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Posted on 01/22/2020 14:30 PM (CNS Top Stories)
IMAGE: CNS photo/Kevin Lamarque, Reuters
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- In marking the "sorrowful anniversary" Jan. 22 of the Supreme Court's ruling legalizing abortion nationwide, the chairman of the U.S. bishops' pro-life committee said the Catholic Church's pastoral response to all mothers in need "will soon intensify."
The nation's Catholic bishops are being asked to invite the parishes in their dioceses to join a nationwide effort called "Walking with Moms in Need: A Year of Service" from March 25 of this year through March 25, 2021.
Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City, Kansas, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Pro-Life Activities, announced the new initiative on the National Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children. The new program has its own website: www.walkingwithmoms.com.
The archbishop noted that the special day of prayer marks the "tragic" Supreme Court decisions of Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton of Jan. 22, 1973. The rulings in the companion cases legalized abortion through all nine months of pregnancy across the country.
"The church will never abandon her efforts to reverse these terrible decisions that have led to the deaths of millions of innocent children and the traumatization of countless women and families," Archbishop Naumann said.
"As the church and growing numbers of pro-life Americans continue to advocate for women and children in courthouses and legislatures," he said, "the church's pastoral response is focused on the needs of women facing pregnancies in challenging circumstances. While this has long been the case, the pastoral response will soon intensify," with the yearlong service project "Walking with Moms in Need."
In "recognizing that women in need can be most effectively reached at the local level," Archbishop Naumann explained, the year of service "invites parishes to assess, communicate, and expand resources to expectant mothers within their own communities."
The U.S. bishops will be providing "resources, outreach tools and models to assist parishes in this important effort," he said.
"We pray that 'Walking with Moms in Need: A Year of Service' will help us reach every pregnant mother in need, that she may know she can turn to her local Catholic community for help and authentic friendship," the archbishop added.
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IMAGE: CNS photo/Yara Nardi, Reuters
By Junno Arocho Esteves
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Showing hospitality makes a person a better human being and a better Christian and is an important part of promoting Christian unity, Pope Francis said.
"Working together to live with ecumenical hospitality, particularly toward those whose lives are most vulnerable, will make us -- all Christians, Protestants, Orthodox, Catholics, all Christians -- better human beings, better disciples and a more united Christian people," the pope said Jan. 22 during his weekly general audience.
Christians today, like the people of Malta who welcomed St. Paul and his companions who were shipwrecked on their island, must show hospitality to and care for those who flee violence and persecution, he said.
"Unfortunately, they sometimes encounter even the worst hostility," he said. "They are exploited by criminal traffickers today; they are treated as numbers and as a threat by some leaders today; sometimes inhospitality rejects them as a wave carrying poverty or the very dangers from which they were fleeing."
In his audience talk, the pope reflected on the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, which takes place Jan. 18-25. The theme for the 2020 celebration, "They showed us unusual kindness," is taken from St. Luke's account in the Acts of the Apostles of the hospitality shown by the people of Malta to St. Paul and his companions.
St. Paul and the other passengers of the ship were welcomed by the Maltese people, who gave them food and shelter "even though they had not yet received the Good News of Christ," the pope said.
The virtue of hospitality, he added, "means recognizing that other Christians are truly our brothers and sisters in Christ."
"We are brothers and sisters," the pope said. "Someone may tell you, 'But that one is a Protestant, that one is Orthodox.' Yes, but we are brothers and sisters in Christ."
The pope said ecumenical hospitality means showing God's love to others and "a willingness to listen to other Christians, paying attention to their personal stories of faith and the history of their community."
"I think about the past, in my land for example, when some Evangelical ministers came," the pope said, "a small group of Catholics burned their tents. This isn't Christian. We are brothers and sisters. We are all brothers and sisters and we must give hospitality to one another."
With so many migrants and refugees facing "risky voyages to escape violence, war and poverty," Pope Francis called on Christians to set aside their differences and work together to show them "the love of God revealed by Jesus Christ" and that "each person is precious to God.
"The divisions that still exist between us prevent us from being fully the sign of God's love for the world, which is our vocation and mission," he said.
Follow Arocho on Twitter: @arochoju
IMAGE: CNS photo/Vatican Media
By Cindy Wooden
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Bishop Joseph E. Strickland of Tyler, Texas, said he asked Pope Francis about the Vatican investigation into Theodore E. McCarrick and the release of a promised report on how the former cardinal managed to rise through the church ranks.
The bishop, who was making his "ad limina" visit to Rome, drew widespread attention in August 2018 for a public statement saying he found "credible" the allegations made by retired Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, the former nuncio to the United States, regarding McCarrick.
Archbishop Vigano alleged that top Vatican officials, including Pope Francis, knew for years that McCarrick had been accused of sexual misconduct.
Bishop Strickland at the time called for a "thorough investigation, similar to those conducted any time allegations are deemed to be credible."
"Pope Francis was great" in answering all the questions of the bishops of Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas during an audience Jan. 20, Bishop Strickland told Catholic News Service the next day. But the pope did ask the bishops not to share certain details about the discussion.
Bishop Strickland said he does not regret what he said in his 2018 letter -- "honestly, I guess I didn't realize how controversial it was at that time" -- but as someone who studied canon law and as a bishop, "credible allegations" must be investigated and dealt with.
"If I regretted anything," he said, it would be that Archbishop Vigano called for Pope Francis to resign. "I never intended to embrace that, because that's a major thing to say."
"I certainly didn't want to validate that," Bishop Strickland said, "but I said these allegations about McCarrick need to be investigated, and they have been and the report, according to Pope Francis yesterday," will be published.
"I'm a Catholic bishop. Of course, I support the vicar of Christ," he said.
The summer of 2018 had been difficult for Catholics, beginning with the news in June that McCarrick had been suspended from ministry, followed by dozens of stories detailing his sexual misconduct with seminarians and then allegations of sexual abuse of children; McCarrick's resignation from the College of Cardinals in July; and the release in August of the Pennsylvania grand jury report on abuse and its cover up in six dioceses.
Bishop Strickland said the priests and faithful of his diocese "were devastated at that time," and his reaction to Archbishop Vigano's report could be seen as him "taking on the smell of my sheep," as Pope Francis would say.
The bishop said he knew people are frustrated that it is taking so long for the report to be published, but "an institution that's been around 2,000 years doesn't turn on a dime."
When the report on McCarrick is published, he said, there will be a "dust-up" in the media, and it likely will cause Catholics more pain, but it also could bring "a sense of closure."
"I've always said that what hit the news with McCarrick began this moment of pain and struggle and confusion in the life of the church. It won't magically disappear with this report," Bishop Strickland said, but it should help people move forward.
"It's about the victims. It's about the children of God who have suffered through the negligence and bad acting of bishops, priests and other members of the church," he said. The report should help McCarrick's victims by acknowledging how the church failed to protect them.
Asked if he believed Archbishop Vigano's accusation that Pope Francis knew about McCarrick's misconduct with seminarians as early as 2013, Bishop Strickland said, "Honestly, I'd have to say I do not know."
But some of the things the pope told the bishops "makes you realize that it's always a bigger picture than maybe the slice you are looking at," he said, while insisting he could not say more. "I certainly am not ready to judge the actions in the moment of any of the pontiffs" who were in office during McCarrick's rise from priest to bishop to cardinal.
Bishop Strickland admitted he was "a bit nervous" about meeting Pope Francis for the first time, but the bishops' Mass that morning at the tomb of St. Peter was a reminder that God calls men, flawed human beings, to cooperate with his grace and "to guide the church inspired by the Holy Spirit."
IMAGE: CNS photo/Jaclyn Lippelmann, Catholic Standard
By Carol Zimmermann
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The Little Sisters of the Poor are once again going to the Supreme Court.
The order of women religious who care for the elderly poor have been down this road before, twice defending their right to not comply with the government's health law requiring employers to provide contraceptive coverage in their health plans.
Now the court is about to look at the Affordable Health Care's contraceptive mandate from a different angle, examining if the Trump administration can legally allow religious employers to opt out of the mandate.
In 2013, religious groups and houses of worship were granted a religious exemption by the Supreme Court from the government's mandate in the Affordable Care Act to include coverage of contraceptives and abortion-inducing drugs in their employee health plan.
Three years later, religious nonprofit groups challenged the requirement they comply with the mandate and the court sent the cases back to the lower courts with instructions for the federal government and the challengers to try to work out a solution agreeable to both sides.
In 2017, religious groups were given further protection from the contraceptive mandate through an executive order issued by President Donald Trump requiring the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to write a comprehensive exemption to benefit religious ministries, including the Little Sisters of the Poor, from the contraceptive mandate.
HHS provided this exemption in 2018, but several states challenged it, including California, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, saying HHS didn't have the power to give this exemption.
The states of Pennsylvania and New Jersey obtained a nationwide injunction against the rules protecting religious objectors from the contraceptive mandate; that injunction was then upheld by the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Philadelphia.
This is where the Little Sisters come in. They appealed the circuit court's ruling and asked the Supreme Court to step in.
In one of the two consolidated cases, Trump v. Pennsylvania, the administration has argued that the exceptions to the contraceptive mandate for religious groups were authorized by the health care law and required by the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, known as RFRA.
Lawyers for Pennsylvania and New Jersey said the administration lacked statutory authority to issue such regulations and said the government did not follow proper administrative procedures.
The second case will examine if the Little Sisters of the Poor had the standing to appeal the 3rd Circuit ruling since a separate court order had already allowed them to refuse to provide contraceptive coverage in their employee health plans.
"It is disappointing to think that as we enter a new decade we must still defend our ministry in court," said Mother Loraine Marie Maguire of the Little Sisters of the Poor. "We are grateful the Supreme Court has decided to weigh in, and hopeful that the justices will reinforce their previous decision," she said in a statement.
Mark Rienzi, president of Becket, a nonprofit religious liberty law firm that represents the sisters, agreed, saying: "It is time for the Supreme Court to finally put this issue to rest."
The oral arguments, which will be heard by the court later this spring are the combined cases of Little Sisters of the Poor Saints Peter and Paul Home v. Pennsylvania and Trump v. Pennsylvania.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops filed a friend-of-the-court brief Nov. 1, siding with the Little Sisters of the Poor and stressing that the court needs to set the record straight particularly with its interpretation of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
RFRA -- which says, "Governments should not substantially burden religious exercise without compelling justification" -- was passed by Congress in 1993 and signed into law by President Bill Clinton.
The USCCB brief said there was a compelling need to review this case not only because the 3rd Circuit Court decision conflicts with other Supreme Court rulings on this topic in Hobby Lobby and Zubik decisions, but because its ruling "threatens to reduce one of America's leading civil rights laws to virtual impotence," referring to RFRA.
This case, like previous ones, it said, asks if RFRA protects the Little Sisters of the Poor and other religious employers from federal regulations requiring most large employers to include contraceptive coverage in their healthcare plans.
It emphasized that RFRA essentially hangs in the balance because the appeals court "adopted a grudging interpretation of the statute that will, unless reversed, too often deny protection for religious people and institutions."
"Only this court's intervention can ensure that RFRA remains a meaningful security for religious freedom," it added.
Follow Zimmermann on Twitter: @carolmaczim
IMAGE: CNS photo/Denis Balibouse, Reute
By Carol Glatz
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis told global business and government leaders that everyone has the moral responsibility to seek the integral development of all people, but especially those who are in need, suffering injustice or whose lives are threatened.
"The moral obligation to care for one another flows from this fact," which must never be forgotten, that "we are all members of the one human family," he said in a message read to those attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Likewise, this means putting the human person, "rather than the mere pursuit of power or profit, at the very center of public policy," he wrote.
The pope's message was read to the assembly Jan. 21 by Cardinal Peter Turkson, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development; he attended the forum as the Vatican's representative.
The annual meeting in Davos Jan. 21-24 brought together people representing business, government, academia and media to discuss the theme, "Stakeholders for a Cohesive and Sustainable World."
With the World Economic Forum celebrating its 50th anniversary, Pope Francis said it has offered opportunities "to explore innovative and effective ways of building a better world. It has also provided an arena where political will and mutual cooperation can be guided and strengthened in overcoming the isolationism, individualism and ideological colonization that sadly characterizes too much contemporary debate."
As the world begins a new decade, he said, the duty to put people first and protect their dignity "is incumbent upon business sectors and governments alike," and must be part of the search for "equitable solutions to the challenges we face."
"It is necessary to move beyond short-term technological or economic approaches and to give full consideration to the ethical dimension in seeking resolutions to present problems or proposing initiatives for the future," the pope said in his message.
When practices and structures are "driven largely, or even solely, by self-interest," he wrote, they often only see people as "a means to an end," which, in turn "gives rise to real injustice."
"A truly integral human development can only flourish when all members of the human family are included in, and contribute to, pursuing the common good," he said.
"In seeking genuine progress," he said, "let us not forget that to trample upon the dignity of another person is in fact to weaken one's own worth."
Pope Francis acknowledged the achievements made over the past 50 years and said he hoped those taking part in this year's and future forums "will keep in mind the high moral responsibility each of us has to seek the integral development of all our brothers and sisters, including those of future generations."
"May your deliberations lead to a growth in solidarity, especially with those most in need, who experience social and economic injustice and whose very existence is even threatened," he said.
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis condemned the "barbaric resurgence" of anti-Semitism and criticized the selfish indifference that is creating the conditions for division, populism and hatred.
"I will never tire of firmly condemning every form of anti-Semitism," the pope told a delegation from the Simon Wiesenthal Center, an international Jewish human rights organization based in Los Angeles that combats hate and anti-Semitism around the world.
Meeting the delegation at the Vatican Jan. 20, the pope said, "It is troubling to see, in many parts of the world, an increase in a selfish indifference" that cares only about whatever is easy for oneself and lacks concern for others.
It is an attitude that believes "life is good as long as it is good for me, and when things go wrong, anger and malice are unleashed. This creates a fertile ground for the forms of factionalism and populism we see around us. Hatred rapidly grows on this ground," he added.
To tackle the root cause of the problem, he said, "we must commit ourselves also to tilling the soil in which hatred grows and sowing peace instead."
With integration and seeking to understand others, "we more effectively protect ourselves," the pope said, therefore, it is "urgent to reintegrate those who are marginalized, to reach out to those far away" and support those who have been "discarded" and to help people who are victims of intolerance and discrimination.
Pope Francis noted that Jan. 27 would mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp from Nazi forces.
Recalling his own visit in 2016 to the extermination camp, he underlined how important it is to make time for moments of reflection and silence, so as to better hear "the plea of suffering humanity."
Today's consumer culture is also gluttonous with words, he said, churning out so many "useless" words, wasting so much time on "arguing, accusing, shouting insults with no concern for what we say."
"Silence, on the other hand, helps to keep memory alive. If we lose our memory, we destroy our future," he said.
The commemoration of "the unspeakable cruelty that humanity learned of 75 years ago," he said, should "serve as a summons to pause," be silent and remember.
"We need to do this, so we don't become indifferent," he said.
And he asked that Christians and Jews continue to use their shared spiritual patrimony to serve all people and to create ways of drawing closer together.
"If we do not do this -- we who believe in Him who from on high remembered us and showed compassion for our weaknesses -- then who will?"
IMAGE: CNS photo/Harald Oppitz, KNA
FRANKFURT, Germany (CNS) -- Catholic leaders in Germany have compiled responses from lay Catholics in areas related to who holds power in the church, sexual morals, the role of priests and the place of women in church offices in preparation for an upcoming synodal assembly to debate church reforms.
More than 940 suggestions and questions had been submitted by early January in advance of the Jan. 30-Feb. 1 assembly in Frankfurt, reported KNA, the German Catholic news agency.
The synodal assembly is one segment of the synodal path, which the German bishops agreed to stage at their annual meeting last March.
The synodal assembly will include 230 members. It is the highest decision-making body of the synodal path, an effort by the bishops' conference and lay Central Committee of German Catholics to restore trust following a September 2018 church-commissioned report that detailed thousands of cases of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy over six decades.
Comments will continue to be accepted through Jan. 23 at the website of the German bishops' conference.
The bishops and the lay group are collaborating in planning the synodal assembly. During a September plenary meeting, the bishops approved statutes to guide discussions at the assembly.
The bishops' conference and the committee each will send 69 members to the assembly. Decisions of the assembly must be passed by a double two-thirds majority: two-thirds of all participants as well as two-thirds of all members present from the bishops' conference.
German church officials say the synodal assembly is not meant to be a synod in the classic sense.
In describing the synodal path, KNA reported that the inclusion of the term synodal in the name of the reform process reflects that the dialogue, initially limited to two years, is more than a nonbinding conversation. As with a synod, each respective local bishop will determine whether the decisions reached will be implemented.
Several high-ranking church leaders have weighed in on the upcoming assembly.
Bishop Franz Jung of Wurzburg called for greater patience in the debates on church reform.
The synodal path to discuss reforms was "initially, first and foremost, about the church in German forming an opinion," Bishop Jung told a new year's reception in Wurzburg. "It is still unclear what decision-making scope will be granted to individual local churches and how much regional diversity Catholic unity can take."
KNA reported he said it also was unclear if there could be different speeds on the path to a renewed church.
The synodal path will be judged by the extent to which divergent views will be allowed to be heard, Bishop Jung explained. It is important "that one endeavors to lead the discussion objectively and above all to preserve the inner unity as far as possible," he said. "It's an enthralling task."
However, several German church leaders, including Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki of Cologne and Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer of Regensburg, have voiced skepticism of the synodal path.
They have maintained that any decisions within the church should be left to the bishops alone. In addition, they have said the synodal path should not be interpreted as a "quasi-parliamentary vote on faith."
Other observers have said the most controversial issues confronting the church cannot be decided in Germany and can only be addressed within the Vatican on behalf of the worldwide church.
Elsewhere, Bishop Franz-Josef Overbeck of Essen called on the German church to embrace the synodal path of reform discussions as a chance to make a fresh start and to become "smaller and more humble."
KNA reported that in a statement read at all parishes of the diocese in early January, the bishop called for the church to allow "differentiated, multi-layered answers and refrain from raising itself above other people in a know-all and arrogant manner."
Bishop Overbeck called on the church to discuss the issue of power within its institutions, adding that more controls needed to be imposed. He also said the church must address celibacy, which placed a heavy burden on many priests.
Issues of sexual morality and partnership needed to be reassessed, and many people found it unacceptable that women were kept out of the most important positions of the church, the bishop added.
Earlier, in a new year's homily, Bishop Overbeck described gender justice as an "issue of the century" and urged the church to address it.
However, KNA reported in mid-January the bishop said he did not want to raise false expectations regarding the ordination of women in the upcoming discussions.
"But I also belong to those bishops who do not want to slam the door shut in that regard," he told a meeting of 400 priests and laypeople from through the Essen Diocese.
Increasing the role of women in the church is one of the core issues to be debated in the synod assembly. Church officials have repeatedly pointed out, however, that St. John Paul II declared in 1994 that the church had "no authority whatsoever" to ordain women as priests.
A statement on the bishops' conference website said the "dissatisfaction of many believers" was the starting point for the synodal path, which would be the first national consultation since a 1971-1975 synod at Wurzburg on implementing reforms of the Second Vatican Council.
It added the issues of priestly celibacy and the ordination of women could only be "addressed and clarified" by the whole Catholic Church.
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Every Christian should be grateful for the gift of his or her baptism, and that gratitude should draw them together to recognize that they are brothers and sisters and called to pursue holiness together, Pope Francis said.
Welcoming an ecumenical pilgrimage from Finland to the Vatican Jan. 17, Pope Francis told the Lutheran, Catholic, Orthodox and other Christian leaders that all Christians are called "to witness to the good news in the midst of their daily life."
Hospitality to the stranger and to those in need is a particularly strong form of witness, the pope said on the eve of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, celebrated Jan. 18-25.
The theme chosen for this year's commemoration is "They showed us unusual kindness," a quote from St. Paul, writing about the experience of being shipwrecked in Malta.
"As baptized Christians, we believe that Christ wishes to meet us precisely in those who are -- whether literally or figuratively -- shipwrecked in life," Pope Francis told his guests. "Those who show hospitality grow richer, not poorer. Whoever gives, receives in return."
The gratitude Christians feel for the gift of baptism "links and expands our hearts, and opens them to our neighbor, who is not an adversary but our beloved brother, our beloved sister," the pope said.
IMAGE: CNS
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Catholics across the country are invited to take part in the 9 Days for Life is a novena for the protection of human life. Each day's intention is accompanied by a short reflection and suggested actions to help build a culture of life.
The pro-life novena, sponsored by the Committee on Pro-Life Activities of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, coincides with the annual March for Life that takes place in Washington every January to mark the anniversary of the Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion across the country. This year's march takes place Jan. 24.
But "even if you can't come to D.C., you can join others to witness and pray for an end to abortion," said Kat Talalas, assistant director for pro-life communications at the USCCB. "We ask all of the faithful to unite in prayer to protect the rights of unborn children, to end the violence of abortion, and for greater respect for human life."
According to Talalas, thousands of Catholics across the country have already signed up for 9 Days for Life. By signing up online at 9daysforlife.com, participants will receive a daily prayer intention, a reflection and suggested actions via email, text or through an app.
The novena encompasses the annual Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children Jan. 22, the day the Supreme Court handed down its decision in Roe and its companion case, Doe v. Bolton. The USCCB pro-life committee began the novena in 2013 in commemoration of the 40th anniversary of Roe.
The "9 Days for Life" website also has materials, in English and Spanish, for parish leaders to share. For each day there is an intercession, prayers, a reflection, "acts of reparation" and "one step further," describing one more suggested action for novena participants to take.
For example, the intercession for "Day One" is: "May the tragic practice of abortion end," followed by the Our Father, three Hail Marys and the Glory Be. The reflection for the day says in part: "At every stage and in every circumstance, we are held in existence by God's love. ... Christ invites us to embrace our own lives and the lives of others as true gifts. Abortion tragically rejects the truth that every life is a good and perfect gift, deserving protection."
The suggested "acts of reparation" for the first day are: Take a break from television and movies and consider spending some of that time praying with the day's reflection. Or pray the short prayer "Every Life Is Worth Living," reflecting on the gift of human life. (It can be downloaded www.usccb.org/worth-living.) Or offer some other sacrifice, prayer, or act of penance that you feel called to do for the day's intention.
For "one step further," novena participants are encouraged to read more about abortion, in particular the article "Another Look at Abortion," available at www.respectlife.org/another-look-at-abortion, which provides a basic overview and summarizes key points. "This article will help you be better prepared to witness to the sanctity of human life," it says.
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Jesus healed people of all sorts of physical ailments, but he always started with the essential -- forgiving their sins, Pope Francis said.
"We should take good care of our bodies, but also our souls," the pope said Jan. 17, preaching about the Gospel of Mark's account of Jesus healing the paralytic.
"Jesus teaches us to go to what is essential," the pope said at morning Mass in the chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae. "What is essential is health, complete, body and soul."
Just like a person who is sick tries to find the right doctor to cure that ailment, he said, when a person's spiritual health is in danger, "we go to that physician who can heal us, who can forgive our sins. Jesus came for this reason; he gave his life for this."
In the day's reading from the Gospel of St. Mark, a paralytic is hoping for physical healing, the pope said. But Jesus says to him, "Child, your sins are forgiven."
Only later does he tell the man to get up and walk.
"Physical healing is a gift, physical health is a gift that we must safeguard," the pope said. "But the Lord teaches us that we must safeguard the health of our hearts -- our spiritual health -- as well."
And, he said, the first step to any kind of healing is recognizing that one is unwell.
Simply saying, "Yes, yes, we are all sinners," isn't enough, the pope said. That just "waters down" the serious consequences of sin and the need for healing. "Today Jesus says to each of us, 'I want to forgive your sins.'"
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Open the French doors of this tropical haven and experience the sights, sounds and scents of paradise. The sprawling beachfront villa is a feast for the senses with interior rooms dressed in beautiful colors, chic fabrics and wooden fixtures. Outside, the impossibly blue sky lightens to turquoise as it kisses the ocean and glistening white sand beneath. Ample seating is available on the balconies off the oceanview suites, the spectacular pool deck and the open-air dining area. As tempting as it might be to laze the day away in this amazing retreat, the ocean calls, enticing guests to whale watch, ride the waves on the East Cape or explore the stunning coral reef of Cabo Pulmo.


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New Model 3 will extend Tesla's reach into India, Brazil and other global markets
Tesla finally unveiled its Model 3 today. The $35,000 car drew a staggering 150,000-plus orders — $115 million in deposits and $4 billion in potential sales — before it had even been unveiled, but another interesting point to note is that it will be Tesla's first to be sold in India, Brazil and other notable international markets.
The company just massively increased its potential sales by adding pre-orders in India (population 1.25 billion), Brazil (200 million), in addition to South Africa, South Korea, New Zealand, Singapore, Ireland and potentially others. I say potentially others because the expansion is based on a tweet from CEO Elon Musk — given Twitter's 140 character limit, there could be more countries that Musk wasn't able to fit into his message. (We've checked in with Tesla to ask exactly which new countries it will sell in.)
Adding several more countries to Model 3 order page tonight. Check for details, but will include India, Brazil, SA, SK, NZ, Sing & Ireland.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 31, 2016
In line with that, Musk also said that Tesla will more double its number of stores to cover over 440 locations across North America, Europe and Asia by the end of 2017.
The Model 3 will be Tesla's most affordable car — indeed the deposit is just $1,000 — so it will be fascinating to see how it is received in price sensitive markets like India and Brazil that have huge populations.
Since the car won't go into production until next year, there's no instant answer and there's a small window for other automakers to introduce competition. As with any electric car, Tesla's tempered by its charging infrastructure in each country — you don't buy an electric car if finding places to charge it will be problematic — so the company will need to work on adding enough stations in these new countries, too.
There's no clear date for when the vehicle will be available in new markets. In a blog post earlier this month, Tesla said that, once the car is ready, it would begin fulfilling orders in the U.S. first, before moving on to Europe before tackling other regions.
"It is not possible to ship to all regions simultaneously because regulators in each part of the world have slightly different production requirements. Staggering deliveries in this way also allows us to provide the best possible customer experience," the company explained.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


I love the BB Dakota cardis! I could live in a cozy cardigan, tee, leggings, and boots from now until February.
I wanted some leggings like that! Fabletics had some and sold out.
I need some gold flatware in my life!!! Loving those leggings!
Rag & Bone's website has the Newbury in the gray nubuck on sale for $250 right now!!
Every year I love the cardigans from BB Dakota! And that flatware is gorgeous!
LOVE that TB sweater coat!
I have the BB Dakota cream cardi! Size down. I'm normally a small but got an XS. It is so versatile and goes with denim/black jeans/leggings!! You can order it on Mondays from Bevello @ 20% off if you order between 5 and 9 PM. I think the code is HAPPYHOUR. You may want to follow them on insta to double check that.


I don't want to keep you waiting, so I'm not gonna chat too much on this post. I'd much rather get you the info so you can run over there before it ends.
I instantly fell in love with this dress, although I'll admit I pretty much adore anything this creator makes. The dress below has a top section that can be changed into solid material, netted, or lace. You can also change the color. The bottom portion, (skirt) can also be changed. There is a selection of solid colors as well as prints which I'll show you those below. I kept the top mainly solid due to FB & Flickr restrictions, however in the pic below you'll see a glimpse of the lace option.
6 of the gorgeous prints available in the UNITED COLORS hud. This is one of those must have dresses in every womans inventory.
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RD.COM True Stories Survival Stories
Justin Barber and the Two Million Reasons for Murder
Kenneth Miller
Justin Barber said his wife was killed during a late-night robbery—but the details didn't add up. Seek the truth in this harrowing true crime story.
Daron Dean/AP Photo. The Record/AP Photo. Illustration by Jesse LenzFor couples craving solitude, the beach at Guana River State Park is an ideal spot for a late-night tryst. Hidden by thickets of saw palmetto, the ribbon of sand unspools along a lonesome stretch of Route A1A south of Jacksonville, Florida. Entry after sunset is officially forbidden, but intrepid lovers often park on the roadside and follow wooden walkways into the dunes.
Justin Barber, 30, and his wife, April, 27, had done just that on August 17, 2002. They were tipsy and amorous, Justin later recalled, having celebrated their third wedding anniversary with dinner at an Italian restaurant, followed by drinks at a bar. Around 10:30 p.m., as they strolled along the water's edge, a tall man in a baggy T-shirt approached them. He waved a pistol and yelled something about cash and car keys. Justin stepped in front of April. The gun went off. He grappled with the stranger. The beach went black.
When Justin came to, he found he'd been shot four times—in both shoulders, under the right nipple, and through the left hand. The man was gone. Justin called April's name, then spotted her floating face down in the surf. There was a .22-caliber hole in her left cheek. He dragged her up the beach until his strength gave out, then left her and staggered to the road to flag down passing cars. When none stopped, he climbed into his Toyota 4Runner, turned on the flashers, and gunned it. Nearly ten miles down the road, a motorist signaled him to pull over and called 911. As Justin was transferred to a hospital, police and rescuers searched the beach for April.
Lt. Ben Tanner of the St. Johns County Sheriff's Department found her. "She was lying with her head to the north, facing the ocean," he says. "She didn't have a pulse." Peter Willott/The Record/AP Photo. Illustration by Jesse LenzApril's photo is etched into her tombstone; it shows a woman with a brilliant smile, corn silk hair, and exquisite cheekbones. But her beauty wasn't just skin-deep. April was a survivor of family tragedy who poured her energy into helping others, from her younger siblings to the cancer patients she served as a radiation therapist. "She put more value on relationships than most people do," says her best friend, Amber Mitchell, an Internet entrepreneur in Oklahoma City. "She didn't take life for granted."
Who would want to snuff out such a vibrant spirit? Justin would tell investigators that he thought the culprit was a crazed mugger. But a few of those close to April suspected the killer was someone she knew very well.
April grew up in Hennessey (pop. 2,024), Oklahoma, an island of century-old storefronts and modest homes in a sea of prairie. She was an A student, thoughtful yet popular, as comfortable at a rodeo as in biology lab.
During April's senior year of high school, her mother was diagnosed with lung cancer and died after six months of agony. April's father, an oil field worker, was too traumatized to care for the kids. Though relatives took them in, April became a surrogate mom to her siblings Julie, then nine, and Kendon, one. Still, she kept her grades up. She went on to the premed program at Oklahoma State University, then studied radiation therapy at the University of Oklahoma.
In October 1998, Amber Mitchell introduced April to one of her business school classmates—a handsome blond named Justin. The two clicked instantly. April had dated a string of men for whom fidelity was not a strong point; Justin seemed different. He spoke of his Christian values. He had grown up in a town even smaller than Hennessey, herding cattle with his brother on their parents' 120-acre spread. A quiet, solitary boy, he'd blossomed into a star athlete in high school and graduated as valedictorian. He'd married in college and spent a few years drifting between jobs, but when he met April, he was newly divorced and aflame with ambition. "He was among the best and brightest in our class," says Amber. "April was attracted to his drivenness."
April and Justin quickly became engaged. On August 4, 1999, they married in a small ceremony in the Bahamas, then relocated for Justin's new job in Douglas, Georgia. April found work at a hospital. A month later, her siblings moved in, and the trouble began. Julie was 15 then, and her rebellious behavior infuriated Justin, sparking fights between April and him. At one point, according to several of April's confidants, he threatened to never let April bear his children. Within a year, Julie and Kendon were back in Oklahoma.
By then, some of April's loved ones had begun to see a disturbing pattern. "Justin seemed very into appearances," says April's aunt Patti Parrish, a civil court judge. He tried on his jeans from high school every month and fasted until they fit. He made fun of his overweight mother behind her back and publicly criticized April's singing voice, her clothing, and her weight. He warned her not to embarrass him at his company Christmas party and discouraged her from contacting him at work. When his barbs made her cry, he mimicked her sobs. Yet April tolerated Justin's mistreatment.
But in January 2001, when Justin was transferred to Jacksonville, April decided to stay put. "She told me that if they lived together every day, they'd kill each other," Amber says. Justin bought a condo in an upscale neighborhood, and the two saw each other on weekends. Usually it was April who drove the three hours to visit.
She just wasn't ready to give up on Justin. He could be charming, and his criticisms dovetailed with some of her deep insecurities. "She was harder on herself than anyone else," says Amber. "She put up with a lot from her men."
Still, there was always a point at which she drew the line.
The man in the hospital bed was personable and seemed eager to help catch his wife's killer. But something about him made Detective Howard "Skip" Cole uneasy. "His body language and demeanor didn't seem appropriate," says Cole, 35, who'd been assigned to lead the investigation.
In the days that followed, Cole's suspicions grew. Justin's story was frustratingly vague, and the details kept changing. The case raised a slew of questions. How did Justin escape with minor wounds, while his wife was killed with a single shot? Why did he claim she'd been drinking, when her blood-alcohol level measured .000? Why had he left his cell phone at home that night, and why didn't he use April's? What made him drive so far in search of help, when there were mansions and gas stations along his route?
Meanwhile, April's Aunt Patti remembered that in the summer of 2001, April had told her Justin wanted them to take out $2 million insurance policies on each other's lives. "She asked if I didn't think it weird," Patti says. "I told her yeah but said I didn't think they would qualify. She called back the next day and said, 'You can't say anything to Justin. He'll be furious if he finds out I told you.'"
Justin found a company that would cover them. Not long afterward, April began to suspect he was having an affair. She told Amber she'd found an earring in his bedroom, and in July 2002, she discovered he was playing tennis regularly with a rental-car agent named Shannon Kennedy. April e-mailed him at work, asking him to tell her when he was socializing with other women. Justin responded with a sarcastic message listing every female he'd glimpsed that day.
April told her boss, Ramesh Nair, that she was going to confront Justin on their anniversary—August 4. She visited Justin that weekend; when she returned, she told Nair that she'd threatened to end the marriage. On Friday the 16th, she drove back to Jacksonville. The next night, she was dead.
Amber and Patti's first thought was, Justin did it. And Nair was struck by a memory from a few months earlier: "One day, out of the blue, April said, 'If anything happens to me, suspect foul play.' I answered with a joke, and she looked hurt, like, You're not taking me seriously. Don't forget."
Justin asked Patti if she would front for April's burial expenses. "What about the $2 million?" she responded. Startled, he said, "Did April tell you?" He told her he thought the policy had lapsed. Patti did some digging and learned that it hadn't.
At the funeral, in Hennessey's First Baptist Church, a crowd of 300 overflowed the pews. Several attendees were struck by Justin's failure to cry, though he appeared to be trying. The next day, Patti called Detective Cole. She told him what she knew and put him in touch with Amber.
During a search of Justin's condo, Cole found the insurance policy. Brought in for questioning, Justin denied his affair with Shannon Kennedy until he was told she was in the next room; then he insisted that his marriage had been generally placid.
Cole knew he was dealing with a liar, but arresting Justin for murder was another matter. There were no witnesses; no weapon had been found. Even the motive remained fuzzy. Justin had a base salary in the $70,000s; his wife earned nearly as much. Living apart from her, he could cheat with relative impunity. Did he kill her—and shoot himself—simply to upgrade his lifestyle a few notches?
Cole and his team probed the couple's financial records and Justin's computer files. They analyzed bloodstains, ballistics, and the abrasions on April's body. By July 2004, they had enough evidence to take Justin into custody, but it took another two years of spadework—and advancements in computer forensics—before they were ready to go to trial.
The proceedings began on June 12, 2006, in a courthouse in St. Augustine, Florida. Much of what the sleuths had dug up was inadmissible: April's conversations with Nair, for example, and Justin's purchase of a bulletproof chest plate before the killing. Instead, the case turned on a few stark facts.
First, there were the trysts: Justin, it emerged, had carried on at least five during his three-year marriage. Shortly before the killing, he asked Shannon Kennedy to travel with him to California; two days afterward, he stopped by her office and demanded to see her. He pursued her for several more weeks before transferring to Portland, Oregon.
Then there was money: Justin had $58,000 in credit card debt. "The adage is true, even if it's corny," Assistant District Attorney Matt Foxman told the jury. "The defendant has two million reasons to commit this crime."
That took care of motive. As to method, prosecutors argued that Justin had spent a year planning the crime. The most damning evidence came from his laptop. On February 9, 2002, Justin Googled "medical trauma right chest." On Valentine's Day, he tried "gunshot wound right chest." The prosecutor asked, "What are the odds of somebody researching 'gunshot wound to the right chest' and getting a gunshot wound to the right chest six months later?"
On July 19, Justin Googled "Florida divorce" and doubtless discovered that if April dumped him, he could no longer be her beneficiary. And on August 17, an hour before the fatal outing, he downloaded the Guns N' Roses song "Used to Love Her (But I Had to Kill Her)." Foxman played the track in court. Justin, he said, had been psyching himself up for murder.
Finally, there was the crime-scene evidence. Justin claimed he hauled April from the water after she was shot, carrying her in at least nine different positions. Yet the blood on her face all flowed in one direction, suggesting she had been shot on the walkway and left there to die. Foam at her nose and mouth indicated that she'd suffered a "near-drowning episode" before the shooting.
Foxman laid out his theory: Justin intended to shoot April, load her corpse in the car, and drive off in search of "help." The scheme went awry when she tried to run. He held her underwater until she stopped struggling, then dragged her to the walkway, where he shot her and himself. The plan derailed again when his pain kept him from carrying her farther. Justin had to modify his tactics, Foxman said, but his strategy never changed: "He wanted the $2 million, he wanted sympathy for being shot, and he wanted to look like a hero who'd tried to save his wife. He wanted it all."
Justin's attorney, Robert Willis, gamely offered alternative interpretations for each scrap of evidence. But Justin's behavior in a different courtroom three years earlier may ultimately have swayed the jury.
Midway through the first-degree premeditated murder trial, prosecutors played a video deposition Justin gave in 2003 as part of a civil case concerning insurance proceeds. On the tape, the plaintiffs' attorney grills Justin on the attack, his affairs, his sex life with April. He claims not to remember some key details but answers even the most disturbing questions with uncanny calm. His mouth is set in a downward curve, and he dabs his eyes once. Otherwise, he shows little emotion. When the lawyer asks him to recall the high points of his marriage, Justin says tersely, "We were in love." Pressed for details, he says, "I don't recall specifically."
He seemed equally unmoved when the jurors of the criminal trial, after 33 hours of deliberation, announced their verdict: guilty. His supporters wept, as did April's mourners. Justin barely blinked, even when the jury recommended the death penalty a week later. (Judge Edward Hedstrom later sentenced him to life without parole.) Such detachment is a classic symptom of sociopathy, says University of Texas psychologist Shari Julian, an expert on the disorder.
"The true mark of a sociopath is that he always wears a mask," Julian says. They tend to be intelligent, charismatic, and monstrously manipulative.
"He's a very gentle person," says Justin's mother, Linda, who still believes in his innocence. "A good guy."
But Amber Mitchell rejoices that the mask is off at last. "This has been a long, horrible chapter in our lives," she says. "I want the jury to know they got it right."
After a Skewer Impaled This Young Boy in the Face, Doctors Didn't Know How He Was Still Alive
19 of the Scariest Moments Pilots Have Experienced on the Job
Snow Had Been Falling at This Luxury Italian Resort for Days, Then It Came Barreling Toward the Hotel at 60 mph


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Zdenka Marn, slovenski fotomodel, * 2. december 1952, Ljubljana

Zmagala je na Anteninem lepotnem tekmovanju Miss Jasminka 1969 na Portoroški noči. 2. spremljevalka je postala dijakinja Danica Skoberne iz Ljubljane, 3. spremljevalka pa Sonja Cirer iz Trbovelj. Vse tri so odšle na jugoslovansko tekmovanje. V žiriji so sedeli Žarko Petan, Čedomir Komljenović, Franček Drofenik, Zvest Apollonio, Jožica Senica, Tone Fornezzi in Spartak Oridon. Voditelj prireditve je bil Sandi Čolnik.

Na jugoslovanskem tekmovanju »Jasminka 69« v dvorani zagrebškega velesejma je Marnova postala 2. spremljevalka. Zmagala je Anita Baturina (dijakinja, 16 let, Split), 1. spremljevalka je postala Zlata Petković (Smederevo), 3. spremljevalka pa je postala Mira Ličina (Zagreb).

Kot »slovenska jasminka« se je uvrstila na tekmovanje »Miss Cinema Europa 1969«  v italijanskem letovišču Cesenatico v začetku septembra, kjer sta z Esther Guidi iz Italije postali spremljevalki in prejeli vsaka svojo zlato plaketo v vrednosti 100.000 lir. Zmagala je 16-letna francozinja Françoise Favaron. Voditelj prireditve je bil Corrado. Zmagovalka je dobila avto Fiat 500. Marnova je s sabo imela garderobo iz ljubljanske Modne hiše in Almire.

Kot 2. spremljevalka »jugoslovanske jasminke« se je Marnova uvrstila na tekmovanje Miss International 16. maja 1970 v Osaki, kjer je prišla med najboljših 15. Zlata Petković, 1. spremljevalka »jugoslovanske jasminke«, se je uvrstila na tekmovanje Miss Young International 27. marca 1970 v Tokiu, kjer je dobila nagrado za fotogeničnost. Anita Baturina je odšla na tekmovanje v Hollywood.

Manekenstvo
Marnova je nastopila na reviji novomeškega podjetja Labod.

Zasebno
Bila je dijakinja administrativne šole v Ljubljani. Visoka je 170 cm. Junija 1972 se je poročila s pianistom Primožem Lorenzom.

Sklici

Zunanje povezave

 Italia - Eletta Miss Cinema Europa 1969 (državni arhiv Archivio Luce)
 Milano - Miss cinema 1969 (državni arhiv Archivio Luce)
 La finale di Miss Cinema Europa a Cesenatico (državni arhiv Archivio Luce)
 Miss International 1970 (AP Archive) YouTube

Živeči ljudje
Ljubljančani
Slovenski fotomodeli

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


"Carmageddon" (car + Armageddon) is the title of a computer game, trademarked since 1997; "Carpocalyse Now"(car + apocalypse) is the title of a computer game, trademarked since 1998. Both "carmageddon" and "carpocalypse" have been used in many others ways, such as describing car crashes or disastrous car sales.
In July 2011, both "carmageddon" and "carpocalypse" were used to describe the traffic problems in Los Angeles, California, by the 10-mile closing of the 405 freeway.
Carmageddon II: Carpocalypse Now is the sequel to the graphically violent vehicular combat computer game Carmageddon, released on November 30, 1998. The game was developed by Stainless Games and published by Sales Curve Interactive. It has been released for both PC and Macintosh.
We are speeding along in our petrol-fired automobiles straight to Carmaggedon.
Some are more aggressive. In New York City, a group called Carmaggedon plasters autos with leaflets emblazoned with a stick figure brandishing a club over a vehicle.
New York has been trying to fix its traffic problems for decades. How those big ideas keep getting stuck behind slow-moving politicians.
Ex-Socialist "Red" Ken Livingstone is elected mayor of London and hires ex-MTA chairman Robert Kiley to create a congestion charging system.
Livingstone defies predictions of "Carmageddon!" and starts the congestion charging system: five quid to drive into the center city. Sixty thousand vehicles disappear from the streets; the amount of time people spend stuck in traffic drops 26 percent. In New York, Queens City Council members pressure Bloomberg to allow single-passenger vehicles back onto the East River bridges. He relents.
Let us prevent Carmaggedon on our roads!
We all agree that transport provides the necessary connectivity between people and their workplaces, places of recreation and so on, while also enhancing social interaction.
DETROIT — With a lifeline from the White House, General Motors and Chrysler will survive for the next few months while they revamp.
And, at a briefing for journalists this week, Chrysler showed future models that included more new Jeeps, including an electric one, new pickups and muscle cars, according to Jalopnik.com, a Web site that follows the industry (and whose term for the crisis in Detroit - "carpocalypse" - is catching on in the industry).
Carmageddon, or Carpocalypse? Though both terms were coined years ago for video games, pundits have been using them to describe the present state of the automotive industry.
Los Angeles police have issued a request to celebrities using the social media network Twitter to help get the word out about an upcoming traffic closure. The police have been referring to the closure of a 10 mile section of the 405 freeway on July 16 and 17 as the "carpocalypse" to help get the message across to the wider public.
They call it "Car-Mageddon" in Los Angeles, people in the Northeast call it a normal summer day.


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The Archaeology of Southern Africa
Part of Cambridge World Archaeology
Author: Peter Mitchell, School of Archaeology, University of Oxford
Some of the earliest human populations lived in Southern Africa, and evidence from sites there has inspired key debates on human origins and on the emergence of modern humans. The sub-continent has one of the world's richest heritages of rock art, and specialists have developed innovative theories about its meaning and significance that have influenced the understanding of rock art everywhere. Passionate arguments about the hunter-gatherer way of life have centred on Southern African cases, and the relationship between archaeological and anthropological data is also central to understanding the past of Southern Africa's pastoralist and farmer communities. The pre-colonial states of the region provide some of the best documented cases of the influence of external trade on the development of African polities. This book is a comprehensive modern synthesis of the sub-continent's archaeology. It offers a thorough-going overview of three million years of Southern African history.
The first updated book on the subject for over forty years
Covers all periods from paleoarchaeology to the present
Well illustrated with maps, line drawings, photographs
'… a synthesis of southern African archaeology was long overdue … Mitchell's book is timely and it will make a significant contribution to the growing corpus of published material on southern African archaeology. It represents the state of knowledge at the turn of the millennium, and is an invaluable tool for scholars, teachers and students with an interest in the long and rich archaeological history of southern Africa. I recommend that it finds its way on to bookshelves, and I will certainly be pleased to have it on mine.' Before Farming: The Archaeology and Anthropology of Hunter-Gatherers
'This could be the most influential publication on the archaeology of Africa for decades to come to come. … this extensive survey of the archaeology in Southern Africa is as interesting and informative as the geographical span of its contents.' Open History
'… well written, very generously referenced and sensibly balanced … Mitchell … should be congratulated in making a very great deal of food for thought available in an interesting and digestible form.' Antiquity
contains: 204 b/w illus. 29 maps 19 tables
2. Frameworks
3. Origins
4. Modern humans, modern behaviour?
5. Living through the late Pleistocene
6. From the Pleistocene into the Holocene: social and ecological models of cultural change
7. Hunting, gathering and intensifying: Holocene foragers in Southern Africa
8. History from the rocks, ethnography from the desert
9. Taking stock: the introduction and impact of pastoralism
10. Early farming communities
11. The Zimbabwe tradition
12. Later farming communities of southernmost Africa
13. The archaeology of colonialism
14. Southern African archaeology today.
Peter Mitchell, School of Archaeology, University of Oxford
Peter Mitchell is Lecturer in African Prehistory at the University of Oxford, and Tutor and a Fellow of St Hugh's College, Oxford.
The Archaeology and Ethnography of Central Africa
The Prehistory of Southern Rhodesia
Australian Rock Art
A New Synthesis
Social Memory and State Formation in Early China


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Katsushika Hokusai and erotic art: The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife (Part 2 of Hokusai)
Katsushika Hokusai was born in 1760 and died in 1849 and this most splendid of artists created many different art forms and the imagery from the two most striking pieces of his art could not be more different.
Hokusai was a Nichiren Buddhist and just like Nichiren himself; he had a complex nature and he is not easy to pin down or label. It is true to say that he was always consistent when applied to producing art and even when he was 87 years of age he completed the Ducks in a Stream.
Even on his deathbed it is clear that Hokusai's love of life and art still shone bright within his soul and heart.
When Hokusai was close to death he stated "If only Heaven will give me just another ten years…Just another five more years, then I could become a real painter."
Hokusai had many talents and he learnt the trade from a very early age. His talents apply to being a sublime Japanese artist, ukiyo-e painter and a printmaker.
His Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji and love of Nichiren Buddhism shows an individual who was at one with nature and the mysteries of life. For Hokusai the mountains were a place of mystery and the Shinto gods and the majesty of nature surrounding Mount Fuji; meant that he could use the stunning scenery and fuse this with ideas from a hidden world.
The Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji include the magnificent and powerful masterpiece called The Great Wave off Kanagawa and other potent images which showed the landscape to be truly magical include Fuji in Clear Weather.
If this artwork is viewed in isolation then "the real" Hokusai is missing because while Hokusai connected with nature in all its majesty he also had a different side. This applies to Hokusai's erotic art and his images were extremely strong from a mainstream European artist point of view in this period.
This in itself shows you the constraints and freedoms "within many nations in Europe" when it came to mainstream art in this period, when applied to erotica. However, in Japan erotic images and the view of sexuality was very different and the same applies to homosexuality in this period because Japan was much more liberal when it came to sexuality and many a Edo leader had male concubines.
However, The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife is not only erotica it is a powerful image of female sexuality and joy. This joy and sexuality, however, is by a fully grown octopus and a very young octopus.
The erotic woodcut even shocks today and the imagery is very potent and full of erotica alongside mystery and a world unknown. This form of art belongs to the ukiyo-e genre and shunga was a powerful force in erotica in Japan during the Edo period because it was a good way to earn money for an aspiring artist.
The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife is the most striking image from Kinoe no Komatsu which was a collection of shunga and it was published in three volumes from the year 1814.
The image shows a lady who was deemed to be a shell diver (ama) with her legs wide apart while the fully grown octopus performs cunnilingus. She is fully naked and her breasts and hairy pussy are clearly visible and her body is clearly welcoming both the fully grown octopus and the small and younger octopus.
The eyes of the fully grown octopus are really striking because while performing cunnilingus on the lady it is clear that the eyes are fully focused on her face and pleasure and satisfaction belong to both.
It is suggested that the small octopus may be the son and if so then this makes the sexual experience even more erotic to some or alternatively "on the edge" for others. Either way, only Hokusai really knows the role of the small octopus but it is clear that the lady is enjoying the power of the fully grown octopus and the magical touch of the younger octopus which is fondling her nipple and mouth.
Her face depicts complete sexual bliss and in the image it appears that nature and humans are one and the same. Yes, visually different; however, enjoying the sexual experience together.
The image which is graphic is also based on consent, pleasure, joy, and bliss.
The interpretation of what is really happening is very diverse and art specialists and critics have various opinions.
Also, given the imagery of The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife then for some people it is a masterpiece but for others it is depravity and of course you will have a multitude of opinions about this image with was produced in the early nineteenth century by Hokusai.
The scholar Danielle Talerico is trying to put this image within the history of the Edo period because the Princess Tamatori story was very popular in the Edo period. However, this appears to be over simplistic because in the Tamatori story the outcome is very different and the sea creatures are chasing Tamatori and in the end she dies from her wound.
Hokusai does mention above the image in his work that the octopus will take the lady to Ryujin's undersea palace but Hokusai could have just adapted his image and played around with this story. Or, the Ryujin's undersea world may be a world which was seen differently by Hokusai.
Unlike the negative outcome of Princess Tamatori it is clear that sexual pleasure and mutual gratification is taking place and unless this is part of the original story then the reasons may never be known.
After all, in art you have many images of Jesus but not all images have the same meaning and for some contemporary artists they may be mocking Jesus or seeing Jesus in their own eyes. It is only natural that artists will borrow from their culture but it does not mean that the images of their art have the same meaning.
Artists in Japan before Hokusai and after Hokusai have shown sexual scenes between females and cephalopods and within the lifetime of Hokusai another artist, Yanagawa Shigenobu, also created an image whereby a lady is being seduced and pleasured by an octopus.
Therefore, the real reason behind The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife can't be answered with certainty.
The image may have just been a fantasy or showing the learning process of sexual pleasure whereby the small octopus is just watching the master. Or it could have been Hokusai's love of nature whereby he fuses love within the reality of shunga but desires to say that humanity and nature are one.
Of course this can easily be rejected but without a clear answer from Hokusai then the mystery will remain.
What is clear is that The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife (Other artists have given it a different name) is an image which is very potent and even today this image still shocks.
I personally think it is a masterpiece and that it will always remain a mystery.
In truth, this also adds to the striking image on display and the scene which the viewer can see because you have no clear answer but the power of the image is awesome.
http://www.asia.si.edu/exhibitions/online/hokusai/launch.htm (Hokusai)
http://www.hokusai-kan.com/treasure01.htm (Hokusai)
http://moderntokyotimes.com/2011/05/31/katsushika-hokusai-japanese-artist-with-a-rich-legacy-part-one/
Posted in Japan, Uncategorized and tagged Danielle Talerico, Danielle Talerico and hokusai, erotica and hokusai, famous japanese artist, hokusai and erotica, hokusai and japanese art, homosexuality in edo period, japanese erotic art, Lee Jay Walker, modern tokyo, modern tokyo times, octopus and lady, sexuality and hokusai, shunga, The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife, The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife and sexuality, the wave off kanagawa, Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, Yanagawa Shigenobu


I want to attend an event at Femman, what do I need to do?
- You have to be a member of the organization that runs Femman, that is Fritt Kulturhus i Uppsala. Are you not already a member you have to apply for membership no later than the day before the event in question. You can apply for membership HERE.
I want to become a member, but how do I do that?
- You have to go HERE, fill out the form and pay the membership fee. The membership is 100 SEK and lasts the entire calendar year. If you apply for membership after October 1st, your membership is valid for this AND the next calendar year.
I didn't receive an answer, did something go wrong? Did you forget about me?
- All e-mail communication is done manually by volunteers. Please be patient. We have not forgotten about you. We are just a bit busy. Thank you for your understanding.
I missed the deadline, can't you make an exception please?
No. The event organisers have to know before hand exactly who they can expect to show up at their event. You can't become a member at the door either.


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19 December 2018 — City Desk
Should Cars Be Restricted from Going Through Rathmines?
Photo by Zuzia Whelan
Finn Murray says many of his staff at the Hopsack in the Swan Shopping Centre in Rathmines cycle in and out of Rathmines each day.
As he does himself, he says. "Bikes are huge in Rathmines, which is great. […] Our lost and found is full of bike helmets, all the time."
Future changes to Dublin's bus network, still on the drawing board, may have implications for those who get about this part of town on two peddled wheels, though.
The proposal for BusConnects in Rathmines published by the National Transport Authority (NTA) in June shows a detour that cyclists may be encouraged to take around, rather than through, the main hustle and bustle of Rathmines.
Cian Ginty, editor of Irishcycle.com and an advocate for better cycling infrastructure, has suggested a bus gate – a stretch of road which only buses, bikes, and taxis can take – could be a better option. That would reduce traffic, but still allow cyclists and buses to use Rathmines Road as they do now.
Some councillors want to look more deeply at the idea.
A Diversion
The NTA's Rathfarnam-to-city-centre proposal for BusConnects includes either narrowing the footpaths and having one bus and one traffic lane each way through Rathmines, or making Rathmines' main street one-way inbound for general traffic, and diverting outbound traffic through Ranelagh.
In either case, the proposal includes a diversion for cyclists, cutting down the canal near Grove Road and rejoining the main street just past Leinster Road.
The "Indicative Cycle Route" in the BusConnects proposal shows a straight line, glossing over the actual streets available, which in real life cyclists would need to weave along and through.
"The NTA's idea is to allow cyclists to use the bus lanes, but all the cycle lanes will be removed, and then have the very convoluted detour," says Ginty.
"While they're not saying they're going to ban cyclists from the main street in Rathmines, they are going to provide a very messy, unattractive detour," he said.
Said an NTA spokesperson: "Details of the bus and cycle infrastructure on the Rathfarnham to city centre corridor will be announced in January."
A Bus Gate?
A bus gate would be a way to prioritise cycling and fit in buses, says Ginty. "It would bar cars from using the Rathmines' main street during certain times, to leave room for just buses and cyclists."
"In the UK a lot of the time it's implemented with bollards," Ginty says. But it could just be a big sign that tells drivers what can travel through, when. "It could be 24 hours, it could be peak times."
College Green has had a bus gate for roughly the last 10 years, restricting car traffic at peak times on a stretch between College Street and Westmoreland Street.
In Rathmines, "there could be a compromise there on when exactly the bus gates are open and when they're not", Ginty says.
He favours a 24-hour approach. "It keeps buses moving even outside peak hours", and gives people a black-and-white situation.
So what happens to the cars? It's a mix of modal change – people jumping on buses and bikes, when they might have taken a car, for example – and traffic evaporation, Ginty says.
Ciarán Ferrie, a cyclist and member of the campaign group I Bike Dublin, says, "Rathmines itself has to find the balance between being a commuter route, and being an urban centre in its own right."
His concern is that the proposals – while not formally published – "seem to prioritise public transport and private car transport over other modes, including walking and cycling".
There's limited road space, so we need to look at creative solutions, Ferrie says. And to give "priority in the hierarchy that is set out in the Design Manual for Urban Roads and Streets (DMURS)", which is walking, cycling, public transport, and then private cars.
Could It Work?
At last week's meeting of the council's South East Area Committee, Green Party Councillor Patrick Costello and Labour Councillor Dermot Lacey put in motions for a feasibility study on a bus gate in Rathmines, following a post from Ginty on Irishcycle.com.
"It seems to be on the face of it to be a good idea, and good ideas should be discussed," says Lacey.
"The problem is there are too many bodies designing road proposals to meet their own particular areas of interest," he says. "But there's nobody designing a 'Dublin Transport Route'," he says.
"There's no one to answer for traffic problems. If you do have a bus gate, where does all the traffic go?" says Costello, who doesn't want to come down on either side, but wants a feasibility study.
At the same time, he is concerned that it could lead to a reduction in "spontaneous shopping", in Rathmines, from people hopping off their bikes.
"The commercial centre of Rathmines depends very much on people being able to access it by foot and by bike," Ferrie says. It's not all about car access.
Often, business owners worry about changes deemed unfriendly to cars.
However, some past research by Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) has suggested that retailers can underestimate the number of shoppers who travel by public transport or on foot, and overestimate the number who come by car. (Dublin Inquirer columnist David O'Connor was one of those behind the research.)
Anthony Nardone, the owner of Kafka restaurant on Rathmines' main street, says most of their customers are locals who walk in. But he notices people sitting by the window, watching the screens that show the expected arrival times for buses, too.
"I think diverting cycle [traffic] would be a good idea," he says. Bikes parked all over the place makes it hard for his delivery drivers to access the paths, he said.
Says Murray of Hopsack: "From a business point of view, if you push anyone out of Rathmines it's going to affect our business."
Banning any kind of access would push the traffic problem elsewhere, he says, but suggests rush-hour restriction would allow people to plan their day, rather than banning some kinds of traffic completely, all day.
BusConnects
Rathmines
Zuzia Whelan: Zuzia Whelan is a city reporter for Dublin Inquirer.
at 19 December 2018 at 16:56
A bus gate would only restrict through traffic — car users could still access the car parks, people's driveways etc.
19 December 2018 issue
Council Removes Bins in Milltown Because People Were Putting Too Much Dog Poo in Them
Some Wonder Why Table Tennis Clubs Attract Fewer Dubliners
by Gary Ibbotson
New Publications Launch to Chronicle Dublin's Thriving Food Scene
Founder of Homeless Charity Rents Out Holiday Lets
by Laoise Neylon


Ballycarbery Castle overlooks the sea near the mouth of the Valencia River about 3km from Caherciveen in County Kerry.
The castle is in ruins, and the whole back wall has fallen down. The castle was surrounded by a defensive wall, but more than half of it has gone. You can still see the arrow slits along the remaining parts of the wall. A staircase can be seen inside one part of the wall. The ground floor of the castle had several rooms, of which only one has roof and walls intact. There are two staircases up to the first floor, one of which is still in good condition. The second floor is not accessible, as the stairs were probably against the back wall which has gone.
The castle is in a pleasant location with views over the sea and surrounding countryside. It makes an impressive sight when seen from Ballycarbery Beach, especially at high tide.
The present Ballycarbery Castle was built in the 16th century, although there had been an earlier building on the site since the 14th century. It was a seat of the MacCarthy Mores, but may have been occupied by their wardens the O'Connells. During the 1590s it was granted to Sir Valentine Browne in the 1590s after the death of Daniel McCarthy More, but was taken back by the Macarthys during the wars between the Royalist and Confederate forces in the 1640s. Oliver Cromwell's troops severely damaged the castle in 1652 when it was attacked with cannons. Local farmers removed stones from the damaged castle for building.


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Firehouse Partner Alex Contant Talks to The Wall Street Journal About What to Expect from the Presidential Campaign Post-Conventions
With Virtual Conventions Over, Unconventional Campaign Revs Up
Voters had a preview of each campaign's closing arguments: Law and order from President Trump; leadership out of crisis from Joe Biden.
By Catherine Lucey
Aug. 28, 2020 5:30 am ET
A faint echo of the raucous stadium gatherings political parties typically hold every four years, the diminished conventions both drew smaller TV audiences than four years ago. But they served as a preview of each campaign's closing arguments: An emphasis on law and order from Mr. Trump, and a promise of stable leadership out of crisis from Mr. Biden.
"The real question becomes how much media coverage they were able to generate," said Republican strategist Alex Conant. "You don't have local TV reporters from around the country going to conventions that they normally would. My guess is they were less effective than usual."
With the conventions done, the next big set piece of the race will be the debates, which begin in late September. The Trump campaign has been eager to face off, believing it will provide a strong contrast. The Biden team has also said it will take part, dismissing some who have questioned whether there should be any debates.
A key question for Mr. Trump is whether his message of economic experience and law and order in the face of unrest in places such as Portland, Ore., and Kenosha, Wis., resonates with enough of the independent voters, women and minorities who have turned away from him during a presidency that has been marked by unpredictability and controversy.
"Right now, Trump is underperforming because of independents and suburban voters who supported him in 2016 who aren't supporting him right now," Mr. Conant said. "Many of those voters will come home as these messages sink in."


Puzzles can be very difficult. Some people can do them very well, whereas others look at them with complete confusion and never attempt to start. Of course, there is some methodology that can help start the process. Find the corner pieces, for example. Or get the outside borders finished first. Puzzles require a critical thinking process unlike anything else.
Outside of hanging out with family and friends, strawweight fighter Mallory Martin primarily likes to do two things in life when she's not fighting. One of them does not really relate to her MMA career, and one of them actually helps her training in a less common, but very relatable manner.
To the layperson, a puzzle may be nothing more than a 40-piece picture of a cartoon character or a scene from a movie. This is not the case for Martin. While the biggest puzzles in the world might reach as large as 40,000 pieces, she keeps them more manageable, but extremely difficult nonetheless.
Following a 6-1 amateur career, Martin is now 2-2 as a professional mixed martial artist. She has won some and lost some, but she certainly is able to draw for her experiences with puzzles to parallel with her fighting career.
Martin has a lot of experience training throughout her hometown of Denver, as well as across the Pacific Ocean in Thailand. Her primary gym is Zingano Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Broomfield, Colo., but she also cross-trains with UFC vets J.J. Aldrich and current strawweight champ Rose Namajunas at 303 Training Center, and with Brittany Boone at Factory X Muay Thai. Martin also spends time at Tao of Boxing. In Thailand, she has worked out at the famed Tiger Muay Thai camp.
Martin loved her time in Thailand. She was already booked to return earlier this year, but she had to put the trip on hold when she was requested to assist with Namajunas' training camp for her recent title defense against former strawweight champ Joanna Jędrzejczyk.
Zingano BJJ, Factory X, 303 Training Center, Tao of Boxing and Tiger Muay Thai are all pieces of Martin's very intricate training puzzle. The puzzle is never complete, though. Martial arts is a learning experience with no final destination at which point an athlete knows everything.
Martin is young in both age and in her fighting career, but she has already learned a lot. She won her pro debut with a decision nod over Hegin Lin at Kunlun Fight MMA 7 in China less than a year and a half ago. She then suffered back-to-back defeats in Invicta FC and the Legacy Fighting Alliance before bouncing back with a second-round knockout of Tiffany Masters at Invicta FC 27 in January.
"I feel like I put on a great performance," Martin said. "It was exactly what I envisioned — what I wanted to do. I wanted to go out there and put on a good fight [and] get the win, and I felt really good about it.
In Martin's ongoing quest for growth, it was not the win over Masters that taught her the most in the last year. Instead, it was her previous loss to Maycee Barber at LFA 22 in September that provided the most takeaways.
Barber, in a display of incredible unprofessionalism, showed up seven and a half pounds over the limit. After essentially trying to smother Martin for three rounds, Barber proceeded to talk trash in the post-fight speech about the fact that she did not make weight. While this bothered pretty much everybody watching, Martin was not fazed.
As puzzling as it was to listen to Barber try to defend missing weight, the fight itself provided one more piece to Martin's fight-game puzzle.
About six weeks ago, the LFA came calling again. On Friday night, at The Armory in Minneapolis, Martin will be back in action. She faces Linsey Williams on the main card at LFA 38.
Williams is another 2-2 pro, and she also had a successful amateur career. She currently trains at the Minnesota Martial Arts Academy. Williams will be fighting in her hometown.
On paper, Martin's assumption would seem to be true. Williams has garnered most of her wins by way of submission.
Martin is a well-rounded fighter, so she will take the fight wherever it goes. Williams will be another slightly larger opponent, but, unlike Barber, Williams has yet to miss weight for a pro fight. Martin is ready for a battle, and she knows people will not want to miss her work.
Martin has a long career ahead of her. She is still relatively young, but she has world-class training under her belt. Her fight will air live on AXS TV, so fans everywhere will be able to tune in and watch her add another piece to her personal fighting puzzle.


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HOME -> Consumer Marketing -> Acquisition -> Heineken USA CMO on Dos Equis "Most Interesting" College Football Playoff Deal
Heineken USA CMO on Dos Equis "Most Interesting" College Football Playoff Deal
Posted on January 26, 2017 by Evan Vladem
This is the first in a series of Q&A's with leading marketers about their sports marketing initiatives.
2016 was a big year for Dos Equis. At the start, the brand struck a deal as the first official beer sponsor of the College Football Playoff, the annual postseason event in college football to determine the NCAA Division | National Champion.
It used the partnership as a medium to leverage and position the debut of its new "Most Interesting Man In the World"— Augustin Legrand—to its legions of fans.
Football themed commercials rolled out (where "The Most Interesting Man," extraordinarily, played college football in high school). A sweepstakes offering the chance to win tickets to the National Championship and Snap Chat integrations supported the TV spots. The crescendo of the campaign was the helicopter RV, featured in the commercials, being showcased at the CFP National Championship tailgate in Tampa.
The Heineken-owned beer brand saw record numbers of consumer engagement and a spike in sales. The performance in year one of the multiyear deal surpassed expectations.
Nuno Teles, CMO of Heineken USA
Evan Vladem, a sports marketing and sponsorship expert at rEvolution, sat down with Nuno Teles, CMO of Heineken USA, to discuss the strategy of the deal and its success in year one.
VLADEM: Year one is in the books with your College Football Playoff deal. Why did this deal make sense for Dos Equis?
TELES: If you look at the brand attributes, Dos Equis stands for being more suitable for people that want to live a more interesting life. That's mainly because our consumer is afraid of finding themselves in a bar with nothing to say to their friends. They want to live an interesting life and they want to share that interesting life with their friends.
That led us to the question, 'what can we do to further increase the brand in that social gathering occasion where people get together and want to live an interesting life?' The College Football Playoff is a fantastic platform to do that. It's basically a time you get together with your friends and the perfect way to link the "Most Interesting Man" with the platform. We told a story of him playing college football in high school, which is something only the "Most Interesting Man" can do; it's obviously impossible.
From a business standpoint, it allowed us to upgrade a domestic brand to a premium domestic brand. With Dos Equis activating this platform, it gave the retailers an opportunity to offer a brand that is more premium. With that, it would increase the business and grow sales.
VLADEM: It's an interesting strategy for Dos Equis. Can you expand on those goals?
TELES: We sell to distributors and distributors sell to retailers. Every time we engage with such a great platform—we are talking about 80 million people watching the seven games—we're talking about punching above our weight. The goal was for all of the stakeholders to be engaged with Dos Equis in a crucial period of the year that goes from September to the end of the year. It basically gives a rally cry to all of us for five months to really be behind this great platform. The ultimate goal was to generate more displays at shop floors. The more cases we have displayed, the more sales we're going to have.
VLADEM: Obviously, a number of components are involved from an activation standpoint, including media, creative, social, use of CFP marks on packaging and cans, retail displays, experiential and hospitality. You guys put that to use around nearly every New Year's Six (the lineup for the sextet of bowl games) game. What aspect has been the most valuable to Dos Equis in the partnership?
TELES: It's a combination. It's important to engage with the end consumer. It's important to create awareness through an outstanding video communication (with TV and digital). The theme we had with "The Most Interesting Man in the World" playing college football in high school and tailgating next to his helicopter RV was a very good visualization of how you can make it relevant. That is the first part.
"The Most Interesting Man" with his helicopter.
The second big component is having your retailers engaging with the platform. It's having the retailers realize they can sell more by supporting Dos Equis around the College Football Playoff. They really need to be behind that to give us that incremental spike. In order to achieve that, it was critical to work with our original teams; to take advantage of every single game in the regions that those games would be played would be key.
Last but not least, it was to have strong digital engagement. Having consumers engaging digitally with the brand, and basically getting closer. College football is indeed a passion point for our consumer and that will get the brand closer to our consumer.
VLADEM: To culminate the inaugural year of the Dos Equis College Football Playoff deal, you literally dropped the helicopter RV (from the commercials) at a tailgate in Tampa. Can you describe the ideation process behind this?
TELES: We all know the key to college football is tailgating. We asked during the brainstorm, what could we do to make tailgating more interesting? How would "The Most Interesting Man in the World" tailgate? If you think about the most interesting way to tailgate, it's bringing your own helicopter and having a big tailgate party before the game. Sometimes we have good ideas but we don't have a visualization. This was simple to understand and simple to execute even though it's not cheap. You need to bring the helicopter and that's expensive but it's worthwhile.
VLADEM: You relied heavily on sweepstakes around the partnership with the "Gameday Greatness" contest. Looking to drive traffic to retail stores, you offered consumers an opportunity to win a VIP experience at the College Football National Championship. Did this provide the best form of engagement/data collection for the campaign? Why was this aspect such a heavy focus?
TELES: That's related to consumer engagement. As a CMO, I'm a strong believer that it's about changing consumer behavior. If I want consumers to change behavior, I want to engage them in some sort of action. For the "Gameday Greatness" contest, we had north of 1 million entries. That proves consumers were keen to engage with us. If you force people to have an action, you engage more with them and they'll remember that engagement in a more intense way. Those 1 million entries were a record for us.
VLADEM: In the same year that Dos Equis introduced a younger "Most Interesting Man in the World" into commercials, why was the College Football Playoff deal so pivotal for the brand during a refresh?
TELES: The key reason to move to a more active, and an even more interesting man, was to bring the brand more into a social occasion. If you have the "Most Interesting Man" creating a more interesting way to tailgate, it's very congruent and effective to make consumers change their perception regarding Dos Equis and start choosing Dos Equis as an alternative for a domestic, premium brand.
VLADEM: Initially reaching the College Football Playoff deal, and while activating around it, what were some challenges for a beer brand around college athletics? You used the messaging: "Respect the Game, Don't Drink More, Drink Better" in the first quarter of the Fiesta Bowl. Especially around college sports, why was this messaging so important to the brand?
TELES: We have a very strong internal code in terms of marketing to the legal drinking age. We are not marketing to under-21. We did not promote the brand in the colleges. We are activating outside the college, in bars that confirm legal drinking age and in the stadium. Not at the college because we want to respect the code and not promote the brand to consumers under the legal drinking age.
VLADEM: Dos Equis has been doing a lot on the mobile and social integration front, particularly with Snap Chat. Dos Equis used Snap Chat filters themed around college football games throughout the season. Why Snap Chat? Will the use of Snap Chat continue growing for your brands?
TELES: I was visiting a bar while in Tampa and a consumer next to me ordered a Dos Equis. She then took a picture of herself with a Dos Equis Snap Chat filter. I was surprised what the consumer—right next to me—was doing. It was by accident. That's just simple proof as to why I am a strong believer in mobile first. It was a big coincidence with a consumer using our own advertising in front of you.
That's why I mentioned the importance and congruency of all touch points. You have to be on TV, you have to be in the bar, you have to be well displayed with branded glasswear. When you achieve that, it's an advantage for us.
VLADEM: I know it's early, but you already saw that massive 1 million entries. How do you think Year One around the College Football Playoffs performed?
TELES: Above our expectations. We grew above year-to-date market share. That's a good indication. We saw increased sales and we saw all of the stakeholders embracing the platforms. A big Key Performance Indicator is the amount of retail displays because that shows interest. We saw close to 8,000 displays, which is above the average for the year. All of those indicators give us confidence that we can do much better next year and this is something that we want to have for the long-term.
VLADEM: You're already looking ahead at next year. What would you do differently?
TELES: We are still celebrating, which is quite unique. We are planning 2017-18, but we need to look more into the learnings. I don't see big changes aside from going deeper to get all of the stakeholders operating even better. I'm a strong believer that you shouldn't go up-down-left-right, but you cannot just repeat. You need to find a good balance. You have to keep consistency but have some novelties. That's how we do things here.
One thing that I would like to do even more is the activation we did with ESPN during a TV commercial where they cut directly into the game from the creative in a commercial. That was a highlight from a communication standpoint.
I would like to do social and mobile integration more and have more displays. Those are the three things we are going to boost next year.
Editor's Note: Got a killer sponsorship campaign like this one from Dos Equis? Enter it in the 2017 PRO Awards by March 17.
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We feature a range of places to stay to suit all travel needs and budgets. The Constantia Kloof Accommodation search facility is easy to use and you make your accommodation bookings directly with the venues. Constantia Kloof accommodation establishments include self-catering, B&Bs, guest houses and hotels.
Lying just south of Allen's Nek in the crook of Christian de Wet Road to the west of Johannesburg, Constantia Kloof is a small and quiet suburb that lies in an indentation of Constantia Ridge, hence its name. It's a pretty little suburb perched on the edge of Johannesburg close to two green belt escapes, the Kloofendal Nature Reserve and Walter Sisulu Botanical Gardens.
Kloofendal in particular is one of the better kept secrets of the city and seldom all that busy. With a wide variety of options available, you're sure to find the perfect Constantia Kloof accommodation.


Work to demolish two buildings and temporarily relocate pupils from Rhyddings Business and Enterprise School have been announced.
The east and west block buildings at the Oswaldtwistle school were closed last October after a problem was found with the building frames.
The issue was noticed during ongoing planned maintenance work.
At the time, some pupils were relocated to Hameldon Community College in Burnley for a short period while safety work took place. Mobile classrooms were also brought onto the site to ensure there was adequate teaching space.
Lancashire County Council (LCC) said after a 'thorough assessment' it has been decided the best course of action will be to demolish the two buildings, with work due to start in June.
During the course of this work Rhyddings pupils and staff will re-locate and again use the vacant Hameldon school site.
Bosses say to facilitate this a number of school closures will be necessary to allow resources and equipment to be moved to Hameldon.
Arrangements will also be made by LCC to transport pupils to Hameldon.
Year 11 pupils will not be affected as their exams will take place before the relocation.
Work on the Rhyddings site is expected to continue across the school summer holidays, with parents given regular updates on progress.
LCC said they working with the governors at both schools to ensure that appropriate arrangements are in place.
Headteacher Andrew Williams said: "The safety of our pupils, staff and visitors is paramount, which is why we must relocate to the Hameldon site while this work takes place.
"This is a significant undertaking and will require much preparation and planning but together with Lancashire County Council we will do our utmost to minimise the impact and provide as much continuity as is possible.
"Many of our pupils experienced the successful relocation to Hameldon last year when the issue with the buildings was first discovered so will be familiar with how smooth the process was.


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Statement by Secretary Spellings on College Cost Reduction Act of 2007
The White House today issued a Statement of Administration Policy (SAP) on the U.S. House of Representatives College Cost Reduction Act of 2007, in which senior advisors recommended that the President veto the bill in its current form. In supporting this action by the White House, U.S. Department of Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said the following:
When it comes to helping more Americans pursue the dream of a college education, the federal government's role has always been to help those students most in need. Unfortunately, the House bill fails to meet that responsibility. It does little to benefit America's neediest students and essentially diverts a majority of savings in the bill to individuals out of school rather than focusing on aiding low-income students in school.
The House bill devotes only 38 percent of its savings to benefit low-income students, with only $5.8 billion dedicated to increase Pell Grants. In contrast, the President's Budget invests nearly 100 percent of its proposed savings to help students most in need, including $19.8 billion to support increases to the Pell Grant.
I look forward to working with Congress to address these issues in a way that best meets the needs of America's students.