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August Update
Posted on August 7, 2012 by fuelyouth
The FUEL team published a newsletter with some updates for our friends and followers. Please check it out and share with your networks. See our newsletter here, or find it posted to from our Facebook page. Leave us a comment to let us know what you think of our projects. Highlights include the launching of our library at UCA, and solar electrification of the school there. Jump in to the newsletter to learn more!
Boys reading in the new library at UCA
A FUEL Youth Success: Bookdrive 2011
Posted on March 3, 2012 by fuelyouth
In November of last year, FUEL Youth board member Sean O'Connor connected with his former elementary school, Saint Philomena's School in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, to chat with the sixth grade class about FUEL's work in Liberia. Over a Skype video chat, the students asked what it was like in Liberia and what challenges face FUEL in its efforts as well as how they could help. The students were working on a project with their teacher, Ms. Samantha Hedden, to develop a model for a non-profit that fit their philanthropic interests. FUEL served as inspiration for them in this process.
To FUEL's surprise, the students quickly mobilized and within a few weeks, collected over 27 boxes of books to support FUEL's library programs in Liberia. In early February, a friend of FUEL, Dan O'Connor, drove the books down to Philadelphia, where they left on a cargo ship bound for Liberia. FUEL Youth will be having a library dedication ceremony at their school outside of Monrovia in April of this year, as well as administering library workshops to introduce this new resource to the students, faculty, and community.
The contribution of Saint Philomena's School is only 1 example of the fantastic response to FUEL's Fall/Winter 2011 book drive in the United States. Students from Concordia Lutheran School in Peoria, Illinois also took part, as did FUEL Youth supporters from all across the country, who bought books from an Amazon wishlist set up by FUEL.
Thanks to all the supporters of the book drive. We look forward to keeping you updated with the library progress come April! But our thanks only go so far. A big thanks from the students at UCA who the library will benefit. Check it out below!
Thank You FUEL Youth
Tagged with: books, Concordia, library
Posted in Friends of FUEL Youth, Projects
Liberian winners of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize!
Posted on October 18, 2011 by fuelyouth
Great news in the past week for Liberia and women around the world! The 2011 Nobel Peace Prize was given to three women, and 2 of the 3 female laureates were Liberian women! This demonstrates international recognition of the crucial role of women in rebuilding Liberia after the brutal civil war.
The two Liberian women who won the prize are current president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and women's right activist, Leymah Gbowee. Both women were pivotal in bringing an end to conflict in Liberia. Johnson-Sirleaf ran against former warlord Charles Taylor in presidential elections and as of 2005, is the first democratically elected female president in Liberia. Moreover, she has been passionately committed to rebuilding Liberia after the war with her economic expertise and commitment to education and ending corruption. As fellow Nobel Peace Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu said, Johnson Sirleaf is worthy of the prize "many times over. She's brought stability to a place that was going to hell" (Washington Post).
The timing of the Nobel Peace Prize is particularly interesting given that it comes in the middle of Liberia's current elections in which incumbent Johnson Sirleaf is running for a second term as president. Some say that winning the Nobel Peace Prize will give Johnson Sirleaf the boost she needs to win the ongoing elections, especially due to the recent run-off. Others have complained that awarding her the Nobel Peace Prize now shows overt Western support for her regime and shows foreign tampering with national elections. However, it is important to note that many Liberian voters in the rural areas are not aware of and thus will not feel a substantial change due to the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize.
The other winner is 39-year-old Liberian Leymah Gbowee. Gbowee is a prominent women's right activist in Liberian civil society. With chaos and violence gripping Liberia during the civil war, Gbowee decided to do something about it. She organized mass movements and empowered Liberian women to stand up against the brutalities of Charles Taylor's regime, leading 250,000 women who risked their lives to protest until Taylor signed a peace deal. Gbowee's tenacity and courage were further displayed in 2003 when she led hundreds of female protestors through war-torn Monrovia to demand the disarmament of armed men raping women during Liberia's civil war. Even after the peace deal, as rapes continued, Gbowee led a group of women dressed in white to Monrovia's City Hall to articulate their demands. Gbowee said, "We the women of Liberia will no more allow ourselves to be raped, abused, misused, maimed and killed!" Gbowee's movement has been credited as being a necessary component in ending Liberia's civil war as well as human rights violations in Liberia. Gbowee's efforts are featured in the lauded documentary Pray the Devil Back to Hell.
Clearly, both are strong women of remarkable personal character and integrity. The Nobel Peace Prize Committee noted that it gave these women the award due to their work on enhancing women's rights, especially on the African continent, which is a fundamental component of spreading peace around the world. The total prize money of $1.5 million dollars will be split amongst the three female winners. Only 12 women had won the prize before the recent round of 3, making these two Liberian women the latest to join a small and elite group of powerful women making positive impacts in our world! This great news is wholeheartedly welcomed by FUEL Youth.
In a brief overview of other news coming from Liberia during this exciting time, the first round of voting gave Johnson-Sirleaf a lead with 44% of the vote against 32% for Winston Tubman. To win in the first round, a party had to win 51% of the vote; since this did not happen, a second round run-off will occur between the CDC under Tubman and the UP under Johnson Sirleaf. Mr. Tubman had said he would pull out of the election due to concerns over rigging, but has since gone back on this claim. For now, the run-off has been scheduled for November 8th, so we will all have to wait a little longer to find out the results!
2011 Nobel Peace Prize Winners
Updates from Liberia
Posted on October 5, 2011 by fuelyouth
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf
Liberian women pleading for peace
Since writing last week, things have gotten even more tense in Liberia in the run-up to October 11th's election. The most recent news coming out of Monrovia is that the opposition party, the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC), is upping its criticisms of incumbent Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf's administration. During a live press conference hosted by CDC vice presidential aspirant George Weah, Weah's continuing criticisms of Ma Ellen amplified in intensity. Weah has labeled Johnson-Sirleaf as a "war monger and war financier" (AllAfrica), implying that she was complicit in the killing of 300,000 Liberians, yet Weah has no evidence to back up these insulting claims. The presidential candidate for the opposition CDC, Winston Tubman, has again claimed that his party will win the first round of presidential elections to defeat Johnson-Sirleaf.
Johnson-Sirleaf has sought to shut down CDC's claims that she is too old, at the age of seventy-three, to be re-elected as President. She claims that she still has the energy and ability to continue directing Liberia's recovery after the civil war. Another criticism the CDC has leveled at Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf's administration is its suspension of Ambrose Nmah, who is the Director-General of the state-owned Liberia Broadcasting System, alongside other senior staff. In his place, professor Alhaji G.V. Kroham, a former presidential candidate and former leader of a rebel group that opposed Charles Taylor during Liberia's civil war, is acting as the new Director-General. The CDC is completely against these actions, and demands that Nmah be reinstated immediately. In the CDC press statement released September 28, 2011, the CDC claimed that Johnson-Sirleaf suspended Nmah because he dedicated too much time on the Liberia Broadcasting System to discussing the CDC. The party stated, "With the dismissal of LBS's Director General Ambrose Nmah, President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has finally abandoned the pretense of presiding over a free press." (AllAfrica). These very harsh and libelous claims are creating a major strain between the President and the opposition. The CDC also claims that Johnson-Sirleaf's replacement candidate, Mr. Kroham, is problematic since he used to be the leader of a rebel group during the civil war. In another statement reflecting the CDC's troublesome rhetoric lately, they say "the President, herself a financier of war, is recycling warlords and tired politicians. We ask how can Alhaji Kromah be a voice of the Liberan government…when he is a major culprit in the devastation of our beloved country?" (AllAfrica). The CDC says that there must be a new generation of political leaders entirely removed from the terrible Liberian civil war of 1989-2003.
Given these developments on the ground, the ECOWAS's (Economic Community of West African States) Rep. to Liberia, General Obeng, has issued a caution to Liberia's political parties to be careful when making damaging claims so that October 11th's polls remain peaceful. He has urged the candidates to exercise restraint in the coming weeks. To back up this caution with action, General Obeng said that any Liberian political leader who encourages violence and chaos during or after the elections may be able to escape persecution locally, but will not be able to international persecution under the International Criminal Court (ICC). This threat of ICC persecution carries weight given recent African leaders who incited election violence and were forced to face the ICC, including former president of Cote d'Ivoire Laurent Gbagbo and officials in Kenya who were blamed for stirring up post-election violence in late 2007-2008. To complement General Obeng's calls, US Ambassador to Liberia, Linda Greenfield, has also urged Liberians to be cautious against incitements and/or messages of violence in the run-up to the elections. She is specifically targeting the youth and urging them to stay away from encouragement of violent behavior. In wake of these fears, Liberian women have continued pleading for political candidates to ensure peace during the elections. The women have organized as "Women Coalition for Peace" and call for restraint on behalf of political candidates as well as the media.
On a related note, the head of the European Union (EU) delegation to Liberia says that the EU will cancel their observer mission for the upcoming elections. This cancellation is due to fears that the elections will not be free, fair, transparent and peaceful. Instead of observing the elections, the EU delegation to Liberia will conduct "diplomatic visitation" during the elections. Am I the only one who is wondering what that political rhetoric really means? This backing-out is interesting given that All Africa claims that EU taxpayers have paid upwards of 90% of the costs for October's elections in Liberia. Liberian journalist Kenneth Best argued that the EU mission to observe the polls should not have been cancelled, and in fact is more relevant than ever given threats of post-election violence and vote rigging.
US Ambassador to Liberia Greenfield has said that the world is watching Liberia, and hopes that it can set a good example for the rest of Africa on how to conduct violent-free and transparent elections. These elections are also significant for the future peace of Liberia and its continual struggle for development after the brutal legacy of the civil war. Again, we at FUEL Youth are anxiously watching reports about developments on the ground in Liberia, and hope that all will go well!
Check out more at: http://allafrica.com/stories/201110020105.html http://allafrica.com/stories/201110010014.html
http://allafrica.com/stories/201109301188.html
Water Access in Liberia
Access to a steady supply of clean water is a perpetual problem in Liberia and other African countries. This issue is of particular relevance to FUEL Youth and its activities in Liberia. In 2003, FUEL Youth founder Edward Fahnbulleh returned to his home village of Messima in Grand Cape Mount County, Liberia after nearly two decades of civil war. When arriving, he was shocked to find a high mortality rate amongst young children in the village. One of the primary causes of this mortality rate is the prevalence of water-borne diseases, mostly from livestock, which find their way into the village drinking supply during the rainy season. Realizing the critical importance of establishing a clean water source to reduce child mortality rates, Edward set out to build a proper well for this village, and since then the rainy-season death rate amongst youth in Messima has greatly decreased!
FUEL Youth decided to take further action to establish a clean water source as part of efforts to advance community development on Swaggart Island, part of Bushrod Island, which is located right outside of Monrovia, Liberia's capital city. In 2009, FUEL Youth started to help construct a water tower next to the United Christian Academy (UCA) as part of a planned water infrastructure to offer a clean water source to the community of Swaggart Island. The youth at UCA currently have no constant clean water source. The Swaggart Island Community Water tower will support the youth at UCA as well as all community members on Swaggart Island.
An exciting development in water access is a new water plant under the Liberia Water and Sewer Corporation (LWSC), which claims it will be able to supply "pipe borne water to nearly 1.5 million inhabitants" both in the capital of Monrovia and its suburbs. This is an impressive development to help improve infrastructure and clean water access in Liberia after the devastation of the civil war. As a result of this water plant, the amount of safe drinking water will increase from 5.5 million gallons daily to 10 million. LWSC, in tandem with the World Bank, will work to further increase the supply of pipe borne water into Monrovia, and the government will receive a significant boost to enhance safe drinking water in Liberia. We at FUEL Youth find this to be a very exciting development, as we have seen firsthand the struggle to secure clean water sources. LWSC has said these developments would not have been possible without the help of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and her international connections. Other joint initiatives, including ones with World Bank and USAID, to provide further pipe borne water are underway, which is a great sign for the future!
To learn more about steps to improve the health, environment and quality of life for those living in Monrovia, visit: http://allafrica.com/stories/201109200912.html
Liberia's Upcoming Election
Posted on September 28, 2011 by fuelyouth
You can imagine the electric feel on the ground in Liberia right now, with less than 3 weeks to go until the October 11th elections. The atmosphere is heating up in Liberia's capital, Monrovia.
The election holds special significance as it comes at a time where Liberia is trying to fully recover from the disastrous civil war that raged from 1989-2003. This is the "first domestically organized vote" (Reuters) since the war, after the 2005 U.N.-organized election that resulted in Johnson Sirleaf's victory. Thus, it is important that it runs smoothly and does not plunge the country back into conflict. Liberia is also one of the poorest nations in the world, and vitally needs stable elections.
Who are the major players in the upcoming election? The incumbent, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, known locally as 'Ma Ellen' or the 'Iron Lady', is the first female head of state in Africa. Many have predicted that she will emerge victorious in the coming elections, as she did in the 2005 elections, to carry out a second term. Johnson-Sirleaf runs as part of the Unity Party (UP). The main opposition is the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC), under presidential aspirant Winston Tubman and vice presidential candidate, former A.C. Milan soccer player George O. Weah (who ran against Ms. Johnson-Sirleaf in the 2005 election). The CDC is giving the ruling UP a tough battle for victory. Tubman and Weah claim that Johnson-Sirleaf's administration has failed the Liberian people and argue that change is needed. Both presidential aspirants from the UP and CDC have impressive backgrounds as both are Harvard-educated, with Johnson Sirleaf as a former Finance Minister and World Bank employee, and Tubman as Justice Minister and representative to the UN. The other major player is Charles Brumskine, running as part of the Liberty Party, who has had a long history in Liberian politics and is a law expert.
Let's take a critical look at Johnson-Sirleaf's first term in office. Her supporters are confident Johnson-Sirleaf will be able to further pull the country out of the economic crisis that has marked its post-civil war years. Highlights of Johnson-Sirleaf's rule include negotiating Liberia's outstanding debt after the civil war, raising civil servant and teacher salaries, improving infrastructure, enhancing educational opportunities, having no political prisoners, and presiding over a period of economic growth. Critics have attacked Johnson-Sirleaf's for not ruling out endemic corruption enough during her time in office. Moreover, as part of her election campaign in 2005, she claimed she would only run for one-term, but has reneged on that promise. This is troublesome, since Africa has a history of notorious rulers who have been reluctant to give up their time in power, but Ma Ellen claims that she needs another term to carry out her desired goals. Johnson-Sirleaf has emphasized that taking office in 2006 with the country in a precarious situation left little resources to carry out her goals, but is confident that 5 years later, more progress can be achieved. The Unity Party pledged that if re-elected to the presidency, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf's administration will rebuild the hydro-electric dam by 2015, create 20,000 jobs annually, build paved roads to every county capital, complete community colleges in all counties and increase salaries of teachers and health workers, especially those working in rural areas.
Of particular importance to FUEL Youth is the emphasis that Johnson-Sirleaf has put on expanding educational opportunities as part of rebuilding Liberia after the civil war. At the grassroots level, Johnson-Sirleaf has solidified her support with endorsements from major grassroots organizations, including the University Students for the Re-Election of Madam Sirleaf (USROMS). These students point out the notable transformations in Liberia during Johnson-Sirleaf's time in office, with large benefits to education. This shows that the education sector of Liberia supports Ma Ellen's prioritization of education as a vital component to rebuild Liberia, a message that we at FUEL Youth agree with. During Johnson-Sirleaf's first term, she has increased money spent on education in the national budget and pledges to continue to expand educational opportunities. Johnson-Sirleaf has increased teacher salaries and provided education and training opportunities, demonstrating the importance of incentivizing good teachers to teach the next generation of Liberians. The 2007 executive order of the government also stipulates a 'free education policy' that is compulsory for all students from Kindergarten to Junior High. The President hopes to train even more teachers in the country, through "tuition-free programs for teachers pursuing teacher training programs" (All Africa) as well as stipends. This focus on education is very exciting for FUEL Youth and its goals to enhance education in Liberia. However, while the 2007 policy to expand free education for school-aged children was a promising first step to address the many needs of Liberia's growing youth population, there are numerous problems that the Liberian government must still address. For instance, at least 50% of schools in Liberia were destroyed during the civil war, and over 60% of teachers in Liberia lack proper training to teach the next generation. Thus, Ma Ellen's call for free and compulsory education falls short of its promise until it addresses some of the underlying structural issues, which is why FUEL Youth is so committed to helping further expand and improve education in post-war Liberia.
Last Saturday, up to 40,000 Johnson-Sirleaf supporters thronged the capital as part of her re-election campaign. These crowds brought traffic and general activity to a standstill in bustling Monrovia. People walked from surrounding areas of the city to be part of the excitement gripping the capital. In an ebullient manner, Johnson-Sirleaf danced on the truck carrying her through the capital to the stadium where she gave her speech. Huge numbers turned out to the stadium to show their support for Ma Ellen, countering critics' claims that Johnson-Sirleaf and her Unity Party had low approval ratings. Fans waited for hours for Johnson-Sirleaf's arrival in a thrilling atmosphere of support and adoration saying, "We love you Ma Ellen" (All Africa). Johnson-Sirleaf was overcome by the display of support, and looked flabbergasted while trying to hold back her emotions. The environment seems electrifying currently, and makes you wish you could be there! However, we at FUEL Youth are keeping our fingers crossed that all this jubilant outpouring ahead of the elections will remain calm.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has voiced concerns over threats to peace in Liberia ahead of the upcoming elections. ECOWAS's President, Mr. Gbeho, said that the "explosive rhetoric" (APANEWS) being used by Liberian politicians is troublesome after substantial efforts to create lasting peace in Liberia after the brutal civil war. Top politicians have claimed their parties in the lead, and if they don't win, they may be tempted to claim it is due to rigging; these claims are prompting severe tension. Opposition vice president candidate George Weah has said, "We will resist her plans to cheat and will not accept results from any fraudulent elections. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, consider Yourself WARNED. We have evidence that Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is bent on cheating in these elections" and the CDC will not accept any "fraudulent elections". Mr. Weah has upped his virulent attacks on the president and continually vilifies her. Weah's proclamations that he will "massively defeat" the incumbent Johnson-Sirleaf is troublesome, since he has suggested that results to the contrary will be evidence of rigging. This bodes negatively for the CDC as an opposition party, since its vilification and mud-slinging tactics instead of focusing on what it can do for Liberia suggest that it lacks the political maturity to be the ruling party in fragile Liberia.
There are also concerns over small-scale violence ahead of elections. There have been isolated attacks on individuals that are believed to be "politically motivated" (All Africa), raising concerns over Liberia's stability during the run-up to the election on October 11th. Market women have denounced the election violence, including intimation and burned cars, since it has the potential to morph into larger conflict. There are fears that the use of inflammatory language may create political crisis if it is not controlled. Mr. Gbeho ended with "We are worried about this country's future" (APANEWS), providing a cautious outlook of the elections. As Mr. Gbeho rightfully says, leaders of Liberia need to practice restraint and uphold the democratic process to keep the country together in such a turbulent time, rather than fanning the flames. Amidst these concerns, the UN Security Council has said that a full peacekeeping force, UNMIL, will stay in Liberia after the October presidential election to maintain peace. There are also claims that Johnson Sirleaf is considering bringing in Nigerian troops to enhance security during the elections.
The President of the ECOWAS Commission, Victor Gbeho, has called the peace in Liberia "precarious" (APANEWS) after recent cross border raids from Liberia into Cote d'Ivoire. These raids came from armed men who claim they are loyal to defeated Ivorian presidential candidate Laurent Gbagbo. ECOWAS is concerned that these rebels will be allowed to gain traction while Liberia is focused on elections. The UN is helping Liberia's fragile neighbor, Cote d'Ivoire, to bolster security along the porous border due to Liberian "mercenaries" (CNN) carrying out attacks cross-border. Stability in Western Cote d'Ivoire holds significance for neighboring Liberia, especially since Cote d'Ivoire suffered from its own post-election violence earlier this year. While Liberia's security is of utmost concern for FUEL Youth, the possibility of regional instability also bodes negatively. We are full of hope that leaders will take necessary steps to help ensure lasting peace.
In a controversial side development, the Liberian Supreme Court had said that six political parties, including the Unity Party of incumbent Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, should halt their political activities ahead of the upcoming election. The petition claims they must freeze political campaigns until the court rules over the ten-year residency clause, which states "presidential aspirants must have stayed in Liberia ten years before contesting for the presidency" (APANEWS). This Court order comes at a time when election activities and campaigns have been heating up across the country. Due to the turbulent time in which it finds itself, the Court is having the hearing Tuesday. Members of an opposition party, the Movement for Progressive Change, filed the petition to claim that Johnson-Sirleaf, as well as other presidential candidates, don't meet the ten-year residency clause. The petition seeks to block President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and other presidential candidates from contesting the upcoming elections. Johnson-Sirleaf has dismissed these claims, saying that her attempt to run in the 1997 presidential election rigged to favor warlord Charles Taylor shows that she is qualified to run in the 2011 election.
All Africa says that Johnson-Sirleaf stands ahead as the frontrunner. Liberia has maintained a fragile peace since the end of the war in 2003 and the upcoming elections will really test the strength of that peace. FUEL Youth is hopeful that there will be robust participation and that the elections will be free and fair to maintain the stability for the future of Liberia and its youth. Here is to hoping things will run smoothly.
Building up School and Community on Swaggart Island
The United Christian Academy is the only community school on Swaggart Island, which sits just 8 miles outside Morovia. UCA was built and initially operated by FUEL Youth's Edward Fahnbulleh in 2005, and has blossomed to accommodate over 300 children, with the oldest children in the 8th grade and a supportive community with plans to expand the school to accommodate a high school facility on site.
The US embassy has recognized the school and generously donated bathroom facilities in 2008. FUEL Youth is now finishing up a water system (water tower, lined water well, pump) to make bathrooms and clean drinking water a reality.
FUEL Youth was pleased to see Swaggart Island's local elected official visit the site this past week, and announce his support for the work FUEL Youth is doing on the island. Here are a few picture from Senator Roland Kahn's visit.
Swaggart Island is a small island that's part of the river wetland system of the Messurado River that drains into the Atlantic Ocean at Monrovia. The beautiful wetlands that surround the island provide fish and food sources for locals. But heavy rains in June, July and August can cause the small bridge to Swaggart Island to get flooded out, which traps locals on the island, keeping working adults from getting to and from their jobs on the mainland. See the map below to learn more about the geography of Swaggart Island.
View Swaggart Island, Liberia in a larger map
Parent Teacher Associations: Helping to Lift Liberia
Posted on February 18, 2010 by fuelyouth
A dear friend of FUEL Youth, Toni Schneider, was able to visit the UCA campus in the Fall of 2009. Toni hails from the United States but is in Liberia working with the Ministry of Education and the World Food Program on an initiative to develop strong parent teacher associations across Liberia. Read Toni's story of her visit.
UCA is a FUEL Youth-supported school right outside of Monrovia offering an education to over 340 students from the immediate area where there was once no opportunity for education at all. UCA faces challenges, but Toni's story tells of a inspiring community ready to lift up and foster a school that works for their children.
My counterpart slowed his pace and removed his shoes. After more than three hours of cramped rides in bush taxis along Somalia Drive from Duala Market to the Steven Tolbert Estates, I'd had enough. I rolled my eyes in exasperation at his "bush baby" behavior, frustrated that he was about to meet a FUEL Youth school principal without any footwear. But my mutterings ceased when my next steps were met with a kur-splash!
Borbor Swaggart Island is, in the truest sense of the word, an island. As community organizer for the Ministry of Education and UN World Food Programme's (WFP) Parent Teacher Association development program, I had seen the worst of the worst when it comes to rural schools, including children coming to school in without shoes, taking their lessons out of doors, and going home hungry when the principal and head cook improperly managed WFP food rations. But what I had never seen was a community cut off from the rest of the city when the tide comes in. See more ›
Posted in Friends of FUEL Youth, Uncategorized
We're back…with great news!
Posted on January 29, 2009 by fuelyouth	— No Comments ↓
We can now report that all FUEL Youth team members have made it home to Washington, DC, safely (Edward stayed a couple weeks longer), but we've got even better news… FUEL Youth has officially been granted 501c3 status from the IRS!!! Needless to say, the FUEL Youth team is absolutely thrilled with this news, as the 501c3 process has been a long and sometimes tedious one for our group of non-lawyers. We are very excited to see what the future has in store for our young nonprofit. In the immediate future, FUEL Youth will be pulling together all of the photos, videos, information and stories from our recent trip to Liberia for an event with our friends and supporters here in the Washington DC area, so stay tuned for more information on that….
Let's update you on our last day in Liberia! It was definitely a bittersweet day. We headed out to Gardnersville for one last hurrah at UCA. When we got there, all of the kids and teachers had gathered in the auditorium. We began to get a little suspicious of what they had planned for our last day at school. Songs commenced, and shortly thereafter, FUEL Youth was presented with certificates of appreciation for our work at UCA. The gifts did not stop there though! One by one, each member of the team was gowned with Liberian outfits…bright tie-dyed orange, green, and brown fabrics made into two piece outfits- very becoming! We're hoping there will be an opportunity to sport our new threads in the DC area in the near future. After being gowned in these spectacular outfits, Bendu- Eddie's wife- presented us with yet another gorgeous outfit she had sewn for each of us. We were incredibly touched by everyone's love and kindness. The kids ended the program in song, one class singing, "we hope to see you in January 2009!" And they very well might 🙂
After the program ended, we had to start the difficult process of saying good-bye to the wonderful community of UCA and Gardnersville. Our hearts absolutely sank as we climbed in the car and waved good-bye to our new family and friends. We headed back to Vivien's to pack up all of our belongings, then began the caravan to the airport. It was getting dark by the time we got there, but we still had an hour or two to spare, so Mansour (The lovely Lebanese man Ali stayed with on her last journey to Liberia) took us on a driving tour of the Firestone rubber factory and park, which was located right next to the airport. We then headed to the airport and did our last round of incredibly difficult good-byes to everyone. We definitely had to wipe some tears from our eyes as we waved and headed inside, but we also were leaving with a new-found sense of inspiration and excitement of the work and plans we have ahead of us for FUEL Youth!
Final Days in Liberia
Posted on January 8, 2009 by fuelyouth	— No Comments ↓
We couldn't quite remember where we left off, but we think it was yesterday morning. We headed downtown to Broad Street to take care of some business, including a special pick up from Western Union from a special man, Mr. Daniel Musisi. He wrote a message with the money transfer which the Western Union agent is supposed to read, which read, "How much wood could a wood chuck chuck if a wood chuck could chuck would". Disappointingly, the agent only handed us a paper with the message written on it.
We had some time to kill downtown, so we stopped by the National Museum to have a look. Liberia has a very interesting history, so if you don't know much about it, give the Wikipedia page a read (at least). Among other things, we saw some Vai script (Vai is Eddie's native tongue). It's not really a written language, the script come much later than the language, and it's not widely circulated. But people do study it at the University of Liberia. Our favorite piece at the museum was the fertility mask, for which we do not have a picture, as they were not allowed. The museum was torn up pretty badly during the civil war, so it was nice to come support it as it moves forward.
The next stop was the University of Liberia for a meeting with the Cape Mount Students University Association, which is a group of students from Grand Cape Mount County, where we are building the new school, and where Robertsport is. We were a bit delayed, because a water line in the engine kept busting, so we did a little street-side mechanical work. Once at the University, we had a meeting under a tree. There was a group of about 25+ students who welcomed us. (**It's interesting to note that the average age of the college student is probably closer to 30 than 20). The point was really to welcome us and talk about the activities that FUEL Youth supported in Cape Mount last year, namely, the tutoring program to help students pass their high school exam. We're really glad this meeting happened, as we learned a lot and it helped pave a positive way forward. All the Cape Mountonians had really thoughtful and insightful things to say and suggestions about how to make a tutoring program like ours work better.
After the meeting, some friends gave us a campus tour. The campus is bursting with students and energy. It has a law school and teachers college. But again, it was torn up badly during the war and is on a long road to recovery. They don't even have a computer center for students to complete assignments, yet many professors require typed assignments, which leave students scrambling for facilities, and having to pay at Internet cafes. They NEED a computer facility for students. We hope they can make the right partnerships and the right moves to get themselves there.
We headed home next to shower and freshen up for our first evening out "on the town." Our first stop was the Heartbreak Hotel, a fusion restaurant that serves Lebanese, Liberian, and Western food (and has AC!!) for a meeting with the man who heads up the administrative section of the Peace Corps here in Liberia. A friend of one of Sean's friends, he was quite helpful in discussing the realities of Liberia's development situation. Peace Corps itself withdrew all of its volunteers in 1990 when Liberia's Civil Wars began and only just recently started placing volunteers in Liberia this past October 2008. Even still, Peace Corps has only sent 13 education focused volunteers, all of whom have previously served successful tours in Peace Corps , to help contribute to Liberia's redevelopment. Liberia has quite a road ahead of her, though it seems like the majority of strong international development organizations like the Peace Corps are ready to step back up to the plate. And the majority of Liberians seem willing to accept the help.
Next, Kula took us to a place very near the beach in Sinkor called The Garden Cafe. On Wednesday and Friday nights they have live bands there, so we were very anxious to hear some great Liberian music. It was a beautiful evening, so it was perfect that the seating and music was out on the patio. We ordered a round of Clubs (Monrovian brewed beer) and sat back and enjoyed. So many surprises surfaced over the next few hours. It began when three american men entered and they can really only be described as…..well, rednecks. Incredibly unexpected. The band started up shortly after and to our amazement, their first song was Enrique Iglasias's "Hero." Songs that followed include: Red Red Wine, Sexy Thing, and other delightful surprises. They also played some great Liberian and Ghanaian songs as well. At one point, a song was dedicated to our table so Christine danced up to add some money to the tip jar, only to be coaxed into dancing with the lead singer. No worries, we've got great pictures of this. Later, the two back up dancers got the table (sans Sean and Vivien) up dancing. The last and final surprise of the evening might just have been the best. Never ever in our lives would we think we'd come across a MULLET in Liberia, but nonetheless we did. It was exciting to be able to teach Vivien and Kula a new vocabulary word. Mullet: noun. Business in the front. Party in the back. They caught on quickly. The group was pretty wiped after that, so we headed back to Vivien's. Vivien managed to convince Ali to check out a couple of the night clubs Liberia has to offer (as if it was that difficult), so they headed out for a little while more.
The next morning (Thursday), we visited Love International Elementary School, which was built by and is overseen by a really great couple. The wife serves as Principal to the School, while the husband serves as District Representative to Grand Cape Mount county (which encompasses Messima and Robertsport where we visited last weekend). It was an incredibly informative meeting – to hear their story of opening the school in 1997 (as so many children had no school to attend), their successes and challenges, etc. The school itself was a great example of what we want UCA to be (self-sustaining, meal program, appropriate class curriculums, and an internet cafe!), so it was a productive visit. Not to mention that we were able to establish contact with an elected official from Cape Mount, which will prove to be helpful in future efforts.
From the school, we headed to P.A.'s Ribhouse to get a few cokes and biscuits and say goodbye to Fatumata, our favorite server. From P.A.'s, we headed into the chaos and thick smog of central Monrovia to the Brussels Airline's office where we checked into tomorrow evening's flight, and then we decided a final trip to the beach was in order. Have we told you how beautiful the beaches in Liberia are? They're pretty amazing – the water is warm, the waves are strong, and the UN guys in speedos are slightly out of control. We enjoyed our final swim and documented the occasion with some poses by a very picturesque palm tree.
We're closing the evening out with some delicious -though rather expensive- food and drink at a Lebanese-owned restaurant around the corner from where we're staying.
Its unbelievable that tomorrow is our final day here in Liberia. We can't even begin to articulate how amazing this journey has been – so I won't try to here. But I cannot wait to get back stateside and go through our photos, update our website with everything we've documented and learned on this trip, and do what we can to move the vision of FUEL Youth forward.
© 2011 FUEL Youth
FUEL Youth


Forget the "probably", son. The Dawgs will have to play their best game of the year to have a shot at the upset of the number one team in the country.
Let's get real for a minute. LSU went into Tuscaloosa and won in overtime. I don't want to get sidetracked with an argument of the relative merits of 'Bama and Georgia this year, so let's just leave it that Alabama certainly isn't a worse team than Georgia. The Dawgs have one helluva fight on their hands today.
That doesn't mean they can't win. Their defense says they can. Paul Myerberg makes the case for that here.
… Grantham is no Erk Russell, and no, this defense is not yet a pack of Junkyard Dogs. But you see the similarities, most notably in the simple formula of getting stops on first down, getting to the quarterback on clear passing downs and playing the football in the secondary. Russell, one of the all-time greats, would appreciate this defense. High praise.
And what does L.S.U. have on defense that Georgia doesn't? Name value. Depth, especially along the defensive line. Cockiness — that the Tigers have in spades. Meanness? That's a shared trait. Ability to stop the run? Also shared. Rush the quarterback? Shut things down in the secondary? Shared and shared.
The point is this: Georgia can win this game. Would it come with beauty points? Beauty has left the building, replaced by two nasty, talented defenses. One, the one in Athens, has something to prove. As does a Georgia team unwisely left for dead in September.
I can't confidently predict a win, because LSU is too good to dismiss. But you know what else I can't predict? I can't go along with all the pundits calling for a close game for three quarters and then seeing LSU pull away to win by 18. Unless Georgia starts making a bunch of mistakes with turnovers and special teams snafus, I don't believe these Dawgs will wear down like that.
And with that, I'm getting ready to head out to the Dome. Consider this your game day thread.
Georgia, it's not you. It's them.
It is easy to assume that Georgia wasn't a very good team when they began the season 0-2, then they improved as they knocked off a relatively weak final 10 games of the season. This is not necessarily true. They ran into a buzzsaw in week one against Boise State (perhaps nobody in the country would have beaten the Broncos that day), and they encountered a healthy amount of bad luck in losing to South Carolina the next week. The signs were there from the start — if chemistry and effort were not damaged by the poor start, the wins were going to roll in.
The goal of Adj. Points is to determine how a team would have performed against a perfectly average opponent, and the graph above shows that the Dawgs would have gone 11-1 if playing said average opponent each week. Their propensity for sitting on the ball in the second half (once they had built a decent lead) held them down a bit, especially in the middle portion of the season (Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Tennessee), but both the offense and defense have spent most of their season on the healthy side of national averages.
Of course, LSU has still been better. But we already knew that.
There are lots of other good points Bill brings up there. His bottom line isn't unexpected. For Georgia to win today, it'll to have to win the double positive battles. Given that LSU sports the nation's best turnover margin, that's going to take some work.
Bruce, there's a Barbara Dooley on line one.
While I'm on the subject of Bruce Feldman, he's really opened up since he moved to CBS, also the home of Tony Barnhart. Unlike Mr. Conventional Wisdom, though, Feldman's not afraid to lay out the criticism.
Could you imagine Barnhart ever writing something like this about SOD?
… Having said that, short of more NCAA trouble, I don't believe they could pull the plug on Dooley after just two seasons given all of the turnover from the end of Fulmer — through Kiffin — to now. He has to get least get a third season. They hired him and he does have a hefty buyout. But it is looking very obvious that Dooley is in fact in over his head here.
This is a guy who didn't even have a .500 record in the WAC, so for him to take over an elite SEC program looked really curious. I suspect there will be more turnover on the Vols staff this offseason than just WR coach Charlie Baggett. Dooley's 0-17 against ranked teams all-time. If he doesn't beat one or even two ranked teams next year, I have a feeling it won't matter if he gets UT bowl eligible. It's Tennessee. The Vols have a proud tradition, a huge stadium and a staff getting paid a lot of money. They're also in the much easier side of the conference right now. They shouldn't be content with bowl eligible.
Old times at Ole Miss are not forgotten.
I saw lots of that sentiment expressed at the game in Oxford this season. Bruce Feldman notes that it's still a recruiting issue for Ole Miss.
… There's also a delicate racial history that in some cases, makes it very tough to recruit players to Ole Miss. I know from talking to assistants who have coached at Ole Miss they've run into several situations where the kid's parents or some grandparent or relative won't allow them to go to Ole Miss because of the perception they have of it, which is something the football staff has to work hard to combat.
Keep in mind Feldman spent a year around that program when Orgeron was the head coach. He's not shooting from the hip here.
No, that doesn't excuse the Nuttster's lazy recruiting efforts. But it does explain why Coach O was the only head coach to really excel in that department there.
Good luck to the next guy.
I'm calling out every player for UGA. We going to smash y'all…. #Perfection is what we play for 13-0.
Hey, I like it. I doubt he felt the need to call out every Ole Miss player.


text:
Novartis's India headache: The emerging pharma problem
Novartis headquarters in Basel
India has thumbed its nose at the pharmaceutical giant Novartis. There are two ways of spinning the story that emerged from Monday's announcement that the Indian Supreme Court had rejected Novartis' attempt to win patent protection for a major cancer drug.
One version declares this to be a landmark judgment that will be a life-saver for poor people around the world.
The other says it's regressive; calls into question India's commitment to upholding intellectual property rights and insists that now it will be that much harder for rich companies to invest in and from India in R&D. Ergo, fewer lives saved.
Both accounts sound magnificently sensible.
So, what's the truth?
As with most things, it lies somewhere in the middle. In 2006, Novartis's Indian patent application for Glivec, known in the U.S. as Gleevec, was rejected. The legal fight went to the Indian Supreme Court. This was shortly after India amended its patent protection act so pharmaceutical companies had to prove significant clinical efficacy enhancements of their drugs over already-patented compounds.
In 2006, India's patent office ruled against handing a patent to Glivec, arguing that the drug's active ingredient, imatinib mesylate, was already known before Glivec's development. It was a judgment that few had expected.
The argument over profits vs proud charity continues. Don't expect resolution anytime soon.
Author adminPosted on April 1, 2013 Categories blog, Foreign policy, India, Learning Haitian Creole, USA

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


About 306,440 tons of fish were harvested illegally in the Pacific region with an estimated cost of 616.11 million U.S. dollars from 2010 to 2015, a Fijian government official said here Thursday.
While presenting the Ministry of Defence submission on the Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and unregulated Fishing, Fiji's Deputy Secretary of Defence Ilai Moceica said that this was stated by a report from the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (PIFFA).
PERU : The Executive on Sunday enacted the Law that Declares the Tuna Industry Development Boost as having National Interest, through the publication of the respective regulation in the official newspaper El Peruano.
In its unique article, Law 30788 states that "the boost to develop the tuna industry in the country is declared as having national interest, both in its catch phase, defined on the basis of sustainable quota, and processing."
INDIA :Indian shrimp production could increase by 10 per cent in 2018, provided the climate does not create major problems, according to a report by Globefish, a division of Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
The document outlines that Indian shrimp exports to the United States rose by 39 per cent and reached 214,400 tonnes in 2017, which it attributes to the decrease in anti-dumping tariffs on the resource imported from India and its increased market acceptance.
The 15th INFOFISH World Tuna Trade Conference & Exhibition ended on a high note on the 30th of May, thanks to the magnificent support from participants (almost 600 representing all regions), exhibitors, world-class speakers, collaborating partners and sponsors.
In bringing the World Tuna Trade Conference to a close, the Conference Chair Dr Transform Aqorau summarized the deliberations and themes that had been brought to the fore over the past three days. Underpinning all the discussions, he said, was the key concept of sustainability both above and below the water level. Innovation was another main idea that had cropped up over and over again, including innovation in markets, products, and harvesting. The development of partnerships was the third main pillar that has emerged in the Conference and in the next 5 to 10 years, these partnerships will affect a change in behaviour.
Chaired by Dr Darian McBain, Global Director of Sustainable Development, Thai Union Group PCL (Thailand), this Session was entitled "Sustainability, Enboironmeht and Eco-labelling in the Tuna Industry'.
At-sea monitoring, a rapidly expanding field where the latest innovations are taking place, was covered by Mr Faustino Velasco, CEO of Satlink (Spain), Mr Thue Barfod, Global Head of the Fish & Seafood Cargo Segment (Maersk Hong Kong) , and Mr Les Shortall, Market Development Manager , Inmarsat Maritime (UK).
Satlink's Sea Tube system and Machine Learning feature is able to estimate catches on purse seine and longline vessels, geofencing, as well as electronic monitoring of FAD activities, structures and materials. Conditions on-board are also able to be monitored, which aids in preventing human rights abuses at sea. Mr Velasco ended by stating the importance of cross-sectoral collaboration: technology + science+ industry.
Thailand: According to tuna sector sources at Thaifex and the Infofish Tuna 2018 conference, Bangkok skipjack prices are set to come down for June deliveries.
Big packers and traders have not yet agreed on a final level for June, but several sources said the price will come down.
Aware of the bearish trend, many buyers are awaiting to sign contracts, hoping to be able to save an additional $20-50 per metric tons or perhaps more on the purchase price, sources told Undercurrent News.
ECUADOR : Ecuador has concentrated efforts on ensuring the long-term sustainability of the tuna industry, which is why the policies and actions developed by public and private sectors aim to achieve a healthy balance between sector growth and the preservation of the resource.
This was stated by the Minister of Aquaculture and Fisheries, Katuska Drouet, in Bangkok, as part of the 15th Infofish 2018 World Tuna Conference and Exhibition taking place in the capital of Thailand.
'Sustainability, Environment and Eco-labelling' was the theme for Session IV of the Tuna Trade Conference. Chaired by Mr Audun Lem, Deputy Director, Policy and Economics Division, FAO, the afternoon was enlivened with presentations by Dr Darian McBain, Director of Sustainable Development, Thai Union Group PLC (Thailand); Ms Ingrid Giskes, Global Head of Campaign , World Animal Protection/Chair of Global Ghost Gear Initiative (Australia); Mr Gavin Bailey, Director of Responsible Sourcing, Walmart (USA); and Mr Matthew Owens, Director of Sustainability, Tri Marine Management Company LLC (USA).
Dr McBain ("Staying ahead with sustainability : Thai Union's Development of Fishing Vessels Improvement Programme and Vessel Code of Conduct") presented an interesting case study on the company's use of digital technology for traceability and as a means of having the voices of workers heard.


Engineous Group Inc. (EGI), specializes in Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing (MEP) design. Our years of expert engineering experience has attracted leading architectural and development firms to utilize our MEP services. Our leadership experience includes both consulting engineering and previous design-build contracting, therefore we provide cost-effective yet well engineered construction documents that generate little to no change orders.
Buildings account for one of the highest energy consumption sectors in the nation, comparable to transportation and industrial. For example, mechanical systems account for the highest amount of energy consumption in most buildings. This makes energy efficient design essential in reducing energy consumption, as well as reducing operational costs for building owners. Mechanical systems are also vital in delivering healthy and comfortable indoor environments. Therefore, choosing the right MEP firm is essential and a top-priority to all Architectural & Development firms.
EGI provides the following MEP engineering design services.


Welcome to Miss World Sims 2!
This is the site for the Mod the Sims Contest - Miss World!! Check through the pages on the left and keep up to date with the scores!!
The idea of this contest is to make a sim showing one of the many cultures of our world. To celebrate individuality, diversity and the fact that anyone and everyone can achieve their dreams! You will be asked to participate in many different scenarios in which you must express your sims culture.


text:
How Cate Blanchett Got Ready to Play a Boozer in Woody Allen's 'Blue Jasmine'
"I drank my share of rose," actress admits during an interview with TheWrap
Steve Pond | July 26, 2013 @ 5:28 AM	Last Updated: July 24, 2014 @ 11:45 AM
Woody Allen's "Blue Jasmine" is the darkest, toughest, grimmest film the prolific writer-director has made in years. Where his Oscar-winning "Midnight in Paris" two years ago was light on its feet, "Blue Jasmine" trudges through the emotional wreckage left behind as a self-centered Upper East Side society wife loses everything when her Bernie Madoff-style husband is sent to prison for defrauding his investors.
The film is unsettling, unflinching and at times uncomfortably funny, with strong performances from a cast that includes Sally Hawkins, Alec Baldwin, Bobby Cannavale, Peter Sarsgaard and, strangely but effectively, comics Louis C.K. and Andrew Dice Clay. But the heart of "Blue Jasmine" is a savage, scary performance from Cate Blanchett as the title character, who flees her old haunts in New York and moves in with her working-class sister (Hawkins) in San Francisco.
See photos: 14 Actors Who Scored Oscar Nominations for Woody Allen Movies
"Blue Jasmine" seems likely to win the 44-year-old Australian actress, who has devoted much of her time in recent years to running the Sydney Theatre Company with husband Andrew Upton, her sixth Oscar nomination. She spoke to TheWrap at the Beverly Hills headquarters of the Motion Picture Academy, while her film's Los Angeles premiere was taking place in the Samuel Goldwyn Theater downstairs.
The audience laughs throughout "Blue Jasmine," but the heart of the film is this incredibly damaged woman.
It's an unraveling, a downfall. A portrait of a fall from grace. I watched a lot of Woody's films before I made this, and one of my all-time favorites from his pantheon is "Crimes and Misdemeanors." All of that stuff with Anjelica Huston is really painful and raw and brutal. Unlike any other filmmaker that I can think of, he's able to walk that line between absurdity and horror.
See video: Woody Allen's First 'Blue Jasmine' Trailer: Cate Blanchett Needs Stronger Xanax
When you're playing a character who lies or exaggerates almost every time she opens her mouth, do you have to figure out for yourself what the truth really is?
Yeah, there's an exercise you can do as an actor in order to try to get a three-dimensional sense of who a character is and how they're perceived. You write down the things that other people say about them, and then you write down what the character says about themselves.
And if you do that with Jasmine, it's like a roller-coaster ride, depending on whether she's taken her pills, or how many Stoli martinis she's had, or how close she is to achieving her dream, which is finally latching onto another man.
Had you ever spoken with Woody about working together before?
I'd given up hope. So many people I'd known had worked with him, and I thought, Well, not every filmmaker's interested in every actress, so I kind of accepted it. I was very surprised when I got the call.
[laughs] It was a very short call – about two-and-a-half minutes. He said he was interested in sending me a script, and was I interested in reading it? And I said, "Yes, of course, Mr. Allen." He sent it and asked me to give him a call when I read it. I read it straight away, of course, and it was an incredible opportunity, of course. So I called him back and we spoke for about 45 seconds. I said, "I'd like to do it," and he said, "Great, I'll see you in San Francisco."
Also: 7 Bright Spots to End a Crowded, Messy Summer at the Movies
I'm sure you talked to other actors who worked with him, all of whom tend to say, "You get very little feedback, he doesn't talk to you much … "
I had also seen the brilliant documentary about him [American Masters' "Woody Allen: A Documentary"], so you go in expecting that. But I don't know how to do this unless you're in dialogue with the director. So I'd ask him questions, and he'd answer them. Sometimes he'd think the questions were stupid and useless, so he'd give a short answer. And sometimes he'd indulge me.
The wonderful, refreshing thing about working with him is that there's not an ounce of preciousness. He simultaneously cares deeply and doesn't care at all. He's making his summer movie, and next year he'll make another summer movie. So there's a kind of restlessness and impatience to the atmosphere on set, which means that the actors haven't got any time to be navel-gazing or to be too precious.
Also read: Zach Braff Taught Crowdfunding to Woody Allen – and He Liked It
But a number of his actors have said that they sometimes are convinced he hates what they're doing.
Oh! My first day, first scene! Peter Sarsgaard and I. I knew that you only get one or two takes – but eight takes later, I looked over at the monitor and he was smacking his head. And he came over and said to me, "It's awful. It's awful. You look like an actor saying my lines, I don't believe a thing you're saying, it's awful." He was shaking his head in disbelief, like a rabbi. And Peter and I just burst out laughing.
Did you fix it?
Ultimately, we cut that scene. He rewrote it and made it much shorter in a different location. So it was partly he didn't like what we were doing, and partly he didn't like the location and he felt the scene was too labored. So you can't take it personally.
In a way, that made me feel very safe. He'll absolutely come and say, in the most brutal, frank, direct way, when something's not working. So when he didn't say anything, you knew that either he had to go to dinner, or you were doing OK.
And you hoped that it was the latter in most cases.
Not all. [laughs] It wasn't always, but most of the time it was.
Did you study the specifics of women who'd been in Jasmine's situation?
I did a lot of people watching. I drank my fair share of rosé. In the end I had to play the anti-heroine that Woody's written, but of course I thought about the Madoff scandal, because that's the holocaust of the financial crisis. And there are many, many women like that. I followed them like everybody else did, but as an actress you go back and you're slightly more forensic about those relationships. So yeah, I hoovered up all those stories.
Also, I wanted to chart out her course. She breaks so many times, but I wanted her to break in different ways depending on what particular cocktail she was on or what was the specific fear or moment of guilt that was spiking up.
Do you think there's any hope for Jasmine?
I don't know. Woody didn't discuss it at all, but I did think of the likes of Blanche DuBois [from "A Streetcar Named Desire"], Mary Tyrone [from "Long Day's Journey Into Night"], Richard II, those people who have fallen from grace. They've been denuded of their role and their place, and they've chosen fantasy over reality. If she was having a breakdown in a supportive marriage with financial security and without that sense of social shame, then perhaps she could re-find herself. But she's already had a breakdown, and I wonder whether there is any hope.
There are a lot of women out there like her, whether they're from the Upper East Side or not. You often see people on park benches, and you think, "How did they get there? That's someone's son or someone's daughter, and how did they end up there in that Chanel jacket?" That's why I said to Woody, "Maybe she should walk out there [in the final scene] with her hair wet." And I chose not to wear any makeup. [laughs] When I saw the film I thought, "Maybe that was a mistake."
Do you pay any attention to Oscar buzz?
It's July! The movie opens on Friday, and then next Wednesday they'll be saying to someone else, "Oscar buzz!" I suppose it's a shorthand way of saying that people think that the character you played and the film that you're in is worth seeing. And that's a nice thing. It's better than people saying, "What are you wearing?"
14 Actors Who Scored Oscar Nominations for Woody Allen Movies (Photos)
By Kathy Le | July 26, 2013 @ 5:29 AM
'Blue Jasmine' Review: Something Borrowed in Woody Allen's Dull 'Blue'
By Leah Rozen | July 17, 2013 @ 12:31 PM
Woody Allen's First 'Blue Jasmine' Trailer: Cate Blanchett Needs Stronger Xanax (Video)
By Tony Maglio | June 7, 2013 @ 11:00 AM
Zach Braff Taught Crowdfunding to Woody Allen – and He Liked It
By Greg Gilman | May 22, 2013 @ 5:19 PM
Steve Pond, awards editor at TheWrap, is also author of the L.A. Times bestseller The Big Show. He has been covering entertainment for more than two decades, and is the industry's most knowledgeable Academy Awards prognosticator.


text:
Q: "Connection refused" when opening SSH session using paramiko.Transport A problem using Paramiko for SFTP connection.
I've tried the following:
transport = paramiko.Transport(sftpHost, 22)
myKey = paramiko.RSAKey.from_private_key_file(rsaKeyFileSpec)
transport.connect(username = sftpUser, pkey = myKey)
sftp = paramiko.SFTPClient.from_transport(transport)

I get a response:

paramiko.ssh_exception.SSHException: Unable to connect to HOST: [Errno 111] Connection refused

What am I doing wrong?

A: It should be:
transport = paramiko.Transport((sftpHost, 22))

or
transport = paramiko.Transport(sftpHost)

The Transport constructor is:
__init__(sock, default_window_size=2097152, default_max_packet_size=32768, gss_kex=False, gss_deleg_creds=True)

Create a new SSH session over an existing socket, or socket-like object.
...
For ease of use, you may also pass in an address (as a tuple) or a host string as the sock argument. (A host string is a hostname with an optional port (separated by ":") which will be converted into a tuple of (hostname, port).)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


[UPDATED December 2013] There is more than one way to skin a cat. So here is one way to put up a Minecraft server for you and your buddies to play on. This solution assumes you will be hosting the server on your local LAN, and therefore will need to transverse a NAT if you are to make the server available across the WAN (i.e. if you want your buddies to be able to connect to your server from their own LANs).
If you get stuck, feel free to contact me and I'll help you out. For clarification purposes, the commands you'll need to issue at the Ubuntu server command line are listed in bold.
Record the MAC address for this machine. The MAC address will appear as a collection of hexadecimal characters, and formatted something like this: A0:B1:C2:D4:E5:FF.
Do one of these two things now. I don't know how your network is setup, so it is difficult to say which one of these two solutions is 'best' for your application.
Port From – This is the port you'd like to bring packets in from the outside world with. You'll associate this number with DynDNS.org subdomain you created in step ##, and give this address to your friends to connect to your with, like this: subdomain.dyndns.org:port To offer some anonymity, choose something high and random, between ## and ##.
At this point, anyone should be able to take the FQDN you created in step 4a and the port you chose to forward from in step 4b, and use it to reach your minecraft server… if you had a minecraft server.
Create a directory for minecraft. In the main user's home directory should be fine.
Now just start your new Minecraft server!
I'll continue to update and improve this posting as time goes on!


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Basics of Accessibility Testing Tools in iOS and Android
Eduardo RamosJanuary 2023January 11th, 2023
Home » Basics of Accessibility Testing Tools in iOS and Android
According to the World Health Organization, over 1 billion people – about 15% of the global population – experience disability. Different sources report that more than 60% of the world's population has internet access, and it's estimated that 10% have some form of disability.
The main point of interaction between humans and internet-connected devices is a screen and keyboard. Devices and screens must offer keyboards that help them bypass the inherent accessibility issues across the web.
For instance, it's estimated that 4% of the population has some form of color blindness. Color coding your keyboard for color-blind people can be achieved by using themes. Without a doubt, many people will benefit from that, and making your keyboard inclusive will be an advantage.
Suppose you include features for the visually impaired. In that case, it's possible to accommodate for various levels of disability by adding a quick access button from the keyboard to increase keyboard size or a quick key to access voice typing. With complete control of the layout of the keys in your development, users can — for example, switch the layout for one hand typing with a swipe.
Creating your custom keyboard using Fleksy's SDK will give you the advantage of implementing proper accessibility. For instance, if you want to build an accessibility-focused keyboard app, you can use the customization possibilities. Keyboard size, keyboard layout, hotkeys, and quick accesses can be added easily to harmonize with built-in accessibility features of operating systems like Android and iOS.
It's important to also plan for accessibility, as that's the perfect time to make it cost-effective. It's estimated that over 96% of the world's top one million websites don't offer full accessibility, and it's likely to remain that way because it's expensive in terms of – not only money but also the effort to make a site or app accessible after launch. Luckily, there are readily available tools that you can use while building your keyboard app – or any other app, to make it accessible and stand out.
Luckily, major hardware and software creators – as well as individuals and open-source communities, are taking accessibility into account more and more. With that in mind, different tools, in the form of libraries or built-in code editors, will assist you in your accessibility efforts.
Testing for Accessibility on Apple Devices
Apple emphasizes accessibility features as how people personalize their interaction with their devices in ways that work for them and defines an accessible app or game as one that supports accessibility personalizations by design.
With that concept as the starting point, Apple considers being a best practice to design with accessibility in mind and "prioritizing simplicity and perceivability and examining every design decision to ensure that it doesn't exclude people who have different abilities or interact with their devices in different ways."
For that reason, Apple considers that developers must audit and test their apps and games for accessibility. Proper accessibility testing ensures that you'll implement and fix your app so that everyone can complete the most important tasks, regardless of how they interact with their devices.
Apple advocates for developers to try user flows in their apps or games with accessibility features to gain first-hand experience with the challenges that people with disabilities face. Once you've seen how the user flows may lack accessibility, it's time to dig deeper and attack the root causes. Luckily, Apple provides the Accessibility Inspector feature with Xcode to help you audit, test, and fix accessibility in your apps.
Accessibility Inspector
To help developers meet accessibility standards, Apple provides the Accessibility Inspector testing tool in Xcode.
The Accessibility Inspector enables you to identify parts of your app that are not accessible. It provides feedback on how you can make them accessible, as well as simulating voice-over to help you identify what a Voice-Over user would experience.
To launch the inspector, go to Xcode > Open Developer Tool > Accessibility Inspector in the menu bar or Dock. The Accessibility Inspector displays a utility window that presents the information properties (and values), action methods, and position in the accessibility hierarchy of the object currently under the mouse pointer.
On the left side of the Accessibility Inspector, there's a menu where you can select the targeted device. This can be your Mac, a simulator, or an actual device if you have one connected. There are no limitations when it comes to the apps you can analyze. They can be your own or from a third party.
The Accessibility Inspector tool contains three options in the right menu: Inspection, Audit, and Settings. The first option is to check information about elements in the targeted screen, like the label, value, traits, etc., given to an image or button, for example.
With the second option, you can audit the app or web in the target. When pressing the 'Run Audit' button on this screen, the Accessibility Inspector will create a list of warnings with the potential issues and optimizations related to accessibility.
The third option gives you access to accessibility settings. This will help validate different settings, like increasing contrast, font sizes, and motion.
Accessibility Verifier
The Accessibility Verifier tool is also included in Xcode and can be launched by choosing Accessibility Inspector > Window > Accessibility Verifier. When you have a selected app and run Accessibility Verifier, it shows the accessibility hierarchy and all its currently instantiated objects.
You can use Accessibility Verifier to perform any or all of the following tests:
Parent/Child. Checks the integrity of the accessibility hierarchy by making sure each parent-child pair forms a closed loop.
Window. Checks that all objects contained in a window contain a reference to that window in their accessibilityWindow property.
Missing AXDescription. Checks the element's accessibilityLabel property. All accessible elements must provide some context-specific, descriptive label.
Role Verification. Verifies that an accessibility object implements all the properties and methods required for its role.
Accessibility Verifier runs the tests you selected and displays the results every time you click Verify. Depending on their severity, you will see any problems reported as warnings or errors.
Other tools to help you with mobile accessibility on iOS
GTXiLib
Google Toolbox for Accessibility is a framework for iOS accessibility testing. GTXiLib is written in Objective-C and integrates with your existing XCTests to perform all the registered accessibility checks before the test tearDown. You can use GTXiLib with any XCTest-based framework, such as EarlGrey.
The existing test also fails when you run your tests, and the checks fail. In other words, GTXiLib enhances the value of your tests by installing "accessibility checks" on them. This way, your existing test cases can double as accessibility tests with no other code change on your part.
GTXiLib includes other advantages, like:
Since it integrates into your existing functional tests, you can reuse them. Any test that already exists or you create in the future will include accessibility checks.
You can install GTXiLib onto a single test class, test case, or a specific subset of tests, which means you can easily add incremental accessibility testing to your projects.
You can use GTXiLib simple API to author your custom checks based on your app's specific needs. For example, you can ensure every button in your app has an accessibilityHint using a custom check.
Testing for Accessibility on Android
Accessibility Insights for Android
Accessibility Insights for Android is free, and open-source tool developers use to find and fix accessibility issues in Android apps. You can use this tool on Windows, Mac, and Linux. It's also worth mentioning that you can test apps on hardware or virtual Android devices.
Before using Accessibility Insights for Android, make sure you have the following:
Android Debug Bridge (adb) or a similar tool to communicate with the hardware or virtual device.
If you're testing on a hardware device, enable developer options and debugging.
You will then connect your device depending on what you're using. If you use a hardware device, you'll have to connect it via USB and allow the computer to access it. If it's a virtual device in Android Studio or the Android Virtual Device Manager, select a virtual device and select Run.
Accessibility Insights for Android will check your configuration and walk you through the completion of your setup. Depending on your setup, the tool will display one or more messages asking if you want to opt-in or out of telemetry and other settings. If the app can't find adb on your computer, you'll see a message to enter the path to (or browse to) the folder that contains the adb.exe file.
If you need to turn on or grant permissions to the Accessibility Insights for Android service on your device, go to Settings > Accessibility > Installed services > Accessibility Insights Service and turn on the service. When the first permission dialog appears, select OK. When the second permission dialog appears, select Start now.
With the setup complete, you'll see the message "Connected and ready to go!" each time you use Accessibility Insights for Android.
Run tests
To run tests on the current device and app:
Select Start testing.
To run tests on a different app:
On your device, open the app you want to test and navigate to the screen where you want to start testing.
Select Rescan devices.
To run tests on a different device:
Connect the device you want to use.
On the device, open the app you want to test and navigate to the screen where you want to start testing.
Follow any instructions that appear.
When the device is visible in the Connected and ready screen, select Start testing.
Other tools to help you with mobile accessibility on Android
Accessibility Test Framework for Android
As stated on the GitHub page, to enable people with disabilities to access Android apps, developers need to think about how their apps are presented to accessibility services.
It's known that some good practices can be verified by automated tools, such as if a View has a contentDescription. However, other rules require human judgment, such as whether a contentDescription makes sense to all users.
The Accessibility Test Framework for the Android library collects various accessibility-related checks on View objects as well as AccessibilityNodeInfo objects (which the Android framework derives from Views and sends to AccessibilityServices).
This tool is also integrated into Android Studio to help find accessibility issues in your layouts. To launch the panel, click on the error report button in the Layout Editor.
Accessibility Scanner
Accessibility Scanner is a tool that suggests accessibility improvements for Android apps without the need for technical setup or much previous knowledge. It's an excellent tool for stakeholders across teams, like product managers, designers, and other decision-makers, as they can use this app to suggest changes to developers or to help prioritize accessibility tasks.
It's simple to use, and that's why this is the perfect tool for cross-functional teams to assess and make decisions regarding the accessibility of their apps. To use the Accessibility Scanner, you need to open the app you want to scan, then tap the Accessibility Scanner button to find items in the app that might benefit from accessibility improvements.
Implementing accessibility features and subsequent accessibility testing has become crucial to launching a product and can influence its success. There are only benefits in including accessibility features in your app or website, even if these don't seem like wins immediately.
When in doubt about improving the accessibility of your product, think of this example: a (proper) ramp on a sidewalk will make it accessible to people in wheelchairs; that's a fact. However, the ramp can also benefit people carrying baby strollers, people using crutches or canes, people with motor disabilities that have difficult movement, little kids that have to ride their bikes on the sidewalk where the law requires, people in skates, and the list goes on.
In case you have any suggestions or need help with improving the accessibility of your Android or iOS apps, consider joining Fleksy's Discord server to get in touch with our team.
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256 SANSON, N. Partie de l'Inde au dela du Gange. . . [and] Presqu'Isle de l'Inde. . . Paris, P. Mariette, 1667. In original o/l colours. Paper slightly age toned. Some very light water staining and spotting. 190 x 250 mm.
Je voudrais de plus amples renseignements sur le Lot N°25246 .
¤ Two maps together on one sheet : to the left a map of Thailand and to the right the Malaysian peninsula prepared by N.Sanson and published by Pierre Mariette.
257 SERVICE GÉOLOGIQUE DE L'INDOCHINE. Carte géologique de l'Indochine à l'échelle du 1/500 000e. Pak-Nam Bang-Kok. Février 1939. Carte héliogravée imprimée en couleurs. Papier partiellement froissé. Cachet d'appartenance : Paul Fallot professeur au Collège de France. 530 x 482 mm.
Je voudrais de plus amples renseignements sur le Lot N°64994 .
¤ Carte de l'Indochine Feuille N°16. Couvre la région depuis Paknam (Thailande) jusquà la baie de Kompong-Som (Cambodge). De part et d'autre une légende indique les terrains sédimentaires et cristallins. Héliogravé et imprimé par le Service Géographique de l'Indochine. "Les explorations et les tracés ont été faits par M. J. Gubler, Assistant au Service Géologique. Le travail sur le terrain commencé en 1928 a été achevé en 1933, M.M. F. Blondel puis L. Dussault étant chefs du Service Géologique de l'Indochine ; M. A. Lochard, Inspecteur Général des Mines et de l'Industrie de l'Indochine.
Le travail graphique a été exécuté par M. Nguyen Vinh Phuong, Dessinateur au Service Géologique."
258 BERTIUS, P. Bengala. Amsterdam, 1602. Uncoloured. A verry good and dark impression. 84 x 124 mm.
Je voudrais de plus amples renseignements sur le Lot N°6068 .
259 DE BRY, Th. XII. Delineatio Venationum, quomodo Nimir um Omnis Generis feras capiant. Frankfurt, 1609. Uncoloured. Text sheet with copper plate engraving with letter press in Latin. In very good condition, dark impression. 140 x 185 mm.
Je voudrais de plus amples renseignements sur le Lot N°29821 .
260 DE BRY, Th. VI. Repraesentatio Bellorum, et Quomodo se ad Illa praeparent. Frankfurt, 1609. Uncoloured. Text sheet with copper plate engraving with letter press in Latin. In very good condition, dark impression. 138 x 186 mm.
Je voudrais de plus amples renseignements sur le Lot N°29815 .
261 DE BRY, Th. Ailhae cidade de Goa metropolitana da Indiae.. Frankfurt, 1613. Uncoloured. Lower margin and lower part left margins cut on neatline, as issued. On verso piece of paper pasted to back vertical tear, 12cm. Into the engraved area. 383 x 430 mm.
Je voudrais de plus amples renseignements sur le Lot N°32164 .
¤ One of the earliest printed detailed plans of a European trading post in the Indies, this finely engraved and designed bird's-eye plan was published in De Bry's important collection of Minor Voyages . Finely engraved strapwork cartouches enclose the title, descriptive panels and coats of arms, ships, houses, mountains, forests and elephants working on the quayside are well detailed.
Goa was the first territorial possession of the Portuguese in Asia and it was intended as a colony rather than a fort, being granted the same civic privileges as Lisbon. The city reached its climax of prosperity from 1575 to 1625 with merchandise from all parts of the East displayed in its bazaars, pearls, porcelain, silk, drugs, spices, etc. In the main street slaves were sold, the houses of the rich surrounded by gardens and palm groves.
A fascinating and uncommon item.
262 ROSSI,G.G. L' India di qua e di la dal Gange oue sono li Stati del G. Mogol e parte del Imperio del fu prete Iann.. Rome 1683. Uncoloured. A dark impression. Marginal light staining. Unfolded sheet. 414 x 522 mm.
Je voudrais de plus amples renseignements sur le Lot N°17786 .
¤ Uncommon map of northern part of India, Bangladesh, extending from Pakistan to Bhutan and across to Burma.
From his 'Mercurio Geografico…'. The engraver was Franciscus Donia Messis.
Rossi is giving credit to Tavernier, Mandeslo and the Jesuits in the large title cartouche upper right.
263 ROSSI,G.G. L' India di qua e di la dal Gange oue sono li Stati del G. Mogol e parte del Imperio del fu prete Iann.. Rome, 1683. In original o/l colours. A dark impression. Marginal light staining and age-toning of paper. 414 x 522 mm.
Je voudrais de plus amples renseignements sur le Lot N°26608 .
264 CORONELLI, V.M. Impero del Gran Mogol. Venice, 1690. Uncoloured. Printed on thick paper. 450 x 595 mm.
Je voudrais de plus amples renseignements sur le Lot N°31831 .
¤ Northern India, with Pakistan, Bangladesh and the western part of Burma. Including Cabulistan, Kandauna, Harduari, Binsola, Burchar, Kachemire, Iamba, Ragepor and others.
265 SANSON, N. Persaru../ India Vetus intra et extra Gagem.. Paris, 1702. In original o/l colours. Good impression. Two maps printed on a double page. Wide margins. Mint. 184 x 270 mm.
Je voudrais de plus amples renseignements sur le Lot N°6429 .
¤ Two maps together on one sheet. The first depicts ancient Persia and the second north India from the gulf of Bengal to the border of China. Engraved by L'huillier.
266 DONCKER, H. De golf van Bengalen. Amsterdam, after 1669-1712. Uncoloured. Paper slightly age-toned. With some plate scratching and ink toning. 434 x 520 mm.
Je voudrais de plus amples renseignements sur le Lot N°25909 .
¤ Rare chart of the Indian Ocean, with compass roses and system of rhumb lines, soundings and anchorage's. Many place names.
The plate was newly made by Doncker, in an early stage he used the copperplates of Goos. More frequent than Goos, Lootsman, Van Loon, and others contemporaries, Hendrik Doncker corrected and improved charts. As a result this map is much updated than the Jansson (1658) map of the Bay of Bengal Koeman, Atlantes Neerlandici, Vol. IV, Don. [map 46], Gole Early maps of India, 19.
267 CHATELAIN, H. Vue et Description de Quelques-Uns des Principaux Forts des Hollandois dans les Indes . Amsterdam, 1720. Uncoloured. Some light browning along center fold. Very good impression. 370 x 432 mm.
Je voudrais de plus amples renseignements sur le Lot N°31603 .
¤ Interesting sheet with seven detailed views illustrating the most important Dutch trading outposts and fortified colonial possessions in the East Indies, including 4 harbor views Batavia (Jakarta), Amboina, Ternate, and Solor, and 3 fort plans, with descriptive French text, from Chatelian's monumental 7 volume Atlas Historique. In upper right margin: 'Tom. V. Nro 48. Pag: 128.
Henri Abraham Chatelain (1684 – 1743) was a Huguenot pastor of Parisian origins. He lived consecutively in Paris, St. Martins, London (c. 1710), the Hague (c. 1721) and Amsterdam (c. 1728). He is best known as a Dutch cartographer and more specifically for his cartographic contribution in the seminal seven volume Atlas Historique, plublished from 1705 to 1720.
268 HARREVELT,E.van/ CHANGUION,D.J. Suite de la Carte des L'Indoustan, Iie Feuille.. Amsterdam, 1773. In attractive original o/l colours. Minor spotting upper margin, hardly noticeable. Good condition. 223 x 240 mm.
Je voudrais de plus amples renseignements sur le Lot N°23838 .
¤ Uncommon edition of this fine map of India.In lower right engraved "4b."
269 APRES DE MANNEVILLETTE, Jean-Baptiste-Nicolas-Denis d' [Seychelles].Carte réduite de l'Océan Oriental Septentrional … avec les Isles de Ceylan, Maldives et Laquedives [ au verso carte manuscrite des Seychelles]/ Plan des Isles Mahé [ au verso carte manuscrite de Praslin]. Paris, ca 1775. Pâle mouillure dans la marge inférieure de l'Océan oriental, pâle mouillure et petite tache brune sur la carte de Mahé (335 x 485 mm). Cartes manuscrites (à la plume) des Seychelles et de Praslin au verso des cartes. 480 x 660 mm.
Je voudrais de plus amples renseignements sur le Lot N°63857 .
¤ Cartes publiées par D'Après de Mannevillette dans son "Neptune oriental". Au verso de la carte de l'Océan oriental, une carte des I. Seychelles est dessinée à la plume ; au verso de la carte de Mahé, une carte de l'île Praslin également à la plume. Ces cartes manuscrites des Seychelles avec indications des sondes, se complètent et semblent avoir été réalisées par un professionnel.
- French charts of the coast of Indian ocean with a part of Africa, of Arabia of Persia, of India / of Mahé. Prepared by Jacques-François L'Abbé Dicquemare (1733-1789).
D' Après de Mannevillette (1707-1780) was a famous French sailor and hydrographer. During a voyage to China in 1728 he succeeded in correcting the latitudes of many places using new instruments. Back in France he devised a plan to correct and publish all the existing maps of the route to China: the Red Sea, the coasts of India, Malaya, the northern parts of Indonesia, Indochina and China.
270 [No title] Indian meeting. . In original colours. Good condition. Paper age-toned. 272 x 193 mm.
Je voudrais de plus amples renseignements sur le Lot N°29102 .
¤ Engraving presenting indian meeting.
271 BRAUN, G. / HOGENBERG, F. Calechut / Ormus / Canonor.. Cologne, 1580. Beau col. 4 vues grav. sur le même cuivre. Texte latin. 335 x 480 mm.
Je voudrais de plus amples renseignements sur le Lot N°60521 .
¤ Four panoramic views on one sheet: the upper approximately two-thirds of this double page sheet contains a fine panoramic view of Calicut which is on the west coast of India in Kerala. An elephant with a mahout is watching while boats are constructed on the beach, and Asian and European vessels just offshore are shown in some detail.
The lower third is divided among three other views, Ormuz at the entrance of the Persian Gulf, Canonor in India, and the Portuguese fortress of El Mina in West Africa.
From the greatest publication in this genre!. The Civitates was compiled and written by George Braun, Canon of Cologne Cathedral. Braun gathered together vast amounts of information and draft plans to produce over 500 city views/maps published in six parts between 1572 and 1617. Most of these engravings were made by Simon Novellanus and Frans Hogenberg, many after drawings by Joris Hoefnagel.
272 JYLBERT LAOS Région Nord. France, 1943. Printed colours with pochoir. Colour lithography with pochoir (stencil) print in vivid colours. 345 x 242 mm.
Je voudrais de plus amples renseignements sur le Lot N°28760 .
¤ Very decorative, informative map of the northern region of Laos. With a compass rose in upper left corner, the map is filled with buildings, animals, figures and two locals in their typical dress.
273 BLAEU, G. India quae Orientalis. Amsterdam, 1645. Original colours. A fine copy. With French text on verso. 410 x 503 mm.
Je voudrais de plus amples renseignements sur le Lot N°774 .
¤ The map covers the area from India to Japan, with the East Indies. It was the first popular map to depict part of Australia (together with New Guinea) i.e. at bottom right the west coast of Carpentaria and the NW top of Australia with the following names: 't Hoge Landt, Rivier van Speult, Rivier Batavia, Water plaets, Rivier Coen, Vereenighde Rivier, Rivier Nassau, Staten Rivier, G.F.de Wits landt, Willems Rivier, 't Landt van D'Eendracht. - Tooley, The Mapping of Australia, 223.
274 CHATELAIN, H. Carte de l'Ile de Java. Amsterdam, 1720. Coloured. Printed from two plates. Paper slightly browned. Very slight oxidation due to offsetting of ink. Small hole (8x8mm.) filled in. A good and dark impression. Wide margins. 376 x 865 mm.
Je voudrais de plus amples renseignements sur le Lot N°31300 .
¤ An inset plan of Batavia and clearly indicated rice fields, mountains, forests, towns in profile and even elephants suggest the wealth of detail found on this map. Modeled on Hadrien Reland's important Dutch map of a few years earlier, the superb topographical detail is complemented by drapery style cartouche and side panels which provide a full French text description of the island, its topography, history, flora, fauna and inhabitants.
One of the finest large-scale maps of Java, giving good information regarding the V.O.C. settlements, each indicated with a flag in national 3-colour.
275 PROBST, G.B. Vue de L'Hotel de Batavie.. Augsbourg, 1750. Original colours. Lower margin cut off, lower line and name of the publisher lost. 268 x 398 mm.
Je voudrais de plus amples renseignements sur le Lot N°3651 .
¤ A so-called optical print of Fatahillah Square in Jakarta, Indonesia, prepared for use in a light-box or an amusing light-show. This richly hand coloured print is much perforated, windows are cut out, and then a thin transparent paper is mounted at the back and tipped with colour over the perforations. A view of present-day Fatahillah Square in Jakarta. The "Raadhuis"- headquarters of the V.O.C.- nowadays the Jakarta museum - is clearly visible in the centre of this print. Rare.
276 LA PEROUSE, J. F. G. Vue de cavite dans la Baie de Manille. Paris, 1798. Uncoloured. In good condition. Good margins with some light spotting, dark impression. 270 x 400 mm.
Je voudrais de plus amples renseignements sur le Lot N°34059 .
¤ Two boats and passengers with Cavite Philippines in the background as it was seen from Manila Bay in January 1787.
After a design of Gaspard Duchè de Vancy and engraved by Simonet. Made during the Voyages of La Perouse who set sail from France in 1785 to continue the discoveries of Captain Cook. He was shipwrecked in 1788 but his narrative, maps, and views survived and were published in 1797 in "Atlas du Voyage de la Perouse".
277 LA PEROUSE, J. F. G. Costumes des habitans de Manille. Paris, 1798. Uncoloured. In good condition. Good margins with some light spotting, dark impression. 265 x 400 mm.
Je voudrais de plus amples renseignements sur le Lot N°34058 .
¤ A very beautiful print, showing four elegant figures relaxing in a shady glade, two women recline and two stand chatting.
After a design of Duché de Vancy and engraved by Dupréel. Made during the Voyages of La Perouse who set sail from France in 1785 to continue the discoveries of Captain Cook. He was shipwrecked in 1788 but his narrative, maps, and views survived and were published in 1797 in "Atlas du Voyage de la Perouse".


Compassion and Choices Compiles Oregon Assisted Suicide "Official" Statistics!
This should be huge, because it exposes the entire charade that is the Oregon "oversight" over the act of legalized physician-assisted suicide.
We do not have a monitoring committee approach. Physicians are responsible for reporting death with dignity to the Department of Human Services. The Compassion and Choices agency [Me: It is actually a private assisted suicide advocacy group] produces the reports, collects the data and provides them to the State of Oregon, which ensures that the data are published and made publicly available on an annual basis.
Are you kidding me? If this is true, it confirms everything opponents of assisted suicide have said about the unreliability of the Oregon statistics, the paucity of the actual oversight, and how the law should be retitled, The Compassion and Choices Empowerment Act.
I'll have more on this. Soon.


Hibernian cruised into the semi-finals of the SFA Youth Cup after a 3-1 win over visitors, Greenock Morton. Jamie Gullangot the scoring underway at Easter Road, scoring from the spot after Adam Watson was taken down inside the area by the Morton keeper.
Defender and captain, Ryan Porteous doubled the lead soon after with a leaping header after the ball was sent in from the corner flag by Fraser Murray. Innes Murray set up Watson for a third as he made a composed finish into the bottom of the right-hand corner.
It was a slower second half in the Scottish capital. However, Morton grew into the game more in the final moments, with Mitchell Duffy bagging his side a consolation effort after good link up play with his team mates.
The visitors coped well early on with Hibernian's pressure play, as Morton backline dealt with continues attacking moves from the hosts. However, after goalkeeper, Daniel Farrell failed to clear his lines after a pass back in the 24th minute, Adam Watson dispossessed the Morton number one and was taken down in the box.
The referee had no choice to call for the foul and award the penalty kick. Jamie Gullan stepped up to the mark and fired the ball high into the right-hand side of the net, his third goal in the competition. Farrell had dived in the right direction but the ball was out of the keeper's reach as Hibs led in the 25th minute.
Hibs had momentum on their side as they continued to pressurise the Inverclyde club and were able to double their lead moments after their first strike. Fraser Murray sent in a ball from the corner flag, with the ball arriving from the left, Ryan Porteous leaped from the centre of the box to meet the effort with a great header. The ball travelled across goal and into the top corner as the captain got his side the second goal of the game in the 28th minute, and his second goal in this competition.
The hosts at Easter Road went from strength to strength as they cruised to a three-goal lead in the 33rd minute. After Innes Murray controlled an aerial ball up the field, he played in Watson along the left side of goal. With the defenders unable to meet the pace of Watson, the Hibs forward produced a composed finish into the opposite side of the net.
It was a slower second half in Edinburgh, as Greenock Morton came out facing an uphill battle to salvage something from the match.
However, it wasn't until the final 10 minutes when Morton came into their stride and challenged Hibs' backline. After a series of blocked attempts on goal in the 37th minute, Morton managed to pull a goal back just moments later.
Morton's attack managed to string together quick passes that saw Mitchell Duffy be sent in a ball at the left post, tapping the effort past the keeper as the ball creeped into the goal in the 88th minute.
Unfortunately for Morton, the goal came too late for the visitors as the result means Hibernian progress into the semi-finals of the SFA Youth Cup. The side from the capital will be hoping to progress one round further compared to last season's cup campaign.
Hibernian's star player was Adam Watson. Hibs' number seven played a crucial part during this quarter-final tie. His work rate was incredible from the first whistle was second to none. His pressure on the Morton keeper won his side a penalty and arguably, started the momentum for his team to go on and score two more. One of which was his own effort that was finished with real composure and was reminiscent of some of the finishing seen in the senior squad. Watson shouldn't just be pleased with his team's progression into the semi-finals but his own performance on the night was impressive to say the least.
Greenock Morton's star player was Daniel Farrell. Going away from home in a cup competition is never an easy task for any side, but to do so against a team in a division above yours is another challenge in itself. That said, Morton's number one impressed at Easter Road as he made countless saves to keep out the hosts efforts. Farrell started the game with a slight nerve when in possession at the back but grew into his comfort zone as the game progressed. Farrell shouldn't feel hard done by the result as he was arguablyMorton's best player across the 90 minutes.
Hibernian's magic moment was the goal that saw them go 3-0 up after 33 minutes of play. Three goals in eight minutes showcased how confident the home side were after they were awarded the penalty kick to convert the first of the scoring. However, the third was the best of the lot as the ball into Innes Murray was a difficult one to control. That said, the forward controlled the ball well and timed the ball into Adam Watson with perfection so that all the forward had to do was beat the charging keeper which he did confidently.
Greenock Morton's magic moment was their consolation goal in the final minutes of the game. The hosts at Easter Road had to be weary of Morton in the final 10 minutes as they were arguably on the ascendency. In the 88th minute they were able to find an end product with Mitchell Duffy's goal. However, it was the team play prior to Duffy's finish which was most impressive. Morton managed to play the ball around Hibs' defence with urgency and accuracy which meant by the time the ball reached Duffy, all the player had to do was stick the ball into the back of the net.