While visiting Lisbon for a week staying at Gat Rossio Hotel, I had plenty of time to lay by the bech and get out of town to see one of the most beautiful man made sites I've visited while traveling, Pena National Palace.
It's that time of year again, SUMMER! I'm kicking off my favorite time of year in Lisbon, Portugal on a 1 week holiday visiting Gat Rooms Hotel.
On my first of four cities (Lisbon, Madrid, Barcelona, and Paris) I'll be visiting over the next three weeks (keep up via INSTAGRAM), I am finally checking out the sunny and very colorful city of Lisbon.


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Don't Dump it, Donate it !!
DON'T DUMP IT, DONATE IT !
Recycle your mobile phone and raise funds!! If you have a mobile phone that you no longer use, that is old, out of date and sitting in a drawer, then please send it to Lions Medical Research Foundation and we will recycle it.
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Q: Div Children Not Listening to CSS When Position Absolute I'm trying to place text behind an image and have it so that when I hover, the image disappears and only the text behind it is visible. But I came across a problem where the text isn't listening to the div because all the child divs are set to position absolute. What alternative solutions are there?
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Title

2016

Description , lots of image description

A: You can assign:
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to .card to keep the text within the div.

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text:
The Pretty Things Are Going to Hell
The Pretty Things Are Going to Hell.
The Pretty Things Are Going to Hell (Omikron: The Nomad Soul (Stigmata mix)).
The Pretty Things Are Going to Hell (TOTP, 1999).
The Pretty Things Are Going to Hell (Late Show with David Letterman, 1999).
The Pretty Things Are Going to Hell (live, NetAid, 1999).
The Pretty Things Are Going to Hell (Musique Plus, 1999).
The Pretty Things Are Going to Hell (Nulle Part Ailleurs, 1999).
The Pretty Things Are Going to Hell (TVE 2, 1999).
The Pretty Things Are Going to Hell (live, 1999).
Then there's "The Pretty Things Are Going to Hell." That's not a song, that's a CV.
Ha ha! That was really dangling a carrot, wasn't it?
Bowie, Q interview, October 1999.
Rock as put-down or stand-up, "The Pretty Things Are Going to Hell" began as a guitar riff that Reeves Gabrels cut in 20 minutes in February 1999, then earmarked the developing track for his solo album. In May, during the 'Hours' sessions in Bermuda, Bowie came up with a vocal; soon afterward in New York, Mark Plati added what he called a "boneheaded" bassline. Soon enough Bowie claimed the song, considering it a likely single, a good fit for a section of the Omikron video game "where they want[ed] something more rambunctious" and a potentially hot live piece.
He could have called it something like "The Dirty Things Are In Your Face" and let the track sink or swim by its own merits. Instead he impishly made it a reference/homage to (take your pick) the Stooges' "Your Pretty Face is Going to Hell," the band the Pretty Things, the Bo Diddley song which named said band, the two Pretty Things songs that Bowie covered on Pin Ups, Tin Machine's "Pretty Thing" and his own.
Upon the album's release, Bowie kept throwing out scenarios: it was like he was playing a game of charades with his song. In interviews (and on stage at the Roseland in 2000) he called the song a take-off (or "put-down") of the early glam era. And talking to Chris Roberts for an Uncut feature, Bowie said he'd been inspired by Evelyn Waugh's "bright young things" from Vile Bodies, itself the impetus of "Aladdin Sane." "I think their day is numbered," Bowie said of Waugh's lovelies. "So I thought, well, let's close them off. They wore it well but they did wear themselves out, y'know, there's not much room for that now. It's a very serious little world." So "Pretty Things" was a coda for the pre-millennial blues of Outside: a world, hardening and shrinking, that has no space left for the glamsters and assorted fops who'd made the 20th Century remotely tolerable.
The interpretation Bowie offered that struck closest to home, though, was that "Pretty Things" was a comedy song: rock 'n' roll as a creaky burlesque. It was a dig at his current status and what had become of a once-"revolutionary" music at the end of the century. Picking through his career in a SPIN interview at the time, Bowie said "I wasn't sure if I was doing songs or stand-up. Not that I minded. There's a British thing where rock singers and comedians are envious of each other's careers." (True, that: how many rockers wished they were as cool as Peter Cook?).
Bowie complained to Addicted to Noise's Gil Kaufman that reviewers had bungled his favorite pun in the song, writing that he was moaning "life's a bitch and then you die" when he actually was singing "life's a bit and sometimes you die." It's stand-up! I wrote a song about stand-up! he snapped. You can go further on this line: what's a stand-up routine but a man standing center-stage, trying to convert an indifferent, even hostile crowd of strangers to his side? It was a reminder that Bowie's greatest achievement of the Nineties wasn't the would-be concept albums or the hip collaborations. He had remade himself into a formidable live performer, and without using the crutch of nostalgia. "Pretty Things" may have been a spoof, but the few times he played it on stage in 1999 and 2000 it had a pushy, boisterous life in it.
What would have furthered the sense of "Pretty Things" being a dark comic send-up is if Bowie hadn't scrapped its Dom & Nic-helmed video, shot in September 1999. Bowie hired Jim Henson's Creature Shop to design four puppets (allegedly for £28,000): the dress-wearing neo-Pre-Raphaelite of Man Who Sold the World, Ziggy Stardust, the Thin White Duke and the Scary Monsters Pierrot (the latter two just turned up in the "Love Is Lost" video). In the video, the "current" Bowie was stalked and battered by the puppets of his past lives. In an on-line chat in October 2000, Bowie said he killed the video because "the puppets wound up looking like puppets" and thus failed to achieve the intended "Eastern European" vibe that Dom and Nic rather tediously had wanted. Admitting that parts of the video were "downright funny," Bowie said he expected the video to leak: so far, it hasn't.
Then there's the song itself, a rock 'n' roll dunce-show where everything's kept at meathead level: the barely-there C major progression that nods out on an F major chord for the entire verse and pre-chorus (the only spice is an A-flat chord swapped in from the parallel minor in the chorus ("don't know why," "just can't tell")); Gabrels' lead riff is essentially a bend and release of a single string, tarted up with various artificial harmonics, while his thudding verse power chords are panto heavy metal—it's like a shiver of sharks traveling in formation. His two solos are confined to corners of the mix, scribbles in the margins. Plati described his bassline as being "low and ugly and simple—and perfect" ("it's harder to do than you think—it's always easier to play loads of things," he told David Buckley.) Only Mike Leveseque, under the influence of a Keith Moon biography he'd read recently, isn't playing in quotations. His drumming, agitated with tambourine in the choruses and by cowbell during Gabrels' breaks, keeps the track honest, punishing each beat. When he sneaks in the occasional fill, it's like getting a punch in the ribs.
As a studio track, "Pretty Things" goes on far too long (the single edit mercifully crops a bridge repeat) and its mix grows progressively cluttered and wearying on the ear, especially once Bowie starts double-tracking his lead vocal with zombified, distorted voices. There are some subtle puns and occasional wit in the lyric (the singer's looking for a dance partner on a wild Sunday night) but there's also some portentous hooey ("I am a dragon, I am the sky…what is eternal, what is damned"). Back in his glam years, Bowie had said he made "plastic" rock 'n' roll and soul music, but his bands had been too alive, too irreconcilable, to merit the label. Here, making a hard rock preset track for video games and horror movies, he made as good on the claim as he ever would.
Recorded February 1999, London; May 1999, Seaview Studio, Bermuda, with overdubs at Looking Glass and Chung King Studios. A different "Pretty Things" (essentially the same track given a dreadful, murky mix, with an occasional sub-Nine Inch Nails loop for variety) was issued on 24 August 1999 on the Stigmata soundtrack, though perversely another mix (jacked up in tempo) was used in the actual film (both tracks are on the 2004 reissue of 'Hours'); the Omikron: Nomad Soul "performance" is the Stigmata soundtrack version. An edit of the "Hours" "Pretty Things" was issued as the album's lead-off single in Japan and Australia, and as a promo-only CD single in the US. The live NYC version linked above (from the Kit Kat Club, 19 November 1999) was included on the "Seven" single. (Bless the Illustrated DB Discography for making sense of this one.)
Top: Tracey Emin, My Bed, 1998-1999; "Pretty Things" US promo CD.
This entry was posted on Monday, November 18th, 2013 at 9:45 am and is filed under 'Hours...': 1999.	You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
58 Responses to The Pretty Things Are Going to Hell
humanizingthevacuum says:
"boneheaded" is exactly what this song is
Mr Tagomi says:
I found this song annoying and boring until I realised that it's essentially a comedy song. After that I started to like it to an extent.
James Harben says:
I am pretty sure I have seen the video to this a few years back in some obscure corner of the internet. It involves Bowie hammily performing alone on stage to an empty auditorium with occasional cutaways to the puppets which, given their quality (I love Jim Henson stuff and am thus quite biased), are grossly underused. The thin white puppet even smokes! To be honest, given Bowie has a generally high calibre collection of music videos this one is pretty barrel scraping, which fits with the song quite well as it is rather awful. Due to my disinterest I never kept it which was, probably, a mistake. The best I can offer is I found it quite at random on a site that was in Japanese. Anyone out there who can shed any light on this?
Momus says:
If David Bowie had always made music like this I would never have been interested in his career. I would have ignored him the way I ignored Oasis.
In fact, I think I'll blame this lapse on Oasis (clearly responsible for the round Lennon shades Bowie took to wearing at this point) and on the bald prima donna himself, Reeves Gabrels. What an idiotically banal riff to come up with in 1999!
I can only assume Bowie went along with this because a part of him is a canny commercial creative who likes to second-guess his audience, and assumed they would be queuing up to buy this microwave-defrosted bilge at Tesco along with their copies of Q magazine.
s.t. says:
He was going for canny ex-tranny, but we're stuck with canned glam.
Sinj says:
bizarrely I've seen it by chance just in the last couple of weeks – can't find it now, but *without* the puppets. Him gurning away on an empty stage with no audience, which is quite fitting for a song like this.
although *live* it did rock, a bit – thinking Astoria '99.
Anthony Hansen says:
Huh. Never got that this song was a joke. I think I like it a lot more now. "Life's a bit and sometimes you die" is a really clever line when you consider it in that context.
Wait no. Actually listened to it again just now. Still sucks.
col1234 says:
Diamond Duke says:
Again, as with the 'hours…' album overall, this is adequate, but hardly sensational. It definitely livens the album up, which up to that point had been rather on the mellow side. Still, by Bowie's standards, this is perhaps a bit too "dumbed-down," comedic intent or no.
(P.S. I admittedly was able to make effective use of this in my epic Bowie mega-mix, sandwiching it rather effectively between Rebel Rebel and Boys Keep Swinging. Believe me, it does work… 😉 )
Taken with the album, this song livens things up a bit, as Diamond Duke mentioned. But standing here naked and on display, yes, it's a bit embarrassing. I didn't realize that it was intended as a glam send-off, but thinking about it, I guess the riff is trying for something along the lines of 20th Century Boy and Cracked Actor. Just with with metal chug and fret histrionics in place of stomp and swagger.
I always liked the lyrics, and found them to be silly, though more in a Tin Machine way than, say, Eddie Izzard. The line "I am the best jazz you ever seen" is classic Bowie jive talk.
Yes, yes, it's a stiff and stodgy reanimation of something once exciting and alive, but at least it's moving around a bit! It was mentioned in an earlier comment that at least they were trying with with thing, far from the mark though it may be. It's one of the last dashes of 90's irritant Bowie before the wave of restraint and resignation totally overcame him.
I'm with S.T. on this one. In fact, I'm going to be a complete contrarian and say that the track is the sole highlight of the album's dour second half. Chris, I agree with your reading to a large extent, though I would second David Buckley's opinion that the riff is the most infectious one Reeves ever came up with. (I don't always share Buckley's views, but I find him pretty astute on Hours.) As far as dumbass rock&roll goes, Pretty Things pales next to Sufragette City or Rebel Rebel, but it way surpasses a lot of the Tin Machine songs (which may sound like faint praise but it's not really for me.) The key is Reeves and the consummately witty lyric. This and Survive may be Gabrels' finest hour, in fact, which leads me to another thought I had. Could the song be a somewhat mockingly-veiled goodbye to the Gabrels partnership? Did DB and Reeves wear it out, but wear it well?
Pretty Things also seems to me Hours' sole attempt to pull in the kids. (I remember DB bemusedly performing this in front of an audience of teens at the Muchmusic Video Awards in Toronto.) I think somebody (HTV possibly) likened it to Nu-metal. Bowie's ambivalence about going this route (which is more than understandable)is suggested by the ignominious burial of the video, which certainly always sounded like fun.
"I remember DB bemusedly performing this in front of an audience of teens at the Muchmusic Video Awards in Toronto."
yes, tried to find this one on YouTube but no dice. I also thought the video had leaked (& evidently some have seen it) but again no luck.
Maj says:
oh good, somebody else doesn't hate the riff then!
AB says:
I played 'Hours…' a lot at the time, and cannot for the life of me recall the guitar riff of this from memory, the way 'Fashion' or 'Ziggy Stardust', 'TVC 15' or 'Fame' instantly jump to mind. Hell, I can even remember such lesser ones, such as 'Loving The Alien' and 'Time Will Crawl'.
This is why I don't rate Reeves Gabrels. There's simply 10 years of songs with guitars that are 'clever' and intellectually-interesting, but fail to be memorable, exciting or emotionally-engaging, and I say this as a fan of some very abstract, un-pop guitarists.
In the Buckley Bio, Carlos speaks about the role of a guitarist setting the stage for the arrival of the vocalist, and that you can work an audience into a thrilled state before that happens. I never got the feeling Reeves cared about connecting with the audience once way or another.
Dunno, just my take on thing.
In the context of Bowie's whole body of work it's definitely not one of the best songs but back in my walkman days I rarely skipped it, I liked it, did not love it. I still like it nowadays but I rarely choose to listen to it. So that's about it.
Never thought much about the "meaning" of the song, so good to know all this time I didn't take it too seriously was in line with Bowie's, umm, vision for the song. Ha.
I've tried but I just don't 'get' the line – "Life's a bit and sometimes you die". It's meant to be funny, but I'm just not seeing it. Could someone explain it to me? Thanks.
Generally speaking if I have to explain lyrics they're not particularly good.
a "bit" can be a routine on stage, say a comedian like Louis C.K. doing a riff on modern relationships or something. And "sometimes you die": sometimes your act is a flop and you get no applause/booed
agree that as far as wordplay goes, it's not DB's finest hour
True, but neither is "Time takes a cigarette and puts it in your mouth. You pull on your finger, then another finger, then cigarette.."
hey, DB stole some of that one at least
Ah! Now I get it. Thanks man.
Brendan O'Lear says:
I misread the opening sentence as "Reeves Gabrels" cut a 20-minute guitar riff. Probably because that's how the song feels as a listener. The sound of bone-headed barrel-scraping of the microwave… If only there weren't more barrels in there.
Ha, I made the same mistake.
Mike F says:
Like John Lennon's "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey", the most interesting thing about this song is the title. The actual music is instantly forgettable like something a third rate bar band came up with. I find it a bit sad to see clips of Bowie performing it on various TV shows like its a great single.
At least the Lennon song yielded a good Feelies cover.
Kikouyou says:
True! Crazy Rythms and The Good earth, everyone should give a try.
Ididtheziggy says:
I don't mind this song and have absolutely nothing to say about it, which really kinda sums it up. It's obviously a bit of a lark and I guess he Bowie had to give Reeves something to rock out on. Oh well, on to the next one.
Fluxkit (@fluxkit) says:
audiophd says:
This one has always seemed like "rocking-Bowie-by-numbers" to me. Ticks all the boxes but fails to become more than the sum of its parts…rather likes bits of 'The Next Day', actually.
In retrospect, out of all of Bowie's post-80's output, 'hours…' seems like the one album that everyone was expecting the man to deliver and he gladly obliged. Unfortunately what resulted is an overly safe, fairly forgettable album that I play less and less as years go by.
gcreptile says:
When I bought "hours…" the CD package had a sticker on it: "contains Thursday's Child and The Pretty Things are Going to Hell" I always assumed that the latter would become the second single, and that Bowie told me that this is the second best song of the album. So I kind of forced myself to like it, and it was the closest thing to the wildness of Earthling. But in hindsight, it just wasn't that good. Nothing stands out.
Charlie S. says:
I really like the riff but to me it seems wasted and repetitive in this song. I also really hate the boneheaded verses, I'm sure the combined talents of Gabrels and Bowie could have conjured up something more imaginative.
It is kind of fun, but in the context of the mellower style of the rest of 'Hours' it feels like filler, although so do quite a few of the tracks on the album.
Ramzi says:
It's a thoroughly okay song, but it is everything that is bad about Hours; none of the sincerity of the first half, none of the vaguely interesting stuff of the second half, just a mediocre song that belonged to a musician of his age but lesser talent.
I actually like this song, and find it one of the more pleasurable moments on an otherwise forgettable album.
Bruised Passivity says:
Always considered this song to be a satirical tearing down
of the rock star icon so the idea that it's comparing rockers to comedians explains a lot. After reading this entry I now consider it as a thematic prequel to The Stares (Are Out Tonight). I have a love/hate relationship with this song. Love – the energy of Reeves' guitar and the sarcastic lyrics : Hate – the repetitiveness and over processed quality of the mixing. I think this is a case where less would have been more. A solid track that somehow misses it's potential greatness.
Lol, glad we're in agreement on something.
Over the years, I've wondered far more than is healthy about the various song-crediting arrangements on Bowie songs. I've never understood 'Hours' … perhaps until now. I was leafing through a magazine while waiting to get my hair cut and there was an article about film credits and how they should sometimes include a 'but' to help us decide whether to part with our money or not. So you might see a film announcing "Starring 'Somebody Good' but 'Nicholas Cage'", for example. If we regard the hyphen in a 'Bowie-Gabrels' credit as a cautionary 'but', then everything's falling into place.
Reluctantly listened to the song again today. 'Boneheaded dunce-rock' implies a lightness of touch this song just doesn't merit.
CosmicJive says:
Can't say I agree with your Bowie-Gabrels credit thing. I would never see it as a cautionary thing. I think most of the composition they did are fine and interesting songs. In fact if a new Bowie album would be announced with only Bowie-Gabrels songs I would be a very happy fan and preordering it right away.
Eder R. M. says:
Me too, Gabrls is often used as a scapegoat for those who did not like …hours.
jopasso says:
Well, in my opinion this is Bowie rocking by numbers. I don't like it, but then I listen to (You will) set the world on fire, and The pretty things are going to hell sounds like prime Bowie to me
Isn't the rocking by numbers aspect of it part of the joke though?
I think this is a minor DB work as it stands, but it is quite catchy, and if packaged a bit differently, and released in maybe 1988, I think that it might have been a significant hit.
dominiclcarlsson (@sconehenge) says:
Yes, I saw the video on Youtube a few months ago but I guess it got taken down at some point. Odd.
I'm not a particularly big fan of this song, but it's far from the worst on Hours. It's a bit naff (purposely, apparently) but it still holds together better than a few of the other tracks on the album. It's like a "good Tin Machine song", basically.
The production here doesn't do it favours (too clean when it sounds as if it's supposed to be crunchier). As a few people have mentioned the live performances tend to be somewhat more enjoyable.
You'll set the world on fire is a far better rocking song than this imo. This is one of the worst Bowie song ever, unlistenable utterly bad.
I love it! One of my fav Bowie song, because, you know, the 70's are all well and good but too many Bowie "fans" (or 70's fans should i say) are quite.. rigid in ther "appreciation".
And honest, fun, rocking moment. Nothing classic, but nothing wrong. Just good fun. You know, music occasionally can be *just* some good fun.
The joke's not worth the pain, Eder.
crayontocrayon says:
The deep gravelly vocal doubling on this always reminds me of a couple of songs by Thin Lizzy who were regularly produced by Visconti. Not that I can imagine Bowie sitting down and listening to Chinatown but I like to dream that this is the portent of the Bowie/Visconti reunion.
I finally got to see the other songs that Bowie performed on SNL in 1979 aside from Man Who Sold the World. Here are all three on Vimeo:
When watching Bowie's puppet gimmick for Boys Keep Swinging (at 6:33), I couldn't stop thinking about the gyrations of his nearly naked avatar in the Omikron bonus song sequences, particularly for the rambunctious "Pretty Things…" Not only do they demonstrate how quickly flashy techno-tricks can become dated, they both charm wit their goofiness.
The goof of the digital "performance" perhaps was planned, perhaps not…just like the song, actually. Regardless of intention, both provided some direly needed yuks. Life's 8 bit, and sometimes you wiggle in the middle yeah.
I don't take this song to seriously or expect too much from it, so it's enjoyable enough in a light-hearted way. It does feel laminated and sort of squeezed down as a result of being a bit over-produced, and Bowie's vocals are pushed a bit too far back behind behind Gabrel's guitar, but I'll forgive all of that. Sure, it's not a Bowie classic, but sometimes you're not supposed to compare a hamburger to filet mignon.
Hey Chris, in case you haven't seen it yet, it looks like someone reuploaded the video to Youtube a couple of months back.
Albeit with some weird edits added by the uploader to fill out the gaps.
WRGerman says:
Me, I love the song! I always took it as a spoof of the Sex Pistols. I find the only way to listen to this, though, is on vinyl (and that goes for pretty much everything DB's released, post Tin Machine).
but…some of those albums were never released on vinyl, right? i mean if there's a Hours LP out there, it's a digital transfer onto vinyl, which seems kinda pointless
Wrong. It sounds excellent because it wasn't brickwalled during mastering, unlike the CD.
Edit–instead of "wrong", I should have typed something like, "I beg to differ". He sound is much less shrill and grating; I can crank it without my tinnitus acting up.
Oh, and this site is proving to be a real treasure trove of Bowie rarities for me–I never knew about the King Lohmer mix of "Disco King". Thanks for all the research and elbow grease you put in.
alphaandomegaaandz says:
Geesh, all you critics. I think this song is pretty damned good.
Ok song, best trak on hours, dull album,

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You are at:Home»Thematic Investing Channel»This Colombia ETF Has Strong Growth Prospects
Thematic Investing Channel
This Colombia ETF Has Strong Growth Prospects
Ben Hernandez February 14, 2022
Prospective emerging markets (EM) investors have options when it comes to looking overseas for growth. One option is Colombia and the Global X MSCI Colombia ETF (GXG).
EM opportunities certainly had their fair share of obstacles. Obviously, the pandemic roiled EM economies around the globe, and a stronger dollar didn't help their cause.
Certain countries and funds, however, have been able to prosper despite the speed bumps. For example, there's Colombia and the GXG ETF, which is actually up 7.53% year-to-date.
The country's economy has been resilient in the face of the pandemic. The country did experience a Q4 lull, but overall, had an excellent 2021.
"Colombia's economic growth probably slowed in the final quarter of 2021, but is expected to have hit a new annual record after authorities lifted coronavirus curbs and adopted expansive policies, a Reuters poll showed on Friday," a WTVB report says. "According to the median forecast from 16 analysts, Colombia's fourth-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) is forecast to have grown 8.5% compared with the year earlier, slowing from 13.2% in the third quarter."
Colombia Growth Encapsulated in an ETF
GXG seeks to provide investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the MSCI All Colombia Select 25/50 Index. The underlying index is designed to represent the performance of the broad Colombia equity universe.
Overall, GXG gives investors:
Long-term growth potential: Rebounding from the pandemic, Colombia's GDP is forecasted to grow at rates exceeding 3% in 2022-2026.
Targeted exposure: The fund targets exposure to a single country.
Efficient access: Efficient access to a broad basket of Colombian securities.
One of the challenges of investing in any EM market, of course, is the geopolitical ramifications a country can bring. Colombia, specifically, will be experiencing presidential elections in May, which should have a significant bearing on the performance of its equities — something its investors should be aware of prior to investing in Colombia.
"Undoubtedly, politics will be key to economic performance this year and there is a non-negligible risk that it could affect recovery, as well as the medium-term outlook," Andres Pardo, the head of strategy for macroeconomics in Latin America for XP Investments, said.
For more news, information, and strategy, visit the Thematic Investing Channel.
ColombiaGlobal XGXGthematic investing channel


My initial thoughts on the hectic January transfer window activity of Reading manager Jose Gomes were positive.
The five-strong bunch of incoming loanees of Nelson Oliveira, Emiliano Martinez, Ovie Ejaria, Lewis Baker and Matt Miazga appeared encouraging.
I have always questioned the validity of short-term loan signings. How much are they seriously committed to the club?
Many are just putting themselves in the shop window, getting game time and will soon be off elsewhere without a care in the world.
To be fair to Gomes, though, fresh faces were sorely needed in a Royals squad long bereft of cohesion and vitality.
Yet amid my mild optimism about Gomes' busy window of opportunity with his in-tray came the bombshell.
That midfielder Liam Kelly might no longer be wanted at RG2 and could leave on loan.
Speculation linked him with Udinese in Italy and PEC Zwolle – the Dutch club now coached by former Reading manager Jaap Stam.
It was an astonishing development on many levels.
Kelly, 23, is an esteemed academy product, a firm fans' favourite and a 100-per-cent grafter.
And, crucially, he is rightly hailed as "one of our own".
That counts for such a lot on the home front. It should never be ignored.
Gomes could have swiftly alienated the blue-and-white masses with his apparent exile of the diminutive Irishman.
And then, hey presto, an apparent backtrack occurs.
Whether the Udinese and Zwolle connections were real or imagined - who knows, who cares? – Kelly would remain in the Reading camp.
That's right. As always, the rumour mill on the closing days of any transfer window is littered with hype tripe and wrong steers.
And then we learn from Gomes that Kelly, after all, has a future at the Mad Stad and that he would like to help develop him.
Can you fathom the state of Kelly's mind at the moment? "Does Jose want me or not? Does he rate me or not?
For Gomes, the suave Portuguese and new kid on the block, to alienate and/or confuse many Reading supporters – let alone the player - is ridiculously risky.
I suspect that the Kelly conundrum has many miles left to run yet.


In 1939 a maternity home had been started in Piliyandala. When started it ,there was no ambulance also . But that time according to the registers there were about 100 labourers here.
No any other hospital or central dispensary between Wathara and Kalubowila.To resolve this, a central dispensary had been started with this maternity home.
In 1974 male& female wards had been started. Pediatric treatment had been given at the female ward at that time. In 1990 pediatric ward get started.
When the population was increasing, the number of patients taking treatment, started to increase. But when compared to maternity care facilities with other hospitals we were in very lower level,which means no special units and specialists. Therefore numbers of newborn deliveries started to decrease and now it has come to, two deliveries per month.
Dental clinic already started with hospital & medical clinic also held for twice a week at that period.
With these units the maternity home was changed to a hospital. Now it is a divisional level hospital and named as Piliyandala divisional hospital.


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Trains from Garston (Hertfordshire) to Hemel Hempstead
Garston (Hertfordshire)
Home Destinations Hemel Hempstead Trains from Garston (Hertfordshire) to Hemel Hempstead
From Garston (Hertfordshire), our trains run up to 1 times per hour to Hemel Hempstead.
Travel during the off-peak and you'll have more choice of trains and a cheaper ticket as you avoid the commuter rush hour. Off-Peak or Super Off-Peak tickets are our cheapest 'pay on the day' tickets. Don't worry though, when you search for your journey, we'll show you the cheapest options in the results.
If you need ultimate flexibility an Anytime ticket is your best option. You can travel on any train at any time. If your ticket is marked 'London Northwestern Railway or West Midlands Railway' just make sure you get on our trains!
Book with us and the ticket price is all you pay – no hidden booking fees!
Frequent train travellers can save up to 1/3 off every journey with a National Railcard, head over to our National Railcards page and check out the options available to you.
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Download our app for quick journey planning and mobile tickets.
Train journey information from Garston (Hertfordshire) to Hemel Hempstead
How much is a train ticket from Garston (Hertfordshire) to Hemel Hempstead by train?
Catch the train from Garston (Hertfordshire) to Hemel Hempstead from just £6.50 one-way when you book in advance.
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Our fastest train to Hemel Hempstead takes 16 minutes. Journey times may be slightly longer on weekends or public holidays. Use our Journey Planner to access downloadable timetables, live departures and arrivals. Stay connected while on the move with our free on-board WiFi and entertainment service. Access a range of entertainment, including TV programmes, magazines, short films, news and more!
How many trains a day are there from Garston (Hertfordshire) to Hemel Hempstead?
There are up to 22 trains per day from Garston (Hertfordshire) to Hemel Hempstead.
Are there any direct trains from Garston (Hertfordshire) to Hemel Hempstead?
No, it is not possible to travel from Garston (Hertfordshire) to Hemel Hempstead direct. Use our Journey Planner to access downloadable timetables and find information on live departures and arrivals.
What time is the first train from Garston (Hertfordshire) to Hemel Hempstead?
The first train departs from Garston (Hertfordshire) to Hemel Hempstead at 06:25. Book your tickets in advance and enjoy a few more minutes of hitting snooze.
What time is the last train from Garston (Hertfordshire) to Hemel Hempstead?
The last train from Garston (Hertfordshire) to Hemel Hempstead departs at 22:55.
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The Parliamentary panel on Information Technology has summoned Twitter head Jack Dorsey to appear before it on the 25th of this month. The panel met the officials of the microblogging site in New Delhi yesterday on safeguarding citizens rights on social news media platforms. The committee's Chairman, BJP MP Anurag Thakur said after the meeting the Twitter head and senior officials have been summoned on the issue.
On Saturday, Twitter in a statement had cited short notice of the hearing for Dorsey not being able to attend yesterday's meeting. The panel decided to call Twitter officials against the backdrop of growing concerns about safeguarding citizens' data privacy and possibility that social media could be used to interfere in elections.


During our chapel time each day, the employees and volunteers of Christian Appalachian Project gather together to pray for our friends like you. We will lift up your prayer request and continue to keep you in our thoughts and prayers.
© 2016 Christian Appalachian Project All rights reserved. Christian Appalachian Project is a 501(c)3 organization.


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News / Mindanao / PH's tallest Christmas tree lights up in Tagum City
Mindanao, News
PH's tallest Christmas tree lights up in Tagum City
Published December 2, 2021, 2:08 PM
by Philippine News Agency
DAVAO CITY — The tallest Christmas tree in the Philippines was illuminated on Wednesday night. December 1 in Tagum City, Davao del Norte.
In a statement Thursday, the City Government of Tagum said the Christmas tree, which stands at 195 feet, is still the tallest in the whole country.
TALLEST HOLIDAY TREE. The tallest Christmas tree in the Philippines lights up in Tagum City, Davao del Norte on Wednesday night (Dec. 1, 2021). (Photo courtesy of Tagum City Information Office/Manila Bulletin)
Mayor Allan L. Rellon explained the importance of the ceremonial lighting of the Christmas tree, saying it would bring joy to the residents amid the current pandemic.
"This might be unnecessary for some, but the joy this event brings to the people gives hope that we are slowly going back to the normal," he said.
Rellon also assured the public that marshalls have been deployed to ensure that the health protocols are being observed in the area.
Promenaders can take pictures of the holiday tree from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
"I also asked the Tagumenyos to remain disciplined even though we've already achieved the 70 percent population protection," he added.
The Christmas tree was adorned with 6,255 multi-colored bulbs and has a design that advocates for simplicity, durability, and resiliency despite the battle against the pandemic.
The tree features five colors that emphasize different meanings – blue for inspiration, green for growth and harmony, yellow for positivity and hope, white for purity and simplicity, and red for courage.
["mindanao","news","news"]


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Windsor graduate to speak at American Cancer Society's 100-year celebration
For more information or to RSVP for the event, contact the American Cancer Society office at (970) 350-5014, email michelle.trabing@cancer.org, or visit http://www.facebook.com/#!/events/162509720559731.
A Windsor High School graduate will be one of the speakers at the American Cancer Society's celebration for volunteers and donors on Jan. 10.
The reception is in conjunction with the 100th birthday of the American Cancer Society and serves as the kickoff for society events in 2013. The event will be held from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at Island Grove Regional Park's Exhibition Hall in Greeley.
According to a news release from Nancy Clark, events director for the American Cancer Society, two of Colorado's foremost American Cancer Society's funded researchers will be at the event to share their insider perspective on research breakthroughs.
Dr. Carlton Barnett, the son of Pat and the late Carlton Barnett, was born and raised in Greeley and graduated from Windsor High School. He is currently the director of surgical oncology for Denver Health, as well as a professor of surgery for the University of Colorado School of Medicine, Anschutz Campus.
Clark said his research has centered on blood transfusions and cancer metastasis.
Clark said Dr. Tim Byers is a professor in cancer prevention research, and in 2014 will serve as president of the society's national board, which is the highest volunteer position possible within the ACS organization.
Clark said he will speak about the progress that has been made in cancer research and future prospects.
Clark said both researchers have been awarded major grants through the society. She said the most recent grant awarded to a northeastern Colorado researcher was presented in 2012 to David Hydock, of the University of Northern Colorado, in the amount of $421,000 for his work on physical exercise and how this can decrease the adverse effects of chemotherapy.


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Caroline Gombé
Bio/Resume
resume_-_caroline_gombe.pdf
Caroline Gombé 's international career includes credits in film, TV and theatre in both the US and Europe working with prestigious artists on both sides of the ocean. Some of her recent credits include "What happened to Monday?" (2016) , Club Dead (Hulu 2016), Janie Charismanic (Hulu 2016), Digital Physics (Amazon 2016) and a recurring role in the Nickelodeon TV series Alien Dawn (2013).
Due to her facility for languages and accents and training with dialect coaches D.A.Stern at UCONN and her dialect coach lessons with Leigh Dillon (currently) Caroline has been cast in roles speaking in African (Congolese, South-African, Nigerian), Eastern European, French, Yiddish. She is fluent in Romanian, French and semi-fluent in Spanish.
Caroline holds an MA in Acting Performing Techniques at UCONN and a BFA at The National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts, Bucharest, Romania.
As a graduate student she was part of Connecticut Repertory Theatre's productions of Comedy of Errors (dir.Paul Mullins), Hair (dir.Gabriel Barre), Galileo (dir.Gary English), Pericles (dir.Dale Rose).
Upon graduation she became part of The Blind Trip project - NYC 2010 and the world premiere of Train to 2010 at the Tony-Award-winning Crossroads Theatre (dir.Ricardo Khan). In 2011 she played Sophie in the Unicorn Theatre production of the Pulitzer Prize awarded play Ruined (dir.Ricardo Khan) and she proudly became one of the few International members of Actors' Equity Association.
Originally from Romania , Caroline was the first mixed race actress accepted in the National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts of Romania. She was part of the cast of the first production of Chicago at The National Theatre of Romania playing the Master of Ceremony, Liz and cover for Velma Kelly. She also worked in many other theatrical productions in Bucharest and other Romanian cities: The Crucible (Tituba), Biloxi Blues (Rowena), The Cherry Orchard among others. She was also part of the cast of several feature films shot in Romania (Modigliani, Vacuums, Second Hand, Natures Mortes), TV series (La urgenta, Burlacii) and commercials (Zapp, Skoll, Ford UEFA Champions League).
Caroline is also a very talented dancer who was first part of the productions of the musical theatre in her hometown, Toma Caragiu Theatre and then expanded and mixed her dance abilities with the acting work in several projects around the world. While in NYC she worked with one of the most influential choreographer in the world, Dianne McIntyre.
Caroline Gombé is a gifted singer. She was part of several musicals and musical theatre productions and had some solo collaborations with other artists in Romania. She works as a voice-over actress, some of her credits include: Mc Donalds, Tina R, Romanian Commercial Bank, Toyota, Rexona, SunSilk, Head&Shoulders among others.


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Tag Archives: Banksy on record covers
Investment, Record collecting, Record cover art, Street art
Street Art on Record Sleeves — A Good Investment.
August 16, 2022 rockdoc999 4 Comments
My collection of record sleeves with art by the artist klnown as Banksy needs no instroduction here.
There are two covers that Banksy handsprayed. The first was for John Stapleton's Blowpop Records in 1999. Banksy sprayed 100 coovers for a promotional 12″ single by the Capoeira Twins.
And the second was for Röyksopp's debut album Melody A.M. in 2002.
The Capoeira Twins 12″ costs around GBP 5,000 – 6,000 while the Melody A.M. double LP goes for araound GBP 8,000 – 10,000. Both are limited editions of 100 copies (only the Melody A.M. covers are numbered.)
Robert del Naja (a k a 3D) is closely related to Banksy — and a major early influence. Del Naja started as a streeet artist in Bristol in the early eighties. He stopped after being arrested one time too many and concentrated on music, though he still produces art both as paintings and limited edition prints that command high prices. He also designs record covers for his band Massive Attack and for other groups. His limited editon record covers for Massive Attack have increased in value. I have four covers by Del Naja/3D.
The standard edition of VNA magazine No. 26.
The front cover of the "War Stories" box set.
The limited edition of "Splitting the Atom". My copy is No. 576/1000.
The limited edition of "Atlas Air". My copy is No. 085/1000.
Prices of these covers have sky rocketed recently. The limited edtion 12″ Eps Splitting the Atom and Atlas Air can cost upwards of GBP 300.
I have tried not to wander off and collect other street artists covers, but somehow some manage to creep into my collection. The latest is by the anonymous Swedish street artist Hellström, who handsprayed a cover for Håkan Hellström's 2018 Illusioner album.
Hellströms limited edition prints cost around SEK 40,000 – 60,000 (aprox €4,000 – 6,000) and are highly collectible. He made the cover to the Illusioner LP in an edition of 40 (mine is No. 36), considerably fewer than one of his print editions.
One of the most expensive street art record covers is Jean-Michel Basquiat's cover for Rammelzee vs. K-Rob Beat Bop 12″ single originally released in 1983 (500 copies) and reissued several times. An original copy might sell for around USD 10,000. Even some reissues can be quite expensive. However, even the price of an original is far less than a Basquiat limited edition print.
Mr Brainwash designed the cover for Madonna's 2009 Celebration four LP compilation and copies now can cost USD 1,000!
Shepard Fairey has designed several record covers, both as art works that do not contain records and as bona fide record sleeves. He knows his history of record cover design and produced a limited edition series of covers that I felt I had to reproduce for my collection.
This cover design harks back to Alex Steinweiss' first picture cover ffor the Smash Hits by Rodgers and Hart 78 rpm album from 1940. As I have that album, I had yo make a reproduction of the Shepard Fairey cover. Once again, a Shepard Fairey record cover will cost far less that one of his limited edition prints.
These are the street artists I have in my collection. I hope that each will continue to increase in value.
It seems that record covers by estsablished "fine" artists are also considerably cheaper (or perhaps that should be "considerably less expensive") that the artists' limited edition prints. A current example is David Shrigley, a vinyl-lover and part-time DJ, who has produced many record sleeves in very limited editions. These are now quite expensive, but nowhere near the cost of his limited edition prints. Early covers by Andy Warhol are expensive — perhaps up to USD 2,000 – 3,000, while his limited edition prints cost one hundred times the cost of his record covers.
Banksy on record coversHellström street artJean-Michel BAsquiatRobert del NajaShepard Fairey
Album cover art, Record and CD cover art, Record collecting
Additions to My record Cover Art Collection in 2017 – Part Two
January 2, 2018 rockdoc999 2 Comments
I don't suppose I'll ever again be able to add as many covers to my collection as I did in 2017–partly because most of my collections are complete or very nearly so.
I added a few new areas of collection during 2016 and added new covers in these in 2017. I managed to find several new covers featuring Kate Moss and some Banksy covers. It was the 50th Anniversary of many important albums. I have already written about "The Velvet Underground & Nico" reissues. 2017 was also the 50th anniversary of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" and there was a magnificent box set released to mark the occasion. I also found an interesting pastiche of the Blake / Haworth cover art by Jun Fukamachi. And, while on the subject of pastiches I collected several "Velvet Undergound & Nico" pastiches, too.
So, here's a list of covers by other artists that came into my collection in 2017:
BANKSY:
Capoeira Twins – Four (4 x 3) / Truth Will Out" – Promotional 12″ single with hand sprayed cover.
Boys in Blue – Funk Tha Police" – 12″ limited edition single.
Skitz – Badmeaningood, Vol 1 – Digipak CD.
Roots Manuva – Badmeaningood, Vol 2 – Digipak CD.
Peanut Butter Wolf – Badmeaningood, Vol 3 – Digipak CD.
Scratch Perverts – Badmeaningood, Vol 4 – Digipak CD.
Monk & Canatella – Do Community Service – CD.
The Beatles – Sgt.Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band – 50th anniversary box set.
The Beatles – Sgt.Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (outtakes) – Bootleg gatefold LP
The Beatles – Sgt.Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band – Japanese origami stage set.
Sgt.Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band – Pastiche
Jun Fukamachi – The Beatles – Sgt.Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band – 12″ LP.
Gilbert & George.
Gilbert & George – The Thoughts of Gilbert & George – Limited edition 12″ LP.
Karin "Mamma" Andersson:
Beck – I Won't Be Long – 12″ single.
Beck – Defriended – 12″ single.
Beck – Gimme" – Double 12″ single.
Kate Moss:
6majik9 – Kate Moss – Hand painted CD cover.
Babyshambles – Shotter's Nation – 2×12″ LP.
Bryan Ferry – Alphaville / Me Oh My – Limited edition 12″ single.
Bryan Ferry – You Can Dance – Limited edition 12″ single.
Bryan Ferry – Alphaville (Remixes) – Limited edition 12″ single.
Bryan Ferry – Olympia – Limited edition, autographed, 2 CD + DVD and book.
Bryan Ferry – Olympia Remixes – Digital file.
Bryan Ferry – Heartache by Numbers – Promotional CD single.
Primal Scream & Kate Moss – Some Velvet Morning – 12″ maxi single.
Primal Scream & Kate Moss – Some Velvet Morning (Luke Fair Remix) – 12″ single.
Vomit – Kate Moss – 7″ EP.
I had an almost complete collection of covers on both vinyl and CD with Banksy art and was just missing the elusive Capoeira Twins' "Four (4 x 3) / Truth Will Out" promotional single with the hand sprayed cover. None (apart from a couple sold by art galleries) seemed to have been sold for several years but suddenly there appeared a spate of them on Ebay in the latter half of 2017. I managed to get one of them, though unfortunately not the cheapest. And just as I was congratulating myself on completing my collection, a new Banksy cover appeared by a band I have never heard of called Boys in Blue. This was said to be a limited edition of 100 copies featuring Banksy's "Rude Copper" on the cover. I snapped up a couple of copies!
"Four (4 x 3)" by the Capoiera Twins (BLOWP008).
The cover of the Boys in Blue's 12″ single "Funk tha Police".
I also added some CDs–the four "Badmeaningood" series in Digipak covers and a second copy of Monk & Canatella's "Do Community Service" that came in a batch of 23 CDs that I bought for £3 plus £7 shipping!
PETER BLAKE:
2017 was not a good year for Peter Blake's record cover art as no new covers appeared. It was partially saved by the 50th anniversary of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" and Apple released a generous 4CD box set with a hardcover book and posters to celebrate. The box had a lenticuar reproduction of the original Blake / Haworth cover art. Though initially I thought I didn't need this in my collection, I finally succumbed and bought a copy only to be pleased to find that each CD had a different version of the original cover art photo session.
The Beatles "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" 50th anniversary box set.
The Japanese version of the 50th anniversary box set included an insert which the handier collectors could cut out and assemble into a montage of the Pepper band in a stage-like frame. I found one of these cut outs at a record fair and could buy it to add to my UK box set.
"Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" – Pastiche:
The Japanese composer Jun Fukamachi released an album called "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" in 1977. The cover was painted by Fumio Tamabuchi showed the Pepper scene with backs turned to the viewer.
The cover of Jun Fukamachi's "Sgt. Pepper" album painted by Fumio Tamabuchi.
Additions to my collection of covers featuring Kate Moss:
As I already had covers by Damien Hirst and Banksy that featured Kate Moss I thought it would be fun to collect all the covers I could find that she appeared on. I turned up ten more in 2017:
The most interesting were the limited edition 12″ Bryan Ferry singles released by The Vinyl Factory in 2010-2011 with tracks taken from Ferry's 2010 "Olympia" album. There were seven singles released from "Olympia" but only six made it onto Vinyl Factory 12″-ers. "Heartache By Numbers" was the exception and apparently only released as a promotional CD single in The Netherlands.
There was a hand painted CD entlitled "Kate Moss" by the band 6majik9 that was only made in an edition of 100 copies that I was luck to find on Discogs:
2007 6majik9 "Kate Moss" CD-r with handmade cover. Music Your Mind Will Love You.
And a 7″ EP by the American grunge/punk band Vomit also called "Kate Moss" that had a fold-out sleeve with about thirteen Kate Mosses all told.
The gatefold cover of Vomit's 7″ single Kate Moss with at least thirteen portraits of Kate.
Kate Moss was for a while involved with Babyshambles singer Pete Doherty and she appeared on a few of the band's tracks. Sje appears in person on the cover of the Band's "Shotter's Nation" album:
2007 Babyshambles "Shotter's Nation" Parlophone LP.
Kate was also in a duet with Primal Scream on the classic Lee Hazlewood song "Some Velvet Morning" and this was released as a 12″ single and a Luke Fair remix was also released in a black dye-cut sleeve. Some copies, however, had photos of Kate taken by Kate Garner in 1992.
2003 – Primal Scream & Kate Moss "Some Velvet Morning", Columbia 12″.
"Some Velvet Morning" remix 12″ with one of Jane Garner's 1992 portraits of Kate on front and rear covers.
So, quite a number of interesting additions thus far.
In Part Three, I'll list the remainder.
6majik9BabyshamblesBanksy on record coversJun FukamachiKate Moss on record & CD coversSgt. Pepper's 50th anniversary box set


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U.S. Engagement with Indonesia Can Help Prevent Tomorrow's Crises
By John Sipher
Friday, March 15, 2019, 9:06 AM
Photo Credit: EPA via The Conversation
The Jan. 29 Senate testimony by intelligence community leaders highlighted a number of crisis areas that were of little surprise to most followers of the news: U.S. troops and advisers are engaged around the globe working with allies and others to address critical issues in Syria and Iraq, and managing threats from Russia, China, North Korea, Iran and elsewhere. But as intelligence professionals know, much important work takes place outside areas mentioned in the annual Worldwide Threat Assessment.
Although it was not discussed in the Senate hearing, Indonesia deserves particular attention. As the Islamic State's territory dwindles in Syria and Iraq, its supporters are likely to look for new homes in regions where Islamist terrorism has thrived. It is likely to turn toward Southeast Asia; as the New York Times reported on March 9, the Islamic State has made inroads in the Philippines, and it will probably explore Indonesia as well. The modern country of Indonesia has had a tumultuous history since its founding seven decades ago, but in recent years it has developed a thriving economy and stable government. Indonesia's strategic location and large Muslim population make it an important player in Southeast Asia that would merit U.S. attention under any circumstances, but rumblings of renewed jihadism that poses a threat domestically and abroad give the country even greater salience.
Indonesia's geography and demographics demonstrate its international importance. It is the fourth-largest country by population and home to almost as many Muslims as in the entire Arab Middle East. It occupies a strategic location alongside the globe's busiest trading routes. For several years following the ouster of dictator Suharto in 1998, there was concern in the international community that Indonesia could become a failed state. Throughout the 2000s, regular attacks, including bombings in the capital city of Jakarta and on the tourist island of Bali, suggested that Indonesia risked becoming home to globally affiliated terrorist groups.
By 2010, a committed effort by the Indonesian government supported by the United States and Australia had largely defeated al-Qaeda-affiliated groups in the country. Since then, Indonesia has been largely a good-news story. Sustained economic growth, improved governance and a dedicated effort by Indonesian police forces turned things around to the point where the country has now become a key player in the G-20, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and other multilateral diplomatic organizations.
However, there are troubling signs of late. Radical Islamism is again on the rise in Indonesia, and the Islamic State has been making inroads. As many as 1,500 Indonesian citizens have joined the Islamic State in recent years, and the sophistication of terrorist attacks has increased. In 2018, a series of suicide bombings targeting churches rocked the city of Surabaya, with the sophisticated bombs carried by children as young as 9 years old. Before that, in May 2017, the former governor of the Jakarta region was convicted and imprisoned for blasphemy against Islam—a sign that a more radical interpretation of political Islam is taking hold in parts of the country. Even more troubling, President Joko Widodo announced in January that Abu Bakar Bashir, the spiritual leader of al-Qaeda's Southeast Asian franchise, Jemaah Islamiyah, would be granted an early release from prison.
To declare victory in Syria but allow a new home for radical groups in Southeast Asia would be a disaster for the United States and its partners. In this sense, the omission of Indonesia from the annual Worldwide Threat Assessment is less about acknowledging today's hot spots than it is about focusing the administration's attention and resources on areas where they will provide the most benefit in coming years.
Sukarno and the Modern Indonesian State
Indonesia consists of more than 17,000 islands and is home to more than 300 different ethnic groups, hundreds of languages and multiple religious traditions. Though more than 200 million Sunni Muslims live in Indonesia, it does not consider itself an Islamic state like Pakistan, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia or Egypt. There is no reference to Islam in Indonesia's constitution, and the country has a long tradition of religious tolerance.
Modern Indonesia is the inheritor state of the former Dutch East Indies. The independent Republic of Indonesia was established in 1949 following occupation by the Japanese during World War II and the expulsion of the Dutch colonists. At the time of independence, two groups held rival visions for Indonesia. One group, led by the charismatic populist Sukarno, was a largely nationalist movement by the country's largest ethnic group, the Javanese. The other group was led by Sekarmadji Kartosuwirjo, whose militia was focused on creating an Islamic state governed by sharia law.
In 1945, Sukarno took control of the government and oversaw efforts to write a new constitution. His ideology, known as Pancasila, guaranteed freedom of religion, which helped unite Indonesia's numerous ethnic and religious groups. Angry that Indonesia had not become an Islamic state, Kartosuwirjo initiated a civil war that lasted until his execution in 1962 and led to the deaths of tens of thousands.
Sukarno described his system of government as "guided democracy." By the mid-1960s, however, he began to flirt with communism, alienating both the West and his own military. He was deposed by the military and replaced in 1967 by the strongman Suharto. Suharto's "New Order" government, which held power for 31 years, was a centralized, authoritarian and military-dominated regime whose objective was to destroy communism and suppress any Islamist threats to its rule.
Islamic Fundamentalism in Indonesia
Under Suharto, the remnants of Kartosuwirjo's movement went underground and found a second life in Islamic boarding schools, called pesantrens. Clerics and graduates of the pesantrens refused to recognize Indonesia's secular government and openly advocated for sharia law. A minority of the students engaged in terrorism to fight the state. Over the years, these groups have fought under a variety of names—Komando Jihad, Jemaah Islamiyah, Laskar Jihad, al-Qaeda, Jemaah Ansharut Tauhid (JAT) and Mujahidin Indonesia Timur.
Kartosuwirjo's most well-known disciple was the Muslim cleric and godfather of the Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist group, Abu Bakar Bashir. Over the years, Bashir has been tied to dozens of terrorist attacks and been in and out of jail. He has sworn oaths of allegiance to both Osama bin Laden and the Islamic State, and continues to control the JAT terrorist group from prison. Bashir has been the key instigator and supporter for Indonesia's most heinous terrorists. He sent Hambali, an infamous terrorist, to work directly with bin Laden on the 9/11 attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He also supported Umar Patek, the mastermind of the 2002 Bali bombings—who was arrested in 2011 in Abbottabad, Pakistan, just blocks from bin Laden's hideout—and Noordin Top, a key al-Qaeda bomb maker who orchestrated attacks throughout Indonesia from 2003 to 2009.
There are additional signs that Indonesia is insufficiently committed to tackling this problem. In a Feb. 14 New York Times op-ed, Indonesian writer Eka Kurnianwan outlines how democratic ideals are on the wane in Indonesia, and that hopefuls in the upcoming presidential election are increasingly squabbling over who is more committed to the Islamization of Indonesian society. Conservative and radical groups are on the rise, potentially threatening Indonesia's moderating role in Southeast Asia and in the Muslim world.
Indonesia's lack of social unrest and tradition of tolerance have ensured that those willing to engage in terrorism have a hard time building a following. However, rampant corruption, a weak judicial and prison system, and poorly written laws make it hard for Indonesian authorities to effectively battle Kartosuwirjo's ideological descendants. Membership in or recruitment for the Islamic State was made illegal only last year, as part of a sweeping revision to the country's terrorism law. These changes have given law enforcement important tools to intervene before an attack occurs, but they have also been criticized for involving the military in combating terrorism, stripping citizenship from suspected terrorists and criminalizing possession of radical propaganda, which some experts argue could well make matters worse. Even when police do apprehend suspects, the porous prison system allows prisoners to maintain their contacts with other jihadists, and even orchestrate attacks from jail.
While the good news is that the number of Indonesians willing to engage in terrorism is small, the bad news is that access to terrorist training grounds such as Syria has increased. Similar to the generation that trained in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Syria has become a training ground where wannabe jihadis can develop lethal competence before returning to Indonesia. Additionally, Indonesia is one of the most cyber-connected places on earth, and undereducated youth are potentially susceptible to Islamic State-sponsored social media campaigns. This risk has manifested itself lately is the rise in the number of Indonesian women seeking online marriages with fighters in Syria, in the hopes of raising children in an "Islamic State."
Though Indonesia was not mentioned in the intelligence community's report to Congress, it nonetheless requires continued attention and support. It would be self-defeating if resources were diverted from Indonesia due to its absence in the 2019 Worldwide Threat Assessment. The United States and its allies need to continue the slow and difficult work of building relationships, strengthening institutions, and investing in strong economic and political ties. The United States should work with regional partners to reinforce the resources and professionalism of Indonesian law enforcement, continue to build a robust civil society, strengthen the judicial system through training and funding, and work to professionalize the shabby Indonesian prison system. This type of work does not appear on the front pages of U.S. newspapers, but it is our best defense against the rise of serious threats in the future.
Islamic State,
Intelligence Community,
Worldwide Threat Assessment
John Sipher is the co-founder of Spycraft Entertainment, a production firm providing content and talent to the entertainment industry. He is also a Director of Client Services at CrossLead, a software and consulting firm. John is a sought-after foreign policy and intelligence expert. His articles have been published in Lawfare, The New York Times, The Atlantic, Politico, Foreign Affairs, Newsweek, Slate, and Just Security, among others. He regularly appears on the PBS NewsHour, CNN, NPR, MSNBC, BBC and speaks to corporate, academic and governmental groups. John retired in 2014 after a 28-year career in the Central Intelligence Agency's National Clandestine Service. At the time of his retirement, he was a member of the CIA's Senior Intelligence Service, the leadership team that guides CIA activities globally. John served multiple overseas tours as Chief of Station and Deputy Chief of Station in Europe, Asia, and in high-threat environments. He has significant experience working with foreign and domestic partners to solve national security challenges. John also served as a lead instructor in the CIA's clandestine training school and was a regular lecturer at the CIA's leadership development program. He is the recipient of the Distinguished Career Intelligence Medal. John graduated from Hobart College and has a Master's in International Affairs from Columbia University. He has attended a variety of executive courses at Harvard University, Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management, The Aspen Institute, and the Intelligence Community's Executive Leadership program.
@john_sipher
An Abridged History of America's Terrorism Prevention Programs: Opposition Grows, Supporters Adapt
Bennett Clifford, Seamus Hughes, Alexander Meleagrou-Hitchens Wed, Dec 30, 2020, 10:17 AM
An Abridged History of America's Terrorism Prevention Programs: Fits and Starts
Bennett Clifford, Seamus Hughes, Alexander Meleagrou-Hitchens Tue, Dec 29, 2020, 11:16 AM
Did Al-Shabaab Attempt a 9/11-Style Aircraft Attack Targeting the United States?
Robert Chesney Wed, Dec 16, 2020, 2:09 PM
Reflections on the Christchurch Commission Report
Daniel Byman Thu, Dec 10, 2020, 11:49 AM
The Death of Ayman Al-Zawahri and the Future of Al-Qaida
Daniel Byman Thu, Nov 19, 2020, 11:18 AM


Tyah will often reach up to my chin either to give me a kiss or rub her wet nose against me, I'm not sure which it is. All I know is she reaches her little face up to mine and leave a little wet spot on me. Is there any way I can tell which it is?
Well, it IS a sign of affection..... remember bunnies have a scent gland (undetectable to us) under their chin...so it sounds like she is claiming you as hers!
:D Yay! :D I like that I'm hers, LOL.
Oh Ash that is so SWEET!! Tyah sounds like such a cuddle-baby!
Seh si the sweetest thing. The funny thing is she is NOTHING like Julian LOL. No matter how much I prepare myself to take on a bunny who is nothing like JUlian it surprses me how much she is not like Julian, LOL. She doesn't mind being held but it isn't her fav thing. Her fav thing is when you sit on the couch and set her on your lap. She will sit there and allow you to pet her forever.
I'm so in love with this baby girl.


Nothing says "alcoholic" like getting drunk in your very own apartment on a Monday night…and nothing says "struggling alcoholic" like boxed wine. Now, be that as it may, I am proud to say that I am neither of these things (I swear), but I do enjoy the occassional glass of wine or two with dinner or while reading; and I enjoy it even more when someone is there to join me in my downward spiral. Misery does love company.
Misery has a name. That name would be Nick. Nick is an old friend of mine who made his travels all the way from Pennsylvania - Lancaster, to be exact (land of all those things you like to see when you're 7, i.e. Dutch Country, Hershey Park, horse and buggies, and big piles of poop), and he wanted to spend some quality time with his old BFF in his old town. I told him NYC isn't that different from Lancaster…we have big piles of poop here too. Oh, irreplaceable memories. And what's a great accessory for taking that long stroll down memory lane? Breaking out the bubbly? No no, breaking out the BOX.
To make a long night short, this Black Box Wine wasn't half bad. It wasn't great, but it wasn't bad. It was pretty smooth and full bodied (I could totally make another Tiger joke here!), but it had a bit of a "kick" to it. It was one of those concentrated, acidic wines that made your mouth pucker a little after the first few sips. After that though, you're home free. Even Nick said, "this wine kind of grows on you." A safe assessment by our resident Lancasteran. For me, I still have to take into account that it's Merlot - a rich wine to begin with, and it's boxed. Good boxed, bad boxed or hot boxed, it's still BOXED. That said, if you're going to make the sacrifice, I think Black Box Wines is a good bet; not to mention boxed wine can actually be a better option for entertaining due to the quantity for the price, and the fact that it takes up very little room on a table. Win-win.
Disclaimer: I do NOT recommend drinking the entire box between two people. We made it halfway through (about 2 bottles I assume) and that was about all the sulfites and tannins we could take. Please enjoy Black Box Wines for sharing. Because sharing is caring.


According to a new study conducted by Forrester, maturity in cross-channel marketing is low and, despite the adoption of multiple channels in marketing programs, integration, and coordination do not occur consistently.
The global research study, dubbed "The Road to Cross-Channel Maturity," also found that marketers seasoned in email, more than any other digital channel, are in a position to be the ones to lead the transition to the cross-channel marketing era.
The results of the study show that savvy email marketers demonstrated significantly higher rates of data-usage best practices, which was twice as much as the average respondent.
"Practices among marketers in Asia-Pacific (APAC) countries demonstrated the highest prevalence of this mature use of customer data at 36 percent, with China leading the pack at 47 percent," the report summary reads. "APAC also led other regions in overall cross-channel marketing maturity.
Interestingly, 75 percent of the marketers that Forrester identified as "sophisticated marketers" use data in real time.
The study recommends that marketers identify where email is most relevant and influential in the customer's path to purchase and then incorporate additional channels along the path that tie all the communications together.


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Is This Color Blue? Maybe Not
Dnews, News, Video
SeekerFri, June 21, 2019 5:54pm URL:
Turns out, blue is not only a color that's rare in nature, but it's almost impossible to recreate. In order to do so, you need to dive into the physics of color.
Can Some People See More Colors Than You?
https://youtu.be/MdBTMGRHk2g
Blue Through the Centuries: Sacred and Sought After
https://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/23/science/blue-through-the-centuries-sacred-and-sought-after.html
"The first stable blue colorant used in the ancient world came from lapis lazuli, a semiprecious stone mined in Afghanistan beginning about 6,000 years ago."
What Gives the Morpho Butterfly Its Magnificent Blue?
https://www.kqed.org/science/24552/what-gives-the-morpho-butterfly-its-magnificent-blue
"Some butterfly scales are colored by pigments. But others rely on something called "structural color" -– the production of color by nano-sized elaborate shapes that reflect and bend light. Structural color is why we perceive the Morpho butterfly, a dazzling type of blue butterfly found in South America, Mexico and Central America, as bright blue"
Why blue is the costliest colour
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/apr/17/colour-blue-rich-divine-ancient-egyptians-virgin-mary
"The ancient Greeks had no word for blue as we know it today – Homer described the sea as "wine-dark" in the Odyssey – and neither can it be found in the Icelandic sagas, the Koran, ancient Chinese stories or myriad other texts."
Elements is more than just a science show. It's your science-loving best friend, tasked with keeping you updated and interested on all the compelling, innovative and groundbreaking science happening all around us. Join our passionate hosts as they help break down and present fascinating science, from quarks to quantum theory and beyond.
Seeker explains every aspect of our world through a lens of science, inspiring a new generation of curious minds who want to know how today's discoveries in science, math, engineering and technology are impacting our lives, and shaping our future. Our stories parse meaning from the noise in a world of rapidly changing information.
Visit the Seeker website https://www.seeker.com/videos
Elements on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/SeekerElements/
Subscribe now! http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=dnewschannel
Seeker on Twitter http://twitter.com/seeker
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Seeker http://www.seeker.com/
Study: CDC's Vaccine Schedule May Be Harmful To Children
Deposition of Alex Jones – November 26, 2019
The Rundown Live #636 on KGRA – Washington DC Madness, Headlines, Callers
Transgender Man Identifies as a Dog
50 Million Facebook Users Hacked, Google Loves China, Turmoil In Gaza, And Kavanaugh Goes To Senate!
Kristan T Harris Joins Elite Computer Genius DeFango for Kyle Rittenhouse Trial Chat
New Law Would End Social Media Censorship, Big Tech Is Outraged
The Senate Is Being Briefed On UFOs, Its Time The Truth Came Out
The Pension Bomb
Defund Police And Riots Trigger Mass Exodus Of Cops In MN Resulting In Crime Waves


text:
Home / Experience Stern / Faculty & Research / Faculty Directory / Gustavo Schwed
Gustavo Schwed
– Professor of Management Practice
E-mail gschwed@stern.nyu.edu
Gustavo Schwed joined NYU-Stern as an Adjunct Professor in 2013 and became a Professor of Management Practice in 2015. He teaches private equity courses to MBA students and is currently the Faculty Advisor for the Stern Private Equity Club and the Latin American Business Association. Professor Schwed was named NYU Stern's Professor of the Year by the 2015 MBA graduating class.
Prior to joining Stern, Professor Schwed was an investment professional in the private equity industry. During his twenty-five year career, he worked at venture capital and large buy-out firms and lived in and practiced private equity in the US, Europe, and Latin America.
Professor Schwed was a partner and Managing Director at Providence Equity Partners, the world's largest media and telecommunications specialist private equity firm, with over $40 billion of assets under management. Working in the London office, he was one of the partners responsible for the firm's European business. Professor Schwed participated in the fund raising of Providence VI, a $12 billion fund which was the largest industry specialized private equity fund ever raised. At Providence Professor Schwed led several transactions in the telecommunications industry, including the largest LBO in European history at the time and some of the firm's most successful deals in recent years. Professor Schwed was a member of the firm's Valuation Committee and Portfolio Committee, which was responsible for the oversight of the firm's portfolio of over fifty companies.
Prior to joining Providence, Professor Schwed was a Managing Director of Morgan Stanley Private Equity, where he launched and ran the firm's Latin American private equity business out of the firm's Sao Paulo office and became the Chairman of the firm's Global Emerging Markets Fund, Morgan Stanley's vehicle for private equity investing in Latin America, Asia, and Central Europe. He subsequently moved to London where he became one of three partners running Morgan Stanley's European private equity business.
Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Professor Schwed was an Executive Director at Bassini, Playfair + Associates (BPA). He helped BPA raise and manage a $300 million Latin America private equity fund, one of the first of its kind. While at BPA, Professor Schwed moved to Brazil where he opened and co-ran the firm's Brazilian office. He began his post MBA career at the New York office of Sprout Group, the venture capital affiliate of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette (DLJ) where he developed the firm's practice in medical devices venture investing.
Professor Schwed currently serves on the Board of Managers of Swarthmore College, where he is Chairman of the Finance Committee and is a member of the Executive, Nominations & Governance, Compensation, and Investment Committees. As part of the Investment Committee, he is responsible for the oversight of the college's $2 Billion endowment, focusing on the endowment's investments in private equity.
Professor Schwed received a BA with High Honors from Swarthmore College in 1984 and an MBA from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business in 1988. He is a US, UK and Argentine citizen and speaks English, Spanish, and Portuguese.
Private Equity Deal Analysis
Private Equity Finance
BA, 1984
Professor Gustavo Schwed offers insights into Cerberus' acquisition of Remington
Professor Gustavo Schwed is interviewed for a feature story on private equity investment strategy
Professor Gustavo Schwed comments on the recent performance of private equity funds


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Tag: Quito
Wednesday, March 20th 2019 - 21:13 UTC
President of Uruguay criticizes Prosur for "generating another integration with ideological purpose"
Uruguayan President Tabaré Vázquez questioned on Thursday the Colombian-Chilean initiative to create a new integration bloc to replace the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) and argued that the region has a number of integration processes that collide and they become inefficient.
Friday, September 7th 2018 - 09:22 UTC
Latin American countries will receive Venezuelan migrants even with expired documents
Eleven Latin American countries say that they have agreed to allow Venezuelans leaving their homeland to enter their countries even if their travel documents have expired. More than 2.3 million Venezuelans have fled the country's hyperinflation and severe shortages, but many do not have valid passports because renewing them can take years.
Wednesday, August 13th 2014 - 05:34 UTC
Earthquake strikes Quito kills two and violently shakes buildings
A shallow 5.1-magnitude earthquake has struck the Ecuadorian capital Quito, triggering landslides that killed at least two people and violently shaking buildings and homes. Another eight people were injured and three others trapped in the landslides at quarries on the outskirts of Quito, the country's risk management agency said on Twitter.
Monday, August 11th 2014 - 22:30 UTC
Quito, leading destination of South America, at World Travel Awards
Ecuador's capital, Quito, was named "South America's Leading Destination" for the second year in a row at the 21st regional World Travel Awards gala, considered the Oscars of the tourism industry.
Friday, May 31st 2013 - 02:23 UTC
Falkland Islands: C24 must go to the territories and respect their basic human right to choose their own form of government
The Falkland Islands are only asking the international community to support the fundamental human right of Falkland Islanders to choose their own form of government, to exercise their right to self determination, said lawmaker Mike Summers during his presentation at the United Nations Decolonization Committee (24) Caribbean regional seminar, in reference to the recent referendum held in the Islands, whose sovereignty is disputed by the UK and Argentina.
Wednesday, May 29th 2013 - 20:55 UTC
Puerto Rican Lawyer speaks at the UN Decolonisation Committee seminar
At a UN Decolonisation Committee seminar, Wilma Reveron, a Puerto Rican lawyer said that the U.S. has made it clear that they do not intend to allow a true exercise of self-determination in Puerto Rico.
Saturday, May 25th 2013 - 05:34 UTC
Falkland Islands elected lawmaker will attend C24 regional seminar in Ecuador
Falkland Islands elected lawmaker Mike Summers will attend next week the Caribbean Regional Seminar of the Special Committee on Decolonization which is to be held in Quito, Ecuador in anticipation of the main C24 annual meeting in New York.
Thursday, May 31st 2012 - 01:22 UTC
Ecuador calls for an end to colonialism in Malvinas, Puerto Rico and Guantanamo
Ecuadorean Minister of Foreign Affairs Ricardo Patiño called on Wednesday for an end to the remains of colonialism and specifically mentioned the Falklands/Malvinas, Puerto Rico and the US Guantanamo base in Cuba.
Falklands' lawmaker to address decolonization regional seminar in Ecuador
Falkland Islands Member of the elected Legislative Assembly Roger Edwards is scheduled to address the UN Special Committee on Decolonization regional seminar which opened Wednesday May 30 in Quito, capital of Ecuador.
Tuesday, May 29th 2012 - 04:33 UTC
Regional UN decolonization seminar in Quito with Syrian rapporteur
The UN Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, also known as the Special Committee of 24, will hold its regional Pacific seminar on decolonization in Quito, Ecuador, from 30 May to 1 June 2012.


Picture this: your service receives a request and kicks off a database query; the request times out and leaves the query running — leading to an unnecessary database load and possibly starving the database of resources. When services automatically retry requests, the problem is only exacerbated and can bring the most powerful database servers to their knees.
So, how does one guard against this?
While this is a fairly common problem with many platforms, we're solely covering Java and JDBCrunning on a MySQL back-end. However, ideas discussed throughout should be applicable to other platforms and databases.
You can set a timeout on MySQL's JDBC driver. We use HikariCP for connection pooling; it also allows you to configure the pool accordingly, delegating to the driver to set timeouts. This sounded promising.
For anyone who's read the source code of Connector/J, MySQL's JDBC driver, you're probably shuddering at this point. The driver was written when Java 1.3 was all the rage, and received only a few minor updates. The code is spaghetti; full of coarse synchronization and generally inflexible and not very extensible.
Clones the JDBC connection to establish a new connection to the database.
Issues a KILL QUERY <connection_id> query on the new connection, passing in the original connection's ID.
Cloning the JDBC connection each time can lead to problems with the number of available connections a database server may have available — particularly if it is processing runaway queries that are hogging resources. Such a timeout task may not be able to connect to the database to kill runaway queries.
For added benefit, the query sniper inspects the request context and determines how much time it has remaining to run the query before the request times out; thereby, setting fine-grained timeouts on a per-query basis.
We wanted to maintain a separate, pre-established connection pool consisting of a single connection, solely for the query sniper to kill long running queries. That way, we'd overcome the issue of not being able to establish a new database connection. But, we hit a snag. To maintain our own connection pool for this purpose, we'd have to hand-craft our own KILL QUERY <connection_id> statement. MySQL's JDBC driver doesn't expose the transaction ID to allow us to do this.
Sadly, the query sniper just ends up calling Statement.cancel() on a running statement it wants to kill. This still causes the connection to be cloned, etc. just as before.
With our query sniper in place and running in production on a number of systems, we saved ourselves a fair few outages — outages we'd seen prior when testing a new system we built which had a few rogue queries. These outages would continue to happen (judging by the query sniper logging its activities) had it not shot down these abandoned queries.
As much as we'd like to open source this piece of code, it is far too closely tied to Square's infrastructure to be extracted into a separate library. (If you want to see more, you could always join our team.) However, I hope the pattern described above and the code snippet included will be useful to others.
I'd really like to be able to maintain a persistent connection to the database. To this end, I hope to patch MySQL's driver to expose its transaction ID, to allow for hand-crafted KILL QUERY …statements.