text:
Biografia
Jane McDonald è salita alla ribalta a fine anni 90 partecipando alle serie documentario The Cruise. Nel 1998, il suo album di debutto eponimo ha trascorso tre settimane in vetta alla Official Albums Chart ed è stato certificato disco di platino nel Regno Unito. Nei decenni successivi gli album Inspiration, Jane e Cruising with Jane McDonald, pubblicati rispettivamente nel 2000, 2008 e 2018, si sono tutti piazzati nella top ten della classifica britannica.

Dal 2004 al 2010 e successivamente fino al 2014 McDonald ha fatto fatte del cast del talk show di ITV Loose Women. Nell'estate 2013, sulla stessa rete, ha condotto Star Treatment e dal 2017 al 2021 ha presentato su Channel 5 Cruising with Jane McDonald, grazie al quale ha vinto un BAFTA Television Award nel 2018.

Vita privata
Dal 1998 al 2003 è stata sposata con Henrik Brixen.

Discografia

Album in studio
 1998 – Jane McDonald
 2000 – Inspiration
 2001 – Love at the Movies
 2005 – You Belong to Me
 2008 – Jane
 2014 – The Singer of Your Song
 2017 – Hold the Covers Back
 2018 – Cruising with Jane McDonald
 2020 – Cruising with Jane McDonald: Volume Two
 2021 – Let the Light In

Album dal vivo
 2010 – Live at the London Palladium

Raccolte
 2003 – The Collection
 2007 – Because You Loved Me
 2010 – Just for You
 2014 – Is It Love You're After
 2014 – Remixed

EP
 2006 – From Me to You

Singoli
 1998 – Cruise Into Christmas Medley
 1998 – You're My World
 2000 – Ain't No Mountain High Enough
 2001 – The Hand That Leads Me
 2001 – Winner
 2008 – Doctors Orders
 2010 – It's Getting Better
 2014 – The Singer Of Your Song
 2016 – Dance Yourself Dizzy

Note

Collegamenti esterni

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Gabriela Warzycka-Tutak
I WANNA BE YOUR COLONIZER Przemek Branas 25 I 2019 – 3 III 2019 Gdańsk City Gallery CURATORS Gabriela Warzycka-Tutak, Piotr Stasiowski
This novel is set against the background of real events. Yet, it is neither a faithful account nor a documentary report. The names of the protagonists, ships and other characters as well as their behaviour are all fiction; only the backdrop of the main plot has been taken from real life.
It is a story of a human tragedy perpetrated by the merciless sea.
To those who shall never return to their home port.
Stanisław Goszczurny, Morze nie odda ofiar (Gdańsk: Wydawnictwo Morskie, 1981).
Who was that mysterious middle-aged man whose photographs Przemek Branas came across in a second-hand Dutch furniture shop? Twelve small-scale sepia images feature a white-clad sailor posing for photographs alone or in the company of smiling women and men, against the background of exotic architecture, lavish hotel interiors, vintage automobiles or by a ship bulwark. Handwritten notes on the reverse of the photographs indicate that they were taken on the island of Curaçao between 1932 and 1937. How did they make their way to Jarosław, a small town in Podkarpacie, where Branas found them? All attempts to identify the seaman have failed. Nevertheless, the artist resolved to re-create his identity as faithfully as possible with the help of the scarce traces available and the associations that the images brought to his mind.
Branas took the brief inscriptions on the reverse of the photographs as his starting point. A graphological analysis allowed him to establish a personality portrait of the person who penned them. That personality revealed strong similarities to some of Przemek's own traits of character, such as inquisitiveness, creative drive, but also extroversion that sometimes borders on bravado.
Another step towards identifying the figure from the photographs consisted in creating a mixture of scents that could potentially accompany the sailor on Curaçao. Branas had already experimented with scents in his work The Birth of Black and White presented at the exhibition lords peasants peasants lords (pany chłopy chłopy pany) at the BWA Sokół in Nowy Sącz in 2016, as well as within his individual show Moonrise at the Centre of Polish Sculpture in Orońsko in 2018. This time, the artist distinguished eighty different fragrance notes which he then merged into a single synthetic fragrance, following the perfume manufacturing process. The scents included black pepper, smoke, red saffron, tar and moss. An obvious ingredient was also bitter orange, which is used in the production of the famous Curaçao liqueur. Apart from those, the composition included some rather abstract components, such as the scent of a ship and colour white. Research into olfactory memory (related to the sense of smell) proves that smell is much more sensitive than taste or sight, and we store smells in our memory since our early childhood. When recollected, they trigger specific reactions, offering us a sense of security, pleasure, joy, or otherwise a sense of threat or repression. The attempt to recreate the smell that could potentially accompany the seaman provided yet another layer of Branas' reconstruction of the stranger figure.
The next stage in "discovering" the seafarer's identity involved recreating his outfit on the basis of the preserved photographs: sailor cap, white uniform, tailor-made leather shoes. Using the images, the artist also created a mask of the unknown man, under which he hid a cast of his own face. This double portrait forms part of the exhibition, which also features the artist in attendance throughout its running time. Dressed in a sailor's outfit, Przemek participates in the show and animates it for three hours every day. Performing unspectacular gestures and minor activities, interacting directly with the viewers, the artist "incarnates" the evoked phantasmal figure. A similar situation was staged onboard a passenger ship during Przemek's journey from the Tri-City to Karlskrona and Malmö in the autumn of 2018 – during that short cruise, the artist portrayed himself in a sailor's outfit in photographs and videos. Footage from that journey forms part of the exhibition in the form of a film with added excerpts from a range of masterpieces of cinematography, such as On the Silver Globe (1967–1987), Waterworld (1995), Passenger (1967), Prospero's Books (1991), and Blue (1993). Selected lines and dialogues relate in various ways to the idea of a solitary journey, longing for dry land, the sea, boundless azure blue. Complemented with static shots from the deck and from a cruise ship cabin where Branas displayed the found photographs, the film excerpts evoke pop-cultural clichéd visions of sailor's life shaped by the feelings of loneliness, boredom, waiting for land to appear on the horizon. The cruise to Karlskrona took only a dozen or so hours, a mere ersatz of a long exotic voyage to Curaçao. Yet, it was not Branas's intention to simulate the unknown sailor's oceanic journey, but to offer a condensed experience thereof. An experience similar, for instance, to that of Polish season workers who regularly travel by sea to jobs in Scandinavia. In a similar spirit of imitation, the artist used a tanning lamp, which left him suntanned as if after a long seafaring escapade.
Olga Tokarczuk coined the term bizarre tales (opowieści bizarne), which shares an affinity with Anglo-Saxon mystery tales. Such narratives are distinguished by a spirit of strangeness, volatility, oddity, or even suspension of sense. The artefacts gathered by Branas in his seafaring exhibition emanate exactly such "bizarre" character. At first glance, their connotations are far from obvious. A silicone mask of the unknown sailor. A statuette in the shape of a sailing boat made of cultured copper sulphate crystals. A copper flounder which the artist made many years ago as a teenager using a clothes drying rack. And finally – a plastic bottle made of melted garbage washed ashore by the sea and collected on an Indonesian beach. A common denominator between these objects is a rather quirky marine provenance, a term which turns out to be extremely capacious. The phrase marine motifs immediately makes us think of paintings by such masters as Jan van Eyck, William Turner, and Claude Lorraine. Yet, the Internet quickly proves that association wrong: ships in bottles, decorative ship wheels and porthole-shaped mirrors are also what stands for "marine". Not only does the term enjoy popularity, but it is also often associated with amateur artisanal production. Creating his marine artefacts, Branas does not aim any higher. His are still artisanal works that seek to express his fascination with the ocean-faring sailor. After all, the artist is no expert in marine motifs. Born and raised in the mountainous region of Podkarpacie in southern Poland, his knowledge of the sea is limited to stories, popular culture and tourist trips. His attempt to track the man from the photographs actually offers a starting point for a broader reflection on the questions of power and postcolonialism, as well as geopolitics.
I wanna be your colonizer – reads a tattoo on the back of the sailor whose face is covered with a mask of the man from the archival images. After all, seafaring culture is an area commonly associated with tattooing. Long monotonous days and nights aboard ships compelled people to decorate their bodies with ornamentation. The eponymous slogan also refers directly to the history of Curaçao, a constituent country of the Netherlands in the Caribbean archipelago of the Lesser Antilles. Willemstad, the capital of Curaçao, features in the photographs found by Branas. An online search allowed the artist to recognise several buildings that still exist in the city. A Dutch colony since the 18th century, today the exotic island of Curaçao is mainly associated with tourism and the British-Dutch company Shell, whose history abounds in accusations of causing environmental disasters, collaboration with military regimes, trading in weapons. Having opened its refinery on Curaçao in 1915, Shell profoundly transformed the island. On the one hand, it provided an immense stimulus for its economic growth, while on the other hand – it proved extremely detrimental to the natural environment. Although in 1985 the company sold the plant to the government of Curaçao for a mere symbolic guilder, Willemstad still sees deadly smog hovering above its skyline, and the "asphalt lake" continues to exist in the Schottegat Bay. The refinery is set to close down in 2019, yet the island, destroyed by decades of exploitation and pollution, will take long to return to its natural state. The situation in Curaçao is merely a fraction of the environmental disaster whose effects can be felt today across the globe: while some parts of the world suffer from human-induced draughts, others are threatened with floods from melting glaciers.
The context of the centuries of colonisation and environmental destruction of the island lends an ominous air to the cheerful photographs of the smiling Dutch sailor with 1930s Willemstad architecture in the background. At the same time, the fact that the artist came across these images in a small provincial town in Eastern Poland testifies in a symbolic way to the global processes that we witness, but also benefit from. In an attempt to track the individual story of the anonymous sailor, by reconstructing his figure or even creating it anew, Branas attempts an individual and singular reading of these processes. The artist's narrative can be read in the context of modern-day geopoetics. Looking at the photographs through the prism of his own self, his own travelling experience, his desires and feelings, Branas incarnates the allegoric sailor figure and brings to life, once again, a homo viator who roams the expanses of dystopia.
PRESS K-mag Szum Szum Vogue PHOTOGRAPHY Bartek Zalewski GRAFIKA Marcel Kaczmarek (courtesy of GGM) NEXT PROJECT→

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


At a recent event at its headquarters in Gorinchem, the Netherlands, Damen Shipyards demonstrated its next generation composite "Water Bus," the 2407, to a private international audience. As part of the event, guests were invited to experience the water bus and its features firsthand with a short trip on the Boven-Merwede waterway on the Rhine. Damen reports that guests were impressed with the Water Bus' construction, speed and aesthetics.
The hull and the superstructure of the water bus are made from vacuum infused GFRP, which Damen says provides operators with durability, reduced fuel consumption, less maintenance, and no corrosion or fatigue problems. The bus has a slender hull and carries less weight than a traditional aluminum vessel.
Damen says the Water Bus series is ideal for regular, intensive commuting operations on busy waterways. The company adds that the vessel can be easily adapted to specific customer requirements and a wide range of configurations are available, from commuting and shuttle to sightseeing and dinner cruising.
Passengers will enjoy journeys at speeds of up to 21 knots that are safe, quiet and with minimal vibration. The Water Bus design is available in versions from 16-24 meters, and is capable of carrying from 20 to 120 passengers.
The Water Bus series will be built at Damen's specialist composite facility in Antalya, Turkey. The company believes fast delivery times will be possible due to the bus' construction methods and composite materials.


text:
Q: Regex in php - letters and numbers with limited length How do I make a regex that enforces:

*

*letters AND numbers (at least 1 of each)

*min and max length (10 to 50)

*nothing other than letters or numbers

when using a php preg_match?

Here's what I got:
 ^[A-Za-z0-9]{10,50}$

It seems to do everything except enforce letters AND numbers.

A: Do:
^(?=.*(?:[A-Za-z].*\d|\d.*[A-Za-z]))[A-Za-z0-9]{10,50}$

*

*(?=.*(?:[A-Za-z].*\d|\d.*[A-Za-z])) is zero width positive lookahead, this makes sure there is at least one letter, and one digit present

*[A-Za-z0-9]{10,50} makes sure the match only contains letters and digits
Demo

Or even cleaner, use two lookaheads instead of OR-ing (thanks to chris85):
^(?=.*[A-Za-z])(?=.*\d)[A-Za-z0-9]{10,50}$

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Today, we were able to get away from the Chateau and head into another town close by called Senlis which is another commune in France. Fortunately the people here in Raray are very accommodating and got a bunch of others together with their cars to take us all to Senlis. The town is very different than what I'm used to back home. Rather than shopping at a mall everything you would want to shop for was all local business set up right on the streets, for anyone reading this from the Boston area it was along the lines of something like Faneuil Hall but much more elegant and more interesting to look at. There were lots of fresh food options available from different trucks. Seafood was very popular, a lot of fish and a ton of fresh produce. Some of the trucks had fresh meat and if you went to buy a chicken, the head was still attached to the body which was definitely different. One of my favorite things that I saw was the Senlis Cathedral which was still active and has been there since 1191. All the architecture that was in there was again, very impressive to me.
It seems as if everyday that I have been in France, something makes me proud that I do what I do. As we were walking around Senlis we had walked by a store front (pictured below 3rd photo in) and there was a picture on their door that I had taken of one of the dancers. This was an advertisement for the performance that Northeast was putting on in Raray this weekend. It really made me proud in the most humbling way that I am currently 3,345 miles away from home and some of my work is being displayed for people to see.
One thing I've really enjoyed and appreciated while in France has been the vibe of the cafes. Normally at home you go to Dunkin' Donuts, Starbucks, etc and grab a coffee and get on with your day. Over here it's fun to see how its such a different lifestyle. People sit down and actually enjoy their coffee and have a chance to relax either during the start of their day or if they need a pick me up.
The time change is one thing I still have not been adjusted to. It's now midnight as I'm typing this. Where I'm staying there are endless amounts of open fields so I'm going to head out for a bit and hopefully grab some star photos since it is a clear night. Tomorrow I'll be heading back into Paris and hope to take advantage of more that there is to offer.
Hope you guys enjoy the photos below from my day in Senlis!


I love to travel, but really hate to pack. In fact, I was a haphazard over packer. And that only got worse when I started traveling with my daughter, Elizabeth. Eventually I recognized it was silly that I would spend hours on the smallest detail for an itinerary, but leave my packing to chance.
Follow these basic tips and you will find that packing is much faster. And you don't come home with half a suitcase of unworn, but wrinkled items.
Pick a color theme. This helps streamline packing by making it possible to mix and match all pieces into several different outfits.
Accessories are our friend. Scarves, necklaces, bracelets and earrings take up very little space overall, but can change the whole look of an outfit. Make sure the accessory you pack can work with more than one potential outfit.
Be ruthless when packing shoes. I love shoes, but when packing they can take up a ridiculous amount of space. I make sure that I have one pair of stylish, but comfortable walking shoes (white Converse are my favs) and one pair of dressier shoes for most trips.
You probably don't need everything you are packing. There I said it. But only because I do the same darn thing. In fact, even with this pared down packing for Boston we both came home with one complete outfit unworn and another unworn piece or two.
Now let's get back to specifically packing for Boston. Our highly anticipated trip was quickly approaching and the weather forecast kept getting colder and wetter (there were days that had a high of 49 degrees, rain, and blustery wind). We had a lot of walking and exploring sights of the city planned.
I knew we would need to be warm, but I also wanted to be stylish for when we went out to dinner or stopped in somewhere. I was determined to only do carry-on luggage for the two of us. It took some creativity, but we did it!
Layering T-Shirts: plain long sleeve T-shirts are a great layering piece. They provide extra warmth, but are not bulky on you or in your suitcase.
Sweaters: I brought one really heavy sweater, two medium weight, and one light sweater for each of us. This provided multiple options (especially with layering T-shirt) for weather fluctuations.
Jeans: I brought one pair of dark denim and one pair of black jeans for each of us. Dark is more forgiving when you travel because stains are less likely to show. Black jeans also could be casual or dressed up for dinner.
Dressier outfit: I wanted to make sure that we had one nice outfit for our dinner at a more formal restaurant.
Converse: These are my go-to travel walking shoe. Elizabeth has some too except hers have rhinestones. I know, I'm envious, too.
Dress shoe: Since it was fall we opted for black boots. They worked in a casual or dressier situation.
Accessories: I brought one blanket scarf, one lightweight scarf and 3 necklaces that could be worn with multiple outfits.
Cold weather gear: Gloves, scarves, and a hat. Again this took up very little space, but was so essential in our cold weather trip.
Boring, but essential stuff: undergarments, socks, pajamas and slippers or slipper socks.
I hope that I have helped you not only plan what to pack for your trip to Boston, but you have learned some tricks that it took me dozens of trips to figure out.
While you're here see what our favorite activities were in Boston and all the amazing places we ate, too!


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You are here: Top Medical Schools > Africa > Republic of the Congo
Republic of the Congo: travel information
How do you get to the Republic of the Congo?
From Europe there are various flight connections via Paris to Brazzaville. These are offered twice a week by Air France. There are no direct flights from Germany, Austria or Switzerland to the Republic of the Congo. Ethiopian Airlines also connects Brazzaville twice a week with the Ethiopian capital Adis-Ababa. Air Gabon operates flights from Libreville in Gabon.
The Republic of the Congo has two international airports, Brazzaville Airport (BZV), which is about four 4 km from the capital, and Pointe-Noire Airport, 6 km from the city center. Both airports are connected to the respective city with the help of taxis.
A regular ferry connection - several times a day - leads across the Congo from Brazzaville to Kinshasa in the DR Congo. This route is also guaranteed by faster boats. Apart from the formation of sandbanks, which make river traffic impossible, one should also expect that the border between the two Congos can be closed at short notice due to political differences. Ferries to Sokamba in Cameroon depart from Ouosso.
Car traffic
From Lambaréné in Gabon there are roads to Loubomo and Brazzaville. The connecting road from the Congo to Cameroon is impassable in the rainy season. A road leads from Pointe-Noire to Cabinda in Angola. There are also road connections to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
There are domestic air connections between Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire via Loubomo and Ouesso. These are offered several times a day. Private planes can also be chartered. However, one should always keep in mind that the technical condition of the Congolese aircraft does not correspond to western standards, so that the aircraft cannot be recommended without reservation. In addition, there are often delays, stopovers and cancellations due to a lack of fuel.
The Republic of the Congo has about 900 km of railway line. There is a connection between Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire, but you should allow up to three days for this. The trains are also mostly unpunctual and in just as bad condition as the tracks and most of the signal systems, which increases the risk of accidents. Also less pleasant is the fact that in the past there were more frequent attacks on travelers at night at train stations.
Ferry connections
Steamers operate on the Congo and Ubangi. There are a total of 1,250 km of navigable routes in the country. Connections are offered to the Central African Republic, among others. You should plan up to 20 days for this.
Bush taxis and minibuses
The larger cities are connected by bush taxis and minibuses. Since you always leave when the vehicle is full, there is no need for timetables.
Taxis operate in major cities such as Brazzaville, Pointe Noire and Dolisie. Before starting your journey, you should always negotiate the price of the fare, for which you can then test your knowledge of French.
Roads and rental cars
Of the total of approx. 13,000 km of road network, around 10% are paved. Many of the unpaved roads are only passable in the dry season and with all-wheel drive. Driving at night is not recommended. Right-hand traffic prevails in the Republic of the Congo. Rental cars are available in Brazzaville from Europcar. An international driver's license is required to rent a car. Anyone planning to cross the border by car needs a carnet de passage. Because of the high security risk, we strongly advise against traveling to the east and northeast of the country.
According to Abbreviationfinder, the international license plate of the Republic of the Congo is:
Republic of the Congo: entry and exit requirements
Tourists from EU countries and Switzerland need a valid passport, a visa and a return or onward ticket to enter the Republic of the Congo. A valid yellow fever vaccination must be proven upon entry.
Embassy of the Republic of the Congo
Wallstraße 69
Tel: 0049 - (0) 30 - 494 007 53
www.botschaftkongobzv.de
Issuing visas in Austria and Switzerland
See under Representations of the Republic of the Congo in Austria or Representations of the Republic of the Congo in Switzerland.
National currency
The national currency of the Republic of the Congo is the CFA franc:
1 CFA franc = 100 centimes
The Republic of the Congo is part of the Central African Economic and Monetary Union. The ISO 4217 code of the Franc CFA is XAF here.
The CFA franc (Communanté Financiére Africaine) is the currency in 14 African countries that were usually French colonies in the past: Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Cameroon, Republic of the Congo, Chad, Central African Republic, Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoite, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo. It is tied to the euro.
The exchange rate of the euro and the CFA franc is always the same as the CFA franc is pegged to the euro (it was pegged to the franc before the euro was introduced). For countries belonging to the Central African Economic and Monetary Union, the conversion rate is:
1 Euro (€) = 682.671 CFA Franc (XAF)
Import and export of foreign currency and goods
There is no limit to the import and export of local currency.
Foreign currencies
There is no limit to the import and export of foreign currencies, but a declaration is required.
The following articles can be imported into the Congo duty-free:
200 cigarettes or a box of cigars or tobacco (women are only allowed to import cigarettes!)
1 bottle of spirits and 1 bottle of
perfume wine for personal use (opened).
Notebooks are to be declared in individual cases. The import of weapons is strictly prohibited.
There are exceptions to this after registration and approval for hunting weapons
Republic of the Congo: Travel Medicine, Vaccinations, and Warnings
In the Republic of the Congo, the following infectious diseases are to be expected in Germany and Central and Northern Europe:
HIV/AIDS is a major problem in the country and a major danger for anyone who is at risk of infection: sexual contact, unclean syringes or cannulas and blood transfusions can pose a considerable risk.
Malaria: There is a year-round risk of malaria across the country, including cities. About 90% of the infections occur with the very dangerous malaria tropica, the rest with malaria tertiana.
Intestinal infections caused by contaminated food or water, including amoebas, lamblia, salmonella, shigella, worm infestation and all kinds of viruses and bacteria
Ebola, outbreaks of this extremely dangerous viral infectious disease occur again and again, albeit mostly locally
Sleeping sickness, transmitted by the tsetse flies (Glossina).
Tick bite fever
Vaccination recommendations
Diphtheria - a vaccination against diphtheria should always exist, also in the home country.
Tetanus - a vaccination against tetanus should always exist, also in the home country.
Rabies - but only for high-risk travelers who can come into contact with the vector animals.
For all people older than one year, there is a compulsory vaccination against a disease with yellow fever.
Yellow fever vaccination for children
In most of the countries in which a yellow fever vaccination is required, this also applies to children over one year of age, in some countries even from six months. It should be noted that vaccination against yellow fever had a number of side effects, such as encephalitis. Around two-thirds of those affected were children under six months. Therefore, under no circumstances should children under this age be vaccinated. But children under one year of age should also not be vaccinated if possible. If in doubt, yellow fever infection areas must then be avoided. Any vaccination against yellow fever may only be carried out in specially authorized yellow fever vaccination centers!
When traveling in the country, it is strongly advised to undergo malaria prophylaxis. If the side effects seem questionable to you, you should at least have a "stand-by product" with you.
Republic of the Congo: Diplomatic missions
Visit Countryaah for a full list of Republic of the Congo embassies and consulates in each country around the world.
Representations of the Republic of the Congo in Germany
The embassy of the Republic of the Congo - not to be confused with the Democratic Republic of the Congo - is based in Berlin-Mitte, very close to the Fischerinsel.
The embassy building is located a few meters from the Australian embassy.
The "Märkisches Museum" station on underground line 2 and the bus stop for bus lines 165 and 265 are in the immediate vicinity.
Wallstrasse 69
Tel: 0049 - (0) 30 - 4940 07 53 or 494007 78
German representations in the Republic of the Congo
The Federal Republic of Germany does not have an embassy in the Republic of the Congo, but is represented by an honorary consulate. The embassy in the "Democratic Republic of the Congo" is responsible:
Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Kinshasa
82, Avenue Roi-Baudouin
Kinshasa - Gombe
Tel: 00243 - (0) 815 - 561 380
Fax: 00243 - (0) 813 - 464 461
www. kinshasa.diplo.de
The German embassy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is still responsible for:
Honorary Consul of the Federal Republic of Germany
s/c Ico Wood, Avenue Denis Loemba
Pointe-Noire, Congo, Republic
Tel: 00242 - 941 314
Austrian representations of the Republic of the Congo
The Federal Republic of Austria does not have a diplomatic representation in the Republic of the Congo; the embassy in:
Embassy of the Federal Republic of Austria in Addis Abeda
N. Silk Lafto Kifle Ketema Kebele 04 H.No. 535
Tel: 00251 - (0) 11 - 371 3144
00251 - (0) 11 - 371 2445
Email: [email protected] at
www.aussenministerium.at/addisabeba
The Austrian embassy in Ethiopia is still responsible for:
Representations of the Republic of the Congo in Austria
The responsible embassy is the embassy in Germany in Berlin ().
Honorary Consulate General of the Republic of the Congo
Rathausstrasse 15/1
Tel: 0043 - (0) 1 - 404 41300
Fax: 0043 - (0) 1 - 404 41400
Email: konsulat @ Republikkongo.at
Swiss representations of the Republic of the Congo
Switzerland does not have an embassy in the Republic of the Congo, but is represented by a consulate general. The embassy is responsible for:
Swiss Embassy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
654, Blvd Colonel Tshatshi
Commune de Gombe
Ambassade de Suisse
00243 - (0) 89 - 894 680
www.eda.admin.ch/kinshasa
The Swiss embassy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is still responsible for:
Consulate General of Switzerland in Pointe-Noire
Avenue Charles de Gaulle
Consulat général de Suisse
Tel: 00242 - (0) 2 - 943 707
Fax: 00242 - (0) 2 - 944 456
Representations of the Republic of the Congo in Switzerland
Embassy of the Republic of the Congo, Chancellerie
Rue Chabrey 8
Consular section of the embassy


text:
Earthling Liberation Kollective
community empowerment and species-inclusive social justice
Human Rights (Commonalities of Oppression)
Feminism, Genders & Queerness
Black, Indigenous & Communities of Colour
Animal Rights (and Intersectionality)
Making Animal Liberation Accessible – A How-To Guide
#DearPeTA
Animal Rights and Accountability
Why Animal Rights needs Transformative Justice
What Animal Rights needs to learn from The Black Panthers
The Roots of Speciesism & Oppression
Species-Based Violence
Internalized Speciesism
Growing an Animal-inclusive Culture of Consent
Chronically Vegan
Chronically Vegan – Anxiety
Chronically Vegan – Disordered Eating
Chronically Vegan – Seasonal Depression
Chronically Vegan – Living as a Sick Vegan
Chronically Vegan – Depression
Chronically Vegan – Reach out to Friends
Animal Liberation Ontario – ALO
Human Rights are Animal Rights (october 2013)
Neither Man Nor Beast (february 2014)
Endangered Turtle (august 2014)
Zoophil-Psychosis Zine (march 2016)
Embracing Animal-Loving Madness
Animal Exploitation and Toxic [Trans] Masculinity
Empty the Cages! And Fill the Prisons?
Why Animal Rights Needs to Write & Read Fiction
What is Zen Vegan Anarchism?
"Report-Back!" Fund
Burning Phoenixes Award
About ELK
Art as Activism
Interconnections of Feminism, Animal Liberation and Radical Sobriety
by elk.In animal liberation, colonialism, feminism, Neither Man Nor Beast, sobriety, trigger warnings, veganism, violence against women, white privilege, yoga.Leave a Comment on Interconnections of Feminism, Animal Liberation and Radical Sobriety
Full video with closed captioning available here
So I want to talk a lot about the interconnection of oppressions as they respond to – as we investigate radical sobriety, feminism and animal liberation. To start, the further we investigate oppression the more we can see that every single one of us has been involved in or affected by oppression at some point in our lives. The fact is that we live in a culture of oppression and we're indoctrinated into this system of oppression from an early age, we learn that we should either be propagating oppression, be accepting it or turning a blind eye. This process of deconstructing and abolishing different forms of oppression is probably the hardest thing that any of us will undertake, because not only do we have to rise and fight up against those who push us down, but we have to have accountability for ourselves as oppressors. For anybody who has faced any severe trauma or severe oppression, it can be really hard to acknowledge that even though we were victimized we can still be responsible for the suffering of others.
I will talk a little bit about my life in and the oppressions that I faced and then I'd like to explore some of the ideas that I have come up with in regards to this. I just want to put a trigger warning out there. Sadly, this talk definitely explores a lot a lot of violence to women, so if – take care of yourselves, like the last talk explained if you are really feeling traumatized by that kind of stuff, you don't want to hear about it, then please take care and maybe sit out for this. I will make it short and I don't want to hammer in any kind of trauma, but just to give you an idea of where I'm coming from.
I had a really rough adolescence. I left home when I was about 14 due to family issues and by the time I was 17, I had been raped by 11 men on six different occasions. I had been held against my will at a drug house for three months. I had mistreated my body for a place to stay numerous times, for something to eat, or to protect my friends. I had spent about two years working as a drug mule flying extreme amount of narcotics around the country for a pretty dangerous cartel. My work and my lifestyle kept me away from hard drugs luckily but I drank so much during this process to numb the pain that I did not have a chance to think of anybody else or think about anything rather than just survival at that time. This lifestyle, it was hard and it's something that was really traumatic for me and fortunately something that I've been able to get through. I look back at it and I see that in some ways I felt really empowered in that lifestyle. I would try to be as tough as I could and I would pick fights with others because I was so powerless when violence was inflicted on me.
I was just part of this really vicious circle of systemic oppression where violence becomes the norm and everyone included numbs themselves to get through. Often people are blamed, oppressors are blamed, for their actions and, rightly so, they should be held accountable, every single one of us should be held accountable. But sometimes we have to look a little bit further and we have to look at the systems of oppression, the systems of abuse, and really have some empathy and understanding for where others are coming from and how they are reaching the point where they are so disconnected from contact with others, from compassion, that they take severe actions against other humans or other animals. From there, once we find that understanding, we can grow a little more and we find different ways of communicating with each other.
I was fortunate enough to get out before I was an adult and I am really lucky because a lot of my acquaintances are dead, in jail or stuck in this life that they cannot break free from. I found over the past 13 years or so I found some really awesome ways to heal. In that process, I have really been able to learn about the interconnectedness of oppressions and how everything is connected. I want to pause here and say a little bit about privilege. I am a survivor, like so many of us are, and I went through absolute hell and it has not been easy to bounce back. But I did, and I did in large part because of my privilege. Despite problems with my family, I had a lot of love when I was young. I'm white, I'm cisgender, so for me to find rehabilitation programs was easy. To get into school was easy because I did not face racism from the class and the school system. I was always able to find a job and I was lucky enough that though I was a really heavy drinker, alcoholism didn't run in my family so I could walk away from this when I needed to. I was able to find clarity in life, particularly when I started exploring radical sobriety. I was able to become aware of oppression and take action against it. Being able to look back in my own trauma and see how similar traumas affect others had been huge and to be able to use my experiences to find compassion and understanding for others, for where others are at, has also been paramount.
This is not the case for a lot of survivors. Many survivors are marginalized, and not just facing the oppression of a patriarchal system but also racism, homophobia, transphobia, classism, and so many other oppressions that for some of us, especially people like white settlers, we don't know this oppression. We just know the one kind that we have been facing. The first step to abolishing oppression is to remember that when we are calling each other to mobilize, to step up and take action, not everyone is in the same position of privilege and not everyone has the same vantage point to be able to look past their own struggles and focus on the plight of others. We see this a lot in the animal rights movement and veganism, we want so much for people to step up and stop hurting other beings, but we're not necessarily taking a look at what is happening in those people's lives at that moment in time. So, as we move through this work, let's to not assume other people's privilege. Let's try our best to work from a position of compassion and understanding and just find out where people are at and how they are and how they are being affected and how we can work together.
There is this article I just read and I wasn't going to talk about this at first because I had not been opened up to this, but it was shared on the website the other day and it
was an article by Lauren Chief Elk about the myths of shared gender oppression and it totally blew my mind. I have felt this oppression for so many years and I do my best to not feel like a victim and I try to work through that and be strong, but having more privilege than others we need to be accountable for that without perpetuating further models of colonization by trying to help other communities because we feel empowered to do so. For anyone who has survived trauma and is feeling empowered to go out and make changes in communities and it is a natural thing, you want to go, you want to help and talk to people and see what you can do but it is not always our place to barge into a liberation struggle and start helping out. There are communities around the world who are already mobilizing, and standing their ground, against oppression.
For me, it's important to know that it has been an important lesson to know that just because I feel able to stand up for other women and it's not always by my place to speak on behalf of them because we are not all the same and we have very similar oppressions and to be an ally to work in solidarity is huge. But you can't determine what people — I see a little note here, the article is called the — I don't have the full title, but it is by Lauren Chief Elk and it's about the myth of shared gender oppression. It's posted on the Facebook page for the forum. You can look at that or I will try to find the link — oh there it is. Awesome.
I was really lucky, I got through, I healed, and I started to open up to how other beings are being treated. I became active in many different campaigns for animal liberation, for environmental protection, social justice issues. What I found was that I was still numbing myself. So back to when I was in the midst of trauma and oppression, I just numbed myself with alcohol because I couldn't deal with it and I found that once I broke free of all that oppression, I was no longer facing such extremities anymore that and I was utilizing my experiences to assist others. But I was just kind of burying myself in whatever I could find. I was pushing myself too hard and taking on too much and I would deal with it by having a couple of drinks every day or whatever. I would use alcohol as a release and something to help me cope. Really, I wasn't coping at all. I ended up having a pretty bad anxiety breakdown. I found myself in an abusive marriage. I had just replaced one trauma with another and I had not really started to heal at all.
So, about three years ago I started to explore sobriety. I began to realize that I could be a lot more effective, not only as an activist, but as a community member if I started to look a little bit deeper and started to really explore how I relate to the world and how different oppressions are formed, how different oppressions are out there, and how I also participate in these oppressions. When we talk about radical sobriety and veganism in a lot of these movements it sometimes this sounds like we expect others to deal with life, to deal with trauma, by taking on the actions of others. I don't want this to be the case and I am explaining a lot about my experiences with it and for me radical sobriety was something that was paramount and it saved my life.
But it is not the option for everybody. It's not a means to an end, at all. It is the same thing with veganism we are able to eliminate the suffering of animals the minute we adopt it and with radical sobriety we can take a stand against corporations and we can start to take a lot more accountability in our communities. But it's not the only thing. If we're just sober, that's great. But it's not going to start a revolution. It is a tool that we can utilize and for instance in a lot of liberation struggles, the Zapatista movement especially, or specifically, sobriety has been adopted to affect the autonomy of women, to create safer spaces, and eliminate any thing that could perpetuate the suffering that someone could be in already.
The state has used drugs and alcohol through history to stop the liberation movements, and in fact, here's a quote from a really awesome being, from this book, which you should read if you're interested in this kind of stuff – a significant portion of gender violence specifically sexual and relationship violence against women committed by men who are intoxicated. So how many of us have been present in a radical community or an anarchist community and has seen abusive or oppressive actions being condoned simply because someone was drunk. It's not okay and should not be acceptable. We have this right to safer spaces, and in our quest to create spaces free of all oppression, why not decrease a practice that affects who we are and creates a lot of violence in itself. This is something that having come from a place of extreme violence and coming from a place where alcohol was the tool to really bury down everything. The idea that we could let go of a crutch like that and start to really be accountable for ourselves is huge because we don't see a lot.
Sometimes there is not enough accountability in radical circles. As we move through this work and we try to fight for the rights of others, if we're speaking up for the animals, if we're standing up for the environment, and other kinds of social justice issues, but we're not even able, in our own community, to be accountable, to be caring and be respectful of each other, how are we going to get out there and be active for these causes that are bigger than anything else? I've been committed to a lifelong sobriety for about 2 years, and this changed my life so much. I've been able to reassess what I take on and have developed a great self-care practice and it was beautiful to hear the last presentation about self-care because it is so true, even if we are not taking in any kind of intoxicants, as activists we push ourselves way too hard because we have to and we feel like there are so much injustice in this world and there is.
Each and every one of us comes with such an open heart and wants to make change and that is beautiful. We have to realize that we cannot save the world by ourselves and it is hard. It's really hard. To be able to step away from burnout and do a few things that nourish our body and our minds and our spirit, it's really important. I have been able to find that and by having the clarity of mind on a daily basis I don't deviate from that too much. Which is nicer than the days where I would deviate from that. Because, I was involved in partying the night before, or something, right? I have been able to face my trauma which is huge. I didn't for so long, and I thought that I did. I talked about it sometimes and I knew it was there, and I read some books, but I had not really opened up to it because I had not allowed myself to just feel, like really, really be down. I hadn't allowed things to pop up. Not only the suffering of myself but, the suffering of others. Now that I am opening up to a lot more struggles, I'm able to explore different ways to decolonize and I have more energy to love, to share, to protect and explore who I am, and what affect I have on the world.
Particularly as somebody whose existence alone causes oppression to others, I live in Central America, and this is where I get do a lot of work with animals, with the environment, with community. But, I and every single other white settler here needs to be super aware that just our presence is oppressive, it's not necessarily our fault, but it goes back far into history, however we all have to take accountability for it and we all have to work on ways to be allies for a community and to not just barge in and tell people what to do. I find that sobriety has really helped me be super aware, at any given time I'm doing my best to be aware. I'm not there all of the way, obviously. So many of us have so much to work on, but it has definitely helped me a lot. I am really finding that I need to take accountability for my actions now, whereas before maybe I would have been a bit defensive or argumentative about the fact that I could be an oppressor because I had been oppressed in the past.
But now I am able to listen, really listen and it's hard and even if it sucks and it's icky, I need to listen and that is true for all of us. I find that I feel a lot stronger to call other people out on their own actions and hold other people accountable for the same things. The more that, as a community, we can start to practice this. There was this great article [on Black Girl Dangerous] not too long ago about 'calling in', which instead of shaming people and casting them out of the community, and making it a big deal, it was more of this heartfelt one on one conversation with people that we work with, as comrades, about their actions and I found that was so beautiful because having those situations where we can talk to one another about the things we do is huge and we are all products of very, very oppressive systems of years and years and generations of systemic oppression that have come down. Every single one of us has learned that, maybe some of us have grown up in some pretty radical communities but for the most part, we have all learned these terrible things that now we are trying to break free from.
To have a situation, to have safer spaces where people are clearheaded and are mindful, are compassionate, are loving, is so important. There is a lot to learn and I'm just starting, we are all just starting. There is a lot to let go of. For most of us, it is weird, but I feel that if we're all on this path together, holding each other up and supporting one another, we can do it. So yeah, I think that is about all that I have to say. Costa Rica is, a very – a place that a lot people move to, a lot of ex patriots and foreigners and I find that sometimes there is a high level of ignorance as far as being part of the community. Language is huge and you see a lot of people who come here to live and build some crazy house somewhere that isn't really doing anything for the community and they don't learn the language and don't attempt to communicate with anybody in the community and I find that is a huge problem because how do you really know what is going on in the community or what issues the community faces.
I live in a community of about a hundred. So, people come together when there is a problem in town, when there's a shortage of water, when anything is going on and there are collectives, and communities and people talk about it. I find that coming in to such a situation and building up a little castle and putting your walls up and not learning the language is a problem. Unfortunately, it really perpetuates the same model of colonization, to come in and try to change a community, try to bring in a little bit of America into the jungle. Doing a lot of work talking to other foreigners, other people who have settled here about this, about language, about mindfulness in the community and respecting people. For instance, there is a squat here.
In Costa Rice, the first 50 metres of the beach belongs to the people and then 150 metres after that it is maritime zone, so you can't build any structures. There is a squat not too far from where I am and I think about 30 to 50 people live there and there is a huge push by the people who own property around here, mostly white foreigners, to abolish the squat and they feel like, especially because in Costa Rica if a squat is broken up then everyone is given land and they have more and that is good. This is good. A lot of places can learn from a lot from that. However, the first 50 meters of the beach belongs to people. And these people were here way longer before anybody decided to come in and buy land and start selling it for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Advocating against that and using my position as a white settler and my ability to converse in English with other people who are trying to abolish squats, who are trying to step in on the community is huge and is something that at least I can do. I cannot speak on behalf of the community, but I can on behalf of being a white settler and a bit more of the integration process, like being anywhere else.
Another question, are there any problems with "manarchists" in Costa Rica and how do you deal with it if it occurs and any tactics? Yeah, it's everywhere. Especially since I live in the country. But it's a huge problem with misogyny and manarchism not so much that I have seen. The anarchist scene here is really amazing and is mostly around San Jose, which is the capital city, and it is phenomenal. There is huge emphasis on being queer friendly and being about total liberation, really including all of the liberating struggles in it, so I find that I have not met any or seen any of oppression within the anarchism here. Most of the stuff that I see, the misogyny that I see, is in the general community and the community that I live in specifically there is a lot of abuse towards women, and so women don't stay. You won't see any 18-20 year old women because they have all gotten out. I think that dialogue about that is huge and having safer spaces for women to go to, and again, it is very interesting because if I was in Canada the first thing I would do is barge into a community and set up shop and make safe space and start talking to people about violence against women. Here, because it is not my community and I am a settler and have to be respectful as an ally it is a different process, so I'm learning a lot about this and finding where I can be of assistance in the community as opposed to trying to take over a struggle. It is interesting and a lot of work, but something to work toward for sure.
Is there a website or any social media that we can contact or interact with you? I have a Facebook page for Total Liberation Yoga, I try to take away a lot of oppression with western yoga. So it is free classes and open to anyone and fundraisers for animal protection and environmental protection and I am working on launching a nonprofit here that will deal with, I'm hoping to start a drop-in centre for street kids and at-risk women, and then hopefully a sanctuary for injured wildlife.
The last question I can see is can you tell us more about your work with yoga and how that influences your activism. Again, just as sobriety has been amazing for me, yoga has been phenomenal. I was in six car accidents during my time of craziness, my crazy adolescence, and I had a lot of physical problems. Not only was I bearing the pain of emotional past, but also physical as well. Through yoga, I was a dancer growing up, so physical movement was something I was missing. To start with, yoga brought that back and allowed me to start to feel things in my body. All of us hold so much emotion in different places in our body and when you start to move again, things release. It was really hard, but it was really worth it. I started to get into the physical practice of yoga, to open up and feel my physical body, and the more that I got into that the more I started to open up to the emotional side of yoga and the more I started to realize I did not have to be a tough angry woman all of the time with my walls up so that nobody could get to me. Yoga has allowed me to open my heart and to soften. In that softening I found so much more strength to take a stand and speak up for others. I learn every day and I had an opportunity to be a teacher and work with people who are facing trauma themselves or to raise awareness of issues, but I'm helping students. I learn from every single person that I comes into the room and it is always something new.
I recently actually published a blog about a lot more in depth about what I've gone through and the amount of feedback and stories people shared with me afterward was heartbreaking, but so beautiful that through something like that people were able to open up and I find that in yoga it really helps. The more we get away from the Western model of having to have the fancy studios and the nicest clothes, the more that we get to the practice of yoga, of community and raising our awareness and opening our hearts and our minds the more I find we have the ability to heal each other and be there in solidarity for one another when we need it. That is big. We often need a lot of the conversations to get us through and we don't often need so many of these clinical "self help programs". We really just need each other and to have a practice that allows us to heal ourselves and heal our community, so that we are stronger for one another.
Mya Wollf is a vegan straightedge anarcha-feminist residing in Costa Rica, where she works in wildlife rescue/rehabilitation, environmental conservation, and many projects advocating for the liberation of all beings. She is also a yoga teacher and the founder of Total Liberation Yoga, which is a project dedicated to bringing anti-oppression and total liberation work into yoga, creating safer spaces and accessibility for all people who wish to join the practice.
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Ryanair: state-aid clouds gathering on the horizon?
Last Friday's OJEC contained two documents of potentially major importance to our industry. As part of the European Commission's investigations into the state aid complaints against Altenburg and Angoulême airports and their financial support to Ryanair, the Commission has provided its preliminary findings and invited comments from the parties involved.
The wheels of justice grind slowly. Back in 2008, the Federation of German Airlines submitted a complaint to the EC, alleging illegal state aid to (the majority publicly-owned) Altenburg Airport (3-letter code AOC) and to Ryanair. In particular, they alleged that Ryanair's AOC-STN service was unfairly competing with Air Berlin's Leipzig-STN. Ryanair operated from AOC from 2003 to 2011; Air Berlin withdrew from Leipzig-STN in 2008.
The Commission considers the reduced passenger charges and marketing services payments to be State Aid, doubts whether a prudent private investor would have entered into such an agreement, and doubts whether this aid is compliant with the 2005 Guidelines.
The first 2003 contract was signed for a 10-year period, with the benefits to Ryanair increasing in the second five years.
In 2008, the airport signed a two-year contract with Airport Marketing Services (A M S). The amount to be paid is redacted (but increased by 50-60% in Year 2 compared with Year 1). In return the airport was to receive a 150-word paragraph on the destinations section of the Ryanair website, for an unspecified period and with no particular placement specified. The airport had the right to provide a hyperlink in its text, but this could not point to any service which Ryanair provided elsewhere on its website (flights, car hire, accommodation etc.) Ryanair had the last word on what would be allowed; the airport was responsible for checking whether the paragraph in fact appeared on the website as agreed.
In 2010, a further one-year contract between the airport and A M S was signed. Its stated purpose was to publicise the business and tourism potential of the region in the context of Stansted, Girona and Alicante services. In return for an unspecified amount (apparently significantly more than in 2008), the airport would receive various links on the English- and Spanish-language Ryanair websites.
Incidentally, the original complaint asserts [paragraph 56] that not only did Ryanair benefit from discounted charges and marketing support, but that the original marketing agreement shielded Ryanair from any subsequent increases in nationally-imposed taxes or passenger charges.
…then that'd be equivalent to more than €150k, so the marketing agreement is fairly priced and Ryanair isn't deriving any commercial advantage from it. QED.
The Commission then sets out its preliminary findings and asks for more information.
The marketing payment to A M S was a further benefit to Ryanair. The Commission now asks for more precision on the nature of the legal relationship between Ryanair and A M S and the nature of the exclusive licensing contract which A M S has.
The aid (including the marketing support) granted to Ryanair was state aid, it was not in accordance with the Guidelines, it was not in accordance with the market investor principle, and it was not degressive.
No evidence was presented of a business plan for the routes in question under which the duration of the aid could make sense (e.g. showing that the route would take five years to be profitable).
The Commission has also asked for detailed accounts for the airport, showing the annual opex and capex, the amounts Ryanair actually paid and the non-aeronautical revenue from Ryanair passengers.
The Commission has now given the German authorities one month to provide a very large amount of additional information in support of the German assertion that there is no state aid. It seems fair to conclude that this will be difficult: one imagines some rueful Berlin civil servants spending late nights scratching their heads in the coming weeks trying to think of how they can respond to this.
And finally, the Commission formally reminds Germany that any finding of State Aid means that the aid found illegal has to be paid back without delay.
But if there is concern in Germany, there's no room for Schadenfreude in France.The Commission has also issued an invitation for comments in respect of Angoulême airport in Western France.
Public funds (capex and opex) provided to Angoulême Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI), to the Syndicat Mixte which ran the airport subsequently, and to SNC-Lavalin, which took over responsibility for running the airport in early 2012.
In particular, the Commission is of the opinion that, when it comes to assessing the agreements made with Ryanair and its subsidiary AMS, the airport services contract and the marketing services contract must be considered jointly as Ryanair and AMS in fact constitute a single beneficiary of the measures in question. On the basis of the information in its possession, the Commission takes the view at this stage that Ryanair/AMS may have received state aid under the 2008 agreements.
The Commission takes the view that the aid is not compatible with the 2005 guidelines – there was no evaluation of the route's longer-term sustainability and the aid was not linked to the startup costs.
The French authorities in their initial input to this investigation asserted [paragraph 17] that airports of <1 million passengers should all be considered as "services of general economic interest" because of their role in their regional economies. The Commission disagrees [101, 138].
Interestingly there was a (tiny) early termination penalty in the contract. In case Ryanair terminated the contract before the end of Year 3, it would pay €17,000 in respect of the fourth year and €8,500 in respect of the fifth year.
The Commission notes that there was also an early termination clause in the A M S contract in case of termination by Ryanair by the end of Year 3: a penalty of €50k for Year 4 and €25k for Year 5 would apply.
Interestingly, the Commission says that in 2009, Angoulême's general airport tariffs for the first time offered all airlines' new routes a "contribution to route development costs" of €15, €12 and €9 per passenger in Years 1,2 and 3 (limited to €400k, €300k and €225k, coincidentally exactly the same amounts offered to Ryanair – but dependent on achieving passenger volumes, unlike in Ryanair's case). This support was no longer on offer in the airport's 2010 tariff publication.
In December 2009, Ryanair demanded an increase in Year 3 marketing support from the previously agreed €225k to €400k if it was to restore its STN service for Summer 2010. The Syndicat Mixte refused to vary the agreed contract; Ryanair suggested that it would then operate for only two months in the peak summer rather than the 8 months specified in the contract; the Syndicat Mixte rejected this proposal, and Ryanair therefore gave notice of termination.
The Syndicat Mixte has sued Ryanair for €859k in damages in a local French court, while Ryanair has instead gone to arbitration in London. The Syndicat Mixte is challenging the jurisdiction of the arbitrator before the French Conseil d'État; the case is pending.
There was public funding involved and public bodies were directly involved in the decision to award the funding.
The net payments to Ryanair in 2008 and 2009 were greater than the total airport revenues in those years.
The Commission has serious doubts that the market investor principle was applied and provisionally considers that Ryanair benefitted from state aid.
The Commission concludes that Ryanair and A M S have to be considered as a single economic entity, and the Ryanair contract and A M S Marketing Agreement have to be considered as a single contractual relationship [215-225]. Indeed the French authorities appear to be of the same view.
The Commission asks the French authorities for a lot more information on the airport's economics and on the basis for decisions, to be submitted within one month. In particular, it also invites any third parties who are directly competing with Angoulême to express their views on whether the aid under discussion helped Angoulême's competitive position. More on this point below.
So what does all this mean for airports?
The "fiction" that the AMS contract is only about online advertising, nothing to do with Ryanair route support, and not subject to the EC Guidelines on state aid, is likely to disappear. The Commission will consider the two contracts together in evaluating whether there has been illegal state aid.
In the absence of a credible business plan able to show that the route in question can be sustainable, but needs support at a particular level (including AMS funding) for several years, the Commission is likely to take a dim view.
In both judgements, the Commission reminds the national authorities that if the state aid is found to be illegal, it will have to be repaid. My understanding is that any appeals process is non-suspensive, i.e. does not delay the obligation to repay.
But there's more. Even if the definitive judgement in the Altenburg case is that the state aid is illegal and Ryanair has to pay it back, this doesn't help Air Berlin whose Leipzig-Stansted route had to compete against the subsidised Ryanair service. The only remedy for Air Berlin (or any other airline in a similar position) would be to bring a court case against the public entities responsible for awarding the illegal aid, seeking compensation for economic damages caused. It's going to be hard to make a black-and-white case that the failure of a route was entirely due to unfair competition. This could get very messy.
And I'll offer you one other thought. The Commission's request for inputs from third parties in the Angoulême case is very interesting. While one might imagine that only nearby airports (BOD, LRH,LIG,…) are affected, I'd argue that the set of affected airports is far larger. Ryanair sets airports all across Europe in competition with each other for service, especially from its major bases like Stansted. If Angoulême had not won a Ryanair service in 2008, the aircraft wouldn't necessarily have gone to another Western French airport – it could have been used to operate a flight to any of a range of airports across Europe (certainly any airport within an approximately similar flying time from Stansted). Thus I'd suggest that any such European airport which lost out on Ryanair service in the 2008-2009 (or which won service, but had to offer discounts or marketing support) could justifiably submit a view to the Commission in the coming weeks that it too was adversely affected by Angoulême's financial aid to Ryanair.
I suggest that if the last few days are a flavour of things to come, Ryanair may find itself having to compete on a more level footing in future.
Last week we had invitations for comments on Altenburg and Angoulême. This week the Commission has announced the opening of an in-depth investigation into Beauvais. While I don't think the Commission is working alphabetically, I can't help thinking that Ryanair flies to some 168 airports and it'll be a long time at this rate before we get to Zaragoza!
But more seriously, this begins to look as though the fundamentals of Ryanair's route-support model are being unpicked, at least in the case of public airports.
Ask yourself: if you represent a public airport, are you really ready to sign a five-year deal for ill-defined website marketing services when the Commission is signalling clearly that such a deal will be considered as start-up aid and subjected to the full rigour of the Guidelines? Angoulême included early-termination provisions in its contract, though the amount was derisory, and offered other carriers "contributions to route development costs" in its 2009 published tariffs – at exactly the levels agreed the year before with Ryanair. I'd speculate that these steps may have been an attempt to comply with some of the requirements of the EC 2005 state-aid Guidelines, but in any event they do not seem to have been effective in the eyes of the Commission.
If you're a private airport, you may start to have more leeway in future – or at least less competition from other airports to attract services. If these initial indications from the Commission are confirmed, it's hard to avoid the conclusions, first, Ryanair is going to be paying back a large sum of money, and second, that the balance of power between airline and airports is going to be tilted back, just a little, away from the airline.
I'd even go out on a limb and speculate that if a few of these cases go against Ryanair at definitive-judgement stage, they might decide it's worth their while reaching an agreed settlement with the Commission rather than undergoing a long-running war of attrition. They could afford to settle – a billion here or there won't kill them – but it would represent a major one-off hit, and an ongoing adverse change to their cost base. That'd be one huge course correction to their business model.
Content is © 2012 Patrick Edmond, unless stated otherwise.
Our views in a FlightGlobal analysis (6 Nov 2012) on how Ryanair might spend its growing cash pile.
Our AirInsight interview podcast on regional-airline challenges, from yields to lack of replacement aircraft.
Our Low-Fare and Regional Airlines article on EC airport state-aid investigations.
This Aviation Week blog post gives our take on Virgin's Heathrow-Manchester route launch.
Patrick Edmond tweets occasionally in a personal capacity. For topical airline and airport insight, why not follow us on Twitter at PEdmondAero ?


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Royal Brompton patient Ben meets Chelsea footballers
Ben Kelly from Shenley and patient at Royal Brompton, had his dream come true when he was given the chance to meet the Chelsea first-team with a group of other young supporters
They were given the unique opportunity to see the first-team train at their Cobham training ground, before getting to meet the players for photographs and autographs.
Among the famous faces were David Luiz (pictured with Ben below), Olivier Giroud, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Ben's favourite player, Eden Hazard.
Ben's mum, Gina who also attended, knew Ben had been 'looking forward to it for so long' and was delighted to see her son so excited. She said:
"Ben is an in-patient at Brompton and it is amazing that through their charity and the Chelsea Foundation he has been able to come here and meet the players."
The day was arranged by our Charity through the Chelsea Foundation, who we'd like to extend a very special thank you to for making this day possible.
Published: 17th January, 2019
Author: Paige Patrick
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(1) Introduction These terms and conditions govern your use of the Royal Brompton & Harefield Hospitals Charity website; by using our website, you accept these terms and conditions in full. If you disagree with these terms and conditions or any part of these terms and conditions, you must not use our website. (2) Licence to use website Unless otherwise stated, we or our licensors own the intellectual property rights in the website and material on the website. Subject to the licence below, all these intellectual property rights are reserved. You may view, download for caching purposes only, and print pages or documents from the website for your own personal use, subject to the restrictions set out below and elsewhere in these terms and conditions. You must not without prior permission: (a) republish material from this website (including republication on another website); (b) sell, rent or sub-license material from the website; (c) edit or otherwise modify any material on the website; or (d) redistribute material from this website except for content specifically and expressly made available for redistribution such as our Annual Reports and Press Releases (3) Acceptable use You must not use our website in any way that causes, or may cause, damage to the website or impairment of the availability or accessibility of the website; or in any way which is unlawful, illegal, fraudulent or harmful, or in connection with any unlawful, illegal, fraudulent or harmful purpose or activity. You must not use our website to copy, store, host, transmit, send, use, publish or distribute any material which consists of (or is linked to) any spyware, computer virus, Trojan horse, worm, keystroke logger, rootkit or other malicious computer software. You must not conduct any systematic or automated data collection activities (including without limitation scraping, data mining, data extraction and data harvesting) on or in relation to our website without our express written consent. You must not use our website to transmit or send unsolicited commercial communications. You must not use our website for any purposes related to marketing without our express written consent. (4) Limited warranties We do not warrant the completeness or accuracy of the information published on this website; nor do we commit to ensuring that the website remains available or that the material on the website is kept up-to-date. To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law we exclude all representations, warranties and conditions relating to this website and the use of this website (including, without limitation, any warranties implied by law of satisfactory quality, fitness for purpose and/or the use of reasonable care and skill). (5) Breaches of these terms and conditions Without prejudice to our other rights under these terms and conditions, if you breach these terms and conditions in any way, we may take such action as we deem appropriate to deal with the breach, including suspending your access to the website, prohibiting you from accessing the website, blocking computers using your IP address from accessing the website, contacting your internet service provider to request that they block your access to the website and/or bringing court proceedings against you. (6) Variation1 We may revise these terms and conditions from time-to-time. Revised terms and conditions will apply to the use of our website from the date of the publication of the revised terms and conditions on our website. Please check this page regularly to ensure you are familiar with the current version. (7) Registrations and authorisations> We are registered with the Charity Commission. You can find the online version of the register at http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk. Our Registered Charity number is 1053584 (8) Our details The full name of our charity is Royal Brompton & Harefield Hospitals Charity. We are contactable through our: Office Address: 250 Kings Road, London, SW3 5UE Postal Address: Sydney Street, London, SW3 6NP You can also contact us by email to [email protected] 1 Changes to the notices will not be retrospectively effective.
Harefield Summer Picnic raises £4,866
The sun was shining for our annual Summer Picnic last Friday which raised £4,866 in total towards Transforming Your Care.
£22,000 donated towards new incubator for PICU
Our Happy Little Hearts Appeal has succeeded in raising £22,000 towards a second incubator for Royal Brompton's Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU).
7th Annual Charity Golf Day raises over £23,000
For the seventh year running, rock legend and Charity Ambassador Shakin' Stevens alongside Miles Dalby, hosted a successful Annual Charity Golf Day.
Lung function animation funded by the Patients' Fund
Over the last year, the Patients' Fund has funded some exciting new projects that our staff believe will truly enhance the lives of patients treated at Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals.
80-year-old Rhonda takes on fastest zip line
On Sunday 19 May, Rhonda Davis took on the fastest zip line challenge in Europe to raise funds our Charity.
Launching our brand new appeal to transform patient care
We're excited to announce the launch of our new appeal – 'Transforming Your Care' Digital Observations Appeal, to revolutionise the way our doctors and nurses deliver care.
Last Chelsea Community Day of the season for Riley and Louie
Since last October, we've been taking young patients from our hospitals to Chelsea FC's training ground to meet their footballing heroes.
A very active April for our Charity
April has seen our amazing fundraisers take on the Brighton Marathon, the London Marathon and a brand new event, Warrior Adrenaline Races.
Cystic Fibrosis Appeal spring update
We've got exciting news about our Cystic Fibrosis 'Back in the Driving Seat' Appeal, which we want to share with all of you.
News Beat Spring/Summer 2019 hits the shelves!
The latest edition of our bi-annual Charity magazine is out now. Grab a copy from one of our Charity Hubs or read online.


The Bachelor of Arts (BA) programme consists of 24 courses of which 8 courses are at 100-level, 8 course are at 200-level and 8 courses are at 300-level including 2 x 100-level university courses and 2 x 200-level university courses.
Students who enrol in the three-year BA degree programme may take Education as one of their two majors; this, however, does not lead to qualified teacher status.
Courses for a Single Major: Not offered as a single major.
Courses for one major in a Double Major: UU100, UU114, ED152, ED153, UU200, ED204,ED255, ED252, ED354, ED359, plus 2x300level Education courses (except ED350 and ED300) recommended by Head of School of Education.
Courses for a Minor: At least two 100-level and two 200-level Education courses.
Courses for a Single Major: UU100, UU114, HY101, HY102; UU200, UU204; plus three of: HY201, HY202, HY205, HY206; plus three of HY302, HY303, HY304, HY305.
Courses for one major in a Double Major: UU100, UU114, HY101, HY102; UU200, UU204; plus two or three of: HY201, HY202, HY205, HY206; plus two or three of HY302, HY303, HY304, HY305.
Courses for a Minor: HY101, HY102; plus three from HY201, HY202, HY205, HY206, HY302, HY303, HY304, HY305.
Courses for one major in a Double Major: UU100, UU114, JN101, JN103; plus JN201, JN202, JN203; plus UU200, UU204, JN301, JN302, JN303.
Courses for a Minor: Not offered as a minor.
Courses for a Single Major: UU100, UU114; plus three of: LW110, LW111, LW112, LW113; plus UU200, UU204; plus three of: LW201, LW202, LW203, LW204, LW205, LW206; plus three 300-level LW courses.
Courses for one major in a Double Major: UU100, UU114; plus three of: LW110, LW111, LW112, LW113; plus UU200, UU204; plus three of: LW201, LW202, LW203, LW204, LW205, LW206; plus two 300-level LW courses.
Courses for a Minor: Two of: LW110, LW111, LW112, LW113; plus three 200- or 300-level LW courses.
Courses for one major in a Double Major: UU100, UU114, LN111, LN118, UU200, UU204, LN211, LN216, LN311, LN317.
Note that neither a double major in Linguistics and Literature/Language nor a double major in Linguistics and Pacific Language Studies is permitted.
Courses for a Single Major: UU100, UU114, LT102, LT104; plus UU200, UU204, LT202, LT204, LT231, LT305, LT306, LT307; plus LT108 or LT331.
Courses for one major in a Double Major: UU100, UU114, LT102, LT104, UU200, UU204, LT202, LT204, LT231, LT305, LT306, LT307.
Courses for a Minor in Literature: LT102, LT202, LT305; plus LT307 or LT331.
Courses for a Single Major: UU100, UU114, LT102, LT104, LN111, LN118, UU200, UU204, LT202, LT204, LN211, LN216, plus one of LT305, LT306 or LT307, plus LN311 or LN317.
Courses for one major in a Double Major: UU100, UU114, LT102, LT104, LN118, UU200, UU204, LT202 or LT204, LN211, LN216, plus one of LT305, LT306 or LT307, plus LN317.
Courses for a Minor in Literature and Language: LT102, LN118, LT202, LN216, LT305 or LN317.
Courses for a Single Major: UU100, UU114, LN118, UU200, UU204, LN216, LN317 plus 6 to 9 courses from two of the language tracks.
Courses for one major in a Double Major: UU100, UU114, UU200, UU204, LN216, LN317, plus 5 courses from one of the language tracks.
Courses for a Minor: LN118, plus 3 or 4 courses from one of the language tracks.
Courses for a Single Major: UU100, UU114, PP101, SO100, MG101, UU200, UU204, PP201, PP202, PP300, PP301, PP302.
Courses for one major in a Double Major: UU100, UU114, PP101, SO100, UU200, UU204, PP201, PP202, PP300, PP301, PP302.
Courses for a Minor: PP101, SO100; plus any other two PP courses at 200- or 300-level.
The Bachelor of Arts Major in Pacific Studies, Heritage and Arts (PSHA) is an interdisciplinary programme that brings together theories and practices from the fields of Pacific Studies, Dance Studies, Music Studies, Visual Arts, Museology and Heritage Management. It consolidates learning through studio pedagogy, field research projects and an engagement with communities and professional practitioners. To achieve advanced understandings, applications and creations of Pacific knowledge, the scaffolding of learning in this programme is aligned with Bloom's taxonomy. Student progress begins with the acquisition of fundamental knowledge in Pacific epistemologies and domain specific knowledge in Pacific heritage, visual arts or performing arts. This knowledge is then applied to professional practices in education, community development and heritage management.
Minor in Pacific Arts: PA101, PA102, PA201 and PA202.
Minor in Pacific Heritage Studies: PA101, PA103, PA201, and PA203.
The Pacific Vernacular Language major is currently offered in Cook Islands Māori, Fijian, Hindi, Tongan and Niuafo'ou, Vagahau Niue, and Vanuatu Language Studies. In addition, a minor is offered in Rotuman.
Courses for a Single Major: Students taking a single major in Pacific Vernacular Language must pass the courses listed below for the double major plus one 300-level course in the same discipline. Students should consult the School's academic advisor for further information.
Cook Islands Māori: UU100, UU114, LN118, CM111, UU200, UU204, CM211, CM212, CM311, CM331. Fijian Studies: UU100, UU114, FJ111, FJ121; plus one 100-level course from: LT102, LT104, LN118 or another 100-level course approved by the Head of School or nominee; plus UU200, UU204, FJ211, FJ212, FJ221, FJ311, FJ321. Hindi Studies: UU100, UU114, HN111, HN121; plus another 100-level course approved by the Head of School or nominee; plus UU200, UU204, HN211, HN212, HN221, HN321, HN331. Tongan and Niuafo'ou: UU100, UU114, LN118, TG111, UU200, UU204, TG211, TG212, TG311, TG321, TG331, plus 1 course from LN111, LN211, LN216, LN311, LN317 or LN319.196 Vagahau Niue: UU100, UU114, LN118, NU111, NU131, UU200, UU204, NU211, NU212, NU311, NU331, plus 1 course from LN111, LN211, LN216, LN311, LN317 or LN319. Vanuatu Language Studies: UU100, UU114, VA111, VA112, UU200, UU204, VA211, VA212, VA311, VA312, plus 2 courses from FR101, LN111, LN118, FR201, LN211, LN216, FR301, FR302, LN311, LN317, or LN319.
Fijian Studies: Four of: FJ111, FJ121, FJ211, FJ212, FJ221.
Hindi Studies: Four of: HN111, HN121, HN211, HN212, HN221.
Tongan and Niuafo'ou: TG111, TG211, plus 2 courses from TG212, TG311, TG321, TG331.
Vanuatu Language Studies: VA111, VA112, plus 3 courses from VA211, VA212, VA311, VA312.
Courses for a Single Major: UU100, UU114, PS101, PS102, PS103, UU200, UU204, PS203, PS205, PS206, PS304, PS305, PS307, PS312.
Courses for one major in a Double Major: UU100, UU114, PS101, PS102, PS103, UU200, UU204, PS203, PS205, PS206; plus two from PS304, PS305, PS307, PS312.
Courses for a Minor: Any two of PS101, PS102, PS103, plus any two courses at 200- or 300-levels provided prerequisites have been met.
To be admitted to a major in Social Work under the mature student admission criteria a person shall be judged on training qualifications in social work or community development, successful completion of other in-service programmes, years of service in governmental, non-governmental, voluntary and faith-based organisations, and recommendations where possible of past supervisors. In addition, mature student admission applicants shall normally have at least 5 years' experience in social and community work including experience as a manager or supervisor or educator in a social or community work setting.
Courses for a Single Major: SW100, SW101, UU100, UU114, SO100, PS103, PS102, SW200, SW201, UU200, UU204, SO200, SW300, SW301, SO301, PS312.
Courses for one major in a Double Major: SW100, SW101, UU100, UU114, PS102, SW200, SW201, UU200, UU204, SW300, SW301, PS312.
Courses for a Minor: SW100, SW101, SW201, plus SW200 or SW301.
Courses for a Single Major: UU100, UU114, SO100, SO110, PS103 (or equivalent), UU200, UU204, SO200, SO201; plus at least one 200-level Sociology course; plus SO303; plus at least two 300-level Sociology courses.
Courses for one major in a Double Major: UU100, UU114, SO100, SO110, UU200, UU204, SO200, SO201; plus one other 200-level Sociology course; plus SO303; plus at least two 300-level Sociology courses.
Courses for a Minor: SO100, SO110, SO200, SO201, SO303.
The TVET major has two strands: Technology, and Food and Nutrition Studies.
Courses for one major in a Double Major: UU100, UU114, TE151, TE156, TE155, UU200, UU204, TE251, TE256, TE351 and TE356.
Courses for a Minor: At least two 100-level and two 200-level Technology courses.
Courses for one major in a Double Major: UU100, UU114, TE113 and TS109; plus UU200, UU204, TE213, TS209 and GE202; plus TE313 and TS311.
Courses for a Minor: TE113, TS109, TE213, TS209 and GE202.
The Bachelor of Education In-Service programme is provided in four specialist areas of study; Early Childhood Education and Care, Special and Inclusive Education, Secondary Education and Primary Education. Students wishing to do one of the specialist areas must meet the special entry requirements for the programme and then register in the courses for their specialist area.
c) taught for a minimum of two years.
The Bachelor of Education In-Service degree consists of 24 courses, of which 8 courses are at 100-level, 8 courses are at 200-level and 8 courses are at 300-level.
(i) All students admitted with a relevant USP diploma or certificate as specified above will, on application, be given the relevant credit transfer.
(ii) Those admitted on the basis of other qualifications may also be eligible for some credit transfer. Students must do the university-wide courses.
Courses: UU100, UU114, ED152, ED153, PS101, ED170, ED158, ED183, UU200, UU204, ED262, ED263, ED264, ED250, ED252, ED258, ED300, ED354, ED359, ED362, ED363, ED364, plus 2 x 300-level Education courses recommended by HOS Education.
The programme should not be taken by those seeking employment in Fiji except those with Technology and Home Economics teaching majors.
d) sufficient electives from a second teaching subject to make up 24 courses.
Note: Students are strongly advised to seek academic counselling with the Head of School or Nominee.
ED300, ED350, ED354, ED359 plus ED358 or ED391, plus the required 300-level courses of the teaching subject.
CH105; plus BI102, B1108; plus two 200-level BI courses; Plus three 300-level BI courses.
MA102, CH101, CH102; plus CH201, CH203, CH204; Plus two 300-level CH courses.
EC101, EC102; plus EC201 or EC202; plus EC203; plus two 300-level EC courses.
GE101, GE102, GS100; plus GE201 or GE205; plus one of GE202, GE203 or GE207; plus GE304; plus one of GE301, GE302, GE303.
HY101, HY102; plus three 200-level HY courses; plus two 300-level HY courses.
LT102, LN111, LN118, LT202, LT204, LN211, LN311, plu LT305 or LT307.
IS104; plus MA111, MA112, MA211, MA221, MA313, MA321; plus any one 300-level MA course.
CH105, MA111, PH101, PH102; plus two 200-level PH courses; plus two 300-level PH courses.
TE151, TE155, TE156, TE251, TE256, TE351, TE356.
TE113, TE151, TE156, TE213, TE256, TE313, TE356.
The Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree is offered as a face-to-face four-year programme at Emalus Campus, but is also offered online in distance and flexible learning mode.
1 The Bachelor of Laws consists of 32 courses, of which 8 are at 100-level, 8 are at 200-level and 16 are at 300-level, as listed below.
2 Graduate entrants to the Bachelor of Laws are required to complete successfully 16 compulsory LW courses listed below, plus UU204 and eight elective LW courses.
3 Students must successfully complete and attain a GPA of at least 2.0 in all 100-level LW courses plus UU100 and UU114 before being able to progress to any 200-level LW courses.
students located elsewhere can enrol at their local USP campus and complete all 100-level courses by Online (O) or Blended (B).
Disclaimer: Where an inconsistency or conflict arises from information contained on the USP website, the 2019 USP Handbook and Calendar shall prevail. Users are strongly advised to refer to and use the 2019 USP Handbook and Calendar as it is the official source of information pertaining to the University. Information on the website is provided on the basis that all persons making reference to it undertake responsibility for assessing the relevance and accuracy of its content. The University shall not be liable for any loss or damage arising from the use of information contained in this webpages or any other publication of the University.


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Dealership Myth Is Debunked
Pushy car salespeople are more fiction than fact, according to a study that challenges many of the negative stereotypes in the auto industry.
Cliff Banks | Aug 01, 2007
Pied Piper Management Co.'s Prospect Satisfaction Index measures how well shoppers are treated at the dealership.
"The perception is far worse than reality," says Fran O'Hagan, president of Pied Piper, based in Pacific Grove, CA. "The treatment prospects receive on average is very good and professional."
Less than 5% of people surveyed say they were oversold at the dealership. Ironically, more than 20% believe the salesperson undersold them.
The auto industry fares well when compared with other industries, according to similar Pied Piper surveys this year on the motorcycle and recreational vehicle industries.
The automotive study finds 51% of the prospective customers say sales people provided a compelling reason to buy from their dealerships, whereas only 35% of motorcycle shoppers say the same.
General Motor Corp.'s Saturn Div. was the only domestic brand to finish in the top 10 in the survey, coming in a close third behind Honda Motor Co. Ltd.'s Acura Div. and Ford Motor Co.'s Land Rover brand.
Acura finished first, not because it dominated any one category, but because it was consistently good across all of the categories, O'Hagan says.
Meanwhile, eight of the bottom 10 brands on the survey are domestic. Kia and Scion, Toyota Motor Corp.'s Gen X brand, also scored near the bottom.
However, Toyota was ranked right at the industry average.
"There appears to be a fairly high correlation between where a brand ranks and its units sold per franchise," O'Hagan says. "Eight of the top 10 brands averaged more than 250 vehicles sold per store, while only three of the bottom 10 reached that number."
During the 3-month study, prospects at 1,592 dealerships were asked a series of "yes" and "no" questions upon leaving the store. The questions focused on 55 of 233 dealership sales processes identified by Pied Piper.
The questions were grouped into 11 categories dealing with areas such as facilities; product display; the welcome; as well as the salesperson's professionalism, attitude and knowledge.
"Facilities were not that important," O'Hagan says. "Of course, you have to attract the customer and that is part of it. But anything having to do with the salesperson is important."


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Upcoming Oratory Events
The Pittsburgh Oratory of St. Philip Neri
Catholic Campus Ministry
Visit The Home Page Of
The Pittsburgh Oratory
Pay For An Upcoming Retreat
Carnegie Mellon | University of Pittsburgh | Chatham
Catholic Campus Ministry Home |
Class of 2019 Events |
Weekly Events |
The Newman Center |
Newman Clubs |
FOCUS Missionaries
Join Your Class Gift
The Catholic Campus Ministry Program that serves the students of Pitt, CMU and Chatham is headquartered at The Pittsburgh Oratory - host to the Catholic Newman Center in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh. Oratorian priests, in collaboration with FOCUS missionaries, direct campus ministry and serve students on and off campus - Mass, Confession and Adoration, social events, retreats and service projects are just a few of the many things that take place every week at the Newman Center.
Newman Centers are "Catholic ministry centers at non-Catholic universities throughout the world. These centers provide pastoral services and ministries to their Catholic communities, in particular to the Roman Catholic student population within universities throughout the world. Newman Centers were named in honor of Cardinal John Henry Newman and were inspired by Newman's writings. The first Newman Center was established in 1893 at the University of Pennsylvania" (newmanconnection.com). Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman was himself an Oratorian, making an Oratory the ideal home of a Catholic Newman Center!
FOCUS "is a Catholic collegiate outreach whose mission is to share the hope and joy of the gospel to college and university students. Trained in Church teaching, prayer, sacred Scripture, evangelization and discipleship, FOCUS missionaries encounter students in friendship where they are, inviting them into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and accompanying them as they pursue lives of virtue and excellence. Through Bible studies, outreach events, mission trips and one-on-one discipleship, missionaries inspire and build up students in the faith, sending them out to spread the good news and to live out the Great Commission: Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations (Mt. 28:19)"(focus.org).
2018 Spring Break Newsletter
Students at Service in the Community
Fall 2019 Campus Ministry Brochure
News From The Newman Center
Newman Center
Mass and Confession Schedule
Saturday Vigil: 4:00pm and 5:15pm
Sunday: 9:00am, 11:00am, 4:00pm and
Weekday Masses
Mon - Fri: 7:30am and 5:15pm
Mon - Thurs: 9:00pm
Sunday: 9:45 - 10:45am and
Mon - Fri: 7:00 - 7:20am, Noon - 1:00pm
and 4:30 - 5:00pm
Saturday: 3:00 - 3:45pm
Saint Paul Cathedral
Sunday: 6:30am, 8:00am,
and 10:00am
12:00pm and 6:00pm
Mon - Fri: 6:45am, 8:15am
and 12:05pm
Sat: 8:15am and 12:05pm
Fri and Sat: 12:30 - 1:00pm
Contact The Campus Ministers
View The Pittsburgh Oratory and Newman Center Photo Gallery
Schola Christi - February 8
The Oratory Times!
Bulletin: The Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
Mailing Address: 4450 Bayard Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Telephone: (412) 681-3181 Fax: (412) 681 - 2922
Business Hours: Mon-Fr 8am to 5pm


This brushed nickel drawer pull would have been seen on a few of the different Hoosier style cabinets. Modernly this pull would be more of a utility pull. The pull is perfect for cabinet doors, furniture, gates or even as a lift. With it's clean design this pull will fit into any decor.
This item is $4.00 when your order exceeds $250 before shipping in qualifying items.