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Rachel Donadio | The New York Times
Genocide's Legacy: Preserving Auschwitz
OSWIECIM, Poland — To visit Auschwitz is to find an unfathomable but strangely familiar place. After so many photographs and movies, books and personal testimonies, it is tempting to think of it as a movie-set death camp, the product of a gruesome cinematic imagination, and not the real thing.
Alas, it is the real thing.
That is why, since its creation in 2009, the foundation that raises money to maintain the site of Auschwitz-Birkenau has had a guiding philosophy: "To preserve authenticity." The idea is to keep the place intact, exactly as it was when the Nazis retreated before the Soviet Army arrived in January 1945 to liberate the camp, an event that resonates on Holocaust Remembrance Day, on Thursday.
It is a moral stance with specific curatorial challenges. It means restoring the crumbling brick barracks where Jews and some others were interned without rebuilding those barracks, lest they take on the appearance of a historical replica. It means reinforcing the moss-covered pile of rubble that is the gas chamber at Birkenau, the extermination camp a few miles away, a structure that the Nazis blew up in their retreat. It means protecting that rubble from water seeping in from the adjacent ponds where the ashes of the dead were dumped.
And it means deploying conservators to preserve an inventory that includes more than a ton of human hair; 110,000 shoes; 3,800 suitcases; 470 prostheses and orthopedic braces; more than 88 pounds of eyeglasses; hundreds of empty canisters of Zyklon B poison pellets; patented metal piping and showerheads for the gas chambers; hundreds of hairbrushes and toothbrushes; 379 striped uniforms; 246 prayer shawls; more than 12,000 pots and pans carried by Jews who believed that they were simply bound for resettlement; and some 750 feet of SS documents — hygiene records, telegrams, architectural blueprints and other evidence of the bureaucracy of genocide — as well as thousands of memoirs by survivors.
The job can be harrowing and heartbreaking, but it is often performed out of a sense of responsibility.
"We are doing something against the initial idea of the Nazis who built this camp," said Anna Lopuska, 31, who is overseeing a long-term master plan for the site's conservation. "They didn't want it to last. We're making it last."
The strategy, she said, is "minimum intervention." The point is to preserve the objects and buildings, not beautify them. Every year, as more survivors die, the work becomes more important. "Within 20 years, there will be only these objects speaking for this place," she said.
The conservators are walking a less-trodden path in restoration. "We have more experience preserving a cathedral than the remains of an extermination camp," said Piotr Cywinski, who turns 43 on Thursday and is the director of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, which runs the site. Auschwitz, he said, "is the last place where you can still effectively take the measure of the spatial organization of the progression of the Shoah."
Last year, a record 1.5 million people visited to take that measure, more than three times the number in 2001, putting even more strain on the aging buildings.
Between 1940 and 1945, 1.3 million people were deported to Auschwitz, the largest of the death camps, 90 percent of them Jews. The camp encompasses 500 acres, 155 buildings and 300 ruins.
Over the years, there have been dissenting views about the preservationist approach. "I'm not convinced about the current plans for Auschwitz," said Jonathan Webber, a former member of the International Auschwitz Council of advisers, who teaches in the European Studies program at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow. "If you have a very good memorial, you could achieve that without having to have all this effort on conservation and restoration," he added.
The preservation lab, with high-end technology, opened in 2003. One afternoon last week, Nel Jastrzebiowska, 37, a paper conservator, was using a rubber eraser to clean a row of papers in files. They were letters on Auschwitz stationery, written in German in rosy prose intended to slip past the censors. "I'm in good health," one read, adding, "Send me money."
On a nearby table sat the second horn part to Tchaikovsky's Capriccio Italien (Op. 45), which had been played by the death camp's orchestra. Ms. Jastrzebiowska would preserve the page as it was, she said, and keep the smudges showing that the pages had been turned. "The objects must show their own history," said Jolanta Banas-Maciaszczyk, 36, the leader of the preservation department.
"We can't stop time," Ms. Jastrzebiowska said. "But we can slow it down."
Ms. Jastrzebiowska's husband, Andrzej Jastrzebiowski, 38, is a metal conservator. He spent three months cleaning all the eyeglasses in a vitrine, preserving their distressed state but trying to prevent them from corroding further. "When I saw the eyeglasses in the exhibition, I saw it as one big pile," he said. But in the lab, he began to examine them one by one. One had a screw replaced by a bent needle; another had a repaired temple. "And then this enormous mass of glasses started becoming people," Mr. Jastrzebiowski said. This "search for the individual," he said, helps ensure that the work does not become too routine.
In 2009, the infamous metal sign reading "Arbeit Macht Frei," or "Work Makes You Free," which hangs over the entrance gate, was stolen. It was found several days later elsewhere in Poland, cut into three parts. (A Swede with neo-Nazi ties and two Poles were later charged with the crime.) Mr. Jastrzebiowski helped weld the sign back into one piece. But the scars from the welding told the story of the sign's theft more than of its long history, and so the museum decided it would be more authentic to replace the damaged sign with a substitute.
The conservators have an easy camaraderie, but sometimes their task can become too much to bear. "Working with shoes probably is one of the most difficult parts of working here," Ms. Banas-Maciaszczyk said. Everyone here has emotional moments. For her, it was a day when she was cleaning a little girl's wooden sandal. She could see the small footprint inside. "This is something hard to describe," she said. From 1940 to 1945, between 150,000 and 200,000 children died here.
Ms. Banas-Maciaszczyk said her mother thought she was crazy to come work at Auschwitz. "There are moments when I think, What am I doing here?" she acknowledged. But then she thinks of the bigger picture. "Everyone who works here must feel this importance," she said. "If we didn't feel that, no force would make us stay here."
Kamil Bedkowski, 33, worked as an art conservator in Britain for eight years, even restoring ceiling frescoes at Windsor Castle. Now he is on the team shoring up the crumbling brick barracks of Birkenau where thousands slept at a time, crammed into decaying three-level wooden bunks. "This is the most challenging project I've ever worked on," he said.
Almost all the conservators here are Polish and studied conservation at Polish universities — this is, after all, a Polish state museum, which employs some 287 people, plus 264 guides who operate in some 18 languages.
Most conservators are under 40, young enough not to have known the Second World War — "It's not our fault that the camp was built here," Mr. Jastrzebiowski said — but old enough to have heard stories from their parents and grandparents. Few have any regular contact with Jews who aren't survivors or visitors.
Despite the spirit of freezing the site in time, some exhibits have been redesigned in recent years — the Russian Federation's tells the story of Russian political prisoners here; those of the Netherlands and France and Belgium talk about the fate of their Jews; the exhibit dedicated to the Sinti and Roma present the often-neglected story of those peoples murdered here. The Polish exhibit is colored by the country's Communist past.
The new Jewish pavilion opened in 2013. It was designed by Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem. It shows black-and-white films of Jewish life in Europe before the war, then of Hitler's rallies. In one room, the Israeli artist Michal Rovner has copied children's drawings from the camp onto the wall. In another, names of some of the six million Holocaust dead are printed on a long row of pages, their edges yellowing from human touch.
The permanent exhibitions here will be updated over the next decade to include more evidence focusing on the perpetrators, not just their victims. In the collection's storage is a box with neat rows of red-handled rubber SS stamps conserved in acid-free boxes. These will eventually go on view. This is part of the long-term plan by the museum, aided by the foundation, which has raised nearly 120 million euros, or about $130 million, about half of it donated by Germany, to ensure conservation in perpetuity.
The museum has decided not to conserve one thing: the mass of human hair that fills a vast vitrine. Over the years, the hair has lost its individual colors and has begun to gray. Out of respect for the dead, it cannot be photographed. Several years ago, the International Auschwitz Council of advisers had an agonizing debate about the hair. Some suggested burying it. Others wanted to conserve it. But one adviser raised a point: How can we know if its original owners are dead or alive? Who are we to determine its fate?
It was decided to let the hair decay, on its own, in the vitrine, until it turns to dust.
(c) 2015 The New York Times
Countering Global Kleptocracy: A New US Strategy for Fighting Authoritarian Corruption
Hearing of UK Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee on Uyghur Genocide in China
"From Exile to Exile"


Coco's New 'Do–After unveiling a short hairstyle last year, model Coco Rocha has changed her look once again with a new bob hairstyle. The Canadian model now looks like a modern day Louise Brooks with the addition of bangs and a blunt cut. Hair stylist Anh CoTran is responsible for Coco's new 'do from the looks of her Instagram. We can't help but notice the similarity to the retro haircut Coco donned for Phi's fall 2008 campaign where she posed alongside Karen Elson.


Our training for families strives for individual personal growth targeting self improvement. You will see improved communications; improved relationships with your partner, children, work-colleagues; improved time management; improved study techniques and many more.
Aus IDentities clearly demonstrates how your core needs and values differ from others, and how understanding this can be a real revelation in your relationships.
Designed for families and friends, and people who work closely together. This is where we really get into the nuts and bolts of who we are and how we are different from others. It is a transformational experience that will take you to the heart of what makes a person tick, and unravel some of the mysteries that are us.


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Q: can't resolve phpMyAdmin permissions for config.inc.php I've tried sudo chmod 705 config.inc.php in the phpMyAdmin folder, and I still get Wrong permissions on configuration file, should not be world writable!
I tried 644 and 755, but I still get the same error. I tried chmoding the entire phpMyAdmin folder. I even tried one of the other suggestions here on Stack Overflow by commenting out the check permissions function in /phpmyadmin/libraries/Config.class.php. No go.
I haven't done anything with PHP in months, but it worked at one point. What could have changed, and what can I do?

A: If you get a permission denied from http server

You don't have permission to access /phpmyadmin on this server.

then it may be because of this
vi /etc/sysconfig/selinux

change it to
SELINUX=disabled
SELINUXTYPE=targeted
SETLOCALDEFS=0

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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SourceMedia Taps Former IDG Vet Matt Yorke as Chief Marketing Officer
January 09, 2017 by Matt
SourceMedia has appointed Matthew Yorke as Chief Marketing Officer, a new position for the company. Yorke joins Source from global media and marketing solutions agency OMD and previously held a number of positions with digital information company IDG, including CEO of IDG Enterprises and IDG Global Solutions.
Yorke will be responsible for strategic marketing, product innovation and advancing Source'digital marketing capabilities. He will report to Source chief revenue officer Marianne Collins.
Source has made an aggressive digital push over the past year, including the launch of a new content management system designed to integrate content feeds, improve mobile viewing and serve native advertising, as well as the launch of an account based marketing service, which fetches prices of over $40,000 per quarter (for an overview of SourceMedia's ABM program, click here).
"Matt Yorke will play a vital role in enabling us to capitalize on our recent accomplishments and realize the full potential of our brands and audiences as a platform for marketing services," said SourceMedia's Chief Executive Officer Doug Manoni. "We're excited to have Matt as a member of SourceMedia's leadership team."
Matt Kinsman is vice president of content + programming at Connectiv, the only association focused on the integrated b-to-b model—including publications, events, digital media, marketing services and business information. Prior to joining Connectiv's predecessor American Business Media in 2011, Kinsman was executive editor of Folio:, the leading information provider for the magazine industry.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Introduction to Saint Nektarios' Study on Darwinism and the Human Soul
By Dr. Constantine Cavarnos
Sketch Concerning Man "may be regarded as the first Christian anthropology in the modern Greek language."1 In the Preface, St. Nektarios explains that the writing of this book was occasioned by a discussion which he had with some college students that "the soul of man differs only in degree from the soul of animals." To refute their erroneous view, he says, he wrote and published a small study, of only 16 pages, titled Concerning the Relation of the Human Soul to That of the Animal and Their Difference.2 As that work was too brief to treat the subject adequately and to convince the students, he proceeded to write this book of 233 pages. Its purpose is to show what man is, and the chasm that separates man from the animal. In the closing section of the book (pp. 191-229), our Saint gives eleven proofs of the immortality of the soul. Included among these are the six proofs contained in his book Holy Memorial Services. The first two of the latter appear unaltered, the third, fourth and fifth in expanded form, and the sixth revised. The five new arguments are: (1) from the holy life; (2) from the worship of God; (3) from knowledge; (4) from the social life; and (5) from the destiny of nations and divine Providence.
This book shows considerable acquaintance with the views of nineteenth century European scientists, including those of Lamarck and Darwin, of whom he is particularly critical. Speaking of the evolutionists who trace the origin of man to the apes, St. Nektarios says, characteristically:
"The followers of pithecogeny [the derivation of man from apes] are ignorant of man and of his lofty destiny, because they have denied him his soul and Divine revelation. They have rejected the Spirit, and the Spirit has abandoned them. They withdrew from God, and God withdrew from them; for, thinking that they were wise, they became fools... If they acted with knowledge, they would not have lowered themselves so much, nor would they have taken pride in tracing the origin of the human race to the most shameless of animals. Rightly did the Prophet say of them: 'Man, while in honor did not understand, but joined the beasts and became like them.'"3
1. Archimandrite Titos Matthaiakis, Ho Hosios Nektarios Kephalas (Saint Nektarios Kephalas), Athens, 1955, p. 103.
2. Peri tes Scheseos kai Diaphoras tou Anthropou kai tou Zoou. This was published at Athens in 1885, under the title Melete epi tes Psyches tou Anthropou kai tou Zoou (Study on the Soul of Man and of the Animal).
3. Pp. 216-217.
Source: Constantine Cavarnos, Modern Orthodox Saints 7: St. Nectarios of Aegina, Institute For Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies, Belmont, Massachusetts, 1988, pp. 28-29.
Labels: Anthropology, Darwinism, Dr. Constantine Cavarnos, Evolution of Man, Human Soul, St. Nektarios of Aegina
Genesis, Time, Aeon and Eternity
Fr. Dumitru Staniloae: "Science Presumes God"
The Book of Creation Reveals the Creator
St. Nektarios on Darwinistic Evolution and the Hum...
Introduction to Saint Nektarios' Study on Darwinis...
St. Seraphim of Sarov on Adam in Paradise
Natural Selection and Divine Providence According ...


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Global Activism: Changing lives through the magic of the circus
Dec. 3, 2015, 8:51 a.m. CT
Yamoussa Bangoura is from Guinea, West Africa and Guillaume Saladin is from a remote Inuit community in the Arctic Tundra. They joined to realize their shared vision to use circus arts to help suffering children in their respective communities. Today, they've taken their work global and it's the subject of a documentary produced by filmmaker and Boston Globe feature writer, Linda Matchen. We'll talk with all three about their work, the film and their new collaboration with Global Activist, Maribeth Joy, who joins us as well. She's executive director of CircEsteem. Her group uses circus arts as therapy for kids in the Chicago area. The film, Circus Without Borders, was produced, in part, by a grant from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. (Photo: Facebook/Circus Without Borders)


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GamesRadar+ The smarter take on movies
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Movie 43 and After Earth win big at Razzies
By George Wales 03 March 2014
Grown Ups 2 escapes unscathed
Movie 43 and After Earth were the big "winners" at this weekend's Razzies, with both titles scooping three awards at the annual celebration of the year's worst movies.
Movie 43 was named Worst Picture, while also being recognised for Worst Screenplay and Worst Director, the latter being collectively awarded to its 13 helmers.
Meanwhile, father and son duo Will and Jaden Smith also racked up three gongs for After Earth , as Worst Supporting Actor, Worst Actor and Worst Screen Combo respectively.
The Lone Ranger was crowned Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-off or Sequel, while Tyler Perry (in drag) and Kim Kardashian won the two actress awards.
The big surprise was that Grown Ups 2 didn't manage a single win, despite scooping a field-leading eight nominations. Never mind, chaps… there's always next year.
George Wales
George is GR's resident movie news person, based out of London. He understands that all men must die, but he'd rather not think about it.


The Innokin Plex features a 4ml e-Liquid capacity with a push-to-open top filling cap which makes refill easier and faster and solves the leaking problem.
The Innokin Plex features a 4ml e-Liquid capacity with a push-to-open top filling cap which makes refill easier and faster and solves the leaking problem. The Plex tank includes the 0.13 ohm Plexus coil, which also fits the original SCION and the SCION II. The triple-core Plexus will give you better flavor. Made of high quality stainless steel and pyrex glass and equipped with a beautifully color-coordinated resin 810 drip tip, the Innokin Plex tank will give you an amazing vaping experience!


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Trump, Biden speak by phone about coronavirus response
The call occurred on the same day the president accused Biden of dodging the spotlight by pushing a 'virtual convention.'
By Caitlin Oprysko and Marc Caputo
President Donald Trump and Joe Biden briefly spoke by telephone Monday about the federal government's response to the coronavirus outbreak, which is quickly becoming the defining issue in the race for the White House.
The call came on the same day the two trashed each other on Twitter.
"Vice President Biden and President Trump had a good call. VP Biden shared several suggestions for actions the administration can take now to address the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and expressed his appreciation for the spirit of the American people in meeting the challenges facing the nation," said Biden Deputy Campaign Manager and Communications Director Kate Bedingfield.
During his White House press briefing Monday, Trump confirmed the two spoke and described the call as "a really wonderful, warm conversation."
"We talked about, pretty much this, this is what we talked about. This is what everyone's talking about. This is what they want to talk about. He gave me his point of view and I fully understand that and we just had a very friendly conversation. Lasted probably 15 minutes. And it was really good. It was really good, really nice, I think it was very much so. I appreciate his calling," the president said.
WILMINGTON, DE - MARCH 12: Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden delivers remarks about the coronavirus outbreak, at the Hotel Du Pont March 12, 2020 in Wilmington, Delaware. Health officials say 11,000 people have been tested for the Coronavirus (COVID-19) in the U.S. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images) | Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Earlier in the day, Trump went on the offensive against the former vice president by accusing him via Twitter of having ulterior motives for suggesting Democrats might need to hold their presidential nominating convention online because of the coronavirus pandemic.
"Joe Biden wanted the date for the Democrat National Convention moved to a later time period," Trump wrote in a tweet. "Now he wants a 'Virtual' Convention, one where he doesn't have to show up. Gee, I wonder why?"
The former vice president quickly shot back on Twitter that "Mr. President, I hope we can gather in Milwaukee, but that is going to depend on you stepping up and doing what needs to be done to handle this pandemic."
Biden suggested on Sunday that his party needs to seriously consider hosting a virtual convention instead of its typical event, which has already been postponed from July until August.
"The idea of holding a convention is going to be necessary, but we may not be able to put 10,000, 20,000, 30,000 people in one place and that's very possible," Biden, the Democratic primary frontrunner, told ABC's "This Week With George Stephanopoulos."
Monday's chat came together almost as lark after one of the president's advisers, Kellyanne Conway, mocked Biden last week for not being constructive. That prompted the former vice president's camp to respond that Biden had offered to share his expertise with the White House.
When asked Wednesday by reporters about the possibility of speaking to Biden, Trump said "Oh absolutely. I'd love to ... I'd love to speak to him too. I always found him to be a nice guy. I don't know him very well, frankly, but I think he's probably a nice guy. No, if he'd like to call, I'd absolutely take his call. You can tell him."
Later that day, in a call with reporters, Biden said he was open to a conversation. "I'm happy to hear he'll take my call," he said. "My team's working with him to set such a call up."
Like almost every other aspect of American life, this year's presidential campaign largely has been put on hold in recent weeks amid the coronavirus' spread across the U.S. Biden's White House campaign has largely shifted online, where the former vice president has hosted town-hall meetings and news briefings from his Delaware home. Trump, too, has put off holding campaign rallies, as has Biden's Democratic rival, Sen. Bernie Sanders.
But the former vice president, prone to gaffes on the stump, has also faced criticism that he has sought to avoid the campaign trail, attacks that Trump alluded to on Monday.
Sanders took swipes at a series of brief speeches Biden delivered at campaign events last month, while Trump's campaign accused Biden's team of being "desperate" to get the former vice president out of the view of voters and using the coronavirus as an "excuse" to do so.
CORONAVIRUS: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
President Donald Trump and Melania Trump have tested positive for Covid-19.
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The Democratic National Committee had resisted calls to delay the party's nominating convention as the coronavirus spread throughout the country, with most Americans under shelter-in-place orders in an effort to "flatten the curve" of infection rate. The virus has upended nearly every aspect of the 2020 campaign, postponing primary contests, disrupting fundraising and keeping Trump, Sanders and Biden off the campaign trail indefinitely, confined to TV and digital appearances.
But in his TV appearances, between chastising Trump for his administration's handling of the outbreak and plugging his campaign, Biden has publicly rooted for Trump to defeat the the virus, even offering to speak with the president by phone to offer help.
Trump inquired about that offer Monday, wondering on Twitter "what ever happened to that phone call he told the Fake News he wanted to make to me?"
In his Twitter response to Trump, Biden wrote that "I have laid out how you can" handle the coronavirus pandemic, adding that he would be "happy to discuss anytime."
Donald Trump 2020,


National S'mores Day is celebrated yearly on August 10 in the United States, according to Wikipedia. We didn't know about National S'mores Day when the Skupien clan gathered in Smoky Mountain National Park at the end of July. But we certainly celebrated the S'mores tradition.
After evening meals the ingredients for s'mores appeared and prompted action around the fire pit among kids and adults. I think every family came supplied, and s'mores were on the dessert menu no matter whose campsite was our dinner venue.
Granddaughter Molly Kate works on her marshmallow-roasting skills.
That description fails to include the delicious reality: a marshmallow roasted to a golden brown on the outside and liquefied on the inside then layered with a slab of chocolate between two graham crackers.
Then there is the entertainment value, competition for the best roasting job and the fascination and delight that youngsters experience as they create "Cajun" marshmallows that flame, are blown out, blackened beyond an adult's taste tolerance.
The enthusiastic s'mores fans among our young campers behaved as if the charred marshmallows were the essential ingredient that made their s'mores a true delicacy.
You are making me hungry! Thanks for the Molly Kate photo, you know she is my favorite!!! I know there should be no favorites among children, but I can't help it, she is just adorable!
Love s'mores and your family tradition.
they always make me nostalgic for my kids' growing up years.
That looks like the best fun ever for kids. Well adults too.
I always went to camp, but I have no memory of having a s'more. I've been cheated.
Our little "grands" enjoyed s'mores on Friday evening, and we didn't even know the next day was 'National S'mores Day'!


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Israel, the occupation is at the core of who you are
If Jewish leaders and activists are going to speak up against Israel's recent anti-democratic trends, they cannot remain silent on what has been corrupting its democracy for decades. By Nadav Bigelman It is not news to many Israelis that their government, led by Benjamin Netanyahu, is pushing all those who do not align with his spirit of…
By +972 Magazine August 25, 2018
Overcoming bigotry, Be'er Sheva to hold first pride march
A year after the Be'er Sheva march was cancelled following threats by extremists, the LGBTQ community in the city wins its greatest victory to date. By Daniel Beller A year after it was cancelled by the municipality, the southern city of Be'er Sheva will hold its first ever pride parade this coming Thursday. Last year's cancellation came after…
By +972 Magazine June 19, 2017
Queer Jews should think again before celebrating Israel
We were labeled homophobes and racists for disrupting a group of queer Jews at a pro-Israel parade this month. But as queer Jews ourselves, we could not stand aside while being used to distract from Israel's treatment of Palestinians. By Stephanie Skora Just under two weeks ago, on the eve of the 50th anniversary of Israel's occupation, members of Jewish…
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Pinkwashing: Is it really so black and white?
We must remain critical when the Israeli government co-opts the LGBTQ struggle to divert attention from the occupation. But let's not minimize the urgency of the situation for many queer people in Israel and across the Middle East. By Frederick Hertz There's a tendency towards extreme dualism when it comes to the LGBTQ community in Israel. Two recent essays…
Anti-occupation LGBTQ activists block Tel Aviv pride parade
Activists hold up signs resembling the separation wall reading: 'There's no pride in occupation.' By Yael Marom Dozens of Israeli LGBTQ activists against the occupation blocked Tel Aviv's annual pride parade on Friday, holding up signs that read "There's no pride in occupation," and for a few minutes preventing the march from proceeding through the…
By +972 Magazine June 9, 2017
Jewish activists arrested for protesting New York pro-Israel parade
New York's annual, lavishly-funded Celebrate Israel parade was interrupted by scores of American Jewish activists, several of whom were arrested in the process. Seven Jewish protesters were arrested in New York on Sunday afternoon as over 100 activists disrupted the annual Celebrate Israel parade. The event, which sees thousands of participants march down Manhattan's Fifth Avenue accompanied…
By Natasha Roth-Rowland June 5, 2017
LGBTQ Israelis come out against occupation and homophobia
In response to online homophobic attacks, over 50 LGBTQ left-wing activists and NGO workers in Israel-Palestine release a statement condemning the occupation, racism and pinkwashing. By Yael Marom The week before last a notorious extreme right-wing Israeli rapper posted another homophobic status on his Facebook page. The post, which was not the from a right-winger…
The far-right is wooing LGBTQs for one reason: Islamophobia
From Donald Trump, to Marine Le Pen, to the Israeli government, the far-right is rebranding itself as uniquely equipped to protect LGBTQ communities from homophobia — so long as it is coming from Muslims. On June 13, 2016, Donald Trump gave a speech in response to the mass shooting at an Orlando LGBTQ nightclub the previous night,…
Tel Aviv's week of Pride and militarism
Next week, as tourists descend on Tel Aviv for the yearly pride parade, a separate international contingent will touch down in the city for a high-profile arms fair. By Tanya Rubinstein The upcoming Tel Aviv Pride parade has set social media, the streets and the queer community alight. In preparation for the June 9 march, the…
By Haokets June 1, 2017
Israel's deafening silence on Chechnya
Israel claims that its attitude towards the LGBT community within its borders is proof of its 'light unto the nations' status. So why is the government silent when LGBTs overseas are rounded up and tortured? By Ilan Manor One winter morning during his second tenure as British prime minister, Winston Churchill awoke to a scandal: two…
By +972 Magazine May 10, 2017
Hillel must put Jewish diversity and social justice above Israel allegiance
Just as Israel has banned BDS supporters from entering the country and demonizes those who show dissent, Hillel has sent a message to Jewish students that it only recognizes a certain type of Jew, and sees the rest of us as disposable. By Ally Fernandez I am exactly the kind of Jew whom Naftali Bennett…
By +972 Magazine April 25, 2017
WATCH: What is Israel really doing for LGBTQ rights?
Much fanfare accompanies the Knesset's annual LGBTQ rights day. But this year, as last year, the event coincided with a raft of LGBTQ rights legislation being shot down. Read more: Why the struggle for LGBT rights in Israel is far from over Why I interrupted a pro-army LGBTQ event in Tel Aviv Increasing homophobia mars…
By Social TV March 6, 2017
What happens the 'day after' Netanyahu?
Even as the end of Netanyahu's reign seems to be approaching, it's no time to celebrate — the problems in Israel run far deeper than one man. Over the past few years, the top echelons of the Jewish Israeli Left have been trying to figure out how to remove or "replace" Prime Minister Netanyahu. Those…
By +972 Magazine January 24, 2017


This prelude originally appeared in Muzio Clementi's book Introduction to the Art of Playing on the Pianoforte in the late 18th century. It is an excellent study in arpeggiated passages and pedaling, as well as a simple and expressive piece of music.
Patrons at the $5+ level will receive this recording as part of their rewards for August. Thank you for supporting my music.


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Farmland Industries was the largest agricultural cooperative in North America when it eventually sold all of its assets in 2002–04. During its 74-year history, Farmland served its farmer membership as a diversified, integrated organization, playing a significant role in agricultural markets both domestically and worldwide.

The Farmland brand and its slogan "Good Food From the Heartland" are now owned by Smithfield Foods, the largest pork producer and processor in the world, but Farmland Foods, Inc. operates independently and continues to market meat products under the "Farmland" brand. Farmland Foods serves both domestic and international markets and has revenues in excess of $3.5 billion annually.

History

The cooperative was founded 1929 by Howard A. Cowden as the Union Oil Company (as a successor to Cowden Oil Company which he founded the year before). In 1935 it took the name Consumers Cooperative Association (CCA), and in 1966  Farmland Industries, Inc.

At its peak, the organization was the leading agricultural cooperative in North America, owned by 1,700 farm cooperatives in the United States, Canada and Mexico, which cooperatives were in turn owned by more than 600,000 farmer families.  It had 16,000 employees in all 50 states and 90 countries.  In 1977 it ranked #78 on the Fortune 100 company list.  In 2001, its annual revenues were in excess of $11.8 billion.  It was listed as one of Forbes' "most admired" companies.  It ranked #170 on the Fortune List when the decision was made to sell the cooperative's assets.

The cooperative provided both agricultural supply and marketing services ranging from petroleum refining, fertilizer manufacture, feeds, shipping, crop production, livestock production, and refrigerated foods sales and marketing.  The company was a joint venture partner with a number of other companies, including: Archer Daniels Midland in grain storage, distribution and marketing; Simplot in phosphate production; ConAgra in wheat marketing; Land O'Lakes in feed systems and crop nutrients; Cenex Harvest States in lubricants, propane and refined fuels; Mississippi Chemical in nitrogen production and shipping (Trinidad and Tobago); Norsk Hydro in phosphate fertilizer production and marketing; Wilbur Ellis Company in crop protection product marketing and distribution; U.S. Premium Beef in beef packing; and Kansas State University in agricultural research.  Farmland also owned Tradigrain, a group of international grain trading companies headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.  Tradigrain was a wholly owned subsidiary of Farmland and had branch offices in Buenos Aires, Argentina; Paris, France; Bremen, Germany; Budapest, Hungary; Almaty, Kazakhstan; Tokyo, Japan; Mexico City, Mexico; Moscow, Russia; Seoul, Korea; Kyiv, Ukraine; Mykolaiv, Ukraine, London, United Kingdom; and Akkala, Uzbekistan.

The company operated on a cooperative basis.  The member/owners shared numerous commercial and financial benefits, including the sharing of costs for the processing and marketing of goods, competitive prices, and better supply and delivery capabilities.  Embracing a farm-to-table mission, the cooperative essentially divided its activities between "inputs" and "outputs."  On the input side, Farmland and its joint venture partners helped farmers in their production efforts by providing such items as fertilizers, insecticides and herbicides, animal feeds, and petroleum products.  On the output side, Farmland added value to members' food and fiber products and marketed them throughout the world.  A major part of the output strategy was to enhance the "Farmland" name and its trademarked phrase, "Proud to be farmer-owned."  The cooperative also employed vertical integration as much as possible.  With petroleum products, for instance, Farmland pumped crude oil from its own wells, refined it in its own facilities, and marketed the resulting products through its Ampride service stations.  With hogs and beef, the cooperative was involved in the raising of the animals through feed, the slaughtering and packaging process, as well as marketing the meats under the "Farmland" brand.

Farmland's founder, Howard A. Cowden, was born in 1893 on a southwestern Missouri farm settled by his grandfather.  Unlike other farms in his native Polk County, which averaged less than 100 acres in size, the Cowden farm at 500 acres was one of the largest.  Cowden believed strongly that farmers were at an economic disadvantage in the marketplace: they faced high interest rates on mortgages, paid high transportation costs, and had virtually no leverage in the pricing of their commodities.  He believed that farmers were faced with a "take-it-or-leave-it" proposition.  Cowden became active in the organization of agricultural cooperatives and in 1929 formed a new firm, Union Oil Company, which he organized as a cooperative under Missouri statutes.  Since Union Oil was intended as a regional enterprise, Cowden elected to establish headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri.  By the end of its first year of operation, Union Oil served 22 local cooperatives and was supplied by Kanotex Corporation.  Union Oil became the first cooperative in the country to run an oil-compounding plant.   With the organization becoming involved in a wide range of products, it was decided in February 1935 to change the name to "Consumers Cooperative Association" (CCA).  CCA had 259 local cooperatives as members and was generating more than $2 million in annual revenues.  CCA established a grocery division in 1935 and soon the CO-OP label was applied to over 200 products.  To support its petroleum business, CCA built a refinery in Phillipsburg, Kansas.  When it became operational in 1939, the facility greatly increased the organization's income and led to a period of prosperity during the 1940s.  CCA became involved in a variety of other areas, including the production of flour and feed, the manufacture of household and electrical appliances, and the development of insurance and finance associations.  Of particular importance was the feed program, which in its first year generated more revenue than the grocery business did in its tenth year.  Another highly profitable business for CAA was fertilizer, which farmers began to use at an accelerated rate.  By 1958, CCA topped $100 million in annual revenues, ranked 327th among the Fortune 500, and was one of the largest cooperatives in America.  In many ways it was considered an industrial powerhouse, controlling a wide range of assets: oil wells, pipelines, refineries, grease and paint factories, feed mills, fertilizer works, warehouses, and a fleet of trucks.  Petroleum products continued to dominate the cooperative's business, accounting for 70 percent of revenues, but that percentage would dip below 50 percent over the next few years as fertilizer became an increasingly more important revenue stream.  The emphasis of CCA turned to the farm supply and service field, making the use of the word "consumer" in its title less appropriate.  The organization also faced mounting pressure to better serve farmers by engaging in the marketing of agricultural products, an area which CCA had intentionally avoided.  In 1958, the CCA Board agreed to become involved in marketing as opportunities might arise.  A year later the cooperative purchased the Crawford County Packing Company in Denison, Iowa, and entered the pork processing business, ultimately acquiring food manufacturing facilities throughout the Midwest.  During the course of developing its food processing capability, the cooperative sought to improve operating efficiencies, marketing strategies and the relationship with facility employees.

Throughout the latter part of the century, Farmland continued to grow and diversify, turning to international markets, contracting to sell wheat, fertilizer and food products overseas and forming joint ventures with foreign partners.  The stated ambition was to gain a presence in "every sector of the global food chain."  During this period, Farmland became a North American and international cooperative, expanding its employee base to include executive and administrative functions.  The management remained committed to Farmland's original values, seeing the organization as representing the interests of its farmer members.  Revenues grew steadily, increasing from $3.4 billion in fiscal 1992 to more than $10.7 billion in 1999.

Growth and the sale of assets
Throughout the 1990s, the company continued to grow, serving markets worldwide.  Its activities became increasingly complex and extensive.  In 1998, the company's $2.8 billion asset base included nitrogen complexes in the U.S. and abroad; the second-largest petroleum refinery in the Midwest; phosphate mining operations; grain storage capacity of 145 million bushels; diverse feed manufacturing entities that included feed mills, spray dry plants and commodity sheds; 12 meat plants; and a transportation fleet of more than 4,400 rail cars, 1,060 over-the-road trucks and 1,850 trailers, and interest in 100 dry cargo barges and several ocean-vessels.  During this time, the company continued its mission to benefit the independent family farmer and farming interests, stating its mission "to be a global, consumer-driven, producer-owned 'farm-to-table' cooperative system."

In 1997, Farmland entered into a joint venture with Mississippi Chemical Corp. to build an ammonia plant in Trinidad designed to lower production cost of nitrogen fertilizers by utilizing Trinidad's plentiful and lower-cost natural gas supply.  Another expansion occurred at the company's Rock Springs, Wyoming SF Phosphates plant, a joint venture with J.R. Simplot Company.  Other efforts included a focus on precision farming through programs such as Resource 21, a remote sensing project with Boeing and GDE, AgInfo, a GIS software system offered through Agronomy Services Bureau; and Integrated Crop Management (ICM), a precision farming data management tool.  These efforts were designed to stay at the forefront of technologies such as remote sensing, variable rate fertilization, grid sampling, yield mapping and global positioning and geographic information systems.  The cooperative built a highly innovative coke-to-nitrogen fertilizer plant adjacent to its petroleum refinery operation in Coffeyville, Kansas.  The plant allowed the cooperative to convert petroleum coke—a waste product from the petroleum division—into ammonia that could be used for fertilizer.  This project was lauded for its environmental impact.

In June 1999, the company broke ground for a  headquarters on a  campus just east of Kansas City International Airport to consolidate the offices for 1,000 employees.  The building was completed in 2001.

Throughout the 1990s, Farmland was a highly successful venture, serving the needs of its members and participating as an integral part of North American farming.  During this time, however, its financial structure became highly leveraged.  In 2002, the company faced a liquidity crisis resulting from fluctuations in commodity prices and increased operational and capital costs, as well as the tightening of credit terms from suppliers and increased demands from its bondholders.  To achieve stability and to obtain time to explore refinancing alternatives, the cooperative filed for Chapter 11 in May 2002 (in its filing it listed $2.7 billion in assets and $1.9 billion in debt).  Although the cooperative continued to operate as a going concern, the reorganization process ultimately resulted in the decision to sell virtually all of the company's assets, including the following subsidiaries: Farmland Foods, Inc., the pork processing division to Smithfield Foods for $367M; Farmland National Beef Packing Company to US Premium Beef for $232M; and the fertilizer production division to Koch Industries.  The company's refinery and coke-to-nitrogen fertilizer plant were sold to a hedge fund.  It has been noted that the value of Farmland assets far exceeded the amount of its indebtedness.  The "Farmland" brand continues to be widely recognized in the food industry.

The Co-op Retirement Plan, which provides a final salary defined benefit retirement plan for member cooperatives' employees, was administered by Farmland. A non-profit, United Benefits Group, was incorporated to take over this service, from 2003.

The reorganization process resulted in the sale of the cooperative's assets, with all creditors completely (over 100 cents on the dollar) repaid by 2006.  According to JPMorgan, the liquidating trustee, unsecured creditors received $891 million, which was 104 cents on the dollar, the maximum allowed by law, and allows for interest.

Before the liquidation was completed, it was accepted that no assets remained to be distributed to the members, the local cooperatives, who had to write off the loss of their equity account balances.  A 2004 study in Oklahoma suggested that the most significant effects on cooperatives related to farmer connections and lost business relationships, and the direct financial impact of the write off was low.

References

Further reading
 Beyond the Fence Rows: A History of Farmland Industries, Inc. 1929-1978, Gilbert C. Fite. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1978

Defunct agriculture companies of the United States
Agricultural cooperatives in the United States
Former cooperatives of the United States
Companies based in Kansas City, Missouri
Agriculture companies established in 1929
Agriculture companies disestablished in 2003
American companies established in 1929
American companies disestablished in 2003
1929 establishments in Missouri
2003 disestablishments in Missouri
Defunct companies based in Missouri
Smithfield Foods brands

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Humdrum is a small very friendly, family oriented live world music festival in the broadest sense featuring music from every continent and from right here! There are also open mic sessions to give everyone the chance to shine, and little jam sessions are encouraged throughout the site!
Humdrum also has a central spiritual dimension with an opening and closing fire ceremony dedicating the whole event to the highest consciousness and setting the tone for the whole weekend.
There is also a daily morning Hindu puja ceremony followed by a yoga session, Sanskrit chanting, healing sound sessions as well as complimentary therapies including reiki, massage, sound journeying, and reflexology etc.
Workshops include African djembe and Indian tabla drumming, didgeridoo, drum kit, Sanskrit chant, yoga, willow weaving, and, very importantly, kids crafts and activities! The kids crafts and activities include treasure hunt, cake decorating, willow dream catcher, hat decorating, nature hunt, alphabet cookies, cakes, kids percussion and storytelling.
The café features delicious, home cooked, vegetarian food prepared by Fee Puleston who is rightly famous for her cooking! A typical menu would include jacket potato with side salad, mixed salad with falafel, humus and coleslaw, a pasta side dish, nachos with cheese salsa and guacamole.
As well as Victoria and lemon drizzle cake! Yum yum!


TN SI Hall Ticket 2019 Download– As the Tamil Nadu Uniformed Services Recruitment Board is preparing to conduct the written exam for the post of Sub Inspector and hence candidates will be required to download the TNUSRB SI Hall Ticket soon.
The official website where the TN Sub Inspector Call Letter will be released is www.tnusrbonline.org. Contenders can download the TN SI Hall Ticket as soon as it is out. But since the TNUSRB Admit Card has not been published yet, candidates are advised to wait for a little while longer to have their call letter.
The dates on which the admit card will be released has also been given in the segments below. When the TNUSRB Call Letter actually releases, we will make sure that we give you the direct link to download your admit card from our portal.
You will not be required to browse through the other parts of the internet to find the Tamil Nadu SI Hall Ticket 2019. Moreover, if you have any doubts regarding the call letter or its release date, comment below and we will clear it out to the best of our abilities as soon as possible.
Furthermore, in this article we have included the TN SI Exam Dates and the documents to carry to your Tamilnadu Police SI examination hall. Also, we have a whole section dedicated to the detailed process of how to download the admit card as well.
As you may know, the TNUSRB SI Vacancy was for the posts of 969 Sub Inspectors in the Taluk, Armed Reserve and Tamil Nadu Special Police departments. If you wish to secure this vacancy, make sure that you go through the entire TN SI Syllabus 2019 for more details.
So, now getting back to the topic of the TNUSRB Hall Ticket 2019, we have included all the details here on this page in depth.
How to download TNUSRB Sub Inspector Hall Ticket 2019 Online?
Go to the official portal of the TNUSRB or the Tamil Nadu Uniformed Services Recruitment Board which is www.tnusrbonline.org.
You will have to search for the Tamil Nadu SI Admit Card 2019.
Alternatively, rather than going through the first two steps mentioned, you can click on the link. This is a direct link to download the call letter.
On the page which comes up, enter your registration details and submit this information.
Your admit card will be on your screen for download. Do this and also take a printout of it.
The Tamil Nadu Uniformed Services Recruitment Board has not given out the date when the recruitment examination will be conducted. But the exam dates will be specified on the hall ticket, for sure.
Furthermore, the major parts of the state where the recruitment will be conducted are Coimbatore, Tirunelveli, Trichy, and Chennai. But the exam centres and the exact location where the examination will be held is yet to be decided.
You will have to carry a few important documents for the recruitment exam. They have been incorporated in the segment below.
Tamil Nadu Sub Inspector Hall Ticket.
The GovtJobIndia.com team with respect to the article about the TNUSRB Sub Inspector Hall Ticket 2019? Was this information adequate for you?
If yes, ensure that you broadcast this message with all those who might be looking out for the TN SI vacancy Admit Card 2019.
Additionally, leave all your doubts in the comments section. Any difficulties can be addressed there and we will reply back as soon as possible.
To conclude, subscribe to our website @ GovtJobIndia.com for any updates about the Tamilnadu SI Hall Ticket 2019.


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Fever Pitch Magazine
Your Editor
Voice Notes: Jordan Auld
February 10, 2020 April 5, 2020 feverpitchmagazine
By Stella Joseph-Jarecki (Enquiries: stellamusicwriter.wordpress.com)
I had the chance to speak to soprano Jordan Auld, whose first year out of her music degree saw her tour China as part of the ensemble of Australian International Opera Company's production of The Marriage of Figaro. During this tour she also covered the role of Susanna. Later in the year, Jordan performed the role of Musetta in BK Opera's season of La Boheme.
Jordan will next be seen on stage during Opera Scholars Australia's Opera in the Market event at Victoria Market on February 17th. She will be one of the three finalists competing in the Scholar of the Year Aria competition. More information and tickets can be found here You can follow Jordan's projects through her Instagram and Facebook.
When did you realise you wanted to pursue classical singing more seriously than a hobby?
It's quite a funny topic, because when I think about going into music performance seriously, there was never really a definitive decision of 'right, this is going to happen'. I was performing a lot as I grew up, after my mum put me into a little toddler class of dance, drama and music.
So I went to that class, I loved it, and I mellowed out a bit. I kept it up almost all the way through my schooling. So when it got towards the end of year twelve with talk of career paths, it was pretty inevitable… I was slightly leaning towards pursuing medicine, but really that was because I wanted to be on Grey's Anatomy, as an actor!
With classical music in particular, I came to classical singing really late. I got told at thirteen that I had a classical sounding voice, but I was pretty adamant that I would be the next Beyoncé because of my dancing! My teacher at the time really thought I should look into classical, but me being a thirteen year old and feeling like I knew better, I danced around it and didn't come back to it until year eleven. For my IB (International Baccalaureate) music subject, I had to present a wide range of genres. My teacher said to me if I wanted to do well, I was going to have to engage with classical voice. So I finally did.
But I feel like the more that you open yourself up to the world of classical music and opera, the more you fall in love with it. And it has gotten to the point that there's nothing I would rather do.
What excites you about opera?
Everything about it! It's the culmination of so many different art forms and the grandest form of storytelling.
While opera is carried by the voice, I feel like as performers, we are actors first. I feel like I have failed my job if I haven't portrayed the events convincingly. You can sing through an opera, but if you don't show the emotional side and the intentions of the characters, you've lost what opera is about. While you need to be convincing, you need to be vulnerable as well.
When it all comes together, as an audience member I almost feel fireworks in my chest.
So you're currently working full time alongside performing with Opera Scholars Australia, how do you approach time management and self-care?
During year eleven and twelve I completed IB, the International Baccalaureate. IB is probably the biggest mammoth of a multi-task you can possibly endure at the one time. You're juggling a lot of stuff for a really small outcome, which feels like the be-all and end-all at the time.
So in year eleven my parents sat me down and instilled in me importance of time management. Prioritising things that were due the next day over things that were due in a week. At the time I didn't warm to it, because I was one of those people who thought I could do everything, all the time.
In regards to juggling performing and working, I got my first job at fourteen and have never not had a job. So the over time, balancing musical commitments with study and work has become a normal thing for me.
In regards to self-care… being a dancer, I'm able to listen very closely to my body and work out when I really need rest. I find small things like going for a walk or having a bath are helpful. Baths really help, that feeling of lying down and shutting your mind off.
Could you talk to us about the tour of China, which you undertook in March of 2019 with the Australian International Opera Company?
So we toured a version of The Marriage of Figaro, cut down from four hours to ninety minutes. We took the show across China on a schedule similar to what you would see for a typical musical theatre season. For opera singers, that's quite uncommon, as seasons normally have rest days between shows. And rest days are so important!
So it was a matter of trying to build up the stamina to be performing either once a day and having the following day off, or doing a double show… That was definitely a learning experience. And when you put the travel on top of that too! You really learn that you have to pace yourself, because you really can't sprint in a situation like that.
It got to a point where we surrounded by so many people all the time, and I'm such an extravert, but there were times where I just wanted a little time to myself… so I'd get up and go to the gym really early in the morning. Listening to what I needed was important. Because we were travelling together, performing together, going out together, exploring the cities together… I did need a bit of extra time reading, having a bath, working out at the gym, going to breakfast early.
Looking back at it, during the tour you're so in the thick of it, everything's happening. But when a couple of months have passed and you're looking back, it's like, oh my god, I can't believe we got through that and we were all sane at the end!
The beauty of opera and live performance is, depending on how everyone is feeling, each show is different. When you are on a tour, you have a bit of freedom with things changing and adapting. Coming straight out of university, it was such an exciting time to have that as my first big professional engagement.
It was an insanely packed six months… I basically had about a month and a half to learn Marriage of Figaro, which we then performed for about a month, while I was simultaneously learning Musetta from La Bohéme.
What were some of the most challenging moments of your Bachelor of Music and Honours year?
The transition from high school to university can be quite challenging. You get to the end of year twelve and you feel like a big fish in a small pond. Then you get to university and you realise that your pond has expanded… it's a bit of a cultural shock, but it's a healthy thing too. So navigating that and allowing myself to step back was challenging. Especially as I moved down from Sydney, I knew it was going to be hard in some ways.
I remember in second year, I was becoming so emotionally attached to my music, that it was hindering my progress because I was becoming so possessive of what I was producing. And it was becoming quite detrimental and unhealthy. So I realised I had to reach out, and I had a chat to Dr. Margaret Osbourne, who runs the subject Peak Performance Under Pressure. And that was when I noticed I had to step back and realise who I was, outside of a singer.
Because when you are at school, you try so many subjects and you also have extra-curricular stuff. And from that, you pick your favourites, and your favourites become your career, and it's almost as if you've lost that extra-curricular element because it's now your life. Sometimes you need to take a break and do something else.
And what were some of the most rewarding moments of your degree?
I did the Chamber Ensemble performance subject during my Honours year, and I absolutely cherished being able to work intensely with instrumentalists. When you're making music with a small group, the sensory experience is so heighted. For me that was really rewarding.
In semester one I got to work with a cellist. I remember there was a time the group was rehearsing and there was something I wasn't communicating musically. And Andrea said, put your hand on the back of the cello, sing and then listen to Josh while he's playing. And it completely changed how I was looking at the piece.
A bit of a mean question, but could you tell me some of your favourite composers for the voice?
I've been listening to a lot of bel canto opera lately, which I've been loving. It can be a little daunting and scary to listen to because there's typically a lot of coloratura! (Fast-paced virtuosic vocalisations). I've really warmed to Rossini in particular. I love Il Viaggio a Reims, which I saw in Melbourne. I felt like it really changed me. His style is florid and virtuosic, which I see as a bit of a challenge.
I am a sucker for Puccini. I think every soprano is! He writes such beautiful music. And all of his operas somehow connected in a way, so listening to La Boheme and going back and listening to parts of Suor Angelica, there are elements that are really similar. I really love how connected they are. Those are the sort of things you only find out when you get to perform a lot of his works.
Another composer I really love, but haven't had the opportunity to perform much of his work, is Fromental Halévy. I saw his opera La Juive in Munich and it was life-changing.
Do you have a handful of dream roles?
It's funny thing, actually thinking about dream roles. During uni I went through a period of having to find out who I was apart from a performer. So you start to detach yourself a little and come to peace with the idea that some things may not happen for you.
I think a dream role would be Rachel in La Juive, that would be amazing. I would love to do Violetta from La Traviata. She's such a multi-dimensional character and to bring her to life requires so much… I really see that as brilliance.
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UAVaid Deploys To Malawi
Routine operational deployments of the UAVAid Hansard system took a major step forward in November 2018 with a trial deployment in Malawi. The drone platform was deployed with a team of operators and engineers to the Kasungu Aerodrome, with the goal of further understanding and preparing for the practical constraints and issues related to operating long range multi role drones in remote areas, with limited backup infrastructure.
With its high poverty rates, poor infrastructure and access approvals in place for the Kasungu drone corridor, Malawi was an ideal location for a 'use case' trial deployment. The team deployed to the aerodrome, together with the aircraft and support equipment necessary to complete a trial programme.
Hansard UAV aircraft at the Kasungu Aerodrome
The logistics fell into place with everything arriving on time and intact. The team established base in the Kasungu aerodrome building for use as indoor maintenance, aircraft control, local air traffic control and storage.
The purpose of the programme to 'dry run' the practical aspects of deploying the equipment and teams into a use-case context, and learning from the experience as much as possible. We succeeded.
Since arrival in Malawi, the performance of the UAV engines was significantly below that of the pre-deployment tests of just two weeks prior. The Hansard UAV is designed to operate on internationally available, regular, road gasoline and gasoline/ethanol blends typical of that locally available in most parts of the developing world. The aerodrome was at approx 1000m elevation, well within the parameters of the drone's capability of operating 3000m asl.
Hansard V aircraft standing ready on the aerodrome apron.
After several days of investigation on multiple UAV aircraft and engines, it was concluded that the most likely cause of the engine performance irregularity was that the fuels sourced from local service stations were detrimentally contaminated.
Field Test: Fuel Burn
To test the contamination hypothesis, a rudimentary in-the-field 'burn test' was conducted. Equal quantities of 1) fuel sourced from multiple local automotive service stations in Kasungu District and 2) 'clean' gasoline directly sourced from the primary importer in Lilongwe, were put in small aluminium dishes and set alight, with the resultant burn observed. This was repeated.
Burn test of fuels in Kasungu
When compared to the relatively clean burn of the fuel from the national importer, the fuel sourced from local service stations burned with plumes of heavy black smoke, produced pungent and acrid smells, left considerable carbon deposits and in some cases a residual black 'sludge', indicating poor combustion and suggesting significant contamination with other unknown substances.
UAVAid will be returning to Malawi.
Co-founders James Ronen (5th from left) and Daniel Ronen (4th from right) with local, UAVAid and technical teams at the Kasungu Aerodrone, Malawi. The group are standing behind two Hansard aircraft.
Legal Disclaimer: The authors have documented their own experiences only. It should be noted that the test methodology of the burn test was not robust and further investigation is strongly recommended before any conclusions are drawn.


Age of War 2 is the second installment of the strategy based warfare game. Win intense battles and progress from a prehistoric army evolving through the ages the further you get.
Plan your attack and use your arsenal of weaponry to destroy your enemy's castle and win the battle and more importantly the war. As you progress through the stages you can improve your battle units to increase your chances to win. As you progress you will need sharpen your war tactics to crush your enemy and their castle as it will only get harder. Have fun and good luck!


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A Quarterly Review of Latin American History
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Volume 55 - January 1999
Page/Article number: low to high Page/Article number: high to low Title Type Online publication date
Reconsidering Recruitment in Imperial Brazil*
Hendrik Kraay
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 December 2015, pp. 1-33
Third Sergeant Wenceslau Martins Leal may have misunderstood his orders for 18 July 1888 but his greater mistake was, in fact, carrying them out too well. With his patrol from the Sixteenth Infantry Battalion, he reported to the police subdelegate of Salvador's São Pedro parish at 7:00 p.m. and received orders to arrest and take to the fort "all the vagrants that he could find, for the time had come for impressment [recrutamento forçado]." Because the subdelegate did not limit the number of men to be impressed and pointed out the best places to find such "vagabonds"—Dois de Julho Square and the nearby alleys—Leal concluded that he had unlimited authority to put his ten men to work on this "arduous task." It only took an hour. In a first sweep, they picked up thirty-five men; in a second, seventeen more. Two resisted "tenaciously" and had to be forcibly subdued. By 8:00, the duty officer had developed serious misgivings about the large number of prisoners arriving at the fort. He checked with the subdelegate who denied having given such orders in the first place and released the detainees. An indignant Leal justified his actions on the grounds that he had merely followed orders to the best of his ability.
Comunas and Indigenous Protest in Cayambe, Ecuador*
The 1930s was a period of slow and painful capitalist formation in the Ecuadorian highlands. Marginalized Indigenous peoples who lived in rural areas particularly felt this economic transition as modernizing elites utilized their control of state structures to extend their power to the remote corners of the republic. It was also a time of gains in social legislation, including new laws which dealt with the "Indian problem." One of the primary examples of this type of legislation was the 1937 Ley de Comunas which extended legal recognition to Indian communities. In certain parts of the country such as in the central highland province of Chimborazo, Indigenous peoples quickly embraced this comuna structure and formed more comunas than any other area of the country (see Map 1). In similar situations in the neighboring countries of Colombia and Peru, Indian villages also used legal frameworks which the government imposed on their communities to petition for ethnic and economic demands.
Crosses, Caves, and Matachinis: Divergent Appropriations of Catholic Discourse in Northwestern New Spain*
Cynthia Radding
… Christianity became wholeheartedly an element of indigenous culture. The Christian miracle was a given integrated into daily life as it was into the landscape, space and time of the pueblo.
Recent ethnohistorical trends point to a renewed interest in the complex interplay of beliefs and ritual practices that gave rise to multiple expressions of religiosity in different temporal and spatial settings of colonial America. Religion provides a rich thematic matrix for exploring the boundaries of alterité between Amerindian and European actors and figures centrally, as well, in the internal development of different cultural and ethnic identities. Cosmology, understood as those systems of belief that bind individuals to their communities and to the wider universe, informs different peoples' concepts of time and their sense of history. The Maya of Yucatán, for example, integrated both linear and cyclical notions of time into their cosmic order in ways that rendered sensible their rhythms of accommodation and resistance to foreign domination. Moreover, cultural constructions of the past rely heavily on myths that fuse spiritual beliefs with ethnic claims to the land, as observed in the intricate connections between syncretic religion and the survival of ethnic polities in colonial Oaxaca. Ethnic rationalizations of space, it has been argued, underwrote particular aesthetic and cognitive approaches to spatial and temporal "mapping" which, in turn, brought a religious dimension to the notion of territoriality.
The Politics of Limpieza de Sangre: Juan de Ovando and his Circle in the Reign of Philip II*
Stafford Poole
In 1575 Juan de Ovando, the president of the Council of the Indies, wrote to Mateo Vázquez de Lecca, Philip II's secretary, about the maestrescuelas (headmaster of the cathedral school) of Mexico City who was under consideration for a position as chaplain to the king. The Council of the Indies believed that he lacked the proper limpieza de sangre, that is, that he may have had a tainted lineage that disqualified him for the post. Ovando declared that this was not true. However, despite the fact that the candidate was indeed an "Old Christian" of unblemished stock, he was not to be given the position. Because it was a royal position, wrote Ovando, it should be given only to one whose purity of blood was "notorious." In 1590 Vázquez de Lecca expressed a similar sentiment when he wrote of a candidate for the royal council that "It is a pity that Agustín Alvarez is not considered to be pure of blood because … I consider him the best of all possible candidates."
Elite Families and Popular Politics in Early Nineteenth-Century Michoacan: The Strange Case of Juan José Codallos and the Censored Geneology*
Margaret Chowning
Among other treasures, the tidy, compact municipal archive of Pátzcuaro houses a document of genuine antiquarian interest: the will of Juan José Codallos, recorded on July 9, 1831, just two days before he was executed for his role as the instigator and chief caudillo in Michoacán of the War of the South. Codallos began by stating that he was 41 years old, the son of Felipe Codallos and Andrea de Ponce; that he was in good health (considering that he was condemned to die); that he was married to a woman named Dolores Domínguez, with whom he had four children (the oldest was seven; the youngest, one); and that his worldly goods consisted of his clothes, two horses, a fancy saddle, and a silver-trimmed bridle. ["peno" is bridle? I have been unable to confirm this translation]
Dubious Loyalty: The Paraguayan Struggle for the Parana Frontier, 1767-1777
Jerry W. Cooney
For nearly three centuries, the vecinos of colonial Paraguay defended Spanish interests in the Upper Plata. Turbulent as they were, protesting with violent regularity against unpopular governors and official policies, these "hijos del país" have traditionally been portrayed as the bedrock from which the Paraguayan people and identity sprang. Offspring of the Spanish conquerors of the 1500s and their guaraní consorts, the "mancebos de la tierra," possessed the full rights of Europeans. They guarded their noble status jealously, while dominating the rural society of the province. With the passage of time their numbers increased, providing the manpower for Paraguay's eighteenth century frontier expansion. In the course of Paraguay's colonial development, vecinos bore the brunt of the militia defense of the province, "a su costa y minsión," in an unrelenting struggle against nomadic Indians and the putative designs of neighboring Lusitanians.
Tales of Two Women: The Narrative Construal of Porfirian Reality*
Robert Buffington, Pablo Piccato
It was the perfect murder, really. Illicit passions: two beautiful women-of-the-night feuding over a dashing young rake, a masked ball, casual taunts, thwarted assaults, escalating threats. Heinous crime: the lover's borrowed gun, midnight bordello visit, fighting words, a gun shot, a maid's scream, a young woman's tragic death. Cruel punishment: suicidal remorse (by some accounts), humiliating public trial, twenty lost years (the maximum sentence for a woman) in Mexico City's squalid Belem jail. The Tarasquillo Street murder had it all!
And so it happened that, in an era enamored of all things French, Mexico City had its very own cause célèbre. A scant twelve years earlier, professional francophile and amateur criminologist Rafael Zayas de Enríquez had devoted an entire volume of his Fisiología del crimen to notorious foreign criminals like Alfonse Dupont, the hunchbacked wife-killer, and Charles Guiteau, the deranged assassin of President Garfield. Now, Mexico too could claim a prominent place in the international annals of infamous crime.
In Search of the Party: The Communist Party, the Comintern, and the Peasant Rebellion of 1932 in El Salvador*
Eric Ching
The rebellion of 1932 in El Salvador is commonly described in the context of communism and the leadship role of the Communist Party of El Salvador (PCS). Relying on previously unavailable archive materials from Russia and El Salvador, the present article demonstrates that the PCS played a limited role in the rebellion. Factional infighting and a strategy that collided with social realities in western El Salvador combined to inhibit PCS influence among western peasants. The evidence suggests that Indian communities were at the forefront of the rebellion, as an extention of their long history of political mobilization.
Female Apostolates and Modernization in Mid-Nineteenth Century Chile*
Gertude M. Yeager
How religion became a tool for integrating women into the modernization process in mid-nineteenth century Chile is the subject of this essay. The intense liberal assault on tradition in nineteenth century Latin America resulted in cultural warfare that benefited women as the abandonment of the Church in record numbers by men created opportunities for both religious and lay women to assume leadership roles. Perhaps for the only time in its history, the Roman Catholic Church identified religious women as a specie of clergy and actively encouraged their female apostolates to preserve the faith of women and children. In Chile this tension between traditional Hispanic and competing bourgeois values had a female dimension because included among the indicators of modernity was the social role of woman. Traditional Hispanic culture cloistered woman in the convent or home; she was a private person who left the public sphere to her male relatives. Independence, however, introduced the idea of republican motherhood and the notion became more pronounced when travelers to the United States and Europe noted the freedom and social contributions of women thereby giving credence to the new concept. Female apostolates provided women with the bridge to the modern age and provided a "feminine ideal of self-sacrificing women [to balance] Adam Smith's masculine gospel of enlightened self-interest."
Baiting the British Bull: A Fiesta, Trials, and a Petition in Belize*
Rosemarie M. McNairn
In the study of colonial history the ability to discover the voice of the people is often hindered by the fact that most extant sources are archival, written by those who held power. In some instances mediated sources have survived which can be read as colonialist text, or can be read subversively, from the perspective of the colonized. Such is the case surrounding the events which began in May 1865 when a traditional Yucatecan religious festival was held in the Maya village of Xaibe, near Corozal in the Northern District of Belize (known at that time as British Honduras). The newly appointed British magistrate laid criminal charges against those celebrants who had engaged in the alleged cruelties of the vaquería or bullfights held in conjunction with the fiesta. In June, nearly four hundred residents of the District, "Persons of mixed Spanish and Indian descent and Indians," petitioned the House of Assembly demanding redress from a magistrate who had, "systematically harassed and oppressed the people … prevented them from disposing of their commodities before the hours of service on Sunday mornings … and has endeavoured and partly succeeded in putting a stop to the festivities of one of their most sacred and cherished festivals." The petition was rejected and colonial authorities challenged its authenticity, the integrity and character of the signatories, and the "alien" culture it represented.
The Indian Policy of Jujuy Province, 1835-1853*
David Bushnell
The changing status of the Indian population in postindependence Spanish America has been a major theme of historical research and writing, with primary emphasis for obvious reasons on the cases of Mexico and Peru. Bolivia and Guatemala have received a secondary share of attention, but other countries have been relatively ignored. Certainly the case of Argentina is seldom cited save in connection with the ebb and flow of the frontier between Creole settlements and semiautonomous native peoples of the Pampa and Patagonia. The latter story, of course, has more in common with that of westward expansion in the United States than with the situation of settled Indian communities in Mexico or the central Andes. But there are some exceptions even in Argentina, involving native communities more akin to those of Cuzco or Chiapas than to the original inhabitants of Kansas and Wyoming or of the Argentine Pampa.
The Evacuation of the Mosquito Shore and the English Who Stayed Behind, 1786-1800
Frank Griffith Dawson
On 14 July 1786, representatives of the Kings of Spain and England signed the Convention of London by which His Britannick Majesty undertook to evacuate all British subjects from the northern coast of Central America, thereby putting an end to over a half-century of conflict in that remote corner of the Caribbean.
Although Article I of the Convention referred to the territory to be evacuated simply as "the Country of the MOSQUITOS …," the intention was to secure the removal of a string of small British settlements extending from sixty miles east of Trujillo in what is now Honduras along some 550 miles of coast to Cape Gracias a Dios, and then south and east to Nicaragua's San Juan River. The area was called then, as now, the Mosquito Shore, and had been a British sphere of influence since the 1730s.
Conjuring the Body Politic From the Corpus Mysticum: The Post-Independent Pursuit of Public Opinion in Mexico, 1821-1854
Brian F. Connaughton
Political theory, consensus and participation have often had deeply religious motivations and inspirations driving them. And however peculiar to theology the concept of corpus mysticum may seem to us today, it has often been used in association with politics. In the late Middle Ages, the notions of political office as against personalism, continuity of sovereignty in spite of the unexpected and politically perilous deaths of monarchs, unity over factionalism, the relationship between authority and the law, and that between authority and the people, were persuasively addressed through this religious metaphor.
Maderismo or Mixtec Empire? Class and Ethnicity in the Mexican Revolution, Costa Chica of Oaxaca, 1911*
Francie R. Chassen-López
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 December 2015, pp. 91-127
On 18 May 1911, the indigenous Mixtec peasants of Pinotepa Nacional, Oaxaca, rose up against the local cacique and ranchers who had dispossessed them of their ancient communal lands. Thus began not only the lone agrarian rebellion in the state of Oaxaca but also the only attempt to revive a pre-Columbian indigenous empire during the Mexican Revolution. The study of this remarkable episode situates Oaxaca, a state previously thought to be peripheral to this major social upheaval, within the main currents of revolutionary activity.
As in the case of other revolutionary movements, the arrival of Maderista revolutionaries from a neighboring state, in this case Guerrero, triggered the peasant mobilization in Pinotepa Nacional, unleashing social tensions in the area. Although an overwhelmingly rural state in 1910, the Revolution in Oaxaca has generally been characterized by the absence of agrarian protest. Recent studies have found the precursor and Maderista movements in Oaxaca to be predominantly middle class, either urban or rural, seeking social mobility, wider political participation, and greater local autonomy. Nevertheless, the study of the events of May 1911 on the Oaxacan coast reveals a struggle that pitted an agrarian, indigenous movement against a middle class, rancher-style revolution.
The Patriotic Society: Discussions and Omissions About Indians in the Peruvian War of Independence*
Charles F. Walker
Few topics if any have perplexed Peruvian thinkers in the twentieth century as much as why the indigenous population has not been more fully incorporated into the nation. While the question has been posed in a number of ways from a variety of perspectives and disciplines, changing greatly over the decades, all agree that the indigenous population has not, as of the late twentieth century, been granted the rights and dignity implied by the term citizenship. Although the question has been addressed in literature, the social sciences and other academic disciplines, the answer is ultimately historical. Most analysts cast an eye on the colonial period and pay particular attention to the War of Independence. For the indigenous population, continuity more than change marked the Andean republics' rupture with Spain. Well into the republican era, "Indians" continued to pay tribute, euphemistically renamed the Contribution, and thus continued to constitute a unique fiscal and political category.
Tell Me Your Dreams: Psychoanalysis and Popular Culture in Buenos Aires, 1930-1950*
Mariano Ben Plotkin
How does one write the history of psychoanalysis? Although the question seems too broad it is still pertinent. In countries like Argentina, where psychoanalysis has become a Weltanschauung, traditional approaches from the history of science, the history of ideas or institutional history are insufficient to give a full account of its cultural implantation. There is a level of cultural reception that is unaccounted for by those approximations but which is, nevertheless, a constitutive component of the history of the discipline. Although some authors have identified a common "latin pattern" in the reception of psychoanalysis, national differences sometimes overcome similarities. Whereas psychoanalysis, for instance, started to be discussed in Argentine medical circles as early as in the 1910s, it did not have the influence in avant-garde literature that it had in France or Brazil. However, since the early 1920s psychoanalysis had an impact in popular magazines and publications in Buenos Aires. Only a multilayered analysis can provide a good understanding of the different patterns of reception of psychoanalysis. Elsewhere I dealt with the impact of psychoanalysis in the medical profession and in the teaching of psychology in Buenos Aires. My goal here is to analyze another area of diffusion of psychoanalysis: popular periodical publications. Although the massive diffusion of psychoanalysis in Argentina began in the 1960s, since the late 1920s popular magazines and publications introduced discussions on psychoanalysis and its creator, thus defining a space through which the discipline inserted itself in the culture of the city of Buenos Aires. It seems clear that in Argentina publications aimed at an expanded lower-middle class public, outside and beyond the restricted circle of the "republic of letters," constituted an earlier path of reception for psychoanalysis than what is usually considered high literature.
The Leasing of Brazil, 1502-1515: A Problem Resolved?
H. B. Johnson
It is generally agreed that a couple of years after Cabral's discovery of Brazil in 1500, the Portuguese Crown leased out the land to a trading consortium for economic exploitation and further exploration. But whether the Crown granted one or two leases, and when the second lease [if there was one] began and for how long it ran, have long been matters of confusion and disagreement.
Evidence of the first lease is clear. A letter of Rondonelli written from Seville and dated the third of October, 1502, speaks of a three-year lease on the following terms: the consortium would have to send six ships to Brazil and "discover" 300 leagues of coast each year and would be obligated to build a fort/factory there. During the first year the lease-holders would pay the Crown nothing, in the second year they would pay a sixth [of the profits?], and in the third year a fourth.
Inter-American Notes
Salalm Meeting
"Talking History as History is Made: Historians and the Peace Between Ecuador and Peru"
Max Paul Friedman
Archival Report
Small Particulars: Variant Titles and Dates to the Manuscript of Fray Diego Durán
John R. Hébert, Abby L. Forgang
The famous sixteenth-century illustrated manuscript Historia by Fray Diego Durán is an extensive account of Aztec/Mexica history and rites, and a description of the Aztec calendar. Although the exact date of completion is unknown, there are two internal dates in the text (1579 and 1581) which have been used to date the original document. Durán's account was recopied by Mexican scholar José F. Ramírez in 1854 and a two volume printed version with the title Historia de Nueva España y Yslas de Tierra Firme was published in Mexico between 1867 and 1880. Recently a manuscript copy of Durán's text, transcribed in the 1840s, was rediscovered at the Library of Congress containing the following title and description:
Historia antigua de la Nueva España con noticias de los ritos y costumbres de los Yndios y esplicacion del calendario mexicano por Fray Diego Durán, Escrita en el año de 1585. [Peter Force Papers, Series VIII C (Hispanic Collection), Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington].


If you are interested in hosting a USABB Regional Tournament, please see the updated hosting information found here and contact us at info@iacompetitions.com!
Note: Beginning with the 2018-2019 school year, many US Academic Bee tournaments are being held in conjunction with the Regional Finals of the National History Bee and the Regional Finals of the National Science Bee. These tournament sites are denoted by a dark blue dot on the map on the USABB homepage (becoming dark green once the tournament site is confirmed). These tournaments are limited to students who have qualified for the Middle School or Elementary School Regional Finals of either the National History Bee or the National Science Bee which are taking place at the same site that day.
Registration for tournaments with both Academic Bee and Academic Bowl components is done on the Regional Tournament registration page.
Registration for tournaments with an Academic Bee that are held in conjunction with the Regional Finals of the National History Bee and National Science Bee is done through the International Academic Competitions Sponsor Profile Page. Students must be qualified for the Regional Finals of the National History Bee or the National Science Bee to compete at these events. Visit www.nationalhistorybee.com and www.nationalsciencebee.com to learn how to register.
If you are interested in hosting a tournament in your area, please contact info@iacompetitions.com. Thanks!


I'd like to say a massive, massive, heartfelt THANK YOU to all of you that have bought a copy of the Book of Scones. I am so very grateful to you.
I can honestly say, though, that you have made a canny investment.
The Book of Scones is more than just a book containing 50 scone recipes and some crumbs of history. It's like that scene towards the end of Harry Potter where his mum and dad and Sirius and Remus all appear to him in a wood and say "WE ARE WITH YOU - TO THE END". That's how I see the Book of Scones - whenever you pick it up, 20-odd National Trust scone bakers appear in your kitchen speaking words of wisdom, such as "work quickly - scones prefer it that way" and "don't twist as you cut - it stops them rising". Unfortunately the bakers do not hang around to clean up your kitchen.
I decided to put my money where my mouth is and bake all of the scones in the book. Here are my first five bakes. They were all, without exception, absolutely delicious.
There was an extra ingredient in the G&T scone: beginner's luck. The scones rose beautifully and I've yet to see it happen again. They tasted like a warm and cosy armchair on a cold night. Even though it was June.
The surprise package of the Book of Scones. They were absolutely stunning. I think my dough was a bit too soggy, hence they look like buns, but the fruit and the tea are an incredible combination. I urge you to try this one.
THESE ARE MEANT TO BE FLAT! Stop sniggering! Trying to find some lard in West London was harder than I expected, but I'm glad I persevered - these were a revelation.
Look, it was very late and I was tired. I had diligently chopped up loads of walnuts, sending walnut knobbles all over the kitchen, but then I absent-mindedly plomped the lot into the mixture and didn't save any for the tops. I couldn't face more chopping. So big chunk o' walnut for decoration it was. They were absolutely lovely.
I recommend that you make double the amount of caramel sauce for the topping, because if you're anything like me then you'll need to test the caramel fifty several times before you deploy it. They tasted incredibly appley. Delicious.
So there you have it - the first five bakes to prove to you all that anyone can bake a scone. Look out for the next five attempts and remember to send me your scone bake pictures!


I'd like to introduce you to a new feature that we are planning share throughout 2016. We are calling it 3 Colorful Ways. It came about so that we could actually see some of our favorite designs in different colors. For our first feature, we chose the ever-popular Corner-to-Corner Throw and made it in 3 variations. You'll find separate patterns for each of the 3 throws linked to their photos below. Which one would you like to have on your sofa to cozy up with? Go below the pictures to the voting app and click on your favorite to vote!
If you crochet your Corner-to-Corner in other colors, please share it with us on our Facebook page. Your choices may be just what someone else would like to use for their throw!
Watch for additional 3 Colorful Ways designs throughout the year!
I love the way the number of rows of each color changes in the classic throw. I need to look at yardage requirements to see which I can make with 8oz each of 3 colors. I love buying yarn in coordinating packs, but sometimes the yardage available doesn't really fit any patterns out there.
LOVE them all! I must learn to crochet!
Last night in our crochet club someone was making this Afghan in a variegated yarn and we girls fell in love with it! Of course we just had to have the pattern, which she didn't have. She's made so many of them she knows it by memory. So I knew if anyone had it Red Heart would. Pulled it up on my phone. This morning, get an email from Red Heart, they are featuring this exact Afghan! Guess I'll take the hint, think I'll do mine in shades of pink. Pretty!
Please help…..I am working on one of your C2C afghans and loving it.
However where it says I should end up with 96 blocks on the row before starting to decrease, I have 92 blocks. I am somewhere out 4 blocks. I have the correct number of rows that I'm supposed to have however the count of "blocks" is off. Somewhere I went off.
Will it make a major problem with continuing the pattern on the decrease?
Hi Devorah, We're sorry to hear you're having trouble with the pattern! If you have not already, please contact Consumer Services at http://www.redheart.com/ContactUs for pattern assistance. Using the Contact Us form ensures that your question is sent to the correct team and your question is answered.
I love them all! Wonder how it would be to use a multi colored yarn?
I love them all! If I had to choose just one it would be Restful.