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Our teachers and Herty Lewites were last month's protagonists. With their strike, teachers across the nation showed us, yet again, just how profoundly indecent Nicaragua's public salary scale really is. And in defending his right to vie for the FSLN's presidential nomination, Managua's former mayor showed us just how authoritarian, arrogant and intolerant the group that has taken over the FSLN really is. The teachers' effort won them a $40 salary hike. Might Lewites' efforts have a positive outcome too?
The new school semester opened late this year. Nicaragua's pathetically underpaid public school teachers, tired of asking for justifiable raises without ever getting any response, finally called a national strike. It took three weeks of intense negotiating, but they finally won a 700-córdoba ($40) monthly raise retroactive to December.
It was a small financial result for such a huge effort—although the shameful fact is that such a tiny raise increased their current base salary by nearly half—but the strike also contributed to the "political schooling" Nicaragua so urgently needs. The lesson in this case was about the obscene inequity in the country's state salary structure, which favors an unneeded number of unnecessarily high-paid top officials, most of whom work at the service not of the public but of the party bosses who appointed them.
Underpaid and unrecognized
If the dramatic national education situation continues uncorrected for many more years, Nicaragua will end up with no role in the world. To the worrying data offeed by economist Adolfo Acevedo in this same issue of envío must be added the impoverished condition of the nation's public teachers.
They have gone from being a prestigious social sector with a relatively acceptable living standard some years ago to being one of the most depressed sectors with the most depressing living conditions in the entire country. Before the strike, the average basic salary of primary school teachers, 80% of whom are women, was equivalent to $85 a month. The poorest-paid of their Central American colleagues earn over three times that ($275 in Honduras, $407 in Costa Rica, $462 in Guatemala, $515 in Panama and $564 in El Salvador). The average basic salary for secondary teachers is barely less insulting: $97 (compared to $325 in Honduras, $423 in Costa Rica, $486 in Guatemala, $621 in El Salvador and $630 in Panama). According to a report on Nicaragua's educational process prepared by UNESCO's Partnership for Educational Revitalization in the Americas (PREAL), one of the consequences of this abuse is that "ever fewer youths choose to study to be a teacher at any level. Economic and social recognition of the teaching profession by both society and the government is falling constantly."
And with inequity comes open disrespect. When it was proposed during the strike to resolve the conflict by reducing the salary of top government officials, Miguel Ángel García, the new education minister, complained that they had already reduced his salary in other top posts he has held. He would only accept a new cut, he said, if he still earned enough money to live "decently." García currently earns fifty times more than the teachers he represents and directs.
Who should bear the burden:
Teachers or the tax dodgers?
The teachers' strike, which involved camp-ins, blocked highways, hunger strikes, marches and massive demonstrations, got underway right after the FSLN and PLC legislators raised the 2005 public spending budget ceiling that the executive branch and the International Monetary Fund had agreed upon by another 600 million córdobas. Where would the funds come from?
Sustained pressure from the teachers finally pried open the door to a new tax reform to cover the deficit, but not before triggering another round of the debate about the luxurious salaries of a privileged group of government officials. President Bolaños' contribution to the whole affair was his usual "verbal terrorism": the spending gap would "derail" Nicaragua from the IMF agreement and bring chaos; Nicaragua would lose 3 billion córdobas in loans and donations; populism would "pull the country apart"… Unable to move the legislators, Bolaños then whined, "I can't go beg the IMF, scratch their tummy and cry to them, irresponsibly asking them to certify that budget for me."
Bolaños always opts for intimidating threats about the financial catastrophes that would befall the country if it got into the hands of anyone other than him and the group he represents. It is terrorism because the government knows perfectly well that the IMF agreement was based on conservative national income estimates, so there was in fact room to raise the spending ceiling. The government also knows—although preferring to ignore it while the IMF often stresses it—that there are privileged tax dodgers in Nicaragua plus innumerable unjustified exonerations that could and should be eliminated. According to tax law expert Julio Francisco Báez, current exonerations amount to 4% of the country's gross domestic product.
The new tax reform will be the fourth during this administration. Experts view them as shortsighted "patches" and insist that the only thing really needed is to implement the much-heralded tax law. At least this new reform is aimed at banks, casinos, the mining sector, tourism and other groups that pull huge earnings and enjoy many privileges. It's time for them to pay their fair tax share.
Posturing and empty rhetoric
The debate about state sector salary inequity is like those big box office hits that inspire new sequels every year or so. The script this year has several new twists.
"If they insist on shouting so, what we should give them is throat lozenges," commented President Bolaños with an insensitivity unmatched since Marie Antoinette impatiently responded, "Then let them eat cake!" to the explanation that the hordes were rebelling at the palace gates because they had no bread.
Could the strikers hold out against the President's mockery and the education minister's inflexibility? Where would the resources come from to pay for the crumbs the teachers were demanding?
Daniel Ortega opportunistically led the way by claiming that his legislative representatives would pledge the 444,000 córdobas (some US$27,000) they receive annually for "social works" as a contribution to the teachers' salary hike. This money is only part of the many legal but illegitimate perks that Nicaragua's National Assembly representatives receive each year. Supposedly to pay for scholarships or other "good works," it thus contributes to the expectation of handouts that riddles our political culture—if, of course, the money even gets handed out as opposed to going into the legislator's own pocket.
Some FSLN representatives balked at Ortega's initiative, but he silenced them. The PLC representatives did not second the initiative while the government applauded it without following suit. In the end, once the propaganda points had been tallied, the initiative met the same quiet death as Ortega's announcement before last year's municipal elections that all winning FSLN mayors would contribute half their salary to the social budget.
Political posts:
The lottery jackpot
Next Liberal and Sandinista parliamentarians dusted off the Salary Regulation for Public Administration and State Officials, drafted two years ago and brought out as an arm-twister during particularly heated moments. The bill proposes to cut the highest salaries by 20-30%, reduce the Presi-dent's salary from $8,000 to $5,000 a month and establish that nobody else in a high state post can earn more than one salary or the equivalent of $3,500 a month.
Nicaragua has the lowest national and per-capita gross domestic products in Central America but the highest government salaries. This unjust salary scale clearly demonstrates the continuing existence of the concept of state booty. Having a high state post is like winning the lottery jackpot. It means a huge salary, a luxury vehicle, free gas, travel, medical insurance, extra resources and subaltern jobs for friends, cronies and relatives. Above and beyond that financial appeal, it also means glitz: microphones and cameras, expense account meals and other irresistible and intoxicating effluvia derived from power and its attributes. These top posts from which the "rule of law" is supposedly administered are essential to the bipartite dictatorial system imposed by the PLC and FSLN.
The grass is always greener
in the other guy's wallet
In the ensuing discussion about how much booty would go to the President, Vice President, legislators, magistrates, comptrollers, ministers, deputy ministers and general secretaries, we heard the same fallacious and unsustainable arguments as always. While everybody recognizes that the government salary scale is unjust, the recipients of such high salaries—legislators foremost—all focus only on the wad of bills in the next guy's wallet without being willing to peel a few from their own.
The ministers, convinced of their self-worth, threatened that if the remuneration for their public service were reduced, they would switch to the private sector, where they could earn more. They also warned that the salary reduction would trigger a "brain drain" to the United States. The legislators complained that they represent the people's will but earn less than the ministers, who had not been elected. The ministers retorted that the legislators earn more and work less. The Supreme Court justices warned that with so many responsibilities a salary cut could tempt them to complement their earnings with corruption. Several of them griped that they are already earning much less than during the disordered and hyper-corrupt Alemán administration, inadvertently clouding the cause-and-effect link between salary and corruption. Bolaños government officials accused Sandinistas of populism, Liberals accused Sandinistas of demagogy and Sandinistas accused everybody else of forgetting the poor.
No economic criterion can explain the obscenely unjust salary structure prevailing in Nicaragua's public sector. It can only be explained by the power structure, political convenience and the expectation of perks rooted in the system, in which a small group controls rings of complicities and mutual cover-ups. This grossly distorted scale, in which the bosses earn so much and those bossed, who bear the burden of the daily work, earn so little, also explains why the state functions so poorly.
The arguments offered up were entertaining, but they didn't tip the scale in the population's eyes because the inefficiency, insensitivity, arrogance, opportunism and corruption in top state posts have stripped them of any prestige. For several days, equity and justice were so freely touted that it actually seemed as if something might change, but since those who stood to lose with the change were the very ones who would have to make it, nothing went beyond the politicians' empty rhetoric about "sacrifice for Nicaragua."
The funds needed to increase teachers' salaries by $40 and close the budget spending gap will not come from reducing the shamefully high salaries of top public officials, as some wanted us to believe during the showy debate. They will come only through the increased tax collection.
The triviality of being Bolaños
After last November's municipal elections and the new agreements hammered out between Ortega and Alemán, President Bolaños has been reduced to a small blip on the political screen. He cuts ribbons on public works, chairs conferences, presents himself in national speeches as an impotent "victim" of the dominating caudillos then travels abroad where he postures as the continent's champion against corruption, claiming as he did again in France in early March that, thanks to him, "Nicaragua is better than ever today."
Through their agreements and their dual objectives of sharing more power and releasing Alemán from prison, the PLC and FSLN have acquired jurisdiction over the naming of 40 top governmental posts over the remainder of Bolaños' term in office. Once all those posts are assigned, their occupants will receive the same top-dollar salaries.
In February, Bolaños threatened to pull the plug on the tripartite dialogue that had put an end to January's "crisis" if the FSLN-PLC did not consult him about the appointments, but, ignoring him utterly, the bipartite machinery went to work. Between them, the PLC and FSLN elected or reaffirmed five comptrollers, three alternate comptrollers and two Supreme Electoral Council magistrates, all of them soldiers loyal to either Ortega or Alemán. Bolaños, who would lose far more than he could gain by withdrawing from the dialogue, did what he always does when the FSLN-PLC duo makes end runs around him: he cried foul and played victim. Similar maneuvers can be expected with each new appointment.
Everything that has happened so far in the dialogue indicates the intolerable triviality of President Bolaños' style of government. Yet he continues to enjoy the backing of the international community that is aiding Nicaragua. What must it think of his decision to use the poverty relief funds freed up by the HIPC initiative to prioritize the domestic debt over the urgent needs of health and education, as economist Adolfo Acevedo discusses in this issue of envío? This question is even more relevant in light of the British government's proposal on third world debt cancellation, also published in this issue.
Will the FSLN-PLC consolidate
their two-headed dictatorship?
The Ortega-Alemán accords have irreversibly weakened the Bolaños administration, stripping it of all initiative while reaffirming the power their two majority parties will exercise over what remains of his term. The agreements were carefully designed to strengthen their closed bipartite model, starting now but kicking in even more strongly after the 2006 elections and the harvest both leaders expect to reap. The way the agreements work is that one of these two parties will win, but its candidates will not walk away with the whole pie; the other will still get a major slice. In this model, all branches and institutions of the state will not only provide very comfortable salaries for their top officials but will also be solidly loyal to the pro-Ortega group that controls the FSLN and the pro-Alemán group that controls the PLC.
The term that best describes this model is a two-headed dictatorship. And with Nicaragua's society immobilized by impoverishment, fear and resignation, that dictatorship is heading toward consolidation.
But is such a future inevitable? An unanticipated political phenomenon, with hints of rebellion against Daniel Ortega's iron grip of the FSLN, is raising questions and mobilizing expectations, albeit diffuse and imprecise ones.
"Something" is in the air
Long-time FSLN militant Herty Lewites, who just concluded a highly successful term as mayor of Managua, made known as he was leaving office in January that he planned to enter the FSLN's primary elections to head the presidential ticket in next year's general elections. He was encouraged to do so the extremely high popularity ratings he has received in all polls over the past two years, including among non-Sandinistas. As such a potentially winning electoral card, he has earned the backing of various Sandinista circles of influence, from the business grouping represented by Daniel Ortega's brother Humberto to sympathizers of Henry Ruiz, who is currently paying a high price for having denounced an egregious display of corruption in a party satellite organization. On top of this, the rank-and-file FSLN membership, especially in Managua, is increasingly convinced that Daniel Ortega cannot win and probably shouldn't.
The authoritarian, poorly thought-out reaction of Daniel Ortega and his circle to Lewites' challenge at the outset and Ortega's more recent muscle flexing within the FSLN and all state institutions to smash Lewites and his supporters have boomeranged. While the brutish show of force did indeed intimidate or actually frighten some people into submission, it has also given wings to a pro-Herty "movement" both within and outside of the FSLN. The result has been the birth of something that cannot be explained by Lewites' charisma and political and executive capacities alone, and even goes well beyond his own initial plans. Whatever that something is, it has transcended Lewites the man to be appropriated by thousands of Sandi-nistas in a matter of weeks.
The succession of events has had a snowballing effect. When Lewites first made his aspirations known, Daniel, his wife Rosario Murillo and FSLN founder Tomás Borge, to name only a few, insulted, disparaged and belittled him. When he withstood that, they found some pretext in the party statutes to "legally" inhibit him. When he kept on coming, they began to threaten him. When, undaunted, he still insisted, Sandinista groups actually threw stones at him and he was expelled from the FSLN. When not even that stopped him, Daniel Ortega used both his considerable influence in the Comptroller General's Office to file what Lewites insists is a trumped-up penal charge and his equally considerable control in the electoral and judicial branches to prohibit Lewites from holding political rallies or using the Sandinista colors and symbols.
Parallel to that, Ortega quickly convoked an FSLN Congress, where he pushed through a resolution ratifying Lewites' expulsion, another ratifying himself as the FSLN's 2006 presidential candidate, preempting the party primary, and a third in which he was compared to FSLN founder Carlos Fonseca. William Grigsby's article in this issue goes into all these events in more detail.
The response of a dictator,
not a seasoned politician
This spiraling and arbitrary exhibition of force has stunned much of the FSLN grass roots, which is finally beginning to reject his clinging to power, his arrogant attitude and the rather curious philosophy expressed by some of his followers that "it's better to lose with Daniel than win with Herty." Sandi-nistas and Nicaragua as a whole are waking up to the dictatorial political consequences of the pact in which Ortega and Alemán have yoked virtually all the main state institutions under their reins.
One of the immediate consequences of the conflict within the FSLN has to do with the freeing of Arnoldo Alemán, anticipated for March according to the Ortega-Alemán pact. Some believe that if Ortega signals his loyal judicial branch officials to let Alemán walk, it will contribute to the momentum against the FSLN leader. This might not necessarily be the case, however, as a freed Alemán could pull Sandinista attention away from the conflict with Lewites and focus party unity. In any event, if Ortega doesn't honor his word to free Alemán, it could encourage a rapprochement between the PLC and the Bolaños government, which would weaken the FSLN's agreements with the PLC and complicate everything.
MRS distances itself
The Sandinista Renovation Movement (MRS), which is an important part of the National Convergence grouping with which the FSLN is allied, issued a communiqué on March 8 distancing itself from the FSLN's actions in the Lewites case and rejecting the "manifestly party-oriented and unprofessional actions of some state institutions." The MRS believes that "the Supreme Electoral Council (CSE) resolution limiting citizens' right to political mobilization to political parties violates the Constitution of the Republic, which establishes political pluralism rather than pluri-party politics as the essence of Nicaragua's political system." It insisted that the CSE rectify its position, which was aimed strictly at Herty Lewites' attempts to hold support rallies.
The MRS also believes that "the Civil Bench of the Managua Court of Appeals exceeded its attributions and functions, seriously undermining freedom of mobilization and civic expression, by virtually suspending the faculty of the National Police to authorize any type of public activity in the country. The Court must rectify its decision." With respect to the Comptroller General's Office, the MRS statement argues that "it must be freed of party influences because its utilization by a political party to delegitimize political adversaries does not inspire confidence in this institution."
The MRS further declared that it "does not share" the declaration endorsing Ortega's candidacy read during the FSLN congress by Agustín Jarquín, who is one of the more distinguished figures in the Convergence and was Ortega's running mate in 2001. Jarquín's support for Ortega is not the only confusing signal to come from the Convergence. Banners can be seen around Managua stating, "FSLN and Convergence Women Support Daniel's presidential candidacy." Apart from MRS president Dora María Téllez, the only high-profile political women in the Convergence are from far-right parties that viscerally opposed the FSLN in the eighties.
A gamble
The Lewites case is far from over, as the FSLN inquisition determined. The results of the lessons from the former mayor's odyssey so far—and more are surely to come—are still unpredictable, as are the longer-reaching effects of his project within the FSLN, the greater Sandinista family and even the nation as a whole. They will depend largely on those within the FSLN who have remained docile for so many years. The most vocal seem to have reached the end of their tether, but there is no way of knowing how many more are close to the same point or what those accustomed to routines generated by the fear of risk-taking might decide to do about it. Will they keep on hunkering down or might they join the surprising number who are already openly calling Ortega's behavior dictatorial and suggesting that the time and opportunity have come to do something about it?
The situation is as worrying as it is interesting, given the personal power Daniel Ortega has monopolized and the influence the FSLN has acquired in the country's institutions. "Sandinismo," referring to the larger political and moral principles associated with the revolution, still has enormous symbolic and real weight in the country. Nicaragua needs a renovated and democratic FSLN with a national project of change rather than its now tired rhetoric and the double standard it has exhibited for some time. We can only hope that these lessons, which are being learned so quickly and painfully, will leave a mark this time.


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Carl Gustaf Améen, född 19 mars 1864 i Lovö i Uppland, död 11 november 1949 i Lidingö, var en svensk arkitekt. Han var far till Gunnar Améen och Åke Améen.

Biografi

Améen studerade bland annat vid Kungliga Tekniska högskolan 1883–1887 och vid Konstakademien 1887–1890. Han företog ett flertal studieresor till utlandet åren 1894–1896. 1890–1907 arbetade han tillsammans med Isak Gustaf Clason, bland annat med Nordiska museet, samtidigt som han från 1902 arbetade på Överintendentsämbetet. Utöver detta arbetade han 1907–1918 på Stockholms stadsbyggnadskontor och på fastighetskontorets husbyggnadsavdelning 1920–1929. 1912–1922 var han slottsarkitekt på Drottningholms slott.

Améen är mest känd för de byggnader som han ritade på Skansen i Stockholm (däribland Hazeliusporten) och Terrasstrapporna vid Kärnan i Helsingborg (1901). Bland hans övriga verk märks Gustavsbergs kyrka (1904–1906), Örnsköldsviks kyrka (1905), Landsarkivet i Göteborg (1911), vattenreservoaren i Vanadislunden i Stockholm (1913–1918) och gamla Folkskoleseminariet i Lund 1919..

Han gestaltade även föreningsmärket för Svenska Kryssarklubben samt för Sveriges allmänna idrottsförbund.

Bildgalleri

Källor

Noter

Vidare läsning

Externa länkar

Svenska arkitekter under 1900-talet
Födda 1864
Avlidna 1949
Män
Personer från Lovö socken
Gravsatta på Lidingö kyrkogård

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Q: Does the concept of "adjoint map" determine the metric up to scaling? Let $V$ be a real finite-dimensional vector space, and $g$ and inner product on $V$. $g$ induces a concept of "adjoint map" , i.e. a linear map $\text{Hom}(V,V) \to \text{Hom}(V,V)$ given by $S \to S^T$, where $S^T$ is defined by requiring
$$ g(Sx,y)=g(x,S^Ty).$$
Now, suppose that $h:V \times V \to \mathbb{R}$ is a symmetric bilinear map on $V$, satisfying
$$ h(Sx,y)=h(x,S^Ty), \tag{1}$$
for every $S \in \text{Hom}(V,V)$ and $x,y \in V$.

Is it true that $h=\lambda g$ for some $\lambda \in \mathbb{R}$?

We can think of $g$ as an isomorphism $g:V \to V^*$. In that case $S^T:V \to V$ is obtained from the dual map $S:V^* \to V^*$, via $S^T=g^{-1}\circ S^* \circ g$. If $h$ is also non-degenerate, then condition $(1)$ implies that the "transpose map" w.r.t $h$ is the same as w.r.t $g$, i.e.
$$ h^{-1}\circ S^* \circ h=S^T_h =S^T_g=g^{-1}\circ S^* \circ g,$$

i.e. conjugations by $h,g$ are the same. Does that forces $h=\lambda g$?

I do not assume that $h$ is positive or non-degenerate. (In particular, I am allowing $h=0$). However, we can prove that if $h$ is non-zero then it is non-degenerate: Suppose that $h(x,y)=0$ for every $y$. Then, $0=h(x,S^Ty)=h(Sx,y)$ for every $y$. If $x \neq 0$ then $Sx$ can be chosen to an arbitrary vector in $V$, which forces $h=0$.

A: The answer is positive. As mentioned in the question, an equivalent reformulation of the question is the following:
If $A^{-1}XA=B^{-1}XB$ for every $X$ ($A,B,X$ are real $n \times n$ matrices) then $A=\lambda B$. Indeed, we have
$XAB^{-1}=AB^{-1}X$, so $C=AB^{-1}$ commutes with every matrix $X$, hence it must be a scalar multiple of the identity.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


They have a respect for each other and understand what each has had to go through in order to survive. But she'll hardy add any intrigue to King's Landing plot anyway:). She's my rebound crush after the tragic death of Myranda at the hands of that craven villain Reek (rhymes with geek). They haven't sent screeners since Season 5, so I don't think anyone will be surprised by this. I had hoped for something more emotionally resonant to "bookend" the S1 scene in which Arya is forced to send Nymeria away. . Everything points in that direction: the ASNAWP-centric trailer; the cast interviews; the teasers; the natural culmination of Arya's seven seasons of martial arts training and weapons acquisitions; and "saving" Arya's reunions with Jon, Sandor, Gendry, Melisandre, et al. Of course, their affection is covered in the book as well so it was expected. And Needle has served as a reminder of that scene over the series. Emilia and Kit on-screen together communicate less than they should be. So their 45 minutes was nearly over before we were barely able to see what the writers and directors were trying to deliver. Even after Davos told us, we were still peering really hard trying to see it. Either that or the editor had to do the best she could with the acting. Fact is that fans just build things up in their heads. There's nothing all that outstanding out of the single 3 minute Jon and Arya scene. It's cute scene between characters we didn't know, that's it. If you say you didn't like it that's an entirely different thing. Needle (gifted once) and Oathkeeper (gifted twice). Both become symbols of something joining the giver and the receiver. Needle becomes a symbol of home and identity for her.
Real luchadores are bounding all over the ring and pulling off amazing hurricanranas and moonsaults that put Evan Bourne to shame. That is not happening all that often in Lucha Libre. Here, you're using that traditional grapple system to pull off mundane throws and submissions. If you're going to take on this genre of wrestling, the action needs to be fast and impressive -- it isn't here. Beyond the controls, there just isn't that much to do. Matches are limited to various bouts involving four people (although there is no traditional tag match). I'm talking one-on-one, one-on-three, or a fatal four-way. There's no crazy cage match and no tables to set up in the corners. There are weapons on the ground for every match -- two chairs and a florescent light bulb -- but that's about it. There's a tournament mode, too, but it's just more of the same. There's a story mode where you choose which faction you want to be a part of and which created wrestler you want to use, but it's a disjointed affair. There's a voiceover for your character that's trying to walk you through the narrative, but it does a really poor job. You play as people that aren't your character, you get these goofy videos that are supposed to explain the culture but don't offer anything of value, and the mode itself is short. The game comes off as a half-baked attempt -- not quite sure if it wants to be a parody of luchadores with its broken English commentary or if it wants to teach you about the sport with its videos. In the end, it's just a forgettable attempt at wrestling. It doesn't feel like the luchadores you've probably seen before. What can we learn from how Jesus approached and talked to this woman. For Jews in Jesus' day, this region was definitely on the "wrong side of the tracks. �� Samaritans were despised by Jews and did their best to return the compliment. Jesus seemed to go out of his way to challenge these traditional animosities.
Sayap terbang (bahasa Inggris: flying wing) merupakan istilah generik yang digunakan untuk menyebut pesawat bersayap tetap yang dapat mengudara dengan menggunakan sayap saja, tanpa bagian lain seperti ekor dan kanard. Perusahaan ini hanyalah media penyiaran swasta komersial dengan jaringan regional yang luas untuk beroperasi di Indonesia. SBS-in mengudara di Indonesia karena banyaknya penggemar program televisi Korea Selatan di Indonesia yang akhirnya membuat pihak stasiun televisi SBS membuat saluran jaringannya di Indonesia pada 27 Maret 2017 hingga sekarang. Tayangan-tayangan yang disajikan berupa program acara hiburan, drama Korea, musik, variety show Korea, budaya, maupun acara life style. Perhatikan sekelompok biarawan yang tertawa menyaksikan seorang biarawan yang sedang kesulitan dengan keledainya. Schadenfreude adalah rasa senang, gembira, atau puas yang muncul setelah melihat atau mendengar kabar seseorang yang sedang mengalami kesulitan, kegagalan atau kehinaan. The Mystery Begins adalah film Scooby-Doo yang disiarkan pertama kali pada tanggal 13 September 2009, bertepatan dengan 40 tahun Scooby-Doo. Trier di Rhineland-Palatinate, yang sejarahnya bermula pada masa Kekaisaran Romawi, seringkali diklaim sebagai kota tertua di Jerman. Wilayah Kekaisaran Rusia pada suatu waktu menjadi wilayah dengan jumlah Yahudi terbesar di dunia. Dalam biologi, sel adalah kumpulan materi paling sederhana yang dapat hidup dan merupakan unit penyusun semua makhluk hidup. Menggunakan elemen aluminium foil, dihubungkan dengan arus listrik, terjadi gelembung gas hidrogen dan disaring dengan tabung air kecil disampingnya. Dapat digunakan untuk bahan bakar sepeda motor atau kompor. Gas dialirkan dengan selang di masukan udara karburator. Sel bahan bakar (bahasa Inggris: fuel cell) adalah sebuah alat elektrokimia yang mirip dengan baterai, tetapi berbeda karena dia dirancang untuk dapat diisi terus reaktannya yang terkonsumsi; yaitu dia memproduksi listrik dari penyediaan bahan bakar hidrogen dan oksigen dari luar. Selebriti (bahasa Inggris: Celebrity) adalah orang terkenal lantaran terlalu dekatnya dengan dunia pemberitaan (pers). Cudjoe Selwyn Cudjoe, Encyclopedia. om. Baru! Bahasa Inggris dan Selwyn R. Sembahyang adalah suatu bentuk kegiatan keagamaan yang menghendaki terjalinnya hubungan dengan Tuhan, dewa, roh atau kekuatan gaib yang dipuja, dengan melakukan kegiatan yang disengaja.
I eventually found a great reader who does all her readings through email. Due to a wonderful experience because I can email my questions in whenever I'm the need. It can be 1 in the morning, but if I feel the need I can send inside my questions. It's my job to get my answers back within a period of time. The price is compatible with the majority of readers I have come across. There are a lot of psychics that you can choose from so have a look at around as well as choose 1 you have a connection when it comes to. They can predict what your future holds filter systems give them a as well as let them help you really. You have nothing to lose and the majority to gain and you will find out just why they can be extremely popular. Nowadays we could all do with a friendly voice for your end of your phone who wishes to help, so pick the phone and some questions you could be amazed at what whole tell the individual. What will be about the psychic realm, astrology, and a basic free tarot reading which us treat them consequently a basic, almost necessary, part of one's daily activities. It's their mystery as well as the act of finding their answers. Admit it: it's peculiar getting as much exercise remember the world before her. Period and date of birth are essential for horoscopes astrological charts for the Chinese, Indian, Egyptian and Celtic indian astrology. I am frequently can just no longer be the positive person that we would like to be. Therefore, it significant that we learn to harness and implement the triggers that will take us back into a state of bliss. This can mean reaching a choice to separate from a lover or to go away a traditional career to utilise something brand new. If you extremely bothered by an additional during tarot play, have to not fret as will need have the info and information of tarot psychics, so feel good, cool and calm. Come up next days plan and combat with this person who had stolen your trick of tarot card and immensely disturbed you. Have direct mystical free tarot reading colliding with the deck hard inside your tarot play as it will certainly expose the stealer in one short length of time in which means you could get well-known just before public. IChing - Similar to tarot cards but in this particular instance you use coins.
Lady Mary Hellen. Paso a comentar como cada semana. Eliminar Respuestas Responder Responder Anadir comentario Cargar mas. Game of Thrones star calls the ending "sad-isfying". Cara Menggabungkan Video Dengan Subtitle di Android. Winter is Coming: Period Pieces for Snowbound Souls. She just made it and it was actually kind of touching to see her finally make it. The dialogue this episode was really subpar, though. He's such a waste of a character and completely useless. She wasn't gonna stay at Magister Mopatis' house painting her nails and wait for her dragons to grow. She wasn't gonna cross the Narrow Sea with three lizards either. I understand if you think the pacing was slower than usual, especially after the ending of season 6, but to call it a disaster is just naive. But ya'll, the stress is high with only 6 more episodes left. Maisie Williams Played An April Fools Prank, But Fans Aren't Quite Convinced. The actor's appearance onThe Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon was all fun and games, until Williams accidentally spoiled Arya's death during episode 2 of Season 8. And it looks like LSU will be in good hands for years to come, too. His replacement, Cade York, showed out in the Under Armour All-American Game on Thursday (Jan. 3), setting a new All-American Game record with a 59-yard field goal. What happens when you hit the longest field goal in Under Armour All-America Game history. The longest field goals in LSU history are 54 yards.


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OUR PETITION
Animal Agri News
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Vegans In The News
Vegan Health Benefits
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We must end support for the meat industry
Unethical, unhealthy and unsustainable; it is time for world leaders and governments to finally stand up to the meat industry.
The way that livestock is raised and killed has long made it a legitimate matter of public concern. Now that we can see that eating red meat affects the entire planet in a manner that none of us wants, it is time for governments to end their support for it.
"If the sound of beef sizzling on the grill brings tears to your eyes, you're a real beefatarian." That's the opening line of a TV ad produced by a European advertising campaign called Proud of European Beef. Just more advertising silliness? No, because the European Union is paying 80{85424e366b324f7465dc80d56c21055464082cc00b76c51558805a981c8fcd63} of the cost of it.
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization's 2013 report Tackling Climate Change Through Livestock states that beef contributes 41{85424e366b324f7465dc80d56c21055464082cc00b76c51558805a981c8fcd63} of the greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions from the entire livestock sector, and also has the highest emissions intensity – that is, the highest GHG emissions per unit of protein – of any animal products. That is largely because ruminants belch and fart methane, an extremely potent greenhouse gas. As a result, rearing beef cattle brings about, on average, six times the contribution to global warming as non-ruminant animals (for example, pigs) producing the same quantity of protein.
Since that report, the case against beef has strengthened. In 2015, a report from London's Royal Institute of International Affairs pointed out that worldwide, meat and dairy consumption are rising at a rate that, if projected to 2050, would use 87{85424e366b324f7465dc80d56c21055464082cc00b76c51558805a981c8fcd63} of the total quantity of emissions that is compatible with the Paris climate agreement's objective of staying below a 2° Celsius increase in temperature. A study published in Science in 2018 indicates that producing protein from soybeans in the form of tofu creates only 4{85424e366b324f7465dc80d56c21055464082cc00b76c51558805a981c8fcd63} of the emissions required to produce the same quantity from beef cattle, while peas and nuts can both produce protein for less than 1{85424e366b324f7465dc80d56c21055464082cc00b76c51558805a981c8fcd63} of emissions from beef cattle.
To meet the 2°C target, the EU is aiming to be carbon neutral by 2050. There is now a solid body of evidence that says this cannot be done without a global shift away from meat. Yet the European Commission spent €252 million ($298 million) promoting meat and dairy products between 2016 and 2020, compared to €146 million advertising fruit and vegetables.
"If you support sustainable farming by choosing European beef, you are real beefatarians," says the Proud of European Beef advertisement – but without offering any explanation of why European beef is sustainable. The announcement of the funding for the advertisements says: "The aim of this campaign is to incite the consumers not to have a stereotyped idea about red meat and to enable them to be again confident about their consumption decision." Here, however, the "stereotyped idea" that is being combated is true, and the advertisement is inciting consumers to be confident about a consumption decision that should give them serious misgivings.
Not only climate targets are being undermined by the EU's beef promotion. Its Beating Cancer Plan acknowledges that red and processed meats have been linked to higher risks of cancer. That view is shared by the World Health Organization, which lists processed meats, such as meats treated with salt, as Group 1 carcinogens, that is, products known to cause cancer, and red meat – beef, lamb, and pork – as Group 2A carcinogens, indicating that they probably cause cancer. In 2019 the EAT-Lancet Commission on Food, Planet, Health, an expert body set up by one of the world's leading medical journals, recommended a diet that "largely consists of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and unsaturated oils" with some seafood and poultry, but "no or a low quantity" of red or processed meat.
This month, the European Commission has said it "will review, and where necessary propose to revise, all relevant policy instruments to deliver the additional emission reductions." An international group of more than 60 scientists, including Jane Goodall and Bill McKibben, has called on the Commission to align its promotion of agricultural products with the goals of avoiding catastrophic climate change and improving public health.
Arguably, beef advertising should go the same way as tobacco advertising. Before we get to that point, the least governments could do is avoid paying for it. But the EU is not alone in failing to stand up to the meat industry. Americans eat four times as much beef as the world average, and beef production alone is responsible for more than 3{85424e366b324f7465dc80d56c21055464082cc00b76c51558805a981c8fcd63} of US GHG emissions. US beef, dairy, and pork producers are heavily subsidised, both directly and by agricultural support that makes animal feed extremely cheap.
As a candidate for the US presidency, Joe Biden called climate change "the number one issue facing humanity" and "the number one issue for me." Within days of taking office, he appeared to live up to that statement by placing a moratorium on oil and gas leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, scrapping the Keystone XL pipeline, and announcing that the US would rejoin the Paris agreement. But when it comes to reducing emissions from agriculture, Biden's announced plans do not go beyond incentives for sequestering more carbon in the soil, and encouraging the use of additives to cattle feed to reduce methane emissions – a nice idea, but likely to take many years before it is used on a scale that would have a significant impact.
Eating meat is not just a personal preference. The way that the animals eaten are raised and killed has long made it a legitimate matter of public concern. Now that we can see that eating red meat affects the entire planet in a manner that none of us wants, it is time for governments to end their support for it.
Peter Singer, Australian ethical and political philosopher, is best known for his role as one of the intellectual founders of the modern animal rights movement.
Original source: https://www.project-syndicate.org
Copyright © 2017 Animal Agriculture and Climate Change

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Smoke and flames could be seen several blocks away from the house, which is at 104th Avenue and 146 Street.
A large fire tore through a house under construction in Surrey Wednesday night.
Smoke and flames were visible from several blocks away from the house, which is located near 104th Avenue and 146 Street.
Several firefighters were called and were able to get the blaze under control, but the building was left with extensive damage.
Fire investigators are looking into the cause.


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Tag: than
Germany's population reaches all-time high due to immigration
January 20, 2023 hk_news
Young migrants gather among container-accommodations at the former Tempelhof Airport in Berlin, Germany, on August 8, 2022. (CARSTEN KOALL / AFP) BERLIN – Germany's population swelled to an all-time record number of at least 84.3 million inhabitants at the end of 2022, due to record net immigration, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) said on Thursday. […]
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Avance Clinical Celebrates GlobalReady Success as more than 40 Biotech Clients Enter Program
January 11, 2023 acn
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US college scam mastermind gets longest 'Varsity Blues' probe sentence
January 5, 2023 hk_news
William "Rick" Singer, the California college admissions consultant who masterminded the vast fraud and bribery scheme at the center of the US college admissions scandal known as "Varsity Blues", arrives for his sentencing hearing at the federal courthouse in Boston, Massachusetts, US on Jan 4, 2023. (BRIAN SNYDER / REUTERS) BOSTON – The architect of […]
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Atlantic Puffins are seen among the daisies on Skomer Island, Pembrokeshire, Wales, Britain July 16, 2019. (REBECCA NADEN / REUTERS) MONTREAL — Countries are gathering Tuesday for a key UN nature conference in Montreal, aiming to broker a new global agreement to protect what's left of Earth's wildlife and natural spaces. Negotiators hope that the […]
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Society Pass / NusaTrip Expands Flight Routes and Fares Offering through Connection with Regional Low-Cost Carriers: JetStar Airways, VietJet Air, NokAir, Thai Smile Air, and Thai Lion Air
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CAPE MAY, NJ and STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN, Nov 17, 2022 – (ACN Newswire via SEAPRWire.com) – eDriving(SM), a Solera company and leading global provider of digital driver risk management solutions, today announced a partnership with Greater Than (GREAT:ST), the global provider of technology that converts GPS data into powerful insights and driver scores. Through the collaboration, […]
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In this file photo dated Oct 30, 2022, a local resident looks at debris from a destroyed buildings in Mogadishu on Oct 30, 2022 after an car bombing targeted the education ministry on Oct 29, 2022. (HASSAN ALI ELMI / AFP) MOGADISHU – A suicide bomber blew himself up at the entrance of a military […]
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Commuters wear face masks while riding the subway in New York, June 6, 2021. (TED SHAFFREY / AP) LOS ANGELES / NEW YORK / MOSCOW – The United States is facing a more severe flu season this year, coinciding with an increase in COVID-19 transmission and a surge in cases of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). […]
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WEEK FIFTY-NINE MENU: May 4-9, 2021
Spaghetti Westerns & Tuscan Cowboys
The original cowboys were Italian! Oh yes they were! The Butteri of southern Tuscany have been an intrinsic part of the Maremma area for centuries, riding and roping long-horned cattle on horseback. Maybe that explains, in part, why Italians have always been intrigued with the American West.
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, recognized as one of the top ten films of all time, was an Italian-made Western, emblematic of the widely popular genre of movies directed by Italian, Sergio Leone, in the 1960s and 70s that were ultimately dubbed "Spaghetti Westerns." They were a stark depiction of the Old West, featuring characters who possessed both heroic and villainous traits, the most prominent being "The Man with No Name" portrayed by Clint Eastwood.
This week's menu is inspired by simple, straight-forward foods that could have been eaten in the marshes of Maremma or on the Plains of the American West.
Insalata di Fagioli
Cannellini & borlotti bean salad, spring radishes, fresh herb vinaigrette
Stracci all' Intingolo
Homemade egg pasta "rags" in meat gravy
Stracotto alla Fiorentina
Slow-braised Florentine pot roast with onions, carrots, and potatoes
Torta di Fragole
Skillet strawberry cobbler
Featured Wine:
Castello Querceto, Chianti Classico 2018
Amidst the oaks (for which it is named) and the olive groves lie the vines that are the source of the superior wines of Castello di Querceto. Produced in Geve in Chianti, this wine is matured in casks for 10-12 months. The wine is then refined in the bottle for a minimum of three months.
A ripe red, showing aromas of sliced strawberries, black cherries, and sweet licorice. Yet, this is energetic and fresh. Full body, chewy tannins, and a medium finish." James Suckling 92 pts
One of the first things I realized when I moved to Italy was that Italians have long been fascinated with the American frontier. Roy Rodgers jeans were the extremely popular Italian version of Levi's and Tex Willer, a vigilante comic book character, was and still is after 72 years, beloved to little Italian boys and men alike. He is an Italian made interpretation of the American Old West – a tough guy with a strong personal sense of justice, righting wrongs and protecting the underprivileged.
And then there were the cowboy movies, directed by Sergio Leone and filmed in Italy, thus earning them the label "Spaghetti Western." They depicted a violent gritty Old West, featuring characters who possessed both heroic and villainous traits. Fortuitously, a relatively unknown American actor, Clint Eastwood, was cast as the lead "Man with No Name" launching his superstar movie career and an entire genre of films that continued for 20 years. It is also important to note that the films were elevated by the innovative and matchless scores of Ennio Morricone, considered one of the world's greatest film composers.
Maybe even more surprising than the Italian's infatuation with American western culture is the fact that Tuscany boasts its own cowboys! The "butteri" have been an intrinsic part of the region's southwestern flat marshes of Maremma for centuries, riding and roping long horned cattle on horseback. For thousands of years, they lived a solitary life working the land herding sheep and cattle. These Italian cowboys reached international fame when Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show arrived in Rome in the 1890s. It is written that there was a competition rodeo and the Italian butteri out skilled the famous American cowboys! Che vergogna!
Much of what both the American and the Italian cowboys ate was born out of poverty. It had to be easily transportable and equally easy to prepare. It was about getting the best out of a few ingredients, providing filling and nutritious meals. This week's menu is inspired by the simple, straightforward foods that could have been eaten in the marshes of Maremma or on the Plains of the American West. Dinner had to include beans, probably the mainstay of the traveling cowboy's diet. Tuscans are famously known as "mangia fagioli", or bean eaters, and are well known for their many dishes made with cannellini. For our Insalata di Fagioli, we combine them with the darker borlotti beans and spring radishes, tossing them with fresh parsley, dill, and extra virgin olive oil.
"Stracci all' Intingolo" are "rags" referring to the uneven shapes of fresh homemade pasta that we combine with the flavorful pot roast sauce that follows. One-pot dishes are a preferred way of cooking in the Maremma as it certainly was over the cowboy's campfire. "Stracotto alla Fiorentina" is the Tuscan's version of pot roast, enhanced with rich red wine, tomato puree and a soffritto of carrots, onions, and celery, served with root vegetables.
We can envision our cake-like strawberry cobbler, Torta di Fragole, being made in a cast iron skillet where the macerated strawberries are haphazardly combined with butter and a pancake-like batter. I have taken some artistic license by adding a side of whipped cream, but you could add your own ice cream at home after warming it up for a few seconds in the microwave.
Chianti Classico DOCG, Castello di Querceto is a great accompaniment for our rustic dinner. Made in the Chianti Classico area of Tuscany (just north of Maremma's marshes), this wine is a brilliant ruby red with a soft and elegant texture. It has fruity aromas, balanced with herbal notes and an interesting finish.
The enjoyment of a good Spaghetti Western was something I had forgotten since those early days in Tuscany. They may seem a little sophomoric now compared to the movies of today, but maybe that is what makes them so special. Good guy vs bad guy – the strong helping the weak - good always prevails. Simple and somewhat comforting themes that, in these uncertain and confusing times are certainly welcome. I encourage you to take a break, escape and watch The Good, The Bad and the Ugly with us. It is available for free if you have Amazon Prime or NETFLIX. Otherwise, you can rent it on various other platforms for $2.99.
Yippee ki-yay!


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Ranking the Baseball Games of the NES: Part 4
March 11, 2016 | Comments (3) | by Adam Blank
This is part 4 of a 4 week series ranking the Baseball Games of the NES. Click here for Part 1, here for Part 2 and here for Part 3.
As always, these are the opinions of some guy in his mid 30's playing these games by himself on an emulator. My rankings are based solely on my opinions while playing against the computer as an adult who hasn't consumed nearly enough vodka; and are, therefore, flawless.
Also, I've included the chronological order of games to give a sense of history of the 7+ years that baseball games were made for the NES. Unlike my rankings, it almost certainly isn't 100% correct. If the internet says one game came out sometime in 1988 and a different game came out in July of 1988, I usually just guessed at which came first.
So here they are, the five best NES baseball games...
#5. Legends of the Diamond
Released May 1992 (18 of 20 NES baseball games)
A competent game is bolstered by an amazing gimmick. While other games were trying to get contemporary players' names or official teams and stats, Legends of the Diamond did what none of the 17 games before it did: It gave you the chance to play as the all-time greats of the game.
Players can choose between 30 legendary players. Highlights include: Ty Cobb, Whitey Ford, Bob Gibson, Roberto Clemente, Ernie Banks, Babe Ruth, Harmon Killebrew and Hank Aaron. The stats are more or less based on the career stats of each player. The concept of this game was everything I could have asked for in an NES game, but I never played it as a kid. This game was late to the party and I already had a Genesis or Super Nintendo at the time.
Pictured: History of the Game
Of all the NES games that used real players, this is the only NES game I can think of that accurately represented their skin tones. Banks and Clemente and other players of color are dark-skinned. Considering they apparently only used 6 colors total in this game, that's fairly impressive. Can your precious RBI Baseball claim to have done this?
You can choose between an old stadium (better for hitters) or a new (pitcher-friendly) stadium. This is one of the few games where the different stadiums actually play differently, and it's a nice touch. I'm still not entirely sure why they show women and weather conditions, unless they chickened out of some Seven Year Itch theme at the last moment, but whatever.
While fielding, an arrow indicates which player you're actually controlling. It's about fucking time that some game did this. This feature alone could have saved the Bases Loaded franchise.
There's a few peculiarities with this game that add to the charm. A little wiener dog sometimes retrieves foul balls. Roberto Clemente might yell at you if he doesn't like they way you pitch to him. And, sometimes, when you hit a batter, it ignites a bench-clearing brawl. That doesn't happen enough on the NES.
The biggest drawback to this game is the wacky AI. The computer's pitchers don't seem to want to throw strikes. Outfielders move at lightning speed and execute perfect throws. Yet infielders often throw to bases that aren't being covered. It's sloppy and takes away from the quality of the game.
Supposedly, this game features the Baseball Stars game engine, but it isn't an SNK game and feels different enough that I'm not sure I believe that. Still, it's pretty close. And the graphics & color scheme look similar, although this looks like Baseball Stars played through a sepia tone filter.
As awesome as it is to be able to choose a team from 30 legendary players, there are only 30 total players and therefore the replay value is limited. I'm not exactly sure what "beating the game" is like, but I assume it's sort of a letdown.
#4. Little League Baseball: Championship Series
Released July 1990 (11 of 20 NES baseball games)
Like Baseball Stars 2, this game runs on the same engine as the original Baseball Stars. Unlike the other two SNK games, Little League Baseball: Championship Series doesn't have a battery pack. Instead we're stuck with a password system and no ability to create your own team, which is a colossal waste of potential.
Because this game uses Little League rules, a game lasts only 6 innings. I'm glad they kept it real, but it would have been nice to have a 9 inning option, especially since I was mounting an epic comeback when the game abruptly ended.
Despite using the same game engine, this one is a bit more cartoony in the graphics department than Baseball Stars or Baseball Stars 2. I get why they made the players into weird oversized muppet-looking fuckers, but they dumbed it down too much. Instead of actual stats, we're given a Skill Ranking of 1-5 for each player, with 5 being the best. That's certainly simple, but it doesn't tell me shit. Does that mean that my batter with a 5 ranking is good at everything, or is he just a good hitter? Is he fast? How's his fielding? An arbitrary point scale is no way to do baseball. Stick to actual stats, stupid game!
You're fat as hell for a Skill 5 Player, Aaron
After a home run is hit, the delegation of fans made up of the results of Nazi selective breeding start celebrating and you're subjected to some bouncing tween cheerleader tits. To obtain this picture, I am now on countless government watchlists:
Achtung Titten
Little League Baseball: Championship Series is a great game hampered by the lack of customization and actual stats. With a plethora of domestic and international teams with their own strengths and weaknesses, the amazing SNK controls, and a fun take on the sport, this game is one of the best and deepest NES baseball games ever made. Like my own little league career, it was close to greatness, but it just didn't try hard enough to overcome its flaws. Still, it's a fun game with a ton of charm.
#3. Bad News Baseball
Released June 1990 (10 of 20 NES baseball games)
I remember playing Bad News Baseball as a kid. I fucking hated this game. I'm not sure if it was the retina-shattering pastel colors or the toddler-esque cartoony game-play (complete with bunny umpires), or the unstoppable obnoxious music, but I could not stand this game.
How wrong stupid fucking 10 year old me was.
This game is pure fun. The controls are easy, the fielding decent, the hitting a joy. It plays like RBI Baseball if RBI Baseball was good or responsive or fun. And it's quirky as fuck.
It seriously looks like the Easter Bunny fucked RBI Baseball
Rabbit umpires, Home Run cut-scenes that aren't the same exact thing over and over and often feature a cameo from Tecmo Wrestling's Rex Beat for some reason. Awesome cut-scenes on close plays. Decent voice work for the NES. Base runners who drop like they were hit with an anvil when they get thrown out...This is the most Japan-y of the 20 baseball games on the NES, which makes sense, since it's a pretty straight-forward port of the Japanese game Gekitō!! Stadium.
Whatcha gonna do when Bad News Baseball
runs all over you, brother?
The box claims that you can play as girls' teams. And you can, but you need two controllers and a pain-in-the-ass secret code. Once the code is entered, the rosters of the 12 male teams are changed to all females, essentially doubling the amount of teams available to play.
This game isn't with its flaws. Errors are all too common. Fielders drop routine fly balls. Your first baseman will drop a ball thrown to him about a fifth of the time. Sometimes outfielders overthrow the catcher and everyone will score because your second baseman is the only person able to retrieve the ball. And home runs are remarkably easy to hit for both the player and the computer.
There's no season mode. After a win or loss, you receive a password and keep playing (with your previous starting pitcher's fatigue factoring in) until you defeat every other team. Then you "win" the game. A bit anti-climatic.
If you need to climax...
Minor flaws aside, Tecmo has certainly redeemed themselves after a lackluster Tecmo Baseball. If you're looking for a straightforward NES baseball game and don't care about things like playing an entire season, actual MLB teams/rosters, or the pastel nightmare graphics, this might be the game for you.
#2. Baseball Simulator 1.000
Culture Brain
Released March 1990 (8 of 20 NES baseball games)
If you play as the standard teams, Baseball Simulator 1.000 is a pretty good baseball game with some nice 8-bit graphics and decent fielding mechanics. You can choose between a dome, grass, harbor, town, outer space or completely dead grass brown stadium (which is, no joke, apparently set in Russia). It's fun, but nothing really sets it apart from other games. Then there is Ultra mode...
The Ultra Teams take a good game and make it awesome. Ultra Teams have ultra moves. A pitcher can throw a Phantom Ball which disappears as it approaches home plate, or a Snake Ball which curves multiple times before reaching the batter, or 8 other unique pitches.
Batters can use things like the Missile Hit, which sends any fielder in the ball's path all the way to the outfield wall before leaving them temporarily stunned, or an Earthquake Hit that causes tremors (which briefly stun the defenders) if the ball hits the ground. Even fielders have Ultra moves, which can make a player jump extra high to snag that home run, or the ability to throw the ball at twice the normal speed to throw out runners.
Aurora Borealis? At this time of year?
At this time of day? In this part of the country?
Localized entirely within the pitcher's mound?
These may sound like hokey gimmicks used to liven up an otherwise mediocre game, but, because Ultra Plays are limited by the amount of Ultra Points a team has, these moves add a lot of strategy to the game. It's as close to those awesome Mutant League Hockey and Football games for the Genesis as any baseball game ever got.
Best yet, you can create your own Ultra Team. You can name your players and distribute Ultra points (and select their moves) and save it via the game's battery. It's a clunky interface that leaves a lot to be desired, but making your own team of fireball-throwing, cyclone-hitting bad-asses is an awesome feeling. And playing in outer space never gets old.
Freedom! Horrible, horrible freedom!
#1. Baseball Stars
Released July 1989 (6 of 20 NES baseball games)
I was secretly rooting against Baseball Stars. I had hoped that some dark horse would emerge from the 19 other baseball games that could dethrone this game. But this is the best NES baseball game, and one of the greatest baseball games on any system.
Based on game-play alone, Baseball Stars might have cracked the Top 5 NES baseball games. Fielders move fluidly and can dive, jump and climb the walls to snag home runs. Base running is easy; even with multiple runners on base, it feels like you're in control of each one. Batting is simple and intuitive. The controls on this game are fantastic (as are the other games which feature the same game engine...all of which made the top 10).
The pre-made teams are mostly interesting. You have the powerhouse American Dreams, featuring knock-offs of legendary players (Babe, Hank, Pete, Lefty, Dizzy, etc). There's the Ghastly Monsters, a team (de)composed of guys named Zombie, Mummy, Freddy, Jason, Medusa and Alien, The Lovely Ladies (an all-female team, which pay out the most money when you beat them), The World Powers (featuring a hodgepodge of Wilbur, Orville, Plato, Zeus and Caesar), as well as a few other teams that aren't quite as interesting.
But screw the pre-made teams. In Baseball Stars, you can create your own teams. Not only can you name your players, you get to power up your players with cash received from defeating other teams. Each player has a certain number of attribute points, generally between 50-80 (with a maximum of 90). While some of these points are predetermined, you get to buy points with your cash. This means that you can make a guy faster or hit for more power or improve their defense. The performance of the players is accurately reflected by their stats. A guy with fast speed runs noticeably faster than a guy with slow stats. If your fielder has better defense, he's more mobile. A person with maxed out Batting gets more home runs. And prestigious players put asses in seats, increasing attendance and monetary payouts for wins.
You can also make a team of 18 scrubs
There's a free agent market, where you can buy cheap rookie prospects for $5,000 or save up to buy a nearly $3 million superstar with maxed out stats. Even though the default setting for players is male, you can hire females with the push of a button. The girl players have the same attributes and abilities as their male counterparts. The only difference is they bat in shorts and sob when they get hit by a pitch. Considering that you don't have to have a special code to play as women, this is as close as the NES gets to progress.
There IS crying in Baseball Stars. A lot, actually.
You have the option to play up to 5 other teams a maximum of 25 times each to create a 125 game season. The best part of all of this is that the game saves your stats. Over the course of a 125 game season, the game tallies the batting average and home runs of your players. Pitchers' ERA, wins, saves...it's all calculated and saved. There's even a leaderboard that you can check out to see where your players stand in the league, all recorded and saved to the game's battery.
Although it's the best NES baseball game by far, it isn't perfect. The AI isn't as smart as I'd like. You can trick them into giving up extra bases easily, and they occasionally make bizarre throwing errors. And, even though you don't have to play or watch the computer's games in a long season, you still have to simulate each one (which doesn't take that long, but it's annoying as fuck).
It's also a bit too easy to hit home runs, especially if you hire a lot of superstar players. This can be easily remedied by imposing your own limits on how good your players can be. After playing this game for over a quarter century, I generally fire anyone with more than 70 attribute points and try to play the 8-bit equivalent of small ball, just to keep things honest.
Congrats, Opie.
The other drawback is that there's no playoffs. You can start a league series with anywhere from 2 teams in a three game series to 5 teams that play each other 25 times each. The ending is still the same (featuring a bizarre parade). It doesn't seem like it would have been too hard to come up with a type of World Series best of 7 scenario for the two best teams after a 125 game season. Then again, you can easily make your own best of 7 series against the second best team (almost certainly The American Dreams); you'll just have to be willing to ditch your old stats.
Still, the amazing game-play coupled with the ability to completely customize a team and the options to hire and fire players gives this game potentially limitless replay value. Baseball Stars was years ahead of its time and leaps & bounds ahead of any other baseball game on the NES.
Posted in: Adam Blank, NES Baseball Rankings, NES Reviews, video games
Jake the Terrible Cubs Fan @ 10:11 AM, March 11, 2016
I really like that Blowjo B. Hobo is two pitchers.
Chaim Witz @ 4:09 PM, March 15, 2016
Listing Inge twice? Awesome.
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013 – What Clay Do You Use?
Welcome to episode 13. Now we are getting down to the nuts and bolts. Or should I say the alumina and silica? Because this episode is all about clay. What clay do you use and why do you use it? There was a lot of discussion on this topic which is unsurprising. If you have a bunch of people that are passionate about clay, one of the best topics to talk about is probably clay! Hopefully this episode will give you some things to think about if you want to try a new clay or just need a change.
And remember, if there is something you want to remember or explore, you can find the show notes for this episode, and every episode, at expertclay.com. Just click on "podcast" in the menu and find the right episode. One cool thing about the show notes is that all the names are actually links to the social media account of the person that left the comment so you can get in touch with somebody if you have questions or want to start a secret bmix fanclub or something.
So let's get to the discussion. Most of the comments are grouped by the manufacturer of the clays mentioned. I saved a few of my favorite responses for the end. I'll also share 5 things to consider when choosing a clay.
Elanpottery Standard 182 I love the white canvas it provides while still being sturdy for functional ware and easy to throw with.
Whimandvigor Love Standard's 153. It's an absolute workhorse: works for throwing and handbuilding, fires beautifully, reclaims well.
Stiff.clay.studio I flip flop between Standard 181 and Loafers Glory. Both take glaze like a dream and are delightful to throw with. I've even accidentally mixed them together in a slop bucket and the reclaim was fabulous too!
SharonMerchantivy My favorite is Standard 378 because of the richness the color and the speckles add to my glazes after firing. Unfortunately, I don't have a local supplier now that I've moved to MS and am about to start the search for a different clay.
Mudandyarn I'm a HUGE fan of Laguna Clay's speckled stoneware! I just love letting a good chunk of the natural clay show on pots so you can feel the texture and see the beauty of it!
HomemadeTastesBetterOnHandmade Was using primarily Laguna BMix/Wood, but since our studio has become a Laguna Clay distributor, it's been hard to resist trying other clays. Currently using Laguna/Miller 850 in production, and testing out darker clays, too. Also trying BMix/grog for some wood ash firings.
Claybylaura I use a low fire white Laguna Clay right now. I like playing with Amaco underglaze and Glaze combinations on the textured surface of my pieces with a 'bright' color palette. These all seem to play nice together. ( I switched from a different low fire clay about a year ago when I started having problems with glaze popping off a finished piece — even long after flring).
Cedarhillchick Cone 10 B-Mix. It is good for hand building, looks great fired in a gas kiln or wood fired kiln. Also like Ann's wood & soda clay from NM Clay.
Laurieandwilliam ^6 B mix, red clay, Speckled Buff. All laguna, beautiful throwing properties. Those 3 cover pretty much any mood I'm in!
Gnome_island_studios My all time favorite sculpture clay was Coconut Crackle from #leslieceramics but they discontinued it. Sad. So now BMix and Cassius Basaltic.
Fiddlequick The community studio i use just discontinued what i use (B Clay) so now trying Dover with sand. We'll see.
Pathwaypottery B mix, cone 5. I like how it fires almost white. It is easy and consistent.
Studio4art We work with children in a hands on art studio. We use b-mix 🔺5. It is smooth, and easy to manipulate for our creators as young as 2, and the white body takes underglazes well.
ChadanTomlinCreations I love working with cone 5 bmix. I just love how smooth and buttery is throws. I haven't really experimented with many other clay though. But I don't see myself switching from bmix any time soon.
Muddypawspottery I use two different clays …a white one that is a great throwing body called wh8 from New Mexico clay and a black clay called chocolate that they started to make after I sent them samples of a discontinued clay I loved and needed. It's so smooth and once I add my slip I can draw on these pieces like I do with my white clay. Both stand up well to the dry Arizona climate and attachments do esp well with the wh8. I've used other companies clay but New Mexico clay is the best and they have superior customer service as well.
TheHipsterLemon Love the beautiful black body provided by aardvark's Cassius, absolutely gorgeous clay body.
Annameiceramics Coleman porcelain cone 10 reduction. I like how celadon glazes turn beautifully.
Mas.paloma Coleman 🔺10 (fired at 🔺6), Cassius Ballistic (favorite, but stains too much – anyone have any tips for removing/finger guards?) and trying out Nara5 tomorrow!
kristihillstudiosI love dark, iron rich clay bodies. Right now my two favorites are Ellen Buff and Brownstone from Highwater.
Madmadepottery I have tried 7 of Highwater clays. Currently I'm obsessed with orange stone and half and half because they have a firing range of cone 6-10. I can fire them in my electric kiln (cone 6) at home, or at a local art school in the gas reduction kiln (cone 10) I guess I like having options! I used to use speckled brownstone but was cautioned that the manganese particles could be bad for your health.
Merskata Audrey Blackman porcelain, it is good for throwing.
Stonecropstudio Fairly new to pottery world. Am using P300 cone 6 "porcelain" produced by Plainsman in Medicine Hat, Alberta. Fine textured and fluid to throw, fires to a lovely white that takes underglaze colours brilliantly. What would I change? It's expansion rate is pretty high; I'm always anxious about possible crazing in glazes.
Ceramica_carol_tsai Here in Brazil this is a big drama. Clay body offered here have low quality.
Ketner I love our studio recycle. It is such a beautiful color and the grog causes the glaze to be speckled. It is also pretty easy to throw. I'd change the overall regularity. The recycle can sometimes have chunks and lumps in it.
Mike W Since i have chosen to do "Alternative Firing".. My choice of clay is White Stoneware. The clay is great for Raku, Horsehair, Blackware, Saggar and Barrel Fired ceramics.
Maryan P Right now I use a cone 6-9 white stoneware paper clay from Spain. It's buttery, strong, and very forgiving. Fires beautifully. Shows color well. Easy to mend if mishaps occur.
Cathy G I have been making pottery and taking classes for a year and I have used hazelnut,brown,raku stoneware,b-mix,and porcelain. Most of these have been set by the teacher for the class, but I have chosen porcelain over other clay twice now. I love the way you can smooth and fold around,stretch to breaking and challenge it to behave and not crack. I hand build and I like to push limits. Here is my teapot at bisque.
Noahkildoo_ceramics I like to use native Pennsylvania clay, I love the grit and sand of throwing natural clay.
Marianwilliamspottery BRT for handbuilding- can't fault it; white raku for sculptures; Lumina porcelain is the most amazing clay-a dream to throw!
Ritalayman I'm new at pottery. The last clay I bought was a tan speckled. It's beautiful but is hard to throw (at least for me). I plan on using porcelain next.
Earthartam I use many different kinds, mostly from Georgie's in Portland OR, because I like variety.
LadyTokioBlue I love the red and white Clay's from school (because I am still looking for a shop to buy clay from.) I like the red more actually, it stays hydrated longer and it is just smoother all around to wedge.
Artbygretamichelle I'm a porcelain and stoneware gal. Mostly porcelain. It started out as a challenge accepted kind of thing. I read when I started out that porcelain was this diva clay which got my back up. Now however, we have come to love each other: the smoothness, the way it throws or handbuilds, the way it accepts surface treatments and glazes…beautiful. I use DL porcelain ^10 from potclays and Norma's porcelain ^10 and frost porcelain ^6 from Laguna. Would love to try some Helios, Coleman or Limoge if I could get my hands on them. I would change the way frost cracks so easily and make it easily available here.
Anna R I use a mix of clays depending on what I am making. Sculpture or functional and different firings. So stoneware,porcelain, raku and white or buff.
Muddyhands789 I use a recipe that I formulated during undergrad. It is a white stoneware that has high grog & sand because I am heavy-handed while throwing. It also has Lincoln Fireclay in it for the possibility of atmospheric firings, and can is stable from ^6 – ^14. My clay body fires out bright white with dirty speckles of iron in an electric kiln, and blushes beautiful oranges & peaches in salt & wood kilns. I have the recipe sent to Laguna to be mixed & sent back in 50lb dry mix bags, so that all I have to do is add water. It's perfect everytime!
Thanks MuddyHands for this very detailed reply. This seems to be a brilliant option if you can make it work. Of course, developing your own clay recipe will probably take a lot of time and testing but you can get just the right characteristics. Another great idea to save time is to have someone else mix the clay for you. I bet shipping clay in dry powder form is much cheaper than shipping it moist but that means you have to take the time to add water yourself. So, just like choosing any commercial clay, there are plenty of things to consider. Maybe for some of you, this option is something that will fit your situation better than what you are doing now.
Pottermiller There isn't enough space on Instagram to answer that question. Currently working in 5 bodies because glazes do different things on different bodies….. it's not a one size fits all solution.
This is very true. Instead of trying new glazes, you could try a new clay and quite possibly double your color palette. Though for some, it's tricky to use more than one clay body in a small space or with limited resources, it's a lot of fun to try new clays.
MudworksP.A. Sheffield Pottery mixes a clay for us here at MudWorks. We get it screened, and delivered in batches of five tons at a time. It is beige in color and works well for throwing and handbuilding. When I decided twenty plus years ago to open a studio that offered classes I made the decision to have only one clay type so as not to have scraps of different colors and cone temps being mixed together. I wanted to make functional pieces, so I chose a midrange beige and then developed my glazes to work with that clay. Haven't changed my mind since, though I've been tempted to experiment with other clays! Til now, I've stuck with this.
Thanks Mudworks for this response which shows some of the benefits to using just one clay.
Tombhala I love all the clay! Throw any type at me and I will try it out:) from porcelain to grogzilla to super short local clay straight out the earth. The action is the reward! Give thanks everyone, every time you sit at the wheel it is a gift of experience, an opportunity to surrender to the clay, listen and learn. You are a potter and not a politician, and that is a good thing. Stay muddy!
Stay muddy indeed, Tombhala! I love the attitude of experimentation. Sometimes I wish I could just try all the different clays. See how they throw, how my glazes change on each one, how they look in different firing environments. I also agree that it is a gift to sit at the wheel and work with clay. There are a lot less interesting things that you could be doing. Thank you for your inspiring comment.
Here's a random thought for today: As I was reading through the comments, one of my first thoughts was: "I wonder if I could guess what region of the country or world most of you are from, just based on the clay that you use?" It seems like clay is regional. I assume mostly because the cost of shipping compared to the cost of the actual product. It sounds like some of you use clay that comes from outside your home region and I'm sure clay companies keep extending their reach but I wonder what the actual numbers look like?
Anyway, here at the end I'll share a few things you can consider while choosing a clay body. And, a quick side note: I'm just about to record the last few videos for my first course at expert clay. The course is an introduction to making pottery for complete beginners and the next video will be about how to choose a clay. So this is the perfect fit.
I use two clays by Amaco, Warm Brown Stoneware and Buff Stoneware. Here are a few things I considered while choosing a clay that works best for me.
Make sure your glazes fit the clay or you could get a lot of glaze faults such as crazing and shivering. The two clays I use work well with almost all my glazes.
If you make functional pots you don't want the bare clay to absorb too much water. One thing I like about my clays is that they have low absorption rates when fired to the temperature that I fire to. Firing temperature is one of the variables that affects absorption and shrinkage so check with the manufacturer to see how your clay performs at your firing temperature.
I prefer smooth clay with little or no texture most of the time. The warm brown stoneware has a little tooth to it but I don't mind a little bit. You have to use a clay that fits your own process. If you do a lot of intricate carving, you probably don't want a clay with a lot of texture.
The color of the clay can really affect the look of glazes. One reason I like using a lighter and a darker clay is because it's almost like I have twice as many glazes because most of them look different on the two different clays.
Price can be an important factor for what clay you choose. Generally, the more expensive clay is purer or made from more expensive materials. You can buy the most expensive clay but if it doesn't fit you or your process, it isn't going to help you at all. One other thing to consider is the price and convenience of getting the clay to your location. Moist clay can cost a lot to ship. One of the major reasons I use two amaco clays is because the local art store has them in stock 20 minutes away. It isn't the highest quality clay, in fact, it's marketed more toward schools, but it is convenient to get and pretty cheap. So, since it fits my process, I'm happy to use it for many different things.
Alright, that concludes our episode. And remember if you want to leave a comment, you can go to expertclay.com/mtp and share your thoughts about this episode or any episode in the past or in the future. And look for new mudtalk monday topics you can participate in soon on the Pottery Making Info social media accounts.
The topic for our next episode is: what advice would you give yourself if you could talk to yourself when you were a beginner. So until then, stay muddy.