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The Complete Greg Rucka Wondercon Panel Transcript [Wondercon]
Laura Hudson
Laura Hudson Published: April 5, 2010
At his Wondercon spotlight panel over the weekend, writer Greg Rucka made a series of surprising announcements, most notably that he had finished his work at DC Comics and would not be writing the previously discussed "Batwoman" comic. Beyond those bombshells, he also talked about a whole score of upcoming projects he has in the works, from the comic he describes as "Blade Runner meets Blake's 7" to the webcomic he plans to announce in July, to the "Queen and Country" comic he hopes to relaunch.
For fans of his work on "Detective Comics" and "Wonder Woman" Rucka also delved deep into his approach to writing female characters -- and Wonder Woman in particular -- as well as his collaboration with J.H. Williams III, why it was so hard to walk away, why fear is essential to writing, and what he would change about mainstream comics if here were emperor. Behold, the complete panel transcript:
Laura Hudson: So I guess my first question for you, Greg, is what's it like to be a man in comics?
Greg Rucka: It's great! I'm surrounded by other men all the time. And it makes me secure in my masculinity, by just writing about men who wear tight clothes and hit other men, and do so repeatedly, never having to express their feelings in any other fashion than just with violence. I think that it's frankly the way all men should relate to one another.
LH: You're known as a writer who writes a lot of strong women, and who writes women very well. In my mind, I think you're one of the bigger name writers who really gets it... What gives you that kind of insight into writing female characters?
GR: It's a long answer.
LH: We've got some time.GR: It's two-fold. I've said this before and people don't actually take me seriously when I say it – there's that joke about being a male lesbian, but I female-identify, and I always have since I was very young. I am not transgendered; I'm not looking for gender reassignment. I clearly have more testosterone flowing through me than most men need, and you can tell just by looking at me. I'm comfortable with my maleness, but for whatever reason the way I'm wired, I have always female-identified. Now, that does not equate to writing women well.
LH: What do you mean by "female-identify"?
GR: I tend to see – socially, I don't tend to be myself in a male role. I don't know any other way to put it. Now that being a separate issue, because that's not an issue of writing, that is an issue of identity... And I think people, we identify however we identify. I'm a Caucasian American Jew. These are all things that make up who I am. That goes to the second half of the question, which is -- I believe, for me, all writing comes from character. Character is made up of a variety of different things. One of those elements is gender. We live in a gendered society, and all you have to do is ask any woman here what her experience walking down a empty street at 3 in the morning is like, and then ask any guy. And you're gonna get different responses. There's a different implicit threat. That's a societal problem. In the same way that – what's your education? Well, those of you who were brought up in Catholic school have a different world experience than people who went to an inner city public school or a rich suburban [or] middle class public school. These are all elements of character.
There was a very specific point – it was actually after writing "Whiteout" – when a whole bunch of things happened around the same time. I was working on my fourth [Kodiak] novel, which was called "Shooting at Midnight." ... I'd written "Keeper," I'd written "Finder" and I'd written "Smoker." And "Smoker" wrote like a dream... And this is going to sound potentially very self-serving, but I got nervous, because it had become easy. And I sat down for the next one and said, I have to make sure I'm challenging myself. The worst thing that can happen for a writer is for a writer to start believing their own press. I think the industry and the comics industry in particular is littered with the bodies of writers who believed their own press. And you can see the moment they did, and then the work nosedives.
I sat down to do [my fourth novel] "Shooting at Midnight," and I wanted to write a Bridget book. If you know the Kodiak books, Atticus is a male protagonist who looks a lot like I used to look... Bridget is a Roman Catholic Bronx girl, and she's a former junkie. So I was like, that's about as hard – maybe I could set it in Pakistan, that would make it more difficult. [laughs]
But when I sat down to do the book, I did what I set out to do: I scared myself. I wrote a list of rules that I put up over my workspace... and number one was "be honest." I spent a lot of time while writing the book and in pre-writing for the book basically talking to all the women I knew. And saying to them rather warningly, I want to write a first-person narrative from Bridget's point of view. I'm not a woman. I'm not sure what I need to be aware of. And it got to a point – I remember sitting in my living room with my wife Jen [Van Meter] and one of our very good friends, Daria... And Daria looked at me said, "Does she get cramps? I get cramps so bad that at least once a month I want to kill myself, flat on my back in agony. Does she get cramps?" And it sounds kinda silly, but that was very revelatory to me, because it was such an element of character... All these things are elements of character: Preference, first kiss, favorite book. You don't have to know the answer to every one of them, but you have to be able to answer them if asked if that makes any sense.
I suppose if that answers the question, it's how I write anybody. I just try to be fair. I'll give you guys an example of that honesty issue... If you've read "Shooting at Midnight"... In the third section, there is this one fellow in the book who has been treating her horribly, who is a sexist motherf-ker... There's a bit where when she shows up they think she has a wire and she's searched. And I remember sitting there and writing the sequence, and knowing that this guy's going to search her, and he's got her in a position of vulnerability, so he's gonna cop a feel. This is a hateful, rotten guy; this is what he's going to do. And I remember debating with myself, was I willing to do this? Was I going to do this to this character? ...It's subtle, but it's pretty clear that this guy puts a finger inside her. I don't make a big moment out of it. It's from Bridget's point of view, and she's not going to make a big moment out of it. But the decision to do that was kind of a watershed moment. It was the question of, am I going to run away from it, or am I going to try to be honest?
There's a moment in the last part of the new "Queen and Country" novel that comes out in the end of October, and there's a similar moment of vulnerability for Tara. It's not in the same way... but if you viewed it cinematically, it could be either honesty or exploitative.
LH: Where is that line between being exploitative and being honest with the narrative and letting women take their lumps like everybody else?
GR: Again, I can only talk about my stuff. And this is my liberal arts background showing – you cannot tell a story and have it not be art, no matter how hard you try. You may not want it be; you may not think of it as art. But if it can read, it can be interpreted. If the art can be perceived, it can be interpreted. You look at "Raiders of the Lost Ark," and it's a rip-roaring yarn about fighting Nazis. Or, it's two guys fighting for the soul
of one woman. And the wrong guy wins, in my opinion. Look at the first shot of "Raiders," and the reveal of Indy. He's in shadow. Belloq wears white. These [things] are significant, and they're not there accidentally.
Now, there are some writers who go out there and they don't give a rat's ass. They just write the story as an entertainment. I can't do that. I think about what I do. So inherently, I ascribe a responsibility to myself. At the end of the day, I'm not attempting to – the goal has never been to sit down and write Art, per se. The goal is to write stories that will entertain. But if I can write a story that will entertain and that you guys then take with you afterwards and maybe think about it a couple days or a couple weeks...
I had wonderful moment when I was signing [at Wondercon]. If you've read "Blackest Night: Wonder Woman" #1, there's that fight in Arlington [Cemetery], and I was real careful about that. Because of all the Batwoman stuff, I know a lot of people who are in service right now. I want to be very respectful to the armed forces. Regardless of the stance on any particular conflict at any time, there's an enormous sacrifice involved. So setting a sequence in Arlington and saying there are going to be a whole bunch of zombies rising, I was aware of what I was doing there. I know there was flak on the internet, about [how] it was so disrespectful. But I had this guy come up to me and say to me that his grandmother read that issue before she died. Her husband had served. And she found it incredibly respectful... and that means the world to me.
That's what I wanted; I wanted the crime that Max was committing to be heinous so that the dignity and the honor of those guards, the soldiers who tend the Tomb of the Unknown [Soldier], and Diana's reverence for them -- that mattered to me. I wanted that to be something that we carried forth. Words have power. It's a cliched thing, but if I'm going to write a story, there's power in that story. It may be a miniscule amount of power, but I've got to take responsibility for that.
LH: You mentioned Wonder Woman, and I'm of the opinion that you're one of the few writers who has really gotten Wonder Woman right. Which isn't a hit on most of the people who have written Wonder Woman. She's a challenging character--
GR: She's incredibly difficult.
LH: What's the key to Wonder Woman, to writing that character well?
GR: I think there are multiple roadblocks. The first is that she's an incredibly convoluted character, and if anyone's heard me speak before, they're heard this hoary old chestnut, but if you look at characters like Batman or Superman, their moment of inception is perfect. It doesn't matter. Bruce Wayne could watch his parents be murdered tomorrow and all you have to do is add zeroes to the Wayne fortune, and you'll still get Batman. Superman, if Kal can crash to Earth tomorrow, as long as he lands in a mythical American Midwest where is found by two people who embody the finest traits of this country, and raise this child with that, you're going to get Superman.
Diana's moment of conception is based in a period of feminism that is absurd in 2010. It's absurd to look at Wonder Woman from 1950 and say, "That's feminist." It's not! Feminism, because of the societal things we've talked about, is an evolving concept. Diana's tied to that, and part of the problem is because that is so knotty a problem, most writers run away from it. They don't even want to touch it. They say, she's not political. She's supposed to be political! She wears thigh-high bondage boots, a bustier, and that's not a lasso – that's a whip. It's not a lasso, guys! And these are called the manacles of submission. Talk about loading a character with as many problematic things as you can. So you either run away from it, or you run towards it. You either acknowledge it, or you don't. I think that's number one.
I think number two is that a lot of the guys who have written her don't like her; they just want to f--k her.
LH: Do you think that's different from a lot of other female characters in comics?
GR: Yes, I do. And I'm not sure why. Diana – there are people who hate her. I mean, they just hate the concept of a Wonder Woman. They really do. You've seen – I don't even want to call it "fan-based art" – but I'm sure everybody's seen the various images out there. That speaks to something going on. Somebody is real scared of her. He's really afraid of her. And I don't know why. I don't understand where that comes from. So there's that.
And people want to simplify her, so they go, she's Superman with tits. Well, no. She's not. It's a completely different background. I spent three years thinking about how I would write Diana before I actually typed my first words. And I spent a lot of time going, What does it mean to be an Amazon? Phil Jimenez and I – we were at Wondercon back when it was in Oakland, and we were sitting in the bar and we went 15 rounds about Amazons...
"We're isolationists, and if you mess with us, we'll kill you." You come out of that culture, you're gonna be pretty self-assured. But there are benefits to that culture... you can actually rise to an ideological level and an idealistic level that you can't in contemporary society. There's a gold mine in there. One of the problems I had with DC is they hated the fact that I kept using myth. They did not like the fact that I'd have Athena, and then Zeus. But these are characters in her world. Tell me another [DC] hero who can call up a god. Superman can't.
LH: You'd mentioned the origin stories of these core characters like Superman or Batwo-- Batman, and --
GR: Did you just tip your hand?
LH: I did. I think it was a pretty big undertaking to write the origin story of Batwoman. How did you approach the idea of writing the backstory for such an iconic character?
GR: Actually -- this is going to sound awful -- there were certain things that I knew going in. The editor on "Detective [Comics]" is Michael Siglain, but the editor who put J.H. [Williams III] and I together and actually started the ball rolling was Peter Tomasi, before Peter stopped editing and became a full-time writer at DC. And one of the first conversations I had with him, I said I have this scene in my head where she's at West Point, and she's asked if she's queer. And she will not lie. So I knew that.
To wear the bat -- and these are the things you ask yourself -- why do you wear a bat in Gotham? You wear a bat in Gotham because you've had a horrible childhood trauma. No, you do. There is a flowchart. The flowchart is: warm happy life up until eight years old. At eight, horrible thing happens. Horrible thing causes you to redirect focus of life, until you reach inspiration point and put on silly costume to beat people up. This is a Gotham origin...
I had the luxury of going, she's really a third generation Batman hero. You've got Batman -- dad -- and you have Robin -- son -- but she's sort of like the second cousin. She never actually has to encounter any of them to put on the bat. Because at that point, the symbol of what that means in Gotham already exists. I wanted to play that angle too. I wanted to have a character who did not need Batman's approval to put on the bat. That mattered a great to me... Frankly, I was tried of Batman always having the say-so. I'm kinda tired of the Batman who says, [Batman voice] "It's my city!" It'
s a big city, dude.
I'm old enough to remember when the Tim Burton "Batman" movie came out. Even then I remember there being all this stuff about how Batman and Joker were mirrors of each other, and Batman is as crazy as Joker. And I hate that. He's supposed to be a hero. If somebody really did these things in real life, yes, they'd be insane. But this isn't real life, and he's a hero. And if he's a hero he can't be crazy. It defeats the heroism. That goes hand in hand with one of the things that I find really beautiful about Batman. I like pathos. I want characters to have pathos. I like Batman to have pathos. I love the fact that every night he goes out saying, "what happened to me is never going to happen to any other kid." And every night he fails. It's a big city. He can't be everywhere. But every night he will do it, just to save one more life. If that's my Batman, then why would he have a problem with someone else trying to do the same as long as they did it within the parameters, i.e. I'm not going to shoot people...
It was very carefully constructed. Jim and Mike and I spent hours talking about these things. I'd call Jim and say this is the issue, this is the sequence, this is what needs to happen. And he'd come back and say I have an idea for a design and a visual here. If you see the script it'll say pages 4 and 5, and it'll just say, "Jim, this is as we discussed -- this is that thing with the lightning bolts." Batwoman has been the most collaborative project I've ever done.
LH: So things like the lightning bolts and the paneling -- that's something you came up with collaboratively?
GR: Jim's design sense is incredible. It is quite literally the act of somebody trying to describe a picture to you. So I wrote that first script, and he said, I've got these ideas and it wasn't until the pages started coming in that I got it. And once I started seeing pages, it changed the dialogue... Once I saw the pages I was able to say, ok, let's roll up the sleeves and really make this work. So by the time you hit 755, you're looking at design elements where he says this is how I want to handle it, or, I have an idea, can you write to this? The American flag banner in the first part of "Go," where Jacob is in the poppy field, and the transition with the American flag in the background -- that was one where he said, "I have an idea!" And then said, "I went with a different idea," and I went, holy crap!
The ying-yang image in that final Kate/Alice confrontation, that was one that he and I had of course been working on the entire time. There were some visual we couldn't do. We really wanted to do a page where you would have Kate on page left and then when you did your page turn... it would be Alice in the the exact same pose, and you would see the overlay. You would see that they have exactly the same face. We never cheated, by the way. Not once. If you go and you look, it is always the same person. he never draws Alice differently than Kate; it's just the makeup and the hair. So, we dealt with you straight. None of this "ooh, I changed it at the last minute because you figured it out" bulls--t.
LH: I solicited questions from Twitter, and they overwhelmingly asked the same question: What's happening with "Batwoman"?
GR: I don't know. I finished my last of my DC work yesterday, and I'm not currently doing anything for DC right now. I love the character; I would love to continue working with the character, but at the same time I'm sort of needing to step back from my DC work in general. I suspect that we'll come back to her at some point. I don't know if that's going to be something that Jim and I do together. I am not sure what Jim's plans are. I want to keep working with him, and I believe that's mutual. There is more to tell. There's a whole five-part story broken down that is really the last of -- "Elegy" was supposed to be four issues; there were supposed to be three issues that were "Go," and then there was a five-part story that Jim and I had, but because of a variety of things in-house at DC, we were moved out of "Detecitve [Comics]" and we couldn't tell the story there. So there's a concluding story that's basically Alice's origin story. It's what happened to Elizabeth. I don't know if we'll ever get to do it. I have been around in this industry long enough to never say never.
The goal when we set out writing Kate was to create a character that would endure. We really didn't want a flash in the pan. We wanted to make sure that she had a strong origin and that anybody anywhere who read those seven issues would then be able to write her, and would be able to write her "properly." There was a transition in the industry in the '80s, and it was Frank Miller who did it... The result of Miller coming in and doing "Batman: Year One" and the Daredevil "Born Again" arc, and "Dark Knight [Returns]" was that writer went from being people who serviced the characters to Writers of Books! There was a time... when you could have three different writers over three different issues [of a book], and the characters would be the same. And then we entered into what in film is very much auteur territory: "this is my take." Everybody wants to do their take on fill-in-the-blank. And I think that is laudable in certain cases; certain characters need to reinvigorated. In other cases, it's unnecessary. You shouldn't sit there going, "this Spider-Man is different from that Spider-Man." It's Spider-Man! It should be consistent. So if we've done our job well, somebody will be able to pick up Kate and you'll know that's Batwoman.
LH: When you put that kind of work into a character, particularly in such a formative way, is it tough to --
GR: It's agonizing. To walk away? It's the single most difficult thing.
LH: Because you're leaving the character? Because other people are going to use the character now?
GR: It's all of it. Denny O'Neill told me a story that I'm probably going to wrong, but when he first gave me "Detective [Comics]" way back when after "No Man's Land," he told a story about when he finished his run on the book. And I think it Archie Goodwin who turned to him and said, "How are you? Are you ok with this?" And Denny was like, "I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine." He turned in his last stories, and then he said, "I found myself running by the reservoir in Central Park at 3 o' clock in the morning, and that was when it hit me that maybe it wasn't fine." I've been doing this a lot lately. Look, I love these characters. I feel very strongly that passion for the characters translates to the work, and I feel that you cannot write well if you're not passionate. I love Kate, and I love her identity. I think she is a wonderful, multi-faceted, deeply layered character, and I am -- God, this sounds so hokey, but I'm honored to be able to serve that. To walk away from it is very hard.
But I think also there's an arrogance to imply that I'm the only one who can provide that service for this character, in the same way as saying that if I don't write Renee Montoya anymore that Renee Montoya will be lessened. These are characters that have been around for years. Superman doesn't need me. He's going to be fine without me. Batman doesn't need me. Even Wonder Woman, who I think of the "holy trinity" is the weakest position because people don't know how to get a handle on her, so they always try to take her and reinvent -- she's going to endure. So I try to remind myself that you don't want to overthink your own importance. That said, we'll see what happens. And the fact that you guys are out there -- if you don't like the way something is going, you're not shy about it. You never have been, and the interwebs guarantee that you won't be. DC will know in short order if you feel they have stepped wrong, perhaps.
LH: Well, personally, I'm sad that you won't be continuing, although I think the work you've done on the character is tremendous, and I appreciate it a great deal.
GR: Well, thank you. I've got a fairly long career in the industry at this point, and the work with Jim on "Detective [Comics]" is high point. it's up there with "Half a Life" [from "Gotham Central"] with [Michael] Lark. It's up there with the "[Spider-Man] Tangled Web" story I did with [Eduardo] Risso. It's up there with my all-time favorites. I'm immensely proud of it. I'm perhaps unduly proud of it. I may even be prideful about it! [laughs]
LH: It sounds like you're starting a new chapter in your career, so what's next for you now, moving forward?
GR: I'm still doing "Stumptown" with Oni, and issue three should be out the end of April, beginning of May. Matthew Southworth and I are continuing on that. That arc ends with issue four, and we'll take a couple of months off and be back with issue 5. And ideally, on a more consistent shipping schedule. I've got like five separately projects all in different stages of development.
LH: Are any of them "Queen and Country"? Twitter would also like to know that.
GR: I saw Twitter ask me that. Twitter should know that the new novel is called "The Last Run," on October 26th. It is a "Queen and Country" novel [about] Tara's last job in the field. The book exists -- well, also as a story -- but it also sets up a potential "Queen and Country" [comic book] series 2. If there is going to be a "Queen and Country" series 2 -- and I don't know for sure if there will be -- that will not happen until 2011. That is due in no small part that Nicola Scott made me promise her that she would get to draw the first arc. Except Nicola's exclusive to DC. Which means she can't. So I have to wait till she's out of exclusive, and then get in there before she maybe signs another exclusive. I would like to do it. I think I've said in other interviews that the conceit for series two would be [Tara] Chase as D-Ops, and it would follow the adventures of the woman with the worst boss in the world. I.e. the poor woman who is told, "you, you get to be the new Minder-3... Everything I did? Backwards, high heels. You, better than me." You do that job for a day and I think you go home and start looking at detergent as a reasonable drink. That'll be interesting.
LH: Do you have anything coming up soon?
GR: Um, not a lot. There's a lot of stuff in flux right now. I'm hoping that by the end of the summer that we'll be announcing some more stuff. But right now, I've got -- I can tease things. Part of the reason I'm stepping back from DC is that I haven't been able to work on a lot of the projects that I've wanted to do. Another thing I wanted to do is called "Americ
an Soldier." I'm still doing research on this. The idea is... it starts in 1750, follows the service of a man, probably from Pennsylvania, in the Revolutionary War. That's the first volume. The second volume is the War of 1812, and it's sister's grandson. And then, say, the Civil War, and then the Spanish-American War. To take this family's tree as described by their service to their country all the way up the present. That's a ten-year project! So I don't know if I'm even going to get that thing off the ground, let alone find some poor son of a bitch willing to publish it. Or worse, who wants to be the guy or gal who has to draw that? Because I'd love to have the same artist all the way through. That would be so cool!
There's that. There's a thing Jim and I have been discussing that's sort of "Blade Runner" meets a really cheesy British sci-fi show called "Blake's 7." There's an Arthurian thing I want to do... And I want to make a really, really scary ghost story in comics, as opposed to gross. Something that makes you go, "I'm not sure I want to turn the page!" I would like to see horror as opposed to splatter. Eric Chapman and I have been talking, and he loves the pulps. I love the pulps. Apparently no one else loves the pulps. They say they love the pulps, but then they never go see things like "Sky Commander." We would love to do something where it's Betsy Tomahawk versus the Nazi Fireman from Mars. That would be fun. I would actually love to do that as an anthology. I have a webcomic idea that I cannot talk about yet, but if all goes well, we will announce around San Diego, including the artist.
So there's a lot of stuff going right now, but it's -- I've been out of exclusive to DC for three years, but I've been exclusive to DC, you know what I mean? And part of that was because Batwoman took a really long time to get going, and part of it was that I became very comfortable there, and it was very easy to go, oh, where do you want me? I will go to over to Superman now and we will do Superman. Oh, now I will go back to Gotham City, because I know Gotham very well. And Jen kinda slapped me upside the head a couple weeks ago, and said, "dude, you're making yourself miserable." And she was right. And I had a moment where I was like, I need to start telling the stories I want to tell again.
LH: Earlier, when you were talking about having to step out of your comfort zone in order to move forward as a storyteller -- do you see this as another step like that?
GR: Absolutely. I'm very glad you say that, because you're actually reminding me. I think writers need to scare themselves. I think you need to have a moment when you're a writer where you're typing and you go, "Oh my god, I don't know if this is going to work." Or, "oh my god, did I really to do this?" Or, "oh my god, I can't believe I did that." I had moments like that with Kate.
LH: What was the most scared you ever were with Kate?
GR: Honestly? It was probably Part 1 of "Go." And it was that whole issue, really, but it crystallizes in the black page where you don't see anything, you just have the sound effects. You would think a page like that is easy to write; I spent days on the page. And Jim and I talked about that too, cause he's not drawing anything per se. If you've seen the page, pay attention to how the panels work. If panel borders run off the page, that indicates a large amount of time elapsing. If the panel are closed, it is a discrete moment. It was like, how in one page do we describe an indefinite period of absolute hell? Of misery. Of that fear. And there was a piece of me that was like, especially when you look at the bottom of the page, and you get the sound effects coming in of Jacob and the rest of the squad arriving -- I remember writing that and thinking, oh my god, if this doesn't work, the reader's going think it's the dumbest thing in the world. And needing it to work, to build to that moment where Jacob's saying, don't look, look at me, keep your eyes on me... I knew Jim was gonna execute it; there was no question about Jim's ability to do it. The question was, could I get us to that moment where you were like, "oh my god, no wonder she puts on the bat and kicks people in the face. "
There's a similar moment in the next issue, the drunk dialing moment. I didn't want to diminish it. It's hard just in the mechanics of the comic. Over the course of three or four pages, I needed to convince you that she meets Renee, they fall in love, they're happy together, and it goes to hell in a handbasket. And then, the Batman moment. If I lose them here, they're never going to believe her. And it mattered. I wanted you to believe in her. You had to believe -- it has to be emotionally resonant. This is the thing for me that separates good writing from bad writing. Good writing makes you feel something. Bad writing, you don't care. I can make you feel something, preferably not revulsion about the job I'm doing, if I make you feel for the character, I've got you. And those moments scare you. But it's a been a while since I've sat down and said, oh my god, am I willing to go there? Like I said, you can't get complacent. If you get complacent, you're in trouble.
LH: Obviously, you're taking a step back right now from DC, so I'm curious: If you could change one thing about mainstream comics, what would it be?
GR: [laughs] Stop buying event books. Event books keep happening because you guys keep buying them. They do. You guys are eating your own tail. You don't get to then say, "I hate events" and then buy them. And there's this war now of escalating events now between Marvel and DC... and there's a part of me that kind of longs for the day when you could have a run of 12 issues of "The Flash" and have it just be 12 issues of "The Flash."
And I know that'll go out on the internet and somebody'll think, "He's attacking Geoff [Johns]!" I am not. What Geoff does, he does so well. And I cannot in a million years write that way. I'm not that writer. What Geoff Johns does which I am quite jealous of is that Geoff has never lost the 8-year-old comic book reader in him. He's never lost it... And he appeals to that in all of us. There's just a part of me that remembers when you could have six issues in a row, and the world wasn't always ending. That you could spend time with the characters, in a way. But that said, some of these events have been really good.
So what would I change about it? I don't know. I'd make [comics] cheaper. And actually, no -- you know what the real answer is? I'd get them out of specialty stores. I'd put comics back in the spinner racks and 7-Elevens and grocery stores and Walmart. That's what's killing us. I was talking to Dan DiDio today -- the best-selling Marvel or DC book today is going to sell a quarter of a million. That's nothing, guys. That's nothing. If a TV show has a quarter of a million people watching it, it would not make it through the second episode. It might not even make it through it's first broadcast. I'm serious. I'm not joking.
Look at manga -- it has millions of readers. Europeans comics, in the millions. What the hell is going on in this country with our comics that we can't break out? I mean, "Stumptown" is considered a success because 10,000 people bought it. I'm proud that 10,000 people picked it up, and I'm proud that it went to a second printing. But 10,000? That's awful! How the hell do we get more people to read? And a part of me hopes that the iPad is the panacea. Marvel was right there. Marvel announced their reader -- I actually think that may be how we do it. The ability to digitally get a comic may be the thing that saves our baby.
That said, I like my floppy; I like my periodical format. But god, we've gotta get more people reading these things, or we're gonna die. This is the difference, 20 years ago, 30 years ago, if there was an event in the books, it was an exclusive event. It brought people in. Now, it is an event for the established audience. You see the difference there? We don't bring people in with these things. And that's not done with malice aforethought, but it's done because that's our audience now... You have to go to your specialty store... You cannot trip over these things anymore. My first comic was a Lee/Kirby "Incredible Hulk" reprint in the digest black and white size that I got in a supermarket in Selinas, California, and I begged my mom for it. I begged her. And I read that thing eight times in a sitting, and the binding fell apart. I loved that thing. Now if you're in a supermarket you see "Archie" and "Jughead," and let me tell you, that is a different thing. It is not the same. It's not a entry drug. That "Incredible Hulk" was an entry drug. I wanted to read more Hulk. So, that's what I would change if I were emperor. This is all going to get posted, and I'm going to be paying for this for weeks to come. [laughs]
Filed Under: batwoman, Detective Comics, DetectiveComics, greg rucka, GregRucka, queen and country, QueenAndCountry, wonder woman, WonderCon, WonderWoman
Categories: DC, Interviews, News


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Julie Barron Morrill has twenty years of experience in emergency and disaster preparedness. She has developed and conducted emergency exercises with up to 1000 participants and has developed emergency response and business continuity plans for clients in a variety of industries and jurisdictions nationally and internationally.
In addition to consulting, Ms. Morrill is an Alpha Krav Maga (Israeli self-defense and combat system) certified instructor and teaches self-defense and personal safety courses for community and law enforcement groups all over the world.
Ms. Morrill has extensive experience in emergency preparedness for schools, universities, and scientific research organizations. She led site security and safety assessments, security training, and a full range of exercises for Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire and Miss Hall's School in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. She has served on CMCG's team supporting the University of Notre Dame with their emergency preparedness programs. Ms. Morrill also developed emergency management plans for Harvard Medical School, Harvard School of Public Health, and Harvard School of Dental Medicine. From 2012-2014, she assisted in the development of administrative and scientific business continuity plans for a major scientific research organization in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Ms. Morrill's exercise experience includes serving as lead exercise planner for a pandemic influenza and medical surge workshop (including a tabletop exercise) for Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The goal of the workshop was to validate tools developed by Spectrum Health under a Centers for Disease Control (CDC) grant for the provision of essential services during an influenza pandemic in Michigan. Ms. Morrill also assisted a New England state in the development and conduct of a 3-day Strategic National Stockpile exercise involving hospitals, local governments, and the State Emergency Operations Center. Ms. Morrill has facilitated and evaluated bioterrorism exercises for local public health departments in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
In addition, Ms. Morrill served as a technical consultant in developing a strategic vision for the Texas Department of State Health Services to improve health and medical preparedness for disasters. In 2006, she served as manager and technical consultant in assessing the response of the Texas Department of State Health Services to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Ms. Morrill served as an author of the after action report and was co-project manager responsible for daily project operations.
In addition to consulting, Ms. Morrill was certified as an Emergency Medical Technician in Massachusetts from 1999 to 2017. She currently is certified as a Wilderness First Responder.
BA, Government, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, 1997
French language and foreign affairs studies, School for International Training, Geneva, Switzerland, 1995
Certified Wilderness First Responder since 2016
Certified Alpha Krav Maga Phase B Instructor since 2014
She has written multiple articles and courses for both United States and international audiences. Highlights of which include:
Co-author of "The Health and Medical Response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita by the Texas Department of State Health Services: An After Action Assessment," June 2006
Presented to the Abu Dhabi, UAE Emergency Congress: "Pandemic Flu Planning for Businesses and Communities," October 2008
Primary developer and sole instructor of a 2-day "Disaster Planning Workshop" for the Higher Colleges of Technology, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates in June 2009
Primary developer and co-instructor of a 3-day "Disaster Preparedness" course for the Higher Colleges of Technology, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates in October 2008

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Orangeburg County Sheriff's Office Deputy Ronald Johnson is this month's Community of Character honoree for endurance.
"And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men."—Colossians 3:23.
Deputy Ronald Johnson of the Orangeburg County Sheriff's Office could use that Bible verse as his testimony of service and sacrifice.
The Elloree resident sustained a back injury that required surgery a year ago. His back still causes the 45-year-old pain from time to time, but you wouldn't be able to tell from his willingness to work in any capacity in which he is called to perform.
With a friendly demeanor and soothingly pleasant attitude, Johnson solves problems he encounters with unruly or belligerent people with poise. He realizes he may have to step away from light office work and work a little harder on some days, but he perseveres with professionalism.
Johnson's ability to press ahead with his work despite fatigue, stress or other adverse conditions has earned him the designation as the exemplification of endurance for the month of March as part of Orangeburg County's Community of Character initiative.
The law enforcement veteran was caught off guard by the honor.
"I was amazed and really shocked by it. I wasn't looking for that. I just think that I do my job. I love to do my job, and I want to treat people the way I want to be treated," Johnson said.
"I'm a firm believer that when you do the right thing and you treat people the right way, then God will reward you openly," he said.
Johnson has been a deputy with the OCSO since July 2013, but his law enforcement career spans more than a decade. He started his career in 1998 as an officer with the Holly Hill Police Department.
What led him into law enforcement?
"I saw kids of different creeds and colors — white, black and Hispanic — going the wrong way. I said, 'If I can reach one of them, maybe I can reach a whole community.' My job is now to make sure that they end up doing the right thing and try to save them from destruction," Johnson said. "If I can only reach one, then maybe that one can go reach somebody else."
Endurance means being able to withstand trials and adversity, he said.
"I had back surgery on March 23, 2015. I had one-day surgery and stayed out of work for about six weeks, but I was ready to come back in two weeks. I call that endurance because I love what I do. I love helping and encouraging people," Johnson said, noting that following doctor's orders was not easy and that he was "always around the house doing something."
When he returned to the Sheriff's Office, he started working in the civil division.
"The civil division wasn't too bad. I just go out there and serve summons and complaint papers. I work in different capacities. I started at the courthouse first in Family Court. I made sure that order was in the courtroom," said Johnson, who is looking forward to being transferred to the Central Region Magistrate Office at 1540 Ellis Ave. in Orangeburg to provide security there.
He said he is not going to let his occasional back pain sideline him.
"I have good days and I have bad days, but I just keep going just like the Energizer Bunny. I don't ever let it get me down. I'm just a hardworking young man, and I love what I do," said Johnson, who also didn't let failing his police academy training three times deter him.
"I'm not ashamed of it because I want to encourage someone. I failed the academy three times, but I did not give up on my dream and finally made it," he said.
Johnson said this quest to become a pastor also met with failure.
"I know God had called me to be a pastor so I thank God for allowing me to start my own ministry," he said.
Johnson is pastor of Faith and Victory Outreach Ministry in Santee.
He said he appreciates being able to endure through life's adversities and always tries to practice the Golden Rule in dealing with others.
"The Bible says a soft answer turns away wrath. So sometimes you don't need to get loud because another person is being loud," Johnson said. "Just give them a soft answer, and God's word will work every time."
He said he gets the strength to endure life's challenges from his loving grandmother, who passed away two years ago.
"My grandmamma raised me. I thank God for my mom and dad, too, but my grandma always told me, 'Son, you can become anything you want to become. Always keep yourself humble and never give up on your dream.' She would always encourage me," Johnson said. "My mother is also an evangelist and she always encouraged me, too."
The support of his dedicated wife, Jacqueline, his three children, Deandra, Brianna and Brian, and his two grandsons has also meant a lot to Johnson.
"My wife gives me strength. She says, 'I know you love your job, I know you love the Lord and I know you love me and helping people.' You have to make sure you put God first, your family second and your job third. If you do that, then everything will fall in line,'" he said.
"I always teach my children that respect will carry you a longer way than money. I tell them to always treat people with respect, don't take nothing that don't belong to you and always put God first," Johnson said.
The deputy also praised the OCCOC initiative for its efforts to spread good character throughout the community.
"I think it's an excellent program. They should never get rid of that program because it may encourage somebody else to do all they can to become the best they can be," he said. "You never know who's watching you."
citizen of the month - march 2016 - endurance
ronald johnson
Deputy exhibits endurance in good, bad times
Mar 27, 2016 Times and Democrat article (reprinted with permission)
Photo by LARRY HARDY, T&D


::Hangouts with HIVE:: Who is Using PrEP in the United States?
This Hangout took place on September 18th, 2018.
NOTE: a few weeks after this Hangout, CDC's 10/19/18 Morbidity & Mortality Report included additional data on PrEP users between 2014-16, including race and ethnicity. Check it out here.


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How do the increased probate fees affect bereaved families?
The government announced its plans to change the way probate fees are charged back in November 2018. It was proposed that families would pay probate fees where an estate is worth more than £50,000. For those estates over this threshold, the fees would be paid as a sliding scale depending on how much the estate is worth.
Since the plans were revealed, the new fees have been branded as a 'stealth tax' and a clear abuse of power. By labelling the new costs as a fee rather than a tax, the government have bypassed proper parliamentary scrutiny. Therefore the proposals can only be overturned by an MP issuing a formal protest in the chamber. Sir Vince Cable, the leader of the Liberal Democrat party, has said he will issue such a protest when it is considered by the commons and a number of other MPs are set to join him.
What will the new fees be?
Up to £50,000 – no charge
£50,000 to £300,000 - £250
£300,000 to £500,000 - £750
£500,000 to £1 million - £2,500
£1 million to £1.6 million - £4,000
£1.6 million to £2 million - £5,000
Above £2 million - £6,000
Currently for estates over £5,000 a £215 flat fee applies, or £155 if a solicitor applies on the family's behalf. Whilst many families will benefit from the new threshold for fees being raised to £50,000, those families with estates over the inheritance tax threshold will have to pay both the higher probate fees and 40% in inheritance tax.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) have been asked by the LEBC Group to investigate the proposed probate fees as there are concerns that the changes would cause 'hardship and distress' to the bereaved families. LEBC's director of public policy Kay Ingram said the rise in probate fees 'strikes me as a classic example of exploitative pricing by a monopoly provider, where the consumer has no choice but to use the service at a time of extreme vulnerability'.
There is certainly truth in this statement, as families will be left with no other option than to pay the higher fees to obtain probate which ultimately allows them access to the deceased's money. In many cases, the persons tasked with obtaining probate are the spouse or children of the deceased person. They are effectively forced to put their grief aside at one of the worst times in their lives, and personally fund these increased probate fees.
In addition, the cost of obtaining death certificates has recently risen from £4 to £11 per certificate. If families therefore require ten certificates, they will now be paying £110 as opposed to £40, and again this cost is paid by the family personally before they have access to the deceased's money. It's a staggering increase when you consider that most solicitors will certify an original death certificate for £5 per copy, and such certified documents are widely accepted by institutions.
All in all, it's clear to see that a heavy burden is put on bereaved families at a time when they are not necessarily in the correct mind frame to deal with an estate. At Stephensons, we offer assistance with obtaining the grant of probate and administering estates, and we also offer advice appointments for those who are unsure of what they are required to do. Our specialist probate department offer guidance and support to families when they need it most. If you need help dealing with a loved one's estate, give us a call on 01616 966 229.
Consumer & Dispute Resolution
Court of Protection - Healthcare & Social Services
Criminal Defence & Appeals
Motoring & Haulage
What to do when somebody passes away
The use of a deed of variation to mitigate inheritance tax
How long does a Grant of Probate take?
Who should be involved in succession planning?
Is it possible to make a Will using video conferencing?
Can I do probate myself?


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FRIDAY, April 18, 2011 12:00
Chesapeake Biological Lab (UMCES)
Smithsonian (SERC)
Alliance for Coastal Technologies (ACT)
U.S. Naval Research Laboratory
University of Maryland Wye Research and Education Center
University of Maryland College Park
California State Lands Commission
US Maritime Administration
Live on Twitter
Tweets by @MaritimeEnviro
MERC releases report on Use of Dredged Material to Protect Low-Lying Areas of the Chesapeake Bay.View
MERC releases first evaluation report on the performance of an in-water cleaning and capture systems.View
MERC is partnering with the Alliance for Coastal Technologies, and several other partners, to evaluate the performance of instruments to measure total residual oxidants in ship's ballast water. For more information please visit www.act-us.info.View
MERC Maritime Environmental Resource Center will no longer conduct Type Approval Certification testing of ballast water management systems. View
ACT/MERC release an RFT for Evaluation of Ship In-Water Cleaning Technologies View
MERC is partnering with the Alliance for Coastal Technologies, and several other partners, to evaluate the performance of variable fluorescence fluorometers for use in compliance monitoring of ballast water discharge. For more information please visit www.act-us.info.View
Green Business Is Good Business - See how the Port of Baltimore is committed to environmental and sustainable practices.View
MERC is helping to identify approaches to control the invasive hydroid, Garveia franciscana, on cooling pipes of Constellation Energy's Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant. In addition to a better understanding of species life history, biology, ecology and physiology, MERC will be exploring mechanical cleaning, pipe coating, and water treatment options to reduce the significant impacts Garveia is having on power plant operations.
As part of the NSF International, US Coast Guard-approved, Independent Laboratory for certification testing of BWMSs, MERC participated in a webinar on the IL testing and the US Type Approval Certification process. Further information and PowerPoint presentations can be found hereView
MERC is an Associate Supporter of the 2013 Sustainable Ocean Summit (SOS). The World Ocean Council's second SOS will be held in Washington D.C. to further advance leadership and collaboration among the diverse ocean business community in addressing marine environment and sustainability challenges.
MERC has partnered with NSF International, Great Ships Initiative and Retlif Testing Laboratories to become the first US Coast Guard approved Independent Laboratory for the evaluation, inspection, and testing of ballast water management systems.
With support from the US Maritime Administration, MERC is partnering with the Alliance for Coastal Technologies (ACT) to examine fluorometers as tools for compliance monitoring of US Coast Guard and EPA regulations to prevent the introductions of non-native species from ship discharges of ballast water. A summary report on the initial workshop addressing this topic can be downloaded here.
MERC collaborates with PML to strengthen Ballast Water Services
Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML) Applications Ltd in the United Kingdom has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the MERC to focus on providing ballast water technology developers/vendors with facilities and expertise for developing, evaluating and validating ballast water treatment systems. The organizations provide a complimentary service where MERC focuses on independent testing and validation of treatment systems and PML Applications Ltd provides pre-validation development support.
MERC fetured in AP Story; Cargo ships discharge thousands of gallons of ballast water containing millions of non-native species in global ports. A barge in Baltimore harbor brings business and environmentalists together to fight this potential environmental disaster.
MERC research, and the Mobile Ballast Water Treatment Test Platform, are featured in the May 11 2012 issue of Science magazine.
MERC is partnering with NOAA Marine Operations Center on treatment testing in Norfolk, VA.
The NOAA Marine Operations Center-Atlantic (MOC-A, www.moc.noaa.gov/moa.html) serves as a homeport for four NOAA research and survey ships and provides administrative, engineering, maintenance and logistical support to NOAA's Atlantic fleet. MOC-A has agreed to allow the MERC Mobile Test Platform to use their dock facilities for ballast water treatment system testing in higher salinity waters of the lower Chesapeake Bay. NOAA also contributed to the establishment of the MERC Mobile Test Platform by covering the costs of the onboard science van, under an RDTE Facility award.
MERC featured in a CBS Smart Planet story on Globe-trotting hitchhikers: invasive species assault U.S. waters.
MERC Director featured in WAMU environmental story on Invasive Species Hitch A Ride... And Harm Our Waters
MERC dedicates its new Mobile Ballast Water Treatment Test Platform.
MERC Environmental Economist, Dr. Dennis King, publishes a short article in Sustainable Shipping on "The world can afford sustainable shipping".
MERC Environmental Economist, Dr. Dennis King, publishes a short article in Sustainable Shipping on "Kick-starting Ballast Water Treatment Markets".
MERC Environmental Economist, Dr. Dennis King, publishes a short article in Sustainable Shipping on "Gaming" Ballast Water Treatment Markets.
Ship's experiments look for ways to prevent foreign stowaway
Most days, the Cape Washington sits in Baltimore's harbor, looking majestic as the sun hits its gunmetal-gray exterior. Inside, the 700-foot ship resembles a giant parking garage, although the ramps built to withstand the weight of Humvees and tanks are empty. A drill rumbles in the background, and the faint smell of fresh paint wafts from the walls. The Cape Washington........read more here.
MERC featured in PBS 2010 documentary entitled Fragile Waters.
Fragile Waterways travels to neighborhoods in Brooklyn, NY, the Great Lakes, Finger Lakes and Long Island to look at the challenges communities are facing as they clean up, restore and protect their lakes, canals, rivers, and the water they drink.
MERC releases the third in a series of reports on the performance of ballast water treatment systems.
The Severn Trent De Nora BP-1000 Ballast Water Management System, which utilizes filtration and electrochlorination, was tested onboard the M/V Cape Washington in the fall of 2009. All MERC Test Plans and Final Reports can be found here.
MERC set to start construction of a new mobile test platform.
Because MERC is located on the Chesapeake Bay, it offers a unique opportunity to evaluate the performance of ballast water treatment systems under a variety of challenging environmental conditions. Utilizing a mobile testing platform, MERC will have the capability to test systems in different seasons to capture temperature effects on system performance and in different locations within the Bay to capture impacts of varying salinities as required by both International and U.S. guidelines and standards. The Chesapeake Bay also offers waters with naturally abundant, taxonomically diverse, and well-studied planktonic organisms that will allow for the appropriate quantification of system biological efficacy.
MERC Primary Investigators, Drs. Tamburri and King, publish a paper entitled Verifying Compliance with Ballast Water Discharge Regulations in the journal Ocean Development and International Law.
U.S. and international rules have been proposed to reduce risks associated with invasive aquatic organisms by requiring that ship's ballast water be treated to kill or remove living organisms and achieve certain standards before being discharged. Enforcing these rules requires verifying when a discharge violates these standards. A preliminary comparison of verification systems indicates that mandatory reporting and/or inspecting treatment equipment does not provide an acceptable level of confidence, and that sampling and analyzing enough ballast water to achieve acceptable confidence is prohibitively costly. The most cost-effective alternatives that achieve acceptable levels of confidence involve indirect measures of ballast water using sensors that indicate whether discharge standards are met.
MERC is featured again in the January/February 2010 issue of the Maritime Executive, which provides an update on ballast water regulatory issues.
Read in an Adobe PDF format 1.1mb
MERC is assisting Maryland Sea Grant and the Mid-Atlantic Panel on Aquatic Invasive Species on a workshop in Baltimore, MD, entitled Aquatic Invasive Species Mid-Atlantic Workshop Vector Management: A Prevention Solution for more information, please visit: http://www.mdsg.umd.edu/issues/restoration/non-natives/workshop09
Treating Ballast Water Could Fight Invasive Species
Please visit the following link to listen to the full interview;
Maritime Environmental Resource Center is featured in the January/February issue of the Maritime Executive.
MERC has selected a suite of technologies for 2009 testing.
Complete Land-Based Testing of MSI Filtration + UV system (March/April 2009)
Laboratory toxicological evaluations of a ballast water algaecide (March/April 2009)
Land-Based Testing of Siemens SiCURE BWMS (May/June 2009)
Land-Based Testing of Severn Trent De Nora BalPure system (August/September 2009)
Shipboard Testing of Severn Trent De Nora BalPure system (Spring through end of 2009)
Evaluations of ballast water specific filter systems (fall 2009 – 2010)
For more information, contact tamburri@cbl.umces.edu
MERC patners with NOAA
MERC proposal to the 2008 NOAA Ballast Water Management Demonstration Program's RDTE Facility competition received very favorable reviews and was selected for funding. Through the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, MERC has entered into a Cooperative Agreement with NOAA to work with MARAD on converting a barge into a Chesapeake Bay mobile test platform. Initial design for the barge retrofit has been completed, and we plan to bring it online before the end of 2009.
MERC MERC Economic Assessments
Dennis King and his team have initiated economic analyses of alternative ballast water treatment systems, focusing on the cost of installing and using alternative treatment systems aboard various types and sizes of ships operating along major trade routes. MERC is looking at the full range of equipment acquisition and installation costs as well as expected increases in ship operating costs associated with energy and manpower usage, maintenance and servicing, and so on. Our preliminary assessments of the full costs of using various ballast water treatment systems aboard most types/sizes of ships will be complete in the fall of 2009.
MERC Partners with ABS
The American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) has contracted MERC to help review, consolidate, and develop an online, searchable matrix of ship discharge regulations for the marine industry. The primary objective of this resource is to disseminate up-to-date environmental regulations to marine vessel operators, owners, and crews. The online matrix will provide end users with the ability to investigate a range of environmental compliance issues that are globally, regionally, and port specific. Some of the many benefits of making this information easily accessible and accurate include the prevention of unnecessary environmental degradation, regulation infractions, and insurance premiums. The initial database should be available to the public before the end of 2008. Please visit ABS (www.eagle.org) and MERC (www.maritime-enviro.org) over the next few months for more information.
Congressman Cummings officially launches the Maritime Environmental Resource Center (MERC)
Congressman Cummings (D-Md.), Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, joined the U.S. Maritime Administration, the Maryland Department of Transportation, the Maryland Port Administration, and the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science to announce the kick-off of the Maritime Environmental Resource Center.
Full press release in a PDF format;


text:
Texts and Publications
kaya behkalam
Excursions in the Dark
15. April 2014 behkalam Media Archaeology, Video works
HD Video, b/w, 20 min.
"Excursions in the dark" is a visual study of the empty streets of post-revolutionary Cairo after midnight, accompanied by an associative narrative; it is an attempt to trace the unconscious connections between the city's architecture, collective dreamscapes and political agency.
"Until recently I used to see in the future in my dreams. A few weeks ago I dreamt of a kid in my house and then some days later my son told me his wife was expecting a child. This sort of prediction happened many times. Lately I went to a Sheikh and told him about this. He told me: Now that you have lifted this secret, it won't happen again. And so it was. I can't remember my dreams anymore."
While on Tahrir square activists had again set up camps in protest against the provisional government, I was sitting 500m down Talaat Harb street in Groppi's neglected art deco café, talking to people about the dreams they had the night before. The dreamless man was the driver who had picked me up from the airport some days ago, now having a Nescafe with me. I had come to Cairo as a resident artist at Townhouse Gallery, three days after Hosni Mubarak had left the city, with the vague idea of documenting the situation.
Over the following weeks I accumulated a growing collection of dream-memories shedding a light on collectively unspoken desires and fears, eager to find access to the deposit of unsorted ideas, from which this society in the making could draw on (a selection of these dream accounts has been published in Bidoun magazine's #25 issue).
In between these conversations I was grazing through Walter Benjamin's massive Passagenwerk that I had rather accidentally taken to post-revolutionary Cairo. Benjamin's reflections on the subliminal desires and aspirations enciphered into architecture and other "wish images" in which "each epoch entertains images of its successor" were based on the city life of Paris in the 19th century. But to my surprise the area around me, a stretch of streets between Tahrir and Attaba Square, with its decayed Rococo houses around wide squares and alleys, proved to be quite a pertinent setting for the reading.
Downtown Cairo, in colloquial Arabic "Wust al-Balad", or "the heart of the country" was envisioned by the same city planner who had restructured the French capital: Baron Haussmann. His concept to use architecture as a means of sovereign control had a huge impact on most modern cities, and is subject to harsh criticism in Benjamin's writings. As the French revolution had taken place in the narrow, medieval streets of old Paris, where it was easy to set up barricades and control whole areas of the city, Napoleon III had commissioned Haussmann to envision an easily controllable city. This new Paris with its linear perspectives became the paradigm for downtown Cairo, on the orders of Ismail Pasha, Khedive of Egypt, in the second half of the 19th century.
As in January 2011 not even the surveillance architecture could stop people from demonstrating and downtown had become the epicentre of street protests, as of January 28th the ruling military council ordered a curfew on this area, starting mostly at midnight, ending at six o'clock in the morning. Breaking the curfew may to result in a six month sentence, or worse.
I spent several nights filming the empty streets, negotiating my way through the check points. In these nights the city was covered in a quietness, a lack of movement that I doubt Cairo has ever known before. This sudden absence of people in the streets brought otherwise hidden actors into the foreground: the architecture, the lightning, graffiti on walls, the residues of daytime. A space waiting to be filled, in a "standby" status resembling a theatrical stage after closing hours, before the curtain rises again.
What was it waiting to be filled with? The absent actors were negotiating the form of a post-revolutionary society during daytime on these streets and places. At night they were lying in bed, countering the restrictive public space controlled by military check points with the unbounded realm of their imaginations, and their unconscious taking over.
The intricate connection between collective dreamscapes, architecture and political agency runs through the Passagenwerk. For Benjamin the past and the present were connected like the dream and the waking world. The study of history in this reading takes the shape of dream interpretation and this interpretation becomes a process of awakening.
What this could mean practically in the context of Cairo, a young writer illustrated for me when I asked him for his nightly dreams: "Usually at night our unconscious is controlled and haunted by daily life. Now, after the revolution, it's the other way around: we direct our daily life by enacting our unconscious."
Excerpt (2:30min):


Living ethically at your fullest potential.
Veganism often gets a bad rap for being a pretentious, extreme, and financially unaccessible diet that is associated with privileged millennials. Fortunately, these false stigmas are being vigorously challenged in the state of Rhode Island by Rhode Island Vegan Awareness, or RIVA, a nonprofit organization that was founded in 2001 and strives to educate the Ocean State on the importance of veganism, and make it an option for everyone. One of their most influential undertakings in helping veganism become accessible to more people has been providing vegan meals for the homeless community of Providence, RI. Impact Everything recently became involved with this project by running a public vegan food drive at our shop on Thayer Street, which ended up collecting about three boxes of food.
I recently spoke about this project with Laura Barlow, an active member of RIVA with twenty years of a committed vegan diet under her belt. She not only told me more about this project but also debunked some widely believed veganism myths that we are constantly force-fed (no pun intended) by the meat and dairy industries. We delved into some of these most limiting lies, such as eating vegan when you are financially limited, how this diet actually does not lead to health risks, and why it is important to consider veganism in the first place.
Once a month at Mathewson church in downtown Providence, RIVA hosts their entirely vegan meal for the homeless community, and they have served up to 150 in a single day, with more and more people expected to seek help as the months grow colder. According to Laura, they usually get around 20 volunteers, who generously donate all of the food right out of their own pockets. Knowledge of this program is spread by word of mouth and it is known for providing a variety of different choices all the way from Sandwiches to Vegan Mac n Cheese.
This project is more important than it may appear. In initiating a vegan homeless meal, RIVA is actually changing the low standards that the homeless are held to by providing them with quality, healthy food. The whole idea of a vegan food drive may seem a bit unusual to some because in our minds we completely separate the homeless community from 'regular people'. Many forget that the homeless are not different from those of us who are lucky enough to have access to food and shelter; we are all human beings and we all could end up in an unfortunate situation. Although many of these people are usually lucky to find a meal at all, they still deserve the option of veganism with a variety of healthy foods to choose from.
Unfortunately, there are many myths around the vegan diet, which often leads people to completely dismiss the whole concept as an impossible, impractical lifestyle change. First of all, you do not have to be a devout, full-time vegan to be involved. For some of us simply taking soy milk in your coffee, eating more veggie burgers, and just trying to avoid meat and dairy in your day to day life is enough, and could maybe lead to full out veganism later on. The thing is, many of these myths are circulated by the actual meat and dairy industry; in other words corporations are spreading misleading information so that vegans won't run them out of business some day. RIVA is aiming to spread awareness, true information, and consumer accessibility to vegan foods for this very reason. In fact, after asking Laura about my vegan concerns, I discovered that I actually held some false ideas of my own.
Is Veganism More Expensive ?
Many people, including myself, have automatically assumed that eating a vegan diet is much more costly, and this is completely false. When I asked Laura how financially people such as students and struggling families could afford to eat this way, she immediately set the record straight.
She went on to talk about how the items that really rack up the bill at the supermarket are the "specialty vegan foods". This means all of those fancy meat substitutes, specialty cheeses, and tofu treats being devoured by the hipsters at your local Whole Foods. Laura asserts that the trick to living an affordable vegan lifestyle is focusing on healthy bulk grains (e.g. beans, rices, pasta, quinoa) and organic produce. The only catch is that these foods require planning and cooking, which can be hard to make the time for if you are used to the convenience of low prep meals. For this reason it is actually not so much the cost that makes veganism such a challenge, but the inconvenience and commitment. In order to make vegan food more accessible, RIVA has been advocating for restaurants (especially inexpensive restaurants) to offer their patrons more vegan options.
Rhode Island Vegan Awareness is actively aiming to support and educate the Rhode Island community, and they would be happy to help if you have questions or wish to become involved. You can find them at their online website.
Attend an event and learn more!


PACC - Results: Crossfire Cup Race 1 Giddy Up!
Results: Crossfire Cup Race 1 Giddy Up!
Wintery conditions, some sideways rain, some sunshine and everything in between. We were in Giddy Up! (the other side of Potting Mix park) which has a mix of mulch, gravel, sand, loose stuff and bitumen. We're spoilt with our courses!
Thanks to Cycle Closet for supporting volunteers with two Morvelo Plan B jackets randomly drawn. Despite the average weather we had just over 20 people help set the course up from 7:45am, and it was done with 5 minutes to spare. Harrison Waugh was the lucky person drawn from the morning crew, and for pack-up an excellent crowd hung around with many people winning swag thanks to Focus Bikes, with Alison Sorrel winning the Cycle Closet jacket. Everyone who started today had their name added in the draw for a Focus Mares carbon CX frame.
Make it easy to find your insta pics/twitter/FB albums by tagging #PACCCX!
Stay tuned for details on how to be part of the PACC Dirt Skills Squad this winter, including womens-only #CXBros sessions and all-ins, supported by Pirate Life Brewing!


🧚🏻 This is a full drill Beautiful Woman butterfly princess diamond painting featuring a square diamond design. The diamonds cover the full painting. As with most 5D paintings, the bigger the size, the more intricate the final painting!
🧚🏻 Perfect for fantasy fans of all kinds!


* Sonia is a keen hiker. She has spent the last eight years exploring parts of the Great Wall around Beijing which few tourists get to visit. Each year more and more people are traveling to China. When in Beijing most people go to the restored Great Wall at Badaling or Mutianyu where all of the tourists go and nver get the opportunity to see what the real historical unrestored Great Wall is like. Sonia has discovered many unique and interesting trails along the Wall which she has shown to many travellers from all over the world.
* Sonia is enthusiastic about Chinese philosophy as well. She has spent her spare time studying the Chinese philosophy Taoism and Buddhism. She has her own insights into the traditional Chinese philosophy.
* She likes to meet people from different cultural backgrounds. She's looking forward to sharing her abundant hiking experience with you---helping you experience the highlights of Beijing and the essence of Chinese culture as a local friend.


Path of Exile is really a free action role-playing game developed and released by Grinding Gear Games. Although the game is free of charge, you will still need POE Orbs PS4 . In this regard, I think you can purchase it about the MMOAH website. It's worth noting that their POE Currency discount will reach 6% immediately, their team will recommend it available for you and provide you with the top shopping experience! And their customer support is very enthusiastic and responsible, I am very delighted by the game website.
I think the present purchase of POE currency is usually a very option. Believe me, at MMOAH, you can get POE Currency , have the perfect service and quality product quality, their team will solve you the complaint really should be in order to meet the needs you have, there's no security issue in the acquiring game currency in MMOAH.


Bright Silver Metallic Clearcoat 2009 Dodge Dakota Big Horn 4WD 5-Speed Automatic 4.7L V8 Dakota Big Horn, 4D Crew Cab, 4.7L V8, 5-Speed Automatic, 4WD, 17 x 8.0 Aluminum Wheels, 4 Speakers, ABS brakes, Air Conditioning, AM/FM CD MP3 Radio, Bumpers: body-color, Delay-off headlights, Driver door bin, Dual front impact airbags, Front Center Armrest, Front reading lights, Front wheel independent suspension, Heavy Duty Suspension, Illuminated entry, Low tire pressure warning, MP3 decoder, Occupant sensing airbag, Outside temperature display, Passenger door bin, Passenger vanity mirror, Power door mirrors, Power steering, Power windows, Radio data system, Rear step bumper, Remote keyless entry, Speed control, Tachometer, Tilt steering wheel, Variably intermittent wipers.
Find a great sale price on this 2009 Dodge Dakota at Sunroad Automotive in San Diego California. This 2009 Dodge Dakota is located at our Ford dealership in San Diego. So if you're looking for a great price on this 2009 Dodge Dakota or just looking to get an auto loan for the vehicle you want... you've come to the right place! Sunroad Automotive.


Charlotte Therapy Center incorporates behavioral therapy that is solution focused and goal oriented. We listen to our Clients to gain the insight and perspective we need on an individual and personal level before we determine the best course of treatment.
Through thoughtful interaction and individualized attention, we empower our clients, creating a genuine pathway towards achievement of their goals. Contact us today to learn more.
A hallmark component to therapy is establishing a therapeutic rapport, with acceptance of starting at the root of the client's issue, and respect for where they are in their healing process. Our overall approach incorporates behavioral therapy, solution-focused, and goal-oriented approaches. From the very first session we will help you explore your issues and concerns, find your answers, and gain insight and perspective. Therapy is wonderful healing dialog and we are committed to your having a successful experience. Our mission is to offer you genuine presence, thoughtful interaction, and individualized attention.


text:
Provisional results of the voluntary public tender offer: 205.8 million shares tendered, allocation coefficient approx. 76.2%
PROVISIONAL RESULTS OF THE VOLUNTARY PARTIAL PUBLIC TENDER OFFER PROMOTED BY CIR S.P.A. CONCERNING A MAXIMUM OF 156,862,745 ORDINARY SHARES OF CIR S.P.A.
205.8 million shares tendered, allocation coefficient approx. 76.2%
Based on the provisional results available at the end of the Offer Period, the tender offer launched by CIR on 156.9 million own shares gathered tenders for a total of 205.8 million shares. Given that the maximum number of shares subject to the Offer was exceeded, a pro-rata allocation will take place, based on a coefficient that is provisionally calculated at 76.2%.
Given the above provisional results, CIR will hold approximately 14.1% of its own share capital.
Milan, July 29 2021 – With reference to the voluntary partial public S.p.A. – Compagnie Industriali Riunite ("CIR" or the "Offeror" or the "Issuer") pursuant to Articles 102 and following of Legislative Decree no. 58 of February 24, 1998, as amended and supplemented ("TUF"), for a maximum number of 156,862,745 shares with no par value (the "Tender Offer"), the Offeror hereby announces that today the acceptance the Tender Offer (the "Acceptance Period") has come to an end.
Capitalized terms not otherwise defined in this press release have the same meaning ascribed to them in the tender offer document filed with Consob on May 31, 2021, re-filed on June 10, 2021 and on June 14, 2021 and approved by Consob pursuant to Article 102, paragraph 4, of the TUF by resolution No. 21898 of June 15, 2021 (the "Tender Offer Document").
The Tender Offer was launched on a maximum number of 156,862,745 Issuer's Shares, listed on the MTA, identified by the identification codes (i) ISIN IT0000070786, (ii) XXITV0000172, (iii) XITV0000180 and (iv) ISIN IT0005241762, amounting to 12.282% of the Issuer's share capital. The Purchase Price for each Share tendered to the Tender Offer and purchased is equal to Euro 0.51.
On the basis of the provisional results of the Tender Offer, communicated by UniCredit Bank AG, as Intermediary in Charge of Coordinating the Collection of Acceptances, no. 205,782,739 Shares were tendered to the Tender Offer during the Acceptance Period, equal to approximately 131.2% of the Shares Subject to the Tender Offer and to approximately 16.1% of the Issuer's share capital.
Based on the provisional results of the Tender Offer, since the number of Shares tendered to the Tender Offer exceeds the Maximum Number of Shares Subject to the Tender Offer, the Shares tendered to the Tender Offer will be allocated in accordance with the Allocation Mechanism, i.e. on a pro-rata basis, according to which the Offeror will purchase from each Shareholder who tendered his/her Shares to the Tender Offer the same proportion (equal to the Allocation Coefficient) of such Shares.
Given the provisional results of the Tender Offer, the provisional Allocation Coefficient is 76,2%.
Please note that the effectiveness of the Tender Offer is subject to (A)the non-occurrence, by the first Trading Day following the end of the Acceptance Period, of (i) extraordinary events or situations at a national and/or international level involving serious changes in the political, financial, economic, currency or market situation not already determined as at the date of publication of the Tender Offer Document and that have a materially detrimental effect on the Tender Offer, on the conditions of the business and/or on the economic and/or financial conditions (ii) acts, facts, circumstances, events or situations not already determined as at the date of publication of the Tender Offer Document and such as to have a materially detrimental effect on the Tender Offer, on the terms and conditions of the business and/or on the equity, economic or financial position of CIR and/or the CIR Group, as resulting from the consolidated financial statements for the year 2020 and/or (B) the non-adoption and/or non-publication, by the first Trading Day after the end of the Acceptance Period, by institutions, bodies or authorities having jurisdiction, of any legislative, administrative (including tender offer obligations under Articles 106 and following of the TUF) or judicial act or measure that would preclude, limit or make more onerous, in whole or in part, even on a transitional basis, the possibility for CIR and/or the CIR Group to carry out the Tender Offer ((A) and (B), jointly, the "Conditions of Effectiveness of the Tender Offer").
The Offeror may waive, or modify in terms, at any time and at its sole discretion, in whole or in part, the Conditions of Effectiveness of the Tender Offer within the limits and according to the procedures set out in article 43 of the Rules for Issuers.
The fulfilment or non-fulfilment of the Conditions of Effectiveness of the Tender Offer or any decision to waive them will be announced in the press release that will be disclosed by the Issuer by 7:59 a.m. on August 2, 2021, while the effectiveness, the final results of the Tender Offer and the final Allocation Coefficient will be announced in the press release that will be disclosed by the Offeror by 7:59 a.m. of August 5, 2021, i.e. the Trading Day prior to the Payment Date, pursuant to Article 41, paragraph 6, of the Rules for Issuers, on CIR's website (www.cirgroup.it in the dedicated area "Governance/Partial voluntary tender offer") and in accordance with the other procedures provided for under Article 38, paragraph 2, of the Rules for Issuers.
The Purchase Price due to the shareholders holding the Shares tendered to the Tender Offer during the Acceptance Period and purchased, equal to Euro 0.51 per Share, will be paid to the tendering shareholders on August 6, 2021, corresponding to the sixth Trading Day following the end of the Acceptance Period, against the simultaneous transfer of ownership rights of such Shares to the Offeror.
Given that, on the basis of provisional figures relating to the Tender Offer, the Issuer would acquire 156,862,745 Shares, and taking into account the 23,415,324 Shares of CIR held by the Offeror as of today, corresponding to 1.8% of the share capital of CIR, the Offeror will hold the overall number of 180,278,069 Shares, equal to approximately 14.1% of the share capital of the Issuer, as a result of the Tender Offer.
During the Acceptance Period, the Offeror did not make any purchases, either directly or indirectly, of CIR's Shares outside of the Tender Offer.
Posted in Press releases Tagged CIR


text:
Making the Most of Metalanguage
Roger BERRY
References Citations Metrics Reprints & Permissions PDF Abstract Metalanguage is a term that is increasingly to be found in the applied linguistic/ language awareness literature. However, not all writers use it in the same way; some seem to be equating it with metalinguistic terminology. Tracing the term from its philosophical roots, this paper accepts a broader definition of metalanguage as 'language about language'(where terminology is viewed as the lexis); at the same time it distinguishes it from metadiscourse, with which it is sometimes conflated. The paper discusses how metalanguage is related to language awareness and how the above interpretation can be, and is being, applied in different fields, largely as a tool to illuminate various applied linguistic phenomena. It also echoes Roman Jakobson's call from almost half a century ago for more research into the 'metalingual' function of language.
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09658410508668817
Fingerprint Dive into the research topics of 'Making the Most of Metalanguage'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.
Language Awareness Arts & Humanities
metalanguage Social Sciences
Applied Linguistics Arts & Humanities
Metalanguage Arts & Humanities
Language Arts & Humanities
Metadiscourse Arts & Humanities
Roman Jakobson Arts & Humanities
Lexis Arts & Humanities
BERRY, R. (2005). Making the Most of Metalanguage. Language Awareness, 14(1), 3-20. https://doi.org/10.1080/09658410508668817
BERRY, Roger. / Making the Most of Metalanguage. In: Language Awareness. 2005 ; Vol. 14, No. 1. pp. 3-20.
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journal = "Language Awareness",
BERRY, R 2005, 'Making the Most of Metalanguage', Language Awareness, vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 3-20. https://doi.org/10.1080/09658410508668817
Making the Most of Metalanguage. / BERRY, Roger.
In: Language Awareness, Vol. 14, No. 1, 15.02.2005, p. 3-20.
T1 - Making the Most of Metalanguage
AU - BERRY, Roger
N2 - References Citations Metrics Reprints & Permissions PDF Abstract Metalanguage is a term that is increasingly to be found in the applied linguistic/ language awareness literature. However, not all writers use it in the same way; some seem to be equating it with metalinguistic terminology. Tracing the term from its philosophical roots, this paper accepts a broader definition of metalanguage as 'language about language'(where terminology is viewed as the lexis); at the same time it distinguishes it from metadiscourse, with which it is sometimes conflated. The paper discusses how metalanguage is related to language awareness and how the above interpretation can be, and is being, applied in different fields, largely as a tool to illuminate various applied linguistic phenomena. It also echoes Roman Jakobson's call from almost half a century ago for more research into the 'metalingual' function of language.
AB - References Citations Metrics Reprints & Permissions PDF Abstract Metalanguage is a term that is increasingly to be found in the applied linguistic/ language awareness literature. However, not all writers use it in the same way; some seem to be equating it with metalinguistic terminology. Tracing the term from its philosophical roots, this paper accepts a broader definition of metalanguage as 'language about language'(where terminology is viewed as the lexis); at the same time it distinguishes it from metadiscourse, with which it is sometimes conflated. The paper discusses how metalanguage is related to language awareness and how the above interpretation can be, and is being, applied in different fields, largely as a tool to illuminate various applied linguistic phenomena. It also echoes Roman Jakobson's call from almost half a century ago for more research into the 'metalingual' function of language.
M3 - Journal Article (refereed)
JO - Language Awareness
JF - Language Awareness
BERRY R. Making the Most of Metalanguage. Language Awareness. 2005 Feb 15;14(1):3-20. https://doi.org/10.1080/09658410508668817


text:
import { async, ComponentFixture, TestBed } from '@angular/core/testing';

import { TranslationFileUploadComponent } from './translation-file-upload.component';

describe('TranslationFileUploadComponent', () => {
  let component: TranslationFileUploadComponent;
  let fixture: ComponentFixture<TranslationFileUploadComponent>;

  beforeEach(async(() => {
    TestBed.configureTestingModule({
      declarations: [ TranslationFileUploadComponent ]
    })
    .compileComponents();
  }));

  beforeEach(() => {
    fixture = TestBed.createComponent(TranslationFileUploadComponent);
    component = fixture.componentInstance;
    fixture.detectChanges();
  });

  it('should create', () => {
    expect(component).toBeTruthy();
  });
});

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


[21. 12. 2016] Today, the December issue of AGF EuropaNews was published. As usual, it provides you with news about the most important developments concerning family policy at the European level and from the European states. You will also find links to reports and studies as well as interesting upcoming events. Unfortunately, our newsletter is only available in German.
... more on "EuropaNews December 2016"
[30. 11. 2016] Today, the November 2016 issue of AGF EuropaNews was published. As usual, you will find the most important developments concerning family policy at the European level and from the European states. It also provides you with links to reports and studies as well as interesting upcoming events. Unfortunately, AGF EuropaNews is only available in German.
... more on "EuropaNews November 2016"
[22. 11. 2016] On 17th November, AGF invited to a discussion with Prof. Dr. Anne Lenze and Prof. Dr. Joachim Wieland about reforms for a just subsistence level for children. Under the title "Small adaptions or a radically new system - how do we achieve a just subsistence level?", the two experts presented critical aspects as well as possible solutions. They presented their ideas and discussed them together and also with the particpants.
... more on "AGF Discussion on German subsistence level for children"
[15. 11. 2016] 16 family organisations, children rights organisations, social welfare organisations and trade unions call for quality standards in daycare facilities for children. Jointly they welcome the process that was started by the state on national and federal level to increase the quality in child care and expect concrete outcomes.
... more on "Joint declaration on quality standards in daycare facilities for children"
[31. 10. 2016] The October issue of AGF EuropaNews provides information about recent family policy related news from Europe and the European Union. It also comprises references to studies, reports and upcoming events. Unfortunately, AGF EuropaNews is only available in German.
... more on "EuropaNews October 2016"
[13. 10. 2016] On the occasion of the government's decision to raise child tax allowance, child benefit and child benefit supplement, the AGF calls not to forget the announced reform of advance maintenance payment for children. A draft law has to be released quickly and must not be dropped because of disagreements on its financing between Bund and Länder.
... more on "Press Release on advance maintenance payment and child benefit supplement "
[06. 10. 2016] AGf invites to a discussion with Prof. Dr. Anne Lenze und Prof. Dr. Joachim Wieland on reforms of meeting the subsistence minimum of a child. The two lawyers will be discussing the topic between each other and together with the participants about ways how to achieve a subsistence minimum of a child. The debate will be on 17 November 2016, 13.30h - 16.00h in Berlin.
... more on "AGF - Event on the subsistence minimum of a child"
[30. 9. 2016] The September issue of AGF EuropaNews was published today. It contains the most important developments concerning family policy at the European level and from the European states. Furthermore we have compiled information about topic related reports and studies as well as upcoming events. The newsletter ist only available in German.
... more on "EuropaNews September 2016"
[19. 9. 2016] Yesterday, Sunday 18th, the central World Children's Day Festival took place in Berlin at Potsdamer Platz. AGF happily took part and invited children and grown-ups to get informed about AGFs and the family organisations work and their current main topic and to jointly feel "blindly" items from a family's every day life.
... more on "AGF at World Children's Day Festival"
[19. 9. 2016] UPDATE 29 Sept.: Updated Program! -- COFACE - Families Europe and AGF are jointly organising the conference 'The impact of digitalisation on 21st century families' on 7-8 November in Berlin. Experts and stakeholders will get together to discuss this topic, aiming to stimulate debate, put some practical examples out there, and take a peek at what the future will bring.
... more on "7 - 8 Nov, Berlin: The impact of digitalisation on 21st century families"
[31. 8. 2016] Today, the newest issue of AGF EuropaNews was published. As usual, it provides you with news about the most important developments concerning family policy at the European level and from the European states. You will also find links to reports and studies as well as interesting upcoming events.
... more on "EuropaNews August 2016"
[29. 7. 2016] The newest issue of AGF EuropaNews provides information about social and family policy related news from Europe and the European Union. It was published today and also comprises references to studies, reports and upcoming events. Unfortunately, AGF EuropaNews is only available in German.
... more on "EuropaNews July 2016"
[30. 6. 2016] The June issue of AGF's EuropaNews has been published today. It contains an ovierview of family policy related news from the EU and the European states. You will also find links to reports and studies as well as interesting upcoming events. Unfortunately, EuropaNews is only available in German.
... more on "EuropaNews June 2016"
[28. 6. 2016] On Monday, 27 June experts from different European states discussed possibilities on meeting the subsistence minimum of a child. The meeting took place in Berlin. Besides a detailed introduction in the controversial topic, examples from Austria, Belgium, Great Brittain and France served as basis for the discussions.
... more on "European Expert Meeting on the subsistence minimum of a child"
[7. 6. 2016] The Eco Festival named "Umweltfestival" around the Brandenburger Tor already has become a tradition in Berlin. This year it has taken place on the 5th June and like the years before the AGF has joined the festival to present itself and its work.
... more on "AGF at Eco Festival"
[31. 5. 2016] The May issue of AGF EuropaNews was published today. It contains the most important developments concerning family policy at the European level and from the European states. Furthermore we have compiled information about topic related reports and studies as well as upcoming events. The newsletter ist only available in German.
... more on "EuropaNews May 2016"
[29. 4. 2016] The current issue of the AGF "EuropaNews" for April 2016 was published today. It contains news on family policy on the European level and in Member States of the European Union. You will also find links to new reports and studies as well as interesting upcoming events for the next few weeks. The News" are only available in German.
... more on "EuropaNews April 2016"
[7. 4. 2016] On occasion of the current debate on quality child care facilities AGF has published a position paper. The German family organisations aim for high quality child care facilities. Therefore in their position paper they suggest concrete criteria for quality standards.
... more on "High quality child care facilities"
[31. 3. 2016] Today, the March issue of AGF EuropaNews was published. As usual, you will find the most important developments concerning family policy at the European level and from the European states. You will also find links to reports and studies as well as interesting upcoming events.
... more on "EuropaNews March 2016"
[18. 3. 2016] The German Federal Council (Bundesrat) today discussed a draft bill on the simplification of the social code book II (basic social benefits). On this occasion the German family organisations ask for an benefit meeting the particular additional needs of children of separated parents, if the parents receive basic social benefits. The current draft only continues the shortage management between the parents and aims mainly for relieving the public budget. AGF requests a law that takes into account the actual needs of children for a secured existence.
... more on "Meeting the additional needs of children of separated parents"
[7. 3. 2016] AGF has published a joint declaration with Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund (DGB), Deutscher Frauenrat (DF), Bundesforum Männer, Zukunftsforum Familie (ZFF) an Sozialverband Deutschland (SoVD) promoting improved measurements für employees who want to increase their working hours when working in partime.
... more on "Joint declaration on part time work"
[29. 2. 2016] The latest issue of AGF EuropaNews was published today. As usual, you will find the most important developments concerning family policy at the European level and from the European states. You will also find links to reports and studies as well as interesting upcoming events.
... more on "EuropaNews February 2016"
No restriction of family reunification for refugees!
[18. 2. 2016] The family organisations appeal to the Members of Parliament not to agree to the restrictions of family reunification as planned in the law called Asylpaket II. Children and Families will thus be forced to the dangerous flight themselves and a successful integration for those already accepted in Germany will be considerably more difficult. The unity of the families has to be secured, as it is stated by european law. The new asylum act that, tomorrow, will be discussed in the Bundestag, proposes a suspension period for the family reunification of two years for refugees with a so called "subsidiary protection".
... more on "No restriction of family reunification for refugees!"
[29. 1. 2016] 2016's first issue of AGF EuropaNews as usual contains an overview of recent developments in Europe concerning family and social policy. It also covers reports and studies as well as upcoming events. One of this month's highlinghts is eurofound's report on European family policies during the economic crisis.
... more on "EuropaNews January 2016"


text:
James Spencer Drury Gnodde (born 9 November 1995) is an English former first-class cricketer.

Early life and career
Gnodde was born at Westminster in November 1995.  He was educated at Eton College (2009–14), before going up to Pembroke College, Oxford 2014–18).  While studying at Oxford he played first-class cricket, making his debut for Oxford University against Cambridge University in The University Match of 2015, with Gnodde also featuring in its 2016, 2017 and 2018 fixtures.  In his four first-class matches for Oxford University, he scored 113 runs at an average of 18.83 and a high score of 54.  In addition to playing for Oxford University, he also made a single first-class appearance for Oxford MCCU against Kent at Canterbury in 2018.

Notes and references

External links

1995 births
Living people
People from Westminster
People educated at Eton College
Alumni of Pembroke College, Oxford
English cricketers
Oxford University cricketers
Oxford MCCU cricketers

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia