text:
The Peanut Butter Falcon
"A young boy with Down syndrome runs away to fulfill his dream of becoming a professional wrestler" (via).
Zack Gottsagen is an actor, recipient of 2018 Quincy Jones Exceptional Advocacy Award and the first person with Down syndrome to be fully included in the Palm Beach County School district (via).
In the movie, Zak escapes his residential nursing home to follow his dream of training under his professional wrestling idol. Along the way, Zak encounters Tyler, "a small-time outlaw on the run". The pair work their way through a series of obstacles while convincing Eleanor, the nursing home employee tasked with bringing Zak back, to join the adventure.
"The Peanut Butter Falcon," written and directed by Michael Schwartz and Tyler Nilson, was created for Gottsagen. Schwartz and Nilson met Gottsagen at a disability acting camp. Gottsagen challenged the filmmakers to create a role for a character with Down syndrome since initially, they said they didn't see any films that starred people like Gottsagen. (shortened version, via)
Labels: disability, Down Syndrome
Mr Newman is 82. He has lived through several regimes. He graduated from university and became an expert in his field. With is wife he raised three children...
Commercial for "Diakonie", a charity helping the elderly in Czech Republic.
Nominated for the Young Director Award, Cannes Lions 2011
Winner, Best International Idea, Golden Stiletto Awards 2011
Winner, Most successful campaign, Zihadlo Marketing Awards 2011 (via)
Labels: age, ageism
Find Your Greatness
In 2012, Nike launched the "Find Your Greatness" campaign showing "everyday athletes around the world training, playing and competing" (via).
One of the many messages:
"If we think greatness is supposed to look a certain way, act a certain way and play a certain way, we certainly need to rethink some things."
This is really beautiful.
Labels: disability, marketing, Nike, religion, sports
My Mayor
Just when I thought I couldn't be a bigger fan of the Mayor of Milan, Beppe Sala posted this photograph on Facebook pointing out that Pride will be starting tomorrow and that Milan is a city of human rights and duties (via).
photograph of Beppe Sala via
Labels: Milan, queer
Only in England
Tony Ray-Jones (1941-1972) was an English photographer, or rather, "a social anthropologist with a camera". He photographed English rituals of Eton boarding school, beauty contests, pop festivals, the street, and the seaside (via).
Intrigued by the eccentricities of English social customs, Tony Ray-Jones spent the latter half of the 1960s travelling across England, photographing what he saw as a disappearing way of life.
Science Media Museum
"My aim is to communicate something of the spirit and the mentality of the English, their habits and their way of life, the ironies that exist in the way they do things, partly through their traditions and partly through the nature of their environment and their mentality. For me there is something very special about the English 'way of life' and I wish to record it from my particular point of view before it becomes Americanised and disappears."
Tony Ray-Jones
"In his photographs, the recent English past does indeed seem like another country, but one that, for all the strangeness he captures, remains oddly familiar."
- photographs via and via and via and via and via and via
- more photographs: LINK
Labels: culture, photography, Tony Ray-Jones
"We play for a nation that doesn't even know our names." Women Playing Football
The first Women's World Cup was held in Italy in 1970, a decade that was characterised by several countries lifting their ban on women's football and establishing new teams across Europe and North America (via). Currently, the eight edition of FIFA Women's World Cup is being hosted in France (via). Generally speaking, it surely does not get the media coverage the FIFA (Mens') World Cup gets but in Britain, it is attracting a bigger audience than cricket (via).
Before 1921, women's football flourished in England with about 150 women's teams whose matches "pulled bigger crowds than most men's games". Then women were banned from playing football on pitches with spectator facilities, i.e. professional stadiums, since the sport was "quite unsuitable for females". This ban was lifted in 1971 (via), the same year women's football "hit the big time" in Mexico, "a success because the organisers did not assume it would be a commercial or sporting failure. It was sold and promoted as football tournament, one that just happened to feature women" (via).
Women's participation in football also provides a good example of the mutual ripple effect that can exist between a sport's level of television coverage and its increasing uptake in the community. Since the 2011 World Cup, media coverage of international women's football fixtures has steadily gained traction – not least on the back of the French team's commendable performances, which have subsequently pulled in higher audiences. Alongside these television and sports performances, the number of female members of football clubs has soared since the 2010-2011 season (+90%).
Conseil Supérieur de l'Audiovisuel, 2017:10
Here is a strong message of female empowerment (Germany's Women's World Cup advert):
photograph (French team, 1979, photo credit: AFP/CARL FOURIE) via
Labels: football, gender, media, sports
Quoting Eli Wallach
"This country has a complex about age. It's unbelievable. If you're over thirty, you've had it in this country."
image of Eli Wallach (1915-2014) via
Quoting Lee Van Cleef
In an interview, Lee Van Cleef was asked about the "intercultural communication conditions" in Italy, if everybody involved in making the film "The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly" was speaking English.
"No. Not then. Everybody speaks English now, for the most part. For your somewhat better films, your major actors do speak English now, mostly; unless they're in there doin' somebody a favor and won't speak anything but their own tongue, which I think they're making a mistake, there. And in some of your cheapies now, they won't. But in the old days - well, I say the old days, it was fourteen, fifteen years ago and ` before that - everybody would be speaking in their own tongue. Leone couldn't speak English to begin with. He speaks it very well now, but in the first picture he could hardly speak it at all, and we had an interpreter on both of the pictures I did for him. There was one scene in For a Few Dollars More that I was in where there were five languages spoken: Greek, Italian, German, Spanish, and a Cockney Englishman that I couldn't understand any better than I could understand the Greek! But I got along in it, because I knew what everybody was supposed to be saying in English by my script. So, when they'd stop speakin', then I would say something. Also, I began to pick up some of the Italian and Spanish which was prevalent over there."
"Did any of your fellow actors ever express or hint at any resentments towards you, as an American on a European set; as if to suggest you had taken the job away from a more deserving local" I asked.
"No, I never felt it. I think that the people in the know, they understand that as well as an art, it's an international business and a money game. Because it's international, you have people with different nationalities in damn near every film today. Even American ' producers will go over to Europe to get money to pre-sell a picture. As a consequence, to get this money, they may sometimes have to take actors and technicians from the countries they're negotiating with - or I'm sure : in a lot of cases, they want to take them, because there's a lot of fine people abroad. So, if you're going to make a film anywhere, and you're going to want money from Italy, money from Spain, from Mexico, from Canada, then they will own a film for their particular areas, or however you negotiate it - there's no two alike - and you've got people from all over the world in one fllm.
But we got along fine. No problem at all. You'd be surprised how many over there do speak English now, cause the actors have had to learn. It wasn't that way before. I'd usually pal around with somebody who commanded both English as well as the tongues of anybody there around me. The stunt man I had over there for quite some time spoke English very well, and both Spanish and Italian. My wife speaks a little bit of Spanish, too, and I speak enough Italian now to make myself understood."
image of Lee Van Cleef (1925-1989) via
Labels: communication, intercultural communication, language
Quoting Clint Eastwood
"I'm interested in the fact that the less secure a man is, the more likely he is to have extreme prejudice."
Labels: Clint Eastwood, prejudice, quote
Hysterical, Emotional, Exaggerating: Women, Bias and Undertreatment of Pain
"There is now a well-established body of literature documenting the pervasive inadequate treatment of pain in this country. There have also been allegations, and some data, supporting the notion that women are more likely than men to be undertreated or inappropriately diagnosed and treated for their pain."
Hoffmann & Tarzian (2001:13)
Value systems of a culture have an impact on pain perception from the very beginning. Children are socialised how to react to pain, i.e., boys are often discouraged from expressing pain. And when they are adults, they show the same communication patterns. In a study, male pain research participants reported that they "felt an obligation to display stoicism in response to pain". Impression management also seems to play a role since men report less pain in front of a female researcher than a male researcher. Men and women also show differences in how they report their pain to health-care providers. Interestingly, although women are better at describing their pain sensations, they receive less pain medication.
Miaskowski reported on several studies that identified such differences in response and treatment. Faherty and Grier studied the administration of pain medication after abdominal surgery and found that, controlling for patient weight, physicians prescribed less pain medication for women aged 55 or older than for men in the same age group, and that nurses gave less pain medication to women aged 25 to 54.
Calderone found that male patients undergoing a coronary artery bypass graft received narcotics more often than female patients, although the female patients received sedative agents more often, suggesting that female patients were more often perceived as anxious rather than in pain. Another study, examining post-operative pain in children, found that significantly more codeine was given to boys than girls and that girls were more likely to be given acetaminophen.'
Miaskowski further reported on two more recent studies. In a 1994 study of 1,308 outpatients with metastatic cancer, Cleeland and colleagues found that ofthe 42 percent who were not adequately treated for their pain, women were significandy more likely than men to be undertreated (an odds ratio of 1:5). In another study of 366 AIDS patients, Breitbart and colleagues found that women were significantly more likely than men to receive inadequate analgesic therapy. (...)
A recent prospective study of patients with chest pain found that women were less likely than men to be admitted to the hospital. Of those hospitalized, women were just as likely to receive a stress test as men, but of those not hospitalized, women were less likely to have received a stress test at a one month follow-up appointment. The authors attributed the differences in treatment to the "Yentl Syndrome," i.e., women are more likely to be treated less aggressively in their initial encounters with the health-care system until they "prove that they are as sick as male patients." Once they are perceived to be as ill as similarly situated males, they are likely to be treated similarly. (...)
Hoffmann and Tarzian (2001) come to the conclusion that women are taken less seriously when they report pain and seek help. One likely explanation for the gender-specific difference in treatment is the health-care provider's attitude ... and bias. According to several studies, women are also perceived as being able to tolerate more pain than men, as having a "natural capacity to endure pain".
McCaffery and Ferrell explained this seeming contradiction by speculating that while society attributes strength and bravery to men, these characteristics are displayed by an unwillingness to complain or express discomfort rather than by an actual tolerance of discomfort.
Health-care providers tend to doubt the pain experience of women. A great many women feel that their doctor did not take their pain seriously and expected them to put up with it. The image of the hysterical and emotional woman may also be one reason why female chronic pain patients are more likely to be diagnosed with histrionic disorder.
- Hoffmann, D. E. and Tarzian, A. J. (2001). The Girl Who Cried Pain: A Bias Against Women in the Treatment of Pain. Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 29, 13-27.
- photographs by Sepp Werkmeister via
Labels: gender, gender medicine, health, Sepp Werkmeister
How Louis Armstrong Opened the Eyes of a White Teenager Who Became a Constitutional Law Expert
Charles Lund Black, Jr. (1915-2001) was a constitutional law expert who taught at Columbia and Yale Universities for more than fifty years, author of more than twenty books and hundreds of articles on law, and a jazz aficionado. In 1954, he wrote the legal brief for Linda Brown, the 10-year-old student whose landmark case "Brown v. Board of Education" (1954) - in which the Supreme Court ruled that ethnic segregation of children in public schools was unconstitutional - became a cornerstone of the civil rights movement (via and via).
Professor Black -- who taught his students that being a good lawyer in an era of increasing specialization required that they broaden their horizons through interests outside the law -- was something of a renaissance man himself. He published three volumes of poetry; he painted landscapes in oil; and he played the trumpet and what he called a cowboy harmonica. (via)
On 12th October 1931, aged 16, Charles Black heard Louis Armstrong play in Austin and was "dumbstuck by the genius of the performance" (via).
Among those who paid 75 cents to get in that night was a freshman at the University of Texas named Charlie Black. He knew nothing of Jazz. Had never even heard of Armstrong. Who was already considered at the top of the list of famous jazz musicians. Charlie just knew there were likely to be "lots of girls to dance with." Then, Armstrong began to play. (via)
Later, Black wrote about Louis Armstrong's impact on his life. Here are some excerpts of "My World With Louis Armstrong", by Charles L. Black, Jr.
(...) I ever met Louis, except for a couple of handshakes at the bandstand. Yet no first meeting in my life ever had the impact on me of my first encounter with him.
In September 1931, posters appeared in Austin advertising four dances, October 12 through 15, to be played by one "Louis Armstrong, King of the Trumpet, and His Orchestra," at the old Driskill Hotel. I was entirely ignorant of jazz, and had no idea who this King might be; hyperbole is the small coin of billboards. But a dance at the Driskill, with lots of girls there, was usually worth the seventy-five cents, so I went to the first one.
Memory is splotchy. I don't remember the moment or exactly the process of realization. But since that evening, October 12,1931, Louis Armstrong has been a continuing presence in my life. (...)
He was the first genius I had ever seen. That may be a structurable part of the process that led me to the Brown case. The moment of first being, and knowing oneself to be, in the presence of genius, is a solemn moment; it is perhaps the moment of final and indelible perception of man's utter transcendence of all else created. It is impossible to overstate the significance of a sixteen-year-old Southern boy's seeing genius, for the first time, in a black. We literally never saw a black man, then, in any but a servant's capacity. There were of course black professionals in Austin, as one later learned, but they kept to themselves, out back of town, no doubt shunning humiliation. I liked most of the blacks I knew; I loved a few of them— like old Buck Green, born and raised a slave, who still plays the harmonica through my mouth, having taught me when he was seventy-five and I was ten. Some were honored and venerated, in that paradoxical white-Southern way—Buck Green again comes to mind. But genius—fine control over total power, all height and depth, forever and ever? It had simply never entered my mind, for confirming or denying in conjecture, that I would see this for the first time in a black man. You don't get over that. You stay young awhile longer, with the hesitations, the incertitudes, the half-obediences to crowd-pressure, of the young. But you don't forget. The lies reel, and contradict one another, and simper in silliness, and fade into shadow. But the seen truth remains. And if this was true, what happened to the rest of it?
That October night, I was standing in the crowd with a "good old boy" from Austin High. We listened together for a long time. Then he turned to me, shook his head as if clearing it—as I'm sure he was—of an unacceptable though vague thought, and pronounced the judgment of the time and place: "After all, he's nothing but a God damn nigger!"
The good old boy did not await, perhaps fearing, reply. He walked one way and I the other. Through many years now, I have felt that it was just then that I started walking toward the Brown case, where I belonged. I realized what it was that was being denied and rejected in the utterance I have quoted, and I realized, repeatedly and with growingly solid conviction through the next few years, that the rejection was inevitable, if the premises of my childhood world were to be seen as right, and that, for me, this must mean that those premises were wrong, because I could not and would not make the rejection. Every person of decency in the South of those days must have had some doubts about racism, and I had mine even then—perhaps more than most others. But Louis opened my eyes wide, and put to me a choice. Blacks, the saying went, were "all right in their place." What was the "place" of such a man, and of the people from which he sprung? (...)
There have been many—well, a good many—great artists in my time. But it just happened that the one who said the most to me—the most of gaiety, the most of sadness, the most of high nervous excitement, the most of religion-in-art, the most of home, the most of that strange square-root-of-minus-one world of emotions without name—was and is Louis. The artist who has played this role in my life was black.
In 1957, in the early days after the Brown case, when the South was still resisting, I wrote out and published my deepest thought on the nature of the agony as it presented itself:
I'm going to close by telling of a dream that has formed itself through the years as I, a Southern white by birth and training, have pondered my relations with the many Negroes of Southern origin that I have known, both in the North and at home. I have noted again and again how often we laugh at the same things, how often we pronounce the same words the same way to the amusement of our hearers, judge character in the same frame of reference, mist up at the same kinds of music. I have exchanged "good evening" with a Negro stranger on a New Haven street, and then realized (from the way he said the words) that he and I derived this universal small-town custom from the same culture. I have seen my father standing at the window of his office with a Negro he had known for a long time, while they looked out on the town below and talked of buildings that used to be here and there when they were young. These and thousands of other such things have brought me to see the whole caste system of the South, the whole complex net of its senseless cruelties and cripplings, as no mere accidental grotesquerie of history, but rather as that most hideous of errors, that prima materia of tragedy, the failure to recognize kinship. All men, to be sure, are kin, but Southern whites and Negroes are bound in a special bond. In a peculiar way, they are the same kind of people. They are happy alike, they are poor alike. Their strife is fratricidal, born of ignorance. And the tragedy itself has, of course, deepened the kinship; indeed, it created it. My dream is simply that sight will one day clear and that each of the participants will recognize the other.
(...) But Louis has the special place of the artist of my time who uniquely instructed me, as only high art can instruct, on all the matters I have written of above, and who was black.
How could I have been anywhere else when the Brown case was moving up? By the time I got there, I had left behind the feeling that I was struggling for justice for somebody else. I was, in my own heart, in an army for and with my own. (...)
photographs of Louis Armstrong (1901-1971) in his mirrored bathroom (1971) via and via
Labels: ethnicity, Louis Armstrong, music, racism, segregation
A Short Ageing Attitudes Quiz
The World Health Organization offers a short "Ageing Attitudes Quiz" with feedback to the answers. There are nine statements and the opportunity to check "your attitudes against these commonly held views of ageing and older persons". Again, a lovely aspect of this quiz is that the WHO offers feedback as you can check your answers: LINK
"All older people are the same."
"Poor health is inevitable in older age."
"An older person is somebody aged 60 years and above."
"My attitude to ageing has little or no influence on my health."
"Ageing is an obstacle to a good life and must be overcome."
"Older adults are a drain on the economy, including health system."
"Ageism means having negative attitudes and or discriminating against people because of their age."
"I can be ageist and not know it."
"We can combat ageism!"
photograph by Sepp Werkmeister (NYC, 1960s) via
Labels: age, ageism, health, Sepp Werkmeister
"We play for a nation that doesn't even know our n...
Hysterical, Emotional, Exaggerating: Women, Bias a...
How Louis Armstrong Opened the Eyes of a White Tee...


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Posts tagged "sports"
[from steve_portigal] New book about recurring technological failures [Pasta&Vinegar] – [Nicolas Nova has written a lot of great articles, presentations, and blog posts about failure, technology, society, and design. Now he's got a book. Let's hope an English version appears before too long?] My new book about recurring technological failures has been released two weeks ago. It's called "Les flops technologiques: comprendre les échecs pour innover" which obviously means that it's written in French. Based on the analysis of several cases (the intelligent fridge, the visiophone and e-books), the book describes the notion of recurring technological flops, discusses the very notion of failures and their underlying reasons. It also addresses strategies and design tactics to take them into account.
[from steve_portigal] The Art of Garfinkling [Splunderousnoog] – [We tend to conceptualize experiments and research as dispassionate or disconnected endeavors, but there's so much that can happen when we as experiments or researchers risk our presumptions and comfort level in order to get deeper understanding. In describing ethnography, I often refer to the researcher as the "apparatus" who is embedded and gathers data through that experience.] Carry out a simple experiment. When you are on the bus or the train, ask a person to give up her seat. Make sure you're young and fit. To make it easier, ask someone who is as fit or fitter than you. It is a hard thing for most to do. There is emotional distress involved. The fear of opprobrium, the need to be liked, to be nice…This sort of experiment is known as a "breaching experiment". It involves violating social norms. A famous, pioneering exponent of breaching experiments was a chap called Harold Garfinkle. So much so that "breaching experiments" are known as "Garfinkling"!
[from steve_portigal] Jeter's 3,000th Hit Will Bring About as Many Marketing Possibilities [NYTimes.com] – [Merchandising a celebration.] Tablespoonfuls of the dirt will be poured into capsules to dangle on key chains; ladled into disks to be framed with photographs of the hit (in what is called a dirt collage); and glued into the interlocking NY carved into commemorative bats…The selling of Jeter's hit…is quite a list: T-shirts, caps, jerseys, bobbleheads, decals, cellphone skins, wall murals, patches, bats, balls, license plates and necklaces made by licensees…Jeter will share royalties with M.L.B. and the players' union; Already, he has designated proceeds from the sale of a silicone bracelet to benefit his Turn 2 Foundation. Everything Jeter touches or wears as he pursues his 3,000th hit carries value. So will the bases he steps on. In deciding what to provide for sale, Jeter controls his cleats, wristbands, bats and batting gloves. The Yankees control what they provide to him, like his uniform, warm-up jackets, and caps, as well as the dirt, the bases and the pitching rubber.
authenticity, baseball, culture, design, dj3k, experience, experiment, failures, french, garfkinling, interviewing, jeter, marketing, memorabilia, merchandising, norms, nova, observation, provocation, quickies, sports, violating
[from steve_portigal] A Quandary for Swatch – It's Too Popular [NYTimes.com] – [They are also looking to stop being the parts supplier to all of their rivals] Swatch, the world's largest watchmaker, is rushing to add factory capacity so that it can make enough watches to meet demand. It wants to add as many as 2,000 employees this year  about 1,500 of them at home in Switzerland. But it is struggling to find enough qualified people. "Managing our stock is at the moment not an issue for us because demand is so big that we unfortunately don't even have the time to build up any stock"… Swatch's production and hiring problems reflect the overall health of a sector that has rebounded from the world financial crisis. Demand for watches has soared in Asia  a region that accounted for more than half of Swiss watch exports last year  with makers of mechanical watches capturing an increasingly large slice of the market. Exports of mechanical timepieces rose 32 percent in unit terms last year, compared with an 18 percent increase for less expensive quartz watches.
[from steve_portigal] Remembering the XFL, a 1-and-done league in 2001 [SFGate] – [Lessons from a failed attempt to innovate against an established competitor] While some ideas (trash-talking announcers, no penalties for roughness) didn't work, McMahon was a visionary in how he let fans inside the game. Players and coaches were miked up during games, and cameras were allowed into the locker room and behind the scenes. The XFL used the Skycam, the camera held up by wires over the field, and the NFL adopted that almost immediately. McMahon also did away with extra-point kicks, fair catches and coin tosses. At the start of the game, a player from each team would line up at the 30-yard-line and race to the ball at the 50 and fight for it in a "scramble." However, a member of the Orlando Rage separated his shoulder in a scramble the first week…In the end the XFL was caught in the middle. The football product on the field wasn't good enough to lure NFL fans, and there wasn't enough of the "personality-driven stories or crazy characters" to attract wrestling fans.
failure, football, growth, innovation, mcmahon, quickies, sports, success, swatch, swiss, watch, xfl
[from steve_portigal] Homeless World Cup – [An interesting reframe of sporting championships and an interesting reframe of 'charity'] The Homeless World Cup is an annual, international football tournament, uniting teams of people who are homeless and excluded to take a once in a lifetime opportunity to represent their country and change their lives forever. It has triggered and supports grass roots football projects in over 70 nations working with over 30,000 homeless and excluded people throughout the year. The impact is consistently significant year on year with 73% of players changing their lives for the better by coming off drugs and alcohol, moving into jobs, education, homes, training, reuniting with families and even going on to become players and coaches for pro or semi-pro football teams.
[from steve_portigal] In Scholastic Study, Children Like Digital Reading [NYTimes.com] – "I didn't realize how quickly kids had embraced this technology," Ms. Alexander said, referring to computers and e-readers or other portable devices that can download books. "Clearly they see them as tools for reading — not just gaming, not just texting. They see them as an opportunity to read."… "The very same device that is used for socializing and texting and staying in touch with their friends can also be turned for another purpose," Mr. Chen said. "That's the hope." But many parents surveyed also expressed deep concerns about the distractions of video games, cellphones and television in their children's lives. They also wondered if the modern multi-tasking adolescent had the patience to become engrossed in a long novel. "My daughter can't stop texting long enough to concentrate on a book," said one parent surveyed, the mother of a 15-year-old in Texas.
[from steve_portigal] Get a Geek in Five Easy Lessons [AMD at Home] – [AMD tries for humor on their corporate blog but ends up with an awkward, dated, false, sexist and generally alienating tone. Was this wise?] It's hard to find a good man, but not impossible if you're willing to make a little effort. Working in high tech, I'm mostly around guys all day. And I can tell you that – in general – technical guys are pretty cool. If nothing else, they will always be able to fix the TV, your PC, and the sprinkler system in a pinch. Yes, they have way too many gadgets, but come on, how many shoes do you have? How about just the black ones? So, if you're single and find yourself at a TweetUp chatting with the cute geek in a backpack, here's how to speak his language, appreciate his hobbies, and potentially snag a date at Fry's. (Leslie Sobon is corporate vice president, product marketing at AMD. Her postings are her own opinions and may not represent AMD's positions, strategies or opinions.)
adoption, amd, blogging, brand, children, culture, dating, digital, football, geeks, homeless, humor, marketing, quickies, reading, reading ahead, relationships, sexism, soccer, sports, tech, technology
Steven Levy on How Gadgets Lose Their Magic [Wired] – "Any sufficiently advanced technology," Arthur C. Clarke wrote in 1962, "is indistinguishable from magic."…This applies to all the similar fruits of Moore's law. In the past 40 or 50 years, such mind-stretching advancements have become the norm…We all, I think, have become inured to Moore's law. The astonishing advances that once would have brought us to our knees are now reduced to a thumbs-up on Gizmodo. They're removed from the realm of magic – they're just cool gear…As technological magic becomes routine, I wonder whether a visit to a preindustrial society might teach me more than it teaches them. The only thing more fascinating than our technology is the idea of getting along without it. Maybe the way to recapture the magic is to turn all that stuff off.
How Tony Gilroy surprises jaded moviegoers [The New Yorker] – Gilroy believes that the writer and the moviegoing public are engaged in a cognitive arms race. As the audience grows savvier, the screenwriter has to invent new reversals. Perhaps the most famous reversal in film was written by William Goldman in "Marathon Man,." Laurence Olivier, a sadistic Nazi dentist, is drilling into Dustin Hoffman's mouth, trying to force him to disclose the location of a stash of diamonds. "Is it safe?" he keeps asking. Suddenly, William Devane sweeps in to rescue Hoffman. In the subsequent car ride, Devane wants to know where the diamonds are. After a few minutes, Hoffman's eyes grow wide: Devane and Olivier are in league! "Thirty years ago, when Bill Goldman wrote it, the reversal in 'Marathon Man' was fresh," Gilroy says. "But it must have been used now 4000 times." This is the problem that new movies must solve. "How do you write a reversal that uses the audience's expectations in a new way? You have to write to their accumulated knowledge."
Secret of Googlenomics: Data-Fueled Recipe Brews Profitability [Wired] – [Echoing some of what I wrote about in a recent piece for interactions "We Are Living In A Sci-Fi World"]
It's a satisfying development for Varian, a guy whose career as an economist was inspired by a sci-fi novel he read in junior high. "In Isaac Asimov's first Foundation Trilogy, there was a character who basically constructed mathematical models of society, and I thought this was a really exciting idea. When I went to college, I looked around for that subject. It turned out to be economics."
What is the Status Quo Bias? [Wisegeek] – A cognitive bias that leads people to prefer that things remain the same, or change as little as possible. People will make the choice which is least likely to cause a change. This can also play a role in daily routines; many people eat the same thing for breakfast day after day, or walk to work in exactly the same pattern, without variation. The inability to be flexible can cause people to become stressed when a situation forces a choice.
It explains why many people make very conservative financial choices, such as keeping their deposits at one bank even when they are offered a better rate of interest by a bank which is essentially identical in all other respects.
While this provides self-protection by encouraging people to make safer choices, it can also become crippling, by preventing someone from making more adventurous choices. Like other cognitive biases, this bias can be so subtle that people aren't aware of it, making it hard to break out of set patterns.
Sports, sex, and the runner Caster Semenya [The New Yorker] – There is much more at stake in organizing sports by gender than just making things fair. If we were to admit that at some level we don't know the difference between men and women, we might start to wonder about the way we've organized our entire world. Who gets to use what bathroom? Who is allowed to get married?…We depend on gender to make sense of sexuality, society, and ourselves. We do not wish to see it dissolve.
asimov, audience, bias, biology, change, choice, culture, decision, economics, expectations, foundation, future, futurism, gender, gilroy, hoffman, identity, levy, magic, moore, planning, reversal, scifi, society, sports, stories, technology, varian, writing
Jobs on the Kindle, January 2008 – Today he had a wide range of observations on the industry, including the Amazon Kindle book reader, which he said would go nowhere largely because Americans have stopped reading.
"It doesn't matter how good or bad the product is, the fact is that people don't read anymore," he said. "Forty percent of the people in the U.S. read one book or less last year. The whole conception is flawed at the top because people don't read anymore."
Roger Ebert's Books Do Furnish A Life (plus a ton of amazing comments) – I cannot throw out these books. Some are protected because I have personally turned all their pages and read every word; they're like little shrines to my past hours. Perhaps half were new when they came to my life, but most are used, and I remember where I found every one. The set of Kipling at the Book Nook on Green Street in Champaign. The scandalous The English Governess in a shady book store on the Left Bank in 1965. The Shaw plays from Cranford's on Long Street in Cape Town, where Irving Freeman claimed he had a million books; it may not have been a figure of speech. Like an alcoholic trying to walk past a bar, you should see me trying to walk past a used book store.
Other books I can't throw away because–well, they're books, and you can't throw away a book, can you? The very sight of Quick and Easy Chinese Cooking by Kenneth H. C. Lo quickens my pulse. Its pages are stained by broth, sherry, soy sauce and chicken fat.
Seats Of Gold – A writer's experience in the newly-redefined "luxury" seats at the new Yankee Stadium. Fascinating as Wall Street hyper-greed spills into other industries and illustrates how to kill loyalty dead. Hard to summarize this piece, but it's a great case study and a well-written piece as the author documents their own experience supplemented with a lot of background interviews.
apple, baseball, books, collection, ebert, economy, espn, greed, harvesting, jobs, kindle, life, meaning, memories, money, possession, pricing, publishing, reading, reading ahead, sports, stories, yankees
Somali refugees just do it
Nice bottom of the pyramid example – Nike designers help create sport hijab for Somali women in Kenyan refugee camps.
botp, bottom of the pyramid, design, fashion, nike, sports, women

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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paleochora.taxi@yahoo.gr
+306979594667 (Whats app available)
Call Us Today! +30 2823041128
Airport Bus or van
Paleochora
Sougia
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Paleochora is a small town in Chania prefecture. Paleochora is located 92 km south of Chania airport, at the southwest coastline of Crete and it's built on a small peninsula of 400m width and 700m length. The town is set along 11 km of coastline bordering the Libyan Sea. It is the capital town of the municipality of Pelekanos, in the province of Selino and its population was 2213 in the 2001 census.
Paleochora has crystal clear waters, well-organized beaches and beautiful isolated little anchorages. It is served by numerous hotels, restaurants, taverns, cafes, bars and nightclubs. Facilities in Paleochora include bank branches, a post office, a central telephone office, health centre, doctor's offices, dentists, pharmacies, police station, coast guard and customs office and many types of stores. Ferry boats connecting Paleochora with Sougia, Agia Roumeli, Loutro, Chora Sfakion and Gavdos dock in Paleochora.
In 1278, the Venetian general Marino Gradenigo built a fort in the Palechora area, called the "Selino Kasteli". The fort gave its name to the whole province, previously called "Orina", which was then renamed "Selino". The fort was destroyed in 1332 and it was rebuilt in 1334. Near the fort, the Venetians established a new settlement for workers and merchants called Vourgos. The pirate Hayreddin Barbarossa destroyed the fort in 1539, but later in 1595 Dolf revamped it. In 1645, the Turks conquered the town and modified the fort to suit their needs.
In 1834 an English traveler named Robert Pashley found the fort completely destroyed and the whole area without any inhabitants and with only a granary and one or two small buildings left. In 1866 the recolonization of Paleochora began.
During the Battle of Crete during World War II, the town was the scene of fighting between motorcycle-riding troops of the German 95th Reconnaissance Battalion and the Eighth Greek Regiment (Provisional) with elements of the Cretan Gendarmerie.
The general phase of urbanization that started in other parts of Greece in the 1960s, took place in the 1950s on the nearby island of Gavdos. During that period the islanders exchanged their land on Gavdos for ex-Turkish land on Crete, which had now become exchangeable through a state program. They created a community known as "Gavdiotika", in the 'old town' section of Paleochora.


Verizon may be the biggest carrier in the US but it's certainly not the quickest when it comes to responding in times of crisis. Since the arrival of Hurricane Michael last week in Florida, Big Red has been heavily criticized by both the FCC's Chairman and Florida's Governor for its failure to react. Today, it has finally responded.
In an official statement, Verizon reaffirmed its focus on restoring its services across the affected areas in Florida. In fact, according to the company, it is making "progress every hour" and expects this to continue until its network is completely up and running again. Furthermore, the number one carrier has also announced that it has deployed a number of portable cells in different areas that have been designed to help both first responders and other organizations that are helping out in light of the hurricane.
In regards to Verizon's customers, the carrier today confirmed that it will be following in the footsteps of AT&T by offering credited service. More specifically, both consumer and business accounts based in the affected counties will automatically receive a total of three months of free service.
On a related note, the carrier has also announced that a further two cell sites are now up and running. The company is providing daily updates on the status of its network in the area and is providing information regarding how people can help out first responders. Also, and perhaps more importantly, the same page contains all the details about Verizon's Wireless Emergency Communications Center.
Please inform us as to where do you see AT&T offering 3 months free.


text:
Search Results: G
In the Year FC 60, much of mankind inhabits space colonies which orbit the Earth. Dominance over the colonies is decided once every four years by a large tournament in which each nation sends a single representative to fight the others with a giant robot called a Gundam. Domon Kashuu is selected to represent Neo-Japan in one of these tournaments, but he fights less to ensure his nation's victory than to find his brother, who has been blamed for the deaths of Domon's parents and the disappearance of a very dangerous weapon, the Dark Gundam or Devil Gundam.
G-On Riders
At Saint Hoshikawa School there is a secret group called the G-On Riders. Students with superior strength and ability are chosen to be in the group, which was formed to fight against alien attacks on the earth. However, many of the problems that the members face are ones amongst themselves, and the same is true for the invaders. And another student at the school, Ichiro, tries desperately to confess his love to Yuki, one of the Riders.
* An anime-only prequel to the Ga-Rei manga by Segawa Hajime, serialised in Monthly Shounen Ace.Will you kill someone you love because of love?An elite squadron trained to combat supernatural forces is called in to investigate reports of invisible monsters terrorising Tokyo, but their mission is complicated by the interference of a rogue exorcist. When the mysterious female slaughters the outmatched attack force, her former comrades are ordered to lock down the crime scene — and forever silence their old friend.Note: The chronological order of episodes is 3-9, 1-2, and 10-12.
Ga-Rei: Zero (Dub)
"Will you kill someone you love because of love?" The Japanese Ministry of Defense has an anti-paranormal special forces group called the Supernatural Disaster Prevention Office. They are the ones responsible to protect Japanese soil and its people from supernatural and paranormal events. However, things didn't go so well in one of their missions...
GA: Geijutsuka Art Design Class
It's Kisaragi's first year in GA, Geijutsuka Art Design Class, the specialized art and design department at her high school. However, the ditzy freshman doesn't know much about art at all! Fortunately, she's got four friends at her side, ready to help! However, she'll have to be careful around energetic Tomokane, whose exuberance has caused the demise of several art projects! And Noda's playfulness might just prove a little too distracting when deadlines are looming. However, the responsible Namiko is around keep everyone in line, and honor student Professor always has a ready explanation when there are questions. Whether it's redoing the modern techniques project for the third time, fantasizing through collage, or pranks in the cafeteria, there's never a dull moment for Kisaragi and her friends!
GA: Geijutsuka Art Design Class OVA
It's Kisaragi's first year in GA, Geijutsuka Art Design Class, the specialized art and design department at her high school. However, the ditzy freshman doesn't know much about art at all! Fortunately, she's got four friends at her side, ready to help! However, she'll have to be careful around energetic Tomokane, whose exuberance has caused the demise of several art projects! And Noda's playfulness might just prove a little too distracting when deadlines are looming. However, the responsible Namiko is around keep everyone in line, and honor student Professor always has a ready explanation when there are questions. Whether it's redoing the modern techniques project for the third time, fantasizing through collage, or pranks in the cafeteria, there's never a dull moment for Kisaragi and her friends! Genres: comedy, slice of life
Chief Angel has come to Earth! However, she became so used to the life on Earth that she skips school and keeps playing online games, thus into self-destruction. It's a school comedy that Gabriel turns into a lazy angel!
Gabriel DropOut Specials
Specials included with the Blu-ray/DVD release of Gabriel DropOut.
Gad Guard
Several hundred years in the future, the resources of the Earth runs out, and the progression of the human race has stagnated. The world is now divided into "Units". A boy named Hajiki Sanada lives with his mother and sister in Unit 74, in a place called "Night Town", in which all electricity is shut down at midnight. The key in this story is an object called the GAD. GADs have the ability to reconstruct materials while reacting to feelings of an organic life. The size and shape of the resulting product seem to be different depending on the kinds of feelings that the life possesses. When Hajiki comes in contact with one by accident, it transforms into a huge robot–a Tekkoudo, or "Iron Giant"–which Hajiki names Lightning. And soon he realizes that he isn't the only one with a Tekkoudo, and must find out how to deal with those others who he feels are the "same" as himself.
Gad Guard (Dub)
Several hundred years in the future, the resources of the Earth runs out, and the progression of the human race has stagnated. The world is now divided into "Units". A boy named Hajiki Sanada lives with his mother and sister in Unit 74, in a place called "Night Town", in which all electricity is shut down at midnight. The key in this story is an object called the GAD. GADs have the ability to reconstruct materials while reacting to feelings of an organic life. The size and shape of the resulting product seem to be different depending on the kinds of feelings that the life possesses. When Hajiki comes in contact with one by accident, it transforms into a huge robot--a Tekkoudo, or "Iron Giant"--which Hajiki names Lightning. And soon he realizes that he isn't the only one with a Tekkoudo, and must find out how to deal with those others who he feels are the "same" as himself.
Gaiken Shijou Shugi
Park Hyung Suk has spent all 17 years of his life at the bottom of the food chain. Short, overweight, and unattractive, he is used to being bullied by his classmates and constantly discriminated against for his looks. In an attempt to escape his biggest bully, Lee Tae Sung, he decides to transfer to Seoul's Jae Won High School, a vocational preparatory school notorious for its liberal education system and carefree students. Days before his transfer, Hyung Suk wakes to find that he is no longer in his usual chubby body, but is instead in a perfect body! Tall, handsome, and beautifully toned, Hyung Suk has become the ideal version of himself. The only problem is that his original body still lays beside him—and when one body falls asleep, he awakens in the other. Now possessing two extremely different bodies, Hyung Suk must learn to navigate his new and much more popular life at J High whilst also solving the mystery of where his second, almost superhuman, body came from.
Gaiken Shijou Shugi (Dub)


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Global DE-DOLLARIZATION is on the Way as World's Central Banks Buy Gold at Fastest Pace in 55 Years
By Arsenio Toledo
The world's central banks are buying gold at the fastest pace since 1967, and metals expert Andy Schectman warned that people need to follow suit and invest in precious metals to avoid the worst impacts of this global de-dollarization.
Data compiled by the World Gold Council, an industry-funded organization, show that demand for gold has outstripped any annual amount in the past 55 years, with large portions of the recent buying spree being done by central banks keen to diversify their reserves away from the dollar. (Related: Central banks all over the world are buying gold at a furious pace.)
In December 2022, the World Gold Council estimated that the world's official financial institutions bought 673 metric tons (742 tons) of gold. This follows nearly 400 metric tons (441 tons) of gold being purchased during the third quarter of 2022, the largest quarterly purchase since 2000.
A troy ounce of .999 fine gold is trading at $1,816 per ounce, over 11 percent higher than it was trading in November. Spot gold prices hit $1,881.5 per troy ounce on Jan. 9, its highest point since May 2022, before cooling slightly, but still well above the $1,800 per troy ounce mark.
Few precious metals market analysts are willing to bet that the trend toward central banks further diversifying their reserves with huge metals purchases will change any time soon. Bernard Dahdah, a senior commodities analyst at the French investment bank Natixis, even noted that this trend of diversifying away from the American dollar is one "that won't change for a decade at least."
Global monetary system losing faith in the dollar
Adrian Ash, head of research at the gold marketplace Bullion Vault, noted that the flight of the world's central banks to gold "would suggest the geopolitical backdrop is one of mistrust, doubt and uncertainty."
Ash noted that the United States and its allies freezing Russia's foreign currency reserves – worth around $300 billion – may have served as a warning for nations relying on the dollar and other foreign currencies of the need to diversify their holdings.
"Should we have exposure to so many dollars when the U.S. and Western governments can confiscate that at any time?" asked Nicky Shiels, metals strategist at Swiss precious metals trading company MKS PAMP.
"The message these central banks are sending by putting a larger share of their reserves in gold is that they don't want to be reliant on the U.S. dollar as their main reserve asset," said Carsten Menke, head of next-generation research at Swiss banking group Julius Baer. He added that this could push more of the world's nations to be reluctant on relying on the greenback.
"When we see the central banks of the world buy more gold than at any time since 1967, and no one in this country has any clue that that's happening, it's frightening," said Schectman on an episode of the show "Liberty and Finance."
"When we see the inventories of metal on the COMEX [Commodity Exchange] and the LME [London Metal Exchange] bled down to the lowest levels ever, and no one talks about what that really means, it's frightening," Schectman continued. "What you are seeing is a massive de-dollarization using the misdirection of information and price to blindside the public."
Watch this episode of "Liberty and Finance" as host Dunagun Kaiser interviews Andy Schechtman about the world's silent move into gold and silver.
Original Source: https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/global-de-dollarization-is-on-the-way-as-worlds-central-banks-buy-gold-at-fastest-pace-in-55-years/
Secret Defeat of Ukrainian Army in Soledar
Union Membership in Private Sector Shrinks to 8pc


Discover Corps' relationship with Esther began over ten years ago when Discover Corps' Founder Andrew Motiwalla got to know Esther. Although she declined the idea of hosting travelers at first, a chance meeting in Stone Town on Zanzibar Island just a few weeks later was enough to spark a friendship and one of Discover Corps' longest partnerships abroad to date.
So what is the trip really like? Watch the video below and get to know Esther, and write any questions in the comments!
Reyes grew up in Belize in the city of San Ignacio and brings over 10 years experience in guiding travelers across Central America. He thrives on the hands-on interaction that travelers get with wildlife, the locals, and the culture on Discover Corps trips. For him, seeing the smiles on travelers faces as they begin to settle in to the laid-back culture of the country is the best part about being a guide.
On our Belize: Wildlife Safari trip, truly live amongst the nature that Belize is known for (listen to howler monkeys in the distance in the jungle right from your room!). In addition to exploring caves and enjoying the pool, learn about conservation as you visit an iguana sanctuary and butterfly farm, spot manatees and howler monkeys in their natural habitat, and snorkel the world's largest barrier reef as you search for sea turtles, colorful fish, stingrays, and even nurse sharks in Abergris Caye.
So what is the trip really like? Watch the video below and get to know Reyes, and write any questions in the comments!
A surf trip to Costa Rica changed Tara's life, ultimately leading her to move to their white-sand beaches and devote her life to sea turtle conservation. Today, Tara shares her passion with travelers from around the world to create unforgettable memories for those who are looking for something more unique and a little bit more impactful for their vacation.
On our Costa Rica: The Sea Turtle Initiative trip, travelers get the rare opportunity to help endangered sea turtles and learn from biologists and conservationists more about about the threats they face and the efforts taking place in Costa Rica to bring back the population. You'll see primarily olive ridley turtles and will either travel during nesting season to see the mother turtles coming to shore, or during hatching season, where you'll see hatchlings make their way to the ocean (and sometimes, lend struggling hatchlings a hand!). In addition to night patrol drives, experience zip-lining, river tubing on the Rio Vegro, an animal rescue center for big cats, and more.
So what is the trip really like? Watch the video above and get to know Tara. Write your questions in the comments below!
For Zarek, growing up in Kenya meant growing up with a keen understanding of conservation, both for the nature and wildlife in his country. Today, Zarek shares his passion with travelers from around the world, and digs deep into education and creating impact with Discover Corps travelers who want something more on their vacation.
On our Kenya: Safari & Conservation trip, you go behind-the-scenes at wildlife reserves, track lions, collect data on cheetahs in the savannah, and marvel at the last northern white rhinos in the world. In addition to safari drives and hands-on interaction with conservation projects, meet with the indigenous Masai communities that inhabit the reservers and experience their traditional ways of life.


We commit to being your trusted accomplice for technology by offering the consultation, services and comfort your merit — all at competing costs. If in case you are not fully satisfied with your product purchase, let us offer you with a substitution, some assistance with returning or repair.
Nerds Shop offers a 30-day money back guarantee on most products sold on our website, unless mentioned. Return shipping expenses will depend on the obligation of the client. You may be qualified for a credit if you return the product to us inside 30 days of your request being dispatched.
To return any particular product, a Return Merchandise Authorization (RMA) is required which you have to contact us & obtain. Once, obtained, a return request will be originated and you will receive an email pertaining to the procedure of returning the product.
The product needs to be returned in its original package unless it is damaged, with all accessories as it was at the point when you received it. In case of exchanges, another product request will be raised & a new product will be sent to you however in case of refunds, the merchandise has to be returned & received in the original package & a refund request will be raised. Refund can take up to 7-14 business days.
Delay in processing can be taken place at the time of return if the invoice of item is not included with the product as well as a note is mandatory to determine the reason behind the return. So customer needs to ensure that invoice and note are incorporated with the product packaging before shipping it. Customer will pay for the freight charges in case of returns however we will credit the shipping/freight charges in cases of exchange.
If you notice a damage or fault after conveyance in the product on arrival, please contact our Customer Service representatives. Depend upon the defect, the customer may be offered a repair or substitution of the product. To get an exchange of your product, photographs of the products are required by the shipping carrier as well as you need to fill a shipping claim.
If it's not too much trouble Customers can contact our customer service hotline at – 1-866-322-2322 or email to submit photographs to support@nerdsshop.us, once you have presented your Return solicitation to stay away from any deferrals with processing your request.
Product replacement would be done as new order places and shipping will be charged to customers, if applicable. To exchange processing the product, you also need to have an exchange request number which will be given within 1 business day of the request.
The user will be in charge of giving back the request and a full credit will be issued once received and processed, and affirmed to be damaged/defective/mis-dispatched. Items which are claimed as inadequate or damaged will be assessed. All things deemed not to be damaged or defective will be charged a restocking price, if applicable.
All declined requests will be subjected up to 25% restocking expense in addition to shipping charges for both headings.
A 15% restocking cost will be charged for all non-imperfect returns.
Substitution item should be requested again as another request with another request number and will incorporate cargo and taking care of the charges.
Note: Credit won't be issued without the arrival following to show return was conveyed back. Returns take some an opportunity to prepare and affirm the reason picked is right, in this way, attributes can take up to 15 business days from the date the thing is conveyed back.


Tuan is someone I trust.
Neil gave Tigger a lift to work.
Tracey can sit in my chair.
Are you interested in Kerri?
Jong is starving to death.
One of Laurent's problems is that he can't read.
Daren does this every single time.
Ilya doesn't like it when Sam leaves his dirty clothes on the floor.
Walter doesn't wear as much makeup as Alice does.
Stanislaw and Part were too tired to work anymore.
Kristen threw the baseball to Leung and she caught it.
Someone told me that Evan left work.
Takao is a freak of nature.
Pontus knows what we've been trying to do.
Calvin wasn't very happy at being interrupted.
I need to give this package to Sunil.
Pilar is out, but Malus is here.
Cristina is an excellent marksman.
Izzy didn't say anything, but you could tell he was in a lot of pain.
Toby couldn't say a word.
Alain wore a Christmas sweater with embroidered reindeer.
Susumu is watering the lawn.
Hui has something he wants to say.
Uri, Murthy, John and Alice were seated around the table.


Aaron Spangler wins our "Respect" Story Slam!
A shout of "Respect" goes out to all our storytellers from the April Story Slam! What a night of thought-provoking stories on the the theme of "respect." At the end of the Story Slam, we had a three-way tie and our judges were pulled to the side of the stage and forced to make a difficult decision - this was our version of a brokered convention!
After much deliberation, Aaron Spangler emerged as the winner of the night's Story Slam. Aaron told the story of taking a trip to Ireland when he was sixteen and seeing a sorrowful woman singing "Danny Boy." Aaron won the prized pint glass and earned a slot in the Lancaster Story Slam Grand Slam, which is coming this November.
Carter Grimm at the mic.
We have to mention some other stories from this remarkable night. Runner-up John Strogus told the story of being tutored by a remarkable woman after breaking both his legs as a child. David Lasky told about landing on an island on Christmas Eve and being very afraid about the locals. Beth Horenkamp, who has already earned a slot in the Grand Slam, told about joy and the hardship of her profession in oncology. Matthew Kabik, another storyteller who will be in the Grand Slam, told a tale of his short-lived glory days as a baseball player. We heard two stories about learning to respect mom - from Donna Talarico and also from Bill Speakman. Emily Meola told about her frustrating day canvassing neighborhoods in Lancaster. Aaron Lewis told of a surprising visitor to an open mic night and Carter Grimm discussed his love of funions!
We had a blast hearing these tremendous stories in April. Thanks to all our storytellers, our emcee Luanne Sims, and those who judged the stories.
Save the date! Our next Story Slam will be Tuesday, May 24th and is themed "Brush With Fame!" You can reserve your tickets by clicking HERE.
Check out Aaron's story below. Our other stories are available on the Lancaster Story Slam YouTube Channel.


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TECH TALK: The Network Computer: Ellisons Ideas
Oracle CEO Larry Ellison first touted the idea of a network computer as early as 1995. Ellison introduced his vision of the network computer, a small, inexpensive device that makes it easy to run applications that access information via the Internet.
Wally Bock takes up the story:
The reasons were obvious, at least to [Ellison]. PCs had gotten too complicated, he said. And besides, every fifteen years or so there's a new revolutionary product in the computing business that replaces what went before.
Network Computers were supposed to be slimmed down versions of Personal Computers. They might have a screen, a microprocessor, some memory chips, a keyboard and a mouse. The most important component would be the network connection.
That magic part would connect the Network Computer to the Net. There would only be rudimentary software and memory on the Network Computer. Most software and serious memory would be out there on the Net where it could be easily maintained. The system would run on Java and use Oracle databases. Microsoft software would be nowhere in sight.
The idea caught on with the industry insiders, journalists, venture capitalists and other trumpeters of the great Internet Bubble. In mid-1996, Business Week devoted a Special Report to Network Computer.
By then there was a price target, $500 and all kinds of companies were lining up to make products that would capitalize on this powerful Network Computer trend. Bandai, a Japanese company, announced that it would soon be selling a $600 Network Computer in the US. Apple had designed one called the Pippin.
There were only two figures in the computer business who didn't share the enthusiasm for the Network Computer concept. Andy Grove of Intel hedged his bets by having teams work on projects that would set Intel up to be a player if Ellison was right. Bill Gates set Microsoft on a path of developing its own solutions.
Larry Ellison said that Network Computers would be widely available in 1996 but by mid-1997 that hadn't happened. Gateway had released a Network Computer in May but that was about it. Still, no lesser authority figure than the Economist was saying that "there is broad agreement that NCs are indeed the future."
Not much more happened in 1997 but in 1998 the Economist was still predicting that the PC would be "entering its twilight years by the beginning of the millennium." The idea of the Network Computer as an "information appliance" had caught on and there were predictions that the folks who would really shift the Network Computer revolution into high gear would be companies like Sony.
Well, as it turned out, network computers didnt really happen. But the idea refuses to die. Ellison resurrected the idea. In November 1999, this is what News.com wrote:
Though hotly debated in computer industry circles in 1996 and 1997, the network computing concept failed to gain a market foothold, in part because PC prices suddenly fell to historic lows–lessening the need for new, low-cost systems. When Ellison and others first began touting the network computer, traditional "standalone" desktops typically cost well over $1,500. Today prices begin around $400.
But as prices dropped, people seemed to conclude that controlling sophisticated software applications is less important than using the Internet. Home consumers in particular often rely on so-called Web-based applications such as Hotmail, and Internet-based corporate networks are commonplace.
PC makers and electronics companies have accordingly turned their sights toward manufacturing easy-to-use "information appliances" that deliver email and Web access. Thus the network computer, one of the first devices to contemplate doing away with personal hard drives and relying on network storage instead, could be positioned for a comeback–even if questions about the server end of the equation remain.
Ellison, the flamboyant head of the world's leading database maker, said Wall Street's reaction to Liberate [which was earlier called Network Computer] endorses his vision of "thin client" devices such as network computers, telephones and palm-size devices that work with applications from central computers.
"The personal computer is a ridiculous device," Ellison said, arguing that while information appliances won't obviate the need for PCs, the latter have hidden costs, create more labor for corporate information technology departments and don't make sense for many users with scaled-down PC needs.
So, what exactly went wrong with the Network Computer?
Tomorrow: What Went Wrong
Tech Talk Network Computer+T
Posted on September 29, 2004 Author Rajesh JainCategories Tech Talk
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Daniel Västfjäll is a senior research scientist at Decision Research and Professor of Cognitive Psychology at Linköping University in Sweden. His research focuses on the role of affect, especially mood, in judgment and decision-making, perception and psychophysics. A common theme for his research is how affective feelings serve as information for various judgments including judgments about consumer products, health, the self, and auditory characteristics of objects.
Västfjäll, D., Slovic, P., Mayorga, M., Peters, E. (2014). Compassion fade: Affect and charity are greatest for a single child in Need. PLoS ONE, 9(6), e100115.
Slovic, P., & Västfjäll, D. (2013). The more who die, the less we care: Psychic numbing and genocide. In A. J. Oliver (Ed.), Behavioral public policy (pp. 94–114). UK: Cambridge University Press.


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Certainly one of quite possibly the most popular electrical wiring questions is on how to wire a change. While working with switches in your own home is fairly quick, wiring one may well not be that uncomplicated for everyone. An ON-OFF switch is in fact quite simple to wire. You will discover different kinds of switches, but for this instance, let us say you are installing a single-pole toggle switch, a very prevalent change (as well as easiest).
You will find three hues of wires in a typical single-pole toggle switch: black, white, and green. Splice the black wire in two and join them within the terminal screws - a single on prime and also the other on the base screw of your swap. The white wire serves like a resource of uninterrupted ability and it is ordinarily related into a mild coloured terminal screw (e.g., silver). Connect the inexperienced wire for the ground screw of your change.
These ways would usually be ample to generate an average change do the job without having a dilemma. Then again, should you are certainly not self-confident that you just can carry out the job correctly and safely you superior permit the professionals get it done rather. Following all, you can find a purpose why this process is without doubt one of the most frequent electrical wiring inquiries requested by most people.
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You'll find explanations why these are definitely probably the most typically requested electrical wiring thoughts. One, a lot of assume it can be basic to try and do, and two, these are typically the widespread electrical jobs at your home. But then you shouldn't set your protection in danger inside your objective to save cash. The stakes could even be significantly bigger in the event you attempt to get monetary savings and do an electrical wiring career without the need of enough awareness or experience.


text:
package org.quartz.listeners;

import org.quartz.core.JobExecutionContext;
import org.quartz.core.Scheduler;
import org.quartz.exceptions.JobExecutionException;
import org.quartz.triggers.Trigger;

/**
 * The interface to be implemented by classes that want to be informed when a {@link org.quartz.jobs.JobDetail} executes. In general,
 * applications that use a Scheduler will not have use for this mechanism.
 *
 * @author James House
 */
public interface JobListener {

  /*
   * ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Interface.
   * ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
   */

  /**
   *

   * Get the name of the JobListener.
   *

   */
  String getName();

  /**
   *

   * Called by the {@link Scheduler} when a {@link org.quartz.jobs.JobDetail} is about to be executed (an associated
   * {@link Trigger} has occurred).
   *

   *

   * This method will not be invoked if the execution of the Job was vetoed by a {@link TriggerListener}.
   *

   *
   * @see #jobExecutionVetoed(JobExecutionContext)
   */
  void jobToBeExecuted(JobExecutionContext context);

  /**
   *

   * Called by the {@link Scheduler} when a {@link org.quartz.jobs.JobDetail} was about to be executed (an associated
   * {@link Trigger} has occurred), but a {@link TriggerListener} vetoed it's execution.
   *

   *
   * @see #jobToBeExecuted(JobExecutionContext)
   */
  void jobExecutionVetoed(JobExecutionContext context);

  /**
   *

   * Called by the {@link Scheduler} after a {@link org.quartz.jobs.JobDetail} has been executed, and be for the associated
   * Trigger's triggered(xx) method has been called.
   *

   */
  void jobWasExecuted(JobExecutionContext context, JobExecutionException jobException);

}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Heathrow cargo volumes up 13.4% in June
London's Heathrow airport saw monthly airfreight volumes in June increase by 13.4% on last year to 142,349 tonnes, with cargo going to and from Latin America up by more than 38% compared with like period 2016.
North America retains its position as the largest cargo market for Heathrow, with June's volume to these destinations 15.8% higher than last year. For the six months ended June 2017, Heathrow's airfreight volumes are up 9.1% to 823,321 tonnes, compared with half year 2016.
In response to high demand at Heathrow, American Airlines has cargo opened a new expanded pharmaceutical cargo facility. Meanwhile, Heathrow and the Department of International Trade have launched the "World of Opportunity" programme to encourage British SME's to export abroad.
The UK's Secretary of State, Chris Grayling, has reaffirmed the government's commitment to Heathrow expansion and a third runway, saying that the project enjoys widespread political support.
There will be further opportunity to give views during the public consultation later this year, which is part of the Development Consent Order planning process.
Heathrow CEO John Holland-Kaye said: "Our record breaking year, month and day figures show Heathrow continues to be the trade and tourist gateway to all of the UK.
"To keep Britain competitive, we need expansion to build more connections for British passengers and exporters and we are glad to see the government pushing forward on the next stages of the delivery. Together we are showing the world the UK remains open for business."
E-commerce: UPS boxing clever
Amerijet awarded CEIV Pharma certification


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BLISS N ESO's massive 'Off The Grid' album tour this May - July.
Tickets are on sale Monday 3 April with the exclusive Frontier Touring members 24 hour pre-sale this Thursday 30 May.
Groovin The Moo Final line-Up.


I write concerning two articles that were in "The Land" newspaper recently (15th Nov, 2012), about the effect that mining has had, and will have, on the agricultural sector in Australia.
The first article, on page 10, "Mining's collateral damage" reports on a study by the Australia Institute titled "Beating around the bush: the impact of the mining boom on rural exports" (Nov 2012, Matt Grudnoff). The author calculated that the rural sector, because it is a trade-exposed industry, has received close to $15 billion less income in the past year, because of the high Australian dollar. He suggests that the management of the boom may have been done in a more responsible way in regard to other sectors of the economy.
The mining boom has not been managed well. There has been a reliance on the simple belief that unrestrained growth of the resources sector is in Australia's national interest.
This leads on to the second article, on page 16, "Report favours natural resources". The article discusses the report "An analysis of coal seam gas production and natural resource management in Australia" (2012) prepared by John Williams (ex CSIRO) for the Australian Council of Environmental Deans and Directors. Dr Williams argues that uncontrolled coal seam gas (CSG) extraction may have a number of unintended negative effects on our water and landscapes.
CSG is extracted from underground coal seams, which have natural fractures. These fractures hold water. Before coal seam gas can be released, the water has to be extracted to de-pressurise the coal seams.
This leads to a number of questions (which have not yet been satisfactorily answered), such as: will the water movement to and from freshwater aquifers be changed? Should the extracted water be replaced, and if so, how? How should the liberated salts and other chemicals from the coal seam be dealt with? How can we ensure that the produced water is kept separate from fresh water even during floods? How can hydraulic fracturing fluids be contained and managed? There is also the possibility of land subsidence to consider.
CSG production requires infrastructure (roads, wells, pipelines). The building of this infrastructure can lead to loss of native vegetation, and fragmentation of habitats. The Native Vegetation Act in NSW has effectively slowed broadscale clearing of native vegetation for agriculture. However, this Act does not appear to regulate land clearing for CSG infrastructure as it regulates the actions of private landholders.
I know that the State government cannot control external factors such as the exchange rate, but you are the body that controls the way new resource industries are developed. In that respect, these reports state that broader economic, social and environmental aspects must be fully assessed and the results used as the basis of the development process.
I respectfully ask you to re-assess CSG development in this light. Ensure that the baseline hydrological, ecological and agricultural studies are done, and community consultation occurs, prior to further wells being sunk. If the research shows no adverse impacts and the community is supportive, then all parties (community, industry and government) will benefit. This would be far preferable to the present situation where there is widespread community disquiet (across ALL sectors) and an "Us and Them" mentality exists.
The effects of resource extraction are felt by all parts of the community. Let us ensure that these gifts are used in such a way that no-one suffers and our land remains viable for future generations.


The prime goal of human life is to be happy and everyone wants to be happy in life. We constantly look for things and ways which can make us happy. Happy people are more productive, healthy and age slowly. Then why some people are happier than others? Do they have more money and time to do things that they love? Do they maintain good habits or avoid negativity? What are those things that they do or don't do that make them so happy?
Happy people know, life is short and every moment is precious. They use their time wisely. They distract themselves from unnecessary irrelevant things. They focus on learning about new things, art, culture, and people. They don't waste time in non useful things or activities.
Happy people have dreams in life. They have great confidence in their abilities and know they can achieve whatever they want to. They make necessary plans and take aggressive actions to attain their dreams.
Happy people know how blessed they are. They concentrate on positive aspects of their lives. They express gratitude for every little thing they have. They don't complain about things they can't have. They value their relations, intellect, good health or whatever they think they possess.
Happy people know happiness is not about getting what you want every time. They keep goals, work for it but don't get discouraged if things don't work exactly the way they want. They learn from their mistakes, forgive themselves and others and let go of things those are not meant for them. They are just easy going and mature to understand uncertainties of life.
Negativity also like enthusiasm is contagious and can affect the mind and mood very easily. Happy people are positive and optimistic. They focus on positive things in every tough situation. They choose positive thoughts while dealing with difficult things and while taking important decisions of life. They are proactive not reactive.
Happy people don't need luxuries and excessive money to be happy and contented in life. They find happiness in everyday living. Simple things that life has to offer they enjoy those things. They are not materialistic. The aim of their life is not just to earn lot of money to enjoy big things. They work for creative expression and to make contribution.
Happy people are basically good people. They are caring and kind. They are non judgmental and accept others as they are. They help others in bringing out best in them. They are encouraging and supportive, a good team player. They are patient with others and shows respect to them.
Happy people first learn to accept and love themselves. They believe in continuous learning and inculticate good habits. They are responsible for their actions. They don't judge themselves for the mistakes they made in past. They value themselves and the qualities they have.
Happy people know every human has certain limitations. Their expectations from their family members, spouse, colleagues are clear and depend on the capabilities of other members.
Happy people adhere to the very popular and old saying Health is Wealth. They know it's essential to take good care of their bodies if they want to be happy, healthy and productive. They practice regular exercise routine, good diet, meditation to keep their bodies fit so they can enjoy their lives.


text:
All the Dumb Things, People, Photography
FOKK LOV! Ricky and Richard. Brisbane, Qld, Australia. 1990
June 4, 2008 razzbuffnik	10 Comments
Back in 1990 when I was working as a photographic assistant in a very big studio, I was invited to a fancy dress party by the woman who used to handle all the props in our shoots. It was a really great party, and most people came in fantastic costumes.
Back in those days, I used to go picking magic mushrooms so I went to the party with my contribution of a mushroom dip. I told the hostess of the party what was in the dip and she just put it out on the table for everybody to help themselves.
Well, I guess that I don't have to tell you that it was quite the party. My girlfriend (at the time) and I, went as hippies (strangely enough) and we spent most of the night standing out in the backyard socialising.
Also in the backyard was a young blonde woman dressed up like a cave woman (in a white fake fur bikini) accompanied by a much older man dressed up as a caveman (ala Fred Flintstones) and sporting a long, curly blond wig, and carrying a fake dinosaur bone in his hand as a club. Standing on their own, because no one was a game enough to go near them, were two huge (over six foot) scary looking guys (the ones in the photograph below). They both had the physiques of bodybuilders and the biggest scariest guy had a mohawk and was wearing jeans, no shirt and a cow skin vest. He looked like he was from another age when farmers used to go Viking after they had planted their crops.
In my altered state of consciousness, I thought it would be a good idea to try and get these guys into the swing of things so I went up to the biggest scariest guy and said to him, "gees mate! I hope that's a costume, and you can take it off later on. You don't go around looking like that all the time do you?"
Both of them just snorted and then smiled at me as I stuck out my hand to shake theirs. They were so bored that they were glad to have somebody who wasn't too scared to talk to them. It wasn't long before I found out they were from Finland and their names were Ricky and Richard. I also found out that their favourite type of holiday was to go from Finland to Sweden and pick fights with Swedes and beat the shit out of them, and that their favorite movie was The adventures of Ford Fairlane
Ricky cracked himself up when he did his impression of Ford Fairlane.
"Clint Eastwood?"
"Do I know heem?"
"Ya, I fokked heem!"
As other guests at the party realised that Ricky and Richard weren't going to kill anyone, a few of them came over to join in the conversation. The young cave woman also came over without the guy she came to the party with.
Within about five minutes it was obvious to the five or six people in the conversational group that the cave woman was interested in Richard (the guy with the glasses). Richard wasn't backwards about being forward, and he said to the cave woman "zo you like me eh?" To which the cave woman smiled and blushed a little and she pointedly glanced over to her date. Richard just said " don vorry about him, we go fokk in zee tent over dare".
Surprisingly, considering the other people witnessing what was going on, the cave woman said "no I can't, he'll get angry with me", as she motioned with her head towards the older caveman.
The caveman was no dummy.
He knew what was going on, but he didn't come within the conversational circle but, instead, he called to the cave woman that he wanted to go. The cave woman called back that she wanted to stay and that he should go home without her. To which the caveman pulled off his long curly blond wig, uncovering the grey balding pate of a man in his 60s, and threw it on the ground. The old caveman then proceeded to bang his bone (the fake plastic dinosaur one that is) on the side of the house, while pleading with the cave woman to leave with him.
Talk about a great visual metaphor.
The cave woman very casually turned around and said "no, no, it's okay, you go home I want to stay." Poor old Fred Flintstone just dropped his shoulders and bone, turned around dejectedly and made his exit. The old lion had been cast out of the pride.
No sooner had the old suitor left when Richard restarted his none too subtle overtures by grabbing for the cave woman's breast in front of all of us. The cave woman stepped out of his reach, and just smiled at him. Richard countered "maybe you vould like it if we both fokked you?" Ricky who had hadn't said very much all night, just smirked. The cave woman smiled, whilst the rest of us just didn't know where to look.
Richard then lunged for the cave woman's breasts again, and once again, the woman retreated. I then said to Richard, "look, mate, you've got it made, but you're going to fuck it up."
"Vott do you mean?"
"I mean that women don't like to be treated like that"
"Be nicer, show a little love".
Richard tilted back his head as he pondered that little chestnut, and then he turned to me and looked me square in the eye and said in a booming baritone voice laced with menace,
"FOKK LOV!"
Then he lunged at the cave woman's breast again, and once again, the cave woman deftly dodged his grope. I guess it was getting a little bit too real for the cave woman because she just turned around and walked out of the party.
Yep Richard blew it.
Ricky wasn't grinning any more.
Ricky didn't say very much for the rest of the evening and consoled himself by eating most of the mushroom dip, and as a consequence, he was quite mellow by the time dawn came around.
I must have given some kind of contact details to Richard and Ricky, because a couple of months later, they turned up at the studio. It seems that Richard and Ricky had gone up north, and had been travelling all around Queensland, during which time they won the full-contact karate championship in both their weight classes. Which is saying something, because Queensland is full of hard men who like nothing else than a brawl.
We had been doing some high key photography in the studio and the lighting set up was still there. So I asked the guys, if I could take some quick photographs of them. I took mainly head shots of them, but they wanted me to take a few shots of them posing the way they wanted to (one of the shots is the picture above).
I could see that Richard and Ricky were impressed with where I was working. I could almost hear the gears of their minds, as I watched them try to figure out a way to insinuate themselves into such a scene. I made it clear to them that the was no way that they could get a job working in the studio without an education in photography. It just wasn't going to happen.
Richard then asked me if he and Ricky could crash at my place for a little while. I told them I'd have to check with my girlfriend, so I rang her up.
Her answer,
"NO FUCKING WAY!"
To tell the truth I was glad that I had an out. I've met people like Richard and Ricky before, when I used to work in the carnival, and I knew that I wouldn't be able to control them. I'm pretty sure they had me sized up well enough to know the truth of the situation as well. If push came to shove, there was no way I could resist them. My girlfriend knew that and she saved me from them.
Every now and again I meet hard cases, like Richard and Ricky, who seem to be lost in this modern age. It was almost as though two Vikings from a thousand years ago, had somehow fallen through a rift in space and time to the other side of the world. Brisbane in the early 1990s.
I don't think the modern civilised world needs such pure expressions of testosterone like Richard and Ricky any more. They were out of place and out of time.
As a matter of fact, I think the whole warrior ideal needs to be deleted from our culture. Popular entertainment, likes to show the warrior as a noble hero that saves the day. Truth be known though, warriors are the ones that we need to be saved from.
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10 thoughts on "FOKK LOV! Ricky and Richard. Brisbane, Qld, Australia. 1990"
Razz, I don't believe anyone but a psychiatrist has met as many sociopaths in a lifetimes as you. But, not even psychiatrists, could bring a certain tenderness that you have for these folks. And, the image of the older caveman flinging his blonde caveman wig (yeah, that's what all caveman were wearing back in the day) and banging his fake dinosaur bone against the side of the house? Speechless in Massachusetts.. once again. This is Dickens with a sweet spot for character disorders. You totally amaze me.
Aw shucks! Thanks Pat.
I bet you've met your share of "interesting" people in your day as well. Especially considering what you used to do for a living.
It's funny that you say "sweet spot for character disorders". I don't know if I have a sweet spot for such things, I just think that I blunder into crazy situations. You know the old saying, "fools go where angels fear to tread".
Suzie says:
There is nothing I could possibly add to this bizarre story, I just thought that an excellent nickname for Richard and Ricky would be "Frick" and "Frack".
…well it cracked ME up anyway…
I bet they've cracked up more than a few people, literally, in their time
Joe Garrison says:
Another great snippet of real life, Razz. The outliers on the bell curve of the people you meet are almost always the most interesting. Maybe not the best/safest to socialize with, but hands down the most interesting!!!
Wow. Quite the pairing. And while you avoided the trouble of having them stay with you, you probably missed being involved in at least ten more amazing tales.
The caveman story is just depressing. I can't imagine being treated that way by a girlfriend/wife – knowing full well what her intentions were.
"you probably missed being involved in at least ten more amazing tales."
You could be right but I've hung out with people like that before and they can be a real pain in the butt…. and where ever else they strike you.
"I can't imagine being treated that way by a girlfriend/wife – knowing full well what her intentions were."
It always pains me to see how cruel and callous some people can be. If find very it hard to watch movies that deal with infidelity.
I think you're right.
Normal and nice people don't tend to lead to interesting stories and when they are described they can be usually be summed up with the following bland comment "they were really nice".
Whereas people like Ricky and Richards are going to leave colourful stories that will be told over and over, in their wakes everywhere they go, all their lives.
It all reminds me of when I used to work in the carnival. There was a type of farewell that many people used to use back then. "Be good, but if you can't, then be colourful!"
you never cease to amaze me…. how many more stories like that have you hidden from me!? Nice shot…
Thanks for dropping by Mike.
About bloody time if you ask me!
As for the stories, you've known me for years and you know I can tell stories about my life until the cows come home. I probably didn't tell you this story before because of the following reasons:
a) My wife was kicking me under the table trying to get me to shut up and stop hogging the conversation.
b) I was giving someone else the rare opportunity to get a word in
c) You were going on about peak-oil and I couldn't get a word in 😉
It's always good to hear form you and I hope you drop by again.
For you other people out there, I've written a post about Mike on this blog
http://blog.allthedumbthings.com/2008/01/18/mike-stasse-speaks-about-peak-oil/


Jane Ciabattari is the author of the critically acclaimed short-story collection Stealing the Fire (Kirkus Reviews: "Ciabattari is a master of transformation as she gives these stories of loss, woe, crisis and collapse the salutary and sometimes bracing qualities of plain good fiction"). Her short stories have been published in Long Island Noir (Akashic Books), the Literarian, KBG Bar Lit, Lost magazine, Chautauqua magazine, Literary Mama, VerbSap, Ms., the North American Review, Denver Quarterly, and Hampton Shorts (which honored her with an Editors' Choice Award), among others. She writes the "Between the Lines" column for BBC.com and is a regular contributor to NPR.org, the Daily Beast, and the Boston Globe. A former president of the National Book Critics Circle, she now serves as vice president. She is on the advisory board for the Story Prize. Read more about her at Janeciabattari.com.


text:
U.S. Backtracks on Settlement Freeze
After historic overtures to the Palestinian cause, the Obama administration has dropped its demand that Israel halt settlements in the West Bank as a precondition for negotiations. Secretary of State Clinton traveled to Israel to make the announcement, lavishing praise on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an effort to repair strained relations between the two countries. Palestinians balked, however, at American calls to return to talks without a freeze on settlements, calling the negotiations paralyzed. "The result of Israel's intransigence and America's back-pedaling is that there is no hope for negotiations on the horizon," said a spokesman for Mahmoud Abbas. The position reversal delighted Israelis. "The U.S. administration understands what we have always said—that the real obstacle to negotiations are the Palestinians," said one official.
Read it at The Telegraph


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