When it comes to entertainment, there is no other place in the country that is more fun than Goa. Chances are that, one might not have enough time to fully enjoy all the entertainment options in the state. From nightlong parties, sun-kissed beaches and trendy restaurants to exciting casinos, fun river cruises and amazing carnivals, Goa has it all. Whether its dawn, dusk or midnight, one can never get bored in this state.
Tourists can choose from a wide variety of entertainment options in Goa. Dance, music, drinks and delicious Goan food are the primary elements of the entertainment scene in the state. If you are a laid back person who just wants to relax, then head towards the many beaches in Goa where you can unwind in one of the many beach shacks or just take a relaxing stroll along the beautiful shoreline. On the other hand, if you love adventure, then try one of the many thrilling water sports and if you want to connect with nature, then take a tour of one of many verdant wildlife sanctuaries and spice plantations in the state.
Besides Konkani movies, tourists can also enjoy the latest Bollywood and Hollywood movies in Goa. Just like the people from other states, Goans also love watching movies, which is evident from a large number of movie theaters located in the state. One can even find various multiplexes in Goa. INOX Leisure Ltd was the first multiplex in the state, located in Panaji. It was constructed in a record time of just 180 days and is spread over an area of 40,000 square feet.
One of the largest and the most luxurious floating casinos in Goa, Deltin Royale is the most happening casino in the state. Spread over an area of 40,000 square feet with 4 floors, the casino consists of 123 gaming tables including international games such as Blackjack and Roulette. Moreover, it is home to India's only dedicated Poker Room and an exclusive Taash Room for Indian Flush. The internationally recognized restaurant Vegas Room offers a sumptuous multi-cuisine buffet along with live music sessions. The VIP gaming suits are perfect for guests to stay and play the various games.
Entry Fee: Rs. 1500 (Monday to Thursday) and Rs. 2000 (Friday to Sunday), which includes unlimited food, drinks and Rs. 1000 worth Play coupons.
This casino is known for its big poker tournaments and Bollywood style entertainment acts. The entire casino is spread over an area of 30,000 square foot with three floors, which includes a 10,000 square foot Weather Deck that is perfect for parties. In addition to 40 gaming tables, which includes games like Roulette, 5 Card Poker, Blackjack, Mini Flush, Andar Bahar and Clot Machines, Casino Pride also houses a Kids Zone to keep the children busy.
Located in the popular hotel Neo Majestic, Casino Paradise is a part of The Pride Group, which also operates two other famous on shore casinos namely Casino Pearl at Bogmallo and Casino Palms at Baga. Casino Paradise is the oldest and also, the best out of the three with games such as American Roulette, Blackjack, Mini Baccarat and Slot Machines. Moreover, it also houses the first of its kind Sega (Horse Racing) and Robotic Arm Baccarat station.
A luxury boutique hotel, Chance Casino and Resort is located in Dona Paula, just a few kilometers from Panjim. It is one of the oldest casinos in Goa with a very lively and vibrant atmosphere. The guests are offered a free lavish mult - cuisine buffet along with live entertainment every Tuesday, Friday and Sunday. Special Stay and Play packages are also available for the guests.
Anchored on the Mandovi River, Casino Carnival provides breathtaking views of the capital city – Panjim. Spread over four large decks, Casino Carnival Goa offers high quality entertainment and gaming experience with all the favorite international and Indian games. Moreover, the casino also houses a Kids Zone to keep the children busy, along with nanny service to look after the children.
Goa is blessed with abundant beauty and nature, which is beautifully depicted by its many undiscovered villages and towns. These villages give a completely different picture of Goa and as you walk through them, you will get to know all about the rich culture and heritage of the state. Moreover, the locals love accompanying the visitors on leisurely walks whilst imparting precious information about their lovely beach state.
As you walk through the villages, you will pass many beaten tracks, beautiful water springs and Goan houses. Look at the colorful structure of the houses and admire the wooden railings of the balcony, trimmings of the roof and tiles. Some houses even allow the visitors to view the inside of the house. All these ancient homes depict an architecture that belongs to a completely different era. Surrounded by dense forests, colorful tropical flowers and swaying coconut palms, the roads in Goa are also decorated in such a way that one can easily forget time over here.
One such popular place in Goa that is great for walking tours is Margao. Surrounded by verdant greenery, the best walks in this town are around the Holy Spirit Church square, with beautiful old houses and leafy roads. Another popular town in Goa that is great for walking tours is Panjim. A walk in this town will lead you to the numerous timber-lined avenues, which will make you want to go back in time. Other popular areas in Goa, which are great for walking tours, are Arpora, Calangute and Colva.
Make sure! you carry your sun hat, sunscreen, some food, bottled water and binoculars for bird watching. Avoid going for walks during mid-day, as the sun is at its highest during that time. The best time to go for walks in the villages of Goa is early morning or early evening when the weather is quite pleasant.
More than 10 percent of the state is covered in verdant wildlife sanctuaries. A trip to one such sanctuary offers a day filled with relaxation, adventure and amazing natural scenery.
Tour to Mollem National Park and Bhagwan Mahaveer Wildlife Sanctuary. Located in Sanguem Taluk, the sanctuary is one of the most important and popular wildlife sanctuaries in the state. It is home to a wide variety of plants, animals and birds. It also consists of many temples belonging to the Kadamba Dynasty and the mighty Dudhsagar Waterfalls.
After pick up from the hotel early in the morning, reach Mollem National Park in approximately 30 minutes. Head towards the Dudhsagar Resort and Spa and enjoy a delicious buffet lunch. After lunch, get ready to board the private jeep for a ride through the wilderness of Mollem National Park that is located right in the center Bhagwan Mahaveer Wildlife Sanctuary. Keep a look out for different species of birds and animals. Bhagwan Mahaveer Wildlife Sanctuary is the largest protected area in Goa and is home to Black Panther, Bengal tiger, leopard, flying squirrel, gaur, porcupine, slender loris, sambar and wild boar. Discover the parks wide variety of birds as you venture deep into the park.
The safari ride is around 45 minutes, after which you reach the beautiful Dudhsagar Waterfalls. It is India's fifth tallest waterfall with a height of almost 1000 feet and one of the most exquisite waterfalls in the country. Enjoy the entire evening exploring these stunning waterfalls or take a dip into the fresh water to immediately cool down. Afterwards, head back towards the hotel and enjoy a sumptuous dinner of authentic Goan cuisine.
Other sanctuaries you can visit as day tours are Bondla Wildlife Sanctuary, Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary and Cotigao Wildlife Sanctuary.
India has always been known for its wide range of spices. A trip to any of the spice plantation in the state will prove to be a rejuvenating and a refreshing experience. One can explore the rich spice plantations and get back to nature. Most of them are located in central Goa and some of them are located in the eastern part of Goa in Bicholim district.
A trip to a spice plantation would be very informative as tourists can get to know how the spices are grown and cultivated organically. Some popular spice plantations include Savoi Plantations, Rustic Plantation, Tropical Spice Plantation, Pascoal Spice Farms, Sahakari Spice Plantations and Abyss Spice Farms.
Most tours to spice plantations in Goa start with a warm traditional welcome with a refreshing herbal drink. As soon as you step inside the plantation, a strong fragrance of different spices such as cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg, coriander, black and white pepper, betel nut and chillis hits you, which is mixed with a varied variety of vegetables and fruit trees such as banana, custard apple, cashew, pineapples and citrus fruits. Tourists can also witness the art of Betel Nut tree climbers as they climb 100 feet tall trees and swing from one tree to the other.
After a detailed tour of the plantation, guests are served with a delicious open-air lunch on hygienic biodegradable banana leaves. The lunch usually consists of a lovely fish curry with rice and local vegetables, which is then followed by dessert that mostly comprises of assorted fruits. Some plantations even offer an opportunity to taste the local brew – Feni or Urrak, which is an alcoholic drink manufactured from cashew nuts or coconuts.
Since most of the spice plantations in Goa are situated near beautiful lakes and rivers, tourists can also enjoy various water activities such as boating and fishing. Enjoy the lakeside or go bird watching for cuckoos, hornbills, owls and parrots that flock the various spice plantations in the state.
Goa is often referred to as the party capital of the country. As soon as the sun goes down, the state is lit up with every tourist trying to get to the nearest club. Goa is renowned for its vibrant nightlife with hundreds of different clubs and pubs for every kind of tourist. Whether you want to party till the wee hours of the morning or just unwind with friends and a few drinks, Goa has it all.
For tourists who are on a budget, they can head towards the many beach shacks in the state that offer reasonable drinks along with mouth-watering food. Some popular clubs in Goa include Titos, Café Mambo, Club Sinq, Drift, Cocktails and Dreams, Club Cubana, LPK Waterfront, Cafe Del Mar Beach Bar & Club, Fiplees Pub / Disco, Paradiso and Kamaki. Most of these clubs cater to both local and international DJ's, especially between the months of November and December, which is also the best time to visit Goa.
Sunburn festival in Goa is one of the largest and the most popular EDM music festival in entire Asia. Since its inception in 2007, it has been continuously expanding to the meet the demands of its growing fan base. This festival is the perfect amalgamation of music, entertainment, dance, food and shopping. It was also ranked as the 9th best festival in the world by CNN in 2009.
Besides music and dance, this three day festival also hosts a variety of other events too. There are numerous stalls selling delicious Goan food along with other entertaining activities such as fire-juggling, rock climbing, slippery football, spa treatments, mechanical bull riding etc.
The festival hosts a number of both locally and internationally recognized DJ's including Afrojack, Axwell, Andrew Rayel, Pete Tong, Goldfish, Quintino, Zabiela, Shermanology, Mark Knight, Josh Wink, Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike, Sander van Doorn and many more. Throughout the year, the festival also takes place at different cities across the country. Sunburn is one of the most happening events in the state, which is visited by thousands of tourists from all over the world.


text:
Jamie Bell (Stockton-on-Tees, Billingham, 14 maart 1986) is een Brits acteur. Hij is het meest bekend van zijn hoofdrol in de film Billy Elliot, waarvoor hij in 2001 een BAFTA Award won voor Beste mannelijke hoofdrol.

Biografie

Vroege jaren
Bell werd geboren in Stockton on Tees, Billingham, Engeland, waar hij opgroeide met zijn moeder en oudere zus. Zijn vader verliet hen na zijn geboorte. Op zesjarige leeftijd volgde hij danslessen, nadat hij een meisje niet op de maat zag dansen en aan zijn moeder beweerde dat hij het beter kon. In 1999 werd hij uit een groep van 2000 jongens gekozen voor de rol van Billy Elliot in de gelijknamige film.

Carrière
Sinds zijn filmdebuut in Billy Elliot heeft hij verschillende rollen gehad, waaronder in Nicholas Nickleby, Deathwatch en Undertow. In 2008 speelt hij in twee films: Jumper met onder andere Hayden Christensen en Samuel L. Jackson en een hoofdrol in Defiance, een dramafilm over de Tweede Wereldoorlog. In 2011 kwam de 3D-productie van Steven Spielberg "Kuifje en het geheim van de Eenhoorn" (The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn) uit waarin Bell de rol van Kuifje vertolkt.

Privéleven
Bell was van 2012 tot en met 2014 met actrice Evan Rachel Wood getrouwd. Uit dit huwelijk werd een zoon geboren. Met zijn huidige partner, Kate Mara, heeft hij een dochter.

Clip
Hij was met zijn ex-echtgenote te zien in de muziekclip Wake Me Up When September Ends van Green Day.

Filmografie
 2000 - Billy Elliot - Billy Elliot
 2000 - Close & True - Mark Sheedy
 2002 - Deathwatch - Pfc Charlie Shakespeare
 2002 - Nicholas Nickleby - Smike
 2004 - Undertow - Chris Munn
 2005 - Dear Wendy - Dick Dandelion
 2005 - The Chumscrubber - Dean
 2005 - King Kong - Jimmy
 2006 - Flags of Our Fathers - Ralph Ignatowski
 2007 - Hallam Foe - Hallam Foe
 2008 - Jumper - Griffin
 2008 - Defiance - Asael Bielski
 2011 - The Eagle - Esca
 2011 - Jane Eyre - St. John Rivers
 2011 - The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn - Tintin (Kuifje)
 2012 - Man on a Ledge - Joey Cassidy
 2013 - Snowpiercer - Edgar
 2013 - Nymphomaniac - K
 2015 - Fantastic Four - Ben Grimm / The Thing
 2017 - Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool - Peter Turner
 2019 - Rocketman - Bernie Taupin
 2021 - Without Remorse - Robert Ritter

Externe link

Brits filmacteur

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Each month, West Orange - Cove CISD is pleased to recognize a Student of the Month. Students are selected by their campus and presented with a Certificate of Achievement in front of the WOCCISD Board of Trustees. Recognitions are made by the individual campus principal and Superintendent Rickie Harris.
January 2018: North Early Learning Center's Elijah Gomez is the District's Student of the Month for January. Elijah is very well mannered, kind to everyone, and very helpful. He is also always eager to learn! Congratulations!
He is pictured with his Vickie Price, his campus principal.
November 2017: Congratulations to West Orange - Stark Elementary fourth grade student Alyssa King! She was recognized as our Student of the Month at the November meeting of the WOC School Board. Alyssa works hard in all of her classes and has a positive attitude. She is a wonderful young lady and always has a smile to share. Alyssa was nominated by several teachers.
She is pictured with her principal, Dr. Troy Bethley.
May 2017: Congratulations to West Orange - Stark High School's Cody Dunaway! He is the West Orange - Cove CISD Student of the Month for May. He is an outstanding student who always gives 112 percent! He was presented with the award at the WOCCISD School Board Meeting held at the end of May.
He is pictured with WOS High School Principal Rod Anderson, his parents, and WOCCISD Superintendent Rickie Harris.
April 2017: Jordyn Hooper, a North Early Learning Center student, is the WOCCISD Student of the Month. She is always eager to learn new concepts. Jordyn is always willing to help her friends and teachers anytime asked. She is very sweet and wants to make her friends happy.
She is pictured with her Principal Sherry Hardin and Superintendent Rickie Harris.
March 2017: London Stroud is the West Orange - Cove CISD Student of the Month. London is an exceptional 4th grade student at West Orange - Stark Elementary. She is a member of the very first group inducted into our newly-formed chapter of the National Elementary Honor Society. London is a Mustang through and through, and brings her shining light and spirit to the hallways of WOSE every day. You will always see her smiling!
She is pictured with Principal Glenetta Henley and Superintendent Rickie Harris.
Photo not available. February 2017: Congratulations to West Orange - Stark Middle School student Drayden Bradberry! He was honored at this week's meeting of the Board of Trustees. WOS Middle School Principal Dr. Anthony Moten said, Drayden is an outstanding student, with a great smile, and personality to match. He is also always willing to help. Congratulations, Drayden!
January 2017: Yunique Lofton is a the WOCCISD Student of the Month for January. Congratulations!! She is a student at North Early Learning Center. She is a class leader, helps her classmates, and is always eager to learn.
She is pictured with Principal Sherry Hardin and Superintendent Rickie Harris.
November 2016: Congratulations to Zachery Nation!! He is a the WOCCISD Student of the Month for November. He is a West Orange - Stark Elementary School fifth grade student of excellent character. He is a member of the Student Council and National Elementary Honor Society. Zachery is kind to everyone and treats classmates and teachers with respect.
He is with pictured with Assistant Principal Karl Whitley and Superintendent Rickie Harris.
October 2016: Amori Haley is a the WOCCISD Student of the Month for October. Congratulations!! She is a West Orange - Stark Middle School eighth grade student selected by teachers on her campus as a model student. Amori earns great grades and exhibits outstanding classroom performance. Additionally, she is the parliamentarian of the National Junior Honor Society and is a member of the school's performance choir. Amori is currently enrolled in Spanish II and Algebra I, and works as an office aid. She plans to attend Prairie View A & M, Rice, or Harvard to become a surgeon.
Amori is pictured with WOS Middle School Principal Dr. Anthony Moten and WOCCISD Superintendent Rickie Harris.
September 2016: Congratulations to Kaitlyn Winn! She is a West Orange - Stark High School senior. She was nominated for the honor by her Science teacher, Mr. Washburn. In the nomination, Mr. Washburn writes, "Well-liked and well-respected by both her peers and teachers she consistently exemplifies the leadership qualities that most students only dream of possessing. She has a delightful positive attitude that combines with her strong work ethic to result in a young woman who is a pleasure to know." Additionally, Kaitlyn is enrolled in Advanced Placement courses, is involved in Student Government, and is in the top 20% of her class.
Kaitlyn is pictured with WOS High School Principal Rod Anderson and WOCCISD Superintendent Rickie Harris.


Spring, 2000; MWF 10-10:50 a.m.
A study of a representative selection of women's fiction, poetry, and drama, focusing on questions of women's styles, preferred genres, and place in the literary tradition. Readings may vary from year to year.
In this course we will study how a variety of women authors both respond to and reshape a tradition of literature that has typically been sexed as male and gendered as masculine. Issues we will explore in this course include their choice of themes and genres, the relationship between expectations for women writers and readers and what women wrote and read, the changing social role of the woman author writing for herself and for others across several centuries of cultural change, and the ways that racial, class, and national affiliations affect the production and reception of women writers' works.
Class Participation and Attendance: Class participation is, of course, required. To participate, you must complete the reading assigned for each class session and think carefully about what you have read. Your attendance is therefore important. You will not be penalized for your first three absences; thereafter, your final course grade will drop one grade (i.e., B+ to B) for each day missed. Excessive absences (five or more) may result in failure of the course. While I appreciate your offering explanations for absences, the only way to excuse an absence is to provide me with an official letter from your dean or an official notice of illness from the Health Center.
Leading Class Discussion: Depending on the number enrolled, students will sign up individually or in pairs to initiate discussion for one of our class sessions. Discussion leaders will encourage us to explore the connections between the secondary readings and our assigned primary reading. In most cases discussion topics are provided below. Students leading discussion should contact me in advance to confirm the focus of their discussion questions.
Papers and Response Papers: You will write two papers, one short (4-5 pp) and one long (8 pp), on topics of your choosing in connection with our readings. The longer paper should incorporate both your own readings of a particular text or theme as well as a certain amount of research; more detailed instructions will be distributed during the semester. Both papers should follow the general rules of composition and be typed or word-processed with standard double-spacing, 1-inch margins, and either 10- or 12-point typeface. Title pages and cover sheets are unnecessary. Pages should be numbered, stapled together, and spell-checked. Papers are due by the date and time on the syllabus; late papers will be penalized one grade (i.e.: A to B) for each day late.
Electronic Bulletin Board: To offer another venue for discussion, we'll start using an electronic bulletin board next week; technical details will follow shortly. Each student should post at least once a week to the bulletin board, responding to an existing thread of the conversation or initiating another; weekly postings will count for 5% of your class participation grade. I'll monitor these conversations, and may also participate, but I see the bulletin board primarily as a way for you to raise issues we haven't addressed--or addressed fully or to your satisfaction--during our regular class meetings. Though extra postings to the bulletin board will not automatically replace participation in our class discussions, regular contributions above and beyond your weekly posting can certainly improve your class participation grade.
Grading: The two papers will count for 40% of your final grade (15% and 25% respectively); the response papers will count for 20% of your final grade. Class participation (20%) and a final exam (20%) complete the requirements.
(119-132 ); excerpts from Rhys' letters & facsimile of mss.
Discussion #5: Wide Sargasso Sea as Rhys' Jane Eyre?
168-170); and Drake, "Race and Caribbean Culture..."


text:
Out with the old...
My 100 favorite recordings of 2014
No genre limitations. Listed without comment. Decided on after much consideration and reconsideration. I love these albums and wish I had the time in 2014 to write about more than a handful of them. I feel the need to get these down on paper, for myself if no one else, so I can move on with my life...
Note: links go to videos, reviews, the album itself for download, etc.
100. For All the Girls, 70 Love Songs (Self-Released)
99. Advance Base, Plastic Owen Band (Orindal)
98. Curren$y, Saturday Night Car Tunes and More Saturday Night Car Tunes (Self-released)
97. Ela Stiles, Ela Stiles (Bedroom Suck)
96. EDJ, EDJ (Easy Sound)
95. Circulatory System, Mosaics Within Mosaics (Cloud)
94. The Royal Landscaping Society, The Royal Landscaping Society (Beko)
93. Lecrae, Anomaly (Reach)
92. The Hobbes Fanclub, Up at Lagrange (Shelflife)
91. Zammuto, Anchor (Temporary Residence)
90. Ray Price, Beauty Is...The Final Sessions (AmeriMonte)
89. Circus Devils, Escape (Happy Jack)
88. The Steinbecks, Kick to Kick With the Steinbecks (Matinee)
87. Soft Science, Detour (Test Pattern)
86. Archibald Slim, He's Drunk! (Awful)
85. Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives, Saturday Night/Sunday Morning (Superlatone)
84. Virginia Wing, Measures of Joy (Fire)
83. Your Friend, Jekyll/Hyde EP (Domino)
82. Tinniens, Dub Guns (Geographic North)
81. Pharoahe Monch, P.T.S.D. (W.A.R.)
80. Shabazz Palaces, Lese Majesty (Sub Pop)
79. Ambrose Akinmusire, The Imagined Savior Is Far Easier to Paint (Blue Note)
78. Carla Bozulich, Boy (Constellation)
77. Alpaca Sports, Sealed With a Kiss (Luxury)
76. Stanley Brinks and the Wave Pictures, Gin (Fika)
75.Andrew Bird, Things Are Really Great Here...Sort Of (Wegawam)
74. The Popguns, Pop Fiction (Matinee)
73. Georgia Anne Muldrow, Oligarchy Sucks (Some Otha Ship)
72. Set in Sand, What Is This Place (Audio Dregs)
71. Dierks Bentley, Riser (Capitol)
70. PRhyme, PRhyme (PRhyme)
69. Mobb Deep, The Infamous Mobb Deep (Infamous)
68. Amen Dunes, Love (Sacred Bones)
67. Taken By Savages, Taken By Savages (Self-released)
66. Taylor McFerrin, Early Riser (Brainfeeder)
65. Ultimate Painting, Ultimate Painting (Trouble in Mind)
64. Generationals, Alix (Polyvinyl)
63. YG, My Krazy Life (Def Jam)
62. Prince, Art Official Age (Warner Bros)
61. Willie Nelson, Band of Brothers (Legacy)
60. Anthony Atkinson and the Running Mates, Broken Folks (Lost and Lonesome)
59. Dragon Turtle, Distances (Oscillating Color)
58. Umbra Sum, Aún no has demostrado nada (Acuarela)
57. Cosines, Oscillations (Fika)
56. Sunny Sweeney, Provoked (Thirty Tigers)
55. The Wendy Darlings, The Insufferable Fatigues of Idleness (OddBox)
54. Lewis & Clarke, Triumvirate (La Société Expéditionnaire)
53. Flying Lotus, You're Dead (Warp)
52. Should, The Great Pretend (Words on Music)
51. One Happy Island, Your Flaws Aren't Picturesque (weePop!)
50. Ben and Ellen Harper, Childhood Home (Prestige Folklore)
49. Landlady, Upright Behavior (Hometapes)
48. Guided by Voices, Motivational Jumpsuit (GBV Inc)
47. Bear in Heaven, Time Is Over One Day Old (Dead Oceans)
46. The Pains of Being Pure At Heart, Days of Abandon (Yebo)
45. Leonard Cohen, Popular Problems (Columbia)
44. Withered Hand, New Gods (Slumberland)
43. Steve Gunn, Way Out Weather (Paradise of Bachelors)
42. Toni Braxton & Babyface, Love, Marriage and Divorce (Motown)
41. Mick Jenkins, The Water(s) (Cinematic)
40. The Luxembourg Signal, Distant Drive (Shelflife)
39. Alvvays, Alvvays (Polyvinyl)
38. Literature, Chorus (Slumberland)
37. Rome Fortune, Beautiful Pimp II (self-released)
36. The Zebras, Siesta (Jigsaw/Lost and Lonesome)
35. clipping, CLPPNG (Sub Pop)
34. Let's Whisper, As Close As We Are (weePop!)
33. Melbourne Cans, Moonlight Malaise (Lost and Lonesome)
32. Jerry David DeCicca, Understanding Land (self-released)
31. Pattern Is Movement, Pattern Is Movement (Hometapes)
30. Jason Anderson, Cold Cold Rain (self-released)
29. Jennifer Castle, Pink City (No Quarter)
28. Schoolboy Q, Oxymoron (Top Dawg/Interscope)
27. Brian Blade and the Fellowship Band, Landmarks (Blue Note)
26. J Cole, 2014 Forest Hills Drive (Dreamville/Roc Nation)
25. Sun Kil Moon, Benji (Caldo Verde)
24. Lee Ann Womack, The Way I'm Livin' (Sugar Hill)
23. A Sunny Day in Glasgow, Sea When Absent (Lefse)
22. Big K.R.I.T., Cadillactica (Def Jam)
21. Hallelujah the Hills, Have You Ever Done Something Evil? (self-released)
20. Jenny Lewis, The Voyager (Warner Bros)
19. Auburn Lull, Hiber (Geographic North)
18. Greg Gives Peter Space, Greg Gives Peter Space (Erased Tapes)
17. Haley Bonar, Last War (Graveface)
16. The Rosebuds, Sand + Silence (Western Vinyl)
15. Angaleena Presley, American Middle Class (Slate Creek)
14. Architecture in Helsinki, Now + 4eva (Casual Workout)
13. Benjamin Shaw, Goodbye, Cagoule World (Audio Antihero)
12. The Caribbean, Moon Sickness (Hometapes)
11. Nicholas Krgovich, On Sunset (Tin Angel)
10. Common, Nobody's Smiling (Def Jam)
9. Allo Darlin, We Come From the Same Place (Slumberland)
8. Fear of Men, Loom (Kanine)
7. Bitchin Bajas, Bitchin Bajas (Drag City)
6. Father, Young Hot Ebony (Awful)
5. The Iceypoles, My World Was Made for You (Lost and Lonesome)
4. Freddie Gibbs and Madlib, Piñata (Stones Throw)
3. Sylvan Esso, Sylvan Esso (Partisan)
2. Taylor Swift, 1989 (Big Machine)
1. The Happy Couple, Into the Woods (Felicite)
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Colin Clary, Twee Blues Vol. 1
The affable Colin Clary and his bands – the Smittens and Let's Whisper, primarily – might seem the epitome of "twee" to many listeners: gentle, sweet. Yet rather than take that as an insult, Clary seems to embrace the notion; even, at times, to turn the aesthetic into a countercultural call for a particular way of life, built on openness, tenderness, peace.
As optimistic as his music can be, it's always struck me that there's a deep strain of sadness or at least melancholy within it. I don't think it would work so well without it. So, the idea of "twee blues" makes sense – even though, as a musical idea, twee blues might seem an oxymoron.
Twee Blues, Vol. 1 (Wee Pop) isn't a cross between indie-pop and blues, exactly, but it is a version of the former with instruments and sounds pulled from music that's somewhere sort-of getting relatively closer towards music that touches the edges of the blues genre. For the LP Clary has pulled together a band – Brad Searles and Brad San Martin – that manages to add some eclectic touches while staying focused and together. There's slide guitar, little horns and things, and occasional nods towards the folksier of Neil Young's work, or a variety of "singer-songwriters". Yet it also sounds like a typically melodic, clever, in-love-with-music Colin Clary indie-pop record.
The first line of the first song: "It's hard to find out not everybody wants to be your friend." Coming from a singer who often presents himself as everyone's friend, it comes across as confession. The line is delivered like advice to someone younger, but also a reaching out, a longing to hear that a friend is OK. If the song seems light in tone, a friendly message from one person to another, underneath it is not. Beyond the personal, it also carries an acknowledgement of life's fragility: "things break down."
There's intentional complexity of feeling/sound here, but also songs that are intentionally direct and even repetitive. Clary will often take a sentiment and repeat it like a mantra or lesson. Some examples – "guess I gotta say it / don't think it out"; "Give it some time she said / you've gotta give it some time"; "hey I got a notion / ooh / Atlantic Ocean", "would you love me forever / baby baby please".
There's rumination going on here. But often, the songs are swift and sweet like the Smittens', with a sense of humor and, of course, a music collector's reference points. There's a song that nicks a Fleetwood Mac lyric and a love song that begins, "you're the DJ / I'm the rapper". I love the confident, playful announcement, "I wanna be in the bad girls club", from the song "Bad Girls Club". That song has a certain '50s greaser garage-rock-ish tone that emerges also on "She's a Motorcycle" and "Boogiepop (Don't Stop)".
Those put together with references to farm animals, wizards and album-cover models show that Colin Clary has developed his own personal language of what he thinks is cool, as we'd expect all interesting artists to.
Architecture in Helsinki, Now + 4eva
Across their 14 years, the Australian group Architecture in Helsinki has shape-shifted, and not. The essence of their music has been the same – using melody, rhythm and varied instrumentation on pop songs about life/death/love, with a poetic sense of whimsy. Yet to an extent they've changed up the language they use. They started with small, orchestral-leaning pop, took that in a more epic direction, and then in a more hyper one with a dance-club hiding beneath the chaos. They took four years between albums, and then, for 2011's Moment Bends, streamlined their sound, taking those same elements in a sleek direction that was both tropical and futurist in tone.
Now, in 2014, they're starting with that same minimalist foundation (working with the same producer, Franc Tétaz of Gotye fame) and loading it with 1980s pop touchpoints galore. The opening song "In the Future" immediately reminds me of '80s aerobics videos and Madonna, a clear influence through the album. The low background voice uttering "are we in the future/living in the future" alone offers a wealth of '80s memories for me: a baritone voice uttering "pop goes the world", the spoken voices behind Whitney Houston telling us to dance, and on and on.
It's not just the '80s, though that is the dominant vibe. They take a '60s pop song (Jackie DeShannon's "When You Walk Into the Room") and make it sound like an '80s prom. They end the album with a party song also in a 1960s mold, where you can easily imagine a group of men in matching suits doing a dance number. Yet the lead vocals on that song are Kellie Sutherland singing like Madonna, as she does through much of the album. Which means we think of the '60s and the '80s at once – which means, of course, The Big Chill soundtrack and its wake. Or, if you're slightly hipper, the Style Council.
At the start of "U Tell Me", singer Cameron Bird throws a pseudo-goth effect on his voice, to echo that he's singing about the dead, visiting catacombs. There's a very Prince-like keyboard in that song too, within its sort-of reggae, sort-of Miami Vice feeling. On "April" he takes us into ballad territory – not power ballads, more like white teen-pop-ers trying to pull off an R&B slow jam. "Born to Convince You" conjures up creepy '80s stalkers with hints of Tears for Fears and even something like a Glenn Frey or Don Henley hit. "2 Time" resembles rollerskating music, perhaps rollerskating to "Heart of Glass" as interpreted by a breathless pop diva that came in its wake. Sutherland throws a little Madonna-ish rap into the mostly Bird-sung "Boom (4eva)", a song, like many here, about falling in and out of love.
I've been focusing on the musical influences and touchpoints here, but I could just as easily be writing about the heartbreak in these songs, the way it, like many great pop albums, often feels like a break-up album when you listen closely. But if it is one, it's also an overly hopeful, positive one which is also about nonconformity, about smiling and dancing in the face of oblivion and certain doom. On "Echo", the protagonist asks someone, "have faith in me / don't ask me why-y-y-y-y". I get the sense throughout the album that beneath the bright colors, the grooves and the fun looking-back costume-wearing, there's a mass of pain, grief and uncertainty.
On "Before Tomorrow", one of the clearest party anthems but also a likely breakup song, Sutherland sings, "there are times when all our people keep their problems alive / we'll be floating backwards into the sun." Is this escapism or suicide? And which direction are we going, forward or back? And again, the future and past are mixed up: "Make some history for tomorrow", she beckons.
What Architecture in Helsinki is up to here doesn't seem like nostalgia. They're repurposing specific elements of pop music past, utilizing all of the emotions and sensory reactions tied up in those memories, and combining them into something that nonetheless feels fresh.
As basically a child of the '80s, I'm eating up the mixing and matching they're doing, within songs that still hit on all of the reasons I've been an Architecture in Helsinki fan since the early 2000s. Basically this album almost made me stay up all night watching music videos of one-hit wonders from the '80s instead of finishing this review.
But I had to finish it, because I'm feeling completely out-of-step with other critics on this one. Look through all of the major Internet music sites and you'll find negative reviews: Pitchfork, Paste, AllMusic, and so on. I don't relate to those reviews in any way; they seem to be punishing the band for not sounding enough like they did when the writers first heard the band.
Somehow the album itself seems to anticipate this reaction. The album overtly acknowledges that the band is out of tune with the trends of our time, in its navigation of past decades and in the songs' expressed uncertainty about where they belong. "Is this the future? Are we in the future?"
REW<<, Departeures
There are palm trees on the cover, and the first song starts out with a vaguely tropical feeling before turning into something closer to a French-pop duet. A song midway through starts out with ambient sounds that very closely resemble (and probably are) the sounds you hear when you're settling into an airplane seat and getting ready for takeoff. The final track, "Arriver" (as opposed to the opening track, "Departeures"), ends with a pilot's loudspeaker announcement and some kind of field recording of applause.
This is a travel album, one created during journeys which also replicates the disorientation and beauty of being on the move, abroad. It does that mainly through rather gorgeous, shifting dream-pop, consistently melodic (in a sticks-in-your-head even if you're not sure what he's saying way), but also with the directness of folk or punk. REW<< is Ryan Weber, who is half of the somewhat similarly focused duo Eric & Magill, and also has played in emotionally direct groups like the Promise Ring and its rootsier relative Decibully. That past is here somehow, though not so close to the surface that you'd guess it without knowing.
Departeures was recorded in "hotel rooms and train compartments" in Asia and Africa, and is largely a one-person affair. The music feels carefully put together by someone with a lot of time on his hands; and a laptop that able to be recharged at airports across the globe. These songs seem solitary, too; focused within the brain of the traveler, asking questions of himself like, "Where do I go from here?" or expressing thoughts like "it's getting tougher all the time."
Listening, though, I never imagine that those questions and thoughts pertain just to travel itself, but are more a reflection of how travel, especially solitary travel, presents a unique opportunity for contemplation.
It may be rare for a DIY pay-as-you-wish "singer-songwriter" bandcamp album, even one for the laptop era, to warrant an additional instrumental version of the album. Yet this one has it, and deserves it. My ears and mind are drawn more often to the music and the ever-shifting textures of Departeures than I am to the singing and lyrics. Or rather, the vocals are just one more piece of the fabric; they unite with the synthesizers, acoustic guitars and unexpected or unidentifiable sounds.
As an album it floats by quickly, but not without permeating your thoughts. Like travel itself, perhaps?
http://rew-music.bandcamp.com/album/departeures
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On the challenges of writing about music in 2014
Excuse me, if you will; a moment of introspection.
This piece could be just as easily titled "On the challenges of parenthood" or "On the challenges of owning a house" or "On the challenges of having a job you like" or "On the challenges of being a music obsessive who also is interested in other things". Or "On the challenges of being alive".
It's all related to time. Growing up = losing your grasp on time.
I've written about music as a hobby for 20 years. Every time I write, I feel the specter of time over my head. It says, "why are you writing about this one when you're further behind on this other one?", or "when are you going to write your dream project", or "you aren't as good a writer as you would be if you had more time", or "why are you writing when you should be doing [fill in the blank]?"
I read an interview once with Nick Hornby where he talked about his early career as a music critic and how no one can write about music for too long without getting burnt out on it. 20 years hasn't burnt me out on music at all. If anything, it's the opposite. The more time I spend writing about music or reading about music or listening to music, the more excited I get about doing more writing, more reading, more listening. Every week I learn about another musician I want to hear more of; some weeks I learn about several.
Feeling the crush of time makes me always feel like I'm missing out on a great band or album. It makes me always feel like I'm wasting my talents (so to speak) even when I'm happy with what I wrote. It makes me think again and again about writing something, without ever actually writing it. It makes me spend too much time writing about how little time I have, apologizing for not writing enough, and coming up with plans that I'm sure are going to help me manage my time better, but never do.
It can't just be about aging. It is true that we have instant access to more bands and albums than ever before. If I wanted to, I could stay up all night just listening to bands I've never heard of before, who sound great. It used to take effort to hear a band that I read about in a magazine, words that were written months before. We've gained and lost from that change.
As time goes on, I get more interested in more types of music. This has been my trajectory since birth. I plan on it being true until the day that I die. But the more I get into, the harder it is to write about it all. Actually the harder it is to write about anything, because to write (or at least, to write well) you have to slow yourself down and pay attention, stop yourself from hunting and gathering at hyper-speed.
I am disillusioned with the current state of music criticism, even while I am part of it. This leads to a kind of paralysis tied to self-doubt. Should I write about music on a blog? Yes, I should, but I hate most blogs; they're so shallow. Your average music writer for a blog seems to listen to an album once or twice before deciding definitively on it. I want to listen ten times, at least, before writing a word, and still never be sure if I'm right.
Should I write about music for a print magazine? I do, but it takes forever between the writing and the publishing, and the word counts are so small, and it always ends up feeling anticlimactic when it's published and I hold it in my hand. Should I write a book? I read books, I love books, I collect them. But what to write about, and how?
Most years lately I end up delaying writing about many, many albums until I get to the end of the year, when it's free time for everyone to share their opinions left and right, to an increasingly suffocating degree. I can vote in some year-end polls, write a few short year-end blurbs, and feel like I wrote about more music than I really did.
I can feel like I contributed to the overall conversation about music, even though the number of times I actually wrote about music in the year is minuscule compared to the number of articles I wrote in my head.
And the new year will start, and I'll feel hopeful that this year will be different. This year I'm going to write more, I'm going to choose more carefully, I'm going to edit myself better, I'm going to make every word count. I'm going to turn my barely-used website (4 posts in a year?) back into something people want to read. I'm going to get out those ideas that have lingered in my head for years, and make them work. And at the same time I'm going to keep up with all of the great music that comes out. I'm not going to feel like I missed out.
This conversation with myself is going to continue for the rest of my life. I don't see any way that it won't, unless I figure out the magic formula or give up. And I've always declared that I won't give up. I'm going to be the 80-year-old in the concert audience with all 20-year-olds. I already feel like him sometimes. I'm going to stay interested in new music and old music and all music. I'm not going to tell people, "oh I'm so out of touch, I don't even pay attention to music anymore."
I'm going to be writing about music, because I don't see any other way. And I'll probably still be telling myself, next year is going to be better, next year I'm going to get it right.
(Or maybe this year will be that year?)
25 Years Ago: Road to the Riches
March 14 marks the 25th anniversary of the release of De La Soul's playful-rap classic Three Feet High and Rising. It's a date likely to be noticed, in part because of the trio's recent headline-making move to put their music online for free; but also because of the creativity, in form and specifics, of the album.
And also because it's one of those hip-hop albums that non-hip-hop fans find themselves drawn to, one that's entered the pantheon of 'rock' music, likely to be hailed by, say Rolling Stone or Spin. In other words, it appealed to 'cool' middle-class white people. (A memory from a summer job in my teenage years: while discussing music with a black co-worker, she asked, "why do you white people like De La Soul and Public Enemy so much?") .
The album's message of nonconformity through individual expression, combined with their overall look at the time, made it likely to be classified as "alternative", something the group fought hard against but has also occasionally embraced.
Another landmark hip-hop album, at least equally significant but quite different, was released on the same day but is more likely to go unnoticed by the broader press: Road to the Riches, the debut album from Kool G Rap and DJ Polo. Its relative lack of cachet, at least among non-hip-hop critics/fans, no doubt is related to its comparative toughness, the more tragic urban stories the duo depicts and Kool G Rap's take-no-prisoners rapping style. As an entity, the group also had a shorter career, with less commercial success; Kool G Rap himself settled into more of an underground hip-hop hero's career while Polo disappeared from public view.
Road to the Riches is a sparse affair, without the epic album quality that appeals to rock critics. It has tracks that could be considered filler compared to their more powerful neighbors, like most hip-hop albums of its era. Even those, like the automobile tribute "Cars" and the DJ showcases "Cold Cuts" and "Butcher Shop", are memorable. Yet the overall sleekness of the album ties right in with the hard-hitting minimalism that is one of their biggest strengths. The silence within this album is a major player, and helps make Kool G Rap all that much more of a riveting presence.
That presence has to be seen as a supremely influential one within hip-hop history. His compelling narrative style on certain tracks foreshadowed and influenced many of hip-hop's greatest storytellers - Ghostface Killah, Nas, Notorious B.I.G., etc. His tough, yet quick and precise rhyming has been influential to legions of MCs of various stripes. America's favorite late-night band, The Roots, have at least two straight-out tributes to Kool G. Rap on record; "Boom!", where Black Thought imitates G Rap for a verse, and "Thought at Work", basically a cover of Road to the Riches' "Men at Work".
"Men at Work" is basically a show-off for Kool G. Rap's skills, and on that level it is absolutely devastating. He's stringing words together quickly, breathlessly. They're boasts mainly, some metaphors, some put-downs and a lot of big claims about the power of his rhymes. More than any specific phrase what impresses is mainly the river of words that comes forth relentlessly. I take that back; there are phrases here that stand out, and some that have been sampled and imitated over the years to come, but they emerge from within a flow that is astounding in its seemingly unstoppable energy. He goes and goes until, satiated, he cuts it off -- "Yo, Marley Marl, let's stop the breakbeat."
Marley Marl, the producer, is the secret weapon on that song, with its breakbeat and electric guitar. And he's so on the album overall. This was the era when you had a DJ billed in the group name, contributing audible scratches, but a producer who really was the chief creative force behind the music. Marley Marl brought to Kool G Rap and Polo a minimalist smoothness, even prettiness that managed to both highlight the brutality of the raps and counterbalance it.
Ugliness + prettiness is an equation running through the totality of Road to the Riches, especially on the title track. If any single song here should be considered an all-time classic of hip-hop, it's "Road to the Riches". It's a perfect example of Kool G Rap's storytelling - basically a gangster tale, of a youth, born into a rough life, seduced by the promises of wealth and led into a life of violence and tragedy. It pulls no punches - revenge kidnappings, torture, jail time. But there's a poetry about it, too, and an increasing sense of doom - "Looking at the hourglass / how long can this power last?"
The music is a big part of the story, too. It's a classic example of the resourcefulness and creativity of the best hip-hop producers of the time, they way they would find breakbeats in unlikely sources and loop them, to a huge impact. Here it's Billy Joel's "Stiletto", drumming that's funkier than you'll remember there being in a Billy Joel song, followed by a little piano part. It's a moment that goes by quickly in the Joel song, but looped to seeming infinity it's powerful stuff, gorgeous in its simplicity yet uncaring about the tragedy it's soundtracking.
The song really tells two tales - its second and third verses are the gangster tale that makes the lasting impression, but the first verse is about hard work, about hustling to get a record deal and then getting one - "All my manpower for four bucks an hour / Took the time, I wrote rhymes in the shower / Shoes are scoffed cos the road gets rough / But I'mma rock it til my pockets ain't stuffed enough." That's another powerful theme of the album, the "I've made it" moment.
"It's a Demo", the duo's first single, is more skeletal but just as classic, its roughness stemming from the song's basic conceit - "it's a demo", like they said - and exemplifying the duo's overall edge. "Poison" is muddy in a purposefully stomping way that suits the rhymes. There are non-singles here just as noteworthy: "Trilogy of Terror", another sharp collection of boasts with light but somehow menacing music; "Rhymes I Express", comparatively less fluid, with more of an LL Cool J/Run DMC-style of blocky enunciation, but no less tough.
As light in subject as some of the songs are, the brutality of the album is thorough - if not as much so as their other two albums (1990's Wanted: Dead or Alive and 1992's Live and Let Die). When it comes to a song like "Yours Truly", Kool G Rap's worldview is ugly in a retrograde way reflective of the macho man of the era's fears - of AIDS, and by relation gay people; of "slutty" women and by relation both women and sex. That the song's perspective resembles the likely voice of the narrowly focused wanna-be gangster of the title track probably shouldn't be lost on listeners. Neither should the way the verses resemble crass stand-up comedy of the time. Meant to be so or not, it's an exaggerated vision of masculine fears of the other - in this world, everyone different than you is out to get you, to take your money and give you a disease. Is the tough man really that tough, or scared?
"She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not" tries somewhat unconvincingly to open up Kool G Rap past his tough demeanor, to reveal his sensitive side ("a broken heart ain't no joke"). It and "Yours Truly" might seem in opposition -- caring and uncaring -- but they really resemble two sides of one coin - the tough guy trying in different ways to steel himself against the world's brutality. For if Kool G Rap's rhymes themselves can be brutal - and they absolutely can, as much as any rapper then or now, they also set up a brutal, uncaring world around them. Kool G Rap's articulation of that would itself be remarkable, but backed by Marley Marl's intuitive, curated sound, it's a whole different beast, the tough and the smooth joined together elegantly.
Jeffrey Lewis and the Jrams - s/t CD
I'm finding it harder to keep up with my favorite bands. Either by age 40 I've collected too many favorite bands or life is moving too fast for me to stay on top of it. Things happen that never did before – I'll realize a band I listened to obsessively in 2005 has put out two more LPs since then without me knowing. Or, for example, Jeffrey Lewis put out an exclusive tour CD and I nearly missed the fact of its existence.
Actually, it's available not just at shows but on his website. It's under the name Jeffrey Lewis & the Jrams, not to be confused with Jeffrey Lewis & the Rain or Jeffrey Lewis and the Junkyard or the Jeffrey Lewis and Peter Stampfel Band or simply Jeffrey Lewis. Nevermind, go ahead and confuse them, they all involve the same person, the Lower East Side folk singer/comic artist/writer of sonnets based on Sonic Youth lyrics named Jeffrey Lewis.
Eclecticism is, to an extent, part of his music too – or at least this collection of 10 songs is lovably rag-tag. The CD starts with a lonely pop song that begins with him imagining his own funeral, wanting it to happen while he's alive and moves into general longing for gatherings of friends and ponderings about his own ability or inability to maintain friendships within today's social-media, fast-paced world ("You're Invited"). [One thing I always relate to about Lewis is his ability to articulate the feeling that the world is slipping by you or making you feel like an out-of-touch alien.]
The CD ends with a short acoustic track that takes on a traditional folk form more than the rest ("Down to See"). In between those bookends is a song my wife mistook for the Violent Femmes, a spoken poem about Pussy Riot, a spacey daydream called "Nonsense" ("Nonsense rules supreme"; truer words not spoken) and a kind of gutter blues song about the hardships of daily life, like burnt pancakes or the morning newspaper not showing up ("It's No Good").
His wit and humor, within a Charlie Brown-like "woe is me" persona, is exemplified by the quick-and-easy "Outta Town", a would-be college-radio hit that seems like a tragic tale of heartbreak -- what can he do now that she's gone - until he reveals that she's only out of town for the weekend, and has only been gone for a day and a half. The bouncy, almost optimistic pessimism on display there is a hallmark of this collection and Lewis' overall discography, which is filled with many similar pleasures.
[P.S. To illustrate my first paragraph's point - while finishing up this piece, I spent some time looking at Jeffrey Lewis videos and stumbled across the fact that in 2012 he contributed to Tallahassee Turns Ten, a track-by-track, various-artists cover of the Mountain Goats' Tallahassee album. It has Jeffrey Lewis, Kimya Dawson, Hallelujah the Hills and bands I don't know yet. Awesome; this kind of discovery is what keeps me up too late, what makes me spend too much money and what keeps me excited about music every single day.]
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My suggestion at this time for anyone eliminating any major category of food from their diet such as meats or dairy is to have their whole dietary intake evaluated by a Registered Dietitian (preferably at your own cancer center) to make sure that all necessary components for optimal health are still included in your diet.
No one knows the answer as to which diet is best for any one person in order to reduce the risk of cancer recurrence. It 's that simple and also that complicated. I wish I knew the answers! In the future, perhaps information obtained from The Human Genome Project will permit individual nutritional *prescriptions* based on unique metabolic ( ie genetic) differences.


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Report from the Commission. Second report from the Commission to the European Parliament, the European Council and the Council on the operationalisation of the European Border and Coast Guard - COM(2017) 201 final
Brussels, 2.3.2017
COM(2017) 201 final
REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION
SECOND REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE EUROPEAN COUNCIL AND THE COUNCIL
on the operationalisation of the European Border and Coast Guard
1.EUROPEAN BORDER AND COAST GUARD – PUTTING IN PLACE A REINFORCED PROTECTION OF THE EXTERNAL BORDERS
Protecting the external borders of the European Union, including through the European Border and Coast Guard, is one of the key pillars of the comprehensive European policy on migration on which the European Union is delivering in order to address the immediate, medium as well as long term needs identified in the European Agenda on Migration.
The European Border and Coast Guard follows the concept and principles of integrated border management and brings together, in the spirit of shared responsibility, a robust European border agency with the border guard authorities of the Member States, including coast guards to the extent that they carry out border control tasks. The primary role and competence of the Member States in reinforcing the control of the external borders, on the basis of their own existing capacities of more than 100 000 border and coast guard officers, is essential to achieve this objective. The protection of external borders is the prerequisite for the normal functioning of the Schengen area without internal borders. The joint investment and engagement in ensuring the European Border and Coast Guard becomes fully operational as quickly as possible, are a practical expression of the commitment of Member States to share responsibility and demonstrate solidarity in the common interest.
The present report takes stock of the progress made since the First Report in January. It also identifies the next steps all stakeholders need to take to ensure that the European Border and Coast Guard is fully operationalised as soon as possible. The Agency's Management Board plays a particularly important role. It is the forum where the political priority given to the operationalisation of the European Border and Coast Guard should be translated to concrete actions on practical issues such as filling the gaps in deployments to ongoing joint operations or pools.
2.OPERATIONAL SUPPORT TO MEMBER STATES
The European Border and Coast Guard Agency continues providing the operational support on the ground to Member States in border management. The new annual cycle 1 for deploying the Agency's operational activities in the frontline Member States started on 1 February 2017 with around 1350 border guards and other relevant staff being deployed by the Agency at different sections of the EU external borders.
Despite these important deployments, the running operations continue to be confronted with gaps, both in terms of human resources and technical equipment as compared to the needs assessed by the Agency in accordance with risk analysis. These gaps have to be filled by Member States to ensure that the operational objectives of joint operations to provide the required support to the frontline border sections are not undermined and such a situation does not ultimately result in an emergency requiring the launch of a rapid border intervention.
The biggest deployments of the Agency are currently addressing the migratory pressures on the Eastern Mediterranean, Central Mediterranean and Western Balkan routes.
2.1. Deployment in frontline Member States
The Agency implements three different operations in Greece. Joint Operation Poseidon in the Aegean Sea supports Greece in border control and the implementation of the hotspot approach on the Aegean islands and of the EU-Turkey Statement. On 1 March 2017, the Commission adopted "Fifth Report on the progress made in the implementation of the EU-Turkey Statement" 2 which provides a more detailed overview of the Agency involvement in this respect.
740 officers are deployed by the Agency in the context of Joint Operation Poseidon including the support for readmission activities and 280 Security Officers, co-financed by the Agency, are deployed by the Greek Police. The deployment also includes 2 Offshore Patrol Vessels, 4 Coast Patrol Vessels, 8 Coastal Patrol Boats, one Fixed Wing Aircraft, 13 Patrol Cars, 4 Buses and 2 Thermo-vision Vans.
The Agency is also present through Joint Operations Flexible Activities and Focal Points supporting Greece in border control activities with the deployment of altogether 50 officers at the Greek-Turkish, Greek-Albanian land borders and the border with the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia... In particular, The Agency has launched on 1 February 2017 a new operational activity in northern Greece in view of deploying European Border and Coast Guard Teams at the land border with the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Albania in order to step up border surveillance and prevent irregular secondary movements and to further reinforce the EU response to the challenges at the Western Balkan route. Twelve officers were deployed as of 1 February and additional ten officers as of 13 February 2017. The agreed operational plan foresees a gradual deployment over 60 officers, however, the shortfall in February was 42 officers and from 1 March it is expected to be 39 officers.
Under the umbrella of Joint Operation Triton deployed in Italy and in the Central Mediterranean, the Agency provides support of 272 officers including crew members of the deployed assets and experts assisting in the implementation of the hotspot approach. The deployment is supported with 3 Aircrafts, 2 Helicopters, 2 Offshore Patrol vessels, 3 Coastal Patrol Vessels. This support is expected to further increase in the coming weeks, when departures of migrants will go up again.
The Agency continues to assist Bulgaria in controlling the land borders, also in view of preventing irregular secondary movements. The support is provided through Joint Operations Flexible Activities and Focal Points with the Agency being present at the Bulgarian-Turkish and Bulgarian Serbian land borders. The current deployment includes 152 officers supported with 6 dog teams, 7 thermo-vision vans, 40 patrol cars, 7 CO2 detectors, and 39 Smart-deck cameras.
2.2. Deployment in other Member States
Around 100 officers are currently deployed in other Member States in order to assist border management in the Western Balkan region. The most important deployments are carried out in the framework of Joint Operations Flexible Activities at the land borders of Croatia and Hungary with Serbia in order to support border surveillance and prevent irregular secondary movements and to further reinforce the EU response to the challenges at the Western Balkan route. They are supported by 7 Dog teams, 15 Smartdeck cameras, 26 patrol cars and 5 thermo-vision vans.
European Airports
In addition, as in the past years, on 1 February 2017 the Agency launched Joint Operation Focal Points Air which acts as a permanent platform at the external air border to enhance operational cooperation between the Member States. The operational plan foresees to cover 37 major European airports in 24 Member States (10 permanent and 27 temporary deployments) until the end of January 2018.
While the Agency makes efforts to communicate regularly its operational needs through the so-called rolling open call, however, this important information should be systematically provided to the Member States on a monthly basis and the Agency should seek the necessary contributions through bilateral contacts with the Member States. The Commission is also supporting this process by including the information on the gaps in the weekly reports presented also to the Member States within the Integrated Situation Awareness and Analysis mechanism.
Member States should
Ensure that the agreed resources are always made available to Agency for the running operations and the mandatory pools.
Provide the following resources on the basis of the currently identified gaps:
Gaps for Greece (Joint Operation Poseidon)
14 February - 30 March 2017:, 2 helicopters, 1 offshore patrol vessel; 1 coastal patrol boat (March only), 2 transportation vehicles
April 2017: 24 officers, 2 coastal patrol vessel, 1 coastal patrol boat, 2 transportation vehicles
(Joint Operation Flexible Activities at the Northern Greek land border)
March 2017: 39 officers, 16 patrol cars, 1 dog team, 1 TVV, 2 transportation vehicles April 2017: 58 officers, 23 patrol cars, 2 dog teams, 1 TVV, 2 transportation vehicles
Gaps for Bulgaria (Joint Operations Flexible Activities and Focal Points)
1-29 March 2017: 63 officers, 28 patrol cars, 16 dog teams, 1 TVV
29 March – 26 April 2017:74 officers, 23 patrol cars, 14 dog teams, 2 TVV's
Gaps for Italy (Joint Operation Triton)
17 March – 07 April 2017: 13 officers, 1 offshore patrol vessel, 2 Coastal patrol vessels
7 April – 5 May 2017: 4 officers, 1 offshore patrol vessel
The European Border and Coast Guard Agency should
In order to ensure the smooth and effective running of the operations and the mandatory pools, start to inform Member States on a monthly basis about needed resources and proactively seek the necessary contributions in the framework of bilateral contacts with Member States.
3.PROGRESS MADE IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PRIORITY AREAS
The European Border and Coast Guard Agency's Management Board held its first meeting this year on 8-9 February in Malta. A number of important decisions were taken as specified in the respective sections of this report. The meeting in Malta was also an opportunity to hold a joint plenary session with the Management Board of the European Asylum Support Office where the roles of both Agencies on the implementation of Hotspots, data collection, analysis and information exchange as well as future strategic cooperation between the Agencies were discussed. On this occasion, the Agencies' Executive Directors have signed a Cooperation Plan setting priorities for common activities of both Agencies for 2017-2018. The Commission welcomes the closer cooperation between the two Agencies as key component of implementing the hotspot approach.
The Agency continues to advance the implementation of five priority areas identified and endorsed by Member States at the Justice and Home Affairs Council in April 2016.
3.1. Reinforcing the European Border and Coast Guard Agency's rapid reaction capabilities, including the mandatory pooling of resources
Regarding the mandatory pooling of resources to enhance the Agency's rapid reaction capability, the full availability of more than 1 500 border guards and other officers to the Rapid Reaction Pool has been confirmed by the Member States. In order to allow the European Border and Coast Guard Agency to verify whether the border guards included in the pool correspond to the defined profiles as well as to organise the required training, Member States should still communicate the concrete names of experts.
Despite calls made in the 1st Progress Report adopted on 25 January 2017, no new pledges were made to the Rapid Reaction Equipment Pool. By the end of February 2017 only 14 Member States – Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania and Slovenia have pledged their contribution to the that pool. Consequently, considerable gaps still exist for most types of equipment, especially as regards thermos-vision vehicles, offshore and coastal patrol vessels, coastal patrol boats and helicopters, as compared with the numbers decided by the Management Board.
While the gaps could also be partially closed with the Agency's own operational capacities, i.e. through framework contracts for leasing services for aerial surveillance and renting of patrol cars, there is a need for the Agency to immediately re-launch the pledging exercise so the Member States who have not done so can fill the identified gaps to ensure that the pool is equipped with all types of equipment throughout the year.
The Agency should
Immediately re-launch the pledging exercise so the Member States that have not done so can fill the identified gaps in the Rapid Reaction Equipment Pool.
Fill the identified gaps of the Rapid Reaction Equipment Pool by the end of March 2017 to ensure its full capacity throughout the year. Particular efforts should be made by those Member States which have not yet contributed at all to the Pool.
Communicate by 15 March the names of the experts to the Rapid Reaction Pool, so the Agency can organise the required training and verify whether the border guards included in the pool correspond to the defined profiles.
Ensure that the experts nominated to the Rapid Reaction Pool according to the profiles defined by the Management Board are effectively available throughout the year.
3.2. Carrying out preventive vulnerability assessments based on a common methodology
The reinforcement of preventive quality control guaranteeing the well- functioning of the Schengen area is clearly a top political priority for the European Union. The new mechanism implemented by the Agency to assess vulnerabilities in the Member States' capacities to face current and future challenges at the external borders is expected to considerably contribute in coming months and years to this common objective.
Intensive efforts are made by the Agency to implement vulnerability assessments process in accordance with a common methodology and the agreed calendar. The second meeting of the Vulnerability Assessment network took place on 25-26 January 2017 to further discuss with the Member States the collection of data on the existing capacities launched on 18 January 2017. In particular, extended clarifications were provided on the tailored template for the data submission and the way in which the Agency intends to handle classified information collected from Member States by setting the restricted IT infrastructure. In order to support the Member States' efforts to collect and provide timely the data, the Agency deployed on a temporary basis several staff members to nine Member States willing to receive such support during this challenging exercise.
By the deadline of 24 February, the majority of Member States (22) have provided the set of the required data. However, 7 Member States submitted only partial information and 7 Member States have not submitted any data yet.
In accordance with Article 13 of the EBCG Regulation, Member States are obliged at the request of the Agency to provide information necessary for the Agency to carry out the assessments. Clearly, the provision of the complete data on the existing capacities is a prerequisite for the Agency to effectively start the vulnerability assessment process. Once the information on the existing capacities is available, the Agency will perform an in-depth analysis of the Member States' existing capacities in conjunction with relevant threat indicators against a set of the objective criteria.
In that sense, the collected data will serve as an essential basis for running all sub-process of vulnerability assessments:
baseline assessments of each Member State' capacities to face the current challenges at the external borders;
simulation exercises to assess the future challenges at the borders carried out in relation to a number of Member States identified in accordance with the methodology;
emerging threats mechanism allowing for constant screening of the situation at the external borders and which could trigger a specific vulnerability assessment.
Already the baseline assessments expected by April 2017 should lead, when necessary, to the Agency's Executive Director making a recommendation(s) addressed to the Member State(s) concerned setting out the necessary measures for the Member State to eliminate such identified vulnerabilities within a defined timeframe. The recommendations should take into account the Agency's risk analysis, the comments of the Member State concerned and the results of the Schengen evaluation mechanism.
Given that one of the key objectives of vulnerability assessments is to identify, especially for those Member States facing specific and disproportionate challenges, possible immediate consequences at the external borders and subsequent consequences on the functioning of the Schengen area, the recommendations made by the Agency's Executive Director should - as matter of priority - focus on the most urgent vulnerabilities in relation to the current challenges at the external borders affecting the well-functioning of the Schengen area.
Once the results of simulation exercises are available by the end of October 2017, the second round of possible recommendations, when necessary, should be considered in relation to the future challenges at the external borders.
For those Member States [Austria, Denmark, Germany, , Greece, Malta, Portugal and Spain ] who failed to meet the deadline to submit the necessary data on existing capacities, to do so as a matter of urgency and in any event no later than 10 March 2017.
For all Member States, to respond swiftly to requests from the Agency for supplementary information, especially in case of a partial submission of data, to ensure that all information is satisfactorily complemented no later than 10 March 2017.
Ensure a prioritisation for identifying the most urgent vulnerabilities based on the first results of the vulnerability assessment process and other information.
Carry out baseline assessments on the current challenges for all the Member States by the end of April 2017.
When necessary, based on the results of baseline assessments, the Executive Director should by the end of May 2017 make recommendations to the relevant Member States to address as a matter of priority the most urgent vulnerabilities.
3.3. Support for return
The pace of return operations organised by the Agency continues to grow. Between 12 January and 27 February 2017, the Agency organised 44 return operations flights for the return of third-country nationals, reaching a total number of 2 116 people returned in 2017.
Since 7 January 2017, three new pools of forced-return monitors, forced-return escorts and return specialists are available for operations. As of 20 February 2017, 25 Member States have contributed to these pools by providing 518 of the 690 experts that are needed. Member States that did not contribute to the pools – Cyprus, Sweden, Liechtenstein and Switzerland – need to do so as a matter of urgency. All Member States need to fill the gaps, in particular for the pool of forced return escorts where only 386 experts, out of the total 600 requested, were offered. Member States, in cooperation with the Agency, should ensure that all the skills and expertise required to carry out return related activities are adequately represented in the pool of return specialists. This is of particular importance in the light of the increasing number of return operations compared to the past years, and taking into account the need for return interventions that may emerge in the coming months.
It is necessary to provide clarity on the practical modalities and on the rules concerning the deployment of pool members, as well as on their operational tasks and legal responsibilities. The Agency needs to define these elements, providing a solid frame to the work of the pools and ensuring that they are ready for deployment.
Following the entry into force of the European Border and Coast Guard Regulation, the Agency has the possibility to propose to Member States, on its own initiative, the organisation of return operations based on information provided by Member States every month about the indicative planning of their return operations, including on the number of returnees and third countries of return. Member States are not yet regularly providing this information and should start doing so as a matter of urgency so that the full potential of the instrument can be realised.
To face the additional workload and to fully meet the expectations linked to the new mandate, the Agency should take immediate action to ensure that available staff positions are filled and that the budget allocated to return activities is fully used.
In the Communication "on a more effective return policy in the European Union – a renewed Action Plan" 3 , published on the same day as this Report, the Commission is proposing additional measures and actions for the Agency to carry out in the coming months in order to further step up its support to Member States in conducting return activities. Progress will be monitored in the next report on the operationalisation of the European Border and Coast Guard.
Define the practical modalities, rules, operational tasks and legal responsibilities for the deployment of the pools' members to ensure that the pools are ready for deployment by the end of May at the latest.
Fill the available staff positions allocated to return activities by June 2017.
Ensure that financial resources allocated to return activities are fully used.
The Member States should
Contribute to the pools – if they have not done it so far [Cyprus, Italy, Sweden, Liechtenstein and Switzerland] – by the end of March at the latest.
Fill the gaps in the pools and ensure that all profiles are adequately represented, by the end of March at the latest.
Immediately start providing, on a monthly basis, information about the indicative planning of national return operations, including on the number of returnees and third counties of return.
3.4. Setting up of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency's complaint mechanism
As for the complaint mechanism, two new complaints were submitted to the Agency between mid-January and mid February 2017, however, both were considered as inadmissible by the Fundamental Rights Officer.
The Agency still needs to improve the information dissemination on the mechanism, including the visual accessibility of complaint forms at the Agency's website as well as the paper distribution of the relevant materials in the locations where the Agency's deployment take place.
The Fundamental Rights Officer is expected to receive in 2017 one additional post to support her tasks, the relevant recruitment procedure still needs to be launched. Moreover, the Agency needs to further examine the staffing needs for the Fundamental Rights Officer in view of the possible workload related to the implementation of the mechanism in a long term as well as in relation of the mainstreaming of fundamental rights in the Agency's operational activities.
Improve the dissemination of the information materials, related to the complaint mechanism, including to ensure better accessibility of the complaints forms on its website, by the end of March.
3.5. Paving the way for better operational cooperation with priority third countries by setting a model status agreement
As regards, the Agency's operational cooperation with priority third countries, the Management Board at its meeting on 8-9 February has authorised the Executive Director to open negotiation for a working arrangement for the cooperation with Niger.
On 25 January 2017, the Commission adopted recommendations to the Council to authorise the opening of negotiations with Serbia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to agree on the status agreements required for the deployment of the European Border and Coast Guards teams in these countries. The Commission welcomes the fast progress in the Council and hopes for the swift adoption of the relevant decisions to start formal negotiations. The competent authorities of the third countries concerned must nonetheless complete the necessary internal procedures for negotiating the agreements with the Commission. Serbia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia are expected to complete the necessary internal procedures in the weeks to come. The Commission is in constant contact with the authorities of these two countries, so that the formal negotiations can start whenever these two countries ready. The Commission aims at concluding the agreements with Serbia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia as quickly as possible.
The Council should
authorise swiftly the opening of negotiations with Serbia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia on the respective status agreements
The Commission is in regular contact with Serbia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and ready to start negotiations the moment the formal mandate is agreed
3.6. Headquarters agreement
The Commission welcomes that the Agency and Poland have finalised technical discussions and initialled the draft headquarters agreement on 23 January 2017. The draft Headquarters Agreement clarifies and establishes, among others, the legal status of the Agency, the immunities, privileges and tax exemptions accorded to the Agency, its staff and their family members, the exact scope of diplomatic status granted to certain categories of staff and the European schooling in Warsaw. It also includes provisions on the new headquarter building of the Agency in Warsaw.
The Management Board at its meeting on 8-9 February 2017 approved the draft Agreement giving the Executive Director the possibility to conclude the Agreement on behalf of the Agency. According to the Polish law, the draft agreement must be ratified by the Polish Parliament before it is finally signed.
Poland and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency should
finalise the conclusion of the headquarters agreement according to the respective procedures by 7 April 2017, in this context the Polish Parliament is invited to ratify the agreement before that date.
4.EUROPEAN COOPERATION ON COAST GUARD FUNCTIONS
In order to set up a European cooperation among authorities carrying out coast guard functions 4 , the mandates of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, the European Maritime Safety Agency and the European Fisheries Control Agency have been amended in parallel in October 2016. The three Agencies play a crucial role in providing common information, surveillance and training services to national authorities as well as in planning and carrying out multipurpose operations in the field of maritime surveillance.
At the initiative of the European Parliament, an EU pilot project has been launched in mid-2016 to develop and test these services and multipurpose operations in close cooperation with and for the benefit of the national authorities. The project will be completed in mid-2017.
The Commission cooperates closely with the three Agencies to ensure full coherence between the different policy areas.
4.1. Integrated maritime information services
The European Maritime Safety Agency provides its Integrated Maritime Services, based on ship reporting systems and other surveillance tools, to the European Border and Coast Guard Agency and the European Fisheries Control Agency for the benefit of their communities.
The European Border and Coast Guard Agency provides the services received from the European Maritime Safety Agency via the European Border Surveillance System (EUROSUR) Fusion Services support to the border and coast guards and to Joint Operations coordinated by the European Border and Coast Guard Agency. These services include detection, identification and tracking of vessels, anomaly detection, and monitoring of departure points, thereby considerably enhancing the maritime situational awareness and reaction capability of border and coast guards.
The services provided by the European Maritime Safety Agency to the European Fisheries Control Agency facilitate the detection of "Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated fishing". As of 19 January 2017, an important missing data set, namely data on fishing vessels 5 is being provided by the European Fisheries Control Agency via the European Maritime Safety Agency to the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, and from there to border and coast guards.
The European Maritime Safety Agency is also providing selected parts of its Integrated Maritime Services to a number of users outside of the European Union, as part of support programmes (including training and capacity building activities) to third countries in the Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea and Caspian Sea, for the purpose of locating illegal discharges at sea and the polluters.
4.2. Joint maritime surveillance services
1. Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS)
An important missing tool for maritime surveillance is the use of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems, filling the operational gap between satellite imagery and maritime patrol aircraft. For this reason the Council and European Parliament have reserved M€ 67 for 2017-2020 for establishing a joint Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems service for maritime surveillance by the European Maritime Safety Agency, together with the European Border and Coast Guard Agency and the European Fisheries Control Agency. In 2016 tendering specifications have been elaborated jointly by the three Agencies, and the framework contract signed in February 2017, covering both long endurance and vertical take-off/landing Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems. Following a preparatory phase of three months, including technical acceptance tests, this joint Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems service will be operational as of June 2017, with flight authorisations to be given by the civil aviation authorities.
To promote the use by national authorities, a demonstration of the Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems service will be held in May 2017 in the Western Mediterranean Sea, showing its added value for border control, search and rescue, fisheries control and marine pollution monitoring.
To address the specificities of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency is planning to test the use of long endurance Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems in that region later in 2017, thereby contributing to the further development of the joint Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems service of the three Agencies.
2. Fixed wing aircraft service
The European Border and Coast Guard Agency has currently three framework contracts for multipurpose surveillance flights. The European Border and Coast Guard Agency has set up a web portal, which gives direct access to operators in the three Agencies and Member States, e.g. for real time video streaming and reporting. A new framework contract for aerial surveillance will be signed in the fourth quarter of 2017.
4.3. Capacity building and multipurpose operations
The European Fisheries Control Agency is currently developing, together with the European Border and Coast Guard Agency and the European Maritime Safety Agency, guidelines on interagency cooperation in the field of maritime surveillance.
All the previous elements described above serve one operational goal, namely to make best use of existing information, services and capabilities in multipurpose operations which are carried out by the Agencies in the Mediterranean Sea together with and for the benefit of national authorities.
All the Member States' authorities carrying out coast guard functions should
Use the services provided by the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, the European Maritime Safety Agency and the European Fisheries Control Agency under the EU cooperation on coast guard functions.
The European Maritime Safety Agency should
Make the Joint Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems Services operational by end May 2017.
The European Border and Coast Guard Agency and the European Fisheries Control Agency should
Make full use of the Joint Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems Services, as a matter of priority, in the Central Mediterranean Sea as of June 2017.
The three Agencies should
Explore on a pilot basis how the information and services provided under the EU cooperation on coast guard functions could also be used for the benefit neighbouring third countries, in particular in the Mediterranean Sea.
5.CONCLUSIONS
The second report shows that all stakeholders have continued to work intensively to roll out the activities and tools of the European Border and Coast Guard Regulation to ensure a reinforced capability to protect the external borders is in place as soon as possible.
In particular, most of the Member States have provided the necessary data for the purpose of the vulnerability assessment which is an important step to achieve an effective preventive approach. Equally, the fast progress in the Council in view of the expected swift adoption of the decisions by the Council authorising the Commission to start the formal negotiations with Serbia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia on the status agreements shows the continued political priority given to operationalising the European Border and Coast Guard.
However, further steps should be taken by the Member States to urgently ensure the full operational capability of the rapid reaction pools, in particular to fill the gaps for the Rapid Reaction Equipment Pool, as well as to continue joint efforts in supporting the frontline Member States in the effective management of the external borders with the requested deployments for the on-going joint operations. Member States need also to exploit the potential offered by the reinforced Agency to assist in the area of return operations by notifying their indicative planning on return operations.
The Commission invites the Council to discuss progress on the basis of this report and endorse the proposed concrete steps to bring forward the operationalisation of the European Border and Coast Guard.
The Commission will report again on the progress made to reinforce the external borders in Spring 2017.
The European Border and Coast Guard Agency provides operational support to the frontline Member States through joint operations planned in the preceding year and taking into account risk analysis. The contributions are provided by Member States and the deployments are agreed in advance during the so called Annual Bilateral Talks between the Agency and the Member States. The latest contributions were set in December 2016 to cover the foreseen operational needs of the Agency in 2017.
(COM(2017) 204 final).
Coast guard functions may include maritime safety and security, search and rescue, border control, fisheries control, customs control, general law enforcement and environmental protection.
Vessel Monitoring System (VMS).
> Documentaliste :
valerie.garrec@univ-pau.fr
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Noah is a Donkey estimated to have been born in 2011 and came to the farm in the summer of 2016. Noah and his horse companion Ziek came to the farm after their human caretakers could no longer keep them due to health reasons. Noah came in without much handling and basically only knew how to follow his horse friend around. But he showed us in short order how very intelligent he is and what a wonderful and special donkey he is. Within only 3 weeks, we were able to lead him around and introduce him to new friends at the farm. We are thrilled to have Noah with us now as he shares his amazing wisdom and gentle energy.
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I don't know because I've realized how very blind to it I am.
Three years ago or so, Doug and I sat at dinner with five friends. We were lingering over a post-dessert conversation at the end of a long workweek.
Between them, these friends are terribly high achieving and extremely interesting, not to mention very engaged in deploying their gifts toward the edification of the world around them.
One went to boarding school.
One grew up in the city as an immigrant and got a scholarship to college.
Three are coaches with multiple state championships under their belts.
Two are teachers, at least one of whom manages a class size of 40+ on a regular basis.
One grew up in the Midwest and left.
One grew up in Clarkston and stayed.
All of them love teenagers, their family, and mybackyard chickens.
They are my friends. Casual friends. Back porch friends.
And they are also African-American.
So this night, Doug and I sat with them, winding the evening down. The dinner party for the cross-country team that three of them coached slowly turned into a grown-up chat after the teenagers had gone home.
There was much laughter. A lot of proverbial elbowing the others' ribs.
But there was something else. Something truly mind-blowing for me.
As the evening had faded, our forward thinking, educated, just-like-us-in-so-many ways friends had discussed the severe and pressing problem they faced: race.
Not as it related to them. Not really, anyways.
It was about the students they loved.
These students, many of them, were African. And soon would be absorbed into the American culture that would only understand them to be African-American…black men and women entering college or making their way into the workforce.
My friends – these teachers and lovers of students – were discussing how they were doing their level best to prepare the students for the realities of race in America. Students from Congo, South Sudan, Eritrea, and all over Africa, had landed in Clarkston as refugees…largely unaware of the race "issue" in this country. My friends discussed and even lamented how challenging it was to teach the students that, despite the vows to the contrary, all is not equal in this great country. To teach them how to successfully navigate the challenges of failed or failing systems that are poisoned by racial bias. How to be black in America and to do so with dignity, with promise, and with safety.
Doug and I looked at each other, shocked at what we'd overheard. Never in our lives had we had discussions with our teenagers (or any teenagers we love) to prepare them to be "white in America." No thought of that reality needing any explanation, any caution, any thought about treading lightly or not treading at all. Not once. In all of our adult life, race has never been the thing in an adult conversation that caused us all to nod our heads in assent, knowing "just how you feel." You don't "feel" white in America. At least I don't. I just am white. No feelings attached.
Not so for my friends.
The strong thread of "we must prepare them to navigate this reality" ran through a conversation inhabited by men and women from different states, different economic backgrounds, different educational experiences, and different genders. Nevertheless, all five of my friends know personally and deeply that there is an endemic problem – no matter where they come from or what other kinds of privilege they have experienced along the way.
What is white privilege? I really don't know. But sometimes I return to an analogy from a blog I read a long time ago. The author said that white privilege is analogous to driving a car on a system of roads designed for car-drivers and that being anything but white is like trying to ride a bicycle on the same roads. Most car drivers aren't "trying" to mow over, crowd out, speed past, or overlook the existence of the bike rider. It's just the reality of the system. But it's dangerous, slow, and extraordinarily frustrating to the bike rider.
I, Karen, may not be "racist" in my opinions or my actions. But I exist in a system that caters to me. My whole life – my past, my present, and my future – has been and likely will be navigable, obvious, and relatively safe. If I want to care for my neighbors, especially those of a different race, I would do well to recognize and try to repair the injustices of the system. I would do well to recognize, listen, yield, and give space. I would do well to slow down and understand enough to "feel" my whiteness.
I would do well to talk to the teenagers I love about what it means to be white in America…how to carry their reality as graciously and well as my thoughtful backyard-dinner-party friends want to teach their students to carry their racial reality.
How does faith fit here? More ways that I know, to be sure. But, Jesus was a brown, poor, provincial man on the wrong side of religious systems and political systems. Being crossways with these systems cost Him His very life. His human "otherness" was a very real issue for him.
He was also the Immanuel-God. The God with us. He walked with us and showed us what it means to humbly walk with the "other." Racism and systemic injustice is not a new problem, but it's the path of His experience and His example. A path He gives us grace to fumble through. We won't get it right, but now seems like the right time to embark on the path of humble understanding.
Charlottesville is indicative of so much. So much I really do not even begin to understand.
But I can tell you that as much as I don't understand my privilege, I have seen that it is real. In this town, where I'm a minority, I see that systems really ARE broken. Racism really IS still an everyday problem. There is still MUCH work to be done.
Probably over dinner. With a friend. Of a different race, religion, or ethnicity.
About what the roads are like. And how to work together to make them better.


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text:
module.exports = {
  dataDefaults: require('./transforms/data-defaults'),
  dataValidate: require('./transforms/data-validate'),
  filterByPath: require('./helpers/filter-by-path'),
  findTemplate: require('./helpers/find-templates'),
  loadCson: require('./transforms/load-cson'),
  loadCsonFrontmatter: require('./transforms/load-cson-frontmatter'),
  loadJson: require('./transforms/load-json'),
  loadMarkdown: require('./transforms/load-markdown'),
  renderTemplate: require('./transforms/render-template'),
  routesToPageTree: require('./helpers/routes-to-page-tree'),
  schemasValidate: require('./transforms/schemas-validate'),
  stripFileExt: require('./helpers/strip-file-ext'),
  templateValidate: require('./transforms/templates-validate'),
  uniqFields: require('./transforms/data-uniq-fields')
};

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub