text:
LHMP #138b Mills 2015 Seeing Sodomy in the Middle Ages Chapter 1 Translating Sodom
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Mills, Robert. 2015. Seeing Sodomy in the Middle Ages. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago. ISBN 978-0-226-16912-5
This is an in-depth study of the visual cues and visual representations of the concept of "sodomy" in medieval manuscripts and art, using the definition of that concept at the time, not the more specific modern sense. Mills looks at how gender and sexuality interact and challenges the perception that there was no coherent framework for understanding gender and sexual dissidence in the middle ages. The topics covered include images associated with the label "sodomite", gender transformations and sex changes (especially in Ovid), and sexual relations in closed communities (such as religious houses). The analysis includes a consideration of the relevance of modern categories to the study of medieval culture.
Chapter 1 Translating Sodom
In Paris, ca. 1200, there was an increased focus on anti-sodomy literature. One writer considered it equivalent to murder because both "interfere with the multiplication of men." Sodomy also relates to gender categories because non-procreative sex blurs distinctions and suggest androgyny. Androgynous people, according to this position, must pick a binary identity based on the nature of who they find arousing within an imposed heterosexual framework. The focus in this anti-sodomy literature is not generally on gender ambiguity, but specifically on preserving "active" male sexuality. Not only are "passive" partners despised, but the "active" partner who uses them becomes corrupted thereby. Sodomy is generally linked to luxury and effeminacy.
Anti-sodomy authors are generally associated with the cathedral schools (and naturally are churchmen) and are obsessed with the idea that "unnatural crimes" are being treated too leniently by the authorities. To address this, penitential manuals included detailed interrogation scripts that focused on details of the status and nature of the partners of the person confessing. Notably, these interrogation scripts not only omit details of the sex acts that are under scrutiny, but the confessor is instructed not to discuss them, to avoid giving people ideas. They are directed to speak only of acts "against nature" or of sex performed "in an unusual way."
"Against nature" could include masturbation, incest, or other "seed wasting" activities. The details were often obscured as being "too terrible to name." Sodomy was also othered and exoticised with references to unspeakable sins being practiced openly in other parts of the world. [Note: this comes back later in the chapter as a connection between sodomy and heresy or non-Christian practices.] Although "unspeakable" in text, the medieval understanding of the specific nature of these activities can be seen in how they are depicted in art, and specifically in the Bibles Moralisées. This chapter focuses on those works and images.
This genre of manuscript first appears in Paris in the 1220s-1230s. These were not "popular" books but were a restricted genre produced for royal and noble patrons. [Note: I'll include a catalog summarizing the full manuscript references and descriptions of the relevant images at the end of this entry. For now, I'll be using the shorthand manuscript references that Mills uses.]
The Bibles Moralisées follow a conventional layout (and there is a clear continuity of content and visual imagery across multiple examples, which makes some of the shifts and re-interpretations more obvious). A series of eight images is presented in roundels of similar artistic frames, two columns of four each, and are bracketed by two narrow columns of text at the right and left margins. The text is broken up into a total of eight boxes, aligned with and corresponding to the roundels. It is clear from the text layout that the images are primary and the text has been added, often badly fitting into the available space. This stands in sharp contrast to the usual text-centered approach to Biblical commentary. In general, within a set of four roundels, the upper left image will directly represent a biblical scene, with the images to its right and below extrapolating and commenting on it in some way, and the lower right image providing commentary and interpretation for the contemporary context. This layout allows for--in fact encourages--multiple viewing paths and ways of constructing context for the images. [I'll include a brief description of each manuscript image when it becomes relevant to the discussion, as in the following.]
Vienna MS 2554, the earliest example of the genre, created in the 1220s in Paris - Context is Adam and Eve in the garden, with subsequent images of the temptation of Eve and the marriage of Christ and the Church. The roundel of interest shows two embracing couples, one male and one female, being tormented by devils. Both couples are lying on bedding and are oriented diagonally on the page. The women are kissing and one woman is holding the other's face in a conventionalized "chin chuck" gesture [see note]. One member of the male couple has a tonsure indicating a monk and the other wears a style of round cap that elsewhere is associated with Jews or heretics.
Note: The "chin-chuck gesture" is a conventional artistic trope that is always associated with erotic love. It involves one person holding the other's chin, with their thumb on one side and the other fingers (sometimes curled into a loose fist, sometimes straight) on the other. Due to its symbolic significance, I'll be noting for each image whether it is or is not present.
If sodomy is not to be named, why is it being depicted in detail for a royal audience? And for people who are closely associated with the authors of the anti-sodomy polemics? Mills compares this to the myth of Victorian repression, i.e., that a surge of interest in sodomy spawned both the textual response and the interest in depicting the acts. Stepping back for a moment from the focus on homosexuality in particular, Mills views the set of images in Vienna 2554 as a "translation" of acceptable sexuality, i.e., as portraying various types of "imitation" of the central approved/moral behavior, which is considered "moral" because it is "natural."
In the set of Eden images, the primary image is of an upright Adam and Eve invited into Eden by God (interpreted in the text as a marriage). This theme is reflected to the right by the temptation, with a female-torsoed serpent taking the central position from God, and Eve taking over the active role, in offering the apple to Adam. Below the primary image, the "marriage" of Adam and Eve is reflected in a scene of Christ marrying Ecclesia (the church). And then in the fourth position, we have the above described pairs of female and male lovers. Mills discusses how these illustrate a variety of parallels, contrasts, and reversals of meaning. The "sodomites" represent chaos, contrast, and corruption in the same way that the temptation is contrasted to the "marriage" of Adam and Eve by God in the first panel. The images do not "speak" directly of specific sexual acts (the image only shows embracing, kissing, and caressing) but rather of this symbolic violation of order and hierarchy. In the same way, Eve "unnaturally" takes the lead in the scene of the temptation, overturning "natural" gender hierarchies.
These reflections and contrasts continue in the lower four roundels. In the primary position, we see God confronting Adam and Eve, with Adam blaming Eve for his temptation. Then to the right, the expulsion from Eden, below the primary image a scene of sinners excusing themselves to God at judgment day, and in the fourth position, Christ leading sinners to hell.
Although this layout of images carries over across multiple examples of the genre, the depiction of transgressive sexual desire is not always illustrated by female and male pairs. Other representations include a tonsured man embracing a woman. But there is an entire sequence of images (some clearly related by direct transmission or imitation) that involve a female and a male couple.
Vienna 1179 (produced in Paris, the Vienna label has to do with its current ownership) 1220s - Image occurs in the context of Adam and Eve and the Fall. In the "sodomites" image, there is a female and a male couple, oriented diagonally. Pillows are visible behind them, but not necessarily full bed-clothes. The women are embracing and one women holds the other's face in a chin-chuck gesture. Their faces are close to each other, but not actively kissing. Mills interprets the scene as showing the chin-holder's legs inserted between the other woman's and the other woman's skirt as being somewhat hiked up. [I'm not sure I see that clearly.] The male couple are embracing and kissing. The man reclining on his back has his tunic open in front with his underclothes showing.
Paris Bibliotheque nationale de France MS français 9561, mid 14th cntury - This book contains a similar image of a female couple and a male couple, embracing and kissing, lying diagonally across the page and being tormented by devils. The layout is strongly connected to the previous examples, though somewhat simpler in execution. But rather than being presented in the context of the expulsion from Eden, it is located in the story of Lot and Sodom.
In Paris 9561, the accompanying text focuses on the disruption of "natural" order due to bodily desire, and not on the specifically same-sex aspect. Although the image is homoerotic, the textual message is broader and more diffuse. The presence of devils ties in with the textual claims that unnatural lust (or simply lust in general) is due to demonic possession. Demons are often depicted as violent sodomists (in the sense of anal intercourse). While texts can conceal the presence and specificity of same-sex acts, art must over-particularize them, converting a general focus on "unnatural lust" into a narrow indictment of homosexuality.
Mills next looks at images that accompany text that specifically identifies "sodomites" (regardless of the nature of the images). How is the concept of "sodomite" translated into the specificity of visual representation? The Bibles Moralisées had the purpose of moralizing about contemporary times, using Biblical motifs, often modified from their original context. One example is how the serpent in Eden is embodied as female (thus tempting Eve in a same-sex context) where the Biblical text doesn't specify gender. Other textual interpretations of this scene suggest the sexual implication is not homoerotic but narcissistic, though these are often conflated.
The "translation" of one scene to another context is seen in the Vienna 2554 illustration for Judges 20:47. This is an episode that thematically parallels the Lot/Sodom story but rather than the demanding neighbors being residents of Sodom, they are members of the Benjaminite tribe. The image used to illustrate the episode focuses on the host's unfortunate concubine who is handed over for sexual abuse and murder (in substitution for the guests that had been demanded). There is no reference to same-sex erotics in the art except for an isolated image within a crowd scene of two men embracing with a chin-chuck gesture. But the text accompanying the scene specifically identifies the attackers as "sodomites", rather than Benjaminites. Some scholars have viewed this "bad translation" between the image and text as simply due to ignorance and error. Mills sees it instead as a sophisticated manipulation of the imagery in service of a teleological moral truth in which Biblical textuality is subservient to that lesson.
There are other examples of parallel imagery that comes, not from the original Biblical text, but from visual connections. For example, in a depiction of the story of Cain and Abel, Cain is shown kissing Abel before taking him off to kill him, and this is paired with an image of Judas kissing Christ.
Later editions of the Bible Moralisée genre sometimes attempted to restore a more accurate text, but this could result in visual incoherence, which point out the hazards in interpreting the visual parallels in these later texts, as in the following.
Bibliotheque Nationale de France MS Fr 166, early 15th century - A depiction of the story of Ruth and Naomi has shifted the depiction from earlier versions. The earlier examples set up a parallel between how Ruth stayed with Naomi (representing those who are faithful to the church) while Orpha separates from her (representing those who leave the church). But in this 15th century text, a depiction of Ruth and Orpha embracing before parting from each other is juxtaposed with an image of a lustful couple embracing (as an example of turning away from chastity to embrace sensual temptation), creating a false visual equation of Ruth with sin.
Another example of the drift and change of visual symbolism is how the earlier images of female same-sex couples used as a negative symbol in parallel with the male couples, are replaced within the same visual composition by a heterosexual couple. There is a parallel erasure of the feminine characteristics of the serpent, removing the homoerotic potential from Eve's temptation. For example, Paris 166 does not include any lustful images of female couples.
Illustrations associated with the term "sodomites" and the story of Lot shifted by the 14th century from a relatively narrow range of behaviors in the Bibles Moralisées (specifically, violence and inhospitality) to a focus on non-procreative sexual acts, including but not exclusively between male couples. The earliest pictorial connection between this story and sexual transgressions is in Toledo MS 1 (1230s, created in Paris).
Toledo tesoro de Catedral MS 1, 1230s, created in Paris - In the context of the story of Lot and Sodom, a scene of two same-sex couples embracing, one female, one male. The male couple consists of a cowled monk embracing a youth of indeterminate gender (beardless and wearing a long garment). The female couple both have long hair and long garments, and one holds the other's head but without a chin-chuck gesture.
Bodley MS 270b (the first volume of the three-part Oxford/Paris/London Bible) ca. 1230, created in Paris - In the context of the Lot/Sodom story, depiction of two embracing couples. The couple on the left: a bearded man wearing a round cap sits in a chair and embraces a monk (with tonsure and cowl). The couple on the right: both figures wear long garments and are bare-headed and beardless. The one on the left has long hair (clearly signifying female gender). The hair length of the one on the right is not visible, however the overall artistic similarity and lack of unmistakably masculine signifiers suggests interpretation as a woman. They are embracing and the long-haired figure is holding the other's head in her hands, though there is no chin-chuck gesture.
British Library Additional MS 18719, ca. 1260, probably London or Westminster origin - The art in this book is much more simple that the earlier works, line drawings rather than fully colored paintings, and more primitive in style. The nature and positioning of the figures indicates that it's clearly copied from Bodley MS 270b or from a common source. On the left two men embrace, standing beside a chair. One is bearded and wears a round cap, the other is a monk with tonsure and cowl. On the right, reclining toward a slope formed by a hell-mouth, are two embracing figures. Both wear long garments, and are bare-headed and beardless, though the length of the hair is not visible for either. The left-hand figure is holding the other's head in her(?) hands but there is no chin-chuck gesture.
Paris Bibliotheque Nationale de France, MS français 166, ca. 1402, produced in Paris - The physical arrangement of the characters is the same as for the preceding works, but the artistic style is elaborate and sophisticated. On the left is an embracing pair consisting of a monk and a youth. On the right a heterosexual couple embraces and kisses. They are wearing high-fashion garments that are clearly differentiated by gender.
In the preceding sequence, we see how the ambiguity of feminine representation, and a reanalysis of an androgynous ideal of beauty allows for the reframing of a female same-sex couple as heterosexual, thus erasing the representation of female homoerotic possibility.
I'll skip over a section focused solely on male depictions that discusses the association of sodomy with Saracens and heretics.
The question remains, why did this particular genre of illustration arise in this particular time and place? The original center of production of Bibles Moralisées was Paris, which had a reputation for the prevalence of sodomy, though this was a reputation shared by urban centers in general. And the imagery in these bibles is urban rather than rural. Whether or not urban centers were hotbeds of male homoerotic activity, they did provide a fertile intellectual and moral context for anti-sodomy rhetoric. The temporal context was also one where the fuzzy idea of sodomy as anything "against nature" was being particularized as a specific set of gender and sexual transgressions. The depictions in these bibles often focus on aspects of the social context, e.g., same-sex pairings, age differences, active/passive contrasts, clerical with secular figures, Christian with non-Christian, rather than focusing on the physical act of genital sex. The physical interactions that are depicted are embraces, kisses, chin-chuck gestures, and the displacement of clothing.
From another angle, why are these moralizing illustrations confined only to the Bibles Moralisées? Several factors may be relevant. These works were typically commissioned by or for royalty and their readership was tightly restricted, moreover it was restricted to a set of people who had close clerical oversight in their lives. So perhaps there was less "danger" in allowing this set of readers a more explicit understanding of what activities were forbidden (rather than worrying about "giving them ideas"). Female patronage for several of the earliest examples may have influenced the prominence of female same-sex couples in the depictions of sodomy. In turn, this very restricted readership may explain why these images were not generalized as part of the artistic vocabulary of medieval art.
In reference to this last observation, Mills notes several isolated examples of male same-sex embraces or sexualized interactions in other manuscripts, but in those cases they are not tied to specific passages in the text.
Another correlation with the era when these works evolved was the rise of capital punishment for homosexuality in the laws of Castile and France (in the 13th century) as well as increased legal concern with heresy.
Catalog of images
It seems pointless to discuss an analysis of visual imagery without having those images available. I tried to see if I could find online sources to link to, but have only succeeded at this point in the case of Vienna 2554. Ethics (as well as legality) prevents me from taking images directly from the book, so instead I have provided simplified re-drawings of the human figures in the relevant illustrations. (One of the major elements I've omitted are the tormenting devils, but other background details have been left out as well.) I make no claims for artistic merit here, and some of the subtleties of gesture, clothing, and hairstyles are not well reproduced.
Vienna 2554 (Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, cod. 2554, fol. 2r), the earliest example of the genre, 1220s - Context is Adam and Eve in the garden, with subsequent images of the temptation of Eve and the marriage of Christ and the Church. The roundel of interest shows two embracing couples, one male and one female, being tormented by devils. Both couples are lying on bedding and are oriented diagonally on the page. The women are kissing and one woman is holding the other's face in a conventionalized "chin chuck" gesture [see note]. One member of the male couple has a tonsure indicating a monk and the other wears a style of round cap that elsewhere is associated with Jews or heretics.
Vienna 1179 (Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, cod. 1179, fol. 4r) (produced in Paris, the Vienna label has to do with its current ownership) 1220s - Image occurs in the context of Adam and Eve and the Fall. In the "sodomites" image, there is a female and a male couple, oriented diagonally. Pillows are visible behind them, but not necessarily full bed-clothes. The women are embracing and one women holds the other's face in a chin-chck gesture. Their faces are close to each other, but not actively kissing. Mills interprets the scene as showing the chin-holder's legs inserted between the other woman's and the other woman's skirt as being somewhat hiked up. [I'm not sure I see that clearly.] The male couple are embracing and kissing. The man reclining on his back has his tunic open in front with his underclothes showing.
Paris Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS français 9561, fol. 8v, mid 14th cntury - This book contains a similar image of a female couple and a male couple, embracing and kissing, lying diagonally across the page and being tormented by devils. But rather than being presented in the context of the expulsion from Eden, it is located in the story of Lot and Sodom.
Toledo tesoro de Catedral MS 1, vol. 1, fol. 14r, 1230s, created in Paris - In the context of the story of Lot and Sodom, a scene of two same-sex couples embracing, one female, one male. The male couple consists of a cowled monk embracing a youth of indeterminate gender (beardless and wearing a long garment). The female couple both have long hair and long garments, and one holds the other's head but without a chin-chuck gesture.
Bodleian Library, MS Bodley 270b, fol. 14r (the first volume of the three-part Oxford/Paris/London Bible) ca. 1230, created in Paris - In the context of the Lot/Sodom story, depiction of two embracing couples. The couple on the left: a bearded man wearing a round cap sits in a chair and embraces a monk (with tonsure and cowl). The couple on the right: both figures wear long garments and are bare-headed and beardless. The one on the left has long hair (clearly signifying female gender). The hair length of the one on the right is not visible, however the overall artistic similarity and lack of unmistakably masculine signifiers suggests interpretation as a woman. They are embracing and the long-haired figure is holding the other's head in her hands, though there is no chin-chuck gesture.
British Library Additional MS 18719, fol. 7v, ca. 1260, probably London or Westminster origin - The art in this book is much more simply that the earlier works, line drawings rather than fully colored paintings, and more primative in style. The nature and positioning of the figures indicates that it's clearly copied from Bodley MS 270b or from a common source. On the left two men embrace, standing beside a chair. One is bearded and wears a round cap, the other is a monk with tonsure and cowl. On the right, reclining toward a slope formed by a hell-mouth, are two embracing figures. Both wear long garments, and are bare-headed and beardless, though the length of the hair is not visible for either. The left-hand figure is holding the other's head in her(?) hands but there is no chin-chuck gesture.
Paris Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS français 166, fol. 7r, ca. 1402, produced in Paris - The physical arrangement of the characters is the same as for the preceding works, but the artistic style is elaborate and sophisticated. On the left is an embracing pair consisting of a monk and a youth. On the right a heterosexual couple embraces and kisses. They are wearing high-fashion garments that are clearly differentiated by gender.
Medieval (general)
bed-sharing
chin-chuck gesture
female sodomy
hermaphroditism
physical affection (general)
Bible Moralisée
BNF MS fr 166, 7r
Permalink Submitted by Lauri (not verified) on Mon, 04/03/2017 - 18:13
It's available through Gallica; here's the link: http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b8447300c/f21.highres
I downloaded it and enlarged that section but for some reason I can't insert it here. There's a devil behind the het couple, BTW.
Most of this stuff is in the public domain and usable for personal use, which I think fits a non-commercial blog like yours.
Hmm, that actually appears to
Hmm, that actually appears to be yet another example, but a different one than Mills had.
Thanks! I'll add it to the
Thanks! I'll add it to the body of the entry. I left a lot of details of my redrawings (including the devils) to avoid visual confusion.
Introduction: Jerome in a Dress
Chapter 2 Transgender Time
Chapter 3 The First Sodomite
Chapter 4 The Sex Lives of Monks
Chapter 5 Orientations


The coming real estate boom on the Gold Coast will see some properties triple in value, according to independent finance and broking advisory house Fat Prophets.
Chief executive Angus Geddes said the next Gold Coast cycle would supersede the previous boom.
"The next cycle could prove to be a super-cycle driven by Chinese investment and rapidly growing tourism numbers," he wrote.
Nothing symbolises the coming boom more than the return of legendary Gold Coast developer Jim Raptis, who after a financial collapse in the early 1990s and again after the financial crisis, announced his third come back this week.
"I think his third comeback will prove just as significant in terms of timing once again," Mr Geddes said.
Andrew Wilson, the economist at Fairfax Media's Domain, is also upbeat about the Gold Coast. Over the next year, he predicts prices will rise over 5 per cent and as much as 10 per cent, as the market recovers and the strong local economy, the strongest in south-east Queensland, drives further gains.
Mr Geddes is a believer in playing the property cycles. He is sitting out the latest boom in Melbourne, Sydney, London and Auckland. "I would not be touching them at current elevated levels with a barge pole," he said.
But he buys in the wake of a bust. "The bigger the bust, the bigger are the opportunities," he said.
Today, the gross running yield on the portfolio is "well north of 10 per cent". But he is not selling yet. Capital value prices are yet to move significantly, but quality stock at the right place is now very hard to find.
"I have found that tightening supply is a typical precursor to a significant upward move in prices or a full blown property boom. We saw this Sydney and Melbourne 18 months ago," he said.


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Philip Thomas, CEO of Ascential Events at the Money20/20 Asia Press Launch.
Philip and his team are currently preparing Money20/20, a concept that saw its 6th edition in Las Vegas last year and its first appearance in Copenhagen. In 2018, Money20/20 Asia will be coming to Singapore. Philip is confident that this event will attract 3,000 visitors for its first edition. Why is he so confident that the first Asia edition will attract a substantial crowd?
"Like marketing, the financial sector is changing rapidly and dramatically. When we started in Las Vegas 6 years ago, we attracted 3,000 visitors for the first edition. By now this has gone up to 15,000. Fintech is quickly becoming a very important topic that touches the livelihoods of many, ranging from customers all the way up to traditional banks.
Going back to Spikes and Cannes, the advertising and marketing landscape is changing dramatically, as you pointed out. To what extent does that affect the formula of these events?
Do you see changes among the sponsors and businesses that you attract as a result and could you name a few that are successful in mastering these changes?
"We definitely attract players outside the traditional agency and consumer brands area. We get interest from media owners, film makers and music publishers and even start-ups. This is proof of the changing and more intermingled advertising and marketing landscape. We attract also tech players like Oracle and Adobe and internet giants like Google and Facebook. I want to be careful when naming agencies or companies that get the new data and content paradigms. What I will say is traditional consultancy companies like PWC, Accenture and Deloitte are moving into the agency area. They have traditionally a strong understanding of businesses and organisational transformation, which they now start combining with technology and creative services. They are also very aggressive and are quickly making inroads into the traditional agency space.
What was your best edition of Cannes Lions so far?
But isn't Cannes getting too big?
Which brings me to the opposite trend, quite a few festivals are in decline. The organisers invariably resort to co-hosting events that were previously independent. Some refer the changes in visitor behaviour. They rely more on social media and online communities to inform themselves and socialise among peers. Do you see a similar trend in your portfolio of events?
But what about VR? The other day I participated in a meeting where some people joined from another country. Through a VR headset these people would be projected as sitting right opposite of me. I must admit it was a scary good proxy for a face-to-face meeting, until the moment we tried shaking hands.
How do you run marketing for Money20/20? Does the fact that Ascential has Cannes Lions in its portfolio help?
How is Money20/20 Asia shaping up and where will it be held?


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text:
Identifying Critical Infrastructure During COVID-19
As our nation continues to labor in halting the spread of the coronavirus, states and local governments are promulgating quarantine orders and mandatory business closures. While these steps are considered important public health measures that will help limit the spread of the virus, the term "essential workforce" is easily misunderstood and debated. Functioning critical infrastructure is imperative during the response to the COVID-19 emergency for both public health and safety as well as community well-being. Certain critical infrastructure industries have a special responsibility in these times to continue operations.
This guidance and accompanying list, provided by the Department of Homeland Security, are intended to support State, Local, and industry partners in identifying the critical infrastructure sectors and the essential workers needed to maintain the services and functions Americans depend on daily and that need to be able to operate resiliently during the COVID-19 pandemic response.
Download a PDF version of this guidance, or click on the sectors below for additional information.
16 Critical Infrastructure Sectors
There are 16 critical infrastructure sectors whose assets, systems, and networks, whether physical or virtual, are considered so vital to the United States that their incapacitation or destruction would have a debilitating effect on security, national economic security, national public health or safety, or any combination thereof. Presidential Policy Directive 21 (PPD-21): PPD-21 identifies 16 critical infrastructure sectors.
Chemical Sector
Commercial Facilities Sector
Communications Sector
Critical Manufacturing Sector
Dams Sector
Defense Industrial Base Sector
Emergency Services Sector
Food and Agriculture Sector
Government Facilities Sector
Healthcare and Public Health Sector
Information Technology Sector
Nuclear Reactors, Materials, and Waste Sector
Transportation Systems Sector
Water and Wastewater Systems Sector
COVID-19: Small Business Resources
Statewide, Mandatory STAY AT HOME Order
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Q: Mockito when().thenReturn() not functioning correctly I am attempting to use Mockito to test an activity. However, I am receiving a nullPointerException, despite using the when().thenReturn() methods.
Here is my test code:
public class CreateTextTest {

@Rule
public ActivityTestRule<CreateText> mActivityTestRule = new ActivityTestRule<>(CreateText.class);

@Mock
private CreateText createTextUnderTest;

@Before
public void setUp() {

    mActivityTestRule.launchActivity(null);

    createTextUnderTest = mActivityTestRule.getActivity();

    createTextUnderTest.cancelButton = mock(Button.class);
    createTextUnderTest.doneButton = mock(Button.class);
    createTextUnderTest.textName = mock(TextView.class);
    createTextUnderTest.currentProject = mock(Projects.class);
    createTextUnderTest.currentExperiment = mock(Experiments.class);
    createTextUnderTest.uploading = mock(TextView.class);
    createTextUnderTest.textDescription = mock(TextView.class);
}

@Test
public void testOnCreate() {
    // Setup
    final Bundle savedInstanceState = new Bundle(0);
    when(createTextUnderTest.textName.getText()).thenReturn("result");
    when(createTextUnderTest.textDescription.getText()).thenReturn("description");
    when(createTextUnderTest.currentProject.getProjectKey()).thenReturn("result");
    when(createTextUnderTest.currentExperiment.getExperimentKey()).thenReturn("result");

    // Run the test
    createTextUnderTest.onCreate(savedInstanceState);

    // Verify the results
    verify(createTextUnderTest.cancelButton).setOnClickListener(
            any(View.OnClickListener.class));
    verify(createTextUnderTest.doneButton).setOnClickListener(any(View.OnClickListener.class));
    verify(createTextUnderTest.doneButton).setVisibility(0);
    verify(createTextUnderTest.cancelButton).setVisibility(0);
    verify(createTextUnderTest.textDescription).setFocusable(false);
    verify(createTextUnderTest.textName).setFocusable(false);
    verify(createTextUnderTest.uploading).setVisibility(0);
    verify(createTextUnderTest.uploading).setText(0);
}

and here is the line that returns a nullPointerException:
 StorageReference refText = mStorageRef.child(Objects.requireNonNull(auth.getCurrentUser()).getUid() + "/document/" + fileToSave.getLastPathSegment() + ".txt");

The full error message is: Attempt to invoke virtual method 'java.lang.String com.example.labassist.Projects.getProjectKey()' on a null object reference.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Sarcastic, straight-forward, perpetually single. Wears the (neurotic) pants in any situation.
Bubbly, generous, submissive yet strong. Takes pride in her legendary curves.
Laid-back, artsy, tries too hard. Not as competent as he thinks he is.
Fickle, hedonistic, too smart for his own good. Would rather be texting.


text:
Rules of Attraction, The
Director: Roger Avary
Stars: James Van Der Beek, Shannyn Sossamon, Jessica Biel, Ian Somerhalder, Kip Pardue, Kate Bosworth, Clifton Collins Jr, Eric Stoltz, Faye Dunaway, Swoosie Kurtz, Clare Kramer
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Sex, Romance
Review: For an author whose novels often eschew conventional narrative, Bret Easton Ellis seems to have pretty good luck when it comes to screen adaptations of his work. Both Less Than Zero (1987) and American Psycho (2000) were neatly judged approximations of his misanthropic worldview, while Roger Avary's Rules of Attraction (based on Ellis's second book) is a disjointed but slickly entertaining film.
The setting is Camden College, a typical American movie campus, where everyone looks like a Gap model and no-one ever seems to spend any time in classes. Sean (James Van Der Beek) is the college drug dealer, a enigmatic loner trying to make a living off the rich kids he mixes with, but already $3,000 in debt to his psychotic supplier Rupert (Clifton Collins Jr). Even though Sean is notorious for meaningless one-night-stands, he has fallen for Lauren (Shannyn Sossamon), a pretty virgin who has decided that she will keep herself for Victor (Kip Pardue), an immature pretty boy currently on a tour of Europe. Paul (Ian Somerhalder) is Lauren's ex, but who is now experimenting with his sexuality and has his sights set on Sean.
Around this emotional tangle, Avary weaves a fable of teen (im)morality that veers from the nonsensical to the powerful but is held together by some strong performances and a bagful of cinematic tricks. The director is particularly fond of reversing his film; it all opens at the 'End Of The World' party, and keeps rewinding a couple of minutes to same point as every new character is introduced. The movie then moves back several months and slowly makes its way to this start point; even the credits roll in reverse. All of this works pretty well and isn't nearly as intrusive as it sounds – there's also a terrific use of split-screen and a hilarious speeded-up sequence detailing Victor's entire European trip in a few minutes.
James Van Der Beek utterly trashes his clean cut Dawson's Creek image with a volatile, cock-sure performance – you may not like his character, but its hard not to fall for his charm. He is the stand-out, but Sossamon, Pardue and Somerhalder are all good, while there are amusing cameos from Eric Stoltz (star of Avary's first film, the forgettable Killing Zoe), Faye Dunaway and Swoosie Kurtz.
However, it's hard to escape the feeling that this may all be a lot of fuss about nothing. Sure, these kids get drunk, take drugs, sleep around and offer nihilistic epithets like "Nobody ever knows anyone". But isn't that what you're supposed to do at college? A powerfully rendered suicide (set to Harry Nielsen's 'Can't Live If Living Is Without You') not withstanding, most of the 'shocking' exploits in the film could have been played equally for laughs if Avary had chosen too. Maybe this was all more disturbing in the late 80s when the book was set (the film remains curiously timeless), but not these days. And like both Less Than Zero and American Psycho, the 'so what' factor is fairly high... empty characters can't help but make for a slightly empty film. Nevertheless, there's enough on offer here to make for stylish, frequently compelling viewing.
Reviewer: Daniel Auty
Roger Avary (1965 - )
American writer and director, best known for his association with Quentin Tarantino and his contributions to Pulp Fiction's screenplay. Other films include the heist thriller Killing Zoe and the Bret Easton Ellis adaptation The Rules of Attraction. Avary has also made the little-seen Glitterati, a spin off from the latter starring Kip Pardue, with another Ellis adaptation, Glamorama, due until he was imprisoned for manslaughter.
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Home/Featured/Congress Was Wrong: The Sea is Warming Faster Than We Thought
Congress Was Wrong: The Sea is Warming Faster Than We Thought
Rebecca Watson Follow on Twitter Send an email January 12, 2017
Support more videos like this at patreon.com/rebecca!
Sorta transcript:
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or "NOAA," is the US government agency responsible for the scientific study of, as the name implies, our oceans and atmosphere. They collect data that is therefore relevant to weather and climate, and so a lot of their data is crucial to understanding global warming, which, as a reminder, our incoming president believes is a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese.
The politicization of NOAA's data isn't new to Trump, though. Back in 2015, NOAA updated the way they figure out the temperature of the world's oceans. We know the oceans are warming, but it's actually quite complicated to figure out exactly how much. Consider that you have to measure temperatures as uniformly as possible, but that's hard when you're using data collected from various sources. For instance, you can collect data from buoys, satellites, and ships, but ships need to pump the water into an engine room to measure it, which warms the water up. So, the data is corrected for that, which NOAA realized would lead to a cool bias (meaning that the water temperatures look cooler than they are).
So NOAA had previously had a lot of data collected by several different sources that was all put together in a way that they realized would underestimate how quickly the oceans are warming. Their new system was much more accurate, and painted a much scarier picture of what was happening to our planet. It debunked the idea that there had been a recent hiatus in warming, as the old data seemed to show.
This inspired Republicans in Congress to take charge and finally enact policies that would limit carbon emissions and slow down climate change. Ha ha, just kidding, they reacted by accusing NOAA of fraud. Lamar Smith, chairman of the House Committee on Science, launched an investigation into NOAA scientists, demanding to see the scientists' emails along with those of other NOAA employees and officials in order to prove a vast conspiracy had taken place in order to support the Obama administration's evil plan to save the planet.
This month, researchers at University of York published a paper finally proving that NOAA's updated temperature record is absolutely accurate and that Lamar Smith is an ideologically-motivated posturing idiot. They took data gathered from a single type of instrument collected over the past 8 years — from buoys, and from satellites. And when they laid out the data from each single source and compared it to NOAA's old system, the new system and a third unrelated system, they found that it perfectly lined up with the new system, and that the old system had a very clear bias toward cooler temperatures.
That's good news for the scientific process in general: hey, it still works, bitches! But it's bad news for the planet, since it means that shit is definitely worse than we thought.
But this is also a really great example of why we need to keep politicians out of science. Lamar Smith was nearly able to bury real scientific data that is crucially important to our society, all because it's inconvenient to his belief system. It's something to keep in mind in 2017 as Trump attempts to gut our government scientific agencies and enables more of these posturing politicians. We absolutely must be on guard to protect the integrity of good scientific research in the face of ideological idiocy.
PS: check out one of the researchers' great explainer post of his paper!
Disaster in Texas was Caused by Fossil Fuels, Not Wind Turbines
Did a White Supremacist Taze Himself to Death Last Week?
Is It Wrong to Think Your Political Opponents are Stupid and Evil?
Why I (Don't) Hate Thanksgiving
Jon Brewer says:
A conversation with my cousin over the phone included "You know that weather outside is a Chinese hoax, right? That's what our next President says anyway."
ikanreed says:
Actual skeptic: "Oh there were discrepancies in reporting that caused some misalignments between the predicted values and the actual values, and resolving the discrepancies in reporting brought things much closer to what the hypothesis suggests? That's one of those classic signs that a theory has a lot of predictive power."
Climate change "skeptic": "AHA! So you admit that you were wrong about something, but now you won't confess the whole thing is a giant SCAM?!"
Give us back our name, you jerks.


Pound 4 Pound Boxing Report #140 – Canelo Takes Care Of Business… But at What Cost?
– Canelo Alvarez breaks down and eventually takes out Liam Smith, but at what cost? And what did Canelo said about the ongoing negotiations regarding a fight with GGG?
– How far is JoJo Diaz away before challenging the big names at Featherweight?
– In the fight of the week (yes the fight of the week!) Shinsuke Yamanaka scores an exciting TKO stoppage of Anselmo Moreno in their rematch.
– Sergey said what to Claressa Shields about women and boxing?!


A critical element of high quality transit service is reliable subway car performance. Riders do not want to be delayed by a train being taken out of service because a car breaks down or suffer an unpleasant ride because a car's heating or air conditioning is not functioning. Keeping subway cars in good condition, defined as a state of good repair, requires regular inspections and preventive maintenance as well as scheduled replacement based on expected useful life.
From 1981, when reliability hit an all-time low, to 1993 the MTA made large investments to bring the entire fleet to a state of good repair. It purchased 1,775 new cars and overhauled another approximately 4,100 cars.
From 1994 to 2009 NYCT implemented a new system of scheduled inspections and maintenance to keep cars in good repair, and the MTA capital program kept pace with the replacement of cars nearing or at the end of their useful life. The result was record levels of reliability.
From 2010 to 2016 NYCT stretched inspection and maintenance cycles to meet savings targets and the MTA capital program replaced fewer cars at a slower pace than was necessary to replace all cars reaching the end of their useful life. The result was a significant drop in reliability contributing to the steady drumbeat of complaints that led Governor Andrew Cuomo to declare a state of emergency at the transit system in 2017.
The current critical challenge is to implement these plans during the decade-long time frame. The estimated cost relating to subway cars is about $9 billion, and the sources of most of this funding have not yet been identified. As the MTA develops future capital plans, subway cars will be compete against state of good repair work, normal replacement, and network expansion projects like the second phase of the Second Avenue Subway and East Side Access for priority; however, failure to prioritize subway car investments will place added pressure on the fleet's maintenance and squander hard-fought gains in reliability.
Under these circumstances MTA Chairman Richard Ravitch identified the resources needed to bring the system to a state of good repair, lobbied the Legislature for support, and initiated the first modern five-year capital program. This initial five-year plan and a subsequent five-year plan—spanning the years 1982 to 1991—invested more than $3.9 billion in bringing the subway car fleet to a state of good repair.6 The three pillars of this program were (a) new subway cars to replace unreliable, older cars; (b) major midlife overhauls of remaining cars; and (c) a new system of preventive maintenance with scheduled inspections and rehabilitations to keep new and restored cars operating at a high level.
The two subsequent capital programs—2010-2014 and 2015-2019—include $1 billion and $1.5 billion in subway car commitments, less than the previous five-program averages and significantly less than the corresponding needs assessments. Moreover, the inability to approve these capital programs in a timely manner resulted in a slower replacement of cars.
The needs assessment for the 2015-2019 capital program indicated a $2.7 billion subway car need, including an unspecified number of replacement cars not funded in the 2010-2014 program and 168 new cars for the Second Avenue Subway.15 The 2015-2019 capital program was approved late, in May 2016, and included $2.9 billion for 940 replacement cars.16 A May 2017 amendment reduced subway car commitments to $1.7 billion, 64 percent of the five-year need, and delayed half of the planned car order to the following capital program to accommodate other priorities.17 This five-year program included more than $7.6 billion in network expansions, including the initiation of two new commuter railroad projects—one to build new stations in the Bronx and bring Metro-North trains into Penn Station and another to add a third track to the Main Line of the Long Island Rail Road.
The lack of normal replacement and delays in car delivery have aged the fleet. If subway car procurements replaced cars on a uniform schedule according to a 40-year useful life, the agency would need approximately 125 new cars per year. From 2011 to 2017 NYCT received only 140 new cars, or approximately 23 per year.19 As a result the average age of the fleet increased from 17.9 years to 22.5 years, and the share of cars operating for more than 40 years increased from 4 percent to 16 percent.
Some of the variation in car equipment employees results from changes in scheduled maintenance staff requirements. These fluctuate from year to year based on the historical timing of car purchases and subsequent SMS requirements. For example, scheduled maintenance positions decreased from 607 in 2002 to 495 in 2004 before growing to 833 by 2010; as of 2017 SMS-related positions increased to 1,125. Post-2008 savings measures, intended to enhance productivity, extended rehabilitation cycles from 6- and 12-year periods to 7- and 14- year periods by 2010. As a result approximately 150 fewer cars were rehabilitated annually.21 SMS-related headcount increased through 2015 despite the longer maintenance cycles.
All other car equipment positions decreased 19 percent between 2002 and 2016. To generate savings following the 2008 recession, NYCT extended inspection cycles for all but its two oldest car models from 11,000 miles or 71 days to 12,000 miles or 78 days.22 This decision was premised on analyses that showed the cycle change would have no impact on car reliability.
Beginning in spring 2017 MTA leaders gave greater attention to improving subway performance including car reliability. A six-point plan introduced in May, later subsumed by the SAP, deployed additional resources to car inspection and maintenance and to accelerate the procurement of new cars. In January 2018 NYCT ordered 460 new subway cars, R211s, under a procurement contract that could purchase up to 1,537 new cars by 2027. The Fast Forward proposal released in May 2018 includes long-term acceleration of subway car procurement, adding more than 3,600 new cars and retrofitting 1,200 cars over the next 10 years. If the latest proposals are implemented, the subway fleet would be restored to a state of good repair in about a decade, but funding for the proposal remains uncertain.
In May 2017 Governor Cuomo commenced the MTA Genius Transit Challenge, a competition seeking proposals to solve the subway's capacity constraints and diminished reliability. Three of the winning proposals for subway car improvements were: use of longer trains and platforming at alternating stations; new diagnostic systems that would provide real-time analytics about the performance and condition of car components; and a shorter lifespan car. Although the latter two proposals may include creative improvements to maintenance and car procurement that should be a part of the NYCT's ongoing efforts, these technologies should not be viewed as a substitute for tried-and-tested approaches.
Though the R211 contract could replace nearly a quarter of the subway car fleet, it alone is not enough to replace all cars nearing or surpassing the end of their useful life. By 2027 new R211s will have replaced the oldest B division cars, but the 1,139 A division cars procured as part of the first capital program will be between 40 and 44 years old.34 Implementing Fast Forward would rectify the situation, but would require an additional $5.5 billion and more than a decade to achieve.
Table 4 shows the cost of the existing R211 purchase schedule and of the car purchases and retrofits proposed in Fast Forward. The 2015-2019 capital program supports the base order of 460 R211s to arrive by 2023 at an average cost per car of $2.7 million. Options of 640 cars and 437 cars would be funded by the 2020-2024 capital program and arrive by 2027. These cars are expected to have a lower per car cost of $2.1 million. Full implementation of the R211 contract would cost nearly $3.5 billion.
Initial estimates of the entire Fast Forward program costs are greater than $40 billion, of which subway cars will be just one competing priority.37 The MTA must also consider its other regular state of good repair and normal replacement programs at all of its agencies, as well as expansions such as the second phase of the Second Avenue Subway, East Side Access, Long Island Rail Road Main Line Third Track, and Penn Station Access. Despite the competition from other popular initiatives, MTA leaders should be prepared to make significant commitments to subway cars in the 2020-2024 capital program if its expects to return car reliability to its previous highpoint.
Despite more than $12 billion invested in subway cars since 1981, reliability has not been an uninterrupted march of progress. MDBF records set in 2005 were the result of a laser focus on maintaining the fleet in a state of good repair through a combination of scheduled maintenance and regular replacement. Extended inspection and maintenance cycles and delays to the fleet's normal replacement cycle after the 2008 economic squeeze ushered in a period of decline in reliability.
Delivery of delayed subway cars and implementation of the SAP will help arrest this decline; if on time, delivery of the R211 cars will replace the next group of B division cars nearing the end of their 40-year useful life. Fast Forward, if implemented as proposed, will make drastic changes to the composition of the car fleet, leaving it younger and better equipped to operate alongside a modernized signal system. But full and timely implementation of Fast Forward is not a certainty; it must be funded in future capital plans and administered effectively to achieve anticipated results. To make the proposal a reality, MTA leadership should increase significantly its commitment to subway cars in the 2020-2024 capital program.
Some car models have letters after the number signifying a different manufacturer of a similar car design. For example, the R142 and R142A were procured at the same time, splitting an order of cars between two different manufacturers. See: Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Capital Program Oversight Committee Meeting (January 22, 2018), p. 37, http://web.mta.info/mta/news/books/pdf/180122_1400_CPOC.pdf.
Though all trains run on the same gauge, A Division cars are narrower than B Division cars, and thus operating a car on its opposite division is not allowed. Numbered lines have narrower tunnel segments, tighter curves, and tighter platform clearances than lettered lines; B Division cars would not fit on numbered lines and A Division cars would have large gaps between the platform and train on lettered lines. Additionally safety train stop mechanisms between divisions are located on opposite sides of the track and train in each division.
Capital needs assessments developed prior to 2000 state subway cars had useful lives no longer than 35 years. The 2009 capital needs assessment stated all subway cars have a useful life of 40 years; however, this document does not include a rationale for the change in useful life. At that time, more than one-third of the fleet included cars manufactured with useful lives of 35 years or less. See: Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Update of the MTA Staff Report on Capital Revitalization 1984-1993, (April 16, 1984), Twenty-Year Capital Needs Assessment, 1987-2006 (November 1986), MTA Capital Needs and Opportunities, 1992-2011 (May 25, 1990), Capital Needs Assessment, 2000-2019 (1999), and Twenty-Year Capital Needs Assessment, 2010-2029 (August 2009).
Metropolitan Transportation Authority, New York City Transit Committee Meeting (April 23, 2018), MTA New York City Transit Non-reimbursable/Reimbursable and Full-time Positions/Full-time Equivalents January 2018, p. 121, http://web.mta.info/mta/news/books/pdf/180423_1000_Transit.pdf.
Mark Seaman, Allison LC de Cerreño, and Seth English-Young, From Rescue to Renaissance: The Achievements of the MTA Capital Program 1982-2004 (December 2004), https://wagner.nyu.edu/files/faculty/publications/rescue.pdf.
Metropolitan Transportation Authority, MTA Capital Program, As Approved by the Capital Program Review Board, April 1991 (April 1991), pp. IIA-19 – IIA-22.
Ari L. Goldman, "French-U.S. Concern Granted MTA Pact for 225 Subway Cars," New York Times (October 15, 1982), A1, www.nytimes.com/1982/10/15/nyregion/french-us-concern-granted-mta-pact-for-225-subway-cars.html, "MTA Seeking Japanese Cars for IRT System," New York Times (March 9, 1982), B1, www.nytimes.com/1982/03/09/nyregion/mta-seeking-japanese-cars-for-irt-system.html; and Office of the Inspector General of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, A Review of the New York City Transit Authority's Subway Car Overhaul Program as of April 30, 1988, MTA/IG 88-5 (September 15, 1988), Table 3: Average Monthly MDBF, By Car Class, First Four Months of 1988, p. 8.
Kirk Johnson, "Overhaul Study Praises Controls in Subway Fleet," New York Times (September 15, 1988), B5, www.nytimes.com/1988/09/15/nyregion/overhaul-study-praises-controls-in-subway-fleet.html.
Office of the Inspector General of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, A Review of the New York City Transit Authority's Subway Car Overhaul Program as of April 30, 1998 (September 15, 1988), pp. 1-2 and 8-9.
Use of single cars and multicar sets is a balance between the flexibility that single cars may offer versus the added maintenance cost of each car having a redundant set of systems. In 1978 NYCT purchased single cars instead of paired cars after management consultants recommended that, owing to the poor reliability of the fleet, cars out of service would increase 3 percent because unaffected pairs would remain out of service while their companion car received work. Today with improved fleet reliability, NYCT uses five-car sets, which are more cost-effective. SMS also included other benefits including easier material planning and reduced inventories; more predictable scheduling of maintenance hours; decreased operating expenses from components operating closer to peak efficiency; and greater opportunity to standardize components with regularly scheduled change-outs. See: Gene Sansone, Director of Maintenance Support, Car Equipment Department, New York City Transit Authority, "Implementing a Scheduled Maintenance System for the NYCTA Railcar Fleet" (paper presented at the American Public Transportation Association Rapid Transit Conference, Vancouver, BC, June 5, 1990).
Assumes ratio of vehicles operated during maximum service to vehicles available during 1981 of 0.75. Also assumes all trains are 10-car sets. See: Federal Transit Administration, National Transit Database (February 21, 2018), TS2.1: Service Data and Operating Expenses Time-Series by Mode.
The MTA's 20-year needs assessment developed ahead of the 1992-1996 capital program included $1.3 billion in five-year needs, but the MTA only committed $79 million to this program. However, the MTA changed its five-year capital program schedule and resubmitted a five-year program spanning 1995 to 1999. Though no needs assessment was developed for this capital program, the MTA committed $2.1 billion to subway cars, 171 percent of the five-year need for the 1992-1996 period.
Dedicated Taxes and State and Local Subsidies in the February 2009 financial plan from the 2008 to 2011 period were $2 billion lower than in the February 2008 financial plan. See: Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Adopted Budget, February Financial Plan (annual editions 2008 and 2009), MTA Consolidated Subsidies, Accrual Basis, http://web.mta.info/mta/budget.
Additional cars in the needs assessment were for the Flushing Line, which was being extended to Hudson Yards and outfitted with Communications-Based Train Control to allow trains to run closer together. The 2010-2014 capital program was initially approved in June 2010 but was only funded in the first two years. In December 2011 the MTA approved an amended 2010-2014 capital program worth $24.3 billion with full funding. See: The Council of the City of New York Committee on Transportation, Hearing on the Fiscal 2014 Preliminary Budget and the Fiscal 2013 Preliminary Mayor's Management Report, Metropolitan Transportation Authority (March 5, 2013), p. 5, http://council.nyc.gov/budget/wp-content/uploads/sites/54/2013/06/fy2014-mta.pdf; and Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Twenty Year Capital Needs Assessment, 2010-2029 (August 2009), p. 27.
Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Twenty-Year Capital Needs Assessment, 2015-2034 (October 2013), pp. 36-37, http://web.mta.info/mta/capital/pdf/TYN2015-2034.pdf.
It also included $52 million for the development of an open-gangway prototype subway car.
In addition the delay to the capital program's approval and manufacturers' inability to deliver the first production cars before 2021 made procuring all cars as part of the 2015-2019 program extremely ambitious. See: Metropolitan Transportation Authority, MTA Capital Program, 2015-2019 (as approved by the Capital Plan Review Board July 31, 2017), pp. 35 and 115, and MTA Capital Program, 2015-2019 (as proposed to the MTA Board September 24, 2014), pp. 53 and 169.
Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Capital Program Oversight Committee, January 2018 (January 22, 2018), pp. 35-53, http://web.mta.info/mta/news/books/pdf/180122_1400_CPOC.pdf, 2016 Preliminary Budget, July Financial Plan 2016-2019 (July 2016), p. V-221, http://web.mta.info/mta/budget/, Capital Program Oversight Committee Meeting, July 2013 (July 22, 2013), p. 2-34, http://web.mta.info/mta/news/books/archive_board.htm, and March 2012, MTA Board Action.
Over the previous nine-year period NYCT received more than 1,900 new cars, or approximately 210 per year. See: Federal Transit Administration, National Transit Database (annual editions 2002 to 2016), "Revenue Vehicle Inventory," www.transit.dot.gov/ntd/ntd-data.
Approximately 500 positions are responsible for terminal car cleaning, cleaning activities performed at the final station along a train's route; however, from 2011 to 2017 these positions were moved to Stations, and as such are not included in this analysis. See: Metropolitan Transportation Authority, New York City Transit, comments to Citizens Budget Commission staff (June 5, 2018).
R32 and R42 cars continued operating using a 11,000-mile or 71-day inspection cycle. See: Metropolitan Transportation Authority, New York City Transit, Division of Car Equipment, "Engineering Alert: Extend the Scheduled Maintenance Inspection (SMI) Cycle of Passenger Revenue Cars," EA-08-12 Rev. B (December 9, 2010).
The increase in R62 MDBF over this period is largely owing to $30 million investment to replace the propulsion system and cam controllers on these cars. See: Metropolitan Transportation Authority, New York City Transit, email to Citizens Budget Commission staff (June 19, 2018).
Calculations assume miles traveled by R32s and R42s in 2016 were replaced by hypothetical cars that had MDBFs of 150,000 miles—the agency goal—and 476,693 miles—new R188 cars performance in 2016. See: Federal Transit Administration, National Transit Database (2016), "Revenue Vehicle Inventory," www.transit.dot.gov/ntd/ntd-data; and Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Transit Committee (February 2017), Subway Mean Distance Between Failure 12-month Rolling Average, p. 29, http://web.mta.info/mta/news/books/archive/170221_1000_Transit.pdf.
The plan intended to deliver all R179s by September 2018 and to accelerate delivery of R211 cars; however, full delivery of R179s is now scheduled for January 2019, and the R211 contract has not yet been awarded.
Vin Barone and Nicole Brown, "MTA subway improvement plan begins at Eighth Avenue stations," amNewYork (May 16, 2017), www.amny.com/news/mta-subway-improvement-plan-begins-at-eighth-avenue-stations-1.13638539; and Metropolitan Transportation Authority, "MTA Announces 6-Point Plan to Restructure Management of the MTA, Improve System Reliability and Service" (press release, May 15, 2017), www.mta.info/news/2017/05/15/mta-announces-6-point-plan-restructure-management-mta-improve-system-reliability-and.
Metropolitan Transportation Authority, New York City Transit, email to Citizens Budget Commission staff (June 5, 2018), and NYC Subway Action Plan (July 24, 2017), pp. 71-79, www.mtamovingforward.com/files/NYC_Subway_Action_Plan.pdf.
The July Financial Plan, once approved by the MTA Board, should reflect increased funding of $67.3 million annually and 354 positions. See: Metropolitan Transportation Authority, email to Citizens Budget Commission staff (July 17, 2017).
Metropolitan Transportation Authority, 2018 Final Proposed Budget, November Financial Plan 2018-2021, Volume II (November 2017), p. V-234, http://web.mta.info/mta/budget.
From December 2017 to May 2018 the 12-month moving average for MDBF has declined 1 percent. See: Metropolitan Transportation Authority, New York City Transit Committee, (monthly editions, 2018), Subway Mean Distance Between Failure, http://web.mta.info/mta/news/books.
The full order is for 535 railcars and includes 440 conventional subway cars, 2 10-car open gangway prototype trains, and 75 Staten Island Railway cars. See: Metropolitan Transportation Authority, January 2018 MTA Board Action Items (January 24, 2018), pp. 90-92, http://web.mta.info/mta/news/books/pdf/180124_1000_Board.pdf.
New York State Office of the Governor, "Governor Cuomo Challenges MTA to Modernize Subway System With Launch of 'The MTA Genius Transit Challenge'" (press release, May 23, 2017), www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-cuomo-challenges-mta-modernize-subway-system-launch-mta-genius-transit-challenge.
Metropolitan Transportation Authority, New York City Transit, Fast Forward: The Plan to Modernize NYCT (May 2018), http://www.mta.info/sites/default/files/mtaimgs/fast_forward_the_plan_to_modernize_nyct.pdf.
When purchased, these cars were expected to have a 35-year useful life. Though many of these cars are performing exceptionally—2017 MDBF of R62s was 189,218 miles, above the agency's goal of 150,000 miles—pressing them into service past their useful life will likely lead to lower reliability and entail additional maintenance costs.
Assumed price per new car of $2.3 million and price per converted car of $591,579. See: Metropolitan Transportation Authority, New York City Transit, Fast Forward: The Plan to Modernize NYCT (May 2018), http://www.mta.info/sites/default/files/mtaimgs/fast_forward_the_plan_to_modernize_nyct.pdf, January 2018 MTA Board Action Items (January 24, 2018), pp. 90-92, http://web.mta.info/mta/news/books/pdf/180124_1000_Board.pdf, and MTA Capital Program, 2010-2014 Amendment as approved by the Capital Program Review Board July 31, 2017 (July 31, 2017), p. 79, http://web.mta.info/capital/pdf/2010-2014-Program_APPROVED_reduced.pdf.
Though Fast Forward purchases could be spread over the 2020-2024 and 2025-2029 capital programs, previous experience suggests the time between signing a contract on a new car model and receiving the first production car is between three and four years.
New York Times Editorial Board, "A Daring Plan to Fix the Subways," New York Times (June 3, 2018), www.nytimes.com/2018/06/03/opinion/fix-nyc-subways-mta.html.


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BEFORE HALLOWEEN: HALLOWED SAMHAIN
by Thomas Krannawitter | Oct 31, 2017 | History, Speaking Easy | 0 comments
Happy Halloween. Or, for my friends of the ancient pagan Celts, with whom the ceremonies originated, Happy Samhain. Or for my Christian friends, Happy All-Hallows-Eve-Before-All-Saints-Day.
CHANGING SEASONS AND THE DEAD
It's no secret that most of what we today consider "holidays" are modern co-options and transformations of ancient pagan festivities and sacrificial rituals, all of which originally were holy days of one kind or another. These ancient practices often focused on two phenomena that dominated life in every ancient culture: The endless, cyclical changing of the seasons, from Spring to Summer to Fall to Winter, and the ancestral dead.
These two phenomena, the seasons and the dead, from the ancient point of view, were connected one to the other. The seasons, which we now consider to be "natural" or part of "nature," were viewed back then more as the work of often nefarious ghosts, spirits, gods, and other supernatural beings.
Ancient people knew, for example, that Spring had followed Winter, in years past. But there was always some doubt whether this time around the the icy cold of Winter would stay, or go away. As the Sun lowered farther and farther toward the Winter horizon, would it disappear forever? Or would the Sun come back to a high place and bring warmth with it? People weren't sure. That's why it made sense to offer sacrifices and gifts to gods, spirits, and ghosts, as insurance policies, of sorts, or bribes, to make sure Spring and then Summer were returned.
Strange as it sounds to us, today, nature—though all around us and in us—had to be discovered, and explored. There was a time when the concept of nature was unknown to human minds. Figuring out what nature is, and what the natures of various beings are, was the original purpose of the great intellectual enterprise known as "philosophy." The philosophic quest for knowledge and the study of nature, at least for the ancient Greeks, were seen as two sides of the same coin, united and inseparable.
Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle were all interested in knowing, as well as humanly possible, that which is natural, which they contrasted with that which is conventional or made by human art and technology. The great but not well-known thinker Jacob Klein once gave a lecture and later published an essay titled, "On the Nature of Nature," where he described the discovery of nature as one of the most important human discoveries, if not the most important, in history.
It is no coincidence that Samhain, the forerunner of Halloween, occurred in late Fall, after the harvest was complete, and just before the onset of deadly winter cold. Ancient pagans were convinced that the Spirit of Death was especially active, roaming the Earth at this time, because, after all, the vegetation all around them was wilting and dying right before their eyes. Of course the Spirit of Death was present and looking for his next victims!
And if the Spirit of Death was nearby, they reasoned, then it was likely that the spirits of those whom Death had already claimed might be nearby as well. What was unknown was whether those spirits of the dead had good intentions or ill. So, to avoid being identified and possibly marked for early death, many ancient pagans dressed as if they were already among the dead—hence the origin of dressing in "costumes" as ghosts and other spirits of those who were formerly alive and are now dead.
(The single best account of which I know describing the central and supreme importance of the ancestral dead for every ancient regime is Fustel de Coulanges's beautiful little book, The Ancient City, first published in 1864.)
To appease the "real" ghosts and spirits, including the Spirit of Death himself, many ancient people would leave offerings, gifts, and sacrifices such as food or slaughtered animals. And, sure enough, Death usually accepted these offerings, evidenced by the fact the food and dead animals left as gifts succumbed to the power of Death over the coming days. From the animals sacrifices that were burned, smoke rose up to the heavens. And the food gifts unburned soon deteriorated into nothing.
This is the origin of offering "treats" on the night that only much later become known as All-Hallows-Eve, and then Halloween.
HALLOWEEN, ALL-HALLOWS'-EVE, & ALL SAINTS DAY
Before one mocks the rituals of ancient people, however, consider their tremendous and regular success: Through ritualistic sacrifices every Fall, like Samhain, and more in the Winter (some of which provided the ritualistic ceremonies, such as decorating evergreen trees, for the later Christian holiday of Christmas), the Spirit of Death was indeed appeased.
Sure enough, Spring eventually returned and with it, the Sun. The return of vegetation in the Spring meant the Spirit of Life had returned, and the ancients rejoiced with celebrations including signs of new life, such as baby bunnies and fuzzy little chicks (Easter, anyone?), as well as fertility rituals to ensure the perpetuation of a city, tribe, or clan.
And so the seasons revolved, round and round, over and over, like a wheel in endless motion, just as the regular human rituals were practiced over and over for centuries that eventually blurred into millennia. The only hope of escaping this seemingly endless pattern was the idea of a Savior who might offer a better way of eternal life. And indeed many people in the West thought such a Savior had finally come with the fateful events that began quietly in Bethlehem and concluded with blood-drenched drama at Gol'gotha, otherwise known as Calvary.
And henceforth began the process of Christianity transforming and re-purposing many ancient pagan rituals, including Samhain, the ancient predecessor of All-Hallows'-Eve, marking the night before All Saints Day, and then Halloween.
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The ongoing format war between Adobe and Apple has swayed social game studio Spil to build its games portal in Apple's preferred HTML5 standard.
Spil says its gaming websites takes in some 130 million users per month, and claims its new mobile websites will be implemented in HTML5 and thus allow Apple's iPhone and iPad to access them.
And as a further sign of intent, Spil is also launching a $50,000 contest for developers to make popular games in HTML5.
Most Android OSes and all of Apple's iOSes will now be able to access Spil's 47 game websites.
"Openness is at the core of everything we do, which is why HTML5 fits so well with our company mission to unite the world in play," said Spil CEO Peter Driessen.


RAPS: I have spoken with Danielle Hine (Returning Officer and Senior Manager Voting Services) at Computershare yesterday.
I'd encourage anyone who has queries to contact her, I found her to be very helpful. Danielle has also said she is happy to receive queries over the weekend, she will be checking her emails from time to time.
I do still acknowledge that there have been and still are user interface and data presentation issues with the online facility. Computershare do run background processes, such as recording/checking IP addresses, that have some validity as checks upon some possible security breaches.
I personally have decided to use the paper form as it appears to be the most 'watertight' of the offerings from Computershare.
Danielle assures me that the last assigned proxies, in whatever form, received by Computershare are taken as the valid ones. So, even if you have already submitted your proxy(ies) using the online facility, you can still re-assign using the paper form, submit that to Computershare, and it will be treated as the valid assignment.
Lastly, Danielle as the Returning Officer, will be present at the AGM as she has ultimate responsibility for the management of the proxies. She has assured me, that for this AGM, the APS will have no prior knowledge of proxy assignment and that she will be presenting the collated proxy details to the Chair of the meeting herself. She is also willing to answer questions on the day.


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Roger Federer: 'I was a bit torn by Andy Murray's win over Stan Wawrinka'
by LUIGI GATTO | VIEW 23643
In a press conference Roger Federer spoke about Andy Murray coming back to the competition. Murray won the Antwerp's European Open defeating Stan Wawrinka in a three-set final last week. The Basel native said: "Andy's achievement was great.
I was a little bit torn, since he beat Stan (Wawrinka) in the final, but it was a great way for him to come back. He's been playing to try and get close to his old level. It's nice to see Andy healthy again. I remember in the locker room of the Australian Open.' It was very confusing for him and for all of us.
I'm extremely happy for him". Stan Wawrinka explained why he will not play ATP Cup in Sydney with Roger Federer for Switzerland. The Lausanne native said: "Because I had signed a contract in Doha coming back from an injury.
I played here this year and I decided I would like to be back in 2020." On his current injury, Wawrinka added: "It's an inflammation on my foot and Achilles tendon. On both sides but in two slightly different points.
Nothing serious. I have been carrying it from the US Open and then it became very serious before St. Petersburg, which I had to withdraw from. I took a but of time to make it heal instead of playing in Asia. There are parts of the season where you accept the pain in an easier way.
The pain is still there but I decided to play those three tournaments (Antwerp, Basel, Bercy) in order not to create a big gap between US Open and the start to the 2020 season. I wanted to play some matches. I moved to Antwerp, which was a good idea."


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Pimco's Kimberley Stafford: You Don't Have to Talk Like a Man to Succeed on the Buyside
Home » Pimco's Kimberley Stafford: You Don't Have to Talk Like a Man to Succeed on the Buyside
Author: Lynk – lynk.global
A study conducted by the IZA Institute of Labor Economics in 2017 found that 28 per cent more interview offers are given to graduate job applications with masculine traits than those with feminine qualities and hobbies, while salary offers were also 5 per cent higher for more masculine candidates despite all job applicants had the same academic qualifications and experience.
In a male-dominated environment such as the buyside, one might wonder if the industry's preference for masculine qualities is even more prominent. But Kimberley Stafford, managing director and head of Asia Pacific at Pacific Investment Management Co., disagrees that women have to exhibit masculine traits to succeed in the investment management industry. She said two key reasons why there are not many women on the buyside are a lack of awareness of buyside careers among young women, and the need to further develop mid-level female talent into senior leadership positions.
The 'boys' club' atmosphere of Wall Street is often cited as a factor that tarnishes the buyside's reputation as an attractive option for female talent. (Photo: unsplash.com)
Having been with Pimco for nearly two decades, Stafford has been in multiple leadership roles in the firm across various job functions including global head of consultant relations, head of US institutional and alternatives sales teams, and global head of human resources and talent management. According to Stafford, two of the aspects that have contributed to her success on the buyside are supportive allies and her willingness to embrace new challenges.
L: Lynk | K: Kimberley Stafford
L: Tell us about your career journey. At what point did you decide a leadership role on the buyside would be for you?
K: Very early on in my career, I realised that I like relationships, talking about macro-strategy at a higher level, and understanding clients' objectives and how we could help with different solutions. So that realisation drove me to the client facing side where I worked with investment consultants.
While I like the client work and the relationships that I've been building, I also enjoy working on the business management and strategic side. When there was a role opening up in the executive office which oversees the financial operating and strategic elements of the firm, my manager at the time recommended me for the role. That opportunity really opened up my aperture of what it's like to work at a big buyside firm.
Having held multiple leadership roles in different job functions at Pimco, Kimberley Stafford said supportive allies and willingness to embrace new challenges are key to her success. (Photo: Courtesy of Pimco)
Then, an interesting step was I became the head of HR and global talent management. I don't come from a HR background, but during my time working in Pimco's executive office, I learnt that our management team is all about understanding our talents, and they are constantly trying to improve our budgeting, compensation structure, and hiring processes. So I put myself forward and offered to help our CEO on people-related strategy by being a HR liaison for the executive office. When our head of HR at the time transitioned into a new role within the firm, he nominated me as his successor and that's how I got the role.
After only one year leading our global HR efforts, I was asked to lead our global consultant relations, institutional and alternative sales in the US. Our newly appointed CEO at the time, Emmanuel Roman, then asked me to relocate to Hong Kong and lead our Asia business.
While it was not something that was on my radar, he said to me, "Pimco is a global business and you will not appreciate having a global perspective until you sit somewhere else outside the US".
He was right. Three years on, I am absolutely loving this opportunity and the key takeaway from my career journey is realising the importance of raising my hand for certain roles and tasks while having advocates and sponsors along the way. The willingness to just say "yes" to new challenges has also been really helpful.
L: When you were the head of HR, did you see any challenges in terms of hiring female professionals on the buyside? Is it true that by nature, women don't choose to work on the buyside? Are there any other barriers for them to enter the space?
K: For Pimco, there are two main talent pools. We'd like to attract talent either at the undergraduate or the MBA level, straight into the firm and develop them, and hopefully give them very long careers in the firm. But then we also hire experienced people who've had a longer term career in the industry.
We have been seeing a decline in terms of female MBA students opting to focus on finance. It seems that women are choosing other types of career such as consulting and technology. When we asked them about the reason why, the majority of them told us they just could not envision how they could integrate a career on the buyside and the personal life that they want. So one thing the buyside needs to do more is spend time demystifying how it is possible to have a fruitful personal life and career life on the buyside as this will help increase the talent pool .
At the same time, we need more women in leadership roles. That's really how we get the cognitive diversity, and the power of the diversity of thought. But that pool is also small. So a lot of what we focus on at Pimco is developing that pipeline, and developing our female talent into senior leadership positions so we have more women making key decisions that will impact the firm.
L: How to implement the agenda of pushing for diversity into the buyside hiring process in a practical and fair manner?
K: At Pimco, we emphasise meritocracy because we want the very best as the best talent will deliver the best outcomes for our clients, and we're not willing to compromise on that. But as our job is thinking about smart investment ideas that will translate into solutions to achieve different client objectives, having a homogeneous talent base in which everyone thinks the same will become a roadblock down the road.
So maintaining a diverse perspective within the firm is a business imperative for us. When we work with search firms, we often tell them to redo the talent search process if they come back to us with no women on the slate. We do this because we want a slate that is diverse. We want to make sure that we're looking at as many different kinds of candidates as we possibly can as a starting point because that could potentially lead us to more female talent and a more diverse workforce.
L: Data has shown that buyside firms tend to be more diverse in Asia than the rest of the world. Is it because domestic helpers are more common in markets such as Hong Kong, Singapore and China? Could personality also play a part as there is an assumption that women working on the buyside tend to be more ambitious?
K: There's truth to both. The infrastructure and support as well as the cultural acceptance of women working that are available in certain parts of Asia do make a meaningful difference. Our Hong Kong office is also statistically the most diverse office we have at Pimco. But I don't think we can paint with a broad brush as there are still some Asian markets where that's not the case.
On the personality side, I think a lot of women are ambitious and want to excel. Sometimes we wonder if [women] have to be assertive and male-like in the way they behave and communicate in order to excel. I do not think this is true as I do not exhibit this style and know other very successful women who similarly do not.
Women representation in leadership roles on the buyside in markets such as Hong Kong and China often appears to be higher than that of North America. (Photo: unsplash.com)
In group settings, especially earlier on in my career, it was hard to speak up and I felt intimidated. And I think these are all just issues that women face. I think part of it could be cultural, but there are also things that companies can do to provide an environment that is more conducive to welcoming women's ideas and different personalities.
When we started our gender diversity initiative at Pimco over 10 years ago, we surveyed all the senior women and asked "what makes it harder to be a woman at Pimco?", and a lot of them expressed communication styles and decision making styles being the challenges as they usually prefer voicing their opinions or making suggestions when they have data and a carefully thought through plan to back them up.
Our head of Japan at the time also pointed out cultural differences could play a part as it could be challenging for our international offices to fit into an American corporate culture. Therefore, in response to that, we encourage everyone at Pimco to send information ahead of a meeting so everyone can preview it, digest, think about ideas and questions, and be very prepared when walking into a meeting.
We also have a meeting format where there is a moderator. If the meeting does not allow everyone time to voice their opinions and ideas, we tour the table and give every person an opportunity to speak, whether it's an in-person meeting or video conference. Then, we usually follow up with the action items and provide the opportunity for people to share their best ideas. We found that those small changes really help create a much more inclusive culture.
L: Most people still think women on the buyside are usually male-like and aggressive which you mentioned are not personality traits that you have. But you also used to play football during your university years, did it play a part in terms of developing you into a woman who can work and lead on the buyside?
K: I think so. Looking back, that's how I learnt about teamwork and how to bring together a group of people with different skill sets and harness that collectively to win the game. I think that's the same in a buyside firm. At Pimco, we don't have just one star. It's all about everyone showing up in their respective positions that they're great at, and delivering and working together.
I was a goalkeeper and I'd be the last one to say I should not play forward, we would lose if that happened. The buyside is an environment of high expectation and excellence. But it's also one where it's very clear that the path to getting there requires collaboration, respect, and inclusion.
L: Is it true that it is challenging to "have a life" when working on the buyside?
K: Instead of work-life balance that many people would look to, I prefer to call it work-life integration, which is how you combine and connect both aspects into your preferred life, and that is more empowering. But everyone is going to have a different description of what that preferred life means, what's important to them, and how you want to structure it.
A couple of things that are important in achieving that: One, taking time to be introspective about your goals and how you want to architect your preferred life. Two, companies like ours are trying to really understand that everyone has different priorities. We care about the outcome and the performance objectives, and we care less about how people get there so sitting at their desks for 16 hours is not necessarily what we value.
I think what's so interesting recently is we've all had to work from home over this past period. We all know now technology works, it's been a really great proof statement for everyone. A lot of us are wondering "what does the next phase look like?". We are probably not going to go back to where and what we were, and this is great because we are able to see there are a lot of different ways to work and achieve outcomes, and that's really good for women in particular.
L: If you have the power to change anything on the buyside, what is that one thing that you really want to change?
K: I think that there's a myth for women about what it is like, the career paths, the culture, and what life can look like – and I really want to demystify that.
Hopefully, that would mean that a lot more women would be interested in careers on our side of the business. But in the meantime, without the magic wand, I think Pimco is trying hard to raise awareness and engage young women. For girls in high school, when they're not even contemplating what they'll be, we have to start showcasing how exciting careers can be on the buyside because we know we're competing with a lot of other interesting industries. We want people to at least take a look and see that it can be really rewarding.
L: What will be your advice for high school girls?
K: People often think that you could just be a portfolio manager and manage money when you work on the buyside. I've done basically every job except that at Pimco. There's a wide range of jobs on the buyside, from marketing to compliance and legal, they are all very interesting. So the diversity of careers and roles in our industry is something that we want to open people's eyes to. We just don't want people to close off a path without even taking a look.
This article was originally published on Lynk Insights.
Buyside Power Women is Lynk's latest interview series that features conversations with female leaders and male allies on the buyside to increase visibility of women in the industry. The series covers the career journeys of female CIOs in different regions, and how advocacy for diversity could influence future capital allocation.
Stay tuned for upcoming Buyside Power Women editorial articles and live events here.
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Calcutta, 1837. The East India Company rules India – or most of it, and its most notorious and celebrated son, Xavier Mountstuart, has gone missing. Young William Avery, a down-at-heel junior officer in the Company's army, is sent on a secret mission to track him down. His partner is uncouth, errant genius Jeremiah Blake. A more mismatched duo couldn't be imagined, but when their search leads them deep into the territory of the murderous Kali-worshipping Thugs, survival depends on trust. Fighting for their lives, the pair draw closer to their elusive quarry only to discover the horrifying truth behind their mission. With death and danger on all sides, is it too late to save themselves?
Read an excerpt from The Strangler Vine.
An exciting fictional debut… The Strangler Vine represents what must be a lifetime spent reading and soaking up Indian history and geography: you feel yourself to be in India – in its grand palaces and its bazaars; in its colonial offices and in its jungles. Clothes, food, languages, and the physical appearance of all the characters, Indian and European, are evoked with Tolstoyan freshness… As well as being a rattling good yarn in the traditions of G.A. Henty or Rudyard Kipling, this is also a well-informed and enlightened modern book that has a properly sceptical view of imperialist propaganda. I do not remember when I enjoyed a novel more than this.
In the great detective novel tradition of The Moonstone and the Sherlock Holmes series, by way of The Glass Books trilogy, Carter's debut is a thriller set in 1837 India. Two mismatched men from the East India Company, William Avery and Jeremiah Blake, are sent off to rescue Byronic poet-adventurer Xavier Mountstuart from a murderous sect of Kali worshippers. With gorgeous historical detail and deft characterization, Carter creates a rip-roaring detective romp — while also casting a gimlet eye on the effects of British imperialism and colonization of India.
Lots of fast-moving drama, but [also] a carefully researched setting in early Victorian India… Carter gives us delicious descriptions of the wonderful court of a Rao, or Rajah: the hunting cheetahs, elephants wound about with golden chains. There are horrors too: the famine surrounding this dazzling wealth, the criminals executed by elephant-trampling. But ever onwards through the jungle presses the gallant young Avery, encountering treachery and violence, finally triumphing after many perils as a hero should. It's a great read, white tigers and all.
The best elements of an old-fashioned ripping yarn unite with a plot that makes clever use of recent historical ideas about the British in India in M.J. Carter's The Strangler Vine… Carter's twisting, devious narrative is enhanced by her vigorous prose and her convincing delineation of her chief characters, whose further adventures, already announced, can be keenly anticipated.
From the thrilling prolog to the satisfying conclusion, former journalist and nonfiction author Carter's (Anthony Blunt: His Lives) first foray into fiction hooks the reader into a ripping adventure ride, full of danger, conspiracy, and trickery…Carter's clever historical thriller is a winner. The details of life in 1830s India are enthralling, as is the history of the Thugs.
[An] excellent first novel… It blends John Masters, William Boyd, Wilkie Collins, and the Conan Doyle of Brigadier Gerard and the more orientalist Holmes stories to create a witty and entrancing historical thriller… An inspired mix of sensation novel and odd-couple road novel, The Strangler Vine has a smirking sense of the absurdity of the whole colonial project.
A strangler vine is a plant that chokes the life out of its host tree. In this erudite thriller, M.J. Carter uses the image to describe the relationship between the East India Company and the colonized country being suffocated in its grip… fresh and original with many surprises in store… history subtly and intelligently entwines itself around a cracking good plot.
M.J. Carter has cooked up a spicy dish: a pinch of Moonstone, a dash of Sherlock and a soupçon of Fu Manchu added to a rich stew of John Masters. A splendid romp and just the job for a cold winter's evening in front of a blazing fire.
This is a gripping story of conspiracy and betrayal set in an early-Victorian India that is rendered with complete conviction. And as a historian, the author offers a thought-provoking re-interpretation of the Thuggee story.
Colonial India in 1837 comes alive in Carter's superior fiction debut… [she] is masterly at keeping the reader guessing what's really going on. The final revelation is both jaw-dropping and plausible.
The Strangler Vine is a splendid novel with an enthralling story, a wonderfully drawn atmosphere, and an exotic mystery that captivated me.
The story is exciting, the mystery real and its setting vividly evoked… I am already looking forward to the next one.
An absolute corker of a read with marvellous characterization and trenchant historical analysis.