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Covid Organics: Towards an African Renaissance
Following the outbreak of a pandemic in the city of Wuhan during a Chinese winter that will forever remain etched in the annals of history, Madagascar has been dramatically thrust to the fore on the international stage with its announcement of the development of a herbal remedy for COVID-19.
Amol Awuor
Photo: Gov. of Madagascar
Unlike other former French colonies in Africa such as Benin, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Senegal and Mali that have been acclaimed for placing the continent on the world map musically, Madagascar is not known for its musical prowess. The country pales in comparison to Cape Verde, that tiny island in the Atlantic Ocean that produced the gifted voice of Cesária Évora, and gave birth to Amilcar Cabral, the anti-colonial revolutionary and theoretician. But with the outbreak of a pandemic in the city of Wuhan during a Chinese winter that will forever remain etched in the annals of history, Madagascar has been dramatically thrust to the fore on the international stage.
Madagascar caught the world's attention in April 2020 after announcing that it had made an extraordinary breakthrough in the field of (indigenous African) medicine. The Madagascar Institute of Applied Research (IMRA), which describes itself as "dedicated to biodiversity conservation and the discovery of drugs from natural products", announced the development of Covid Organics (CVO) from the artemisia plant. Promoted as an herbal remedy that prevents and cures those who have tested positive for COVID-19, the drug has caused a sensation in a continent that has been marginalised by an international scientific community that views Africa as a spectator rather than as a player. But let me put a few things into perspective.
Long before CVO, the island nation's flourishing plant life had been used for medicinal purposes, a tradition dating back to its pre-colonial days. The colonial epoch, however, disrupted this practice in order to introduce conventional medicine just like in other colonised African countries. In Madagascar, the practice was revived through the establishment of IMRA and deliberate emphasis was placed on the "value of plants in healing", confirmed by the scientific tradition of investigating their chemical compounds to improve their efficacy. Remarkably, this revival began in the late 1950s when most African countries were on the cusp of independence and self-rule, with Ghana taking the lead (in 1957), and Madagascar and others following from 1960 onwards.
Political independence and self-rule coincided with the need to reclaim old practices and traditions that had been suppressed in the colonial era. The COVID-19 herbal remedy which continues to elicit excitement is, therefore, part of a long and rich African tradition that has resisted erasure.
Covid Organics comes against the backdrop of other encouraging and bold African interventions to combat various diseases that have plagued the world in recent decades. Before COVID-19, another viral disease stalked parts of West and Central Africa, resulting in more than 10,000 deaths. First reported in the DRC and in present-day South Sudan in 1976, the fight against Ebola has over the decades underscored the importance of the active involvement of local populations in deploying indigenous knowledge and remedies. Not many Africans are aware of the indescribable bravery of Sheik Umar Khan, a Sierra Leonean virologist who helped scores of Ebola patients before succumbing to the virus. Very few have heard of Dr Matthew Lukwiya, a Ugandan doctor who generated a substantial body of knowledge in the fight against Ebola before falling victim to the disease.
These few examples arguably contest the pervasive idea that conventional medicine and, to a large extent, western intervention are the only antidotes to African problems. The paradox in all this is the economic impoverishment of Madagascar, Sierra Leone and Uganda where a majority of citizens still live below the poverty line as compared to, say, South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya and Egypt. There are, of course, other factors that explain the economic differences, but the most important point here is that innovation tends to occur where the need is greatest.
No one epitomises this innovative spirit more than IMRA founder, Prof Albert Rakoto, whose earlier studies on the artemisia plant have contributed immensely to the development of Covid Organics. (The research on Covid Organics has been falsely credited to Jérôme Munyangi, a Congolese researcher.) Rakoto's insistence on blending indigenous and conventional medicine is vital because it is likely to solve two problems with a single solution, retaining traditional medicine practices that are readily available within most African communities while adapting modern scientific trends to improve the effectiveness of plants such as artemisia in order to complement the strained healthcare infrastructure.
It is safe to say that so far Madagascar is reaping the benefits of its discovery if the coronavirus figures in the island nation are anything to go by. At the time of writing this article, the country had recorded 1,724 confirmed positive cases with only 15 deaths, and 732 recovered and discharged. The figures nearly mirror those of other former French colonies like Guinea Bissau and Equatorial Guinea which have reported under 20 deaths each so far, and are also the beneficiaries of the Covid Organics. Therefore, as the global pandemic continues to evolve, it will become increasingly foolhardy for the international scientific community to ignore this very interesting trend.
Recently, there have been thinly veiled attempts—mainly by western mainstream media outlets—to cast aspersions on the drug. Reuters described the herbal remedy as a "cure" , the quotation marks serving to cast doubts on the claims made by Madagascar about Covid Organics, while FRANCE24 brazenly and without batting an eyelid went ahead to call it "The president's controversial 'miracle cure'" in one of their news stories. Some of these problematic media framings go beyond the often false premise that nothing good can come out of Africa. Instead, they are part of a deliberate, but subtle ideological battle that persistently discredits anything African that might be of benefit to the world.
The use of the word "miracle" by FRANCE24 captures this vividly because it implies superstition – some irrational belief in the healing powers of the drug – instead of the deployment of homegrown science and logic in responding to a virus that has ravaged western countries more than any other part of the world. Some Africans have joined the fray in ridiculing the wonder drug, provoking a déjà vu moment reminiscent of Ocol's infamous lamentations to Lawino:
We will round up
All these priests
[…] And herbalists,
[…] Dealers in poisons
Extracted from plants
The leading proponent of the drug is Andry Rajoelina, the wiry-looking Malagasy president with his signature toothy smile. Before he ascended to power, the 46-year old was an event organiser. He has progressively become the poster boy for the drug, and more importantly, for the shaping and reimagining the course of the African Renaissance. Through various interviews granted to media platforms, Rajoelina continues to insist that nothing will stop the continent from devising homegrown solutions to respond to local and even global problems. His memorable rallying cry was expressed during a television session with FRANCE24 when he asked: "What if this remedy had been discovered by a European country, instead of Madagascar? Would people doubt it so much?"
Rajoelina is not the first African to challenge the institutionalised racism that has plagued people of colour the world over since the advent of European imperialism. Pioneer pan-African thinkers and philosophers like Marcus Garvey, W.E.B Dubois, Malcolm X and Frantz Fanon dedicated their lives to fighting racism in a world that had been designed to minimise the contributions of non-white peoples. Accordingly, how did one reconcile with the nightmare that Dubois called "double consciousness"? The "sense of always looking at one's self through the eyes of others, of measuring one's soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity" that currently informs the discourse on Covid Organics? Lately, Julius Malema, who leads South Africa's Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party, has been at the forefront in challenging and questioning inherited ideas of self-doubt and inferiority complex that Rajoelina also now contends with. Malema, like Rajoelina today, has been a fierce proponent of Africa and has even called for the dismantling of colonial borders that prevent ease of movement and trade among Africans.
Despite not being geographically located on the African continent, Madagascar identifies as African, not just because of its significant Bantu population, but because of a growing continental pride, especially among the younger generation. In the last few years, the rise and rise of African music like afrobeats (West Africa), kizomba music (in lusophone countries), rumba (in Central Africa), bongo (in Tanzania) and gqom and amapiano (in South Africa) has galvanized young Africans to new forms of negotiating and asserting their racial and geographical identities within a globalised world.
Madagascar's development of a herbal remedy for COVID-19 has become an extension of this ongoing negotiation with identity that constantly invokes the slogans Africa Unite and I am proud to be African. Therefore, its location several kilometres further into the Indian Ocean has not dissuaded the Malagasy people from identifying with the pan-African goal of a strong, unified continent ready to determine her own destiny.
There are, of course, those who may voice criticism that Rajoelina's COVID-19 remedy is not enough to catalyse the important conversation of the African Renaissance, and that it is a passing fad that will soon be forgotten as long as COVID-19 continues to mutate. While this argument is valid, the critics fail to acknowledge that indigenous strategies of confronting diseases, particularly those that are viral, including HIV/AIDS, remain instrumental in instilling optimism and hope in a continent that has been battered by persistent narratives of despair and Afro-pessimism. Madagascar essentially provides the continent with a new incentive to sustain, for example, the debate around patents and intellectual property rights that have received scant attention from African governments. The island nation further acts as a symbolic incubation centre for creative, radical and innovative ideas that are not afraid to confront mainstream thinking (on matters medicine) in the 21st century.
Madagascar's story has just begun and it will continue to follow the same trajectory as long as the beneficiaries of the herbal remedy recover from COVID-19. Western media stations will have to rethink their reporting on African issues because the old ways will no longer work. African sounds, not just music in the sonic sense, but the capacity to speak and be heard will increasingly become the norm rather than the exception. A deepening African consciousness, that in the past was considered an anathema, will progressively influence new ways of engagement between fellow Africans within and outside the continent and between Africans and non-Africans. It is highly probable that the engagement—time is on Africa's side (considering the youthful population)—will always be of equals and not that of a master and subordinate. With Rajoelina and Malema and Bobi Wine and many countless others accelerating these pan-African conversations through music, art, speeches, and most importantly, home-grown science, Africa's voice is set to soar.
By Amol Awuor
Amol Awuor is a Master's candidate in the Department of Literary Studies in English at Rhodes University, South Africa. His research interests include memory studies, contemporary African literature and African popular culture.
CoronavirusMadagascar
Making Sense of #FakeNews and #CovidBillionaires
Living on the Edge: From the Favelas of Rio to Life in Mathare
Both Mathare and Alemão are full of human endeavour and misfortune in equal measure, and in both places young men, specifically, are at high risk of coming to a violent end.
Damian Platt
Photo: Flickr/Rachel Strohm
Lethal violence is fact in Mathare. On the day I first visit the community, tweets hashtagged #CopRashidCorruptDeals appear on my Twitter feed. I already knew of Rashid, having watched the BBC documentary about him and his team. I follow the hashtag and find this tweet from a local journalist: "Rashid has wiped all thugs around Eastleigh, Mathare and Huruma. To us residents he is a nice guy." The journalist in question has twenty-three thousand followers.
I've only been in Mathare a matter of minutes when an invisible hand runs gently over the dome of my head. It's a familiar, yet strange, feeling. I quickly realise that this is because it is neither my own hand, nor that of Inés, my wife. The hand actually belongs to a man standing behind me. Feeling vulnerable, I move away quickly, saying "COVID" in justification for my abruptness. "19", he responds, completing my words. It's a funny moment and I relax.
My new acquaintance is one of the many addicts who share a rubbish dump with a large number of highly energetic and boisterous children. The children have transformed a corner of the tip into a gymnasium. The gym includes a climbing frame/assault course (improvised from an abandoned wooden structure) and a springboard — a large black tyre — from which the tiny gymnasts gracefully launch themselves. The kids are well organised. They stand in a nice queue. There are fast ones, skilful ones and learners. After a quick sprint they hit the tyre with both feet. It projects them and they spin defiantly, airborne above the garbage for a split second, before landing on the piece of carpet that serves as a crash mat. Fans gathered to watch the spectacle make approving sounds for the best leaps and twists. The contrast between the shiny-eyed bounce of the children and the glazed stagger of the addicts is stark and saddening.
I'm in Mathare to visit members of the Mathare Empire collective. The enterprising young members of this group have recently occupied and redecorated an abandoned building at one end of the trash pile. Their porch provides front-row seats from which to watch the young athletes practice their somersaults. It is fittingly decorated with a painting of a child with huge boxing gloves and a stop-corona mask. This is one of several large and handsome murals depicting faces that gaze patiently over the dump.
Despite the distracting vivacity of the young gymnasts, the garbage heap is treacherous. It almost swallowed up a little girl recently. The piles and layers of trash hide pools of rainwater, transforming the junk into something akin to a deadly swamp. The girl, running to greet her father, sunk into one such concealed crevice and began to go under. Quick-witted bystanders saved the day, plucking her out before she disappeared.
The purpose of my visit is to present and discuss projects in Rio de Janeiro, where I lived until recently. In Rio I first worked for Amnesty International, documenting and campaigning against human rights violations in some of the city's 1000+ world-famous and, sadly, ultra-violent favelas. I later became involved in grassroots cultural and youth initiatives aiming to empower and raise the self-esteem of Rio's young people and communities. This work is documented in a book titled Culture is Our Weapon and included a project by JR — a TED prize-winning French artist — called Women are Heroes. Most recently, in 2019, I helped to organise the construction of a skatepark in Maré, a neighbourhood made up of sixteen favelas originally constructed on swampland.
We have lots to talk about. While sharing ideas and stories with the group, I discover they have recently taken part in a video call with Raull Santiago, a prominent human rights defender from the Alemão (German) complex, one of Rio's most violence-hit communities. The issues faced by the residents of Mathare and Alemão are similar yet different. Both are very big, but Mathare is much more densely populated and much poorer. While both places suffer violence, Alemão is a war zone. Both are built in a valley and are full of human endeavour and misfortune in equal measure. In both places young men, specifically, are at high risk of coming to a violent end.
We go for a walkabout. My guides show me how and where they have staked out green spaces, planted trees and painted structures with bright murals, (part of their work for the Mathare Green Movement). These actions bring levity and freshness into the often airless and monochromatic environment. I'm struck by their colourful imaginings of other universes on the walls of public toilets. Just one of these strong-smelling units can cater for the needs of five thousand Mathare residents. I also learn that the toilets are centres of socialisation — children's friendship networks in Mathare are built around who shares the facility nearest your house. Kids playing in front of several of the vibrantly decorated loos that we visit demonstrate this. The pictures on the walls imagine other possibilities — outer space or lush tropical forests — while others remind users of their current terrestrial responsibilities: don't forget your mask!
I suffer from sensory overload walking around Mathare. As in Rio, there are myriad sights, sounds and smells to take in all at once. Because of COVID-19, school is out when I visit. Children are everywhere. The community is spread across a gentle valley, not the steep escarpments of many favelas in Rio. Corrugated iron shacks — so close together that visually they form a vast iron sheet of rusted red, grey and brown — cover the slopes. The poverty is grinding. Narrow paths zigzag between lean-tos and rank smelling drains. Most of the shacks are low and many look as if they might fall down should you push them.
In contrast, residents are mostly well dressed and clean. Commerce, licit and illicit, crowds the pathways and thoroughfares. Cheap, ripe fruit and vegetables abound. I taste sweet pineapple and see watermelon, avocados, tomatoes, garlic, peppers and onions. Vendors hawk pastries, eggs and sausages. Cooks stir delicious smelling dishes over wood fires. In Rio, obesity in low-income communities is a serious issue. Here I'm impressed — most people in Mathare look healthy and strong.
We pass a wealth of legal, illegal, social, spiritual and commercial activities — khat stalls, illicit hooch making stills, drug dealing areas, NGOs, schools, churches, mosques and markets. Public soap dispensers and water for handwashing remind us that COVID-19 is ever-present, even though social distancing is impossible. Besides the sale of food there is plentiful commerce—mobile phone businesses, hardware shops, beauty salons, charcoal vendors, boda boda riders and stalls selling new and second-hand clothes. Authentic second-hand garments are considered infinitely more stylish than bogus new ones, I am informed. Fake clothes in Mathare = a serious fashion crime! It's the same in Rio, where favela residents take pride in their appearance. However, Brazil does not have such an abundance of second-hand imports. And so in Rio, the emphasis is more often on an item's newness, not necessarily its authenticity.
Yet despite the trading, hustle and bustle and a resilient-looking population, the overwhelming sensation I have in Mathare is that of risky living. I can only try and imagine the heat inside the shanties in high summer or what happens during the rains, when sewers flood and the metal shanties become dangerous because of electric shocks from exposed wiring. But although Mathare is economically poorer and less developed than similar communities in Rio, I do not feel suffocated by the inescapable threat of violence. In Rio's battle-scarred favelas, gun-toting teenagers patrol the alleyways. Bullet holes in the masonry all around inform you that the weapons are not just for show. Violence is real and present and you are constantly reminded of this.
When I ask my guides about the tweet concerning Rashid they tell a very different story from that of the journalist who described him as "hero". For young men in Mathare, Rashid is the grim reaper in human form and something of a shape shifter, known for his ability to camouflage himself and merge with the surroundings. He carries pictures of targets on his phone. Businesses pay him to go after miscreants. However, innocents, friends, associates or just the unlucky often end up dead.
The guys I am with are mostly in their early twenties. Statistically, they are the group most at risk from police violence. The presence of killer cops does not make them safer or protect them from crime. Local thieves, they tell me, refer to after dark as "office hours" and can even rob someone they know because those are "the rules and young thieves will take everything you have—even your girlfriend. They take drugs that make them fearless and immune to pain." These include pills called "cosmos", sold by local dealers. Cosmos pills come in different colours according to strength and stain the user's lips. The tablets are apparently prescription medicine for mental illness, stolen from the public health system.
Law-abiding young men in Mathare live between a rock and a very hard place. When they talk about problems, conversation revolves around work and danger. While dignified employment is scarce, even for the well-educated, the threat of violence is permanent. Rashid — seen as something of an executioner-in-chief — exercises the power of life and death through his actions and their multiplication in the public imagination.
The youth in the favelas of Rio favela suffer from precisely the same issue. Police killings (extrajudicial executions by any other name) in the city are among the highest — if not the highest — in the world. The slaughter takes place in the context of a so-called drug war whereby society overlooks illegal police action in return for perceived security. Young men in favelas are also at risk from gangs inside their communities who also kill without pity. Fierce and chaotic gun battles between police and lawbreakers very often leave behind victims of stray bullets. By the end of 2019, Rio's police force had shot and killed 1,810 alleged suspects in supposed confrontations, the highest annual number on record and almost twice the 1,003 victims of police violence for the entire US that year. In 2020 lethal police violence and operations in favelas in Rio continue at full steam; they did not abate even under COVID-19 lockdown.
As in Nairobi, where some locals describe Rashid as a hero, the Brazilian media and public have long tolerated and encouraged extrajudicial executions as purported crime fighting. Typical practice is to execute a victim in a fake shoot-out. In just a few hours in February 2019, during a single operation in a favela, Rio police shot and killed 13 suspects. These included nine young men in a house, who, according to witnesses, were trying to give themselves up. However, sometimes they don't even try to pretend — as was the case in a Rio suburb in 2005, when off-duty police in cars shot and killed 29 civilians in a single evening.
Widespread public consent for criminal state violence in Brazil is encapsulated in the popular saying "a good thug is a dead thug", first adopted by police death squads operating in the 1960s at the beginning of the country's 20-year military dictatorship. In 2018, future president Bolsonaro took the dictum to extremes by pledging to unleash waves of violence across the country when elected, saying, "if a policeman kills 10, 15 or 20 with 30 bullets each he must be decorated, not charged". Other politicians followed suit, campaigning on explicit platforms of lethal violence. Despite the extremely high numbers of police killings, individual cases of which are rarely scrutinised, Bolsonaro committed to the introduction of new legal mechanisms to further protect killer police from investigation.
In Brazil, killer cops, drug traffickers and death squads have long terrorised low-income communities across the nation. In rural areas, local police and hired gunmen provide such a service. In cities and their peripheries, the absence of the state and lack of regulation in poor neighbourhoods and favelas offer a wealth of illicit opportunity. Whoever provides security in these areas can step in to control the local economy, provision of services and crucially, access to the electorate. Paramilitary groups, known in Rio de Janeiro as militia, have lately appropriated this model — a fusion of traditional politics, organised crime and territorial control. Usually linked to police, prison and fire services, today the militia operate in more than half of the city's neighbourhoods.
Cameroonian political scientist Achille Mbembe has identified this process — the political management of vulnerable populations through their exposure to death — as "necropolitics". Necropolitics clearly regulates life in Mathare as much as it governs Rio's favelas. Police like Rashid are not there to fight crime. They defend a status quo.
When I am about to leave Mathare after my first visit, I have an indication of what the maintenance of this status quo entails. Two very burly policemen brandishing enormous sticks barge their way along the street and disappear behind some huts. People double their speed to get far away from them. Doors close and the street empties. Twilight falls. A palpable tension replaces the relaxed late Saturday afternoon coming and going. Onlookers inform me that the police are there to extort payment from vendors who sell glue and "jet fuel" — ultra-cheap ethanol for inhaling — to the crushed adults who converge on the garbage dump.
Thankfully, the next time I visit, there is a much more pleasant atmosphere in this corner of Mathare. The area outside the bungalow, as the Mathare Empire members call their HQ, is swept clean. Local and guest artists perform on a brightly coloured stage, made from pallets painted purple, red, yellow and green, to a hyped crowd who occupy the kids' gymnasium at the edge of the dump. They talk, sing and rap about police violence and issues of the day, like COVID-19. But the event is not a political lecture and nor is it gloomy. The group had spontaneously decided that what was originally going to be a concert would instead be the first ever "Mathare Futurism Day" – a gathering of local painters, artists and musicians to celebrate community, address current issues and reimagine Mathare. "Moments like this", Wyban Mwangi says, "remind people about the beauty of self-dignity and the constant need to struggle for a better, healthier and safer place to live". In communities governed by necropolitics, such resistance provides vital hope, freedom and breathing space.
I'm Black, I'm Proud. Still
You can't feed into the darkness. You can't demand anyone to know what you know, to understand what you understand. People come to truth when they come to it and not a second before.
Fitzgerald Brown
Photo: Unsplash/Oladimeji Odunsi
Growing up down south in the aftermath of the 1960s Negro Revolution in America was truly the best. During that period, three out of every four Black children in America were born in a two-parent home. By the 80s, that number would drop to one in every four.
Education and opportunity were becoming more accessible to black and brown communities everywhere. It would be the force that would get us out of the hole history had placed us in.
We were moving forward and everybody could feel it, but as much as I liked going to school and learning new things, my favourite memories are of when, after school, I got to spend time with my brothers and cousins. There was just something magical that happened when we were together.
We would meet over at grandma's house in that part of the city we called the village. The village was a straight, two-block walk from school, down King Street, past the Piggly Wiggly store parking lot and then to the stoplight where you take a right turn onto Rommey Street, and another right on to what looks like a parking lot on the side of the church, and just at the bridge, before you crossed the old train track or you would have missed it, the entrance to the court. Thirty or so homes behind the old Methodist Church on a road invisible from the street laid out in the form of a horseshoe.
I cannot talk about the village without talking about the city and the state. Charleston, South Carolina is a peninsula city located on the South Carolina coastline. It was one of the thirteen original colonies and the very first state to break away from the Union, and one of the founding states of the Confederacy.
The village was a housing initiative following the 1964 Civil Rights Act aimed at breaking the cycle of poverty by moving Black families out of the old housing slums and projects and into new affordable homes.
The difference between the projects in the South and the projects up north is the space and design. In most cases, southern projects were designed to be communal properties, different from the stacked high-rises up north or in the Midwest.
The projects down south were simple properties where people learned to share. They shared the backyard when the sun got too high and the front when people just wanted to be outside and catch a breeze. Everybody knew one another and called each other by name. Family arguments, celebrations and losses spilled into neighbouring apartments causing people to act like one big extended family. And even though everybody was poor, they would have been hard-pressed to admit it. Poverty was a state of mind. The community spirit emphasised generosity and everything was shared. If you were hungry and didn't have food, you could always ask next door.
Having lived in the projects for decades, my grandparents were one of the very first people to be offered a house in the village. I can remember the move like it was yesterday, everyone was so excited.
The year was 1973, I was eight years old. For the first time Black families in Charleston would have the chance of a normal life.
My grandparents, long into retirement, coupled with our large, extended family of cousins, uncles, aunts and three brothers – two older and one younger – were a great source of pride and joy until I learned that the American egalitarian beliefs which I thought were as perfect a foundation as there could be, were but an illusion, a well thought out scheme. We weren't freed, we were just moving boxes.
Although everyone got their own private home, some did build fences around theirs but others opted against this, allowing for yards to overlap, creating a more open and vibrant community.
My grandparents had a high chain-linked fence, but there was still this sense of togetherness. When something went wrong in the village, the elders would be the first out to deal with it.
My exploration of the real workings of America would begin from within this village in 1976, the year that America celebrated its 200th anniversary of independence from British rule.
That year, I began to see that the ideals that gave birth to the idea of "We the People," did not include people like me.
I remember a young militant uncle, oozing Black pride, spilling the beans and pointing out to me that neither he nor I, nor any of the millions of other Blacks had reason to celebrate America's success.
As my White and Black classmates and a nation prepared for the grand July 4th spectacle that would include a freedom train, a scheduled stop in our city, marching bands, hotdogs, cotton candy and fireworks, I began my own re-education, reading keenly to understand the origins and the construct of the first Americans.
In the 200 years since the Protestant Christians invaded America they've enslaved millions, massacred the Indians, and everything we've suffered – the chains, the church bombings, our leaders assassinated, brothers lynched – all of it has been part of an elaborate scheme to keep Blacks subjugated.
In June 1740, the British Parliament passed the Naturalization Act of 1740 – the "Plantation Act" – into law.
In this decree, any White European Protestant alien who had been living in any of the thirteen colonies for seven years without being absent from that colony for more than two months, was deemed to be a natural-born citizen of the United Kingdom.
The Plantation Act of 1740 was a direct response to the September 1739 Stono River Slave Rebellion in South Carolina. The Stono Rebellion was the largest slave insurrection in British North America that culminated in the deaths of 25 colonists and about 50 Africans. It was led by an Angolan known as Jemmy and a band of about twenty slaves, who broke into a store, armed themselves and demanded their freedom. They marshalled a group of 60 slaves in an attempt to reach St Augustine in Florida, where the Spanish guaranteed freedom and land to any fugitive slave. The rebellion was crushed at Edisto River, 80 kms away from where the rebellion had started.
The 1740 law criminalised the Black experience itself, restricting the right of free movement, the right to free assembly, and the right to be educated or to earn money. These punitive and discriminatory laws created by men who claimed to be good Christians, legislated the right of plantations owners to even kill rebellious slaves.
Most colonialists considered themselves British until the year 1776 when resentment began to fester among the settlers. Frustrated by taxation and a lack of representation in the British Parliament, these new Americans declared war on their own government demanding independence.
That same year, the British-born political activist, pamphleteer and immigrant to the colonies, Thomas Paine, published a pamphlet titled Common Sense in which he argued the case for a new "America".
"Europe, and not England, is the parent country of America. This new world hath been the asylum for the persecuted lovers of civil and religious liberty from every part of Europe."
The American War of Independence was fought from 1776 to 1783. Seven years later, the Naturalization Act of 1790, the first naturalization law of the new republic legislating who could be granted United States citizenship, was passed into law.
All Free White Persons of "good character" who had been residing in the United States for two years or longer could apply for US citizenship. In effect, the law's use of the phrase, "free white person" excluded blacks and immigrants of other races from being eligible for citizenship, and most importantly, for protection under the laws of the court.
As a child I had drank the Kool-Aid and believed that it was peaceful cooperation between the pilgrims and the native Indians that had established the widely practiced Thanksgiving holiday tradition.
I recall summers spent playing cowboys and Indians with my brothers. We took turns at who got to play the Indian. I felt no shame striking the Indians down with my rifle. They were always the bad guys, raiding the poor settlers' forts, attacking their caravans. But I was baffled by the contradictions. Why would the Indians save the pilgrims who were dying from the cold and hunger only to try to escape from them later? It just didn't make much sense.
Then it came to me: the Native Americans were fighting to protect their land. We weren't playing a game; what we were doing was re-enacting a massacre. Over five million Native Americans were killed before the West was conquered.
Regardless the age at which one arrives at truth and understanding, it is always disorienting and disheartening. I've found that whether one accepts it or not, the only thing we can be certain of in this world of uncertainty is change.
I spoke with many people after the first 2020 Presidential Debate between President Trump and the Democratic nominee former Vice President Joe Biden that took place in the midst of heightened racial tensions and the COVID-19 pandemic. I got many mixed views regarding the outcome of the debate; some were shocked by the childish display while others dug in, taking sides and displaying party loyalty like it was a football game. Of the many reactions I got, one zoom call from home with my older brother really got me thinking.
"Can you believe that man?"
My older brother is now 60.
I had noticed him wiping his eyes.
I asked, "What 's wrong?"
At first he didn't (want to) speak, he just kept brushing the tears away, then he began,
"Little brother, we grew up together," he said.
"We pretty much had the same childhood, but I'll tell you, I have never had any white person call me a nigger or spit on me like these guys up here in Philadelphia tell me they have. I have had White teachers down south who were some of the nicest people you'd want to meet. But, looking at that debate last night and the President of the United States refusing to denounce white supremacy as racist, I just never, you know, thought White people hated us that much."
I empathised with him because I knew the pain of sacrifice, service, abandonment, rejection and betrayal.
I joined the US Military at seventeen to prove my allegiance to the ideals that made America great in my mind, but war in a foreign land far away from the ones I loved taught me the truth about service and the value of my life.
My brother and I grew up five years apart in a changing post-civil rights America. We were kids of the Kool-Aid generation, the first of our kind. We had opportunities our parents could only have dreamt of. We were the hope of a brighter future, a brighter America. A post-civil rights America.
In the 1960s, the far right party was a party bent on preserving the privileges of natural-born Whites in America, Jim Crow's America. However, during the 1960s a new consciousness emerged as young White Americans took to the streets to say that they had seen the attack dogs set on peaceful protesters and wanted a better America. In January 1961, a young President-elect of Irish descent and a wealthy practicing Catholic would become the embodiment of the American dream and challenge the good American Christians to look into their hearts and minds and begin anew to create a better nation where the rights of every American, White and non-White, were protected under the laws of the land.
With a rousing inauguration day speech, JFK inspired Americans to think better of themselves, to think higher of themselves: "Ask not what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your country." He had spoken and the people spoke back. My parents gave me his middle name because they believed life for Blacks in America would be different.
But, in November of 1963, the 46-year-old president, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, was gunned down by a lone gunmen while out in Texas promoting his ideas of equality to the American people.
My brother was crying because it was hard for him to accept people could be so calculating and one so naive. He, like so many others, wanted badly to believe in a land blessed by God.
I was twelve years old when my big brother left home. He moved up north straight out of high school, where he built a career and retired as a professional chef. He found love, family and set up a home up north. But in the Trump years, the scales fell from his eyes.
"I never had a racist moment down south, not like the kind of racist moments these guys tell me they've encountered here in Philly. I mean I just never believed White people hated us that much."
I knew the anguish, the shock. We Blacks down south don't complain, we see but at the same time we've learnt not to see.
My grandma in the village used to say, "You can't feed into the darkness. You can't demand anyone to know what you know, to understand what you understand. People see what they want to see. People come to truth when they come to it and not a second before."
But what you don't do is stop living.
Gold and Gemstone Policy in Kenya: The Devil Is in the Detail
Small-scale artisanal gold and gemstone mining is decades-old but lack of knowledge and expertise, and limited support from the government have hampered the sector's development.
Augustine Masiga
The evergreen town of Kakamega is a picture of the hustle and bustle typical of any Kenyan town, with many hundreds of folks going about their daily business. But as you leave the town behind, the environment changes, a lush countryside of cultivated fields and densely planted trees giving no hint of the gold mining taking place in the nearby locality of Ikolomani.
Across the country, 432 miles to the southeast of Kakamega is the beautiful transit town of Voi, the largest town in Taita Taveta County which lies at the foothills of the Sagalla massif. But the much smaller town of Mwatate is the county capital, and the source of gemstones that Kenyans from other parts of the country know little about. Mwatate has rubies, red garnet, emeralds, moonstones, tsavorite, okenorite, and many more.
Small-scale artisanal gold and gemstone mining has been going on for decades in both Kakamega and Taita Taveta counties, undertaken mainly by local artisanal miners and by a few non-locals and foreign nationals.
The Mining Act 2016 recognises three levels of mining rights: artisanal mining permits, small-scale mining permits and large-scale mining licences. The small-scale permits and large-scale mining licences are issued at the national level through the Kenya Mineral Rights Board (MRB), while the artisanal mining permits are issued through the county artisanal mining committees. The Mineral Rights Board and the county Artisanal Mining Committees are administratively governed by the State Department of Mining under the Ministry of Petroleum and Mining. The Director of Mines and his representatives in the various counties are in charge of overseeing the implementation of the ministry's policy frameworks. The Ministry of Petroleum and Mining has key mining regulations in place to govern this process.
But even though the Mineral Rights Board is in place, the process of setting up the county Artisanal Mining Committees (AMCs) has been long drawn out and there seems to be no hurry to implement the mining regulations that were commissioned in 2017. Kakamega County's AMC was gazetted on 27 March 2020 and the team commissioned on 20 July 2020. However, the AMC has yet to begin its work as the key governmental mechanisms necessary to run the committee are still pending and so no mining permits have been issued to artisanal miners in Kakamega County since the gazettement.
Artisanal miners in Taita Taveta County are in a different situation altogether. The list of members of the county AMC constituted through their appointing authorities has been forwarded to the Ministry of Petroleum and Mining but the AMC has yet to be gazetted. When contacted on this issue, one of the reasons cited by the ministry officials was that factions within the mining fraternity have disputed the list of people proposed to be part of the AMC.
Applications for small-scale mining permits are submitted to the Mineral Rights Board through the Mining Cadastre Portal. The platform is meant to bring these services close to the miners but they complain of the slow response from the Ministry of Mining. They must travel to the ministry to submit the paperwork even after uploading it onto the portal. Access to a stable internet connection is also a challenge in the remote areas of Taita Taveta and Kakamega while some of the small-scale miners lack the capacity to use the online system. Most have to travel to the Ministry's offices for assistance or else hire someone with the skills to undertake the work for them, rendering the application process both tedious and time-consuming.
The ministry has not undertaken any capacity building and shows a lack of commitment to make the system more efficient and user-friendly. The biggest hindrance, however, is the low budgetary allocation made to the Ministry of Mining, which leaves the staff with limited options in their efforts to serve small-scale miners.
The stated goal of the Mining Cadastre Portal is "to provide an electronic platform for all stakeholders in the mining sector in Kenya to engage directly with the Ministry of Mining." Existing mineral rights holders (those with mining permits and licenses for mining) or those with pending applications can download, complete and upload the requisite documents. Prospective mineral rights holders can also submit their particulars and other supporting documents through the portal.
The portal is also a one-stop shop for information on mining activities in Kenya. It has a cadastre map of the key areas with mineral resources, as well as details of licence holders, and on-going applications; a click on any part of the map automatically displays the existing information about that specific geographical location.
For artisanal and small-scale miners (ASMs) in Kakamega and Taita Taveta, the portal has had a significant impact on access to public information on mining in Kenya. But the portal also has its limitations. Mining is a highly skilled sector that requires high levels of expert knowledge. Some of the requirements on the portal are beyond the scope of knowledge of most gold and gemstone miners in Kakamega and Taita Taveta. For instance, the portal requires a miner to take the coordinates of the area for which they are applying for a permit. This requires equipment that is typically used by geologists and land surveyors and that is expensive to hire or purchase. A sketch of the area or locality where the miner intends to undertake extraction is another requirement, a very sophisticated process that miners in general cannot undertake on their own.
Lack of knowledge and expertise coupled with lack of access to the internet, or even computers, therefore leaves the small-scale gold and gemstone miners unable to fully exploit the portal.
Aside from these limitations, however, the Kenya Mining Cadastre Portal has been a game changer when it comes to eliminating brokers from the mining sector and it has proven to be a more efficient system than the manual issuing of permits and licences
For instance, unlike the manual system that had no clear guidelines regarding payments, all fees due to the ministry are clearly indicated on the portal and paid directly to the ministry through a cashless system. Moreover, as the portal has centralised all the country's mining information, cases of loss or manipulation of files or documents have reduced significantly.
The gold and gemstones that are mined in Kakamega and Taita Taveta are exported out of the country with or without any value addition under the provisions of the Mining Act of 2016 which require an export permit from the Cabinet Secretary the application for which is made on the Mining Cadastre Portal.
But while the law on the issuance of mineral export permits is sufficiently detailed, its implementation is the biggest challenge and I have no doubt at all that gold and gemstones are imported into and exported out of Kenya without any form of declaration. There are many routes along the porous Kenyan boarders through which the minerals can slip in or out of the country.
For instance, most of the gold that is mined in Kakamega is taken to Uganda by road undeclared. How can this be remedied, especially for gold and gemstone miners who want to run a clean business? Also, the process of implementing the gold refinery centre in Kakamega and the gemstone value addition centre in Voi remains pending. If the sector is streamlined, then the issue of traceability of gold and gemstones will be resolved and the mineral export licence will be of value to the artisanal and small-scale miners in the sector.
The article is done with support from Diakonia Kenya Country Office under the Madini Yetu Wajibu Wetu (Our Minerals, Our Responsibility) Project. Views expressed in the article are those of the author.


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Reddit pick-up artist issues mea culpa after Kickstarter controversy
Kickstarter's apology for not defunding a Reddit pick-up artist's book project is one of the best in Internet history. Now Ken Hoinsky has followed suit.
Gaby Dunn
Published Jun 24, 2013 Updated Jun 1, 2021, 12:51 pm CDT
Plenty of companies have had to apologize publicly. Usually, the public relations team makes sure the word "wrong," an admittance of fault, stays out of the equation.
But Kickstarter's apology for not defunding a Reddit pick-up artist's book project is one of the best mea culpas in Internet history. After a viral blog post by comedian Casey Malone criticized Ken Hoinsky's crowdfunded Above the Game: A Guide to Getting Awesome With Women, citing questionable advice that verged on sexual assault, a petition on DoSomething.org and a public outcry followed.
Kickstarter initially said last week that it would not pull the page before its deadline. The creator would be allowed to receive the more than $16,000 he made on the site. But on Friday, the company admitted, "We Were Wrong." Kickstarter issued a statement saying had it had more time, it would have taken down the offending project.
Now Above the Game author Ken Hoinsky admits he's done some soul-searching as well.
There were two reasons Kickstarter didn't cancel the project:
1) The decision had to be made immediately because the project was ending in two hours, and the site had never removed a project that quickly.
2) The site is biased heavily toward creators. "This thinking made us miss the forest for the trees," the company wrote. "Kickstarter is committed to a culture of respect."
The site says that if it'd seen the offending parts of Hoinsky's proposed book, the company would have never allowed it to remain up. "There is no taking back money from the project or canceling funding after the fact," the statement says. Kickstarter has now taken down the page, but a version remains cached for posterity. Kickstarter is prohibiting future seduction guides, effective immediately. The company will also donate $25,000 to RAINN, the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network.
The response to Kickstarter's change of heart has been mostly positive. It's a much more thorough, heartfelt apology than Paula Deen's or Serena Williams's.
To some, the failure to take down Hoinsky's page is unforgivable. For others, the labeling of the guide as "violence against women" went too far. But mostly, Kickstarter put out a beautiful work of PR magic. And RAINN will make a chunk of much-needed money.
It's more than an apology: It's an amazing learning opportunity for the men of Reddit's r/seduction. Their community hasn't ever seen this kind of scrutiny and negative attention before. Articles ran with headlines such as "Kickstarter apologizes for $16K raised by misogynistic 'seduction guide' creep" and "Does this guide teach men to rape?" Yikes.
This morning, Hoinsky issued his own updated apology. It's promising.
"In the most offensive and controversial parts, I chose my words poorly. Very, very poorly," he wrote. "I meant one thing and people were reading another. THIS IS A MAJOR PROBLEM. I needed to seriously evaluate every last word of my writing to make sure I wasn't encouraging sexual assault in any way, shape, or form. I want to wholeheartedly apologize to everyone I offended."
Hoinsky also says he met with Ben Kassoy of DoSomething.org, whose petition to ban the project from Kickstarter received 50,000 signatures in one day. Kassoy's was one of "many meetings I will be having with anti-rape and anti-abuse organizations and experts to make sure that the advice I am offering is free of any tinge of sexual assault or rape vibes. I will be rewriting Above the Game under their guidance and insight," Hoinsky wrote. "My name may have been martyred in the press, but I will be using this opportunity for good." He will also be doing an AMA on Reddit this afternoon to further the dialogue on the intersection of men's dating advice and feminist issues.
If the men of Reddit's r/seduction learn anything from Kickstarter's turnaround and from Hoinsky's proactive and thoughtful apology, it should be that a necessary conversation has been started here, and if you choose to engage with it and expand your knowledge, growth, and change are possible in big ways.
*First Published: Jun 24, 2013, 10:29 am CDT
Gaby Dunn is an actress, comedian, and blogger who covered YouTube for the Daily Dot. Since 2016, she's hosted the podcast 'Bad with Money,' and operates a successful YouTube channel. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Boston Globe, Vice, and Salon.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Blog Homepage \ Dave and Adam's Buying Team Stories \ Massive Upper Deck Commemorative Sheets Purchase!
The buying team here at Dave & Adam's recently acquired a large lot of early 1990's Upper Deck commemorative sheets. Due to the age and nature of how they were given away, many of these sheets are incredibly tough to find! Our buyers jumped at this opportunity, as some of these sheets have never been seen before! It took us awhile, but we have fully processed all of these commemorative sheets and they are now available for purchase!
The grail of theses sheets is by far the very first one Upper Deck made – commemorating 1989 Upper Deck Baseball and released at The National Candy Wholesalers Exposition held in Washington, DC on July 27th-29th of 1989. Pictured on the sheet is Ken Griffey Jr., Mark McGwire, Todd Zeile, Junior Felix, Barry Larkin and Todd Benzinger. The Griffey card is, of course, his 1989 rookie card design! Upper Deck made 12,000 of these sheets and, as mentioned above, it represents the start of Upper Deck Baseball!
Upper Deck also partnered with many teams/stadiums to stage the Heroes of Baseball exhibition games in 1991 and 1992. These games featured stars and players from across the MLB and every decade from the 1940's up to, and including, the 1980's! Upper Deck created a variety of sheets that were used as giveaways across the country! There are also sheets from Upper Deck's foray into the NFL and NHL landscapes. We have All-Star games, All-Rookie Teams, Championships, and more great moments all captured on these collectible sheets!
The sheets we have acquired range from the years 1989-1994. Each sheet measures approximately 8 1/2″ by 11″ and is printed on heavy card stock. The sheets have an Upper Deck stamp indicating the production run and an individual number. Most backs are blank but there are some with Upper Deck Limited Edition Commemorative Sheet emblazed multiple times on the back.
1989 Upper Deck "The First" Limited Edition Commemorative Sheet featuring Ken Griffey Jr Rookie!
These Commemorative Sheets are a cool memento for any collector, particularly if you were lucky enough to attend one of the events where they were originally handed out!
Did you miss out on getting a sheet then? If so, now is your opportunity to pick one up!
Big Foot and Aliens Sited at Upper Deck!
Win a Limited Edition Upper Deck Gale Sayers or Bobby Orr Autographed Card!


Thierry, originally from Brussels, is is a recognised international teacher authorized by the Thai Healling Alliance – is the founder of The School of Thai Yoga Massage – THERAPY THAI MASSAGE .
Thierry offers diverse courses and retreats for all levels of practitioners in Belgium and abroad since 2010.
His passion for movement, rhythm, balance and bio-dynamics led him in 2002 to the art of Thai Yoga Massage, it was the birth of a long journey of self transformation and ongoing education .
Spending most the time between Australia, india and thailand, dedicated to deepen his studies and search between eastern and western knowledge.
Including silence retreats, yoga and latelly a deep connection with Swami Atmananda followed by Moojie, touching spirituel teachers offering satsangs and teachings on the non-dual essence of Reality (Advaita) and the nature of spiritual Awakening.


Results of an investigation presented last year at the American Heart Association's (AHA) annual Scientific Session shows if current trends continue, the overwhelming majority of American adults will be overweight, if not obese, by the year 2020 . More than half will also suffer from either type-2 diabetes, or related pre-diabetic conditions. Using data gathered between 1988 and 2008, as part of the federally sponsored National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) initiative, researchers with Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine were able to project just how much fatter the U.S. population is likely to get over the course of the next decade.
Currently, about 72% of American males, and 63% of American females are overweight or obese. If those figures weren't alarming enough, Northwestern University researchers estimate that by 2020, these numbers will grow to include roughly 83% of men and 72% of women living in the United States.
In terms of overall cost, the Northwestern study estimates that by the year 2030, the United States could be spending over a trillion dollars, annually, on managing health issues related to being overweight.
The importance of eating well and making smart decisions to keep our bodies healthy cannot be stressed enough. Even very small progressive steps can make an difference over time.
A common frustration among many is that it's too difficult to eat right while juggling busy work schedules and hectic personal lives. This excuse is probably the single most popular way to justify the consumption of low-quality, no-nutrition food. Resist the temptation to reach for these quick convenience foods. Eating organic food to avoid toxic compounds is the best option. Incorporating some advanced planning into your routine makes it very easy to incorporate healthy eating into your routine. With some practice, you'll be able to prepare a healthy, home-cooked meal in less time than it takes to pick up take-out or have something delivered. This habit lends itself to a better diet and is significantly more affordable. Don't let seemingly cheap menu prices fool you — they quickly add up and so do the health consequences.
Even with diet and lifestyle improvements, shedding excess weight is a challenge for many people. Using a safe, all-natural liver and gallbladder cleanse can be a great way to help speed up metabolism and enhance weight loss efforts. However, it is important to keep in mind that this is not a standalone solution and that no product in the world can make up for being sedentary or continually poisoning your body with junk food.
Erin White. On track to getting even fatter. Northwestern University. 2011 November 16.


Jeez, I had to hold Julie back! She wanted to reach into the photo and scoop them up! They are so adorable and cute and soft..!
Can we jump on here twice? I guess so!
Thank you so much for your well wishes on our blog,Connie!


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Pinelands Athletics
Pinelands Regional High School
Cross Country Fall Cheerleading Field Hockey Football Soccer Tennis Volleyball
Basketball Bowling Indoor Track Winter Cheerleading Wrestling
Baseball Golf Lacrosse Softball Tennis Track Volleyball
Challenger League
Boys Middle School Boys Varsity Girls Middle School Girls Varsity
Girls Freshman Girls Junior Varsity Girls Middle School Girls Varsity
Boys Freshman Boys Junior Varsity Boys Junior Wildcats Boys Middle School Boys Varsity
Boys Freshman Boys Junior Varsity Boys Middle School Boys Varsity Girls Junior Varsity Girls Middle School Girls Varsity
Girls Junior Varsity Girls Varsity
Girls Middle School Girls Varsity
Boys Junior Varsity Boys Junior Wildcats Boys Middle School Boys Varsity
Boys Freshman Boys Junior Varsity Boys Middle School Boys Varsity
Boys Junior Wildcats
Boys Junior Wildcats (18-19)
Girls Junior Varsity Basketball
Record: 0 - 2
(A) 12/14/18 4:00 PM vs Donovan Catholic HS
C 11/26 .
(A) 12/18/18 4:00 PM vs Manchester Twp. H.S.
(H) 12/20/18 5:15 PM vs Lakewood HS
(A) 01/02/19 4:00 PM vs Shore Regional HS
(H) 01/03/19 4:00 PM vs Jackson Liberty HS
(A) 01/08/19 3:45 PM vs Point Pleasant Borough H.S.
(A) 01/11/19 3:30 PM vs Lacey Twp HS
C 11/29 47 - 18 W .
(H) 01/12/19 10:00 AM vs Ocean Township HS
(H) 01/14/19 5:15 PM vs Barnegat Twp. Schools
C 11/21, C 1/10 sh .
(H) 01/17/19 5:15 PM vs Donovan Catholic HS
C 11/26, C1/17sh .
(A) 01/18/19 4:30 PM vs Henry Hudson Regional Cancelled .
(H) 01/22/19 4:00 PM vs Manchester Twp. H.S.
(A) 01/23/19 4:00 PM vs Central Regional HS
(A) 01/25/19 4:00 PM vs Lakewood HS
(A) 01/28/19 3:45 PM vs Jackson Liberty HS
(H) 01/31/19 5:15 PM vs Point Pleasant Borough H.S.
C 11/21, c1/31 sh Junior High School Main Gym .
(A) 02/02/19 10:00 AM vs Keyport HS
C 11/28 Cancelled .
(H) 02/05/19 3:30 PM vs Lacey Twp HS
C 11/29,c2/1sh 40 - 18 W .
(H) 02/06/19 4:00 PM vs Freehold Boro HS
(A) 02/08/19 3:45 PM vs Barnegat Twp. Schools
(H) 02/11/19 4:00 PM vs Raritan HS
C 11/27 Postponed .
565 Nugentown Road
Tuckerton, NJ 08087
609-296-3106 Ext: 2211
The official website of Pinelands Regional High Wildcats Athletics
https://pinelandswildcats.org
Get immediate, official calendar changes for Pinelands Regional High School via:


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Home Temples Saint Hripsime Church
The places in this region
Saint Hripsime Church
4 4Reviews
The church of St. Hripsime was built in 618 by Komitas catholicos in Vagharshapat city (present-day Echmiadzin). Before the church was constructed, Hripsime Virgin's burial vault existed here. The bell-tower attached to the western façade was built in 1780.
How much does the tour cost?
Echmiadzin Cathedral
The Holy See of Echmiadzin was built in 301 in Vagharshapat – the capital of Armenia at the time.
Saint Gayane Church
The church of St. Gayane is a domed basilica built in 630 in Vagahrshapat (present-day Echmiadzin), in the times of Yezr catholicos.
Zvartnots Cathedral
St. Gregory Illuminator's church or the cathedral of Zvartnots and the residence of catholicos nearby were built by catholicos Nerses III the Builder in 641-661.
© 2014 Mshakuyt.com. All Right Reserved


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La Evolve è stata una federazione di wrestling indipendente fondata da Gabe Sapolsky, Sal Hamaoui e Davey Richards nel 2010.

La federazione disponeva di un ampio roster di lottatori indipendenti provenienti da tutti gli Stati Uniti, ma anche dal Giappone. Ha avuto uno stretta partnership con Dragon Gate USA fino alla cessazione di questa, avvenuta nel mese di agosto 2015. Nello stesso anno la Evolve ha stretto una collaborazione con la WWE, divenendone un ulteriore territorio di sviluppo e il 2 luglio 2020 la federazione è stata acquistata proprio dalla WWE, sancendo però di fatto la chiusura degli show.

Storia

Ultimi campioni

Collegamenti esterni

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Jekaterina Kljujewa (engl. Transkription Ekaterina Klyueva; * 2. Juni 1996) ist eine ehemalige kasachische Tennisspielerin.

Karriere
Kljujewa begann im Alter von acht Jahren mit dem Tennissport. Auf Turnieren des ITF Women's Circuit gewann sie einen Titel im Einzel und drei im Doppel.

Seit Juli 2017 hat Kljujewa kein Profiturnier mehr bestritten und wird nicht mehr in den Weltranglisten geführt.

Turniersiege

Einzel

Doppel

Weblinks

Tennisspieler (Kasachstan)
Kasache
Geboren 1996
Frau


– Thibodeau is indisputably a very effective coach. Neil Paine over at Fivethirtyeight.com, assessed Thibodeau's expected wins based upon his talent and found he was 7.5 wins better than a standard coach over a single season. Seven wins sounds a bit high but the consensus is that Thibodeau teams defend well and exceed expectations, at least in the regular season.
–Kevin Pelton's ESPN column also looked at the notion that Thibodeau is less effective in the playoffs. Pelton found that this notion is overstated but that there was some indication/argument that Thibodeau's propensity to play his players heavy minutes could take a toll on the team later in the season.
-Those minutes, though, are quite an issue. Thibodeau's main players are frequently playing some the heaviest minutes (Jimmy Butler was the guy this season) in the NBA and both Joakim Noah and Luol Deng have had nagging issues that are arguably related to this (Derrick Rose's initial knee injury looked like more of a freak play).
"While the head of each department of the organization must be free to make final decisions regarding his department, there must be free and open interdepartmental discussion and consideration of everyone's ideas and opinions. These internal discussions must not be considered an invasion of turf, and must remain private. Teams that consistently perform at the highest levels are able to come together and be unified across the organization-staff, players, coaches, management and ownership. When everyone is on the same page, trust develops and teams can grow and succeed together. Unfortunately, there has been a departure from this culture. To ensure that the Chicago Bulls can continue to grow and succeed, we have decided that a change in the head coaching position is required." (Emphasis added).
That release doesn't just illustrate a difference of opinion. It is a direct indictment of Thibodeau. The question then is whether there is a bad guy in this scenario. While Thibodeau certainly gives off an abrasive/control freak vibe, management's reputation is not pristine.
-He fired Doug Collins in 1989, after the Bulls had a great playoff run, claiming that the team needed a new voice. More on this below.
-He kept Phil Jackson on one year-deals to coincide with Michael Jordan's career. The second MJ retired, the Bulls told Jackson he wouldn't be needed, even though he had just won six titles and probably could've helped a rebuilding Bulls team.
-He fired Scott Skiles after a 9-16 start in 2007-08. Skiles had brought the team to respectability after years of futility. Reinsdorf claimed that Skiles told him that the team new "needed a new voice," inaccurately implying that Skiles quit. Reinsdorf later had to recant this assertion.
Sam Smith, a long time Bulls writer, put this all together and wrote a thoughtful piece that found that both the Bulls and Thibodeau had legitimate grievances and that a divorce just made sense for all sides. I think Smith is mostly right. This pairing was not working and the parties needed to start over.
But there is more to the story. Thibodeau is a great but temperamental coach. It will be hard to find a coach nearly as good (the Bulls think Fred Hoiberg is the man to fill the shoes but we shall see). The history reveals, though, that the Bulls appear to be overly sensitive to public complaints. Unless there were some hidden issues that the public is not privy too (there are unsubstantiated rumors that players wanted him gone too), firing Thibodeau seems rash. Why potentially start a rebuild when you don't have to?
2. Doug Collins, Thibo Deja Vu?:Looking at Reinsdorf's decisions on coaches over the years made me think more about the Doug Collins firing back in 1989. People forget now but that move was actually much more surprising and much less well received than Thibodeau's canning. Let's take a ride back to the spring of 1989 for a fun reminder in how quickly any coach's self-esteem can be destroyed in the NBA.
How did Collins go from hot, young coach to fired in a short span? Let's review…The 1985-86 Bulls were 30-52 and not very good. Second year pro Michael Jordan missed most of the season with a broken foot and the offense was built around a very aging George Gervin and Orlando Woolridge. MJ came back for the playoffs and he looked unbelievable when he came back for the playoffs (yes, the Bulls made the playoffs at 30-52). He memorably dropped 63 points on the best Larry Bird Celtic team ever.
Arguably the season could have been deemed a success but veteran coach Stan Albeck was fired after the season. Albeck said he was "stunned" by the decision, noting that the team made the playoffs and was as good as reasonably could have been without Jordan. He spent a day giving interviews criticizing management: "I think the entire situation was very poorly handled, and there was a lack of respect, dignity and sensitivity." Doug Collins, who was working as a television commentator was brought in as a consultant before Albeck was canned, creating whispers that Albeck was not long for the job.
Reinsdorf said the change was due to a difference in coaching philosophy: "I want a team without any one-on-one play, no isolations, very little dribbling, tenacious defense and movement without the ball." Enter, Doug Collins. Collins was an NBA star in the 1970s (and a number one pick overall actually), whose career ended prematurely due to chronic injuries. The Bulls hired Collins (who was only 34 at the time), to try to improve the Bulls. Collins apparently engrossed management, notably GM Jerry Krause, during an almost four-hour interview/discussion of basketball philosophy.
In the 1988-89 playoffs, the Bulls gave the eventual champ Pistons all they could handle. The Pistons won 4-2 but it was apparent the Bulls were a serious title team. Jordan was the best player in the NBA and the two youngsters, Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant, had shown improvement. Still, Reinsdorf abruptly canned Collins after the playoffs.
When Collins came into the meeting in which he was fired, he was actually expecting a contract extension. What happened? At the time, Reinsdorf said, that, "through the years, philosophical differences between management and Doug, over the direction the club was going, grew to a point where the move was required." Sounds reasonable, in theory, but, without specifics, this statement really offers nothing.
-Collins was missing sleep and food and had emotional breakdowns in his office over job pressure.
-Reinsdorf felt that Collins was not using players reasonably. Collins allegedly: (a) ran off Charles Oakley because he did not like his game, (b) didn't use Bill Cartwright (who was traded for Oakley), and (c) did not play rookie Will Perdue enough, despite agreeing to play him a certain number of minutes (he had agreed to play Perdue about 10 minutes per game and then buried him).
-Reinsdorf was really turned off when Collins tried to get Krause fired and also take the GM job.
-The players apparently didn't love Collins' intensity and the fact that he wanted credit for wins and blamed the players for losses.
-Collins was paranoid about his assistants and viewed Phil Jackson as rival, and even stopped speaking to him at times.
Individually, none of these issues seems particularly different than most coach/GM arguments. In total, there are a ton of grievances here and the general tenor, was that Collins was an emotional time bomb, set to go off at a bad time. Others have detailed Collins' emotional style have been used to laud him (see "Money Players," by Armen Keteyian, which detailed his Collins' attempts to build Detroit in the mid-1990s), and criticize him in later stops (he was later abruptly fired by the Pistons for similar complaints).
In retrospect, Krause was obviously right. Jackson did bring the team to the next level and Collins was more than a little volatile. The larger lesson learned is that Reinsdorf will always side with management over coaches. This is not a bad thing. In theory, the GM should be the boss and should be trusted. Even Jackson, who would've wielded tons of clout in most NBA franchises, was always considered an underling.
The question for today, though, is whether Thibodeau really had the same issues as Collins and whether Hoiberg could be the next Jackson. There have been stories about Thibodeau's intensity (working late, hard practice schedule, and his compulsive need to prepare) but nothing like the Collins nuttiness. To the Bulls, though, it doesn't matter. Reinsdorf has a firm organizational chart and the coach will never win over the GM.


Heritage Ridge allows you to enjoy the comforts of your own apartment as well as the company of others. We are here to help when you or a loved one needs assistance with daily living. Our Assisted Living Community in Bellevue, NE, gives you access to caregivers 24 hours a day, for hands-on assistance with daily tasks such as bathing, dressing and medication administration. The goal is to help you remain as independent as possible, for as long as possible, with a personalized plan of wellness and care.
We're committed to make your life better, Something to smile about indeed.


This week on Between Sundays, we remember the late and great Christian Evangelist Billy Graham. During Grace's weekend services, the main message was a sermon about "How to Live the Christian Life" from Billy. Our hosts and special guest Mark Slaughter, from InterVarsity Christian Fellowship (21:25), unpack Billy's sermon about the rules of Christianity (17:15), the tension of listing "rules of the Christian faith" (35:22), the impact Billy left on the world (45:20) and what set Billy apart from other Christian leaders (48:35). Thanks for listening!


text:
Household spending falls for first time in 10 years
UK households spent less on clothing, transport and mortgages last year than in 2008 according to new figures released today by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Family Spending, the annual report from ONS on household expenditure in the UK, found that in 2009 the average weekly household spend was £455.00,compared with £471.00 in 2008. It is the first drop within the last ten years.
Spending was highest on transport at £58.40 per week though this fell by 8% on the previous year, with half (£29.30) going towards running costs.
Average expenditure levels in each of the next two top categories were very similar. Recreation and Culture fell slightly to £57.90 in 2009 from £60.10 in 2008, despite higher spending on items such as leisure classes, sports admissions, cinemas, theatres and concerts. Expenditure on housing, fuel and power increased to £57.30 in 2009 from £53.00 in 2008.
Expenditure on Clothing and Footwear was £20.90 per week, slightly lower than the previous year and continuing the long-term fall in this category to the lowest figures recorded under current methods. Similarly, expenditure on Household Goods and Services such as furniture and appliances also hit a long-term low, falling from £30.10 in 2008 to £27.90 in 2009.
Of the £52.20 average weekly spend on food and non-alcoholic drink, almost three-quarters (72 per cent, £37.70 per week) was purchased from large supermarket chains, a similar proportion to the previous year.
Spending on package holidays fell from £14.70 per week in 2008 to £13.20 in 2009 with £12.30 spent on package holidays abroad, £1.30 less than the previous year.
Giles Horsfield, ONS statistician and editor of the report said, "This is the first annual decline in average UK household spend since the current method of recording was introduced in 2001-02, with higher expenditure on some housing related costs such as rent, electricity and gas offset by lower spending on mortgages".
"Lower spending on diesel and fuel contributed to lower expenditure on transport, but reductions were also seen on vehicle purchases and public transport".
"It's interesting to note that expenditure fell again on clothing which took it to a record low under current methods, for the third year in a row. Spending also fell on household goods and package holidays, but held up on sports admissions, cinema, theatre and concerts".
Source : The Retail Bulletin
view more UK DIY News


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Q: Converting odds to probability I cannot understand this table . By taking one colum we have the odds of winning the World Cup of each team.
How do you convert these odds to probability, such that the sum of probabilities is 1? (=1 because one team will win the Cup)
If I simply calculate the probability as $P(t) = {1 \over odds(t)} $ doesn't work as $\sum_{t \in T} P(t) \neq 1$

A: This is simple when a bookmaker offers you odds of say 6:4 the bookmaker is saying that if you win I'll give you six pounds but if you lose you have to give me four pounds.
In practise the bookmaker will usually take your stake (4 pounds) up front to make sure you actually pay him if you lose and will return it to you together with your winnings (6 pounds) if you win.
The probability is
$$\frac{\text{stake}}{\text{stake}+\text{winnings}}$$
in this case
$$\frac{4}{4+6} = \frac{4}{10} = 0.4$$

A: A simple way is to compute like this: $P(t) = \frac{odds(t)}{\sum _{t\in T}odds(t)}$, if the odds are for winning.
However, if its bet amount, then it would be inversely proportional to odds of winning, and I'm not sure how to calculate in this case, however something like $\frac{1}{odds}$ might work. Though a better thing would be to compute the new $p(t)$ as $p(t) = \frac{1}{(n-1)}(1-P(t))$

A: Ok, I got a solution:
$P(t) = {{1 \over odd(t)}\over \sum_{t \in T}odd(t)}$
I think that normalization is needed only because the declared odds includes some "entropy" due to the need of earning of the bank.

A: For example, the odds for Brazil is 11/4. This means that when you bet 4 dollars you win 11 dollars, at the end you get 4+11 = 15 dollars

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
package com.saltedge.sdk.network;

import androidx.test.runner.AndroidJUnit4;

import com.saltedge.sdk.model.response.ProvidersResponse;

import org.junit.Assert;
import org.junit.Test;
import org.junit.runner.RunWith;

import retrofit2.Call;

@RunWith(AndroidJUnit4.class)
public class SERestClientTest {

    @Test
    public void createRetrofitTest() throws Exception {
        SERestClient.getInstance().initService();
        Call<ProvidersResponse> call = SERestClient.getInstance().service.getProviders("", true, "");

        Assert.assertTrue(call.request().url().toString().startsWith("https://www.saltedge.com/api/v5/providers"));
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Homeowners across the country are aware of the potential risks that termites can cause, and it's always a good idea to be knowledgeable of the dangers before any damage is done. Lexington pest control companies like Fox are in Kentucky and are very familiar with the ranges you can expect with termites.
If you re trying to find out what areas are susceptible to termites, there are 2 ways of looking at the question. What areas of the country have termites, or what areas of my home can be susceptible? Both are excellent questions.
Living in any of these states, you will want to take precautions to keep your home protected from termites. Other states through the central USA may be prone to termites, but not as severely. That would be Kentucky, Missouri and Kansas among others. On the other hand, states such as Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota and Maine are generally unaffected by termites and are not considered a typical threat.
What Parts of Your Home?
The other way of looking at this is to figure out what parts of your actual home are susceptible to termites. In that case, it's a simple answer: anywhere there is exposed and untreated wood.
That can mean door and window frames, attached decks, wood siding or shingles, or any other structural elements that are not sealed off from outside exposure. These wooden elements don't necessarily need to be at ground level either. Termites have a neat trick of building themselves tunnels of mud up over concrete foundation blocks so they can access the wood of your home even several inches or even feet up off the ground.
Once they have gained access to the structure of your house through any exposed wood (even just a single beam or frame portion), they can and will chew their own tunnels, moving from one part of your house to another. Since most of the internal structure of house is made of wood, once they are in, you can expect termites to eventually make their way anywhere.
Though wood is their preferred substrate and food, they will sometimes chew fabric or paper. They also won't know the difference between structural wood and wood furniture, so they could easily tunnel through a wooden floor and up a table leg.
One other thing you should watch for is any areas outside your home that could house a termite colony. That would add extra risk to your home. Large dead trees (including stumps) are a prime example. They should be removed. You want to keep any termite colonies as far from your house as possible.