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Favorite Moments in MARVEL Movies and Television
Below is a list of my favorite moments featured in Marvel movies and television:
1. "Spider-Man 2" (2004) – After a brutal fight with Doc Ock on top of a Manhattan El Train and saving the train's passengers, an exhausted Spider-Man aka Peter Parker is unmasked by the latter in what I regard as the most poignant moment in any Marvel production.
2. "The Avengers" (2012) – During its fight against invading Chitauri troops, director Joss Whedon gave audiences an iconic shot of the newly formed Avengers, before they continued the battle.
3. "Iron-Man 3" (2013) – Iron Man aka Tony Stark saves the surviving passengers and crew of Air Force One in this breathtaking sequence, using aerodynamics, one of his Iron Man bots and his brains.
4. "The Wolverine" (2013) – In this exciting sequence, the Wolverine aka Logan battles members of the Yakuza on top of a Tokyo bullet train, as he tries to prevent them from kidnapping the granddaughter of a recently deceased businessman that he had briefly met at the end of World War II.
5. "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D" (1.20) "Nothing Personal" – Agent Phil Coulson rescues his kidnapped subordinate Skye aka Daisy Johnson from HYDRA agents, who had hijacked the fallen agency's C-17 plane, known as "the Bus", with his sports car called "L.O.L.A.".
6. "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" (2014) – While staving off rogue HYDRA agents in Washington D.C., Captain America aka Steve Rogers has a brutal hand-to-hand fight with the assassin known as "the Winter Soldier". Best fight scene in any Marvel production … at least for me.
7. "Iron Man 3" (2013) – In this hilarious scene, Tony Stark finally comes face-to-face with the "terrorist" known as "the Mandarin", who proves not to be what many had assumed.
8. "The Hulk" (2003) – The opening credits of the 2003 movie featured the chilling efforts of Dr. David Banner to create super soldiers by introducing modified DNA sequences extracted from various animals to strengthen the human cellular response. This sequence gives me the chills whenever I watch the movie.
9. "X2: X-Men United" (2003) – The second movie in the "X-MEN" franchise featured an exciting attack by a brainwashed Nightcrawler aka Kurt Wagner on the White House, in an attempt to assassinate the U.S. President.
10. "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" (2014) – S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury is attacked by HYDRA agents and the assassin known as "the Winter Soldier" on the streets of Washington D.C.
11. "Iron Man 2" (2010) – S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Natasha Romanoff aka the Black Widow fights off security guards at Justin Hammer's factory in order to prevent Ivan Venko from using James Rhodes in the War Machine suit from killing Tony Stark aka Iron Man.
12. "Ant-Man" (2015) – Scott Laing aka Ant-Man attempts to infiltrate the new Avengers headquarters for a particular device, and has an unexpected encounter with Avenger Sam Wilson aka the Falcon.
13. "Iron Man 3" (2015) – An Extremis enhanced Pepper Potts saves Tony Stark from villain Aldrich Killian by killing the latter.
14. "Captain America: The First Avenger" (2011) – The recently enhanced Steve Rogers is recruited by a U.S. senator for a war bonds tour in this colorful montage, after the former is rejected by Colonel Chester Phillips when the super soldier formula is lost.
15. "Thor" (2011) – Recently cast out from Asgaard by his father Odin, a now mortal Thor struggles to free himself from a hospital's personnel before he is eventually drugged in this very funny scene.
16. "Guardians of the Galaxy" (2014) – A group of extraterrestrial misfits uses one of the Infinity stones to defeat Kree supervillain Ronan the Accuser, who is bent upon destroying the Nova Empire's capital city, Xandar.
17. "Captain America: The First Avenger" (2011) – In this emotionally sad scene, S.S.R. Agent Peggy Carter gives in to tears, when communication with Captain America aka Steve Rogers is cut short, after he forces a HYDRA plane with deadly weapons into the Atlantic Ocean.
18. "Spider-Man 3" (2007) – Another sad scene features Spider-Man aka Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson grieving over the dead body of their friend, Harry Osborn aka New Goblin, after the latter is skewered by villain Venom aka Eddie Brock.
19. "Agent Carter" (1.07) "Snafu" – S.S.R. Chief Roger Dooley jumps to his death in order to save the lives of his subordinates from the bomb device that had been strapped to his body.
20. "The Hulk" (2003) – Ang Lee directed this bizarre scene featuring the death of former military officer Glenn Talbot, after the Hulk aka Bruce Banner escapes from a military base.
Honorable Mention: "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" (2014) – Director Marc Webb directed this heartbreaking sequence in which Gwen Stacy falls to her death, after Spider-Man aka Peter Parker fails to save her from Harry Osborn aka the Green Goblin.
Filed under: Essay, Movie Review | Tagged: agent carter, agents of shield, alan cummings, alfred molina, andrew garfield, ang lee, ant-man, anthony mackie, avengers, ben kingsley, bradley cooper, brett dalton, bryan singer, captain america, chad murray hill, chloe bennet, chris evans, chris hemsworth, chris pratt, clark gregg, dane dehaan, dave bautista, don cheadle, early 20th century, emma stone, enver gjokaj, eric bana, guardians of the galaxy, guy pearce, gwyneth paltrow, hayley atwell, hugh jackman, hulk, iron man, j. august richards, james badge dale, james franco, james mangold, jeremy renner, joe johnston, jon favreau, josh lucas, joss whedon, kenneth branaugh, kenneth choi, kirsten dunst, lee pace, marc webb, mark ruffalo, marvel, mickey rourke, paul rudd, robert downey jr., roger cross, russo brothers, sam rami, samuel l. jackson, scarlett johansson, sebastian stan, shane black, shea whigham, spider-man, tao okamoto, television, thor, tobey maguire, tommy lee jones, topher grace, world war 2, x-men, zoe saldana |	Leave a comment »
"SPIDER-MAN 3" (2007) Review
Over the years I have learned not to anticipate or make assumptions about new movies. About two weeks before the American debut of the third Spider-Man movie, "SPIDER-MAN 3", I had read mixed reviews of it. Although there were a few positive opinions, most of them seemed to be negative. After reading this, my anticipation of the movie had receded a bit. But I still maintained a "wait-and-see" attitude. Now that I have finally seen "SPIDER-MAN 3", I am happy that my fears have become meaningless. Although not as well-crafted as "SPIDER-MAN 2", the franchise's third film still managed to thrill me.
Before I can wax lyrical over the movie, I must address the movie's flaws. And it had a few. One, I felt a sense of disappointment over some of the movie's action sequences that featured Spider-Man's web swinging around New York. They seemed to lack the crisp and detailed style shown in the two previous films and almost struck me as confusing and overblown.
Two, I had a problem or two with the Gwen Stacy character. I realize that there are differences between the movie versions and the comic book versions of the Spider-Man universe. In the comic books, the blond-haired Gwen happened to be Peter Parker's first true love. Her death at the hands of the Green Goblin (aka Norman Osborn) eventually paved the way for Peter's romance and marriage with Mary Jane Watson. It is quite obvious in "SPIDER-MAN 3" that although classmates at Columbia University, Peter and Gwen were not in love. Just friends. I had no problems with this. Nor did I have any problems with a symbiote-possessed Peter using her to make Mary Jane jealous. But I did have problems with the fact that the story never followed up on the mess that Peter had created between Gwen and Mary Jane. The story never allowed us to learn whether Peter had apologized to Gwen for using her . . . or if she had forgiven him. And what was she doing at Harry's funeral? I do not recall them being acquainted in the movieverse. In the comics, Gwen and Harry were old high school chums that dated briefly in college.
My last problem with "SPIDER-MAN 3" involved the triangle between Peter, Mary Jane and Harry Osborn (aka Green Goblin 2). Near the beginning of the story, Harry had decided to take the opportunity to get his revenge upon Peter for his father's death in "SPIDER-MAN". The opportunity resulted in a brutal fight and Harry seriously injured in the hospital. Harry woke up as a partial amnesiac – forgetting the reason behind his animosity toward Peter. And the two managed to resume their friendship, until an evening spent with Mary Jane (who was trying to forget her present unhappiness with Peter) resurrected Harry's memories. In the end, Harry managed to coerce Mary Jane into breaking up with Peter permanently. Unfortunately, the writers never revealed what argument that Harry had used to coerce Mary Jane. Instead, they left the audience in the dark.
But what did I like about "SPIDER-MAN 3"? For one . . . the story. It was easy for me to see that the story's main theme seemed to be about vengeance and how – as Aunt May had put it to Peter – it can spread poison within a person until it completely consumes that person. Of all the major characters aside from Aunt May, only two were not touched or consumed by a desire for revenge – Gwen Stacy and Flint Marko. Marko's actions stemmed from his desperate desire to acquire money to aid his ailing daughter. And poor Gwen became a victim of Peter's desire for revenge against Mary Jane. But for the rest of the characters, revenge seemed to be the order of the day:
–Peter Parker aka Spider-Man: the Webslinger becomes consumed with revenge when he learns that his Uncle Ben's true killer – namely Flint Marko – had escaped from prison. He later seeks revenge against Mary Jane for breaking up with him, with Harry for the latter's earlier vengeful attack against him and for initiating the break-up with Mary Jane; and against Eddie Brock for the libelous photo of Spider-Man and winning the position of staff photographer at the DAILY BUGLE. Busy boy, wasn't he?
–Harry Osborn aka New Goblin: Peter's best friend has desired revenge against Peter (as Spider-Man) for killing his father in the first movie. He also has revenge against Mary Jane because she used him to forget her troubles with Peter.
–Mary Jane Watson: a part of me is not sure whether to include her on this list. But I could not help but wonder if her bitchiness toward Peter was a result of her own professional failure on Broadway, combined with her growing distaste toward Peter's pride over his popularity as Spider-Man. And when Peter shares a publicized kiss with Gwen Stacy that is reminiscent of that famous kiss from the first movie, Mary Jane's jealousy eventually overwhelms her . . . and she turns to Harry for comfort. I would not be surprised if her action came from a small desire to get back at Peter.
–Eddie Brock Jr. aka Venom: Even before the alien symbiote had taken over him, Eddie seemed like an unpleasant piece of goods. And when Peter rather maliciously exposed his chicanery over a faked Spider-Man photograph, it did not take Eddie long to rush to the nearest church and ask God . . . to kill Peter Parker. Like I had said, he was an unpleasant person. Eventually, Eddie's desire for revenge would soon present itself.
–Flint Marko aka Sandman: Although I had earlier stated that Marko had no desire for revenge in the movie. I now realize that I may have been mistaken. After two frustrating encounters with Spider-Man, Marko finally gave in to a desire for revenge when he allowed Venom to manipulate him into using Mary Jane to lure and kill Peter.
The one theme that had dominated the Spider-Man saga in both the comics and the movies seemed to be: "With great power comes great responsibility." I do not know if I fully agree with that motto. I really cannot see how Peter Parker must become a costumed crime fighter, because he accidentally got bitten by a radioactive spider. On the other hand, I do believe that one should face the responsibilities and consequences for the deliberate choices you make in life. And this, along with facing demons that include a desire for vengeance, seemed to be the drive behind the movie's plot.
Each major character ended up facing his or her own personal demons – Peter's pride as Spider-Man becomes a forerunner of the exposure of his own darker nature that includes a cruel desire for revenge; Mary Jane's insecurity about her self-worth; Harry's desire to revenge the death of his father to fulfill his own lack of self-worth; Marko's desperation to do anything for his ill daughter; and Eddie's own shallowness and deceptive nature. What made "SPIDER-MAN 3"'s plot so interesting is that the characters' flaws and decisions served as different points that converged in the emotional final sequence at the construction site in Manhattan. There, the characters make final choices in how to deal with their demons and only one emerged as the true loser – Eddie Brock
As in the previous two movies, the third one boasted some fine performances by the cast. J.K. Simmons' J. Jonah Jameson managed to be his usual funny self. I especially enjoyed his interaction with Elizabeth Banks – secretary Betty Brandt – in a duel of nerves in which Betty seemed determined to annoy Jonah every second with some crazy alarm. If someone knows what it was, please tell me. Although in a smaller role than the previous two movies, Rosemary Harris returned to give a warm performance as Peter's aging Aunt May. In a marvelous scene in which Peter informs his aunt of Flint Marko's death at Spider-Man's hands, Harris' May delivered the movie's theme in a foreboding line about the true nature of vengeance. Last, but not least there was Bryce Dallas Howard, who portrayed Peter's beautiful blond classmate, Gwen Stacy. Granted, her role was not as large as it was in the comics, Howard gave a fine performance as the warm and friendly Gwen. Some critic had complained that the movie turned Gwen from Peter's true love to some kind of temptress. I found this criticism rather ridiculous for two reasons – a) Mary Jane had been established as Peter's true love since the first movie; and b) Gwen was not portrayed as some temptress but, a nice girl who became a victim of Peter's vengeance against Mary Jane.
Thomas Haden Church's portrayal of Marko Flint aka Sandman seemed like a far cry from his past performances that I have seen in which he portrayed more extroverted characters. His Marko/Sandman must be one of the most introverted villains I have ever seen on the movie screens. In fact, his character reminded me of some melancholy circus clown with a black cloud of tragedy hovering about him. Considering the circumstances of Marko's life – a failed criminal career, a failed marriage, ill child and imprisoned for a crime that was merely an accident – it was not hard for me to imagine this. In the end, I was very impressed by Church's subtle performance. And I was also impressed by Topher Grace as Eddie Brock, Jr. aka Venom, as well. Originally, he was not suppose to be part of the movie's cast of characters. But former CEO Ari Arvad convinced director Sam Rami to include the character. And I am glad. Brock turned out to be a very interesting character. When first introduced, he seemed like an affable and gregarious young man, who also worked as freelance photographer for "THE DAILY BUGLE". With great skill and subtlety, Grace allowed the audience to gradually see the character's dark emptiness, underneath the charm. Two scenes seemed to reflect this – the one that featured Gwen Stacy dangling from a Manhattan high-rise and Brock's visit to a church after losing his job. In the first scene, I found it interesting that although Brock seemed mildly concerned over Gwen's near death situation, he seemed more interested in taking photos of her and Spider-Man's rescue . . . than doing everything in his power to ensure that she would be rescued. After losing his staff photographer job at THE BUGLE, Brock ended up at a church, where I thought he would confess to a priest or express remorse over his past behavior. Instead, he prayed to God . . . for the death of the man who caused his unemployment, Peter Parker. This is the second time I have seen Grace skillfully portray a character with one trait hidden underneath another one.
When Spidey fans last saw Harry Osborn in "SPIDER-MAN 2", he had learned two disquieting facts – the man he held responsible for his father's death (namely Spider-Man), turned out to be his best friend, Peter Parker; and his father, Norman, had been the infamous Green Goblin who terrorized Manhattan in the first movie. Three years later, Harry still wants revenge for Norman's death and he finally decided to take action as the New Goblin A failed attack upon Peter resulted in a serious injury for Harry and a temporary amnesia. The audience got to see what Harry would be without his insecurity and the ghost of his father haunting him. And he seemed like a pretty nice . . . and well-balanced young man. I tried to find something wrong with James Franco's performance, but . . . I could not find a thing. Honestly. Franco managed to perfectly capture Harry's emotional journey from the vengeful son to the sweet-tempered amnesiac to the cruel manipulator who broke up Peter and MJ's relationship, to the loyal and brave man who sacrificed himself to save his friends. Franco covered it all.
I have always liked Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane Watson in the first two movies. But I found her a lot more interesting in "SPIDER-MAN 3". Beneath the sweet and cheerful persona, Dunst revealed a Mary Jane still racked by an inferiority complex stemmed from her bad relationship with her verbally abusive father. This lack of self-esteem came from Mary Jane losing her job as leading lady of a Broadway musical. Even worse, Peter's own success as not only fueled Mary Jane's insecurity, but fueled her envy as well. Matters did not help when Peter/Spidey had agreed to exchange a public kiss with Gwen Stacy, re-creating Mary Jane's first kiss with him in the first movie. What I liked about Dunst's performance is that she allowed all of these negative aspects of Mary Jane's personality to manifest without resorting to over-the-top theatrics. I have come to the conclusion that very few screen actors and actresses seem capable of avoiding scene chewing. Especially those of Dunst's generation. Fortunately, she did just that – avoid any hammy acting, while projecting Mary Jane's darker impulses. As for her singing voice, I got the impression that it had been dubbed during MJ's Broadway performance. But I could detect Dunst's voice, when Mary Jane sang at a jazz club during the movie's final scene. She had a nice, but slightly nasal voice.
As for the man himself – Tobey Maguire – I must say that Sam Rami had not been joking when he called Maguire one of the best actors of his generation. I felt more than impressed by his performance in "SPIDER-MAN 3". Although Maguire was able to briefly tap into Peter Parker aka Spider-Man's dark psyche in the first movie (when he allowed a thief to get away with money stolen from a wrestling match), he was truly allowed to explore Peter's darker nature in this film. There are two particular scenes that verified Maguire's extraordinary skills as an actor:
*Peter's misguided belief in his "cool" image, while walking the streets of Manhattan. Even evil (thanks to the symbiote suit), Peter could not help being a nerd. Watching Peter wallow in the illusion of his "coolness", while oblivious of passing females' contempt made this sequence one of the funniest in the movie. It also showcased Maguire's comedic skills.
*Peter's second confrontation with Harry, inside the Osborn manor, revealed the depths of how monstrous he could be. He seemed truly dark in this scene. Maguire even managed to allow the contempt and hatred reflected in his eyes, when Peter ridiculed Harry for attempting to follow in Norman Osborn's footsteps. In all, it was a very excellent performance on Maguire's part.
From what I have read, "SPIDER-MAN 3" has received mixed reviews. Hmmm. Well, I certainly cannot influence the opinions of others. I can only express my own views. Personally, I enjoyed the movie very much. It possessed an emotional depth not even seen in the first two movies. When I first heard that Spider-Man would be facing three villains – the New Goblin (Harry), the Sandman (Flint Marko) and Venom (Eddie Brock, Jr.) – I had my doubts about the movie's success. It seemed like one or two villains too many. Oddly enough, after seeing the movie, it now seemed to work within its plot for me – despite the number of villains. Now that I think about it, the one true villain of the story – aside from the major characters' inner darkness – seemed to Venom. Unlike Peter or Harry, Eddie Brock never could break away from his darker impulses . . . even when Peter managed to force him away from the symbiote. And unlike Marko, Eddie never felt any remorse for his actions . . . right to the end.
To my amazement, I realized that my view of this "SPIDER-MAN" trilogy seemed to match my view of the recent "X-MEN" trilogy. For me, the first movie of both trilogies struck me as very entertaining, but slightly mediocre ("SPIDER-MAN" is "almost" mediocre). The second movie for each trilogy was superb. Period. And the third movies for the two trilogies were excellent, but flawed. Will there be a new "SPIDER-MAN" trilogy? I do not know. But I believe that Marvel film company should wait several years before creating a new trilogy. At least we have movies like "SPIDER-MAN 3" to enjoy for years to come.
Filed under: Movie Review | Tagged: april d. parker, bill nunn, bryce dallas howard, elizabeth banks, j.k. simmons, james cromwell, james franco, kirsten dunst, marvel, movies, rosemary harris, sam rami, spider-man, thomas haden-church, tobey maguire, topher grace |	Leave a comment »


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"Don't judge, beauty will save the world." The Florentine street artist collective Lediesis includes this caption on their Instagram @lediesis alongside a photo of their latest mural of Spanish-Italian actress, model, and TV presenter, Vanessa Incontrada, who recently posed nude for the cover of the latest Vanity Fair. Incontrada's decision to model naked for the cover shoot and Lediesis' mural in response both comment in favor of the body positivity movement.
The mural can be found on a building in the historic center of the Municipality and depicts Icontrada in a similar position to the Vanity Fair cover, with her arm across her chest. However, the art group adds their signature red and yellow "S" to symbolize Superwoman––strong women, from the likes of Greta Thunberg to Frida Kahlo, who fight against social norms.
Incontrada's cover shoot for Vanity Fair aims to raise awareness for body positivity as the actress and model has been judged for her figure throughout her career. She was critiqued in particular for changes in her body after giving birth to her son Isàl in 2008. This campaign has helped Incontrada find peace with her body, as she explains in an interview with Vanity Fair.
Struggling with body acceptance is an unfortunate reality for both women and men, explains Incontrada. In the same interview, she explains that men's gaze is not always what is more harmful to women, but actually how women judged each other. Raffaella Oliva writes in RollingStone that while Incontrada's photoshoot is meant to encourage women to embrace their bodies regardless of shape or size or age (the actress is 41-years-old), the photos a reader sees in the magazine have probably been photoshopped and edited to perfection. However, Oliva's critique is falling down the same rabbit hole Incontrada is trying to dismantle.
Only months earlier did Lediesis paint a mural of Rai foreign correspondent and journalist Giovanna Botteri, who was critiqued by the satirical news program Striscia la Notizia for wearing the same outfit while reporting on COVID-19. As Incontrada states in a video posted to her Instagram, regardless of a woman's decision to work or not to work, to wear one outfit or not, she is judged by that singular choice. Hopefully, Lediesis' permanent mural will remind Florentines and all who visit the city the importance of body positivity and loving ourselves for exactly who we are.
Lediesis also recently portrayed TV journalist Giovanna Botteri in a mural, also an unfortunate target of body shaming (elizabeth berry)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Do I need a mobile application? | Developers Court, Inc.
Today, we want to tackle the question: Do I need a mobile application? Even though, most small business shy away from this rather popular way of reaching your potential clients, I say, Don't be one of those! You may want to give it a try.Let me give you some reasons of why you need to be considering making a mobile application, don't worry, I'll be brief and right to the point.
So let's start by agreeing that most of the people today has a phone or tablet close by, like, almost 24/7, right? So you want your business to be there. An app gives your business the opportunity to reach and engage with your customers in real-time. A well planned and beautiful app can put your business, product or service right at your client's finger tips.
Because a mobile device is always at your clients finger tips, been there with them helps build brand awareness and a relationship with those potential clients. Having a mobile application also helps you nurture that relationship giving you the tools to remind them of your existence, giving them special offers and making the decision of choosing you way easier. Basically, you're visible to customers at all Times, don't let them forget you.
Because of the indecisiveness to have an answer to "Do I need a mobile application?" question you have an opportunity, having it, will differentiate your business from your competitors, take the leap ahead and provide unique experience to your customers. They don't expect it, so they'll be surprised, in a positive way.
Even though the final goal of any investment you make for your business is to fix a problem, make revenue and increase sales. I want you to think that the point of creating a mobile application is much larger than that. A well done Business mobile app is a marketing tool which is used for keeping your clients aware of what you do, increases the business to customer relationship, promoting their loyalty to the next level. Keeping them close, so they can go back to you at the first possible chance.
Remember these apps can go almost any direction you can make a mobile application to share general info, prices, booking forms, search features, user accounts, messengers, news feeds, and much more. You just let us know and we will help you start your mobile application on the right track.
Liz works with passionate business owners, organizations, and entrepreneurs who want to grow their online businesses. Whether you are looking for online branding and strategy, want to build an online store, well and beautiful web design or you just know it's time to level up, she's there to help.


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The Role of State Identity in Pandemic Response: The Case of Belarus and Georgia
/ Op-ed
-Jahnavi Mukul
After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the newly independent republics of Belarus and Georgia began the task of building their nation-state. The political trajectories that both these countries undertook are vastly different from one another. Belarus has had an authoritarian government under President Alexander Lukashenko, it's only president to date, whereas Georgia is a parliamentary democracy that has experienced a largely democratic shift of power between various leaders. The current head of state is President Salome Zourabichvili who was democratically elected in 2018. The stark contrast between the two countries has recently been amplified by the Coronavirus pandemic. While Georgia has performed extremely well in terms of its response to the virus, Belarus has been lagging far behind. This article argues that the difference in response to the virus between the two former Soviet republics can be attributed to the polarity between their idea of state identity.
Belarus has been termed as the most Russianised of the former Soviet republics. It became independent after two centuries of being under the rule of different groups. Historians describe Belarus's independence as something that fell upon it since there was no national movement. Over the years, the Belarussian identity got submerged into a Soviet-Belarussian one. The culture of patriotism was heavily reliant on the Soviet Union.
After coming into power in 1994, Alexander Lukashenko preached for national consolidation through two methods: increasing state capacity as well as the role of the President as its guarantor. He adopted slightly amended Soviet national symbols, made Russian the national language, and returned the economy as a Soviet-era state-controlled one. Lukashenko even held a referendum to amend the constitution and increase the power of the president. As an authoritarian leader, Lukashenko has placed himself at the centre of the Belarussian identity. The government preaches patriarchal rule by the bat'ka (father), which justifies building the state around Lukashenko. The opposition in the country, which wants a traditional sense of identity and opposes close ties to Russia, is perceived to be anti-patriotic by the masses. This is because the idea of Belarus is tied to Lukashenko and any opposition to that is viewed as alien.
Lukashenko's centrality in the Belarussian state identity has allowed him to take all decision making in his hand as the father of the country. Belarus has an extremely high rate of coronavirus infection and yet, Lukashenko has done nothing except undermine the severity of the disease. He has gone so far as to call it a psychosis and continued to attend mass even at the peak of the disease in the country. As of 16th June, the number of cases stands at 55,369 with 318 deaths.
Georgia's case is vastly different. There has been no rallying figure at the centre of the Georgian identity. The government has seen democratic shifts in power between various leaders and political parties. Although President Mikheil Saakashvili's tenure was quite tumultuous, with several anti-government protests at various points, the governments succeeding him have had relatively peaceful tenures. Over the course of its political trajectory, the country has faced various difficulties. Georgia has been marred by various conflicts; the independence from Soviet Union in 1991, a civil war in Tbilisi in 1993, two internal wars in South Ossetia in 1991-92, and Abkhazia in 1992-93, the Rose Revolution in 2003, and the Russo-Georgian war in 2008.
Over time the idea of what it means to be Georgian has gotten strengthened due to these conflicts. Since independence, Georgia has tried to integrate itself in the European ecosystem and believes that this is an important part of its identity. The words of former Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania, "I am Georgian, therefore I am European," clearly showcases the extent to which Europe plays a role in Georgian politics. After the Russo-Georgian war, the idea of being a liberal democracy became stronger at the centre of Georgian politics. Russia is seen as an "other" by Georgians on the grounds of different social order and values. Georgians view the conflict with Russia as a clash that could be softened if Russia were to become a democracy. Georgia has tried to break away from the Soviet and the Russian hold of influence and this is particularly related to its perception of itself as a European country working as a democracy.
Georgia's quick response to the coronavirus has received international praise. The government reacted promptly by employing temperature checks at airports in late January and restrictions on international travel, helped mitigate the situation in the country early on. Educational institutions were closed and lockdowns were put in place when the country had only three cases. As of 16th June, the number of cases in the country stands at 879 cases out of which there are 14 deaths.
The glaring difference between Belarus and Georgia lies in the leadership style of both governments. Lukashenko has single-handedly taken the decisions in Belarus, in any way he wishes and kept the fledgling economy open at the cost of human lives. The country's scientific community has been silenced. The Belarussian ministry of health has issued social distancing notices but the President has openly flouted those.
Fig 1: Belarusan President Alexander Lukashenko, center, with his son Nikolai, right, talks with worshipers during the Orthodox Easter service at a church in a village outside Minsk. Source: Isabelle Khurshudyan, Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/coronavirus-is-spreading-rapidly-in-belarus-but-its-leader-still-denies-theres-a-problem/2020/05/01/a2532ba0-8964-11ea-80df-d24b35a568ae_story.html
On the other hand, Georgia has deferred the decision making to the country's best public health experts. The doctors have become national heroes as they have tirelessly been providing hourly reports on the patients' health as well as the number of infections, the sources of infection as well as the best course of action as the situation progresses.
Fig 2: Tengiz Tsertsvadze, director of the Center for Infectious Pathologies, AIDS and Clinical Immunology, with Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia. Source: Giorgi Lomsadze, Eurasianet. https://eurasianet.org/georgia-gets-rare-plaudits-for-coronavirus-response
While the difference in the pandemic response can simply be attributed to Belarus' authoritarian government and Georgia's democratic one, there is an underlying cause behind these developments. Belarus has stuck to its closeness of Russia and has continued to remain in its economic and political shadow. Georgia has moved away from its northern neighbor and established its own governmental structures. For Belarus, Lukashenko is the center of all the decisions made and any opposition to that is difficult for the public to understand. The public is not open to taking difficult steps unless their leader says so. Contrarily, in Georgia, the public is open to difficult measures being taken for the larger good. The Georgian ambassador to the United States, David Bakradze said to the Washington Post that the country has weathered many difficult days and citizens were willing to make sacrifices such as the travel ban and a range of societal measures. "We are used to pulling together in tough times."
Looking at these differences, it can be deduced that response to the pandemic specifically and national crises at large can be understood by examining the way a country views itself. In Belarus, the country sees itself as an extension of Russia and places Alexander Lukashenko as the overarching figure in its national identity. Georgia sees itself as completely different from its Soviet past and has been able to work towards asserting a separate identity. Thus, it can be seen that the role of state identity is foundational in the polity of a country and has become explicitly visible in the current context of the Coronavirus. Two countries born out of the same republic have had vastly different trajectories due to the role of state identity in crisis response.
This piece was originally written for and published in the Yale Review of International Studies.


Are you planning to buy a premium .com domain? Are you planning to start a blog or a website of your own? Running out of finance to register a ".com" domain? If yes, than you have got a golden chance to win 3 .com domains through a cheezy opportunity.
Yes, TechnoTactics is unfolding a giveaway to win 3 .com domains.
So, what you basically need to do? Don't worry, it is not a rocket science that you are scratching your heads at the moment. In-fact you are just required to collect points and increase your winning chances and ultimately win.
TechnoTactics is unfolding a big deal for the readers to join this Giveaway and win a ".com" domain of your choice.
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1.) You are supposed to have a GoDaddy account so that we can transfer the domain to your account itself.
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Will start blogging on my new site.
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Thank you so much for complementing our work. All the best and take care.
All the best. 🙂 Sure you are supposed to collect more and more and more points.
Already have a domain name in mind! Will start a new blog!
All the best. 🙂 Hope to see you win….!!!
Will create new blog or blogs! Thanks!
i have done the steps and earned entry but where to put email id???
hi bro, please make clear my doubt that will these free domain contains security or not ?
It will contain a basic level of security, as we are going to give public domains and not private domains. I ensure that your domain will not be atleast considered as spam.
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There is a provision in GoDaddy to have a free account and so you can make over there. If you'll win your id will be required for transferring your prize.
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Is this giveaway applicable for Premium Domains?
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Oops seems like I missed the wonderful giveaway as I haven't checked this particular post. Anyway congrats to the luck winners.
This is one of the best information for those who want to start their own website by winning a domain.


As Harley-Davidson celebrates its 115th Anniversary this year, TMW takes a look back to Harley-Davidson's historic 100th Anniversary in 2003. There are very few motorcycle companies that have such a rich heritage, history and following as Harley-Davidson. Both a gift and a bane, H-D has been been evolving within the limitations of riders loyalty and comfort zone, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" has made H-D walk a successful but thin line.
Back in 2003, Harley-Davidson offered up 28 models running on either their Evolution 883/1130/1200, V-Twin Cam 88B engine, CVO Big Bore Twin Cam 95 or 103 cubic inch "Stroker" Twin Cam. 2003 also brought in the 2nd year of the most debated Harley-Davidson model, the VRSCA V-Rod, which started quite the controversy as it neither looked, handled or sounded like a typical H-D motorcycle. Faithful wondered if the V-Rod engine would find its way into another line but it never did. The V-Rod would continue for another 14 years before being discontinued, never achieving the success Harley-Davidson hoped for.
But in other ways Harley-Davidson has grown and evolved offering higher quality products, innovative designs, more powerful and larger engines and more selection. Back in 2003 riders had a choice of 28 models, which was a lot back then, today riders can choose from almost double, 48 models! And engine choice has expanded as well, even though the hallmark engine is a V-Twin, now you have a choice of air-cooled, liquid cooled, Revolution X 500/750, Evolution 883/1200, new Milwaukee-Eight 107/114/117 V-Twins. In the near future we may even have an electric Harley-Davidson motorcycle, the LiveWire Version 2.0… will the LiveWire 2.0 go the same route as the V-Rod or even Buell? Each of our 18 years of Harley-Davidson guides feature unique reviews of each model, hand selected photos and ever bit of information we could get from Harley-Davidson, I encourage you to take a look though them and rediscover Harley-Davidson's past.
"There still is nothing like a Harley-Davidson today.
While a lot has changed in the past 15 years for Harley-Davidson, they remain the cruiser of choice for many riders and have successfully fought off competition from many major manufacturers who have challenged their throne.
Total Motorcycle has been media for Harley-Davidson for almost 20 years now and we are proud to continue that tradition to get new and old riders to discover and learn about this amazing brand now and in the future.
Check out over 84 years of Harley-Davidson Models from the 1934 Harley-Davidson FD to the 2018 Harley-Davidson Street Glide 115th Anniversary, as well as our Harley-Davidson Guides and History on Total Motorcycle today.
Year 2003 Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Models.
Introducing the new 2018 Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Guide.


The Pompano Beach Cultural Center is delighted to announce their newest exhibition, "Engraved". This collaboration with The Buenos Aires Editing Center in Argentina and the Latin American Art Pavilion Project (LAAP) celebrates the work and artistic development of women in the visual arts field. Forty European and Latin American female artists from Argentina, Austria, Ecuador and Venezuela will present some of their most representative pieces. The exhibition runs January 11-April 5, 2019 and is free and open to the public.
"Engraved" features artists from different regions of the world who develop their artistic work through techniques such as lithography (printing or calcareous stone), printmaking (engraving in metal or wood), digital drawing and graphics, using mostly paper as a noble support of the representative depth of the images. The artworks will be exhibited following diverse techniques that highlight their individuality: with frames, without frames, as installations, and within showcases generating a climate of strength and subtleties. This demonstrates the virtues and characteristics of each individual work but, as a whole provides the viewer with an intense and harmonious journey into the world of each of these artists.


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Adobe releases Flash 11 and AIR 3
Adobe claims new tech great for gaming, video and complex apps
Flash Player 11 and AIR 3 could usher in major changes to online 3D gaming
Adobe has announced the release of Flash Player 11 and Adobe AIR 3, which it says will "enable the next generation of immersive application experiences" across multiple platforms, including the web and popular mobile and desktop operating systems.
Of late, Flash's direction appears to be shifting from enabling basic components that web standards can now deal with (simple animation and interactivity) to more complex online tasks, and so Adobe's press release suitably cites these "milestone" releases as delivering major advantages in the fields of gaming, media and data-driven apps.
The company calls the updated products the "game console for the Web," claiming they will "allow game publishers to instantly deliver console-quality 2D and 3D games over the Internet to nearly all PCs and many other devices". Adobe reckons the full hardware-accelerated rendering for 2D and 3D graphics enables performance a thousand times faster than Flash Player 10 and AIR 2.
Additionally, media companies will be able to use the technology to "seamlessly deliver protected feature-length, cinema-quality HD video," while developers can create "sophisticated, data-driven applications with back-end systems integration across devices".
According to Adobe, Flash Player 11 and AIR 3 will be publicly available in early October. Flash Builder and Flex will offer support for the new features in an upcoming release before the end of the year.


Before leaving the island to go back to the boat, we did a little bit of shopping. I figured a good place for a crane placement would be by the information center. Thankfully it was quite empty as most of the other people from the ship happened to have already made their way back, and ours was the only ship there that late. Sint Maarten was definitely good to us and I look forward to visiting again.
Have you ever been to Sint Maarten/St. Martin? Anything you'd recommend doing or seeing?


Small in size, but big on color, these lemony yellow Summer Goldfinches are beautiful perched upon summer blooms. Summer Goldfinches garden flag is from Accent Flags. This design is visible from both sides. Garden flag size 12"W. by 18"H. (Flag stands sold separately see Related Items below.) Garden Illuminated Flags feature vibrant, living colors that almost glow. The polyester fabric is crisp, yet soft to the touch and wrinkle free.


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Was Younger's Romantic Holiday Twist the Gift You Were Hoping For?
By Andy Swift / July 24 2018, 7:34 PM PDT
Courtesy of TV Land
Christmas came early for fans of a certain 'ship on TV Land's Younger.
Tuesday's episode — set around the holidays, because we could all use a little festive cheer right about now — provided a fresh start for Liza and Charles, who were "introduced" to one another at Bob and Julia's annual Christmas party. Of course, the couple had no idea that they're already well acquainted, so when Charles complimented Liza's Sound of Music performance with a playful "Quite an act you've got there," it went right over their heads.
With a line of communication finally open between them, Liza and Charles further bonded over their devotion to their respective children. So when Liza told him that everything she did was to provide a better life for her and Caitlin, everything suddenly clicked. All it took was an in-cab advertisement for The Sound of Music's return to Broadway to convince Charles to cancel his holiday getaway and hightail it to Brooklyn… where he and Liza kissed under the falling snow.
But because this is Younger, the big Liza-Charles kiss came after a scene in which Caitlin urged Josh not to give up on her mom, telling him that he's the best thing that's happened to her in a long time. Frankly, I'm just glad the episode didn't end with Josh seeing the big kiss — we've been down that road before.
Elsewhere this week…
* Kelsey's balancing act finally proved too difficult to keep up when Jake asked Charles if he could work solely with her moving forward. This confirmed all of Zane's suspicions about Kelsey and Jake's extracurricular involvement, prompting a judgmental (but not totally undeserved) "I hope it was worth it."
* With a little help from Enzo — and a well-lit Christmas tree — Diana was able to slow down and enjoy the holiday. (I love these two together so, so much.)
* And Maggie discovered that becoming a part of Penelope and Luca's collection really meant becoming their artistic slave, complete with a set of golden handcuffs. Always one to stick to her guns, Maggie informed them that no amount of trips to St. Barts are worth being in "the artistic sunken place."
Your thoughts on this week's festive hour? Drop 'em in a comment below.
TAGS: TV Land, Younger


Know someone who could use a little pick-me-up? The Sunny Siesta Bouquet consists of bright orange roses, alstroemeria, yellow asiatic lilies and stunning orange gerberas that set any room ablaze with rich, vibrant colors.
Finding the right kind of gift for someone which is not only pretty to look at but also fits the occasion can be quite a hassle. Be it a birthday, an anniversary, or a wedding event, one can go crazy in their attempts to get that perfect gift or present for their loved ones.
What adds to the struggle is that not every gift is appropriate for every occasion and you have to search very hard if you are going to be that specific. However, there are still some things that are so versatile that they can be used for any event or occasion.
Our Sunny Siesta flower bouquet is one such example of the perfect-anytime gift that is sure to make its recipient overjoyed awestruck.
The bouquet is filled with gorgeous bright orange roses, yellow Asiatic lilies, alstroemeria and striking orange gerberas and is so beautiful that it light s up like the sun in the sky.
Orange roses are a great way to tell someone that you are proud of them since it is used as an expression of enthusiasm and passion. Alstroemeria symbolizes friendship and devotion which helps you let your loved ones know how much you value your friendship with them.
Orange gerberas, on the other hand, are an earnest expression of warmth, enthusiasm and energy and they are used to display attachment with a close loved one. Yellow Asiatic lilies are perfect for expressing happiness and due to its striking color, people in the Victorian era used to feel like "walking on air" which basically means they felt deeply in love.
Book your Sunny Siesta with us and surprise your loved ones with this beauty-in-a-vase. Our local florists in Canada and the United States can deliver it to your doorstep and also provide you same-day delivery if you want.


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Related Twilights: Notes from an Artist's Diary
Title Book
The distinguished painter Josef Herman left his native Warsaw shortly before the war. He lived and worked in many places since, and his friends numbered many well-known artists. In Related Twilights the same qualities of seriousness of purpose and profound humanity which permeate his paintings lend eloquence to his word-pictures of the people, places and events that shaped his life and art.
The first part of the book is a vivid evocation of his childhood and adolescence in the now-vanished, colourful Yiddish-speaking quarter of Warsaw, and of his fruitful years in Scotland, London and Wales - where some of his best-known work was done. The second part consists of lively reminiscences of those places, visited or lived in, that enriched Herman's instinct for draughtsmanship and nourished his artistic imagination: Burgundy, Andalusia, Israel, Amsterdam, New York, Mexico.
Both parts are illustrated with Herman's drawings, many of which have never before been seen.
The artists whom Herman discusses in the third part of the book are included for the qualities that were particularly meaningful to his own artistic self-revelation. Among those discussed are Derain, Millet, Courbet; Americans Ryder and Hartley; Sironi and Morandi; Permeke; Gotlib; Klee; Epstein; the Mexican artists Siqueiros, Rivera and Orozco.
Like so many painters, past and present, Herman found writing necessary to express those ideas and atmospheres which - due to their literary and anecdotal nature - cannot find their way into the medium of painting. Related Twilights is an important book not only for admirers of his paintings, but for all those who enjoy good writing imbued with humanity and understanding.
Josef Herman
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Q: Streaming the desktop through java? Using socket connections, how can I stream the screen view from one computer to the other withou third-party libraries?

A: A very simple solution would be to use Robot.createScreenCapture() to get a BufferedImage, then ImageIO to stream it.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Q: Limit App to only iPad 1 I have an app that has been in the store for a while now. I am coming out with a completely new app to replace the old one but it is not compatible with the original iPad (iPad 1). I don't want to completely get rid of the original app because, believe it or not, there is still a large number of people running it on iPad 1's. Is there a way to somehow set up either the app or the app store to where users who have newer iPads only see the new app in the app store and not the old one? (They have different titles, icons, etc)

A: EDIT: it seems that you cannot change the capabilities of an already published app when you submit a new version. This would rule out the first approach I suggested and leave only limiting the current deployment target.
You could require a device capability not available on the iPad 1, like the camera.
This amounts to setting UIRequiredDeviceCapabilities in your app plist file to front-facing-camera.
Another option you would have, in case the former one did not work, is setting your deployment target to iOS 6 -- this would also rule out the iPad 1s (and all devices running iOS 4 and 5).


Foosball coffee table is definitelya modern variation of an ordinary desk. Moreover it takes a leading place in 10 of the coolest coffee boards ever designed.
The main point of why these desks are so popular is that they are very unique. The main distinctive feature is that they combine the ordinary function of the board with entertaining purpose.It's the most unique, most entertaining, most ridiculously desk of living room furniture you've ever heard. In addition, it is suitable not only for living room; you can put these desks in any room. By the way if you want to play table football from time to time you canpurchase foosball coffee table Costco. Usually they have been made of wood, and, as a result, are quite solid. The table's elegant frame permits you to include any other extra kinds of decor. It's actually the perfect classical desk. The common desk is equipped with durable glass in order to employ this desk safely.
If you want to gather your guests, this desk will be a fantastic opportunity for entertaining. In order not to play the game standing there is a variant to buy foosball coffee table with stools. As a result you are able to play at to sit if you are tired. For right fans there are different foosball coffee tables with big lots. Concerning your preferences you have an opportunity to choose the board that will suit exactly for your apartment.Despite the fact, that sometimes these boards can be quite expensive they are gaining their popularity. It is becoming more and more wide-spread attraction for people with different income, because of the practical usage of these desks. The fact that it is difficult to make such boards, some people have the courage to create them with their own hands and according to their own drawings.


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Adam Silver's call with players leaves Zach Collins confident there will be a season
By Kurt HelinMay 10, 2020, 7:01 AM EDT
Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images
Things took a step toward normalcy for Zach Collins on Friday — he got to go into the Portland Trail Blazers facility and work out.
That doesn't mean it was normal, Collins called it "different" speaking to Jason Quick of The Athletic. He compared it to a short summer workout, where the players bring their own gear then take it home with them.
The other thing that made Collins feel like things were getting back to normal was the players' conference call with Adam Silver on Friday. It made the likelihood of a season feel more real.
"I feel confident after hearing him talk that we will play again — it just might not be for a while," Collins said. "The way he was talking, there will be some kind of regular season — whether it's a tournament or not as many games — there's going to be something. There's too many teams, especially in the West, that can make (the playoffs). And he was speaking like there is a lot of time to finish everything, so that was encouraging to hear."
The idea of a handful of regular season games doesn't sit well with all the owners — if their team is well out of the playoffs, why add the expense? — but some form of a play-in tournament seems to have legs. It's not necessarily fair to a team such as Memphis, which had earned its playoff spot through the regular season, but Silver wants to get as many teams involved in the postseason as possible.
For Portland, the chance to be part of a play-in tournament would an incentive for the players, something the league needs to find a way to do.
That call, like that first workout, was a good first step.


The story of music in the twentieth century would have been very different without the inspirational force of Nadia Boulanger—conductor, pianist, organist, and teacher to some of the era's greatest composers. She was a woman who "knew everything about music" and possessed an "infallible ear," according to her devoted students, the most famous of which was Aaron Copland. Yet more than a master musician, Boulanger was a cultural hero who upheld spiritual ideals in a time of artistic turmoil. She transmitted to her students not merely the bricks and mortar of musical technique, but the meaning of art and how it connected to life.
Nadia Boulanger and her beloved younger sister Lili—a composer of exquisite talents whose life was cut short by tuberculosis—came from a musical family. Their father Ernest taught singing at the Paris Conservatory, and their Russian mother Raissa was a singer. Amazingly, Ernest was 72 years old when Nadia was born and his father, also a teacher at the conservatory, was born in 1777, the era of Haydn and Mozart. The sisters' musical path seemed preordained, despite the fact that Nadia was frightened by music as a small child. (This fear came to an end when she heard a fire bell one day and tried to reproduce the sound at the piano.) By age nine she was studying at the Paris Conservatory with the renowned composers Widor and Fauré.
Although a capable composer, she eventually realized that teaching was her true metier. Her method consisted of a rigorous study of the classics, from Renaissance polyphony to Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven, and on to moderns like Debussy and Stravinsky. By analyzing how the great composers crafted their music—through the elements of harmony, counterpoint, and form—the student learned to write in his own musical language, building on the base of tradition.
A typical Boulanger class session had students gathered around the piano while a selected pupil played through a great work, say a Mozart sonata. "Mademoiselle" would pull the music apart, showing how the composer used harmony and melodic structure to lead the listener on an emotional journey. In private lessons, individual students were guided in finding their personal voice as composers.
Boulanger developed a special rapport with young American composers, becoming a sort of godmother to American classical music. Studying with "Mademoiselle" became a tradition, with a pilgrimage to the beautiful Palace of Fontainebleau, site of the American Conservatory, where she taught for nearly sixty years. Her legion of disciples was affectionately dubbed the "Boulangerie" ("bakery"). Boulanger returned the favor by teaching, lecturing, and conducting throughout the United States during and after World War II.
Thinking along these lines, Boulanger conceived of music as "sounding form," in contrast to the German Romantic idea of music as self-expression. Form is an interior carrier of meaning, not a mere shell into which the composer poured his subjective emotions. Structural coherence was paramount. Boulanger often spoke of la grande ligne—the developing line of musical thought that carries the listener along in a Bach fugue or Beethoven symphony.
The history of music showed the dangers of separating the heart and the head. It led to the wild extremes of Romantic hyper-emotionalism on the one hand, and the academic "mind music" of the 12-tone composers on the other. Boulanger wanted to put feeling and intellect together again, with emotional expression always guided by rational control.
Closely related to this was her idea that "music was not invented by the composer, but found." In other words, music is part of the objective order of the universe. And tonality, in the broad sense of the term, was part of that order. Boulanger had little sympathy for Arnold Schoenberg's atonal thinking, and even less for the radical avant garde (although both were studied in her classroom). Instead she championed Igor Stravinsky, who was for her the ideal of a composer expressing supreme intelligence in ordered sound.
Many of these ideas flowed from the experience of World War I, with its immense devastation to human life and culture. The war was the pivotal event in the lives of the Boulanger sisters. Nadia had performed charitable work with Lili during the war, sending clothing and other goods to soldiers at the front, and Lili had died months before the Armistice. After the war many of Boulanger's generation embraced order and reason as a way to heal the wounds of the conflict and regenerate culture from within.
This response to the times was in stark contrast to those artists (the Dadaists) who surrendered to the absurdity of life by creating art that was equally absurd. And in contrast to those iconoclasts who desired a complete break from, even a dismantling of the past, Boulanger insisted on fusing tradition and innovation.
Boulanger's artistic credo formed a very diverse group of students—Aaron Copland, Elliott Carter, Jean Françaix, Leonard Bernstein, Philip Glass, jazz musician Quincy Jones, Broadway composer Charles Strouse, just to name several. As different as their music was, they all drew from her a sense of exactness and discipline, as well as grace, humor, and rhythmic joie de vivre. It was perhaps the closest twentieth-century music came to a "common practice." When Nadia Boulanger passed away in 1979, her aesthetic seemed as remote and unfashionable as the conservative black clothes and pince-nez glasses she always wore. Yet her principles lived on in the countless musicians and musical works she inspired. One need only listen to a work such as Copland's Appalachian Spring to hear her methods translated into sound.
Editor's Note: The featured image of Nadia Boulanger is courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.


Call for Submissions to show your digital works at LSU's Red Stick FutureFest.
The Making Expo will be happening on March 29th, 2019 from 10:00am – 2:00pm at the Digital Media Center on LSU's campus!
We invite you to show your creative digital projects, video games, DIY experiments, Robotics, 3D printers, or other Maker Projects at the Red Stick Maker Expo.
Baton Rouge Mini Maker Faire is independently organized and operated under license from Maker Media, Inc.


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UH Energy Symposium Will Focus on the Future of Plastics
Sustainability, Recycling Concerns Raise Questions About Single-Use Plastics
Plastic waste has become ubiquitous, raising the stakes in the effort to develop more sustainable single-use packaging. Photo: Pexels
Perhaps no substance defines the modern era as much as plastics, that ubiquitous material most often produced from fossil fuels and found everywhere from industrial plants to the most delicate consumer products.
But plastics have also spawned another defining issue – what can society do about a material that is intertwined with almost all facets of modern life but is increasingly raising concerns because if it difficult to recycle, slow to break down in landfills and poses a risk to oceans and other threatened ecosystems.
A panel of experts from industry, government and academia will discuss possible solutions, including the potential of biologically-based plastics and new recycling technologies, at the next UH Energy symposium.
"Future of Plastics: Designed Sustainability or Recycling" begins at 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 7, at the University of Houston Student Center South. The symposium is free and open to the public, but registration is requested.
Nichole Fitzgerald, technology manager in the Bioenergy Technologies Office at the U.S. Department of Energy
Jill Martin, global sustainability fellow at Dow Chemical Company
Susannah Scott, Duncan and Suzanne Mellichamp Chair in Sustainable Catalysis at the University of California, Santa Barbara, who heads the university's Mellichamp Initiative in Sustainable Materials and Product Design
Ganesh Nagarajan, associate director for polymers business development and projects at LyondellBasell Industries
Megan Robertson, associate professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at UH, will serve as moderator. Robertson focuses on developing new plastics from renewable resources, as well as creating new recycling methods for plastics.
WHAT: "Future of Plastics: Designed Sustainability or Recycling," UH Energy
symposium addressing the challenges in creating a sustainable plastics
WHERE: Hilton University of Houston, 4450 University Drive, Houston, TX 77204
Parking at the hotel garage or the Welcome Center Garage. Map
WHEN: 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 7
MEDIA CONTACT: Jeannie Kever, 713-743-0778, jekever@uh.edu
Categories: Energy, Events, Top Stories


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Calipatria Real Estate Lawyers
Calipatria Construction Dispute Lawyers
Find the right Construction Dispute attorney in Calipatria, CA
Construction Dispute Law in California
When a property owner and a general contractor contract for a construction project to take place on some property in Calipatria, California, whether it's a house, some landscaping, or a remodeling project, there is always a gamble that something can go wrong. In fact, at least a very minor setback may be more likely than not.
Most often, landowners and construction contractors are able to resolve minor to moderate disputes between themselves, and litigation is rarely necessary. Nobody likes litigation, so, to this end, most construction contracts have built-in remedies in case something goes wrong, like set price reductions if construction is delayed.
Even if disagreements can't be resolved amongst the parties to the contract, they don't need to take their dispute into the court system. For instance, construction contracts typically call for mediation or arbitration before any disputes are resolved by the courts. Mediation is a process by which a third party serves as a sort of intermediary in settlement negotiations between the parties to the contract. The mediator can help keep negotiations on track, and suggest possible solutions the parties might not have thought of. The mediator can't issue a binding decision, however. Arbitration is a process through which the parties agree to have their dispute resolved by a third party, which can render a binding decision. Arbitration can be faster and cheaper than litigation, and it has some other advantages, as well.
Because of the large cost in time and money involved, litigation in Calipatria, California is considered a last resort. However, in rare cases, it does become necessary.
Examples of Construction Disputes That Might Lead to Litigation in Calipatria, California
Delays in Construction: Delays are frequently points of contention between contractors and landowners. Contracts sometimes have clauses which explicitly state that the project needs to be completed by a certain date, or penalties will be imposed on the contractor (reduced payments, for example). However, if the contract doesn't contain such built-in remedies, or one party refuses to abide by them, litigation may be necessary. If a contractor causes a delay that it could have prevented, it will typically be liable to the landowner for any harm resulting from it.
Owner's refusal to pay: Contractors can also be the victims in construction disputes. Sometimes, the person who hired them will refuse to pay the agreed-upon fee, or withhold a portion of it. This, without more, certainly constitutes breach of contract. However, in such cases, the owner will rarely go to court and say "I just didn't feel like paying, so I didn't." Alternatively, they will claim that they had a very good reason to withhold all or part of the payment, such as unsatisfactory work by the contractor. In these cases, the court has to determine if the owner has a valid reason for not paying. If it concludes that he or she does not, it will order the owner to pay the agreed-upon price.
Subcontractor Disputes: With very considerable construction projects, general contractors don't always have the resources to do all the work themselves, so they hire other contractors to do some of the work for them. However, it is the general contractor who is ultimately responsible to the owner for the satisfactory completion of the project. So, it is very crucial to the general contractor that subcontractors do a good job. If the subcontractor causes a delay or other problem, and the owner sues the general contractor as a result, the general contractor can then go after the subcontractor to recover whatever it lost in the lawsuit.
Mechanic's Lien: When a contractor wins a lawsuit against a client for nonpayment of the contract price, and the client still refuses to pay, there is a problem: a monetary judgment means next to nothing if it can't be enforced. To solve this problem, the mechanic's lien has been developed. Typically, if a landowner refuses to pay a contractor, even in the face of a court order, the court can force a sale of the property that the contractor worked on, along with all the improvements on it, and then give the proceeds to the contractor, to secure payment.
Can a Calipatria, California Attorney Help?
If you are involved in a dispute over a construction project, you should try to avoid litigation, and settle the matter as amicably as possible. However, litigation is sometimes necessary, and a Calipatria, California construction disputes attorney can be of great help.
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Featured Investigators
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Study aims to improve health for All of Us
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Dobbs takes helm of Population Health, determined to make a healthier state
Granger strives to strengthen pipeline of research talent, research infrastructure
Violence research focus of $7.5M grants to School of Nursing
Dr. Thomas Dobbs was appointed dean of the School of Population Health in August.
Published on Monday, September 19, 2022
By: Andrea Wright Dilworth, awdilworth@umc.edu
Though Dr. Thomas Dobbs has spent most of his career as a public health servant, a career in medicine was not his first choice. As an applied physics major at Emory University, he had plans of becoming a theoretical physicist.
A summer spent at the university's hospital, where he learned that working in health care is a marriage of science, service and humanities, brought a change of heart to the Alabama native.
"It seemed like the right thing," he said. "I was plenty smart, but I was never gonna win a Nobel Prize."
Three decades later, the new dean of the John D. Bower School of Population Health at the University of Mississippi Medical Center appears to have made the smart decision about his career trajectory.
As dean, he leads a school that consists of three departments: data science, which focuses on extracting knowledge and insights from data; population health science, which trains graduates to use policies, programs and other interventions to improve health outcomes and reduce disparities; and preventive medicine, which, shared with the School of Medicine, trains health professionals in disease prevention and health promotion for both individuals and populations.
"If you think about health care, we take care of individuals, which is super important to do," the dean explained. "But when you think about population health, we think about the health of the whole population and what are the conditions that drive health or lack of health for a community."
Only about 20 percent of a person's well-being is related to access to clinical health care, Dobbs said. The other 80 percent come from environmental factors: the community in which you live, access to education and healthy foods, and healthy behaviors.
"So it's all that other stuff that in the United States we've ignored more than we've paid attention to," he said. "And that's what population health does. We're trying to say, 'Hey, we're never going to be healthy if we just keep throwing money at health care.'
"When we look at other developed countries in the world that are in much better health than we are, is it because they've poured a lot more money into health care? Of course it's not. It's because they have policies, approaches and support systems that make it most likely for people to be healthy, unlike here where it's extremely difficult, to walk, even. So our activity is going to be low. It's super easy to have access to unhealthy foods because they're cheap, they taste good and they're easy. So in the United States, it's hard to be healthy."
Before taking on this role, Dobbs served the Mississippi State Department of Health as state epidemiologist and regional, deputy and state health officer, the latter of which he directed the state's response to the COVID pandemic and addressed health inequities that plague the state. He has also worked in national and international leadership roles in the fight against diseases including HIV and tuberculosis.
Still, his academic administrative experience was "on the lean side" prior to this appointment, he said.
Where he is not lacking, Dobbs said, is in engaging communities, understanding what's happening outside the walls of academia, having relationships and having seen the real-world impact of social determinants on individuals and communities.
"And having had other leadership roles that involve varying degrees of stress and challenges, having weathered some of those and learned from them, hopefully I can bring something to the school."
Dr. Scott Rodgers, associate vice chancellor for academic affairs, said Dobbs brings a wealth of experience to the role.
"In his role as the state health officer for the Mississippi State Department of Health, Dr. Dobbs had responsibility over a large organization that worked to meet the health care needs of the roughly 3 million people residing in Mississippi," Rodgers said. "He has traveled all over the state, meeting people where they live, interacting with and learning from community leaders, and extending a helping hand wherever and whenever possible. Dr. Dobbs isn't afraid of hard work, and he possesses a high level of compassion and grit that enabled him to succeed in his role for the state.
"In his new role as dean for the School of Population Health, we are counting on him to bring to the job the determination and vision that we already know he possesses, such that he builds academic and outreach programs that help us address the needs of our citizens.  He has exactly the right mix of experience, wisdom, know-how and transformative spirit to succeed at a high level, and we cannot wait to see what the future holds for his school. We are in exceptional hands."
A month-and-a-half into the role, Dobbs has established a few short-term goals. One is to grow enrollment, which stands at 58 students. He also wants to provide what he calls a "population-based mentality" and educational curriculum to other schools at UMMC.
"Long-term, we have an opportunity to be a world-class powerhouse research institution around public health," Dobbs said. "Part of it is because we live in the nexus of all the bad things that cause bad health. Not only will we have things that can make a difference, but there will be opportunities with external partners doing research to bring in grant funding. We have great researchers now, but to develop the whole program into a world-class research operation, educating future health leaders in population health and all its different intricacies."
Dobbs said he wants the school to be a "force for driving, inducing, catalyzing change" in the state, particularly in areas that make communities unhealthy that others in health care don't have time to focus on.
"Mississippi has a segregated education system," he said. "And no one's really addressing it. But that's what population health's about. It's those sorts of things, taking a mirror to ourselves and sort of helping bring together those folks who can make things different."
So far, his average day is evolving, Dobbs said. On paper, he spends 70 percent of each week doing administrative work and teaching, 20 percent on infectious disease and clinical work through an appointment in the Division of Infection Diseases under the Department of Medicine, and 10 percent assigned to the health department running the Crossroads Sexual Health Clinic.
In doing so, he works closely with the Jackson Heart Study, Myrlie Evers-Williams Institute for the Elimination of Health Disparities, Adult Specialty Care, and people living with HIV.
"It's a nice balance. Variety's fun. Things overlap," he said of his responsibilities. "It also keeps me part of the public health, and having that appointment in the health department helps maintain that relationship, because population health and public health go hand in hand."
He is also excited about working with Dr. Saurabh Chandra, chief telehealth officer, on advancing telehealth opportunities for people at risk for or living with HIV.
The feeling is mutual, said Chandra, who shared these Centers for Disease Control and Prevention statistics: about 12,000 people are living with HIV in Mississippi and 4,500 at high risk for developing HIV, less than 25 percent of whom are prescribed pre-exposure prophylaxis medication.
The Center for Telehealth worked with the Department of Infectious Diseases to develop an app that will provide education and access to care for patients at high risk for HIV, said Chandra. Called UMMC HIV Cares, it will be available via app stores in the coming weeks.
"We are very excited to partner with Dr. Dobbs and leverage his knowledge and expertise to make this app available to high-risk patients in the state as well as provide access to health care through telemedicine for patients already diagnosed with HIV."
Dobbs invites others interested in pursuing a population health agenda to reach out about forming partnerships.
Outside of work, being a doctor seems to run in the family. He's enjoying spending time these days with wife Dr. Kimberly Dobbs, a pulmonary and critical care physician at UMMC. Having worked in separate cities for eight of the past 10 years, it's nice to live and work together, he said. She joined the staff in July, one month before his appointment.
The parents of two children, one in medical school and one in college, met during their first year of medical school and married two years later.
Dobbs himself is not the first doctor in the family; both his grandfather and great-grandfather were physicians.
The legacy brings him full circle to why he went into medicine.
"I think we all want to make a difference one way or the other. And hopefully we make differences in a good way."


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Q: Change of variable and divergence
Given $x=(x_1, \cdots , x_n)$ with $dx$ being the Lebesgue measure,
  suppose we do the change of variable  $h(x) = w$, a vector field
  $v(x)$ is divergence free $$\text{div}(v(x)) = 0$$  then after the
  change of variable $\tilde v = dh(v)$, multiplied by the new density
  $\rho$ from $dx \mapsto \rho dw$, is still divergence free
  $$\text{div}(\rho\tilde v(w)) = 0.$$

I worked out an example:

*

*$v= (x,-y)$ is a divergence free vector field in the Cartesian coordinate.

*$h(x,y) = (\sqrt{x^2+y^2}, \arctan(y/x)) = (r,\theta)$ is the change of variable from Cartesian to polar.

*The density $dxdy \mapsto rdrd\theta$ is $r$.

*The new vector field in terms of $\partial_r$ and $\partial_\theta$: $$\tilde v  = dh(v) = Jh(v) = (r(\cos^2\theta - \sin^2\theta), -2\sin\theta\cos\theta).$$

*$\text{div}(r\tilde v) = 2r(\cos^2\theta - \sin^2\theta) -  2r(\cos^2\theta - \sin^2\theta)  = 0$.

Now I am confused because the divergence in polar coordinate of a vector field $v(r,\theta)= (v_1, v_2)$ in my calculation is given by
$$ \text{div}(v) = \partial_r v_1 + \partial_\theta v_2$$
but there is also the formula of divergence in polar coordinate given by
$$\text{div}(v)= \frac{1}{r}\partial_r (rv_1) + \frac{1}{r} \partial_\theta v_2.$$
I have a vague idea that in the second one, the directions of the vector field we are looking at are still in the Cartesian coordinate in terms of $(\cos\theta, \sin\theta)$ and $(-\sin\theta, \cos\theta)$. But this feels very unnatural to me, because with these $e_r$, $e_\theta$ instead of $\partial_r, \partial_\theta$, we do not have the formula $\tilde v = dh(v)$
Could you help me clarify this please.

For Completeness, here is a sketch of the proof for the statement at the top, it is based on Liouville's theorem:

The solution $\phi^t(x)$ of  $$\begin{cases} \dot y = v(y) \\ y(0) = x
 \end{cases}$$
  as a flow preserves measure $\rho dx$, $\int_D \rho dx = \int_{\phi^t(D)} \rho dx$ if and only if $\text{div}(\rho v) = 0$.

So now it suffices to show that the solution to our new IVP after the change of variable $h(\phi^t(h^{-1}(w)))$ preserves the new volume $Jh^{-1} dw$, i.e. for each $K$
$$\int_K Jh^{-1} dw = \int_{h(\phi^t(h^{-1}(K)))} Jh^{-1} dw$$
and this is clear once we rewrite $K = h(h^{-1}(K))$
$$\int_{h(h^{-1}(K))} Jh^{-1} dw = \int_{h(\phi^t(h^{-1}(K)))} Jh^{-1} dw$$
which reduces to
$$\int_{h^{-1}(K)} dw = \int_{\phi^t(h^{-1}(K))} dw$$
and this is true by our assumption $\text{div}(v) = 0$.


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Deadliest Journeys
Dodging landslides in Tajikistan. Crossing bridges that could collapse at any moment in Madagascar. Battling mountain monkeys in Guyana. Journeying on icy, mountainous roads in Ladkh. Every day, children, migrants and workers undertake incredible journeys. In this action packed series, we tell their stories.
Mark Mintz
Episode number
1. Somaliland
Due to lack of infrastructure and leftover mines from the civil war, delivery drivers in Somaliland take their lives in their hands each time they cross the dessert. Somaliland is one of the biggest consumers of the plant khat which when chewed gives a cocaine-like high. The plant quickly loses its potency and so the delivery drivers must race to get their product to the distributors.
2. Gabon
The forests of Gabon are some of the densest and most mysterious in the world. But there are a few adventurous souls who risk it all in this green hell every day. They are the drivers of enormous logging trucks that can carry up to 40 tons of wood at a time.
Driving tankers loaded with 20 000 pounds of gasoline, these wild men drive on unmapped roads to deliver supplies to illegal gold mines in the heart of the Amazon Jungle.
4. Bolivia
Hundreds of metres above the ground, criss-crossing the valleys of Bolivia, is a network of makeshift cables. Clinging onto these cables, coca growers whizz across the mountains, transporting their harvest. Should they slip or the aged cables snap, they face certain death. Once they've reached the other side of the mountain, the danger doesn't end.
5. Guyana
The roads in Guyana are treacherous but in one difficult journey taking mining supplies across the forest Roy can earn up twice the average salary. We also meet the tough as nails Guyana cowboys who work from dawn to dusk in the blazing sun often without food or rest.
6. Congo Kivu
When the Congo gained it's independence it had the best road network in central Africa, but the situation has deteriorated and today only 2% of roads are paved; during the rainy season many parts of the country turn into a muddy bog.
7. Bangladesh
In this episode, we follow the thousands of Bangladeshi muslims making the six hour pilgrimage to Dhaka. Traveling on a hugely hot and overcrowded train, some choose to find space on the roof. Ducking bridges and trying not to slip off, countless people have fallen to their deaths. "If you die, no one cares and you are eaten by the dogs."
8. Guinea
Crossing the mountainous forests is a real challenge and it is vital to stay careful as ravines are 700 meters deep. The journeys are dangerous and drivers must be ready for anything - from catastrophic mudslides to attacks from armed gangs. Truckers are drinking alcohol or chewing betel nut to keep calm and awake, but sometimes it can lead to an other accident.
9. Ladakh
Ladakh, the most northern state of India, is one of the harshest environments in the world. It is connected to the rest of India by a perilous road that winds through the soaring mountains. This road is one of the highest and most dangerous in the world; here even the slightest mistake can be fatal.
10. Laos
Landlocked and shrouded in historical mystery, Laos is home to dozens of forgotten tribes who reside in its vast rolling mountains and impenetrable jungles. One of the last standing communist countries, we travel along the Ho Chi Minh trail that was used to transport weapons in the Vietnam War.
Philippe Lafaix, Julien Felix, Jean-Marie Lemaire, Stephanie Rodriguez, Daniel Laine
Syndicado
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