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Tag Archives: free markets
New Arizona Governor Echoes Jack Kemp In Inaugural Speech
Can Doug Ducey tout cuts and compassion
Robert Robb for The Arizona Republic.
January 8, 2015I detected echoes of Jack Kemp in Gov. Doug Ducey's inauguration speech.
Most conservatives support free markets and limited government primarily based upon the belief that they are more compatible with and conducive to individual liberty.
Kemp believed that. But he was animated by a desire to see the lives of the poor and disadvantaged improved. He passionately believed that expanded opportunity in the private sector would do far more to accomplish that than government welfare programs. And he was a dedicated evangelist for that proposition.
Kemp was best known as the architect of Ronald Reagan's across-the-board tax cuts while a congressman. He also served as housing secretary under George H.W. Bush and was Bob Dole's vice presidential candidate in 1996.
Liberals, of course, believe that government programs are the way to help the poor and don't think conservatives truly care about the less fortunate. Kemp's passion was so consistent and transparent, however, that even liberals had to concede his sincerity.
Ducey certainly doesn't have Kemp's evangelical streak. But I was struck by how he rooted his approach to the governorship in expanding opportunity for all and educational access irrespective of family circumstances.
In his speech, Ducey said: "It will be a first principle of my agenda that schools and choices available to affluent parents must be open to all parents, whatever their means, wherever they live, period."
I was particularly struck by this passage: "Opportunity is just a platitude unless all Arizonans are included, everyone given a fair chance and even a second chance, no one forgotten, no one written off."
The "and even a second chance" suggests something deeper than just a speechwriter fleshing out a theme.
For liberals, Kemp is a singular exception to their rule that conservatives don't care about the poor and disadvantaged. And Ducey will soon be pilloried for the claimed disjunction between his inauguration speech words and the austere state budget he indicated he would be submitting.
I have a feeling, however, that our new governor may be more complex than the caricature of him that is being developed by the left.
Reach Robb at robert.robb@arizonarepublic.com.
Tagged as disadvantaged, Doug Ducey, free markets, jack kemp, opportunit, poor, Robert Robb, Ronald Reagan, schools, tax cuts
Kemp: Thanks, hope and optimism
December 22, 2003 for Townhall.com
The year 2003 will be remembered as a year of war and conflict, and it will be measured as a turning point in the war on terrorism. The year began with a great debate about whether to go to war in Iraq and culminated with the capture of Saddam Hussein cowering like a rat in the corner of an 8-foot hole in the ground. Between those two bookends much has happened, and as the year comes to a close, we continue to fight remnants of the Baathist regime, the fedayeen and other international jihadists trying to use Iraq and our friendship with Israel as the tinder to ignite a new worldwide conflagration.
Afghanistan continues its struggle to stabilize after U.S. military surgery cut out the Taliban cancer. But it is still too soon to know whether the cancer was fully excised or whether the patient remains in only temporary remission. Meanwhile, we remain in a standoff with Iran and North Korea over development of nuclear programs and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. And the threat of terrorism continues to percolate with bombings in the Saudi kingdom, in the streets of Turkey and with those Iraqis associated with the coalition. Despite all of the uncertainty and challenging problems, there is still much to be thankful for here at the dawn of the 21st century.
As Americans, during this holy season of Christmas and Hanukkah thanksgiving begins with our young men and women at arms who voluntarily, when called upon by their commander in chief to fight, made the sacrifice, and some the ultimate sacrifice of life itself, to defend the free world against a regime believed to be a threat to world peace. Our thanks continue for those soldiers who remain steadfast in a low-intensity war zone now that major hostilities are over. They persist against enormous odds attempting to help people of another land achieve the kind of freedom that we Americans too often take for granted – our God-given right to life, liberty, property and the pursuit of happiness.
This is also the time of year to remember loved ones lost. In just the last few weeks, America lost two towering figures on the American political stage, and I lost two close personal friends – Robert Bartley and Sen. Bill Roth – both of whom played critical roles in the Reagan Revolution. From the editorial pages of The Wall Street Journal, Bartley led a one-man army with little more than a pen with a singular yet profound mission: "free men, free markets."
Similarly, Roth, a champion for the taxpayer and a guardian against government waste, fraud and abuse, played a critical role in passing the Roth/Kemp/Reagan tax rate reductions in 1981. Roth also succeeded in enacting his signature legislation, the Roth Individual Retirement Accounts, and guaranteeing an enduring legacy among tax reformers. It is not an exaggeration to say that there would not have been a Reagan Revolution without two field generals named Roth and Bartley.
This year's end also gives us time for introspection, to put things into perspective and to plan for things to come. Gazing backward, I find great reason for optimism. Looking at the global condition during the last 100, 50 or even 30 years, there is much reason for hope and optimism. In 1900 the average life expectancy was only 30 years; today it's 67. Global poverty rates have declined more in the last 50 years than in the previous 500 years combined. The global economic pie has expanded from $4.98 trillion in 1950 to more than $33 trillion dollars by 2001. And, according to Freedom House, the number of free countries has doubled from only 43 in 1973 to 89 countries today. Furthermore, the report states, "The evidence of the ebb and flow of democracy during this 30-year period indicates dramatic changes in the global political landscape in the expansion of freedom." And, according to journalist Gregg Easterbrook, the air, water and landscape is cleaner and greener than ever.
Staring forward into the future, I believe freedom and democracy ultimately will encompass the world, or at least be taking solid root, hopefully by the end of this decade. That is not to suggest that there will not be troubles along the way. Our future is not preordained, which is why men and women of good will must act on their beliefs and why we must remain ever vigilant in the pursuit of our ideals of liberal democracy uber alles. And it is also why we must be willing to live and trade freely with all the risks and dangers that entails.
The most urgent issues currently facing the global community are international terrorism, which destroys the spirit; protectionism, which stunts trade and destroys opportunity; and unnecessary, man-made abject poverty, which persists in far too many nations. As Secretary of State Colin Powell, for whose rapid recovery from surgery we all are praying, stated many times, "Lifting humanity out of poverty is one of the greatest moral challenges of the 21st century." By continuing to champion global democracy, peace and prosperity, we can further freedom for all and bring hope to those who presently have none.
Filed under Op-Ed, Townhall.com
Tagged as Bill Roth, free markets, free men, jack kemp, Opportunity, poverty, prosperity, Reagan Revolution, Robert Bartley, Townhall.com, wall street journal
Kemp: Governments create calamity, markets get the blame
When democratic governments create economic calamity, free markets get the blame. In today's world that means the International Monetary Fund, with U.S. backing, bails out lenders on the condition that creditor governments agree to poison their citizens with fiscal austerity, causing the people to rebel and turn to socialism. If you want to know where the next riots will break out, follow the IMF "candy man" around the world.
It's happening in Argentina today. The economy is melting down, there have been deadly riots in the streets, President George W. Bush insists that Argentina stay with the IMF program of fiscal austerity, the government has fallen and Peronist governor Adolfo Rodriguez Saa has been sworn in as president.
Economic collapse in Argentina began with a failure of U.S. monetary policy that created worldwide dollar deflation and led to a global recession. Because Argentina's peso is linked one-to-one to the dollar through its currency board, the government was forced to sit idly by since 1997 while its currency appreciated 30 percent in tandem with the dollar against gold, other commodities and other currencies around the world.
The result was a dearth of peso liquidity that resulted in falling prices and economic contraction. Today wholesale prices are falling at an annual rate of 7 percent, and consumer prices are declining at a 1.5 percent annual rate. The money supply continues to shrink at double-digit rates.
Ironically, the IMF, usually obsessed with the shibboleth of "overvalued" currencies, failed to recognize the effects of dollar deflation and instead mistook effect for cause and blamed Argentina's economic woes on budget deficits and unmanageable debt. While it is true that the former government of Fernando de la Rua mismanaged the nation's fiscal affairs and allowed spending to get out of hand, these mistakes were by no means the prime cause of Argentina's meltdown.
Argentina's debt has become "unmanageable" because its economy hasn't grown in three years. De la Rua's biggest mistake was to succumb to the fatal attraction of bailout loans once the economic slide began and join in dangerous liaison with the IMF to increase taxes, impose salary reductions on public employees and slap on financial controls that threatened to seize up the financial system.
Think of Argentina's one-to-one exchange rate between the dollar and the peso as an aircraft carrier (the United States) and a motorboat (Argentina) afloat on the high seas. If the motorboat economy floats freely, an economic squall can swamp and sink it, but if it tethers itself to the aircraft carrier, the resulting stability allows it to weather most storms.
A currency anchor, however, won't prevent the political crew of the motorboat economy from making policy mistakes like raising tax rates and increasing regulations, which can create an economic crisis. When that happens, the IMF typically comes around with cash in hand insisting on more tax hikes to reduce deficits and demanding that the small economic craft cut itself loose from its currency anchor in the hope that a free-floating currency has a better chance of righting itself.
Bad advice. Small currencies invariably sink in high economic seas as speculators make runs on the currency, capital flees the country and wealth is destroyed.
What happens, though, if the motorboat is shipshape but the aircraft carrier for some reason, say deflationary monetary policy, begins to take on water and ride lower in the sea? An aircraft-carrier economy may not be much affected by the additional monetary ballast of a heavier currency, perhaps experiencing little more than a slight slowdown in speed. But small changes to how high the motorboat's anchor ship floats can have catastrophic consequences for the smaller vessel. If the anchor ship sinks low enough and the point at which the two vessels are tethered cannot be adjusted higher up on the hull of the anchor ship, it can drag the motorboat under water.
Argentina's economy will not recover as long as it lies prostrate between the hammer of dollar deflation and the anvil of IMF austerity. With 80 percent of Argentina's debt in dollars and workers' and businesses' income in pesos, allowing the peso to float freely would impoverish the country and increase the debt burden.
A new government cannot be established on the foundation of debt repudiation. The new government's default on Argentina's $155 billion debt must be followed up by debt rescheduling and a plan to reliquify the economy, cut tax rates and reduce regulations. One approach would be to allow the central bank to print sufficient pesos to buy up enough debt to reverse the currency's unwarranted appreciation. Alternatively, the United States could alleviate the deflationary squeeze by having the Fed purchase sufficient new peso bonds to inject adequate dollar liquidity into the economy to relieve the deflation without breaching the currency board.
Time is short. Unless America lends a hand, the socialists and the IMF will only wreak more havoc in Argentina.
Tagged as Argentina, democratic governments, economic, free markets, IMF, jack kemp, Townhall.com


Limited to (3) per unit/group/entry: VIOLATORS will be disqualified on the spot and must leave! All wheels on vehicle must remain on the ground at all times. No revving of engines or blowing of horns!
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Honey – Never give honey to a baby under 1 year. Honey may contain bacterial spores that can cause infant botulism, a rare but serious disease that affects the nervous system of young babies. Read more on why honey is dangerous despite its benefits.
Alcohol – Babies and children are much more sensitive to the toxic effects of alcohol than adults. Alcohol can cause a child's blood sugar to plunge to a dangerously low level, which can lead to seizures, coma, and even death in a young child.
Fava beans – Most other beans are fine for kids but there is a strong risk with fava beans since some people deficient in a certain enzyme are unable to process fava-bean toxins, which begin destroying red blood cells. In babies, this can be fatal.


[S232] 1900 United States Federal Census, Ancestry.com, (Name: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.Original data - United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Twelfth Census of the United States, 1900. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1900. T623, 18;), Year: 1900; Census Place: Garden, Blue Earth, Minnesota; Roll: T623_31077_4120254; Page: 2A; Enumeration District: 0007; FHL microfilm: 1240757.
[S208] 1940 United States Federal Census, Ancestry.com, (Name: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.Original data - United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1940. T627;), Year: 1940; Census Place: Pine Grove, Portage, Wisconsin; Roll: T627_4513; Page: 5B; Enumeration District: 49-22.


As the third installment of The Pet Project Malaysia, Pet Project 2014 is a 2-hour showcase in aid of raising funds and awareness for FOUR registered animal welfare NGOs across Malaysia. Over the last six months, 136 youth have rehearsed tirelessly in hopes of conveying and sharing strong messages for the cause through the medium of dance, theater and media.
Catch jaw-dropping performances by award-winning choreographers Sabrina Saw (UNESCO International Dance Council) and Tony Stone (Michael Jackson, Beyonce, Justin Timberlake, The Prince's Trust, etc) as well as our favorite Malaysian celebrities. All for our animals.
ALL PROCEEDS GO DIRECTLY TO OUR BENEFICIARIES AT THE END OF EACH NIGHT ensuring this is a 100% transparent event.
Performance teams include: Chiqaz (junior elite team and venue sponsor), Mystique (1st place winner at SuperDance Competition 2014, St. Petersburg), Silversteppers (2nd place at SuperDance Competition 2014, St. Petersburg), The Merge, Part Deux, Pandu Puteri National Dance Teams, Let's Dance by The Curious Academy, Kolej Tuanku Jaafar Dance Fusion, Nexus International School Dance Fusion, Jellybeans and so much more!


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AFHG – Allied Forces Heritage Group
Groupe du Patrimoine des Forces Alliées
Supporting the commemoration and heritage of our allied services
About AFHG
In Love with the Resistance – Rosie Whitehouse
In love with the Resistance:
my mother-in-law's war
Rosie Whitehouse
On a moonlit night in March 1944, three agents floated down on parachutes into the Languedoc highlands east of Castres, in southern France.
One was Pierre Haymann, a Parisian Jew who had been trained in sabotage and partisan warfare in the UK. The other was Bernard Schlumberger, a Protestant from Alsace, who was to be the Free French army's envoy in the Toulouse region of south-west France.
Their brief was to unite the scattered local Resistance militias behind Free French leader Gen Charles de Gaulle, from a base in the tiny town of Vabre where they had been guaranteed protection by local partisans.
Operation "PAUL-9": Charles Bernard Schlumberger, Pierre Haymann and Michel Couvreur dropped on their DZ (Drop Zone) "Chenier" at Saint-Saury on the border of Cantal/Lot on 18 March 1944. Objective: Schlumberger was to become head (Délégué Militaire Régional) of R4 (Lot et Garonne / Haute Pyrénées).
But before starting work, Pierre travelled 400km to the city of Lyon to find his girlfriend, Marion Müller, from whom he had been parted 15 months earlier.
It was a risky journey as the SS in that city knew him well. Marion and Pierre were both members of the Resistance, and in 1942 Pierre had been captured and taken to the notorious Hôtel Terminus, where SS commander Klaus Barbie – the "butcher of Lyon" – tortured his victims.
Hotel Terminus, Lyon – 1941
Pierre managed to escape, but then had no choice but to flee over the Pyrenees into Spain in midwinter.
When they were reunited in 1944, Marion dyed Pierre's hair red in an attempt to disguise him, but the paramilitary police soon tracked him down. There was a shootout, in which Pierre was injured, then the couple hurried to safety in Vabre.
Vabre – Department of Tarn in the Occitaine Region, Southern France (1930)
Michel Cals, a retired professor, takes me along a dead-end track that leads through the forest to Schlumberger's former HQ outside the town. We pass a pretty farmhouse where 30 Jewish girls were hidden by the local Protestant pastor before they were smuggled into Switzerland. Then a large stone house comes into view, sitting on the brow of a hill.
The path was guarded at key points by the partisans, known as the maquis, after the French word for the southern scrubland where many such groups operated.
Next to the house there is a wide field with breathtaking views across the valley. It was ideal for parachute drops. I can imagine Pierre and Marion running out into the moonlit field to gather up the explosives, weapons and money that fuelled their battle against the Nazis.
Cals explains that the valley was like a fortress. "The Germans were based in nearby Albi and Castres but only had resources to send patrols into the valley," he says.
France Regional Map 1943 showing "Occupied" and "Vichy Zone"
It was also perfectly located, reachable by planes flying from both the UK and Algeria, where Gen de Gaulle by this stage had his HQ.
Until recently, little was known about Marion's wartime experiences. She was my mother-in-law, but brushed away all questions with a wave of her hand, and died in 2010 without telling the story.
The one scene she would describe was the dying of Pierre's hair – she told us how she joked as she did it that if they had a child, it would have red hair too.
Last year Marion's younger sister, Huguette, revealed how Marion had taken her to hide in the ski resort of Val d'Isère after their mother, Edith, was arrested in 1943 and sent to the gas chambers at Auschwitz.
There in the high Alps, 15-year-old Huguette broke her leg and as a Jewish escapee was treated by a brave French doctor who hid her for six months in his house.
The home of Dr Frédéric Pétri in Val d'Isère.
To find out more about this period in Marion's life I went to the National Archives in Kew, West London, to read the yellowing papers in a once top-secret file on Pierre, who was trained as a saboteur by the UK's Special Operations Executive. It was this that led me to Vabre – where Michel Cals and others explained how an unusual anti-Nazi coalition had been forged.
It was no accident that Schlumberger, a Protestant, had been paired with Pierre, a Jew. Vabre was a Protestant village with a Protestant maquis. But the hills around the town were the base of an exclusively Jewish armed militia group, which became known as the Compagnie Marc Haguenau. Schlumberger and Pierre would merge these groups together.
Bernard Schlumberger's Resistance headquarters in the forest near Vabre
Marion always said that the people of rural France were insular and disliked anyone who was not from their locality – they wanted the Jews and the Germans alike to just go away. But Vabre, a grey-stone town on the banks of the fast-flowing Gijou river, was different.
It was a tight-knit community united behind its pastor, Robert Cook, in its opposition to the Vichy regime – the French government under Marshal Pétain, which collaborated with the German invaders – and was far from insular.
An industrial town, Vabre made its living weaving cloth that it sold to Jewish tailors in Paris. In July 1942, after the mass arrest of Jews in the capital, many tailors arrived with their families seeking sanctuary.
On the edge of the town is a large building known as the barracks. It was here that Louis XIV's soldiers were billeted during the persecution of the Protestant Huguenots – ancestors of the modern population – in the 17th Century.
The people of Vabre had not forgotten how the state mistreated their forebears and did everything they could to help the Jewish fugitives, especially after an incident in the summer of 1942, when Vichy also began to round up Jews to hand over to the Germans.
On 26 August, the Vabre police were ordered to the nearby resort of Lacaune to arrest foreign-born Jews who had been interned there. Ninety were taken into custody, among them 22 children, all of whom were later murdered at Auschwitz.
The gendarmes from Vabre returned home in tears, and police chief Hubert Landes decided it was the last time he and his men would follow that kind of order. A year later he warned Jewish refugees of an impending overnight round-up, urging them to hide.
Many of the surviving Jews in the area joined the maquis.
Allied aircraft drop supplies for the maquis (1944)
image: Getty Images
Michel Cals has opened a small museum in Vabre dedicated to the Resistance. It is home not only to Schlumberger's radio set, on which Pierre's orders were received, but a mass of paperwork from the period and testimonies from the men who fought in the maquis. In the maquis register the names of local men are jumbled up with those of Jews born in Paris, Alsace and Eastern Europe. It is evidence of a remarkable unity.
The documents also reveal that Schlumberger's strategy, railway sabotage, put Pierre centre stage. It was Pierre's job to train the Compagnie Marc Haguenau to blow trains sky high, which he did throughout the spring of 1944. In June however, immediately after D-Day, he was sent to train maquis further north.
He and Marion moved to Cahors, where he took on a formidable enemy fresh from the Russian front – the Second SS Panzer Division, known as Das Reich – who were moving north to support the German army in Normandy. But the sabotage carried out in this region came at a high price; in revenge Das Reich massacred 642 villagers, including 205 children, in Oradour sur Glane. (https://afheritage.org/the-man-with-the-white-handkerchief-caroline-broch)
Pierre's training also helped the Vabre maquis to carry out a dramatic attack on a German supply train heading for Castres on 19 August 1944. In the fierce shoot-out, the Compagnie Marc Haguenau suffered severe losses before the Germans finally capitulated. The maquisards asked their German prisoners, "Do you know who we are?" They were shocked when each of their captors announced in German, "Ich bin ein Jude!" – "I am a Jew!"
Castres, August 1944: Members of the Maquis de Vabre arrive on a lorry
image: Alamy
The same men then took part in the liberation of Castres, taking a further 3,500 German prisoners.
Marion was 20 when she met Pierre in 1940 – he was 25. As a soldier in the French army, Pierre had been held in a POW camp, but escaped, crossed the demarcation line into Vichy France and arrived in Lyon.
The Resistance network they helped to build there was one of the first that was committed to military action.
When Pierre made his midwinter trek over the Pyrenees to Spain, Marion did not accompany him, as she feared she wouldn't make it. However, it meant she faced the most dangerous months of her life alone.
Marion's false papers, in the name of Juliette Giraud
It's likely that she was often alone in Vabre too, as Pierre spent time away with the maquis.
After they arrived in Cahors, she had a narrow escape when a barman told the Germans she was suspicious. So she parted from Pierre again to return to Val d'Isère, for a reunion with Huguette.
Once again, she was alone and in danger. At one point on the journey German soldiers offered Marion a lift. She wisely refused. Later, she discovered the SS were picking up young girls, raping them and then throwing them from the walls of a nearby castle into a ravine.
The two sisters arrived in Toulouse just before the city was liberated on 19-20 August 1944.
Now pregnant and exhausted, Marion was forced to rest before she and Pierre could travel to Paris. It meant they missed out on being allocated the best of the apartments of former collaborators that were given to Resistance leaders. It irritated her all her life that they arrived too late for a flat on the Champs du Mars with a direct view of the Eiffel Tower.
That autumn, Pierre and Marion married. Soon after, Marion gave birth to a daughter – who, as she had predicted, had red hair. They had a second baby, a son, but the marriage did not last. Marion always said they were simply too young, but perhaps they had spent too much time apart to build a life together?
Marion Müller
Marion eventually married again, moved to London and had a third child, who is now my husband.
World War Two divided France, and after the liberation most people chose not to speak about the war years for fear of opening old wounds.
In Val d'Isère, where Huguette sheltered with her broken leg, the silence continues today.
In Vabre things were quite different, though. From the first anniversary of the liberation, the locals celebrated the story of how Protestants and Jews took on the Nazis.
Michel Cals thinks Vabre's unique story deserves to be heard more widely. "It is a lesson in morality and that you must help those in need," he says.
Michel Cals, standing by a memorial to fallen members of the maquis.
Thanks to his work, Yad Vashem (The World Holocaust Centre https://www.yadvashem.org/) recognised Vabre as a "Town of the Righteous" in 2015, and this month police chief Hubert Landes will join Pastor Robert Cook on the list of righteous individuals.
The spirit of Vabre's resistance has left its mark on France. Catherine Vieu-Charier was born and brought up in Vabre. The moment she walks into the cafe, I am struck by the Hebrew tattoo on her wrist. It is the name of her late partner, Henri Malberg, a well-known Parisian politician. In 1942, he and his family had escaped capture in the notorious Vel d'Hiv (Winter Velodrome) roundup in Paris but were later interned by the Vichy government.
In 1995, Vieu-Charier and Malberg, both communist activists, launched a campaign to identify and remember the Jewish children who were deported from Paris by placing plaques on the city's schools. It was an idea that rapidly spread across France. One of these plaques sits on Huguette's former school in Nice, commemorating 16 of her fellow pupils, who were gassed in Auschwitz.
Vieu-Charier and Cals are fearful that the story of civilian Resistance in Vabre will be forgotten and are working to make sure it takes its place alongside the celebration of what Cals calls the "testosterone story of men with guns". Both their families hid Jews but never talked about it because they regarded it as their humanitarian duty, Cals says. "They never bragged about it and just got on with their lives."
Vabre Maquis Memorial Plaque
Their work has already begun to bear fruit. Cals was at the forefront of a campaign to welcome Syrian refugees to Vabre. Just before the 2020 Covid-19 lockdown the first Syrian family arrived. Two others have since followed. The message is that it is not enough to simply allow strangers to stay in the village but that they need to be accepted as equals and integrated into local life.
The original maquis register that lists the names of Protestants and Jews all jumbled up together stands as testament to that.
Rosie Whitehouse is the author of "The People on the Beach: Journeys to Freedom After the Holocaust".
Unattributed images: Rosie Whitehouse & AFHG/GPFA
AFHG French Translation by Geneviève Monneris: https://afheritage.org/amoureux-de-la-resistance-la-guerre-de-ma-belle-mere-par-rosie-whitehouse
AFHG Production: Ian Reed
Rodney Curtis on February 4, 2022 at 4:35 pm
What a interesting part of history and the what the resistance did to help shorten the war.
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A GTRI Story: When a Georgia Tech Liberal Arts Dream Came True
Katrina Heitz
The clock would strike midnight and Michelle Gowdy would still find herself sitting in the Georgia Institute of Technology's (Georgia Tech) library studying and working on her projects.
Looking up from her desk, she would see so many of her classmates around her and realize "we're all in this together." Twelve years later, Gowdy sits in her office at the communications department as the Georgia Tech Research Institute's (GTRI) senior graphic designer and as an accomplished expert in her field, reflecting on how her Georgia Tech journey has come full circle. Gowdy is an example of how the Institute's pillars around leadership, excellence, and innovation can bring a student through some of the toughest undergraduate challenges to achieve amazing career results – all under the umbrella of her alma mater. Gowdy shares her GTRI Story.
Michelle Gowdy tells how her GTRI story starts and continues.
The Georgia Tech Funnel of Talent
Gowdy is one of the many Georgia Tech alumni who transitioned from campus into GTRI offices and labs. White and Gold pride runs through the organization, spanning GTRI's reach from coast to coast. In fact, GTRI is the largest employer of Georgia Tech alumni, with contributions from 595 graduate and undergraduate student on sponsored project during the 2017 fiscal year. Thus, as homecoming season rolls around, Georgia Tech alumni buzz around the Research Institute with pride as they reflect on the growth they owe to the Institute.
As the applied research and technology division for the Institute, the transition from undergraduate or graduate life into a technical role may sound simple, but as Gowdy shares, the journey from the acceptance letter to a professional role can get hard when you don't necessarily fit into the traditional technical role.
Photos from Michelle Gowdy's personal scrapbook.
I loved art – that was just my thing, but I also loved computers and the new wave of technology.
Pursuing Liberals Arts at a Technical School
In Gowdy's case, her GTRI story started on the green fields and student filled steps on Georgia Tech's campus. A born and raised a Georgian, Gowdy first heard about Georgia Tech at a young age. She learned of its prestige and reputation, but to her the Institute only equated to engineering.
"I loved art – that was just my thing," Gowdy stated, "but I also loved computers and the new wave of technology." It was Gowdy's sister who first introduced her to the concept of graphic design, which was a perfect combination of her two passions. The question then became, where could she go to explore her interests?
When considering liberal arts degrees, Georgia Tech may not be the first college that comes to mind. However, in reality, Georgia Tech has a flourishing liberal arts program through the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts that is dedicated to merging the humanities with a technological background—providing a human perspective in our present technological world. After a bit of research, Gowdy discovered the program titled Science, Technology, and Culture (STAC), which perfectly encapsulated her passion.
As Gowdy sent in her application, she was unsure of the outcome. As of 2018, the acceptance rate for Georgia Tech is only 22 percent. Beyond the acceptance rate, Gowdy also had to face the gender divide that was prevalent on campus during the early 2000s. While the most recently accepted class is now 41 percent female, when Gowdy attended Tech, only 27.7 percent of the campus was female. But soon all of those thoughts would be silenced.
Michelle Gowdy by the iconic Georgia Tech Steam Engine. Photo by Sean McNeil.
I put in the work. I remember the long hours at the library. I remember the sleepless nights... All of that, but I made it!
"All of a sudden I get the 'you've been accepted to Georgia Tech' letter and I was beyond surprised. They want me? Because when you think Georgia Tech, that's the pinnacle of education," said Gowdy. The more Gowdy learned about Georgia Tech, the more excited she became. Unfortunately, she was met by doubt. Being accepted was the first step, Gowdy then had to face the challenges that follow being an underrepresented female student pursuing a liberal arts degree at a technical school. Isolation and doubts in her abilities made her wonder if she could successfully make it through. Rather than letting doubt weigh her down, Gowdy set out to prove them all wrong.
"I put in the work. I remember the long hours at the library. I remember the sleepless nights. I remember the tears. I remember failing my first class. All of that, but I made it!" Her hard work came to fruition when she was selected as a recipient of the Tower Award from the Georgia Tech Office of Minority Education and Development (OMED) – an award that celebrates the academic achievements of traditionally underrepresented Georgia Tech students. Gowdy regards walking up to receive her award in front of her proud parents as one of her fondest memories at Georgia Tech.
Standing there accepting the award, Gowdy finally felt validated. "I made it, I'm doing it, and I'm here!"
Michelle at work in the GTRI Communications office. Photo by Sean McNeil.
When I saw that position open, I knew I had to jump at the opportunity.
Excellence that Translates from Campus to Career
Gowdy has now been affiliated with Georgia Tech for 11 years between her undergraduate and professional career. Many of her peers are surprise by her commitment to Institute as many have moved from place to place. GTRI has provided Gowdy with a stimulating environment from the day she walked through the door and into the Electro-Optical Systems Laboratory (EOSL) as a student assistant in 2008.
As a student assistant, Gowdy was not necessarily looking for a career or pursuing a dream, but sometimes dreams take time to formulate. At the EOSL, Gowdy was met by leadership who invested in her professional development, catering to her skill set as a liberal arts major. Excellent work rewarded her with new responsibilities and soon Gowdy was working on various projects from marketing designs to administrative work.
"In my work at GTRI, I've met and learned about people who had been here for decades," stated Gowdy. "I saw stability, I saw longevity, and I saw there was a potential for a career here." From that day forward, Gowdy's dreamt of creating a career at GTRI, which she hoped that within ten years she could reach a senior position in the communications office. Progressing through the organization, Gowdy took on new roles with a willing attitude. Eight years later, the position of senior graphic designer opened in the communications office.
"When I saw that position open, I knew I had to jump at the opportunity." Hard work and excellence paid off for Gowdy as she moved into her new dream role. "I now do what I love 100 percent of the time and have no plans to leave."
GTRI Annual Report design 2017-18.
In her current role, Gowdy acts as the visual eye for GTRI designs. She leads the creation of trade show and marketing materials, manages the designs of major publications like the newly redesigned GTRI Annual Report, and plays a key part in the creative direction for launching new sponsored-focused initiatives like the IMPAX division that began operation in 2017. She is recognized as the design expert for the organization, which she attributes back to the lessons she learned on campus. Like other alumni turned GTRI pros, Gowdy's story is about perseverance, hard work, and excellence, but what's unique about her story is that she chose to do so all at the place where it started. Georgia Tech continues to aid in Creating the Next® innovative leader who, like Gowdy, will push GTRI into the future.
Communications Officer II


The Lacertae are a race of lizard-men aligned to Zaros. They inhabit an underground city located beneath The Graveyard of Shadows in the wilderness.
Lacertae are reptilian humanoids. Their scaly flesh is cold and feels damp to the touch. Lacking any body hair, they are sensitive to strong sunlight, as it burns their skin.
It is difficult to tell a male and female of the species apart. The most solid gender differentiation is the the frills under the jawline, with the males having them and females not.
They lay eggs as opposed to producing live young, so the females have no need for breasts.
Both sexes lack a navel as well, despite evidence suggesting they'd still be born with one.
In terms of their clothing, the Lacertae have a varied style. Most of the species have very basic clothing. Due to their anatomy (in which most reproduction means are internal), the may usually go without clothing altogether.
Fatigue Bringers will usually have armour on their shoulders and back, and covering their groin.
Noir Strikers feature a lightweight clothing that conceals most of their faces and upper body. No lower garments.
Blood Witches have armaments protecting their back, neck, arms and upper torso. The navel region is exposed and there are no lower garments.
Venom Sisters wear no upper body garments save for a covering for their face, their left shoulder and manacles. The lower portion of the garment covering the legs is most unusual, as wearing it and activating its charms replaces the legs with a serpent like tail.
Lacertae are accomplished smiths and crafters.
They are also highly skilled in ancient magics, with each magician specialising in one of the 4 types of ancient spells.
Their greatest strength is their resilience: in the right climate, a lacert can go days without continual food supplies and have an adaptation to survive in regions with thinner air pockets.
Not much is spoken of the Lacertae within most historical books when it comes to combat. Despite being adept at very unique forms of combat and having great versatility, they were considered too cautious to be strong warriors and were often branded as cowards.
-Noir: A technique where you move like shadows to conceal yourself from foes. Unlike direct combat, it all relies on Agility and Thieving, not just Strength.
-Primality: Inside every creature lies a hidden primal rage, only unlocked when they lose total control. The witches of the blood coven in the capital cannot teach this for your use, but rather allow you to manefest it within your familiars. Knowledge of Summoning is necessary, but also the fields of Dungeoneering and Hunter are too needed.
-Fatigue: It is known that by striking the right spot on a body, you can sap its energy. The fatigue technique uses cold ingenuity to strike numbness to an area of the body. Some rangers are in the know of these techniques and so practice it well. Not just Range is important, but also Constitution and Slayer to know how to land the right shot.
-Corruption: Sometimes it takes a little more than just brute force to undermine and enemy. Taught by the Sisters of the Venom, corruption works its way through the blood of a foe like a poison and damages their reflexes and may even command them to strike themselves or their allies. Herblore and Runecrafting are required in addition to Prayer to brew this sinister batch and then match it elementally to deeply take root.
Users of the 4 magical techniques are called Noir Strikers, Blood Witches, Fatigue Bringers and Venom Sisters respectively.
Venom sisters do not use Smoke magic, instead relying on the power of corruption, however, the other 3 use their corresponding ancient magic.
Lacertae used to be very trusting, but since the God Wars, they are somewhat more suspicious of outsiders.
Their behaviour is also described as highly erratic at times, growing attachment or developing disinterest very quickly. Their relative caution to other races may play a part in this social development. If they share a common trait they express strong friendship and will usually serve their allies well, even showing intimacy if commanded. However, if they show disagreement at any stage, they will refuse to co-operate and are notably stubborn.
As to why they have such a simple "black and white" view of the world isn't clear, but it might be down to needless caution or perhaps their original domain had very few intelligent species that made their allegiances clear.
It appears they are less unsavoury than most of Zaros' supporters.
The Lacertae's city is underground, and is unsuited to the cold blooded Lacertae: an artificial environment created by their strongest mages protects them and gives them the energy they need to survive.
The city is divided into 4 sectors representing the 4 types of ancient magic.
The City has an organised guard system, though it is a small force, and it's numbers are constantly decreasing - with Shadow Magic wiped out and Ice Magic so heavily frowned upon, the whole force is made up of just Noir Strikers, Blood Witches and a small number of non-magical Lacertae.
Lacertae are thought to have come to Gielinor from another world. They easily burnt in the sunlight of most areas in Gielinor, so Zaros offered them residence in shaded forests of Forinthary, and they willingly served him.
They were valued by His empire as crafters and smiths.
During their time under Zaros, they picked up the ability to use ancient magic. Whether they were taught, or whether their exposure to it made them natural users of the spells is unknown.
When their master disappeared, they retreated to the depths of ground, taking most of their vibrant capital with them. Those that didn't, being kind and emotionally attached to their allies, were decimated in the God Wars.
Over time, the city separated itself into 4 sectors - Smoke, Ice, Blood and Shadow. Each sector was inhabited by Lacertae which used a particular type of magic.
As the Godwars raged above the Lacertae's city, magic seeped through the ground, making many areas of the underground caverns polluted with radioactive-like magic. This caused a large group of Lacertae to mutate into creatures called Impurus. The Impurus swiftly cast out of the city and walls were established to keep them out. These creatures still wander the wastelands outside the city today.
The Lacertae, being cold blooded, relied on the heat generated by the Kings of Smoke to survive in their chilly underground habitat for hundreds of years, and, with their monopoly on something so important, the Smoke Sector rapidly grew rich and opulent while the other 3 sectors fell into ruin.
42 years ago, Suffitus VI, the then King of Smoke, died without teaching his heir the Ways of Smoke, and the technique was lost, effectively cutting off the Lacertae's vital lifeforce - heat.
What followed was a gradual descent into chaos - having lost its power, the smoke sector quickly became poor and social unrest grew amongst all Lacertae as the carvern they live in gradually became colder and colder.
In a society craving heat, those who follow the Way of Ice quickly became a target of hatred - their spells believed to be sapping the little heat remaining in the city. Members of the other sectors rioted and vandalised the ice sector, with many ice mages and royalty murdered.
One of the Princes of Shadow and captain of the City Guard, Lex Homicidae, has recently begun searching for a solution: There are rumors that on the very outskirts of the city, lava from the Wilderness' volcanoes has seeped into the cavern, and this could be used as a heat source and many a City Guard has been slaughtered by Impurus looking for the elusive lava.
Impurus have been steadily moving closer and closer to the main city over the years.
The quest series will be between 3 and 4 quests in length.
Lex Homicidae: The Prince of Shadows (and thus heir to rule the Shadow Sector), and leader of the City Guard. It is Lex who will teach you the Noir techniques.
An Unnamed Lacert: This unnamed female is a central plotline, as she and she lone can use Smoke Magic at the beginning of the quest series.
"Centuries ago, our kind was prosperous. Basking within the sunlight of the lush and verdant Forinthary, our kind thrived working for him, forging his weapons and tools and enjoying the protection he provided us. But now, we live beneath the ground, our cold-blooded countenance being the death of us in these frigid depths, that is, if the sly things above don't kill us first." - An unnamed Lacertae, speaking of their history.
"They captured the last sunlight they saw and vanished from sight, the rumbling of the ground prevalent from where they once stood." - From a document on the Lacertae, early Third Age.
"The scum of ice, meddling with their spells, shall be the ruin of us"
Occasionally, a fight will break out between City Guards positioned on the walls of the city, and Impurus who stray to close to the city.
Lacertae is the plural name for this species, an individual member is a Lacert.
The likes of Sliske are notable experts of the Noir technique, giving them the titles of Shadow delvers.
The Arzonusii also know how to use Primality. but rarely use it, for familiars under its influence are too easily unruly.
The Lacertae were allies with the Arzonusii whilst under Zaros' dominion, but the werewolves then decided it was best to remove themselves from divine allegiances (as did the Dorgeshuun) and ally themselves with Raizahka at a certain stage. After that, the Lacertae refused to be their allies any longer.
Excavation attempts have unsucesfully tried to find the Lacertae's city, but instead unearthed areas such as the Forinthry dungeon and the chaos tunnels all across the Wilderness.
yup City Guard and Impurus, I have actually thought that the Impurus are mutated Lacertae, like the idea?
Impurus as mutated Lacertae - good. But I picture them as very animalistic, so they would have to be VERY mutated.
The City Guard is a small force, and it's numbers are constantly decreasing - with Shadow Magic wiped out and Ice Magic so heavily frowned upon, the whole force is made up of just Noir Strikers, Blood Witches and a small number of non-magical Lacertae.
They simply don't have the numbers to venture out into the wastelands on the outskirts of the city and engage in full on warfare with the far more numerous Imuprus.
I'm sorry this makes your dungeon idea a bit more difficult, but it's necessary to help the plot make sense: a city on the brink of ruin wouldn't have a huge army.
It's really important to the plot that there is NO smoke magic left in the Underworld. At all.
If any Venom Sisters remain, the city has a heat source and everything I've created and described doesn't work.
No - only Smoke Magic can generate heat - the Underworld has very few natural resources - certainly no wood for fires, so there's no alternate for the Lacertae.
The entire basis of the plot I've established is that there's no heat source any more, and it's causing the entire city to slowly die.
By the way, I've drawn a crude map of the Underworld to help you guys see how I imagine it, but the site isn't letting me upload any pictures. Help?
The Venom Sisters are focussing not on the heat from Smoke magic, just the toxicity.
If that's the case Morb, then my plot works even worse. It creates so many plotholes, like "Why would they focus on toxicity when heat is so desperately needed?" and "How did they ever give out heat in the first place?"
I'll say it again - for my plot to work there have to be no Venom Sisters at all.
If you dislike my plot then say so, and we can work on changing the lore. But if we want to have the situations I've set up as part of the quest, you'll have to go with what I'm saying.
The Venom Sisters DON'T work on smoke, but poison. More specifically, corruption. Venom and poison are two different things. Poison is dangerous when ingested or inhaled, venom is dangerous when it enters the blood stream.
How could the knowledge of how to produce heat vanish if there were so many who knew the Ways of Smoke remaining?
Why would the Venom Sisters focus on venom when without heat they would soon all die? Are they suicidal? There was much more money to be made in heat too, why wouldn't they want that?
For the heat generation to die out without MASSIVE plotholes, there would have had to be no people at all with the ability to use smoke magic.
I'll give you this as a compromise: During the quest series, a young Lacert born many years after the Ways of Smoke have died out, will discover an innate ability to use smoke magic, essentially becoming the last Venom Sister. As a plot point, the player will need to protect her from the immense pressure the Underworld society will put on her - she's essentially their last hope for survival - while developing her skills to the point where she can actually generate heat and pass her knowledge on.
Does that sound good enough for you?
So after the knowledge of smoke magic died out, those from the smoke sector found a new way of fighting to replace it - a mere shadow of what they had before, and essentially non-magical?
Do you like the idea of discovering someone with smoke powers as a plot point though?
Of course, it'll be something we can work on.
Hey what do you guys think about the God Wastes area under water?
Taking it slightly underwater isn't all that great. Most of your defences will be lost thanks to the heavy underwater gear, meaning it might be slightly unpopular with players that want to fight monsters continually.
Anyway, now we have finally come to an agreement over what lives there, their back story and how they are divided, we need to prepare an image. Anyone good at drawing?
any more tips for me?
My last tip would be this - don't try to involve existing characters from other storylines - what we've set up so far won't need existing characters, cameos or links to other stories to make it awesome.
ok, do you think whe have lore for just one quest or perphas for a trio at max?
Easily a trio of quests. There's much too much lore to be covered in just one quest.
I'm worried that's how the Nightmare Begins is going to end up. It can't be a series, otherwise it just wouldn't work, it has to be just the one.
what Morb, are whe talking about my quest or about a nightmare begins?
I'd say between three and four - I know that's not much choice for you, but two or less and we won't be able to fit everything in, five or more and the whole thing will be too drawn out.
So unless you change your mind, you say 4-5, I say 3-4. Looks like we agree on 4 quests then.
Oh, and Morb, no offence but you have plenty of threads to discuss your own quest, so let's keep discussion here relevant to Dusk's quest and if you post your concerns about The Nightmare Begins on the right thread, I'll happily discuss it with you there.


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Billions to Benefit from Rio+20 transport Commitment
June 24, 2012, 5:45 p.m. Published in Magazine Issue: Vol.: 06 No. -01 June. 08-2012 (Jestha 26, 2069)<br>
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL (22 June 2012) – The $175 billion pledge made by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and seven other multilateral development banks (MDBs) was one of the largest financial commitment coming out of Rio+20, it was announced today at the UN Secretary General's closing press conference.
"These sustainable transport improvements will benefit billions of people, especially the poor, and support environmental sustainability and reduce greenhouse gas emissions," said Bindu Lohani, ADB's Vice President for Knowledge Management and Sustainable Development at the press conference to showcase voluntary commitments made at Rio+20, on behalf of the eight MDBs.
According to the press release of Asian Development Bank, the MDBs had earlier announced their plan to invest more than $175 billion over the next decade to help improve transport in developing countries. The new funds will be used to promote all forms of sustainable transport, including public transport; bicycle and walking infrastructure; energy-efficient vehicles and fuels; railways; inland waterways; and road safety. ADB's share of the commitment is $30 billion.
Rapid motorization together with urbanization have contributed to increased congestion, air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, health and social problems, and traffic accidents. Taken together, the losses attributed to these problems account for more than 10% of GDP. The transport sector also accounts for nearly two-thirds of total oil consumption in the world.
In Asia and the Pacific, rising incomes are doubling motor vehicle fleets every five to seven years. Motorization is causing Asia's share of the global vehicle fleet to rise – growing from 9% in 1980 to 46% by 2030. In some countries, the current trend growth in motor vehicles is almost four times faster than population growth. In addition, nearly 2,000 people are killed each day in Asia due to traffic accidents.
Transport needs massive investments, particularly in emerging economies. Over the next 10 years, some $2.5 trillion of transport investment is required in developing Asia alone. Developing countries have the opportunity to leapfrog to a greener future of less motorization, shorter commutes, and more energy efficient transport systems.
ADB has long been a supporter of transport, with its operations in the sector typically accounting for a third of its annual lending. These investments have helped provide basic access to rural communities, link cities together, and promote regional cooperation and integration.
The financial commitment was announced on the opening day of Rio+20 by the African Development Bank, ADB, CAF – Development Bank of Latin America, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the European Investment Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Islamic Development Bank, and the World Bank.
ADB, based in Manila, is dedicated to reducing poverty in Asia and the Pacific through inclusive economic growth, environmentally sustainable growth and regional integration. Established in 1966, it is owned by 67 members – 48 from the region. In 2011, ADB approvals including cofinancing totaled $21.7 billion.
Developing countries draw attention to their vulnerability to global warming at the Rio+20 sustainability talks
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The only thing Terry loves more than yogurt is spilling the beans, apparently.
"Brooklyn Nine-Nine" star Terry Crews may have jumped the gun a bit by revealing when the beloved comedy series will be making its season six debut on NBC. The actor, who plays Sgt. Terry Jeffords, made an exciting announcement while streaming from the "B99" set on Instagram Live this week.
According to TheWrap, NBC declined to comment on Crews's announcement, though a source told the site that an official airdate confirmation from the network is expected in the near future. While it was always known that "B99" would be getting a midseason premiere, it wasn't entirely clear just what that meant. Now, it looks like fans have a better idea of when to expect the show's much-anticipated return.
Excitement over this new season has been especially high, since the series had been abruptly canceled by original network Fox earlier this year. But thanks to the overwhelming support of fans (some of them quite famous), NBC was inspired to swoop in and rescue "Brooklyn," ensuring that the Nine-Nine will indeed live to quip another day.
We'll be eagerly awaiting word from the network on an exact premiere date. Nine-Nine!


A study using listener data from Spotify confirmed what the Onion reported more than a decade ago: listeners stop seeking music once they reach their early '30s.
For me, the Onion story mirrors my own experience closer than the conclusions drawn in the study. Right around 2005, I got exhausted trying to keep up with all the new bands. It really did feel like I was going through the motions, and at one point, I realized I wouldn't get back all those hours listening to music that moved me only fleetingly.
So I pivoted, and a decade on, I can say I add maybe one or two new artists to my collection each year. Most of what I listen to now is catalog.
At the same time, I'm not sure I totally believe the idea that music was "better in my day", as the study would like to claim. A lot of the catalog I'm exploring is music I didn't hear when it first came out.
Rhino released The Complete Studio Albums by the Replacements, a band I've been listening to in bits and pieces till I dropped $40 on this set. Curiosity got the best of me during Record Store Day when I picked up reissues by Social Distortion and Happy Mondays with only scant research on Google Play to help.
Neneh Cherry, Ambitious Lovers, Ofra Haza — I considered buying their albums a long time ago but didn't act till now.
Then there's my deepening relationship with modern classical music, a genre I've been following for a quarter of a century. I've discovered quite a number of great new pieces, such as Gloria Coates' Music for Open Strings, just by picking up a vinyl record that looked interesting.
Heck, I'm going back and listening to music I actually disliked the first time around. Bruce Springsteen, Peter Gabriel, AC/DC — my 18-year-old self is looking at my 43-year-old self with a very suspicious eye.
So while it may look like my tastes have entrenched, I'm still getting as much satisfaction from the discoveries I'm making now as I did when I first encountered the bands that would become my idols. It's the same experience when I encounter newer artists such as Jason Isbell, Jarell Perry or Steve Grand.
I'm not stuck in the past. I'm exploring parts of the past I never got around to visiting.
Along with Yano Akiko, this recording of Ralph Vaughan Williams' Symphony No. 2 was one of five cassette tapes I held onto after giving up on the format more than 15 years ago. The CD reissue pictured adds a few pieces not included on my cassette.
It had been years since I listened to Vaughan Williams' London Symphony by the time I was deciding whether to toss or to keep it. I remember enjoying the piece when I listened to it, but I wasn't too swayed to upgrade it to a CD.
So it disappeared into a closet, then I forgot I even owned it.
I haven't listened to anything else by Vaughan Williams. The only reason this album is even in my collection is because of Andrew Lloyd Webber. Michael Walsh's biography, Andrew Lloyd Webber: His Life and Works, name-checked the London Symphony, stating the famous descending hook in The Phantom of the Opera was ripped off from Vaughan Williams.
Sure enough, the idyllic introduction of the first movement builds to an ominous descending chromatic line full of brass. The movement then turns into a Dvorakian meditation on British folk melodies. I probably wouldn't be the first to say the symphony could also be nicknamed the Old World Symphony.
When I unearthed the Yano Akiko cassette from storage, I also revisited this piece, wondering if my opinion of it would change over time. Surprisingly enough, it hadn't.
A London Symphony is a beautiful work — melodic, sumptuous. Thinking back, my precocious college music student self would have scoffed at a work with this much appeal, but it makes its argument to be heard and to be appreciated.
Lloyd Webber larceny aside, that chromatic line in the first movement is really a punch in the ear. The third movement scherzo ratchets up the folk dances of the English countryside to a dizzying pace, and with the big gestures of the final movement, Vaughan Williams shows Aaron Copland how it's done in the motherland.
While I really like A London Symphony, it hasn't quite spurred me to explore more of Vaughan Williams' work. Sorry to say, A London Symphony is kind of like my Back in Black — the one piece I need from Vaughan Williams at the expense of everything else.
I eventually did upgrade the cassette to CD, finding a used copy in a serendipitous stroke alongside Yano Akiko.
Waterloo Records in Austin, Texas does not file its CD stock by genre. The name cards indicate by color code the genre in which an artist primarily performs. But they're all stocked in the same room.
It's a structure that I mimic with my own collection — compilation, soundtracks and classical get their own parts of the shelf, but everything else is sorted alphabetically by artist, regardless of genre.
For a long time, I've ignored genre as an attribute in the music I listen to. On an instinctive level, I recognize broad categories — Emmylou Harris and Renée Fleming don't circulate in the same circles — but I try not to use genre as criteria for judgment. If anything, I tend to favor artists who blur them.
I use a database software called Music Collector by a company called Collectorz, and until recently, I used only four genres: Popular, Classical, Compilation, Soundtrack. (Seem familiar?) I recently decided to granularize that list to include more specific genres — rock, pop, country, soul, heck, even new age — and I reminded myself why I stuck to such overly broad categories.
Genres require judgement calls, and the traditional list used in most record shops reflect the kinds of individuals who would work there — straight, white males.
Let's take the dichotomy between rock and pop. Rock, in your traditional music critic perspective, comes from a more authentic foundation than pop, or so it's been perceived. A lot of calculation and commerce goes into creating pop idols, and rock musicians supposedly rally against that kind of prefabrication. So what about a guy like Steve Grand? He's got a lot of guitars and butch posturing on his debut album. What makes him closer to Nick Lachey than to Neurtral Milk Hotel?
The relationship between rock and soul is even more contentious. This categorization is entirely race-based. Are you black? You get filed under soul. Never mind that Jarell Perry sounds more like Kate Bush than OutKast ever will. And what about Res? She released an EP of Fleetwood Mac covers.
Jazz is almost reverse discrimination. Yes, there are plenty of white jazz musicians, but the black musicians in the genre outnumber them.
The very idea of world music is Western-centric. Speak a language other than English? You are automatically a world artist. Not that I hear much Asian folk influence in the pop music of Utada Hikaru. Molotov certainly incorporates Latin rhythms in their metal hip-hop, but then so does Shiina Ringo.
Yes, certain music can be clearly classified in a particular genre. But what happens when artists confound expectations? Rock music is to guitars as pop music is to synthesizers. Is Björk a pop artist because she doesn't have guitars on her albums? She has strings, so that makes a classical artist instead? No, ultimately we file her under rock because wearing that swan dress is not a marketing-driven decision.
The exercise of using a more granular genre list made me realize I'm pretty dumb to the nuances of each genre. What determines entry to the pop category? Use of drum machines? Sales figures? Audience size?
Is Duran Duran a pop band because they've sold millions of records? Are they a rock band because they play their own instruments and write their own songs?
All these judgements make genres a tiring attribute to attach to music.


text:
Q: Is it possible to create offline firebase app? I am trying to create a simple notetaking app(ios/android) with the ability to save text and pictures to cloud storage (am using firebase).
so the prototype works fine except when offline.
Firestore has offline capabilities, but Google sign-in does not allow silent-login authentication when offline. (issue)
How can I solve this with just using firebase authentication?
One solution could be storing data offline in files Files and then when online, Authenticate with firebase (run googleSignIn.signInSilently()) and push data to firestore.
Is there a simpler way to do this?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Le Lorrain is een gemeente in Martinique en telde 6.768 inwoners in 2019. De oppervlakte bedraagt 50,33 km². Het bevindt zich ongeveer 25 km ten noorden van de hoofdstad Fort-de-France.

Geschiedenis
Er zijn Taíno nederzettingen uit de 1e eeuw n.Chr in het gebied aangetroffen. Het werd later bewoond door de Cariben, maar in 1658 werden ze door de Franse kolonisten uit het gebied verdreven. In 1680 werd de parochie opgericht. In 1840 werd het een gemeente. In 1848 werd de slavernij afgeschaft, en werden contractarbeiders uit India gehaald om op de plantages te werken. De gemeente werd oorspronkelijk Grande Anse genoemd naar de baai, maar in 1878 werd de naam gewijzigd in Lorrain. In 1902 werd de plaats gespaard tijdens de uitbarsting van Mont Pelée. In 1946 telde Le Lorrain ongeveer 10.000 inwoners, maar sindsdien is er sprake van een gestage bevolkingsafname. De economie is grotendeels gebaseerd op bananenteelt.

Galerij

Lorrain

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
HomeHeadlineSam slates deserters from the party
Sam Foster said it is 'beyond belief' that former UUP members would consider setting up a new political party
Sam slates deserters from the party
Posted: 5:00 pm February 23, 2013
Sam Foster
FORMER Assembly Minister, Sam Foster, CBE, who served as the UUP chairman of Fermanagh Council in the mid-90s, has slated 'deserters' from the party.
Speaking as a staunch UUP supporter – he is President of the party's Fermanagh Association – he said it was 'beyond belief' that former party members would even think of starting a new party when they could not support the UUP.
He was referring to the recent double resignation of Basil McCrea and John McCallister, both of whom, it is believed, are toying with the idea of creating a new party.
Mr Foster commented: "It is complete silliness and not becoming of a unionist at all. We have a structure there and, despite all the bumps it has got over the years, it is still there, bent maybe but not broken."
He said he would continue to give his full backing to the UUP leader, Mike Nesbitt.
"I say, give Mr Nesbitt a chance. He is very much deserving of that chance and I intend to support him."
He likened the present stand-off to 'telling a man going to the electric chair that he has a choice of AC or DC', and he submitted that the UUP was the only party to have retained its commitment to the Good Friday Agreement of 1998.
"If we examine what has gone before, the only party to have hung on relentlessly to the Agreement has been the UUP."
Mr Foster was DoE Minister in the new Assembly from 1999-2002.


text:
Introduction To Bitcoins
Your Blog » Introduction To Bitcoins
In the beginning it was the crime. People would provide to sell something for Free Bitcoin and not spend. Or provide to sell bitcoins and never deliver. You get this in nearly every online marketplace. It erodes the trust in the method and is typical. Most web savvy people know just how to prevent the worst of it. Because bitcoins is nonetheless confined mainly to techies, it has been even less of a difficulty. Websites immediately sprang up that outlined trustworthy websites, buyers and sellers as nicely as those by no means to do company with. The device was self policing in a nutshell purchase.In the 90s, Argentina's financial debt ongoing to increase. Their lender of final resort, the IMF, continued to lend and extend payment schedules. Much IMF funding comes from the U.S. Our loan company of last vacation resort, the Fed, has ongoing to lend to the government and for all intents and purposes, are extending payment schedules since debt is regularly rolled more than. Think about the Fed is doing this in order to fill a void by hesitant private loan companies at currently reduced curiosity Bitcoin Price and to keep these exact same curiosity rates low - however much more distortion.A i was reading this account can be set up so it is completely nameless which is a strong appeal to it's users but it also makes theft hard to reconcile. Since April, Wright has been getting in touch with the company primarily based in Japan and has been told there was absolutely nothing they could do to return his money and he would have to contact his nearby law enforcement.JANICE: Sure, you do, but you know, it's hard. I think everyone has to offer with it in their own way, but yet they have other family members they have to take care of and to concentrate on, and I believe perhaps that's Bitcoin Price exactly where they should go. Like I have my daughter, I have my grandchildren, I have my husband, and my son-in-law, and then buddies and family members, you know, extended, and you also have to pay interest to them. They don't want to shed you. They've misplaced an additional family members member, both the lacking or unsolved homicide, and they don't want to lose an additional 1.Some police and some law enforcement departments have currently put on the mask of Big Brother. That phrase was first used by George Orwell in his 1948 Novel which was titled "1984". Many police departments have recently been sued, or are being sued because they broke the rules of the U.S. Constitution when it arrives to imposing their city's unconstitutional laws and ordinances. The cases are many. Many of these instances relate to Christianity and/or Christian issues.Why evaluate the development of the Argentine economic climate to the that of the U.S. ? Certainly there are variations. Primarily, the existence of the USD as the forex of the world and the self-confidence it delivers is the only thing that has divided the fate the U.S. from that of Argentina. One of the Free Bitcoin financial laws I postulated was that confidence = credit score.The episode finishes with Raylan shooting Boyd, but not to loss of life as is his usual apply. Boyd has apparently saved Raylan's life when they had been each teenage coal miners. Raylan's 19th Century code of honor dictates that he ought to not destroy his old friend, no make a difference how "justified" it might be.One more point: we want the public choice in order to conserve the Obama presidency. Because right now, the only query that the present administration is answering is "How do you elect a black republican to the greatest workplace in the land?" Solution: "You operate him as a Democrat".Haters gonna hate. But the minimum he could do is refrain from wild speculation about topics he obviously has no expertise in, particularly when creating about the dangers of wild speculation. Bit shock, totally free marketplaces don't behave precisely how central planners want them to. It's a risk we all accept.However, some Forex brokerage firms allow even much less than that by providing you up to two hundred occasions the leverage. That is with only $100 money outlay, you can manage a two hundred,000 unit forex place.Pearl Jam's include of Final Kiss, a J. Frank Wilson oldie but goodie, returned the band to the music highlight in 1999. Final Kiss grew to become Pearl Jam's greatest hit on the pop charts, and it is the first of my checklist of Pearl Jam's leading 10 tunes.Bitcoin Price Boyd expresses some unusual ideas about Jews and the Bible and "mud people." This doesn't idiot Raylan one bit. Boyd just likes creating money and blowing things up. It is also revealed that Raylan has some issues with his father.Switzerland's 2nd-biggest financial institution, Credit Suisse AG began notifying U.S. customers suspected of offshore tax evasion that it will comply with IRS ask for for info. They do this in advance of sending the information to U.S. authorities giving the tax cheats a opportunity to withdraw or transfer funds if they require to.


Hi everyone, I'm very new to quilting and the forum. I'm hoping to get some advice. I have a Brother 1500S. I'm hoping some of you who also have the same machine might be able to help me out.
What needle size and type should I use for free motion quilting?
What threads do you recommend for piecing and free motion quilting?
One other thing I wanted to mention.. I've also noticed an issue when using the threader, I've managed to get it to work properly using this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaZAxXXOpAo) and it's actually easy once you get the hang of it, but the problem I have is that the thread becomes weak where I use the threader. It's like the little hook on the threader is pulling the thread against the tip of the needle eye or something and its breaking the thread slightly, causing it to become weak. This only happens when I use the threader and only on the part of the thread that went through the threader. Has anyone else had this issue?
Last edited by chelle; 07-09-2013 at 10:43 AM.
My Daughter has that machine. She figured out the threader and uses it all the time. You should use organ needles for the machine. I use mostly size 14 needles and coats and clark thread or thread from connecting threads. I have lots of thread and works well for my two straight stitch only machines. I use a new needle for FMQing quilts.
I use a size 12 or 14 needle for FMQ. Aurofil thread. If you have trouble with skipped stitches, try a needle for stretch fabrics. I learned this trick and many others from the Yahoo user group for this machine. I love mine.
Go immediately to superiorthreads.com There you will find all of the answers you need: what kind of thread to piece with, what to quilt with, which needle to use with what kind of thread --- it's just a gold mine of information on needles and thread! Sign up for their newsletter; it's great! And if you can, take their "School of Threadology".
I have this machine and it was sewing off and on nicely. Then I realized that I had it threaded incorrectly. It was just one little loop but the difference it made was huge!!
There is a you tube video in Korean (or Chinese) that goes through everything perfectly. I highly suggest watching that. Wish someone could translate it for us Americans. Lol.
Thank you very much for taking the time to read and reply to my post!


Chad Thomas Truelove, 33, 200 block of St. Lucie Boulevard, Fort Pierce; warrant for out-of-state fugitive, Tennessee, criminal attachment and failure to appear.
Danavon George Davidson, 21, Miami Gardens; out-of-county warrant, Broward County, carrying a concealed weapon, possession of marijuana.
Tony Jay Saunders, 40, 200 block of Northeast Mainsail Street, Port St. Lucie; warrant for burglary of a conveyance with an assault, tampering with a witness, victim or informant.
Durwood Vern Owens, 56, 1600 block of 17th Court, Vero Beach; warrant for second amended violation of probation, DUI - impairment and/or .08 with three priors, driving while license revoked - permanently revoked.
Shanteria Leshy Washington, 30, 2000 block of Southwest Gailwood Street, Port St. Lucie; possession of a hallucinogen with intent to sell, manufacture or deliver; possession of marijuana with intent to sell, manufacture or deliver; possession of methemphetamine with intent to sell, manufacture or deliver; possession of cocaine with intent to sell, manufacture or deliver.
Derrick Tremaine Miller, 28, 1600 block of 42nd Street, Fort Pierce; possession of a controlled substance (MDMA) without a prescription.
Stephen Edward Bowen, 27, Louisville, Kentucky; warrant for trafficking in oxycodone.
Robert Lee Ingram, 39, 300 block of North 20th Street, Fort Pierce; warrants for sexual battery on a child - familial or custodial authority, child abuse by intentional infliction of mental or physical injury.
Ravinia Rose Ellen Garza, 42, 300 block of Smallwood Avenue, Fort Pierce; warrant for failure to appear, possession of buprenorphine, possession of oxycodone, possession of alprazolam.
Samuel Jean Moreau, 26, 5500 block of Northwest Torino Parkway, Port St. Lucie; possession of marijuana with intent to sell, manufacture or deliver; resisting an officer - fleeing/eluding officer with lights/siren active; knowingly driving while license suspended or revoked.
Troy Lavern Moore, 52, 2000 block of Southwest Capeador Street, Port St. Lucie; possession of a controlled substance (oxycodone) without a prescription.
Jose Alexander Cepeda, 22, 700 block of Southwest Sail Terrace, Port St. Lucie; possession of marijuana over 20 grams.
Donald Craig Osborn, 19, 300 block of Southeast Wallace Terrace, Port St. Lucie; trafficking in heroin.
Melissa Sue Cascio, 25, 5500 block of Short Street, Fort Pierce; warrant for court order for pretrial detention and termination of pretrial supervision, possession of heroin.
Mario Demetrius Mcbride, 34, 700 block of North 27th Street, Fort Pierce; destroying, tampering with or fabricating physical evidence; possession of a weapon or ammunition by a convicted felon; possession of marijuana with intent to sell, manufacture or deliver; possession of marijuana over 20 grams.
Winfred Dobson, 44, 5000 block of Kilarney Avenue, Fort Pierce; possession of a weapon or ammunition by a convicted felon; possession of marijuana with intent to sell, manufacture or deliver; possession of marijuana over 20 grams.
Jose Luis Torres Rodriguez, 43, 200 block of Pecan Place, Fort Pierce; resisting an officer with violence; aggravated assault - public official - on code inspector while performing duties.
Daniel J. Prinz, 38, 300 block of North 11th Street, Fort Pierce; battery - commit felony battery.
Eric Hicks, 19, 2500 block of Southeast Anchorage Cove, Port St. Lucie; larceny/grand theft of a firearm.
Joseph Zachary Binafif, 29, 7600 block of Santa Clara Boulevard, Fort Pierce; battery - commit domestic battery by strangulation.
Jose Antonio Matos, 43, no listed street address, city; battery - commit domestic battery by strangulation.
Bryan Edward Varnes, 29, 3800 block of Saint Benedicts Road, Fort Pierce; aggravated battery - person uses a deadly weapon.
Waldron Jamine Brown, 39, 2200 block of North 45th Street, Fort Pierce; warrant for court order revoking pretrial release - carrying concealed firearm - discharging firearm in public.
Ismael Perez Nunez, 36, West Palm Beach; warrant for violation of probation, own, lease or rent for the purpose of trafficking, selling or manufacturing a controlled substance.
David O'hara Sims, 51, 500 block of North 21st Street, Fort Pierce; battery - second or subsequent offense.
Franz Alexander Simpson, 22, 1000 block of Southwest Macao Avenue, Port St. Lucie; warrant for violation of probation, grand theft, organized fraud, dealing in stolen property, giving false information to a pawnbroker.
Harold Zihed Reynolds-el, 30, 2800 block of Southeast Melaleuca Boulevard, Port St. Lucie; possession of cocaine.
Kenneth William Jarvis, 58, 1500 block of Georgia Avenue, Fort Pierce; aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill.
Steven James Christon, 25, 4500 block of Whispering Pines Lane, Fort Pierce; warrant for criminal mischief on March 18.
Charlene Cavil, 37, 5100 block of Northwest Wiskfern Circle, Port St. Lucie; out-of-county warrant, St. Lucie County, larceny. Arrested in Martin County.


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Here are a number of tips from our nutrition expert Amanda Foti, MS, RD CDN, that can help you stay on course keeping any weight gain at bay throughout this Holiday season.
1. Start by getting ahead! Make sure each day leading up to Thanksgiving includes healthy meals and snacks, keeping portions in check. Avoid any treats or drinks in the days leading up, knowing you'll be able to enjoy some on the holiday.
2. Drink lots of water! Aim for 48-64 oz. a day. Keeping hydration levels up will help boost metabolism, keep energy up and even regulate hunger levels and food cravings.
3. Get those activity levels up! Plan to exercise every day this week even if it's small workout! Only have 10 minutes before the shower in the morning? Do a quick HIIT workout or go for a jog around the neighborhood. This will help to burn extra calories of course but also help boost that metabolism going into a food centered holiday!
4. On the day of: DON'T skip meals to "save calories"! This will cause your metabolism to slow way down, feel fatigued, and throw off food cravings and hunger levels. Have a healthy breakfast and lunch with protein and fiber. Before hosting or heading to your destination have a quick snack like a Greek yogurt or protein bar to curb your appetite a bit.
5. Go in with a plan. Have an idea of 1-2 unhealthy (but tasty) foods you want to enjoy and allow yourself to enjoy them with no guilt! Keep portion in check and load up on the healthy items.
6. Up against a multiple course day with appetizers, dinner and desserts? Use the 1 plate rule! Use 1 small plate or napkin to taste a few appetizers but not fill you up. Use 1 small dinner plate, not overflowing, to select mostly lean protein (turkey) and fiber options (vegetables) and small scoops of a few tasty treats. Finally for dessert pick one ½ portion of any option you don't always get to enjoy.
7. Slow down when eating. Take your time with each bite engaging all your senses to truly enjoy the yummy Thanksgiving Day treats! This will not only enhance your eating experience but also help you know when you're full and satisfied!
Amanda Foti, MS, RD, CDN, is a Registered Dietitian and a New York State Certified Dietitian-Nutritionist with a Masters in Clinical Nutrition from New York University. She has broad experience managing disease with nutrition and lifestyle in the clinical setting, and extensive training in cognitive behavioral therapy in relation to emotional eating and weigh management counseling. Amanda currently works one-on-one with clients developing personalized weight management plans that address nutrition, activity and lifestyle.


During his participation in the Regional Development Council of Chernivtsi region, President Petro Poroshenko noted that in terms of the results of socio-economic development, Chernivtsi region is among the top five in Ukraine and one of the country's leading exporters to the countries of the European Union.
"Look at Bukovina – where else can you find such a beauty? … If you did not see this, you certainly did not see Ukraine," Poroshenko said.
He stressed that it was extremely important for Chernivtsi region to attract investments in order to create jobs. According to him, this process is actively facilitated and supported by the united territorial communities of Bukovina.
He also mentioned the importance of adhering to community development standards, namely, the full penetration of broadband Internet, high-quality roads, access to telemedicine and construction or renovation of kindergartens and access to inclusive education.
"According to the results of socio-economic development, Chernivtsi region is among the top five in Ukraine. Listen, [there are] those who want to come here as a tourist," he said.
"The industrial park 'Novodnistrovsk' was created. 80 million hryvnia was invested there by an investor from Germany. This is awesome," the President said.
He also noted that there were many other successful investment projects in Bukovina, in particular the production of cable-wire products for the automotive industry created 1,390 jobs and the 'Gifts of Hutsulshchyna' cooperative, which is engaged in the harvesting and processing of mushrooms, berries and medicinal herbs, dried produce and other food items which are exported to Romania, Poland, Moldova, Germany and Italy.
"And each such project creates jobs. This is an opportunity for young people not to seek happiness abroad, but to realize themselves in Ukraine," Poroshenko noted and emphasized that those investments led Ukraine into the European economic space. He added that the export of goods to Europe in 2018 had increased by 45% compared to the previous year.
"Now 72% of the total export of the region goes to the EU … The largest market in the world. And in conditions when Russia closed its markets, announced an embargo, declared a hybrid war. 72% of the exports goes to the EU and it will never be closed to us. This is our achievement," Poroshenko stressed.
He noted that education, reconstruction and extension of schools and preschool facilities were common priorities for all communities.
"New kindergartens, schools are being reconstructed and often rebuilt, taking into account new energy-saving technologies. 13 inclusive and resource centers were created in the region. Medical emergency hospital, oncology and cardiological dispensary were reconstructed. The work is underway to reconstruct the premises of a modern perinatal center," Poroshenko said and stressed that the given project was under his control.
"There should be more Ukrainians, Ukrainians should be born healthy and the technologies of the 21st century should be available in every region," he said.
Poroshenko also drew attention to the region's tourism.


Introduction — The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) — adopted by all UN Member States in 2015 — can be seen as an inter-connected circle [Figure A] encompassing everything that it takes — and will take — to achieve a healthy, civilized and prosperous world everywhere. These 17 SDGs apply to everyone at all levels — from personal to global [Figure B] and from children to seniors.
Problem — The SDGs were adopted worldwide. But stories featuring these SDGs have yet to be widely shared. Most citizens of UN Member States have yet to appreciate the SDGs for themselves and their nation.
Photo Credits: NIGH Uganda Representatives meeting Secretary General Rosie Agoi (second from left) at the Uganda National Commission for UNESCO. Also from left: Faruku Kibaba also of the Great Lakes Peace Center, Ms. Juliet Mugirya, composed of the new 17 SDGS Song (see below) and Andrew Mukhwana, Headmaster, Summit View Primary School and Co-Founder of 'NIGH Uganda.' Photo used with permission from NIGH Uganda archives.