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Videos / Music VIDEO PREMIERE: Charlotte's Th3 Higher Share "Lessons" in Their New #1SongAWeekChallenge
Posted By Mark Kemp on Fri, Oct 27, 2017 at 12:40 PM
Charlotte rap duo Th3 Higher have released a video centering on the life lessons the two have learned, not just as musicians, but as friends and fellow human beings, during their time together honing their craft from their teens to early adulthood. Produced by Shane Hush, the video for "Lessons" — which begins with the words "The woke must free the sleep" and "The conscious must enlighten" — is part of the group's #1SongAWeekChallenge, in which they have released one song on Soundcloud each week for the past six weeks, and are currently at Song No. 11. "Lessons" was the first in the Soundcloud challenge, and this clip is the first video the group has released for the series.
"This song is a culmination of everything that we've learned over the years," says Th3 Higher's Tizzy Farragami, "and the video is the first of many [to come]. It symbolizes the time and effort we've put into developing our craft. We feel as though we've put in the hours, and now it's time to start harvesting the fruits of our labor."
Shot at a secret wooded area of Charlotte by @AntxShotit, and directed by @AntxShotit and Buddha the Shoota, the setting plays up the duo's nature-based worldview. In it, Tizzy wears an ankh — the ancient Egyptian symbol for life — around his neck as he and his cohort Kizzy slash their way through the woods with a sword.
"We know our time is coming and with this video we plan to take advantage of every resource in our network to reach our goals," Tizzy says. "Once we hit 50K [views], Part 2 comes."
Tags: Th3 Higher, video, premiere, song, rap, hip-hop, Charlotte hip-hop, Charlotte rap, Tizzy, Kizzy, Image
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VIDEO: The Eyebrows Set to Perform in Conjunction with Birdsong Beer Release
New Red Dress ESB Hemp a nod to local trio
Posted By Ryan Pitkin on Thu, Oct 26, 2017 at 11:40 AM
Charlotte rock trio The Eyebrows are now the latest local musicians to be honored by Birdsong Brewing Company with a brew of their own: Red Dress, an ESB Hemp style beer. The brewery will tap Red Dress this evening in the lead-up to a 7 p.m. Eyebrows performance that will surely include the song the brew was named after.
In the video (above), released earlier this month, Eyebrows frontman Jay Garrigan rocks his own little red dress (or his wife's, rather), alongside Charlotte-based drag performers Kiana Layne, Macy Alexander, Andrea Carlisle, Aurora Carlisle and Skylar Michele-Monet. The song is a single from the band's upcoming full-length album, Volume, expected in 2018.
As for the beer, an ESB — which stands for Extra Special Bitter — is an English-style beer that, despite its name, is not all that bitter if balanced well. Red Dress is brewed with toasted hemp seeds, which "provide a toasty and slightly nutty flavor that pair well with specialty malts and a dry finish."
"I love English beer, and an ESB is one of my favorites," says Eyebrows drummer Shawn Lynch. "A few years ago Birdsong made a short run of ESB and I was lucky enough to try some. I've basically been asking them to make it again ever since, and it looks like I've finally got my wish."
The beer taps at 5 p.m. tonight and The Eyebrows take the stage at 7 p.m.
Tags: Charlotte music, Birdsong Brewing, Charlotte beer, The Eyebrows, Image, Video
Charlotte's First Black Alternative Music Festival Rocked Camp North End
Posted By Mark Kemp on Sun, Oct 22, 2017 at 9:00 AM
Charlotte singer-songwriter LeAnna Eden's Bla/Alt Music Fest drew hundreds to Camp North End on Statesville Avenue on Saturday, Oct. 21, for a full day of Afropunk, Afro-centric food and other merchandize, and some of the area's top rock bands of all kinds. Bands ranged from the shoegazy dreampop of Winston-Salem's Foxture, to the art-punk of Charlotte musician Lenny Muckle's Lofidels, to the indie-pop of The Business People, the rock-based hip-hop of Nige Hood and the alternative rock of Eden's outfit, LeAnna Eden and the Garden Of.
Camp North End seemed almost like a Garden of Eden as music lovers danced and sang along to familiar local songs like Eden's "Protest Song" and The Business People's "From NC With Love." Muckle played bass, sang and mixed up electronics during a compelling set of experimental punk, and Chocala blended Latin rhythms and experimental rock into a glorious stew of highly danceable sounds.
Behind the decks between the bands, DJ SPK crafted a dynamic mix that ranged from the sweet sounds of early Santana to the ska-punk of No Doubt's "I'm Just a Girl" to Cardi B's money-moving "Bodak Yellow." And acting as MC — ubiquitous Charlotte poet Bluz kept the crowd pumped and wanting more.
But most exciting was the mix of people — folks of all ages, races and gender identity strolled through the Camp North End corridor dancing, talking to each other, listening to music, and generally having a good time amid good vibes and a gorgeous fall afternoon and evening.
If you missed it, check out this slideshow and pray there will be a Bla/Alt 2 in 2018.
Slideshow Bla/Alt Black Alternative Music Fest 2017
Bla/Alt Black Alternative Music Fest 2017
By Mark Kemp
Tags: Bla/Alt Music Festical, black alternative music festival, Afropunk, music, rock, indie rock, punk, hip-hop, festival, LeAnna Eden, LoFidels, Business People, Camp North End, Charlotte, North Carolina, NC, Mark Kemp, Image, Slideshow
Live Reviews / setlist Halsey leaps into headliner status
Posted By Alison Angel on Thu, Oct 19, 2017 at 1:08 PM
Spectrum Center
On Tuesday night, Spectrum Center played host to singer Halsey's first-ever headlining tour. She's visited the city in previous years as the opening act for major players like Imagine Dragons, but this was the first chance for diehard Halsey fans to get more than a musical snapshot from the singer. They were treated to a 24-song setlist spanning an already impressive career, some songs of which were voted on by the fans themselves.
Halsey, or Ashley Nicolette Frangipane, got her career start in 2014 after releasing original songs on social media. She was signed by Astralwerks and toured with heavy hitters like The Kooks on the strength of her EP Room 93 and debut album The Badlands. Her young career was rocketed to new heights when she was featured on The Chainsmokers track "Closer" last year.
Tags: Halsey, music, concert, Charlotte, Live reviews, Alison Angel, Spectrum Center
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AUDIO: Foxture Says Charlotte Music Fest Will Prove Alternative Sounds More 'Relatable' to People of Color
Posted By Mark Kemp on Tue, Oct 10, 2017 at 2:32 PM
In the lead-up to the Black Alternative Rock Festival, or BLA/ALT, at Camp North End on Oct. 21, Creative Loafing has asked some of the artists to talk about why they're playing the event and what it means to them. Today, the Winston-Salem dream-pop band Foxture talks about why they believe more people of color should gravitate to the safe zone of alternative music and culture — and why BLA/ALT can help lead listeners to that space.
But first, listen Foxture's brand new song "Distance" from the band's upcoming EP, E D E N.
Distance by Foxture
"BLA/ALT is important because it helps strengthen the presence of people of color within alternative bands and projects," the band wrote in an email to Creative Loafing. "The representation of PoC within the alternative genre is fairly slim, and BLA/ALT shines a light on these talented and innovative artists.
"We decided to play BLA/ALT not only because the motive of the festival is astronomically beautiful and artistic, but because festivals such as this one aren't as common," the band wrote, adding that it "promotes the realization that alternative music can be more relatable to listeners of color."
Foxture is (from left) bassist Ross Barnes, drummer Andrew Irving, guitarist Eddie Reynolds and singer and keyboardist Marlon Blackmon. (Photo by Jim Pica)
"We hope to reach out not only to fans of alternative music, but people who normally don't listen to alternative music for skepticism of being able to relate," the band wrote. "We are looking forward to the first BLA/ALT festival, opening minds in the beautiful city of Charlotte, and rising up each year to become a staple in North Carolina's history."
Hit up Foxture on Bandcamp (Foxture.bandcamp.com), Facebook (facebook.com/foxture2013/), Instagram (@foxtureband) and Twitter (@foxture). Also, search for the band's releases on Spotify and Apple Music.
Tags: BLA/ALT, black alternative, rock, LeAnna Eden, LeAnna Eden and the Garden Of, Nige Hood, Folk Rap, Favelas, Blu House, SunQueen Kelcy, Lofidels, Lenny Muckle, The Business People, Nic Robinson, Chocala, Johnny Popcorn, Foxture, Image
Music VIDEO: SunQueen Kelcey Says Recent Unrest is Why Now is the Right Time for a Black Alternative Music Festival in Charlotte
Posted By Mark Kemp on Mon, Oct 9, 2017 at 8:00 AM
In the lead-up to the Black Alternative Rock Festival, or BLA/ALT, at Camp North End on Oct. 21, Creative Loafing has asked some of the artists to talk about why they're playing the event and what it means to them. Today, Greensboro-based SunQueen Kelcey, the front woman of SunQueen Kelcey and the Soular Flares, tells why she believes Charlotte is the right city for North Carolina's first black alternative music festival.
But first, watch Kelcey perform a solo version of her song "Thick Girls Do It Better."
Creative Loafing: Why do you think Bla/Alt is so important right here and right now?
This is the first festival in Charlotte created by a local black alternative musician just for the black arts and music scene. It will show the true variety of talent in the black community, making sure that people know that you cannot put black culture in one box. Black culture spans across many avenues including the social. political, musical, scientific and artistic realms.
Why are you and the Soular Flares playing it?
We are performing to be a part of such a groundbreaking movement. We are based in Greensboro, but we love the Charlotte music Scene. It's always so welcoming and feels like home to us. Given the recent unfortunate events that have occurred in Charlotte, it is everyone's duty to participate in something that uplifts and empowers the people of marginalized and oppressed communities in any way we can.
What are your hopes for the festival?
We want it to extinguish and overcome the negative stereotypes of what society deems as "black culture." In turn, this will provide a safe space for anyone to attend the festival for free and for black/POC artists and business owners to showcase their art, and network and sell their products to the public.
Hit up SunQueen on Instagram and Twitter (@sunqueenkelcey) and Facebook (SunQueen Kelcey).
Music VIDEO: Chócala Brings a Latin Tinge to Charlotte's BLA/ALT Black Alternative Rock Fest on Oct. 21
Posted By Mark Kemp on Sun, Oct 8, 2017 at 9:00 AM
In the lead-up to the Black Alternative Rock Festival, or BLA/ALT, at Camp North End on Oct. 21, Creative Loafing has asked some of the artists to talk about why they're playing the event and what it means to them. Today, Chócala talks about the importance of bringing a Latin tinge to the black alternative rock fest in Charlotte.
But first, watch this live clip of Chócala performing "Rompecabezas."
"We're playing the festival because we believe in the organizers, artists and the values that BLA/ALT stands for," singer Liza Ortiz says. "If we hadn't been asked to join, we would have been attending and supporting anyways. The fact that we're performing is icing on the cake for us. It's also an honor for us to represent the Alt.Latino music genre."
To Chócala, whose members are also involved in expanding the Charlotte audience for Latino musical fusions, BLA/ALT represents the city's changing demographics in a way that directly combats bigotry in the larger world of divisive politics. "We think BLA/ALT is important because it enriches Charlotte's cultural landscape by showcasing everything this city's PoC artists and bands have to offer," Ortiz says. "We're excited because we're seeing independent artists and creators of several different cultures coming together and supporting each other in the music and arts community as a whole in Charlotte, which is invaluable given the current political climate. BLA/ALT is a culmination of all the growth, support and positive energy that LeAnna [Eden, BLA/ALT's organizer] has been able to focus into an entire festival. We think it's amazing."
Like other artists performing at the festival Ortiz says she hopes this will be the first of many BLA/ALT festivals to come over the next several years. "We want to see it grow," Ortiz says. "It would be fantastic to see events like this happen around the state and region. Afropunk only happens in New York and Atlanta, and there is a whole coast of states with independent black and other PoC musicians and artists that deserve being put on blast."
Follow Chócala — which also includes Ortiz's brother Claudio, as well as Michael Anderson and Davey Blackburn on both Instagram and Facebook: @chocalamusic
Tags: BLA/ALT, black alternative, rock, LeAnna Eden, LeAnna Eden and the Garden Of, Nige Hood, Folk Rap, Favelas, Blu House, SunQueen Kelcy, The Business People, Chocala, Image
Videos / Music VIDEO PREMIERE: Cuzco Releases New Video Exclusively at 'CL' Vibes
Posted By Mark Kemp on Sat, Oct 7, 2017 at 5:59 PM
Just before the final song of Cuzco's set Friday night at Snug Harbor, the band did what it had announced it would do: played the brand-new video for its song "Those Are Z's," from the band's 5-song EP A Medicine for Melancholy, released earlier this year. And just as Creative Loafing promised we'd do earlier this week, we're premiering the video exclusively here on the Vibes blog.
The video — directed by Mark Borja, Jake Rothwell and Tori Silinski — is a gentle and serene meditation on nature, melancholy and love set to Will Schoonmaker and Arman Serdarevic's delicate and precise guitar interplay, which often conjures the early-1980s progressive work of King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp. As the musical and visual narrative unfolds, a love story emerges, and Cuzco's unconventional shifts in tempo follow the story's sometimes jarring twists and turns.
But the transitions flow smoothly and naturally, thanks to the spare yet complex playing of Cuzco's rhythm section, drummer Dylan Robbins and bassist Matt McConomy. And then there are sweet, aching brush strokes of saxophone, from sax player Kevin Washburn, driving home the sense of melancholy at the heart of Cuzco's sound.
Books and balloons serve as signposts in the video's narrative — and as part of the band's performance on stage at Snug Harbor Friday night.
"The atmosphere [at the show] was awesome — we decked the place in purple balloons," Schoonmaker says. "Before our last song we premiered the video and everyone seemed to love it. It was a magical night and playing Snug is always a medicine to our melancholy."
Washburn, Schoonmaker and Serdarevic get intense at Snug Harbor on Friday. (Photo by Savannah Woodell)
Tags: Cuzco, music, video, live performance, Charlotte, Creative Loafing, Mark Kemp, Snug Harbor, math rock, Image, Video
Music VIDEO: Favelas Talk About the Importance of a Black Alternative Rock Fest in Charlotte
Posted By Mark Kemp on Sat, Oct 7, 2017 at 9:00 AM
In the lead-up to the Black Alternative Rock Festival, or BLA/ALT, at Camp North End on Oct. 21, Creative Loafing has asked some of the artists to talk about why they're playing the event and what it means to them. Today, Favelas tell us why a black alternative rock fest in Charlotte is essential.
But first, watch this clip of Favelas doing their song "Weedman."
"BLA/ALT is important to Favelas because we know the importance of making sure that everyone's voice is heard," the band says.
"It's imperative that artists get to properly express themselves in an environment like the one that's been created here, especially for artists of color. We're more than hopeful that this is the start of something revolutionary in our hometown."
Don't miss Favelas at BLA/ALT on Oct. 21. You can connect with the band on Instagram (@favelasoffical) or Facebook (Favelas Band).
Tags: BLA/ALT, black alternative, rock, LeAnna Eden, LeAnna Eden and the Garden Of, Nige Hood, Folk Rap, Favelas, Blu House, SunQueen Kelcy, The Business People, Image
VIDEO: 'Long Overdue' is How Nic Robinson of The Business People Describes Charlotte's BLA/ALT Black Alternative Rock Festival
Posted By Mark Kemp on Fri, Oct 6, 2017 at 9:00 AM
In the lead-up to the Black Alternative Rock Festival, or BLA/ALT, at Camp North End on Oct. 21, Creative Loafing has asked some of the artists to talk about why they're playing the event and what it means to them. Today, singer and guitarist Nic Robinson of the terrific Charlotte indie-pop band The Business People tells us that a black alternative rock fest in Charlotte is "long overdue."
But first, watch Nic and the guys do an acoustic version of "From NC With Love," the standout track from their EP, Dirty Feelings.
"It's seemed lately to me that if you were black in an alternative band you were viewed as a part of the marketing," Robinson says. "This celebrates black alternative musicians and their band mates, showing the power behind a passion. That nothing matters once the music starts — no race, no gender, no cares except the music you are creating in that instance."
For Robinson, looking at black alternative musicians as "good marketing" is cynical. "For most of our career we've been told our diversity was marketable," he says. "[But] put simply, we are not commodities. We are not the latest fashion to be sold off to masses like new shoes."
And the BLA/ALT Festival, he says, aims to clarify that faulty logic. "We want to support a festival that respects and understands that having PoC members means a different altogether approach to music," Robinson says. "There are bars you can't play, and festivals that won't have you. There will be different standards and treatments for different members. These, and so many more things, happen to bands every day. We just wanna put one tally in the column for the good guys. Boiling down to this: LeAnna [Eden, the organizer of BLA/ALT] is passionate and talented, so we believe in the vision.
"The hopes are that [BLA/ALT] starts a wave of festivals in itS like, as did Afropunk before it," Robinsons says. "To spread and multiply, allowing other musicians who simply don't have the money, resources, or connections to be a part of a festival. One that has the FUBU mentality with a slight difference: Instead of 'for us by us,' it's For All By Us."
Hit up The Business People — which also includes drummer Anthony Pugliese and bassist Hyatt Morrill — on Twitter (@thebusinessppl) or Facebook (@thebusinesspeople).
Re: Olivia King's Debut Album "D.I.Y." available NOW
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St. Vincent drops jaws at The Fillmore
90-minute set was worth the wait after March show was postponed.
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Brett Graff's Mixed Company
by Brett Graff's Mixed Company in Luxury Living
… But even amidst the whirlwind of demands on Chef Bernstein's time — she's making four appearances at next week's South Beach Wine & Food Festival, including one at Fun and Fit as a Family — she opened for SocialMiami.com the doors to her Design District eatery, Sra. Martinez. And prepared for us plates of bacon-wrapped Medjool dates, crispy long-stem artichokes with lemon-coriander sauce, as well as croquetas with manchego cheese and fig marmalade. Though the dishes were a huge distraction for us, we still managed to ask her about the recipe for combining creativity and corporate triumph.
Pictured: Michelle Bernstein
SOCIAL Manny: Episode 75
Some call him Cool Manolo, but we call him Social Manny, and he was on the scene at all the best events. In this edition, Manny photographed the Stars of Design awards at DCOTA, Bottega Veneta store opening at Bal Harbour Shops benefitting Miami Children's Museum, Nicolas Cage promoting Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance at the Mandarin Oriental, Raul Esparza concert at Arsht Center, Brickell House VIP party, Vernissage for Art Wynwood and the Miami Marine Stadium restoration announcement event. All the social stars were out in force, and Manny has the photos to prove it.
Pictured: Kenneth Baboun, Priscila Perales, and Daniel W. Hudson at the Brickell House party
Social Styles: Front Row at Fashion Week
In her third column for Mercedes Benz New York Fashion Week, SocialMiami.com Fashion contributor Elysze Held captured the highlights of the major collections from the front row at–Carolina Herrera, Reem Acra, Naeem Khan, Carmen Marc Valvo, Carlos Miele, Zang Toi, Marc Jacobs, Dennis Basso, Pamella Roland and Oscar de la Renta. (and that was just at the beginning of the week!) Of course, it would not be New York Fashion Week without celebrity spotting at every show-Matt Damon, and Kristin Chenoweth at Naeem Khan; Jeannie Mai (Host of Style Network's How Do I Look?) at Reem Acra and Herve Leger; Barbara Walters, Diane Sawyer and Anderson Cooper at Diane von Furstenberg; Dakota Fanning and every fashion notable at Marc Jacobs; Joan Rivers at Dennis Basso, and the 'Twilight Vampire girls' everywhere.
Pictured: An elated Josie Natori with her models
2012 Inner Circle of Twelve Luncheon
Over 400 guests joined the American Cancer Society at the InterContinental Miami to honor twelve women for their commitment to philanthropy in our community. ACS's Inner Circle of Twelve distinction recognizes outstanding women for their leadership, volunteerism, community involvement and dedication to the American Cancer Society's mission. Déco Drive's Louis Aguirre served as emcee for the award presentations and the runway fashion show presented by Neiman Marcus Bal Harbour.
Pictured: Stephanie Aagaard and Swanee DiMare
Over 35 years ago, Larry Mendelson had two young sons and a plan. He'd treat…
Brett Graff's MIXED COMPANY: SHOTS OF INSPIRATION FROM MIAMI'S BUSINESS LEADERS is a series of…
This is a series of business interviews conducted by Brett Graff, a former U.S. government…
South Beach Wine & Food Festival founder Lee Brian Schrager at Sra. Martinez in Miami's…
This is the first in a series of interviews conducted by financial reporter Brett Graff,…
This is the second in a continuing series of interviews conducted by financial reporter Brett…
Brett Graff's Mixed Company - Season 1
Felice Gorordo Cuban-American Felice Gorordo took his own identity crisis and turned it into a…
Immigrant Archive Project
Tony Hernandez, founder and CEO of Latino Broadcasting Company, speaking to SocialMiami contributor, Brett Graff…
Voyages by Brett Graff IV
Social Key Biscayne editor, Brett Graff, took her talents around the key and snapped some…

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Really enjoyed working on this one for Bloomsbury Reader!
I recently set up a shop on Etsy where I can sell illustrated prints. First one available is a line from Macbeth. Hope you like it!
A finished copy of Two Turtle Doves arrived in the post this week. Its the memoir of jewellery designer Alex Monroe and its a really lovely book. Each chapter opens with an illustration I did of one of Alex's pieces and there are sketchbook spreads and photos throughout. It was a fantastic project to be a part of, especially as I'm such a fan of his jewellery!
Alex's jewellery is beautiful and can be viewed at www.alexmonroe.com.
Loved working on this - a memoir from jewellery designer Alex Monroe. Publishing March 2014.
Art Director at Oneworld Publications and freelance designer.
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Devised through a durational period of travelling on the cross city line in Birmingham, City Living was about travel. It was about the people that travel. It was about the individual stories of people who travel.


On the web first there was Yahoo! – the portal to everything. It was a directory of websites. Users navigated from page to page to find what they were looking for. Once Google emerged and popularized search, the portal days were over. Google's insight was that there was enough data captured in the form of webpages, where a product could intelligently deliver the user the right answer based on a broad query. All that effort on the part of the user was unnecessary.
Today we are in the portal days for mobile + local. Be it a mobile app or a website, consumers open the app and narrow down their choices until they've found what they're looking for. On Google Maps, Yelp, FourSquare, Facebook, or any number of location-based services, the consumer browses and clicks through a location-based directory.
What could be as disruptive to mobile as Google was to the web? The closest analogy to the transition from Yahoo! to Google for mobile is opening a phone, speaking a few words, and immediately getting a set of the most relevant search results, contextual to where the consumer is.
That's why voice search is so important. There will be a new type of mobile discovery that will feel as natural as typing a keyword into a search box. Or there might be something completely different and not search driven. The early battles lines are drawn but there's a long road ahead.
Here's a fascinating article (and long) about Siri. The combination of the vision of Siri and the iPhone is pretty perfect in terms of creating the Google of Local.
App discovery – when will app search evolve?


text:
ABOUT MARY LOU MONTGOMERY
Award-winning Journalist • Speaker
• Researcher • Author
New history book:
Previously unpublished information from long-forgotten court records
Navigation impediment - 1860: Early settler built short-lived hotel on pilings across Bear Creek
From the Courier-Post archives
This photo represents the unpredictible currents of Hannibal's Bear Creek in 1910. Steve Chou collection
Hannibal Courier-Post (MO) - Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Author: Mary Lou Montgomery
The name Angus W. McDonald isn't among the most memorable in Hannibal's history, but he did play a significant role in the establishment of Hannibal as a community situated along the banks of the Mississippi River.
Noted Hannibal historian, Judge Thomas Bacon, told of Mr. McDonald's enterprises in Hannibal in "Mirror of Hannibal," published in 1905.
Edward C. McDonald and Mrs. Richard T. Holliday, siblings of Angus W. McDonald, were among the earliest settlers of Hannibal. Angus , who spent most of his life in Virginia, lived in Hannibal intermittently, but invested heavily in local real estate. He was also a member of the advisory board in the new town company of 1836.
Angus McDonald was in Hannibal visiting his brother and sister, when he was introduced to Miss Cornelia Peake, the sister of his brother's wife. They married on May 27, 1847.
The story of Angus McDonald's life ties in with Hannibal's lumber industry.
Mr. Bacon wrote: "As far back as can be remembered log and lumber rafts descended the river, generally on their way to St. Louis, Mo. These rafts were oblong parallelograms, provided at each end with large oars, which were used to keep the raft in the channel. By day and night as they glided by, the creaking of their oars could be heard. There always was a little lumber yard here for local supply. When the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad began to run its trains, Hannibal became a lumber mart for the entire west. When the creek was full of backwater the lumber merchants detached their cribs of lumber and toward them up the creek, where the lumber was taken apart, washed and piled up in the adjacent yards."
Among the property that Angus McDonald acquired in fledgling Hannibal was Out lot 41, which included a segment of Bear Creek crossing between north and south Hannibal.
In a political ploy, the Charter of Hannibal was amended so as to authorize the City of Hannibal to condemn Bear Creek for a navigable stream.
"As it did not suit Mr. McDonald to have his property appropriated for lumber crib towage, he, in 1860, drove piles into the bed of Bear Creek and on said piles he erected a large three-story hotel called the Massasoit House. When the war came on Lieut.-Col. Morse threw up some fortifications on the east end of the hill abutting on Bear Creek and on Fifth Street in South Hannibal, within which works the soldiers camped. One night a terrible rain storm drove out the soldiers and they took refuge in the Massasoit House, where at the resistless creek undermined and tore out the piling so as to cause a collapse of the building, which was never rebuilt."
A tax sale was advertised in the Hannibal Journal and Western Union on Jan. 29, 1852. It listed the property owned by Angus McDonald on which tax payment was overdue.
Blocks 41 and 42 included portions of Bear Creek.
Five blocks lying between Fourth and Fifth streets, from one block south of what is now Broadway, north to North Street, including what is now Central Park.
Edward C. McDonald died in 1862 while visiting his brother in Richmond, Va. Mr. Bacon reported that Angus W. McDonald died in 1864 at Richmond.
Steve Chou
Massasoit House
Col. Morse
Four local men perished in 1907 'cornfield meet'
1890s: 'Pluck' Maloney known as 'the terror of Hannibal'
Civil War-era train wreck claimed father of long-time Elzea Addition businessman
Hannibal man plays key role in early St. Louis hotel management
1883: Elzea farmland divided to create unique subdivision
German family worked together in order to build a lasting legacy
'Overland' vehicles popular with Marion County drivers
Marion County man served as witness to shocking scene
Pioneer orchardist, preacher left behind tales of his work
Ira Westfall and his colleagues kept Hannibalians on the move


If you were to use a 20x magnifying glass you would certainly see pixels and if you used a microscope you would see the elements making up the physical aspects of the display itself!
Maybe...but I don't need to do that with the Retina Display. I can see pixels just fine.
Likewise, pre-Retina iPhones were plenty good enough for reading. So if "good enough" is your standard, there was no need for higher resolution displays anyway. You keep going back to the Apple Propaganda, but it is still completely arbitrary. Saying "326ppi is good enough" is no different from me saying "275ppi is good enough". It's all subjective.
But saying "326ppi is better than 275ppi" is NOT subjective. Higher is better. That is why Specs matter...you do not need to rely on opinion.
Apple surely have the money and the technical resources to design and incorporate a display with even higher pixel densities than they use at present, but they don't? Why not?
It would cost more money and they would rather pocket that money. So long as their user base will accept it, they will not upgrade.
That has been a running theme and is part of the Apple Cliche. People are not paying for capabilities, they are paying for an image. The logo is far more important than the display.
Every time Apple, or any company including Google, Samsung, HTC or whoever, make anything, they have to decide what to put in and what to leave out - I think even you can see the logic in that. Different companies have different priorities.
Apple's priority is to squeeze out every dime they can.
So is Samsungs of course...but the difference is that Samsung has competition on Andorid. Apple has no competition on iOS. They have no incentive to deliver anything but the bare minimum needed to keep people buying iPhones. Samsung has to worry about competitors on Android undercutting them.
And because of this competition, the customer wins. And Android users end up getting cheaper phones that do more.
...at an arbitrary distance. They CAN see pixels, if they hold it close enough. That is true of every other display out right now. There is nothing special about the Retina display...or at least nothing "more" special than any other display with the same or higher ppi.
1080p displays are far closer to "pixelless" than the retina Display is.
The Retina Display is a special snowflake huh?
Even Apple people agree with this. Thats why they prefer newer iPhones over older ones. Newer iPhones have better cameras, speed, and displays. And Shinier logos, which is the most important part.
No, I will look forward to upgrading. I can do that. I don't need to take out a mortgage every time I upgrade, because Android phones are not overpriced.
So...if Tim Cook believes specs don't matter, and that current specs are plenty to deliver a great experience...why do newer iPhones have better specs than older ones? You tell me.
Why did Apple upgrade to an 8MP camera at all? Why was 5MP not enough? Why does it need a better processor or more RAM?
1. The distance isn't arbitrary the vast majority of users hold the phone 12 inches away from their eyes if doing anything else than calling.
Smart people also don't get 1080p on a 30" tv because you can't tell the diff between 720 and 1080 at a normal viewing distance. It's pointless to get 1080p on a phone.
2. Better camera sensors are worth more than MP. No one can tell the diff between a 8x10 taken with an 8 MP or 12 MP camera, all else being equal. If fact, there have been many reviews that rate the 5S higher that those phone cams. Improving cams will always happen but after a certain point, MP are meaningless.
3. Apple improves the specs but doesn't list a tech spec sheet because it's meaningless for comparison since the components rely on everything else working smoothly. Would you buy a yugo and drop a 300 hp engine in it and say it's better than a 250 hp Mustang?
4. If you need another mortgage to buy an iPhone, you're just pathetic.
5. I should have listened to my advice.
Until you hit the point where higher doesn't matter or isn't better, as we have with screens circa 2010 and clock speeds circa 2005.
People are not paying for capabilities, they are paying for an image. The logo is far more important than the display.
And this twisted insanity of yours is backed by what, exactly? Not specs, because Apple always releases the fastest device on the market. Not software, because they have the most capable devices out there.
That's nice. Shut up and go away.
So is Samsungs of course...but the difference is that Samsung has competition on Andorid.
Samsung has competition… in the phones that make negative money. Uh… huh.
Apple has no competition on iOS. They have no incentive to deliver anything but the bare minimum needed to keep people buying iPhones. And because of this competition, the customer wins. And Android users end up getting cheaper phones that do more.
Samsung has to worry about competitors on Android undercutting them.
NO. THEY DON'T. Because no one else selling Android devices makes any money.
A smaller phone means you're more likely to hold it close, not less.
Apple improves the specs but doesn't list a tech spec sheet because it's meaningless for comparison since the components rely on everything else working smoothly.
Seems to be a lot of specs on that page.
Apple improves the specs but doesn't list a tech spec sheet because it's meaningless for comparison since the components rely on everything else working smoothly. Would you buy a yugo and drop a 300 hp engine in it and say it's better than a 250 hp Mustang?
If the argument is "the current specs are good enough for a great experience" what is the point of increasing specs at all?
You can't have it both ways. You can't say "anything more would be overkill" and then say "we need more for a better experience". If you do, you are contradicting yourself.
If you need another mortgage to buy an iPhone, you're just pathetic.
Yes, everyone should be able to afford $800 for a phone, or they are pathetic. I totally agree. People who can't afford expensive phones are losers and that is a great way to judge people.
Wait, wait, wait, wait… you're claiming people DO hold it closer than a foot?! I was JOKING before because that couldn't possibly have been what you said.
Yes, because nothing in technology has ever changed, ever.
2. They do because anyone with a brain can see the diff between retina and non retina. So what's the speed of the processor and how much RAM?
3. I said at a certain point, anything more is overkill. The 5S and the 4S both have 8 MP cameras but the 5S has the better camera.
4. I didn't say everyone, I just referred to you.
anyone with a brain can see the diff between retina and non retina. So what's the speed of the processor and how much RAM?
Yeah, thats not subjective at all.
I said at a certain point, anything more is overkill. The 5S and the 4S both have 8 MP cameras but the 5S has the better camera.
Why the upgrade to 8MP from 5MP...why was 5MP not good enough?
I didn't say everyone, I just referred to you.
What exactly makes you think I can't afford an $800 phone?
I notice you refuse to answer the question you were asked yesterday about the Nokia phone.
The only reason Iphone sells is because of "low" selling price due to distortion by phone contract. In countries where phones bought not on contract, iphone sales got slaughtered big time.
Why would anyone buy an Iphone at twice the price when an equivalent android from Lenovo, Huawei or Oppo put the iphone specs to shame.
Why don't you ask Samsung, they sell the most, their high end phones cost more than iPhones.
Because iPhone buyers buy an iPhone for what it does, along with Apple's service and support. Product specs are an inevitable outcome of building a product, but the goal is to make the best product possible given the compromises required in making anything at all.
Looking at specs alone leads to assuming therefore that a Ford Focus is a better car than a Ferrari Dino because it has bigger back seats and twice as many doors and more luggage space. It leads to the assumption that a power amplifier with 200W per channel and 0.002% THD must be 'better' than one with 140W per channel and 0.005% THD. If all you want is specs then it's an easy decision but if you want the amplifier that sounds best then other factors come into play and require you to actually go to a shop where you can actually listen to them!
Some people like specs so much because you can just run down a list, choose in a vacuum and click "Buy". If, though, you actually want the best product for your requirements then clearly more work is needed. Most posters here have put in that extra work and find that, for us, Apple consistently strikes the best balance between functionality, quality and performance. You may come to a different conclusion which is fine because there are plenty of other manufacturers for you to choose from instead.
What you said may make sense if both iPhone and Android are around the same price.
But if android is half the price and comes with a better specs then it will take a lot of brain washing convincing to say iphone is a better deal.
Sorry mate, there are no better specs than that, it's unmatched no matter how much you wanna whine about cheap underpowered junk.
Half the price, half the quality. In addition to iOS having a better ecosystem and is guaranteed to have its OS upgraded.
What you said may make sense if both iPhone and Android are around the same price. But if android is half the price and comes with a better specs then it will take a lot of brain washing convincing to say iphone is a better deal.
Again, you don't believe a word of this. You can't.
What if someone is interested in other types of "specs" including customer service, the App Store, accessory support, etc?
You keep saying that iPhones are more expensive than Android phones. That's one area.
But you fail to realize some of the things Apple offers that other companies simply cannot match.
You're right... there are some Android phones with amazing hardware specs at incredible prices. But they're lacking in other areas.
I use a $100 phone from Fero so I guess I am part of the junk yard population. But it runs Android 7 and does all I would wish a phone to be. I owned an IPhone and don't think its value for money. Its more about prestige and a bit of patriotism. Calling my $100 phone "junk" is an insult. Its the same as calling my humble Toyota Corolla junk just because it costs 1/10th of the Jaguar.


text:
Peter Beard. the End of the Game (Hardcover)
By Peter Beard
NOT on our shelves now. Usually ships from warehouse in several days.
"The deeper the white man went into Africa, the faster the life flowed out of it, off the plains and out of the bush...vanishing in acres of trophies and hides and carcasses." -- Peter Beard
A landmark publication on Africa, The End of the Game combines Peter Beard's salient text and remarkable photographs to document the overpopulation and starvation of tens of thousands of elephants, rhinos, and hippos in Kenya's Tsavo lowlands and Uganda parklands in the 1960s and '70s.
Researched and compiled over two decades, and updated several times since with new material, this is Beard's essential book--a powerful and poignant testimony to the damage done by human intervention in Africa. His own images and writings are supplemented by historical photographs of, and quotations from, the enterprisers, explorers, missionaries, and big-game hunters whose quest for adventure and "progress" were to change the face of a continent: Theodore Roosevelt, Frederick Courteney Selous, Karen Blixen (Isak Dinesen), Philip Percival, J. A. Hunter, Ernest Hemingway, and J. H. Patterson.
This new edition includes an interview with conservationist Dr. Esmond Bradley Martin, as well as essays from previous editions by renowned writer Paul Theroux and ecologist Dr. Richard M. Laws, and contributions to the afterword by agronomist Dr. Norman Borlaug. Touching on such themes as distance from nature, density and stress, and loss of common sense, this seminal portrait is as resonant today, amid growing environmental crises, as it was a half century ago.
Publisher: Taschen
Subjects & Themes - Plants & Animals


Tech Tuesday – We're Looking for Techs! | Charland Technology Inc.
It's Tech Tuesday….something a little different today.
We're looking for a few good techs.
We are a growing IT Managed Services Provider in Central Massachusetts. Our clients are primarily small-to-medium businesses and municipal offices. Although we're a technical services company, our core mission is to provide a top-notch service experience for our clients.
We have an immediate need for a Part-time Level 1 Tech. This is an entry-level position that's perfect for a detail-oriented person who would like to get into the tech industry. This will start at 12-24 hours per week, $10-12/hour. Hours and location can be flexible after initial training.
As we grow, there may be opportunities to go full-time and move to higher-level challenges.
Requirements: High school graduate or GED. Ability to listen to our clients and a genuine desire to help them. Ability to follow detailed instructions. Ability to take notes and communicate clearly with people inside and outside our company. Familiarity with Windows, Microsoft Office, Internet, and e-mail. Clean background check is required by our clients.
Prior internship or experience in an office environment is a bonus. Technical training will be provided.
Paragraph 1: Tell us about something in technology that really interests or excites you.
Paragraph 2: Tell us about a time you went above and beyond to help someone, whether personally, in business, school, etc.
Expert Techs – we anticipate a need for a full-time Level 2/3 network support technician later this year. Feel free to send a resume/cover letter to apply@charlandtech.com if you'd like to be on our list.
Please help spread the word and share this with anyone you think would be a good candidate!


Updates matching "Cancer Research Funding"
More than 150 American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) advocates rallied near the steps of the Texas State House to show their support for the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT), a program that is fostering breakthroughs in cancer research and prevention.
A research team led by the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have determined the most significant barriers to clinical trial participation. The study published in Journal of the National Cancer Institute (JNCI) upends the notion that patient factors are the driving forces behind why most clinical trials don't meet their enrollment targets.
Cancer patients, survivors and advocates from the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) rallied at the Capitol in Annapolis today in support of raising the minimum sales age for all tobacco products to 21, prohibiting minors under the age of 18 from using tanning devices and other cancer prevention issues.


text:
Richard Parry
Parry Advisory; former Risk Management Executive, JPMorgan Chase
Randy Sabett
David Navetta
Norton Rose Fulbright
Altered State: Transitioning Toward Risk Management
Collaboration Among State, County, City, University Eric Chabrow (GovInfoSecurity) • March 31, 2011
Risk management is becoming a more important role for state information technology organizations, and in Iowa, the state is incorporating more technology into its risk assessment process.
The state joined forces with the city of Des Moines, Cerro Gordo County and Iowa State University to apply for a $300,000 Department of Homeland Security grant, which they received, to establish a pilot system to continuously monitor networks, servers and web applications for vulnerabilities.
Using the new technology and routinely monitoring IT systems, the partners get more real time and consistent data. "It also crates a common language that now all agencies are running all the same vulnerability management system, and now we can see, not just how agency A compares with agency B, but also what challenges did agency A find and how did they fix that problem that maybe agency B has as well," Jeff Franklin, Iowa state chief information security officer, says in an interview with GovInfoSecurity.com (transcript below).
The pilot, which should last for two years, may be expanded to include another city and state, he says.
Segueing its focus from technology to risk management exemplifies the transition occurring in Iowa's information security office.
"We really need to speak the language of business and focus less on the language of IT, and that involves risk management" Franklin says. "When you're strapped with resources and strapped in your budget, you really need to target those resources to your most critical systems."
It's not that Iowa's information security office has ignored risk assessments; it hasn't. It's been performing ad hoc risk assessments for the past four years, using the ISO 27000 series of IT security standards published by the International Organization for Standardization. But that approach had limits. Agencies did show improvements in their risk assessments, but the progress stalled. "We're beginning to notice that agencies have started to level out," Franklin says, "and it seems that in those risk assessments, the low-hanging fruit has been taken care of."
Franklin, in the interview with GovInfoSecurity.com's Eric Chabrow, also discusses the:
Approach Iowa takes in governing IT security.
Changing role of the state Information Security Office.
The state offering IT and IT security services to other governments in Iowa.
Franklin serves on several state technology councils and is a member of the Iowa Infragard and Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center. Before becoming the state CISO, Franklin worked for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Des Moines Fire Department and private industry.
Iowa State University granted Franklin a master of science in management information systems with honors and a graduate certificate in information assurance. He also holds a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Northern Iowa and a certified public manager designation from Drake University.
Governing IT Security
ERIC CHABROW: Take a few moments and tell us about how IT security is governed in Iowa.
JEFF FRANKLIN: The state of Iowa, like many states, is moving from a federated environment to the consolidated environment. In the last legislative session, the legislature mandated that we consolidate our infrastructure services and our security services. That was done primarily in response to the national budget pressures and financial pressures that states are facing and in addition to the security challenges I think states are facing.
CHABROW: Explain a little bit the process of going to a federated model.
FRANKLIN: We have an IT redesign committee that was formed, and the areas we wanted to target and the consolidation effort were jointly decided on by interpreting the language from the legislature, but also with all the agency CIOs. Our primary consolidation target that we're working on most actively is our e-mail consolidation. The state of Iowa had 23 some e-mail systems and we've reduced it now down to I think roughly half of that now, and we have some specific timelines to do that. Other areas we're looking at consolidating are target server consolidation and desktop virtualization. Each of the core functions of infrastructure, and security included in that.
CHABROW: At the moment, in your structure, who does the CISO oversee? What authority does the CISO have? What agencies have their own information security officers, and how would that change the way people do their jobs under the move to a federated model?
FRANKLIN: The key change for us is that the CIO would be appointed by the governor. That's a change that's in the legislature, and so the CIO would be the key driving force for security initiatives, infrastructure initiatives and anything dealing with those consolidation efforts. From the security standpoint, we have about half a dozen dedicated information security officers. They're typically in our larger agencies like Human Services, DOT, the revenue department. And then we have a central information security office as well, and we provide a various number of functions.
Our primary role right now is more of a governance role. My responsibilities typically rely around policy setting, setting base plan standards, setting policy at a higher level. Those are minimum standards that we set. A specific agency may have specific federal guidelines that they have to follow and requirements that they have to follow, and so they certainly can set more stringent restrictions that are specific to their agency.
Changes as a result of that consolidation, we will still needs specialists in those areas. I don't know what the reporting structure will look like. That will be up to our new CIO. We'll still push for new initiatives on an enterprise level. We have several initiatives underway already, and so I would anticipate that they would gather more steam under a consolidated environment.
From Policy Setting to Hands-on
CHABROW: Would you expect that your post would be more hands on, at least within some agencies, maybe some of the smaller agencies?
FRANKLIN: I do. Right now, we're primarily a policy setting agency and overseeing risk assessments, but I see that the ISO would be more operational in its nature. I see that we'll be providing more technical services, such as forensics and web application scanning.
CHABROW: I know one of your concerns is risk management, and I understand Iowa just received a grant from the Department of Homeland Security to explore ways to improve risk management. First off, let's talk a little about why risk management is such an important element of IT security to Iowa, as well as we hear from other states. And, then, let's talk a little about this grant and how is it being approached and what does this mean for Iowa.
FRANKLIN: You know, I think that's the biggest change in the information security field that we're seeing. Typically, the staff that you get in an information security officer are technical in their IT, and they need to have that understanding and those abilities. But we're moving our focus from a technology focus more to a risk-management framework and risk-management approach. We really need to speak the language of business and focus more on the language of business and less on the language of IT, and that involves risk management. When you're strapped with resources and strapped in your budget, you really need to target those resources to your most critical systems. Blanket systems can be difficult to implement. They're time consuming, and they may not meet the needs of the business.
Specific to our Homeland Security grant, what we were looking at, we've been performing risk assessments for the last four years. It's been an interesting trend. We use the ISO 27000 series process, and we have noticed that each year, agencies do improve, but we're kind of starting to level out. And so it seems like in those risk assessments, the low-hanging fruit has been taken care of. The high risk items are taken care of and those are addressed. And so really we're in an organizational maturity phase, I believe, where we go from that ISO series and we complement that with more technical components.
What we're looking at is continuous monitoring or continuous vulnerability management system. We approached Homeland Security for a grant to pilot a system, and this was in partnership with Iowa State University, the city of Des Moines, Cerro Gordo County, and the state of Iowa in order to put in a system that will continually monitor our networks, continually monitor our web apps and our servers. The problem that we run into right now is that we have preventive and vulnerability tests are done on more of an ad hoc basis and an as requested basis. When we get that information back, that's excellent information to have. It helps us target where we want to resolve it, target our resources to resolve those problems, but it's only as good as that point in time.
The goal of that system and the goal of the grant is to put a solution in place that can continually monitor or routinely monitor whatever we want to monitor. If we want to scan a web application and do that on a regular basis, once a month or twice a month, we can do that. We can set the parameters to do that. If we want to scan a subnet of computers and PCs on a certain time interval, we can do that as well. What we get out of that is more real-time reporting and more consistent reporting, and that's beneficial across not just a few agencies, but that would benefit the enterprise as a whole. It also creates a common language that now all agencies are running all the same vulnerability management system, and so now we can see not just how this agency A compared to agency B, but also what challenges did agency A find and how did they fix that problem that maybe agency B has as well.
Mechanics of Collaboration
CHABROW: With this grant, how is the structure of this collaboration with these other organizations working? What are you actually looking at? Are you looking to develop specific processes? Are you looking into specific kinds of technologies? How do you work with one another?
FRANKLIN: I have the benefit of coming from the city of Des Moines, and so I had a relationship built already with the city of Des Moines and knowledge of their IT department. I reached out to the CIO there. I knew that was a need that they had as well. We will be looking at how to best implement this, what's best for the city of Des Moines, and what's best for the state of Iowa. We have a common problem, and the common problem is that we have inconsistent monitoring of our networks when it comes to a solution in place that is continually looking for vulnerabilities. They need to be able to manage it somewhat granularly as we need to manage it in a granular fashion.
When we're looking for solutions - and I know there are solutions out there on the market - I think what we'll be able to do is similar to what Minnesota has done and been successful at, and that's partner with universities or city or county orgs and be able to provide them a solution and a tool that will reduce their risk.
CHABROW: With this grant, how much was it and how long until you hope to have some results from that?
FRANKLIN: The grant was roughly $300,000. That'll probably be enough to pilot, between the state, a couple cities, a couple counties and the university to see if this partnership and collaboration will work.
CHABROW: How long do you think that would take before you find that out?
FRANKLIN: I tend to be an optimist, and so my optimistic side says a year, but my realist side says probably a year and a half to two by the time we get it in place, get it tested and get the processes in place and try them out. I know Minnesota has been through this process and we've built a previous relationship with them and looking at how they went about implementing it. We're going to draw as much as we can from them.
CHABROW: Could there be any kind of consolidation of systems beyond the state into the cities and counties and universities, or at least some elements of that, because everybody is facing some budgetary problems?
FRANKLIN: There's always that possibility. Our administrative services department is as a service provider of our infrastructure, and so if a city or county no longer wanted to provide their e-mail service, they could reach out to state government, and we could offer them that service. We've done that in the past, and this would be another great example of that partnership.
Evolving Uses for Smart Cards
FFIEC Draft: The Bad and Good
Eric Chabrow
Host & Producer, ISMG Security Report; Executive Editor, GovInfoSecurity & InfoRiskToday
Chabrow hosts and produces the semi-weekly podcast ISMG Security Report and oversees ISMG's GovInfoSecurity and InfoRiskToday. He's a veteran multimedia journalist who has covered information technology, government and business.
Payment Fraud: Criminals Enroll Stolen Cards on Apple Pay
FTC Reportedly Approves $5 Billion Facebook Fine
https://www.inforisktoday.eu/altered-state-transitioning-toward-risk-management-a-3489


The Mask: Animated Series » The Mask: Animated Series #239 - The Aceman Cometh released by Dark Horse Comics on December 8, 1997.
Episode written by Duane Capizzi.
Stanley's dog gets kidnapped by Pretorius, so he calls for the help of Ace Ventura the pet detective.


text:
Aquesta és la llista dels 28 municipis que formaven la província del Medio Campidano (Sardenya), amb el seu nom oficial en italià i el seu equivalent en sard.

Referències

Medio Campidano
Municipis de Sardenya

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Daimler is falling some 2% post earnings today. The stock turned right on the resistance levels a few days ago, and is confirming this with the move we are seeing today.
European autos, the SXAP index, was the top dog last year, but it seems many have forgotten about this important sector. SXAP has bounced during this squeeze, but note we are just at the trend line that has been strong and in place for the past year. 500 is a huge level.
Another important sentiment sector is the European banks, the SX7E index. Given all the "troubles" in Italy, as well as the poor earnings from BNP today (biggest loser in the SX7E today, -2.3%), it doesn´t look like Europe will get much help from banks.
All European indices have bounced in January as investors have been chasing longs in panic, but for Europe, we would need the DAX to start leading and not lagging, in order for a meaningful longer-term bull to be born.
Don´t buy protection when you must, buy it when you can.
V2X is down to pleasant levels again (for more logic on volatility around these levels click here).


text:
Adam und Eva | 1926
Otto Friedrich Weber
1890 Elberfeld — 1956 Wuppertal
As the son of a master locksmith, Weber was originally intended to follow in his father's footsteps. But at the recommendation of his drawing teacher, he studied with Max Bernuth at the Wuppertal School of Industrial Art. Together with Gert Wollheim, Weber went on hiking and painting tours in Westphalia. Weber continued his art studies under Carl Bantzer at the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts, then in Munich. Weber was able to travel to Paris in circa 1910. He exhibited there at the Salon d'Automne in 1911 and 1913, where, as the only German artist. He travelled to Spain in 1914, where he joined the artists' colony in Barcelona alongside Robert and Sonia Delaunay. He married Maria Elisabeth Prestel and took on work as a political caricaturist.
He joined the Rhine Secession and two artists' associations, the Bergische Kunstgenossenschaft and the Malkasten in Dusseldorf. During the period of National Socialism, Weber was forbidden from travelling, which made his work considerably more difficult. He nevertheless still participated in exhibitions until 1942: at the Kunstpalast am Rhein in Dusseldorf and at the Great Art Exhibition in Dusseldorf in 1937. That same year, however, numerous works by Weber were removed from public museums as part of the Nazis' "degenerate art" campaign. A majority of his works were destroyed in a bombing raid on Wuppertal in 1943.
Adam and Eve | 1926
(Photo: Hubert Auer © Otto Friedrich Weber)
Samuel Solomonovich Granovsky
Friedrich Wilhelm Schirrmacher
Walter Denecke
Heinrich Kamps
Sepp Mahler


We don't just ask that Yerushalayim be rebuilt - we ask that it be rebuilt to last forever.
If we reflect deeply, we discover that there is really nothing in this world that is forever. This world is temporary, and only Hashem is forever, for Hashem "was, is, and will be." Only Hashem is forever, while His Creations are limited. However, all creations can connect with Him, although we are limited and temporary; our soul has a yearning to connect itself with the eternal, and only the Creator is eternal.
But if the soul of a person is concealed from a person – and this is the situation of most people – one loses this yearning for eternity. He might yearn for things that are eternal, but he uses it for the wrong things. Without revealing the soul, a person misuses the yearning for the eternal, and it will manifest in other areas.
There are many, many things that people feel deeply connected to on this world, and people would never want to part from those things. It can be one's car, his house, or a certain items he owns which are very dear to him.
Reb Chatzkel would often quote the words of the Zohar that "A person dwells on this world and thinks it is his." Man has a nature to think that his life on this world is permanent. Any sensible person will admit that he is not eternal, because we all know that people die. Ever since the curse of Adam [when mankind was cursed with death] people who are on this world have been leaving this world.
Our brain can be aware very well that death is inevitable to all people (unless Moshiach comes during one's lifetime), but our heart often does not feel this reality. The heart can be blocked from the truth that our brain is aware of intellectually. Simply, this is a ruach shtus, a foolish spirit, that sways a person from realizing the truth.
But the deeper reason is because our soul really wants to feel eternal. It doesn't want a connection that is temporary – it wants some kind of connection that is eternal. This is a very deep need of our soul and when it isn't understood, it is misused by a person to seek an eternal connection with This World.
When the soul is concealed from man – in other words, when a person doesn't have a simple feeling of sensing Hashem in his life – his need for the eternal will be awakened, and it will seek eternal connections with This World. If a person can't find it in something truthful on This World, he will seek it in places that are not truthful. He might be aware in his mind of course that this is foolish, but he doesn't actually feel that way. He feels his possessions, his money, and that all worldly matters are forever.
Until now we were addressing someone who lives a very superficial kind of life. But there is a more subtle manifestation of this problem which exists by almost all people. Even if someone doesn't have that much of a materialistic life, and he doesn't feel that attached to his house and possessions, he will still feel that the most eternal connection he knows of on this world is: with his family.
Each person has relationships in his life, and people tend to feel that these relationships are absolutely eternal.
With parents, some people are very attached to them, and some have weaker relationships with the parents. When a person gets married, some people are very deeply connected with their spouse, and some are not. But when it comes to our children – we love them more powerfully than anyone else. The feeling of connection that a parent has for a child is very, very intense.
The Gemara says that normally, if someone digs a tunnel into one's house to rob him, one is allowed to kill the intruder, because the intruder is deemed a rodef, a pursuer. But if the robber is one's father, the intruder is not considered a rodef, because the father would not kill the son, since he loves him.
The words of Reb Yisrael Salanter are well-known: That even if a father consciously loves another person more than his own son, such as a beloved student of his, if a time would come where he would have to choose between one of them to save, he would choose the son, because deep in his subconscious, he loves his child more, no matter how much grief the child has caused him.
When a person doesn't have children yet, he feels a certain void in his life, because the soul has a deep desire that its existence be continued. Thus, there is a very deep desire in man for children.
The soul of a person is very attached to one's children. There are even children who cut off contact from their parents, yet the parents continue to strongly love them.
Most people are willing to work very hard at jobs and even get into huge debts just so that their family will have income, and it's all so that the children will be able to live comfortably. We see that a person is willing to undergo a lot of stress at work just so that he can bring home money and support his children. He does it all for the children. So there is a very, very deep love that a parent has for a child.
There are also people who revolve their entire life around the children – they make their children into the center of their life.
We need to examine deeply into ourselves where this comes from. There are a few people who truly love their children with a totally pure kind of love. But most people who feel very attached to their children are actually being motivated by a need for some kind of "permanence" on this world.
Of course, Hashem implanted a love in every father for his child; whether the father is a tzaddik or a wicked person. But the level of love differs with each person.
Most people, in their subconscious, do not view children as people who "happen" to be in their life, and they feel that their bond with their children is a major part of their life, a part of their entire essence and being, and they are connected to their children with the depths of their soul.
Here we come to the root of the matter.
Those who are attached to materialistic aspects of this world use their power of deep connection for materialism, which is clearly the most negative way to misuse the soul's need for deeply lasting connection. But even those who are not that attached to materialism of this world are also misplacing their soul's need for deeply lasting connection: the bond that people feel towards their children can really be coming from a need for permanence of This World!
There are people who think that the ideal kind of life is when the children are everything. Let us examine the depth of this mentality that people have and see how to use it and what needs to be fixed with this mentality.
Man is made of soul and body. The Gemara states that a father gives five things to his child, and the mother gives five things to their child. These are physical mannerisms which a parent gives to the child. Even the middos which a child inherits from a parent are only the garments of the child's soul, not the essence of the child's soul. Thus, the entire bond that a parent can feel to his child can be entirely based on physicality, not the soul. Physically, relatives are always close; one may not marry close relatives and he may not testify for them in Beis Din, due to their physical closeness.
Thus, there is an intrinsic physical closeness with relatives and family members, which cannot be denied. What results from this, however, is that most of the time, the relationship that a father feels towards his child is purely based on the physical factor.
The more a person lives a bodily kind of existence, the more "bodily" his connections are. If he is totally materialistic, he is entirely connected to desires of this world. If he is a bit more refined – or if he feels both connected to this world as well as feeling connected to his children – it is still his body which connects him to things. His soul really wants eternal connection, but because it is hidden, and the body dominates the person, the soul's need ends up getting twisted around by the body, and it manifests in a yearning to feel eternally attached with one's children.
But if a person begins to leave his bodily existence and enters a soul kind of existence – not just intellectually, but to live life through the prism of the soul – the perspective of a person changes. He will want a different kind of connection. This doesn't mean that he will forget about his body. We don't live in Gan Eden; we are not ethereal. We live on this world, with a body, and we have 613 mitzvos to keep. But we can still get our perspective to change and view life through our soul; we can change how we view our concept of connection.
So the love that a father usually feels for his child, when experienced through the body - which dominates a person's existence unless he reveals his existence as being that of a soul - is based on the physical. If a person would reveal his soul, the love would come from his soul, and it would be stemming from the feeling of unity with the Jewish people. That is the real love. But when the body dominates in a person's life, a person feels connected to his child not because of this deep love of the soul for unity, but because his soul inside is demanding something eternal. The body takes that need and channels it towards loving one's child, which really translates into a wish for permanence on This World.
From the soul's perspective, although the Halacha states that one must support his children, the soul recognizes that the connection one feels to his child is purely physical. There is no denying that the child bears similarities to his father, but, it's all physical.
The soul's perspective can show a person that the connection he feels to his child needs to be defined and put in proper perspective, and that it should not be eternal.
When a person gains this perspective – not just intellectually, but to absorb it in his soul and to live this perspective – he will have the proper view towards his family. He will realize that although he feels connected with his children, it should have limits to it, and it should not be stemming from a need for eternal connection.
In order to slowly absorb this perspective, one can think about the following. One can realize that before this lifetime, there was no physical connection between father and child. Getting used to this perspective will weaken the physical nature of the relationship he feels towards his children [and make it more spiritual].
Of course, we know that children must honor their parents even after they die; that is the Halacha. But inevitable, the connection of children to their parents after death is a lot less, being that a large part of the connection was physical in its nature. After death, the body decomposes, and the physicality of the relationship withers away with this.
In fact, it's even possible that if the souls of parents and children meet in Heaven after they die, they won't even feel connection with each other any more than two strangers who meet each other in Heaven.
On a side note, if a person absorbs this correctly, he will understand what it means to have Ahavas Yisrael (love for Jews). One of the deep reasons why people lack Ahavas Yisrael is actually because they are only connected with their own families, and not with others.
When a person feels like he only loves his family and he doesn't feel love for others, that essentially means that he is only connected in love with others through his physical orientations; therefore all that he loves on this world is his own family, and no one else. He views family members as his own physical 'flesh and blood' – his physical blood relatives, and he feels like they are a part of his own 'flesh'.
What happens when a person has this perspective? The physical body covers over the soul, and when the soul is covered over, it can't love other Jews.
When a person realizes that the love he feels for his children is coming from his physical connection with them, that itself allows the soul's perspective to become revealed, and the soul will then naturally love all others Jews - once it has been allowed to be revealed.
(There are also souls that feel closer to each other, even after the love of the soul is revealed. But this is a concept which most people do not relate to).
Whenever we feel connected to something, as long as it is not the connection with the Creator, it can never be a truly deep connection. It is only the branches of the root power of connection, which is to connect to the Creator.
This applies to all kinds of connection a person can feel: feeling connected to the materialism of this world, feeling a connection to one's children – either through love, giving, or compassion – it is not the depth of the power to connect. It is only the 'branches' of something deeper in us: an expression of our desire to feel attached to Hashem.
Of course, if a person takes care of his family, he is doing the right thing, and he lives and dies in the right way. But although this is true, we find that most people, when they lose a family member, find this to be terribly difficult, and they feel like part of their essence has been taken away from them; they find it unbearable to go on living. Nothing is the same anymore for such people. This really happens because the deepest connection a person usually feels is with his family members. When the connection is severed, through death, the pain is tremendous and unbearable.
But if a person makes sure that the deepest connection he knows of is with Hashem, then even when he suffers the death of a close family member (or any end to a relationship), he will certainly feel pain, but it will not destroy him. The pain he will feel will only be limited, because his deepest connection he feels is not with anything on This World, not even his family; the deepest connection he knows of is with Hashem.
The words here do not mean to imply that a person shouldn't feel pain when he loses a relationship just because he feels so close to Hashem. If someone doesn't feel pain at a loss of a family member, he is simply cruel; or he's deep in his imagination. What is meant here is that a person can gain a change in perspective. It is to understand what our need for deep connection is and to properly define the connections we have on this world.
Absorbing this perspective will not weaken your relationship with your children at all; it will not destroy your love for Jews, for Torah, and for Hashem. It will only serve to strengthen your love and reveal the true love, which comes from our soul, as opposed to the body's love for others, which is purely physical-based.
Woe to a person who doesn't love his family, and woe to the person who has no mercy on them - but a person who loves them too much is also incorrect. We have to be mainly directed towards the root of all roots, the Creator, whether we are in This World or even in the Next World. All other connections we have, even the connections are commanded to have, need to have their limits.
These words, when understood properly, can shake a person to the core, because it will show a person think that the connection he feels with his family are only temporary, and only our connection with Hashem is eternal.
So these words are very subtle. If they are not understood properly, it will simply shake a person up and he will think that perhaps it means he's really not connected to his family. But that is not the point of these words. The point is rather to understand the nature of our connection with our families, so that we can have the proper understanding.
When the words here are understood properly, they will actually strengthen your relationships. The words here are meant for anyone who searches for a true kind of life, for a life of the soul.
The true kind of life to have is a life which centers around a tri-fold connection: to seek connection with Hashem, with the Torah, and with the collective soul of the Jewish people; and not just to have a life which revolves around connecting with Hashem, Torah, and the Jewish people – but to deeply connect with these three areas. There is a fourth kind of connection we feel in our souls: the connection we feel towards our family. But this should not become before our connection with Hashem, with Torah, and with the Jewish people.
Thus, the point is that if a person always places his family "first" before anything else in his life, this is not a true priority; it distances one from the inner kind of life.
When we ask in this blessing of Shemoneh Esrei that Yerushalayim be built to last forever, ובנה אותה בנין עולם, we are not just asking that it simply be forever, because nothing on This World is forever. We only ask for this in connection with the rest of the request, ותשכון בתוכה – that Hashem's Presence return to Jerusalem.
In other words - when the Shechinah will be revealed, only then will Yerushalayim be forever. As long as Shechinah isn't revealed – as long as the reality of Hashem isn't revealed, when people think that This World is forever – that is the greatest hester (concealment).
When a person realizes and feels the truth, that only Hashem is forever, he will in turn understand that all other connections he feels are only temporary, and it will be realized that all of our connections need to be limited; that we should not feel that any connection we have is "eternal", except for the one connection we have which is eternal (our connection with Hashem).
The more spiritual of a life a person lives, the greater his quality of love for his children will be. Why? Because a person then realizes that all love he experiences on this world is but a branch of a greater love. And then even the 'branches' of love we experience will take on new meaning.
The words here are not meant to weaken a person's relationship with his family at all. Rather, the intention is the opposite: it can help us give greater meaning to our relationships. It is to be aware that our connection with our family is not eternal.
ובנה אותה בנין עולם- We ask for Yerushalayim to be built eternally – that this world, which is called "olam" from the word he'elam, concealment, be removed; and that the true olam\"world" should be revealed, a world of l'olam, eternity – as we declare in Amen Yehai Shemai Rabbah, that the Name of Hashem should fill all the realms, forever, when His Great Name will be fully revealed.
 See Bilvavi Part 4 Chapter 5 – Calmly Giving Up This World.
 Talmud Bavli: Tractate Sanhedrin, Chapter Eight.


Important Things to Ask Before Water Heater Installation in Raleigh, NC | Affordable Plumbing Call Us 1st Inc.
How big should my tank be? The size of your tank will determine its capacity to deliver hot water to various areas of your home or business. If you are looking for a new water heater for your home, you will need one that's big enough to support all of the people in your household who use hot water. A family of two will need a smaller hot water heater than a family of eight, for example.
What is the installation process like? It's important for you to know what to expect from the installation process itself. Ask your plumber what's involved, how long it will take and what kind of preparations you have to make to ensure that the installation goes smoothly.
What kind of energy savings can I expect? If your existing water heater is several years old, a new water heater will likely offer much better energy efficiency. Ask your plumber what kind of difference you can expect when it comes to energy efficiency and what you can do to promote energy savings.
Which brands can I choose from? There is a variety of water heater manufacturers out there, so you have a lot of options to choose from when you get a new model. Ask your plumber which brands you can choose between, and ask for their recommendations based on your needs and budget.
How often do I need to maintain the new unit? To ensure that your water heater lasts for as long as possible, it's important to get started with good maintenance habits right away. Ask your plumber about their maintenance recommendations for the water heater that you're having installed, and find out what you need to do to secure regularly scheduled service.
What do I do with my old water heater? Disposing of your old water heater can be challenging, so ask your plumber whether they offer complimentary disposal service with your new installation.
If you have questions about an upcoming water heater installation in Raleigh, NC or you need other help with the plumbing in your home or business, reach out to Affordable Plumbing Call Us 1st, Inc. Since 1993, our team has offered comprehensive commercial and residential plumbing services, including drain cleaning, new construction plumbing installation, plumbing repair, general service and maintenance and water heater installation in Raleigh, NC. We are proud to offer high quality services at prices that won't break the bank. If you want to learn more, just give us a call today!


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Arrieta to Take on the Jays in Series Opener
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by Bovada - 8/22/2018 1:19 PM Share
The Toronto Blue Jays and Philadelphia Phillies kick off interleague play this Friday. While the Phillies have struggled of late, going 4-6 over their last 10 games, they should be able to make some ground against the Jays.
Rumored to have been in on the Arrieta sweepstakes just eight months ago, the Toronto Blue Jays are now on a different path and have entered full rebuild mode. At 57-69, the Jays are making use of their flopped season and are auditioning their prospects at the big-league level. One of those prospects is pitcher Sean Reid-Foley. The first two starts of his career haven't been pretty, as he racked up an 8.68 ERA over two starts. He'll look to get his first career win against Philadelphia at home on Friday. By contrast, the former Cy Young Award winner and Ace of the Phillies' staff,
Jake Arrieta, is rounding into form when his team needs him the most. Coming off of a six-inning performance in which he surrendered only one earned run, Arrieta is poised to lead the Phillies to a postseason berth for the first time since 2011. Tune in for first pitch at 7:07 PM ET.
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Feldman J. Public health and the policing of Black lives. Harvard Public Health Review. Summer 2015;7.
The deaths of Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Freddie Gray, Rekia Boyd, and Walter Scott reflect a pattern of routinized state violence against black people in the United States. While police violence is not new, it has become newly visible over the past year as protesters in Ferguson, Baltimore, and hundreds of other cities have made the issue difficult for the public to ignore. As citizens of this society, each of us has a responsibility to work toward the structural changes necessary to end racially discriminatory policing practices that affect our communities. However, as public health professionals, our role in this movement is unique. Simply put, policing practices harm the public's health and deepen racial health inequities. Since our existing public health infrastructure continuously collects data on injuries and deaths, public health agencies can play a critical role in preventing police violence by monitoring and systematically investigating its impact on communities. Additionally, while U.S. policymakers have decided that police departments should be one of the primary institutions tasked with addressing drug use, problem drinking, homelessness, sex work, and mental illness, these are all fundamentally public health issues requiring attention from public health researchers and professionals alike.
Policing is a critically important, but under-acknowledged determinant of health inequities. In the U.S., police used physical force against an estimated 344,000 people in 2008,[1. Bureau of Justice Statistics. Contacts between Police and the Public, 2008. Available at http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/cpp08.pdf.] and as recently as 2013,[2.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS). Accessed May 3, 2013.] injuries inflicted by police officers prompted 100,000 emergency room visits. While current public health literature on policing is sparse, it points to numerous adverse health impacts. Research has shown that police crackdowns dissuade injection drug users from carrying clean needles,[3. Cooper, H., Moore, L., Gruskin, S., & Krieger, N. The Impact of a Police Drug Crackdown on Drug Injectors' Ability to Practice Harm Reduction: A Qualitative Study. Social Science & Medicine, 2005; 61(3), 673-684.] stop-and-frisk programs induce post-traumatic stress in their black and Latino targets [4. Geller, A., Fagan, J., Tyler, T., and Link, B. Aggressive Policing and the Mental Health of Young Urban Men. American Journal of Public Health, 2014; 104(12), 2321-2327.], police presence in hospitals deters black men on probation or parole from using emergency rooms,[5. Goffman, A. On the Run: Fugitive Life in an American City. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2014.] police enforcement against sex workers creates riskier occupational conditions,[6. Krüsi, A., Pacey, K., Bird, L., Taylor, C., Chettiar, J., Allan, S, Bennett, D., Montaner, J., Kerr, T., and Shannon, K. Criminalisation of Clients: Reproducing Vulnerabilities for Violence and Poor Health among Street-Based Sex Workers in Canada—a Qualitative Study." BMJ Open 4, 2014; 6: e005191.] and police officers kill black people at a disproportionately higher rates as compared to whites.[7. Krieger, N., Kiang, M., Chen, J., Waterman, P. Trends in US Deaths Due to Legal Intervention Among Black and White Men, Age 15-34 Years, by County Income Level: 1960-2010. Harvard Public Health Review, 2015; 4.] Additional research on the health effects of policing would greatly benefit discussions about both law enforcement and public health, but these studies are difficult to conduct because there is a widespread unwillingness on the part of police departments to share data with the public. A related barrier to further research is poor data quality, as evidenced by the fact that the United States does not maintain a complete count of individuals killed by police.[8. McCarthy, T. The Uncounted: Why the US Can't Keep Track of People Killed by Police. The Guardian, March 18, 2015. Available at http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/mar/18/police-killings-government-data-count.]
With minor regulatory changes, state and local public health agencies can serve as the independent monitors of police violence that communities across the United States so critically need. The International Classification of Diseases already provides a set of codes under the category of "legal intervention" for injuries and fatalities caused by law enforcement officers. When a police officer kills an individual, coroners and medical examiners are supposed to record one of these codes on his or her death certificate, although existing research shows that underreporting is very common.[9. Loftin C, Wiersema B, McDowell D, Dobrin A. Underreporting of justifiable homicides committed by police officers in the United States, 1976-1998. Am J Public Health 2003; 93(7):1117-1121.] Similarly, when patients are injured by police, health care providers are supposed to not this on their medical records but, again, underreporting is possibly widespread. State and local public health agencies can remedy this problem by adding legal intervention to their existing lists of reportable conditions. This action would legally require health care providers to report deaths and injuries caused by police actions to health agencies in a timely manner. A health department could then forward these reports to police oversight boards and state attorneys general for further investigation. While, to my knowledge, there are no health departments in the United States that currently define legal intervention as a reportable condition, doing so would also improve data quality so that researchers could study trends in police violence to identify its determinants and evaluate policies aimed at its prevention.
Another role for our field lies in reorienting certain areas of public policy away from law enforcement and towards public health. In an era defined by the War on Drugs and Broken Windows,[10. Wilson, J., and Kelling, G. Broken Windows. Atlantic Monthly, 1982; 249(3): 29-38.] a theory emphasizing aggressive enforcement for 'quality of life' infractions, policing has become one of the primary ways in which our society responds to drug use, problem drinking, homelessness, sex work, and mental illness, particularly when people of color are involved. Using New York City as a case study, the sociologist Alex Vitale has examined the ways in which psychiatric deinstitutionalization, a lack of affordable housing, and economic austerity policies of the 1970s created a crisis of homelessness and social disorder.[11. Vitale, A. City of Disorder: How the Quality of Life Campaign Transformed New York Politics. New York: NYU Press, 2008.] The city responded through aggressive policing strategies, which are now standard practice in urban areas throughout the country. Vitale argues persuasively that addressing these issues through civilian intervention teams rather than police would reduce the number of confrontational encounters with law enforcement.[12. Vitale, A. We Don't Just Need Nicer Cops. We Need Fewer Cops. The Nation, December 14, 2014. Available at http://www.thenation.com/article/191985/we-dont-just-need-nicer-cops-we-need-fewer-cops.] In this vein, public health professionals should conduct research and develop programs that provide alternatives to policing, which are likely to be more effective, equitable, and economical. There are lessons to learn from Good Samaritan laws, which prevent police from arresting opiate users who report an overdose and have now been adopted in 21 states.[13. Drug Policy Alliance. Which States Have 911 Good Samaritan Laws and/or Naloxone Access Laws? 2015. Available at: http://www.drugpolicy.org/resource/which-states-have-911-good-samaritan-laws-andor-naloxone-access-laws. Accessed February 9, 2015.] The current heroin epidemic is racialized as white in the public imagination, however, and considerable political barriers remain for expanding a harm reduction approach to address the needs of communities of color.
Public health has long played a role in advancing racial justice movements in the United States. This history includes the work of abolitionist physicians like John Steward Rock, who provided medical care to fugitive slaves in the 19th century, the desegregation of Southern hospitals brought about by changes to Medicare in the 1960s, the community health clinics established by the Black Panther Party in the 1970s, and the resistance to corporate polluters targeting black and Latino communities on the part of the environmental justice movement since the 1990s. In the face of a nascent social movement around police violence, public health once again has an opportunity to make meaningful contributions in partnership with activists and policymakers.


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MPD releases list of those on Memphis City Hall's 'Blacklist'
By Sasha Jones
Published: Feb. 18, 2017 at 1:20 AM CST|Updated: Feb. 20, 2017 at 8:29 AM CST
MEMPHIS, TN (WMC) - The Memphis Police Department has released the names of all people required to have an escort while inside of City Hall. Many local activists are on the list.
"I was asked to come out to the foyer by a MPD officer," Fergus Nolan said.
Nolan came to the WMC Action News 5 Investigators after he said MPD officers stopped him from entering Council Chambers at last week's City Council Meeting.
He told us he has never seen the list, but was told by officers that he was on the escort list for his activity at the "Die-In protest" outside of Mayor Strickland's house.
Nolan says he wasn't even at that protest. He was however, at this "Save the Greensward" protest on Memorial Day. Nolan said he was arrested, but added those charges were later expunged from his record.
"I have a completely clean record; there is no reason why I should be on the list," Nolan said.
WMC Action News 5 Investigators filed a Freedom of Information Act request, asking for the list of people requiring an escort at City Hall.
We found out, not only was Nolan on the list, but so were dozens of other community activists including Frank Gotti, Pastor Earl Fisher, and the mother and aunt of Darrius Stewart--the teenager shot and killed in 2015 by a MPD Officer.
"It would be amusing if it wasn't so illegal," Paul Garner with Mid-South Peace and Justice said.
Paul Garner from Mid-South Peace and Justice is also on the list--twice. He is listed on this sheet, which is signed by Mayor Jim Strickland. Like Nolan he said he was not at the "Die-in protest" at the mayor's house, but was recently arrested at the anti-pipeline protest at Valero Memphis Refinery.
MPD released the following statement about the list:
"City Hall is a municipal public building; however, peace and safety for all citizens and city employees who are within City Hall is paramount. Like with all government facilities, security measures are in place. There are individuals who require an escort within City Hall, i.e. disgruntled employees who may have been terminated, individuals who have been named on an authorization of agency and individuals who are subject to orders of protection."
Nolan and Garner said none of the reasons listed apply to them.
City Hall released the following statement:
"City Hall is open to the public, but peace and safety for all citizens and city employees in this building is important. Like all government buildings, there are security measures in place at City Hall. People who require an escort may include disgruntled employees who have been fired, people named on an authorization of agency, and individuals who are subject to orders of protection. It is the professional assessment of the Memphis Police Department's Homeland Security Bureau that individuals on the list pose a potential security risk. It's important to note that these individuals have not been banned from City Hall. They simply require an escort. The Memphis Police Department maintains this list, and is responsible for providing security at City Hall."
Of the 81 people on the list, only 27 were identified as being disgruntled former city employees or having an order of protection.
Nolan and Garner said this list violates a Consent Decree on Political Surveillance, which is part of the MPD Policy and Procedure handbook.
The policy states, "The Memphis Police Department does not engage in political intelligence" and that " no member shall intercept, record, transcribe or otherwise interfere with any communications by means of electronic or covert surveillance for the purpose of political intelligence gathering."
"This is why people do not trust government. This is why people do not trust law enforcement; it's because of this," Garner said.
Mayor Jim Strickland released the following statement:
"City Hall, I have never seen the security list at City Hall, and it is my understanding that this type of security list for City Hall was created years ago by MPD. No one has been denied entry or access to City Hall. I have heard the concerns about the list, so I have asked Director Rallings to thoroughly review the policy and meet with me next week to discuss next steps."
Tuesday, protesters plan to gather outside City Council on Tuesday to demand an explanation from Mayor Jim Strickland and an apology. The protest is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m.
Copyright 2017 WMC Action News 5. All rights reserved.