The brand now ranks among the very best providers to the leasing sector in the UK, having secured fifth place in the annual report of the fleet industry.
One of the biggest events for the Contract Hire and Leasing industry, the FN50 awards recognises the largest leasing companies by scale.
The prestigious event is also an opportunity for the leasing sector to honour its favoured brands and dealer networks.
The UK's 50 largest fleet leasing companies delivered their verdict on the best manufacturers, taking into consideration each brand's performance and the service of its dealer network.
SEAT followed Audi, BMW, Volkswagen and Mercedes as the leasing industry's fifth best manufacturer.
SEAT's impressive ranking represents its best ever performance in the annual report, having experienced a meteoric rise since achieving a previous-best ninth place in 2014.
The accolade from the leasing industry is one of many recognising SEAT's growth in fleet, having been awarded this year's Most Improved Fleet Manufacturer at the Fleet News Awards.
The car manufacturer's expanded SUV range, Four-day test drive, customer driverline and EasyMove programmes were all identified as initiatives driving greater engagement with the brand.
The result arrives alongside significant sales growth in the SEAT brand, which has broken into the top 10 manufacturers in the fleet industry and remains on track to triple sales results over the last five years.
Having seen unprecedented growth in True Fleet sales, the manufacturer has also taken the opportunity to reduce rental volume to optimise residual values across the range.


How many adults in the UK have never used the internet? While most of us can't imagine life with the World Wide Web, an astounding 9.2 million people in our nation have never been online—never. If these people knew what the other forty million of us know—that the internet can simplify life and put a world of information at your fingertips—they might be more inclined to give it a go. This is the entire point of Race Online 2012: to partner with companies and other organizations to help new internet users learn how to use the internet to better their lives. However, it will take a very powerful brand to convince these last holdouts against technology to give the internet a try!
The UK already has sponsored a Get Online Week during October 18-24 that is dedicated to this purpose. However, this week of exposure alone is not enough to completely get the word out about the advantages of the internet. For this reason, Go ON was unveiled this year, to be officially announced at Race Online 2012's 'Big Get Together' on the 23rd of November. The more than 800 Go ON partners include government agencies, charities, and private businesses that support internet use among people in the UK. The intent is to make internet a part of life for all residents of the UK by 2012.
The logo representing Go ON is professionally designed to appeal to new internet users. The name of the organization is written in rounded, modern letters that are enclosed in a rounded square, which gives a very modern but still friendly image. The crisp pink colour is also a balance between modern and nonthreatening.
One of the interesting things about the Go ON logo design is how versatile it is. It is shown both alone and next to the tagline, "Get more out of life online." The word ON is also featured in a variety of images where it forms a person who enjoys music, shopping, and a social life, all of which are benefits of having internet access.
What does this mean for small business owners? First, these new statistics indicate that the majority of people in the UK are on the internet, and that even more will be in the near future. This means that having a brand presence on the internet is more important than ever. Second, it shows how important branding can be. Even a measure such as this, which is not selling anything so much as inviting people to try out new technology, has a professional logo design and colour palette to represent it to the country.
Is your logo design and brand ready for national exposure? With more and more people on the internet, it is crucial that you think carefully about not just your local customer base, but your national audience as well. If you are unsure about how your brand will make this leap, talk to a professional logo designer today.


text:
package org.takes.ts;

import java.io.IOException;
import lombok.EqualsAndHashCode;
import org.takes.NotFoundException;
import org.takes.Request;
import org.takes.Take;
import org.takes.Takes;
import org.takes.rq.RqHref;
import org.takes.rq.RqMethod;

/**
 * Takes that makes all not-found exceptions location aware.
 *
 * <p>The class is immutable and thread-safe.
 *
 * @author Yegor Bugayenko (yegor@teamed.io)
 * @version $Id$
 * @since 0.10
 */
@EqualsAndHashCode(callSuper = true)
public final class TsVerbose extends TsWrap {

    /**
     * Ctor.
     * @param takes Original takes
     */
    public TsVerbose(final Takes takes) {
        super(
            new Takes() {
                @Override
                public Take route(final Request request) throws IOException {
                    try {
                        return takes.route(request);
                    } catch (final NotFoundException ex) {
                        throw new NotFoundException(
                            String.format(
                                "%s %s",
                                new RqMethod(request).method(),
                                new RqHref(request).href()
                            ),
                            ex
                        );
                    }
                }
            }
        );
    }

}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
for a 'Fahrenheit 9/11'
James Fox Aims
By Billy Cox
De Void
It's hard to imagine a staged UFO event that didn't invite at least some measure of ridicule from the mainstream media. But that's what happened on Nov. 12, 2007, at the National Press Club in Washington. Skeptics who came looking for lunatics to slam either a) played it straight, or b) filed nothing at all.
That's because the 14 panelists who came from as far away as Iran and Chile were professional pilots – civilian and military, including two generals and a colonel – former government officials, and/or scientists with immaculate resumes. All testified to the elusive but intimidating nature of what appear to be physics-warping technologies plying our atmosphere at will and rendering worldwide air defense systems obsolete.
The panel -- http://www.freedomofinfo.org/national_press.htm -- adjourned with a statement requesting either the U.S. Air Force, or NASA, instigate a new scientific study of UFOs for flight safety and security reasons. Brainstormed by documentary filmmaker James Fox with the help of journalist Leslie Kean's Coalition for the Freedom of Information, the event rated poker-faced coverage from Reuters to Xinhua, from CNN to Pravda. Because these guys were bullet-proof. And there were no distracting little green men visuals or paranoid rants from omniscient moonbats.
"Because as soon as you start talking about anal probes or babies in incubators," says Fox from San Francisco, "you've lost 'em."
Never mind that the MSM didn't bother to follow these rich leads with independent inquiry. It's an unfortunate congenital incapacity for which Fox has no remedy. However, after producing "UFOs: 50 Years of Denial?" for the Discovery Channel in 1998, and a related "Out of the Blue" five years later, Fox mapped out his National Press Club strategy from the moment he decided to bring the panelists together. He wanted to galvanize support for Congressional hearings on UFOs the way Michael Moore rallied the antiwar movement with "Fahrenheit 9/11."
"On a massive scale, the majority of Americans suspect the government isn't being entirely honest when it comes to what it knows about UFOs," he says, referencing a 2002 Roper Poll (http://www.freedomofinfo.org/poll/roper04.html). "On the other hand, we can't be screaming from the hilltops that ET is here unless we can prove it. And I'm not entirely sure we can prove that yet. But it does appear that we've discounted the terrestrial possibilities."
So Fox's latest doc – "I Know What I Saw" – builds on his earlier work by exploring the troubling issues raised at the 11/12/07 press conference. But the crucial twist here is distribution. Having put a video trailer online, Fox is negotiating for a big-screen theatrical release this time around. Because he's certain of this much: "There will be no congressional hearings without constituent support for them. And I've screened this film for people who knew nothing about UFOs and said they were blown away by what they learned."
As for ongoing public efforts aimed at lobbying the Obama administration and the White House Correspondents Association to start discussing this stuff, Fox is cautious. "I have to be very conservative with what I say. The UFO community is somewhat competitive and somewhat compartmentalized, and it's unfortunate," he says. "I truly respect all the work that everyone out there has been doing. But in terms of getting groups like (the White House press corps) talking, I don't think we're there yet."
Fox concedes the possibility that the MSM may never get it. "Honestly, I don't know what it'd take," he says. "Maybe a massive sighting or somebody like Neil Armstrong coming forward could trigger a movement. But I haven't figured that one out."
I Know What I Saw
'Out of the Blue': Do Aliens Exist?
Labels: Article , By Billy Cox , Documentary , I Know What I Saw , James Fox , Out of The Blue

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Question: what sort of picture, besides a broom closet, goes with this sort of essay?
I am lucky to have two parents that fully accept the fact I am a Pagan. In fact, after I converted, my mother followed; the jury is still out on my father...he would be willing to join in for ceremonies or feasts, but he still goes to church some Sundays and doesn't really know anything about religion in general. The rest of my family was technically raised Presbyterian, they don't go to church and we just say grace before big family meals, mostly because of my grandmother.
I doubt my family would have major issues with the fact I am a Pagan, they would probably brush it off and think it was "just a phase", or ask me questions about what Paganism really is, but they wouldn't disown me. Yet, I still have found myself unable to come out of the "Broom Closet". So, I kind of want to talk about why, or why not, to come out of the broom closet.
All of my information is taken from personal experiences of friends and of myself, and from the website Lady of the Earth.
In the world today, someone is losing a job for being Pagan; someone is losing a friend. Someone is polishing a gun and muttering about the 'baby killers'. Someone is holding community action meetings to deal with the 'Wiccan threat'. --Lady of the Earth.
We must always remember that people are misinformed about Pagans, and they get all their information from Hollywood or outdated sources. When I first came out of the broom closet, my father had some misconceptions about Paganism, even though he is an educated man with a university degree in accounting, from when he was a child being raised in a very Catholic small town. In fact, when my mother and I stopped going to church because we converted, he got very defensive.
With common misconceptions dispelled, however, he now understands why we converted, and why we weren't very happy with the Christian church. It made the relationship a bit tense at first, and he would often leave Sunday mornings to church and not tell us—we assumed he went to the office to do some filing or make some calls without bothering us—and he almost seemed ashamed to admit he was going to church. I sometimes wonder if he thought the big scary Pagan women were going to curse him!
You must always remember, coming out of the broom closet will change everything, usually for the good, but you must realize that sometimes it will be for the worst.
If any of you reading this are gay and have come out of the closet, I'm sure you'll know how difficult it can be. I think that is why Pagans use the analogy of "coming out of the closet" to describe telling people of their religious views, and by making it a "broom closet", Pagans give it their own twist.
This is not intended as a how-to come out, but more of an essay on what you can do to come out, and some things to consider. Everyone's coming-out will be different and unique to the person and situation. Also, keep in mind there are different forms of being "out". If we want to be technical, I'm very much out in the open, but at the same time I am very much in the closet. I am out with my friends, but for my cousins wedding that happened on August 1st, I was more half in the closet. I am more out with my mother than my father. Ordering books online is more anonymous than going to your local bookstore. Do what feels comfortable for YOU. This is your life.
Paganism is about trust in yourself and the world around you. You have to trust in what you do in rituals for it to work, for example. Therefore, the basis for coming out of the broom closet is trust. So, if you want your family to trust in you after or during your coming out, you have to make sure you're doing trustworthy things. Don't hide the fact you collect oils or incense; tell your family you are looking into aromatherapy. Aromatherapy is used in spas, so it is less suspicious than hiding about it, or arguing, or straight out lying. Saying you're using aromatherapy is, at least, somewhat truthful. Though you could argue it is lying by omitting, it's still a lot less risky. Think of it along the same lines as the military's "don't ask, don't tell".
Safety is the next consideration. Is it safe for you to come out? If you think it is unsafe, then don't come out, at least not yet. Safety includes protection from physical abuse, but can also include having somewhere to live, or the emotional worry of having people harass you or even attempt to convert you. I have a friend who was unable to come out in her home town because of an abusive situation. I doubt I could come out to some of my extended family just because they think anything outside the "norm" (in that area, Christianity) is wrong, and they already think I'm weird because of my personality.
The next step is then to try to predict how the people you are coming out to will react. Start with one group, like your parents. Will they be understanding? Curious? Supportive? Angry? I do suggest starting with people you live with, because you can predict their behaviour best. Make note of how they act talking about religion in general. This stage might take only a few days to have a general idea of how they will react. It might take several weeks. Be patient, and keep your eyes and ears open.
I did this myself just recently, when coming out with my mother's sister, who comes over to our house pretty much every Sunday for a visit and dinner. She is not exactly open-minded, but she's not close-minded either: she's more in-between. I had been wanting to come out to her for quite some time, but was unsure how to mention it. She had seen my collection of candles, incense, and admired my collection of Egyptian statues. She was there when I picked up some of my tarot decks and Pagan books, and was with me when I purchased some Aztec prints. She reacted pretty positively to the items, always commenting how much I had loved this stuff when I was younger. Finally, just a few weeks ago, she was watching me while I was putting a few finishing touches on an entry into my Book of Shadows, and asked if the spell book I was copying from was "made up" like in Harry Potter. My mom and I gave a jumbled reply saying they were from old grimoires and such, and my aunt took it all quite well. She said it was interesting, flipped through it a bit, and then went back to what she was doing.
You may be lucky, just like I was. Your family may not need your choice explained to them, and they will support you no matter what. But, if I have learned anything, it's that never trust luck. Always have an explanation. Make a list of what you like about paganism. Write a little paragraph or two explaining why you converted or are not impressed with more mainstream religions. Also, be sure to plan to explain some of the common misconceptions about paganism. This can be really helpful if you would rather write a letter or e-mail to your family to come out and let them come to you.
The biggest trick will be to remain calm. Are you prone to anger very quickly? You'll have to work on that before even considering coming out. Calmness is key. If you speak calmly and explain your points in a level voice, they will be more prone to listening. To help remain calm, you can really benefit from preparing beforehand. Plan for EVERYTHING you can think of, because it can give you something to refer to, and it will help you keep your thoughts in order. You can even make cue-cards to refer to during your actual coming out. It may seem like over-planning, but if you are forgetful or easily frustrated, the more planning you have, the less likely you'll lose you cool, because you probably have something written down. Another good reason for this is, if your parents learn better by reading, you can physically give them something to read with all your points on it. My mother is like this, so when I came out, she ordered herself a book on Wicca to educate herself on my religion.
In many cases, what is known about paganism by the general public (people who haven't studied it) are the misconceptions and rumours spread by Hollywood and religious bigots. Remember, your parents and friends love you, and want what's best for you and want to keep you from getting hurt. Reassure them that paganism is not a cult, and that you are educating yourself on all aspects of the religion. Please be patient with them; it may take them some time and some research of their own to fully accept your actions. Also, use common sense. If they are in a bad mood, don't bring this up, you can wait until they are in a good and talkative mood.
It is more than likely, if you've explained your position well, that your family and friends will be supportive, even if they don't agree with you. The teachers at my high school were very open-minded and prided the small pagan community we had; my friends may not agree with my beliefs, but they happily accept that it is what I believe and support me.
Who knows, maybe you'll really pique someone's interest and aid them on their own spiritual journey.


text:
The Morrisian
A blog about the famous Victorian poet, designer, and Socialist, William Morris.
Morris's Least Favorite Scott
George Gilbert Scott's St. Pancras Station and (former) Midland Grand Hotel in London.
Sir George Gilbert Scott was the architect of some of the most beloved neo-Gothic structures in Victorian England; he was also a famous "restorer" of countless cathedrals and abbeys. But after Scott died in 1878, Morris called him "that (happily) dead dog".
Scott's knack for extreme ecclesiastical makeovers made him some enemies, and Morris was clearly one of them. Things had started out badly between the two men - just months after Morris left Oxford's Exeter College in 1856, Scott knocked down the college's lovely Jacobean Chapel to make room for a new chapel in a gothic style – and relations never improved.
Morris hated Scott's work so much that he made it part of his own life's work to keep Scott and others away from historical buildings. In 1877, Morris proposed the formation of his "Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings" (SPAB) with an urgent letter to the Athenaeum, in which he denounced Scott by name. Shortly after, a man named Sir Edmund Lechmere sent Morris's letter along to Scott, provoking a long, thoughtful response to the criticism.
Morris's letter to the Athenaeum and Scott's letter to Sir Edmund, when read together, constitute a sort of discussion between the two men. I've arranged excerpts from their letters into a conversation, to give a sense of the conflict between Morris and Scott as it stood in 1877, one short year before Scott's death.
MORRIS: My eye just now caught the word 'restoration' in the morning paper, and, on looking closer, I saw that this time it is nothing less than the Minster of Tewkesbury that is to be destroyed by Sir Gilbert Scott.
SCOTT: You, my dear Sir Edmund, know whether I am "destroying" the church, or contemplating such treatment of it as is intended by that term. You know whether I am "hopeless, because interest, habit, and ignorance bind" me. Nay, you know whether I have obliterated a single chisel-mark of the old masons, and whether I have not, lovingly and carefully, traced out the almost obliterated evidence and relics of much of their work …
MORRIS: ...Your paper has so steadily and courageously opposed itself to these acts of barbarism which the modern architect, parson, and squire call 'restoration,' that it would be waste of words to enlarge here on the ruin that has been wrought by their hands; but, for the saving of what is left, I think I may write a word of encouragement...
SCOTT: ... painful and galling as it is, I rejoice in such letters and protests: for true—most dreadfully true—it is that what "modern architect, parson, and squire call restoration," has wrought wholesale ruin among our ancient buildings. I have lifted up my voice on this subject for more than thirty years, and, though not faultless, have striven with all my might to avoid such errors, and to prevent their commission by others. I feel more deeply on this subject than on any other ….
I am, therefore, willing to be sacrificed by being made the victim in a cause which I have so intensely at heart.
MORRIS: What I wish for, therefore, is that an association should be set on foot to keep a watch on old monuments, to protest against all 'restoration' that means more than keeping out wind and weather, and, by all means, literary and other, to awaken a feeling that our ancient monuments are not mere ecclesiastical toys, but sacred monuments of the nation's growth and hope."
Photo via Beth M527 on flickr, some rights reserved.
Posted by Clara Finley at 7:41 AM No comments:
Algernon Swinburne, Sent to the Guillotine
"A.C.S. addressing the people"
Copyright: Syracuse University Library Special Collections
Many of William Morris's friends were famous in their own right. Algernon Charles Swinburne was one of these men, becoming well-known for his poetry in the late 1860s and the '70s. Swinburne is also well-known for his eccentricities. A tiny man with an enormous head crowned by fluffy red hair, he was a sight to see. He was also restless and enthusiastic. In short, he was easy to caricature. His friend Lady Trevelyan did just that in 1861, painting a silly watercolor of him on a Republican tirade.
This sketch, "A.C.S. addressing the people", is now in the Special Collections of Syracuse University Library, where I stumbled upon it during a mission to read some of Morris's letters. The Library has kindly agreed to let me share the watercolor, which is directly referenced in Chapter IV of William Bell Scott's Autobiographical Notes. The quote explains why the figure of Swinburne is standing in front of a guillotine:
"Louis Napoleon, or, as Swinburne called him, "the Beauharnais," was now in his glory; Victor Hugo, and others dear to all of us, were refugees. Swinburne, always possessed by some pet subject of hatred or admiration, was carried away by un-governable fury at the success of the wretched adventurer ... now settled in the Tuileries, and practised his ingenuity in inventing tirades against him, sometimes full of humour and splendour, at other times grossly absurd. Lady Trevelyan, always ready to enter into his mood, used to assist him; but learning he was going to accompany his family to France, she predicted that he would be caught by the police, and sketched the fate that awaited him. The figure of A.C.S. addressing the people was wonderfully good."
You can contact me at clarafinley1@gmail.com if you want to see a higher resolution image. Click to see more views and thumbnails!
Posted by Clara Finley at 2:13 PM No comments:
The Two Beatrices: A Companion to the New-Found Rossetti
"The Salutation of Beatrice" and "Jane Morris as Beatrice"
Left, the newly discovered oil ( © Christie's Images Limited 2012.)
Right, the watercolor via Rossettiarchive.org. [copyright DGR 1828-1882: An Exhibition (Tokyo 1990)]
After lying hidden in a private collection in Scotland for the past century, a forgotten oil painting by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, "The Salutation of Beatrice," will go on sale at Christie's at the end of May. It features Jane Morris in all of her glory as Dante's love, and it's been hailed as "the finest oil portrait by the artist to come to auction in over 25 years."
Its appearance resolves some mysteries about Rossetti's work. The first mystery comes from one of Rossetti's letters to Jane, written late July of 1869: "I want much to get the little Beatrice I was doing from you finished," he wrote, "but the hands are in the way as I think I must alter them and all the models have such vile hands." When this letter was published in Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Jane Morris: Their Correspondence in the late seventies, the reference to the painting was a bit confusing, because the only likely candidate for a Beatrice from 1869 didn't have hands anywhere in the picture.
A footnote tried to get around the problem : "It is difficult to identify this picture. It may be the Beatrice … which is a replica of the head of the 1870 Mariana ... Having such difficulty with the hands he may have cut down the canvas and kept the head and shoulders" But the dating of the newly emerged painting - 1869 - means that we have a much simpler, and more likely, explanation for this reference.
Another mystery was the purpose of a Rossetti watercolor, "Jane Morris as Beatrice"(Alternately titled "The Salutation of Beatrice"). Some scholars thought that it was a study for an oil painting of a completely different design. We see now that it is obviously the same design as the discovered painting. If the dating of both works is correct, the watercolor was probably a copy of the oil painting.
Posted by Clara Finley at 10:54 AM No comments:
May Morris's 150th Year
May Morris in a painting by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, 1872
2012 is May Morris's 150th anniversary year, an occasion that the Royal Mail (UK) marked with bringing out a stamp featuring one of her lush embroideries.
May, Morris's second daughter, was an impressive textile designer and artist in her own right; she was also a close partner to her father during his years of Socialist activity. After her parents passed away, she lived out her days at Kelmscott Manor, with her devoted companion (and possible lover) Miss Lobb.
Marjorie Breakspear, the niece of one of May's friends, wrote a beautiful account of her days living in a cottage on Kelmscott Manor's grounds, and of her memories of May. May, though quieter than the brash Miss Lobb, was evidently up for a laugh:
"...May Morris came and dug up our potatoes, and it was a good joke for her when we offered to pay her at the current rate! She accepted the money, with much laughter, and spat on it in her hands, as she had seen the farm labourers do. She also kept goats, and loved the kids, gambolling over her head and shoulders. She liked knitting, but not crochet, and her favourite colour was a soft blue."
Happy 150th birth-year, May Morris!
A Cheeky Letter from Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson, penning some grammar corrections.
(Top, a sentence to set Stevenson's teeth grinding.)
Robert Louis Stevenson, author of Treasure Island and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and a fan of Morris's poems, drafted this letter to Morris from his estate on a Samoan island in February of 1892. The "touches of affectation and constraint" weren't normal for Stevenson, so it seems he felt uncomfortable or even nervous about writing it. In the end he couldn't bring himself to send it. This was probably for the best. Morris wasn't overly sensitive to criticism, but he didn't exactly relish it.
"Master,—A plea from a place so distant should have some weight, and from a heart so grateful should have some address. I have been long in your debt, Master, and I did not think it could be so much increased as you have now increased it. I was long in your debt and deep in your debt for many poems that I shall never forget, and for Sigurd before all, and now you have plunged me beyond payment by the Saga Library. And so now, true to human nature, being plunged beyond payment, I come and bark at your heels.
"For surely, Master, that tongue that we write, and that you have illustrated so nobly, is yet alive. She has her rights and laws, and is our mother, our queen, and our instrument. Now in that living tongue where has one sense, whereas another. In the Heathslayings Story, p. 241, line 13, it bears one of its ordinary senses. Elsewhere and usually through the two volumes, which is all that has yet reached me of this entrancing publication, whereas is made to figure for where.
"For the love of God, my dear and honoured Morris, use where, and let us know whereas we are, wherefore our gratitude shall grow, whereby you shall be the more honoured wherever men love clear language, whereas now, although we honour, we are troubled.
"Whereunder, please find inscribed to this very impudent but very anxious document, the name of one of the most distant but not the youngest or the coldest of those who honour you,
Robert Louis Stevenson."
Photo via Project Gutenberg: The Life of Robert Louis Stevenson for Boys and Girls
Untold Lives
London Historians' Blog
The Kissed Mouth
william morris unbound
News from Anywhere
Dinah Roe - Pre-Raphaelites in the City
The Beautiful Necessity
The Earthly Paradise
William Morris Fan Club
Victorian Calendar
The Two Beatrices: A Companion to the New-Found Ro...