text:
Washington Insurance Commissioner Ousted
The insurance commissioner of Washington, D.C. has resigned under pressure following his comments regarding President Obama's healthcare plan fixes.
Commissioner William P. White was notified Friday by Deputy Mayor Victor Hoskins, who works for D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray, that White's services were no longer needed.
PC360 obtained a copy of White's resignation letter.
Gray's office did not respond to requests for comment Saturday.
White issued a press statement Nov. 14 saying that the action by President Obama allowing extension of policy contracts not meeting the Essential Health Benefits provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act "undercuts the purpose of the exchanges, including the District's D.C. Health Link, by creating exceptions that make it more difficult for them to operate."
White, an independent, said he concurred with the National Association of Insurance Commissioner's (NAIC) sentiment, which stated that "This decision continues different rules for different policies and threatens to undermine the new market, and may lead to higher premiums and market disruptions in 2014 and beyond."
In an email to PC360, White explains, "My comments on issues affecting insurance, securities, and banking markets in DC have always been understood to be from the regulatory perspective. I do not speak for the Mayor and have never indicated otherwise. I was not criticizing the President, but I was calling into question the course of action being suggested because of its potential impact on the DC marketplace and its residents.
"The statement reflected concerns but also made clear that DISB would work with stakeholders to determine what would be the best course of action for DC. In this instance the political aspects overshadowed what I believe were the more important marketplace concerns. I have been committed to the exchange idea because I believed it would improve the delivery of healthcare to District residents. I think what we have accomplished goes a long way toward making that a reality. I thought I was doing my job by protecting what we have built," he continued.
White told PC360 Hoskins told him the city "was moving in a different direction."
White said he wasn't entirely surprised at the mayor's decision, given that this is an election year and things are always sensitive.
Chester A. McPherson, deputy commissioner of market operations at the Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking, replaced White.
The decision is effective Dec. 2, although White left the office the day he was notified. His email refers to Nov. 16 as his last day in government service. He was notified just after returning from an insurance regulation-related trip to Korea.
White was confirmed by the City Council of the District of Columbia on June 7, 2011, by a unanimous vote. He is the chief regulator of the District of Columbia's financial-services industries but played a large part on the national and international regulatory stages, as well.
White has been very active in policy discussions with the International Association of Insurance Supervisors, the EU-U.S. Dialogue, the NAIC, as well as in the District on local policy health insurance matters.
He is also member of the Federal Insurance Office Federal Advisory Committee on Insurance.
"I thought he was very bright and articulate, and one of a small number of commissioners who was very involved in international issues," said Thomas Leonardi, Connecticut insurance commissioner and the chair of the NAIC's International Committee, via email. "He will be sorely missed at the NAIC and I am saddened by the news that he is no longer the D.C. Commissioner." White was Leonardi's vice chair.
Original article in Property Casualty 360.


text:
News / World / Yoshihide Suga named Japan's new prime minister
Yoshihide Suga named Japan's new prime minister
Japan's parliament on Wednesday elected Yoshihide Suga prime minister, with the former chief cabinet secretary expected to stick closely to policies championed by Shinzo Abe during his record-breaking tenure.
Newly elected leader of Japan's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Yoshihide Suga (C) is applauded after he was elected as Japan's prime minister by the Lower House of parliament in Tokyo on September 16, 2020. (Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP)
Suga, 71, won an easy victory, taking 314 votes of 462 valid ballots cast in the lower house of parliament, where his ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) holds a commanding majority.
He bowed deeply as lawmakers applauded following the announcement, but made no immediate comment.
"According to the results, our house has decided to name Yoshihide Suga prime minister," lower house speaker Tadamori Oshima announced after the votes were counted.
Suga is expected to announce his cabinet later Wednesday, with local media reporting he will retain a number of ministers from Abe's last government.
Suga, who on Monday was elected leader of the LDP, is viewed as a continuity candidate and has said his run was inspired by a desire to pursue Abe's policies.
Abe, who resigned earlier Wednesday along with his cabinet, is ending his record run in office with a year left in his mandate.
He was forced out by a recurrence of ulcerative colitis, a bowel disease that has long plagued him.
Suga has spent decades in politics — most recently as chief cabinet secretary, where he was known for pushing government policies through a sometimes intractable bureaucracy.
He has also been the face of the government, doggedly defending its policies as spokesman, including in sometimes testy exchanges with journalists.
'This is my mission'
His upbringing, as the son of a strawberry-farmer father and schoolteacher mother, sets him apart from the many blue-blood political elites in his party and the Japanese political scene.
But while he has championed some measures intended to help rural areas like his hometown in northern Japan's Akita, his political views remain something of a mystery.
He is viewed as more pragmatic than ideological, and during his campaign spoke more about the need to break down administrative obstacles — so-called bureaucratic silos — than any grand guiding principles.
He will face a raft of tough challenges, including an economy that was already in recession before the coronavirus pandemic.
Suga has said kickstarting the economy will be a top priority, along with containing the virus — essential if the postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympics are to open as planned in July 2021.
His recipe for doing that? More of the same, he says.
"In order to overcome the crisis and give the Japanese people a sense of relief, we need to succeed in what Prime Minister Abe has been implementing," Suga said after being elected LDP leader on Monday.
Suga's cabinet is expected to bring few surprises, with Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and Finance Minister Taro Aso expected to stay on in their jobs.
Defence Minister Taro Kono is tipped to be replaced by Abe's brother Nobuo Kishi, who was adopted by his uncle as a child and carries his surname.
Kono is reportedly set to become minister in charge of administrative reform, a portfolio Suga considers particularly important.
'All my strength'
Just two women are so far reported to be in the cabinet, as Olympic minister and justice minister, down from the three who served in Abe's last government.
Analysts say Suga is likely to stick with his predecessor's signature Abenomics programme, involving vast government spending, massive monetary easing and the cutting of red tape.
On the diplomatic front, Suga is a relative novice, with little foreign policy experience.
There too, experts say, he is likely to tread the path charted by Abe, prioritising the key relationship with the United States, whoever is president after November's election.
Relations with China may prove trickier with a global hardening of opinion against Beijing after the coronavirus and unrest in Hong Kong.
There has been speculation that Suga could call a snap election to consolidate his position and avoid being seen as a caretaker prime minister, but he has been circumspect on the prospect.
Abe will stay on as a lawmaker, with some mooting the possibility he could undertake diplomatic missions.
On Wednesday morning as he prepared to resign, Abe said he had given "all my strength" and was ending his tenure "with a sense of pride".
"I owe everything to the Japanese people."
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Sarah received her registered Veterinary Technology degree in California, USA. She moved to Canada in 2005 and started her Canadian journey in Calgary, Alberta before venturing here to Mission, BC. She has worked in the veterinary industry in the Fraser Valley for the last 6 years. While raising her three human children, she also has a beautifully spirited Landseer Newfoundland, and a few cats: two polydactyl ones and two domestic short hairs.


Ibrox Noise: Has Steven Gerrard run out of patience with star player?
Has Steven Gerrard run out of patience with star player?
When Ibrox Noise made a claim a week or two ago that Borna Barisic's time in Scotland had been a 'disaster', we were met by pure disdain and borderline mockery.
Some replies bigged him up and dismissed his injury issues as 'bad luck' while others suggested he was a 'Rolls Royce'.
However, these individuals have gone remarkably quiet following yesterday afternoon's latest injury shambles with the Croat, and have been replaced by more realistic fans labelling him, sadly legitimately, as 'Rossiter mark 2'.
And Steven Gerrard, when asked about Barisic post-match, looked absolutely exasperated with the 26-year old as if he has run out of patience with his repeated injuries.
Aside the mischievous possibility of the 55 trolling that we suggested yesterday is the more serious issue of a £2M Croatian international who can't stay fit for more than a few matches.
As a few supporters have stated, when he played on in the Europa League clash with a bloodied bandage, harking back to Terry Butcher and Dado Prso in the day, it made him look like a hard fella who would be robust and could play on through the pain barrier.
Unfortunately that display against Rangers is the best (and only time) we've seen Barisic actually live up to the amount we ultimately paid for him.
His performances for Rangers, when they've rarely happened, have been unconvincing. His attacking play isn't especially imaginative and he can't beat a man, nor does he have any pace, but he counters this with some scintillating delivery and a hell of a torpedo on his left foot.
Meanwhile defensively he gets caught out a lot, and doesn't seem to quite know how to read the Scottish game. He's not especially physical and unlike Tavernier lacks pace and dribbling skill.
But of course none of this matters anyway when he can't stay fit – and his manager really does seem to be losing patience on the whole thing.
Mercifully Andy Halliday has risen to the challenge and is making the LB berth his own – so the failure of Barisic leaves less of a hole in the squad and more of a hole in the club coffers. There has been talk that some Turkish sides were interested in him a week or so ago, and frankly Rangers would be inclined now to take the money and run.
And that will deeply frustrate Steven Gerrard.
On the few occasions we have seen him Barisic looks ten times the player Halliday is at full back.
I dont think Barisic has had enough time to get up to speed and truly get used to our game. No reason o get carried away at the moment. if he gets a run of 10 games I believe he will come good. In my own opinion he has got a turn of pace, but agree no where near as comfortable on the ball as Tav.
The guy had a horrendous stomach injury. And he was unlucky against St J hamstrings happen. Being a tad harsh. The guy is a Croatian International.
Fair assessment Coco, we can't argue with much in this. Albeit we may have missed where he called Grezda out?
Very harsh assessment of Barasic. He is miles better than Halliday (would you see him get a game for the World Cup finalists) and I'm confident he will come good. I mentioned after Sunday that Halliday seemed intent to try to deliver balls to our forwards from 40-50 yards away. Barasic would take the yards and then deliver the ball from a much better and more dangerous ankle.
Didn't say anywhere in that article that Barisic and Halliday were equal. Just that it's a moot conversation given one of them seems unable to stay fit long enough to show how good he is.


text:
The politics sketchPMQs
Miliband lands an unexpected punch thanks to Lord Freud's slip-up
John Crace
Want to rile Cameron? Ask him about the welfare reform minister's views on giving disabled people the minimum wage
'The Cam-Bot turned a deep red, a sure sign this was the first he'd ever heard of Lord Freud's slip.' Photograph: PA Photograph: PA
Wed 15 Oct 2014 13.12 EDT Last modified on Thu 7 Mar 2019 14.49 EST
With their most dangerous opponents lined up on the benches behind them, David Cameron and Ed Miliband fell upon each other at their first prime minister's questions for six weeks like two unwanted labradoodles in the back of an animal rescue van. Both know that though neither of them may be long for this world, they are still safer in each other's company than anywhere else. Miliband began by apologising for the sore throat that made him sound even more feeble than usual. The prime minister took pity. "I am sure the whole house will want his sore throat to get better soon," he said. "I hope that, if he gets a doctor's appointment, he will not forget it."
Miliband was so touched by Cameron's concern for his wellbeing that he fluffed the chance of a dig about the difficulty of seeing his GP and kept his nose to the script. Having been caught out trying to ad lib at the Labour conference, he won't risk going off message for a while. He should also stop bothering to waste time trying to pin Cameron down on any policy details, because the prime minister just switches on the Cam-Bot, which is programmed to spew out streams of unrelated statistics on a continuous loop. Asked about tax cuts, he replied by quoting unemployment figures, though even they couldn't raise any signs of life in the chancellor. Osborne appears to have switched from a 5-2 to a 2-5 diet and it can't be long before he vanishes inside his suit.
Just as the Cam-Bot was reaching terminal velocity – "Up 26%, down 11%, up 17%, long-term economic plan, exterminate" – Miliband landed an unexpected punch. Did the prime minister endorse the comments of Lord Freud, his welfare reform minister, who had recently suggested that disabled people were not worth the minimum wage? The Cam-Bot turned a deep red, a sure sign this was the first he'd ever heard of Lord Freud's slip.
"Those are not the views of the government," he spluttered, glancing anxiously towards the work and pension secretary, Iain Duncan Smith. The Grand Inquisitor took the hint and left the chamber immediately. Moments later, Lord Freud's cries of pain echoed throughout Westminster. Having paused to experience the full pleasures of restorative justice in action, Cameron called for an end to the matter. "I do not need lectures from anyone about looking after disabled people, so I do not want to hear any more of that." Lord Freud's great-grandfather would have called that wishful thinking.
If there was one person having a worse day than Freud, it was Douglas Carswell. After just three days in parliament as a Ukip MP, he has the air of a man who increasingly realises he has made a hideous mistake and can do nothing about it. The longer PMQs went on, the more pronounced his rocking became as he waited to be called. He got his chance just before the end and called for amendment to the recall of MPs bill – the deciding factor, apparently, in his defection to Ukip. Though not one that causes any other Ukip supporter to lose a second's sleep. The prime minister showed his contempt for Carswell by breaking the habit of a lifetime. He answered the question in full. The cold shoulder doesn't get much colder.
The politics sketch
Lord Freud's comments about disabled people 'deeply distressing', says Clegg
Iain Duncan Smith thinks he can cure disabled people as if by magic
PM ordered Lord Freud to apologise for remarks on disabled people's pay
Lord Freud offers 'unreserved apology' for comment about disabled people
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We should stand up for people on benefits
Lord Freud apologises unreservedly for comment about disabled people: politics live blog


text:
True North a-ha
Label: RCA Local
Subgenre: Adult Contemporary
Artist: a-ha
1I'm In05:06
2Hunter In The Hills04:11
3As If04:56
4Between The Halo And The Horn04:11
5True North04:55
6Bumblebee04:07
7Forest For The Trees03:53
8Bluest Of Blue04:34
9Make Me Understand03:59
10You Have What It Takes04:22
11Summer Rain04:15
12Oh My Word03:58
Total Runtime52:27
Info for True North
The original idea for True North was for the Norwegian trio, formed of Morten Harket, Paul Waaktaar-Savoy and Magne Furuholmen, to record their first session in the wonderous studio location just 90km above the Arctic Circle then to film it.
Eventually, the project expanded into more of a production, and they were joined by the talented Norwegian orchestra, Arctic Philharmonic. What spawned from these sessions is a magnificent album, and film to match, that details the band's vision of a collective connection to the environment. "True North is a letter from a-ha, from the Arctic Circle, a poem from the far north of Norway," says Furuholmen.
In recurring vignettes, the multidimensional True North film follows this narrative arc through actors portraying life in the North as well as documenting the band recording music over two days in Bodø, Norway. This is a unique release from a-ha that embodies the spirit of their new songs, with long-time a-ha collaborator Stian Andersen at the helm as director: "It's been an honourable assignment to direct the True North movie. It's also been a great pleasure to write and create the narrative to match a-ha's beautiful songs in this film."
The songs on the record are imbued with a sense of place and a deep connection with how we interact with the environment. For the first time, a-ha show us where they are from, who they are, and how the connection between the two is unbreakable. It's no wonder that True North is a-ha at their most revealing – never before has the spirit of a-ha been so exposed.
Since their worldwide breakthrough with 'Take On Me' in 1985, a-ha have continued to adapt and evolve. Now, with what is both their 11th studio album and the documentation of its creation, a-ha have entered a new phase. "First, we had the idea to record a studio session live," says Waaktaar-Savoy. "Then, to film a studio session. That grew into more of a production with the Norwegian orchestra, the Arctic Philharmonic, who we have collaborated with."
Label: WM Germany
Lifelines Deluxe Edition (Remastered)
Minor Earth, Major Sky Deluxe Edition (Remastered)
"It was about time that we reached out a little more," says a-ha singer Morten Harket of the group's new album Foot Of The Mountain. Released on 13 July on Universal Music Record Label (URML), the album marks a return to the classic pop sound that made a-ha one of the biggest acts in the world, selling 36 million albums in the process. As keyboard player Magne Furuholmen explains, "It's an album that incorporates the key elements that first defined the band: soaring vocals, synth hooks, yearning lyrics and melodic melancholia." Or as guitarist and principal songwriter Paul Waaktaar-Savoy puts it more simply: "I think we got a great collection of songs this time around."
Written and recorded in various major cities – from Oslo, where the band formed in 1982, to New York, where Paul now lives – Foot Of The Mountainis, in Morten's words, "predominantly a synth-based album". The ten new songs carry echoes of the band's early signature hits: 'Take On Me', 'The Sun Always Shines On TV' and 'I've Been Losing You'. As Magne explains, "This is a potent and vibrant album – it has a vitality. Morten has an incredible voice – one of the very few instantly recognizable voices in pop music. And that voice is most effective in a synth-based musical landscape. For me, this album was about helping Morten come into his own."
"Each song has its own identity," the singer adds, "and you try to capture it in the best possible way. The challenge is to figure out what direction to take. A song like 'The Sun Always Shines On TV' is a good example. It's essentially a ballad but we put a pounding beat to it – it turned into a power track. With this album, we tried different versions of the songs, but in the end we came back to synths. It's how we started out in the '80s before we became more interested in acoustic and analogue instruments. This is a return to synth-based thinking."
"Making a more technology-based album was easier said than done," Paul admits. "It's a long time since we've made an album this way and things have changed somewhat since!" In the past, a-ha took an experimental, even eccentric, approach to recording. Paul cites 'The Sun Always Shines On TV' – a UK number one single in 1986 – as a good example of the group's anything-goes ethos. "Back then, we did all our own programming, often just firing off notes on a synthesizer that you would play for your dear life as the track went down!" He adds with typical understatement, "With the new album, it took some time to get used to current working methods."
One thing that hasn't changed is the emotive power of a-ha's songwriting. "This is an unashamedly passionate album," Magne says. "It's uptempo but not exactly upbeat. Upbeat means happier – and I don't think this is the case." As Paul explains, "It's a happy/sad kind of thing. You can change how a song comes across to the listener, as we've done many times in the past, by giving a song the opposite arrangement to what you'd expect. But songwriting is by nature introspective, and that's where I come from. Writing is for me is the hardest part but also the most enjoyable. You might spend months searching for that missing verse or the title that you think defines a song. But when it comes together, there's no other feeling like it."
Paul wrote the majority of the new songs: five co-written with Magne, four written alone. He also experimented with some new techniques. 'Riding The Crest' – described by Paul as "an electro blues" – was inspired by Arcade Fire's use of the 12-bar form on their 2007 album Neon Bible. 'Real Meaning' was a happy accident: an idea that came spontaneously when Paul called home from Russia and was greeted by his answering machine. "As a joke I started singing away and this song fell out," he laughs. "I meant every word, though." And on 'Start The Simulator', Paul employed a novel lyrical style, drawing on the technical jargon of the Cold War era's Space Race. "The basic idea," he says, "was to make a song using only technical terms and phrases, and still make it very emotional and personal. There is such poetry in the old Apollo manuals: "switch to Omni Bravo" and "the bright ejector blanket". It was quite a hard song to record as it changes both time signatures and keys as it goes along. What sounded so simple on the piano got very quickly complicated when it was translated to a full arrangement. I think we got there in the end though!"
There are also three songs that reflect Paul's emotional connection to his natural and adopted homelands. 'Shadowside', he says, "feels quite Norwegian – in the melody, the chords and the mood". 'The Bandstand' reminds him of his first trip to New York City in the early '80s, before a-ha were famous. "Songs are like a photo-album – they can really send you back. And this one reminds me of arriving at Port Authority with $35 in my pocket, sporting really high, yellow, almost see-through synthesizer-hair, wearing a tiger-shirt and a brown suit, looking like an alien!" And the album's title track, 'Foot Of The Mountain' – fashioned from two previously separate songs, one written by Paul, the other by Magne – examines one of the fundamental conflicts of modern life, the pull between nature and big-city civilization: for Paul, the buzz of New York City versus the beauty and isolation of Norway. "It's the dilemma of loving a city life, yet secretly wondering if we'd be happier being surrounded by open fields and sweeping mountains."
"New York has been my home for 15 years now and I still find it thrilling," Paul says. "We spent five weeks in Hoboken recording the first draft of the album. I was bringing in tons of instruments, arriving every morning with new toys, like old synths and string-machines, omnichord, stylophone, Moog guitar, Mellotron, guitars in every shape and size…" According to Magne, "The time spent in New York was definitely important for this record." Morten concurs. "It's always good to get away from everything else and focus on the album. The energy of the city may have had an effect on the music. But we didn't complete in New York – we had to go back to Norway just to let things cool off a little and then pick it up. And we did – we nailed it."
Foot Of The Mountain is another landmark in the 25-year recording career of a-ha. "We've had a very strong response to all our albums in the later years since 2000," Morten says. In particular, the group's rock-oriented 2006 albumAnalogue – their debut for Universal Music – was highly acclaimed in the UK press and led to Q magazine bestowing its Inspiration Award to a-ha. "That was a great feeling," says Paul. "To have such good response in the country where it all started for us, and to hear kind words coming from critics and colleagues, really gave us a boost." In addition, a-ha have been named as a key influence by rock superstars Coldplay, whose bassist Guy Berryman is currently working on a new project with Magne. "Coldplay have played an active part in a causing a reappraisal of the band," Magne says. "Chris Martin is one of a generation of musicians who grew up loving a-ha, not for the image, but for the music." "The value of the respect is the same no matter where it comes from," says Morten, "because it means you're communicating with somebody out there. In this case it was a teenager called Chris Martin. He was reaching out for music and a-ha became part of his story."


text:
DRDO developing own operating system: Saraswat
Our Bureau Hyderabad | Updated on March 12, 2018 Published on December 20, 2012
To thwart cyber attacks and ensure security of networks, the Defence Research and Development Organisation is developing its own operating system, said V.K. Saraswat, its Director-General.
The Indian operating system will take a couple of more years to become operational. About 150 engineers and scientists of the defence organisation and academic institutions have been working for the past year-and-a-half on the project, he said on the sidelines of an international conference on navigation and communication here today. "The system will ensure that we are independent of what's happening outside and ensure the safety of our own networks," he said.
Earlier, in a special address at the two-day conference, he said cyber security and network security have become important in view of the increasing number of attacks and threats. India is short on hardware systems in communication, he said.
The Indian industry has to chip in, in a big way to reduce foreign dependence. While the defence organisation has a large development programme, the fabrication and manufacture of key components and systems has to happen in the private domestic sector, Saraswat, scientific adviser to the Raksha Mantri said.
There is a need to develop cost-effective navigational and communication systems, said Avinash Chander, Chief Controller, R&D (Missiles and Strategic systems) of the DRDO. In his inaugural address, he said the indigenous regional satellite navigation system being put in place will open up a range of applications and help the domestic industry.
The defence organisation is upgrading its existing foundries to increase the production of important inertial sensors that play an important role in the navigation and communications fields. From vehicle tracking to detecting mines, to studying plate movements and missiles, the applications of navigation are growing, Avinash Chander said.
The conference is being organised by the DRDO and the Research and Training Unit for Navigational Electronics (NERTU), Osmania University.
somasekhar.m@thehindu.co.in
defence equipment


text:
Interview with Shun Lee Fong (part 1)
This week we had the opportunity to talk with Shun Lee, actor, writer, and President & Creative Director of The Greenhouse. This is part one of two parts.
Q: What do you do in the entertainment industry?
A: I do a number of things.  I am the President and Creative Director of The Greenhouse, and I'm also an actor and writer. I teach entertainment law on a university level, and I have a production company, Genuine Productions, which focuses on film, new media, and publishing. In this town, everyone is wearing multiple hats, and if they aren't, they are either very successful or they just haven't really figured out what the industry is like yet.  Even the successful people are wearing multiple hats now.  I mean, you look at someone like Mel Gibson, whose star has faded a little bit buThe's still an incredibly talented guy.  He's an actor, a director, writer, and producer.
Q: Why Hollywood?
A: I started out as a lawyer in the Midwest. I practiced law there for five years. I grew up in a very creative family, but I found as I was going about my law career, I was really missing the creative side of who I was. Even though I was doing a lot of music at my church and acting in town, both on stage and in commercials, that was not my full-time gig.  There wasn't a whole lot of room for creativity as a lawyer. As I continued my law career, I realized there was this whole other side to me — I think there's this side to everybody on one level or another — a side that wasn't being tapped into, and it was making me dry up as a human.  I needed to tap back into that to make sure I was cultivating the creative side of who I am.
I was mentoring a lot of artists at that point — a lot of musicians and some actors as well — and I just really began tOhave what you call a hunger to not only be an artist myself again but also tOhelp other artists become everything they were created to be. I really came to an understanding that we were created by God to be creative. When He created us in His image, the creative side of whOhe is was put into our DNA, and as a result, we need to be practicing creativity and alsOhelping other people practice creativity. We need to let it become a very collaborative thing, not only between me and you, or me and another artist, but between me and God. There's this sense of inspiration that we can get from creating together.
So, why Hollywood? As I began to really explore the depths of who I was as a creative person, I also began to search for where creativity is really happening in the world today and where the need is for that sort of mentoring, to unleash or unlock the potential in people.
Through a lot of prayer and talking with my own mentors, I came to believe that there was something really important happening creatively here in Los Angeles, and as a result — like I said, through a lot of prayer, this is not a decision I made haphazardly — I really felt the desire and the — you could call it a need — to come ouThere to be a professional creative artist myself. Not only that, but also to collaborate with other creative professionals in L.A. So we could see what it means to find our own voice and create things of beauty, truth, and redemption that are largely missing in the arts today, but that we as humanity are sOhungry for. There's a disconnect between the hunger we feel and what is being created.  It's not that there are not creative arts happening that are beautiful, truthful, and redemptive — it just seems like we have this constant hunger for it, and therefore, we need to be creating even more of it.  The question for me became "How do we as creative professionals band together in our various disciplines to discover what it means to be a creative artist on every level?"
Go to Part 2 of this interview.
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Today at The Iron Yard we (the UI Design class) started our day with a challenge. A marshmallow challenge, to be specific. We were split up into groups and given twenty sticks of spaghetti, one yard of tape, one yard of string, and one marshmallow. Each group was then given eighteen minutes to build the tallest free-standing structure they could, with the marshmallow on top. Apparently this challenge divides participants into two categories: people who prototype, and people who don't. My team oriented ourselves to the task, developed a plan of attack, and built a structure. We lost. You know who consistently does well at this challenge? Children in kindergarten. They build, then refine, then build again. Crazy.
Once the marshmallows had been put away, we talked about prototyping. It's an interesting concept, all about designing something, testing it, and iterating it to make the best possible product. There are a few different means of prototype creation: paper, static, and fully functional. And of course there are variations of each. What's great about all this is that it gets the product in the hands of the person who will actually be using it. And the feedback you get from this process is invaluable.
After our discussion we tried our hands at a little prototyping of our own. We were paired with a classmate and assigned an airline website. Our goal was to explore the site, find an interaction that we thought could use improvement, and make a paper prototype to be tested by our peers.
It didn't take long for my partner and I to identify an interaction that was less than user-friendly. Surprisingly enough, we found the process for purchasing tickets to be quite confusing. The steps were not clearly labeled, so it was hard to know what was the next action to take. There was a progress bar at the top of the screen that we found a little misleading. At the start of the process it indicates there are a total of three steps. However, as you make your way through the process, additional steps appear (extras like checking extra bags and booking a car and/or hotel), making the whole ordeal longer. Plus, there was no way to go back a step, and if you tried to navigate back with the browser, you got sent back to the home page, and would have to start from the beginning again. Overall, the heirarchy of information is poor and there's a lot of needless information vying for your attention.
We jotted down a handful of small fixes that could be implemented to organize the information better and make the "path of least resistance" a bit clearer. We only made one test model, though, so we limited implementation to two of our ideas.
We made the progress bar at the top of the screen larger and included indicators for outbound and returning flights.
We made each page's heading text more prominent to help clarify progress status.
Our results were quite good. We didn't try to overhaul the whole process, we just tried to streamline the selection of tickets. I think the simplicity of our test worked well for us. One thing we noticed in the first test was that the progress indicator was still not apparent enough. Our tester was still able to complete their task easily and quickly, but they didn't notice until after the test was over that the indicator was even there. For our second test we used small pieces of colored sticky notes to call attention to current progress, and received positive results.
Looking back, we probably could have tested a more complicated interaction. Sure, it felt good to get good results. One of our testers even said, "I feel like I got something done!" But that was probably because we didn't take the test through a complete task, from beginning to end. In the end, we learned something about prototyping, and that was the purpose. In the future we'll know how to do it better. One more thing to look forward to.


text:
Q: Is it possible to measure gpu/cpu performance with timing by using an onload event? I'm trying to measure the time it takes for a browser to load some sort of heavy graphic using an onload event.
So far I was only able to measure the time it takes for some image to load, however I want to differentiate clients using these measurement results - so a heavier graphic action is required.
Is it possible to measure the loading time of some sort of heavy graphic on a browser in this matter? (maybe by combining webgl?)

A: WebGL gives you only possibility to establish connection between javascript and shaders. But it doesn't supply any information about device performance.
It is possible to write small program with WebGL and guess client GPU performance with FPS calculation (http://jsfiddle.net/vZP3u/). With few different shaders it is possible to do useful guess. But in some cases testing can be considered as DOS attack and browsers dont (shouldn't) allow you to do that (tests might crush whole browser --> people will not visit your site).
Also these data can you get with WebGL: http://analyticalgraphicsinc.github.io/webglreport/
Summary, native javascript doesn't supply information about device. You can only run tests to guess some data. You can use ajax to get clue about download/upload speed, pure js for CPU performance or WebGL shader for GPU performance. But all tests are very dependent on what is client doing at the moment with his device.
In addition, browsers sometimes offer way to get some data. For example G chrome console.memory, but it is not crossbrowser method how to get something.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


No matter how well you think you might know a place and its wildlife, there are always surprises! This year, the terns of Cemlyn have really kept us guessing. Alison Brown, Roseate Tern LIFE Project Engagement Officer, gives an update on the remarkable changes in fortune at Cemlyn's tern colony.
It was once said that if you 'buy a Sandwich tern colony and make it into a nature reserve … they will probably repay you by nesting somewhere else the following year'. Rob Hume's comments were telling. Between 2012 and 2016, the average breeding population of Sandwich terns at Cemlyn was 2400 pairs of adult birds, raising nearly 1000 chicks each year. These Cemlyn Sandwiches are, or were, 20% of the UK population for Sandwich terns and 3% of the whole world population. They were also the only Sandwich tern colony in Wales. This springtime, however, Cemlyn was relatively peaceful and the loud, discordant calls of 'ERIC' which normally announce the arrival of summer to northern Anglesey were quieter than usual. What happened?
Sandwich terns are the largest and heaviest of the British breeding species of terns but are, despite their size, fairly timid when defending their nests and react strongly to disturbance, predation and, it would seem to human eyes, mere whim.
In 2017, the fast growth of the Sandwich tern colony at Cemlyn raised concerns that there might be competition for nesting space with Cemlyn's other species of terns. Artificial rafts were put into place on Cemlyn's lagoon to provide 'overspill' nesting sites for any common and Arctic terns displaced by their larger cousins. However, as it turned out, the additional nesting sites were not needed. The summer of 2017 saw a complete break in Sandwich tern nesting, due (mostly) to predation and disturbance by a family of otters (and other species ). Breeding failed and, by early June of 2017, all the adult Sandwich terns dispersed away from Cemlyn and northern Anglesey without raising young.
Cemlyn is part of a European network of sites for birds and wildlife habitats; the Natura 2000 network. Each of these sites has a bespoke management plan aimed at protecting, conserving and building resilience for wildlife and natural habitats. For Cemlyn, the statutory management plan includes specific goals of providing nesting habitat for terns, whether or not they are present. In early 2018, in accordance with this management plan and the long-term international goals of tern protection and management, North Wales Wildlife Trust undertook a number of projects including building climate change resilience, 'predator-proofing' for nesting habitats and non-lethal control of predators. This work was funded through the LIFE Programme of the European Union and the project 'improving the conservation prospects of the priority species, the Roseate Tern, throughout its range in the UK and Ireland'.
Despite these efforts and the creation of new and safer nesting habitat, 2018 has again been a truly remarkable year – but for the wrong reasons. This springtime, Sandwich terns returned to Cemlyn in much lower numbers than in 2017 and we were not quite sure where these truly beautiful birds with the dreadful screechy voices might have gone, although Hodbarrow in Cumbria had a bumper start to the year. There are many factors that influence tern distribution and breeding success, not least being changing climate and weather around their breeding grounds in north-western Europe but also in their over-wintering territories in West Africa.
The late winter of 2017-18 saw the arrival of the so called 'Beast from the East', a prolonged period of extreme cold across the UK. Whilst this cold would not have directly affected Sandwich terns that, at the time, would have still been in their winter quarters around the coasts of West Africa, the extreme cold and prevalence of northerly and easterly winds may have affected their northward migration as well as sea temperatures and fish distribution. Terns arriving in the UK after long and arduous migrations rely on sand eels to 'refuel' before breeding, present to their mates as incentives to breeding and, ultimately, to feed young chicks. In the spring of 2018, north-easterly winds continued to dominate weather patterns and informal discussions with sea anglers and charter boat fishermen around Anglesey's coasts reported an absence of sand eels in coastal areas as well as unusually cold water temperatures in April and May. As the summer progresses, the sand eels and small fish which form the basis of the terns' feeding will return – however, it may be too late to encourage large numbers of Sandwich Terns to settle and breed at Cemlyn this year.
It is true that predator disturbance in 2017 probably led to the abandonment of nesting by all the three tern species which come to Cemlyn. However, it would be simplistic to suggest that this predation had 'caused' the Sandwich terns to initially avoid the site this year. North Wales Wildlife Trust have undertaken substantial works to deter predators and our summer wardens, Tim and Tarik, have reported that no otters have been seen on the lagoon islands this spring. Despite the troubles of 2017, Cemlyn still attracted Sandwich, common and Arctic terns. In early June, a count indicated some 300 Sandwich Terns nests – 10% of previous years' counts. However, the return and presence of terns and black-headed gulls to Cemlyn in the spring reassured us that the Cemlyn site, with its new and improved and 'safer' nesting habitat, is a worthwhile place to breed and raise young.
The weather in 2018 has been, to put it mildly, unpredictable. On 14 June, the west coast of the UK bore the brunt of Storm Hector and, the further north you were that day, the worse the wind. On 18 and 19 June, Cemlyn received an influx of about 500 adult Sandwich Terns. The end of June has seen similarly unusual weather with very high temperatures and a pronounced lack of rain, especially in the north and west. On 30 June, another 200 or so Sandwich terns arrived at Cemlyn. These new birds take the overall estimate for Sandwich terns up to 1500 to 1800 and many of the late arrivals appear to be making an ambitious attempt to breed!


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Flex-Deon Blake (* 25. April 1962 in Miami, Florida; † 1. März 2021) war ein US-amerikanischer Pornodarsteller.

Leben und Karriere
Blake stammte ursprünglich aus Florida. Nach dem Abschluss der High School trat er in die United States Air Force ein. Er war insgesamt 13 Jahre bei der Air Force im Dienst, mit Stationen in Japan, Italien und Griechenland. 1992 wurde er mit Auszeichnung () aus der Air Force entlassen. Nach seinem Ausscheiden aus dem Militärdienst studierte er Musik an der Florida A&M University, mit Klavier im Hauptfach. Im Zivilberuf wurde er Bewährungshelfer. Er war außerdem als Kirchenmusiker (Minister of Church) tätig; er war Organist und leitete mehrere Kirchenchöre. Trotz seines christlichen Hintergrunds entwickelte Blake ein starkes Interesse für das Porno-Business.

Er begann seine Karriere in der Unterhaltungsindustrie als Stripper in örtlichen Clubs. Blake war bereits über 30 Jahre alt, als er in die Porno-Industrie einstieg. Er wirkte im Verlauf seiner Karriere in über 40 Filmen als Hauptdarsteller mit. Die Gesamtanzahl seiner Filme wird teilweise mit über 100 angegeben. Die Internet Adult Film Database datiert Blakes aktive Karriere als Pornodarsteller auf den Zeitraum zwischen 1996 und 2011. Die Internet Movie Database listet auch Filme mit dem Veröffentlichungsdatum 1995. Blake trat im Verlauf seiner Karriere unter verschiedenen Bühnennamen auf, u.a. als Flex-Deon, Flex Deon, Flexx Dion, Flex Dean Blake, Flex Blake und Deon. In den Filmen seiner Anfangsjahre von 1995 bis 1997 wurde er ausschließlich unter dem Vornamen Deon in den Besetzungslisten geführt.

Blake drehte hauptsächlich für die Porno-Labels Pacific Sun Entertainment, Catalina Video und Bacchus Video Releasing. 2002 veröffentlichte das Porno-Label Bacchus den Pornofilm , eine Best-of-Compilation, in dem Blake im Mittelpunkt stand und in allen Sex-Szenen des Films zu sehen war. 2004 folgte bei Bacchus eine Best-of-Compilation unter dem Titel Bobby Blake vs. Flex Deon, in der Flex-Deon Blake und Bobby Blake in ausgewählten Szenen aus den Jahren 2001 bis 2004 präsentiert wurden; beide waren auch gemeinsam in einer Szene zu sehen. 2004 und 2005 war er an der Seite von Jeff Palmer in den beiden Bareback-Filmen  (2004) und  (2005) zu sehen. In beiden Filmen hatte Blake Analverkehr-Szenen mit Jeff Palmer, wobei Blake die "aktive" Rolle (Top) übernahm.

Blake setzte auch im Alter von über 40 Jahren seine Karriere als Pornodarsteller fort; er wurde nunmehr in Rollen des reifen ("") Liebhabers besetzt, u.a. im Film  (2006; Bacchus). In den Jahren seit 2006 erschienen außerdem mehrere Kompilationen mit Best-Of-Szenen von Flex-Leon Blake. 2011 hatte er eine Szene im Porno-Film  (2011; Bacchus).

Neben seiner Filmtätigkeit wurde Blake als Erotik-Model gebucht. Seine erste Fotostrecke mit Nacktfotos erschien im Juni 1999 im Magazin . Weitere erotische und pornografische Fotostrecken erschienen u.a. in den Magazinen Inches (Dezember 2000), nach seinem Debüt mehrfach weiterhin in  (September 2000, Februar 2001, Juli 2004) und in  (GBM; Ausgabe 11, gemeinsam mit Bobby Blake).

In pornografischen Magazinen und Websites gab es außerdem Artikel zu ihm. Das Magazin  veröffentlichte im Jahr 2000 ein Interview mit Flex-Deon Blake. Blake war mehrere Jahre mit seinem Filmpartner, dem bisexuellen Pornodarsteller Bobby Blake, liiert. Beide hatten sich im Sommer 1998 in einem Club am Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles kennengelernt. Flex-Deon Blake war dort gastweise als Stripper engagiert. Bei späteren gemeinsamen Auftritten im Rahmen von sog. Blatino-Parties, u.a. in Washington, D.C., kam es zu mehreren weiteren beruflichen und privaten Treffen. Einige Monate später entstand daraus eine Partnerschaft.

Zu seinen Hobbys gehörten Fitness und Filme. Blake war auch als Musiker tätig; seine Liebe galt der Gospelmusik. Blake lebte in Tallahassee, Florida. Er starb am 1. März 2021 im Alter von 58 Jahren.

Rollen-Image und Vermarktung
Blake verkörperte den Typus des schwarzen US-amerikanischen Bodybuilders: hochgewachsen, muskulös, mit männlicher Ausstrahlung. Blake ist dem schwulen Rollentypus des "Daddy" zuzuordnen. Sein Körper wurde als massiv und perfekt gebaut (""), seine Erscheinung als "" beschrieben. Auch sein außergewöhnlich großer Penis ("", "", "") stand im Mittelpunkt pornografischer Beschreibungen. Häufig wurde er in den Filmen im Rollen-Typus des "" oder des "" besetzt, was aufgrund seiner Erscheinung und seines Aussehens zu ihm passte. Blake hatte Tribal-Tattoos an den Oberarmen und im Brustbereich, Piercings an beiden Brustwarzen; er trug häufig einen Cockring und zeitweise ein Prince-Albert-Piercing. Diese Attribute machten Blakes besondere Wirkung auf den Zuschauer aus. Blake wirkte sowohl in aktiven als auch passiven Oralsex-Szenen mit. In Analsex-Szenen übernahm er häufig die "aktive" Rolle (Top).

Blake spielte schwerpunktmäßig in Pornofilmen mit ausschließlich afro-amerikanischen Darstellern () und im sogenannten "Blatino"-Genre (Filme, in denen schwarze Darsteller und Latinos gemeinsamen auftreten). Im Interracial-Genre war er ebenfalls mehrfach zu sehen, dort wurde er im Zusammenspiel mit dem passiven weißen Darsteller häufig als Top eingesetzt, u.a. in  (1999),  (1999) und  (2006). Im späteren Verlauf seiner Karriere wirkte Blake, den Gesetzen des schwulen Porno-Marktes folgend, auch in Bareback-Pornos mit. Blake gehörte zu den wenigen schwarzen Darstellern im schwulen Porno-Business, die über einen relativ langen Zeitraum kontinuierlich beschäftigt wurden.

Mehrfach wirkte er in Porno-Filmen gemeinsam mit seinem Lebenspartner Bobby Blake mit. Beide spielten dabei mehrheitlich in getrennten Szenen, hatten aber auch gemeinsame Duo-Liebesszenen und Threesome-Szenen. Ihr erster gemeinsamer Film war  (1999). Flex-Deon Blake und Bobby Blake wurden dabei werbewirksam u.a. als "" ("die beiden monsterschwänzigen vaterhaften Blakes") und als "" ("feste Freunde im echten Leben") vermarktet. Eine Kritik zu  (1999) schrieb: "" ("Haben Sie jemals hübschere Männer als Bobby und seinen Liebhaber Flex-Deon gesehen? Diese Kerle allein lohnen schon das Anschauen"). Ihr letzter gemeinsamer Film war Niggas' Revenge (2001), ein wegen seiner Gewaltelemente, des Auftretens von drei weißen Neo-Nazis und der Darstellung ungeschützten Geschlechtsverkehrs umstrittener Film. Der Film enthielt außerdem Fisting-Szenen, BDSM und umfangreiche Sex-Spiele mit Urin ().

Häufig wurde er, teilweise auch gemeinsam mit Bobby Blake, bei DVD-Veröffentlichungen als Cover-Model präsentiert, u.a. in  (1999; Bacchus, gemeinsam mit Bobby Blake auf dem Cover),  (1999; Pacific Sun Entertainment),  (1999; Pacific Sun Entertainment),  (2000; Bacchus, gemeinsam mit Bobby Blake auf dem Cover)  (Bacchus; 2001, gemeinsam mit Bobby Blake auf dem Cover),  (2001; Bacchus),  (2002; Bacchus),  (2002; Bacchus),  (2004; SX Video),  (2004; Bacchus),  (2004; Bacchus),  (2004; Bacchus) und  (2004; Bacchus, gemeinsam mit Bobby Blake auf dem Cover). In einer Kritik zu dem Film  hieß es u.a.: "Beautiful covershot of […] Bobby Blake and his real-life boyfriend Flex make this especially yummy" ("Schönes Titelbild von Bobby Blake und seinem festen Freund im realen Leben Flex machen dies besonders appetitlich").

Preise und Auszeichnungen
2004 wurde Flex-Deon Blake als Darsteller () bei den Grabby Awards ausgezeichnet; er wurde auch in deren "" aufgenommen. Dieses Privileg wird an "herausragende Darsteller oder Persönlichkeiten verliehen, die über Jahre zur Qualität der schwulen Pornoindustrie beigetragen haben".

Filmografie (Auswahl)
 1997: Hooked On Ebonics
 1997: High Rollin': A Black Thang
 1997: Blatino Party
 1999: Walk On The Wild Side
 1999: Playing Hard
 1999: Man Massage
 1999: Get Hooked On This
 1999: Black Encounter
 1999: Black Power
 1999: Black Ballers
 1999: Black Ballers 2: Foul Play
 2000: Snow Day LA
 2000: Roommates
 2000: Black Work Out 10
 2001: Miami's Hot Spot
 2001: Adventure Of A Bruh named Boo
 2001: Black Jackoff 3
 2001: Nigga's Revenge
 2002: Black Work Out 11
 2002: Flex-Deon: Big, Black & Beautiful
 2004: Tight Asses Big Dicks 1
 2004: Bareback Wood Workers
 2004: Black DILTF 4
 2004: Black Monster Dicks #2
 2004: Black Work Out 12
 2004: Bobby Blake vs. Flex Deon
 2004: The Matrixxx: A Muscle Explosion
 2004: Nasty Men
 2004: Barebacking With Jeff Palmer 2
 2005: Barebacking With Jeff Palmer 3
 2006: My First Interracial
 2006: Cocks On The Rock
 2008: Code Black
 2008: Blak
 2011: I Dream of Black Men

Literatur
 Bobby Blake gemeinsam mit John R. Gordon, My Life in Porn: The Bobby Blake Story (Philadelphia: Running Press, 2008), ISBN 978-0-7867-2096-5.
 Tim Dean, Unlimited Intimacy: Reflections on the Subculture of Barebacking (Chicago und London: University of Chicago Press, 2009), ISBN 978-0-226-13938-8

Weblinks

 Porn Star Interview: Bobby Blake and Flex-Deon Blake – Interview in: Black Inches (2000).

Einzelnachweise

Pornodarsteller
Model
Person der sozialen Arbeit
Chorleiter
Militärperson (United States Air Force)
Person (Afroamerikanische Kultur)
Träger des Grabby Award
US-Amerikaner
Geboren 1962
Gestorben 2021
Mann

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Writing as Thinking in Paul's Letters
Neurological and Cognitive Approaches to Understanding the Conceptual Differences of Paul and His Audience
Paul Robertson University of New Hampshire
Paul's letters, New Testament, Reading and writing, embodied cognition
This article uses findings from cognitive sciences and neuroscience to detail the unique brain processes that stem from writing texts by hand. Such findings are described and then applied to the case of the Christian apostle Paul, whose letters – penned by Paul himself and/or via a scribe – are often used as evidence in reconstructions of early Christian social contexts. An attention to the findings from cognitive sciences and neuroscience around what I term "handwriting-thinking", however, demonstrates a significant difference between the cognitive processes of Paul as author and the cognitive processes of his audience, who would have typically been exposed to Paul's letters aurally. This difference in cognitive processes between Paul and his audience significantly problematizes the usage of Paul's letters as evidence for his audience's understanding of his letters and the concepts therein. More broadly, an attention to the embodied cognition of handwriting-thinking demonstrates differences in conceptual understandings between historical text-producers and their audiences, suggesting that we should focus more on individual text producers and their contexts instead of audiences.
Paul Robertson, University of New Hampshire
Paul Robertson is Lecturer in Classics and Humanities at the University of New Hampshire in Durham, USA, where he specializes in ancient Mediterranean thought and the theory of religion. Published books (2016, 2019) and articles focus on the intersection of thought systems and critical methods in the study of religion.
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Palermos, S. O. 2014. "Knowledge and Cognitive Integration". Synthese 191(8): 1931–51. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-013-0383-0 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-013-0383-0
Pascual, L., P. Rodrigues, and D. Gallardo-Pujol1. 2013. "How Does Morality Work in The Brain? A Functional and Structural Perspective of Moral Behavior". Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience 7(65). https://dx.doi.org/10.3389%2Ffnint.2013.00065 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fnint.2013.00065
Porter, S. E., and S. A. Adams (eds). 2010. Paul and the Ancient Letter Form. Leiden and Boston: Brill. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/ej.9789004181632.i-369
Rapcsak, S. Z., P. M. Beeson and A. B. Rubens. 1991. "Writing with the Right Hemisphere". Brain and Language 41(4): 510–30. https://doi.org/10.1016/0093-934X(91)90171-V DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/0093-934X(91)90171-V
Reece, S. 2016. Paul's Large Letters: Paul's Autobiographic Subscriptions in the light of Ancient Epistolary Conventions. London and New York: Bloomsbury. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5040/9780567669094
Reiner, M., J. D. Slotta, M. T. H. Chi, and L. B. Resnick. 2000. "Naive Physics Reasoning: A Commitment to Substance-Based Conceptions". Cognition and Instruction 18(1): 1–34. https://doi.org/10.1207/S1532690XCI1801_01 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1207/S1532690XCI1801_01
Richards, E. R. 2004. Paul and First-Century Letter Writing: Secretaries, Composition and Collection. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity.
Robertson, P. 2016. Paul's Letters and Contemporary Greco-Roman Literature: Theorizing a New Taxonomy. Leiden and Boston: Brill. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004320260
Schatzki, T. R. 2002. The Site of the Social: A Philosophical Account of the Constitution of Social Life and Change. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9780271023717
Schreiner, T. R. 2010. Galatians. Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
Shah C., K. Erhard, H. J. Ortheil, E. Kaza, C. Kessler, and M. Lotze. 2012. "Neural Correlates of Creative Writing: An fMRI Study". Human Brain Mapping 34(5): 1088–101. https://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.21493 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.21493
Shantz, C. 2009. Paul in Ecstasy: The Neurobiology of the Apostle's Life and Thought. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511581625
Stowers, S. K. 2011. "The Concept of 'Community' and the History of Early Christianity". Method and Theory in the Study of Religion 23(3–4): 238–56. https://doi.org/10.1163/157006811X608377 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/157006811X608377
Tappenden, F. 2016. Resurrection in Paul: Cognition, Metaphor, and Transformation. Atlanta, GA: SBL Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt1df4gkj
Taves, A. 2009. Religious Experience Reconsidered: A Building-Block Approach to the Study of Religion and Other Special Things. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400830978
Tooby, J., and L. Cosmides. 2005. "Conceptual Foundations of Evolutionary Psychology". In Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology, ed. D.M. Buss, 5–67. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470939376.ch1
Tulving, E. 2002. "Episodic Memory: From Mind to Brain". Annual Review of Psychology 53:1–25. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.53.100901.135114 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.53.100901.135114
Uro, R. 2017. "Cognitive science In the Study of Early Christianity: Why It Is Helpful – And How?" New Testament Studies 63(4): 516–33. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0028688517000182 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0028688517000182
Weima, J. A. D. 2016. Paul the Ancient Letter Writer: An Introduction to Epistolary Analysis. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker.
Witherington III, B. 1998. Grace in Galatia: A Commentary on Paul's Letter to the Galatians. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.
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Yee, E. et al. (forthcoming). "The Cognitive Neuroscience of Semantic Memory". In Oxford Handbook of Cognitive Neuroscience, eds. K. Oschner and S. Kosslyn. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Zunshine, L. (ed.). 2010. Introduction to Cognitive Cultural Studies. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins.
Robertson, P. . (2022). Writing as Thinking in Paul's Letters: Neurological and Cognitive Approaches to Understanding the Conceptual Differences of Paul and His Audience. Journal of Cognitive Historiography, 6(1-2), 41–64. https://doi.org/10.1558/jch.38213
Paul Robertson, Shadows in the New Testament , Journal of Cognitive Historiography: Vol. 4 No. 2 (2017)


text:
Q: How can I see if I'm logged in via VPN? I use Juniper Networks (a Java program that establishes a VPN connection).
Does a command exist that lets me check if I'm logged in with Juniper?

A: In my case, the device is cscotun0 (I use Cisco Anyconect Secure Mobility Client) rather than tun0.
Therefore (based on Terry Wang's answer and zipizap's comment), if you do not know the device name, you may use:
if [ "0" == `ifconfig | grep tun0 | wc -l` ]; then echo "n"; else echo "y"; fi

or, if you know the device name:
if ifconfig cscotun0 &>/dev/null; then echo "y"; else echo "n"; fi

UPD
With Ubuntu 18.04, I need:
if [ "`ifconfig | grep vpn0`" != "" ] ; then echo yes; else echo no; fi

Unfortunately, ifconfig vpn0 now returns 0 (success) even if vpn is not working.

A: Route-based VPN or overlay network solutions (with virtual interfaces)
If you run ifconfig -a or ip link show you should be seeing something like tunX below which is a tun device used by most route-based VPN:

# tun device
# used by route-based VPN

    tun0      Link encap:UNSPEC  HWaddr 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00
              inet addr:  P-t-P:  Mask:
              UP POINTOPOINT RUNNING NOARP MULTICAST  MTU:1300  Metric:1
              RX packets:10 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
              TX packets:24 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
              collisions:0 txqueuelen:500
              RX bytes:1435 (1.4 KB)  TX bytes:1677 (1.6 KB)

# Jan 2020 refresh
# sample ifconfig output with 3 virtual interfaces
# for route-based VPN or overlay network

nebula1: flags=4305<UP,POINTOPOINT,RUNNING,NOARP,MULTICAST>  mtu 1300
        inet 172.16.87.100  netmask 255.255.255.0  destination 172.16.87.100
        inet6 fe80::b2c4:4360:a3ae:15aa  prefixlen 64  scopeid 0x20<link>
        unspec 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00  txqueuelen 500  (UNSPEC)
        RX packets 37  bytes 2980 (2.9 KB)
        RX errors 0  dropped 0  overruns 0  frame 0
        TX packets 331  bytes 17408 (17.4 KB)
        TX errors 0  dropped 0 overruns 0  carrier 0  collisions 0

tun0: flags=4305<UP,POINTOPOINT,RUNNING,NOARP,MULTICAST>  mtu 1500
        inet 172.16.200.1  netmask 255.255.255.0  destination 172.16.200.1
        inet6 fe80::9d2e:5979:5ac2:43df  prefixlen 64  scopeid 0x20<link>
        unspec 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00  txqueuelen 100  (UNSPEC)
        RX packets 0  bytes 0 (0.0 B)
        RX errors 0  dropped 0  overruns 0  frame 0
        TX packets 1677  bytes 80496 (80.4 KB)
        TX errors 0  dropped 0 overruns 0  carrier 0  collisions 0

wg0: flags=209<UP,POINTOPOINT,RUNNING,NOARP>  mtu 1420
        inet 172.16.111.100  netmask 255.255.255.0  destination 172.16.111.100
        unspec 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00  txqueuelen 1000  (UNSPEC)
        RX packets 37337578  bytes 10884991930 (10.8 GB)
        RX errors 0  dropped 67878  overruns 0  frame 0
        TX packets 60202096  bytes 66040772964 (66.0 GB)
        TX errors 169  dropped 44429 overruns 0  carrier 0  collisions 0

ip link output

5: wg0: <POINTOPOINT,NOARP,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1420 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN mode DEFAULT group default qlen 1000
    link/none
6: tun0: <POINTOPOINT,MULTICAST,NOARP,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc fq_codel state UNKNOWN mode DEFAULT group default qlen 100
    link/none
11: nebula1: <POINTOPOINT,MULTICAST,NOARP,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1300 qdisc fq_codel state UNKNOWN mode DEFAULT group default qlen 500
    link/none

Policy-based VPN (e.g. strongSwan)
Or if you are using IPsec (e.g. strongSwan), ifconfig -a will show a tunnel device (tunX) like below if you are using Route-based mode (default is policy-based):
tun0      Link encap:UNSPEC  HWaddr 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00
          inet addr:192.168.11.2  P-t-P:192.168.11.2  Mask:255.255.255.255
          UP POINTOPOINT RUNNING NOARP MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:500
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 b)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)

If strongSwan is running policy-based routing (default), you'll be able to figure out by manipulating the kernel routing table or looking at ip-xfrm IP framework for transforming packets (encrypting payloads).
# manipulate kernel routing table for more info

ip r
route -nr

ip r show table main
ip r show table local

# strongswan specific table id 220
ip r show table 220

In addition, you can use ip tuntap show to see if there are tun/tap devices to determine if VPN is in use.
    ip tuntap show
    tun0: tun

A: Alternative solution (Gnome)

Check when it's running
➜ ifconfig -a | grep vpn | grep RUNNING
1:179:vpn0: flags=4305<UP,POINTOPOINT,RUNNING,NOARP,MULTICAST>  mtu 1334

Check when it's not running
➜ ifconfig -a G vpn
179:vpn0: flags=4240<POINTOPOINT,NOARP,MULTICAST>  mtu 1334

so you can check for UP, RUNNING via grep as shown below
ifconfig -a | grep vpn | grep RUNNING
vpn_running=$?

if [ $vpn_running -ne 0 ]; then

    echo "VPN <tt>UP</tt> | iconName=utilities-terminal-symbolic bash='nmcli con up id VPN' terminal=false"
else
    echo "VPN <tt>(DOWN)</tt> | iconName=utilities-terminal-symbolic bash='nmcli con down id VPN' terminal=false"
fi

I'm using fantastic argo gnome shell plugin, and above is part of my script so I can launch VPN from toolbar (or shut it down)

A: You can also check your routes with the route command.
You will see more routes as normal and to different destinations.
Example
Connected without juniper:
moose@pc07:~$ route
Kernel IP routing table
Destination     Gateway         Genmask         Flags Metric Ref    Use Iface
192.168.0.0     *               255.255.255.0   U     2      0        0 wlan0
link-local      *               255.255.0.0     U     1000   0        0 wlan0
default         192.168.0.1     0.0.0.0         UG    0      0        0 wlan0

Connected with Juniper:
moose@pc07:~$ route
Kernel IP routing table
Destination     Gateway         Genmask         Flags Metric Ref    Use Iface
192.168.0.1     *               255.255.255.255 UH    1      0        0 wlan0
vpn.kit.edu     192.168.0.1     255.255.255.255 UGH   1      0        0 wlan0
192.168.0.0     *               255.255.255.0   U     2      0        0 wlan0
link-local      *               255.255.0.0     U     1000   0        0 wlan0
default         vpn-cl-192-62.s 0.0.0.0         UG    1      0        0 tun0
default         192.168.0.1     0.0.0.0         UG    10     0        0 wlan0

A: Using the juniper ncdiag commands will give you this information.

*

*Use ncdiag -t for a tunnel test.

*Use ncdiag -h for host info.

More specifics:
$ cd ~/.juniper_networks/network_connect
~/.juniper_networks/network_connect$ file !$
file ncdiag
ncdiag: ELF 32-bit LSB executable, Intel 80386, version 1 (SYSV), dynamically linked (uses shared libs), for GNU/Linux 2.2.5, stripped
~/.juniper_networks/network_connect$ ./ncdiag
    usage: ./ncdiag -A [or]
    usage: ./ncdiag -i -s -d -t -h -a -r <hostname> -k -v
     -A : All tests
     -i : installation test
     -s : service test
     -d : driver tests
     -t : tunnel test
     -h : host info
     -a : adaptor test
     -r : resolve host
     -k : kill NC gui
     -v : version

~/.juniper_networks/network_connect$ ./ncdiag -t
+==============================================================================+
|   Tests:          |        Results:                      |
+==============================================================================+
       o  NC Diagnostics
             NC Tunnel Test          Established

       Finished running tests
+==============================================================================+
~/.juniper_networks/network_connect$ ./ncdiag -h
+==============================================================================+
|   Tests:          |        Results:                      |
+==============================================================================+

   o  Host Details
         Hostname            tau
         Domainname          (none)
         IP Routing Enabled      Yes
         IP Loopback test        Passed
         Nameserver Details
           8.8.8.8       Ping Passed

           8.8.6.6       Ping Passed
         Gateway Ping Test
            10.20.20.1       Ping Passed

   Finished running tests

+==============================================================================+

A: You can check for any "tun" entries in the routes output. I run the following:
if [[ $(route | grep tun -c) -gt 0 ]]; then
   echo "Connected to VPN"
else
   echo "Not connected to VPN"
fi

A: Here is how I check if I connected to VPN(I am using NordVPn)
nordvpn_status=$(nordvpn status)

if [[ $nordvpn_status == *"Connected"* ]]; then
  echo "VPN connected"
else
  echo "VPN is not connected"
  nordvpn connect
fi


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Exclusive Cover Reveal: Clash of Fate and Fury by Rachel Menard
September 7, 2022 Dahlia Adler Leave a comment
Today on the site we're revealing the cover of Clash of Fate and Fury by Rachel Menard (sequel to Game of Strength and Storm), which releases from Flux on March 21, 2023! Here's the story:
Seventeen-year-old Gen may have rescued her beloved father from prison, but she hasn't saved him yet. If she fails her end of a bargain with the Olympian Empresses, they will send him right back to his cell. To keep the Empresses happy, Gen must bring them the legendary golden apples of Hesperides and the monstrous Cerberus. But both are rumored to be in the neighboring Elysium Empire, which has a long history of war with Olympia. Making matters worse, Gen's former enemy and newly designated heir to the isle of Arcadia Castor invites herself on the journey, hoping a golden apple could end Arcadia's reliance on Illumium for storm vials. And Castor's twin brother, Gen's StormMaker boyfriend Pollux, has been pulling away from Gen due to troubles stemming from her mind magic.
With Castor's pirate-thief girlfriend and Pollux's servant companion in tow, the unlikely team embarks on its voyage. But war is only an insult away in Elysium, and more than the Emperor has their eyes on Gen's mission. The quest has caught the attention of one of Elysium's Oracles, and trouble is sure to brew with Prophecy on the rise.
And here's the electrifying cover, designed by Karli Kruse and illustrated by Sanjay Charlton of Beehive Illustration!
A note from the author: In our initial cover discussion, I asked, "Do you think we can have Gen, Castor, Pollux and the golden apples and the Cerberus on the front?" I was willing to forsake the labors if they wouldn't fit, but I definitely wanted Pollux to make an appearance. Sanjay Charlton, the cover illustrator, miraculously made it all work. You get the characters, the tension, and the mythology all in one shot. It's perfect.
Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon | B&N | IndieBound | Book Depository
Preorder from Flux or North Star Editions using code SPRING23 for 30% off!
Rachel Menard is an author of strange and fantastical stories for teens that feature unapologetic young women. Her work has been featured in Writer's Digest and on Cast of Wonders, and her short story, "Blame it on the Bees," was chosen as a "Best of 2019" by Diabolical Plots. Her novels include Game of Strength and Storm, a Junior Library Guild Selection, and Clash of Fate and Fury. Visit her online at http://www.RachelMenard.com.
Beehive IllustrationClash of Fate and FuryFluxKarli KruseRachel MenardSanjay CharltonThe Labors of GenYA
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text:
Q: Existence of a cyclic non-normal subgroup in a $p$-group Let $G$ be a finite non-abelian $p$-group, where $p$ is an odd prime,
 $N$ be a normal subgroup of $G$ of order $p$, where $\frac{G}{N}$ is non-abelian.
Does there exist an element $g\in G$ such that $\langle g\rangle$ is NOT normal in $G$
and $N\langle g\rangle$ is normal in $G$?(Note that $G$ and  $\frac{G}{N}$  are non-Dedekind groups
and contain  non-normal cyclic subgroups.
By a Dedekind  group I mean a group all of whose subgroups are normal,
which are abelian groups or direct product of a quaternion group,
an elemntary abelian group and an abelian group with
all elements of odd order (Hamiltonian group)).
Thank you very much!
Added later(According to professor Holt's answer): Let $G$ be a finite non-abelian $p$-group
and $N$ be a normal subgroup  of $G$ of order $p$, where $\frac{G}{N}$ be also non-abelian ($p$ is an odd prime).
Also let for each $g\in G$
$$\langle g\rangle\lhd G\Leftrightarrow  N\langle g\rangle\lhd G.$$
Is it possible to classify such $G$?

A: Let $G = \langle x,y,z \rangle$ be a $3$-generated group of order $p^6$ of exponent $p$ and class $2$. So $Z(P) = [P,P]=\Phi(P)$ is elementary abelian of order $p^3$, and so is $G/Z(P)$.
Let $N = \langle [x,y] \rangle$. So $N \lhd G$ with $|N|=p$. Then $Z(G/N) = Z(G)/N$, so for $g \in G$, we have $$\langle g \rangle \lhd G \Leftrightarrow g \in Z(G) \Leftrightarrow \langle g, N \rangle < Z(G/N) \Leftrightarrow  \langle g, N \rangle \lhd  G/N.$$
Added later: An easier type of example is $P = Q \times N$ where $Q$ is any nonabelian $p$-group and $N$ is any abelian $p$-group.

A: Here's an easy example: take $G$ to be of class $3$ and exponent $p$ (take $p\gt 3$ just to be sure it is regular). Say
$$K=\langle x,y\mid x^p=y^p=[y,x]^p=[y,x,x]^p=[y,x,y]^p=[y,x,x,x]=[y,x,x,y]=[y,x,y,x]=[y,x,y,y]=1\rangle.$$
Every element of $K$ can be written uniquely as $x^ay^b[y,x]^c[y,x,x]^d[y,x,y]^e$, with multiplication done using commutator collection.
Now mod out by one of the two commutators of weight $3$, say $[y,x,y]$, to get $G$. This is a group of class $3$. Let $N$ be the subgroup of $G$ generated by the other commutator of weight $3$, $[y,x,x]$. The quotient of $G$ by $N$ is the Heisenberg group of order $p^3$, hence nonabelian.
Finally, let $g=[y,x]$. The subgroup generated by $g$ is not normal in $G$, since it does not contain $[y,x]^x = [y,x][y,x,x]$. However, $gN$ is central in $G/N$, hence $\langle g,N\rangle$ is normal in $G$.


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Beginning of the end for you B&o?
Re: Beginning of the end for you B&o?
Studiomaster: http://www.linnrecords.com/linn-what-is-a-studio-master.aspx There are a few others that do this like Naim etc..and would 100% recommend them but sadly none of B&o stuff can manage this. A high quality streamer with an awesome DAC in the quality casing of old B&O would do the trick!
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Re: Beolab 5 ... Anybody with 4?
Thanks Martin, so it goes up to 96Khz so how does one play higher sampling frequency tracks? I wasn't comparing them to $35,000 speakers; i was comparing them to active ATC's. I think embedding a DAC in speaker is good way of accelerating the lifespan of a speaker and make it defunct a few years down the line. Anyway, I have learnt the hard way.
Re: I will never use Ebay to buy Bang and Olufsen products again.


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Home Money Market Access Bank wins triple honours at EMEA Awards
Access Bank wins triple honours at EMEA Awards
Foremost African financial institution, Access Bank Plc. has emerged as Nigeria's biggest winner at the 2016 EMEA Finance Banking Awards by leading financial publication EMEA Finance Magazine.
Access Bank won in 3 categories awarded to financial institutions in the Pan-African Region: the 'CEO of the Year', awarded to Access Bank's Group Managing Director and CEO, Herbert Wigwe; 'Best Bank in Nigeria' and 'Corporate Social Responsibility'.
Receiving the award on behalf of the Bank at the annual African Banking Awards Dinner in London, United Kingdom touched the lives of thousands of Nigerians.
Wigwe said, "We are delighted to receive these prestigious awards. It is a testimonial to the hard work we have done in line with our five-year strategy to become the world's most respected African Bank.''
"2016 has been a remarkable year for the Bank as we continue to receive both regional and international acclaim. We have reaffirmed our status as innovative industry pioneers equipped to help our customers take tomorrow today," Wigwe stated.
Commenting on Access Bank's impressive streak, EMEA Finance CEO Christopher Moore said: "A repeat winner of our Best Bank in Nigeria award, Access Bank has become a Nigerian powerhouse, and one of the premier financial institutions in the country. Generating steep increases in revenues and profit growth over the past several years is no small feat, particularly with strong negative macroeconomic headwinds."
Access Bank's Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Herbert Wigwe was also crowned 'Bank CEO of the Year'.
"We are delighted to recognise Wigwe as our CEO of the Year in our African Banking Awards 2016 awards package," Moore said. "Leadership requires ambition, and Wigwe possesses this quality and much more. His years of dedication and commitment to the development of Access Bank have helped it to attract over 8 million customers, to complete complex and strategically important financings, and to create an international presence," he added.
EMEA Finance is a leading bi-monthly global industry publication that reports on the major financial events and happenings initiated and influenced by the international financial industry active in Europe, Middle East and Africa.
Wigwe led Access Bank's efforts to incorporate sustainability across all aspects of the bank's activities. In doing so, he also moved the entire sector forward, and now all of Nigeria's banks, including the Central Bank of Nigeria, have adopted what is known as the Nigerian Sustainable Banking Principles.
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It's not just about our beautiful historic boats here at the National Waterways Museum, Ellesmere Port - you are more than welcome to bring your own boat here into the port to moor while you explore!
When you arrive at the National Waterways Museum on the Shropshire Union Canal you'll find Canal & River Trust visitor moorings in the upper basin, near the museum entrance.
We'll usually direct you to the lower basin, through two sets of Whitby Locks, within the museum complex.
A boat arriving with two people and staying a week would therefore pay £19.50 for day one and £24 for the next six days moorings.
Dogs are welcome, but please keep them on a lead at all times and they sadly aren't allowed in the museum's galleries and cafe.
As well as secure moorings, you'll find fresh water and refuse facilities. Boaters can use the shop, cafe and toilets. We sell Canal & River Trust Unit cards for self service pump-outs. The nearest facility is Taylor's Boatyard in Chester (about eight miles away on the Shropshire Union Canal).


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Rahman, Yusof
Consultant in inherited metabolic disease
Area of expertise: inherited metabolic disease (IMD), metabolic syndrome
Dr Yusof Rahman is a consultant in inherited metabolic disease (IMD).
After graduating from University College Dublin Medical School in 1998, he completed his general medical training and obtained MRCP(I).
He spent a further three years in Dublin as an endocrine research fellow, and worked on his doctoral thesis.
In 2004, Yusof moved to London to join a metabolic medicine specialist registrar training programme at Imperial College Healthcare.
As part of his specialist training, he also spent two years at the Charles Dent Metabolic Unit, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, for his IMD training.
He obtained his Fellowship for the Royal College of Pathologists (FRCPath) in 2008 and completed his CCT in chemical pathology / metabolic medicine in 2009, prior to joining Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and Evelina London.
Despite spending half of his life abroad, as a true Malaysian, Yusof still enjoys good food, travelling and playing badminton on a regular basis.
Specialist interests
Intermediary metabolism
Healthcare informatics.
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White, Edmund
Mikey Haverman July 1, 2017 0
Born in Cincinnati, son of Edmund Valentine II (an engineer) and Delilah Teddlie (a psychologist). Edmund Valentine III White has been regarded as the unofficial spokesman of the social, cultural, and political aspirations of the gay community. A novelist at age five, White has since authored several critically acclaimed fiction and non-fiction works. After graduating with a major in Chinese from the University of Michigan in 1962, the twenty-two year old moved to New York City. Scarred as a child by his parents' divorce and his struggle to reconcile himself with his sexuality, White felt rejuvenated by his new found independence. Within a short time, White became an editor in the book division of Time-Life, Inc., a position he retained until 1970. In 1963, The Blue Boy in Black, White's first drama, was produced Off-Broadway. This play focused on a black maid employed in the home of a successful white author. After breaking up his marriage, she becomes his second wife and goes on to her own career as a novelist. Forgetting Elena (1973), White's first published novel, details a young Fire Island amnesiac's struggle to discover not only his own identity and those of the older men around him, but the purpose of his presence in alien surroundings. Written in 1969, Forgetting Elena was initially rejected by twenty editors. It finally caught the interest of Random House's Anne Freedgood, who sought to increase its marketability by having White revise it as a mystery. Throughout the five-year period between 1969 and 1974, White labored on Woman Reading Pascal, a novel that was ultimately rejected by numerous editors, and still remains unpublished. Written at the time that he resigned his post as a staff writer for Time-Life books, the novel, intended as homage to James' Portrait of a Lady, chronicled the adventures of a straight blonde heiress who becomes involved with both a lesbian and a gay man. Wounded but undaunted, White put his effort into two entirely different works, The Joy of Gay Sex and Nocturnes for the King of Naples. In 1983, White moved to Europe, which provided the inspiration for a novel and a biography. Caracole, published in 1985, chronicled the exploits of Gabriel, a naïve French provincial who, upon arriving in the capital, is sought out by numerous Parisian socialites. White's biography of Jean Genet, published in 1993, is considered to be the definitive work on the life of this famous writer. Returning to the United States in 1990, White learned that several of his closest friends had died from AIDS related illnesses. Since the year 2000, he has published several further books, including The Married Man and The Flâneur: A Stroll through the Paradoxes of Paris.
Hopwood Awards, University of Michigan for fiction and drama, (1961, 1962). Fellowships from the Ingram Merrill Foundation (1976, 1978). The Award for Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, (1982). A Guggenheim Fellowship, (1983). Chevalier (later Officier) de L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government, (1993). National Book Critics Circle Award for Genet, (1994). Critics 1 Choice Award, San Francisco Review of Books, for Skinned Alive (1995-96) Member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters (1997). Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1999). Honorary doctorate, State University of New York at Oneonta, (2000). Prize of the festival of Deauville (France) for entire body of work, (2000). Ferro-Grumley Award from the Publishing Triangle for The Married Man, (2001).
Categories Drama, Fiction, Literature, Southwest
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