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'La Traviata' is coming to the Midlands in a dramatic new production
Rangzeb Hussain November 7, 2019 'La Traviata' is coming to the Midlands in a dramatic new production2019-11-09T19:43:17+00:00
Midland Opera will bring Verdi's 'La Traviata' to three community venues across the Midlands (Photo: Midland Opera)
Midland Opera will bring an exciting new production of Verdi's 'La Traviata' to three community venues in the Midlands this month. The first performance takes place this Friday.
Verdi's much-loved and widely performed 'La Traviata' is coming to Birmingham in a dramatic and emotionally charged new production by Midland Opera under the direction of Sarah Helsby-Hughes who also sings the role of Violetta in the opera.
Rangzeb Hussain | I Am Birmingham
Violetta (Sarah Helsby-Hughes) and Alfredo (Richard Belshaw) bring a psychological depth to their roles
This new production promises to be an intimate and psychologically powerful rendition of a timeless classic.
Sarah took time out from a very busy schedule to speak to I Am Birmingham about the new production of 'La Traviata'. She began by talking about the themes and plot of the opera as explored in her new production:
"It's a great opera, a real classic, and has a timeless story about love and sacrifice.
"Alfredo is a young film fan, besotted by Violetta, a faded film star, an older woman beset by doubts about her life, her career and her health.
"Violetta is trying to make a comeback, and hiding a terrible illness from her fans and colleagues.
"Alfredo offers Violetta a way out of the endless round of shallow parties, peopled by fair-weather friends.
"The two lovers hope for a happy future, but Alfredo's father – an old flame of Violetta's – turns up unexpectedly, and uses guilt to manipulate Violetta into making a heartbreaking decision."
Alfredo (Richard Belshaw) is comforted by his father Germont (John Keifert)
Sarah explained her decision to update 'La Traviata' to the world of Hollywood during the 1950s:
"The original opera was set in the 19th century, but we've taken it later to the heavily machismo era of 1950s Hollywood.
"The show will be performed in the round and the audience will hopefully feel part of the action."
Sarah Helsby-Hughes sets her production of 'La Traviata' in the film-noir world of Hollywood during the 1950s
Sarah also mentioned some of the cast and crew involved in this opera:
"We have some terrific soloists including John Keifert as Georgio Germont, who is a face from Violetta's past, Richard Belshaw will play his son, Alfredo, who is a young fan, besotted by Violetta, and I am singing Violetta, a role I've played in several previous productions.
"Our musical director is James Longstaff."
Alfredo (Richard Belshaw) and Violetta (Sarah Helsby-Hughes) hold onto the light of love as their world darkens
Sarah sang the title role in Bellini's 'Norma' for Midland Opera at The Old Rep and she brought an intimacy and poignancy to her character in that performance. That delicate and emotional touch is being brought to the fore once again in 'La Traviata'.
The choice of performance space used by Midland Opera is always innovative and immersive. Sarah is excited about taking this production of 'La Traviata' to some interesting locations centered around Midlands communities:
"We have performances in St. Barnabas' Church, Erdington, which is getting a reputation as a wonderful performance space, Stirchley Baths, which we first visited last year with 'Carmen', and Sutton Coldfield United Reformed Church.
"Each is a unique venue, and will provide a wonderful and exciting experience for the audience."
St. Barnabas' Church in Erdington is one of the locations where the opera will be performed
At a time when most classical and operatic productions are priced out of the range of many families it is very encouraging to see Midland Opera reach out to children. Sarah mentioned a new initiative which will be good news for families with children:
"We are offering free children's tickets for the first time, as we believe families should be able to experience live theatre affordably."
'La Traviata' will be performed on Friday 8th and Saturday 9th November at 7:30pm at St. Barnabas' Church Centre in Erdington followed by performances in Stirchley and Sutton Coldfield.
For more details about dates, performance times, and venues, including booking tickets, please click here.
Midland Opera
Performance details for Midland Opera's new production of 'La Traviata'
https://www.iambirmingham.co.uk/2019/11/07/la-traviata-comes-midlands-dramatic-new-production/https://www.iambirmingham.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/P2850424-800x487.pnghttps://www.iambirmingham.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/P2850424-300x183.png 2019-11-09T19:43:17+00:00 Rangzeb HussainArtsCommunityEntertainmentMusicShowbizWhat's OnB'ham,Birmingham,Brum,City,community,England,Entertainment,Erdington,Hollywood,I Am Bham,I Am Birmingham,La Traviata,Midland Opera,Midlands,news,Opera,Rangzeb Hussain,Shows,Stirchley Baths,Sutton Coldfield,The Old Rep Theatre,Theatre,UK,Verdi,West Midlands,What's onMidland Opera will bring an exciting new production of Verdi's 'La Traviata' to three community venues in the Midlands this month. The first performance takes place this Friday. Verdi's much-loved and widely performed 'La Traviata' is coming to Birmingham in a dramatic and emotionally charged new production by Midland Opera...Rangzeb HussainRangzeb Hussain[email protected]AuthorI Am Birmingham
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I interview Jody Brazil, President & CTO of Firemon during the 2012 RSA Conference. We chat about Firemon, how Firemon and F5 integrate and a bit about firewalls and security management in general.
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New Delhi: Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi today criticised the Congress for not passing a bill during its rule to criminalise instant "triple talaq", saying Muslim women have been struggling for their rights due to the party's failure. "Triple talaq" is the Islamic practice of men divorcing their wives by stating "talaq" (divorce) thrice.
Mr Naqvi's remarks against the Congress came as the BJP-led centre today introduced a bill in the Lok Sabha to make instant "triple talaq" illegal, carrying a three-year jail term. Mr Naqvi called the introduction of "Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill" a "historic day in parliament."
"The bill should have been passed long ago. Muslim women have been struggling for their constitutional rights for decades," he told reporters outside parliament. He said the Congress, which was in power for most of the past decades, could not pass the bill for "various reasons".
Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad introduced the bill in the Lok Sabha amid opposition by members of several parties, including RJD, AIMIM, BJD and All India Muslim League. It was passed later.
Outside parliament, Mr Prasad said: "It is a historic day. The bill has been introduced in the Lok Sabha to address sufferings of women due to 'triple talaq'. It will be discussed in the House and whatever I have to say about it, I will say in the House."


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Grow: First-Party Data and the Future of Advertising
Eric Hochberger Oct 05, 2020
Amid growing privacy concerns and the demise of the third-party cookie, the digital advertising world is being reshaped as we speak.
Leif Lessons
Through experiments, Google found that when they remove third-party cookie use from Chrome, as they are planning to do by 2021, approximately 60% of programmatic ad revenue will go with them.
There are two main solutions for this issue, The Privacy Sandbox and First-Party Data. A combination of the two is the goal for continued monetization success through programmatic advertising.
For first-party data, Mediavine has developed Grow, a product to help publishers authenticate their users by enticing those users to login and consent to being served personalized ads. These authenticated users are even more valuable than current programmatic users.
Grow is an audience engagement framework, rewarding opted-in users with a feature set including the ability to save content from all websites running Grow and much more to come.
Running Grow is already beneficial for the monetization of iOS users since Safari has long been operating without third-party cookies. If publishers implement Grow now, they'll also begin building out an audience of opted-in users for Chrome.
Mediavine publishers can opt-in to the Grow open beta today, right in their Dashboard.
Earlier this year, Google announced it would join Safari, Firefox and other web browsers by phasing out third-party cookies and data tracking by late 2023.
We understand that this development was overshadowed by the craziness that is 2020, but it's been on our minds at Mediavine — and should be on yours.
Why? Because this isn't just in-the-weeds tech stuff. The way data is collected and ads are served online is about to be fundamentally altered.
Consider this: Google experimented and found that when third-party cookies disappear, approximately 60% of programmatic ad revenue will go with them.
Don't believe Google's prediction? Look at performance on Safari, right now.
With third-party cookies already a thing of the past, the revenue publishers earn from iOS traffic (where Safari is the dominant browser) is significantly lower.
Based on what we see when comparing Safari, without third-party cookies, to Google Chrome traffic now, that projected 60% drop is scarily realistic.
(Check out this post to learn what cookies are and why they matter in programmatic advertising.)
That kind of potential revenue loss is not something Mediavine (or Google) is taking lightly. The question becomes, what do we do about it?
There are two main schools of thought in terms of solutions.
1. The Privacy Sandbox
Google is proposing a series of solutions under The Privacy Sandbox, including products with names you'll hear a lot over the next couple of years, such as FLoC and FLEDGE.
The heart of this approach is the concept of moving data collection to the browser and out of third-party blackboxes.
In short, users (not publishers) will own their own data.
As Google Certified Publishing Partners, we'll obviously be working closely with Google to implement their standards.
However, these ideas are just part of the solution. They won't provide advertisers the same levels of targeting, and until Safari supports these same standards, they won't get the buy-in of the entire ecosystem. Which leads us to Option B:
2. First-Party Data
First-party data, or the ability for publishers to form a direct relationship with their readers and collect data themselves, has been touted as the solution for years.
It makes sense. Ultimately, it's publishers who have relationships with their audiences. Who better to collect information and consent than the publishers themselves?
Essentially, the idea is that publishers have their users log in to their website and in the process, consent to being served personalized ads.
At that point, publishers can share users' data with advertisers, providing the same (or better) targeting capabilities as with third-party cookies.
All while securing users' privacy, and obtaining consent.
It's unrealistic for any publisher to expect their entire audience to login. Even paywalls, or "freewalls" that are increasingly common on news sites don't capture 100% of users.
The larger goal? Combining these two solutions
If publishers can entice some users to authenticate and provide first-party data, those users will become even more valuable than current programmatic users.
This is because there will be a limited supply of authenticated users when third-party cookies go away, forcing advertisers to pay more to reach their target audiences.
What about users who won't login and authenticate, a.k.a. the majority of users?
That's where the Privacy Sandbox comes in. Authenticated users will be the most valuable audiences and the Privacy Sandbox will help with guests.
Achieving this combination is how publishers will earn programmatic ad revenue at current, or even higher levels, in the coming years.
How do I, as a publisher, start this process?
Mediavine is already developing Grow, a product designed for publishers to collect first-party data and authenticate their users.
What is Grow?
Grow is a series of user engagement tools and features designed for a common purpose: To deliver additional value to readers in exchange for those readers logging in and consenting to personalized ads.
Put another way, Grow will create a better user experience for the reader, in exchange for allowing you to authenticate them and maximize earning potential.
It will be transparent to readers, with a privacy-first approach.
How will Grow provide value to readers?
If you've already installed Grow on your site, you're witnessing the birth of this audience engagement framework.
Currently, we're using an easy way for readers to sign in across the thousands of websites already running Grow: A single sign-on (SSO) allowing users to easily log in using their email, Google or Facebook accounts.
Once logged in, readers are able to favorite and share posts across these thousands of websites, and save them into a single, shared bookmark list.
We also provide a powerful, customizable search function, allowing readers to search your site along with any of their other favorites using Grow. This means readers can effectively start building their own personalized spot on the internet.
Those are the features Grow has now, in October 2020. But they're just the beginning of where this product is going and what it's capable of.
We think of Grow as a platform that encourages readers to consume more content while on your site, plus entices audiences to come back.
The next two major features on the roadmap are the ability for readers to "follow" their favorite publishers and to receive content recommendations, both via email and directly on their "favorited" websites.
Why not just use newsletter signups?
Many publishers have asked this valid question. The reason, as we discussed at length in a previous article, is that newsletter sign-ups are not the same as first-party data.
However, we recognize how important they are to publishers, and we're committed to finding ways for your loyal readers to opt-in to your newsletter through Grow.
As we said, this is just the beginning. The long-term, all-encompassing vision of Grow is allowing you, the publisher, to take back control of your audience.
Grow will make you more money, now and in the future
With every user that signs in to your website and gives you consent to serve personalized ads, you'll automatically make more money with Grow.
This is happening now. We're partnered with identity pioneers like LiveRamp and Unified ID 2.0 to start sharing your first-party data with advertisers TODAY.
Looking at Safari, where third-party cookies are dead, you'll already see an increase in your revenue with Grow on each user who authenticates.
The sooner you do this, the sooner you can start building an audience of logged-in readers, building up your percentage of authenticated users.
But you won't just improve your iOS earnings today. When the third-party cookie crumbles for good in the next few years, you'll be ready for the future.
The Social Network for Content Creators, by Content Creators
Think of the power contained within the walled gardens of the big-name social networks, only this time, you're inside the wall. Grow is a chance to change the game.
For the first time, tools and widgets you previously gave to other social networks — along with the rewards they generate — will be within your control.
Follow buttons that actually help you reach your own audience. Users who log in and actually help you make money, not faceless tech giants.
A social network by publishers, for publishers. A community built for content creators that actually rewards them.
Grow shares the same goals as Mediavine. To create sustainable businesses for content creators, and to make sure the web remains open and free.
Opt-in today
We need your valuable feedback to develop the Grow features that will encourage readers to authenticate. Plus, as we mentioned above, opting in now gives you the opportunity to earn better from iOS users, as well as get a jumpstart on building that audience of authenticated users.
You can get started with the Grow open beta today, right in your Mediavine Dashboard.
If you have any questions, comments, or feedback on Grow, please email grow.me@mediavine.com.
Stay up to date with the latest from Mediavine
2023 Mediavine Roadmap
Eric Hochberger Jan 19, 2023
Let's begin this 2023 preview post by addressing the elephant in the room: December 2022 was soft, or underwhelming, compared to previous years. Moreover, January 2023 is down as well …
Best Days of 2023 (with Printable) — Behind the Numbers with Brad
Brad Hagmann Jan 17, 2023
On behalf of all of us at Mediavine, Happy New Year! What better way to ring in 2023 than with our first installment of Behind the Numbers with Brad (BTNWB)? …
Grow's New and Improved Search Experience
Amethyst Duke Dec 05, 2022
Well hello there friends! It's been a while but we are back with another amazing feature update. At this point, I think we are past the "get to know you …

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Why Innovate?
Powerful guidance, transformational counsel
Our mentors are a core component of our ecosystem of support in the Accelerator. They serve as trusted advisors to our social entrepreneurs and are skilled practitioners, experts in a wide-range of fields, and seasoned leaders. Mentors advise and support our social entrepreneurs, coaching them through their biggest challenges and walking alongside them on their journeys to change the world.
Meet a Few of Our Mentors
Hope Nankunda
Executive Director at Raising Teenagers Uganda
Nankunda is a Teacher and Counselor by profession with 14 years experience working closely with students in schools and parents in communities. She is the founder and Executive Director – Raising Teenagers- Uganda working to create safe spaces for young people with strong emphasis on Menstrual Hygiene Management for the vulnerable girl child as well as Guidance and Counseling services for young people in schools. She has been celebrated as a change maker focusing on her program of Menstrual Hygiene Management for Vulnerable Girls in schools and communities. Nankunda is a member of Girls Not Brides Global Partnership to End Child Marriage and Coordinates the Central Region in Uganda under Girls Not Brides Uganda Alliance working to end child marriage in Uganda with over 90 Organizations located in different parts of the country. Her main objective is to empower the girl child through advocating for their right to education and good health. She is a member of East Africa Child Rights Network working to protect the rights of Children as a mother, a mentor, a trainer and Human rights activist. She has engaged in various global and regional processes including speaking at the United Nations Commission on the status of women- CSW62 and CSW63 as she promotes the agenda of Keeping Girls in school and Ending Child Marriage as well as campaigning for Gender Equality at all levels. She is a member of the Language, Gender and Leadership Network that aims at enhancing the economic development and welfare of women and girls supporting their careers and aspirations to become a successful generation of Leaders in businesses and politics in Africa and beyond. Her work focuses on addressing Sustainable development Goal 4 – Quality Education and Goal 5 – Gender Equality. Education is the only weapon we can use to change this world and make it a better place and it must be for both girls and boys.
Rachel Braun Scherl
Co-Founder and Managing Partner at SPARK Solutions for Growth
Rachel Braun Scherl is a champion for women's sexual reproductive health and a pioneer in the space. As Managing Partner and Co-Founder of SPARK Solutions for Growth, a strategic and marketing consultancy, Rachel has built an international client list that includes Johnson & Johnson, Allergan, Pfizer, Bayer, and Church & Dwight, as well as venture-backed start-ups. As a Vagipreneur®, Rachel drives growth with businesses from menstruation through menopause. While President and co-founder of Semprae Laboratories, Rachel and her team built a company that developed and marketed sexual health and wellness products for women – creating a new category. Semprae attracted significant media attention and industry interest and was sold to Innovus Pharmaceuticals in 2013. Rachel's career-long findings and learnings are at the heart of her best- selling book: Orgasmic Leadership: Profiting from the Coming Surge in Women's Health and Wellness. In addition, Rachel is a sought-after keynote speaker, board member and strategic advisor.
Janet Mbugua
Founder/Trustee at the Inua Dada Foundation
Janet Mbugua is a Kenyan Media Personality and Gender Equality Advocate with a focus on Menstrual Equality. She is a TV Host with experience as a News Anchor, Reporter and Producer both in her country, Kenya and in South Africa. Her experience in Broadcast has seen her cover the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, the 2007 and 2013 Kenya elections and the 2012 U.S Elections. Janet started out in Radio at the age of 19 on Nairobi's Capital FM. Years later at 23, she became the host of the popular travel show Out and About on KTN and later became a Prime Time News Anchor and Reporter, still on KTN. Janet was then headhunted for the position of News Anchor, Reporter and Producer by e TV in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 2009. She then returned to Kenya in 2011, where she joined Citizen TV as a Prime Time News Anchor, Reporter and Producer until April 2017. In 2019 curated and hosted a TV Show called Here And Now on NTV, which focused on socio-economic and political issues affecting young people. Janet is the founder of the Inua Dada Foundation, an organization whose mission is to create a supportive and accessible environment for primary school girls in Kenya by conducting research to identify issues that hinder learning and working collaboratively with strategic partners to implement sustainable solutions. With a focus on Menstrual Health Management (MHM), the organization has empowered more than 12,000 girls over the last few years and held various media and advocacy events that have reached thousands of people. The organization is moving towards being largely advocacy based and will be releasing a publication in 2019 to influence policy change and de-stigmatize conversations around MHM and SRH. In July 2017 she began consulting for The Hive, a US Based organization seeking to amplify Gender Equality messaging in Kenya and other African countries. She is the Project Lead for #Better4Kenya, their first campaign in Kenya. Some of her achievements include: Being named as one of the top three best News Anchors in Kenya by the Media Council of Kenya Brand Ambassador for the Lifebuoy Help A Child Reach 5 campaign, representing Kenya globally Recipient of the Top 40 Under 40 Award by Business Daily Africa, 2015 Being named one of the Top 25 Women In Digital Media in Kenya, in 2018 MC/ Moderator for the opening and closing ceremony of the International Conference On Planning and Development (ICPD25) Summit 2019 In 2020, Janet released her first book, 'My First Time', a collection of short stories from women, girls and men on their first interaction with menstruation. The book is a tool for a much needed conversation around sexual and reproductive health and rights and a tool to influence policy change around Menstrual Hygiene and Management.
Michael Moscherosch
Director R&D, Social Innovation at Johnson & Johnson
Michael has 25+ years of experience with Johnson & Johnson Consumer in Research, Development & Engineering for consumer health products in North America and Germany. In his current role his main focus is on social innovation, finding and incubating health related startup companies in sub-Saharan Africa. Michael holds a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Stuttgart, Germany.
Kirsten Karchmer
CEO at Brazen, Inc.
Kirsten Karchmer is CEO/Founder of Brazen and an innovator in precision medicine and digital therapeutics. She focuses on the software intersection of personalized plant based medicine, lifestyle wellness and bio-behavioral interventions for women's health. She is an Integrative medicine practitioner and researcher with extensive experience in biomedical sciences, functional medicine, nutrition and digital health, mechanisms of mind-body healing and evidence-based phytotherapies. Kirsten has spent her entire adult career in the service of women's health and has helped over 10,000 women over the last 20 years to improve their health, cycles, and fertility . In 2013, Kirsten translated her successful clinical programs into technology enabled platforms that provide an affordable and scalable fertility solution. Conceivable was named one of the most innovative health tech startups from MedTech in 2015, Best Fertility App by Healthline in 2016 and has been featured in TechCrunch, Fox News, The New York Observer, PSFK, The Daily Dot, and Huffington Post. Kirsten has presented at SXSW, Health 2.0, Fertility PlanIt, and lectures internationally on infertility, PCOS, endometriosis, women's health, the future of integrative medicine, and using technology to better serve patients, providers, and healthcare systems. Kirsten has been recognized as one of the top female start-up founders to watch, the recipient of the Texas Trailblazer award for innovation in health care, and is a contributor to Huffington Post, MindBodyGreen, and Goop Magazine. Follow Kirsten on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. She is also author of the book Seeing Red. Austin, TX
Diana Nampeera
Country Director at Days for Girls Uganda
Diana is the Country Director & Co Founder of Days for Girls Uganda. She graduated with a degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in management and attended the American Express Leadership Academy at the Thunderbird School of Global Management. She is passionate about gender issues, and being part of the Days for Girls team has given her the opportunity to reach many women and girls in Uganda. Diana is married and blessed with 2 boys.
Chris Shaw
Founder and Executive Director at GBA Studios
Christopher Shaw is a content and music producer currently based in Tokyo. After graduating from Duke in '08, he established himself in the music and advertising industries in Los Angeles, producing global Apple ad campaigns at agency Media Arts Lab/Chiat Day from 2010-2013. He has also produced music for the ESPN 30for30 film When the Garden Was Eden, and for brands like Adidas, winning two Cannes Gold Lions in 2016 for best brand partnership and best original music. In 2017, Chris founded creative collective GBA Studios, through which he continues to help shape the cultural and visual language of brands like Champion and Beats by Dre. In addition to branded work, GBA has released the music project Good for the Soul, and seeks to advance racial equity through its Present Company initiative.
Bolin Zhang
Content Policy Lead at Netflix
Bolin is the content policy lead at Netflix. She provides high-touch legal and policy diagnoses for some of your favorite shows, e.g. 13 Reasons Why, Sex Education, Stranger Things, and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. Prior to Netflix, Bolin worked at YouTube as a Trust & Safety counselor, helping international creators navigate YT's terms of service and community guidelines. Bolin holds a BA from Beijing Normal University, a MA from Duke, a JD from the University of Arizona, and an LL.M from Cardozo Law School. Bolin currently lives in Hollywood with her chihuahua Boba and a huge succulents collection. In her free time, Bolin draws manga, plays electronic music, practices yoga and meditation.
Partners Welcome
We want to work with you! Please contact Madison Alexander if interested in becoming a mentor.
Keep up with our Social Entrepreneurs' progress and the impact we're making together.
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Tag Archives: racism
Cannibal Holocaust, Eli Roth, & Riz O
Posted on August 5, 2015 by damselswithchainsaws
This iconic scene from the movie, Cannibal Holocaust (1979) was so troubling to Italian authorities, the director, Ruggero Deodato was forced to prove the images were fictitious in court and explain to law enforcement that he hadn't actually killed anyone.
I'm not reviewing Cannibal Holocaust (1979). That's been done to death and also I just don't feel like referencing the faux outrage and calls for censorship of Eli Roth's upcoming remake, Green Inferno (2015). My review today is about the soundtrack from Ruggero Deodato's Cannibal Holocaust (1979) composed by the great Riz Ortolani.
But since I'm on the topic of Eli Roth's new movie, here's what I'll say about it for now. When I see it, I'll compare it against Deodato's version and write up a gratuitous review for your enjoyment. Trailer below:
Do I think Eli Roth's movie should be banned? Do I think a movie about white, social justice warriors getting brutally massacred by brown people is offensive? Ha. What do you think? More often in horror movies, brown and black characters are slaughtered without dignity for white entertainment. Our bodies are still first to be jeopardized onscreen and off…so am I supposed to wave torches and pitchforks over fictionalized, reversed-racial horror? You'll find out when I watch Green Inferno.
But I digress. Let's listen to the maestro, shall we?
What made Cannibal Holocaust so great was the off-kilter soundtrack. I use "off-kilter" ironically, because in truth, there is nothing off-kilter about it. It's fucking beautiful. I adore horror movies with a full orchestral score and my absolute favorite composer for that sort of thing is Bernard Herrmann. However Riz Ortalani's score is a must for any horror movie buff, too. Not only is the soundtrack beautiful, but when combined with scenes from the movie, the result is a strange, horrifying cognitive dissonance. Modern horror filmmakers alert audiences to the horror with music that is meant to frighten us. But Riz doesn't do that, here. Instead, he uses sweeping violins, folksy guitar, and funkadelic pops of the synthesizer. By listening to the soundtrack alone, you would never know it accompanied such a gory, controversial movie.
There are 10 tracks in all but my favorites are Adultress's Punishment (the infamous impaling scene) and Savage Rite. If you write horror, I strongly recommend you try listening to the Cannibal Holocaust soundtrack to get you in the right mood.
Have you watched Cannibal Holocaust? Green Inferno will come out September 25, 2015. Place your bets which one will be better. Whadduya think, fam? Should we all be outraged?
Movies Music	banned Cannibal Holocaust censorship Classic Horror Damsel Cannibal Eli Roth Green Inferno horror movie indigenous Italian Horror iTunes music review racism Riz Ortolani social justice warriors Soundtrack
Ghetto Tarot and the Haitian Slums
Artist Alice Smeets recreates the Rider Waite tarot deck with Haitian people in the slums. All pictures copyrighted by Alice Smeets.
Voodoo is the official national religion of Haiti, but few if any Rider Waite tarot decks feature Haitian people or Haitian artists (let's ignore the fact that a black woman invented the first Rider Waite tarot deck) Enter Alice Smeets and her fascinating photography project, "Ghetto Tarot." She, along with a group of local Port-Au-Prince artists called the "atis rezistans" recreate iconic images from the Rider Waite with locally-sourced materials found in the Haitian slums.
The Queen of Wands "Ghetto Tarot" style by Alice Smeets.
I think this art project is fantastic. The recreated images are smart and offer a surprising glimpse of Haiti. Although the country's impoverished surroundings are hard to ignore in these photographs, it is presented in a fun, interactive way. Yes, the poverty in Haiti is a crisis, but there is also more to Haiti than devastation and disaster. These Haitian artists' sense of humor really made me smile and I wanted to share these images with all of you. Mondays suck. A little warmhearted irony can't hurt. I originally found this story HERE on Design Boom.
All photos in this post are owned by Alice Smeets and respective artists.
Adorable, don't you think?
5 of Cups recreated beautifully.
Alice Smeets writes about the project:
my aim was to create a very personal deck without loosing the different spirits of the cards', smeets says. 'then the idea entered my mind to combine three of my passions: the spiritual world, the haitian culture and people as well as the philosophical reflections about the dualities in our world; in this case rich and poor. moving away from the clichéd images of poverty, illustrating the spirits and meanings of the cards with a touch of humor in the middle of the slum and showing colored people for the first time on the traditional, old European cards to break stereotypes.'
The Ghetto Tarot project could use your support. They are trying to make it into a real 78-card tarot deck. They've met their goal, but you can preorder the deck along with posters and other prizes at their IndieGoGo page:
http://igg.me/at/ghettotarot
More about the artist:
http://www.alicesmeets.com/
@alicesmeets on Twitter
More about the atis rezistans:
http://www.atis-rezistans.com/about.php
Art & Collectibles	Alice Smeets artists atis rezistans Ghetto Tarot Haiti Hoodoo Indiegogo occult Pamela Colman Smith photography poverty racism Rider Waite tarot deck slums Tarot Tarot deck tarot history Voodoo
Shit sandwiches, the Hugo Awards, and PuppyGate
I must live in an alternate reality where white straight male writers never win the majority of literary awards, and white straight male narratives are appallingly underrepresented in science fiction, fantasy, horror, and speculative fiction. I mean, whenever I walk into a bookstore or library I have to search for more than an hour just to find one book (JUST ONE) about a white straight guy saving the world. I wish there was just one strong example in scifi/fantasy/horror where the main character was white. And if I want to see white straight men on the silver screen, I can't without attending those special artsy cinemas that show indie stuff with subtitles.
This must be the alternate reality I live in. A toxic subset of manbabies think white straight male writers have struggled for centuries from what they call, "literary affirmative action" and therefore can't win Hugo Awards without sabotaging the election process and kicking all the icky gays, racial minorities, and women out. I mean, it's only fair, right? Because what science fiction, fantasy, horror, and speculative fiction needs more of is less diversity and we can thank the fine folks at Sad Puppies for making this our reality in fucking 2015.
Taken from Book Riot:
Along with the Nebula Awards, the Hugo Awards are considered to be one of the two major awards for science fiction and fantasy works. While the Science Fiction Writer's Association nominates and votes on Nebula Awards, the qualifications for the Hugos are more lenient. One only has to buy a supporting membership to WorldCon in order to vote.
In recent years, the nominees and award winners for Hugos have begun to diversify. The world is changing, both in and out of publishing. As our world becomes more embracing of diversity, our reading and awards are reflecting that. More women and authors of color have been nominated and are winning. Unfortunately, not everyone sees this as a good thing.
Enter Sad Puppies, a small group of authors and fans that have decided the Hugo Awards were not accurately reflecting the tastes of science fiction and fantasy fandom. (You know, the people who were already voting on the awards.) So Sad Puppies, led by Brad Torgersen, created their own nominee list and encouraged people to vote for them. The list is significantly less diverse that it has been the last few years.
According to Torgersen, the Sad Puppies effort is to fight what he sees as an "insular" fandom of voters at Worldcon. Part of his defense of these choices, however, is more telling:
Along the way we fairly skewered the concept of literary affirmative action — that works and authors should be judged on the basis of author or character demographics and box-checking, not the audience's enjoyment of the prose…
In a worst-case scenario (which is far too often fact in situations like these), this is coded, aggressive, anti-diversity talk. For the sake of argument, let's take Torgersen at his word. If he's speaking plainly, then he's ignoring a big problem: the publishing industry (especially in science fiction and fantasy) is skewed heavily toward white, male writers.
Torgersen is right in one regard: awards should be handed to the best novels and their writers, regardless of race, ethnicity, or gender. No one thinks otherwise. But if we're not reading diversely, the pool of books we nominate will not be diverse, either.
It's a common straw-man argument against reading diversely: "I read what I like, regardless of the author's race or gender." We at Book Riot see this all the time. This argument would work if the publishing industry were fair. If the genders and races of published authors were equivalent to the actual demographics of the world, then sure, that argument holds water. But since the publishing industry isn't fair, that argument falls apart.
George R. R. Martin also weighed into this fight. His response is taking the limelight right now, so I thought I'd also include it HERE.
The general consensus among authors and readers is this: Sad Puppies' hijacking of the Hugo Awards is a shit sandwich and spells future disaster for booklovers and writers alike. No, Damsels with Chainsaws is not a SJW blog, but we do want to see good stories. ALL good stories. Expanding fiction for everyone is not going to hurt the SF/F/H community. If anything, I think it'll make our readership stronger.
Books & Graphic Novels Uncategorized	authors Book Riot books Chuck Wendig Elizabeth Bear Gators George RR Martin GG Gomers homophobia Hugo Awards i09 literary awards news publishing industry PuppyGate racism Sad Puppies sexism trolls WorldCon
Red Road returns tomorrow on Sundance!
Posted on April 1, 2015 by damselswithchainsaws
The Red Road returns for its second season on Sundance channel Thursday, April 2nd 10/9C
This is a heart pounding, nonstop action kinda series and not just cuz Jason Momoa is in it (although that helps, too, ha, ::blush::) I didn't know what to expect going into the first season and I'm so happy I sat down and actually watched it. Red Road combines everything I want to see more of on TV (not just Jason Momoa ::blush::) like Native American issues and more people of color with prominent roles (Hello! FINALLY!), slick, suspenseful writing, and real world characters who aren't just canned stereotypes.
Red Road is gritty, engaging, and keeps you guessing all the way through. My only complaint is that I wish it was longer! The first season was only 6 episodes, so you guys can catch up without much difficulty before season two's premiere.
http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1&isUI=1
In a nutshell, the series is about a Native American criminal and the dangerous game he plays with a white cop who covers the accident of his schizophrenic wife and the Native boy she ran over with her car. It's a cat-and-mouse murder mystery set on an Indian reservation where the "good" cop has to outsmart the "bad" guy. However what's good becomes bad, and what seems bad in the beginning, is slowly revealed to be good. You've seen it before but not like this, I promise. The predominately Native American cast is a refreshing change of pace. If you like psychological cop stories with a lot of twists and turns, then Red Road is for you.
I'll be tuning in tomorrow to watch season 2! Will you?
Television	conspiracy cops crime Damsel Cannibal drama Indian Reservation Jason Momoa Lisa Bonet mini series murder Native American police psychological horror psychological issues racism Sundance suspense TV Review
African American Tarot
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i250/bubblensqueak_logos/Squidoo/DSCF0002-10.jpg
I have several tarot decks but I haven't reviewed any of them. Today I'm pulling out my newest set, African American Tarot by Lo Scarabeo. Lord knows, I searched low and high for a tarot deck that didn't have the generic white, European characters on them! I saw a few decks that depicted "ethnic" characters/themes, but the artwork was hideous and I don't accept that having brown characters means I have to compromise on quality. No, honey, not this one. White folks have been whitewashing the trade since…well…colonialism. But that's another rant for another post. Just walk into your local occult shop or hoodoo shop (haha, don't get me started!) and count how many people of color you see. Chances are, not many.
So I searched for a beautiful tarot deck with lush, detailed pictures like the Euro-centric ones in my collection. It wasn't easy. There were a few that caught my eye, but I'll only review the deck my boyfriend surprised me with. I like obscure and or rare tarot decks, and I was not disappointed by African American Tarot. Illustrations are by Thomas Davis and Jamal R. is the writer.
The African American Tarot has nothing to do with "African Americans," like advertised. It's more like generic tribal with afro-centric imagery. Lots of zebras, elephants, lions, and muscle-y men in loincloths and elaborate headdresses. I don't mind all this, but there's nothing "American" about what I just described, either. I was hoping for a more…um…"modern" approach, but whatevs. At least I have a deck with characters that (sorta) look like me! Historical black figures grace the foreground on some of the cards. 2 of Chalices has Jean Baptiste Du Sable and 5 of Pentacles features Sojourner Truth.
The minor and major arcana are based on traditional Rider-Waite themes. Like most tarot decks, there's a booklet included with notes from the author. He infuses African-based folklore and deities into the descriptions and does not limit his scope to just one African religion/region. But I appreciate his broad approach. I don't know what Sojourner Truth has to do with the 5 of Pentacles, but I'm happy she's there, haha. Disjointed? Yes. But I'm willing to forget all that because the artwork is so well-done! The images are interpretive and I feel a visceral connection to them. Some of the images are odd, like the 2 of Wands, which depict a ghostlike man screaming in agony while a man rides on a bull above a baby in a crib. Um…yeah.
My favorite card (in any deck) is the Queen of Swords and so I always look to her first before making up my mind about the rest of the deck. In the African American Tarot, she is personified by Yemaja, who also just happens to be my favorite Goddess. All in all, I like this deck. It's not my favorite of all time, but I do look forward to using it when I am in the mood for an intuitive and less structured experience.
Books & Graphic Novels	Africa African American Damsel Cannibal history Hoodoo magic paranormal racism religion review Tarot Voodoo


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"nelly tour"
Profession:Actor, Entrepreneur, Singer, Record producer, Singer-songwriter, Rapper
Date of Birth: Nov 2, 1974
Nicknames:Cornell Iral Haynes Jr., Cornell Haynes, Jr., Nelly
Country:United States of America
Nelly Tour
· In Celebrities, Rappers
Nelly Net Worth is $55 Million. Cornell Haynes, Jr. aka the rapper Nelly, was born in Austin, Texas on November 2, 1974 and is, today one of America's most successful rappers, singers, actors and entrepreneurs with a net worth estimated to be around. Cornell Iral Haynes, Jr. (bor...
Nelly Net Worth is $55 Million.
Nelly Net Worth is $55 Million. Cornell Haynes, Jr. aka the rapper Nelly, was born in Austin, Texas on November 2, 1974 and is, today one of America's most successful rappers, singers, actors and entrepreneurs with a net worth estimated to be around Cornell Iral Haynes, Jr. , better known by his stage name Nelly, is an American Grammy Award winning hip hop artist, entrepreneur and occasional actor. He has performed with the rap group St. Lunatics since 1993 and signed to Universal Records in 1999. Under Universal, Nelly began his solo career in 2000 with his debut album Country Grammar, the title track of which was a top ten hit. The album debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 and went on to peak at number one. Country Grammar is Nelly's best-selling album to date, selling over 8.4 million copies in the United States. His following album, Nellyville, produced the number-one hits "Hot in Herre" and "Dilemma" featuring Kelly Rowland. Other singles included "Work It" featuring Justin Timberlake, "Air Force Ones" featuring Murphy Lee and the St. Lunatics, "Pimp Juice" and "#1".
With the same-day dual release Sweat and Suit and the compilation Sweatsuit , Nelly continued to generate many ch...
Read more about nelly tour
Nelly Latest News
Nelly, TLC and Flo Rida to perform at Amp next week
A trio of hitmakers will headline a concert next week at the Tuscaloosa Amphitheater. Nelly, TLC and Flo Rida will perform at the amphitheater on July 23. Gates will open at 6 p.m. for the 7 p.m. show ...
Posted: July 16, 2019, 12:11 pm
Billie Faiers and Greg Shepherd joined by adorable children Nelly and Arthur for incredible family OK! magazine shoot - ONLINE EXCLUSIVE
The popular Mummy Diaries' star family are all smiles as they pose up a storm in the incredible family shoot with OK! magazine. In one shot, Nelly, who turns five next week, and Arthur, two, are seen ...
Nelly Speaks On Lil Nas X's Removal From Country Chart And Pride Revelation
Lil Nas X's genre-bending single "Old Town Road" is heralding a new moment for the music industry as his country-trap fusion continues to dominate the charts. In a short time, the song has broken ...
Posted: July 16, 2019, 11:27 am
Sam Faiers enlists a party planner for niece Nelly's surprise fifth birthday sleepover
Just last weekend, Nelly Shepherd played host to an incredible The Greatest Showman-themed fifth birthday bash. Yet the fun didn't stop there for Billie Faiers' daughter, as her aunty Sam threw the ...
TLC, Nelly and Flo Rida Can't Stop Cracking Up in Promo Shoot Bloopers -- Watch (Exclusive)
TLC, Nelly and Flo Rida's summer ampitheater tour kicks off Tuesday, July 23, in Alabama. Go to livenationentertainment.com for more details. Saturdays With Oprah! How Lady O Spends Her Downtime ...
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News Irish News
Ticketmaster: Garth Brooks ticket refunds delayed until Thursday
Wayne O'Connor
July 13 2014 2:30 AM
Ticketmaster have delayed the commencement of refunds for the Garth Brooks Comeback Special.
https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/ticketmaster-garth-brooks-ticket-refunds-delayed-until-thursday-30426937.html
https://www.independent.ie/incoming/article30426949.ece/0fb12/AUTOCROP/h342/gb.jpg
In a statement, the group said they 'understand that negotiations to try and find a resolution' to the five-night concert run are still ongoing and have delayed ticket refunds as a result.
Garth Brooks fan Cara Cronly (8) at the protest outside Dail Eireann. Picture; Gerry Mooney
"We would ask fans to continue to be patient and to hold onto their tickets for now," they wrote in statement issued this evening.
The process of ticket refunds was originally set to begin Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Tanaiste Joan Burton has said that she believes there is still "a window" of opportunity to get the Garth Brooks concerts "over the line".
Speaking on The Week in Politics earlier this morning, the Labour party leader said she would like to see the country and western singer come here.
She also said there appears to be a strong indication that a number of names which were used as objections against the planning application "were not in fact properly consulted or their names were used without their knowledge".
She said that she will now be asking the recently appointed Environment Minister Alan Kelly to "have a look at licensing events" as the law "needs to be updated".
Meanwhile, concert promoter Peter Aiken was last night locked in eleventh-hour negotiations to broker a new deal to salvage the Garth Brooks concerts.
After a week of drama, discussions to broker a new deal took place behind closed doors as up to 100 Garth Brooks fans marched on the Dail in protest at the concelled concerts, which are estimated to be worth up to €50m to the economy.
In a brief phone call, Mr Aiken told the Sunday Independent he was "talking to people about it right now", but he could not provide any further details.
Mr Aiken did not say who he was talking to, but the Sunday Independent has learned that the new Environment Minister, Alan Kelly, has intervened in an attempt to broker a deal. A spokesperson for a party involved in the negotiations said: "We hope to have a positive update on Monday."
Earlier yesterday, protesters met at the GPO on Dublin's O'Connell Street at 12pm before marching towards College Green, up Grafton Street and then down Kildare Street singing Garth Brooks songs and chanting: "Lets go – five in a row."
The demonstration was organised online on social media, with fans travelling from Donegal, Louth, Wicklow and other countries across the country to make their voices heard.
Leanne O'Hagan, from Newry, had travelled home from Australia to see the concerts.
She said that she is "embarrassed" with how the fiasco surrounding the Croke Park concerts portrayed Ireland abroad. "It is not even about the concerts any more. It is more to do with the fact that we are a laughing stock around the world once again because we never seem to know what we are doing", she told the Sunday Independent,
Leanne was due to stay in Australia on a visa for another 10 weeks but flew home last weekend to attend the concerts. "It was the cheapest flight I could find, it is pretty expensive to fly from the other side of the world," she added.
"I gave up my job in Australia and sold my car to come back to Ireland to go to this concert."
Claire Thomas, from Donegal, who helped organise the protest, urged Dublin City Manager Owen Keegan to reverse the decision not to allow the final two concerts to go ahead. "In light of recent developments, such as all of the local residents now being in favour of the concerts, the court action being dropped, local businesses crying out for them to go ahead and the majority of the city council voting in favour of the concerts, we would appeal to Mr Keegan to grant a licence for the last two shows."
Claire said she initially struggled to get a ticket for the show, but eventually managed to source one for the final show on Tuesday.
"We are out in the sticks in Donegal. We don't have broadband so I was sitting in front of the computer crying when I was not able to get tickets for the original shows," she added.
Claire added that the mooted proposal for Brooks to perform matinee concerts on Saturday and Sunday is unworkable.
"The spectacle wouldn't be the same," she said. "The lights would be useless and I have heard people say that they would look for a refund because they did not book for that day. They booked for Monday or Tuesday."
Kevin Dixon, from Coolock, Dublin, said he was ashamed of the council for cancelling the final two concerts.
"They won't do a thing. All that they have to do is to allow the five concerts happen and then never let this happen again," he said. "If it was U2 fans – they would get to see their heroes. It is disgraceful for 400,000 fans to be told three weeks before that the concerts are not going ahead."
Friends In No Places: Babbling Brooks and the theatre of shame
Independent.ie Newsdesk Gardaí are seeking the public's assistance in finding 16-year-old Shania Coffey, who is missing from her home in Tralee, Co Kerry.
Nurse who 'plundered' thousands from intellectually disabled woman's account is...
Tim Healy A nurse who used an intellectually disabled woman's ATM card to make unauthorised withdrawals totalling some €2,520 for her own use has been struck off the nursing register.
Gabija Gataveckaite An Taisce has joined Connemara locals in the fight against a potential gold mine.
Nurse who 'plundered' thousands from intellectually disabled woman's account is... Irish News
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Two criminals who were hired by an organised crime...


Find holiday parks with an outdoor heated pool in South West England couldn't be easier - just take a look at our great selection of South West England mobile home, caravan, lodge and tent self catering accommodation below. Click 'more' to see further details about the holiday park features or click 'book' to find out about its availability. Use the search box below to refine your search by a favourite feature.
Enjoying a stunning setting on the beautiful Lizard Peninsula famous for its crystal waters glorious sandy beaches and gentle climate Mullion offers a superb base for a fun-filled family holiday close to some of Cornwall's top attractions.
A huge array of all-weather facilities are on hand at this park from children's clubs to indoor and outdoor heated pools to the challenges of surfing and diving lessons. A host of venues provides a tempting choice of food and drink and the award-winning evening entertainment is second to none including visiting cabarets and fabulous tribute bands.


Zuska tackles the stereotypes of a young female engineering student.
Many women science-engineering-math professors are married. It is a myth that women have to stay single (and childless) to succeed as professors at a research university.


Online redo Oracle log files are filled with redo records. A redo record, also called a redo entry, is made up of a group of change vectors, each of which is a description of a change made to a single block in the database.
The online redo log file that Log Writer (LGWR) is actively writing to is called the current online redo log file. Online redo Oracle log files that are required for instance recovery are called active online redo log files. Online redo log files that are not required for instance recovery are called inactive.
The checkpoint process(CKPT) is responsible for initiating check points. A check point is when the system periodically dumps all the dirty buffers to disk. Most commonly, this occurs when the database receives a shutdown command. It also updates the data file headers and the control files with the check point information so the SMON know where to start recovery in the event of a system crash.
Service "ORCL2" has 1 instance(s).


In the interview below, best selling author and financial expert James Rickard joins Greg Hunter of USAWatchdog.com where he indicates financial collapse will happen without predicting the "when," but assures the public that one day out of nowhere, the price of gold will boom, then again and again, but by the time the everyday citizen or smaller investors, gets a clue to buy gold, the supply won't be there.
Investors, big and small, need to listen to the entire interview below, carefully and then act accordingly… before it is too late.
Rickard is but one of the growing list of financial gurus, handicappers, investors and forecasters that are warning Americans that the house of cards is about to come tumbling down.


This exercise is stolen from Keneth Koch's classic book, Wishes, Lies, and Dreams, an account of a poet's experience in the classroom. The book is full of great exercises, many which encourage the juxtaposition of language in odd and unexpected ways. This exercise, when done in comics, adds novel visual juxtapositions to the mix. In this class we also look at e.e. cummings and a few other poets who very deliberately give visual shape and form to their work.


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Q: !arraylist.contains() not working? Basically I need to add strings from one arraylist to another in a specific order.
First items that contain both favorites, then then first favorite, then the second.
I´ve been trying to do this by adding the first set (no problems), and then adding the second set with a conditional: originalList[i].contains(favorite1)&&!secondList.contains(originalListNames[i])
But I kept getting repeats. I then tried the code below, and I STILL get repeats. Theyre being added in the correct order, and all the things that SHOULD get added, do get added. But they really shouldnt be getting repeated, yet they do.... any help here as to what exactly I'm screwing up?
    ArrayList<String> dataSource = new ArrayList<>();
    for (int i=0; i < names.length; i++) {
        if (categories[i].toLowerCase().contains(favorite1)) {
            if (categories[i].toLowerCase().contains(favorite2)) {
                dataSource.add(names[i] + "," + dates[i] + "," + descriptions[i] + "," + categories[i] + "," + imgurl[i]);
            }
        }
    }

    for (int i=0; i < names.length; i++) {
        if (categories[i].toLowerCase().contains(favorite1)) {
            if (dataSource.contains(names[i])) {
            }
            else{
                dataSource.add(names[i] + "," + dates[i] + "," + descriptions[i] + "," + categories[i] + "," + imgurl[i]);
            }
        }
    }

Note that dataSource is the destination, and names, dates, descriptions, etc are arrays that contain strings all corresponding to the same index. (that is, names[i], dates[i], etc. all contain the same thing

A: So finally got it....thanks for the help. Bit rusty on my java, but the final result (nonoptimized though it may be....):
    for (int i=0; i < names.length; i++) {
        if (categories[i].toLowerCase().contains(favorite1)) {
            boolean found=false;
            for (int j=0; j < dataSource.size(); j++){
                if (dataSource.get(j).toString().indexOf(names[i]) >= 0) {
                    found = true;
                }
            }
            if (!found){
                dataSource.add(names[i] + "," + dates[i] + "," + descriptions[i] + "," + categories[i] + "," + imgurl[i]);
            }
        }
    }

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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#ZBXC2019
ZBXC Awards
Lake Forest (West)
Libertyville (Adler Park)
Niles West
Peoria (Detweiller Park)
Van Patten
Wauconda (Lakewood)
Waukegan (Sports Park)
Zion Benton Track and Field Records >
All Time NSC Track Records
ZBXC Team Comparisons >
Niles West Comparison
Van Patten Comparison
2019 XC Season
2019 Track Season
Cross Country Pictures >
Sectionals 2013
Regionals 2013
Race Car 2013
Wheeling 2013
Warren Tri 2013
Palatine 2013
Blue Devil 2013
Libertyville Tri 2013
Peoria 2013
Bee Linked 5K
Track Season 2013
Bees Place 2nd at NSC Meet
There were many highlights yesterday as the Bees placed second at conference. I think if we look at our performances, though, we could have been closer to Grant if we performed near our potential. Our Conference champions were the 4x100 relay, 4x200 relay and Keontay Williams in the 100m. Kendall Williams took second in the long jump Matt Dunan was second in the triple jump. Our third place finishes included Philip Meyer in the 1600, Kealin McLean in the high jump and Keontay Williams in the 200m.
I'll try to find time for a complete write up later, but for now....
NSC Outdoork Track and Field Meet 2013 Results
Long Overdue Update to the Site!
A lot has transpired over the past three weeks!! In the full tilt of a track season, I sometimes struggle to maintain the site! Here's an overview of the progress we have made...
Philip Meyer is improving with each race: 9:48 @ Prospect 3200 and 4:30 @ Conant ABC 1600
Andrew Ntim has claimed some of our all time top PRs: 9:59 @ Prospect 3200 and 4:35.0 @ Conant ABC 1600
Isaac Murray dropped his PRs to 4:53 and 10 :06!
Dakota Burroughs has been continuing his consistent improvement with a 4:48 and 10:21.
Desmond Washington ran 4:52!
Lucas Unze has had a breakthrough week with a 5:02 and 2:08!
F/S Crew had some sweet breakthroughs at Antioch with Kenneth Caples running 5:17, Delown Hall - 2:22, and Warren Strickland dropping to 2:29!
Bees victorious over Lake Zurich and a recap of this weekend's Deerfield Invite!
And....as per usual when we have 3 meets in 5 days, I fell behind on website updates! :) Apologies! I've condensed the highlights from the Deerfield Invite into one paragraph, but there is a full recap of our NSC Divisional victory over LZ below!
Updated 2013 Top Times List!
Saturday 4/6/13 - Deerfield Invite
It was pretty cold and windy on Saturday and we ran OK considering. Our Varsity 4x800 pulled a solid 3rd place after Isaac Murray moved past a Carmel runner in the final 100 meters of the race. The time was not where we'd hope, but the competitive nature was present, and that was very nice to see. The 3200 meter was the highlight of the meet for me! Freshman Alex Rodriguez competed in the F/S section and showed he is a true gamer. He moved up throughout the race, moved when he needed to, held back when he should, and closed in a solid 4th place and 10:52. That time marks our #2 all time Freshman 3200m! In the Varsity race, Philip Meyer and Dakota Burroughs represented. Philip ran with some competitive fire in the race! After coming through the mile in a decent 4:54, Philip made a move past Seniors Martin Martinez from Warren and Alex Gold from Deerfield. Although he wasn't able to hold it for much more than a lap, it was great to see him stick his neck in the race. With 600m to go, Gold and Martinez made a huge move and Philip wasn't able to respond. He closed in a nice time of 9:59 considering how windy it was. Dakota Burroughs hung with Philip for the first three laps, but fell off pretty hard. Even still, his time of 10:42 was over a 60 second PR!!! Mileage, consistent training, and toughness pay off! Way to go Dakota! One of the other highlights of the meet for me was Delown Hall's 5:35 in the F/S 1600. He looked great and fought hard throughout the race for a 25 second PR!
Monday 4/8/13 - Lake Zurich Dual
After a morning of rain on Monday, the clouds parted and we were greeted with warmth, sunshine, and absolutely no wind when we got to Lake Zurich! Top to bottom, our track teem looked strong and we came away with our first Divisional victory of the season!
LZ opened with Alex Milner and we opened with Philip Meyer. From the start, we were back and it grew from there......UNTIL.....on the anchor, LZ had one of their underclassmen closing and we had Junior Lucas Unze trying to chase him down. Lucas started the final leg about 100 meters back and was able to finish a half step behind the LZ runner. He gave it a go, but came up short.
3200 Meters
John Ultreras and Desmond Washington were our Varsity entrants and John Cruz and Warren Strickland ran the F/S section. John ran a comfortable 10:26 for the victory and looked good doing it. He will need to push himself harder to be able to race the top competitors though. Desmond Washington was bothered by his achilles during the second half of the race and was rolled in by three Lake Zurich runners. John Cruz continues to impress and he closed in 12:59 while freshman Warren Strickland had a tough day in the 8 lap race and ran 13:47.
Eric Miller and Daniel Olvera came back from the 4x800 for us. Daniel ran a nice PR of 2:18!
We loaded up the race with everybody and LZ had Milner coming back. There were many highlights! Philip and Andrew Ntim came through together in 4:42 and looked good. Dakota Burroughs finished one second off his PR with a 4:53. John Ultreras came through in 4:59. A big highlight for me was seeing Angel Arroyo running a 5:02 after the MINIMAL amount of training he has done lately after his second stress reaction this year. He has been a champion in rehabbing and getting himself back in shape though. I am so proud of the work he has done. The PRs continued in from there - Lucas Unze ran a season best 5:21, John Cruz ran an 8 second PR for 5:44, Angel Abarca a 1 second PR for 5:46, Zack Weber season best of 6:00, Kenneth Tolliver and Bradley Omorogieva ran lifetime bests with 6:14s and David Duarte ran a PR of 6:26. Let's continue the improvements and get more guys under 5 and everybody under 6!
McHenry/Waukegan Triangular
I have never coached a meet that had as many ZBDC PR's as this one! The weather was quite nice on Thursday evening and there was only slight wind. It was a perfect way to open our outdoor season and give some of our younger athletes the opportunity to excel!
Our F/S crew led the way in this one. Alex Rodgriguez opened the relay up for us with a 2:25 in his first ever 800m. Seeing as his first lap was close to a 62, I think his time will come down significantly as he gains race savvy. On the second leg, Kenneth Caples closed a season best 2:27 and our third leg was Delown Hall in a BIG PR of 2:30. On the anchor, Warren Strickland dropped his PR 8 seconds to get to 2:38. These guys keep getting better and it's fun to watch as a coach!
The Varsity team was comprised of Dakota Burroughs, Isaac Murray, Eric Miller, and Ismael Gomez. We battled back and forth with McHenry for much of the first two legs, but were overwhelmed near the third leg. Dakota Burroughs got us out to a solid lead with a 2:10 (.1 second PR!) and Isaac Murray kept it rolling through the second leg with a 2:12. Eric Miller continued his ascent through the season with a season best 2:21 and on the anchor, Ismael was hindered by some calf tightness and was mostly running by himself for a 2:32.
4 guys entered this race for us, 4 guys came away with lifetime bests! Led by Bradley Omogieva's 2:35, this team of Kenneth Tolliver (2:39), Raijin Albino (2:44), and David Duarte (2:44) all improved significantly! SO proud of these guys!
Lineups for the Next Two Meets!
McHenry/Waukegan Meet
Dakota Burroughs, Eric Miller, Isaac Murray, Ismael Gomez
Kenneth Caples, Warren Strickland, Alex Rodriguez, Delown Hall
Duarte, Bradley, Raijin, Kenny Tolliver
Philip Meyer, John Ultreras
Andrew Ntim?, Eric Miller, Ismael Gomez, John Cruz, Angel Abarca, Warren Strickland, Raijin
Tolliver, Caples, Strickland, Delown
Sitting out – Desmond, Daniel, Angel, Jon Renden
Deerfield Invite
FS – JC, A2, Warren, Caples
V – John Ultreras, Andrew. Isaac, Desmond
FS – Alex Rodriguez
V – Philip, Dakota
FS – Tolliver, Warren
V – Andrew, Isaac
FS – Delown, Kenneth Caples
V – John Ultreras, Philip Meyer
Proviso Classic Invitational
2013 Performance List
We continued our steady improvement throughout the indoor season in a nice culminating meet at the Proviso Classic. This meet is stacked top to bottom. There are several MSL powerhouses in the distance events such as Prospect, Conant, and Buffalo Grove and sprint greats such as East Saint Louis and Plainfield North.
Philip Meyer opened up for us and came through the 400 nicely in a 58-59. The second half of the race, other teams began pulling away and Philip did his best to shift with the pack. He closed in a 2:06 near mid pack, good for a two second PR! From there, Dakota Burroughs improved on his streak of impressive PRs and came through in 2:11. In the last two weeks, Dakota has dropped 8 seconds off his 800m time! On the third leg, Isaac Murray was never in the race. Although we were battling with other teams at the end of Dakota's leg, by the end of Isaac's....we were half a lap back. For the final leg, sprinter Elijah Abdullah, who agreed to run the 4x800 at the last minute, ran a very solid 2:15. I couldn't have been prouder of Elijah for stepping up and filling the need for the team. I look forward to some of his future 800s! Our team closed in 8:56.
In the first heat, Daniel Olvera got out well. Through the opening laps, Daniel was near the front of the lead pack and competed well. He came through the mile in 5:24 looking good. At this point, though, the pack started to move and Daniel was not ready to shift with them. He ended up finishing with an 11:22. That was a one second PR, however, after seeing Daniel do well in workouts with guys who have run at least a minute faster in the 3200, we know he is ready to go a lot faster. In the second heat, Junior Andrew Ntim got his second chance at the 3200m after being slightly under the weather last week. Our plan for Andrew was to let Salvano from BG go and ride second place for as long as he could. Well, Andrew did this to perfection as he paired up with a runner from Prospect and went back and forth for much of the race. He came through the mile in 4:54 and looked great. His form maintained strength and his pace was solid. In the last few laps of the race, a runner from Conant and the Prospect runner were able to move by Andrew and he closed in 4th place with a 10:02. After two 3200m's, I'm excited to see Andrew improve throughout this season as he learns to run this race and we develop his closing strength.
Philip Meyer doubled back in the fast heat of this race. Even though his two races were only about an hour apart, he approached this race confidently and optimistically. This positive attitude paid off and he came through in another 2:06. It was a very solid day for Philip, who was running back to back events in a race that is probably a bit faster than he is most comfortable with.
Isaac Murray and Dakota Burroughs were doubling back from the 4x800 and they got ample time to recover in between. Dakota, who is becoming the immaculate gamer, ran a big 15 second PR for a 4:52 and his first time under 5 minutes. Isaac finished in 4:57, which was good for a two second PR, however, we know that is far from his best effort. When we head outdoors, Isaac is looking to make big improvements on this mark.
Lake Michigan Invitational @ Carthage College
Isaac, Andrew, and Philip represent in the 3200m!
Performance List for 2013
In a nice step forward, our Varsity competed well at the Lake Michigan Invite at Carthage College. This is one of the nicest indoor facilities I have ever been to and this meet always produces fast results. This meet was no different!
In the second heat of the 4x800, Eric Miller, Daniel Olvera, Ismael Gomez, and Lucas Unze competed. I don't think any of the guys walked away from the race feeling like it was their best effort, but I do know that they learned about competition in a varsity level 4x800. Daniel Olvera on the opening leg, ran 2:24.8. Eric Miller, improved from his time at Thornwood to run a 2:26.3, Lucas Unze came through in less than his best with 2:28.9 and Ismael Gomez closed in 2:30.6. The middle of the race must improve for our guys to run their best races and run to the level of excellence expected for ZBDC.
John Ultreras was our lone entrant, since we were sitting out Angel Arroyo for precaution. John was in "The Big Boy" heat of the 1600 and showed that he is moving towards being ready to compete on the next level. After speedy opening splits of 30 and 63 for the 200 and 400, John settled in to the pack and went through the next 400s in 72, 72. With 400 to go, the race pulled away and John started to go backwards. A number of runners were able to move by John as he ran a 77 closing 400 and finished with 4:45. Once we put it all together and John runs with the confidence over the final 400m that we all know he has, there will be a major breakthrough!
Lucas Unze came back in the 4th of 6 heats to run 2:25.0. The pace of the race outmatched him a bit and he was forced to run by himself for most of the four laps.
In the fifth heat, Dakota Burroughs stole the show! From the gun, Dakota was a man on a mission and it certainly paid off!!! After some OK 800s at Thornwood and Evanston, Dakota ran with the confidence that he has been demonstrating in practice over the last year. Anybody on our team that sees Dakota practice every day knew that this race was in him. His staggering improvement is a testament to consistent long term training. Dakota gives 100% in practice day in and day out. There has never been a second that anyone has ever questioned his work ethic. That hard work started to pay off in Cross Country as Dakota solidly made it on to our top 7. Yesterday, it showed in a shorter event. Dakota ran a 2:13 for a 6 second lifetime PR!
We stacked this race with three of our top two milers. Philip Meyer led our group with a 10:01 (4 seconds off his lifetime best). This was the best race I have seen from Philip in a while. It was so great to see Philip in his element! He ran with confidence and closed his second mile faster than he has in any two mile ever, (5:08). Isaac Murray was near the back of the pack early on but was able to move nicely through the pack and closed with a 7 second PR at 10:21! Although Isaac wasn't thrilled with the time, I think the next time he runs the race he could be pressing the 10 minute barrier. Andrew Ntim ran in his first 3200m ever and looked great through the mile (in 4:56). After the 1600, though, the sickness that had held him out of school on Thursday reared its ugly head. Andrew held on tough for a 10:23. When he's healthy, though, I see Philip, Andrew, and Isaac rolling together in some fast 3200's!
Thornwood Invite
Lucas Unze runs tall in the 4x800
Thornwood Invite Photo Gallery
In a fun opening season meet down at Thornwood in South Holland, IL we got the chance to compete on their old 160y indoor track. It was great seeing some competition that we may not see until the State meet such as Joliet West, Thornwood, Plainfield Central, and Lincoln Way East. I think the guys learned a lot from the experience and are excited to improve on their performances going forward! I'm certainly encouraged!
2 Mile Relay
We ended up getting placed in the first (and slower) heat of the 4x800 and that was probably an OK thing. John Ultreras opened up for us and looked smooth in a 2:09 leg. John was uncontested from the start and I think when he gets some competition, that time will come way down. From there, Angel Arroyo, Lucas Unze, and Dakota Burroughs came through in legs of 2:22 - 2:24. Our lack of race sharpness showed as the teams in our heat moved past us and we were unable to change gears. It's a starting point though and we'll improve from there!
In the Frosh/Soph race, David Paige, David Duarte, John Cruz, and Gio Vasquez toed the line for us. It was a lot of fun seeing our F/S crew tearing it up around the track, even though it was a learning experience for this crew as they came in last place. One of the highlights for me was seeing John Cruz emerge as a true "RACER!". He battled hard and ran a 2:42 (even though our laps were miscounted and he ran another lap for good measure after that!) These guys will continue to improve and it will be a blast coaching them to more PRs and higher placings. David Duarte ran 2:53, Gio ran a 2:54 and David Paige's time will forever be a mystery because his laps were miscounted and he ran one short.
Isaac Murray and Daniel Olvera ran for us in the Varsity race while Desmond Washington raced the F/S level. Isaac stayed alert for most of the race as he jockeyed back and forth with a runner from Thornwood. Ultimately, he closed in second place, and his time of 10:33 was only 4 seconds off of his lifetime best! To put this race in perspective, Isaac was 18 seconds faster than last year in the same race. Encouraging improvement! Daniel Olvera showed the effects of his lingering sickness from the previous week and closed in a tough 11:52. In the F/S race, Desmond Washington (who really loves the 2 mile and isn't ready to admit it :) ) looked solid as he battled to an 11:13, third place finish! I think I see a few more 3200's in his future!
We were able to get some of our veterans and new-bees a chance in this race and it was fun to watch! In the varsity race, Eric Miller, still improving from his serious injury he sustained in cross country, and Raijin Albino, in his first ever track race, got the chance to tackle the half mile. Eric got out tough and faded slightly at the end and closed with a 2:29. Although he had to take the entire winter off to recover from his injury, he is stil ahead of where he was last year at this point! Raijin closed with a 2:51 and ran aggressively at the start of the race but hit a wall towards the end. He'll improve from here! In the Frosh/Soph race, Angel Abarca (A2) and Kenneth (KMan) Tolliver competed. Angel ran tough for a 2:36 finish and 3rd place in his heat. Kenny ran a nice 2:50 to open his high school career!
I think anyone who saw this race remembers the name Andrew Ntim. After two laps into the 11 lap race, Andrew had a half lap lead on the entire field. Although he's a junior and has competed in Cross for three years, this was his first ever track race. The excitement of racing indoors exceeded his race savviness a bit as he went through the 400 in 63. As the race proceeded, the pack (of which Senior Philip Meyer was a part) caught Andrew. He was able to fight to a 4:48 for fourth place, and I think the lesson he learned (and the team learned) will carry beyond this race. He showed our guys what racing with toughness is all about. Although it didn't work out on Saturday, as his fitness increases and track racing experience, I have no doubt he will be running with many of the NSC studs at the end of the season. Philip closed in a 4:58 and lacked his usual speed today, but I know he will bounce back nicely from this race. I can't wait to see Andrew and Philip rolling together outdoors in many races.
Overall, it was a great start to our season and nice to see our boys out there RACING! Our veterans learned about what they still need to work on and our newcomers learned what track is all about! Only one direction to go from here!!!!
ZBDC 2013 Under Way!
Well, practice has begun as we make our way into the 2013 installment of the Zion Benton Distance Crew! We currently have 25 boys in our group and are working our way towards increased mileage, faster speed, and stronger athletes. We've got three great captains in Philip Meyer, Eric Miller, and John Ultreras and I'm excited to see what this season brings! For those of you who have not yet come out for the team, I will take you in over the next week or so, but after that....you're going to be out of luck! This is a special team and if we can all focus on achieving greater training levels and team camaraderie, this will be a team to remember!
I have archived the 2012 Cross Country season under the Archives page, so if you're looking for any older posts/results, check there.
Also - I have posted the training log under the Documents tab, so if you ever need more (or feel the need to double side them correctly :) ) check there!
We're looking forward to a fantastic season! The Bees open their indoor season at the Thornwood Invite on March 2nd!
For all older posts, please check the Archive page.
Site last updated 27 October 2019
Zion Benton Cross Country & Distance Crew
'Commitment to Excellence'


text:
LSFI, a Cornerstone of Sustainable Finance >
19.01.2023 Finance European Finance Summit Farvest decrypt Interview Luxembourg Sustainable finance
LSFI, a Cornerstone of Sustainable Finance
Writer Laura Campan
On 1 December, the finance community met at the European Convention Center Luxembourg (ECCL), in Kirchberg, for an exclusive awards' ceremony and networking cocktail.
How about jumping on the opportunity to further discuss the natural yet challenging steps finance is taking towards innovation with this new edition's winners?
This week, we were pleased to welcome the Outstanding Contribution to the Luxembourg Centre Award's winner, the Luxembourg Sustainable Finance Initiative (LSFI), for the third episode of our #FinStory series.
Not a week goes by without news on "Sustainable Finance", but like all new trends, it may be challenging to get a grip on what it means. Could you explain what it is about?
Sustainable finance generally refers to the process of taking due account of environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria when making investment decisions. In this respect, the investment decision does not only rely on the possible financial return on investment and the usual risk criteria, but also on ESG factors.
In other words, financial decisions have traditionally been driven by the two main criteria mentioned above: return on investment and risk. Sustainable finance goes a step further and, on top of this, "traditional" criteria also consider environmental, social and governance factors. For example, in sustainable finance, topics such as climate change mitigation and adaptation, inequality and inclusiveness or governance policies and executive remuneration, among other matters, are also considered in the investment decision process.
What is the Luxembourg Sustainable Finance Initiative (LSFI) doing to further help financial institutions transition towards sustainability?
The LSFI's mission is to raise awareness of sustainable finance, and as you mention, help the financial sector transition towards sustainability. In particular, the LSFI has been mandated by the Government to draft and implement the Luxembourg Sustainable Finance Strategy, where our activities are structured around 3 very interconnected pillars.
One of these is Raising Awareness (Pillar 1), which is the foundation to advance sustainable finance. For example, we organise technical webinars to help financial professionals get acquittance with the latest requirements or developments. In particular, over the last months, we have covered the social taxonomy, blended finance or climate risk and measurement. We also have a monthly newsletter where we gather the latest news, publication, regulatory updates and events on this topic, always aiming to ensure the players stay up to date. We also have a website which acts as a central point of information on sustainable finance, including news and publications, as well as an events calendar gathering upcoming events on sustainable finance in Luxembourg and abroad.
We also work towards unlocking the financial sector's potential (Pillar 2), providing toolkits that can help professionals navigate the sustainable finance journey. On this topic we have developed a section on our website called Take Action, which is currently developed in two parts. The first one focuses on training and includes a mapping of all the training courses available in Luxembourg and some abroad, offering a classification that helps interested professionals to find what might best fit their needs through some filtering options. The second one is on instruments – namely initiatives, frameworks, standards, and tools that are available for finance professionals to embark on or enhance their sustainable finance journey. This section includes definitions of these concepts as well as a comprehensive selection of each of them, explaining when, how and why to use them. We aim to develop more sections in the future.
Within this pillar we are also launching four cross-sectoral working groups. After a mapping exercise of the Luxembourg sustainable finance ecosystem, we identified some topics where to dive deep and try to find solutions to cover existing gaps collaboratively. The first of these working groups was launched last November and covered sustainable finance education and training. In 2023 we will launch the 3 remaining ones: 1) Climate Measurement and Reporting, 2) ESG Data and 3) Innovation and Retail Products.
Last, we also work towards measuring progress (Pillar 3). Last year we coordinated a Climate Scenario Analysis via the PACTA methodology. This week we have presented the study "sustainable finance in Luxembourg: a quantitative and qualitative overview" where we deep dive into the sustainable finance industry, analysing the main ESG strategies implemented through sectoral analysis and asset classification breakdowns, among other dimensions. This study also presents leading sustainable finance investment practices in Luxembourg and describes the current impact assessment framework.
There seems to be a lot of confusion between Sustainable Finance and Impact Investing. What is the difference between both?
To better understand the distinction, I would like to refer to the spectrum of capital which is a concept that classifies the different levels of sustainable finance or the different degrees to which it can be applied.
Following this classification, we can say that sustainable finance lies between traditional finance and impact investing. As I mentioned before, sustainable finance takes into account financial return but also ESG aspects. Impact investing would be situated on the farthest extreme of these different approaches and it could be defined as investments made with the intention to generate positive, measurable social and environmental impact alongside a financial return. Thus, impact investments put great attention into measuring their impact and tracking the progress of this impact over time.
Last year, Greenpeace reported that Luxembourg sustainability funds barely managed to redirect more capital towards a sustainable economy than conventional funds, "failing to contribute to combating the climate crisis". Have policymakers secured binding standards to fight greenwashing since then?
Sustainable finance is a journey which is under development. While commenting on regulation or its effects is not under the remit of the LSFI, we can say that the regulatory landscape is constantly advancing. There are several regulatory pieces currently in place to foster transparency and enhance sustainable investments, such as the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR), the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDD), the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), or the EU Taxonomy. Regulation is and will indeed be key to ensure standardization and clarity, which are, together with transparency, the foundations to fight greenwashing effectively. As with any other transitioning process, understanding the actual effects of regulation, whether this needs further adjustments and the effects of sustainable finance on the real economy, will require time and appropriate assessments.
Regarding the fight against greenwashing through the current regulatory framework, it is important to mention that greenwashing is a complex term which, in fact, is yet to be defined and clarified: what do we exactly mean by greenwashing and what classifies as such? Ensuring transparency and confronting malpractices is of utmost importance if we want to ensure the transition towards sustainability. However, in the process of assessing and providing remarks to discourage misbehaviors, we should also take into consideration the effort that is being made by many financial players, regulators and civil society, among others. If we simplify this topic, accusing all sectors' players when some malpractices are underpinned, might be detrimental to the credibility of sustainable finance as a whole and thus the overall advancement of the transition towards sustainability, which is the ultimate goal. In other words: transparency is an absolute must, but the conversation should be broader than referring to a simplified greenwashing accusation, and should focus on putting the effort into finding the actual wrong practices.
Do you believe we will ever achieve a 100% sustainable finance system? Is it realistic?
The LSFI, in collaboration with PwC Luxembourg, has recently conducted a study on sustainable finance in Luxembourg that aims to analyse where the sector stands. Its quantitative part shows that ESG fund AuM represents more than half of Luxembourg UCITS assets (54.6%) and that the majority of Luxembourg UCITS fund AuM are disclosing as per Article 8 and 9 funds (Over 53% of UCITS AuM in Luxembourg) of SFDR. While this shows only a specific financial sector and refers to one geography, it provides a first snapshot of the relevance that sustainable finance is gaining.
I do believe we will reach a 100% sustainable finance system. In fact, sustainable finance needs to become the new norm and I do hope that, in particular, impact investing will become mainstream, possibly in the near future. We need to transition our economy to a sustainable one as soon as possible and finance has a key role in this transition.
However, currently, rather than analysing whether our financial systems will be 100% sustainable and when, we should focus on ensuring that we have the correct foundations and toolkits in place to be able to quickly and effectively transition. In particular, we need to have solid regulation, available quality, granular and standardized data for financial institutions to access, develop and consolidate the required skill set and for all the involved actors to be well aware of what this means and how to achieve it.
Fisher vs Keynes - Lessons Learned from Financial Times Senior Columnist Tim Harford
26.01.2023 Finance
Farvest decrypt Investment Luxembourg Swissquote Tim Harford
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Newport considers whether to pay its city council members
KLCC | By Chris M Lehman
Published December 6, 2022 at 4:09 PM PST
Chris Lehman
City council members in Newport are considering whether to create a stipend for council member. File photo of Newport's City Hall.
The city of Newport is considering whether its city council members should be paid a stipend.
The current city council isn't legally allowed to vote to pay themselves, but they could vote for a stipend to take effect after the next election. Or, they could send the question to Newport voters.
Either way, "there'd be a delay in implementation so that it wouldn't impact anyone until their term was up and they ran for re-election on the council," said City manager Spencer Nebel.
The idea behind the proposal is to make serving on the council appeal to a wider cross-section of residents.
"The council has been really focused on, how do we expand the ability of folks that may have limited financial means to potentially run and serve as a city council member, and particularly working families," said Nebel. "One of the thoughts is providing some sort of compensation that would help offset things like childcare or other expenses, or if they have to take vacation time to attend conferences or attend certain meetings."
Nebel said no decision has been made yet, but he said city council is planning to create a work group to explore the issue and reach out to community members for input. He said the council has ruled out asking voters in the May, 2023 election, but that it could come before voters at some point in the future.
According to the League of Oregon Cities, compensation for city council members around the state ranges from nothing at all to hundreds of dollars a month. The vast differences in how city council members are compensated, if at all, does not always correlate to the size of the city.
For instance, as of May 2020, the city of St. Helens, OR, which is not much larger than Newport, paid its council members $800 per month. The City of Salem, however—one of the largest in the state—did not pay its council members anything, other than providing a cell phone and laptop for city business.
In Eugene, council members receive an annual stipend of $19,015, according to a city spokesperson.
Politics & Government City of NewportNewport City CouncilNewportLeague of Oregon Cities
Chris M Lehman
Chris Lehman has been reporting on Oregon issues since 2006. He joined the KLCC news department in December, 2018. Chris was born and raised in Pennsylvania, and graduated from Temple University with a degree in journalism. His public broadcasting career includes stops in Louisiana and Illinois. Chris has filed for national programs including "Morning Edition" and "All Things Considered."
See stories by Chris M Lehman


Under Olga Sorokina's Artistic Direction since 2008, the brand is giving new modern spirit in its collections playing with volumes, materials and colors.
This collection presents the essentials pieces of a woman and constitutes her wardrobe according to her desires, travels and life.
The looks portray the IRFE woman's aesthetic, its elegance and allure is urban and sophisticated. Olga Sorokina preserves the spirit of the past that permeates the house, forever nourished by Russian and French influences with an international contemporary style.
The pieces in the collection feature modern lines, as laser-cut, anatomic, contrasting with oversize volumes. The brand also presents decidedly masculine looks, emphasizing the almost androgynous figure of today's woman, with a subtle and controlled elegance.
This collection also celebrates the 90th anniversary of Maison IRFE's creation; rue Duphot, Paris in 1924.