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Hearts of Gold
People who are surprised to discover that cranky old misfits and hermits often turn out to have hearts of gold miss the obvious truth that their lot is the fate inevitably befalling those with hearts of gold.
People who learn to project a facade of golden-heartedness make out far better. Well-admired, they never gnarl. Of course, a facade is only a facade. Genuinely kind people aren't out for themselves, so they don't invest a whit of concern into the image they project (caring about other people doesn't leave room for crafty personal branding). I'm extremely suspicious of carefully-branded people, even if - especially if! - their brand is loving kindness.
Once again: there's a huge difference between wanting to sing and wanting to be a singer.
Astro Agony/Ecstacy
Yesterday's much-hyped Camelopardalids meteor shower was a bust. Frickin' Camelopardalids! We've had so many post-hype disappointments with comets and meteors lately.
But astronomy buffs will be cheered up immeasurably when the Europeans land a spaceship called Rosetta on a speeding comet this November! The approaching spacecraft has already imaged the comet's sprouting coma (precursor to its tail), something I believe we've never seen before.
To land on a comet is an almost impossible task because the thing's speeding at 83,000 mph, and the landing must be gentle, so we need to creep up on it at the exact right speed and trajectory (the lander will immediately drive harpoons into the snowy dustball to keep from bouncing back off). The only way to accomplish this is via an insane trick shot wherein Rosetta's been bounced not once, not twice, but three separate times off of Earth's gravity field, and then careened past Mars for the finishing touch. Having launched way back in 2004, it's been a ten year ordeal for a rendezvous that will ultimately take place closer to Earth than Jupiter (for comparison, New Horizons took just over a year to reach Jupiter).
Check out this visualization to see the insanely complex and indirect route Rosetta's been taking. It makes the Curiosity landing seem simple by comparison!
Rosetta will ride the comet as it circles around the sun and shoots back out of the solar system. Dr. Strangelove comes to life!
Speaking of meteors and spaceships, I love this time lapse meteor photo from the Astronomy Picture of the Day site (shot by Xiang Zhan of Beijing Planetarium). It's hard to imagine a more visceral real-life indication that we're living on a rock that's hurtling through space!
Orca Atrocities
I'm not particularly animal-rightsy. The PETA crew give me migraines. But, you know, in this day and age, in a society teeming with entertainment options, we really don't need to enslave and torture animals for human entertainment. It's an anachronism.
It turns out that orcas (aka "killer whales") in the wild can live over a century, and like to swim 100 miles per day. The orcas at SeaWorld die before twenty, and live in cramped cages. According to the afore-linked article, "Orcas at SeaWorld are routinely separated from their pods, which has been known to cause huge mental and emotional strain and can prevent calves from developing normally." And these are intelligent creatures. It's sickening.
I understand that SeaWorld provides employment for people, and I do prioritize people over animals. But it's time for them to find themselves a different business model.
Consider signing the petition at that link. I doubt it'll achieve much, but it's better than nothing.
Writers As Clowns....Plus George Benson
A writer friend recently chided me for writing in a scattershot style here, failing to thoroughly support arguments or connect seemingly disjointed thoughts. That's exactly right! I use this Slog to buck a trend.
Readers used to be serious people who paid careful attention. Right around when I got into the writing racket, in 1988, the fizz and flash of life here in The Future had begun fraying the public's neurology. Writers became less purveyors of thoughtful mental vistas and more children's party clowns, festooning their catchy, grabby prose with clever edgy flips, and plying vast energies to cajole flighty readers to please please please finish reading this sentence, this paragraph, this page, this chapter. The flop sweat's palpable as writers flail to stave off the desertion of fickle eyeballs. If momentum's lost for even an instant, shinier baubles brightly beckon. Your prose is just one cat toy.
Like all gigolos servicing a passive, imperious clientele, writers are expected to supply all the energy and bring things reliably to a satisfying, exciting whiz-bam of a conclusion every time for every reader. Message, meaning, and insight - the art of it - is subservient to the commercial imperative: first and foremost, you must get Mrs. Rosenwinkle off (and, lord knows, she ain't easy).
Even thoughtful, expansive writers must focus on cajoling the reader from word to word. Every contemporary author you've heard of*, above and beyond whatever talents and insights they have to offer, is essentially a cross between a clown and a gigolo. Writers like Hobbes, Kant, and Locke didn't give a damn about enticing or cajoling; they simply set out their thoughts (in daunting prose), expecting readers to invest time and effort in proper digestion. There was mutual respect between writer and reader; almost a spirit of collaboration. If, heavens forbid, Malcolm Gladwell were ever to release a semi-digested morsel into his bouncy buttery patter, his audience would spit it out like baby birds indignant with mother's sloppy pre-mastication.
* - except maybe Chomsky
The funny thing is that I'm actually good at enticing and cajoling and pre-masticating. When I need to, I can write with great glibness and energy. I'm a deft clown/gigolo. I got lots of readers interested in food via sheer brash brio. One cardinal rule was to avoid complexity like the plague; to say precisely one thing at a time and deliver it so seamlessly that the reader couldn't help but resonate (you're quite welcome, Mrs. Rosenwinkle).
If I had an actual idea to convey, I'd gussy it up in humor, douse it with glibness, and glide it deftly into your brain stem. And then erase my tracks so you wouldn't realize what I'd done. I was a children's party clown with an agenda.
Then my situation got far worse. I found myself with a web site to run and promote, and it was all about persuasion. There were policies to explain, requests to make, and a community to acculturate. I had to explain a novel take on food (and on the Web) to journalists, and to persuade neophytes and trendies to change course and join our cause.
Ambiguity was the enemy. Effective mass communication requires razor-sharp clarity, which means expunging all subtlety and subtext. To avoid being misunderstood, you must never say anything that might later be used against you. Statements must be interpretable in only one way. It's all about playing defense, staving off regrettable sound bites and pre-defusing snark.
It was a horror. But, even back in the "fun" days writing articles and books, I had a nagging feeling that something was wrong with the writer/reader relationship. I understood that my profession required me to predigest and spoon-feed every thought, all while dancing a jig in a garish outfit. One does what one must to convince rudderless crowds to keep scanning the squiggles you've arranged on the paper (just as comedians, in the end, are paid to make diaphragms convulse, writers are paid to make eyeballs laterally scan). Everything rests on the writer. Writing commercially has become like commercial sex; customers feel no obligation to try, to work, to participate.
Yet it gnawed at me that reading should never have become such a passive activity - merely a form of consumerism. The experience will never be fully enriching if one simply lies there, flat on one's back, responsible for nothing more than the lateral motions of one's eyeballs. Wherever bucketfuls of sugar help medicine go down, you can count on a dearth of medicine.
So I've delighted in my release from all that here on the Slog. I take perverse pleasure in bundling two or even three thoughts in the same paragraph; in lightly sketching provocative ideas deserving pages of explication, in alluding rather than ramming, and, most of all, in the blessed freedom to be ambiguous; to make people think rather than just absorb. I have nothing to sell, and no one to persuade. Everyone's most welcome to click out to view cute pet videos.
I'm looking to create a collaborative process, tipping readers off-balance and challenging them to reconsider assumptions. I hide easter eggs. I bury ledes. And I gleefully scatter speed bumps - dense morsels intended to destroy momentum as readers pause to chew. I present ideas before they're fully baked, inviting readers to work them out in parallel. Maybe they'll go further with them than I can.
After Chowhound, I tried to drum up writing work, but found that no one remembered I'd ever been a writer. I was more of a "media personality", and the persona I'd adopted to promote Chowhound would certainly not freeze into my permanent cartoonish shtick. The path of Ruth Westheimer and Richard Simmons was not for me. So if I'm going to write, unpaid, an obscure little blog (also sparing myself "the touchy ritual of petitioning unhip, haughty gatekeepers" to publish my stuff), I figured I'd seize the opportunity to experiment. I'd forego my duties as clown/gigolo. More medicine, less sugar.
In my early 20's I played at Manhattan's Blue Note most nights after the last set as part of the late show. One night around 2:45am, with no one in the club besides the musicians and the bartender, George Benson stopped by and asked to sit in.
George Benson is a real guy. He wasn't groomed for stardom, he started out as a working guitarist, much-respected by his peers. So I was delighted by the prospect of seeing him relax and jam in a setting where he wasn't compelled to "entertain". He could let his hair down and be just a musician again. Nice!
The previous time I'd crossed paths with Benson was at the Hollywood Bowl, where he'd just finished a marathon version of "On Broadway", earning a multi-minute screaming ovation. The stage rotated suddenly, revealing, somewhat jarringly, the group I was with: a big band of cranky, geriatric black men in baby blue polyester uniforms, playing slightly musty (though really good) 40's swing. The crowd, obviously, couldn't wait to escape, but Benson stuck around backstage, grooving on what we were doing. He had more in common with us, really, than with the jump-suited, jeri-curled entertainer he appeared to be. This was a guy with real music to play, beyond the show biz.
So he got up on-stage at 2:45 am in the empty nightclub, and the moment he grabbed the mic, my heart sank. He held it at just the right angle to make his massive rings glitter in the spotlight. And he proceeded to dazzlingly "perform". For nobody. For no-fucking-body at all, in an empty club, at 2:45am on a Wednesday.
This is the paragraph where the writer would be expected to connect this anecdote with the rest of the article, sparing readers the effort of working it out for themselves (and certainly never expecting them to reread all 1400 words in a new light, their perspective having been subtly shifted). The density of the writing ought to start dissipating right around now, signaling that we're drawing to a close. Guide you down, gently braking to a halt, fostering the sensation that something insightful just happened. Shorter sentence here. Wry final aside.
Labels: Meta Slog, music, writing
Two Subway Photos
One shot accidentally:
...and one shot intentionally:
Labels: photos
A series of records called "Music Minus One" were big in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s. They left off one part so musicians and singers could practice playing/singing along. It was a great way to practice, and was quite a novel concept (long predating karaoke, obviously).
I didn't realize the company was still in business (newer, hipper, upstarts have long since dominated the niche). Yet, they turn out to be going strong, and, incredibly, founder Irv Kratka is still running it at age 87. Hear this short radio piece by Sara Fishko of NPR (and watch for her reports - all of which are terrific - here).
I have a very personal connection to all this, and Fishko's radio report inspired me to write in with the following anecdote:
Dear Mr. Kratka,
I heard the radio piece about you by the great Sara Fishko. It had never occurred to me before to write in and tell this story, but I'm pretty sure you'll enjoy it.
I was a promising trombone student while growing up, and when I was 14 or so my parents gave me a Music Minus One record for my birthday - "The Music of Fats Waller". I loved it, and wore it out. The band was stellar - I remember, particularly, Zoot Sims on sax and Major Holley on bass. When you wear out a record as a 14-year-old, it sticks with you for life. To this day, I can hum every one of Major Holley's bass solos, which I found so soulful and lyrical.
Anyway, I went on to be a professional trombonist. And while I was lucky enough to play with a lot of my heroes, I was truly over the moon the time I was invited to sit in with a small group featuring Major Holley. I told him how I'd spent my entire youth playing with him, which amused him, and the strange thing was that I found it exquisitely easy to play with him even in real life. It was like I'd been BRED for it!
He could feel that connection, too, and we struck up a friendship and a musical relationship. I've mastered a multiphonic technique where you sing while you buzz, at a higher interval. If you do it right, you can achieve a rich, chordal sound. And, as you may know, Major Holley was famous for humming along with all his bowed bass solos. So we could make ourselves sound like a quartet while playing duo!
For the subsequent month or so, Major told me about all his gigs and gave me carte blanche to come down and sit in (a good opportunity for me to meet the great musicians he was playing with). He then departed for a European tour, telling me he'd be booking some gigs with me when he returned. Alas, he never returned. Heart attack.
Sorry for the sad ending, but it's certainly not a sad memory, all-in-all. I've played with much more famous players, but, to me, Major was a titan because of all those years we'd spent playing together in my parent's den.
I'm sure I'm not the only MMO customer you've heard from who pierced the veil, graduating from unilateral collaboration to real live in-the-flesh collaboration with the greats on your records. But I figured I'd tell my tale, because you deserve to hear how much good you've done.
At one point, Major and I played Honeysuckle Rose (one of the tracks on the album) together, and I played his own solo at him, from memory. He didn't notice, because, obviously, he didn't remember such a long-ago recording. But I had tears of happiness in my eyes.
Here's Major Holley playing on the European tour he never returned from. Such humor, such swing. I also used to play a lot with the pianist in the video, the great Richard Wyands:
Labels: anecdote, music


The annual Paris Air Show couldn't come too soon as it gives the airline industry a chance to change the topic from high-profile customer service transgressions and IT failures to innovation from leading manufacturers and newbies.
While Airbus and Boeing will again hog the spotlight at the Paris Air Show with their battle for ever-larger slices of the lucrative pie in the sky, a lot of the really interesting stuff will be going on elsewhere at the upcoming biennial aviation and defense industry gathering.
Lockheed Martin's F-35 jet will crane necks with high-speed aerial displays, drones will again be a hot topic and a would-be flying car will aim to show that it is closer to getting off the ground as a consumer ride. Defense contractors will be seeking customers for their latest high-tech weapons, including drones designed to act as wingmen to piloted aircraft in battle.
More peacefully, there'll be the launch of a distress beacon with an integrated GPS transmitter to help locate planes that go down — an issue of vital importance after the failure to locate Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 that disappeared with 239 passengers and crew on March 8, 2014. And several companies are showcasing technologies to allow passengers to stay connected in the air.
With airlines suffering a string of public relations' embarrassments recently — from the United Airlines' passenger getting dragged off a flight to British Airways' massive outage — the aerospace industry is eager to show off its goods.
The U.S. and European manufacturers invariably seek to out-do each other by announcing big deals at the show. The last event in 2015 brought orders for 421 planes worth $57 billion for Airbus and orders for 331 planes worth $50 billion for Boeing.
Airbus and Boeing orders have seen a downturn in recent years after a buying spree by Mideast and Asian carriers. This year, each company is expected to announce around 200 orders, though some may be airlines or leasing companies firming up earlier tentative orders.
Neither Boeing nor Airbus is unveiling a major new plane at the show. Likely to get attention are Boeing's latest 787 model, the 787-10, and Airbus' answer to it, the A350-1000, the latest version of the long-delayed Airbus wide-body. Boeing will also show its 737 Max 9 and Airbus will show the single-aisle A321, popular for its fuel efficiency.
Among the 130 aircraft on display, the star will likely be the cutting-edge F-35 stealth jet fighter, which costs about $100 million each.
Designed to creep up undetected on ground targets and for air-to-air combat, the jet will wow with daily flights — hoping to impress potential foreign customers for manufacturer Lockheed Martin.
Briefings, by the plane's chief test pilot and others, on the jet's aerial capabilities and the F-35 program could produce news about recent problems that grounded U.S. Air Force F-35s at a base in Arizona, after pilots reported symptoms of oxygen deprivation.
The U.S. Air Force will use the F-35 to replace the A-10 and F-16, and has already taken delivery of more than 100 of the planes.
Big, small, deadly or peaceful, drones of all shapes and sizes that do jobs once done by pilots — and jobs that pilots can't — are expected to be a major source of interest and business at the show. There'll also be discussion about how to ensure that civilian drones don't unsafely clog the skies, by tripping over commercial flights and each other.
There will also be drones for surveillance and intelligence-gathering.
This article was written by John Leicester from The Associated Press and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@newscred.com.


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How Poor Password Hygiene Could Unravel Your Business
Insights, Productivity
by CIO World AsiaDecember 12, 2022
By Muhammad Yahya Patel, Security Engineer at Check Point Software
Passwords have been the keys to the kingdom for over 50 years, guarding the most sensitive data an organization has. Yet despite their intrinsic value, they are one of the most overlooked forms of security, with more than 23 million people using '123456' to protect their accounts. More alarming is the fact that this year, 'password' was the most used phrase in the UK, according to NordPass. It is no wonder then that 90% of internet users are worried about their password being hacked.
These statistics should be keeping business owners up at night, especially because 51% of users have the same passwords for work and personal accounts. The question is, where does the blame lie when a weak password leads to a breach? Is it down to the individual to take personal responsibility, or do we need to apply pressure on companies to introduce more robust authentication methods? In my opinion, the answer is all the above.
Why passwords are the weakest link
The average person has 100 passwords to remember. It is no surprise that many suffer from "password overload" due to the sheer number of online services and applications they use, both work-related and personal. Add in the need to generate complex passwords with characters and symbols, and the human brain will seek the path of least resistance, which often results in poor password practices.
All it takes is for a single employee to have one account hacked, and a threat actor could potentially access every application they use, including professional collaboration tools such as Teams, Slack and Outlook. This could result in the leak of customer data, costly ransom demands or fines, or a complete loss of customer trust that can be difficult to regain.
The impact of a breach could be even more harmful if it happens to someone with a higher level of permissions than other employees. In that case, cybercriminals could maneuver their way into the network almost unchallenged and create widespread damage.
If you are in an executive role, then it is especially important that you take proactive steps to combat password theft and credential exposure. Here are some of the ways you can strengthen password security protocols, and the actional steps that can be implemented for an immediate impact.
Remove reliance on passwords
Executives need to enact and enforce good cybersecurity practices. The best way to do that is to reduce the reliance you have on passwords alone. This means organizations need to adopt other authentication methods to reduce the chances of becoming overwhelmed. For example, by combining multiple account protection solutions such as two factor authentication apps with biometrics, you will lower the chances of a successful attack while at the same time, helping to improve the overall security posture in your organization.
Businesses could also consider using Single Sign-On (SSO), which allows a user to authenticate themselves on multiple, separate platforms via a single ID. This solution negates the need for several different passwords. There is an element of risk, but by combining SSO with multi-factor authentication you can add a second layer of protection.
Other ways to make an impact
Improving your password hygiene does not have to be complicated, but it does need to be implemented now to minimize the chances of an attack. There are actions that can be taken to help companies address the widespread problem of insecure passwords:
Implement an account monitoring solution: You can only protect what you can see, so it's important that you have visibility of all accounts that have been compromised by an attack. Otherwise, how are you going to make improvements to stop an attack from happening again? This is why you need to review the default account settings and turn on features like locking an account after certain attempts. You don't want an attacker to have unlimited time or an unlimited number of login attempts, allowing them to force their way into your organization.
Protect against phishing attacks: When asked about the impact of successful phishing attacks, 52% of security leaders said that they had experienced credential compromise. In light of this, what organizations should be asking themselves is 'how did my email security allow this phishing email through?' 'Is it effective at blocking and preventing these carefully crafted emails?' If not, then you need to invest in technology that will stop malicious emails from reaching the mailbox in the first place. The second step is to look for a solution that prevents a user from inputting their credentials into a phishing website. These solutions exist, it's just a matter of investment and adoption.
Use a password manager: Sometimes having a password is a mandatory requirement, so you cannot rely on other authentication methods alone. Conduct an evaluation to decide if a password manager would be appropriate for your organization. Password managers have several benefits. They allow your employees to securely store credentials, generate unique passwords and they can auto-complete fields on websites. This removes the reliance on remembering hundreds of passwords or writing them down for anyone to see.
In the current cyber landscape, an attack is inevitable. However, preventing an attack is possible with the right combination of technologies and security protocols. Put simply, action must be taken now to keep your accounts safe. Given that poor password hygiene and the resulting impact can damage an organization's reputation beyond repair, companies need to treat this situation with the level of seriousness it demands.
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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It's Time to Move On from Fracking
By Ananya Venkatraman on December 15, 2020
The conversation around fracking has long been present in political circles and is an issue on which even candidates from the same party seldom agree upon. It was a contentious and topical issue in the democratic primary, and we saw its return in both the vice-presidential debate on October 7th and the presidential debate on October 22nd when the candidates sparred over fracking and climate change policies. On both nights, the Trump-Pence ticket accused the Biden-Harris campaign of wanting to ban fracking in the United States. In reality, the Biden-Harris plan will not issue any new fracking permits on public soil.
But, more broadly, it begs the questions as to why fracking received such a dedicated amount of time in the debate. There are a few reasons, but primarily it was a politically important issue during the election this year, where Democrats worried that banning fracking would cost them necessary swing-state votes in states like Pennsylvania, where the fracking industry is an important employer in the state. Bottom line is, when thinking about future climate issues, fracking is an important but unsettled issue. It presents an interesting debate about the tradeoffs between not only the economy and climate solutions, but also the efficacy of fracking as both a long-term and stop-gap solution. In order to properly understand and engage in such a debate, we have to explore how fracking works and its interplay with climate and a modern economy.
A Brief Scientific Understanding
Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, is a process by which we are able to extract wells of natural gas buried deep underground —a byproduct of exposing decaying organic matter to heat and pressure. At first, a wellbore — a long vertical shaft —drills anywhere between 2500 and 3000 km vertically into layers of sediment. Upon reaching this point, the drill drills horizontally for another 1.5 km, and a perforating gun creates small punctures in the rock layer. A well casing is also inserted in the process to attempt to prevent any leakages.
In the United States, large fracking reserves are often found in vast shale formations located throughout the midwest and east coast. After the well itself has been established, a pressurized liquid is injected into the rock, creating cracks through which oil and gas are extracted. Generally, the liquid is mostly water (up to 97%), but also contains a concentrated mixture of several chemicals which aid in the extraction process. Usually sand is also mixed in as a proppant to allow for the continuous flow of oil and natural gas even after the pressure has been released. Once extracted, this oil and natural gas is combusted for energy.
A Brief Political Understanding
Fracking became especially popular in the United States throughout the 2000s as the U.S. became more energy independent and less reliant on oil imports. As a result, the hydraulic fracking industry boomed in the past two decades and is responsible for a majority of the natural gas burned in the U.S. But especially in this past election cycle, fracking has become a particularly political issue, and whether or not to ban fracking altogether is a tough issue to navigate considering both the economic and climate effects of policies that advocate as such.
During the democratic primary, the candidates were relatively split on fracking with policies ranging from completely banning fracking, to phasing fracking out, to ending new permits on public lands. Even during the democratic debates, it is clear that the party itself does not have a consensus on how to approach the issue.
Ultimately, it's important to understand that fracking is a process by which natural gas is extracted and then burned, and the U.S. needs to transition away from burning fossil fuels as soon as possible. However, there is a strategic way to transition away from such fuels: we need to stop fracking as urgently as possible, but with infrastructure in place that adequately transitions the US out of a natural gas-run economy to a renewable energy based economy.
The Merits of Fracking
Before I detail the numerous cons of fracking, it is worth understanding the merits of fracking as a stop-gap measure. The term "stop-gap" is often thrown around loosely but generally refers to temporary— long or short— solutions that help transition the U.S. economy into renewable sources of energy. Fracking is a stop-gap solution. It allows the U.S. to transition out of forms of energy, such as coal, which are deeply destructive to the environment. Generally, natural gas is more environmentally friendly than coal. On average, burning coal releases about twice the carbon dioxide that natural gas does. So the U.S. does technically net less carbon emissions by burning fossil fuels. As such, it was one of the reasons that U.S. emissions declined.
Furthermore, fracking allowed the United States to become energy independent and to start exporting oil as a means of profit in the world.
But these benefits are few and far between, and in reality, fracking has several health and environmental concerns. Ultimately, the pros of fracking do not outweigh the cons.
The Harms of Fracking
Fracking has proven to be a generally unsafe and material-consuming procedure. Each well can take anywhere between 1.5 and 16 million gallons of freshwater. Furthermore, when the well casing cracks, fracking water can contaminate groundwater supplies used in households. There are several other health problems with fracking as it has been linked to respiratory illnesses, problems during pregnancy and other mental and physical problems.
Environmentally, fracking is still burning natural gas which releases a significant amount of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere.
A Solution?
In many ways, banning fracking may be the necessary push we need to start heavily investing and transitioning to renewable energies. For the past decade or so, fracking may have provided the U.S. with a false sense of security, but in reality it is not a sustainable practice in the long term. Yes, carbon emissions have gone down, but they haven't decreased further or fast enough and the effects are not necessarily long-term. While some argue that fracking needs to be a stop-gap measure in the future, the fact of the matter is that fracking has been a stop-gap measure for the past two decades, but the U.S. has yet to put in a solid transition infrastructure in place.
The window in which we need to act against climate change has likely already passed, and at this point, drastic, wide-sweeping policy changes must be implemented without hesitation. One of these policy changes is to ban fracking.
What would a transition infrastructure look like?
The Green New Deal, the topic of much political controversy in the past year, is one such solution that has generally been floated around. While the Green New Deal itself doesn't explicitly call for banning fracking, proponents of the Green New Deal support its ban. The Green New Deal is important; it sets out a clear set of goals as to how to tackle the climate crisis in the country from all angles. But the Green New Deal is just that — a set of goals, not a clear actionable plan. While it is a start, it alone is not enough.
As I mentioned before, the Biden-Harris plan will not issue any new fracking permits on public lands. This is a start, but it's a start that should have happened years ago, and in 2020, we need something more.
As such, we need a combination of these two. We need to have the concrete set of goals that come with a solid infrastructure in place. Doing one and not the other leads us to an impasse. Industry on its own has proven that it will not invest in clean energy. So, we need massive government intervention that simultaneously invests money into clean energy and provides industry incentives.
The reality has to come from a consensus of several factors including the readiness of other renewable sources of energy, some of which are not ready to support the long-term energy needs of the U.S. But ultimately, we are running out of time to make them ready, and we cannot wait until they are. We can't ignore the serious problems of fracking just because it provides us with a temporary solution; it's time to move on.
Featured Image: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-14432401
#climatechange
#Environmental Policy
Ananya Venkatraman
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the tanjara
Iraqi writer Hassan Blasim tours UK & publicises new story collection The Iraqi Christ
The Iraqi short story writer, poet and filmmaker Hassan Blasim begins a three-day UK tour tonight with an appearance at the Lit and Phil Library in Newcastle Upon Tyne at 7pm. Blasim's tour marks the imminent publication by Manchester-based Comma Press of The Iraqi Christ, his second short story collection in English, translated by Jonathan Wright. The tour, on which Blasim is accompanied by Wright, is supported by English PEN which earlier this year awarded The Iraqi Christ a 2012 English PEN Writers in Translation Award to help with the book's marketing and promotion. (The book is officially published in the New Year, but can be ordered in advance online.)
On Tuesday 11th December Blasim will be in Manchester, at the International Anthony Burgess Foundation at 7pm. On Wednesday 12th he appears with both Wright and English PEN Jo Glanville at 7pm at the Mosaic Rooms of the A M Qattan Foundation in central London. All three events in Newcastle, Manchester and London are free.
Hassan Blasim (©Tomas Whitehouse, who writes about his photo session with Blasim here)
The fortchcoming publication of The Iraqi Christ will be highly timely, with the 10th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq just three months away. Blasim's short stories take as their subject matter the repercussions on individuals of the decades of violence and suffering to which Iraqis have been subjected in recent decades, in which the 2003 invasion and its aftermath is the latest chapter.
Blasim was born in Baghdad in 1973 and studied at the city's Academy of Cinematic Arts where two of his films - Gardenia (screenplay) and White Clay (screenplay and director) - won the Academy's Festival Award for Best Work. In 1998 he left Baghdad for Sulaymaniya in Iraqi Kurdistan, where he continued to make films, including Wounded Camera. He worked using the pseudonym 'Ouazad Osman', as he feared for this family's safety in Baghdad under Saddam's dictatorship.
In 2004 Blasim moved to Finland as a refugee. His stories have been published on the iraqstory.com website, of which he is a co-editor, and his essays on cinema have been published in the UAE. He has made numerous short films and documentaries for Finnish television.
Blasim has developed a fruitful relationship with Comma Press, a not-for-profit publisher promoting new fiction and poetry, with an emphasis on the short story. His short story The Reality and the Record was published in Comma's 2008 anthology Madinah: City Stories from the Middle East edited by Lebanese poet, translator and journalist Joumana Haddad.
Comma published Blasim's first collection of stories in English translation The Madman of Freedom Square , translated by Jonathan Wright, in 2009. The collection attracted considerable critical attention and was longlisted for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize in 2010. It has been translated into Finnish, Spanish, Polish and Italian. A heavily-edited version was finally published in Arabic in 2012, only to be immediately banned in Jordan.
The 14 stories in The Iraqi Christ are written with Blasim's characteristic blend of reality, satire, fantasy and surrealism . Blasim brings home the barbarity of a society in which suicide bombings, massacres and assassinations are part of the fabric of life. His characters struggle to survive in the face of violence and sectarianism. The barbarity at the state and political level is mirrored by cruelties and aggression at the domestic level.
The unflinching stories are original, inventive and savagely funny, though at times gruelling, and have an urgency about them. Jonathan Wright has produced a fine translation, skilfully handling the changes in register from the lyrical to the slangy and obscene.
The stories are full of incident and characters, often ranging widely over geography and time yet they are also remarkably compact, almost mini-novels. The author's talents in filmmaking seem to be reflected in his writing skills. In the story Why Don't You Write a Novel, Instead of Talking About All These Characters? the narrator is asked: "Why do you cram all these names into one short story?" He answers by quoting Rumi: "The truth was once a mirror in the hands of God. Then it fell and broke into a thousand pieces. Everybody has a very small piece of it, but each one believes he has the whole truth".
This story opens with a group of refugees of various nationalities with a people trafficker in the last forest before the Romanian-Hungarian border. The narrator and his long-time Iraqi friend carry the body of a dead Afghan with them for three nights: the friend is later imprisoned in Hungary, for having strangled the Afghan. The narrator works as a translator in a refugee camp under the name Salem Hussein. His imprisoned friend tells him "You're an arsehole and a fraud. Your name's Hassan Blasim and you claim to be Salem Hussein."
The titular story features Daniel, a Christian soldier nicknamed by his comrades the Chewgum Christ. He has an astonishing ability to predict events, a gift that often saves fellow Iraqi soldiers under attack during the war in Kuwait. But back in civilian life he is forced into becoming a suicide bomber so as to save his elderly mother's life. The narrator of this story encounters Daniel "in the next world"; with death a constant presence, several stories drift between this world and the next. A crucifixion does occur in the collection - not in the story The Iraqi Christ but in A Thousand and One Knives, in a scene the gruesomeness of which makes reading hard to bear.
The stories are told in the first person: in some cases, the story is in quotes as it is being told to someone else in the story. Blasim plays with ideas of storytelling and identity. At the end of A Wolf, in which an immigrant to Finland tells of what happened when he found a wolf in his city flat, the person to whom the story has been told introduces himself as "Hassan Blasim, pleased to meet you."
Another story with a Finnish setting is Dear Beto, which takes place in a forest. Blasim seems to have found an affinity with the forests of Finland in the eight years he has lived in that country, and the story has some soulful, meditative writing, in which creativity and violence combine.
There are frequent references in the stories to the pleasures of reading. In A Thousand and One Knives four friends find they can make knives disappear: the wife of the narrator is the only person who can make them reappear. Through reading, the narrator concludes that the knives are "just a metaphor for all the terror, the killing and the brutality in the country." He moves into the world of Mutanabbi Street, famed for its bookshops, and in order to try and understand the mystery of the knives the group of friends buys more and more books. "The magic of words was like rain that quenched the thirst in my soul, and for me life became an idea and a dream: the idea was a ball and the dream was two tennis racquets."
A ward in the Baghdad Medical City hospital is the location of The Fifth Floor Window, a darkly comic story told by a narrator who has lung cancer and is sharing a ward with two men suffering from colon cancer. Unfortunately for the cancer sufferers, the doctors are constantly diverted to the stream of casualties in the emergency department caused by suicide bombings and massacres.
One of the cancer patients, Salwan, has two wives who "would sit on the end of the bed like squabbling crows. Salwan shared his insults between them, all without understanding a word of what they said." He persecutes the other colon cancer sufferer, a pilot, for his groans of pain. The narrator longs to be back on the university campus where he is preparing a master's on fantasy literature. "I was interested in why the country's literature did not include this distinctive genre".
In The Hole a shopkeeper revisiting the shop that he had to abandon because of the violence flees runs from armed robbers and finds himself falling into a hole. His companion in the hole is a crazy old man claiming to be a djinni who had been a scholar in Baghdad in the Abbasid era. The other occupant of the hole is a dead Russian soldier from the "winter war between Russian and Finland."
There is a hallucinatory quality to many of scenes in Blasim's stories. In Crosswords a prize-winning compiler of crossword puzzles is injured in an explosion of vehicles and when he is recovering in hospital he finds a policeman who was burnt to death in the attack has taken over his mind.
The situation in Iraq is in danger of being sidelined, a forgotten conflict pushed to the margins of the international news agenda by the uprisings and revolutions in other Arab states. Almost every day brings news of car bombings and other violence, but such news is so commonplace is barely makes an impact outside Iraq. The Iraqi Christ is a potent reminder of the legacy and ongoing impact of war and civil strife in Iraq, and it deserves a wide readership. Following the publication of Blasim's two collections by Comma Press in the UK, Comma has sold Blasim's short story collection The Corpse Exhibition to Penguin USA. The Corpse Exhibition, due to be published in autumn 2013, will comprise both Madman of Freedom Square, and The Iraqi Christ
Susannah Tarbush
Posted by starbush at 1:12 AM
NaNoWriMo winner 2012
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7iber.com
al-bab.com
arabisto
committee to protect bloggers
daily star lebanon
Nick Possum home page
reem kelani
salon magazine
abu aardvark
ali abdulemam
Anissa's blog
apartheid blog of qumsiyeh
arabist network
baheyya
crossroads arabia
driven by curiosity
english pen world atlas blog
friday in cairo
global voices online
guardian books blog
healing iraq
imtidad
khadija teri [libya]
laila lalami
levantine dreamhouse
lone highlander
misr digital
olfa jami
peter stodhard
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sabria's out of the box
salam pax
saudi woman
secret dubai diary


text:
Black Leaders Take Vaccine To Build Trust
By Kentucky
PUBLISHED 5:57 PM ET Jan. 20, 2021 PUBLISHED 5:57 PM EST Jan. 20, 2021
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - To work past decades of distrust, Black leaders in Louisville gathered to receive their first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Black community leaders received COVID-19 vaccines
Louisville Urban League sponsored the event to help calm fears
Dr. Sarah Moyer with Louisvlle Metro gave a presentation
According to Moyer, 30% of Black healthcare workers have received the vaccine, while 70% of white healthcare workers have.
The event, hosted at the Louisville Urban League, the small group heard from city health strategist Dr. Sarah Moyer, who explained only 30% of Black healthcare workers have received the vaccine, while 70% of their white counterparts have. Some of Wednesday's vaccine recipients said they were cautiously optimistic.
"[I was] nervous, for sure; quite nervous, and nervous because of the history of medicine and Black people in America, said Hannah Drake, a prominent poet. "However, I understand COVID and I understand what we are dealing with. This is not going to magically disappear. It's not going away."
Distrust toward medicine has evolved over decades of abuse by the federal government and parts of the medical world. In 1932, the US Public Health Service launched a misleading study on Black men and syphilis. Over 40 years, men living with syphilis were promised treatment for their cooperation, but shots given to them contained no medicine despite penicilin gaining wide use in 1947. Drake added that African-Americans remain disproportionately affected by medical conditions to this day, namely that Black women die during childbirth at least twice as often as white women.
Shanta King, who, like Drake, received her first dose of the Moderna vaccine Wednesday, was also aprehensive, but wanted to motivate others in her city to get the vaccine when it becomes available to them.
"Before I recommend the vaccination I had to go through it and take it," she said. "So, I figured I'd be a local guinea pig, and I did this with much prayer because I'm just as apprehensive as anybody else."
Kentucky is progressing into phase 1B of vaccinations - which includes teachers - as hopes of returning to schools appear on the horizon.
Should People Be Paid to Get the COVID-19 Vaccine?
Beshear Talks Vaccination Rollout, Limited Supplies
Kentucky Vaccine Appointments Suspended Over Short Supply
Who Can Sign Up for the COVID-19 Vaccine and Where


text:
Ballycastle Marconi Festival - Sunday August 5
THE annual Marconi Festival takes place on Sunday, August 5 at Ballycastle's sea front.
This is the 12th year that the event has been organised by the Marconi Radio Group and supported by Moyle District Council's Community Grants scheme.
The event marks the work of Marconi, Kemp and Granville in 1898 when the world's first commercial signal was sent from Rathlin to Ballycastle across water.
The club will be sending signals across the world on Sunday from the seafront in memory of the work of the great Marconi that was pioneered in Ballycastle and Rathlin Island. .. Ballycastle Chronicle
Added August 3
Welcome to Moyle District Council - our website provides information on services, events, facilities and the many areas of outstanding natural beauty in the district.
August seems to be a quiet month in Moyle - or else some council officials have gone on holiday or remained in hibernation!
The Lammas Fair will be making its customary appearance towards the end of the month. Last year pedestrians were forced onto the road in the vicinity of the Marine Hotel corner because folks were trading on the pavements, despite the absence of pitches. Why was no action taken - at the very least on health and safety grounds - to maintain a clear passage for pedestrians, some the frail elderly, some young children? Why was trading permitted where there were no pitches? What's to stop the horse dealers continuing to use Fair Hill Street as they've done before? Does the Council have no bye-laws to deal with these issues? How many agencies of regional and local government does it take to sort such matters out?
Mitchell and Murdoch - from the Parish of Dunluce
I had posted this photo that we have in our possession of relatives that immigrated from the Kilmoyle, Coleraine, Bushmills area. I have been looking for leads on this photo. Someone on Ancestry.com email me the link to your Flickr posting photo, which captured my attention as I saw the Nevin surname surface.
In our lineage we have a William Nevin Mitchell, which in my understanding of how children were named, the surname would appear as the middle name. He immigrated to the US and his lady friend followed Alice Patrick Murdoch. They had two sons, lived their days out in Oregon. William's father would be Samuel Mitchell and mother Nancy Patterson. My great grandfather would have been Joseph Patterson, relative I think of Nancy. Joseph's father on the Nebraska Marriage Certficate is listed as a William Patterson (about 1836 or so) and his wife as a Jane Nebier (Neibour) sp? (perhaps from Cuberland England-1846...these trail has gone cold) I can not find any more about this family name anywhere so am wonder about the correctness of the surname on Jane.
[rt clk img > open in new tab > clk 2 enlarge]
I am at this point very curious about the tag teaming of the Nevin name coming into the family unit.
I have included my photo of the Kilmoyle school photo as well as the lineage that I have been able to trace so far.
I do not have a roster of children in the photo. All I know is that some relatives that immigrated to Canada as in this picture. The surnames that would interest me greatly would be: Patterson, Mitchell, Craig
Any light you can shed would be so appreciated!
I found a copy of the 1881 marriage details for Samuel Mitchell of Tullycapple and Nancy Patterson of Kilmoyle:
I've found some of Connie folks in the 1901 and 1911 Irish censuses and in the 1860 Griffith's Valuation.
If you do a search for William Patterson, County Antrim, Parish of Dunluce, you'll find a William in Kilmoyle along with a Nevin family; Maggie Nevin is a witness for Nancy Patterson.
http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/index.xml
There are several Mitchells in Dunluce parish including a John Mitchell in Tullycapple, Samuel's residence at the time of his marriage as well as the name of Samuel's father. The associated maps allow you to locate the position of the Patterson and Mitchell farms, sometimes even homes.
Samuel, Nancy and son William Mitchell in 1901:
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Antrim/Benvarden/Ballybogy/945163/
Murdock can also appear as Murdoch.
John, Margaret and Alice Murdock are in Bushfoot, Portballintrae in 1901:
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Antrim/Portrush_Rural/Bushfoot_or_Lissanduff/943762/
but by 1911 are in Ballyrock Irish with Alice's grandfather Hugh Murdoch:
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Antrim/Beardiville/Ballyrock_Irish/126931/
If any one can provide additional information please contact NALIL blog at the address above.
Old Bushmills Distillery - in an Alcohol Free Area
A friend drew my attention to this curious juxtaposition in Upper Main Street, Bushmills!
Northern Ireland - FixMyStreet
Hello NALIL!
I'm writing from the not-for-profit mySociety. I thought your readers might be interested to know that our website FixMyStreet.com now covers Northern Ireland - so the residents of North Antrim can now report potholes, faulty street lights, and any other street problem through the site, and it will go to the right contact in the local council.
FixMyStreet launched in 2007, covering Great Britain only, due to conditions of the funding that helped pay for it. But with those restrictions in the past, the only impediment to spreading across the whole of the UK was time and resources. It had long been on our own wishlist to do so, but time was scarce. Fortunately, a project we undertook for Channel 4 last year used very similar code to FixMyStreet, and has allowed our developer Matthew Somerville to repurpose it and finally bring NI onto FixMyStreet.
The idea behind the site is a simple one: people don't always know who to contact when they experience a problem like fly tipping, graffiti or broken paving. With FixMyStreet all they have to do is pinpoint the issue on a map - or allow the site to automatically geolocate them - and their message is sent off to the right place. FixMyStreet covers all 26 local NI councils and the central Roads Service, and works quite happily on a mobile browser or desktop. Users' reports are also published online, meaning that other local people can read, discuss and advise on what's been reported in their own area.
With Northern Ireland having been added only at the end of last week, their pages are looking strangely sparse, but we're sure that's not because there's nothing to report! If your readers would like to give the site a go, they should visit FixMyStreet.com and enter their own postcode. This will bring up the local map where any reported issues can be viewed, or a new one created.
Giant's Causeway Visitor Experience - A Glitch
How Not To Win Friends
Tourism Board chiefs, in the background,
miss out on Royal line-up in June 2010
The absence of the NITB chiefs was not down to NT.
The line-up for the Royal handshake was arranged by others.
The Judicial Review
The Board Member Resignation
The Toilet Experience
New Giant's Causeway Visitor Centre
A friend told me that the toilets are part of the £8.50 Experience in the new multi-million pound Giant's Causeway Visitor Centre - so I thought I'd check it out. I entered the centre and asked one of the receptionists if I could use the toilet facilities. She inquired if I had a ticket and when I said I had none she directed me back out to the car-park where another member of staff helpfully pointed me to the side entrance just before the tunnel. "But there are no signs", says I; "There wouldn't be", says he, "They want visitors to go into the centre".
I probably could also have had a free view of the exhibition! Who is responsible for this elementary blunder? The same curious approach applies to the shop and the cafe; I doubt if it will ever be used by other businesses seeking customers!
Free entry to toilets via unmarked door on left**
[Added August 11. I was told that the three free toilets are on the left as you face the doors in the photo. I checked one of them today - it's so small you almost need to reverse in!!]
This blunder has also created a bit of a nuisance for the Causeway Hotel staff. A notice has now been fixed to their toilets pointing out that the facilities are for hotel customers only.
These steps link the Visitor Centre car-park to the Causeway School Museum. Walking on angled steps is an experience - once you've adjusted to anti-trip mode :L
Added August 21
"Is the current pricing structure in line with the figures provided for the business plan, if not what has changed?
"What Government support is available if, due to adverse publicity, the numbers attending the site drop below a sustainable level?
"There is a responsibility on both Government Ministers to immediately intervene to promote tourism on the North Coast given the adverse publicity generated in the past few days," said Assemblyman Swann. .. Ballymoney and Moyle Times
Moyle District Council - Return to the Sand Rodden
Support the Emergency Services
Ensure Quick and Easy Access Wherever Possible
It was the second visit for the emergency services this week down the narrow rough Sand Rodden that runs from Runkerry Road to the eastern end of Bushfoot Strand, the only road access for their vehicles. This time the reported incident involved a broken ankle.
The narrow track is in need of repair
The padlock has not been replaced on the bollard
The 3 o'clock to Bushmills approaching the Sand Rodden
Access to the strand would need to be kept clear of large boulders
The return to Runkerry Road
Added July 21
Moyle District Council Agenda for Monday, July 23:
1. Removal of bollard blocking access to Runkerry Beach along the Sandy Rodden.
(Requested by Councillor P McShane).
All such signs should face strand users, not be sideways on.
I'm told that this and other gates on the road down to White Park Bay strand are usually kept locked via padlock and key. They are a barrier to quick and easy access for emergency service vehicles.
A padlocked bollard and, sometimes, a heavy chain and padlock can prevent emergency service vehicles getting even as far as this lower crossing-gate on the Sand Rodden; the lane leads to the eastern end of Bushfoot Strand.
Added November 7
The Moyle Council report is at odds with the accounts of witnesses recorded here on NALIL blog. The report makes no reference to the 30 minute toing and froing between Portballintrae and the Sand Rodden by the rapid response ambulance in the company of two coastguard vehicles; there's no mention of the family-size black hatchback car that appears to have been associated with rescue attempts. Moyle Council officials read NALIL blogs yet they apparently decided to ignore the accounts of independent witnesses. Why did the expressions of concern by some councillors at the time of the tragedy evaporate?
Report on Safety and Access to Runkerry Beach [DOC file]
Following on from Council's meeting on 23rd July 2012 a review of safety at Runkerry Beach was undertaken. A full report was circulated.
After discussion
Councillor P McShane proposed,
Seconded by Councillor McAllister and resolved,
"That Council approve the recommendations in the report on safety and access to Runkerry Beach and that an Action Plan be prepared for their implementation."
Moyle District Council - Emergency Access to Bushfoot Strand
Remove the Bollard
It's not just a health and safety issue
It could be a life or death issue
Minister for Public Safety
Minister**, there are a range of issues
surrounding this tragedy that need to be addressed.
1. Sufficient and clear warning signs of the hazards.
2. Quick and easy access for emergency service vehicles.
3. One name for the location: Bushfoot Strand - as shown on OS maps
click > The arrival of the bollard
Access to Runkerry Beach via Sand Rodden
The TDRM stated that a request had been received from the Giant's Causeway & Bushmills Railway that due to increase number of vehicles causing serious health and safety implication in relation to the level crossing at the Sand Rodden, that the gates on both sides of the crossing should now be padlocked.
The TSM recommended a collapsible bollard would be best placed at the level crossing at the Sand Rodden.
After discussion, it was agreed that a collapsible bollard would be placed on vehicular access to Runkerry Beach via the Sand Rodden crossing at Ardihannon.
Moyle District Council Minutes 13 Nov 2006 [DOC]
click> Bollard blocks ready access for emergency vehicles
I'm told that the fire was reported about 2:40pm and the first of the tenders was there by 3pm. The firefighters didn't have a key to lower the bollards; I understand one was eventually delivered by a member of the railway staff about 3:40pm just before I'd arrived. .. May 2008
[click on images to enlarge]
Padlock removed; in the past there has been both a padlock on the bollard as well as a heavy chain and padlock securing the crossing-gate to the post. I'm told that the emergency service vehicles drove down the Sand Rodden to this barrier, (one or more) [edit] turned around, drove back up and then along Runkerry Road and then returned to the barrier at the Sand Rodden^^. I'm also told that a emergency vehicle was being driven from Ballycastle with the repeated request from HQ to 'Make Best Speed'. Was it carrying a key to the padlock?
Tracks on the grass
Tracks in the mud
Where the Sand Rodden meets Bushfoot Strand
Looking across the waves to Portballintrae
and thinking about the little girl.
Very sadly, she did not survive her ordeal.
Ulster Unionist councillor [and Moyle District Council chair] Sandra Hunter said: "My thoughts and prayers are with the young girl's family at this harrowing time."
This BBC NI news report highlights the muddle over naming, a muddle that could cause critical delay. Bushfoot Strand, Runkerry Beach and Bushmills Strand are one and the same so let's stick to the Ordnance Survey name: Bushfoot Strand.
The naming issue is becoming even more surreal: "She fell into the sea at Bushtown Strand shortly after 2pm on Sunday." UTV website
A Facebook friend has just flagged up a related issue; this had already been drawn to my attention by a Moyle councillor last night. She says that bollards block access to the road down to the Causeway stones from 9 am to 9 pm. This is a right of way but, much more importantly, the emergency services shouldn't have to hang around while a key or the key manager is located.
We need some timings and a more detailed comment from witnesses about what they heard and maybe saw. Please contact this blog via details at the top of the webpage,
I think this UTV commentary is too ambiguous:
"Wilkinson: A man went into the water to help after he had raised the alarm with the emergency services.
Munro: A gentleman had been walking his dog seen the girl get into difficulty and had called the coastguard by 999 and then got in and effected a rescue and helped extract the girl from the surf. A passer-by, police and other people decided to continue with CPR until the ambulance service arrived.
Wilkinson: Bushfoot Strand runs from Portballintrae towards the Giants Causeway. At the Causeway end a bollard had to be unlocked to allow an emergency response vehicle onto the beach and, before that, the first ambulance to arrive onto the scene couldn't take their vehicle any further than the golf-course. Because they were unable to bring their ambulance onto the beach three paramedics then walked along the strand to reach the little girl. It took them thirteen minutes to reach her after the initial emergency call."
We have second witness evidence^^ that three vehicles sped from Portballintrae to Bushmills and then out towards the Causeway: a Rapid Response Vehicle (RRV) and two Coastguard vehicles, one with a trailer attached. Photos show three such vehicles on the strand beside a group of people. Call out time has been given by one source as 14:04, by another as just after 14:00.
Presumably an ambulance could have gone into the car-park at the end of Beach Road, Portballintrae, lowered the (Coleraine Borough Council?) bollard there and driven down to west side of the foot-bridge across the River Bush. Clarification is needed about what happened at the Sand Rodden, the only road access for the Coastguard and emergency response vehicles to Bushfoot Strand. If they had keys they could/should have gone there directly rather than via Portballintrae, a route that added an additional 3 to 6 miles to their travel - depending on their place of departure.
Delays may not avert tragedies but they certainly heighten the risk.
[contd]
^^ This second witness - independent of the first witness - has shed some additional light on the difficulties confronted by the emergency services. I'm told that the first emergency services vehicle to arrive in Portballintrae was an RRV and this was followed by an ambulance. The ambulance may have gone to the Beach Road car-park but it came back up Ballaghmore Road and turned left down to Bushfoot Golf Club; presumably its personnel made their way down to the River Bush and over the foot-bridge that leads on to Bushfoot Strand. I'm told a second ambulance appeared and made its way down to the golf club.
Two Coastguard vehicles appeared and drove along Ballaghmore Road into Portballintrae. These two vehicles then returned accompanied by an RRV. They were heading towards Bushmills and could be heard making their up the Whitepark Road towards the Causeway; they were identified as looking very like the three vehicles that later appeared in photos from Bushfoot Strand. All three vehicles returned to Bushmills and headed out to Portballintrae; they subsequently retraced their route out towards the Causeway. What were the reasons for all this movement hither and thither when their services may have been required on Bushfoot Strand? Photographic evidence shows the time of arrival and departure of the RRV from the incident spot on the strand.
The second witness also observed a black car parked in front of the bollarded roadway in the Beach Road car-park that Coleraine Borough Council vehicles use to get access down to the foot-bridge; there was no-one in the black car but its hazard warning lights were flashing. Perhaps its personnel had gone down onto Bushfoot Strand. Some time later this car was observed travelling speedily on the Ballaghmore Road towards Bushmills and later on returning to Portballintrae, overtaking any cars that were maintaining the speed limit. What was the reason for leaving Portballintrae? Had it gone to collect people or medication or equipment?
Return to the Sand Rodden - a second visit within a few days by the emergency services.
** Minister has already acknowledged request - 8 am July 16
Japanese Knotweed on the Causeway Coast 3
Department of the Environment Fiddles While Knotweed Blooms
Alex Attwood MLA, Minister of the Environment: It is widely recognised that invasive alien species, such as Japanese knotweed (Fallopia japonica), are the second biggest threat to biodiversity loss worldwide.
Really? The actions of governance agencies, so far, don't suggest that the DoE is likely to get to grips with this threat any time soon. Does there not need to be a programme of eradication directed and monitored by the DoE with assistance given to individual landowners?
DRD Roads Service June 25
"Last year several locations within the public road boundary, including Isle Road, were treated by an approved competent contractor using an appropriate systemic herbicide. Unfortunately, this type of weed usually requires multiple annual treatments to successfully eliminate re-growth. I can confirm that further treatments are planned very soon on all known locations within the public road in the Moyle District Council area, with repeat treatments as required. The additional locations in Bushmills .. are on private lands for which Roads Service has no responsibility."
DRD Roads Service July 9
"I am pleased to confirm that our Environmental Maintenance Contractor has been instructed to treat many sites throughout the Ballymoney and Moyle Council areas, including Isle Road. Work is due to commence shortly and we will ensure that Isle Road is actioned early in the programme of work.
The effectiveness of this treatment will be monitored."
DoE NIEA July 2
"Landfill tax credits are administered either directly by Councils or by the Ulster Wildlife Trust on their behalf. In addition Moyle Council have themselves previously applied for NIEA Grant Aid to fund a Local Biodiversity Officer within the council. This funding would not be available to each individual landowner to eradicate knotweed from their own back gardens or for developers to eradicate it from development sites where there is obvious commercial gain. It would be intended for wider catchment scale environmental projects such as community led projects which aim to raise awareness and eradicate knotweed from a wider area." ..
"My advice would be that each site is assessed individually to see what herbicide is best suited, which method of application etc as one solution does not fit all sites. The most important factor is the quality of herbicide used (i.e. quantity of active ingredient) and the conditions in which it is sprayed." ..
"The first year spray will always be the most difficult but in subsequent years the regrowth will be much less vigorous and easier to spray. By year 3 to 4 in most cases the knotweed regrowth does not resemble typical knotweed growth appearing only as a small red twig like shoot with no leaves. It is important these are followed up on to prevent the knotweed from re-establishing.
All of this information has been provided in the training which [has been] provided to councils to help them make informed decisions. Similarly it has been discussed with your local Roads Service staff who intend to assess the options for each site prior to spraying."
"The Roads Service have appointed a new professional contractor to spray the areas they have identified on their land. This contractor is different from the previous spraying contractor. From the images supplied I would agree that the regrowth was excessive given the plant had been sprayed which could be down to a range of factors." ..
"NIEA are not in a position to oversee the work of a professional contractor working on behalf of Roads Service as you can hopefully understand. We would only oversee this on the properties we own or manage. I have however spoken to local Roads Service staff at length who are aware of all these issues to ensure that they are built into their spraying requirements to ensure the stands are more effectively sprayed this time. They have also increased awareness amongst their staff and have subsequently identified other areas which they will also be spraying."
The Diaspora - Homecomings and Gatherings and Shortcomings 2
Homecoming Scotland 2014
"Homecoming Scotland 2014 will welcome visitors from around the world to join our inspirational year-long celebration. In the year that Scotland hosts the Commonwealth Games and The Ryder Cup, a nation-wide programme of events will run throughout 2014 to put this dynamic and creative nation firmly on the international stage.
Recognising the success of the Homecoming Scotland 2009 celebrations in rallying Scotland around a common theme, a series of years of focus were established to take the country through to 2014. The years spotlight some of Scotland's greatest assets; food and drink, our reputation as an active destination, a place of culture and creativity, and a place of natural beauty."
The Gathering Ireland 2013
"It's about asking anyone who has Irish blood, a link to Ireland, or even just a love of our country – to join us for a series of amazing and diverse events throughout 2013.
They will range from clan gatherings where people will discover their roots, to rugby clubs inviting foreign teams to their sevens tournament, and groups of international business colleagues conferencing in Ireland.
Those amazing events will be created by you, your neighbour, your work colleague or your sports team. They will be organised by individuals, groups, business colleagues and clubs within the community who will reach out to their worldwide networks. For those organising the events, there will be lots of information, help and support available on this website over the coming months.
The Gathering is a powerful grass-roots movement. By reconnecting with our global community, it will be like completing an electrical circuit. Energy will flow and our community will light up and sparkle with its own vitality.
Let's light up 2013 with an unprecedented celebration of Ireland's global community, and our past, present and future."
But There's A Catch
Many in the Diaspora will think of Ireland as the island home of some of their ancestors, an island of 32 counties. However, this event, though promoted abroad by Tourism Ireland, is being organised by Fáilte Ireland on behalf of the Irish state ie Northern Ireland is not included.
Needless to say, Northern Ireland MLAs managed to confuse themselves over these two different Irelands and both Dublin and Belfast have failed to take account of the needs, desires and widespread roots of the Diaspora.
Just recently, I assisted a family from California. They'd spent a little time in Scotland as they considered their family name to be Scottish; they knew the townland in Antrim one strand of the family had left circa 1870 - I was able to take them to the very farmhouse with the aid of Griffith's Valuation - and then they were off to Mayo to locate another strand.
Sadly, the tourism support arrangements were of limited value to this California family and perhaps it's just as well they came in 2012 rather than 2013; their 'Irish blood', seemingly, was only recognised as Irish by Dublin in Mayo. As for Belfast, it could do with a transfusion of wit :L
Added July 5
Jim, formerly of Portrush, now of NY state, USA, writes: "Travelling to Belfast from NA has become considerably more difficult in the past several years. Only one direct flight now from the East Coast. And expensive. I am quoted $1,800.00 round trip economy NY-London-Belfast-London-NY. I could do it for less if I first flew to Chicago (2.5 hours in the wrong direction), then to Glasgow and finally Belfast - but 22 hours travel time in EACH direction ... no thanks ... I could be in Australia in that time, and for a lot less $ into the bargain.
John of CA state, USA writes: Your tour of Magherintendry was the highlight of our trip, especially given all of the years I have mistakenly been trying to locate my particular branch of the McConaghys in "Ballymoney". My daughter was especially thrilled.
This news report by Greg Dobbs highlights the problems created by the use of Ireland for both the island of 32 counties and the state of 26 counties, even for an experienced commentator. Tourism Ireland is not an Irish government agency as stated by Greg but a limited company; it markets the whole island jointly on behalf of the governing administrations in Dublin and Belfast. I wonder if Greg has any connections to the Castle Dobbs family of Carrickfergus, a family that played such a large part in the migration of folks from Ulster and Scotland to North Carolina.
Portrush - In the Doldrums 3
©/Lorcan Doherty Photography - June 21th 2012.
NO FEE FOR REPRODUCTION
Ministers Foster and McCausland appear to be more than satisfied with the Station Square project but others might wonder if they and/or their officials/agencies are handing over public funds willy-nilly for public realm projects that have been exposed to inadequate supervision.
Perhaps the Planning Minister, Alex Attwood, ought to ask his officials to look at a planning process that permitted the creation of public realm works with a maritime theme that block a maritime view.
C/2012/0260/LDP was online on 23 June but it was missing from the Planning Service website when the first NALIL blog on this topic was published; it is currently absent!
Some of the details in the LDP online application for a Certificate of Lawfulness were barely legible but I had obtained copies from the divisional planning office.
The general layout and the boundary line drawings, in my opinion, fail to show the 'precise nature' of the works being undertaken yet the Planning Service awarded a Certificate of Lawfulness. The application form [pdf file] clearly requests 'a detailed description of all such operations' along with 'such plans to scale or drawings as are necessary to show their precise nature'.
Planning permission was subsequently sought and given for the canopy and for the masts but, as far as I can see, no permission was sought for the prow, a feature that rises to ten feet above the pavement and is dramatically higher than the flower/shrubbery-bed that preceded it. I also understand that permission has yet to be given for the lighting standards
Old Bushmills Distillery - in an Alcohol Free Area...
Moyle District Council - Return to the Sand Rodden...
Moyle District Council - Emergency Access to Bushf...
The Diaspora - Homecomings and Gatherings and Shor...


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Mass effect andromeda requisitos
mass effect 1 requirements
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If your computer meets the minimum requirements, BioWare estimates that you will be able to run Mass Effect: Andromeda at a resolution of 1280x720p, low and 30 frames per second. If you meet the recommended ones you reach 1920×1080, in high and at 30 frames per second.
However, it goes without saying that these data are estimates presented by the studio and that, given the complex world of computer components and all its variants, the actual performance may vary. Mass Effect: Andromeda will be released on March 23rd.Related Links:Source
Analysis Mass Effect: AndromedaGuide Mass Effect: Andromeda, tips and tricksAll Mass Effect gamesMass Effect Andromeda is the next game from Bioware and the continuation of the Mass Effect saga in the new generation. The timeline will take place long after the events of Mass Effect 3, but will start after Mass Effect 2, when humanity desperate and threatened by an immediate attack of the Reapers on the Milky Way decides to make a mass exodus aboard the Nexus station to explore the Andromeda galaxy (our neighbor) trying to find a new home where to be safe from the threat of the great machines. Mass Effect Andromeda therefore does not belong to the original trilogy and will focus on creating a new story with its own ending.
'Mass Effect Andromeda' will be the game to cap off the most promising month of 2017, taking the series to the next level with a new galaxy to explore, a new crew to meet and the most important mission in history: finding a new home for humanity.
And without a multitudinous team showing a disc, and practically a month before its release, BioWare announces that the continuation of its acclaimed space RPG saga is officially finished, starting the production process of physical copies and it is expected that digital pre-downloads will be enabled very soon.
It's worth remembering that beyond its plot premise and gameplay, 'Mass Effect: Andromeda' will showcase what EA's Frostbite engine is capable of delivering. What desktop rig will we need to see it in all its glory?
As expected, and now that the production process has concluded – although no one will be surprised by a traditional update with extra tweaks on release day – the title's minimum and recommended requirements for PC users have been offered.
Mass Effect Andromeda promises a completely renewed adventure in an unknown galaxy, which we must explore from end to end to find a new home where humanity can settle and evolve. On this journey nothing will go as they expect, and they suffer an 'unfriendly' reception from the races that live there.
Those who are impatient to play it, can get an EA Access subscription and enjoy the first 10 hours, it's either that or wait until March 21 for the official launch. The pre-download of the game is already enabled on the Origin platform.
Mass Effect Andromeda is just a few weeks away from its release and in the case of PC we will have the opportunity to see the best visual quality, as it could run the title up to 4K resolutions.
Now Bioware revealed new details of that version, some screenshots in 4K of the game using NVIDIA Ansel, remember that the game uses the Frosbite engine from DICE, so we will have very striking animations, but also demanding.
There will be 16 options of different image quality, various levels of detail and will be compatible with HDR TVs or G-SYNC HDR monitors, for people worried about whether their equipment can handle the title, here are the lowest specifications.
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Como desarrollar un videojuego
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Clone drone in danger zone


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On Britt McHenry and Towing Scams
I'm sure you've seen the news already, but today has been a rough one for Britt McHenry, Quaz No. 183 and someone I've come to consider a friend.
There's a video (which, again, most of you have viewed) that shows McHenry, an up-and-coming ESPN reporter, berating a female employee at Advanced Towing. The stuff emerging from Britt's mouth, well, it ain't pretty. She mocks the woman's teeth and weight, boasts about being on television, etc … etc. Again, it's cringe-worthy, mainly because it reeks of the sort of my-shit-don't-stink-and-yours-smells-like-rotted-flesh that most of us left behind in 11th grade. In and of itself, it's damning and awful and Britt should be ashamed.
Hell, ESPN even had her apologize (which she did on Twitter) before suspending her for a week. This is what she wrote …
I feel a little biased here, because I genuinely like Britt. I feel a little let down here, because—even if someone were completely reprehensible—appearances are off limits for me. "You're a dick"—fine. "Fuck off, you whore"—OK. "I hope 1,000 leeches suck the brown marrow from your anal cavity!" All good. But weight and teeth … eh. Not so great.
That being said, I'm equally put off by the rush to anoint Britt the new Satan. Let's look at the circumstances for a minute. She parks her car to eat at a restaurant. She's eating at a restaurant. She leaves the restaurant. Her car has been towed by what appears to be a scam company that feeds off of inappropriate towing nonsense. Britt McHenry is livid. Rightly livid. She has to get fetch her impounded car, knowing it wasn't rightly impounded. She has to fork over money she shouldn't be forking over. She's 100-percent aware she's being taken advantage of, and before her is a woman who works for the very company that is stealing her money and ruining her evening.
So she tees off.
Again, the stuff she said was gross. And, as I noted when Riley Cooper used the n-word a few years back, the best way to judge folks is when they don't have to be nice; when they're not in front of a camera and speaking with the press.
But can I say—with 100-percent certainty—that my frustration wouldn't have boiled over, too? That I wouldn't have stared that woman down and said, "Fuck you, fuck him, fuck her. I hope you all fucking die"?
No, I can't.
We're all human.
10 thoughts on "On Britt McHenry and Towing Scams"
valerie7008 April 17, 2015 at 12:56 am
Yeah it's fine and dandy to be upset. I get it. It's okay to be mad. But it isn't okay to take your anger out on someone who is just trying to earn a living. I highly doubt that the woman who was belittled by Britt was the actual person who had towed her car. That woman was just doing her job. I used to work at our county sherriff's department doing tow releases and have dealt with some horrible people. I was just doing my job. I didn't tow their cars. But I was treated as if I were the scum if the earth who was "out to get them." In fact, I had 2 people who had tried to jump over the counter at me and luckily, there was an officer there to help. Call me a jerk or what you will, but I emailed ESPN and had told them I have forwarded the video of this temper tantrum throwing snob to the 702 friends I have on Facebook (which I really did) and have encouraged them to send it to their friends. I've been angry several times in my life, but I have NEVER treated anyone the way Britt had treated this woman. She really crossed the line. And in my eyes, ESPN loons HORRIBLE for having her on their staff. If you don't believe me, look at all of the other sites and comments about this. And especially, look at her Facebook page. I think more people than you realize are extremely angry and upset with her. If she can't act like a decent human being towards others, she shouldn't be one who represents a huge network such as ESPN.
Cd1515 April 17, 2015 at 12:58 am
sorry Jeff.
even if the towing company is 100% wrong and run by Hitler—-and we have zero proof yet that it is—-the poor person working the desk doesn't deserve that.
no decent human being does….and it appears the worker kept her cool a lot better than many of us would have.
McHenry comes across here as another entitled "it's all about me!" pseudo-celebrity who thinks regular people are beneath her.
and a lame Forced By (and probably written by) Management "apology" on twitter won't change that.
PS, gotta admire ESPN for taking such a strong stand.
I'm sure that week's paid vacation will be devastating for her!
valerie7008 April 17, 2015 at 1:03 am
Cd1515- I couldn't agree more. She's not hurting from that week's paid vacation. She's probably off in a "beauty pageant" in Fiji as we speak. I don't normally attack people and get upset, because I don't expect much from many people. But I'm tired of hearing about and seeing people being belittled because they aren't as beautiful, educated, rich, smart, etc. as others may be. We are all different and serve different purposes in this world and fit where we belong. I'm just disgusted and am fed up with people who think they are better than other people.
Cd1515 April 17, 2015 at 1:12 am
good points Valerie.
when I hear ugly views expressed like this, the cynic in me tends to think it's not the first time she's said them or thought them.
did all that arrogance magically and suddenly just come flying out of her mouth for no reason at age 25 (or whatever she is)?
Cd1515, thank you. When I see this young woman I think "wow, she's beautiful!" But when I heard what had come out of her mouth, I thought "wow, what an ugly girl." Again, I know we all get angry at times, and yes, that's human nature. We aren't perfect. There are times it's hard to control our anger. Oddly enough, I would respect her a little more if she even just cussed her out (not that I condone it). The fact that she trashed the way this woman looks was so hurtful. Not everyone has a decent paying job at ESPN and can afford to go to a dentist. Dentists are expensive! I would never belittle someone for having "no teeth" or whatnot. Does Britt think that this woman just loves having missing teeth? C'mon, who really wants to have to live with that? I just can't find in my heart any way to defend Britt, like the author has done. I want to, but I just can't. There are no good excuses for her actions.
oh and look what was on her instagram page a few weeks ago:
http://i.imgur.com/2tzK3rs.png
Cd1515- we should all call 1-888-549-3776 to request she be let go. That's ESPN's customer service number. I'm just evil. But I'm tired of people like her. She's disgusting.
Redleg5xChamp April 17, 2015 at 1:55 am
Thanks for the disclaimer that you are her friend. Doesnt make your opinion any less valid, but it does put your opinion in the proper context. The woman working behind the counter deals with this crap all day every day. Its her job. Kudos to her for putting up with it. Regardless of the business practices of the company she works for, though, she doesnt deserve this type of treatment. And, "we're all human" doesnt give anyone the free pass to berate someone like that. Sorry, but your friend is not a good person. But your excuse for having bad people as friends can be "we're all human", too.
Harvest_Moon73 April 17, 2015 at 8:07 pm
Good comment.
Sorry, Jeff. Britt McHenry showed us her true colors. She truly believes she's, prettier, smarter, more educated and just better than everyone. Who would EVER bring up a clerk's teeth or weight – because of "stress". Britt McHenry is a vicious entitled bully.
ESPN should drop her like a hot potato.
Gorfabb April 17, 2015 at 2:10 pm
Despite her credentials, this woman is yet another vapid, interchangeable, and entitled "sports journalist." They grow these women on a farm in Podunk, but they're generally magnanimous toward the scums who weren't fortunate enough to grow up statuesque, blonde, and with the ability to hold a microphone in someone's face for minutes at a time.


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Christopher Dyer:
A Country Merchant, 1495-1520: Trading and Farming at the End of the Middle Ages
Around 1500 England's society and economy had reached a turning point. After a long period of slow change and even stagnation, an age of innovation and initiative was in motion, with enclosure, voyages of discovery, and new technologies. It was an age of fierce controversy, in which the government was fearful of beggars and wary of rebellions. The 'commonwealth' writers such as Thomas More were sharply critical of the greed of profit hungry landlords who dispossessed the poor. This book is about a wool merchant and large scale farmer who epitomises in many ways the spirit of the period. John Heritage kept an account book, from which we can reconstruct a whole society in the vicinity of Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire. He took part in the removal of a village which stood in the way of agricultural 'improvement', ran a large scale sheep farm, and as a 'woolman' spent much time travelling around the countryside meeting with gentry, farmers, and peasants in order to buy their wool. He sold the fleeces he produced and those he gathered to London merchants who exported through Calais to the textile towns of Flanders. The wool growers named in the book can be studied in their native villages, and their lives can be reconstructed in the round, interacting in their communities, adapting their farming to new circumstances, and arranging the building of their local churches.A Country Merchant has some of the characteristics of a biography, is part family history, and part local history, with some landscape history. Dyer explores themes in economic and social history without neglecting the religious and cultural background. His central concerns are to demonstrate the importance of commerce in the period, and to show the contribution of peasants to a changing economy.
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Bergamo is one of those little jewels that really does take many people by surprise. It is a wonderful city steeped with history and offers a wealth of artistic values and culture.
If you are flying from Bergamo airport and have several hours to spare before your flight, it is well worth taking the time to visit.
The city is is built on the grounds of the old town of Bergomum. Bergomum was once an integral place along the military road between Friuli and Raetia. It was actually destroyed in the 5th Century.
Bergamo has both an upper town known as 'Città Alta' (Upper City) and a lower town that is known as 'Città Bassa'.
The upper town is also known as the 'Old Town' and this is the historic part of the city. The 'Upper Town' was originally built as a hillside fortress with large walls to protect the town. Today, there is very little traffic in the old town, as it is mainly visited by tourists.
The Città Alta really is a wealth of rich historic heritage. It is a walled city that offers its visitors a variety of sights from the wonderful old winding narrow streets to the artistic treasure and building dating back to medieval times and that make the Città Alta' what it is today.
There are many things to see and do as you quietly meander through the old streets. The wonderful collection of buildings, museums, restaurants and churches that all provide a medieval feel, simply take you on an historical journey.
The Piazza Vecchia: The Piazza Vecchia, is the heart of Città Alta and was is thought to have been the first part of the town to be built. Today, it still provides the medieval atmosphere as it proudly boasts the renaissance architecture, palaces and clock tower.
Palazzo della Ragione: It is currently home to paintings from Accademia Carrara but was originally the seat of administration of the city.
Duomo: This is the cathedral of Bergamo which was built in the 17the Century.
The Colleoni Chapel (Cappella Colleoni): This is the tomb of the soldier Bartolomeo Colleoni, who was originally from Bergamo and who commissioned the chapel for his tomb.
The Rocca – Rocca or 'Fortress' is home to the Risorgimento Museum and also one of the cities oldest churches, the church of Sant'Eufemia.
There are several museums in the upper town such as the The Archeology Museum, The Science Museum and The Donizetti Museum that are worth visiting. All display a large collection of paintings, works of art and memorabilia.
Città Bassa, is quite a contrast to the upper city. Although the lower city still has several buildings that date back to the 15th Century, many buildings were either modified or were designed and built several Centuries later. As well as the upper city, the lower part of the city has many of it's own buildings and attractions to see and has a very popular theatre and music scene.
The lower city of Bergamo is now a vibrant and busy area with traffic flowing through it and offering visitors a wide selection of modern shops, bars, restaurants and hotels.


U.S. Veterans Magazine announced its "Best of the Best" list this week, recognizing Tidewater Community College as a top veteran-friendly school.
Nearly 15,000 of TCC's 44,393 students in the 2012-13 academic year were veterans, active duty military or dependent family members. Last November, TCC opened the Center for Military and Veterans Education (CMVE), which is dedicated to providing timely, responsive and effective academic continuing education, training and support to military-related students and their families.
The CMVE is also a resource for veterans seeking employment.
The magazine's annual review evaluates the nation's employers, initiatives, government agencies and educational institutions. This year's winners, which also include top veteran-friendly companies and top government and law enforcement agencies, are listed in the summer issue of the magazine.
Earlier this year, TCC was also recognized by GI Jobs magazine as a Military Friendly School.


Refreshingly, The Buffs Club is full of punters tonight, which makes a change from some of the low-key affairs I've been involved with this past week in Edinburgh. Up onto the stage bounces the irritatingly handsome Charley Rowley, our chirpy compere for the evening. He's here to demonstrate what the Newcastle University Comedy Society Showcase has to offer this year, preaching to a crowd composed mainly of like minded students.
Things get off to a good start, Charley engaging in good natured banter with the audience, skilfully making sure everyone is in the right mood. The London born comedian has a nice line of amusing anecdotes to bolster his routine, a cautionary tale about a late night drunken trip to McDonalds being the highlight of the performance. After an extended period of warming up we are introduced to our first comic proper, Scouser Mark Smethurst taking his place on the mic.
Smethurst is a cheery, irrepressible raconteur, dispensing a variety of humorous stories focussed around his madcap father. When he isn't describing an impromptu waxing session with his Dad (just as dodgy as it sounds), he is laying into his clipped-accented compere, lambasting Rowley for dipping into the stock market when they should be tucking into a post night out kebab. Acknowledging that Giggle Beats is in the house, Smethurst riskily signs his own death warrant, as his set then loses momentum; "affable" being the verdict here.
Alan Fletcher cannot be with us tonight, so it is up to the striking figure of Nick Cranston to fill the middle slot this evening. Hearing aids strapped to the side of his head, Cranston begins with a hilarious visual gag about his disability. His offbeat, slightly surreal act is of an exceptional standard for a free show, and tonight the audience hang on his nuanced delivery. A final story about buying U-rated DVD's is a treat, the act a short and sharp injection of hilarity before the final performance.
Jonathan Pelham is upset. The So You Think Your Funny? 2012 runner up has been offered unwanted NHS treatment for his facial disfigurement, in his words meaning he has been "diagnosed as clinically ugly". His measured, self deprecating set has a few big laughs, the end result of a school dance humiliation putting a neat, dark twist on the conclusion of his act. I was, however, anticipating a little more from a comedian clearly tipped for higher things. Perhaps it was an off day, or the time limit hampered him slightly, but this highly praised newcomer didn't quite hit the heights he is clearly capable of.
The Newcastle University Comedy Society Showcase is an involving, interesting platform for four talented comedians to show Edinburgh their wares. Though by no means perfect, the potential on offer puts many paid shows to shame. Bigger things should follow in future years.
Date of live review: Wednesday 22nd August 2012.