text:
Posted on July 12, 2015	by pmbarry
The Honorable Keith Rothfus
Dear Congressman Rothfus,
I write to ask that you initiate necessary proceedings for impeachment of the five U.S. Supreme Court justices who voted in favor of the petitioners in the recently decided case, Obergefell v. Hodges. The justices are Anthony M. Kennedy, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen G. Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.
If other members of the House are already taking steps for impeachment, please give them your earnest support.
Impeachment of the five justices is authorized by Article II, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution:
And by Article III, Section 1:
The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour…
It is not good behaviour — indeed, it is very bad behavior — for appointed judges to seize law-making power which belongs to legislatures, and ultimately to the People, who express their will by voting. The five justices cannot possibly have behaved this badly by accident, setting a foot down on the wrong side of a fuzzy line, as it were. The opinion in which they all joined is clear evidence of their collaboration in what the House has every right to decide was a "high Crime or Misdemeanor." (As an aside, it is for the House and Senate to interpret that phrase, not the Court; it will be perfectly reasonable when the House decides that it is a high crime to flagrantly subvert the Constitution.)
What was decreed by the five justices is obnoxious, but the ruling itself is not the issue. It is not for sharing a bizarre opinion (abeit fashionable in some circles) that justices should be removed from the Court. What is at stake is the Consitutional right of the People to be governed by their elected representatives. We, the People, do not want to be governed by an oligarchy — a tiny committee of unelected lawyers. We would not want to be governed by a committee of unelected lawyers even if they were not so disoriented and confused in their thinking.
Justices of the Supreme Court are unelected, but they are not unaccountable. Impeachment, followed by conviction in the Senate and removal from office, is the Constitutional remedy for tenured judges who run amok, disregarding the Constitution in order to rule according to personal moral and social preferences, in defiance of the will of the People.
Congressman Rothfus, what will you do to persuade the House to Impeach the five justices who are guilty of the Obergefell v. Hodges ruling?
Do all that you can. I will support you, as will many others. Please keep us informed so we will know how we can help.
Posted on April 9, 2011	by pmbarry
One of the government contractors slurping up our tax money has a slick idea for how the Department of Defense can spot the next Bradley Manning before that yet-to-be-discovered individual steals classified information and makes it public. [1]
This is the mission:
…blue-sky research firm Darpa asked software engineers to design a system to sift through Defense Department e-mail, web and network usage for "anomalous missions" indicating that a user might intend to siphon sensitive information to unauthorized entities. The program is called CINDER, short for the Cyber Insider Threat Program.[2]
According to Wired, HBGary claims it can create the necessary software.
Data will be collected on employees while they work. This data will include what they do, where they go on the internal network and the internet, how and what they type, mouse movements, etc. Computer webcams trained on employees could be used to get snapshots and video. A lot of data would be accumulated and used to determine what is "normal". Employees who deviate from Normal in particular ways would be flagged as potential Bradley Mannings.
HBGary's proposal acknowledges: The only way to judge anomalous user behavior is to create a model for normal behavior; that in turn requires mapping normal behavior for the median user — which in the Defense Department's case is millions of people.[3]
Got that?
Now, if you think this project is credible, that it makes sense, on any level, in any way, you need to think about it a little longer. Thirty seconds should be sufficient.
Pause here to think…
Now you get it, right?
And you didn't need the whole 30 seconds, did you? A regular snake-oil scam if there ever was one. But of course, DARPA put out an RFP that said, in essence, "Please submit snake-oil scams…"
Snake-oil scams are entertaining for everyone in the audience who has paused to think for a few seconds.
I like this bit:
The only way to judge anomalous user behavior is to create a model for normal behavior…[4]
Let's work on that, come up with a couple of situations where we can identify "normal behavior".
Here's one: Picture yourself as a striking, 20-something blonde female US Army master sergeant employed by the Department of Defense. You know the webcam built into your computer monitor may at any time (or all the time) be taking close-up still shots or video of you while you work. Is it normal or abnormal for you to put a Post-it note or piece of chewing gum over the camera?
Normal, of course. In fact, it's normal for everyone to put a Post-it note over the camera, simply because people don't like being spied on and photographed at close range without their permission. Of course, every now and then a smart aleck will take off the Post-it to make a rude gesture, stick his tongue out at the camera, or to pose for a few seconds wearing mirror shades and a Bedoin-style turban.
Smart aleck behavior at some level is normal, and the HBGary software would have the intelligence to treat it as normal. [5]
But that's an easy one. Let's try something a little tougher.
You're still a DOD employee, male or female, age is irrelevant. Would it be normal or abnormal for you to start your day by typing "Bradley Manning for President", or "a republic, if you can keep it", or the NSA couch potato joke-of-the-day …with nothing but a black DOS box in focus? Nothing saved; nothing sent; just private keystrokes.
That behavior wouldn't be average, but remember, what this cool Bradley Manning detection software must do is figure out what "Normal" is in such a way that an employee's deviation from "Normal" isn't just any deviation, but a particular kind of deviation — a deviation that indicates that person intends to steal and misuse confidential information.
In any sizable group of Americans it will be absolutely normal to find one or two, or several, who are passionately American. They are wary of government power, they believe the 4th Amendment was written because it really does happen that jerks get into government, and they detest unwarranted government invasions into the lives of free citizens. They strenuously object to government lawlessness, incompetence, corruption and stupidity.
Again, in a normal group of Americans, there will be a few passionate Americans — Americans who take their citizenship seriously.
So, out of, say, ten thousand DOD employees, it will be perfectly normal for some number of them to occasionally type unsaved, unsent messages on their keyboards — if they think they are being studied for deviations from Normal — because they take the view that the only way those messages can be read is if the reader is an anti-American (domestic) enemy of the Constitution, and they like to send taunting, insulting messages to enemies of the Constitution and enemies of America.
"Wikileaks Rocks! (for your eyes only, Stooge)"
It's perfectly normal for a group to have a few indiduals of that sort.
Now, switch roles: You're the tax-money-slurping contractor. You've collected a ton of data on ten thousand DOD employees. Those employees know you've been watching them, testing whether or not they are Normal, collecting and saving data — keystrokes, mouseclicks, video, still shots, whatever — in order to analyze them in detail, as individuals who may or may not be Normal. Out of that ten thousand DOD employees, not one person, not a single American, has ever typed "Bradley Manning for President" or some such provocative thing into a DOS window.
Now you've really got a problem.
A normal group of ten thousand Americans should include a few history-conscious, passionate Americans with enough courage to resist, at least quietly, a spirit of anti-American stupidity.
Here you've got a group of ten thousand Americans that is not Normal.
What will you do with that group?
[1] At the time of this writing, Bradley Manning is accused; he has not been convicted of any crime. Regrettably, in this period of American history, it is possible for an accused-but-not-convicted individual to be cruelly mistreated if he has the misfortune to be held by the Department of Defense.
[2] Wired. "'Paranoia Meter' Is HBGary's Plot to Find the Pentagon's Next WikiLeaker". Spencer Ackerman. http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/04/paranoia-meter-hbgarys-plot-to-find-the-next-pentagon-wikileaker/
[5] And snake oil is known to cure cancer.
Posted on March 5, 2011	by pmbarry
Bradley Manning has been charged with "aiding the enemy".
The charges, filed Tuesday but not disclosed until Wednesday, are one count of aiding the enemy, five counts of theft of public property or records, two counts of computer fraud, eight counts of transmitting defense information in violation of the Espionage Act, and one count of wrongfully causing intelligence to be published on the internet knowing it would be accessible to the enemy. The aiding-the-enemy charge is a capital offense… [1]
I await with great interest the definition of "enemy" that will be used by prosecutors. As far as I know, the United States does not have any enemies. We are not at war with anyone.
We think and perhaps speak of al Qaeda as the "enemy". We may think and speak of terrorists in general as the "enemy". But that's colloquial speech. In a court room, in a legal context, the word "enemy" must have a particular meaning. If you charge someone with "aiding the enemy" then for a start you'll have to identify the enemy who received the aid.
Congress has not declared war on anyone, so identification of the "enemy" is highly problematic. Arguably, the definition is entirely subjective, in the eye of the beholder, as it were. Is bin Laden an enemy or a criminal wanted for conspiracy and murder? Will there be an effort to cast Wikileaks as an "enemy"? Is the New York Times an enemy, since the NYT has published material made available by Wikileaks? George Bush initiated a "war" (metaphor?) on "terror" (an abstraction, a word in the dictionary). Is it possible to give aid to an abstraction?
Anyway, I will be very interested to see how "enemy" is defined in the trial of Bradley Manning.
One thing to bear in mind:
The charge of aiding the enemy is a purely military charge from the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which applies only to service members. [1]
So, if aiding the enemy is a crime that can only be committed by members of the armed services, it's entirely possible that "enemy" can be defined by the military in a way that only applies within the military. Let me clarify…
The United States, as a nation, does not have any enemies at present because our Congress has not declared war on anyone. But the military services possibly do have one or more enemies, determined in some way by the military. If the military wants to put someone belonging to the military on trial for "aiding the enemy" that can work because the military will define "enemy" — for itself, not for the nation.
If I'm correct that the military can define "enemy" in its own way, to support a charge of "aiding the enemy", then logically, nothing prevents an enemy of the United States military from also being a good friend of the United States, a constitutional republic.
[1] "Bradley Manning Charged With 22 New Counts, Including Capital Offense" http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/03/bradley-manning-more-charge/
Posted on February 26, 2011	by pmbarry
Reactions from the U.S. Government to the Wikileaks publication of diplomatic cables are puzzling. For instance, here's a USMC memo published by Wired:
[W]illingly accessing the WIKILEAKS website for the purpose of viewing the posted classified material [constitutes] the unauthorized processing, disclosure, viewing, and downloading of classified information onto an UNAUTHORIZED computer system not approved to store classified information. Meaning they have WILLINGLY committed a SECURITY VIOLATION.[1]
If you're a civilian with an appreciation for slapstick comedy, you can just laugh. But if you're one of The Few, The Proud, etc., and you're not accustomed to turning off your brain when you hear trite, throw-away phrases like "national security" you might not see the humor in this.
Step back and think about who this material, now published by Wikileaks, was kept secret from, back when it was secret. More broadly, what is the purpose of a secret, any secret? What is a secret for?
If I'm negotiating to buy a house, the absolute maximum price I'm willing to pay is something I will want to keep secret from the seller, with whom I'm negotiating. I really don't care who else knows my max price. All of my family and friends — indeed, all of the seller's family and friends — can know, as far as I care. I only want to keep knowledge of my max price from the seller himself, because he might change his behavior in our negotiations if he knows the price. He's the one chap who can take advantage of that knowledge to cause me a problem by shaking a few extra dollars out of my pockets.
As a practical matter, I'll need to keep the maximum price I'm willing to pay quiet from just about everyone, because if I make it widely known among those whose knowledge of it does not matter at all, there's a greater chance that the one person I'm actually concerned about will find it out. I will keep this secret from the many only because I want to be sure it remains secret from the one.
What if the seller of the house somehow finds out my maximum price?
Well, that's it. He knows. If he wants he can dig in his heels and hold out for what he knows I'm willing to pay. For me, it's Game Over, as far as the secret of my max price is concerned. It's no longer secret from the one person I wanted to keep it secret from.
But what about everybody else?
What about them? I never cared about everybody else knowing; why would I start caring now?
How about U.S. diplomatic cables? What if an American ambassador makes a remark about Mubarak and his associates in a cable, and that cable is "secret"?
Who is it secret from? Clearly, it's secret from Mubarak and his associates, and probably from Mubarak's opponents, and maybe Mubarak's peers in the Middle East — quite a few people for sure, but not everybody. It's secret from people who might alter their behavior in some way that is disadvantageous to the United States. It isn't secret from a random Chinese peasant or an Inuit seal hunter. It isn't secret from me, or from a United States Marine. In fact, it isn't secret from tens of millions of people. For the vast majority of the population of earth it's a matter of indifference if it's known or not.
But as a practical matter, there's no way the cable can be shared with peasants and seal hunters and me and the Marines and millions of others whose knowledge of the cable doesn't matter, simply because dissemination among those from whom it's not secret will increase the chance of it falling into the hands of someone from whom it is secret.
What happens if somehow (NYT, Washington Post, Wikileaks…) Mubarak and his associates find out the contents of the cable? Well, that's it. They know… Game Over.
Is it ok now if U.S. Marines and Inuit seal hunters read the cable?
What a weird question. Why would it not be ok? It never was secret from them, except as a precaution against the cable reaching Mubarak & Associates. Mubarak has it. If they're so inclined, seal hunters can translate it into Greenlandic, add an iceberg and a whale to spice it up a bit, and read it to their children as a bedtime story. Whatever.
What the Marine Corps leadership and the leadership of the U.S. Government in general don't seem to understand is that it's "Game Over": The people the documents were being kept secret from have them, and there's nothing to be done about that.
The "few" have the documents.
The practical need to keep the documents secret from the many in order to keep them secret from the few no longer exists. As far as all the people from whom the documents never were secret — employees of the Department of Defense, for instance — the documents are still not secret from them. Nothing has changed. It never mattered, really, if they saw the cables, and it still doesn't matter.
[1] "Pentagon to Troops: Taliban Can Read WikiLeaks, You Can't": http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/08/pentagon-to-troops-taliban-can-read-wikileaks-you-cant/
Posted on January 15, 2011	by pmbarry
In the recent public discussions of Wikileaks, I haven't seen (though I could have missed it) any credit and congratulations given to Julian Assange's organization for exposing the insecurity of the US Government's SIPRNet. That exposure was an important service to the people of the United States, as well as to our hired help, the US Government.
According to the Pentagon, SIPRNet has approximately half a million users. Access is also available to a "…small pool of trusted allies, including Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and New Zealand…"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SIPRNet
I don't know if Wikipedia is right about the number, "half a million users". I've seen quotes lately that claim a million users. But even if it's a tenth of the Wikipedia figure – that is, 50,000 users — that is a sizable global network, and if data on that sizable network has value, it's simply naive for someone to think data will not leak out — naive about networks and computers, and naive about people.
The bureaucratic position is, "But this network is locked down, not physically connected to the Internet, accessible only by people who are authorized, closely monitored… blah, blah, blah…" In a word, Naive.
Think about it: Here's a network 1) with data that has value and 2) 50,000 or 500,000 or a million users. A network admin claims data will never be copied from the network for some unauthorized purpose…
That doesn't even make sense.
But if you're a bureaucrat without much knowledge of technology in general, or of networks and the internet in particular, and if you have little or no understanding of human nature, you might think it does make sense, which is sad for you at a personal level, but also bad for the people you work for. And it's why you should thank Wikileaks for giving you the benefit of a little education.
The way data would normally be copied from a network like SIPRNet — the way it has been copied from SIPRNet in the past, we can assume — is secretly, without fuss, without fanfare. People with access to the network, and with particular interests, have quietly copied data by various means, to be delivered to persons with a shared ideology or religion, or to persons of whatever ideology, who are able to pay well, and pay in cash.
Wikileaks, by making SIPRNet data available publicly and with great fanfare, badly mauled the business models and espionage exploits of everyone who was already quietly copying data from SIPRNet for profit or for a cause. The network security clampdown, inspired by Wikileaks, will impact an unknown number of enterprises.
The outrage of the US Government at Wikileaks for making secrets public is probably echoed behind closed doors in obscure facilities in Iran, North Korea and elsewhere. But the outrage in the echo is not that Wikileaks made secrets public, but that Wikileaks made it public that secrets could be acquired from SIPRNet. Lots of secrets.
The Big Secret — that SIPRNet leaks — was leaked by Wikileaks, and we can be certain there are people of various nationalities who would rather that were not known.
Thank you, Mr. Assange. You've done us a favor.
I recently discovered Al Jazeera news, via YouTube, in English.
http://www.youtube.com/user/AlJazeeraEnglish
I can't compare it with other TV-style news outlets, like CNN and FoxNews, because I haven't watched those. But Al Jazeera English is easily on par with, and in many ways superior to, The Wall Street Journal of our day, when it comes to coverage of world news, in both breadth and depth. The format is video, interview and discussion, so a comparison with print is not quite apples-to-apples. If you're interested in keeping up with things going on in the world, Al Jazeera is worth following.
I subscribed to the Al Jazeera English YouTube channel and selected the option to get email alerts when something new is uploaded, so I get email for regular news updates, In Depth, 101 East, etc — all the Al Jazeera productions, I suppose. I don't have time to watch many, but I can quickly click through emails and decide based on topic if it's something I'm interested in. The emails have some basic description of what the video upload contains.
Their coverage of Sudan has been quite good — much better than the WSJ. Lately, I've watched informative shows about ETA, the Basque terrorist (a.k.a. "separatist") group, how South Korea integrates North Korean defectors, the current Lebanese political crisis, Gbagbo vs Ouatarra in Cote d'Ivoire, Berbers in North Africa…
Hallmarks of Shallow Thinking
Posted on November 4, 2010	by pmbarry
The rabbi at one of the synagogues told the Journal that its website had been visited dozens of times recently by individuals located in Egypt. The episode underscores how crucial it is that U.S. intelligence be able to eavesdrop on email and phone conversations between people abroad and in the U.S., and in real time without having to wait for a warrant.
This is from an Opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal (October 31, 2010), "Hallmarks of al Qaeda," which was published after the failed parcel bomb attacks on cargo planes.
Is it assumed that I will draw a conclusion from the fact that the website of one of the synagogues targeted has been "visited dozens of times recently by individuals located in Egypt"? Am I supposed to think, "…must have been terrorists, casing the joint" — and then congratulate myself on being a regular Sherlock Holmes?
Frankly, without context, I don't know what to make of that information. It might be an interesting data point, but to know whether or not it's interesting, we need more.
Note: "dozens of times" is not an exact number; "recently" is not a precise time frame.
In a typical week, looked at over the last 5 years, how many hits to the website come from Egypt? Was there a sudden jump in the number of hits from Egypt recently? In the past, have there been jumps in the number of hits from Egypt that didn't correlate with a parcel bomb attack, or is this completely unique? How does the number of hits compare to other synagogues, or to other entities, like churches or mosques?
"Visited dozens of times" — are these unique visitors, or http requests? It's important to know what is being counted. A single unique visitor to a single page might generate dozens of http requests in the log, depending on how the page is built.
The drift of reporting has been that these parcel bombs came from Yemen. What is the significance of Egypt in this context? Is it just that Egypt is, to a geographically illiterate readership, "over there" where Yemen is? They aren't in the same timezone, but it is probably less than 2,000 miles from Sana'a to Cairo, so I suppose you could say they are close, like Poland and Wales are close.
Is it that there are a lot of Muslims — and therefore potentially, a disproportionate number of terrorists — in Egypt? Were there recent visitors to the synagogue website from other places where there there might be terrorists, like Pakistan, or Gaza, or London, or New Jersey… or Chicago?
I presume the Journal editorial writer knows that the source IP of a website hit doesn't say much about where the person looking at the the web page is sitting. And if that person doesn't want his physical location known, the source IP says nothing at all, except perhaps that he's not where the source IP is. Someone in Munich can vpn into a network in Egypt and his web requests, from the point of view of the website, will come from Egypt. And, by the way, are there TOR nodes in Egypt?
My point is that it's silly for the Journal to throw out one piece that may or may not belong to a thousand-piece puzzle and expect intelligent readers to know whether the completed puzzle is an old man in a boat or the carcass of a leopard on Mount Kilimanjaro. And it is way beyond silly to propose that anything about this event "underscores how crucial it is that U.S. intelligence be able to eavesdrop on email and phone conversations between people abroad and in the U.S., and in real time without having to wait for a warrant."
Warrants, among other things, prove there's been some work done to ensure that "a person of interest" might really be up to something — not just that he appears to be in Egypt and browsed to a Chicago website. One reason, in my opinion, that the American 3-letter services want to avoid the warrant process and other controls that protect freedom, is that a large number of their employees are loafers, and protecting freedom while they try to catch bad guys is just too much like work.
Any guesses for what the ratio of false positives to real terrorists would be if U.S. Intelligence was not subject to law that prevents promiscuous snooping? Does anyone believe that promiscuous snooping would make it easier to catch real bad guys, who will, of course, change their comm channels as needed — from satellite phone to bicycle courier, or from in-the-clear email to 256-bit encryption?
U.S. "Intelligence" should just get off its obese government butt, quit whining about how it can't do anything unless it can snoop on everything everyone is saying, and get to work.
9ozAnXLL3BDe


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Why defamation doesn't just involve movie stars and media companies
By Erica Vowles and Tegan Osborne for the Law Report
Updated November 07, 2018 07:30:43
Photo: Rebel Wilson sued Bauer Media over articles that damaged her career by depicting her as a liar. (Getty Images: Lisa Maree Williams)
Related Story: 'Girls just wanna have funds': Rebel Wilson case back in court over $1.3m bill
Related Story: Had a terrible meal? Be careful what you say about it online
Related Story: Can you be defamed by Google search results?
Map: Australia
When defamation makes the news it's usually in connection with the rich and famous — like the case involving Australian actor Rebel Wilson, who sued a magazine publisher to the tune of $4.5 million.
But a new study suggests the rich and famous are not your usual plaintiffs when it comes to defamation cases — and that big media companies aren't the usual suspects facing defamation claims.
It's more likely to be average Australians who are both suing over and being accused of defamation, according to the study's author Derek Wilding, from the Centre for Media Transition at the University of Technology Sydney.
Audio: Study finds defamation not just for the rich and famous (Law Report)
And what the average Australian might not know is that you can defame someone with a simple text message.
Dr Wilding's study found that between 2013 and 2017, 51 per cent of defamation actions in Australia were digital cases.
"What we found was people had been posting on Facebook. It involved emails … tweets, text messages, and also quite a number of postings on blogs and websites that were … something other than what you would call media," Dr Wilding said.
In fact, the study found just 26 per cent of the cases looked at involved a media company.
"And of the people that were bringing the actions, only 21 per cent of them could be regarded as public figures," Dr Wilding said.
So who's suing and being sued then?
In one case outlined in the study, a woman sent text messages to her sister saying a man, the plaintiff, had been having both consensual and non-consensual sex with his sisters.
"So the claim was pretty serious, but it was only sent to one person and it was sent by text," Dr Wilding said.
"The plaintiff gave evidence about how he had been affected by this claim about him, [and] what the court referred to as the 'grapevine effect' through the family.
"He said that he no longer receives invitations to social functions and gatherings, and previously he had a good relationship with the family, so it had had this impact."
Photo: Be careful what you say about people in texts, lest it comes back to haunt you in court. (ABC RN)
People probably wouldn't assume that sending a text to your sister constitutes "publication" within the meaning of defamation law, but Dr Wilding said the 'grapevine effect' of the text's content spreading beyond that initial communication did.
"Once you say something and make that statement to someone other than the plaintiff, you are engaging in publication … so the defendant here was liable for her comments," he said.
The plaintiff was awarded $100,000 in damages.
In another case, a Canberra soccer coach was successfully sued for about $180,000, after posting a series of defamatory statements about the chief executive of a football organisation on Facebook.
In this case, the judge paid particular attention to the fact that the posts were made on a public Facebook profile (as opposed to a private one) that anyone could access.
"There were various elements that were involved, particularly in reaching the decision on the damages that were awarded. But the open Facebook was one of those aspects," Dr Wilding said.
Protecting yourself against defamation
While Wilson is looking at a payout worth millions, the majority of people who take a defamation action to court won't be awarded big damages by a judge.
Dr Wilder's study found some damage awards were as low as $2,000.
"In 2015 we found that 21 awards of damages that were under $100,000. So it is often the case that having gone through quite a degree of preparation, a lot of cost and time … the financial rewards are not necessarily that great," he said.
Photo: Defamation law needs to evolve, the same way modern communication has, Dr Wilder says. (Stocksnap: Roman Kraft)
For many plaintiffs, there are no rewards at all.
"We were surprised to find that plaintiffs were successful in only about 35 per cent of the cases that we studied," Dr Wilder said.
"The idea of disputes between individuals over social media posts being solved by legal action is not something that should have great appeal to individuals."
Dr Wilder believes that in the 21st century, when everyone has the power to be a publisher on social media, defamation law in Australia has some catching up to do.
"I think it's definitely the time to reassess whether the law is actually appropriately dealing with the forms of publication that we have today," he said.
Asked what his advice would be to people who are prone to letting off a bit of steam online — be it on Facebook, Twitter or even by text message — when someone upsets them, Dr Wilding said everyone needed to be careful.
"Everyone needs to think twice about the kinds of statements that might be made about people in a social media environment or in text or in email or on blogs," he said.
"Because what most of us don't assume to be the case, is that our actions make us publishers in the same way really that major media organisations are publishers.
"We are subject to the same laws, and potentially we can be involved in quite serious defamation actions that might be costly and time-consuming."
Topics: laws, law-crime-and-justice, internet-culture, information-and-communication, social-media, courts-and-trials, australia

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Call of Duty news, updates, notes, game release details
Call of Duty, Latest
We learned about a week and a half ago that the newest Call of Duty game would be called, 'Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War.' It makes sense that the game would take place sometime in the 1960s in its story mode, featuring storylines of the United States and Russia.
Aside from that, here's more of the latest Call of Duty news.
Call of Duty League backlash
Sporting News reported on a number of internal controversies in the Call of Duty League heading into its championship weekend. A lot of the backlash stems from poor server connections affecting the outcome of matches. OpTic, which was the origination of the worries, was eliminated before the championship round.
Call of Duty League champions
Dallas Empire claimed the $1.5 Million grand prize by winning Call of Duty League. The Empire defeated Atlanta FaZe by a score of 5-1 to claim the crown.
Atlanta had dominated the regular season, but Dallas dominated the championship match. An early 3-0 lead by the Empire put a comeback out of reach for Atlanta.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War beta code
A lucky 10,000 randomly drawn viewers from the Call of Duty League's weekend championship were given beta codes to download Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. Once awarded, the beta code cannot be transferred to a different Playstation Network or Xbox account. The beta is slated to be open for two days.
Call of Duty Warzone cheat-maker apologizes
CxCheat.net was charging up to $60 for cheats to the popular Call of Duty Warzone game. However, Activision sued the cheatmaker, which is removing all the wares from its website.
The message from CxCheat was caught in a Discord channel that has now gone offline, according to Polygon. One developer warned customers, according to Polygon, that "using third-party tools in Call of Duty may result in the suspension or banning of your account," and added that "we apologize for any pain we've caused to players of Call of Duty."
Call of Duty League to wait on expansion
According to ESPN ESports, Call of Duty League will not expand beyond 12 teams in 2021. They instead plan on expanding in 2022. ESPN reported that new owners have expressed interest in joining the league, but that CDL wants to show off its offline events before expanding.
This announcement comes in the midst of financial troubles for many professional sports leagues during the coronavirus pandemic. There are national worries about the future of college sports due to the cancellation of 2020's March Madness basketball tournament, along with many conferences cancelling college sports for the fall.


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7 days in Estado de Mexico Itinerary
Created using Inspirock Estado de Mexico trip planner
Start: Zurich
Fly + Drive: 18h 45min
Zürich Airport (ZRH) — Licenciado Benito Juarez International Airport (MEX)
Licenciado Benito Juarez International Airport (MEX) — San Juan Teotihuacan
San Juan Teotihuacan
Valle de Bravo — Licenciado Benito Juarez International Airport (MEX)
2h 30min
Licenciado Benito Juarez International Airport (MEX) — Zürich Airport (ZRH)
End: Zurich
Read more about Estado de Mexico
Destinations in Estado de Mexico
Things to do in Estado de Mexico
Home to perhaps the most impressive of Mexico's archaeological sites, San Juan Teotihuacan provides easy access to the World Heritage-listed "City of Gods," the largest pre-Columbian urban center in the Americas.
On the 4th (Sun), stop by Galeria Media Luna, then explore the ancient world of Zona Arqueologica Teotihuacan, and then don't miss a visit to Pyramid of the Sun.
To see photos, maps, other places to visit, and other tourist information, read San Juan Teotihuacan visit planner .
Zurich, Switzerland to San Juan Teotihuacan is an approximately 19-hour flight. Due to the time zone difference, you'll gain 6 hours traveling from Zurich to San Juan Teotihuacan. Finish your sightseeing early on the 5th (Mon) to allow enough time to travel to Tenango del Valle.
Things to do in San Juan Teotihuacan
Historic Sites Shopping
Galeria Media Luna
Find places to stay Feb 3 — 5:
Zona Arqueológica de Teotihuacan Estacionamiento Puerta 5
11:00am, Sun Feb 4
The city & municipality of Tenango del Valle and its seat, Tenango de Arista, are located in the southern portion of the Valley of Toluca in Mexico State, about 72 km southwest of Mexico City and 25 km south of Toluca. Start off your visit on the 5th (Mon): take your sightseeing to a higher altitude at Nevado de Toluca and then don't miss a visit to Cristo Rey. Here are some ideas for day two: contemplate the long history of Zona Arqueologica Malinalco, savor the flavors at La Vaquita Negra Del Portal, and then take in nature's colorful creations at Cosmovitral Jardin Botanico.
To see traveler tips, photos, ratings, and more tourist information, you can read our Tenango del Valle trip planner .
You can drive from San Juan Teotihuacan to Tenango del Valle in 2.5 hours. You'll gain 1 hour traveling from San Juan Teotihuacan to Tenango del Valle due to the time zone difference. February in Tenango del Valle sees daily highs of 25°C and lows of 2°C at night. Finish up your sightseeing early on the 7th (Wed) so you can travel to Valle de Bravo.
Things to do in Tenango del Valle
Toluca, Zona Arqueologica Malinalco, Nevado de Toluca, Cristo Rey
Cosmovitral Jardin Botanico
3:00pm, Tue Feb 6
11:30am, Mon Feb 5
Zona Arqueologica Malinalco
10:30am, Tue Feb 6
Valle de Bravo is a town and municipality located in State of Mexico, Mexico. Start off your visit on the 7th (Wed): take in the dramatic scenery at Cascadas Velo de Novia and then contemplate the long history of Valle de Bravo. On your second day here, take some stellar pictures from Mirador La pena, then take in the spiritual surroundings of Carmel Maranatha, and then look for all kinds of wild species at Piedra Herrada Sanctuary.
To find other places to visit, traveler tips, where to stay, and tourist information, read our Valle de Bravo trip maker website .
Getting from Tenango del Valle to Valle de Bravo by car takes about 2 hours. In February, daytime highs in Valle de Bravo are 24°C, while nighttime lows are 2°C. Wrap up your sightseeing on the 8th (Thu) early enough to travel back home.
Things to do in Valle de Bravo
Cascadas Velo de Novia
11:00am, Wed Feb 7
Piedra Herrada Sanctuary
2:00pm, Thu Feb 8
Mirador La pena
10:00am, Thu Feb 8
Best things to do in Estado de Mexico
Best things to do in Valle de Bravo
The Best Neighborhoods in Central Mexico and Gulf Coast
The Best Game and Entertainment Centers in Central Mexico and Gulf Coast


Currently existing techniques for the isolation of circulating tumor cells in blood (CTC) have experimental approaches. Nanoparticles as biosensors could allow a refinement of the method and possible clinical applicability of the CTC-isolation in cancer patients.
In a translational project will be tested at the clinic, the clinical application of a coated with anti-EpCAM antibody-nano-scaled detector for the isolation of CTCs from peripheral blood of patients with prostate cancer. We reported on the results of preclinical testing.
The Nanodetektor consists of a nano-gold particles loaded with steel wire (GILUPI GmbH, Potsdam). This was coated with anti-EpCAM-AK. At first, the characterization of EpCAM expression in established PCa cell lines DU 145, PC3 and LNCaP cells as a model for various tumor entities. Cytochemistry showed that all three established cell lines express EpCAM on the cell membrane. The next step was to determine the cell binding efficiency of an anti-EpCAM-functionalized Nanodetektors in the fluid-dynamic system (Figure 1). The cell-binding experiments with cell lines showed a sufficient covalent binding of cells to the detector. For the characterization of the bound CTC was the multiplex RT-PCR (AdnaTestProstateCancerDetect) is used, the tumor antigens, PSMA, PSA, and EGFR were detected. In another step, blood samples from 20 prostate cancer patients of different stages were studied. These blood samples were used in the fluid dynamic system (Fig. 2). The characterization of isolated cells was carried out on the RT-PCR with regard to the marker PSMA, PSA, EGFR and cytochemical level on the detection of EpCAM expression and the control CD45-staining (Fig. 3). These were isolated on average 42.92 and 3.41 CTC/7.5ml blood at hrPCA CTC/7.5ml in locally limited PCA.
Isolation of CTC using an antibody-coated nano-detector from the blood of prostate cancer patients of different stages is possible with high efficiency. The first in-vivo use of this system is currently being tested clinically.


According to the County Health Rankings and Roadmaps for Maine *, approximately 15% of Hancock County residents are medically uninsured, despite the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). Starting in 2013, Peninsula Free Health Services (PFHS) has provided essential healthcare services to this significant population on the Blue Hill Peninsula and in surrounding communities.
After starting out in borrowed space at the Blue Hill Congregational Church, our clinic now has a permanent home at 26 Hinckley Ridge Road in Blue Hill, adjacent to the School Union 93 Superintendent's Office. We are staffed entirely by volunteer physicians, nurses, paramedics and clerical support. We operate under the administrative umbrella of Downeast Community Partners, formerly Washington Hancock Community Agency (WHCA) (and Family Opportunities), which provides a network of supportive services to our patients. In addition, Downeast Community Partners is a 501(c)(3) corporation, allowing donors to receive a tax benefit for contributions to PFHS.
PFHS enjoys support from the Blue Hill Memorial Hospital, which has been extremely helpful by providing laboratory tests and x-rays at the lowest possible cost. In addition, we have been able to extend the reach of our services by obtaining some low- or no-cost referrals to other medical and dental providers in the area for our patients. We continue developing these referral relationships for our patients who need specialty care beyond the scope of PFHS.
Our clinic promotes the importance of managing chronic illnesses such as diabetes and hypertension as well as increased awareness of the effects of smoking, diet/nutrition and exercise. We also provide referrals to ACA Navigators to help people sign up for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), as well as resources for lower priced prescriptions.
We are taking a brief hiatus from January 29th to February 11th to focus on reorganization and recruitment of more MDs, DOs, Family Nurse Practitioners, PAs and nurses due to the recent retirement of founding medical director Dr. Jane Garfield and Dr. Robert Walker. We are also seeking additional dynamic board members interested in contributing to the growth, improvement, and financial stability of the clinic. We will reopen Monday, February 12th from 3-6 p.m.
We are normally open every Monday from 3p.m. to 6p.m. with the exception of major holidays. Walk ins are welcome! If you have any questions or would like to volunteer, please call us at 207-266-5009 and leave a message if our administrator is unable to answer directly.


Rated 59 / 100 based on 122 customer reviews.
Tiffany Tourist Hotel is located towards the south of Han River in Seoul. The hotel is a short distance away from the World Trade Center, Korea Exhibition Center, ASEM Tower and shopping venues.
Tiffany Hotel offers 52 guest rooms, out of which 9 are decorated in a traditional Korean style. All units are equipped with modern amenities such as TV, refrigerator and dual-line telephone.
Delicious local cuisine is served at Restaurant Aurora, while tasty snacks and refreshing beverages are available at Cafe Terrace.


A weekend trip to Sewickley, Pennsylvania, found Mr. Healey reflecting on the vibrant parish life of a young church he found there. It's one named for Sts. John and Paul--and with a clear spirit inspired by St. Pope John Paul II himself.
Less than one year after his election as the 263rd successor to St. Peter, Pope John Paul II made his way to the United States. It was the first of his seven trips to the fourth largest Catholic country in the world. Only France, with eight, and his homeland of Poland, with nine, had more papal visits. One always got the feeling that America held a special place in his heart, and not just because of the large Polish immigrant communities situated throughout the land.
With his visits came a vision of what the Church should and could be in such a land of plenty, and central to that vision was the importance both of the parish as a home for the family as well as the family home serving as a "domestic church." Certainly, for a Catholic population made up of people from just about every nation on earth this vision would strike a chord, especially with those who were themselves immigrants.
Both those who were new to the United States and those who came here a generation or two ago understood just how essential a parish was to assimilation. Ethnic parishes were such a part of the landscape that one could, as on Fulton Road in Cleveland, stand on the steps of an Italian parish like St. Rocco and look a few hundred yards south and be able to wave to someone on the steps at Blessed Sacrament, the Irish parish.
With the proliferation of urban flight the abandonment of most ethnic parishes was an inevitability, as was the growth of deracinated parishes in the suburbs and exurbs. Just as McMansions sprang up, so did McParishes, indistinguishable one from another, part of the cookie-cutter landscape of middle class America, and more prone than ethnic parishes to American – rather than traditional Catholic – demographics.
And that is exactly what I was expecting when my wife Ann and I ventured to Sunday Mass at Sts. John and Paul Parish in Sewickley, PA, about 20 miles north of the Beechview neighborhood in Pittsburgh where our daughter is living during her post-grad year of service. Sts. John and Paul's parish center was the site of a fundraiser on Saturday night for Change a Heart, the Franciscan program at which Mary Kate is a volunteer, and so we thought it would be an appropriate place to attend Mass the next morning.
What I was expecting and what I got were two entirely different things. This was no McParish. It may not have exuded any specific ethnic culture, but it oozed the type of culture that would make the namesake of its two patron saints proud. St. John Paul's emphasis on the domestic church – the church of the home – as a manifestation of the Culture of Life appeared to animate all that is done at Sts. John and Paul.
They rightly boast on their website that they have the youngest population of any parish in the Diocese of Pittsburgh. They are 2,400 families strong with over 1,000 children in their PSR program. One look around at the congregation confirmed the statistics – I felt like I had stumbled upon a Lamaze class and a day care center all wrapped up into one, or that I had been transported back in time to the beginning of the Baby Boom.
I know that the parish, founded in 1994, was not 'named' for St. John Paul, yet the statue of the Polish pope, the Marian icon on the outer face of the church and the papal insignia carved into each pew give a clear indication that this church was to be imbued with the spirit of the former parish priest from Cracow. Even their tradition of the 'children's blessing' where after Communion all of the children under the age of receiving the Eucharist are called up for a special blessing had the stamp of John Paul all over it. I was reminded of how his life was saved from an assassin's bullet when he bent over to embrace a baby in the crowd of St. Peter's Square on that fateful feast of Our Lady of Fatima in 1981.
Named for the two greatest theologians of the first era of the Church, yet also giving a very obvious nod to the pope who spoke and wrote so often of the need for us all to embody the virtue of hope, this parish models what it is to be a home away from home for the Catholic family, the domestic church. If our hope is in the young, then this parish is a great sign of life in the Church in America in the 21st century. Let us pray to St. John Paul that there are many such parishes throughout our land.


sickroom a room set aside for a sick person.
sic passim (Latin) so everywhere; used in footnotes to indicate that a word, phrase, or idea recurs throughout a work.
sic transit gloria mundi (Latin) thus passes away worldly glory.
side arms small weapons, such as pistols or daggers, carried in a belt or holster.
sidebar a short article that highlights some aspect of the larger news story beside or near which it appears.
sideburns a growth of hair or whiskers along the side of a man's face, esp. when the rest of the beard has been shaved off.
side by side next to each other.
side chair an armless chair, usu. one of a set of such chairs for a dining table.
side check a checkrein that attaches to the bit and extends from the side of a horse's head to the saddle.
sided having sides of a specified material, number, or quality (usu. used in combination).
side dish a portion of food, often vegetables, that accompanies the main course.


text:
Astronomers Discover Clues For How Giant Black Holes Formed So Quickly
TOPICS:AstronomyAstrophysicsBlack HoleChandra X-ray ObservatoryCosmologyHubble Space TelescopePopularSpitzer Space Telescope
By NASA May 25, 2016
This illustration represents the best evidence to date that the direct collapse of a gas cloud produced supermassive black holes in the early Universe. Researchers combined data from NASA's Chandra, Hubble, and Spitzer telescopes to make this discovery.
Using the combined data from Chandra, Hubble, and Spitzer, atronomers have found evidence that some early supermassive black holes formed directly from the collapse of a gas cloud.
Astronomers have found the best evidence yet for cosmic seeds in the early universe that should grow into supermassive black holes.
Researchers combined data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, Hubble Space Telescope, and Spitzer Space Telescope to identify these possible black hole seeds. They discuss their findings in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
"Our discovery, if confirmed, explains how these monster black holes were born," said Fabio Pacucci of Scuola Normale Superiore (SNS) in Pisa, Italy, who led the study. "We found evidence that supermassive black hole seeds can form directly from the collapse of a giant gas cloud, skipping any intermediate steps."
Scientists believe a supermassive black hole lies in the center of nearly all large galaxies, including our own Milky Way. They have found that some of these supermassive black holes, which contain millions or even billions of times the mass of the sun, formed less than a billion years after the start of the universe in the Big Bang.
One theory suggests black hole seeds were built up by pulling in gas from their surroundings and by mergers of smaller black holes, a process that should take much longer than found for these quickly forming black holes.
These new findings suggest instead that some of the first black holes formed directly when a cloud of gas collapsed, bypassing any other intermediate phases, such as the formation and subsequent destruction of a massive star.
"There is a lot of controversy over which path these black holes take," said co-author Andrea Ferrara, also of SNS. "Our work suggests we are narrowing in on an answer, where the black holes start big and grow at the normal rate, rather than starting small and growing at a very fast rate."
The researchers used computer models of black hole seeds combined with a new method to select candidates for these objects from long-exposure images from Chandra, Hubble, and Spitzer.
The team found two strong candidates for black hole seeds. Both of these matched the theoretical profile in the infrared data, including being very red objects, and also emit X-rays detected with Chandra. Estimates of their distance suggest they may have been formed when the universe was less than a billion years old
"Black hole seeds are extremely hard to find and confirming their detection is very difficult," said Andrea Grazian, a co-author from the National Institute for Astrophysics in Italy. "However, we think our research has uncovered the two best candidates to date."
The team plans to obtain further observations in X-rays and the infrared to check whether these objects have more of the properties expected for black hole seeds. Upcoming observatories, such as NASA's James Webb Space Telescope and the European Extremely Large Telescope will aid in future studies by detecting the light from more distant and smaller black holes. Scientists currently are building the theoretical framework needed to interpret the upcoming data, with the aim of finding the first black holes in the universe.
"As scientists, we cannot say at this point that our model is 'the one'," said Pacucci. "What we really believe is that our model is able to reproduce the observations without requiring unreasonable assumptions."
PDF Copy of the Study: First Identification of Direct Collapse Black Hole Candidates in the Early Universe in CANDELS/GOODS-S
Hubble Finds Phantom Imprint in Space Revealing Black Hole Roaming Our Milky Way Galaxy
Missing Seeds: Mysterious Enigma of Supermassive Black Holes
Supermassive Black Holes on a Collision Course: Closest Pair of Supermassive Black Holes to Earth Ever Discovered
Stunning Reveal: First Image of the Black Hole at the Center of Our Milky Way Galaxy
NASA's Gravity Assist: Black Hole Mysteries
Deepening Astronomical Mystery: On the Hunt for a Missing Giant Black Hole
Quick 'Bang' Signals the Most Massive Gravitational-Wave Source Ever Detected
Sizing Up the "Shadows" of Two Supermassive Black Holes in the Process of Colliding
2 Comments on "Astronomers Discover Clues For How Giant Black Holes Formed So Quickly"
Fernando Cruz | May 25, 2016 at 3:52 pm | Reply
As far as technology allows more and more distante observations of the cosmos it's being harder and harder to find new explanations for the colossal structures already present in the "early" universe. The universe must be much older…
oyekunle kayode | June 4, 2016 at 1:39 pm | Reply
from the little I have read ,scientist are really moving fast in discovery and I am just really happy reading this discovery.I Wii be very pleased if I can just be invited be any of this scientists or institute just to learn from them.kudos Cruz you are very right.


"I feel some responsibility to the audience, I want them to leave feeling that they've had some kind of experience that was satisfying. But at the same time, as the guy onstage, I feel some responsibility to making myself feel like there's no safety net." Trent Reznor talks to John Doran. Photo by Kate Beard.
This May sees Nine Inch Nails setting out on their first European tour in six years, taking in large venues in England, Scotland and Wales along the way.
Speaking in an exclusive online interview with The Quietus, Trent Reznor has promised the band will be plundering their whole back catalogue as well as playing tracks from their recent Hesitation Marks album during the visit.
Reznor also explained his anger and frustration at the way his performance - alongside Josh Homme, Lindsey Buckingham and Dave Grohl - was cut short to show a series of ads for airlines and CBS shows.
It's six years since your last full UK tour and five years since you played your UK farewell shows. At that time were you expecting never to be playing Europe again at that scale?
But then if you jump ahead a few years I was working with How To Destroy Angels and had stumbled into doing film work which, regardless of any accolades, was really stimulating, engaging and educational experience; collaborating at that level with other smart people was very stimulating. So after that I started thinking about writing songs with me at the centre again: with me on the stage. There was no pressure or expectations but a couple of experiments really revitalised my excitement for making music that would fit under the umbrella of Nine Inch Nails. Inevitably that led to talk of a full album and that led to someone saying, 'Would you ever consider touring?' And the music felt exciting to me, so I said, 'Yeah, I would like to tour.' Even though that completely contradicted what I'd said a few years earlier… And here we are.
So bearing in mind the fact you're coming back after a break, are you going to construct the set lists mainly from Hesitation Marks or are you going to plunder your entire back catalogue?
TR: The thing I always run into is that, given the length of tour we have to undertake for it to make economic sense, it ends up being a lot longer than if I were just ensuring things were artistically right. The problem emerges where I have a difficult time not getting bored. It gets compounded by the fact we build a pretty elaborate production and as a consequence of that the set list becomes pretty rigid because we're almost directing a movie on stage. There are ebbs and flows and plotlines to it. So just coming out of the Tension tour in 2013, it feels like, 'OK, we've checked that box.' That tour was very focused, we had an eight piece band, I got to work with some heroes of mine - Pino Palladino [Welsh fretless bass wizard, Ed] was in the band. We were able to explore the new material in depth and produce some older material to fit that ensemble of people. At the end of that period I was like, 'OK, we've done that. I'm sick of that.' We whittled the band down to a four piece and so for the next few months of touring… I don't know if 'loose' is the right word… but it's going to be more malleable. The band is more nimble. The focus of the band is a lot more deconstructed. So we're focussing on more of the more electronic material. We're not going to go as deep into the new album. We're touching on it but not going so far into it which is interesting for us. There's always a balance. I feel some responsibility to the audience, I want them to leave feeling that they've had some kind of experience that was satisfying. But at the same time, as the guy onstage, I feel some responsibility to making myself feel like there's no safety net.
TR: [laughs] Yeah, it's not necessarily by design but when we play those songs I start sweating and it becomes this visceral, cathartic thing. The last tour we just did in the States here, it felt quite a bit different to me. I was surprised when I saw the feedback from the audience was overwhelmingly positive because it felt to me like we'd broken that mold a bit. Extended sections of the show are now downtempo and atmospheric instead of just being about punching people in the face continuously. And it felt interesting. And I was proud to be able to get away with that. It may be a compromise but I've always felt that if you're coming out to see the band - if you've invested in the price of a ticket - I do feel some responsibility to the people in the audience. I want them to leave there feeling satisfied. So I think we got away with a variation on the formula in 2013 in North America. This tour I suspect will be a bit more aggressive, stripped of the trimmings - there are no backing singers on stage - it's not about proving that point, it's about inhabiting these songs until something happens. And yes, it's exhausting and right now I'm realising that I've sat stationary for the last two months and I'm about to pay the price for that.
Did you learn anything else on the Tension tour of North America - things that you're going to apply on this European tour?
TR: What we do on the European tour will be a reaction to what we did in America. That tour having an elaborate amount of production. I felt a great amount of pride as we were about to go onstage every night thinking, 'If everything works and nobody kicks the plug out of the wall...' A lot of thought and preparation went into it and it framed the music in an interesting way. It was a great way to represent the music and where we were at that point but again you start to get tired of that as a performer and musician. It feels like you're trapped into this construct you've made and it lacks in spontaneity. You start to feel, 'Right, I know exactly where I'm going to be in 82 minutes' time from now.' My reaction coming out of that is to do the exact opposite and feel much more alive again and to stay in the moment. As I've gotten older I have a tougher time trying to stay in the moment and to not rest on my laurels and to keep it challenging for myself.
Were you given any kind official apology or explanation over what happened with the Grammys?


An accountancy practice with over 60 offices nationwide has expanded their services to Sunderland City Centre with the help of Pulse Creative Marketing.
Certax Sunderland, a branch of Certax Accounting, is a professional practice offering a full range of services to SME's and individuals. Part of a well-respected network of accountants, the locally owned and managed business allows clients to access specialist services and benefits without the extensive cost of relying on larger accounting firms.
Michael Hendy, who runs Certax Sunderland from offices at Foyle Street, Sunderland, is a fully qualified Chartered Management Accountant and Director. His aim is to provide a service that goes beyond just "doing the books"; delving deeper into the client business support requirements and offering advice by applying 25 years of experience to the practice.
The practice offers a full range of accountancy, taxation, book-keeping, payroll and consultancy services to individuals, sole-traders and companies. The ethos is "no customer is too small" and accounting needs can be met whatever the circumstances and whatever the size of the business. Certax are proactive accountants who take a genuine interest in your business and aim to help you to become more profitable.
The finished website boasted full functionality and responsive design, giving users the opportunity to access the site on a range of compatible devices. Pulse Creative Marketing also produced a variety of promotional material: stationery, leaflets, banner stands and window graphics needed for Certax Sunderland to be recognised as a professional practice.


Chances are, a family you know has been wounded by domestic violence. DV is equal opportunity and non-discriminatory. It rips through families across all demographic groups: the old and young, rich and poor, the nameless and famous; and is present in just about every ethnic group. In 1996, the FBI reported that 30% of all female murder victims were killed by a husband or boyfriend. Although the majority of DV victims are women, men are also victimized by abusive spouses and lovers, both heterosexual and homosexual.
Domestic violence is the crime no one wants to talk about. Its victims – the abused along with family members who witness abuse – are filled with both fear and humiliation. Victims typically feel that they somehow deserved the emotional, psychological or physical battering they received. They are bound to their abusers – wife, husband, parent, chlld, lover – by loyalty, love, law, and/or economic dependency. Their abusers routinely keep them silenced by threats of more violence against themselves and their children, parents, or other loved ones.
A 1991 survey sponsored by the Commonwealth Fund estimated that one in every three women in the U.S. experiences physical or sexual abuse by a husband or boyfriend at least once in her life. The American Psychological Association reported in 1996 that 40-60% of men who abuse women also abuse children.
DV is the crime that keeps on giving. Children who grow up witnessing and experiencing violence in the home are more likely to engage in aggression and violence themselves. Battered children often become batterers when they grow up.
Shelby County has the highest incidence of domestic violence in the state. Domestic assaults comprise roughly 10 percent of all incident reports filed with the Memphis Police Department. MPD's most recent data (2012) show over 850 DV reports monthly; children were present in the home in 80% of those cases. Domestic violence complaints may include threatening, harassing and obscene phone calls; stalking; simple and aggravated assault; attempted assault; intimidation; verbal abuse; elder abuse; child abuse; theft and malicious damage to personal property of an abused person; violation of protective orders; kidnapping; and homicide. Tennessee's 1997 law defining domestic violence is broad based. It applies not only to intimate partners or former partners, but also to roommates, dating partners, and relatives. Assault cases involving siblings also fall under domestic violence statutes. When the 1997 law was enacted, reported DV incidents increased by 24 percent in the following year.
There is no quick cure for domestic violence. Like other cultural evils of the 21st century, it is complex and multi- dimensional. We are, however, learning more about how to break the silence that prevents victims from coming forward. Organizations in every state provide safe havens, counseling, encouragement and other resources to help victims and their families.
the more DV crimes will be reported, litigated, and the perpetrators incarcerated.
Gregory M. Jones is the founder of Walking In Her Shoes, a national organization dedicated to ending the cycle of domestic violence, child abuse and sexual abuse. Walking In Her Shoes encourages national dialogue about DV and connects victims of DV to resources in their states. Gregory founded Walking In Her Shoes in May 2011, one month after his cousin Tasha Veney was murdered at a day care center by the father of her children. The organization sponsors awareness events in cities across the country. Donations go to help DV victims and their families, often including burial expenses.
Walking in Her Shoes event.
This Saturday, April 18, 2015, Gregory Jones and Walking in Her Shoes come to Memphis. Sponsored by Tammy Gaitor Miller of Butterfly Evolution, the free three-hour event (10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.) includes a mini-conference and awareness walk. The four speakers have known DV first hand and now work to support other DV victims, prevent DV, and educate the public.
LaShanta Rudd is an author, speaker, founder of Serving In Christ Outreach Ministry, whose programs include Hope and Glory Women's Shelter.
Gregory Williamson is a barber, entrepreneur, ordained minister, speaker, and co-founder of Circle of Life Transformation Center. The Center works to help DV ex-felons re-enter society as responsible, productive citizens, and mentors young men at risk for violent crimes.
Ginger E. Lay of Atlanta is an entrepreneur, speaker and advocate against domestic violence.
DeSanta Page of Memphis is a speaker and advocate against domestic violence.
The event will be held at Caritas Village, 2509 Harvard St. (near Sam Cooper Blvd. and Hollywood). Join us in speaking out for those who fear to raise their voices against domestic violence.


When making your plans to visit Southern Michigan, be sure to make reservations at a beautiful and romantic bed and breakfast near Jonesville, Michigan. The members of the Southern Michigan Bed and Breakfast Association provide accommodations with personalized service, top-notch amenities, and mouth-watering breakfasts that will exceed your expectations of typical chain hotels.
Jonesville, MI is a lovely rural village that offers a wonderful downtown area of its own as well as close proximity to many of the area's most exciting attractions. Great food can be found at several unique restaurants in and around Jonesville. Spend some time searching for just the right treasure in nearby Allen, the antique capital of Michigan. Just twenty miles away in Brooklyn, MI is the world-famous Michigan International Speedway, where NASCAR fans can go to enjoy all the excitement of a day at the races. Alternatively, you may choose to spend an afternoon on the Pioneer Wine Trail touring vineyards, or you might select a round of golf at a challenging local course.
The beauty of the Lower Peninsula, the variety of activities and incredible food, along with the relaxed and friendly atmosphere of a Jonesville-area inn will come together to create an ideal Michigan getaway.


This ring features breathtaking cushion cut white sapphires hand set in our signature Cushion Three Stone Setting. Available now in sterling silver or 14k yellow gold.
Genuine Cultured Light White Sapphire.


Like the Fantastic Four where each member has a specialized talent that makes them the fighters of evil, the pest control technicians at PestMax are the heroes on our pest management team! They are certified and highly experienced in searching for and destroying any un-invited pests in your home or business. With just a phone call, a hero will race to your rescue!
Our Work :-This was developed from an existing website.
Great freelancer, would hire again.


text:
An Influencer and Pilot Talks Gender Diversity in the Airline Industry
Home » Women in Leadership » An Influencer and Pilot Talks Gender Diversity in the Airline Industry
Women are still a tiny minority of airline pilots, and Maria Pettersson, known on Instagram as Pilot Maria, hopes to see some major changes in that regard.
What inspired you to become an airline pilot?
I wanted to do a profession where I could travel and explore the world. Since a few years back I had been backpacking around the world and lived abroad. I couldn't see myself doing an office job. My dad used to fly small, single engine aeroplanes when he was younger, never commercially, more as a hobby. I think unintentionally he passed that interest over to me. As soon as I decided that I wanted to become an airline pilot I couldn't see myself doing anything else.
Why did you start using social media to share your career as an airline pilot?
My first job as a pilot took me to beautiful Sicily in Italy where I lived and worked for over two years. My family and friends back in Sweden, knowing all the hard work I had put in, were of course curious to know how everything was going, so I decided to start an Instagram where I could share my adventures for everyone to follow. I later learned how to use hashtags and reach out to a wider audience. I found out that it's not just us pilots who love flying, the community is so much bigger, from flight attendants, to plane spotters, travelers, and those scared of flying who wanted to learn more of what's going on behind that closed cockpit door.
Do you have any role models or mentors in your industry? If so, how have they helped you in your career?
When I started my journey to become a pilot, I didn't know anyone else that was a pilot. It wasn't till later that social media became a thing and I could follow other pilots and get inspired. One of the first female pilots that I started to follow was @susythepilot and I guess she became a role model for me. And especially now as well as an expecting mother, I can seek advice from her as she, a few years back, had a little one herself. There are not many female pilots, we're only about four or five percent, so it's great to have someone I can ask when questions arise.
What advice would you have for women who are just starting their career as an airline pilot?
Don't think you are anything less for being a female in this industry, don't set your mind to that you will struggle for being a woman. There is nothing in flying an aeroplane that makes it easier to do just because you're a man, and there nothing that makes it more difficult just because you're a woman. In-flight deck we're all equal!
What is the best part about being able to share your experiences with your followers?
I love that I get to inspire others to become pilots. But not just pilots, I love that I get to inspire women and young girls that they can do anything they want, regardless of the typical stereotype.
What are some best practices for women who want to rise in leadership within the airline industry?
Don't see yourself as different, see yourself as unique. See yourself as one in this 4 percent of female pilots who want to break the stereotype, see that as a power rather than a limit.
What are the changes you would like to see in the airline industry for women?
I would like to see better maternity schemes and female adapted uniforms. I know so many companies that still don't have female shirts, for example, and they have to get the men's shirts that of course doesn't fit the female body. I would love to see more females starting their pilot career. We need to go back to young ages and break the stereotype of all pilots being men with a thick moustache.


text:
Зератул () — персонаж серии компьютерных игр StarCraft и игры-кроссовера Heroes of the Storm.

Создание
Персонаж был создан Крисом Метценом из Blizzard Entertainment на основе концептов, созданных другими художниками Blizzard, такими как Сэмвиз Дидьер.
Крис Метцен упомянул, что Джек Ритсчел умер во время разработки игры, и, таким образом, Фред Татаскиоре стал новым голосовым актёром.
Татаскиоре описал Зератула как невероятного персонажа, своеобразного «Дарта Вейдера», и одного из лучших персонажей, которых он когда-либо играл.

Биография
Зератул — 638-летний Тёмный Тамплиер. Как и предков всех темных тамплиеров, его изгнали с родной планеты за отказ следовать учению Кхала. Хотя он и ненавидит Конклав Протоссов за это, он всегда благородно поступает по отношению к своим бывшим братьям.

На планете Чар
Зератул провел много десятилетий вдали от Шакураса на заданиях, включая наблюдение за протоссами Айура. Он с небольшим отрядом прилетел на псионический зов Сары Керриган на планету Чар. Пока он находился там он встретил  Тассадара, непредубежденного члена Касты Тамплиеров.

Объединенив усилия, они спрятались от зергов. После перерождения зараженной Керриган, Тассадар отвлек её на время, достаточное для того, чтобы Зератул смог убить Заша, главу Роя зергов Гарм. Это убийство создало связь между Зератулом и Сверхразумом Зергов, которая позволила Зератулу узнать о планах Сверхразума, а Сверхразуму узнать местонахождение родины протоссов — Айура, так же могла быть передана и другая информация.

Керриган нанесла сокрушительный удар по протоссам на Чаре. Во время битвы Зератул и Керриган смогли «обменяться любезностями». Зератул предсказал ей: «Ваше прибытие было предсказано… Вы — часть кульминации. Но не конец её. Вы должны показать путь, путь который должен быть выбран, путь недействующих уже более старых истин. Ты не играешь решающей роли, но само твое существование указывает на то, что должно быть сделано».

Тассадар вырвался на орбитальную платформу над планетой Чар, в то время как Зератул с небольшой группой темных тамплиеров был заперт в бункере Терранов.

Спасение
Тассадар освободил его, и вместе они улетели на Айур, где встретили Феникса и возглавили восстание против Конклава Протоссов, который препятствовал их борьбе против зергов. Конклав назвал всех кто сотрудничает с темными Тамплиерами врагами Конклава. Когда Тассадар сдался Конклаву, Зератул исчез, но затем провел операцию по его спасению. С Алдарисом у них состоялся сложный разговор, в котором он обнаружил свои поразительные знания о вселенной.

Смерть Сверхразума
Следующий поступок Зератула изменил лицо Айура. Он убил ещё двоих наместников Сверхразума, благодаря чему два роя зергов вышло из-под контроля. Это ослабило защиту вокруг Сверхразума для того, чтобы войска Тассадара смогли приблизиться к нему.

После того как протоссы победили зергов, Сверхразум предпринял попытку сбежать. Тассадар пожертвовал собой для того, чтобы уничтожить его, используя специальную технику, которой его обучил Зератул.

Темное Убежище
Зерги пронеслись через весь Айур, уничтожив 70 % населения. Зератул решил, что протоссы должны покинуть Айур и попасть на Шакурас через Портал. Алдарис неохотно согласился. Зератул персонально отвел беглецов к порталу, где их ждали Феникс и командир Терранов, Джим Рейнор, который помог протоссам уничтожить Сверхразум. Они остались защищать портал снаружи.

Опасный Союзник
На Шакурасе, Зератул встретился с Матриархом Рашжагал и получил указание объединиться с Керриган и найти кристаллы Урай и Кхалис, которые смогли бы активировать храм Зел'Нага и уничтожить зергов, которые проследовали за ними в портал. Из-за вторжения зергов, портал был закрыт и это было катастрофическое решение.

Зератул наставлял юного Претора Артаниса на путь гуманности, но сам не участвовал в его операциях. По его возвращению, он застал Шакурас в состоянии разорения. Алдарис обнаружил, что зараженная Керриган каким-то способом смогла управлять разумом Рашжагал. В то время, как Зератул и Рашжагал направили свои силы на уничтожение Алдариса, Зератул чувствовал, что Алдарис был прав из-за странных и резких приказов Рашжагал. Его опасения подтвердились, когда Керриган появилась в момент разговора с Алдарисом и убила его.

Ярость Зел'Нага
Зератул персонально доставил Кхалис в храм Зел'Нага и вместе с Артанисом они смогли активировать его.

Зератулу нужно было выполнить секретное задание на Айуре, (см. StarCraft: Enslavers II), но он не смог связаться с Джимом Рейнером и Фениксом, чтобы предупредить их о предательстве Керриган.

Предательство Керриган
Далее Зератул появляется в момент, когда Керриган похищает Расшагал с Шакураса, в решительной атаке на планету, защищаемую храмом Зел'Нага. Керриган предлагает Тёмному прелату сделку: Зератул убивает второй Сверхразум в обмен на Расшагал. У Зератула не было выбора, он уничтожил новый Сверхразум, но Керриган не выполнила свою часть сделки. Расшагал находилась под полным контролем Керриган и отказалась возвращаться. Чуть позже Тёмному тамплиеру удалось похитить Расшагал из стана зергов.

Зератул поместил её в стазис-ячейку, где он ждал пространственного призыва, который занял бы некоторое время. Увы, этого времени было достаточно, чтобы Керриган смогла победить его войска, но это вынудило её разместить большинство своих войск на планете Чар, далеко от космических платформ на орбите, первой линии её обороны. В мучении, Зератул разбивает стазис-ячейку и убивает Матриарха. В предсмертных мыслях, Расшагал сделала Зератула лидером темных тамплиеров.

Зератул: «Будь проклята, Керриган, за то что я вынужден сделать!»Расшагал: «Спасибо, Зератул… Ты наконец-то спас меня от её мерзкого контроля. Ты всегда верно служил мне… И поэтому я должна попросить тебя… присмотреть за моими людьми… В твои руки передаю я будущее.»Керриган: «Я не могу поверить в это! Ты убил своего Матриарха!»Зератул: «Лучше бы я убил её сам, чем оставил бы её жить заражённой тобой, Керриган.»
Несмотря на все, Керриган отпустила Зератула, мотивировав это, что ей будет достаточно знать, что каждая минута для Зератула отныне будет мучительной, и лучшей мести она не может себе представить.

Темное Происхождение
Зератул скрылся с небольшим отрядом, потому как Керриган уничтожила большинство его войск. Он попытался найти Артаниса или других протосских воинов, но попытка оказалась неудачной. Вместо этого он обнаружил темную луну, похожую на Браксис, с признаками присутствия энергии протоссов.

На луне он сражается с наемниками терранов и спасает несколько заключенных протоссов, включая архонта. Также он обнаруживает, что над зергами производятся эксперименты по созданию гибридов зерг/протосс. Ещё больше он удивляется, когда Самир Дюран называет себя организатором этого Великого Эксперимента, несмотря на прежний статус одного из Роя Зергов.

Дюран говорит Зератулу, что Керриган не имеет отношения к этому эксперименту, «хотя её перерождение и ускорило мое продвижение». Дюран также говорит ему, что является «слугой гораздо более значительных сил». Зератул чувствует, что эти гибриды несут угрозу, и Дюран соглашается, говоря «это существо — завершение цикла. Его роль в космическом порядке была предопределена ещё когда звезды были молоды. Созерцайте кульминацию вашей истории». Его приход «изменит вселенную… навсегда.»

Зератул атакует гибрида, что является естественной реакцией, так как все это вызывает в нём отвращение.

Зератул покидает луну, обеспокоенный и не способный передать другим протоссам то, что он узнал. Зератул и Джим Рейнор исчезли, уйдя разными путями, и с тех пор ничего о них не было слышно.

Зератул в StarCraft II
В игре StarCraft II Wings of Liberty Зератулу посвящено 4 миссии и несколько связанных с ними роликов (один из них — CG, ставшей трейлером к игре до её выхода). Зератул тайно является Джиму Рейнору на крейсере Гиперион и передает ему устройство, хранящее память о его (Зератула) путешествии. Смотря записи в кристале, Джим переживает все, что произошло с темным тамплиером — а именно, он получил страшное пророчество о том, что близится конец света и что древний зел-нага Амун, причастный к созданию зергов и протоссов, собирается погубить их и с ними существенную часть мироздания. В своем путешествии Зератул спасает трех бессмертных протосских мудрецов и посещает разлагающеся тело Сверхразума зергов, в результате чего и узнает подробности о том как предотвратить ужасное пророчество — ключом к спасению должна стать Керриган, королева клинков. И теперь, несмотря на то, что она является врагом главных героев, они понимают отчаянную необходимость сохранить ей жизнь.

В игре StarCraft II Heart of the Swarm Зератул встречается с Керриган и указывает ей на планету Зерус для «обретения силы» — по сути, для возвращения к облику Королевы Клинков. Зератул понимает, что при этом придется пожертвовать чувствами Джима Рейнора, но идет на эту жертву, чтобы повысить шанс Королевы Клинков выжить. Корабль Зератула, «Искатель Пустоты», улетает с планеты Зерус.

В игре StarCraft II Legacy of the Void Зератул является главным героем пролога — трех начальных миссий под названием «Предчувствие Тьмы». Многие рассчитывали, что он будет главным героем всей кампании, но эту роль разработчики внезапно и неожиданно для игроков отдали Артанису. В этой части он находит способ освободить протоссов от влияния падшего Зел-Нага Амуна, однако способ этот воистину ужасен — все протоссы должны отсечь свои пси-рецепторы. В ходе игры Зератул спасает одержимого волей Амуна Артаниса, отрубив его пси-рецепторы, но оказывается убит одержимым Иерархом. Умирая он рассыпается в пепел, оставляя после себя лишь свой клинок искривления и повязку, которая, подхваченная ветром, улетает вместе с прахом погибшего тамплиера. После Артанис горько раскаивается в содеянном и использует в бою клинок Зератула наравне со своим на протяжении всей оставшейся кампании. Артанис признает Зератула величайшим героем протоссов наравне с Адуном и Тассадаром и произносит перед взятием Айура: «Эн таро Адун! Эн таро Тассадар! Эн таро Зератул!».

Воплощение в играх
На протяжении всех частей Starcraft где он является играбельным персонажем, Зератул представлен уникальным одноимённым юнитом ближнего боя. Как и обычные Темные Тамплиеры постоянно невидим. Он имеет увеличенные по сравнению с другими юнитами характеристики и вооружен уникальным клинком искривления Мастера, наносящим колоссальный урон в ближнем бою и способным уничтожить практически любого противника с двух-трех ударов. «Визитная карточка» этого персонажа — цифровой показатель урона в 100 единиц, что неизменно сохранялось до Starcraft II Legacy of the Void, где его урон был по неизвестным причинам снижен. Не имеет дальнобойных атак, но в трилогии Starcraft 2 способен телепортироваться на небольшие расстояния. Также во второй трилогии имеет уникальную способность «Узы Пустоты», помещающую в стазис любого противника.

В игре-кроссовере Heroes of the Storm является играбельным героем ближнего боя относящимся к классу Убийц. Постоянно замаскирован и может телепортироваться не снимая невидимость. Также в этой игре впервые получил способность наносящую урон на расстоянии. Как и в оригинале, имеет очень высокий урон от автоатак.

Критика
GameSpot описал всех персонажей в StarCraft как трёхмерных, полных индивидуальности и сложности, но тем не менее, даже среди этого звездного состава Зератул выделяется как самый благородный из героев, хотя он окутан плащом тайны и отчужденности.

GameSpot поместила его в десятку лучших героев в компьютерных играх, описав его как «темного воина, который защищает свет» и «добровольного козла отпущения» для своих людей.

Примечания

Ссылки
 Официальная страничка StarCraft
 StarCraft на Battle.net
 Биография Зератула
 Underwood, Peter, Bill Roper, Chris Metzen and Jeffrey Vaughn. StarCraft (Manual). Irvine, Calif.: Blizzard Entertainment, 1998.

Персонажи-инопланетяне

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Moo and Brew Fest…What More Could a Beer-Drinking Carnivore Want??
Creative Loafing's First Moo and Brew Fest was on April 11 at NC Music Factory in Charlotte, NC. The event featured a VIP tasting from 12-2 and a General Tasting from 2-6 where attendees could sample unlimited tastes of beer from over 20 breweries and bottle shops and purchase slider samples, which ranged in price from $2-$3. Restaurants competed for the coveted title of Creative Loafing Best Burger Charlotte. Attendees were given a ticket to vote for their favorite burger. Each representative restaurant prepared two of their best burgers for a mass of hungry attendees. The burgers selection included many creative concoctions, including burgers made with bison, livermush, pulled pork, and brisket.
At the end of the day, my vote went to Bang Bang Burgers and hubby voted for Heist Brewery–we wanted to give our favorite two burgers a shot at the win. Heist Brewery served their Burger Burger Burger slider, a meaty treat comprised of brisket, porterhouse tail, and chuck, topped with jalapeno bacon jam, herbed goat cheese, roasted tomatoes and pork belly brioche. Hungry yet?? If so, get your taste buds ready for Bang Bang's burger– a juicy pimento cheese burger served with a DELICIOUS side of sweet potato chips topped with a magical maple drizzle. At the end of the day, Bang Bang Burgers was the champion.
The selection of beer was adequate and there was enough beer to last through the entire event. I was excited to try a few new breweries I had not yet sampled, such as Sugar Creek Brewery, The Barking Duck Brewing Company, and Sycamore Brewing. There were several bottle shops that had tents, where they poured a variety of beers ranging from Foothills Sexual Chocolate to Bell's HopSlam. One of the friendliest bottle shop vendors was Robert Burrage of Lil' Robert's Place in Concord. I had to snap a pic with him! Notice behind us, he has his own sticker made in his likeness. What a great guy!
Just before I left for the day, I found a new, fun line of wine spritzers from Barefoot called Refresh. These semi-bubbly beverages are available in several flavors and are perfect for an afternoon relaxing on the porch.
All in all, the Moo and Brew Fest was a fun event with lots of great vendors and beer. I did find the tickets a bit pricey at $50 each, especially when the sliders had to be purchased separately.


Cultural Studies Review 2015. © 2015 Emma Willis. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported (CC BY 4.0) License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), allowing third parties to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format and to remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially, provided the original work is properly cited and states its license.
After finishing Bryoni Trezise's erudite book about the performance of feeling in cultures of memory, there were several questions that lingered for me as someone also interested in the relation between aesthetics and violence. Some of those questions are easier to put than others. How do we construct aesthetic responses that hold violent structures and ideologies to account without 'doing violence' to the spectators of those depictions? Or must spectators be exposed to violence in some way to have their political and ethical consciousness raised? If the latter, what do we make of our affective complicity in economies of violence? Trezise's book takes on the quandaries that oscillate around the memorialisation and performance of histories of violence in a way that not only scrutinises the operation of cultures of memory but also provides a significant point of departure for understanding these practices in affective terms.
While Trezise comes from a theatre and performance studies background, the case studies she traverses cover a wide-range of modalities and mediums: concentration camp memorials, the Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park, the television series Crossing Over with John Edward, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's online memorial, the virtual Kristallnacht that exists in Second Life and, finally, Italian theatre company Socìetas Raffaello Sanzio's performance Tragedia Endogonia Br. #04 Bruxelles. In each case study, Trezise examines the role of affect in meeting the challenge of remembering the victims and perpetrators of violence without turning violent histories into affective spectacles that enable spectators 'to affirm their own domain of moral self-certainty'. (41) While this ethical-representational tension has been widely addressed in the fields of trauma studies, memory studies, Holocaust studies and performance studies, Trezise brings to the established conversation a new and highly detailed reading of affect theory coupled with insight from her background in theatre studies. Her rigorous interrogation of the manner in which cultural meaning is generated through feeling bodies places the experiencing body at the centre of the inquiry.
Of particular interest to Trezise are instances of 'affective spill' where a kind of meta-affectivity comes into play—moments when spectators are able to perceive the affective circuits of feeling that are usually opaque within memorial settings. As an example of 'affective spill' Trezise uses Jane Korman's Dancing Auschwitz project, which features among other components a video of the artist's grandfather and family members dancing at Auschwitz to the soundtrack of Gloria Gaynor's disco anthem 'I Will Survive'. Korman's response to the Holocaust strikingly transgresses memory affect's normative emotional script. By 'treading on the graves', as Trezise describes it, 'Dancing Auschwitz makes what might have otherwise been the unconscious contradictions of smiling while mourning, of photography of the sacred, of indecent gestural codes, visible and empowering'. (54) Such moments of meta-affective spill effect a paradigmatic shift that can be summarised as 'de-remediating the memory affect' thereby enabling 'memory's affectivity to be meta-affectively re-perceived'. (139) Throughout the book, Trezise draws directly on her own experiences as spectator to illustrate when spill occurs. This autoethnographic element is a strength of the book since Trezise reperforming her responses to various sites triggers the reader's response as bystander to her account. Indeed, one of my only quibbles with the book is that she might have made more of this second-order spill.
Building from this experience, Trezise ends the chapter by calling for a dramaturgy that 'stages a place of potentiality' that would 'harness the accidental affects that percolate at the edges of this tired, and tightly bursting scripted repertoire'. (78) What might such a dramaturgy look like? I wonder if including examples of the work of Indigenous artists might suggest the ways in which many Indigenous peoples, including those engaged by tourist operations such as Tjapukai, have long since moved away from situations of bathos to the staging of a 'continuing affective state of becoming other-wise'. (78) The different cultural, historical and political coordinates at play at a site such as Tjapukai illustrate the problem with deploying a term like memory affect across such a broad spread of examples. Had the chapter on Tjapukai incorporated Aboriginal points of view, the analysis might have been productively challenged and enriched. That said, the fact that Trezise extends her inquiry to address Tjapukai makes a valuable contribution to cultural tourism studies and postcolonial studies.
The next chapter moves from the televisual to the virtual with the example of Kristallnacht in Second Life, which illustrates the spatial, psychological and political contours of the online museum not least by requiring the visitor to construct an avatar. Trezise begins by pointing out the strong tendency for virtual museums to recreate the familiar tropes of existing museums and memorials, an observation that also proves true in the affective domain: 'memory culture in "Second Life" could be seen to participate in the continued circulation of a range of problematic "wound culture" affects, such that it … serves the moral certitude of the spectator as witness over the subject being recollected'. (109) What is original to virtual domains, however, is their timeless or deathless aspect. That is, the materiality of the virtual is identical to both historical subject and the avatar assumed to enter the memorial space. Unlike other performative encounters commemorating historical atrocities, subject and spectator are commonly composed in the shared space of the virtual. As Trezise points out, 'virtual traumas are those cultural texts that have been produced by digital media in response to traumatic events, but are also importantly, the constitution of those events specifically through, and as, digitisation'. (116) Yet, once again, it is in the space of affective disruption, here characterised as 'affective indifference', that Trezise locates the ethical potential of virtualised memorial spaces. Specifically, the affective indifference that follows the distanciation of certain aspects of Kristallnacht in Second Life enables Trezise to 'sense myself as a feeling being'. (135) No matter its virtual original, affective indifference directs attention back to embodied feeling.
It is the materiality of the body to which Trezise turns in her final chapter on Socìetas Raffaello Sanzio's performance, Tragedia Endogonia Br. #04 Bruxelles. Trezise's background as a theatre scholar comes to the fore in this chapter and allows her to skilfully advance the overall argument of the book. At its heart is a description of the main action of #04 Bruxelles, which is the enactment of the beating of an anonymous man. Trezise focuses on the painfulness of watching the beating, which was both clearly staged and at the same time affectively overwhelming in its 'realness'. In particular, she recalls the amplified sound of the rubber baton hitting the body. As a reader, I found compelling the way the viscerality of the sound 'spilled' across media, creating what theatre scholar Caroline Wake describes as a kind of tertiary witnessing in the reader through the evocation of the effect of the performance on the original spectator.2 Trezise writes that the effect of the beating was a kind of 'affective listening' (154) where her own 'sensorial subjectivity' (155) was revealed. She notes that many spectators walked out of the performance, unable to cope with the 'pain' of acting as witness to such a violent spectacle. Trezise stayed to the end of the performance and subsequently recalls in writing her self consciousness as a spectator who hears herself hearing and feels herself feeling: 'What happens here is a startling process by which, through affect, I simultaneously perceive affect as well as its affect-effects, at work.' (155) It is precisely this transformation of perception—enabled through aesthetic processes grounded in an affectively oriented performance practice —that Trezise has been in pursuit of throughout the book. This is 'spectatorship that hurts' and its pain is of an altogether different character to that provided by those commodified trauma experiences that reassure the self-certain subject of the moral landscape on which they stand and feel.
The image given on the cover of Trezise's book gives a partial reply to the bind Rancière identifies. It features a still from the video recording of Korman's I Will Survive, which shows her father and three of his grandchildren dancing at Auschwitz. Korman's father wears a shirt emblazoned 'survivor' and smiles directly at the camera. Alongside him, three of his grandchildren dance in profile each wearing shirts that read 'third gen'. Even in freeze-frame this image captures the joy of life, its persistence and literal regeneration, alongside the loss that makes it all the more palpable. Here the long reach of pain is acknowledged yet overcome in an unwillingness to defer to another economy of feeling. #04 Bruxelles, on the other hand, creates a violent present in which the unbearableness of the beating shatters spectatorial complacency through a concurrent absorption in and repellence from the action. In the end, I wonder if the case made by Trezise's book isn't for the necessity of both integrative and shattering aesthetics, and the restless, relentless movement that can be traced between them.
Emma Willis is a lecturer in drama at the University of Auckland. Recent publications include Theatricality, Dark Tourism and Ethical Spectatorship: Absent Others (2014); 'Emancipated Spectatorship and Subjective Drift: Understanding the Work of the Spectator in Erik Ehn's Soulographie', Theatre Journal, no. 66, 2014; 'Makeshift Memory: Engaging an Aesthetic of Transition', Ekfrase: Nordic Journal of Visual Culture, no. 2, 2014 and 'A Thousand Hills: Responding to the Ethical Nightmare', Australasian Drama Studies, no. 66, 2015.
1 Philip Stone and Richard Sharpley, 'Consuming Dark Tourism: A Thanatological Perspective', Annals of Tourism Research, vol. 35, no. 2, 2008, p. 575.
2 Caroline Wake, 'The Accident and the Account: Towards a Taxonomy of Spectatorial Witness in Theatre and Performance Studies', in Bryoni Trezise and Caroline Wake (eds), Visions and Revisions: Performance, Memory, Trauma, Museum Tusculanum Press, Copenhagen, 2013.
3 Jacques Rancière, Dissensus: On Politics and Aesthetics, Continuum, London, 2010, p. 186.
Rancière, J., Dissensus: On Politics and Aesthetics, Continuum, London, 2010.
Wake, C., 'The Accident and the Account: Towards a Taxonomy of Spectatorial Witness in Theatre and Performance Studies', in B. Trezise and C. Wake (eds), Visions and Revisions: Performance, Memory, Trauma, Museum Tusculanum Press, Copenhagen, 2013, p. 33–56.