Walk Off The Earth Kick Off in Burlington at Sound of Music Festival 2017, World Class Performances, Burlington Bred!
Walk Off The Earth, Burlington bred, delivered a World Class Performance at the Sound of Music Festival held in Burlington, Ontario which starts this week June 15th-18th, 2017 at Spencer Smith Park. They delivered an epic concert, they surprised us, they entertained us, their talented selves played a medley of more than seven songs with five members on one guitar!
When Walk Off The Earth covered Gotye's "Someone I used to Know" (from Australia), playing one guitar together, they had no idea that actor/musician Russell Crowe would tweet about it. This led to millions of hits on you tube and a television spot on Ellen in the U.S.A. The rest is history, but Walk Off The Earth backed it up with loads of talent. So although the show was incredible already, with multiple musicians switching from several instruments each, including kazoos, accordian, guitars, base, drums, electronics, keyboards, and more, Walk Off The Earth did not do what we expected them to do, which was to repeat the performance. They exceeded our expectations, playing one guitar, starting off with "Someone I used to Know" then parlaying that into, at least 7 more songs.
I had to stop counting, because it was so original, with an understanding of how a medley can connect songs (with a shout out to a Beatles cover), and the crowd went ballistic. It is without question, that the happiness that Walk Off The Earth can spread is absolutely, irrevocably, contagious. And their message, if I can be so bold, may be, that maybe, we are all in this, this earth, this world, together, so let's play together, let's sing together, let's enjoy and spread that love for all of mankind right into the atmosphere. Deep down, we all know, we all have the power to change this world for the better.
But there were more surprises in store, Walk Off The Earth is…pregnant! That's right, pregnant mega musician Sarah Blackwood, lead singer, filtrating harmonies and lit up the stage in collective fashion.
Gianni Luminati expressed his concerns when he described "ninjas" harassing others, so he better learn Tae Kwon Do to protect his family. In his white, baggy, jumpsuit, reminiscent of Beastie Boys days, he was ready to battle the negative forces on stage with dancing Tae Kwon Do-ists. His is a different kind of battle, the power of a great song! We heard Gianni sing, rap, harmonize, reggafy, funkafy, sing falsetto while flawlessly moving about stage from lead singer, to guitar, to drums, to kazoo. There is nothing Gianni doesn't do on stage that doesn't hit a chord in our heartstrings. You just know he is beautiful inside and out. Walk Off The Earth's lyrics and choice of song, are otherworldly, they shoot for the moon, shine like the sun, and emit stars. The band also performed acapella.
Walk Off The Earth also invited famous beat boxer Terry to perform with them on stage and then prove solo, that he was a music machine https://www.facebook.com/KRNFX/. What Terry does with his voicebox is insane. The whole crowd went crazy, again.
The Sound of Music Kickoff Concerts on June 11 was one of the best performances I have ever see in my life. I hope this excerpt inspires you to support these musicians by buying their music and feeding your soul. You can find Walk Off The Earth at http://www.walkofftheearth.com/ Their new album is called Fire In My Soul. Let's make this world a better place by supporting the arts and musicians. They have a story to tell that just may save the world as we know it by inspiring us to live in harmony on this, the planet we share. For more Sound of Music Free Concerts in Burlington 2017, check out the festival lineup happening this Father's Day week June 15th-18th, 2017 right here: https://soundofmusic.ca/lineup/ And while you're at it, you can support Canada's largest Free Outdoor Festival too.
Destiny is in your hands, photo by Paula Erskine, Spain.
Of course, this connection is interwoven with the truth found in Canada's original inhabitants, which were aware of its power as far back as 10,000 years or so. Before 150 years of Canada, there was a land of ancient, wise people who lived sustainably, respectfully, passing down stories and traditions and living with gratitude.
Sunday June 11th the White Pine Dancers perform as a group of First Nations Family and friends who share their gifts of story, dance and song at 1:45pm at the Sound of Music Festival 2017. Open your hearts and show your love for Canada's aboriginal nations.
They have a story to tell, one that we can feel through our natural connection to mother earth. I had the privilege of capturing the images of the White Pine Dancers below from a Crawford Lake event.
The website offers music samples from the artists, not all of which I have heard of, but that never stops me from checking out their videos, doing a bit of research and going with bands that inspire me to be a fan and supporting Canadian artists.
Who can forget Burlington's prides and joys, The Spoons, http://www.spoonsmusic.com/ from the 80's hitting the stage at 4:30pm, and Walk Off The Earth at 7:30pm. Who of my generation doesn't remember their songs on the radio? Go Burlington, Go!
Incidentally, Walk Off The Earth made humble passengers on a wintry flight of mine last year, so I was able to express my fanship through trolley offerings aisle-side. Their cover tune of Gotye "Somebody I used to know" seen here made headlines when actor and musician Russell Crowe tweeted about their video of the whole band playing one guitar right here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGIiYejABSQ which landed them a guest spot on TV show Ellen. Check out their cover of Adele and they have incredible original songs. Please support them and put Burlington on the map again and again! https://www.facebook.com/walkofftheearth.
Inbetween those Burlingtonians on Sunday June 11th is Tebey at 6:00pm and you can listen to him here, and rocks country with a great voice http://tebeymusic.com/jealous-of-the-sun-official/.
Stay tuned for some more great music and good vibrations as we explore Burlington Sound of Music 2017 and I formulate my playlist for this year. The only negative thing I can say is that, there are sometimes several great acts playing at the same time, so I do make a music plan and prioritize my free concert repertoire.
Here are some great moments I captured on film in recent years at the Burlington Sound of Music Festival..
Sean McCann formerly of Great Big Sea, performed last year at Burlington City Hall and was oozing talent and goodness. He is a champion of his own demons.
See you in Burlington, where we share borders with Hamilton via this bridge, Oakville, Milton and Halton proper. Let's not forget our neighbors on the other side of the lake, in the good old U.S. of A. who are always welcome. And to all the tourists world-wide, plan your vacation around this Free Concert Extravaganza in Burlington. Stay tuned for more on this event this week 2017.
http://www.free-meditation.ca/archives/22225 Please check out the link for more information about Sahaja Yoga and subscribe to enjoy fresh new articles! Namaste Everyone. We salute the light in all of you.
Saturday February 18th from 12noon to 4:30pm at St. Boniface Library, Salle de Marie Bernard, second floor (yes, there is an elevator).
For more information http://www.free-meditation.ca or http://www.freemeditation.com are great official websites where you can peruse videos, music and presentations with great vibes.
Tuesday January 31st on the third floor (no elevator as it is a heritage building) at the Dragon Arts Collective 0n 91 Albert street from 2-3pm, 3-4pm, 4-5pm drop in and feel free to stay for more than one session as we go deeper into the knowledge of a meditation technique known as "thoughtless awareness". Drop in, no registration required!
After that, sessions are on: Wednesday February 1st at St. Boniface Library, 100-131 Provencher Blvd., 2nd floor (yes there is an elevator) in the Salle Marie-Lynne Bernard room. The times are 4-5pm, 5-6pm, 6-7pm, 7-8pm. Again, no need to register, just show up, and be prepared to enjoy inner peace, get connected by experiencing the true meaning of yoga, which means ~connection. More dates will be announced on a month to month basis at least until April and rotating local libraries and venues offering free space.
One can book an Air Transat ticket for a direct flight to Zagreb, Croatia right now for as early as next year, for example, May 30th, 2017 at a price of approximately $871 Canadian dollars and enjoy the comfort of Air Transat's Airbus 330 fleet. Visit http://www.airtransat.com to book ahead and take advantage of cheap flights to Croatia flying directly out of Toronto, Canada and Montreal, Canada. Air Transat will likely add a second flight weekly to Zagreb, Croatia as of May 2016. Book early to get the deals! Here are some places to visit in Croatia that may delight your senses.
Below, Plitvicka National Park, known to visitors as "paradise," is less than 2 hours away from Zagreb and enjoyed year round. Easy hiking, hundreds of waterfalls, 16 turquoise lakes.
Rastoke Village, in Slunj (above), is 1 and a half hours from Zagreb, Croatia on the way to Plitvice Park. Imagine opening your window shutters and overlooking a waterfall below your window, with the sound rushing through your veins and the fresh, cool mist rising up through the atmosphere. In this valley, one is surrounded by trees whose roots run deep, taking a drink from the rivers they call home. Eat at Petro, visit Unique Rastoke park (just that part is closed on tuesdays) and eat there too, the food is fresh and authentic throughout the village…or stay at many of the apartments built on waterfalls in this fairy tale mill town on pristine waters. Simply unmissable and picturesque, any time of year. A peaceful place. Take advantage of the pleasant off season weather with more elbow room than mid-summer to enjoy Croatia even more.
If you are still on the fence, wondering if Croatia is the right destination for you, let me share with you some favorite places to visit that are off the beaten path. Even within the usual hot spots, there are great tips to be shared on how to get the maximum value and enjoyment from your Croatian vacation. For those who travel yearly to the motherland, direct flights to Croatia this summer of 2016 have been a dream come true. In addition, Zagreb has proven to be a great hub for native travelers of Serbia and Bosnia and bordering nations visiting their families. It is very moving to see people of all these nations "going home" to introduce their children and grandchildren to the beautiful lands, lakes, rivers, mountains and the crystal clear Adriatic Sea which were their playgrounds.
It was especially convenient for the older generations to travel "home" on direct flights, most of them wanting to look out the window or watch the air show rather than the individual movie screens at each seat. The atmosphere on board is one of gratitude, appreciation and social friendliness without borders. Although the blocked time of the flight is 9 and a half hours, depending on head and tail winds, the average flight to Zagreb, Croatia from Toronto on Air Transat's Airbus 330 consistently took only around 8 hours!
Air Transat flights were packed all summer with added adventurers from Quebec and Greater Toronto Area as well as Americans enjoying the tour packages that were very reasonable and action-packed! Below, Ozujsko Pub in Zagreb, beside the Naive Art Gallery Egg in Upper Town serves tasty meats stuffed with cheese and prosciutto (pershuto), grilled vegetables and chicken shishkebabs wrapped in bacon. Tender, fresh, tasty and very reasonable!
Vinodol Restaurant (lower town), Zagreb Croatia above was absolutely superb eating, with a wonderful indoor skylit atmosphere and outdoor seating too. Below, Kava Tava (upper town)…find an excuse to eat palacinke (palachinke) the Croatian stuffed crepes, dessert, cappucinos, breakfast or sandwiches. Then, for all you airline buffs, Kava Tava's decor boasts passenger seats and airplane tables.
Zagreb's Upper Town can be reached by Funicular or stairs and is full of incredible places to eat with no lack of creativity, history, architecture, naive and modern art, fountains museums, bird's eye views, Lake Jarun, shoe shopping in particular in the lower town, and delicious food everywhere. To say Zagreb is hip would be an understatement.
A hidden gem in Zagreb is MS Grill run by Olga who will cook like only a mother can, and specializes in Bosnian dishes such as cevaps (barbecued chevaps are mixed meats, usually lamb, on home made grilled bread served with kajmak (k-eye-mahk) cream cheese, chicken paprikash, and many stews and famous crepes.The truth is, I ate most of the mouth watering meat before I remembered to take a picture. The secret to all the juicy meats, especially the grilled chicken, is the time they take to marinate it all…and I enjoyed it very much on my flight. The portions are too generous, and the prices are ridiculously cheap! You can find them around the corner from the Sheraton Hotel, Zagreb, with the orange canopy, simple. Olga is open from 7 or 8 am till midnight and serves fresh, home made food, her most evident ingredient, is love, warmth and enthusiasm. I do not leave the restaurant without my goodbye hug.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ms-Grill/1549760118614667 This is the facebook page.
Air Transat flights were packed all summer with added adventurers from Quebec and Greater Toronto Area as well as Americans enjoying the tour packages that were very reasonable and action-packed! See you in Zagreb! Check out my other posts for more great places to visit in Croatia! This is StrossMarte, at the top where the Funicular station stop is. Very artsy, great views, puppet shows, and very whimsical somehow. Sveti Marco Square, tiled roof, straight ahead from the Funicular. Many ways to see the city, including a vintage car ride. Fresh fritule, powdered mini doughnuts sometimes filled with jam at a window in upper town. We drop in on an orchestra practicing amid rows of fountains, it was lovely. The architecture, the old gate to the city, is so interesting. I hope to visit Lake Jarun where locals swim and bike in the near future. Until we meet again, Zagreb, I will enjoy my memories. See you in Croatia until early October of 2016 and May 2017 onward.


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At Family Connections, Inc. we understand that one of the first & more stressful steps to completing your adoption is putting together the finances. We don't want our families to be concerned about how to create a financial plan for their adoption - our Adoption Finance Coaching services are here so you don't have to go through this alone! The Adoption Finance Coach system helps you create a customized financial plan for your adoption.
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WOM Features – Shining / Anna Fiori / Minneriket
Dezembro 5, 2017 Dezembro 5, 2017 Fernando Ferreira	0 Comments	Black Metal, Depressive Black Metal, metal, Rock
SHINING release third new song taken from new album
SHINING are premiering the third crushing new track taken from their forthcoming album, 'X – Varg Utan Flock', which is scheduled for release on January 5th. You can watch it below.
The artwork of 'X – Varg Utan Flock', which has been created by Kevin Rolly can be viewed below.
Track-list
1. Svart Ostoppbar Eld (7:11)
2. Gyllene Portarnas Bro (6:39)
3. Jag Är Din Fiende (7:05)
4. Han Som Lurar Inom (8:03)
5. Tolvtusenfyrtioett (2:53)
6. Mot Aokigahara (9:33)
Niklas Kvarforth is not the first artist struggling with mental illness and related issues. The erratic Swede is also not the first musician whose inner demons are part of the creative genius. Yet in the world of metal, his band SHINING remains as a unique and outstanding act in terms of talent and musical excellence.
Never shy about his personal afflictions, Niklas Kvarforth is once again baring his tortured soul with 'X – Varg Utan Flock'. His anger, his confusion, his pain, and his torment are all becoming tangible on the tenth album in the band's long history. For a point of reference, the legendary 'V – Halmstad' release probably offers the most appropriate comparison. Yet all the influences SHINING fused into their previous masterpiece, 'IX – Everyone, Everything, Everywhere, Ends' (2015) are also still present. Eclectic influences from progressive rock, jazz, classical music, and even faint traces of pop have left their mark.
In addition to the broad musical spectrum on display, Niklas Kvarforth's deeply emotional laments emerging from the dark depths of his twisted mind go beyond the usual scale of metal bands in their great vocal scope and variety.
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Anna Fiori's Album Ready to Be Released on the 9th December
Anna Fiori is one of the most important metal singers of México with several international colaborations and appearances. With her first album released when she was only 18, Anna didn't stop since then. After touring with the Rhapsody Reunion in Mexico, she's ready now to unleash "In Ohtli Tonalli". Below you can watch "Fuego Negro", the first single of the album.
http://annafiorimx.com
Minneriket – Tro, håp og kjærlighet MUSIC VIDEO & SINGLE
Norwegian Romantic Black Metal band Minneriket announces the album "Anima Sola" to be unleashed January of 2018, and in anticipation of the debut of what will be the band's fourth full-length album, the single and music video for the track "Tro, håp og kjærlighet" can be seen and heard here:
"Tro, håp og kjærlighet" ("Faith, Hope and Love") is a song with a sharp and accusatory pointed finger. This is the opening track, and the leading line «Can you believe in God when children wish to die?» (transl.) sets the tone for the rest of the album. While it is a peremptory indictment against blind faith, it also speaks volumes about the state of the world. It's about self-destructiveness, about reaping what you sow, and about the brutality of merely existing. It revolves around loss, and uncomfortably asks all the questions we really don't want to answer about ourselves. – Stein Akslen, Minneriket (2017)
Free digital download:
https://minneriket.bandcamp.com/album/tro-h-p-og-kj-rlighet-single
https://open.spotify.com/album/2caxpgy3ekO2BdPDa9BETo
← Photo Report The Quartet Of Woah! @ Lisboa Ao Vivo – 25/11/17
09/12/17 – Mata-Ratos, Dr. Bifes & Os Psicopratas – A062, Caldas da Rainha →

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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German Reflects on Gibraltar, Morrocan Visits
November 30, 2009 Adam PhippsPosted in Study Abroad
Jake German '11 – My program in Granada periodically schedules weekend visits to different cities of cultural interest in Andalusia like Cordoba, Sevilla, and Cadiz. However, the main trip of the semester is the week-long excursion to Morocco by way of Gibraltar.
Gibraltar is still part of the United Kingdom, using both the Queen's English and the British Pound Sterling. It is a fascinating city, built right up out of the water. It has been part of the United Kingdom since 1713, and it is a strategic point of defense for the British Armed Forces. When we arrived in Gibraltar, the Royal Air Force was doing training exercises all over the Rock during the day. Chinooks and F-14's were executing aerial maneuvers above the Straight of Gibraltar. We took a bus tour over the territory and saw the tunnels remaining from World War II that the British used to house 39,000 troops – including a full-working hospital – all underground. We then drove to a mosque that overlooks the gap between Gibraltar and North Africa. The mosque was founded by the King of Saudi Arabia. The actual mountain itself is guarded by tribes of wild monkeys. Monkeys are nice creatures until one of them gets angry, and then they all get angry. At the top of the Rock on the clear day that we were there, I could see the coast of Morocco in front of me and all of Spain behind me. What a breathtaking view! Gibraltar is definitely a unique blend of Arabic, Spanish, and English cultures.
We traveled by ferry across the straight and landed in Tangier, Morocco. Morocco was formerly a French colony; therefore, French and dialects of Arabic are the predominant languages. Our first stop in Morocco was the Center for Women which educates them to be seamstresses. The goal of the center is to provide training to make women more economically independent. Morocco is an absolute monarchy; however, my experience there indicated a very progressive Islamic system focused more on women's rights.
After Tangier, we drove through the countryside to Rabat, the capital and home of King Muhammad VI. We stopped once to ride some camels which were awesome. My program arranged for us to stay with host families for two nights. That was a very interesting experience. Many travelers see Rabat and visit its great landmarks, but very few actually get to experience what it is like to stay with a Moroccan family and eat traditional Moroccan dishes. We visited the sights around Rabat – including the old Roman ruins, Yacoub Al-Mansour (unfinished 12th century mosque), and the Royal tomb of the Muhammad family. The last night we also visited a traditional Arab bath house. It was very intense heat, but my skin never felt cleaner.
Our next visit was to Chechaouene, a city located on the eastern side of Morocco. On the way, we stopped in the Rif Mountains to talk with a rural family to see what life is like outside of the big cities. The conversation we had with this family was one of the most interesting aspects of the visit to Morocco. In Chechaouene there is considerable Spanish influence, and so we were able to speak Spanish again. That night we had a very traditional Moroccan dish called chicken Tajin; it is eaten by dipping bread into the dish with your hands. There were no eating utensils! It is a very sweet dish that contains dates and raisins.
Morocco was a great experience and a true highlight of my study abroad so far. It was my first visit to an Islamic nation and also my first to Africa. This visit has reinforced many of the concepts that I have studied in both my art and architecture class and my Spanish history class in Granada. The Islamic presence in Spain lasted nearly eight centuries, and certainly the Moorish influence is still seen in architecture, language, foods, and many other customs. Moreover, I sense a more openness in my thinking about other cultures and other faiths.
Avtgis '11 Swirling in Morrocan Culture
Alex Avtgis '11 – While most of the globalized Western world employs modernization in order to boast of their pluralist hybridities (cultural, social, or otherwise), Morocco can proudly claim the latter without needing recourse to the former; a dynamic cornucopia of Arabic and Moorish influences, Berber native ancestry, and communities originating from several Sub-Saharan African nations traditionally subsist under the royal name of the state, without ever acknowledging the multiple foreign and European influences – be they French, Spanish, Japanese, or American – which also intertwine in Morocco's present day.
Yes, fresh and highly modern influences do exist already. Cell phones are found in every pocket, be it the pockets of rural jellabas (a Moroccan tunic) or urban designer jeans. Televisions talk constantly, and the internet informs homes across the country. You can locate the centers novelle (new) in every major city (coastal or inland). Some even boast of large corporate Megamalls. In certain parts of Rabat, such as the trendy Agdal, you'd think you had lost yourself somewhere along the way in Chicago or Indianapolis.
And you'd also think that would surprise me, as a Westerner coming for his first time to an African country. But that's not what I've noticed the most.
I live in the capital city of Morocco, Rabat, and arguably the most representative of the entire country. Characteristically, it's not overly sensational like Marrakech, exorbitantly touristy like Tangier, highly relaxed like Essaouira, surprisingly rural like Boujaad, or fanatically bustling like Casablanca. It combines all of these spices into a nice complex blend, which I breathe in (deep!) every beautiful morning from the leisure and comfort of a second-story bedroom window.
What I have found most astonishing about this charming capital is its constancy in revolving around a romanticized Medina khdeema (old city). Even after hundreds of years, the city's pulse directly stems from those ancient, cement structures which inhabit the three square miles encased by red stone brick.
Though the city has expanded for miles southward over a short decade or so – through which it can now boast one of the best and prestigious universities on the African continent – most of the life and activity occurs in this conservative, coastal center. All energy found in the Villa Novelle centralizes right outside of the old medina's busiest hub; where the dusty Avenue Mohammed V intersects the equally worn Avenue Hassan II marks the location, on average, of the most foot, taxi and motorbike traffic found in the entire city.
See, when this intersection dies out, there won't be a soul wandering the newer French city. What you could find is the chatter of elderly patriarchs (always accompanied by the hurried scurries of younger relatives bearing cups of tea on metal trays), female conversation floating from windows and doorways, the smell of roasting onion and beef rising from street vendors, the calls and scrapple of animated alley soccer games – all of which are screened only for kdema's citizens.
At times, life inside of it is like life in the Wabash fraternity. There are certain walls which simultaneously bind and liberate individuals, both foster and inhibit growths, and all the while provide concrete boundaries which forge and force relationships to occur.
In short, everybody knows everybody. A shocking story reveals this best – when I was jumped during the first few days, and had both a copy of my passport and an IPOD stolen, it was the medina which came to my aide; I credit the networking of its inhabitants. Immediately following the incident, my host brother rallied the entire police force in a five mile radius by walking from post to post and talking to 'friends'. While the ensuing search revealed nothing, the situation was resolved hours later, when a fruit vendor, who was also my brother's friend, informed him of the thief's home.
When my brother returned triumphantly with my passport and IPOD, I knew it was only possible by the help of a friendly, small city. He confirmed it was. The laughs we now share over the topic confirm my love and deep gratitude I have for the opportunity to study abroad.
That's only one of many such encounters I have with the kdema's numerous characters. Everytime I pass the reggae vendor on 'fish and vegetable' street (which we've appropriately named after its two main foodstuffs), who sits all day listening to music, we smile at each other. It's the same simple relationship I have with Karim, my friend at the hookah café down the street, who gives me a hug and calls me his brother.
And that doesn't stop at the peer-level. I've been invited over to over for coffee, tea and discussion by a myriad of people who are old enough to be my grandparents.
Alas, I mustn't keep you any longer. I'm being kicked out of the café in the new city – I should've known. Find attached some pictures of Rabat and others documenting some my journeys outside the beloved city.
To me, it isn't funny I just used the adjective beloved. I guess I have developed a deep love for it; the same way that the freshman must be seeing our dearly beloved Alma Mater right about now, with the leaves falling golden and the warming promises against DePauw circulating.
Before I forget – I recently completed my search for a place to stay during my independent research period. As I turn back home, and navigate the kdema's ancient streets tonight, I will probably grin as I put the key in my apartment off avenue Sidi-Fatah; I am both proud and happy to continue calling this ancient community my home for the next month.
In Photos: Top Right, Chefchaouen city view; at left, looking up a cathedral bell tower in Casablanca; second right, Casablanca's Cathedral; lower left, Beni Mallel street vendors.
Tian Embracing French Culture Daily
Tian Tian '11 – With the combination of an art major with French and economics minors, as well as a life-long passion for classical music, I simply cannot think of a better place than Paris to spend my study-abroad semester. This is a city that helps me digest what I have learned in the past, inspires me to learn a lot of new things at present, and shows me a lot of possibilities to better develop myself in my future.
After a whole months' advanced French language immersion at a beautiful medieval town named "Tours" located in southwestern France, I returned to Paris and started my five classes at the Catholic Institute of Paris – an art history class ranging from the period Renaissance to Impressionism, a French history class and three advanced-level French language classes.
My favorite class is the art history class, partially because the location of our classroom is in the Louvre Museum! One out of every three class periods, the professor takes us to the Louvre Museum to observe and analyze in front of the real paintings or sculptures that we had studied and analyzed during classes. Moreover, I also get a great opportunity to do an externship call "Louvre Nocturne" during December. My responsibility during this externship is to present and interpret the paintings in French, English or Chinese language to the visitors of the Louvre Museum. I regard this as a great opportunity to sharpen my French language skill and my oral-presentation skill.
Another class called "The grand period of French history" is the most challenging history class I could ever expect. Other than the all-in-French nature of this class, the contents range from the 5th century to the 19th century of French history. During this class, I follow very carefully the three-hour-long lectures stuffed with key words and details given by the professor. Meanwhile, I am expected to burn some serious time myself in the library to fill in the details relevant to the topic mentioned during the classes because those will be in the exam! The most productive part is that I get to do comparative study on how differently the French history is interpreted in its own nation, in the US and in China. This really helps me to realize critical thinking and develop objectivity.
During my leisure times, I take full advantage of the richness of the top-notch museums in Paris. Since I hold an "art history student museum pass", I get to visit all the art museums in Paris free. After appreciating the French impressionism for over ten years, I finally get to visit the "Musée de l'Orangerie", in which there are Claude Monet's famous "Waterlilies" oil paintings on eight huge canvases with a total length of ninety-one meters. Meanwhile, I have already developed my favorite activity in Paris which is to walk along the left bank of Seine River, watching the amazing views and culture relics the left bank bears. Walking along the bank that has influenced countless painters, musicians and writers, I understand better the core value and history of Paris.
During "All-Saint's Day" on November 1st, the local Parisians' custom is to visit Cemetery "Père-Lachaise" to respect the tombs of their favorite celebrities, including Balzac, Marcel Proust, Oscar Wilde, Maria Callas etc. That day I visited my long-worshiped composer and pianist Frédéric Chopin's tomb. It was definitely a spiritual experience, blessing me with considerable inspiration and confidence to my own upcoming Chopin solo concert in April 2010.
I am truly grateful to Wabash for offering me such an amazing study-abroad semester. It allows me to experience in person the culture and arts I have been studying and practicing. It goes without saying that this experience enhances my previous studies at Wabash as well as offers me a lot of new inspiration for my future development.
2021 Givens Scholarship | Studying Abroad: Thomas Hansen '23: Rome, Italy
2021 Givens Scholarship | Studying Abroad: Kwaku Sarpon '22: Strasborg, France
2021 Rudolph Scholarship | Studying Abroad: Miles Clutter '22, Granada, Spain
2021 Rudolph Scholarship | Studying Abroad: Gavin Rich '22
2021 Rudolph Scholarship | Studying Abroad: Will Harvey '22: Granada, Spain
Christopher Zabriskie on Steele in England for Summer on Rudolph Fund
David Hadley on Transitioning from Vienna to German Countryside
Bill Doemel on Transitioning from Vienna to German Countryside
Christopher Zabriskie on Transitioning from Vienna to German Countryside
JHetzel on Opportunities 'Running' Around Europe
2014 Rudolph Scholarships
2016 Givens Scholarship
2017 Rudolph Scholarship


Give Rick Perry credit — he's made Texas #1 yet again, this time for being the top state to mooch national stimulus funds to plug budget shortfalls.
That's right — Rick Perry not only took Federal stimulus money, but also used it to plug 97% of the 2010 budget shortfall.
But wait, didn't we all just spend 6 months of our lives listening to Rick Perry go all Yell Leader on the soundness of the fiscal state of Texas?
Turns out Texas was the state that depended the most on those very stimulus funds to plug nearly 97% of its shortfall for fiscal 2010, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Texas, which crafts a budget every two years, was facing a $6.6 billion shortfall for its 2010-2011 fiscal years. It plugged nearly all of that deficit with $6.4 billion in Recovery Act money, allowing it to leave its $9.1 billion rainy day fund untouched.
Quick on the draw as always, the math-and-facts-adverse Perry administration immediately denied using stimulus funds to plug the hole in the budget.
Evidently our priorities are taking Federal tax dollars to balance the budget, rather than asking Texans to pay for what we need. Of course this year, there is no stimulus money to ride to the rescue, so our priorities are instead going to have to shift over to harming children and the elderly with brutal budget cuts.
So why haven't we heard more about Texas, one of the most important economies in America? Well, it's because it doesn't fit the script. It's a pro-business, lean-spending, no-union state. You can't fit it into a nice storyline, so it's ignored.
Looks like it may not continue to fly under the radar much longer… Especially with the severe budget cuts about to be handed down by the Republican legislature.
Next Article The DOT Show is Back!
They whine and moan and complain about "socialism" regarding federal spending then they line up to take the money to help the states they govern. Hypocrites, if they truly believed what they say they would turn down federal money.
Typical right wing conservative hypocrisy.
These facts were open and known last fall during the election. How come the media is just now starting to sound off more about it?
You mean he lied to us?
Of course he lied to us. Bill White lied to us as well. As everyone in Houston is finally realizing. They all lie.


Optical engineering uses classical optics techniques to create novel devices and instrumentation, and the College of Optical Sciences leads the field in designing and fabricating highly specialized optics. OSC maintains state-of-the-art facilities and a superb technical staff for grinding, polishing, measuring and aligning the world's most challenging mirrors — including those for astronomical telescopes. Students work side-by-side with experienced professionals on extensive, distinctive projects like the Giant Magellan Telescope, the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope and OSIRIS-REx, an unmanned space probe that will launch in 2016, land on an asteroid and return to Earth with a material sample.
To view past updates, see the Optical Engineering Updates Archive page.
The LIDAR system measures the position of a moving object.
A recent publication from the Takashima Lab on LIDAR is ranked as the 7th of the most downloaded papers in Optics Express in April 2018. The research team demonstrated a LIDAR system which remotely identifies location and distance of moving objects with a high sampling rate of 3.4K points/s. The new laser beam steering concept is expected to replace a bulky and slow scanning LIDAR system with a fast and light-weight one that can be a mass-produced Micro Electro Mechanical System (MEMS) device.
An example of how the LIDAR system measures the position of a moving object suspended from the ceiling.
Deformable mirror (DM) test configuration using the iPhone. Rays drawn in red arrows represent the time-reversed paths to show the as-used section of the screen.
The Large Optics Fabrication and Testing (LOFT) group under the lead of Dae Wook Kim has developed a new instantaneous deflectometry technology, which they implemented on an iPhone (see Trumper, Choi, and Kim, "Instantaneous Phase Shifting Deflectometry," Optics Express 2017). This development enables high precision snapshot measurements of time-varying surfaces, such as a deformable mirror (example in figure) or active bending modes of a large optic. Phase shifting deflectometry now has the capability to measure dynamic optics.
Deformable mirror surface measurement made at ~10 Hz using instantaneous deflectometry implemented on an iPhone.
The Large Optics Fabrication and Test (LOFT group PI: Dae Wook Kim) group developed the Simultaneous Multi-segmented mirror Orientation Test System for segmented optics application (H. Choi, I. Trumper, M. Dubin, W. Zhao, and D. W. Kim, Opt. Express 25, 18152-18164 (2017).) The localized 2D sinusoidal patterns are displayed on the screen and the CMOS camera captures the images reflected from each segment. Due to its high computing efficiency and accuracy (15 Hz, 0.8 µrad), it allows a dynamic monitoring and controlling of a multi-segmented optics system or a closed-loop optical system with a long-term stability requirement.
Left: Partial view of instrument for acquiring corneal topography. Right: Interferogram of a test sample.
The Aspheric Metrology Laboratory headed by John E. Greivenkamp designs and builds advanced interferometric systems for metrology and optical testing. Research interests include ophthalmic and visual optics, ophthalmic instrumentation and measurements, interferometry and optical testing of aspheric and freeform surfaces, optical fabrication, optical system design, optical metrology systems, distance measurement systems, sampled imaging theory, and optics of electronic imaging systems.
Demonstration of realistic cues for 3-D displays.
Hong Hua's 3-D Visualization and Imaging Systems Laboratory specializes in a wide variety of optical technologies enabling advanced 3-D displays, 3-D visualization systems and collaborative immersive virtual and augmented environments, and novel imaging systems for medicine and surveillance applications. The 3DVIS Lab also uses 3-D displays to better understand human visual perception and visual artifacts and investigates design principles for effective human-computer interface in augmented environments.
Left: Lithography tool. Right: Measurement of micro-optical structure fabricated by Milster lab.
Tom D. Milster's research aims to "push the boundaries of optical science and engineering to produce the maximum amount of information from a given volume of space and time." His group designs, simulates and fabricates custom computer-generated holograms, Diffractive Optical Elements, phase structures and amplitude masks. They investigate hyper-numerical-aperture linear and nonlinear microscopy, where the NA is greater than 1.5 and evanescent waves provide resolution well beyond conventional microscope limits. They are also interested in the development of "freeform" holography, with DOEs adding function and utility to 3-D structures. Unique instruments in the lab include a vacuum-ultraviolet microscope at the 121.6-nanometer wavelength and a high-resolution infrared microscope for determining subcellular metabolism. Research applications include industrial inspection, graphene characterization, metamaterial testing, data storage, lithography, and bio-film and subcellular imaging.
Lens design of wide-field and hyper-high-numerical-aperture projection system.
José Sasián's Optical Design Laboratory conducts research in optical design, including imaging and nonimaging systems; optical aberration theory and novel methods for aberration correction; illumination optics; aspheric surfaces; optical testing methods and modeling; optomechanics; optics for lithography; microscope design; optics for visual systems; light in gemstones; and modeling light propagation in optical systems.
Specialized screen for visual assessment.
The Ophthalmic and Visual Optics Laboratory led by Jim Schwiegerling designs and fabricates instrumentation for assessing various properties of the human eye. These devices include wavefront sensors for measuring aberrations of the eye and topographers for measuring the three-dimensional geometry of the corneal surface. The lab has developed novel retinal imaging techniques incorporating both polarimetric and spectroscopic measurement of the retinal tissue. Schwiegerling's group is also expanding usage of these core technologies to address needs in the fields of optical design and testing, biometric identification and computational photography.
The Takashima Lab is currently working on Digital Holographic Data Storage, Imaging and Long-Range LIDAR, Near to Eye Displays, Photonic Channeled X-Ray Detetector Arrays, Free-Space Optical Communications, Ray Aberration Generators and Micro-Vertical Light Couplers.
Yuzuru Takashima's laboratory constructs innovative optical devices through a wide spectrum of optical science and engineering techniques. Research topics include the design and fabrication of nanophotonic devices, micro-optics, network-based optical input-output devices, and optical and holographic information storage. Among additional areas of interest are X-ray phase contrast imaging, ultrawide field-of-view imaging, micromirror fabrication, CMOS-compatible packaging for silicon photonics and heads-up displays for mobile applications.


text:
Tag Archives: ofcom
BREAKING: Ofcom Signals Switch to Stronger TV and Streaming Censorship in Leaked Email
November 19, 2019 News, Politicsbroadcast, censored uk, censorship, ofcom, streamingJerry Barnett
Yesterday, Ofcom circulated a confidential email to broadcasters signalling its intention to increase the strength of its censorship regime. This has been provided anonymously to Sex & Censorship, and is published in the public interest.
Ofcom is better known as the UK's media and communications regulator, but it is also the UK's media censor. It is hugely powerful and well funded, formed by the merger of multiple earlier regulators covering various sectors of TV and radio. It has always applied ludicrously stringent censorship, often driven by compaints from a handful of individuals, and it throws out huge fines for the smallest of infringements. Its power began to be eroded by the rise of the internet, broadband, and streaming services, but it has long signalled that it intends to extend it remit over all forms of communication.
Ofcom not only censors the British media, but actually writes its own censorship policy – surely something that should be done by government with parliamentary oversight, rather than an unelected body. British (small-L) liberals have long worried about Ofcom's power. David Cameron, possibly the most liberal of all Tory leaders, signalled his intention to drastically reduce Ofcom's power before the 2010 election. Presumably, his wrist was slapped by the establishment, and his pledge was never heard of again.
Yesterday's email reads as follows:
From: Ofcom Standards Team <OfcomStandardsTeam@ofcom.org.uk>
Sent: 18 November 2019
Subject: Note to Broadcasters – Daytime chat and adult chat television services
Classification: CONFIDENTIAL
Dear Licensee
We would like to draw your attention to the Note to Broadcasters featured in Issue 391 of Ofcom's Broadcast and On Demand Bulletin which was published today.
The note reminds broadcasters of daytime chat and adult chat services of Ofcom's guidance in this area and puts these broadcasters on notice that it will be commencing a targeted monitoring exercise of these services. [my highlight]
Standards and Audience Protection team
The linked document is worth reading, because it gives an insight into the tight level of monitoring to which broadcasters are subject. Ofcom has the power to levy fines of hundreds of thousands of pounds, without recourse to the courts. For smaller broadcasters (and streaming companies), these would be impossible to bear. Broadcasters have no option but to tightly self-censor, or be put out of business.
As an afterthought, consider in this context the Labour Party's recently announced plans for a state-owned, free broadband service. It is unimaginable that the government-run broadband service would allow this to function like a normal ISP that allows full access to the internet, including sexual material or open discussion of difficult issues related to race, sexuality or gender. Given the Tories' recent attempts to censor the internet, I am deeply distrustful of both major parties with regard to civil liberties, and am keeping my fingers crossed for a hung Parliament.
Ofcom's Internet Power Grab is Finally Underway
July 6, 2016 Newsavms, censored uk, dcms, ofcom, porn panicJerry Barnett
Yesterday, the UK government released the result of its consultation into (yet again) protecting children from online pornography. Predictably, the finding was that children DO need even more protection, and so Ofcom must be granted additional powers to censor online content.
This process has been so long and treacle-slow that it's been clear for many years where it is leading. Stripping away the various convoluted steps that brought us here, one simple fact has always been obvious: Ofcom and the government were always going to act against a free Internet which undermined their powerful censorship controls over the mass media, and especially over sexual content.
So what will the new law – the Digital Economy Bill – say? It cements and the significantly extends the existing AVMS regulations which have been in place since 2010. So, as before, adult video-on-demand sites based in the UK are required to verify the ages of their visitors before revealing adult content to them. Failure to do so can (as before) result in a fine of up to £250,000. This regulation is the reason the UK adult industry has been decimated in the past few years.
Here's the new stuff:
The law no longer applies to "TV-like" video-on-demand services, but to all content, including still photography. This will close the loophole which a handful of websites have used to evade the regulations.
Apps are to be included as well as websites.
Ofcom will put pressure on payment companies as well as "advertising companies, web hosting services and others" to ensure that "the business models and profits of companies that do not comply with the new regulations can be undermined". This enables Ofcom to target overseas content that breaches UK regulations.
Note the vagueness in this last point: this could easily include, in future, requiring ISPs to block services. So here is the law that I've warned of for some years: one that will allow Ofcom to manage – and close – our digital borders. The great firewall of Britain is coming.
Unless I've missed it, I can't find any definition of "porn" in the report. The consultation hinted that soft content – non-explicit nudity and erotica – may be included, at Ofcom's discretion.
It's Not About Porn
Here's a point I've made repeatedly. In my book Porn Panic!, I argue that the war on porn has been merely a symptom of a deeper intolerance to free speech that has long been rising in British society. Ofcom will not, of course, stop at targeting commercial porn sites, or even all sexual content. The British state considers myriad forms of content to be unsuitable for under-18s, and will now grant itself the powers to deal with it.
And finally, a note on Brexit. It is likely that "undermining" (i.e. blocking or forcing to close) a legal, EU-based adult service would breach EU trade regulations. Sadly, should we leave the EU (as looks likely), we lose any legal recourse against this rising state censorship. Here, as in so many other ways, the EU has protected the British people against the excesses of our own government. Just as we will lose the free movement of people across borders, so we are beginning to lose the free transmission of information across borders.
Pornographer Pandora Blake Wins Battle, but Free Speech is Losing the War
June 7, 2016 Legal, Newsatvod, ofcom, pandora blakeJerry Barnett
First, here's the good news. Porn-maker Pandora Blake announced yesterday that her fetish website, Dreams of Spanking, will be switched back on, following a decision by Ofcom that it did not, after all, fall within their remit. The site had previously been targeted by the video-on-demand regulator ATVOD on the basis that it lacked age verification controls, and contained content that was harder than would legally be allowed under the UK's insipid DVD regulations. In January, ATVOD was closed down, and its powers brought within Ofcom, the UK's media regulator and censor.
Blake's appeal was one that has been successfully used a number of times since the video-on-demand (AVMS) regulations were introduced in 2010. AVMS is an EU framework designed specifically to regulate TV-like video-on-demand services. ATVOD, however, attempted to stretch the definition of "TV-like" as far as possible, in order to shore up its own income and power. Its first overreach, in 2011, was an attempt to define newspaper websites as TV-like, and thus bring news content within its remit. A raft of publications, led by the Sun, appealed that their content was not TV-like. Ofcom agreed with them, and ATVOD was forced to back down.
Playboy TV attempted to make a similar appeal with regard to its websites, but lost. The first porn site to successfully appeal was Urban Chick – Supremacy Cell (UC-SC – listen to my podcast interview with the site's owner). So UC-SC became the only porn site legally allowed to remain in the UK without having to meet ATVOD's stringent rules. Dreams of Spanking now becomes the second such site. So we have the bizarre situation where exactly two websites are legally allowed to operate in the UK without Ofcom's oversight. Can this continue? No.
Here's the not-so-good news. Blake's site is probably the last porn site to wriggle through the "not TV-Like" loophole, and its reprieve is a temporary one. Yesterday's media celebrations are overblown. For example, in Broadly: Feminist Porn Director Gets Big Spanking Win for Fetish Sites. But this isn't true. It is extremely unlike that any more fetish sites will be following UC-SC and Dreams of Spanking into libertarian paradise. And furthermore, those two sites have only won a short stay.
Ofcom, along with the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, has long been lobbying for greater powers to censor the Internet. One of its gripes has been the "TV-like" loophole which Pandora Blake and others have successfully used. The government's consultation on "protecting children", issued earlier this year, made clear that government plans to remove this restriction, extending Ofcom's jurisdiction from video-on-demand services to all forms of adult content, even including still imagery.
Ofcom's loathing of pornography is well known, and it hasn't suddenly seen the light. To refuse Blake's appeal would have opened up the regulator to challenge and scrutiny: its existing powers have dubious legal status. Far better to wait a few months until the new Digital Economy Bill is passed into law; at that stage, it can happily pull the plug on all the adult sites it chooses, without the risk of legal challenge.
So while this is a wonderful personal triumph for Pandora Blake, nobody should believe this represents a movement by the authorities, who now have victory within their sights. Ofcom and DCMS have quietly put the pieces into place for Internet censorship, and will hardly get distracted now by a couple of small fetish websites that have – for the moment – evaded their net. Nothing of significance will happen until Ofcom's new powers are set in stone by the Digital Economy Bill – and then Blake's site, along with many other porn, webcam and erotica sites will become illegal, and begin to vanish from the web.
The Queen's Speech 2016: Online Censorship Now Official Policy
May 20, 2016 Politicsage verification, atvod, avms, censored uk, ofcomJerry Barnett
Since 2010, when the government empowered ATVOD to regulate video-on-demand services, the direction of travel has been clear: there would little point in enforcing tough regulations on UK content providers, without also the power to block overseas services. Last Wednesday, the Queen's Speech to Parliament finally confirmed what has been looming for several years. The huge and unelected communications regulator Ofcom is to be given extra powers over Internet content. This announcement was tucked innocuously away within the plans for the Digital Economy Bill, as follows:
"All websites containing pornographic images to require age verification for access".
On its own, this is an odd announcement. After all, this provision has already been a UK regulation enforced by Ofcom since 2010, and was strengthened in the AVMS 2014 law (which prompted the famous face-sitting protest outside Parliament).So why is the government repeatedly announcing the same measure? It isn't, really: it just reuses the "child protection" justification for different actions. This time, Ofcom is to be given powers to disrupt overseas providers that provide "adult" content without first verifying users' ages. If this seems reasonable, keep in mind the following:
The government consultation on online pornography, which closed only last month, has not yet even reported. What was its purpose then?
When government talks about "pornography", this is shorthand for any content it considers unsuitable for children, which (as long experience has shown) includes anything from sex education to drug information; from "extreme" political speech to self-harm support sites.
Age verification is, in practise, riddled with problems, as I previously outlined here.
The powers assigned to Ofcom, as yet not specified, are likely to be open-ended. So although the talk is of pursuing adult payment and advertising services, it seems a certainty that site blocking will be on the table soon.
The Internet as we know it is going to change fundamentally. Mindgeek, owner of the largest porn services, has signalled that it will comply with the UK law, which means that sites like Pornhub and Youporn will no longer be freely available. Most major providers will doubtless follow. And sites featuring strong fetish content – even that which is legal in the United States and much of Europe – will not be able to comply with UK regulations at all, even if they implement age verification. But porn represents the tip of the iceberg.
In 2014, the major ISPs implemented optional "porn filters" in response to arm-twisting by David Cameron. The result was that about 20% of all websites became unavailable to users that switched on their "child protection" at home: a reminder that "porn" is a shorthand for a very broad range of content. Most users simply switched the filters off: this new regime will be far harder to circumvent.
Many services that allow user-contributed content will be classed as "adult": Twitter will, unless it heavily self-censors its adult content. So, no doubt, will its live streaming service, Periscope, which could well be used to stream sexual material.
We will be watching as the Digital Economy Bill progresses. The wording of Ofcom's new powers will be important to the future of free speech in the UK. Join our mailing list or Facebook page to keep track of events. This campaign is entirely funded by donations from supporters – you can donate here.
Podcast #4: Response to Government Consultation
April 4, 2016 Audioaudio, censored uk, consultation, ofcom, podcastJerry Barnett
There's no interview this week. Instead, our response to a government consultation on "protecting children", which is, we believe, an attempt to push more power to Ofcom to be able to censor online content. The consultation closes on 12th April.
http://media.blubrry.com/sexandcensorship/p/sexandcensorship.org/audio/4-consultation.mp3
From ATVOD to Ofcom: Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Fire
February 20, 2016 Comment, Politicsatvod, ofcomJerry Barnett
The recent transfer of Internet censorship powers from ATVOD to Ofcom has been trumpeted as a victory for free expression. It is anything but.
In 2009, the then opposition leader, David Cameron (who, we might remember, used to show vaguely liberal leanings), made a radical pledge: to break up the mighty super-regulator, Ofcom. As reported by the Guardian, he said:
"With a Conservative government, Ofcom as we know it will cease to exist. Its remit will be restricted to its narrow technical and enforcement roles. It will no longer play a role in making policy. And the policy-making functions it has today will be transferred back fully to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport."
This was a very important pledge. Ofcom, a large organisation with an annual budget running into the hundreds of millions of pounds, also writes and enforces policy, particularly in the field of television censorship: something that, as Cameron had noticed, is surely the role of government rather than an unelected regulator.
Of course, once the coalition was elected in 2010, this pledge was never heard of again. Ofcom remained intact, and is alive and well to this day. Furthermore, as of 1st January this year, video-on-demand censorship powers were transferred from ATVOD to Ofcom.
When the demise of ATVOD was reported last year, there was much jubilation, especially among small UK porn producers. As probably the original anti-ATVOD campaigner (having been in some way involved with the new VoD regulations since 2007), I too did a little dance on ATVOD's grave. ATVOD's CEO, Pete Johnson, had proven to be an obsessive anti-porn activist, and he turned his organisation's 'regulatory activity' into little more than a witch-hunt of British porn publishers.
But some of those involved trumpeted this move as some kind of victory for free expression. Anyone with experience of Ofcom would never make such a mistake. It is a grave threat to online free speech.
Ofcom is a typical New Labour creation: iron-fisted authoritarianism wrapped in a velvet glove of diversity and other fluffy things. Formed by merging multiple regulators into one monolith, it was granted powers of control over our daily lives. Its rules for television are moralistic and wide-ranging, and almost never challenged by our elected representatives. The 2009 version of David Cameron deserves at least a little kudos for even mentioning the problem.
Ofcom's attitudes to pornography on TV make ATVOD's prudish rules for VoD seem positively libertine. While online rules allow hardcore porn – at least up to the BBFC's R18 standard – Ofcom totally banned all explicit sex acts from TV. This applies even to PIN-protected adult channels broadcasting at 3am. In the name of child protection, British adults are banned from watching porn on TV: almost all other EU countries and the 'prudish' US allow hardcore porn to be broadcast – many in the middle of the day.
But even the BBFC's 18 standard for soft porn is too much for the moralists at Ofcom, who have created their own, even softer standard of decency, which is prudish to the point of comedy.
Empowered by the Broadcast Act (2003), Ofcom doesn't just write law: it is judge, jury and executioner. Tiny breaches of its code can result in fines of tens of thousands of pounds – in fact, it can impose fines of up to £250,000. And it also has the power to order TV channels to close, and even to ban companies from operating TV channels.
Playboy TV, for example, fell foul of Ofcom rules numerous times. Having been fined £25,000 in 2004, it was fined £22,500 in 2008 for broadcasting content that 'included sequences depicting masturbation, oral sex (both between women and between men and women), clear labial detail, sexual intercourse, and full nudity. Some also included strong language, such as "fuck" and its derivatives and "cunt", in an overtly sexual context.'
Yes folks, a massive, unelected, publicly-funded organisation issues huge fines to porn businesses that allow adults to see 'clear labial detail', on an encrypted TV channel in the middle of the night.
With the convergence of TV and the Internet, Ofcom was always going to make a grab for Internet censorship powers. The closure of ATVOD may have made us all smile, but it fits in with Ofcom's strategic interests. In fact, ATVOD only existed for temporary convenience, the result of a pretence at co-regulation between government and industry (ATVOD was once a genuine trade association, but was hijacked and turned into a censorship body in 2010).
The current consultation on further Internet censorship powers for Ofcom is ominous indeed. It is clearly an exercise in box-checking before the government inevitably decides that the UK, alone in the democratic world, needs more Internet censorship to protect our under-18s (and purely by accident, protect adults too) from sexual expression. There is little chance that the old, liberal Cameron will leap to our rescue. Internet censorship is on the short-term agenda: the transfer of power from ATVOD to Ofcom was not a victory for free speech, but a signal that state censorship of the Internet is getting serious.
ALERT: UK Government Consultation on Further Anti-Porn Law
February 16, 2016 Moral Panic, Politicsatvod, dcms, government consultation, nspcc, ofcom, porn panicJerry Barnett
When attacks on civil liberties are announced by governments, they are usually sold under the guise of "tackling terrorism" or "protecting children". Today, we have an example of the latter.
The UK government today announced the start of a consultation on protecting children from the insidious effects of online pornography. This might seem a little like Groundhog Day to many observers, who have repeatedly seen British porn laws and regulations added and extended over the years, always to "protect children".
So, it turns out, all of the previous exercises in child protection weren't enough. Now we need yet more action, since (unsurprisingly) companies based outside of the UK are ignoring our regulations. Since the UK is the only country in the world to implement such a ludicrously large raft of anti-porn laws, this is hardly surprising.
The latest proposals are to implement a new law that can be used to attack those naughty foreign porn sites that ignore the UK's (pointless) age verification regulations (in other words, all the porn sites in the world). The planned means of attack will to cut off UK revenue streams to porn services, via pressure on services such as payment providers and advertising companies. It is not made clear whether hosting companies or ISPs will also be targeted.
The government document is deeply dishonest in its presentation of evidence that porn is harmful, for at least one good reason: as far as we know, it isn't. Even the government's own research suggests that porn access is broadly beneficial to society, rather than harmful. The document ignores this basic fact with skill, and even reprises the discredited 'research' from the NSPCC that this campaign challenged last year.
According to research (Kendall), porn use among 15-19 year olds is responsible for a decline in rape among that age-group; yet this is the very group to which the government seeks to switch off access (the government considers everyone under 18 to be a 'child' when it comes to pornography).
The document also claims that only 100 sites constitute 77% of UK porn traffic; yet it fails to make the obvious point that if these 100 were somehow blocked, users would move to other sites. So the regulator would have to target another 100, then another 100, and so on. In fact, there are many millions of porn sites (not to mention millions of others that are not pornographic, but which the UK government considers unsuitable for children anyway).
Sex & Censorship will, of course, be submitting a response to this consultation, and begin a campaign of public education to demonstrate how dishonest – not to mention dangerous – this government's anti-porn campaigns are. We call on supporters to also submit your own responses.
Readers are also asked to consider donating to this campaign – even just a few pounds/euros/dollars can help – to support our work. Think of it as an investment to protect your right to watch free porn.
ATVOD Has Closed. Now What?
January 11, 2016 Politicsatvod, avms, ofcomJerry Barnett
The UK's VoD regulator ATVOD has closed its doors effective 1st January, and its powers have moved within the huge and powerful super-regulator, Ofcom.
Regular readers will be somewhat familiar with the strange and twisted story of ATVOD. In 2010, the regulator came into being in order to regulate VoD alongside broadcast TV, as required by the European Union. But instead of focusing on the convergence of broadcast and VoD, ATVOD instead showed a remarkable obsession with closing down porn sites. Its regulations – especially a requirement for adult sites to verify the ages of all visitors – resulted in the virtual collapse of the UK porn industry. I was one of a number of adult site operators who approached the regulator for guidance in its earliest days, only to find that our necks were first on the block (most UK adult businesses stayed wisely silent and migrated their operations overseas).
From the start, ATVOD's CEO Pete Johnson showed a remarkable lack of interest in working with the UK's small adult industry, and chose instead to wipe the bulk of it out. Mine was among the first wave of businesses closed down or forced to move overseas (Playboy TV was another, which moved its headquarters from London to Canada).
As I have pointed out, this was never really about porn: instead, ATVOD has been using the regulations to call for more censorship of the Internet. They have argued that, since British porn has been 'cleaned up', then Something Must Be Done to stop British consumers watching porn from overseas. The obvious, but largely unspoken end result will be the introduction of an official state censor with the power to order ISPs to block sites.
While sexual freedom campaigners are delighted to see the anti-porn regulator go, and some are claiming this as a victory, the change is, in reality, ominous, and is unlikely to result in any loosening of porn regulations: in fact Ofcom runs one of the world's most unnecessarily prudish regimes of TV censorship, and is unlikely to be more relaxed about Internet content. The end of ATVOD has probably been largely driven by disquiet among large broadcasters, who have reportedly been increasingly annoyed to be funding an anti-porn witch-hunt.
Now that Ofcom has taken the reins, we can expect to see the regulator lobbying for more censorship powers against 'unacceptable' overseas content – which doubtless will go far broader than pornography. Currently, a private members bill to enable censorship is in progress through Parliament. Like previous non-government attempts, this will probably fail, but we should watch out for the contents of the Queen's Speech this Spring. Any mention of 'online safety' or 'protecting children online' will herald the impending end of free Internet access for British citizens.
My book, Porn Panic!, which documents the increasing attacks on sexual and other expression in the UK, will be published shortly. Please join our mailing list to be alerted about the book, and receive other updates from Sex & Censorship.
What's the Problem With Age Verification?
July 20, 2015 Commentage verification, atvod, censored uk, ofcomJerry Barnett
Last December, a law – known as AVMS 2014 – was snuck into force without a parliamentary debate. This law had two aspects: one of which was largely ignored. The part that wasn't ignored criminalised the distribution of porn stronger than the BBFC's tame R18 classification. This effectively outlawed the depiction of acts considered beyond-the-pale by the British establishment, even though these acts are perfectly legal to carry out in private, and provoked the memorable face-sitting protest outside Parliament.
The aspect of AVMS 2014 that the coverage largely overlooked related to age verification, making it mandatory for adult video providers to confirm that each visitor is over 18 before allowing them to see any form of explicit image or video. Arguably, this part of the law was far more significant, but on the surface seemed more reasonable. This regulation has actually been enforced by ATVOD since 2010: the 2014 law merely strengthened the existing rules.
But demanding age verification by adult service providers has far deeper implications than might be immediately obvious, and ones that inevitably have implications for the existence of an uncensored Internet.
Excluding Adults
The first problem is that, whatever the means of age verification, there will be adults that cannot get through it. Current age verification solutions include: using a credit card; providing passport or driving license details; using a mobile phone that has already been age-verified. But many adults cannot provide any of these things, and furthermore many wouldn't want to, for privacy reasons.
Unfortunately, the UK has no strong protection against censorship, but the US does: and in America, the Supreme Court has ruled repeatedly that onerous age verification is undoubtedly censorship, so cannot be enforced by the state. So in "conservative" America, the legal system has far more problem with adults being prevented from watching porn than in "protecting children" from seeing it. The greater harm (according to the judges) is censorship, not smut: this is as America's founding fathers intended, as they knew that censorship can be introduced for all manner of spurious reasons, and once initiated, it tends to grow.
It's Only the UK
The AVMS regulations are laid down by the EU. But here's the odd part: only the UK has decided that AVMS requires an expensive, activist regulator along ATVOD lines; only the UK has interpreted the AVMS scope to include adult websites (the regulations were originally designed to cover TV catch-up services); and only the UK has interpreted the regulations to mean that adult websites should implement age verification.
The Internet is Global
Here's the real, huge problem with all this. How can regulations that only cover UK-based web businesses have any meaningful effect? There are two possible interpretations: either, that ATVOD is an expensive but powerless quango, or that the government will introduce blocking of overseas adult websites on a mass scale.
Until recently, the latter option sounded like a conspiracy theory, but during the general election campaign, the Tories announced they would be blocking sites that don't conform to AVMS. This would require the creation of an official UK Internet censor – the first such thing in any democratic society – and probably entail the blocking of millions of sites that are considered unsuitable for children.
A "Perverts Database"
Aside from censorship, privacy is the other major concern. Age verification providers will know which sites each user is trying to access. Is it acceptable and necessary that one's credit card provider, mobile provider or other authority could know you tried to access BustySpankedSluts.com last Friday night?
Evangelists for age verification suggest that this problem could be averted by the creation of an "anonymising hub". This would shield the adult site and the age verification service from each other, so that the site operator need not know your mobile number, and O2 will never know you had a wank to BustySpankedSluts.com.
But potentially, the hub multiplies the privacy issue. Now, there is a central database linking individuals to porn sites. Who would have the right to access, browse and search the database? Would the police ever have reason to request to access it? Would some alliance of hackers steal and publish data, just to prove they could, or use it for blackmail? Once this data is stored in a single place, the privacy implications are astounding.
Is a 17 Year-old a "Minor"?
ATVOD sets the age limit for accessing pornography at 18: it therefore defines 16 and 17 year olds as children, despite the age of consent being 16 in the UK. This means that debit cards can't be used for age verification, as they can be issued to 16 year olds, and so makes age verification more onerous (many adults don't own credit cards).
No Evidence of Harm
It's worth a reminder at this point that the AVMS restrictions are predicated on stopping minors from viewing content that "might seriously impair" them. And yet, research carried out by Ofcom on behalf of the UK government, as well as research carried out across the European Union, is unanimous: no evidence can be found that pornography is capable of "seriously impairing", and in fact the government's own evidence suggests that pornography is associated with a reduction in harm. (Ofcom report – key finding is bottom page 15/top page 16).
Think of the Children!
All of this overlooks a simple fact: child protection filters are standard these days on all devices, from tablets and phones to PCs. Family brands like Tesco – which have reputations to maintain – sell their own child-friendly tablets. But such filters don't empower or enrich regulators. Nor do they help make the case for censorship, or provide the opportunity to snoop on citizens, so they are ignored when the case for age verification is made.
While most EU authorities have thus concluded that there is no need for server-side age verification, Ofcom, ATVOD and the Department of Culture, Media and Sport have decided otherwise, and have implemented a "precautionary" system. This seems akin to fitting expensive locks to all fridges, in order to prevent teenagers freezing to death in the kitchen: it's never happened, but you can't prove it never will, can you?
2015: The Year to Vote for Freedom
January 5, 2015 Politicsatvod, dcms, election 2015, loz kaye, ofcom, pirate party uk, sexual freedom, voteJerry Barnett
An election year comment from Loz Kaye, Leader of Pirate Party UK
For some time now, a nasty puritan streak has been growing in British public life, fed by prejudices both from the left and right. I don't need to go through each instance: just search back through the history of this blog. Week after week we have seen moral outrage after outrage, crackdown after crackdown.
The absurdity of the AVMS video on demand regulations, or anti-facesitting laws if you prefer, seemed to sum up the sense of panic and how it is infringing peoples' freedoms. At the heart of sexuality and how we use our bodies has to be consent. It is preposterous to outlaw images of an act that you can consent to. Worse still, in my view that undermines the very concept of consent itself, turning it in to something which is arbitrarily given and withheld by others, not yourself.
That is inherently political and no wonder that the following demonstration was at Westminster, however much MPs looked the other way.
This new puritanism is indeed politically motivated. The pressure on Internet Service Providers to move to default web filtering came directly from Cameron and the likes of Claire Perry pandering to tabloid scare headlines. What we learnt in 2014 was that, as so many of us warned, this led to censorship, including websites there to help victims of abuse or to support LGBT people.
The focus for so much of the moral panic has been the perceived "wild west" of the Internet. We in the Pirate Party have right from our outset opposed the use of web blocking as a state means of personal control.
Web censorship is not a tool for sexual health promotion. State censorship is not a tool for creating equality. Curtailing freedom of expression is not a tool for supporting victims of crime.
If 2014 saw us on the back foot, 2015 is the year to set the agenda. These are the key positive aims as I see it:
Change the direction of the Department of Culture Media and Sport pressure and work to remove default web filtering.
Work with advertising standards to make sure ISPs don't misrepresent filters as foolproof parenting tools.
Stop the use of web filtering and blocking as a pretended social policy tool.
Reverse the ATVOD censorship moves.
DCMS should launch a review into the role of OFCOM and ATVOD in controlling freedom of expression.
Disband the "copyright cops" PIPCU to give programmes working with victims of abuse a £2 million boost over 3 years.
Embed removing of stigma about discussing sexuality frankly as a vital part of public health strategy.
I'm sure you can think of plenty more, let me know what they are and I'll be happy to work for them.
The reason that politics has drifted so far in an authoritarian direction, particularly when it comes to sexual freedom, is that most politicians see it at best as a peripheral issue, at worst as a career ruining one, not to be touched with a barge pole. Of course ensuring the safety of sex workers, the well-being of LGBT people or removing stigma about discussing sexual health is not marginal, it's literally a matter of life and death.
It is our job in 2015 to assert this not a peripheral issue, to destroy the myth that liking particular types of images means that you are unconcerned with the welfare of women or young people, and to support candidates who do have the guts to stand up.
At the risk of angering ATVOD, I would suggest that you can be a bit forceful in 2015. As it's a general election year, it's your opportunity to tell MPs and candidates what to do.
It's very simple. For the next few months tell candidates that you expect them to actively support sexual freedom of expression with the kind of policies that I outlined, or you won't vote for them.
Let them know that you will tell as many other people as you can to join you in finding a pro-freedom candidate. And stick to that, despite all the scaremongering about wasted votes or two horse races you'll hear. Don't let your MP get away with claiming this is not something that concerns their constituents after May 7th.
I suspect that most people reading this blog will not be afraid to try something new. It may be that you should consider doing that in May.


These trends could make for huge opportunities or huge disruptions to business. Either way, they are ones to watch.
Several companies have started talking about their research into predictive tech. The idea is that, as computers become smarter, they can analyze historical data to make predictions. For example, Ford is using technology from Google to develop a navigation system that predicts, based on your previous routes, where you want to go at a specific time of the day. For small business, predictive tech could help in small ways: Your printer might forecast how much paper you will need next month, or help you arrange a better utility contract for heating based on trends form the past few years.
There has been buzz about HTML5 now for the past few years. The new version of HTML provides a richer framework for videos and interactive content. Steve Jobs claimed it was a better approach to dealing with this rich content than Adobe Flash. One sign that HTML5 may finally replace Flash comes from the automotive world. In the upcoming Cadillac XTS sedan, the dashboard interface uses HTML5 so developers can make new apps without being confined to a specific code base.
The Apple iPad 3 is the first sign that mobile devices are going ultra-high-res. The iPad 3 has a 2048 x 1536 screen that looks super-sharp for videos, e-books, and apps. But the iPad 3 is not the only device to offer much higher resolution. The Samsung Series 9 desktop display uses 2560 x 1440 pixels for a screen that looks much more sharp than most monitors.
Sprout Social, a tool that helps you understand your social graph: how well you are connecting with others, your reputation, your follower stats. What I'm seeing lately is an uptick in "aggregators of aggregators"—tools like this moment that takes the data obtained from Google Analytics, Facebook Insights, and others, and shows you how your company is doing on campaigns. As with any business endeavor, these super-aggregators are trying to get to the bottom line to understand whether social marketing efforts are paying off—or leading you nowhere.
One of the great features of Apple's Siri is its ability to understand context. You can add a reminder that tells your wife when you leave work. When you do, Siri sends the reminder based on your location. Lately, speech tech has shown signs of improving even more. Natural language searches will become commonplace in a few years—you will be able to walk into a conference room and say "tell everyone the meeting is cancelled" and the speech system will know what you mean and send the message.
Cloud storage has changed how Big Business operates—in some cases, larger companies are ditching their data centers altogether. But small companies do not even have data centers. Some of the choices for storage are making a huge impact—Dropbox is more popular than ever. But a new service called Huddle provides better reporting, security, and team accounts that is a better choice for business.


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text:
C. Henry Kempe (birth name Karl Heinz Kempe; April 6, 1922 in Breslau, Germany (now Wrocław, Poland) – March 3, 1984 in Hanauma Bay, Hawaii) was an American pediatrician and the first in the medical community to identify and recognize child abuse.

In 1962, Kempe and his colleagues, including Brandt F. Steele and Henry Silver, published the paper "The Battered-Child Syndrome", which led to the identification and recognition by the medical community of child abuse.  This syndrome has since been discredited by medical science and shows the problems when medical doctors are tasked with law enforcement resulting in overturned convictions and innocent people being incarcerated.

Kempe received two nominations for the Nobel Prize: the first nomination was for his work in developing a safer smallpox vaccine; the second was recognition for his contribution to the prevention and treatment of child abuse. Due to the efforts of Kempe, abuse reporting laws exist in all 50 US states. His efforts also led to the passage of the 1972 Colorado law requiring legal counsel for the child in all cases of suspected abuse.

Early life
Born into a Jewish family in Germany during the rise of the Nazi party, Kempe fled Germany as a teenager and came to the United States of America.  He learned a new language, completed high school and college, and eventually became a physician.  Specializing in the study of virology, he helped develop Vaccinia immune globulin to counter the adverse effects of the smallpox vaccine.

Kempe became the youngest chairman of the pediatrics department at the University of Colorado. During his tenure, he began to recognize the prevalence of non-accidental injuries to children.  He demanded a better diagnostic investigation of the unexplained and life-threatening injuries observed in children at four different hospital emergency rooms: shattered bones, inflicted burns, and brain damage.

His research led to the publication of "The Battered-Child Syndrome".

Career

Kempe Center
Kempe, his colleagues and wife Ruth Kempe founded The Kempe Center, originally the National Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect, in 1972 to prevent and treat child abuse and neglect.

In 1976, The Kempe Foundation was established to spearhead fundraising, awareness and advocacy efforts for children.

The Kempe Center and The Kempe Foundation are currently located at The Gary Pavilion at Children's Hospital (Aurora, Colorado).

The C. Henry Kempe Award
First awarded in 1985, The Kempe Award is presented to professionals and philanthropists who have contributed substantially to the community on behalf of children and who have creatively fought the war against child abuse.  The award is given every two years by ISPCAN, The International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect, to an outstanding young professional or organization working in any discipline in the field of child abuse and neglect.

Awards
 1959 - E. Mead Johnson Award

Personal
Kempe met his future wife Ruth Svibergson while they were both in residency at Yale and they married in 1948. Ruth, who was also later a professor at CU, and Henry had five daughters. Ruth and Henry were co-authors of several books, including Healthy Babies; Happy Parents.

See also
 Child abuse
 Neglect

Footnotes

External links
 Kempe Center
 Tardieu's syndrome

1922 births
1984 deaths
20th-century American physicians
American pediatricians
American virologists
Child abuse
German emigrants to the United States
University of Colorado faculty
Members of the National Academy of Medicine

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Maw sit sit is a rare stone from Burma that is a mixture of chrome jadeite,kosmochlore,diopside,chromite and sometimes calcite. This stone has an intensity of colour that is rarely seen in nature. Beautiful material that is hard to come by . 37.20 carats 29x23mm.


text:
Lithocarpus craibianus Barnett – gatunek roślin z rodziny bukowatych (Fagaceae Dumort.). Występuje naturalnie w Laosie, północnej części Tajlandii oraz południowych Chinach (w południowo-zachodnim Syczuanie oraz południowym Junnanie).

Morfologia
 Pokrój Zimozielone drzewo dorastające do 20 m wysokości.
 Liście Blaszka liściowa jest skórzasta i ma owalny lub owalnie eliptyczny kształt. Mierzy 12–19 cm długości oraz 4–7 cm szerokości, jest całobrzega, ma klinową nasadę i ostry wierzchołek. Ogonek liściowy jest nagi i ma 10–25 mm długości.
 Owoce Orzechy o niemal kulistym kształcie, dorastają do 13–18 mm długości i 13–18 mm średnicy. Osadzone są pojedynczo w kulistych miseczkach, które mierzą 15–20 mm średnicy. Orzechy są całkowicie otulone w miseczkach.

Biologia i ekologia
Rośnie w wiecznie zielonych lasach. Występuje na wysokości od 800 do 1500 m n.p.m. Kwitnie i owocuje od sierpnia do września.

Przypisy

Bukowate


The world is watching those who continue to commit crimes against humanity and children, that will be hunted down for the crimes committed and exposed at the highest levels. The "TRUTH" can't die with a death, it only get "STRONGER" for MAGA and the World!!!
Together we fight to build a wall, supporting the heroes one and all. The battle continues and the fight won't stop, for those who commit crimes at the very top. All around they watch everything you do, all being recorded and waiting for the time to come and get you. Did you really think you got away with it??? Wait till you see the film they have on you!!! Keep look around…they're watching you!!!
We are at a crossroads, and you'll need to choose the side you want to be on that can't lose.
Build The Wall: The Best Argument You Will Ever Hear!