text:
Ingrid Monica Bruce
Civil engineer, trade-union representative
Ingrid Bruce was a civil engineer who was the first female chair of the Civilingenjörsförbund (CF) (association of civil engineers).
Ingrid Bruce was born in Säffle in 1940 and grew up in that town. Her parents were Karl Georg Bruce, a civil engineer, and Ellen Ingrid Bruce. Ingrid Bruce was the second child in a family comprising six sisters and one brother. As a child she was a successful swimmer and she gained her school-leaving certificate from the mathematical department within the natural sciences school line in 1958.
Having completed her schooling Ingrid Bruce decided to follow in her father's footsteps and she began to train as a civil engineer at Chalmers technical college, studying in the electronics department. When she began her studies in 1959 she was one of only three women among a total of 125 electronics students. The training environment was heavily influenced by the majority male students and teachers. Later Ingrid Bruce would seek to counteract the lack of female enrolment in technical studies.
After gaining her civil engineer qualification in 1964 Ingrid Bruce moved to Stockholm, where she began to work at the Kungliga Flygförvaltning (royal air force administration), known as Försvarets materielverk (defence materiel administration) from 1968 onwards. Her work involved defence robotics, mainly robotic guidance technology. In 1969 she transferred into the private sector and TUAB, which later became AB Teleplan och Communicator. This was a consultancy focused on telecommunications and electronics. Although the company worked closely with the Swedish defence agency, Ingrid Bruce worked mainly on navigation technology and positioning of ports and steelplants. In 1993 Ingrid Bruce returned to work for Försvarets materielverk (FMV) and became the project leader for developing the surface-to-air-missile-system BAMSE – which resulted in her becoming nicknamed 'Bamsemor' (Bamse mama). In 1998 she became the head of Kompetenscentrum Vapen (weapons centre of excellence) at FMV, where she remained until 2003.
As a member of the union Ingrid Bruce became elected deputy for the local union club at TUAB, and began to attend ordinary meetings there. She realised that this was a sphere within which she could have an impact. She eventually became chair of the local section and in 1975 she was elected onto CF's AE commission, the agency for the labour market and negotiations for individual sectors. From 1982 she was a board member for the association and in 1985 she was elected as chair of the CF, a post she held until 1989, and the first woman to do so. It was through her work with CF that she met the man she went on to marry in 1988, namely Gerhard Raunio. He was on the association board, and he was a civil engineer and a professor at the Tekniska (technical) college at Linköping university. They married in 1991. Her husband was later chair of CF, from 1995-2002. The couple did not have any children together but Gerhard Raunio had three from a previous marriage.
Within her union work Ingrid Bruce was mainly concerned with wages and the quality of training courses. She was particularly concerned with the major wage inequalities for civil engineers within the private sphere compared to the public sphere. These differences in wages caused a skill drain from the civil engineer training courses and Ingrid Bruce sought to stem this. It was not until her husband became chair that a tangible change, that of free wage determination for civil engineers within the public sector, was introduced.
Throughout Ingrid Bruce's entire working life the corps of civil engineers remained a heavily male-dominated sphere. She did not believe that this had impacted negatively on her, and in fact thought it could be a positive thing to stand out from the masses when she felt she had something to say. She herself said that she only experienced sex discrimination on one occasion. This was in relation to a managerial position that she was prevented from applying for because it required the applicant to be an officer – which was not an option open to women at the time. Ingrid Bruce treated the whole matter as 'silly' and later got her revenge by gaining a similar managerial position without being an officer. As chair of the CF she was heavily involved in efforts to persuade more women to become qualified within technological and scientific professions. She often made direct appeals to these groups. 'I tell the women not to allow themselves to be downtrodden. But neither should they go looking for injustices. Respect is gained through expertise. One should know one's job!', was Ingrid Bruce's response to these situations.
When Ingrid Bruce became chair of the CF she was asked why the CF did not have an equalities programme and was it not high time one was put in place. She was, however, not interested in generating documents which would end up in a desk drawer, she was focused on practical matters. This led to her establishing the first Swedish network of female civil engineers in Stockholm in 1986. Here professional women could share their experiences.
Ingrid Bruce was active in FEANI from 1985. This was a European organisation for civil engineers. She was vice-president of the organisation from 1991-1994 and further was the chair of the Swedish committee within the organisation for a long period.
Ingrid Bruce maintained her interest in training issues even after her retirement, and as such she offered homework help to school children.
Ingrid Bruce died in 2012. She is buried at The Woodland Cemetery in Stockholm.
Linus Karlsson
(Translated by Alexia Grosjean)
You are welcome to cite this article but always provide the author's name as follows:
Ingrid Monica Bruce, www.skbl.se/sv/artikel/IngridMonicaBruce, Svenskt kvinnobiografiskt lexikon (article by Linus Karlsson), retrieved 2021-01-19.
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Nickname: Bamsemor
Civil Status: Widow
Mother: Ellen Ingrid Bruce, född Hederén
Mother: Ellen Ingrid Bruce, född Hederén (1908-11-10 – 2006-10-11)
Father: Karl Georg Bruce
Father: Karl Georg Bruce (1911-05-26 – 1999-03-27)
Sister: Agneta Hillevi Bruce, gift Bruce Nord
Sister: Agneta Hillevi Bruce, gift Bruce Nord (1938-10-26 – 2008-11-08)
Sister: Barbro Elisabet Bruce
Sister: Barbro Elisabet Bruce (1942-02-25 – )
Sister: Gunnel Anne-Christine Bruce
Sister: Gunnel Anne-Christine Bruce (1944-05-08 – )
Sister: Anna-Kari Birgitta Bruce
Sister: Anna-Kari Birgitta Bruce (1946-02-26 – )
Sister: Eva Ingegärd Bruce, gift Bruce Bengtsson
Sister: Eva Ingegärd Bruce, gift Bruce Bengtsson (1948-05-06 – 2010-03-31)
Brother: Allan Georg Bruce
Brother: Allan Georg Bruce (1950-02-27 – )
Husband: Gerhard Raunio
Husband: Gerhard Raunio (1937-04-03 – 2004-01-19)
Civilingenjör, professor, ordförande i Civilingenjörsförbundet
Relation mellan 1991 och 2004
Högskola, Göteborg: Civilingengörutbildning, Chalmers tekniska högskola
Högskola, Göteborg: Civilingengörutbildning, Chalmers tekniska högskola (1959 – 1964)
Profession: Anställd vid Kungliga Flygförvaltningen (från 1968 Försvarets materielverk (FMV)), robotavdelningen
Profession: Anställd vid Kungliga Flygförvaltningen (från 1968 Försvarets materielverk (FMV)), robotavdelningen , Stockholm (1964 – 1969)
Profession: Konsult, senare VD, vid TUAB (senare AB Teleplan och Communicator)
Profession: Konsult, senare VD, vid TUAB (senare AB Teleplan och Communicator) , Stockholm (1969 – 1992)
Profession: Projektledare vid Försvarets materielverk (FMV)
Profession: Projektledare vid Försvarets materielverk (FMV) , Stockholm (1993 – 1998)
Profession: Chef inom Försvarets materielverk (FMV), Kompetenscentrum Vapen
Profession: Chef inom Försvarets materielverk (FMV), Kompetenscentrum Vapen (1998 – 2003)
Civilingenjörsförbundet (CF)
Ordförande 1985-1989, medlem i AE-nämnden (ordförande från 1980)
Ordförande 1985-1989, medlem i AE-nämnden (ordförande från 1980) (1975 – 1980)
Nätverk för kvinnliga civilingenjörer
Initiativtagare, medlem
Initiativtagare, medlem (1986 – )
Fédération Européenne d'Associations Nationales d'Ingénieurs (FEANI)
Vicepresident 1991–1994
Vicepresident 1991–1994 (1985 – 1994)
Birthplace: Säffle
Säffle (1940 – 1959)
Göteborg (1959 – 1964)
Stockholm (1964 – 2012)
Place of death: Stockholm
Rosengren, Pernilla, 'Ingrid Bruce – engageman [sic!] för ingenjören och facket', TAM-revy: meddelanden från Tjänstemannarörelsens arkiv och museum, 2007:1, S. 11-13, 2007 (Hämtad 2018-02-26)
Tell, Lisbeth, 'DN gratulerar: Bamsemor bland robotar', Dagens Nyheter, 2000-04-28 (Hämtad 2018-02-26)
Carlsson, Jan Olof, 'Ingrid Bruce [Nekrolog]', Dagens Nyheter, 2012-12-15 (Hämtad 2018-02-26)
Askelin, Jan-Ivar, 'Bamsemor analyserar tekniktrenderna', Framsynmedia, 2005-05-05 (Hämtad 2018-02-26)
Öhrström, Kerstin & Andersson, Sigrid (red.), Vem är hon: kvinnor i Sverige: biografisk uppslagsbok [1988], Norstedt, Stockholm, S. 87, 1988
20th century Trade unionist Pioneers


From January 2012 onwards, the industry classifications used in this table are based on SIC 2007. Prior to this, the classifications were based on SIC 2003. This brings this information in line with the industry classifications used in HSE's official statistics.
The table has been revised to coincide with the release of finalised statistics for fatal injuries for 2010/11, which were released on 5 July 2012. It was further amended when the final statistics for incidents relating to the supply and use of flammable gas in Great Britain for 2010/11 were released in October 2012.


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Items purchased online and at our parties cannot be returned unless the item is defective. Defective items will be exchanged for the same item only within 14 days of purchase and must be accompanied by the sales receipt. We do not give satisfaction returns. No CASH refunds.
We understand that purchasing online is different than in person, so if you have any questions about product selection please call or email us and we will gladly help you choose the item that is right for you, (800) 910-2588 or CustomerService@ToyClosetNYC.com. We want to make sure you are happy with your selection.
1. Include the original printed email or online invoice.
2. You must obtain a "RETURN MERCHANDISE AUTHORIZATION (RMA)" number from ToyClosetNYC.com before returning a product. Simply log on and fill out the form under returns on the site to obtain an RMA. We will not accept any returns without an RMA. The RMA number must be written on your return package. Any products returned without an RMA# will not be processed.
• Any of the items in the "Lotions and Potions" section on the site or in the catalog.
• Any of the items in the "Bedroom Accessories" section on the site or in the catalog.
Because our buyers personally review and hand select only the best quality items available, we have confidence that you will enjoy your purchases. Thank you for shopping with The Toy Closet.


You are welcome to join us for Days of Mindfulness throughout the year. These days offer a small taste of Plum Village mindfulness practice.
If you are travelling from further afield, we recommend that you stay with us for at least a weeklong retreat, so you can have a complete introduction to our mindfulness practices and "full immersion" experience of Plum Village.
Days of Mindfulness are a full day of practicing mindfulness, in the Plum Village style, as a community. Monks, nuns, and lay practitioners – Plum Village residents, guests, neighbours and friends – come together to listen to a Dharma Talk (ie. a teaching or 'lecture'), and to practice sitting meditation, walking meditation, mindful eating, smiling and breathing together.
The Dharma Talks will be given by a resident senior monastic Dharma Teacher, and from time to time we may watch a video of a past Dharma Talk by Thay (Thich Nhat Hanh).
Please note that the day unfolds naturally, with as little guidance as possible, so everything can flow relaxingly. Days of Mindfulness in Plum Village are not structured as "mindfulness workshops" or "classes".
Days of Mindfulness take place every Thursday and Sunday during general retreat weeks. During the theme retreat weeks like Francophone Retreat, Summer Retreat the monastery will not host a Day of Mindfulness. Please see our list of the upcoming days of mindfulness in the sidebar of this page. Please note that it is not possible to visit for the day in August, as Plum Village is in resting period.
The location of Days of Mindfulness alternates between Plum Village's hamlets: Upper Hamlet (Thénac), Lower Hamlet (Loubès-Bernac) and New Hamlet (Dieulivol). The entire community gathers in one hamlet for the whole day.
Please remember to arrive early so you can enter the meditation hall calmly before the program begins.
If you are in the neighbourhood, you are very welcome to join us for a regular Day of Mindfulness.
Please note that during our special retreats Plum Village is full to capacity (the meditation halls overflow) and we can only accept those who have registered for the retreat. If you would like to attend Dharma Talks during a special retreat, but do not wish to stay in Plum Village, we ask you to please register as a commuter for the whole week, and support the collective energy by participating in the full program. Please see each retreat's registration page for more information.
We recommend that you read a little about Plum Village mindfulness practice before you attend, as Days of Mindfulness unfold naturally with minimal introductions to the practices.
Please check this page a few days ahead of time to find out where the next Day of Mindfulness will take place (the calendar is on the right), as there may be last-minute changes to location.
Please bring a set of earphones, and an extension cable (at least 3m). The Dharma Talks are given in either French, English or Vietnamese. If you do not understand any one of these languages, translation is available.
If the weather is rainy, please bring appropriate footwear for our country paths (and mud).
A self-service tea table and vegan lunch is provided for everyone.
Please don't forget to bring your donation in gratitude for the teachings and to contribute towards the meal and facilities provided.
We welcome donations, or dana (generosity), in gratitude for the teachings and to support our community to be able to continue to offer those teachings long into the future.
Your donation is also a contribution towards the meal and the facilities provided (meditation hall, sound system, bathrooms, and so on). The suggested donation is €20-35 per person, depending on your means. Donation Boxes are located in the hamlets' Dining Halls.
We regret that we cannot host you for one-night or two-night stays (the minimum stay is one week). We recommend you consider booking a room in a Chambres d'hôtes in the region of Thénac (Upper Hamlet), Loubès-Bernac (Lower Hamlet), or Duras (New Hamlet).
We look forward to seeing you at a Day of Mindfulness soon!


The things around us continue to change. We did not get any warnings about this when we were younger. I realize now that it would not have made a difference because back then we were being taught to deal with things that were happening in the moment. I am more interested in changing my habits and my paradigms at the point in my life. It is now that I realize that the changes I put into play inevitably add to the subtle changes that continue to show up in my life. When we change, the things around us change as well. I guess they have to in the end. You cannot plant an apple tree and expect oranges can you?
I was reminded by a life long friend to breathe more as I began becoming frustrated about a certain person's behavior. This also fell into the subtle change category. I had to back away from the stress internally so that I could show up fully externally. That subtle change helped me to move forward. I have to keep repeating to myself that we cannot change anyone. It is not our function here on planet Earth. It is not our responsibility either. We have our own vessel to navigate.
What an amazing thing true commitment is on any level. I mean what happens when you tell anyone around you that you are committed to doing something? In all seriousness, we are locked into our word, yet, we can always find a way out. Who knew how much commitment would be such an asset in our maturity? This has been heavy on my mind each and every day this month. Commitment is a strong monster to tame and it keeps on hitting hard unless you hit back. I am committing internally to so many things. Quiet commitment is definitely different than public commitment for sure. I am learning the difference and it is majorly humbling. Ah what a beautiful and challenging life we lead. Peace to you..


Could the anti-development Measure S tank LA's economy?
Critics of the controversial Neighborhood Integrity Initiative—now officially known as Measure S—have long argued that it would limit affordable housing opportunities and prevent transit-oriented development. Now one of the main opponents, the Coalition to Protect LA Neighborhoods and Jobs, has released a report finding it could have a dramatic and adverse effect on the city's economy.
The report was prepared by consulting firm Beacon Economics and financed by two developers that have backed the Measure S opposition campaign. It finds Measure S, which would put a two-year moratorium on most major developments and prevent the city from deviating from current zoning rules, could cost the local economy $3.8 billion in its first two years.
It also suggests if the initiative passes, Los Angeles could lose 24,000 jobs during the moratorium—most of them in the construction industry. That amounts to about $1.2 billion in lost wages.
The Coalition to Preserve LA, which sponsored the ballot measure, was decidedly unimpressed.
"We expect this kind of nasty trash from Beacon Economics, which sold out for about $45,000 in payments (and counting) to write this fake news," campaign director Jill Stewart tells Curbed in an email.
The billionaires Stewart refers to are likely the two development firms that financed the study, Westfield and Crescent Heights.
Paavo Monkkonen, a professor of urban planning at UCLA who was not involved with the study, tells Curbed that he cannot speak to the report's broader economic forecast, but that the effects it predicts on LA's supply of housing seem realistic based on preliminary research he and others have begun at UCLA.
According to the analysis, passage of Measure S could result in the loss of up to 2,800 multifamily units per year by limiting the scale of new residential projects or dissuading developers from building entirely. Such a significant limitation on the growth of housing supply could cause already-high rents to soar even further.


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Murat Ural (born 5 July 1987) is a Swiss footballer currently playing for FC Gossau in the Swiss Challenge League.

Career
Ural began his career with the Grasshopper Club Zürich. After one year he joined the junior team of the FC St. Gallen where he stayed for two years. In July 2008 he was lent to the FC Vaduz. There he stayed and played from early 2009 on, and was then turned back to the FC St. Gallen. His club lent him again to Servette FC; there he will play between 30 June 2009 and 1 July 2009 before turning back to the FC St. Gallen. On 1 October 2009 FC Gossau have signed the forward on loan from FC St. Gallen until the end of the season.

References

1987 births
Living people
Swiss people of Turkish descent
Swiss men's footballers
FC St. Gallen players
FC Vaduz players
Swiss expatriate footballers
Swiss expatriate sportspeople in Liechtenstein
Swiss expatriates in Liechtenstein
Grasshopper Club Zürich players
Expatriate footballers in Liechtenstein
Association football forwards
FC Gossau players
FC Winterthur players

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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April 2, 2019 - If you own tangible personal property that is used to produce income, then a rendition must be filed with the Shelby County Appraisal District by April 15th. Property owners who need more time to file their renditions may file a written request with the chief appraiser on or before April 15th to receive an automatic extension to May 15th or the next business day. The chief appraiser may also grant an additional 15 days after the postponed deadline, if necessary.
A rendition is a report that lists all the taxable property you owned or controlled on January 1 of this year. Property includes inventory and equipment used by a business. Owners do not have to render exempt property, such as church property or an agriculture producer's equipment used for farming.
The appraisal district may use the information submitted in the rendition to set property values.
If more than one appraisal district appraises a property, the property owner should render in each appraisal district office.
You can also file a report of decreased value to notify the district of significant depreciation of your property. For example, if your property was damaged by a storm, flood or fire last year, you should file a report of decreased value. The district will look at your property before assigning a value. The last day to file a rendition or report of decreased value is April 15th.
If a rendition is filed late, is incomplete, not filed at all or is determined to contain false information, a penalty of 10 to 50 percent of the total amount of taxes levied on the property for that year will be imposed.
For more information about rendering property, deadline extensions, penalties and rendition forms, taxpayers may contact the Shelby County Appraisal District at (936) 598-6171. More information is also available from the Comptroller's website at www.comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/property-tax/.


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Michael Maher
Party Republican
Race US House CA District 22 Special Election
Status: Challenger
Michael Maher grew up in Tulare, California, and graduated from Tulare Union High School in 2001 before enlisting in the US Navy. He graduated from the US Naval Academy's Preparatory School, Fresno Pacific University, the FBI Academy in Virginia, and the US Navy's Nuclear Power School. Maher also attended Oxford University and the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
His professional service includes serving in the US Department of Justice as a Special Agent of the FBI in the National Security Division. He was the Counterproliferation Coordinator for the LA Field Office, and he also worked with police, fire and hazmat teams, and sheriffs to support the criminal division. He briefly worked with the Fresno FBI resident agency and received the ODNI Award from the Director of National Intelligence. In aviation, Maher worked in the construction industry for over 5 years and was the President and CEO of an international luxury air charter company.
Maher wants to implement multiple solutions for water accessibility in the Central Valley. He believes there is no one-size-fits-all-solution, such as only adding new environmental regulation or only relying on 50-year old infrastructure. He also wants to allocate more water to farmers so they can produce the best products and in turn provide food for the Central Valley.
Maher wants to provide opportunities for local businesses and new industries. He wants to increase the utilization of Fresno's airports and bring more high-paying aviation jobs to California.
Maher is working on the advancement of electric powered flight, sustainable jet field, and hydrogen powered electric vehicles such as airplanes and semi-trucks. He wants to bring such advancements to the Central Valley in California.
Kevin Cookingham, Andy Vidak, Maher for Congress
michaelmaher.com
GV Wire
Maher 4 Congress (Facebook page)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The National Treasury Management Agency's (NTMA) charge out of the traps, expected as early as this morning, will test the market in more ways than one.
Wholesale regulatory changes, collected into the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive or Mifid II, come into effect across Europe today and, at a purely technical level, both human and IT systems may well struggle to cope.
Just as importantly, this week marks the start of European Central Bank (ECB) efforts to wean financial markets off quantitative easing (QE), the easy-to-digest liquidity it has pumped into them since mid 2012.
The €30bn the ECB will spend in the bond markets this month is massive, but it is only half the level it had been spending. That means bond-hungry investors are under less pressure to compete with the central bank in order to buy assets. Investors therefore can expect to pay less for bonds as a result, which is good news for the likes of pension funds that own bonds and get a higher interest yield return the less they pay.
But it also means the State can expect to pay more to borrow this year, and as growth continues, debt-servicing costs look on course to continue to rise well into the future.
For a highly indebted country, something we've become since the crash, that trend is negative.
For now the changes won't dent the overall State finances too much, and 2018 should be the first since the crash when the national debt, in real terms, doesn't increase. That's because we'll no longer be borrowing to plug the gap between tax and spending.
It's not before time. Current borrowing costs are exceptional by historic standards – they won't last.


By its very nature, lead scoring should be predictive – a potential customer's score should predict whether that person is going to buy from you. Before I started working at Fliptop, a predictive lead scoring platform, I'd always tried to base scoring on customers we'd won, but I'm not a data scientist – the most I could determine was that certain industries or job titles were more likely than others to become customers.
But that kind of correlation hardly scratches the surface of what predictive lead scoring can do. And when combined with traditional lead scoring, the two strategies are a match made in data heaven.
How Does Predictive Lead Scoring Work?
Start by analyzing all closed opportunities in your CRM – those you've won, and those you've lost.
Using a predictive lead scoring platform, you can scan thousands of data signals across the public web and proprietary data sources to figure out the digital fingerprint of your ideal customer.
Based on that fingerprint, your platform can create a scoring system in which all leads, contacts, accounts, and opportunities are scored based on how closely they match existing customers.
Imagine you asked your leads to fill out a 500-field registration form, giving you all the information you could ever use to qualify them. As useful as this information would be, you'd have little success convincing leads to fill out the whole form. Predictive lead scoring accomplishes the same thing, but speeds up the qualification process, letting you know immediately which leads are a fit and which are not.
This also prioritizes inbound leads for your sales and marketing teams. For companies that have their marketing really dialed, bringing in hundreds if not thousands of leads a month, prioritization is crucial to getting to the right leads quickly.
How Does Predictive Lead Scoring Work with Traditional Lead Scoring?
One of the most frequently asked question I hear is: How does predictive lead scoring work with your traditional, existing lead scoring? If you already have lead scoring built into your marketing automation, does predictive lead scoring negate it, or work side by side?
The answer is simple: predictive lead scoring enhances your demand generation funnel and works alongside your existing lead scoring. Traditional scoring is very good at highlighting a prospect's interest level in your product and willingness to talk to sales, while predictive lead scoring is very good at identifying the ideal candidates for your product.
Think of your traditional lead score as the "activity" fit – the lead's activities suggest a propensity to become a customer – and predictive score as their "demographic" fit – the lead's fingerprint matches those of your existing customers. Leads that exhibit high levels of activity but have a low predictive score have a far lower propensity to purchase from you. Leads with a high predictive score, regardless of their activity score, still have a higher propensity to purchase from you.
To see this system in action, join Marketo's LaunchPoint webinar on October 1st: The Quest for the Holy Grail: Driving Predictable Revenue. The webinar will highlight how TrackMaven is using Fliptop and Marketo together to better qualify marketing leads, improve MQL to SQL conversion rates, and drive predictable revenue. Register today!


text:
News, Sports
Andrew Wiggins Awarded Naismith Trophy For High School Basketball
February 27, 2013 8:00 pm by Joyce Grant
The top high school basketball player in the United States is a Canadian.
This week Andrew Wiggins was awarded the Naismith Trophy and named the Boys' High School Player of the Year.
Wiggins was born in Vaughan, Ont. and is playing for Huntington Prep School in West Virginia.
Wiggins is 18 years old. His average per game is 23.6 points and 11.7 rebounds.
He hasn't yet decided where he will go to university; many schools are competing for him.
The Naismith award winner is chosen by basketball journalists in the U.S.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper let Wiggins know he was proud of him by sending him a tweet:
"Just heard the news that the best High School basketball player in the United States is Canadian Andrew Wiggins. Congratulations @22wiggins!"
— Stephen Harper (@pmharper) February 25, 2013
Wiggins tweeted back,
"@22wiggins: @pmharper Thank you sir, I appreciate your support!!"
Wiggins demonstrates "the talent and will to succeed that we've come to expect from past award winners," said Eric Oberman, Executive Director of the organization that gave out the award.
Indeed, he'll be in good company. Past winners include Kobe Bryant (1996) and LeBron James (2003).
Wiggins will be presented with the award in March at an awards banquet in Atlanta, Georgia.
Below is an excellent video (19 mins) from the website On Point, showing Wiggins playing basketball and being interviewed.
Countries are often associated with certain sports. For example, Canada is known for hockey.
What challenges do you think players could face if they play a sport other than their national sport?
Reading Prompt: Reading Fluently
When we read independently, we often read silently in our heads. When we do this, we don't often pay attention to our reading fluency. Reading fluency is the pace, phrasing and expression that we add to our reading.
Read this article aloud to yourself or a friend. Make sure to add in phrasing and expression.
Read appropriate texts at a sufficient rate and with sufficient expression to convey the sense of the text readily to the reader and an audience (OME, Reading: 3.3).
Read appropriate texts with expression and confidence, adjusting reading strategies and reading rate to match the form and purpose (OME, Reading: 3.3).
Grammar Feature: Semicolon
A semicolon (;) is a punctuation mark that joins two ideas together.
The following sentence includes a semicolon: "He hasn't yet decided where he will go to university; many schools are competing for him."
Why do you think journalist chose to use a semicolon instead of a period?
Tags: Andrew Wiggins, basketball, Canada, grade 3, grade 4, grade 5, grade 6, Huntington Prep School, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Naismith Trophy, Prime Minister, sports, Stephen Harper, United States


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The Legend of Nayuta: Boundless Trails › News
Falcom wants to put Trails in the Sky, Kuro no Kiseki, and other titles on Nintendo Switch
by Adam Vitale and James Galizio on 19 May, 2022
In this week's issue of Weekly Famitsu magazine, Nihon Falcom President Toshihiro Kondo was interviewed regarding the upcoming release of The Legend of Natuya: Ad Astra for Nintendo Switch in Japan (coming westward next year as The Legend of Nayuta: Boundless Trails).
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During the interview, Kondo was asked about the Nintendo Switch and about potential other Falcom titles that could come to the platform, especially when it comes to the Trails series.
Here are our translations of the questions Kondo answered regarding the release of Falcom titles on Nintendo Switch, as well as the licensing of Falcom games to other companies.
Famitsu: How has the response been for Nihon Falcom titles that have been licensed to other companies?
Toshihiro Kondo: In the past, we received a lot of comments from fans telling us "Nihon Falcom should release this themselves"; likely due to some small changes or issues here and there in the end products. Recently, I'd like to think that because of the hard work and care that's been put into these projects, that these complaints have subsided. However, I can't deny that we can feel a sense of safety in handling these releases ourselves, and there's a merit in the flexibility that's afforded from being able to more directly put our ideas into motion. I'd like for players to expect something along those lines for the titles we plan to port in the future. When we think of other titles we can port, I begin to wonder if we might be able to release some of our classic titles that would otherwise be difficult to justify a physical release for, digitally.
Famitsu: So beyond the current project (The Legend of Nayuta: Boundless Trails), Nihon Falcom plans to continue releasing games for Nintendo Switch?
Kondo: That's the plan, and we even have already decided on titles we want to release next. I can't specify exactly which ones at the current time, but we believe our fans on Switch have a lot to look forward to.
Famitsu: Are there any plans to port the latest Trails title, Kuro no Kiseki, to Nintendo Switch?
Kondo: In addition to Kuro no Kiseki, we're currently testing out the feasibility of porting the other entries in the Trails series that aren't represented on the platform to Nintendo Switch. At the same time, we're evaluating to the degree we might be able to have further entries in the series developed for the hardware. Of course, these discussions aren't just limited to Trails, and we're also considering the possibility of releasing our other franchises on the platform.
Considering Kondo's comments about 'porting the other entries in the Trails series that aren't represented on the platform to Nintendo Switch', Trails in the Sky is a significant holdout still waiting to be ported.
A handful of more recent Trails and Falcom RPGs have already made their way to Nintendo Switch, including The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III, The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV, Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana, and Ys IX: Monstrum Nox. Upcoming Trails series localizations are also headed to the platform. Trails of Cold Steel and Trails of Cold Steel II did release for Nintendo Switch in Japan, though not yet in English.
Those aren't the only Falcom catalog titles that have reached Switch, though. Ys Origin also received a port in recent years, produced by Dotemu. Falcom has worked frequently with other developers globally when it comes to porting their IP, though it looks like they intend to continue working towards in-house ports as well.
In addition to games like the Trails in the Sky trilogy, there are plenty of older Falcom titles that could be speculated for release on Nintendo Switch. There are older Ys titles like The Oath in Felghana or The Ark of Napishtim, the two Zwei games, or even maybe older entries in The Legend of Heroes series, like the Gagharv trilogy.
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How Afghanistan Was Really Lost
By Ricardo Hausmann
The West's failure in Afghanistan may well have resulted from not spending enough money in the right places. A different balance between US military expenditure and economic aid might have convinced ordinary Afghans that they had a significant stake in the success of the state that the US and its allies were striving to build.
Assume you knew nothing about a particular low-income country except the following facts. Its annual income per capita in 2020 was just $509, the seventh lowest in the world. In the decade to 2019, annual aid inflows had halved, to just $114 per capita, or 31 cents per person per day. As a result, its GDP per capita fell by 14% over this period. Meanwhile, annual per capita imports also fell by half between 2012 and 2020, to $179, or just 49 cents per person per day – one of the lowest levels in the world. Exports per capita, at just under $38, were the world's lowest. The official poverty rate increased from 38% in 2011 to 47.3% in 2020.
Given these numbers, you would not expect the population to have much enthusiasm for the status quo. Nor would you expect the government to garner significant support or exhibit much capacity to improve matters.
Indeed, aid flows to the country were by no means unusually large. According to the World Bank, the $114 in per capita assistance in 2019 was less than the aid received by 26 other countries, including Somalia ($121), Bosnia and Herzegovina ($141), Yemen ($151), the Central African Republic ($159), Lebanon ($223), Jordan ($277), the West Bank and Gaza ($477), Syria ($600), and the Marshall Islands ($1,122). Clearly, therefore, the reduction in aid was a choice, not an obvious necessity.
You may be surprised that the country in question is Afghanistan, which the United States and its Western allies regarded as important enough to warrant the sacrifice of more than 3,500 troops and an amount of treasure that dwarfs the sums above. According to the US Department of Defense (DoD), the cost of the US military engagement in Afghanistan in 2020 alone was $39.7 billion – twice the country's total GDP, or $1,060 per Afghan.
From 2001 to 2020, the war cost America an estimated $815.8 billion, equivalent to more than 40 times Afghanistan's 2020 GDP, or $21,000 for every Afghan living today. Between its 2012 peak and 2020, annual US military spending in Afghanistan declined by 60%, or $57.8 billion. But instead of using some of the savings to increase aid to the country, the West cut its assistance by $2.5 billion in that period.
According to Brown University's Costs of War project, the DoD's military spending numbers are gross underestimates, because they exclude the costs of US veterans' medical and disability care, as well as the interest payments on the debt incurred to pay for the war. The project instead puts the war's cost at more than $2.2 trillion, equivalent to 115 years of the country's 2020 GDP, or 30 times the level of aid to Afghanistan from 2001 to 2019.
Looking at these numbers, it is difficult to avoid thinking that the US-led coalition lost the war on the economic front, owing to a serious misallocation of resources. Given the West's clear readiness to spend money in Afghanistan, it should have been possible to engineer a growth miracle that would have created a political constituency in favor of more of the same. Notwithstanding the formidable obstacles to building a strong state in Afghanistan, it would have become obvious to millions of citizens that playing ball with the government was in their interest.
Furthermore, such an effort need not have been costly. According to the World Bank, Afghanistan has a purchasing-power adjustment factor of about 0.24, among the seven lowest in the world, meaning that a standard consumption basket costing $1 in the US could be purchased for less than 25 cents in Afghanistan. But the US decided to forgo those savings by pursuing a development-assistance strategy that used US-based contractors (the "Beltway bandits") that charge US costs plus appropriate margins, overhead, and hardship pay. To this, one should add the cost of maintaining their security inside Kabul's Green Zone.
Some might argue that these higher expenditures were unavoidable, because Afghan officials could not be trusted with direct cash transfers or lacked the skills to perform the needed tasks. But this implies that the trade-off was not just between corruption and honesty, but between corruption and a much more expensive proposition.
Consider an alternative plan. Suppose that the US had coupled its decision to cut military spending in Afghanistan after 2012 with an increase in aid aimed at doubling the country's GDP per capita by 2020. This would have averted the austerity, recession, and import decline that in fact ensued. Suppose, in addition, that America had delivered the bulk of this additional aid in the form of appropriately conditioned budget support, and channeled a significant portion to regional and local governments rather than spending it through Western contractors, mostly in Kabul.
Imagine, too, that the Afghan armed forces and police had used less imported equipment and US operational support (which was expensive and unsustainable) and more people. After all, the country's 300,000-strong army and police force comprised only 0.8% of the population, less than half the share in countries such as Jordan or Israel. And add to this a strategy to develop Afghanistan's mineral resources, maybe through joint ventures with a state-owned enterprise, in order to give the country a sustainable source of foreign exchange and tax revenues. Regional governments would have had a chance to develop their capabilities, set priorities, and draw public support away from the Taliban.
Such a strategy would have probably required an extra $5-7 billion per year in aid, a small fraction of even the much-reduced $39.7 billion of US military spending in Afghanistan in 2020.
Although it is easy to criticize Western policymakers for the choices they made in Afghanistan, much of the blame lies with the overall approach. The US-led strategy in Afghanistan should have paid more attention to fostering economic success and state capacity, and the economics profession should have been able to provide better guidance on how to do this. The task was not easy but, given the Western powers' willingness to spend enormous amounts of money in the country, nor should it have been that hard.
Ricardo Hausmann, a former minister of planning of Venezuela and former chief economist at the Inter-American Development Bank, is a professor at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government and Director of the Harvard Growth Lab.
Our fiat money regime requires an institutional anchor that credibly and decisively ensures a stable price level and long-term confidence
In a qualifying match last November for the 2022 soccer World Cup, Iran trailed Lebanon 0-1 at the end of
Why Did Almost Nobody See Inflation Coming?
In 2008, as the global financial crisis was ravaging economies everywhere, Queen Elizabeth II, visiting the London School of Economics,
Cities and the Climate-Data Gap
With cities facing disastrous climate stresses and shocks in the coming years, one would think they would be rushing to


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Give Thanks: The Importance of Following Up
By Job Journey on Wednesday, November 26, 2014
The big job interview you've been stressing over and preparing for is done, and now you can breathe a sigh of relief. However, if you think your part in the interview process is done and you're just waiting to hear back, you're missing out on a great opportunity to shine.
As Thanksgiving approaches, it's important to think about how you can show gratitude in all areas of your life. For example, giving thanks after an interview could be the deciding factor in a job offer. According to some studies, only 10% of job candidates follow up after a job interview with a thank-you letter. Don't assume the interviewer knows you are thankful – take the time to actually express your gratitude. If you're among that 10%, you have the perfect opportunity to stand out.
So, how do you handle this important post-interview correspondence? Give thanks by using these six tips below.
1. Follow up quickly.
As soon as your job interview is over, send a follow-up email or letter to the company. Following up is a critical step in showing your continued interest, but don't pester the recruiter. A carefully written thank-you note or email will help keep your name at the top of recruiters' lists.
2. Make the message personal.
Don't send a standard thank-you template to every person who interviews you. Find the significant points you discussed in the interview and mention the little details you learned about the company and the interviewer. This shows that you not only paid attention during the job interview, but remembered what the company thinks is important.
3. Always say thank you.
The first line of your message should always start with sincere gratitude for the time and interest of the interviewer. After that, be specific about how your experience and skills can benefit the company. Add any other skills that you didn't get a chance to talk about during the interview, and end the message with another heartfelt thanks.
4. Fit into the culture.
When crafting your message, consider the company culture. If the company is more traditional, craft your thank-you letter in a more formal manner with a hand-written thank-you note or business letter. In some instances, an email may be more appropriate.
5. Proofread and proofread again.
Before you send your thank-you note, proofread it. Then proofread it again. Have a friend or family member proofread it after that. A well-written thank you falls flat if your note is full of errors or if you spelled the interviewer's name wrong. Be conscientious when crafting your thank-you letter.
6. Follow up, but don't pester.
Once you've sent your first thank-you message, allow for a week to pass before contacting the company again. During your interview, you may also ask for a general time frame as to when to expect an answer. If you didn't get the job, request feedback on how to improve your interview skills, and follow up any feedback with another thank-you message.
You can't go wrong by expressing thanks. Whether you aced the interview or bombed it, you at least had the chance to show off your potential. Interviews are stressful for both the job seeker and the employer, but a well-crafted and sincere thank-you note can ease the agony of waiting to hear back.
What tips do you have when following up after a job interview? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
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This has offered me some very good Hints and suggestions to getting past the interview. Thanks for the tips.
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The New City, extending west and southwest of the Old City, has developed tremendously since the 19th cent. It is the site of several educational institutions, as well as the Knesset (Israeli parliament) and other government buildings (including the striking Supreme Court building, which opened in 1992). Yad Vashem, a memorial to the Holocaust , is also in that section of the city. To the east of the Old City is the Valley of the Kidron, beyond which lie the Garden of Gethsemane and the Mount of Olives. To the north is Mt. Scopus, a Jewish intellectual center that is the site of the Hadassah Medical Center, Hebrew Univ., and the Jewish National Library. Another campus of Hebrew Univ. is located on the western edge of the city at Ein Karem. From 1948 to 1967, Mt. Scopus was an Israeli exclave in Arab territory. To the west and south of the Old City runs the Valley of Hinnom; this meets the Kidron near the pool of Siloam, which is next to the site of the original city of Jerusalem, now partly excavated and called the City of David; the Acra, a Seleucid (Greek Syrian) fortress, may have been at the northern end of this area. Since the 1967 war, Israel has annexed the Old City and annexed and combined areas in the West Bank neighboring the Old City into Jerusalem, greatly enlarging East Jerusalem.


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Here are the class samples for next Wednesdays (October 19, 2011) "Haunted Skeleton Nicho" class. I was inspired by my own antique Mexican Nicho (see last photo). These are constructed from old cigar boxes, layered with wonderful papers that the Castle is known for. The inside will feature a dressed skeleton and waxed flowers. There are still a few spots left, if you are interested, please call (510) 204-9801 for more information or to reserve a spot.


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The Baltic Journal of Economics disseminates high-quality original and innovative papers within a broad range of economic disciplines. It publishes research of general interest, but especially welcomes articles relevant for the Baltic region. Authors are invited to submit theoretical and empirical papers including manuscripts focused on economic policy analysis.
The online version of the Baltic Journal of Economics is free access and download. Please visit Journal website with Taylor & Francis
The Journal aims to stimulate dialogue between academics and policy makers. Accordingly, articles should be presented in a form where technical considerations come together with explanations and intuition.
The Baltic Journal of Economics provides open-access to all the accepted paper without fees. We highly value speed of publication and aim at a fast refereeing process.
The Journal is published jointly by Stockholm School of Economics in Riga (SSE Riga) and the Baltic International Centre for Economic Policy Studies (BICEPS) in cooperation with Routledge. The publication of manuscripts is also supported by the Bank of Latvia and the Bank of Estonia.
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Posts Tagged '1927 Novel'
Random fate, or part of a Godly plan? The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder
Posted in 1920s, Century of Books - 2018, Read in 2018, Thornton Wilder, tagged 1927 Novel, Century of Books - 2018, The Bridge of San Luis Rey, Thornton Wilder on October 3, 2018| 11 Comments »
The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder ~ 1927. This edition: Grosset & Dunlap, 1928 (later printing). Hardcover. 235 pages.
On Friday noon, July the twentieth, 1714, the finest bridge in all Peru broke and precipitated five travelers into the gulf below…
Thornton Wilder's enduring classic (that clichéd phrase applies most pertinently) consists of a number of separate but increasingly entwined narratives. The accounts of the lives of the five travellers who perished are framed on each end by the ultimately tragic tale of Brother Juniper, who witnesses the disaster and in it finds a question: "Why did it happen to those five?"
If there were any plan in the universe at all, if there were any pattern in a human life, surely it could be discovered mysteriously latent in those lives so suddenly cut off. Either we live by accident and die by accident, or we live by plan and die by plan. And on that instant Brother Juniper made the resolve to inquire into the secret lives of those five persons, that moment falling through the air, and to surprise the reason of their taking off.
The Marquesa de Montemayor, obsessed mother, secret alcoholic, astonishingly accomplished letter writer. Orphaned Pepita, bright hope of her convent home's Mother Superior, lent to the Marquesa as a maid. Pio, jack-of-all trades and committed non-committer, except for his devotion to one person, the once-famous actress Camila Perichole. Jaime, Camila's young son, frail and epileptic. Esteban, one of a set of twins, whose brother's recent death has made his own life worthless in his eyes.
Wilder goes on to detail the lives – secret and otherwise – of the five travellers on the bridge, and delves into why they were there at that particular moment. And yes, everything (and everyone) turns out to be connected.
Brother Juniper, six years of research undertaken, yet not being privy to a few intimate details, concludes that the deaths are not as he had intended to prove, the fitting conclusion to lives attaining "a perfect whole", but instead that they were random interruptions of lives not yet fully lived. The Inquisition disagrees with his thought processes, and Father Juniper perishes by flame, along with all of the copies of his thesis, except for one…
What a beautifully crafted little novel this is.
I read it for the first time in high school, after finding a dusty stack of discarded English lit books in the farthest corner of a classroom bookcase. In retrospect, I'm very glad that I did not have to "study" The Bridge of San Luis Rey, instead being able to read it from end to end without stopping for analysis, and not needing to dissect it in any way. It was a purely emotional experience, and so memorable that now, forty years later, every phrase is still familiar.
An Anglo-Canadian Family Saga – Jalna by Mazo de la Roche
Posted in 1920s, Canadian Book Challenge #8, Mazo de la Roche, Read in 2014, tagged 1927 Novel, Canadian Book Challenge 8, Jalna, Mazo de la Roche on June 10, 2015| 10 Comments »
Jalna by Mazo de la Roche ~ 1927. This edition: Macmillan, 1977. Hardcover. ISBN: 333-02528-8. 290 pages.
My rating: 5.5/10
This dramatically romantic novel by a young Canadian writer won a literary prize of $10,000 upon its publication nearly a century ago: an astonishing amount for the time, equivalent to something like $132,000 in today's currency. (I looked that bit up using a handy-dandy inflation-indexed currency converter I found online.)
Spurred on by her success, Mazo de la Roche went on to write another fifteen Ontario-set installments in the Whiteoaks family saga, creating something of a literary cottage industry of sequential books, assorted editions and collections, and theatrical, radio and filmed productions for the next fifty years.
I was well aware of this novel and its reputation as an iconic bit of literary Canadiana, but I hadn't actually read it until this year.
My verdict: I'm not stacking up the other 15 on my night table for essential reading, though I might possibly poke my nose into another one if the mood feels right. I do have a number of them stashed away, found at a library book sale some years ago. I gave them to my mother, and she returned them with not much comment, which should have been a bit of a tip-off.
No hurry on the others, though. Jalna was not particularly compelling. In fact, only okayish is as far as I'm willing to commit myself on this one.
The plot in a nutshell: Wealthy matriarch Adeline Whiteoak is approaching her 100th birthday, and her various offspring and descendants circle round her angling for her slightly senile blessing.
One grandson unpopularily marries a local girl, by-blow of the man who once unsuccessfully courted one of Adeline's daughters, while another brings home an American bluestocking. Both brides soon come to think that perhaps they have chosen the wrong brothers. The eldest of Adeline's grandsons, broodingly charismatic, ceaselessly womanizing and still-single Renny, catches the eye of the American wife, while her spouse in turn dallies with his brother's bride. Much chewing of the scenery ensues, helped along by the unmarried members of the family, Adeline's two elderly sons and her much-past-her-prime passive-aggressive daughter.
Absolute soap opera. Think a lowish-rent Gone With the Wind, sans Civil War and southern drawls and a horribly likeable heroine, but with similar over-the-top romantic heart-throbbings and dirty little secrets. (Perhaps not really the best comparison, but it was what popped into my mind. It's not really like GWTW at all. Perhaps Mazo de la Roche does stand alone.)
And there's an elderly parrot, and a cheeky young boy, to provide much-needed levity, though not enough to ultimately save this overwrought thing from itself.
Readings in a Minor Key: J.B. Priestley's Adam in Moonshine, Christopher Morley's Kitty Foyle, Muriel Spark's Aiding and Abetting
Posted in 1920s, 1930s, 2000s, Christopher Morley, J.B. Priestley, Muriel Spark, Read in 2015, tagged 1927 Novel, 1939 Novel, 2000 novel, Adam in Moonshine, Aiding and Abetting, Christopher Morley, J.B. Priestley, Kitty Foyle, Muriel Spark on February 22, 2015| 9 Comments »
These three books were not as diverting as I'd wished them to be.
Perhaps in another mood at another time I would give them better reviews – and I do intend to give Priestley's Adam in Moonshine a second trial at some point – but today I'm calling them as I see them.
It won't be a brutal massacre, I hasten to say, as all three had various degrees of enjoyability, but neither do I plan to hide my disappointment in their failings to entirely amuse.
As always, one person's opinion – please don't take it to heart if you love these novels, and do try to convince me otherwise if you think I've missed the point. One of my favourite things is when someone says, "Hey, wait a minute…" and eloquently defends something I've scorned, inspiring a second look from a new perspective.
Here we go.
Adam in Moonshine by J.B. Priestley ~ 1927. This edition: Heinemann, 1931. Hardcover. 293 pages.
That "6" is a very generous rating, given mostly because of Adam in Moonshine's "first novel" status by a writer I mostly admire, and the more than decent quality of the writing.
The plot, on the other hand, might be described as virtually non-existent. Interesting reading for a Priestley collector, but if the author was someone unknown to me I'm thinking this one would be in the box by the door, waiting to be passed along.
Of course, because it is a Priestley, and because I went to the trouble to seek out and order it from England, and because it is an interesting read in view of the author's later works, I will keep Adam in Moonshine and, yes, eventually re-read it. But I will not recommend it to the rest of you for amusement purposes, because it is ultimately not even as solid as fluff. Like the referenced moonshine, its genuine but slight pleasures are purely transient.
Handsome young bachelor Adam Stewart, setting off on a country holiday, is in a mopish state. He should be thrilled at the thought of rambling over the dew-fresh North Country moors, hobnobbing with the birds and the bees and the little wild flowers, but he can't seem to wind himself up to the appropriate mood. And when his railway compartment companion turns out to be a sternly bombastic, pessimistic cleric, the holiday atmosphere deteriorates even further.
But wait – what's this?! Here comes a third man, flustered and rushing and escorted by a bevvy of lovely young ladies – well, only three when Adam takes a closer look, but the effect is that of a bevvy – and as the train pulls out to the fervent goodbyes of the girls on the platform, Adam has perked up considerably, because it turns out that there is a rendezvous planned between the mystery man (father of one of the young lovelies) and the girls at the very village which Adam is himself heading for.
The sudden and disastrous opening of an attaché case filled with false beards catapults the action surreally forward, and before he knows it Adam is deeply embroiled in a ridiculous scenario having something to do with a conspiracy to bring back the Stuart line of royalty to the throne of England.
A case of mistaken identity – "Stewart" being assumed to be "Stuart" – takes our Adam into the heart of the not-very-clever plot, and leads to his infatuated and ultimately unfulfilling dalliances with all three of the lovely maidens.
He gets his share of wandering about the moors in all sorts of weathers, and emerges back into the sunlight of his everyday life blinking and bemused. Was it all a dream…?
If so, a jolly solid one, at 292 pages.
Kitty Foyle by Christopher Morley ~ 1939. This edition: Grosset & Dunlap, circa 1940, with movie tie-in dust jacket featuring Ginger Rogers. Hardcover. 340 pages.
I enjoyed this one rather uneasily, as Morley's man-writing-as-a-woman wasn't entirely convincing, and our heroine's stream-of-consciousness narration often felt forced.
Chock-full of casual racism towards pretty well everyone of every colour and race, but, to be fair, never in a mean-spirited way.
In our present time, "Kitty's" casual commentary would be read as utterly politically incorrect – a heads-up for those hyper-sensitive to these nuances – but if taken with a dash of "era-acceptable" tolerance, rather an interesting take on how a character of the time might conceivably think.
The October 1939 Kirkus review had this to say:
Surprise! Surprise! This proves how facile Chris Morley can be, for this is a far cry from everything he has done, whether whimsy, humor or intellectualized satire… This is primarily the story of a shanty Irish girl, how she was born, bred, and put through the mill, done in stream-of-consciousness tough-baby style… But it's right good reading. Kitty is a high spirited, strong, and very straight young woman. Her early childhood in Philadelphia, daughter of a crude but lovable cricket coach, is nicely done, giving quite a feel of the city, its lethargy, immutable traditions, etc. At sixteen she meets Wyn, a sweet weakling from a blueblood family, whom she is to love for all time. She lives with him, becomes pregnant, but does away with the child because she is unwilling to tie Wyn to her, knowing that he cannot buck his family if he marries her, and knowing that she will be dishonest with herself if she broadens her a's for him. Career girl on the side, she works later in New York for a cosmetics outfit, and at the close thinks of marriage to a man she does not love for companionship and stability. There's some telling background detail on Philadelphia, points east and west, there's some ingenious writing on the stunt side, but all in all it's semi-light fiction…
There you pretty well have it.
I confess I was a bit taken aback by the frankness of much of Kitty's narration – she discusses the most sensitive topics with slangy candour – the physical relationship between her parents, her father's prostate disorder, the realities of living with chamber pots and a "backhouse" for toilet purposes, her own adolescent physical development, including the onset of her first menstrual period while travelling alone on a train, the sometimes very active sex life of the single "white collar" working girl, an unplanned pregnancy and her subsequent abortion of the baby…all in all, rather strong stuff for a popular mainstream novel. No real surprise that it was soon labelled as "filthy" by various church groups once its bestseller hype brought it to their attention.
Mixed with this hyper-realism is a strand of fairy tale fantasy, for Kitty is portrayed as being something of a perfect person – smart, funny, beautiful, and very lucky in her casual acquaintances, and always, despite her frequent hard knocks, falling jam side up.
Sure, she voluntarily gives up her One True Love, the aristocratic Wynnewood Strafford VI, because she is so darned sterling-natured as to want to spare him the disgrace of having a not-quite-top-drawer wife, but it's not the hardship it might be (aside from the "he and she will secretly pine forever" bit, and that abortion) because going her own way seems to be Kitty's reward to herself, and fate proves consistently ready to cushion her every fall.
Kitty Foyle was made into a very successful 1940 movie, starring Ginger Rogers in her first "serious" movie role. "Very successful" should be repeated, as her portrayal of Kitty Foyle won Miss Rogers the 1941 Oscar for Best Actress, which would perhaps make this novel one for the vintage movie buff to investigate.
Chock full of period colour, and fast-moving enough to keep one entertained, so I will say "check it out" to those so inclined, but to be completely blunt this is a very minor sort of novel – Kirkus's "semi-light" says it well. Solid melodrama, in case that hasn't quite come across.
And oh, yes, this is the same Christopher Morley who wrote Parnassus on Wheels, The Haunted Bookshop, and the very weird (as in featuring anthropomorphic dogs) Where the Blue Begins, among dozens of other novels. Kitty Foyle is nothing like any of these; you have to give Morley credit for not getting stuck in any sort of a "formula" groove!
Of these three novels, Kitty Foyle is the only one I would recommend as worth going to some effort to experience, but mind the caveats and please don't expect a masterpiece of any sort, though the writing is much more than competent.
Aiding and Abetting by Muriel Spark ~ 2000. This edition: Viking, 2000. Hardcover. ISBN: 0-670-89428-1. 182 pages.
My rating: 4.75/10
Hmmm. An odd little novel, even taking into consideration the quirkiness of this particular writer.
I occasionally felt the "chuck it across the room" urge, in particular during the cannibal scene near the end (yes, you read that correctly), but I soldiered on and made it to the end with an unwilling smile on my face. Dame Muriel pulled it off yet again, to my reluctant admiration – I finished it despite myself.
So – does everyone remember Lord Lucan? If not, go take a quick gander here.
For summation of the plot of Aiding and Abetting, I am going to fall back on yet another Kirkus review (they are so nicely succinct, when done well) this one from November of 2000.
With her usual and famous narrative economies—though without the deeper energies she's created in other of her books—Dame Muriel weaves her own fabric out of the real-life bits and threads left by the vile Lord Lucan.
On November 7th, 1974, the seventh Earl of Lucan mistakenly bludgeoned to death his children's nanny instead of his divorced wife—whom he managed only to wound badly in spite of his feeling that "destiny" called for her death (he was angry, it seems, that she'd been given child-custody). And then? After wreaking his cruel havoc, the shallow Lucan quickly disappeared, wanted for murder and attempted murder but aided by influential friends in escape and hiding. Twenty-five years later, as the present novel opens, there appears in the office of a Paris psychoanalyst a patient claiming to be Lucan—followed by another claiming the same. Which, if either, is the real Lucan? And what does he, or they, want? Money, not surprisingly, which he/they hope to gain by blackmailing the shrink, she being one Hildegard Wolf, herself still wanted for an earlier and successful life of criminal fraud under a previous name—a vulnerability that makes her, think the Lucans, unlikely to turn them in. But of course it's got to be cleared up as to which Lucan is Lucan—as, meanwhile, other complications ensue, such as Hildegard Wolf's quick disappearance into hiding in deepest London; the pursuit of the real Lucan by a pair newly in love but connected from far back indeed with Lucan and the horrible murder; and the skilled and timely maneuverings of Pierre, Hildegard's lover back in Paris, which will result in—well, in the Waughesque end of the story.
Quick, incisive, often entertaining, sometimes mysterious, at a moment or two compelling, but overall and generally, slight…
I nod in agreement with the summation of the last line, except for the incisive bit.
I thought the tale much too repetitive, in fact, and not so much incisive as lazy. Corners were indeed cut, regarding character and plot development, but a certain cluster of sanguinary details was endlessly repeated, and in my opinion needlessly so, for I felt that they weakened the impact, though I suspect the author felt they might have some sort of talismanic effect. ("Blood, blood, blood…")
The final fate of one of the Lucans is bizarre even for a typically morbid Spark dénouement, and do I detect a certain racist element (the "primitive" Africans) which is out of place even in a purely satirical end-of-the-20th-Century tale?
Rated rather generously at very close to a "5" because of who the author is, for I have enjoyed many of her other novels in varying degrees, though usually with some reservations.
As an example of her end-of-career work (Aiding and Abetting was her second to last published novel) it is acceptably diverting, but it's not one of her best by a far cry. More of a novella than a novel, and not particularly well-developed or well-edited. In fact, for such a generally crisp writer, this one is sloppy. Firmly on Muriel Spark's B-list, in my opinion.
What one is left with most memorably is the thought of all that sticky, sticky blood…
Another Century of Books Round-Up: The 9 Days Until the End Version
Posted in 1920s, 1980s, Century of Books - 2014, Dell Shannon, Elizabeth von Arnim, Mazo de la Roche, Victoria Holt, tagged 1925 Novel, 1927 Novel, 1982 "Police Procedural" Novel, 1987 Novel, Century of Books 2014, Dell Shannon, Elizabeth von Arnim, Jalna, Love, Mazo de la Roche, The Motive on Record, Victoria Holt on December 22, 2014| 19 Comments »
I have only two books yet to read to meet the 2014 Century of Books goal – one for 1933 and one for 1983 – so it looks like (fates allowing) I will be finishing it under my personal deadline of December 31st – for a bit there I had my doubts! Then it'll be back to reading-at-random, and I have a rather nice must-find/must-read list developing. Loads of memoirs and biographies, and of course a goodly smattering of mid-20th Century middlebrow fiction, as well as some promising 19th Century things.
Without further ado, here's another assortment of opinions and summations on Century books needing reviews to qualify them for the project. Abandoning all attempts at themed presentation, and in no particular order, just as they come off the pile. The scanner is on for cover pictures, and here we go.
The Motive on Record by Dell Shannon ~ 1982. This edition: William Morrow & Co., 1982. Hardcover. 189 pages.
A fairly standard police procedural by the prolific Elizabeth Linington, who penned something like 40 murder investigation novels featuring Lieutenant Luis Mendoza of the Los Angeles Police Department. She started with these in 1960; The Motive on Record is (I believe) number 33 or thereabouts. (She also wrote numerous murder/suspense novels under her own name, as well as under a second pseudonym, Lesley Egan.)
The books follow a sequential, chronological pattern, though it seems to me as though time perhaps works a bit differently in Shannon's fictional world, for though 22 years of "real time" have passed between Mendoza's first appearance and this book, he seems to have aged hardly at all, and his wee children whom I remember from much earlier books are still very young. If I really cared I would investigate further as to whether this tale was supposed to be set in the 1980s when it was published, or if it is meant to be set back in the 1960s. It reads like a book from an earlier era than the 80s, though some of the slang the author uses seems to place it later. For example, much offhand talk about "f*gs" in reference to homosexual men. Curious and repellant from a 2014 standard, I found, much as I like this writer in a general way.
Anyway, Mendoza and his fellow LAPD investigators tackle an ambitious number of suspicious deaths and other criminal activities. A murderous child rapist stalks a peaceful neighbourhood, an elderly woman and two children are found slumped dead in a church pew, an elderly fortune teller catches a knife to the chest, a missing drug dealer shows up on (not in) an elevator, a quiet postal worker turns up naked and dead behind a warehouse though his half-empty letter basket has been neatly returned to the mail hub, Vietnamese immigrants fall fatally afoul of their neighbours due to different dietary customs, and a clever pair of robbers successfully scoop several theatres' door receipts on their busiest nights. And more.
All of the problems are eventually solved; just another few weeks down at the station…
Mendoza's "quirks" include a customized Ferrari which he drives to work, and a quartet of Siamese cats, as well as a palatial dwelling outside of the city, complete with a small flock of grass-controlling sheep (the Five Graces) and ponies for the children.
Nasty murders aside, this is a mild sort of thing for the genre. Probably most appealing to those who've started out at the beginning of the sequence; much of the narrative assumes a prior acquaintance with the main characters.
The Silk Vendetta by Victoria Holt ~ 1987. This edition: Doubleday, 1987. Hardcover. 345 pages.
An utterly stereotypical gothic romance concerning a young woman with mysterious antecedents living in a stately English home.
Beautiful Lenore lives with her grandmother in a separate suite of rooms in Silk House, home base of the wealthy silk manufacturer-merchant family, the Sallongers. Grandmother designs dresses, while Lenore shares a schoolroom and meals with the Sallonger daughters, though the servants sneer at her relentlessly, and the family matriarch obviously despises her. She's definitely not viewed as an equal to the "young ladies", but neither is she a servant. What's it all about, I'm sure we're meant to wonder. No points for figuring out that "someone" was begotten on the wrong side of the blankets, as it were. Or is she really legitimate? A fortune may ride on the answer…
Both Sallonger sons are attracted to beautiful Lenore, with very different motives towards her. The obligatory near-rape scene pays homage to the gothic novel tradition, as does the doomed marriage Lenore undertakes, before finding herself a safe haven enclosed by muscular manly arms.
I'm rather ashamed to say I read this with no qualms at all; it's utter crap but also acceptably diverting, for those times when one doesn't want to have one's intellect or emotions ruffled. The writing is quite decent for this sort of thing, though the plot is completely standard issue. To be read on auto-pilot, while sipping a soothing cup of tea after a tiresome day. If all else fails, you can claim you're reading it ironically, or perhaps just doing "research" for your book blog…
The honest verdict? Not particularly recommended. There's better out there. (But in a pinch it would suffice.)
Love by Elizabeth von Arnim ~ 1925. This edition: Virago, 1988. Softcover. ISBN: 0-86068-941-7. 408 pages.
One of von Arnim's "serious" novels, and one which deserves a much more detailed discussion. I suspect I'll be returning to it in future.
Middle-aged widow Catherine attracts the besotted notice of much-younger Christopher. He proposes marriage, to the dismay of everyone in their joint circles, and Catherine eventually accepts.
The question at the heart of the novel why is it completely acceptable for a very young woman to be married to a much older man (vis-à-vis Catherine's own 19-year-old daughter's recent marriage to a 49-year-old clergyman) and so socially dire for the opposite to be true.
Catherine's second marriage soon encounters rocky ground, and, as she desperately tries to keep up a youthful appearance both for her husband's and her own sake, much deep discussion on the nature of "Love" itself ensues. A favourite topic of von Arnim's, and as seriously treated here as it was frivolously mauled about in The Enchanted April.
The ending is one of the best I've yet read by this particular writer; she doesn't let us down as she sometimes does with her romantically tidy conclusions, but gives us something to consider most thoughtfully.
Absolute soap opera. Think a low-rent Gone With the Wind, sans Civil War and southern drawls and a horribly likeable heroine, but with similar over-the-top romantic heart-throbbings and dirty little secrets. (Perhaps not really the best comparison, but it was what popped into my mind. It's not really like GWTW at all. Perhaps Mazo de la Roche does stand alone.)


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text:
A man lights a candle beside a portrait of slain Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin outside his Tel Aviv residence early in the morning following his November 4, 1995, assassination. (Courtesy)
Ayman Odeh
We Must Urgently Tackle the Rising Violence in the Country
The Media Line Staff
Ma'ariv, Israel, October 24
In the past, gladiators who fought in enclosed arenas provided entertainment and amusement to the masses. Last week, the backdrop to these battles was replaced by Kaplan Hospital and the Bloomfield Stadium. In the former, a physical brawl broke out between Israeli Knesset Member Ayman Odeh, of the Joint Arab List, and lawmaker Itamar Ben-Gvir, of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party. In the latter, hooligans vandalized the stadium by spraying "Arabs, out!" on its walls. In both of these cases, the "fighters" who terrorized the opponent were not athletes, but elected officials of the Knesset of Israel in the first case and civilians in the second case. In these battles there was no announcer or judge, but there was a wide audience watching them. The battles were filmed on the viewers' mobile phone cameras and the documentation was quickly uploaded to social networks and TV channels. It is a pity that a warning was not attached to these videos, alerting viewers that the video may be difficult to watch (and is not for children). Last week, we commemorated the anniversary of the assassination of the late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. The immortal sentence that Rabin said minutes before he was assassinated is well known: "Violence is eroding the foundation of democracy." Let's not forget this simple, yet fundamental, lesson. At the recent football game in Bloomfield Stadium, a disabled woman was almost lynched in the bleachers because she rooted for a Muslim player. Passers-by who tried to help her were targeted by the attackers themselves. At Kaplan hospital, the brawl between the two parliamentarians ended only thanks to the intervention of security guards. The truth is that we must roll up our sleeves and deal with burning issues like the rising violence in our country. Violence does not only occur in the backyard of the country. Violence is everywhere, including in parliament, at our stadiums, schools, and even inside our homes. It must be condemned and mitigated. Otherwise, our country may change its face forever. – Orit Miller (translated by Asaf Zilberfarb)
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