano Concerto No. 3, which he premiered in 2011, with the St. Louis Symphony and New York Philharmonic, both conducted by Stéphane Denève, and then Liszt with the Cleveland Orchestra and the Naples Philharmonic. After playing a duo recital with Gautier Capuçon in his native France at the Festival de Pâques in Aix-en-Provence, Mr. Thibaudet returns to the United States to play Ravel's Piano Concerto in G Major—one of his signature pieces from the French repertoire for which he is renowned—with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Bernard Haitink's direction, in addition to Poulenc and Fauré with the Boston Symphony Chamber Players. Under Michael Tilson's Thomas's baton, he performs Bernstein's Age of Anxiety in San Francisco, where he celebrates Thomas's 70th birthday earlier in the year by playing the Liszt Hexaméron with Emanuel Ax, Jeremy Denk, Yuja Wang, and Marc-André Hamelin. Mr. Thibaudet performs Ravel's Piano Concerto for the Left Hand with Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic before interpreting both the Ravel Piano Concerto and Messiaen's Turangalîla with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Esa-Pekka Salonen as part of the orchestra's 2015 Reveries and Passions Festival. He then travels to Europe to perform with the Frankfurter Museumsorchester (Venzago), Dresden Philharmonic (de Billy), and the Munich Philharmonic (Bychkov), among others, before ending the season in dramatic fashion with Beethoven's Choral Fantasy with the Orchestre de L'Opéra de Paris under the baton of Music Director Philippe Jordan.
A distinguished recording artist, Jean-Yves Thibaudet has been nominated for two Grammy Awards and won the Schallplattenpreis, the Diapason d'Or, Choc du Monde de la Musique, a Gramophone Award, two Echo awards, and the Edison Prize. In 2010 he released Gershwin, featuring big jazz band orchestrations of Rhapsody in Blue, variations on "I Got Rhythm," and Concerto in F live with the Baltimore Symphony and music director Marin Alsop. On his Grammy-nominated recording Saint-Saëns, Piano Concerti Nos. 2&5, released in 2007, Thibaudet is joined by long-standing collaborator Charles Dutoit and the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. Thibaudet's Aria—Opera Without Words, which was released the same year, features transcriptions of arias by Saint-Saëns, R. Strauss, Gluck, Korngold, Bellini, J. Strauss II, Grainger, and Puccini; some of the transcriptions are by Mikhashoff, Sgambati, and Brassin, and others are Thibaudet's own. Among his other recordings are Satie: The Complete Solo Piano Music and the jazz albums Reflections on Duke: Jean-Yves Thibaudet Plays the Music of Duke Ellington and Conversations With Bill Evans, his tribute to two of jazz history's legends.
Known for his style and elegance on and off the traditional concert stage, Thibaudet has had an impact on the world of fashion, film and philanthropy. His concert wardrobe is by celebrated London designer Vivienne Westwood. In 2004 he served as president of the prestigious Hospices de Beaune, an annual charity auction in Burgundy, France. He had an onscreen cameo in the Bruce Beresford feature film on Alma Mahler, Bride of the Wind, and his playing is showcased throughout the soundtrack. Thibaudet was the soloist on Dario Marianelli's Oscarand Golden Globe-award winning score for the film Atonement and his Oscar-nominated score for Pride and Prejudice. He recorded the soundtrack of the 2012 film Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, composed by Alexandre Desplat. He was also featured in the 2000 PBS/Smithsonian special Piano Grand!, a piano performance program hosted by Billy Joel to pay tribute to the 300th anniversary of the piano.
Jean-Yves Thibaudet was born in Lyon, France, where he began his piano studies at age five and made his first public appearance at age seven. At twelve, he entered the Paris Conservatory to study with Aldo Ciccolini and Lucette Descaves, a friend and collaborator of Ravel. At age fifteen, he won the Premier Prix du Conservatoire and, three years later, the Young Concert Artists Auditions in New York City. In 2001 the Republic of France awarded Thibaudet the prestigious Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, and in 2002 he was awarded the Premio Pegasus from the Spoleto Festival in Italy for his artistic achievements and his long-standing involvement with the festival. In 2007 he received the Victoire d'Honneur, a lifetime career achievement award and the highest honor given by France's Victoires de la Musique. The Hollywood Bowl honored Thibaudet for his musical achievements by inducting him into its Hall of Fame in 2010. Previously a Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, Thibaudet was promoted to the title of Officier by the French Minister of Culture in 2012.


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Kendall Jenner Steps Out in the Ultimate Supermodel Uniform
Photo: Terence Patrick/Courtesy of CBS
Last night, Kendall Jenner made an appearance on The Late Late Show With James Corden, which was being guest-hosted by none other than Harry Styles. On the episode, the two stars—who reportedly dated at one point—played a round of "Spill Your Guts," where Jenner was asked a series of questions that she would have to answer truthfully or eat something disgusting (cod sperm was on the menu, for example). But while that was all fun and games, let's get to the fashion! For her latest TV appearance, Jenner stepped out in the ultimate supermodel uniform of a skin-tight catsuit and heels.
The catwalk star's look of choice? That would be a rare vintage designer outfit, of course. She channeled the vampy looks of '90s supers such as Linda Evangelista and Cindy Crawford with a graphic, body-skimming one-piece; her jumpsuit was by Salvatore Ferragamo, which was originally modeled by Evangelista on the runway back in 1991. The statement piece was covered in a colorful shoe print, which Jenner allowed to be the focal point with a pair of barely-there, clear PVC heels. She didn't accessorize with anything else, either—because when you're wearing a glam, Catwoman-esque fit, that's all you really need.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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LENT CHALLENGE RECEIVES BISHOP'S BLESSING2019-02-24
Ely's Bishop Stephen is encouraging support of SEED's 'Small Change Challenge' during Lent to help transform lives in southern Africa.
Traditionally, people give up something for Lent. This year, we are inviting people to make a small lifestyle change and to donate the money saved to help empower disadvantaged communities in Zimbabwe who have no luxuries to give up.
Expressing his support, the Bishop of Ely, the Right Rev Stephen Conway, said, "I am delighted to endorse SEED's "Small Change Challenge" for Lent. Little simplifications to our lifestyles make generosity possible even in a harsh economic climate. For rural communities in Zimbabwe, they translate into much more than we are giving up. I encourage you to support this campaign."
"Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?" (Isaiah 58:6-7)
Marie Nazombe, one of the founders of The SEED Project, adds, Your Lent sacrifice could enable a rural family to plant trees that provide them with a sustainable source of cooking fuel, could pay for intensive training for a new micro-savings scheme group, or could sponsor a parent to learn new skills so they can support their own family.
Please invite your friends, colleagues and family to join in the challenge, she continues. Together, we can make a real difference in Zimbabwe."
Since it was founded in 2005, the charity has had a growing impact on families trapped by poverty in Zimbabwe:
One group that SEED's community development workers have been helping to establish a market gardening project was recently offered a contract with an international export company.
In 2009, volunteer trainers took SEED's health training into 24 different communities, reaching almost three-quarters of a million (730,000) citizens in Zimbabwe with basic messages about hygiene, healthy living, disease prevention, and treating common illnesses.
SEED has also trained 130 parents with income-generating skills. Given an average family size of eight, that's the lives of over 1,000 people transformed for the better.
To find out more about or to donate to SEED's Small Change Challenge, visit the campaign page.
Lent 2019 begins on Ash Wednesday 6th March and finishes on Holy Saturday, 20th April.
Previous News: A tree is for life - not just for Christmas!
Next News: Volunteer - Secretary to the Trustees
Chief Gore and Robert Kazunga, SEED's Senior Community Development Worker
Sponsor a Parent
Sponsor a parent ... and they will soon be supporting their whole extended family, making a valuable contribution to the community in which they live,...(more)
See also: Trees for Life


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Quantum simulation could help flights run on time
A powerful new form of computing could help scientists design new types of materials for nanoelectronics, allow airlines to solve complex logistical problems to ensure flights run on time, and tackle traffic jams to keep cars flowing more freely on busy roads.
While modern digital computers are capable of impressive feats of calculation, there are some problems that even the most advanced supercomputers struggle with. But researchers believe new computers that tap into the power of quantum mechanics, which govern the strange behaviour of microscopic particles like bosons, fermions, and anyons could tackle these problems in a matter of seconds.
Building general purpose quantum computers has proven to be exceptionally difficult and currently, only a handful of expensive machines are under development.
Some scientists are instead taking another approach by building computing systems known as analogue quantum simulators in an attempt to find a shortcut to some of the answers quantum computers promise to provide.
These simulators are designed to explore specific properties of quantum physics by modelling how the smallest particles in the universe might behave. This in turn can be applied to solve complex problems in the wider world that are currently impossible to work out or could take a lifetime to do so using classical computers.
'The analogy I really like is that analogue quantum simulators are a bit like a wind tunnel,' said Professor Andrew Daley, a physicist at Strathclyde University, UK, and a member of the PASQuanS project. 'A couple of decades ago it was impossible to simulate air flow on a computer so instead you would build a scale model and put it in a wind tunnel.
'But with analogue quantum simulation, the scaling goes the other way – rather than making a smaller version, you are making a bigger one. This makes it more controllable and so it is easier to learn the details of how something might work.'
'We can take a problem from somewhere else and map it onto the interaction between the atoms or ions.'
Prof. Andrew Daley, Strathclyde University, UK
Scaled up
Bringing together a team of researchers from around Europe, the project is attempting to build some of the most powerful analogue quantum simulators to date using atoms and ions as their scaled-up models of subatomic particles.
For example, ultracold atoms, which have been chilled to just a few degrees above absolute zero, can be suspended in a lattice formed by laser light to simulate how electrons might move in a crystal. So far, state-of-the-art quantum simulators use around 100 ultracold atoms or up to 20 ions in their models, but the team is hoping to boost their systems to have more than 1,000 atoms and up to 50 ions.
This could push the power of these simulators far beyond what is possible with classical computation in a far shorter timescale than would be possible by building a general quantum computer, says Prof. Daley.
A key challenge is making the simulators more controllable and programmable. The researchers involved in the project are developing new techniques for controlling the atoms, such as trapping them with laser 'tweezers', exciting select atoms into high energy states or moving them so they interact in different ways.
'The programmable bit is all about making these systems highly controllable, in a well calibrated way, on the level of individual lattice sites, individual ions or individual atoms,' said Prof. Daley.
While these simulators could help physicists solve taxing questions about the behaviour of particles in quantum systems, they can also be used to address larger real-world problems, too.
Quantum annealing algorithms, for example, exploit a quirk of quantum physics whereby subatomic particles, atoms and larger molecules can find the path of least resistance when changing energy states. This can be compared to trying to roll a ball up a hill to reach a deeper valley on the other side – if the ball is not given enough of a push, it will not have the energy to reach the peak of the hill and will simply roll backwards. Quantum particles, by comparison, can bypass the energy peaks they have to surmount by simply tunnelling through them.
Optimising
This ability to find low-energy states more easily means that quantum annealing can be used to find ways of optimising complicated traffic networks or convoluted logistics chains.
'We can take a problem from somewhere else and map it onto the interaction between the atoms or ions,' said Prof. Daley. 'Then we can start asking questions to find the lowest energy configuration that is possible.'
Major companies such as Airbus, Total, Bosch, Electricité de France (EDF) and Siemens have already expressed interest in exploring this approach. Researchers from the companies are working with the project in an attempt to find potential applications that can be applied to their commercial operations.
In aircraft, for example, it could be used to help ensure planes and airline crew are in the right place in order for flights to run smoothly.
It could also be used to rapidly model the best way of rerouting traffic on busy roads to avoid congestion and reduce pollution.
'We have set up an end user forum to get specific ideas of the kind of problems that can be implemented on analogue quantum simulation platforms,' said Prof. Daley. 'These are big problems that are particularly interesting to industry that we could then imitate on our systems.'
The power of quantum simulators goes beyond finding ways to optimise processes. Prof. Daley and his colleagues say one of the first applications of their quantum simulators will be to help design new materials, including for nanoelectronics and superconductors.
This is something that the Qombs project is also pursuing by creating an analogue quantum simulation to engineer a new generation of material that can produce highly tuneable infrared lasers. The wavelength – or colour – of modern lasers is determined by the elements in the diode used to generate the light.
But by growing crystals that contain different concentrations of metals like aluminium, gallium and arsenic in layers, the researchers behind the project want to create semiconductor materials that can produce laser light at wavelengths that would otherwise be impossible. These devices are known as quantum cascade lasers.
'We are using quantum simulations to optimise and obtain new features that will improve upon the performance that is possible with quantum cascade lasers today,' said Dr Francesco Cappelli, a researcher at the National Institute of Optics in Florence, Italy, and a member of the Qombs team.
By simulating how the electrons and photons might behave in different structures and concentrations of metals, the team hopes to better control the wavelength of light produced by the devices.
If successful, it could lead to devices that can produce light with extremely long wavelengths that extend into the mid and far infrared, something that is currently unattainable.
'These could be used in communication, as the light is not absorbed by the gases in the atmosphere at these wavelengths,' said Dr Cappelli. 'Not only is the atmosphere transparent, but scattering due to humidity and dust is also reduced compared to visible lasers.'
Tuning the lasers to specific wavelengths could also allow them to be used in sensors to detect specific gases, such as pollutants or other harmful substances.
A quantum cascade laser tuned to emit light with the exact wavelength absorbed by nitrogen dioxide, for example, could be used to precisely measure levels of the gas in urban areas.
'Designing semiconductor crystals with these sorts of properties would never be possible on classical computers,' Dr Capelli said.
The research in this article was funded by the EU. If you liked this article, please consider sharing it on social media.
Categories ICT Tags quantum, research, science, technology, transport Post navigation
Aeroplanes could cut emissions by flying on waste cooking oil fuel
Jellyfish researchers want you to start thinking about these creatures for your next meal


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Sachia Vickery's career on the rise heading into Wimbledon
Her breakthrough year includes cracking the top 100 and playing in the main draw of multiple Grand Slam tournaments for the first time
Sachia Vickery plays a return to compatriot Madison Keys during their women's singles first-round match on Day Two of the 2018 French Open in Paris on May 28. Simon Christophe/AFP/Getty Images
By Jerry Bembry	@Jerrybembry
As Sachia Vickery prepares for Wimbledon in this, the breakthrough year of her career, she's asked about the lowest moment she faced to get here.
She's silent for a moment, reflecting.
For Vickery, the 23-year-old from Miramar, Florida, there are many from which to choose.
Maybe it's the hotel room she stayed at during an International Tennis Federation (ITF) stop early in her career in Europe, where the lack of a bathroom drain in the older structure resulted in the entire room flooding each time she took a shower. "One of the worst experiences of my life," Vickery said. "And, by far, the worst hotel room I've ever stayed in."
Or maybe that 2013 Innisbrook event near Tampa, Florida, when Vickery, then 18, found herself crammed in a room with five other girls in a money-saving move. "That's the only affordable option I had that week," said Vickery, who won five matches before losing in the semifinals. "At least as girls lost, the numbers in the room got better."
Or, perhaps, the time spent away from family and friends as she traveled, for as many as 35 weeks a year, while attempting to live up to the early comparisons to Serena Williams. "Not seeing my family and missing out on what was going on at home was hard," Vickery said. "But I had to remind myself that I was getting a chance to see the world at a young age, and that I had goals that I wanted to achieve."
Vickery has yet to arrive at the place she wants to be.
But, over the course of the last year, she's made huge progress as she attempts to join the Williams sisters (Venus and Serena), Sloane Stephens and Madison Keys as a prominent African-American woman in tennis.
After ending 2017 ranked No. 116 in the world, Vickery began the year with what was at the time the best week of tennis in her career. After winning three qualifying matches to reach the main draw of the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand, Vickery beat the No. 5 seed (Lauren Davis) and No. 4 seed (Agnieszka Radwanska in straight sets before losing to Caroline Wozniacki, the 2018 Australian Open champion, in the semifinals.
That run in Auckland elevated Vickery just outside the top 100 (No. 105) and began a momentum shift that leads her this week to play in the second Wimbledon tournament main draw of her six-year career. Vickery, the No. 83 player in the world, will face Markéta Vondroušová (of the Czech Republic, ranked No. 106) in an opening-round match on Tuesday.
For the Florida-born Vickery (her parents are from Guyana), this has been the best year of her career. Two months after her impressive showing in Auckland, Vickery earned the signature win of her career by beating Garbine Muguruza, the No. 3 player in the world, in three sets in the BNP Paribas Open.
She concluded that stunning victory with the Wakanda salute, an action Vickery had doubts she'd be able to attempt, as she had never beaten a top-10 opponent.
"I beat [Eugenie] Bouchard in the first round, and my brother told me to do it if I won the next match," Vickery said.
She agreed, then realized who she was playing.
"I don't think he knew I was playing No. 3 in the world," she said, laughing. "I didn't know I would get the chance, but as soon as the match finished I looked over to him and was like, 'This is my moment.' "
Vickery posted the video on Twitter and Instagram, which exposed her to a new following of fans — many of whom had never heard of her.
"Chadwick Boseman liked my post, and Letitia Wright inboxed me," Vickery said of the star of Black Panther and the Guyana-born actress who played his sister, Yuri, in the blockbuster movie. "It blew up a lot bigger than I expected it would, and that made me happy that doing it had some sort of impact."
Beyond the gesture that made her a social media star, the win over Muguruza gave Vickery confidence that she could live up to the potential of the young phenom who was predicted to be a tennis star when she was the No. 2 ranked 12-year-old player in the United States, hype that only increased as she won the USTA Girls' 18s National Championship in 2013 (which earned her a trip to her first Grand Slam Event, the 2013 US Open).
"Playing the match of my life and beating Muguruza on center court with so many people watching, that was special," Vickery said. "That was my moment to finally show everyone that I can play."
Vickery didn't get a chance to follow up with another Wakanda salute at Indian Wells, as she lost in the next round to the tournament's eventual champion, Naomi Osaka.
But she cracked the top 100 after Indian Wells (she was ranked 89 on March 19) and has stayed there since then.
"I was stuck for a while at that 150 kind of ranking for a few years, so it's definitely a big hurdle for me to get a break into the top hundred," Vickery said. "That had been a goal of mine for a long time, and it was just nice to get over that hump and allow me some breathing room financially."
Vickery, who once worked with the Williams sisters' father, Richard, for a summer, spent a lot of years sweating her finances while grinding it out every week in tournaments that paid little if one didn't advance. The $530 she received after her qualifying match in a tournament in Prague last year didn't cover her airfare or accommodations, but at least it nearly doubled the $228 she made the year before at a 2016 ITF event in Landisville, Pennsylvania.
"At that point, everything you make goes right back into your career," Vickery said. "Staying four or five girls in a room at tournaments was tough. But when I finally got some breathing room, I was able to hire a proper team that has made things a lot easier."
Like a coach and a trainer, and being able to afford to pay for their travel to some trips, which is a given for most established players on tour but wasn't a luxury for Vickery until a year ago. The old adage "you have to spend money to make money" has proven true.
"My results started to build after hiring my new coach and trainer last year," Vickery said. "It was a huge step for me financially once I started playing in the big tournaments, which gave an opportunity to have them travel."
Here's how playing in those bigger tournaments makes ends meet. Just by playing a first-round match (a loss to Keys) at last month's French Open, Vickery earned $47,049.
In advancing to the round of 32 at Indian Wells, she earned $47,170.
Grand Slam tournaments mean big checks just by making an appearance. And so do events rated just below Grand Slams, if the player is able to advance.
Vickery, ranked outside the top 100 going into Indian Wells, had to play and win qualifiers to reach the main draw and a piece of $7.9 million in prize money.
Vickery, now ranked inside the top 100, earned main draw spots at the French Open and Wimbledon (where a first-round appearance is worth $45,542).
The reason she's on pace for a career year in earnings: Vickery is playing in the main draw of two Grand Slam events in the same year for the first time in her career.
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Vickery has earned $147,172 this year. She'll earn at least $45,000 by playing her first match this week at Wimbledon (and more if she advances), which will push her past the $166,186 she made on tour last year.
To be on solid financial ground playing tennis — after years of struggles that put a burden on her mother, who sank her earnings as a paralegal, flight attendant and bartender into her daughter's career — has made the sacrifices Vickery has made in her young life worthwhile.
"I never went to college like my brother. I didn't see my family a lot because I was traveling [most] of the year, and that's a difficult dynamic when you're younger," Vickery said. "It forces you to grow up quickly, and to make decisions on your own, but it's definitely rewarding when you start to approach the levels you always wanted to reach."
And where does she want to be?
To be considered in the same conversation as Stephens (No. 4 in the world, and the 2017 US Open champion and 2018 French Open runner-up), Keys (No. 11 in the world and the 2017 US Open runner-up) and the legendary Williams sisters.
"I'm friendly with Sloane," Vickery said. "And when I trained with Richard Williams when I was 9, I got a chance to see Venus and Serena practice. So I've gotten a ton of advice and encouraging words from them over the years."
Vickery, whose biggest obstacle this year has been racist trolls on social media, understands status will come with victories. She has three ITF career titles, but none on the WTA circuit.
Beating the No. 3 player in the world earlier this year has Vickery confident she'll soon break through.
She really wants to put in the past those stressful days of needing to win qualifier matches to earn a spot in a Grand Slam.
"The tour can be really tough. And believe me, I know, because I've played in a lot of lower-level tournaments," Vickery said. "What I've been able to do so far this year is unbelievable. I just want to keep it going."
Jerry Bembry is a senior writer at The Undefeated. His bucket list items include being serenaded by Lizz Wright, and watching the Knicks play an NBA game in June.
This Story Tagged: Sachia Vickery Tennis Wimbledon Women's Tennis Association


Discordia || How can I participate in Discordia?
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Synopsis: John Sayles, one of the leading independent directors in the world, came to WV in 1983 to film one of the most famous confrontations between laborer and owners in the town of Matewan, Mingo County, WV, 1920. It took him four years to finally finish the film, directing "Brother from another Planet" during that time period. Coal miners, struggling to form a union, are up against company operators and Baldwin-Felts agents. Black and Italian miners, brought in by the company to break the strike, are caught between the two forces. Union activist and ex-Wobbly Joe Kenehan (Chris Cooper), sent to help organize the union, determines to bring the local, black, and Italian groups together. Drawn from an actual incident; the characters of Sheriff Sid Hatfield (David Strathairn), Mayor Cabell Testerman (Josh Mostel), C. E. Lively (Bob Gunton) , and Few Clothes Johnson were based on real people. James Earl Jones plays Few Clothes Johnson, a black coal miner who joins the union to stop massive abuses. The execution of Sheriff Hatfield on the steps of the McDowell County Courthouse steps by Baldwin-Felts agents led to the 1921 Battle of Blair Mountain, the largest armed labor conflict in American history. Music by WV native Hazel Dickens. Nominated for an Oscar by Haskell Wexler for best cinematography. Filmed in Thurmond and the New River Gorge, WV.
In this scene, Chris Cooper's organizer character gives an impassioned speech about the meaning of being in a union, with an explicit attack on racism and other forces that would divide workers.


:: Welcome to ProMar Design home page with the latest informations about the company products and services.
:: ProMar Design is marine design company located in Kastel Novi in Croatia. This company is experienced in providing engineering solutions for shipbuilding industry. Our team of dedicated experts is trained in all aspects of marine design.
:: From initial design and prototyping to detail drawings and material specifications.
:: Combining 100 years of Croatian shipbuilding tradition with latest technology and knowledge is the key of this company's success.
:: ProMar Design uses Aveva Marine with PDMS solutions for shipbuilding industry.
© ProMar Design Ltd. 2010.


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SpaceX Plans to Launch Humans Around the Moon in 2018
Nick Stockton
The mission will use two of SpaceX's long-awaited technologies: a crew-rated capsule, the Crew Dragon, and the high-powered Falcon Heavy rocket.
Kendra Kane/EyeEm/Getty Images
SpaceX is planning to send two private individuals on a trip around the moon sometime next year. In a phone briefing today, CEO Elon Musk gave details of the mission, which would use two of SpaceX's long-awaited technologies: a crew-rated capsule, the Crew Dragon, and the high-powered Falcon Heavy rocket.
The two mystery astronauts will be packed inside the capsule, stacked on top of a Falcon Heavy. Then they'll lift off from Launchpad 39A---the historic slab of concrete used by the Apollo missions. The launchpad is the only piece of equipment in this plan that's been tested: Just a week ago, SpaceX used the pad to launch a Dragon capsule full of supplies to the ISS. The Falcon Heavy and Crew Dragon are still in R&D, with each scheduled for separate test flights later this year. They don't call it a moonshot for nothing.
The private space company has planned to fly humans for a long time: In 2014, NASA awarded both SpaceX and Boeing contracts to fly astronauts to the International Space Station. In a conference call today, SpaceX said that the first of those flights in the new Crew Dragon capsule will likely launch in the second quarter of 2018. That will come after an autonomous, uncrewed mission in the Crew Dragon launches to the ISS, planned for the end of this year.
The 2018 lunar goal comes as something of a surprise. Just six months ago, Musk made another grand proclamation, that 2018 would be the year his company launches its first mission to Mars. Last weekend, SpaceX president Gwynn Shotwell stood in front of Launchpad 39A (and the yet-to-be-launched ISS-bound Falcon 9) and told a group of reporters that the company was pushing back its first Mars launch to 2020, so it could focus more on the crew capsule. In retrospect, the statement could be seen as an allusion to the lunar ambition.
That statement was actually in response to a reporter's question about an audit from the Government Accountability Office (a government group empowered by congress to look into government-funded activities). The report said SpaceX was nearly a year behind schedule on developing a crew capsule, work that SpaceX has been doing under a $2.6 billion NASA contract. Though it was designed for low Earth orbit—which is partially shielded from space radiation by the Earth's magnetosphere—Musk says the capsule is robust enough to handle deep space, and the only modifications will be to the communications system.
More on SpaceX
SpaceX Will Give Its ISS Re-Supply Another Go, After Scrapping Yesterday's Launch Attempt
More Money, More Problems for the Commercial Space Launch Biz
The SpaceX Explosion: What You Need to Know
Delays are normal in the space business. SpaceX originally planned to launch the first Falcon Heavy---essentially a Falcon 9 rocket with two additional Falcon 9 first stages attached for an extra boost---late last year. But that launch was pushed back even before last year's September 1 launchpad mishap engulfed a Falcon 9. Musk says the Falcon Heavy will lift off later this summer. As for the human-rated Crew Dragon, Musk says he expects to test fly the first capsule by the end of this year. "Six months later we will fly NASA crew to International Space Station, then about six months after is when we'll do the lunar orbit mission," he says.
Though he was asked repeatedly by reporters, Musk would not reveal the two would-be astronauts, who "have already paid a significant deposit to do a moon mission," he says. Musk would only say that the price the pair are paying will be slightly more than sending astronauts to the ISS. Before launching them into space on a highly compressed timeframe, they'll undergo health and fitness tests, along with training to begin later this year. The mission should last approximately a week. "Skim the surface of the mooon, go quite a bit further out into deep space and then loop back to earth," says Musk. "I'm guessing probably distance-wise probably 300,000 to 400,000 miles." Which is about 33,500,000 miles less than it takes to get to Mars, if anyone's counting.
TopicsCommercial SpacerocketsSpaceX


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About Cheffins menu
Last sale of 2020 sees stellar prices paid
Published:Wed 16 Dec 2020
Over 900 lots of antiques, artworks and collectors' items went under the hammer as part of a large-scale Fine Sale hosted by Cheffins on 9th and 10th December. With a sale rate of 89 per cent, the last Cheffins auction of the year saw high prices achieved across all categories.
The highest value achieved at the sale was £25,000 for a Khassamalla type gilt copper Buddha from the 14th/15th century which sold to a private buyer from Belgium. This piece was part of the eponymous Roger Moss Collection of Asian art and antiquities, which saw a 98 per cent sale rate across the 350 lots offered. Consigned from Roger Moss's family based in Yorkshire, the collection also saw £22,000 paid for a Mao calligraphic hanging scroll facsimile which was acquired by Mr Moss in Hong Kong.
Amongst the paintings, a portrait of Lady Mary FitzAlan, Duchess of Norfolk (1540 – 1557), which dates back to circa 1562 – 1580, achieved £13,000, well over its £5,000 - £8,000 estimate and sold to a private collection. From the Circle of Hans Eworth, this painting is an important image of the sitter who was an influential figure during the 16th century. The maritime section was also particularly strong, with £4,400 paid for a scene of Mersey harbour by John Scott; £4,000 for a pair of landscapes by William John Huggins; £3,800 for a sailing race depiction by Brian J Jones and £2,800 for a view of Southampton Water by James Webb. Venetian scenes were also popular with two paintings by Antoine Bouvard selling for £6,000 and £5,500 respectively, one to a private buyer and one to the trade. Sporting works saw some high prices, such as £3,000 for a racing scene by Peter Biegel which was three times its lower estimate and was sold to a private collector. Similarly, a portrait of a hound by James Loder of Bath made £4,600, following competitive bidding and eventually selling to a trade buyer.
There was also a broad range of antique furniture on offer including a fine Regency rosewood library drum table in the manner of Thomas Hope which sold to a UK private collector for £8,500 against a pre-sale estimate of £4,000 - £6,000. Other pieces which proved popular included a pair of serpentine fronted George II style side chairs selling for £2,500 against an estimate of £500 - £800 as well as an impressive North Italian Lacca and parcel gilt Chinoiserie mirror, dating from 1880, which made £2,200. These were sold to the UK trade and a private UK collector respectively.
Nicolas Martineau, Associate, Cheffins says: "The final Fine Sale of 2020 saw some strong prices paid for examples of good quality antique furniture, collectors' items and works of art. The increased uptake in online participation in live auctions due to the coronavirus pandemic, has ensured that sale rates remain strong, with the results achieved tending to be towards and surpassing the high end of the pre-sale estimates. The market throughout the year has shown that quality, rarity and provenance continues to set the bar when it comes to the strong prices paid by both domestic and overseas bidders at Cheffins auctions.
The considerable success of the Asian art section and in particular the items consigned from the Roger Moss Collection, show the consistent demand for the best Asian and European art and antiquities. The auction calendar is now set for the first half of 2021 with a series of exciting sales which will include fine and eclectic works of art as well as further items from the Roger Moss Collection. The team at Cheffins looks forward to welcoming our clients both in person as well as virtually in the new year."
The sale grossed a total of £826,000.
Cheffins is one of the country's leading firms of independent Auctioneers and Valuers.
Fine Art Calendar
Published:Thu 14 Jan 2021
First residents move in at exclusive Pear Tree Gardens, Balsham
Published:Wed 13 Jan 2021
Ernest Doe teams up with Cheffins for 'The Doe Show with a Difference'
The Doe Show, will take place online between 25th January – 4th February 2021, in partnership with Cheffins.
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On the course of pursuing our mission; to maintain a continous quality standart, set by the international rules and our quality management protocol. To develop and produce user and nature friendly products which will enable the growers to achieve higher yields with lesser use of natural resources.
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Why OCOM?
About OCOM
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Oregon College of Oriental Medicine
Herbal Medicinary
OCOM Receives Legacy Gift from Naito Family
July 16, 2019 — Thanks to the generous support of Anne Naito-Campbell, Oregon College of Oriental Medicine (OCOM) was among nine local nonprofits to receive gifts from the Naito family in May. The gift, valued at $50,000, benefits both the students and patients who now utilize the college's Old Town clinic and classrooms. To celebrate, OCOM invites the public on the evening of August 7 from 6:00 PM-7:00 PM to an on-campus dedication ceremony to honor of the Naito family.
The relationship between the Naito family and OCOM begins with the building that once housed the family's Import Plaza and now is home to the college's campus and teaching clinic. Originally developed in 1911, the property was known as the Globe Hotel and had 500 open air cots, barely separated from each other and covered by chicken wire, where it only cost 50 cents a night to get a "room." At that time, Portland's Old Town was home to Japanese, Chinese, and other immigrant communities. Evidence of these historical roots were uncovered during the 2012 redevelopment of the site, when crews dug up several artifacts, including a Japanese herbal medicine bottle from the late 1800's.
In the 1960's, when the Naitos bought the then-vacant Globe building, the intent to start a retail import shop in the middle of what was then known as Skid Row. The flagship store carried a mixture of eye-catching and kitschy products from across Asia including lamps, wicker and wood furniture, porcelain figurines, glass bowls and vases, folding screens, and a wide variety of Buddha sculptures. Despite predictions to the contrary, Import Plaza was an instant success, and it demonstrated the Naito family's commitment to developing the beauty and resilience of Old Town. It also generated the cash flow and spawned a retail chain that allowed the Naito family to acquire extensive real estate holdings.
At its peak, Import Plaza consisted of eight stores across Oregon. Closing in 2000 due to changes in retail trends, the flagship location lay dormant, waiting to become a part of a new vision for the Old Town neighborhood. OCOM selected the location as the perfect home for its new campus. In collaboration with the Naito's, the redevelopment project was funded through a combination of tax credits, PDC funds; and conventional financing, and the campus has since been listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The $15.2 million dollar rehab of the building took one year, included gutting all four existing floors for seismic retrofit purposes, and earned the structure LEED Gold certification. The project team included Beam Development, Ankrom Moisan Associated Architects, and LCG Pence Construction, LLC. On the roof is the old Import Plaza sign, restored and now emblazoned with the letters, OCOM. Culminating with the ribbon cutting in 2012, Anne Naito-Campbell and the Naito family have supported OCOM's role in revitalizing the Old Town neighborhood. The relocation nearly doubled the college's square footage, allowing OCOM to educate students and offer acupuncture, herbal, and wellness services to the public.
Anne Naito-Campbell
Import Plaza building prior to the 2011-2012 OCOM campus redevelopment
OCOM campus ribbon-cutting ceremony, 2012
Founded in 1983, OCOM is a single-purpose professional graduate school that offers first professional and postgraduate degree programs in acupuncture and Chinese medicine. OCOM's mission is to transform health care by educating highly skilled and compassionate practitioners, providing exemplary patient care, and engaging in innovative research within a community of service and healing. Our 1,500 graduates practice, teach, and research Chinese medicine in 50 states and across the globe, and have provided an estimated 10 million treatments over the past 36 years. Additional information about the college is available on our website, ocom.edu
Contact: Beth Howlett, MAcOM, LAc, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., 503-253-3443 x196
OCOM and Kam Wah Chung & Co. Museum Collaboration Receives Grant from State Library of Oregon
May 1, 2019 — OCOM Library, the library of Oregon College of Oriental Medicine (OCOM) has been awarded a $39,610 Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) grant from the State Library of Oregon. This grant will support the project, Kam Wah Chung: A Historical Archive of Chinese Medicine in Rural Oregon, which is a collaboration between OCOM and the Kam Wah Chung Heritage Site in John Day, Oregon. From July 1, 2019 through June 30, 2020, this grant will support the creation of an online digital archive that includes images and translations of various Chinese medical artifacts stored at the Kam Wah Chung site, a designated National Landmark.
This project will seek to help document the fascinating history of Chinese medicine in rural Oregon. In the late 1800s, two Chinese immigrants, Ing "Doc" Hay and Lung On, purchased the Kam Wah Chung building in the rural mining community of John Day, Oregon, where the two operated a Chinese apothecary and a general store until Hay's death in 1952. The museum is well known for its treasure trove of artifacts detailing the Chinese immigrant experience in the American West. This project will focus on Chinese medical objects and other items that have been cataloged and translated by OCOM students and faculty; the resulting digital archive will be available to the public, and will be of interest to those concerned with Oregon history, the Chinese immigrant experience in the American West, or traditional Chinese medicine and herbal practice.
This project is supported in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services through the Library Services and Technology Act, administered by the State Library of Oregon.
For more information, contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., 503-253-3443 x196
OCOM Welcomes New President
The Oregon College of Oriental Medicine Board of Trustees is pleased to announce Sherri L. Green, PhD as OCOM's fifth President and Chief Executive Officer. She succeeds Interim President Bill McCrae in the position. In reflecting on her new role, Dr. Green feels "inspired by the community service orientation, national engagement, and leadership that exemplifies OCOM."
Search Committee and Board Chair Karen Williams expressed gratitude for the comprehensive national search process: "An exhaustive effort brought so many qualified candidates into the applicant pool. Throughout the hiring process, Dr. Green demonstrated vision for the medicine, our mission, and the learning community that is OCOM. These qualities were evident to all who met her, and she is exceptionally qualified and enthusiastic to lead the institution in its next phase of growth."
Prior to assuming her role as OCOM's President, Dr. Green cultivated an impressive and diverse career that encompassed positions in nonprofit management, academic leadership, and research within the North Carolina university system. She is also trained in Chinese medicine with a lifelong focus on internal arts that culminated in a diploma in acupuncture from the Jung Tao School of Classical Chinese Medicine, where she became the college President in 2017.
Dr. Green also earned a PhD in Maternal and Child Health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in one of the top ranked schools of public health — the Gillings School of Global Public Health, and a master's degree in social work from the University of South Carolina at Columbia, South Carolina. Her diverse skill set is further demonstrated by her clinical license in social work and her graduate certificate in executive coaching.
Dr. Green has served as a mentor, teacher, health care provider, administrator, and as a principal investigator on numerous research and program grants, primarily focused on substance use disorders, trauma, and maternal and child health topics. For the past three and a half years, in addition to leading the Jung Tao School, she managed a large grant portfolio and led work in North Carolina with state and national partners to support primary care providers seeking to overcome barriers and address the opioid crisis with evidence-based strategies. Her diverse interests in health and medicine include bringing acupuncturists, behavioral, and allopathic health care providers together with state and national public health policy makers to develop innovative evidence-based programs.
On the opportunity to lead OCOM during the college's next phase, Dr. Green believes "we are at an exciting and critical juncture for the field of Chinese and East Asian medicine. It is time to take our place at the national table for both clinical and research discussions involving acupuncture and integrative health. I envision a time when licensed acupuncturists work in community health centers and hospitals as a matter of course, truly bringing life-changing integrative health care to the masses. I think the timing isright for our profession nationally, and I believe OCOM, as a leading institution for our field, and working in coordination with others, can make a real difference integrating acupuncture into the fabric of our
nation's health care systems."
The unique combination of vision and experience are what swayed Board search committee member Cathy Chinn. "During the interview, she talked about her current research work and offered perspectives on OCOM's potential in the future as a leader for our field. I knew then she is the best leader to take OCOM into the future."
During a transitional period, Dr. Green will be serving in a dual role as President of both the Jung Tao School of Classical Chinese Medicine and OCOM. This opportunity for smooth transition as well as innovative collaboration may lead to future partnerships between the institutions — in research, faculty development, and academic programs.
♦ On May 21, community members are invited to join the Board of Trustees and new President, Sherri L. Green, PhD, for an open house and Presidential tea. The gathering will be held in the OCOM campus' KPC Community Room from 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM*. Oregon College of Oriental Medicine, 75 NW Couch Street, Portland, Oregon 97209
[*The time for this event has been updated.]
Founded in 1983, OCOM is a single-purpose professional graduate school that offers first professional and postgraduate degree programs in acupuncture and Chinese medicine. OCOM's mission is to transform health care by educating highly skilled and compassionate practitioners, providing exemplary patient care, and engaging in innovative research within a community of service and healing. Our 1,500 graduates practice, teach and research Chinese medicine in 50 states and across the globe, and have provided an estimated 10 million treatments over the past 36 years. OCOM's campus and primary teaching clinic inhabit a LEED Gold certified facility in historic Old Town Chinatown. Additional information about the college is available on our website: ocom.edu
ACAOM DAOM Program Re-accreditation Site Visit
OCOM is pleased to announce that the Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (ACAOM) has scheduled a DAOM program accreditation site visit to OCOM, which will occur over three consecutive days in April 2019.
The dates of the scheduled visit are:
Saturday, April 6 - Monday, April 8, 2019
The site visit team will be present on the OCOM campus for these three days. The team will be chaired by David Pacheco, EdD, MAEd (Sacramento, CA). The other site team members will be David Solin Lee, EdD (Alhambra, CA), Thomas Kouo, DAOM, LAc (Bloomfield, NJ), and Fu Di, MD (China) (Ft. Lauderdale, FL).
During the accreditation site visit, which will coincide with the April 2019 DAOM module, the site visit team will tour the OCOM campus, review documents, and interview many individuals associated with the DAOM program at OCOM — including students, alumni, faculty, staff members, and the Board of Trustees. Team members will also observe DAOM classroom teaching and the DAOM Weekend Specialty Clinic.
If any individual would like to arrange to speak privately and confidentially with the ACAOM site team during the visit, you may either contact Alicia Derby (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) to schedule a private meeting with the team or a member of the team or, if you prefer, contact the chair of the site visit team directly to schedule a private meeting (see contact information below). All requests for private meetings, as well as private meetings themselves, will be completely confidential.
David Pacheco, EdD, MAEd, Site Visit Team Chair
191 Bewicks Circle
During the visit, the team chair can also be reached in Portland at:
The Hotel Rose
50 Southwest Morrison St
New Academic Programs Enrolling for Fall 2019
OCOM is pleased to announce we are enrolling for new academic programs starting in Fall of 2019!
OCOM's Master of Acupuncture (MAc)* degree program will prepare you to be a professional acupuncturist. You will study all aspects of acupuncture practice, including qi cultivation and Asian therapeutic bodywork. Simultaneously, students pursue coursework in anatomy, public and community health, and research sufficient to foster communication and collaboration in those fields. Students embrace clinical learning early in the program. Under exacting supervision, they provide patient-centered care for a wide range of conditions in a variety of clinical settings.
OCOM's first professional doctoral degree program (DACM)** will prepare you to be a skilled practitioner of Chinese medicine. You will study all aspects of acupuncture, including qi cultivation, and Asian therapeutic massage. Simultaneously, students pursue coursework in biomedicine, public and community health, research, and integrative care sufficient to foster communication and collaboration across fields. Students embrace clinical learning early in the program. Under exacting supervision, they provide customized care to a wide range of patients in a variety of clinical settings. Students applying to this program dual-enroll in a MACM/DACM degree path, receiving both degrees upon program completion.
DACM Degree Completion Track** is designed for licensed acupuncturists who have completed an acupuncture degree which included Chinese herbal study. To enroll students will need to have completion of a master's-level training in acupuncture and Chinese medicine (or equivalent) from a CAB approved school.
To apply to OCOM's programs, you will need to access the online admissions application form. First, contact the Office of Admissions at 503-253-3443 x176 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Applications are now being accepted for Fall 2019. Applications are reviewed and processed as they are received.
* The Master of Acupuncture (MAc) of Oregon College of Oriental Medicine is accredited under Master's Degree standards, by the Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (ACAOM), the recognized accrediting agency for programs preparing acupuncture and Oriental medicine practitioners. ACAOM is located at 8941 Aztec Drive, Eden Prairie, Minnesota 55347; phone 952/212-2434; fax 952/657-7068.
** The Doctor of Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine (DACM) of Oregon College of Oriental Medicine is not yet accredited or pre-accredited by ACAOM. Graduates of this program are not considered to have graduated from an ACAOM-accredited or pre-accredited program and may not rely on ACAOM accreditation or pre-accreditation for professional licensure or other purposes. This program is eligible for ACAOM accreditation and OCOM is currently in the process of seeking ACAOM pre-accreditation/accreditation for the program. However, OCOM can provide no assurance that pre-accreditation or accreditation will be granted by ACAOM. ACAOM is located at 8941 Aztec Drive, Eden Prairie, Minnesota 55347; phone 952/212-2434; fax 952/657-7068.
Acupuncture Professionals Supporting the Next Generation of OCOM Graduates
OCOM Alumni Association Scholarship
Master's student Jordan Ganz received the 2018 OCOM Alumni Scholarship Award. The OCOM Alumni Association has provided this reoccurring scholarship opportunity for continuing OCOM students since 2013.
The association's Board had a difficult year deciding the winner of their scholarship. The stakes were high. Scholarship contestants were asked to create a marketing piece to promote their future acupuncture and Chinese medicine practice. Jordan Ganz's professional brochure excelled in the competition.
OCOM's 1,400+ graduates stay connected and create a pool of resources for growing the acupuncture and Chinese medicine profession through the OCOM Alumni Association. In addition, the association has made a commitment to continue to support students who excel in the program. For more information on the OCOM Alumni Association, visit alumni.ocom.edu.
Nathan J. Heide Scholarship
OCOM alum Nathan J. Heide, DAOM, LAc of Anjuna Medicine in Eugene, Oregon, awarded his $1,000 scholarship for 2018. Incoming OCOM master's student Zoe Meyers is the recipient of the 2018 Nathan J. Heide Scholarship Award.
In her winning essay, Meyers addressed how her training as a medical provider can restore a space for creativity, imagination, and self-expression in patients who suffer from disease. Meyers wrote "[In Chinese medicine treatments, the] …format of questioning allows patients to draw connections between the numerous body systems, between mental and physical wellness. In telling their health story in this unfolding and holistic format, patients view, perhaps for the first time, their fully integrated self. The practitioner can support this aim by fostering a safe, open space and making patients feel free to share every detail, even those that seem minor—perhaps risky—but contribute to their self-exploration. This practice of reflection deepens after clinical questioning as patients begin therapy that, unlike other treatments, carves out the peace and silence that patients need to achieve creative flow."
OCOM is extremely proud to count on the support of its alumni and to channel their desire to stay connected. In the words of Dr. Nathan J. Heide, "OCOM is a leader in health care diversity and transformational development" and that is what drove him to develop this scholarship opportunity.
This is the first year of a multiple-year pledge of the Nathan J. Heide Scholarship. For more information about Anjuna Medicine, visit their website.
Beaverton Acupuncture Scholarship
This fall, thanks to the support of the Beaverton Acupuncture Herbal Clinic/Shuyi Dong Scholarship, OCOM is able to welcome incoming doctoral students, Nuttaphat Stonnisgul and Elizabeth Maximin, each with a $1,500 scholarship.
Shuyi Dong, MD, LAc and her Beaverton Acupuncture Herbal Clinic have demonstrated a strong commitment to support OCOM and the development of the acupuncture and Chinese medicine profession. For this scholarship application, the students were asked to speak about how their community and service experiences have informed the vision for their practice. Stonnisgul's and Maximin's testimonies gained them their award.
OCOM is grateful for the opportunity to carry the legacy of such an accomplished practitioner in our community and to honor her desire to support our graduate students.
OCOM Intern Wins Trudy McAlister Foundation Merit Scholarship
The Trudy McAlister Foundation awarded their 2018 AOM Scholarships to participants of Acupuncture schools in the United States. We are proud to state that OCOM masters student Jasmine Lister was among five recipients of these prestigious awards of $2,000.
Jasmine, as well as other scholarship contestants submitted an essay and completed a thorough application process for this merit-based scholarship.
This paragraph from her winning essay best exemplifies Jasmine's goals for her health practice: "My ultimate goal is to open a multi-disciplinary wellness center that interweaves meditation, nutrition, yoga, acupuncture, herbs, cupping and body work in my hometown, the Washington DC area. I believe that it is with my solid and diverse experience, that I can become a leader in the field of AOM. I will continue to transfer our medicine onto those from all socioeconomic backgrounds, which will ultimately have a greater effect on our community."
Trudy McAlister was a grateful acupuncture patient who decided to create a national scholarship program specifically for students of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine through the AOM National Scholarship Foundation. OCOM and its student body welcomes the support from the Trudy McAlister Foundation and appreciates Trudy McAlister's foresight in supporting acupuncture practitioners.
The AOM Scholarship Fund was established primarily to support students who show promise of making significant contributions either to clinical practice and/or to the understanding of the role of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (AOM) in a modern context. The Foundation also supports research and related activities that promote the advancement of AOM. For more information about the Trudy McAlister Foundation, please visit trudymcalisterfoundation.org.
OCOM Doctoral Student Awarded $2500 Standard Process Scholarship
OCOM graduate selected for BRIDG Research Fellowship
2018 Cherry Blossom Gala!
Firstenburg Foundation Funds Accessible Treatment Tables
OCOM Presidential Search is Open
Low-Income Patient Access to Acupuncture Expanded by Kaiser Permanente Grant Award
Mayway 2018 Calendar on Sale Now
OCOM Receives Funding to Address Breast Cancer Burden in Oregon
Enrolling with GI Bill/Voc Rehab
OCOM Original Research Featured in JACM
Contact OCOM
©2019 Oregon College of Oriental Medicine | 75 NW Couch Street, Portland, OR 97209. All Rights Reserved.
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Expert Blog › Barbara Finamore - Alum
Cleaning China's Smoggy Skies: China Released Draft Air Pollution Law Amendments for Public Comment
September 11, 2014 Barbara Finamore - Alum
Though a burst of clear skies on Monday allowed Beijingers to marvel at a magnificent Mid-Autumn Festival moon, a blanket of smog choked the capital the next morning, reminding citizens of China's grave air pollution woes. However, that same Tuesday, September 9th, the Legislative Affairs Office of China's State Council released the first draft of the highly-anticipated revisions to the national Air Pollution Prevention and Control Law (hereinafter referred to as the Air Pollution Law), providing hope that blue skies won't always be so fleeting.
The State Council's Legislative Affairs Office, which generates and reviews drafts of national laws and regulations, will be accepting comments on revisions of the law between September 9th and October 8, 2014. Releasing the draft law for public comment at such an early stage of the process is a big step forward for governmental transparency and public participation. The Chinese government does not usually seek public comments on laws until they are submitted to the National People's Congress (NPC), at which point it becomes more difficult for the public to influence legislation.
Amendments to the Air Pollution Law have been a long time in the making. China's original 1987 Air Pollution Law was first revised in 1995 and further strengthened in 2000. But these earlier versions lacked specific details and mechanisms for enforcement.
Discussions to revise the law resumed in 2006. A draft of the Air Pollution Law amendments was submitted by the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) to China's State Council in January of 2010. NRDC, capitalizing on its deep expertise on the U.S. Clean Air Act, co-organized several workshops on the draft amendments, and assembled a team of experts to publish a 14-chapter document providing guidance based on the U.S. experience with air pollution legislation.
In April 2011, we prepared another report focusing in greater depth on the most recent climate policies and actions in the U.S., specifically those led by the U.S. EPA, federal energy policies and state and regional programs. The purpose of that report was to serve as a helpful reference to China as it began to consider establishing co-control and climate-friendly air pollution prevention strategies.
China's Air Law amendment process was later postponed when the government opted to prioritize revisions to the Environmental Protection Law (EPL), which had not been amended since it was officially adopted in 1989. Amendments to the EPL were finalized in April of this year and will go into effect beginning January 1, 2015.
With an effective blueprint for enforcement established by the new EPL, Chinese lawmakers can now shift their focus to more specific environmental laws, and the Air Pollution Law is first on the agenda. The draft law incorporates several critical advancements to help manage China's suffocating air pollution. In particular, the draft law:
Clarifies the responsibility of governments for environmental protection, especially the role of local governments in managing regional air quality. Local officials will be assessed on compliance with air quality targets and the results will be released to the public.
Improves the air pollutant emissions control system, by increasing the scope of emissions caps, establishing new targets for key emissions controls, and suspending approval for new projects in areas that exceed emissions targets.
Strengthens the emissions permit system, by making the system more workable and clarifying the details on where and how permits are granted. The new amendments of the law also integrate the permit system with other systems, such as the environmental impact assessment (EIA) system, in order to streamline the process for enterprises and ensure they are complying with emissions regulations.
Reinforces key areas for air pollution prevention and control, by strengthening measures to confront pollution from coal, motor vehicles, industries, dust, and other specific sources.
Strengthens environmental air quality and pollution source monitoring by organizing a national environmental air quality and atmospheric pollution source monitoring network, which integrates information about changes and trends in national air quality and stipulates self-monitoring for key polluting enterprises.
Demarcates key regions for air pollution prevention and control, where special air pollution measures and targets will be implemented. The new aspects of the law also establish mechanisms for regional cooperation.
Establishes a heavy pollution weather monitoring forecast system, whereby provincial governments' environmental and meteorological departments will cooperate to forecast heavy pollution days. Upon such warnings, governments at the county level and above will be required to implement emergency response measures.
Increases the strength of penalties, to help hold local governments and illegally emitting enterprises accountable. Based on regulations included in the new ELP amendments, refusal to change behavior may result in daily penalties.
Article 22 of the draft Amendments calls upon the country to "establish a mid- and long-term coal consumption cap target, progressively reduce the proportion of coal in primary energy consumption, optimize the use of coal, and reduce the air pollution emissions from coal production, use and transformation." Similar language was also included in the State Council's September 2013 "Atmospheric Pollution Prevention Action Plan," but it will be helpful -- and presumably improve enforcement -- to enshrine these requirements in the Air Pollution Law itself.
Though such changes to the Air Pollution Law represent positive improvements, many aspects of the law still lack the force and specificity necessary to bring about comprehensive change in China's national air quality. Of note, the law lacks human health-based air quality standards and a system for updating such standards, as well as a system for updating emission targets. In addition, the law is also missing relevant provisions on information disclosure, public participation or public interest litigation – all of which serve as crucial enforcement mechanisms when top-down methods fall short. Furthermore, the scope of daily penalties is still extremely limited, and the law lacks positive market-based incentives to encourage enterprises to comply with regulations.
NRDC's China Environmental Law Project has long provided in-depth research and technical support to advance China's various environmental laws, including the EPL and the Air Pollution Law. Using our extensive knowledge of the U.S. Clean Air Act, we have transferred legal expertise to Chinese lawmakers and environmental NGOs through workshops, reports, and recommendations, all of which are aimed at strengthening the rule of law in China. We plan to submit provision-specific comments on the draft Air Pollution Law amendments to the Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council by the October deadline, and we also hope to publish more detailed recommendations later this year before the law is finalized.
The law will likely undergo several additional rounds of revisions before it is officially adopted. Thus, there is still time to make the law more specific and stringent. This is an essential step in order to arm the government with the tools necessary to confront the perpetual barriers to Chinese environmental legal enforcement, and bring back blue skies to Beijing and the rest of China.
Co-authored with members of the China Environmental Law Project: Kate Logan, Marie McMullen, Tianshu Sun, Wang Yan, Wu Qi, Zhang Xiya, and Yuelin Zhou.
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Barbara Finamore


The latest issue of Refugee Survey Quarterly has been released (2010; Vol. 29, No. 1). An article by Dr. Carl Levy (Reader in European Politics, Department of Politics at Goldsmiths College, University of London) is of particular interest.
Here is the Abstract: This article outlines the debate over extraterritorial processing in the European Union (EU) from the Treaty of Amsterdam (1997) to the Treaty of Lisbon (2009). It will briefly outline the historical precedents, the evolution of policy within the EU, and the role of other models (Australian, American, etc.). This article emphasizes the contested understandings of how these zones might be manifested in practice. It uses evidence from the political history and policy-making of the EU to question Giorgio Agamben's concept of the state of exception. In fact, the promotion of extraterritorial zones was not merely sold as necessary, if unfortunate, choices. Likewise, the more sinister interpretation of these zones as a regression from the Liberal State to the universe of camps failed accurately to capture what was happening in reality. Firstly, supranational extraterritorial processing was beyond the constitutional or political capacity of the EU. Secondly, at times, the unintended consequences might have led to a liberalization of so-called "Fortress Europe" and caused certain politicians to become disenchanted precisely because the proposed form of extraterritorial processing threatened to institute a rigorous form of burden sharing.


With a colleague at my firm, Lilit Ter-Astvatsatryan, we wrote an opinion column for the Daily Journal, published on September 12, 2018 and entitled Unaccounted Time: Reading the tea leaves of Troester. Much better.
I congratulate Lilit on her first foray into craven and shameless self-promotion.
One day after running my Perspective column, entitled "Legislature Using Purse Strings to Bind Judiciary," the Daily Journal has published a story today that chronicles the massive cuts to the Los Angeles County Superior Court system. Rebecca U. Cho & Catherine Ho, Hundreds Of L.A. Court Workers to Be Laid Off Today (March 16, 2010) www.dailyjournal.com [subscription required].
329 employees are scheduled to receive pink slips today. In addition, it is reported that 12 courtrooms will close, but the specifics have not been announced. The Los Angeles Superior Court currently plan to lay off an additional 500 employees in September. Los Angeles court officials are reportedly "facing a $79 million budget deficit in the current fiscal year, which is expected to grow to $120 million next year." Judge Charles McCoy is reported to have asked the Judicial Council for permission to use court construction funds for court operations.
Los Angeles County Presiding Judge Charles "Tim" McCoy's message is loud and clear: His court system, the largest trial court in the nation, is facing deep fiscal trouble in the years ahead due to drastic cuts in state government funding.
Victoria Kim, L.A. County's top judge faces steep opposition to fund diversion proposal (February 16, 2010). In that article, the uphill battle in front of Judge McCoy is spelled out. According to Ann O'Malley. O'Malley, who chairs the state's Trial Court Presiding Judges Advisory Committee, 53 presiding judges of the state's 58 trial courts have told her they oppose Judge McCoy's proposed use of the construction fund to cover operating expenses.
If it is even necessary to consider layoffs of hundreds of employees or utilizing a court construction fund backed by bonds, not budget appropriations, to support basic operations, something is seriously awry in California's budgeting process. Whether or not you agree with Judge McCoy's specific predictions and approach to the problem, there is no disputing that a problem of colossal magnitude now exists. Pretty soon we won't need to debate tort reform or amendments to California's class action procedures; nobody will be able to have a civil case heard by a judge before the parties and counsel are all dead of old age.
The Press Release from the Los Angeles Superior Court is now available at the Los Angeles Superior Court website.


The prevalence in the community of bacterial resistance to common antibiotic classes has risen dramatically over the past two to three decades. Pathogens can develop antibiotic resistance through many mechanisms. These mechanisms include production of enzymes that degrade the antibiotic (e.g., β-lactamases), modification of drug targets (e.g., modified penicillin-binding proteins and ribosomes that limit the activity of penicillins and macrolides, respectively), and expression of membrane proteins that pump the antibiotic out of the bacteria.
TABLE:Mechanisms of Resistance Against Select Antibacterial Classes, 2004 presents the mechanisms by which bacteria become resistant to the various classes of available antibiotics. Alterations in or mutations of the bacterial chromosomes were the first identified mechanisms of resistance, but resistance is more frequently acquired through transfer of genetic material from one bacterium to another.
One of the most worrisome mechanisms of resistance involves the ability of bacteria to exclude antimicrobial agents from the cell. Some gram-negative and gram-positive pathogens have an efflux pump that can remove drugs fast enough to protect the bacteria from the drug and its effects. Resistance to an antibiotic may also result from a change or alteration in the target site at which the drug acts. Some strains of bacteria alter the protein composition of their outer cell membrane to prevent a drug from reaching its target site. Metabolic bypass is another common way in which bacteria can become resistant to antibiotics; in this case, the antibiotic interferes with the metabolic pathway by blocking or interfering with a critical step. Some resistant bacteria produce enzymes that cleave or alter the molecular structure of an antibiotic, thereby rendering it ineffective.
In vitro susceptibility testing is the basis for classifying bacterial strains as either resistant or sensitive. Most organisms tested in the microbiology laboratory are reported to be either sensitive or resistant on the basis of breakpoints determined by the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards. Susceptibility of strains is reported as sensitive, intermediately sensitive/resistant, or resistant based on the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) required by the antibacterial to exert its effect.
The clinical relevance of decreased antibiotic susceptibility is controversial. Trials have demonstrated conflicting results with respect to impact on outcome of infection with a resistant pathogen. In many regions, high-dose amoxicillin (3 grams per day) is commonly used to overcome community levels of resistance.
Excessive and routine use of antibiotics has contributed to the increase in antibiotic resistance by selectively encouraging the survival and grow of resistant strains of bacteria. Hospitals and surgeons may promote antibiotic resistance through the routine and sometimes overextended use of prophylactic antibiotics with surgery. Patients contribute to antibiotic resistance when they do not take the drugs according to directions. An insufficient dose of antibiotic usually fails to kill all the disease-causing bacteria. The survivors are the most resistant strains, which may later cause infectious illnesses that are difficult to treat.


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3 Wrongly Convicted Black Men Who Spent 36 Years in Prison Set to Receive $2.9 Million Each
Baltimore State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby, center, flanked by Andrew Steward, left, Ransom Watkins (behind Mosby) and Alfred Chestnut (green jacket).
Screenshot: Washington Post
When I was 16, my mother and my next-door neighbor, who we called "Crow," dropped me off for my first year of college.
I thought my mother would be happy that she would no longer have to scream "Did you put the seat down?" when she heard me in our only bathroom, but I was wrong. Before she exited the tiny dorm room, just as the first tear slid down her face, Crow reminded her that I would be back at home for Thanksgiving and asked what it would take for her not to cry for the entire ride home.
"Not even a million dollars," she replied.
In 1983, When Alfred Chestnut, Ransom Watkins and Andrew Stewart were 16 years old, Baltimore police officers arrested them for murder. Police officers ignored evidence that the actual killer was probably someone else. A Baltimore prosecutor lied about the evidence. A Baltimore jury convicted them. A Baltimore judge sentenced them to life in prison.
That was 36 years ago.
On Wednesday, Maryland's Board of public works will almost certainly vote to compensate the three wrongfully convicted men $81,868 for each year of their incarceration, totaling $2,918,441 million each. The sum is to be paid out over seven years, according to the agenda for Wednesday's meeting (pdf).
In November 1983, the three teenagers skipped school and visited their former junior high school on the same day 14-year-old DeWitt Duckett was shot and killed for a Georgetown University Starter jacket in the school hallway. Witnesses told the cops that they saw 18-year-old Michael Willis run away from the scene. They saw him discard a gun. They saw him wearing a Georgetown Starter jacket later that night.
The cops focused on Chestnut, Watkins and Stewart instead.
When the cops found a Starter jacket in Chestnut's closet, they concocted a story that the three friends conspired to rob the 14-year-old for one jacket. Chestnut's mother had a receipt for the jacket, but the cops would not relent. Witnesses failed to identify the teens in at least two photo lineups. Still, the cops pressed. On the morning of November 24, 1983, cops arrested the teenagers and took them into custody.
It was Thanksgiving Day.
The Washington Post reports:
The witnesses told investigators from the Conviction Integrity Unit that they were then regularly coached by [lead homicide detective Donald] Kincaid and then-Assistant State's Attorney Jonathan Shoup to coordinate their trial testimony. Their failure to identify the three defendants in photo lineups was concealed from the defense by Shoup, investigators found. A jury convicted the teens, and all three were sentenced to life in prison. They were each 17.
Shoup has since died. Kincaid told The Washington Post he did not frame the three teens or coerce the witnesses. "No. Come on, no. Hell no," the retired detective said in November. "I didn't know those boys. I didn't know them from Adam. Why would I want to do something like that?" Willis was slain in West Baltimore in 2002, at age 37.
Chestnut would not quit trying to exonerate his friends. In 2018, while digging through the case files, he essentially solved the murder from inside prison when he found the statements and evidence pointing to Willis through a public records request with the state's attorney general. He contacted Baltimore prosecutor Marilyn Mosby, who sent the information to her office's Conviction Integrity Unit and the Mid Atlantic Innocence Project. The convictions were eventually set aside and the men received a Writ of Actual Innocence from a circuit court.
Thirty-six years later, they were home for Thanksgiving.
The expected compensation does not preclude the three men from suing the city or state in a civil case. Watkins said he fully expected to spend the rest of his life in prison. And even when the now-exonerated men were eligible for parole, they refused to accept responsibility for the murders, which is often a prerequisite for early release.
Not even for a million dollars.


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Is Extant only the SECOND national primetime scripted TV-drama with a female African-American lead?
Is Extant only the SECOND national primetime scripted TV show with an African-American female lead? I'm looking specifically for mainstream networks. To be explicit, BET is not that - talkshow and reality TV isn't it either.
Only other show I can think of is Scandal.
I've noticed that a majority of TV shows have this casting mold:
Older white male
Younger white male / Younger white female
Younger white female/ Younger white male
Minority (used to be African-American, now interchangeable with Asians/Latinos)
I have also noticed the following:
Mainstream, primetime shows with a female lead are still a minority.
To be sure there ARE some shows that have "a" Afram female protagonist, but they're pretty much token.
Ever noticed how African-Americans play authority figures that are completely minor roles? Like judges, doctors? E.g. Tamara Tunny on CSI Miami
"The Rush Hour" movies were completely shocking, because there was NO white lead at all.
There are a FEW shows with MALE Afram leads, but these hardly ever lasted more than one season, only the Unit comes to mind, and whether Haysbert was the main protagonist is debatable
first-appearance casting
GwenKillerbyGwenKillerby
What about "Rogue" with Thandie Newton? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogue_%28TV_series%29 – a_horse_with_no_name Aug 28 '14 at 16:27
Dang, you're right. We could nitpick and say that she's half-white, but then again, Halle, and under Jim Crow, she'd be lynched like the rest of us ... ;) Thanks, i'm downloading it now. Unlike Cult, it's a real lead, and she IS an exceptional actress, better than Halle, but not better than Viola Davis. – GwenKillerby Aug 28 '14 at 17:06
Why not make Rogue an answer? – GwenKillerby Aug 28 '14 at 17:13
How would you figure in ensemble shows where, for the most part, everyone is the same and individuals gain or lose screen time depending on how the story lines progress? (i.e. Southland, which didn't have a 'lead' per se, but did have two African American detectives partnered, with the female easily considered a primary in multiple storylines) – CGCampbell Aug 28 '14 at 17:15
How about Nichelle Nichols from Star Trek (1966): "She gained popular recognition by being one of the first black women featured in a major television series not portraying a servant." - Or a more recent example: Nicole Beharie, the female lead of Sleepy Hollow. – Oliver_C Aug 28 '14 at 18:49
As early as 1974 on the ABC network, there was a show called Get Christy Love!, with Teresa Graves as the lead. The Wikipedia article sources Jet, a magazine devoted to African American performers and artists, and her profile in the Nov 1974 issue names no preceding black television lead actress, which it probably would have.
wbogaczwbogacz
Somehow, I missed the 2013 show Deception, with Meagan Goode, which makes Extant the fourth show of this kind.
Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged first-appearance casting .
What was the first movie that had only female characters?
Were body doubles originally intended to be used before casting the female lead?


Japan's nuclear regulator has raised the threat level of a radioactive leak at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi plant from 1 to 3 on a 7-point scale.
Officials said Tuesday that a storage tank has leaked 300 tons of radioactive water into the ground. The rating upgrade, which has to be confirmed by the United Nations' nuclear agency, would be the first since the March 2011 quake-induced reactor meltdown.
1. What does the nuclear warning level mean?
The International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (INES) is a rating system for describing the severity of nuclear accidents. It was introduced in 1990 by the International Atomic Energy Agency, which reports to the U.N.
The new leak is the first to be given an INES rating since the original disaster. Initially classified as a level one ("Incident"), it has been upgraded to level three ("Serious Incident"), pending confirmation by the UN nuclear agency. A The upgrade to level 3 ("Serious Incident") means the event involves the release of "a few thousand terabecquerels of activity into an area not expected by design which requires corrective action," or one resulting in radiation rates of "greater than one sievert per hour in an operating area," according to the INES user's manual. A terabecquerel is 1 trillion becquerels, defined as the radioactive decay of one nucleus per second; a sievert is a unit of biological radiation dose equivalent to about 50,000 front view chest X-rays.
2. How much radioactive material leaked into the ocean?
Immediately after the June 2011 meltdown, scientists measured that 5,000 to 15,000 terabecquerels of radioactive material was reaching the ocean. The biggest threat at that time was from the radionuclide cesium. But for leaks that enter the ground, the radionuclides strontium and tritium pose more of a threat, because cesium is absorbed by the soil while the other two are not.
The Tokyo Electric Power Plant (TEPCO) estimated that since the March 2011 disaster, between 20 trillion and 40 trillion becquerels of radioactive tritium have leaked into the ocean, the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun reported.
The damaged plant is still leaking about 300 tons of water containing these radionuclides into the ocean every day, Japanese government officials say. An additional 300 tons have leaked into the ground from the latest storage tank leak.
3. How will the radioactive material affect sea life?
Ever since the 2011 disaster, scientists have been measuring levels of radioactivity in fish and other sea life. Several species of fish caught off the coast of Fukushima in 2011 and 2012 had cesium levels that exceeded Japan's regulatory limit for seafood, but the overall cesium levels of ocean life have dropped since the fall of 2011, U.S. and Japanese scientists both reported.
4. What is being done to contain the leak?
Plant operators have started to remove the contaminated soil around the leaking tank, and are expected to remove any water remaining inside by the end of today (Aug. 21), NBC News reported.
But operators are concerned that other tanks may fail too. About a third of the tanks, including the one that just leaked, have rubber seams that TEPCO says were only meant to last about five years, The New York Times reported. A TEPCO spokesperson said the company plans to build additional watertight tanks with welded seams, but will still have to use the ones with rubber seams.
Cleaning up the radioactive water will take decades. Officials are considering several possible methods for preventing contaminated groundwater from reaching the ocean, including freezing the ground around the plant or injecting the surrounding sediment with a gel-like material that hardens like concrete. Ultimately, an integrated systematic water treatment plan is needed, Dale Klein, former head of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission told LiveScience for a previous article.
5. How does Fukushima compare with the Chernobyl meltdown?
The Fukushima plant's meltdown in 2011 is considered the worst nuclear disaster since the Chernobyl meltdown in Ukraine in 1986. Although both were given an INES rating of 7, far more radiation was released at Chernobyl — about 10 times as much as at Fukushima, NPR reported. And the health consequences a Fukushima to date have been much less severe.
The Chernobyl meltdown involved the explosion of an entire reactor that sent out a plume of radiation over a wide area. Many people nearby drank contaminated milk and later developed thyroid cancer.
By contrast, Fukushima's radioactive cores remained mostly protected, and much of the radioactive material has been carried out to sea, far from human populations. People in risky areas were evacuated, and contaminated food was kept out of stores. While the long-term health risks are unknown, the World Health Organization said there is very little public health risk outside of the 18-mile evacuation zone.